Hong Kong: Typhoon impact kept to minimum The Government said today with its concerted efforts and that of all sectors of the community, the impact and destruction brought by Super Typhoon Saola were kept to a minimum. It noted that the arrangements of the first school day were generally smooth and that it will continue to strive to complete the residual relief work to ensure the safety of citizens despite the community having largely returned to normal. To guard against the serious damage and destruction that Saola may bring, Chief Executive John Lee said he instructed all departments to make full preparations to deal with the worst possible situation prior to the typhoon hitting Hong Kong. He appointed the Chief Secretary to lead, and the Secretary for Security to co-ordinate responses across government departments. After Saola gradually moved away from Hong Kong, Mr Lee approved for the first time, the activation of the government-wide mobilisation level. Led by the Home & Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB), a quick response unit comprising over 100 civil servants from different departments provided support and carried out relief work in Sha Tau Kok, Tung Chung, Lei Yue Mun and Tai O in the past two days. The Hong Kong Observatory had been monitoring the movement and intensity of Saola as it hit Hong Kong, and once issued Hurricane Signal No.10. Early in the preparation stage, the Government set up a cross-departmental steering committee, chaired by Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki, together with the Emergency Monitoring & Support Centre under the Security Bureau, to fully monitor and co-ordinate relevant government departments and organisations in the preparation, response and rescue work, including mobilising all the manpower and resources required to take decisive responses. Moreover, to alert the public to prepare early, Mr Chan led representatives from relevant government departments in a joint press conference to brief citizens on the latest typhoon situation and announce in advance the timeframe of hoisting the No. 8 Gale or Storm Signal and the suspension of all school classes as well as explain the Government's preparation in response to the typhoon. On the transport front, the Transport Departments Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre maintained its operation throughout the typhoon to monitor the traffic conditions of major roads, tunnels and bridges in the city, and communicate with the relevant government departments and public transport operators in real time to cope with emergencies. After the typhoon weakened, the relevant government departments immediately inspected road conditions, cleared collapsed trees and debris blocking the roads, dealt with road blockages caused by flooding and landslides, and carried out urgent repairs to damaged road surfaces to ensure that important roads were free of obstruction. All bus routes resumed services today, including the Citybus routes which were affected by fallen trees or obstruction on roads in Southern District. In addition, the Development Bureau activated the Emergency Command System during the storm to compile and prepare comprehensive information on the resources of a total of 43 public works contractors, so that individual works departments can flexibly mobilise and deploy resources in a very short period of time to deal with emergency works brought about by the storm, including the clearance of road obstacles and fallen trees. After the wind subsided, departments under the Development Bureau including the Buildings Department (BD) and tree management departments mounted large-scale inspections as soon as possible to identify and deal with signboards, trees, scaffolding etc affected by the typhoon that carried potential risks. As of yesterday, the BD had identified 36 cases involving loose signboards, scaffolding, windows or damaged structures that required follow-up action due to potential safety hazards. The BD immediately made arrangements for government contractors to follow up or requested owners and their contractors to do so. It also contacted the contractors of 102 private construction sites. Of these, 12 sites had minor damage and repair works have been completed or are being carried out by the contractors. At the same time, tree management departments had handled over 6,000 trees affected by the typhoon, including the removal of about 2,000 hazardous trees based on the principle of prioritising public safety, and the stabilisation and trimming of dangling broken branches for the remaining ones. In terms of district support, the 18 district offices have been rendering full assistance to help residents take precautions against the storm, liaising with government departments to deal with various accidents, arranging for residents of lowland areas to evacuate, and taking post-typhoon follow-up action. A total of 36 Community Care Teams (care teams) from Tsuen Wan District and Southern District mobilised more than 300 members to assist in various tasks of the district offices. Regarding the arrangements for school commencement, schools had immediately inspected their facilities following the passage of the typhoon. Having ensured that the conditions were safe, schools opened smoothly this morning. In addition, the Education Bureau, the Transport & Logistics Bureau and relevant schools sent staff to the control points to inspect the boundary crossing situation of cross-boundary students. The entry and transport arrangements this morning were generally smooth. The Chief Executive thanked the Chief Secretary, the Secretary for Security and various departments for their full commitment to their work, including strengthening preparations for early warning, dissemination of information, reduction of damage, reminding citizens to take precautions, and going all out to respond, rescue and handle the aftermath. He pointed out that teamwork and synergy were given full play to minimise the damage caused by Saola's attack on Hong Kong. Mr Lee also expressed his gratitude to staff of different departments, government contractors, providers of public transport and other services, volunteers and members of District Services and care teams, and media workers for performing their duties with dedication during the storm. Additionally, he thanked the public for supporting the Government's appeal to take early prevention measures to protect themselves. A total of 86 people including rescuers sustained injuries, mostly slight injuries, during the typhoon. Mr Lee extended his sympathy to the injured citizens and rescuers affected by the powerful typhoon and wished them a speedy recovery. The Government reminded the public that trees and structures, especially signboards, may become unstable after the typhoon and heavy rain, people should always remain vigilant when going outdoor, and avoid staying under trees or signboards for long periods of time. Land owners and property management staff should complete inspections of structures and trees under their management as soon as possible and carry out appropriate risk mitigation work to avoid accidents. Call Police or the 1823 hotline for assistance or enquiries. This story has been published on: 2023-09-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Latin America and the Caribbean are not immune to the damage of Japan's nuclear effluents Xinhua) 09:31, September 04, 2023 On August 24, the Government of Japan forcibly initiated the discharge of Fukushima contaminated water into the ocean. The nuclear-contaminated water contains a large amount of radioactive material, which endangers not only Japan itself but also poses unpredictable risks to human beings and the global environment. What Japan has done violates the right to health, development and the environment of all peoples, as well as its own moral responsibilities and obligations under international law. The countries of the world, including Latin America and the Caribbean, should join in demanding Japan to immediately stop the wrongdoing. The rising tide of opposition in the international community For more than two years, the legitimacy, legality and safety of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water discharge plan have been questioned by the international community. The Japanese side has discussed five options for the treatment of nuclear-contaminated water, including injection into the ground, electrolytic release, solidified landfill, steam emission and discharge into the sea, among which the sea discharge option has the lowest economic cost. The Japanese government, for the sake of economic interests, has disregarded international justice and international righteousness and recklessly discharged nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, which is a crime against the international community and a dereliction of duty to future generations of mankind. For some time now, dignitaries, scholars, media, social groups and people in Japan, South Korea, Russia, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Fiji and the Solomon Islands have been opposing the Japanese side's discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea. It is considered that Japan's forced push to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea is unjustified, unreasonable and unnecessary. The Chinese government has also been expressing serious concern and strong opposition to this Japanese practice. The General Administration of Customs of China has been forced to impose a complete moratorium on the import of aquatic products of Japanese origin since August 24. Latin American countries in the Eastern Pacific may be the first victims of nuclear effluents According to studies by relevant scholars, nuclear-contaminated water flows first to North America with the North Pacific Warm Current, and then diverges to the north and south under the influence of the Alaskan Warm Current. It is estimated that the radioactive material will spread to most of the Pacific Ocean within 57 days. Let's project that after some time, the waters off the Mexican state of Baja California will be contaminated, including the El Vizcaino Whale Sanctuary, the Gulf of California Islands and Protected Areas, and the Revillahiguido Islands Natural Heritage Reserve. After that, the nuclear-contaminated water will come to migratory corridors in the tropical waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, where the marine conservation cooperation carried out by Peru, Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica, among others, is threatened to be put at risk in an area with the greatest marine biodiversity in the world. Peruvian fishing grounds, one of the world's four largest, will be contaminated as nuclear-contaminated water travels south ... In a few years, all Latin American and Caribbean countries will "share" the contaminated water, including those on the Atlantic side. The oceans and seas are the habitat of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Thirty-one of the 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have coasts, and the significance of the oceans, especially for the Caribbean island nations, is far greater than that of the land. In a few years, will the Ecuadorian white shrimp and mackerel, the Brazilian oysters and lobster, the Argentine red shrimp and squid, the Peruvian sea cucumber and anchovies known to the Chinese people be safe for the dinner table after being contaminated by nuclear-contaminated water? Latin American and Caribbean countries should work together to stop this disaster I am sure that the people of Latin America and the Caribbean are no strangers to the Godzilla film series, which was officially released in Japan in 1954, less than 10 years after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the nuclear contamination caused by the testing of nuclear weapons by the United States at Bikini Atoll. The film reflected the Japanese people's fear of the nuclear threat at that time. Since then, Godzilla has become a worldwide pop culture symbol for metaphor and reflection on the dangers of nuclear radiation. Ironically, today, nearly 70 years later, Japan's nuclear-contaminated water is beginning to spread the nuclear threat around the world ... It should be noted that in recent years, the United States, which has been highly concerned about the development of the fisheries industry in Latin America and the Caribbean, has always vowed to combat "illegal fishing", protect fisheries stocks and marine ecosystems... But at this time, the U.S. chose not to hear. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Japan's nuclear-contaminated water discharge plan is "satisfied", and did not shy away from this hypocritical "double standard" approach. In the face of the disaster, all countries in the world, including Latin American and Caribbean countries, regardless of distance and responsibility, should act swiftly to oppose the irresponsible behaviour of the Government of Japan in blatantly transferring the risk of nuclear contamination to the international community, and resolutely resist the selfishness of placing their own interests above the long-term well-being of all mankind, so that risks that could have been avoided can be eliminated in a timely manner. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) The city of Gary has given out nearly 100 grants to local small businesses from the citys American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. In a Wednesday press release, Gary Mayor Jerome Prince announced that 91 Gary-based small businesses have been selected to receive small business grants of between $5,000 and $60,000. The recipients were selected by a seven-member review committee consisting of city officials, business leaders, and higher education representatives. Advertisement The City of Gary is supportive of all businesses, which made the selection process very difficult, Prince said. The Committee, with its selections, sought to both encourage building improvements and renovations as well as to stimulate our citys economy on a smallscale level. It is my hope that there might be another round of funding in the future. Gary received just over $80 million from ARPA, which was passed by Congress in 2021 to help repair economic damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic. The city has drawn from that pool to fund a mobile mental health unit, a new YMCA and wellness facility, and a down payment assistance program for prospective homebuyers. In March, the Gary Common Council voted to allocate $2 million in ARPA funds for small business grants, plus another $800,000 for local nonprofits. Advertisement Gary residents seeking to launch new businesses are also encouraged to submit applications for ARPA grants, the press release said. According to the city, 140 start-up businesses are potentially eligible for funding. Prospective grantees will need to submit an application and complete a business course offered by Indiana University Northwest. Gabons new military leader was sworn in as the head of the country Monday, less than a week after it ousted the president in an apparent coup. Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema was sworn in inside the presidential palace in front of government officials, military and local leaders in the capital of Libreville. Oligui is a cousin of former President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was ousted from his office last week and whose family had ruled the nation for more than five decades. Oligui, a head of the republican guard and a former bodyguard of Bongos father, said at the swearing-in ceremony that the military took over without any bloodshed and vowed to restore power to the people through free elections. With the new government, made up of experienced people, were going to give everyone a chance to hope, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hours before the mutiny last week, Bongo had just won another term as president in a vote that was plagued with irregulates and a lack of transparency. A spokesperson for the new government said last week that people around Bongo had been arrested for high betrayal of state institutions, massive embezzlement of public funds [and] international financial embezzlement. Nine members of Bongos family are also under criminal investigation in France for embezzlement and money laundering. The U.S. has also voiced its concerns over the conflict in the Central African nation. The United States is deeply concerned by evolving events in Gabon. We remain strongly opposed to military seizures or unconstitutional transfers of power, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week. We urge those responsible to release and ensure the safety of members of government and their families and to preserve civilian rule. The Associated Press contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The leader of Gabon's military junta, Gen. Brice Oligui Nguema, was sworn in as the country's interim president on Monday. The ceremony came after Nguema seized power in a coup d'etat last week, in the latest usurping of control in African countries. Nguema, who had led Gabon's presidential guard, took over the government and seized power from President Ali Bongo Ondimba on Aug. 30. The coup came just four days after Ondimba had won a re-election bid that was not considered free or fair. It brought an end to 56 years of Ondimba family rule in Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba was first elected in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba , who had led the country continuously since 1967. Both Ondimba presidencies were marred by allegations of human rights abuses, corruption and unfree elections. Many celebrations broke out across Gabon after Ondimba was deposed, NPR reported, as citizens were "frustrated with widespread corruption allegations involving the country's resources and economic problems." Despite Gabon being an oil-rich nation, more than 30% of its population lives in poverty, and unemployment remains high. During a speech at his swearing-in, Nguema said he would form a new government "in a few days," adding that he was "going to give everyone a chance to hope." Outsiders remained skeptical of Nguema's true propensity for change. Despite vowing to hold "free, transparent" elections, Nguema did not give a date for the end of military rule. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Nguema's swearing-in marks the latest transition of power by force in Africa. Recent coups have been seen in Sudan and Niger, as a belt of military-led juntas grows across the continent. Nine coups in former French colonies, Gabon included, have occurred in the past three years. You may also like Homepage This video grab shows soldiers holding General Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema aloft in Libreville, Gabon, Wednesday Aug. 30, 2023. Mutinous soldiers speaking on state television announced that they had seized power in and were overturning the results of a presidential election that was to extend the Bongo family's 55-year hold on power. (Gabon24 via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) Gabon 's new military leader was sworn in as the head of state Monday less than a week after ousting the president whose family had ruled the Central African nation for more than five decades. Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, took the oath in the presidential palace in front of a packed, boisterous room of government officials, military and local leaders in Gabon's capital, Libreville. Oligui is a cousin of the ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba, served as a bodyguard to his late father and is head of the republican guard, an elite military unit. Speaking to applause and standing ovations Monday, Oligui said the military had seized power without bloodshed and promised to return power to the people by organizing free, transparent and credible elections. With the new government, made up of experienced people, were going to give everyone a chance to hope, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The mutinous soldiers who toppled Bongo last week said he risked leading the country into chaos and they then unanimously designated Oligui president of the transitional committee. Bongo, who had been president for 14 years, was ousted hours after being declared the winner of a vote that was widely seen as rife with irregularities and lacking transparency. The speedy swearing-in of Oligui will create perceptions of legitimacy and consolidate his power to deter potential opponents from challenging his rule, said Maja Bovcon, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a risk assessment firm. It is also likely intended as a means to restore investor confidence by conveying the message that he will not waste time in returning to business-as-usual and democratic rules, she said. However, the fact that he plans to rewrite the constitution and electoral code means that the transition period will likely take months, if not years. Bongo had served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years, and there was widespread discontent with his familys reign. Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in 2019 but was quickly overpowered. Nine members of the Bongo family, meanwhile, are under investigation in France, and some face preliminary charges of embezzlement, money laundering and other forms of corruption, according to Sherpa, a French NGO dedicated to accountability. Investigators have linked the family to more than $92 million in properties in France, including two villas in Nice, the group says. The idea of a long transition isnt something that appeared to bother Gabonese who attended the inauguration Thursday. We are turning the page of 55 years of an oligarchy. For Gabon it is a new start, the end of a one political party governance without real benefits for the Gabonese people, said Desire Ename publisher for a local media outlet. It would be acceptable for the junta to transition within three years, he said. Gabons opposition candidate, Albert Ondo Ossa, wouldnt comment on the inauguration but told The Associated Press last week that the government needed to return to constitutional rule and he didnt consider the presidents ousting to be a coup but rather a palace revolution in order to continue the Bongos familys reign. The former French colony is a member of OPEC, but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few and nearly 40% of Gabonese aged 15 to 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. Its oil export revenue was $6 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. ___ Mednick reported from Dakar, Senegal. Democrats could gain a seat in the U.S. House and multiple seats in Georgias Legislature if a judge rules Republicans drew maps illegally weakening Black voters power. The trial beginning Tuesday is part of a wave of litigation progressing after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year stood behind its interpretation of the Voting Rights Act, rejecting Alabamas challenge to the law. The Voting Rights Act says voting district lines cant result in discriminatory effects against minority voters, who must be allowed a chance to elect candidates of their choosing. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Court cases challenging district lines drawn after the 2020 Census could shape 2024 congressional elections in states beyond Alabama and Georgia, including Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas. Taken as a whole, those cases could affect the narrow hold Republicans have on the U.S. House. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In Georgia, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones is hearing what is expected to be a two-week case without a jury. If he rules against the state, he is likely to order Georgias Republican-controlled General Assembly to redraw districts to comply with the law. The trial yokes together three different cases, meaning Jones could rule for the challengers in some instances and not others. Jones already ruled in March 2022 that some parts of Georgias redistricting plans probably violate federal law. He allowed the new congressional and state legislative maps to be used for 2022s elections, finding changes close to elections would have been too disruptive. TRENDING STORIES: Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist who studies redistricting, said he expects Jones to side with the plaintiffs. He found the plaintiffs had proven the elements of a Section 2 violation at that point, Bullock said of the earlier ruling. The plaintiffs challenging the districts argue there is room to draw another Black-majority congressional seat on the west side of metro Atlanta, as well as three more majority-Black state Senate districts and five additional majority-Black state house districts in various parts of the state. They point to Georgias addition of a half million Black residents from 2010 to 2020, nearly half of all population growth. Despite these striking demographic changes, the enacted congressional plan fails to reflect the growth in Georgias Black population, the plaintiffs challenging Georgias congressional map wrote in a summary of their case filed with the court. The state, though, argues the plaintiffs havent proved voters act the way they do because of race, arguing partisanship is a stronger motivator. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Defense attorneys, for example, point to the role of partisanship in the original election of Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath in 2018. McBath, who is Black, first won office in a district with a small Black population. Lawmakers then redrew lines to make the district significantly more Republican, leading McBath to jump to and win reelection in a different district. The state also argues plaintiffs would rely so much on race to draw districts that it would be illegal. Thats a defense you can offer is what the plaintiffs want would require putting considerations of race above everything else, Bullock said. But Kareem Crayton, senior director for voting and representation at New York Universitys Brennan Center for Justice, said Georgias claims that lawmakers didnt consider race in drawing lines, only partisanship, should lead to questions about whether they considered if the lines discriminated. It sounds like, so far, the state is saying, We dont talk about race at all. But then, is there a story to be told about? Crayton said. What does it mean to have a significant portion of your state that has not been able to access power? Republicans held an 8-6 majority in Georgias U.S. House delegation in 2020, but majority-GOP state lawmakers redrew lines to eliminate one of those Democratic seats, boosting their majority to 9-5. If the plaintiffs win, the balance could revert to 8-6 Republicans. However, lawmakers also could try to convert McBaths current seat into a majority Black seat. The GOP currently holds a 102-78 majority in the state House and a 33-23 majority in the state Senate. While a plaintiffs victory is unlikely to flip control in either chamber, additional Black-majority districts in the Senate and House could elect Democrats who would narrow Republican margins. IN OTHER NEWS German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has sharply criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin for blocking the grain deal and attacking port infrastructure in southern Ukraine. Source: Welt, reported by European Pravda Details: "Putin's game with the grain deal is cynical," Baerbock stressed. At the same time, Baerbock said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans efforts to return the deal were important. Quote: "It is only because of Putin that cargo ships are once again denied free passage. Russia is enhancing global hunger." More details: Baerbock said that work on alternative routes for grain exports from Ukraine continues "now more than ever". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Background: After his talks with Erdogan in Sochi, Putin said that Moscow was not ready to immediately return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which it had disrupted in July. Erdogan himself called for the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and noted that Ukraine "needs to soften its approach" to continue it. 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! German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is the only person blocking the decision within the governing coalition to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine, German MP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann wrote on Twitter on Sept. 4. "He doesn't want to deliver Taurus 'right now.' But 'right now' people in Ukraine continue to die," Strack-Zimmermann said. "He alone blocks this decision within the coalition," the Free Democratic Party (FDP) MP added, describing this as "irresponsible." Taurus missiles have a range of up to 500 kilometers, meaning Ukraine could use them to strike deep into Russian-occupied territories, including Crimea. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement German newspaper Bild reported on Sept. 4 that Germany is concerned the long-range missiles will be used in strikes on Russian territory, despite assurance from Kyiv that they would only use the weapons to liberate Ukrainian territory. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba emphasized on Aug. 11 that Taurus missiles will be "used solely inside our borders." "The longer the missile range, the shorter the war," Kuleba argued. Discussions on the transfer of Taurus missiles from Germany have been ongoing throughout the summer. Ukraine submitted a request for Germanys air-launched cruise missiles earlier in May, with some German officials voicing support for the transfer. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had said on June 5 that Germany did not plan to supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles. On Aug. 7, however, Ukrainian lawmaker Yehor Cherniev said that key factions in the German parliament have reached consensus, and that they were ready to approve the transfer of the missiles to Kyiv. On Aug. 11, the German newspaper Spiegel reported that Berlin is considering providing Taurus missiles modified not to be able to target Russia. The Ukrainian military already operates British Storm Shadow and French SCALP long-range missiles. Kyiv continues to appeal to its partners to also acquire the German Taurus missiles and U.S. ATACMS. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz canceled a trip to Hesse after sustaining bruising to his face when he fell while jogging on Saturday. Most Read from Bloomberg Scholz, 65, was due on Sunday to hold a town hall meeting with citizens in Heringen and take part in a campaign event for his Social Democratic Party in Bad Homburg near Frankfurt ahead of the Hesse regional election in October. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Scholzs engagements in the coming week, including a visit to the IAA car show in Munich on Tuesday and a speech to lawmakers in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, are not affected, according to a government spokeswoman. He is also due to attend the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi next weekend. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. A death was confirmed at the Burning Man festival over the weekend after thousands of attendees were left mired in mud from torrential rains and were advised to conserve food and water, as all roads in and out of the desert arts and "self-reliance" festival remained shut off Sunday. The sprawling event is held each year in what's known as Black Rock City (BRC), in the Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada. Following what authorities described as "unusual weather conditions" that produced heavy rains Friday night and into Saturday, the gate and airport into and out of Black Rock City remain closed, organizers said. No driving is permitted at the site except for emergency vehicles. PHOTO: Dub Kitty and Ben Joos, of Idaho and Nevada, walk through the mud on Sept. 2, 2023, at Burning Man after a night of dancing with friends. (Trevor Hughes/Reno Gazette Journal via USA Today Network) One person died at the festival, the Pershing County Sheriff's Office confirmed in a statement Sunday morning. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "The Pershing County Sheriff's Office is currently investigating a death which occurred during this rain event. The family has been notified and the death is under investigation. As this death is still under investigation, there is no further information available at this time," according to the sheriff's office. On Monday, authorities confirmed the deceased had been identified as Leon Reece, 32. Pershing County Sheriffs Office deputies performed a preliminary investigation, and interviewed witnesses at the scene and medical responders. Reece's remains were sent to Washoe County Medical Examiners Office for an autopsy. The results of the autopsy are pending toxicology results. Reece's death is still being investigated, authorities said Monday. News of the death came a day after organizers issued an alarming statement to festival attendees. "If you are in BRC, conserve food, water and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space," organizers said in a statement posted on X, (formally known as Twitter). President Joe Biden was briefed on the flooding that has stranded thousands of Burning Man attendees, a White House official said Sunday. "Administration officials are monitoring the situation and are in touch with state and local officials," the official added. "Event attendees should listen to state and local officials, and event organizers." An estimated 75,000 people attended the annual gathering in 2022, and organizers said they expected as many this year. The festival began on Aug. 28 and is scheduled to run through Tuesday. The gate and airport in and out of Black Rock City remain closed. Ingress and egress are halted until further notice. No driving is permitted except emergency vehicles. If you are in BRC, conserve food, water, and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space. More updates to come. Burning Man Traffic (@bmantraffic) September 2, 2023 MORE: Houston issues mandatory water conservation efforts as drought conditions continue Organizers started urging attendees to shelter in place and secure their camps late Friday, as adverse weather conditions moved through the area. Photos from Burning Man on Saturday showed muddy and wet conditions at Black Rock City and abandoned vehicles in intersections. Among those who attended this year's event were Diplo and Chris Rock, who both reportedly fled on foot. The DJ said on X Saturday that he and the comedian walked five miles in the mud to get out of Burning Man before they were picked up by a fan. Access to Black Rock City will remain closed for the remainder of the event, organizers said, while urging people not to travel to the site. PHOTO: Abandoned vehicles block a few intersections at Burning Man, on Sept. 2, 2023, where organizers have banned all non-emergency driving. (Trevor Hughes/Reno Gazette Journal via USA Today Network) The Bureau of Land Management and the Pershing County Sheriff's Office decided to close the entrance to Burning Man for the remainder of the event due to the rainfall, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said in a statement Saturday evening. Allen said in a statement that the several hours of heavy rain "made it virtually impossible for motorized vehicles to traverse." The sheriff said some vehicles have "caused damage to the Playa surface." On Sunday night, festival organizers said the roads were expected to open Monday for attendees to leave the area, and they did, a little after 3 p.m. local time. Significant flooding has been occurring in Las Vegas and surrounding areas as monsoonal rains and storms inundate the Southwest. The Las Vegas Fire Department confirmed Sunday that one person was found dead in the flooding early Saturday west of downtown Las Vegas. "Upon arrival, a person was found unconscious and unresponsive. It is believed the person is a drowning victim," the fire department said in a statement, adding that the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and the Clark County Coroner were investigating the death. Flood watches remained in effect for cities such as Las Vegas and Flagstaff, Arizona through Sunday night. The heavy rain and flash flood potential was then expected to shift northward into northern Utah and southeastern Idaho on Sunday. Allen said more bad weather was forecast for the Black Rock City area, which is about 122 miles from Reno. "There is more rain forecast for the next few days, which could cause further delays and disruptions for participants attempting to leave the Festival as well as other operations within the Festival," Allen previously said. The sheriff said additional resources had been collected from around Northern Nevada to "assist with providing people with medical needs on the Playa until people can do it on their own." -- ABC News' Marilyn Heck contributed to this story. Authorities release name of man who died at Burning Man, investigation into death ongoing originally appeared on abcnews.go.com House Republicans are set to face two major and politically polarizing issues when they return to Washington next week. September was always poised to be a busy stretch on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers staring down an end-of-month deadline to fund the government or risk a shutdown. But Speaker Kevin McCarthy s (R-Calif.) announcement the House could open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden as soon as September has kicked that hectic outlook into overdrive. Those two efforts are slated to come to a head next week, when McCarthy and House Republicans will have 11 legislative days to keep the governments lights on and come to some sort of consensus on a potential impeachment inquiry a heavy lift for a conference that has little time and large disagreements on both matters. In public, GOP lawmakers are brushing off any concerns about taking on both ventures in September. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a 22-year veteran in the House, said different lawmakers focus on different undertakings, allowing all of them to move forward at the same time. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We do a lot of things simultaneously, thats why we break into committees, Issa told reporters in the Capitol last week. There needs to be, and already is, a number of inquiries related to Hunter Biden. There also is a myriad of legislation, including much of mine. And at the same time, you know, we all come to the floor to fund the government. We can do all of them, he continued. Five political narratives that will dominate fall And Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said while 11 legislative days may be little time to complete government funding, Republicans have a duty to be a check on the White House. Certainly, you know, theres challenges to everything that were trying to do from the appropriations spending standpoint; we are, you know, struggling with 11 or so legislative days that remain between now and Sept. 30, Good told The Hill in an interview. However, we need to do the right thing by the American people, and I think we need to pass fiscally responsible appropriations bills, and we also need to hold the president accountable for this alleged wrongdoing as it relates to the Biden family in addition to his intentional, purposeful, blatant facilitation of the border invasion, he added. Logistically speaking, however, addressing both matters over the few legislative days in September will be tough, requiring political maneuvering by McCarthy with conservatives pushing for steeper spending cuts and moderates wary of opening an impeachment inquiry. At least one GOP lawmaker sees the two matters as contingent on one another, upping the pressure on McCarthy as he walks a tightrope to appease all ends of his conference while also keeping the government running. Ive already decided: I will not vote to fund the government unless we have passed an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced at a town hall last week. The White House, for its part, slammed Greenes assessment. The House Republicans responsible for keeping the government open already made a promise to the American public about government funding, and it would be a shame for them to break their word and fail the country because they caved to the hardcore fringe of their party in prioritizing a baseless impeachment stunt over high stakes needs Americans care about deeply like fighting fentanyl trafficking, protecting our national security, and funding FEMA, deputy press secretary Andrew Bates wrote in a statement. McCarthy said he wants to pass a short-term spending bill to kick the government funding deadline later in the year, a move that would buy lawmakers more time to hash out their differences on the full slate of appropriations bills. The House has passed only one of its 12 funding measures, while the Senate has approved none. Conservatives, however, are making noise about a potential continuing resolution: The House Freedom Caucus, made of roughly three dozen members, put out an official position last month that said it will not support a stopgap funding bill unless it includes language to address the situation at the southern border, weaponization of the Department of Justice and woke policies at the Pentagon. With the slim GOP majority in the House, united opposition from the conservative group could tank a stopgap bill unless some Democrats cross the aisle and support the measure, a possibility that will depend on the contents of the legislation. And, across the Capitol, any Freedom Caucus demands would likely be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Its a pretty big mess, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said of the government funding negotiations during a press gaggle in Kentucky last week. McCarthy last month said the House could launch such an impeachment inquiry as soon as September, but some moderates are not ready to take the step. Constitutionally speaking, the House does not need to stage a vote to open an impeachment inquiry which would require majority support though the chamber did in 2019 when House Democrats launched such an investigation into then-President Trump. Despite reporting from CNN indicating McCarthy was considering skipping a vote, the Speaker told Breitbart News on Friday the chamber would hold a vote should the conference decide to launch an impeachment inquiry. To open an impeachment inquiry is a serious matter, and House Republicans would not take it lightly or use it for political purposes. The American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives, McCarthy told the outlet. Thats why, if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would occur through a vote on the floor of the Peoples House and not through a declaration by one person. But asked last month whether he has the votes to launch an inquiry, McCarthy told Fox News when we go back, well discuss this. McCarthy has sought to tie the two matters together in what could be perceived as an attempt to allay conservative concerns on spending by connecting the process to the conferences investigations. The Speaker argued a government shutdown would stymie congressional investigations including the probe into the Biden family business dealings, which could become an impeachment inquiry in the coming weeks. I would actually like to have a short-term CR, only to make our arguments stronger, because, Maria, if we shut down, all the government shuts it down, investigation and everything else. It hurts the American public, McCarthy said during an appearance on Foxs Sunday Morning Futures last month with host Maria Bartiromo, referring to a continuing resolution. In that same interview, McCarthy called an impeachment inquiry a natural step forward. But some conservatives holding the line on slashing government spending are scoffing at that evaluation, vowing they will not be drawn away from their spending cuts mission at the sight of an impeachment inquiry. We are not going to be distracted by a shiny object saying if you dont get this continuing resolution passed we wont be able to pursue the impeachment inquiry, thats nonsense, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said on Fox Business last month. Let us go back to Washington, do our work, and leadership needs to do their work and that is to press to make sure the appropriations bills are brought forth. Emily Brooks contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Former state Rep. Becky Edwards speaks during a GOP primary debate against Utah Sen. Mike Lee on June 1, 2022. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer Former Utah state Rep. Becky Edwards could soon be House Republicans' newest member. She voted for Biden , backed impeaching Trump , and said Roe v. Wade didn't need to be revisited. Edwards holds a massive lead ahead of Tuesday's special primary election, according to one recent poll. House Republicans might be getting an iconoclastic new colleague later this year, if recent polling is any indication. Former state Rep. Becky Edwards, who voted for President Joe Biden and supported the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump, holds a commanding lead in the special election to replace retiring Republican Rep. Chris Stewart in Utah's 2nd congressional district. The Republican primary is set to take place on Tuesday, and given that Trump carried the district by nearly 17 points in 2020 and Stewart won by more than 25 points last year the winner is highly likely to defeat Democratic state Sen. Kathleen Riebe in the general election on November 21. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to a recent poll by Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics, 32% of Republicans in the 2nd congressional district support Edwards, while just 11% support rival Bruce Hough and 9% support Celeste Maloy. However, 47% of respondents said they're undecided, injecting some continued uncertainty into the race. If Edwards prevails, she will instantly become one of the most interesting lawmakers on Capitol Hill. After voting for Biden and encouraging others to do so in 2020, she told the Salt Lake Tribune in 2022 that Trump was rightfully impeached for his role in inciting the January 6 assault on the US Capitol. She's also broken with her party on abortion. During an unsuccessful 2022 primary campaign against Republican Sen. Mike Lee, she said during one debate that she didn't "see a compelling issue to overturn" Roe v. Wade, and that if it were overturned, she would "support efforts to support women's health and support children." Edwards later told the Tribune's editorial board that she believes "in the sanctity of life" and that "no one" thinks abortion is "a perfect solution to a horrific problem." Edwards, who served for 10 years in the Utah state House from 2009 to 2019, has notably declined to attend any debates and has avoided on-camera interviews during the special election campaign. Given House Republicans' narrow majority, her vote would become all-important for the party to pass its legislative agenda, and she could potentially emerge as a more moderate voice in the conference, akin to Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska or Mike Lawler of New York. Perhaps the best analog to Edwards, though, would be Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah a conservative Republican who's consistently criticized Trump and occasionally votes with Democrats. "One thing I admire about Mitt Romney is his commitment to follow his conscience," Edwards told the Tribune last year. "I don't think he is dictated to by political whims or pressures. And he's very consistent in his approach. And I respect that." The 2nd district includes parts of the Salt Lake City area and a large swath of the rural southwestern portion of the state. Edwards' campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Water gathers in an area adjacent to the Oak Savannah Trail in the Oak Ridge Prairie in Griffith on Thursday, March 30, 2023. A state law and U.S. Supreme Court ruling could contribute to weltands loss, environmentalists say. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune) A two-year-old Indiana law has made the state more vulnerable to flooding and environmental damage, according to a group of environmental organizations. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling will make the situation worse, they say. Advertisement Two years ago, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 389, which eliminated the requirement to get a permit for disturbing or filling certain wetlands in Indiana and reduced the permit requirements for others. Since then, 14 environmental groups say in a recent news release, Indiana Department of Environmental Management data show that 261 acres of Indiana wetlands have been destroyed. Advertisement A wetland is an area periodically or permanently inundated by surface or ground water and where plants have adapted to live in wet soil, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has said. One acre of wetland can hold 1 million to 1.5 million gallons of water, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates cited by the environmental groups, so Indiana has lost from 261 to 392 million gallons of water storage capacity since 2021. The state also has lost the water purification service that those wetlands provide for free, environmentalists say. We need to stop thinking about wetlands as nuisance land, as those with development aims do, Jill Hoffmann, executive director of the White River Alliance, said in the news release. Wetlands provide more critical functions to our shared existence than nearly any other type of land cover. Making the situation more critical, environmentalists said, is the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May that limited the federal governments power to regulate wetlands. The Supreme Court said wetlands protected by the EPA must only be those adjacent to a relatively permanent waterway connected to traditional bodies of water. Hammond resident Jeremy Cergizan walks his dog Gu on a trail at the Oak Ridge Prairie in Griffith on Thursday, March 30, 2023. A state law and U.S. Supreme Court ruling could contribute to weltands loss, environmentalists say. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune) Indra Frank, director of environmental health and water policy for the Hoosier Environmental Council, took issue with the Supreme Courts limit on federal protection for wetlands. The distinctions are kind of artificial, she said. Even wetlands not next to a river or lake are often connected via groundwater, and an isolated wetland still soaks up a lot of stormwater and recharges the groundwater. Advertisement Before the Supreme Court ruling, Frank said, only about 20% of Indianas wetlands were under Indianas jurisdiction and the rest under federal rules. Now the balance has flipped, with 80% under state jurisdiction. Wetlands ability to purify and filter contaminants is especially important along the states Lake Michigan shoreline, where there is a large industrial presence, Harshini Ratnayaka, advocacy coordinator for Save the Dunes, said in the environmental groups news release. IDEM has previously estimated that Indiana has lost 85% of the 5.6 million acres of wetlands, making up nearly one-quarter of the states surface area, that it had in the 1780s, when European descendants began settling on the land. Gary Brown, president of the Porter County chapter of the Izaak Walton League, says its time to reverse that trend. Wetlands have a function, he said. They filter out bad stuff, to a certain point. Its natures way of cleaning out things that can be detrimental. Its amazing what nature can do on its own if we let it. Advertisement Developers traditionally have seen wetlands as a nuisance, particularly if they had to get a permit to fill a wetland and then build a new one someplace else. But now some developers have seen that a wetland can be an amenity, something homeowners look forward to in a housing development, Brown said. His Izaak Walton League chapter has been working on a wetland restoration project on a former 195-year-old farm near the Little Calumet River in Porter County. Every year, we have more species coming back to the farm, Brown said. Sand hill cranes, great blue herons, turkey vultures, monarch butterflies, endangered bats. Its like the Field of Dreams if you build it, they will come. The groups that issued the wetlands news release are Conservation Law Center, Conserve Indiana, Earth Charter Indiana, Hoosier Chapter of the Sierra Club, Hoosier Environmental Council, Indiana Conservation Voters, Indiana Forest Alliance, Indiana Land Protection Alliance, Indiana Wetlands Association, Indiana Wildlife Federation, League of Women Voters of Indiana, The Nature Conservancy of Indiana, Save the Dunes, and White River Alliance. Advertisement Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) isnt ruling out the possibility that both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump wont appear on the ballot in 2024. (You can check out his comments in the clip below.) Its not going to be that way. Look, I think theres a good shot that neither of them are actually on that ballot, Sununu said on Sundays edition of Meet the Press. I think Trump can very much lose if they winnow it down to one-on-one. I think theres a lot of issues that are going to come to bear with President Biden over the next year and a lot of opportunity for the Democrats to find another candidate. Sununus comments follow a recent poll that suggests 75% and 69% of U.S. adults wouldnt like to see either Biden or Trump, respectively, run for president. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Meet the Press host Chuck Todd, earlier in the interview, asked the governor whether he supports the No Labels political organization putting up their own candidate on the ballot next year. Well, look, according to the polls you just showed about 70% of America is supportive of that idea to not see Trump and Biden on that ticket, Sununu said. I heard someone put it once: 70% of America, if its a Trump-Biden ticket, will be politically homeless. And I think thats a very good way to put it. They wont have any inspiration. They wont feel very confident about going forward... The governor, a Trump critic who turned down a possible GOP presidential campaign, later declared that No Labels has an opportunity in the election like never before. It would have to be the right candidate. It would have to be somebody very energizing, positive, transparent, someone with a good record, he said. Sununu, when asked whether another Biden term or another Trump term concerns him more, pointed to his concerns with having both on the ticket. I think youre bringing up the exact right point: This is not what America wants, Sununu told Todd. It doesnt mean our primary system is broken. It means more of us have to be engaged in the system to make sure that our voice is heard as that 70% of Americans who always want to look forward. With Biden and Trump, all youre doing is looking backwards and re-litigating a lot of drama. Nobody wants that. Related... The Pentagons several billion-dollar accounting error in previously approved aid packages to Ukraine is fodder for a growing group of Republicans seeking to derail President Bidens request for an additional $24 billion for Kyiv. As lawmakers return to the Capitol this week, a fight is expected over the Biden administrations request for more dollars for the embattled country. The ask comes after a significant Defense Department accounting error made unclear exactly how much money has been spent toward weapons to Ukraine. The Pentagon said it overestimated the value of the weapons given to Ukraine over the past two years by $6.2 billion, a miscalculation that has been seized on by GOP skeptics who claim the administration has no clear concept of how long Americas commitment to the conflict will continue and a reason to reject his funding request. That was on display in a letter drafted by Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who said it would be absurd for Congress to approve additional dollars with the administrations lack of clarity on how much its funneled to Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The letter, addressed to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young and dated Sept. 5, claims there have been significant Pentagon accounting errors and an open-ended commitment to supporting the war in Ukraine of an indeterminate nature, based on a strategy that is unclear. The American people deserve to know what their money has gone to. How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians any closer to victory than they were 6 months ago? What is our strategy, and what is the presidents exit plan? the lawmakers wrote. It would be an absurd abdication of congressional responsibility to grant this request without knowing the answers to these questions. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has said the overestimation resulted in a surplus that will be used for future security packages. Its just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated for the future Pentagon stock drawdowns, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters in June. While the accounting errors are sure to be a talking point for GOP detractors of Bidens spending request, its not likely to change minds, experts say. The whole issue about the discovery of the underspend at DOD will be one of the talking points for the anti-Ukraine crowd, Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, told The Hill. I dont think itd be a very effective one. The irony is that theyre the ones calling for more accountability and transparency. And when the DOD crunches the numbers and is very transparent about having full accountability of what has and hasnt been spent, and they discover that they actually have extra money, then theyre criticized for that, he added. You cant really have it both ways. Michael OHanlon, the director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution said the spending miscalculation will be mentioned a moderate amount, but wont really be what changes anyones mind or drives the debate. The fact that the Ukrainians are using our weapons well is plain for all to see, OHanlon said, adding that the bigger issue will be how long do we keep providing multiple tens of billions of dollars a year for a faraway war of uncertain prospects? Biden in August requested $24.1 billion for Ukraine aid as part of $40.1 billion in emergency spending, a supplemental package that would also go toward countering China, aiding Taiwan, disaster relief and border security. The tranche would include some $13.1 billion for the Pentagon to send Ukraine lethal aid and replenish its own weapons stocks and another $8.5 billion for economic and humanitarian assistance. In addition, $200 million would help counter the destabilizing activities of the private Russian military company Wagner Group and other Russian Malign Actors in Africa, according to the OMB. The request, which would evade budget caps under a debt limit suspension bill passed in June, could pass the Senate but would face strong pushback in the House due to a group of Republicans who argue the money would be better used on pressing domestic issues. That argument came up in July as the House moved to pass its version of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced an amendment to the bill to halt any additional U.S. aid to Ukraine, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) put forth an amendment to strip $300 million from Kyivs assistance. Seventy GOP lawmakers voted for Gaetzs defeated amendment, while 89 voted for Greenes failed add. Biden and his senior national security leaders, meanwhile, have repeatedly stated the United States will aid Ukraine for as long as it takes to push Russian troops from the countrys territory. So far, Washington has approved four rounds of assistance worth $113 billion combined for Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022, with the latest round approved by Congress in December for about $45 billion. That package was meant to last through the end of fiscal 2023, which ends in September. Additional money is seen as crucial as Ukraine slogs through a counteroffensive that began earlier this summer. Since the war began, the Pentagon has repeatedly used presidential drawdown authority to pull weapons and equipment from its stockpiles to more quickly move aid to Ukraine a much faster method than buying directly from defense companies and waiting for items to be built. But Singh last month told reporters the U.S. government has reached the end of the rope for those drawdown dollars, except for the $6.2 billion found after the accounting miscalculation. Coffey said he doesnt believe a vote on the extra aid will fall along party lines as theres still enough bipartisan support to get a package through. There are enough members of Congress in both parties to understand the importance of supporting Ukraine, especially at this crucial time, Coffey noted. Ukraine is right in the middle of its counteroffensive. The last thing that the U.S. needs to do now is cut off support at this moment, he continued. The Matt Gaetzes and the Marjorie Taylor Greenes, theyre very vocal, but Im still certain that they hold a minority opinion. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Bubba Wallace s playoff debut was definitely eventful. The 23XI Racing driver bounced back from bad qualifying and a couple of on-track incidents to earn a seventh-place finish Sunday in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Wallace sits just off the cut line in 13th place with two races remaining before the first playoff elimination. The top 12 drivers in points advance to the second round. Wallace started the day in 16th, last among playoff qualifiers. Fortunately we were able to do it early enough to rebound and no damage, Wallace said. We rebounded and that is what you got to show to keep going. I appreciate the team that carried me today. It is what takes a team effort . Good solid points day for the 23 team. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I made a lot of mistakes today. I got to clean it up moving forward. Wallace bounced back while other contenders could not. Eight of the 16 playoff drivers had some kind of incident during the race. Wallace lamented his struggles, and said he made too many enemies Sunday. The first incident came with AJ Allmendinger on the opening lap of the race. In the final lap before the end of the first stage, Wallace got together with Joey Logano in Turn 4. Television replays showed Wallace sliding up the track and making contact with Loganos left rear tire. Wallace was remorseful for both mistakes. I figured I surrendered to the 22 (Logano) and when I did, I just lost it, he said. Apologies to them. But from there, Wallace and his crew rebounded and ran near the top five for the final stage before finishing seventh. That gives him some momentum going to Kansas next week. Wallace won last year at Kansas, becoming the first Black Cup Series driver to win a race in 58 years. If that is the path, and the crystal ball says you are going to go through a lot of stuff, then OK. Lets roll up our sleeves and go to work, Wallace said. You gotta expect the unexpected and go out and get it. Russian troops struck the village of Soniachne in Kherson Oblast, wounding an 11-year-old boy, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on Sept. 4. The victim was hospitalized in stable condition with a mine-explosive injury and injuries to his legs, according to the official. Doctors are doing everything possible to save the childs life and health, said Prokudin. Soniachne lies next to the administrative border with Mykolaiv Oblast, almost 30 kilometers northeast of Kherson. According to Prokudin, Russian attacks against Kherson Oblast on Sept. 3 killed one civilian and injured five more, including the boy. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ukraine liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River 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. Read also: As second academic year begins in wartime Ukraine, millions unable to go back to school full time Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. MOSCOW (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said after talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin on Monday that it would soon be possible to revive the grain deal that the United Nations says helped to ease a food crisis by getting Ukrainian grain to market. Russia quit the deal in July - a year after it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey - complaining that its own food and fertiliser exports faced serious obstacles. Erdogan, who previously played a significant role in convincing Putin to stick with the deal, and the United Nations are both trying to get Putin to return to the deal. "As Turkey, we believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time," Erdogan said in the Black Sea resort of Sochi after his first face to face meeting with Putin since 2022. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Erdogan said that Russia's expectations were well-known to all and that the shortcomings should be eliminated, adding that Turkey and the United Nations had worked on a new package of suggestions to ease Russian concerns. Erdogan said Ukraine should soften its negotiating position against Russia in talks over reviving the deal and export more grain to Africa rather than Europe. "Ukraine needs to especially soften its approaches in order for it to be possible for joint steps to be taken with Russia," he told reporters. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, speaking later on Ukrainian television, said Kyiv would not alter its stand, but would take note of Turkey's account of the Sochi talks. "We should not continue to be hostages to Russian blackmail, where Russia creates problems and then invites everyone to solve them," Kuleba said. "It is clear that we will stand in defence of all principled positions, especially regarding sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation." Standing beside Erdogan, Putin restated Russia's position that it could return to the deal but only if the West stopped restricting Russian agricultural exports from reaching global markets. A separate memorandum agreed with the United Nations calls for conditions to facilitate Russia's food and fertiliser exports. REVIVING THE GRAIN DEAL "We will be ready to consider the possibility of reviving the grain deal and I told Mr President about this again today - we will do this as soon as all the agreements on lifting restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are fully implemented," Putin said. He said Western claims that Russia had stoked a food crisis by suspending participation in the grain deal were incorrect as prices did not rise on its exit from the deal. "There is no physical shortage of food," Putin said. While Russian exports of food and fertilizer are not subject to Western sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Russia exported record amounts of wheat last year, Moscow and agricultural exporters say restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have hindered shipments. "The West continues to block the supply of grain and fertilisers from the Russian Federation to world markets," Putin said, adding that the West had "cheated" Russia over the deal because rich countries got more than 70% of the grain exported under the deal. Russia and Ukraine are two of the world's key agricultural producers, and major players in the wheat, barley, maize, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seed and sunflower oil markets. Putin said Russia expected a grain harvest of 130 million tonnes this year of which 60 million tonnes could be exported. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that he had sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "a set of concrete proposals" aimed at reviving the deal. One of Moscow's main demands is for the Russian Agricultural Bank to be reconnected to the SWIFT international payments system. The EU cut it off in June 2022 as part of sweeping sanctions imposed in response to the invasion. Putin said that a plan to supply up to 1 million tonnes of Russian grain to Turkey at reduced prices for subsequent processing at Turkish plants and shipping to countries most in need was not an alternative to the grain deal. He also said Russia was close to a deal with six African countries over a plan to supply Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea with up to 50,000 tonnes of grain each free of charge. (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne, Orhan Coskun and Ece Toksabay in Ankara and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; editing by Robert Birsel, Philippa Fletcher and Ron Popeski) Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, center, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after a press conference at the presidential palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. Israel's prime minister is floating the idea of building infrastructure projects such as a fiber optic cable linking countries in Asia and the Arabian Peninsula with Europe through Israel and Cyprus. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, Pool) NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) Greece is working with Israel on developing artificial intelligence technology that would help in early detection of dangerous wildfires, the Greek prime minister said Monday. After talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, Kyriakos Mitsotakis also said that Israel could be brought into the European Union fold when it comes to civil protection initiatives to better coordinate firefighting efforts. Israel and Cyprus are among several countries that have dispatched firefighting aircraft and crews to help battle wildfires in Greece that consumed vast tracts of forest over the last two months, including the EU's largest such blaze on record that claimed the lives of 20 people. Mitsotakis said Greece could act as a proving ground for Israeli AI technology in early detection of wildfires. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We are already talking to Israel about AI-based solutions that will offer us early detection capabilities, Said Mitsotakis. Netanyahu said the three leaders discussed going well beyond dispatching firefighting aircraft and crews by deploying AI systems for early detection. This is really one of those areas where when we say well do it better together, theres no question that thats the case, Netanyahu said. The three leaders said they delved into how to harness recent natural gas discoveries in Israeli and Cypriot waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Netanyahu said decisions on how Israel and Cyprus will export natural gas to foreign markets will have to be made within the next three to six months. Israel and Cyprus are looking into plans for a pipeline that would convey offshore natural gas from both countries to the east Mediterranean island nation where it would be liquefied for export by ship. We agreed that natural gas and renewable energy is a prime pillar of cooperation in the region, especially in light of the recent geopolitical developments and energy insecurity, especially in Europe, dictating the need for energy diversification and increase interconnectivity, Christodoulides said. Another project the three leaders expressed keen interest on is an undersea electricity cable stretching 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) that would link the power grids of Israel, Cyprus and mainland Greece. "Thats something that were eagerly interested in pursuing and we discussed ... (including) the mechanism of how to advance this, said Netanyahu. Energy has been the focus of a series of ongoing meetings between the three leaders to deepen their countries' ties since 2016, which Mitsotakis said reflected their importance on the political, economic and other levels. Scotland is now the only part of the UK where GDP is getting smaller - Jane Barlow/PA Germany is teetering on the edge of recession, with output forecast to fall this year. Finlands economy is losing momentum. Scotland is now the only part of the UK where GDP is getting smaller, and in Austria and Belgium economies are flat-lining. What do these nations have in common? It is not a currency, nor are they all concentrated in one particular industry. Perhaps it is purely coincidence, but the Greens have joined all their governments. As environmental parties steadily grow in size and influence and form coalitions, the economies they are helping manage are starting to shrink. They could perhaps be renamed the global recession party and very soon the voters are going to notice. From the wilder fringes, Green parties have now become a major political force in much of the developed world. They have swapped demos for government ministries complete with chauffeur-driven cars, armies of civil servants, and real power. In Germany, the Greens joined Olaf Scholzs coalition in December 2021, with its joint leaders becoming Minister for Economic Affairs and Foreign Minister. In Finland, the Greens were part of Sanna Marins coalition government that held office until the elections this spring. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In Scotland, the Greens form part of Humza Yousafs government in Edinburgh after they were bought into government by his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon. In Austria, the Green leader Werner Kogler is a Vice Chancellor in the government, looking after the arts and culture portfolio, a post he has held since 2020. In Belgium, the Greens have been part of a six-party coalition that has been in power since 2020. And in Ireland, the Greens have participated in government since 2020, in coalition with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, with their leader Eamon Ryan serving as Minister for the Environment. With so many Green politicians holding real power, we can perhaps begin to assess what their impact on the economy has been. And the main conclusions to draw are negative. Following the upgrade to the UKs growth figures last week, Germany is now firmly at the bottom of the G7s league. The economy recorded zero growth in the latest quarter and it is expected to be in full-blown recession by the end of the year. In Finland, the central bank now predicts a recession for 2023. In Scotland, the economy shrank by 0.3pc in the second quarter of the year. Austria was in recession last year, with the central bank only hoping for a 0.6pc expansion in 2023. And the Belgian economy is expected to slide into a recession this year, according to the countrys Institute of Economic and Social Research. Of the group, only Ireland is doing well right now, with output expected to rise by 4.8pc during 2023. Again, this may be circumstantial, yet whenever the Greens join the government, growth seems to slide. Ireland, of course, is the exception, but it is worth remembering that its GDP number can be very erratic since multinational companies report vast earnings in the country to take advantage of its low corporate tax rate, and those hyper-competitive taxes have also made it a magnet for foreign investment. But should we really be surprised? In power, Green parties push, often as a pre-condition of joining a coalition, a set of policies that can cost business dear. In Germany, for example, they have contributed to the countrys energy crisis with their long-standing opposition to nuclear power generation, with huge climate levies, and an insistence on the installation of heat pumps to replace gas boilers across the country. Austria has introduced strict climate targets, and is planning to be completely carbon neutral by 2040, regardless of the potential cost. This list goes on and on. Sure, we can debate the merits of these policies. But they are expensive, potentially ruinous to small business, and can lead to higher prices, lower wages, and fewer job opportunities. Perhaps eco-fanatics wont mind. Many dont believe in economic growth, and are convinced that we should all produce and consume less. Advocates of degrowth want to reduce the material size of the global economy. If saving the planet means we all get a bit poorer, that is a price they will happily pay. But the same is not true of the parties they are sharing power with. Mainstream Social Democrats, such as in Germany, or in Finland, leading red-green coalitions, still believe in growth. In reality, anyone sharing power with the Green parties will end up paying a huge price as companies close, tax revenues shrink, and the voters turn away from them. With many Green parties holding at least a share of power for several years now it is clear that they are the Recession Party. Their policies impose such high burdens on businesses and consumers, with so many new levies, taxes, targets and regulations, that output starts to wilt under the onslaught. Smaller firms, the engines of growth and employment, struggle with the blizzard of extra taxes, and are routinely ignored by politicians who have no time for any kind of commercial enterprise, and eventually give up. Big businesses decide to relocate much of their production somewhere more friendly. People can vote for that if they want to, and mainstream parties can bring them into power. But they should not be under any illusions. Their economies will start to get smaller very quickly. 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. Guards at a harsh Japanese prison have been instructed to address inmates as mister in an attempt to reduce abuse. Wardens at Nagoya Prison are now required to address inmates by their family name followed by san, which directly translates to honourable mister. The guards have also been ordered to stop using the terms convict and yatsura, a derogatory term that means you men. The use of dismissive terms reflected a weak awareness of human rights, according to a Ministry of Justice panel. The changes came into effect in August and were the result of an investigation into reports that surfaced last year, which detailed physical and verbal abuse towards inmates by officers. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The inquiry ultimately determined that 22 guards assaulted or otherwise mistreated three male prisoners on 419 occasions between November 2021 and September 2022. Around 100 incidents of guards kicking prisoners, slapping them around the face, seizing them by their neck or spraying them with an alcohol disinfectant were reported by the Asahi newspaper. At least one of the inmates is understood to have learning difficulties. However, guards claimed they had only acted when the inmates failed to follow instructions. Ten of the warders now face criminal charges and potential prison terms. The Mainichi newspaper said many of the inmates at the prison are uncomfortable with the new regime, with several saying they had become accustomed to being addressed impolitely. The use of more polite forms of address are already used in Japans womens prisons and, if the Nagoya experiment is helpful in reducing violence, the ministry says it will consider implementing similar rules across the prison system. Nagoya Prison is regarded as one of the toughest in Japan, with guards previously found guilty of killing two inmates and seriously injuring another in 2001 and 2002. Seven wardens were also convicted of a series of assaults on prisoners, including killing one man by aiming a high-pressure fire hose at his anus and causing him to die of bacterial shock. The guards received only suspended sentences. Nagoya Prison holds members of the Kodo-kai yakuza gang, one of the wealthiest in the country, which earns most of its income from white-collar crime. The Kodo-kai, which has its headquarters in Nagoya but operates in at least 18 prefectures, earns most of its income from white-collar crime, such as kickbacks in Japans construction. Japanese police have classified the Kodo-kai as a quasi-terrorist organisation. 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. As a resident of Florida, I have carried a concealed firearm almost everywhere for years, everywhere, except where it's specifically prohibited by law or by the policies of a specific business. Hanging in my office is a 100% American-made Gadsden flag. For quite a while I voted exclusively for Republicans, including twice for former Donald Trump, and once for Ron DeSantis , in 2018. I was formerly a lifetime member of the NRA until I renounced my membership. I used to own an AR-15. And I'm here to tell you that Second Amendment mythologies and revisionist history continue to result in needless firearm-related deaths, suffering and trauma. If law-abiding gun owners do not start publicly speaking up, we cannot expect to find solutions to our nation's unacceptable levels of gun-related violence. Related ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Second Amendment is a ludicrous historical antique: Time for it to go I understand and appreciate why gun owners the large majority of whom are law-abiding are reluctant to risk the slings and arrows of the Republican Party, the conservative media, right-wing pundits and conspiracy theorists and pundits, and perhaps even their friends and family. I ask gun owners this, respectfully: Which is more uncomfortable the pain of potential ostracization, or the pain of a nonstop loop of stochastic and targeted terrorism, aided and abetted by an endless supply of handguns and rifles, the latter often equipped these days with 30 bone-shattering rounds per magazine? If you're a parent with school-age children, the fear of a Columbine, Parkland or Uvalde-type event is impossible to fully suppress. Last week in Jacksonville, Florida's most-populous city, we saw a ghastly mass shooting perpetrated by a delusional neo-Nazi yearning for the resurrection of the mythical Aryan super-race; in addition to taking his own life, he made his contribution to the ever-growing tabulation of gun-death statistics gun-dead, murdering Anolt Joseph "A.J." Laguerre, 19; Jerrald Gallion, 29; and Angela Michelle Carr, 52. Such a violent death from machines with the sole purpose of killing so swiftly that their victims are rarely allowed time for the dignity of final breaths is uniquely American. A victim of any age is of course traumatic for their bereaved, grieving families, but the death of a teenager qualifies as yet another Molochian offering. Jacksonville's mayor, Donna Deegan, took office in July; it took less than two months for her administration to be christened with the blood of gunned-down innocents. Responding to a mass shooting is a rite of passage for every elected executive of virtually every jurisdiction in America. Deegan now joins the club of elected officials whose membership increases daily. And what about our governor? As a husband and father of three, he doesn't want to be surrounded by too many guns himself, even as he peddles the inane hypothesis that more guns make us more secure, which I suspect wasn't part of the curricula of his Yale and Harvard Law educations. DeSantis signed a permitless carry law earlier this year, and would surely sign an open permitless carry law if our legislature passes it. I'm relieved he thinks that anti-Black murder (not "racially-motivated" murder, whatever that means) is "unacceptable," but I wish he could have mustered up even half the righteous indignation he exhibited toward Dr. Anthony Fauci at the recent 2024 candidates debate aired by Fox News. Oh well. Google the name of a municipality name, and odds are the next word in the search will be "shooting"; if that word does not appear, consider that place very fortunate, and pray it remains that way. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that your town or city will remain unaffected by this bloodshed forever. Responsible gun owners: Are you OK with child sacrifice? I am certain you are not, but if we don't hear from you it will keep happening. By the way, for all the flack that Democratic-majority cities receive from the right, Jacksonville has long been the biggest GOP-controlled city. Even with the recent election of Deegan, a Democrat, 13 of the 19 city council seats are held by Republicans; the local sheriff, supervisor of elections and state attorney, among other local elected officials, are also Republicans. As for the purported urban/rural divide, in which big cities are wastelands of violence and rural areas are utopias? Another mythology propagated by GOP politicians and their yellow journalists. We need your help to stay independent Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism Responsible gun owners: Are you OK with child sacrifice? I am certain you are not; but if we don't hear from you loudly and frequently our necessary voices are suffocated and held hostage by the most politically traumatized voices. Those who carry a firearm, such as myself, should be especially vocal: We are the ones who take an unofficial oath to protect our families and innocents. Though the "good guy with a gun" is more myth than substance, it is true that defensive gun use likely happens on a daily basis, given that Americans own 400 million (or more) guns and several trillion rounds of ammunition. It was not helpful that the CDC under the Biden administration removed information on defensive gun use from its website; that unforced error undermines gun safety advocacy. Deadly Second Amendment myths Even when I was deep down the MAGA rabbit hole, from 2015 until the summer of 2021, I was not a Second Amendment absolutist. But I was close enough. (Some of the reasons I left the manufactured reality of MAGA are catalogued here.) To paraphrase Hemingway, my personal and political epiphany occurred gradually and then, suddenly, all at once. One of the results of my road-to-Damascus moment was an increasing discomfort with an official GOP platform that accepts widespread, preventable death and suffering. I don't actually believe most Republican voters accept that either, but the GOP apparatus does not because party officials do not comprehend the gun-created, blood-splattered abattoirs in community after community, but because they need the votes of everyone who believes that any constitutionally reasonable laws to reduce gun-related deaths and injuries are a coordinated conspiracy between Democrats, RINOs, communists, socialists, globalists (aka a global Jewish cabal), Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and the Marxists. (I ask you: What did the Marx Brothers ever do to incur the ire of the Republican Party?) My personal road-to-Damascus moment involved increasing discomfort with an official Republican platform that accepts widespread, preventable death and suffering Anyone who believes that kind of outrageous hysteria has a right to do so. I question whether they should be legally permitted to own a gun. Such an individual likely also adheres to a mythology that the Second Amendment was crafted as a means to foment revolt against a tyrannical government. For all the perversion and lack of understanding of the amendment (on both left and right), historically speaking it was a compromise engineered by James Madison. Its most important goal was probably to prevent the federal government from starting a professional army. This was especially relevant to Southern states, where the population of enslaved people was disproportionately higher than in other states. Militias controlled security on the state level, especially because of anxiety over slave revolts. There was a fear among some of the founders that the Haitian revolution the first known successful slave uprising in the Americas would inspire similar events in the U.S. The Second Amendment at least partly assuaged these worries. (And in fact Black people were overwhelmingly prohibited from keeping and bearing arms.) Nothing in the amendment legally permits insurrections against the government and just to err on the side of caution, the 14th Amendment addresses the issue of rebellion directly. Our nation has a long and storied history of regulating firearms and other weapons, including a national registry of firearms (finally eliminated by Ronald Reagan). Post-Reagan, the Newt Gingrich political right and gun lobby discovered just how lucrative the fantasy was of taking up arms against Bill Clinton (who wanted to "make America great again"), Barack Obama who raised more money for the GOP than a million Reagans could have and other gun-grabbing Democrats. I once bought into this belief, and finally came to view it as the Big Lie of the gun fetishists. The NRA, which at one time, supported reasonable gun restrictions, chose literal blood money over saving lives. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Was a nation awash in guns what the framers of the Constitution intended? I am loath to speak for them, but if those who constructed our Constitution and Bill of Rights were alive today, I doubt they'd ratify the Second Amendment. If they did, they would surely seek to modernize it. If they chose not to strengthen our current federal gun laws, then we would know they were not the sagacious, prescient, august and erudite intellects we've been taught to believe in. And if our constitutional rights are God-given, then the Lord did some sloppy work, considering that chattel slavery and the oppression of women were overlooked. To quote the late George Carlin, that doesn't sound like divine planning to me. There are solutions It would take some time to realize the efficacy of these proposals, but I guarantee they will save lives (including those by suicide, which account for more than half of all firearm-related deaths), reduce injuries and restore some of the freedom from fears that a trip to the bank, the mall, a movie theater a supermarket, an outdoor festival or our workplaces and schools will be the last trip we ever take: A minimum age requirement of 21 to own any gun, long rifle and so on, with some reasonable exceptions, such as working in law enforcement, military service and inheritance exemptions (which would only cover certain types of guns, carefully stipulated by law); A national firearm registry, to assist law enforcement in criminal investigations; Mandatory record-keeping and reporting to federal databases by all states; All firearms sales include background checks performed by federally-licensed dealers; Background checks on ammunition sales; Annual Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives background checks, conducted by dealers; Reclassification of any firearm (handgun or rifle) that holds more than 10 rounds in a magazine; they will be subject to an excise tax at time of manufacture, with the funds collected from excise taxes used for gun violence studies and research and perhaps a federally-administered program of injury and liability insurance; Reduce magazine ammunition size on AR-15s and similar weapons from 30 rounds to 10 or fewer. Larger magazines should be regulated similar to the way fully automatic weapons are now, with buyers subject to lengthy, demanding (and entirely constitutional) background checks; Eliminate all "ghost gun" loopholes; Require mandatory permits for concealed carry in federal law; prohibit open carry. The work of perfecting our Union has always been accompanied by struggle. We are now a nation held hostage by trauma entrepreneurs who wield and brandish firearms as weapons of holy war. Believe it or not, the vast majority of my fellow firearm owners will broadly agree that these reforms are necessary. I speak to them now: Like all of us, you have the right to remain silent; but now it is time to consider your duty to lead the change you wish to see. Read more about guns and the American right SALEM, N.H. Chris Christie is running away with support from at least one major voting bloc in his presidential bid. The only problem is its among the least important groups in the Republican primary. The former New Jersey governor has seen his popularity soar with Democrats. Whereas Democrats once considered him a bully, a threat and an opportunistic apologist for Donald Trump , they now cant get enough of his new Trump-bashing persona. Hes probably the only Republican I would vote for, said Joe Daly, a Democrat from Warner, N.H., who voted for Biden in 2020 but isnt sold on a second term. Of those on the right, Christie is the most reasonable, rational alternative to crazy Donald Trump. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Christies crossover success in New Jersey politics and what made him a national star circa 2012 was largely based on his ability to work with Democrats to notch significant policy victories. He aggressively courted Democrats along the way to his reelection in 2013, so much so that his top aides choked access to the George Washington Bridge the worlds busiest to punish a local Democratic mayor for not backing Christie (he was not found to have any involvement). But a decade later, its Democrats who are among the biggest boosters of Christies presidential bid. A July New York Times and Siena College poll found 14 percent of Democrats would be most likely to vote for Christie as the Republican nominee support that soared to 24 percent with Democratic leaners included. Thats higher than Christies polled in any survey of likely GOP primary voters since he entered the race in June. And Christie ranked third-highest among Democrats following the first Republican presidential debate, with 12 percent who watched it saying he won, according to a New York Post poll. The same survey said Democrats preferred Christie to be the Republican nominee behind Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming representative who isnt running for president. The dyed-in-the-wool Republican who once called Barack Obama a feckless weakling while running for the 2016 presidential nomination is now courting any voters who will listen in his redux bid. He went on a podcast hosted by former Obama aides and another co-hosted by veteran Democratic strategist James Carville. Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews deemed Christie the liberal pinup boy right now and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg wrote how amusing it is to watch Christie rip former President Donald Trump while other candidates pledge to support him if he again wins the nomination. Even Christies campaign-trail pitch the part thats not about keeping Trump out of the White House plays up his cross-party appeal as a Republican who worked across the aisle governing New Jersey. Its a message ostensibly aimed at capturing Republican and independent voters looking for a return to a seemingly bygone era of politicking when compromise wasnt a dirty word and when presidents didnt seemingly support their followers calls to execute their No. 2. But Christie is picking up support from Democrats in the process something of a career deja vu for a politician who romped to a second term as New Jersey governor with Democratic support. Interviews with a dozen Democrats across Christies recent campaign events in New Hampshire reveal clear interest in Christie, who placed sixth there in the 2016 primary. And many of these former Joe Biden voters are considering switching their party affiliation to vote for Christie in the first GOP presidential primary. Christies campaign claims its not directly targeting Democrats or even giving the across-the-aisle support much thought. But his team isnt rejecting it either. If Democrats want to donate or vote for him, were open to that, a campaign spokesperson, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, told POLITICO. The spokesperson added that Democratic interest in the moderate Republican should be expected given Christies background leading a blue state. That resume hasnt translated to significant overall support for Christie, though he leaped ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in one recent poll. Christie is attracting Democratic attention partly as a byproduct of how hes running his campaign. If 100 New Hampshire town halls was the hallmark of his 2016 bid, television appearances are the cornerstone of his 2024 campaign. That strategy getting the former ABC News talking head on any cable news show, radio program or podcast that will have him, regardless of any ideological tilt is aimed at reaching the broadest swath of potential Republican primary voters. But its also putting him directly in front of Democrats. And those television appearances are translating to on-the-ground interest in New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary state where Christie is staking his White House hopes for a second time. Christies narrow path to success in New Hampshire cuts through independents who make up the largest share of voters in this open-primary state and who are likely to play a significant role in the GOP contest without a serious draw on the Democratic side. But there are Democrats who are angry with Biden for pushing to demote New Hampshire in the partys primary lineup in favor of South Carolina, a more diverse state that propelled him to the nomination in 2020. Theyre worried about the incumbents age and faculties. And theyre in some cases looking at Christie as an alternative. There is a real possibility that a decent amount of Democrats change party to be able to participate in the [GOP] primary, Chris Sununu, the Republican New Hampshire governor, said in an interview after introducing Christie at an August town hall at the Salem-Derry Elks Lodge. But to be fair, its really about the current independents. Its a much, much more significant thing for a Democrat to come forward to the Republican primary, Sununu said. I dont think thatll be a significant opportunity to go after just yet. Interviews with Democrats at Christies campaign events reveal interest in the New Jersey Republican thats rooted in everything from his relatively younger age hes about to turn 61, while Trump is 77 and Biden is 80 and his near single-minded mission to destroy his longtime friend-turned-foe Trump. Michele and Bill Edwards from Salem said they were lifelong Democrats before unenrolling last election cycle. Michele Edwards said shes shopping for younger options to keep Trump out of the White House. I can't even believe I'm saying this, she said, in awe at her own consideration of Christie. If you saw how many Barack Obama and Biden signs [I had] in my life. Debra Newell, a Concord Democrat, is among the former Biden voters concerned with the presidents age. And while shes not sold on the idea of voting for a Republican, Christie stands out. His whole presentation was awesome, Newell said after Christies town hall at the Concord VFW in July. But, she added, I really wish he had stood up to Trump a long time ago. While Democratic support could boost Christie in New Hampshire, pollsters and GOP strategists say it could backfire in the long term. Its difficult to gain traction for the Republican nomination if too much of your support is coming from non-Republicans, Siena pollster Don Levy said. Some of Christies own supporters are warning him against trying to openly court Democrats, saying such a strategy would run the risk of alienating Republican voters in the GOP primary. Theyre Democrats for a reason, former New Hampshire GOP Chair Wayne MacDonald, who chaired Christies 2016 New Hampshire campaign, said in an interview. It would be misconstrued, misinterpreted, as a question of Governor Christies party loyalty and he is a good Republican, hes a loyal Republican. Christies rivals are already trying to weaponize his cross-party appeal. Never Back Down, the super PAC all-but running DeSantis campaign, issued a memo ahead of the first GOP primary debate in Milwaukee urging the Florida governor to defend Trump from Christies attacks by accusing the New Jersey Republican of appealing mainly to Democrats: I dont think we want to join forces with someone on this stage whos auditioning for a show on MSNBC, the strategy memo laid out for the governor to say. DeSantis didnt go there. But Christies disdain for Trump who remains the runaway favorite in the GOP presidential field even as his legal woes mount still prompted backlash from Republicans in the room that night. Christie was booed by audience members for saying he wouldnt support Trump as the partys nominee in 2024. But theres precedent for Republican campaigns to target Democrats in New Hampshires primaries. John McCains presidential campaign in 2000, for instance, zeroed in on Democratic veterans by sending them letters from veteran leaders in the state. The campaign converted roughly 9,000 votes, according to Mike Dennehy, a longtime New Hampshire Republican operative who worked on McCains White House bids, and won the states primary. Still, Dennehy said, that operation wasnt fruitful enough to try to court Democrats again in 2008. Christie, he said, could similarly find its not worth the time and effort in 2024. It would not be a smart strategy for the campaign to target Democrats without a serious hook, Dennehy said. Christie will also need to make it past New Hampshire, the state that ended his presidential campaign in 2016, to capitalize on some of the Democratic interest in his campaign. Janalee Moquin, a Democrat from York, Maine, is becoming a fixture at Christies town halls in New Hampshire. She even brought her 80-year-old mom and fellow Democrat Barbara Moquin to hear him at the Derry-Salem Elks Lodge. They both voted for Biden in 2020. But maybe not again. I definitely will change my party affiliation to vote for [Christie] in the primary, Janalee Moquin said. He intrigues me. I feel like I could listen to him talk forever. "We're holding an egg, and if it falls to the ground,the white and yolk will flow out, and that's our vision for future museums," Tang Jing, a sculpture major at Beijing's Tsinghua University, said as part of her team's presentation on the future of museums. Clock conservator Wang Jin demonstrates a repaired antique timepiece to students from the Bi-city Youth Cultural Leadership Programme during their visit to the Palace Museum in Beijing. CHINA DAILY Tang explained that the way the team see it, the eggshell is like the physical and mental barriers preventing people from simply walking into a museum, so they plan to break those barriers to attract more visitors in the future. The student team is made up of six college students from Beijing and Hong Kong, and was one of three sharing their ideas for future museums,touching on topics from designing brochures to improving the connection with new media at the second edition of the Bi-city Youth Cultural Leadership Programme, which began in July. The presentations were part of a cultural exchange session at the Palace Museum in Beijing on Aug 22, during which the 16 participating students from the three teams engaged in an insightful discussion with experts on topics like encouraging the inheritance of Chinese culture, the future of cultural enterprises, and the use of technology and innovation in cultural promotion. Wang Xudong, director of the Palace Museum, is impressed by the proposals for attracting more visitors to museums and improving the visiting experience. He says he has been looking forward to seeing the feedback, as well as the updates to the creative ideas. Last year, the Hong Kong Palace Museum launched its flagship youth-learning initiative, the Bi-city Youth Cultural Leadership Programme, to reinforce its long-standing commitment to encouraging cultural inheritance and fostering cultural exchange. Louis Ng, director of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, says that the mission lies at the museum's core. He explains the program as a cultural exchange platform for youth in Beijing and Hong Kong to spark creativity and broaden their horizons, with the goal of nurturing the next generation of cultural talents. "We look forward to this initiative bringing positive and far-reaching influence on nurturing and inspiring future cultural leaders, thereby supporting the two cities in their endeavor to make Chinese culture 'go global', and strengthening Hong Kong's position as an international hub for future cultural and art leaders," he says. In February, the first edition of the program, which was comprised of eight online exchange activities, concluded with the participation of 95 university students from the two cities. With Swire Properties as its lead sponsor, the two-year program is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Palace Museum and the Beijing Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Since its launch, the program has been the focus of enthusiastic participation by students attending universities and tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and Beijing. For the second edition, 16 outstanding students have been chosen to join a two-month immersive learning program. In addition to visiting the Hong Kong Palace Museum, the students also attended talks hosted by sector experts,joined a design mindset and innovative workshop, visited other art and cultural landmarks, such as Taikoo Li Sanlitun and ArtDist in Beijing, as well as Blue House in Hong Kong. They also had four-week internships at some of Hong Kong's leading cultural and art institutions, including the Hong Kong Palace Museum, M+, the West Kowloon Cultural District Performing Arts Division, and four museums managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Lou Cheuk Hang, who studies Chinese History and Art History at the University of Hong Kong interned at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. He says that it was quite difficult to get a museum internship in Hong Kong,but thanks to the program, he was able to do so. "During the last week of our internship, we designed a relatively complete plan for the workshop, which gave me a real sense of achievement," he says."This experience opened my eyes and has shown me the different possibilities in the museum sector." During the trip to the Palace Museum,the students visited the Department of Conservation Science to learn about the use of technology in artifact conservation, and also watched a VR video and visited some of the museum's other galleries and attractions. "The Palace Museum has long recognized the significance of cultural exchange and integration between Beijing and Hong Kong," says Lou Wei,deputy director of the Palace Museum. "We are glad to have partnered with the Hong Kong Palace Museum, to cultivate the next generation of visionary young cultural leaders, foster cultural creativity in both cities, and showcase the excellence of traditional Chinese culture to the world." He adds that the endeavor will help China's 5,000-year civilization to continue to thrive through ongoing exchange and learning. A man was airlifted to a hospital after getting injured in a hang gliding crash, California officials said. The man endured serious injuries on Sept. 3 after crashing on Black Mountain in the Rancho Penasquitos area, San Diego Fire Department officials said in a post on Twitter now rebranded as X. A man in his twenties suffered serious injuries in a hang glider crash at about 6pm Sunday. Copter 2 & firefighters on the ground located the patient on the north side of Black Mtn. He was taken directly to hospital via Copter 2. #rescue pic.twitter.com/m5pigZMOY7 SDFD (@SDFD) September 4, 2023 Firefighters on the ground found the man, believed to be in his 20s, on the north side of the mountain, officials said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Crew members hiked to the man off Glider Point Trail, firefighters told The San Diego Union-Tribune. He was airlifted to a hospital by helicopter, officials said. Black Mountain Open Space Park is 2,352 acres and access to the 1,554-foot summit is via a 2.5-mile hike, according to the city of San Diegos website. The mans current condition is not known at this time. 71-year-old hang-glider dies after crashing into tree in Virginia, officials say Paragliders seen falling from the sky after deadly collision, California officials say A 200-foot cliff crashes down on women walking a dog on California beach, rescuers say BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) This is my last time talking about this situation. Thats what Thomar Latrell Simmons, the former boyfriend of Carlee Russell, made clear during his podcast, 205 Boyz, to talk about Russell, how she faked her kidnapping in Hoover in July, and if they had talked since her arrest on filing a false police report charges. During the podcast, which debuted Friday, Simmons was joined by friend and co-host Marcus Moody, who asked Simmons about what his life had been like since Russells hoax, as well as the online rumors about him having a part in her going missing for several days before walking home. (Im) trying to get back to my normal life, but its never going to be normal for me, Simmons said. I cant even go around Birmingham without people knowing who I am. Its crazy, bro. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Timeline of Carlee Russells disappearance, return and the ongoing investigation into what happened to her On July 13, Russell called the Hoover Police Department, claiming that she saw a child walking about I-459 near Exit 10 in Hoover. When police arrived at the location, Russells car was found parked along the interstate with no sign of her. After days of searching for her, Russell walked back to her family home on July 16, where she claimed that she had been abducted and that she had escaped. However, police raised questions about Russells claims and after a lengthy investigation, she admitted that she made up the abduction story, as well as seeing a child walking along the interstate. She is currently facing charges on filing a false police report and filing a false statement to law enforcement authorities. Simmons said one of Russells family members called him July 13 to tell him that they couldnt find her. I was doing a dash to Hoover, he said. I got there in 15 minutes. Simmons said he found out about Russells lies from a press conference the police gave on July 24. I was mad, I was sad, he said. I was all type of emotion. Simmons addressed rumors that he was responsible for Russell wanting to get away. While talking about her, Moody asked about a trip Simmons and Russell took to New York City a couple of weeks before she disappeared. Simmons said they had fun and took tours of the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. We had a little argument, but it was nothing to kidnap yourself over, he said. 2 dead, 3 injured following Labor Day shooting in Birmingham Simmons said he was traumatized by all the rumors circulating online about his relationship to Russell, as well as rumors asking if he was simply seeking attention by getting involved early on in the search. It made me mad because people were talking down on my character, he said. People were saying I was a cheater and Im this and that, a player, and Im like Our relationship was five years, man.' Simmons said he has not spoken with Russell since she first went missing and felt he wouldnt be talking to her anytime soon. If you really want to tell me the truth, you couldve told me before all this happened, before the police came out, he said. You had time to tell me. Simmons said he still doesnt understand why Russell faked her kidnapping. Im confused, like what happened? What made you do that? I dont understand, he said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) This is my last time talking about this situation. Thats what Thomar Latrell Simmons, the former boyfriend of Carlee Russell, made clear during his podcast, 205 Boyz, when he discussed how she faked her kidnapping in July. Russell has since been arrested on suspicion of filing false police report charges. During the podcast, which debuted Friday, Simmons was joined by friend and co-host Marcus Moody, who asked Simmons about what his life had been like since Russells admitted hoax, as well as the online rumors about him having a part in her going missing for several days before walking home. [Im] trying to get back to my normal life, but its never going to be normal for me, Simmons said. I cant even go around Birmingham without people knowing who I am. Its crazy, bro. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Timeline of Carlee Russells disappearance, return and the ongoing investigation into what happened to her On July 13, Russell called the police in Hoover, Alabama, claiming that she saw a child walking on the interstate. When police arrived at the location, Russells car was found parked along the interstate with no sign of her. After days of searching for her, Russell walked back to her family home on July 16, where she claimed that she had been abducted and that she had escaped. However, police raised questions about Russells claims and after a lengthy investigation, she admitted that she made up the abduction story, as well as seeing a child walking along the interstate. She is facing charges for allegedly filing a false police report and filing a false statement to law enforcement authorities. Simmons said one of Russells family members called him on July 13 to tell him that they couldnt find her. I was doing a dash to Hoover, he said. I got there in 15 minutes. Alabama woman had highly unusual search history before her disappearance, police say Simmons said he found out about the hoax from a press conference the police gave on July 24. I was mad. I was sad, he said. I was all type of emotion. Simmons addressed rumors that he was responsible for Russell wanting to get away. While talking about her, Moody asked about a trip Simmons and Russell took to New York City a couple of weeks before she disappeared. Simmons said they had fun and took tours of the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. We had a little argument, but it was nothing to kidnap yourself over, he said. Simmons said he was traumatized by all the rumors circulating online about his relationship to Russell, as well as rumors asking if he was simply seeking attention by getting involved early on in the search. It made me mad because people were talking down on my character, he said. People were saying I was a cheater and Im this and that, a player, and Im like, Our relationship was five years, man.' Simmons said he has not spoken with Russell since she first went missing and felt he wouldnt be talking to her anytime soon. If you really want to tell me the truth, you couldve told me before all this happened, before the police came out, he said. You had time to tell me. Simmons said he still doesnt understand why Russell faked her kidnapping. Im confused. Like, what happened? What made you do that? I dont understand. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. Davyd Arakhamia, head of the Sluha Narodu (Servant of the People) party faction, reported that next week the Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian parliament] will vote on the resignation of Oleksii Reznikov , the current Minister of Defence of Ukraine, and the appointment of Rustem Umerov to the office. Source: Arakhamia on Telegram Quote: "This weeks changes of post: resignation of the Minister of Defence; discharge from office of the head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine". Details: Arakhamia added that the MPs will vote to appoint Rustam Umerov as the new Minister of Defence of Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "No other personnel matters will be handled this week," Arakhamia added. He stated that the Verkhovna Rada will also vote on "the resumption of the declaration of all officials in the format agreed upon with international partners" and for "changes to the law on PEPs [Politically Exposed Persons]" in the first reading. Previously: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that he has decided to remove Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov from his post. It is planned to replace him with Rustem Umerov, head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine. Background: On 10 August, Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources, reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was looking for a replacement for Oleksii Reznikov as Ukraines Minister of Defence and that there were at least two candidates. On 19 August, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, commenting on rumours that the president was looking for a replacement for him for the position at the Ministry of Defence, said this position was "temporary" for him and he could resign at his own discretion. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in response to a question about the chances that Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov might be removed from his post, said he would be able to comment on personnel decisions after signing the relevant decrees. On 28 August, Reznikov said that he and the president had discussed the possibility of appointing him to another position, but the decision had to be made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself. 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 head of Zelensky 's Servant of the People party, David Arakhamia, announced on Sept. 3 that Ukraine's parliament will vote next week on the dismissal of Oleksii Reznikov and the appointment of Rustem Umerov as Minister of Defense. Earlier today, President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly announced his decision to dismiss Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and replace him with 41-year-old Rustem Umerov, the chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine. The President stated that the decision would be voted on next week. I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction both with the military and with society as a whole, Zelensky said in his evening address to the nation. Before his current post, Umerov, a Ukrainian politician and businessman of Crimean Tatar origin, had served as a member of parliament in the Holos party from 2019-2022. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement His dismissal comes in the wake of several scandals within the Defense Ministry brought to light by Ukrainian media, particularly involving the procurement of equipment and supplies for Ukrainian soldiers. Read also: Zelensky announces dismissal of Defense Minister Reznikov Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. For the record: 9:54 p.m. Sept. 4, 2023: An earlier version of a photo caption misidentified an unamed protester being arrested as Keisha Stewart. A Labor Day demonstration that blocked part of Sunset Boulevard led to the peaceful arrest of roughly two dozen people protesting Kaiser Permanentes labor practices in front of the HMO's medical center in Hollywood. Hundreds of workers marched from Los Feliz Elementary to the medical center's entrance around 11 a.m., many of them holding signs and dressed in their local unions T-shirts. At the behest of police, organizers ushered most of the group onto the sidewalk, leaving in the cordoned-off street a circle of two dozen protesters who seated themselves on the asphalt. At noon on the dot, helmeted Los Angeles Police Department officers bearing plastic handcuffs began arresting the workers seated in the street. One by one, officers approached each member of the circle, cuffed them behind their backs and escorted them to the booking center. Healthcare workers rally at Kaiser Permanente's main medical facility in Los Angeles on Monday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) The first two protesters to be led away were two older women seated in wheelchairs, whom officers gently wheeled toward a command post set up behind a Scientology building across from the hospital. One raised her arm in solidarity and called, Viva la lucha, to supporters as she passed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement As they were escorted to booking, several other protesters chanted along with the crowd: What do we want? Safe staffing! When do we want it? Now!" Los Angeles Police Lt. Letisia Ruiz said about 25 people were arrested, and that all were going to be cited and released. The SEIU-UHW said it would cover the arrested workers' fines and legal expenses. The protest is part of an ongoing dispute between the Oakland-based HMO and a coalition of unions representing roughly 40% of its workforce. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which represents more than 85,000 healthcare workers in seven states and the District of Columbia, is negotiating its first contract renewal since 2019. Workers say the pandemic decimated staffing to a degree that endangers patient and staff safety. They are calling for an increase in hiring, as well as a $25 per hour minimum wage for front-line health workers. Demonstrators form a circle on Sunset Boulevard during a protest by Kaiser Permanente workers. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) Late last month, local Kaiser unions began voting on whether to authorize a strike in the event that no new agreement is reached before the current contract expires Sept. 30. On Friday, the union representing more than 3,000 workers in Colorado became the first of the coalitions dozen unions to do so. Were a strike to proceed, union leaders have said , it would be the largest strike of healthcare workers in the nations history. In a statement released in advance of Mondays protest, Kaiser Permanente said the hospital chain was committed to bargaining with our Coalition unions in good faith and in the spirit of partnership. The statement also expressed confidence that the two sides would reach an agreement in advance of the Sept. 30 deadline. Kaiser maintains that it weathered the pandemic-related staffing crises better than other healthcare organizations, with an average employee turnover rate of 8.5%. The organization hired more than 29,000 new employees in 2022, the statement said, and was on track to exceed that number this year. Protesters banged drums and chanted as uniformed officers gathered on either end of the cordoned-off area. Among those seated in the street was Darrell Jerome, a medical assistant at Kaiser Brea in Orange County. In his 30 years on the job, he said, he has never seen staffing levels as low as they are now. All of our departments are short-staffed," he said, despite Kaiser's earnings the company reported $3.3 billion in net income in the first two quarters of this year. They raised the rates and havent passed [the increase] on to the workers. He said he was prepared to be arrested in order to bring attention to their cause. Also in the street was Marisa Montanez. A lab tech at Kaisers Bellflower Clinic in Downey and a 21-year veteran of the system, she said she tore the meniscus in one of her knees racing back and forth between the lab and patient check-ins. She frequently worked 12-hour shifts for six or seven days a week, she said, and had watched patient wait times grow. We mean nothing to the executives, she said. Our patients deserve better, said Jessica Cruz, a licensed vocational nurse at the Kaiser medical center on Sunset. Workloads have doubled and tripled in her seven years with the system, she said, and she was prepared to risk arrest. Keisha Stewart, center, joins others in a human circle on Sunset Boulevard during the protest. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) Montanez and Cruz were the last two arrested when they were led away at 12:15. Officers helped Montanez rise to her feet on her bad knee. Well be back! the protesters chanted as the crowd began to disperse. Processing went swiftly, and most of those arrested were walking free less than 15 minutes after being led away. Among them was Tracy McDaniel, a financial counselor at Kaisers West L.A. office. McDaniel said she has been with the company for 26 years. In the last five years, however, I have worked doubles and triples just to make ends meet, she said. Its really hard. I used to love working for Kaiser. I bragged about working for Kaiser because it was such a good job. The arrest was worth it, she said. And if it wasnt enough to get executives attention, she and her colleagues were prepared to follow with a strike. Ive never been in handcuffs, she said. I felt like I was liberated today. The tough conditions of the pandemic were one theme cited by the workers. Were fighting for fair wages. We want to be treated like the heroes they said we were during the pandemic, said Christina McDermott, a surgical technician at Kaisers Alton/Sand Canyon facility in Irvine. McDermott said she used the same set of personal protective equipment for a month straight during the pandemic, and often slept in her car or a tent to avoid bringing the virus into her home. Now, she said were at the point where if we dont work overtime, we cant pay our bills. A police officer arrests a protester. The SEIU-UHW said it would cover the arrested workers' fines and legal expenses. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) When you look at whos doing the work and whos earning the income, its completely off balance, said Ryan Serrano, a customer service representative at Kaisers regional office in Pasadena. He and colleague Lisa Scales, who handled Medi-Cal payments, said they were frustrated at the gap between high executive compensation and diminishing resources for staff and patients alike. They said they speak frequently to patients frustrated with long wait times and difficulties paying their bills. We hear their complaints, and all we offer them is debt, Serrano said. Were very much on their side. The march is a fitting cap on a summer of labor unrest in Los Angeles, where more than 100,000 workers in fields ranging from film and television to hotel staffing have walked off the job and taken to the picket line following failed contract negotiations. Even in a restive year, the healthcare dispute stands out. The Kaiser contract talks are the largest single-employer labor negotiations going on in the U.S. right now, according to the coalition. While specifics differ in the various disputes, shared frustration over rising costs has forged alliances across unions. Theres a perception that we have little in common, but were both fighting for our future, playwright Sam Chanse told The Times recently as she walked a picket line alongside hotel workers. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The Russian troops launched Shahed kamikaze drones to attack Odesa Oblast overnight, 17 of which were brought down by Ukrainian air defence forces, but some hits have occurred. Source: Ukrainian Defence Forces on Telegram; Oleh Kiper, Head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration Quote: "Russian terrorists attacked the south of Odesa Oblast with kamikaze drones for 3.5 hours. Our air defence forces shot down 17 UAVs." Details: The heavy attack also resulted in hits. Warehouses and industrial buildings, agricultural machinery and equipment in industrial facilities were damaged in several settlements of Izmail district. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Furthermore, several fires broke out on the territory of civilian facilities due to the impact of the debris, but these have been extinguished. No one was killed or injured in the night bombardment. "All relevant services continue to work at the scene. Law enforcement officers are recording the Russian crimes," Kiper added. 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! Tropical Storm Hilary caused catastrophic flooding in Death Valley National Park. Remnants of the storm hit the park between Aug. 19-21. This included heavy rain, which led to flooding in many areas of the park and a parkwide closure for safety, the parks website says. One casualty: roads, including State Route 190, which is a main corridor in the park. According to The Los Angeles Times, when Hilary came across the park, water quickly moved through it. Portions of the highway are in crumbles, and because of the damages to the park, officials said it could take months for the park to reopen. There is a lot of damage, and its pretty widespread, Matthew Lamar, a park ranger, told the LA Times. Theres a lot of pavement loss. Its definitely going to be a while. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In a press release two weeks ago, the National Park Service noted all roads and unpaved roads in Death Valley have been damaged and are closed. It said the storm caused pavement loss and undercutting of pavement that make travel conditions unsafe. Picture the mountains in Death Valley as being a steep building roof, park ranger Abby Wines said in the release. Just like a roof, the rocky slopes dont absorb much water. The canyons function like a rain spout, channeling that runoff. However, in Death Valley that runoff is a fast-moving muddy soup carrying rocks. Ahead of Hilary, the National Weather Service issued its first tropical storm watch in California. When the weather hit, it was the first tropical storm to impact the Golden State in 84 years. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Robots install car tires at the workshop of GAC Aion, an NEV subsidiary of Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC Group), in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 24, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Riding a wave of strong revenue and profits through the first half of 2023, China's major listed automakers are optimistic about the rest of the year's performance in the vehicle market. SAIC Motor, China's largest automaker by sales, generated operating revenue of 326.55 billion yuan ($45 billion) from January to June, up 3.34 percent year-on-year, according to its financial statement. The Shanghai-listed company saw its net profit attributable to shareholders in the same period grow 2.54 percent year-on-year to 7.09 billion yuan. SAIC Motor said the rise in revenue and profit was the result of a structural adjustment and corporate efforts to streamline costs and improve efficiency. Its sales from January to June fell 7.28 percent to 2.07 million units due to weaker demand, but it saw the situation start to improve in July thanks to a series of favorable policies gradually taking hold. The company said it will step up its transition towards electrification, improve dealer sales and marketing capabilities, and enhance its overseas presence. Sales of its MG-branded vehicles reached 115,000 units in Europe from January to June, up 143 percent year-on-year. The brand also achieved a market share of over 5 percent in the Middle East, Chile, Australia and Mexico. Meanwhile, Shenzhen-listed BYD, China's largest new energy vehicle manufacturer, saw its operating revenue in the first half increase 72.72 percent year-on-year to hit 260.12 billion yuan, while its net profit soared 204.68 percent to 10.95 billion yuan. According to a financial statement released on Tuesday, BYD's automotive business generated an operating revenue of 208.82 million yuan, accounting for 80.28 percent of the company's total, and it delivered more than 1.25 million vehicles in the first half, up 94.25 percent year-on-year. The operating revenue of Hong Kong-listed State-owned BAIC Motor in the first half of 2023 hit 9.9 billion yuan, up 18.37 percent year-on-year, while its net profit attributable to the parent company rose 31.9 percent to 2.85 billion yuan. BAIC, which has joint ventures with South Korea's Hyundai and Germany's Mercedes-Benz, delivered 507,000 vehicles in the first half, up 24.1 percent year-on-year. The Beijing-based automaker said it will follow the trends of the market in the second half to ensure steady development and grow its market share. Some startups that saw their net loss grow in the first half said they expect the situation to improve in the second half. Chinese electric vehicle startup Nio saw its revenue in the second quarter fall 14.8 percent year-on-year to 8.77 billion yuan, according to its financial statement released on Tuesday. The profit of the New York-listed startup in the second quarter stood at 6.06 billion yuan, tumbling 119.6 percent from the same period last year and 24.2 percent from the first quarter this year, mainly due to lackluster sales. Nio delivered only 23,500 vehicles from April to June, down 6.1 percent year-on-year, despite the burgeoning NEV segment in China. Nio expects its sales in the third quarter to at least double the second quarter number by reaching between 55,000 and 57,000 units, thanks to the arrival of new models. Statistics show the startup's sales in July rebounded back to over 20,000 units. Nio's new ES6 started deliveries in late May and the new ES8 followed in late June, but it will take time for their sales to increase. Nio said the new EC6 will be unveiled in September, and CEO William Li stressed the company is beefing up its sales capabilities. "We have been working to improve our sales capabilities and our goal is to secure 30,000 orders a month by September," he said. Xpeng, another startup, saw its net loss reach 2.8 billion yuan in the second quarter, down 3.8 percent and higher than the market projection of 2.17 billion yuan. Its operating revenue in the quarter tumbled 31.9 percent year-on-year to 5.06 billion yuan, but Xpeng expects third-quarter sales to grow to 41,000 units, up from 39,000 in the second quarter. At a recent investor conference, Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng said the company will spare no efforts to scale up its monthly sales to 20,000 units. Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said he expects overall sales this year to eclipse 2022's nationwide total. Statistics from the CAAM show that 15.62 million vehicles were sold from January to July, up 7.9 percent year-on-year. Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Manet attends an event to meet with garment workers, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh By Kate Lamb JAKARTA (Reuters) - New Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday laid out his vision to lift the Southeast Asian country into the high-income category by 2050, in his first public remarks at an international forum since taking office. The 45-year-old last month took over power from his father Hun Sen after a lopsided general election that all opposition parties were barred from contesting. Speaking at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) business forum in the Indonesian capital, the Western-educated leader said Cambodia had recently launched an overarching national economic vision to "safeguard the nature of hard-gained peace and accelerate national development to achieve the milestone of becoming a high-income country by 2050". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The vision involves developing human capital, the digital economy and inclusivity and sustainability, he said, referring to it as the "pentagon strategy". In a country once riven by decades of war, Cambodia has now evolved to a lower-middle income nation with economic growth rates of 7%, he said. Speaking ahead of the annual ASEAN summit on Tuesday, the Westpoint graduate and four-star general acknowledged a tightening of geopolitical rivalry among major powers, which he said was putting pressure on "peace, security and prosperity for ASEAN as a whole". Observing that "war cannot be ended by war", Hun Manet called on ASEAN and international communities to oppose the threat of force against a sovereign state, and said ASEAN and the United Nations must "adhere to the spirit of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference". Cambodia's parliament approved Hun Manet as prime minister in August. His father, Hun Sen, ruled Cambodia for almost four decades, a time analysts said was marked by increasing autocracy, the suppression of political opposition and shuttering of a free press. Hun Sen, one of the world's longest ruling leaders, has said he expects his son to continue his leadership style and will himself remain in politics. (This story has been refiled to change the headline) (Reporting by Kate Lamb; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Nick Macfie) By Sachin Ravikumar and Andrew MacAskill LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's education minister Gillian Keegan apologised for an expletive-ridden outburst on Monday after complaining she wasn't being thanked enough for doing a "fucking good job" in dealing with potentially hundreds of unsafe school buildings. The revelations of old and weak concrete in schools, which saw 104 ordered to shut buildings only days before the start of a new term and others using rooms propped up by steel girders, has sparked anger among parents and teachers. The issue is a new political headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as members of parliament returned on Monday following the summer recess and adds to the impression of decaying public infrastructure in Britain. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The government is awaiting responses from about 1,500 schools that were sent surveys to identify those with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), a lightweight form of concrete commonly used during the 1960s-80s but now considered weak and unsafe. Keegan risked inflaming the debate further in unguarded remarks caught on camera following an interview with ITV when she suggested she had done more than others to try to resolve the issue. "Does anyone ever say 'you know what, you've done a fucking good job, because everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing?'," Keegan, Britain's fifth education secretary in two years, said. "No signs of that, no?". Keegan later apologised for using "choice language" and said her comments were "unnecessary". Sunak's spokesperson said the language was "not acceptable" but that the prime minister was satisfied with her apology. Opposition parties said the school closures were evidence of under-investment in public services by the Conservative Party, which has been in power since 2010. Labour leader Keir Starmer said the government's handling of the school closures was "descending into farce". Sunak told reporters that 95% of the roughly 22,000 schools in England would not be affected, and issues could be limited to single classrooms in many cases. His spokesperson said the number of schools affected would be "in the hundreds not the thousands". The former top civil servant in the education department said that Sunak, in a previous job as finance minister, had halved annual funding to repair schools when officials had asked for it to be doubled. "I was absolutely amazed to see ... the decision," former Permanent Secretary Jonathan Slater told BBC Radio. Asked if he was to blame, Sunak said it was "completely and utterly wrong" and that the funding he approved was in line with decisions taken over the previous decade. (Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar and Andrew MacAskill; Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan and Alistair Smout, Editing by Peter Graff, David Goodman, Ed Osmond, William Maclean) Hundreds of Jimmy Buffett fans many donning colorful and extravagant outfits took to the streets in the Florida Keys on Sunday to honor the rock legend. Women wearing flowery hats, a man with a coconut bikini top, another wearing a cheese burger costume and others lifting photos of the rock star above their heads were some of the people in attendance at the afternoon procession in Key West. It wouldnt be a real tribute to Buffett without a laid-back crowd singing his greatest hits, including Its five oclock somewhere, as they marched on Duval Street with drinks galore. And it wasnt all partying. Flowers, liquor and messages were left by Buffets old recording studio. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The singer and song writer had been dealing with a type of skin cancer for the last four years, according to his website. He died Friday at 76 surrounded by his family. Take a look at some photos and videos of those paying homage to the former Key West resident: Thousands gather on Duval St in Key West for a second line procession to honor Jimmy Buffet pic.twitter.com/DVXy1P3nUg Natalia Jaramillo (@latinaglasses) September 3, 2023 Flowers, liquor and messages by Jimmy Buffets old recording studio in Key West pic.twitter.com/me9Dxkg9W7 Natalia Jaramillo (@latinaglasses) September 3, 2023 READ MORE: How Jimmy Buffett found his vibe in the Keys, and why Florida will miss his presence Key West is doing it right this evening pic.twitter.com/1Ttoo2QhCS Chris Winward (@chriswinward) September 3, 2023 So much love for Jimmy Buffett down here in his Key West hometown! Duvall Street is packed and lots love flowing. This was amazing to be a part of! pic.twitter.com/baIJxcR8Wk BoomRoasted (@roasted76) September 3, 2023 READ MORE: See Jimmy Buffett through the years: Early photos of concerts and appearances in Florida READ MORE: Key West mourns Jimmy Buffett with a blast of his greatest hits in the streets READ MORE: Jimmy Buffett dies at 76. Singer turned Key West lifestyle into a business empire Florida homeowners have been bracing themselves since Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning in areas even outside of those directly impacted, fearing the implications the storm could have on their insurance policies at a time when rates are already soaring. But early analysis from multinational investment bank UBS and reinsurance firm BMS estimate that insured losses could end up being only a fraction of the cost many feared when Idalia briefly intensified to a Category 4 storm before making landfall as a Category 3 storm near Keaton Beach, a sparsely populated area nestled in Floridas Big Bend area. UBS released its estimates early Thursday showing that insured losses could average about $9.36 billion, with a 50% chance of losses over $4.05 billion and a 10% chance of losses of $25.6 billion. Estimates from BMS were more optimistic, coming in between $3-5 billion, saying that the insurance industry dodged a bullet in comparison to what damages could have been. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hurricane Idalia damage: Hurricane Idalia damage photos, flooding, aftermath in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas In reality, the insurance industry dodged a bullet as Idalia tracked over relatively rural areas with low population density, an analysis posted on the BMS website said. The good news was quickly overshadowed by a harsher reality, according to BMS, which said Idalia showed the potential far-reaching effects of future storms. The tidal flooding all the way down to Bradenton, Florida reveals that the impacts from named storms can be far-reaching beyond the destructive center of the storm and the cone of uncertainty, the analysis said. This should be a warning call for what will happen when a major hurricane strikes the Tampa Bay area, said BMS. Hurricane Idalia was the first storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season to hit Florida and there are nearly three months before it wraps up on Nov. 30. Determining exactly how Hurricane Idalia and other major hazards can impact homeowners insurance rates is a murky, complicated process that involves not only calculating geographical risks associated with those hazards but also reinsurance costs insurers need to offset their own risks and litigation costs stemming from fraudulent claims, which the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) says is the primary cause of skyrocketing home insurance premiums in Florida. For Florida homeowners, those issues are only compounded by the dwindling number of insurers in the private market, causing many to flock to Citizens Insurance, which wasnt prepared for the sudden influx of new policies. Citizens is a state-backed insurer that was created in 2002 as a last-resort option for homeowners who couldnt get comparable coverage in the private market. Many homeowners have found short relief from rising premiums through Citizens cheaper rates without realizing the implications that arise if Citizens cant pay out its claims levying assessments on both Citizens policyholders and non-policyholders. Wondering how Hurricane Idalia or any major hazard could affect your home insurance rates? Keep reading. How do hurricanes impact Florida home insurance rates? Calculating home insurance rates and insurance rates in general involves very complicated algorithms that would put most people to sleep, so here are the quick highlights. Payouts from natural disasters is the first factor many consider and one of the first things people point out when wondering why their insurance rate increased despite no history of claims. What many people dont realize is that insurance is very much a socialized system where policyholders are grouped into shared risk pools. So while a homeowners claims history will impact their premium and even their insurability with some private insurers, claims filed within their community can also cause rate increases. Hurricane Idalia aftermath: Damage from Hurricane Idalia stretches across states: Maps show the storm's aftermath Reinsurance is another cost factor related to those shared risk pools. Insurance companies purchase reinsurance to offset their risk of financial loss to yet another type of insurance company. In essence, reinsurance is just insurance for insurance companies. And while the concept may seem strange, its a necessary precaution insurance companies take so they can remain solvent and profitable. Insurance companies are subject to reinsurance rates in the same way homeowners are and when those rates increase, theyre passed down to policyholders. In worst-case scenarios, companies arent able to acquire enough reinsurance to cover their risks, which can lead to insolvency. Reinsurance renewals in Florida saw 30%-50% increases, according to reports from Aon and Gallagher Re. Non-Florida risks were up 10%-20%. Policyholders will feel the impact of those increases when they open up their renewal letters. The report does have a silver lining, however. Those rising costs mean theres enough supply to clear renewals, cutting the chances that homeowners are met with non-renewal notices. More claims means more litigation the hidden source of Floridas rising insurance rates An increase in major hurricanes is often lauded as the main culprit behind Floridas rising insurance rates but an increase in insurance fraud and frivolous litigation plays a bigger role, according to Triple-I. In October 2022, the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) published data showing that Florida leads the nation in homeowners insurance-related litigation, making up 79% of the lawsuits across the U.S. while accounting for just 9% of the total claims. In the brief, Triple-I states that fraudulent roof-replacement schemes and too much litigation, coupled with generous attorney-fee mechanisms, resulted in huge net underwriting losses for Floridas homeowners insurers. Triple-I and other insurance companies have pointed to a 2017 state Supreme Court decision as the driving force behind an increase in attorneys fees. They say the decision now allows courts to award attorneys with much higher hourly billing rates. Previously, attorneys fees were limited to no more than 25% of any judgment against a sovereign. Between 2017 and 2021, data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation showed that $51 billion was paid out by Florida insurers over 10 years. About 71% of that total went to attorneys fees and public adjusters while only 8% went to claimants. What happens when Citizens Insurance cant pay out claims? Everyone chips in Many homeowners were able to swap home insurance coverage to Citizens due to the substantial price difference compared to similar coverage in the private market. Part of meeting Citizens eligibility requirements includes showing that premiums from Florida-authorized insurance companies are 20% higher than Citizens for comparable coverage. State regulators approved a series of proposals by private insurers to assume Citizens policies in part to offset the financial risk of Florida getting hit by a major hurricane. Should payouts from policyholder claims dry up Citizens funds, state law requires that the company levy assessments from policyholders and non-policyholders until the deficit is paid. Those assessments can be substantial, according to Citizens website, which states that policyholder assessments could be up to 45% of their premium due to the Citizens Policyholder Surcharge, quickly erasing any savings policyholders enjoyed. Assessments work in three tiers with Citizens Policyholder Surcharge being the first. If a deficit remains after the full amount of the Citizens Policyholder Surcharge is levied, a Regular Assessment of 2% is then added to assessable policies in the private market, which includes homeowners policies, auto, specialty and surplus lines policies. The Emergency Assessment is the last tier, which is charged if any deficit remains after the Regular Assessment. Emergency Assessments can be up to 10% per account per year for each of Citizens three accounts, and it can be levied on both Citizens and non-Citizens policyholders for as many years as necessary until the deficit is resolved. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: How hurricanes like Idalia can impact Florida home insurance rates By Francois Murphy VIENNA (Reuters) -Iran's stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to weapons grade, continues to grow and there has been no progress in talks with Tehran on sensitive issues such as explaining uranium traces at undeclared sites, two reports by the U.N. nuclear watchdog seen by Reuters said on Monday. According to one of the confidential quarterly reports to member states, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, continued to increase albeit at a slower pace, despite some of it having been diluted. "The (IAEA) Director General (Rafael Grossi) regrets that there has been no progress in resolving the outstanding safeguards issues in this reporting period," one report said, referring to Iran's failure to credibly explain the origin of uranium particles found at two undeclared sites. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The reports, sent to IAEA member states ahead of a quarterly meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors next week, also said that after limited progress on re-installing IAEA surveillance cameras in the previous quarter, there had since been none, further raising tensions with Western powers. Iran and the IAEA announced an agreement in March on re-installing surveillance cameras introduced under a deal with major powers in 2015 but removed at Iran's behest last year. Only a fraction of the cameras and other monitoring devices the IAEA wanted to set up have been installed. Adding to the issues likely to cause tension with the West, Iran's stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% grew by an estimated 7.5 kg to 121.6 kg, the report said, even though 6.4 kg of it was diluted with uranium enriched to a lower level. Iran's production of uranium enriched to up to 60% has slowed to around 3 kg a month from about 9 kg a month previously, a senior diplomat said. Other diplomats have said the slowdown could be part of so-called "de-escalation" efforts between Iran and the United States also involving Iranian funds frozen abroad and U.S. prisoners held in Iran, though U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has denied the issues are linked. "Of course, Iran claims (the slowdown in enrichment to up to 60%) as a positive, but more HEU (highly enriched uranium) is still more HEU," one Western diplomat said. CAMERAS WITHOUT FOOTAGE Iran's stock of uranium enriched to 60% is now almost three times the roughly 42 kg that by the IAEA's definition is theoretically enough, if enriched further, to produce a nuclear bomb. Experts add, however, that some uranium would be lost in the process. Iran denies wanting to produce nuclear weapons. The IAEA continues to have regular access to Iran's declared nuclear facilities and its core nuclear activities under long-standing agreements that predate the 2015 nuclear deal, but the 2015 deal added monitoring to areas such as the production of parts for centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium. Even where IAEA monitoring equipment has been re-installed, such as at a site in Isfahan, it does not have access to the footage that its cameras record since that was not included in the March agreement it negotiated with Iran. One of Monday's reports spelled out that problem. "The Director General reiterates that for Agency cameras to be effective, including those installed at Esfahan, the Agency needs access to the data they record." (Reporting by Francois Murphy;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Ed Osmond, William Maclean) Australian rescuers have successfully evacuated a researcher who fell seriously ill at a remote Antarctic outpost, but it required a unique and daring evacuation mission. The man in question had an undisclosed "developing medical condition" and the mission required an emergency medical rescue team, a huge icebreaker ship and two helicopters to retrieve the man from extremely isolated territory on the icy continent, according to CBS News' partner network, BBC News. The Australian Antarctic research station of Casey overlooks Vincennes Bay in the Antarctic, as seen in this January 11, 2008 aerial file photo. / Credit: TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP via Getty The Australian Antarctic Division, the government agency that led the rescue operation, said the man had been successfully retrieved and flown onto its icebreaker RSV Nuyina a special-purpose boat designed to navigate through ice-covered waters. The man was in transit Monday to the southern Australian island state of Tasmania for specialist care. "Getting this expeditioner back to Tasmania for the specialist medical care required is our priority," Robb Clifton, the operations manager for the Australian Antarctic Division, said in a statement Monday, according to Australian media. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The man in question had been working at the Casey research station, one of three permanent research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division. Casey is the nearest permanent Antarctic station to Australia's mainland. Medical facilities are limited at the research station, and only around 20 people live there during the southern hemisphere's winter, according to the BBC. The Australian government requires all researchers to undergo strict medical examinations before being deployed to the frozen, windswept continent due to the hostile environment they face there. As CBS News has previously reported, rescue missions in Antarctica often face perilous conditions, presenting huge logistical challenges for evacuation teams. Happiness expert and best-selling author on finding our inner calling CEO of Inflection AI Mustafa Suleyman on risks of artificial intelligence Dangers of skipping a leg of your flight and why it's the travel hack airlines prohibit For years, Stephen Colbert dined out on the line reality has a well-known liberal bias, not just because its a good turn of phrase, but also because its true. Reactionary elites know that their arguments cant hold up under scrutiny. Its why Fox News and Newsmax host far fewer left-wing commentators on their debate panels than places like CNN or ABC do with conservatives. But heres the thing about engaging with bad faith actorstheyre way more scared of you than you should be of talking to them. I recently witnessed the rights fear of informed critics first-hand after I boosted a video uncovered by Media Matters researcher Olivia Little which showed supporters of the Christian supremacist group Moms for Liberty cheering the mention of Adolf Hitler during a recent conference. After millions of people had seen the clip, the groups co-founder Tiffany Justice, who had been featured in it, challenged me to a debate on my podcast, Theory of Change. Moms for Liberty Love Ron DeSantisbut Theyll Never Vote for Him ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Have me on your show, she demanded in a Twitter response. Lets talk. Or are you scared that you can only manage women when you lie about us on social? I accepted and invited her to direct message me on Twitter to work out the details for a live video conversation, suspecting that she would ultimately try to back out. My low expectations were met as she rapidly tried to modify her own proposed debate format by bringing in reinforcements. Lets do a Twitter space, she replied after I proposed a time window. Ill bring two people, you bring two people. We can have a moderator. I refused, saying that I had no interest in using Twitters very buggy Spaces feature, which infamously crashed repeatedly during Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ill-fated presidential campaign launch with the sites owner, Elon Muskand which continues to crash in heavily attended events. I also didnt want a group debate, where too many voices would drown out the argument on the table. Co-founder of Moms for Liberty Tiffany Justice speaks at the Moms for Liberty Summit in Philadelphia in 2023. Hannah Beier for the Washington Post After one more round of replies, she stopped responding. I was not shocked. I had seen this type of attitude so many times before. My earlier career was as a conservative political media consultant. I spent years trying to get Republicans to think seriously about public policy and be respectful of people who werent straight white Christians. Finally, I realized it was a doomed effort because the current GOP is more interested in identity politics than in serving the public. I decided to critique Republicans from the outside rather than the inside. I took a major financial hit as a result, but I enjoy having a clean conscience. Since I left the world of conservative media in 2015, numerous reactionary activists and commentators have refused to debate me. Rather than respond to my pointed critiques of their lies and delusions, many prominent right-wingers like professional senators daughter Meghan McCain or the recently indicted Rudy Giuliani have simply blocked me on Twitter. Im far from the only left-leaning pundit whos witnessed reactionaries cowering away in fear rather than face a hard challenge. Evangelical commentator Steven Crowder demonstrated one of the most hilarious examples of this behavior. After avoiding a confrontation of ideas with progressive YouTuber Sam Seder, Crowder literally ran away from a 2021 livestream when Seder showed up unannounced. Contrarian Defenses of RFK Jr. Are Not BraveTheyre Boring The fear that Republican pundits have of serious challenge is palpable at Fox News, which court documents show went to extreme lengths to prevent tender viewers from being told the obvious truth that Joe Biden won the 2020 election fairlyand that there was no evidence of large-scale voter fraud. I cant keep defending these reporters who dont understand our viewers and how to handle stories, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott wrote in a Nov. 19, 2016, message to a colleague telling him to rein in reporters who dared to tell the truth. The audience feels like we crapped on [them] and we have damaged their trust and belief in us. Its been this way since the modern American right began emerging in the 1940s. The historical record couldnt be clearer that the reactionary movement that calls itself conservatism was proudly anti-intellectual. William F. Buckley began his career by railing against atheist professors and, as documented in the new book, Resistance from the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars, he used his newly formed Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) organization to launch numerous attempts to censor students and professors who dared to disagree with his capitalist-inflected Christianity. The Right Needs to Ask: Why Do These Racists Keep Getting Hired by Us? Unable to prove their obsolete views about science, religion, and government in scholarly literature, reactionaries created a parallel universe of self-described think tanks which were more about applying ideological precepts to governance than they were about actually solving economic or social problems. Unsurprisingly, many of these organizations are still fixated on trying to prove creationism or that Americas founders were fundamentalist Christians. William Buckley and Gore Vidal debate in 1968. ABC Photo Archives As fragile and irrational as reactionary beliefs are, however, of late, more than a few people on the center-left have begun deciding that theres no need to rebut the torrent of lies and false beliefs. Some even insist that arguing with them at all is platforming them, and providing them with an audience they otherwise would not have. After years of witnessing unqualified right-wingers spew nonsense about the coronavirus, many science advocates are uninterested in arguing with idiots. Many transgender activists are also likewise disinclined to hold debates with self-proclaimed theocratic fascists. These are fully reasonable viewpoints, especially since Christian supremacist activists raking in millions of dollars a year are not open to new ideas. But, nonetheless, the center-to-left cannot willingly cede the public discourse to propagandists pushing ideas that are dangerously asinine. It makes sense not to waste time arguing with social media trolls or bad-faith preachers, but prominent purveyors of broken thinking need to be challenged in order to protect casual observers from their misinformed notions. Thats because the lies that reactionaries tell do not exist in a vacuum and, unfortunately, many of them have far greater reach than many people on the center-to-left realize. Dennis Prager speaks at Politicon at the Pasadena Convention Center on July 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images The Daily Wire, which regularly tells its audience that trans people and Democrats are demon-possessed and whose hosts routinely praise dictators, has a monthly audience of 26 million readers and is often one of the top U.S. Facebook publishers. The right-wing video propaganda factory PragerU has had over 1.7 billion views on YouTube. Joe Rogan, who insists hes a left-leaning independent but is increasingly known to parrot right-wing conspiracy theories, claimed 190 million downloads a month before he went exclusive to Spotify. Right-wing propagandist Tim Pool has 1.2 billion views on YouTube. I could do this all day, unfortunately. Heres Why Legitimate Scientists Should Debate RFK Jr. Without question, the far-right media ecosystem has grown to such an enormous global size that it cannot be ignored by people who disagree. Obviously, its not worth engaging with random anonymous trolls, but the biggest reactionary commentators must be challenged on the lies and hatred that they spread daily into the world. As progressive media commentator Oliver Willis recently explained: Liberals simply cant ignore this information that is in the bloodstream of the right. We dont live in a three-to-four channel universe anymore where bad ideas need mainstream media oxygen to catch on like wildfire. Democrats are continually on their heels because they dont pay enough attention to right wing information networks, and closing ourselves off just makes things worse. Its fine if you dont want to debate horrible people, but understand that simply letting them spew their toxic lies no longer works. None of the things these propagandists say hold up to scrutiny, and its important that people on the center-left stop ceding the political discourse to them, especially in places like YouTube where millions of people tune in for news. Debunk or debate, whichever you prefer. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. This article was produced by WBEZ , Chicagos NPR news station, and Injustice Watch , a nonprofit news organization in Chicago focused on issues of equity and justice in the court system. Phillip Merritts dementia is so advanced hes lost the ability to speak. But with the help of his cellmates at Western Illinois Correctional Center, the 71-year-old still manages to get on the phone with his brother every few weeks. He has to have someone call me, and then I dont know what to say to him because he cant understand anything, so Ill just talk, said Merritts brother, Michael, in an interview. All he can say are two words. I mean, hes just gone. Merritts deteriorating condition makes him a prime candidate to get out of prison under the Joe Coleman Medical Release Act, a pivotal criminal justice reform bill touted by Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats as an effective way to alleviate the states decrepit prison health care system, reduce the staggering costs of caring for ailing people in prison, and reunite families with frail loved ones. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Under the act named after a decorated Army veteran who died of prostate cancer while incarcerated Illinois prisoners can request early release if theyre terminally ill and expected to die within 18 months or if theyre medically incapacitated and need help with more than one activity of daily living, such as eating or using the bathroom. But a year-and-a-half since the Coleman Act went into effect, an investigation by Injustice Watch and WBEZ found far fewer prisoners have been released under the law than expected, as the medical release process has become mired in the charged politics of criminal justice reform in the post-George Floyd era. Behind the lower-than-expected numbers is the Prisoner Review Board, a state body appointed by Pritzker and confirmed by the Illinois Senate with final say on medical release requests. As of mid-August, the board had denied nearly two-thirds of medical release requests from dying and disabled prisoners who met the medical criteria to get out of prison under the Coleman Act including Merritt. I couldnt believe it, his brother said. How could they deny him? He cant even talk! More than half of the 94 denied applicants were older than age 60, and half had spent at least 15 years behind bars, according to an analysis of state prison data. At least two died in prison, including an 81-year-old who had been incarcerated for more than three decades and was scheduled to be released in 2025. Another man died five days before the board denied his request. Meanwhile, the Prisoner Review Board has only granted 52 medical releases a rate of fewer than three releases per month on average since board members began voting on those requests, records show. Advocates say the board is undermining the Coleman Act and forcing ill-equipped prison staff to care for dying and disabled prisoners, even those with families practically begging to take them off their hands. Our prison system is now completely overburdened by people who pose absolutely no risk to public safety but are tremendously expensive to care for, said Jennifer Soble, lead author of the Coleman Act and executive director of the Illinois Prison Project, a nonprofit legal group that represents dozens of medical release applicants. From a cost-saving perspective, from a government-efficiency perspective, and truly from a moral perspective, we need to be doing something differently here, she said. Donald Shelton, chair of the Prisoner Review Board, declined an interview request, but he defended the boards record on medical release requests in an email sent through a spokesperson. Each case that comes before the board comes with its own set of circumstances to be studied and evaluated by members, he wrote. Due diligence is given by the board to every person who sets a petition before them. Jennifer Soble, founder and executive director of the Illinois Prison Project, poses for a portrait at her downtown Chicago office. More medical releases could save taxpayers millions Its unclear exactly how many of Illinois nearly 30,000 prisoners could qualify for medical release. Under the Coleman Act, the Illinois Department of Corrections is required to keep track of that number, but department officials said they dont have it yet. A department spokesperson said the data would be published by years end. What is clear, from years of scathing reports from an independent monitor appointed by a federal judge, is Illinois prisons are unfit to provide health care for the thousands of aging, disabled and incapacitated prisoners. Half of the states prison medical staff jobs are currently vacant. Prisoners with mobility issues suffer bed sores and frequent falls because no one is around to care for them. Some are even left sitting in their own waste, according to the monitors reports. Prescriptions go unrenewed, cancers go undiagnosed. In the worst cases, as everyone here knows, people die painful deaths because of the lack of care, attorney Camille Bennett with the ACLU of Illinois said at a recent hearing on health care in state prisons. Even this substandard care is expensive. Illinois paid $250 million last fiscal year to Wexford Health Sources, a for-profit company contracted to provide health care to state prisoners, according to state records. Wexfords 10-year contract expired in 2021, but the company continues providing care as Illinois seeks new bidders. Releasing more people under the Coleman Act could bring down the long-term cost of prison health care, said Alan Mills, executive director of the Uptown Peoples Law Center, a legal clinic in Chicago whose lawsuits against the state led to the appointment of the independent monitor. The more prisoners there are who are medically needy, the higher the cost of caring for them, and the higher the bids will be, Mills said. Conversely, if the Prisoner Review Board approved more medical releases, the cost savings for taxpayers in the long term could be in the millions, Mills said. Daniel Conn, chief executive of Wexford Health Sources, did not respond to an interview request. LaToya Hughes, acting director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, declined to comment. There are other, more immediate savings for Illinois taxpayers if more ailing prisoners were released, Mills said. A recent government report showed Illinois spends more than $76,000 on average to incarcerate a single person for a year. Experts say terminally ill and incapacitated prisoners are much more expensive to care for. Prisoners whose medical needs cant be met in prison infirmaries are escorted to and from hospitals by guards. With prisons short-staffed, officers already routinely require overtime pay. By refusing to release more ailing prisoners, the Prisoner Review Board is also making it harder for prison medical staff to care for everyone else, Mills said. What limited resources we have are being devoted to people who are most seriously mentally or physically ill, and that doesnt leave any health care for anybody else at all, he said. At the same time, the overburdened health care system is also blocking more prisoners from getting out under the Coleman Act. Prisoners must be found qualified for medical release by a prison doctor or nurse before the board votes on their case. But prisoners often wait weeks or months to know whether theyll qualify, records show. In one case, a prisoner at Illinois River Correctional Center waited 152 days before finding out he didnt qualify for release, records show. Prison medical staff have said 240 prisoners who applied were unqualified for medical release. At least a handful of those prisoners lived in a prison infirmary, used wheelchairs or had terminal diseases like end-stage liver disease, and at least three died in prison, records show. There are other frail and disabled prisoners who dont see a doctor on a regular basis, so theres no way for the doctors to know about their condition, Soble said. Michael Merritt knows the limitations of the prison health care system all too well. His brother Phillip hasnt received proper medical treatment in prison for years, he said, and hes afraid of what could happen as his dementia worsens. He wishes the state would let his brother die at home, where his family can take turns caring for him, instead of a prison cell where hes unsure if theres anyone to properly look after him. I dont know what the problem is, Merritt said. They know they cant take care of him in there the way he is supposed to be taken care of. by Amy Qin/WBEZ Medical release decisions dictated by politics The Prisoner Review Board never told Merritt why they denied his brothers medical release request. Their deliberations happen behind closed doors and the law doesnt require them to provide an explanation. Board chair Shelton said members weigh many factors when voting on medical release requests, but primarily focus on an applicants prior convictions, where they plan to live once theyre released and testimonies from the victims of their crimes. An analysis of the boards decisions shows theres likely another factor at play: politics. Under state law, the board is required to be roughly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. The 12 current members include former law enforcement officials, educators, attorneys and counselors. Pritzker appoints all board members, who are then confirmed by the state senate. Medical release requests are decided by panels of three board members; at least two must agree to either approve or deny a request. Shelton said board members are chosen randomly for the panels. But so far, Republicans have cast more votes in medical release cases than Democrats and they are much more likely to vote to deny those requests, an analysis of voting data shows. Three out of the four Board members with the highest denial rates Jared Bohland, Kenneth Tupy and LeAnn Miller are Republicans. Each of them voted to deny release in more than 70% of the cases they heard, and each voted on more than a third of all medical release requests, voting data shows. Bohland and Tupy, along with Democrat Matthew Coates, were on the panel that denied Phillip Merritts medical release request in July. They voted to deny six out of seven requests that day, records show. A month earlier, Bohland was part of another panel, this time with two other Democrats, when they heard the case of 82-year-old Saul Colbert. Like Merritt, Colbert developed dementia while serving time for armed robbery. They both also had previous violent convictions, records show; Merritt had a conviction for attempted murder, while Colbert was convicted of murder. Both had family ready to take them in, and both were represented by the same attorney with the Illinois Prison Project. But the board voted 2-1 to release Colbert, with Bohland voting against. The only difference between those cases was the panel, Soble said. Through a spokesperson, Bohland, Tupy and Miller declined to answer questions about their voting records. Lisa Daniels, a former board member and restorative justice practitioner, said she believes some of her former colleagues are ideologically against letting anyone out of prison early. They simply believe that a person should complete the entirety of their sentence, no matter the circumstances they present in their petition, no matter how that person may have shown themselves to be redeemed and no matter (if theyre) no longer a threat to public safety, Daniels said. Daniels resigned from the board in January, one of six Democrats to step down or fail to be appointed since 2021. In the past few years, the state GOP has turned the board into a new front in the ongoing debate over criminal justice reform. Democrats, who have a supermajority in the state senate, have failed to muster enough support among their own ranks to get all of Pritzkers appointment through leaving the board with three vacant seats. Pritzker declined an interview request. In a statement, he acknowledged his administration has had a hard time recruiting potential board members because of the frayed political atmosphere around its work. In todays political climate where supporting common sense criminal justice reform has become a lightning rod, the Coleman Acts initial success should be seen as major progress in the right direction, he said. Coleman Act has failed to live up to its promise The day Pritzker signed the Coleman Act, its main sponsor, state Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, said in a press release the law would transform Illinois prison system and allow families to properly say goodbye to their loved ones. Im sorry we couldnt afford this mercy to Joe Coleman, but Im proud that well be able to do so for hundreds of other Illinoisans, Guzzardi said. Criminal justice reformers celebrated the Coleman Act as a model for other states to follow. In a report last year, FAMM, a prominent national advocacy group, said the Coleman Act was one of the strongest so-called compassionate release laws in the country. But so far, the act has failed to live up to its promise, said Mary Price, FAMMs general counsel at FAMM and the reports author. Advocates want lawmakers to institute several changes to the Coleman Act to encourage the Prisoner Review Board to release more people. Lawmakers should require board members to visit prison infirmaries to see firsthand the state of prison health care, advocates said. The board should also receive more training on how to evaluate the medical conditions of prisoners applying for release. Advocates also want the state to provide prisoners who are applying for medical release with an attorney to argue their case. Guzzardi said hell advocate for funding for that in the upcoming fall legislative session. Lawmakers should also allow prisoners to reapply for medical release sooner than currently allowed, said William Nissen, a white-shoe-lawyer-turned-pro-bono-attorney for prisoners whos worked on a handful of medical release requests so far. Prisoners denied medical release currently have to wait six months before they can reapply, unless they get a special exemption from the board. Shelton has only approved three out of 10 requests so far, according to figures provided by the boards chief legal counsel. If youre representing a terminally ill person, then a large part of their remaining life is gone before you can even apply again, Nissen said. Nissen said lawmakers should also require the board to explain why they denied a medical release to instill a certain amount of discipline in the decision-making process. If board members have to articulate their reason for denying someone release, maybe theyll reconsider the decision, he said. Phillip Merritts attorney is in the process of refiling his medical release request. His brother Michael doesnt know if hell get out this time. And he hasnt been able to reach Phillip in three weeks the cellmate who had helped facilitate the calls was apparently transferred. But hes certain he and his family can give Phillip a more humane send-off than any prison could. At least he could go peacefully, he said. New Zealand's trade surplus with China was 2 billion NZ dollars (1.19 billion U.S. dollars) in the June 2023 quarter, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Monday. Total goods and services exports to China were valued at 5.8 billion NZ dollars (3.45 billion dollars) in the June 2023 quarter, with imports valued at 3.8 billion NZ dollars (2.26 billion dollars), Stats NZ said. "New Zealand usually has a trade surplus for goods and services with China," International Trade Manager at Stats NZ Alasdair Allen said, adding this is increasingly driven by trade in goods. Total goods exports to China were valued at 5.4 billion NZ dollars (3.21 billion dollars), with imports valued at 3.6 billion NZ dollars (2.14 billion dollars), Allen said, adding over the past five years, there have only been three quarterly goods deficits with China. In the June 2023 quarter, New Zealand's largest goods export commodities to China were milk powder, butter, and cheese; meat; logs, wood, and wood articles; fruit; and preparations of milk, cereals, flour, and starch which includes infant formula, he said. In the June 2023 quarter, the largest goods import commodities from China were electrical machinery and equipment; mechanical machinery and equipment; vehicles, parts, and accessories; furniture, furnishings, and light fittings; and plastic and plastic articles, Allen said. From this list of commodities, compared with the June 2022 quarter, the imports for vehicles, parts, and accessories have risen, he said, adding electric car imports from China have been increasing in recent periods. Travel exports made up 85 percent of total services exports to China in the June 2023 quarter, he said. I'm a 'grumpy stayer' at my tech job. I'm not happy with the pay but I stick around because leaving one mediocre job for another feels pointless. An LA-based tech worker told Insider they stay at their job because it's convenient. Management sees them as difficult because they loudly advocate for better pay and boundaries for their colleagues. They haven't seen better job opportunities and aren't optimistic they'd find vastly different working conditions elsewhere. This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with an anonymous tech worker in their 40s. Insider verified their employment and is withholding their name to protect their employment. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I've worked full-time as the content director for a New York-based tech startup for about three and a half years. The job is convenient because I can work remotely from my home in LA, but otherwise, I'm a "grumpy stayer" because I'm not completely happy with my work situation. I would much rather work as a full-time freelance writer and digital nomad. However, once the pandemic hit, many of my projects dried up, and in April 2020, I took a full-time position here. I'm a grumpy stayer who's become more vocal about my unhappiness At this tech startup, I oversee a content schedule much like a magazine would work. We create content to match our sales goals, and I help plan and manage the project and writers from start to finish. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I've become more assertive in my 40s, which management doesn't always appreciate. HR and the executive team don't like that I'm an advocate and likely see me as grumpy or difficult, but I don't care. For instance, if we're given unreasonably tight deadlines, I'll openly address the entire team, including my boss, explaining why such timelines are unfair. I advise my co-workers to disregard emails and requests beyond working hours and encourage them to voice their concerns if the workload becomes overwhelming. I advocate for my co-workers. For example, at our last team meeting, they said, "Let's talk about what's going well and what's not working," but then everybody is just sitting there looking at each other. "Okay, I'll start," I said. "At meetings, I've pointed out that my team excelled at our work, which is why we deserve a raise." I've often raised the topic of pay during meetings and encouraged colleagues to push for salary increases. When you speak up, others see it's okay and feel more comfortable voicing their concerns. Management gives us the runaround. For many years, we've been told, "We're tight on the budget, but we'd love you to step up and do more." There's a vague promise of potential promotions in the future, asking us to do more and have faith. For raises, this year it was across the board, "No." Higher-ups told us we had a very bad year and didn't hit our sales goals. I argued that this had little to do with my team's work; we hit 98% of our goals. But they countered that the market and product we're selling changed, resulting in lower sales, which has nothing to do with my team. It's always a vague reply saying that if things improve or the market changes, we can discuss raises in the next fiscal year. In some ways, the job is refreshing One thing I do enjoy is my co-workers; they're great people. We don't have any jerks or crazy personalities, and everybody's well-behaved and respectful. In that way, it's refreshing. I also like and respect my boss she's doing her best with limited resources. I joke with her that I would not be working here if I had more money. I've also told her that my goal as a professional is to make sure there's equity and fairness and to help my co-workers speak out; she's okay with that. I'm not actively looking for another job. Without a significant pay increase, I don't see it being worth the effort. At least at this job, I already know what I'm doing and feel comfortable speaking out. If I were to start somewhere new, it would take too much mental work to get situated again, and I genuinely don't see many vastly different opportunities. Leaving one mediocre job for another feels pointless, and I don't expect better working conditions. Additionally, looking for a new job is prohibitively time-consuming, and I'm using my free time to work on a novel and a memoir. I'm a grumpy stayer because the economy is too crazy to return to full-time freelance. I have a lot of friends who also work in tech, and it feels like we're part of a giant middle group where things aren't horrible, but they're not great. It feels like there's so much of the same that it's not worth leaving. Read the original article on Business Insider A wing of a prison in Bayport, Minn., went into lockdown for several hours Sunday after about 100 inmates refused to return to their cells. Image courtesy of Communities United Against Police Brutality/Facebook Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A wing of a prison in Bayport, Minn., went into lockdown for several hours Sunday after about 100 inmates refused to return to their cells. The situation at the Minnesota Correctional Facility - Stillwater lasted about 8 hours and nobody was harmed. All staff were removed from common areas, aside from two correctional officers who remained in the unit's secure control area, WCCO in Minneapolis reports. The unit houses more than 220 inmates, most of whom returned to their cells when they were first asked. The inmates who refused to return to their cells stayed out talking and playing cards. Several factors reportedly led to the incident, including a modified cell release schedule for Labor Day weekend caused by staffing shortages, KSTP reports. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Inmates had also complained of not having access to clean showers or clean drinking water for several days, according to Communities United Against Police Brutality, a Minneapolis-based organization. "We just received information that prisoners peacefully protesting a lack of access to clean water have taken over a cell block at MCF-Stillwater prison," the organization said in a statement. "They have been locked in with no access to ice or showers for days due to understaffing. Some of the corrections officers are standing in solidarity with them. Corrections officers are free to leave the area. Prisoner rights groups are asking people to go to Stillwater Prison to bear witness." Additional law enforcement along with firefighters and other first responders were sent to the prison while it was in lockdown. "The situation was calm, peaceful and stable throughout the day," said Andy Skoogman, department of corrections spokesperson. Skoogman added that the department's crisis negotiations team was called to the scene as a precaution but never entered the unit. While most of the inmates returned to their cells, two continued to refuse and were sent to a separate unit. They will also face discipline. By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's chief military legal officer on Monday warned against steps that would compromise court independence, in what appeared to be the clearest public criticism yet by top brass of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's judicial overhaul plan. Military Advocate General Major Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi cautioned against Israel being stripped of one of its main defences on international legal issues, according to her speech at a conference of Israel's Bar Association in Tel Aviv. "The Israel Defence Forces (IDF)'s international legitimacy efforts are greatly benefited by the aura, the protection, with which the justice system provides it - particularly, the Supreme Court's professional and independent international status," said Tomer-Yerushalmi. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Measures that may harm, or be perceived as harmful to, the independence, professionalism and effectiveness of the justice system, may crack the aura that the judicial system provides to the military and harm the interests of the state of Israel." The Military Advocate General's Corps is tasked with upholding the rule of law within army ranks and includes an international law department that advises the military on laws of armed conflict. Tomer-Yerushalmi added that the military has been presenting the government with the possible implications of its judicial measures. Israel has faced criticism over the legality of its actions in its decades-old conflict with the Palestinians. Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition launched a campaign in January to overhaul the country's justice system, stirring concern for Israel's democratic health and sparking unprecedented protests that have seeped into the military. Netanyahu has since said some of the measures in the original plan have been scrapped and that he would seek a broad consensus on any new judicial reforms, which he says are aimed at restoring balance between the branches of government. The Supreme Court is set to hear a series of appeals this month by lawmakers and watchdogs that challenge Netanyahu's judicial measures, including a law that was passed in July and which limits the court's power to rule against the government. The court has been long feted as a torch-bearer for democratic rights by its supporters at home and abroad but it is frequently accused of being elitist, interventionist and left-leaning by its critics. (Editing by James Mackenzie and Tomasz Janowski) By Mohammed Hamad MANAMA (Reuters) - Israel officially opened its embassy in Bahrain on Monday, three years after both sides normalised ties and as Washington presses Riyadh for a similar deal that would be Israel's biggest diplomatic win in the region. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen attended an official ceremony for the opening of the diplomatic mission during a visit to Bahrain which included a delegation of businessmen and government officials. "The (Bahrain) foreign minister and I agreed that we should work together to increase the number of direct flights, the tourism, the trade volume, the investments," Cohen said during the ceremony. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani said the inauguration of the embassy "signifies our shared commitment to security and prosperity for all the peoples of our region". The normalisation deal between Bahrain and Israel was part of a series of agreements, known as the Abraham Accords, which were also signed with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan. Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, is a small island on the Gulf where Saudi Sunni allies, the Al Khalifa royal family, rule over a Shi'ite majority. Analysts said the rapprochement with Israel was forged partly through shared fears of Iran. The opening of the Israeli embassy in Bahrain came as the United States is pressing its traditional ally Riyadh to sign a similar deal for Saudi Arabia, a Muslim powerhouse and home to Islam's holiest shrines. However, Riyadh has so far resisted U.S. pressure and linked the move to the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, along with other demands. (Writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Christina Fincher) Amazon recently said staff would have to relocate to a hub office, switch teams, or risk being "voluntarily resigned." One software-development engineer who doesn't want to move is now interviewing for other jobs. This person took their current job specifically to work remotely and says losing that is "a huge breach of trust." This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with an Amazon software-development engineer. Insider has verified their employment but isn't naming them in order to protect their career. It has been edited for length and clarity. I worked at Amazon for several years before leaving and coming back. The first time I worked at Amazon I was on the same team the entire time, so I was already looking for a change. Then, the company started saying it was looking to bring people back into the office, but I was happy to be fully remote. That was sort of the final thing that pushed me to look outside of Amazon and take a new job. After about a year of working elsewhere, I returned to Amazon last year for a role advertised as remote, and up until the last six months, I was happily working here in my city. But then Amazon made an announcement about returning to the office, and now I'm being told I need to move to Seattle or switch teams, or I'm out of a job. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It wasn't even a year ago when Andy Jassy was saying there were no plans for an RTO. So that already was just a huge slap in the face. I'm angry and frustrated about the RTO mandate Every update since has gotten worse and worse. This whole time, I've been kind of fatalistic; I assumed I'd be out of my job at some point because they'd make me move to Seattle. It's been a stressful six months. My partner has told me I've become more angry and depressed this whole time. No one in my local management chain has any power to help with this. It's 100% a top-down mandate. I'm angry, I'm frustrated. I came back specifically to work remotely; to have this taken away is just a huge breach of trust. I've already told my management I have no intention of relocating. Knowing there's an end coming up has made me the happiest I've been in six months. I like to talk. I'm a pretty gregarious person, so in an office, not only do I get distracted, but I know for a fact I'm also distracting. Working remotely, we can still hop on Slack any time to help each other out. I moved to this area 13 years ago. I own a house here. My partner has a career here. I've built a home here. All the arguments about supporting downtown Seattle businesses I mean great for them, but what about the businesses here? Why don't they deserve my money just as much or more? The mood is miserable. I've never seen Amazon make any sort of large-scale, top-down mandate like this without some sort of reason behind it. We're a data-driven company, but I look at these mandates, and I'm like, what's happening? Finding a new job as a developer is hard right now I see comments all the time saying, "These Amazon employees are complaining about having to go into the office but what about all the warehouse employees?" If warehouse employees could do their jobs without going into fulfillment centers, I'd 100% support that. If I can do my job, get positive performance evaluations, and "delight customers" without sitting in an office in Seattle, why should I be expected to move? Even before the pandemic, I wasn't going in three days a week. It's a crappy time to be looking for a new job as a developer. The jobs I'm looking at are significant pay cuts. Companies are laying off tens of thousands of people and forcing the rest to relocate, which is driving more people out of work. It leads to frustrating and worrisome discussions with hiring managers where I have to ask, "Okay, it's remote today. Will it be remote tomorrow?" No one is giving a certain answer. I have a hard time trusting they won't roll it back someday because that's what's happening now. If I were to take a new remote job somewhere, all it might take is one senior manager or C-level person to get replaced, and all of a sudden everyone has to be back in the office. As someone who is straight-up unwilling to move, that means I could just lose my job for reasons entirely unrelated to my performance at any moment at any company, and that's scary. I don't see myself ever coming back here. Too many bridges have been burned. I'm just done with it. I'm at the point now where if Amazon said, we'll take everything back, and you can have your job, I wouldn't accept it. I don't trust anyone there enough at this point. Editor's note: An Amazon spokesperson, Brad Glasser, sent the following statement to Insider: "Insider wouldn't provide the information necessary for us to verify this individual's account, but if it's true, it doesn't reflect the experience of most employees. We believe that being in the office at least three days a week is the right long-term approach because it drives culture, team connection, innovation, and learning. While we understand that some people might not agree with our approach, we've consistently explained that it would evolve since we started to emerge from the pandemic and began experimenting with how our teams worked. As part of this process, we're asking a relatively small percentage of our team to relocate, and we're communicating directly with those affected and providing relocation support. Now that we have a few months under our belts with more people in the office more frequently, there's more energy, connection, and collaboration, and we're hearing that from employees and the businesses that surround our offices." Are you an employee at Amazon or elsewhere with a story to share about how return-to-office plans have affected you? Email this reporter from a non-work device at sjackson@insider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider In this photo provided by Cabinet Public Affairs Office, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida eats the seafood from Fukushima prefecture at lunch at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Cabinet Public Affairs Office via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) TOKYO (AP) Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Monday a 20.7 billion yen ($141 million) emergency fund to help exporters hit by China's ban on Japanese seafood over the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. The discharge of the wastewater into the ocean began Aug. 24 and is expected to continue for decades. Japanese fishing associations and groups in neighboring countries have strongly opposed the release. In addition to China's ban on all Japanese seafood imports, Hong Kong has banned Japanese seafood from Fukushima and nine other prefectures. Chinese trade restrictions have affected Japanese seafood exporters since even before the release began, with shipments held up at Chinese customs for weeks. Prices of scallops, sea cucumbers and other seafood popular in China have plunged. The ban has affected prices and sales of seafood from places as far away from Fukushima as the northern island of Hokkaido, home to many scallop growers. Kishida said the emergency fund is in addition to 80 billion yen ($547 million) that the government previously allocated to support fisheries and seafood processing and combat damage to the reputation of Japanese products. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We will protect the Japanese fisheries industry at all costs, Kishida said, asking people to help out by serving more seafood at dinner tables and other ways. The money will be used to find new markets for Japanese seafood to replace China and fund government purchases of seafood for temporary freezing and storage. The government will also seek to expand domestic seafood consumption. Officials said they plan to cultivate new export destinations in Taiwan, the United States, Europe, the Middle East and some southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Kishida talked with workers at a fish market last Friday to assess the impact of Chinas ban and pledged to protect Japan's seafood industry. Kishida heads to Indonesia on Tuesday to attend the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where he may face criticism over the wastewater release from Chinese Premier Li Qian, who is also attending. Large amounts of radioactive wastewater have accumulated at the Fukushima plant since a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed its cooling systems and caused three reactors to melt. All seawater and fish samples taken since the release of the treated wastewater began have been way below set safety limits for radioactivity, Japanese officials and the plant operator say. Mainland China is the biggest overseas market for Japanese seafood, accounting for 22.5% of the total, followed by Hong Kong with 20%, making the ban a major blow for the fisheries industry. Seafood exports are a fraction of Japan's total exports, and the ban's impact on overall trade will be limited unless tensions escalate and China widens its restrictions to other trade sectors, said Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute. Beijing is angry over U.S. trade controls that limit China's access to semiconductor processor chips and other U.S. technology on security grounds. Japan has also curbed exports of chipmaking technology. Such restrictions imposed by Tokyo and possible future steps could cause an escalation of Chinese trade bans against Japan, Kiuchi said. Taking into consideration such risks, the Japanese government needs to carefully think about how to deal with worsening ties with China, not just over the treated water discharge but also how it should cooperate with the United States in areas of investment and trade restrictions with China, Kiuchi said in a recent analysis. The logo of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is seen at the company headquarters in Tokyo TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said on Monday it planned to launch its H-IIA rocket carrying a moon lander on Thursday morning, after unfavourable wind conditions led to a postponement last month. The rocket is scheduled to take off from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Japan at 8:42 a.m. JST (Wednesday 2342 GMT), with a launch window open until Sept. 15, the company said. The new schedule was announced a week after the previous launch attempt, which would have carried Japan's first spacecraft to land on the moon, was suspended because of high winds. H-IIA, jointly developed by JAXA and MHI, has been Japan'sflagship space launch vehicle, with 45 successful launches in 46tries since 2001. After JAXA's new medium-lift H3rocket failed on its debut in March, the agency postponed thelaunch of H-IIA No. 47 for several months to investigate thecause. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hoping to help accelerate Japan's aerospace development initiatives, Japan may subsidize JAXA with about 10 billion yen ($68.4 million) in fiscal 2024, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Monday. JAXA will use this subsidy to pay companies and universities involved in the development of satellites, rockets, and lunar-exploration technologies, the report said. ($1 = 146.1300 yen) (Reporting by Rocky Swift and Mariko Katsumura; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Gerry Doyle) This shows a construction work off Henoko in Nago, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan on May 2, 2023, where the Japanese government plans to relocate a U.S. air base from one area of the prefecture to another. Japans Supreme Court on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023 dismissed Okinawa's rejection of a central government plan to build U.S. Marine Corps runways on the island and ordered the prefecture to approve it despite protests by locals who oppose the American troops' presence. (Kyodo News via AP) TOKYO (AP) Japans Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Okinawa's rejection of a central government plan to build U.S. Marine Corps runways on the island and ordered the prefecture to approve it despite protests by locals who oppose the American troops' presence. Monday's ruling upheld a high court ruling in March that the central government's plan and its instruction for Okinawa's approval are valid. It will move forward the suspended construction at a time Okinawa's strategic role is seen increasingly important for the Japan-U.S. military alliance in the face of growing tensions with China. Japan's central government began the reclamation work at the Henoko area on the eastern coast of Okinawa's main island in 2018 to pave the way for the relocation of the Marine Corps Futenma air station from a crowded neighborhood on the island. The government later found out about 70% of the reclamation site is on soft ground, and submitted a revision to the original plan with additional land improvement. The Okinawa prefectural government rejected the revision as insufficient and suspended the reclamation work. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The ground improvement plan requires tens of thousands of pillars and massive amounts of soil, which opponents say would damage the environment. Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki has called for a significant reduction of the U.S. military in Okinawa, the immediate closure of the Futenma base and the scrapping of the base construction in Henoko. Tamaki said said he will not back down and continue with the demands despite the ruling. The Okinawa government will carefully examine the ruing to decide on a next step, he added. The ruling is extremely disappointing because we had expected a fair and neutral judgement based on respect for the local government autonomy, Tamaki told a news conference. The ruling nullifies an independent municipal decision and could even disregard their constitutional right to local autonomy, Tamaki said. It deeply concerns me. The Japanese and U.S. governments initially agreed in 1996 to close the Futenma air station, a year after the rape of a schoolgirl by three U.S. military personnel led to a massive anti-base movement. But persistent protests and lawsuits between Okinawa and Tokyo have held up the plan for nearly 30 years. Tokyo and Washington say the relocation within Okinawa, instead of moving it elsewhere as demanded by many Okinawans, is the only solution. Okinawa, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land, is burdened with the majority of the 50,000 American troops based in the country under a bilateral security pact, and 70% of U.S. military facilities are in Okinawa. The Japanese government in recent years has increasingly stepped up its own defenses to deal with China's growing assertiveness, triggering fear among Okinawan residents that they will be the first to be embroiled in a potential conflict. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno welcomed the ruling and said the government hopes to achieve the complete reversion to Japan of the Futenma airfield and relieve Okinawa of the burden of shouldering U.S. military bases while providing a thorough explanation to the local community. A New Jersey state Senate candidate who has made criticism of offshore wind energy a top plank of his campaign represented a company that sought to build the power lines to bring that wind power ashore. Whales and dolphins are dying up and down the Jersey shore, Steve Dnistrian, a Republican challenging Democratic state Sen. Vin Gopal in the 11th District, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, from an anti-offshore wind demonstration in March. Gov. Murphy, listen to the people of NJ. Just put things on pause with offshore wind until we can understand whats happening to our ocean. But just months before, Dnistrian, who runs a branding and strategic communications firm, represented LS Power Grid, which was one of more than a dozen companies vying to build infrastructure including large power lines to bring offshore wind energy inland. The lines, which could cost ratepayers billions of dollars but are essential to the Murphy administrations clean energy goals, would connect the next generation of offshore wind farms to the existing power grid. While Dnistrians opponent and his supporters charged hypocrisy, Dnistrian said in a phone interview the timing of his work for LS Power Grid and his campaign was good luck for him because Im very well-briefed on this issue. Asked if he has acknowledged his work for LS Power Grid on the campaign trail, Dnistrian said he's cited his experience in the energy sector but said "I dont mention clients, because Im under agreements, which is very standard in the business world." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement My role with LS Power has provided me with an unusual depth of knowledge about this issue to inform the debate and to stop playing politics and just try to be that reasonable center person that people are dying for, Dnistrian said Wednesday. Dnistrian provided advisory services to the company, including an assessment of local opinion on the projects, he said. Gopal, who in a constituent publication recently expressed opposition to offshore wind projects, slammed Dnistrian for hypocritical double dealing. If we can not trust that he will honestly discuss a major issue facing our shoreline, and clearly separate his personal financial interests from those of the public, how can families trust him to act in their interests over his own on any of the major issues facing their future? Clearly, he will say and do anything to get elected, Gopal said in a statement. New Jersey has approved three wind farms off New Jerseys coast. But a recent poll showed that while offshore wind energy was not long ago overwhelmingly viewed positively by New Jerseyans, support while still above water has plunged amid political polarization of the issue. New Jersey and other East Coast states have seen a spate of dead whales and dolphins washing up on its beaches, leading to activists and one prominent New Jersey environmental group to blame sonar testing of the sea bed at potential windmill building sites. Republicans have seized on the issue, making it one of the two most dominant ones this election cycle, along with how schools handle sex education and transgender students. And the 11th, a swing district which includes many Monmouth County beach towns and thrives on summer tourism, is ground zero for the controversy. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and other experts have said theres no evidence the sonar testing is contributing to the whale deaths, despite their correlation with testing. In May, New Jersey DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette blamed warming seas attracting the whales prey closer to shore, which combined with increased shipping traffic have led to more whale strikes. Many of the whales that have washed up showed signs of being hit by ships. Most New Jersey environmental advocacy groups have remained supportive of the offshore wind industry. According to the NOAA, an unusual mortality event for humpback whales along the East Coast began in 2016, stretching from Maine to Florida. LS Power proposed a suite of options known as Clean Energy Gateway that an independent analysis found would have cost between $1.3 billion and $2.2 billion. Ultimately, state utility regulators went with a more modest suite of projects, of which LS Power Grid got a small slice. Dnistrians timeline on X is full of critical tweets about offshore wind, but theres just one hint that he worked for a firm looking to get involved in the new industry. The only clue Dnistrian worked for LS Power Grid was an April 2022 link he tweeted to a press release from the company urging New Jersey to include comprehensive cost containment measures in the offshore wind development process. While LS Power is not building the windmills, there would be no point to building the infrastructure without them since it is critical to getting power inland. Accusations of hypocrisy on both sides Dnistrian was active in trying to raise LS Power Grids profile. One afternoon last fall, he emailed a POLITICO reporter wondering why the company hadnt been mentioned in a story about companies vying to build offshore wind energy transmission projects. He wrote, I represent LS Power Grid. Can you please update your piece and include LSPower Grid in this line up? he said in that Oct. 24 email. Our sense is that LS Power Grid is a serious contender for the transmission job. In his interview with POLITICO, Dnistrian stressed that he is not opposed to offshore wind and is not certain whether the projects are contributing to whale deaths. A dead whale washed up on the beach in Vin Gopals hometown, and still he dismisses it as having nothing to do with it. Im not that smart . But its worth checking out, Dnistrian said. Dnistrian also said the state has not been transparent about what the windmills will cost ratepayers. Either they know what the cost is and theyre not telling us, or they dont know what the cost is to ratepayers. Which scenario is worse? (The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel has raised concerns about the costs of the projects). Gov. Phil Murphy in July signed a law that barely squeaked through the Legislature allowing one of the developers, rsted, to keep hundreds of millions in federal tax incentives that otherwise would have gone to ratepayers. Gopal voted against the measure. Robert Shimko, business manager for IBEW Local 400 which has been supportive of Gopal, who is a member of the union is frustrated with Dnistrians opposition to offshore wind. Shimko said wind would provide his workers in Monmouth and Ocean counties with a tremendous amount of jobs for 10 years at least. Shimko said that Dnistrian at a fundraiser last year even introduced him to a LS Power Grid executive and had sought to set up a meeting between him and company officials. Shimko said he believes the executive was Scott Carver, LS Powers associate general counsel. Carver did not respond to an email seeking comment. I was very disappointed to find out when he was working for LS Power," Shimko said. "Wind was fantastic, but now that hes running to be senator, hes against wind, which is baffling to me. I didnt think he was that type of person." Gopal has faced his own charges of hypocrisy on offshore wind. An August newsletter to constituents from his office featured an entry headlined Gopal votes no on the Orsted ocean wind turbine project, calls for investigation on impact of offshore wind. And despite passing the tax credit bill, New Jersey Democratic legislative leaders this summer began playing defense on offshore wind, with Senate President Nick Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin issuing a joint statement critical of the Board of Public Utilities for soliciting bids for more offshore wind projects. They said there were many unanswered questions about the economic impact these projects will have on ratepayers as well as potential impacts to one of our states largest economic drivers, tourism at the shore. Republicans hit Gopal for hypocrisy, as in a TV interview where he called those making a connection between wind turbines and whale deaths conspiracy theorists. But Gopal said in a statement that his position has been consistent because his concerns relate to the potential costs to ratepayers, the windmills potential effect on the shores economy and the environmental impact of the actual construction when it happens. I am dedicated to following the facts and getting to the truth unlike my opponent who literally got paid by an offshore wind transmission company less than a year ago and now is railing against the industry he was just paid by, Gopal said. For fans waking up on Saturday morning to the news that Jimmy Buffett had died, there was really only one place to go. For New Yorkers who wanted to celebrate the life of the 76-year-old trop rocker, this sent us deep into an area that locals generally try to avoid, and especially on weekends: Times Square, in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. But that was the location of the Margaritaville Resort, and an event on this scale called for a pilgrimage. Its surprising, entering the 32-story tower and making your way up to the 5 oClock Somewhere rooftop bar, how quickly you feel transported, seemingly miles away from Broadways Nederlander Theatre and Red Lobster, even though theyre right next door. The effect is not precisely that of visiting a tropical location, but you do feel as though youve stepped into some unnamable slice of vacationland. That morning, Id been asking myself a question that was probably playing through the minds of millions of people touched to hear of Buffetts passing: What did this mans music mean to me? Growing up as an anxious inland millennial, I had no connection to the things Buffetts music stands for in the strictest sense. But I spent a few childhood summers vacationing with friends of friends at a lake house where wed spend the mornings on a motorboat listening to Jimmy Buffett and eating Pop-Tarts for breakfast, followed by long days lazing on hammocks and docks. And so for me, as for many others, Jimmy Buffett soon became a stand-in for this type of escapism. It turns out my experience was not atypical among the fans I spoke to at Margaritaville. Most were white millennials, like me, whose parents had loved Jimmy Buffett, and they had carried on the tradition. To them, it seemed to represent a kind of sun-drenched nostalgia, though there was also the self-awareness that necessarily comes along with listening to your parents music. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Looking around the rooftop, it was initially difficult to distinguish those who might be here to mourn Buffetts death from tourists who were just there for the view. I approached a young man in a Hawaiian shirt who turned out to be a fellow New Yorker whod come after seeing the news on social media that morning. He explained that his dad had been a big fan, and that he himself had a career working as an engineer on container ships. Jimmy Buffett caters to sailing drunks, which is what I am, he said. Parrot Head culture had first blossomed for him at the Merchant Marine Academy where theyd all listened together. When I asked whether his enjoyment was at all ironic, he rejected the notion, saying that the people who listened ironically were missing the best Buffett musicthat beyond the camp are great albums like Son of a Son of a Sailor. I spotted another bouquet of floral button-downs and started a conversation with three millennials, all originally from Florida, who also had parents who were fans. One guy had seen Jimmy Buffett live many times, and when I asked him what the scene was like, he said, Every Jimmy Buffett show is like tailgating at the greatest university youve ever seen, but its just all old white men. A woman he was seated with said that she used to live in downtown Orlando, right near the Amway Center. One day, a faint cloud seemed to settle around the venue. Just the smell of weed smoke was so pervasive, she said. I remember walking by, and theres cops everywhere, just kind of keeping an eye on things, and one of my friends goes up to the cops, and says, Youre gonna let all these old white people smoke weed and not say anything about it? And he was like, Im just here to direct traffic, I dont know what youre talking about. But as much as the people I spoke to poked fun at the flocks of sunburned boomers who seemed to follow Buffett, it was evident how deep their fandom ran. I asked one of them if he ever listened to the Margaritaville station on Sirius XM. He remembered right away where to find itits Channel 24saying that he turned to it every time he rented a car. He added that when he got the news that morning, there was no question where he was going. Literally no matter where I was in the country, I would have found a Margaritaville. He was texting with his sister who had headed to the Air Margaritaville restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Forida. I took the elevator down to the LandShark Bar & Grill to order some fried shrimp and look out on the pool-goers, blissed out on the recliners with their margaritas beside them, dozing six stories above the urban throngs. A young man sat down at the bar next to me wearing a custom-designed Jimmy Buffett shirt. He explained it was made by a friend who sells 70s-era band tees on Instagram. Despite his age, my barmate, too, was a big fan of 70s music, and had Jimmy Buffett records as part of his vinyl collection. Hed grown up in Massapequa, an area of Long Island thats close to the Jones Beach Theater, a waterfront amphitheater that holds 15,000 people, where Buffett had played many times. He explained the scene to me, the parking lot filled with people selling shirts and making cocktails for each other. Now, he especially likes to listen to the music in the summer to evoke a certain mood. Its total zen if Im having a terrible day at work, he explained. Its like, Relax, its not that big a deal. Is it marketed to me to get me to have that feeling? Yeah, but its still relaxing. This new generation of Buffett fans embraces more the spirit of the music than the literal lifestyle that full-blown Parrot Heads have made famous in Key West or the Latitude Margaritaville communities. And in that way, the Times Square Margaritaville makes perfect sense. Its the ideal outpost for transplants to congregate, a convenient way to get away, a reminder of loved onesand a space that, however corporate, is branded with a message of optimism that seems to endure. Judge confronts novel issues in whether to move Meadowss Georgia charges to federal court A judge is set to rule soon on the first Georgia 2020 election co-defendants attempt to move their charges to federal court, a decision that could prove decisive for the future of Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis s (D) criminal case. Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows wants U.S. District Judge Steve Jones to allow him to switch courts to attempt to get his charges thrown out on immunity grounds. It would also widen the jury pool to less Democrat-heavy areas and likely prevent a televised trial allowed by state law. If Meadows succeeds, legal experts say it would make it easier for former President Trump, who on Thursday pleaded not guilty to the Georgia charges, to follow in his footsteps. If Jones does permit Meadows to remove, it wont be on the strength of Meadowss legal argumentation. It will be because of the atmospherics of the case, said Lee Kovarsky, a law professor at the University of Texas. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement And because it will be because of the atmospherics of the case, it seems likely that he would also permit Trump to remove, notwithstanding the specifics of the legal argument, Kovarsky added. Meadows and his 18 co-defendants are charged with racketeering, which enabled prosecutors to weave together an alleged months-long conspiracy to overturn Georgias 2020 election result to help keep Trump in power. Prosecutors outlined 161 acts they say are part of the conspiracy, and Meadows is mentioned in eight. The list includes meetings with state legislators, Meadowss attempt to observe a signature match audit during a Georgia trip and calls he set up between state election officials and Trump. Meadows has disputed the substance of some of the allegations. In connection with one of those calls in which Trump asked the states top election official to help find 11,780 votes Meadows also faces a count of soliciting a public officer to violate their oath. He isnt the first federal official to attempt to move their criminal prosecution, but legal experts say Jones is confronting a novel issue with limited case law. As Jones mulls his decision, he has signaled some, but not all, of the allegations against Meadows may meet the criteria to proceed in federal court. It has left Meadows and prosecutors battling over whether that is enough to make the switch. [B]ased on the Notice of Removal and the record before the Court, each one of these charged acts has a sufficient connection to Mr. Meadows official duties to support removal, his attorneys wrote in court filings Thursday. But based on the black-letter law outlined above, the Court need not reach that conclusion to permit removal. If the Court finds that any charged conduct relates to Mr. Meadows official duties, that is the end of the inquiry; removal must be permitted, they continued. The legal dispute turns on three prongs: Meadows must show he was a federal officer, that the allegations relate to an act taken under color of such office and that he has a plausible federal defense. Both sides agree Meadowss White House job means he clears the first prong, but on the last two, they split sharply. Jones held a hearing last Monday to resolve the dispute. But a day later, he appeared to still have uncertainty, as he asked both sides to submit their views in writing on a singular question. Count 1 of the Indictment (pertaining to Georgias Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), O.C.G.A. 16-14-4(c)) contains a number of overt acts attributed to Mr. Meadows. Would a finding that at least one (but not all) of the overt acts charged occurred under the color of Meadowss office, be sufficient for federal removal of a criminal prosecution, Jones asked in the order. Legal experts said Joness request means he seems to think only some of the alleged conduct merits changing courts. A judge doesnt ask for additional briefing unless the judge is thinking that that briefing will be helpful to resolving the motion that is in front of them. So it seems obvious that the judge is at least considering finding that some of the acts fall within the scope of removal, said Alex Reinert, a professor at the Cardozo School of Law. Responding to the judges inquiry, Meadows and prosecutors unsurprisingly fell on opposite sides. The State also cannot avoid removal by charging a mix of removable and nonremovable conduct. Any contrary rule would lead to absurd results; a State could charge even the most quintessential official act and defeat removal by tacking on unofficial conduct, Meadowss attorneys wrote. Willis, on the other hand, said Meadowss counts should remain in state court, contending the racketeering charge is not because of one specific act in the indictment and is instead over Meadows agreeing to join the broader conspiracy. A finding that some of the overt acts attributed to the defendant occurred under color of office would not suffice to show that the defendants joining in the conspiracy was itself under color of office or even related to it, Williss office wrote. Kovarsky, the University of Texas law professor, said even if the judge takes Meadowss view, he still hadnt satisfied the third prong of showing a federal defense. I dont know if the strength of the briefing will decide the issue for Judge Jones. But if it does, Willis clearly has the stronger briefing, because Meadows doesnt explain why he has a colorable defense of Supremacy Clause immunity, Kovarsky said. Reinert agreed it would be hard for Meadows to show a federal defense for some of the allegations. But he cautioned that the judge still has room to find removal is proper. I think theres good reason to think that that shouldnt result in removal, he said. But a lot of this world is unexplored. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Senate gallery as technical staff prepares communications for the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton. Paxton is accused of several ethics violations during his three terms as Texas Attorney General. Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune The impeachment trial for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton is set to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Senate chamber of the Texas Capitol. The Senate gallery will be open to the public daily, beginning at 8 a.m., with tickets distributed for the morning session on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 7:30 a.m. on the Capitols third floor. Tickets for the afternoon session will be distributed 45 minutes before the gallery reopens. The trial also will be livestreamed on the Texas Senates website and at texastribune.org. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will act as judge. Senators, serving as jurors, will consider 16 of 20 articles of impeachment. The Senate previously voted to delay consideration of the other four. Paxtons wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, will sit as a member of the court but will not vote on any decisions or participate in private deliberations. The trial will begin with the court clerk reading aloud the 16 articles. Paxton, who was ordered to appear in person, or his lawyer will plead guilty or not guilty to each article. On the first day of the trial, some witnesses are also ordered to appear outside the front door of the Senate chamber at 11 a.m. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement [Whos who in the Ken Paxton impeachment trial, from key participants to potential witnesses] Rulings on pretrial motions The court will begin its work by ruling on pretrial motions. Any motion to dismiss an article of impeachment must be approved by a majority of senators, at least 16 members. Patrick can rule on any other motion, or he can ask senators to vote on a motion without debate or discussion. Patrick can also defer a ruling on motions including dismissal of an article until after evidence is presented at trial if that evidence would help answer the question. Opening statements and presentation of evidence The House managers will be first to offer an opening statement. Paxton's lawyers can choose to make a statement afterward or wait until they begin presenting evidence. Each side has up to one hour. The House managers lawyers will present their case first. Each side has a total of 24 hours to present witnesses and evidence and cross-examine the oppositions witnesses. After both sides present their evidence, each side will have one hour to present rebuttal evidence. Witnesses will testify under oath. Final arguments, deliberations and the Senate vote Each side has up to one hour to make final arguments. Following that, Senators will meet in private to deliberate. The 30 eligible senators will return to open court to vote separately on each article without debate or discussion, though they will have three days to submit a written explanation of their votes for publication in the Senate Journal. Senators will submit a written vote on the question: Shall this article of impeachment be sustained? For each article, the court clerk will read, in random order, how each senator voted. Paxton would be immediately removed from office if two-thirds of senators, or 21, vote to sustain an article of impeachment. A finding of acquittal would be entered for any article not sustained. If an article is sustained, the House impeachment managers can ask senators to prohibit Paxton from holding future public office in Texas. Each side would have 15 minutes to argue their position. Approval requires support from 21 senators. After the articles of impeachment votes If Paxton is acquitted on all articles, he would be cleared to return to office. If there is a conviction on any article of impeachment, Paxton would be removed from office, and the House board of managers could ask senators for a follow-up vote to disqualify Paxton from holding future office. Before that vote, which also requires two-thirds support, each side would have 15 minutes to present arguments. What has happened so far The move to impeach Paxton started in late May when the House General Investigating Committee revealed its investigation. Within days, the House voted overwhelmingly to impeach the attorney general. May 23-25: House committee makes its investigation of Paxton public The House General Investigating Committee revealed it was investigating Paxton for what members described as a yearslong pattern of misconduct, including bribery, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice. Four investigators for the committee testified that they believed Paxton broke numerous state laws, misspent office funds and misused his power to benefit a friend and political donor, Austin real estate investor Nate Paul. On May 25, the committee filed its impeachment resolution, which included 20 articles, against Paxton. May 27: House impeachment vote The House voted 121-23 to approve the articles of impeachment, with 60 Republicans and 61 Democrats voting in favor. All votes against were by Republicans. May 29: The House names 12 impeachment managers The House announced a Republican-majority board of managers to handle the prosecution. Led by Republican Rep. Andrew Murr, a West Texas rancher and lawyer, and Democratic Rep. Ann Johnson, a former prosecutor, the team includes 11 people with law degrees. They delivered the articles of impeachment to the Senate later that day. [Meet the Texas House impeachment managers who are taking aim at Ken Paxton] June 8: Nate Paul arrested Paul is charged with eight counts of making false statements to financial institutions, including Amplify Credit Union. Amplify was among 39 businesses and individuals subpoenaed by an outside lawyer hired by Paxton to investigate Pauls claims that his civil rights were violated during 2019 searches of his home and businesses. June 21: Senate adopts trial rules The Senate set the impeachment trial for Sept. 5 and adopted other rules including not allowing Angela Paxton to vote in the trial. Senators also elected to hear evidence on 16 articles holding four in abeyance that were largely related to 2015 criminal charges against Paxton for private business deals in 2011 and 2012. At the end of the trial, a majority of senators can vote to dismiss the four remaining articles, but if the motion to dismiss is rejected, the presiding officer will set a trial date on the four accusations. July 17: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issues sweeping gag order The order prohibits parties from both sides including members of the Senate and House and their staffs, witnesses and attorneys from making out-of-court statements that would prejudice the trial. Aug. 5: Paxton seeks dismissal of case Paxtons lawyers filed a flurry of motions asking senators to dismiss all 20 articles of impeachment, arguing that impeachment managers lacked evidence to convict and were attempting to thwart the will of voters who reelected Paxton in 2022 despite knowing about the accusations against him. Aug. 15: Impeachment managers fire back In a series of court filings, including thousands of pages of exhibits, House impeachment managers opposed Paxtons motions to dismiss the articles. They accused Paxton of going to great lengths to misuse his authority to help Nate Paul, then engaging in a complex cover-up to hide his relationship with the Austin businessman. The Texas Tribune is answering reader questions about Ken Paxton's impeachment trial in our daily newsletter, The Brief. To share your question with us, you can fill out this form. 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. Ken Paxton takes the oath of office for the third time from Gov. Greg Abbott, as his wife, state Sen. Sen. Angela Paxton , R-McKinney, holds the Sam Houston bible Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. The Texas Senate beings its impeachment trial of the suspended attorney general Tuesday. Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune In September 2018, Attorney General Ken Paxton gathered his staff to make a fateful confession. With two months to go before Election Day and holding hands with his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton the attorney general reportedly told them about an extramarital affair. He said it was over and swore to recommit to his marriage. But Ken Paxton didnt the first in a series of consequential choices that Texas House impeachment managers say set off a chain of alleged crimes and coverups that, five years later, has culminated in one of the most dramatic moments in Texas political history. The once-in-a-century impeachment trial that starts Tuesday is expected to center on Paxtons infidelity, and could air out the sordid details of the staunch, Christian conservatives life as he sits just yards away from his wife, and her 30 Senate colleagues who will serve as jurors to decide her husbands fate. House impeachment managers argue that Paxton, driven in large part by his desire to continue and conceal the tryst, went to great, impeachable and potentially criminal lengths to hide the betrayal from his wife, and from the deeply religious voters who have sustained his political life for two decades. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Citing nearly 4,000 pages of documents that were released last month, impeachment managers allege that Paxton repeatedly abused his office to help real estate investor Nate Pauls faltering businesses amid an FBI raid, looming bankruptcies and a litany of related lawsuits. In exchange, Paul allegedly hired Paxtons girlfriend so that she could move to Austin and helped Paxton clandestinely meet with her through a secret Uber account that the two men shared. House impeachment managers argue that Paxton had every reason to keep the affair quiet. They point to his apparent burner phones and secret email addresses as evidence that he worried infidelity could destroy his political career. The affair is important because it goes to Ken Paxton's political strength, Rep. Ann Johnson, a Houston Democrat who serves on the committee that investigated Paxton, said in May. He knows that with his folks, he is family values. He is a Christian man. And the idea of the exposure of the affair will risk him with his base. Angela Paxton, a McKinney Republican who will be present at the trial but is barred from voting, could not be reached for comment last week. Ken Paxtons attorney, Tony Buzbee, declined an interview request and did not respond to a list of questions, citing a gag order in place ahead of the Senate trial. Sounds like you believe your house isnt made of glass and you have a sack full of stones to throw, Buzbee added in an email. Great. Shes back. In interviews with House impeachment managers, Paxtons former top deputies as well as his former personal aide said his affair was common knowledge. One deputy recalled that there was a verbal confrontation between the alleged girlfriend and Angela Paxton in a cafe at the Texas Capitol. Others said they had heard rumors or were told directly by Paxton confidantes about the affair, but were initially led to believe that it ended in September 2018, after Paxton reportedly confessed and recommitted to his wife. Its unclear when or how Paxton met the woman or first began the affair. Employment records show that she worked as the San Antonio district director for Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, from April 2014 until December 2019. The woman moved to Austin around June 2020 for a job with Pauls company, rental and employment records show. Campbell declined to comment. In a deposition, Paul said that he hired her at Paxtons recommendation. She earned an annual salary of $65,000 and reported directly to Paul. Within days of Paxtons girlfriend starting her new job, Paxton began directing his senior deputies to meet with Paul about his legal problems, a pattern that would continue through the summer. Paul alleged he was the victim of two massive yet separate conspiracies: one involving the police who raided his home and the other involving an alleged cabal of Austin businessmen who colluded with a federal judge to steal some of his properties. Agency staff said Paxton routinely overrode them or ignored their concerns about Paul, who they warned was a crook and was misleading Paxton about being unfairly targeted. Rather than heed their many warnings, deputies said, Paxton repeatedly went out of his way to help Paul. Among other moves that alarmed top staff, Paxton allegedly provided Paul with sensitive information about an FBI raid on Pauls businesses and home, told staff not to assist law enforcement investigating Paul and, despite objections from veteran law enforcement officials, hired a young, inexperienced Houston attorney from outside the agency to investigate Pauls adversaries. "His obsession with anything related to Nate Paul was so obvious that it just really shocked me, said James Brickman, who served as deputy attorney general for policy and strategy initiatives and later reported Paxton to the FBI. Meanwhile, Paxton and Paul continued to share a secret Uber account under the fake name Dave P. that they used to clandestinely meet, sometimes after Paxton ditched his security detail. Paxton also used the Uber account to visit the womans Austin apartment a dozen times beginning in August 2020, according to records made public last month. Around the same time, Paxtons personal aide told House investigators that he saw the attorney general and the woman at the Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa, where Paxton was staying as his Austin home was remodeled allegedly on Pauls dime. No words were said, the aide recalled of the interaction. Paxton walked out, shook my hand, shook my fathers hand and the lady walked out, didnt acknowledge us or say anything. He later reported the run-in to a senior Paxton adviser, who responded: Great. Shes back. By fall 2020, Paxtons deputies had come to believe that he was taking bribes from Paul. On Oct. 1, seven of them notified Paxton that they had reported him to law enforcement. At 10:39 p.m. the next day, Paxton took his final Uber ride to the womans Austin apartment. Christian values David Brockman, a nonresident scholar at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Religion and Public Policy, said Paxton had clear reasons to hide his infidelity. Evidence of an extramarital affair would strike his supporters as hypocritical, he said. Hes promoted himself as a conservative Christian, a defender of biblical values and a guardian of conservative Christian sexual morality. So theres quite a bit of impetus to keep it secret. Since its inception, Paxtons political life has been inextricably tied to the states conservative Christian voting bloc. He has said he first ran for office at the urging of Kelly Shackleford, whose First Liberty Institute has led the legal charge to infuse Christianity into public life. And Paxton has credited his first election to the Texas House in 2002 to a very simple strategy: Get the church out to vote. In his 12 years as a legislator first as a House member, and then for two years in the Texas Senate Paxton was a reliable champion of Christian causes, backing bans on Planned Parenthood sex education materials in public schools and co-authoring a state constitutional amendment that would have barred businesses and individuals from being sued for declining to provide services on religious grounds. Religious conservatives returned the favor in 2014, rallying behind Paxtons attorney general bid and, with the help of far-right West Texas oil money, sending him to statewide office despite initially being discounted as an underdog. As attorney general, Paxton has continued to elevate conservative Christian legal and political causes: He has packed the agency with similarly-minded Christian lawyers including a former First Liberty Institute attorney who later reported Paxton to the FBI for bribery. And he has turned the office into the tip of the spear in conservative Christianitys broader culture war. Christian conservatives have supported Paxton from day one, and theyve done that because hes consistently stood for our principles, our values and our beliefs, said Jared Woodfill, a longtime leader of ultraconservative and anti-LGBTQ+ movements in Texas who is now involved in a political action committee defending Paxton ahead of his Senate trial. Their unwavering support has been beneficial to Paxton, who time and again has turned to conservative Christians in times of peril. He has invoked biblical figures whove overcome persecution as he claims his legal and political woes are mere retaliation for his religious views a message thats played well among audiences primed by years of culture war rhetoric. But whereas Paxtons 2015 indictment for securities fraud could be explained by his defenders as the nefarious plotting of an anti-Christian deep state, an affair would strike at the personal responsibility and piety that is emphasized by Paxtons deeply religious base. That much has been clear in recent months, as the suspended attorney generals woes have dominated headlines and some conservative Christians have drawn a direct line between Paxtons infidelity and his fitness for office. It is not my place to say who is Christian or not, Konni Burton, a conservative former Texas Senator, wrote on social media last month. But my personal opinion is, if a politician professes Christian values, yet is willing to break those values when it comes to their own spouse, they surely will break a promise to me, as a constituent. Its also evident that the impeachment proceedings have taken a political toll since they began in May. Polling released Friday by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin show that, since April, Paxtons approval rating among Republicans has dropped by 19 percentage points to 46%, a two-year low. Paxtons disapproval rating also has more than tripled since December, reading 23% in August. Meanwhile, a plurality of Republicans said they dont know if Paxton took actions that justify removing him from office, compared to 24% who said yes and 32% who said no. Doug Page is among those who say they want Paxton held accountable for any potential misconduct. He first met the attorney general in 2015 when Paxton, weeks removed from his securities fraud indictment, spoke at First Baptist Church of Grapevine, where Page is senior pastor. Paxton didnt address his legal troubles at the time, but thanked his fellow Christians for their prayers and, after noting biblical figures whod faced persecution, urged the Southern Baptist congregation to stand up and speak out against wrongdoing. Eight years later, Page is doing exactly that. If Mr. Paxton is found guilty by the Texas House and Senate, he should be impeached and, if deemed necessary, removed from office, Page said this week. I am for redemption and reconciliation, but our choices have consequences. I am hopeful that whatever the outcome, Mr. Paxton will surround himself with people who will encourage him to walk with Jesus. Other conservative Christians are more skeptical, believing Paxton is the victim of the same type of deep state witch-hunt that they claim was responsible for the impeachments and indictments of former President Donald Trump. And they are willing to look past both mens moral failings if they deliver on conservative Christian priorities a strain of thought that dates back millenia to figures such as King David and Cyrus the Great, who the Bible says were used by God despite their many sins. If God and Angela Paxton forgive, they say, then so too should they. I dont think there are any politicians out there, much less any human, thats perfect or that hasnt made mistakes, Woodfill said. So even assuming that its true that he made a mistake which it appears he and his wife have reconciled I and conservative Christians across the state are looking at what he has done as an elected official, and what he has done as attorney general. 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. Kevin Costner has shed light on why he dramatically quit Yellowstone. In May, it was revealed that the hit Paramount series, about a Montana landowner named John Dutton (Costner) and his warring family, will be coming to an end with its fifth and final season this November. The surprise development came following reports that Costner had locked horns with creator Taylor Sheridan over scheduling conflicts. While Sheridan said he was disappointed with the actors decision, Costner has remained silent on the subject until now. According to multiple outlets, Costner addressed the Yellowstone debacle while giving testimony at his divorce case on Friday (1 September). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Dances with Wolves actor-director is reported to have said the situation was complicated, and that he did negotiate to return for three more seasons. However, according to reporters present at the trial, Costner said: There were issues about creative. I tried to break the logjam. They walked away. He is believed to have said he will probably go to court over the matter. Costners scheduling conflicts are believed to have been caused by a passion project he wants to make named Horizon: An American West, which has been 35 years in the making. Sheridan previously said: My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct. He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with Yellowstone. I said, We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date], which we did. Sources claimed to Deadline in February that Costner only wanted to spend a single week shooting his scenes for the second batch of episodes in season five, but his attorney denied the report, saying: The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of season five of Yellowstone is an absolute lie. Kevin Costner in Yellowstone (Paramount) The actor still has half of season five left to shoot, which will serve as a truncated end to the Dutton family saga. Yellowstone airs in the UK on Paramount+. The Independent has contacted Paramount for comment. Washington North Korean leader Kim Jong Un plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this month to discuss potentially providing Moscow with weapons to support its ongoing war in Ukraine, a U.S. official told CBS News. Kim would meet Putin in Russia, though the exact location is not clear. The New York Times first reported the North Korean leader's expected travel plans. The possible meeting between the Russian and North Korean leaders comes after the White House said it had new information that arms negotiations between the two countries were "actively advancing." National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday that Russia's defense minister recently traveled to North Korea to "try to convince Pyongyang to send artillery ammunition" to Russia, and after the visit, Putin and Kim exchanged letters "pledging to increase their bilateral cooperation." Russia's government declined Tuesday to confirm that any meeting was planned, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responding to questions about the claims by U.S. officials, telling reporters in Moscow: "We have nothing to say on this." North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, left, attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Russia, on April, 25, 2019. / Credit: Kremlin handout via Getty Images Kirby said intelligence obtained by the U.S. indicates that after the visit to North Korea by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, another group of Russian officials traveled to Pyongyang for further discussions about a possible arms deal between the two countries. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "We urge the DPRK to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia," Kirby said. He warned that the U.S. will take direct action, including by imposing sanctions, against individuals and entities that work to facilitate the supply of weapons between Russia and North Korea. Potential deals could include "significant quantities and multiple types" of munitions from North Korea, which Russia would use for its ongoing war against Ukraine, Kirby said. He warned any weapons agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang would violate numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions. "We will continue to identify, expose and counter Russian attempts to acquire military equipment from DPRK or frankly any other state that is prepared to support its war in Ukraine," Kirby said. Citing Shoigu's recent trip to North Korea that involved talks over Pyongyang selling artillery ammunition to Russia, Adrienne Watson, National Security Council spokesperson, said Monday that the U.S. has "information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia." Both Russia and China sent high-level delegations to North Korea in July, which marked the first visits by top foreign officials since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. During the trip, Kim gave Shoigu, Russia's defense minister, a guided tour of North Korea's weapons and missiles at an arms exhibition, according to photos shared by North Korean media. The latest warning about Pyongyang possibly providing weapons to Russia comes nearly a year after U.S. officials warned the Russian Ministry of Defense was in the process of buying rockets and artillery shells from North Korea for the war in Ukraine, citing a newly downgraded U.S. intelligence finding. Russia has also used Iranian-made drones to target Ukrainian towns. Search expanded for escaped killer in Pennsylvania Escaped killer spotted near Philadelphia, but search continues North Korea-Russia arms deal eyed as Kim Jong Un and Putin plan meeting ECDA imposes a S$5,000 fine on the operator of Kinderland Preschool @ Woodlands Mart for severe incidents (PHOTO: Google Maps/Screenshot and Facebook/Screenshot) SINGAPORE The operator of Kinderland Preschool@Woodlands Mart has been fined $5,000 by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), due to the severity of recent child mismanagement incidents at the preschool. The agency added in a media release on Monday (4 September) that the operator's licence tenure has been reduced to six months with immediate effect. Should it fail to demonstrate significant improvements in its standard of care to their children, ECDA will not renew the licence. ECDA also acknowledged that it should have acted more swiftly in removing the educator who was filmed force-feeding and hitting a child at the Kinderland preschool. "We apologise for not getting Kinderland to immediately remove the educator from her classroom role while investigations are ongoing. We will strengthen our protocols and training of our officers," said Tan Chee Wee, the agency's chief executive officer. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The educator, former teacher Lin Min, was charged on 30 August with ill-treating a child, specifically forcing a 23-month-old girl to lie down and pouring water into her mouth. Those actions came to light on 28 August when three videos showing Lin mistreating children were circulated online. The 33-year-old Singaporean has received a warning under Early Childhood Development Centres regulations and is barred from working in the preschool sector while police investigations continue. Inappropriate child management methods ECDA's investigations revealed that another educator at the preschool used "inappropriate methods" to restrict a three-year-old child's movement on two occasions. In one instance, the educator pulled the child's shirt over the back of a chair. On another occasion, straps from an infant chair were used to prevent the boy from getting up. The preschool's principal was found to have not provided adequate supervision over her staff and "failed to prevent the use of inappropriate child management methods". ECDA said she is no longer allowed to serve as a principal in a preschool, and the agency will consider her suitability only after she completes refresher training and a two-year period has passed. Tan acknowledged ECDA's shortcomings and apologised for not immediately removing Educator A from her classroom role during ongoing investigations. While timely action had been taken when the case involving Lin was reported to ECDA, the investigation officer failed to follow established protocol for cases with clear evidence endangering child safety, which calls for immediate removal from classroom duties. "ECDA acknowledges this lapse in its case handling procedures," the agency said in its media release. "We are reviewing our systems and procedures to strengthen this protocol and ensure better oversight of cases under investigation." Updates on incidents at Kinderland@Sunshine Place ECDA also provided an update on two incidents at Kinderland@Sunshine Place in Choa Chu Kang. The first incident occurred in April 2022, when an educator was seen "forcefully pushing" a five-year-old child. The second incident involved two educators who admitted to strapping a two-year-old child in his chair on several occasions in April 2023 to maintain focus and prevent harm. ECDA has instructed the centre to cease this practice and work with parents to manage child behaviour. Kinderland's headquarters have also been tasked with conducting an independent review of child management practices in all their preschools, in response to these recent incidents. They are expected to report their findings and recommendations within three months. During this period, ECDA will closely monitor all Kinderland preschools and conduct frequent unannounced checks on their classroom management practices. Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube. Yahoo Singapore Telegram Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky named Rustem Umerov as his nominee to replace Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov, citing the need for new approaches in its war with Russia. Oleksiy Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large. Now Rustem Umerov should lead the Ministry, Zelensky said Sunday in a statement. He said that Umerov, a Crimean Tatar, does not need any additional introductions, adding he expected the Parliament to support the candidate. Umerov was appointed by the Verkhovna Rada to be chairman of Ukraines State Property Fund in September 2022 and was tasked to lead the processes of privatization and lease in the state. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Umerov, 41, is a lawmaker in the countrys Holos party the opposition to Zelenskys party. Throughout his time in public service, he has taken on critical roles in aiding Ukraines efforts against Russia by serving as a chief negotiator for the Black Sea grain deal last year and by negotiating for the release of prisoners. I survived the resettlement back home to my historical homeland in Crimea, he told Forbes in an interview last year. I know what reintegration is, and I know what temporary occupation is. Therefore, it is not a blanket statement to me what human rights are. For the last eight years, I have been involved in the issue of exchange of political prisoners and prisoners of war. I am very concerned about this matter. He was also one of the Ukrainian peace negotiators who, alongside Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, reportedly showed symptoms of poisoning after a meeting in Kyiv last year, The Wall Street Journal reported. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Ukraine has visual evidence of Russian attack drones falling on Romanian territory, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sep. 4. "It's pointless to deny that something fell there," Kuleba said. Romania's Defense Ministry "firmly denied" that drones had fallen on Romanian territory during Russia's overnight attack against Odesa Oblast, situated on the border with Romania, saying it did not pose any direct military threats to the country. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Sept. 4, citing the State Border Guard Service, that an unspecified number of drones had fallen and detonated in Romania during the attack. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Russian forces reportedly launched 32 kamikaze drones at Ukraine overnight, 17 of which were shot down over Odesa Oblast. According to the Foreign Ministry's spokesman Oleh Nikolenko, the attack targeted the area of the Izmail port across the Danube River from Romania. Bucharest, however, said that Russia hit the port of Reni, around 60 kilometers to the west. The Romanian authorities are "now studying all aspects of what happened," Kuleba said, adding that the Ukrainian authorities can provide proof that the drones fell in that location. If confirmed, the drone falling in Romania would not be the first time reports have emerged that a Russian weapon has landed in a NATO member state. In May, a missile found a month prior in Bydgoszcz, Poland, was likely a Russian Kh-55 cruise missile launched from Belarus during a mass attack against Ukraine, according to Polish media. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky announces dismissal of Defense Minister Reznikov, names replacement Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Black Sea Grain Initiative "must be restored," but not at the expense of accepting blackmail, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told journalists on Sept. 4. He was responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin 's claims earlier today that Russia won't resume the Black Sea Grain Initiative without the West lifting sanctions relating to Russian grain and fertilizers. Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spent the day discussing the potential restoration of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Sochi. Erdogan told the press that he hopes a solution will be reached soon and that "Ukraine needs to soften its approach in order to take joint steps with Russia." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kuleba argued that Putin cannot be trusted. "If we make concessions now," Russia will come back "a month later and put forward new terms," Kuleba said. He emphasized that there were "no legal or political grounds for the Russians to withdraw from the agreement." Read also: Russia demands concessions to relaunch grain deal However, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister underlined there are "trusted relations" between Ukraine and Turkey. He pointed out that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was recently in Kyiv, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss Russia's blockade of the Black Sea grain corridor. He said he expects Erdogan will be in contact with Zelensky to discuss the details of his negotiations with Putin. Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal on July 17, causing spikes in wheat prices and fears about food security worldwide. The agreement previously allowed Ukraine to export its grain through its Black Sea ports amid the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion. Turkey, positioning itself as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, played an important role in brokering the grain deal in July 2022. Since the agreement's collapse, Ankara has been in contact with both Kyiv and Moscow, discussing the options for its restoration. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Los Angeles County has sued two large pharmacy benefit managers, alleging that they failed to track the rise of opioid use. Above, Oxycodone pills. (Associated Press) Los Angeles County has become the latest local government to accuse pharmacy benefit managers the little-known middlemen of the prescription drug industry of stoking the opioid crisis by helping flood the nation with highly addictive pills. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the county alleged that Express Scripts Inc. and OptumRx Inc. colluded with drug manufacturers to promote dangerously addictive opioids as a safe and moderate pain treatment option. The 59-page filing describes the havoc that the opioid crisis has wreaked inside the countys emergency rooms, schools and child welfare system: Children are raised by relatives or put in foster care due to parents' addictions. Overdose patients are increasingly common in the county's emergency rooms. And at least six students overdosed at the start of the 2022-23 school year, according to the suit. The lawsuit alleges that pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs which act as the middleman between drug manufacturers and insurance companies bear some of the blame for this rise in addiction. Behind the scenes, the companies effectively determine what drugs get covered by insurance companies and how much a patient will pay for it. Many also run their own mail service pharmacies. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Instead of advocating for the lowest price, the county alleges, the companies used deceptive, dangerous marketing to push dangerous drugs they knew would earn them a lucrative profit. Defendants are not bystanders in the opioid crisis, the lawsuit said. They helped fuel the fire. Read more: One Metro worker revived 21 riders overdosing on opioids. He's not alone . A spokesperson for OptumRx said in a statement they have "been a leader in developing programs to combat opioid abuse and promote patient health" and plan to "vigorously defend" themselves against the lawsuit. Spokespeople for Express Scripts did not respond to request for comment but have called similar suits baseless. The suit also names a half-dozen related companies: Express Scripts Administrators LLC, Medco Health Solutions, ESI Mail Pharmacy Service Inc., Express Scripts Pharmacy Inc., OptumInsight Inc. and OptumInsight Life Sciences Inc. As opioid deaths keep ris ing , governments at the local, state and federal levels have gone after big corporations that drove the opioid crisis, seeking to hold them accountable for the devastation playing out in their communities. In recent years, opioid manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers have been hit with thousands of lawsuits. Counties in Ohio, Texas and Virginia have all filed similar suits to L.A. County's, alleging that a small handful of pharmacy benefit managers turned a blind eye to obvious signs of addiction and drug abuse. The county argues that Express Scripts and OptumRx were in a unique position to track the rise of the epidemic. The companies had data on opioid use for 166 million people covered by the insurance companies they contracted with, the county alleges, meaning they had real-time information how opioids were being abused among roughly half the U.S. population. The county accused the companies of watching the opioid epidemic unfold and doing nothing. Instead of reporting illegitimate prescribing and sales uniquely visible to them in the extensive data they collect, the defendants ignored evidence of misuse, addiction, and diversion and used their data to boost their profits and manufacturers sales at the expense of public health and safety, the lawsuit said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. French star Mathieu Kassovitz has been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. The 56-year-old star, who starred in and directed the 1995 film La Haine and appeared alongside Audrey Tatou in Amelie (2001), was participating in a motorbike training course at the time of the incident. French media is reporting that Kassovitz is in worrying condition, and suffered head trauma as well as a fractured pelvis. Agence France-Presse reports that the star was undertaking the training in preparation for a role in a new film. According to Le Parisien, his daughter was on a motorbike behind him at the time of the crash. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Authories in Essone, which is located south of Paris, said that Kassovitz has been taken to hospital in Kremlin-Bicetre The star, who received his motorcycle licence when he was 40, burst onto the scene in 1995 with La Haine, which he starred in and directed when he was 27. He co-starred in the film with Vincent Cassel. For it, he won the Cesar for Best Film and the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His other film credits include Steven Spielberg film Munich, Rebellion and TV series The Bureau. Kassovitz most recently stared in Visions alongside Diane Kruger. The film premiered just two weeks ago at the Angouleme Francophone The Independent has contacted Kassovitzs reps for comment. Charlottes Labor Day Parade is the latest event shutting down parts of Uptown this past weekend. The parade begins at 11 a.m. on Labor Day at North Tryon Street at 9th Street where it will head down towards the Square, then turn left on 3rd Street. It ends on College Street. READ MORE: Annual Matthews Alive celebration underway The cross streets at 9th and 13th Streets on North Tryon are closed as of 8 a.m. for parade preparation. All cross streets between 9th and 3rd Streets will close from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m, and North Tryon Street between those roads will be shut down shortly before 11 a.m. Keep an eye on Channel 9s Live Local Traffic radar to check on when the streets clear for regular traffic. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Attendees should remember to stay hydrated and seek shade, as temperatures are back up from a week of cooldown. Watch this mornings forecast here. READ MORE: Multiple MEDIC, CFD units respond to heat-related calls at HBCU Battle of the Bands in Uptown Organized by the Labor Day Committee and the Charlotte-Metrolina Central Labor Council of the AFL-CIO, along with local labor unions, the parade honors the accomplishments of organized labor in the Charlotte community. Because it is put together by organized labor groups to honor American labor, they say it is an old-fashioned parade - union made. READ MORE: From strikes to new union contracts, Labor Day's organizing roots are especially strong this year According to organizers, many local political candidates will be participating in the parade. Local labor unions, bands, and car clubs have floats riding through Uptown. This year marks the 22nd year of the parade. Organizers expects 500 people will be attending to watch the parade. (WATCH: Charlotte Pride Festival wraps up with annual parade) MEMPHIS, Tenn. Four people are in the hospital, including a teenager, in critical condition after three separate shooting incidents over the holiday weekend. A quiet Saturday morning was interrupted by the sounds of gunfire in a New Chicago neighborhood. A neighbor who doesnt want to go on camera told WREG officials were on the scene for hours tending to a 17-year-old who was critically shot on Bickford Avenue just before noon. Teen severely injured in North Memphis shooting When I got out here, I just seen a lot of police and I seen a guy laying out in the street. And I didnt know what happened, I didnt even know he got shot, the neighbor said. I just hate that this keeps on happening, especially to these young kids out here. And stuff keeps happening to them and they keep getting shot, and you know, they dont get a chance to live their life and they just dont know that theres so much in this world to do, without them just keep on getting in trouble like that. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital says theyve seen more than 120 kids under 18 come to the hospital so far this year with gunshot wounds, and thats not counting the other hospitals in the area. This 17-year-old was taken to Baptist East. Dr. Nick Watkins at Le Bonheur says the gun violence has gotten out of control for kids, and adults too. Since 2020, weve been seeing an uptick in violence, particularly firearm violence, Watkins said. And were seeing more and more children who are affected by this either directly or indirectly. Two in critical condition after Hickory Hill shooting A scene in Hickory Hill shows where two men were critically injured in a shooting Sunday. Police responded to the complex on the 6300 Block of Arbor Creek Trails just before 4:30 p.m. to find two separate scenes in the same complex. These cases are still under investigation. At last check, no one has been arrested. Anyone with information is asked to contact CrimeStoppers at (901) 528-CASH. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. Students and staff at Prairie Elementary School celebrated the official ribbon cutting for the new campus Friday. Lafayette Parish School Board member Britt Latiolais praised the teachers for doing "so much with so little" in the past few years. Though the students and staff have been at the new campus since the start of this school year, Friday was the official celebration of the project's completion. The new campus, at 1101 Due du Belier, replaces the Ambassador Caffery Parkway campus, which the school's population had outgrown, leading to a reliance on temporary, portable classrooms. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again: you did so much with so little for so long, and now you what you truly deserve," Latiolais said. "You've worked hard, and we hope you enjoy the building." The $36 million project began in May 2022. The new building is about 101,000 square-feet with 40 classrooms and open, flexible spaces designed to help the students interact. The new building also draws on the school's French Immersion Program, with French translations throughout the campus. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The school is one of three that the school board has prioritized rebuilding recently, along with Lafayette High School and Carencro Bob Lilly Elementary School, which was formerly named Carencro Heights Elementary School. Lafayette Parish School System Interim Superintendent Francis Touchet said during the celebration that he met with several other superintendents from Acadiana and Southwest Louisiana districts recently, saying they were impressed by the capital improvement projects the district has had recently, including the new school board office. "Lafayette Parish is very blessed to No. 1 have taxpayers that are supporting its schools, but also having school board members who put the resources where they're needed," Touchet said. CONSIDER SUBSCRIBING TODAY: Help support journalists like William Taylor Potter This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Lafayette school officials celebrate new Prairie Elementary School Tesla is still working on the refresh of its Model 3, sometimes referred to as the Model 3 Highland. Now, leaked photos from China may have unveiled one of the new design elements used in the secretive project. A Shanghai-based user of X, formerly known as Twitter, who claims to have some inside information on the Model 3s being test-driven in their area has shared several photos with their followers including one that shows a wheel ring that looks like the Roadsters, referring to the famed first model Tesla released. Model 3 Highland wheel ring, Looks like the Roadsters. pic.twitter.com/JyvWeezwG3 xiaoteshushu (@xiaoteshushu) August 9, 2023 Another tweet, which claimed to show the Model 3s updated dashboard, has since been deleted, as InsideEVs reported. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement While the Model 3 Highland project has been the subject of continual rumors and speculation, Tesla itself had not, as of late August, been forthcoming with details about what will be different about the updated model or when it would launch. The Model 3 is Teslas least expensive car. As of late August, the current model started at $32,740 (after tax credit). Other rumors about the Model 3 Highland include that it will feature long-range battery cells from Chinese battery company CATL, as well as matrix LED lights, a steer-by-wire yoke, and a backup camera. But none of these rumors have been confirmed as of yet. In a recent report for EV news website Electrek, Fred Lambert wrote that it finally looks like Tesla is about to launch it. He noted that Tesla has pushed back delivery orders on Model 3s in Europe, possibly to make space for the changeover. Rumors from China indicate that Tesla is ready to switch over production to the new Model 3 imminently or possibly already has, based on tweets like one mentioning the online rumors and another showing possible new Model 3s in tightly wrapped packages. According to online rumors, communication from suspected Tesla staff indicates that the current domestically produced Tesla Model 3 will be discontinued on August 14th. It is reported that the new Tesla Model 3 will be officially put into production in the third quarter.#Tesla pic.twitter.com/doTVs1c2aQ WuWa (@bentv_sh) August 3, 2023 Electreks commenters, however, are not as convinced. Ive lost count on just how many imminent release reports weve seen now, one commenter wrote. Simply put, Ill believe it when I see it. We all know its coming, and I myself am looking forward to trading in my RWD for an AWD refresh, but Im done biting at the bit of every report that indicates the release is about to happen within a day/week/month etc. Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. Public and legislative opinion have turned sharply against legacy admissions, a long-standing policy that gives children of alumni and donors an edge in gaining entry to many of the nations most selective colleges. Several elite institutions have recently abandoned the practice, and some experts predict it will vanish entirely in the near future. Two of the nations most prestigious liberal arts schools, Wesleyan University and Occidental College, eliminated legacy admissions this summer, along with the public flagship University of Minnesota. Their names join a growing list of elite institutions that have rejected legacy preferences, including Amherst and Pomona colleges and Johns Hopkins University. More than 100 colleges and universities in all have ended legacy preferences since 2015, according to a report from the nonprofit Education Reform Now. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The movement took on new urgency this summer, following the Supreme Court ruling in June that effectively struck down affirmative action, barring schools from considering race in admissions. Affirmative action had long served as a counterbalance to legacy preferences, which tend to favor applicants who are white and wealthy. As schools explored how to maintain their commitment to diversity after the ruling, many saw legacy admissions as a clear area to target. On the day of the high court ruling, President Biden took aim at the legacy system, directing the Education Department to study practices like legacy admissions and other systems that expand privilege instead of opportunity. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle voiced support. Sen. Tim Scott, the South Carolina Republican, urged academia to abandon legacy admissions. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat, derided legacy preferences as affirmative action for the privileged. States have taken matters into their own hands. California enacted a law in 2020 that requires colleges to submit potentially embarrassing annual reports on legacy admissions. In 2021, Colorado became the first state to ban legacy preferences in public universities. Similar bills have emerged in New York and Connecticut. A new bill in Massachusetts takes a novel approach: It would require any college that favors legacies to pay a public service fee, with the proceeds funding community colleges. This summer, Democrats in Congress revived a 2022 bill that would bar colleges receiving federal funds from favoring legacies or donors. Separately, the Education Departments Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into whether Harvards legacy preferences discriminate against Black, Hispanic and Asian American applicants. A complaint filed against Harvard to the Education Department by three Black and Latino groups claims nearly 70 percent of applicants to the school who are related to wealthy donors and 70 percent who are related to alumni are white. Recent surveys suggest that most of the American public opposes legacy preferences. In an August poll of 1,202 likely voters, the polling firm Data for Progress found that 68 percent of them would support a ban on legacy admissions. Here, too, support crossed party lines. Public enthusiasm for legacy preferences has never run high, admissions experts say. The public was always opposed, said Richard Kahlenberg, nonresident scholar at Georgetown Universitys McCourt School of Public Policy and editor of a book on legacy preferences. They always thought it was offensive that ancestry should matter in who gets into a selective college. We fought a revolution in this country against the idea of an inherited aristocracy. Its deeply un-American to discriminate based on ancestry. And at the same time, ironically, these legacy preferences are almost uniquely American. Legacy preferences date back generations. And even now, after dozens of selective schools have backed away from legacy admissions, most of the nations top institutions favor the children of alumni and donors. An analysis of the 100 highest-ranked colleges by Forbes magazine found that 78 percent of private institutions gave at least some consideration to legacy, compared with 15 percent of public colleges. Legacy status can deliver a potent boost to an applicants chances at some of the nations most competitive colleges. A landmark study, released this summer, found that legacy applicants from wealthy families were five times more likely than other students to gain admission to an Ivy League or Ivy-caliber school. Legacy applicants from less prosperous families were three times as likely to gain entry. Applicants to elite schools are desperate for any advantage. The overall admission rate in 2022 was 9 percent at the University of Pennsylvania, 8 percent at Duke, 7 percent at the University of Chicago and 5 percent at Stanford and Harvard, according to a CBS News analysis. Youre talking about one of the best tickets to upward mobility in human history, OK? said Holden Thorp, a chemist and former chancellor of the University of North Carolina. So theres a lot of debate about who deserves that ticket and who doesnt. The prospect of a legacy preference drives millions of dollars of charitable donations to selective universities from alumni with children approaching college age. Schools that take away that advantage have to contend with backlash from some former students. We found that there were some alums who did not like the decision and expressed displeasure, and others who were really excited by the decision, said Matt McGann, dean of admission and financial aid for Amherst College, which abandoned legacy admissions in 2021. After Amherst banned the practice, legacy admissions fell from 11 percent of the incoming class to 6 percent in the next school year. McGann said the school was also able to increase its number of first-generation students in that time. Other alums were not as happy, and I think it was not so much about the decision itself, but, maybe, did it signal any lessening of our commitment to building a lifelong community? he added. And that was not what the decision was about, but I can understand how someone might feel that way. And having the lifelong community built through our alum group is really important to us. For college presidents and trustees, legacy preferences are an inconvenient truth. Several institutions contacted by The Hill for this story declined interview requests. If you gave a truthful answer, Thorp said, I would say most college presidents say theyre uncomfortable with it, and theres no moral argument for doing it. Yet, college administrators have embraced legacy preferences for decades. Children of alumni and donors often pay the full price of admission, or close to it. If offered preferential admission, theyre strongly motivated to accept. Legacy admissions build a multigenerational bond between family and college. Colleges in the United States, they function kind of like families. You put the bumper sticker on your car, said Mitchell Stevens, an organizational sociologist at Stanford. Its not just about donations. Its about identity, and perpetuating an identity across generations. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The slogan is catchy: Make America Florida. On the GOP presidential primary trail, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis brand has been of a competent governor who gets conservative priorities implemented with unprecedented efficiency from banning classroom instruction about LGBTQ issues to using taxpayer dollars to relocate migrants who arent even in Florida. But DeSantis Florida Blueprint has cracks. It is true that DeSantis exerts control over the states lawmaking process like no governor before him and hes adept at sniffing out cultural grievances among conservative voters that he uses to ram through his policies. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But hes been successful largely because of a compliant Republican-controlled Legislature. Despite Floridas previous status as a purple swing state, its government is deep red. DeSantis faces no real opposition thanks to a Florida Democratic Party that cant figure out how to win elections and the states rightward shift in recent years. Republicans super-majority control of the Florida House and Senate affords them the privilege of ignoring opposing views. But one-party rule doesnt reflect the reality that DeSantis would face if elected president in 2024 (and if he can recover in the polls). DeSantis track record in Florida should come with a warning to the rest of the country: Although he has excelled at pushing his party to pass partisan policies, he hasnt been tested on his ability to unite or lead in times of deep division. The payback governor DeSantis isnt a skilled statesman as much as he is a political boss whose biggest source of power has been the threat of retribution against his own party members. DeSantis is a mean, vindictive, petty man, said Mac Stipanovich, a former GOP strategist who left the party after Donald Trumps 2016 election. Republicans fall in line or risk DeSantis payback. Tallahassee isnt Washington, D.C. If elected president, DeSantis would have to make deals with a divided Congress, where he was once a backbench member of the U.S. House who disliked Capitol Hill politics and the backslapping it requires, Politico reported. Its not just that DeSantis hasnt had to reach across the aisle. He hasnt had to rein in different factions within his own party. In Florida, theres one way to be a Republican today: the DeSantis way. There are few conservative mavericks left in Florida government in the mold of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, who famously blocked Trumps attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. How would DeSantis deal with Republicans who arent fearful or sycophantic? Its not clear. Pulling back the curtain The Florida Blueprint masks another reality: DeSantis and Republicans have become sloppy at writing laws. A consequence of one-party rule is that legislation now is rushed through, without meaningful debate. The laws are too vague, confusing and ripe for court challenges. One example is the legislation passed to implement Amendment 4 approved by 65% of voters in 2018 which restored most felons right to vote. The Legislature, backed by DeSantis, has nearly thwarted the measure, passing a law that required felons first pay back all fines and court fees. The problem is Florida has no centralized system to determine if someone has fulfilled those requirements. Amid confusion, supervisors of elections issued voting cards to people not eligible to get their rights restored and DeSantis own administration failed to flag them. Some were later arrested by DeSantis new election crimes police, giving him an opportunity to boast about cracking down on voter fraud that the state should have stopped in the first place. The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which drafted Amendment 4, sued Florida in July alleging the state impeded the will of voters. Reversed in court One of DeSantis first culture-war measures was a 2021 anti-Big Tech bill that, despite having all the marks of unconstitutionality, cruised through the Legislature. The law, in part, banned social-media companies from de-platforming Florida political candidates, levying fines of up to $250,000 a day for violations. After industry groups sued on First Amendment grounds, a federal judge blocked key parts of the law, calling it riddled with imprecision and ambiguity, and an appeals court upheld much of the ruling. Florida has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in. DeSantis signature Stop WOKE Act, which limited how teachers and college professors can teach about race, also got dressed down in court. U.S. Circuit Judge Mark Walker last year temporarily blocked the law from being enforced in higher education, calling it positively dystopian. An appeals court denied Floridas request to stay Walkers order. Federal courts recently blocked, at least temporarily, laws and policies that targeted children attending drag shows, banned Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming healthcare and banned minors from receiving such care. The DeSantis administration is also entangled in a legal battle with Disney, which accuses the state of retaliation over its opposition to a parental rights law known as Dont say gay. Some of these rulings could get reversed on appeal in DeSantis favor, and others already have been. But the point is that a DeSantis presidency would push the limits of the U.S. Constitution through laws, if he can get them passed, and executive orders. Court battles over a presidents policies have become normal in Americas polarized politics. The difference with DeSantis is that legal fights dont seem to be a consequence of his actions, but the goal. This is DeSantis sledgehammer approach to governing. He seems more concerned with headlines than prudent governing. Voters should ask whether the Florida Blueprint is exactly what its title denotes, a strategy to govern a state like Florida, where opposition has been neutered, or an effective way to lead a diverse nation. Let Florida be a lesson. Click here to send the letter. A Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last month has revealed details of the daring operation to fly across the border in his Mi8 combat helicopter, in an interview published by Ukraines Defense Intelligence. The pilot, named by Ukrainian officials as Maxim Kuzminov, explained in the interview how he planned his defection and why he felt compelled to do so. I contacted representatives of Ukrainian intelligence, explained my situation, to which they offered this option: Come on, we guarantee your safety, guarantee new documents, guarantee monetary compensation, a reward, the pilot said, in a recording released Monday. The head of Ukraines Defense Intelligence, Kyrolo Budanov, revealed in August how Ukrainian officials had been able to help the pilot to defect. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We were able to create the conditions to get his whole family out undetected, and eventually create the conditions so that he could take over this aircraft with a crew that did not know what was happening, Budanov told Radio Liberty at the time. Two more people were with him a full crew of three persons in total. When they realized where they had landed, they tried to escape. Unfortunately, they were eliminated. We would prefer (to take) them alive, but it is what it is. Maxim Kuzminov speaking in an interview published Monday. - Defence Intelligence of Ukraine In the interview released Monday, the pilot detailed how the event unfolded. During one flight, the pilot said I realized that I was near the border. I relayed my location. I said: Lets give it a try, Im not that far away. And, having made a final decision, I flew at an extremely low altitude in radio silence mode. No one understood what was going on with me at all. The pilot said he was able to land in Ukraine, where he was met by Ukrainian officials. The circumstances of the interview are unclear, but the pilot appeared to be speaking freely. At the time, one unofficial Russian Telegram channel, surprised by the flight data, reported that an Mi-8 helicopter had flown into Ukraine and landed in the central region of Poltava by mistake. No one has done this before, but I hope we can now scale it up, said Budanov. In the newly published interview, the pilot also pushed back against Russian misinformation about the invasion of Ukraine. The truth is, there are no Nazis or fascists here. Its a real disgrace what is happening here. Murder, tears, blood. People are simply killing each other. Thats all I can make of this and I dont want to be a part of it, he said. What is going on now is simply the genocide of the Ukrainian people. Both Ukrainian and Russian. The motivation for my action was to not contribute to these crimes. Ukraine will unequivocally win this war simply because the people are very united. Before they were not like this, but now they are very unified. The whole world is helping them, because first and foremost, human life should be valued. The pilot also urged other Russians in the military to defect to Ukraine. Youll be provided for, for the rest of your lives. You will be offered a job everywhere, no matter what you do. Youll simply discover a world of colors. CNN has been unable to verify the pilots identity. But Agenstvo, an independent Russian Telegram channel, said that it had found Kuzminovs social media profile and that he was an attack pilot of the 319th separate helicopter regiment of the Eastern Military District. Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov, who has well-established contacts in the Defense Ministry, earlier reported that the helicopter is fully intact and will be added to the Ukrainian Armed Forces after a detailed examination of its equipment. CNNs Olga Voitovych, Julia Kesaieva and Tim Lister contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com A mourner prays in front of crosses honoring the victims of the shooting at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Fla., on Aug. 28. (Corey Perrine / Associated Press) To the editor: One of your readers stated that guns are not the problem, criminals are. Well, how many gun killings are committed by people who weren't criminals yet? How many weren't criminals until they had shot a few people? How many were simply drunk or too young to control their tempers? How many were in a domestic dispute? How many were suicides? How many were children who got their hands on a gun that their parents legally owned? These would not happen if people did not have easy access to guns. Education about guns is not sufficient in most of these cases. Don't let ideology obscure the reality of what easy access to guns costs us. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Rita Skinner, Riverside .. To the editor: A letter writer complains about your use of the term "gun violence." He claims that people in California have an irrational fear of guns. Not just California, but also the whole country has an entirely rational fear of gun violence in places where firearms do not belong: schools, churches, grocery stores, malls, restaurants, concerts, nightclubs and hair salons. The publics right to feel safe when visiting these venues is being trampled by those who insist that the right to bear arms supersedes all others. Our right to anything ends where it interferes with the rights of others. Kathy Harty, Sierra Madre .. To the editor: Everyone seems to be missing the real cause of gun violence entirely. In this modern world, there are so many people who feel alone and powerless. But they all know this one unmistakable truth: "If I have a gun, you had better pay attention to me." Wayne Via, Dana Point This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A Hawaiian flag waves in the wind as drivers wait in a line of vehicles to return to Lahaina on Aug. 16. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) To the editor: Hawaiians are naturally conflicted about tourism. They should be. Tourism is a cancer that destroys the quality of life for locals so some carpetbaggers can make money. Tourism is clearly not a "clean" industry. People do not just show up, spend their dough and leave. Instead, they show up, and then if they have more money than the locals do, they move in and tell a friend. Tourism attracts people to a given area, and developers build homes for them, usually pricing out the locals. My hometown of Ventura became a tourist destination in the early 1980s. Since then, the rent and population have increased, and now we have traffic jams and the opportunity to pay to park at our own beaches. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The hospitality industry does create jobs mostly low-wage ones and the taxes from it are often used to mitigate the problems caused by tourism in the first place. More than 120 years ago, American business interests took over Hawaii. Ask a native Hawaiian how they like tourism. They have notions of hospitality that go way back, but also consider what happened to one of the earliest "tourists" to Hawaii, Capt. James Cook. Bill Locey, Oak View This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A boat of sightseers scanned the blue-green waters off the coast of Wales. The morning sun glinted off the surface as they searched for dolphins. To their surprise, a much rarer sea animal surfaced nearby. SeaMor Dolphin Watching Boat Trips set out from New Quay mid-morning on Sept. 2, according to a Facebook post. Onboard to guide the sightseers was Joshua Pedley, a local wildlife expert. Low in the water, a sleek gray animal surfaced, Pedleys photos show. It had a smooth body and a rounded fin low on its back. It was a Sowerbys beaked whale, Pedley told McClatchy News. The Sowerbys beaked whale spotted in the shallow waters near New Quay. Photo from Joshua Pedley Sowerbys beaked whales are small- to medium-sized whales that can reach 14 to 21 feet in length, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The species usually lives in deep, cold, temperate and subarctic waters of the North Atlantic. Due to the animals cryptic, skittish behavior, it is challenging to observe. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The sighting of the Sowerbys beaked whale in Cardigan Bay is an exceptionally rare event with only 13 other live sightings made around the U.K. since 2007, Claudia Afeltra from the Sea Watch Foundation told McClatchy News. These whales are rarely seen in shallow waters, the Sea Watch Foundation posted on Facebook Sept. 3. This may be the first time that one has been spotted off the Welsh coast. It must be lost, Pedley wrote in a Facebook post. It came quite shallow. Initially we worried that perhaps this unusual visitor to New Quay would end up beaching, Pedley told McClatchy News, however it turned round and headed back to the deeps on its own accord. We havent heard of it being sighted again, so no news is good news. Pedley described the sighting as absolutely insane in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Drone footage shared by the SeaMor Dolphin Watching Boat Trips on Facebook shows the rare whale. The whale has its fins pressed against its sides with its back arched out of the water. The sleek animal appears to make a very small splash. Very fortunate to be aboard this boat trip, Maria Potter wrote in comments. Awesome to see this amazing sight. Pauline Jones expressed a similar sentiment, commenting that we were lucky enough to see this yesterday. New Quay is about 214 miles northwest of London and along the coast of Cardigan Bay. Scaly pink sea creature with an extra eye found in West Pacific. Its a new species Black-throated sea creature found in acid water in Indonesia. Its a new species Massive sea creatures give researcher a triple surprise. See the magic moment Doing a home maintenance or installation job yourself can be extremely satisfying and save a lot of money. But when the project is a little complex, its probably best to leave it to a professional. Yet what happens when the supposed expert makes an error that leaves you with an enormous repair bill on your property? Thats what happened to one Auburn, Georgia, resident named Glen Frazier, who ordered a new washing machine from Lowes and had it professionally installed. Unfortunately, it was done incorrectly, and Frazier soon found that his house was flooding. Water was pouring from the light fixtures, from the seams, from the sheetrock, he told WSB-TV. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It was only a few minutes after the installers had left the property that the problem began, as a broken part in the washing machine led to the leak. Frazier has spent $8,000 on water remediation so far, and the damage the flooding has done to his property is likely to see his repair bill increase. Perhaps more frustrating, though, is that interest in remedying the problem seemed minimal from Lowes. It took two weeks for Frazier to get a response from the retailer, but that only happened after he got in touch with the Consumer Action Center. Frazier was directed to Elliott.org to find an email address for company executives. When he finally got in touch with someone at Lowes, they said, This should never happen. Speaking to WSB-TV, Channel 2 consumer advisor Clark Howard said that getting assistance from big companies like Lowes or Home Depot following installation issues has been virtually impossible for consumers. Theyre putting their names on these programs, but they are not backing them up, he added. It shouldnt require an email to an executive to solve a problem that is of the companys own making. Hopefully, Lowes takes note of the trouble Frazier experienced and makes it easier for customers to get in contact about such problems in the future. Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet. Former Malaysian deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi waves to his supporters at the Kuala Lumpur High Court By Rozanna Latiff and A. Ananthalakshmi KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian prosecutors dropped corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Monday, letting the leader of a key partner in the ruling coalition to walk free and raising questions over Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim 's promise to fight graft. Anwar needs the support of Ahmad Zahid's United Malays National Organisation to maintain a parliamentary majority, and the prosecutors' decision to drop the case will invite scrutiny over the government's stance on corruption cases against other UMNO leaders, notably former Prime Minister Najib Razak . Najib is serving a 12-year prison sentence for graft linked to the multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB and faces more bribery charges. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed a prosecution request to grant Ahmad Zahid - who was facing 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, bribery and money laundering - a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, after the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) chose not to continue pursuing the case. State news agency Bernama reported that the prosecution made the request to halt the case as they wanted to investigate the case in depth. The discharge comes even after the court said in January last year that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing an initial case against Zahid and had asked him to enter his defence. Ahmad Zahid had pleaded not guilty to all charges, and UMNO said he was a victim of political persecution. The AGC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, a lawyer for Ahmad Zahid, said his team will ask the court for a full acquittal. The UMNO was voted out for power for the first time in Malaysia's history in 2018 due to widespread anger over corruption allegations against Najib and Ahmad Zahid. The two were the highest profile of all the high-ranking officials charged soon after losing power. Despite the corruption charges, Anwar appointed Ahmad Zahid to the second-highest office in the country. Anwar's party failed to win a majority on its own in last year's election, prompting him to partner with the UMNO party. Anwar has said he would not interfere in the court process. (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor) A man drowned at Georgias Lake Lanier after he ran down a dock and slipped into the water - marking the eighth death at the lake this year. Gavrie Alexander Whitlock, 23, was found dead at the Holiday Marina on Lake Lanier by the Hall County Fire Rescue on Saturday night. The Department of Natural Resources responded to a drowning call at the lakes oldest and largest marina at around 10.30pm after Whitlock fell into the water and didnt resurface. Whitlock, from Snellville, Georgia, is the eighth person to drown in Lake Lanier so far in 2023. A week prior to Whitlocks death, another 23-year-old man, Edgar Steven Cruz Martinez, drowned when swimming in Lake Lanier on 26 August. Before this two men, aged 27 and 61, died the same day in unrelated events; they were both swimming in the lake on 29 July when they drowned. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Several days before both those men drowned, a 24-year-old man named Thomas Shepard Milner was electrocuted after jumping off a dock into Lake Lanier. It is estimated that more than 200 people have died at Lake Lanier between 1994 and 2022, according to USA Today and Georgia DNR. Six people drowned in the lake last year, four in 2021 and seven in 2020. More than 200 people have died at Lake Lanier since 1994 (Wikimedia Commons) In 2012, the son of Tameka Foster, a fashion designer and the ex-wife of R&B star Usher, died when a watercraft struck the boy while he was sitting on an inflatable on the lake. The death of her son, Kile Glover, who was 11, prompted Ms Foster to start a petition for officials to drain, clean and restore the lake, in order to make it safe and to remove dangerous debris. The online petition has more than 2,500 signatures. Draining, cleaning, and restoring Lake Lanier is not only necessary but also an opportunity to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives and prevent further tragedies, Ms Foster wrote in her Change.org petition. The lake has often been branded as dangerous for various reasons, and to some, thought of as haunted. Lake Lanier gets around 10 million visits per year and had a huge volume of boat traffic on the water. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, more than 170 boating and drowning deaths have been reported between 1994 and 2018. Additionally, there have been issues with people boating under the influence on the lake, with more than 525 BUIs handed out between 2008 and 2018. The lakes waters can also get murky, making it harder to perform rescue operations. The lake is situated northeast of Atlanta and is 60 square miles in size and has waters up to 160 feet deep. Before it became a reservoir in 1956, the town of Oscarville, a small Black community was situated in its place. After lynchings that happened in the area in 1912, more than 1000 Black people were displaced and many properties and businesses ended up in the hands of white people. The Lake Lanier website explains how many theories of an underwater ghost town have come about because of the displacement prior to the flooding of the town. Although numbers have not been confirmed, many outlets report that around 700 people have died on the lake since its creation in 1956. One user on X (formerly known as Twitter) commented on the recent Lake Lanier deaths and the possible haunting. They said: Of course the lake is haunted. I would say that is more than fair Part of some messed up history in Georgia. Another user commented on the previous death of Mr Martinez and said: Camp Crystal Lake Lanier claims 7th person in 2023. The ancestors are angry, my friend. This X user also said: Before Lake Lanier was created in the 1950s, it was one of DOZENS of U.S. towns racist white mobs flooded like Oscarville, GA. Lake Lanier is also one of the bodies of water legends say are haunted by our ancestors as many people have drowned in its waters. A man was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries after crashing his motorcycle in Danvers Monday morning. Troopers responding to the area of Route 128 northbound at Exit 41 around 9 a.m. for a single motorcycle crash into a guardrail found a 36-year-old man from Wiscasset, Maine had sustained severe injuries, according to State Police. Authorities called for a medical helicopter and traffic was diverted off the highway at Endicott Street to provide a safe landing zone. The man was airlifted from the Danvers Police Department parking lot to Beth Israel Hospital where his condition remains critical. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The road was reopened at 9:30 a.m. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW MEMPHIS, Tenn. After a month on the run, a man has been charged with a shooting that left the mother of his children in the hospital. Ricky Lee Schular is accused of shooting the mother of his children five times at the end of July. He was booked into jail on September 1. Warrants issued for man accused of shooting woman five times The victim said she was driving on Fernwood headed toward South Third when her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her kids, boxed in her car, threatened to kill her and opened fire. According to court records, Schular shot the victim in the chest, wrist and left shoulder. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I had a collapsed lung. There was also blood in the lung, so I had to have it drained to drain all the blood out of my lung, the victim said. He pointed the gun to my head, so when he was getting ready to shoot, I waved my hand up, so thats how the first shot ended up hitting my wrist. Schular is charged with attempted first-degree murder and many other charges. He is currently being held on a $425,000 bond. WREG spoke with residents nearby, and they all can agree that they will be sleeping better tonight. Thats a sigh of relief. That a dangerous individual, a careless individual is off the streets its probably where he belongs, a neighbor said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. Gender reveal parties typically share whether parents-to-be are expecting a boy or a girl, using blue or pink decorations with balloons or cake. More extreme reveals with fireworks or planes have ended in disaster. Andrii Medvediuk/Getty Images A fatal plane crash was reported in Mexico after a gender reveal stunt went wrong. Viral video shows the plane's wing detaching as it flies over a crowd and the expecting couple. Previous gender reveal parties have also caused deaths and accidents like a massive wildfire. A gender reveal party in Mexico on Sunday turned deadly when a plane included in the celebration crashed, killing the pilot, after flying over a cheering crowd. A viral video of the event shows the aircraft trailing pink smoke (signaling the couple is expecting a girl) while flying over decorative pink and blue balloons and a sign that reads "Oh Baby." As the couple embraces and guests cheer, one wing can be seen separating from the plane as it flies away from the crowd and tailspins out of control, according to a clip with more than 12 million views posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The pilot was treated at the scene and then brought to the hospital, where he later died, local authorities told CNN. A gender reveal party is a popular trend in which parents-to-be announce to friends and family whether they're expecting a boy or a girl using blue or pink decorations that emerge in a surprising and sometimes dramatic way. Common examples include cutting into a cake that shows blue or pink frosting inside, or popping balloons that reveal color-coded confetti. The most recent crash isn't the first deadly accident involving a gender reveal party. In 2021, two people were killed in another gender reveal plane stunt gone wrong, when the plane crashed into the ocean instead of flying over the party's boat as intended. The gender reveal trend also caused a massive wildfire in California in 2020 after a celebratory fireworks display sparked a catastrophic blaze that raged for days across more than 10,000 acres. The incidents prompted the woman who popularized the trend to call for an end to the increasingly extreme gender reveal trend in 2020. "For the love of God, stop burning things down to tell everyone about your kid's penis. No one cares but you," she wrote on Facebook. Read the original article on Business Insider DICKSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) A man is dead after he reportedly made a call to law enforcement regarding an active shooter that turned out to be false. The Dickson County Sheriffs Office said deputies responded to the Montgomery Bell Lodge located in Montgomery Bell State Park after receiving a call regarding someone shooting inside the hotel. Elderly woman found dead in pond outside Bellevue townhomes When deputies and park rangers arrived, they found an unarmed man talking about a shooter in the hallway. Authorities said they detained him for further questioning. Investigators said while speaking with the man, he began having a medical emergency and was taken to Horizon Medical Center where he died. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to detectives, the investigation revealed the man went through the hotel making statements that someone was trying to kill him and that they had a gun. No weapon was seen or found. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com The sheriffs office said there is no active threat to the community and this appears to have been a mental health incident. The hotel has since reopened. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A man found shot in an alley in northeast Las Vegas died Sunday night, Las Vegas police said. On Sunday at 11:01 p.m., police received a report of a shooting in the 2600 block of Sherwood Street in northeast Las Vegas. According to police, first responders found a man with a gunshot wound in an alley upon arrival. The victim was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Homicide detectives from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department are investigating the shooting. Officials did not immediately release any further information on the victim, nor did they detail his cause or manner of death. Police said the Clark County Coroners office will release that information in the coming days. No information was given on potential suspects in the shooting. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact LVMPD at 702-828-3421 or via email. Additionally, those wishing to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or via the organizations website. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. A mans roommate is accused of killing him nearly two months after his body was found at a Maine cemetery in July, authorities said. Mark Trabue, 57, of Anson, was found dead inside his car parked at a cemetery on East Houghton Street in Madison the evening of July 8, according to a Sept. 1 Maine State Police news release. Trabues death was declared a homicide by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, police said. His cause of death has not yet been released as the investigation continues, according to authorities. That investigation led to the arrest of Trabues roommate, Roland Flood, 61, of Madison on Sept. 1, police said. Detectives with Maine State Polices Major Crimes Unit took Flood into custody. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Flood was charged with murder, according to police. They said he lived with Trabue before his death. Information regarding Floods legal representation wasnt immediately available on Sept. 4. Flood was booked in the Somerset County Jail and will appear in court for an arraignment, police said. His arraignment date wasnt listed in the release. The Somerset County Sheriffs Office is also involved in the murder investigation. While authorities didnt specify the cemetery where Trabues body was found, Forest Hill Cemetery is located on East Houghton Street in Madison. Madison is about 45 miles northwest of Augusta. Dad charged with murder after 10-year-old son dies in rollover crash, TX officials say Radiant woman found strangled with zip tie, Florida cops say. Boyfriend now charged Remains found at landfill confirmed as missing toddler, GA cops say. Dad now charged A man is hospitalized following a crash involving an overturned trailer in Darke County early Monday morning. >>Woman dead after crash in Darke County Darke County Sheriffs deputies and medics were dispatched at 12:26 a.m. to the intersection of U.S. 127 and State Route 47 on initial reports of a crash, a Darke County Sheriffs spokesperson said. Lance Harrison, 35, of Union City, was driving a Red 2001 Ford F-150 eastbound on State Route 47 when he failed to yield the right way and struck another truck, according to a preliminary investigation. Dustin Nobbe, 27, of Batesville, Indiana, was driving a silver 2013 Dodge Ram and pulling a trailer. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The trucks collided and caused the trailer of Nobbes truck to overturn in the roadway, the spokesperson said. Medics transported Harrison to Wayne Health Care with minor injuries. Mutual aid was provided by Ansonia Fire and Ansonia Rescue. The crash remains under investigation. An Alabama ex-con who had just been released from prison was arrested in Georgia after deputies said he stabbed his pregnant girlfriend to death. Bradley Wayne Stokes was arrested in Columbus Saturday after the body of 37-year-old Treasure Hennessey was found at a fire station in Fort Mitchell, Alabama. Hennessey was eight weeks pregnant and the mother of two. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Deputies said Stokes was on probation after serving 14 years of a 16-year sentence on manslaughter and federal gun charges. Hed just been released on June 2. According to WTVM, Stokes and Hennessey had just started dating. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor said that his department had responded to multiple domestic violence calls in the last two months. A nearby fire station gave Hennessey permission to live there in an effort to avoid Stokes, who later found out where she lived. TRENDING STORIES: Investigators said they believe Stokes thought Hennessey wanted to pursue an arrest warrant for the domestic violence calls, which would have violated his probation and sent him back to prison. Stokes announced the pregnancy with a photo on social media in August. Later posts talked about the couples breakup. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Stokes was arrested in Columbus after a short car and foot chase. He has been charged with capital murder. Hennesseys mother, LeAnn Horne, posted about her daughters killing on Facebook, writing: No one deserves or should have their life taken in the way this animal hid and waited to attack her, taking a mothers life, Horne wrote. We have to survive this incredibly cruel and devastating act of violence taking the one or ones we love from us forever to see JUSTICE will be done. CARLSBAD, Calif. A man was stabbed in Carlsbad Sunday afternoon during what police believe was a road rage incident that originated on the Interstate 5, authorities confirmed. Around 12:21 p.m., Carlsbad police were alerted to the stabbing in nearby the 5600 block of Paseo Del Norte, the department said in a release. Officers were dispatched to the area where they discovered the victim, identified as a 22-year-old man, suffering from stab wounds to his upper body and back. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital for his injuries, which are not considered life-threatening at this time. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Man injured in Mission Beach motorcycle crash The suspect, identified as a 40-year-old man from San Diego, was also brought to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries sustained during the incident. According to CPD, he will be booked into a San Diego County Jail at a later point. There is no known relationship between the suspect and the victim, the department added. Findings from the responding officers preliminary investigation indicated that the victim was likely stabbed during a road rage altercation that started on the I-5, according to CPD. After exiting the freeway, the suspect and the victim had pulled into a gas station parking lot at the corner of Palomar Airport Road and Paseo Del Norte, authorities added, before continuing into the lot of the Premium Outlet stores where they confronted each other. The investigation remains ongoing at this time. CPD encourages anyone with information about the incident to contact the detective assigned to the case at 442-339-2173. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. SAN DIEGO A man was stabbed Monday at a downtown nightclub, San Diego police said. According to SDPD, around 12:30 a.m. officers were flagged down regarding a stabbing that had just happened at the Toro Nightclub in the Gaslamp Quarter, located at 672 Fifth Avenue. Officers found a 23-year-old man with a stab wound to his stomach, police said. Witnesses of the stabbing followed the suspect and flagged down officers, who took the man into custody without incident, SDPD Watch Commander Scott Foster said. Police described the suspect as a 21-year-old man. Deadly crash prompts SR-67 closure near Ramona ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The victim was transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said. The victim is believed to be in stable condition. The circumstances that led to the stabbing are still under investigation. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call SDPDs Central Division at 619-744-9500 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. A precautionary no-swim advisory throughout Manatee County has been lifted after public health officials confirmed that water quality is safe following Hurricane Idalia. After it passed through the Bradenton area last week, Idalia brought flooding to Manatee Countys rivers, beaches and other low-lying coastal areas. The Department of Health in Manatee County issued a no-swim advisory for all bodies of water, including local public beaches, while testing was conducted. The health department first enacted the no-swim advisory Friday. It was lifted Sunday evening, according to a press release. However, a no-swim advisory remains in place at the beach on the south side of the Palma Sola Causeway along State Road 64 due to high levels of enterococci bacteria. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement All of the beaches on Anna Maria Island including Manatee Public Beach, Cortez Beach and Coquina Beach are safe places to swim, public health officials said. Hurricane Idalia dumped about 4 inches of rain and brought 3 1/2 feet of storm surge to Manatee County, according to the National Weather Service. During the no-swim advisory, the health department advised residents and visitors to avoid contact with floodwater because it could contain fecal matter from sewage systems and septic tanks, along with agricultural or industrial. For more information, visit www.FloridaHealth.gov or www.FloridaDisaster.org. A manhunt continues for a dangerous inmate who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison last week as authorities focus on a heavily wooded area in Pocopsen Township after four confirmed sightings. Danelo Cavalcante, 34, has been on the run in Chester County since Thursday after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the fatal stabbing of his 33-year-old ex-girlfriend. District Attorney Deb Ryan announced at a press briefing on Monday that the Pennsylvania State Police will be taking over the investigation and manhunt. The goal right now is to find and capture this dangerous fugitive, Ms Ryan said, adding that she understands the communitys concerns. We are doing everything in our power to get this guy. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The search is focused on a two-mile radius of a heavily wooded area in Pocopsen Township, Chester County where there have been four credible sightings since the escape. Police said on Monday that over the past five days, Cavalcante has been spotted at the intersection of Rt. 926 and Rt. 52, north on Rt. 52 to Parkersville Road, southeast to Rt. 926 and west to the intersection of Rt. 926 and Rt. 52 in Pocopson Township. Danelo Cavalcante (Chester County Prison) Ryan said police have responded to well over 100 tips from neighbours in the area, including allegations of possible break-ins within the two-mile radius of the prison. We are requesting that residents in the area of Pocopson Township remain inside. Lock your doors, lock your cars. He is still considered an extremely dangerous individual. There is evidence to suggest that hes still in that local residence. We do not believe he has gotten more than one to two miles away from the prison, Ms Ryan said. We believe we are getting closer to locating the suspect at this time, and we are narrowing the scope of our search, she added. Community members were also made aware that an audio recording from Cavalcantes mother will be played throughout the day from police cars and helicopters. The message, which is in Portuguese Cavalcantes native tongue is of his mother pleading for him to surrender peacefully. He was spotted on cameras around 12.30am on Saturday in Pocopson Township, roughly one and a half miles from the prison. Local authorities received a report of an attempted burglary in the area just an hour before Cavalcante was captured on surveillance but it is not immediately clear if he was involved. Police said residents in the area should scan video from their doorbells or surveillance cameras for anything suspicious. They also advised people to check their cars and any sheds on their property. Cavalcante is described as a 5ft Brazilian man with light complexion, shaggy, black curly hair and brown eyes. He is also wanted for a homicide in 2017 in Brazil, the US Marshals Service for Philadelphia said. Since his escape, he was seen wearing a light-coloured shirt, pants, and white sneakers. He was also carrying a backpack, but police said they dont know when he obtained the bag. Cavalcante is described as 5ft tall with light complexion, shaggy, black curly hair and brown eyes Hundreds of law enforcement teams, including the US Marshals, SWAT, local, state, and other federal agencies, have joined the search. Authorities are also offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to Cavalcantes arrest. Authorities urged people to not approach Cavalcante, who speaks Portuguese and Spanish. Cavalcante killed his ex-girlfriend in Schuylkill Township in front of the victims seven-year-old daughter and a three-year-old before fleeing to Virginia. Ms Ryan called it a heartbreaking tragedy. A U.S. Marine veteran determined to receive a Purple Heart medal lied about suffering severe injuries during a roadside explosion in northern Iraq, according to federal prosecutors. The Purple Heart, one of the oldest U.S. military awards, is awarded to those who were injured or killed as a result of enemy action during their military service. Its a solemn distinction and means a service member has greatly sacrificed themselves, or paid the ultimate price, while in the line of duty, per USO.org. Paul John Herbert, 52, of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, lied on a Purple Heart application submitted to the U.S. Marine Corps through his congressman in October 2018 by claiming he suffered a traumatic brain injury and other injuries during his deployment to northern Iraq, prosecutors said. He also stole more than $344,000 in veterans disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs from January 2010 to March 2023, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Herbert was arrested on Sept. 1 and indicted on charges of theft of government money and making false statements, the attorneys office announced in a Sept. 1 news release. McClatchy News contacted an attorney representing Herbert for comment on Sept. 4 and didnt receive an immediate response. Mr. Herberts alleged conduct is an affront to every veteran who has sacrificed to earn the honor of a Purple Heart and who is deserving of disability benefits, U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. Stealing from our countrys veterans or claiming valor where there is none is an insult to the honorable service members who sacrifice for our safety, Levy added. I just needed to feel important The Upper Pioneer Valley Veterans Services District, a local veterans advocacy organization, first investigated Herbert after he spoke about his military service during a local veterans event in Massachusetts a few years ago, according to the Greenfield Recorder. At the event, Herbert said he was the sole survivor of an improvised explosive device attack when British Royal Marines were purportedly killed during his deployment to northern Iraq in the 1990s, the newspaper reported. However, the Upper Pioneer Valley Veterans Services District learned this was never mentioned in a military document Herberts Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty the group obtained following a Freedom of Information Act request, according to the newspaper. (Herbert) well knewhe had not suffered traumatic brain injury from a roadside explosion while deployed in Northern Iraq, the indictment says. McClatchy News contacted the U.S. Navy for comment and for more information regarding Herberts service in the Marine Corps on Sept. 4 and is awaiting a response. In an August 2022 article published by the Greenfield Recorder, Herbert admitted to lying about his experiences in the military and receiving undeserved awards and money. I just needed to feel important, Herbert told the newspaper at the time. I started feeling important and feeling good about myself and I didnt know a way to get out. I know I hurt a lot of people that trusted me and cared about me and everything else. After Herberts initial appearance in federal court on Sept. 1, he was released on conditions not specified in the news release. If Herbert is convicted on the count of theft of government money, he will have to forfeit the $344,040 hes accused of stealing from the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the indictment. The charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said. The charge of making a false statement in connection with Herberts Purple Heart application carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, according to the release. More than 1.8 million U.S. service members have been awarded a Purple Heart, including President John F. Kennedy, the only U.S. president whos received the award, according to the United Service Organizations. Shelburne Falls is about 115 miles northwest of Boston. Retired soldier steals Humvee from Army base and plows into buildings doors, feds say Military spouse kept his second, third marriages a secret and stole $364,000, feds say Fake story on homeless vet raised $400K on GoFundMe, feds say. Woman headed to prison On Sunday Ms Greene posted in support of Yom Kippur - using an image of a Jewish menorah candle-holder (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Georgia firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene went on a multi-tweet tirade over the weekend, claiming the White House is attacking her over her laundry list of demands to be met before she supports raising the debt ceiling. The White House is attacking me for demanding an impeachment inquiry before Ill vote to fund one penny to our over bloated $32 TRILLION dollar in debt failing government, Rep Greene wrote on Saturday. It was her first post in a thread consisting of 14 consecutive tweets. We have the evidence they have desperately been trying to hide to just ask the question. Should we inquire? Should we just take a look? Dare we investigate further? She continued, The answer is YES but the White House is outraged at my audacity to demand it. The Georgia Republican also took aim at President Joe Biden, accusing the White House of being filled with pathetic blind fools led by one corrupt criminal mentally incompetent old man who has been in Washington seats of power longer than Ive been alive. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She also doubled down on her resistance to send aid to Ukraine while simultaneously calling out Mr Biden for his border policies. You would rather send our sons and daughters to be blown to shreds in another foreign war and sent home in flag draped coffins than actually do your constitutional duty of defending our own states, Rep Greene wrote. Not only did she blast Bidenomics, but she also touted her anti-transgender views, criticising the president for supporting brainwashing children of the most evil disgusting lie that they can change their gender from what God created them to be. She ended her rant by writing, Go ahead and mock me, I could care less, and the American people know the truth. See you soon. The Georgia Republicans comments follow the White Houses response to her demands over what would need to happen before she supported raising the debt ceiling. Those demands, which she announced last week, include passing an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, stopping funding Covid-19-related mandates, ending aid to Ukraine, and halting funding of what she called the weaponised part of the government. This includes, according to Rep Greene, the FBI, special counsel Jack Smith whose probes have resulted in two federal indictments against former president Donald Trump. She also called for the firing David Weiss, the special counsel leading the Hunter Biden probe. The White House slammed Ms Greenes demands in a statement from spokesperson Andrew Bates: The last thing the American people deserve is for extreme House members to trigger a government shutdown that hurts our economy, undermines our disaster preparedness, and forces our troops to work without guaranteed pay. WHs Andrew Bates on MTGs no gov $$ w/o impeachment inquiry: Last thing the American people deserve is for extreme House members to trigger a government shutdown that hurts our economy, undermines our disaster preparedness, and forces our troops to work without guaranteed pay. https://t.co/0nTOpjhy5w pic.twitter.com/8CCX9vS9EP Laura Barron-Lopez (@lbarronlopez) September 1, 2023 He added that it would be a shame for House Republicans who promised the American public about government funding to break their word and fail the country because they caved to the hardcore fringe of their party in prioritizing a baseless impeachment stunt over high stakes needs Americans care about deeply like fighting fentanyl trafficking, protecting our national security, and funding FEMA. Ms Greene has repeatedly called for an impeachment inquiry into Mr Biden and has even filed articles of impeachment against the president multiple times. Emmanuel Jamir, a sketch comedy content creator from New York, is a proud member of the paragraph texter club. Youll know Jamir has arrived to the group text when you receive long, big blocks of prose. For him, sending jumbo texts is just about efficiency. Paragraphs make it easier for me to divulge information, Jamir, 22, told HuffPost. When I send paragraphs Im usually explaining something or trying to convey a thought. Plus, I dont want to blow up my friends phones with multiple texts, even though they dont really care, he said. I am a paragraph texter. I have points and you will read them. pic.twitter.com/np5VwhVgUs Emmanuel Jamir (@emmanueljamiir) June 8, 2023 Funnily enough, when it comes to incoming texts, he prefers to read single-sentence messages: It just makes it easier for me to receive information. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Jamir isnt alone in his verbose texting style. Some of us just cant get our thoughts down to a drip, and prefer getting everything off our chest at once. If were planning a Friday night out, we try to include all the details from the jump: time, place, dress code. If were in a heated conversation with our partner, expect a novel. Kathilia Edghill, a therapist who lives in Barbados, is also a paragraph texter, though she prefers to think of it more as being an intentional communicator. My thoughts or feelings about something are usually multifaceted and layered, she said. Communicating in blocks helps me to keep things together, and creates a space where my thoughts can flow well together, which hopefully results in more clarity for the reader. I find that exercising thoughtfulness, giving context, and being thorough helps ensure clear communication over texts, she explained. Not everyone loves paragraph texters, though. Social media is full of short-sentence texters or dry texters, as theyve also been called sharing how they like to troll the paragraph communicators in their lives: Mastering the art of replying to the most useless part of the text when she sends paragraphs >>>>> Musakuru (@musakuru45) November 25, 2022 I rarely read my mothers texts, i just be putting "okay" to everything. Especially when she sends paragraphs. KaySam. (@whiteg0ld_) February 9, 2012 Given the minor #discourse about texting preferences, we decided to ask therapists why they think some of us prefer to go long in this particular format. Does the habit reveal something deeper about our personalities? (While we had them, we also asked for some advice on how paragraph texters and dry texters can better communicate.) You may have an anxious attachment style. Our attachment style informs so much about the way we communicate with and relate to one another including, sometimes, how we text, said Chadley Zobolas, a therapist and owner of CZ Therapy Group in Denver. If your texts tend to contain magnitudes, for instance, you may have an anxious attachment style, which means you struggle to feel secure in relationships and you tend to cling to your partner, fearing they may leave you. Although it isnt an exact science, I think its safe to say that many paragraph texters have an anxious-leaning attachment style, Zobolas said. When I think about a paragraph texter, I envision someone who prioritizes consistent and in-depth communication with the important people in their life. If we throw anxious-leaning attachment into the long-texting equation and peek underneath the surface, Zobolas said we might also find a deep longing for validation and a desire to feel wanted, seen and valued by others. As humans, were wired to try to get our basic attachment needs met at all costs, she said. For someone with an anxious-leaning attachment style, paragraph texting and everything that comes along with it likely serves as one avenue for that instinctual process to take place. Tess Brigham, a psychotherapist and host of the pop culture podcast Psychlegalpop, also saw a connection between an anxious attachment style and paragraph texting. (You might also be anxiously attached if youre a rapid-fire constant texter someone who sends barrages of short texts, one after the other, even when theres no reply from the other person.) Anxiously attached people need to get what theyre thinking and feeling out as soon as possible, even if they know theyre making things worse, and even if they know they should wait until the two of you are in the same room or over the phone, she said. Their anxiety gets the best of them and pushes them to get everything out at once. Theyre seeking out validation. Although it isnt an exact science, I think its safe to say that many paragraph texters have an anxious-leaning attachment style, said Chadley Zobolas, a therapist in Denver. Although it isnt an exact science, I think its safe to say that many paragraph texters have an anxious-leaning attachment style, said Chadley Zobolas, a therapist in Denver. Conversely, a very short texter is more likely to be avoidantly attached, Brigham said. Thats exactly why they bristle at overly long texts. The more the anxious person pushes, the more the avoidant pulls away, which means the more one person writes, the more the other person feels compelled to keep their part short, she explained. The avoidant person doesnt want to feel forced to do anything they dont want to do, so responding with K is their way of asserting their independence, Brigham said. Still, just because someone primarily sends long and thorough text messages doesnt mean they are automatically venturing into anxious/insecure attachment or seeking connection from a wounded place, Zobolas said. The most important thing to remember about attachment is that it exists on a spectrum (avoidant-secure-anxious), with the majority of people finding a home base with secure attachment and only leaning into anxious or avoidant realms in response to triggers (i.e. relationship conflict of any kind), Zobolas explained. It may be a generational phenomenon. Brigham thinks that your texting style and your preference for a particular communication method (e.g. text versus a phone call versus sending something quick on BeReal) probably say more about your generation than they do anything else. Brigham, a member of Gen X, said texting was never part of dating for her or her husband, so they never really got into pattern of texting each other all day long. Theyve also never had a fight or a serious conversation via text. Millennials are different, she said. Since I specialize in working with young people, what Ive noticed over the years is that my millennial clients who are on the older side 30-40 tend to text their partners a lot throughout the day, and theyll get into long, drawn-out fights via text, she said. Then theres Gen Z. I notice with my younger clients my Zennials and Gen Zers they text but they have all these other platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and other ways to communicate with each other and their partners, and they dont get into these long texting fights the way my [millennial] clients have in the past, she said. Long texters and millennials often overlap, one therapist suggested. Long texters and millennials often overlap, one therapist suggested. Or it could be a gender thing. Anecdotally, more women cop to being verbose over text than men, and that syncs up well with one of our earlier points: Women tend to be more anxious in relationships, while men tend to be more avoidant. While there are a ton of different factors that influence which attachment style we ultimately lean toward, research examining attachment through a cisgender, heteronormative lens does show a higher likelihood for women to lean anxious and men to lean avoidant, Zobolas said. Women and girls are socialized to express emotions (though when they do so, theyre often labeled hysterical or dramatic), so an inclination toward wordy texts would make sense. Boys and men are socialized to stop acting like a girl and push their emotions and needs down to appear tough and unbothered, which may result in more brevity in conversation, via text or otherwise, Zobolas said. Danielle Wayne, an anxiety therapist based in Boise, Idaho, said that if there is a gender breakdown in communicating style, its something society has taught us, not something innate. Those of us who tend to use more language to explain ourselves do so because we dont feel heard, she said. So minorities, including women, tend to use more text to explain themselves than men, but this tends to happen with all minorities and not just women. If youre a paragraph texter, heres some advice on how to better communicate with the dry texters in your life. The first rule of being a paragraph texter? Being OK with the fact that the other person is going to respond how they respond, Brigham said. You have to take into consideration everything thats happening at that moment, she said. Are they at work? Are they having a stressful day? Do they have their phone on them during the day? You dont know whats happening in their world at that moment, she explained. Jamir, the comedy content creator, doesnt expect his friends to respond to every part of his paragraphs. I just trust that they read it and understand it, he said. I try to adapt my texting style depending on who Im talking to, so everyone might not get the lengthy responses. But most times my friends just get it. Sometimes, after firing off a missive, a paragraph texter will realize that they just needed to get something off their chest and put it into words. Pressing send wasnt even that important, Brigham said. If you find that you tend to write long messages to a lot of people, journaling can be a great way to get all of your thoughts and feelings out of your head, she said. Many times thats all you need, is to simply get the feelings out. If youre the one receiving paragraph texts, its OK to propose setting some healthy boundaries. If youre the one receiving paragraph texts, its OK to propose setting some healthy boundaries. Its also important to acknowledge that receiving a long block of text can be anxiety-inducing for some, said Edghill, the therapist and paragraph texter. Seeing a long message can elicit a measure of anxiety, too, and there may be a degree of emotional space and intentionality that someone requires before they engage with your message, she said. What Ive learned is that if I say something and its not acknowledged and I want it to be, its OK to bring it up again. At the same time, if youre the one receiving paragraph texts, its OK to propose setting some healthy boundaries. For instance, maybe you dont talk about weighty emotional issues over text, instead tabling them for in-person chats. You can decide that certain topics are best talked about in person, to avoid miscommunications that can easily happen over texting, Wayne said. If youre not sure what to say, but you want to acknowledge youve heard what the other person has to say, Zobolas shared a helpful prompt. If you need some more time before you respond, just say, Hey! Just responding to let you know I saw this so you arent left hanging. This is super important and I want to be able to give it my full attention. Im busy with ___ right now until around ___ but will reach back out when Im done! The bottom line is, a paragraph texter just wants to be heard. Active listening can help a lot here, Wayne said. In written format, this could mean using a short summary of what they typed out. Or using open-ended questions to ask more about the situation. These things help us feel like someone is actually listening, and not just waiting for their turn in the conversation. Related... The Belgian Defense Ministry has bought a stock of short-range Sea Sparrow missiles from Germany and plans to deliver more than half to Ukraine, the Belgian newspaper L'Echo reported on Sept. 4. Belgium bought 14 of the radar-guided sea-to-air missiles that were used on a now-decommissioned German frigate for 7,000 ($7,600) per unit. The Belgian government plans to donate eight of the U.S.-made weapons to Kyiv. While the delivery represents a relatively light form of military aid, "it illustrates the complementary nature of Belgian support", according to L'Echo's sources in the Defense Ministry. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The missiles could be recycled into surface-to-air missiles or used to equip drones, L'Echo added. In January, Politico reported that Sea Sparrows were to be included in a U.S. military aid package, and that the Ukrainian military had found a way to modify its Soviet-era BUK launchers to fire them. Earlier in the summer, Belgium announced plans to send refurbished M113 armored vehicles to Ukraine, together with the Netherlands and Luxembourg. All three countries are also part of a new international coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets announced at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July. Read also: Media: Secret buyer purchases Leopard tanks from private Belgian stockpile for Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Meet Zelenskyy's pick for Ukraine's new defense minister, who's been deeply involved with Russian negotiations and prisoner exchanges Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named Rustem Umerov (pictured above) as Ukraine's new defense minister. Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Rustem Umerov is set to become Ukraine's next defense minister. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the announcement on Sunday. Ukraine's defense ministry has been mired in corruption scandals in the past few months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named his choice for his country's new defense minister: Rustem Umerov, a man best known for negotiating with the Russians on prisoner exchanges and grain exports. Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Umerov will be taking over from incumbent defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov. Umerov's appointment as defense minister is still pending the parliament's confirmation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Oleksiy Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large," Zelenskyy said in a speech on Sunday. "Now Rustem Umerov should lead the Ministry." A representative for Umerov told Insider that Umerov's key priorities as defense minister will be announced if he is confirmed by parliament. Ukraine's defense ministry has been mired in corruption scandals over the past few months. Last month, Zelenskyy fired all of Ukraine's army recruitment chiefs after an investigation revealed widespread corruption. The defense ministry has also been accused of purchasing food and winter jackets at inflated prices, per the Kyiv Independent. Reznikov had previously offered to resign if the allegations over the winter jackets were proven true. "Minister Reznikov was very effective at getting support from other nations," Ben Hodges, a former lieutenant general who headed US Army Europe, told Insider. Umerov "will have to focus more on management of the ministry, ensuring that Ukraine has the institutional capabilities for successful prosecution of the war and for future security requirements," Hodges continued. A key role in negotiations with Russia Umerov comes from Crimea's Tatar community, an ethnic minority in Ukraine. Prior to entering politics in 2019, Umerov was a businessman and investor. Since the start of the Ukraine war, Umerov has played a role in several negotiations with the Russians. In March 2022, Umerov experienced symptoms of poisoning while he was involved in peace negotiations with Russia. Umerov and two colleagues experienced "eye and skin inflammation and piercing pain in the eyes" after attending bilateral peace talks, according to investigative outlet Bellingcat. The symptoms abated the following day. Umerov was also directly involved in the high-profile prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia in September 2022. The successful negotiation was in part due to Umerov's close ties with Muslim nations such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The prison exchange involved hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners and was organized with Turkey and Saudi Arabia's assistance. Umerov's relationship with Turkey again proved beneficial when he worked with the country to broker a deal with the Russians to resume Ukraine's grain exports last year. In September 2022, Umerov was appointed the head of Ukraine's State Property Fund, which privatizes state assets and which was plagued by corruption scandals before Umerov took over, per Reuters. "Umerov's appointment suggests that Zelenskyy knows he need a strong, committed manager in the ministry of defense," Andrew D'Anieri, an assistant director at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, told Insider. "Umerov took major steps to reform the State Property Fund and the hope is he will keep the MinDef similarly in line." Ukrainian lawmaker Kira Rudik told Insider Umerov's appointment would be "symbolic" and a "punch in the face" to those who say Ukraine will never retake Crimea. Since 2020, Umerov has co-chaired the Crimea Platform diplomatic initiative, whose main goal is to de-occupy Crimea and bring about the peaceful return of Ukrainians to the peninsula. "There hasn't been a day he hasn't been talking about freeing his home and making sure that his people would be able to return home," Rudik said. Editor's note: September 5, 2023 This story has been updated with comments from Andrew D'Anieri, an assistant director at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. Read the original article on Business Insider (Bloomberg) -- Italys governing coalition is fighting over plans to sell state-owned assets, including the worlds oldest bank, to bolster finances stung by a souring economic outlook. Most Read from Bloomberg Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani , who took over the business-friendly Forza Italia party after the death of its founder Silvio Berlusconi , set the tone at the annual gathering of Italys most influential power brokers by saying the government should accelerate its efforts to sell a controlling stake in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Tajani stirred controversy over the weekend when he told Bloomberg Television at the Ambrosetti Forum, on the shores of Lake Como, that his party backs a privatization push. That put him on a collision course with other members in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni s ruling coalition whove been critical of attempts to accelerate the sale of the embattled Siena-based lender. Monte Paschi shares reversed earlier gains and fell as much as 2.9% in Milan trading, as analysts debate options for the government. Placing a significant stake on the market without the identification of a strategic partner may pose an overhang risk for the stock, Equita analyst Luigi De Bellis wrote in a note to clients Monday. Members of Deputy Premier Matteo Salvinis anti-immigrant League party the other junior partner in the alliance rebutted Tajanis statement and said the sale of Paschi shouldnt be rushed. Its not the first time Melonis main allies have been at loggerheads. Her deputies have disagreed also on a plan to impose a 40% tax on bank profits, a move that shocked investors and disrupted markets. But until now, their internal squabbles havent spilled out in such public fashion. Government officials discussed the asset-sale strategy at the Cernobbio conference, which was attended by all key ministers except the premier herself. She opted to go to the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the iconic Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) away. Meloni, 46, had been in talks with forum organizers about giving the final speech. That left her finance minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti , to explain the governments plans to chief executives and investors. Giorgetti tamped down expectations for accelerating the process of selling Monte Paschis assets, and said they would solve the banking sector without anyone imposing a timing. Melonis government is considering the sale of Monte Paschi and other selected state-owned assets as a way to allow Italys far-right coalition to fund new spending without adding to the countrys mammoth debt. The move, however, could set off alarm bells with European Union regulators and in financial markets. A disposal of assets could allow Rome to wind down its involvement in the bank earlier than an end-of-2024 deadline set by European regulators. The proposed sales come as Italy faces worse than expected economic growth, complicating Melonis effort to finance her electoral pledges. The economy contracted in the second quarter, and the government is confronting the prospect that it could overshoot its deficit targets of 4.5% of GDP this year and 3.7% in 2024. Melonis administration has also taken controversial moves recently to exert more control over the economy, which has made some investors nervous. In recent months Rome has announced a surprise 40% tax on bank profits, clamped down on how airlines set ticket prices, and approved a decree that will allow it to take a stake in the phone carrier Telecom Italia SpA. Tension has been mounting between Melonis two coalition parties ahead of next year European elections. Forza Italia and the League have become more vocal as they seek to gain consensus. We need less state and more companies in the economy, also to attract new investments from abroad, Tajani said Saturday, adding that such a plan will help finance reforms, including in the fiscal and judicial areas. Monte Paschi went through years of painful turnaround efforts after an initial bailout in 2009. Its most recent plan to revive profitability under chief executive officer Luigi Lovaglio has made the bank more appealing to investors. For years now its been at the focus of M&A discussion. UniCredits talks with Italys government on a takeover of the struggling lender broke down in 2021. In recent days Banco BPM was seen by Italian media as the most likely partner for the Siena-based bank. Still, a spokesman for the Milan company said Banco BPM is pursuing a standalone strategy. --With assistance from Alberto Brambilla, Sonia Sirletti, Daniele Lepido and Chiara Remondini. (Updates with shares slump from fourth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. S. Koreans continue rally against Japan's radioactive wastewater dumping Xinhua) 09:33, September 04, 2023 People attend a rally to protest against Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean, in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 2, 2023. (Photo by Yang Chang/Xinhua) SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of South Korean people including fishermen, activists and politicians continued a weekend rally in central Seoul on Saturday to protest against Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean. The participants shouted slogans of "Immediately stop the marine dumping of radioactive wastewater" and "Prohibit import of all Japanese aquatic products," urging the South Korean government to file a lawsuit with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea against the Japanese government. According to the Research View survey of 1,000 adults for two days through Aug. 30, 72.4 percent said they opposed Japan's marine dumping of the radioactive wastewater. A total of 78.3 percent of respondents said South Korea should ban all seafood imports from Japan, and 67.4 percent replied that South Koreans should boycott Japanese products. "Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater has the nature of trash," Lee Seo-yoon, a mother of three children, said during the rally, adding that Japan regards the ocean as the largest and the cheapest trash bag. Lee stressed that it would be absurd to hope that no one would be harmed after dumping the trash into the ocean, urging Tokyo to store the radioactive wastewater on its soil rather than dumping it in the sea. "The ocean is the future of my family and the future of our descendants," said Kim Sam-ho, a fisherman who came from the country's southern coastal Wando County. Kim raised his strong doubts about the safety of the radioactive wastewater, calling for the South Korean government to take necessary actions including supporting measures for fishermen. "The major purpose of nuclear safety is to block radiation from reaching the environment and people," said Han Byung-sub, a nuclear expert who had worked at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and the Korea Electric Power Corp. Engineering &Construction (KEPCO E&C). Han noted that the proper measurement of radiation from Fukushima, involving groundwater flowing in and out of the destroyed reactor, was not carried out, urging the South Korean government to properly measure the radiation in waters off the country from now on. Following the one-and-a-half-hour rally, the protesters marched about five km in downtown Seoul to the presidential office. Struck by a massive earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered core meltdowns and generated a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel. Japan started releasing the first batch of radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 24. People attend a rally to protest against Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean, in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 2, 2023. (Photo by Yang Chang/Xinhua) People attend a rally to protest against Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean, in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 2, 2023. (Photo by Yang Chang/Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) [Photo/VCG] As the highest-ranking British official to visit China in five years, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly's recent trip to China carried significant diplomatic weight. In talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Cleverly reaffirmed Britain's commitment to the ironclad one-China principle and expressed U.K.'s desire to strengthen collaborative opportunities in technology, artificial intelligence, and green energy. The U.K. foreign secretary has also made clear that attempts to isolate China would be a mistake, challenging the credibility of zero-sum fanfare. "I think it's important to also recognize that we have to have a pragmatic, sensible working relationship with China because of the issues that affect us all around the globe," Cleverly told the media, according to The Guardian. With ample reciprocity from Beijing to strengthen the economic and trade foundations of Sino-U.K. relations, Cleverly's constructive visit extends important clues to London to jointly dial up bilateral trust and maintain a "mutually beneficial relationship" at the highest level. First and foremost, his in-depth engagement with top officials in China has sent a positive message regarding strengthening high-level communication channels. For U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the re-establishment of high-level communication with Beijing has constituted a work in progress, following low points under the premiership of his predecessor. Sunak has also sought to differ from his predecessor in labeling China as a so-called threat, choosing instead to deepen understandings in Beijing through Cleverly and communicate the U.K.'s desire to "build consensus and deepen cooperation." Cleverly's visit has brought new opportunities to elevate the U.K.'s robust trade relationship with China. After all, Beijing continues to identify as one of the U.K.'s largest export markets as well as its second-largest trading partner in goods imports last year. Stronger mutual trust between the two countries is central to making progress on the intersecting challenges currently facing the global economy. For instance, both Beijing and London share stakes in deepening macro-policy coordination to support investor sentiment and global economic recovery. London's path to economic autonomy also warrants making a healthy distinction between understandable differences and matters of direct national interest. Through candid and constructive exchanges between Cleverly and Wang, China underlined the need for the U.K. to "respect China's core interests and faithfully honor the one-China policy." Such compliance strikes at the heart of their decades-old diplomatic relationship and its underlying foundation. Sustained adherence to that consensus is thus chief to more productive Sino-U.K. strategic communication, helping spur multi-sector cooperation opportunities and trade expansion. Interestingly, Cleverly acknowledged China's important contributions to the world economy, making it imperative for both sides to create "a sound business environment" with new growth points. A major indicator of future progress will be London's ability to maximize opportunities for equal treatment of business enterprises on both sides. Viewing China's development progress in a positive light could also limit the risk of misunderstandings. U.K. companies continue to make successful strides through business operations in the Chinese market, making a natural case for greater Sino-U.K. common ground to build on. For these reasons, a joint consensus to maintain high-level dialogue is an important takeaway from the visit. It reflects a consistent intent from Beijing to help coordinate expectations on wide-ranging trade and economic interests, two areas regarded by China as the "foundation for the sound and steady development" of ties. In Cleverly's own telling, "No significant global problem from climate change to pandemic prevention, from economic instability to nuclear proliferation can be solved without China." It is thus practical for London to partner with Beijing on intersecting challenges, help dial up strategic trust, and utilize their collective economic heft for the benefit of relations. Hannan R. Hussain is a foreign affairs commentator, author and recipient of the Fulbright Award. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. A fruit farmer in Michigan prevailed in his lawsuit late last month after he was denied a spot in a local farmers market because he did not allow same-sex wedding ceremonies on his property. U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney of the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division, on August 21, found the city of East Lansing used an improper set of individual assessments to exclude Steve Tennes of Country Mills Farms from its local farmers market. Tennes rented a portion of his farm for weddings but did not allow same-sex ceremonies as he said they violated his religious beliefs. East Lansing said this policy violated its vendor guidelines and denied Tennes a permit. Maloney had issued an injunction in the case, officially titled Country Mill Farms v. City of East Lansing, in 2017 allowing Tennes to participate in the farmers market while the case was adjudicated. The Citys decision to exclude Country Mill Farms from the 2017 East Lansing Farmers Market constituted a burden on Plaintiffs religious beliefs, Maloney wrote in the ruling. Plaintiffs were forced to choose between following their religious beliefs and a government benefit for which they were otherwise qualified. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Tennes was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative group representing clients with cases involving the First Amendment and parental rights. The SPLC has accused ADF of being a hate group. The district courts decision rightly protects Steves freedom to operate his business according to his convictions, ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson said in a statement following the decision. A spokesperson for East Lansing said the city was considering whether to appeal the decision. A 13-year-old Saginaw County boy who died in his sleep three days after getting a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine had a systemic bacterial infection that caused his death, according to an investigation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jacob Clynick's family discovered the boy on June 16, 2021, in the bedroom of his Zilwaukee home. He'd gone to sleep the night before complaining of flu-like symptoms and a slight stomachache, and never woke up. Preliminary autopsy findings revealed that Jacob had myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle that can affect heart rhythm and its ability to pump. Three days before Jacob's funeral, a CDC advisory committee acknowledged "a likely association" between the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines and a slight risk of heart problems in adolescents and young adults. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Jacob's sudden death sparked speculation that the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccine he'd gotten at a Walgreens store earlier that week may have played a role. Father still suspects vaccine link A CDC spokesperson told the Free Press on Friday that "the primary cause of the patients death was sepsis (bloodstream infection) due to the bacteria Clostridium septicum, a type of bacteria that produces a toxin that can cause inflammation and damage to the heart and other organs." That news was a surprise to Jacob's father, Joseph Clynick. "I think it had to have something to do with the vaccine," he said. "It doesn't make any sense that it wouldn't." Clynick, told the Free Press that he didn't get any notification from federal, state or local health authorities about the outcome of the CDC investigation. His child's autopsy report lists the cause of death as "myocarditis of unknown etiology." "I haven't heard anything," Clynick said. "They have never given me any information ever. ... It's a nightmare." In addition, documents the Free Press obtained from the CDC under the Freedom of Information Act show tension over the official cause of death between federal health investigators and the medical examiner who signed the autopsy report in Jacob's case. Boy had an infection that's 'rapidly progressive and often fatal' The CDC conducted extensive testing of autopsy tissue samples and found that the Clostridium septicum infection likely originated in Jacob's abdomen and quickly spread. The bacteria were "extremely abundant" in Jacob's spleen, kidneys and liver, but some also were identified in his heart and lungs. "Clostridium septicum infections are rapidly progressive and often fatal," Dr. Sarah Reagan-Steiner, medical officer, epidemiology and operations team lead for the Infectious Diseases Pathology Branch of the CDC, wrote in an October 2021 email message with Dr. Randy Tashjian, then-deputy chief medical examiner for the Michigan Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine, a private company that was contracted at the time to provide medical examiner services to Saginaw County. Yet Tashjian, who conducted Jacob's autopsy, rebutted those findings in email messages with CDC physicians, in the final autopsy report and in a medical journal article he co-authored about two teens Jacob and another boy from Connecticut who died within days of taking the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department registered nurse Dawn Hynds draws a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during a community vaccination event at Northport Public School in Northport on Sept. 16, 2021. "Based on the circumstances known at this time, reported clinical history, and collective postmortem,histological, and toxicological findings, it is my opinion that the cause of death in this individual resultedfrom myocarditis of uncertain etiology," Tashjian wrote in Jacob's final autopsy report. "Whether the second vaccine dose this adolescent received contributed to his death is unknown at this time. If additional information becomes available in the future, the case can be reviewed and the cause of death amended, as necessary. The manner of death is classified as natural." Medical examiner 'open to discussion with CDC and MDHHS' Local, federal and state health leaders were aware in early October 2021 of the differences of opinion about what caused Jacob's death. Email messages show they might have tried to sway Tashjian's point of view. "The medical examiner associated with this case is ready to sign off on the death certificate and final autopsy report," Sally Bidol, who works within the Bureau of Infectious Disease Prevention at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in an Oct. 1, 2021, email to Reagan-Steiner. "He reached out to give us an opportunity to discuss where he stands on the findings and how he will phrase the cause of death on the DC (death certificate). ... He has reached some conclusions around cardiomyopathy (stress-induced) and he noted vaccine delivery. "He is open to discussion with CDC and MDHHS and is willing to wait to talk with the family and temporarily hold off on releasing the reports until he has discussions with public health." More: Michigan boy dies 3 days after getting Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, CDC is investigating Email correspondence shows the CDC's pathology branch provided the final report of its investigation to Tashjian and took part in a conference call with him and state health officials to discuss the findings. The state health department didn't respond to a request from the Free Press for comment on whether any Michigan health leaders tried to influence Tashjian about the official cause of death he listed on Jacob's death certificate. The CDC said its staff "focused on sharing and explaining our key findings evidence that C. septicum contributed to the patients death. We also acknowledged that the determination on a cause of death on the autopsy report is always the purview of the medical examiner. "While CDC lends its expertise with testing and analysis, we defer to our state and local partners in terms of running the investigation and communicating with their residents." Examiner's former employer said vaccine was not linked Four months passed after the October 2021 call with state and CDC leaders to discuss the pathology findings, and Tashjian still hadn't finalized Jacob's autopsy report. He told Reagan-Steiner and others at the CDC in February that he had left his position at the Michigan Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine and had begun working with the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office and the University of Michigan. His former employer, MIFSM, had been embroiled in a dispute with Saginaw County government leaders that resulted in a termination of its contract handling medical examiner services. Though Tashjian was no longer employed by MIFSM, the company issued a news release Feb. 3, 2022, saying it had completed Jacob's forensic and medical autopsy. "Included in this investigation were toxicological, histological, microbiological, and an extensive physical assessment," the news release said. "CDC experts were supplied with access to all data and information made available and/or collected by MIFSM investigators and staff. "Conclusions by the CDC and local investigators were that no definitive evidence of a causal relationship between vaccine administration and this young mans natural death existed." Journal article hypothesizes vaccine link On Valentine's Day 2022 three days before Tashjian signed Jacob's autopsy report a medical journal article he co-authored published online in the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. It reviewed the two deaths of teenage boys who died in the days after they each got a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Tashjian and the article's co-authors hypothesized that the first dose of the vaccine could have caused some inflammation and damage to their hearts, and when the teens got a second dose, their bodies reacted with "an excessive and uncontrolled inflammatory response." The damage in the teen boys' hearts, the article says, appeared to be different than what is typically seen with myocarditis caused by a bacterial infection or a virus. Tashjian didn't notify the CDC in advance of the journal article's publication. Rather, Reagan-Steiner sent Tashjian an email message two days after it published to confirm that Jacob was among the boys referenced in the article. She noted that CDC investigators "have received some questions from CDC leadership regarding this report." Tashjian replied: "I ended up calling the cause of death as myocarditis of unknown etiology and raised possible scenarios in my report summary, including CDC's findings. But without an obvious GI (gastrointestinal) source of infection, I backed off on attributing it to Clostridial sepsis. ... I hope the reactions to the article are not blown out of proportion." That began a tense back-and-forth exchange that played out on the pages of the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine as Reagan-Steiner and others from the Infectious Diseases Pathology Branch of the CDC published a letter to the editor, writing "with concern" about Tashjian's findings on Jacob's cause of death. "The conclusion of IDPB ... was death attributable directly to C. septicum sepsis," the letter to the editor said. "Clostridium septicum sepsis is characteristically a fatal and fulminating infection that often presents with nonspecific signs and symptoms. The infection is lethal in approximately 60% to 70% of cases, and death typically occurs within 12 to 48 hours of symptom onset. ... "The report ... unfortunately omitted many important findings provided by pathologic evaluations at the CDC that ... identified a specific infectious cause of death for patient B. These omissions could lead incorrectly to the assumption that COVID-19 vaccines were directly responsible for the deaths of these two patients." That drew a rebuttal from Tashjian and his co-authors, who wrote in the journal that the CDC "unfortunately overstepped its role ... by diagnosing the death as 'attributable directly' to clostridial sepsis. ... It misinterpreted common postmortem findings, including bacterial overgrowth. "The clinical history and cardiac findings simply do not support a diagnosis of clostridial sepsis. The clostridial 'diagnosis' was not included in the report because it was a postmortem artifact; it was not an 'important finding' or an 'alternate cause of death.' " The CDC did not answer questions from the Free Press about whether Jacob's case ultimately was included in data about the risk of myocarditis after taking a COVID-19 vaccine. Tashjian did not return email messages or phone calls from the Free Press. 'The vaccine has more benefit than harm' Dr. B. Keith English, professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, said it's far more likely that a person will develop myocarditis or pericarditis from having a coronavirus infection than from taking the vaccine. "Everything we do in medicine has some side effects," he said. "So if you take aspirin or you take ibuprofen or you take amoxicillin, there's a lot of benefit, but there are occasional side effects that can cause problems. That's true of everything, including vaccines." The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices found an association with rare cases of myocarditis and pericarditis, inflammation of the sac or pericardium around the heart, among adolescents and young adults who got the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The complications have been reported at a rate of 12.6 per million among people ages 12-39 within 21 days after a second dose of the vaccine. The problems were most likely to appear within the first five days after vaccination, according to a Vaccine Safety Datalink analysis. Some cases have been reported after the first vaccine dose as well. "We discovered that some of the vaccines ... did have some relatively rare side effects including myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, that could occur, particularly in young men, teenagers," English said. "... We still don't know for sure why that is. It was definitely associated with these mRNA vaccines, but at the same time, it was much less likely than inflammation of your heart if you got COVID. "Of course, if you got COVID, there are a lot of other problems that could happen besides inflammation of your heart. And so clearly, without question, in everybody, including teenage boys, the vaccine has more benefit than harm. There's no question about it. It's been proven over and over again." However, misinformation campaigns on social media, along with public distrust of public health that grew out of the pandemic, have affected the public's willingness to take vaccines. More: A distrust, based on history, keeping many Black Detroiters from getting COVID-19 vaccine "The solution of vaccine hesitancy is to be totally transparent and honest about everything we know," English said. "It's not to cover up anything or hide anything." In cases like Jacob's, when people die or get sick within days of taking a vaccine, it's human nature to believe that the cause of that illness or death must be the vaccine, he said. "And it's completely understandable ... if somebody succumbed from that and it was a few days after getting the vaccine that they would think: 'Well gee, I wonder if that was really the vaccine or not,' " English said. "As human beings, we focus on cause and effect. If something happened just yesterday, and we don't feel well today, we wonder: 'Gee, is that what caused it?' Sometimes it is, but often it isn't. "You have to do a big study, and big studies were done showing that was not any more common in people who got the vaccine than people who didn't get the vaccine. ... I can say that these vaccines have been studied more and more carefully than any vaccines in the history of vaccines. It's pretty amazing, really. ... I don't know how many total millions of people have been saved because we have these COVID vaccines." Though he didn't play any role in investigating Jacob's death, English said he has seen some patients with bacterial infections like Jacob's. "Clostridium septicum, for reasons we don't understand, can get in your bloodstream and spread all around," English said. "Even the name, septicum, comes from the word sepsis. It is a severe bloodstream Infection ... and the body's immune response is so bad, that there is sort of a circulatory collapse. "This is a terrible bacteria. If you get that in your system causing a systemic illness, there's a high degree of fatality. ... That's the kind of thing that is usually fatal. ... They have terrible inflammation throughout their body, it's not just in the heart." 'Then he was gone on the third day' Jacob, his father said, had been given a "clean bill of health" by his primary care physician a few months before he died. "Then he got his first vaccination shot, and he was fine," Clynick said. "He got his second one, and he had flu-like symptoms for two days. Then he was gone on the third day. "The coroner's office, when they gave me the initial medical report ... they said they found traces of that (bacteria), but his heart was enlarged and there was fluid around it, and that was what caused his death. "They never even gave me the medical report, the final ruling." Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Subscribe to the Free Press. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: CDC reports why Michigan boy died 3 days after getting COVID vaccine The leader of Gabons military junta, Gen. Brice Nguema, was sworn in as interim president by the countrys constitutional court during a televised ceremony Monday. Last week, Nguema led a coup that ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba, a military takeover that appears to have truncated the Bongo familys decades-long dominance over Gabonese politics. Bongo, 64, succeeded his father Omar Bongo , who ruled the Central African nation with an iron fist for more than four decades before his death in 2009. Ahead of last Wednesdays coup, Bongo, who has been in power for nearly 14 years, was declared winner of a disputed presidential election that was marred by voting delays and internet cuts. The Bongo administration had also obstructed coverage of the vote by foreign press. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The ousted leader was placed on house arrest by the junta, which also voided the election results and shut the countrys borders, triggering global condemnation of the coup. Celebrations also broke out across the tiny nation with thousands of supporters expressing solidarity with the military. Nguema, a former bodyguard for Omar Bongo, was swiftly installed as a transitional leader. He was inaugurated as interim president on Monday amid a military parade and cheers from his civilian supporters. Gen. Brice Nguema (center) looks on during his swearing-in ceremony. - AFP/Getty Images Ahead of his swearing in, Nguema approved the reopening of Gabons borders and met with political leaders to discuss issues around reform and a possible transitional period, local media reported. Its not immediately known how long Nguema will hold on to power. He earlier said the country will not rush into a new election to avoid a repeat of past mistakes, Reuters reported. A platform of opposition parties in the country has urged the junta to resume the electoral process and conclude the vote count to pave the way to victory for opposition leader Albert Ondo Ossa, who was a runner up in the annulled election. There have been nine coups in the past three years in former French colonies Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Tunisia and now Gabon. Many Gabonese view Bongos ouster as a major victory for citizens in the oil-rich but impoverished state. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Bristol native Matthew Patton joined the Army in 2008 after graduating from Mount Hope High School. A year later he deployed to Afghanistan. On patrols, he often volunteered to man the machine gun mounted on the roof of the lead Humvee. He was always a daredevil growing up, said his mother, Lynn. One day, Patton swapped positions with another soldier, and he rode in a different vehicle. The other soldiers Humvee hit an IED, and all three inside were killed. But not right away, wrote columnist Mark Patinkin, who interviewed Pattons parents for an excellent column he wrote in 2017. They all had radios, she said of the other Humvees, and could hear [their fellow soldiers] still alive and burning. Then they had to pick up the pieces. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The next time he was home, Matthew told his parents, That shouldve been me. Proud parents John and Lynn Patton with son Matthew Patton on his graduation day from basic training at Fort Sill in 2008. Mark Patinkin: A son's life honored by saving others According to his parents, Matthew experienced survivors guilt and PTSD symptoms. Unfortunately, he turned to substance use to cope. He was only a few months from completing his service, but he didnt make it. While assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, Matthew shot himself on May 13, 2013. He was on a short leave, alone at a friends home. He was 23. 'He was different after Afghanistan.' John Patton, 66, is the Torpedo Chief Engineer in one of the departments of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport. Wife Lynn, 59, is a registered nurse with a BA and a degree in nursing from Rhode Island College; she also earned a master's in health administration. They have four children; their youngest son, Matthew, was born in March 1990. "He was the smiley boy. He was just so happy as a child," Lynn recalled during a Zoom interview with Texas TV station KCEN in 2020. Despite the outward joyfulness, he battled depression, anxiety and other mental health issues as a boy. His demons started in adolescence in Bristol, but war made them worse, wrote Patinkin. After treatment, things seemed to level out, and he felt fit enough to enlist after high school. Matthew Patton in 2009, during his deployment in Afghanistan. Sadly, his depression returned shortly after he joined the Army. It was compounded by some of the horrific experiences he encountered in the war zone. "He was different after Afghanistan," Lynn told KCEN-TV. How does the military deal with suicide? Matthew's body arrived at T.F. Green Airport, and an honor guard carried the remains off the plane in a flag-draped casket. But that was it. Several media reports at the time decried the lack of a more substantial welcome, suggesting that the toned-down ceremony was a reflection of the stigma associated with suicide. If the military in any way toned down or cut short the honors provided because this death was a suicide, they did it in violation of very specific directives. According to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office in 2023, There is no reference within this instruction which precludes individuals from receiving a military funeral with full honors if the individual died as a result of suicide. Full honors are appropriate, so long as the deceased has not brought discredit to the service. The directive continues: Suicide is not a crime, and victims of suicide should not be grouped with those who commit crimes. To do so is to deny them full military burial honors that for centuries have paid homage to the lives, service, and sacrifice of the fallen. How Matthews death led to a program to help others His mother was determined that Matthew would not just become another statistic. She vowed that his death would contribute in some way to saving others. Patinkin described how Lynn finally reached Col. Tim Luedecking, who commanded the 4th Sustainment Brigade at Fort Hood. After an hour on the phone, he made plans to visit the Pattons in Bristol. The following year, Luedecking invited Lynn to Fort Hood to relate Matthews story to his soldiers. While there, she passed on her message to some 400 service members. The Fort Hood experience convinced the Pattons that we needed to help prevent this from happening to another family. So they created the Matthew Patton Foundation to help improve the military mental health system. Similar talks at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Natick, Massachusetts, followed. According to the website Army.mil, she told the young soldiers at Natick, "It's been very difficult on us, but this is what's helping us survive talking to you." Lynn urges service members to seek assistance if they ever feel overwhelmed. "You're not weak," she said. "You're strong if you decide to go for help, and it works." John and Lynn Patton hold a photo of their son Matthew in 2016. Vietnam-era Marine Paul Carew, a Natick-based Veterans Service Officer, was impressed with Lynns message and the way she delivered it. Over the years, the two have organized additional discussions on suicide awareness. According to co-founder John Patton, The Matthew Patton Foundation is working with our veterans, the R.I. Governors Challenge team and the Bristol Health Equity Zone to reduce suicide among service members, veterans and their families. On Tuesday, Sept. 12, from 5 to 8 p.m., the Matthew Patton Foundation is hosting an important Suicide Prevention, Education, and Awareness Panel at VFW Post 237, 850 Hope St. in Bristol. The panel will provide valuable information about identifying signs that someone is struggling and how to help him or her seek help. Carew will moderate, along with retired Col. Bill Callahan, who deployed twice in the global war on terror and now serves as a transition assistance adviser. They will be joined by Lynn Patton and Lt. Col. Katherine Murphy, who works as a behavioral health coordinator for the Massachusetts National Guard. Numbers dont lie Suicide affects service members and veterans in disproportionate numbers. In 2020 the suicide rate for veterans was 57.3% greater than for non-veteran U.S. adults. For women veterans, the rate is 2.5 times higher. In 2020, there were 6,146 veteran suicide deaths. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among veterans under age 45. According to the Department of Defense, 519 service members died by their own hand in 2021. Another 133 spouses and 69 other dependents also killed themselves. Veterans and service members experiencing a mental health emergency can make the equivalent of a 911 call by dialing 988 and pressing 1 to be connected to the Veteran Crisis Line. Help is also available by text, at 838255, and via chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net. Calendar Friday-Sunday, Sept. 8-10: Traveling Vietnam Wall, Rocky Point Park in Warwick. The American Veteran Traveling Tribute Memorial will be free to visit 24 hours a day until 5 p.m. on Sept. 10. At 2:09 p.m. each afternoon the names of the 209 Rhode Island service members lost in the Vietnam conflict will be read. The Gaspee Days Committee, the City of Warwick, Operation Stand Down Rhode Island (OSDRI) and RI 250 are hosting the event. To make a donation or to learn more about sponsorship opportunities, visit the events page of Operation Stand Down Rhode Island at OSDRI.org. Sunday, Sept. 10, 1 to 3 p.m.: Graduation of OCS Class 66. R.I. Army National Guard. Camp Fogarty, 2841 South County Trail, East Greenwich, RI Joint Force HQ auditorium. Monday, Sept. 11, 9 a.m.: Ceremony Marking 22nd Anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks. Wall of Honor at the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Exeter. For more information, call Bill Pennoyer, (401) 398-2358. Tuesday, Sept. 12, 5 to 8 p.m.: The Matthew Patton Foundation is hosting a Suicide Prevention, Education, and Awareness Panel. VFW Post 237, 850 Hope St. in Bristol. The panel provides valuable information on how to identify the signs that an individual is struggling and how to help him or her seek help. Light refreshments will be provided. For further information, please contact Paul Carew at (508) 647-6545 or Lynn Patton at (401) 330-6388, or email info@matthewpattonfoundation.org Thursday, Sept. 14, 4:30 to 7 p.m.: Learn to Surf Cast for free. At Scarborough Beach, Providence Vet Center is teaming up with the Narragansett Surf Casters and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to offer a class to 15 service members/veterans. All the equipment you need to learn to catch fish from shore, along with instruction, will be provided by members of Narragansett Surf Casters. Food and refreshments provided as well. Please sign up with Justyn Charon by phone at (401) 739-0167 or via email at Justyn.Charon@va.gov. Friday, Sept. 29, 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.: Military Police Regimental Association of RI Annual Awards Dinner. Quonset O Club, 200 Lt. James Brown Road, North Kingstown. This is the 20th anniversary of the deaths of Staff Sgt. Joseph Camara, Sgt. Charles Todd Caldwell and Spc. Michael Andrade while conducting combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Tickets are $55 each and are available only from this website: tinyurl.com/yaw744cp. For details, call Sean Fitzpatrick at (203) 907-8985 or email rhodeislandmpra@gmail.com. To report the outcome of a previous activity, or to add a future event to our calendar, please email the details (including a contact name and phone number/email address) to veteranscolumn@providencejournal.com This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Matthew Patton Foundation: Leading the fight against military suicides Contestants in this years Miss Universe Indonesia pageant have been speaking out about the sexual harassment they say local organizers subjected them to, even as the same organizers appear to have crowned a winner in neighboring Malaysia, despite that pageant having been canceled by the U.S. umbrella group. The New York-based Miss Universe Organization, which holds the international beauty pageant each year, severed ties with its Indonesian franchisee in August over allegations that 30 contestants in the Southeast Asian countrys pageant had been required to undergo body checks in front of local organizers without notice or consent. On Aug. 1, two days before the Grand Final, finalists were told to take turns for what they thought was a clothes fitting in a ballroom at a hotel in downtown Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, where the pageant was being held, said Lola Nadya Larasati Pasaribu, who was representing Bali in the competition. When Pasaribu entered the partially enclosed wooden structure, there were half a dozen people inside, including both men and women, she said in a statement shared by her attorney, Mellisa Anggraini. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement One of the women asked me to take off my clothes and underclothes, Pasaribu said, and took photos of a tattoo on her body. The process was very demeaning to my dignity as a woman, Pasaribu said, adding that the photo-taking and body shaming comments violated social norms in Indonesia, the worlds largest Muslim-majority country. Pasaribu said she felt she couldnt object to the body check because of pressure and insistence from the organization. Image: (AP) Eight contestants, including Pasaribu, have provided testimony to the police, said Anggraini, who is representing all of them. She said the contestants were not told about the body checks in advance and that Pasaribu was one of five contestants who were photographed using cell phones. Of course the contestants felt shocked, embarrassed, uncomfortable and humiliated, Anggraini said. Even when they conveyed their discomfort, they were yelled at. Indonesian police said Aug. 29 that the case had been elevated from an initial inquiry to an investigation, meaning a criminal element is involved. In response to the allegations, the Miss Universe Organization cut ties with the Indonesian franchisee, beauty company PT Capella Swastika Karya, and its founder Poppy Capella, saying contestants safety was its top priority and the events in Indonesia were diametrically opposed to everything we stand for as an organization. It said the winner of this years Indonesia pageant, Fabienne Nicole Groeneveld, who was not among the contestants who filed complaints, would represent the country at the Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador in November. Capella, who was overseeing Miss Universe Indonesia for the first time, denied any involvement in the body checks, saying she was opposed to every form of violence or sexual harassment. I as a national director and as the owner of the permit of Miss Universe Indonesia was not involved at all and did not ever know, instruct, ask, or allow anyone who was involved and participated in the process of organizing Miss Universe Indonesia 2023 to have committed sexual harassment through body checking as has been widely reported, she said in an Aug. 12 Instagram post. The Miss Universe Organization also announced the cancellation of this years Miss Universe Malaysia pageant, which Capella had the license for as well. But in an Instagram post on Aug. 27, Miss Universe Malaysia announced a winner. The Miss Universe Organization said it was surprised to see the post. As of August 12th there is no director in Malaysia and no one has been authorized to conduct a Miss Universe Malaysia pageant, a representative said in response to an inquiry from NBC News. Capella did not respond to a request for comment via Instagram. The sexual harassment allegations have shocked Indonesia, drawing condemnation from lawmakers. We must also uphold and respect the cultural wisdom and religious values prevailing in the country, Ashabul Kahfi, chairman of a commission on womens empowerment affairs in the Indonesian House of Representatives, said in a statement. Actions like this not only violate individual rights, but also hurt peoples trust in the system, which should protect them. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com A climber has been found dead in Glacier National Park, Montana, days after he was reported missing. Adam Fuselier, a 32-year-old from Castle Pines, Colorado, last had contact with his family on Tuesday afternoon. The enthusiastic rock climber had been due to climb Reynolds Mountian, a peak well-known for rock-climbing and hiking. A statement released by Glacier National Park said that when Fuselier was overdue for his Reynolds Mountain climb on Wednesday morning, rangers were alerted and sent to look for him. Later that day, his vehicle was found at Logan Pass the highest area of the park that vehicles can reach. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The ground search got off to a slow start on Wednesday due to bad weather conditions. After the rain, wind and fog dispersed, two Bear Air joined the search on Thursday. By Friday morning, a US Forest Service (USFS) helicopter had also joined the operation by air while 50 searchers and a dog team covered the search by ground. Adam Fuselier, 32, was found dead at Glacier National Park in Montana (Glacier National Park) Hikers who had contact with Fuselier were able to share information about his location to National Park Services ground searchers. Later on Friday morning, Fuseliers body was found. His body was then transported from Reynolds Mountain to West Glacier by a USFS helicopter from the Hungry Horse Ranger District. His tragic death is still under investigation. Reynolds Mountian, standing at 2,783m tall, was the mountain Mr Fuselier was due to climb (Wikimedia Commons) Glacier National Park staff would like to express their sincere condolences to the family and ask that the public respect their privacy, the National Park Service wrote in a statement on Friday. Fuseliers death comes after a 28-year-old woman also died at Glacier National Park in May, when she fell off a ledge into Avalanche Creek. The Missouri Republicans-led state administration began deleting resources for queer kids from its health department website when GOP legislators plan to pass more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation than anywhere else in the country, according to The Kansas City Star. Earlier in January, Lisa Cox, spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, instructed the agencys website team to remove links from its teen and adolescent health information page. The page, found under the Healthy Families section of the website, provides healthcare resources for teens, their parents, teachers, and doctors. According to emails acquired by The Star, the scrubbed resources are linked to Missouri sexual health providers, LGBTQ+ youth groups, and other organizations that provide information on sexual health. Within 15 minutes of Coxs email, an information specialist at the Office of Administration emailed to say that the resources were no longer public, The Star reports. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The links to those pages are no longer accessible from the health department's website. Staff at DHSS discussed whether some information on its website was too contentious. An interview with an ex-employee who worked at the agency at the time revealed that the removal of the resources resulted from outside and internal political pressures. There was a lot of political pressure given the content of teen pregnancy prevention, and just anything around LGBTQ health and wellness faced a lot of pressure to be censored, explained the anonymous former employee. That was something that I faced repeatedly throughout my time at DHSS. While auditing its current website, DHSS found hundreds of external resource links, Cox told The Star in an email. She said some of the links led to dead pages, while others were inappropriate for the health departments website, requiring DHSS to remove them. A couple of the links you referenced below were advocacy groups with a fundraising mechanism built into their homepage. Some included political content, Cox noted. The resources deemed "controversial" included to Gender Spectrum, a group that provides information on gender identities; Trans Student Educational Resources, an organization providing information to trans youth; and GLESN, a national organization supporting LGBTQ+ youth in schools. Some lawmakers have condemned the move. Missourians need access to medically accurate information to make healthy decisions. DHSS scrubbed these links not because the information was deemed inaccurate but because they thought it might offend certain elected officials who want to impose their beliefs on others, state Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Democrat, said in a statement to The Star. Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-governmen...A similar move has been made recently by another state health agency. Last month reports surfaced that a conservative media outlet questioned the links to LGBTQ+ youth resources on a Virginia state website under the administration of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. That led to the mass deletion of resources for the LGBTQ+ community. In 2021, Texas was accused of removing LGBTQ+ resources for youth as well. In this case, the resources included a suicide hotline for queer youth. Whether a fender bender or serious crash, drivers involved in any kind of car wreck can experience shock and heightened emotions. Legal experts say these at the big mistakes motorists often make after a vehicle wreck. Reacting too quickly, causing more damage With adrenaline rushing through the body during a crash, it is important to avoid panicking. "Contact 911 and try to stay calm, that way the dispatchers can hear you and understand to what you're saying," a Columbia County (Georgia) Sheriff's Office spokesperson said. "Stay on the line with the dispatcher that way you can relay information the whole time until a law enforcement officer gets on scene." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement If a driver immediately begins apologizing to the other party, they are opening themselves up to being deemed at fault for the crash, according to legal experts. Regulating breathing and taking time to calm down helps drivers to better handle the situation. FILE - A Central EMS truck sits parked outside Augusta Fire Department Station Three on June 27, 2023. Declining or avoiding medical assistance Experts say drivers don't have to be involved in a extreme crash to receive medical assistance. Experts advise those involved in a wreck to get checked out at the scene. Those who decline immediate medical assistance could miss treating internal injuries or head trauma that can later cause problems. Failing to gather evidence and information Legal experts say the second most important priority, aside from health, should be getting evidence. Taking pictures of all of the vehicles involved and any injuries at the scene will help with future insurance claims and criminal investigations. While gathering evidence is important, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office said it is not necessary to keep cars in the roadway following a crash. Under Georgia law, motorists must move their vehicles out of the roadway to create a safer environment. "A lot of times, people argue with our dispatchers saying they will not move until the deputy gets there," a sheriff's office spokesperson said. "Especially if it happened at of our major intersections, we have traffic cameras so we can see what happened. ... It's a comforting piece of equipment because it avoids the argument about what actually happened." If the vehicles cannot be moved due to damage, the sheriff's office said to turn on the hazard lights. Experts also advise writing down the contact information of everyone at the scene, including any bystanders that may have witnessed the crash. FILE - A Columbia County Sheriff's office badge at the Columbia County Sheriff's Substation in Evans, Ga., on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. Not calling law enforcement Georgia law requires all wrecks to be reported to law enforcement immediately via calling 911. Deputies can gather evidence, contact witnesses, assess the road and take official pictures, according to experts. By not calling the police, the at-fault driver could possibly get away. Not filing the case soon enough In Georgia, the statute of limitations for car crash claims is two years. Experts say insurance companies may try to drag out the process, letting time run out before the claim is officially filed. Lawsuit: Mother sues Columbia County church, daycare worker for assaulting autistic son Don't take the insurance company's word for it Experts say insurance companies deny quality claims because the longer it takes to send payment, the more money they receive. Hiring an injury lawyer to look over the claim can help drivers find out if they are getting a fair payment. Experts also say the first offer from insurance companies is not the best, so continuing to pursue the case and ask for more is wise. This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Most common mistakes Georgians make when they get into a wreck According to ONS, the Irish passport is one of the most desirable second passports for Britons post-Brexit The number of Britons holding an Irish passport has risen sixfold in the last decade, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. Analysts have suggested that the increase is, in part, due to a post-Brexit rush for European benefits. There are now almost 160,000 citizens living in England and Wales who also have dual Irish nationality, compared to 26,000 in 2011. Irish-British dual nationality is open to Britons with at least one Irish parent or grandparent. A successful application allows passport holders to live or work anywhere in the EU without a visa something that isnt possible for those who only have a British passport. This makes the Irish passport one of the most desirable second passports for Britons post-Brexit. But the number of people in Britain with dual citizenship has increased generally since 2011 too, with the number of UK-EU passports possessed by those born in the UK increasing five-fold from 0.06 per cent of the population (31,400) to 0.32 per cent (156,400). According to the census, the most popular UK-EU passports among people born in the UK were Ireland (158,300), France (24,600), Germany (22,600), Poland (22,100) and Italy (18,800). The most popular UK-EU passports The highest number of dual passport combinations from non-EU countries were Australia (51,500), United States (44,300), Nigeria (24,900), Canada (20,200) and New Zealand (20,200). These rankings change slightly for those who were not born in the UK, with Poland overtaking Ireland and the US and South Africa overtaking Australia. The most popular UK-non EU passports Nine European countries, including Greece, Italy and Poland, allow citizenship by descent up to the third generation or earlier something that is evidently becoming attractive to an increasing number of British passport-holders. German nationality can be applied for via a range of factors, including for those with family members who were victims of Nazi persecution. And a further 16 European countries allow citizenship depending on heritage, although the terms vary. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Those who only have British passports are limited to visiting Europe for a maximum of 90 days in every six months, and are unable to work without a visa. Travel to the EU will become slightly more complicated in 2024, when the EU plans to introduce the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). All non-EU citizens will need to apply and pay a small fee for an electronic pass before visiting. Those with an Irish passport, of course, will be exempt. Dual citizens who were born in the UK and hold both UK and EU passports tend to be young according to the census, nearly 60 per cent were aged under 16. For those with UK and Irish passports, however, there was a much larger range, with the median age at 47. This year Singapore triumphed as the most valuable passport, with holders able to enter 192 countries and territories largely hassle-free - The Image Bank RF / Getty Images Which is the most valuable passport? When it comes to leisure travel, the Henley Index, a global ranking by a consultancy advising on citizenship issues, determines their worth based on the number of nations holders can visit without requiring prior authorisation. This year, Singapore triumphed holders can enter 192 countries and territories (out of 227) largely hassle-free. The UK passport is ranked at number 12, as is Ireland. Both have a score of 188. But the ranking does not take into account the time limit on European travel, and the introduction of ESTIAs seems likely to affect the UKs place in the ranking. If you were hoping to apply for a Singapore passport, however, youre likely out of luck the country does not allow dual citizenship, so you would have to revoke your UK passport. Germany and Italy do allow it, and came joint-second on the Henley Index with a score of 190. The 50 countries with the most powerful passports For those looking for a passport outside of the EU, continuous residence is often necessary. A person may be able to claim US citizenship if one or both parents was a US citizen at the time of their birth. Otherwise, an applicant must be able to prove that they have lived for 30 months in the US within five years (or three years if married to a US citizen), plus meet certain employment criteria and demonstrate an affiliation to the principles and ideals of the US Constitution, among other regulations. Even in Europe, however, it is not the case that those seeking dual citizenship are necessarily required to have a familial link. Passports for investors, especially in countries where the government is attempting to grow the real-estate market, is very much an option. A popular scheme in Malta offers a direct pathway to citizenship within three years upon the purchase of a property costing at least 700,000. In Portugal, buying real estate worth half a million euros opens up permanent residency, which can be matured into citizenship after five years. Do you have dual-nationality? Tell us more about it in the comments section below 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. Flash A heartfelt ceremony was held Sunday at the headquarters of the Algerian Health Ministry to bid farewell to the 27th Chinese medical team that has been steadfast in their service to the North African country. The Chinese team members received an honorable certificate issued by the Algerian government during the ceremony, which was attended by Algerian Health Minister Abdelhak Saihi, Chinese Ambassador to Algiers Li Jian, and other health officials and professionals. Saihi expressed gratitude for the tireless efforts and invaluable support during the Chinese medical personnel's stay in Algeria, noting that their services and knowledge sharing have fostered lasting friendships and strengthened the bonds between the two nations. During the event, Li congratulated all the team members for the successful completion of their work in Algeria and being awarded the honorable certificate, which also testified the two countries' deepened friendship. He noted that 60 years ago, China made a pathbreaking move to send its first medical teams to Algeria upon the latter's request, and since then, batches of Chinese medical workers have not only benefitted the locals with their professional services but also fostered friendship among the two peoples. China has dispatched 27 batches of medical teams to Algeria since 1963, which treated about 27.44 million patients, performed about 1.75 million operations and delivered about 2.08 million newborns. People attend the funeral of Bilal Kissi, who was killed by Algerian forces, in the city of Saaidia, Morocco, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. Two men were killed by Algerian forces after they strayed across Moroccos maritime border with Algeria on water scooters, and a third was detained by Algerian authorities, according to Moroccan media reports.(AP Photo) ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) Long-standing tensions between Morocco and Algeria have moved up a notch with a deadly confrontation at sea last week between the Algerian Coast Guard and several men on water scooters. Algerias Defense Ministry has acknowledged that its forces fired on a group of people on water scooters who strayed into Algerian waters from Morocco last Tuesday, and that a body was later found. The shooting has provoked national anger in Morocco. On Monday, Morocco's National Council for Human Rights strongly condemned the Algerian Coast Guards use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians, decrying the incident as a severe violation of international standards and human rights laws. Separately on Monday, several dozen Moroccan human rights activists gathered outside the country's parliament headquarters in Rabat, denouncing the Algerian military regime and brandishing signs demanding accountability for the incident. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The North African neighbors have no diplomatic relations and their maritime border has been closed since the 1990s because of long-running disputes, mainly over the territory of Western Sahara. But deadly confrontations at sea are unusual. Moroccan media contend that Algerian forces killed two vacationers in the incident last week. France says a French citizen was among those killed and another French citizen was detained. The Algerian Defense Ministry said in a statement late Sunday that coast guard units had intercepted three water scooters that had clandestinely entered Algerian waters. Given the increased activity of drug trafficking gangs and organized crime in this maritime border region and the obstinacy of those riding the water scooters, coast guard personnel fired warning shots. After several attempts, shots were fired, forcing one of the water scooters to stop, while the other two fled,'' the statement said. The next day, an Algerian coast guard patrol recovered the body of a man with a bullet hole from a firearm, the statement said, without elaborating. Moroccan forces recovered another body, according to Moroccan media reports. One of the men on the water scooters, Mohamed Kissi, told Moroccan news website 360.ma that he, his brother Bilal and friends were on vacation and riding personal watercraft off the coast of the Moroccan town of Saaidia when they ran low on gas and drifted into Algerian territory. His brother was killed and was buried in the area last week. The family of the other person killed is seeking repatriation of his body from the Algerian forces, according to Moroccan media reports. Moroccan officials have not provided details about what happened. Moroccan prosecutors opened an investigation into a violent sea incident involving five people on water scooters, the official Moroccan news agency MAP reported. Moroccan human rights protesters envision tougher action. Idris Sedrouai, president of the Moroccan Association for Citizenship and Human Rights, speaking at the protest, characterized the incident as a deliberate and premeditated assassination. Sedrouai said his association, along with other like-minded organizations, is studying the possibility of filing a lawsuit in international courts against the leaders of the Algerian Army. (NEXSTAR) Theres a special connection between grandparents and their grandkids made only stronger with each wink, hug, present and surreptitious candy slipped into a small hand. When it comes to nicknames that children develop for their grandparents a new survey by Preply found that popularity varies by state. The dive into Americans terms of endearment for their grandparents comes in anticipation of national Grandparents Day, on Sunday, Sept. 10. Wheres my Facebook settlement check? Why payments havent arrived and when they might One grandchilds beloved Nana in Nevada may have been referred to as Bubbe if they lived in New Jersey, for instance. When it comes to the overall most popular nicknames, excluding just Grandma and Grandpa, the survey found that Nana and Papa dominate. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In California, the Spanish Abeula and Abeuelo took the top spots. The most popular nicknames for Grandma. (Preply) The most popular nicknames for Grandpa. (Preply) When it comes to affectionate terms for grandmothers, Nana was the most popular in 12 states, followed by a three-way tie for second by Grammy, Granny and Gran. Abuela tied with the formal Grandmother and Mamaw for third place. When it comes to grandfathers, Papa was tops in 13 states, followed by Granddad and Pop-pop. The August survey of 1,500 Americans across all 50 states also found that a whopping 44% said their maternal grandmother was their favorite, followed by their paternal grandmother at 23%. Fifteen percent said it was their maternal grandfather, followed by 11% for their paternal grandfather and another 7% who chose other. The history of National Grandparents Day dates back to 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed legislation making the first Sunday after Labor Day a holiday to honor Nana and Papa (in some states, of course). Find more information about the surveys results and methodology here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Metro police said a man was seriously injured late Sunday night following a crash involving a motorcycle in South Nashville. The crash happened just before 9 p.m. on Nolensville Pike. At the scene, officers told News 2 that the motorcyclist was traveling inbound and the car was turning outbound when the crash occurred. | READ MORE | Latest headlines from Nashville and Davidson County According to Metro police, the motorcyclist was traveling at a high rate of speed and crashed into the car head-on as the vehicle was attempting to turn on Nolensville Pike. The motorcyclist was taken to a hospital to be treated for critical injuries that were sustained in the crash. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement No other information was immediately released. Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox. Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee. This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. A North Carolina congressman wants to curb legalizing marijuana for recreational use, WLOS reports. Republican Chuck Edwards just introduced the Stop Pot Act. PREVIOUS: Western North Carolina tribe to vote on broader legalization of adult use of marijuana The bill calls for the federal government to withhold certain highway funds from states and tribes that allow recreational marijuana use. Edwards said he wants to prevent greater access to drugs and also ease the strain on law enforcement. A Cherokee tribe near Asheville is asking voters next week if they want legal recreational marijuana on tribal lands. If the referendum passes, this would be the only place in the state to get it legally. (WATCH BELOW: North Carolina medical marijuana bill likely dead for this year, House speaker says) For nearly 30 years, Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania have approved millions of taxpayer dollars for an anti-abortion program. Now the states new governor plans to end the contract as the organization that distributes those funds and other groups like it gain attention since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Pennsylvania plans to end on Dec. 31 its longstanding contract with the nonprofit Real Alternatives, the first organization in the nation to secure significant state and federal subsidies to support anti-abortion counseling centers. Under the program, Real Alternatives distributed the state and federal funds to dozens of Pennsylvania centers, including Catholic Charities, anti-abortion counseling centers and maternity homes, which provide support and housing for pregnant women. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement his administration would not continue that pattern of subsidizing the organization, saying he was steadfast in defending abortion access. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We will ensure women in this Commonwealth receive the reproductive health care they deserve, he said. The news shocked Eileen Artysh, the executive director of St. Margaret of Castello Maternity Home, which receives money through Real Alternatives to provide housing, materials and parenting counseling. While its not their entire budget, the loss of funding will impact the centers longevity, she said. Artysh said many pregnant women who come to the maternity home have already made their choice to have the baby. Until theres that last penny left, Im in this for the long haul, she said. And the moms that we help I cant imagine deserting any of them. Pennsylvania was the first state to enact an official abortion alternative program in the mid-90s. Helmed by then-Gov. Bob Casey, an anti-abortion Democrat, the state began funding alternatives in tandem with a preexisting program that subsidized Planned Parenthoods services for womens health. The funding for both programs had continued under both Republican and Democratic governors in the years since. Real Alternatives network of centers has seen about 350,000 women at 1.9 million office visits in Pennsylvania, the organization said in a statement. Last year, Pennsylvania sent about $7 million to the group, which distributed those funds to more than 70 centers. At one point, Real Alternatives was overseeing programs in Indiana and Michigan, and it inspired other states to find ways to fund organizations like it using taxpayer money. Even as Pennsylvania is poised to stop funding the program, the states move continues to have an impact nationwide. Michelle Kuppersmith, the executive director for Campaign for Accountability, a watchdog group that has filed complaints against Real Alternatives use of taxpayer dollars, said Shapiro did the right thing by ending the contract. Now, just as many states unfortunately looked to Pennsylvania as a model for letting these programs into their states, we urge other states to follow suit in eliminating this spending that is not just wasteful, but actively harmful to the health of their citizens, she said. Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars across the U.S. have been sent to such organizations, which are typically religiously affiliated. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion last year, Republican-led states have sent more tax dollars to what are sometimes called crisis pregnancy centers, while Democratic-leaning states apply more scrutiny to them. In Tennessee, which has a near-total abortion ban, legislators approved $20 million in funding for a grant program. Republicans said the money would support struggling families because women could tap into the centers parent counseling classes, diaper banks and other services. Similarly, Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed doubling the funds for a state program designed to help fund the centers, which launched last year with $500,000 just before Roe was overturned. In Florida, lawmakers upped the amount the centers could seek from $4.5 million to $25 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year. And governors in Arkansas and West Virginia signed off on spending $1 million on the centers over the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, Democratic-led state have tried to thwart the centers, which for years have been accused of providing misleading information about abortion and contraception for example, suggesting that abortion leads to mental health problems or breast cancer. Colorado lawmakers made it a deceptive trade practice for an organization to advertise that they offer abortions or emergency contraceptives when they do not. But a similar law in Illinois was blocked by a federal judge, who said it violated the First Amendment. Massachusetts set aside $1 million to launch a public education campaign focused on warning the public of potentially misleading claims from the centers. And in Vermont, pregnancy centers will now be subject to the states existing consumer protection laws which prohibits false and deceptive advertising. Even with the scrutiny, the centers have received strong support from those who benefited from their services. Alyssa MacAfee, 26, was one of them. She was homeless, jobless and in early recovery when she found out she was pregnant. She came to St. Margarets in Pennsylvania six months pregnant and stayed until her daughter was around 5 months old. Everyone was definitely looking at my situation like, You cannot bring a baby into the world right now, but I knew that I wanted to, she said. MacAfee said she found the organization to be welcoming; she felt it was for people that had already decided to pursue parenthood. Since shes left, MacAfee has a job, an apartment and even some of the diapers provided by Saint Margaret. It turned out to be the biggest blessing life has ever given me, she said. About $8 million in state subsidies hangs in the balance this year as Pennsylvania completes its budget, with the Shapiro administration looking to send the money to other womens health providers. Abortion opponents called Shapiros decision harmful, and Republicans said the option of using the money for other anti-abortion programs will have to be part of continued budget negotiations. Its sad because this is a great program, and you take this program away, abortions will substantially increase in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, said Kevin Bagatta, president and CEO for Real Alternatives. Defunding the program was a key budget priority for some Pennsylvania Democrats, and abortion rights groups like Planned Parenthood PA Advocates hailed the decision. Concerns over abortion access now outweigh the good intentions centers tend to tout, said Laura Antkowiak, a political science professor at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Its not so much about the substance of the work anymore, but who theyre aligned with and what their position is on abortion that has politicized the centers, she said. In terms of the political context, I think this is part of a much larger phenomenon in which both sides of the abortion debate are battling over which service providers are going to gain access to public funding, she said. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: 2 dead, 7 hurt in Fayette County crash Man flown to hospital after being shot in Latrobe Pa. state senator proposes eliminating annual vehicle inspection requirement VIDEO: He definitely left a mark : Local fans reflect on Jimmy Buffetts legacy DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts A woman said two passengers were kicked off an Air Canda flight after complaining about their seats. Susan Benson shared a Facebook post that said the passengers boarded the flight and found seats covered in puke. Benson said that after the passengers complained, security boarded the plane and escorted them off. Security escorted two Air Canada passengers off a plane after they refused to sit in a seat someone had vomited in, a woman who said she was seated in the row behind them wrote on social media. In an August 29 Facebook post, a user named Susan Benson said she watched two women and a man "struggle to get seated" on a flight from Las Vegas to Montreal. Benson wrote in her post that she noticed "a bit of a foul smell" but hadn't yet realized where it was coming from. She said she soon learned someone had thrown up on the previous flight. "Air Canada attempted a quick clean up before boarding but clearly wasn't able to do a thorough clean," her post read. "They placed coffee grinds in the seat pouch and sprayed perfume to mask the smell." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Benson did not respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside of regular working hours. Air Canada said they are in contact with the two passengers. "We are reviewing this serious matter internally and have followed up with the customers directly as our operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance," a spokesperson told Insider on Tuesday. "This includes apologizing to these customers, as they clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled and addressing their concerns." The passengers in front of Benson told the Air Canada flight attendant their seat had residue on it, but Benson said the employee told the passengers the flight was full, and they had no other option. "The flight attendant was very apologetic but explained that the flight was full and there was nothing they could do," Benson's post continued. "The passengers said they couldn't possibly be expected to sit in vomit for five hours." Benson said the flight attendant returned with a supervisor, who told the passengers the same thing: The flight was full, and they had nowhere else to sit. Eventually, Benson continued, the employees gave them blankets to sit on and more wipes to clean the seats. Air Canada planes sit on the tarmac at Toronto Pearson Airport. Steve Russell/Getty Images Benson wrote that after the passengers had settled in, "the pilot came down the aisle and very calmly knelt and told the two ladies that they had two choices: They could leave the plane on their own accord and organize flights on their own dime, or they would be escorted off the plane by security and placed on a no-fly list" because they had been rude to the flight attendant. Benson said the passenger seated next to the two women got involved and told the pilot they weren't being rude. The pilot reportedly returned to the front of the plane, and security guards escorted the women off, she continued. Benson wrote that she complained to Air Canada and posted about the incident on their social media pages. "I have no idea if they were actually placed on the no-fly list or not. I cannot stop thinking about these two ladies," Benson said in her post. "They did nothing wrong." Read the original article on Insider Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) thinks there are serious questions about whether Donald Trump is even eligible for the office of president. On Sunday, the California congressman said that there is pretty clear evidence Trump is in violation of the 14th Amendments third section, which blocks anyone who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion from serving in elected office. Schiff explained why there is a valid argument for keeping Trump off the ballot while appearing on MSNBC following earlier reports that election officials across the U.S. are bracing themselves for legal challenges to Trumps 2024 presidential candidacy. If you engage in acts of insurrection or rebellion against the government, or you give aid and comfort to those who do, you are disqualified from running, Schiff told host Jen Psaki. Donald Trump speaks to the media after being booked at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on Aug. 24. Donald Trump speaks to the media after being booked at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on Aug. 24. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It doesnt require that you be convicted of insurrection. It just requires that you have engaged in these acts, he continued, later adding how that definition fits Donald Trump to a T. Trump has been accused of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riots with his claims of a stolen 2020 presidential election. He is currently facing multiple criminal charges over his actions leading up to and during the attacks on the U.S. capital. Schiff said any case against the former president would still face major legal scrutiny, telling Psaki how any 14th Amendment-based challenges to Trumps candidacy would likely end up in the Supreme Court, which currently holds a 6-3 conservative majority. Rep. Adam Schiff speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its final meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 19, 2022. Rep. Adam Schiff speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its final meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 19, 2022. Thats the big question mark through all of this, the congressman said. Which is what will the Supreme Court do? There are prominent constitutional scholars, as well as prominent progressive scholars who believe that he should be disqualified, Schiff went on. But, will the court take that step ultimately? Only time will tell, but I do think it is a very legitimate issue. By the clear terms of the 14th Amendment, he should be disqualified from holding office. This weekend Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) made a similar case during an appearance on ABC This Week, telling anchor George Stephanopoulos theres a powerful argument to be made for invoking the 14th Amendment. In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment, Kaine said. And that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power of as is laid out in the Constitution. So I think theres a powerful argument to be made. Related... Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Sunday defended her decision to raise her hand in agreement when asked if she would support Donald Trump as the partys nominee even if he was a convicted felon during the GOP primary debate in Milwaukee last month. Out of the eight candidates on the stage, only Trump critics former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said they wouldnt back the four-times-indicted former president if he was found guilty of a crime. Trump skipped the debate. With the exception of former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Republican presidential candidates (3rd L-R) former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum raise their hands to say they would support Donald Trump as the party's presidential nominee during the first debate of the GOP primary season hosted by FOX News at the Fiserv Forum on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With the exception of former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Republican presidential candidates (3rd L-R) former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum raise their hands to say they would support Donald Trump as the party's presidential nominee during the first debate of the GOP primary season hosted by FOX News at the Fiserv Forum on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But Haley said her answer was consistent with her decision to sign the pledge put forward by the Republican National Committee as a requirement for appearing at the debate. What you saw were candidates on that stage said that they would do exactly what they signed and pledged to do which is support the Republican nominee, Haley told CBS Face the Nation. Haley, though, added that she doesnt expect Americans to vote for someone found guilty of crimes. The American people are not going to vote for a convicted criminal, Haley said. The American people are going to vote for someone who can win a general election. I have faith in the American people. Still, the former South Carolina governor said ultimately any Republican would be better than President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Despite his legal troubles, Trump has managed to remain Republican primary voters top choice for president, according to an average of national GOP primary polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight, while Haley is fourth with 5.9% of the vote as of Saturday. Trump has faced charges in four cases, most recently over his efforts to undo Bidens win in Georgia in the 2020 election. He has also been indicted in Manhattan over his role in a hush money scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and in two other federal cases over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, and his plot to remain in power after losing the 2020 contest. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Related... (Bloomberg) -- The ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran wont be invited to this years Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm after all, following a backlash. Most Read from Bloomberg We recognize the strong reactions in Sweden, the organization based in the Swedish capital said in a statement on Saturday. The board of the Nobel Foundation, therefore, choose to repeat last years exception to regular practice that is, to not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraines foreign ministry, called the decision the victory of humanism in a Facebook post. The foundation announced on Thursday that it would invite the representatives of the three countries, reverting to a practice dating from before Russias February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In doing so, the foundation said it sought to impart the values and messages that the Nobel Prize stands for, as it said it did by awarding the 2022 Peace Prize to human rights advocates from Russia and Belarus as well as to Ukrainians who document Russian war crimes. The coveted annual prizes will be announced Oct. 2 to Oct. 9 and the prize banquet in Stockholm is slated for Dec. 10. All ambassadors will still be welcome at a separate ceremony in Oslo, also on Dec. 10, to mark this years peace prize, the foundation said. --With assistance from Niclas Rolander. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Flash A participant is seen at the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow and Miss Indian World Pageant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the United States, on April 27, 2019. The Powwow, or Pow Wow, is a social gathering held by many different Native American communities. [Photo/Xinhua] The U.S. Colorado state Friday released an investigation summary on the miserable experience of indigenous people at former federal fund schools, highlighting the fact that the U.S. government had long ignored Native Americans who were freely neglected, abused and killed. In the 14-page summary of the report, History Colorado (HC) confirmed that Native Americans at the boarding schools had been subjected to "abuse, neglect, and a variety of other terrible outcomes," which had been under-reported by U.S. media and ignored by federal authorities for more than a century. Under an executive order signed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis, investigations were opened into a number of improprieties surrounding federally funded boarding schools for Native American students, long considered a dark chapter in American history. The state-mandated year-long investigations ended this summer, and a final report entitled "Federal Indian Schools in Colorado, 1880-1920" was scheduled to be publicly released on Oct. 3, 2023, though HC said it would continue its research. "As part of the mandate, History Colorado was tasked with laying out 'preliminary' steps toward healing," CPR said Friday after HC released the brief summary. "The completion of this report represents just one step on the path to recognizing and reconciling the harm generations of native individuals, families, and communities suffered as a result of federal schooling policy," said Holly Norton, leader of the investigation and HC's state archaeologist. "There are still years of thoughtful work ahead which includes community engagement, and culturally appropriate consultation with indigenous peoples impacted by this tragic history," Norton said in a press release from HC. There were more than 350 government-funded and often church-run Indian boarding schools across the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries, according to the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. "Indian children were forcibly abducted by government agents, sent to schools hundreds of miles away, and beaten, starved, or otherwise abused when they spoke their native languages," the coalition said. Children who were admitted into boarding schools experienced several forms of abuse, according to an article in 2021 entitled "A century of trauma at U.S. boarding schools for Native American children." "They were given white names, forced to speak English, and were not allowed to practice their culture. They took classes on how to conduct manual labor such as farming and housekeeping. Unclean and overpopulated living conditions led to the spread of disease and many students did not receive enough food," the article noted. CPR News summed up Friday the unprecedented move by the Colorado governor to aggressively address unbelievable problems with the boarding schools, which were called "brainwashing and assimilation concentration camps" by liberal advocates. "The state is outlining how it could begin to reconcile with a history of separating indigenous children from their families and communities, and forcing them to assimilate into white European culture at schools around the turn of the 20th Century," CPR News said. The investigative summary intentionally left out many details about what happened and who was affected, to give tribal nations impacted by this history time to review, reflect, and process its contents, History Colorado said. The summary also said that children at two Western Slope boarding schools were sometimes placed with white families over the summer or during the school year, and had to work for below-market wages in the fields or in their homes, according to CPR. Colorado is the ancestral home of a number of Native Americans, including the Southern and Northern Utes, Arapaho, Cheyanne, and other tribes, who today scratch out a living on land where they were forced to relocate in the ninth century. Russia has been barred from participating in this years Nobel Prize ceremony over its invasion of Ukraine. The Nobel Foundation had initially decided to invite Russia in accordance with previous practice, but said the decision provoked strong reactions in Sweden. The foundation said in a press release on 2 September that it was repeating last years exception to regular practice, citing the strong reactions. It said the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran would not be invited to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm. The decision by the Nobel Foundation to invite all ambassadors to the Nobel Prize award ceremony, in accordance with previous practice, has provoked strong reactions, it said, adding that the basis for the decision was that it was important and right to reach out as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel Prize stands for. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Citing an example, it said awarding the peace prize last year to human rights fighters from Russia and Belarus as well as to Ukrainians who worked for documenting Russian war crimes sent a clear political message. We recognize the strong reactions in Sweden, which completely overshadowed this message. We, therefore, choose to repeat last years exception to regular practice that is, to not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm, the statement said. Nobel prize winners are expected to be announced between 2 and 9 October and five of the six winners are awarded in Stockholm every year after a secretly-kept nomination process. The Nobel peace prize, however, is awarded in Oslo, for which the foundation said as before, all ambassadors will be invited to the ceremony. The announcement was welcomed by the Swedish prime minister as well as officials in Ukraine. I welcome the new decision of the board of the Nobel Foundation regarding the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm, Swedens prime minister Ulf Kristersson said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry, called the decision restoration of justice. As has been pointed out many, many times, lack of diversity is an ongoing problem in the tech startup and VC landscape. Its a fact thats long been recognised in the U.S., and its of equal concern in Europe. Zoom in on the Nordics region, and the lack of diversity sadly becomes even more acute. A report in 2020 revealed that the previous 10 years witnessed all-men founding teams never receiving less than 83% of Nordic VC funding, while all-women teams received barely 2.2% of funding. So its refreshing to see a VC fund emerge in the region that directly addresses the issues, not just in its team but also in its thesis, as well as investing in some very interesting businesses. Launched as more of an SPV "nano-fund" by Thea Messel in in 2018 with co-founder Nora Bavey, Unconventional Ventures (UV) now has a VC structure and invests across the Nordics in healthtech, women's health, diversity tech, sustainable fashion, food tech and fintech. Its now passed the "half-way" close of its targeted 30 million fund to invest solely in impact tech companies with diverse founding teams and founders. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement LPs backing the fund include European venture capital giant Atomico, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), Investinor (an evergreen investment company funded by the Norwegian government), and Danish investment firm Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker. New LPs joining the fund include The Case for Her, a Stockholm-based firm specialized in investments in womens health issues and The Inner Foundation, founded by Northzone founder PJ Parson and his wife Annika Sten Parson. UVs portfolio companies so far include four main standout companies. Out of its investments from this fund so far, Climate X (U.K.), has raised the most at 10.65 million. This climate analytics startup is closer to the fintech space, as it assesses the climate risk in to for asset holders. Ocean Oasis (Norway) is in sustainable desalination using wave energy. Messel said: Desalination is quite a CO 2 -intense process, but theyve come up with a solution of using wave technology, enabling not only more freshwater to be accessible, but also creating and producing it in a sustainable way. SciFree (Sweden) offers open access to research for universities. Bavey said: In a world where we have fake news and research being attacked imagine what that will mean for entrepreneurship and innovation, having access to an open source database of research? It's just incredible. This startup creates transparency over who is getting funded at the end of the day because there's also a lot of issues behind the research. And Meela Health (SWE) is a matchmaking tool for therapists and clients targeting women first. Bavey commented: Meela is matchmaking tool for therapists and clients targeting women first, but also now extending to men. Over 60% of people go into therapy drops off before the third session, but Meela drop off rate is to less than 2%. So it really speaks volumes about them enabling AI for the matchmaking. Other companies in the new fund include: FJONG (NO) - circular fashion Leia Health (SWE) - personalized parental health Equality Check (NO) - diversity and inclusion analytics DORA (DEN) -digitizing towards greener freight transport The next target for the fund will aim at synthetic biology startups. Among these investments, UV claims 75% are founded by all-female teams, and over 25% have a founder or co-founder from an ethnic minority. Moreover, 67% of the portfolio focuses on combating climate change, while 20% addresses female health-related challenges. Prior to founding UV, Copenhagen-based Messel was a banker who went on to co-found and develop platforms supporting tech and impact startups. Shes also a former member of UNEP-FI working group for Sustainable Banking. Bavey is a former edtech founder who built and launched concepts for supporting underrepresented founders in the Nordics. Over an interview, Bavey told me that although the new fund is a full-blown VC stucture, its easier to decide on diverse investments because we've been following them for so long. While she admits "there's a lot of impact funds popping up in the Nordics, she says the uniqueness of UV is not only do we only invest in those type of diverse founders, but we are also the only fund that also invest only with impact at the core. The pair also think women's helath remains a space waiting to be unpacked further by impact funds: If we look at female health, we're seeing some really interesting deals there. Startups in that space are targeting problems that none has really thought about. It's not just about fertility or menstruation, there are a lot of other layers in between and that's what we're also excited about to explore more, added Bavey. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin for discussions on a potential deal to supply Moscow with weapons for its war on Ukraine, according to the US government. The National Security Council warned Monday that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are actively advancing, after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang in July in an attempt to convince it to sell artillery ammunition to Moscow. We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia, the councils spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, said in a statement. Watson did not say when and where a potential meeting between Kim and Putin in Russia might take place. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But South Koreas National Intelligence Service said Tuesday it is closely monitoring the possibility of Kim Jong Un visiting Russia soon. CNN has asked the Russian embassy in Washington for comment. The Kremlin declined to comment on the claim. We have nothing to say on the subject, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists during a call on Tuesday. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at a White House briefing Tuesday that discussions between North Korea and Russia are actively advancing, and is evidence that economic sanctions against Russia have succeeded in shrinking the countrys defense industrial base. We will continue to call it out, and we will continue to call on North Korea to abide by its public commitments not to supply weapons to Russia that will end up killing Ukrainians over time, we have not seen them actively supply large amounts of munitions or other military capacity to Russia for the war in Ukraine, Sullivan said. I cannot predict you what will happen at the end of this, I can only say that the discussions have been actively advancing and the Russians have imbued them with an increased intensity as reflected in the fact that their Defense Minister, their number one guy in their defense establishment, actually got on a plane and flew to Pyongyang to try to push this forward, he said, adding that its possible, in the near future, that those discussions may see North Koreas Kim Jong Un participate in leader level discussions, perhaps even in-person leader level discussions. As discussions advance, the US and its allies are concerned about the technology North Korea is seeking from Russia in return for weaponry, according to two US officials. North Korea is seeking technology that could advance their satellite and nuclear-powered submarine capabilities, officials said, which could significantly advance North Koreas capabilities in areas that the rogue regime has not fully developed. Just last month, North Koreas second attempt to launch a spy satellite into orbit failed, a report from the state-run Korean Central News Agency said. North Korea does not currently have any nuclear-powered submarines, according to an assessment from Nuclear Threat Initiative, a think-tank focused on reducing nuclear threats. The New York Times first reported the potential meeting between Kim and Putin in Russia, saying it is expected to take place this month. According to the report, the meeting may take place on the campus of a university in the eastern port city of Vladivostok, where the Eastern Economic Forum is scheduled to be held from September 10 and 13. In 2019, Kim made his first trip to Russia as the leader of North Korea and traveled from Pyongyang to Vladivostok on an armored green train. Going by train is the preferred mode of travel by the reclusive North Korean leader. Kims possible visit to Russia comes as the US has expressed increasing concerns about North Koreas military assistance to Russias war effort in Ukraine a move that would be in breach of US sanctions. Earlier this month, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on three entities it accused of being tied to arms deals between North Korea and Russia. Since Shoigus July visit, a second delegation of Russian officials have visited Pyongyang for further discussions on a potential deal, while Putin and Kim have exchanged letters pledging to increase their bilateral cooperation, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters last week. North Korea delivered infantry rockets and missiles into Russia for use by Wagner forces late last year, and the potential deal being discussed would provide Russian troops with much more weapons, according to Kirby. Under these potential deals Russia would receive significant quantities and multiple types of munitions form the DPRK, which the Russian military plans to use in Ukraine, he said. These potential deals could also include the provision of raw materials that would assist Russias defense industrial base, Kirby added, pledging that the US would take direct action to sanction any entities involved in a potential deal and urging Pyongyang to cease the negotiations. The Biden administration has routinely declassified intelligence about the support Russia is receiving or is planning to receive in an effort to deter countries from providing support for Moscows war effort. Apart from North Korea, Russia has also received drones and artillery from Iran. Chinese state-owned defense companies have sent technology and equipment to Russia, but US officials say they have seen no signs so far that China has provided weapons or lethal military aid to Russia. On Monday, Shoigu, the Russian Defense Minister, said Russia was also discussing holding joint military exercises with North Korea. We are discussing it with everyone, including the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Why not? These are our neighbors, Shoigu told reporters, referring to North Korea by its official name. You dont choose your neighbors, and its better to live in peace and harmony with your neighbors, he said, citing an old Russian saying. Russia has been holding the annual Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok since 2015 in an attempt to encourage foreign investment in the Russian Far East. China, Russias closest diplomatic partner, has often sent high-level delegations to the event. Chinese leader Xi Jinping attended the forum in-person in 2018, while top legislator Li Zhanshu, the third-ranking leader of the ruling Communist Party, attended last year. Beijing has not announced which official will lead its delegation this year. The forum will partially overlap with the Group of 20 leaders summit in India. Chinas has indicated that Xi will skip that summit for the first time since he came to power. CNNs Anna Chernova and Donald Judd contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com (Bloomberg) -- North Korea appears to have dispatched a bus across a bridge with China, satellite imagery showed, in what is likely the first such move since Pyongyang sealed its borders nearly four years ago at the start of the pandemic. Most Read from Bloomberg A bus apparently making a return trip to North Korea was photographed crossing the bridge between the Chinese border city of Dandong and the North Korean city of Sinuiju on Aug. 31, the satellite image analyzed by the Open Nuclear Network shows. Several more large vehicles were seen stopping at the customs area on the North Korean side. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The move comes after North Korea sent commercial aircraft to Beijing and Vladivostok at the end of August for the first time since early 2020. North Korea has sent its workers to Russia and China for years, where they earn hard currency desperately needed by Pyongyang, and in defiance of United Nations resolutions that ban the moves. Satellite imagery from the past few days suggests North Korea is resuming road-based passenger traffic via the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, said Jaewoo Shin, an analyst for the Open Nuclear Network research group. The North Korean customs area also shows increased activity but no large cargo vehicles have been spotted yet, he added. Nonetheless, this is a further sign that North Korea is slowly easing its border lockdown protocols and is likely looking to resume normal trade activities soon, Shin said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns decision to seal borders at the start of the pandemic slammed the brakes on the little legal trade conducted by his heavily sanctioned state. It also left stranded its diplomats, students and thousands of workers sent overseas. Pyongyang appears to be easing up on the restrictions to help its beleaguered economy recover from the hit the country took when it sealed itself off, South Koreas Unification Ministry has said. Signs of a resumption of trade with China, historically Pyongyangs biggest partner, led Fitch Solutions to estimate North Koreas economy returned to growth after two full years of contraction. Still, it added that significant uncertainties remain. There are no indications North Korea is set to resume international tourism, which once brought in hard cash from visitors from places such as China to a country that has sparse foreign currency reserves. Over the weekend, North Korea test-fired several long-range cruise missiles for simulated nuclear strikes, just days after it shot off a pair of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in a show of anger against US-South Korea joint military drills. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un plans to travel to Russia this month to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the possibility of supplying weapons for the war in Ukraine, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing U.S. and allied sources. Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armored train, to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet with Putin, the newspaper said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The planned trip would come as Russia discusses holding joint military exercises with North Korea and after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had tried on a visit to North Korea to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The U.S. has previously warned that North Korea could provide more weapons to Russia, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a war that the United States and its European allies vehemently oppose and that Moscow calls a "special military operation." White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Aug. 30 that the United States was concerned that arms negotiations between the two countries were advancing actively. (Reporting by Jasper Ward and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Scott Malone and Sandra Maler) Hurricane Lee has undergone a rapid intensification, reaching Category 5 strength and packing 165-mph winds early Friday morning. Just 24 hours prior, it had been an 80-mph Category 1 hurricane. The monster storm will chart a lengthy course across the Atlantic, bringing impacts from the Caribbean islands to the United States and Atlantic Canada, AccuWeather meteorologists say. Lee, which was named in the central Atlantic on Tuesday, was packing winds of 155 mph (Category 4 intensity) and located about 565 miles east of the Leeward Islands of the eastern Caribbean early Friday morning. It now holds the title of the strongest hurricane to churn in the Atlantic during the 2023 season. Hurricane Lee on infrared satellite on the morning of Sept. 8. Hurricane Lee on infrared satellite on the morning of Sept. 8. "Rapid strengthening occurs when a tropical system's winds increase by 35 mph or greater within 24 hours," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. "As we warned about on Thursday, Lee mirrored what Hurricane Jova did in the eastern Pacific." Jova more than double-downed on the strengthening process with winds increasing by a whopping 86 mph in 24 hours from Wednesday to Thursday. Lee has followed course, with winds more than doubling from Thursday to Friday morning. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Rapid intensification at this level is rare. "Wilma, from the 2005 mega hurricane season, holds the record for 24-hour rapid intensification in the Atlantic basin," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger said. "The system's sustained winds ramped up 105 mph from a 70-mph tropical storm to a 175-mph Category 5 hurricane in 24 hours." "Changes within the eye of the hurricane will cause some minor fluctuation in strength into this weekend," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. So far this season, the Atlantic Basin has spawned two major hurricanes, Franklin and Idalia, both of which reached peak strength as Category 4 hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with sustained winds between 130 and 156 mph. Lee has become even stronger than both Franklin and Idalia, reaching Category 5 status (sustained winds in excess of 157 mph) and becoming the most intense storm of the season. AccuWeather meteorologists say that Lee will generally take a west-northwestward path over the Atlantic through this weekend. At this time, the storm is likely to pass far enough away from Puerto Rico and the northern Leeward Islands to avoid severe conditions. However, Lee's path will still be close enough to the islands that some rain and wind impacts will spread across Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda as well as the British and U.S. Virgin Islands this weekend. With the anticipation that some bands of heavy, gusty thunderstorms develop well to the south of the main body of the hurricane, squalls and stiffening winds will progress through the islands from Friday night to Monday. The influx of tropical moisture and outer rain bands from Lee is expected to bring rainfall amounts ranging from 1-2 inches (25-50 mm) across the northern Leeward Islands from Friday night to Sunday. Meanwhile, peak tropical gusts across these islands are expected to reach between 40 and 60 mph (60 and 100 km/h) as Lee passes to the north. The gusts will be well below the peak winds of Lee, with the eyewall expected to stay well to the northeast. GET THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP Have the app? Unlock AccuWeather Alerts with Premium+ Due to the potential impacts of rain and wind expected from the outer rain bands, the AccuWeather RealImpact Scale for Lee in the Caribbean has been rated as less than 1. AccuWeather forecasters say that there is a possibility for the powerful hurricane to impact North America, including the northeastern U.S. and Atlantic Canada. As the storm nears the Eastern Seaboard next week, the beaches will face building surf and seas, as well as a significant risk for dangerous rip currents. So far this year, 75 surf zone fatalities in the U.S. were tallied by the National Weather Service (NWS), as of Aug. 31. At least one person died due to rip currents along the coast of New Jersey over Labor Day weekend, and several rescues were conducted. AccuWeather forecasters are monitoring Lee closely and say that there are still several future track scenarios from the middle of next week through next weekend. The timing of when Lee takes a turn to the north will be the main factor in determining the exact impacts along the East Coast. "Steering winds over the storm are forecast to become southerly by the middle of the week, just as the jet stream dips south across the eastern U.S., both of which are forecast to pull Lee northward," explained Bauer. As Lee approaches, the behavior of the jet stream could determine the extent of the direct impacts in the United States. Based on the projected track, direct impacts such as heavy rain and high winds from Lee are not expected from Florida to the Carolinas -- states that are still cleaning up from Idalia. However, it could be a different story farther to the north, especially across New England. Two scenarios for the long-range movement of Hurricane Lee. Two scenarios for the long-range movement of Hurricane Lee. If the jet stream swings eastward along the Atlantic coast at a swift pace, it should help to protect all of the East Coast from feeling direct rain and high winds from Lee. In this scenario, Bermuda may endure more direct impacts instead. However, if the jet stream is stronger, dips southward and stalls when Lee approaches, the powerful storm could be pulled in close to the U.S. by steering winds during the middle and latter part of next week. "Right now, the area in the United States that really needs to pay attention includes locations from the upper part of the mid-Atlantic coast to New England," Rayno said, adding that parts of Atlantic Canada are most likely also get direct impacts from Lee late next week. Even though Lee is forecast to lose wind intensity as it moves northward out of the very warm water in the southern Atlantic, the storm can still be impactful, with heavy rain, gusty winds and storm surge. Category 5 Hurricane Lee late on Sept. 7, 2023. Category 5 Hurricane Lee late on Sept. 7, 2023. AccuWeather meteorologists urge residents along the East Coast to take the advanced warning time to prepare for a tropical impact, including having a preparedness kit packed and a reliable way to receive watches, warnings and updates throughout the storm. On Monday, AccuWeather became the first source to issue a forecast track map as a tropical wave pushed across the central tropical Atlantic. It later became Tropical Depression 13 as it moved over warm waters on Tuesday morning. At 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center named the system Tropical Storm Lee, which it upgraded to a hurricane at 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday. Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Tropical Depression Fourteen formed near a group of islands off the west coast of Africa called the Cabo Verde Islands on Thursday midday and, hours later, was upgraded to Tropical Storm Margot. Margot is likely to ramp up to a hurricane before the start of next week. Once this system moves away from the Cabo Verde Islands, it is not likely to be a threat to land in the near future. Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un plans to visit Russia this month to discuss supplying Moscow with more weapons for its war in Ukraine, the New York Times reported on Sept. 4. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin hopes to secure additional artillery shells and antitank missiles, according to information provided by American officials. U.S. National Security Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that "leader-level diplomatic engagement" is expected during the arms deal discussion. In August, White House officials said that Putin was looking to acquire more weapons from North Korea, and that the Kremlin's arsenal had been depleted by sanctions and continued losses in Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The new intelligence provided to the New York Times indicates that the leaders are planning to meet in Vladivostok during the Eastern Economic Forum, held Sept. 10-13. The anniversary of the founding of North Korea is observed on Sept. 9. Kim Jong Un would likely travel to Russia by armored train, the New York Times reported. Officials said a meeting in Moscow was possible, but not confirmed. "Mr. Kim would like Russia to provide North Korea with advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines" in addition to "food aid for his impoverished nation," the officials told the New York Times. Read also: Prigozhins death latest in a series of unsolved murders in Putins Russia. Whats next? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Oconee County Sheriffs Office reported the following incidents: SUSPICIOUS MAN: On Aug. 24, Deputy Johnny Richards was dispatched to a storage unit business on Atlanta Highway, Bogart, due to two suspicious persons. A 50-year-old Bogart man said they had been arguing, but the other man left. The deputy located the 48-year-old Bogart man, who appeared surprised when he saw the officer. He was carrying a pint bottle of liquor, a long flexible lighter and two flex ties. The man said he was waiting on his wife, but when the officer decided to pat him down, he ran. After about 70 yards, the deputy threatened to taze the man, so he stopped. The man was charged with obstruction. SHOPLIFTER FLEES: On Aug. 30, Deputy Baer Schiffer was dispatched to Walmart, where a man was seen putting on a red UGA shirt and pulling off the price tag. The man was confronted before he could leave, but he fled in the direction of Kohls. The deputy went to Kohls, where an employee pointed out the location of the suspect. The deputy took the 76-year-old Bishop man into custody and as they were leaving, the man uttered a comment about making a mistake. The suspect had a gun in his vehicle, which was taken by the deputy. WATKINSVILLE PURSUIT: On Aug. 25, a lookout was posted for a Honda Accord that was believed involved in another incident. Three days later, Cpl. Lex Ogan received a notification that the car was on Simonton Bridge Road. Deputy B. Argueta spotted the car and followed it to a location on North Main Street in Watkinsville, where it stopped. The car then proceeded to Experiment Station Road. When the car began to accelerate, Argueta activated his siren and lights. The Honda fled, nearly causing a collision, as it headed back to Simonton Bridge Road where it nearly hit a second car. The Honda was traveling at 65 mph in a 25 mph zone and the deputy decided to attempt a PIT maneuver. However, the driver slammed on the brakes causing the patrol unit to hit the car and force it off the road into a ditch. The 30-year-old Athens man was arrested. He told the officer he fled because he didnt know why he was being pulled over. He was charged with numerous traffic violations. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement DRUGS FOUND: On Aug. 29, Deputy Dustin Mines was patrolling at about 3 p.m. on Highway 316 when he came up on a Chrysler 300 with a broken brake light. A check showed the car had a suspended registration and was not insured. After a traffic stop, the deputy determined the 32-year-old Monroe woman driving the car and the 41-year-old Winder man, who owned the car, were both on probation. A tobacco dip can was found in the car with the residue of methamphetamine and the man admitted ownership. A pill of Alprazolam was also found. Chickens endangered: Man allegedly endangered 200,000 chickens at Madison County farm as an act of retribution Oconee Blotter: Shoplifting suspect's partner angered he couldn't 'stop doing that same exact thing' DRUGS SEIZED: On Aug. 29, Deputy B. Argueta was patrolling along South Burson Avenue in Bogart, when he came upon a parked car with two people inside. The Bogart man and Bishop woman, both 21, were holding sandwiches. The deputy noticed the woman was shaking. She identified herself as a woman named Brittany, but the officer could find no one by that name in his computer. A straw was seen in the car and a search revealed a box with some methamphetamine, which the woman said was mixed with some bad stuff. The woman, who objected to being arrested, also had a piece of tin foil that she said contained fentanyl. On the way to jail, she admitted she lied about her name because of a warrant for her arrest in Barrow County. SHOPLIFTER CAUGHT: On Aug. 28, Deputy Johnny Richards was dispatched to Home Depot, where a man was seen putting door hinges and accessories along with a box of screws in his pants. The man was a known shoplifter at the store. The 18-year-old suspect was taken to jail. HIT AND RUN: On Aug. 28, Cpl. Lex Ogan was dispatched to a wreck on U.S. Highway 441 at High Shoals Road, Bishop, where a white Chevrolet Silverado pulled into the highway from High Shoals and was hit by a Ford F-150. When the deputy arrived, he saw the heavily damaged Ford with a crumpled hood, smashed front end and air bags deployed. The driver had cuts and air bag burns on his body. He explained he couldnt stop when the Chevy pulled in front of him, an account confirmed by a bus driver who said the Chevy almost hit his bus after the two pickups impacted. The Chevy fled the scene and deputies located it abandoned about 3 miles away. The deputy called the Chevy owner and she explained her boyfriend had the pickup and that he had called saying he was in a wreck and police were looking for him. The 34-year-old Eatonton man did not have a drivers license, she said. The woman and deputies went to a location near the damaged Chevy and she began calling his name. He soon emerged from the woods and was taken to jail. CAR ROLLS: On Aug. 25, Deputy Joshua Warren was dispatched to a wreck on Highway 316 at the Oconee Connector, where a vehicle was overturned in the median and the driver was lying nearby on the ground. An ambulance was called to transport the 39-year-old Bishop man to a hospital. A search was conducted on the vehicle and it revealed some crack cocaine. This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Oconee Blotter: High-speed pursuit ends with car crashing into ditch State officials and prisoner advocates agreed that staffing shortages are a major problem at Stillwater state prison following a prisoner protest, but it wasn't clear Monday when and how more staffers might be hired. About 100 prisoners on Sunday protested a schedule change, prompted by staff shortages, that left them with even less time than usual to get out of their cells to shower, socialize and call their families. Activists and families of the incarcerated men said Monday they wanted to see a clear staffing plan from the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC). DOC spokesman Andy Skoogman said department officials are in the middle of bargaining with correctional officers' unions. The department hopes a new contract will help attract and retain officers, he said, and is actively recruiting including at the State Fair to fill more than 300 vacant DOC positions statewide. The Stillwater prison has about 50 staff vacancies, according to Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Skoogman said the DOC is watching recruitment and retention efforts in other states to see what is working. He pointed to a recent $10,000 retention bonus that California approved for its correctional officers as an example of what Minnesota officials might consider. Family members of prisoners also have raised concerns about extreme heat in the prison. According to Schnell, air conditioning is available in the medical and restrictive housing units and in administrative offices, but not in areas where both prisoners and officers spend most of their time. Schnell said Sunday that the DOC was studying what it would take to add air conditioning to the state prisons at Stillwater, Rush City and Oak Park Heights, and may seek bonding from the Legislature in the future. Activists said they want to see more immediate action to relieve conditions at Stillwater. "There's not a solution being put on the table," said David Boehnke of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, which arranged for a group of prisoners' family members to observe the prison during the emergency lockdown Sunday. Boehnke said he worried about retaliation against family members who spoke out about the conditions that prisoners contend with at the Stillwater prison, adding that he hoped their ability to call and visit wouldn't be affected. Boehnke advocated early release for prisoners whom the DOC has deemed to be at low risk of re-offending. Gov. Tim Walz's budget projected a 12.5% increase in prison population in the next two years, he said. If staff levels keep shrinking, he said, "It's going to be a disaster." DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) The Wayne National Forest in Ohio could soon have a new name. Members of the American Indian Tribes and the local community are requesting the U.S. Forest Service change the name of Wayne National Forest, located in southeastern Ohio. According to the Forest Service, the name comes from General Anthony Wayne. He is said to have led a violent campaign against the indigenous community in Ohio. The forest is expected to be renamed Buckeye National Forest. Our intention is to listen to Tribal Nations and community members, and take the actions needed to better serve them, said Forest Supervisor Lee Stewart. The new name embraces the forests identity as Ohios only national forest and the welcoming, inclusive nature of the people of Ohio. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ohio National Forest and Koteewa National Forest are also under consideration as potential new names for the forest. The public is able to make a comment and share feedback through Tuesday, Sept. 5. If you would like to share your thoughts, click here. Other national parks and federal landmarks have been making similar changes in recent years, scrubbing names derogatory to Native Americans from federal use. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. Flash The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired two long-range strategic cruise missiles at dawn on Saturday, in a simulated tactical nuclear attack drill designed to send a warning against another round of U.S.-South Korea joint exercises, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday. The missiles tipped with mock nuclear warheads were fired from the mouth of the River Chongchon toward the western waters off the Korean Peninsula, making a flight exceeding 7,600 seconds, before the warheads were detonated at a preset altitude of 150 meters above a target island, the report said. The Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea called on all the service personnel of the country's nuclear force to maintain high alertness and a mobilized posture, and make the United States and South Korea more acutely aware of the serious situation "through the overpowering exercise of the war deterrence," the report added. The organizers of Burning Man are hoping to push forward with its namesake tradition despite the heavy rain that left more than 70,000 people stranded in the desert. The annual festival is held in a pop-up makeshift town in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada each summer and usually involves a ceremony, during which an art installation is burned. This year, excessive rain has turned the desert into a mud pit, making it impossible for many cars to drive over safely, and difficult for people to walk through. At least one person died during the rain event, but organizers said the death was unrelated to the weather. Our emergency services department reached a call for service extremely quickly for a male, approximately 40 years old, and could not resuscitate the patient, they added. The Pershing County Sheriffs Office announced the fatality on Saturday but did not provide further details disclosing the identity of the person. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement As many festivalgoers remain at Black Rock, the life force of the festival community persists. We plan to burn the Man at 9:30 pm tonight, weather permitting. We will share additional information by noon today, an account run by the festivals organizers initially posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. But, the weather thwarted the plans to burn the Man. Due to rain & muddy conditions Sunday & an inability to move heavy equipment & fire safety onsite, the Man Burn will not happen tonight, Sunday, the account posted in an update on Sunday evening. It is now scheduled for Monday 9/4, at 9pm. Chapel of Babel is scheduled to burn at midnight, Tuesday 9/5 (i.e. Monday night 9/4). The area is under a flood watch until noon on Monday, the day the festival was scheduled to end, according to the National Weather Service. Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations, the service added. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Low-water crossings may be flooded. Storm drains and ditches may become clogged with debris. Despite the rain-soaked grounds, Burning Mans CEO Marian Goodell told NBC News that they are not asking people to evacuate the festival. There is no cause for panic, Goodell told NBC News. Weve made it really clear that we do not see this as an evacuation situation, Goodell told the outlet, adding that the soaked grounds were drying. Earlier in the weekend, festival organizers recommended that people take shelter, look out for one another and conserve food and water until conditions get better. We are great. It is a great community. We rallied together. Staff has plans X, Y and Z, and everybodys kind of having a good time, oddly enough, a festivalgoer named Dawne Looney told CNN. Weather has got us. We are working it out, Looney added. Some people are, you know, a little upset that we are not driving. But its in everybodys best interest to shelter in place. Some attendees, including Chris Rock and DJ Diplo, have managed to leave against recommendations to wait it out, but an estimated 65,000 people may still be stranded. As the shelter-in-place continues, there is a chance that attendees will experience health issues such as hyperthermia and dehydration, according to NBC News, citing a volunteer medic. The medic also said there were concerns about the chance of excessive drug use and overflowing Porta-Potties at the festival. There is also the possibility of worsening conditions from the rain. There is more rain forecast for the next few days, which could cause further delays and disruptions for participants attempting to leave the Festival as well as other operations within the Festival, the Pershing County Sheriffs Office said in a press release. President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation. Related... Editors note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radios daily program The Dean Obeidallah Show. Follow him on Threads at www.threads.net/@deanobeidallah. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN. President Joe Biden traveled to Florida on Saturday to survey the devastation from Hurricane Idalia. The president met with GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida and other local officials. But one person noticeably absent was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , whose office cited the security preparations for such a visit that it said would disrupt the recovery effort. Dean Obeidallah - CNN DeSantis told reporters he had raised concerns with Biden that providing security for the visit would take away resources from the recovery effort. But a White House official told CNN the governor hadnt raised that issue when the president told him of his visit before announcing it publicly. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Of course, those concerns were apparently not an issue when DeSantis welcomed Biden to the state to survey past calamities. For example, in 2021, after the deadly condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, Biden and DeSantis came together as the president toured the damage. Both offered praise for each other at the time. Youve recognized the severity of this tragedy from day one. And youve been very supportive, DeSantis said during a briefing in Miami Beach. Biden, for his part, added, You know whats good about this? We live in a nation where we can cooperate. And its really important. Just last year, again Biden and DeSantis publicly toured the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian in October. At the time, DeSantis praised Biden, stating, Mr. President, welcome to Florida. We appreciate working together across various levels of government. And Biden told reporters that DeSantis had done a good job leading Florida through that disaster, calling his response pretty remarkable. So what changed since then? In May, DeSantis announced he was seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. In other words, politics and petty politics at that. Its not just my view, but also that of CNN political commentator Kate Bedingfield, former Biden White House communications director, who called DeSantis refusal to meet with the president when he was in the Sunshine State small and petty. Bedingfield recalled being there in 2022 when the two men stood together to assess Hurricane Ians devastation, saying that it was a powerful day. And it was an opportunity to put politics aside, in a really difficult moment. Putting aside partisan differences in the face of emergencies has become a staple of American politics. We saw that with Biden and DeSantis two years in a row. During his presidency, Donald Trump traveled to California to assess damage caused by wildfires with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Both Trump and Newsom exchanged praise for each other despite past political differences. But what potentially raised a red flag for DeSantis may be what happened to then-GOP Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey after he toured the damage from Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012 with then-President Barack Obama. Given that the event occurred a week before the 2012 election that pitted Obama against Republican Mitt Romney, some Republicans slammed Christie for, in their view, helping Obama with this bipartisan appearance. When Christie first ran for president in 2016, he was peppered with questions about that meeting. Christie bluntly as usual for him defended his actions, saying, The president came to offer help. If they expected me to play politics and dump on the president, I wasnt going to do it. To his credit, Romney defended Christie for this appearance with Obama, saying in 2013 that as a former Massachusetts governor you look for help from the federal government at the time of a natural disaster. He added, You want the president and you want the other agencies of the federal government to step in and provide help. Despite the apparent snub over the weekend, Biden did not criticize DeSantis. When asked if he was disappointed that DeSantis didnt join him to tour the damage, he responded, Well, no, Im not disappointed, adding, He may have had other reasons, because but he did help us plan this. Indeed, Biden even praised DeSantis, telling reporters that the two had been in frequent touch throughout the storm and the governor was on top of it. One Biden comment Saturday in Florida perfectly sums up where the presidents passion lies. When asked if he had a message for DeSantis, he said simply, Were going to take care of Florida. And he has been doing just that. On Thursday, the president declared a major disaster in Florida, which makes federal funding available to affected individuals for a wide range of needs. He also swiftly deployed resources to Florida, with about 1,500 federal responders arriving on the ground, including search-and-rescue personnel and members of the Army Corps of Engineers. In the wake of Idalia and other recent disasters, Biden on Friday called on Congress to approve $4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agencys Disaster Relief Fund in addition to a request for $12 billion last month. Biden added while in Florida Saturday standing in front of a home damaged by the hurricane, Im calling on the United States Congress Democrats and Republicans to ensure the funding is there. While DeSantis would not appear with Biden on Saturday, he was happy to accept the federal aid the president was championing. DeSantis who once opposed such aid as a member of Congress after Hurricane Sandy responded about the Biden aid package, We will apply for whatever federal money is available. This entire episode shows us why Biden is president of the United States and why DeSantis campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination is floundering. Biden is laser-focused on helping people, while DeSantis proves his lack of political savvy. He left the campaign trail to help his state through this crisis but did himself no favors with his petty snub of the president. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Did you take a moment to go outside and enjoy a cup of iced coffee last weekend, the unofficial last outdoor holiday before fall? I did, drinking al fresco at one of my favorite java joints in Kansas City. Or did you immediately run out the moment the words pumpkin, spice and latte were said in the same sentence? It surprises me that I even thought about it. I never used to drink coffee. When I was a cub reporter back in Gary, Indiana, an equally young colleague walked up to me and offered me a cup of coffee. I declined. Thanks, but I dont drink coffee, I said politely. What? he exclaimed. What do you mean you dont drink coffee? Youre a reporter. You have to like coffee! ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I put my foot down. You cant tell me what I have to drink. I will drink what I want, I said, going on and on about how I love a nice hot cup of tea with milk, English style because thats what my daddy served me growing up. Guess what? Years later, I do drink coffee. (Dont worry, Daddy, I still have a hot cup of Earl Grey with milk most days.) If you would have made a bet with me back then, youd be in the money. I swore I would never develop a taste for the dark brown stuff. Well, if you add enough cream and sugar, its pretty good. Im not a purist, safe to say. But in the throes of midafternoon, when Im feeling a little weary, Ill reach for a cup of Joe instead of a cuppa. Which is why I find it fascinating to live in Kansas City. Sure, theres decent coffee in the states Ive lived Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Oklahoma and Texas. But Ive found that Kansas City and coffee have a deep-rooted connection of flavor, culture and friendship. Team Joe: Our love of coffee shops The Star opinion team has a fondness for coffee shops, especially small, independently owned ones. The ones that welcome lingering, reading and unofficial working spaces. Back when I first worked for The Star, friends and I would frequent Broadway Cafe, a homey coffee joint that just felt different from the Starbucks that boldly moved in literally steps away on the corner. I wondered if the chain joint would sound the death knell for the local favorite. Nope. It did not. Starbucks left Westport a decade later, and Broadway Cafe is still going strong, our bracket story reported. I recently went back to Broadway Cafe, in business since 1992, with my husband. He had a caramel latte and I had a mango blackberry passion fruit iced tea that was so flavorful it didnt need sugar. It was one of Kansas Citys miraculously pleasant August days (in a summer thats been blistering hot) and we sat outside in one of the cafes several metal seating groups. I watched so many people bump into someone they knew, serendipitously, I thought this must be a mystery spot. The neighborhood is just conducive to that walking, biking, and running into friends. Broadway Roasting Company, one block north of Broadway Cafe in the old Westport Fire Station 19, is the coffee-roasting and delivery arm of Broadway Cafe. From the companys website: In 1998 we started roasting coffee for ourselves in the back of the Cafe. Within weeks, began delivering coffee all over Kansas City. Thats another thing about Kansas City coffee: the collaborative spirit of companies like Broadway Roasting Company, Made in KC Cafe, and FairWave Specialty Coffee Collective. The collectives supply or support many of KCs famous craft coffeehouses. After Broadway, The Roasterie came on the scene a year later, 1993, in Kansas City. The Roasterie celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, and I remember smelling roasting coffee beans as I drove through certain neighborhoods around its headquarters. In some ways, its this coffee brand with its Douglas DC-3 aircraft named Betty label that has the most brand recognition for me. Decades later, another KC java joint made its way to the scene. My colleague, opinion writer Toriano Porter, recalls watching Messenger Coffee rise from the ground across the street from the old KC Star building on 18th and Grand. He, like me, was a coffee non-drinker until he tried the drip coffee over there. Porter boasts that the craft coffee shops in the KC area are second to none. The coffee roasters here locally, their skill and talent, can compete with any coffee roasters in the country, Porter said, with a cup of coffee in his hand. Literally. Brewing friendships in the neighborhood Coffee can ignite friendships, too. Just look at Deputy Opinion Editor Derek Donovans humble KC coffee beginnings. He moved to Kansas Citys West 39th Street neighborhood in the mid-1990s and got his first job at The Star. Working overnight in the papers library, Donovan had a lot of time to kill during the day when friends were at work. I found a community of like-minded Gen Xers who congregated at Muddys Coffeehouse, then next door to Gilhoulys Bar at 39th and Bell, Donovan said. Owners Oliver and Diane Burnette had started out with a storefront in the strip of shops at the west edge of the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus on 51st Street, before expanding to 39th and eventually a location at Westport and Main. And they often had a lot of customers to juggle. One afternoon, as Oliver scrubbed a panini grill and two baristas shuffled lattes and scones while the line stretched almost to the door, I joked that it was almost as if he was selling drugs. What do you think that caffeine in your coffee is? he replied, grinning. Donovan said the Burnettes sold the last Muddys to employees in 2011. But he still keeps tabs on Diane and family via Instagram, and he talks to a few of his Muddys friends regularly. I dont know what it is about coffeehouse friendships, Donovan said, but Im grateful for mine, and plan on hanging onto them as long as I can. Im sure someone has counted the number of indie Kansas City coffee shops and those in the environs, but certainly not on one or even two hands, fingers and toes. Look around, I bet theres one in your neighborhood, too. Better get there quick, before all the pumpkin spice flavor is gone. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Las Vegas area fire crews processed over 100 swift water rescue calls over a 36-hour period after storms flooded the valley, according to fire officials. Between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday, the Combined Communications Center, which takes 911 calls for the Clark County Fire Department, North Las Vegas Fire Department, and Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, took 113 calls for swift water rescues, according to officials. The National Weather Service in Las Vegas issued a flash flood warning for parts of Clark County Saturday as storms swept through the area. Several parts of the valley saw severe flooding, causing several roads to close. Saturday morning LVFR crews discovered the body of a believed drowning victim in the west valley near Lorenzi Street and Westcliff Drive. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Officials said it is believed the person was a drowning victim and fit the description of a person, who was reported by bystanders Friday night, as being swept away by moving water in the area where the body was found. However, law enforcement will make the official determination if it is the same person after reviewing all the facts, according to LVFR. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. Labourers take nap on the sacks of grains and sugar outside shops at the wholesale grain market in Karachi Labourers take nap on the sacks of grains and sugar outside shops at the wholesale grain market in Karachi By Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will invest up to $25 billion in Pakistan over the next two to five years in various sectors, Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Monday, adding his government would also revive a stalled privatisation process. The South Asian nation is embarking on a tricky path to economic recovery under a caretaker government after a $3 billion loan programme, approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July, averted a sovereign debt default. Kakar, speaking to journalists at his official residence, said Saudi Arabia's investment would come in the mining, agriculture and information technology sectors, and was a part of a push to increase foreign direct investment in Pakistan. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement There was no immediate response to a Reuters request to the Saudi Arabian government for comment on Kakar's remarks. If confirmed, a series of investments worth $25 billion would be the biggest ever by the kingdom in Pakistan. A longtime ally of Riyadh, Pakistan is dealing with a balance of payments crisis and requires billions of dollars in foreign exchange to finance its trade deficit and repay its international debts in the current financial year. Kakar did not specify projects Riyadh was looking at for investment, but last month Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) said it was open to bringing in Saudi Arabia's wealth fund as one of its partners in Pakistan's Reko Diq gold and copper mine. Pakistan's untapped mineral deposits are conservatively valued at about $6 trillion, said Kakar, whose government is meant to be an interim set up to oversee national elections scheduled for November but are expected to be delayed by months. Barrick considers the Reko Diq mine one of the world's largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas and it owns a 50% stake, with the remaining 50% owned by the governments of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan. Kakar also said his government would push to complete two privatisation deals, probably for state-run power sector entities, in the next six months, and would also look to privatise another government owned enterprise outside the energy sector. Pakistan's state owned enterprises have long been an area of concern with bleeding financials adding to financial stress. Recently Pakistan added struggling state-run Pakistan International Airlines to the privatisation list again. The privatisation process has largely stalled in the country with selling of state assets a politically sensitive issue that many elected governments have shied away from. (Reporting by Gibran Peshimam; Additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi in Riyadh; Editing by William Maclean) CALDWELL Troopers from the Cambridge post of the Ohio Highway Patrol are investigating a fatal crash that occurred at 12:14 a.m. Sunday on Township Road 25 in Jackson Township, Noble County. The crash involved a 2021 Polaris 570, driven by Nicholas S. Bucell, 34, of Parma. The preliminary investigation revealed Bucell and a juvenile passenger entered Township Road 25 and began to drive southbound. Bucell drove off the right side of the roadway and overturned into a creek bed. Bucell was transported from the scene by United Ambulance to Marietta Memorial Hospital in Marietta, where he succumbed to his injuries. The juvenile passenger was not transported. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Ohio Highway Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Noble County Sheriff's Office. A helmet was not in use. The incident remains under investigation. This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Parma man dies after Noble County ATV crash Pennsylvania police are broadcasting a message from escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcantes mother urging him to surrender, as authorities narrow in on a 2-mile area where they believe he is hiding. Cavalcante, 34, broke out of the Chester County Prison, about 30 miles west of Philadelphia, at around 8:50 a.m. Thursday, the Chester County District Attorneys Office said. The district attorney, Deb Ryan, described Cavalcante as an extremely dangerous man. The Brazilian national was convicted of first-degree murder on August 16 for killing his former girlfriend, 33-year-old Deborah Brandao, in 2021. He was sentenced to life without parole last week and is also wanted in Brazil on suspicion of another murder. As the manhunt enters its fifth day, police have honed in on a deeply wooded area with a 2-mile radius near the prison, said Robert Clark, supervisory deputy US Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania at a Monday afternoon news conference. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement And theyre using a unique tactic to draw in the convicted murderer: Helicopters and patrol cars are blasting a message in Portuguese from Cavalcantes mother, urging him to surrender, Clark said. As desperate as he is, maybe he has a change of thought and hears his mother telling him to surrender, and his family cares about him, Clark said. Perhaps this is what puts him over the edge where we can get a peaceful surrender, he said. Clark did not release the exact contents of the message but said shes just encouraging that his family loves him, and that she wants him to surrender. And thats what our hope is as well. There have been four credible sightings of Cavalcante within a small area since he escaped, according to authorities. The most recent sighting was Sunday afternoon by a trooper, Lt. Colonel George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said during the news conference. Police have also investigated two burglaries in the area. While officials cannot confirm the burglaries were committed by Cavalcante, they are of interest to us, Bivens said Monday. Bivens added police are working to stress Cavalcante. They dont know if or how the escapee is obtaining food and water in the thick woods, he said. I intend to stress him. I want to push him hard. Hell make mistakes, he said. Hell show himself. Hes already shown himself, we believe, a few times. Officials are authorized to use deadly force if they find Cavalcante and he does not actively surrender, Bivens said. Authorities encouraged residents to call the police if they see anything suspicious and to avoid interacting with Cavalcante if they do see him. They also urged residents to report homes left vacant over the Labor Day vacation so police can check if Cavalcante is using any of those properties to hide. Another prisoner escaped from Chester County prison earlier this year, Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said during Mondays news conference. The prison is very aware of whatever vulnerabilities they had, and they have made efforts to correct those vulnerabilities, the district attorney said. CNNs Danny Freeman and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Dmytro Kuleba , Ukraine's Foreign Minister, has said Ukraine has photographic evidence of the crash of the Shahed UAV in Romania during the Russian attack on the night of 3-4 September at its disposal, and it is ready to present it. Source: Ukrinform news agency Details: Ukraine's Foreign Minister noted that the Romanian authorities decided to take a break to thoroughly investigate the situation and draw conclusions. Quote: "I believe that in this particular case, they (the Romanian authorities ed.) are now studying all aspects of what happened. It's pointless to deny that something fell there. And we're confidently saying, based on evidence, that these were Shahed drones. We have photographic evidence that something fell there." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "The partners tend to try not to escalate the interpretation of certain events in order not to be involved in a direct conflict." Details: Kuleba stresses that Ukraine is absolutely aware of what happened in Romania, even though the Romanian Defence Ministry denies everything. Quote: "We have photographic evidence. We are ready to share it, but the final conclusions will be drawn by the Romanian authorities, who will then not only draw conclusions but also decide what they will do with them. It is easier to draw conclusions than to do something about them. That's why there is such a cautious reaction." Background: On the night of 3-4 September, the Russians attacked Ukraine with 32 Shahed kamikaze drones, 23 of which were destroyed, but the others hit their targets in Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. Oleh Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that Shahed kamikaze drones launched by Russia to attack the port of Izmail in Odesa Oblast crashed and exploded in Romania. Ukrainian border guards saw two detonations of Russian kamikaze drones in Romania and informed the neighbouring country. The Romanian Defence Ministry "categorically denied" the Ukrainian side's information that Russian loitering munitions had crashed and exploded on Romanian territory during the night attack on 3-4 September. 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! New photos and video show Russia's fierce "dragon's teeth" anti-tank defenses along the front line. The four-foot concrete pyramids stretch across Russia's 600-mile defensive front. Ukraine has been battling Russia's fortification network since its counter offensive began in June. New photos and video show miles of Russia's notorious "dragon's teeth" anti-tank defenses erected along the front line, illustrating Ukraine's long road ahead amid its slogging counter offensive. Ukraine's Security Service shared photos of the Russian fortifications exclusively with CNN this month, offering stark insight into the network of defenses that has thus far curtailed Ukraine's ambitions. The images offer a first look at the menacing white spikes which jut up from Ukrainian ground and stretch across Russia's 600-mile front. The concrete pyramids, which stand about four-feet tall, serve to block and damage Ukrainian tanks and other armored vehicles. Ukrainian equipment spotted near the so called first line of defence pic.twitter.com/2wfmCfxDol War Monitor (@WarMonitors) July 27, 2023 Dragon's teeth are just one part of Russia's massive defense line, which is also equipped with anti-tank ditches and trenches, as well as minefields to protect its positioning from Ukrainian forces on the offensive. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ukraine has been battling Russia's vast defensive network since its counter offensive began in June. Russia had months to prepare its defenses ahead of Ukraine's counter offensive, and the country continues to expand its fortifications even now. Last week, Ukrainian forces managed to push into the main Russian defensive line while moving south through the Zaporizhzhia region, where they now face layers of danger. Ukraine is hoping to break through the Russian anti-vehicle defenses completely so it can use its tanks in battle. But the fearsome dragon's teeth often require skilled combat engineers to breach them, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. The United States sent Ukraine additional demolition munitions in June to help the country's combat engineers do battle against the dragon's teeth. The Ukrainian military says its currently consolidating its positions along the front lines as it looks ahead to Russia's next row of defenses, CNN reported. "We are not failing. We are moving forward. We have liberated dozens of square kilometers of our land through minefields with no air coverage," Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs, told the outlet. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that Ukraine had broken through Russia's first line of defenses in multiple places and had achieved "some success" against the second line of fortifications. New video from the Robotyne-Verbove area where fighting is ongoing also offers a look at the dragon's teeth defenses. Ukraine recently reclaimed the village of Robotyne and its troops have been penetrating Russian lines between the village and Verbove since. A new video has surfaced of the fighting in the Robotyne-Verbove sector. Russians have lost two tanks on the dirt road. The dragon's teeth of the Surovikin line can be very well seen, and the Ukrainian soldiers can move at least seemingly freely on the road. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/SRYnJGsRgY Emil Kastehelmi (@emilkastehelmi) September 1, 2023 Emil Kastehelmi, a military analyst and expert, shared the frontline video on Twitter. The clip features the spiky dragon's teeth visible in the distance where the fortifications almost resemble a decidedly unfriendly white picket fence. The video also shows two destroyed Russian tanks along a dirt road. Read the original article on Business Insider (NEXSTAR) Theres a special connection between grandparents and their grandkids made only stronger with each wink, hug, present and surreptitious candy slipped into a small hand. When it comes to nicknames that children develop for their grandparents a new survey by Preply found that popularity varies by state. The dive into Americans terms of endearment for their grandparents comes in anticipation of national Grandparents Day, on Sunday, Sept. 10. One grandchilds beloved Nana in Nevada may have been referred to as Bubbe if they lived in New Jersey, for instance. When it comes to the overall most popular nicknames, excluding just Grandma and Grandpa, the survey found that Nana and Papa dominate. The most popular nicknames for Grandma. (Preply) The most popular nicknames for Grandpa. (Preply) When it comes to affectionate terms for grandmothers, Nana was the most popular in 12 states, followed by a three-way tie for second by Grammy, Granny and Gran. Abuela, Spanish for grandmother, tied with the formal Grandmother and Mamaw for third place. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement When it comes to grandfathers, Papa was tops in 13 states, followed by Granddad and Pop-pop. The August survey of 1,500 Americans across all 50 states also found that a whopping 44% said their maternal grandmother was their favorite, followed by their paternal grandmother at 23%. Fifteen percent said it was their maternal grandfather, followed by 11% for their paternal grandfather and another 7% who chose other. The history of National Grandparents Day dates back to 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed legislation making the first Sunday after Labor Day a holiday to honor Nana and Papa (in some states, of course). Find more information about the surveys results and methodology here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. Flash Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with visiting Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Sunday to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and the implementation of bilateral agreements. At a joint press conference, Amir-Abdollahian said the two countries have set an annual trade volume target of 30 billion euros (32.33 billion U.S. dollars) and are halfway to achieving the goal, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported. The talks focused on the implementation of the bilateral agreements signed between Iran and Turkiye during Turkish President Tayyip Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Tehran in July last year, said the Iranian top diplomat. Amir-Abdollahian called for further cooperation between Iran and Turkiye in consular affairs to facilitate the travel of citizens from both countries. The two ministers also vowed to take more active measures to prevent the spread of Islamophobia and desecration of the Islamic holy book of Quran, according to Amir-Abdollahian. Both Iran and Turkiye have agreed to hold a trilateral meeting to be attended by Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to increase economic cooperation among the three countries, Amir-Abdollahian said. The Turkish foreign minister, for his part, said he and his Iranian counterpart held consultations on the Iranian president's planned visit to Turkiye in the coming days, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency. Fidan said Ankara welcomes the normalization of relations between Tehran and Riyadh, describing Turkiye, Iran and Saudi Arabia as three major and responsible countries in the region, whose friendly relations are of great importance in terms of ensuring regional stability. He said the two sides also discussed guaranteeing security along the common border, fighting terrorism and expanding trade, economic and energy cooperation. Pope Francis has explained what he meant when he spoke of "great Russia" to Russian youth on 25 August. He remembered Peter I and Catherine II from school, and mentioning them "maybe wasn't quite right". Source: The Pope in a comment to journalists on board a plane from Mongolia, Vatican News report Quote: "I wasn't thinking of imperialism when I said that. I spoke of culture." Details: Pope Francis explained that he encouraged Russian youth at the time to protect the legacy of their homeland "because the Russian legacy is very good; it is very beautiful". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement To explain what kind of legacy he was talking about, the Pontiff resorted to the idea of "great Russia". Quote: "Think about the field of literature, of music, going back to Dostoevsky, who today speaks to us of mature humanism. (Russia) took charge [of] this humanism, which developed in the arts and literature. This would be a second aspect when I spoke of legacy, wouldn't it? The third point, perhaps, wasnt appropriate, but speaking of great Russia not so much in a geographical sense, but in a cultural sense, I remembered what we were taught at school: Peter I, Catherine II. And this third (point, ed.) came up, which maybe wasn't quite right. I don't know. Let the historians tell us. But it was an additional note that came to my mind because I had studied it at school." More details: At the same time, Francis is convinced that "Russian culture is of a great beauty, and depth, and should not be cancelled for political issues." Background: On 25 August, Francis addressed the participants of the 10th All-Russian Day of Catholic Youth in St Petersburg. In his speech, the pontiff said the following: "Never forget your heritage. You are the descendants of great Russia: the great Russia of saints and leaders, the great Russia of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, that empire a great, enlightened country of great culture and great humanity. Never give up this heritage. You are the descendants of the great Mother Russia, so go forward with it. And thank you thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russians,." The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reacted to the Pope's words, saying that Francis is spreading Russian great-power ideas, which the Kremlin uses to justify the murders of Ukrainians. Earlier in July, Pope Francis called on Russia to restore the Black Sea grain initiative, addressing "his brothers the authorities of the Russian Federation". 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 Philip Pullella ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Monday wrapped up a historic trip to Mongolia which took on international connotations because of his overtures to its neighbour China over freedom of religion. At the end of a Mass on Sunday, the pope sent greetings to China, calling its citizens a "noble" people and asking Catholics in China to be "good Christians and good citizens". On Monday, China's foreign ministry said it has taken a positive attitude on improving relations with the Vatican. Beijing has maintained communications with the Vatican, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press briefing when asked about the pope's comments in Mongolia. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The main purpose of Francis' trip was to visit the tiny Catholic community. He ended his five-day mission on Monday with a stop to inaugurate the House of Mercy, which provides health care to the most needy in the Mongolian capital as well as to the homeless, victims of domestic abuse and migrants. Situated in a converted school and the brainchild of Mongolia's top Catholic cleric, Italian Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, the House of Mercy will coordinate the work of Catholic missionary institutions and local volunteers. "The true progress of a nation is not gauged by economic wealth, much less by investment in the illusory power of armaments, but by its ability to provide for the health, education and integral development of its people," Francis said at the house. He also said he wanted to dispel "the myth" that the aim of Catholic institutions was to convert people to the religion "as if caring for others were a way of enticing people to 'join up'". Mostly Buddhist Mongolia has only 1,450 Catholics in a population of 3.3 million and on Sunday just about the entire Catholic community was under the same roof with the pope. On Monday, around two dozen Chinese Catholics surrounded the pope's motorcade attempting to receive his blessings. The devotees, who identified themselves as Catholics from mainland China and wearing uniforms with the phrase "Love Jesus", crowded outside the House of Mercy. As Franciss motorcade departed the centre, they sang a Christian hymn dedicated to the pope in Mandarin and attempted to dodge security and reach his car. One woman managed to get through security and received a blessing. "I am just too happy, I cant even control my emotions now," said the woman. Mongolia was part of China until 1921 and the pope's trip was dotted by allusions or appeals to the superpower next door, where the Vatican has scratchy relations with its ruling Communist Party. On Saturday, in words that appeared to be aimed at China rather than Mongolia, Francis said governments have nothing to fear from the Catholic Church because it has no political agenda. Beijing has been following a policy of "Sinicisation" of religion, trying to root out foreign influences and enforce obedience to the Communist Party. China's constitution guarantees religious freedom, but in recent years the government has tightened restrictions on religions seen as a challenge to the party's authority. In December, the United States designated China, Iran and Russia, among others, as countries of particular concern under the Religious Freedom Act over severe violations. A landmark 2018 agreement between the Vatican and China on the appointment of bishops has been tenuous at best, with the Vatican complaining that Beijing has violated it several times. The phrase used by the pope on Sunday - "good Christians and good citizens" - is one the Vatican uses frequently in trying to convince communist governments that giving Catholics more freedom would only help their countries' social and economic progression. (Reporting by Philip Pullella and Joseph Campbell; Editing by Michael Perry and Angus MacSwan) According to owner Shawn Barry, left, the downtown Marshall bakery will close in mid-September. MARSHALL - This spring and summer, Marshall bakery Ivy and the Poet grew so popular that owner Shawn Barry said she had to temporarily close the shop at points due to the high demand. But now, the shop, located at 133 S. Main St. in Marshall, will shutter its doors permanently. Barry said Ivy and the Poet will close in mid-September, and she plans to move to Miami. The namesake for the shop is drawn from Barry's middle name, Ivy, with a nickname for her partner, Ryan Ashley, who established a name for himself in Asheville crafting street poems on a typewriter, and also works weddings. The owner said she "felt sad" about having to close, but added that she isn't ready to close the door on Ivy and the Poet in Marshall forever. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "We are looking at some production kitchen spaces to continue our local wholesale and special orders with delivery," Barry said. "It just didn't seem right to take up a whole retail space for a production kitchen." Ivy and the Poet will celebrate its one-year anniversary April 22, according to shop owner Shawn Barry. At the Marshall bakery, mostly everything is made from scratch. "It's pretty much all my own prep cooking," Barry said in a previous News-Record article. "Like that black and white cookie, I wanted to recreate the one that I remember from my childhood that seemed so perfect to me that I could never find anywhere again. "We go to New York a lot, and I would make a day of it," she said. "I would go to bakeries and just try a rainbow cookie. I would be like, 'I don't remember it tasting like this,' you know? So, I started to realize that most bakeries just buy those big tubs of almond paste, and they have preservatives and chemicals and artificial flavors. You can really taste it in the cookie. So, we make our own almond paste from scratch, so we know it's nothing but good ingredients in there." With the shop's closing, the downtown Marshall bakery will no longer be where Barry brings that New York experience to Madison County. Ivy and the Poet is located at 133 S. Main St. in downtown Marshall. Reflecting on the massive growth in the few years in Marshall, the owner said she was sentimental about the move. "It was a lot of work getting that place running with zero dollars," Barry said. But Barry said she's confident that Ivy and the Poet will find a way to continue to offer products to its Marshall/Madison County customers. Coconut macaroons, brownies, muffins and oatmeal cookies are just some of the options available to customers at Ivy and the Poet. Barry said she's also exploring opportunities to use kitchens in order to keep her small staff working in the interim. "It would still be Ivy & the Poet, and when I come up like once a month to see my daughter, I can take special orders for birthday cakes or wedding cakes and plan around that when I'm in town," the owner said. "I'm mainly hoping for a new production space that I can have certified gluten-free and potentially start getting a few of the products into grocery stores." Barry also said she and Ashley hope to operate a "vintage cart" in South Florida, and Barry didn't rule out the possibility of bringing the cart to Marshall. "I hope to bring it up here during the summer though!" Barry said in a text message. "I'm hoping I'll be busy enough in Miami during the winter that I can be off in the summer and spend time up near my parents." For more information on Ivy and the Poet, visit the shop's Facebook page. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Popular New York-styled downtown Marshall bakery to close [Source] Portland police are looking for a man who was accused of assaulting an Asian family in late August. What happened: The incident, which the police have called a "racially motivated attack," reportedly occurred in the area of Southwest 2nd Ave. and Southwest Pine Street at around 2:45 p.m. on Aug. 21. Stumptown Otaku owner Tommy Ly, who was one of the victims, told Fox 12 that the man, who was riding a bicycle at the time of the incident, almost collided with Ly's mother. After Ly reprimanded the man, the latter allegedly hurled racial slurs at Ly and his parents. Several of the remarks were targeted at Lys mother, who the man purportedly spit on and flicked a lit cigarette at before leaving the scene. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement More from NextShark: Filipino family attacked at North Hollywood fast food drive-thru seeks extraction order on assailant How to help: Anyone with information about the suspect that could help Portland authorities identify him is urged to send tips to Crime Stoppers of Oregon. Tipsters can stay anonymous. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $2,500, as per Fox 12. More from NextShark: Suspect Arrested for Home Invasion, Murder of Woman and 8-Year-Old Daughter Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! New Jersey Company Cleans Racist Coronavirus Graffiti on Chinese Restaurant For Free New Jersey mom spent over $10,000 on 3,000 Christmas gifts for needy kids Johan Floderus featured in advertising campaigns to attract young people to top EU civil service jobs A European Union official and poster boy of the diplomatic corp has been imprisoned in Iran for more than 500 days in the latest example of Tehrans hostage diplomacy to extract concessions from the West. Johan Floderuss incarceration on spying charges was kept a closely guarded secret by Swedish and EU authorities, for whom he appeared in adverts to entice Swedes to apply for the blocs civil service, for more than a year. The 33-year-old Swede, who was employed by the EUs foreign affairs service, was arrested at Tehran airport on April 17 2022, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. According to the newspaper, the former civil service trainee visited Iran with several Swedish friends on what was described as a private tourist trip. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He had previously visited there in an official capacity as part of his work for the EU without any problems before he joined the European External Action Service (EEAS). Mr Floderus was charged with espionage, which is strenously denied, and has been held in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran ever since. In July 2022 Iran released a statement saying it had arrested a Swedish national. Pawns for political reasons We are aware and we have been following very closely the case of a Swedish national detained in Iran, Peter Stano, the European Commissions foreign affairs spokesman, said on Monday. These cases exactly underline the very concerning tendency of Iranians to use EU nationals or Iranian dual nationals as pawns for political reasons. The detention of Mr Floderus stands out from previous cases as he is an established EU official in the diplomatic corp. He had a successful early career and even featured in advertising campaigns to attract young people to top EU civil service jobs. Relations between Sweden and Iran have been tense since 2019 when Sweden arrested a former Iranian official for his part in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in the 1980s. He was sentenced to life in prison in July 2022, shortly after Mr Floderus arrest, prompting Iran to recall its envoy to Sweden in protest. In May, Iran executed a Swedish-Iranian dissident convicted of leading an Arab separatist group which Tehran blames for a several attacks including one on a military parade in 2018 that killed 25 people. In August the US made a deal with Iran to free five Americans in exchange for $6 billion in withheld Iranian oil revenues and the release of Iranian prisoners. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian charity worker, was held in Iran for six years on false charges of espionage. She was eventually released in March 2022 after a long-standing disagreement over a British government debt was reached. Her husband Richard told the New York Times, This arrest in 2022 was a real escalation [...] It is shocking for me that the Swedish government and the EEAS. have sat on it. My view is that the European governments keeping their new hostage cases quiet last year inevitably led to other escalations by Iran, Mr Ratcliffe said. It is not a coincidence that they then started executing foreign nationals. Hostage diplomacy has shifted into execution diplomacy. A Belgian aid worker, Olivier Vandecasteele, was imprisoned in Tehran for 455 days on espionage charges. After his release, he referred to a Swedish fellow prisoner who became like a brother to him. Sweden working on the case The European Commission refused to confirm the identity of the detained man or if he worked for EU institutions. Sweden said it would not comment on the case beyond that it was working on the case intensively. We understand that there is interest in this matter but in our assessment it would complicate the handling of the case if the ministry were to publicly discuss its actions, Swedens foreign ministry told the Times. Irans foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani, when asked about report, said he was not aware of it. The EU is hoping to revive its nuclear deal with Iran, which lifted sanctions in exchange for Tehran halting progress in its attempts to develop nuclear weapons. The UN nuclear watchdog said on Monday it regretted that no progress had been made by Iran on outstanding issues, including reinstalling cameras to monitor Tehrans nuclear programme and explaining uranium traces. Iran, however, has slowed down the pace at which it produces uranium enriched up to 60 per cent close to bomb grade according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. The death of an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin is not something new in history. More than 20 critics and opponents of Putin have been murdered or died in suspicious circumstances since 2000. However, the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin , the founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary group and once a confidant of Putin, is seen by some analysts as a watershed moment. This is the first time when a member of Putin's inner circle was supposedly killed. Some see it as a clear sign of a split in the political elite. Opinions differ on the consequences of Prigozhin's death for Russia's political system. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Some interpret it as a signal to the elite that treason is punishable by death, which may imply that Putin's regime has been strengthened. "The elites will be persuaded that Putin is a cruel man ready to kill anyone who will try to doubt his power," Russian political columnist Sergei Parkhomenko told the Kyiv Independent. "There are no restrictions for him." However, others say that the supposed murder is a harbinger of increasing violence and future instability in Russia. Read also: Putin cracks down on pro-war opposition as all-out war falters Plane crash Prigozhin launched a rebellion on June 23, following a long-running conflict with the Russian Defense Ministry, which had ordered the Wagner mercenaries to be integrated into the regular army by July 1. Prigozhin started the rebellion after claiming that the Russian army had attacked the mercenaries, a claim not proven by independent sources. Several thousand Wagner mercenaries took over Rostov-on-Don, a major city in southern Russia, and marched northwest toward Moscow. According to Russian media reports, the Wagner troops shot down several military helicopters and one plane, killing at least 13 Russian soldiers, including pilots. However, short of reaching Moscow, Prigozhin concluded a deal with Putin on June 24 and halted the mutiny. The Russian authorities agreed not to prosecute Prigozhin and the mercenaries and let them move to Belarus. Two months later on Aug. 23 a private jet with Prigozhin on board crashed not far from Moscow. Prigozhin, Wagner's co-founder and military commander Dmitry Utkin, as well as Valery Chekalov, head of security and logistics at Wagner, and four other Wagner employees were killed. Three crew members also died. Russia's Investigative Committee officially confirmed the death of Prigozhin and Utkin on Aug. 27 following a genetic analysis of the remains recovered from the wreckage. According to unnamed U.S. officials cited by the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 24, the likely cause was a bomb onboard or "some other form of sabotage." However, the Conflict Intelligence Team, an open-source intelligence outfit, believes the plane was most likely shot down by a surface-to-air missile, based on the contrail and sounds of explosions recorded by eyewitnesses. Russian political blogger and journalist Michael Nacke argued on his YouTube channel on Aug. 23 that Prigozhin's murder was "a demonstration intended to show what awaits anyone who Putin thinks is a traitor." "Security guarantees given by Putin are a very unstable construct," Nacke said. "We're in the public space where symbols and signs matter," Russian political analyst Yekaterina Shulman said on the Breakfast Show on Aug. 24. "The demonstrative character (of the murder) must have scared any potential rebels, but it also showed that they exist since they need to be scared in this way." "I don't know for a fact what happened, but I'm not surprised," U.S. President Joe Biden said on Aug. 24."There's not much that happens in Russia that (President) Putin's not behind. But I don't know enough to know the answer." Despite the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov denying Putin's involvement in Prigozhin's death, it is the latest in a series of politically motivated killings in Putin's Russia. Other versions of the incident look much weaker, according to most experts. "Other versions are absolutely improbable," Parkhomenko told the Kyiv Independent. "Without Putin's direct authorization, this could not have happened." Meanwhile, the Russian authorities have not come up with an official version of the murder yet. Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov has already stated that either Ukraine or France, which has clashed with Wagner's interests in Africa, could be to blame for the murder. The Kremlin is likely to link Prigozhin's death to either Ukraine or business conflicts, Russian human rights lawyer Ilya Shablinsky said on Aug. 27. Read also: Russia after Wagner revolt: Will Putin stay afloat or face more turmoil? Putin's dead opponents Prigozhin's alleged murder is not the first death of a Putin critic. More than 20 opponents of Putin have been killed or died in suspicious circumstances. There have also been unsuccessful murder attempts. Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was a major critic of Putin and his war in Chechnya, survived a poisoning attempt in 2004. She was later shot dead in her building's elevator on Putin's birthday in 2006. In 2012-2014, a former police officer and several Chechens were convicted for the murder. Meanwhile, former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko, who accused Putin of orchestrating the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings, was poisoned in the U.K. in 2006 with polonium-210, a radioactive element. A British court concluded in 2016 that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and Putin "probably approved" the assassination. Another opponent of the Kremlin, Sergei Magnitsky, was arrested on trumped-up charges in 2008 after exposing corruption by Russian government officials. He died in prison in 2009 after being beaten up and developing multiple diseases. Magnitsky's death was not investigated, and Russian authorities convicted him in a posthumous trial on tax evasion charges. Boris Berezovsky, a Russian oligarch who had helped Putin to come to power but had later fallen out with him, was found hanged in his bathroom in the U.K. in 2013. One of the most high-profile murders took place in 2015 when opposition leader Boris Nemstov was shot dead next to the Kremlin. A fighter at the Sever battalion of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, a loyalist of Putin, was convicted for Nemtsov's murder in 2017. Yet another critic of the Russian dictator, Denis Voronenkov, was shot dead in Kyiv in 2017. Voronenkov had been a Russian pro-Putin lawmaker who had switched sides and fled to Ukraine. Apart from shootings, critics of Putin have been frequently poisoned. In 2018, former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia survived after being poisoned in the U.K. with Novichok, a nerve agent produced by the Russian government. The British authorities identified Russian military intelligence agents using the passports of Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Bashirov as suspects in the murder case. Bellingcat, an open-source intelligence outfit, later identified Petrov and Bashirov to be FSB agents Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga. Two other critics of Putin columnist Yulia Latynina and activist Pyotr Verzilov survived poisoning attempts in 2017-2018. Putin's most famous critic, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was poisoned with Novichok in Russia in 2020. The Insider, Bellingcat, CNN, and Der Spiegel have published an investigation according to which Navalny had been poisoned by FSB agents and identified their names. The same FSB squad that allegedly tried to kill Navalny had also trailed three lower-profile activists before they were found dead with signs of poisoning from 2014 to 2019, according to Bellingcat, the Insider, and Der Spiegel. The FSB poisoning team also followed liberal politician Vladimir Kara-Murza when he was poisoned in 2015 and then again in 2017, although he survived, Bellingcat, the Insider, and Der Spiegel reported. Several critics of Putin living abroad also exhibited signs of poisoning in 2021-2023, according to independent Russian publications Agentsvto and Meduza. These include Natalia Arno, head of the Free Russia Foundation, journalist Yelena Kostyuchenko, and John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. During Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022-2023, more than a dozen Russian officials, executives, and businessmen died in mysterious circumstances, with some falling out of a window, off a staircase, or from a boat, according to CNN. Some of them were critical of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Read also: Could mobilization, battlefield defeats cost Putin his regime? Putin's zenith of power Some Russian observers believe that Putin's power remains stable, and the elite will be too scared after Prigozhin's death to initiate any rebellions or coups. "Putin's authority as a mafia boss remains unshakable," Shablinsky said. "The elite is scared." Russian political philosopher Sergei Sazonov told the Kyiv Independent that a rebellion or coup is highly unlikely in the current situation. "I don't see how a new rebellion can be successful," he said. The pro-war opposition has zero protest potential and doesn't have any resources, Sazonov believes. Igor Girkin, the most prominent critic of Putin in the pro-war camp, has repeatedly said himself that coups or revolutions are unacceptable, Sazonov added. Girkin, who opposed Prigozhin's rebellion, was nonetheless arrested on extremism charges in July as part of Putin's crackdown on the pro-war opposition. There was also speculation that some of the Wagner mercenaries and their allies would launch a protest or uprising after Prigozhin's death. This has failed to materialize so far. Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin said on Aug. 27 that Putin had intentionally weakened the Wagner Group by depriving them of heavy weapons and dispersing them between several countries. As a result, now they don't pose any threat to Putin, he said. Rusich, a Russian neo-Nazi group fighting in Ukraine, is allied with Wagner. After the plane crash, the group hinted on Telegram that Prigozhin should have "finished the job" during his rebellion. Rusich also said on Aug. 25 that it would suspend its participation in the war until the Russian government starts helping a Rusich mercenary arrested in Finland. However, eventually, Rusich toned down its anti-government rhetoric, and no protests followed. Even if Ukrainian troops gradually liberate occupied territories, Putin's regime will likely survive, Sazonov argued. He said a serious challenge to Putin's power is only possible if there is a catastrophic defeat in Ukraine. "If there is a major defeat such as the encirclement of a large group of Russian forces it will be a big blow to the Russian power structure," Sazonov added. But Shulman does not believe that the failure of Prigozhin's rebellion and his subsequent death will strengthen Putin's regime. Eventually, some people in the elite may make the conclusion that they should not conclude an agreement with Putin and should "go until the end" if there is a rebellion or coup d'etat attempt, Shulman said. "You shouldn't believe in any promises (by Putin), and you shouldn't agree to any compromises because you'll get killed," she added. "That's why you should kill first." Shulman also said that "a stable government does not have such challenges and does not respond to such challenges in this way." She said that Russia's political system had entered a period of "chaotization," "degradation," and "diffusion of violence." Meanwhile, Oreshkin believes that Prigozhin's rebellion and his subsequent death indicate a split in Russia's political elite amid the Kremlin's failure to achieve its aims in the war against Ukraine. "The fact that they started looking for traitors means that they can't achieve their goals and have to find scapegoats," he said. "The collapse of a political structure starts from the search for traitors." Read also: Russian hawks criticize regimes war effort as Putin raises stakes Impact on Russia's war effort After the death of its leaders, Prigozhin and Utkin, Wagner faces a somber future. Oreshkin argued that some Wagner mercenaries could be transferred to other military units, while others would be hiding or surrendering to the authorities, and some may even switch to the Ukrainian side. Prigozhin's death and the effective elimination of Wagner as a combat force may also have an impact on Russia's war against Ukraine. Shablinsky said that Wagner's exit would have a negative impact on Russia's war effort. Meanwhile, Nacke argued that Prigozhin's death and the triumph of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov would be a demotivating factor for some Russian soldiers. Many supporters of the war see Shoigu and Gerasimov as inefficient and are unhappy with the crackdown on people who exposed problems in the Russian army, according to Nacke. "Wagner mercenaries were among Russia's most effective troops, but Putin had to disband them because they encroached on something sacred Putin's power," Oreshkin said. "For Putin, preserving power is more important than victory on the battlefield." Read also: Putin lacks troops in Ukraine but fears mobilization in Russia Hello! My name is Oleg Sukhov, the guy who wrote this piece for you. I was born in Russia and moved to Ukraine in 2014 because I couldn't stand the suffocating atmosphere of that semi-totalitarian country. I used to think it might be possible to transform Russia into a liberal Western-oriented country. Now it's clear that it's a lost cause. But at least I can atone for the crimes of my homeland by exposing its barbaric aggression against Ukraine and providing objective and independent coverage of what is going on there. I'm also trying to contribute to Ukraine's transformation into a full-fledged Western liberal democracy strong enough to defeat Russia. Our publication needs help from every one of you support Ukrainian wartime journalism, become a patron of the Kyiv Independent. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday there will be no new grain deal in the Black Sea until the West meets his demands. These comments, reported by The Associated Press, came after he met with Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hoped to restart the agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other goods. Russia halted its wartime Ukrainian grain export deal in July that allowed wheat and other food products to be exported from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The agreement was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year earlier and was critical in supplying wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other commodities that developing nations rely on. Putin also said Russia was close to finalizing a deal that would provide free grain to six African countries, the AP reported. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In opening remarks, Erdogan said everyone is looking at the grand corridor issue. Putin also acknowledged this, saying issues related to the Ukraine crisis would also be discussed between the two leaders. I know you intend to raise questions about the grain deal. Were open to negotiations on that subject, Putin said to Erdogan. Since Russia withdrew from the agreement, Erdogan has vowed to help restart the grain initiative that aimed to avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The U.S. has also criticized Putin for leaving the deal. Secretary of State Antony Blinken challenged countries at a UN Security Council meeting to tell Russia to stop using the Black Sea and Ukraines grain as blackmail, and to halt treating those who are hungry and vulnerable as leverage in its unconscionable war. The meeting comes as Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive against Moscows invasion. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Sunday he would replace Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, saying the position requires new approaches. Zelensky has also accused Moscow of targeting grain structures after Russian drones attacked a port city last month, and experts say Putins next step may be using food as a weapon in the war. The Associated Press contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Russian authorities announced this week that early voting has started for local elections in occupied areas of Ukraine, in an effort to further solidify the Kremlins grip on power in territories it has invaded. The elections are just the latest attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin at legitimizing his countrys occupation of the territories. And already, the early voting seems destined to repeat the results of past sham referenda and polling by Russia in Ukraine: The vast majority of candidates in these elections belong to the Kremlins United Russia party and are running virtually unopposed. Governors handpicked by Moscow are seeking full terms of office, Reuters reported. The Russian-installed governor of Zaporizhzhia, Yevgeny Balitsky, already predicted that United Russia would get a robust vote. We are confident that United Russia will get a well-deserved percent of the vote reflecting the work it has been doing under your leadership, Balitsky told Putin in August. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kremlins New Plan: Blame Anyone But Putin for Prigozhins Death A majority of governments around the globe have deemed Russias referenda and attempted annexation of four Ukrainian regions last year to be rigged and illegal. And Russia still doesnt fully control the territories for which its trying to hold elections. Polling in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia opened Thursday, while voting in the Kherson and Luhansk regions were slated to begin this weekend. Its the first time the regions are participating in nationwide elections in Russia. Signs have begun to emerge that Russia is synchronizing the voting with efforts to silence Ukraines narratives about the invasion and to run intimidation schemes to force votes in favor of Kremlin cronies. No one wants surprises. There is a simple task: to show popular support for United Russia by the population of the new regions, a source familiar with the Kremlins plans told Verstka, an independent Russian outlet. To ensure all goes according to plan, Russia has set up video surveillance at all polling stations, according to Russias election commission. The commission claimed Thursday video recording will be conducted around the clock. Soldiers will monitor residents of Donetsk casting their ballots as well, said the Russian mayor of Donetsk. The set-up might indicate the Kremlin hopes to intimidate voters with a show of force, said Gavin Wilde, a former White House National Security Council director for Russia, Baltic, and Caucasus affairs. But it also might hint at some uncertainty in the Kremlin about Moscows level of control in the regionsand a fear that Ukrainian saboteurs might try to hamper the Kremlins goals in the elections. Ukraine drone attacks inside Russia have increased in intensity in recent days. Just this past week, drones hit Pskov air base, damaging Russian aircraft, in what is believed to be the largest Ukrainian attack inside Russia since Putin started the war last February. Those attacks might be causing the Kremlin to assess whether they have enough control within occupied territories in Ukraine to prevent further attacks. It does seem like there are a lot of capable partisans operating deep within Russian territory, so I dont have any doubt that they may have tentacles that can reach into occupied Ukrainian territory to put a wrench in the spokes of these elections, Wilde told The Daily Beast. I cant imagine the Kremlins not at least a little bit concerned. MANIPULATED OUTCOME Past elections in Donetsk and Luhansk have been riddled with disreputable attempts to juice voting, from bribes to militant operations to threats. Some voters have reported voting at gunpoint. In Crimea, violence, disappearances, and intimidation abounded in the 2014 referenda. (Election results appeared skewered as well: In Sevastopol, in Crimea, turnout for voters in 2014 notoriously reached 123 percent.) In recent days, Russia appears to be concerned that it lacks authentic support in elections, the leading Russian election watchdog, Golos, said in a statement. It appears as though some representatives of the authorities doubt their actual support and the attainability of desired outcomes in the upcoming presidential and regional elections under the conditions of independent public oversight over elections, Golos said. For Russias presidential elections next year, too, the Kremlin has already embarked upon efforts to tightly control the candidates Putin is expected to run against to ensure his victory. The Secret Russian School Churning Out Minions for Putin The Kremlins decision to hold additional days of voting in the occupied regions is likely an attempt at building up the legitimacy of the results. Using the run-up to September [10] is an opportunity to popularize their handpicked quote unquote candidates and get the word out and kind of create pretext for whatever the manipulated outcome is going to be, Wilde said. It is a lot of theater to compensate for shortfalls in a lot of areas, not the least of which is popular support. Kyiv claims that Russia opted to extend the number of voting days available as it is scrounging around for any supportive voters to take part. Such an extended scheme is necessary for the Russians to hide the turnout and the lack of interest of the locals in the show of will, the National Resistance Center of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraines Armed Forces stated in an assessment Thursday. The European Union earlier condemned Russias decision to host elections in the occupied regions in Ukraine, calling them out for lacking legitimacy. This is a further futile attempt by Russia to pretend to legitimize its illegal military control and attempted annexation, said Peter Stano, the EUs Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Despite the condemnations, though, in the future, Moscow will be able to point to these elections as evidencealbeit convoluted and likely fabricated evidenceof the territories as Russian regions, noted Wilde. Things like these elections kind of create this inflection point in time that Moscow can point to in a very legalistic way and say, look, this isnt a debate anymore, that moment has passed, Wilde said. They can point at some formality or piece of paper, or some form of going through the motions that says, we already adjudicated this and were not going back on it. It is likely both an effort to suppress the will of Ukrainians working to counter Russias invasion, and an effort to broadcast some kind of a victory back to domestic audiences, even as the Russian war effort itself flags. Putin is also likely running the elections with an eye towards the future, and looking to use the results as an insurance policy for years to come for Russia. Even if Putin himself has left the building, future Kremlin operatives may struggle to concede control of the regions in potential negotiations over Ukrainian territory once elections have taken place, Wilde warned. VOTING EARLY AND OFTEN Already, Kyiv is working to fight back and counteract Russias influence in the occupied regions. The National Resistance Center urged Ukrainian residents in occupied territories to leave during the voting period or to not open their doors to Russians, who are reportedly going through neighborhoods and going to peoples homes to round up voters. We urge Ukrainians not to open their doors to the occupiers, but to leave the region or their homes for the period of early voting if possible, the National Resistance Center said. Even so, its not clear that this message will even reach Ukrainians interested in resisting. The Kremlin has already gone to great lengths to shape the information environment in occupied territories as solidly pro-Russian. Last year, Russia embarked on an effort to launch pro-Kremlin media assets and propagandists throughout the occupied territories following the invasion. And in recent days, as elections have neared, Russia has been working to increase the intensity of its propaganda machine in Ukraine. The Kremlin launched a training for new propaganda artists in Rostov-on-Don in Russia, in order to train up more locals earlier this month. Russias Bombing Their Homes. They Refuse to Leave. Sergey Kiriyenko, Putins First Deputy Chief of Staff, who has been in charge of the governors, met with Putin and media outlets pushing Russian propaganda late last month to discuss the next phase of information operations targeting Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian military intelligence report. The scheme includes several prongs about the war in Ukraine, but zeroed in on spreading propaganda that the elections in occupied territories in Ukraine are free. Russia has honed in on targeting critics of the elections as well. In August, police raided the homes of 14 current and former members of Golos and charged one of its leaders, Grigory Melkonyants, with associating with an undesirable entity. One member had to go to the hospital with spinal and head injuries after the raids, according to Golos. Golos called the targeting a blatant attempt at pressuring the organizationand other would-be election observersto back off. The true purpose of this attack on Golos is to prevent public observation on the eve of the Russian presidential election campaign and the upcoming September 10 regional elections, Golos said. The instigators of this pressure fail to comprehend that as long as voters rights are violated, there will always be people who stand up to defend them. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. SAN DIEGO The red tide is back and its rolling what appears to be electric blue waves into parts of San Diegos coastline. Scripps Institution of Oceanography captured aerial images this week of a red tide along Del Mars Pacific edge. While speaking from Scripps Pier, Drew Lucas, an associate professor with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, explained the science behind this marvel. Youll see a red tide if you come to the beach. You look out, youll notice that the water is extremely red-colored, rust-colored. And it has to do with an accumulation of millions and millions and billions of cells of an organism called Lingulodinium polyedra (L. poly), which is a dinoflagellate a type of plankton, Lucas explained. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Red tide is a general name for the discoloration that results from the algae bloom. A red tide near a Del Mar mooring was spotted quickly moving landward during the last week of August. (Photo: Quinn Montgomery) A red tide near a Del Mar mooring was spotted quickly moving landward during the last week of August. (Photo: Quinn Montgomery) During that time, theres a chance to see bioluminescence at the beach. This is due to the L. poly, which is a bioluminescent organism. Lucas explained that when these organisms are physically disturbed by a breaking wave, boats or even dolphins moving through the water, the physical disturbance induces the plankton to release a flash of light. This week, there have been reported sightings of bioluminescent waves in several San Diego areas. This includes Scripps Pier north, Encinitas D Street, Moonlight State Beach, Terramar Point in Carlsbad and Oceansides south strand. Thats according to San Diego photographer Vishwas Lokesh who captured some footage of this weeks bioluminescence near Scripps Pier. Red tides typically last for several weeks, though major events can last for a couple months. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. Flash A malnourished child joins pupils at St. Andrew's Nutrition Center in Nayanaekabaran, Turkana County, Kenya, on Oct. 12, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua] The United Nations Children's Fund is calling for action to guarantee the right of children in Africa to live in a safe and healthy environment. This follows a report published by UNICEF on Friday indicating that children in the continent face extraordinarily high climate change-related hazards and risks. The report's publication came in the runup to the Africa Climate Summit, due to open in Nairobi on Monday. Despite the risks, the report said, children are neglected in climate financing that could help them adapt to, survive and respond to the climate crisis. Only 2.4 percent of global climate funding targets children, it said. The report, "Time to Act: African Children in the Climate Change Spotlight", said children in 48 out of 49 African countries assessed are categorized as at high or extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change. The analysis assesses countries based on children's exposure to climate and environmental shocks, such as cyclones and heat waves, as well as their vulnerability to those shocks, based on their access to essential services. "It is clear that the youngest members of African society are bearing the brunt of the harsh effects of climate change," said Lieke van de Wiel, deputy director at the UNICEF eastern and southern Africa region. Stronger funding "They are the least able to cope, due to physiological vulnerability and poor access to essential social services. We need to see a stronger focus of funding toward this group, so that they are equipped to face a lifetime of climate-induced disruptions." Children living in the Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Somalia are the most at risk, the report said. Kitka Goyol, a UNICEF climate, water and sanitation expert, said children and communities in northern Africa tend to be exposed to higher risks related to water scarcity and air pollution. Children living in western and eastern Africa are heavily affected by the risks posed by vector-borne diseases, heat waves and riverine flooding. "The risks to soil and water pollution affect children across the continent," Goyol said. While countries have made substantial progress over the past 10 years in increasing access to health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene as well as education and social protection, the vulnerability of children to climate change is heightened by inadequate access to essential services, he said. Thirty-five percent of households in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to basic drinking water, Goyol said, while in western Africa two out of five, or 42 million, primary and secondary school-age children are out of school. "In the continent at large, only an estimated 10 percent of children are covered by social protection interventions." As Google ventures into the artificial intelligence market, the company revealed that its using an astounding amount of water. Whats happening? Tech companies use immense amounts of water every year to cool their machines, which expend tons of energy. In its 2023 Environmental Report, Google showed that it used 5.6 billion gallons of water in 2022, a 20% jump in water usage compared to its 2021 numbers, as Futurism reported. The news outlet attributes much of this to the companys increasing plunge into AI training, which uses a considerable amount of energy. Why is water usage important? As global temperatures continue to increase, weather patterns are growing more volatile worldwide, which means that access to water is becoming an increasingly murky problem across the globe. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement On the West Coast of the United States, where Google and most other American tech companies are headquartered, a considerable portion of the region regularly experiences moderate to severe droughts, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Droughts can have noticeable impacts on drinking water, sanitation, food production, and disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Much of the water used by tech companies like Google isnt used for drinking, sanitation, food production, or other public goods, which could lead to serious problems in areas with inconsistent access to water. Whats being done about water usage at tech companies? Google is making attempts to stay ahead of its water problem. According to its Environmental Report, the company claimed its new Bay View Campus runs on green energy and is net water-positive. Chrissy Lee, a spokesperson for Google, told Gizmodo in an email, Were working to address the impact of our water consumption through our climate-conscious data center cooling approach and water stewardship strategy, including our 120% replenishment target. The company also contracts watershed projects that have replenished around 271 million gallons of water which is substantial but ultimately amounts to about 6% of the companys 2022 freshwater usage, according to Google. To maintain a healthy environmental impact, the company must increase its efforts to offset its water usage. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet. Police in Mount Lebanon now have drones thanks to the help of some of local residents. Charlotte Stephenson, her husband Dave and grandson Cameron donated $5,000 to the department to get the program started. Microsoft also donated $5,000 as a grant. Mount Lebanon Police say Stephenson told them she wanted to do something to help keep the community safe. The township has five officers on the drone team. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: 2 dead, 7 hurt in Fayette County crash Man flown to hospital after being shot in Latrobe Pa. state senator proposes eliminating annual vehicle inspection requirement VIDEO: He definitely left a mark : Local fans reflect on Jimmy Buffetts legacy DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Your slice of the headlines in Ukraine. Daily. Monday, September 4, 2023. Ukraines defense minister replaced amid wartime corruption crackdown Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraines defense minister for the last 22 months, will be standing down from the high-profile post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy announced late on Sept. 3. Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra abbot alleges strange behavior suggested Russian agents present in church complex After the start of the full-scale invasion, there have been people who behaved strangely at services and meetings on the monastery's grounds, Acting Abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Archimandrite Abraham said in an interview with RFE/RL project Skhemy on Sept. 2. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ihnat details Ukraines preparations for potential Russian mass strikes in fall Ukraine is bolstering its air defense forces in preparation for possible mass strikes by Russia on critical infrastructure targets in the fall, spokesperson for the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuriy Ihnat, said on Ukrainian national television on Sept. 3. Ukrainian anti-corruption leaders meet American National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, held a meeting with a delegation of Ukrainian anti-corruption leaders in Washington on Sept. 1, according to a press release from the White House. Two port workers injured in nighttime Russian assault on Ukraines Odesa Oblast UPDATE Two workers at a regional port in Odesa Oblast sustained injuries during a four-hour Russian assault on civilian infrastructure on the night of Sept. 3, Oleh Kiper, the head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration wrote on his Telegram channel on Sept. 3. Influential oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky charged with fraud, money laundering NV source Ukrainian oligarch and media magnate Ihor Kolomoisky has been charged by Ukraines SBU security service and the Prosecution Generals Office on charges of fraud and money laundering, according to a confidential source in law enforcement on Sep. 2. Ukraine would need international assistance to hold elections in 2024 While Ukraine could conceivably amend its laws and hold elections in 2024 despite martial law remaining in effect, it would require additional assistance from Kyivs international partners, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Ukrainian TV broadcasters on Sept. 1. Ukrainian boy in Germany assaulted for not speaking Russian report A 10-year-old Ukrainian boy was assaulted in Germanys Einbeck, when a man threw him over the railing of a canal bridge, German broadcaster DW reported on Sept. 1. The school bell will never ring again for over 500 Ukrainian children killed by Russia While most Ukrainian children are returning to school today (Sept. 1), that wont be the case for more than 500 who have died as a direct result of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the countrys prosecutor general reported, Andriy Kostin, on Sept. 1. Olena Zelenska talks mental health in Ukrainian schools on first day back to classes As the new academic year commences in Ukraine, overshadowed by Russias ongoing aggression on the country, Ukraines First Lady, Olena Zelenska, took the opportunity to shed light on a significant classroom event that occurred on Sept. 1. Russian invaders coerce enrollment in Russian schools by threatening parents with child abduction Representatives of Russian occupation administrations have been holding propaganda activities to enforce the compulsory enrollment of children in schools following the Russian curriculum in the temporarily occupied town of Volnovakha in Donetsk Oblast and other settlements of the Volnovakha district, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff reported on Sept. 2. Nobel Foundation retracts invites to Russian, Belarusian, and Iranian representatives The Nobel Foundation retracted its invites to representatives from Russia, Belarus, and Iran to attend the Nobel Prize award ceremonies following a wave of criticism. Danilov sets the record straight on how many F-16s Ukraine will receive and on pilot training There is a lot of misinformation surrounding the provision of Western fighter jets and the training of Ukrainian pilots, National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, told NV in an interview on Sept. 1. Ukrainian-made missile able to hit targets 1,500 km inside Russia nearly ready The Ukrainian military will soon be able to strike targets located as far as 1,500 km into Russian territory, National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, said on Ukrainian Radio. Russia spares no expense on disinformation as it explores new narratives and platforms Russia is sparing no expense in its pursuit of new disinformation tools, Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraines military intelligence or HUR, said on national television on Sept. 1. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Ukraine spends around $100 million of state funds daily to defend itself against Russias full-scale war, soon-to-be former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told state-run media outlet Ukrinform. According to Reznikov, supplies from volunteer organizations amount to only 3% of all the equipment that has reached the front lines since Feb. 24, 2022. Therefore, it is unfair to claim. that everything is done by volunteers, the official said when asked about the allegedly small amount of drones provided to soldiers by the state. Actually, this is done by working citizens of Ukraine because they pay taxes to the budget, and from this budget, the money also goes to the army. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In the interview, published on Sept. 4, Reznikov said he couldnt reveal how many contracts the Defense Ministry had concluded with Ukrainian drone producers. Read also: Zelensky announces dismissal of Defense Minister Reznikov What can be publicly announced is that 30 new models of Ukrainian drones have been recently approved for operation, he told Ukrinform. The level of their production will depend on the manufacturers themselves. Everything they can produce will be ours. We will buy everything from them with state funds. Earlier the same day, Reznikov submitted his resignation to the Ukrainian parliament and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that the parliaments Defense Committee supported Reznikovs resignation. On Sept. 3, Zelensky publicly announced his decision to dismiss the defense minister and replace him with 41-year-old Rustem Umerov, the chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine. Reznikov's dismissal followed several scandals within the Defense Ministry brought to light by Ukrainian media, particularly involving the procurement of equipment and supplies for Ukrainian soldiers. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Since the beginning of the year, some 1,000 Rhode Island workers learned they would be losing their jobs in "mass layoffs," according to notices required by federal law. Several of the notices did not result in people ultimately being out of work. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, called "WARN" for short, requires that employers meeting certain workforce-size thresholds notify state officials before laying off significant numbers of employees. Companies with workers in Rhode Island filed seven WARN notices, covering a total of 1,035 workers, ranging from 52 at TPI Composites, the wind-turbine blade maker that announced it is closing its Warren plant, to 249, one of two WARN notices for Aramark, the vendor that provided cleaning and maintenance services for the Providence Public School District. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The latter will have less sting than other layoffs, because the vendor replacing Aramark, ABM Industries, said it planned to hire Aramark's workers. Here's the list of Rhode Island WARN notices, most recent first: CVS Health lays off 198 Part of a nationwide cut of 5,000 workers. Although 500 jobs attributed to Rhode Island will be eliminated, including remote workers and those in other states who report to bosses in Rhode Island, only 198 Rhode Islanders will lose their jobs at the company's Woonsocket headquarters. Notice date: Aug. 18. More: CVS plans to lay off nearly 200 Rhode Islanders at corporate headquarters. What we know. TPI Composites lays off 52 The Scottsdale, Arizona, wind-turbine blade manufacturer, with facilities in several U.S. states, as well as Denmark, India and Mexico, announced the closing of its Warren plant, eliminating 52 jobs. Notice date: Aug. 15. Aramark Facilities Services, LLC The company filed two WARN notices, one for 211 employees on July 5, and the other for 249 employees on June 30. Aramark Facilities Services does cleaning and maintenance in Providence public schools. The incoming company told The Journal that it intended to hire the employees who previously worked for Aramark. More: Providence school vendor intends to hire 200+ employees laid off by previous provider Sodexo, Inc. and Affiliates Bryant University dropped its food-service contract with Sodexo, forcing the company to lay off its 169 workers there. But Bryant said it would rehire the workers to continue providing food service at the Smithfield campus. Notice date: May 17. Northeast Transportation Service LLC WARN notice rescinded As the Teamsters Union staged a strike against the contractor at DHL's Pawtucket facility, the company filed a notice that it was going to close shop and layoff its 75 workers. But the two sides settled the strike and the WARN notice was rescinded. Notice date: Jan. 23 Monitronics International Inc The Texas-based company, which licensed its alarm-monitoring and security services to Brinks Home Security, announced that it would lay off 81 Rhode Island employees. Notice date: Jan. 4. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: WARN notices in RI: These companies have laid off workers in 2023 The Romanian Ministry of Defence has "categorically denied" Ukraines account, which asserts that Russian attack drones crashed and exploded on Romanian territory during a nighttime attack on 4 September. Source: European Pravda referring to a statement by the Romanian Ministry of National Defence Quote from the Romanian Ministry of Defence: "The relevant structures of the Ministry of National Defence monitored the situation in real time, observing Russian drone attacks conducted last night against the infrastructure of the Reni Seaport. The drone attacks conducted by the Russian Federation did not pose any direct military threats to our national territory or Romanias territorial waters." Details: Simultaneously, the ministry stressed that it considers these attacks by Russia unjustified and contrary to international humanitarian law. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Romania added that it is applying measures to increase vigilance on land, at sea and in the air, aiming to "consolidate defence and deterrence positions on NATOs eastern flank, in accordance with national and NATO plans.". Background: Earlier, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, citing the State Border Guard Service, reported that Russian Shahed drones crashed in Romania during a nighttime attack on Ukrainian ports on the Danube River, and even published a photo of the explosion from the other side of the Danube. In February, Romania recorded the flight of Russian missiles near its borders. At the time, Kyiv reported that two Russian Kalibr cruise missiles crossed Ukraine's border with Moldova and flew in Romanian airspace. Since the start of Russian strikes in August 2023 on the infrastructure of Izmail and Reni, Romania has been checking whether drones or drone debris has fallen on its territory. 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! Contrary to how it sounds, year-round school usually doesnt mean students going to school throughout the year or for more days than other students. Often it just means switching up the calendar so that theres not such a long summer break. Below, two education experts Nicole Miller and Daniel H. Robinson answer five questions about the modified school calendars known as year-round school. What kinds of year-round schools exist? The first is the single-track modified calendar, also known as a balanced calendar. The second is the multi-track calendar. Neither one is typically an extended year. Instead, both calendars involve moving the 180 school days around so that there are multiple short breaks as opposed to the typical long summer break. Single-track calendars have all students following the same schedule. This balanced calendar often includes intersessions that provide additional opportunities for learning rather than summer school. With a multiple-track calendar, usually created to alleviate school overcrowding, some students are on campus while others are on break. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Balanced calendars often take the form of 45 school days followed by 15 days of break, or 60 school days followed by 20 days of break. Other kinds of modified calendars with shorter intersessions exist in states like Mississippi and South Carolina. How prevalent is year-round school? Federal data shows year-round school has been fading in popularity over the past decade or so. In the 2007-2008 school year, 4.4% of schools were on a year-round cycle. By the 2017-2018 school year, that figure had dropped to 2.5%. However, since the pandemic, there have been signs of renewed interest in single-track year-round calendars, at least in the Southeast. For instance, in 2020, Louisiana modified its school statute to allow for more flexible calendars. In Mississippi, a significant number of schools shifted to a modified year-round calendar, with 29 of 137 districts using such a calendar in the 2023-2024 school year. In South Carolina, as of 2022, a quarter of school districts had shifted to a modified year-round calendar. These modified calendars typically consist of nine weeks of school with a 5-to-8-day intersession, followed by another nine weeks of school each semester. Is there any evidence that it works? That depends on what you mean by works. If it means saving money by avoiding having to add buildings, then it is possible for a school that normally serves 750 students to serve 1,000 when going to a year-round, multiple-track schedule. This is because the schedule has different students taking breaks at different times. But if works means an improvement in student achievement, then there is insufficient data to answer that question, especially for single-track calendars. One review found modestly higher student achievement for year-round compared with traditional calendar schooling, but it was also plagued with what we believe were poor studies on which to base conclusions. What are the potential drawbacks? There are several challenges involved with switching to a year-round calendar. One is changing child care systems to work with the new calendar. Another is securing funding to provide meaningful learning experiences over the various breaks. Also, problems can arise if a family has children on different calendars. There are also concerns about how high school students have less time for summer jobs and for students to participate in traditional summer activities such as summer camps. Then theres the issue of standardized tests. If schools take longer breaks, it could mean fewer days in school prior to test day. Depending on the type of year-round calendar, changes can affect sports, particularly practice schedules and game schedules. It can also be a problem if members of the same team are on different tracks. Also, some schools may not have adequate air conditioning to be open in the hot summer months. Multi-track calendars might also negatively affect efforts to keep teachers from leaving the job. What are the potential gains? Based on prior research investigating learning schedules, a schedule that distributes instruction and practice more evenly over the calendar year should result in better learning. By having shorter breaks, there could be less learning loss from the extended break over the summers. Finally, some school districts are hoping for a reduction in teacher turnover by having more frequent breaks. There is some, but not extensive, evidence that modified year-round school does a better job of giving teachers a chance to recharge and come back to the classroom after each break feeling refreshed. One study found that teachers perceived that they had greater motivation to teach and that student achievement was also positively impacted when teaching in schools with modified year-round schedules. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Russian forces launched 32 kamikaze drones at Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts overnight on Sept. 4, damaging industrial facilities and infrastructure. Ukraines military reported shooting down 23 Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 drones, according to the Air Force. The drones were launched from Cape Chauda in occupied Crimea and Russias port town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk on the Azov Sea coast, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 17 out of the 23 drones launched at Odesa Oblast, but there were hits in the region, regional governor Oleh Kiper reported. In several settlements of the Izmail district, the attack damaged warehouses, production facilities, agricultural machinery, and industrial equipment, according to Kiper. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Drone debris fell on civilian sites, causing fires that have already been put out, the official added. No casualties were reported. Six drones were downed over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where an infrastructure facility was hit, Governor Serhii Lysak said on Telegram. The consequences of the attack are still being determined, Lysak added. According to preliminary data, there were no casualties. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky announces dismissal of Defense Minister Reznikov, names replacement Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia won't resume the Black Sea Grain Initiative without the West decreasing sanctions. Russia will only rejoin the initiative once sanctions related to Russian grain and fertilizers for European markets would be lifted, Putin said during talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi on Sept. 4. Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported earlier in the day that a key reason for Erdogan's visit was to negotiate the restoration of the deal, which Moscow had unilaterally terminated in July. The UN has previously offered to assist Russia with its food and fertilizer exports. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Erdogan told the press in Sochi that he hopes a solution will be reached soon, and that a new package of proposals from the UN has led to "significant progress." "Ukraine needs to soften its approach in order to take joint steps with Russia," he said, adding that Turkey was willing to host direct negotiations between the two countries. Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal on July 17, causing spikes in wheat prices and fears about food security worldwide. The agreement previously allowed Ukraine to export its grain through its Black Sea ports amid the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion. Turkey, positioning itself as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, played an important role in brokering the grain deal in July 2022. Since the agreement's collapse, Ankara has been in contact with both Kyiv and Moscow, discussing the options for its restoration. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Flash At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of China's State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announced Monday. (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss supplying Moscow with weapons for the war in Ukraine, the New York Times reported. In a rare trip abroad, Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet Putin, the Times reported on Monday, citing U.S. and allied sources. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Aug. 30 that the United States was concerned that arms negotiations between the two countries were advancing. While in Vladivostok, a port city not far from North Korea, the two leaders would discuss Kim's sending Russia artillery shells and anti-tank missiles in exchange for Moscow's advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the newspaper reported. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At a time when the United States has expressed concern about growing military ties between the two countries, the news of Kim's planned visit came after Russia said it was discussing holding joint military exercises with North Korea. "Why not, these are our neighbours. There's an old Russian saying: you don't choose your neighbours and it's better to live with your neighbours in peace and harmony," Interfax news agency quoted Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu , as saying on Monday. When asked about the possibility of joint exercises between the two countries, he said "of course" they were being discussed, it said. South Korean news agency Yonhap earlier cited South Korea's intelligence agency as saying Shoigu, who visited Pyongyang in July, had proposed to Kim that their countries hold a naval exercise, along with China. COLD WAR ALLIES It would be notable if Kim travels to Russia, rather than his main ally and trade partner China, for his first overseas trip since before the COVID-19 pandemic, said Andrei Lankov , a North Korea expert at Seoul's Kookmin University. The actual military and economic value of any deal is debatable, but discussions would likely lead to at least some military cooperation and an increase in North Korean workers in Russia, while both sides would seek to send political messages to Washington, he said. For Moscow "it is basically about sending a signal to Washington that Russia is capable of creating some additional trouble for the United States in east Asia," Lankov said. "Without the Ukraine war, Russia would not care about North Korea," he added. While Kim might hope for some kind of arms sales or economic aid, his main goal from such a meeting would be to demonstrate that he too has international backing as the United States, South Korea, and Japan deepen ties and displays of military power, Lankov said. "He wants to show he has friends," he said. South Korea's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was monitoring developments and said United Nations member states should not violate sanctions, including through arms deals. "In particular, military cooperation with North Korea, which undermines the peace and stability of the international community, should not take place," a spokesperson told a briefing. The Kremlin said last week that Moscow intends to deepen its "mutually respectful relations" with Pyongyang, one of its close Cold War allies and also one of a small handful of countries to back Russia's proclaimed annexation of parts of Ukraine in 2022. The New York Times reported that Kim could possibly go to Moscow, although that was not certain. Kim's father, the reclusive Kim Jong Il who famously shunned planes and travelled by armoured train only, last visited Russia just months before his death in 2011. Shoigu visited North Korea for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War in July, celebrated in North Korea as "Victory Day," with South Korea's National Intelligence Service saying that he appeared to have held a private meeting with Kim, Yonhap reported. The United States said last week it was concerned that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea were advancing actively, and that Shoigu had tried during his visit to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. On Saturday, Russia's ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, told TASS news agency that he was not aware of any plans for North Korea to participate in trilateral military drills with China and Russia, but that in his opinion it would be "appropriate" in light of U.S.-led exercises in the region. Russia and North Korea have recently called for closer military ties but North Korea has denied having any "arms dealings" with Russia. The United States recently imposed sanctions on three entities it accused of being tied to arms deals between North Korea and Russia. North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006 and had been testing various missiles over recent years but it rarely holds military exercises with its neighbours. The United States and its ally, South Korea, hold regular military exercises, which North Korea denounces as preparations for war against it. (Reporting by Hyunsu Yim, Mark Trevelyan and Lidia Kelly; Additional reporting by Josh Smith, Hyunyoung Yi, and Soo-hyang Choi in Seoul; Editing by Nick Macfie, Sandra Maler, Gerry Doyle and Kim Coghill) Explosions rang out late on the night of Sept. 4 in the Russian city of Kurchatov, in Kursk Oblast, approximately 30 kilometers west of Kursk and about 100 kilometers northeast of Sumy. Local Telegram channels first reported the incident, with residents of the city describing it as a drone attack accompanied by several explosions. Russian media also reported that air defense systems had supposedly been activated. Read also: Explosion at Kursk train station, Moscow flights grounded overnight, Russian officials blame Ukrainian UAVs The Russian Ministry of Defense later claimed that Russian air defense systems had intercepted drones over the Black Sea waters near the Crimean Peninsula and over the territory of Kursk Oblast. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Today, at around 1.00 a.m. (Moscow time), an attempt by the Kyiv regime to execute a terrorist attack using two aircraft-type UAVs on Russian Federation territory was foiled, the Russian Defense Ministry said in its report. Read also: Kursk railway station explosion aftermath in photos Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted and destroyed by our air defense systems over the Black Sea waters near the Crimean Peninsula and within the borders of Kursk Oblast, the statement read. The Russian authorities typically claim that all attacking drones are shot down or disabled by electronic warfare systems. However, there is evidence that some drones hit their intended targets. Ukraine typically denies launching the drones, but some UAVs of known Ukrainian manufacture have been regularly spotted in Russianskies. Read also: Drones used in Kursk airfield attack developed by SBU NV Sources In the late hours of Sept. 3, a video surfaced online in which users reported a fire on the roof of an administrative building in Kurchatov, allegedly stemming from the downing of a Ukrainian drone. 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 While still being a formidable obstacle, the second line of Russian fortifications in southern Ukraine is less dense in minefields, Oleksandr Shtupun, Tavria front defense forces spokesperson, told Ukrainian TV broadcasters on Sept. 4. The second line of defense is quite powerful; I don't understand why everyone thinks it's much weaker, said Shtupun. Read also: Photographers relay views of Ukraine's defense efforts in Donbas within sight of enemy trenches Yes, the density of minefields is lower, but their quantity is still quite large. Read also: Ukraines military reveals occupants objectives in the Lyman-Kupyansk section of front ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to him, Russian trenches and obstacles beyond the first defensive line are not as strong, and this could play into the hands of Ukrainian forces. Read also: Reduced Activity of Hostilities on Tavria Front Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of the Tavria operational group, confirmed on Sept. 2 that the Defense Forces had breached the first Russian defense line in the southern direction. By his estimates, Russia devoted 60% of its time and resources to building the first line of defense, and only 20% each to the second and third lines, as Moscow did not expect Ukrainian troops to reach those. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russian forces attacked Sumy Oblast 20 times on Sept. 3, resulting in 137 explosions, according to the Sumy Oblast Military Administration. The Russian military shelled seven communities, including Esman, Krasnopillia, Bilopillia, Khotin, Znob-Novgorodske, Velyka Pysarivka, and Svesa. Multiple weapons were deployed against the region over the course of the day, including mortars, grenades, artillery, and unguided aerial missiles. A private house and an outhouse was destroyed in Bilopillia as a result of the shelling. Sumy Oblast is located on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia. It has been the target of daily Russian shelling and attacks from across the border since parts of the oblast were liberated from Russian troops in early April 2022. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky announces dismissal of Defense Minister Reznikov, names replacement Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. In July, Moscow suggested that North Korea conduct trilateral naval training with Russia and China, South Korean intelligence reports. Source: South Korean agency Yonhap News Agency Details: On 25-27 July, Sergey Shoigu, Minister of Defence of Russia, was on a visit to North Korea. During the visit, he suggested that Kim Jong-un, North Korean leader, conduct joint training involving the three states. Yoo Sang-bum, a representative of People's Party, South Korea's ruling political party, stated that Kim Kyou-hyun, head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), reported this during a closed briefing in the parliament intelligence committee on 4 September. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Yoo assumed that military provocations by North Korea, which have been occurring frequently lately, may be a response to joint US and South Korean training called Ulchi Freedom Shield, conducted from 21 to 31 August. South Korean intelligence confirmed two launches of small-range ballistic missiles by North Korea last Wednesday but remarked that only one of them was successful and the second failed. North Korea claims that both launches were successful. Yoo also stated that NIS had informed law-makers that North Korea ordered that "anti-government forces" in South Korea hold protests against Japan dumping contaminated water from destroyed Fukushima NPP. 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! Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has claimed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine "lost" six tanks on one front, and six more on the other, making "a total of eleven tanks". Source: Shoigu to journalists after the press conference of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Sochi, reports Meduza on Telegram Quote: "Yesterday, as a result of a serious attack on the Robotyne front, they lost six tanks. On the other front, in Bakhmut, our guys skillfully destroyed six more vehicles with new UAVs. So yesterday just in terms of armoured vehicles [they have lost] eleven [tanks]." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Earlier: According to Bloomberg, a part of Russia's intelligence services is calling on dictator Vladimir Putin to fire Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov and switch to more aggressive warfare. 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 Russian Ministry of Defence has claimed that their forces destroyed four high-speed military boats with Ukrainian landing groups on board in the Black Sea on the night of 4 September. Source: Russian Ministry of Defence Quote: "On the night of 4 September 2023, in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, naval aircraft from the Black Sea Fleet destroyed four US-made Willard Sea Force high-speed military boats carrying landing groups from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which were heading towards Cape Tarkhankut on the Crimean coast." Details: On the night of 30 August, the Russians claimed to have destroyed four high-speed military boats of the Special Operations Forces with 50 soldiers in the Black Sea. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Armed Forces of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces responded by refuting another fake by the Russian Ministry of Defence about the alleged "destruction of boats and military of the Special Forces in the Black Sea". The Armed Forces of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces laughed at the Russian Ministry of Defence's message, using, among other things, popular Russian propaganda myths and the terminology of the Star Wars saga. The Special Forces called for trusting only verified official sources of information. Background: On 24 August Krym.Realii (Crimea.Realities, a project by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), citing residents and intelligence sources, reported that a battle involving watercraft and aircraft took place in the morning at Cape Tarkhankut in occupied Crimea. According to media reports, the battle took place near the settlement of Mayak. Telegram channel Baza claims that people staying at a campsite in Olenivka, located near Mayak, heard two loud shots. When people went out to see who was shooting, they saw two rubber boats with about 10 people on board about 10 metres from the shore. Then several more shots were heard, but this time from automatic weapons. The people from the boats started to swim away. Later, Ukrainian Defence Intelligence confirmed that Ukrainian intelligence units had disembarked on the peninsula as part of a special operation on the morning of 24 August. Ukrainian Defence Intelligence posted a video in which it was claimed that the Ukrainian flag was being raised in Crimea. 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! An air-raid warning was issued in Odesa Oblast on the night of 3-4 September due to a Russian drone attack. An air-raid warning had lasted for over three hours. Source: Air Force; Oleh Kiper, Head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Details: The Air Force warned Ukrainians about the use of Russian attack drones in Odesa Oblast. In particular, Russian forces targeted Izmail and Kiliia districts and the village of Prymorske. Quote from Kiper: "Izmail district, I want to note that everyone needs to be in safe places." Kiper urged people not to film air defence systems while responding. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Previously: The Air Force reported that the Russians likely launched Shahed combat drones from the settlement of Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia. Update: Kiper reported at around 04:00, "The enemy has been attacking the south of Odesa (Izmail district) with attack drones for almost two hours." Kiper also added that air defence systems were responding in the oblast. The Air Force reported that at around 04:30, another group of attack drones in Kiliia district, Odesa Oblast, was moving along the border with Romania. Later, the Air Force added that the attack drones were moving towards Izmail. At around 05:00, the Air Force reported about one more group of drones in the Black Sea towards Odesa Oblasts southern districts. "They are moving along the same route as the previous ones," the Air Force said. The all-clear was given in Odesa Oblast at 05:37. 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! Russia attacked Odesa Oblast and other parts of Ukraine in the early hours of Sept. 4, hitting civilian infrastructure, Natalia Humeniuk, head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces reported on national television. "The (air raid) alert sounded for over three-and-a-half hours," Humeniuk said. "The enemy again repeated a massive attack on the south of Odesa Oblast, using Shahed attack UAVs. The attack (came) in several waves." The enemy again used the same tactics, she said. Humeniuk also noted that civilian infrastructure was under attack, and the vast majority of UAVs were destroyed by air defense units. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Unfortunately, there are hits to civilian infrastructure, there is damage to a building," she said. Information about casualties is being verified, she added. https://t.me/SJTF_Odes https://t.me/SJTF_Odes https://t.me/SJTF_Odes Meanwhile, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Oblast Military Administration, reported that 17 drones had been intercepted in Odesa Oblast at night. Later, the Ukrainian Air Force said a total of 23 suicide drones had been shot down during Russian attacks across Ukraine. "Unfortunately, there were also hits," Kiper said. "In several settlements of Izmail district, warehouses and industrial buildings, agricultural machinery and equipment of industrial enterprises were damaged. Several fires broke out on the grounds of civilian facilities due to the impact of the debris. As of 7.00 a.m., the fire had been extinguished." Read also: Two port workers injured in nighttime Russian assault on Ukraines Odesa Oblast UPDATE Serhiy Bratchuk, head of the Public Council at Odesa Oblast Military Administration, said the raid on Odesa had lasted 3 hours and 36 minutes. "For the second day in a row, the enemy is attacking the southern regions of Odesa, Bratchuk said. Details from Ukrainian Air Force will be given later. An attack by the enemy on port infrastructure was repelled once again. Other parts of Ukraine also came under attack by Russian drones overnight. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast was targeted by a wave of Russian drones, of which the Ukrainian military managed to destroy six, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast governor Serhiy Lysak said. He said there had been a hit on an infrastructure facility in Dnipro District, which had caused a fire. According to preliminary reports, there were no casualties from the attack. The authorities are currently assessing the extent of the damage. Overnight a total of 32 Shahed launches were recorded during the attacks on Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts, the Ukrainian Air Force said in its morning report on Sept 4. It said that the air force, in cooperation with air defense units from other branches of the Ukrainian armed forces, had shot down 23 enemy attack UAVs. Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile troops and mobile fire group units used to shoot down the drones, it said. The Russian attack with Shahed-136/131 attack drones was launched from the south and southeast of Ukraine, from Cape Chauda, Crimea and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, the air force said. Earlier on Sept. 4, air raid alarms sounded at 1 a.m. in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts due to the threat of launches of ballistic missiles. The air force later said the threat had been repelled. Later, at 2.24 a.m. air raid sirens also went off in Poltava, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Donetsk oblasts due to the threat of attack by Russian ballistic missiles. The threat was again repelled, the air force said. There was also an alert in Kherson Oblast at 3.47 a.m. due to the threat of missile launches. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russian troops attacked Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv oblasts with drones on the morning of 4 September, with the Ukrainian Air Force destroying 7 drones, although some hits did occur. Source: Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration; Vitalii Kim, Head of Mykolaiv Oblast Military Administration Quote from Lysak: "The morning started with an enemy attack. Defenders from Operational Command Skhid (East) brought down 6 drones in the sky over the oblast." Details: Meanwhile, Lysak added that there was also a hit to an infrastructure facility in Dnipro district. The strike caused a fire, and its aftermath is being established. However, preliminary reports indicate that no one was killed or injured. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The head of the Mykolaiv Oblast Military Administration also reported the downing of a Russian drone. This happened at 01:43. Kim said the air defence forces had shot down a Russian reconnaissance UAV of an unspecified type. Background: Earlier, the Russians reportedly launched Shahed attack drones on Odesa Oblast overnight, with 17 shot down by Ukrainian air defence forces, although some hits occurred. 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! On Friday, 1 September, a Russian Ka-52 combat helicopter crashed in the Sea of Azov; preliminary data says two pilots were rescued. Source: Baza Russian Telegram channel Quote: "According to Baza sources in the rescue services, the helicopter fell in the waters of the Sea of Azov, about 1.5 kilometres from the coastline on the morning of 1 September." Details: The preliminary explanation of the event says the cause of the fall was difficult weather conditions, as there was heavy fog in the area. Two crew members were on board the Ka-52. They were evacuated during the rescue operation. Background: ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Ukrainian forces shot down two Russian Ka-52 helicopters in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on the morning of 17 August. On 14 August, the Air Force of Ukraine shot down a Russian Ka-52 helicopter on the Bakhmut front. The Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), which is fighting on the Ukrainian side, claimed responsibility for the attack on the airbase in Russia's Kursk Oblast on 27 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! Maksim Kuzminov, pilot of a Mi-8 helicopter transferred to Ukraine, was injured during the final stage of the operation but received help on time. Source: a documentary "Zbyti Lyotchyky Rossii" (Downed Pilots of Russia), shown on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast on 3 September in the evening Details: The name of the pilot was revealed in the documentary this is 28-year-old Maksim Kuzminov. He recounted the course of the operation and called on other Russian pilots to follow his example. Quote: "I got in touch with the Ukrainian intelligence, explained my situation and was offered the following: Lets do it; we guarantee your safety, guarantee the new documents, and guarantee monetary compensation, a reward. We discussed these details and started planning my flight ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I realised I was close to the border. I shared my location with them and told them: Lets try; I am not far. And I have made my final decision, crossed the border at an extremely low altitude and in radio silence mode. Nobody knew what was going on with me. Nobody understood what had happened for three to four days. I finished the flight; it was successful; I landed; they met me, talked to me, and explained my situation." Details: During the final stage of the operation, the pilot got injured but received medical treatment on time. The footage showing the evacuation of an injured pilot was also shown in the documentary. It was stated that Kuzminov has received all security guarantees provided for by the law. In the video, the pilot said that there are no Nazis or fascists in Ukraine. "What is going on right now is a genocide of the Ukrainian people. Not only of the Ukrainian people but of the Russian people as well. The reason for my decision is not to contribute to these crimes. Ukraine will definitely win this war just because the people are very united Nobody wants this war. It is only a matter of time before Ukraine wins," Kuzminov stated. He also called on other pilots to defect to Ukraine. Quote: "If you do what I have done, a deed like this, you will definitely not regret it. You will be provided with everything you need for the rest of your life. You will be offered jobs everywhere, no matter what you would like to do. You will discover a world of bright colours. And remember: you just do not know a lot of things; you have not seen a lot of how other people live. When you discover all this, your opinion will change drastically." More details: The documentary emphasises that Ukraine will provide the Russian pilots who decide to defect to its side with all guarantees provided for by the law, including monetary compensation for military aircraft handed over to Ukraine. Kuzminov provides "very valuable information about the Russian armys aircraft, communication systems and airbase network". Along with the helicopter, he also brought valuable documents and secret technical equipment to Ukraine. Background: On 23 August, it was revealed that a Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Armed Forces ended up in Ukraine as a result of a long-term special operation of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The pilot and his family, who left Russia in advance, are now in Ukraine. The Mi-8 helicopter stayed in Ukraine, as did the details for the fighter jets it was supposed to deliver to the Russians. 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 Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with a Mi-8 helicopter spoke publicly for the first time. Ukraine's Defense Intelligence published an interview with a man it said was the pilot. The man said he had defected because he didn't want to be involved in genocide. The Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with a Mi-8 helicopter and fighter-jet parts spoke publicly for the first time this week about how he pulled off his daring escape. Ukraine's Defense Intelligence published an interview with a man it said was the Russian pilot who landed a Mi-8 AMTSh on a Ukrainian air base last month in what officials said was the culmination of a six-month secret defection plot that involved moving the pilot's family out of Russia and into Ukraine. The Ukrainian defense agency identified the pilot as Maksym Kuzminov, a 28-year-old former captain in Russia's 319th separate helicopter regiment. Insider was unable to independently confirm the man's identity, but Agenstvo, an independent Russian Telegram channel, said it found Kuzminov's social-media profile, which suggested his identity as an attack pilot in the Eastern Military District. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Defense Intelligence on Sunday published a documentary on YouTube titled "Downed Russian Pilots" that detailed the defection plot. Kuzminov gave a video interview in which he said he'd defected as part of a special operation under the code name "Synytsia." "I contacted representatives of the intelligence of Ukraine, explained my situation. I was offered security guarantees, new documents, monetary compensation, a reward," Kuzminov said. "We discussed the details and started planning my flight directly." Ukraine has sought to incentivize Russian troops to defect since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a law last year courting demoralized Russian troops, offering monetary rewards to Russians who defected with their equipment. A helicopter fetches $500,000, the legislation says. It was not immediately clear whether Kuzminov was compensated. The pilot said he coordinated with Ukrainian military intelligence, which was able to create the circumstances for his safe defection. Kuzminov said he realized he was near the border while flying one day, so he decided to stay at a low altitude in radio-silence mode. "No one knew what was wrong with me," he said. "Apparently, no one understood what happened for three, four days. I flew successfully and landed." Russian propaganda outlets at the time said the helicopter landed at a Ukrainian air base in Kharkiv by mistake after the pilot became disoriented, but Kuzminov rejected those claims, speaking out against Russian President Vladimir Putin's narrative about the war. "What is happening now is simply genocide of the Ukrainian people: both Ukrainian and Russian," Kuzminov said. The pilot said he defected because he didn't want to be involved in committing war crimes. "Ukraine will definitely win this war, simply because the people are very united," Kuzminov said. "The whole world is helping because it understands that human life must be valued." Kuzminov encouraged other Russian pilots and members of the military to follow his example and defect. "You'll be provided for, for the rest of your lives. You will be offered a job everywhere, no matter what you do," he said, according to a CNN translation. The legislative bill passed by the Ukrainian Rada last year also promised "secrecy, a safe stay in Ukraine, and support in obtaining new documents and leaving for a third country" for any Russian soldiers who abandoned their post. The Defense Intelligence's write-up of Kuzminov's interview didn't mention the other members of his crew who were taken by surprise when the helicopter landed in enemy territory. When it occurred to the two crew members that they were in Ukraine, almost 200 miles from the front line, they started to freak out and tried to run, Ukrainian officials told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty last month. The two crew members were unwilling to surrender and subsequently "eliminated," military officials said. Read the original article on Business Insider A U.S. military firefighter for 32 years, Kurt Rhodes trained and performed his duties with aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF a highly effective fire suppressant that he never knew contained PFAS chemicals, now known to be harmful to human health. New federal research links testicular cancer in U.S. service members to the forever chemicals, adding to a growing body of evidence of the dangers they pose. Rhodes lives in fear that he, like many of his colleagues, will get sick. Its kind of like a Russian roulette, he said. Are you going to get the cancers or are you going to be one of the lucky ones who doesnt? The chemicals in the firefighting foam are suspected to have polluted more than 700 active and former military installations as well as thousands of towns across the U.S., potentially exposing millions of people to long-term health risks, say the scientists and public health experts who study the chemicals. The contamination was the result of industrial spills, dumping, and firefighting. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The new testicular cancer findings, as well as new requirements to fund PFAS testing in some communities, have firefighters like Rhodes on edge. Many have sought recently developed blood serum tests to determine their cumulative levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. But its unclear what they should do with those test results, given there are no medical treatments to remove PFAS from the body. Fire-retardant foam was unintentionally released in an aircraft hangar at Travis Air Force Base in California on Sept. 24, 2013, says the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. Exposed to PFAS or forever chemicals has been linked to testicular cancer. It is stressful, especially when you know there is a chance of cancer, said former Air National Guard firefighter Jeffrey Warrick, noting he has a worrisome skin condition he believes was caused by PFAS exposure. It worsens in warm weather, he said, and freaks me out. In 2020, Congress required the Department of Defense to offer active-duty military firefighters blood tests for PFAS, thousands of compounds dubbed forever chemicals because they accumulate in the human body and dont break down in the environment. Some states followed suit or even preceded the federal legislative action. Indiana passed a bill effective July 1 that establishes a biomonitoring pilot program to provide PFAS blood testing for 1,000 of the states firefighters. New Hampshire requires insurers to cover PFAS blood tests, and a bill introduced in Maine this year would do the same. But while the tests have been a major step forward in understanding the scope of the issue across the country, medical providers often arent sure how to interpret the results. Breaking the code John Sherman, a 60th Engineer Squadron firefighter, is hit by fire-retardant foam in an aircraft hangar at Travis Air Force Base in California on Sept. 24, 2013. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued preventive medical guidance last year for those whose test results confirm a level of PFAS chemicals in their blood meriting concern. The national academies recommended that patients with readings between 2 and 20 nanograms per milliliter limit additional exposure and screen for high cholesterol, breast cancer, and, if pregnant, high blood pressure. At 20 ng/mL and above, the report recommends further assessment. But even with these published guidelines, finding doctors knowledgeable about interpreting the blood test results and inferring the possible health effects of PFAS exposure can be slow going. Kevin Ferrara, a former Air Force firefighter who now advocates for military personnel and firefighters, said they simply want their physicians to be more educated on PFAS contamination and its health consequences. Firefighters really need to concentrate on their jobs, not How do I decipher my blood tests? Ferrara said. Physicians should have a basic understanding of PFAS, and they simply dont. Fire-retardant foam temporarily covered a small portion of the flight line at Travis Air Force Base in California after it was released inside a hangar on Sept. 24, 2013. To muddy matters further: With so many types of PFAS, not all of them show up in the blood tests. Some compounds manifest elsewhere, such as in organ tissue or other parts of the blood, said Neil McMillan, the International Association of Fire Fighters director of science and research. These PFAS blood panels are complicated, McMillan said. The results you get back may not show the full picture of your body burden. Graham Peaslee, a University of Notre Dame professor who studies PFAS, said he knows of seven civilian and military firefighters who have had a rare form of brain cancer, glioblastoma, three of whom resided in South Bend, Indiana. The aggressive disease has only sparsely been studied and its causes are not understood, although scientists suspect environmental exposures may be to blame. Whats really interesting is its [about] a one-in-a-million disease, Peaslee said. There arent 7 million firefighters in this country. How was that possible? After five-year battle, South Bend, Indiana, firefighter Josh Comeau died of brain cancer in 2019. State Rep. Maureen Bauer, a Democrat who authored the Indiana PFAS testing bill and represents South Bend, said the program was inspired in part by those firefighters who died of brain cancer. Blood testing is providing one more useful bit of information, Bauer said. If youre exposed, but you dont know what your levels are, if you have fertility issues, high blood pressure, thyroid problems, that could all go back to your blood levels. Guarding against risks Ned Calonge, who is the associate dean for public health practice of the Colorado School of Public Health and co-authored the national academies report, said that taking proactive measures in communities with known high exposure, such as among firefighters and military service members and their families who lived on bases, is particularly important. It depends on how much different states have paid attention to it, Calonge said. I wouldnt say that weve advanced very far in terms of clinician education in the area of the PFAS exposure. Congress passed legislation last year that gave medical benefits and disability compensation to federal firefighters who develop one or more of 16 health conditions within 10 years of service. The illnesses include 14 types of cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke that occur within 24 hours of engaging in their jobs. Fire-retardant foam was unintentionally released in an aircraft hangar at Travis Air Force Base in California on Sept. 24, 2013. But firefighters want to learn how to prevent these illnesses from taking hold. Because PFAS chemicals accumulate in the body, older people typically have higher levels than younger people. Men tend to have higher levels than women, which researchers attribute to menstruation helping eliminate the chemicals from the body. Over time, if people limit exposure, PFAS levels in the blood can slowly drop as the chemicals are excreted. For example, PFOS, the legacy chemical found in AFFF thats no longer used, has a half-life in humans of 4.8 years. While researchers estimate that everyone has some level of PFAS in their bodies, Calonge said, people with levels above 20 ng/mL in their blood should particularly avoid additional exposure. Although full avoidance may be nearly impossible these chemicals can be found in nonstick cookware, industrial lubricants, cosmetics, and even food wrappers those with high amounts of known exposure should consider filtering their drinking water and removing stain-resistant carpet, water-repellent clothing, and other PFAS-containing household goods from their homes, Calonge said. Experts point to reverse osmosis filters under a kitchen sink or at the tap as the most effective way to remove PFAS from drinking water, but the systems can be expensive, putting them out of reach for some Americans. Some tabletop water filters seem pretty effective, too. The American National Standards Institute and NSF have certified water filters from 15 manufacturers for the reduction of select PFAS chemicals. Holding out hope While there are no known treatments for the buildup of PFAS chemicals in ones body, an Australian study published last year found that firefighters with high levels of PFAS reduced their levels by 10% over a year when they donated blood every 12 weeks and by 30% if they donated plasma every six weeks. Jeff Burgess, a University of Arizona Health Sciences researcher, seeks to duplicate the findings and take it a step further determining whether a reduction in PFAS levels yields lower cardiovascular and cancer risk. The plan is to enroll 1,500 firefighters in the study who will donate blood or plasma for a year, monitoring for DNA methylation cancer biomarkers. As for the ethics of letting firefighters with known PFAS contamination contribute to the nations blood banks, Burgess noted that nearly everyone in the U.S. is thought to have some PFAS in their bodies and that, given chronic shortages, the need for donated blood outweighs the risks. From my perspective, the benefits of giving blood, even though it has some degree of PFAS in it, are much greater than the potential harm from the PFAS that people might receive because, again, blood products can be lifesaving, Burgess said. Citing the Australian study, Nicole Maul, director of media relations for the American Red Cross, which manages standards and quality control for the blood banks, said further study is needed to determine whether donations by firefighters have any clinical implications. No study has shown a detrimental effect of such substances in blood for donors or recipients, Maul said. The Red Cross and the FDA work together to ensure the blood supply is as safe as possible, and individuals should not worry about the safety of donating or receiving blood. A Department of Defense spokesperson said Aug. 29 that the Pentagon uses the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to guide its firefighter PFAS testing program and develop information it provides to personnel, including military physicians, on the potential health effects of PFAS. It is not possible yet to distinguish PFAS exposures by DoD personnel in their occupational setting from those they may experience from consumer products, so much of the information provided is general PFAS health effects information, said Peter Graves, chief of media operations for the Defense Health Agency. The DoD will update occupational health provider fact sheets when ATSDR updates their PFAS clinical guidelines and develop or incorporate available PFAS training modules for healthcare providers, as appropriate. Graves added that the Defense Department is interested in the outcomes of ongoing health studies by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry as well as toxicology assessments by the Environmental Protection Agency and noted that the Pentagon supported the testicular cancer study by allowing use of the Department of Defense Serum Repository and including it in the Pentagons Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. What are PFAS? A guide to understanding chemicals behind nonstick pans, cancer fears Need to know Dangerous levels of PFAS detected in water for 27 million. Did the EPA find it near you? CDMRP research projects are not requested by the Pentagon in its annual budget, but instead are supported by extra money that Congress gives the department to manage research projects that members deem necessary to advance medical science and promote the health of the armed forces. Rhodes, the veteran military firefighter, said he has high hopes for the University of Arizona research and would like to see more studies done on reducing PFAS exposure as well as the illnesses linked to PFAS. He also wants Congress to extend the health and disability benefits for a lifetime for those illnesses. I put my life on the line for 30 years for people I didnt know, and I did it willingly, he said. That is every firefighters mindset. Now we are asking for a little bit. Theres something out there killing us. Keep researching and dont give us pushback when we want testing. Make it easier for us. KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News, is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF an independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Military firefighters exposed to PFAS forever chemicals worry what now Oleh Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has said that Shahed kamikaze drones that Russia launched to attack the port of Izmail in Odesa Oblast crashed and exploded in Romania. Source: Nikolenko on Facebook Quote: "As the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported, tonight [4 September ed.] during a large-scale Russian attack at the port of Izmail, Russian Shahed drones fell and detonated in Romania." Details: Nikolenko posted a photo of the explosion and stressed that this is yet another confirmation that Russian missile terror poses a huge threat not only to the security of Ukraine but also to the security of neighbouring countries, including NATO member states. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He called on the Allies to speed up the provision of additional modern missile and air defence systems, as well as combat aircraft, to Ukraine, which will enhance the protection of the infrastructure of Ukraine and neighbouring countries. Background: Earlier, it was reported that at night, Russians launched Shahed attack drones at Odesa Oblast, 17 of which were shot down by air defence forces, but there were strikes. The Russians also attacked Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv oblasts with drones. The Air Force destroyed seven Russian drones, but there were also strikes in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The Air Force later reported that the Russians had attacked Ukraine with 32 Shahed kamikaze drones, 23 of which were destroyed. 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! During the past day, Russian forces carried out 20 attacks on the border areas of Sumy Oblast, with a total of 137 strikes recorded. The Russians launched unguided rockets and dropped mines. Source: Sumy Oblast Military Administration on Telegram Details: The hromadas of Khotin, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Znob-Novhorodske, Esman, Svesa and Velyka Pysarivka came under fire. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories ed.] Fire from mortars (two explosions) and artillery (seven explosions) was recorded in Bilopillia hromada. A private house and an outbuilding have been damaged as a result of attacks. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Russian forces dropped an explosive device from an unmanned aerial vehicle and fired from artillery (four explosions) on Khotin hromada. Attacks from SPG and AGS grenade launchers (19 explosions), mortar attacks (13 explosions), artillery fire (two explosions) and the launching of six unguided rockets were recorded in Krasnopillia hromada. Russian forces fired artillery (nine explosions) in Esman hromada. Russian forces deployed AGS grenade launchers (20 explosions) to attack Znob-Novhorodske hromada. The Russians dropped two mines on the territory of Svesa hromada. Velyka Pysarivka hromada came under attack from AGS grenade launchers (48 explosions) and mortars (four explosions). In addition, shelling from self-propelled howitzers (six explosions) was recorded on the outskirts of the town of Vorozhba, Sumy district, in the morning. As a result of the attack, four private residential buildings and the premises of an agricultural business have been damaged. 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! Russian invasion forces are gearing up for an intensified mobilization effort in the Russian-occupied Crimea following sham elections set to take place on Sept. 12, the guerrilla movement Atesh reported on Telegram on Sept. 4, citing their own sources within the military enlistment office. Atesh is a partisan movement in the occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, created by Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars in September 2022 following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Read also: Atesh guerrillas in Crimea say they blew up Russian National Guards car, killing two officers According to Atesh sources, special emphasis will be placed on retired police officers and other security personnel. Individuals evading mobilization will be identified through banks. The Russians have tasked bank operators to summon clients with passports for verification and data updating. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement If individuals sought by the occupation system present themselves, banks are required to report their whereabouts, or as a last resort, summon the police. Read also: Ukrainian partisans claim responsibility for setting fire to Russian barracks in Crimea The occupiers are making life unbearable on the peninsula, said Atesh. They will seek new methods to mobilize residents of the occupied Ukrainian regions. If nothing is done, the tragedy of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts will be repeated. This cannot be allowed! Atesh had previously reported on Aug. 29 that occupiers were actively mobilizing retired security personnel in Crimea. The representation of the President in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has noted that Russia is preparing for a new wave of mobilization in the occupied Crimea. The invaders aim to involve as many as 30,000 individuals in this mobilization effort. Read also: Crimean Titan plant turned into Russian military base, guerrillas say Ukraines National Resistance Center reported on Aug. 27 that the residents of Crimea are highly dissatisfied with the forced mobilization, despite the Russians attempts to entice them with new benefits. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has proposed Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's main privatisation agency, to serve as the country's wartime defence minister. Umerov's candidacy must be approved by parliament before he is appointed. Here are some facts about Umerov, who would replace Oleksii Reznikov as defence minister: * Umerov, 41, is a Crimean Tatar, a Turkic people from the Black Sea Ukrainian peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014. He was born in Samarkand in Uzbekistan to a Crimean Tatar family that was deported from then Soviet Crimea in the 1940s. Since 2020, Umerov has been a member of a Ukrainian government task force working on the strategy to end the occupation of Crimea. * In September 2022, Umerov, then a lawmaker from the pro-European Holos party, became head of the State Property Fund, an agency selling state assets to private investors. He is credited with turning round an institution that has frequently been mired in corruption scandals. He also relaunched sales of state property, raising record proceeds for the state during the war. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement * Umerov, described as a talented negotiator by people close to him, was a member of the Ukrainian team that held negotiations with Russia in March 2022, one month after Russia's full-scale invasion. He also took part in talks on the Black Sea Grain deal and on exchanges of prisoners, including Ukraine's Azov fighters who were captured during the battle for the southern city of Mariupol in 2022. He was a member of the delegation during a visit by Zelenskiy to Saudi Arabia in May, and accompanied first lady Olena Zelenska during a visit to the United Arab Emirates in March. * Umerov began his career in the private sector. He joined one of Ukraine's leading mobile operators in 2004. In 2013 he set up his own investment company, ASTEM, and its ASTEM Foundation. He has a bachelor degree in economics and masters in finance. (Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Olena Harmash, Editing by Tom Balmforth and Timothy Heritage) When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sept. 3 that Rustem Umerov was Ukraine's soon-to-be defense minister, he said the former MP "needs no introduction." Days before, Umerov had been rumored to be the main candidate to replace Oleksiy Reznikov, who had held the post since November 2021 and whose ministry was lately tangled in two major corruption scandals. Umerov, 41, an investment banker from Crimea, has had a political career like no other moving from a member of parliament in opposition to Zelensky's rule to the head of the country's State Property Fund and a key player in the early peace talks with Russia. Umerov was born in what is now Uzbekistan, where Soviet authorities deported his family as part of the Kremlin's ethnic cleansing campaign against the Crimean Tatar people. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement As the Soviet Union collapsed, Umerov and his family were able to return to Crimea. After finishing university, Umerov worked in telecommunications through the 2000s. Read also: Zelensky announces dismissal of Defense Minister Reznikov In 2007, he became an adviser to Mustafa Dzhemilev, the leader of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, and became a delegate to the Qurultay, the national assembly of the Crimean Tatars. In 2013, Umerov founded the investment company Astem. A year later, Russia launched its war against Ukraine, occupied Crimea, and began a campaign of intimidation and harassment against the native Crimean Tatar population that didn't support the annexation. Umerov's political career began in 2019 when he was elected to parliament on the ticket of Holos (the Voice), a liberal political party currently in opposition to the president's Servant of the People faction. However, Umerov was among the very few opposition lawmakers who soon landed a government appointment. In 2021, Umerov became a co-chair of the newly established Crimea Platform, a Zelensky-led platform that aims to bring attention to Russia's occupation of Crimea. Umerov later said that the experience of being born into a family living in deportation, returning to his homeland, and later losing it again has taught him how to persevere and fight to protect what is rightfully yours. When Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Umerov was one of a handful of figures selected to join the Ukrainian delegation to negotiate prisoner swaps, evacuations of civilians, and the Black Sea Grain Initiative. In the early days of the full-scale invasion, Umerov was also a part of Ukraine's delegation in peace talks with Russia in Belarus and Turkey. Concerning these negotiations, "I'm not here for idle talk," he told French newspaper Le Monde in July 2022. "I want to save the country." Umerov was among the key Ukrainian actors that brokered a deal with Russia that allowed Ukraine to export over 33 million metric tons of agricultural goods from Ukrainian ports. Umerov also took an active part in the September 2022 prisoner exchange, in which Russia released 215 prisoners of war, including Azovstal defenders. They were swapped for 55 Russian prisoners of war and Viktor Medvedchuk, Ukraine's high-profile pro-Kremlin politician and Putin's former right-hand man in the country. In September 2022, Umerov was appointed head of the State Property Fund, a government body that regulates the policy of privatization of state assets. In the first half of 2023, the State Property Fund gained Hr 1.82 billion ($49 million) from privatization, the largest amount in 10 years. Rustem Umerov in Kyiv on May 9, 2022. (Photo by Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) In 2023, Umerov became even closer to Zelensky, being part of Zelensky's to Saudi Arabia in May, and joined First Lady Olena Zelenska on a visit to the United Arab Emirates in March. He was a guest at the inauguration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in June. In August, he returned to Saudi Arabia for a two-day summit in Jeddah to discuss the implementation of Ukraine's peace formula between international partners. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, representing the 20-member Holos faction, said, "Umerov is one of the best people for the job." Zhelezniak told the Kyiv Independent that the defense minister is primarily a person tasked with providing the army with provision and ammunition. For that, Zhelezniak said, the new minister must have experience holding high-rank negotiations. "Umerov is one of the best negotiators," he added. His experience, both within politics and outside of it, shows that Umerov is clearly capable of adapting to different contexts, Olga Onuch, professor of comparative and Ukrainian politics at the University of Manchester, told the Kyiv Independent. Umerov is perhaps lesser known to the average Ukrainian voter, but he's far from a political outsider, Onuch explained. During his time in parliament, he was "extremely active" and authored dozens of bills. Moreover, the choice of someone from a different political faction suggests that Zelensky is acting from a position of strength and able to build cross-party connections, which is a "good sign" for Ukraine, Onuch said. This, as well as the fact that Umerov is a figure who operates within the Crimean Tatar elite, is "a very strong signal to Ukraine's allies," Onuch concluded. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. An uncertain future for a widely prescribed abortion drug thats embroiled in federal legal challenges begs new questions in South Carolina, a state that recently severely narrowed the window for legal abortions. Mifepristone not to be confused with the day after pill, or Plan B has been used as a safe and effective method of abortion for some 23 years. It is taken in conjunction with misoprostol, a medication that induces contractions but is also used to treat ulcers, according to Planned Parenthood. Mifepristone is currently available by prescription. It can be prescribed by telemedicine and delivered through the mail. As of now, the pill is still as accessible in South Carolina and other states where abortion is legal as it was before the recent legal challenge arose. But if the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the matter of the pill, its possible the mostly conservative justices could rule to allow restrictions on the federally regulated drug. If that happens, some abortion-rights advocates in South Carolina worry women could have even less access to abortion or that state policymakers, emboldened by their recent success in passing new abortion restrictions, could turn their eyes toward the pill in this state. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Theres no limit to what they can try to criminalize, said S.C. Rep. Heather Bauer, a Richland County Democrat who opposed legislation that eventually passed this year to ban abortions after six weeks. Anything is possible with these folks who dont trust women and think they know better. Medicated abortion wasnt specifically discussed in the states previous legislative session when the six-week ban was passed, Bauer said. But she said she doesnt doubt whether its on anti-abortion lawmakers minds or hasnt been discussed outside of session before. I think that they see no limit to controlling our bodies. I think anything is at play, including birth control, Bauer added. Abortion via medication is the most common method for abortions in the U.S., and mifepristone can be used up until 10 weeks of pregnancy under current regulation. Mifepristone and misoprostol taken together have been found to effectively end pregnancies about 98% of the time, according to a report by the Washington Post. The federal legal battle against mifepristone started after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. A group of anti-abortion doctors and groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration claiming the agencys approval process for mifepristone was flawed and that the drug was unsafe and needed to be off the market. The FDA has countered the claims and cited multiple studies showing the drugs success rate and low complication history. In August, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of restrictions that would only allow a doctor to prescribe the pill in person and not allow the drug to be used beyond seven weeks of pregnancy. But the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked all lower court decisions banning or limiting the use of mifepristone for the time being. And the U.S. Department of Justice, which is defending the Food and Drug Administration, has asked the Supreme Court to review the 5th Circuit ruling. Holly Gatling, director of the nonprofit South Carolina Citizens for Life, wrote in an email that its too soon to know what if any action anti-abortion lawmakers in the Palmetto State might ever take concerning the abortion pill. We need a decision first on mifepristone, she wrote. She added that chemically exterminating unborn children as if they were vermin is morally reprehensible. Misoprostol, the second pill used in the sequence to carry out abortions, is usually taken right after or within 48 hours of taking mifepristone. On its own, misoprostol is primarily labeled as a drug to treat stomach ulcers. Misoprostol, however, can be used alone for abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy. A study supported by the National Institutes of Health concluded in 2019 the drug was safe to use alone for first-trimester abortions. While the two pills are most effective when taken together, misoprostol is still nearly 80% effective when taken alone. Deborah Billings, an associate professor at University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health, said misoprostol has been used as an over-the-counter abortion drug in other countries for years. However, doctors in the U.S. prescribe it only in conjunction with mifepristone because that is what the FDA recommends. If a doctor were to prescribe misoprostol on its own as an ulcer medication knowing that it would not be used for that purpose, it would be risky and could carry consequences for the doctor. There is also the potential of felony charges for performing abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, under the states Fetal Heartbeat Act. Because misoprostol is labeled as an ulcer medication, its not being targeted by anti-abortion lawmakers, Billings said. Mifepristone is labeled under abortion medication, which is why it has caught the attention of anti-abortion lawmakers. Vicki Ringer, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said in early stages of pregnancy, aside from the pill, women have the option of getting a surgical abortion, which is called aspiration and considered surgery, but is not super invasive. The abortion pill is used for those who want to have more privacy when allotting for an abortion, especially for women whod like to be in the privacy of their home and not go through a procedure. Ringer said she doesnt foresee the medication being banned federally, or in South Carolina. The medication is used widely for miscarriage management as well as other medical conditions, not just for abortion. Kathleen McDaniel, an attorney at Burnette Shutt and McDaniel in Columbia who joined Planned Parenthood in legally challenging South Carolinas six-week ban, said shes not aware of any current bills having to do with medication abortion in the state, but she added that could change depending on what happens in the 5th Circuit. A federal decision on the abortion pill would have a trickle-down effect on the states, McDaniel said. When Roe was overturned, anti-abortion lawmakers and activists saw a a chance to take further advantage of the new conservative change in the ideological makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court, McDaniel said. They said, if theres ever going to be a time when we can get all types of abortion outlawed, nows the time, so lets bring these test cases and get it up to the Supreme Court as fast as possible in the hopes that with the makeup of the Supreme Court as it is now, they would prohibit even medication abortion, McDaniel said. McDaniel said she worries about a future with an uncertain patchwork of access around the country. ... It puts everyone in this terrible situation of great uncertainty that is completely unnecessary. One of my favorite things to do Up North is read a thriller, but the closest I came on a recent trip to Burt Lake was the affidavit Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel used to charge 16 folks with forgery and conspiracy. Like "Moby Dick" my only other option it starts slow. "I, Affiant " doesn't quite measure up to "Call me Ishmael," but Nessel gets to her big fish a helluva lot sooner than Herman Melville. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. By paragraph 28, Michigan Attorney General Special Investigator Howard Shock (the aforementioned "affiant" who signed the affidavit), describes a furtive meeting in Lansing on Dec. 14, 2020. Only GOP officials and 16 relatively minor political apparatchiks from across Michigan were allowed admittance to Michigan Republican Party headquarters. At least one spouse was left out in the cold. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "False electors were told no recording equipment was permitted inside," Shook ominously reported, adding that "cellphones went into a box away from the false electors." More: Eric Smith, Tracy Green got big breaks instead of justice we deserve Michigan GOP officials ushered would-be electors into a basement where, we are led to believe, the diabolical deed took place: They signed a piece of paper. But what was on that paper? Was it the form they were supposed to sign? What happened to that mysterious document next? And why all the secrecy over a bunch of geezers who got dragged to Lansing to put pen to paper? Settle in, gentle readers, because a close reading of Nessel's affidavit, interviews with participants' lawyers, a review of a deposition the former state Republican Party chairwoman gave to congressional investigators, and details sprinkled throughout the federal grand jury indictment bearing the ominous title "United States of America v. Donald J. Trump" reveal that not everything is as it appears and that Michigan was at the heart of an alleged plot to subvert democracy and allow a usurper to retain his throne. A whale of a story Like most thrillers, a lot of the crucial action takes place before the event that made headlines. In this case, state and federal prosecutors allege, Michigan is one of seven states where Trump loyalists hoped a slate of pro-Trump electors could be leveraged to keep Trump in power after he lost the popular and Electoral College vote to Joe Biden on Nov. 3, 2020. Work on this plan began well before 16 Republican electors were summoned to Lansing for that Dec. 14 meeting. Former President Donald Trump arrives to board his plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, in Arlington, Va., after facing a judge on federal conspiracy charges that allege he conspired to subvert the 2020 election. As any kid who was paying attention in high school civics class while you doodled, or, for you younger readers, sent texts, played games or watched porn on your phone, can confirm, you and I don't directly elect the president and vice president. We cast ballots that enable the party that gets the most votes to send a slate of electors to the state Capitol. After they are certified by the governor, they meet on Dec. 14 in a legislative chamber where they sign off on sending Michigan's 16 Electoral College votes to Congress. On Jan. 6 a date that means a whole lot more to Americans than it did before 2021 the vice president presides over a joint session of Congress and officially declares a winner in the race for president. In early December 2020, according to the federal indictment of Trump (now commonly referred to as "Defendant" in multiple jurisdictions), the president and "co-conspirators developed a new plan: to marshall individuals who would have served as the Defendant's electors, had he won the popular vote, in seven target states Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and cause those individuals to make and send to the Vice President and Congress false certifications that they were legitimate electors." The ensuing controversy was designed to "supplant legitimate electors with the Defendant's fake electors and certify the Defendant as president." Meanwhile, back in Michigan, then-state Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox did not like what she was hearing from the Trump campaign. Laura Cox, chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, speaks with constituents prior to Vice President Mike Pence's arrival on Oct. 14, 2020, at a "Make America Great Again," rally in Grand Rapids. "They were asking me to facilitate having the electors meet and sign some sort of document," she said during a May 2, 2022, deposition with investigators from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. "I was very uncomfortable with that," Cox said, adding that she decided to instead convene a ceremonial meeting and have the 16 GOP electors "sign a document stating that if perhaps something were to happen in the courts, they were willing and able to serve as electors from Michigan for Donald Trump and Mike Pence." But the paperwork wasn't Cox's only concern. She said a lawyer who told her he was working with the Trump campaign, "told me that the Michigan Republican electors were planning to meet in the capital (sic) and hide overnight so that they could fulfill the role of casting their vote in the Michigan chambers. "And I told him in no uncertain terms that that was insane and inappropriate." Cox added that the lawyer "didn't care about my opinion. Just, we had words, and I believe I eventually hung up on him." More: Detroit officials to the media: Drop dead Cox identified the lawyer as Bob Norton, of Hillsdale. Robert Norton II, vice president and general counsel at Hillsdale College, did not respond to the messages and email I sent him Friday. What Cox called "a hare-brained idea" apparently got dropped. So she focused her efforts on the compromise document for GOP electors that would essentially say they were willing to serve, "if asked." In the end, after "some talk about facilitating" a "ceremonial meeting" for GOP electors at state party headquarters on Dec. 14, Cox said party officials "ended up getting to (what) I think was a good plan." Cox declined to comment on the electors meeting when I called her last week. But her statements under oath to congressional investigators address both the seeming skullduggery and her lingering concerns that there still could be hijinks ahead. Laura Cox, the chairperson of the Michigan Republican Party, talks with members of the media roughly three hours before President Donald Trump was to appear at his Merry Christmas Rally at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, Mich., on Dec. 18, 2019. "This was a very, a highly-contagioius time with COVID," Cox told investigators, adding that she wanted to limit attendance at the meeting to minimize exposing state GOP staff members to the virus. She added that some electors resisted. " Meshawn Maddock wanted to bring her husband and a camera crew in," Cox said. "Under no circumstances were we going to allow a camera crew in to film the ceremony because it was just a ceremony, and we believed that was not appropriate. And we wanted to control the meeting and the contents of the meeting." A congressional investigator then asked Cox: "Did you think it could get misconstrued as an effort to have Trump win the state of Michigan when he had actually been declared the loser in Michigan?" Cox replied: "I believe that that was a potential." She said Terri Lynn Land, a former Michigan Secretary of State who Republicans had chosen as an elector, was so leery of the situation she skipped the ceremony. "She said, 'I'm just, I'm not going to do it. I'm not casting a vote. I'm not comfortable,' " Cox recalled. (Nessel did not charge Land, who was represented on Dec. 14 by a replacement elector, who Nessel did charge.) Despite her desire to keep a firm hand on the electors' meeting, Cox couldn't attend. She told investigators she got COVID-19 from Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who has been Trump's top adviser in his failed campaign to prove fraud in the 2020 elections. Cox was right to be worried about what might happen at the meeting. But I'm getting ahead of myself. A pawn from Paw Paw? Rose Rook is a grandma from Paw Paw who just was trying to do her duty when she got duped. At least that's how her attorney Michael Bullotta sees it. He says the 81-year-old GOP elector got a call on Dec. 13, 2020, from a "Dr. Smith" who said he was from the national Republican Party telling her "tomorrow you need to go to Lansing to sign an alternate slate in the event it is determined that Trump won." "She just thought it was a contingency signature, not an attempt to claim that Trump won," Bullotta told me, adding: "Nobody explained anything to her at that meeting." Somewhere along the way, the essentially meaningless document Cox concocted got replaced by a document claiming Trump won Michigan. That signed certificate prompted Nessel to charge the 16 GOP electors with fraud. "I prepared a document and set up and prepared for a ceremony, and it's totally different than what, obviously, has been reported in the press of what happened," Cox told congressional investigators more than a year before Nessel charged the electors with eight felony counts each. Cox's attorney told investigators: "She didn't prepare the documents that are reported as electors certificates. She didn't prepare that. She didn't have any prior knowledge of that." So who did? Was it Marian Sheridan, one of the electors who Nessel charged? In an email The Detroit News uncovered, on Dec. 11, 2020, GOP operative Kenneth Chesebro sent an email to Bernard Kerik and Giuliani with copies of memos "which should help people get up to speed on some of the reasons for having all electors vote in all contested States." It continued: "Last night I emailed to Marian Sheridan (MI grassroots vice chair) a draft packet of materials to use for the voting. I will have an updated packet later this afternoon, which I'll forward both to her and you." Sheridan attorney John Freeman, of Troy, told me Friday: "The significance, or lack thereof, of my clients name appearing in the 'Chesebro text to Kerik and Giuliani' will be revealed at a future point during the adversarial court proceedings in the criminal case here in Michigan." Bullotta said Rook didn't read the form she signed. "My client never saw anything other than her signature page" he said. "She only saw a place to sign." "She feels like she was victimized and used," Bullotta said. Michele Lundgren, another elector Nessel charged, told WDIV-TV (Channel 4) that she only signed an index card when she arrived for the Dec. 14 meeting. She suggested that someone then put her signature on the form committing Michigan's votes for Trump. Michigan Republican Party co-chair Meshawn Maddock announces the statewide candidate's nominations during the MIGOP State Nominating Convention at the Lansing Center in Lansing on Aug. 27, 2022. Cox speculated that Maddock, a Trump loyalist who was one of the electors, might have played a role in hijacking the state GOP's agenda for what was supposed to be a ceremonial meeting. "I assume that she was part of some of these cockamamie plans," Cox told investigators. After the signing, Maddock and some of the other electors accompanied a lawyer and film crew to the state Capitol in a failed bid to deliver their signed document pledging Michigan's votes to Trump to the state Senate. She did not return my message seeking comment. Concerns about what could happen with the document Michigan GOP electors signed were well-founded. The federal indictment of Trump says: "On the morning of January 6, an agent of (Trump) contacted a United States Senator to ask him to hand-deliver documents to the Vice President. The agent then facilitated the receipt by the Senator's staff of the fraudulent certificates signed by (Trump's) fraudulent electors in Wisconsin and Michigan." Two months after the Dec. 14 meeting, Cox lost her bid for a second term leading the state party. Maddock was elected co-chair. Making waves Not long after Nessel charged her and the other electors with conspiracy and forgery, Maddock and her husband held a "Free The 16 Electors Poolside Party!" at their Milford home. There, they accused law enforcement officials of targeting conservatives, warned of a civil war, and made an apparent Holocaust reference, which is never a good idea. A judge later barred Maddock from traveling to Missouri to attend a conference hosted by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who also believes the 2020 election was stolen, even though he hasn't come up with any proof, either. Michigan Republican Party co-chair Meshawn Maddock speask during a Save America rally at the Michigan Stars Sports Center in Washington Township on April 2, 2022. All of the electors Nessel charged have pleaded not guilty. Freeman accused the attorney general, who is a Democrat, of conducting "a political witch hunt." "I believe the evidence in this case will show that the Michigan Attorney Generals targeting of Mrs. Sheridan represents a blatant attempt to weaponize and abuse prosecutorial authority in order to attack and attempt to decapitate political rivals," he said. Bullotta who, like Freeman, is a former fed, said Rook has been victimized twice. First, by the Trump officials who encouraged her to attend the Dec. 14 meeting. Then by Nessel, whose charges carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. "Our state Attorney General targeting an 81-year-old grandmother with full knowledge that she had no criminal intent of any kind is the most egregious abuse of prosecutorial power I have ever observed in my 30 years as an attorney, including my 23 years as a federal prosecutor," Bullotta said. With 16 defendants, this is just the beginning of a long and messy legal battle. Count on defense attorneys citing the two slates of presidential electors Hawaii sent to Washington in 1960. And federal prosecutors in the Trump indictment said "some fraudulent electors were tricked into participating," but they don't specify in which states they believe this happened. For my money, the only comments no reasonable person can challenge came from Cox, when she told investigators why she opposed schemes ranging from electors hiding out in the state Capitol to signing documents certifying a Trump victory in Michigan that never happened (Biden won by more than 154,000 votes). "I just felt like it could lead to a bad outcome," Cox said. "It just, in my gut, didn't seem like a good idea." M.L. Elrick is a Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter and host of the ML's Soul of Detroit podcast. Contact him at mlelrick@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter at @elrick, Facebook at ML Elrick and Instagram at ml_elrick. Support investigative reporting and use this link to invite a friend to become a subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan GOP electors were key to Trump plot to overturn election Germany is not supplying Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, in part because German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fears they could be used to strike at Russian territory, German newspaper Bild reported on Sept. 4, citing an unnamed Ukrainian official. The head of the Bundestag's defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, also said that the only official blocking the supply is German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Scholzs advisers cite various reasons why he is delaying the delivery, Bild writes. Among them are waiting for U.S. leader Joe Biden's decision on the transfer of ATACMS missiles to Kyiv and the argument that Taurus "will only make sense after the delivery of F-16s". Berlin also continues to distrust the Ukrainian leadership regarding a possible strike on Russian territory, Bild adds. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: No new decisions yet on transferring Taurus missiles to Ukraine, says German government spokesperson "These are again excuses from Germany, we hear these excuses again and again," said the unnamed Ukrainian official cited by Bild. However, now we need more capabilities to attack Russian positions and command posts inside Ukraine to make further progress. Read also: Germany to transfer long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine Reznikov Earlier, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Presidents Office, warned against repeating mistakes and delayed deliveries and called on Berlin to make a decision on supplying the cruise missiles as soon as possible, "which will be done sooner or later anyway." "There is no other way to destroy Russian logistics and units, so Taurus is needed not to attack Russian territory, but to destroy the occupiers' resources," Podolyak said. As soon as we destroy the strategic camps, there will be no other way to strengthen the army, and the war will take on a different form. NV German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Finance Minister Christian Lindner have also spoken out in favor of providing Ukraine with Taurus missiles. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that the supply of missiles to Ukraine would not lead to an escalation. Read also: Germanys parliament agrees to transfer Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine Ukrainian MP German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Aug. 11 that the German government was exploring the possibility of providing Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles in the coming months. However, Scholz insists the missiles be altered to prevent strikes inside Russia, while denying accusations of wavering on supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Earlier, Reuters wrote that Berlin was already in talks with arms manufacturer MBDA to supply Ukraine with these cruise missiles. 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 What would you say to the idea of a four-day school week? One school district in Ohio is already doing it. The North College Hill district in Hamilton County is using what they call a blended learning schedule. This will be the first school year using the new schedule. >> Former Trotwood-Madison football player returns to his roots to inspire the next generation According to the district, students will spend every Monday at home doing self-directed work and go to in-person classes Tuesday through Friday. The change allows more flexibility during the week but it also raises questions about child care and meals. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement News Center 7s Taylor Robertson reached out to schools in the Miami Valley to see if they would consider this and broke down what she learned during News Center 7 Daybreak. Dayton Public Schools and Huber Heights City Schools said, at this time, they havent discussed the possibility of implementing a four-day week. Vandalia-Butler City Schools also said they have no plans to transition to four days. In Urbana, Superintendent Charles Thiel said they havent looked at making that change. He also said there is a concern over the care and feeding of our students on the day that is eliminated. >> He was my future; Girlfriend of man killed in road rage shooting in Sidney speaks out That similar concern was brought up by Laurel Ely, a parent of four kids and an Electrical Trades teacher at Scarlet Oaks Career Center. A lot of schools serve breakfast, every school serves lunch. So some of those students that go to a lot of schools, thats their those may be their only two guaranteed meals they have during the school years, Ely said. Robertson turned to social media to get opinions from Miami Valley parents about the possibility of a four-day week. Ashley Robertson said she thinks it would be good for kids mental health, but it would mean some parents who work would need to find a babysitter. On the other hand, Melissa Driver said that finding a babysitter would cause extra financial stress for some working parents. >> UD students reminded to report suspicious, concerning behavior after Sundays block party Ely said parents saw how this went down with parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, where students were on a hybrid school schedule. A lot of parents were struggling with that because, say they do have both families, both parents working and they dont have grandparents or someone else that can watch their children when theyre not in school. So if you dont have children old enough that they can stay at home during that time, then thats a big concern, Ely said. President Joe Biden recently toured Maui to meet with survivors of the deadly fires that ravaged the island, killed at least 106, and destroyed the historic town of Lahaina. And while the people of Hawaii continue to grieve, search for more than 800 people still missing, and begin to rebuild, others are asking how this could have happened. Those concerned about the likelihood that more devastating fires are coming are asking what role our overheating planet played in worsening the disaster. A piece of the puzzle Wildfire experts, such as Elizabeth Pickett, who runs the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, are connecting the dots between a rapidly changing climate and the disaster. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Pickett told The Verge that our warming climate is a piece of the puzzle, but its not the whole thing. Its likely that warmer temperatures and stronger winds from a nearby hurricane worsened the situation, but what else was at play? Several fire specialists are now pointing to invasive and non-native grasses for the intensity of the blazes. Very ignitable grasses After the fall of the sugarcane industry in Hawaii in the 1990s, tens of thousands of acres of land became abandoned, and fast-growing grasses moved in. Dr. Carla DAntonio, an ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, explained to Agence France-Presse that invasive grasses are very ignitable. They make conditions that are more conducive to more fire, and all of a sudden, we just have a lot more fire. Species like the fountain grass and Guinea grass acted as an enormous fuel source in the wildfire, allowing it to create far more destruction. A predicted disaster Unfortunately, the potential devastation caused by these grasses, which cover nearly one-fourth of the state of Hawaii, was known years before the fires occurred. The Maui County government commissioned a fire prevention report in 2021 that found such non-native grasses, especially those in vacant sugarcane fields, could create combustible, rapidly burning fuels [that] needs to be addressed. The reports recommendation was an aggressive plan to replace these hazardous fuel sources with native plants to reduce combustible fuel. So while it is clear that these non-native grasses worsened the situation, other experts recognize that, like the hotter temperatures, no one factor can be solely to blame. Dr. Camilo Mora, who teaches at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, explained to The Guardian that the grasses were a disaster waiting to happen, but the silver bullet is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Join our free newsletter for cool news and cool tips that make it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. This embedded content is not available in your region. On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: A sea of mud at Burning Man Rains hit this year's Burning Man, stranding tens of thousands of people in the Nevada desert. Plus, Ukraine announces a new defense minister, USA TODAY Congress, Campaigns, and Democracy Reporter Rachel Looker explains how a State Department office aims to build relationships with young people around the world, USA TODAY Senior Reporter Jessica Guynn looks at the recent wave of recalls from Trader Joe's, and flamingos show up across the eastern U.S. after Hurricane Idalia. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Taylor Wilson: Good morning and happy Labor Day. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Monday, the 4th of September 2023. Today, mud and muck at Burning Man. Plus, how a State Department office aims to build relationships with young people around the world, and what's with these latest food recalls? It was a rare weekend of rain and mud at Burning Man. Some 73,000 attendees at the festival in the Nevada desert became stranded after rains turned a usually sandy area into deep mud, nearly impossible to walk or drive on. Organizers said people were free to walk out of the event, but the majority stayed hunched down in their RVs or tents. Burning Man takes its name from a giant sculpture that's ignited and burned to cap off the event, and it began in 1986. Today, tens of thousands of people gather each summer for about nine days in Nevada's Black Rock Desert to create a temporary city known for its communal living and eccentric displays of art and expression. Burners create a kind of utopia building villages, a medical center and airport along with performance stages. That utopia was put to the test this weekend. Porta-potty toilets went days without being serviced, despite being the main bathroom options. And amid the heaviest rains, many people were unable to move around even short distances. Authorities said yesterday they were also investigating a death at the festival, though organizers say the man died on Friday, unrelated to the weather. Deaths at Burning Man are not uncommon. A man died in 2019 after he was found dead in his vehicle with a lethal concentration of carbon monoxide found in his blood. And in a disturbing 2017 incident, a man died after throwing himself into the main fire display. It was another foreign trip for former Iowa congresswoman Abby Finkenauer in her new role as special envoy for the Global Youth Issues office, a global office within the State Department that formed after the 2010 Arab Spring anti-government protests. It's focus: build relationships with young people around the world. I spoke with USA TODAY Congress Campaigns and Democracy Reporter Rachel Looker for more. Rachel, thanks for hopping on 5 Things. Rachel Looker: Thanks so much for having me. Taylor Wilson: Can you just start by telling us a bit about former Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer's career and story? Rachel Looker: So Abby Finkenauer has a really interesting story in how she became involved in public service. She told me from a very young age, she was always interested in what was happening in the world around her. She begged her parents at 10 years old for a subscription to Newsweek. She would always sit around the family dinner table talking politics and current events with her relatives. And it really started for her when she joined the U.S. House Page Program. And when she came back, the interest in politics sort of just stuck. She went to college and then she saw that there was an open State House seat available. She decided to run, and at 24 years old, she was elected to the Iowa State House, which is where she grew up. And then shortly after that, four years later, there was a U.S. House seat available in her district. So Finkenauer decided to run and she won. She became the first congresswoman from Iowa to head to the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. and she was the youngest female to be elected to the U.S. House in DC. Taylor Wilson: And right on brand, Finkenauer is now special envoy for the Global Youth Issues Office. Rachel, what does this office aim to achieve? Rachel Looker: So the Global Youth Issues Office, it formed about 10 years ago under the Department of State. And its main focus is to really build relationships with young people all around the world. So it started following the Arab Spring, which were a series of pro-democracy protests and uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, challenging authoritarianism, basically. So Finkenauer said that this office really came to be as a focus to ensure that young people have a seat at the table when we're looking at diplomacy. Taylor Wilson: And what do some of the program's participants say about their experiences? Rachel Looker: So I was able to speak with one of the program participants who called it a life-changing experience. He is from Vietnam. He started his own coffee business where he works to hire youth who come from challenging backgrounds, some who've suffered domestic violence or dropped out of school. And he said the real positive from participating in this program was getting to learn and connect with so many other people around the world, all people who have similar interests in trying to make their communities a better place wherever that may be. And getting to learn from those people and connect with them was something that was really invaluable lessons that he was able to take home with him back in Vietnam. Taylor Wilson: And Rachel, a major barrier toward getting young people involved in politics is this sense of disillusionment with corruption around the world, this feeling that no matter what, you can't get your voice heard. What do young people say about this issue globally and how does this office address those concerns? Rachel Looker: That's a great question. So the office really focuses on making sure that young people have a seat at the table. Finkenauer told me as important it is for her to kind of share her story and her experience in public service, she wants to hear from these young people, to hear about what issues matter to them, what are some of the most important things they would like to address or fix in their communities, and then making sure that they have that space to talk about these issues, and that they have the tools to try to take action in the best way that they can. Taylor Wilson: What other issues do youth care about globally that this office works to address? Rachel Looker: Three that she highlighted for me were climate change, corruption in government and disinformation. And the office addresses all of those through different programs that they host and initiatives. But she really said it comes down to just providing actionable tools that young people can use to make a difference, and have these conversations to talk about ideas and talk about solutions, and brainstorm together from different backgrounds and different countries all around the world so that young people are equipped to try to address some of the biggest problems our whole entire globe is facing. Taylor Wilson: Rachel Looker, thanks so much. Rachel Looker: Thank you. Taylor Wilson: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced yesterday that defense minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week. He cited the need for "new approaches and different formats of interaction, both with the military and with society." He said that Crimean lawmaker Rustem Umerov would take over the role. Umerov was previously involved with the exchange of prisoners of war and evacuations of civilians from Russian occupied territories. He was also part of the delegation in negotiations with Russia over the U.N.-backed grain deal. The change in leadership comes as Ukraine's counteroffensive has stalled in recent weeks. You can read more with a link in today's show notes. From rocks to insects, Trader Joe's has issued a wave of product recalls lately. I spoke with USA TODAY Senior Reporter Jessica Guynn for more and whether food recalls in general are becoming more common. Hello, Jessica, welcome back to the show. Jessica Guynn: Hi. Thanks so much for having me. Taylor Wilson: So what products has Trader Joe's recalled in recent weeks? Jessica Guynn: Well, quite a few of them. This week, Trader Joe's alerted us that some black bean tamales may contain undeclared milk. That seemed pretty innocuous compared to the multi-grain crackers that may contain metal, two different kinds of cookies that may contain rocks, and broccoli cheddar soup and cooked falafel that might contain insects. These are all recalls involving physical contamination. I don't know about you, but I don't really want to chew on bugs and rocks. Trader Joe's is urging all of us if we have these products to throw them away or bring them back to the store for a refund. Taylor Wilson: What else does the company say about this string of recalls and what do experts say about whether or not Trader Joe's has a bigger recall problem? Jessica Guynn: So the company says that the timing, the close timing of these recalls is just coincidental. It also says the recalls are a direct result of how aggressively and carefully they track these kinds of issues in their products. Their basic message is they don't wait around for regulators to tell them what to do. They just do the right thing by their customers. And that sounds really good. The experts say they're a little troubled by just how many recalls there have been in such a short span of time. They say it's true that modern supply chains are long, complex, and there's just lots of opportunities for contamination to take place. But six recalls in the span of five weeks is a lot more than they expected to see from a chain like Trader Joe's, and they say that raises quality control issues. Taylor Wilson: It seems like we hear more and more stories about food recalls. Are they becoming more common in the U.S.? Jessica Guynn: It, like most things, depends on who you ask. Yes, we're seeing more product recalls because food products have more ingredients and are more processed than they used to be. But according to PIRG, food product recalls by the FDA and USDA aren't more common, and that in itself could be a problem. There's a shortage of food inspectors working for the government and for companies. People are not going to the doctor as often for ailments caused by food contamination. So we may be missing some of these problems. Taylor Wilson: Jessica, how can people protect themselves from contaminated food? Jessica Guynn: Well, one thing you can do, which I am going to do, is sign up for push notifications for FDA and USDA recalls. You can also make sure if you have a loyalty card that your grocery store alerts loyalty card holders to recalls. And there are certain groups of people who should be extra cautious. If you have a food allergy, be careful. 42% of food recalls are for undeclared allergens. And then of course, babies, young kids, people who are older, pregnant, immunocompromised or anyone in fragile health should really take care when purchasing these heavily processed foods. Taylor Wilson: All right. Jessica Guynn, thank you as always. Jessica Guynn: Thank you so much for having me. Taylor Wilson: Flamingo sightings have popped up all over the Eastern U.S. in recent days, and experts say Hurricane Idalia is to blame. The iconic pink birds first started showing up all over Florida, but by Saturday, three days after Idalia made landfall, flamingo sightings had been reported in Alabama, both Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia, and even Ohio. Colonies of the birds are found in the Caribbean, including the Yucatan Peninsula and Mexico, where Idalia lingered for days building up strength before barreling into Florida's west coast last week, and then moving across other parts of the South. It's not unheard of for birds to be caught up in hurricanes and then dropped out somewhere else, but it's unprecedented to get this many flamingos in this many places, according to Greg Neise from the American Birding Association. You can read more with a link in today's show notes. And if you didn't know, before Labor Day became a federal holiday, it was recognized by labor activists and individual states. In 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday and President Grover Cleveland signed it into law. Thanks for listening to 5 Things. If you like the show, please subscribe and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And any comments, you can send them our way to podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Muddy Burning Man, flamingos follow Hurricane Idalia: 5 Things podcast Another victim has died after a shooting at a house party in Lynn Saturday morning, the Essex County District Attorneys Office said Sunday. The shooting had already caused one death and injured several others. Horrendous act of violence: 1 dead, 2 in critical condition after overnight shooting in Lynn Jandriel Heredia of Revere died from gunshot wounds he sustained when an unknown shooter opened fire at 189 Essex Street around 2:20 a.m. Saturday morning. Heredia, 25-year-old Abraham Diaz, and five others were rushed to a local hospital to be treated for their injuries. Diaz was pronounced dead on Saturday. One of the victims is still in critical condition. He was an angel he was a good kid, it is outrageous, we have to do something to stop this nonsense violence, said Heredias uncle, Jose Encarnacion. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He was young and a very peaceful boy, he never had any issue with no one, he loved to work, said Encarnacion. A makeshift memorial of flowers and candles continues to grow Sunday at the crime scene as dozens of family and friends of the victims come together. The Essex County DA said Sunday there is no update on the condition of the five other people who sustained injuries. Investigators do not believe the shooting to be a random act of violence and believe that it was a targeted attack. A neighbor told Boston 25 he was in his house when he heard at least 10 rounds of gunshots, tires screeching, and people screaming from the party in the parking lot. There were kids with problems in gangs or something like that, but these kids they were just celebrating that they were going to college the next day, said Encarnacion. A sign now hangs outside the house, calling on the community for help in finding the person who opened fire. Anything you think that can help, you know, even if its something small just come out talk to the police, we need to find justice for these kids, said Encarnacion. Less than 24 hours later, Lynn police were again called to a deadly shooting around half a mile away. Officers responded to Lincoln Street around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night to find a man inside his vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds. He was rushed to Salem Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. Preliminary investigation shows the Saturday night shooting was also targeted but does not appear to be related to the early morning shooting, investigators said. Both cases remain under investigation by the Essex County District Attorneys Office State Police Detective Unit and the Lynn Police Department. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW KYIV, Ukraine Ukraine is facing a critical moment both on and off the battlefield. Its troops are fighting to turn what appears to be a minor breakthrough in the south into a substantial breach of Russian lines before winter sets in. And in Kyiv, the defense minister has been dismissed in the biggest shake-up of the countrys leadership since the war began. The departure of Oleksiy Reznikov has been rumored for months and appears linked to a broader anti-corruption drive, but the timing coincides with developments in another effort that could be crucial to securing ongoing Western support: The first claims of potentially significant gains in the militarys counteroffensive. Ukrainian forces are gaining a foothold in the area where they have breached Russias first main defensive line in the south, Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraines defense minister, told NBC News on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Everything is very dynamic right now, but the initiative is definitely on our side, Sak said on the phone from Kyiv. Progress but no walk in the park Washington said last week there had been notable progress in the fight to retake occupied land in the countrys south after months with no substantial advances against heavily fortified Russian defense lines. The growing air of positivity was reinforced over the weekend by Ukrainian Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, who heads the countrys army in the south, saying that his forces had breached Russias first defensive line near Zaporizhzhia and were now pushing out on both sides of the breach. Last month, Ukraine reclaimed the village of Robotyne in the region, marking its first notable gain in months as its forces try to push toward Melitopol, a key city which has been under Russian control since early in the war. Taking or even getting close to Melitopol could threaten Russias valued land bridge to the occupied Crimean peninsula, but that target has seemed increasingly out of reach for Ukraine given the painstaking nature of any advances until now. We always say that for us every centimeter of our land is important, said Sak, the adviser in Kyiv. So of course, when we managed to break the first super-mined defensive line, thats really important. While there hasnt been a definitive breakthrough yet, Sak said, penetrating through heavily fortified defenses where every square yard is packed with infantry or anti-tank mines proves that we know what to do next. He said it was a huge morale boost for those on the front lines and in the rear, but also cautioned against making any predictions about when Ukraine might be able to breach the second and third lines of defense, which are not thought to be as heavily fortified. The Russian troops that were on the first defensive line will recede and will try to gain a foothold on the second and third defensive lines, said Sak. According to our information, Russia has spent much more of its resources on the first defensive line, so its considered the strongest. Next, all our military commanders hope that things will get a little easier and faster, but it wont be a walk in the park." Military mobility of the Ukrainian Army in the direction of Bakhmut frontline (Diego Herrera Carcedo / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Saks caution was echoed by military analysts who told NBC News it was too early to call the recent gains a turning point. Ukrainian attacks are being carefully managed to minimize casualties, which is proving successful but also making it possible for the Russians to reset their defensive lines, said Matthew Ford, associate professor in war studies at the Swedish Defence University in Stockholm. A turning point might be just a tad too strong, Ford added. They still have to get through two more lines. They can do that. They may even do that this season. But it has taken them three months to get this far. To really turn the success of the last few weeks into an operationally significant development, Ukrainian forces will have to widen and deepen those gains, said Christopher Tuck, an expert in conflict and security at Kings College London. There is still no sign they are likely to induce the cascading failure in the Russian defensive system that might prompt a larger breakthrough, Tuck added, The Russian defense ministry said Monday its forces were trying to improve the tactical situation in the area of Robotyne and the nearby village of Verbove. The Kremlin has already largely dismissed the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failure, and the slow nature of any progress since it was launched in June has fueled doubts about Kyivs ability to win a decisive military victory. That in turn has led to sharp pushback from some Ukrainian officials against reports and observers questioning the governments tactics. A new defense minister In the wake of the recent apparent progress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a major change in the countrys military leadership. Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, who has spearheaded Ukraines defense since Russia invaded last year and played an important role in securing foreign military aid, submitted his resignation Monday after Zelenskyy announced his departure in his nightly address on Sunday. The defense ministry has faced graft allegations, which have shaken public confidence at a crucial time for the countrys survival. Keen to maintain domestic and Western support, Zelenskyy has tried to show his tough stance on corruption, which has plagued Ukraine for decades. He said Sunday that the ministry needed new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large. Reznikov will be replaced by Rustem Umerov, Zelenskyy said, but the decision has still to be approved by Ukraines parliament. Ukraine Defense Minister Replaced (AFP; Getty Images file) Reznikov has not been in direct control of military operations, and his resignation is more likely to be linked to Zelenskys desire to reinforce the message that he is serious about his anti-corruption drive, said Tuck, rather than signaling a major shake-up in how the war will be conducted. Umerov, who hails from occupied Crimea, has an economic and financial background. He has served as the head of Ukraines State Property Fund, which deals with privatizing state property, since last year and took part in the early war negotiations with Russia. While he doesnt have military experience, Tuck added, Umerov has other desirable qualities: He is a known quantity, has already undertaken a range of responsible roles and is untainted by corruption allegations. And he seems to be aligned with Zelenskys perspectives on how, in general terms, the war should be prosecuted, Tuck added. Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv, and Yuliya Talmazan from London. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Unfailingly kind and capable beyond her years. That's how Jordin Castillo's family remembers her. It was natural for her to earn the love and admiration of those who had the chance to cross paths with her. A 20-year-old mom, Castillo gave everything for her 2-year-old daughter, Malia, with the same selfless care that she always showed to all who surrounded her. Her loved ones said she was taking brave steps and was set to reach great heights, were it not for the sudden and untimely end that marked her story. "I'm broken. It's like the light went out in my world," Katina Castillo, Jordin's mother, told The Arizona Republic. "I'll never be the same. I'll miss her every day." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Three months ago, Castillo was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend, according to what Glendale police reported in early June. Amidst mourning her death, Castillo's family and friends are ensuring other victims of domestic violence facing similar circumstances find a way out of their situation before it's too late. The incident that took Castillo's life In the afternoon of June 4, calls came to Glendale police regarding "some type of altercation" at an apartment complex near Northern and 51st avenues. Officers found three women with gunshot wounds; Castillo was among them. Police said a man, who they later identified as Rueben Xavier Rocha, 22, broke into Castillo's third-floor apartment by breaking a glass door on the balcony. He fired multiple rounds at three of the six occupants inside, striking all three and ultimately killing Castillo before fleeing, according to police. Among the occupants was Malia, who survived the incident. Rocha turned himself into the police and was arrested the day following the shooting, police said. One of the victims told investigators she identified Rocha immediately despite him wearing all black, a ski mask and hoodie over his head. She also identified him in a photo lineup, according to documents obtained by The Arizona Republic in June. "I can't yet grasp the idea that someone could so coldheartedly just walk into a room and just shoot up while knowing your baby is in there," Mercedes Castillo, Jordin's aunt, said. "Everyone's hurt by this. It's not even just my family, the whole community is shaken by this." Mercedes said the first couple of days after her death were rough for Jordin's daughter. "She was there when everything happened, so when we got her at the hospital, the first thing she said was 'Mommy hurt', 'Mommy got owie.' That was the first thing that she said to us," Mercedes said. "After what happened, everyone has been showering (Malia) with love. She will be with us from now on, with her family." A GoFundMe was set up to help cover funeral expenses and support Castillo's daughter, while another was set up to support one of the victims, who family members said is Castillo's best friend. Jordin Castillo 'a giver' Castillo was both quick-witted and warm-hearted in essence, a combination that her loved ones said made her stand out and helped her reach significant milestones early in life. Since childhood, Katina said Jordin accomplished anything she would set her mind to. At 15, she obtained her driver's permit, and the following year Castillo had her drivers license and was working her first job. By 20, Jordin had a place of her own and was starting a career as a support service aid for the City of Phoenix Water Services Department, Katina said. "She was doing so well," Katina said. "She was 20, starting a career. She was only in her position for three weeks, and her team fell in love with her, they just knew she was going to excel." Her tenacity also showed true when at 18 she found out she was pregnant. Jordin embraced motherhood with unwavering dedication since day one, Katina said, surprising everyone around her. Malia became Jordin's top priority and the foremost receiver of her loving nature, which Katina said is reflected in the little girl's affection and intelligence. "Jordin was 4'11" and 90 pounds, but she was a little firecracker. She was determined to make a better life for her and her daughter." Katina told The Republic. "I was very proud of her." Jordin enjoyed being with family and friends, especially going biking, shopping and trying new restaurants with them. She was many things, but many would summarize her personality in one word: "a giver." "I think that's what I'm going to miss the most about her: her giving heart," Katina said amid tears. "She would go out of her way to make us all feel special." Elijah Castillo, Jordin's brother, recalled receiving presents from her on every special occasion. She would surprise him with gifts, spontaneously bringing him food for them to enjoy together, and frequently reaching out through texts and calls without any specific reasons or explanations. Jordin, the youngest of four siblings, would have turned 21 on Aug. 7, Elijah said. "My little sister had many plans for her turning 21." Elijah said. "It comes in waves of anger and sadness. She was a part of our everyday life. I could not imagine a life without any of my siblings, let alone my little sister, because she was the chain link in our family. Figuring out life without her will be pretty rough." Gabe Castillo holds his mom Katina Castillo (left) alongside her sister Mercedes and son Elijah during a vigil for her daughter Jordin Miranda Castillo, a 20-year-old mother who died after authorities say her ex-boyfriend broke into her Glendale apartment and fatally shot her. 'I do hope her story reaches somebody' According to Katina, there were previous domestic violence episodes between Jordin and her ex-boyfriend before the incident where she lost her life. In repeated occasions, Jordin was attacked both physically and mentally by her ex-boyfriend, Katina said. When police interviewed witnesses and neighbors of Jordin, one said that Rocha had been violent with her in the past. It wasn't immediately clear if any of these incidents had been reported to the authorities. Jordin was one of many Latinas who are subjected to a domestic violence situation. According to Esperanza United, a national network that mobilizes Latino communities to end gender-based violence, about 1 in 3 Latinas experience some form of domestic violence, and often, due to language barriers and cultural expectations, they find it harder to seek help. Jordin tried to give the relationship time to make it work, Katina said. She stayed in hopes of, one day, having a functional and loving family for the sake of her daughter. Around April of this year, Jordin had begun looking for a new place where her boyfriend wouldn't find her, Katina said. "She was finally protecting herself and saying 'we're done with this. I can't take this anymore.' And she was trying to move forward," Katina said. "She was doing it for her baby, but she realized being in that relationship wasn't going to be your normal, happy family." According to Cindy Garcia, director of Chicanos Por La Causa's domestic violence program De Colores, it can take a lot of courage for a domestic violence victim to get out of an abusive relationship. "The most dangerous time for any survivor is when they decide to leave, because that is when their abuser is losing power and control over them, and they may make very dangerous and rash decisions," Garcia said. "It's very important to make a plan." Garcia explained domestic violence specialists at De Colores provide victims with options that range from shelters and community-based services, to relocation and getting authorities involved. "They don't have to do this alone. We ensure to provide all of the options and guide them through the process, but it is their choice of what they want to do and when they want to do it." Around the same time she moved, Jordin also got a restraining order. As she moved on from the abusive relationship, Katina said Jordin began to see a positive turn for her and her daughter. "But the reality that we learned is that an order of protection is just a piece of paper," Katina stated as her voice cracked with sadness. "It doesn't protect you in any way, shape or form, as she thought that it would." Legal advocates at domestic violence organizations like De Colores can provide information on parental rights, victim rights, orders of protection and court accompaniment, among other services. "Many women feel that it's better to keep the family together, but the trauma that children will go through when they are in an abusive household is so inmense," Garcia said. "We've seen that women are getting murdered. We cannot take that lightly. If your gut is telling you that your partner might kill you, you have to go with that gut." The shelter also recently began allowing pets, which according to Garcia is a much-needed service. According to her, 97% of domestic violence victims nationwide contemplate not leaving their abusive home because they do not want to leave their pets, and only 12% of shelters in the U.S. accept pets. De Colores' shelter in Phoenix provides space for victims to stay with both their pets and their children, Garcia said. A 2022 report by the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence showed that in 2022 there were a total of 101 known domestic violence-related fatalities across Arizona. Of those deaths, 69 were in Maricopa County. The numbers are projected to stay consistent for 2023, the report states. Jordin's family, however, is hoping her story can help prevent that. "I do hope her story reaches somebody," Katina said. "Nobody should have to go through what my daughter did." "She would have been an advocate for anybody who was in her situation," Mercedes said. "Now we want to do that for other people." Katina and Garcia both relayed the following message to Latinas victims of domestic violence: that they have to seek help and there are resources available for them. "Seek help, talk to somebody, there is help out there," Katina said. "At the end, it was too late for Jordin. Her life was taken from her. Taken from us. And that's the hard part about all of this. But it doesn't have to be this way." "The help is there, we are here for you, if you need it and when you are read," Garcia said. "But don't wait on it. Life is too short, and you deserve to be safe." De Colores has a domestic violence hotline available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Victims and family or friends of a victim can call 602-269-1515 to ask questions or request shelter. Family and friends gather for a vigil at South Mountain Park in Phoenix to remember Jordin Miranda Castillo, a 20-year-old mother who died after authorities say her ex-boyfriend broke into her Glendale apartment and fatally shot her. Domestic violence resources for Arizonans Resources for Arizonans experiencing domestic violence include: In Arizona, people can call the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, 602-279-2900 or 1-800-782-6400 or visit its website, acesdv.org/helpline. The Phoenix police website, www.phoenix.gov/domesticviolence, has a list of places people can contact in Maricopa County. Reach breaking news reporter Laura Daniella Sepulveda at laura.sepulveda@arizonarepublic.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter @lauradaniella_s. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Family of slain Glendale single mom hope her story can save others MEMPHIS, Tenn. A shooting inside a Hickory Hill apartment complex over the weekend resulted in two men getting rushed to the hospital. Before 4:30 Sunday, detectives responded to the Edge at Lakeview off Knight Arnold Road. Yellow tape marked the spot where two men were shot and critically injured. Incidents like this are why community activists like Stevie Moore say change is also critical in a new way forward. Labor Day weekend shootings leave 4 injured Lets stop being so divided in our community because nothing but the community can solve this problem, Moore said. Moore says something we cant shy away from is the urgency to be proactive versus reactive. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I have seen a few organizations now coming together doing something with the kids before the problem happens, he said. 8 cars stolen from dealership in Fox Meadows According to the citys data hub, within a half-mile radius of the complex, investigators have responded 205 times since January 1 for assaults, robberies, and homicides alone. That is one less offense compared to the same period the year before. We always look at what happened thats bad, but God is doing so much more good for us then the bad, but we just put more attention on the bad, Moore said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. The leader of tech's favorite texting app suspects there will never be a WeChat in the U.S. Elon Musk is attempting to turn Twitter, renamed X, into just such an app. Despite such ongoing efforts by major tech figures, there is not "much hope" for success. The odds of Elon Musk turning Twitter into the next "super app" are slim, according to the president of Signal. Meredith Whittaker , a former Google executive and co-founder of research group AI Now who last year became Signal's first president, cast doubt on the likelihood of Twitter becoming the next WeChat, the most popular messaging app in China. Signal is a fully encrypted app for calls and texts that is widely used in the tech industry, including by Musk. Although the Tesla billionaire, who acquired Twitter last year, recently renamed the platform X as part of his insistence on it becoming an "everything app," Whittaker thinks the time for any such platform is passed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "People have been talking about it for years, and we still don't have a super app," she said in an interview with Swiss magazine Schweizer Monat. Although there are such apps that are hugely popular, they are exclusively in Asia, like WeChat in China, Line in Japan and Kakao in Korea, Whittaker noted. All of those apps came up in a time "when there wasn't a lot of competition in the market, and they are integrated into government service," she said. "I don't think there's much hope for a super app that suddenly appears, displaces the competition, and then dominates multiple markets in the U.S.," Whittaker added. Musk, who is new to running a social media company and recently brought in advertising executive Linda Yaccarino to try and improve its struggling advertising business, appears determined to try. The billionaire spoke of wanting to create a WeChat-like app for the U.S. even before he owned Twitter and in recent months has been testing features like payments, live video and even phone calls. Although he has admitted things are not going well. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has also been attempting for a couple of years to build WhatsApp into something akin to a super app. Mark Zuckerberg acquired the simple messaging app a decade ago for $22 billion, a staggering price to pay for something that still has not turned a direct profit. Now, the app is working to better integrate brands and businesses to work with customers, while experimenting with payments and shopping. Uber, too, is morphing itself into a broader offering more than booking rides. With a growing array of travel services, like hotel and flight booking, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, said he wants Uber to be "the operating system for your everyday life." WeChat, one of the most popular apps in the world with more than 1 billion monthly active users, still offers much more than any single platform in the West. The app makes most of its money from a huge array of games while it operates as a large social media platform and an e-commerce platform for brands and companies of all sizes. It also facilitates text, voice to text, voice and live video communication, even with groups of people; maps and GPS services; online and in-person payments and even has an enterprise version of the app for businesses that can be used typical HR functions like payroll. Read the original article on Business Insider A view of locally caught seafood at the Hamanoeki Fish Market and Food Court in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon) SINGAPORE The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has confirmed that it has not found any contaminated food samples from Japan, in connection with the country's recent release of wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant. The clarification from Singapore's food safety watchdog on Sunday (3 September) comes in response to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) podcast, titled "More Countries Ban Import of Japanese Food." Clarification of misreported claims The WSJ podcast, which was published on 24 August, claimed that Singapore has found radioactive contamination in vegetable samples from Japan. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement However, the SFA has clarified that this statement refers to a media release made by the former Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore back in 2011, which is no longer relevant due to subsequent developments. Although posted this year, the podcast referred to an incident on 25 March 2011, two weeks after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. SFA reaffirmed on Sunday that it had not detected any contaminated vegetable samples from Japan or banned any food products from Japanese prefectures recently. The agency emphasised its commitment to a science-based approach when assessing food safety risks. "Food imported into Singapore is subjected to SFA's surveillance and monitoring regime, which includes radiation surveillance, and enforcement actions will be taken should any food imports be found to be unsafe or unsuitable for consumption," SFA said in its media release. Japan's Fukushima water release sparks regional reactions On 24 August, Japan began discharging treated water used for cooling the damaged reactors into the sea. Japanese authorities reported that fish tested in waters around the Fukushima nuclear plant did not contain detectable levels of radiation immediately after the water release. However, in response to the discharge, China has banned all Japanese seafood imports, and Hong Kong has restricted "aquatic products" from 10 Japanese prefectures. South Korea also witnessed protests involving about 50,000 people demanding government action. Arrests were made after protestors entered a building housing the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Wastewater release unlikely to affect Singapore's seawater quality Regarding concerns about food safety in Singapore following Japan's decision to release Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said on 3 August in Parliament that the SFA has been closely monitoring food imports, including those from Japan. The National Environment Agency assessed that the planned discharge of treated radioactive water into the sea from the Fukushima nuclear plant is unlikely to impact seawater quality in or around Singapore waters. It also added that the radioactivity levels remain within natural background levels. Fishing boats are anchored at a fishing port in Soma, about 45 km away from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant discharging treated radioactive water into the ocean, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, August 31, 2023. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon) Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube. Yahoo Singapore Telegram Sir David made history in 2000 when he became the first person to fly solo in a balloon to the North Pole - Ben Birchall/PA Adventurer Sir David Hempleman-Adams has offloaded nearly all his assets to his children to avoid paying inheritance tax. The celebrated mountaineer, who is 66, said his inheritance planning meant he no longer owned his own home and was living with his partner in Wiltshire. He said if his partner kicked him out, he would have to live in a tent on Dartmoor and rely on the generosity of strangers for food. Sir David, who made history in 2000 when he became the first person to fly solo in a balloon to the North Pole, speaking to the Mail on Sunday, said he would abolish the divisive duty if made Chancellor of the Exchequer. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He has three daughters by his ex-wife Claire. His father ran a glue factory which he took on and eventually sold part of to an American corporation in 1995 for a life-changing amount of money. He has since bought a handful of properties, but says it is no longer tax-efficient to own them. He said: If I saved into it now, Id just be saving for the Government. I have passed on my family home, my commercial property and my management stock everything I own, virtually to my children, for inheritance tax planning. When I was a kid, it would be the owners of big estates that youd hear about having to sell off paintings to pay death duty. Now, thousands get caught. The explorer, who this month is set to take the first flight across the Atlantic in an open basket gas balloon, now lives in south Wiltshire with his partner Dr Rosalind Smith. He and his ex-wife filed for divorce around six years ago, resulting in the sale of a Georgian manor house near Bath. He said at the time the split was equal but not amicable. He said, having passed on his assets for tax purposes, he was now in a dilemma, adding: I live with my partner in south Wiltshire. She owns the house that I live in so if she ever kicks me out, Im going to be living in a tent on Dartmoor for the rest of my life, hoping a passer-by will give me a bacon sandwich. He is just one of many older homeowners trying to find inventive ways to circumvent a tax which will affect more than 47,000 estates by 2028. Otherwise known as the death tax, it charges 40pc on the value of estates worth more than 325,000, or 500,000 for those passing on a family home to their children. Grieving families paid a record 7.1bn in inheritance tax in 2022-23. The Telegraph, along with some 50 MPs, is calling on the Government to abolish it. A tax originally designed for the wealthiest, it is affecting more families because house prices have grown but the tax-free allowances have been frozen since 2009. 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 womans attempts to sleep on a red-eye flight bound for New Jersey were interrupted by a passenger accused of repeatedly groping her, federal prosecutors said. After the flight took off from Los Angeles on Nov. 27, the woman was asleep with a blanket over her head when she felt the stranger seated next to her tapping her leg, according to a criminal complaint made public on Sept. 1. While in the window seat, she pushed 18-year-old Hasan Naser Hussain Alenezis hand off her as he sat in the middle seat, which wasnt his assigned seat, the complaint says. The woman briefly fell asleep again before she awoke to Alenezis hand on her groin, according to the complaint. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She told Alenezi to stop, warned shed report him to a flight attendant if he touched her again and repositioned her blanket to block her body from (him), the complaint says. Alenezi didnt stop, according to the complaint, which says he later reached under her blanket and touched her groin. The woman ultimately stood up and alerted a flight attendant about Alenezi, who was moved to a new seat until the flight landed in Newark, New Jersey, the complaint says. Alenezi, of Kuwait, is charged with one count of abusive sexual contact on an airplane after an investigation led by FBI special agents, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey said in a Sept. 1 news release. Information regarding Alenezis legal representation wasnt immediately available on Sept. 4. After appearing in federal court in Newark, Alenezi was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond, prosecutors said. He is on home detention with GPS monitoring, according to the release. The charge of abusive sexual contact carries a penalty of up to two years in prison, according to prosecutors. In 2022, the number of sexual misconduct cases aboard flights in the U.S. more than tripled since 2018, according to federal prosecutors. Last year, the FBI investigated more than 90 sexual misconduct cases and 2023 is on pace to surpass that number, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Washington announced in an Aug. 9 news release. If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom. Doctor exposed himself, masturbated on flight while sitting next to teen, feds say Delta passenger gropes 15-year-old on flight and is arrested when plane lands, feds say Passenger gropes 2 women, including mom taking care of baby, on JetBlue flight, feds say WASHINGTON In 2020, the moniker was Sleepy Joe. Now, it has been revised to Crooked Joe. During their first showdown, Donald Trump disparaged Joe Biden as a sleepy guy in the basement of a house who was barely aware of his surroundings. Now, facing four criminal indictments and gearing up for a 2024 rematch, the former president is changing course to depict his successor as a nefarious mastermind who is pulling the strings of a complex justice system without leaving any fingerprints. In a social media post Tuesday, Trump wrote: These Indictments and lawsuits are all part of my political opponents campaign plan. It is Election Interference, and they are going to use the DOJ/FBI to help them, which is illegal. Crooked Joe pushed this litigation hard to get it done. This is a new low in Presidential Politics. Trump has deployed the term Crooked Joe in a wave of recent posts and interviews, making repeated and baseless claims that Biden is at the helm of a conspiracy to target him using law enforcement. But even as he attempts an etch-a-sketch to redraw his portrait of Biden, Trump sometimes slips back into old habits by portraying the man who defeated him as a confused and feeble old fellow who may not even make it to 2024. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Crooked Joe Biden is so bad. Hes the worst president in the history of our country. I dont think hes going to make it to the gate, but you never know, Trump told right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson in an interview released last week. I think hes worse mentally than he is physically. And physically, hes not exactly a triathlete or any kind of an athlete. You look at him, he cant walk to the helicopter. He walks he cant lift his feet out of the grass. Tucker Carlson sits down for an interview with former President Donald Trump. (Tucker on X) But with the "Crooked Joe" persona, Trump routinely implies that a man he has suggested is not mentally fit has secretly been manipulating the Justice Department as well as state prosecutors he has no authority over, and even secretive grand juries who were legally required to approve the indictments while covering his tracks so well that House Republican investigators with subpoena power struggle to uncover proof. Im confused. Is dementia-riddled Joe Biden also controlling the people in all of these separate grand juries in four different jurisdictions in four states? quipped former GOP operative-turned-Trump-critic Tim Miller on Bulwark's The Next Level Podcast. There is no evidence that Biden is behind Trumps indictments two from special counsel Jack Smith, and one each from prosecutors in New York and Georgia who dont answer to Washington. Yet the claims have been echoed by Speaker Kevin McCarthy and many congressional Republicans. Biden has declined to comment on Trumps cases, saying the Justice Department operates independently from his White House. He has also stayed silent on criminal charges against his son Hunter Biden , who is the subject of a special counsel investigation. Donald Trump is running on the same, unpopular agenda that lost him the election in 2020. No name-calling that he shouts into his MAGA echo chamber changes that fact, Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said. These are the same type of projections weve seen before from the person who led one of the most corrupt administrations in history. Donald Trump may come up with a lot of nicknames for President Biden, but we have a better one: winner. Sleepy and confused, or ruthless and effective? At 80, Biden is already the oldest sitting president in American history. Trump, now 77, was the oldest president to assume office when he took the oath in January 2017. Trump would usurp Biden for the title of oldest president if he is elected and completes another four-year term. From the early days of Biden's general election campaign in the 2020 cycle, the Sleepy Joe moniker took off in right-wing media, turning Biden into a punchline with Trump supporters on Republican-friendly political panels and social media. Over the last three years, every Biden slip-up or meandering comment has fed into the party's image of a befuddled old man who is overwhelmed by the job, drawing glee and mockery among the MAGA faithful. Now, Trump is trying to turn that image upside down. At times, Bidens political team has co-opted the updated narrative, blending it with an anti-Biden rallying cry to create a Dark Brandon meme that shows a red laser-eyed Biden who is ruthlessly, and successfully, facing down critics to pass his agenda. Of the two contrasting critiques that Republicans are presenting, surveys show independent voters mostly don't buy the claim that Biden is weaponizing law enforcement for political reasons, but they are worried about his age. A Politico/Ipsos survey found that 64% of independents agree that the Justice Departments decision to indict Trump for election subversion in 2020 was based on a fair evaluation of the evidence and the law. (Overall, 59% of American adults said they agree.) And just 40% of independents said they agree with the statement that the Justice Department's indictment of Trump in the 2020 case "was based on trying to gain a political advantage for Joe Biden." (Overall, 44% of U.S. adults said they agree with that viewpoint.) Meanwhile, according to an Associated Press-NORC poll, 77% of U.S. adults say Biden is too old to serve effectively for another term, including 69% of Democrats and 74% of independents. By contrast, 51% of U.S. adults say Trump is too old. A conflicting Republican portrait of Biden The GOP's internal conflict on how to portray Biden senile and incompetent, or corrupt and merciless is also on display in the 2024 presidential primary, where a series of long-shot Republican candidates are promoting Trumps grievances while hoping his front-running candidacy collapses. In the first debate, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy accused the Democratic Party in power of using a police force to indict its political opponents. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., inveighed against the weaponization of the Department of Justice under Biden. On the contrary, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is running with the claim that Biden is too weak and frail to survive another four-year term and warning that Vice President Kamala Harris would become president if hes re-elected. If you vote for Joe Biden you really are counting on a President Harris, Haley said this year. Because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely. Trump, for his part, explained that hes repurposing his nickname for his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Hes a corrupt person. So corrupt that I took the name off Hillary, the former president told Carlson. I dont do two people at one time. I took the Crooked Hillary and I made it, I retired the name. That was a good day for her. I bet she was very happy. And I used it for Joe because its Crooked Joe. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com (Bloomberg) -- The South Korean government started marketing its first-ever Samurai bond Monday, in the latest sign of how President Yoon Suk Yeol is spearheading a transformation in relations with Japan. Most Read from Bloomberg Initial price guidance for the three-year part of the multi-tranche debt offering is 23 to 27 basis points over mid-swaps, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Thats a much tighter spread than other Samurai issuers similar-maturity debt sold this year, helped by Koreas government having some of the highest credit ratings among emerging economies. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The historic debt offering comes as part of broad-based improvement in ties between the two countries since Yoon took office last year, with both sides seeking to move past decades of friction. The issuance of yen bonds by Korean companies has long been affected by the ebb and flow of bilateral political relations. Sales have seen a renaissance in the last 18 months with four Korean firms pricing Samurai bonds including Korea Investment & Securities Co.s debut notes in July. The Korean government announced the yen issuance in June after it agreed with Japan to restore a foreign currency swap deal worth as much as $10 billion. The bond offering is scheduled to price on Thursday after brokers started sounding out investor interest last week. Japans debt markets offer some of the lowest borrowing costs in the world as the central bank sticks to its negative-rates policy even after recently changing its yield-curve control policy to allow the 10-year government bond rate move higher. Sales in the Samurai market have climbed 57% to 845.2 billion yen ($5.8 billion) since the start of the fiscal year in April, with yields that averaging about 0.8% attracting globai issuers, compared with 5.7% for high-grade companies in dollars, Bloomberg-compiled data show. The Korean government bond sale adds to a growing number of sovereigns raising funds in the Samurai market in recent years. Indonesia sold the yen notes earlier this year, while the Philippines and Mexico did deals last year. South Korea and Japan are moving toward improving cooperation on issues such as North Koreas nuclear threat, supply chain challenges and energy security. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida joined Yoon and US President Joe Biden at their first-ever trilateral summit in Camp David last month, where the leaders agreed to augment their relations with an annual leader-level meeting and a new hot line for the allies to share intelligence. The nations held joint military drills at the end of August. --With assistance from Daedo Kim. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. From left to right, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Zambry Abd Kadir, Philippines' Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Thailand's Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam's Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Laos' Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, Brunei's Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea, East Timor's Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas, and ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn, pose for a family photo during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting ahead of the ASEAN Summit, at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. (Bay Ismoyo/Pool Photo via AP) JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Southeast Asian leaders led by Indonesian host President Joko Widodo are gathering in their final summit this year, besieged by divisive issues with no solutions in sight: Myanmars deadly civil strife, new flare-ups in the disputed South China Sea, and the longstanding United States-China rivalry. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings will open Tuesday in the Indonesian capital Jakarta under tight security. The absence of U.S. President Joe Biden , who typically attends, adds to the already somber backdrop of the 10-state blocs traditional show of unity and group handshakes. ASEAN foreign ministers gathered Monday ahead of the leaders' summit. Mohammad Mahfud, Indonesia's coordinating minister in charge of political, legal and security affairs, told the region's top diplomats that their community's strength is being challenged by one crisis after another. A lack of progress in efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis left a negative mark on ASEAN, he said and warned that accelerating geopolitical tension and rivalries could lead to open conflict that our region will be forced to face. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said a five-point plan crafted by the leaders in 2021 to help bring Myanmar back to normalcy will be reviewed. After discussions Tuesday, the ASEAN heads of state would meet Asian and Western counterparts from Wednesday to Thursday, providing a wider venue that the U.S. and China, and their allies, have used for wide-ranging talks on free trade, climate change and global security. It has also become a battleground for their rivalries. Chinese Premier Li Qiang was set to join the meetings, including the 18-member East Asia Summit. There, he would meet U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who will fly in lieu of Biden and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. While skipping ASEAN, Biden will fly to Asia for the G20 summit in India, then visit Vietnam to elevate ties. Washington says Biden was not relegating the bloc to a lower rung of geopolitical priorities and cited the U.S. presidents effort to deepen Americas engagement with the region. "It's hard to look at what weve done as an administration, since the very beginning, and come away with a conclusion that we are somehow not interested in the Indo-Pacific or that we are deprioritizing the Southeast Asia nations and those relationships, John Kirby, a national security spokesperson, said at a news briefing Friday in Washington. In November, Biden attended the ASEAN summit meetings in Cambodia and in May 2022 hosted eight of the blocs leaders at the White House to demonstrate his administrations commitment to their region while dealing with Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Biden administration has also been strengthening an arc of security alliances in the Indo-Pacific, including in Southeast Asia, alarming China. Marty Natalegawa, a respected former foreign minister of Indonesia, expressed disappointment over Bidens non-appearance, but said such red flags were more alarmingly emblematic of ASEANs declining relevance. "The absence of the U.S. president, while it is disappointing and symbolically significant, is for me the least of the worry because whats more worrisome actually is the more fundamental structural tendency for ASEAN to become less and less prominent, Natalegawa told The Associated Press in an interview. Founded in 1967 in the Cold War era, ASEAN has a principle of non-interference in each member states domestic affairs. It also decides by consensus, meaning even one member can shoot down any unfavorable decision or proposal. Those bedrock rules have attracted a starkly diverse membership, ranging from nascent democracies to conservative monarchies, but have also restrained the bloc from taking punitive actions against state-sanctioned atrocities. The bloc currently groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Natalegawa said ASEAN's failure to effectively rein in Myanmars military government from committing human rights atrocities and its deafening silence when a Chinese coast guard ship recently used a water cannon to block a Philippine supply boat in the disputed South China Sea underscore why the groups aspiration to be in the center of Asian diplomacy has been questioned. Member states have turned to either the U.S. or China for security, he said. "Absenteeism by ASEAN is leading to unmet needs, and those needs are being met elsewhere, he said. Myanmar's civil strife, which has dragged on for more than two years after the army ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the South China Sea disputes were again expected to overshadow the Jakarta summit agenda, as in previous years. Indonesia tried to swing the focus to boosting regional economies with an upbeat theme this year ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth but the geopolitical and security issues have continued to pester and spark diplomatic fallouts. The European Union has warned that its relations with ASEAN may be affected if it has to deal with Myanmar in any leadership role. Following the EU warning, Myanmars military-led government, which has not been recognized by but remains a member of ASEAN, gave notice that it may not be able to chair the regional bloc as scheduled in 2026, three Southeast Asian diplomats told the AP. ASEAN leaders would have to decide in Jakarta whether to ask the Philippines to replace Myanmar as host for that year, said the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to publicly discuss the issues. Myanmar could also not assume a three-year role starting next year as coordinator of ASEAN-EU relations, according to the two diplomats. Myanmar's generals and their appointees have been barred from attending ASEANs leaders and foreign ministerial meetings, including this weeks summit meetings, after the military government failed to fully comply with a five-point peace plan that called for an immediate end to violence and the start of dialogue between contending parties, including Suu Kyi and other officials, who have been locked up in jail since they were overthrown. In a crucial reform that would allow ASEAN to respond faster and prevent such crises from degenerating into deadly disasters, its member states have discussed proposed rules that would allow the group to make a decision even in the absence of consensus from all member states, one of the three diplomats said. Dinna Prapto Raharja, a Jakarta-based analyst and professor on international relations, said ASEAN's credibility is on the line if the Myanmar crisis drags on. While the bloc has no conflict-resolution mechanism for such domestic strife, it should be flexible enough to harness its clout and connections to help address such problems. Marsudi acknowledged such grim outlook and the pressure for the regional bloc to make a difference. The eyes of our peoples are on us to prove ASEAN still matters, she told fellow foreign ministers. ___ Associated Press journalists Jim Gomez, Andi Jatmiko and Fadlan Syam in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Christopher Megerian in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Find more of APs Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific JAKARTA, Indonesia Southeast Asian leaders led by Indonesian host President Joko Widodo are gathering in their final summit this year, besieged by divisive issues with no solutions in sight: Myanmars deadly civil strife, new flare-ups in the disputed South China Sea, and the longstanding United States-China rivalry. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings will open Tuesday in the Indonesian capital Jakarta under tight security. The absence of U.S. President Joe Biden , who typically attends, adds to the already somber backdrop of the 10-state blocs traditional show of unity and group handshakes. After discussions Tuesday, the ASEAN heads of state would meet Asian and Western counterparts from Wednesday to Thursday, providing a wider venue that the U.S. and China, and their allies, have used for wide-ranging talks on free trade, climate change and global security. It has also become a battleground for their rivalries. Chinese Premier Li Qiang was set to join the meetings, including the 18-member East Asia Summit. There, he would meet U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who will fly in lieu of Biden and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement While skipping ASEAN, Biden will fly to Asia for the G-20 summit in India, then visit Vietnam to elevate ties. Washington says Biden was not relegating the bloc to a lower rung of geopolitical priorities and cited the U.S. presidents effort to deepen Americas engagement with the region. Its hard to look at what weve done as an administration, since the very beginning, and come away with a conclusion that we are somehow not interested in the Indo-Pacific or that we are deprioritizing the Southeast Asia nations and those relationships, John Kirby, a national security spokesperson, said at a news briefing Friday in Washington. In November, Biden attended the ASEAN summit meetings in Cambodia and in May 2022 hosted eight of the blocs leaders at the White House to demonstrate his administrations commitment to their region while dealing with Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Biden administration has also been strengthening an arc of security alliances in the Indo-Pacific, including in Southeast Asia, alarming China. Marty Natalegawa, a respected former foreign minister of Indonesia, expressed disappointment over Bidens non-appearance, but said such red flags were more alarmingly emblematic of ASEANs declining relevance. The absence of the U.S. president, while it is disappointing and symbolically significant, is for me the least of the worry because whats more worrisome actually is the more fundamental structural tendency for ASEAN to become less and less prominent, Natalegawa told The Associated Press in an interview. Founded in 1967 in the Cold War era, ASEAN has a principle of non-interference in each member states domestic affairs. It also decides by consensus, meaning even one member can shoot down any unfavorable decision or proposal. Those bedrock rules have attracted a starkly diverse membership, ranging from nascent democracies to conservative monarchies, but have also restrained the bloc from taking punitive actions against state-sanctioned atrocities. The bloc currently groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Natalegawa said ASEANs failure to effectively rein in Myanmars military government from committing human rights atrocities and its deafening silence when a Chinese coast guard ship recently used a water cannon to block a Philippine supply boat in the disputed South China Sea underscore why the groups aspiration to be in the center of Asian diplomacy has been questioned. Member states have turned to either the U.S. or China for security, he said. Absenteeism by ASEAN is leading to unmet needs, and those needs are being met elsewhere, he said. Myanmars civil strife, which has dragged on for more than two years after the army ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the South China Sea disputes were again expected to overshadow the Jakarta summit agenda, as in previous years. Indonesia tried to swing the focus to boosting regional economies with an upbeat theme this year ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth but the geopolitical and security issues have continued to pester and spark diplomatic fallouts. The European Union has warned that its relations with ASEAN may be affected if it has to deal with Myanmar in any leadership role. Following the EU warning, Myanmars military-led government, which has not been recognized by but remains a member of ASEAN, gave notice that it may not be able to chair the regional bloc as scheduled in 2026, two Southeast Asian diplomats told the AP. ASEAN leaders would have to decide in Jakarta whether to ask the Philippines to replace Myanmar as host for that year, said the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to publicly discuss the issues. Myanmar could also not assume a three-year role starting next year as coordinator of ASEAN-EU relations, according to the two diplomats. Myanmars generals and their appointees have been barred from attending ASEANs leaders and foreign ministerial meetings, including this weeks summit meetings, after the military government failed to fully comply with a five-point peace plan that called for an immediate end to violence and the start of dialogue between contending parties, including Suu Kyi and other officials, who have been locked up in jail since they were overthrown. About 4,000 people have been killed and more than 24,400 people arrested since the army takeover in Myanmar, according to the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. In a crucial reform that would allow ASEAN to respond faster and prevent such crises from degenerating into deadly disasters, its member states have discussed proposed rules that would allow the group to make a decision even in the absence of consensus from all member states, one of the two diplomats said. Dinna Prapto Raharja, a Jakarta-based analyst and professor on international relations, said ASEANs credibility is on the line if the Myanmar crisis drags on. While the bloc has no conflict-resolution mechanism for such domestic strife, it should be flexible enough to harness its clout and connections to help address such problems. ASEAN continues to say that its so difficult, its so complex, she said. But, as time goes by, all these opportunities simply evaporate. Core construction phase of Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guangxi completed Xinhua) 10:06, September 04, 2023 This aerial photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the ship lock of the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project, started in 2014, is a crucial part of the country's water network to control floods, facilitate shipping, generate electricity, and provide irrigation. The core construction phase of this project was completed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) This aerial photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the fishway at the main dam of the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project, started in 2014, is a crucial part of the country's water network to control floods, facilitate shipping, generate electricity, and provide irrigation. The core construction phase of this project was completed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) This aerial photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the fishway and supporting facilities at the auxiliary dam of the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project, started in 2014, is a crucial part of the country's water network to control floods, facilitate shipping, generate electricity, and provide irrigation. The core construction phase of this project was completed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) This aerial photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project, started in 2014, is a crucial part of the country's water network to control floods, facilitate shipping, generate electricity, and provide irrigation. The core construction phase of this project was completed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the ceremony in celebration of all power generator units being put into operation at the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project, started in 2014, is a crucial part of the country's water network to control floods, facilitate shipping, generate electricity, and provide irrigation. The core construction phase of this project was completed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) This aerial panoramic photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project and surrounding valleys in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project, started in 2014, is a crucial part of the country's water network to control floods, facilitate shipping, generate electricity, and provide irrigation. The core construction phase of this project was completed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) This aerial photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the ship lock of the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project, started in 2014, is a crucial part of the country's water network to control floods, facilitate shipping, generate electricity, and provide irrigation. The core construction phase of this project was completed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) This aerial photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows water sluice gates of the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project, started in 2014, is a crucial part of the country's water network to control floods, facilitate shipping, generate electricity, and provide irrigation. The core construction phase of this project was completed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) This aerial panoramic photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project, started in 2014, is a crucial part of the country's water network to control floods, facilitate shipping, generate electricity, and provide irrigation. The core construction phase of this project was completed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) The four members of SpaceX Crew-6 that had been orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station since March climbed back on board the Crew Dragon Endeavour and made the trip home for a splashdown off the Florida coast. The quartet of mission commander NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, fellow NASA astronaut and pilot Woody Hoburg, mission specialists United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi and mission specialist Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev said their goodbyes to the Crew-7 replacements that arrived last Sunday to the station that temporarily increased the ISS population to 11. That population went back down to seven after the hatch closed and Crew-6s spacecraft undocked at 7:05 a.m. for the 17-hour trip home. Splashdown came as planned at 12:17 a.m. Monday off the coast of Jacksonville in the Atlantic. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Welcome back home. Thank you for flying SpaceX, said SpaceX mission controls Jake Vendl after landing. We certainly appreciate the initial training, the launch, throughout the mission keeping us abreast of all the vehicle support all the way down, Bowen said. This has been incredible, greatly appreciated. I look forward to working with you all again. Youve got a roomful happy people here, Vendl said. Initial recovery team vessels meet up with the Crew Dragon Endeavour that splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville on Monday, Sept.4, 2023 to complete the SpaceX Crrew-6 mission. (NASA) Initial recovery team vessels meet up with the Crew Dragon Endeavour that splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville on Monday, Sept.4, 2023 to complete the SpaceX Crrew-6 mission. (NASA) Teams made their way to the capsule so it could be brought up on board a SpaceX recovery ship to allow the four crew exit the vehicle. Reentry took the capsule from about 17,000 mph slowing to 350 mph generating near 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit before it slowed further with a parachute-assisted landing so it hit the water at about only 15 mph. Its path home took it over Australia across the Pacific to then fly on a southwest to northeast path over Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico and then Central and North Florida before its Atlantic splashdown streaking across the night sky. In this photo provided by NASA, from left to right, Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, NASA astronaut Warren "Woody" Hoburg, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, second from right, and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi are seen inside a SpaceX capsule onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. The astronauts are back on Earth after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP) In this photo provided by NASA, from left to right, Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, NASA astronaut Warren Woody Hoburg, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, second from right, and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi are seen inside a SpaceX capsule onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. The astronauts are back on Earth after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP) All but Bowen, who flew three missions on three space shuttles, made their first trip to space, and AlNeyadi became the fourth astronaut from an Arab nation to go to space. its been a trip of a lifetime, AlNeyadi said during a call last week with Houston. Every part of it was amazing. Our spacewalks, our experiments, our daily routine. The interaction with the students from all over the world. He said hes been asked if he would fly with the same trio for a future trip to space. I always say 100% So I would definitely choose you guys to fly in the future again, he said. The quartet each told media what they were most looking forward to once arriving home. Im looking forward to the nice ocean air and peaceful calm seas. That will be really nice to get back to, said Bowen Im looking forward to a real shower, said Hoburg Family and friends are the most important, and besides that, I would love a real hot cup of coffee, said AlNeyadi. I think my dream is for good sleep, said Fedyaev. This marks the end of the fourth trip for Crew Dragon Endeavour, which was the capsule that brought up the first humans to the ISS in May 2020 on the Demo-2 mission. It has since flown the Crew-2 mission in 2021, Axiom-1 mission in 2022 and this flight that launched from Kennedy Space Center back on March 2. SpaceX has four active Crew Dragon capsules and a fifth planned to come online in 2024. They have flown 42 humans to space on 11 flights. Crew Dragon Endurance remains docked to the ISS for Crew-7, which wont be relieved for another six months. For now, the capsules are rated for five flights each with Endurance now on its third mission while Crew Dragons Resilience and Freedom have both completed two missions. SpaceX and Boeing originally won the contracts under NASAs Commercial Crew Program with the idea that both would have a working spacecraft up and running so they would each share taxi service duties to the station, but Boeings CST-100 Starliner has yet to make its first test flight to the station with crew. That flight wont happen until at least March 2024, so for now SpaceX continues the rotational duties with Crew-8 planned for as early as February 2024 SHENANDOAH COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) A man reported missing in Shenandoah National Park after his backpack was found abandoned has been found. According to a release from the park, 75-year-old Jerry Bailey of Springfield, Tennessee was found by searchers at around 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2 in the southern part of the park near Ivy Creek. PREVIOUS: Shenandoah National Park begins full-scale search after 75-year-old man goes missing near Skyline Drive Bailey was reported missing on Thursday, Aug. 31, the same day his backpack was found about two miles away from where he was eventually located. Several trails in the area were closed while the search was underway, the trails are now in the process of being reopened. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read todays top stories on wkrn.com The National Park Service, as well as the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Blacksburg Rescue Squad, K9 Alert, Shenandoah Mountain Rescue Group, Tidewater Search and Rescue Group, Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group, Mid-Atlantic D.O.G.S., Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association, DOGS-East Search and Rescue, Black Diamond Search and Rescue, Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association, Rockingham-Augusta Search and Rescue, Christian Aid Ministries Search and Rescue, Search and Rescue Tracking Institute and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation were all involved in the search. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. Floridas Secretary of State has appealed this weekends ruling, which found Floridas congressional map unconstitutionally diminished Black voting power. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< According to that appeal, this weekends ruling will automatically be put on hold. The ruling this weekend dealt an initial blow to Governor Ron DeSantis effort to dismantle the old Congressional District 5, which was previously held by former US Rep. Al Lawson and connected Black voters from Tallahassee to Jacksonville. UNF political science professor Dr. Michael Binder said under DeSantis map, Jacksonville ended up with two solidly Republican seats.If youre under the impression that generally speaking Black Jacksonville voters tend to be Democratic, and they do by enormous percentages, the odds of a Democrat getting elected in either one of these seats is almost zero, said Binder. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The judge ordered the Florida Legislature to redraw the northern districts and restore the minority access seat, but the legislature will likely wait to see how the case plays out on appeal before going down that road. The major X-factor here is the Florida Supreme Court, said Dr. Nick Seabrook, a UNF political science professor and redistricting expert. Seabrook noted plaintiffs and the state agreed to expedite the appeal of this weekends ruling to the Florida Supreme Court, which could either overturn or uphold DeSantis map by the end of the year. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] The gamble that the state took going all the way back to when the map was drawn is that there is now a much more favorable majority both on the Florida Supreme Court and on the US Supreme Court, said Seabrook. DeSantis has argued the minority access district constituted an illegal racial gerrymander. If the Governor prevails before the state supreme court, the legal fight will very likely end up before the US Supreme Court. In that situation, I think it might be quite likely that the state would be able to keep its map for 2024. If the Florida Supreme Court sides with the plaintiffs, we are definitely going to have a new congressional map for the next election, said Seabrook. If the Florida Supreme Court sides with the Governor, it would mark a stark reversal, as it was the court itself that drew North Floridas minority access district back in 2015. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Joining a host of states across the country, Illinois is taking a hard look at the emerging presence of artificial intelligence a computer technology that can perform problem-solving and decision-making typically seen by humans by considering its possibilities while weighing its risks. How the state has started this process is the creation of a task force combining the brains of legislators and technology experts to craft AI policy recommendations to the legislature. Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, D-Bridgeview, is co-chairing the Generative AI and Natural Language Processing Task Force, chosen by House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch for the freshman legislator's computer science background. Rashid's bill, House Bill 3563, received unanimous support before being signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker in early August. The dome of the Illinois State Capitol on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. The task force will consist of 20 members and hold at least five public meetings in Chicago, Springfield, Metro East, Quad Cities and Southern Illinois. The summation of these meetings will lead to a report shared with the governor's office and the General Assembly by Dec. 31, 2024. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Rashid told The State Journal-Register in an interview last month the task force will balance needed regulations on AI while not stifling innovation. Forming any specific legislation will take time, he said, but will focus on tackling transparency issues and whether the technology may discriminate or have biases. "We have to be careful about the simple accuracy of what AI does," he said. "I think sometimes people take for granted that what AI thinks is right and that's not necessarily the case." More: Proposed CWLP garage near race riot site is 'disrespectful,' city council urged to act Increased conversations on how governments can and should use the technology have occurred across the country and Illinois is no different. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 25 states along with Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia introduced AI bills so far in 2023. Several AI-related bills were introduced earlier in the Illinois General Assembly, one of which would prevent data collection by remote gambling platforms attempting to predict how a participant may gamble in particular situations. House Bill 2570 did not advance out of committee, however. Back in 2020, the state's Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act went into effect placing new requirements on employers using AI in its job hiring process. Through the bill, companies that do use the technology are also required to inform prospective employees that AI would be used in their interview and obtain their consent before proceeding. However, the bill does not employers to provide alternative hiring methods. Illinois was the first to regulate AI's use in videoed job interviews, where other states such as New York have followed, after concerns of racial bias causing more Black candidates to be passed over for an opening. To account for these concerns, the act requires an employer using artificial intelligence analysis of a video interview to report the race and ethnicity of applicants who do not make it to subsequent rounds of in-person interviews and those who are hired to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. According to DCEO, no such data has been reported to the department as of Nov. 30, 2022. Concerns of racial biases with computer programs has also extended to the courts. A 2016 ProPublica study investigated how courts in a slew of states used a computer algorithm to determine a chance someone could commit future crimes. These risk assessments found Black defendants were falsely labeled as future criminals at a rate nearly two times their white counterparts. At the same time, white defendants were more likely to be labeled as low-risk. The technology however still has merits, said University of Illinois-Springfield computer science associate professor Elham Buxton, when used under the right conditions. In both the courtrooms and in other avenues where AI has been and will be used, she believes a hybrid approach of those that measure the technology's social impact with those possessing technical knowledge is essential. "When we consider our AI model, we need to compare it with the status quo," said Buxton, teaching at UIS for 10 years. "For example, if you want to use an AI model to predict recidivism, then you compare it, you audit that system, find those statistical metrics for fairness, and compare it with the status quo right now ... for the judges. Is our AI model, improving the status quo as far as fairness or not?" Federal action State conversations on the matter were complimented by a group of bipartisan attorneys general requesting federal guidance earlier this year. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a group of 23 chief legal officers calling on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to adopt transparency standards and to recognize risks associated with AI. Consumers should be informed if companies are using AI in their products and services, and the potential impacts on people should be considered in shaping regulations, Raoul said in a June 13 press release. Specifically, Raoul and the coalition urged the NTIA to require companies to perform impact assessments of their AI systems and others using more high-risk AI to request external audits of their systems. Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter. This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Task force to determine how Illinois can use, regulate artificial intelligence NEW YORK Staten Island Ferry workers are finally setting sail on a new labor contract with New York City. Mayor Eric Adams and the union representing Staten Island Ferry captains, mates and engineers are set to announce Monday that theyve reached a deal on a contract after going 13 years without one, according to a city government source familiar with the matter. The specific contours of the deal were not immediately known. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preempt the official announcement, told the Daily News that Adams and reps for the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association will unveil the contract details during a press conference at Staten Islands Saint George Ferry Terminal on Monday afternoon, coinciding with the Labor Day holiday. Adams office declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, which represents some 150 Staten Island Ferry workers, could not be immediately reached for comment. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The agreement reached between Adams negotiators and union brass will likely need to be ratified by rank-and-file members before it can take effect. The Staten Island Ferry unions last labor contract with the city expired in 2010. At the time, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg was refusing to settle contracts with a number of municipal unions, citing fallout from the 2008 financial crisis. Upon taking office, Mayor Bill de Blasio moved quickly to settle dozens of the outstanding contracts but his administration never managed to reach a deal with the Staten Island Ferry union. As a result, Staten Island Ferry workers have gone without raises since their last contract expiration. The lack of a contract has driven many ferry workers to leave for higher-paying private sector jobs. Subsequent staff shortages have prompted ferry service disruptions on a regular basis, leaving thousands of New Yorkers who rely on it for commuting in limbo. Last summer, Adams blamed one such service disruption on some ferry workers calling out from work without good reason. That accusation drew harsh pushback from the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association at the time. British actor and writer Stephen Fry , who will host the third First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit, has arrived in Kyiv, he said in a post on Instagram on Sept. 4. Fry posted a picture of the sleeping compartment of the Ukrzaliznytsia train in which he spent the night as he journeyed from the Polish border to Kyiv. "A sleeper car from the Polish border to Kyiv. Arriving there now..." he captioned the photo. Kyiv will host the third First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit on Sept. 6, an event initiated by First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska in 2021. The popular British actor, presenter, writer and activist, who has been supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, will host the event. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The theme of the third Summit is Mental Health: Resilience and Fragility of the Future. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Renowned British actor and writer Stephen Fry has arrived in Ukraine. He will host the third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, initiated by the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska . Source: Fry on Instagram; Ukrzaliznytsia on Twitter; Instagram profile of the summit; Suspilne Quote Fry: "A sleeper car from the Polish border to Kyiv. Arriving there now..." Details: Ukrzaliznytsia reacted to the actor's message. Quote Ukrzaliznytsia: "Welcome to Kyiv, Stephen Fry! We hope your journey with Ukrainian Railways was pleasant and comfortable. Thank you for supporting Ukraine!" Welcome to Kyiv, @stephenfry! We hope your journey with Ukrainian Railways was pleasant and comfortable. Thank you for suporting Ukraine! pic.twitter.com/4R33iuclkK Ukrainian railways || (@Ukrzaliznytsia) September 4, 2023 Details: The organisers of the summit report that the event will be held on 6 September in Kyiv. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Quote: "...a man whose brain is recognized as the cultural heritage of Great Britain. He has consistently supported Ukraine in its fight for existence and independence, as evidenced in his interviews with guests. In addition, he helped Ukrainians endure the winter with the ShelterBox initiative, which collected donations for warm clothing and repair of damaged homes." Fry also supports organisations working with military personnel, people with hearing and/or vision loss, people with bipolar disorder, leukaemia and lymphoma, as well as the LGBT community. The writer is constantly working to raise awareness about these areas and encourages people to join the charity initiatives. Fry himself notes that the President's Office invited him to a mental health event in Kyiv. In one of his posts, the actor said that he was honoured to receive an invitation, and holding such a summit indicates the openness and "common sense" of the Ukrainian government. Quote: "Not a propaganda stunt at all, but a real bringing together of neurologists, social scientists, psychology and those working in mental health trauma." Reference: The summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen was first held on 23 August 2021 at the initiative of Olena Zelenska. The second summit was held in Kyiv in July 2022. The first ladies of Latvia and Lithuania, Andra Levite and Diana Nausediene, had arrived in the capital of Ukraine, while the British journalist Piers Morgan became a moderator. Participants of this summit raised US$3.2 million for resuscitation vehicles. The third summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in Kyiv in 2023 is devoted to mental health. In addition, it will host a major international conference of health ministers. 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! NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) A year since the death of 34-year-old mom and teacher Eliza Fletcher sparked a statewide conversation on rape kits, processing times have improved, but not as much as victim advocates had hoped. Were still not there, said Lorraine McGuire, Sexual Assault Center vice president of community relations. Every step we take is so small and the big step we wanted, which is to have a time limit as to how long somebody had to get a rape kit back, whether it be Metro or TBIwe didnt get that. The man charged in Fletchers death was also charged with raping a woman in 2021, which led city and state leaders to wonder what wouldve happened had that 2021 rape kit been processed faster. TBI making progress on rape kit testing ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Had we had quicker turnaround times, Cleotha Henderson would not have been on the streets to rape and murder Eliza Fletcher, said Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) in July. At the time of Fletchers abduction, it took the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations Forensic Services Division 11 months on average to process rape kits, according to TBI data. After pressure from lawmakers and a directive to hire and train 50 more forensic employees, which is a goal the agency is close to reaching, the waiting period has been cut by more than half. The average for rape kit turnaround times in Tennessee is now four to five weeks, with Nashville having some of the fastest in the state, according to the TBIs latest report. Mandated quarterly reports from the TBI were also implemented in the months after Fletchers death. Yet, McGuire hopes state lawmakers continue to take steps toward assisting rape victims. I think one of the things that is frustrating is it takes a really, really terrible thing like what happened to Eliza Fletcher to get these small, incremental changes, she said. Why is this person touching me: Texas man files lawsuit accusing Hilton Nashville employee of sexual assault Once lawmakers return in January, McGuire will also advocate for it to be easier for rape victims to get victims compensation. They should be able to file for victims compensation without a police report if they come and receive services at a place like Sexual Assault Center, but right now thats not the case, McGuire explained. She also hopes lawmakers will take steps to make it easier for victims to access rape kits in a timely fashion. Most people think they can go to any emergency room and get a rape kit done, and thats not the case; they have to have specialty staff to do that, she said. I would love to see legislation where every county had to have at least one place to get a rape kit done. Second woman accuses country star Jimmie Allen of sexual assault She said the Sexual Assault Center is one of a handful of places where people can get a rape kit done in Middle Tennessee. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, you can call the centers 24/7 hotline at 866-811-7473. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. President Joe Biden is making a "big bet on place-based industrial policy," writes Brookings Institution senior fellow Mark Muro. Muro and his colleagues argue that the initiative aims to address the fact that "many of the nation's towns and regions struggle under the weight of economic stagnation and social decline." The size of the bet is around $80 billion in various industrial subsidies. It is unlikely to pay off as advertised. These direct subsidies contrast with earlier federal place-based economic development programs, which chiefly used tax credits to encourage investment in poor urban neighborhoods and rural regions. Most research on those programswhich include New Markets Tax Credits (created by President Bill Clinton), Empowerment Zones (George W. Bush), and Opportunity Zones ( Donald Trump )indicates that they have had a negligible impact. In a 2019 Regional Science and Urban Economics study, for example, University of California, Irvine economists David Neumark and Timothy Young found that so-called enterprise zones "have for the most part been ineffective at reducing urban poverty or improving labor market outcomes in the United States." That conclusion, they said, jibed with "the more widely prevailing view." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The conclusions of a 2023 working paper by University of Iowa finance professor Jiajie Xu were even less promising. Xu found that the Opportunity Zone program actually "led to a decrease in new business formation" and "negatively affected local employment" while having "little impact on attracting population inflows or reducing income inequality." Why? Likely because "the policy drove more private investments to existing firms, deterring potential entrepreneurs from entering and competing with the better-financed incumbents." Ineffective as they were, the earlier place-based programs were at least directly aimed at locations with few jobs and high levels of poverty. The median annual household income for Opportunity Zones was around $33,000 initially. The subsidies that Biden has championed are less carefully targeted. "Every American willing to work hard" should be able "to raise their kids on a good paycheck and keep their roots where they grew up," Biden declared in June. "That's Bidenomics." As an example, he cited new semiconductor fabs where workers without college degrees could make six figures. But those fabs are not being built in the poorest parts of America. Nearly half of the $80 billion in place-based funding is targeted at semiconductor plants as authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act. Many of the companies that will receive the money announced the construction of new plants months before Biden signed that law in August 2022, and they are locating their facilities in places that make sense for their businesses. In September 2021, for example, Intel said it was building two new fabs in Chandler, Arizona. The following January, the company unveiled plans for another two fabs in New Albany, Ohio. The median household income is $91,000 in Chandler and $206,000 in New Albany. The median household income in the U.S. stands just shy of $71,000, while the poverty threshold is just under $28,000 for a family of four. Some new fabs are being built in towns with median household incomes below the national average. But the poorest of these is Sherman, Texas, future home of a new Texas Instruments fab, where the median household income is $54,000. Biden's place-based programs, in short, are not really designed for helping Americans "keep their roots" in places that still "struggle under the weight of economic stagnation and social decline." The post Subsidies Won't Stop Stagnation appeared first on Reason.com. FILE - Sudan's Army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan speaks following the signature of an initial deal aimed at ending a deep crisis caused by last year's military coup, in Khartoum, Sudan, on Dec. 5, 2022. The head of Sudans army warned Thursday Aug. 31, 2023 that the northeast African country will be divided if the conflict between the military and rival paramilitary force is not resolved. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File) CAIRO (AP) Sudans top military general held talks in Juba Monday with South Sudan's president on his second trip abroad since the war in his country started earlier this year. Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, chairman of the ruling Sovereign Council, arrived in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, Monday morning and was received by President Salva Kiir. Both leaders inspected an honor guard and then headed for talks that focused on regional efforts to find a settlement to the conflict in Sudan, according to the Sovereign Council. In April, simmering tensions between the military, led by Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital and elsewhere. The fighting has reduced Sudan's capital, Khartoum, to an urban battlefield, with neither side managing to gain control of the city. The military headquarters, where Burhan has purportedly been stationed since the conflict began, has been one of the epicenters of the conflict. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In the western Darfur region the scene of a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s the conflict has morphed into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African groups, according to rights groups and the United Nations. Meanwhile, in his trip to Juba, Burhan was accompanied by acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq and Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, and other military officers, according to the Sovereign Council. South Sudans Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro said that the South Sudanese president has a solution "to resolve the conflict in Sudan, according to a statement by the South Sudanese presidency. It is known that President Kiir is the only person who has intimacy and knowledge about Sudan and can find a solution to the Sudanese crisis, Lomuro said. Al-Sadiq, the Sudanese acting foreign minister, meanwhile, was quoted as saying that South Sudan is the best candidate to meditate the ongoing conflict "because we have been one country for so long and we know each other, we know the problems and we know our needs. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long conflict. Early in the ongoing war in Sudan, South Sudans Kiir attempted to mediate between the warring generals, as part of an initiative by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-member regional bloc that includes Sudan. The Sudanese leader met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt last week in the Egyptian coastal city of el-Alamein. It was his first trip abroad since the war. The conflict is estimated to have killed at least 4,000 people, according to the U.N. human rights office, though activists and doctors on the ground say the toll is likely far higher. More than 4.8 million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. migration agency. Those include over 3.8 million who fled to safer areas inside Sudan and more than 1 million others who crossed into neighboring countries. On Monday, the United Nations and 64 other humanitarian agencies appealed for $1 billion to help over 1.8 million people expected to flee the war to five neighboring countries by the end of 2023. Those neighboring countries include Egypt, Chad, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The UNHCR said the funds are a two-fold increase of what was initially estimated in May, as displacement and needs continue to soar. The crisis has triggered an urgent demand for humanitarian assistance, said Mamadou Dian Balde, a regional director at the UNHCR. It is deeply distressing to receive reports of children dying from diseases that are entirely preventable, should partners have had sufficient resources. - Associated Press writer Deng Machol in Juba, South Sudan, contributed to this report. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off a Florida launch pad late Sunday night, taking another batch of the company's Starlink internet satellites along a southern trajectory that skirted along the state's east coast. Nine Merlin main engines roared to life at 10:47 p.m. EDT, boosting the more than million-pound rocket off of pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center with another batch of 21 Starlink internet-beaming satellites. The first stage Falcon 9 booster, landing on a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean about eight minutes after liftoff, completed its tenth flight to space and back. Sunday's 46th launch from the Space Coast this year was also a record-breaker for SpaceX. SpaceX's record-breaking pace: The mission dubbed Starlink 6-12 was the company's 62nd launch this year from across its four launch pads in Florida, California, and Texas, including the first liftoff of the company's prototype Starship and Super Heavy vehicle in April. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Already surpassing SpaceX's all-time record of 61 flights set last year, the company isn't expected to slow the launch cadence with the four months still remaining in 2023. Launch of a SpaceX Falcom 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites on its 6-12 mission, launched from Launch Complex Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 10:47 p.m. EDT Sunday, September 3rd. Yet more Starlink batches and missions for other customers are set to fly on Falcon 9s from Florida and California, while a triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket is slated to launch NASA's Psyche spacecraft to study a metal-rich asteroid from Kennedy Space Center in October. Rocket launch schedule: Upcoming Florida launches and landings In Texas, SpaceX teams are working toward the second attempt at a suborbital test flight of the integrated Starship Super Heavy vehicle system, which could be possible sometime before the end of the year. Last week, teams completed a full-duration static fire engine test of the Super Heavy booster, a vital hurdle to clear before another launch attempt is set. However, when that test will happen depends on clearance by the Federal Aviation Administration and the conclusion of the investigation into what caused the Starship's explosive end to its April demonstration flight. Booster 9 static fire from the top of the launch tower pic.twitter.com/AScDvl50ww SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 28, 2023 Next launches from Florida: Another SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying a batch of the company's Starlink internet-beaming satellites could launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late this week, but the company hasn't yet announced a targeted liftoff date or time. Meanwhile, United Launch Alliance is still working to identify the next opportunity to launch its second mission of the year on an Atlas V rocket from the Cape's Launch Complex 41. Last week, the NROL-107 mission, a joint effort between the U.S. Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office, was grounded when ULA returned the rocket back to the protection of the company's vertical integration facility until Hurricane Idalia passed. A new launch date for that mission hasn't yet been identified. When these missions do launch, follow FLORIDA TODAY's Space Team live launch coverage beginning 90 minutes before each liftoff. For the latest schedule updates, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule. Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com and follow her on X 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: Sunday's Starlink mission sets record-breaking launch pace for SpaceX Idaho is known for its golden potatoes. The state has long embraced the crop with potato-themed food, drinks and candy; a potato hotel and museum; and a potato-esque mascot called Spuddy Buddy thats beloved by college football fans. It also rings in each new year by dropping a 17-foot-long potato in front of its Capitol in Boise. But the state has more to offer than its signature starchy vegetable. Idaho has nearly 25,000 farms and ranches, and they make up a big part of the states economy. Agriculture and food processing, like turning raw products into fries, cheese or wine, generate 17% of Idahos economic output and over 12% of its gross domestic product, according to the State Department of Agriculture. About 96% of those farms are family owned, says Dawn Larzelier, marketing specialist for the department. Tammy Stowe-McClure points to barrels of wine at Indian Creek Winery in Kuna. The winery is family owned and operated. It was founded by Stowe-McClures parents in 1982. And aside from potatoes, which the soil is apt for growing, Idaho leads its neighboring states, including Washington and Oregon, in the production of barley, corn, sugarbeets and alfalfa, according to the USDAs National Agricultural Statistics Service. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Some of those crops are used to make beer and feed cows. And dairy produced in southern Idaho is turned into mozzarella thats shipped to grocery stores around the country. Keep reading to learn more about five of Idahos most important farm products that arent potatoes. Youll also find an easy way to support local farmers and to get a bargain right now on one of the states tastiest crops. 1. Barley Idaho is the No. 1 producer of barley in the U.S. The vast majority is used to make beer. We have the largest concentration of malt processing in the world in southeastern Idaho, Larzelier told the Idaho Statesman. The state has several malting plants, including one operated by Belgian brewing giant Anheuser Busch InBev in Idaho Falls. Anheuser Busch is the largest buyer of Idaho barley, according to the Idaho Barley Commission. MillerCoors, the second-biggest beer company in the country, behind Anheuser-Busch InBev, has a storage facility and barley farm in Burley. Theres also Great Western Malting Co.s malting plant in Pocatello. Anheuser Busch InBev bought Grupo Modelo in 2013 and its malting plant in Idaho Falls sends much of its production to breweries in Mexico, Larzelier said. If youre a beer drinker, obviously we want you to first choose an Idaho craft beer, she said. But if you cant get a locally crafted one, buy a Mexican beer, because its highly likely that Mexican beer was made with Idaho malt. 2. Apples When it comes to Idahos fruit, apples lead the way. The state produces over 60 million pounds of apples a year. The well-known varieties include Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji and Red and Golden Delicious, though new varieties, such as Pink Lady and Honeycrisp, have made gains as the market grows. Other fruits like cherries, peaches, apricots, plums and grapes thrive in Idaho, where warms days and cool nights contribute to a high sugar content. A worker fishes leaves and stems out of a conveyor belt carrying plums at Symms Fruit Ranch in Caldwell. Symms Fruit Ranch, a family-owned farm in Caldwell with more than 5,000 acres, produces all of the above, plus nectarines and onions. Still, the farm produces more apples than any of its other crops, Eva Symms told the Statesman. Some of its smaller fruits, like cherries and plums, also make the top of the list. 3. Wheat Idaho wheat farmers have some of the highest yields per acre in the country, and the crop ranks as the states second largest, behind potatoes, in terms of revenue generated. Nearly half of all the states wheat is sold to foreign markets. We are a major wheat producing state, Larzelier said. Its one of our top three commodities for crops and its grown in about 42 out of our 44 counties. 4. Dairy The state also processes a significant amount of dairy, as evidenced by the often-smelly cow farms that line Interstate 84 between Wendell and Twin Falls. That milk is turned into cheese, yogurt, butter and more. Lactalis, the worlds largest dairy company, purchases milk from hundreds of Idaho dairy farmers throughout the Treasure Valley and Magic Valley, according to the Idaho Department of Commerce. Maggie Harding, manufacturing manager at Lactalis, scoops cheese out of a vat at the companys plant in Nampa. The square chunks are midway through a fermentation process that turns milk into mozzarella. The yellow liquid in the vat, made mostly of water, separates from the curds and is drained off and dried to become whey. The companys 326,000-square-foot plant in Nampa produces string cheese, shredded cheese, mozzarella and whey protein. Its also the largest Lactalis plant in the country. The majority of the milk it processes is sourced from dairies within 25 miles of the plant, said Julie Chigbrow, a spokesperson for Lactalis. Its very local, Chigbrow told the Statesman. Its very fresh. 5. Corn Idaho grows over two-thirds of the sweet corn seed produced in the world, the State Department of Agriculture says. Many farmers use the crop for livestock feed. Sweet corn itself grows well in the Treasure Valley, thanks to its high desert plains and cold winter temperatures that contribute to less disease and insects. Matt Wissel, and his wife, Benita, grow sweet corn on their family-run farm near Lake Lowell in Nampa. The farm was established in 1911, and while it first grew wheat, beans and sugar beets, it now produces a wide range of vegetables and melons, including green beans, broccoli, cabbage, watermelon, pumpkins and winter squashes. Matt Wissel looks over a portion of his field at Wissel Farms in Nampa. Wissel Farms is a family-owned business that participates in a community supported agriculture network that connects consumers with fresh produce from local farms. The Wissels sell their produce at some Albertsons and WinCo stores and at their farm stand. How to get involved Looking to get fresh produce from local farmers? The Wissels also sell their goods through a CSA box service. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Its a business model that connects consumers directly with nearby farms. Typically, it involves paying upfront in the springtime and receiving weekly boxes during the harvest season. Members can purchase a crop share before the growing season begins, and once it does, periodically (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.) come to the farm or another location to pick up their already paid-for shares of produce. Some farmers, like the Wissels, deliver the goods directly to your door. CSAs for beef, chicken or pork differ and may involve a subscription or membership fee, since meat is not a seasonal product. J.D. Hoagland, CEO of Hoagland Meat, explains how cows are processed for meat at the businesss location in Homedale. Hoagland Meat is family owned company thats been in the local cattle industry for over 70 years. It sources angus beef from ranches in the Treasure Valley and sells custom-ordered cuts. Peaceful Belly, a small family farm in Caldwell and the first in Idaho to offer a CSA service, charge $300 to $400 for its full share and less for half shares or seasonal shares, according to Larzelier. Peaceful Belly also has a cider and ice cream value add share that costs about $75 per season. Matt Wissel said his farm has 212 members around the Treasure Valley that receive seasonal produce deliveries each week. They members pay $285 for the season, or three payments of $95. People get whats harvested that week; They get a variety of all kinds of things, he told the Statesman. It also forces people to try something theyve never had before. This past week, members got to try kohlrabi, a pale green and purple vegetable about the size of an orange. Kohlrabi tastes similar to broccoli and cabbage, although a bit sweeter. Its commonly used in salads and soups. You can browse this map to see what Idaho farms participate in CSA. Theres several in the Treasure Valley, ranging from vegetable, fruit and meat suppliers, and more across the rest of the state. Bagged nectarines sit atop a scale at Symms Fruit Ranch in Caldwell. Price of local cherries plummets Symms said the latest cherry season has been devastating for the farm, because of the amount of cherries being dumped into the market. Typically, growers in California brings their cherries to market first, Washington follows suit and Idaho last. But Symms said California held on to their cherries for longer than normal this season, contributing to a glut of supply. It just plummeted the price and made it hard to be competitive, she said. Fortunately for consumers, that means lower prices on local cherries at the grocery store. Concerts in Canyon Countys wine district? Businesses said yes, residents no. Who won Heartache as Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho management packs out of former building When extreme heat hits Idaho, farmworkers struggle. What protections do they have? 5 apartment buildings. 2 subdivisions. Starbucks, Dutch Bros, Cafe Zupas. Coming soon UPDATE: GRENADA, Miss. (WJTV) Officials with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS) said the suspect involved in the hostage situation at the Walgreens in Grenada died during the incident. Bailey Martin, press secretary for the Mississippi DPS, said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) received a notification around 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 3 about the incident. Hinds County detention officer injured during disturbance at jail Martin said members of the Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) SWAT Team arrived at the location to assist with incident. She said the suspect received fatal injuries, but she did not release how the suspect died. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement There were no other serious injuries reported by other individuals at the scene. MBI is investigating the incident and will turn their findings over to the Mississippi Attorney Generals Office. GRENADA, Miss. (WJTV) The Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) responded to a hostage situation at the Walgreens in Grenada. According to MHP Troop D, other local and state agencies responded to the location on Sunday, September 3. Officials said the Highway 51 and Highway 8 intersection and surrounding streets are closed to through traffic. People are asked to avoid this area until further notice. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. The passenger who went overboard on the largest cruise ship in the world has been named as 19-year-old Sigmund Ropich. Mr Ropich, a college student, was identified by his sister Savannah Ropich, who said she had been in contact with the US Embassy in Cuba. Mr Ropich went overboard from Royal Caribbeans Wonder of the Seas before 9pm on 27 August during the second day of a seven-day trip sailing from Port Canaveral in Florida to the Grand Cayman Islands, the cruise company said. He has still not been found almost a week later. The teen was on holiday on the cruise with his best friends, his co-worker and his co-workers family, when the incident happened. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Sig is a great kid. Never gets in trouble and never caused trouble. Very intelligent, got As in Calculus/Physics/Government in high school with no effort. He is a college student as well and works too. He is a kind, reserved and humble kid who also loves to make people laugh. I always call him the Cool, Calm and Collected sibling," Ms Ropich told Fox News. Ms Ropich said that Cuban officials have stopped their search operation in the sea, but have now moved to the coastline and land to continue looking. I have a strong feeling theyre going the end this search, Ms Ropich told Insider. The search for Sigmund Ropich (centre) is ongoing but his sister Savannah Ropich (right) fears the search may be called off (Savannah Ropich/Facebook) We are very hopeful if they open [the] search back in the ocean. We need them to open it again, Ms Ropich said. The family of Mr Ropich said they have very few details on his disappearance and search. Royal Caribbean has not informed the family how long the ships crew has searched for the missing teenager, his sister said. The family have been "praying hourly day and night" for Mr Ropich to be found. Royal Caribbean said it was working with the US Coast Guard on the search for Mr Ropich. However, a spokesperson for the South Florida branch of the US Coast Guard told Business Insider that the Cuban Border Guard is leading the search, because the incident occurred in Cubas territorial waters. The incident was reported at around 9pm ET on 27 August when an Oscar! Oscar! Oscar! call, which signifies an overboard emergency, was made, according to industry blog Cruise Hive. The crew launched a three-hour search in the water using searchlights and smaller boats and the ship turned around to retrace its route. Passengers on board the 230,000-ton cruise ship Wonder of the Seas said that their original journey had already been diverted due to Hurricane Idalia. The Wonder of the Seas is a 1,188 feet long ship and enough space to accommodate 7,000 passengers and 2,300 crew members. At 18 decks high, this vessel is the largest cruise ship in the world. It is unclear whereabouts on the boat Mr Ropich went overboard from. A woman claiming to be a passenger on the Wonder of the Seas posted on TikTok saying the captain announced video evidence that showed the man jumping overboard. Mr Ropichs sister spoke against this, saying the woman was spreading misinformation. She has no clue what is going on with the whereabouts of my brother and his situation, Ms Ropich said in a Facebook post. Since Mr Ropich is an American citizen, the Coast Guard could not conduct an investigation until the Wonder of the Seas docked back in the US on Sunday. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) With the states rich history of war heroes, a Tennessean has received the Medal of Honor in nearly every conflict since the military decoration was first created in 1861. Of the 32 recipients in Tennessee, five have been presented with the Medal of Honor for their service during the Vietnam War, and on Tuesday, Sept. 5, Capt. Larry Taylor, a former Cobra helicopter pilot, will be joining their ranks. TN Vietnam veteran who rescued four soldiers to receive Medal of Honor Taylors daring rescue of four soldiers surrounded by around 80 North Vietnamese is just one of the acts that has earned him and many others the Medal of Honor the highest military decoration a person can receive. The Tennessee Hall of Valor in Chattanooga. (Photo: WKRN) Other Tennesseans like Sgt. Mitchell Stout have also been awarded for their courage in the face of danger during the Vietnam War, like when Stout picked up an enemy-thrown grenade and used his body to shield and protect his fellow soldiers. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center in Chattanooga keeps a record of Medal of Honor recipients with their images and citations displayed in the Heritage Centers Hall of Valor. Biden to award Medal of Honor to Vietnam-era Army officer Below is a list of Tennessee Vietnam veterans who have received the Medal of Honor and information on their heroic actions from the Heritage Center. Mitchell Stout Rank: Sergeant Organization: U.S. Army Company: Battery C, 1st Battalion, 44th Artillery Action Place: Khe Gio Bridge, Republic of Vietnam (March 12, 1970) Born: February 24, 1950, Knoxville, Tennessee Citation: Stout distinguished himself during an attack by a North Vietnamese Army Sapper company on his units firing position at Khe Gio Bridge. Stout was in a bunker with members of a searchlight crew when the position came under attack. When the intensity of the attack subsided, an enemy grenade was thrown into the bunker. Stout ran to the grenade, picked it up and started out of the bunker. As he reached the door, the grenade exploded. By holding the grenade close to his body and shielding its blast, Stout protected his fellow soldiers in the bunker from further injury or death. Don Jenkins Rank: Private First Class Organization: U.S. Army Company: Company A, 2d Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division Action Place: Kieng Phong Province, Republic of Vietnam Born: April 18, 1948, Quality, Kentucky, enlisted in Nashville, Tennessee Citation: Jenkins distinguished himself while serving as a machine gunner on a reconnaissance mission. When his company came under heavy fire, Jenkins unhesitatingly maneuvered forward to an exposed position and began placing suppressive fire on the enemy. When his own machine gun jammed, he obtained a rifle and continued to fire into the enemy bunkers until his machine gun was made operative by his assistant. He repeatedly ran and crawled across open terrain to get resupplies of ammunition until he exhausted all supplies. Medal of Honor recipients remains IDd 73 years after Korea He then armed himself with two antitank weapons and, by himself, maneuvered within 20 meters of an enemy bunker to destroy that position. During the battle, Jenkins was seriously wounded by shrapnel but continued to aid his fellow troops. Ignoring the continuing intense fire and his painful wounds, while also hindered by darkness, Jenkins made three trips to the beleaguered unit, each time pulling a wounded comrade back to safety. His spirit inspired his fellow soldiers to defeat the larger force. After leaving the U.S. Army, Jenkins worked in coal mines until his retirement in 1999. James A. Gardner Rank: First Lieutenant Organization: U.S. Army Company: Headquarters Company, 327th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division Action Place: My Canh, Vietnam (February 7, 1966) Born: February 7, 1943, Dyersburg, Tennessee Citation: Gardners platoon was advancing to relieve a company of the 1st Battalion that had been pinned down for several hours by a numerically superior enemy force in the village of My Canh, Vietnam. Even as it moved to begin the attack, the platoon was under heavy enemy fire. Leading the assault, Gardner charged through a hail of fire across an open rice paddy and destroyed the first bunker with a grenade. After destroying a second bunker, Gardner reached the third bunker, where an enemy gunner leaped forward and began firing at him. Gardner returned fire and killed the enemy gunner from a distance of six feet. Last World War II Medal of Honor recipient, Hershel Woody Williams, dies at 98 Following the seizure of the main enemy position, he reorganized the platoon to continue the attack. Advancing to the new assault position, the platoon was pinned down by an enemy machine gun emplaced in a fortified bunker. Gardner dropped a grenade in the bunker and vaulted beyond, where he came under fire again. He was gravely wounded just before reaching the new source of fire, but with a last valiant effort, staggered forward and destroyed the bunker and its defenders with a grenade. Although he fell dead on the rim of the bunker, his actions inspired the men of his platoon to resume the attack, and they completely routed the enemy. In 2009, Gardners sister donated his Medal of Honor to his former unit, the 101st Airborne, to be displayed in Fort Campbell. David Robert Ray Rank: Hospital Corpsmen Second Class Organization: U.S. Navy Company: 2d Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division Action Place: Quang Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam (March 19, 1969) Born: February 14, 1945, McMinnville, Tennessee Citation: During the early morning hours, an estimated battalion-sized enemy force launched a determined assault against the batterys position and penetrated the barbed-wire perimeter. The initial burst of enemy fire caused numerous casualties among the marines. Undaunted by the intense fire, Ray moved from parapet to parapet, rendering emergency medical treatment to the wounded. Although seriously wounded himself while administering first aid to a marine, Ray refused medical aid and continued his lifesaving efforts. Operation Stand Down celebrates 30 years of serving veterans While he was bandaging and attempting to comfort another wounded marine, Ray was forced to battle two enemy soldiers who attacked his position, killing one and wounding the other. Rapidly losing his strength, he still managed to move through the hail of enemy fire to other casualties. Once again, he was faced with the intense fire of oncoming enemy troops and, despite the insurmountable odds, succeeded in treating the wounded and holding off the enemy until he ran out of ammunition and sustained fatal wounds. Rays final act of heroism was to protect the patient he was treating. He threw himself on the wounded marine and saved the mans life when an enemy grenade exploded nearby. Rays efforts served to inspire the men of Battery D in defeating the enemy. Walter K. Singleton Rank: Sergeant Organization: U.S. Marine Corps Company: Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division Action Place: Gio Linh District, Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam (March 24, 1967) Born: December 7, 1944, Memphis, Tennessee Citation: Singletons company was conducting combat operations when the lead platoon received intense small arms, automatic weapons, rocket, and mortar fire from a well-entrenched enemy force. As the company fought its way forward, the extremely heavy enemy fire caused numerous friendly casualties. Sensing the need for early treatment of the wounded, Singleton moved from his relatively safe position and made numerous trips to rescue injured men. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Noting that a large part of the enemy fire was coming from a hedgerow, he got a machine gun and assaulted the enemy location, delivering devastating fire as he advanced. Although he was mortally wounded, his attack killed eight of the enemy and drove the remainder from the area. Singletons bold actions completely disorganized the enemy defense and saved the lives of many of his comrades. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. CORRECTS THAT THE SOURCE IS STRINGR, NOT REBECCA BARGER - In this image from video provided by Stringr, festival goers are helped off a truck from the Burning Man festival site in Black Rock, Nev., on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. An unusual late-summer storm stranded thousands at the week-long event. (Stringr via AP) BLACK ROCK DESERT, Nev. (AP) Wait times for tens of thousands of Burning Man partygoers trying to exit the mud-caked northern Nevada desert are beginning to decrease after flooded roads left them stranded there for days. Event organizers said they started to let traffic flow out on the main road around 2 p.m. local time Monday even as they urged attendees to delay their exit to help ease traffic. About two hours after the mass departure began, organizers estimated a wait time of about five hours. By Tuesday morning, wait times had dropped to between two and three hours, according to the official Burning Man account on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter. The annual gathering, which launched on a San Francisco beach in 1986, attracts nearly 80,000 artists, musicians and activists for a week-long mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The festival had been closed to vehicles after more than a half-inch (1.3 centimeters) of rain fell Friday, causing flooding and foot-deep mud. The road closures came just before the first of two ceremonial fires signaling an end to the festival was scheduled to begin Saturday night. The event traditionally culminates with the burning of a large wooden effigy shaped like a man and a wood temple structure during the final two nights, but the fires were postponed as authorities worked to reopen exit routes by the end of the Labor Day weekend. Organizers had also asked attendees not to walk out of the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Reno during that time as others had done throughout the weekend, including DJ Diplo and comedian Chris Rock. "The Man was torched Monday night while the temple is set to go up in flames 8 p.m. Tuesday. The National Weather Service in Reno said some light rain showers could pass through Tuesday morning. The event began Aug. 27 and had been scheduled to end Monday morning, with attendees packing up and cleaning up after themselves. We are a little bit dirty and muddy, but spirits are high. The party still going, said Scott London, a Southern California photographer, adding that the travel limitations offered a view of Burning Man that a lot of us dont get to see. Disruptions are part of the event's recent history: Dust storms forced organizers to temporarily close entrances to the festival in 2018, and the event was twice canceled altogether during the pandemic. At least one fatality has been reported, but organizers said the death of a man in his 40s wasn't weather-related. The sheriff of nearby Pershing County said he was investigating but has not identified the man or a cause of death. President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he was aware of the situation at Burning Man, including the death, and the White House was in touch with local authorities. The event is remote on the best of days and emphasizes self-sufficiency. Amid the flooding, revelers were urged to conserve their food and water, and most remained hunkered down at the site. Some attendees, however, managed to walk several miles to the nearest town or catch a ride there. Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz, posted a video to Instagram on Saturday evening showing him and Rock riding in the back of a fans pickup truck. He said they had walked 6 miles through the mud before hitching a ride. I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out, Diplo wrote. Cindy Bishop and three of her friends managed to drive their rented RV out of the festival at dawn on Monday when, Bishop said, the main road wasnt being guarded. She said they were happy to make it out after driving toward the exit and getting stuck several times over the course of two days. But Bishop, who traveled from Boston for her second Burning Man, said spirits were still high at the festival when they had left. Most people she spoke with said they planned to stay for the ceremonial burns. The spirit in there, she said, was really like, Were going to take care of each other and make the best of it. Rebecca Barger, a photographer from Philadelphia, arrived at her first Burning Man on Aug. 26 and was determined to stick it out through the end. Everyone has just adapted, sharing RVs for sleeping, offering food and coffee, Barger said. I danced in foot-deep clay for hours to incredible DJs. ___ Associated Press reporters Rio Yamat in Las Vegas, Michael Casey in Boston, R.J. Rico in Atlanta, Lea Skene in Baltimore, Juan Lozano in Houston and Julie Walker in New York contributed. BEIJING (Reuters) - Tesla showed off its restyled, China-made Model 3 sedan for the first time to the public at a trade fair in Beijing, after launching it a day before in several countries. The U.S. automaker displayed a flame red version of the car - marking the first change to its mass-market car line-up since it launched its global best-seller, the Model Y, in 2020 - at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). The launch of the new Model 3 also marks the first time the automaker has rolled out a vehicle in China ahead of the United States, underscoring its growing reliance on the country where it is in a race for market share with BYD. It is being built at Tesla's Shanghai plant and will also be exported to other markets in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Some of its new features, including a rear display for back-seat passengers, seemed aimed at Chinese buyers. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At the fair, Tesla sales staff answered questions from interested buyers. "I came to the fair to learn more about the car's debut," said a 22-year-old university student called Guo as he examined the car. Features he liked included upgrades to the car's audio system and the rear display, he added. "People in the back seat may not feel so bored while riding in the car." Another visitor to the Tesla booth, who only gave her surname as Hu, said she was not convinced enough to place an order. "There's no special reason (to buy Tesla), because now there are so many new energy vehicles," she said. Tesla has also said it will show the new model at the Munich auto show, which opens on Tuesday. (Reporting by Xiaoyu Yin, Jing Xu and Brenda Goh; Editing by Ros Russell) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton s (R) impeachment trial in the Lone Star State begins Tuesday, when Republicans in the state Legislatures upper chamber will play the pivotal role in considering whether he misused his office. Its a potentially explosive moment for the ruling conservative coalition and the first impeachment trial in the states modern history. Paxton faces 20 counts of corruption. Paxtons impeachment by Texass GOP-majority House in May has exacerbated a brewing power struggle in that coalition pitting the states once-dominant business conservative wing, many of whom favor the attorney generals conviction, against an ascendant movement of self-described Christian nationalists, who are fighting to throw out the impeachment charges entirely. To survive politically, Paxton will have to be acquitted on every count by one-third of the Senate meaning that, even if all 12 Democrats vote to convict him, he will be acquitted unless nine Republicans join them. Paxtons wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton (R), will be present but not allowed to vote. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement If enough Republicans vote to convict, even on one charge, Ken Paxton will be barred from office. Anyone that votes against Ken Paxton in this impeachment is risking their entire political career and we will make sure that is the case, right-wing activist Jonathan Stickland, who runs the pro-Paxton Defend Texas Liberty PAC, told Steve Bannon in an interview last week. Other conservatives in the state, however, have decried attempts by this faction to get the case thrown out before the trial could even begin. Republicans once believed in the rule of law, former GOP Gov. Rick Perry wrote in a blistering editorial in The Wall Street Journal. Thats why its shocking to see some Republicans through a coordinated effort of texts, emails and social-media posts working to delegitimize the impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton. According to an exclusive obtained by The Dallas Morning News, Paxton headlines the list of witnesses in his impeachment trial, along with his alleged affair partner, Laura Olsen, and Austin real estate mogul Natin Nate Paul. House investigators alleged that one way that Paul bribed Paxton was by securing a job for Olsen and evidence they have submitted suggests Paxtons affair with her was a continued headache for staff that helped lead them to report him to federal law enforcement. State senators will be asked to vote on allegations both sweeping and sordid: that Paxton turned the state prosecutors office into a political weapon for Pauls benefit. Paul is also under federal indictment a distinction he shares with Paxton accused of lying to investors to secure a loan. And Paxton has been impeached because of what Paul allegedly did next: convince the attorney general to use the state prosecutors office to interfere with the federal investigation and attack Pauls enemies. According to House investigators, evidence shows the extensive steps Paxton used to morph the Office of the Attorney General into Pauls concierge law firm and, along the way, cover up his abuse of the office. Last week, the state Senate revealed 4,000 pages of transcripts that show in minute detail how Paxtons alleged efforts led his senior deputies all conservative Republicans themselves to turn against him. This offices continued use of the criminal process to benefit the personal interests of Nate Paul, is unconscionable, five senior deputies wrote Paxton in a scathing email in October 2020, explaining why they reported the attorney general to federal investigators. By the end of 2020, all five were gone, as were other senior leaders in the attorney generals office who had challenged Paxton. In a settlement agreement this year, Paxton agreed to pay $3.3 million to four of the deputies who charged the attorney general fired them in retaliation for reporting him to federal investigators. But the deal had a catch: The state Legislature had to approve the funds. The Legislature declined to do so. Instead, the request triggered a secret investigation into the attorney general, whose personality and stream of scandals have long irritated even his ideological allies in the GOP. It is alarming and very serious that we are having this discussion into why millions of taxpayer dollars have been asked to remedy Paxtons alleged misdeeds, Texas Rep. Andrew Murr (R) told a state House committee in May that unveiled the charges. The state House voted to impeach Paxton later that month. Paxton has won the loyalty of the states far-right wing through nearly a decade of lawsuits attacking state and federal initiatives, particularly around civil rights, climate legislation and the integrity of the 2020 presidential election. Last year, he even claimed to Bannon to have thrown Texas to Trump, thanks to a lawsuit that successfully banned Harris County, the home of Houston and a key Democratic stronghold, from sending out more than 2 million mail-in ballots. Had he not succeeded, Paxton said, Texas would have been one of those battleground states and Donald Trump would have lost the election. The Texas Bar Association last year filed a professional misconduct claim against the attorney general for his dishonest and frivolous campaign to help throw the election to Trump, according to The Texas Tribune. According to July reporting by the Tribune, Paxton has been rewarded for his efforts with millions of dollars in donations from the states far-right wing, and particularly from three deep-pocketed oil billionaires who have served as his longtime supporters: Tim Dunn and the brothers Farris and Dan Wilks, all of whom identify as Christian nationalists. As the Senate trial looms, the populist right which holds a commanding influence among GOP members of the states upper chamber has been lobbying, cajoling and threatening senators who might consider conviction. In an early battle preceding the trial, this faction which has cast the Republicans who impeached Paxton as being in league with Texas Democrats argued that there shouldnt be a trial at all and is urging GOP senators to vote Tuesday to throw the impeachment out. The basis they put forward for doing so is an old Texas statute that protects officials from being impeached for offenses committed before they took office which the Paxton defense team is arguing should protect the attorney general, who they claim was reelected in November, long after voters would have had the opportunity to read about his long list of scandals in state publications. Polling by the University of Texass Texas Politics Project, however, found that voters were by wide margins unaware of the details of Paxtons scandals during those elections, particularly because the bombshell allegations leveled against him by the state House in May were months afterward. In polling that preceded the trial, nearly half of all Texans 47 percent said Paxton should be removed from office, twice as many who thought he should not. However, more than a third of respondents said they didnt know. Among Republicans, 24 percent said Paxton should be convicted, 32 percent said he should be acquitted and a plurality of 43 percent said they didnt know, suggesting much of that electorate remains up for grabs. Getting the trial thrown out would be a tougher lift for Paxton than simply avoiding conviction absent Democratic support, it would require 16 of the 18 Senate Republicans to vote to abandon the trial, or seven more than he needs to support him in the impeachment vote. Like Perry, another leading arch-conservative group is pushing back against efforts to forgo a trial. Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR), which backed the states Republican takeover in the 1990s but opposed Paxton in the 2022 Republican primaries, put out a statement decrying an ongoing effort underway to intimidate the Senators into abandoning their constitutional obligations and acquitting Paxton before the trial even begins and the evidence has been presented. These efforts are disrespectful of the constitutional impeachment process and insulting to the integrity of the Texas Senate, the statement continued. TLR expects the Senate will conduct a fair, open and thorough trial and that each Senator will make her or his decision solely on the evidence presented. Perry, meanwhile, praised the credentials of the conservative Republican whistleblowers who reported Paxton to federal and House investigators. But while he said Paxtons decision to ignore his staffs warnings about the businessman at the center of the case against the attorney general was a red flag and shows bad judgment in a leader, he argued that bad judgment alone isnt impeachable unless it involves breaking the law or abuse of office. That is what we all want to discover through this trial. Texans can show the rest of the country that the rule of law applies to both political parties, he said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. AUSTIN The international commission that oversees the Rio Grande has determined that nearly all of the buoys installed in the river at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott 's order are floating on the Mexican side of the international boundary. The finding by the International Boundary and Water Commission, which is responsible for border and water treaties between the United States and Mexico, was filed Tuesday by the U.S. Justice Department with the federal court that is overseeing the lawsuit against Abbott and the state of Texas. "Comparing the survey results against the International Boundary Line (IBL) between the United States and Mexico, the survey as concurred in by (U.S. and Mexican) Commissioners reflects that the buoy chain crosses the IBL, and that a majority of the floating barrier ... is located within the territory of Mexico," the filing in the federal court's Western District of Texas states. According to the court document, IBWC representatives from both nations late last month conducted a topographic survey of the section of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass where the 1,000-foot chain of buoys have been floating since mid-July. A man takes phone footage of buoys used in the Rio Grande to stop unauthorized border crossings on Thursday, July 20, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. The survey found that only 108 feet of the chain was in American waters. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The court filing did not ask Senior Judge David Alan Ezra to take any immediate action but said the Justice Department "will address the relevance of these facts" in a later filing. Abbott's office did respond to a call for comment. But lawyers for him and the state have asked Ezra to reject the Justice Department's request that the buoys be removed from the river while the court case plays itself out. Ezra has set a Aug. 22 hearing in Austin on the federal government's request. A spokesman for the boundary commission declined to comment on the survey's findings. "Given that this is in pending litigation and the Department of Justice has filed the suit, we'll let the documents speak for themselves," said IBWC spokesman Frank Fisher. The government of Mexico filed a complaint in June after Abbott had announced his intention to place the floating barriers in the international river as part of the state of Texas' effort to stem the flow of unlawful migration. More: Abbott is wrong to define unlawful immigration at Texas border as an 'invasion', Feds say Early this month, after a body was discovered stuck to the floating devices, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador condemned the decision to install the barriers. Abbott shouldnt act like that," Lopez Obrador said at a Aug. 3 news conference, referring to the Texas governor. "Its inhumane. It remains unclear whether the buoys played a role in the person's death, but Texas authorities have said the drowning likely occurred upstream and that the river's current carried the body to the barriers. More: Buoys, razor wire raise risks for migrants along Texas border. Two bodies have been found. The federal lawsuit, filed July 24, asserts that Texas had overstepped its authority by installing the devices without seeking approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as required by the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. Lawyers for Abbott and the state have argued that Texas has a sovereign right to repel what in court filing and public statements they have called an "invasion" by undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers. This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Texas buoys were placed mostly in Mexican territory, agency says Protestors with red painted hands chant "Murderers" in front of the Government building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Monday, Sept. 4. 2023. Thousands have gathered late on Monday in front of the government in North Macedonia's capital Skopje to protest on scandal that broke after media reported that employees in the state running Clinic of Oncology allegedly were selling on a black market a million of dollars' worth clinic supply of drugs needed for cancer treatment. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski) SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) Thousands of people protested Monday outside the government headquarters in North Macedonia 's capital, Skopje, over allegations that patients at a state cancer hospital missed life-saving treatment because staff were stealing the expensive drugs to sell on the black market. Chanting Murderers, demonstrators demanded the resignation of the country's health minister and the hospital management. Among the protesters were several people who said their relatives had died after being given placebos instead of proper chemotherapy because the drugs had been stolen. My mother had breast cancer and her condition worsened a week after she was admitted to the clinic," one young man told the crowd. Unfortunately, she didnt survive. The man, who didn't give his name, described the hospital's alleged behavior monstrous. The government and hospital officials have sought to assure the public that cancer patients are not at risk, while prosecutors have launched an investigation into the claims. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said Monday that he understands the anger and indignation of the people, but added that the entire state health system should not be blamed. The scandal broke several months ago, following a string of media reports into the alleged scheme. In May, police arrested a nurse at the Skopje hospital who was allegedly caught on CCTV smuggling cancer drugs out of the building, and accused her of stealing them for sale on the black market. On Friday, police raided the hospital and the homes of two staff members, seizing documents, computers and data drives. No arrests were made and no charges have been filed. Health Minister Fatmir Mexhiti and hospital director Violeta Klisarova told reporters in Skopje Monday that patients are safe and there is no manipulation with the therapy. Klisarova said that since the nurse's arrest hospital protocols have been revised and staff access to cancer drugs has been restricted. I will do everything in my power to clear up this case, said Mexhiti, adding that "The ministry will work closely with law enforcement to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation." North Macedonias President Stevo Pendarovski voiced hope Monday that the investigation would lead to appropriate punishment of those found guilty, adding that the state health system has failed the public. It is high time that the system confirms we are capable of dealing with severe forms of organized crime and corruption, and of ending the culture of impunity for serious violations of the laws, Pendarovski's office said in a statement. The conservative main opposition party, VMRO-DPMNE, called for the government to resign a demand it has been pressing for months due to a dispute over proposed constitutional changes that would expand the official list of ethnic minorities in the country. While many view Labor Day as the unofficial end of summer or an opportunity for a three-day weekend, the holidays significance should not be lost on the average citizen.. As Americas economy shifted from agriculture to manufacturing in the late 1800, recognition of laborers and labor unions became more prominent. Early celebrations included parades, and particularly in North Carolina, Labor Day was synonymous with barbecue. The importance of manufacturing in our state cannot be understated. According to the National Association of Manufacturing, about 448,000 North Carolinians work in the manufacturing sector, about 10% of the workforce. Manufacturers account for 17% of the total output in North Carolina, and career opportunities are on the rise. Top manufacturing sectors for job growth include pharmaceutical and medicine, computer and peripheral equipment, and motor vehicle manufacturing. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement While manufacturing jobs are on the rise, and announcements like a new VinFast plant in Chatham County and expansion of the Toyota battery plant in Randolph County are promising, the manufacturing sector is not immune to plant closures and mass layoffs. Recently, weve seen closures of furniture makers Klaussner Furniture and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, and Canton Paper Mill, cumulatively eliminating about 1,900 jobs. As robust as North Carolinas economy and workforce are, we face a shortfall of residents with the appropriate post-secondary credentials for jobs created across the state. According to MyFutureNC, North Carolina requires 2 million residents with high-quality credentials or post-secondary degrees by 2030 to meet future workforce needs. As of 2021, the state was off pace to meet this goal, with an anticipated shortfall of approximately 31,000 people. Post-secondary doesnt necessarily mean a bachelors degree. It could mean a two-year degree from one of North Carolinas 58 distinguished community colleges that offer programs aligned with the needs of local employers. It could also mean a valued certificate program in diverse fields such as IT, skilled trades, healthcare, data analytics and human resources. The key takeaway: a high school diploma or GED is insufficient for many future jobs. So, to support workers in our state today and meet North Carolinas future workforce needs, I propose the following. Engage K-12 students sooner In many countries, students begin apprenticeships and vocational training much earlier than we do in the U.S. We could adopt a similar model, especially for students who have already identified a preferred career field. With the most significant obstacle to higher education being cost, we should do more to facilitate awareness of and applications for scholarships and federal aid (e.g., encourage more families to fill out the FAFSA). Provide proper workplace training Gone are the days when workers learned simple tasks and did the same thing daily for an entire career. Advances in robotics, manufacturing, process improvement and artificial intelligence necessitate a lifelong commitment to learning. Employers should provide relevant training themselves and provide scholarships and tuition reimbursement for their employees professional development through accredited organizations. Promote career advancement Employers should encourage and support viable career pathways, showing employees how to get promoted and earn more income for themselves and their families. Even in traditional blue-collar environments, new certificate and degree programs in leading skill areas like supply chain management, project management and marketing can help advance a career. Doing these things will positively contribute to a strong labor force in North Carolina now and in the future, and will continue to attract major employers to our state. This Labor Day, perhaps when youre enjoying your barbecue, take a moment to appreciate our states workers. Ben Coulter is Southeast Regional Director for Western Governors University and leads WGU North Carolina, an online university with more than 7,900 graduates in the state. He lives in Maggie Valley. Thrift shopping is one of the best ways to score vintage clothes for discounted prices if you look hard enough. One Redditor hit the fashion jackpot when they discovered a vintage designer dress at a thrift shop. In a popular Reddit post, the user shared photos of the Jean Paul Gaultier dress they bought at a secondhand store. They paid just $9 for the vintage leather dress. Photo Credit: u/Unacceptablehoney / Reddit Photo Credit: u/Unacceptablehoney / Reddit Its a lace-trim black slip with the original Jean Paul Gaultier sewn-in tags and serial number. Jean Paul Gaultier is a luxury clothing and fragrance brand created by the French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier. He established his brand and created his first womens clothing collection in 1976. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Gaultier opened his first boutique in Paris in 1986 but rose to fame in the fashion industry after his first couture collection in 1997. Throughout his career, Gaultier was known for creating androgynous fashions that complement both men and women and blending street style with high fashion. While Gaultier retired in 2020, he regularly welcomes guest designers to continue the brands legacy by designing iconic styles and putting on fashion shows. Thrifting designer clothes can help you save hundreds of dollars and find unique pieces no longer sold at retailers. Vintage Jean Paul Gaultier dresses can cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars from online luxury resellers. Paying just $9 for this piece shows how much money you can save thrifting high-fashion items. Shopping secondhand can benefit both your closet and the environment. With perpetually shifting fashion trends, the average clothing item is worn only seven times before being discarded. This tendency contributes to millions of tons of textile waste annually in the United States. In 2018 alone, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated the country produced 17 million tons of textile waste. By buying secondhand clothes, we can extend the life cycle of clothing items and keep them out of landfills. Fellow Redditors were impressed by this incredible deal in the comment section. Oh wow, I thought it was satin at first, one user wrote. Gorgeous! Another Redditor said: That is incredible, congratulations! Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet. Christianity is under attack, from China to Pakistan, but I want to consider a case closer to home to emphasise that religious liberty is vulnerable even where we complacently assume it is part of the culture. Lets visit Finland. Paivi Rasanen is a doctor, longstanding MP and former interior minister. In 2019, police opened an investigation into her for incitement against a minority. The accusation is based upon a tweet in which she asked why the Lutheran Church sponsored a Pride event; a debate in which she said God intends us to be straight; and a booklet she authored nearly 20 years ago that argued homosexuality is a developmental disorder. The Finnish police concluded that no crime had been committed, but the prosecutor-general decided to charge her anyway. In 2022, Rasanen went to court: three judges, no jury, no witnesses and not even a victim to say they took offence. The judges decided in Rasanens favour; the prosecutor, who wont take no for an answer, simply brought the case back via appeal. The second trial wrapped up last week, and if Rasanen is found guilty, she could face jail. According to Paul Coleman, the executive director of ADF International, a religious advocacy group that threw its weight behind Rasanen, the prosecutor opened by insisting that this case is not about theology: you can quote the Bible as much as you like, the issue is how you interpret it, and Rasanen had done so in such a way that caused harm. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement By Colemans account, the trial then became very theological indeed, with undergraduate-level questions such as: What is the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament? Why are some passages of the Bible interpreted literally? Its this line of inquiry that I think establishes Rasanens story as a canary in a coal mine. Until now, progressives seemed content to try to separate religion from the public sphere. But here we witness an agent of the state taking a big step into the private sphere, seeking not only to silence a point of view but also to challenge its intellectual basis and refute it. Theres no escaping the inquisition. Rasanen might evoke the defence that she hates sin but loves the sinner, but the prosecution stated that this isnt good enough in a modern society. Calling actions a sin insults the people who do them, and given that ones identity can be defined by acts, it amounts to an attack on their very being. One might reply that many Christians feel a calling to evangelise, so stopping them from performing that particular action threatens their identity, too. Thus we see the consequences of European countries passing well-intentioned equalities legislation that seeks to safeguard every characteristic under the sun. Sexual preference is protected; so is religious belief. But what happens when they come into conflict? For a while, we muddled through this conundrum, turning a blind eye to what some Christians still believe and preach, but the Finnish prosecutor appears to have chosen a side. Their crusade is somewhat patronising, for it assumes that gays and lesbians are a vulnerable species, incapable of ignoring or contradicting an argument. A handful of them, of course, might quietly agree with Rasanen. Its a modern conceit that our identities are perfect binaries between Left and Right, spiritual and secular, but youll find plenty of gay believers in the church pews. Its important to note that I dont speak Finnish. The trial was under-reported, so my understanding of it relies heavily on the translations of the ADF, whose critics will insist it has made the case seem more significant than it really is. The judges initially found in favour of Rasanen, so what is there to worry about? That the case was brought at all, Id say. And that it fits a pattern. Here in the UK, a street preacher was arrested in 2019; this year, a Tory councillor says he lost his job after tweeting that pride is a sin (indeed its the sin that led to Satans rebellion and humanity being cast out of Eden). A different Tory councillor, Anthony Stevens, tweeted his sympathy for these people and was in turn arrested for an alleged hate crime. Stevens did not appear publicly to endorse the theology of either man; he was standing up for their right to express it. Not to be able to say something is bad enough. Not to be able to say that someone should be able to say something is surreal. The older I get, the more my view of human nature darkens. The classic liberal take is that we are inherently tolerant, that if we scrape away old ideas and customs, well become a society that is free and peaceful. But the evidence of history and what is happening abroad in, say, Azerbaijan or Ukraine, suggests that human beings are very intolerant of each other and its good culture and strong institutions, cultivated over centuries, that keep us from each others throats. Today, the culture is decaying and institutions are being captured, and the assumptions upon which a delicate liberal order rested are gradually being forgotten. I was taught that I had no right to be protected from difficult ideas, that it was my responsibility to interrogate and challenge them. By contrast, the Finnish prosecution reportedly said of one of Rasanens arguments: The point isnt whether it is true or not but that it is insulting. How dumb, depressing and scary. 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 tiny intruder that invaded a home through its dog door got a police escort back outside in Oklahoma. Officials with the Moore Police Department said the local resident couldnt get the little opossum out of her house, so two officers teamed up to capture the little fella and bring it back outside, according to a Sept. 4 Facebook post. It was just a little feller, officials shared along with a photo of the officers posing with the tiny critter which looks just barely bigger than one officers hands. People were quick to notice the priceless grimace on the unhappy opossums face. Zoom in on his face, someone said in the comments. Yall really inconvenienced him. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Opossum sneaks into Florida elementary school, hides beside toilet in girls restroom Dog chasing opossum gets trapped in Tennessee storm drain. See the intense rescue Intruder pulling on womans backdoor in North Carolina was a wild animal, cops say Labor Day is a public and federal holiday in the United States. It honors the American labor movement, and the contributions that workers have made to the country. Starting in 1882, labor days first began being organized and celebrated by labor unions, and Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day an official public holiday in 1887. There was an economic downturn in 1893, and by 1894 there was a depression where up to 18% of the country's population was out of work. Wages were slashed at the Pullman Palace Car Company in Illinois, and workers went on strike. The American Railway Union (ARU), led by Eugene Debs, joined the cause, and workers of the ARU refused to handle Pullman railcars. Eventually, President Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops, and the state militia also arrived. The strike was crushed and some died. It was at this time that Labor Day was pushed through as a federal holiday, in order to placate labor after this bitter strike. Source: Checkiday.com The News-Messenger/News Herald This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Today is: Labor Day [Source] Hong Kong actor Tony Leung received the prestigious Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award at the 80th Venice Film Festival on Sunday. What he said: Leung, 61, was presented the award by Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee, who described him as a directors dream. In his acceptance speech, Leung expressed gratitude to his native Hong Kong and its film industry. I am so grateful to have been raised in Hong Kong as well as being nurtured by the Hong Kong movie industry... where my acting career began, Leung said. He also thanked his wife, fellow actor Carina Lau , 57, and all the wonderful people who I have worked with over the past 41 years. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement More from NextShark: Riisa Naka compares her game in Alice in Borderland S2 to Squid Game: Mine would be more difficult Acting career: Leung is known for his roles in films such as 1980's A City of Sadness, 1994's "Chungking Express," 1995's Cyclo, 1997's "Happy Together," 2000's "In the Mood for Love," 2007's Lust, Caution and 2021's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." Leung has won several awards over the past four decades, including the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival and Asian Filmmaker of the Year at the Busan International Film Festival. Whats next: Leung will lead opposite Andy Lau in Felix Chong's Hong Kong action crime thriller The Goldfinger, which premieres in December. He will also star in Hungarian director Ildiko Enyedis Silent Friend, where he will play a neuroscientist. More from NextShark: Girls Generation Forever 1 MV director apologizes for Tokyo DisneySea plagiarism accusations Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! 'Portlandia' co-creator Jonathan Krisel might direct 'Detective Pikachu' sequel Netflix co-CEO reveals 'staggering 60%' of subscribers have watched K-content Did it seem like the cashier at Trader Joes was being more than just friendly while bagging your frozen mandarin orange chicken and 19-cent bananas? The companys CEO understands why you may think that. In a recent episode on the Inside Trader Joes podcast, CEO Bryan Palbaum addressed the rumors that employees are trained to flirt with customers and said its just that a rumor. But Palbaum said he understands why employees signature chattiness might be misinterpreted. Well, I think we just have such a unique environment in our stores that, to go into a Trader Joes store and feel that everyone is genuinely interested in whether or not you are having a good day, compared to maybe perhaps other retailers, I could see how that might be misinterpreted, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Trader Joes addresses conspiratorial theories about its small parking lots Trader Joes employees are known for striking up conversations with customers in the checkout aisle, commenting when they like what theyre ringing up or suggesting new things to try next time. President and vice CEO Jon Bassalone said that catches some people off guard. You go through this world, and you run into so many people that arent genuine, that arent kind to you, that when you walk into a place when thats happening, it feels like, whoa, OK, I think theyre flirting with me when actually thats just what niceness feels like, you know? Bassalone said. In case your local store manager hasnt told you already, Trader Joes employees recently shared their must-try store items. Trader Joes once offered delivery. Why did they stop? While the company does not encourage its employees to flirt with customers, Palbaum said he encourages new recruits to be genuine and be themselves. We hope that youre going into an environment that youre going to feel comfortable everyday walking into and enjoying it and finding people that you enjoy working with and having wonderful interactions with customers. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Former President Trump racked up two more indictments while Congress was out on recess, spurring conservative outrage. When the House returns to Washington this month, Trumps staunchest allies will have the opportunity to use their positions to go to bat for him. Through the appropriations process, investigations and redirecting attention to a potential impeachment inquiry of President Biden, Trump supporters are already planning to use plenty of tools at their disposal to try to help the former president push back on the charges if not in a legal sense, then in the court of public opinion. I am absolutely eyeing ways to push back on the indictments, especially when theyre being weaponized for political purposes, Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) said. Even Republicans who do not explicitly say they want to defend Trump through the congressional process point to their desire to address what they call the weaponization of the federal government, proposing steps or taking actions that have the effect of playing defense for Trump. Power of the purse Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) A top tactic of House Republicans is to use the government funding process to strip federal dollars from those prosecutions or from the prosecutors pursuing them. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The power of the purse is the most formidable tool that Congress has to combat the weaponization of our justice system, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) said. Given the Lefts egregious election interference efforts, its essential that we effectively use this power to protect the integrity of our elections, restore Americans faith in our government, and dismantle our nations two-tiered system of justice. Clyde, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, announced last week that he would propose two amendments to the appropriations bill dealing with the Department of Justice that would prohibit the use of federal funding for the prosecution of any major presidential candidate prior to the upcoming presidential election on November 5th, 2024. With that, Clyde takes aim at special counsel Jack Smith, who has led charges against Trump relating to attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and retention of classified documents; Manhattan, N.Y., District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who charged Trump in relation to 2016 hush-money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels; and Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis, who charged Trump again in relation to the 2020 election. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has also said she would introduce an amendment to defund Smiths office, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in July introduced a bill to do so. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) earlier this month introduced a bill to defund Smiths federal salary. The Democratic-controlled Senate is sure to reject any effort to defund the prosecutions. And it might not be so easy to get House GOP votes to approve them, either; another Clyde amendment to rescind funding for a new FBI building failed in committee. But Clyde says he is approaching these amendments quite differently. Ive had numerous positive conversations about my efforts with members across our Conference, and I will continue discussing my amendments with my colleagues to ensure were successful in adding these measures to the base bill, Clyde said. Addressing the weaponization and politicization of our judicial system should be a top priority for all House Republicans, which is why Im confident that we can garner enough support to get this done for the American people and the future of our Republic. Investigations House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) Building on the House GOPs focus on combating the alleged weaponization of the justice system, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has taken numerous actions poking at the Trump investigations and indictments actions that are sure to continue. Most recently, Jordan sent letters seeking information on White House meetings that included a top attorney in special counsel Jack Smiths probe, fanning impartiality concerns about the Trump prosecution. A source with direct knowledge of the meetings told The Hill that the attorney went to the White House for meetings that were related to national security and to interview a career White House employee who worked there during the Trump administration. Jordan is also seeking a memo that formalized Smiths role as special counsel, and information about whether any FBI employees have investigated Trump. The Judiciary Committees probes are not limited to the federal indictments. In August, Jordan asked Willis to turn over all records relating to Trumps indictment in Georgia. Jordan has also sought testimony from Bragg. Biden impeachment President Biden Trump has urged House Republicans to impeach Biden as political revenge for the indictments and his own two impeachment. These lowlifes Impeached me TWICE (I WON!), and Indicted me FOUR TIMES For NOTHING! Either IMPEACH the BUM, or fade into OBLIVION. THEY DID IT TO US! Trump said in a recent post on his Truth Social website. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has repeatedly said that he would not pursue impeachment for political purposes. But when he or other Republicans are asked about Trumps indictments, they almost always divert the conversation to the investigations of Bidens family business dealings that the Speaker thinks will evolve into an impeachment inquiry as a natural step forward. The White House has said that Biden was not involved in his familys business dealings, and Republicans have not shown that Biden directly benefited from those business dealings while he was vice president or made policy decisions based on his familys businesses. Republicans have claimed that action in Trumps indictments is timed to distract from their investigations of Biden. Mills, for example, pointed to action in the Trump indictments that followed soon after release of information in the Biden investigations, such as an unverified FBI source interview that described an alleged bribery scheme, and a transcribed interview with former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer. Why is it always one day after thats uncovered, they try to indict the president and their top political opponent? Mills said. Expungement Former President Donald Trump Republicans have also aimed to symbolically defend Trump by introducing bills to expunge his two impeachments, with House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) introducing one to erase his second impeachment and Greene leading one to erase the first. Those resolutions were met with skepticism from some Republicans, who said that there is not a real way to erase an impeachment from a past Congress. McCarthy said in June that he supported those expungements, though it is unclear when those bills could move forward. Trump, though, has not forgotten McCarthys stance, sharing a story about his support for the expungements on Truth Social and through his campaign in August. Mychael Schnell contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Moments after his mug shot was publicly released, Donald Trumps campaign sent out a fundraising email from the Official Trump Store with the image on a T-shirt. The next day, his campaign offered supporters a limited edition mug shot poster signed by the former president. The campaign sent at least 15 emails between 25 August and 4 September promoting the mugshot or the T-shirt including a video in which the nations 45th president boasts that the campaign raised $10m from the image, taken from Fulton County jail in Georgia after he was booked on a range of crimes connected to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. In the video, he holds up a shirt and tells his supporters: If you want to go out and get it, you can go out and get it. Have fun with it. The historic image has also exploded online as his opponents and critics use the image to ridicule Mr Trump, from Etsy retailers to the anti-Trump Lincoln Project and the band Green Day, which replaced its album art from the 1997 album Nimrod with Mr Trumps face to support Greater Good Music and Hawaii wildfires recovery efforts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But rather than feeling an ounce of shame one typically would expect comes along with posing for a booking photo, particularly as the first former president to face criminal prosecution let alone charges in four jurisdictions, including alleged crimes committed while in office, the former president has weaponized the image to his campaigns benefit. Instead, as Rutgers University-Camden professor and Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America author Wendy A Woloson told The New York Times, the commodification of the image shows the cynicism of late capitalism and the era we are in. The shot a defining image capturing a fragile moment for American democracy has been reduced to a souvenir. And the campaign is well aware of its value. One of his advisers even threatened other campaigns using the mug shot without Mr Trumps permission. WE ARE COMING AFTER YOU, Chris LaCivita wrote the day after its release. Within the first day after the image was made public, Mr Trumps campaign reportedly raised more than $4m, the highest grossing day of the entire campaign, according to adviser Steven Cheung. But those millions, and the millions more that have rolled in, might belong to Fulton County. Guy A Rub, a copyright law professor at Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, says that the former president could face legal consequences for using the mug shot without the express authorisation from authorities to do so. The copyright in the shot obviously does not belong to Trump. Generally, copyright belongs to whoever took the picture of its organisation. In this case, it is probably the sheriffs office or the state, Mr Rub told The Independent. T-shirts and hats with Trumps mug shot and booking number are pictured in Los Angeles on 26 August. (REUTERS) Federal law does not allow the federal government to own a copyright for booking photos, effectively leaving them to the public domain. But that is not necessarily the case at the state and local level, where using such images can be subject to fair use limitations. If the Sheriffs office (or the state) wants to enforce the copyright in the image, it can probably do it, Mr Rub added. Copyright infringement can entail various sanctions, including the profits that the infringer, meaning the Trump campaign, gained as a result of the infringement. A 2022 article from the University of Georgia School of Laws Journal of Intellectual Property Law notes that the author of the [mug shot] photograph is the law enforcement agency. Betsy Rosenblatt, a professor at Case Western Reserve Universitys School of Law, told Spectrum News that people are generally prohibited from using a mug shot and reproducing it, making a derivative work of it, distributing it without authorisation, or that is to say distributing anything that isnt the one copy you already lawfully have, and various other things. While the sheriffs office did take the image and make it publicly available, it does not necessarily mean that Mr Trumps campaign or other sellers have the right to distribute it for a profit, without permission. The sheriffs office could believe that the image is a public document and would rather avoid hiring counsel and pursuing costly litigation, including tracking down and mailing out take-down notices and cease-and-desist letters to the campaign and other sellers, Ms Rosenblatt explained. Public access to jail records and booking photos are, like many things in America, subject to patchwork laws that differ between states. Laws governing the publication and removal of mug shots from public view have been enacted in several states, while other state and local jurisdictions make them freely available in online jail records. Booking and inmate information including Mr Trumps is freely available on the Fulton County Sheriffs Office website. There are no easy answers when it comes to determining fair-use applications for such images, Ms Rosenblatt said. The former president has waived his arraignment appearance and pleaded not guilty to 13 charges against him in Georgia, where a sweeping racketeering indictment has accused him and 18 of his allies-turned-co-defendants of a criminal enterprise to unlawfully reject election results in the state. The charges encompass 40 separate crimes and 161 different acts connected to the alleged criminal conspiracy. It is one of four criminal cases against him, including a separate federal indictment surrounding the 2020 election and efforts to undermine the outcome; a federal case alleging his illegal retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home; and a state criminal case in New York accusing Mr Trump of falsifying business records to scrub potentially damaging stories of his affairs leading up to the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty in all cases. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the Russian city of Sochi on Sept.4 for a meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin , Turkish news agency Andolu has reported. Accompanying President Erdogan on this diplomatic visit were Turkish ministers and Turkeys first lady, Emine Erdogan. Erdogan's last meeting with Putin took place on Oct. 13, 2022, in Astana, where both leaders attended the summit of the Council of Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) international forum. Read also: Turkeys Erdogan reaffirms stance against Russian annexation of Ukraines Crimea ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Erdogan is expected to convey his readiness to take on the role of a mediator in peace talks with Ukraine and offer comprehensive support, including facilitating direct negotiations, to ensure a durable peace between the warring parties. Read also: Erdogans delicate balancing act The agenda for their discussion also includes critical topics such as the grain corridor for the export of Ukrainian crops and the transportation framework for Russian gas delivery to Europe via Turkey. Earlier reports from Aug. 2, from the Turkish publication Hurriyet, hinted at the possibility of Russian dictator reciprocating the visit, potentially occurring by the end of August or early September. Erdogan expressed his intent on Aug. 9 to revive efforts to resume Black Sea grain exports a subject he previously discussed with President Putin during a phone conversation. Toward the end of the month, the Kremlin officially confirmed preparations for the forthcoming meeting between Erdogan and Putin, with Russian media outlets reporting that the meeting would indeed be held in Sochi. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting at Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. (Sergei Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that a landmark deal allowing Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea amid the war wont be restored until the West meets Moscow's demands on its own agricultural exports. Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed the Kremlins demands as a ploy to advance its own interests. Still, Putin's remarks dashed hopes that his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could revive an agreement seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadnt been honored. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Putin reiterated those complaints Monday, while also telling reporters that if those commitments were honored, Russia could return to the deal within days. Erdogan also expressed hope that a breakthrough could come soon. He said Turkey and the U.N. which both brokered the original deal have put together a new package of proposals to unblock the issue. We believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time, Erdogan said at the news conference held with Putin in the Russian resort of Sochi. Earlier, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock lashed out, saying Putin's game with the grain agreement is cynical. Its only because of Putin that the freighters dont have free passage again, she told reporters in Berlin. A lot is riding on the negotiation. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Data from the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which organized shipments under the deal, show that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China. Grain prices shot up after Russia pulled out of the deal but have since fallen back, indicating that there isn't a big crunch in the market for the moment. But failure to revive the agreement will have drastic impacts in countries such as Somalia and Egypt that rely heavily on Black Sea grain, according to Galip Dalay, an associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London. Putin is looking for some relief from sanctions and at the same time is engaged in a war of narratives, Dalay said, because the Russian leader doesnt want to come across as the bad guy in the eyes of the global south as a result of this food insecurity. Ukraine and its allies have often noted that Russia's move left many developing nations in the lurch, since so many were recipients of the grain. Perhaps in an effort to address that accusation, Putin said Monday that Russia was close to finalizing an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. Last month, he promised shipments to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic. The Russian leader added that the country will ship 1 million metric tons (1.1 million tons) of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries. In addition to pulling out of the grain deal, Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, where Ukraines main Black Sea port is. Hours before the Sochi meeting, the Kremlins forces launched a second barrage in two days on the area. The Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions. It did not specify damage caused by those that got through. Russia may be hoping it can use its power over Ukraines Black Sea exports as a bargaining chip to reduce Western economic sanctions. Some companies have been wary of doing business with Russia because of those sanctions, even though Western allies have made assurances that food and fertilizer are exempt. Still, Moscow remains unsatisfied. Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday urged Moscow to return to the deal, insisting there were no legal and political grounds for Russia to withdraw from the agreement. Monday's talks took place against a backdrop of Ukraine's recent counteroffensive against the Kremlin's invasion forces. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Zelenskyy said, without elaborating. Reznikov on Monday published a photo of his resignation letter. Putin and Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Turkish president has maintained those during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasnt joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. At the same time, Turkey, a member of NATO, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Zelenskyy and backing Kyivs bid to join the Western alliance. Russia, meanwhile, has taken steps to strengthen its military ties with North Korea. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who traveled to Pyongyang in July, said Monday that the two countries may hold joint war games. U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson noted that Shoigu sought to persuade North Korea during his trip to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. The U.S. has reason to think North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un expects these discussions to continue and to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia, Watson said Monday. Another U.S. official, who was not authorized to address the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. expects Kim will travel to Russia within the month. The official said the U.S. isnt sure exactly where or when the meeting would take place, but the Pacific port city of Vladivostok would be a likely possibility given its relative proximity to North Korea. The White House reported last week that it had intelligence indicating that Putin and Kim swapped letters following Shoigu's visit. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the letters were more at the surface level but that Russian and North Korean talks on a weapons sale were advancing. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this story. ___ This version has corrected that Shoigu traveled to Pyongyang in July, not last month. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine After 79 years of not knowing what happened to Second Lieutenant Fred L. Brewer, his family found peace when his remains were identified earlier in August, Channel 9s partners at ABC 11 report. Brewer went missing while piloting one of 57 fighter planes on a mission to Regensburg, Germany on Oct. 29, 1944. Forty-seven of the planes returned to base when they ran into heavy cloud cover in southern Italy. Brewer was not among them. He had reportedly been attempting to climb over the clouds when he stalled and tailspinned down to Earth. Remains were recovered after the war in a civilian cemetery in the area, but technology at the time was unable to identify the remains. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement READ MORE: Coming home: Remains of World War II airman will be buried in Illinois hometown The Pentagon and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Brewers identity was confirmed on Aug. 10, 2023. According to partners at the News & Observer, Brewer was a native of Charlotte who graduated from Shaw University in Raleigh in 1942. He enlisted in the Army and trained as a pilot at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama. Brewers family is asking that he be buried in his hometown of Charlotte, according to the Washington Post. (WATCH: Pride: Gastonia to honor local Tuskegee Airman nearly 80 years after service) Kyiv Ukraine's counteroffensive is grinding on. Video from Ukraine's Azov battalion showed an early morning assault on Russia's defensive lines near the town of Bakhmut. The intense, running gun battles there come months after Moscow-backed mercenaries seized control of the eastern city in a hugely symbolic victory. They took Bakhmut after some of the war's most brutal fighting, and the ongoing battle around the city, as along much of the hundreds-of-miles-long front line, is bloody and neither side is advancing significantly. But as Ukraine's counteroffensive grinds to a stalemate on multiple fronts, the military is starting to make important gains further the south. According to U.S. officials, there was "notable" progress near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia over the weekend. / Credit: CIA World Factbook Kyiv's aim is to break through Russia's defenses and march directly south, all the way to the coast on the Sea of Azov. If they manage it, Ukraine would cut off Russia's land access route to the long-occupied Crimean Peninsula. But Moscow has established long barriers across the terrain, full of minefields, tank traps, miles of trenches and other defenses, and that has been slowing Ukraine's advance. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Kremlin's drone warfare campaign also isn't slowing down. Early Monday, Moscow launched a 3-and-a-half-hour assault on the Danube River port of Izmail, targeting vital Ukrainian infrastructure. Ukraine's military said at least 17 of the Russian drones were taken down by air defense systems, but some hit their targets and damaged buildings. Izmail has become an important transit route for Ukraine's vast grain exports following Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision in July to withdraw from a U.N. and Turkey-brokered export deal that saw the supplies pass safely through the Black Sea for about a year. Putin met Monday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of efforts to revive the agreement, which saw some 32 million of tons of grain reach global markets through Ukraine's sea ports and helped to ease a global food crisis, according to the U.N. But it didn't appear that any breakthrough was made, with Putin reiterating complaints about the accord, including accusing Western nations of refusing to ease sanctions on Russian banking and insurance services that Moscow says have severely impacted Russia's own exports and deliveries of agricultural equipment and spare parts. The restrictions, imposed after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have also had a major impact on the Russian economy. Far from the diplomacy and deep underground many children were back in school this week in the eastern city of Kharkiv. But life is far from normal in Ukraine's second largest city. Dozens of improvised classrooms for around 1,000 students have been set up in a local subway station. "We are trying to do everything possible for our children not to feel this war," said the school's director, Ludmyla Usichenko. "We are trying to create a safe environment for them." As Ukraine's brutal war drags into its 18th month, even educating children means making concessions. Where to find the best Labor Day deals Ukraine's defense minister resigns after Zelenskyy names replacement Delta passenger says airline 'lost' her dog This is a locator map for United Arab Emirates with its capital, Abu Dhabi. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) The United Arab Emirates has created a federal authority to potentially run a national lottery and what it describes as commercial gaming, likely a sign that it is on the verge of allowing gambling as major casino operators flock to the Gulf Arab nation. The state-run WAM news agency carried an announcement late Sunday on the creation of the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, without offering many details about its structure or operations. It named Kevin Mullally as its CEO. Mullally once served as the executive director of the Missouri Gaming Commission, which oversaw that U.S. state's riverboat casinos. I am delighted to have been appointed as the inaugural CEO of the GCGRA," Mullally said in the statement. "With my experienced colleagues, I look forward to establishing a robust regulatory body and framework for the UAEs lottery and gaming industry. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Mullally did not return a request for comment from The Associated Press. Also named was Jim Murren as the chairman of the authority's board of directors. Media in Nevada, home to the gambling city of Las Vegas, identified Murren as a former chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International, which also runs casinos. Murren could not be immediately reached by the AP. Murren also worked closely with officials in the Emirates in the past. The biggest single development on the Las Vegas Strip was the $9.2 billion CityCenter partnership between MGM Resorts International under Murren and Dubai World, which opened in 2009. Its Harmon tower never opened due to construction defects and was dismantled. Murren also headed Nevadas COVID-19 response and tried to pitch the state on using UAE-donated, Chinese-made testing kits. U.S. diplomats and security officials privately warned the state of Nevada not to use the Chinese-made coronavirus test kits over concerns about patient privacy, test accuracy and Chinese government involvement, documents obtained by the AP showed. Describing the authority, WAM said it would create a socially responsible and well-regulated gaming environment, ensuring that all participants adhere to strict guidelines and comply with the highest standards. It will coordinate regulatory activities, manage licensing nationally and facilitate unlocking the economic potential of commercial gaming responsibly, it added. Casinos long have been rumored to be considered as a way to raise money in the UAE and boost its tourism industry, particularly in Dubai, home to the long-haul airline Emirates. Already, duty-free car raffles bombard those flying through Dubai International Airport. A 2004 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks speculated that Dubais casino plans had been put on ice due to deference to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the countrys first president after unification in 1971. But in recent years, rumors about casinos kept growing. Britains famed ship the Queen Elizabeth 2 opened as a hotel in Dubai in 2018 after over $100 million of repairs. It still has its deactivated slot machines on board. Caesars similarly opened in 2018. Construction work is ongoing involving projects for casino firms MGM, the Bellagio and Aria. In 2022, the UAE's northern-most emirate Ras al-Khaimah announced a multibillion-dollar deal with Las Vegas-based casino giant Wynn Resorts. Authorities in Ras al-Khaimah repeatedly refused to directly describe the hotel as having gambling, though Wynn has described the project as involving the subsequent management of an integrated resort. The term integrated resort, born in Singapore, refers to a hotel that includes a casino and other amenities. In a conference call in April, Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings put the cost of the Ras al-Khaimah resort at $3.9 billion and saying it will be open in 2027. Costs will be split, with 40% being paid by Wynn and 60% being paid by Wynn's government partners in Ras al-Khaimah. Wynn estimates taxes on the gaming revenues will be as high 12%. Casinos still remain rare across much of the Middle East as Islam forbids it. However, casinos operate in Egypt and Lebanon. Adding casinos in the UAE could help boost its profitable tourism industry and help regain the Chinese travelers it lost during the coronavirus pandemic. Bloomberg has estimated the UAE could bring in $6.6 billion in gaming revenue annually, potentially surpassing Singapore. The creation of a federal authority suggests Abu Dhabi, the country's capital, will oversee the potential operation of casinos in the country. However, this federation of seven sheikhdoms places absolute power in the local rulers of its seven emirates, particularly over social concerns. The emirate of Sharjah, for instance, bans the sale of alcohol. Any casino operations may follow the same pattern. That's something Billings touched on in a separate call in August with investors in which he said Wynn had everything we need to operate gaming at Al Marjan given the UAE's federal structure and powers in individual sheikhdoms. While there may be conversation in other emirates about legalization or legalization at the federal level thereby covering all emirates I expect we will have our license for Ras al-Khaimah actually imminently, Billings said. However, casinos and the large amounts of cash they generate raise the danger of money laundering. Already, war profiteers, terror financiers and drug traffickers sanctioned by the U.S. in recent years have used Dubais real-estate market as a haven for their assets. Ras al-Khaimah also found itself linked to the case of an Alaska man who laundered $1 billion held in South Korea for Iran. (Bloomberg) -- UK opposition leader Keir Starmer re-jigged his top team as he puts in place the shadow ministers that are likely to lead Labours campaign at a general election expected next year. Most Read from Bloomberg Starmer named Angela Rayner shadow deputy prime minister and handed her the brief for leveling up, housing and communities, a vote of confidence in his deputy leader, with whom he has at times had a fractious relationship. She replaces Lisa Nandy one of Starmers vanquished opponents in the 2020 leadership contest, who is demoted to shadow international development minister, while still a member of the shadow cabinet. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Its a key moment for Starmer, whose party enjoys a double-digit poll lead over Rishi Sunak s Conservative Party ahead of a national vote that has to happen by Jan. 2025 at the latest. That means Starmers picks for his top team could reflect the make-up of the next British government. Aside from Rayner, Starmer made no changes at the top of the shadow cabinet, keeping in place those holding the briefs for the Treasury, home affairs, foreign affairs, health and education. Instead, he carried out an extensive overhaul of the second tier of shadow ministerial positions, including those covering culture, work and pensions and justice. But Rayners position had been a matter of much discussion among Labour officials. An earlier attempt by Starmer to curb her power was seen as disastrous, and he ended up promoting her after she resisted. By signaling shell be deputy prime minister if Labour wins power, Starmer is highlighting how relations have thawed. Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown refused to offer his party deputy Harriet Harman the same position. Starmer and his team view this fall as a pivotal time for Labours chances, with the partys annual conference in October seen as a key moment of public engagement with wall-to-wall media coverage of the partys aims and policies. Unlike in normal years, it comes after the Conservative Party Conference, giving the opposition the chance to seize the news agenda. Peter Kyle, a longtime ally of Starmer, was handed the brief for science, innovation and technology, with his old job covering Northern Ireland going to Hilary Benn, a former cabinet minister who in more recent years as a backbencher headed up the parliamentary committee scrutinizing the governments Brexit strategy. Darren Jones, a 36-year-old rising star of the party, was named shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, replacing Pat McFadden, who moves to the Cabinet Office. Nick Thomas-Symonds was also moved to the cabinet office from trade which becomes part of shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynoldss brief. Shabana Mahmood takes the justice brief, and Liz Kendall a Tony Blair era aide was promoted to shadow work and pensions secretary, replacing Jonathan Ashworth, who was demoted to shadow paymaster general and still attend shadow cabinet meetings. Thangam Debbonaire was promoted to the culture brief. Jim McMahon, who served as the partys environment spokesman stepped down. In a letter thanking him, Starmer said threats of violence and health issues had led to his departure. Shadow cabinet members with posts relating to Starmers core missions remain unchanged, including Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and the holders of the health and education posts, Wes Streeting and Bridget Phillipson. The Labour changes coincide with Sue Grays first day in post as Starmers chief of staff. Gray, who led the investigation into rule-breaking parties in 10 Downing Street and Whitehall during the coronavirus pandemic, had to serve a six-month cooling-off period before being able to take on the role. Starmers reshuffle follows Sunaks own minor reorganization of his cabinet last week, in which he installed Grant Shapps as the new defense secretary to replace Ben Wallace, and promoted Claire Coutinho to fill Shappss old role of energy secretary. The moves were widely seen as Sunak handing roles to loyalists as he too looks ahead to the next election. The third largest grouping in Parliament, the Scottish National Party, also said in a statement on Monday it was making changes to its spokespeople in the House of Commons, with Drew Hendry promoted to economy spokesman. --With assistance from Alex Wickham. (Updates with more details starting in third paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Russia has deliberately taken advantage of the geographical features of Ukraines Odesa Oblast by launching kamikaze drones in close proximity to the state border with Romania, Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine, said during a briefing on Sept. 4. She said that the minimal proximity of the border with Romania means that even the slightest error in the Shahed drone, which serves as the explosive projectile, and its combat operations, along with their consequences, could genuinely endanger the neighboring country. Recognizing this vulnerability, the enemy has repeatedly capitalized on the geographical peculiarities of this region by maneuvering drones in extreme proximity to the state border, Humeniuk added. Read also: 40 employees of Russian Embassy leave Romania on special flight ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She confirmed that Ukrainian border guards informed Romania about the fact of the impact of a kamikaze drone on Romanian territory. The incident has been thoroughly documented, and the neighboring country has been duly informed about the existing danger, with the impact being officially recorded, said Humeniuk. As an open and honest nation, Ukraine has fulfilled its responsibility in providing this information, and the appropriate response should now be expected from the neighboring country. Russia launched attacks on Ukraine using Shahed drones on the night of Sept. 4, with 17 of them being successfully intercepted in Odesa Oblast. However, some impacts were reported: In the oblasts Izmail District, warehouses, production facilities, and agricultural equipment sustained damage. Debris from the downed drones ignited fires on the premises of civilian structures. Read also: Romania to double Ukrainian grain transit after Russias attacks on grain infrastructure Oleh Nikolenko, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, stated that during Russias attack on Ukraine, Shahed kamikaze drones crashed and detonated on Romanian territory. However, the Romanian Ministry of Defense has categorically denied this information. Romanian military officials stated that the means of attack used by Russia have never posed direct military threats to Romanias national territory or territorial waters. The State Border Guard Service reported two detonations and promptly informed their Romanian counterparts, though no response has been received yet. Russia also attacked Ukraine on the night of Sept. 3., Damage to port infrastructure was documented in Odesa Oblast, resulting in two casualties. During this attack, powerful explosions were audible in the Romanian city of Galati. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Ukrainian intelligence was behind a daring assault on two Russian military air bases, Engels and Dyagilevo, both located approximately 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, in December 2022, Ukraines Main Intelligence Directorate or HUR has revealed. The covert operation involved the deployment of Soviet-era Tu-141 Strizh reconnaissance drones armed with explosives, resulting in substantial damage to several Russian strategic bombers, it was revealed in the documentary "Downed Russian Pilots," part of the ongoing series Ukraines Military Intelligence. However, conducting air interceptions against missile carriers utilized by Moscow for shelling Ukraine is currently deemed unfeasible due to launch sites being over 1,000 kilometers away, said HUR chief Kyrylo Budanov. Read also: We can strike from inside Russian territory, says intelligence chief Budanov ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Nevertheless, in December 2022, Ukraine's intelligence agency executed two ground operations with the aim of targeting missile carriers. A Ukrainian Strizh drone launched an attack on the Dyagilevo military air base in Ryazan Oblast on the night of Dec. 5, causing significant damage to two strategic bombers a Tu-95 and a Tu-22 as well as an aviation refueling truck. "Huge pools of blood were left beneath (the drone) in the photos six Russian soldiers died, and eleven were wounded, said the documentary. Shortly thereafter, during the early morning hours, another Strizh drone targeted another Russian long-range aviation base in the city of Engels, Saratov Oblast. This resulted in damage to two Tu-95 bombers. Read also: Russians reduce presence of strategic aircraft at Engels base satellite imagery The damage to the bombers due to impacts by unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles at both air bases was confirmed through satellite imagery. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that three Russian military personnel were killed, and four more were injured in these incidents. While Russian authorities suggested the possibility of Strizh drone attacks, Ukrainian officials only mentioned that the amount of Russian "aviation equipment would decrease" following these explosions. After these incidents, there were multiple reports of explosions and strikes targeting military installations at Russian airfields in the capital and other cities. Drones attacked the Soltsy airfield in Novgorod Oblast on Aug. 19, destroying a Russian Tu-22M3 aircraft. Another attack occurred on the night of Aug. 30 in Pskov, where two Russian Il-76 aircraft were destroyed, and two others sustained significant damage. The documentary Downed Russian Pilots will be released on the official YouTube channel of the HUR on Military Intelligence Day, Sept. 7. The film, as announced by the HUR, chronicles the most significant episodes of the Ukrainian Security and Defense Forces aerial confrontation against Russian aggression during the full-scale invasion. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Ukraine had informed Romania about the drone impacts on its territory Ukrainian border guards recorded two detonations of Shahed kamikaze drones on Romanian territory during the Russian attack on Ukraine in the early hours of Sept. 4, news outlet Ukrainska Pravda has reported. Spokesman for Ukraines State Border Guard Service Andriy Demchenko said Ukraine had informed Romania about the drone impacts on its territory. "Through certain communication channels, Ukrainian border guards informed their Romanian colleagues that they had recorded two detonations in certain areas of the territory of Romania during the Russian attack," Demchenko said. Read also: ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He said that Ukrainian border guards had asked for information about the drone impacts in Romania. "We have not yet received a response from the Romanian side," he said. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko later reported that during the Russian attack on Ukraine, Shahed kamikaze drones crashed and detonated in Romania. However, after that, the Romanian Defense Ministry issued a press release in which it appeared to discount the reports of the drone impacts on Romanian soil. According to the Romanian ministrys statement, the means of attack used by the Russian Federation "have never posed a direct military threat to Romania's national territory or territorial waters." Read also: Romanian cargo ship falls victim to Russian drone attack in southern Ukraine In the early hours of Sept. 4, Russia once again attacked Ukraine with Shahed suicide drones. In Odesa Oblast, 17 attack drones were shot down, but in Izmail District warehouses and production facilities, as well as agricultural machinery, were damaged. The wreckage of the downed drones caused fires on the grounds of civilian facilities. Russia also conducted a drone attack against Ukraine in the early hours of Sept. 3. In Odesa Oblast, port infrastructure was hit, and two people were injured. During this attack, powerful explosions were heard in the Romanian city of Galati. 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 Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraines defense minister for the last 22 months, will be standing down from the high-profile post, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelesnkyy announced late on Sept. 3. President Zelenskyy has nominated Rustem Umerov, the current head of the State Property Fund, as Reznikovs successor. This transition is slated to occur later this week. Commenting on the change, the president said there was a need for novel approaches and different modes of engagement with both the military and society at large within the Ministry of Defense. The ministry has in recent months been rocked by scandals involving food and clothing procurement at allegedly inflated prices. While there is no indication that Reznikov was involved in the scandals, rumors of his pending resignation have been swirling for months. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Defense Minister Reznikov rumored to be tapped for new role interview with MP Kostenko The change of leadership at the Defense Ministry also comes amid a wartime crackdown on corruption in Ukraine: Reznikovs resignation was announced just a day after Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky appeared in a Kyiv court facing charges of fraud. The president in recent days also vowed to equate fraud in wartime to treason. Regarding other rumors of his potential appointment as Ukraines Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Reznikov responded that he is not aware of any such plans. President Zelenskyy dismissed Vadym Prystaiko from his post as Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom on July 21. Reznikov has officially tendered his resignation to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraines parliament, the minister announced on his Facebook page on Sept. 4. In accordance with the decision of Ukraines President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, I have submitted my resignation to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. I stand prepared to provide a report. Lets remain vigilant! he said in his post. In his resignation statement, he briefly reflected on his tenure, highlighting that during his 22 months in office, his department had successfully fulfilled crucial objectives outlined at the start of my appointment. Reznikov stressed that one of Ukraines top priorities is to forge a lasting partnership with key allies, ensuring genuine security assurances and bolstered defense capabilities. David Arakhamia, the head of the pro-Presidential Servant of the People faction, confirmed that the Verkhovna would be voting on Reznikovs dismissal this week and Umerovs appointment as his replacement. Rumors of Reznikovs resignation have been circulating since Feb. 2023, amidst a corruption scandal involving the Defense Ministry procurement of overpriced supplies for the Armed Forces. At that time, Information surfaced that Reznikov would be transferred to the Strategic Industry Ministry, and Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministrys Main Intelligence Directorate or HUR would be appointed in his place. Reznikov himself stated that he would resign if President Zelenskyy decided on such a move. In early August, Ukrainian news outlet ZN.UA published an investigation revealing that the Defense Ministry had signed a contract with a Turkish company for the supply of winter clothing for the military in fall 2022. Jackets ordered as camouflage turned into winter air protective coats during transit and tripled in cost. NVs sister publication Ukrainska Pravda released its own investigation on Aug. 25, which revealed that one of the owners of the company with which the contract was made was the nephew of Servant of the People MP, Hennady Kasai. Reznikov denied any wrongdoing, saying he would resign if allegations that he purchased summer instead of winter uniforms were proven true. If not, Reznikov challenged Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach and MP Anastasia Radina to resign. Reznikov stated on Aug. 28 that he had not discussed his possible resignation with Zelenskyy. When asked whether the president had offered him the position of ambassador to the UK, he responded that he and Zelenskyy had discussed several potential projects. 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 Following their successful breach of the first Russian defense line in Zaporizhzhya Oblast, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have significantly enhanced their battlefield maneuverability and protection, Oleksandr Shtupun, Tavria front defense forces spokesperson, told national broadcaster Suspilne on Sept. 3. Shtupun said that Russian invasion forces had allocated resources to three defensive lines, with a distribution ratio of 60:20:20. The first line, heavily fortified and rigged with mines and anti-tank weapons, presented a formidable challenge, hesaid. Read also: Russians worried over vulnerability of defense lines as Ukrainian forces press south ISW We cant simply disregard the second line and claim its less formidable. There are strong and well-constructed fortifications here too, but we now have the ability to maneuver with our equipment and troops, said Shtupun, adding that the second lines of defenses isnt as robust in terms of engineering. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Reduced Activity of Hostilities on Tavria Front He clarified that there would be fewer minefields in some areas, but cautioned against assuming they would be easy to clear. The first defense line was manually demined because the Russians targeted any equipment, forcing its withdrawal. A comprehensive demining effort is planned for the second line. We can now provide cover for our infantry. On the first defense line, we had to break through a narrow path, and our equipment and infantry couldnt move left or right due to dense minefields. Here, weve entered territory where we can maneuver, and the enemy will have to respond, said Shtupun. He added that in the breach areas, they would be able to deploy more troops, but progress toward the Azov Sea coast would depend on various factors, including the quantity of ammunition. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of the Tavria operational group, confirmed on Sept. 2 that the Defense Forces had breached the first Russian defense line in the southern direction. 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 In 2019, Rustem Umerov was elected as a member of parliament from the Voice party, and since September 2022, he has been the head of the State Property Fund The current head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) and former MP from the Holos parliamentary faction, Rustem Umerov, could replace Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov this week. Read also: Mini cabinet shuffle likely as Zelenksyy looks to replace embattled Defense and Culture ministers Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed in an evening address on Sept. 3 that he had decided to replace the defense minister and would submit Umerovs candidacy to Ukraines parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The Defense Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction both with the military and with society as a whole, the president said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Now Rustem Umerov should lead the ministry. The Verkhovna Rada knows this person well, and Mr. Umerov needs no further introductions. I expect the parliament to support this candidate. David Arakhamia, leader of the ruling Servant of the People parliamentary faction, announced that the personnel reshuffle would take place this week. Read also: Parliamentary anti-corruption head responds to Defense Ministers resignation challenge Earlier, MP from the Holos faction, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, and MP from the European Solidarity faction, Oleksiy Honcharenko, reported that Reznikov might be appointed Ukraines new ambassador to the UK after stepping down as defense minister. NV tells about 41-year-old Umerov who may become the first representative of the Crimean Tatar people to head the Defense Ministry. Family deportation, return to Crimea, and education Rustem Umerov was born in 1982, far from his native Crimea, in the city of Samarkand of the then Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (now Uzbekistan). He comes from a family of Crimean Tatars who were forcibly deported from Alushta in May 1944 during the genocide carried out by Stalins regime the forced eviction of the peninsulas indigenous population. Read also: UN commission has not found sufficient evidence of genocide in Ukraine Umerovs family, particularly his parents and older brother, were able to return to Crimea only during the repatriation of Crimean Tatars amid the collapse of the Soviet Union. He graduated from a Crimean boarding school in the Bakhchysarai district, was a scholarship holder of the Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) funded by the U.S. Department of State. The program provides students with scholarships, enabling them to travel to the United States, study at a high school for one academic year, living with a host family. Umerov received a bachelors degree in economics and a masters degree in finance from the National Academy of Management in Kyiv. While still a student, he continued to participate in international projects and communities: the Canadian-Ukrainian Parliamentary Program, the American-Ukrainian Leadership Program, joined the work of the European Youth Parliament, the European Students Forum AEGEE, the European Law Students Association, etc. Umerov is married and has three children. Career, social and human rights activism before standing for parliament In 2004-2010, Umerov worked at Lifecell, a major mobile operator in Ukraine, as a corporate department head. He also managed the legal support and logistics areas. In 2010-2013, he was the managing director of ICG Investments and iCapital. Read also: Strikes on depots in Crimea more significant than Kerch Bridge attack, says former Aydar commander Later, together with his brother Aslan Omer Qrml, Umerov founded the ASTEM investment company, which managed investments in communications, information technology and infrastructure. At the same time, the ASTEM Foundation is one of the donors of U.S. Stanford Universitys Ukrainian Emerging Leaders program, which is designed to train Ukrainian politicians, lawyers, social entrepreneurs, businessmen, and leaders of public organizations. For example, the Ukrainian Navys Yany Kapu raid tugboat, captured by Russia in the Kerch Strait in November 2018, was later repaired thanks to the ASTEM Foundation. In 2012, Umerov also became a co-founder and board member of the Crimean International Business Association. During all these years, he continued to make efforts to preserve the Crimean Tatar culture and expand the opportunities of its representatives in Ukraine. In 2007, Umerov was one of the founders of the Qrm Tatar Cemiyeti NGO and the Bizim Qrm international organization, which is aimed at preserving national interests and promote the restoration of the political, socio-economic, cultural, linguistic and religious rights of the Crimean Tatar people. In 2014, he co-founded the Evkaf charitable foundation, which provided assistance in the development of Muslim communities and promoted their civic activities. Read also: US strongly condemns persecution of Crimean Tatars by Russia Blinken In addition, Umerov was a delegate of the Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people of the fifth (2007) and sixth (2012) convocations of the Ukrainian parliament. Since 2007, he has been an adviser to the leader of the Crimean Tatar people, Mustafa Dzhemilev, and was his assistant-consultant on public grounds in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth convocations. In 2012, he was also a trustee of the parliamentary candidate in the 10th district of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ahtem Chiygoz. Read also: Independence Day messages, Crimea raid, how the bridge was bombed In addition, Umerov is a co-founder and a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Welfare Fund of Crimea, an international charitable organization that finances strategic national programs and supports the least socially protected Crimean Tatars. Umerov has also been one of the key figures in the exchange of Crimean political prisoners and prisoners of war for many years. All negotiations began in 2014, he said in an interview with NVs sister publication Ukrainska Pravda. Political prisoners appeared, and I was the person who, in fact, oversaw this direction from the Mejlis. Parliamentary career In 2019 parliamentary elections, Umerov was first elected as a lawmaker from the Holos party (he ran at No. 18 on the list as a nonpartisan candidate). During his work in the parliament, Umerov performed many functions in various roles, including: secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Human Rights, de-occupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk, Luhansk oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; deputy head of the permanent delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; co-chairman of groups on inter-parliamentary relations with Saudi Arabia and Turkey; co-chairman of the Crimean Platform deputy association (since 2020), the one that develops bills related to the temporarily annexed peninsula, the initiative regarding Crimean political prisoners, and sanctions; a member of friendship groups for inter-parliamentary relations with Israel, the Peoples Republic of China, the UK, the United States, Japan, and Canada; a member of the group for the development of the state strategy for the de-occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol (since September 2020), which was created at the National Security and Defense Council. Based on its findings, the Strategy for the De-occupation and Reintegration of Crimea was approved even before Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Read also: During his work as a legislator, Umerov co-authored almost 100 bills with other lawmakers, contributing to the adoption or promotion such documents as: the bill on the abolition of the Crimea free economic zone, which stipulated that Ukraine would not supply water to Crimea until its de-occupation; bills on indigenous peoples (passed in July 2021) and on the status of the Crimean Tatar people; resolutions of the Verkhovna Rada regarding the illegal detention of the first deputy head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Nariman Dzhelialov, and other representatives of the Crimean Tatar people by Russia in occupied Crimea; the appeal of the Verkhovna Rada to commemorate the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people and condemn violations of the rights and freedoms of the Crimean Tatars by Russia to the United Nations, the European Parliament, the parliamentary assemblies of the Council of Europe, the OSCE, NATO, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, the governments and parliaments of the world countries (the appeal was backed by over 300 MPs); parliamentary hearings on the de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea and Sevastopol, whose findings were supposed to become part of the Sustainable Development Strategy for Ukraine by 2030. In August 2021, Zelenskyy awarded Umerov with the 3rd Degree Order of Merit. Peace talks with Russia, poisoning, the State Property Fund: activities after Russias full-scale invasion In the spring of 2022, being a lawmaker, Umerov became a member of the Ukrainian delegation that took part in several rounds of peace talks with Russia. He attended both the negotiations in Belarus and in Istanbul, Turkey (March 29, 2022), where Ukraine first voiced an initiative regarding future security guarantees. Thats how he shared his impressions of contacts with the Russians at that time: Since Russia is a country of absolute verticality, the Russian negotiators come with a certain mandate, he told NV. Read also: There is often a stereotype that I dont understand that there are supposedly strong Russians who set conditions for us, while Ukrainians supposedly must react to them. Its not like that. Were having very emotional negotiations, but well never be in a weak position. People who go to these negotiations are very well aware of where they are going. Were protecting our country, our homes, this already gives us a competitive advantage. Were talking about the facts taking place on our land, and were expressing our opinion. And we should understand that the positions formed by the Russian negotiators, with the terms Nazis, threat of Russia regarding Ukraine, where Russia has unleashed and is waging a destructive war, really look beyond logic and rationality. Its hard but they have to face the objective reality. Umerov also shed light on the role of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in these contacts, calling him a person who on the one hand mediates this process, and on the other hand, as a person without a diplomatic background, helps to establish an informal communication channel. Later Umerov said the rumors about his poisoning during the negotiations with Russia really had a basis. It happened, Umerov said in an interview with NV in the autumn of 2022. I dont want to answer where it happened, how it happened, how it happened, with whom it happened, etc. Colleagues are still dealing with this issue. Umerov was one of those who facilitated a major prisoner swap in September 2022, when Ukraine returned 215 people, including 188 defenders of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works and Mariupol, including commanders of the Azov Regiment. Fifty-five people, including former pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, were then handed over to Russia. The Verkhovna Rada appointed Umerov as the new SPFU head on Sept. 7, 2022. His predecessor, Dmytro Sennychenko, was dismissed by the parliament on Feb. 17, 2022, a few days before Russias full-scale war against Ukraine. Announcing the Funds plans for 2023, Umerov called the main priority to attract as many investments as possible. Read also: Ukraine to receive 90% of major global investments only after wars conclusion Fiala All the money earned by the SPFU goes to strengthening the Defense Forces, he said. The more money the Fund earns, the more weapons the country buys. For this, we need to use state resources more effectively. Strategically important assets must be preserved and developed, receive dividends from them, while unprofitable ones should be liquidated or sold. In a recent interview with the Forbes Ukraine magazine, Umerov said that small privatization had brought in a record UAH 2.1 billion ($57.4 million) during the large-scale war. During the previous nine years, the average result amounted to about UAH 400 million ($10.9 million). Recalling that Ukraine has more than 3,600 state-owned enterprises, Umerov called about 2,000 of them illiquid, which exist only on paper. The SPFU team plans to liquidate them, he announced. Well put the remaining assets on transparent auctions and find effective owners. Well keep up to 2% of enterprises, namely strategic state assets, in state ownership. They should generate profits and become the basis of the Sovereign Fund, a new source of attracting international investments. In the summer of 2023, the SPFU under his leadership began the privatization of assets seized from Russian oligarchs. The aggressor must be punished, Umerov said. Read also: Zelenskyy tells G7 principle of preventive security will protect democracies from aggressor states Former Russian assets will work to restore Ukraine and develop its economy. He explained the Fund plans to sell about 100 such assets, mainly real estate and cars, in 2023. Comments on the possible replacement of Reznikov with Umerov The appointment of Umerov as the defense minister may become Zelenskyys best decision, the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) said. The centers analysts studied Umerovs work at the SPFU and saw only positive results, despite the fact that the SPFU has always been one of the most corrupt cesspits. Read also: First batch of 122mm munitions produced in partnership with European partners arrives in Ukraine Umerov has been secretly working on the delivery of heavy weapons since the first days of the war and often quietly did those things that the Defense Ministry has failed to do, AntAC noted. He is a member of a group engaged in closed negotiations on the release of prisoners of war, has repeatedly visited the United States for arms negotiations and knows well how our U.S. partners work. The center calls Umerov one of the few officials with a coherent strategic vision of how the defense and security sector should work. Umerov is a manager with practical experience in managing complex teams, a talented negotiator with perfect English and a U.S. education, AntAC stressed. Yaroslav Zheleznyak, first deputy chairman of the parliamentary Finance Committee, called Umerov an excellent candidate. Read also: Ukrainian tax bill fails to meet IMF demands, says MP Zheleznyak I think hes an excellent candidate, Zheleznyak told NV Radio. Read also: Umerov refuted the data about Russian offensive from three sides in February Frankly speaking, Im not very objective here since he was a member of our faction for a very long time before being appointed as the head of the State Property Fund. But the State Property Fund has never been a mega reform structure. Its a rather complex body with thousands of enterprises, with thousands of interests. But Rustem passed a year without a single corruption scandal, which probably characterizes him not only as a decent person but also as a good manager. As a negotiator in the international arena, Umerov will be no less effective than Reznikov, Zheleznyak assured. Read also: Ukraines defense minister replaced amid wartime corruption crackdown I know how much Rustem values his reputation, the MP said. His perception by people who believed him is very important for him. Im sure this is his greatest asset, which he wont let anyone trade. He will never let anyone tell him what to do, what to close his eyes to. 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 Member of Ukraine's parliament Crimean Tatar, Rustem Umerov, who is in the delegation for talks with Russia formed by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an exclusive interview in Kyiv on May 9, 2022. Credit - Dogukan KeskinkilicAnadolu Agency/Getty Images After 18 months of being a prominent fixture in Ukraines war efforts, defense minister Oleksii Reznikov has been dismissed from his role amid the biggest leadership shakeup since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the departure, citing the ministrys need for new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large. Zelensky has nominated Rustem Umerova leading figure in the Crimean Tatar community and head of the countrys State Property Fundfor the role. Reznikov confirmed that he had sent his resignation to the parliamentary chairman and Zelensky has called on the Ukrainian Parliament to approve the bid quickly. Experts tell TIME that the decision was a long time coming. This is neither surprising nor a major criticism in any way of the former defense minister, says Olga Onuch, a professor who focuses on Ukraine at the University of Manchester. It was going to be unsustainable to keep him on much longer but he was very capable. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The defense ministry under Reznikovs watch has incurred a number of scandals relating to procurement and profiteering, though there was no evidence to implicate Reznikov himself, the New York Times reported. Read More: Inside the Race to Arm Ukraine Before Its Counteroffensive Reznikovs dismissal also comes at a critical time for Ukraines months-long counteroffensive. Ukrainian troops are fighting to turn a minor breakthrough into a major one in the south, after forces recently broke through a second line of Russian defenses in the Zaporizhzhia area. As Ukraine adjusts to a change in military leadership, heres what to know. More From TIME What triggered the reshuffle? The shakeup is the result of a number of factors. It comes at a critical time as Ukraine is trying to uphold Western military assistance to push forward the counteroffensive, says Jaroslava Barbieri, a doctoral researcher in Ukrainian politics at the University of Birmingham. Additionally, some called for Reznikovs resignation in the wake of a contracting scandal. In August, Zelensky fired all regional military recruitment bosses amid allegations of bribery and corruption across multiple departments. Reznikov's deputy, Vyacheslav Shapovalov, was forced to resign after signing food contracts for military rations at inflated prices. At the time, Reznikov dismissed the allegations as a technical error. After speaking of the toll the scandal took on him, he said that, "My conscience is absolutely clear." Yet Barbieri says thatZelenskys decision is a signal to the Ukrainian public and Western leaders that the government listens to public concerns over corruption and is serious about its commitment to Ukraine's future within the E.U. and NATO. Reznikov himself is also reported to have expressed a desire to step down from the role, according to the New York Times. What is Reznikovs legacy? Reznikov has become a widely-recognizable figure since his appointment in November 2021, and is known for being a shrewd negotiator. During his tenure, he helped to secure billions of dollars worth of military aid from a number of global allied nations, and under his guidance, Ukraine upgraded Soviet-era arms for sophisticated Western systems, tanks, and artillery. He did a very good job in his post, surprising many skeptics and other observers that were not so certain when his appointment came about, specifically amongst the opposition, Onuch says. Read More: How the Ukraine Counteroffensive Can Still Succeed While Reznikov has not confirmed his next move, Reuters reported that he is tipped to take on the role of Ukraines ambassador to London. Who is Rustem Umerov? Rustem Umerov, 41, has held a number of roles in Zelenskys government, and has served as head of the State Property Fund since last September. Hailing from the Crimean Tatar communitya minority ethnic group of Turkic people from the Black Sea Ukrainian peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014Umerov was born in Uzbekistan to a family that was exiled from Soviet Crimea in the 1940s. After getting his start in telecommunications and investment banking, Umerov turned his hand to politics in 2019. He is a member of an opposition political party, and has served as chief negotiator in the Black Sea Grain initiative, which Russia has since pulled out of. He has also been privy to a number of prisoner exchanges and evacuations of civilians. Experts say his appointment has symbolic and real significance. His appointment as Minister of Defense symbolizes Ukraines commitment to restoring Ukraines control over its 1991 borders, Barbieri says, adding that it sends the message that Crimea will not become a bargaining chip in war efforts. What would Umerov's appointment mean for the counteroffensive? Umerovs expected appointment is taking place at a pivotal moment. His background in economics and political negotiation is likely to be a source of strength for the defense ministry. As the counteroffensive continues, Ukraine will seek continued financial and military aid from allies and Umerov is expected to play an integral role in securing new deals. Umerov has shown himself to have civic credentials, Onuch says, from his role in the Ukraines parliament to sponsoring a Stanford University program to raise young leaders. He is very quickly developing as somebody that is capable and efficacious, Onuch says. [He is] able to work across different political factions that have been extremely divided and polarized over the last few years. Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkiye, acted in favour of resuming the Black Sea Grain Initiative at the meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin . Source: Erdogan during a joint press conference with Putin, as reported by Anadolu and European Pravda Erdogan expressed his belief that the grain deal must be resumed "by overcoming shortcomings". He said that the alternative suggestions were not able to provide a "stable, secure and permanent model based on the cooperation between sides like the Black Sea Grain Initiative". "We have prepared a new package of proposals jointly with the UN, which provides for significant progress. I believe that with the help of this new process it would be possible to achieve results. Ukraine certainly needs to soften its position in order to take steps jointly with Russia," Erdogan remarked. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He also expressed his hope that "shortly the sides will reach an agreement that would meet their expectations". Russian President Vladimir Putin, following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated that Moscow was not ready to immediately return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which it quit in July. Before the meeting with Erdogan in Sochi on September 4, Putin said he was open to discussions about Russia's participation in the grain deal In late August, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Turkiye, Dmytro Kuleba and Hakan Fidan , discussed the revival of the grain deal in Kyiv. Afterward, Fidan, during a visit to Moscow and following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, called for the revival of the Black Sea grain initiative. 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! (Bloomberg) -- Ukraine is hoping that the tempo of its southern counteroffensive will intensify soon, Volodymyr Zelenskiys deputy chief of staff said in an interview, after the president announced his most high-profile cabinet shakeup during the war. Most Read from Bloomberg This is not a Hollywood movie, but a very important thing is that it is going on, Ihor Zhovkva told Bloomberg TV on Monday. Earlier, Zelenskiy announced he would replace Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov amid public outcry over alleged corruption by subordinates in his ministry. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Romania denied a claim by the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv that Russian drones fell inside the NATO members territory and exploded there during a barrage involving dozens of unmanned vehicles targeting grain infrastructure in the region of Odesa overnight. Following the strikes, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi that he was open to negotiations on reopening the UN-brokered deal that allowed Kyiv to export food via the Black Sea and that Moscow abandoned in July. Latest Coverage Ukraine Hopes Counteroffensive Tempo to Increase Soon: Zhovkva Zelenskiy Swaps Out Defense Minister in Wartime Cabinet Shakeup Ukraine Says Russian Drones Fell, Exploded on Romanian Territory Erdogan Eyes Steps on Black Sea Grain from Putin Ahead of G-20 Russia Proposed Joint Naval Drills With North Korea and China Markets Wheat traders are watching for movement on Black Sea grain exports when Putin and Erdogan meet. Ukraine, meanwhile, is pushing back on an effort by Poland and four other EU countries to extend a ban on its grain. A meeting on the topic is scheduled for Tuesday in Brussels. (Corrects title of Zhovkva in lead paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Following talks with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Sept. 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ukraine should adopt a more flexible stance on the terms of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) in order to bring Russia back to the table and revive the deal. Erdogan reiterated that Ankara is ready to facilitate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. He also believes that Ukraine needs to soften its stance and make joint steps with Russia within the framework of the grain agreement. Read also: Turkeys Erdogan arrives in Russia for meeting with Russian dictator Putin As President Putin pointed out, especially here in this situation, Ukraine, in tandem with Russia, needs to soften its approach in terms of joint steps, particularly at this time," said Erdogan. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He stressed that no effective alternatives to the Black Sea grain agreement are available. Turkey has also prepared a new package of proposals to restore the grain agreement and is hopeful for a positive outcome. Read also: UN proposes easing some sanctions on Russia to revive grain export deal He added that the "Black Sea [grain] corridor would serve the poorest countries who will receive this grain." Read also: Turkeys Erdogan reaffirms stance against Russian annexation of Ukraines Crimea Russia officially terminated its participation in the BSGI on July 17, which had previously allowed Ukrainian grain export through the Black Sea to countries at risk of food insecurity. Officially, Russia alleged that its unilateral withdrawal from the agreement was due to Ukrainian attacks on the Kerch Bridge, which connects occupied Crimea to Russian mainland. Erdogan later said that Turkey is ready to offer Russia a deal to process Russian grain coming through the corridor into flour and send it to developing countries. 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 Outgoing Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has revealed that Russias ongoing full-scale invasion and war is costing Ukraine a staggering $100 million every day. Asked why the country was acquiring drones through citizen donations rather than the budget, Reznikov responded, Im not authorized to disclose contract specifics. What I can confirm is that only 30 different models of Ukrainian drones, including reconnaissance, combat, and kamikaze models, have received official approval for deployment, with 10 of them being FPV drone models, Reznikov told Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform on Sept. 3. Production volumes would depend on the capabilities of the manufacturers, he added. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement How many they are capable of producing all that will be ours. We will purchase everything they produce using state funds. Reznikov emphasized that the donations from volunteers, received from Feb. 24, 2022, until today, constitute just 3% of the total resources allocated for the war effort. Now, consider the budgets of all the well-established large volunteer organizations and observe their collections. Then, consider the state, which is expending $100 million each day in total. Think about that, he said. Read also: Reznikov said it would not be fair to accuse the state, including local leaders, parliament, government, and the president, of depending on volunteers. Thats not the reality, said Reznikov. In truth, it is the Ukrainian citizens who are supporting this effort, those who work, pay taxes, and contribute to the budget, a portion of which is allocated to the armed forces. Currently, the military is the recipient of most of these funds, he said. Reznikov officially tendered his resignation to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraines parliament, on Sept. 4. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has since nominated Rustem Umerov, the current head of the State Property Fund, as Reznikovs successor. This transition is slated to occur later this week. Commenting on the change, the president said there was a need for novel approaches and different modes of engagement with both the military and society at large within the Ministry of Defense. The ministry has in recent months been rocked by scandals involving food and clothing procurement at allegedly inflated prices. While there is no indication that Reznikov was involved in the scandals, rumors of his pending resignation have been swirling for months. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine FILE PHOTO: Traffic moves past under a G20 logo installed on a pedestrian bridge in front of the main venue of the summit in New Delhi By Aftab Ahmed, Krishn Kaushik and YP Rajesh NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Deeper and more entrenched divisions over Russia's war in Ukraine risk derailing progress on issues such as food security, debt distress and global cooperation on climate change when the world's most powerful nations meet this weekend in New Delhi. The hardened stance on the war has prevented agreement on even a single communique at the 20 or so ministerial meetings of the G20 during India's presidency this year, leaving it to the leaders to find a way around, if possible. But China will be represented by Premier Li Qiang, not President Xi Jinping , while Russia has confirmed President Vladimir Putin 's absence, suggesting that neither nation is likely to join any consensus. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement That means the two-day summit from September 9 will be dominated by the West and its allies. The G20 leaders who will attend include U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Bin Salman and Japan's Fumio Kishida. A failed summit would expose the limits of cooperation between Western and non-Western powers, and prompt countries to double down on the groups they are more comfortable with, analysts said. To tackle global threats "breaking off into Western and non-Western blocs isn't what you want," said Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. Failing to forge a consensus will also hurt the diplomatic credentials of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi , who is using the presidency to bolster New Delhi's position as economic powerhouse and a leader of the global south. "If the leaders' summit is a flop, New Delhi and especially Modi will have suffered a major diplomatic, and political, setback," Kugelman said. India, which has not condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, will have to either convince the bloc to agree to a joint statement - the so-called Leaders Declaration - or allow its presidency to be the first to end without such a communique since 2008. "The positions have hardened since the Bali Summit," a senior Indian government official told Reuters, referring to the 2022 summit held in Indonesia. "Russia and China have toughened their position since then, a consensus would be very hard." LAST MINUTE In Bali, Indonesian President Joko Widodo clinched a last minute joint statement from the bloc. India is hoping that the leaders can again work something out at the last minute, another government official said. The Bali Leaders' Declaration said "most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy." It also said that "there were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions." Another Indian official said that in Bali, "Russia and China were more flexible." But as the war completes 18 months, countries "are not agreeing even to the language used in the Bali Declaration". Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who will come in place of Putin, have already drawn battlelines. Trudeau, while confirming that he will travel to India for the meeting in a call with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that he was disappointed that the Ukrainian president was not invited. "As you know, we will be speaking up strongly for you, and we will continue to make sure that the world is standing with Ukraine," Trudeau said in the call with Zelenskiy. Lavrov said last week Russia will block the final declaration of the G20 summit unless it reflects Moscow's position on Kyiv and other crises. Diplomats said any acceptance of Moscow's stance was highly improbable, and the summit would most likely end up issuing a non-binding or partial communique. CHINA PUSHING BRICS? Last month, the BRICS group of nations, where China is the heavyweight, added half a dozen more countries to the bloc in a push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated. "Xis absence may be Beijings attempt to put a nail in the G20s coffin, only weeks after expanding the BRICS organization which is more aligned with Chinas world view," said David Boling, director at consulting firm Eurasia Group. India is a member of BRICS, along with Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa, and had some concerns about the bloc's expansion earlier. But at the summit in Johannesburg last month, it joined a consensus on the criteria for new entrants. In its G20 presidency, India has sought to relegate the differences over Ukraine to the background and pushed for resolution on climate change, debt for vulnerable countries, rules around cryptocurrencies and multilateral bank reforms. New Delhi has also attempted to break an impasse over a deal that allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, but Russia is unlikely to budge from its opposition to the plan, Indian officials said. Over the year, there has been little progress on debt restructuring talks and a minimum global corporate tax, but India has been able to gain support from the U.S. and the IMF for over-arching global regulations on cryptocurrencies. A G20 committee under former Indian bureaucrat N.K. Singh and economist Larry Summers, a former U.S. treasury secretary, has also proposed increasing lending by multilateral banks to developing countries. The proposal has not been agreed on yet. Climate change goals had also divided developed and developing countries in July meetings of the group and officials said the positions are not likely to change at the summit. (Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova, Kentaro Sugiyama and Sakura Murakami in Tokyo) Key development on Sept. 4: Defense Ministry reports gains in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia oblasts Russia demands concessions to relaunch grain deal Romania denies Russian drone falls on its territory Russia attacks Ukraine with over 30 drones at night, damaging infrastructure Reznikov: Russia's war costs Ukraine $100 million daily Ukraines military has made gains near Klishchiivka, some five kilometers from Bakhmut, and Novoprokopivka south of Robotyne, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported on Sept. 4. Ukrainian forces have liberated three square kilometers around Bakhmut over the past week, Maliar said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to the official, Ukraine has regained 47 square kilometers of land in this area since the start of the summer counteroffensive. Russia has carried out unsuccessful attempts to take back lost positions in Donetsk Oblasts Klishchiivka, Kurdiumivka, and Ozarianivka, also trying to restrain the advance of Ukrainian troops toward occupied Bakhmut, Maliar said. In eastern Ukraine, Russia also reportedly failed to advance in the areas of Novoiehorivka and Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast as well as Donetsk Oblasts Sieverne, Avdiivka, Marinka, Krasnohorivka, and Novomykhailivka. In the Kupiansk direction (Kharkiv Oblast), our defense forces repel several enemy attacks per day and prevent the enemy from advancing, the deputy minister added. In the countrys south, Ukrainian forces continue the offensive operation toward Russian-occupied Melitipol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, entrenching themselves in regained territory. The enemy in the south is suffering significant losses in personnel, weapons, and equipment, redeploying its units and troops and using reserves, concludes Maliars Telegram report. Read also: New brigade bears heavy brunt of Russias onslaught in Kharkiv Oblast Russia demands concessions to relaunch grain deal Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would only rejoin the Black Sea Grain Initiative once sanctions related to Russian grain and fertilizers for European markets are lifted. Putin's comments came after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi on Sept. 4. Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported earlier in the day that a key reason for Erdogan's visit was to negotiate the restoration of the deal, which Moscow unilaterally terminated in July. Erdogan told the press in Sochi that he hopes a solution will be reached soon, and that a new package of proposals from the UN has led to "significant progress." "Ukraine needs to soften its approach in order to take joint steps with Russia," he said, adding that Turkey was willing to host direct negotiations between the two countries. Following the talks, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded by saying that the initiative "must be restored," but not at the expense of accepting blackmail. Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal on July 17, causing spikes in wheat prices and fears about food security worldwide. The agreement previously allowed Ukraine to export its grain through its Black Sea ports amid the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion. Turkey, positioning itself as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, played an important role in brokering the grain deal in July 2022. Since the agreement's collapse, Ankara has been in contact with both Kyiv and Moscow, discussing the options for its restoration. Romania denies Russian drone falls on its territory Romania's Defense Ministry "firmly denied" that drones had fallen on Romanian territory during Russia's overnight attack against Odesa Oblast, situated on the border with Romania, saying it did not pose any direct military threats to the country. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Sept. 4, citing the State Border Guard Service, that an unspecified number of drones had fallen and detonated in Romania during the attack. Ukraine has visual evidence of Russian attack drones falling on Romanian territory, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sep. 4. "It's pointless to deny that something fell there," Kuleba said. Russian forces reportedly launched 32 kamikaze drones at Ukraine overnight, 17 of which were shot down over Odesa Oblast. According to the Foreign Ministry's spokesman Oleh Nikolenko, the attack targeted the area of the Izmail port across the Danube River from Romania. Bucharest, however, said that Russia hit the port of Reni, around 60 kilometers to the west. The Romanian authorities are "now studying all aspects of what happened," Kuleba said, adding that the Ukrainian authorities can provide proof that the drones fell in that location. If confirmed, the drone falling in Romania would not be the first time reports have emerged that a Russian weapon has landed in a NATO member state. In May, a missile found a month prior in Bydgoszcz, Poland, was likely a Russian Kh-55 cruise missile launched from Belarus during a mass attack against Ukraine, according to Polish media. Read also: Romania investigating reports of Russian drone debris falling on its territory Russia attacks Ukraine with over 30 drones at night, damaging infrastructure Russian forces launched 32 kamikaze drones at Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts overnight on Sept. 4, damaging industrial facilities and infrastructure. Ukraines military reported shooting down 23 Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 drones, according to the Air Force. The drones were launched from Cape Chauda in occupied Crimea and Russias port town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk on the Azov Sea coast, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 17 out of the 23 drones launched at Odesa Oblast, but there were hits in the region, regional governor Oleh Kiper reported. In several settlements of the Izmail district, the attack damaged warehouses, production facilities, agricultural machinery, and industrial equipment, according to Kiper. Drone debris fell on civilian sites, causing fires. No casualties were reported. Six drones were downed over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where an infrastructure facility was hit, Governor Serhii Lysak said on Telegram. Since the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in mid-July, Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's agricultural infrastructure, ports, and grain stockpiles. Ukraine's ports located across the Danube River from Romania serve as the main alternative routes to shipping grain. Read also: City Council: Russian overnight attack against Odesa damages over 200 buildings Reznikov: Russia's war costs Ukraine $100 million daily Ukraine spends around $100 million in state funds daily to defend itself against Russias full-scale war, soon-to-be former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told state-run media outlet Ukrinform. According to Reznikov, supplies from volunteer organizations amount to only 3% of all the equipment that has reached the front lines since Feb. 24, 2022. Therefore, it is unfair to claim. that everything is done by volunteers, the official said when asked about the allegedly small amount of drones provided to soldiers by the state. Actually, this is done by working citizens of Ukraine because they pay taxes to the budget, and from this budget, the money also goes to the army. In the interview, published on Sept. 4, Reznikov said he couldnt reveal how many contracts the Defense Ministry had concluded with Ukrainian drone producers. What can be publicly announced is that 30 new models of Ukrainian drones have been recently approved for operation, he told Ukrinform. The level of their production will depend on the manufacturers themselves. Everything they can produce will be ours. We will buy everything from them with state funds. Earlier the same day, Reznikov submitted his resignation to the Ukrainian parliament and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that the parliaments Defense Committee supported Reznikovs resignation. On Sept. 3, Zelensky publicly announced his decision to dismiss the defense minister and replace him with 41-year-old Rustem Umerov, the chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine. Reznikov's dismissal followed several scandals within the Defense Ministry brought to light by Ukrainian media, particularly involving the procurement of equipment and supplies for Ukrainian soldiers. Read also: Prigozhins death latest in a series of unsolved murders in Putins Russia. Whats next? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian aircraft carried out five strikes on Russian anti-aircraft systems and nine strikes on areas where Russian personnel and equipment were concentrated during the past day. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 4 September Details: During the past day, Russian forces launched one missile strike and 78 air strikes as well as 47 attacks from multiple-launch rocket systems on the positions of the Ukrainian forces and settlements. Civilians were injured and killed as a result of the Russian terrorist attacks. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were damaged. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Over 30 combat clashes took place during the past day. On the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts, Russian forces conducted an airstrike near the settlement of Strilecha in Kharkiv Oblast. Over 15 settlements came under mortar and artillery attacks. On the Kupiansk front, the settlements of Topoli, Dvorichanske, Berestove, Kolodiazne and Kyslivka in Kharkiv Oblast were attacked by Russian forces. On the Lyman front, Russian forces conducted offensive actions near the settlements of Cherneshchyna in Kharkiv Oblast, Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast, and Spirne and Vesele in Donetsk Oblast. Over 10 settlements came under Russian artillery fire. On the Bakhmut front, Russian forces conducted airstrikes near the settlements of Bohdanivka, Klishchiivka, Bila Hora, Kurdiumivka and Pivnichne in Donetsk Oblast. Over 15 settlements came under Russian artillery fire. On the Avdiivka front, Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive actions near the settlement of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast. The Russians continued to deploy artillery and mortars to attack Ukrainian settlements, including Nevelske, Karlivka, Avdiivka, Tonenke, Pervomaiske, Sieverne and Novokalynove in Donetsk Oblast. On the Marinka front, Ukrainian forces are continuing to hold back Russian offensive actions near the settlement of Marinka in Donetsk Oblast. The settlements of Krasnohorivka, Marinka, Heorhiivka, Pobieda, Novomykhailivka and Katerynivka in Donetsk Oblast came under Russian artillery fire. On the Shakhtarsk front, Russian forces launched artillery attacks on over 10 settlements On the Zaporizhzhia front, Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive actions near the settlement of Pryiutne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. They also launched airstrikes near the settlements of Mala Tokmachka, Novodanylivka and Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Over 15 settlements came under Russian artillery fire. On the Kherson front, Russian forces conducted airstrikes near the settlements of Antonivka, Mykolaivka and Olhivka. Mykilske, Dmytrivka, Mykolaivka and Bilozerka in Kherson Oblast and the city of Kherson came under artillery and mortar fire. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defence Forces continue to conduct an offensive operation on the Melitopol front, consolidating their positions and conducting counter-battery operations. During the past day, the Ukrainian Air Force launched nine attacks on areas where Russian manpower, weapons and military equipment were concentrated and five more on Russian anti-aircraft systems. Units from Rocket Forces and Artillery struck 10 artillery systems at their firing positions and one Russian anti-aircraft system over the past day. 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 Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov submitted his resignation on Monday in the biggest shakeup of the defence establishment in 18 months of war with Russia. Reznikov has been at the forefront of Kyiv's lobbying for Western weapons to fight Russia's invasion, but his departure after months of corruption allegations against his ministry is not expected to have a big impact on military operations. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he was sacking Reznikov and proposed Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar and ex-lawmaker who runs the State Property Fund, to replace him. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Reznikov, who took office in 2021, has helped Kyiv secure billions of dollars worth of Western military aid since Russia's invasion in February 2022. Ukraine has received weapons including German battle tanks, U.S. HIMARS rocket launchers and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles to push back Russian forces, and is poised to receive U.S. F-16 fighter jets soon. "Reznikov did an amazing job building up a relationship with other ministers and other ministries," Andriy Zagorodnyuk, defence minister from 2019-20, told Reuters. "It saved the country because he was the owner of the process of arranging the shipments of weapons and so on." A three-month-old counteroffensive against Russian forces in the south and east has been criticised by some Western officials for making slow progress, but Reznikov was not seen as involved in day-to-day military operations. Reznikov, a 57-year-old former lawyer, was not implicated personally by corruption allegations levelled by Ukrainian media at the defence ministry, most notably over procurement. But the accusations prompted calls for him to be fired, and Reznikov portrayed himself as the victim of a smear campaign Zelenskiy has said he has a zero tolerance line on corruption as Kyiv tries to advance its bid to join the European Union and show it is enforcing on the rule of law. He said the defence ministry needed "other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole." "The logic was to clear the heightened tension around the ministry," said Volodymyr Fesenko, a Ukrainian political analyst, referring to months of calls for Reznikov to go. 'SHIELD OF EUROPE' Parliamentary approval is required for Reznikov's departure. This is widely expected to follow and his resignation has already been backed by the parliamentary committee for defence. In his resignation letter, Reznikov provided an overview of his 22 months in the post, praising Ukraine's fierce wartime resistance against Russian forces and his ministry's lobbying efforts for military aid. "Over 50% of the temporarily occupied territories by Russia have already been liberated. Every day our defenders are moving forward," he said in the letter, posted on X. "There is an understanding that Ukraine is a shield of Europe in the east." Reznikov, who has been tipped to become Ukraine's ambassador to London, said he saw one of Kyiv's priorities as building long-term partnerships with allies and securing "real security guarantees". Umerov's candidacy is due to be reviewed by parliament later this week. Fesenko said the main factors for the appointment of Umerov, 41, were his reputation as a good manager, and his successful tenure at the helm of the State Property Fund. Fesenko said Umerov would need to fix the ministry's procurement systems, as well as work on improving its reputation. "It won't be easy, certainly. Especially getting rid of corruption in state procurement. This is unfortunately a systemic problem not just in the Defence Ministry, but in the entire Ukrainian economy," he said. (Reporting by Max Hunder and Olena Harmash; Writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Timothy Heritage) Russian forces have attacked Ukraine with 32 Shahed kamikaze drones, 23 of which have been destroyed, but there have been hits in two oblasts in Ukraine. Source: Ukrainian Air Force on Telegram Quote: "23 kamikaze drones were destroyed in the south and east. A total of 32 Shaheds were launched, attacking Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts." Details: The Ukrainian Air Force specified that on the night of 3-4 September, the Russians bombarded Ukraine with Shahed-136/131 loitering munitions from the southern and southeastern directions (Cape Chauda, Russian-occupied Crimea and Russia's town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The report says fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces and units of mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defence Forces were engaged to destroy the Russian UAVs. Background: Earlier, the Russians reportedly fired Shahed kamikaze drones on Odesa Oblast overnight, 17 of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defence forces, but there were some hits. The Russian forces also attacked Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv oblasts with drones. The Ukrainian Air Forces shot down seven Russian UAVs, but some hits occurred in Dnipropetrovsk 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! Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have confirmed the advance of Ukrainian Defence Forces near the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, and the west of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Source: ISW Details: The report stated that Ukrainian troops extended their counteroffensive operations and advanced near Bakhmut and the western part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast on 3 September. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces were conducting offensive operations on the Melitopol front. Geolocation data dated 2 and 3 September indicates that Ukrainian forces are in control of the southern part of the settlement of Klishchiivka. Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesman for the Tavriia Group of Ukrainian Forces, said the Ukrainian army had secured gains in the area of the settlement of Verbove (18 kilometres southeast of the city of Orikhiv). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The report also states that Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, Commander of the Tavriia Operational and Strategic Group of Forces, said that Russian troops had spent 60% of their time and resources on creating a range of defensive positions that Ukrainian forces have now breached and only 20% each on two defensive lines further south. Analysts point out that this breached series of Russian defensive lines consisted of a system of interconnected Russian trenches and dugouts protected by anti-tank ditches and dense minefields, and Tarnavskyi's statement confirms ISW's earlier observation that Russian forces may not have conducted similarly sophisticated preparations on subsequent series of defensive lines, particularly in terms of minefield density. ISW's analysts say the Russian military appears to be conducting a large-scale recruitment drive through covert mobilisation, although the training and allocation of these new soldiers are uncertain. On 3 September, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, claimed that 280,000 people have signed contracts with the Russian Defence Ministry since the beginning of 2023. Medvedev noted that this figure includes people either formerly in the Russian military reserve or who fought as military volunteers. The level of training and combat experience of these contract soldiers is likely to vary, as the Russian military advertises contracts for a period of several months to two years, analysts suggest. To quote the ISWs key takeaways for 4 September: Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations and advanced near Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on 3 September. Several Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces continue to operate on the left (east) bank of the Dnipro River in occupied Kherson Oblast. Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes targeting Ukrainian port infrastructure in Odesa Oblast on 3 September. The Russian military appears to be recruiting personnel at scale through ongoing crypto-mobilisation efforts, although the quality and allocation of these new servicemembers remain unclear. Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, in western Donetsk, in the western Donetskeastern Zaporizhia border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast and advanced in some areas on 3 September. Russian law enforcement is patrolling and guarding polling stations in occupied Ukraine to prevent citizens from expressing opposition to the elections and recording the voting process. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on 3 September that he has removed the current Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov from his post and intends to replace him with Rustem Umerov. Umerov is currently the chairman of Ukraines State Property Fund. 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! Ukrainian Defence Forces killed 460 more Russian soldiers and destroyed 37 drones and 29 Russian artillery systems over the past day. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook Details: The total combat losses of the Russian forces from 24 February 2022 to 4 September 2023 are estimated to be as follows [figures in parentheses represent the latest losses ed.]: approximately 265,120 (+460) military personnel 4,480 (+4) tanks 8,663 (+14) armoured combat vehicles 5,611 (+29) artillery systems 741 (+2) multiple-launch rocket systems 503 (+1) air defence systems 315 (+0) fixed-wing aircraft 316 (+0) helicopters 4,481 (+37) operational-tactical UAVs 1,447 (+0) cruise missiles 19 (+1) ships/boats 8,149 (+47) vehicles and tankers 847 (+6) special vehicles and other equipment. 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! Ukrainian Defence Intelligence has reported that Ukraine's fleet of combat helicopters will soon be replenished with a Russian Mi-8 AMTSh. Source: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Quote: "The Ukrainian fleet of combat helicopters will soon be replenished with a 'trophy' Mi-8 AMTSh. The operation that made it possible to obtain this aircraft is the best example of fruitful cooperation between the National Police (Department of Internal Security) and Defence Intelligence of Ukraine." Details: The months-long special operation reportedly required the involvement of the best specialists from both agencies and the highest level of secrecy. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Background: On 23 August, it became known that a Russian Armed Forces Mi-8 helicopter had recently ended up in Ukraine as a result of a long-running special operation by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. The pilot and his family are in Ukraine, and the family was taken out of Russia in advance. The Mi-8 remained in Ukraine, along with the parts for fighter jets it was supposed to deliver to the Russians. 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! During the last 24 hours, the Russian army launched 5 missile attacks and 68 air strikes, and attacked the Ukrainian territory from multiple-launch rocket systems 42 times. Source: evening report of the General Staff of Ukraine from 4 September Details: During the day, 22 combat encounters occurred on the frontline. The Russians conducted offensive actions on the Lyman front near the settlements of Novoiehorivka and Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast but to no avail. The Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks on the Bakhmut front to the north of the settlement of Klishchiivka in Donetsk Oblast and on the Marinka front near the settlement of Marinka in Donetsk Oblast. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Quote: "The Air Force of the Defence Forces of Ukraine launched 11 attacks on the areas where manpower, armament and military equipment was concentrated, and 2 more on Russian anti-aircraft systems. Rocket Forces and Artillery struck 11 means of Russian artillery on firing positions and 4 control points." Background: Hanna Maliar, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister, reported that Ukrainian troops liberated three square kilometres on the Bakhmut front last week and added that they were continuing their offensive near the settlements of Novodanylivka and Novoprokopivka. Ukrainian Defence Forces killed 460 more Russian soldiers and destroyed 37 drones and 29 Russian artillery systems over the past day. 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! New Ukrainian-made missiles could reach up to 930 miles into Russia, a top security official said. Oleksiy Danilov said the weapons will be used against Russian military facilities not civilians. His comments follow President Zelenskyy's statement that weapons could hit Russia more than 430 miles away. Ukraine is developing Ukrainian-made missiles capable of hitting targets as far as 930 miles into Russian territory, a top Ukrainian security official told Ukrainian Radio. Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said Ukrainian-made missiles have been in the works since 2020 and could soon hit from 620 to 930 miles within Russian territory, according to The New Voice of Ukraine's translation. He failed to name the new missile and didn't give a clear timeline for its deployment. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Unlike Russia, he said, Ukrainian missiles and drones inside Russia will only target factories and military facilities not civilian objects. "All this will have its results, taking into account the fact that we do not attack civilian objects of the Russian Federation schools, kindergartens as the terrorist country does. We attack either factories or military productions the components that kill our children. We have to put an end to this," Danilov said, according to a translation by the independent news outlet The New Voice of Ukraine. As for oil refineries and other objects that frequently catch fire, he said this was the work of Russian partisans, whom Ukraine has no control over. His comments follow those of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, who said Ukraine's weapons could hit targets more than 430 miles away. Ukraine has launched a string of drone attacks deep into Russian and Russian-occupied territory in recent weeks, targeting Russian military infrastructure, vessels, airfields, supply lines, and logistical lines. Ukraine's navy shared a video on Sunday, which they said showed an aerial drone killing a half-dozen Russian service members and destroying their vessel in the Kherson region. Four Ilyushin Il-76 transport planes were irreparably damaged last Tuesday at a Russian airfield in the Pskov region, a representative for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's intelligence division told Reuters. The recent spate of drone attacks is proof Russia's sophisticated air defense systems are failing, Samuel Bendett, an analyst and expert in unmanned and robotic military systems at the Center for Naval Analyses, previously told Insider. "Most of these defenses were built to identify and destroy larger targets like missiles, helicopters, aircraft. Many were not really geared towards identifying much smaller UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]," he said. Ukraine is racing to build their own weapons to strike inside Russian territory, as the US and NATO allies have strictly banned the use of Western-made weapons in Russia out of fear it could escalate the conflict. Read the original article on Business Insider Editors Note: This is issue 100 of Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprises Weekly, covering events from August 12 September 1, 2023. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission. Corporate governance of SOEs Law merging GTSOU and MGU signed by the president, but not yet effective. On Aug. 30 President Zelenskyy signed the law on the corporate governance of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU). Law No. 3293-IX was known earlier as Draft Law No. 9311-1-d. According to the information on the Verkhovna Radas website at the time of this writing, the law has not yet become effective. This is most likely because it has not yet been published in one of the official gazettes: Ofitsiyny visnyk Ukrayiny, Uryadovy kuryer, Holos Ukrayiny, or Vidomosti Verkhovnoyi Rady. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement After being appropriately adopted and signed, laws of Ukraine must be promulgated in the official language in official printed gazettes within fifteen days, according to a relevant Presidential Decree. That bill built on its earlier version, No. 9311-1, which had been proposed by MPs Maksym Khlapuk (Holos), Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Holos), and other MPs. Draft Law No. 9311-1 was drafted by two members of the SOE Weekly team, Oleksandr Lysenko and Andriy Boytsun. In SOE Weekly Issue 89, we reported that Draft Law No. 9311-1 corrected the shortcomings of the governments bill and aimed to help Ukraine meet its commitments to the IMF and other international obligations. See more in Issue 89. Draft Law No. 9311-1 was then finalized by the Energy Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, becoming Draft Law No. 9311-1-d. That version was submitted by the Committees Chair Andriy Gerus (Servant of the People), Maksym Khlapuk (Holos), and other numerous members of the Committee. Read also: Oligarch Kolomoisky charged with money laundering, fraud The law allows for the appropriate implementation of corporate governance at GTSOU. There are two stages to this process. First, Main Pipelines of Ukraine (MGU) is to be merged into GTSOU, disappearing as a separate entity. The Ministry of Energy gets the shareholder rights in GTSOU. The company then gets a new charter and a supervisory board as a governing body. After the merger is completed, GTSOUs new supervisory board should be appointed by Oct. 31. In the interim, the current members of MGUs supervisory board will serve as GTSOUs supervisory board. The law was approved in the first reading in the Radas session on July 13, and then adopted in the second reading on July 28. See our Issue 98 for more. In SOE Weekly Issue 97, we reported that Ukraine promised the IMF to complete the corporate governance reform of GTSOU by the end of October 2023. Under that commitment, Ukrainian authorities must transfer GTSOUs shares from MGU to the Ministry of Energy and adopt a new GTSOU charter. The charter must be developed with Ukraines energy regulator and the Energy Community Secretariat and approved by the end of July 2023 (a structural benchmark, carried over from the original IMF Memorandum, which we discussed in Issue 82.) When Law No. 3293-IX becomes effective, the Ministry of Energy will be in a position to amend GTSOUs charter in that way, meeting the IMFs above structural benchmark, albeit more than a month overdue. This will pave the way for a competitive, transparent, and merit-based nomination procedure for the new supervisory board. According to the IMF Memorandum, such a board should be appointed by the end of October 2023 (a new structural benchmark, added after the first review of the IMF program). Ukrenergos supervisory board elects its chair. On Aug. 28, the supervisory board of Ukrenergo elected its independent member Daniel Dobbeni as the new chairperson. According to the company, Dobbeni has more than 40 years of experience in the energy industry. In 2008, he became the first president of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). Dobbeni was also the president of Germanys OSP 50Hertz GmbH and the vice-president and president of the GO15 association. From 2003 to 2012, he served as the CEO of the Belgian-German transmission system operator Elia Group. In SOE Weekly Issue 95, we reported that Ukrenergos supervisory board appeared to have no chairperson and no committees. In case of the board chair, this suggests that the board had to elect a chair every time for each of its meetings. Read also: This Week in Ukraine Ep. 23 Ministry of Defense is under fire for corruption, again In case of board committees, this suggests that Ukrenergos supervisory board does not comply with the law. Specifically, the Law on Joint-Stock Companies requires that Ukrenergo should have at least an audit committee and a nomination and remuneration committee. In addition, we reported that the Cabinet of Ministers has yet to select and approve one independent member for Ukrenergos supervisory board, more than a year after Dejan Ostojics termination of powers in April 2022. According to Ukrenergos charter, the supervisory board should consist of seven members: four independent members and three state representatives. According to the current information on Ukrenergos website, the supervisory board now has three independent members (Peder Andreasen, Daniel Dobbeni, and Roman Pionkowski) and three state representatives (Yuriy Boyko, Yuriy Tokarskyi, and Oleksandr Baraniuk). Hence, independent members do not constitute a majority of the board, which does not meet the requirements of the law or Ukrenergos charter. Since April 2022, the Cabinet has not indicated why the missing independent member has not been appointed to date, or who that person would be. For more detail, see our Issue 95. Sense Banks CEO resigns less than a month after appointment. On Aug. 14, Sense Bank reported that its CEO Dmytro Kuzmin resigned by mutual consent for personal reasons, and the supervisory board accepted his resignation. According to the bank, the deputy CEO Olena Zubchenko would temporarily act as CEO. The supervisory board would begin selecting and appointing a new permanent CEO as soon as possible, Sense Bank added. Earlier, Forbes Ukraine reported that Kuzmin might resign due to health problems and the new managements less than convincing performance in the first weeks at the helm of the nationalized bank. In SOE Weekly Issue 98, we reported that Sense Bank, previously owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, and Andrey Kosogov, was nationalized. Read also: David Kirichenko: How Ukraine is the leading testing ground for the viability of crypto On July 23, the Individuals Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) appointed the supervisory and executive boards based on proposals from the Ministry of Finance, with the approval of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). On July 24, Sense Bank announced the start of work of the new executive and supervisory boards. See more in Issue 98. Ukrzaliznytsia appoints CEO for its Polish subsidiary and the head of its representative office abroad. On Aug. 18, Ukrzaliznytsia reported that it appointed Oleksandra Vasylenko as the head of the companys representative office abroad. Vasylenko will be in charge of all international activities of Ukrzaliznytsia. According to the company, Vasylenko has served as director of the Department of Economic Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2022. Prior to that, she worked as an advisor to the CEO of Ukrzaliznytsia and the Minister of Infrastructure, coordinating national transport initiatives. Ukrzaliznytsia also appointed Mykhailo Plastun as the CEO of Ukrainian Railways Cargo Poland, Ukrzaliznytsias Polish subsidiary. According to Ukrzaliznytsias CEO Yevhen Lyashchenko, the main task for Ukrainian Railways Cargo Poland is to provide fast logistics for cargoes travelling from Ukraine. In SOE Weekly Issue 97, we reported that on June 20, Ukrzaliznytsia established Ukrainian Railways Cargo Poland. Ukrzaliznytsias press release stated that the company would operate 1,435- and 1,520-millimetre rolling stock, co-ordinating its work with European operators, cargo owners, and border crossings. The Cabinet approves the appointment of a new CEO for the State Food and Grain Corporation. On Aug. 29, the Cabinet of Ministers approved Dmytro Gapchych as the CEO of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGC). According to the media, in 2004-2012, Gapchych worked at Kernel Group agricultural holding. In 2012, he became the CEO of Sugar Union Ukrros (a subsidiary of Kernel Group). At the end of 2013, he left Kernel at his own initiative. From April 30, 2020, Vasyl Kovalenko was the acting CEO of SFGC. In mid-January 2022, SOE Weekly Issue 61 reported that MP Maryan Zablotskyy (Servant of the People faction) wrote on his Facebook page that SFGC might go bankrupt soon. According to Zablotskyy, SFGC was unlikely to repay its next $95 million loan tranche on its own. Read also: Media: Zelensky says Ukraine needs 160 F-16 fighter jets Later, Ekonomincha Pravda (EP) explained how SFGCs debts accrued and claimed that the company would default on its debt on Jan. 21, 2022. According to EPs sources, the Presidents Office supported a default scenario," which would automatically invoke a state guarantee. In Issue 63, we reported that the Ministry of Finance transferred Hr 2.5 billion ($67 million) to the Export-Import Bank of China instead of SFGC in January 2022. According to the Ministry, SFGC repays a loan instalment every six months. As of Jan. 21, 2022, the company paid just $8.8 million of the $96.4 million it was supposed to. Due to the state guarantee, the Ministry of Finance had to pay the rest. In Issue 68, we reported that in December 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the state guarantee to repay the SFGCs $1.5 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. Energy sector Ukrnafta pays over Hr 12 billion ($323 million) in taxes for the first six months of 2023. On Aug. 29, Ukrnaftas CEO Sergii Koretskyi reported that the company paid Hr 12.32 billion ($332 million) in taxes. According to Koretskyi, Ukrnafta paid Hr 1.2 billion ($32 million) of income tax for the first quarter and Hr 2.07 billion ($55 million) for the second quarter of 2023. In SOE Weekly (Issue 90), we reported that Ukrnaftas financial plan for 2023, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, expects Hr 74 billion ($1.2 billion) in net income from operations, Hr 12 billion ($323 million) in net profit, and Hr 25 billion ($673 million) in tax payments to the state. As we also reported in Issue 90, Koretskyi said that Ukrnafta earned about Hr 7 billion ($188 million) in net profit in January-April 2023. This figure was most likely unaudited. We had not been able to identify any official reporting on profits. We had also not been able to find Ukrnaftas financial statements for 2022. CASE-Ukraine contests Ukrnafta CEOs statements on profits and transparency. In his column for Forbes Ukraine, CASE Ukraines economist Vasyl Povoroznyk contested Koretskyis statements on the companys quarterly profits, lower costs, higher production, and transparency. Povoroznyk said that Ukrnaftas financial statements for the first three months of 2023 were not publicly available, but he referred to Naftogazs consolidated financial statements for that period (unaudited). As Ukrnaftas majority shareholder, Naftogaz consolidates Ukrnaftas reporting in its financial statements. Povoroznyk said that Ukrnaftas profit was Hr 3.5 billion ($94 million) in the first quarter of 2023, which is lower than the figure that Koretskyi had named, Hr 4.3 billion ($116 million). Naftogazs financial reporting also did not support Koretskys statement that Ukrnafta has cut costs, Povoroznyk said. On the contrary, the cost of goods sold increased from Hr 7.5 billion ($202 million) in the first quarter of 2022 to Hr 9.6 billion ($258 million) in the first quarter of 2023, while sales expenses increased from Hr 900 million ($24 million) to Hr 1.3 billion ($35 million) in the respective periods, he claimed. Read also: Justice Minister: Ukraine wants to extradite corrupt officials who fled country Povoroznyk concluded that cutting expenses was not the main driver of Ukrnaftas financial performance instead, the results were driven by an increase in revenue, which grew from Hr 9.6 billion ($258 million) to Hr 15.6 billion ($420 million). According to him, sales of petroleum products form the bulk of the companys revenue. He attributed the 63% increase in Ukrnaftas revenue in the first quarter to higher market prices for petrol and diesel (45% and 54%, respectively). Povoroznyk added that another major reason for the revenue growth was the sale of gas from underground storage facilities. According to him, in March 2022, Naftogazs subsidiary Ukrtransgaz and Ukrnafta settled the issue of 0.591 billion cubic metres of natural gas stored by Ukrtransgaz. This is a pre-trial settlement of a part of Naftogazs debt the 9 billion cubic metres of gas produced in 2006-2012, for which Ukrnafta is suing Naftogaz, he explained. The previous management of the company did not sell this gas, and the new management probably sold part of this stock, increasing its revenue, Povoroznyk argued. He said that this gas was sold at current market prices (between Hr 17,000-20,000 excluding VAT according to the Ukrainian Energy Exchange quotes), while Ukrnafta had received it at a historical cost (between Hr 800 and 1,400 depending on the period). Povoroznyk suggested that this difference contributed largely to Ukrnaftas record profit in the first quarter of 2023. He also added that it was important how Naftogaz would settle its remaining debt for gas to Ukrnafta (8.5 billion cubic metres). If Naftogaz were to repay it at the current market value, Ukrnafta would receive an asset worth more than Hr 100 billion (at the market price in Ukraine of $300-400 per 1,000 cubic meters excluding VAT), Povoroznyk claimed. He also warned against potential corruption risks related to this asset if Ukrnaftas corporate governance were to remain opaque. Naftogaz takes over another three of Firtashs gas distribution companies. On Aug. 15, Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine LLC (Gazmerezhi brand), a Naftogaz subsidiary, reported that Ivano-Frankivskgaz, Khmelnytskygaz and Mykolaivgaz joined Naftogaz Group. These gas distribution companies were part of fugitive oligarch Dmytro Firtashs Regional Gas Company (RGC) Group. Read also: Zelensky: 2 more ships successfully pass through temporary grain corridor In SOE Weekly Issue 71, we reported that Naftogaz changed the management of regional gas distribution companies Kharkivgaz and Dniprogaz on Jan. 16. Both were also part of Firtashs RGC Group. RGC accused Naftogaz of an attempted raid." In response, Naftogaz referred to the Cabinet of Ministers Decision No. 429-r dated May 28, 2022, which transferred the corporate rights of about 20 regional gas distribution companies to its subsidiary Chornomornaftogaz. Earlier in May 2022, Kyivs Pechersk Court seized shares of Firtashs regional gas companies because they evaded payment for the use of gas networks. (After that, the Cabinet transferred these rights to Chornomornaftogaz.) RGC then filed lawsuits to overturn the Pechersk Courts decision. This delayed the process of changing management significantly. In September 2022, Naftogaz established a new subsidiary named Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine LLC to consolidate the regional gas distribution companies. In Issue 98, we reported on another wave of taking over Firtashs gas distribution companies. See more in Issue 98. Naftogaz CEO interviewed. Naftogazs CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov was interviewed last week by Ekonomichna Pravda (EP). We selected the key points. On financial performance: Naftogazs financial result for 2022 is Hr 37 billion ($1 billion) in losses. However, for the first half of 2023, we expect about Hr 2 billion ($54 million) in profit (the accounts are still being audited). The loss for the first half of 2022 was Hr 18 billion ($487 million). We have not been able to locate Naftogazs financial statements for 2022 on its website or elsewhere in the public domain. In Issue 99, we reported that Naftogaz paid over Hr 48 billion ($1.3 billion) in taxes for the first seven months of 2023. In Issue 85, we reported that the Cabinet of Ministers established how much SOEs must pay in dividends for 2022. Naftogaz must allocate 30%, and the rest of the profit must be used to purchase natural gas produced in Ukraine. In Issue 77, we reported that Naftogaz expected to post a loss of Hr 40 billion ($1.1 billion) in 2022, according to preliminary results. As we said, if Naftogaz were to get losses, it would not pay any dividends, which seems to be confirmed now based on Chernyshovs interview. On gas reserves in underground storage facilities: The vast majority of gas in the storage facilities is Ukrainian gas, while the rest is from non-residents. As for the structure of the volumes, I cannot disclose details, in particular due to security issues and to protect commercial secrets, in particular those of our customers. The volume owned by Naftogaz is absolutely enough to get us through the heating season. We have no plans to touch other gas. Aug. 23, Chernyshov reported that, as of the end of August 2023, Ukraines underground gas storage facilities increased to 14 billion cubic metres. In Issue 91, we reported that the Cabinet determined that Ukraine should have more than 14 billion cubic metres of gas in its storage facilities by the beginning of the next heating season [which usually begins in mid-October]. SOE Weekly.] On the competitive selection for the position of Naftogazs CEO: When I was appointed, my first public decision was to ask the Cabinet of Ministers and the Prime Minister to initiate urgent procedures for the appointment and election of the supervisory board. The supervisory board was elected in less than three months and was already working. This is an example of the progress of corporate reform. Read also: Naftogaz CEO: Ukraine hits autumn gas storage target ahead of upcoming heating season In Issue 72, we reported that, in January 2023, Naftogazs supervisory board was appointed after more than a year of absence. The CEO should be appointed by the supervisory board, and my appointment by the government is absolutely legitimate because at that time this function was performed by the Cabinet of Ministers. But to avoid any questions, I initiated the upcoming selection process together with the supervisory board. I am confident that this needs to be done. Chernyshov would not indicate a specific date for the CEO selection or appointment, saying that this issue was within the remit of the supervisory board, and the board would make this decision taking into account the military situation in Ukraine." According to the current law, the CEO of Naftogaz is appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers. There is no role for the supervisory board in this process according to the law. However, according to Naftogazs charter, the Cabinet appoints the CEO on proposal of the supervisory board. On the Glusco case: In 2022, the confiscated Glusco petrol stations were not working The state decided to transfer this complex of petrol stations to Naftogaz, represented by Naftogaz Oil Trading, to put things in order. The government made this decision, and ARMA signed an agreement on the transfer of these petrol stations to Naftogaz Oil Trading. After that, Naftogaz Oil Trading paid off salary and tax arrears, made repairs where necessary, rebranded, purchased fuel, provided working capital, and launched a network of 81 filling stations. This is a normal process. There was constant interaction with ARMA. Everything was fine. After the appointment of the new head of ARMA, strange things happened, in my opinion. They led to a public accusation that Naftogaz Oil Trading was not working well. An urgent inspection was carried out, and an act was issued to terminate the contract. And that was it. It is not our business to manage petrol stations. We are prepared to transfer them, but we need to recuperate the money that we have invested. Lets settle this. The very fact of such an attack is strange. In Issue 99, we reported that ARMA took over Glusco petrol station chain from Naftogazs management and planned to transfer it to Ukrnafta. See Issue 99 for more detail. Privatization Company that won the privatisation auction for the Ust-Dunaisk seaport finally gets the asset. On Aug. 25, the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) announced it was signing an act of acceptance and transfer of the Ust-Dunaisk trade port property complex over to Elixir Ukraine, the winning bidder. According to the SPFU, on Aug. 1, Elixir Ukraine and the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) also signed a memorandum, which set out the conditions for other business entities to stay on the ports territory. This became the starting point for resolving the issue of obtaining merger clearance from the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU), the SPFU added. In SOE Weekly Issue 71, we reported that on Jan. 17, the SPFU sold the Ust-Dunaisk trade seaport for Hr 201 million ($5.4 million), a more than threefold increase from the starting price of Hr 60 million ($1.6 million). This was the first sale of a seaport in the history of independent Ukraine. In Issue 85, we reported that the SPFU announced the signing of a sale and purchase agreement for the port with the winner of the auction, Elixir Ukraine LLC. According to the SPFU, Elixir Ukraine, an official representative of the Serbian company Elixir Zorka trading in complex mineral fertilizers, aims to increase transhipment volumes. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Kyiv makes notable progress in south, says Washington In Issue 96, we reported that Elixir Ukraine said that it had not yet received the asset that it acquired. See more in Issue 96. Investagro auction fails again. According to Prozorro.Sale, the Aug. 18 auction of agricultural company Investagro, which previously belonged to sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Shelkov, failed to take place. The starting price was halved to Hr 27.5 million ($745,000). According to auction results protocol, the bidding was cancelled. There was no public comment from the SPFU at the time of writing. In SOE Weekly Issue 74, we reported that on Feb. 3, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) satisfied an appeal by the Ministry of Justice and confiscated the Demurinsky Mining and Processing Plant formerly owned by Shelkov. In Issue 75, we reported that on Feb. 15, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) exposed attempts by sanctioned Russian oligarchs Sergei Chemezov and Mikhail Shelkov to prevent nationalization of assets that both men formerly owned in Ukraine. In Issue 77, we reported that the Cabinet of Ministers transferred the assets of Shelkov to the SPFU, including Investagro and Demurinsky Mining and Processing Plant. As we reported in Issue 97, the SPFU announced the start of privatisation of assets seized from Russian oligarchs. As we wrote in Issue 99, the first attempt to sell Investagro failed. Sixth and seventh attempts to sell Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi seaport fail. According to Prozzoro.Sale, the sixth auction to try to sell the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi trade seaport, scheduled for 15 August, was not held due to the absence of bidders. Another auction was scheduled for Aug. 23, with the starting price unchanged at Hr 92.45 million ($2.5 million), but it was also cancelled for the same reason. There was no public comment from the SPFU at the time of writing. The first privatization auction for Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi failed as no one registered. At the second auction, the seaport was sold for Hr 220 million ($6 million) to Ukrdoninvest LLC, owned by Ukrainian businessman Vitaliy Kropachov. However, Ukrdoninvest did not pay up. As we reported in Issue 85, the company said that it backed out while hashing out the terms of the purchase agreement with SPFUs regional office in Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts. Later, SPFU announced that it would put Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi up for privatization for a third time, which also failed. See Issue 93. In Issue 99, we reported about the following failed attempts to sell the port. For more detail, see SOE Weeklys Issues 74, 78, 79, 84, 85, 87, 93, and 99. The Cabinet transfers 25 SOEs with a total land bank of 100,000 hectares to the SPFU. On Aug. 11, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred 25 SOEs, previously managed by the National Academy of Agrarian Science, to the SPFU. According to the SPFU, the total area of state-owned agricultural land managed by the Fund would increase to 370,000 hectares. Following the law launching the transparent lease of state agricultural land, the SPFU plans to put it up for open auctions on Prozorro.Sale. The first auctions are expected to take place in 2024. In SOE Weekly Issue 93, we reported that the SPFU was working out plans to centralize state property management, which include setting up a land bank. As of 2020, there were 750,000 hectares of state-owned agricultural land in Ukraine. By way of comparison, according to media reports in 2023, the largest agricultural company Kernel operated on 363,000 hectares of land, while the top 10 agricultural holdings collectively managed 2.3 million hectares of land. One of the largest state landowners is the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences (NAAS). As of 2020, it held 465,000 hectares of land, but only 320,000 hectares (69%) was registered in the State Land Cadastre. Data on 145,000 hectares of land was missing. The Academy is often involved in corruption scandals. Investigators have found that the heads of NAAS and their relatives have become owners of land plots in areas previously used by research institutions subordinate to the Academy. Starting from July 1, 2021 Ukrainian citizens can legally buy and sell agricultural land. However, the sale and purchase of state-owned and communal agricultural land remains banned. Confiscation of the aggressor states assets, nationalization, and asset seizure HACC seizes the assets of Russian oligarch Molchanov. On Aug. 23, the Ministry of Justice announced that the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) ruled to seize the assets of sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrei Molchanov. According to the Ministry, these assets include the Russian company LSR Group. The case also involves AEROC Investment Deutschland GmbH, Ukrainian firm AEROC LLC, and Molchanov himself. According to the Ministry, LSR Group contributes to Russias war effort by paying significant taxes and fees to the state budget of the Russian Federation; actively participates in mortgage programs to provide housing for Russian war veterans; and invests in the construction of housing for the Russian military. According to the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR), AEROC owns two aerated concrete plants in Kyiv oblast. In SOE Weekly Issue 97, we reported that the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit in the HACC to seize Molchanovs assets. Seized Tatneft filling stations put under Ukrnaftas management. On Aug. 15, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred the assets seized from Russian company Tatneft to Ukrnaftas management. According to the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), these assets include about 100 petrol stations, oil depots and vehicles owned by Tatneft. The seized assets are located in Kharkiv and Poltava Oblasts. The priority task for Ukrnafta is to restore the operation of the petrol stations and ensure budget revenues from their commercial use, ARMA added. In SOE Weekly Issue 99, we reported on the plans to transfer Tatneft filling stations to Ukrnafta. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky announces dismissal of Defense Minister Reznikov, names replacement Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. UNs Independent International Commission of Inquiry in Ukraine is yet to conclusively establish that Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine, chairman Erik Mse said at a press conference in Kyiv on Sept. 4. Read also: 32 nations join Ukrainian genocide case against Russia At the present stage, we have still not concluded that there is a genocide [happening] in Ukraine, said Mse. Let me say that we perfectly aware of the concerns and allegations around the crime; we are investigating this step-by-step. As of now, we do not have sufficient evidence to meet the legal qualifications of the Genocide Convention. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At the same time, Mse pointed out that the commission has recorded a large number of violations by Russian forces, including intentional killings, illegal detentions, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, deportation of children. Many of these violations qualify as war crimes, and some, if substantiated by further evidence, could be classified as crimes against humanity, specifically torture and attacks on civilian infrastructure, said Mse. He added that some statements in Russian media may be considered as incitement to genocide, but the commission is yet to reach a final decision on the matter. Read also: UN proposes easing some sanctions on Russia to revive grain export deal In October, the commission will present its report to the UN General Assembly and, in March 2024, to the UN Human Rights Council. Read also: Italian Senate recognizes Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people In March, the commission issued a report confirming that Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine, systematic torture, rape, and murders in occupied territories were tantamount to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity. Read also: Russia has attempted to illegally adopt nearly 400 Ukrainian children in act of genocide, confirms Ukraine The NATO Parliamentary Assembly formally designated Russia's aggression against Ukraine as genocide on May 22. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, via a resolution passed on April 27, recognized the forced relocation of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide. Parliamentary bodies of the Czech Republic, Canada, Estonia, Latvia, and several other countries have officially recognized Russia's crimes in Ukraine as genocide. 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 By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. refugee agency on Monday said it expected over 1.8 million people from Sudan to arrive in five neighbouring countries by the end of the year and appealed for $1 billion to help them amid reports of rising disease and death rates. The estimate for those fleeing violence is about double what UNHCR projected in May shortly after the conflict began and an increase of 600,000 from an interim estimate. Already, more than 1 million people have left Sudan to neighbouring states of Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Central African Republic amid fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital Khartoum and beyond. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Many are so-called returnees or people who are returning to countries from which they previously fled. In South Sudan, which is due to receive a third of the 1.8 million people fleeing, thousands of people, many sick and exhausted after crossing the White Nile River, have been arriving in a transit centre, aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said. Others have died on board the boats during the nearly three-day crossing, it said. UNHCR voiced growing concern about the health of the new arrivals, reporting rising malnutrition rates and disease such as cholera and measles in "several" host countries. "It is deeply distressing to receive reports of children dying from diseases that are entirely preventable, should partners have had sufficient resources," said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR regional refugee coordinator for the Sudan Situation. "Action can no longer be delayed." The revised $1 billion appeal represents an increase of nearly half a million dollars and takes into account the additional refugees and the extension of programmes by an additional two months to the end of December, a spokesperson told Reuters. The new regional appeal is only 19% funded, he said. (Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Mike Harrison) FILE - The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency flies in front of its headquarters during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. Iran has slowed its enrichment of uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels, a report by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog seen by The Associated Press said Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File) VIENNA (AP) Iran has slowed the pace at which it is enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels, according to a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog seen by The Associated Press on Monday. That could be a sign Tehran is trying to ease tensions after years of strain between it and the U.S. The confidential report comes as Iran and the United States are negotiating a prisoner swap and the release of billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in South Korea. However, international inspectors also noted new challenges in trying to monitor Iran's program. In an effort to ensure Iran could not develop atomic weapons, world powers struck a deal with Tehran in 2015 under which it agreed to limit enrichment of uranium to levels necessary for nuclear power in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. U.N. inspectors were tasked with monitoring the program. Then-President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the accord in 2018, saying he would negotiate a stronger deal, but that didnt happen. Iran began breaking the terms a year later. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The International Atomic Energy Agency said in its report that Iran has 121.6 kilograms (268 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. That means its stockpile of the fuel is growing at its slowest pace since 2021. A report in May put the stockpile at just over 114 kilograms (250 pounds). It had 87.5 kilograms (192 pounds) in February. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran has long denied ever seeking nuclear weapons and continues to insist that its program is entirely for peaceful purposes, though the IAEA's director-general has warned Tehran has enough enriched uranium for several nuclear bombs if it chose to build them. Irans mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Tehran likely would still need months to build a weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies said in March that Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device. The IAEA, the West and other countries say Iran had a secret military nuclear program it abandoned in 2003. Overall, the IAEA report estimated Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile at 3,795.5 kilograms (8,367 pounds). That's a drop from the last IAEA report, which put the stockpile at 4,744.5 kilograms (10,459 pounds). The stockpile reportedly declined because Iran diluted some of its enriched uranium. U.S. President Joe Biden has said he'd be willing to re-enter a nuclear deal with Iran, but formal talks to try to find a roadmap to restart the deal collapsed in August 2022. In the time since, Oman and Qatar have mediated indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. that led to the current planned prisoner swap and asset release. Under that proposal, anywhere from $6 billion to $7 billion, depending on exchange rates, would be changed from South Korean won into euros. The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid for oil purchased before the Trump administration imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019. The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts and Iran will only be able to use it for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. In exchange, Iran would release five Iranian-American prisoners now under house arrest. The U.S. likely will release Iranian prisoners as well, though those details remain murky. If that deal goes through, it could improve the chances of overall talks on the nuclear deal resuming though Biden already faces strident criticism from Republicans and others over the prisoner swap. While Iran has slowed enrichment, the IAEA reported other problems with trying to monitor its program. The report from the watchdog seen by the AP said Iran had denied visas for agency officials and affected their ability to work in other ways as well. Iran has not acknowledged the visa denials. The IAEA also hasn't been able to access surveillance camera footage since February 2021 under Iranian restrictions, while the only recorded data since June 2022 has been from cameras at a workshop in the Iranian city of Isfahan. The watchdog also said that no progress has been made on its request that Iran explain the origin and current location of manmade uranium particles found at two locations that Tehran has failed to declare as potential nuclear sites. ___ Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. Five people were killed in separate homicides in the Triangle last week. One of the killings, the on-campus shooting of UNC-Chapel Hill professor Zijie Yan on Monday afternoon, made national news when the university locked down the campus for three hours as police searched for the suspect. The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun now list the Triangles most recent homicides online on Mondays in this new weekly roundup. An interactive map, a searchable database, and links to our stories provide details on each death and the status of the investigation. We are reassessing how we report homicides and violent crime. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We want to rely less, especially on initial stories, on official sources alone. We want to emphasize trends and tell more about those killed and those affected by loss and violence in their communities. We want to create time in our reporters schedules to go deeper in search of better stories. To do this, we may forgo separate stories on deaths when there is little information and sometimes not even a victims name. The new homicide tracker, however, will include all violent deaths. (See below.) With the map, you can hover on a dot and learn the basic details. With the database, you will be able to search on incidents by name. Know that as you do this, we are working to learn more about each case, about the victim and the ripples their death has in the community. If you know one of the victims of the homicides listed below and would like to tell their story, please contact reporters Colleen Hammond at chammond@newsobserver.com or Aaron Sanchez-Guerra at asanchezguerra@newsobserver.com These are the homicides in the Triangle from Aug. 28 - Sep. 4. UNC Chapel Hill shooting Date: Aug. 28 Victim: Zijie Yan Age: NA Location: Caudill Laboratories on South Road at UNC-Chapel Hill Arrest: UNC police have charged graduate student Tailei Qi, 34, with murder What we know: Physics professor Zijie Yan was fatally shot in the Caudill Labs building by graduate student Tailie Qi at 1:02 p.m., according to police. Qi was charged with first-degree murder and with possessing a 9 mm pistol on educational property. Police have not found the gun and could not confirm how many shots were fired. Qi was found in a neighborhood off campus after eyewitnesses called 911. Orange County District Attorney Jeff Neiman said he would not seek the death penalty. Link to coverage: Raleigh homicides Date: Sept. 1 Victim: David Millette Age: 27 Location: 500 block of Glenwood Avenue Arrest: Raleigh police have charged Tyrell Jarue Moore, 23, with murder What we know: On Aug. 26, shortly after 2 a.m., David Millette was punched, fell to the ground and hit his head on the sidewalk, according to news partner ABC11. He died Friday. Millette was the general manager, operating partner, and part owner of Midwood Smokehouse, a barbecue restaurant in Raleigh that called Millettes death a senseless act of violence. Anyone with information about the incident on Aug. 26 is asked to contact Raleigh police at 919-996-1193. Link to story: Date: Sep. 1 Victim: Jaylen Latrelle Routt Age: 20 Location: Intersection of East and Branch streets. Arrest: None What we know: A state trooper fatally shot Jaylen Latrelle Routt of Fayetteville after he allegedly fired at officers trying to pull him over after he was clocked traveling at 101 mph in a 70 mph zone in Johnston County. Routt, 20, allegedly fled west on Interstate 40 before exiting onto Hammond Road and crashing in a grassy lot at the intersection of East and Branch streets. Troopers exchanged gunfire with him after he got out of the car, the State Highway Patrol said. Master Trooper Harrison Nazal of Johnston County shot Routt, who died from his injuries at a WakeMed hospital. Nazal is on administrative duty while the State Bureau of Investigation reviews the incident. Link to story: Trooper kills murder suspect in shootout after high-speed chase ends in Raleigh Durham homicides Date: Aug. 31 Victims: Robert Terrell Ages: 45 Locations: Intersection of Holloway Street and Brye Street Arrest: None What we know: Two men were killed within minutes of each other Thursday afternoon (See next entry). In the first shooting around 4:50 p.m. on Holloway Street, officers found Robert Terrell, 45, fatally shot on the sidewalk. Police said its too soon to tell whether the two shootings are connected. Link to story: Date: Aug. 31 Victims: Devin Rogers Ages: 22 Locations: 1000 block of North Miami Boulevard Arrest: None What we know: Two men and one male juvenile were shot in the 1000 block of North Miami Boulevard late Thursday afternoon. Devin Rogers, 22, of Burlington, died at the hospital from his injuries. The other man, whose name was not released, was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, while the juvenile is recovering from a non-life-threatening injury. Link to story: Date: Sept. 2 Victim: Unidentified Age: Not available Location: Mallard Avenue and Neville Street Arrest: None What we know: Durham police responded to a ShotSpotter alert around 1:30 a.m. Saturday and found a man suffering a gunshot wound between Mallard Avenue and Neville Street. The area is off North Elizabeth Street near downtown Durham. The man died at the hospital from his injuries. There is no known motive for the shooting, and as of Monday morning, Durham police have not identified the man. Link to story: Wake County homicides There were no new homicides reported outside Raleigh in Wake County from Aug. 28 to Sept. 4. Orange County homicides There were no new homicides reported in Orange County from Aug. 28 to Sept. 4. Database editor David Raynor contributed to this report. US officials are growing frustrated with how Ukraine is fighting the war, The New York Times said. The officials are worried that Ukrainian forces are not consolidating their power in the right areas. If Ukraine wants to speed up its counteroffensive, it will need to change tactics, they said. As Ukraine presses ahead in its slow-moving counteroffensive against Russia, some US officials appear to be growing increasingly concerned. Half a dozen US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The New York Times and other outlets that they are starting to question some of Ukraine's military tactics, including where on the frontline they are placing their combat units. Ukrainian commanders are dividing their forces equally between the east and the south of the country when they should be consolidating them more in the south, the officials said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement They urged Ukraine to push through the vast minefields left behind by Russia in the area, even if this means losing more soldiers and equipment in the process, according to the reports. Russia's heavy fortifications have forced Ukrainian forces to leave behind some of their advanced Western tanks and manually clear the mines instead, often using small teams of soldiers who need to crawl on the ground. "Everyone is now an expert on how we should fight," Ukraine's defense ministry said on social media Thursday. "A gentle reminder that no one understands this war better than we do." Soldiers prepare to clear an anti tank mine by using rope to remove the detonator during a mine clearance training exercise on July 11 2023, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine Ed Ram/For The Washington Post via Getty Images As Insider's Ryan Pickrell previously reported, Kyiv has argued it's advancing despite unrealistic expectations, a lack of necessary equipment, and tough Russian defenses. However, experts are worried that such unrealistic expectations could mean Ukraine gets less support from Western countries going forward, putting the counteroffensive in jeopardy. Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of War Studies at King's College London, told Insider that "politicians are realizing that it is not going to be a short war and it will most likely take many years to support Ukraine." "The support might diminish, not only because of lack of performance but also because politicians don't understand the military," she said. David Lewis, a Senior Associate Fellow at the think-tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told Insider that the current frustration among Western officials "might prompt a rethink in strategy." "Any direct intervention by NATO countries remains extremely unlikely and talk of no-fly zones or early NATO membership for Ukraine is fanciful," he said. "Instead, Western governments are adapting to a longer time horizon and will need to recalibrate support for Ukraine accordingly." "There is a growing realization that an early Ukrainian victory that ends the war is unlikely and that Ukraine and the West are involved in what could be a long, drawn-out conflict," he added. "We may see more calls for negotiations. There are likely to be some quiet, behind-the-scenes contacts, but since Russia does not appear ready to back down, they are unlikely to progress far," Lewis added. Some have suggested it may be time for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia rather than prolong the current stalemate. "Ukraine's Western partners have every reason to expect a return on the considerable military aid they have provided over the past year-and-a-half. But this does not grant anyone the right to pressure Ukraine into surrender," said Maksym Skrypchenko, president of the Kyiv-based Transatlantic Dialogue Center. "Instead, Ukraine's lack of progress over the past two months should serve as a wake-up call for Western leaders. Their response will shape the geopolitical landscape for decades to come." Read the original article on Business Insider Chinese nationals have accessed U.S. military bases and other facilities dozens of times, U.S. officials said, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. Government agencies like the Defense Department and the FBI held a review the past year to limit the events, the Journal reported. Officials allegedly call the people involved in the incidents gate-crashers and have espionage concerns about their occurrence. The gate-crashers have reportedly shown up in places like a U.S. missile range in New Mexico and a U.S. government rocket launch site in Florida. A similar report about gate-crasher incidents in Alaska by USA Today was published in May. According to that report, one incident of attempted breach of Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska, involved Chinese citizens who blew past a security checkpoint. A drone was found in the vehicle of the visitors, who said they were lost tourists, USA Today reported. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., has pushed back on U.S. concerns about the occurrences. The relevant claims are purely ill-intentioned fabrications, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson with the embassy, told the Journal. We urge the relevant U.S. officials to abandon the Cold War mentality, stop groundless accusations, and do more things that are conducive to enhancing mutual trust between the two countries and friendship between the two peoples. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The US State Department has commented on the talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kremlin head Vladimir Putin concerning, among other things, the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Source: CNN, citing a statement by a spokesperson for the US Department of State, as reported by European Pravda Details: The spokesperson said the State Department welcomed Turkiye's efforts to resume the grain deal, although Putin's talks with Erdogan did not result in a breakthrough. Quote: "We welcome the efforts of Turkey and other countries to convince Russia to return to the deal. We are engaging with the United Nations and with Turkey, both of whom have worked very hard to make BSGI (Black Sea Grain Initiative) both possible and functional." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement More details: The State Department thanked Turkiye for "its important diplomatic and operational efforts" to reach a new agreement. The State Department spokesperson added that Russia's decision to end its participation in the initiative "hurts communities vulnerable to food insecurity around the world". Background: Russian President Vladimir Putin, following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Moscow was not ready to immediately return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which it quit in July. Erdogan himself has called for the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and noted that Ukraine "needs to soften its approach" to resume it. 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! FILE PHOTO: U.N. General Assembly to vote on whether to ask top global court to issue opinion on climate responsibility By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) -Vanuatu's parliament elected Sato Kilman as the nation's new prime minister on Monday after a court upheld a vote of no-confidence in his predecessor, who had sought closer ties with US allies amid China-US rivalry in the Pacific Islands. Kilman, a former prime minister and leader of the People's Progressive Party, was elected prime minister 27/23 in a secret ballot by lawmakers. He told parliament he would review foreign policy so that it benefitted Vanuatu more, and would seek new export markets. Vanuatu was plunged into political crisis last month when opposition parties lodged a no-confidence petition criticising then leader Ishmael Kalsakau for actions including signing a security pact with Australia. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Opposition lawmakers said the security pact with Australia compromised Vanuatu's "neutral" status and could jeopardise development assistance from China, its biggest external creditor. The United States and its allies are seeking to dissuade Pacific Islands nations from establishing security ties with China, after it signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands. A Vanuatu court on Monday dismissed an appeal against a ruling that the no-confidence motion had been won by the opposition parties. A police commissioner before entering politics, Kilman served as deputy prime minister in Kalsakau's government until May, when he was removed from cabinet. He has previously served four stints as prime minister. As prime minister Kilman expelled 12 Australian Federal Police from Vanuatu in 2012, after he was stopped while transiting through an Australian airport and his advisor was arrested by Australian police on tax fraud charges. Police cooperation between the two nations resumed in 2013 after Kilman lost office. In June 2015 as leader he travelled to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, pledging closer ties between the two nations. Kalsakau's government had sought to widen Vanuatu's international ties after winning a general election in November. Kalsakau signed a security agreement with major aid donor Australia in December, a month after being elected, although it is yet to be ratified by parliament. Chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development and Saudi Arabia's Minister for Tourism, Ahmed al Khateeb, met Kalsakau on Saturday in Vanuatu, signing an airport redevelopment deal. French President Emmanuel Macron visited in July, making a speech where he pledged greater support and warned against a "new imperialism" in the Pacific, comments taken to refer to China. China has sent police experts to Vanuatu amid the political crisis, and the Vanuatu police force said it would work with "all partners" - Australia, New Zealand and China. Australia and China sent navy ships carrying relief supplies when two cyclones hit in a week in March. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry) A woman remains missing days after she disappeared on her way to work at an Atlanta-area Waffle House, police in Georgia say. Sara Bell, 32, was last seen at about 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2, on Norman Boulevard in College Park, according to the Clayton County Police Department. Family members told police that Bell left home to walk to her job at the Waffle House on Old National Highway. She hasnt been seen or heard from since. This embedded content is not available in your region. Bell is 5 feet, 10 inches tall with brown eyes and black hair and weighs about 186 pounds, police said. She was last seen wearing a black Waffle House shirt, black pants, black shoes and a pink backpack. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Authorities didnt release additional information. Anyone with information on Bells whereabouts is asked to call Clayton County Police at (770) 477-3550. College Park is about 10 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta. Search suspended off Outer Banks for missing man and his dog, US Coast Guard says Remains found at landfill confirmed as missing toddler, GA cops say. Dad now charged Hiker vanishes on solo trip while scaling Glacier National Park peak, officials say As print fades, so do the old-fashioned joys of following the ideological contortions of a newspaper editorial page. The New York Times signaled the looming demise of the art form when it drastically cut back the frequency of its editorials. Fortunately, we still have the Rupert Murdochowned Wall Street Journal, as it desperately gropes toward finding a 2024 Republican presidential candidate who meets its many fine-grained specifications. For all the obsessive attention lavished on Fox News, the Journals traditionally conservative editorial page offers a much clearer window into the Murdoch mindset. As the emails and memos released in the Dominion lawsuit demonstrated, the right-wing television network embraced nutcase conspiracy theories about the 2020 election because it feared losing viewers in the fever swamps of Trumpian hysteria. But about as many people subscribe to the Journal for its editorials as read Dickens for the sex scenes. That gives longtime editorial page editor Paul Gigot and his staff free range, with Murdoch looking distantly over their shoulders. Always uncomfortable with Donald Trump s America First populism and bombast, the Journals three-page print editorial section turned on the defrocked president with a fury the day after the 2022 midterm elections. Not only did the Journal headline its lead editorial TRUMP IS THE REPUBLICAN PARTYS BIGGEST LOSER, but it also ran three other op-eds belittling the sneering face of the GOP. Since then, the edit page has not softened its view of Trump personally, although each indictment has been dismissed as prosecutorial overreach by forces aligned with Joe Biden. In early August, after federal prosecutor Jack Smith brought a four-count indictment against Trump for trying to overturn the election, the Journal began its editorial by declaring, Donald Trumps post-election behavior in 2020 was deceitful and destructive, and his malfeasance on Jan. 6, 2021, was disgraceful. The Journal followed up the next week by flatly declaring, The risk of nominating former President Trump is that everything else will be drowned out by arguments about whether he should go to prison for trying to overturn the 2020 election or delete Mar-a-Lagos security tapes to hide documents. But if not Trump for president, then who? And can any non-Trump Republican candidate check all the boxes the Journal needs them to: hawkish, anti-populist and, perhaps above all, viable? ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Even though the Journal does not formally endorse candidates, the editorial page is adept at putting a thumb on the scale. Even though the Journal does not formally endorse candidates, the editorial page is adept at putting a thumb on the scale. During the heady days of spring, the Journals editorial writers, like so many orthodox Republicans, were beguiled by the idea of Ron DeSantis . When the Florida governor declared his candidacy in May, the Journal burbled, The acid test of leadership is how someone responds in a crisis, and Mr. DeSantis showed both the discipline to master the subject and the courage to defy elite opinion for the larger public good. But the Journals honeymoon with Trumps leading challenger lasted about as long as the tenure of a DeSantis campaign manager. The Florida governor has flunked the editorial pages litmus test issues as fast as the state banned Advanced Placement exams. The papers efforts to serve as the Henry Higgins to his floundering campaign came to naught. In early July, the Journal, which has long taken a Chamber of Commerce pro-immigration position, criticized DeSantis for echoing the nativist rights fallacy that illegal immigrants are taking U.S. jobs. Equally concerning for the hawkish Journal is the degree to which DeSantis has gone wobbly on Ukraine. The paper noted sadly in another July editorial about DeSantis, [On] U.S. support for Ukraine hes too often catered to the isolationist right that would, in Ronald Reagans words, play innocents abroad in a world thats not innocent. Then, in late July, the edit page complained, The Governor has too often catered to putative conservative populists who want to unleash the force of government to own the libs and win the culture war. But the Journal still resides in a place called hope. In yet another if-hed-only-listen-to-us-and-not-his-consultants editorial in late July, the paper lectured the governor, Hell have to focus more on growth than on grievance. He needs a vision for American renewal that transcends Mr. Bidens plans to use big government for income redistribution and Mr. Trumps desire to use it for political retribution. Good luck with that. The problem for Gigot and company is that they want to be part of the GOP nomination conversation rather than quixotic crusaders. As the most prominent print voice of Reagan-era conservatism, the Journal is not about to lavish column inches on no-hope candidates like Asa Hutchinson. In DeSantis, the editorialists thought they had found their man: someone who would sucker the Trump enthusiasts, but who, deep down, was really just like them. But so far DeSantis has bamboozled no one. Chris Christie, in particular, presents the Journal with a dilemma. His vitriol-dipped contempt for Trump undoubtedly appeals to Murdoch. When the former New Jersey governor entered the race in June, the Journal gushed, Mr. Christies biggest appeal has always been his intelligence and tough-talking persona. Peggy Noonan, the Journals Pulitzer Prizewinning columnist who operates independently of the rest of the edit page, hailed Christies executive abilities: Love him or hate him, he knows what to do with power. He isnt secretly frightened of it, as many politicians are. Noonan, it should be pointed out, also earlier offered this worthy-of-Bartletts put-down of DeSantis: Hes tough, unadorned, and carries a vibe, as Ive said, that he might unplug your life support to recharge his cellphone. But Christie, despite his potential appeal to independents who can vote in the New Hampshire primary, does not have a plausible route to the nomination. Nor does Mike Pence, who, like Christie, appeals to the Journal partly because of his muscular support for the war in Ukraine and his free-market ideology. In mid-August, the editorial page went out of its way to praise the former veeps drill-baby-drill energy policy. While Tim Scott and Nikki Haley are acceptable to the Journal on most issuesdespite tiptoeing around Trumpthey do not arouse much active enthusiasm and were barely mentioned in the editorial columns during a full month in midsummer. In June, though, the editorial page praised Scott, the leading African American in the GOP scrum, for wanting to free minorities from union schools and escape poverty by giving them more economic opportunity. There is a trick for liberals in reading the Journals Opinion section without having to summon the paramedics because of apoplexy. Ignore any editorial or op-ed that mentions Hunter Biden, even if the author insists that the scandal and its cover-up are worse than the Visigoths sacking Rome. Chuckle indulgently when the Journal insists with pious certitude that Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are pillars of ethical conduct who only forgot to fill out a few disclosure forms. In exchange for glossing over this kind of right-wing claptrap, you get treats like an early August Karl Rove column that smartly pointed out, Facing these multiple-front legal battles, Mr. Trump might not have enough campaign cash for the primaries, let alone a highly contested general election. That same day, the Journal schooled Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur paddling furiously in the GOP candidate pool, for indulging conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks. As an editorial put it, More such flights into political exotica will encourage many voters to conclude that Mr. Ramaswamy isnt ready for his close up, much less the demands of the Presidency. Its influence may be fading, but the Journal retains a clear view into what animates a certain sect of Republican power brokers, very much including Murdoch himself. However, the real joy in reading the Journal editorial pages all through the 2024 campaign season will be to wait for the inevitable eureka moment. That will be when the edit staffers finally realize to their dismay that the Republican Party of their dreamsa party devoted to small government and tax-cutting rather than election denying and an authoritarian cult of personalityno longer exists. I cant wait for the angry Journal editorial entitled THE PARTYS OVER. MrBeast , whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, launched Feastables to sell chocolate in 2022. Feastables A nut company called Dee's Nuts is suing YouTuber MrBeast's candy brand Feastables. The company says Feastables is using a name that's confusingly similar to "Dee's Nuts." The name of one of Feastables' product? Deez Nuts. A peanut company is demanding that MrBeast's candy brand keep "Deez Nuts" out of its mouth. When Brian Ditore founded flavored peanut company Dee's Nuts more than a decade ago, he hoped to pay homage to his grandmother, Adeline D'amore, court documents say. "Her laughter and belief that life should not be taken too seriously inspired Brian A. Ditore to select a trademark that paid homage to her and her comedic flair, hence DEE'S NUTS was created." But the peanut company appears to find nothing funny about the famous YouTuber's similar sense of humor. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement On August 25, Dee's Nuts filed a lawsuit against MrBeast's Feastables, accusing the brand of trademark infringement by naming one of its chocolate flavors "Deez Nuts." Dee's Nuts says in the lawsuit that the name is "confusingly similar and phonetically equivalent" to its own brand name. It's seeking a jury trial and a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop Feastables from using the "Deez Nuts" name. According to the court documents, Ditore, who calls himself "Head Nut Slinger" on his LinkedIn, trademarked "Dee's Nuts" with the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2012. Since then, the company has started selling its product via more than 100 wholesale distributors in 34 states, Dee's Nuts' attorneys wrote in the lawsuit. In January 2022, MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, founded Feastables, which sells a line of chocolate bars and other sweets. "You'll want to put Deez Nuts in your mouth," the Feastables website says about the eponymous chocolate bar. Feastables made over $10 million in sales by May 2022, Insider reported. The peanut company states in the lawsuit that it first learned that Feastables was using the "Deez Nuts" name in February and promptly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Feastables's attorneys. According to Dee's Nuts' lawsuit, the attorneys responded that Feastables would continue using the name. Dee's Nuts says Feastables' use of the name has caused confusion and "irreparable harm" to the company. The lawsuit cites cases where looking for Dee's Nuts products on retail websites such as Walmart.com with search terms like "dees nuts" or "deesnuts" might bring up suggestions in the search bar for Feastables' chocolates. Search suggestions on Walmart.com show MrBeast's chocolate product when searching "dees nuts." Screenshot via Walmart.com Actual results on Walmart.com when typing the terms above, displayed products by Dee's Nuts, Insider found. Actual results when searching "dees nuts" show Dee's Nuts products. Screenshot via Walmart.com An attorney and spokesperson for Dee's Nuts did not respond to a request for comment sent during the weekend. Dee's Nuts "has neither the online reach nor the resources necessary to counter the confusion being wrought by Defendant Feastables, Inc. and James Stephen Donaldson in their use of the DEEZ NUTZ mark," the attorneys wrote. One of the earliest instances of the phrase "deez nuts" was popularized by hip-hop artist and producer Dr. Dre after he released his first studio album, "The Chronic." The sixth track on the album is called "Deeez Nuuuts." The phase re-entered the mainstream in recent years when it became an internet meme and after a 15-year-old Iowa teenager launched a 2016 presidential campaign under the name "Deez Nuts." An attorney for Feastables did not respond to a request for comment sent during the weekend. Read the original article on Business Insider Oleksii Reznikov , Defence Minister, has said that one day of war costs Ukraine US$100 million, and this is mostly public funds, not volunteer fees. Source: Reznikov in an interview Ukrinform Details: The minister was asked why there are so few drones in the combat zone and why they are bought for the funds that citizens donate to volunteers, not for budget funds. Quote from Reznikov: "I can tell you that deliveries from volunteers from 24 February 2022 to the present day are 3% of everything that ended up in the war [zone]. War costs us US$100 million a day. Now, take [a look at] the budgets of all the reputable significant volunteer funds [and] see how much they collect. And a state that spends US$100 million a day in total. Just think about it." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Details: Therefore, Reznikov says, it is unfair to make claims to the state that volunteers do everything for it because this is not the case. Quote from Reznikov: "In fact, this is done by citizens of Ukraine those who work, because they pay taxes, and these taxes go to the budget, and from this budget, they also go to the army. The army is the largest consumer of funds today. But after all, funds are also needed to maintain the country as a whole: for infrastructure, reconstruction, and supporting those socially vulnerable. Therefore, you need to work and pay taxes. Businesses need to be active and support entrepreneurs." Details: He noted that he had no right to discuss drone contracts but said that "officially, only 30 new Ukrainian drones of different types are allowed to operate: reconnaissance, attack, kamikaze, etc.", including ten models of FPV drones. Reznikov says the number of their production will depend on the manufacturers themselves, but the state is ready to buy everything that will be produced and for public funds. At the same time, he added that it is very good and right that volunteers announce fundraising and citizens donate their own money. Background: Oleksii Reznikov has submitted his letter of resignation from the position of Minister of Defence of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada (the parliament) and has expressed his readiness to make a report. Rustem Umerov, who is to be appointed as Reznikov's replacement, has submitted a letter to parliament resigning from his post as head of the State Property Fund (SPF). 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! You probably associate Labor Day with sales, family barbecues and the unofficial end of summer. For most Americans, the long weekend is a much-needed opportunity to reconnect with friends and family and provides a last hurrah before the start of fall. But Mondays holiday holds a much deeper meaning, rooted in the 19th century fight for fair working conditions. Labor Day was originally designed to honor workers as part of the American organized labor movement. When Labor Day started Labor Day was first celebrated unofficially by labor activists and individual states in the late 1800s, according to the US Department of Labor. New York was the first state to introduce a bill recognizing Labor Day, but Oregon was the first to actually codify it into law in 1887. Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York had followed suit by the end of 1887. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Joshua Freeman, a labor historian and professor emeritus at the City University of New York, tells CNN that the holiday developed as unions were beginning to strengthen again after the 1870s recession. In New York City, two events converged that contributed to the formation of Labor Day, Freeman says. First, the now-defunct Central Labor Union was formed as a umbrella body for unions across trades and ethnic groups. Additionally, the Knights of Labor, then the largest national labor convention, held a convention in the city, complete with a large parade. But the parade fell on a Tuesday at the start of September and many workers were unable to attend. The convention was a huge success, and unions around the country started holding their own labor celebrations at the start of September, usually on the first Monday of the month. At the beginning, it was a somewhat daring move to participate, because you could get yourself fired, Freedman said. But over time, states began to recognize the holiday, and it became more common for employers to give their employees the day off. It wasnt until June 28, 1894 that Congress passed an act naming the first day of September a legal holiday called Labor Day. Freeman says that earlier that year, President Grover Cleveland sent in the military to squash the Pullman railway strike. Cleveland pushed through legislation to recognize Labor Day just days after the strike ended, in a gesture towards organized labor, Freeman said. A marching band at the Labor Day Parade in Silverton, Colorado, in September 1940. - Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images What Labor Day means At the time Labor Day was formed, unions were fighting for very specific improvements in their working conditions, Freeman said. Workers were fighting hard for the eight-hour work day most workers enjoy today. And Labor Day was an opportunity for them to come together to discuss their priorities and for the country to acknowledge the contributions workers make to society. But there was also a more radical political thread to the Labor Day celebration, Freeman says. The Knights of Labor were exploring the idea that what we call the capitalist or industrial system was fundamentally exploitative, he said. It introduced kind of inequities and inequalities, not just in wealth, but also in power. So they wanted a greater say in society for working people. Back when Labor Day began, there were a lot of voices that were fundamentally challenging this emerging system, Freeman added. Labor leaders at the time advocated for alternatives to the capitalist wage system, like collective ownership of corporations or socialism. Travelers queue up at the south security checkpoint in Denver International Airport as the Labor Day holiday approaches,on Tuesday, August. 30, 2022. - David Zalubowski/AP The evolution of Labor Day Over time, the radical politics around Labor Day became tempered. Around the world, most countries honor workers with a holiday called May Day, celebrated on May 1, which also has its origins in the late 19th century and the fight for the eight-hour work day. For a long time, Freeman says, Americans celebrated both May Day and Labor Day. But eventually, Labor Day began to be seen as the more moderate of the two holidays, in comparison to May Day, which was originally established by the Marxist International Socialist Congress. By the turn of the 20th century, calls for transforming American life, they pretty much disappear from Labor Day, Freeman said. As more and more employers began to give all their workers the day off, it became less associated specifically with unions. After World War II, Labor Day celebrations had a brief revival, especially in cities like Detroit and New York City. But by the 60s and 70s, they had tapered off again. I think most people just think of as the end of summer holiday, Freeman said. Its not really associated with its origins that much. Can you wear white after Labor Day? You might have heard the outdated rule that you shouldnt wear white after Labor Day. But dont worry: Theres no fashion police out there waiting to see if you don a white shirt in September. And the idea actually has a pretty problematic origin. The rule was one of many 19th century style customs used to distinguish the upper and middle classes, according to Valerie Steele, a fashion historian and director of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. As you got more and more sort of ordinary people, whether middle class or lower middle class, being able to have enough money to try to dress fashionably, then there become more rules so that the more upper class people can say yes, but youre doing it wrong, Steele told CNN. White was tied to summer vacations a privilege only few could afford. Labor Day represented the reentry into city life and the retirement of white summer clothes after a summer of leisure for the upper classes, Steele says. But the arbitrary rule all but disappeared during the 1970s, Steele says. The 1960s Youthquake allowed young people to challenge old stylistic norms, including the Labor Day rule. It was part of a much wider anti-fashion movement, said Steele. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com (WHTM) Labor Day, known as the holiday that marks the unofficial end of summer, is celebrated on the first Monday of September each year. People know it is having an extra day off from work and school, but its meaning goes much further than just the long weekend. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holidays stem from the late 1800s when labor activists wanted a federal holiday to recognize workers contributions to the country. What stores, restaurants are open on Labor Day? The very first Labor Day was celebrated in New York back in September 1882, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Labor Day was originally started as a holiday that was only seen in individual states. In 1886, New York was to first state to introduce a bill trying to secure federal legislation, but Oregon was the first to pass the law recognizing the day. Smash Mouth front man Steve Harwell dead at 56, band confirms In 1887, four more states passed laws recognizing the day as a holiday and by 1894, 27 more states followed. On June 28, 1894, Congress officially passed an act making the first Monday in September a legal holiday with President Grover Cleveland signing it into law. Today, many Americans celebrate Labor Day with parades, festivals, and parties, similar to those outlined by the first proposal of the holiday back in the late 19th century. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. If you spend enough time listening to Republican politicians talk about higher education today, it would be easy to believe that Americas colleges and universities are and always have been bastions of uncontested leftism. On the presidential campaign trail, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has attacked colleges for their role in spreading woke ideology, touting his efforts to restrict discussion of race and gender in Floridas universities. Following DeSantis lead, former President Donald Trump has claimed that Americas colleges and universities are dominated by Marxist Maniacs and lunatics while vowing to reclaim campuses from pink-haired communists. On Capitol Hill, Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have doubled down on their attacks as well, denouncing schools as cesspools of Marxist indoctrination. But the political battle over higher education in America has never been as one-sided as these comments might lead you to believe. As University of New Orleans historian Lauren Lassabe Shepherd documents in her new book, Resistance From the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars in Modern America, Americas college campuses have given rise to a long tradition of conservative political activism, much of it focused on the same issues that preoccupy conservative culture warriors today. Shepherds book, published Aug. 22, focuses on the campus wars of the late 1960s, when powerful conservative student groups like Young Americans for Freedom and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute clashed with left-wing groups like Students for a Democratic Society over civil rights, the Vietnam War and the womens liberation movement. As Shepherd argues in her book, the rise of the campus right isnt just an important part of the history of higher education its also crucial for understanding the development of the modern Republican Party. As the revolutionary mood of the 1960s gave way to reactionary backlash in the 1970s and 1980s, many of the figures who cut their teeth as conservative activists during the campus wars went on to hold prominent roles within Republican politics people like Newt Gingrich, Jeff Sessions , Bill Barr and Pat Buchanan. Having ascended to positions of power within the GOP, these figures used the political lessons they learned in college to remake the party in the image of the campus right. They learned that they were most effective at slowing down democracy and throwing sand in the gears of the political machine, Shepherd told me. Thats what weve seen in their careers, and its certainly what they were doing when they were in college. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The following has been edited for clarity. Ian Ward: Why is the period between 1965 and 1970 so important for understanding conservatives contemporary preoccupation with higher education? Lauren Lassabe Shepherd: Its important for understanding how conservative students start to organize themselves on college campuses. In the 1960s, the student right became especially organized, especially well funded, and especially combative, and the cohort of students who were on campus during those years went on to lead extremely consequential careers in conservative politics. These are people like Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan, David Keene who went on to become the president of the NRA as well as David Duke, Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr. So many of these men and they are all men go on to do really consequential things in the American political system, especially within the GOP. Ward: What were the issues that the campus right was organizing around during that period? What was happening on college campuses that they were reacting against? Shepherd: Towards the end of the 1960s, the Vietnam War was ramping up, and campuses were seeing more anti-war activities, especially surrounding the draft. So the student right was focused less on international fights against communism and more on specific campus battles about students who were trying to avoid the draft. The other focus was fighting with students who were trying to get Black studies programs created on campuses. It wasnt a pedagogical thing they had no problem with Russian studies courses or Asian studies courses or any area of study that might have helped them understand the Cold War or get an ideological leg up on the enemy by knowing their culture and history and politics. But they had very specific vitriol reserved for Black studies programs. Ward: What was the source of that vitriol? Was it just racial animus, or did the activists have other objections to those programs? Shepherd: Students on the right wrapped their racial animus in the language of anti-communism and Americanism, which was a euphemism that essentially captured the attitudes and aesthetics of white, wealthy Christians. Rather than protesting Black studies in ways that might make their racism overt though some [protests] were overt students instead campaigned against their creation by drawing attention to what they saw as the violent contexts in which the programs emerged usually as an administrative concession to strikes by Black students. And, of course, under the direction of right-wing movement leaders whose own Cold War politics frequently relied on red baiting, students in the 60s strategically branded Black Power organizing as not just anti-American, but fully communist. Ward: How was the campus right organized? Who were the major organizational players? Shepherd: The primary group, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), was founded in 1960 as an anti-communist campus organization, and YAF was important because it became the main organizer the group that corralled the others. The other major organization is the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, or ISI. They were the intellectual arm of the campus right, and they were meant to generate ideas to counter Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and other New Left groups on campus. Then there was a partisan arm: the College Republicans and Young Republicans. College Republicans were interested in getting 21-year-olds registered to vote this is before the voting age is lowered to 18 so they did things like go between residence halls, knocking on doors and making sure that students were voting for Republican candidates. There were also groups like Campus Crusade for Christ, which we still have today theyre called Cru and they are a Christian evangelical group. Members of Cru would do things like infiltrate a sit-in and pass out flyers, or they might co-opt some of the New Left slogans, saying things like, We're radicals for Jesus. Ward: What kind of tactics did these groups use to push back against left-wing groups? The tactics of the campus left were pretty distinctive like occupying campus buildings or organizing student strikes. Did the campus right pioneer any distinctive tactics of its own? Shepherd: On the whole, their tactics were geared toward attention-seeking. The point was that they wanted to make headlines, so students would write their own press releases, or they would contact local media in advance of a counter-activity that they were doing to make sure that they got coverage. It was a way to seem bigger and more popular than they actually were. YAF, for example, always misrepresented its membership numbers. It claimed throughout the 1960s to have 50,000 members, and theres just no evidence for that. It was more like 15,000 or 20,000 students. Another theme that runs through all of these groups is that some of the most ideological students did have true political convictions, and they were working from some real ideological place. But there were others who just didnt have any political ideas at all, and the only thing that they could corral everyone together with was the lowest common denominator of, Dont we all hate the left? And because they didnt have any positive direction to go, it was easy for them to co-opt what they saw left-wing groups doing. So when there was a New Left protest, the right would organize a counter protest, and they would take the slogans and the signs and just repurpose them with different mantras. Ward: As you just mentioned, these groups membership numbers were relatively small, yet they still had an outsized influence on the campus debates. How did they manage to overcome their limited appeal and how did they relate to democracy more broadly? Shepherd: The college rights mentors recognized that the students views didnt reflect those of their peers that was actually the point of creating conservative groups like ISI and YAF. So the fact that their convictions were unpopular, at least among other college students, was pretty well internalized. The workaround is that they would just deny that fact out loud to define their own legitimacy. For instance, when conservatives ran for student government positions, theyd run with a handful of their buddies as part of a reform coalition to appear grassroots. YAF chapters would often create second student clubs under a new name, like Students Wanting Election Activities Reform, but the roster would be entirely YAFers. College Republican chapters would hold membership drives and, on their sign-up roster, include the signatures of existing members to give the impression that 10 or more students had just signed up that morning. They would purposefully hold events in small rooms rather than in the auditorium to give the appearance of an overflow crowd, and they would often use flashbulbs during events to make it seem like there was a media presence. The whole point was to create an illusion that they were more popular, desirable, and representative than they truly were. These kinds of distortions are simply de facto right-wing politics today. It's extremely clear that the GOP of the 21st century is not interested in democracy. Its presidential candidates havent won a popular vote in two decades. And as were entering the 2024 election cycle, the platforms of GOP hopefuls are literally designed around alienating large groups of voters women, trans Americans, Middle Eastern and Latin American immigrants to the U.S. and other voters who care about them. They dont actually need to be popular as long as they have structures of power rigged in their favor: gerrymandering, the filibuster, a dedicated right-wing media system, and a Supreme Court supermajority. Ward: When you think about figures like Newt Gingrich or Jeff Sessions who came of age on the campus right, what other political lessons did they take with them from their campus activism into their careers in conservative politics? Shepherd: I think the most important one was the strategy of organizing around this least common denominator that even if they don't all have a positive policy agenda that they can agree on, they can all agree on hating the left. They learned that they were most effective at slowing down democracy and throwing sand in the gears of the political machine. Thats really what weve seen in their careers, and it's certainly what they were doing when they were in college. Ward: Today, we might call that sort of oppositional political politics owning the libs. Why was that approach so appealing to the campus activists you write about, and does it help explain why owning the libs has become such a foundational part of conservative politics today? Shepherd: Organizing around opposition to the left was simply good strategy for a mish-mashed collection of student ideologues, anti-communists, capitalists, anarchists, Christians, war hawks, and self-avowed youth white supremacists. Actually, campus organizing of the 1960s wasnt so different from the type of fusionist coalescing that the right was doing on a national level through thought leaders like Frank Meyer, and thats because the rights student leaders were taking orders and receiving funding directly from movement elders, (despite passing their own movement off as grassroots). And yes, practically speaking, I think owning the libs offers that same political purchase for the GOP today. How else could self-styled conservative intellectuals and charismatics like Marjorie Taylor Greene unite around a single candidate like Trump? The least common denominator is that they dont like anyone on the left, even if that definition just means to the left of them personally. Ward: Theres a common story about the post-war right that it began as patricians and ended up as partisans that figures like Buckley and Russell Kirk and Whittaker Chambers gave way to partisans like Gingrich and Pat Buchanan and, ultimately, the leaders of Trumps GOP. How does the history of the campus right fit into that story? Shepherd: Theres a direct line of influence between those generations. The generation of partisans [like Gingrich] is the generation that [William F.] Buckley and others most directly had a hand in shaping. When they took over Congress in the 1990s, the whole idea was that we need to tear the government apart, and that that would be the best thing for people. And it was the best thing for them, because it solidified the positions of power that they already occupied. Ward: Whats changed about conservative campus activism today, compared with the period you document in your book? For instance, the campus right in the 1960s was organizing around anti-communism, whereas the campus right today says that its mobilizing primarily against wokeism or other social justice initiatives on campus. Has the focus of conservative activism on campus really changed, or have they just updated their rhetoric? Shepherd: Today, you just dont see a unified campus right in the same way that you did in the 1960s. The students who are on campus today dont seem to have much tolerance for that sort of activism. They dont want to hear all the racism and the anti-LGBTQ vitriol, so that sort of stuff is marketed more toward parents and teachers and administrators with the hope that it will trickle down to the students themselves. Thats true of K-12 education as well as higher education. But I just dont think that theres a true grassroots conservative presence on campus today not a meaningful one, anyway. Ward: How do you explain that decline? Shepherd: I am building here on Nicole Hemmers recent book Partisans, but after the Cold War, the right cant organize around anti-communism anymore that boogeyman falls apart. And when that falls apart, it reveals whats actually behind the scenes. So since the end of the Cold War, weve seen a resurgence of the far right if you can call it a resurgence, because its always been there but you no longer have people like William F. Buckley giving them ideological cover by saying, Oh were not going to publish this sort of stuff in the National Review. They dont have anti-communism as an excuse anymore, so they can just lay their cards out on the table which they do quite openly. Ward: Campus controversies still loom large on the right today, whether its discrete fights over free speech and campus speakers or Ron DeSantis efforts to remake the New College in Florida. How does the history that you discuss help explain conservatives continued preoccupation with campus issues? Shepherd: The short story is that its almost never grassroots movements of college students themselves who are the major drivers of the rights concerns, but right-wing ideologues who are often decades older. To give the clearest example, the devastating circumstances at New College and the rights manufactured panic over critical race theory are largely traced back to singular figures like Chris Rufo. When we do see conservative student groups today, young people affiliated with Turning Point USA or Campus Reform, for example, theyre still taking cues from mentors over 30 like Charlie Kirk or Candace Owens. YAFs president today is former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Ward: Looking at college campuses today, its clear that the campus right didnt succeed at remaking campuses in their own images or stemming the general leftward drift of academia. In what sense if any did they succeed? Shepherd: They certainly left a legacy on university policy and structural changes to higher education. Towards the end of the 1960s, when students were demanding Black studies programs, student activists on the right were incredibly influential in delegitimizing those programs by questioning their academic rigor. They were successful, too, in terms of changing the role of campus security. Before the campus wars of the 1960s, the job of campus security guards was mainly to serve as parking attendants, or to inspect womens residence halls to make sure that women werent violating curfew. After the campus wars, they started carrying guns, they could make arrests and they generally assumed the full authority of police. In that respect, they changed universities in a really lasting way. Former President Trumps legal obligations are becoming increasingly intertwined with his political aspirations, with court dates threatening to split his time and attention in the heart of the 2024 presidential race. Trump is set to go on trial in Washington and New York City next March, right in the middle of the GOP primary calendar, and his opponents have been happy to seize on the conflicts as evidence Trump will be too distracted to take on President Biden. But with Trumps first trial scheduled for the day before Super Tuesday, there is also the question of whether the former president may have effectively clinched the Republican nomination by the time his court dates begin in earnest. He cant have it wrapped up, meaning he cant be the presumptive nominee, per se, but I think if he were to win the first four contests by wide margins, he could be seen as the likely nominee, said Sean Spicer , a former Trump White House press secretary and former Republican National Committee spokesperson. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Spicer said a Trump romp through Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada could make it difficult for a rival candidate to secure the necessary funding from donors to continue in the race. But I think theres a lot of candidates that, depending on how they fare in the first four states, can say, Screw it, Im going to keep going for another week or two and see what happens, Spicer added. Sign up for The Hills Business & Economy newsletter So far, the GOP electorate has shown a high tolerance for Trumps legal woes, with his polling numbers even seeing a bump after some of his recent indictments. But some candidates seem to hope that will change as trials begin and a possible conviction comes into view. Trumps trial in Washington over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and remain in power is scheduled for March 4. Super Tuesday will take place March 5, when hundreds of delegates will be up for grabs in primaries in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia, as well as the American Samoa caucuses. Trump is scheduled to go on trial March 25 in Manhattan over an alleged hush money scheme to cover up an affair in the lead-up to the 2016 election. That trial date would fall two days after the Louisiana primary and one week before the April 2 primaries in Delaware, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Trumps trial in Florida over his retention of classified documents after leaving the White House is scheduled for May 20. Although that date may get moved as Trumps team fights for delays, the current date would see the trial begin one day before Kentucky and Oregon hold their primaries. There would be only six more primaries on the calendar after that. Already, some of Trumps Republican rivals have pointed to the former presidents looming court dates as a potential vulnerability. Maybe he should think about getting out of the race since hell be spending most of March and half of April in a courtroom in Washington, D.C., not fighting the fight against Joe Biden, like Ill be doing every day, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said last week on CNN. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) has called Trumps mounting legal issues a distraction. But there are skeptics that Trumps court dates intersecting with the primary calendar will have much of an impact on the outcome. Alex Conant, a GOP strategist who worked on Sen. Marco Rubios (R-Fla.) 2016 campaign, called it an unprecedented situation, making it difficult to predict how the trials might affect Trumps ability to campaign. There is also the fact Trump is not legally obligated to attend his trial. Federal criminal law states a defendant can waive their right to be present for their trial. Even if Trump is stuck in a courtroom for parts of March and April, his campaign style is less reliant on flooding primary states with in-person events to drum up support. People know who Donald Trump is. Its not like hes been the king of retail politics. He goes in and does rallies, said Spicer, who now hosts a podcast and is a contributor to NewsNation, which is owned by Nexstar, like The Hill. There is also the reality for Trumps opponents that a growing docket of charges against the former president has yet to significantly damage his support among Republicans, even if it could prove problematic for Trump in a general election. A Marist poll conducted just before Trump was indicted in Georgia found 66 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents view Trump as the best person to lead the GOP in 2024, while 65 percent said they plan to support Trump in 2024, up from 58 percent in July. A Morning Consult poll published last week found 62 percent of potential Republican primary voters believe Trump has the best chance of beating Biden in 2024, matching his highest total in a Morning Consult poll to date. Were at a different point now because people know this about him. The question will be what new information about him that is going to be relevant to peoples decision is going to be imparted, said Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University. At this point theres been so many of these indictments, and I think people know that he has serious legal troubles, Reeher said. They I think figure this is what you get with this guy, and then there are different conclusions you draw from that depending on what your politics are and what your personal feelings are toward this former president and his style. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. UPDATE: This story has been edited to include the name of the victim. A bicyclist was struck and killed when he collided with a vehicle near New Castle on Saturday night. This is the same intersection where a man in a motorized wheelchair was struck and killed crossing the road late last month. Delaware State Police identified the victim as 56-year-old Michael Johnson from Wilmington. According to Delaware State Police, around 9 p.m. Sept. 2, Johnson was riding a bike southbound on Wilton Boulevard. Around the same time, a gray 2018 BMW M760 was traveling in the right eastbound lane on Pulaski Highway toward the intersection with Wilton Boulevard. Police said Johnson entered Pulaski Highway against the red traffic signal for southbound Wilton Boulevard and he was struck by the BMW. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Johnson was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the driver of the BMW, a 30-year-old man from New Castle was not injured. DELAWARE NEWS: Wilmington man killed by police at Lowe's identified. New details of shooting released The roadway was closed for approximately four hours as the scene was being investigated. However, the Delaware State Police Troop 2 Collision Reconstruction Unit is still actively investigating. This incident follows the week after 69-year-old Robert Lynch, of the New Castle area, was struck and killed while traveling in a motorized wheelchair northbound across the westbound lanes of Pulaski Highway at this intersection. Troopers are urging anyone who witnessed these collisions to contact Corporal McAndrew by calling 302-365-8486, sending a private Facebook message to the Delaware State Police or contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-847-3333. Contact reporter Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@delawareonline.com. Join her on the Facebook group Delaware Voices Uplifted. Support her work and become a subscriber. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 56-year-old bicyclist from Wilmington killed after hit by vehicle OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KFOR) A woman is in custody after shooting a man she said is her husband near SW 41st and May Sunday afternoon, according to police. | Suspect on the loose after stabbing man in chest > Officers said she called 911 saying she shot him in the shoulder and that she hoped he would die. Whenever they got to the scene, they ended up locating the female suspect in a vehicle with a couple of dogs, said Capt. Ben Weir with OKCPD. Her husband, drove himself to the local hospital with a gunshot wound to the shoulder but is expected to survive.Neighbors explained they werent sure if the couple lived in the area or not, but it was a chaotic scene. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I saw two police officers SUVs going down the street, and then I got up and I looked out the door and then I saw an ambulance, a fire truck, explained Teresa Bryson. Bryon said shes lived on 41st Street for over 20 years, so the news of a woman shooting her husband was no surprise for Bryson.Nothing is normal in this neighborhood, Ive seen it all, said Bryson.She said incidents like this one are nothing new for their neighborhood.It seems to me like its normal things have been going on here for the last 20 years, so its nothing new to me in this neighborhood, stated Bryson.Bryson also said she hopes things will turn around for the neighborhood thats been her home for decades.They just need to clean up this neighborhood, hopefully the guy will be okay, added Bryson.Police are still investigating what led to the shooting. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. A woman was detained on Red Square in Moscow for joining a rally while wrapped in a Ukrainian flag. Source: Russian human rights media project OVD-Info with reference to the detainee Details: It is reported that the woman's name is Alena Kozhevnikova. She has been taken to the police department in the Kitay-Gorod district in Moscow. It is also reported that a lawyer from OVD-Info reached out to see the detainee. After that, the activist was released. 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 first time Masha Maltsava attended Burning Man the annual ephemeral city that attracts thousands of free-spirited revelers in the Nevada desert she over packed. I prepared for maybe three months, she recalled in an interview with CNN. And I read all the packing lists, all the Reddit threads, all the WhatsApp chats, preparing for Burning Man last year. But this year when heavy rain transformed the remote venue into a muddy mess that forced attendees to shelter in place and conserve precious resources Maltsava wasnt as prepared. She became one of about 70,000 people stuck at the event when Black Rock Desert received over two months worth of rain in just 24 hours. The storms, which started Friday and continued through the weekend, turned the desert sand into a sloppy, slippery clay that made it impossible for drivers to enter or exit. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I was overly prepared last year but I think thats the right way to do it, she said. While pictures of Burning Mans elaborate art installations and people in intricate costumes might make the event look glamorous, the weekends severe weather has emphasized the challenges the experience poses. Attendees spend seven days in an isolated, harsh desert environment with limited access to outside resources and infrastructure. And self-reliance is one of the events core principles, with organizers emphasizing participants are ultimately responsible for their own health and safety. The events website advises attendees on how to prepare for the seven-day festivities including in the case of extreme weather. Heres how organizers suggest getting ready for the unique experience. Maltsava wore trash bags on her feet as she walked out of the event site on Saturday. - Masha Maltsava Its one of the most strikingly beautiful and utterly ethereal locations in the world that will ever try to kill you The yearly celebration takes place in Nevadas Black Rock Desert, a remote and isolated area where the roads become unreliable in difficult weather conditions. The closest settlement is Gerlach, a town of just over 100 people; Reno, the nearest city, is 93 miles away. The Black Rock Desert is a huge, flat, prehistoric lakebed, composed of a hardpan alkali, ringed by majestic mountains, says Burning Man on its website. Daytime temperatures routinely exceed 100F, with extremely low humidity. Organizers are blunt about the location on the events website: Its one of the most strikingly beautiful and utterly ethereal locations in the world that will ever try to kill you. Burning Man advises attendees that ultimately the responsibility for your personal health and safety falls to you, part of the events spirit of radical self-reliance. While the festival provides essential safety infrastructure including porta potties, ice for sale and on-site first responders, amenities are few and far between. Revelers are typically reliant on the gear theyve brought themselves. Facilities for handwashing and showering are the responsibility of individual camps. The festival suggests a long list of gear for each attendee, including food and beverages, an extensive first aid kit, warm clothing and fire extinguishers. Additionally, Burners, what the event dubs attendees, should bring a poop bucket, especially in case rain makes porta potties inoperable. The website recommends a 5-gallon utility bucket with a lid and garbage bag liners. And the list goes on: Attendees are urged to bring a portable shower, waterproof protective bags for any electronic gear, a battery- or solar-powered radio and warm clothing since temperatures can drop by as much as 50 degrees when the sun goes down. In the case of rain, Burning Man emphasizes the importance of wood blocks to help keep generators and other electronic devices dry and electrical tape to seal off connections. Nicole Gollub, who has attended four Burning Man events, said despite her prior experience and serious preparations, she still wasnt ready for this years intense rain. I dont think anybody was really prepared for what we experienced, said Gollub, who left the event during a pause in the downpour. Typically, it rains, and it stops but it just didnt stop raining. Amid the difficult weather, the atmosphere was peaceful when she left, she said. Everybody else was pretty calm and helping each other, Gollub said. I would have felt actually okay if we stayed, too, even though it would have been very uncomfortable. Like Maltsava, Gollub said preparing for the worst is a crucial part of the Burning Man experience. You have to basically plan out the next seven days on your own in the desert, she said. It takes quite a bit of planning to get it right. And despite the organizers best efforts to prepare and warn attendees, theres always people that are not that prepared, she said. And as the event has grown more popular, it has attracted participants who might not understand the self-reliance ethos. A still from a drone video shows waterlogged campsites at Burning Man on Saturday, September 2, 2023. - Kyle M. You get a lot of people that are just coming to party and they just think its like a big festival, she said. Still, Burning Man veterans are supportive of these newcomers, according to Gollub. When people do need help, people are here with open arms trying to help each other, she said. Omar Sedky, another of this years attendees, likewise said more-prepared participants helped compensate for those in need. Were overly prepared, he said of his own group, who rented an RV for the event. And we were also able to bring others in when the rain started. Participants who chose to camp in tents on the playa, the usually dry lake basin where the event is held, were in some of the worst positions when the rain started, he said. Sedky said one of the main challenges at the site has been limited communication on the radio station, as well as vehicles getting stuck in the mud and creating traffic jams. Hes planning to drive a woman who is seven months pregnant out of the area in his RV, he said. One thing youll see a lot here is the sense of community, he said. So, if someone needs help, theres plenty of people offering it. I almost had FOMO leaving While the photos of muddy campsites and flooded streets may look daunting, attendees said collaborating to survive a difficult environment is part of what Burning Man is all about. Maltsava, who left the venue Saturday for a work engagement, recalled, it was so beautiful to see people helping each other out and sharing supplies and batteries and power and water and food and shelter. She walked 10 miles to get out of the site, crossing knee-high waters in platform boots that slowly broke due to the thick mud. But still, she said, she almost had FOMO leaving, or fear of missing out. Attendees were still partying and spending time together when she left, she said. To be honest, I wouldnt change a thing, she said. I would still go, even if I knew itd be such a mess. For Lubna Sharief, a six-time Burning Man attendee, the difficult camping conditions are part of what makes the event so special. The challenge and the survival skills and the preparation this is a big part of it, she said. Sharief, who didnt attend this years celebration, said that like Maltsava, she prepared extensively for her first Burning Man experience in 2011. Still, she said, she didnt really get it right. You need help, she said, emphasizing the crucial role that community plays in Burning Man. We are all in the desert together, sharing what we brought together. Sharief said in previous years, shed prepared for rain by bringing duct tape and trash bags to cover her boots if needed. One of the good mantras to have is you cant use it if you dont bring it, she said. You can bring the extra canned food and you can bring the extra zip ties and rain supplies if it doesnt rain and you know, kitty litter for a bucket toilet even if it doesnt rain. The events emphasis on community balances its focus of self-reliance, she said. Reliance bring everything you think you need, Sharief said. But also, if you have a problem, self-reliance is also going to find the person who can help you. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is facing a critical test of his political brand in Virginia as voters head to the polls in the state Legislature elections in November. Youngkin is set to be a major fixture on Virginias campaign trail this fall as Republicans look to defend their majority in the House of Delegates and potentially take control of the state Senate. The governors endorsed candidates successfully sailed through their primaries earlier this year, and his political action committee, the Spirit of Virginia, broke records by raising $8.5 million in the first six months of the year. The developments come as Youngkin continues to face speculation about a potential 2024 presidential bid. And while the governor is unlikely to jump into the primary next year, the hype surrounding him demonstrates he is viewed as a future leader of the GOP, making Virginias off-year elections that much more important for him. As people look to the future of the Republican Party, youd have a tough time creating a list that doesnt include the optimistic approach that Gov. Youngkin is doing in Virginia, and that has been successful so far, said Will Ritter, the CEO of Poolhouse, an agency that does media for Youngkins PAC. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A Republican trifecta in Virginia would be huge for Youngkin and his party four years after Democrats won a trifecta in the state. Youngkins election victory in 2021 went against conventional wisdom after President Biden won the state by 10 points in 2020. It would be a tremendous political accomplishment for him to take a state that had been trending very blue and turn it red, said Bob Holsworth, a veteran Virginia political analyst. [He] would be able to implement an agenda that he simply cant implement right now because of divided government, he continued. He would be able to market himself with national visibility for 28. Holsworth added that a successful night for Youngkin and Republicans in 2024 could also provide Republicans with a blueprint going into 2024. Still, that was the hope after Youngkins election in 2021; one year later, during the midterms, Republicans underperformed in the state and across the country. [In] a number of these seats, Youngkin ran better in 21 than the congressional candidates did in 22, Holsworth said. Thats the reason why I think Democrats are relatively confident, but the amount of money Youngkin is raising is really transforming the fundraising battle in Virginia tremendously. For the last couple of cycles, the Democrats outraised Republicans significantly. Thats unlikely to happen this time. Donors inside and outside of Virginia are also expressing enthusiasm about Youngkin. Among Youngkins large-dollar donors is billionaire GOP megadonor Thomas Peterffy, who gave his second million-dollar donation to Youngins PAC last month. The PAC has also drawn donations from wealthy donors in states like Florida, Texas and Colorado. Hes the candidate of the donor class, Holsworth said. Dave Rexrode, the chairman of Youngkins PAC, said donors view Youngkins success story in 2021 as an example for other purple-state Republicans. They see what hes been able to accomplish in Virginia and is a roadmap for what other candidates in purple and blue states can do to be successful, Rexrode said. Virginia Democrats have used this to attack Youngkin, pointing to the 2024 speculation surrounding him. Virginia House Minority Leader Don Scott (D) accused Youngkin of using Virginia as a test ground for the launch of a future presidential campaign. Because he is using Virginia for his personal agenda, weve become political fodder for him and his presidential ambitions, Scott told The Hill. In another interview with The Hill, Virginia Democratic Party Chairwoman Susan Swecker quipped that some of the money could be for measuring the drapes at 1600 Pennsylvania. Rexrode hit back against this notion, saying the donations are going directly into Youngkins Spirit of Virginia PAC. All of the Democrats have to do is look and see that its going into his state PAC, its not going into a federal PAC, he said. Still, Swecker and Scott acknowledged this is an asset to Virginia Republicans. We are very aware that he has more money than we do, but the one thing I know we have is that the issues are on our side, Swecker said. However, national Democrats are gearing up to invest in the races this fall. The DNC is investing an additional $1.2 million to support Virginia Democrats this cycle, bringing the committees total investment in the Virginia Democratic Party this cycle to $1.5 million. Time and time again, President Biden has made it abundantly clear that he is committed to not just electing Democrats at the top of the ticket, but down the entire ballot, and this investment is further proof, DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement to The Hill. We are proud to make these unprecedented investments in Virginia and across the country that will not only help Democrats win in 2023, but will build on and expand the infrastructure we need to reelect President Biden and Vice President Harris next year. Democrats inside and outside of Virginia have signaled they plan to make abortion a key issue to sway voters in November now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned at the federal level. The only thing that stopped us from having a total ban on abortion is the fact that we have a state Senate and the blue brick wall, Swecker said. Youngkin has expressed support for a 15-week ban on the procedure with exceptions. Republicans and Democrats acknowledge the battle for the two chambers in Richmond will be hard-fought on both sides. Democrats currently control the state Senate with a 22-18 majority, while Republicans control the House of Delegates with a 49-46 majority. To gain control of the Senate, Republicans need to win two seats, which would lead to a 20-20 tie in the chamber that would be broken by Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R). In these districts, he is well-liked, Rexrode said. His job approval is in the upper 50s, they think the state is heading in the right direction, and so he is able to provide some wind at their backs as they head toward Election Day. Polls show Youngkin is relatively popular in Virginia. A Roanoke College poll released earlier this month showed Youngkins approval rating among Virginians at 51 percent. A Morning Consult survey released in July showed Youngkin with a 57 percent approval rating and 32 percent disapproval rating. As for the 2024 speculation surrounding the governor, Youngkin and his team have repeatedly said he remains focused on Virginias November elections when asked whether he is considering a presidential bid. Youngkin has repeatedly been floated as a potential Republican who could take on Trump in a primary. The Washington Post reported last month that conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch has encouraged the governor to throw his hat into the ring. Logistically, it would be difficult for the governor to jump into the crowded primary without apparatuses and infrastructure in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire. Filing deadlines for candidates to get on the ballot are coming up in the fall. On Wednesday, Youngkin told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo he is not paying attention to the early filing deadlines. There is nothing more important than us holding our House and flipping our Senate in Virginia. Thats where my full attention is, and I am not paying attention to the filing deadlines, etc. Im paying attention to making sure we hold our House and flip our Senate, Youngkin said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. France has joined the international coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, President Volodymyr Zelensky said after a Sept. 3 phone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron . According to Zelensky, the two leaders discussed Ukraines military needs and Frances potential participation in strengthening security in Odesa Oblast. Earlier on his official Telegram channel, Zelensky said the two also discussed the "active role of France" in implementing the Ukrainian peace formula ahead of the Global Peace Summit, to be held on Oct. 25-28 in New York. Zelensky added that the two leaders had started negotiations on bilateral security guarantees for Ukraine and agreed to strengthen cooperation in protecting Ukraines sea routes. On Aug. 22, the first Ukrainian pilots began training on F-16 fighter jets in Denmark. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said it would take at least six to seven months before Ukrainian pilots and technicians are ready to operate the aircraft. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement During the NATO summit in Vilnius in mid-July, Reznikov announced the official formation of the "fighter jet coalition," a group of 11 countries that will assist Kyiv with training its pilots on F-16s and acquiring the aircraft. Greece and the U.S. have also pledged to join the training efforts. So far, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway have promised to provide dozens of their own F-16s to bolster the Ukrainian Air Force. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. According to the ACLU, Kinney sent an email on Thursday saying: "Out of concern for the safety of the public and that of Essex Labor Day parade participants, the City of Essex has determined not to allow parade participants geared toward the promotion of, or opposition to, the politically charged topic of gender and/or sexual identification/orientation." On Friday, the Essex City Council held a special meeting to discuss the decision. The council failed, "or was prevented by Mayor Kinney," to change course, the ACLU said. ACLU officials said the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment and portions of the Iowa Constitution are designed to protect the rights of organizations like Shenandoah Pride to express their views in public. "City leaders cannot ban participants from a government-sponsored parade just because they don't like their viewpoint," Mark Stringer, the executive director of ACLU Iowa, said. "It is a clear violation of the First Amendment and each person's right to free speech and free expression in a public space. This action also sadly fails to acknowledge the many contributions of LGBTQ community members in our Iowa communities, large and small." Bears said Shenandoah Pride was not aware of any threats to its participation in the parade. On the contrary, she said, many people have reached out to offer their support. "The City of Essex could have handled this so differently," Bears said. "They could have notified us if there were threats but they didn't. They could have offered to have a police officer walk along to watch for anything (troubling) but they didn't." The Essex Community Club, the organizers of the parade, reached out to offer Shenandoah Pride a place in the Rustic Market, a vendor fair at Anderson Park. Bears said the club will have a booth. It had a booth at a vendor fair earlier this year in Shenandoah and it was well received, she said. "We're doing the right thing and we're going to continue to keep fighting," she said. "Our goal is to just let other people know that (LGBTQ+ people) do exist in southwest Iowa." Efforts to reach officials with the city and the Essex Community Club were not successful. Shenandoah is located about 6 miles southwest of Essex. The Nebraska Broadband Office is moving to the next phase of efforts to ensure access to reliable broadband for all Nebraskans. As part of this effort, there will be ongoing public engagements across the state, including a series of nine public meetings and an open comment period from Monday Moroccos trade deficit shrank 6.5% as the countrys energy imports dropped 20%, Moroccos foreign exchange office said. Energy imports stood at 69 billion dirhams, offsetting a drop in phosphates and fertilizers exports by 40% to 40.8 billion dirhams, due to lower prices. State-owned phosphates and fertilizers producer said a few days ago its sales were still higher compared to 2021, prior to price hikes. It added that demand would surge later this year and voiced readiness to meet incremental demand. Car industry exports rose 37% to 82 billion dirhams, signaling strong demand across all segments of the sector. Tourism receipt spiked 50% to 57 billion dirhams and remittances from Moroccan expatriates continue on their upward trend to 66 billion dirhams, up 10%. N-Sea, a Netherlands-based underwater solutions provider, is contributing to the development of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) project through survey operations. The company has collaborated closely with ship owner Rederij Groe to transform the seismic support vessel, 7-Waves, into a research vessel equipped with advanced equipment for this project. According to N-Sea, the project is being conducted with a reduced crew on board the vessel, with all data being transferred to the N-Sea data center onshore. Daily meetings are held with the clients representative, the FEED engineer, the client, and the companys data processors to assess data quality and route alignment, N-Sea said in a statement. N-Sea has expanded its operational area to West Africa by commencing survey operations to support the prestigious Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project, emphasized N-Sea. N-Sea emphasized the significance of the project, noting that the pipeline is set to connect multiple countries and provide intermittent onshore returns for compression as a base case. The Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline is an ambitious project aimed at helping Africa become self-sufficient in terms of energy needs and benefiting over 400 million people in West Africa. It will connect 11 countries in the region to Nigerian gas sources. Morocco is set to host 1,672 kilometers of the 5,600-kilometer-long pipeline. The project has garnered support from numerous countries, with agreements in place to ensure its implementation. In June, Moroccos Hydrocarbon and Mines Office ONHYM, along with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), signed Memoranda of Understanding with petroleum operators in various countries, including Guinea, Liberia, Benin, and Cote dIvoire. Similar agreements were signed the previous year with other countries, including Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Ghana. The agreements reflect these countries shared commitment to realizing this strategic energy project. Once completed, the gas pipeline is expected to become the worlds longest offshore pipeline and the second-longest overall. The NNPC confirmed receiving financing from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the NMGP development in June 2023. The NNPC expressed its intention to use a portion of the proceeds for payments related to offshore and onshore survey services contracts in the South. The company issued a tender for conducting reconnaissance and oceanographic surveys, as well as topographical and geotechnical surveys onshore, related to the offshore segment from Nigeria to Senegal, including landfalls and onshore routes to compression stations (CS). Benins President Patrice Talon has abolished entry visa for Chinese investors and tourists wishing to visit the West African country, his office has announced on September 3. Benin is opening up fully to China, to create a more solid bridge of cooperation that will benefit both countries, as well as to capture a share of the tourist windfall from China, whose nationals account for a large proportion of the tourist contingents, the office added in a statement. The decision was made during the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). Talon travelled to China last week in the context of 50 years of relations between the two countries and to take part in the Fair. Benins leader held talks with Xi Jinping. Both signed a package of bilateral cooperation documents on deepening cooperation on the Belt and Road, green development, digital economy, agriculture, food, and healthcare. Talon also announced that any Chinese company that chooses to invest in Benin will get a joint Chinese-Benin state investment. The move, he added, will facilitate massive jobs creation and go a long way to alleviate poverty. The African leader argued during the visit to the CIFTIS that the technological partnership with China will turn Benin into a world-class logistics center, and emphasized that the nations ambition is to become an industrial Center for processing agricultural products. Trade volume between the two countries according to Talon hit $2 billion in 2022, an increase by more than 30 percent year-on-year. Lome-based Airline Asky welcomed September 1 two new passenger jets for long haul flights, days after the company added the State of Togo to its shareholders. The jets, both 727s, add to current 13 aircraft making up the Ethiopian Airlines-backed airlines fleet. The delivery occurred few days after the company added the Togolese state to its cap table after the administration led by President Faure Gnassigbe injected nearly $10 million in the coffers of the company in exchange for 14.39 per cent of the companys shares. The investment will provide oxygen to the airline that has been losing money owing to the pandemic and the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine. Over the 2020-2022 period, when the pandemic hit hard the world, ASKY reportedly lost $3.5 billion. It is a strong signal to national and international investors of our commitment and the Head of States determination to support the private sector, and to create an investment-friendly environment and strengthen regional economic integration, explained Togolese Finance minister Sani Yaya. The airline currently flies to 27 destinations. It will from October 1st start flying to the Kenyan capital Nairobi. A Sunday September 3 terrorist attack targeting a police checkpoint in the town of Dialakoroba near capital Bamako caused injuries to one police officer and two civilians, the Malian army indicated in a Facebook statement, adding that the Police forces repelled the attack. The incident occurred at dawn in Koulikoro region, east of capital Bamako. The forces positioned at the checkpoint fought back fiercely and vigorously, then defeated the terrorists, the statement indicated. One terrorist was shot dead in the push-back. The West African country has been since 2012 joggling with terrorism and insecurity. The vast, poor, and landlocked country is plunged into a deep security, political, and humanitarian crisis. It is ruled by a junta following two military coups in 2020 and 2021. The violence is carried out by armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, but also by self-proclaimed militias and bandits. "Soybean-maize dialogue" witnesses close China-Benin agricultural cooperation Xinhua) 10:17, September 04, 2023 This photo taken on Aug. 30, 2023 shows a vendor selling soybeans and maize in a market in Cotonou, Benin. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua) BEIJING/COTONOU, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- On the land of the Oueme department in southeast Benin, Chinese maize thrives under the sun; in a soybean oil production factory in China, workers are processing soybean seeds imported from Benin in an orderly manner. As China-African cooperation continues to deepen and strengthen, agricultural cooperation between China and Benin is also warming up, with a "dialogue" between soybeans and maize closely connecting the two countries. In 2022, the volume of bilateral trade reached 1.95 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 33.7 percent from the previous year. In that year, China was the second-largest source of imports and the third-largest destination for Benin's exports, according to figures from China's Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Chinese embassy in Benin. RELIABLE MARKET "My ambition is not only to see an increase in my production every agricultural season but also to sell all my produce in the market, whether it be national, regional, or international," said Alidou Ayouba, a soybean producer in Bante, a town located approximately 450 km northwest of Cotonou, Benin's economic capital, in a phone interview with Xinhua. "If the Beninese government can find us a reliable market, especially in China, we will only rejoice," he added. In September 2019, China and Benin signed a protocol on the export of Beninese soybeans to China. In July 2020, the first batch of Beninese soybeans arrived at a port in China's Jiangsu Province. In 2022, Benin exported more than 210,000 tons of soybeans to China, accounting for over 60 percent of its total exports. Orou-Yerima, an expert from Benin's Ministry of Economy and Finance, said that in recent years African products have become increasingly popular in the Chinese market. "Soybeans, pineapples, and other Beninese products have entered the Chinese market thanks to China's convenient customs policies, providing development opportunities for Benin and many African countries," he said at the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo held recently in Changsha, capital of China's Hunan Province. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Benin has more than 6.5 million farmers, accounting for 54.8 percent of its total population. The national agricultural census of 2019 showed nearly 80 percent of Benin's farmers cultivated maize in that year. However, the lag of technologies and the lack of marketing channels have long been bottlenecks for the country's maize production. In September 2010, the China-Benin Agricultural Pilot Center was launched in the city of Seme-Kpodji in Oueme Province with an aim to help Benin overcome technology difficulties. The center soon introduced 10 different varieties of Chinese maize to Benin and finished experiments in local test fields. In 2014, three of the highest yielding varieties were provided to local farmers for wide-spread cultivation. Last month, a training session on high-yield maize technology, organized by the Chinese government and undertaken by China's Longping High-tech International Training Center, was held in Benin. Beninese farmers participating in the training communicated with Chinese experts on-site and through seminars, sharing professional technical knowledge about maize cultivation, such as seed selection, planting, organic fertilizer production, and pest and disease control. Adolphe Adjanohoun, the director-general of the National Agricultural Research Institute of Benin, praised Chinese experts, valued Chinese maize and called on both sides to continue strengthening technological cooperation in maize cultivation to help resolve Benin's food security issue. MUTUAL BENEFITS "China has rich experience and expertise in agricultural technology," said Xu Xiangping, president of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Promotion Council in Hunan Province, adding that exchanges of agricultural technology between the two sides would enhance Benin's agricultural production capacity and the quality of its agricultural products, thus strengthening trade cooperation between the two countries. "China-Benin agricultural cooperation is a microcosm of Sino-African agricultural cooperation. Through technology transfer, investment cooperation, and trade exchanges, China and Benin can both achieve economic benefits and development opportunities, leading to shared prosperity," he said. This photo taken on Aug. 30, 2023 shows a vendor selling soybeans and maize in a market in Cotonou, Benin. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Nigerien authorities reopened Sunday September 3 the airspace for airlines nearly one month after the junta in power closed it on August 06. The countrys civil aviation authorities indicated the air space is reopened for domestic and international commercial flights. The decision however does not apply to military and other special flights that are still subject to authorization, local media Actu Niger reports. The Nigerien National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) which seized power on July 26 after toppling West-backed President Mohamed Bazoum closed the airspace on the backdrop of the possible military intervention by the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore Bazoum. Late last month, the ECOWAS said it was still prioritizing diplomacy over military intervention though it has already prepared standby forces. The Foreign Ministers of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), gathered on September 4th in Jakarta, officially granted Morocco the status of Sectoral Dialogue Partner within this grouping, another achievement scored by the Kingdom on the international scene. This announcement, which was made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement, highlights the contrast between this new achievement for Morocco and the snub inflicted to Algeria by the BRICS members which denied it membership in the grouping. Morocco becomes the first North African country to obtain this status within ASEAN, and strengthens thereby its position as a privileged interlocutor in this geopolitically and economically significant group, the statement said. The confirmation of the Sectoral Dialogue Partner status for Morocco reflects the vision of King Mohammed VI regarding the diversification of partnerships and the countrys openness to new geopolitical spaces, the Foreign Ministry said in the statement. It also reflects this groupings recognition of Moroccos role as a pillar of stability in Africa and the Arab world and translates the dynamic partnerships between Morocco and the countries of Southeast Asia. The preliminary agreement to grant Morocco the Sectoral Dialogue Partner status was announced during the 56th meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers, held on July 11th and 12th, 2023, in Jakarta. The ASEAN 56th meeting had granted the same status to South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Far from being insignificant, this new achievement unveils the method used by Morocco, a force that advances steadily but quietly, imbued by a deeply-rooted culture of winning and, above all, attentive to efficiency and results. This stands in stark contrast to the Algerian regimes loud proclamations of breakthroughs without actual achievements, which ultimately result in humiliation, as was recently the case during the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, which rejected Algerias membership bid, while it agreed to admit Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates. The rejection of Algeria from the list of new members shows that economic influence is what matters for the BRICS which proved that it is unwilling to admit a military-run state like Algeria that has nothing to offer but anachronic rhetoric. The League of Women Voters Lunch & Learn Series resumes Thursday with Justice in Action lead organizer Rev. Beth Graverholt speaking on The Power of Organized People. She will share the vision of how average citizens can organize around shared values to build and leverage the power of organized people to make positive changes in Lincoln, according to a press release. Justice in Action is an interfaith coalition of twenty faith communities in Lincoln and Lancaster County. Last May, over 1,000 Nebraskans attended the groups first call-to-action meeting. Lunch & Learn is from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday and is free and open to the public throughout Nebraska via Zoom. Membership is not required. For more than 100 years, the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has encouraged informed and active participation in government, worked to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influenced public policy through education and advocacy. Membership is open to all. For further information regarding the League, go to lincolnleague.org. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images After Xi Jinping abruptly nixed a host of repressive COVID-19 restrictions at the beginning of 2023, life in China was supposed to return to normal. But its economy is looking anything but. The central problem at the moment is a long-gestating real-estate crisis, but there are plenty of other indicators flashing red in a country that has become accustomed to steady growth, not crisis. And Xi, an ideologue whose crackdowns on private enterprise and pandemic measures have helped fuel widespread uncertainty, may be exactly the wrong leader to solve the problem. To understand the state of play in China and how it might affect the rest of the world, I spoke with economist Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former staffer at the Treasury Department, who frequently writes on the subject. Every day seems to bring another headline about the weakness of Chinas economy. Consumer spending is down, youth unemployment is way up the government even stopped publishing statistics on that. Is there one concrete thing you can point to as a reason for this malaise? Or do you think this is mostly a vicious cycle where everything is going wrong at once because overall confidence has been shattered? I think there is one fundamental reason for the malaise, and in some sense it is concrete. It is the slowing down of Chinas property sector, the fall in new construction, the modest fall in housing prices. A lot of housing prices are artificially being maintained at a high level through various regulations. Theyre not being allowed to fall. The property sector, property development, building new apartments, associated infrastructure, furnishing those apartments and the like had been the biggest component of Chinas economy, close to 25 percent of it. That sector is now shrinking. Its probably between 5 and 10 percent. So you just have a really substantial drag on overall activity coming from the property sector. And of course, that is spilling over and having some impacts on broader household confidence. But I think fundamentally, this is about a long-term downshift in the pace of sustainable residential and commercial-property development and the associated adjustments in Chinas economy. Was this a predictable outcome in some way, since the boom times had lasted so long and they perhaps werent sustainable? Or did it come as a surprise to you and other people who follow this closely? I think its been a surprise that this downturn has persisted for as long as it has and that there hasnt been a stronger policy response to date. That said, there was clearly going to come a time when new construction, which was tightly linked to a series of financial excesses, was going to come down, and that was going to pose a challenge to Chinas economy. But the precise timing of the slowdown was clearly initially a policy choice. The three red lines policy that triggered the initial property correction was an intentional attempt to deflate a property bubble. And the persistence of this downturn does seem to reflect the fact that the Chinese political system has had some difficulty coming up with a coherent response. But fundamentally, this was both a predictable crisis, and the timing and persistence has been a little bit of a surprise. Zero COVID-19 had limited the activities of ordinary Chinese households during certain periods, and that had deeply isolated China from the rest of the world. I think the overarching assumption six months ago was that the end of those restrictions would lead to some modest recovery along the lines that other economies experienced when COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. So it certainly has been a surprise that in a sense the negative spillovers from the weak property market on consumer confidence have been stronger than any of the expected rebound in consumption. President Xi appears philosophically opposed to the kind of direct stimulus that the U.S. carried out during COVID-19 and youve called his stance troubling. Is that because you think its pretty much the only way out of this crisis for the central government given that local governments are so tied up with debt? I dont know if its the only way out. I think its the best way out. There are two striking things to me about Chinas economy. One is that household consumption is an incredibly low share of overall activity. In that sense, Chinas economy has been fundamentally different from other ones. In China, property investment, infrastructure investment, manufacturing investment are much bigger drivers than household consumption. Usually, its the reverse. In the U.S. and Europe, household consumption drives the cycle. And then the second striking factor is that the central government has essentially no debt. Central government debt has different definitions, but including the railway ministry, its 25 percent of GDP, which is a fraction of the debt of the U.S. federal government. Its a fraction of the debt of France. Its well below the debt of Germany, which is by far the most frugal of the major advanced economies. So you combine those two things, and the obvious response to a downturn is to use the fiscal capacity that the central government retains to directly help households, whether thats sending out checks or rebating Chinas version of the payroll tax. Or you could even think of it as finding a way to reduce out-of-pocket health-care expenses in the way that the U.S. government picked up the costs of COVID-19 shots. But theres different ways of directly supporting households and household income or expanding unemployment insurance, for example. And it is striking that China has shied away from those measures. It also shied away from those measures after the initial COVID-19 shock, but strong global demand helped China recover without the household stimulus that the U.S. and Europe provided. But that would be harder now because demand has gone down for Chinese goods in places like the U.S., right? They cant export their way out of this like before. I would say its normalized in the U.S. Its starting to normalize in Europe. If you look at Chinas exports to Europe, theyre still well above where they were in 2019. Way above. Theyre just no longer growing. So, its a bit of a correction. To me, its going down has a connotation of a deeper fall than an adjustment. The level is going to remain quite strong. But China had gotten used to being able to grow by selling to the rest of the world. Net exports have contributed a very significant part of Chinas growth in 2020, 2021, even 2022, and thats not going to be the case this year. But going back to the bigger point, it does seem like the most plausible explanation for why China hasnt responded to the COVID-19 shock with direct support for household income and why it hasnt responded to the current downturn with more direct support for household income is that the folks at the top, President Xi included, just dont believe in it. And that is, to me, worrisome. The other ways that China can recover are more dangerous, either more dangerous to China or riskier for the world. What else can they do? There are other options. I think theyre unappealing, but there are other options. The preferred option that Chinese policymakers seem to be hinting at is that they will just accept somewhat below-target growth. Theres an argument that the outside observers are more worried than Chinese policymakers are and that Chinese policymakers simply have accepted that resolving the excesses in the property market and implementing some of Xis long-term policies to strengthen Chinas technical autonomy will have some short-term costs. And theyre not too worried about an economy that isnt growing as fast as it has in the past. Another option is to relax a series of regulatory requirements push the state-banking system really hard to lend to the property sector, to lend to support local governments, to disregard concerns about long-term solvency, and try to get more growth from infrastructure to stabilize the property sector. And the banking system is still fundamentally state-dominated, so this is not an implausible option. China does seem reluctant to do that because it likely means doubling down on a series of risky bets and probably adds to the long-term losses that this banking system faces. And the third is to let the currency fall quite significantly, deal with the associated effects on internal confidence, and try to export your way out of a property downturn. Countries around the world in the face of big construction booms and busts often see very large swings in their current account or their trade balance tied to the property cycle. And so, even though China has a big trade surplus today, you could imagine that China might try I think therell be some constraints on this but they might try to export their way out of this downturn. So I think that there are options, just the other options arent as constructive, so to speak, for both the Chinese economy and the global economy. And of course, theres no election to deal with. Xi just got five years, and presumably hell get another five years. Theres no successor whos been designated. The consensus seems to be that this crisis wont affect the U.S. much right now, but that if things devolve, there could be more ripple effects. Do you agree with that? If youre not the owner of a company that gets a lot of its profits from Chinese sales, the direct impacts of a Chinese slowdown on the U.S. economy are pretty modest. Chinas economy has already slowed over the past nine months, and the U.S. economy has continued to grow. Relative to the size of its economy, China remains a pretty modest market for U.S. exports. Manufactured exports to China are only a half point of U.S. GDP because China just doesnt import that many manufacturers. If youre an American working in parts of the economy that produce commodities, you should be paying a lot of attention to China because its by far the biggest source of global demand for many commodities and commodity markets. Those markets respond to many things, including supply conditions, but a structural slowdown in China will have some impact there. Financial interlinkages are small, but the big way I think China could negatively impact the U.S. economy is that if China decides to export its way out, the U.S. is still the biggest market for consumer goods and the biggest market for imported goods globally. And while there are tariffs, the tariffs are imperfect. Its easy to get around a tariff on China by assembling Chinese parts in Malaysia and Vietnam and the like. And so I think that if China really wanted to export its way out, let its currency go, there would be a big further depreciation in the Yuan. And the Yuans already a 15-year low, more or less. If the Yuan goes back to the levels where it was when China joined the WTO, without an enormous ratcheting up of trade restrictions, there would be pressure on certain parts of the U.S. economy that I think would be meaningful. So, to me, it does still matter how China reacts, how China responds. If its just a growth slowdown, the direct impact on the U.S. is pretty modest, just because China never allowed American companies to produce in the U.S. for sale through China. The only big company that succeeded at doing that was Boeing, and China stopped buying Boeing several years ago. But U.S. companies do compete with China. And third-party markets compete with China to make certain goods for sale in the U.S. Theres no doubt that China has the biggest manufacturing base in the world. And those parts of the U.S. economy that compete with it may face difficulty if China cant find a way to recover other than exports. Are there any other major economies more intertwined with China that might see worse effects? Sure. Among the advanced economies, Germany has significantly more connections. Germanys been much more successful selling capital goods and luxury cars that are made in Germany to China than other major economies have been at selling goods made in their countries to China. So Germany has a substantially more direct trade exposure. The rest of Europe is a little bit more like the U.S. China is not that important a market. Its not a trivial market, its just not such a big market that its going to drive activity. A lot of Southeast Asia and East Asia is tightly connected to China. A big part of that connection, though, is producing components that go into the Chinese export machines. They wouldnt necessarily be hurt if China ends up exporting its way out, but there would be more spillovers just naturally from the Chinese slowdown. And then it depends how the commodity market reacts. So far, we havent had a big commodity market correction for complex reasons, but theres lots of other shocks happening around the world: Russia and Ukraine on the grain market, the Saudis managing the price of oil, and so on. But the commodity exporters typically have the largest direct exposure to internal Chinese demand. And so there could be more spillovers there. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Fifteen hundred Macon County residents have gone without water for five days after a lightning strike damaged a water pump station on Monday. At least two water pumps were affected in the incident. According to Louis Maxwell, the chairman of the Macon County Commission, it could be the middle of next week before residents can drink the water again. Work continues on the pumps, but bacteria samples will still have to be sent off even after water is fully restored. With the [Labor Day] holiday coming up, if they get it completed today early, its probably going to be Wednesday, the chairman said Friday afternoon. Assuming we can get the lab to do a rush on the sample on Tuesday. The chairman said he spoke with the Macon County Water Authority Friday morning. He relayed that Most of the people are getting some water. He added that he thought they would get the water completed today. Frank Lee, the director of Macon County Emergency Management Agency, has voiced concerns over how the Macon County Commission has handled the water crisis over the past week. In a Facebook post put out on Friday, Lee leveled charges at the commission of ineffectively communication during the emergency. Our current ongoing water crisis is still not mitigated and we should not down play the severity of what the final outcome will bring, Lee said. When our citizens are without water, this constitutes an emergency. Lee said inmates had to be relocated to other jails and the Macon County Water Authority had to request help from the EMA. Lee further said citizens had to call the EMA because they had no idea why their water pressure was low. I encourage our commission to consider being more responsive when we have challenges, Lee said. Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson confirmed that people incarcerated at the jail have been to be moved to other area jails during the water shortage. The Macon County Jail, which is located southeast of Tuskegee, was effected by the water loss. Brunson said as of Friday he still did not have water pressure at the jail and the inmates were moved for sanitation reasons. Without running water, they couldnt flush toilets, take showers, cook, or wash dishes. It's very unsanitary, Brunson said. The sheriffs helped me by taking them. We spread them around the state here and we tried to get them as close as possible to home. But we spread them around and they are doing ok. The sheriff said he is trying to turn a negative into a positive. With the jail now empty, the sheriffs department is using the time to clean before the inmates return. We're taking this opportunity to clean the jail out and do some things that we need to do while the inmates are away so we can welcome them back when their ready, he said. Brunson said the community had come together to help during the water crisis. He said area officials have passed out and delivered bottled water to residents as theyve waited for water to be restored. We've had people from all over the area to donate water and things like that to help the community, the sheriff said. Thats always uplifting and pleasing to have people in surrounding areas that want to donate and help us out Its just everybody working together trying to get things done. Neither the City of Tuskegee, Tuskegee University or any local schools were effected by the water shortage. Macon County is just the latest in a string of East Alabama communities to lose water after a natural event. 3,000 people in LaFayette lost water in March after heavy rains washed away the main city water line. 1,000 homes in Notasulga lost water access over Christmas when subfreezing temperatures caused a Wall Street Water Authority pipe to burst. That ain't regular old mud. That's alkaline dust and will cause burns if not treated or wash off correctly. Reply Thread Link This is the detail I think about when I see people blowing off the situation as just a little bit of inconvenient mud. Reply Parent Thread Link I didn't know that! There are people walking around barefoot and playing in the mud.... Reply Parent Thread Link Painting their faces with it... Reply Parent Thread Link Even in years before there's be people waling around nude except for goggle & a face mask. CBS Sunday Morning did a segment on Burning Man years ago that had at least a few people doing that. Reply Parent Thread Link Concerns about alkalinity are overblown. The playa dust is about pH 9.2. The pH of baking soda is 9.5. I remember people saying to wash your feet in vinegar because you'd get burns, but it's just not true. After three years out there, I finally wore sandals because I was sick of hot feet and suffered no ill effects. Just tossed in the anecdote but the important part is that the dirt and mud can cause irritation but not chemical burns. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link my sister's friend's sister is a nurse and worked the medical tent at Burning Man once. dude came in with his dick all cutaneous cause he decided to fuck the ground. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The Nestle corporate lawyer who successfully defended child slavery is okay, I repeat: the Nestle corporate lawyer who successfully defended child slavery is alive and well https://t.co/suwDumFDY4 Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonCHI) September 3, 2023 As over 70,000 Burning Man festival-goers continue to shelter in place, Diplo and Chris Rock managed to escape after a fan picked them uppic.twitter.com/i2oisCSGAq philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 3, 2023 some of the worst people were there Reply Thread Link If the orcas were there, they wouldn't be Reply Parent Thread Link Land animals need to step up. Edited at 2023-09-04 01:27 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link The coyotes need to get their shit together and handle this Reply Parent Thread Link They shouldve been left with the rest of the trash. Reply Parent Thread Link didn't know neal was evil. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link That plus the Ebola outbreak they're trying to cover up? NAGL ;) Reply Thread Link The Twitter conspiracy that the Burning Man fiasco was created by the government to distract from the fact that Oprah burned down Lahaina to build a mansion is something else. The Media Wants You Looking At Burning Man. Whenever Theres Major Momentum Of Exposing Government Crimes All The Sudden We Have A New Crisis Does anyone believe those were truly wildfires? The Packed Audience Yells, NOOO The entire audience knows Oprah was in on it. pic.twitter.com/Mf26TcMgDF Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) September 3, 2023 Edited at 2023-09-04 01:11 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link If you search Maui on Twitter it's all conspiracy theories =((( Reply Parent Thread Link goat boy has become such a disappointment Reply Parent Thread Link Twitter has truly become unusable Reply Parent Thread Link Oprah is the government? Reply Parent Thread Link Oprah is 100% of the Illuminati. She also controls the space lasers. Reply Parent Thread Link When did Oprah run the government lol Reply Parent Thread Link I have a list of people Id like to send there. Reply Thread Link in an Oceangate submersible Reply Parent Thread Link No, that would protect them from the mud. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Apparently a fake CDC account started the Ebola rumor on Elons app of misinformation according to Forbes. Reply Thread Link for the poll question my real answer is HELL FUCKING NO Reply Thread Link As someone who has lived through a cat 5 hurricane and didn't have electricity for about a week, I could survive it, but I wouldn't enjoy it. Reply Thread Link Katrina took out my power for 11 days in the summer HEAT. I survived but wasnt happy. I did devour the da Vinci code by candlelight and I luckily had enough batteries for my CD player. Reply Parent Thread Link oh man, i had the exact same experience but with a different hurricane that year (hurricane wilma in south florida) Reply Parent Thread Link Eh we had better shelter situation and running water (iirc) compared to these people. Plus we always get warning weeks in advance. Edited at 2023-09-04 02:06 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I would too, I survived 1 month without electricity due to hurricane Georges, plus my family used to it after not having electricity for 9 months with Maria... Reply Parent Thread Link idk, I'd been through multiple hurricanes leaving with no power for a week+ and at least that's in my house. with my bed. and my stuff. and no rivers of trash. like hurricanes are absolute hell but if your house survives it is way better than this scenario Reply Parent Thread Link Oof. Thats really too bad. Guess I dont feel too bad about being not able to go to Burning Man for a long time like back in early 2010s ish and see what was the hype all about. Things were way different tho. It must be intense from what I saw on my former roommates FB photos tho. It was some craziest shit Ive ever seen lol. Im also surprised about orgies there. In the heavy sandstorm dust??? and now this Mess Reply Thread Link This. With men who already dont wash their hands and dicks? Every woman has to get the most excruciating UTI? Reply Parent Thread Link That last tiktok of the jeep isn't from burning man. Maybe they will reconsider letting them hold it again next year seeing how much trash gets left behind just on normal years now with people abandoning all their stuff. Edited at 2023-09-04 01:23 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link the second tweet under the cut posted a completely unrelated video and tagged it ebola. it's obviously a conspiracy weirdo spreading misinformation, why even include it Reply Thread Link Because it involves Burning Man and shows a common reaction currently on Twitter. Reply Parent Thread Link i'm not asking for pulitzer prize winning work but you dropped in one obvious misinfo video with little engagement between videos of attendees and didn't provide any context. and it's not a reaction, it's intentional fearmongering and disinformation. Reply Parent Thread Link OK nvm this is Fyre Festival Reply Thread Link I cant wait until they turn to cannibalism. Reply Thread Link Roasting man Reply Parent Thread Link Exactly. The Donner Party. But with house music. Reply Parent Thread Link *roasting men first pls Reply Parent Thread Link I am so confused by that one video - it looks like mini cyclones and people are just walking around like theyre not there?? Reply Thread Link Ah, gotcha, that makes more sense lol Reply Parent Thread Link Supposedly its an old video - not from burning man 2023 Reply Parent Thread Link They're fire tornados, which can be kind of dangerous. But the burns got cancelled this year due to rain so that video is not from this year. Reply Parent Thread Link Last year the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) announced the commissioning of the countrys first-ever nuclear power plant--the first ever for an Arab nation. The 1,400-megawatt nuclear plant became the single largest electricity generator in the UAE since reaching 100% power in early December, and is now providing "constant, reliable and sustainable electricity around the clock. And now, Saudi Arabia harbors the same ambitions as its OPEC peer. However, unlike the UAE, Saudi Arabia might turn to China to design and build its first ever nuclear plant amid frustration over the United States strict stipulations for supporting Riyadhs quest. The Saudis are indeed already headed in that direction: reports have emerged that China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), a state-owned firm, has proposed the construction of Saudi Arabias first nuclear plant near the border with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Since 1968, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons has laid out ground rules for countries seeking to harness nuclear power by allowing nations to enrich, split and recycle their own uranium fuel but barring them from production of the most deadly materials used in bombs. However, the U.S. has even stricter requirements, signing on to whats known as a 123 Agreement that gives Washington even more control over how radioactive isotopes are used. The agreement encourages the use of atomic energy without increasing the risk that facilities used for enrichment or reprocessing uranium for reactor fuels can be used to produce plutonium for weapons. In 2008, the U.S. gave its blessing to the United Arab Emirates debut nuclear plant in exchange for signing on to such a deal. But China is unlikely to require Riyadh to adhere to such rigorous standards, hence the attraction. In 2019, Beijing declared it could build as many as 30 overseas nuclear reactors through its Belt and Road infrastructure drive in the current decade. Related: Alaska Air Force Base Home To Mini-Nuclear Reactor Pilot Project Last year, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman vowed that Saudi Arabia will remain a trusted and reliable energy partner for China. Prince Abdulaziz said that cooperation between the two countries had helped maintain global oil market stability. Prince Abdulaziz said Saudi Arabia and China would seek to boost their energy supply chains by establishing a regional center in the Gulf Arab state for Chinese factories. Saudi Arabia is the worlds second largest oil exporter while China is the worlds largest oil importer. "The kingdom will remain, in this area, a trusted and reliable partner for China," Prince Abdulaziz told SPA. Its rather ironic that the two nations have cozied up to each other at a time when Russia has replaced Saudi Arabia as Chinas biggest supplier of crude. Chinas imports of Russian crude increased massively since the Ukraine war began thanks to the generous discounts Russia offered for its Urals. Nuclear Renaissance Its hardly surprising that traditional oil and gas powerhouses are increasingly turning to nuclear power. For decades, many countries have maintained a love-hate relationship with nuclear energy, with the sector regarded as the black sheep of the alternative energy industry thanks to poor public perception, a series of high-profile disasters such as Chernobyl, Fukushima and Three Miles Island as well as massive cost-overruns by nuclear projects. Currently, 440 nuclear reactors operate globally, providing ~10% of the worlds electricity, down from 15 percent at nuclear powers peak in 1996. In the United States, 93 nuclear reactors generate ~20 percent of the countrys electricity supply. But Russias war in Ukraine and the need for energy security are now forcing a major realignment of energy systems on a global scale, with countries that were formerly strongly opposed to nuclear power such as Germany and Japan now seriously considering incorporating more nuclear energy in their energy mix. Further, the global energy transition is in full swing, and many experts are coming to the realization that the world needs more nuclear power to meet our climate goals. Indeed, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world needs to double the annual rate of nuclear capacity additions in order to reach the 2050 net-zero target. Further, nuclear plants can be paired up with renewable energy projects to act as baseload power thanks to nuclear power possessing the highest capacity factor of any energy source: nuclear plants produce at maximum power more than 93 percent of the time compared to 57 percent for natural gas and 25 percent for solar energy and also require less space. U.S. government policy regarding nuclear power is also undergoing a major overhaul. The Biden Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), unveiled the conditional selection of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, located near Avila Beach, California, to receive the first round of funding from the Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program. As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the $6 billion CNC program will support the continued operation of safe and reliable nuclear energy facilities, help preserve thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs while reducing carbon emissions. ADVERTISEMENT Last year, a Pew Research study found that 35% of U.S. adults say the federal government should encourage the production of nuclear power; 26% say the government should discourage it while another 37% say the federal government should neither encourage nor discourage it. Despite the ongoing public apathy, nuclear power still plays an important role in the U.S. energy mix, accounting for ~19% of power generation. The CNC Program is a clear sign of the times that the Ukraine crisis is forcing many countries to rethink their energy strategies. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Chinas state-owned offshore giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has evacuated more than 10,000 workers from offshore production platforms, floating production and storage vessels in anticipation of Typhoon Saola. Media quoted a CNOOC official in charge of exploration and production in the South China Seas Pearl River Mouth basin as saying that over 7700 crew in this region had been evacuated in a major operation as a precaution. Additionally, more than 2800 were evacuated from over a dozen drilling rigs and construction vessels operating by COSL, CNOOCs drilling contractor, Upstream reports. Super typhoon Saola forced mass evacuations in Yunfu City, China, in the southwest region of Guangdong province on Sunday. Super typhoon Haikui is also wreaking havoc on the region, making landfall in Taiwan on Sunday and now heading for the Chinese mainland, on the southeastern coast, where all areas are now on high alert. Last month, CNOOC and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the government-owned parent company of PetroChina, kicked off ultra-deepwater exploratory drilling for oil and gas as the country looks to wean itself off of foreign oil. Climate change is increasingly taking a toll on the oil and gas sector. Last month, the volume of natural gas flowing to LNG giant Cheniere Energy's (NYSE:LNG) Corpus Christi export plant in Texas declined nearly 30% after Tropical Storm Harold hit South Texas. According to Refinitiv data, gas volumes flowing to Corpus dropped to about 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) from 2.1 bcfd previously. At full capacity, the three liquefaction trains at the Corpus Christi LNG export plant are capable of chilling 2.4 bcfd of natural gas into LNG, enough to supply 12 million U.S. homes. Earlier in the year, the Canadian energy sector was forced to shut off at least 145,000 of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the oil-rich province of Alberta due to wildfires. The unprecedented fires forced tens of thousands of Albertans to evacuate their homes. More than half a dozen Canadian oil and gas companies including Paramount Resources (OTCPK:PRMRF), Crescent Point Energy Corp. (NYSE:CPG), Vermilion Energy Inc. (NYSE:VET), Pipestone Energy Corp. (OTCPK:BKBEF), Kiwetinohk Energy Corp. (TSX:KEC:CA),Tourmaline Oil Corp. (OTCPK:TRMLF) and Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) were impacted by the nearly 80 fires that ran amok in the province. Climate change is making it costlier for oil and gas companies to operate. Indeed, climate-related?supply threats have already begun to manifest in the oil and gas industry, with more than 600 billion barrels equivalent of the worlds commercially recoverable oil and gas reserves, or 40% of total reserves, facing high or extreme risks. According to UK-based global risk and strategic consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft, the risk of?climate related events disrupting?the flow?of oil?to global markets?is highest in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Nigeria. ADVERTISEMENT By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Russia could turn to exerting pressure over European natural gas supply this winter when it can, Swedish bank SEB said in a note on Monday. Gazproms gas deliveries to its former key customers in Europe slumped with the halt of Russian pipeline gas exports to nearly all European countries. Weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Russia cut off supply to Poland, Bulgaria, and Finland. Then Gazprom started to reduce supply via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany in June 2022, claiming an inability to service gas turbine maintenance outside Russia due to the Western sanctions against Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. Gazprom said in early September that Nord Stream would remain shut until operational defects in the equipment are eliminated, before the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines at the end of September 2022, which definitely closed all pipeline gas routes of Russias gas to Germany. Russia now delivers gas to Europe via a route through Ukraine and via TurkStream. Putin's long-standing goal to use the natural gas supply as a strategic tool appears to have faltered, SEB strategists wrote in the note today. However, Putin might still possess leverage over the EU's natural gas supply, they added. According to SEB, Putin could decide to strategize this leverage leading into Q4 2023 and beyond. The significant uncertainty stemming from Russia's heightened aggression toward Ukraine seems to have been overlooked in the EU natural gas pricing. Therefore, as of 31 August, we believe the TTF has potential room for growth on the upside, the banks analysts wrote, referring to the benchmark European gas pricing at the Dutch TTF hub. The EU has already reached months in advance its target to have 90% full gas storage by November 1, 2023. As of September 2, EU gas storage sites were already 93% full, per data from Gas Infrastructure Europe. But in case of a cold winter, Europe could face issues with gas supply, analysts say. German officials have been warning for months that Europes biggest economy is not out of the woods yet in terms of gas supply and that natural gas prices could remain high until at least 2027. ADVERTISEMENT By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The tight oil market could see some reprieve in the coming two months as refineries plan end-of-summer maintenance, according to Russell Hardy, the chief executive of the worlds biggest independent oil trading house, Vitol. Although supply would improve globally, the sour crude market will remain tight as the production cuts from the Middle Eastern OPEC+ members continue, Hardy said at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) by S&P Global Commodity Insights on Monday, as carried by Reuters. Because of the OPEC+ cuts, there's not sufficient supply (of sour crude) for all these complex refineries in India, Kuwait, Jizan, Oman and China, Hardy told the conference which is held in Singapore. Sour crude mostly comes from the Middle Eastern oil-producing nations, which are currently cutting supply to the market. There are too many customers and not enough material to go around, Vitols Hardy said. The market for sour crude, especially in Asia, has tightened 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. 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. The price volatility in the oil market has come mostly from the product side, not from crude, due to very tight refining capacity, Vitols Hardy said at the conference. For almost a year, Brent Crude prices have been holding pretty stable in the $72-$88 a barrel range, he added. In Asian trade early on Monday, Brent was slightly down at $88.43 per barrel. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Venezuelas oil shipments plummeted in August by 38% compared to the three-year high reached in July as state oil firm PDVSA was unable to maintain production at the upgraders that convert the extra heavy oil into grades suitable for shipping, Reuters reported on Monday, quoting PDVSA internal documents and tanker-tracking data. Last month, Venezuela exported 544,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, down by 38% compared to over 877,000 bpd shipped in July, per LSEG Eikon vessel tracking data cited by Reuters. In July, Venezuelas oil exports were estimated to have surged to nearly three-and-a-half-year highs, thanks to increased shipments by Chevron and new supply contracts signed by PDVSA. The latest data show that Chevrons exports to U.S. refineries fell to around 147,000 bpd in August, down from 161,000 bpd in July. The U.S. supermajor is the only Western major authorized by the U.S. to operate and export oil from Venezuela under a special license issued in November 2022. Most of Venezuelas exports in August were bound for China, according to the data Reuters has compiled. But outages at two crude blending units at Petrosinovensa, jointly operated by PDVSA and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), prevented some of the extra heavy crude from being converted into exportable grades in August. One of the upgraders resumed operations in the middle of August, according to an internal document of PDVSA seen by Reuters. If issues at the upgraders are resolved, Venezuela could soon see another boost in oil exports. The Biden Administration has signaled it could be open to additional special authorizations for oil companies in Venezuela as it seeks to limit the fallout of a tight global supply on U.S. gasoline prices. There could be an opening in the U.S. Administration to allow more companies other than Chevron to export crude oil from Venezuela. Federal government officials in Washington are reportedly working on a draft proposal for sanctions relief to be offered to Venezuela if it organizes free and fair presidential elections. ADVERTISEMENT By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The board of Australian lithium producer Liontown Resources intends to recommend shareholders vote in favor of a new increased buy offer from Albemarle if the worlds largest lithium producer makes its latest revised indicative proposal a binding offer. Earlier this year, Albemarle submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of Liontown by way of scheme of arrangement for AUS$2.50, or US$1.661, per share in cash, which values Liontown at AUS$5.2 billion, or US$3.4 billion, on an enterprise basis. But Liontown Resources rejected that offer. On Monday, the Australian company announced it had received a revised non-binding offer from Albemarle to buy all outstanding shares in Liontown at AUS$3.001 cash per share, which values Liontown at AUS$6.6 billion, or US$4.32 billion, on an equity value basis. After carefully considering the Revised Indicative Proposal, the Liontown Board has determined to grant Albemarle an opportunity to conduct a limited period of exclusive due diligence, subject to customary fiduciary exceptions, to enable it to put forward a binding proposal, subject to the parties agreeing to a mutually acceptable non-disclosure and exclusivity agreement, the Australian company said today. If Albemarle makes a binding proposal at the latest indicative price, the intention of the Liontown Board is to unanimously recommend shareholders vote in favor of the proposal in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent expert concluding (and continuing to conclude) that the proposed transaction is in the best interests of shareholders, Liontown added. The Australian company also noted that there is no certainty that the revised indicative proposal would progress to a binding offer for consideration by shareholders. Albemarle, for its part, said that The Revised Proposal delivers an immediate premium for Liontown investors and is expected to drive significant value creation for Albemarle shareholders. The transaction is consistent with Albemarle's long-term growth and stated M&A strategy, as well as its disciplined approach to capital allocation and risk-adjusted value accretion. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The EUs pledge to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars and vans from 2035 poses an imminent risk to Europes car manufacturers, which are unlikely to win a looming EV price war with their Chinese competitors, BMW chairman Oliver Zipse has told the Financial Times. I want to send a message: I see that as an imminent risk, Zipse said. The executive, however, said BMW was in a better position to compete with the Chinese manufacturers, most of which are targeting buyers of cheaper and smaller electric vehicles. Yet, The base car market segment will either vanish or will not be done by European manufacturers, Zipse told FT. European Union member states in March approved an emissions regulation under which the bloc will end sales of new carbon dioxide-emitting cars and vans in 2035. The new rules target 55% CO2 emission reductions for new cars and 50% for new vans from 2030 to 2034 compared to 2021 levels, as well as 100% CO2 emission reductions for both new cars and vans from 2035. The landmark deal was made possible after Germany the biggest economy, the biggest car market, and the biggest car manufacturer sought and won an exemption for e-fuels. Germany wanted sales of new cars with internal combustion engines if they run on e-fuels to continue beyond 2035, and it got that exemption. The slump in exports of Germanys auto industry to China in the first quarter of 2023 could be the beginning of a new long-term trend of strong disruption in German-Chinese trade as Chinas EV boom accelerates, researchers at the IW institute in Cologne said in a report in June. ADVERTISEMENT There appear to be strong disruptions playing out in the automotive sector, especially regarding Chinas increasing importance as an exporter of electric cars, the reports authors wrote. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Chevron has resorted to mediation talks with the unions representing its workers at the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in the latest attempt to avert a strike. If the talks fail, industrial action is set to begin as soon as this week. Reuters reports that the talks begin today, to be hosted by an official from the Australian Fair Work Commission. They will continue throughout the week. The report notes Chevron reached out to the watchdog after it presented a wage and working conditions offer directly to its workers, circumventing the unions, and the workers rejected it. "Ballot results show that they (Chevron) are out of touch with OA members and havent listened to a word spoken in their discussions with members, Reps and the Offshore Alliance," the Alliancea coalition of two trade unions representing workers in the energy industry said in comments following the workers vote last week. Chevron, for its part, said "The vote [that rejected the offer] was part of the bargaining process and an important step which enabled employees to share their views." The U.S. supermajor operates the Gorgon and the Wheatstone LNG projects offshore Australia. The two together account for about 5% of global LNG supply. Chevron has been locked in a pay and working conditions dispute with its workers for weeks now, while sector player Woodside, the operator of Australias largest LNG facility, the North West Shelf, managed to strike a deal and avert a strike. If this weeks mediation talks fail, workers at Gorgon and Wheatstone will begin striking on September 7 and continue until September 14, with work stoppages and bans on performing certain tasks for up to 11 hours a day. ADVERTISEMENT In comments on the potential consequences of a strike at Chevrons LNG facilities, INGs head of commodity research, Warren Patterson, said Australia is not typically a supplier of LNG to Europe. However, reduced LNG supply would mean that Asian buyers would look elsewhere for alternative supply, increasing competition with European buyers. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Chinas biggest coal power generating company plans to revive some projects that were suspended earlier as the countrys government prioritizes energy security over the transition. This prioritization opens up opportunities for boosting Chinas already considerable coal generation capacity, with Shenhua Energy Co. planning to build more coal power plants before 2025. The company is a unit of the biggest coal mining company in the country: China Energy Investment Corp. Last year, Chinas total coal output rose by 9% to 4.5 billion tons, which represented over half of the worlds total. As the countrys latest round of power system optimization progresses, the company is seizing the window of opportunity for thermal power development, said the companys general manager Xu Mingjun, as quoted by Bloomberg. China has been approving new coal generation capacity at a breakneck speed since the start of last year. The total approved to date stands at 152 GW, which Bloomberg notes is more than the total coal generation capacity in Europe currently in operation. In the first half of this year, China approved more than 50 GW in new coal generation capacity. This has prompted a lot of criticism from environmentalists but China has stuck to its priorities, noting that it needs coal generation in a supporting role to make up for the drops in output from wind and solar as they depend on the weather. In fairness, Europe is also returning to coal in the absence of cheap Russian pipeline gas. Despite the massive buildup in wind and solar capacity across much of the continent, European countries have discovered they need dispatchable generation and have found it in coal. ADVERTISEMENT Germany, the flagman for the European energy transition, made headlines earlier this year when it decided to dismantle a wind farm in order to expand a coal mine. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Gretna Venture Crew 363 recently returned from a high adventure trip to Colorado in mid-July. The three Scouts Addie Horst, Sam Snyder and Emery Prusmack traveled to Glenwood Springs via the Amtrak train along with three leaders: Duane Horseman, Justin Horst and Cindy Mefford. Originally, we planned to go to Yosemite National Park in California, but because of a new permit system, we were unable to get the backcountry permits for the trails we wanted. So we went to plan B. We decided to go to Colorado via the train and do some hiking, backpacking and rafting. We boarded the Amtrak in Lincoln at about 12:45 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. The teens enjoyed the train because they could move around whenever they wanted. We spent most of our time in the observation car playing games and watching the beautiful scenery in the mountains. The train passes through a section of mountains that is inaccessible to cars and has over 26 tunnels! Once in Glenwood Springs, we picked up the rental cars and drove to a Bureau of Land Management site west of town to set up camp at no charge. We crossed the road into a park to eat our dinner and soak our feet in the cold lake. On Thursday, we went white water rafting and due to the high water, experienced exhilarating Class IV rapids on the Colorado River! After lunch, we went back on the river and we could choose to navigate the Class III rapids in rubber duckies (inflatable kayaks) or stay in the raft where our guide, LJ, shared his expansive knowledge of the river and the area. It was a blast! None of us went swimming (i.e. upset our kayak/raft). Afterwards, we drove to the Conundrum Creek trailhead near Aspen. We planned to backpack in about 1 to 2 miles and set up camp. This is called dispersed camping. The rules are that you have to set up camp 100 feet from the trail and from the water. Unfortunately, it was a narrow valley, and we could not find a suitable site. After 2 miles and night quickly approaching, we decided to head back. Once we got back to the trailhead, we made our dinner of dehydrated food. While eating, a black bear walked up within 20 feet behind Mr. Horst and Addie and gave them quite a fright! Most black bears are scared away if you make noise or shout, and the yelling probably scared the bear as much as it scare them. We drove to the Maroon Bells area and tried to find a campground that had open sites. No luck. Finally, we pitched our tents in the dark on the edge of a parking lot. On Friday, we decided to go to the Maroon Bells and hiked not quite 4 miles around some scenic loops that took us around Maroon Lake and a smaller un-named lake. We stopped at the ranger station and were able to secure two campsites for two nights. The ranger told us about a swimming hole so after setting up camp, so we went to check it out. The water was so cold but also very refreshing, and it washed off the sweat and dirt. Later, we hiked to Crater Lake and had dinner. We saw moose, a fox, a pica and lots of deer. The hike totaled about 4 miles. We went back to our campsite and taught Emery, our newest Scout, how to start a fire with no matches. With great determination, she did it, and our reward was smores. Saturday, we slept in and played cards for most of the morning. We went into Aspen and checked out an art fair. We saw a lot of beautiful pieces that were definitely out of our price range. We drove back to Maroon Bells and reserved our camp sites were for another night. We went to our swimming hole again for another exhilarating swim. That evening, we played more cards and then, because our chocolate and marshmallows sat in metal bear box all day in the heat, we had marshmallow goo for dessert. Sunday was our big challenge day. We got up at 5:30 a.m., ate breakfast and got on the Conundrum Creek trail at about 7:15 a.m. Our goal was to hike about 9 miles to the top where there was a natural hot springs. The trail was beautiful with lots of wild flowers, river crossings (either across logs, man-made log bridges or stepping on rocks) and, in one crossing, we had to ford the river, which was about shin deep. We got to the hot springs about 12:45 p.m. The water was warm and felt good until you got out and the breeze chilled you. We found a small snow field and laid down in the snow and then got back in the hot pool to warm up. We saw a beaver near the springs sunning himself. We headed back down about 3:30 p.m., and it took a little longer than we expected. When we forded the creek, it had risen and was about knee deep. The swift current made it tricky to keep your balance. We got back to the trailhead about 7:45 p.m. It was a long, challenging day. We hiked a total of 18 miles with an elevation gain of 2,888 feet. The teens (and the adults) did great! On Monday, we packed up and headed back to Glenwood Springs. We went to Iron Mountain Hot Springs, a commercialized one. It had about 18 mineral pools with temperatures varying from 91 degrees to 108 degrees. It was very relaxing, and we got a proper shower! We set up camp at Amis Acres in the 98 degree weather and then drove to Hanging Lake trail. This was a very popular, very steep, rocky trail. The trail was about 3.1 miles round trip, but you climbed 1187 feet up in that 1.5 miles. The lake at the top was pristine and heavenly. It was a beautiful turquoise color because of the travertine mineral in the water. A big, fat beaver came out to get his photo taken. We hiked up the side of the lake and went behind the falls, where the mist felt wonderful! After hiking back down, we had dinner by the creek. On the way back to our campsite, we stopped by an ice cream shop and enjoyed a cold treat. On Tuesday, we relished in another shower. We went downtown and went to Doc Holidays museum, which was in the basement of a western store. We found a restaurant near the train station and had awesome burgers and French fries, which always tastes especially good after a week of dehydrated food and granola bars. We boarded the train about 12:30 p.m. and arrived in Lincoln about two hours late at about 3:20 a.m. Another successful trip in the Venture Crew books! The Venture Crew is a co-ed Scouting organization for youth ages 14-20. Every year the young adults choose where they want to go and what activities they want to do. They plan the trip and coordinate fundraising to pay for the adventure. Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/VentureCrew363. Anyone interested in joining should call Cindy Mefford at 402-310-5183. A Papillion student studying at Concordia University in Seward recently went on a mission trip to Peru. Christina Lee of Papillion joined four other students as well as Brian Gauthier, assistant professor of theology, and Amy Hubach, assistant professor of education to shadow Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod missionaries serving in Lima as well as the local Peruvian Lutheran Church leaders to learn about the work of church planting, according to a news release. The group spent most of their time in Lima as well as at the local Peruvian churches. They shadowed local missionaries during every part of the mission work, even during parts that one would not normally expect. Their time was spent participating in worship and Bible study, doing home and evangelism visits, helping with Sunday school and leading an after-school program for kids at a church site, as well as sitting in traffic and participating in meetings about how to best expand the church. "I loved listening to them sit around the table and talk about plans and how to best proclaim the Gospel and use the resources they have to bless the people of Peru," Gauthier said. It became clear to Gauthier that the Concordia students were encouraged through the work they were surrounded by during the trip, which ran May 9 through May 16. "In general, students are used to a big church body that has been well-established," Gauthier said. "The mission field has small churches and preaching stations where evangelism is the heartbeat of the work. To hear them thinking about how they can do evangelism back home as future church workers is encouraging." A 38-year-old woman will be sentenced in October after reaching a plea agreement with Douglas County prosecutors in connection with the death of an Omaha motorcyclist. Lorena Lara-Diaz of Marshall, Missouri, entered a plea of no contest last week to an amended charge of motor vehicle homicide due to reckless driving and was found guilty by a judge. She was originally charged with manslaughter. Lara-Diaz faces up to three years in prison when she is sentenced Oct. 24 in Douglas County District Court. A charge of failure to submit to a breath test also was dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Police said Gary S. Mangiameli, 45, of Omaha, was riding a 2009 Harley-Davidson west on L Street near 26th Street on March 25 when he was struck by an eastbound 2021 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Lara-Diaz. The pickup truck was attempting to turn north on U.S. Highway 75 about 2:20 a.m. Mangiameli was taken to Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy, where he was pronounced dead. Police said Mangiameli was wearing an approved helmet at the time of the collision. A 40-year-old Omaha man was taken to a hospital in critical condition early Sunday following a shooting just north of 56th Street and Ames Avenue. Omaha Fire Department medics transported Johnny Chatmon to the Nebraska Medical Center. Officers were called to a shooting shortly after 5 a.m., a police spokesman said. Chatmon was located suffering from multiple gunshot wounds at an apartment building at 4611 N. 56th St. Police said Sunday afternoon that Chatmon was in stable condition. Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Omaha Crime Stoppers at 402-444-STOP (7867) at www.p3tips.com or by downloading the p3tips mobile app. Anonymous tips leading to the arrest of a shooting suspect are eligible for an enhanced reward of up to $10,000. Even though it was supposed to be their day off, 250 people showed up on Omaha's riverfront 19 years ago today to learn more about a thing called "Labor." "Labor" is the title of a monument on the riverfront that commemorates union labor's contribution to Omaha. The massive bronze, steel and concrete sculpture sits along Lewis & Clark Landing. The sculpture was dedicated by dignitaries during SeptemberFest, the annual event that's intended as a salute to workers, on Labor Day weekend. Terry Moore, president of the Omaha Federation of Labor, told the crowd that the sculpture was the second-largest dedicated to labor in the country. The largest was a piece in Detroit. "Labor" consists of five 8-foot-tall statues of laborers four men and one woman working around massive ladles that were taken from the old Asarco refinery in Omaha. Their expressions and work clothes are meticulously detailed, from the strain on their faces to their buttons and bootlaces. Water descends from ladle to ladle. Union locals, companies and foundations contributed $1 million worth of labor and money to the project, Moore said. Local artist Matthew Placzek, 39, said "Labor" was the biggest piece he'd ever done. He said it's also probably his favorite. Placzek said that to create it, he studied photos of laborers from the last century who worked 70 hours a week. Placzek said he wanted to create a sculpture that people could touch, sit next to and play on. "This monument stands as a testimony to (union laborers') hard work to make this city a great place," said then-Gov. Mike Johanns. "This monument also recognizes the hard work and contributions of labor in Nebraska." Photos: Monument to Labor sculpture SAN FRANCISCO Silicon Valley billionaires behind a secretive $800 million land-buying spree in Northern California finally released some details about their plans for a new green city, but they must win over skeptical voters and local leaders. After years of ducking scrutiny, Jan Sramek, the former Goldman Sachs trader spearheading the effort, launched a website last week about "California Forever." The site billed the project as "a chance for a new community, good paying local jobs, solar farms, and open space" in Solano, a rural county between San Francisco and Sacramento that is now home to 450,000 people. He also began meeting with key politicians representing the area who have been trying unsuccessfully for years to find out who was behind the mysterious Flannery Associates LLC as it bought up huge swaths of land, making it the largest single landholder in the county. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are backing the project, including philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. The New York Times first reported on the group's investors and plans. California Forever, the parent company of Flannery, purchased more than 78 square miles of farmland in Solano County since 2018, largely in the southeastern portion of the county, with parcels stretching from Fairfield to Rio Vista. According to the website, Sramek fell in love with the area on fishing trips and he and his wife recently purchased a home in the county for their growing family. The project issued a poll to residents last month to gauge support for "a new city with tens of thousands of new homes," a solar energy farm and new parks funded entirely by the private sector. But to build anything resembling a city on what is now farmland, the group must convince Solano County voters to approve a ballot initiative to allow for urban uses on that land, protected since 1984. Local and federal officials still have questions about the group's intentions. Two area congressmen who sought for years to find out whether foreign adversaries or investors were behind the buying spree around a U.S. Air Force base vital to national security and the local economy are furious that Flannery kept its identity hidden for so long. The website says 97% of its funding is from U.S. investors and the rest are from the United Kingdom and Ireland. "The FBI, the Department of Treasury, everyone has been doing work trying to figure out who these people are," said U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents much of the county. "Their secrecy has caused a lot of problems, a lot of time, and a lot of expense." The investment group said secrecy was required until enough land was purchased, in order to avoid short-term speculation, but it is now ready to hear from Solano households via a mailed survey and creation of a community advisory board. "Instead of watching our kids leave, we have the opportunity to build a new community that attracts new employers, creates good paying local jobs, builds homes in walkable neighborhoods, leads in environment stewardship, and fuels a growing tax base to serve the county at large," its website said. California is in dire need of more housing, especially affordable homes. However, established neighborhoods argue against new homes they say would congest their roads and spoil their quiet way of life. In many ways, Solano County is ideal for development. It is 60 miles northeast of San Francisco and 35 miles southwest of California's capital city, Sacramento. Solano County homes are among the most affordable in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a median sales price of $600,000 last month. But Princess Washington, mayor pro tempore of Suisun City, said residents deliberately decided to protect open space and keep the area around Travis Air Force Base free of encroachment given its significance. She's suspicious that the group's real purpose is "to create a city for the elite" under the guise of more housing. "Economic blight is everywhere," she said. "So why do you need to spend upwards of a billion dollars to create a brand new city when you have all these other things that can be achieved throughout the Bay Area?" Flannery further infuriated locals in May when it sued several landowners, accusing them of conspiring to fix prices for their properties. The company disclosed it purchased or was under contract to buy about 140 properties for more than $800 million. Residents began receiving a push poll gauging voter support for "a major new project" that would include "a new city with tens of thousands of new homes." The poll asked if they would be more likely to support the project if county residents were given priority and financial assistance to lease or purchase one of the new homes. Thompson was unimpressed after meeting with Sramek, saying the developer was vague on details and failed to display an understanding or appreciation of the county or its values. Asked how he would help residents finance new homes, Thompson said Sramek told him he planned to use "all of his knowledge as a finance guy" to generate savings. Thompson said Sramek told him they're hoping for expedited permitting "because their project is so good and their intentions are so great." "He doesn't have a plan, he's not there yet," Thompson said. Hoffman and Andreessen did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Jobs through her business Emerson Collective. Project developers said they will protect the military base and farmers who want to keep farming on their parcels can do so. U.S. Cities Building the Most Homes U.S. Cities Building the Most Homes Home building has dropped off significantly after trending upward for over a decade Starts and completions were delayed even further in 2022 amid labor shortages and supply issues A pair of Mountain states in Utah and Idaho are building the most homes Small and midsize metros building the most homes 15. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO 14. Richmond, VA 13. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA 12. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 11. Salt Lake City, UT 10. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ 9. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 8. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 7. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 6. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 5. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 4. Jacksonville, FL 3. Nashville-DavidsonMurfreesboroFranklin, TN 2. Raleigh-Cary, NC 1. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX LONDON The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace may draw tourists from far and wide, but on Sunday, visitors to the landmark were treated to a different sort of spectacle: a parade of corgis dressed in crowns, tiaras and royal outfits. Around 20 royal fans and their pet corgis gathered to walk their dogs outside the palace in central London to remember Queen Elizabeth II a year after her death. Corgis were the late queens constant companions since she was a child, and Elizabeth owned around 30 throughout her life. Generations of the dogs descended from Susan, a corgi that was given to the queen on her 18th birthday. Agatha Crerer-Gilbert, who organized Sunday's event, said she would like the corgi march to take place every year in Elizabeth's memory. I cant see a better way to remember her than through her corgis, through the breed that she loved and cherished through her life," she said. You know, I cant still get used to the fact that shes not physically around us, but shes looking at us. Look, the sun is shining, I thought it would shine on us today," she added. Aleksandr Barmin, who owns a corgi named Cinnamon and has taken the pet to attend past royal-related events, said the parade was a poignant reminder that Elizabeth is no longer around. Its a really hard feeling, to be honest ... its really sad that we dont have (the queen) among us anymore, he said. "But still, Her Majesty the Queen is still in our hearts. Sept. 8 will be the first anniversary of the death of the 96-year-old queen at her Balmoral castle estate in Scotland. She was queen for 70 years and was Britain's longest-reigning sovereign. Every new dog breed recognized in the 21st century Every new dog breed recognized in the 21st century 2000: Spinone Italiano 2001: Polish lowland sheepdog 2003: German pinscher 2003: Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever 2003: Toy fox terrier 2004: Black Russian terrier 2004: Glen of Imaal terrier 2004: Neapolitan mastiff 2006: Plott 2006: Tibetan mastiff 2007: Beauceron 2007: Swedish vallhund 2008: Dogue de Bordeaux 2009: Bluetick coonhound 2009: Boykin spaniel 2009: Irish red and white setter 2009: Norwegian buhund 2009: Pyrenean shepherd 2009: Redbone coonhound 2010: Cane corso 2010: Icelandic sheepdog 2010: Leonberger 2011: American English coonhound 2011: Cesky terrier 2011: Entlebucher mountain dog 2011: Finnish Lapphund 2011: Norwegian lundehund 2011: Xoloitzcuintli 2012: Russell terrier 2012: Treeing Walker coonhound 2013: Chinook 2013: Portuguese podengo pequeno 2013: Rat terrier 2014: Coton de Tulear 2014: Wirehaired vizsla 2015: Bergamasco 2015: Berger Picard 2015: Boerboel 2015: Cirneco dell'Etna 2015: Lagotto Romagnolo 2015: Miniature American shepherd 2015: Spanish water dog 2016: American hairless terrier 2016: Pumi 2016: Sloughi 2017: Nederlandse kooikerhondje 2018: Grand basset griffon Vendeen 2019 Azawakh 2020 Barbet 2020 Dogo Argentino 2020 Belgian Laekenois 2021 Biewer terrier 2022 Bracco Italiano 2022 Mudi 2022 Russian toy MACKINAW Jennifer Willard and Bobbie Hicks have been to plenty of wineries. But after they heard about the Mackinaw Valley Vineyard's annual Grape Stomp and Harvest Festival, they knew they needed to make it a girls' trip destination. "Who can turn down stomping grapes?" asked Willard, of Astoria. Dressed in matching T-shirts to commemorate the occasion, she and Hicks, of Havana, said the trip would become a yearly tradition. They will be in good company. Since 2008, the vineyard has hosted a Grape Stomp in honor of the famous episode of "I Love Lucy" in which Lucille Ball crushes grapes with her bare feet in preparation for an Italian movie. (Spoiler: She ends up picking a fight in the grape vat with a fellow stomper.) At the Tazewell County version, adults and children can stomp their own grapes for the chance to win prizes, including candy and gift certificates. Participants, who may incorporate funny hats or props, are given free rein to be as silly as possible when stomping their own grapes. Audience reaction determines the winner of each pairing of participants. Carly Drezek, tasting manager for the Mackinaw Valley Vineyard, said although there are machines to crush grapes for winemaking today, the tradition of grape stomping was a community-wide effort that could take days. "Not only is (grape stomping) fun and Lucy made it great, but it actually has a great history as well as the community coming together to participate," Drezek said. Although the contest requires several crates full of grapes, Drezek said it is just a novelty and nothing ends up going into Mackinaw Valley's products. "I don't know about you, but thank God for machines," she said. In addition to grape stomping, the vineyard hosts an "I Love Lucy" look-alike contest for children and adults. Even though the sitcom is more than 60 years old, Mackinaw Valley Vineyard owner Diane Hahn said she still meets children who love the show thanks to reruns on Nick at Nite and streaming platforms. "A lot of times, the kids are adorable and are the spitting image of Lucy," Hahn said. Hahn, who emcees the event and always dresses as Ball as a tribute, recalled meeting one girl from a previous contest who, when asked why she decided to dress as the iconic comedy heroine, replied that she always gets into trouble just like Lucy. Live music was played by Central Illinois band Stereo Typical and concessions were provided by Tony's on Wheels, a food truck for Haddad's Lebanese Restaurant in Peoria. Exploring the world of island vineyards Exploring the world of island vineyards The Canary Islands: A volcanic archipelago producing wine since the 15th century Pico: The Atlantic Ocean's 'Island of Wine' Vancouver Island: Wine tasting and whale watching on one island Tasmania: Cool climate spurs sparkling wine production Corsica: Mediterranean island ringed by vineyards Sardinia Sicily Cover crop aerial demonstration is Sept. 6 LEXINGTON The McLean County Soil & Water Conservation District will host a cover crop aerial demonstration at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 20478 N. 2900 East Road, Lexington. The informational meeting will discuss current cover crop cost share programs, the nutrient loss reduction strategy, and cover crop aerial application information. Speakers for the event will include Taylor Clark, NRCS soil conservationist; Trevor Sample, Illinois EMA; Dr. Shalamar Armstrong, Purdue University; and Kris Peterson, Pontiac Flying Service. Registration is required by calling 309-452-3848, ext. 3. Pond shocking demonstration set Sept. 7 DOWNS The McLean County Soil & Water Conservation District will conduct a pond shocking demonstration at a private local pond near Downs at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7. The event will allow guests to learn more about fish species identification, population impacts, pond management goals and more. Electrofishing is a technique that uses direct current electricity flowing between a submerged cathode and anode, allowing fish to be caught or stunned. It is a common scientific survey method used to sample fish populations to determine abundance, density and species composition. Registration is required and location details will be shared upon completing registration; call 309-452-3848, ext. 3. Photos: 2023 Faith in Action Lunch in Bloomington Daren Bachman, Julie Holliday, Faith in Action Executive Director Darla Heath Julie Dobski, Janet Gremer Carolyn Wetzel , Sharon Hoy Joan Vanden Eynden, Mindy Morgan Leonard Wochner, Faye Andris Dee Hinrichsen, Karyn Therman, Betsy Huls Aggie Hedin, Gaye Aaberg Susan Cunningham, Caiti Redmond , Elizabeth Hagamann Michelle Cope, Kim Schoenbein Janie Houchin, Kathy Neil Lisa Majernik, Dana Bell Sandy Holcomb, Becky Hines Sue Carroll, Diane Nord Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington, Tina Marlett, Tom Herr, Paul Williams, Bryce Janssen, Aaron Veerman Sonja Reece, Diana Lally, Kathy Herman, Anina Engelhorn, Mary Burns, Cindy Segobiano, Thresa Schmitt, Kathleen Lorenz, Tracy Patkunas, Julie Dobski Darla Heath Mike Carroll, Faith in Action Board President Sunrise Rotarians take a selfie ORLAND PARK The third time was the charm for a photo of 3-year-old Mackenzie Chesna, of Orland Park, to be picked for a video presentation held annually in New Yorks Times Square by the National Down Syndrome Society. In the photo, Mackenzie, who goes by Mack, has her hair in pig tails and is smiling wide. Her mother, Molly Chesna, said shes submitted photos every year since Mackenzie was born, and the whole family is thrilled she was selected. What you see in the photo is very much her. Everyone talks about her pigtails and that smile and the cheeks. Thats just her, all around, Molly said. Mackenzies photo was selected from more than 2,400 entries, according to a news release from the National Down Syndrome Society. Her photo will be one of about 500 photos of children, teens and adults with Down syndrome displayed Sept. 9 in a one-hour video on two giant screens in the heart of Times Square, according to the release. The purpose of the images are to promote the value, acceptance, and inclusion of people with Down Syndrome in a very visible way, it states. The presentation will be livestreamed on the National Down Syndrome Society Facebook page from 8:30-9:30 a.m. Central time Sept. 9. After the video presentation, the New York City Buddy Walk takes place in Central Park. The National Buddy Walk Program has focused on Down syndrome awareness, advocacy and peer-to-peer fundraising since 1995, officials said. Molly Chesna said the family is looking forward to participating because it is the biggest Buddy Walk event in the country. Both sets of grandparents and some aunts and cousins will join Mackenzie, her parents and her 6-year-old sister, Parker, Molly Chesna said. Nick Chesna, Mackenzies dad, said theyve told her that her picture will be displayed in Times Square. While she doesnt fully understand what that means, he said she will be thrilled when she sees herself on a big screen. Shell point and say, me or something in regards to that, Nick said. Shell point and smile and probably clap. And like any older sister, Parker is thrilled for Mackenzie. Im pumped, Parker shouted with excitement. Once her photo is off the screen, Nick Chesna said Mackenzie will enjoy waving to everyone around her. Shes one that captures everyones attention, he said. I think shes just going to enjoy what the environment is there and bring a smile to many peoples faces. Mackenzie likes to dance, play with her older sister and make other people smile or laugh, Nick said. Her favorite song to dance to is Wheels on the Bus, and her favorite move is making the motion of the wheels with her arms, Molly said. While public perception is that having Down syndrome is a negative thing, Nick said nothing could be further from the truth. Its changed our lives for the positive. Its brought more awareness and joy to not just our immediate family of four but our friends, our families, our cousins, our co-workers, he said. 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 One hundred and thirty years ago at Chicagos Worlds Fair, American Federation of Labor President Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) addressed the International Labor Congress. Gompers' speech is often quoted with just three words: We want more. Yet revisiting his full text tells a different story. Gompers did say labor wanted better wages and an eight-hour workday, but his words reflect a broader vision. Gompers full statement was: What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures, to make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood more happy and bright. Education Educations power resounds through this message. When delivering this in 1893, very few working-class children received more than a primary school education. It was estimated in the early 20th century that more than 2 million children labored. Gompers is saying that learning is a truer path for a youngster than a factory or coal mine. More schoolhouses and less jails ensuring a decent education helps establish a person for life. I remember our late Republican state Rep. Gordon Ropp, who often shared with me that if we spent more tax dollars on preschool and kindergarten, wed be spending less on prisons. Thats a sound sentiment. If we ensure our children have access to food, health care and education, life holds promise. The streets become the school if the greater society is not ensuring our youth these basic foundations. Peace and justice More books and less arsenals Gompers is sharing a peace message here yet also reflecting his times. In the 1880s, various states built urban arsenals whose troops were frequently mobilized to suppress working people organizing. More leisure and less greed the 1880s-1890s was the Gilded Age, the press overflowing with rich peoples opulent wealth displays, lavish mansions and ostentatious lifestyles, while working people labored 10-12 hours daily, lucky to have Sunday off, living hand to mouth in slums and mining camps. Life beyond work Gompers is stating that a working person deserves a life a day off and personal time. A popular bumper sticker says, Thank the unions for the weekend. Fighting for the eight-hour day meant more than less hours; it allowed average people to recuperate and enjoy life. Unions exist for their members and to ensure a safe job with decent pay and benefits. Unions, if they are true to their souls, are a labor movement to uplift all working people. Samuel Gompers sentiments from 1893 are a clarion call to that deeper obligation to build a more equitable and just society where everyones contributions are valued and rewarded. DID YOU KNOW? 3M Co. has tentatively agreed to pay more than $5.5 billion to resolve over 300,000 lawsuits claiming it sold the U.S. military defective hearing protective ear plugs. Early in the legal suit process, several analysts estimated the cost for 3M, if the case was lost in court, could be as high as $9.5 billion. 3M attempted to file for bankruptcy protection, but a federal judge denied that attempt because the filing did not meet proper bankruptcy guidelines. That ruling led to the negotiation attempt between the company and the litigants. The 3M Board of Directors has not approved the $5.5 billion negotiated settlement. Q: I am a veteran of military service. I sent the Standard Form 180 Request for military records document over 10 months ago! I have still not received my records! Why is it taking so long? A: Like many organizations, during the pandemic the National Archives and Records Administration imposed limitations on how many staff could be in the facility concurrently to protect its workforce and do its part to reduce community spread of the virus. The reduction in on-site capacity led to the current backlog of unanswered requests, which stood at 250,000 as of July 1. The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis is part of the NARA. The most requested document is the DD Form 214 or equivalent. Most military records for the Army, Air Force and Coast Guard are housed at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, and use of the SF 180 Form should result in receiving the response in 10 days or less. It may take several months for a response for items such as medical records or complete military records file. Recent Navy records are housed at the Naval Personnel Records Center in Millington, Tennessee, and recent Marine Corps records are filed at Quantico, Virginia. After the plan is in place to eliminate the entire backlog by December, other types of requests will continue to be delayed. The Department of Veteran Affairs may prove quicker access to DD214s by using the VA eBenefits application at ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/homepage or the Department of Defense milConnect application at milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/. Modern military medical records may be accessed through the VAs Blue Button application at va.gov/health-care/get-medical-records. Q: I hear veterans talking about the type of discharges they received from military service. Frankly, I am confused! What kind of discharges are there? A: When you exit the military, you receive a military discharge that denotes the circumstances under which you left in your military service records. There are eight different characterizations of military discharges: honorable discharges, general discharges, entry-level separations, medical discharges, other than honorable discharges, bad conduct discharges, dishonorable discharges and dismissal (officer discharge). Most discharge types allow the veteran to receive all or most of the VA benefits from the military service. However, some discharge types result in partial loss of benefits or complete denial of benefits (e.g., entry-level separation is given when time in service is less than a certain time period that would cause denial of such benefits as VA health care). Other than honorable discharges result in loss of some VA benefits. Dishonorable discharges almost always result in loss of all benefits. QUOTE OF THE DAY We celebrate Constitution Day and Citizenship Day on Sept. 17 to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on Sept. 17, 1787. America is facing difficult decisions concerning climate, inflation, weaponization of its government agencies, illegal immigration and a dozen other issues. Nations, including America, are only reflections of the people who live there. Our Constitution is unique in the world in that it recognizes the omnipotent power of the people over their elected and military representatives. The Constitution enables our citizens to live out the ideals in the following quote: The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it. Norman Schwarzkopf Photos: How a Florida nonprofit is helping veterans overcome PTSD The Ghana Minerals Income Investment Fund is defying the odds and the general economic downturn plaguing the world by its meteoric rise in just 18 months. From a circa US$125 million dollars in October 2021, the Assets Under Management (AUM) for the fund is set to reach the One-billion-dollar mark by January of 2024 making it one of the fastest-growing specialised funds in the world over the same period. The growth trajectory of the Fund is attributed to the hard work of the entire team at MIIF. They have powered this incredible rise in the last 18- months. The key issues for us, as a Fund is keeping fidelity to the founding law and the Presidents vision to create long-term sustainable value for Ghanaians. We have been able to build the AUM by innovatively expanding our royalties base, the performance of the gold sector, strategic investments, good asset allocation and our treasury management says Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, the Chief Executive Officer. According to Mr. Koranteng, Ghana has been the heartbeat of West African mining for centuries and currently the number one gold producer on the continent. The industry is however seen as not having met its promise of bringing long term prosperity and opportunity to Ghana. It is on this premise that the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, envisioned the setup of the Minerals Income Investment Fund through an Act of Parliament (Act 978) in 2018 to manage all of Government of Ghanas equity interests in mining companies, manage and invest royalties and dividends received from all minerals into selective investments across the entire mining value chain and to develop and implement measures to reduce the budgetary exposure of the Republic to minerals income fluctuations. The Presidents Charge Hopeful this Fund, when properly managed and selectively invested, will over the period of time erase that image and give us a new architecture in the mining industry which includes significant Ghanaian players. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo In October 2021, President Akufo Addo appointed a new Board of Directors for MIIF chaired by Professor Douglas Boateng, a Professor Extraordinaire in Supply Chain Management and Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, a lawyer and an investment banker with experience covering Ghana, United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa as Chief Executive Officer of the Fund. The President charged us to create long term value for Ghanaians. Create a conducive investment environment around the participation of Ghanaians in the mining sector and to make Ghanaians the primary beneficiaries of the natural resources God has bestowed on our dear motherland. These words underpin the objectives of the Fund and are fundamental in the way we approach business, says Edward Koranteng. Getting the fundamentals right Expanding the royalties base The main sources of income for the Fund are royalties and dividend payments. Royalties from the minerals are however the most constant with gold responsible for about 93% of all royalties. Ghana has about 15 royalties paying minerals including gold. The initial challenge for the Fund was on how to expand the royalties net which apart from large scale gold was unimpressive. The Fund in this vein developed two main initiatives. Inter Agency Framework and Committee The Fund in expanding the royalties base from non-gold minerals such as manganese, salt, sand winning, limestone and quarrying activities established an inter-agency framework and task force. This task force is made up of GRA, MDF, Ghana Standards Authority, Minerals Commission and EOCO. The framework is part of the strategic thrust of MIIF to enhance the collection of royalties, expand the royalties net and streamline communication on royalty payments from non-gold mining companies. Since the initiative started in December 2021, MIIF, for the first time in its history, receives royalties from sand winners, salt and silver. Royalties from quarries and limestone activities have surged over 105% and 125% respectively. Royalty tracking system The Fund has also developed an in-house geo mapping and monitoring system which allows a real time view of mining activities from selected mines in Ghana. This allows tracking of mining companies and payment of royalties on time with the support of the Inter Agency. Developing a sector Beyond Gold Gold is very important because it represents about 93% of our royalties admits Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng. The Fund has invested US$ 40 Million in Asante Gold Corporation which is listed in Canada, Germany and now on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Asante owns the prolific Bibiani gold mine and the Chirano gold mine which used to be owned by Kinross of Canada. The investment in Asante has contributed to the highest Ghanaian stake in any international mine with an over 40% Ghanaian ownership. MIIF is however developing initiatives and investment programs to support the development of the other 16 mineral types in Ghana. To achieve the objective of developing a value laden integrated mining sector which would bring long term sustainable value to Ghanaians, it is important that MIIF directs/ investment in these mineral sectors and across their individual value chains. The core really, is for us to diversify the mineral base where we get our royalties. We are not just looking at the mineral space, we are looking at the entire value chain. As such, MIIF has developed a strategy for every mineral type in a bid to extensively develop and invest in that minerals value delivery system. Ghana can only transform if we hold significant equity positions across the entire value chain for each single mineral -Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng. The Salt Opportunity Industrial salt is one such mineral if well-developed across its value chain could generate at least US$1 billion in direct revenue every year. At Ada, which is a coastal town in Ghana, the Songhor Salt pans sits on 41,000 acres and can become the biggest producing facility in Africa. The Walvis Bay in Namibia which is the largest in sub-Saharan Africa at 16,700 acres produces circa 950,000 tons per annum. Mr. Koranteng stated that, the value of salt is in value addition with over 14,000 uses covering oil and gas, mining, food processing, pharmaceuticals, caustic soda, preservatives, textiles, bicarbonate soda etc. Industrial salt is projected to become a US$49 Billion market in 2030. Mr. Koranteng emphasised that salt is a priority mineral and the development of the Ada enclave would be transformative for the Ada community and Ghana as a whole. He said, the Nigerian demand is circa 800,000 tons per annum but imports from Brazil because of the slow development of Ada Songhor in particular which is the only enclave in West Africa with potential purity of 99.9% industrial salt. A portion of the Ada Songhor salt pans is being developed by Electrochem Ghana with the company having invested over US$60 Million on its own and already constructed the largest salt loading bay in Africa with a long-term projected outlook of circa 2 Million tons of industrial salt per year. MIIF is investing up to GHC 300 million in equity with a condition for the company to be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. The Lithium Opportunity According to Mr. Koranteng, the global lithium market size is currently valued at about US$38 billion and projected to grow to US$ 90 Billion in 2030. The market value is estimated at US$ 8.2 Billion with estimated growth at US$22.6 Billion by 2030. Lithium is a transformative mineral of high security and strategic importance for Ghana especially in the light of global decarbonization towards green energy. Mr. Koranteng indicated that, MIIF is at an advanced stage in finalising a significant equity investment stake in the Australian and UK listed Atlantic Lithium which is developing the Ewoyaa lithium finds in Ghana. The Ewoyaa project which will be Ghanas first lithium mine operation. It will produce 3.6 million tonnes of spodumene concentrate over a 12-year life with first production targeted for end 2024. The Ewoyaa project has a post-tax net present value (at 8% discount) of $1.5 billion, with free cash flow of $2.4 billion from life of mine revenues of $6.6 billion and an internal rate of return of 105%. MIIF is investing circa $35 Million in the Ewoyaa lithium space with further plan to invest in value addition components such as chemical plants in line with Ghanas proposed Critical Minerals Policy. The Fund will eventually invest in the development of the ceramic sector through the mineral feldspar (by-product of lithium) aimed at supporting strictly Ghanaian offtake and a Ghana ceramics development plan. Formalising the Future of Ghanas Gold and the Creation of a mining financial eco-system The Small Scale Mining Incubation Program (SSMIP) The Small-Scale Mining Incubation Program (SSMIP) is an investment package designed to help support the small-scale gold mining sector. The licensed small-scale sector contributes up to 40% of the total gold output of Ghana and employs more than 10% of the working population. The MIIF Small-Scale Mining Incubation Program is an equity investment in the form of capital support, mining equipment, gold traceability mechanisms, imbuing beneficiary firms with proper corporate governance principles, exacting responsible mining methods to forestall environmental degradation as well as the provision of a ready offtake market through the MIIF Gold Trade Desk for the licensed miners. According to the Chief Technical Officer and Head of Operations at MIIF, Mr Kwabena Barning, This initiative will be the most revolutionary in artisanal mining in Africa. Mr Koranteng emphasized the belief that the SSMIP has the potential to triple the small-scale output which is currently around US$ 2 Billion a year. The objective of the SSMIP is to develop the creation of Ghanaian mid-tier gold mining companies, which would lead to the formalization of the sector with an attendant impact on eradicating illegal mining. In addition, this program plans to move beneficiary companies from their artisanal status to high performing junior mines which can be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. The pilot phase of this project has begun with an initial investment outlay of US$ 30 Million with a plan to cover over 100 companies in the next five years. Developing the capital market In March 2023, MIIF executed an MOU with the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). The MoU was signed with the view to establish a practical framework to set forth the procedures to create an alternative asset class and promote the trade in minerals securities on any of the GSEs markets. In line with this MOU, MIIF shall endeavor to have all investments listed on the GSE. MIIF contributed immensely to having Asante Gold listed on the GSE and is currently working on investments in lithium, an advanced exploratory gold mine, salt and probably Kaolin with the intention to have these listed on the GSE. MIIF Gold backed ETF to be listed on the GSE The Fund is developing a gold backed ETF with the support of the GSE. This will be the second listed ETF after the ABSA South Africa New Gold ETF which has been trading on the GSE. The MIIF gold backed ETF would be a spin off from the incubation program and backed by actual gold. The plan is to list the MIIF ETF in the first quarter of 2024. Capacity Building and Human Resource Development MIIF has developed a corporate social investment policy covering primarily education, health and resource capacity building. In this vein, MIIF is sponsoring the construction of the Technical Building of the University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa. The Technical Building shall also include a jewelry making training center as part of the Funds objective of developing the gold value chain and get Ghana tapping into the US$650 Million global jewelry market. In line with resource development, MIIF from 2024 January will be supporting a women in mining scholarship scheme for less privileged girls from the mining communities seeking to study at UMAT at both undergraduate or post graduate levels. The aim is to support up to 50 girls per cycle from the mining communities. Investing in Local Content The real value in mining according to Mr Koranteng, through which Ghana could transform is for there to be significant Ghanaian equity positions in not only the mining companies but the entire supply chain or value chain. The recent local content directive under LI 2173, 2012 has virtually created a potential $5 Billion dollar economy under which 58 items for mining companies must be sourced locally. These provisions provide opportunities for manufacturing of mining components in Ghana, the creation of an expansive value chain, a complete Ghanaian indigenised mining contracting sector which hitherto was controlled by foreigners. MIIF is developing investment product programs to inject equity in some of the major opportunities such as heavy mining. On the small scale and micro supplies level however, MIIF has injected GHS25 Million into the Injaro Private Equity Fund which provides a conduit to providing debt to the mining SME and Micro level or sector. This arrangement allows MIIF to cover the mining micro supply chain in line with the Presidents vision. MIIF as a lever for long term development The Chairman of MIIF, Prof Douglas Boateng sums it up, Our task is to be generational in our thinking. What we do is not for us. It is for the future of Ghana. In my view, MIIF is only beginning. With the opportunities in the mining sector, the ability of MIIF to continue to invest will create the difference in the future for generations yet unborn. To change the narrative is extremely important and MIIF has created the muscle to drive the narrative that Ghana surely needs. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former Deputy Defence Minister, Major Derrick Oduro (Rtd.), has stated that there is no need for the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, to appear before the ad-hoc parliamentary committee that is investigating his alleged ousting. One of the implicated police officers, COP George Alex Mensah, told the committee that Dr. Dampare was responsible for the recording of the leaked tape and had in his possession, the original copy if the committee needed it. Major Oduro, speaking on Citi Fms Eyewitness News, claimed that there was no need for the IGP to be invited before the committee. He also criticized the decision to broadcast the sittings of the committee, potentially harmful to public security. However, James Agalga, the Vice Chairman of the committee, asserted that, although Bugri Naabu had taken responsibility for the recorded audio, and Alex Mensah had given it a new twist, claiming that the IGP had engineered the conversations recording, the committee might still have to invite the IGP to assist with the ongoing investigation. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Former President John Mahama says December 7, 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary elections is the most critical election since 1992 and may be the last opportunity to restore hope to Ghanaians in constitutional rule. He said Ghana is not immune to the geo- political instability in the sub-region arising from several coup detat occasioned by perceived poor governance and corruption worsening living standards of the people. Mr. Mahama therefore said 2025 when NDC returns to power, it must transform the economic fortunes of the country and create opportunities to inspire hope in constitutional governance. I must say that election 2024 is going to be the most critical election since 1992 or may be in the history of our party. Because as I said earlier it is the last opportunity for us to restore the faith of our people in constitutional government in our country. He continued that Let us not think that we are immune to what is happening in the sub-region. It cannot be business as usual as I said a little while ago. Any new government that takes over on 2025 7th January cannot do business as usual. We must sit up and do what our people expect of us. We must let them understand and let them appreciate that constitutional government can defend their interest, constitutional government can look after their human right, and constitutional government can guarantee that they can express themselves freely, but mostly importantly constitutional governments are able to create the opportunity that make them able to realize their full potential to live in dignity and prosperity. Mahama made these statements when addressing the closing ceremony of 3rd annual Lawyers conference of NDC Lawyers Association via Zoom. He however conceded that it will be a difficult task given the mess caused by the Akufo-Addo led government, however hopeful the next NDC government will deliver. It is going to be an arduous task but we all must sit up and make sure we are able to discharge our responsibilities to our people. I am convinced that NDC will win that election. Mr. Mahama said various works are being done to formulate policies and programs for immediate implementation to hit the ground running in 2025 as soon as NDC assumes office. We must hit the ground running. I am not going to wait until I win the election to start to think about what to do. I know that several dedicated people under Prof. Danso Boafo organization we call the LAB looks at all the various sectors governance, economy, trade, Agriculture, health, education and tourism and comes out with concrete policies we can put in effect as soon as we have taken over to make Ghana the Ghana we want. He called on NDC members to be vigilant in the 2024 elections to secure victory for the party. While we prepare to go into that election, we must be vigilant and alert and indeed more than we were in Assin North. But aside from that, we must keep an eye on what we are going to do as soon as we come to power. He said the legal directorate and NDC Lawyers group are going to be critical towards winning this election. One of the things you need to do is to acquaint yourself with the electoral codes to watch the process to make sure the NDC is represented properly, that you understand the electoral process and that nothing untoward goes on in the polling stations. I believe that it is this end of sacrifice that is required of us so that we can win the election 2024. The prospects look very good for winning 2024 but we cannot rest on our ores. We need to be vigilant. We have an opponent who can take advantage of any list opportunity to manipulate the electoral process and so we need to be on our feet and make sure that we prevent anything like that from happening. Source: starrfm Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video One of the witnesses appearing before the Parliamentary Committee probing the alleged plot to remove the Inspector General of Police from office has said the recording took place on June 19, 2023. Superintendent George L. Asare appearing before the committee on Monday morning [Sept 4] confirmed that the meeting took place at the office of Daniel Bugri Naabu at Osu in Accra. He said it was at the that office that the said meeting between himself [Asare], Bugri Naabu and Commissioner of Police (COP) George Alex Mensah took place during which the said recording was secretly done without they not being aware. He said it was Bugri Naabu who called him to his office for the meeting. Superintendent Asare said the first time he met Bugri Naabu was when his son Prophet Emmanuel took him to his [Naabu's] office at Osu to go and say hello. Bugri Naabu concocted stories against me Supt. Asare Superintendent Asare said Bugri Naabu concocted stories against him [Asare]. He stated that some of the comments attributed to him are the invention of Bugri Naabu and not directly from him. He claimed that he went to Bugri Naabus office on his invitation after the former NPP northern regional chairman informed him that the government was scouting for a new IGP and asked him for recommendations. He added that he made three recommendations to Bugri Naabu, including COP Alex Mensah and COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo Danquah. I went to Mr Naabus office on his invitationafter he told me that the government was looking for a new IGP and asked me for recommendationsI made three recommendations, including COP Alex Mensah, Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah and Christian Tetteh Yuhuno, Supt. Asare said. He also revealed to the Parliamentary Committee that the said meeting which was recorded by Bugri Naabu took place was on June 19, 2023. Supt. Asare is the third witness to appear before the committee. Already, the prime witness, former Northern Regional Chairman of the NPP, Chief Bugri Naabu has been interrogated by the committee. Source: graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Lariba Zuweira Abudu has assured the public that her Ministry will soon remove all beggars and children from the streets. The Minister, speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show Monday morning, expressed worry over the rate at which children and beggars are pouring out in numbers to the streets. She was worried about the dangers involved with them being on the streets and promised her outfit is doing all it can to send these people, most of which are foreigners, back to their various abodes or places of origin. "It's not good," she commented on the influx of these people who accost drivers and pedestrains begging for food and money. She, however, acknowledged the difficulties involved ridding the streets of these people but hinted an inter-ministerial Committee meeting comprising her Ministry, Foreign Affairs and Interior Ministries together with other relevant stakeholders will be held to find a lasting solution to this matter. Nonetheless, she called on the law enforcers to do their job stressing "the law must bite". Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Joan Quaye-Mensah, the CEO of SixJay Homes, a real estate professional, has been recognized for her outstanding contributions towards the growth of the housing industry. She was honored at the 7th edition of the Forty Under 40 Awards, which took place at the De Icon Events Centre in East Legon - Accra. The recognition is for her dedication and hard work in building and advocating for best business practices in the Real Estate industry. Joan Quaye-Mensah after receiving her award, expressed her deepest gratitude to her family, friends, and, most importantly, her valued clients all over the world. She emphasized that this recognition would inspire her brand to maintain its commitment to providing exceptional customer satisfaction and maintaining the highest quality standards. "Indeed, this is a dream come through. I thank God for how far he has brought me and my company. This demonstrates our unwavering focus on meeting and exceeding customer expectations while adhering to rigorous quality standards", she said. About Joan Quaye-Mensah Joan Quaye-Mensah is a renowned Real Estate Professional with over $800,000 worth of property sales within 4 years of professionalism. She is a member of the Accra Ridge Church visitation team which pays regular visits to hospitals and aged to fellowship and give them support. As a member of the Rotary Club of Accra Industrial, she gives generously to support projects for the deprived and vulnerable in the communities. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, and co-Chair of the Forests and Climate Leaders Partnership (FCLP), Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, has pledged Ghanas commitment to providing leadership for nature-based climate action. He said the climate crisis requires collective action from all countries, and Ghana is ready to partner with other nations, both north and south, to promote nature-based climate action. The Minister said this at the launch of the FCLP working group on Strengthening Supply and Demand of High-Integrity Forest Carbon Credits, on the sidelines of the Africa Climate Summit, underway in Nairobi, Kenya. The Summit is one of four regional climate summits to be held ahead of the twenty-eighth Conference of Parties (COP28) of the United Nations Framework on Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Speaking at the launch, which had in attendance the United States Presidential Envoy on Climate and Co-Chair of the FCLP, Secretary John Kerry, Mr. Jinapor said the Africa Climate Summit is timely, and must be an urgent call for all stakeholders to work together to address the climate crisis. He said forests, which contribute a third of global climate solutions, are crucial to attaining the 1.5 degrees Celsius target. The role of preserving, restoring, and sustainably managing our forests has become paramount in our global mission to mitigate the far-reaching impacts of climate change, the Minister said. He said the FCLP is committed to halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030, in accordance with the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use. The Minister announced that a working group, co-led jointly by Ghana, Gabon, Guyana, and the United Kingdom, has been constituted to address High-Integrity Forest Carbon Credit Supply and Demand issues. He said the Group will unveil a roadmap and strategy for fortifying and expanding forest carbon credits by COP28 and COP30, and will include mid-term actions to bolster high-integrity forest carbon finance and the announcement of forest carbon results-based finance transactions. Mr. Jinapor said Ghana will continue to play a lead role in this Group and the broader FCLP, to accelerate nature-based climate action. He called on all nations, and all stakeholders, to join hands with Ghana to usher in a new era of sustainable forest management and climate resilience for global climate action. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Atebubu Amantin Constituency in the Bono East Region, Hon Sanja Nanja has donated 17 sewing machines to apprentices in his constituency. According to the Member of Parliament, his donation forms part of his support to the Youth Apprenticeship programme set up to assist apprentices to commence and maintain their own businesses. He added that this initiative will provide job avenues for the youth in Atebubu-Amantin to address the issue of unemployment. The items worth GHc32,000 was from the MPs share of the Common Fund. Hon Sanja Nanja who made the donation in Atebubu stated that the donation was meant to aid the beneficiaries to expand their businesses. He emphasised that it was important to support and assist the constituents especially the youth with tools and equipment to lead self-supporting lives. He advised the tailors in the constituency to take their businesses seriously by adopting measures to entice more customers and clients to improve livelihoods. The MP, charged the beneficiaries to be obedient and respect their clients so that they could get more customers to make ends meet and lead responsible lives. He also urged them to put the machines into good use and practically apply what they have learnt to make their parents, trainers and themselves proud. The MP said his outfit was working out some supporting packages to assist those who wanted to venture into apprenticeship such as hairdressing, tailoring among others to make them economically independent, adding, Im burnt on seeing these supports given to my constituents, he said. After receiving the items, some of the beneficiaries thanked the honourable legislator for his benevolence. Source: Kwabena Manu/Peace fm/Bono East correspondent. 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 Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II observed the Akwasidae festival at the Manhyia Palace on September 3, 2023. The occasion marked the sixth celebration of the year and attracted a distinguished array of dignitaries, both from within Ghana and abroad. Notably among the attendees were Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Godfred Akolbila, the victor of 'Ghana's Strongest' reality show, and leaders from the US-based Covenant United Church. Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's presence was particularly significant as he is currently a contender in the New Patriotic Party (NPP)'s flagbearership race. During the celebration, he used the opportunity to seek the blessings of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II ahead of the NPP delegate's congress, scheduled for November 4, 2023. He expressed his deep appreciation for the blessings bestowed upon him by Otumfuo during the previous stages of his political journey. He recounted, "I came in peace, and today being Akwasidae, I came for a visit and to celebrate with him (Otumfuo). Again, I came here initially to ask for his blessing when I was going to contest for the flagbearership of the NPP. "He blessed me, and God also blessed his blessing, which materialized for me to win the contest on August 26, 2023." The Vice President further emphasized the significance of the upcoming NPP flagbearership contest, noting that he still needed the blessings of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. He stated, "We have another contest coming again on the 4th of November, where we are going to elect the flagbearer, and I still need his blessing. "So, I came to ask for his blessing and inform him about it, that he may give me his blessings and show me the way to clinch victory. I thank you so much, and may God bless you." See the pictures below: Notable attendees included Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the winner of the reality show 'Ghana's Strongest,' Godfred Akolbila and leaders of US-based Convenant United Church. [ Thread 3/4] pic.twitter.com/AFRXVtjJQr Opemsuo Radio (@OpemsuoRadio) September 3, 2023 This marked the sixth celebration of the year and attracted dignitaries, both local and foreign. [Thread 2/4] pic.twitter.com/YyVgiMJzxz Opemsuo Radio (@OpemsuoRadio) September 3, 2023 Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II observed the Akwasidae festival at the Manhyia Palace on September 3, 2023. [Thread 1/4] pic.twitter.com/O3bZIekbyj Opemsuo Radio (@OpemsuoRadio) September 3, 2023 Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II observed the Akwasidae festival at the Manhyia Palace on September 3, 2023. [Thread 1/4] pic.twitter.com/O3bZIekbyj Opemsuo Radio (@OpemsuoRadio) September 3, 2023 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 National Executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) must state whether it is the official position of the party to pack the courts with pro-NDC judges if the party comes to power as indicated by former President John Dramani Mahama, a former Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Koku Anyidoho has demanded. Koku Anyidoho said Mr Mahamas comment is dangerous and takes Ghana back to the dark days. Mr Mahama had indicated the current constitution of the judiciary is New Patriotic Party-inclined as almost all the appointments made by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo are meant to do his bidding. You can see what the current president has done, the flagbearer of the NDC noted in an address to the 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference of the NDC on Saturday, September 2. He has appointed the biggest number of judges onto the bench, it is more than 80 towards 100 and counting. He has packed the court and we know they have packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office. Mr Mahama, therefore, charged the lawyer members of the NDC to get ready for a balancing-out of this act by the President. We must be prepared as NDC legal persons to also go onto the bench so that we can balance out the judiciary. Currently, the judiciary is packed with NPP-inclined judges because this government has carried out a deliberate policy of putting their people on to the bench. So, I encourage some of you to look at careers on the bench so that we can balance out what the current situation is. But a series of tweets, Mr Anyidoho said It is very scary that the Leader of JJ Rawlings NDC is not telling us how he intends to build a Better Ghana but is gleefully shouting about balancing equation on the Bench. I am really scared!!! I fear for the future of this country if this is the way forward. Source: 3news Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has said that the views of the former Northern Region Chair of the NPP, Bugri Naabu, on national issues cannot be the official position of the governing party. Mr Ahiagbah described Bugri Naabu as a private member of the party whose views cannot be the official position of the corporate NPP. In a tweet reacting to a comment by a Professor at the University of Ghana, Ransford Gyampo who was contributing to a discussion on TV3s Key Points Saturday, September 2 in relation to the leaked tape recorded by Bugri Naabu that captured a plot to oust the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Ahiagbah said This is a small note to straighten my Professor, Ransford Gyampos description of Mr Bugri Naabu on TV3 Point Key. Please Mr. Bugri Naabu is not a functionary of the NPP as claimed. Bugri Naabu is a private member of the NPP and a former Northern Regional Chairman of the party. In other words, his position or view on national issues cannot represent the corporate position or views of the NPP. Meanwhile, Professor Gyampo says it is only a palpable display of mental dementia for anyone to describe the current Inspector General of Police (IGP) as the worst in the history of the Ghana Police Service. For him, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare is doing a good job and we must not sit down when people are beginning to run him down. The sentiments follow a description of the IGP on Friday, September 1 as the worst by the outgoing Director General of Operations of the Service, George Alex Mensah, in his 31-year service. What I said [on Thursday] if you give me the chance today I will say so again, COP Alex Mensah indicated on his second day of appearance before the ad hoc committee investigating the leaked audio recording about the IGP. He is not managing the [Ghana Police] Service well. For me, for the 31 years that I have been in the Service, I can tell you he is the worst IGP we have ever had. It is this that Prof Gyampo disagrees with. I trust in the competence of people like [Builsa North MP James] Agalga and other members of the committee to be interrogating the key issues and I believe that they will be able to do a lot of service to Ghana by coming out with findings and recommendations that will help unravel some of these things saddling the police. But I believe that any description of the current IGP as the worst in 31 years in my view is a palpable display of mental dementia. This is a small note to straighten my Professor, Ransford Gyampo's description of Mr. Bugri Naabu on TV3 Point Key. Please Mr. Bugri Naabu is not a functionary of the NPP as claimed. Bugri Naabu is a private member of the NPP and a former Northern Regional Chairman of the party. Richard Ahiagbah (@RAahiagbah) September 2, 2023 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 Delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ashanti Region are set to enjoy some goodies from flagbearer hopeful, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong. In a viral video sighted by GhanaWeb, some three trucks loaded with bags of rice were seen arriving at the Ashanti Regional campaign office of Kennedy Agyapong. This is for us in Ashanti Region, three trucks. All the trucks you see are filled with rice. This is the campaign office of Honourable Kennedy Agyapong in the Ashanti Region where we are offloading the rice, a man who identified himself as Nana Akufo Addo narrated in the video. In the NPPs August 26, 2023, special delegates election, Kennedy Agyapong came second behind Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia. The elections which had some 10 contenders was held to reduce the number of flagbearer hopefuls to five ahead of the partys main national delegates congress. The NPP on November 4, 2023, will hold its national delegates congress to elect a flagbearer for the 2024 elections. Watch the video below Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video People watch performance at a music festival in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 2, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan) A cyclist takes pictures in front of the train station of Arxan in Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 1, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan) This photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows the scenery of a rainbow in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Lian Zhen) This aerial photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows the scenery of Tianchi (Heavenly Lake) in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Lian Zhen) Villager Dong Yali displays willow wares at Xikou Village in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 2, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) Villagers pack special local products for express deliveries at Xikou Village in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 2, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) A man sings at a night market in downtown Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 31, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) This aerial photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows scenery of the national forest park in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Lian Zhen) Tourists take pictures at a resort in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 1, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan) Tourists watch a float parade at downtown Arxan in Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 1, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) This photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows a sika deer at a deer park in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan) This aerial photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the scenery of Xikou Village in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) The Deputy Director for Special Duties for the National Democratic Congress, Brogya Genfi has admonished the party youth to pray for a resounding victory for the Vice President, Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia in the NPP Presidential Primaries on November 4th 2023. The vibrant youth activist was addressing the party youth in Ejura Sekyeredumase Constituency when he said "... pray for Bawumia to win the NPP Presidential primaries on November 4th because he's the one we are prepared for...". He continued that "...the Vice President has caused more harm to the country but we can be at least benevolent at this point by praying for him to win the primaries. Let us pray he gives Kennedy Agyepong and Co a real showdown." The youth program was attended by some gurus in the party including the Ashanti Regional Chairman and Secretary of the party, the Regional Youth Organizer and Deputy, the National Organizer, Deputy General Secretary and Deputy National Youth Organizer as well as the newly appointed Director for Inter party/CSOs relations. The Member of Parliament for Ejura Sekyeredumase, Hon. Mohammed Bawa Braimah who chaired the program called on the youth to work hard to ensure another term victory for the party in the constituency in 2024. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was at the Manhyia Palace last weekend to celebrate the Akwasidae Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the King of the Asante Kingdom. The event took place on September 3, 2023. Dressed in traditional kente cloth, Dr. Bawumia was accompanied to the Manhyia Palace by a delegation including some party officials. During the event, the Vice President expressed his gratitude for the blessings he received from Otumfuo during the Party's Super Delegates Conference held on August 26. He acknowledged the role Otumfuo's blessings played in his victory during the conference. "I came in peace, and today being Akwasidae, I came for a visit and to celebrate with him (Otumfuo). Again, I came here initially to ask for his blessing when I was going to contest for the flagbearership of the NPP. He blessed me, and God also blessed his blessing, which materialized for me to win the contest on August 26, 2023." The Vice President emphasized that his journey was not merely one of gratitude. He conveyed his need for Otumfuo's continued blessings and prayers as he prepares for the final stage of the NPP's presidential elections, where he will face four other candidates. "We have another contest coming again on the 4th of November, where we are going to elect the flagbearer, and I still need his blessing. So, I came to ask for his blessing and inform him about it, that he may give me his blessings and show me the way to clinch victory. I thank you so much, and may God bless you." During the NPP super delegates election held on August 26, 2023, Bawumia garnered 629 votes representing 68.15 percent of the total votes cast. In second place was Assin Central lawmaker, Kennedy Agyapong who polled 132 votes representing 14.30 percent while Alan Kyerematen polled 95 votes representing 10.29 percent. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto secured the fourth spot with 36 votes representing 3.90%. The final round, slated for November this year, will determine the substantive candidate of the NPP for the presidential election ahead of the 2024 general elections. The incorruptible @MBawumia joined Asenteman to celebrate with Otumfuo at Akwasidae. Asenteman loves Bawumia pic.twitter.com/85ccIgKEC9 Abdul Rauf Ibrahim (@AbdulRaufIbra20) September 3, 2023 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 Nkrabea Effah ffah Dartey, has voiced skepticism about New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer hopeful Alan Kyerematen's prospects in the NPP upcoming delegates congress. Speaking in an interview on Neat FM on September 1, 2023, he expressed surprise that Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central beat Alan in the super delegates contest. I predicted Bawumia to win, followed by Alan Kyerematen, Kennedy Agyapong, and Dr. Afriyie Akoto. "However, the manner in which Kennedy defeated Alan Kyerematen surprised me. To be honest, I was shocked, but after doing some analysis, I realized Kennedy Agyapong is the one to watch since he tried to act like the Donald Trump of Ghana. "Unfortunately, it appears that Alan Kyerematen, because he has contested for the past 20 years, it appears his time is over, this is the way I look at it, he said. He argued that Agyapong's victory was even more unexpected considering him being a first-time contender in the race. He added "Apart from Alhaji Bawumia, the next choice is Kennedy Agyapong because he beat Alan with over 30 votes, but Alan previously was considered the heir apparent, he went to greet Otumfuo and the other traditional councils, he created an impression that he was the NPP incoming president but Alhaji Bawumia has beaten him and Kennedy Agyapong, first timer has beaten him, so, right now the question is, who is Alan Kyerematen representing? "That is why, based on the dynamics, I will be very surprised if Alan wins the November 4 election." During the NPP super delegates election held on August 26, 2023, Bawumia garnered 629 votes representing 68.15 percent of the total votes cast. In second place was Assin Central lawmaker, Kennedy Agyapong who polled 132 votes representing 14.30 percent while Alan Kyerematen polled 95 votes representing 10.29 percent. This round of voting reduced the pool of contenders from 10 to five. The final round, slated for November this year, will determine the substantive candidate of the NPP for the presidential election ahead of the 2024 general elections. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Minority caucus in parliament has filed its affidavit to oppose the Greater Accra Regional Police Commands injunction application against their planned protest against the Bank of Ghana Governor and his deputies. The affidavit was filed by their lawyers on Friday, September 1, at the registry of the Accra High Court. The Greater Accra Regional Police Command on Wednesday filed for an injunction against the Minoritys proposed routes for the protest. The NDC MPs are seeking to march on Tuesday, September 5, from Makola, through Rawlings Park and Opera Square to the frontage of the Bank of Ghana. The march is aimed at getting the Bank of Ghana Governor and his two deputies to resign from office due to the over GH60.8 billion losses the central bank recorded in 2022. However, the police argue that the route is often overcrowded with human and vehicular traffic, thus going by that route could endanger public order, public safety and the running of essential services. They had proposed an alternate route starting from Parliament House through the Osu Cemetery Traffic Light to end at Independence Square, which the Minority rejected. The injunction, which will be heard on September 4 is to prevent the Minority from using their preferred route. Already, the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has slammed the police for the move. He described the police action as a breach of trust and expressed utter disappointment in their conduct. We received a letter on Wednesday from the Ghana Police Service accompanied by a bailiff from the Accra High Court who served a notice or motion for an order to prohibit our Bank of Ghana protest, and we must say that we are very disappointed with this development which is an attempt to scatter the protest which is intended to hold the Governor and his deputies accountable for their mismanagement of the bank which resulted in an unprecedented and colossal loss of GH60.8 billion, an amount which has had serious consequences on the economy and pushed close to one million Ghanaians into poverty. And let us assure the people of Ghana that, as representatives, we will keep our sacred duty and we will uphold the public interest in line with our constitutionally guaranteed right to publicly protest, and we want to assure the people of Ghana that we have resolved to embark on this protest and nothing will stop us he noted. Speaking in an interview in Accra, the Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga insisted that their demonstration poses no security threat to the public. He added that the police has demonstrated bad faith as they have been engaging them throughout their plan for the protest. A very good law can be used injuriously by very bad people. The Public Order Act as the name suggest is to ensure public order, but please you need to establish that there is a real threat and this is a protest march that we have not heard one single Ghanaian say that they are going to challenge the protesters with a counter demonstration, so there is really no threat he emphasized. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Dr. Clement Apaak, a member of Parliament for Builsa South, has defended former President John Dramanis comments about President Akufo-Addos cronies in the judiciary. The MP asserts that the former president and presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) stated the truth. NDC presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of deliberately appointing cronies to the judiciary, claiming that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has deliberately appointed the most judges to ensure his bidding is carried out when he is out of office. The president acted in this way to avoid accountability for the corruption that has plagued his administration, Mr. Mahama said. Addressing the closing ceremony of the 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Saturday, September 2, Mr. Mahama said Currently, the judiciary is packed with NPP-inclined judges because this government has carried out a deliberate policy of putting their people onto the bench. He has appointed the biggest number of judges onto the bench, it is more than 80 towards 100 and counting. You can see what the current president has done. He has packed the court, and we know they have packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office. To address this challenge, he has asked members to take up careers on the bench to balance out the judiciary. So, I encourage some of you to look at careers on the bench so that we can balance out what the current situation is. We must be prepared as NDC legal persons to also go onto the bench so that we can balance out the judiciary, he urged. Dr. Apaak defended the former presidents comments, stating that Ghanas democracy is on the verge of collapse due to the mismanagement and incompetence of the current administration. He acknowledged the accuracy of the comments. He criticized those who disagree with his comments as hypocrites, stating that such individuals will continue to face challenges under this administration. He affirmed that the President has appointed card-bearing members to the bench, which poses a threat to our democracy. Nothing wrong with the comments made by JM regarding the current state of our judiciary. Is it not a fact that NADAA has packed the bench; appointed card carrying NPP members as judges? Until the hypocrisy stops our democracy will continue to be on the brink of collapse. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The disability clause of the 25th Amendment has been invoked multiple times since ratification. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan invoked it during medical procedures, though it was never used when Reagan was shot in 1981. However, Section 4 has never been invoked to remove a president from office. John Hudak, deputy director for Center for Effective Public Management and senior fellow for governance studies at the Brookings Institute writes that the process "is more difficult than impeachment and is reserved only for truly unique and dire circumstances." Advertisement Concerns for implementing the 25th Amendment were raised again after a violent pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to protest a joint session of Congress to certify Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' electoral vote. The violence forced both chambers of Congress to go into recess. Four people died. This was the first time in American history that the U.S. Capitol was overrun by its own citizens. In 1814, the British attacked and burned the Capitol during the War of 1812. More than 1,100 members of the D.C. National Guard had to be mobilized to support the local D.C. police. However, it was Vice President Pence, not Trump, who fully activated the D.C. National Guard, according to a press statement from acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller. Trump's lack of response to the violence, and the taunting nature of some of Trump's tweets on Jan. 6 both before and after the rioters stormed the Capitol set off alarm bells once again about his mental stability. Twitter locked down Trump's account for 12 hours, saying they violated its Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies. Several Democratic leaders, including presumptive Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have said publicly they think Trump should be removed before the Jan. 20, 2021 inauguration. "The quickest and most effective way it can be done today to remove this president from office would be for the vice president to immediately invoke the 25th amendment," Schumer said. "If the vice president and the cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president." Republican leaders have called for it as well, including Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois who said "It's time to invoke the 25th Amendment and end this nightmare," in a video he published online. Kinzinger called on Vice President Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to ensure "we have a sane captain of the ship" because Trump has become "unmoored not just from his duty or even his oath, but from reality itself." But because the majority of Trump's Cabinet would need to support the president's removal, many speculate the invocation of the amendment this late in the Trump presidency isn't realistic at all. Now That's Interesting Four vice presidents have inherited office due to the president dying of natural causes: John Tyler, for William Henry Harrison in 1841; Millard Fillmore, for Zachary Taylor in 1850; Calvin Coolidge, for Warren Harding in 1923; and Harry Truman, for Franklin Roosevelt in 1945. Four vice presidents took office after the president was assassinated: Andrew Johnson, for Abraham Lincoln in 1865; Chester Arthur, for James Garfield in 1881; Theodore Roosevelt, for William McKinley in 1901; and Lyndon Johnson, for John F. Kennedy in 1963. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Repeat victims of violence do not report to the police, even in cases involving serious injury and hospitalization, a new study has found. Researchers based at the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) discovered that those experiencing repeat violence do not seek support due to a mistrust of authorities, social rules around 'no grassing' and the risks associated with identifying as a victim. Official crime statistics have shown more than half the victims of violence in Scotland do not report it to the police, which means little is known about this group's experiences. The study, which is the first of its kind in Scotland, featured 95 in-depth interviews with people who have experienced repeat violence and community workers who support them. Participants were mainly recruited from anonymized urban, town and rural locations with high levels of deprivation and violence. Dr. Susan A. Batchelor, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow, and co-author of the study, said, "It is well established that violence is underreported to the police, especially in under-resourced communities and among marginalized groups, who experience higher levels of victimization." "Our research provides insight from people who are not counted in official statistics, giving us a unique insight into the meaning and impact of repeat violence. Many of those we spoke to described having become accustomed to the continuous threat of violence and of having to cope on their own because they could not access formal support." Most of the people who participated in the research had multiple experiences of violent victimization across the life course. As well as experiencing violence as children within the family home and as young people within the community, many had been on the receiving end of violence within institutional settings, including children's homes, schools, prisons, and homeless hostels and hotels. These experiences contributed to a sense that the world was a dangerous place, where you could not rely on others, including the authorities. As Dr. Batchelor explained, "There was a deep sense of resignation about the inevitability of violence among the people we interviewed because their repeated experiences of trauma and harm had left them feeling like nobody cares, and no one is coming to help. The very small number of participants who had an experience of reporting victimization to the police or another authority felt disbelieved or discreditedand this was often linked to their status as 'homeless', 'a drug user', or 'an ex-offender'." The research found that people belonging to marginalized groups can get caught up in a vicious circle of victimization, disadvantage, and further victimization. "Participants told us about leaving home to escape domestic violence or drug-related exploitation. Finding themselves homeless, they were then placed in emergency accommodation in areas characterized by concentrated disadvantage, increasing their exposure to violence. Yet they often felt unable to report victimization in this context, due to social rules around 'no grassing' and/or fear of retaliation. Some were even excluded from victim support services because of their accommodation or substance use status. Isolation meant that drug and alcohol use was a common coping mechanism," said Dr. Batchelor. Co-author Dr. Caitlin Gormley, a lecturer at the University of Glasgow, said the social pressures on men to be tough meant violence was almost expected of them. She said, "Young men, especially in deprived communities, are often under chronic pressure to live up to hyper-masculine ideas of 'the hardman' and 'protector' which means they can find themselves in dangerous situations, increasing their likelihood of becoming victims of violence. Yet men receive less recognition as victims and there is a lack of services targeted to their needs." In the report's recommendations, the researchers suggest communities could play a critical future role in preventing violence. Dr. Gormley said, "We have seen the benefits of taking a public health approach to violence prevention in Scotland and need to continue to develop community resources. Our findings also point to the value of community policing presence." "Histories of marginalization are associated with a lack of trust in state institutions which contributes to a culture of self-reliance, reluctance to engage with justice services, and further social isolation. The people we spoke to had a strong preference for informal resolutions and for local, peer-led, support. More sustainable funding for grassroots community projects that promote strong participation, led by people with lived experience, could be the key to ensuring these hidden groups are not only seen but are engaged in getting the support that they want." This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Buddhism may lead to spiritual enlightenment and a relaxed mind and body, but new research shows it helps entrepreneurs beat competitors in the fast-paced world of business. The study surveyed 331 entrepreneurs in Thailand and Taiwan, who were asked to fill out a questionnaire on their entrepreneurial orientation, religious commitment, and stress tolerance. Three researchers, from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, found that the entrepreneurial orientation among Buddhists was higher than for non-Buddhists, reaching an average of 74 out of possible 100, with non-Buddhists scoring 71. Professor Yu-Yu Chang, Ph.D. candidate Huei-Ying Chen and Natcha Saeyun also found that devout Buddhists had a 4% higher level of tolerance to stress, something entrepreneurs are often subject to, than non-Buddhist entrepreneurs. Chen told the British Academy of Management conference at the University of Sussex that "surprisingly little entrepreneurship research has probed into how entrepreneurs' behavior is driven by their religious beliefs. "We discovered that entrepreneurs who apply the Buddhism perspective embrace a wider sight of opportunities through mindfulness and awareness. The more religious commitment that entrepreneur has, the more entrepreneurial orientation they display. "Buddhism is generally described as a path to liberation through practicing moral virtues, toughening willpower and sharpening wisdom. The Buddhist philosophy seeks to help the believer grasp the essence of objective reality and so helps entrepreneurs to analyze and make decisions. "The self-improvement, self-discipline and social responsibility which Buddhism teaches lead to social and economic profit and affect entrepreneurs' mental well-being." Its teaching about the impermanence of life was useful for entrepreneurs who had to deal with changing market conditions, she said. "Entrepreneurs must manage unexpected things to survive and thrive. The impermanence approach pushes businesses to proactively explore business development and industry trends, and adjust to keep up with new innovations that occur. "Buddhist philosophy and values also allow entrepreneurs to cope with stress in environments associated with high uncertainty and pressure. Entrepreneurs who are innovative, proactive and risk-taking are likely to achieve product creativity through enduring stress well." The research involved entrepreneurs and business owners in Taiwan and Thailand because Buddhism is the major religion in the countries. The entrepreneurs were asked to assess numerically how much they agreed with statements including "changes in product or service lines have usually been dramatic in my firm"; "I actively introduce improvements and innovations in my business"; "I emphasize both exploration and experimentation for opportunities"; "people in my firm are encouraged to take calculated risks with new ideas"; "in dealing with competitors, my firm adopts a very competitive undo-the-competitors posture"; "I initiate actions to which other organizations respond." Stress tolerance was measured with statements such as "I cannot handle the stress that comes from entering uncertain situations." Provided by British Academy of Management This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain China's outrage over Japan's release of treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has dimmed prospects for improved ties when top officials of the two countries meet this week. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the Asean summit in Jakarta in what could have been a chance to stabilize relations. Instead, Li might use the meeting with Southeast Asia nations and South Korea as an opportunity to berate Kishida in front of regional dignitaries. Beijing has been the most vocal opponent to Japan's move to discharge treated radioactive water into the ocean. Even though scientists, including at least one from China who contributed to an International Atomic Energy Agency-led review of the plan, have said the release will have a negligible impact on people and the environment, the backlash was immediate and extreme. The government banned all Japanese seafood imports, prompting Tokyo to threaten World Trade Organization action. State media dialed up criticisms of the move. People called for boycotts of Japanese products. The Japanese embassy, consulates and schools in China were pelted with eggs and stones. With the Asean summit starting Tuesday, Beijing may seize the chance to push back against Tokyo's increasingly cozy ties with Washington and Seoul. U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a three-way summit with Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in August that left China increasingly isolated. "Anything that China can do to sow division between Japan and its regional partners, it will do," said Bates Gill, executive director of the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis. Fraught relations between China and Japan have laid the groundwork for public mistrust of the water release. Chinese state media promoted cartoons, including one that depicts a monster rising from the ocean apparently spawned by radiation. Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of Global Times, posted a clip from The Simpsons on his X account showing a three-eyed fish. "The disinformation campaign around the water release has geopolitical context," said Hamsini Hariharan, a China-focused researcher at Logically, a company that provides fact-checking services using AI. "This is part of a larger campaign to point out how the U.S. and its allies are failing the world and people across the world," Hariharan said. "It's definitely to discredit Japan but is part of larger foreign policy goal that China has." The Chinese government has repeatedly said Japan failed to prove the release is safe and harmless to people and the environment. By dumping the water, Japan is spreading the risk to the rest of the world, according to Beijing. The incident may also be a useful distraction from China's own problems. The world's second-biggest economy is slowing, debt is rising, the property market is in the doldrums and youth unemployment has soared to a record. "Domestically, I think that China's playing a diversionary strategy," said Yinan He, an associate professor in the Department of International Relations at Lehigh University. "This is a good opportunity for the government to divert public attention away from domestic problems to Japan." How far it will affect Japan's economy remains to be seen. Fisheries exports make up a tiny proportion of Japan's gross domestic product. Ill feeling could hamper an anticipated increase in Chinese tourism to Japan, although such downturns have in the past been short-lived, Bloomberg Economics said. Relations between the two Asian giants hit their lowest point in decades in 2012 due to a territorial dispute over a group of islands in the East China Sea. It took former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe almost two years to secure a meeting with President Xi Jinping from which point ties gradually warmed. Kishida himself scored a formal meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Bangkok in November last year, at which the two leaders asserted their desire to improve relations. There are signs China wants to work on ties. Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his South Korean counterpart that he supports Seoul's efforts to resume three-way summits that include Japan. China and South Korea exchanged views on Japan's wastewater discharge, Beijing said in a statement late Thursday. China and Japan are engaged in a "quarrel," said Alfred Wu, associate professor at the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He doesn't expect things to become as bad as 2012 when there were mass protests, but doesn't see a swift resolution either. "It'll take time to go back to normal," he said. "It'll take weeks, months or even more. Then the China side will gradually cool down." 2023 Bloomberg News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A world photographed in Kuhmo in northeastern Finland. Brussels launched a review Monday of laws protecting wolves from hunters and farmers, as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen argued that packs threaten livestock and perhaps even people. Wolves were once hunted to near extinction in Europe, but in the 1950s countries began granting them protected status. Now populations are growing in several regions. "The concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger for livestock and potentially also for humans," von der Leyen said. The president of the European Commission has personal experience of the alleged threat posed by wolves. In September last year, a wolf crept into a paddock on the family's rural property in northern Germany and killed her beloved elderly pony Dolly. Conservationists, however, have hailed the return of healthier wolf populations to Europe's mountains and forests, seeing the large predator as part of the natural food chain. Under the EU Habitat Directive, first adopted in 1992, the wolf enjoys protected status. But local and national exceptions to the law are possible, and von der Leyen urged "authorities to take action where necessary", adding: "Indeed, current EU legislation already enables them to do so." Her statement urged local communities, scientists and officials to submit data on wolf numbers and their impact to a European Commission email address by September 22. Map of Europe showing areas where the gray wolf is present. Using this information, the commission will then decide how to modify wolf protection laws "to introduce, where necessary, further flexibility". The European Commission's announcement received angry comments from animal lovers on social media, many pointing out there have been no fatal attacks on humans by wolves in Europe for decades. 'Brave and clear' But major European member state governments are thinking along the same lines as Brusselsas are some political parties keen to court rural voters angered by environmental protection laws. German environment minister Steffi Lemke plans to put forward proposals to make it easier to shoot wolves that have attacked livestock. "The shooting of wolves after their attacks must be made possible more swiftly and unbureaucratically," Lemke told Welt daily, adding that she will present her plans at the end of September. "It is a tragedy for every livestock farmer and a great burden for those affected when dozens of sheep that have been ripped apart are lying on the pasture," said the Green Party politician. French agriculture minister Marc Fesneau thanked von der Leyen for taking a "brave and clear" stance on the issue, urging European authorities to "advance with pragmatism". While the rules had been introduced to protect an endangered species, he said, "now it is the farmers and their business that are in danger". 2023 AFP TEHRAN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Monday blamed Western states' "miscalculations about the riots in Iran" for the failure to conclude talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal in September last year. At a weekly press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the final draft resolution of the talks was ready to be concluded in September 2022 to prepare the ground for all sides' return to the deal, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported. However, the United States and its European partners "had miscalculations after the unrest in Iran and invested in the riots ... and lost the opportunity (to reach an agreement) by foot-dragging and refraining from concluding the negotiations," he said. In response to a question about the likelihood that the European Union would refuse to cooperate regarding the lifting of the restrictions on Iran's missile program based on the "sunset clause" of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Kanaani said Tehran will take corresponding measures based on the other side's actions. While the Iranian administration will remain committed to the diplomatic process to remove the sanctions, it will at the same time pursue the "neutralization" of the embargoes, said the spokesman, adding the Islamic republic has managed to export its oil to global markets and maintain its relations with friendly countries despite the sanctions. Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the deal. The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria. No breakthrough has been achieved after the latest round of talks in August 2022. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain It seems intuitive that forests would provide better habitat for forest-dwelling wildlife than farms. Yet, in one of the longest-running studies of tropical wildlife populations in the world, Stanford researchers found that over 18 years, smaller farms with varying crop typesinterspersed with patches or ribbons of forestsustain many forest-dependent bird populations in Costa Rica, even as populations decline in forests. In a paper published Sept. 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nicholas Hendershot and colleagues compared trends in specific bird populations across three landscape types in Costa Rica: forests, diversified farms, and intensive agriculture. The steepest declines were found in forests, then in intensive agriculture (and the species succeeding in intensive agriculture were often invasive). But on diversified farms, a significant subset of bird species typically found in forests, including some of conservation concern, actually increased over time. "Birds are kind of a proxy we use to track the health of ecosystems. And the birds we're seeing today aren't the same as we saw 18 to 20 years ago. This paper really documents this pattern," said Hendershot, a postdoctoral fellow at the time of this research in Stanford's Department of Biology in the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S), the Stanford Center for Conservation Biology (CCB), and the Stanford-based Natural Capital Project (NatCap). Food security at stake While this research implies that diversified farming could be key for biodiversity, the relationship goes both ways: biodiversity is key for food security. In this case, that means having a variety of types of birds feeding on insects and helping to pollinate crops. "Identity does seem to matter a lot for pest control and other ecosystem services birds provide. These species are not interchangeable," said Hendershot. "We need a constant stream of pollinators servicing farms. About three-quarters of the world's crops require pollinators to some extent, and that 75% is our most nutritious foodthink of all the vitamins and minerals packed into fruits, nuts, and veggies," explained Gretchen Daily, faculty director of NatCap and CCB, Bing Professor of Environmental Science in H&S, and a senior author on the paper. "We need a constant stream of birds, bats, and other wildlife to help control pests: they suppress the vast majority naturally. And we need to start building flood protection, water purification, carbon storage, and many other vital benefits back into agricultural landscapes, way beyond what can be achieved in protected areas alone." Daily also noted that, in terms of food production, diversified farms are not necessarily lower yielding than intensive agriculture. "This is a recent assumption that is being overturned," she said. Beyond protected areas It has become increasingly apparent around the world that while protected areas remain critical, they are too few and far between to provide the ecosystem services people and nature need to thrive. Working landscapes are crucial now for preserving biodiversity and its benefits. "People, including scientists, had the idea that farmland would not support a meaningful amount of biodiversity," said Daily. In this case, not only are diversified farms themselves providing habitat, they connect otherwise fragmented forested areas. Over time, Hendershot said, "I have moved away from the 'fortress conservation' model, which focused more on creating protected areas separate from human activities, and see more and more how much potential there is outside of forests. The forests are keywe need them, of course. But in addition to that, I'm always surprised by how important 'how' you manage a farm is for biodiversity." "We believe the findings of our research are new to science, but in a sense, it merely confirms what Indigenous communities around the world have already known for a long time, which is that humans can and should have reciprocal relationships with the rest of the local ecological community they are part of," said Tadashi Fukami, a professor of biology in H&S and of Earth system science in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and a co-author of the paper. Incentivizing farmers In the 1980s and 90s, deforestation was occurring in Costa Rica at the fastest rate ever seen on a country scale. Then, they turned it aroundbecoming a renowned model of success. By setting up the world's first countrywide payment for ecosystem services (PES) program, Costa Rica reversed this trend: today, forests cover almost 60% of its land, up from 40% in 1987. The country currently aims to double the amount of protected forest in just a few years. In its existing PES program, any landowner can receive money for reforesting even small parts of their land. Now, the government is also working toward a new PES program to incentivize farmers to adopt best management practices. This study will help inform Costa Rican policymakers in understanding the benefits provided over time by different farming practices. Said Daily, "We need to recognize the vital work many farmers are doing that supports biodiversity." Nicholas Hendershot was a postdoctoral researcher with the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford and is now a forest ecologist with The Nature Conservancy-California. Gretchen Daily is also a senior fellow in the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Other co-authors on the paper are Alejandra Echeverri, a senior scientist at the Natural Capital Project, Luke Frishkoff of the University of Texas at Arlington, and prominent Costa Rican ornithologist Jim Zook. 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: California's giant sequoia are adapted to fire, with thick bark that protects the living tree from flames. When ferocious wildfires tore through California's prized giant sequoia forests, they killed towering trees that have lived there for thousands of yearsand perhaps changed the nature of the groves forever. Now the US National Park Service (NPS) wants to give Mother Nature a helping hand, planting lab-grown seedlings it says will kick-start the return of these magnificent stands. "The goal is to reestablish enough sequoias in the first few years after fire so that we have trees 60, 100, 400 years from now," says Christy Brigham, chief of resources management and science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Giant sequoias are truly impressiveso disproportionately huge they look like holdouts from the age of the dinosaurs. The biggest rise taller than 300 feet (90 meters) with trunks almost 30 feet in diameter; the oldest sprouted more than 3,200 years ago. Once widespread, they are now only found in a narrow range in California. Climate change and fire suppression "When you see a sequoia, they're these huge, quirky, broken old things, and you recognize them as an individual that's lived a really long time," Brigham told AFP in the heart of California's Redwood Mountain Grove. "That helps us think about long timescales when we're thinking about our actions, things like climate change and forest management." Giant sequoias can be 300 feet (90 meters) tall, with 30-foot diameter trunks. It's these two issues that have combined to bring the sequoias to their current pass. Decades of well-intentioned fire-suppression policies have left many sequoia groves stuffed with unburned smaller trees and shrubs. When human-caused climate change supercharged a drought last decade, this greenery dried out, becoming a tinderbox ready to explode. Giant sequoia need fire to reproducethe flames clear and nourish the soil, making it ready to receive the seeds the heat has prised out of their cones. But, the NPS says, the fires of 2020 and 2021 were just too much, killing as many as 14,000 adult treesup to a fifth of all the specimens on the planet. Dead, blackened spires "What we saw in those groves is that the fire just roared in there," says Brigham. "It got into the canopy of the sequoias, and torched these trees that are 200 feet tall, which we've never seen before." US National Park Service scientists Christy Brigham and Andrew Bishop say parts of some groves do not have enough live reproductive giant sequoias to survive. Instead of the thriving scenes of rebirth they had hoped for, forest managers who ventured into the groves found mostly dead, blackened spires. "We saw very few cones and we saw almost no seedlings, which is unheard of," says Brigham. The situation is so bad in six groves in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks that there aren't enough living trees or viable seedlings to keep the population going, the NPS says. They fear that without help, these spaces could be taken over by shrubs and faster-growing pines and oaks. The plan, which Brigham and her colleagues hope will be given the green light in October, is to plant hundreds of cultivated seedlings per acre (hectare). Work crews will be trekking in on mules or using helicopters to drop off supplies, in a $4.4 million project that envisages several years of planting and decades of monitoring. As fire tore through California's sequoia groves in 2021, the General Sherman -- perhaps the most famous example of the tree -- was wrapped in protective material in a successful effort to shield it from the flames. Andrew Bishop, a restoration ecologist at the NPS, says two or three years on from the fires there are some self-seeded plants, but nowhere near enough. "The critical concern is, we are standing in the middle of a 400-acre block of high severity fire, and we have no living reproductive giant sequoias. "When there are future fires, there's not a chance, there's no insurance policy. "These groves are not going to recover without restoration." 'Serious risks' Not everyone agrees. "These groves do not need to be planted, and there are serious downsides and risks to planting," says Chad Hanson, a research ecologist and the director of the John Muir Project, an environmental campaign group. Hanson and his team of researchers say the NPS has undercounted the number of natural seedlings, in some cases by thousands per acre. The US National Park Service says many of the trees in some sections of California's Redwood Mountain Grove are completely dead. "There are so many sequoia seedlings in these high intensity fire patches that it's hard to walk," he said. Sending in large teams of workers and mules would likely result in crushing the self-seeded plants. "They're probably going to kill a lot more than they even plan to plant." Nursery-grown seedlings also bring with them the risk of root pathogens the groves have never seen before, says Hanson, which could compromise the health of reproductive adult trees. And if the replanting program doesn't work the way the NPS envisages, Hanson fears authorities will propose ever-more aggressive interventions. "That may include what they call thinningwhich in most cases is a euphemism for some type of loggingand spraying herbicides and then planting again," he said. None of which should be happening in a wilderness, where the most complete and fully functioning ecosystems are found. Fire is necessary for giant sequoias, partly because it opens up their cones and frees the seeds inside. Giant sequoia seeds are about the size of oat flakes. Seedlings survive best when fire has cleared the forest floor of duff, and the ash from the flames has nourished the soil. US National Park Service scientist Christy Brigham says human activity has already altered the wilderness -- and some giant sequoia groves need help to recover if they are going to continue to thrive. "When humans intervene, we are rarely very helpful, even when we say we're going to be helpful," he said. But for Brigham, at the NPS, the idea that this wilderness is untouched is itself fallacious. Fire suppression over the last few decades left fuel that shouldn't be there, and human activity is making the planet hotter, altering the forest's ecosystem. "Those two things together mean that we've already affected this wilderness area," she says. "It's not nature doing its own thing without people, and it's had a result here that if we do not intervene, we will lose portions of this forest." 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: Prediction visualization shows relative sparsity of middle-yielding conditions. Progression of modeling during the experimental campaign showed reactivity cliff prediction improving. Credit: Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adg2114 In the past two decades, the carbon-nitrogen bond forming reaction, known as the Buchwald-Hartwig reaction, has become one of the most widely used tools in organic synthesis, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry given the prevalence of nitrogen in natural products and pharmaceuticals. This powerful reaction has revolutionized the way nitrogen-containing compounds are made in academic and industrial laboratories, but it requires lengthy, time-consuming experimentation to determine the best conditions for a highly effective reaction. Now, Illinois researchers in collaboration with chemists at Hoffman La-Roche, a pharmaceutical company in Switzerland, have developed a machine learning tool that predicts in a matter of minutes the best conditions for a high-yielding reaction with no lengthy experimentation. In a recently published article in Science, Illinois chemistry professor Scott Denmark and Ian Rinehart, a recent Ph.D. graduate in the Denmark lab, describe how they developed, trained, and tested their machine learning model to drastically accelerate the identification of substrate-adaptive conditions for this palladiumcatalyzed carbon-nitrogen bond forming reaction. Denmark said this reaction is a very general transformation so there is much structural diversity among reactant pairings and a lot of "levers to pull" to make it work. "And that's what we have figured out," Denmark said. Ian Rinehart, left, and Professor Scott Denmark. Credit: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign User guides and cheat sheets have evolved in the nearly 30 years since this reaction was discovered, and they can provide some direction, Rinehart explained, but experimentation is often necessary. Basically, a trial-and-error process in a lab. "It's a problem that everyone in the pharmaceutical industry recognized was ripe for intervention by informatics methods," Denmark said. "Lots of people have tried to use the US Patent and Trademark Office or Chemical Abstracts or other huge databases to try to model to make predictive tools for this one very important reaction. But they haven't been able to do very well because the information in the literature is just not very reliable." The design and construction of their machine learning tool required the generation of an experimental dataset that explores a diverse network of reactant pairings across a set of reaction conditions. A large scope of CN couplings was actively learned by neural network models by using a systematic process to design experiments. The challenge for a project like this, Denmark said, was the amount of potential data to collect and the thousands and thousands of experiments required to build a database of information for modeling. "One of Ian's biggest contributions was figuring out the workflow to decide what experiments to do to get a valid predictive model with about 3,500 experiments and still be able to make predictions without an enormous database," Denmark said. They also experimentally validated the predictions from the machine learning tool. "We tested them and found with pretty good statistics that the conditions were producing compounds when we expected," Denmark said. The researchers report that their models showed good performance in experimental validation: Ten products were isolated in more than 85% yield from a range of couplings with out-of-sample reactants designed to challenge the models. Rinehart said they taught machine learning models to have a kind of chemical intuition like what an expert has. "So, we have now run or talked about so many of these couplings that we have a good intuition about what's going to happen, but someone who hadn't run hundreds or thousands of these might not have a good first guess. We have taught a model at a much more granular level [than user guides] to have an intuition. It's not perfect. But that's kind of the point. It doesn't have to be. It just has to get you to the answer faster," Rinehart said. And the coolest part, Rinehart explained, is that intuition gets honed over time as more people use the machine learning tool. The developed workflow continually improves the prediction capability of the tool as the corpus of data grows. "It's an exciting time as data science merges with chemistry," Denmark said. "And this is the perfect marriage. A lot of people recognized this, but no one has done it, at least not in a meaningful way that is experimentally validated." The Denmark group is creating a cloud-based version of the workflow to enable scientists around the world to use this tool which will continuously add data to improve the model as more structurally diverse substrates are tested and different catalysts and conditions are added to the database. Rinehart said the code is public and on an open-source license, so anyone can download and use it. Also, he is currently working on a more user-friendly interface that will allow someone to draw the two molecules they want to react, copy and paste them into the program, and get predictions in minutes instead of hours, depending on the complexity of the molecules. "I think it's really exciting to do something like that," Rinehart said. "We don't often publish a paper and put out a tool in the public domain that people can use in the field. People in academic labs like ours could use this tool and get an answer faster in their own research." More information: N. Ian Rinehart et al, A machine-learning tool to predict substrate-adaptive conditions for Pd-catalyzed CN couplings, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adg2114 Journal information: Science This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: XRISM spacecraft. Credit: JAXA The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) is ready to launch on 7 September 2023 to observe the most energetic objects and events in the cosmos. In doing so, it will unveil the evolution of the universe and the structure of spacetime. XRISM is a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA, with significant participation from ESA. The launch will be streamed live in Japanese and English on JAXA's YouTube channel. In return for providing hardware and scientific advice, ESA will be allocated 8% of XRISM's available observing time. This will enable European scientists to propose celestial sources to observe in X-ray light and make breakthroughs in this area of astronomy. "X-ray astronomy enables us to study the most energetic phenomena in the universe. It holds the key to answering important questions in modern astrophysics: how the largest structures in the universe evolve, how the matter we are ultimately composed of was distributed through the cosmos, and how galaxies are shaped by massive black holes at their centers," says Matteo Guainazzi, ESA project scientist for XRISM. "XRISM will be a valuable bridge between ESA's other X-ray missions: XMM-Newton, which is still going strong after 24 years in space, and Athena, which is due to launch in the late 2030s." Unveiling the hot and energetic universe When we look up at the sky we see stars and galaxies, but these tell us relatively little about the workings of the universe. Invisible to our eyes, the X-ray emitting gas that lies in and between them can reveal so much more. X-rays are released in the universe's most energetic explosions and hottest places. This includes the super-hot gas that envelops the universe's biggest building blocks: galaxy clusters. JAXA has designed XRISM to detect X-ray light from this gas to help astronomers measure the total mass of these systems. This will reveal information about the formation and evolution of the universe. XRISM will study the Universe in X-ray light with an unprecedented combination of light collecting power and energy resolution the capability to distinguish X-rays of different energies. The mission will provide a picture of the dynamics in galaxy clusters, the chemical make-up of the Universe and the flow of matter around accreting supermassive black holes (Active Galactic Nuclei or AGN), among many other topics. Credit: ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO XRISM's observations of galaxy clusters will also provide insight into how the universe produced and distributed the chemical elements. The hot gas within clusters is a remnant of the birth and death of stars over the history of the universe. By studying the X-rays emitted by the gas, XRISM will discover which 'metals' (elements heavier than hydrogen and helium) it contains and map how the universe became enriched with them. Meanwhile, XRISM will peer closer at individual X-ray emitting objects to venture into fundamental physics. The mission will measure the X-ray light from incredibly dense objects such as the active supermassive black holes that lie at the centers of some galaxies; this will help us understand how the objects warp the surrounding spacetime, and to what extent they influence their host galaxies through 'winds' of particles ejected at speeds close to the speed of light. European contributions to a global effort "ESA and the European community have a history of involvement in JAXA's high-energy space telescopes," explains Matteo. "Continuing this partnership through XRISM comes with enormous benefits to both space agencies." Europe's high-energy astronomy community is very well qualified. Members have been involved in setting out the scientific goals of XRISM and were entrusted by JAXA to choose many of the 'test' cosmic objects that the mission will observe to check its performance before the science observation program begins. On top of this scientific contribution, JAXA has relied on Europe to deliver several pieces of hardware that will be vital to the success of the mission. ESA has provided a space-proven optical telescope to ensure that XRISM always knows where it is pointing, and two separate devices that will together sense Earth's magnetic field and orient the spacecraft accordingly. Europe has also contributed to XRISM's novel Resolve instrument, which will measure the energy of incoming X-ray photons. This will enable astronomers to work out the temperature and motion of hot X-ray emitting gas with unprecedented accuracy. Resolve is a scientific and technological pathfinder for ESA's future Athena mission, which will fly a very similar instrument. Keeping Resolve's detector cooljust a fraction of a degree above absolute zerois vital; European industry provided the 'loop heat pipes' that will take care of this important task. SRON in the Netherlands provided the instrument's six-filter wheel; each filter can be placed over the instrument to serve a different goal. The University of Geneva in Switzerland developed electronics for the filter wheel. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A dairy pricing policy originally proposed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic could have resulted in dairy farmers getting 10% more for their products if the policy had been passed, according to a Penn State study. The research, led by College of Agricultural Sciences researchers and based on a model of livestock production in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, found that this price increase could have led to an approximately 13% expansion of the local dairy industry. Additionally, the model suggested that an increase in livestock production also would lead to an increase of manure leaching into the waterways, which would result in more nitrogen emissions but fewer phosphorus emissions. The findings were published in the Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. "Our findings give insight into how pricing policy could impact regional livestock production in the U.S., including during times of crisis," said Zeya Zhang, a research fellow at the University of Auckland who worked on the study while he was a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State. "Such policies can have not only economic effects, but environmental ones, as well." According to the researchers, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused milk prices to plummet as schools and restaurants closed. In response, the Dairy Cooperative Marketing Association asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a minimum pricing policy, effective through the summer of that year, to help struggling dairy farmers. While the request was rejected, the researchers said a minimum pricing policy continues to be appealing to farmers. They said that the COVID-19 pandemic, when combined with the effects of a milk pricing formula introduced in a farm bill that took effect in April 2019, led to an estimated $725 million loss for milk producers. They added that higher minimum prices for dairy farmers could also mean higher costs for processors of milk, cheese, butter and other dairy products, and most of those costs are passed on to consumers. However, higher minimum prices also mean more predictability for processors and price stability for consumers. David Abler, professor of agricultural, environmental and regional economics, and demography, said the research team wanted to create a model to study both the short-term and the long-term effects of a dairy pricing policy like the one proposed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Novel changes in public policysuch as the ones in the 2018 Farm Billcan have unforeseen side effects, like worsening market slumps rather than improving them," Abler said. "It's important for public policies to have flexibility built into them for when things don't turn out as planned." Abler explained that they wanted to examine how such a policy would affect not just milk prices, but water quality, as well. If the policy resulted in increased dairy productionand therefore, increased livestock productionthe researchers reasoned that water quality could be affected by an increase in livestock manure entering waterways. For the study, the researchers created a model analyzing 10 regions in the Chesapeake Bay watershedan area that has both a large livestock industry and close proximity to waterways. The model included six major livestock sectorsdairy, beef cattle, swine, broiler, egg and turkeyand incorporated data from multiple sources in addition to USDA's Agricultural Census, including information about feed composition, price and supply elasticities. The researchers first ran the model to get baseline results and then again after imposing the minimum pricing policy, reflected as an increase to milk price. "We can then quantify the changes in livestock production, input usage level and farmer profitability induced by the pricing policy," Zhang said. "Based on the livestock model results, we can further calculate the environmental outcomes of the policy, such as how much more or less nitrogen is generated from the livestock industries." In addition to an expanded dairy industry, the researchers found that the policy resulted in a 2% to 10% increase in total net revenue for the livestock farmers in the 10 study regions, with some benefiting more than others depending on a region's initial composition. "In the model, local livestock farmers would respond to the price change by reallocating their resources from other livestock sectors to the dairy sector," Abler said. "In some regions the beef cattle industry would shrink, while in others, broiler and turkey sectors shrink." The researchers said future studies could expand the model to analyze policy even more broadly, such as examining the potential effects of policies directed at greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and feed crop production. Or, studies could include crops in the model to estimate how changes in fertilizer applications could affect water quality. More information: Zeya Zhang et al, Dairy pricing policy, production, and water quality: Application to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (2023). DOI: 10.1002/jaa2.62 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The 153 locations that were measured. Credit: Leiden University There has been a lot of media attention for the report recently completed by the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) from Leiden University. However, it has long been known that Dutch surface water contains too many toxic pesticides. "We will have to improve our ways of life together with many sectors in the Netherlands," responded outgoing Minister Harbers. A crisis similar to the one with nitrogen is looming. The Institute of Environmental Sciences, commissioned by the environmental organization Natuur & Milieu, investigated the presence of the 38 most toxic chemical pesticides in the surface water of 153 natural and recreational areas in the Netherlands (see the map above). In the period from 2014 to 2021, they found such substances in 80% of these areas. In 40% of them, the levels exceeded environmental standards, sometimes up to a hundred times. Exceeding these standards indicates a real risk to the aquatic life present. Risky, but necessary The study concerns substances that the European Union describes as Candidates for Substitution (CfS). This essentially means they pose a risk, but agriculture needs them, so we will only replace them when a viable alternative is available. Ecologist Marco Visser, who led the study, said, "Substances on this list may be carcinogenic or disrupt reproduction." It is also known that some of these substances can affect soil organisms. The latter may not seem so urgent, but organisms like fungi and worms are a crucial foundation for healthy ecosystems and food production. Visser stated, "Since 2014, there has been a general improvement in water quality when looking at the combined toxicity of all measured pesticides. However, there seems to be little improvement when specifically looking at CfS substances." Visser and colleagues write in the report that their results align with previous reports that also show no clear downward trend in the likelihood of exceeding standards between 2014 and 2021. It is also not a big surprise to keep finding these pesticides, as their use has not been systematically reduced. This runs counter to the goal set by the Dutch government in 2013: A 90% reduction in the exceedance of environmental standards for surface water by 2023. By 2027, all EU countries must meet the goals of the European Water Framework Directive. The important government advisory body, the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (Rli), warned last May that the goals will not be achieved with current policies. This could have consequences for economic activities after 2027, similar to what was seen in the Dutch nitrogen crisis. The platform Binnenlands Bestuur asked outgoing Minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management) for a response. He said the government must do "everything possible" to achieve the water goals. "Not only to prevent the Netherlands from coming to a standstill but also to ensure an adequate supply of fresh drinking water. So there is no choice but to achieve this." The Minister acknowledges that it's "complicated." He says, "We will have to improve our ways of life in many sectors in the Netherlands." Rules for pesticides and water quality don't match While the Netherlands is indeed a delta where many rivers converge, the country contributes more than 50% of the pollution according to Harbers. He particularly finds the lenient approval of certain pesticides problematic, as the rules for them allow more than those for water quality. Harbers wants these two systems to align and is working towards this with the European Commission. The ministry is currently working on an "impulse program" to improve water quality more quickly. According to Harbers, this program will be launched "within a month or so." 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: Chem (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2023.07.013 Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Chemistry have developed a reagent that opens new possibilities for creating DNA and RNA-based materials that could be used in ultra-stable and smart sensors for biomedical applications. The work was published on Aug. 22 in the journal Chem. "It's a very emergent technology and pushing the field," said Subha R. Das, associate professor of chemistry, who co-advises chemistry doctoral student Jaepil Jeong. Both Das and Jeong are members of Carnegie Mellon's Center for Nucleic Acids Science and Technology, an interdisciplinary community of Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh scientists and engineers unified by interests in the chemistry, biology, and physics of DNA, RNA, and peptide nucleic acid. "Essentially, we now have access to a whole new class of biomaterials based on both nucleic acids and synthetic polymers." Medical treatments using biopolymers are typically developed using proteins, Das said. But potential applications for DNA and RNA polymer biohybrids could include self-delivering genes and mRNA, ultra-stable and smart sensors, or therapeutics and gels for transplants and wound healing. Polymers developed using this method could potentially be used to create sequence-selective filters or membranes for biotechnology applications. The reagent, Serinolic ATRP initiator-modified phosphoramidite (SBiB), was developed by Jeong. The SBiB reagent enables researchers to incorporate multiple initiators anywhere in a DNA or RNA sequence during solid-phase synthesis. Previously it was only feasible to incorporate a single polymer chain initiator just at the end of a DNA strand. Combining the new SBiB reagent with a light-induced photo atom transfer radical polymerization (photoATRP) technique vastly expands the possibility of efficiently creating oligonucleotide-polymer biohybrids with a variety of functions. ATRP is a novel method of polymer synthesis that can be used to produce a wide range of polymers and hybrid materials with a wide range of commercial, biomedical and environmental applications. Jeong's co-adviser, Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, J.C. Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences is globally recognized for discovering and developing ATRP. "This new approach to the functionalization of DNA and RNA with ATRP initiators opens new routes to precise bioconjugation of synthetic polymers with nucleic acids, affecting their stability, assembly and other properties," Matyjaszewski said. Oligonucleotides are short DNA or RNA molecules used in applications associated to biologically related research from sensors to therapeutics and is a research focus of Das. Earlier collaborative work by Matyjaszewski, Das and other Carnegie Mellon researchers showed that a single polymerization initiator could be incorporated at the end of synthetic DNA/RNA sequences. By expanding the number of initiators and integration points, this new reagent increases the potential of the technique. Along with Jeong, Matyjaszewski and Das, Grzegorz Szczepaniak of the University of Warsaw, was an author on the Chem paper. Jeong also created a second reagent that modifies synthetic and natural ribonucleic acid (RNA) substrates. That research was published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, with Matyjaszewski and Das among the authors. "Having co-advisors in interdisciplinary research allowed me to cultivate diverse expertise and skills which maximized my potential as a researcher," Jeong said. "It was also helpful in coming up with innovative solutions to address complex problems which may not have been possible with a single disciplinary perspective." Jeong plans to continue to work on achieving an industrial-scale synthesis of nucleic acid-polymer hybrids and effectively apply them to real disease models. High-throughput photo-polymerization techniques, with recent advancements, are expected to play a significant role in achieving the goal. "By leveraging the distinctive properties, such as stimuli-responsiveness, offered by synthetic polymer tethers on DNA/RNA, I envision accomplishing various goals, improving stability, and exploring innovative strategies for enhancing target specificity in gene modulation and gene therapy applications," Jeong said. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The Sri Lanka Hanging-Parrot (Loriculus beryllinus) lives only in Sri Lanka. It is globally a very rare species, meaning there are few individuals. Credit: Corey Callaghan More than 100 years of observations in nature have revealed a universal pattern of species abundances: Most species are rare but not very rare, and only a few species are very common. These so-called global species abundance distributions have become fully unveiled for some well-monitored species groups, such as birds. For other species groups, such as insects, however, the veil remains partially unlifted. These are the findings of an international team of researchers led by the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the University of Florida (UF), published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. The study demonstrates how important biodiversity monitoring is for detecting species abundances on planet Earth and for understanding how they change. "Who can explain why one species ranges widely and is very numerous, and why another allied species has a narrow range and is rare?" This question was asked by Charles Darwin in his ground-breaking book "The Origin of Species," published over 150 years ago. A related challenge has been to understand how many species are common (numerous) and how many are rare, the so-called global species abundance distribution (gSAD). Two main gSAD models have been proposed in the last century: R. A. Fisher, a statistician and biologist, proposed that most species are very rare and that the number of species declines for more common species (so-called log-series model). On the other hand, F. W. Preston, an engineer and ecologist, argued that only few species are actually very rare and that most species have some intermediate level of commonness (so-called log-normal model). However, until now and despite decades of research, scientists did not know which model describes the planet's true gSAD. Solving this problem calls for vast amounts of data. The study authors used data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and downloaded data representing over 1 billion species observations in nature from 1900 to 2019. The leopard (Panthera pardus) is a rare to intermediate species. Credit: Corey Callaghan "The GBIF database is an amazing resource for all sorts of biodiversity related research, particularly because it brings together both data collected from professional and citizen scientists all over the world," says first author Dr. Corey Callaghan. He began the study while working at iDiv and MLU and is now working at the UF. Callaghan and his fellow researchers divided the downloaded data into 39 species groups, for instance, birds, insects, or mammals. For each, they compiled the respective global species abundance distribution (gSAD). The researchers detected a potentially universal pattern, which emerges once the species abundance distribution is fully unveiled: Most species are rare but not very rare, and only a few species are very common, as predicted in the log-normal model. However, the researchers also found that the veil has been fully lifted only for a few species groups like cycads and birds. For all other species groups, the data are yet insufficient. "If you don't have enough data, it looks as though most species are very rare," says senior author Prof Henrique Pereira, research group head at iDiv and the MLU. "But by adding more and more observations, the picture changes. You start seeing that there are, in fact, more rare species than very rare species. You can see this shift for cycads and birds when comparing the species observations from back in 1900, when less data was available, with the more comprehensive species observations we have today. It is fascinating: we can clearly see the phenomenon of unveiling the full species abundance distribution, as predicted by Preston several decades ago, but only now demonstrated at the scale of the entire planet." The global species abundance distribution (gSAD) has been fully unveiled for birds and shows a potentially universal pattern: There are a few very rare species like the Sri Lanka Hanging-Parrot, many rare species like the Northern Goshawk, and few common species like the House Sparrow. This pattern was first proposed by F. W. Preston in 1948. Credit: Gabriele Rada (illustration), Corey Callaghan (photos) "Even though we have been recording observations for decades, we have only lifted the veil for a few species groups," says Callaghan. "We still have a long way to go. But GBIF and the sharing of data really represents the future of biodiversity research and monitoring, to me." The new study's findings enable scientists to assess how far the gSADs have been unveiled for different species groups. This allows for answering another long-standing research question: How many species are out there? This study finds that while for some groups like birds, nearly all species have been identified, this is not the case for other taxa such as insects and cephalopods. The researchers believe that their findings may help in answering Darwin's question of why some species are rare, and others are common. The universal pattern they found may point to general ecological or evolutionary mechanisms that govern the commonness and rarity of species. While more research is being done, humans continue to alter the planet's surface and the abundance of species, for instance, by making common species less common. This complicates the researchers' task: They need not only to understand how species abundances evolve naturally but also how human impacts are altering these patterns simultaneously. There may still be a long way to go before Darwin's question is finally answered. Provided by German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lee Jae-myung, leader of the South Korean main opposition Democratic Party, on Monday urged Japan to stop dumping radioactive wastewater into the ocean, which will endanger the safety of people around the world. Lee made the remark during a meeting with global experts and activists, including those from Japan and the United States, who participated both online and offline at the parliamentary building in Seoul. "The ocean of humanity and the safety of people around the world is put in danger. Despite fierce opposition from neighboring countries and even Japanese people, the Japanese government has been doing an unprecedented job in human history of dumping nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean," Lee said. Lee stressed that the marine dumping was in clear violation of the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter in 1972. "Japan should immediately stop dumping the nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean. Our (South Korean) government should file a complaint with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea against Japan," Lee noted. Lee condemned the U.S. duplicity as Washington supported the marine dumping outwardly while decreasing import of Japanese agricultural and fishery products, calling for the international community to gather strength and protect the ocean together. Japan started releasing the first batch of radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 24. Struck by a massive earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered core meltdowns and generated a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel. By Mabinty M. Kamara Politico can authoritatively confirm that the suspended Director General of the Electricity Distribution and Supply Agency, EDSA has been reinstated. At the time of his indefinite suspension alongside his deputy in 2021, the Ministry of Energy which supervises EDSA gave no reasons but it was a particularly difficult time for EDSA as public outcry grew louder over the rolling blackouts, especially in Freetown. Politico understands that the board of EDSA, chaired by Engineer Sidi Bakarr met recently and approved the return of Dr. Joe-Lahai Sormana in the second week of September 2023. When we called up the returning EDSA boss, he told us he hadnt received any letter to the effect but would get in touch with us when he is officially contacted. Abu Kamara, who served as Director General in the absence of Dr. Sormana is returning to his job with the Public Private Partnership from where he was seconded to EDSA. Dr. Sormana who holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology is returning to EDSA at a time when the agency is proposing an increase in the tariff of electricity from 11 cents to 23 cents, over 100% increment. This has however raised public outcry given the current economic difficulties in the country. Copyright 2023 Politico (01/09/23) From a press release: The Warren County Sheriffs Office responded to a report on Sept. 3 by a passerby that a vehicle was overturned in the Schroon River off of East Schroon River Road. Members of the Warren County Sheriff Office and the New York State Police entered the water in an attempt to check for occupants but were unsuccessful. Members for the Horicon Fire Dive team arrived scene. They located and extricated the occupant who was pronounced deceased at the scene. She was later identified as 23-year-old Kaitlin Goldburg of Altamont, N.Y. She had been reported missing after not arriving at a family camping trip and not being at home either. It was determined that the 2006 Subaru was traveling south on East Schroon River Road sometime overnight when it left the roadway overturning in the Schroon River. The incident is still under investigation by the Warren County Sheriff Criminal Investigations Unit. Bolton Fire, Bolton EMS, Warrensburg EMS assisted at the scene. From a press release: Tyedeek W. Hostos, 30, and Rameen Dwayne McCord, 30, were charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd Degree, a class C Felony, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 3rd Degree, a class D Felony, and Trespass, a violation after an investigation into a Trespass in Pilot Knob, Fort Ann. Hostos and McCord were both arraigned at Centralized Arraignment and held to be arraigned at the Washington County Court. Both were held in lieu of bail. Officer (s) Handling: Deputy Peck, Deputy Allen, Deputy T. Gillis, Sergeant Diamond, and Investigator Noble ASSISTING AGENCIES: New York State Police and Queensbury Rescue Squad According to Sheriff Jeffrey J. Murphy, the Washington County Sheriffs Office arrested Hostos also for assault in the 2nd Degree, a class D Felony, after an investigation into an assault that occurred on August 17th, 2023, inside the Washington County Jail. Hostos was found to have assaulted a Correctional Guard while being incarcerated at the Washington County Jail. The Guard received an injury to his arm during the incident. Hostos was arraigned in Washington County Centralized Arraignment and was held without bail, and will appear in the Town of Fort Edward Court at a later date. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. CAIRO, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) has opened new areas of cooperation with China in the services sector and added certainty to the global economy, an Egyptian expert said. Themed "Opening-up Leads Development, Cooperation Delivers the Future," the CIFTIS is being held in Beijing from Sept. 2 to 6. As this year marks the 45th anniversary of the country's reform and opening-up, China has promised that it will continue to support high-level opening-up. "Through its high-level opening-up, China embraced the rest of the world with a huge consumer market and a firm determination to promote common development for all, thus boosting confidence and adding certainty into the global economy," Abu Bakr Al-Deeb, advisor to the Cairo-based Arab Center for Research and Studies, told Xinhua during a recent interview. The Egyptian expert pointed out that the most important aspects of China's high-level opening-up include sharing opportunities, developing together, and improving livelihoods, "all with the ultimate goal of building a community with a shared future for humanity." By adopting the opening-up policy, China has taken a series of measures to level the playing field so that foreign companies can have access to a better business environment, he added. "China has set up various platforms to reach out to foreign companies, including the China International Import Expo, China International Consumer Products Expo, and China International Fair For Trade In Service," Al-Deeb said. The services sector represents a great driving force for both Chinese and Egyptian economies, and there are plenty of opportunities for expanding bilateral cooperation in the field, the expert noted. "The services sector played a crucial role in China's recovery from the repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic, boosting its economic growth over recent months. Meanwhile, the sector has registered significant growth in Egypt, contributing more than 50 percent of Egypt's GDP," said Al-Deeb. China has already started cooperation with Egypt in the services sector, mainly in the maritime and transportation areas, investing billions of U.S. dollars in the sector in recent years, "especially in the Suez Canal, which is a vital component of China's Maritime Silk Road," the Egyptian scholar said. China and Egypt have also deepened their cooperation in the fields of digital economy, information and communication technology, Al-Deeb said, adding that "Chinese enterprises have facilitated Egypt's digital transition and social and economic development." He praised China's commitment to expanding opening-up, as opposed to the protectionist practice by some Western countries at a time when the world economy is full of uncertainties. The CIFTIS encourages other partners to expand areas of cooperation with China in the services sector, which will help all parties achieve the goals of the win-win cooperation policy adopted by China, the scholar said. "China is one of the world's largest exporters and importers of services, which means that expanding the trade in services will definitely benefit the global economy," he concluded. A statewide organization that has advocated for open government for more than two decades is pushing for a model ordinance for transparency in New Jerseys public institutions. The ordinance would go further than the states Open Public Meetings Act by calling for records to be posted online, meetings to be held both in person and remotely, and adjustments to be made to agenda requirements. The New Jersey Foundation for Open Government plans to distribute the proposed law soon in the hopes that all municipalities in the state would adopt it, thereby improving transparency. Fran Brooks, a member of the foundations board of directors, said government transparency allows the public to know how their tax dollars are being spent, and to hold elected officials accountable as representatives of the public. Citizen participation is the key to everything, Brooks said. Meanwhile, people often dont have the time to attend council meetings or file public comments, which makes it easier for governments to conduct business however they want. The foundations proposal comes at a time when state lawmakers continue to chip away at what is and isnt public information. It also follows a 2021 review by the foundation of 89 public bodies performance under the Open Public Meetings Act, also known as the Sunshine Law. Winding up a summer road trip, Sen. Cory Booker visits Cape May shops U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., visited all 21 New Jersey counties this week as part of an end-of-summer tour, including Cape May on Wednesday. The report found that of the public entities examined, none was more than 60% compliant with the basic components of the Open Public Meetings Act. Those components were: 1) A published 48-hour advance special meeting notice 2) A proper notice statement included in meeting minutes 3) Adequate information and reasons for closed sessions 4) Adequate details of closed session participation 5) Comprehensive minutes of meetings 6) Closed session minutes that reveal the topics discussed Atlantic City condo residents seek help with noise from beach bar A group of Ocean Club Condominium residents complained about loud music from a beach bar blighting their neighborhood during Wednesday's CitiStat meeting in Atlantic City. Performance varied across the six areas tested, with roughly half of the public bodies complying with the advance notification of special meetings, a two-step process that involves sufficient information about the meeting and providing the information to two local newspapers. In general, where bodies performed the worst surrounded boards executive sessions and the minutes provided of those meetings once the issue had been resolved. The Open Public Meetings Act says all meetings of public bodies should be open to the public, with some exceptions. Public bodies can enter closed sessions without public notice or during a public meeting for several reasons, including discussion of legal investigations, matters made confidential by state or federal law, and personnel matters. No formal actions can be taken in a closed session. But boards must provide a reason for the closed session. Once in executive session, minutes must be kept and made available once the necessity of the closed session has passed, according to the law. Only 6% of the boards met all three of those criteria (Nos. 4, 5 and 6), the report found. John Paff, another foundation board member, said boards should be able to get minutes online the day after they approve the minutes. Paff acknowledged that other work may keep clerks from posting that quickly, but he believes the information should be made available as soon as possible. Thats really the most important aspect, because everything else they do in public. Thats where the important things happen. They need to account for that and not be vague, Paff said. 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. Though minutes are not required to be posted online, doing so allows residents to easily access this information. One of the proposed changes to the Open Public Meetings Act proposed by the foundation would be to ensure minutes of closed sessions are available online. The Press of Atlantic City looked at four towns websites to asess some of the performance areas the foundation tested. The towns Egg Harbor Township in Atlantic County, Stafford Township in Ocean County, Vineland in Cumberland County and Lower Township in Cape May County were selected as fairly representative of the region. Egg Harbor Township has detailed Township Committee meeting minutes and agendas posted online. As of July 25, minutes from the July 19 committee meeting had been approved and posted online. However, the townships planning and zoning boards had no meeting minutes posted on their website. Vineland City Councils meeting minutes were also updated, although some dates reflected the time the files were added, not the dates of actual meetings. Egg Harbor, Stafford and Lower townships all provide reasons for entering a closed session in their regular meeting minutes, but dont have closed session minutes posted online. Stone Harbor council votes to censure mayor A growing split between the mayor and Borough Council in Stone Harbor resulted in a council vote to censure Mayor Judith M. Davies-Dunhour over comments made at the previous meeting. Vineland did appear to have closed session minutes online and does not indicate entering a closed session in any of their 2023 council meeting minutes. All four of the towns examined record and post their council meetings either on their YouTube channel or on their website. ATLANTIC CITY Representatives from immigrant justice organizations on Tuesday will hold a news conference and rally outside City Hall in response to remarks made last week by officials against a plan to house migrants at Atlantic City International Airport. A news release announcing the rally said Friday's gathering of officials from both parties against the immigration plan "swiftly devolved into a collective display of xenophobia and anti-immigrant rhetoric." "We are not criminals and our community will not be scapegoated," said the statement by Cristian Moreno-Rodriguez, executive director of El Pueblo Unido of Atlantic City. Elected officials at Friday's news conference, also held outside City Hall, said that while they have compassion for asylum seekers, South Jersey was not equipped to handle housing migrants at the airport. They said the area does not have enough social services to house migrants, and that doing so at the airport could pose a security risk. Said U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, who was among the speakers: Those 60,000 people that they talk about, I guarantee you I will put my name upon it that there will be individuals who are criminals. A report Wednesday said President Joe Bidens administration had recommended the airport, along with 10 other federally owned sites, for housing about 60,000 asylum seekers in New York City, in response to a plea for more help from Mayor Eric Adams. Gov. Phil Murphy has said New Jersey sites, Atlantic City included, were not equipped to handle that many migrants. Tuesday's rally is expected to begin at 10 a.m. in the City Hall courtyard. Faith leaders, business owners and community members are said to also be attending. South Jersey officials say 'hell no' to Atlantic City airport migrant plan Local officials from both of the major political parties gathered Friday in Atlantic City to voice their opposition to a proposal that calls for housing migrants at Atlantic City International Airport. Mike Malmstrom started the Quad City Labor Day Parade in 1983. In honor of the 40th anniversary this year, he has been chosen as the Grand Marshall. The idea behind a parade, he said, was to celebrate one another. At the time, unity was not a common theme. "Back in '83 when we started it, a lot of the unions had a hard time talking to each other, but we have to stick together," Malmstrom said. "If we can't communicate, we will run into doomsday. But we all had one thing in common at that one point in time, and that was Congressman (Lane) Evans." U.S. Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL) was a Rock Island native who spent 24 years in office before opting not to run for re-election in 2006 due to his failing health, Politico reported at the time. Evans was first elected in 1982 and served 12 terms. He died of complications due to Parkinson's Disease in 2014. Malmstrom said Evans was favored by local unions and veterans because of his support for both and ability to bring people together from both sides of the aisle. "That was one guy and one individual we could all get our circle around, and we could communicate with each other," he said, adding the whole goal was to show the region that everyone from letter carriers to machine operators could unify. "We had all those unions that would join forces, and you might say Lane was the leader," Malmstrom said. Union membership falling nationally Dan Gosa, president of the Quad City Federation of Labor, said more than 100 different unions operate in the Quad-Cites area. For a region this size, that number is about average, but the organization is always open to more joining the fold, he said. Union membership has been steadily falling since 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Back when Malmstrom first started the parade, the union membership rate nationally was at 20.1%. By 2022 that number was nearly slashed in half at 10.1% At that time in the early '80s, unions across the nation were divided, Malmstrom said. In many cities, he said tensions were high among unions and if something did not change, the same would happen in the Quad-Cities. "I could see that if we didn't pull together and work things out and at least sit around and talk to each other, we were going to head the same direction," he said. For example, plumbers and pipefitters at the time were on a decent pay scale, Malmstrom said, but had to pay their own benefits. As a member of UAW 65 at John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, all his benefits were built into his contract. On paper, most people only noticed the difference in pay and did not understand the difference in pay was to make up for the benefits pipefitters had to pay for out of pocket. Once union leaders were able to communicate and hash out the differences, they were able to get themselves on a path to unity, he said. Solidarity the key across unions "The fact of the matter is when we have solidarity, that's unifying for all unions," Malmstrom said. "I can (think) back to when I worked with some of the business agents from the outside unions, and we all pulled together to show the community that we're more united than not." The attitude around unions and tradesfolk is still evolving, Gosa said. In the Quad-Cities, the building trades have started to see growth. In July, Local Union 25 Plumbers & Pipefitters broke a personal record for the largest number of apprentices at 215. In a typical year, that program signs 30-40 apprentices, a coordinator said at the time. "I think people are starting to see when you're in a union, it's not just one person. You have hundreds of people behind you," Gosa said. "It's better when you're together." Unions partnering with groups Locally, trades people are attending local career fairs and partnering with organizations like the NAACP and LULAC to visit and tour high schools to get students interested in internships. "I think a lot of it, too, is parents are leading it," Gosa said, adding the idea around the need for a college degree is changing. "As long as we keep promoting these things and are advocates as well, it's helping these kids out." Unifying everyone across multiple generations was always Malmstrom's goal as well. After some time, in his own union, he found himself involved with the UAW Community Action Program, the political arm. A friend of his was the chairman of the Committee on Political Education and the pair worked together to align the different unions in the area. Sticking together to support candidates "So many times we couldn't agree on who we wanted to put our support behind on local elections and federal elections, but it's very important we stick together on that stuff because even though we may stick together on smaller issues, we need to get together and join forces on the larger issues," he said, citing Medicaid, Medicare and social security as examples. Gosa said the last few years have been especially hard for unions on the Iowa side as they are "constantly attacked in the public sector." The difference between the two states is "night and day" he said, making it harder to retain and grow Iowa unions. Unions protested Iowa's loosening of child labor laws One major issue Iowa labor unions fought recently was the loosening of the child labor laws. In late February, union workers gathered in the state's capital to protest these changes. We are drawing a line in the sand now, said Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor. Our kids are not for sale. We are not we are not selling our kids out to multi-national corporations for profit and cheap labor. Our kids are not for sale. In March, the Quad City Federation of Labor held a rally at the UFCW Local Hall in Davenport to protest the changes. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the heavily revised youth labor bill into law. Gosa said the union was against the change because of the dangerous nature of the jobs and being of the opinion a 40-hour work week was not suitable for minors. These blows can be major setbacks, but the influx of new apprentices has helped to balance the negatives, he said. "It makes it harder and it starts to wear people down, but when you get people coming through and they have those small victories on retaining their union, I think that helps out a lot," he said. Labor Day also about workers who came before Now, Malmstrom is a retiree and chairman of the Alliance for Retired Americans. To him, Labor Day is not just about celebrating those working now, but all those who came before him. In the '50s and '60s, he said, John Deere workers had to supply their own gloves. Now, union contracts have ensured safety equipment is provided by the company. "It's where laborers should get together and celebrate the hard work that not only our guys put in, but our fathers and our grandfathers who formed these unions and stood on the picket lines," he said. "We still have our inner differences, but at that same time we can still sit down at a table and talk." Gosa agreed, saying Labor Day is more than a day off work. For union members, its a way to celebrate and honor one another while also thanking the community for its support. "It means a lot to us. There are folks that fought and died to get us the benefits we have today," he said. "It's a long weekend, but one of the best parts for us is being able to give back to the community." The 40th annual Quad City Labor Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 4, beginning at John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline travelling to 15th Avenue then heading to 3rd Street and across the train tracks where it will end. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley is one of four lead Attorneys General asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and its Center for Tobacco Products to do more to protect kids from e-cigarettes. The letter, signed by a bipartisan group of 33 Attorneys General, requests that the FDA set up guidelines designed to protect young people from becoming addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes. A bipartisan group of Attorneys General realizes E-cigarettes are a major threat to children, said Jackley. The FDA needs to do more to protect children. The Attorneys General recommend that FDA prohibit all non-tobacco flavors in e-cigarettes. These flavors mimicking fruits, candies, and desserts are a major reason young people try e-cigarettes in the first place, they cited. The AGs also want to enact evidence-based limits on nicotine in e-cigarettes. More than 80% of e-cigarettes sold have more than 5% of nicotine concentration, and because some devices last for hundreds or thousands of puffs, young people end up consuming much more nicotine. Another request is to add restrictions on marketing making sure marketing materials dont target youth and preventing young people from being bombarded with ads about e-cigarettes. E-cigarette manufacturers have used social media and influencer marketing to entice teenagers. Disposable e-cigarettes have not been subject to the same existing FDA enforcement guidance as cartridge e-cigarettes, and theyve surged in popularity. More than half of youth e-cigarette users last year reported that they use disposable e-cigarettes instead of cartridge-based e-cigarettes, a point of concern the AGs said. Other Attorney Generals signing onto the letter are from the states of: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has released the final ballot explanation for a draft initiated measure that would legalize marijuana. Matthew Schweich, of Sioux Falls, proposed the initiated measure, which would amend Title 34 of the State Constitution to allow South Dakotans 21 and older to possess, grow, sell, and ingest cannabis, as well as cannabis paraphernalia. The initiated measure does not affect laws dealing with hemp. The measure also does not change state laws concerning the states medical marijuana program or legalize cannabis sales. If the required 17,509 valid signatures are gathered and approved by the South Dakota Secretary of States Office, the proposed constitutional amendment will be placed on the 2024 general ballot. A majority of the votes cast in the general election will be needed to pass the measure. The Attorney Generals explanation was drafted after a review of all the comments received during the proposed amendments 10-day comment period. A total of 15 comments were received. The final ballot explanation and submitted comments can be found by clicking here. SAN FRANCISCO Silicon Valley billionaires behind a secretive $800 million land-buying spree in Northern California finally released some details about their plans for a new green city, but they must win over skeptical voters and local leaders. After years of ducking scrutiny, Jan Sramek, the former Goldman Sachs trader spearheading the effort, launched a website last week about "California Forever." The site billed the project as "a chance for a new community, good paying local jobs, solar farms, and open space" in Solano, a rural county between San Francisco and Sacramento that is now home to 450,000 people. He also began meeting with key politicians representing the area who have been trying unsuccessfully for years to find out who was behind the mysterious Flannery Associates LLC as it bought up huge swaths of land, making it the largest single landholder in the county. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are backing the project, including philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. The New York Times first reported on the group's investors and plans. California Forever, the parent company of Flannery, purchased more than 78 square miles of farmland in Solano County since 2018, largely in the southeastern portion of the county, with parcels stretching from Fairfield to Rio Vista. According to the website, Sramek fell in love with the area on fishing trips and he and his wife recently purchased a home in the county for their growing family. The project issued a poll to residents last month to gauge support for "a new city with tens of thousands of new homes," a solar energy farm and new parks funded entirely by the private sector. But to build anything resembling a city on what is now farmland, the group must convince Solano County voters to approve a ballot initiative to allow for urban uses on that land, protected since 1984. Local and federal officials still have questions about the group's intentions. Two area congressmen who sought for years to find out whether foreign adversaries or investors were behind the buying spree around a U.S. Air Force base vital to national security and the local economy are furious that Flannery kept its identity hidden for so long. The website says 97% of its funding is from U.S. investors and the rest are from the United Kingdom and Ireland. "The FBI, the Department of Treasury, everyone has been doing work trying to figure out who these people are," said U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents much of the county. "Their secrecy has caused a lot of problems, a lot of time, and a lot of expense." The investment group said secrecy was required until enough land was purchased, in order to avoid short-term speculation, but it is now ready to hear from Solano households via a mailed survey and creation of a community advisory board. "Instead of watching our kids leave, we have the opportunity to build a new community that attracts new employers, creates good paying local jobs, builds homes in walkable neighborhoods, leads in environment stewardship, and fuels a growing tax base to serve the county at large," its website said. California is in dire need of more housing, especially affordable homes. However, established neighborhoods argue against new homes they say would congest their roads and spoil their quiet way of life. In many ways, Solano County is ideal for development. It is 60 miles northeast of San Francisco and 35 miles southwest of California's capital city, Sacramento. Solano County homes are among the most affordable in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a median sales price of $600,000 last month. But Princess Washington, mayor pro tempore of Suisun City, said residents deliberately decided to protect open space and keep the area around Travis Air Force Base free of encroachment given its significance. She's suspicious that the group's real purpose is "to create a city for the elite" under the guise of more housing. POTTER, Neb. When Reed Cammack hears the first meadowlark of spring, he knows his family has made it through another cold, snowy winter on the South Dakota prairie. Nothing's better, he says, than hearing the birds light up the area with song at sunrise. "It's part of the flora and fauna of our Great Plains and it's beautiful to hear," says Cammack, 42, a sixth-generation rancher who raises cattle on 10,000 acres of native grasslands. But the number of birds dropped steeply over the years, despite seemingly ideal habitat "and I don't know for sure why," says Cammack's 92-year-old grandfather, Floyd. North America's grassland birds are deeply in trouble 50 years after adoption of the Endangered Species Act, as habitat loss, land degradation and climate change threaten what remains of a once-vast ecosystem from Canada to Mexico. Over half their overall population has been lost since 1970, and several species are heading toward possible extinction. "Birds are the canary in the coal mine," says Amanda Rodewald, senior director of the Center for Avian Population Studies at Cornell University's ornithology lab. "They're an early warning of environmental changes that also can affect us." The lesser prairie chicken, which declined by more than 90%, is the only grassland bird federally listed as endangered, in part of its range. Congress voted to delist it in an effort led by Republicans who say the protections hinder oil and gas drilling, though environmentalists hope President Joe Biden will veto the measure. More than half a dozen other grassland birds have lost 50% or more of their breeding population and could lose another 50% in the next half-century, according to a 2022 report. They include: the Sprague's pipit, a northern grassland songbird, that's lost more than 75% of its population since 1970. The chestnut-collared longspur, which lives in the northern shortgrass prairie and sings as it flies. The Henslow's sparrow, which barely sings at all. And the bobolink, known for its robust songs and long-distance travels to South America. The 38% 293,000 square miles of historic North American grasslands that remain are threatened by intensive farming, urbanization and the rapid spread of trees once held at bay by periodic fires. Much is still unknown: Where do birds stop during migration and for how long? What's happening on their wintering grounds and how many birds return from their winter territory? If birds must travel great distances to find suitable breeding habitat, does that affect breeding success? "Where along that full life cycle both in time and space are these birds suffering the most?" says Andy Boyce, a research ecologist at the Smithsonian's Migratory Bird Center who studies the Sprague's pipit. "We need to figure out a lot of this before we can even start to prioritize where conservation actually needs to take place." Researchers aim to learn more with the help of radio telemetry receivers being installed across the Great Plains to help track birds from Canada to Mexico's Chihuahuan desert. When a bird fitted with a tiny transmitter flies within 12 miles of a receiver mounted on towers and other structures researchers electronically collect information. Researchers are about halfway to building 150 or more receivers, says Matthew Webb, who leads installation efforts for the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. He says it's "extremely important to get adequate coverage," to fill knowledge gaps about bird movements. Meanwhile, biologists are sharing data and using sophisticated computer modeling to determine the biggest threats. They're working with farmers and ranchers to implement practices that ensure survival of livelihoods and native birds. Though some birds require contiguous grasslands, most adapted to living alongside agriculture, Cornell's Rodewald says. Still, intensive farming eliminating hedgerows and buffers, fewer crop types and more pesticides took a toll. And climate change is bringing hotter, drier conditions that hurt soil health, worsen erosion and dry up watering holes. So nonprofits and government agencies are offering farmers incentives to improve soil, enroll grasslands in conservation programs and adopt birdfriendly practices, such as mowing after nesting season. "Private landowners care and are very, very good stewards of (the land) because it's their livelihood," says Brandt Ryder, chief conservation scientist for the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Ranchers also are critical to birds' survival, scientists say, because almost all of North America's remaining prairie is on privately owned rangelands. They say high-quality grasslands require grazing and hooves on the ground to stay healthy. Cattle rancher Brian Sprenger never saw sharp-tailed grouse as a kid, when much of the rangeland near Sidney, Nebraska, was overgrazed or farmed. About 20 years ago, more ranchers put land into a federal conservation program, replanted native grasses and started moving cattle to prevent overgrazing. Now Sprenger, 44, sometimes sees two dozen or more grouse at a time during mating season. "We've noticed that as we have started allowing these rangelands to flourish that we have seen a lot of different bird species," he says. Many land owners are battling fast-spreading eastern red cedar and juniper trees that contribute to grassland ecosystem collapse, says Dirac Twidwell, a rangeland ecologist at the University of Nebraska. Thats the spirit, Virginia. For at least the third consecutive year, vodka was the top-performing liquor and Titos Handmade Vodka was the brand of choice among customers at Virginia ABC stores. The authority reported that it moved over 1.6 million total cases of vodka in fiscal year 2023 almost double the volume of second-place tequila. That figure comes out to 4.1 million gallons of vodka: about half a gallon per Virginia resident. Titos had the competition over a barrel. The Austin, Texas-distilled vodka accounted for $72 million, or roughly 5%, of all sales at Virginia ABC stores during fiscal year 2023. Sales of the corn-based spirit increased by over $5 million from last year, coming close to equaling the combined totals of second-place Hennessy VS cognac ($44 million) and third-place Jack Daniels Old No. 7 whiskey ($30.1 million). What did Virginians do with all that vodka? A look at Google search trends data shows that some of the top vodka-related queries in Virginia over the past year included vodka sauce and vodka pasta, suggesting that numerous Virginians may have tried their hand at preparing Penne alla vodka, a vodka-infused pasta dish made with heavy cream and tomatoes. Other popular search terms were vodka drinks and vodka cocktails, suggesting that Virginians simply like to drink vodka. But the staff at Titos are hardly intoxicated by their success. Titos Handmake Vodka does not comment on sales numbers, a spokesperson for the company said, so we are unable to provide commentary at this time. It seems the liquor speaks for itself. Titos was founded in Austin in 1995 by Tito Beveridge. The name Beveridge, pronounced beverage is neither a pun nor a typo; its just nominal determinism hard at work. Beveridge started the company after he grew tired of working in the oil business and experimenting in the groundwater geology industry. He decided to shake things up by working with liquids he could actually drink. Today, Titos is among the most successful distilleries in the country. That success is clearer nowhere else than in Virginia. But vodka also performed well among locally distilled spirits in the commonwealth. While Bowman Brothers Virginia straight bourbon was the top-seller among native offerings at $1.6 million, Richmond-based Cirrus Vodka came in a close second at $1.2 million. Virginia ABCs total revenue for fiscal year 2023 was nearly $1.5 billion. Combined liquor sales across Virginia totaled over 14 million gallons. Thats about 1.2 billion shots. Its also enough to fill over 700 swimming pools. Northern Virginia topped the list of Virginia ABC planning regions, with almost 3.5 million gallons sold. Richmond was third, with over 2 million gallons sold: more than a gallon per person across the Richmond metro area. Titos popularity crosses state lines, too. It was the top-seller in Idaho, hitting $15.6 million in fiscal year 2023. I dont even know what to say about it anymore, Tony Faraca, chief financial officer for the state liquor division, told The Idaho Statesman. Theyve figured out how to touch the nerve of their consumer. Recognize these places? 26 photos from The Times-Dispatch archives 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. NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek's title defence ended after a fourth-round loss to Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, while Novak Djokovic eased past Borna Gojo to reach his 13th US Open quarterfinal on Sunday. After a strong first set, Swiatek lost two consecutive sets to the Latvian, who stormed back to clinch a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory. With the loss, Swiatek will also surrender her status as world number one to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus after a 75-week reign. The 22-year-old Pole had sailed into the fourth round in New York without dropping a single set in her previous three matches. "I'm just surprised that my level changed so drastically because usually when I play bad, I play bad at the beginning, then I kind of catch up or just problem-solve," said Swiatek after the match. "I felt no control suddenly. I just have to watch and see, because I didn't really know why I started making so many mistakes." Also on Sunday, three-time US Open title holder Djokovic thrashed qualifier Gojo of Croatia 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals where he will face ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States. "I knew Borna has a big game. I saw that he played well in the qualifying rounds," said the 36-year-old Serbian. "I saw that he's a big-shot player, his serve and forehand are big weapons, he moves pretty well for a big guy, so the key points for me are to neutralize his serve." On the same day, China's Wang Xinyu was knocked out by the 10th seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in her maiden journey to the US Open, but soared into the women's doubles quarterfinals with Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei. Elsewhere, American players Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe also made it to the men's quarterfinals, while Coco Gauff and Swiss player Belinda Bencic entered the women's last eight. Teenager Chanettee Wannasaen played a five-hole stretch in 6 under early in the final round Sunday and closed with a near-flawless 9-under 63 for a four-stroke victory at the Portland Classic to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the LPGA Tour since 2015. Wannasaen arrived at Portland ranked 367th and having missed nine straight cuts in her rookie season. The 19-year-old from Thailand put together four stellar rounds in the 60s at Columbia Edgewater and shattered the tournament scoring record by five strokes with a 26-under 262 total for her first LPGA Tour victory. Wannasaen is just the third qualifier to win on tour. Canada's Brooke Henderson was the last Monday qualifier to win, taking the same Portland event in 2015. The other qualifier to finish first was American Laurel Kean, who claimed the State Farm Classic in 2000. Third-round leader Megan Khang failed in her bid to win consecutive events. The 25-year-old American, a winner a week ago the CPKC Women's Open at Shaughnessy in Vancouver, British Columbia her first on tour closed with a 1-under 71 and finished alone in sixth place at 19 under. MAKING A DIFFERENCE Lance Zaal teaches the art of war. And his students are the people of Ukraine. To date, Zaal, 39, has personally trained 80 Ukrainian men to protect themselves and family against the Russian invasion through his organization, Ghosts of Liberty. In addition, he has made several trips to Ukraine bearing gear and equipment, and instruction on the finer points of warfare. "I'd been following Russia since the 2000s and also what had been happening with Ukraine since 2014," Zaal said. "It was something that seemed very concerning." Zaal served in the Marines from 2002 to 2006 after growing up in Southern California. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the College of William & Mary in 2012. Zaal became involved in helping Ukrainians after a friend and business school classmate, Ivan Matveichenko, was working as a real estate developer in Kyiv when he volunteered to fight for his home country after the Russian invasion. Matveichenko was fighting on the outskirts of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine with some friends, but the group had no formal military training and lacked the equipment to mount an effective defense. Zaal founded Ghosts of Liberty as a way to help Matveichenko, citizens of Ukraine and combat veterans in their defense against Russia. "There's an urgent need, and I had the ability to not only help my friend, but help a cause that I believed in," he said. Many of the fighters were regular citizens with regular jobs. Also joining the fight were American volunteers, as well as members of the Freedom of Russia Legion, a group of Russian citizens who oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zaal made his first trip to Ukraine in March 2022, training an initial group of 80 men in basic infantry tactics, defensive positions, urban combat, room-to-room fighting and ambush strategy. He also taught them how to identify Russian enemy vehicles and schooled them on philosophies of war such as attritional versus strategic warfare. On his three subsequent trips, including his most recent one this past June, Zaal also provided supplies such as body armor, helmets, boots and first aid kits. Zaal also provided night vision optics, thermal optics and other gear to Alpha GRU, the Ukrainians' elite Special Forces group. He supplied pilot visors, fire-resistant flight suits, drones and communications equipment that helped them evade Russian jets. But delivering the supplies overseas offered some challenges for Zaal. You can't just drop stuff in the mail. "It's really tough mailing things, getting things through customs," he said. "That's why it's better just to fly it over with you in terms of checked baggage. Things like night vision and thermal optics and the scopes, they're sensitive, so you have to be careful what you buy and where you buy it." Zaal reached out to local representatives and senators for support, but his pleas fell on deaf ears and he received no replies, or was directed to fill out forms that would leave him waiting months for a response. He ended up raising $6,000 for the cause himself and self-funded other expenses, around $200,000 worth. "This is an emergency; I don't have three months to sit around twiddling my thumbs waiting for some bureaucracy," Zaal said. "It was frustrating, because I would love to have worked more closely with government. But I'm perfectly happy to help and make a difference working outside that system." Zaal does not have any future trips to Ukraine planned but is continuing to help in other ways. "After every trip, the war changes, situations change and I look for a different way to provide support," Zaal said. "I try to help in a way that doesn't just use my military experience, but also my consulting background and my business background." His business background includes being the founder of Richmond Ghosts, a ghost tour in Shockoe Bottom that provides guests information about the dark, haunted history of Richmond. Zaal is now working on investing in drones and building domestic drone companies. He is also looking for ways to consult with Ukraine and train the public on a bigger scale. "The best use of my time and resources is not to go out and train groups of people every few weeks; that's a waste," he said. "The bigger problem is that it's a systemic problem across the entire country, and that's what I've wanted to solve." Zaal keeps in touch with the people he trained; one of the pilots he met along the way went on to be awarded Ukraine's highest honor, Hero of Ukraine, by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But for every success story, there are accounts of Ukrainians being injured including Matveichenko last fall killed or captured, which Zaal finds difficult to hear. "It's hard hearing their stories and seeing the pictures and videos that they share," Zaal said. "They're losing their friends regularly, and they're going through a lot of pain. It's sad to see because I want to do more to help. I wish I had the capability to do more, but other than reach out to representatives and do what I can as a person, there's not much more." Thad Green (804) 649-6023 tgreen@timesdispatch.com About this story this story is part of our "Making a difference" series, which highlights the great community efforts of central Virginians. Lopez Obrador says Maya Train marks return of passenger trains to Mexico Riviera Maya, Q.R. During his weekend Maya Train test tour, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that the train will bring back passenger train service to Mexico. He made the comment during his visit to the archaeological zone of Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Saturday. He said the great Tren Maya project marks the return of passenger trains to Mexico after decades of privatization promoted by governments of the neoliberal period. We are working in a coordinated joint manner to carry out this project which is fundamental, grandiose, magna, he said. Tren Maya is not a company that is going to make a profit, no, it is with the Maya Train that we are going to achieve for those who arrive in Cancun, those tourists who can go to Yucatan and Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco and discover all the cultural wealth and archaeological sites of the Mayan world, he explained. Over the weekend, AMLO boarded the Maya Train at Campeche from where he traveled to Yucatan. From there, he traveled to Cancun by Maya Train, arriving around 10:00 p.m. Saturday night. The Maya Train rolled into the Cancun station around 10:00 p.m. Saturday for its first test tour with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Photo: AMLO September 2, 2023. He said the Tren Maya project will allow people to travel through five southeast states of the country across the 1,554 kilometers of railway. What can we live on in the future in the southeast? Well, tourism. Currently, what is obtained with tourism is already very important and it is a good activity because it not only produces wealth, but also distributes wealth. We will continue to support to consolidate this comprehensive project. It is a project that has to do with tourism, that has to do with ecology, that has to do with culture and that also has to do with the economy, he stressed. We have to give attention to the people who need well-being, who need employment, who need work. Yes we can achieve that balance, he added. Tren Maya on the Cancun overpass on its way to the airport station. Photo: AMLO September 2, 2023. AMLO was accompanied by Governor Mara Lezama, among others, along the tour that arrived in Cancun Saturday night. The four-car train was captured as it rolled into the city and across the overpass that leads to the up-and-coming Maya Train station near the Cancun airport. New airport junction and main Colosio Boulevard inaugurated in Cancun Cancun, Q.R. Two of Cancuns major infrastructure projects are finished two months ahead of schedule. On Sunday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador inaugurated the citys new main artery and airport junction. The much-awaited completion of Colosio Boulevard and the road distributor of the Cancun International Airport are finished. The two projects, which were considered vital, cost nearly 1.5 billion pesos. Colosio Boulevard, which is the citys main entrance, has 13.3 kilometers of roadway remodeled along with the connecting road distributor to the Cancun International Airport. The boulevard and new Cancun airport cloverleaf junction are finished two months ahead of schedule. Photo: CGC September 3, 2023. President Lopez Obrador announced that Colosio Boulevard, which was delivered two months ahead of schedule, now offers sidewalks and lighting, which means greater security for people. He said the two projects, which together add up to almost 1.5 billion pesos in federal investments, are part of the Comprehensive Program for the Development of Strategic Projects in Cancun. Cancuns newly remodeled Colosio Boulevard, the main entrance into the city. Photo: CGC September 3, 2023. During the inaguration, Governor Mara Lezama said that she was deeply grateful to Lopez Obrador. I am deeply grateful to you for having listened to the need of the people of Quintana Roo and I am sure that I am thanking you on behalf of the people of Quintana Roo. Other major infrastructure projects still in the works include the Cancun Nichupte lagoon bridge, the construction of Chac Mool Avenue and the highway that will link the airport with the Maya Train station. All three are scheduled for completion in March of 2024. Power restored after angry Cancun residents protest on public street Cancun, Q.R. Angry residents of Superblock 236 and 237 took to city public streets Saturday night after suffering another power outage. For around two hours, residents hovered outside after blocking off a section of Tulum Avenue. It was around 9:00 a.m. when they experienced their latest power outage that sent them to the streets that evening. Several dozen neighbors demanded stable service from the CFE saying they have had ongoing power issues for weeks. Residents blocked the street after having filed complaints with the company who has done nothing to resolve the issue. Authorities from the Benito Juarez City Council eventually arrived to talk with the residents as well as CFE. Cancun Transit Officers also arrived to lift the blockade of rocks and sticks and allow the passage of traffic. It was shortly after 9:00 p.m. when power was restored. Western Virginia Republican candidates renewed calls for a red-ruled General Assembly over eggs and bacon Monday morning at the American Legion Hall in Buena Vista. Democrats held a breakfast of their own at nearby Parry McCluer High School as they rallied for three candidates challenging Republican legislators. The gatherings preceded the annual Labor Day parade, a traditional kickoff to the fall political season for years. This year control of the politically divided General Assembly is at stake. Del. Chris Head, R-Botetourt, spoke of the urgency of getting out the vote, with early voting starting in three weeks. Head is running for newly drawn Senate District 3 against Democrat Jade Harris, who appeared at her partys breakfast. Other regional candidates appearing in Buena Vista on Monday were Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt, and his Democratic opponent in the 37th House District, Stephanie Clark, and Del. Ellen Campbell, R-Rockbridge, and 36th House District Democratic candidate Randall Wolf. During a busy Montgomery County election year, upcoming forums can help voters sort out candidates thanks to the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County and the Montgomery County-Radford City-Floyd County. This year all members of the General Assembly are up for election as well as members of the Montgomery County School Board and Board of Supervisors, the Blacksburg and Christiansburg town councils and the countys constitutional officers. There are more than two dozen candidates running for office this year and there are 12 competitive races that impact Montgomery County. Beginning Thursday, Sept. 7, a series of six candidate forums on Thursday evenings will allow voters to meet the candidates and ask them questions about their stand on state and local issues. Forums include: School board: Sept. 7, 7 p.m., County Government Center, Christiansburg. Board of supervisors: Sept. 14, 7 p.m., County Government Center, Christiansburg. Clerk of court, treasurer, commissioner of revenue: Sept. 21, 7 p.m., County Government Center, Christiansburg. Commonwealths attorney, sheriff: Sept. 28, 7 p.m., County Government Center, Christiansburg. Blacksburg Town Council: Oct. 5, 7 p.m., Blacksburg Council Chamber. Christiansburg Town Council: Oct. 12, 7 p.m., Christiansburg Council Chamber. According to a news release from the sponsoring organizations: This years election results will have a major impact on our communities. Important statewide and local issues such as voting rights, school funding, climate change and womens reproductive rights will be decided by newly elected legislators and local government leaders. The NAACP MRF and LWV-MC are nonpartisan organizations whose missions include educating voters. The candidate forums are designed to provide all voters the opportunity to hear from and ask questions of candidates. For more information about the forums, visit www.mrfnaacp.org or my.lwv.org. The Roanoke Times Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that a landmark deal allowing Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea amid the war wont be restored until the West meets Moscow's demands on its own agricultural exports. Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed the Kremlins demands as a ploy to advance its own interests. Still, Putin's remarks dashed hopes that his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could revive an agreement seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer weren't honored. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Putin reiterated those complaints Monday, while also telling reporters that if those commitments were honored, Russia could return to the deal within days. Erdogan also expressed hope that a breakthrough could come soon. He said Turkey and the U.N. which both brokered the original deal have put together a new package of proposals to unblock the issue. We believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time, Erdogan said at the news conference held with Putin in the Russian resort of Sochi. Earlier, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock lashed out, saying Putin's game with the grain agreement is cynical. Its only because of Putin that the freighters dont have free passage again, she told reporters in Berlin. A lot is riding on the negotiation. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Data from the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which organized shipments under the deal, show that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China. Grain prices shot up after Russia pulled out of the deal but have since fallen back, indicating that there isn't a big crunch in the market for the moment. But failure to revive the agreement will have drastic impacts in countries such as Somalia and Egypt that rely heavily on Black Sea grain, according to Galip Dalay, an associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London. Putin is looking for some relief from sanctions and at the same time is engaged in a war of narratives, Dalay said, because the Russian leader doesnt want to come across as the bad guy in the eyes of the global south as a result of this food insecurity. Ukraine and its allies have often noted that Russia's move left many developing nations in the lurch, since so many were recipients of the grain. Perhaps in an effort to address that accusation, Putin said Monday that Russia was close to finalizing an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. Last month, he promised shipments to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic. The Russian leader added that the country will ship 1.1 million tons of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries. In addition to pulling out of the grain deal, Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, where Ukraines main Black Sea port is. Hours before the Sochi meeting, the Kremlins forces launched a second barrage in two days on the area. The Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions. It did not specify damage caused by those that got through. Russia may be hoping it can use its power over Ukraines Black Sea exports as a bargaining chip to reduce Western economic sanctions. Some companies have been wary of doing business with Russia because of those sanctions, even though Western allies have made assurances that food and fertilizer are exempt. Still, Moscow remains unsatisfied. Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday urged Moscow to return to the deal, insisting there were no legal and political grounds for Russia to withdraw from the agreement. Monday's talks took place against a backdrop of Ukraine's recent counteroffensive against the Kremlin's invasion forces. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Zelenskyy said, without elaborating. Reznikov on Monday published a photo of his resignation letter. Putin and Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Turkish president has maintained those during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasnt joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. At the same time, Turkey, a member of NATO, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Zelenskyy and backing Kyivs bid to join the Western alliance. Russia, meanwhile, has taken steps to strengthen its military ties with North Korea. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who traveled to Pyongyang in July, said Monday that the two countries may hold joint war games. U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson noted that Shoigu sought to persuade North Korea during his trip to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. The U.S. has reason to think North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un expects these discussions to continue and to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia, Watson said Monday. By Rajendra Jadhav MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's edible oil imports in August rose 5% to a record 1.85 million metric tons as refiners purchased more than 1 million tons of palm oil for the second consecutive month to build stocks for upcoming festivals, four dealers told Reuters. Higher purchases by the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils could help to lower palm oil stocks in Indonesia and Malaysia and support benchmark futures. The buying has helped strengthen soybean oil futures and could reduce inventories in sunflower oil-producing Black Sea countries. India's average monthly edible oil imports in the 2021/22 marketing year were 1.17 million tons, trade body Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said. In July, India imported 1.76 million tons, which was also a record high. Palm oil imports increased from 1.09 million tons in July to 1.12 million tons in August, the highest in nine months, according to average estimates from the dealers. The SEA is likely to publish its August vegetable oil import data by mid-September. "Refiners were making aggressive buying for the upcoming festival season," said Rajesh Patel, managing partner at GGN Research, an edible oil trader and broker. "Retail demand was moderate, but the industry is expecting it would pick up in coming months." Sunflower oil imports jumped by 11.5% from a month earlier to 365,000 tons, the highest in seven months, while soyoil imports edged up 3.7% to 355,000 tons, dealers estimated. As the discount of palm oil relative to soyoil and sunflower oil continues to widen, refiners are increasing their purchases in anticipation of demand during the upcoming festivals, said Sandeep Bajoria, CEO of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage. India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. August imports surged because a few vessels initially intended for unloading in July at Kandla port were eventually offloaded in August due to port congestion, said a New Delhi-based dealer with a global trading house. Story continues Concerns over local soybean and groundnut production due to the dry weather are also prompting refiners to import more edible oils, the dealer added. India experienced its driest August in more than a century, with the country receiving 36% less rainfall than normal during the month. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Jamie Freed) JERUSALEM, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met with Bahrain's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in the Bahraini capital of Manama on Monday, expressing Israel's desire to sign normalization deals with more Arab countries, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. Cohen's visit to Manama, which began on Sunday, comes ahead of the three-year anniversary of the U.S.-brokered normalization deal in which Bahrain agreed to normalize relations with Israel. The trip marks Cohen's first visit to one of the countries that established diplomatic relations with Israel under the so-called Abraham Accords in 2020, which also include the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. Cohen assumed office in late December when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was inaugurated. During Monday's meeting at the Al-Qudaibiya Palace, the two officials discussed "regional challenges and their countries' commitment to combating terrorism," according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Cohen praised the Abraham Accords, saying that they "have contributed to regional stability." He called for the advancement of economic and civil ties between the two countries, including the establishment of a free trade zone. He also expressed Israel's wish to "expand the circle of peace and normalization in the Middle East." Later on Monday, the minister is expected to inaugurate the Israeli embassy in Manama and sign several Memoranda of Understanding on Israeli-Bahraini cooperation. Oklahoma police deputy arrested after he allegedly shot wife and fellow officer Bodycam footage shows the moment a sheriffs deputy in Oklahoma was arrested on accusations he fatally shot his wife and fellow officer. Cleveland County Deputy Vaughn Cannon, 41, was found at the scene of the early morning shooting of Jordan Cannon, 40 at their home in southwest Oklahoma City on Wednesday 30 August, authorities said. Officers responding to the domestic disturbance at the couples home arrested the suspect on a murder complaint. According to a news release from the Oklahoma City Police Department, the two were engaged in a heated argument before the shooting. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin meets with street food vendors in Bangkok (EPA) Thailand's new prime minister Srettha Thavisin will skip the meeting of Asian leaders in Indonesia this week reportedly due to his tight schedule. The Association for Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit will meet in Jakarta from 5-7 September, where leaders of the Asian countries led by host president Joko Widodo will discuss Myanmar, a code of conduct for the South China Sea, the region's economy, transnational crime among other issues. Mr Srettha won a parliamentary vote to become prime minister last month and his cabinet was endorsed by the king on Saturday. The prime minister and his cabinet are due to take an oath before an audience with King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Tuesday and will then deliver a policy address in parliament. Permanent secretary Sarun Charoensuwan will represent Thailand at the summit, two officials told Reuters, without specifying why the prime minister was not attending. Ahead of the summit, Cambodian prime minister Hun Manet said the South Asian country wants to enable constructive dialogue on the Myanmar conflict one of the crucial issues for the bloc. Myanmar is a member of Asean though its military rulers have been excluded from top bloc meetings since they ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering a violent conflict. The bloc has agreed on a peace plan, known as its five-point consensus, that calls for an end to violence and dialogue among all parties but the generals have paid little more than lip service to it. The Cambodian prime minister said Asean must prevent the use of force against a sovereign state, adding that geopolitical rivalries were tightening. Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi on Monday said as mandated by leaders "we would conduct a comprehensive review" of the five-point plan implementation. Asean can only steam forward in full power if we can ensure a peaceful and lasting solution in Myanmar," she said. The bloc for decades operated under the principle of not interfering in each other's internal affairs and reaching agreement by consensus, but that has left it struggling to help resolve problems like Myanmar, unable to press the generals beyond barring them from its high-level meetings. Story continues Indonesia, which has urged unity amid growing scepticism of the bloc's credibility, has been conducting behind-the-scenes efforts to find a solution to Myanmar's turmoil but has little to show for its effort. Chinese premier Li Qiang was set to join the meetings, including the 18-member East Asia Summit. There, he would meet US vice president Kamala Harris, who will fly in lieu of president Joe Biden. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to participate as well. (With agency inputs) SIOUX CITY Heat? What heat? Even though temperatures climbed to 101 degrees on Saturday and 99 degrees on Sunday, thousands of people still came out to the 29th annual ArtSplash festival in downtown Sioux City this Labor Day weekend to buy original works of art, sample local food, hear music from area bands and plenty more. ArtSplash 2023 - Grater plate Jyll Vogt purchases a grater plate from Phillip Bonushkin at ArtSplash in downtown Sioux City on Saturday. Not even an hour into the event on Saturday, Pamela Nelson, a Sloan, Iowa resident who ran the Totally Twisted jewelry booth, said she had been real busy. "Earrings and rings have been our best sellers," she said. This weekend was Nelson's fifth setting up shop at ArtSplash, which wraps around the Sioux City Art Center and Gilchrist Learning Center. She said what's kept her coming back is not just the sales, though they're good, but the kindness of the organizers (who bring food) and the kindness of the patrons. "The people of Sioux City are sweet people," Nelson said. 2023 Art Splash - Main alley Siouxland residents walk through one of the main alleys of the 29th annual ArtSplash event in downtown Sioux City on Saturday. The two-day fes What Connie Ludvigson, resident of Holstein, Iowa, said she appreciated about her first-ever visit to ArtSplash this weekend is how many different parts of the artistic community and the general community it draws out. "(It's) nice to see a different art perspective," she said. Folks who showed up to either day of ArtSplash could find metal decorations, pop art paintings, handmade mixing bowls (with matching pestles), wooden flutes and a litany of other arts and crafts. The vendors didn't just come from the tri-state area but Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana and Florida as well. In her very first year of running a booth at ArtSplash, South Sioux City artist Emily Bloomquist said business was plenty steady for her. "Art was supposed to be on the side and (it) ended up taking off," Bloomquist said. Earlier this summer, Bloomquist did a live painting during Saturday in the Park and actually auctioned off the painting at ArtSplash so she could donate the proceeds to a nonprofit. ArtSplash 2023 - Emily Bloomquist Emily Bloomquist paints at her booth at ArtSplash in downtown Sioux City Saturday. That sort of community-mindedness has been a major appeal for Jeff Townsend who's made the 90 minute drive from Lytton, Iowa to the Sioux City art extravaganza a number of times. "It's Midwestern artists who are small time artists," he said. "They're not making the big bucks." Townsend said he's picked up art before at ArtSplash and was on the prowl for some this weekend because "An artist friend said: 'You can never have too much art.'" ArtSplash 2023 - Carving Mark Levsen carves scenes into cottonwood in front of his booth at ArtSplash in downtown Sioux City on Saturday. ArtSplash 2023 - Wooden bowl Rick Arnold and Katelynn Reiter admire a handmade wooden bowl at ArtSplash in downtown Sioux City on Saturday. Another allure for Townsend was the chance to hear a friend perform. This year's ArtSplash had eight musical acts spread across two days. The festival, which has shifted from the riverfront to Riverside Park to Grandview Park to downtown Sioux City, also had screenings of more than a dozen short films on both Saturday and Sunday. Four came were billed as "award winners" from the 2022 Sioux City International Film Festival while others were geared specifically toward families and their kids. A special undertaking for the 2023 iteration was the "Razzle Dazzle" presentation from Brooklyn-based artist Amanda Browder. The work involves a "collectively produced textile installation" which will fully transform the Sioux City Art Center in 2024. Sewing for the large-scale piece began over the weekend during ArtSplash. John F. Clauser: the latest climate science-denying physicist Posted on 4 September 2023 by dana1981 Its a familiar story the physicist who draws attention for declaring that climate scientists have got climate science all wrong. He (its always a he) was born before color television was invented, usually retired, perhaps having won a Nobel Prize, but with zero climate science research or expertise. William Happer. Ivar Giaever. Roger Cohen. Freeman Dyson. Steven Koonin. Robert Laughlin. The latest example from this mould is John F. Clauser. Although Clauser has never published any peer-reviewed climate science research, he has made several climate-related claims whose veracity we will examine below. Yes, humans are responsible for the increase in CO 2 In a July 2023 interview with the Epoch Times, Clauser claimed that the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) may or may not be made by human beings. It doesn't really matter where it comes from. That's a bit like saying, "I don't know what atoms are made of, but it doesn't really matter. Let me tell you why particle physics is all wrong." In reality, several lines of evidence have proven the incontrovertible fact that the human combustion of fossil fuels which today releases nearly 40 billion tons of CO 2 per year is entirely responsible for the 50% increase in Earths atmospheric CO 2 concentrations since the Industrial Revolution. For example, theres basic accounting: those 40 billion tons of CO 2 have to go somewhere, and Earths natural sinks like the oceans and biosphere only absorb about half of those emissions. The other half ends up in the atmosphere, as explained in the Denial101x video below. And atmospheric carbon isotope ratio measurements also demonstrate that the CO 2 increase is coming from ancient plant matter, a.k.a. fossil fuels. Anyone who understands even the most basic aspects of climate science should not question such a simple and thoroughly-established fact. No, clouds wont save us The Epoch Times also wrote of Clauser: He argues that climate is primarily set by what he refers to as the "cloud cover thermostat," a self-regulating process whereby more clouds start to enshroud the Earth when the temperature is too high and vice-versa. Clouds play a complicated role in Earths climate because they both reflect sunlight, causing a cooling effect, and trap heat, causing a warming effect. Higher clouds tend to have a net warming effect while lower clouds tend to have a net cooling effect. How each type of cloud cover will change as the planet warms will determine whether they dampen or amplify global warming on the whole. So far, both observational evidence and climate modeling suggest that if anything, changes in cloud cover will act to slightly amplify global warming. Moreover, if cloud cover acted as Earths thermostat, then we wouldnt have seen the large historical swings between ice ages and warm periods, as explained in the Denial101x video below. So, the available evidence strongly contradicts Clausers hypothesis. Climate change worsens extreme weather events In July 2023, Clauser gave a talk at the event Quantum Korea 2023 in which he claimed, climate change does not cause extreme weather events. In fact, climate change increases the intensity and/or frequency of many types of extreme weather. This is basic physics. An increased greenhouse effect traps more heat energy within Earths climate system. That increased heat raises temperatures, directly causing more extreme heat waves. It also increases evapotranspiration, amplifying droughts in drought-prone regions, and also wildfires. A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor (Clauser should read up on the ClausiusClapeyron relation), which can amplify extreme precipitation and flooding in flood-prone regions. And warmer ocean waters fuel stronger hurricanes. The World Weather Attribution group has quantified the climate contribution to a number of extreme weather events, and these general relationships have been established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC is a great scientific body In his Quantum Korea talk, Clauser also described the IPCC as one of the worst sources of dangerous misinformation. In reality, the IPCC is one of the worlds greatest scientific bodies. It is composed of the worlds foremost climate scientists, who every 5 to 8 years devote tremendous amounts of time and effort to author reports summarizing the latest climate science research, without any remuneration whatsoever. The IPCC reports are in fact the worlds best source of accurate and valuable climate science information. Energy can come from clean sources In May of 2023, Clauser joined the board of directors of the climate-denying CO2 Coalition, at which time he stated: In my opinion, there is no real climate crisis. There is, however, a very real problem with providing a decent standard of living to the worlds large population and an associated energy crisis. Developing nations do need cost-effective energy sources to reduce the number of people living in poverty. But that energy neednt come from fossil fuels. Africa, for example, has the largest solar power potential in the world, and also vast wind energy potential. As Andrea Willige has argued, the continent could leapfrog fossil fuel infrastructure in favor of decentralized power generation using renewable energy, just as it leapfrogged fixed-line telecommunication infrastructure to move straight to mass mobile phone use. In the process, it would avoid the detrimental health effects associated with fossil fuel air and water pollution, as well as the resulting climate pollution. Moreover, according to Lazard, the costs of clean technologies have fallen so far that solar energy plus storage is often cheaper today than building new fossil fuel power plants. Old climate denial Like so many of his old physicist colleagues before him, Clauser has repeated a number of long-debunked climate myths without providing any supporting evidence whatsoever. Until that changes, there is no reason to lend any credence to this brand of stale, reheated climate denial. Remember: whenever John F. Clauser and his statements related to climate change get bandied about, it is a prime example of using a fake expert on climate change. Fritz Vahrenholt - Duped on Climate Change Posted on 15 February 2012 by dana1981 German electric utility executive Fritz Vahrenholt is co-author (along with geologist Sebastian Luning) of a book expressing "skepticism" regarding the human contribution to global warming, which predictably has been trumpeted by the usual climate denial enablers. Why should we particularly care what Vahrenholt thinks about climate science? That is something of a mystery - he has a PhD in chemistry and has worked in the energy sector for Shell Oil and wind turbine maker RePower. Vahrenholt and Luning both currently work for RWE Innogy, Germany's second-largest energy company (Vahrenholt as a manager, Luning as a scientist in its oil and gas division). Vahrenholt admits he has no expertise in climate science, but apparently his status as "Germanys Top Environmentalist" (a title which Vahrenholt appears to have been awarded just recently by anti-climate think tanks and denialists) and his climate "skepticism" are sufficient for some people to take his climate claims seriously. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Vahrenholt discusses why he chose to write a book rather than attempting to conduct and publish scientific research. SPIEGEL: You make concrete statements on how much human activity contributes to climatic events and how much of a role natural factors play. Why don't you publish your prognoses in a professional journal? Vahrenholt: Because I don't engage in my own climate research. Besides, I don't have a supercomputer in my basement. For the most part, my co-author, geologist Sebastian Luning, and I merely summarize what scientists have published in professional journals -- just as the IPCC does. However, as we will soon see, the difference between Vahrenholt and the IPCC is that the latter accurately summarizes the body scientific literature, while the former misrepresents his sources and only listens to a few select "skeptic" scientists. Misrepresenting the IPCC In the interview, Vahrenholt makes a statement about the IPCC which reveals that he simply has not done his research. "The long version of the IPCC report does mention natural causes of climate change, like the sun and oscillating ocean currents. But they no longer appear in the summary for politicians. They were simply edited out." Vahrenholt refers to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Summary for Policymakers (SPM). The following quotes are taken directly from the SPM, which Vahrenholt claims has edited out all mention of natural causes of climate change. The first quote is the first sentence in the SPM. * "The Working Group I contribution to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report describes progress in understanding of the human and natural drivers of climate change, observed climate change, climate processes and attribution, and estimates of projected future climate change." * "Human and Natural Drivers of Climate Change Changes in the atmospheric abundance of greenhouse gases and aerosols, in solar radiation and in land surface properties alter the energy balance of the climate system. These changes are expressed in terms of radiative forcing, which is used to compare how a range of human and natural factors drive warming or cooling influences on global climate." * "Changes in solar irradiance since 1750 are estimated to cause a radiative forcing of +0.12 [+0.06 to +0.30] W m2, which is less than half the estimate given in the TAR." * "It is very unlikely that climate changes of at least the seven centuries prior to 1950 were due to variability generated within the climate system alone. A significant fraction of the reconstructed Northern Hemisphere inter-decadal temperature variability over those centuries is very likely attributable to volcanic eruptions and changes in solar irradiance, and it is likely that anthropogenic forcing contributed to the early 20th century warming evident in these records." * "The observed widespread warming of the atmosphere and ocean, together with ice mass loss, support the conclusion that it is extremely unlikely that global climate change of the past 50 years can be explained without external forcing, and very likely that it is not due to known natural causes alone." There are more such examples. Then there's Figures SPM.2 and SPM.4: Figure SPM.2: Global average radiative forcing (RF) estimates and ranges in 2005 for anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and other important agents and mechanisms, together with the typical geographical extent (spatial scale) of the forcing and the assessed level of scientific understanding (LOSU). The net anthropogenic radiative forcing and its range are also shown. These require summing asymmetric uncertainty estimates from the component terms, and cannot be obtained by simple addition. Additional forcing factors not included here are considered to have a very low LOSU. Volcanic aerosols contribute an additional natural forcing but are not included in this figure due to their episodic nature. The range for linear contrails does not include other possible effects of aviation on cloudiness. Figure SPM.4 - Comparison of observed continental- and global-scale changes in surface temperature with results simulated by climate models using natural and anthropogenic forcings. Decadal averages of observations are shown for the period 1906 to 2005 (black line) plotted against the centre of the decade and relative to the corresponding average for 19011950. Lines are dashed where spatial coverage is less than 50%. Blue shaded bands show the 595% range for 19 simulations from five climate models using only the natural forcings due to solar activity and volcanoes. Red shaded bands show the 595% range for 58 simulations from 14 climate models using both natural and anthropogenic forcings. Clearly the SPM explicitly discusses natural contributions to global warming, and explains that according to the body of scientific evidence, their contribution to the observed warming is small. Frankly if Vahrenholt can't even accurately read the 18-page SPM, it's exceptionally difficult to take him seriously. His subsequent comments in the interview reveal that he has been very selective about what scientific research he chooses to accept. Misrepresenting Global Warming Early in the interview, Vahrenholt repeats a myth which has become increasingly popular amongst climate contrarians. "It hasn't gotten any warmer on this planet in almost 14 years, despite continued increases in CO2 emissions. Established climate science has to come up with an answer to that." Of course our first answer must point out that Vahrenholt's assertion is false. Over the past 14 years, the average global surface temperature has warmed approximately 0.13C, according to data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. And of course surface air warming only represents a very small percentage of global warming, which has continued uninterrupted: Figure 1: Global heat content, data from Church et al 2011. And of course there's the fact that the odd timeframe choice of 14 years conveniently begins at the peak of the strongest El Nino in a century (a.k.a. cherrypicking of short-term data). This cherrypicking is illustrated by The Escalator, which was used by German newspaper Die Zeit to debunk this myth from Vahrenholt's book (Figure 2). Figure 2: Die Zeit use of The Escalator We should note that while we are flattered that Die Zeit has described Skeptical Science as "an internet platform close to the IPCC" in their figure caption, we are in no way affiliated with the IPCC. The second answer to Vahrenholt's concern about the dampened surface warming over the past decade or so involves the fact that virtually every non-greenhouse gas effect acted in the cooling direction over that period. Human aerosol emissions increased, blocking more sunlight. Heat accumulated in the deep oceans. The solar cycle went into an extended minimum. There were a number of strong La Nina events. Foster and Rahmstorf (2011) showed that when we filter out the latter two effects and that of volcanic activity, the warming of surface temperatures has not even slowed (Figure 2). Figure 2: Average temperature changes recorded by 5 teams of scientists: 2 working on satellites (University of Alabama, Huntsville and Remote Sensing Systems) and 3 working with thermometers and ship/buoy measurements (UK Hadley Centre & Climate Research Unit, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the US National Climatic Data Centre. Foster and Rahmstorf (2011) statistical methods have been used to 'take out' the effects of volcanic eruptions, Pacific Ocean cycles and the Sun. Blaming the Sun Like David Archibald, Vahrenholt exaggerates the solar influence on global temperature. "In the second half of the 20th century, the sun was more active than it had been in more than 2,000 years. This "large solar maximum," as astronomers call it, has contributed at least as much to global warming as the greenhouse gas CO2." In the second half of the 20th century, solar activity was also flat. Vahrenholt does not seem to understand that the climate responds to increasing solar activity, not flat solar activity, even if at a relatively high level. It's true that solar activity increased leading up to the mid-20th century, which contributed to the warming observed from about 1910 to 1940. However, total solar irradiance (TSI) increased by less than 2 Watts per square meter (W/m2) leading up to 1940 (i.e. see Vieira 2011 and Jones 2012, with more recent reconstructions showing a smaller TSI increase of generally less than 1 W/m2 during this period). We can estimate the equilibrium temperature response to this TSI increase by multiplying the radiative forcing by the climate sensitivity parameter (). The solar radiative forcing for a 2 W/m2 increase in TSI is just 0.35 W/m2, compared to the ~1.6 W/m2 radiative forcing from increased CO2. These radiative forcings will cause an equilibrium surface warming of approximately 0.3C and 1.3C, respectively. So no, the increase in solar activity has not contributed nearly as much to global warming as the CO2 increase. Blaming Ocean Cycles and Galactic Cosmic Rays When confronted with the flat TSI trend over the past ~60 years by the Der Spiegel interviewer (who did a nice job challenging Vahrenholt's many myths throughout the interview), Vahrenholt invoked ocean cycles and galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) to explain the observed global warming. "There are two effects: the declining solar activity, as well as the fluctuations in ocean currents, such as the 60-year Pacific oscillation, which was in a positive warm phase from 1977 to 2000 and, since 2000, has led to cooling as a result of its decline. Their contribution to the change in temperature has also been wrongly attributed to CO2. Most of all, however, the last sunspot cycle was weaker than the one before it. This is why the sun's magnetic field has continued to weaken since 2000. As a result, this magnetic field doesn't shield us against cosmic radiation quite as well, which in turn leads to stronger cloud formation and, therefore, cooling. What else has to happen before the IPCC at least mentions these relationships in its reports?" Once again Vahrenholt has misrepresented the IPCC report, which does discuss GCRs (i.e. here and here) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (i.e. here and here). The IPCC report correctly notes that the body of scientific research has shown that GCRs have little if any effect on cloud cover and thus global temperature, and even if they did, like TSI, solar magnetic field strength has remained steady over the past ~60 years (as has GCR flux on Earth). Oceanic oscillations are just that - oscillations switching between positive and negative states, moving heat around between the oceans and atmosphere. Since both oceans and atmosphere are warming, it must be due to an external forcing, not an internal oscillation. Vahrenholt Misrepresents Kirkby and CERN The following exchange between Vahrenholt and the Der Spiegel interviewer is very representative of the interview as a whole. Vahrenholt: It's more than that. The Cloud Experiment, headed by physicist Jasper Kirkby, has been underway at the CERN particle research center near Geneva since 2006. The initial results of tests conducted in a chamber in which the earth's atmosphere was simulated showed that cosmic particles do indeed lead to the formation of aerosol particles for clouds. SPIEGEL: But the aerosols demonstrated in the Cloud Experiment are much too small. They would have to grow before they could actually serve as condensation germs for clouds. Whether this happens in nature is still an open question. You present this as a fact. Vahrenholt: You will find many correlations between cloud cover and cosmic radiation in the book. I'd like to know why the IPCC doesn't thoroughly examine this mechanism. My guess is that the answer to this question would jeopardize the entire foundation of the IPCC predictions. Vahrenholt misrepresents the scientific evidence, in this case Kirkby and CERN's results, which Kirkby himself states "says nothing about a possible cosmic-ray effect on clouds and climate, but its a very important first step." The interviewer catches Vahrenholt in this misrepresentation, and Vahrenholt responds by claiming some research exists which supports his myth, and that the IPCC is ignoring it. In reality, the IPCC has discussed the issue in great detail, as demonstrated above. Vahrenholt is Indeed Duped In short, we end the way we began, wondering why anybody takes Vahrenholt's comments on the climate seriously. Not only does he lack expertise in the subject, but he clearly has not done his research, and misrepresents most of the sources he references. Toward the end of the interview, Vahrenholt provides a comment which Der Spiegel used in the title of the article: "...I feel duped." Indeed Vahrenholt has been duped, by his own shoddy research, and has also duped many of his readers in the process. Note: Vahrenholt and Luning have published a response to some of the criticism of their work. However, their response doesn't really contain any new information, and doesn't seriously address any of the criticms leveled in this post (in addition to completely missing the point of The Escalator, as other "skeptics" have). Yes Happer and Spencer, Global Warming Continues Posted on 3 April 2012 by dana1981 William Happer is a Princeton physicist and Chairman of the Board of Directors at the right-wing fossil fuel-funded think tank George C. Marshall Institute. Although he has not published any climate-related research in his scientific career, Happer nevertheless seems to enjoy making his opinions about climate science known, as we have previously examined here and here. Unfortunately, Happer does not seem interested in taking the time to ensure that those are informed opinions. Rather than subject his thoughts to the peer-review process, Happer's publication of choice appears to be The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), as he was one of the 16 scientists who recently published a plea for climate inaction in that paper, and a follow-up article defending their previous misrepresentations. Happer has now gone solo, publishing another opinion-editorial in the WSJ with such a Gish Gallop of climate-related myths as to be a truly Moncktonian effort. Though we will briefly whack each of Happer's moles in the post below, one particular myth caught our attention. This myth was also recently endorsed by Roy Spencer in an interview with John Stossel on Fox News - the myth that the planet has not warmed in the past 10 years. Global Warming Continues The quotes relevant to this myth are: Happer: "What is happening to global temperatures in reality? The answer is: almost nothing for more than 10 years...The lack of any statistically significant warming for over a decade has made it more difficult for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its supporters to demonize the atmospheric gas CO2 which is released when fossil fuels are burned." Spencer: "...for some reason it stopped warming in the last 10 years, which is one of those dirty little secrets of global warming science" There are a number of problems with these assertions. First, Happer mentions statistical significance, but global surface temperature trends are rarely if ever statistically significant (at a 95% confidence level) over periods as short as a decade, even in the presence of an underlying long-term warming trend, because of the natural variability and noise in the climate system. Second, if we filter out some of those short-term (i.e. interannual) influences, as Foster & Rahmstorf (2011) did (the El Nino Southern Oscillation, volcanoes, and solar activity), once we reduce the noise, the global surface warming trend over the past decade does become statistically significant. We can use the new SkS temperature trend tool developed by Kevin C to illustrate this with any data set, but since the argument was made by the University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH)'s Roy Spencer, we will choose the UAH data set (Figure 1). Figure 1: UAH lower troposphere temperature since February 2002 with the Foster and Rahmstorf method applied, and linear trend with two-sigma uncertainty As Figure 1 shows, the UAH warming trend over the past decade is indeed both positive and statistically significant once these three short-term effects are filtered out. Third, as Roger Pielke Sr. is fond of pointing out, very little of the global energy imbalance actually goes into heating the surface and atmosphere. The vast majority goes into heating the oceans, and thus if one is to argue that the planet has stopped warming, one must look to see if ocean heat content (OHC) has stopped increasing. So has it? Only if you consider the equivalent of two Hiroshima bomb detonations per second "almost nothing" (Figure 2). Figure 2: Global OHC for the upper 2000 meters of oceans (Levitus et al. in preparation) The OHC increase over the past decade is also statistically significant (Nuccitelli et al. in preparation). In short, Happer and Spencer are committing the classic Escalator fallacy, focusing on short-term noise while ignoring the long-term signal, as well as ignoring the vast heating of the oceans. Whack Those Moles As promised, we will take a brief moment to provide the resources to debunk the many other myths from Happer's WSJ article. The quotes below are from Happer's article, and the following discussions and links debunk the myths in those quotes. Juicy Cherries "The latest (February 2012) monthly global temperature anomaly for the lower atmosphere was minus 0.12 degrees Celsius, slightly less than the average since the satellite record of temperatures began in 1979." Does the inappropriateness of focusing on the temperature anomaly from a single month really need to be pointed out to Happer? Monthly temperature data are extremely noisy, and Happer's comparison tells us nothing of use whatsoever. It is a classic cherry pick of a time period influenced by a strong La Nina event, pure and simple. CO2 is a Pollutant "CO2 is not a pollutant." Yes, it is. CO2 was Higher in the Past "Life on earth flourished for hundreds of millions of years at much higher CO2 levels than we see today." Life on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago was quite different from life today, and the sun was also dimmer at the time. CO2 as Plant Food Oversimplification "Increasing CO2 levels will be a net benefit because cultivated plants grow better and are more resistant to drought at higher CO2 levels" The 'CO2 is plant food' argument is such a gross oversimplification of a complex issue that frankly it is an insult to the WSJ readers that Happer expects them to swallow it. Fossil Fuels = Prosperity? "Nations with affordable energy from fossil fuels are more prosperous and healthy than those without." Certainly high energy consumption is a sign of "prosperity," but there is no reason that energy must come from fossil fuels. The correlation merely represents the fact that 'prosperous' nations which have used more energy have historically primarily relied on fossil fuels to supply that energy. It does not follow that nations must rely on fossil fuels to supply their energy needs, particularly since renewable energy technologies are advancing and becoming rapidly cheaper. In fact, when all costs are taken into consideration, fossil fuels are already more expensive than many renewable energy sources. Solar photovoltaic power has already reached grid parity (when the cost of the energy matches market electricity prices) in several countries (Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Portugal, and Brazil) and is expected to reach grid parity in many other coutries within the next few years. Wind power is even cheaper. Feedbacks are Net Positive, Sensitivity not Low "The direct warming due to doubling CO2 levels in the atmosphere can be calculated to cause a warming of about one degree Celsius. The IPCC computer models predict a much larger warming, three degrees Celsius or even more, because they assume changes in water vapor or clouds that supposedly amplify the direct warming from CO2. Many lines of observational evidence suggest that this "positive feedback" also has been greatly exaggerated." There are two false claims in this quote. First, positive net feedbacks are not "assumed," they are observed (i.e. see Dessler et al. 2008). Second, there are not "many lines of observational evidence" suggesting low climate sensitivity. In reality both observational data and models agree that climate sensitivity is likely between 2 and 4.5C for doubled atmospheric CO2, with a most likely value of 3C (Figure 3). Figure 3: Distributions and ranges for climate sensitivity from different lines of evidence. The circle indicates the most likely value. The thin colored bars indicate very likely value (more than 90% probability). The thicker colored bars indicate likely values (more than 66% probability). Dashed lines indicate no robust constraint on an upper bound. The IPCC likely range (2 to 4.5C) and most likely value (3C) are indicated by the vertical grey bar and black line, respectively. Adapted from Knutti and Hegerl (2008) Global Warming is Human-Caused "the timing of the warmingmuch of it before CO2 levels had increased appreciablysuggests that a substantial fraction of the warming is from natural causes that have nothing to do with mankind." Approximately 80% of the global surface warming over the past 130 years has occurred over the past 4 decades (as can be shown with the SkS Temperature Trend Tool). Some warming during the early 20th Century was caused by natural effects such as increased solar activity, but this does not negate the human-caused warming, in particular over the past 50-65 years (Figure 4). Figure 4: Net human and natural percent contributions to the observed global surface warming over the past 50-65 years according to Tett et al. 2000 (T00, dark blue), Meehl et al. 2004 (M04, red), Stone et al. 2007 (S07, green), Lean and Rind 2008 (LR08, purple),Huber and Knutti 2011 (HK11, light blue), and Gillett et al. 2012 (G12, orange). Extreme Weather on the Rise "some IPCC supporters have been claiming that "extreme weather" has become more common because of more CO2. But there is no hard evidence this is true. After an unusually cold winter in 2011 (December 2010-February 2011) the winter of 2012 was unusually warm in the continental United States. But the winter of 2012 was bitter in Europe, Asia and Alaska." As long as we're cherry picking, since 12 March 2012 (a span of less than 3 weeks), more than 7,000 high temperature records have been equaled or exceeded in the USA. While it is difficult to attribute individual extreme wather events to global warming, increases in some extreme weather events have been observed. Also see Hansen et al. (2011) and Rahmstorf and Coumou (2011) for efforts to quantify the increased frequency of extreme weather events, and the IPCC SREX for an overview of the subject. Models are Reliable "The observed response of the climate to more CO2 is not in good agreement with model predictions." The model results beg to differ (Figure 5). Figure 5: Various best estimate global temperature climate model predictions evaluated in the 'Lessons from Past Climate Predictions' series vs. GISTEMP (red). Additionally, the observed surface temperature changes over the past decade are within the range of model predictions (Figure 6) and decadal periods of flat temperatures during an overall long-term warming trend are predicted by climate models (Easterling & Wehner 2009). Figure 6: Annual mean anomalies from the IPCC AR4 models plotted against the surface temperature records from the HadCRUT3v, NCDC and GISTEMP products. Everything has been baselined to 1980-1999 (as in the 2007 IPCC report) and the envelope in grey encloses 95% of the model runs (created by Gavin Schmidt). Gish Gallop Giddy-Up Rather than publishing uninformed opinion pieces in the Murdoch media, if Happer thinks his climate-related opinions are correct, perhaps he should subjugate them to the peer-review process to see if they can withstand scrutiny. As a physicist, Happer should know that science advances through scrutinized research, not uninformed opinion pieces published in newspapers. Moreover, "skeptics" like Spencer and Happer should cease cherry picking and consider all the data, in which case they will realize that global warming has not magically stopped. Ivar Giaever - Nobel Winning Physicist and Climate Pseudoscientist Posted on 12 July 2012 by dana1981 We often see scientists from non-climate fields who believe they have sufficient expertise to understand climate science despite having done minimal research on the subject; William Happer, Fritz Vahrenholt, and Bob Carter, for example. As he admits in his own words, Nobel Prize winning physicist Ivar Giaever fits this mould perfectly: "I am not really terribly interested in global warming. Like most physicists I don't think much about it. But in 2008 I was in a panel here about global warming and I had to learn something about it. And I spent a day or so - half a day maybe on Google, and I was horrified by what I learned. And I'm going to try to explain to you why that was the case." That quote comes from a presentation Giaever gave to the 62nd Meeting of Nobel Laureates in 2012, for some unknown reason on the subject of climate change. As Giaever notes at the beginning of his talk, he has become more famous for his contrarian views on global warming than for his Nobel Prize, which have made him something of a darling to the climate contrarian movement and climate denial enablers. In this post we will examine the claims made by Giaever in his talk, and show that his contrarian climate opinions come from a position of extreme ignorance on the subject, as Giaever admits. Giaever personifies the classic stereotype of the physicist who thinks he understands all scientific fields of study: Cartoon from xkcd which describes the behavior of Ivar Giaever to a 'T' Accuracy of the Surface Temperature Record In his talk, Giaever spent a lot of time criticizing Al Gore and Rajendra Pachauri (IPCC chairman) for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for - according to Giaever - 'making the global surface temperature record famous' (Figure 1). Figure 1: Various global surface and lower troposphere temperature data sets. Giaever proceeded to question the accuracy of the surface temperature record, ultimately asking: "How can you measure the average temperature of the Earth? I don't think that's possible." Unfortunately this simply displays an ignorance regarding the surface temperature record, whose accuracy has been confirmed time and time again, and which is also consistent with lower troposphere temperature measurements, as illustrated in Figure 1. Glenn Tramblyn has answered Giaever's question in great detail in his four part series Of Averages & Anomalies, and Kevin C also had an excellent and detailed post on recent temperature measurements in The GLOBAL global warming signal. The answers to these questions are out there for those who are willing to spend more than a few hours on Google searches, and it is not constructive to give presentations on subjects without first doing such basic research. We are again left wondering why Giaever was asked to give a presentation to Nobel Laureates on a subject on which he has no expertise and has not done even the most basic research. The Significance of the Observed Global Warming Giaever also disputed the significance of the measured 0.8C average global surface warming over the past 130 years, comparing it to a human fever and the temperature at which he had to maintain tissue for cell growth during his own biophysical experiments, also showing the following slide: Giaever does not seem to know how to put the observed 0.8C global surface temperature change in proper context. It may sound small in comparison to the absolute global temperature in Kelvin, or in comparison to changes in human body temperatures, but it is a very large change in global surface temperature, especially over a period as brief as 130 years (Figure 2). Figure 2: Eight records of local temperature variability on multi-centennial scales throughout the course of the Holocene, and an average of these (thick dark line) over the past 12,000 years, plotted with respect to the mid 20th century average temperature. The global average temperature in 2004 is also indicated. (Source) In addition to this rapid surface warming, the global oceans have also been accumulating heat at an incredible rate - the equivalent of more than two Hiroshima "Little Boy" atomic bomb detonations per second, every second over a the past half century. Presumably a physicist of Giaever's stature would appreciate the magnitude of this global energy accumulation. As a physicist, Giaever should also understand that seemingly small objects and quantities can have large effects, but instead he seems to rely on incorrect "common sense" perceptions which are based on ignorance of the subject at hand. CO2 vs. Water Vapor As another example of this behavior, Giaever proceeds to demonstrate that he also does not understand the role of the greenhouse effect in climate change. "Water vapor is a much much stronger green[house] gas than the CO2. If you look out of the window you see the sky, you see the clouds, and you don't see the CO2." Needless to say, the second sentence above represents a very bizarre argument. Giaever is either arguing that CO2 is a visible gas (it is not) and the fact that you can't see it means there is too little in the atmosphere to have a significant warming effect, or that only visible gases can warm the planet, or some other similarly misinformed assertion. That clouds are visible to the human eye and CO2 isn't simply is not relevant to the greenhouse effect and global warming. It's also worth noting that like CO2, water vapor is not visible - clouds are condensed water droplets, not water vapor. Additionally, water vapor does not drive climate change. There is a lot of it in the atmosphere, so it is the largest single contributor to the greenhouse effect. However, water vapor cannot initiate a warming event. Unlike external forcings such as CO2, which can be added to the atmosphere through various processes (like fossil fuel combustion), the level of water vapor in the atmosphere is a function of temperature. Water vapor is brought into the atmosphere via evaporation - the rate depends on the temperature of the ocean and air. If extra water is added to the atmosphere, it condenses and falls as rain or snow within a week or two. As Lacis et al. (2010) showed, as summarized by NASA (emphasis added): "Because carbon dioxide accounts for 80% of the non-condensing GHG forcing in the current climate atmosphere, atmospheric carbon dioxide therefore qualifies as the principal control knob that governs the temperature of Earth." Climate Myth Whack-a-Mole Giaever continues ticking off the most common climate myths, going from arguing that it may not even be warming, to claiming the warming is insignificant, to asserting the warming is caused by water vapor, and ultimately that the warming is indeed caused by human influences: "Is it possible that all the paved roads and cut down forests are the cause of "global warming", not CO2? But nobody talks about that." Climate scientists do of course investigate and discuss the effects of deforestation and urban influences. The 2007 IPCC report discusses the influences of deforestation on climate in great detail, for example here and here, and devotes a section to policies aimed at reducing deforestation here. The United Nations has also implemented the Collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) to address the effects of deforestation on climate change. In short, by claiming that nobody has considered the effects of deforestation on climate, Giaever once again demonstrates that he simply has not done his homework. The IPCC report also discusses the influences of urban heat islands and land use effects here and here, for example. Giaever then claims that one person has talked about these effects - US Secretary of Energy and fellow Nobel Laureate Steven Chu, who suggested paining roofs white to offset some warming, though he does not discuss Chu in a very flattering light. "[Chu has] been bought by the global warming people, and he's now helping Obama trying to make green energy in the United States." In the presentation in question, Chu described the potential effects of the white roof proposal as follows: "Making roads and roofs a paler color could have the equivalent effect of taking every car in the world off the road for 11 years" Chu discusses white roofs as a geoengineering possibility in response to greenhouse gas-caused climate change, as a way to offset a small portion of the global warming our fossil fuel combustion and associated carbon emissions are causing. Failure to do Homework Earns a Failing Grade At this point we're 9 minutes into Giaever's 32-minute presentation, and he begins comparing climate science to religion. Yet based on his arguments in those first 9 minutes, it's clear that Giaever has not done even the most basic climate research, so how can he possibly make such a radical determination? While Giaever is certainly a highly accomplished physicist, that does not automatically make him a climate expert as well. As Giaever himself has admitted, he has spent very little time researching the subject, and it shows. He simply bounces from one climate myth to the next, demonstrating a lack of understanding of Climate Science 101, and then insults the entire scientific field by comparing it to a religion, bringing life to the xkcd cartoon at the top of this post. Memo to climate contrarians - expertise comes from actually researching a subject. There is a reason why scientists who have researched climate change in the most depth are also the most likely to be convinced that global warming is human-caused (Figure 3). Figure 3: Distribution of the number of researchers convinced by the evidence of anthropogenic climate change (green) and unconvinced by the evidence (red) with a given number of total climate publications (Anderegg 2010). In his talk, Giaever complained that he had become famous for his climate contrarianism, which he claimed indicated that dissenting opinions on the subject are not welcome. On the contrary, Giaever has been criticized for repeating long-debunked climate myths which he could have easily learned about through a little bit of research - by perusing the Skeptical Science database, for example, where we have debunked all of his Googled climate misconceptions. Instead, Giaever has used his position of scientific authority as a Nobel Laureate to misinform people about a subject on which he has not even done the most basic research. That is not how a good scientist should behave, and that is why Giaever has rightfully and deservedly been criticized. Giaever finishes his talk by proclaiming "Is climate change pseudoscience? If Im going to answer the question, the answer is: absolutely." The problem is that Giaever has not done his homework, which is why he gets the wrong answer, and his presentation deserves a failing grade. Ironically, Giaever defines "pseudoscience" as only seeking evidence to confirm one's desired hypothesis, which is precisely how Giaever himself has behaved with respect to climate science. Listening to Giaever's opinions on climate science is equivalent to giving your dentist a pamphlet on heart surgery and asking him to crack your chest open. While climate science has a basis in phyiscs (and many other scientific fields of study), it is an entirely different subject, whose basics Giaever could undoubtedly grasp if he were willing to put the time in to do his homework. But individual scientists (even Nobel Laureates) suffer from cognitive biases like anyone else. That's why we don't rely on indvidual scientists or individual papers to draw conclusions about climate change. The only way to get an accurate picture is through the work of many scientists, peer reviewed and scrutinized over decades and tested against multiple lines of evidence. Giaever demonstrates how far cognitive bias - reinforced by a few hours of Googling - can lead anyone to the wrong conclusions, and also proves that no individual's opinion, regardless of his credentials, can replace the full body of climate science evidence. Note: for climate-related talks at the same conference made by Nobel Laureates who have actually researched the topics in their presentations, see these videos of Paul Crutzen and Mario Molina. Lindzen, Happer, and Cohen Wall Street Journal Rerun Posted on 22 August 2012 by dana1981 Readers may recall a letter published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in January 2012, signed by 16 climate contrarians, which we dubbed The Latest Denialist Plea for Climate Change Inaction. Roger Cohen, William Happer, and Richard Lindzen (hereafter CHL) were 3 of the 16 signatories on that letter, and have published yet another in the WSJ a mere 7 months later. As we noted at the time, neither Happer nor Cohen has a single climate science publication to his name, while Happer is a member of two fossil fuel-funded climate denialist think tanks (George C. Marshall Institute and Global Warming Policy Foundation) and Cohen is a George C. Marshall Institute 'expert' who has previously worked for ExxonMobil. Richard Lindzen is of course a climate scientist, but quite possibly the most consistently wrong climate scientist on climate issues on the planet. Suffice it to say that CHL do not have a great deal of credibility on climate science issues, which is perhaps why they continue to publish their opinions in the conservative mainstream media rather than subjecting their arguments to the scientific peer-review process. As we saw in January, the first WSJ letter was little more than a compilation of many long-debunked climate myths, and the quality of their arguments has not improved much in their second attempt. In fact the two letters bear some striking resemblances, for example both citing the climate opinions of Ivar Giaever, who we have previously seen has not even done the most basic climate science research. In this post we will examine the claims made in the latest WSJ letter from CHL, with one in particular standing out above the rest. WSJ - Home of the Whopper Just last month we looked at a paper by Lindzen and Choi (2011) (LC11), which claimed to provide evidence for a climate sensitivity of less than 1C, meaning that if the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere doubles, Lindzen argues that the average global surface temperature will only warm a total of <1C in response. As we discussed at the time, subsequent research has identified a number of fundamental errors in LC11 which have not been addressed, and in addition, virtually all other research using many different lines of evidence finds that climate sensitivity is very likely between 2 and 4.5C for doubled CO2. At the time, we also noted that arguments for climate sensitivity <1C depend entirely on LC11, because there has simply been little if any other scientific research in recent years finding such extreme low outlier sensitivity values. "Since the body of research using multiple different approaches and lines of evidence is remarkably consistent in finding an equilibrium climate sensitivity of between 2 and 4.5C for doubled CO2 (whereas a 'low' sensitivity would be well below 1.5C), climate contrarians...attempt to replace it with this single study by Lindzen and Choi" As if they were reading our post when they penned their WSJ article, this is precisely what CHL have done, claiming: "It is increasingly clear that doubling CO2 is unlikely to increase global temperature more than about one degree Celsius, not the much larger values touted by the global warming establishment." How is this "increasingly clear"? The beauty of publishing an article in the mainstream media is that providing supporting evidence is unnecessary - the reader is expected to simply take CHL's word for it. We can only assume that this 'increasing evidence' refers to the increase from essentially zero studies finding such extremely low climate sensitivity, to one fundamentally flawed study (LC11). While this can perhaps be construed as "increasing" evidence, it is hardly a strong or convincing case. Extreme Weather Obfuscation, Again Denying the link between climate change and extreme weather events is becoming a common exercise amongst climate contrarians, for example John Christy, Roger Pielke Jr., and Steve McIntyre. CHL join the extreme weather obfuscation party, and in fact refer to John Christy's myth and misinformation-filled congressional testimony on the subject as "measured and informative" in the process. Perhaps they meant to say "misinformative." Their comments on the issue are in response to a previous WSJ article by Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp, in which Krupp asserted: "One scorching summer doesn't confirm that climate change is real any more than a white Christmas proves it's a hoax. What matters is the trenda decades-long march toward hotter and wilder weather. But with more than 26,000 heat records broken in the last 12 months and pervasive drought turning nearly half of all U.S. counties into federal disaster areas, many data-driven climate skeptics are reassessing the issue." This was a perfectly reasonable and accurate opening to Krupp's article, but CHL take issue with his measured words, describing them in less than flattering terms: "Despite shrill claims of new record highs, when we look at record highs for temperature measurement stations that have existed long enough to have a meaningful history, there is no trend in the number of extreme high temperatures, neither regionally nor continentally. We do see the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s setting the largest number of record highs, at a time when it is acknowledged that humans had negligible effect on climate." They proceed to list several types of extreme weather events which they proclaim have shown no long-term trend. However, as we have documented, the link between climate change and many types of extreme weather has already been documented in the peer-reviewed literature. Here are just a few examples regarding precipitation, drought, and extreme heat. Min et al. (2011): "Here we show that human-induced increases in greenhouse gases have contributed to the observed intensification of heavy precipitation events found over approximately two-thirds of data-covered parts of Northern Hemisphere land areas." Dai et al. (2011): "All the four forms of the PDSI show widespread drying over Africa, East and South Asia, and other areas from 1950 to 2008, and most of this drying is due to recent warming. The global percentage of dry areas has increased by about 1.74% (of global land area) per decade from 1950 to 2008." Zwiers et al. (2011): "Therefore, it is concluded that the influence of anthropogenic forcing has had a detectable influence on extreme temperatures that have impacts on human society and natural systems at global and regional scales" We also recently discussed Hansen et al. (2012), which showed that heat waves have already become both more intense and more frequent as a result of global warming. This is true on a global scale, on a hemispheric scale, and even just for the United States, although to a lesser degree (Figure 1). Figure 1: Percent area covered by temperature anomalies in categories defined as hot (>0.43), very hot (>2), and extremely hot (>3). Anomalies are relative to 19511980 base period; is from 19511980 data. As this figure shows, if we split summers from 1951 to 1980 evenly into 'cold', 'moderate', and 'warm' such that each occurred 33% of the time, we are now experiencing cold summers just 10% of the time and warm summers ~75% of the time, globally. However, this shift toward hot summers and heat waves doesn't occur uniformly over the whole planet's surface. CHL are correct to note that the USA experienced similarly hot conditions during the Dust Bowl 1930s, which Hansen et al. discuss explicitly in their paper: "Temperature anomalies are noisy for the United States because of the small area of the contiguous 48 states (less than 1.6% of the globe), yet we can discern that the long-term trend toward hot summers is not as pronounced in the United States as it is for hemispheric land as a whole. Indeed, the extreme summer heat of the 1930s, especially 1934 and 1936, is comparable to the United States temperature in the most extreme recent years. The large 1930s and 1940s anomalies in the United States do not obviate the conclusion that recent global warming, with high probability, is responsible for recent extreme anomalies." Despite the local warm period in the USA in the 1930s, there is still a clear long-term trend toward hotter summer temperatures in the middle frame of Figure 1. Additionally, the USA does not exist in a bubble. Our CO2 emissions are mixed throughout the atmosphere and thus impact the global climate; thus we cannot simply consider changes in our own climate while ignoring changes throughout the rest of the world, as CHL do. The global trend toward more frequent and intense heat waves is abundantly clear in this animation based on the results of Hansen et al. (2012): Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center GISS and Scientific Visualization Studio More CO2 is Good for Plants? Really? CHL proceed to repeat the grossly oversimplified myth that more CO2 is good for plants: "CO2 levels are below the optimum levels for most plants, and there are persuasive arguments that the mild warming and increased agricultural yields from doubling CO2 will be an overall benefit for humanity." Given the recent climate impacts on wheat in Russia and corn in the United States, for example, this contrarian argument is a rather large pill to swallow. Quite simply, CO2 is not the only factor influencing plant growth. In fact side effects of increasing atmospheric CO2, like more heat waves and droughts, are far more important for crop growth than CO2 concentration. And as Dai (2010) showed, droughts are expected to become more common in a warming world, including in the USA, as measured by the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) (Figure 2). Figure 2: the potential for future PDSI worldwide over the decades indicated, based on current projections of future greenhouse gas emissions (Source) For perspective, Figure 3 shows the PDSI map for the USA in July 2012, which produced the agricultural-crippling drought in the midwestern states. Figure 3: PDSI for the USA in July 2012 (NCDC) Note that dark red in Figure 3 corresponds to a PDSI of -4 and below, which corresponds to red in Figure 2. This current level of agriculture-crippling extreme drought is projected to become the norm in the USA by mid-century, and drought intensity will only grow worse thereafter. Dai was recently interviewed by Andrew Revkin at the New York Times and noted that we've been lucky in the USA not to have experienced a lot of drought in recent decades, but that our luck on this front is unlikely to continue (emphasis added): "In essence, I think the U.S. has been very fortunate to have experienced a wetting trend from the 1950s to the 1990s, in contrast to many other low- and mid-latitude land areas. However, this luck is about to run out, because the tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures apparently switched into a cold phase around 1999 that typically lasts for 20-30 years and brings below-normal precipitation and drought over much of the West and southern U.S. On top of that, the greenhouse-gas-induced global warming is predicted to cause severe drying in the coming decades over the U.S. Even if the tropical Pacific condition changes after 1-2 decades into a warm phase, the U.S. is unlikely to return [to] the wet conditions of the 1977-1999 because of the expected large drying from global warming." Yet CHL would have us believe that plants will benefit from more atmospheric CO2? Contrarians Should Take their Own Advice CHL did actually provide some useful advice in their article, for example: "Whether increasing CO2 in the atmosphere is bad or good is a question of science. And in science, truth and facts are not the playthings of causes, nor a touchstone of political correctness, nor true religion, nor 'what I tell you three times is true.'" Despite these wise words, the contrarians expect us to do exactly that - accept the myths they are peddling because they keep repeating them over and over again in the mainstream media, each time with zero supporting evidence. Indeed whether increasing CO2 is good or bad is a question of science, and the scientific evidence clearly indicates that it is bad. If these contrarians believe otherwise, they should subject their evidence to the scientific peer-review process rather than publishing unsupported myths in the public sphere. The contrarians conclude their article saying: "Let us debate and deal with serious, real problems facing our society, not elaborately orchestrated, phony ones..." Again we entirely agree with this sentiment, and there is no more serious or real problem facing our society than human-caused climate change. CHL of course finish the quoted sentence by denying this reality, but they have provided no credible evidence why we should share their denial. On this day in 1607 two Irish Earls left Ireland very, very quickly for Spain. The Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell of northern Ireland boarded a ship with a group of disputed size with other Gaelic nobles, possibly because they were being persecuted, possibly because they were planning treason in the form of restoring the Catholic faith to rule in Dublin. Due to bad whether the Earls never reached Spain, and instead landed in France and became the center of a major diplomatic incident, eventually ending in their going to Rome and ending their days in exile. You may use this page to discuss Irish history, famous incidents of intrigue among nobility, or explore your own areas of freewheeling, off-topic discourse. Find previous discussions in the Open Thread archive. Excepting the entreaty that you remain on topic, all of Slates usual commenting policies apply. If you depend on this community and Slates journalism, please consider joining Slate Plus. We appreciate your support. Chinese FM calls for unity, cooperation of global community Xinhua) 10:43, September 04, 2023 BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday called for unity and global cooperation of the international community to seek mutual development and create a better future. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when delivering a speech via video link at the Global Town Hall 2023. The world today is living through accelerating changes unseen in a century, said Wang, adding that there are both dangers of division and confrontation as well as opportunities for unity and cooperation, and "the course of history will be shaped by the choices we make." Wang, who made a four-point proposal in the speech, called on all countries to stay united and cooperative, seek mutual development and create a better future. Wang urged to adhere to genuine multilateralism and work together to improve the global governance system. He also called for actively practicing open regionalism and promoting Asia's development and rejuvenation. Wang asked for promoting good-neighborly and friendly coexistence and building a community with a shared future with neighbors. He also called on all parties to be committed to a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability. "Attempts by certain forces outside the region to undermine peace in the South China Sea will not succeed," Wang said. Noting that China will host the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in October, Wang said China is ready to work with the international community to comprehensively review the achievements and experience of the Belt and Road Initiative and explore the ideas and measures for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation at a new starting point. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) People inspect the damages after an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, Sept. 4, 2023. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israel's military announced on Monday the arrest of three Hamas militants implicated in attempted attacks on Israel during a raid in the occupied West Bank. The raid, which took place in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Monday, involved more than 40 military vehicles, a helicopter, and drones, resulting in clashes between Israeli forces and local Palestinians. According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, at least four Palestinians sustained injuries. An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement that the arrests were made following "precise intelligence" from the Shin Bet security agency. Abdallah Hassan Muhammad Zubah, identified by the army as a "senior Hamas operative," was involved in attempts to fire rockets at northern Israel from within the West Bank. The other two were involved in "shooting and explosive device attacks, as well as advancing additional terrorist attacks," the spokesperson said. This operation marked the largest Israeli raid on Jenin since an operation in the densely populated refugee camp of Jenin on July 3-4, which resulted in the deaths of at least 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier. Israeli raids in the West Bank, often resulting in Palestinian casualties, have been a source of ongoing tension over the past year and a half. Israel contends that these actions are necessary to apprehend Palestinian militants involved in attacks. Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and kept its control over the territory ever since, despite international criticism. Enditem. Its back-to-school time, so I spent an early evening this week checking in with my friends about how their kids are doing after a couple of days in their new classes. One report got my fellow mothers and me scowling. At one school, a trio of bullies who had teamed up for a reign of minor terror in third grade last year were separated into three different classes for fourth gradebut then, on the second day of school, two of them were suddenly back together in one classroom. Clearly, one of the kids parents had called and asked for a switch. And the school had caved in. This seemed like exquisitely bad judgment on all sides. Teams of elementary-school teachers often meet for hours to hash out classroom assignments, taking great care over the combinations of kids theyre building. Parents generally shouldnt try to influence which classes their children are in, and schools shouldnt give in to them when they do meddle. And certainly they shouldnt change class assignments after the fact. The policy of the Henry Barnard Laboratory School, based at Rhode Island College, strikes the proper discouraging tone: Advertisement Once faculty have made their student assignment recommendations to the Henry Barnard School administration, it is extremely difficult to make changes and maintain the goals of our placement procedure. Moving a student from one classroom assignment to another inevitably changes the environment of both classrooms. For that reason, administrative changes during the summer to classroom assignments will be extremely rare. Advertisement The hard truth about meddling is that when parents insist on a particular class assignment for their children, they can end up helping their own kid at the expense of someone elses. Class assignments are a zero-sum game: If your kid gets the teacher you like and escapes the mediocre or rotten alternative, another kid will be taking his place. For sure, parents talk themselves around this. They say its their job to put their own kids interests first. Or if they have an older child who has had a run-in with a teacher, they figure the family has already done its time and now deserves a break. Or they talk in code about how a teacher or a combination of classmates is just not the right fit for their child, though theyre sure the setting will do everyone elses just fine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I hope I never go down this road. Its the mommy/daddy version of backroom dealing. And it succumbs to the temptation to try to perfect every aspect of our childrens lives. As my colleague Hanna Rosin put it about her oldest childs progress through elementary school, Every year I have thought about lobbying for a particular teacher or to have a particular friend in her class. And every year I have resisted. I never once regretted that. Shes had teachers who were, yes, slightly petty, and yellers, and also teachers who favor her. What happened to her? Nothing. She learned thatgasp!adults are flawed, too. Some schools dont see the hands-off parent as the virtuous parent, though. At Orangewood Elementary, a public school in Phoenix, Ariz., parents are invited to request a class assignment ahead of time, so long as they follow an established set of rules. The principal, Andree Charlson, explained to me that she asks parents first to sit in on the class they think they want, to see whether the teachers instructional method really appeals to them rather than going on vague hearsay. She honors requests only when they jibe with her own and her teachers sense of what makes for a good class mix. That includes balancing the number of boys and girls, including a range of ability levels, and not putting too many kids with behavioral problems in the same classroom. Advertisement Advertisement When parents talk about their childrens traits and the match they see with a particular teachers instructional method, Charlson tries to accommodate them. This is part of valuing parents as partners in their childrens education, she says. What if a parent asks for her child to be in the same class as a friend? Theres a narrower opening for such requests. Best friends? We dont do that, Charlson said, unless the children need that social interaction to support their education. And if a pair of friends mistreats other kids when theyre together, the request should go nowhere, said Charlson and the other principals I talked to. In case you had any doubt, there is research to support this: Although having friends is typically thought to be beneficial, having aggressive friends may negatively affect the adjustment of youth, write University of Missouri professor Amanda Rose and her colleagues in a 2004 article in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. Interestingly, Rose says that theres no consensus about whether bullies have fewer or poorer-quality friendships than other kids. Some studies show that their friendships offer similar levels of companionship, help and guidance, conflict resolution, and conflict. Other research has found that the friendships of aggressive kids are less intimate and affectionate and involve greater power differences. But however these friendships serve the bullies themselves, they seem like a danger for other children. Everyone knows that two or three mean kids are harder to shrug off or stare down than one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If two kids have a strong friendship that doesnt hurt the kids around them because theyre nonexclusive and pull other children into their orbit, should schools let the friends move from grade to grade together? About this one Im not a purist. We expect a lot of children to adjust to a new ecosystem every year. The mantra that they should start afresh each time by mixing with a new set of peers, rather than building on old attachments, has always seemed a bit much to me. I remember dreading each new year of elementary school, because my class list didnt include my closest friend of the year before. What if adults were told every September that they had to stop eating lunch or IM-ing with the colleagues they get along with best and must forge a whole new set of relationships? We wouldnt put up with it for a second. And so I was sweating when I recently opened the letter with my older sons class list for this coming year. He and his close friend were together, as it turned out, and I took this as vote of confidence in the open, outward-looking nature of their relationship. Maybe its a healthier friendship than mine were in elementary school. In any case, for this smooth start to the school year, I am grateful. A version of this article also appears in DoubleX. How to Do It is Slates sex advice column. Have a question? Send it to Stoya and Rich here. Its anonymous! Dear How to Do It, I was invited by my close girl friend to go sailing with folks that she didnt really know. It was us (both women in our late 30s), the boat captain (married man old enough to be our dad), and his friends. We had a great time sailing, swimming, and drinking wine. Everyone got quite drunk except for me. To make a long story short, my friend got blacked out drunk, put the moves on the old captain, and he ended up fingering her loudly while I sat shocked nearby. The other passengers heard the whole thing too. My friend made eye contact with me, and Im pretty sure she got off on me watching. She doesnt remember any of this, and Ive given her a watered-down version of the events. My questions are: is this normal? I dont like to think of myself as a prude or a kink shamer, but my sexual experiences are very vanilla. I have juicy fantasies, sure, but seeing the live show was somewhat shocking to me. Did I react appropriately in the moment by basically pretending like I didnt notice? In the future, should there be consent from me to be a participant in this kind of scene? And should I give my friend the full details and let her know that I was uncomfortable? She and I are open with each other, and I think shed want to know. Im really not judging (I find her preference for old men a little icky personally, but its her life). I just dont know the etiquette here. Caught between the Orgy and the Deep Blue Sea Dear Deep Blue Sea, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is it normal to watch your friend get fingered by a married man whos old enough to be her father while black-out drunk on a cruise? I can say with confidence that the majority of the worlds population has never experienced such a thing, and it would make great gossip fodder to anyone who knows any of the involved parties. It is certainly unusual. In absence of the implicit possibility of such sexual activity (like if this were a swingers cruise, or you were sailing off from a location where public sex is pretty common, like Fire Island), it was absolutely inappropriate for this to be sprung on you. Like sex itself, any kind of blatant exposure to sexual activity in a nonsexual venue requires consent from potential viewers in order to be ethical. You would have been justified to make your discomfort known, say by verbal means or by turning around or getting up to position yourself where they were out of view, but because it can be hard to draw a line in real time, especially when the jovial environment is vulnerable to party poopers, its completely understandable that you reacted the way you did. Youre not the rude one here! Youre not required to acknowledge your friend being spontaneously fingered by an old dude on a boat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We all have to decide our boundaries while hopefully incorporating compassion in those decisions. It makes sense if you want to forgive your friendshe was, after all, black-out drunk. Im going to be a little judgey here: The older you get, the less cute getting shitfaced is. A lot of people grow out of that behavior, and a lot of people who dont grow out of it have problems with drinking. I think as a friend, its your duty to be the eyes of someone whose own have gone bleary. That means I do think that you should tell her what happenedif you hold nothing against her and forgive her, lead with that so as not to shame her for something she did when she was out of control, something that is in the past and cant be undone. Perhaps being presented with the truth will make her rethink getting so fucked up in the future, or at least meditate on her relationship with substance. Approach with love and you should be fine. Advertisement Advertisement Dear How to Do It, My wife and I have been married for 30 years. At times it has been very rocky, and we separated for a year and a half. After we reconciled and went through lots of counseling, we eventually opened our marriage and entered the world of ethical non-monogamy. That went very well for three years. Then, over a weekend getaway, a lot of resentment and anger over our far past came up for my wife, and there was a lot of fighting and crying. We have tried to move forward from it, but with that as the kick start, the last few years have felt like I am living with someone who wishes I was not around. Now, it has reached the point where I can no longer perform with her sexually. I have normal performance with others more often than not. I know a lot of the things she does that make me feel this way. Advertisement Advertisement I dont know how I can fix this without discussing these things with her, and asking for change but how do I have that conversation without sounding like I am blaming her for my problem? I am talking about things like talking to me without seeming distracted or bored, laughing with me, touching and kissing and hugging, all the little things that would make someone feel wanted in a relationship; and then also, things like lights on or lights off, eyes open or eyes closed just so many little things, but it is like death by a thousand paper cuts. I am open to any suggestions, but she already feels like I just blame her for everything, and clearly this is my problem, so I am really stuck. Flaccid and Flummoxed Dear Flummoxed, Advertisement When discussing thisand I think you should do soframe it not in terms of what your wife doing wrong, but as an opportunity to examine whats off with your chemistry. You state it in your letter: Clearly this is my problem. Keep that vibe. Its OK to let your wife know that youre craving intimacy and affection, but instead of providing her with a laundry list of things she should be doing/doing differently, ask her what shes open to. You can mention specifics like more kissing and hugging and connected conversations. These are things that you should be doing together, and if you arent making an effort to incorporate them, youre part of the problem. Blaming her for their lack would be an outright distortion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The other sex stufflights on/off, eyes open/closedmay come down to personal taste and does not necessarily reflect any feelings about you and/or your sex life with her. I think in such cases, you can inquire as to whether she has a reason for such preferences, but her preferences likely bespeak her comfort levels and probably arent worth poking at as youre trying to reestablish a sexual connection. You do sound like you could both use a third party to heal, and Im not sure that the conversations that Im suggesting are really going take care of that to the full extent. Finding a therapist/counselor who is well versed in ethical non-monogamy could be very useful, especially since your wife expressed years of resentment during your weekend getaway. That kind of stuff doesnt always evaporate during the act of unleashing. Advertisement Also, I have to wonder after reading your description of your dynamic whether shes actually interested in rekindling the sexual relationship, as well. If shes making you feel like she doesnt want you around, what room is there within that treatment for an active sex life? Is this something youve discussed or are you just assuming that its time to repair that aspect of your relationship? You might want to start with some clarity there firstif it turns out she is, in fact, interested in resuming sex with you, perhaps shell be open to suggestions in a conversation about rekindling strategies. In other words, I think you need to have a bigger-picture chat to establish priorities and determine whether youre on the same page here. Do that first. Advertisement Help us keep giving the advice you crave every week. Sign up for Slate Plus now. Advertisement Dear How to Do It, My husband and I have been married for 25 years and have always enjoyed a robust sex life, made more robust recently by our empty nest and a move to our dream home. We are very sex positive, as the kids say, and nothing has ever been sexually off limits as long as we both consent. So this leads to my two part question. One, Ive had and used a vibrator for most of our marriage. I do have orgasms from sex but clitoral orgasms have a different quality and I like to have one as part of most sexual encounters. As Ive gotten older and we have more time to enjoy sex without kids around, Im rediscovering how much I like manual orgasms ( i.e. without a vibrator). These take longer than with a vibrator and require patience. Problem is, my husband never really took the time to learn how to make me come. I recently communicated that Id like him to learn, but his efforts have not yet succeeded, and my clit end up feeling mashed and desensitized. How can he learn to pleasure me? Or should I just give up on this goal and be glad for the great sex we have? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Secondly, my husband as hes gotten older has a harder time coming. (Hes on testosterone so I dont think its a medical issue. He can come, he just needs a lot more stimulation.) As a result, were adding a lot of new stimulus, i.e., butt stuff, choking, clamps, etc. What resources can you suggest for me to learn some new ways to stimulate my husband as he ages? More Pleasure for Everyone Dear More Pleasure, Have you said to your husband, Youve never really taken the time to learn how to make me come, and I would love for you to do so? You can sweeten it as needed, but I think going the direct route might be useful, especially if you havent tried it. Sometimes people, through no real fault of their own, have an empathy deficit and they just dont get it when they arent getting it. Letting your husband know how pleasurable manual orgasms are, how much youd like for him to help you achieve them, and that they require patience, could get the message through. You may actually have to show him, and again, emphasize the patience needed here. You shouldnt feel rushed or self-conscious for taking the time you need, and since youre both empty nesters in your dream house, it sounds like you have the leisure time required to get you off. Give him a real tutorialeven if it feels remedialthat is slow and well-articulated and if he is doing something youre not into, let him know. Dont be afraid to be verbal and directso many guys are so precise with their blow job directions, and that can be very helpful when your goal is getting him off. Project that energy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In terms of new ways to stimulate him, its most important to try what he likes or is curious about. You dont have to do the work for him hereyoure got enough on your hands already (literally!). If hes specifically lacking direction, there are definitely some places you can look. A sex toy shop could give you some ideas even if you just peruse one like Babeland online. The Joy of Sex is a classic for a reason. Barbara Carrellas Urban Tantra is a big HTDI fav. An activity book like the The Yes, No, Maybe Workbook could also stimulate ideas especially as they apply to kink. Theres a whole cottage industry of sex games for couples that you could experiment with. Theres blindfolds, bondage, ice, and incorporating porntruly the sky is the limit here. Think of this as a collaboration and explore him together. Advertisement Did you write this or another letter we answered? Tell us what happened at howtodoit@slate.com. Dear How to Do It, I live in an apartment complex, which I know means living with a certain amount of neighbor noise. My next-door neighbor in apartment A is an adult who lives with relatives (Im not sure of details, the family is very private) and is prone to loud echolalia, especially at bedtime. I solve this problem with a loud white noise fan in my bedroom in the evenings. Recently Ive started dating a new girl, and she finds the neighbor sounds very distracting during sex, so I also turn on the white noise in the bedroom if I know shell be coming over. She has roommates, so we spend more time at my apartment than hers. We try to keep it to a shared-wall friendly volumemy girlfriend is pretty quiet, and I think the fan helps too. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well, my other next-door neighbor in apartment B has now slipped two notes under my door in the space of a week complaining about the white noise specifically. I have no idea what to do about this, since it was supposed to help keep the peace. Do I ask the neighbors in A to try to be quieterIm not sure its possible? Do I tell the neighbors in B that Im just trying to ignore the A noise, and suggest they invest in a fan too? Do we annoy her roommates by camping out at her place? Do we just turn off the fan and make everyone uncomfortable with the loudest sex we can? Neighbor Problems Dear Neighbor Problems, Advertisement As much as people hate talking to people they dont know very well, especially about things on which they may not agree, and as cute as notes slipped under the door are, yes, I think you should have a conversation with the neighbors in B. Its a lot easier to be annoyed by the anonymous dwellers of apartment C (thats you) and their loud white noise when you havent come face-to-face with their humanity or the reasons why theyre generating white noise. Explaining whats up will let them see that youre in a bind and that you arent just being negligent (or worse, intentionally trying to annoy them). See if they have any suggestions for youit seems odd to me that theyd have an issue with the white noise fan (or even register it as a racket, since the whole point of white noise is to create an ambient sound sponge), but you should hear them out. Ideally, youd be precise and say that the fan is to not only block out A, but to ensure your intimate moments arent shared with B, but I dont even know that you need to explain that much if you arent comfortable with it. An explanation of As apparent issues and your attempt to manage them might be all thats required. Perhaps everyone needs to be using earplugs more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you have another room that doesnt share a wall with B, it might be worth relocating your sex there. And yes, you should probably consider using your partners place more frequentlyit makes sense that youve been doing it at yours, but thats mostly because of the theoretical privacy that your living alone confers. In practice, you dont have much of that privacy, and the neighbors in A and B, given the lack of sonic boundaries, can be viewed, as cohabitants who could be disrupted by your sex and its sounds. Seems like your respective living spaces are, at this point, equally inconvenient, so theres little reason to choose one over the other. Advertisement There may not be an easy answer here, but see if B will work with you. If that fails, try talking to A, but do it delicately. You could also attempt to hit up your landlord for better soundproofing in the apartments, but as in virtually all cases of hitting up your landlord for anything: Good luck with that. Rich More Advice From Slate Before my (F) husband (M) and I were married several years ago, I got him a little butt plug as a gift, not knowing howd he react, as we had never explored his butt together. When we went to use it, he said hed rather use one of his toys and pulled a big ol bag-o-dongs from the closet. As it turns out, he really loves receiving anal! This post contains spoilers for Sorry to Bother You. On Monday, millions of Americans are commemorating Labor Day with backyard barbecues and trips to the beach, while a faithful few march in parades to commemorate our countrys working people. This year might call for the start of a new, cinematic tradition. What Its a Wonderful Life is for Christmas and Groundhog Day is to Groundhog Day, Sorry to Bother You should be to Labor Day. Boots Rileys film, released earlier this summer, is a funny and insanely inventive trip that has been accurately described as science fiction with a dollop of magical realism. But from the perspective of workers rights, its frighteningly accurate in its depiction of the world we are heading toward. In the film, the main character, Cassius Greenplayed by Lakeith Stanfieldand his friends work at RegalView, a telemarketing company. The employees get only commissions and no wages at all. So far, this doesnt depart from whats legal in the real world: Generally, employers are allowed to pay salespeople on a commission basis (although what theyre paid has to add up to minimum wage and in some cases overtime too). In this case, the reality of what is happening in the real-life labor market is actually sometimes worse than the fiction. For example, supermarket baggers or other similar workers have sometimes been paid only in tips, which is plainly illegal. And Amazons Mechanical Turk website allows people to assign tasks for as little as a penny. In such cases, many workers end up with paltry earnings. And then there are the gig economy companies that fraudulently treat their workers as independent contractors, paying only commissions to their workforce, who alone bear most of the expenses and virtually all the risk. Advertisement Advertisement When the workers in Sorry to Bother You begin to organize a union, RegalView offers a promotion to Cassius (divide and conquer), relentlessly battles the union, and never considers the possibility of actually allowing the workers to have a collective voice. Science fiction, this is not. Our legal system has recently been headed toward a deification of any document purporting to be a contract. Throughout the movie, a company named WorryFree comes to play a prominent role. WorryFree offers people the opportunity to sign lifetime contracts to work in exchange for three meals a day and a place to live around the clock in the same building where they work. Sounds kind of like modern-day slavery. But in the movie, its perfectly legal, because after all, they signed a lifetime contract. Of course, our current employment contracts dont go nearly as far as WorryFrees. But they do go well beyond what fairness or decency would allow. For example, some employers use contracts in ways that effectively prevent workers from leaving their jobs. The Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns television stations nationwide, requires workers to pay money to the company if they want to leave their jobs and has actually sued workers for taking new positions. Many more employers indiscriminately (and sometimes unlawfully) use overly broad noncompete clauses, preventing their low- and middle-level workers from moving on in life and getting a better job in their field. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our legal system has recently been headed toward a deification of any document purporting to be a contract, at the expense of other relevant considerations. The Supreme Court has repeatedly blessed employers who force their workers to give up the right to bring a court case or class action. More than half of employees cant sue their employer in court, because of these forced arbitration agreements, which workers basically have to accept if they want a job. In a recent Michigan case, a worker suing for race discrimination was kicked out of court because of an arbitration clause she had not seen or received. The court found that she had nonetheless agreed to it, because there was a link to clickwhich she had not doneas part of the job application. Advertisement Advertisement So, in the real world, companies use contracts to keep their workers in place, and important workplace rights are waived when a link is presented that isnt even clicked on. Were not at WorryFrees lifetime contracts yet, but the trend line isnt good. In the film, the stock markets embrace of WorryFree also echoes todays reality. When Cassius reveals that the company is genetically modifying its workers to make them more efficient, he believes the revelation will bring shame and outrage, and cause the business to close. But of course, the opposite occurs: Stock prices surge because of the companys effective use of its workforce. Its the mirror image of what happened last spring when American Airlines gave raises to pilots and flight attendants: Stock prices fell. One JPMorgan analyst called it a worrying precedent and wrote to clients, we are troubled by [Americans] wealth transfer of nearly $1 billion to its labor groups. Raised wages are seen not as an investment in a companys team or workforce, but rather as a transfer to labor groups (meaning those pesky outside agitators, the pilots who fly the planes.) This zero-sum, short-term shareholder-versus-worker thinking skews corporate decision-making in harmful ways, and results in phenomena like companies using their tax-cut windfalls for stock buybacks instead of raising wages. Advertisement Advertisement Finally, the movies shocking finale is the most wild and dystopian ending imaginable, but also ultimately reflects a sorry truth. It turns out that WorryFree has also been modifying its workers genes to make them into equi-sapiens: half horse, half human. This allows them to work harder, faster, more efficiently and effectively. Its totally bizarre, and to be sure, we havent seen any equi-sapiens in real life (yet). But this crazy twist reveals the sad and enraging reality of how too many companies view the people who perform the work that allows their business to function and flourish. Amazon workers allegedly pee into bottles because they cant take breaks from their working time (the company has denied this). Pork processing workers are made to kill more than 1,000 pigs per hour; the Trump administration has proposed allowing companies to speed that up even more. People are expected to work through the heat and the cold. (See Justice Neil Gorsuchs frozen trucker dissent in the case of an employee who was fired for choosing to save his own life over staying with his companys truck in freezing temperatures.) And of course, theres no national paid family or sick leave. Advertisement Advertisement Workers corporeal bodies, their flesh and blood and skin and faces, are an inconvenience and a terrible inefficiency to too many employers. Andy Puzder, former CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardees and Carls Jr., and Donald Trumps original nominee for labor secretary, famously said he prefers machines over employees: Theyre always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, theres never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case. Advertisement Advertisement Our countrys workers are not equi-sapiens, but far too often theyre not quite treated as human beings, either. Theyre an expense to be minimized, not people deserving of decency and dignity, and certainly not a force to be reckoned with. Advertisement Throughout Sorry to Bother You, the RegalView workers organizing for better conditions come together and support each other, showing tremendous courage while fighting for dignity and justice. They are aiming for what nearly half of workers in a recent survey said they wanted: a union. This vision of collective action and depiction of raised political consciousness reflect some of the best things actually happening in our country today, from fast-food workers fighting for $15 to public school teachers marching on state capitols on behalf of themselves and their students. In this way, Sorry to Bother You hits the mark not only in its depiction of whats badly amiss in our society but also in its vision of where well find the solution. I remember the first time I read the words of the Frenchman Charles Arthaud: Inoculation, which will surely surprise you, is known and practiced amongst the Negres in some parts of Africa. By the time I read his pamphlet on smallpox inoculation, published in 1774, I was well beyond surprise. I knew, as many historians knew before me, that free and enslaved West Africans on both sides of the Atlantic were inoculating against disease before the early 18th century. By the time I read Arthaud, I had been tracing this history in colonial-era and medical archival sources in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and South America for years. It has now been over a decade. Nevertheless, Arthauds words, aimed at an audience of slave owners and French colonists, people he presumed would be unaware of this story, drive home a different point: that the African and African diasporic history of inoculation is as much about the politics of commemoration as it is about the history of medicine. Most historians cite 1721 as turning point in the history of smallpox inoculation in the Americas. 1721 was a terrible year for smallpox. Horrible epidemics struck the Caribbean, North America, Western Europe, and the West African coast. As the disease raged around the Atlantic, an enslaved African man in Boston recalled how people addressed smallpox in his West African homelands. He explained that, for generations, after doing what they could to prevent the disease from spreading, his people used a medical practice to control how smallpox spread. The method he described was one that Europeans called smallpox inoculation, or variolation. It involved deliberately infecting someone with the disease by pricking someone elses smallpox pustule, removing some pus, and placing that pus inside an incision on the recipients arm or thigh. The recipient would come down with the disease and recover, ideally in a controlled environment. Amid the chaos of epidemics, this practice enabled communities to have some semblance of control over how, when, and to whom smallpox spread. This enslaved African man explained that the practice was a last resort for most but that some brave young men would seek out smallpox outbreaks to be inoculated so that they could go and trade anywhere without fear. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Imagine: a young Black man being able to go anywhereanywhere at allwithout fear. Unfortunately, this is so difficult to imagine in our world today. Any such days of fearless travel and trade would have been behind this enslaved African man too. Enslavement in 18th-century Boston would have limited his mobility. To Benjamin Colman, the Puritan minister who recorded his account, this enslaved man was nothing more than an anonymous poor Negro. This man was not the only Black man in Boston to inform Puritans about smallpox inoculation. More well known among medical and early American historians is the case of Onesimus, a man enslaved by influential Puritan minister Cotton Mather. Though many historians and journalists, writing for academics and the general public, have heroized Onesimus as a sort of father of inoculation in the Americas, their narrow focus on the singular figure occludes a much bigger historical narrative. Mather and many other Puritans first learned of inoculation from Onesimus. However, in his other writings, Mather cites an Army of Africans who knew about inoculation in Boston. The demographics of the African community in Boston, and the specific characteristics of the geographies and societies men like the man who spoke with Colman described, suggest that the majority of this Army of Africans hailed from sub-Saharan West Africa. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While conducting archival research, I quickly learned that these men were not alone. When I began my research, I expected to see only a handful of records. But we find, peppered throughout the annals of medical treatises and travel narratives describing the Americas and West Africa, descriptions of enslaved and free sub-Saharan West Africans practicing smallpox inoculation, something they claimed to have done since before the introduction of Islam and since time immemorial in West Africa. I have since found accounts of the practice concentrated in the sub-Saharan African regions that today include Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and parts of Nigeria, as well as in the Caribbean and North America, specifically present-day Haiti, Jamaica, Massachusetts, and New York. These sources reveal that smallpox inoculation was a widespread West African healing practice. Advertisement Advertisement Smallpox inoculation coexisted with other forms of inoculation in these societies. For example, we find examples of enslaved Africans who hailed from present-day Ghana describing inoculations for yaws, another contagious flesh disorder. The surviving descriptions are often vague and tell us little about the inoculators or inoculation recipients beyond whether the procedure was successful and the ideal time to perform it, when children were young. Nevertheless, this abundance of archival evidence has gone largely unstudied by historians, who have instead chosen to fixate on Europeans perceptions of Onesimus or give West African inoculators only passing mentions in their histories of the practice. This is unsurprising, as canonical histories of medicine rarely grapple with the histories of Africa and the African diaspora. Advertisement Advertisement West Africans were not the only ones to practice smallpox inoculations before the 1700s. There are numerous accounts of North African, Arabian, and East Asian inoculators as well. Some of them practiced inoculation by making incisions (similar to West Africans), while others snuffed dried smallpox scabs to be inoculated. What was similar about these practices was that, rather than focusing on healing individual bodies, they centered and addressed whole communities. As the anonymous enslaved African man who spoke to Colman described, inoculation was about far, far more than preventing smallpox mortalities. This was a collectivist practice that enabled West African, North African, Arab, and East Asian groups to preserve themselves against the scourge of disease, and travel and trade without fear. It enabled them to have intergenerational connections and opportunities beyond their homelands. It likely enabled many to thrive. Advertisement Related From Slate The Virus Squads That Stormed Tenements in the Middle of the Night Read More My research reveals that enslaved Africans were responsible for introducing the practice of smallpox inoculation throughout the Americas by the 1700s. A century later, in the 1790s, in England, Edward Jenner invented the cowpox vaccine, the worlds first vaccine, an advancement that would transform how smallpox was treated worldwide. However, Jenner drew on nearly a century of inoculation knowledge and practices that were a crucial part of African, Arab, and East Asian healing. Nevertheless, today most people still associate inoculation and vaccination with Western European medicine and public health, despite their non-Western roots. This is, unfortunately, partly the fault of historians who have lauded Jenner but overlooked the legions of Arabs, Asians, North Africans, andmost of allWest Africans who practiced inoculation. West African histories of inoculation remain understudied in part because the archival evidence is so dispersed, and in part because historians of medicine have tended to ignore West Africans histories of medical knowledge production and innovation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is essential that we recognize the non-Western roots of medicine and public health because they have a bearing on our present. Recalling and commemorating the non-Western history of inoculation, particularly its African history in West Africa and the Americas, is necessary to help heal the gaping wounds that have engendered medical mistrust in Black communities globally. Overemphasizing European and Euro-American histories of inoculation not only is dishonest but also suggests that inoculation methods do not have a place in African and African diasporic healing traditions, when in fact they do. While we often center 20th-century Black American histories in public discourse, it is imperative that we also remember the earlier transatlantic histories, including medical histories that transpired in the era of slavery, especially when they laid the foundation for modern medicine. Advertisement While remembering, we must also ask: What is owed? How do we pay homage to the generations of free and enslaved Africans who helped lay the foundation for modern public health? How might we move beyond a commemoration practice rooted in recognition and representation to one that has tangible results for Black people? How might this historical knowledge add to calls for reparations? Black thriving is possible. It must be. Respecting and commemorating the history of African and African diasporic inoculation practices entails creating and allowing for the conditions for Black peoples thriving globallyconditions that would create a world in which Black people might live without fear. Those conditions include a world where health care is free and easy to access, a world bent on addressing the climate crisis, a world without prisons, detention centers, policing, and rising fascism, and a world in which we are not conscripted to be cogs in the machine of racial capitalism and militaristic neo-imperialism or broken under the thumb of both. That world is possible. And it is owed. With over 40% of the web powered by WordPress, this content management system isnt just a blogging platformits a potential goldmine. As digital enterprise takes the world by storm, countless entrepreneurs are discovering innovative ways to turn pixels into profit. If youve ever wondered how to make money on WordPress, youre in for a treat. From e-commerce ventures to sage advice from experts, this guide unpacks 32 proven strategies underpinned by success stories of giants like Etsy, TechCrunch, and MasterClass. Understanding the WordPress Platform So what is WordPress exactly? For the uninitiated, WordPress might sound like a buzzword. But for many, its the backbone of their online presence. Originating as a blogging tool in 2003, it has since evolved into a versatile content management system (CMS). The primary distinction to note is between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. While WordPress.com is a hosted platform, WordPress.org allows for more freedom and customization, as users can host their own sites. Some of the internets top blogs, from TechCrunch to BBC America, trust WordPress for their daily operations. The Potential of a WordPress Blog Launching a WordPress blog isnt just about putting thoughts on the web. Its about connecting, influencing, and yes monetizing. The beauty of a blog is in its potential. With its plugins and themes, youre not just setting up a site; youre building a brand. Plus, considering its vast user base, the reach is unparalleled. As your readership grows, so do your chances to monetize. Think sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, and ad revenue. With every post, youre stepping closer to turning passion into profit. Drive Traffic to Your Website Discover the Zoho Ecosystem Sell Your Business Advertise Your Business Here WordPress Website Your Digital Business Ground Think of a WordPress website as your online storefront or digital office. Whether youre selling handmade crafts or offering consultancy services, this platform enables you to showcase your offerings, interact with clients, and close deals. Its not just about aesthetics, either. With a plethora of plugins available, functionalities such as e-commerce, booking systems, and contact forms are mere clicks away. With a strategic approach, your WordPress website can become a revenue-generating machine. The Versatility of a WordPress Site When someone says WordPress, dont just think of blogs or basic websites. Its adaptability is its forte. From online forums and membership sites to e-learning platforms and e-commerce hubs, WordPress is capable of hosting varied web entities. This adaptability translates to diverse monetization strategies. You could charge for memberships, sell digital products, or even offer online courses. The point is WordPress is not a one-size-fits-all tool; its a multifaceted platform waiting to be molded to your vision. How Many Views on WordPress to Make Money? The million-dollar question (sometimes, quite literally) for many WordPress owners is: how many views do I need to start raking in cash? While theres a clear correlation between traffic and potential earnings, it isnt a linear relationship. Instead, several interplaying elements determine your sites revenue potential. Traffic and Revenue: The Connection Small Business Deals At a glance, the math seems simple: more views mean more clicks on ads, leading to higher income. However, its not just the quantity of the traffic but the quality that counts. For instance, 1,000 engaged readers who are keen on your niche are far more valuable than 10,000 random visitors who bounce off the page within seconds. Beyond Numbers: Quality Matters A HubSpot survey found that companies that prioritize blogging efforts are 13 times more likely to see positive ROI. But its not merely about producing content and amassing views; its about fostering a connection with your readers. High engagement rates, longer time on site, and repeat visitors often indicate a genuine interest in your content, which can translate to better monetization opportunities. 32 Great Strategies to Make Money on WordPress From e-commerce endeavors to expert advice, lets explore 32 fantastic strategies to make money with WordPress. Lets start with a quick summary first. Strategy Description Practical Example Selling Physical Products Leverage WordPress with WooCommerce for e-commerce. Etsy Dropshipping Ecommerce Synchronize your store with suppliers' inventory. Oberlo Offering Online Courses Turn your WordPress site into an e-learning platform. MasterClass Create Your Own Blog Share your voice and passion. TechCrunch Sponsored Blog Posts Monetize with branded content. BuzzFeed Affiliate Marketing Promote products for commission. Amazon Associates Accepting Donations Get support from your audience. Wikipedia Develop & Sell Plugins Create solutions for WordPress users. Yoast SEO Offer Consultancy Services Convert your site into an appointment hub. Gary Vaynerchuk Host Webinars Share expertise live with real-time interaction. SaaS companies' webinars Monetize with Premium Content Charge for exclusive content access. The New York Times Start a Membership Site Create a paid community or forum. Patreon Freelance Writing Showcase writing and land gigs. Medium Email Marketing Engage audience with targeted campaigns. HubSpot Rent Ad Space Directly Directly offer ad spaces on your site. Forbes Sell Digital Products Offer e-books, digital art, etc. Gumroad WordPress Theme Development Design themes for others. Elegant Themes Offer Virtual Workshops Host workshops via video conferencing. MasterClass Podcasting Integrate and monetize podcasts. Podbean, Anchor Offer Website Maintenance Provide WordPress maintenance services. WP Buffs Start an Online Magazine Transform your site into a digital magazine. Vogue, Wired Create Quizzes & Surveys Engage and monetize through sponsored quizzes. BuzzFeed Event Promotions Promote events and sell tickets. Eventbrite Host Sponsored Giveaways Engage with sponsored product giveaways. Rafflecopter Stock Photography Sell your photos as stock photos. Shutterstock, Getty Images Directory Listing Charge for business listings. Yelp, TripAdvisor Job Board Listings Offer a niche-specific job board. Glassdoor Flipping Websites Design, develop, and sell WordPress sites. Flippa Offer SEO Services Cater to the demand for SEO. Moz Integrate a Booking System Useful for appointment-based businesses. Spas, consultancies Collaborate with Influencers Partner for content or product promotions. AspireIQ Subscription Boxes Offer curated monthly packages. Birchbox 1. Selling Physical Products in Your Own Online Store Leveraging WordPress with WooCommerce provides a potent combination for aspiring e-commerce entrepreneurs. Take Etsy, for instance, which began as a simple idea and blossomed into a platform hosting millions of shops. 2. Set up a Dropshipping E-commerce store Instead of managing physical stock, you can synchronize your WordPress store with suppliers inventory using plugins like AliDropship. The model mirrors businesses like Oberlo, which integrates products from suppliers directly into a store. 3. Offering Online Courses Your expertise can be gold. Platforms like LearnDash transform your WordPress site into a comprehensive e-learning platform. MasterClass stands as a testament to the power of online courses, having collaborated with numerous celebrities to offer expert advice. 4. Create Your Own WordPress Blog Whether its travel, fashion, or tech, the world is eager to hear unique voices. Sites like TechCrunch began as simple blogs and morphed into dominant authorities in their niche. 5. Sponsored Blog Posts With a steady readership, brands might approach you for sponsored content. BuzzFeed frequently integrates sponsored content while maintaining their distinct voice and style. 6. Become an Affiliate Marketer Promote products related to your content and earn a commission. Amazon Associates, one of the largest affiliate programs, has been instrumental in monetizing countless sites. 7. Accepting Donations If youre providing value, your audience might support you. Wikipedia, for all its vast knowledge, operates significantly on donations. 8. Developing and Selling WordPress Plugins Plugins like Yoast SEO began as solutions to real-world problems and are now used by millions. 9. Offering Consultancy Services Platforms like WP Booking can convert your site into an appointment hub. Gary Vaynerchuk, a renowned entrepreneur, offers consultancy via his website, guiding businesses to growth. 10. Host Webinars Expertise can be shared live. Platforms like Zoom, integrated with WordPress, allow for real-time interaction. Many SaaS companies use webinars as part of their sales and customer education funnel. 11. Monetizing with Premium Content By using plugins like MemberPress, you can charge readers for access to exclusive content. The New York Times, for instance, offers a range of subscription plans, including one for premium articles. 12. Starting a Membership Site Think about creating a community or forum where members pay a recurring fee for special benefits. Something akin to platforms like Patreon, which allows creators to offer exclusive content to subscribers. 13. Freelance Writing Use your Website as a portfolio to showcase your writing and land freelance gigs. Sites like Medium partner with writers, compensating them based on the number of claps they receive. Learn more about how to make money on Medium here. 14. Email Marketing Platforms like Mailchimp can integrate seamlessly with WordPress, allowing for targeted campaigns. Brands like HubSpot have leveraged this to the fullest, offering a range of inbound marketing services. 15. Renting Ad Space Directly Bypass middlemen and offer ad spaces on your website. Similar to how Forbes might work with direct advertisers for specific campaigns. 16. Selling Digital Products From e-books to digital art, WordPress can host it all. Gumroad is an excellent example of a platform allowing creators to sell digital goods. 17. WordPress Theme Development Design unique and responsive themes for others. Just look at the success of companies like Elegant Themes, which offers Divi, one of the most popular themes. 18. Offer Virtual Workshops Using video conferencing tools, you can host workshops directly through your site. MasterClass does something similar with its array of celebrity-led classes. 19. Podcasting With the growing popularity of podcasts, platforms like Podbean and Anchor can help you integrate and monetize podcasts on your website. 20. Offer Website Maintenance Services Capitalize on your WordPress expertise by offering maintenance services. WP Buffs, for instance, focuses exclusively on website care. 21. Starting an Online Magazine Platforms like Issuu can turn your Website into a digital magazine hub. Magazines like Vogue and Wired have thriving online versions. 22. Create Quizzes and Surveys Engage your audience and make money through sponsored quizzes and surveys. BuzzFeeds success with quizzes is undeniable. 23. Event Promotions Promote offline and online events and sell tickets through your site. Eventbrites integration with WordPress is a classic example of this in action. 24. Hosting Sponsored Giveaways Engage readers with sponsored product giveaways. Companies like Rafflecopter can help facilitate this on WordPress. 25. Stock Photography If photographys your game, sell images as stock photos. It mirrors the likes of Shutterstock and Getty Images. 26. Directory Listing Charge businesses to list on your site. Think of it like a localized version of Yelp or TripAdvisor. 27. Job Board Listings Offer a niche-specific job board. WP Job Manager can help integrate this functionality, much like platforms such as Glassdoor. 28. Flipping Websites Design, develop, and sell WordPress websites. Platforms like Flippa have made a business out of this model. 29. Offer SEO Services With the demand for SEO growing, offer specific services through your Website. Moz started similarly and is now an SEO giant. 30. Integrate a Booking System If youre in a business that requires appointments, integrate a booking system. Businesses like spas or consultancies can greatly benefit from this. 31. Collaborate with Influencers Partner with influencers for content or product promotions. Influencer marketplaces like AspireIQ can be integrated with WordPress for streamlined collaborations. 32. Subscription Boxes Offer monthly subscription packages of curated items. Its a model companies like Birchbox have successfully capitalized on. How to Make Money from Ads on WordPress Advertising remains one of the most tried-and-true methods of monetizing a website. In the world of WordPress, several ad networks can seamlessly integrate, but one stands head and shoulders above the rest Google AdSense. This is a free program that allows website publishers of all sizes to display targeted Google ads and earn valid clicks by visitors. To get started, youll need to: Apply for AdSense: Head over to the AdSense site and sign up using your Gmail account. After signing up, youll have to add your site details and wait for approval. Insert Ad Codes: Once approved, youll receive ad codes that you can add to your WordPress website. This can be done manually, or you can use plugins like Ad Inserter. Choose Ad Types and Placements: Google AdSense offers various ad formats, from display ads to in-article ads. Placement is crucial. Ensure theyre placed in high visibility areas but dont disrupt the user experience. Earn Money: Every time a visitor clicks on one of the ads, you earn money. The exact amount depends on the competition for the ad and the contents relevance. While the per-click amount might seem small, with substantial traffic, these numbers can quickly add up. Though AdSense is a popular choice, its vital to note there are many other ad networks available, like Media.net or Infolinks. Rued Riis also offers some interesting insights on ways you can monetize your WordPress blog. Check out the video: Using WordPress Themes to Make Money with WordPress The design and usability of your WordPress site play a pivotal role in its success. Think of your theme as the foundationit sets the tone, determines usability, and can significantly influence traffic and, by extension, potential earnings. Why the Right Theme Matters: User Experience: A well-organized, attractive theme keeps visitors on your site longer. The longer they stay, the higher the chance theyll click on an ad or make a purchase. A well-organized, attractive theme keeps visitors on your site longer. The longer they stay, the higher the chance theyll click on an ad or make a purchase. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Many premium themes come SEO-ready. With search engines being a significant source of traffic, having a theme optimized for SEO can be a game-changer. Many premium themes come SEO-ready. With search engines being a significant source of traffic, having a theme optimized for SEO can be a game-changer. Load Times: Visitors are impatient. If your site takes forever to load because of a bulky theme, youll lose traffic. And less traffic means fewer earnings. And lets not forget about mobile. The modern web browsing trend heavily leans towards mobile devices. In fact, over half of global web traffic now comes from mobile phones. Therefore, having a mobile-responsive theme isnt just nice to haveits essential. Google also factors mobile-friendliness into its ranking, so if you want to appear in search results, ensure your chosen theme looks and works great on mobile devices. FAQs: How to Make Money on WordPress What are the Benefits of a WordPress Powered Website? WordPress is one of the most popular website platforms for good reasons. Some of its key benefits include its user-friendliness, a vast library of plugins and themes to enhance functionality, high customizability, strong SEO capabilities, and a large community for support and knowledge-sharing. Furthermore, its scalable, meaning it can grow as your online business or blog grows. Whats the best way to monetize WordPress for beginners? For beginners, affiliate marketing and ad placements like Google AdSense are often the most straightforward ways to start. These methods require minimal investment and technical expertise. As you grow and understand your audience better, you can explore other monetization avenues like selling digital products, memberships, or online courses. How much can I expect to earn from Google AdSense on a Self Hosted WordPress site? Earnings from Google AdSense vary widely based on factors like website traffic, content niche, ad placement, and audience geography. While some sites may only make a few dollars a month, others with high traffic and a lucrative niche can earn hundreds to thousands monthly. Regularly updating content, optimizing ad placements, and driving quality traffic can help increase AdSense earnings. How does running multiple WordPress websites impact the potential of making money online? Managing multiple WordPress sites can significantly boost earning potential, as you diversify your income streams and tap into various niches. However, it also increases the workload and requires strategic management. Its essential to ensure each site maintains quality content and user experience. Using tools like ManageWP can help streamline the process. How can one transition from a hobby blogger to making money with WordPress? Transitioning from hobby blogging to a monetized platform requires a strategic approach. Start by understanding your audiences needs and preferences. Once you have a clear picture, identify monetization methods that align with your contentbe it ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, or selling products/services. Consistency in content, marketing efforts, and continuously improving user experience are crucial for a successful transition. Additionally, promote your blogs on other platforms to bring in new readers. Social media sites and other online platforms may even introduce you to new income streams. In fact, there are many different ways to make money on your phone and online outside of WordPress. For example, explore how to make money on Instagram, how to make money on PayPal, or how to make money on Pinterest. Simplifying the process for employing foreigners would make Slovakia more attractive for investors, say experts. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share If a company has a successful business in Slovakia, it is natural that they would want to expand abroad, Patricia Tothova, founder and managing partner of the business administration service company ProfiDeCon says. The company, active in all Visegrad Group countries, helps companies looking to do business abroad by providing a suite of comprehensive services so that they can meet local legal, tax and labour requirements. In Slovakia it also helps companies employ foreigners. We want to hear the story of the client and look at it through the eyes of a lawyer, an economist and an expert in taxes, as we have expertise in all of these fields, says Tothova. How it started After working for several international corporations in Germany, Tothova, an attorney by profession, launched the business in 2015. On maternity leave with her first child, she had just moved back to Slovakia. Slovak companies planning to do business in Germany were looking for help communicating with local authorities about permissions and registrations, she tells The Slovak Spectator. At the start, she worked from her living room, but as her client base grew and her work increased her husband Pavol, who had worked in HR for a number of large US corporations, joined the business. Today they have a team of 14 people and, as well as ProfiDeCon, they run a law firm, ProfiDeCon Slovakia, providing legal services. They have offices, physical and virtual, in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Germany, as well as a network of external co-workers and experts in individual countries. We provide support to Slovak, Czech, Polish and Hungarian companies who send their employees, or suppliers abroad, while we also help companies relocate their foreign employees to Slovakia, says Tothova. Related article Related article Which German companies operating in Slovakia are hidden champions? Read more Main clients Many of its clients are small and medium-sized companies from the construction, electrical engineering, plumbing and heating sectors and assembly businesses who send employees or self-employed contractors abroad. These tend to be for types of skilled work in which Germany and Austria lack a large enough workforce [of their own], says Tothova. In these cases, companies expand to Germany but rather than opening a subsidiary there, they send their employees or suppliers abroad to fulfil the contracted orders. These companies have to meet a lot of German or Austrian legislative requirements, explains Tothova. These include, among others, registering employees with customs offices, correctly setting up work contracts with employees, and meeting minimum wage requirements. Germany is also very specific in that in the case of construction work, it has a so-called withholding tax, explains Tothova, adding that this is true for both companies and self-employed contractors. If a company does not want the German customer to deduct this withholding tax, it has to register with the German tax office and request an exemption from the tax. This is actually the most frequent request from our clients, because, of course, everyone wants the invoice to be paid in full, says Tothova, adding that communication with German offices have their specific features. For example, the best way to communicate with German tax offices, she insists, is by fax. As well as other requirements, such as registering for value-added tax and income tax, companies also have to watch how many days their employees or suppliers spend in the given country to avoid having to set up what is known as a permanent establishment there, which would mean they would have to pay salary tax or income tax in a particular jurisdiction. We try to give comprehensive information to companies when they need to do something in the given country, what their obligations are, what they need to do to make sure they are not fined, says Tothova. She warns that companies doing business in Austria must observe strict criteria related to dependent work and that fines for not complying with these rules can in some cases be so high as to spell the end of the business. She explains that apart from paying remuneration to an employee sent to perform a job in Austria as an Austrian worker, each company has to pay him or her a travel allowance. This can make their potential business in Austria uneconomical. Once they find out about the conditions for sending employees to Austria to fulfil an order, more than half of our clients change their mind and give it up, she says. She points out though that many requirements for firms in Germany are less strict because of labour shortages in certain professions. Trying abroad ProfiDeCon helps companies expand their business abroad, too. Slovakia, with a population of 5.5 million, is a relatively small market, so it makes sense that successful companies would want to try their luck abroad, says Toth. Some companies launch branches in Germany for marketing or visibility reasons, noted Toth, adding that having a label on a product saying the distributor is from Germany can have a positive impact on sales. Construction companies launch branch offices in Germany to increase their chances of winning public tenders. But Toth warns that what works in Slovakia will not necessarily work in Germany, because of local specifics. Moreover, the tax burden and costs of running a company in Germany are higher than in Slovakia. Some companies go to Germany under the impression that Germany is a large market and they are sure they will succeed there, he says. If they do not calculate it properly, their expansion may not have the desired effect and they could end up turning to us to help them sell or liquidate their branch. However, he says the firm has seen many success stories. They start with one order for a German client, who, satisfied with their performance, mediates orders for them in other countries, says Toth. Shortage of German speakers The reason why companies seek assistance when communicating with offices in German-speaking countries is the language barrier, as there is a shortage of German speakers in Slovakia. Tothova says her firm has encountered problems finding German-speaking people to work for them. One of the biggest problems is finding someone who can communicate in formal German when talking to a German partner or investor, or dealing with German authorities, a knowledge of colloquial language is not enough, she points out. She notes that English is more widely spoken than German in Slovakia, and that there are relatively few schools specialising in German, such as bilingual grammar schools. Its a shame because the language is used [officially] in three countries Germany, Switzerland and Austria and the latter is our neighbour, says Tothova. Her company helps German firms establish subsidiaries in Slovakia, and she says that those companies are interested in finding partners and employees who speak German, as English is not a widely spoken language among Germans. They find it easier to communicate in German, says Tothova. Slovakia needs foreign labour, but The experience of Tothova and her husband in helping companies employ foreigners in Slovakia has led them to believe that Slovakia is failing to tap the potential for foreign workers to help fill long-term gaps in the local labour market. The mindset in Slovakia is that we dont like foreigners regardless of the fact that our economy cant function without foreign workers, says Toth, adding that this is reflected in the attitudes of many people working at embassies, consulates and the Foreigners Police. There is no will among the people in charge to change this mindset. He gives an example of the kind of problems involved when employing foreigners in Slovakia. There isnt a problem in rules for employment of foreigners in Slovakia being strict, but that the Foreigners Police offices as well as police employees themselves are not unified in the rules and requirements, says Toth. Tothova adds that shortage of personnel at the Foreigners Police as well as at Slovak embassies can often result in potential employees, and the companies that want them, waiting months just to get an appointment at the Foreigners Police. On average, it takes six to nine months for a company to bring an employee from a non-EU country who needs a visa in order to enter the country into Slovakia and get them working. Companies often say, well, I cant wait so long for this particular person, so lets go and set up a branch in Hungary or Poland, says Tothova, adding that those states have much more flexible systems when it comes to employing foreigners. Shortening this process would make Slovakia more attractive for foreign investors, she says. If Smer leader Robert Fico wins, foreign agencies may be reluctant to share information, says expert Katerina Huskova. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share After two former heads of the Slovak Information Service (SIS) were charged, foreign intelligence agencies may be reluctant to share information, KATERINA HUSKOVA says in an interview with the daily Sme , Czech author of the book Internal Security Forces and Intelligence Services in Central Europe. They will monitor whether Smer wins the September election and whether Robert Fico becomes PM, she adds. Suvisiaci clanok Suvisiaci clanok Top security officials charged in the middle of election campaign Read more How does the Czech Republic perceive the case in which two former heads of the SIS and nominees of the Sme Rodina party are suspected of having participated in the discrediting of National Criminal Agency (NAKA) investigators, who were solving corruption cases of former governments nominees? The case has been resonating in the Czech Republic, but is being talked about much more now that SIS head Michal Alac was dismissed. In the Czech mainstream media, the arguments of the Slovak PM and president are spreading in particular, as in the country President Zuzana Caputova is considered a kind of symbol of moral integrity, with clear positions and a similar policy like with the war in Ukraine. There has arisen the narrative of the opposition that it is a police conspiracy against Robert Fico, as he himself is trying to say, but not much thought has been given to it. In the Czech Republic, Robert Fico is perceived as a symbol of corruption or willfulness, and his pro-Russian stance aroused concern among the Czech public. What is the opinion of the SIS abroad? The SIS is part of the Slovak democratic system. This means that all cases from the past to the present undermine the credibility of Slovakia as a country with the rule of law in their own way - from suspicions of the SIS being involved in the kidnapping of former president Michal Kovac's son, through the abuse of power, to current accusations against two SIS heads. It is another piece of Slovak political culture. What does such a breach of trust mean for the cooperation of SIS and foreign intelligence agencies? Since agencies process and exchange classified information, it is precisely this area that can make foreign agencies be more cautious. The accusation of two heads dismissed disturbs the stability of the institution. How to make Slovakia more attractive for investors, big changes in public's trust of politicians, and no fee for using electrical appliances in Bratislava student dormitories. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Good evening. Here is the Monday, September 4 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in fewer than five minutes. KDH chair under fire for calling LGBTI 'plague' KDH (Christian Democratic Movement) chair Milan Majersky. (Source: TASR) Not a year has passed since last year's terrorist attack in Bratislava's city centre, which saw two LGBTI people murdered. Over the past months, the community has been the target of many politicians' attacks, the latest on Sunday. During a Sunday political show on private television network Markiza, KDH (Christian Democratic Movement) head Milan Majersky called 'LGBTI' a 'plague that destroys any given country', placing it on a par with corruption and saying that both are unfortunate circumstances for countries. Although he later issued an apology, saying that his words were misunderstood and he meant the 'ideology' not people when talking about the plague, he met with backlash from open-minded politicians and people alike. KDH has sternly opposed registered partnerships on many occasions in the past. The Catholic Church and its members have been blamed for spreading hate against the community. An April poll by the Profesia job search website found that Slovak employees accept LGBT+ colleagues the least. MORE STORIES FROM THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR WEBSITE If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription with no ads and a print copy of The Slovak Spectator sent to your home in Slovakia. Thank you. FEATURE STORY FOR MONDAY Charges against two former SIS heads may cause less intelligence exchange The Slovak Information Service. (Source: TASR) After two former heads of the Slovak Information Service (SIS) were accused of serious crimes, foreign intelligence agencies may be reluctant to share information, KATERINA HUSKOVA says in an interview with the daily Sme. She is the author of the book "Internal Security Forces and Intelligence Services in Central Europe". They will monitor whether Smer wins the September election and whether Robert Fico will become PM, she adds. EVENT FOR SUNDAY Get a taste of the Slovak Philharmonic Daniel Raiskin and the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra. (Source: Peter Brenkus) Come hear what the upcoming 75th concert season at the Slovak Philharmonic will sound like. The orchestra will perform at the renovated fountain on Namestie Slobody square on September 10 from 17:00. The music of Slovak, Czech, Austrian, Italian, French and American composers will be heard far and wide. The programme is framed by the idea of culture as a unifying, and yet unique element of the individual nations of Europe and the whole world. Admission is free. IN OTHER NEWS The new school year has started on Monday. This also means that Bratislava public transport starts operating on the 'Workdays, School term' schedule , with the exception of lines 31, 39, 87, which will continue to operate according to the holiday schedule until September 17 when the new semester starts. Some minor changes to select lines apply, click here for more information (in Slovak for the time being). , with the exception of lines 31, 39, 87, which will continue to operate according to the holiday schedule until September 17 when the new semester starts. Some minor changes to select lines apply, click here for more information (in Slovak for the time being). The unemployment rate in the economically active population amounted to 5.7 percent in the second quarter of this year, down 0.4 percentage points year-on-year, the Statistical Office reported on Monday. in the second quarter of this year, down 0.4 percentage points year-on-year, the Statistical Office reported on Monday. The first of 76 Patria 8x8 armoured modular vehicles from Finland is set to be delivered to Slovakia in September, the Defence Ministry announced. The last vehicle is expected to arrive in 2027. Total price of the contract, including logistics, infrastructure and ammunition, is 447 million. The last vehicle is expected to arrive in 2027. Total price of the contract, including logistics, infrastructure and ammunition, is 447 million. Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities, Jan Hero, on Sunday called on the far-right political parties Republika and LSNS to remove billboards that present the Roma as "antisocial individuals" . . Comenius University Bratislava (UK) will not introduce a new fee for the usage of private electric appliances at its dormitories in Bratislavas Mlynska Dolina student town. Originally, a 5 monthly fee per appliance was supposed to be introduced in September. In the near future, UK will introduce a set of regulations and asks students to respect it. Participants during an attempt to enter the Book of Slovak Records for the longest strudel with 11 fillings in Strazske, Kosice Region. According to the official measurement, its length was 162.5 metres, improving upon the former Slovak 2016 record of a 149.40-metre long strudel. (Source: TASR) WEATHER FOR TUESDAY Sunny, daily temperatures between 18 C to 27 C expected. (SHMU) Thank you for subscribing and reading. It means a lot to us. P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk. Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook, Instagram (@slovakspectator) and Twitter (@slovakspectator). Milan Majersky says his words were misunderstood. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Leader of the KDH (Christian Democratic Movement) party, Milan Majersky, came under fire for his remarks regarding the LGBT+ community. During a Sunday political show on private television network Markiza, he was asked by a viewer 'what is a bigger threat to Slovakia, corruption or LGBTI'? He proceeded to say that 'both are unfortunate for any given country, even Slovakia'. When asked whether in equal measure by the presenter, he replied, 'both are plagues that simply destroy any given country'. Related article: Related article: Slovaks reject LGBT+ people as their colleagues, a poll shows Read more Backlash and apology AYBAK, Afghanistan, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Afghan counter-narcotics police destroyed a drug processing lab and arrested four people on the charge of involvement in the drug business in north Afghanistan's Samangan province, said a statement of the provincial police headquarters on Monday. Acting on a tip-off, the police launched operations in the Dara-i-Sof district of Samangan province on Sunday, the statement said, adding that police have taken four people in custody for investigation. The police personnel have also uncovered a massive quantity of materials used in manufacturing heroin from the sites of operations and possessions of the arrested men during operations, the statement further said. In a similar crackdown, Afghan counter-narcotics police destroyed a drug lab in the southern Uruzgan province on Friday. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230903/nigerien-forces-sent-to-frances-military-base-to-monitor-soldiers---reports-1113097936.html Nigerien Forces Sent to France's Military Base to Monitor Soldiers - Reports Nigerien Forces Sent to France's Military Base to Monitor Soldiers - Reports MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Soldiers of the Nigerien armed forces have been sent to France's military base in the capital city of Niamey to monitor French servicemen... 03.09.2023, Sputnik International 2023-09-03T23:40+0000 2023-09-03T23:40+0000 2023-09-03T23:40+0000 africa sputnik niger france mali /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/08/1f/1113031112_0:99:3292:1951_1920x0_80_0_0_e26ba8ead14f950dd768fcadf8ef950c.jpg The report said that Nigerien troops had received an order to monitor French soldiers at their base, who had not withdrawn from the country despite the termination of defense agreements between the two countries following the military takeover. On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told French media that the French military was unable to carry out its duties in Niger due to a lack of cooperation with Nigerien troops after the takeover in the African country in July. On Friday, mass demonstration took place near the French military base in the Nigerien capital, with protesters demanding that French forces leave the country, a Sputnik correspondent reported. Demonstrators were chanting slogans in support of the Nigerien National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), as well as of Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea that supported the military takeover in Niger, the correspondent added. The protests continued through Saturday, media reported. Earlier last week, Sky News Arabia reported that the CNSP, which was formed by the military that staged a coup in Niger in July, demanded a complete withdrawal of French troops from the country by September 3. It also announced the cancellation of all security and military agreements with France. On August 18, local media reported that Burkina Faso and Mali had deployed combat aircraft to respond to any military aggression against Niger. Guinea was the first country to back the Nigerien military. On July 26, Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted and detained by his own guard, led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani. France condemned the action, while expressing support for "the legitimate government" of its former colony. For their part, the rebels halted gold and uranium exports to France, blocked French media, and denounced several military pacts with Paris. In mid-August, they also demanded that French troops leave the country by early September. Since the takeover, mass rallies have taken place in Niger demanding the complete withdrawal of French troops from the country. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230830/french-troops-reportedly-given-until-september-3-to-withdraw-from-niger-1113002979.html africa niger france mali Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International sputnik, niger, france, mali https://sputnikglobe.com/20230903/russias-air-defense-downs-2-ukrainian-drones-over-kursk-region-crimea---defense-ministry-1113097810.html Russia's Air Defense Downs 2 Ukrainian Drones Over Kursk Region, Crimea - Defense Ministry Russia's Air Defense Downs 2 Ukrainian Drones Over Kursk Region, Crimea - Defense Ministry Russian air defense forces shot down two Ukrainian drones over Russia's Kursk Region and over the Black Sea near Crimea, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. 2023-09-03T23:31+0000 2023-09-03T23:31+0000 2023-09-03T23:31+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia kursk crimea russian defense ministry /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/08/06/1112416255_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_b8f643289aae3e49a7e5fd72f97f8d34.jpg "Today, at around 1 a.m. Moscow time [22:00 GMT], an attempt by the Kiev regime to conduct terrorist attack using two aircraft-type drones against object on the Russian territory was thwarted. Air defense forces destroyed Ukrainian drones in the air over the Black Sea near the Crimean peninsula and over the territory of the Kursk Region," the ministry said.On Friday, Russian forces thwarted a naval drone attack on the Crimean Bridge, along with an aircraft attack in Russia's Belgorod region. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230901/russia-thwarts-ukraines-drone-boat-attack-on-crimean-bridge-downs-uav-over-belgorod-1113064107.html russia kursk crimea Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian ukraine conflict, russian air forces, https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/algerian-military-fires-on-jet-skiers-from-morocco-killing-two-1113120911.html Algerian Military Fires on Jet Skiers From Morocco, Killing Two Algerian Military Fires on Jet Skiers From Morocco, Killing Two Algerian officials have confirmed that their military fired "multiple" warning shots before opening fire on a group of jet skiers who inadvertently crossed into Algerian territory. 2023-09-04T22:10+0000 2023-09-04T22:10+0000 2023-09-05T21:18+0000 world morocco algeria civilian casualties casualties incident jet ski /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/04/1113120754_0:326:2685:1836_1920x0_80_0_0_b1c9fb0357550b89c0820a8b857e550c.jpg The harrowing encounter reportedly resulted in the untimely deaths of two jet skiers, Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Mechouar. The heartbreaking event has sparked outrage in both Morocco and Algeria, with demands for a thorough investigation and justice for the victims. The family of Abdelali Mechouar is pleading for its loved one to be allowed a proper burial. The body of the other victim, Bilal Kissi, was fished out at sea by fisherman and has been buried.This incident has further exacerbated the longstanding tensions between Algeria and Morocco, with the border between the two nations having been sealed since 1994 and diplomatic ties severed in 2021.Algeria's defense ministry released a statement to justify officials' actions, citing the presence of drug smuggling gangs and organized crime in the maritime border area as the reason for their Coast Guard's decision to first fire warning shots.However, Mohamed Kissi, one of the survivors, disputes this account, asserting that they never heard any warning shots and were fired upon directly without provocation.Kissi added that the group was low on fuel and accidentally floated into Algerian waters.The situation took a dire turn when Smail Snabi, another member of their group, was detained by Algerian authorities, and it was reported that he has already been sentenced to 18 months in jail. Adding to the complexity of the situation, the survivors, including Bilal and Mohamed Kissi, hold dual Moroccan and French citizenship, intensifying international interest and concern.Morocco's National Human Rights Council has issued a stern condemnation of the shooting and has demanded Snabi's immediate release. France's Foreign Ministry is actively engaged in discussions with both the affected families and Moroccan authorities.Algerian authorities have remained silent on the matter, deepening the worries surrounding the tragic incident. morocco algeria Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Egor Shapovalov Egor Shapovalov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Egor Shapovalov algeria, morocco, north africa tensions, death of bilal kissi, death of abdelali mechouar, jet skier killed in africa what happened https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/bae-fools-errand-deal-to-produce-howitzers-in-ukraine-will-make-no-difference-1113099852.html BAE 'Fool's Errand' Deal to Produce Howitzers in Ukraine 'Will Make No Difference' BAE 'Fool's Errand' Deal to Produce Howitzers in Ukraine 'Will Make No Difference' The Kiev regimes agreement with BAE Systems to explore local arms production in Ukraine is a fools errand, but the defence contractor will come out of it "with a profit", political commentator Philip Giraldi told Sputnik. 2023-09-04T11:06+0000 2023-09-04T11:06+0000 2023-09-04T11:06+0000 analysis ukraine bae systems proxy war ukraine crisis philip giraldi volodymyr zelensky nato howitzers m777 howitzers /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/04/1113099485_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_46540dc5705305156aad4fb19ee10a56.jpg The Kiev regimes agreement with BAE Systems to explore local arms production in Ukraine is a fools errand," but any way it goes, the defense contractor will come out of it "with a profit," former US Army Military Intelligence officer and political commentator Philip Giraldi told Sputnik.Ukraine is only contracting with Western arms companies because it is being given everything free by the US and NATO, underscored the founder and chair of the Council for the National Interest.President Volodymyr Zelensky recently touted a new agreement with the British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company BAE Systems that would establish a local presence in Ukraine.The development of our own weapons production is a top priority In particular, artillery L119 and M777 systems, armored vehicles robust CV90. These are the weapons of BAE Systems, which is starting to operate in Ukraine, Zelensky wrote on Telegram on August 31. He also said he had met with the company's CEO, Charles Woodburn.However, the deal, which was ostensibly discussed with the defense contractor back in May, comes amid the botched Ukrainian counteroffensive, which has resulted in huge losses for the Kiev regime, along with piles of NATO-gifted weaponry destroyed by Russias military. Furthermore, President Volodymyr Zelensky recently even entreated the West to send Ukraine missiles for Soviet-era anti-aircraft systems, as the West's systems have not turned out to be as effective as they were extolled.The Kiev leadership touted plans of a future BAE Systems production base on Ukrainian soil back in May, eying the possibility of having local production of the L119 Light Gun 105 mm towed howitzer. UK-donated L119s have been operating in Ukraine since 2022, along with a vast amount of billions' worth of NATO weaponry funneled to fuel the alliances proxy war with Russia. The 105 mm howitzer uses the M1 ammunition with a maximum range of 11.4 kilometers. There are also other BAE systems operational in Ukraine, such as the M777 155 mm towed gun and the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle, as per Ukraines presidential office.As for BAE Systems, it stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the agreement would enable it to "to ramp up support to Ukraines armed forces and to explore the supply of light guns" to Kiev.BAE boasts annual sales of more than $29.19 billion (23 billion) and almost 2.5 billion in profits in 2022, as per media reports."The idea of a production plant in Ukraine for British Aerospace is currently foolish for many reasons," Matthew Gordon-Banks, former UK Conservative member of Parliament and retired senior research fellow at the UK Defence Academy, told Sputnik.Ukraine has been rapidly chewing through all the weapons funneled from the West. However, Kiev still has nothing to show for its botched counteroffensive, which was launched on June 4, with its military sustaining tremendous losses. The agreement, which is much-touted by Zelensky, discusses weapons that will neither change the outcome of the conflict or be available any time soon, Gordon-Banks added.The retired UK Defence Academy senior research fellow pointed out that any local production in Ukraine by BAE Systems would just become a target, as Moscow has repeatedly pointed out. Overall, the deal with BAE Systems "will make no difference," underscored ex-US Army Military Intelligence officer Philip Giraldi, adding:The Kremlin has been swift to warn the defense contractor that any of its facilities in Ukraine would be a legitimate target for the Russian military. "Of course, any facilities for the production of weapons, especially if these weapons fire at us, they become objects of special attention for our military, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked to comment on the agreement. He also added that it would not influence the course of conflict or contribute to a reduction of hostilities.Moscow has underscored time and again that the United States and NATO are direct participants in the Ukraine war because of their support to Kiev by supplying arms and providing it with military training. Russian President Vladimir Putin also warned that Western military aid supplied to Kiev only prolongs war and would not change its outcome, while foreign-made lethal weapons are a priority target for Russian forces. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230712/nato-spent-years-preparing-for-proxy-war-with-russia-in-ukraine-1111838638.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230830/scott-ritter-ukraines-fate-sealed-long-before-failing-counteroffensive-1112990937.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230903/millions-of-ukrainians-dodging-draft-to-avoid-certain-death-fighting-for-nato-1113096124.html ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Svetlana Ekimenko bae systems, l119 light gun 105 mm towed howitzer, ukraine counteroffensive, botched ukraine counteroffensive, nato proxy war against russia in ukraine, howitzers, https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/clashes-resume-between-kurds-arab-tribes-in-syria-1113120540.html Clashes Resume Between Kurds, Arab Tribes in Syria Clashes Resume Between Kurds, Arab Tribes in Syria Less than a day after the US Embassy in Syria said two senior US officials visited the province of Deir ez-Zor to deescalate the situation, violent clashes broke out multiple villages. 2023-09-04T20:11+0000 2023-09-04T20:11+0000 2023-09-04T20:16+0000 world kurdistan workers' party (pkk) syrian democratic forces (sdf) deir ez-zor hasakah syria middle east /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107918/46/1079184657_195:0:1706:850_1920x0_80_0_0_76565e0dde4b692b72cf40c2e0d50871.png Earlier in the day, the US Embassy in Syria said two senior US officials had visited the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor and agreed with representatives of the SDF, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) and local tribal leaders to deescalate the regional situation amid increased tensions. Sources added that violent clashes were also taking place in the area of other villages of Deir ez-Zor. The Arab tribes managed to destroy several SDF vehicles. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) sent reinforcements to help the SDF. The SDF said that 22 fighters of the Kurdish detachments had been killed over the past week during the fighting against the Arab tribes in Deir ez-Zor. Last week, sources told Sputnik that the situation in the province deteriorated after the SDF arrested the head of the Deir ez-Zor Military Council. On Friday, the SDF announced a curfew for two days amid the unstable security situation in the province. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), composed primarily of the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG), backed by the United States, control most of the Raqqa and Al-Hasakah provinces as well as several residential areas in the provinces of Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor. In particular, they control the greater part of the cities of Al-Hasakah and Qamishli. The official government in Damascus does not recognize the self-proclaimed autonomous administration of northern and eastern Syria. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/us-kurdish-led-sdf-local-leaders-agree-on-de-escalation-in-syrias-deir-ez-zor---embassy-1113098851.html deir ez-zor hasakah syria Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International syrian conflict, syrian civil war, what is going on in syria https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/fsb-says-detained-ukrainian-saboteurs-accomplice-who-handed-over-bombs-for-terrorist-acts-1113101374.html FSB Says Detained Ukrainian Saboteurs' Accomplice Who Handed Over Bombs for Terrorist Acts FSB Says Detained Ukrainian Saboteurs' Accomplice Who Handed Over Bombs for Terrorist Acts The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday that an accomplice of Ukrainian saboteurs had been detained in the Zaporozhye region, adding that he made and handed over several bombs for terrorist attacks to them. 2023-09-04T07:07+0000 2023-09-04T07:07+0000 2023-09-04T07:07+0000 russia ukraine russia russian federal security service (fsb) russian interior ministry /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/05/19/1110577890_0:79:1594:976_1920x0_80_0_0_96e0c044f81e976445ee8a71b53c00d3.jpg "The Russian Federal Security Service, together with the Russian Interior Ministry, has stopped the activities of a citizen of Ukraine, born in 1968, who assembled improvised explosive devices for a sabotage and terrorist group operating in the Zaporozhye region on the instructions of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine," the FSB said in a statement. The detainee handed over to the perpetrators several explosive devices that they used in the commission of terrorist attacks against police officers and the regional administration, the statement read. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/four-ukrainian-saboteurs-killed-as-trying-to-cross-into-russias-bryansk-region---fsb-1112642367.html ukraine russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian federal security service, terrorist attacks, zaporozhye region https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/kfor-mission-to-hold-3-day-military-drills-in-kosovo-this-week---reports-1113114808.html KFOR Mission to Hold 3-Day Military Drills in Kosovo This Week - Reports KFOR Mission to Hold 3-Day Military Drills in Kosovo This Week - Reports The NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) will conduct routine military exercises in the western part of the breakaway region from September 5-7, Kosovar media reported on Monday, citing the mission. 2023-09-04T16:53+0000 2023-09-04T16:53+0000 2023-09-04T16:53+0000 military nato kfor serbia kosovo yugoslavia 1999 nato bombings nato bombings military drill military exercise /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/17/1109781505_0:0:2048:1153_1920x0_80_0_0_ae3e1b9dd1cb474e5f282a41ce6e3922.jpg The exercises will be carried out by the Western Multinational Regional Command and focus "on the unit's operational readiness procedures and preparation," the mission said in a statement cited by a Kosovar newspaper. During the drills, KFOR soldiers and vehicles will be stationed near Krusevo village and Decan Monastery, the statement said, adding that the exercises will include both day and night ground movements and involve convoys of heavy engineering equipment. NATO has stepped up its presence in self-proclaimed Kosovo, with 500 Turkish servicemen arriving in Kosovo in June after the escalation of the already tense relations between Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians at the end of May, which resulted in clashes that left dozens of people injured. In 1999, an armed confrontation between Albanian separatists from the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Serbian army led to a bombing of what was then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by NATO forces. In June 1999, NATO stationed its forces in Kosovo. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230705/vucic-says-serbs-in-kosovo-facing-greatest-persecution-in-15-years-1111678480.html serbia kosovo yugoslavia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International nato-led kosovo force, kfor, western multinational regional command, nato presence, nato forces, nato interference, nato troops, nato drill, nato exercise, nato, kfor soldiers, kfor troops, kfor mission, us hegemony, us miitary presence, nato bombings of serbia, bombings of serbia, serbia bombings, yugoslavia bombings, bombings of yugoslavia, kosovo independence https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/russian-aerospace-forces-shoot-down-ukrainian-mi-8-helicopter-1113113239.html Russian Aerospace Forces Shoot Down Ukrainian Mi-8 Helicopter Russian Aerospace Forces Shoot Down Ukrainian Mi-8 Helicopter Russian armed forces shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 military helicopter, 24 drones and three HIMARS MLRS shells over the past 24 hours, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry stated on Monday. 2023-09-04T17:11+0000 2023-09-04T17:11+0000 2023-09-04T17:11+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia ukraine russian aerospace forces russian defense ministry high mobility artillery rocket system (himars) donetsk people's republic lugansk peoples republic /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107874/40/1078744042_0:56:2475:1448_1920x0_80_0_0_107c70d243ddc56a894454b8f5c0781d.jpg "Fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down an Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force near the settlement of Brusovka in the Donetsk People's Republic. Air defenses intercepted three rockets of the HIMARS MLRS," the report said.In addition, 24 Ukrainian drones were destroyed and suppressed by means of electronic warfare in the Lugansk People's Republic, Donetsk People's Republic, as well as the Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions.Since the beginning of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, the Kiev regime has lost a total of 467 jets, 248 helicopters, 6,376 unmanned aerial vehicles, 435 anti-aircraft missile systems, 11,643 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,147 multiple rocket launchers, 6,214 field artillery and mortar units, and 12,694 units of special military vehicles, according to the ministry's information. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230901/ukraine-admits-the-loss-of-military-choppers--1113040532.html russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russia special military operation, ukrainian crisis, failed counteroffensive, ukrainian counteroffensive, us weapons, nato equipment, nato-supplied military equipment, us arms for ukraine, foiled counteroffensive, counteroffensive attemt, thwarted counteroffensive, botched counteroffensive, counteroffensive effort, nato arms for ukraine, donetsk, lugansk, zaporozhye, kharkov, mi-8 helicopter, ukrainian helicopter, ukrainian aircraft, drone attack, drone warfare, ukrainian drone, ukrainian mi-8, ukrainian chopper https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/russian-forces-hit-ukraines-troop-command-post-west-of-vremyvka-in-dpr---defense-ministry-1113098611.html Russian Forces Hit Ukraine's Troop Command Post West of Vremevka in DPR - Defense Ministry Russian Forces Hit Ukraine's Troop Command Post West of Vremevka in DPR - Defense Ministry Russian forces have hit a troop command post of the Ukrainian armed forces west of Vremivka in the Donetsk People's Republic, Oleg Chekhov, a spokesman for Russia's Vostok grouping of troops, told Sputnik. 2023-09-04T02:33+0000 2023-09-04T02:33+0000 2023-09-04T15:49+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia ukraine donetsk people's republic donetsk chekhov /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/08/17/1112816581_0:55:3543:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_33ea37321fcb5555c42d37d9263901b4.jpg Russian Forces also hit temporary deployment points of Ukrainian troops in the South Donetsk direction, Chekhov added."With the help of rocket and cannon artillery, frontline units of the Vostok grouping of troops have hit a troop command post of the Ukrainian armed forces west of Vremevka, points of temporary deployment of forces in Staromayorske, Novomikhaylovka, Vuhledar and Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk People's Republic," Chekhov said. russia ukraine donetsk chekhov Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International donetsk operations, vremivka, vremyvka, vostok https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/sky-high-showdown-su-34-deployed-hypersonic-kinzhal-dagger-missile-1113101815.html Sky-High Showdown: Su-34 Deployed Hypersonic Kinzhal 'Dagger' Missile Sky-High Showdown: Su-34 Deployed Hypersonic Kinzhal 'Dagger' Missile In a recent development, Russia has reportedly deployed its advanced Kinzhal hypersonic weapon, demonstrating its formidable combat capabilities as the special military operation in Ukraine continues, while the Ukrainian counteroffensive remains stalled. 2023-09-04T13:03+0000 2023-09-04T13:03+0000 2023-09-04T13:03+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia ukraine sukhoi vladimir putin kinzhal missile system /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/05/11/1110417177_0:149:3112:1900_1920x0_80_0_0_fce16aaaa1a3e772419dfd97614682a3.jpg A source in the Russian army has disclosed to media sources that the Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic air-lunched ballistic missile (ALBM) was deployed by the Su-34 multirole supersonic combat aircraft in the ongoing special military operation.The Sukhoi Su-34 plane used the hypersonic Kinzhal missile in the course of the Ukraine conflict. The initial Russian service members who accomplished this mission were decorated with state honors, noted the source.The Russian "Kinzhal" represents the armed forces' advance to a sixth-generation weapon system boasting high velocity (with a speed range of 2,000 to 3,000km) aeroballistic missiles. This hypersonic missile is deployed via the MiG-31K interceptor, a specialized aircraft specially modified for this mission. Furthermore, earlier reports indicate plans to equip Kinzhals on Tu-22M3 strategic and Su-34 fighter bombers.On 1 March 2018, during his speech to the Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined key features of the Kinzhal missile system:Since December 2017, the Kinzhal hypersonic weapon has been undergoing experimental operational deployment within the Russian armed forces. On 18 March 2022, the missile was officially deployed during the special military operation in Ukraine. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230521/what-is-the-fastest-missile-in-the-world-and-how-much-does-speed-really-matter-1110502411.html russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg kinzhal missile, dagger missile, hypersonic, air-launched ballistic missile, albm, su-34, multirole, supersonic, combat aircraft, ukraine conflict, russian armed forces, sixth-generation weapon system, high velocity, aeroballistic missiles, mig-31k interceptor, tu-22m3 strategic, su-34 fighter bombers, vladimir putin, kinzhal missile system, high-speed carrier aircraft, anti-aircraft, anti-missile defense systems, nuclear warheads, conventional warheads, special military operation, experimental operational deployment, special military operation in ukraine. JERUSALEM, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israel Defense Forces' top lawyer warned on Monday against moves that will harm the independence of Israeli courts, saying it will put Israeli officers in danger of being prosecuted abroad by international tribunals. The remarks, widely perceived as criticism against the government's controversial plan to reshape the country's judicial system, were made by Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi during a speech at a conference of Israel's Bar Association in Tel Aviv. In her speech, Tomer-Yerushalmi cautioned that without the independence of the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, Israel could lose a key defense in international legal matters, potentially endangering officers in international legal forums. "IDF's (Israel Defense Forces) international legitimacy efforts are greatly benefited by the aura, the protection, with which the justice system provides it, particularly, the Supreme Court's professional and independent international status," Tomer-Yerushalmi said. "Measures that may harm, or be perceived as harmful to, the independence, professionalism and effectiveness of the legal system, may crack the aura that the judicial system provides to the military and harm the interests of Israel," she added. She said that her office and senior IDF officers have presented these warnings to the government. The Palestinians and some legal experts have appealed to hold senior Israeli officers accountable at international tribunals over actions involving the conflict with the Palestinians and the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The military has been confronted with thousands of announcements by reservists, including combat pilots and senior commanders, that they are halting their service due to the judicial overhaul plan. The plan aims to diminish certain authorities of the Supreme Court, transferring them to the ruling coalition. Opponents argue that it undermines the rule of law, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government asserts that it is necessary to rein in the "activism" of the Supreme Court. The plan has thrown the country into turmoil, with millions of Israelis, according to police estimates, having taken part in weekly demonstrations across the country against the overhaul plan. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/syrian-foreign-minister-russian-envoy-condemn-politicization-of-opcw---reports-1113098360.html Syrian Foreign Minister, Russian Envoy Condemn Politicization of OPCW - Reports Syrian Foreign Minister, Russian Envoy Condemn Politicization of OPCW - Reports The Syrian Foreign Minister and the Russian envoy to the OPCW jointly condemned the politicization of the organization. 2023-09-04T01:10+0000 2023-09-04T01:10+0000 2023-09-04T01:10+0000 world alexander shulgin syria russia organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons (opcw) damascus chemical weapons /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/103480/23/1034802380_0:270:5184:3186_1920x0_80_0_0_a033a20d10318e58fc7335db6bdc1df5.jpg During the meeting, the two officials discussed the work of the organization, condemned West's efforts to raise false allegations to distort the image of Russia and Syria in the organization, the news agency said on Sunday. Mikdad reaffirmed Syria's commitment to the non-use of chemical weapons, while thanking Moscow for supporting Damascus in the OPCW, the report also said. Cooperation between the countries in the OPCW helps prevent Western countries from imposing their view on a number of issues discussed in the organization, Shulgin said at the meeting. After the largest gas attack in August 2013 in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention. This was the result of an agreement between Russia and the United States on the destruction of chemical weapons in the country under the control of the OPCW and stopped the US military intervention in Syria. Chemical weapons stockpiles were successfully removed from Syria; in January 2016, the OPCW announced the complete elimination of the country's chemical arsenal. Russia and the Syrian government have repeatedly accused the OPCW of bias in its investigations into incidents in the Arab Republic and questioned the conclusions drawn by the technical secretariat. The Syrian authorities stated that they never used chemical weapons against civilians and terrorists, and the entire chemical arsenal of the country was removed from Syria under the auspices of the OPCW. syria russia damascus Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International opcw unbiased, chemical weapon bans https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/tesla-to-start-building-shanghai-battery-factory-in-near-future---tesla-china-chief-1113115784.html Tesla to Start Building Shanghai Battery Factory 'in Near Future' Tesla to Start Building Shanghai Battery Factory 'in Near Future' US billionaire Elon Musk's electric carmaker Tesla is planning to begin building a battery factory in Shanghai "in the near future," with the produced goods expected to be used mainly for export, Tesla China President Wang Hao said on Monday. 2023-09-04T17:26+0000 2023-09-04T17:26+0000 2023-09-04T17:30+0000 elon musk shanghai china tesla science & tech world gigafactory tesla motors self-driving vehicles /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107127/99/1071279929_0:120:3500:2089_1920x0_80_0_0_4ed9efc8bc7b4e675edfc9ffaf398320.jpg In April, Tesla announced its plans to build a large battery factory, Megapack, in the Chinese city, with a declared production volume of 10,000 batteries per year. He added that China's new energy vehicle market was very large and its dynamics were showing positive results. Tesla already has a Gigafactory in Shanghai, which is the company's largest plant in terms of electric vehicle production. Meanwhile, the Chinese market is the automaker's largest after the United States. Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 as a developer and manufacturer of electric cars and adjacent technologies. The firm is headquartered in the city of Palo Alto, California. Besides cars, Tesla also manufactures batteries for electric vehicles, which are later sold to other car producers, including Toyota Daimler. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230617/belgian-resident-wins-lawsuit-against-tesla-over-frequent-car-breakdowns---reports-1111247725.html shanghai china Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International tesla, tesla motors, shanghai automobile factory, tesla motors, chinese car factory, electric vehicles, tesla production, tesla factory, electric vehicles manufacturer, electric vehicles producer, electric vehicles carmaker, battery factory, megapack, gigafactory, production of megaback, megapack batteries, tesla and the shanghai free-trade zone https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/toxic-legacy-of-japanese-operated-wastewater-treatment-facility-in-mexico-1113110242.html Toxic Legacy of Japanese-Operated Wastewater Treatment Facility in Mexico Toxic Legacy of Japanese-Operated Wastewater Treatment Facility in Mexico An environmental catastrophe is looming in Veracruz, Mexico, as a transnational sewage treatment company defies local laws and standard operating procedures, leading to alarming environmental violations, and has prompted a state intervention. 2023-09-04T17:10+0000 2023-09-04T17:10+0000 2023-09-04T17:10+0000 world newsfeed mexico veracruz japan mitsui /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/102552/19/1025521938_0:7:1377:782_1920x0_80_0_0_30ba89cdd5b7e28d5fc3e925c17a93a8.png Hydrogen sulfide, a harmful, brownish acidic compound that steadily corrodes iron and steel constructions, has been discharged straight into rivers by the Japanese-run Alto Rio Blanco Wastewater Treatment Plant since 1995, locals of Ixtaczoquitlan municipality in Mexicos Veracruz state have expressed.On August 21, 2023, the State Environmental Protection Agency (Procuraduria Estatal de Proteccion al Medio Ambiente - PMA) shut down Veracruz's second-biggest treatment plant, managed by Japan's transnational corporation Mitsui & Co. Infrastructure Solutions, due to a lack of adherence to immediate actions mandated several months ago.Pattern of ViolationsMonteagudo pointed out that the report unveiled alarmingly high amounts of contamination and underscored that the facility dumps a staggering 700 liters of polluted water continuously into the Escamela River daily.Based on documents reviewed by media sources, the wastewater treatment company handles effluent from no more than six neighboring municipalities (Orizaba, Huiloapan, Ciudad Mendoza, Nogales, Rio Blanco, etc.) and over 10 firms across multiple industries. However, Mitsui & Co. Infrastructure Solutions completely defies the obligatory authorizations and blatantly disregards even fundamental rules.The assessment report highlights a range of violations, including the persistent leakage of poisonous substances every day, the release of water into the river that is more highly polluted than its initial state upon entering the facility, and the unrestricted discharge of pathogenic water right into the environment, and excessively high concentrations of toxic airborne substances breathed in by nearby residents, situated approximately nine miles from Orizaba city.Recurring public complaints regarding the plant's activities spurred an investigation by the PMA in late 2022. The state governor, Cuitlahuac Garcia Jimenez, who concurrently serves as the president of the trust responsible for the Firiob wastewater treatment plant, endorsed the intervention.Decaying Facilities, Non-Compliance & IrregularitiesThe verdict from the PMA couldn't be more straightforward: the company lacks the required operational licenses and has failed to adhere to the regulations' fundamental criteria." Several months back, we all concurred that the contract should be canceled," remarks Edgar Carmona, an environmental chemist now at the helm of Firiob. Upon their arrival at the Mitsui facility, his team was taken aback by the startling discoveries they made.Carmona highlights a dire situation where crumbling infrastructure, outdated technology, machinery failures, non-functional reactors, and outdated biogas pipes are prevalent. Moreover, various irregularities, such as discrepancies in contracted personnel, further exacerbate the problem.The report reveals that the plant doesn't meet the latest Mexican Official Norm 001-Semarnat requirements. This norm defines significantly lower thresholds for pollutants in wastewater discharges than what Mitsui currently releases.Mitsui's unchecked pollution is not only threatening the local environment, including coffee and sugar cane plantations and chayotales fruit cultivation, but also the livelihoods of farmers in the high-altitude region of Veracruz.Devastating ConsequencesYair Condado, a teacher who has taught at the primary school near the wastewater treatment plant for 17 years, highlights that parents frequently keep their children home due to strong odors and poor conditions caused by humidity and plant emissions. This has led to class suspensions as students often feel nauseous.The Ixtaczoquitlan health center director, Miriam Pellico, complained of frequently treating children with headaches, sore throats, and respiratory and gastrointestinal problems due to contaminated wastewater that generates harmful gases when combined with organic compounds.The head of inspection and surveillance at the PMA emphasizes that the company had sufficient time to implement an emissions management system. However, they neglected to address the significantly high sulfur emissions from the plant, thereby endangering the health of Ixtaczoquitlan residents and the safety of its workers. He highlights various industrial safety issues, including employee protection during leaks and the absence of control measures for tainted water. Monteagudo also references a 2021 incident where an operations manager, Hiram Martinez, tragically lost his life by falling into one of the facility's dumping outlets, with an ongoing court case further emphasizing the array of anomalies exposed by the PMA report.Notably, Japans recent decision to discharge treated radiation-tainted water into the Pacific has sparked public vehement objections in another region of the world. The international humanitarian community, as well as China, South Korea, and other neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region expressed their fear of radioactive contamination, as in late August, Japans Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant operator announced that it was putting into motion its plan to release over a million metric tons of treated, highly-diluted radioactive wastewater from the crippled plant into the Pacific Ocean. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230901/tritium-found-in-seawater-near-japans-fukushima-amid-treated-radioactive-water-dump-1113057202.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20170419/banned-pollutant-under-marines-base-1052761748.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230903/cancer-risk-surges-from-even-tiny-trace-of-tritium-expert-warns-amid-fukushima-water-dump-1113091795.html mexico veracruz japan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg hydrogen sulfide pollution, alto rio blanco wastewater treatment plant, mitsui & co. infrastructure solutions, environmental violations, pollution in escamela river, state environmental protection agency (pma), contaminated wastewater discharge, ixtaczoquitlan municipality, environmental health concerns, industrial pollution in veracruz, mitsui's environmental impact in latin america, mexican official norm 001-semarnat, public health risks from pollution, impact on local agriculture, mitsui's management of sewage treatment facilities, environmental safety, employee protection, el ahogado sewage treatment facility, atotonilco plant in tula, hidalgo state, edgar carmona, gaspar monteagudo hernandez, cuitlahuac garcia jimenez, ramon moreno, miriam pellico, hiram martinez, procuraduria estatal de proteccion al medio ambiente, japan, mexico. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/two-people-dead-six-more-injured-in-shooting-at-wedding-in-ottawa-shooter-at-large-1113098482.html Two People Dead, Six More Injured in Shooting at Wedding in Ottawa, Shooter At Large Two People Dead, Six More Injured in Shooting at Wedding in Ottawa, Shooter At Large A wedding in Ottawa turned deadly on Saturday night after a shooting left two dead and six more injured. 2023-09-04T01:57+0000 2023-09-04T01:57+0000 2023-09-04T02:04+0000 americas ottawa canada shooting mass shooting wedding /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/05/17/1082977195_0:98:1920:1178_1920x0_80_0_0_e24c5bc9109974f2c7a4ae173e83d5a7.jpg "The Ottawa Police Homicide Unit continues to investigate a shooting incident that left two men dead and injured six people ... This violence is tragic and unacceptable. It is disturbing for our entire community. Police are reaching out to community leaders to ensure the families of the victims are supported," the police said in a statement on Sunday, adding that the victims were attending a wedding when the shooting occurred. The police later identified the victims, saying that there was "no indication that this was a hate-motivated shooting." The department added that it had no suspect description available and no arrests had been made so far. A total of 13 homicides have happened in the Canadian capital in 2023, the police said. According to media reports, the wedding was described as a Somali wedding. One victim described the shooter as a man in his 20s. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/tens-of-thousands-forced-to-evacuate-as-wildfires-rage-across-canadas-northwest-1112693639.html americas ottawa canada Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International ottawa, wedding shooting, ottawa wedding shooting https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/ukrainian-soldiers-afraid-to-walk-across-kiev-in-uniform---captured-serviceman-1113105382.html Ukrainian Soldiers Afraid to Walk Across Kiev in Uniform - Captured Serviceman Ukrainian Soldiers Afraid to Walk Across Kiev in Uniform - Captured Serviceman It is dangerous and embarrassing for military personnel in Kiev to appear in the streets in uniform, as they may be mistaken for employees of military commissariats (territorial centers for recruitment), a captured Ukrainian soldier complained. 2023-09-04T15:51+0000 2023-09-04T15:51+0000 2023-09-04T16:28+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine ukraine ukrainian crisis volodymyr zelensky ukrainian counteroffensive attempt kiev ukrainian armed forces /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/04/1113114921_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_3d0af50d4079b32aac47499a93e5938a.jpg "About a month and a half ago I was in the city of Kiev. Walking only in civvies [civilian clothes - ed.], I even went to the military recruitment center in civvies. Because I am afraid that someone will beat me up, thinking that I am carrying a summons [an order to visit a territorial center of recruitment, to be then sent to the frontline - ed.]," the Ukrainian serviceman told Sputnik. According to the prisoner, the heads of Ukrainian military commissariats are so corrupt that they require payments for certain "services" and legal "excuses" to avoid military service, which ultimately destroys the image of the Ukrainian military, causing servicemen to feel ashamed of wearing a military uniform. Since February 2022, Ukraine has been living under martial law and a law on general mobilization which prohibits men of18-60 years old from leaving the country. Since the beginning of Russia's special military operation, Ukraine has been suffering severe losses and a massive flight from the country (more than seven million "Ukrainian patriots" have left the state). Thus, the country's authorities have been announcing new "waves" of mobilization one after another, but to no avail. Despite the fact that Ukraine hides its losses, people witness the scale of disaster which Zelensky's policies have got the country into. Thus, servicemen are unwilling to sacrifice their lives for the corrupt regime, refuse to follow ill-considered orders, and desert en masse.Consequently, the Kiev regime needs more "cannon fodder," encouraging the territorial centers of recruitment and social support to locate and abduct Ukrainian men to send them to inevitable death on the frontline.Unfortunately for the male population of Ukraine, the authorities might have found another way to drag people to the frontline. On September 3, 2023, Fedir Venislavsky, Zelensky's representative in the parliament, submitted a bill which aims to cancel mobilization exemptions for students over 30 years old who simply wanted to change their career paths and obtain degrees in other fields.The member of parliament referred to data published by the Ministry of Education and Science claiming that Ukrainian education facilities had only 40,000 students over 25 years old in 2019-2021. However, the year 2022 saw an "abnormal" upsurge in the number of students, rising to 106,000. Moreover, Venislavsky added that this year, the number of students is reaching the 100,000 mark again. The MP expressed concern over the apparent 60,000 young men who have used this opportunity to avoid the draft. The official took the initiative to make more than 60,000 people suffer and die in a futile effort to defend the Kiev regime. Venislavsky decided that it is wrong that some people want to live a normal life and broaden their horizons by exploring new fields of knowledge.Furthermore, if the bill is adopted, not only will the students of 2023 suffer from Venislavsky's homicidal idea, but also those who were "fortunate" and entered education in 2022, meaning that another civil right will be abolished in Ukraine, and even more common people would be sent to die to protect NATO interests and make Ukrainian elites even richer. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/ukraines-army-suffers-mass-desertions-morale-sinks-as-500-troops-flee-offensive-1112632665.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230406/ukrainian-artillery-kills-its-own-soldiers-who-surrendered-near-avdeyevka-russian-defense-ministry-1109213198.html ukraine kiev Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Captured Ukrainian Military Officer captured Ukrainian military officer 2023-09-04T15:51+0000 true PT0M30S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russia special military operation, ukrainian crisis, failed counteroffensive, ukrainian counteroffensive, foiled counteroffensive, counteroffensive attemt, thwarted counteroffensive, botched counteroffensive, counteroffensive effort, mobilization in ukraine, ukrainian losses, ukrainian troops, territorial centers for recruitment, ukrainian military commissariats https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/ultimate-survival-mode-grips-mud-drenched-burning-man-fest-site-1113107814.html Ultimate 'Survival Mode' Grips Mud-Drenched Burning Man Fest Site Ultimate 'Survival Mode' Grips Mud-Drenched Burning Man Fest Site Federal officials shut down the iconic Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, leaving over 73,000 participants stranded in the midst of a treacherous mudscape that resulted from heavy rains. 2023-09-04T17:01+0000 2023-09-04T17:01+0000 2023-09-04T17:01+0000 us burning man bureau of land management black rock city nevada joe biden national guard americas /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/04/1113108153_0:256:2730:1792_1920x0_80_0_0_1cc7eb09df3d609baba08ec20d955b6b.jpg This year's Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert appears to have been a washout in the literal sense of the word.Over 73,000 participants have found themselves trapped, caked in mud and fending for themselves, as the iconic desert site was transformed by rains into a treacherous slimy mud bath. Moreover, the organizers of the music and arts festival, scrambling to manage the crisis decided to block the festivalgoers, warning them that they were pretty much on their own and ought to "conserve food and water, shelter in a warm space." That being said, temperatures in the desert had dipped to hover at around the 50s F.An urgent directive for attendees to "shelter in place" was issued by the Bureau of Land Management, responsible for the event's location.There has already been one death "during this rain event," with the Pershing County sheriffs office saying an investigation had been launched. All attendees will be able to leave the festival grounds as of Monday morning, organizers said. After the situation reached a point where President Joe Biden was briefed, Nevadas National Guard offered its assistance to the organizers. However, Marian Goodell, CEO of Burning Man Project, dismissed all the "fuss."The large wooden effigy that was supposed to have been burned Saturday night in the traditional event of the festival has since been postponed to Monday night.All attendees will be able to leave the festival grounds as of Monday morning, organizers said. 1 black rock city nevada americas Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Svetlana Ekimenko burning man festival, nevada desert, black rock city https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/white-house-cannot-confirm-reports-us-will-send-depleted-uranium-munitions-to-ukraine-1113098208.html White House 'Cannot' Confirm Reports US Will Send Depleted Uranium Munitions to Ukraine White House 'Cannot' Confirm Reports US Will Send Depleted Uranium Munitions to Ukraine A White House National Security Council spokesperson would not confirm that the US will send depleted uranium munitions of Ukraine 2023-09-04T00:52+0000 2023-09-04T00:52+0000 2023-09-04T00:52+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia kiev ukraine russian foreign ministry white house depleted uranium /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/03/17/1108719212_0:47:1992:1168_1920x0_80_0_0_5472c0182b5d883bf4bcb2e87aa31c67.jpg On Friday, Reuters reported the United States will send armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds in a new upcoming aid package for Ukraine worth between $240 million and $375 million. "I cannot," the spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday when asked if they can confirm reports reports that the United States will provide Ukraine with depleted uranium armor piercing munitions. Russian officials repeatedly warned against deliveries of such munitions to Kiev, because of risks depleted uranium might pose to civilians. In late August, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said deliveries of depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine by Western countries lead to radiation contamination of soils in the country and make it uninhabitable. Ukraine launched a counteroffensive against Russian forces in early June after multiple postponements. Citing the counteroffensive's needs, Kiev pushed its Western donors to step up the military and financial aid. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian troops continue to try but are failing to advance. The US military aid donated to Ukraine thus far amounts to more than $41 billion, with a further $100 billion appropriated for supporting Kiev. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230825/depleted-uranium-munitions-make-ukraine-unlivable---moscow-1112873985.html russia kiev ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International depleted uranium weapons, ukraine using depleted uranium After sweeping Saturday's stakes amid a five-win day, Trevor Williams continued his winning weekend in Winnipeg and swept the first three races on a short Sunday afternoon (Sept. 3) card of harness racing at The Loop. Following up a 2:03.4 score on Saturday, three-year-old pacing gelding Sporty Jewels (pictured above) opened Sunday's action with another victory, this one in 2:05.2, to maintain his perfect record since arriving at the new Manitoba oval. The Sportswriter gelding led most of the way to win by two lengths for Williams and co-owners Adam Mace and Garett Isman. Making his Loop debut from the Williams barn, Fred and Alice Gilbert's homebred Handsome Dan scored next in 2:02.1, establishing a new track record for three-year-old pacing geldings. The son of State Treasurer wore down pacesetter Igot Socks in the stretch for the one-length victory with Sassy Libby getting up late for second. Blake Piwniuk worked out the winning trips for both sophomores. Williams trainees Little Screamer, with Tyler Grundy in the bike, and the Piwniuk-driven Tuff A Buff, fresh off a Saturday score of his own, swept the exacta in the next race. Little Screamer halted Tuff A Buff's win streak at six, prevailing by a neck in 2:01.3 over her late-closing stablemate. Mace owns the six-year-old mare by Hes Watching. There were just four races on the program with the finale going to Vladimir Kreker's homebred pacer Tagoras in 1:59 flat for trainer/driver Clayton Braybrook. To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - The Loop. National Caretaker Appreciation Day (NCAD) events continue on Monday through Sunday, Sept. 10 to acknowledge and honour caretakers for their dedication and commitment to the horse racing industry. Join Standardbred Canada this week in celebrating at the following racetracks: Monday, Sept. 4: Red Shores at Summerside Raceway Wednesday, Sept. 6: Grand River Raceway Thursday, Sept. 7: Rideau Carleton Raceway Saturday, Sept. 9: Hiawatha Horse Park Kawartha Downs Sunday, Sept. 10 Leamington Raceway Standardbred Canadas photo contest theme for NCAD this year is Horses & Heart Set Us Apart and were looking for photos that capture the special bond between humans and a horse. Click here for more information. Standardbred Canada would like to thank the caretakers who dedicated their time to share insight into their job as a caretaker in our 2023 Faces of Racing series. Check out the following stories for more details: For more information on NCAD, please get in touch with Jade Regina, Standardbred Canada's Member & Stakeholder Relations Coordinator, at [email protected]. Longtime harness racing participant Ken Ewen of Georgetown, Ont. passed away peacefully on Aug. 22, 2023 at the age of 91. Ken was a devoted husband to his wife Anna, who preceded him on Jan. 12, 2022. Together they shared 64 years of marriage. He is survived by his daughters, to whom he was always a loving father, Carolyn (Robert) and Susan (Alan), his five grandchildren, Laura, Michelle, Mary, Nicole, and Scot, to whom he was always an inspiration and fellow rule breaker. Ken was able to have the joy of experiencing his four great grandchildren Abigail, Luna, Nash, and Blake. He always had a smile when they visited and did his best to make them laugh. Ken was successful in many business ventures over the years. His success came from his strong work ethic. On the mink ranch, it was an early to bed, early to rise existence that set the tone for Ken and Annas lives on the farm in Norval before they switched to the Standardbred horse breeding and racing business for more early mornings. Whether he was busy raising mink, horses or running the farms, he always made time for his role as a father. Whether his daughters needed help with their homework or advice on a personal matter, he had a hand to offer or a shoulder to cry on. Ken was strong willed and stubborn at times, but he also had an enormous heart and a wonderful sense of humour. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him. Ken was a man of many hobbies over the years. One of his favourites was cards. That stuck with him from his years playing poker with the other teens while he attended Upper Canada College in Toronto, to euchre with the neighbours on the farm and finally to muggins points from his grandchildren in heated cribbage games. Over the years, Ken grew to be an enthusiastic stained glass artist and made many beautiful pieces for his family. He also had an adventurous side that showed itself through his many world travels. Always a generous man, he made sure to bring a piece of culture back to share with his grandchildren. Ken also volunteered by offering his services to seniors who needed a ride. There will be a visitation at Jones Funeral Home, 11582 Trafalgar Rd. Georgetown, on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023 from 2 - 4 p.m. for close friends and family followed by a private internment. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer Society. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Ken Ewen. ABUJA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government has announced a sweeping review of mining licenses across the West African country, issuing a 30-day ultimatum to illegal miners to regularize their operations. This move is part of a comprehensive transformation agenda set for the mining sector by the government, and it is aimed at creating a more transparent and sustainable mining industry that contributes to economic growth and development, Minister of Solid Minerals Dele Alake said at a press conference in the national capital of Abuja on Sunday. "On the expiration of the period, the full weight of the law will fall on anyone seen on a mining site without a determinable status," Alake said, encouraging artisanal miners to embrace entreaties by the government to join existing artisanal cooperatives and be formalized. The move is designed to bring illegal mining operations into the formal sector, where they can be better monitored, regulated, and taxed. The official said starting next month, a rejuvenated security regime will become active in the solid minerals sector, including forming a marine police to detect illegal mining and apprehend offenders. The minister emphasized that the government was committed to fostering a mining sector characterized by accountability, adherence to environmental standards, and the equitable distribution of wealth generated from mining activities. According to him, the government was determined to overhaul the mining sector to maximize its potential benefits. The comprehensive review will encompass all mining licenses, scrutinizing compliance with regulations, environmental impact assessments, and adherence to best practices. Mining companies found to be in violation of these standards may face the revocation of their licenses. Current data by the Nigerian government indicate that the mining sector is estimated to have more than 2 million operators, including 633 small-scale companies and 251,500 registered miners. Last year, the sector accounted for less than 2 percent of the gross domestic product. The Carver Food Enterprise Center opened on Friday, culminating eight years of planning and fundraising for the community commercial kitchen. The space features a 10-burner stove and oven, prep tables, cold and dry storage and an extensive equipment library, according to a release from project founder, George Washington Carver Agriculture Research Center. The kitchen will be available to small food businesses, farmers, producers and community partners from Culpeper, Madison, Orange, Rappahannock and Fauquier. Access will be provided at all hours to users along with support for navigating regulations to bring products to market. The Center also plans to open a bakery-focused kitchen in the next few months and will install a large prep, co-packing and storage space by the end of 2024, the release stated. Our primary goal is to help increase the availability of local food, said program director Gretchen Ledmor. We know space and equipment is a huge hurdle for small producers looking to grow and create. Our intent is to step into that gap and provide the resources needed to help make more local food available. Located in Rapidan along James Madison Highway, in the historic George Washington Carver Regional High School, the food enterprise center will provide services focusing on economic development and increasing food security, as well as job training. The center will also soon provide technical assistance and co-packing services to farmers who want to expand into value-added production. The center, in addition, will provide a space for community-building activities such as the Feeding 500 Program. It will transform hard-to-use produce donations into meals for local food pantries with volunteer support. The first Feeding 500 event will be held Nov. 5, when Fauquier Education Farm will donate 175 pounds of sweet potatoes to be made into 500 portions of soup, the release stated. Carver Food Enterprise Center plans to host food preservation courses, starting with a venison preservation class from 1-5 p.m. on Sept. 29 aimed at helping hunters safely preserve their harvests using research-based methods. The center will also host a Stone Soup Job Skills Training Program, 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays, from Oct. 4 to Nov. 8. The established program provides certifications for those looking to secure employment in food service. Graduates will have opportunities to work with the centers co-packing services and with associated businesses in the future. An open house for donors and partners of the new food enterprise center will be held at 5:30 p.m., Sept. 28. George Washington Carver Agriculture Research Center, a nonprofit, is accepting donations and sponsorships for the new community commercial kitchen. Created in 2014, the centers mission is to sustain, strengthen and enhance agriculture and the environment in Virginias Northern Piedmont. In addition to the multiple food outreach programs, research is conducted in conjunction with Culpeper County Extension, Virginia State University Small Farms Program, Minority and Veteran Farmers of the Piedmont and the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission. See gwcfec.org to learn more. Horizon Music Festival drew crowds to Gering's Grasslands at Five Rocks Amphitheater on Labor Day weekend with performances from several Christian artists as well as a comedian, vendors and a church service Sunday morning. Prior to the event, organizers said they expected to see between 7,000 and 10,000 attendees throughout the weekend and crowds began to gather for the first night of the festival on Saturday. The opening act included two members of the band Spoken, a Christian rock band from Nashville, Matt Baird and J.R. Bareis. The two performed a more toned down acoustic set to better align with the festival. "Our band is very aggressive," Baird said. "It's a hard rock band, borderline metal, but we agreed that our band would be a little bit much for the lineup here and the concertgoers." The two musicians played a set of more well-known and popular worship songs during their performance involving the two men and acoustic guitars. However, the duo did play some of their own music as well in an effort to introduce themselves to the crowd, playing "stripped down" acoustic versions of the songs. They also have a new album that they have recorded. "Reflection" will be their 10th studio album and is scheduled to release in December. The musicians said they were excited to be a part of the festival and to have to opportunity to perform in Gering. Baird said he had visited the area previously, but Bareis said he had never been to western Nebraska and had been pleasantly surprised by the scenery. The two Spoken members looked forward to seeing what the festival would bring for attendees and hoped that their message would be heard by concertgoers. "It is, how do we all come together and make Christ known," Baird said. "That's having conversations with people maybe at the vendors, maybe just people roaming around the neighborhood, you know, just whoever wanders up, and just trying to provide some decent music and good conversations." While everything did fall into place come concert time, there was a significant amount of work involved to make the festival happen in the first place. "God opened so many doors, just from everybody on the board to all the people who have promoted and sponsored this event," organizer Ken Boehr said. The 11 members of the board for the festival spent countless hours piecing together the festival from finding the venues and artists to pulling together enough volunteers for the free festival to run smoothly. "Incredible community effort to pull this all off, it's not just a one man or even an 11-man thing, the whole community has rallied to make this happen," he said. The event also included a number of ministry resources and sponsors set up in tents along the edge of the concert area. There was a wide range of options from ministries for children or mothers as well as a prayer tent and one, Celebrate Recovery, that is designed to help those who may be struggling with harmful habits. "Our goal there is that people get involved in a ministry that will give them direct help with whatever they're going through," Boehr said. Spoken's acoustic's performance was followed on Saturday night by appearances from other Christian acts Jamie Grace, The Afters and Citizens. The festival continued Sunday morning with a prayer service as well as performances including the festival's headliner, Crowder. Before performances began on Saturday, Boehr said he was happy that all the organizers' hard work had come together and they were able to put together a festival that people could enjoy. He said, "Eleven board members got together and just put our God-given talents together and believed in the same cause of promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria. On Sunday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared the abolition of military field courts, which have reportedly handed down numerous death sentences without proper legal procedures. However, activists approached this announcement cautiously, uncertain about its actual implications. Simultaneously, the Syrian Democratic Forces deployed additional troops to Deir-ez-Zor and continued their offensive against local Arab tribes on Saturday. They claimed that hundreds of pro-government fighters had joined in, making it one of the most intense battles the region has witnessed in years. Syrias Assad Scraps Notorious Military Field Courts Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced Sunday the scrapping of military field courts where thousands are thought to have been sentenced to death without due process, but activists remained cautious about the moves impact. Assad issued a legislative decree ending the work of the original 1968 proclamation that created the courts, the presidency said in a statement. All cases referred to the military field courts are to be referred to the military judiciary, said the statement posted on SANA, adding that the move went into effect immediately. According to a 2017 report from the rights group Amnesty International, the military field courts rules and proceedings are so summary and arbitrary that they cannot be considered to constitute an actual judicial process. It said military field court trials take just a few minutes. It added that thousands of people detained at the notorious Sednaya prison had been killed in mass hangings after trials at such a court. Syrian lawyer Ghazwan Kronfol told AFP the courts jurisdiction was expanded to civilians in response to unrest in the 1980s. The courts are not required to follow due process, there is no role for the lawyer in the proceedings, and sentences cannot be appealed, he added. During the years of the revolution and armed conflict, a lot of detainees have been sentenced to death in these courts and their executions carried out as soon as the sentences were approved, he added. Syrias civil war broke out in 2011 with the governments repression of peaceful protests. Thousands may have been executed according to rulings from those courts, Kronfol added. An activist who declined to be identified due to security concerns also estimated that thousands or maybe even tens of thousands had died due to the military field courts. Sundays decision was long overdue but should be treated with caution particularly because the regime has never acknowledged that these courts violate detainees human rights and can still detain people without trial, the activist added. Diab Serriya, from the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison, said that if detainees are referred to military courts instead of military field courts, they will at least be allowed a lawyer. Around 70 percent of detainees at the Sednaya facility after 2011 went before the military field court, which handed most of them death sentences, he said. He expressed hope that if the military field courts are closed and their archives can be accessed, families will be able to know the fate of their loved ones who have been missing and forcibly disappeared for years. US-backed fighters push ahead in their offensive in east Syria against tribespeople U.S.-backed fighters brought in reinforcements into eastern Syria and pushed ahead in their offensive Saturday against local tribespeople, saying that hundreds of pro-government gunmen have joined the worst battles in the region in years, AP reported. The clashes that broke out Monday after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces detained a former ally who headed an Arab-led faction in the region have left more than 50 people dead and dozens wounded. The clashes are the most intense in areas where hundreds of U.S. troops have been deployed since 2015 to help in the fight against the Islamic State group. The extremists once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq until their defeat in March 2019. The U.S. military on Thursday called for an end to days of fighting warning it may help the resurgence of the Islamic State group. On Saturday, the SDF and local tribesman clashed in an area between the village of Dhiban and the al-Omar oil field, Syrias largest oil facility and home to one of the largest U.S. bases in the war-torn country, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights, an opposition war monitor. Khaled Zeino, an SDF commander, told The Associated Press that his forces were moving ahead to reach the villages of Shheil and Baseera to cut the flow of supplies from the west bank of the Euphrates River, where government forces and Iran-backed militias are based. Zeino added that some 400 fully equipped fighters had crossed from the government side. He said small boats were being used to take wounded gunmen for treatment on the west bank, where government troops are deployed. US, Coalition officials meet with SDF, tribal leaders to calm Deir-ez-Zor tensions Officials from the US and the US-led coalition met with representatives from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Arab tribal leaders from Deir-ez-Zor province in an effort to restore calm to the province after a week of clashes between Kurdish forces and pro-regime militias, the US embassy in Syria said on Sunday, quoted by Kurdish Website Rudaw. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ethan Goldrich and Major General Joel B. Vowell, commander of the US-led coalition, met with the SDF and tribal leaders from Deir-ez-Zor where they agreed on the importance of addressing the grievances of residents and the dangers of outsiders interfering in the province, the US Embassy in Syria said on X, formerly known as Twitter They also stressed the need to avoid civilian deaths and casualties, and the need for de-escalation of violence as soon as possible, the statement added. Clashes have been taking place for a week in Syrias eastern Deir-ez-Zor province between Kurdish forces and pro-regime militias after a curfew was imposed in the province with fighting having left at least 50 dead. Tensions escalated last week after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested Ahmed Khbeil, better known as Abu Khawla, commander of the SDF-linked Deir-ez-Zor Military Council, and four of his colleagues on a list of charges including drug trafficking and coordinating with external entities. Both sides have suffered casualties over the week. The US-led coalition on Saturday urged an end to the violence, saying that destabilization of the region will only bring violence while reiterating its commitment to the SDF. It is imperative that all local leaders resist the influence of malign actors who promise many rewards but will deliver only suffering to the peoples of the area, the Coalition said in a statement. This poses dire consequences and only allows for a situation that nobody welcomes the resurgence of our common enemy Daesh, it added, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. On Friday, the SDF announced a 48-hour curfew in parts of the province under its control, accusing pro-Damascus fighters of trying to cause strife in the region and attempting to lure civilians into their dirty plans. Arab backlash expands against Kurdish militias in eastern Syria A Kurdish militia supported by the US has made territorial gains against Arab mutineers in eastern Syria, but a militarised Arab tribal backlash is growing in the area, sources on both sides have said. According to The National, the ethnic fighting is undermining a US-supervised order in the east, the centre of Syrias oil output and its main wheat farming region. More than 120 people have been reported killed in fighting in the past two weeks after members of the Kurdish Protection Units militia, known as the YPG, arrested an Arab warlord who goes by the name Abu Khawla. A source in the Kurdish-controlled administration in eastern Syria said YPG infantry units have in the past two days regained that area of Buseira, the home region of Abu Khalwa, in the Deir-ez-Zor governorate. The tribes withdrew because they lacked the heavy weapons for fixed warfare. But the YPG has left itself open to guerrilla attacks, the source said. The Kurds have no organic base in Deir-ez-Zor. It will be up to the Americans to renegotiate an accommodation, the source says, referring to the overwhelmingly Arab governorate. Arab tribes had surrounded a YPG outpost in Buseira, which is situated between the Euphrates River and Al Khabour, a largely dry tributary. Arab auxiliaries have also launched attacks on YPG forces in the governorate of Aleppo, the easternmost frontier of the YPG zone in Syria. Although Abu Khawla worked with the YPG in a US-supervised coalition against ISIS, he has lately been contesting YPG control of the war economy in the east. His loyalists have erected their own roadblocks to collect taxes and moved to remove YPG-installed tribal leaders. The US embassy in Syria, which has no physical presence in the country, said US officials had met Kurdish commanders and community leaders to discuss de-escalation in the east. Although Abu Khawla was not seen as a popular commander, his arrest has been regarded as an affront to Arabs who resent the US-supported Kurdish expansion. Alliances between the YPG and Arab tribes, which Washington has been trying to solidly for years, mainly through the lure of money have started to unravel. Over the past few weeks, tribal leaders have issued calls to unite to expel the YPG from Deir-ez-Zoe, the weakest link in the wide strip of territory it controls, because of the lack of indigenous Kurds in the areas. The Daraa branch of the Baath Party pointed fingers at "terrorists" for this act, according to Enab Baladi. Abdul Ilah al-Fadil, a prominent member of the Nawa division leadership within the ruling Baath Party in Daraas countryside, was fatally shot by unidentified assailants in the city of Nawa. The Daraa branch of the Baath Party pointed fingers at terrorists for this act, which occurred on Sunday as Fadil was commuting to work. Multiple bullets struck him, resulting in his immediate demise. On the same day, another body was found near Yadouda towns roundabout in the western countryside. The victim was identified as Ahmed Mashtouli, and the Daraa 24 network reported this incident. The local Ahrar Horan Gathering network suggested that the deceased individual might have affiliations with the Iran-affiliated Liwa al-Quds militia. According to an opposition source, Mashtouli had been apprehended by local fighters in the western Daraa countryside. His entry into the area had raised suspicions of covert criminal activities, particularly the establishment of a security cell with the intention of targeting regime opponents and individuals with ties to Iran for assassination and elimination. Mashtoulis life came to an end on the same Sunday when an explosive device, planted by unidentified individuals, claimed his life in the town of al-Ghariya al-Gharbia in the eastern Daraa countryside, as reported by Daraa 24. The assailant was identified as Jabawi al-Barakat, known by the alias al-Ghubaiti. Targeting in Damascus countryside On Saturday, the director of Sasa district in Damascus countryside, Major Mohammed al-Ahmad, sustained injuries as a result of an explosive device detonation inside his car. The incident occurred in the village of Hena within the Qatana area of Damascus countryside, as reported by the Ministry of Interior, according to SANA. The Ministry of Interior disclosed that the explosive device had been clandestinely placed within Major Ahmads vehicle. The explosion took place while he was commuting from his residence in the village of Hena in Damascus countryside to his workplace, resulting in an injury to his right foot. 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. Both Goldrich and Foyle underscored the vital nature of a robust partnership between the United States and the SDF, Syria TV writes. Deputy Assistant Secretary Goldrich and Major General Joel Foyle, Commander of Operation Combined Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, convened a meeting in northeastern Syria with representatives from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Syrian Democratic Council, and tribal leaders from Deir-ez-Zor. According to a statement posted on the U.S. Embassy in Damascus Facebook page, the meeting centred on several key priorities: Addressing the concerns and grievances of Deir-ez-Zor residents. Recognizing the risks associated with external interference in the region. Emphasizing the imperative of preventing civilian casualties and injuries. Urging an immediate de-escalation of violence. Both Goldrich and Foyle underscored the vital nature of a robust partnership between the United States and the SDF in the ongoing fight against ISIS. On another note, the International Coalitions Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve released a statement on Sunday expressing its full support for the SDF while alluding to the potential links between certain tribal memberss and nefarious actors. The statement urged an end to the violence and advocated for a peaceful resolution in Deir-ez-Zor, emphasizing the immediate cessation of ongoing clashes in the governorate. It was highlighted that the recent wave of violence had led to a destabilization of the region, resulting in tragic and unnecessary loss of life. Clashes continue in Deir-ez-Zor Clashes persist between tribal fighters and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Deir-ez-Zor countryside. The tribal forces have made advances in SDF-controlled areas, coinciding with the SDFs deployment of fresh military reinforcements to Raqqa and its surroundings. On a recent Saturday, Arab tribal fighters successfully secured control of Syritel Hill in the village of Arab Hassan Kabir, along with the villages of Mahmoudiya and al-Muhsinali in the northern and eastern Manbij region, following intense battles with the SDF. Local sources report that Russian airstrikes targeted the area subsequently. At dawn on the previous Friday, tribal forces executed an offensive against military positions belonging to both the Syrian regime and the SDF to the north of Manbij in the eastern Aleppo countryside. During this operation, they briefly held several sites and positions before withdrawing due to Russian air support provided to the SDF and heavy artillery bombardment by regime forces. 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. Arslan made an appeal to the residents of Suweida and Jabal al-Arab to preserve their identity, according to al-Watan. The leader of the Lebanese Democratic Party, Talal Arslan, has issued a warning to the residents of Jabal al-Arab and the city of Suweida about potential chaos and suspicious partition projects. These projects are exploiting the dire economic situation resulting from the Caesar Act. Arslan emphasized his regular communication with the Syrian leadership and his connections with the people of Jabal al-Arab. He stressed that the prevailing sentiment in the region opposes any divisive agendas related to this matter. Arslan conveyed a message to the people of Jabal al-Arab, cautioning them against allowing treacherous individuals with malicious intentions to exploit their challenging circumstances for questionable political projects. These projects could worsen the social, economic, and living conditions in Suweida and Jabal al-Arab. According to the official website of the Lebanese Democratic Party, Arslan emphasized the need for prudence and wisdom, asserting that they have consistently rejected suspicious divisional projects. He referred to historical events, such as the 1921 proposal to divide Syria into four countries, and highlighted how Sultan Pasha al-Atrashs revolution aimed to break these partition barriers and declare the unity of Syrian territory. This unity was symbolized by the famous slogan: Religion is for God, and the homeland is for all. Arslan underlined that any voices in Jabal al-Arab advocating division do not represent the true sentiments of the people and their leaders. He revealed his regular contact with the Syrian leadership and the people of Jabal al-Arab and reiterated that the overall atmosphere in the region rejects divisive slogans aimed at exploiting their challenging living conditions. These conditions are a consequence of the injustice faced by Syria as a state and its people, exemplified by the Penal Code and the unjust Caesar Act, which have exacerbated economic difficulties throughout the country. Arslan made an appeal to the residents of Suweida and Jabal al-Arab to preserve their identity, history, and the values of their monotheistic community. He emphasized that Druze Almohads, wherever they reside, have consistently been staunch defenders of their land, resources, and existence. By supporting their state and armed forces and standing by their fellow Syrians, they can navigate through the crisis and persevere until Syria overcomes its challenges. Arslan expressed confidence in the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad and anticipated the eventual lifting of sieges, an improvement in the economy, and the return of Syrias recovery with the wisdom of its leadership. 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. Renowned globally as the former president of the G20 nations, Indonesia stands as an archipelago comprising thousands of islands, a blend of religions, and a diverse populace steeped in various cultures. Its remarkable resilience as a modern nation is worth studying, especially its taxation system, which distinguishes itself through lower taxes on interest, dividends, and more. To delve into the specifics of Indonesias taxation system, one can begin by exploring the official website of the Indonesian tax authority, which serves as a comprehensive source of information: www.pajak.go.id. Types of Individuals Seeking TIN Registration Indonesias taxation system presents a unique approach to Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN), catering to various categories of individuals: Individual Taxpayer Conducting or Not Conducting Business or Independent Personal Service: This category encompasses a wide range of individuals, including employees, entrepreneurs, freelancers, and traders. Individual Taxpayer Not Meeting Tax Law Requirements: Individuals who dont meet the subjective or objective criteria of tax laws and regulations, such as job applicants or students who have not yet earned an income. Other Income Earned from a Different Business Location: Individuals generating income from a business location other than the one registered with the Tax Office (KPP) and different from their residence. Undivided Inheritance Income: Individuals inheriting from a deceased person who did not possess a TIN. Individuals seeking TIN registration can conveniently complete the process online by filling out the registration form available on the official website and submitting the required documents. Tax Return Reporting Dates The submission deadlines for reporting notification letters (SPT) vary for different types of taxpayers: Annual SPT for Individual Taxpayers and Undivided Inheritance Taxpayers: Due within 3 months after the end of the tax year, by March 31. Corporate Taxpayers: Required to submit annual SPT within 4 months after the end of the tax year, by April 30. Individual Tax Slabs The Indonesian tax system employs progressive tax rates for individuals based on their taxable income: Up to IDR 60 million: 5% Above IDR 60 million to IDR 250 million: 15% Above IDR 250 million to IDR 500 million: 25% Above IDR 500 million to IDR 5 billion: 30% Above IDR 5 billion: 35% As of August 7, 2023, the exchange rate is 1 IDR = 0.000066 USD. Business Income Taxation Companies operating in Indonesia are subject to a corporate income tax rate of 25% on both domestic and international sourced income. Resident Indonesian companies are required to withhold tax at a rate of 20% for payments to foreign companies. Corporate Income Tax Indonesian-registered companies are liable to pay corporate income tax at a rate of 25%. Foreign companies with at least 40% local shareholdings are subject to a reduced rate of 20%. Notably, foreign companies conducting business activities in Indonesia without a physical presence are subject to withholding tax imposed by the paying entity. However, companies meeting specific criteria receive tax incentives. Companies with gross turnovers below 50 billion IDR have a 50% discount on standard corporate income tax, resulting in a 12.5% rate. Companies with gross turnovers below 4.8 billion IDR pay a minimal amount of 0.5% of total revenue since July 2018. Value Added Taxation (VAT) / Goods and Services Taxation Starting from April 1, 2022, the maximum rate for Goods and Services Tax (GST) is 11% at the point of sale. Cottage economies and industries are exempt from sales and services tax. Additionally, a 0% VAT rate applies to the export of taxable goods, intangible taxable goods, and taxable services. Property Tax, Vehicle Tax, and Carbon Tax Property tax in Indonesia stands at 10% of the value determined by authorities, which is typically lower than the market value. However, the government has the authority to acquire properties at the same rate, and this decision is not contestable in court. Vehicle tax is applicable to all vehicle owners, with higher engine capacities resulting in higher taxes. Moreover, a carbon tax is imposed on coal steam power plants, with the rate set based on the carbon market price. In Indonesia, the taxation system encompasses a wide range of income types, each with specific rules and rates. Below is a breakdown of how different types of income are classified and taxed within the Indonesian taxation framework: 1. Employees Income: Employee income includes regular salaries, overtime pay, bonuses, and various allowances (e.g., housing, leave allowances). Benefits in kind are typically taxable for employees. However, certain exceptions exist, such as benefits essential for job execution, government-funded benefits, and certain benefits under specific thresholds. Reimbursements for work-related expenses like conveyance charges and food expenses are not included in taxable income. 2. Equity Income: Equity income refers to the value of shares granted to directors or employees through share option schemes as rewards for services. Such equity income may be subject to regular individual income tax upon encashment. 3. Business Income: Taxable business profits are calculated based on standard accounting principles, with adjustments for tax purposes. Deductions are permitted for all expenses incurred to generate and maintain taxable business profits. Timing differences can arise if expenses recorded as accounting expenses cannot be immediately claimed as tax deductions. Individual taxpayers conducting business activities with an annual turnover below IDR 4.8 billion may use a deemed profit based on a calculation norm provided they notify the Director General Tax (DGT). Certain individuals with business turnover below IDR 4.8 billion are subject to a final tax of 0.5% of turnover, and those within a gross turnover threshold are not subject to income tax for turnover up to IDR 500 million in a fiscal year. 4. Capital Gains: Capital gains are generally taxed at ordinary rates along with other income. However, there are exceptions. Gains from the sale of land, buildings, and exchange-traded shares listed on the Indonesian stock exchange are subject to final tax at the point of sale. Handling capital gains tax requires expert assistance. 5. Dividend Income: Dividends received from Indonesian limited liability companies are subject to final income tax at a rate of 10%. This tax does not apply if the recipient, a domestic individual taxpayer, reinvests the dividends in Indonesia within a specific period. This provision might be applicable for investors who opt for reinvesting mutual fund units. 6. Interest Income: Interest income from time deposits and savings in Indonesian banks or their overseas branches, as well as interest income from time deposits placed through Indonesian branches of foreign banks, is subject to a final income tax rate of 20%. Interest on bonds is subject to final income tax at 10%, collected through withholding. Other investment income is generally taxed at ordinary rates. 7. Rental Income: Income from rentals of land and/or buildings is subject to a final tax rate of 10%. Income from rentals of assets other than land and buildings is subject to a 2% withholding tax, considered as a prepayment for the individuals total income tax assessment. Positive Developments in Indonesian Taxation for Taxpayers In Indonesia, there are notable improvements in the taxation system that offer benefits to taxpayers. Some types of income are even exempt from individual income tax, contributing to a more favorable environment for taxpayers. The exemption criteria encompass specific scenarios and income sources, such as property acquired through gift, gains derived from mutual funds, and profit distributions received by partnership members. Notably, profit distributions within partnerships are exempt since the underlying net income has already been taxed at the entity level, preventing double taxation. To illustrate the practical aspects of Indonesian taxation, a sample tax return prepared by a prominent Big 4 accounting firm can be explored. A comprehensive example can be found at the following link: Sample Personal Income Tax Calculation. This illustration offers insight into how tax calculations are executed, showcasing various components such as income, deductions, and credits. As part of its commitment to international taxation norms, Indonesia employs tax credits as part of its system, aligning itself with global practices. This includes the provision of foreign tax relief, which permits individuals to claim a credit for taxes paid or due abroad in connection with foreign-sourced income. To substantiate the tax credit, evidence of tax payment in the foreign jurisdiction needs to be attached to the tax return. This verification process often involves attaching a copy of the foreign tax return. However, its important to note that foreign taxes paid on exempted income items will not be eligible for credit, deduction, or refund in the context of Indonesian tax obligations. Indonesias active participation in international taxation affairs is evident through its engagement in foreign tax treaties. With agreements in place with 71 leading nations globally, Indonesia has established a significant network to facilitate cross-border economic activities. This is particularly significant given Indonesias prominent role in various commodity exports. Turning to the realm of tax payments and administration, both individual and corporate taxpayers are expected to fulfill their obligations on a monthly basis. This entails making deductions and submitting payments to the tax administration, a process that can be completed electronically or through filing monthly tax returns. The precise formats of these forms are readily accessible through the Indonesian tax administration. Conclusion: Indonesias taxation system exhibits a variety of income classifications and exemptions, showcasing the nations commitment to modern tax practices. The article underscores the significance of international tax treaties, tax credits, and prudent tax administration. However, readers are advised to verify information and consult professionals for accurate tax compliance. This article is intended for informative purposes and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Workers at Seattle-based, Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned Elysian Brewing have joined the Teamsters union, making them one of the few unionized craft breweries in the U.S. The group of 33 brewery, packaging, quality assurance and warehouse workers, employed at the companys Georgetown neighborhood brewery, voted to join Teamsters Local 117, citing a variety of issues including equitable wages, job security and working conditions. The conversation started because employees werent getting promotions and raises that kept up with Seattles rising cost of living, said Alexa Grobelny, a former Elysian quality assurance employee. In order to get a raise, you have to get promoted, Grobelny said. And theres not a lot of avenues for promotion. So we wanted to come together and try to change that and make sure people can have the career path and the financial means to sustain that career. She left Elysian shortly before the union elections. Elysian General Manager Kean Mervis said the 27-year-old company has remained focused on brewing the highest quality craft beer, connecting with our consumers and making a lasting impact in our home market of Seattle, all while maintaining a positive work environment where our employees can thrive and grow. Unionized employees do not include taproom workers, such as wait staff and kitchen workers, Grobelny said. Elysian has three locations in Seattle on Capitol Hill, across from Lumen Field and at its Georgetown brewery. Elysian was acquired by beer conglomerate Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2015. Besides Elysian, Portland-based Widmer Brothers, previously owned by A-B InBev, voted to join a union in February. Widmer was sold to cannabis-product company Tilray on Aug. 8 along with Seattle-based Redhook Brewing. Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch is the largest brewer in the world with 36.9% market share. The conglomerate has more than 500 brands under its umbrella, including Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch has seen a monthslong sales decline for Bud Light since April, The Associated Press and others reported, when conservative critics vowed to boycott the brand after the brewer sent a commemorative can to a transgender influencer. The megabrewers response to critics has also drawn a backlash from LGBTQ+ rights groups. Grobelny said she hopes the Elysians and Widmer Brothers unionizing will inspire other craft brewers to start unionizing their own workplaces. An Elysian brewer for nearly three years, Derek Bargerstock said that joining the union is an opportunity to shape the future of the industry. TOKYO, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and junior coalition partner Komeito on Monday signed an agreement to revive the two parties' electoral cooperation in the Tokyo district for the next Lower House election. The LDP will support Komeito's candidate for the Tokyo No. 29 district, while in the remaining Tokyo districts where Komeito candidates are not running, Komeito will support LDP candidates "in accordance with individual circumstances," according to the deal, signed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi. "We want to work hard to make the cooperation bear fruit," Yamaguchi told reporters after the meeting. Meanwhile, local media said it remains uncertain whether the agreement will be enough to heal the rift between the two parties and lead to sufficient mutual support at the polls for each other's candidates. In May, Komeito notified the LDP of its decision to end their electoral cooperation in Tokyo after the LDP rejected Komeito's plan to field its own candidate in the No. 28 constituency in the Japanese capital for the House of Representatives. A judge on Thursday sentenced the getaway driver in the July 2021 fatal shooting of Clark County sheriffs Sgt. Jeremy Brown to more than 27 years in prison. In handing down his sentence, Clark County Superior Court Judge David Gregerson said the shooting was one of the saddest incidents I can recall in nearly 11 years on the bench. Two weeks ago, a jury found Abran Raya Leon, 30, guilty of second-degree murder, possession of a stolen firearm and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Although he didnt pull the trigger, he was convicted of felony murder in Browns death as part of an alleged conspiracy to traffick dozens of stolen firearms. Prosecutors say his brother, Guillermo Raya Leon, 28, was the shooter and that Abran Raya Leons wife, Misty Raya, initiated the trafficking scheme. Guillermo Raya Leon is scheduled for trial Tuesday, and Misty Raya is scheduled for trial Oct. 9. Gregerson described the scheme as one of the most dangerous enterprises this court can contemplate. Looking at the spectrum of possible crimes in the state of Washington, this is not bootleg cigarettes, this is not stolen catalytic converters, these are serious firearms killing machines incredible amounts of ammunition, almost certainly destined for the hands of people who are probably some of the most dangerous in our community, Gregerson said. So when you calculate the death potential of what was at risk here and the involvement and sophistication of the planning, to pull off the theft and the burglary, and then to attempt to fence these items, it certainly has to be considered by this court at the most extreme end of culpable conduct. Behind the prosecutors table, the gallery was packed with sheriffs office employees, in uniform and plainclothes. People embraced and shook hands after the sentence was announced. Several speakers, including Browns widow, Jill Brown; his sister, Jules Savolainen; co-workers, sheriffs Sgt. Bill Sofianos, Deputy Chris Pizan and Sheriff John Horch, asked Gregerson to impose the maximum sentence allowed. Jeremy was an exceptional human, truly exceptional in every way, Jill Brown said. Each of us that knew and loved him are not only grieving his absence and trying to make sense of his murder, but we are also mourning who we were, as people, as a family, before that day. Jill Brown said although the jurys verdict and judges sentence may bring some peace and a sense of gratitude that our legal system did not fail Jeremy, it does not change anything for me for most of us. It does not offer closure. Horch spoke about learning that Jeremy Brown had been shot. He said many at the sheriffs office continue to struggle with Browns death. There are law enforcement officers in this courtroom today who will forever live with the memories and regret of being unable to save Jeremy, Horch said. They will live with the horror of the crime scene and the devastation of watching their friends life slip away. Abran Raya Leon apologized to the Brown family. To the wife, Im sorry for the loss of what I know was a loved man. If I knew I was going to be a part of something so horrible, I wouldve stayed home, he said. In the end, these are just words and cant bring back your husband and father. I hope you believe me when I say, I am deeply, deeply sorry. After the verdict, Horch thanked the judge, and he said the sentence which was the high end of Abran Raya Leons range sends a clear message of accountability. That person now has to be at least 27 years behind bars, and hell not be able to affect anyone else, Horch said. I do believe justice was served. Do I wish it could be more? Yeah. But thats our system. Get ready for the upcoming Apple event on September 12. Themed 'Wonderlust,' the spotlight will shine on the much-anticipated iPhone 15 series during the event. Apple will be launching 4 models, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max is set to steal the show. Unlike last year's iPhone 14 Pro Max model, the iPhone 15 Pro Max promises exclusive Apple-first features that will make it the top choice for iPhone fans. Revamped Design and Build Quality The iPhone 15 Pro Max is about to receive significant upgrades in design and build quality compared to its predecessor. First off, it's rumored to be one of the first iPhones with a titanium mid-frame. This change not only makes it sturdier but also lighter, with an expected weight of 221g19g lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Slimmer Bezels and New Button Layout While retaining most aspects of its slightly boxy design, leaks suggest that the iPhone 15 Pro Max will have a curved frame (rounded shoulders) and slimmer bezels, measuring just 1.5mm thick compared to the 2.2mm of the previous model. Additionally, Apple is replacing the mute switch with an action button, similar to the one found on the Apple Watch Ultra. Not sure which mobile to buy? Initially, there were reports of solid-state volume buttons, but Ming-Chi Kuo's report mentions that regular buttons will stay due to unresolved technical issues. Apple's choice of titanium over stainless steel brings benefits in terms of structural strength and reduced weight. Titanium is known to be both stronger and lighter than stainless steel, improving the overall quality of the device. USB-C Charging Port One of the most anticipated changes in design is the adoption of a USB-C charging port. The EU has mandated that iPhones should have USB-C ports by 2024, but leaks suggest Apple is making the switch in 2023, starting with the iPhone 15 series. eSIM Expansion Notably, eSIM support may expand beyond the US for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. France is expected to receive eSIM-equipped iPhones, and other countries like the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and more could follow suit. This move would eliminate the need for physical SIM cards. Excitement is building as Apple gears up to unveil the iPhone 15 Pro Max with its fresh design and advanced features. Stay tuned for the big reveal on September 12 Apple launch event. NASA has issued details about an asteroid that is expected to fly past Earth at a close distance. The asteroid, given the designation of Asteroid 2021 JA5, is on its way towards Earth and will make its closest approach to Earth on September 6. This space rock was spotted by NASA's Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), which is responsible for monitoring the skies and keeping a watch on various Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). It is speeding towards the planet at a blistering speed of 39070 kilometers per hour and will pass the planet at a distance of about 5.1 million kilometers, putting it in the category of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). Despite its close approach, the asteroid is not a dangerous one, due to its seemingly small size. As per NASA, it is estimated to be around 59 feet wide, which makes it almost as big as a house. However, there is still cause for concern as a similar 59-foot-wide asteroid exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013, damaging over 7000 buildings and leaving almost 1400 people injured. The space agency has also revealed that Asteroid 2021 JA5 belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are Earth-crossing space rocks with semi-major axes larger than Earth's. These asteroids are named after the humongous 1862 Apollo asteroid, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. Biggest ever asteroid impact Asteroids often conduct flybys close to Earth without ever impacting the surface. However, there is precedence of these space rocks hitting the Earth. The largest-ever asteroid impact on Earth occurred more than 2 billion years ago which resulted in the 300-kilometer-wide Vredefort crater near Johannesburg, South Africa. However, a new discovery in Australia might put this asteroid impact to shame. According to a study published in the Tectonophysics journal, researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have now reportedly found the crater of the largest asteroid to ever hit the planet located beneath the surface in New South Wales, Australia. The Deniliquin structure, which is nearly 520 kilometers wide, surpasses the Vredefort asteroid crater, which was around 300 kilometers wide. According to Earth and Paleo-climate scientist Andrew Glikson, this impact could have occurred during the late Ordovician mass extinction which took place about 450 million years ago and wiped out nearly 85 percent of Earth's species at the time. This event is also referred to as the first of the Big 5 mass extinction events in history. Four astronauts return safely to earth after completing historic mission on International Space Station September 4, 2023 12:15 In a triumphant return to Earth, four astronauts from NASA, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Russia have successfully completed their first long-duration spaceflight aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The spacefarers, collectively known as SpaceX's Crew-6, splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, at 12:17 a.m. EDT (0417 GMT) on Monday, September 4th, aboard the Dragon spacecraft "Endeavour." The Crew-6 team included Stephen Bowen and Warren "Woody" Hoburg of NASA, Sultan AlNeyadi of the UAE, and Andrey Fedyaev of Russia's federal space corporation Roscosmos. Of the quartet, only Bowen had previous spaceflight experience. The crew had embarked on their mission on March 2nd and spent an impressive 186 days in space, serving as Expedition 68 and Expedition 69 flight engineers aboard the ISS. Weather conditions had initially postponed their scheduled return on Sunday, extending their stay by a day. Bowen, during a farewell ceremony on the ISS on August 31st, reflected on the mission: "When we showed up here six months ago, it was a new experience for all of us. I had been to space, but I've never been on a long-duration mission. This has been an absolutely incredible experience, and it's been a great opportunity to watch my amazing crewmates as they've come along." Warren, also at the ceremony, shared his thoughts: "It's certainly been the experience of a lifetime and a real honor to get to spend six incredibly short-feeling months living and working aboard this incredible orbiting outpost. I think we got a lot done. We started off with SpaceX [Commercial Resupply Services or CRS] 27 right away, a cargo vehicle full of science. Later, we had the SpaceX [CRS] 28 mission, as well we welcomed a visiting Axiom crew on board." During their mission, the Crew-6 astronauts achieved various milestones, including conducting three spacewalks, berthing a Cygnus cargo vehicle, and performing maintenance tasks to improve the space station. The Crew-6 members departed from the ISS on Sunday, with the Dragon Endeavour autonomously undocking from the space-facing port of the Harmony node at 7:05 a.m. EDT (1105 GMT). For Sultan AlNeyadi, the mission was historic as it marked the first long-duration expedition by an Arab and an Emirati astronaut. He became only the second UAE astronaut to fly to space, following Hazza AlMansoori's brief mission to the ISS in 2019. The first Arab in space, Prince Sultan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, had launched on a NASA space shuttle in 1985. AlNeyadi expressed his enthusiasm and the impact of his mission, saying, "We had a good outreach with many people around the world, so it was really amazing especially for my region. I come from a place where human spaceflights were stopped for more than 30 years, and I felt that I was obligated to show what's happening with the station. I think it was a small boost towards spreading the enthusiasm in our region." AlNeyadi was responsible for selecting the Crew-6 zero-g indicator, a plush doll of the UAE astronaut program's mascot "Suhail," which also safely returned to Earth with the Dragon spacecraft. Andrey Fedyaev made history as the second Russian cosmonaut and the first Russian man to intentionally return from space to a water landing, thanks to a seat swap agreement between NASA and Roscosmos. The successful recovery of the Dragon spacecraft and its crew was supported by SpaceX recovery boats, including the "Megan," named after NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, one of the first women to fly on a SpaceX Dragon. With Crew-6 back on Earth, Expedition 69 continues aboard the ISS, comprising NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, and Konstantin Borisov. CtrlS Datacenters has announced the appointment of Vipin Jain as President-Operations. The appointment of Vipin will further strengthen CtrlS operational expertise in the digital infrastructure sphere and reaffirms the companys vision to propel it into the next generation of datacenter technology. In his new role at CtrlS, Vipin, will take charge to establish a global operational framework, processes, and systems that will lead CtrlS into the next generation of AI/ML-ready datacenters. Supported by a strong leadership team, he will also focus on achieving the operational benchmarks for companys datacenter facilities in India as well as in the emerging markets to achieve operational benchmarks that surpass global standards, reaffirming CtrlSs standing as an industry pacesetter. He is distinguished technology leader with over 30 years of experience in the datacenter and telecom infrastructure domain, having held critical roles in prominent organizations such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Reliance Communications, Lucent Technologies, Essar, Motorola, and Siemens. Vipin is a Gold Medalist from Delhi College of Engineering and a Stanford LEAD graduate, and has consistently demonstrated his prowess in driving technological innovation while keeping a keen eye on operational excellence. Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Chariman, CtrlS Datacenters, said, I am delighted to welcome Vipin as our President-Operations. He will be leading the CtrlS Operations through a period of significant growth and expansion and driving the world standard for operational excellence in the industry. His remarkable journey and extensive experience in the field make him a perfect fit for this role. He shares our passion for innovation and customer satisfaction, and with the unique blend of technical expertise and strategic leadership is expected to drive CtrlS towards innovative solutions propelling us to achieve exceptional milestones. The move comes as the company is expanding its operations nationally and globally. The company recently announced its first international expansion in collaboration with the National Telecom Public Company (NT) for a 150-MW datacenter campus in Chonburi, Thailand. The company is also presently in the process of constructing 30 datacenters, with five of them projected to become operational in 2023. CtrlS aims to deploy 500 Edge datacenters in tier-2 and tier-3 cities nationwide while concurrently developing a substantial 500-acre solar power facility to ensure sustainable, clean energy for its operations. Commenting on his new role at CtrlS, Vipin Jain said, I am thrilled to join CtrlS and embark on this exciting journey towards revolutionizing the landscape of datacenters. CtrlS has long been recognized as a leader in the industry, and I am eager to contribute to its legacy by establishing cutting-edge operational frameworks and processes. Our goal is to create AI/ML-ready datacenters that not only meet global standards but also exceed customer expectations. I am dedicated to fostering a culture of customer-centricity and empowering our team to deliver their best.CtrlS Operations team is known for providing consistent, high-quality and reliable services with integrity, and delivering exceptional experiences to customers. Vipin joins ranks with leaders that form part of a team who come with proven track records of delivering customer growth and customer success at a massive scale. iTechGenic has joined forces with Microsoft Azure and G7 CR Technologies- A Noventiq Company as a part of their STAB program for ISVs. This platform is a groundbreaking solution aimed at transforming how engineering leaders and managers oversee distributed teams and complex development operations. This collaboration empowers engineering teams to gain comprehensive 360-degree insights from diverse DevOps tools, while also proactively identifying and addressing risks throughout the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC). By leveraging its proprietary AI algorithms, iTechGenic not only predicts potential issues but also equips managers with the means to take pre-emptive action before challenges arise. A pressing concern for engineering leaders has been the lack of visibility when managing teams that utilize various tools, leading to unnoticed problems simmering across different platforms. Traditionally, managers resorted to data analysts manually collecting and analysing data from multiple tools, resulting in days of delay and outdated information. As a result, decision-making was often based on obsolete data, leading to extended cycle times and cost overruns. iTechGenics visionary offering, the Virtual Scrum Master, sets out to empower organizations with a transformative solution that extracts insights from diverse platforms, enabling unparalleled operational excellence and driving remarkable business outcomes. By seamlessly integrating and analyzing project data, businesses can make informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, foster collaboration, and ultimately achieve strategic goals with unprecedented efficiency and precision. By prioritizing AI models and risk identification to empower managers in anticipating and addressing potential issues, the company envisions increasing developer efficiency by a minimum of 10%, thereby leading to substantial cost savings for startups and enterprises. iTechGenic has already established strategic partnerships with renowned companies such as TCS, Tech Mahindra, Huawei, Microsoft, and Writer Information, as their go-to-market partner, facilitating client engagement. Aninda Mukhopadhyay, Co-founder, CTO, and COO of iTechGenic, articulated the companys mission, stating, Amidst the wealth of data available within DevOps tools, our aim is to help clients fortify their competitive edge by driving superior engineering outcomes. We are actively developing a robust architecture that ensures seamless scalability of our product in the long term. Our roadmap includes exciting features, and we anticipate that within the next 3 to 6 months, we will expand our presence into the global market, with a strong focus on AI models to automate the daily tasks of engineering managers and Scrum masters. iTechgenics growth is supported by leaders from Accenture MDS and Microsoft, contributing to their seed funding. They are now raising Pre-series A funding. 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: TRTM System: a) Sim-real registration of one real-world cloth to a synthetic cloth mesh with imitated top-view observations. b) Single-view template-based reconstruction of one randomly crumpled cloth from its top-view depth observation only. c) Querying the best visible vertex pair according to different target configurations: flat, triangle, and rectangle. d) Dual-arm manipulation using one ABB YuMi Robot at the selected vertex pair with optimized grasp-hang-and-flip trajectories. Credit: Wenbo Wang et al To assist humans during their day-to-day activities and successfully complete domestic chores, robots should be able to effectively manipulate the objects we use every day, including utensils and cleaning equipment. Some objects, however, are difficult to grasp and handle for robotic hands, due to their shape, flexibility, or other characteristics. These objects include textile-based cloths, which are commonly used by humans to clean surfaces, polish windows, glass or mirrors, and even mop the floors. These are all tasks that could be potentially completed by robots, yet before this can happen robots will need to be able to grab and manipulate cloths. Researchers at ETH Zurich recently introduced a new computational technique to create visual representations of crumpled cloths, which could in turn help to plan effective strategies for robots to grasp cloths and use them when completing tasks. This technique, introduced in a paper pre-published on arXiv, was found to generalize well across cloths with different physical properties, and of different shapes, sizes and materials. "Precisely reconstructing and manipulating one crumpled cloth is challenging due to the high dimensionality of the cloth model, as well as the limited observation at self-occluded regions," Wenbo Wang, Gen Li, Miguel Zamora, and Stelian Coros wrote in their paper. "We leverage the recent progress in the field of single-view human body reconstruction to template-based reconstruct the crumpled cloths from their top-view depth observations only, with our proposed sim-real registration protocols." To reconstruct entire meshes of crumpled cloths, Wang, Li and their colleagues used a model based on graph neural networks (GNNs). These are a class of algorithms meant to process data that can be represented as a graph. Credit: Wang et al. To train their model, the researchers compiled a dataset containing more than 120,000 synthetic images sourced from simulations of cloth meshes and rendered top-video RGBD cloth images, as well as more than 3,000 labeled images of cloths captured in real-world settings. After substantial training on these two datasets, the team's model was found to effectively predict the positions and visibility of entire cloth vertices just by viewing the cloths from above. "In contrast to previous implicit cloth representations, our reconstruction mesh explicitly indicates the positions and visibilities of the entire cloth mesh vertices, enabling more efficient dual-arm and single-arm target-oriented manipulations," Wang, Li and their colleagues wrote. To evaluate their model's performance, the researchers carried out a series of tests, both in simulation and in an experimental setting. In these tests, they applied their model to the ABB YuMi robot, a humanoid robotic bust with two arms and hands. In both simulations and experiments, their model was able to produce mesh representations of cloths that could effectively guide the movements of the ABB YuMi robot. These meshes allowed the robot to better hold and manipulate various cloths, whether using a single hand or both. "Experiments demonstrate that our template-based reconstruction and target-oriented manipulation (TRTM) system can be applied to daily cloths with similar topologies as our template mesh, but have different shapes, sizes, patterns, and physical properties," the researchers wrote. The datasets compiled by the researchers and their model's code are open-source and can be accessed on GitHub. In the future, this recent work could pave the way for further advances in the field of robotics. Most notably, it could help to advance the capabilities of mobile robots design to assist humans with chores, improving these robots' ability to handle tablecloths and various other cloths commonly used for cleaning. More information: Wenbo Wang et al, TRTM: Template-based Reconstruction and Target-oriented Manipulation of Crumpled Cloths, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2308.04670 Journal information: arXiv 2023 Science X Network This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Spain hosts the largest test center in Europe for concentrated solar technologies. Credit: PLATAFORMA SOLAR DE ALMERIA / CIEMAT As Europe turns increasingly to clean sources of energy, EU researchers are on a quest to make hydrogen from solar rays and heat. In July 2023, when southern Europe endured an unprecedented heat wave with temperatures soaring to around 45C, a particular place in Spain got much hotter without becoming headline news. The place was a test site in Almeria province and the temperatures reached 1,400C. High hopes The eye-popping heat levels were created at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria, where mirrors direct the region's abundant sunlight onto a tiny spot on a 43-meter tower. The structure uses solar energy to generate those enormously high temperatures. EU researchers think the platformthe largest test center in Europe for concentrated solar technologiesmight also be key to generating renewable hydrogen. This form of power, like solar panels and wind turbines, could help Europe and other parts of the world ditch fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases including CO 2 that are accelerating global warming. "We need real clean energy, which would benefit everyone," said Souzana Lorentzou, a chemical engineer at the Center for Research & Technology Hellas in Thessaloniki, Greece. Hydrogen could help green economies worldwide because it generates almost no greenhouse gases when burned and can power hard-to-decarbonize industries ranging from steel to aviation. Renewable energy including clean hydrogen is a pillar of the REPowerEU strategy to abandon Russian fossil fuels this decade and of the "Green Deal" to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050. The hitch is that the process of coming up with hydrogen itself often involves energy sources such as natural gas and coal that emit CO 2 . In Europe in 2022, 96% of all hydrogen production came from natural gas. In fact, a relatively easy way to create clean hydrogen already exists. It's a method using an electrical current from a renewable energy source to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. The process, called electrolysis, can even be performed in high-school science experiments. But it has yet to catch on widely amid cost barriers. Only 4% of global hydrogen production at the end of 2021 came from electrolysis, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. And just 1% was produced through electrolysis powered by renewable energy. Here comes the sun Researchers in Europe say that looking to the sun to come up with more ways to create renewable hydrogen makes sense. Solar rays and the heat they create might just turn out to be an ideal way of producing clean hydrogen. No electricity would be required, just sunshine. "Our technology is built on top of an existing systema concentrated solar plant," Lorentzou said. "What if, on top of electricity, these plants could also produce green hydrogen almost as a bonus?" Hydrogen production currently causes more than 800,000 million tons of CO 2 emissions, or around 2% of the global total of such discharges, according to Marcel Boerrigter, principal researcher at Leitat Technological Center in Barcelona, Spain. "If we can green that, we can prevent an enormous amount of emissions," Boerrigter said. Research allies He and Lorentzou in Thessaloniki share the aim of finding ways to generate zero-emissions hydrogen and each leads a research project that has received EU funding to bring the goal closer. That's where the solar tower in Almeriaan area that is home to Europe's only inland desert, the Tabernas with more than 3,000 hours of sunshine a yearcomes in. Lorentzou's project uses the tower's extreme heat to initiate chemical processes in a reactor that transform water into clean hydrogenwithout the use of electricity. Called HYDROSOL-beyond, the initiative is the latest in a series of projects on the production of solar hydrogen from the splitting of water. It started in January 2019 and is scheduled to wrap up at the end of 2023. Boerrigter's project uses the light of the sun, in addition to its heat, to set in motion a process for creating clean hydrogen. The initiative, named GH2, runs for three years until end-September 2025. Risk reduction "Electricity is a major cost factor in the production of green hydrogen at the moment," said Boerrigter. "Our method eliminates the need for it." While promising, the idea of creating hydrogen from just solar heat or rays will take more time to fulfill as a result of lingering technological challenges. These hurdles highlight the role of research including publicly funded projects that take on risks often avoided by commercially minded businesses. The HYDROSOL-beyond technology has been under development for about 20 years. Although many advances have been made over that period, Lorentzou remains unsure when large-scale deployment will start. "This is the fifth project in the series," she said. "I have seen the technology evolve from something we would build in a laboratory, to small-scale installations, to the current very large-scale system we have now." Work in progress Lorentzou said another five years of technological fine-tuning, including of the reactor at Almeria, might be needed. "We have identified several challenges by building an installation at such a large scale," she said. "We, for example, need to change the design of the reactor to make it more durable. That's our priority right now." For its part, the technology behind GH2 is still in the laboratory and relatively far from any commercial applications. There, the researchers need to streamline the chemical processes before they can be scaled up and used in the real world. "It will probably take around 10 to 20 years before this technology will reach a commercial stage," said Boerrigter. "That sounds slow, but we're going very fast seeing the early stage we're in." He, Lorentzou and other researchers say the goal of generating clean hydrogen using the sun can help prevent catastrophic climate change in the coming decades. "With this technology we're taking down CO 2 emissions, creating green hydrogen and not using up more electricity," said Boerrigter. "We're moving several stones at the same time." 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. This segment markets its products under the McCormick, French's, Frank's RedHot, Lawry's, Cholula Hot Sauce, Gourmet Garden, Club House, and OLD BAY brands in the Americas; Ducros, Schwartz, Kamis, and LA Drogheria, and Vahine brands in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; McCormick and DaQiao brands in China; and McCormick, Aeroplane, and Gourmet Garden brands in Australia, as well as markets regional and ethnic brands, such as Zatarain's, Stubb's, Thai Kitchen, and Simply Asia. It also supplies its products under the private labels. This segment serves retailers comprising grocery, mass merchandise, warehouse clubs, discount and drug stores, and e-commerce retailers directly and indirectly through distributors and wholesale foodservice suppliers. The Flavor Solutions segment offers seasoning blends, spices and herbs, condiments, coating systems, and compound flavors to multinational food manufacturers and foodservice customers. It serves foodservice customers directly and indirectly through distributors. McCormick & Company, Incorporated was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland. 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. It also provides trucking services, such as door-to-door services, import and export dray, interline services, and specialized services comprising flatbed trucks, on-deck mobile transport trays, expedited and temperature controlled cargo, and permit/overweight services; and supply chain services. In addition, it serves automotive, coal, fertilizers, temperature controlled cargo, forest products, dimensional, grain, metal and minerals, petroleum and chemicals, and consumer goods applications. Further, the company operates a network of 20,000 route miles of track and shipping Canada and the United States. Canadian National Railway Company was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. MAIDAN SHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan security forces have discovered a weapon cache in east Afghanistan's Wardak province and seized various arms and ammunition, a statement of the provincial police headquarters said on Monday. Acting on a tip-off, the security personnel launched operations in different parts of Maidan Shar, the capital of Wardak province, on Sunday and discovered weapons, including four AK-47 rifles, two pistols, a musket, a PK machine gun, and thousands of bullets, the statement added. Similarly, the Afghan security forces destroyed weapon caches in the same province on Wednesday. The Afghan caretaker government has vowed to collect arms and ammunition from anyone outside the security organs. 6 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for MYT Netherlands Parent B.V. in the last year. There are currently 5 hold ratings and 1 buy rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should "hold" MYTE shares. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in MYTE, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares. View MYTE analyst ratings or view top-rated stocks. Masco Corporation designs, manufactures, and distributes home improvement and building products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company's Plumbing Products segment offers faucets, showerheads, handheld showers, valves, bath hardware and accessories, bathing units, shower bases and enclosures, sinks, toilets, acrylic tubs, shower trays, spas, exercise pools, and fitness systems; brass, copper, and composite plumbing system components; connected water products; thermoplastic solutions, extruded plastic profiles, specialized fabrications, and PEX tubing products; and other non-decorative plumbing products. This segment provides its products under the DELTA, BRIZO, PEERLESS, HANSGROHE, AXOR, KRAUS, EASY DRAIN, STEAMIST, ELITESTEAM, GINGER, NEWPORT BRASS, BRASSTECH, WALTEC, BRISTAN, HERITAGE, MIROLIN, HOT SPRING, CALDERA, FREEFLOW SPAS, FANTASY SPAS, ENDLESS POOLS, BRASSCRAFT, PLUMB SHOP, COBRA, COBRA PRO, and MASTER PLUMBER brands. Its Decorative Architectural Products segment offers paints, primers, specialty coatings, stains, and waterproofing products, as well as paint applicators and accessories; cabinet and door hardware, functional hardware, wall plates, hook and rail products, closet organization systems, and picture hanging accessories; decorative bath hardware, mirrors, and shower accessories and doors; and decorative indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, ceiling fans, landscape lighting, and LED lighting systems. This segment provides its products under the BEHR, KILZ, WHIZZ, Elder & Jenks, LIBERTY, BRAINERD, FRANKLIN BRASS, KICHLER, and ELAN brands. It sells its products to the plumbing, heating, and hardware wholesalers; home centers and online retailers; hardware stores; electrical and landscape distributors; lighting showrooms; building supply outlets; and other mass merchandisers. Masco Corporation was incorporated in 1929 and is headquartered in Livonia, Michigan. 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 ensure purity and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors used in fluid and gas handling; and hydraulic, pneumatic, and electromechanical components and systems for builders and users of mobile and industrial machinery and equipment. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and distributors who serve the replacement markets in manufacturing, packaging, processing, transportation, construction, refrigeration and air conditioning, agricultural, and military machinery and equipment industries. The Aerospace Systems segment offers products for use in commercial and military airframe and engine programs, such as control actuation systems and components, engine build-up ducting, engine exhaust nozzles and assemblies, engine systems and components, fluid conveyance systems and components, fuel systems and components, fuel tank inerting systems, hydraulic systems and components, lubrication components, avionics, sensors, pneumatic control components, thermal management products, fire detection and suppression systems and components, and wheels and brakes, as well as fluid metering, delivery, and atomization devices. This segment markets its products directly to OEMs and end users. The company markets its products through direct-sales employees, independent distributors, and sales representatives. Parker-Hannifin Corporation was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) pays an annual dividend of $0.49 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 5.66%. AMCR has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. The company has been increasing its dividend for 3 consecutive year(s), indicating that it does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio is 69.01%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, AMCR will have a dividend payout ratio of 67.12% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. Read our dividend analysis for AMCR. Rio Tinto Group is a multinational mining operation and the 2nd largest miner worldwide. The company has a dual listing with shares trading on both the London Stock Exchange and the Australian ASX. Rio Tinto is named for a mining area in Spain. The mines at Rio Tinto have been in operation off and on since 3,000 BC and produce copper, silver, and gold among other minerals. The mines were rediscovered most recently in 1556 and then fell into the hands of the Spanish government in 1724. The Spanish government was a poor steward of the operations and eventually put it up for auction. In 1873 a group of businessmen bought the property for a steal that included Spains relinquishing its rights to any future profits. The consortium quickly commenced operations as Rio Tinto Mining and focused on developing its resources. Within 10 years it was a leading producer of copper and then it fell into the hands of the Rothschilds. The Rothschilds expanded the operations but failed to diversify the company in a meaningful way. The company reached a peak in the early 1900s that was dashed by WWI and the loss of the US as an end market but the story is not over. A new management team took control of the business in 1925 and began to diversify the company. Their efforts opened up new territories in other countries including Africa and Australia which was instrumental to long-term success. An increasingly fascist government made it difficult to operate in Spain and led the company to divest itself of its original asset, the Rio Tinto Mine. That could not have been done without operations in other countries. Another series of mergers and acquisitions will grow the company to global status. Today, Rio Tinto is a diversified and integrated mining operation that engages in the exploration, development and production of mineral-based resources. The company operates in 4 key segments that include Iron Ore, Aluminum, Copper & Diamonds and Energy & Minerals. The company operates mines, smelters and refiners in about 35 countries producing iron ore and iron, bauxite and alumina, industrial diamonds, gold, borates, titanium dioxide and lithium among many other minerals and products. The bulk of operations are in Australia and Canada which are both rich in natural resources. The companys products are used by all end markets and are essential for the transition to green energy. Not only is the iron and copper required to build the infrastructure but lithium and other minerals are key for electrification. Rio Tinto products are necessary for agriculture and include several key fertilizers including borates. Samsara Inc. is a leading provider of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for fleet management, safety, and compliance. The company's mission is to increase the efficiency and security of its customers' operations through innovative IoT technology. Samsara's products and services include GPS tracking, ELD compliance, video telematics, and environmental monitoring. Its target market includes transportation, logistics, construction, and energy industries. Samsara is headquartered in San Francisco, California and has additional offices in Europe and Asia. The company has received several awards, including the Fast Company's "World's Most Innovative Companies" in 2020. Samsara's management team is led by Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Sanjit Biswas, who has over 15 years of experience in wireless networking and IoT technology. The executive team includes Chief Technology Officer and co-founder John Bicket, Chief Financial Officer Dominic Philips, and Chief Operating Officer Kiren Sekar. The management team has a strong track record of success, with prior experience at companies such as Google and Cisco. Samsara has experienced strong revenue growth in recent years, with revenues up yearly over the past several years. The company's net losses have also been decreasing annually. Samsara's gross profit margin has been improving, currently around 45%. The company's balance sheet took a hit in 2022 when the company reported negative cash flow for the first time. Samsara's stock trades at a price-to-sales ratio much higher than industry peers. The price-to-earnings ratio is negative due to its current net loss. Samsara's stock has been volatile over the recent past, reaching as high as $28 in Q1 2022 and hitting a low of $9 in Q4 2022. The company's stock price has been impacted by a variety of factors, including broader market trends, changes in investor sentiment, and news related to the company's financial performance. The IoT solutions market for fleet management, safety, and compliance is highly competitive, with several established players such as Verizon Connect, Geotab, and Omnitracs. However, Samsara has a competitive advantage in offering a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes hardware, software, and services. The company has also differentiated itself by investing heavily in research and development to improve the performance and reliability of its products. One potential risk for the industry is increased regulation related to data privacy and security. Samsara has several growth opportunities, including expanding into new verticals such as healthcare and education. The company has also recently launched several new products, such as its AI-powered routing solution, which can increase efficiency and reduce customer costs. Samsara has also expanded its global presence with new offices in Europe and Asia. One potential challenge for Samsara is increased competition in the IoT solutions market. The company will need to continue investing in research and development to stay ahead of its competitors. Another potential risk is increased regulation related to data privacy and security. Samsara must stay abreast of regulatory changes and ensure its products and services remain compliant. Finally, any global economic downturn could impact the company's revenue growth. Despite the potential risks and challenges, Samsara has several strategies to mitigate these factors. The company has a solid and experienced management team with a proven track record of success, which helps to instill investor confidence. Additionally, the company has a diversified product and service offering, reducing its dependence on any market or customer. Another factor that could mitigate potential risks and challenges is Samsara's focus on innovation and technology. The company continuously invests in research and development to improve its products and services, which could give it a competitive advantage in the long run. Samsara has had a good financial position, which should sustain it through any short-term challenges. In 2022 the company reported cash on hand changing from positive $510 million to negative $710 million, a one-year difference of $1.2 billion. This lack of financial flexibility restricts the company's ability to invest in growth opportunities or make strategic acquisitions. In terms of growth opportunities, Samsara has several avenues for expansion. The company has successfully penetrated the transportation and logistics market, and there is still significant room for growth. Additionally, Samsara has recently launched new products and services, such as its AI Dash Cam and Safety, which could help it expand into new markets. Samsara has a solid competitive position in the industry. The company has established itself as a leader in IoT technology, with a comprehensive product and service offering covering various sectors. Samsara's ability to provide end-to-end solutions for its customers sets it apart from many competitors and gives it a significant competitive advantage. Improved financial reporting can drive more money into Vietnam stock market By Khanh An, Tri Duc Mon, September 4, 2023 | 11:48 am GTM+7 The peak season for firms releasing their regular financial reports is a key time for investors to access information about businesses and make their investment decisions. According to VNDirect, a leading Vietnamese brokerage house, as of August 3, 1,085 listed companies on the three Vietnamese stock exchanges, or 95.3% of the market capitalization, had announced their business results for the second quarter of 2023. This shows a significant number of firms did not meet the deadline. At the end of August, the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) sent reminders to companies including Dong A Plastic JSC (DAG), Hai Phat Investment JSC (HPX), Apax Holdings Joint Stock Company (IBC), Sunstar Investment Joint Stock Company (SJF), and Binh Duong Trade And Development JSC (TDC) regarding delays to their financial releases. Weak transparency in the stock market is a chronic problem in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of CafeF. This problem is not uncommon in the Vietnamese stock market and happens every year and every quarter. A prime example is national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN) which failed to meet deadlines for its audited financial reports in 2022. As a result, HVN shares were restricted from trading from July 12, 2023, negatively impacting shareholders and slowing investors access to information. The quality of financial reporting is also a concern as more and more data cooking issues are being detected. This leads to differences between audited and unaudited reports, even from profits to losses and vice versa. Although firms provide clarifications for these differences, such changes negatively impact investors, shareholders, and the market. Another notable problem is that firms rarely release other information, such as operational activities, stock issuances, and others. Transparency in financial reporting empowers market Timely, correct, and complete disclosure of financial information can not only help fortify the confidence of shareholders, potential investors, and relevant sides, but also boost the firms reputation among market regulators. Transparency is also key to upgrading the stock market's status and a major factor in its sustainable growth in the long term. It is stipulated that large-scale public companies and listed organizations must release their quarterly financial reports within 20 days from the end of the quarter, and their audited financial reports within five days of auditors completing the report but no more than 45 days from the end of the quarter. In case they are the parent bodies of other entities, or their parent firms have separate accounting departments, they must release their financial reports within 30 days from the end of the quarter. It is also stipulated that the release of financial information can be delayed in cases of force majeure, such as natural disasters, fire, war, plague, and others. Listed companies must announce such delays to the governing bodies and the public immediately at the time of the events. The non-disclosure of information has led to problems related to transparency, making it difficult for investors to access the health of businesses and make investment decisions. However, the consequences are light, such as fines of between VND10 million and VND3 billion ($415-124,600) which fail to deter violations. Nguyen The Minh, chief analyst at Yuanta Securities Vietnam, said that data cooking remains a chronic problem for the market. He pointed out that individual investors are usually unable to verify information and rarely pay attention to other details besides revenue and profits, hence it is difficult to detect information that firms intentionally plans to hide from the report. "Nevertheless, firms can only conduct themselves in this way in the short term as their performances always lead to equivalent results." Offering recommendations, Minh noted that investors should themselves compile a list of firms with massive differences between unaudited and audited reports and skip investments in suspicious cases. For businesses, they should ensure transparency to attract more investors. DAHLGREN Frey Family Farms of Dahlgren is the recipient of the inaugural Illinois Leopold Conservation Award. The award, given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation and management of natural resources by American farmers, ranchers and forestland owners in 27 states. In Illinois the award is presented annually by the Sand County Foundation, national sponsor American Farmland Trust, and state partners: IL Corn and Illinois Soybean Association. Leopold Conservation Award recipients are examples of how Aldo Leopolds land ethic is alive and well today. Their dedication to conservation shows how individuals can improve the health of the land while producing food and fiber, Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation president and CEO, said. IL Corn understands that our soils are our future and seeing the dedication the Frey family has for conservation is beyond impressive, said Jon Rosenstiel, IL Corn Marketing Board chairman. The $10,000 award was given to the Freys on Aug. 31 at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur. They received the award for implementing conservation practices to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat at their beef cattle and grain farm in Hamilton County. Back in 1975, Dennis and Jackie Frey were newlywed farm kids with modest goals of raising a family and making a living raising crops. They started Frey Family Farms with land that had been in each of their families for generations and has grown to include acres they purchased and rented as a married couple. As corn and soybean growers, their initial conservation goals were modest. Early on, they enrolled in programs available to farmers to help reduce soil loss and control water erosion, but their conservation practices and the technology and equipment to carry them out have evolved to become more sophisticated. After graduating with a degree in plant and soil science, Dennis Frey farmed and worked for the USDAs soil survey team, identifying soil types and conducting soil mapping. As a resource conservationist for the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District, he offered training and outreach to fellow farmers. Back on the farm, his use of minimum tillage across his 1,200 acres of cropland progressed to a no-till system. This combo helps reduce soil erosion, utilize excess nitrogen, sequester carbon and minimize evaporation to allow crops to better access moisture held in the soil. When reducing water runoff, cover crops prevent fertilizer and other nutrients from contaminating the water supply. No-till practices require fewer passes over a field with farm equipment, which reduces the use of fossil fuel while saving time. Technological advancements have been embraced by the Freys to enhance their farms productivity. Grid soil testing is completed on all cropland on a four-year rotation. Variable rates of application for fertilizer and lime are used to increase their effectiveness and reduce input costs. About 240 acres of Frey Family Farms is enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and has been planted with native prairie grasses and wildflowers, improving the soils health and structure. The tall grasses also provide cover and nesting sites for deer, quail and rabbits. Their son-in-law, Brock Holston, is taking over management of the farm. With his interest in hunting and fishing, Holston has established food plots and constructed ponds and wetlands designed to provide habitat to fish, waterfowl, and wildlife populations. The farm has planted more than 20,000 hardwood trees and installed several miles of terraces, grassed waterways and other erosion control structures. The Freys feel an obligation to educate others in hopes they will understand the role they can play in protecting the environment. Frey Family Farms has hosted field days and tours with audiences ranging from local fourth graders to foreign visitors from Africa and Asia. Off the farm, Dennis Frey has served in a variety of leadership roles in agriculture and conservation organizations. Other finalists for the award were: Rademacher Farms of Gifford in Champaign County and Jean Stewart of Rossville in Vermilion County. The Illinois Leopold Conservation Award is made possible through the support of American Farmland Trust, IL Corn, Illinois Soybean Association, Sand County Foundation, Coleman Family Fund, Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts, Farm Credit Illinois, Illinois Department of Agriculture, Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership, McDonalds, The Nature Conservancy and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service of Illinois. For more information on the award, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org. A series of events marking the 25th anniversary of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale begins with a Sept. 29 celebration at the Union League of Chicago. The program for Future of Illinois event will feature former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar who will share remarks and reflections of the institutes two-and-a-half decades. Additionally, Institute Director John T. Shaw will moderate a discussion and outlook for Illinois featuring Illinois Speaker of the House Chris Welch and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon. The event will feature a dinner and reception. Shaw said the former governor is the perfect person to kick off the institutes anniversary celebration. He was the governor when the institute was created and has been a really active and supportive voice for the institute, Shaw said. One of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute's initiatives is the annual Simon-Edgar Statesmanship Award, presented to an elected state or local government official in Illinois who has demonstrated a pattern of public service characterized by vision, courage, compassion, effectiveness, civility and bipartisanship. Former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White received the 2023 award. The institute was established in 1997 by Makanda native Paul Simon, a long-time legislator and two-term U.S. senator. Originally called the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Simons name was added following his passing in 2003. As a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, the institute works to promote smarter government, better politics and encourages students to explore careers in public service. A second celebratory gathering will be in Carbondale on Oct. 30 featuring former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and his son Congressman Darin LaHood. They really have never done a public event together as father and son to talk about their careers in politics, Shaw said. It should really be a fun and informal exchange. Planning for the Carbondale event is underway. Shaw said a number of current and former governmental leaders have been invited, including Governor J.B. Pritzker. Information on the Sept. 29 event is available on the institutes website at www.paulsimoninstitute.siu.edu. Close Students pass through the breezeway at Faner Hall on the SIU campus as rain and strong winds passed through the area in February in Carbondale. Students walk along the Campus Lake Trail on a mild Tuesday afternoon on the SIU campus in Carbondale. Mild temperatures stick around the region on Wednesday, but rain is forecast for most of the day. A student uses an umbrella while riding his bike through the SIU campus on a rainy Wednesday morning in Carbondale. GOING UP A student goes up the steps at the Engineering Building on the SIU campus on a sunny afternoon on Monday in Carbondale. Dont expect to see much sun the next few days as wintry weather is expected to arrive Tuesday evening. A small snowman adorns the outside of Morris Library on the SIU campus on Wednesday morning in Carbondale. Overnight snow canceled classes at many schools in the region, but only caused a delay in the start of classes at SIU. CHILLY RECEPTION Students pass by an icy holly tree near the Life Science Building on the SIU campus on a cold Monday afternoon in Carbondale. Overnight freezing rain made for slippery conditions in the morning and a mix of wintry precipitation late in the day created some slick spots on roads. Students walk by the partially frozen fountain in the plaza near Faner Hall on the SIU campus as the sun begins to thaw things out on Wednesday in Carbondale. A student is framed by blossoming cherry trees while walking along Lincoln Drive on the SIU campus on a mild, but windy, Monday morning in Carbondale. SIU student Rufayda Adam takes photos of a flowering magnolia tree on campus on Tuesday in Carbondale. Adam was sending the photos to her mother in Sudan where there arent flowering trees. A student walks through the SIU campus near Pulliam Hall during a rain shower on Tuesday in Carbondale. More rain is in the forecast each day through Friday. Students pass through the SIU campus past blooming redbuds and azaleas on a pleasant Thursday in Carbondale. A rainy and stormy day is forecast for Friday with highs in the 60s. A student passes through Thompson Woods on the SIU campus as showers pass through the region on Thursday in Carbondale. Cooler, but drier, weather is in the forecast the rest of the week with a gradual warming trend expected through the weekend. A student cruises on a scooter past a flowering dogwood near Browne Auditorium on the SIU campus on a pleasant Wednesday in Carbondale. The mild weather is forecast to continue through Friday before a chance of showers returns on Saturday. A young white-tailed deer buck eats leaves from a tree on the west side of the SIU campus on Tuesday morning in Carbondale. A bicyclist passes along Douglas Drive on the SIU campus on Wednesday in Carbondale. More pleasant weather is in store for the region through the weekend. A white-tailed deer peers out from behind foliage in Thompson Woods on the SIU campus on Wednesday in Carbondale. DANDY DAISIES A jogger passes by blooming daisies and catnip near Altgeld Hall on the SIU campus on Thursday in Carbondale. More pleasant weather is forecast into the weekend before rain is expected to return on Sunday. A walker passes by arrows on the Campus Lake Trail on Wednesday on the SIU campus in Carbondale. The arrows were used to direct competitors in the Saluki Triathlon last weekend. STROLLING ON WHEELS Anthony Fletcher skateboards through one of the breezeways at Faner Hall on the SIU campus on Monday afternoon in Carbondale. A worker cleans the exterior windows of one of the lounges at Neely Hall dormitory on the SIU campus on Tuesday in Carbondale. Campus Collection The best shots from the campus of Southern Illinois University during the first half of 2023 Students pass through the breezeway at Faner Hall on the SIU campus as rain and strong winds passed through the area in February in Carbondale. Students walk along the Campus Lake Trail on a mild Tuesday afternoon on the SIU campus in Carbondale. Mild temperatures stick around the region on Wednesday, but rain is forecast for most of the day. A student uses an umbrella while riding his bike through the SIU campus on a rainy Wednesday morning in Carbondale. GOING UP A student goes up the steps at the Engineering Building on the SIU campus on a sunny afternoon on Monday in Carbondale. Dont expect to see much sun the next few days as wintry weather is expected to arrive Tuesday evening. A small snowman adorns the outside of Morris Library on the SIU campus on Wednesday morning in Carbondale. Overnight snow canceled classes at many schools in the region, but only caused a delay in the start of classes at SIU. CHILLY RECEPTION Students pass by an icy holly tree near the Life Science Building on the SIU campus on a cold Monday afternoon in Carbondale. Overnight freezing rain made for slippery conditions in the morning and a mix of wintry precipitation late in the day created some slick spots on roads. Students walk by the partially frozen fountain in the plaza near Faner Hall on the SIU campus as the sun begins to thaw things out on Wednesday in Carbondale. A student is framed by blossoming cherry trees while walking along Lincoln Drive on the SIU campus on a mild, but windy, Monday morning in Carbondale. SIU student Rufayda Adam takes photos of a flowering magnolia tree on campus on Tuesday in Carbondale. Adam was sending the photos to her mother in Sudan where there arent flowering trees. A student walks through the SIU campus near Pulliam Hall during a rain shower on Tuesday in Carbondale. More rain is in the forecast each day through Friday. Students pass through the SIU campus past blooming redbuds and azaleas on a pleasant Thursday in Carbondale. A rainy and stormy day is forecast for Friday with highs in the 60s. A student passes through Thompson Woods on the SIU campus as showers pass through the region on Thursday in Carbondale. Cooler, but drier, weather is in the forecast the rest of the week with a gradual warming trend expected through the weekend. A student cruises on a scooter past a flowering dogwood near Browne Auditorium on the SIU campus on a pleasant Wednesday in Carbondale. The mild weather is forecast to continue through Friday before a chance of showers returns on Saturday. A young white-tailed deer buck eats leaves from a tree on the west side of the SIU campus on Tuesday morning in Carbondale. A bicyclist passes along Douglas Drive on the SIU campus on Wednesday in Carbondale. More pleasant weather is in store for the region through the weekend. A white-tailed deer peers out from behind foliage in Thompson Woods on the SIU campus on Wednesday in Carbondale. DANDY DAISIES A jogger passes by blooming daisies and catnip near Altgeld Hall on the SIU campus on Thursday in Carbondale. More pleasant weather is forecast into the weekend before rain is expected to return on Sunday. A walker passes by arrows on the Campus Lake Trail on Wednesday on the SIU campus in Carbondale. The arrows were used to direct competitors in the Saluki Triathlon last weekend. STROLLING ON WHEELS Anthony Fletcher skateboards through one of the breezeways at Faner Hall on the SIU campus on Monday afternoon in Carbondale. A worker cleans the exterior windows of one of the lounges at Neely Hall dormitory on the SIU campus on Tuesday in Carbondale. WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Agricultures Agricultural Marketing Service has awarded over $601,000 in fiscal year 2023 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) funding to South Carolina. With the grant, the South Carolina Department of Agriculture will fund projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crop products and create new market opportunities for the states specialty crop producers. With this years Specialty Crop Block Grant funding, South Carolina is investing in innovative projects that will help address the needs of specialty crop producers within the region, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said. The funded projects will also further USDAs efforts to ensure U.S. specialty crop products remain competitive in markets across the nation and abroad. Across the state, 15 projects will be funded by the 2023 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, including nine Clemson University research projects to improve the production of peaches, eggplants, wine grapes, pecans, chickpeas, and watermelons as well as to initiate the preservation of heirloom vegetable seeds for South Carolina growers. Freshlist LLC also will use SCBGP funding to enhance specialty crop production and distribution for SC growers through data visualization. In addition, FoodShare Greenville will use funding to expand its distribution capacity to further support growers and consumers in the Upstate. Through SCBGP funds, SC Specialty Crop Growers Association will offer cost-share reimbursement opportunities to specialty crop growers to offset packaging costs and will offer growers in-person training to improve specialty crop marketability through direct wholesale. Finally, SCDA will be encouraging consumers to visit any of the three state farmers markets in Columbia, Florence, and Greenville through multiple specialty crop-focused events. The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program helps South Carolina farmers thrive, South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers said. These grants help specialty crop growers reach new customers, expand to bigger markets, and grow more local crops more successfully. Its a win-win for consumers and agriculture. The funding to South Carolina is part of a total of $72.9 million in non-competitive FY 2023 SCBGP funding awarded to 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia. The SCBGP funding supports farmers growing specialty crops, including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery crops. USDAs support will strengthen U.S. specialty crop production and markets, ensuring an abundant, affordable supply of highly nutritious fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops, which are vital to the health and well-being of all Americans. The funding for the SCBGP grants is authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill and FY2023 funding is awarded for a three-year period beginning Sept. 30. Since 2006, USDA has invested over $1 billion through the SCBGP to fund nearly 12,000 projects that have increased the long-term successes of producers and enhanced marketing opportunities for U.S. specialty crops products. MOSCOW, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Moscow would return to the Black Sea grain deal as soon as its requirements are met. "We will be ready to revive the grain deal, and we will do this as soon as all restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are lifted," Putin said at a press conference following talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Russian city of Sochi. Putin said that Russia's grain harvest could reach 130 million tons this year, and the country's export potential would remain at 60 million tons. He said that Moscow is not opposed to the grain deal, but warned Ukraine against using grain export corridors for military purposes. Erdogan noted that Turkiye had been working on a new package of proposals together with the United Nations. He expressed confidence that the proposals would help resume the deal as soon as possible. The Russian leader further said that Moscow will continue exporting food and fertilizer to help stabilize global food prices. He said that Russia, Turkiye and Qatar would work jointly to deliver 1 million tones of Russian grain to countries in need. The initiative will contribute to solving the global food crisis, Putin said, adding however that it shouldn't be viewed as an alternative to the Black Sea grain deal. The two leaders also discussed bilateral energy and trade relations, including the joint construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. Putin noted that the plant's first unit is expected to be launched next year. Putin further confirmed Moscow's readiness to establish a regional gas hub in Turkiye to deliver gas supplies to third countries. The two presidents also discussed the Ukrainian crisis and global ceasefire proposals aimed at achieving a political settlement. Putin thanked Erdogan for his mediation efforts, and reiterated that Moscow remained open for dialogue. Erdogan in turn confirmed that Turkiye is ready to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine, and remains committed to establishing lasting peace and stability. When Mike, the father of a ninth grade student, got a call from his daughters school, the first thing he asked was: How important is this? They said, Well, its important, Mike told me during an interview for my research. When Mike went to his daughters school to see what was the problem, school officials told him his daughter was being suspended for giving a boy a hug. He ended up missing out on some of his hourly wages to deal with the situation. I was like, Nah. Not only am I missing out on some hours at work, Im missing out on some important meetings, and also commitments that I have made, to come up here and talk about suspensions, a five-day suspension for giving somebody a hug, Mike told me. Thats one of the things that every time they call me, I always raise my voice about that. Its been times where the school has suspended her, and I told the school, 'Well, she cant stay home with me. She doesnt have nowhere else to go, so she has to stay at the school. Mikes dilemma is just one of dozens that I document in my 2021 book, Suspended: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety. The book is part of my ongoing research into how Black families view school punishment and its impact on their daily lives. For my book, I interviewed 55 students from urban and suburban school districts throughout Michigan who received school suspensions, and their parents. I used fake names to protect their confidentiality. As millions of students transition to in-person learning in the 2021-2022 school year, many may be wondering if an increase in school suspensions will follow. If suspensions do rise, my research suggests that could result in lost wages and even lost jobs for parents of Black students, who are suspended at substantially higher rates than white students. Harm to employment However, as my new book shows, school suspensions also harm parents employment. Specifically, mothers and fathers told me that school suspensions led to a reduction in wages, job loss and even forced some of them to accept part-time work. One such parent is Vanessa, the mother of Franklin, a 10th grade student, who told me she met with school officials to create an individualized education plan known in schools as an IEP for her son because of his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, diagnosis. Instead of implementing the plan as they agreed, she said school officials continued to suspend her son for minor offenses related to his ADHD. During our interview, Vanessa shared one instance in which her sons suspension cost her a job. I was working at [place of employment] as a social worker before this job, and at that time I was making an hour, Vanessa told me. My husband and I were going through a little difficulty, as we were separated at that time. They were calling me from the school because Franklin was having a rough time. He was gonna get suspended. I said, Well, I have to leave. When youre a social worker at that job, you cant keep calling in to say you have to leave work. [Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversations newsletter to understand the world. Sign up today.] Reforms inadequate I also learned that the legislative reforms policymakers have passed in recent years to reduce school suspension rates may not be working in some districts. For instance, several parents told me school officials did not use alternatives to suspension in the years after the reforms were enacted, even though theyre supposed to. One such parent is Dana, whose son Philip, a ninth grade student, got a two-day suspension for fighting after a school official saw him wrestling with his friends in the gym. Dana says the boys were playing. In our interview, Dana expressed considerable doubt regarding the reforms. Dana told me she wished she would have been aware that school officials were supposed to try alternatives to suspension first. I wish I wouldve known that because I dont think they [school administrators] been doing that, Dana told me. I feel like it could be effective, but I dont feel like it was done with my son at all. In recent years, legislators in several states, such as Massachusetts in 2012, Illinois in 2015 and Michigan in 2016, have passed school punishment reform laws that were intended to reduce suspension rates. In Michigan, the reform guidelines require school officials to consider a students age, disability, disciplinary history and the severity of the offense before issuing a punishment. The reform guidelines also encourage school officials to use restorative justice practices, such as peer mediation and conflict resolution strategies, instead of suspensions. Yet, when I interviewed parents, many of them said school officials were not following the rules. When school officials dont follow the reforms, it affects parents such as Linda, whose son Deshaun, a 12th grade student, received a three-day suspension because a video showed he was present in the restroom when a fight occurred. When school officials issued the punishment, Deshaun expressed that he entered the restroom before the other boys and did not participate in the fight. Although the video, which I reviewed, shows he was not fighting or talking to the other students, school officials upheld the suspension. Their argument was that all the bystanders should have contacted a school security guard instead of just watching the fight. When I asked Linda about the effectiveness of the school punishment reforms, she stated: I dont think they have implemented that at all. I havent seen that recourse. My son was very upset that he got suspended, cause he was like, 'I wasnt even part of it. In search of solutions Though school punishment reforms were intended to reduce suspension rates, studies have found schools that enroll a large percentage of minority students are less likely to implement restorative justice practices. In Suspended, I offer some potential reasons why school officials resist implementing the discipline reforms. For example, some school officials told me the reform guidelines did not recommend a course of action for administrators who violated them and continued to issue suspensions. I also express the need for stronger legislation, emphasizing restorative justice as a means to reduce suspension rates and increase school safety. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. The Conversation has a variety of fascinating free newsletters. Read more: Charles Bell receives funding from the Midwest Sociological Society. (TBTCO) - Tam iem cua thi truong tai chinh toan cau nhieu tuan qua la su gia tang khong ngung cua loi suat trai phieu chinh phu My co ky han tu 10 nam tro len. Tuan nay, loi suat trai phieu ky han 10 nam a vuot qua muc 5%, lan au tien ke tu nam 2007, khi cac nha au tu ban thao do lo ngai lam phat co the tiep tuc cao hon trong boi canh chinh phu My ang ngap trong no. Moldovan President Maia Sandu, one of the leading liberal, pro-Western voices in Eastern Europe, just finished up her first year in office. From Ziarul de Garda. After studies at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government, and working for the World Bank and the UN Development Program, Maia Sandu was Moldovas education minister between 2012 and 2015. She went on to narrowly lose the 2016 presidential elections before becoming prime minister in 2019, heading a short-lived government soon toppled in a power struggle. Those disappointments finally ended with her landslide victory in the November 2020 presidential elections, when she defeated the incumbent Igor Dodon after obtaining the highest number of votes ever given to a politician or political party in the history of elections in Moldova. A year after her inauguration, Ziarul de Garda, a leading newspaper in Moldova, sat down with Sandu to discuss the achievements and failures of her first year in office, as well as the most pressing issues on the countrys agenda. The questions came from various members of the newsroom. ZdG: Looking back at your first year of presidency, are you satisfied with what you have accomplished? Sandu: I am proud of what the people of Moldova have accomplished, and I believe that the most important thing we have accomplished together is that we have ousted several corrupt politicians from power. I contributed by helping to create conditions for the citizens to drive corruption out of the government. From now on we have a lot of work to do. So we cant be satisfied. As for the institution I run, I think we have managed some things externally, because we have managed to resume good relations with many countries; we have managed to improve the presence of Moldova at several international forums, and thus made ourselves heard. Of course, this leads to more projects, more assistance for citizens in different fields. I think these are the most important achievements. ZdG: Are you sure that the parliamentary majority, which is now made up of deputies of the Action and Solidarity Party, will remain until the next regular parliamentary elections? Sandu: I am confident that they are well-meaning people and that they will continue to be a strong team, so that we can deliver on commitments we have made to our citizens. Things dont happen overnight. Some things work out faster; some take time. The opportunity created is important, to start building a state that works for citizens, to provide conditions for economic growth, to create more jobs, to increase budget revenues, and accordingly, to be able to pay higher salaries, to be able to develop the infrastructure. The needs are enormous. It also takes effort to get the team to work together. ZdG: What do you think is your biggest setback in your first year in office? Sandu: In my opinion, one thing we didnt do well was to bring in more professionals to the governing team willing to take responsibility for running our institution. The problem of human resources is the main problem and I think that this problem is everywhere, including in the private sector. Many citizens left the country, many dislike the idea of moving to [work for] the state because of lower wages and the legacy we have. It is not easy to come and take responsibility for running an institution when it is completely unfeasible. Over the last 10 years, the quality of public service has deteriorated substantially. Plahotniucs regime bears the greatest responsibility for this [Ed. note: Oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc was the countrys leading power broker before fleeing the country in June 2019]. It is very difficult to rebuild these institutions and bring in a critical number of people who can move things forward. This government has many good ideas, but not all of them are being implemented, because there is not enough capacity, especially at the management level. We have not been able to fill all the positions, including in the presidency staff, where there are some key positions, such as adviser in the field of justice, or security, and I, unfortunately, failed to convince very good professionals to take on this responsibility. ZdG: Ms. Sandu, the citizens associate your work as president with the work of the government. Its kind of inevitable. In recent months, however, the government has pursued, at times, an inept personnel policy, and promoted to important positions people with reasonable doubts about their integrity. What happened to the filters of the Action and Solidarity Party you talked about earlier? Sandu: The personnel policy that I pursue in the presidency and the personnel policy of the government or the parliament are different things. The most important thing we can see today is that the governments intention is to appoint the right people, without integrity problems and good professionals. And this is the big difference between todays government and the previous governments. Then, they knowingly promoted people who were key elements in all sorts of schemes or people who turned a blind eye to the corruption schemes coordinated by those in charge of the country. Today, we have a government that aims to appoint honest people with managerial and professional skills. It doesnt always work out because weve all lived in a toxic system for the last 30 years and its very difficult to choose from more options. Everyone has been in this system. Some have committed abuses; others have been in this system and have tried their best not to get caught up in these actions. Sometimes, only after a person is appointed it may turn out he or she is not the most appropriate person. I dont think the issue is as dramatic as they [critics] try to exuberantly present it. It is important that we correct these errors and move on. I reached out to people who seemed suitable for a particular position and who told me Id rather stay away, keep working, and pay taxes or I dont want the press to write about me. Such constraints exist, but ones intention is what matters most, and the intention of the government is to promote honest people to office. If they make a mistake, theyll correct it. ZdG: Is there such a shortage of people that it is necessary to bring to important positions people who were previously part of the system (including the Plahotniuc period) and did not achieve anything notable? Sandu: What do we mean by Plahotniucs system? All state institutions were subdued when Plahotniucs regime was in power. Does this mean that all officials in this or that institution were part of this regime? I do not believe that. In no country do civil servants change depending on who comes to power. There are people who committed abuses and should be given no chances to work in positions of responsibility and there are people who suffered because of this regime. Some left because they could not bear it; others stayed because they had nowhere to go. The difference should be made between those who participated in the abuse and those who were in the system. ZdG: Do you believe that the current team at the General Prosecutors Office is properly handling high-profile cases, including those against [businessman and politician Veaceslav] Platon, [fugitive oligarch Ilan] Shor, or Plahotniuc, and that the offenders will be convicted? Sandu: I do not have this certainty and no one, except the leadership of the Prosecutors Office, can be totally sure of what is happening there. I know they are working seriously, especially on big corruption investigations; they are also working on the relationship with external partners. What the Prosecutors Office is doing is very important, but the question is what will happen in court. A good investigation in the Prosecutors Office is not enough. The question is whether we manage to reform the judiciary before these cases reach the courts. There are some risks and a lot of attention on these big corruption cases. We also have the support of our external partners. All these, I hope, will lead to the right results. ZdG: If the judges of the Constitutional Court earn about 3,000 euros per month, how much should the president of the state earn, so that he or she cannot be corrupted? Sandu: I believe that the members of the Constitutional Court should get a salary in accordance with the responsibilities assigned to them. We can compare the wages of the Constitutional Court members with the average wages in the economy, and then compare this ratio with countries in the region. We should have good salaries, but they are not enough to guarantee that there is no corruption. There should also be sanctions. Ten years ago, when the judges salaries were increased, it did not lead to a reduction of corruption among prosecutors and judges because there were no sanctions provided [along with] salary increases. Hence, both elements must be ensured. In this particular case, the request for a salary increase came from employees of the Constitutional Court, who receive a net salary of 7,000 to 8,000 lei ($390-$445). It is too low a salary to bring very good lawyers to the Constitutional Court, to prepare the decisions well. We have to admit that it is a problem; however, the solution was too hasty. We dont have to be populists. We have low-income citizens, it is important, however, that we do not go to the other extreme. Wages should be increased, and we will be able to increase them when we start the economic development that will generate these revenues for the budget. Everyone is waiting for these increases. Many people deserve these increases. It is important to say that we need to give better wages to those who work. There must be enough flexibility in the legal framework for those who sit in offices and wait for their working day to pass, so that such people are no longer found in state institutions. Good wages only for those who work. ZdG: What about doctors or teachers? They also have low salaries and work in areas sensitive to corruption. Why make such a big difference between a judge and a doctor or a teacher? Sandu: Everyone deserves high salaries, and I am confident that by the end of this term the government will be able to allocate resources to significantly increase the salaries of teachers and doctors. The economy must be jump-started, because we need millions of lei for these increases. For example, the increase of the minimum pension approved in autumn means almost 3 billion lei for 2022. The increase of salaries for education employees entails many billions of lei, which should come from savings. Someone has to generate this revenue from the state budget. The economy must be jump started today so that it develops and generates more revenue. Education must become the national project of this country. Fighting corruption is a very important process that we intend to complete; the countrys strategy, however, must focus on education, starting from how we train teachers, who becomes a teacher, how we motivate teachers. ZdG: Related to what is currently going on in the judiciary, in your opinion, is it a fight against corruption or is it settling accounts between people inside the system? Sandu: As I said, I think there are many cases of fighting corruption. People who are most likely corrupt are being investigated, and youve seen that in your investigations. To some extent, there may also be settlements of accounts Its hard to say because I do not investigate things there. We will understand it when we move on to the next stage and when this extraordinary external evaluation will be carried out. We will see then who will remain in the system following this stage, and we will already have more confidence that things are done right. But even today, I see enough activity on the part of the prosecutors office, which demonstrates a real intention to move forward on cases of high corruption. ZdG: Is a European prosecutor general or external head of the National Anticorruption Center a solution for the current government or will they continue to rely on people from Moldova who may have worked in the system? Sandu: I think it is good to try to widen the circle of potential candidates for these positions. Of course, the decision belongs to the Superior Council of Prosecutors or, in the case of the National Anticorruption Center, to parliament, but I think it is good to widen this circle and to be able to appoint people from outside the system to these functions. As far as I know, there is such an intention in parliament and lets see how they put it into practice. ZdG: Outside the country or just outside the system? Sandu: I think from outside the system also means from outside the country. ZdG: During the election campaign, both you and the Action and Solidarity Party promised to confiscate the assets of officials who could not justify the source of the money. This requires an amendment of the constitution, and the Action and Solidarity Party does not have enough votes. How do you comply with the law and keep your promise to the voters? Sandu: Together with my colleagues from the presidency, we are working on a bill and we will present it in the next few days. It refers to a change in the legal framework for confiscation, which would simplify confiscation procedures, taking into account this constraint that is in the constitution. However, adjustments can be made to make this process much easier. ZdG: Why dont people want to get vaccinated and why cant the authorities find solutions to convince the population? Sandu: Unfortunately, I think there are fewer and fewer people who believe in education and who believe in science. This is really serious. I think it is one of the reasons why so many people dont want to get vaccinated. In addition, there have been misinformation campaigns. Some were even run by institutions that call themselves media institutions; others were run on social networks by anti-vaccine groups. It is quite difficult to convince people under such conditions. The government may have to propose other measures, because if we do not increase the vaccination rate, then we will all pay very high costs: both the cost of human lives and the resources spent on the system. These resources could go to treating people with cancer or other diseases. A lot of health money goes to fighting the pandemic, the economic costs, because whether we like it or not, certain restrictive measures are required anyway. So we should understand that there are some very, very high costs that we all pay. Honestly speaking, we have reached such a high level of mistrust in science that it scares me. And that means we need to get back to education. ZdG: You have said many times that you dream of building Europe at home. What stage are we at? Sandu: We are still a long way off, even if we have more democracy and more freedom, and, I far as I know, people do not feel harassed or blackmailed, as they did a few years ago; the business community no longer worries that Plahotniuc or someone like him will come and take over their business, the teachers know that no one will come to force them into a political party, the mayors know that no one will use the National Integrity Authority and the prosecutors office to force them to switch from one party to another. So, here we have achieved some things, but we need to strengthen these democratic processes, we need to strengthen democratic institutions, and we still have a lot to build on the quality of institutions; we have a lot to build on improving living standards. We are on the right track, but there is a long way to go and we must be honest with ourselves. We shouldnt think that things will change overnight, but they do change, and this is important, and its important to regain confidence. Once again, it is not just about trust in the state or its authorities. It is very important to restore trust among us, to have the patience to know each other, to understand each other and to rebuild this trust in society. A society is strong and can succeed only if it is united and if people want to and can trust each other. This article was originally published in Ziarul de Garda, a Moldovan news outlet. It has been slightly shortened. Produced and reprinted with the support of the Russian Language News Exchange. Chief Justice Ivor Archies recent call for acceptance among judges suggests that at least some of them have not been dispensing justice impartially to all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. Speaking at the Caribbean Judges Forum on HIV Health and Human Rights last Thursday, the Chief Justice asserted, As lawyers and judges, we must begin from the premise that it is possible to construct functional, moral or ethical codes of behaviour without adherence to any particular doctrine, regardless of how strongly we may hold our personal religious convictions. OTTAWA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- An Air Canada plane hit another on the tarmac at Vancouver International Airport on Sunday afternoon, CTV News reported. While being pushed back from the gate, an Air Canada Rouge Airbus A319's wingtip made contact with the wing of a Jazz Air Canada Express Q400, which was parked at a nearby gate, said the report. No travelers or ground staff were injured, and passengers are being switched to different flights, it said. The Q400 is currently still scheduled to take off Sunday despite a three-hour delay, and passengers on the A319 have been rebooked to a different plane. The Q400 seats about 75 passengers and the Airbus A319 more than 120 passengers. PHOENIX Three organizations advocating for rights for the homeless have quietly dropped their lawsuit to prevent sweeps of encampments by the city of Tucson. The move last week came after U.S. District Court Judge Scott Rash said nothing has been done in the lawsuit against the city since February. In fact, the judge said, the city had never even responded to the claim that its actions were illegal and the challengers did not push for court action. Paul Gattone, the attorney who filed the suit, declined comment. Instead, he referred calls to Will Knight, an attorney who has been collaborating with those who sued. Knight, the decriminalization director at the National Homeless Law Center, said he still believes that the ordinances being challenged are illegal. And he told Capitol Media Services he thinks the issue will come to a legal head, if not through this litigation this case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled then through a challenge to similar restrictions in Phoenix currently working its way through federal court. The lawsuit, filed in January, was a bid to keep Tucson from sweeping homeless encampments ahead of the Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase. According to the claim, the city planned to hide the regions unhoused population from public view by trespassing them from public parks in the coming weeks ahead of the event. And the groups Community on Wheels, Community Care Tucson and the Peoples Defense Initiative said they had learned from undisclosed sources the focus would be on the downtown Santa Rita Park. The Gem Show came and went without court action. But that still leaves the question of the constitutionality of two underlying ordinances. One makes it illegal to camp, lodge or sleep in a park between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. without special written permission, which has to be obtained 72 hours in advance from the parks director. The other prohibits entering and remaining in any park or to leave any items in the park if it is posted as closed to the public or no trespassing. It also makes it illegal to use or abet the use of any park or facility in violation of posted notices without permission of the citys parks director. Whats wrong with all that, the lawsuit states, is it essentially makes being homeless a crime. And that, it says, violates the Eighth Amendment against unusual punishment. Making it a misdemeanor to camp in parks effectively makes criminals out of the homeless as there is no other place to go, according to the lawsuit. At best, the lawsuit states, there are 859 emergency shelter beds in the Tucson area. But even that number, it says, is overstated, with the former Radisson Hotel converted into a 350-bed Gospel Rescue Mission requiring lengthy screening and enrollment and two former motels have waiting lists. Whether deemed to be emergency or not, these 859 beds are almost always occupied, the complaint says. And that is where the challengers say the problem lies. These two ordinance contain no exceptions or qualifications for houseless individuals who, on a given day or night, cannot practically obtain indoor shelter or lawfully rest on an alternative parcel of land, the complaint says. The city, while not responding in court to the lawsuit, has cited its homeless encampment protocol & reporting tool to explain its actions. That is supposed to kick in when a homeless camp, whether or public or private property, poses a threat to public safety, causes a major criminal or health concern, or when there is camping in any city park after hours. It is supposed to help identify camping locations and response, including outreach, clean-up and enforcement. Knight said, though, none of that addresses the legal issues with the underlying ordinances. There have been federal court rulings that have struck down similar laws in other communities which have allowed people to be charged with crimes for sleeping in a public place if theres a lack of shelter beds. But the law may not be all black and white. And communities have sought ways around it. One recent case involves the city of Grants Pass, Ore. Its ordinance is modeled after an Oregon law that says local government can enact time, place and manner restrictions for sleeping on public property as long as they are objectively reasonable. So, in that case, the city said people generally can sleep in parks but only at night. That raises the issue of whether it is reasonable to force people to pack up and move each day a variant on the Tucson ordinance that has hours during which sleeping and camping is illegal. The last word on that whole question is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, with the justices being asked by attorneys for Grants Pass to rules that enforcement of generally applicable laws about camping on public property does not constitute the cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. The justices have not said whether they will take the case. In the meantime, Knight said, there is a case closer to home that may help resolve the situation in Tucson. He cited a lawsuit filed in federal court late last year by the American Civil Liberties Union for the Fund for Empowerment against the city of Phoenix, seeking an immediate stop to what it calls unconstitutional raids the city subjects unhoused community members to. Much of that is focused on The Zone, an area near the Capitol that had become the citys largest homeless encampment. But clearance has begun after a state court judge, ruling in a lawsuit brought by nearby businesses and property owners, said the area had become a public nuisance and ordered the city to remove tents and other makeshift structures from the sidewalks and public rights of way. Knight said, though, there are parallels with the case that had been filed against Tucson over its ordinances. They are being challenged for the same reason of illegality, he said. The Phoenix statutes are unconstitutional for the same reason the Tucson statutes are unconstitutional. Knight said there have been negotiations to resolve that Phoenix case. And he said that could end with a stipulation against Phoenix enforcing its ordinances about where homeless people can sleep. That would make it much, much easier for the lawyers in Tucson to win their case, he said. And Knight said while an agreement in another case before another federal judge would not be legally binding, it would be really persuasive in what is and is not legal in Arizona. But the possible settlement of that Phoenix case is complicated by the fact that its not just that city that is defending its actions. The residents and business owners who earlier got the state court judge to declare the area a public nuisance have intervened in the case and are asking that the ACLU lawsuit be dismissed. According to their attorney, the two individuals named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit have no standing to challenge the ordinance or the citys actions because they are not involuntarily homeless, something he said is a prerequisite for being able to file a claim under the earlier federal court precedents. And Steve Tully said neither has been convicted under any relevant ordinance. Arizona lawmakers have tried to wade into the issue on a statewide basis. Citing the problems in Tucson, Sen. Justine Wadsack, R-Tucson, pushed through legislation earlier this year to require local governments, on hearing of any homeless encampment, to notify everyone on the site they have 24 hours to leave and take their property with them. For those who refuse, the city or county could take possession of the items and dispose of them if they werent claimed within 14 days. Another provision said anyone camping on private property is guilty of trespassing and could be prosecuted. The measure was vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs, who said the proposal fails to understand there are multiple reasons people become unsheltered and remain that way. This legislation addresses none of those root causes, offers no pathways to assistance, and effectively criminalizes homelessness, the Democratic governor wrote in vetoing the bill. A different measure sponsored by Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, met the same fate. He sought to make it illegal to erect or maintain any sort of housing enclosure on any public street, highway, alley, land, parkway, sidewalk or other right of way. And that was defined to include a tent, tarp, box or similar object. Rather than solving these issues in a meaningful way, this bill only makes them less visible, Hobbs wrote in vetoing the measure. Doing the right thing for the right reasons Re: the Aug. 26 article After 60 years, Dream remains unfulfilled. Supreme Court decisions aside, the military teaches its members to be leaders to live by a set of values and beliefs established to create a foundation of ethical conduct, understanding that to do otherwise destroys the morale and cohesion of the unit as a whole. Its doctrine consistently stresses doing the right thing for the right reasons, establishing solid character in individuals with the primary purpose of creating a culture of trust amongst strangers. Its an institution that, frankly, helped change my life and my immediate familys life for the better. When I joined the Army in 1997, I was desperately trying to escape an environment that was increasingly marred by social depravity. Despite this fact, it was not a popular choice amongst my peer groupin part because of sentiments like some that were expressed in this article, which were prevalent even then. Years later, many of my old acquaintances told me they wish they had joined me in my endeavor. So do I. Jamar Ellis Sierra Vista TEP subsidies Re: the Aug. 27 article New utility regulators fight tree socialism. I read with interest how TEP and its promoters on the Corporation Commission have all sorts of problems subsidizing socialized trees. This outcry against subsidizing things, and socialism in general, by TEP and its mouthpieces is confusing to me because TEP and the corporation commission have absolutely no problem with the citizens of Tucson subsidizing a shift to renewable energy by making us pay for solar panels that TEP buys (ha!) energy from. My solar panels cost orders of magnitude more than a few pennies for some trees, and the purchase rate for energy my panels produce is stagnant at best while TEP selling rates go up. I believe there is a term for this. Oh yes. Its called Corporate Welfare and its a good argument against renewing any sort of TEP franchise. David Reynolds East side Official legislator containers Re: the Aug. 29 article End of case adds to cost of containers. A recent Daily Star article summarized the costs of the Doug Ducey stunt to fill in the border wall with old semi-truck containers. It will eventually cost $163M to make the 2,200-container wall disappear. Only 142 containers have been sold leaving 2,000 containers to sell. A partial solution can be found with the Arizona Legislators. Several AZ Legislators are not truly residing in their Legislative Districts and now have a trailer parked in their Legislative District claiming this is their true home. These Legislators had to obtain the trailer using their funds or donations. How about we designate the Ducey containers as the Official AZ Legislative Home Trailer? The containers could be dressed up with AZ colors and have an official plaque that this is the lawful home of a Legislator. Since our AZ Legislators often jump to other Legislative Districts to improve their odds of election, the Legislators can easily transport the container to their new supposed homes. Jay Gandolfi East side Hornes job Tom Horne is on television ads telling parents that if the public school their child attends is substandard, get a voucher and send your child to a private school, which will be better than the public school. I am confused. Isnt it Tom Hornes job to ensure that public schools are up to standard? I believe the message is that he is not doing much to improve the schools that all children need, but he will pay parents to go to schools that are better than the schools he is responsible for. Im just saying. Richard Bechtold West side Ruination of American society Re: the Aug. 29 letter "Democrats ruining American society?" I must respond to the biased writer's unfounded diatribe simply claiming that just Democrats are ruining American Society. First: the U.S. rightly or wrongly operates under two political parties, each of which is jointly responsible for the existing state of our society. Let's address a few of the letter writers claims: Public education has become a concern in a number of some states, but especially Florida with their Republican governor's goal of banning any teaching of slavery/racism. Yes, military recruitment is down for a number of reasons (Iraq and Afghanistan, low unemployment and lifestyle issues.) However, Webster doesn't recognize "Workism" training and neither do I. Our justice system is under fire because a former Republican president has warranted four criminal indictments. Too many so-called "Law and Order" Republicans dismiss his actions as political. In conclusion, serious mistakes have been made by both parties: the Iraq invasion, the ultimate handling of leaving Afghanistan, and a lack of partisan effort to ensure border security, gun control and welfare oversight. Chuck Cabrera Northwest side Adoration or freedom What do 60-plus Trump-failures involving even judges he appointed suggest? Not a politicized justice system, but our Constitution's rule of law working to protect our country and our freedoms! Since losing the Presidency, Trump has attempted illegally to manipulate our voting rights, accumulate state secrets, and manipulate the entire justice system to gain his ends. Four Trump indictments point out his total willingness to act outside the law to achieve his ends, not that our justice system is "ganging up on" him. These arrests aren't for jaywalking, they are for blatant attacks on our democracy. This man is not interested in us .. .his interest is directing the lives of millions such that he will benefit personally ... including now staying out of jail! A reminder to ALL of us when you turn over your freedom, that's it, that's the ball game. Let's not allow this man and a now totally opportunistic, political cult to take our freedom from us. We and our country are worth so much more! Frank Parsons Northeast side Wildlife connectivity Thankfully, I noticed that an unnecessary barbed wire fence has been removed near Anway and Tucker roads. There used to be fences on adjoining properties there, that amounted to a death trap for migrating wildlife. I once saw a deer carcass caught in that fence. There didn't need to be two fences so close together. Wildlife needs to roam between our sky islands for species to remain healthy. I thank the property owner for removing this wildlife hazard. Hopefully, other responsible land owners will follow suit. Tom Hannagan Marana Lowering resource comparison proxy Since 2017, the actions of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) give the appearance of conspiring with the states electric utilities to protect them from competition by: Changing the rates solar customers receive for the excess power to ensure the cost of their systems do not pencil out Denying third-party providers using lower-cost renewable energy access to utility customers. Commissioner Meyers argument that non-solar customers are subsidizing those who have rooftop solar is so obviously erroneous one must question his fitness to serve. To bridge the gap between the supply of renewable energy and the demand for power, TEP burns natural gas and transmits electricity. That is much more expensive than just allowing excess electricity to flow from solar to non-solar neighbors. If Meyers and the ACC dont like subsidies, they should hold the utilities responsible for the "externalities" they create but do not have to pay for indisputable costs from burning fossil fuels and vaporizing the states scarce water resources. Steven Lesh East side MAGA mugshot I wonder how many hours Donald Trump spent practicing his mug shot face in his bathroom mirror at Mar-a-Lago? He must have worked very hard to perfect it, as visions of T-shirts and mug-shot coffee mugs danced in his head. Good job, Donald the photo perfectly reflects your inner qualities and your true essence. "A picture's worth a thousand words." Deb Klumpp Oro Valley Trump vs. Hitler Re: the Aug. 25 letter "Stop the name calling." The letter writer is disturbed that so many equate Donald Trump to Hitler. While it is true Trump has not overtly called for violence against Americans, the comparison is based on more than a dislike of Trumps personality or policies. As a young man, I read William Shirers Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The behavior of todays Republican party is eerily reminiscent of Shirers descriptions of the behavior of the German National Socialist Party (Nazi party). Hitlers rise to power was made possible by the acquiescence of businessmen and Christians to his hatred of Jews, homosexuals and others. Trump is using that same playbook to appeal to Americans. So, I agree that equating Trump to Hitler is not productive. What we need to do is equate six of the eight Republicans on that debate stage, and their audience, to the German National Socialist Party. Steven Brown Midtown Dream of justice I, too, have a dream. I have a dream that one day Donald Trump will not be judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. I, too, have a dream. Theron Smith While the origins of the Moko Jumbie are disputed, scholars agree on this: the colorful stilt walker was brought to the Caribbean by Africans who were enslaved. The Moko Jumbie has entertained centuries of people celebrating Carnival (the Caribbean take on Mardi Gras). One account claims the Moko Jumbie is the spirit of Moko, a deity of retribution that has endured incredible mistreatment, yet remained tall, tall, tall. When asked where he came from, the Moko Jumbie might tell a story of walking across the Atlantic Ocean, from West Africa to the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Chandra Kimmel remembers Moko Jumbies from her childhood. The stilt walkers, dressed in flamboyant, colorful costumes that concealed their identity, towered over her small frame during the Carnival celebrations on St. Croix. The Moko Jumbies were a memory she kept of the Caribbean when her family moved to Tucson when she was in school. Her mom, who is Puerto Rican, kept the culture in a different way: through food. My mom wanted to make sure the culture was instilled in us, that we grew up with the foods we grew up with our whole lives. We couldnt go out and get it, but my mom was making it at home, Chandra said. When Chandra and her husband decided to open a Caribbean food truck, they named it DC Jumbie: DC for their initials, Daniel and Chandra; Jumbie for the stilt walkers they carried with them from childhood. Across the Caribbean, youll find a lot of stilt walkers. They ... basically, like, sort of take care of or look over the islands, is what they are, Chandra said. We have the stilt walkers in our logo. Theyre called Moko Jumbies in the Caribbean, but we just took the jumbie part of it. Daniel Figueroa grew up in Chicago and Miami, in Puerto Rican neighborhoods where his dad sometimes sold food from a cart near a convenience store. We were surrounded by Latin flavors all the time, Chandra said. When the couple moved to Tucson from Miami, where they met, he loved the slower pace of life here, but he mourned the loss of his cuisine. When Daniel got the idea to open a food truck in 2012, he was originally thinking small: a hot dog cart, not unlike his fathers. But as the couple started taking the idea seriously, they realized they could fill the niche they both sorely missed. That kind of created our fusion of flavors. We just wanted to bring Caribbean flavors and Puerto Rican flavors to the desert, because it was sort of desolate here for those flavors. My husband being from the bigger cities and constantly having these things available to him, he was adamant about the public having access to that. Now its 10 years later and were still truckin, Chandra said. Chandras favorite items off their Caribbean menu are the Puerto Rican staples she grew up with. Arroz con gandules is part of Puerto Ricos national dish. Its the kind of food where everyone says they have a family member who cooks it better than anyone else. The dish is pigeon peas and rice seasoned with sofrito, the flavor-packed base of many Puerto Rican specialties. You can order it at DC Jumbie under the Puerto Rican plate, which also comes with pernil a slow-cooked pork that Daniel roasts for six to eight hours in their commissary kitchen and sweet plantains. But my top would be the triple threat or the tripleta, which is actually a very popular sandwich in Puerto Rico, Chandra said. That one has slow-roasted pork; slow-roasted ham, thats oven baked; and our grilled chicken. (It has) all our toppings potato sticks, lettuce, onion, tomatoes and our signature sauces: sofrito dressing and our mayo-ketchup sauce. Chandra said that, because most Latin American food in Tucson is Sonoran, many customers trying Puerto Rican food for the first time might think it would be spicy in an unfamiliar way. A lot of times we get the question, is it going to be spicy because of the Caribbean aspect? Chandra said. What youll find in the Puerto Rican (food) is more flavors: garlic and culantro, which is a more potent version of cilantro. Youre going to find those really deep flavors in all of the cooking. Not to say Puerto Ricans dont like spice, its usually an option on the side, but Puerto Ricans dont eat too much spicy food. Register for more free articles. Log in Sign up Authentic recipes, doing everything from scratch, its not the easiest thing to cut corners at all in Puerto Rican cooking. If you dont have the right ingredients, its not going to taste the same, Chandra said. The importance of heritage ingredients created a serious obstacle for DC Jumbie. Puerto Rican ingredients like the herb culantro and the bread pan sobao are difficult, if not impossible, to find in Tucson. Theres certain peppers and stuff that we use. The culantro was hard to find at first. So, Cuban bread is not a thing here. Just recently, I think you might find some Puerto Rican breads in Walmart, actually. But thats also always been a challenge since the beginning. We do a lot of sandwiches, as you know. Were working on that, to get more authentic bread over here. The cost of shipping bread over here is really not worth it at this point. Were exploring our options to see if theres anything we can do on this end of the U.S. because its not readily available here in AZ, Chandra said. She was finally able to find culantro and the kinds of peppers used in Puerto Rico by working directly with the owners of local Asian supermarkets like Lee Lee. You know, obviously theyre calling these things different names and theyre packaging them different, Chandra said. Speaking with the owners and letting them know what we need or what were looking for, and putting our heads together and seeing if this is something they could order, or how we could go about getting those items in. Thats how we were able to figure out (if) they could carry this or they do carry this, but they call it something else. That was definitely a challenge at the beginning. At least the two Asian markets, they do carry, they carry almost everything now. At the beginning, (though) it was scarce, Chandra said. The difficulty in sourcing ingredients might have contributed to the dearth of Puerto Rican restaurants in Tucson while Chandra was growing up. There was a Cuban restaurant. I couldnt tell you, it was probably (closed) before I graduated from high school in 2003. I think it closed before then. That was around. It was a deli type of place, a small little restaurant. It had burned down. There was a couple of other little places. But for some reason, I dont know why, Tucson hasnt been able to hold onto these Latin or Caribbean restaurants for very long periods of time, Chandra said. When she was growing up, Chandra never had the goal of opening a Caribbean restaurant or owning a business. She had dabbled in serving in her twenties, but it took her husbands resolve to convince her to open DC Jumbie with him. Via his enthusiasm of wanting to do it: my husband is super enthusiastic about things. He was just really excited about it, and it got me really excited to do it as well. I dont know, we just saw an opportunity. There wasnt a whole lot of food trucks other than the Mexican food trucks that were around. We just thought it was a great opportunity to give Tucson an opportunity to have the flavors we grew up with. I think that was the biggest driver. There was just none of that option here. And if there was, I didnt know about it, Chandra said. Tucsons Caribbean community has grown since they started in 2013. You might see a Cuban vendor selling at the Tucson Meet Yourself festival or have a mojito at Mojo Cuban Kitchen. You might be able to find the ingredients for pernil at Lee Lee, thanks in part to Chandras efforts working with international supermarkets to sell Caribbean ingredients. When Chandra first moved to Tucson, she was isolated. She had grown up on an island; she had been excited to try someplace new until the reality of being landlocked set in. Her mom was the only Puerto Rican chef she knew. To Chandra and Daniels children, who are growing up in Tucson, Puerto Rican food isnt just going to be a memory or something kept at home. Caribbean food is part of our culture now, too. DC Jumbie is a mobile truck. To track its schedule and location, follow them on Instagram. Mattel's "Dreamhouse Living Tour," which kicked off in July at the National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention in Florida, is coming to three Arizona cities. The truck made a stop in Glendale on Aug. 26 and will visit Gilbert on Sept. 9. After that, it's Tucson's turn. The Barbie Truck Tour will be at La Encantada's restaurant circle in Tucson, 2905 E. Skyline Dr., on Saturday, Sept. 16. The truck will be set up from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and fans can find exclusive merchandise including hats, bags, shirts, blankets, necklaces, embroidered patches, keychains, reusable water bottles and coasters. Register for more free articles. Log in Sign up More tour dates and stops can be found on the Barbie Truck Tour's Instagram page. The Dreamhouse Living tour, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the iconic Barbie Dreamhouse, follows the Barbie Truck Totally Throwback Malibu Tour, which came to Tucson last year. Labor Day has been a national holiday since President Grover Cleveland signed the designation into law in 1894. It is always a day to appreciate the people in our labor force who keep our country moving forward, but currently we do not have the necessary workforce in our state. Keeping businesses open requires people to fill the jobs. Our average unemployment rate is 5.09%, but the rate is currently 2.7%. The oft-heard complaint that people are lazy, taking government assistance, and refuse to work is not true. We simply do not have enough warm bodies to fill the open job slots. Two ways to address and fix this problem are right before us. We have one of the best Career Tech systems in the U.S. The local boards make sure that they are filling the current workforce needs in their areas by being nimble and quick to act for employers they serve. Currently there are approximately 11,000 people on waiting lists to get into these programs. With a record amount of dollars in the Rainy-Day Fund, this would seem to merit investment in the system by eliminating the backlog of applicants waiting to garner the education to fill local workforce needs. Secondly are the pools of people who could be filling these job shortages but are often overlooked. One of those pools is women of childbearing years. More than half of our counties are deemed "child care deserts," meaning that only one slot is available for every 10 that are needed. Not everyone has the privilege of a family member to help with child care, and rural Oklahoma is desperately in need of quality child care centers. Formerly incarcerated people are another underutilized pool of applicants. In a state with some of the highest incarceration rates in the nation, we still have many businesses who refuse to hire former felons. One of every nine citizens in our state has a former felony conviction. If we are not giving second chances to these applicants, we are losing a huge portion of potential employees, as well as not giving our citizens second chances and the ability to break cycles of poverty in their families. Last are the refugees and immigrants who are already living in our state, holding menial labor positions but who would be able to do so much more if allowed. I am certainly not advocating for open borders but instead for common sense reforms that might allow hard-working people who have lived here for decades to do more, thereby helping them and helping us. Lastly, we should invest in our state and its citizens. We are a bottom five state in all economic indicators, which makes it very difficult to recruit people to move to Oklahoma. Oklahoma City made a bold move in 1993 by initiating the first MAPS project. Investment in OKC has continued ever since, hearkening the movie line "if you build it, they will come." Investment in the trajectories that change our future on a state level would allow us to recruit more individuals to our state and keep many of our young people from leaving. All these ideas may seem simple or make common sense, but they are not being done. I hope you will join me in advocating for their acceptance and investment. Leslie Osborn is serving a second term as the Oklahoma labor commissioner and represented District 47 in the House from 2008 to 2018. In a few weeks, the new COVID booster shot will roll out to Americans, designed to fight recent variants just as cases begin to tick up with colder weather. There is just one hitch with this plan: COVID does not actually appear to be a seasonal virus, as many expected. When it comes to COVID, everybodys using the paradigm they know, which is influenza, said Gregory Poland, director of the Vaccine Research Group at the Mayo Clinic. It isnt working. We just have to be really careful with fooling ourselves into thinking we understand this by saying this is seasonal. Since the start of the global pandemic in 2020, the only certain thing about the virus has been that its full of surprises. Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration announced it was considering a shift away from frequent boosters, replacing them with a seasonal shot for most people, much like the flu. The new shot this fall will target XBB.1.5, the variant that was driving infections in June, when the FDA released guidelines for vaccine developers. But COVID has not behaved like a seasonal virus. There has been no particular time of year without COVID cases. Mini waves of the virus occur every few months. Recently, hospitalizations in the U.S. started rising after a dip in spring, with 15,000 new COVID hospitalizations the week of Aug. 13, a 19% increase from the week before. By contrast, the flu all but disappears in the warmer months and surges in the cold. All this raises the question: Why are we treating COVID like a seasonal virus? Bloomberg surveyed 11 immunologists, public health officials and infectious disease experts about the best approach to COVID vaccination. While there was no clear consensus, they all agreed that COVID has continued to outsmart us, making it hard to know whether our current vaccination strategy is the best fit for a virus that appears one step ahead. COVID remains unpredictable. Scientists still dont know exactly why infections occur year-round, while other respiratory diseases like the flu and RSV are usually just a winter concern. The virus also mutates rapidly, leaving epidemiologists playing catch-up to understand the behavior of new variants and the severity of infection they can cause. That means that as COVID changes, our approach to fighting it including vaccine schedules may have to shift, too. Everybodys doing this with both their fingers and their toes crossed, said William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University. If (the virus) doesnt misbehave, this strategy will work. The fall booster plan was determined with a few factors in mind. People generally spend more time indoors during the winter, including gathering with large groups over the holidays that often spread the virus. Six experts surveyed said a fall booster campaign has an important role to play in protecting a large part of the population against serious infection during an anticipated surge this winter. Thats especially true for elderly people and those who are immunocompromised. And one of the biggest hurdles for vaccination is getting people to actually show up after all, as of May just 17% of eligible Americans had gotten the COVID booster that became available last fall. A regular fall vaccination schedule might encourage higher numbers, by both being easier to remember and allowing people to combine their COVID shot with their flu shot. This year, though, summer travel and heat waves drove more people indoors, which experts have linked to the recent rise in cases. Accordingly, some experts surveyed said they would like to see an earlier rollout to beat the summer surge and immunize students before returning to school. Three experts even suggested going back to a more frequent vaccination schedule, though part of the reasons health officials switched to an annual vaccination plan was low vaccine uptake. Its also more realistic for vaccine-makers to update the vaccine annually its a process that requires extensive time and money even with the flexibility of messenger RNA technology. (Those most at risk of severe illness have still been encouraged to get extra booster doses.) Health experts will review the latest shots from Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax at a meeting Sept. 12, after which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to recommend them for most Americans. The companies have said this seasons vaccine provides some protection against currently circulating variants like EG.5, which is related to the strain the new shot was designed to fight. Novavax, for one, said it anticipates COVID vaccines will continue to be an annual seasonal shot for most of the population. Poland, at the Mayo Clinic, said the only way to get ahead of the virus is to stay nimble changing vaccination plans as the virus evolves. It just has to be flexible, he said. It has to be nuanced. It has to be informed, so that people can take appropriate precautions. Post-COVID surge in weddings, other formal functions drive uptick in jewelry sales Post-COVID surge in weddings, other formal functions drive uptick in jewelry sales Engagements spike as wedding bells resume Inflation causes pressure in the jewelry industry Hiring in the events industry projected to rise Man arrested in connection with Claremore death A 39-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death of his girlfriend after she was found dead in the home they shared in Claremore, police said. Officers found 44-year-old Heather Michelle Baker dead Saturday night in the residence on the 100 block of South Moore Avenue. Friends had called police after they were unable to reach her and she failed to show up for work, Claremore police said in a social media post. Witnesses reportedly told detectives that Anthony Blue Thomasson was living with Baker but the relationship had involved domestic violence, according to Claremore police. Police arrested Thomasson on Sunday after agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation assisted in processing evidence at the crime scene. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact Claremore Police at 918-341-1212. The National Domestic Hotline, 800-799-7233, is answered 24/7 with guidance toward numerous resources available, police said, adding survivors are also encouraged to contact local authorities. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Related Content DOCUMENT: 2023 State of the Nation address by Cherokee Chief Hoskin In his fifth State of the Nation address Saturday, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. spoke about the defense of tribal sovereignty as opponents try to move this country backward. Hoskin said the ongoing efforts will not allow the enemies of sovereignty to get in the way of the United States obligations to the Cherokee people. We will take the defense of tribal sovereignty wherever it leads us, be it the courts, the halls of Congress, the state legislature or out in the communities, he said during the 71st annual Cherokee National Holiday. Anyone who extends a hand of friendship to the Cherokee Nation will be met with that same hand of friendship. Hoskin also discussed several recent projects the tribe has undertaken while stressing We must also invest in people. He announced progress on a $2 million plan for the tribes new Gadugi Corps program to encourage volunteer and national service. Gadugi is the Cherokee word for working together, he said. Former Councilman Shawn Crittenden and his Gadugi Corps task force have been hard at work to plan our newest, and I think most promising, program, Hoskin said. Gadugi Corps calls upon Cherokees both here at home and at-large to serve their fellow Cherokees with the full support and resources of our Nation. The program draws inspiration from federal programs like AmeriCorps, according to a news release, but will be uniquely Cherokee. Hoskin also announced an Oct. 10 special event in Tahlequah that will assemble the largest gathering of first-language, fluent Cherokee speakers since prior to Oklahoma statehood. The Cherokee Nation is also working on plans to bring high-speed Internet and cellphone service to additional Cherokee communities after working earlier this year to bring a cell tower to Kenwood, where cell service didnt exist. We cannot expect Cherokees to seize opportunities in commerce, education, employment or health care if they are cut off from the world of connectivity, Hoskin said. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Vietnam SPS Office are waiting for a reply from the UK side in relation to a report that some British supermarkets have stopped selling Vietnamese dragon fruits due to pesticide residue concerns, an office official said. Ngo Xuan Nam, deputy director of the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (Vietnam SPS Office), told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday that the office has sent a dispatch to a British sanitary and phytosanitary agency, asking to jointly deal with the aforementioned issue. A number of British outlets have ceased the sale of dragon fruits imported from Vietnam amid concerns that such fruits might contain pesticide residues, which pose potential health risks to consumers, Nam elaborated. At the same time, the report also said UK authorities are proposing moving Vietnamese dragon fruits from Appendix II (for products subject to being tested and granted a food safety certificate in exporting countries before being exported) to Appendix I (for products that must be verified and re-inspected at a 50 percent frequency at destination ports before being imported). The Vietnam SPS Office has therefore made two proposals in its message to the UK side to deal with the situation, the official stated. The office has firstly recommended the UK side maintain the current 20 percent inspection frequency for Vietnamese dragon fruits until both sides have already clarified the facts about the potential pesticide residue issue. Secondly, the office has requested the UK provide it with all health risk assessment reports relating to Vietnamese dragon fruits for consideration. However, after more than a month of issuing the dispatch, the Vietnam SPS Office is still waiting for a reply from the UK side, Nam told Tuoi Tre. In the period from 2020 to July 2023, Vietnamese businesses shipped about 625 metric tons of fresh and frozen dragon fruits to the UK, according to the Plant Protection Department under Vietnams Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. To date, the Vietnam SPS Office has yet to receive any notice of violations related to dragon fruits exported to the UK, Nam affirmed. Vietnamese businesses export about 2,000 metric tons of dragon fruits to the EU market yearly, he added. In a related development, Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper on Sunday cited the Vietnamese Trade Office in the UK as confirming that a number of supermarkets in the kingdom have shifted to selling dragon fruits imported from Spain or Cambodia after detecting pesticide residues on those imported from Vietnam. The UKs Food Standard Agency has evidence of Vietnamese dragon fruits containing pesticide residues that pose a potential health risk to consumers, the trade office added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! (CNN) Billionaire businessman Terry Gou has resigned from the board of directors of Foxconn, the worlds largest electronics manufacturer, days after announcing his bid for Taiwans presidency. In a statement to CNN, Foxconns parent company Hon Hai Technology Group confirmed Gous resignation and said it would not immediately elect a director as the board had eight other directors and independent directors. A self-made, septuagenarian billionaire with a net worth of $6.8 billion, the 72-year-old Gou founded Foxconn, established as Hon Hai Precision Industry in Taiwan in 1974. It grew to become an international business empire and one of the worlds largest electronics contract manufacturers. Its top clients include Apple. In 2019, he handed over leadership to Young Liu, the groups current chairman, but remained as a director, and joined the Kuomintang nationalist political party. Having declared his intention to run as an independent presidential candidate in 2024, Gou now has to secure approximately 290,000 endorsements between September 19 and November 2. Taiwans presidential election, due in January, comes at period of fraught tensions between the island of 24 million people and its superpower neighbor, China. Gou has criticized Taiwans independence movement and is characterized by his friendliness towards mainland Chinese business interests. He joins an already crowded China-friendly camp to challenge the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). This is his second bid at the presidency. He has already held rallies around Taiwan in recent months to build support for his candidacy. Taiwans presidential election is expected to take place on January 13, 2024. This story was first published on CNN.com. "Taiwan billionaire Terry Gou resigns as Foxconn board member amid bid for presidency" A high-ranking delegation of Vietnam led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh arrived in Indonesia on Monday morning to attend the 43rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings from Tuesday to Thursday at the invitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo. The plane carrying the Vietnamese PM and his entourage touched down at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta at 10:30 am (local time). The delegation was welcomed at the airport by Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno, and other Indonesian and Vietnamese officials. Later in the day, Prime Minister Chinh is scheduled to deliver a speech at the 2023 ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN BIS). The prime minister is set to meet with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and engage in discussions with President Widodo. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) shakes hands with Vietnamese officials working in Indonesia upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, September 4, 2023. Photo: N.An / Tuoi Tre The PM will receive leaders from the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as representatives from prominent Indonesian businesses. Additionally, he will be present at the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum slated for Tuesday and Wednesday, which will include the participation of ASEAN leaders, partner countries, international organizations, businesses, and scholars, to promote bilateral cooperation and discuss issues of mutual interest. The 43rd ASEAN Summit will host its opening ceremony and sessions from Tuesday to Thursday. The series of associated events are the ASEAN+1 Summit, which includes partner countries like China, South Korea, Japan, the United States, India, Australia, Russia, the United Nations, and Canada, as well as the ASEAN+3 Summit and East Asia Summit. Indonesian artists perform a traditional dance to welcome Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, September 4, 2023. Photo: N.An / Tuoi Tre Participating countries are scheduled to review the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and blueprints in the three pillars of politics-security, economy, and culture-society. They will also explore ways to enhance ASEANs ties with its partners and exchange views on regional and global matters. On this occasion, the group is expected to endorse and recognize several important documents. These include the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, the Declaration of ASEAN Concord IV, and documents focused on specific areas of cooperation within the bloc, as well as collaborations between ASEAN and its partners in spheres such as food security, digital economy, blue economy, agriculture, e-vehicle ecosystem, family development, gender equality, pre-school education, and the inclusion of people with disabilities, among others. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Read what is in the news in Vietnam today: Politics -- Congratulatory messages for Vietnams National Day (September 2) continued to pour in from other nations, including South Korea, Brunei, Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Venezuela, as well as from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over the weekend. -- A high-ranking delegation of Vietnam led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh left Hanoi on Monday morning for Jakarta, Indonesia, where they will attend the 43rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings from Tuesday to Thursday at the invitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Society -- Many roads leading to Hanoi and the Rach Mieu Bridge, which lies along a major route connecting provinces in Vietnams Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City, were once again congested as thousands of people rushed back to the two metropolises on Sunday afternoon, one day ahead of the end of their long holiday weekend to celebrate National Day (September 2). -- A couple trying to cross the railway on a motorbike when the automatic barrier was already closed to warn of an oncoming train were hit by the train and died on the spot in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam on Sunday afternoon. -- Police officers dealt with 8,920 instances of traffic safety violations nationwide and issued fines amounting to VND19.1 billion (US$793,000) in the first three days of the ongoing four-day holiday, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee. -- Vietnam Airlines has adjusted its schedule for flights between Vietnam and Taiwan on Sunday and Monday due to the impact of Typhoon Haikui. -- A 10-year-old boy was found dead in a construction pond in Binh Phuoc Province, southern Vietnam on Sunday. Business -- A total of 503,154 travelers have visited Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam during the ongoing four-day holiday, generating tourism revenue exceeding VND662 billion ($27.5 million), according to a provincial Department of Tourism report. -- Vietnam spent $2.06 billion on importing 88,300 completely built-up (CBU) automobiles in the first eight months of this year, down 8.4 percent in value compared to the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam. Sports -- Vietnam stunned Australia 3-0 on Sunday to progress onto the semifinals at the 2023 Asian Senior Womens Volleyball Championship in Thailand. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air canceled and delayed multiple flights to Taiwan as Typhoon Haikui made landfall on this island on Sunday. National carrier Vietnam Airlines postponed two flights scheduled to leave Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi for the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. On the same day, the departure time of two other Vietnam Airlines flights connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi with Taipei was also rescheduled so that they would arrive in the destination after 10:00 am on Monday (local time). The impact of Haikui also led to the cancelation of two flights VN587 and VN581 from Kaohsiung to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on Monday, while two other flights VN579 and VN571 from Taipei to these two major Vietnamese cities will depart four hours later than scheduled. Budget carrier Vietjet on Sunday also adjusted its flight schedules to avoid the typhoon, with two flights VJ946 and VJ957 between Hanoi and Kaohsiung being scrapped. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet added that some domestic flights could be affected by the delays and cancelations. Passengers impacted by the flight changes will receive support from the airlines, they said. According to Reuters, Haikui barreled into the mountainous and sparsely populated far southeast of Taiwan on Sunday afternoon. Haikui, the first typhoon to directly hit Taiwan in four years, then moved across the southern part of the island. Taiwan's government said that more than 7,000 people had been evacuated, mainly in the south and east. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A man in Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam died due to suffocation while helping battle a forest fire in the area on Sunday, confirmed a local official on Monday. The deceased was identified as Tran Ngoc Phuong, 44, residing in An Phu Commune in the provincial capital city of Tuy Hoa. Phuong noticed a forest fire and joined a firefighting team to combat the blaze during his trip to a planted forest to cut down some small eucalyptus trees to reinforce his cowshed on Sunday. The blaze engulfed 4,000 square meters of the planted forest in An Phu at 11:44 am and was put out at 12:20 pm the same day, according to Cao Dinh Huy, chairman of the Tuy Hoa administration. The firefighting team included 17 people, with eight of them being local residents. During the firefighting operation, fumes from the forest fire made Phuong choke and fall unconscious. He was rushed to the Phu Yen Provincial General Hospital for emergency treatment, where he was pronounced dead at 4:45 am on Monday. According to Ngo Duc Hien, chairman of the An Phu administration, Phuong earned his living as a bricklayer and farmer. Phuong and his wife have two children, but the older son was killed in a traffic accident about two years ago, Hien said. Local authorities visited and sent their condolences to the bereaved family, saying that they were working to offer further support to his family. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Sanitation workers on Monday morning discovered the carcass of a sea turtle washed ashore at Bai Truoc Beach in Vung Tau City under Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, southern Vietnam. The sea turtle, scientifically named Chelonia Mydas, is on the government's list of endangered, precious, and rare species prioritized for protection. The turtle, which was over 1.1 meters in length and 60 centimeters in width, was in a state of decay. An official in the city said that the mature turtle was female and weighed about 80 kilograms. The reptile was believed to have died a few days before being found. A long slash was found on the turtles shell. The turtle was thought to be hurt by the propeller of a ship while it was swimming. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! EXCLUSIVE: Filming of Neighbours scenes with Guy Pearce and Annie Jones took place in February in the UK. Executive producer Jason Herbison told TV Tonight how scenes were shot ahead of production in Melbourne in April and kept secret from media. When the news of the shows return was announced, one of the big questions was, what will happen with Mike and Jane?: he explains. Fortunately, Guy was very committed to seeing the storyline through and absolutely wanted to honour their relationship and their romance, and the fact that the show had ended, with Mike and Jane together buying a house. So we came up with a storyline. It was the very first time the cameras rolled for the new series of Neighbours and it was actually in the UK, back in February. We shot for a couple of days with with Mike and Annie at a beautiful estate in Surrey. Pearce was open to scenes which revisited the Mike & Jane storylines after his appearance in the 2022 finale resonated so well with viewers. The shows unexpected revival meant scenes would need to pick up where the two were last seen given the practicalities of Pearces other work commitments. Herbison credits Pearce for being so accommodating. Hes incredibly generous and very invested in the characters and their story. As he himself said, it was very emotional for him to return to the show. Hes always spoken fondly of his time on Neighbours. With this unexpected situation, he definitely didnt hesitate to come in and see the storyline through. I think the viewers understand that Guys on the other side of the world and hes very busy actor. Hes probably not going to be on the ground here week in, week out in Ramsay Street in our next series. But I think where we do land with Mike & Jane is a very elegant way to see them again, and honour the characters and also, sort of, set up for the future. It was very, very special. We were shooting at this English manor house in Surrey. It was very, very cold but it was just magical. I wrote a storyline which will play out over a number of episodes. It was just very, very special to be there with the two of them and our British crew. Mike Youngs screen daughter Sam (Henrietta Graham), also returns to the revived series. According to Herbison, the secret filming across two days managed to stay under wraps from media for 7 months. Weve shown we can keep some things under wraps. Other things not! he laughs. We were very discreet about it. Guy even had a suggestion of shooting outside of London. I think he very quite rightly thought that we should get away from the crowds. We stayed at a quintessential British hotel out in the countryside and then shot at this amazing old house and property. We were there on our own. It was us and the birds with the odd overhead plane flying by. We kept it very quiet! What does it mean for Mikes character moving forward? Does Herbison rule Pearce in or out in for future episodes? We definitely dont rule out. It may not be the last you see of him, but well have to let that unfold. Neighbours returns 4:30pm Monday September 18 on 10 (Sept 25 on Prime Video). Jason Herbison, Guy Pearce, Annie Jones Rob Collins is particularly proud of RFDS for addressing First Nations medical issues to a broad audience in an authentic way. In its second season the series not only weaves bush medicine into its storylines, but it does not shy away from the very real concerns faced by Indigenous communities. Collins returns as Senior Medical Officer Wayne Yates in the second season on Seven. Im really excited for people to see Waynes journey in this because it raises some serious questions about the intersection between Aboriginal people and the medical profession, he tells TV Tonight. We dont shy away from that conversation We know anecdotally, that Aboriginal people are over-represented, when it comes to fronting up to hospitals, and suffering chronic diseases. We dont shy away from that conversation in the series. Im really proud of the work that weve done and of the show for going there. I think its going to start conversations that I dont think weve had, in such an unapologetic way on Aussie telly before. Collins maintains that the storylines draw from lived experience. Certainly in my personal experiences, I can see moments in the script, and think Oh yeah. Im familiar with this moment. Ive felt this way before. Ive got family where this has happened to. Thats the best drama, isnt it, where you can draw on your own experiences in such a way? But more than that, I mean, the show had real ambitions, not to water that stuff down and to represent it and to honour it, he continues We confront things like poor mental health among Aboriginal men, chronic disease We confront things like poor mental health among Aboriginal men, chronic disease, relationships between men. I think as Australian men, we dont tend to talk about our inner world much. Were known for being stoic and suffering in silence. It shows that in stark relief and the consequences of not dealing with that stuff. It talks about racism in a really open, unapologetic way, but also in a way that is human. Its not placarded. These are real situations and it does it in such a way that its not teaching anyone a lesson. Its not precluding anyone. Its inviting, I think, everyone into this messy world of contradictions, and questions Where do we go from here?' Collins is reminded of historic storylines on shows such as A Country Practice when activist Gary Foley, in 1989, played a pastor seeking a permanent doctor at his settlement. I think paved the way for characters like this, in a real way, Collins recalls. At the time it was kind of groundbreaking. He talked about the systemic institutional racism that Aboriginal people face when they interact with organisations like medical or law and order. At the time it was kind of groundbreaking. I couldnt believe he was saying that on commercial television! I think in the spirit of that, this season has taken that and weve run a step further. Im just so proud to be able to be part of telling that kind of story this season. Its a real tribute to (co-creator) Ian Meadows and the writing team, director Adrian Wills. Theres a real desire to tell those stories in a genuine way. Jack Scott as Matty Harris He also credits the series dor its wider diversity including LGBTQIA+ characters, which he believes reflects the community of Broken Hill where the show is filmed. Theres nothing token about those characters, but thats Broken Hill. Theres a big drag culture there thats ingrained in the very heart of the place. You cant have a story in Broken Hill without without featuring The Palace and the local mob. Thats one of the wonderful things about the show, that representation is authentic, because thats part and parcel of the life there. Theres the same warmth and heart in all the episodes This season Wayne faces new challenges on the home front, trying to reconnect with son Darren (Thomas Weatherall) and dealing with news of Miras pregnancy (Ash Ricardo). Hes at that real turning point between feeling like hes professionally in a place where hes questioning his greater purpose in terms of his mob, as well, he explains. Theres the same warmth and heart in all the episodes but weve dug deeper in terms of the Indigenous story, but also stories in the region, with a particular focus on mental health. Everyone was really adamant to get stories right, in terms of a medical drama. Of course, theres corners you have to cut because its not a documentary. But as far as we could, we went to great pains to make sure that if a medical professional was watching the show they would approve of the procedures in the way that were executing them. Some of the stories they tell like, people would think Thats just been scripted for television! I mean, the stories that they come back with are just amazing. Theyre such an exceptional bunch of human beings that do this incredible job. If we could, wed include all their stories, but some of them are stranger than fiction. RFDS continues 9:15pm Tuesday on Seven. Nikhat Fatima | Two Circles In 2015 at the age of 27, Madiha Basheer started her business with her first product a beautiful box curated with a handcrafted prayer mat, an Islamic storybook, prayer beads (tasbeeh) and an alphabet toy laptop. Support TwoCircles Her company, The Little Muslims Gift Factory, has grown significantly over the last eight years, serving thousands of consumers. The Origin of the The Little Muslims Gift Factory Madiha, who was born in Kuwait and raised in Saudi Arabia, was religious-minded. After spending a few years in India, she came up with the concept of opening an online Islamic gift shop with personalised products, creating a niche for Islamic education in India. I wanted to create [a] platform that would provide a variety of resources for our current and future generations in order to make Islamic learning fun, interactive, and authentic, she explained. According to Madiha, secular education has advanced, while the Islamic teaching process has remained stagnant. It was while working with the children that she came upon this idea. I always wanted to do something which would benefit me in the dunya (world) as well as in the akhirah (afterlife), she told Two Circles. Her idea, however, took 5 years to materialise. When Madiha opened her online shop, the concept of an Islamic store in India was new. Her late mother supported her from the start. I started my business with mere INR 800, which has outgrown overtime. Madiha explained, adding that the first orders came from close friends who appreciated the idea and wanted to help her. Struggles at the Start of Her Business Madiha Basheer first struggled to understand numerous facets of business such as customs charges, shipping, product pricing, taxes, and so on. So, I learned from my mistakes gaining experience, and the business gradually grew over the years as the internet became more accessible, she explained. Selling Products Related to Muslims As her business grew, she added new products such as Dhikr magnets, prayer journals, rehals (foldable lectern to hold the Quran) and Salah tracking posters a chart with timings of the Salah (Islamic prayer) that she made herself. The dua (invocation) journal and the Dhikr magnets are the best-selling items at The Little Muslims Gift Factory. Writing Storybooks Based on Islamic Beliefs Little Ummions and F.S.W.A (Focus, Sacrifice, Work, and Achieve) are two sub-brands of the Little Muslims Gift Factory. She started Little Ummions with her friend Umamah, who resides in the USA, and together they publish storybooks based on Islamic beliefs for children under the age of ten. They have so far published three paperback and five plush books on duas, Arabic alphabets, numbers, shapes, and Surahs (Quranic verses). The pocket-friendly books are also used by many for gifting during occasions like Eid, return gifts. Challenges While Writing Her First Storybook When Madiha wrote her first interactive storybook, So Remember Me, I Shall Remember You, to teach children to remember Allah frequently, she encountered a number of issues ranging from design to illustration to publication and marketing. It took us two years to publish our first book. We were duped by those who promised to illustrate our book. But it was a learning experience that made us wiser to publish our next book, she explained. Madiha and her friend Umamahs debut book was an instant hit, and it was stocked at Kino Kuniya,the biggest bookshop chain located in The Dubai Mall. I couldnt believe what I was seeing The dream of an Islamic book being put up with other conventional books was a success for me, she remarked. Giving Workshops To Empower Muslim Women Under F.S.W.A (Focus, Sacrifice, Work, and Achieve), Madiha conducts workshops to empower Muslim women to contribute to Islamic education by authoring books, creating content, starting their own Islamic businesses, Islamic podcasts, and so on. Madiha has organised two interactive writing workshops under F.S.W.A, the first on guiding Muslim women to contribute to Islamic literature and the second on directing mothers through Islamic curriculum for their children, among other things. Inspiring Muslim Women to Author Books Madiha has received a lot of praise for her workshops, but she considers her true accomplishment to be the success of her participants. And the fact that many of her customers and participants have become an extended family. In the beginning, I felt why will people read my book when there are thousands out there like me aspiring to write, Rameeza, one of the participants of the writers workshop, said. But Madihas encouragement and guidance pushed me to write my book, which is now nearing completion, she added. And some of her participants have started their own Islamic gift stores inspired by The Little Muslims Gift Factory. Marketing Through Social Media and Improving Storybooks Madiha, who mostly markets her business through WhatsApp, Instagram, and word of mouth, currently has over 10,000 customers in India and numerous other countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Canada. She developed different strategies to stay relevant in the market like constantly improving the books through illustration, creating different resources for her customers and so on. Muslim women have a lot of potential and [they] need a push to achieve the unbelievable, said Madiha. She cites Hazrath Khadija, r.a, the wife of prophet Muhammad and a successful entrepreneur 1400 years ago, as her inspiration. Every time I read about her, it inspires me to strive to be like her, said Madiha, who is in the process of developing additional unique products for her business. The team of The Little Muslims Gift Factory: Traveling between India and Saudi for work and business was tedious so, she hired Sarah Falke in Mumbai who was then in her college, to handle her business in India. I am happy to be part of the Little Muslims Gift Factory team, it gives me satisfaction to think I am doing my bit for Islam. I joined as a fresher but in the last 6 years I have sharpened my administrative and business skills, thanks to Madiha, says Sarah. Umamah, who manages the gift store in the US, says, We wanted to create something unique to pull the Muslim children towards learning about our deen (religion) and thankfully, today we have succeeded in our endeavour, though we still have a long way to go. Future plans of The Little Muslims Gift Factory: Madiha and Umamah plan to have their own website soon apart from getting more products from different sources and expanding their range of products. Their main target market is India and Asia. The duo plans to write more inspirational books for the little Muslims based on Islamic teachings. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) on Monday suspended noontime variety show Its Showtime for 12 airing days over alleged indecent acts of romantic partners and hosts Vice Ganda and Ion Perez during an episode broadcast last July. Viewers have lodged multiple complaints before the MTRCB concerning the shows 25 July 2023 episode wherein the programs hosts allegedly acted in an indecent manner during one of its segments, Isip Bata,'" the review body said. Perez, as part of the Isip Bata segment during the July airing, smeared cake icing on his finger and licked it off. He then shared it with his partner, renowned comedian Ganda, who scooped some of the icing off Perezs finger and ate it. The agency said the act was a violation of Section 3 (c) of Presidential Decree No. 1986 or the MTRCB charter. READ: MTRCB summons 'It's Showtime' producers to explain alleged 'indecent acts' of hosts In accordance with the Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 1986 (MTRCB Charter), the respondents may file one Motion for Reconsideration (MR) within fifteen (15) days after receipt of the decision, its statement read. Should the Boards Decision be adverse to the respondents MR, they may appeal to the Office of the President within fifteen (15) days from the receipt of the decision on the MR," it added. For its part, ABS-CBN the shows creator said it would file an MR, but added that we humbly maintain that there was no violation of pertinent law. We are also committed to working with the MTRCB to ensure that Its Showtime can continue to bring joy and entertainment to our noontime viewers, it continued. We are truly grateful to the Madlang People for their unwavering love and support for Its Showtime. This isnt ABS-CBNs first run-in with the review body. The MTRCB in 2010 imposed a 20-day suspension on the conglomerates daily variety program which was previously called Showtime. It also said that ABS-CBN received multiple complaints in 2023. Morning View (Photo: gina) As we report on page three, the regiment's links are long-standing: St Patrick's barracks was the depot of the Royal Ulster Rifles, and of the North Irish Brigade, and of the Royal Irish Rangers and latterly of the Royal Irish Regiment. Saturday's ceremony marked 60 years of links to the area. And just as there had been the night before, at the magnificent Belfast International Tattoo 2023 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, there was fine pipes and drums music on Saturday in Ballymena. The Royal Irish Regiment served in Iraq in 2003, in Operation Telic, and in Afghanistan, in three substantial Operation Herrick deployments. In the first of those three deployments, in 2006, soldiers from the RIR many of them young men became battle hardened in serious gun battles. Older veterans told this newspaper, when we visited the regiment in Afghanistan, that few NI soldiers had been involved in such frontline fighting since the Korean war. The first battalion has recently returned from UN Peacekeeping operations in Mali and both the first and second battalions are helping provide training support to the Ukraine military. Since the creation of Northern Ireland now more than a century ago, we have had proud links with British Army, most notably when NI soldiers played a key part in the Second World War. Famously, a number of Winston Churchill's key generals were of Northern Irish background. On Saturday the crowds were paying tribute to this tradition of Northern Ireland playing a key part in the military of the United Kingdom, a country with much respected armed services. And a country that has, as you would expect, been a key ally to Ukraine at this dangerous time. ReportLinker Middle East Two-Wheeler Market- Segmented By Vehicle Type (Scooter/Moped, and Motorcycle), By Capacity (Up to 125cc, 126-250cc, 250-500cc, Above 500cc, Electric), By End Use (Individual, Institutional), By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2018- 2028F. New York, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Middle East Two-Wheeler Market- Segmented By Vehicle Type, By Capacity, By End Use, By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2018- 2028F" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06488694/?utm_source=GNW Middle East two-wheeler market has potential to grow during the forecast period due to fast growing e-commerce companies and rising transportation industry. Middle East Two-Wheeler Market Overview Two-wheelers primarily consist of motorcycles, mopeds and scooters that are either powered by gasoline or electric motors.Two wheelers have several operational benefits and reduced maintenance costs, making them a more cost-effective means of transportation than three- or four-wheeler vehicles. Moreover, the popularity of two wheelers has increased significantly and become the key logistic transportation for many intracity travel in Middle East region. There are different types of two wheelers, namely standard, street/naked bikes, sport bikes, cruisers, adventure tourers, dirt bikes, and dual-purpose. Middle East Two-Wheeler Market Driver Increasing Demand for Two Wheelers in Logistic Industry One of the key reasons for the increased demand for Middle East two-wheelers is that they deliver better mileage than passenger cars due to their smaller size and lighter weight. Furthermore, the tax and insurance incurred in owning a two-wheeler is also low compared to passenger car. The demand for two-wheelers is growing as e-commerce activities in the Middle East region increases.Over the past several years, the region has seen a large increase in the number of e-commerce startups. In the area, two-wheelers are essential for delivering online grocery, food, and merchandise.E-commerce giants like Amazon, Dominos, and others are expanding their fleet of two-wheelers to transport items more quickly and affordably across the Middle East. Furthermore, the two-wheeler market in the Middle East is also being driven by the demand for last-mile delivery, the shift in customer expectations toward additional offerings such as free shipping and businesses moving to a less expensive delivery option. Middle East Two-Wheeler Market Challenge Import Driven Two Wheeler Market Owing to their dependence on other countries such as European countries, China, India, and the United States for two-wheeler supply, the major middle Eastern Nations have a restricted supply of stock.Owing to this, the two-wheeler market in the Middle East is growing more slowly. Moreover, because the market is import-driven, there are few motorcycle brands available, which drives up the cost of two-wheelers in the area by increasing import and custom charges as well as additional taxes. Furthermore, the sales of two-wheelers imported from Europe, China, and India are limited due to supply chain disruption. Additionally, the Mideast region has higher temperatures compared to other regions, which led to a preference among consumers for four-wheel vehicles such as passenger automobiles over two-wheelers. Owing to the intense heat, riding a two-wheeler in Saudi Arabia might be difficult and is not recommended for everyone. Middle East Two-Wheeler Market Trend Increasing recreation activity and increasing demand for electric two wheelers Middle Eastern nations such as Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and others prioritize providing tourists with travel experiences through a variety of events such as Dakar rally, wherein numerous two-wheeler manufacturers take part to display their most recent products.Moreover, there are numerous cultural festivals held in Saudi Arabia where bikers from clubs in countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, and Oman participate. This increases demand for individual two-wheelers in the Middle East.In 2023, global electric motorcycle sector exceeded 10 million sales annually, which is more than 80% increase over 2019 sales. According to Travis Vander Zanden, the founder of Bird, around 40% of automobile rides are less than two miles long.Owing to the aforementioned factors, e-scooters are a viable replacement for shorter travels as they can travel more than 40 to 50 miles on a single charge. Furthermore, the Middle East region is seeing an increase in demand for electric scooters as a result of lower prices and greater accessibility in cities with problems such as increased congestion and parking shortages. Recent Development Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announced in April 2022 that the YZF-R7 and MT-09 motorcycles had won the prestigious iF Design Award. Hero MotoCorp made an official announcement in November 2022 that its first motorcycle, co-developed with Harley-Davidson, will be ready by the end of March 2024.The company plans to build delivery and mobility ecosystem in the Middle East and Africa by investing and promoting promotions in the region. The company participated in Dakar 2023 rally held in Saudi Arabia for the seventh consecutive Dakar rally. The first Harley Davidsons electric motorcycle LiveWire Experience Center to open in Malibu, California, in 2022, offering a completely immersive experience focused on the all-electric LiveWire ONE motorcycle. Kawasaki Motors, Ltd. intends to introduce two battery-powered electric vehicles in 2023 and a motorcycle powered by a hybrid electric vehicle in 2024. Additionally, by 2030, the company also plans to start producing motorcycles that run on hydrogen fuel. In order to increase sales of the Ninja sport bike, Vulcan cruiser, and other Kawasaki consumer and recreational products, Kawasaki partnered with Zed Motorz, an Exclusive Distributor of Kawasaki products in several Middle Eastern countries. Market Opportunities Two-wheeler sales in the Middle East are expected to rise significantly during the forecast period.The expansion of rapid delivery services provided two-wheeler manufacturers more opportunities to diversify their product offerings. Furthermore, the region could benefit from the global transition to electric vehicles, which would improve two-wheeler popularity in the Middle East region. Owing to the aforementioned factors, there are many opportunities for both established players and emerging new players. Market Segmentation The middle east two-wheeler market is segmented on the basis of vehicle type, capacity, by end use, and region.On the basis of vehicle type, the market is segmented into scooter/moped and motorcycle. Based on capacity, it is divided into up to 125cc, 126-250cc, 250-500cc, above 500cc, and electric.Based on end use, market is further segmented into individual and institutional. The market analysis also studies the country-wise segmentation to devise two wheeler market, divided among Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Israel. Company Insights In the Middle East market, Yamaha introduced the 2021 FX Cruiser SVHO motorcycle. The company has a significant sales network across the Middle East, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. TVS Motor Corporation established a new distribution collaboration with Public Motors, a subsidiary of Ghaf Investments, in the United Arab Emirates in 2021. (UAE). A 2,000 square foot showroom along Dubais Sheikh Zayed Road was opened as a result of this association. In the UAE, the company is aiming for both the delivery and personal commuting markets. In October 2021, TVS Motor Corporation entered a three-party agreement with Bahwan International Group to expand its business in Middle East, Iraq and other North African countries. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. inked a five-year agreement with Kamarajar Port Ltd. in December 2022 to export automobiles to Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, ASEAN, Oceania, and SAARC. Hero MotoCorp is expanding its dealer and networks in the Middle East.The company opened its exclusive showroom in Dubai which will offer Hero products such as the Ignitor 125, Hunk 150 as also the ECO 150 cargo and ECO 150. Also, SS Delivery Services LLC, a local food delivery aggregator, received 100 motorcycles from Hero MotoCorp. Company Profiles Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, Suzuki Motor Corporation, TVS Motor Company, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, KTM AG, Kawasaki Motors Ltd., Harley-Davidson Inc., BMW Motorrad, Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. are the key players developing advanced technologies to stay competitive in the market and enhancing their product portfolio in the regions to increase their customer outreach. Report Scope: In this report, Middle East two-wheeler market has been segmented into following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below: Two-Wheeler Market, By Vehicle Type: o Scooter/Moped o Motorcycle Two-Wheeler Market, By Capacity: o Up to 125cc o 126-250cc o 250-500cc o Above 500cc o Electric Two-Wheeler Market, By End Use: o Individual o Institutional Two-Wheeler Market, By Country: o Middle East Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Kuwait Oman Qatar Israel Competitive Landscape Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in Middle East two-wheeler market. Available Customizations: With the given market data, we offers customizations according to a companys specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report: Company Information Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five). Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06488694/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Story continues CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 Lesley Allen, operations manager, Baileys Mallusk and Robert Murphy, head of Baileys operations celebrate the approval of planning permission for an extension of the Global Supply Facility in Mallusk (Photo: u) Irish Cream Liqueur, much of which is produced in Northern Ireland, continues to grow sales from international markets especially the US. Its an expanding sector in spirits here in which new entrants continue to grow steadily by offering exciting options. In addition to sector leaders Baileys in Newtownabbey and Saint Brendans in Londonderry, new cream contenders have been launched recently by Two Stacks in Newry and this week by Donaghadees Copeland Distillery. Cream sales, mostly to the US, drew even closer to the 10 million case benchmark during 2022. This is a testament to all the Irish cream producers on the island of Ireland which continue to produce the highest quality brands that are welcomed all over the world, according to recent Irish Spirits Review thats been published by Drinks Ireland in Dublin. The Copeland Distillery are introducing a new Copeland Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur - an unique experience crafted for coffee lovers and it's landing on Thursday (Photo: ugc) Consumers, furthermore, are finding new ways to enjoy the cream. Total Irish spirits exports increased in value by over 17% in 2022, according to Drinks Ireland. Whiskey, poitin and Irish cream are regarded as all-Ireland industries. Diageo, the global drinks giant, recently unveiled a 26 million substantial expansion of its longstanding Baileys Irish cream liqueur plant at Newtownabbey. Baileys was first launched in 1974 from the Republic and now makes a substantial to the Northern Ireland economy. Newtownabbey also sources cream from local dairy farms. The site is one of only two locations in the world where Baileys is produced and local sources claim that around 97% of the factorys produce, especially of original cream is shipped to more than 100 international markets. Another of the longstanding producers of cream liqueur, Niche Drinks in Londonderry, part of the Luxco Group of St Louis, Missouri, has a portfolio of successful drinks, the most successful being Saint Brendans, probably among the most important especially in the US. Formed in 1983, Niche Drinks produces a range of cream liqueurs for customers including Saint Brendans. The company uses cream from local dairy farms and its own Irish whiskey. In addition to Saint Brendans, one of the global market leaders, Story continues Niche produces Bradys, Causeway Coast and Yellaman creams. A more recent player, Two Stacks developed a luxury double cream liqueur with greater whiskey content. It was a project under work for over a year, with the ambition to create a luxurious, complex and most of all delicious liqueur. Blending eight times the whiskey and twice the butter cream content compared to the market standard, Two Stacks believe they have pushed the boundaries with a premium Irish whiskey Irish cream liqueur. It may seem like Irish cream liqueur has a long historical tradition in Ireland, but one must remember that the drink was first invented only as far back as 1974, says Donal McLynn, a founder of Two Stacks, a bonding, blending and bottling operation in Newry. Since then, it has reached every corner of the world, with almost 10 million nine litre cases consumed last year alone. But its only been in the past couple of years, the sector has seen a more premium offering, with smaller craft brands offering unique and exciting alternatives to the bigger players. We see more demand emerging as this trend continues. Copeland Distillery has developed a new cold brew coffee liqueur. The small coastal distillery blended its distilled spirit with a cold brew coffee, brewed in its own coffee shop from freshly roasted beans to create what the company describes as big and bold flavour for lovers of something quite different. The beans, carefully roasted by Wild Heart in Bangor and, are used in the distillerys popular coffee shop, now a magnet for visitors and locals. Its also where tours of the distillery start. The organic coffee is further infused with cocoa nibs for a fuller, more luxurious mouthfeel, according to distillery founder Gareth Irvine. The review by Drinks Ireland shows that Irish spirits sector once again demonstrated its strength with sales in Ireland increasing by just over 6% in 2022 to just under 2.7 million nine litre cases. The value of spirit exports also soared by 17.3% to almost 1bn. These increases continued the gains seen in 2021 and moved both domestic sales and exports ahead to their highest levels ever. A thriving trade sector that needs to be promoted! Irish Whiskeys spectacular growth continued with export sales reaching 15.2 million cases in 2022. Bushmills, for example, passed one million cases for the first and sales rise by around 20% last year. The United States continued to be the key export destination for the category. HM Queen Elizabeth II with Lady Chryss O'Reilly, Chair of the Board of the Irish National Stud, during a visit on May 19, 2011. Picture: SPORTSFILE The renowned horse owner and breeder, who became a well known figure in Ireland when she married businessman Sir Anthony OReilly, was born Chryssanthie Jane Goulandris in New York to parents from prominent Greek shipping families. She grew up with a love of horses and when her uncle died in 1978 she took over the running of his stud farm in Normandy. When she met Sir Anthony in New York in 1989 he was head of the Independent News and Media Group, which owned the Belfast Telegraph, and HJ Heinz of baked beans fame. He had also played rugby at the highest level for Ireland and the British Lions. They married in 1991 in the Bahamas, with Lady OReilly being 14 years her husbands junior. Their combined wealth put them near the top of the Sunday Times Irish Rich List which in 2005 listed their combined fortune as 1.897 billion euro. Although the Greek heiress dabbled in the family shipping business for a time, it was horse breeding that she found to be her calling. She built a world class stud farm at Castlemartin in Co Kildare and forged successful partnerships with leading Irish trainers. Trainer Eddie Lynam said: She was a very kind woman. I was fortunate to have trained for her for 15 years, maybe more, and she was a pleasure to train for, as she was very knowledgeable. She will be sadly missed in racing throughout the world. Former jockey-turned TV presenter Adele Mulrennan commented: Lady OReilly was such a lovely lady, she loved her horses. It was a huge honour to have ridden for her. Lady OReilly was appointed to the board of the Irish National Stud in 1993, becoming its chair from 1998 to 2012. In 2011 she lead the late Queen around the Irish National Stud. Her most notable success was the 1996 Prix de lArc de Triomphe winner Helissio and she was inducted into the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association Hall of Fame in 2013. She became Lady OReilly in 2001 when her husband was knighted "for long and distinguished service to Northern Ireland" including recognition for his work as head of The Ireland Funds charity, where his wife served as a long-time board director. Story continues Caitriona Fottrell, president of the Ireland Funds, said: Her broad support of culture and the arts in Ireland as well as her generous support of our Pittsburgh Dinner where the OReillys were based during (Sir Anthonys) time as chief executive and chairman of HJ Heinz were just some of her many philanthropic contributions to the work of The Ireland Funds. We are forever grateful for her involvement. Lady OReilly died unexpectedly at her home in Normandy, France last Wednesday evening (August 23). She had shortly been due to return to Kildare. The Irish National Stud said its former chairwoman had left an indelible mark on the thoroughbred sector while French horse-racing newspaper Jour de Galop described her as one of the great breeders of our time. Chris Williams from Carrickfergus was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL). Chris Williams from Carrrickfergus was 24 when he started to feel unwell. I had an infection I couldnt shake off and was so fatigued I couldnt get my energy levels back no matter how much sleep I got. I then experienced sinus trouble and during a visit to the dentist was told they had never seen anything like it. I tried antibiotics, which didnt work for me. When I awoke the next morning I noticed a blood rash over my legs and feet and felt my spleen was swollen as with every step or breath I could feel it pressing at the side of my stomach. Chris went to hospital, explained how he had been feeling and whilst there was sick. He had blood tests and within just half an hour of the results was given his diagnosis of acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL). He said: I was shocked with this news and couldnt get my head around it. I even denied the diagnosis for a week afterwards. I had convinced myself I had either COVID-19 or a chest infection there was no possibility I could have leukaemia. Chris told his family and it was when he saw their reactions that it all began to feel real that he had cancer. He spent three months in isolation in hospital, receiving chemotherapy but he didnt go into remission. His treatment was changed to immunotherapy which also didnt work. The remaining treatment options for Chris were either a stem cell transplant or possibly CAR-T therapy. It was decided that the stem cell transplant would be a better route. Chris underwent a stem cell transplant in November 2021, but relapsed. The conversation returned to the option of CAR-T so Chris decided to go for this. He said: "I didnt want to be back in hospital for a long period of time, but it was my last option. I was scared of returning to intensive care and being away from my family. The CAR-T therapy is not yet available in Northern Ireland, so Chris was sent from Belfast to Manchester for treatment. The process involves taking Chris T-cells, modifying them, and putting them back in to kill the cancer cells. Story continues Since Chris had his CAR-T therapy, he has experienced limited side effects, and all is going well. Chris is sharing his story during Blood Cancer Awareness Month in September, as new research shows that of those who responded to a survey in the region, no one was able to identify all four of most widely reported symptoms - fatigue, bruising, unusual bleeding and repeated infections. Other symptoms of leukaemia can include fever or night sweats, bone or joint pain and swollen lymph nodes. Leukaemia is a form of blood cancer that affects people of all ages and 27 people receive a leukaemia diagnosis every day in the UK thats just under 10,000 every year. Overall survival for leukaemia stands at just over 50% - making it one of the most deadly forms of cancer. Leading UK leukaemia charities, Leukaemia Care and Leukaemia UK, have launched a memorable new campaign #SpotLeukaemia - to get people asking why about the symptoms of leukaemia. In the new film the charities have called on five-year-old children to try to make the symptoms of leukaemia memorable. The advert sees youngsters asking a range of questions to encourage people to ask why am I feeling this way - channel your inner 5-year-old and question your symptoms which could be leukaemia. Zack Pemberton-Whiteley, Chief Executive of Leukaemia Care, said: "We know that our new Spot Leukaemia video may make some people laugh but in order to raise awareness of this serious subject we needed to channel our inner five-year-old and ask why. It's crucial that if you think you have fatigue, bruising or bleeding or repeated infections you contact your GP and ask for a blood test. When asked why they would not contact their GP if experiencing any unusual symptoms, 26% of UK adults who said they would not do this selected dont want to put additional pressure on the NHS as their main reason, from a given list. Long waiting times were also listed as an off-putting factor, with 23% of UK adults who said they would not visit a medical professional, citing this as their main reason, from a given list, for not getting in touch. Fiona Hazell, chief executive of Leukaemia UK, said: Spotting the signs of leukaemia and asking for that all-important blood test can make a meaningful difference in treating this disease. Thats why its even more concerning to learn that most people would not visit their GP if experiencing one or more of the four most common symptoms. We would encourage anyone who is concerned about leukaemia to make an appointment to request a blood test as soon as possible. For more information visit the Spot Leukaemia website at www.spotleukaemia.org.uk . . 'Erratic and impulsive behaviour': What is the drug known in the UK as 'monkey dust'? The city of Stoke-on-Trent, located in Central England, has become known as a hotspot for a drug called "monkey dust", with residents growing increasingly frustrated about the situation. As local authorities pump money into research to tackle the issue, there have been talks this year in the UK about reviewing the drug's impact on people's health as its effects make headlines. Experts say the drug has also been seized in large quantities elsewhere in Europe. What is monkey dust? Monkey dust, also referred to as "zombie dust", is a slang term used in the UK for the stimulant drug. It is made of different synthetic cathinones (similar to amphetamines), which speed up messages between the brain and the body. Monkey dust is a cheap drug, reportedly sold for around 20 (23) per gram and provokes effects similar to cocaine and MDMA. It has risen in popularity as it is cheaper and triggers longer highs than other drugs. Sold in the form of a white powder, users snort, smoke or inject the drug. Each batch of the drug is different, making it difficult to know what it actually contains. One local media outlet in the UK reported that the drug is believed to be imported from China. How does 'monkey dust' impact users? "It is a myth that monkey dust makes people into zombies, however, it can cause them to become impulsive and erratic, Nuno Albuquerque, an addictions counsellor at the UK Addictions Treatment Centre, told Euronews Next. Users can feel like they have superpowers and experience a surge in adrenaline, he added. Monkey dust users are also reported to experience side effects of paranoia and increased agitation, which can lead to violent behaviour. The drug has been used by individuals suffering from cross-addictions. "I have seen patients who are taking monkey dust alongside other amphetamines, some also have sex addictions," Albuquerque said. Story continues Is there really a monkey dust epidemic in the UK? The drug began to surge in popularity from 2017 to 2018 as a cheaper alternative to cocaine, says Albuquerque. He identified two factors which influenced the drugs prevalence in the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The city is situated in a transit region, which makes it an easy target for drug dealers. It is also located in a deprived area, which has created a market for cheap drugs like monkey dust," he said. The city is in one of the top 20 per cent of the most deprived areas in the UK, according to Public Health England. We are aware of the problem within our city and as a local authority we are committed to confronting these challenges head-on," Stoke-on-Trent cabinet member and councillor Desiree Elliott, said in a statement shared with Euronews Next. "Our efforts include a wide-ranging approach with our key partners that involves". What is being done to address the issue? Residents in Stoke-on-Trent have grown increasingly tired of the situation, with a report by Staffordshire University highlighting the "vastly negative impact [of the drug] on residents and the area". This research was funded by the government's new drug strategy which granted Stoke-on-Trent's city council over five million pounds to improve drug and alcohol treatment. The UK government also launched an independent review into monkey dust in May. Under current laws, monkey dust is a class B drug and supply is punishable by 14 years in prison. However, local Conservative MP Jack Brereton has been campaigning to move the drug into the class A band. Monkey dust is a horrific drug that has a devastating life-changing impact on those who take it and is destroying lives in Stoke-on-Trent," he said. Local police forces are open to the prospect of reclassifying the drug. "We are supportive of exploring the reclassification of synthetic cathinones, which includes monkey dust, from Class B to A, which will protect people from the harm of these drugs," said Rob Hessel, Chief Inspector at the local Staffordshire Police. Does monkey dust exist elsewhere in Europe? Monkey dust does not only exist in the UK, with the same kinds of stimulants beginning to crop up across Europe from 2013 onwards. Last year, EU member states reported they had seized 30.5 tons of new psychoactive substances. 87% of these were new synthetic cathinones," Michael Evans-Brown, project manager at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction, told Euronews Next. However, regulating these drugs is a complex mission, given that the drugs components are changed frequently, which producers will do in order to bypass bans on specific substances," said Evans-Brown. Although monkey dust and similar drugs are frequently believed to be imported from China, a new market is emerging as a number are being imported from India now," he added. China advances opening-up of service sector to unleash growth potential Xinhua) 11:00, September 04, 2023 BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday pledged to advance the opening-up of its service sector, a resolute move to unleash growth potential and share business opportunities with countries and enterprises worldwide. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a series of measures for expanding the opening up of services sector while addressing the Global Trade in Services Summit of the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) via video. Themed "Opening-up leads development, cooperation delivers the future," the 2023 CIFTIS is being held in Beijing from Sept. 2 to 6 and features over 200 varied events, including forums, negotiations, and summits. This photo taken on Sept. 1, 2023 shows an interior view of the China National Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Hao Jianwei) Eighty-three countries and international organizations are attending the fair, and more than 2,400 companies are participating in offline exhibitions. OPENING UP To make its development environment more open and inclusive, China will expand the globally-oriented network of high-standard free trade areas, and actively engage in negotiations on the negative list for trade in services and investment, Xi said. China will open wider in such services areas as telecommunications, tourism, law and vocational examinations, he said. "We will widen access to China's services sector, advance the opening up in cross-border services trade in an orderly manner, improve the level of standardization of services trade, and steadily expand institutional opening up," Xi said. Xi emphasized that the country will share the outcomes of the Chinese modernization drive with the rest of the world by vigorously boosting domestic demand, accelerating the building of a robust domestic market, taking the initiative to increase the imports of quality services, and encouraging more exports of knowledge-intensive services. "We will lend new impetus to global development with the opportunities generated by China's vast market, and offer more and better Chinese services to the world through high-quality development in a bid to increase the sense of gains of people around the world," Xi said. The CIFTIS has sent positive signals of China's persistence in economic globalization and embodied China's consistent commitment to sharing development opportunities with the rest of the world, said Jack Chan, chairman of EY China, adding that it plays an important role as a platform for promoting global economic recovery. This photo taken on Sept. 1, 2023 shows an interior view of the China National Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Ren Chao) Jin Xu, president of the China Association of International Trade, believes that the CIFTIS promotes exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world and helps domestic enterprises seek opportunities and tap the potential to advance China's services trade to a new level. OPPORTUNITIES Experts said China's continuous opening up in the services trade would unleash further growth opportunities for global businesses. The CIFTIS and further opening up of the service sector would present massive opportunities for many foreign businesses as China's services trade still has enormous growth potential, Li Jun, head of the Institute of International Trade in Services at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told Xinhua. International companies can build ties with trading and investment partners via the platform for long-term cooperation. Other countries can also learn from the CIFTIS and develop their own platforms for trade in services, which would help drive the recovery of global trade and economies, Li said. The Global Trade in Services Summit of the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is held in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 2, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) The trade in services plays a specific role in stabilizing the global economy when the trade in goods is affected by international uncertainties, said Zhuang Rui, executive dean of the Institute of International Economy at the University of International Business and Economics. China's institutional innovations and improved business environment offer a strong guarantee for a booming services trade, Zhuang told Xinhua. In 2022, China's services imports and exports grew 12.9 percent yearly to reach a record high of nearly 6 trillion yuan (about 835.8 billion U.S. dollars), ranking second in the world for the ninth consecutive year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. China's continuous opening up and optimization of its business environment and active promotion of the digitalized and green development of trade in services greatly benefit domestic and foreign businesses, said Gu Fan, general manager of Growth Acceleration, Amazon Web Services Greater China. Gu said his company will continue to tap into the Chinese market with further investment, and he is looking forward to assisting more companies with their sustainability visions. The green and low-carbon drive is a major feature of the event, which has several related themed forums and exhibitions of cutting-edge green services, technologies, and business models. Visitors look at a sandbox model of "smart city" solution at the environmental services exhibition of the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 2, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Xin) People in fields such as supply chains, IT, construction, and finance are closely watching opportunities in the global low-carbon scenario, especially the vast opportunities in China's dual carbon targets, said Qin Hu, vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and chief representative of EDF's Beijing Representative Office. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno has proposed a nationwide screening of students wanting to qualify for free education in state-run universities and colleges (SUCs), as he stressed that the current implementation was unwieldy, inefficient, and wasteful. Over the weekend, the finance chief said there is a need to review the free college education program and the government must optimally allocate resources funded largely by taxpayers for education. An indicator of wastefulness is the rising dropout rate. The proposed reform also aims to reduce the threat to the robust private school system, he said. In a statement, Diokno laid out his proposals, which include the following: focus on strengthening the K-12 program; conduct a nationwide test to filter those who should be entitled to free education; allow those who passed the nationwide exam and are entitled to free education to use their entitlement (a four-year voucher) to enter or reject their assigned state university, and if the latter, choose an accredited private university; and reduce the number of existing SUCs over time through mergers. The assigned SUCs for the students would be based on their scores, Diokno noted. He may refuse to enroll in an SUC assigned to him and instead attend any government-accredited private university that will admit him. Of course, the voucher will be released on an annual basis and will be based on the satisfactory performance of the government scholar, he said. On strengthening K-12 implementation, Diokno said it targets to provide a firm foundation for the poor, giving them a better chance of entering college, and completing the same. That should be our focus. The other goal of the K-12 program is to prepare the student for gainful employment or higher education. Many are not interested to go to college; they just want better jobs, he said. These set of proposals are not perfect, but these could immensely improve the allocation of scarce government resources, he added. Diokno expressed similar concerns earlier about the program's sustainability, prompting Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Prospero de Vera to defend the free tuition for higher education during a House hearing on the agencys proposed 2024 budget. De Vera said providing free education is the best anti-poverty strategy as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education has boosted Filipinos access to college education. Weve been implementing free higher education for five years now. The results are out there to see. Number one, participation in higher education has significantly increased41% of university students are actually enrolled in universities vs. 30+% in the previous years. Thats a significant increase, de Vera previously said. Mixed reactions from lawmakers Some senators had mixed reactions to Dioknos proposal to screen aspiring college students seeking free education. Sen. Sonny Angara said the only time it should be reviewed is with a view to making richer families pay. Multi-millionaire families should pay tuition so that more resources can go to support poorer families and students, Angara said. Sen. Francis Escudero, meanwhile, said that shelling out a bigger budget for flood control, which the lawmaker said hasnt worked, must be revisited instead. I don't understand why Secretary Diokno is so stingy when it comes to investing in our countrys human capital and yet liberal and magnanimous when it comes to flood control If at all, it is this allocation that should be reviewed and revisited, Escudero added. Sen. Koko Pimentel, on the other hand, expressed support for Dioknos proposal. I can see the point of Secretary Diokno. Free college education should be for those 1) who want to go to college 2) who have the aptitude to study in college 3) who can secure a competitive slot in college (determined thru competitive examination). Secretary Diokno has a very valid point, he said. LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 20: Paul Hollywood of the Bake Off receives the award for Best Challenge Show at the 21st National Television Awards at The O2 Arena on January 20, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images) The Great British Bake Off is undergoing a format change this year that has left fans divided. The popular baking show is scrapping its national-themed challenges after receiving criticism from some viewers. This comes as The Great British Bake Off is to return to Channel 4 later this month. And, scrapping its national-challenged themes isnt the only change with Alison Hammond set to join Paul Hollywood and co with the show rumoured to start on September 12. Hammond, who has featured as a regular on ITVs flagship show This Morning, is to join Bake Off veterans Noel Fielding, as well Dame Prue Leith and Hollywood, who are returning as judges. The show had a Japan week in 2020, a German week in 2021, and faced some high profile backlash after Mexican week last year. The complaints related to casual racism and stereotypes because the hosts wore sombreros, used maracas and spoke in accents. There were also complaints that some featured dishes were not authentic. Following the backlash the episode received, Hollywood said he was gutted. He said: Id literally come back from Mexico about three weeks before we filmed the episode. I was all over the place, and we set the challenges based on what Id seen there. The challenges were very good, and everyone did a good job. Dame Prue said they had no intentions to be controversial, adding: The thing about Bake Off is that it absolutely represents inclusivity and diversity and tolerance and togetherness. So the idea that we were set out to insult anybody is ridiculous. Speaking on the issue, executive producer Kieran Smith told the Guardian: We didnt want to offend anyone but the world has changed and the joke fell flat. Were not doing any national themes this year. Nene Macdonald on the ball for Rhinos at Wigan in May. Picture by Ed Sykes/SWpix.com. The Yorkshire Evening Post understands Rhinos are close to completing the signing of Canberra Raiders Australian half-back Matt Frawley. But Papua New Guinea three-quarter Nene Macdonalds situation at Leeds looks increasingly uncertain following his non-return from paternity leave in Australia. Frawley, 28, began his top-flight career with Canterbury Bulldogs and spent the 2019 season at Huddersfield Giants before returning to the NRL to join Canberra the following year. Matt Frawley touches down for Huddersfield against Castleford in 2019. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. He has scored two tries in seven games for Raiders this year and was at stand-off when they lost to Cronulla Sharks yesterday (Sunday). Frawley, who can also play at hooker, scrum-half and loose-forward, is out of contract with Raiders at the end of this season and a deal with Leeds could be done early this week. Macdonald moved to Rhinos from Leigh in pre-season on an initial two-year contract, which was extended in July and now expires at the end of 2027. That is in doubt after he failed to return last weekend from a trip to Australia. Macdonald was granted leave to attend the birth of his child and a flight was booked for him to be back in Leeds in time for last Saturdays game at Hull FC. Matt Frawley in NRL action for Canberra against Brisbane Broncos at GIO Stadium on August 26 this year. Picture by Mark Nolan/Getty Images. However, he failed to arrive and Rhinos have had no contact from him. Club staff are trying to clarify the situation and at this stage it is unclear if Macdonald will be back in time for Saturdays visit of Wigan Warriors, or at all. The 'busiest-ever' summer schedule on the route from the Scottish airport has been unveiled (Image: Colin Mearns) Loganair has unveiled what it is billing as its biggest-ever summer schedule for services between Glasgow and Donegal. The airline declared that it remains the only carrier offering a direct air link between the UK and Donegal. READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Greens' failures pale into insignificance against Tory ineptitude Loganair, which describes itself as the UKs largest regional airline, said that its announcement of an extended summer season for next year followed strong customer demand. Running from April to October, flights will increase from 2023s schedule of three per week to four per week for 2024. READ MORE: Ian McConnell: This humiliation for Brexiters is surely good for everyone else Loganair said: The move will almost double passenger numbers for the upcoming season, further boosting connectivity between the UK and north-west Ireland. The airline has flown to Donegal Airport since the early 1990s. It said the relaunch of its Glasgow route in July this year had sparked a positive response from customers, proving the air link remains as popular as ever. Loganair added that the service would again be operated by the quieter and more comfortable ATR-42 aircraft, and would run on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Why should Scotland not be able to tell world about Brexit, Mr Jack? Luke Lovegrove, chief commercial officer at Loganair, said: "The popularity of this route in summer 2023 has been good, but that shouldnt come as a surprise to anyone who has visited Donegal. Its breathtaking, and we are glad the expanded service next summer will give more customers than ever the chance to see this incredible part of Ireland. Equally, we hope our customers in Ireland will enjoy the added opportunities to travel to Glasgow and experience everything that our vibrant home city has to offer. Eilis Docherty, managing director of Donegal Airport, said: The passenger numbers in July and August 2023 confirm the continuing demand for this route, and we are delighted that Loganair will be increasing the duration and frequency of flights for 2024. We look forward to working with Loganair from early April next year to continue to provide direct flights between Donegal and Glasgow. A Congestion Charge Zone sign in central London. Credit: Hollie Adams/Getty Images. Embassies from around the world owe Transport for London (TfL) more than 143 million in unpaid Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ) payments. Covering central London, all drivers of petrol or diesel vehicles must pay a 15 charge to enter the CCZ during certain hours. Introduced in 2003 under the first London mayor, Ken Livingstone, it was implemented as a way of cutting traffic and air pollution in the city, with the fee steadily increasing over the years. Many embassies however argue the charge is a tax, which they are exempt from paying under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. TfL disagrees, with a spokesperson telling LondonWorld the authority is clear that foreign diplomats and consular staff are not exempt from paying the Congestion Charge. In June 2022, unpaid charges reached a total of more than 142m. As of June 30 2023, this had increased to 143,205,953. Many of the embassies with the most debt remain the same as last year, with the United States on top with 14,644,215 owed. This is followed by Japan (10m), India (8.5m) and Nigeria (8.4m). TfL is reliant on government support to recover the outstanding penalty charge notice debt, with a spokesperson saying the authority has raised it with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In an online document outlining the debt, TfL added it is pushing for the matter to be taken up at the International Court of Justice. A TfL spokesperson said: We are clear that foreign diplomats and consular staff are not exempt from paying the Congestion Charge. We continue to pursue all unpaid Congestion Charges and related penalty charge notices. Congestion Charge Zone debt owed by embassies American Embassy - 14,644,215 Embassy of Japan - 10,057,338 Office of the High Commissioner for India - 8,549,405 High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria - 8,388,395 Embassy of the People`s Republic of China - 7,932,840 Embassy of the Russian Federation- 5,995,665 Embassy of the Republic of Poland- 5,266,960 Story continues High Commission of the Republic of Ghana - 4,993,725 Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan - 4,651,405 Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany - 4,629,330 The Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan - 3,941,420 Kenya High Commission - 3,255,810 High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan - 3,117,450 Embassy of the Republic of Korea - 2,626,060 Embassy of France - 2,543,010 Embassy of the Republic of Cuba - 2,465,700 High Commission for the United Republic of Tanzania - 2,285,390 Embassy of Spain - 2,187,240 Embassy of Algeria - 2,179,440 High Commission for the Republic of South Africa - 1,975,280 Sierra Leone High Commission - 1,914,675 Embassy of Romania - 1,865,740 Embassy of Ukraine - 1,670,950 Embassy of Greece - 1,660,770 Turkish Embassy - 1,576,660 Cyprus High Commission - 1,419,870 Embassy of the Republic of Hungary - 1,374,240 High Commission for the Republic of Zambia - 1,146,050 Embassy of the Republic of Yemen - 1,055,100 Botswana High Commission - 954,300 Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria - 919,910 High Commission of the Republic of Mozambique - 864,180 High Commission for the Republic of Malawi - 837,485 Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia - 822,550 Uganda High Commission - 811,640 High Commission for the Republic of Zimbabwe - 797,765 Embassy of the Republic of Cote d`Ivoire - 784,740 High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon - 759,840 Embassy of the Republic of Belarus - 733,285 High Commission for the Republic of Namibia - 726,550 Malta High Commission - 714,725 Embassy of the Slovak Republic - 691,720 Mauritius High Commission - 670,895 Embassy of Belgium - 666,870 High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka - 652,470 Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco - 651,790 Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania - 650,505 Embassy of the Republic of Liberia - 627,150 Embassy of Austria - 626,020 Kingdom of Swaziland High Commission - 620,540 Embassy of the Islamic State of Afghanistan - 606,200 Embassy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea - 557,690 High Commission of the Kingdom of Lesotho - 532,030 Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam - 518,460 Embassy of the Republic of Guinea - 501,250 Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo - 485,940 Embassy of the Czech Republic - 480,730 Embassy Of The Republic Of Iraq - 473,760 Jamaican High Commission - 473,020 Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan - 417,990 Royal Danish Embassy - 403,835 Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia - 384,290 Embassy of the Republic of Latvia - 346,190 High Commission for Antigua And Barbuda - 345,795 Embassy of Portugal - 325,240 Embassy of Luxembourg - 320,195 Tunisian Embassy - 294,820 Belize High Commission - 280,590 Embassy of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea - 276,320 Embassy Debt Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt - 243,820 Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - 243,590 Embassy of the Republic of Estonia - 218,420 Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia - 211,210 High Commission of the Republic of Maldives - 203,120 High Commission for Guyana - 186,490 Embassy of the State of Eritrea - 185,350 High Commission for Seychelles - 169,935 Embassy of the Dominican Republic - 164,650 Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines - 157,360 Kingdom of Eswatini High Commission - 155,810 Embassy of Tunisia - 151,950 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania - 143,270 Embassy of El Salvador - 129,805 High Commission for Saint Lucia - 127,460 Embassy of the Republic of Albania - 124,480 Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic - 120,680 The Embassy of the Republic of Moldova - 114,310 Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina - 99,760 The Gambia High Commission - 97,720 Embassy of the Republic of Senegal - 94,845 High Commission for Grenada - 80,030 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran - 79,700 Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman - 73,770 Embassy of Kosovo - 61,100 Embassy of the Republic of Gabon - 48,270 Embassy of the State of Qatar - 48,260 The Embassy of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic - 48,180 Embassy of Tajikistan - 43,580 Embassy of Georgia - 34,680 Embassy of Guatemala - 32,280 High Commission for the People`s Republic of Bangladesh - 30,810 Libyan Embassy - 29,860 Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan - 19,040 Royal Thai Embassy - 18,430 Embassy of Honduras - 18,110 Embassy of Italy - 17,740 Benin Consulate - 17,730 Embassy of the United Arab Emirates - 17,680 Embassy of the Republic of Madagascar - 17,200 Embassy of Nicaragua - 16,790 Ambassade De La Republique Du Burundi - 14,660 Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan - 12,900 Embassy Debt Embassy of Brazil - 11,750 Embassy of the Republic of Angola - 10,090 Malaysian High Commission - 5,870 Embassy of the State of Kuwait - 5,810 Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia - 5,690 High Commission of the Republic of Fiji - 4,620 Embassy of the Principality of Andorra - 4,040 Embassy of Mongolia - 4,000 Embassy of the Union of Myanmar - 3,900 Barbados High Commission - 3,770 Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic - 3,160 Embassy of the Azerbaijan Republic - 3,080 Embassy of Chile - 2,940 Embassy of Cambodia - 2,780 Canadian High Commission - 2,690 Papua New Guinea High Commission - 2,400 Embassy of Mexico - 2,160 Embassy of the Republic of Serbia - 2,030 Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda - 1,930 Embassy of the Republic of Armenia - 1,600 Embassy of Haiti - 1,560 Colombian Embassy - 1,530 Embassy of the Argentine Republic - 1,520 High Commission for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 1,460 Embassy of Slovakia - 1,460 Embassy of Iceland - 1,320 Central African Republic - 970 High Commission for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago - 960 Embassy of Peru - 800 Australian High Commission - 760 Embassy of the State of Bahrain - 720 Embassy of the Republic of Croatia - 610 Tonga High Commission - 600 High Commission for Saint Christopher And Nevis - 520 Brunei Darussalam High Commission - 520 Embassy of Israel 370 Embassy of Paraguay - 320 The Royal Embassy of Cambodia - 250 Embassy of Costa Rica - 160 Royal Norwegian Embassy - 160 High Commission for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas - 160 Embassy of Turkmenistan - 130 Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia - 130 Embassy of the Republic of Panama - 130 Embassy Debt The High Commission for the Commonwealth of Dominica - 120 Embassy of Finland - 120 Embassy of the Republic of Togo - 40 Total Embassy Debt - 143,205,953 Typhoon Haikui: More than 40 injured and thousands displaced in Taiwan after storm makes landfall Dozens of people have been injured in Taiwan after typhoon Haikui moved across the island and unleashed torrential downpours, uprooted trees and forced thousands to evacuate in the region that has been left without electricity. While there have been no reports of deaths or structural damage yet, at least 40 people were left injured from the falling debris in the first typhoon to directly hit Taiwan for the first time in four years, reported the BBC. Packed with winds moving at a pace of 200km/h, the typhoon hit the islands mountainous and sparsely populated area in the southeast before moving to the south and knocking down the power supply to almost 260,000 households, according to the economy ministry. By Monday, at least 10,000 homes were left without electricity, reported AFP. More than 7,000 people were evacuated from areas where authorities feared the typhoon could trigger a landslide. Schools and businesses were also shut and a majority of domestic airlines cancelled. Classes were cancelled and workers given the day off for a second day across southern, eastern and central regions, while capital Taipei received sporadic, gusty rain showers. I think this time it is serious, Chang Jhi-ming, a 58-year-old retired mechanic in Taitung, told AFP. This is just beginning. The wind is just coming in and you can see trees toppling already. The worlds largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), said its plants in Taiwan were operating normally and had not been affected by the storm. Fire officials reported 116 injuries from the typhoon, but were still trying to ascertain if the death of a man found by a roadside in Taitung was linked to it. People hold umbrellas while walking on the street in the rain in Keelung after Typhoon Haikui hits Taiwan on 4 September 2023 (AFP via Getty Images) Taiwan airlines cancelled 208 domestic flights, leaving just a handful scheduled, while ferry services to surrounding islands were suspended. International flights, with just 23 cancelled, suffered less disruption, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said. Earlier, Taiwans president Tsai Ing-wen had warned people to make preparations for the typhoon and watch out for your safety. Story continues Avoid going out or any dangerous activities, she said. Haikui is much weaker than typhoon Saola, which hit Hong Kong and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Saturday. By Monday, Haikui had entered the Taiwan Strait, heading for China, Taiwans weather authorities said, though it will continue to bring heavy rain across the island into the middle of the week. The typhoon is expected to make landfall on the border between the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, near the city of Shantou on Tuesday morning and weaken further, Chinas weather forecast centre said. Additional reporting by agencies Pirola, a new variant of Covid, has been found in UK wastewater and in 36 known cases. The new strain, officially called Covid BA.2.86, was first monitored by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last month. As of September 4, 34 documented cases have been found in England, in London, the East of England and North West England. Of those cases, five were hospitalised, but no deaths have been reported. Twenty-eight of the cases were from a single outbreak at a care home in Norfolk. Public Health Scotland also said two cases of Pirola had been identified through PCR testing as of September 4, but no cases have been reported in Wales or Northern Ireland as yet. Incident director of the UKHSA, the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Renu Bindra said: It is clear that there is some degree of widespread community transmission, both in the UK and globally, and we are working to ascertain the full extent of this. In the meantime, it remains vital that all those eligible come forward to receive their autumn vaccine as soon as it is offered to them. After the first London case was confirmed on August 18, the UKHSA said: The UK case has no recent travel history, also suggesting a degree of community transmission within the UK. In other words, they dont think the case came from travelling abroad instead, they suggest it was spread within the UK. The variant has been found in multiple countries, including 10 cases in Denmark, four in Sweden, four in the US, two in Portugal, two in South Africa, and one in Canada, and one in Isreal. We dont know if Pirola is any more contagious, dangerous, or likely to stick around than other variants. Its too early to tell. However, experts say its more mutated than a strain like Eris is from the Omicron strain, which might mean our immune systems are less prepared to deal with it. Such a high number of mutations is notable, Dr. Scott Roberts, an infectious disease specialist at Yale, said. When we went from [Omicron variant] XBB.1.5 to [Eris] EG.5, that was maybe one or two mutations. But these massive shifts, which we also saw from Delta to Omicron, are worrisome. Story continues The UKHSA also said that: The newly identified variant BA.2.86 has a high number of mutations and is distant from both its likely ancestor BA.2 and also currently circulating XBB-derived variants. As a precaution, Covid and flu vaccines have been brought forward to September 11. The NHS said: Residents of older adult care homes and those most at risk including those who are immunosuppressed will receive their covid vaccine first. Carers, pregnant women, and health and social care staff will all be among the groups to be offered a COVID jab this winter, as well as adults aged 65 and over. Eligible people should wait to receive an invite from their local provider, they added. The UK Health and Safety Authority (UKHSA) has said that theyre amping up testing and tracing efforts for this winter. Scientists had previously warned that, because the UK dropped lots of its surveillance protocols that were in place earlier in the COVID pandemic, we were almost flying blind in regards to the disease. Because the variant is so new, we cant say for sure what the symptoms are. However, Dr. Chris Papadopoulos, Principal Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Bedfordshire, has said that a sore throat, a runny nose, a cough (with or without phlegm), and headaches are typical of Pirola. Related... FILE PHOTO: A woman looks through a magnifying glass to check errors of a printer circuit board at Manutronics Factory in Bac Ninh province FILE PHOTO: A woman looks through a magnifying glass to check errors of a printer circuit board at Manutronics Factory in Bac Ninh province By Francesco Guarascio HANOI (Reuters) -The United States expects to elevate its diplomatic relations with former foe Vietnam to the top level when President Joe Biden travels to Hanoi in a week, in a move that may irk China. Fearful of the potential reaction from its much larger neighbour, Vietnam had initially expressed caution about the upgrade. That led the Biden administration to multiply efforts to persuade the southeast Asian nation, including through visits of high-ranking members of the U.S. government in recent months. The unprecedented push has led Washington to expect to be elevated to the top tier of Vietnam's diplomatic ranking, together with China and Russia, from two notches below now. Biden said it publicly in July and officials in both countries have since informally expressed optimism about the two-step upgrade, although no official statements have been released from either government. China's foreign ministry called for the United States not to target a "third party" when it engages with other countries in Asia. "We believe that when dealing with relations with Asian countries, the United States should abandon Cold War zero-sum game mentality, abide by the basic norms of international relations, not target a third party, and not undermine regional peace, stability, development and prosperity," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a daily briefing in Beijing on Monday. Perhaps seeking to assuage Beijing, Vietnam is discussing top-level visits to Hanoi after or even shortly before Biden's arrival on Sept. 10, with officials saying China's President Xi Jinping or Premier Li Qiang could meet Vietnamese leaders in the coming days or weeks. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the idea of such a visit on Monday, though they did confirm that Li, and not Xi, would attend the G20 world leaders summit in India this Saturday and Sunday. Story continues Li will also attend the ASEAN summit in Jakarta which runs from Tuesday to Thursday. BUSINESS COOPERATION? Risks that a double upgrade with Washington may not go down well in Beijing remain high, but Vietnam's communist leaders may have calculated the best timing for the move is now as U.S. relations with China are "likely to get worse in the future", said Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow at Singapore's IseasYusof Ishak Institute. Vietnam's economy badly needs a boost in capital, technology, and market access, said Alexander Vuving of the Hawaii-based Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, noting that may have been a key reason for the possible upgrade. A boost of U.S. military supplies to Hanoi has also long been discussed but no immediate deal is expected as these talks take time, Hiep said. Meanwhile, Vietnam is talking with several other countries to upgrade and expand its mostly Russian-made arsenal, and has recently engaged in multiple high-level defence meetings with top Russian officials. Supporting Vietnam's ambitions to become a hub for the semiconductor industry is also part of Washington's inducements, but public funds so far available under the CHIPS Act are very limited. The U.S. may offer more, said Vu Tu Thanh, head of the Vietnam office of the US-ASEAN Business Council. Energy is another sector where cooperation could increase as Vietnam prepares to become a player in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and offshore wind although administrative and funding delays are dampening the mood. The upgrade of relations is expected to boost U.S. firms' plans in Vietnam. Planemaker Boeing and energy firm AES may make announcements during Biden's visit, people familiar with the plans said. Boeing hopes to sell as many as 50 of its 737 MAX jets during the visit, they said. The companies declined to comment. The U.S. is already Vietnam's largest market for its exports and U.S. customs procedures could be eased to boost trade, Thanh from the US-ASEAN Business Council. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Khanh Vu, Lizz Lee, Martin Quin Pollard and Tim Hepher; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Sharon Singleton and Alison Williams) Conservative attorney George Conway said Donald Trump should be locked away for good if hes found guilty in the two federal cases currently pending against him. The former president has been charged in Washington for his attempts to cling to power after the 2020 election, and in Florida over his retention of classified documents. Conway shared a tweet from former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega, who wrote that Trump should be given a prison sentence equal to or greater than the sentences handed down in other key Jan. 6 cases if convicted in Washington. That would make 18 years a starting point but Conway said the 77-year-old former presidents potential prison time could be much longer than that if hes convicted in the classified documents case. Its beyond question he should spend the rest of his natural life in prison, Conway wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter: And given that P01135809 should also receive a significant and consecutive sentence for entirely unrelated crimes in an entirely unrelated casehis theft and retention of national security documentsits beyond question he should spend the rest of his natural life in prison. https://t.co/0KXBTm987R Xeorge Xonway (@gtconway3d) September 4, 2023 Conway has called the Florida case against Trump airtight, and said he should and he will go to jail over it because the obstruction case is just so strong. Last month, Conway was asked how he would advise Trump if he were the former presidents attorney. I would tell him that he needs to own up to it and plead guilty and work out a deal with the government, Conway told The Washington Posts Please, Go On podcast. Theres just one problem with that approach. He would never do it, Conway said. Trump has also been indicted on state charges in New York for his role in a hush money scheme and in Georgia in a case related to alleged election interference. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) More than 200 individuals were arrested for violating the nationwide gun ban, one week after it was implemented in preparation for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. According to Philippine National Police Chief General Benjamin Acorda, 130 persons were arrested for carrying small firearms. Metro Manila registered the highest arrests with 64 gun ban violators, followed by Region 3 with 46, and Region 7 with 22. These arrested individuals were arrested in violation of the omnibus election code in relation to the Comelec Resolution 10905, he said. At this point, to avoid this problem - we are reminding all holders of PTC that the gun ban remains in effect [until] September 29, Acorda said. The PNP chief also said they would cooperate with the poll body for the implementation of a money ban for the upcoming elections. Well, we have the Comelec laws to be implemented, guidelines that will be part of our discussion with lower units. Kasi (Because) its something new and we need to explain it to them. Before cascading, we will be clarifying some things with Comelec, he said. Larne highland dancers Felicity McKeown and Rebecca McGarel. Photo: Kathryn Stewart School of Highland Dance Felicity McKeown and Rebecca McGarel were among 37 talented highland dancers from across Northern Ireland involved as part of the Kathryn Stewart Highland Dance Display Team. Both dancers are members of the Kathryn Stewart School of Highland Dance in Larne, which meets in Larne Rangers Club on Thursdays from 4.30pm. A spokesperson for the School said: "We were thrilled to see Felicity dance in this years Belfast International Tattoo highland dance display team, and devastated for Rebecca who picked up a knee injury so was unable to dance. We are also so proud of our tutor Kathryn who has brought a fantastic team together and choreographed two amazing dances." The dance school have spaces for new dancers, with the first class free. Contact the group via their Facebook page @highlanddancelarne for more information. JAKARTA Governments and businesses from ASEAN countries needed to cooperate more closely, effectively and substantively to promote the role of businesses in promoting growth and creating breakthroughs for the bloc. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh delivered this statement at the 2023 ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN BIS) which took place in Jakarta, Indonesia on Monday. PM Chinh said countries should work together to improve institutions through standardising and harmonising investment and business regulations in ASEAN, simplifying procedures by digital transformation and promptly removing the businesses' problems. Governments and the business communities should team up to develop strategic infrastructure, including transport and energy infrastructures, and smart infrastructure such as digital platforms and innovation hubs. They should also strengthen infrastructure connectivity among countries, create connectivity of the whole region and facilitate the public-private cooperation model to promote their strength and resources, he said. At the same time, governments and enterprises needed to work together to build high-quality human resources, especially in digital transformation, green transformation, and high technology with common standards on training and mutual recognition among diploma systems. "This is the key to improving labour productivity and competitiveness of the bloc," PM Chinh said. During the event, he encouraged the firms to take the lead in innovation, and comply with the laws in addition to building business culture, contributing to developing the national cultural identity of each country and supporting each other in production and business to grow together. He also called on foreign investors to come to Viet Nam to invest in the country with the motto of harmonious interests and shared risks. The PM said he believed that ASEAN and business communities would catch up with new trends, effectively respond to challenges, and ensure a balance between the goal of recovering growth in the short term and ensuring sustainable development in the long term, taking full advantage of new development opportunities, bringing practical benefits to the bloc, its people and businesses. In his speech, PM Chinh said ASEAN boasts an open and extensive economic landscape with a network of eight Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), including the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and seven others with key partners. Notably, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement establishes a free trade region encompassing 30 per cent of the world's population with over 688 million people and 32 per cent of global GDP, amounting to over US$3.6 trillion in 2022. In addition, numerous new initiatives have been launched to enable ASEAN to optimise opportunities arising from emerging development trends such as the establishment of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, the Framework for a Circular Economy, the Blue Economy Framework, and the ASEAN Strategy for Carbon Neutrality, along with negotiations to upgrade the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement and its FTAs with China, the Republic of Korea, Japan and India, among others. He added that ASEAN was also a bright spot in economic growth, with a growth rate of 5.6 per cent in 2022. The bloc's growth was forecast to reach 4.5 per cent this year, higher than that of the group of developed countries. The intra-bloc trade was valued at over $856 billion, accounting for about 22 per cent of ASEANs total trade revenue, he said, adding that the group has effectively coped with challenges in energy security and food security, and combated the COVID-19 pandemic. As a reliable partner and an active, responsible member, Viet Nam would continue to closely coordinate with Indonesia and other ASEAN countries in an effort to build a united, self-resilient, and developed ASEAN, helping to maintain an environment of peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world, the PM pledged. Held within the framework of the ASEAN Summit, ASEAN BIS is Southeast Asia's largest annual business-related forum, with the participation of leaders of ASEAN member countries, partner countries, ministers, senior officials, policymakers and major business leaders of ASEAN and the world. With the theme: "Innovating Towards Greater Inclusivity", the event focuses on discussing five main topics including digital transformation, sustainable development, health resilience, food security and trade and investment facilitation. VNS KHANH HOA The global VinFast community and VinFast car owners announced the Wonder Trip 2023 programme on July 21, gathering more than 300 drivers to do a road trip across the country. This is the largest offline event ever of the VinFast community, affirming the love and pride of Vietnamese car owners. The programme called "Wonder Trip 2023 VinFasts brothers in three regions" opened for online registration on June 29 and received a strong response with more than 450 registrations after just three days. The organising board has selected 180 VinFast electric car owners and 120 petrol car owners who are active members to join the journey. On July 19, 300 car owners simultaneously departed from around the country to gather in Nha Trang City. The journey will highlight VinFasts charging stations around the country. In addition, the company has prepared a mobile EV charging system and mobile repair service to ensure the best support for car owners. VNS HA NOI Deputy foreign minister o Hung Viet on Monday attended the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Jakarta, emphasising the blocs role as the epicentre of peace, security, cooperation and prosperity in the region. The ASEAN foreign officials also attended the ASEAN Political-Security Community Council (APSC) and the ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting (ACC) on the same day. Speaking at the events, Deputy FM Viet expressed support for Indonesias practical initiatives as the current ASEAN chair, which contributed to the blocs long-term vision. Economic priorities have also contributed to growth in trade, investments, financial stability and economic recovery in the region. The Vietnamese official also shows appreciation for ASEANs efforts in climate change response and sustainable development, including the establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Climate Change and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control. He said that Viet Nam is ready to work with other countries in effectively promoting economic growth through marine economy, digital and green transformation for the interests of people and businesses. The Vietnamese deputy foreign minister stressed that it is necessary to promote dialogue and consultation, as well as uphold international laws in addressing differences and conflicts in international relations. The roles of ASEAN agencies also need to be strengthened for better response to challenges in marine security, cyber security, artificial intelligence, transnational crimes, sea pollution and water security, he added. Deputy foreign minister Viet also underlines the ASEANs stance on the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea), and the countries role in building a peaceful, safe and stable marine region. ASEAN also needs to stand by its principle of non-interference, providing support to Myanmar for comprehensive and feasible solutions for the current situation, while also encouraging dialogues, building trust and reducing differences, he said. Positive results The ASEAN Political-Security Master Plan 2025 has been on schedule with 286 out of the total 290 action lines finished, a completion rate of 99 per cent. During the APSC meeting, delegates discussed marine and security cooperation, emphasising the role of ASEAN in maintaining an open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based regional structure. Meanwhile, the ACC meeting focused on standardising procedures to ensure comprehensiveness and coordination between ASEAN agencies. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Indonesian foreign minister Retno Masurdi called for cooperation from the blocs member countries in face of the challenges in the region. Noting the efforts in building the ASEAN Community and in preparing for the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 as part of the ASEAN Concord IV, Retno said the bloc continues taking a lead in shaping the regional dynamics and ensuring a peaceful and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. The bloc has also demonstrated its role when there are an increasing number of countries joining the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) and becoming partners of ASEAN, she said, adding that this shows ASEANs convening power and wide acceptance of ASEANs norms and values. On the same day, ASEAN country representatives witnessed the signing of the Instruments of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) by Panama, Serbia and Kuwait, bringing the number of High Contracting Parties to the TAC to 54. The foreign ministers conducted a comprehensive review on the implementation of the five-point consensus on the Myanmar issue, which resulted in a recommendation that will be submitted to the 43rd ASEAN Summit taking place from September 4-7. VNS BEIJING Representatives of 15 news titles in Asia emphasised the need for elevating cooperation to a new level and making Asia's voice heard during the Asia News Network annual board meeting in Beijing on Monday. The meeting marks the first in-person assembly of the leading regional news alliance in Asia since the Covid-19 pandemic, building new bridges for collaborative efforts among Asian countries and between Asia and the rest of the world. Representatives explored the possibility of establishing an independent newsroom with reputed professionals to make ANN an independent news source for all its members and for regional and global media in general. ANN was established in 1999 and its members hail from the 20 Southeast Asian countries as well as several other locations in Asia. It becomes a formal legal entity. Qu Yingpu, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said in his welcoming remarks that the purpose of the meeting is to deepen ANN cooperation, enhance ANN story exchanges, jointly produce impactful videos, and organize enriching workshops and forums. These initiatives not only strengthen our ties but also amplify our voices to resonate across Asia, and even globally, he noted. He reminded the media in Asia faces common challenges. We face the daunting task of not just reporting the news, but interpreting it in a way that is relevant, respectful, and resonates with our diverse audiences. But the challenges also push us to innovate, to adapt, and to grow, he emphasises. We need to understand and know each other better in our own region, and in particular, to mutually share our problems and opportunities. We must also tell the world the creativity and innovation, and most importantly our collective intellectual and cultural heritage that exists in Asia, said Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of Bangladeshs The Daily Star. Anam who is also the incumbent chairman of ANN, highlighted that, as Asian countries being a very important player in the international sphere, Asian media must use the opportunity of the alliance of the leading 22 English dailies to tell Asian story to the world. In its last edition of Asia-Pacific regional economic outlook, released in May, the International Monetary Fund expected Asia to contribute nearly 70 percent of global growth in 2023, and the growth in the region is projected to accelerate to 4.6 percent this year from 3.8 percent last year. The challenge of the moment is to turn this network into an efficient and independent news service for its members and the broader Asian market, he said. He urged all participating members to make ANN a more effective network of media collaboration. In addition, ANN delegates also attended a captivating cultural heritage exhibition hosted at the China Daily headquarters office in Beijing. The event featured mesmerising tea art performances on-site, exquisite crafts from various ethnic minorities, as well as tea and coffee from Puer, in Yunnan, the birthplace of one of the world's most renowned fermented Puer tea. They will participate in the Forum on Cultural Heritage Conservation and make field visits to local businesses in the following two days.- VNS Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) - A senate panel approved the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) proposed 2.36-billion funds for 2024, including the controversial 500 million for confidential funds after opposition senators put VP Sara Duterte in the hot seat. Duterte told the Senate Committee on Finance on Monday that while her office "can live without the confidential funds," the requested allocation finances its separate intelligence gathering and surveillance operations targeting "threats" to their programs. "We are not insisting. We can live without the confidential funds but our work will be much easier if we have the flexibility of confidential funds," she added. Asked which specific programs and projects use the requested confidential funds, the VP said the multibillion-peso budget is used by all of the projects. Surveillance on 'perceived threats' Sen. Risa Hontiveros grilled Duterte on the specifics of the requested controversial funds. "Since confidential funds refer to agencies related to surveillance activities ibig po 'bang sabihin 'yung opisina ninyo will be gathering intelligence on certain subjects or entities in support of your mandate and operations?" Hontiveros asked. The vice president said that was correct. Duterte said her office's specific intel gathering and surveillance operations are directed at "perceived as threats" to programs and activities. As an example, Duterte noted her office did surveillance on Bulacan constituents last year who were "selling OVP assistance." Through intel gathering, she said they apprehended the suspects. Hontiveros also asked whether the office is sourcing information from other intel gathering agencies such as the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of National Defense. Duterte said confidential funds are for the OVP's mandate-led intel gathering and would not duplicate information gathered by other agencies. She added that the OVP shares its intel to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP while the law enforcement agencies also offer information not found in the office's database. "Paano ico-collate ng OVP, isto-store, ica-catalogue 'yung intelligence na kokolektahin? (How will the OVP collate, store, catalog, the collected intelligence?)," Hontiveros said. "These are confidential matters which we cannot divulge in open session," Duterte answered. She also said the "sources" of the information from intelligence gathering and surveillance operations are confidential. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel said the OVP could indicate the need for "consultants" in their proposed budget instead of listing needs under the confidential fund for separate intel operations. "I don't think confidential funds should be mixed with the need to come up with policies," he added. Four other senators wanted to ask questions, but Senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada moved to end the session, citing the long-standing budget hearing tradition of giving courtesy to the vice president. The four other senators agreed, and the hearing ended with the committee approving the budget, including the confidential funds. House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro earlier said the OVP spent 125 million as confidential funds in 2022 even without congressional authorization. RELATED: Castro to study Dutertes impeachment if confidential funds use proven 'unauthorized' The House appropriations committee's hearing on the OVP budget for 2024 last week lasted for just 20 minutes. Ninh Thuan is attracting many large energy projects Over the years, Ninh Thuan province has attracted more than 435 domestic and foreign projects approved by the provincial Peoples Committee, with total capital registered of around $8.1 million. Of these, the locality has just over 300 projects completed and put into operation, accounting for more than 70 per cent of licensed projects, more than 50 projects under construction, accounting for 13 per cent, and around 70 projects currently completing investment procedures. According to Ninh Thuan Department of Planning and Investment, there are currently 36 foreign ventures in the province with total capital of more than $1.2 billion that have been built or are partially put into operation. These include South Korean projects such as the Hanbaram wind power plant from Landville Energy Co., Ltd., costing $150 million. At a recent investment promotion conference in the province, Tran Du Lich, former member of the government advisory group, said that the province had a critical position, as a locality connecting the central economic region with the south and the Central Highlands. However, the province needs a more effective investment attraction strategy to activate its advantages further, Lich said. Recognising several development opportunities, Ninh Thuan Peoples Committee is ready to roll out the red carpet to welcome investors. It has been investing in synchronous infrastructure, utilising resources, innovating on capital mobilisation, and diversifying investment forms. Tran Quoc Nam, Chairman of Ninh Thuan Peoples Committee, said that the province would promote the development of transport infrastructure; prioritise investment in important traffic routes; create connections with other provinces; and support investors to complete the North-South Expressway through the province. He added that it would also invest in a deepwater seaport; aiming to be an international transshipment port; and develop Thanh Son airport from a military to a dual-use airport this decade. A brighter future According to Nam, the province will continue to invest in and complete the infrastructure of Thanh Hai, Du Long, Phuoc Nam, and Ca Na industrial zones (IZs), which cover over 1,680 hectares. We will make sure we are investing in the urban infrastructure system, combining renovation with new construction, taking the central urban area of Phan Rang-Thap Cham city as the driving force, and developing satellite towns in district areas, Nam explained. We are also focusing on expanding and upgrading the network of water supply, drainage, and wastewater treatment in Phan Rang-Thap Cham and urban areas in IZs, he added. Nam also said there were plans to upgrade and develop the electricity network in the province, meeting all the demand for electricity produced in accordance with the needs of IZs and beyond. Ninh Thuan will give priority to the development of key fields, including renewable energy, high-class tourism, manufacturing and processing, high-tech agriculture, construction, and real estate. These are all strong industries for Ninh Thuan, Nam said. The province will promote its geographical advantage as a gateway connecting the southeast, the south-central coast, and the Central Highlands provinces, building development links between the province and neighbouring regions. It will also focus on prioritising investment in key infrastructure in the direction of synchronisation, multipurpose connectivity, and strengthening regional links. At the same time, it will exploit the potential and distinct advantages of natural conditions such as solar, wind, sea, and forests. These are the conditions for developing renewable energy, tourism, the processing industry, endemic agriculture, marine economy, and urban economy. It will also create attractive products and differentiated values for socioeconomic development. By 2025, the province strives to become one of the top energy and renewable energy centres of the country. By 2050, Ninh Thuan will become a province with a diversified and prosperous economy, high development and a green province with a good living environment and sustainable development. Ninh Thuan sets a target of 10-11 per cent average growth rate of regional GDP for 2021-2030, and regional GDP per capita will reach VND200 million (nearly $8,440) by 2030. The economic structure focuses on industry and construction, aiming to make up nearly 55 per cent, while the service sector will account for around 35 per cent, and the rest will be agriculture and fisheries. The province is attempting to make use of its coastal advantages with new links Highly competitive destination To achieve these goals, the province relies on the development drivers of the marine economy and the urban economy, along with the development of human factors. In particular, Ninh Thuan identified several breakthrough stages in improving competitiveness: completing framework infrastructure; digital transformation; application of sci-tech and innovation; and human resources development. For 2021-2030, the province has preliminarily identified about 225 priority projects with a total investment of $11.6 million. Specifically, renewable energy will focus on exploiting the advantages of natural conditions to develop coastal wind power, offshore wind power, liquefied natural gas, and stored hydroelectricity. Regarding high-quality tourism, the province wants to focus on sustainability and developing traditional tourism. Meanwhile, the province is applying high technology for the task of restructuring the agricultural sector in association with building a new countryside. Agricultural production seeks to become more modern, environmentally friendly, and adapt to climate change. At the same time, it is promoting the value chain of goods associated with expanding consumption markets for export. Construction and real estate has also been identified as a strong economic sector that plays an important role in the energy industry. Ninh Thuan will apply new technology to build homes, high-rise offices, and high-class tourist areas. Step by step, the province also plans to build a smart urban system with modern infrastructure. Ninh Thuan to get Southeast Asias largest solar power plan A 450MW solar power plant, the largest in Southeast Asia, will be built in Phuoc Minh Commune, Ninh Thuan Province. 43mn USD solar power plant inaugurated in Ninh Thuan The 45-MW Phuoc Ninh solar power plant was officially inaugurated in Thuan Nam district in south-central Ninh Thuan province on June 22. Beauty of coral reefs in Ninh Thuan province Corals reefs only emerge on the water surface from May to the end of July, especially on the 1st and the 15th day of lunar months when the tide is low and the coral reefs are clearly visible on the sea water surface, creating beautiful scenery. Hoang Van Quang, chairman of PV Power, said, "As the second-largest electricity producer in Vietnam, PV Power is doing its best for the country's energy security and contributing to the implementation of Vietnam's net-zero commitment." "Along with liquefied natural gas power projects to meet the urgent electricity demands, PV Power will develop renewable energy projects such as solar, wind, stored hydro, biomass, waste-to-energy, and others. At the same time, the implementation of fuel production projects such as green hydrogen and ammonia will gradually replace fossil fuels in coal and gas power plants, contributing to the nation's energy transition," he added. "The partnership with Asong Invest and PVCB Capital is an important milestone marking PV Power's determination to diversify its investment portfolio and focus on green energy sectors. We hope that this MoU signing ceremony will facilitate professional connections and lay the foundation for sustainable collaboration in the future," he continued. John Byun, CIO of Asong Invest said, "The use of renewable energy sources has been recognised as a key factor in promoting sustainable development, which aims to meet the needs of present generations without compromising the future. With the leadership and guidance of PV Power, we will review potential renewable energy projects ranging from on-shore wind, mid-sized hydro, floating solar, waste-to-energy, and even pumped storage hydro." According to the MoU, PV Power, Asong Invest, and PVCB Capital will cooperate to find investment opportunities for the aforementioned renewable projects, while also developing the carbon credit market in Vietnam. The parties will research and develop projects worth about $2 billion by 2025. To finance the selected projects, the fund will invest capital and shares, along with corporate bonds. The parties agree to register the above projects on the Vietnam-South Korea Carbon Certificate Trading Market under the ITMO agreement. In addition, Asong Invest and PVCB Capital will expand cooperation opportunities with PV Power's subsidiary members on other potential projects. The cooperation with Asong Invest and PVCB Capital will facilitate support for PV Power REC to develop renewable energy in accordance with the company's approved strategy. Additionally, this collaboration will open up opportunities to search for additional financial resources to implement projects developed by the corporation through investment funds. Powering Vietnams green growth with new power plan Vietnams recently approved energy policy serves as a pivotal element in its journey towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, with the power sector shouldering the responsibility of eliminating approximately two-thirds of the countrys total greenhouse gas emissions. Philipp Munzinger, director of the German Developments Agencys Energy Support Programme, gave his viewpoints on the plan and suggestions to help Vietnam realise its ambitions. Ascension Providence has sent a letter to patients announcing the Oct. 31 closing of the hospitals ear, nose and throat clinic on Highway 6. Officials have declined comment on why the clinic is closing. Providences website also says its Hearing Center, located in the same building as the ear, nose and throat clinic, closed Friday. The letter says as part of the closure, Dr. Benjamin Brindley, an otolaryngologist at the clinic, will be reducing his clinical time and leaving the Ascension Medical Group on the same date of the clinics closure. The letter also says clinic staff will assist patients with switching to other doctors. The only other ear, nose and throat clinic in Waco is at Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest, near Interstate 35 and Highway 6. In a statement, Providence said it will continue to provide high-quality, comprehensive health care services to children and families in their network. As we continue to adapt to the healthcare delivery needs of the future, we regularly evaluate our scope of services and care delivery models, the statement says. While the footprint of our outpatient services is changing somewhat, the Mission and values underlying our work will remain intact. Providence officials declined comment when asked if the ear, nose and throat clinic would be the only clinic in the county slated to close, and when asked to explain why the clinic is closing. Ascension Providence breastfeeding clinic adds to Waco parenting toolbox This past week Ascension Providence in partnership with Breastfeeding Success launched a new lactation consultation outpatient clinic for new In January, the Tribune-Herald reported Ascension Texas was eliminating jobs around the state, including jobs at Wacos Ascension Providence. A statement at the time from Ascension Texas says the pandemic had taken a significant toll on health systems across the country, including Ascension Texas. We continue to evolve how we deliver care in this challenging environment and further align our strategies and structure to best support patient care initiatives in order to ensure the long-term strength of our organization as we continue to deliver compassionate, personalized care to all, the statement says. The New York Times also reported last year that Ascension had cut many jobs leading up to the pandemic, and was left understaffed when the pandemic hit. Ascension refuted this in a statement. Unlike what the New York Times has indicated that it was told, the reality is that Ascensions hospital staffing levels particularly bedside nursing staffing increased in the years leading up to the pandemic and continue to exceed levels maintained by the majority of our peers, Ascension said. In December, Ascension Providence was named Large Employer of the Year by the Texas Workforce Commission, and was nominated by the local Workforce Solutions for the Heart of Texas. Providence is also the third-largest employer in McLennan County with 2,300 employees, according to the Heart of Texas Council of Governments. Before the January layoffs, Providence was ranked second with 2,518 employees. PRESS RELEASE The Naval Aviation Museum Foundation (NAMF) is delighted to announce a recent contribution of $20,000 from Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) towards the museums new Homeschool Academy. The check presentation ceremony took place on the base this morning. Homeschool Academy: The Museum Classroom was initiated by NAMF in January 2023, with a focus on families homeschooling children aged 5 to 18. FPLs generous grant will enable NAMF to extend the programs reach throughout the entire school year, benefiting the homeschooling community. Were profoundly thankful for this contribution. FPLs generosity empowers us to provide hands-on STEM activities and unique museum tours to our growing local homeschool community year-round, said Dianna Hayden, Director of Education for NAMF. Every quarter, FPL collaborates with nonprofit organizations in Northwest Florida through the NextEra Energy Foundation, directing contributions to programs aligned with the companys business objectives. One such objective, named Opportunity, focuses on endorsing educational initiatives that eliminate barriers to growth and foster the development of future leaders in the state. J.T. Young, VP and General Manager of FPLs Northwest Florida region, expressed the companys pride in participating as a community partner and supporting the expansion of the Naval Aviation Museum Homeschool Academys STEM curriculum. We are thrilled to support their crucial work by offering essential financial resources for acquiring necessary equipment and supplies. This assistance will aid them in delivering a hands-on, interactive learning experience for homeschooled students, Young said. By James Kightly, Commissioning Editor The Shuttleworth Collection, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, UK, has a number of genuinely unique surviving aircraft, and some of those are powered by the only working example of the engine type. Such is the 1928 Hawker Tomtit RAF trainer and its rare Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose five-cylinder radial engine. Both the engine and aircraft are the only surviving active examples, anywhere. In 2018, the aircraft was grounded after issues were found with the Mongoose engine. While the cylinders of the engine are the same type as the 300 400hp 14-cylinder Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar engine, parts for these 1930s era engines either are rare to non-existent, of course. Shuttleworth Engineer, Gareth Rutt, spent the last four years rebuilding the engine so this unique combination could fly again. During this time the master rod has been re-white metaled, together with the manufacture of a new cam pack, magneto drive gears and new tappets. The carburettor and oil pump have undergone an overhaul and all other parts have been cleaned, measured and refitted along with an engine rebuild. The Tomtit flew again on 16 June 2023 at the hands of Chief Pilot Paul Stone, precisely five years after its last air show appearance. After the flight, and further checks and paperwork, the aircraft, painted as K1786, and registered as G-AFTA, was given the required release of a Permit to Fly, and it featured in the Carnival Air Show at Shuttleworths grass airfield at Old Warden on Sunday 6 August, and the September opening show. A Detailed Engineering Insight We reached out to the collection to share with us a more detailed rundown of the work undertaken on this unique engine. Matthew Chapman, Airworthiness Support Engineer at Shuttleworth shared the following details: Before the engine rebuild, the Hawker Tomtit last flew an air display at Shuttleworth on the 16th June 2018. Two days later the aircraft was brought in to the Engineering Hangar at Old Warden for its routine Annual Inspection and Maintenance. During the inspection the oil filters were checked and we found excessive white metal particles. Its not uncommon to sometimes find particles, but this was too much to ignore and the decision was taken to remove the engine from the airframe and strip it down for investigation. Being white metal, we suspected the big end bearing shells, and so it turned out to be. The white metal on bearing shells of this kind acts as a hard wearing surface so when it starts to degrade you run the risk of overheating and engine seizing. As with all our engine rebuilds we do the work in-house using our team of experienced engineers. We have the capabilities to do a lot of work and we have our own machine shop, but some items we knew we would probably have to engage external sub-contractors. The Tomtit is powered by the last remaining airworthy Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose seven-cylinder radial engine dating from the 1920s (approaching 100 years old). We have some spares (and one spare, static, engine) but not very many spares, so we knew this would be a challenging project. (According to the records we have it is a Mongoose IIIC, a military version based on the Mk IIIA.) And so began the complete disassembly of the engine. With the engine disassembled, we began the task of inspecting all components and measuring those against the Schedule of Fits and Clearances from the Instruction Book for Armstrong Siddeley Radial Aero Engines, Mongoose IIIC later type. Following this work, we identified a number of components or sub-assemblies which were worn beyond the book limits, or were visually worn, or in generally poor condition and required replacement. At this time, the engine had done a total of 759 hours and 45 minutes, with 48 hours and 25 minutes since the last overhaul. The aircraft operates on a Permit to Fly here in the UK and is under the control of the Light Aircraft Association. Working with the LAA, we had to apply for some approved modifications in order to manufacture new parts. These were as follows: New inlet and exhaust valves to be manufactured under an approved modification, as no spare parts were available and the original material is now obsolete. Modification required for the change to a modern material. This all went quite well. New tappet shafts were required to be manufactured under an approved modification to take into account the use of modern materials. Again, this all went quite smoothly. New steel cam gears (for driving the cam drum) and bevel gears (for driving the ignition magnetos) were also required to be manufactured under an approved modification to take into account a change to modern materials. This became more troublesome, see below. This process was going quite smoothly until the coronavirus pandemic hit us in April 2020, although it had been over 18 months since the start of the project so you can see how much time is involved. The pandemic and the various lockdowns we experienced in the UK delayed things further. Our working time was reduced in 2020 and 2021 and various other things took priority: such as re-opening the site, and trying to do drive-in airshows when we were allowed to try and bring some cash back in to The Collection. Also during this time we had real problems with the company making the gears for us. The bevel gears in particular were hard to have drawn up into a CAD model, and then they were difficult to manufacture. The company we were using had an engineer sadly die during the pandemic, and another retired (or left the company), and eventually the machine they used to cut bevel gears broke down. As they didnt have enough other work for it, they opted to decommission it, so they couldnt complete the job! We had to start almost from scratch and engage with another company that could make the bevel gears. Luckily they turned out to be good, and once we had received all the new parts we could begin reassembly. In the meantime we did a lot of other work in-house, like overhauled the carburettor, the oil pumps were overhauled, and new ignition cables made, etc. The big ends were re-white metalled by a supplier and the con rods were re-used. All the cylinders were worn beyond limits, so we used cylinders from our spare engine. That means that next time we will have to have new cylinders made, as we now have no spares whatsoever! This time-lapse video captures the moment when the worlds only Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose engine was fitted into the worlds only Hawker Tomtit. [video by The Shuttleworth Collection] The final assembly of the engine was done during 2022 with the first engine running in November 2022. Over the winter of 2022 2023, we then had the task of submitting all the paperwork to the LAA, in order for them to grant us a Permit to Test to allow Paul Stone, our Collections Chief Pilot to conduct a test flight. The first test flight was twenty minutes here at Old Warden on 16th June 2023. Since then, it had further testing and subsequent inspection of the new components and of the engine more generally. So far so good, and she has now completed displays in two airshows this summer and is due to display again here on Sunday 3rd September 2023. The Hawker Tomtits History The Hawker Tomtit was an inter-war British trainer aircraft, designed by Sydney Camm (of later Hurricane fame) to replace the old Avro 504s still in service in the mid-1920s. Despite building a batch for evaluation, the trainer the Royal Air Force (RAF) chose was the Avro Tutor (the sole surviving example of which is also in the Shuttleworth Collection!) so ultimately only 36 Tomtits were built for the RAF, and production and ex-RAF examples being civil registered for test work and private owners. Two went to Canada for the Royal Canadian Air Force and four to the Royal New Zealand Air Force. It would have been nothing more than a footnote in history, if famous race and test pilot Alex Henshaw hadnt managed to obtain Tomtit, civil registered as G-AFTA in 1941, during the war while test flying production Spitfires as his commuting aircraft. He had it fitted, bizarrely, with a Spitfire windscreen. G-AFTA was, in fact, the last Tomtit built, as K1786, and had been sold to the civil market in 1935. Sold postwar for 250, it was used for glider towing before being bought in 1949 by Squadron Leader Neville Duke, another famous record and test pilot, who flew it in several air races and displays before he sold it to Hawker Aircraft Company in 1950, joining their airworthy Hawker Hurricane and Hart. When Hawkers divested themselves of their flying historic aircraft collection, the Hurricane stayed airworthy with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the Hart being grounded at the RAF Museum (which opened in 1972), and the Tomtit going to the Shuttleworth Collection. Flown in Hawkers house colors of a sharp blue and gold civil scheme, in 1967 it was returned to its original military scheme by Hawker Siddeley. It has been operated by The Collection from Old Warden, ever since, though, as well as the recent grounding for the aforementioned engine rebuild, it was grounded for several years after an accident at the Air Fete at RAF Mildenhall in 1985, when, landing on a temporary grass runway it hit a hidden obstruction, with the propeller and undercarriage being smashed. While the undercarriage repair was relatively straightforward, finding another propeller of the necessary rigidity proved a problem, with the replacement propeller flexing significantly out of true. This was found to be due to harmonic vibration between the engine and propeller. Much experimentation and even appeals to the public for video showing the propeller in action prior to the accident failed to resolve the problem. It was eventually solved by Hoffman of Germany who provided one with the hub made of compressed beech veneers with spruce laths spliced in towards the tips, then covered with a carbon fiber and epoxy coating with an integral leading edge. In the early 2010s, the aircraft underwent a major overhaul and re-fabric, with then Chief Pilot Dodge Bailey taking the Tomtit aloft for its first shakedown flight after complete restoration, on 19th June 2014. Without the details being recorded, it would be all too easy to just assume the Tomtit and its Mongoose engine was just part of the scenery at Old Warden, and ticked along year in, year out while in reality it only flies thanks to generations of dedicated workers and their ingenuity. The Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose of 125 hp is a left-hand tractor air cooled static radial. The five cylinders have a bore of 127 mm (5 in) and stroke of 140 mm (5.5 in). The normal RPM is 1620, with a maximum of 1780. The brake horse power at normal RPM was 125, at maximum, 150. The cubic capacity is 8,868 cc, and the fuel consumption 7 gallons per hour. The weight is 337 lbs, giving a weight to power ratio of 2.7Ibs per hp. The design was a medium-power five cylinder engine of similar design to the companys successful Jaguar and Lynx engines. It has the same bore and stroke and many of its parts are interchangeable with those two other engines. They are the cylinders, pistons, piston rings, gudgeon pins, valves, valve springs, rocker gear, push rods, tappets, tappet guides, and propeller boss. The cylinders are of composite construction and comprise aluminium (being British!) heads, head locking rings, steel barrels and barrel locking rings. Steel sockets accommodate the cylinders in the crankcase. As well as the Tomtit, the Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose was used in the Avro Gosport; Fokker S4; Avro 504N; Handley Page Gugunc (the sole example built surviving in the Science Museum collection); the Australian twin-engine Lasco Lascondor transport and the Swedish Svenska Aero Falken. Thanks We would like to thank Matthew Chapman, and the Shuttleworth Collection, for enabling an insight into what is required returning a unique engine and aircraft type to the air. The Collection always appreciates support, and the main supporting organisation is the Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society, which both fundraises for the collection and shares these levels of insight with interested enthusiasts through their excellent magazine Propswing, plus other perks. You can join the SVAS here. WATERLOO The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the robbery conviction of a Waterloo man in a 2008 holdup even after another person allegedly confessed to the crime. Antonio Sabre Dantzler, now 45, had asked the court to overturn his charges on allegations he and others held up the Prime Mart on La Porte Road and a former Dollar General on Enterprise Drive while the city was in the throes of dealing with the June 2008 flooding. An employee at one store had been beaten with a pistol and a flood victim shopping at the other store was robbed of cash still wet with river water. Another person had come forward 15 years later alleging he was the person who robbed the stores, according to court records. Dantzler challenged his first-degree robbery and firearm convictions on the grounds he was innocent. But the Iowa Court of Appeals, in a ruling handed down Thursday, noted the confessor, Miquelle Miller, knew few details about the crimes. Moreover the appellate court pointed out that Miller was only 13 years old at the time of the robberies and was documented to be living in Illinois where he was on juvenile probation. During testimony at a post-conviction relief hearing, Miller said he had been a drug user and said his memory isnt anything that I would hang my hat on. Dantzler is currently serving a 50-year sentence in the robberies. Cities with the fastest 'time-to-crime' rates for firearms Cities with the fastest 'time-to-crime' rates for firearms #40. New York City #39. Baltimore #38. San Jose, California #37. San Diego #36. Los Angeles #35. San Bernardino, California #34. Jacksonville, Florida #33. Tampa, Florida #32. Chattanooga, Tennessee #31. Wichita, Kansas #30. Tulsa, Oklahoma #29. Winston-Salem, North Carolina #28. New Orleans #27. Orlando, Florida #26. Chicago #25. Dayton, Ohio #24. Cincinnati #23. Miami #22. Indianapolis #21. Charlotte, North Carolina #20. Baton Rouge, Louisiana #19. Louisville, Kentucky #18. Las Vegas #17. Columbus, Ohio #16. Dallas #15. San Antonio #14. Philadelphia #13. Houston #12. Cleveland #11. Huntsville, Alabama #10. Mobile, Alabama #9. Milwaukee #8. Atlanta #7. Shreveport, Louisiana #6. Memphis, Tennessee #5. St. Louis #4. Phoenix #3. Columbia, South Carolina #2. Detroit #1. Richmond, Virginia WATERLOO A Waterloo man has been sentenced to prison for shooting a gun in a neighborhood in 2022. Troy Dawon Davis, 28, pleaded to intimidation with a weapon and felon in possession of a firearm and on Aug. 24 was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Authorities allege Davis fired a gun in the East Ninth and Franklin streets area around 4:25 p.m. May 27, 2022. No injuries were reported. Officers found spent shell casings in the intersection and near the Family Dollar store on Franklin. One of the bullets hit a house at 414 E. Ninth St. while people were inside, records state. Authorities said Davis is prohibited from handling firearms because of a 2017 felony theft conviction. Photos: Guns in Northeast Iowa crime cases WATERLOO Ten veterans from the Cedar Valley were honored Saturday afternoon with Quilts of Valor at the American Legion Becker-Chapman Post 138 at the corner of Sixth and Commercial streets. The quilts were given to veterans who served the U.S. armed forces in various periods from the Korean War to the Global War on Terrorism. Three quilts were made by the quilters group at First Christian Church Disciples of Christ in Cedar Falls. Others were prepared by Cathy Baldwin and Linda Osborn, both of whom reside in Jasper County. The freedoms we enjoy daily and the security we depend upon to keep us safe continue to be provided by a strong military, Osborn said. These quilts say thank you for your service, sacrifice and valor in serving our nation. Quilts of Valor was started in 2003 by Catherine Roberts, a Delaware mother whose son was serving in Iraq. Roberts said she had a dream about how quilts could help soldiers like her son to heal from the traumas they faced in the military. Each quilt is nationally registered with the Quilts of Valor organizations. One of the recipients of quilt was Dr. Steven M. Olsen, who served as a tank mechanic in Germany during the Vietnam War before getting his medical license and serving again as a doctor in Iraq with the Army National Guard. According to Olsen, he was surprised when he found out that he would receive a quilt but was greatly honored by the gesture. This is really an honor. I think its a very unknown one to have, Olsen said. But Im proud to be here with everybody thats here. I didnt know anything about it until they called and said I was nominated, so Im proud to be here. The other nine quilt recipients included: Thomas R. Conn, U.S. Army. Thomas R. Conn Jr., U.S. Army. Leslie Forsblom, U.S. Navy. Christine Larsen, U.S. Air Force. Kent Larsen, U.S. Army National Guard. Charles Mysak, U.S. Army. Trina Mysak, U.S. Army. Richard Smith, U.S. Army. Theodore Stair, U.S. Army. This story has been updated to reflect the contributions of the First Christian Church quilters group. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) The navies of Manila and Washington launched a bilateral sail in the West Philippine Sea, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Monday. The Philippine Navys guided-missile frigate BRP Jose Rizal (FF150) and the US Navys Alrleigh Burke-class guided missile-destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) will carry out Division Tactics rehearsal as part of the operation, the AFP said. The ongoing bilateral sail off Palawan is being conducted under a Mutual Defense Board Security Engagement Board framework and it aims to strengthen maritime cooperation and operational interoperability between Manila and Washingtons navies. It is also seen as an opportunity to test and refine the Philippine Navy and the US Indo-Pacific Navys existing maritime doctrine and to demonstrate their capabilities in the region. The bilateral sail comes just a week after Beijing released its 10-dash line map, a move which Manila protested. The expanded claim covered nearly the entire South China Sea and overlapped with the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The West Philippine Sea is the portion of the South China Sea which is part of the Philippines EEZ. READ: PH rejects, protests Chinas expanded 10-dash line in South China Sea In 2016, an arbitral tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines and invalidated Chinas previous nine-dash line claim that overlapped with Manilas EEZ and continental shelf. Meanwhile, Manila and Washington are still working out the details of the joint patrols in the West Philippine Sea, which could come to fruition this year. READ: PH-US finalizing joint patrols in WPS - NSC official FAIRFAX, Va. Diego Fonseca looked at the computer and took a breath. It was his final attempt at the math placement test for his first year of college. His first three tries put him in pre-calculus, a blow for a student who aced honors physics and computer science in high school. Functions and trigonometry came easily, but the basics gave him trouble. He struggled to understand algebra, a subject he studied only during a year of remote learning in high school. "I didn't have a hands-on, in-person class, and the information wasn't really there," said Fonseca, 19, of Ashburn, Virginia, a computer science major who hoped to get into calculus. "I really struggled when it came to higher-level algebra because I just didn't know anything." Fonseca is among 100 students who opted to spend a week of summer break at George Mason University brushing up on math lessons that didn't stick during pandemic schooling. The northern Virginia school started Math Boot Camp because of alarming numbers of students arriving with gaps in their math skills. Colleges across the country are grappling with the same problem as academic setbacks from the pandemic follow students to campus. At many universities, engineering and biology majors are struggling to grasp fractions and exponents. More students are being placed into pre-college math, starting a semester or more behind for their majors, even if they get credit for the lower-level classes. Colleges largely blame the disruptions of the pandemic, which had an outsize impact on math. Reading scores on the national test known as NAEP plummeted, but math scores fell further, by margins not seen in decades of testing. Other studies find that recovery has been slow. At George Mason, fewer students are getting into calculus the first college-level course for some majors and more are failing. Students who fall behind often disengage, disappearing from class. "This is a huge issue," said Maria Emelianenko, chair of George Mason's math department. "We're talking about college-level pre-calculus and calculus classes, and students cannot even add one-half and one-third." For Jessica Babcock, a Temple University math professor, the magnitude of the problem hit home last year as she graded quizzes in her intermediate algebra class, the lowest option for STEM majors. The quiz, a softball at the start of the fall semester, asked students to subtract eight from negative six. "I graded a whole bunch of papers in a row. No two papers had the same answer, and none of them were correct," she said. "It was a striking moment of, like, wow this is significant and deep." Researchers say math learning suffered for various reasons. An intensely hands-on subject, math was hard to translate to virtual classrooms. When students fell behind in areas like algebra, gaps could go unnoticed for a year or more as they moved to subjects such as geometry or trigonometry. At home, parents are generally more comfortable helping with reading than math. As with other learning setbacks, math issues are most pronounced among Black, Latino, low-income and other vulnerable students, said Katharine Strunk, who led a study on learning delays in Michigan and is now dean of the graduate school of education at the University of Pennsylvania. "Those are the students who were most impacted by the pandemic, and they're the ones who are going to suffer the longer-term consequences," she said. "They're not going to have the same access." Colleges say there's no quick fix. Many are trying to identify gaps sooner, adopting placement tests that delve deeper into math skills. Some are adding summer camps like George Mason's, which helped participants increase placement test scores by 59% on average. In lieu of traditional remedial classes, which some research finds to be ineffective, more schools are offering "corequisite" classes that help students shore up on the basics while also taking higher courses like calculus. Penn State tackled the problem by expanding peer tutoring. Professors report that students who participate scored 20% higher on exams, said Tracy Langkilde, dean of Penn State's College of Science. What's becoming a persistent problem at some colleges has been a blip for others. At Iowa State University, known for its engineering program, students entering in 2020 were far more likely to be placed in lower-level math classes, and grades fell. That group of students had continued trouble, but numbers improved for the following year's class, said Eric Weber, math department chair. At Temple, there's been no rebound. Professors tried small changes: expanded office hours, a new tutoring center, pared-down lessons focused on the essentials. But students didn't come for help, and they kept getting D's and F's. This year, Babcock is redesigning the algebra course. Instead of a traditional lecture, it'll focus on active learning, an approach that demands more participation and expands students' role in the learning process. Class will be more of a group discussion, with lots of problems worked in-class. "We really want students to feel like they're part of their learning," Babcock said. "We can't change their preparation coming in, but we can work to meet their needs in the best way possible." WASHINGTON More than a dozen people nationally have been charged with threatening election workers by a Justice Department unit trying to stem the tide of violent and graphic threats against people who count and secure the vote. Government employees are bombarded with threats even in normally quiet periods between elections, secretaries of state and experts warn. Some point to former President Donald Trump and his allies falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen and spreading conspiracy theories about election workers. Experts fear the 2024 election could be worse and want the federal government to do more to protect election workers. The Justice Department created the Election Threats Task Force in 2021 led by its public integrity section, which investigates election crimes. John Keller, the unit's second in command, said the department hoped its prosecutions would deter others from threatening election workers. "This isn't going to be taken lightly. It's not going to be trivialized," he said. "Federal judges, the courts are taking misconduct seriously and the punishments are going to be commensurate with the seriousness of the conduct." Two more men pleaded guilty Thursday to threatening election workers in Arizona and Georgia in separate cases. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department would keep up the investigations, adding, "A functioning democracy requires that the public servants who administer our elections are able to do their jobs without fearing for their lives." The unit filed 14 cases, and two resulted in yearslong prison sentences, including a 2-year sentence Aug. 28 for Mark Rissi, an Iowa man charged with leaving a message threatening to "lynch" and "hang" an Arizona election official. He was "inundated with misinformation" and now "feels horrible" about the messages he left, his lawyer Anthony Knowles said. A Texas man was given 3 years earlier this month after suggesting a "mass shooting of poll workers and election officials" last year. In one message, the Justice Department said, the man wrote: "Someone needs to get these people AND their children. The children are the most important message to send." His lawyer did not return a message seeking comment. One indictment unveiled in August accused a man of leaving an expletive-filled voicemail after the 2020 election for Tina Barton, a Republican who formerly was the clerk in Rochester Hills, Michigan. According to the indictment, the person vowed "a million plus patriots will surround you when you least expect it" and "we'll kill you." Barton said it was just one of many threats that left her feeling deeply anxious. "I'm really hopeful the charges will send a strong message, and we won't find ourselves in the same position after the next election," she said. Normally, the periods between elections are quiet for the workers who run voting systems around the U.S. For many, that's no longer true, said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat who pushed back against conspiracy theories about elections. "I anticipate it will get worse as we end this year and go into the presidential election next year," she said. Griswold said the threats come in "waves," usually following social media posts by prominent figures about false claims the 2020 election was stolen or blog posts on far-right websites. She worries that there haven't been enough prosecutions and states haven't taken enough action to protect workers. Election officials note there have been thousands of threats nationwide, yet relatively few prosecutions. They say more could be done. Liz Howard, a former Virginia election official now at the Brennan Center for Justice's elections and government program, called on the Justice Department to hire a senior adviser with existing relationships with election officials to improve outreach. About 1 in 5 election workers knows someone who left their election job for safety reasons and 73% of local election officials said harassment increased, according to a Brennan Center survey published in April. The task force reviewed more than 2,000 reports of threats and harassment across the country. Most of those cases haven't brought charges from prosecutors, who point to the high legal bar for criminal prosecution. Communication must be considered a "true threat," one that crosses a line to a serious intent to hurt someone, in order to be a potential crime rather than free speech, Keller said. The task force's work is unfolding as Trump and other Republicans accuse the Biden administration of using the Justice Department to target political opponents, though the task force itself hasn't been targeted publicly by Republicans. Many GOP leaders criticized the federal prosecutions of Trump and rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump himself faces two indictments over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results; he denied wrongdoing. Trump is the front-runner for the GOP nomination for president in 2024 and continues to argue that the 2020 election was rigged. Federal and state investigations and dozens of lawsuits have not uncovered any evidence the election was rigged. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The Reno Police Department has released body camera video of an officer-involved shooting on Yori Avenue earlier this month. Officers originally responded to the area to a reported stabbing early Monday on September 4th. That's when officers found the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Sherman Crutcher armed with a fillet knife. He later died at the hospital. Police say no officers were hurt during this incident. The 16-year-old victim was transported to the hospital. The Washoe County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation and assisted by the Sparks Police Department. *** Warning: The video may be graphic for some viewers. ORIGINAL STORY: The Washoe County Sheriff's Office is investigating a Reno Police officer-involved shooting early Monday morning. The incident started after 12:30 a.m. in the 2600 block of Yori Avenue between Grove Street and Gentry Way when police responded to a reported stabbing at that location. When officers arrived, they found an armed suspect and that's when the shooting occurred. The unidentified suspect died later at a nearby hospital. The victim of the stabbing was also transported to a local area hospital for medical treatment. Police say no officers were hurt during this incident. The Washoe County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation and assisted by the Sparks Police Department. Deputies say this is an ongoing investigation, with no outstanding suspects or threats to the public. If you have any information that can help authorities, call or text your anonymous tip to Secret Witness to 775-322-4900. Complementary High Grade Gold at Mt Ida Perth, Sep 4, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Delta Lithium Limited ( ASX:DLI ) is pleased to announce an update for activities at its 100% owned Mt Ida Lithium Project in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. Highlights: - The Mt Ida Lithium Project in the Goldfields region of Western Australia remains on track for approval to mine later this year. - The company is pleased to report very strong recent gold results from new drilling immediately adjacent to the Company's proposed lithium operation. - New drilling results include: o 1.1m @ 302 g/t Au from 82.9m in IDRD146 o 9m @ 26.48 g/t Au from 84m in SSRD044 o 5.7m @ 35.7 g/t Au from 191.4m in IDRD066 o 1.3m @ 55 g/t Au & 0.75% Cu from 362m in IDRD162 o 2.7m @ 21.3 g/t Au & 1.9% Cu from 355.5m in IDRD033 o 7m @ 7.4 g/t Au from 162m in IDRD085 o 1.5m @ 35 g/t Au & 0.6% Cu from 224.4m in IDRD112 - The location of the drilling intercepts and modelled gold lodes near surface appear suitable for mining separately to the lithium pegmatites within the mining footprint defined for the proposed lithium mining operation. - Gold drill results at depth also suggest further potential to exploit additional gold lodes over the life of the lithium project. - A gold resource update is being prepared in conjunction with a lithium resource update due in the September Quarter. - Grade control drilling in support of the proposed mining operations is ongoing. Gold only as well as gold-copper bearing lodes have been identified occurring in proximity to known lithium bearing pegmatites at the Mt Ida Project. Gold and copper assay results have been received from drill holes that were drilled to test lithium mineralisation. While lithium remains the central focus for the Mt Ida development, the Company considers the high grade nature of the gold discovery as a significant and value adding opportunity. The gold ores do not contaminate the lithium mineralisation and offer potential for an entirely complementary source of revenue. Commenting on the results Executive Chairman, David Flanagan said; "The team has not just discovered high grade oxide gold lodes adjacent to Sister Sam, they have also confirmed a large number of depth extensions to known gold lodes, mined over the last 80 years and the grades and widths look pretty substantial. These outstanding gold intercepts at the 86 lode are high impact. We have 4 existing gold processing plants within 150 kilometres and one within 12 kilometres. With a granted mining licence and a pending approval to mine we think we have a very good opportunity to convert this to value for shareholders. We are actively drilling out the gold resource for inclusion in the starter pit for the Mt Ida Lithium project. To be clear, we remain focussed on becoming a Lithium producer. The mining of shallow gold ores would reduce the strip ratio for access to the main lithium resource and provide significant credits towards the capital cost of the early development works" Prior to the discovery of Lithium at the Mt Ida Project, gold was exploited on the property by various companies on and off since the turn of the 20th Century, cumulating in a total production of >300,000 oz at a grade of >16 g/t Au. In recent months the Company has undertaken a comprehensive drilling program targeting lithium at the Mt Ida Project. During the course of this lithium drilling, numerous gold lodes have been intercepted and assayed for gold and copper. Near surface gold results offer complimentary cashflow opportunity to Delta's Lithium strategy Further investigations will primarily consider gold mineralisation immediately adjacent to lithium resources that could potentially contribute to early cashflow opportunities at the project. Work to compile a gold specific mineral resource estimate has begun. The Baldock 086 lode is a near surface, gold lode that is immediately adjacent to the upper Sister Sam Lithium resource. The gold lode is flat dipping with very low copper and hosts recorded mineralisation from 14m to a depth of 130m over a strike of 350m. Gold-copper results from the Mt Ida Project The gold and copper mineralisation intercepted in multiple lodes to date is high grade, well defined and laterally extensive, paving the way for a significant resource base that could complement both the mining and processing methods anticipated for the lithium project. Gold mineralisation is hosted in shear-zones associated with quartz veins and sulphides. Some gold lodes have significant amounts of copper with them. There is a strong spatial association between gold lodes and the lithium bearing pegmatites. *To view tables and figures, please visit: https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/X29495TI About Delta Lithium Limited Delta Lithium Limited (ASX:DLI) is an exploration and development company focused on bringing high-quality, lithium-bearing pegmatite deposits, located in Western Australia, into production. With a strong balance sheet and an experienced team driving the exploration and development workstreams, Delta Lithium is rapidly advancing its Mt Ida Lithium Project towards production. The Mt Ida Lithium Project holds a critical advantage over other lithium developers with existing Mining Leases and heritage agreements in place. To capitalise on the prevailing buoyant lithium market, Delta Lithium is pursuing a rapid development pathway to unlock maximum value for shareholders. Delta Lithium also holds the highly prospective Yinnetharra Lithium Project that is already showing signs of becoming one of Australia's most exciting lithium regions. The Company is currently undergoing an extensive 400 drill hole campaign to be completed throughout 2023. 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The "Frozen" star landed her first Broadway role in "Rent" in 1996 and has gone on to appear in shows such as "Wicked" and "Hair", but the 52-year-old is adamant she can't boast of a trio of skills - dancing, singing and acting - because she struggles with choreography and needs extra time to learn all her moves. "[I've learned] that I'm still a s***** dancer but really hot, sexy dancers around you can make you look good," Idina explained when asked what she learned making her new album during an interview on the "Zach Sang Show" podcast. She added, "I've never been a good dancer. People always call me a triple threat - it's such a lie. A triple threat - for anyone listening - in Broadway terms is you sing, you act and you dance. I'm not a triple threat." "If I'm dancing in something they put me in the remedial room next door - the small B-room and they put the assistant choreographer with me for like eight hours of tutorial because my brain cannot handle leaning eight counts of ... I just .. I can't." However, Idina insists she can handle dancing as long as she has an understanding choreographer. She added, "When you have a choreographer who gets how you move and doesn't try to force stuff on you and takes stuff from me ... then it seems really natural." The actress - who is known for originating Elphaba in Broadway musical "Wicked" and for providing the voice of Elsa in Disney's "Frozen" franchise - went on to explain she can be very different at home to her onstage persona. She said, "I think I compartmentalise it ... When I'm off stage I like to be quiet and I like to be introspective and I am more introverted." You can share this post! Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) The Senate Committee on Finance has approved the 758.6 billion proposed 2024 budget of the Department of Education (DepEd), including 150 million for confidential funds which minority senators quizzed during the hearing. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel asked the DepEd if it could live without its request for confidential funds and instead realign the request to priority programs of the agency. Logic tells us, if you can live without the 150 million in confidential funds, then maybe we can give that amount to these three programs which are sorely lacking in funds, Pimentel said. If 150 million, 2.5 million per classroom, it would actually contribute 60 classrooms, not bad. Education officials said an average classroom costs 2.5 million. Undersecretary Michael Poa told senators that the DepEd originally submitted to the Department of Budget and Management a 953-billion proposal for the education department. RELATED: Duterte: Proposed 2024 budget for DepEd not enough to improve basic education Construction of new school buildings, funding for school furniture, and the implementation of its school-based feeding program were some of the items that saw huge cuts in the recalibrated budget proposal, Poa said. He, however, reiterated that the allocation of confidential funds will make our jobs easier in protecting our learners, teachers, and non-teaching personnel. Sen. Risa Hontiveros also argued that security agencies have the mandate to conduct intelligence operations even in the context of education, and not the DepEd. Vice President Sara Duterte, the concurrent education secretary, stood firm that the confidential funds are in line with their mandate to provide a safe and enabling learning environment for learners, and safe spaces for teaching and non-teaching personnel. Voluntary contributions Sen. Raffy Tulfo got into an argument with Duterte after raising in the committee hearing alleged voluntary contributions for electric fans, chalk, and floor wax, among others, that were collected from students through Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meetings. Ang mga estudyante na walang pang-contribute kung minsan pinapahiya pa, nilalagay pa sa group chats [Students who cannot contribute are shamed in group chats], Tulfo said, citing complaints he received from parents. Duterte interjected that Tulfo can help by passing a law to prohibit these contributions and penalize teachers or parents insisting on the collection of voluntary contributions. It is a voluntary contribution, ibig sabihin hindi po pinipilit yung mga estudyante o yung mga magulang na mag-contribute, kung yun man ang nadesisyonan na project ng PTA, she also explained. [Translation: It is a voluntary contribution, meaning students or parents are not forced to contribute, if the PTA had decided on such a project.] Unang-una, wala akong kapangyarihan para ipatigil yan, Tulfo replied. However, merong kapangyarihan ang DepEd para ipatigil po yung mga voluntary contributions sa PTA. [Translation: I have no power to stop that practice. However, the DepEd has the power to stop the voluntary contributions to the PTA.] The vice president said she took note of the senators advice. Duterte: We are not ready with the correct blended learning program Hontiveros also flagged the decrease of the DepEds computerization program budget for 2024, saying it was some sort of dissonance in its pronouncement for a heavier dependence and reliance to ICT to improve basic education delivery. Poa answered that the agency feels the proposed 8 billion for next years computerization program is sufficient, as they will still utilize all of its 2023 budget, including 2022 continuing funds. Duterte said the e-learning carts are e-libraries on wheels. She said its a cheaper alternative instead of building computer laboratories. The DepEd is also forming the online and offline platform for learning materials and resources needed for the blended learning program, as well as mapping out schools with zero internet connectivity, among other initiatives, Duterte said. We are not ready with the correct blended learning program that we want to implement in the Department of Education, Duterte told the Senate panel. We hope to be ready next year in time for the phased implementation of the MATATAG curriculum. Duterte earlier told members of the House of Representatives that the agency is eyeing to institutionalize blended learning to address the congestion in classrooms, the lack of classrooms, and the shortage of teachers. CNN Philippines correspondent Eimor Santos contributed to this report. Instagram Celebrity The Blink-182 drummer and 'The Kardashians' star are photographed for the first time since he abandoned his band's tour in Europe to return to his home in California. Sep 4, 2023 AceShowbiz - Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian were spotted for the first time since he abandoned Blink-182's tour due to "urgent family matter." On Saturday, September 2, the drummer and his reality star wife were photographed leaving a hospital together. In pictures surfacing online, the 47-year-old and his spouse were seen walking out of the medical center in Los Angeles area as they headed into a black SUV. The couple was joined by a security guard. Travis sported a white T-shirt over a long-sleeved black shirt for the outfit. He paired it with black distressed jeans, sneakers and a black beanie. Kourtney, in the meantime, wore a gray shirt, matching pants and New Balance sneakers. Travis left Blink-182's tour in Europe to return to his home in California. "Due to an urgent family matter, Travis has had to return home to the States. The Glasgow, Belfast, and Dublin shows are being postponed. More information in regards to his return to Europe and rescheduled dates will be provided as soon as available," the band said on Instagram Story. Travis, who has been preparing for the arrival of his and Kourtney's first child together, hasn't made any public comment about his decision to return home. However, he has posted several Instagram Stories from inside a prayer room. While Travis and Kourtney have yet to address their "urgent" situation, his ex-wife Shanna Moakler made it clear that it had nothing to do with their kids. "I have no clue. I am not part of his family. I only know our kids are safe and sound and I can only say I wish whoever's involved positive thoughts and prayers," the model, who shares Landon, 19, and Alabama, 17, with the musician, told Us Weekly. You can share this post! Instagram Celebrity The Blink-182 drummer, who was forced to cancel some of the band's shows, was recently photographed leaving a hospital with wife Kourtney Kardashian, who is pregnant with their first child together. Sep 4, 2023 AceShowbiz - Alabama Barker had fun at a nightclub after her dad Travis Barker was forced to cancel some Blink-182 shows due to an "urgent family matter." The 17-year-old made use of her social media account to document her fun-filled outing at Los Angeles nightclub Bootsy Bellows. On Friday night, September 1, Alabama shared on now-expired Instagram Stories a photo of a man holding an illuminated sign that read, "Bad b***hes get birkins Alabama." The teen also posted a mirror selfie of herself and three friends who donned all-black outfits while posing in a parking garage. She additionally shared a photo of a food truck while encouraging people in the Los Angeles, CA area to try it. Not stopping there, Alabama took to TikTok to share a video. In the clip, she could be seen rocking black pajamas that included a short-sleeved button-down top lined in white and matching shorts. She lip synced to Coi Leray's song "No More Parties" while having her long wavy hair down and sporting flattering makeup. In the caption, Alabama cryptically wrote, "I got frustrated cause why is tik tok letting me film after its over like good bye." Alabama's social media posts arrived after Travis, who is expecting his first child with wife Kourtney Kardashian, sparked concern following an announcement of the postponement of shows in Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin due to an urgent family matter. "Due to an urgent family matter, Travis has had to return home to the States," Blink-182 shared on Twitter. "The Glasgow, Belfast, and Dublin shows are being postponed. More information in regards to his return to Europe and rescheduled dates will be provided as soon as available." More recently, Travis and Kourtney were spotted leaving a hospital together. The 47-year-old and his spouse were seen walking out of the medical center in Los Angeles area as they headed into a black SUV. The couple was joined by a security guard. During the sighting, which marked his first after the "urgent family matter" announcement, Travis sported a white T-shirt over a long-sleeved black shirt. He paired it with black distressed jeans, sneakers and a black beanie. As for Kourtney, "The Kardashians" star wore a gray shirt, matching pants and New Balance sneakers. While Travis and Kourtney have yet to address their "urgent" situation, his ex-wife Shanna Moakler revealed that it had nothing to do with their kids. "I have no clue. I am not part of his family. I only know our kids are safe and sound and I can only say I wish whoever's involved positive thoughts and prayers," the model, who shares Landon (19) and Alabama (17), with the musician, told Us Weekly. You can share this post! Cover Images/Roger Wong Movie Antoine Fuqua, who returned to direct Denzel Washington in the threequel, admits shooting on location in the Italian city with cold weather 'was tough.' Sep 4, 2023 AceShowbiz - Antoine Fuqua struggled with shooting scenes for "The Equalizer 3" on the streets of Naples, Italy. The director reunited with regular collaborator Denzel Washington to make the third film in the action series and they shot much of it on location in the Italian city, but Fuqua has admitted the shoot was hampered by bad weather which added to the problems of filming on real city streets. He told The Hollywood Reporter, "Shooting on the streets of Naples in that weather - that was challenging. It's hard to shoot there ... This last one [movie] was the most difficult one. The streets of Naples are tough, and you've got a guy who's really crawling barefoot in a real city with cold weather. That was tough." He added of working with Washington for a fifth time, "I'm honored. I'm honored to be able to work with Denzel five times. He's one of the greatest actors of our time, so I'm completely honored." Fuqua went on to talk about another project he has lined up, a movie about late pop star Michael Jackson, but he insisted the shoot is still a long way off because everything is on hold due to the writers and actors strikes which have brought Hollywood to a standstill. The moviemaker added, "I'm really excited about doing the Michael Jackson movie, but it's down the line. I've got a ways to go before I even get into that. So I'm just focused on where I'm at right now ... I don't know yet. It could be [my next project], but I'm not sure yet. With the strike and everything, everything is on hold." You can share this post! Cover Images/Instagram/INFphoto.com Celebrity The 46-year-old Yeezy designer is all smiles on his way back from the Electric Picnic Festival, which takes place in Stradbally Hall in the country to support his friend Steve Lacy. Sep 5, 2023 AceShowbiz - Kanye West took a trip to Ireland after he was photographed doing an NSFW act in Venice with his wife Bianca Censori. The Chicago rapper boarded a private plane at Dublin Airport on Saturday, September 2. In photos obtained by Page Six, the Yeezy designer was all smiles on his way back from the Electric Picnic Festival, which took place in Stradbally Hall over the weekend. He watched his friend Steve Lacy's performance before leaving the country. During his return trip, Ye opted for a black scarf wrapped around his head along with a matching coat and pants. He completed her look with a pendant necklace around his neck. His new sighting came after he and his wife Bianca were banned for life from boarding a Venice boat company's vessels after the rapper flashed his bare butt on board and did an obscene behavior during a boat ride in Italy with his wife. Venezia Turismo Motoscafi told Daily Mail Australia, "The driver had to keep a lookout for traffic and did not see these obscenities. If this had happened, he would have immediately disembarked and reported the transgressors to those in authority." A third person with the couple "obstructed the captain's view" into the back of the boat. They continued, "We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behavior. Mr. West and his wife will certainly no longer be welcome on board our company's boats." Ye made headlines after he flashed onlookers in neighboring boats while riding the river taxi in Venice's famed canals. The pair also sparked speculations that they were engaged in sexual act in public as his 28-year-old wife was pictured crouching down in front of Ye inside the boat. Previous report claimed that his ex-wife Kim Kardashian was "desperately embarrassed and worried" by his pantless antics. However, another source claimed that the reality TV star would only be concerned if it's related to their co-parenting of their four kids. The 42-year-old star reportedly saw Ye's crack slip as an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction. The source added that Kim wishes him and Bianca the best as they continue to enjoy their Italian getaway. You can share this post! Cover Images/Instagram/Robert Smith Celebrity While the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star debunks the dating speculation via his spokesperson, the 20-year-old 'Wednesday' actress herself has addressed the rumor and branded it 'ridiculous.' Sep 4, 2023 AceShowbiz - Johnny Depp has been left "appalled" by recent rumors that linked him romantically to Jenna Ortega. Calling the baseless claim "malicious," he allegedly believes that it was "intended to harm his reputation and career." Shutting down the dating rumor, a spokesperson for the 50-year-old actor said in a statement (via NME), "Mr. Depp has no personal or professional relationship with Ms. Ortega whatsoever. He has never met her or spoken to her." "He is not involved in any project with her, nor does he intend to be," the rep further stressed, before adding, "He is appalled by these baseless and malicious rumours that are intended to harm his reputation and career." The dating rumor first spread online after DeuxMoi published a claim that the two stars had been spotted on a date together. Although the celebrity gossip account maintained that it "does not claim information published is based in fact," fans of the two actors quickly picked up on the rumors. This forced Jenna to speak out and debunk the rumor. Taking to her Instagram Story over the weekend, she wrote, "This is so ridiculous I can't even laugh." The 20-year-old continued to pen in the since-deleted post, "I have never met or worked with Johnny Depp in my life. Please stop spreading lies and leave us alone." Earlier this year, Jenna declared that she's not ready for a relationship. When appearing on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast in May, she said about love and dating, "I almost don't even find myself interested." "But a part of it is self-esteem... I'm not ready to be that vulnerable or trusting with someone," the "Wednesday" star went on elaborating. "If there's one thing I'm going to focus on -- which is probably something I need to change -- it's going to be my work." As for Johnny, he was romantically linked to London-based attorney Joelle Rich in 2022. Joelle represented the Hollywood actor in his libel case against The Sun in 2020. However, they reportedly called it quits in October last year. You can share this post! Cover Images/Darla Khazei Celebrity The actress portraying Juliette Barnes on 'Nashville' series trades her blonde-and-black hair for a bubblegum pink locks with longer bangs that she parts to the side. Sep 4, 2023 AceShowbiz - Hayden Panettiere has left her fans amazed with her new pink hair. Debuting her major transformation via social media, the actress portraying Juliette Barnes on "Nashville" series was showered with praise by her devotees who loved her current look. On Saturday, September 2, the 34-year-old star surprised her fans with her new appearance through a photo she uploaded on her Instagram page. In the snap, she could be seen showing off her bubblegum pink shoulder-length hair. She also had bangs which she parted to the side. The "Scream VI" actress was captured smiling from ear-to-ear while looking at herself in a black heart-shaped small mirror that came with white graphics on it. At that time, her hair appeared in sync with her makeup. She put on a glossy pink lipstick and eye shadow in a lighter pink color. In the picture, Hayden was wearing a white robe. She accessorized the look with a piercing on her nose and a few others on one of her ears. Along with the snap, she wrote in the caption of the post, "Pink hair don't care! #photoshoot #pinkhair #glamteam." It did not take long for Hayden's post to be flooded with positive online responses. In the comments section, one Instagram user exclaimed, "Didnt think u could get more beautiful than u already are so thank you for proving me wrong," adding a crying face emoji. Another joined in, "Still the beautiful invincible cheerleader... in my eyes.... f**kin nostalgia is such a b***h." The compliments that the "Custody" actress received did not stop there. A third marveled, "You not posted since a moment, tysm for this. Your hair in pink is just so gorgeous. I hope you had a good birthday with the ones you loves." A fourth gushed, "You're as beautiful as you've always been. In fact, you're even more beautiful now, if that's possible. Love you! You are beautiful inside and out!" Prior to the transformation, Hayden's hair was blonde. The length of it was long enough to reach her shoulder, a similar length to that of her hair now. Some parts of her tresses were black and she had shorter bangs. You can share this post! Cover Images/Nick Sadler Celebrity The actor portraying Philippe Legorjus in 'Rebellion' reportedly suffers from a head trauma and a fractured pelvis due to a motorbike accident in a motor racing circuit. Sep 4, 2023 AceShowbiz - Mathieu Kassovitz reportedly is in a "worrying" condition. After being involved in a serious motorcycle accident, the French actor portraying Philippe Legorjus in "Rebellion" reportedly is still not in good health. On Sunday, September 3, authorities issued a statement about the 56-year-old actor and filmmaker's condition. In the statement, the officers said that he is currently in a "worrying" condition after he was involved in an accident in greater Paris. On that day, the "Louise Hires a Contract Killer" actor was riding a motorcycle for a training course, per police source via Agence France-Presse. According to south of Paris, French news channel CNews and international news agency AFP, the course took place in a motor racing circuit called the Autodrome de Montlhery. Mathieu was learning to ride the motorbike and was accompanied by one of his daughters who was on a motorcycle behind him with an instructor. At one point, he got into an accident. According to Le Parisien, his daughter witnessed what happened to her father. The movie producer had to be rushed to a hospital in Kremlin-Bicetre, per authorities in Essonne, south of the French capital. About his condition, he reportedly was "very seriously injured." The incident allegedly caused him to suffer several problems including a head trauma and a fractured pelvis. On the reason why he took the course, French media reported that the founder of film production company MNP Entreprise did so in order to prepare for his role in an upcoming movie. His representative has confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he was involved in this accident. Mathieu is known for directing and starring in a 1995 movie titled "La Haine". At that time, he was at the age of 27. He worked together with Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde and Said Taghmaoui for the film. For this movie, Mathieu won the best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The film also won the best film from the Cesar Awards, France's award which is equivalent to the Oscars. In addition, Mathieu also received Best Director and Best Writing nominations from the Cesar Awards. You can share this post! Cover Images/Instagram/BauerGriffin Celebrity The 'Brokeback Mountain' actor and the French model, who have started dating back in 2018, opt to wear casual ensembles consisting of ivory-colored tops during their outing in the SoHo neighborhood. Sep 5, 2023 AceShowbiz - Jake Gyllenhaal and his girlfriend Jeanne Cadieu were spotted out and about in New York City. The "Brokeback Mountain" actor and his model flame, who have started dating back in 2018, looked in sync during their date night. On Saturday, September 2, the 42-year-old actor and the 27-year-old beauty opted to wear matching ensembles for their outing around the SoHo neighborhood. In pictures making their rounds online, the couple could be seen sporting tops in ivory color. Jake went with a cozy outfit that consisted of an oversized ivory shirt that came with short sleeves. Over his shoulder, he put on a matching jacket. He also wore a pair of flowy long dark gray tailored pants and white sneakers. Similarly, Jeanne looked chic in a long-sleeved loose ivory knitted sweater. She also sported a pair of baggy blue jeans and glossy black leather shoes. She added a small blue handbag and a silvery necklace to complete the look. For the hair, she let loose her wavy dark-colored hair and parted it in the middle. Jake's night out with Jeanne came shortly after he opened up about his "wonderful" relationship with the model. "It's no secret that I'm in a relationship and it's a wonderful relationship. We are private, but I guess we are who we are," he stated in an interview with PEOPLE published earlier that day. "We're just living our lives. We always have. And I love that people are interested, but at the same time, it's like what's ours is ours," the actor continued. "It's all about growing together and listening and being open. It's really not much different from any relationship when it works." Earlier in August, Jake shared his interests in building his own family after being inspired by his sister Maggie Gyllenhaal. "I would love to have a family, and if it's anything like the family that my sister's raised and has cultivated, I would be proud," he spilled to PEOPLE at that time. You can share this post! Music The 'Magnolia' rapper, who was arrested earlier this year for allegedly choking his pregnant girlfriend, has quietly pushed back the North American leg of his tour. Sep 4, 2023 AceShowbiz - Playboi Carti has postponed his North American tour until early next year. The US rapper was originally scheduled to kick off the arena run in Denver, Colorado on September 6, and play shows up until October 20, with the last concert of the leg in Atlanta. A new set of dates, however, were quietly released on Carti's official website, with the jaunt now beginning in Salt Lake City on January 14, and concluding in Portland, Oregon on February 29. The Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah said in a statement, "Playboi Carti has postponed their show scheduled for September 8th, 2023 to a future date TBD. We no longer have an event scheduled for September 8th at Delta Center." Many fans took to social media to share they had received emails regarding the cancellation of the show they were attending. The Europe and UK dates remain unaffected. At the time of writing, it's unsure why the North American shows were pushed back. Earlier this year, the hip-hop star was arrested after allegedly choking his pregnant girlfriend in a row over a paternity test. The 26-year-old rapper was accused of grabbing the unnamed woman by the throat and holding onto her neck until she gasped for air on December 20, TMZ reported in February. The rap star - whose real name is Jordan Carter - was arrested for felony aggravated assault in Georgia. The female, who said she was 14 weeks pregnant at the time, feared for her life, according to the arrest affidavit form obtained by the outlet. According to her statement, a witness attempted to stop the alleged physical altercation but after she ran to her car, the woman claims she ran to her car to phone 911, but Carti allegedly tried to get her out of the car and put his hand over her mouth. Upon their arrival, Police reportedly found injuries on her neck, chest, and back. However, Carter was released on bond a day after his arrest. The rapper's lawyer had branded the accusations made by the female false. Attorney Brian Steel told TMZ, "Mr. Carter was falsely accused. Pursuant to my communications with the Fulton County District Attorney's office, this case will be dismissed without any prosecution or litigation." You can share this post! (CNN) Water levels at Lake Titicaca the highest navigable lake in the world and South Americas largest are dropping precipitously after an unprecedented winter heat wave. The shocking decline is affecting tourism, fishing and agriculture, which locals rely on to make a living. We dont know what we will do from now until December because the water will keep getting lower, said 63-year-old Nazario Charca, who lives on the lake and makes a living ferrying tourists around its waters. Visitors have long been attracted to the blue waters and open skies of South Americas largest lake, which straddles more than 3,200 square miles across the border of Peru and Bolivia. Sometimes described as an inland sea, it is home to Aymara, Quechua and Uros indigenous communities and sits at an altitude of around 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) in the central Andes mountain range, making it the highest navigable lake in the world. The extreme altitude also exposes the lake to high levels of solar radiation, which enhances evaporation and constitutes most of its water losses. More than three million people live around the lake, relying on its waters to fish, farm and attract tourists who boost the economy of an otherwise marginalized region. Now the lake is at risk of losing some of that magic. While water levels are known to fluctuate each year, these changes have become more extreme due to the climate crisis. A record-breaking winter heat wave has led to increased evaporation and decreasing lake levels, according to CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward, worsening water deficits brought on by drought. Sixto Flores, director in Puno for Perus national meteorology and hydrology service (Senamhi), told CNN that precipitation there was 49% lower than average from August 2022 until March 2023, a period that includes the rainy season during which water levels usually recover. Flores told CNN that by December water levels will be heading toward the lowest recorded since 1996 if the lake evaporates at the same rate as it normally does in the next few months, which he described as very serious. This is part of a gradual decline in water levels at the lake in recent years, said Flores, and a recent study which examined satellite images from 1992-2020 showed that Lake Titicaca is losing around 120 million metric tons of water per year, which the authors say is primarily due to changes in precipitation and run off. Communities that rely on fishing are struggling as low water levels adds to mounting problems: declining fish stocks due to pollution and overfishing. Agriculture has also been impacted by drought, with regional authorities reporting that crops have suffered badly in the last harvest season. The vast majority of quinoa and potato crops, both local staples, have been affected, as have oats used to feed livestock. The tourist economy also took a hit after boats used to ferry visitors around the lake were stranded as waters receded. We are extremely worried most of all because the water level is falling a lot at the moment, said Jullian Huattamarca, 36, who sells locally made textiles to visitors to the island of Taquile. We want the tourists to come back, particularly foreign tourists, he said. The Puno region, which envelops the entirety of the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, has long been known as an underdeveloped and marginalized region of the country. More recently, the economy has been battered by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and a wave of social unrest. Puno became the epicenter of demonstrations calling for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, which built on outrage that has developed due to decades of inequality, allegations of corruption, and stagnating living standards. Huattamarca told CNN that visitors didnt travel to the region during the protests. They were a bit scared of going, he said. Huattamarca said that many people have left the area in recent years, particularly during the pandemic. They had to, they didnt have enough money for basic necessities like food, he said. And recent history suggests that the ongoing drought could push more people to leave their homes, as a previous drought in 1991 caused waves of migration as the subsistence economy collapsed due to a lack of food. For others, such as Charca, the drought is disrupting a way of life. Charca is part of the Uros indigenous group, who live on islands made of dried totora reeds that float on the lake. For centuries, the Uros have woven the reeds into islands, as well as using them to make buildings and boats, but Charca is concerned that lower water levels mean there are fewer reeds available. Its going to keep affecting us, there wont be any more totora, the islands are deteriorating, thats what worries us, Charca told CNN. Looking toward the future, its hard to see respite. El Nino, a natural phenomenon marked by warmer-than-normal temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean that can vastly alter the weather over South America, is currently underway. Grinia Avalos, deputy director for climatology with Senamhi, told CNN that these warmer temperatures are expected to continue until at least February 2024. These conditions will contribute to the fact that there will be lower levels of rain in the Andean region, she said. For Connor Baker, analyst at International Crisis Group, the situation requires long-term action to protect those that depend on the lake. While the lakes fluctuations have been linked to climate variability and natural oscillations, the exacerbating influence of climate change heightens the need for sustained management strategies, he told CNN. Local communities reliant on the lake for livelihoods are particularly vulnerable, underscoring the urgency of addressing the challenges posed by more intense fluctuations in the water level. This story was first published on CNN.com, "The worlds highest navigable lake is drying out" Air Indias bold rebranding journey has been making waves. The rebranding effort is a delicate dance between preserving the legacy and embracing modernity, a balance that has caught the attention of passengers and industry experts alike. Air Indias new brand look has received mixed reactions from the public. Several factors have contributed to this varied response. In this two-part series, Adgully weighs in on the airlines makeover, sharing their insights on its strategic choices and potential impacts. Also read: Air India rebranding Part 1: The good, the bad and the ineffective Piali Dasgupta, Senior Vice President - Marketing, Columbia Pacific Communities, notes that any creative work is always open to interpretations because it is highly subjective in nature. Thanks to social media, everyone has an opinion on everything and is free to express it. In case of Air India, one has to understand that it is a legacy brand that was founded over 90 years ago and was owned by the Government of India for many years. The expectations from a storied brand like Air India will always be different from a new-age company. There are many emotions attached to the brand, and it has served generations. Being the oldest airline in the country, it evokes nostalgia of all sorts. When the new brand identity fails to live up to the expectations and creates an erosion of the nostalgia that the brand would earlier evoke, it leads to varied reactions. It is the age-old conflict between the new and the old. But its also about not living up to the expectations of a Tata brand, she explains. Mixed reactions to Air India's new brand look stem from emotional, psychological, perceptual, and communication-related factors, points out Vejay Anand, CEO, Ironhill India and branding expert. Rebranding, according to him, is inherently complex, and the diversity of public reactions is a natural outcome given the audiences range of perspectives and preferences. Anand lists out some potential reasons for the varied response as: Sentimentality and emotional attachment with the old brand: Air India has a long history and strong emotional connections with the public. Many people might have sentimental attachments to the old brand, making it difficult to embrace a new identity immediately. Air India has a long history and strong emotional connections with the public. Many people might have sentimental attachments to the old brand, making it difficult to embrace a new identity immediately. Lack of openness to change: Human psychology often leads to resistance when faced with change. People become accustomed to familiar visuals, and any departure from that familiarity can evoke discomfort or scepticism. Human psychology often leads to resistance when faced with change. People become accustomed to familiar visuals, and any departure from that familiarity can evoke discomfort or scepticism. A sense of authenticity: Rebranding efforts can be met with scepticism if the public perceive them as superficial attempts to cover up more profound issues. The new branding might not be readily accepted if lingering negative perceptions of the airline's performance or past scandals exist. Rebranding efforts can be met with scepticism if the public perceive them as superficial attempts to cover up more profound issues. The new branding might not be readily accepted if lingering negative perceptions of the airline's performance or past scandals exist. Aesthetic preferences: Aesthetic preferences vary widely among individuals. What some may perceive as modern and appealing, others might find unappealing or unaligned with their taste. Aesthetic preferences vary widely among individuals. What some may perceive as modern and appealing, others might find unappealing or unaligned with their taste. The significance of symbols: People often associate meanings and interpretations with visual elements. If the symbolism behind the new logo or brand elements needs to be clarified or open to different interpretations, it can lead to mixed reactions. People often associate meanings and interpretations with visual elements. If the symbolism behind the new logo or brand elements needs to be clarified or open to different interpretations, it can lead to mixed reactions. Expectations Vs reality: When people hear about a rebranding, they might have certain expectations about the changes. If the changes align with these expectations, it can lead to satisfaction and clarity. When people hear about a rebranding, they might have certain expectations about the changes. If the changes align with these expectations, it can lead to satisfaction and clarity. Diversity among audiences:Air India serves a diverse audience with varying backgrounds, preferences, and opinions. Creating a brand look that resonates equally with all audience segments is challenging. Rohit Varma, Founder, Narrative, too, lists a number of factors that could be contributing to the varied response to the new brand look of Air India: Change aversion: People are generally resistant to change, especially when it comes to something as familiar as an airline logo. The new Air India logo is a significant departure from the old logo, which has been in use for over 70 years. This change may be jarring for some people and take some time to get used to. Personal preferences: People have different tastes and preferences when it comes to design. Some people may prefer the simplicity and elegance of the new logo, while others may prefer the traditional look of the old logo. Expectations: Some people may have had high expectations for the new Air India logo. They may have been hoping for a logo that is more modern and stylish. The new logo may not have met their expectations. Media coverage: The media coverage of the new Air India logo has been mixed. Some media outlets have praised the new logo, while others have criticised it. This media coverage may have influenced people's opinions of the new logo. Ultimately, adds Varma, whether or not people like the new Air India logo is a matter of personal preference. However, the varied response to the new logo suggests that it is not universally loved or hated. It is likely that the new logo will continue to be a topic of discussion for some time to come, he adds. Effective rebranding involves not only visual changes, but also a shift in the overall brand narrative. How well has Air India managed to convey their new narrative through their new design? Piali Dasgupta says that she didnt quite warm up to the narrative, especially the film released by the airline, which reinforces the stereotypes commonly ascribed to India. While insisting that her views are not coloured by all that she has read on social media, Dasgupta maintains, If you watch the film released by the airline on August 11, you will see that it is set in a rural ambience, with elements of rural life in it. I have a problem with the intensely stereotypical agricultural image of India. Its 2023, and India is one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the world. The whole world is looking at us. India is beyond its villages and rural life. Its a vibrant, pulsating, technology-charged economy, competing with the superpowers of the world. Why must the same old stereotypes be reinforced, then? Isnt this the typical white man gaze of India that one is so tired of? When you look at documentaries made on India by people in the West, they entirely choose to focus on our slums and the poverty, when India is so much beyond that. Similarly, if the airline says that the brand is now about progressive, bold, confident outlook for the future, why not use a narrative that projects the new India of possibilities to the world? On the other hand, Rohit Varma feels that it is still too early to say how well Air India has managed to convey their new narrative through their new design. According to him, the new brand has only been launched recently, and it will take time for people to get used to it and for the airline to implement the new brand across all touchpoints. However, he adds, the new design does seem to be a good start. The new logo is simple and elegant, and it is a clear departure from the old logo, which was seen as being outdated and cluttered. The new colour scheme is also more modern and stylish, and it is a good fit for the airline's new positioning as a premium global carrier. The new design also features a number of elements that are meant to evoke India's rich culture and heritage. For example, the new logo is inspired by the peak of the gold window frame, which is a classic design element of Air India's aircraft. The new livery also features a chakra-inspired pattern, which is a symbol of Indian spirituality and philosophy, he explains. Varma points out that these elements suggest that Air India is trying to convey a new narrative about itself as a modern, stylish, and yet still culturally rooted airline. Whether or not the airline is successful in this endeavour will depend on how well it is able to implement the new brand across all touchpoints and how well it is able to deliver on its promise of a premium travel experience, he adds. With regard to the logo, Vejay Anand feels that the Maharaja is very endearing and has lent himself very well to various guest touchpoints and has been the most positive aspect of Air India. As the company mulls its future route, The Maharaja should remain a beloved companion, representing the rich tapestry of legacy and the promise of a voyage into the future. I would expect a modern Maharaja to continue domestically and internationally an amalgamation of the past but more into the future, he adds. Crucial elements What elements are crucial for a successful rebranding campaign? How does Air Indias effort measure up in this regard? The key elements of a successful rebranding are a strong brand proposition that did not exist earlier and would now help the brand gain customer love/ market share, an attractive and appealing brand identity that its present and future customers would resonate with, an effective brand narrative to back this identity and tell us a story which is authentic to the brands core ethos and its product or service, and finally a great media strategy to ensure the rebranding is communicated effectively, and widely across multiple audience touchpoints, Air India did a glitzy launch with the whos who and the media in attendance; however, it failed in the first three areas, explains Piali Dasgupta. Based on his experience in marketing, Rohit Varma lists out some of the crucial elements for a successful rebranding campaign: Clear objectives: What do you want to achieve with the rebranding? Do you want to change the public perception of the brand? Do you want to attract new customers? Do you want to increase brand awareness? Having clear objectives will help you to measure the success of the rebranding campaign. What do you want to achieve with the rebranding? Do you want to change the public perception of the brand? Do you want to attract new customers? Do you want to increase brand awareness? Having clear objectives will help you to measure the success of the rebranding campaign. Strong brand identity: The new brand must be clear, concise, and memorable. It should also be consistent across all touchpoints, from the logo and website to the employee uniforms and customer service. The new brand must be clear, concise, and memorable. It should also be consistent across all touchpoints, from the logo and website to the employee uniforms and customer service. Effective communication: The rebranding campaign must be communicated effectively to all stakeholders, including employees, customers, and investors. This communication should be clear, concise, and consistent with the new brand identity. The rebranding campaign must be communicated effectively to all stakeholders, including employees, customers, and investors. This communication should be clear, concise, and consistent with the new brand identity. Time and patience: Rebranding is not a quick fix. It takes time for people to get used to the new brand. The rebranding campaign should be sustained over a period of time to ensure that it is successful. According to Varma, Air Indias rebranding effort seems to have addressed some of these elements. The new logo is clear, concise, and memorable. It is also consistent with the airlines new positioning as a premium global carrier. The rebranding campaign has also been communicated effectively to stakeholders, including employees and customers. However, it is still too early to say whether Air Indias rebranding effort will be successful. The new brand must be implemented across all touchpoints and the airline must deliver on its promise of a premium travel experience. Only time will tell whether the rebranding will be successful in changing the public perception of the airline. According to Vejay Anand, some of the crucial elements for a successful rebranding campaign are: Understand your audience, and analyse who you are trying to reach with your new brand. What are their needs and wants? Define your brand identity. What do you want your brand to stand for? What are your core values? Create a strong visual identity. Your logo, colours, and typography should all be consistent with your brand identity. Communicate your rebrand effectively. Ensure your employees, customers, and partners know the changes. Be consistent with your new brand. Once you've launched your rebrand, use it consistently across all channels. According to him, Air India's rebranding effort measures up well in these regards. The airline has a clear understanding of its target audience, which is Indian travelers who are looking for a modern and international airline. The airline has also defined its brand identity as a symbol of Indias rich history and culture, reflected in the new logo and livery. The visual identity is solid and consistent, and the airline has communicated the rebrand effectively to its employees, customers, and partners, he adds. Balancing the transition Rebranding can sometimes alienate existing customers while trying to attract new ones. It is important for brands to balance this delicate transition. Thats usually the trickiest part of any rebranding effort, points out Piali Dasgupta. The brand has stated that the iconic Maharaja was not being understood correctly by people in other nations. And yes, a lot has been written about the political incorrectness of the Maharaja in todays times, most of which I agree with. However, for generations of people that grew up on the Maharaja and his famously twirled moustache, seeing it relegated to the cutlery was perhaps a tad heartbreaking. The Maharaja does not have to stand for royalty, and an undemocratic nation. It could simply stand for being treated like a king, which every customer aspires for. It's about how you treat the narrative, and repurpose it to suit the times that we live in. A lot of comments on social media do continue to be about the Maharaja, Dasgupta adds. She further says that the new identity doesnt really offer a very compelling, fresh narrative that new customers would be hooked to, while also taking away the nostalgic appeal of some of its older identities, like the Konark Wheel, which were so proudly Indian. Rebranding can be a delicate process, especially for a company with a long history like Air India, points out Rohit Varma. He stresses that the airline has to be careful not to alienate its existing customers while trying to attract new ones. According to Varma, here are some ways in which Air India has tried to balance this delicate transition: Keeping the old logo as part of the new design: The new Air India logo is a clear departure from the old logo, but it still retains some of the same elements, such as the iconic gold peak. This helps to bridge the gap between the old and new brands and makes the transition more gradual for existing customers. The new Air India logo is a clear departure from the old logo, but it still retains some of the same elements, such as the iconic gold peak. This helps to bridge the gap between the old and new brands and makes the transition more gradual for existing customers. Using the new brand in a limited way at first: Air India has been gradually rolling out the new brand, starting with its website and social media channels. This allows the airline to test the waters and see how customers react to the new branding before making a full commitment. Air India has been gradually rolling out the new brand, starting with its website and social media channels. This allows the airline to test the waters and see how customers react to the new branding before making a full commitment. Communicating the rebranding to customers in a clear and concise way: Air India has been communicating the rebranding to customers through its website, social media, and advertising. This communication has been clear and concise, and it has helped to explain to customers why the airline is rebranding and what the new brand stands for. Air India has been communicating the rebranding to customers through its website, social media, and advertising. This communication has been clear and concise, and it has helped to explain to customers why the airline is rebranding and what the new brand stands for. Listening to customer feedback: Air India has been listening to customer feedback on the new brand. This feedback has been positive overall, but there have also been some concerns raised. Air India has been taking this feedback into account and making adjustments to the new brand as needed. Overall, Varma adds, Air India has been taking a cautious approach to its rebranding. The airline is trying to balance the need to attract new customers with the need to keep its existing customers happy. It is still too early to say whether the rebranding will be successful, but Air India is off to a good star. The competitive landscape The aviation industry is highly competitive. How does Air Indias new brand look position them against their competitors in terms of attracting passengers? Experts feel that a mere brand change wont be suffice for the airline to compete with other airlines in a fiercely competitive market. It needs to improve on many aspects such as service, on-time performance, etc. Air India, says Piali Dasgupta, today is competing majorly with Indigo, which has about 55% market share, and also with Spice Jet and other airlines. The former is a case study in effective branding. Its simple yet clutter-breaking identity and a fantastic brand personality sharpened over the years make it a clear favourite with consumers. Its a brand that always delivers what it promises (on-time landing), has great in-flight service, and wins hearts with its great sense of humour. The brands personality stands out. And the airlines ensures that its personality is reflected in every consumer touchpoint, from food wrapping to seat covers, she adds. I am not sure the new look of Air India does much to attract new customers particularly the millennial and Gen-Z consumer. It neither evokes excitement nor nostalgia and is not exactly a customer magnet. Having said that, I would like to reiterate that a customer makes a purchase decision not only because of a brands logo/ identity/ narrative/ purpose. These do play a part, but so does customer experience. And if Air India can streamline its customer experience at every touchpoint, while being competitive in its pricing, it can win back both trust and loyalty of its consumers, she points out. Air Indias new brand is positioned as a modern, progressive, and international airline, says Vejay Anand. This is a clear departure from the airlines old brand, considered more traditional and outdated. The new brand is designed to appeal to a younger and more discerning audience, and it is also intended to help Air India compete with other international airlines. The new brand look reflects Air Indias desire to move into the future. The airline envisages new added value and an increase in the number of customers. In terms of positioning against its competitors, Air Indias new brand is a good start. The airline is trying to position itself as a more modern and international airline, and the new brand is a step in the right direction. However, Air India must do more than change their brand to compete with other international airlines. They will also need to improve their service and their on-time performance. By enhancing its service, on-time performance, network, and prices, Air India can position itself as a more competitive airline and attract more passengers. Anand lists out the following points on how Air India can position themselves against their competitors: Enhance their service: Air India has a reputation for poor service. They must improve their customer service to attract new customers and keep them happy. Air India has a reputation for poor service. They must improve their customer service to attract new customers and keep them happy. Enhance their punctuality: Air India is also known for poor on-time performance. They need to improve their on-time performance to be more competitive. Air India is also known for poor on-time performance. They need to improve their on-time performance to be more competitive. Build their network: Air India needs to expand their network to reach more customers. They need to add more routes to more destinations. Air India needs to expand their network to reach more customers. They need to add more routes to more destinations. Provide reasonable rates:Air India must offer competitive prices to attract new customers. They need to be price-competitive with other international airlines. According to Rohit Varma, it is important to note that the aviation industry is constantly evolving, and Air India will need to continue to innovate and improve its service if it wants to remain competitive. Promote the new brand through its marketing materials, including the website, social media, and advertising. Train employees on the new brand and how to communicate it to customers. Make changes to the airline's operating procedures to reflect the new brand values. Invest in new aircraft and facilities that are consistent with the new brand. Partner with other businesses and organizations that share the airline's values. Create a unique and memorable customer experience that reflects the airline's new brand. Airline branding often aims to reflect a countrys culture and values. What I believe is that there has been an attempt to capture the cultural connotations of the country, but they may not have hit the bulls eye, says Piali Dasgupta. Let me explain. The new logo mark is supposed to be inspired by the iconic jharokha design on the Air India windows, symbolising a window of opportunities. Now, unless someone reads the press release, which makes this claim, there is really no way of saying that the gold logo mark, which frankly looks more like a boomerang and less like a window, is inspired by the Indian jharokha. The colour palette for the new identity, for some reason, introduces aubergine a colour that almost immediately reminds one of the other Tata-owned airline Vistara. I am not sure if this was done deliberately to signal the fact that Vistara will soon merge with Air India. But it takes away from the uniqueness of brand Air India, making it look like a follow-up project of Vistara. The India story, which was earlier beautifully captured within the swan and the Konark wheel, is amiss. And quite honestly, there is nothing truly and ubiquitously Indian that is reflected in the new identity, which is a pity for an India-proud airline from the house of Tata, one of the most loved and respected conglomerates in India, she explains. Role of social media Social media has played a significant role in shaping public opinion about the new brand look. Social media has become an important tool for brands to connect with their customers and build relationships, points out Rohit Varma. It is also a platform where customers can share their opinions, both positive and negative. When a brand receives negative feedback on social media, it is important to handle it in a way that is respectful and professional, he says. Acknowledge the feedback: The first step is to acknowledge the feedback and thank the person for sharing their opinion. This shows that you are listening to your customers and that you value their feedback. The first step is to acknowledge the feedback and thank the person for sharing their opinion. This shows that you are listening to your customers and that you value their feedback. Respond promptly: Dont let negative feedback sit unanswered for too long. Respond as quickly as possible to show that you are taking the feedback seriously. Dont let negative feedback sit unanswered for too long. Respond as quickly as possible to show that you are taking the feedback seriously. Be respectful: Even if you disagree with the feedback, it is important to be respectful of the person who is giving it. Avoid personal attacks or name-calling. Even if you disagree with the feedback, it is important to be respectful of the person who is giving it. Avoid personal attacks or name-calling. Address the issue: If the feedback is about a specific issue, address it directly. Explain what you are doing to address the issue and how you plan to improve. If the feedback is about a specific issue, address it directly. Explain what you are doing to address the issue and how you plan to improve. Be transparent: Be honest and transparent about the situation. Dont try to sugarcoat things or make promises that you can't keep. Be honest and transparent about the situation. Dont try to sugarcoat things or make promises that you can't keep. Offer a solution: If the feedback is about a problem, offer a solution. This could be anything from apologising for the inconvenience to offering a refund or replacement. If the feedback is about a problem, offer a solution. This could be anything from apologising for the inconvenience to offering a refund or replacement. Learn from the feedback: Use the feedback to improve your products or services. This shows that you are listening to your customers and that you are committed to providing them with the best possible experience. First and foremost, brands should listen, says Piali Dasgupta. She adds, Social media listening is the smartest way to gauge consumer sentiment, and its important to listen to what your consumer has to say about your new look. It doesnt mean that a brand has to always react to the comments. But at the same time, turning a deaf ear to what consumers are saying doesnt help either. In case of a rebranding exercise, if the general sentiment isnt in favour of the new identity, there isnt much that a brand can do unfortunately, because it would have spent thousands of marketing dollars on the rebranding exercise already. So, its often not possible to retract. The nature of social media is such that what is news today is forgotten after a week. So, if there is tremendous backlash on something like a rebranding attempt, its best for the brand to lie low for some time. However, the same approach is not recommended for any communication that may have hurt sentiments of a group of people, and a clarification is always needed at that time. Social media has become an essential platform for brands to connect with their customers and build their reputations, says Vejay Anand. However, it can also be a challenging platform to manage, especially when handling feedback. By responding to positive and negative feedback thoughtfully and respectfully, Air India can build trust and credibility with their customers and show they are committed to providing a good experience. Here are some tips on how brands like Air India can handle both positive and negative feedback on social media: Be responsive: This means responding to all feedback, whether it is positive or negative. Even if you don't have a solution to the problem, acknowledging the input and letting the customer know that you are taking it seriously is essential. This means responding to all feedback, whether it is positive or negative. Even if you don't have a solution to the problem, acknowledging the input and letting the customer know that you are taking it seriously is essential. Be respectful: Even if the feedback is negative, it is essential to respect the customer. Avoid getting defensive or making excuses. Instead, focus on addressing the issue and finding a solution. Even if the feedback is negative, it is essential to respect the customer. Avoid getting defensive or making excuses. Instead, focus on addressing the issue and finding a solution. Be transparent: If you cannot resolve the issue immediately, be okay with the customer about what you are doing to fix it. If you cannot resolve the issue immediately, be okay with the customer about what you are doing to fix it. Be proactive: Be sure to come to you with feedback before customers come to you. Be bold and ask for feedback regularly. This will help you to identify any potential problems early on and to take steps to address them. Anand lists out some specific tips on how Air India can handle the positive and negative feedback about their new brand look on social media: Britannia Timepass just launched an entertaining advertising campaign that surely strikes the humorous chords. Developed by Lowe Lintas Bangalore, the latest campaign for the 'Britannia Timepass' product line gives the perfect solution for how to enjoy the Chatpatang flavours of the product and not do any Utpatang Timepass. There is a growing market for organised snacks, which include packaged and branded snack products. The organised snack market in India is diverse, and new products and categories continue to emerge as consumer preferences evolve. Britannia Timepass perfectly aligns with evolving consumer expectations with a wide range of variants. Its distinctive, unique flavour sets it apart from competitors, and the campaign aims to create a sensorial experience around this unique flavour and format combination. Rajneet Kohli, CEO & Executive Director, Britannia Industries said, As a part of the Britannias vision to become a Responsible Global Total Foods Company, we remain committed to creating distinct and memorable snacking experiences for our consumers by providing them, the best quality & delightful products like the new range from Britannia Timepass. In this brand new ad campaign, our creative partner, Lowe Lintas has captured the essence of everyday peculiarities that can arise from idle moments. He added, In a world of imperfections, we are glad to introduce the perfect snack for a perfect timepass', wherein, we are inviting consumers to enjoy the moment (however difficult) with a smile with our Timepass salted snacks range. In this engaging campaign, we invite consumers to embrace the fun in our daily lives and couple 'Chatpatang Timepass. Our comprehensive Timepass range has something for all palates in the form of fun sticks and groovy chips, each flavour has a unique snappy bite that you just cant resist. Taking cues from the quirks of everyday life, including misguided advice, moments of boredom, and random suggestions, this ad film playfully showcases the natural tendency of minds to come up with mischievous ideas. In the delightful multi-film campaign, the creative team has smartly used satire to convey the message of steering such wayward thoughts in a deliciously tempting directionby indulging in Britannia's irresistible new range of 'Chatpatang' snacks. Saurabh Dikshit, Executive Director at Lowe Lintas, said, For a brand with a name like Timepass, any run-of-the-mill story just wouldnt make the cut. That was our cue to do a fun campaign with a Chatpatang twist. The core thought being that when one sits idle, and theres nothing better to do, the mind can only think of random things. In those times, we said, choose Chatpatang every time the mind wants to do something Utpatang. The campaign is currently live across online and offline channels. Campaign Credits Britannia Industries CEO & Executive Director - Rajneet Kohli - Rajneet Kohli Category Head - Manas Ranjan Barpanda - Manas Ranjan Barpanda Head Digital Marketing & PR - Dipti Sudhir - Dipti Sudhir Brand Manager - Rahul Amarnath Yadav Lowe Lintas Bangalore The India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) presented the eighth edition of its prestigious IndIAA Awards on 1st September at a ceremony hosted at the Taj Lands End, Mumbai. ABP Network and Sony Pictures Network were the co-partner while Network18 and JIO Cinema were the associate partners for the event. The awards to honour real advertising that creatively cut through to the market before it could impress the all-client jury saw work by 15 creative agencies take the top honours across 18 product and service categories and one special category. The awards saw 102 campaigns being shortlisted of which, by design, only one in each category is awarded. In case of close contests the jury awarded joint winners after much deliberation. Among creative agencies, Leo Burnett, MullenLowe Lintas Group and Ogilvy won three IndIAA Awards each, representing the very best work in that category. BBDO, DDB Mudra and TBWA won two awards each. Other creative agencies and creators to win an IndIAA Award were Grey Group, Kehat Kabira Pictures, McCann Worldgroup, Publicis Worldwide, Rediffusion, SG Media, Talented, The Script Room, The Womb and Tilt Brand Solutions. Two HUL brands were among winners, in the Food & Beverage and Personal Care categories. HDFC Life won in Insurance while HDFC Mutual Fund won in Banking & Finance. Suresh Narayanan, Jury Chairman and Chairman & Managing Director, Nestle India, said "In my fifth year as the jury chair, I feel intimately acquainted with this room and honoured to be among some of the greatest creative minds in the country- advertising gurus, communication experts, and marketing wizards. Mr Narayana presented a short poem titled 'Jury Chair ka Sambodhan,' a reflection of his five years in this esteemed role." He then went on to recite a few lines of the same in hindi which received a hearty applause from the audience. Avinash Pandey, President IAA, sheds light on how the IndIAA Awards exemplify creative excellence and have set the gold standard for creative awards in India. He states, It's been an intriguing year for arguably the most active industry association of its kind. We've demonstrated that our industry can be a catalyst for change, particularly in breaking gender bias. We celebrate the winners reflecting the growing synergy between associations and showcasing the remarkable impact of the communication industry. The positive feedback from young leaders has been heartening, and our industry's enthusiasm for AdAsia remains strong. We're organising a delegation led by Sam Balsara for AdAsia 23 in Seoul, the largest event of its kind in Asia." IAA IndIAA Awards Chairman, Abhishek Karnani said, IAA Awards are unique because you can't enter them. A group of seasoned journalists shortlisted 102 campaigns across 19 categories from over a thousand ads. This accomplishes two important goals- first, it ensures that only genuine work is presented to the jury, keeping scam ads at bay, second, it truly democratises the creative process by not charging an entry fee, making fundraising for this grand event a challenging task. He further said, what sets the IAA awards apart is that they are judged by senior marketers who own and invest in the brands. We showcase the transformative power of communication for our beloved country and society, embodying IAA's unwavering belief in the ability of communication to drive change. NEWME, a real-time fashion-tech company for the GenZs across India and Southeast Asia just launched their first digital campaign, #NEWMEveryday with renowned actress Sanjana Sanghi. The campaign aims at redefining the way Gen-Z girls embrace rapid fashion trends, offering them a vast collection of quirky, dynamic, and affordable clothing every week. The campaign aligns with NEWMEs distinctive pixelated chameleon logo, symbolizing adaptability, transformation & digital-first brand. Clothes are the means for self-expression and with this campaign the brand aims to enable Indian GenZ women to choose from numerous designs and latest styles. The brand understands modern women's need to be unapologetic, uncompromising, and unafraid to express themselves. Like a chameleon that adapts to its environment, NEWME encourages women of today to experiment and embrace their new skin every day for every occasion. Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Sumit Jasoria, CEO and co-founder of NEWME, says, "The #NEWMEEveryday campaign encapsulates our belief in the power of transformation and adaptability. With our new collection of designs and styles every week, we want to offer our consumers a chance to reinvent and be new versions of themselves every day. In the past one year, we have received overwhelming support from our customers organically. With Sanjana onboard for this campaign, we look to broaden our consumer base by driving awareness about our offerings. She embodies the spirit of the modern woman who seeks constant renewal and expression through fashion. Her vibrant personality and keen fashion sense resonates perfectly with our brand as well as our customers. Sanjana Sanghi, renowned for her portrayal in movies like 'Dil Bechara' and 'Rashtra Kavach Om' has endeared herself to people throughout the country with her youthful charm and adaptable acting prowess. As the face of NEWMEs latest digital campaign, #NEWMEEveryday, Sanjana brings her own unique blend of modernity and elegance to the forefront. Commenting on the partnership, Sanjana Sanghi, said, Being a young woman, I hold the art of self-expression through fashion. NEWME takes this empowerment to heart and mirrors my own journey beautifully. Memories of college days rush in the endless searches for that budget-friendly, perfect outfit for each event, outing and going for my auditions. Partnering with NEWME feels like a gift to my younger self, a chance to inspire fellow fashion enthusiasts like teenage Sanjana. Together, we're embarking on a journey to offer a wide array of affordable, stylish choices that cater to every taste and budget. The campaign highlights NEWME dropping new designs every week to enable consumers to be fashion forward and also avail free shipping on every purchase. NEWME caters to digital natives and is also available offline to maximize a seamless shopping experience for young shoppers. The campaign conceptualized by Estoot will debut on NEWMEs social channels YouTube and Instagram. NEWME, the fashion-forward platform that has been making waves since its inception in 2022, is disrupting fast fashion with data & technology. The brand's mission is to empower more than 500M Gen-Z customer base in India and Southeast Asia by providing them with transformative designs, affordable prices, and an exhilarating new collection each week. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has claimed that his party BJP is working unitedly for the forthcoming assembly elections, and there is no internal wrangling. Asked about Rajat Sharma in the show 'Aap Ki Adalat' that there are three groupings in the party, 'naaraz' (unhappy), maharaj (Jyotiraditya Scindia) and Shivraj, the chief minister replied: "The problem with Congress is that they lose their sleep when our party works unitedly. We appear in their nightmares. Like a red rag shown to a raging bull, Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh wake up from their nightmares shouting 'Shivraj, Shivraj'." Rajat Sharma: Is it not true that the BJP in MP is divided with Narendra Singh Tomar, who is a minister at the Centre, expressing disinterest in working for the party in the state Chouhan: "No. No. this is not true. BJP is fully united. Those who came with Scindia Ji have mixed with our party like sugar in milk. I feel happy in saying that BJP is working unitedly in MP. Of course, leaders work differently according to their preferences. Even two brothers in a family have different styles of work." Rajat Sharma: But Scindia Ji must be nursing ambition to become the CM some day? Chouhan: Why not? It is not wrong to nurse ambition. Rajat Sharma: But you are not allowing him to make CM? Chouhan: "The party will make the CM. The people will make the CM". The MP chief minister narrated how he was suddenly made the CM of his state in 2005 when he was staying as an MP in Delhi. He had no inkling about it and it was former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda who was the first to congratulate him on become the CM. Chouhan said, "I became the chief minister because the party wanted me and I had the blessings of the people. In 2005, when I first became CM, I did not know that I had been selected. BJP parliamentary board was meeting and I was staying on Pandit Pant Marg in Delhi as MP. Suddenly, my wife woke me up and told me that TV channels were breaking news about myself being selected as CM. I told her not to daydream and go to sleep. Soon afterwards, the door bell rang, and Bhupendra Singh Hooda was standing outside to congratulate me. He was my neighbour. Soon after, call came from our party organizing secretary asking me to come to the office immediately, where I was told that I have been given the responsibility of chief minister. ...Whenever our party gives us responsibility, who try to fulfill it. The party and people gave me blessings and because of this I became the CM. Till the time my party and people give me blessings I will stay as CM. I do not bother what Rahul or Priyanka say." Rajat Sharma: "Is it true that when Kamal Nath's government fell, the party leadership wanted you to come to the Centre and become a minister in Modi government and somebody else should be made CM?" Chouhan: "No, I was never told this thing. It was the party which directed me to become the CM again. I took oath only on the orders of the party and with the blessings of our PM." Rajat Sharma: But the Prime Minister had replaced the entire batch of ministers including the CM in Gujarat. The chief minister in Karnataka was changed. Why is it that there is so much affection for Shivraj Chouhan who was again made the CM? Chouhan: "Let me tell you. Modi Ji is a unique and unparalleled leader. He never loves an individual. Nobody should have this misunderstanding that he would ask somebody to continue because of personal love and affection. Narendra Modi ji has love only for the nation, its 140 crore people, and he has devoted his entire life to serve the people, 24hours x 365 days. I have never seen a hardworking leader in the world like him who toils day and night. It cannot be that you do not toil and he would love you....He formulates plans and schemes and we try our best to implement them. Today my state MP is No. 1 in Swachhata (cleanliness) scheme. We are also No. 1 in Smart City scheme. In Save Water, Conserve Water too, we are no.1. " Chouhan said, "I say this in Aap Ki Adalat that a day will come when PM Narendra Modi and all of us Indians will watch India becoming 'Vishwa Guru' (world leader) before our own eyes. Nobody can stop India from becoming Vishwa Guru. Swami Vivekanand Ji predicted this 100 years ago saying the end of darkness is near. Those who are blind and deaf cannot watch and hear this, but I clearly see Bharat Mata standing up to become Vishwa Guru. It was predicted by one Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) and is now being achieved by another Narendra (Modi)." The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced the appointment of Lim Kean Bon as Area Director, India, South Asia, and Africa on September 1. He will succeed Raymond Lim as the India market lead based in New Delhi, leading STBs promotion, and travel trade engagement activities in Northern and Eastern India to sustain and grow affinity for Singapore from leisure travelers. In addition, Kean Bon will be responsible for business development efforts to secure visitorship across India to Singapore in the Cruise and Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) segments. He will also lead his team in engaging consumers in other regional markets like Bangladesh and South Africa. Speaking on this appointment for Singapore Tourism Board (STB), GB Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East, South Asia & Africa (IMESA), said, "We extend a hearty welcome to Kean Bon as he joins our dynamic team. I believe Kean Bons leadership in driving experience development for a leisure precinct and his past tenure in the Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau (SECB) places him in good stead to take on this role in STB New Delhi, particularly in this pivotal moment of anchoring Singapore as the premier lifestyle and business destination for Indian travellers. Kean Bon started his career in the Singapore public service as an urban planner in Singapores city planning authority. He joined the STB infrastructure planning and management division in 2015 to drive the planning of MICE infrastructure, and subsequently moved on to the SECB team in 2017, where he managed destination bids and account servicing activities for large-scale business meetings and conventions organised by global associations. Prior to taking on the STB New Delhi leadership role, Kean Bon led STBs Lifestyle Precinct Development team from 2020 to 2023, where he set direction for various projects to sustain the appeal of Orchard Road, Singapores leading lifestyle precinct. "I am excited to join the STB IMESA team and look forward to building on the good work and strong partnerships forged by my predecessor Raymond, Kean Bon said. Together with my team in New Delhi, we will continue our efforts to promote Singapore and inspire the Indian audience with the sheer breadth of vibrant experiences the city has to offer for leisure and business travellers. As a salute to 52 years of coffee heritage and toast to the future, TATA Starbucks proudly welcomes back the timeless classic Anniversary Blend. As coffee has transitioned from a humble morning ritual to a canvas for personal expression, a social experience, and a cultural statement, this treasured blend offers coffee connoisseurs a cup of coffee that is both divine and meaningful. Introduced first in 1996 to commemorate the company's 25th anniversary, the Anniversary Blend swiftly became a seasonal favorite. This year's celebration presents a reimagined blend, meticulously aged for five years, underscoring the brand's commitment to continually enhance the coffee experience for consumers across the country. Distinguished by its pronounced flavours, full-bodied character, and unmistakable boldness, the Anniversary Blend 2023 is a symphony of ethically sourced beans exclusively from Indonesia a region that has inspired Starbucks since its inception in 1971. The blends unique composition draws from the coffee-growing regions of Sumatra, West Java, and Sulawesi, resulting in a remarkable cup of Starbucks boldest blend. Infused with spicy undertones, fragrant notes of smoked cedar, and allspice, complemented by subtle accents of black truffle and fresh tarragon, this dark-roasted masterpiece delivers an intense, earthy richness that truly defines exceptional coffee. The packaging of the Anniversary Blend encapsulates the nurturing spirit of the siren a symbol synonymous with Starbucks radiating a warm, welcoming, and confident vibe. Crafted with intricate artistry, the design embraces the imperfections of woodcut printing techniques, symbolizing the authenticity and craftsmanship that go into every cup. This unique concoction of design and artistry, coupled with the exceptional taste of the coffee itself, instantly elevates an ordinary cup of coffee to an exceptional one. Thus, for those who want to experience coffee like no other, the Anniversary Blend is a must-try. Expressing his delight on this milestone, Sushant Dash, CEO, Tata Starbucks, said, The Anniversary Blend is our homage to Starbucks' rich coffee heritage. Crafted with the finest ethically sourced Indonesian coffee and aged to perfection for five years, this blend showcases our steadfast commitment to innovation, offering a timeless taste. As Starbucks commemorates its 52nd year, we find immense joy in extending this extraordinary coffee experience to coffee aficionados nationwide. Coffee is no longer just a beverage; it's an integral facet of our lives, a culture that binds us and the Anniversary Blend is here to further enrich this very culture. As a brand that has defined coffee culture, Starbucks continues to set the standard for excellence and innovation, offering coffee enthusiasts a chance to savour the very best in the world of coffee. From its inception, the brand has transformed the way people perceive and enjoy coffee, making it more than just a beverage a journey through flavours, stories, and shared moments. The Anniversary Blend stands as a testament to this journey, inviting consumers to indulge in a cup that holds both a rich history and a promising future. The limited-edition Starbucks Anniversary blend is available in 250 grams or customers can choose any of their favorite beverages with the anniversary blend as their espresso of choice across Starbucks stores in India, or via various delivery platforms. CG Corp Globals FMCG vertical CG Foods, the owner of the renowned noodle brand WAI WAI, proudly announces its partnership with Bollywoods superstar Ayushmann Khurrana as its new brand ambassador. With a legacy of 25 years and a dedicated following among the youth, WAI WAI is set to further solidify its position by joining forces with Ayushmann Khurrana, whose genuine and versatile persona deeply resonates with the youth. Under the theme and tagline WAI WAI Wala Taste, this collaboration aims to celebrate the distinctive flavor, taste, and seasoning that has endeared WAI WAI to its enthusiasts. Commenting on the collaboration, Actor Ayushmann Khurrana shared, Its an absolute pleasure to be associated with a youth-facing brand like Wai Wai. What sets it apart is the vibrant and diverse range of products it offers. From an array of exotic noodles catering to every taste, region, and preference, the brand lives up to its name. Varun Chaudhary, Managing Director of CG Foods & CG Corp Global India, states, Collaborating with Ayushmann Khurrana was my top priority, and I am delighted that we have joined forces in such a short time. This partnership comes at a critical moment when my vision for the brand includes not only exponential growth in sales but also the establishment of deep connections with WAI WAI fans across the country. India is an important market for us , and I am dedicated to ensuring that WAI WAI attains a leadership position with its roots deeply entrenched in India. WAI WAI has strategically decided to foster a stronger connection with the emerging generation, encompassing young adults, teenagers, and working professionals. As the sole standalone brand producing pre-seasoned noodles, colloquially referred to as Brown Noodles, WAI WAI is set to introduce an exciting transformation to the market. The brand is gearing up to delight its dedicated aficionados of Korean spicy cuisine with a thrilling and exotic assortment of 2X Spicy noodles, presented through its sub-brand Dynamite. With the recent signing of Ayushmann Khurrana, the brand is now poised to embark on a dynamic 360 campaign that holds the potential to resonate deeply with the contemporary youth. The triumph of this campaign and partnership pivots on the significant stride taken in the right direction. This ambitious goal underscores the brand's unwavering commitment to growth and innovation, bolstered by its collaboration with Ayushmann Khurrana, as it continues to carve its path as a leading player in the market. (CNN) Pope Francis urged Chinese Catholics to be good citizens and good Christians, a rare instance of the Holy Father publicly addressing the issue of religion in China. Francis seemingly off-the-cuff comments came during his Sunday Mass in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. The trip has been scrutinized because of both its historic nature it is the the first ever by a Pope to the sparsely populated Asian nation but also because of its potential geopolitical reverberations. Mongolia is sandwiched between Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine Francis has publicly criticized, and China, an atheist state where religious practice is heavily curtailed by the government. Officially there are about 6 million Catholics in China, but the number may be higher when counting those who practice at underground churches to avoid Beijings watchful eye. At the end of Mass, Pope Francis took the hands of the current Bishop of Hong Kong, cardinal-designate Stephen Chow, and his predecessor, Cardinal John Tong, calling them brother bishops before addressing Chinas Catholics Francis said he wanted to take advantage of their presence at his Mass in Mongolia to send a warm greeting to the noble Chinese people. Hong Kongs Catholic leaders play an important role in navigating Vatican-Beijing relations, as the territory allows its citizens greater freedom of religion than in mainland China. To the entire people I wish the best, go forward, always progress. And to the Chinese Catholics, I ask you to be good Christians and good citizens. China may be officially an atheist state, but religious practice is legal in the country albeit under tight government supervision and surveillance. Catholicism is one of five state-recognized faiths, but state-sanctioned Catholic churches were for decades by bishops chosen and ordained by Beijing, not the Holy See, until the two sides reached an agreement in 2018. Details of the accord have never been made public. Francis landed in Mongolia Friday for a trip that has lacked the usual fanfare of a Papal visit. There are only 1,500 Catholics in the entire country of 3.5 million, but that number has grown significantly in the decades following countrys transformation from communist one-party rule to multiparty democracy in the 1990s. According to Vatican News, there were only 14 Catholics in the country in 1995. The 86-year-old Pontiff spent the first day of his trip resting. He met with Mongolian political leaders on Saturday and on Sunday attended an inter-religious meeting alongside representatives from various religious communities, including Buddhists, Shamans, Muslim, Jews, and evangelicals and Russian Orthodox Christians. This story was first published on CNN.com. "Pope tells Chinese Catholics to be good citizens as he hosts mass in neighboring Mongolia" We all need insurance on our financial assets today. It doesnt matter if we have colossal wealth or not. In other words, no one can predict what the future holds for us, but the least we can do is secure ourselves to prevent financial losses. Thats where insurance coverage comes in. This is festival season, and most seek protection and ask Ganapati to keep us secured. We ask him to protect our wealth and let every good thing happen to us. This year, Bappa also got an insurance policy to secure his assets, jewelry, and funds. GSB Seva Mandals MahaGanapati is known as Indias Richest Lord Ganesha Idol at Kings Circle, Mumbai. Also popularly known as Navsala Pavnara Vishwacha Raja (wish-fulfilling Ganesh) by his devotees due to his countless miracles and infinite divine blessings on his devotees all over the world, his pandal committee people relied more on insurance companies than Ganesha himself. Amit D. Pai, Spokesperson and Trustee of GSB Seva Mandal, told Afternoon Voice, As the day is nearing for the Ganeshotsav celebrations, many other preparations are racing. Insurance coverage is a critical component of preparation. Previous year, in 2022, we had taken an insurance cover of a record Rs 316.40 crore. This year its Rs 360.40 crores. Indias Richest MahaGanapati is decorated with 66+ kg of Gold Ornaments, 295+ kg of Silver and other precious items which are usually donated by the Devotees or Sevedars This year we at GSB Seva Mandal are celebrating the 69th Year of Lord MahaGanapatis arrival on Virat Darshan Day (The first look unveiling event) on September 17, 2023, while Ganeshotsav begins on September 19, 2023, and ends on September 23, 2023. On average, around 60,000 poojas or sevas are offered to Lord MahaGanapati by the Devotees or Sevedars at their pendol. More than 20,000 people take advantage of Annadaan Seva, basically the Prasad Bhojan served on Banana Leaf. They also take utmost care of the environmental balance, so their MahaGanapatis idol is made up of a specific Clay (Shaadu Maati), grass, and Naturally Extracted Water colors, which means MahaGanapatis idol is Eco-friendly. Total coverage is for Rs 360.40 crores and is done by The New India Insurance Co. Ltd. Rs 38.47 crores: The all-insured policy covers a variety of risks that include gold, silver, and jewelry. Rs 2 crore, standard fire and special Peril policies with Earthquake Risk cover items like Furniture, fixtures, and Fittings, as well as installations such as computers, CCTV cameras, QR scanners, utensils, groceries, fruits, and vegetables. Rs 30 crore is for the public liability, which covers pandals, stadiums, devotees, etc. Rs 289.50 crore is for personal accident Insurance cover for volunteers, archaks, cooks, gadis, chappal stall workers, valet parking persons, security guards, etc. Rs 43 lakh: The Standard Fire and Special Peril Policy for the venue premises. Senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh on Monday claimed police lathi-charged protesters seeking quota for Marathas in Jalna district after a phone call was made from the Maharashtra home ministry. The former state home minister also demanded an enquiry by a retired judge to find out who called up the Jalna district superintendent of police and ordered him to lathi-charge the protesters. Police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna district on Friday after protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota to hospital. Several people, including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze in violence. Deshmukh, a loyalist of NCP founder Sharad Pawar, said the inhuman police action on protesters last week was very unfortunate. I had served as home minister of Maharashtra. As per my information, Maratha protestors (in Jalna district) were lathi-charged after a phone call was made from the home ministry. Police officials cannot take such action without the orders of senior officers, Deshmukh claimed while speaking to reporters in Nagpur. He said an enquiry by a retired judge into who had made the phone call would fix the responsibility. The home ministry is handled by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party. As the police action created a huge row, the senior police officer in Jalna was made a scapegoat and sent on forced leave, Deshmukh said. A day before, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that Jalna district superintendent of police, Tushar Doshi, was sent on compulsory leave and ADGP (law and order) Sanjay Saxena would probe the lathi-charge incident. He had also said a judicial probe would be conducted if required. Addressing a state function in Buldhana, Shinde said two DYSP-rank officers were transferred out of Jalna district. In 2018, the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra had given reservation to the Maratha community in jobs and higher education; however, the Maharashtra governments decision on quota was quashed by the Supreme Court in May 2021. A 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court in May 2021 said that the Maratha community was not socially and educationally backward. It also refused a review petition in April 2023, declaring that the law that granted quotas was unconstitutional. Now, Devendra Fadnavis is Deputy CM and is successfully running the coalition government. The opposition is lashing out at Fadnavis for the lathicharge and teargas firing on protestors. Whereas the officers of higher rank take such decisions to control the mob violence. Violence broke out on Friday after protesters clashed with the police and allegedly pelted stones at them, leading to lathicharge and the use of tear gas. Around 20 protesters and 37 police officers were injured during the clash. Over the last few days, hundreds of protesters, led by Manoj Jarange, a local Maratha leader, have been on a hunger strike, demanding a reservation. At least seven FIRs have so far been registered by the police against the protesters on charges such as assault on policemen, rioting, and damage to public and private property. Soon after the clashes, opposition leaders reached Jalna and started attacking Devendra by calling him a brahman leader. The venomous WhatsApp messages were made to create anger against this leader in the name of his cast. Without getting bothered by the attacks, Devendra took control of the present situation. In the meantime, Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde told the protesters that they are committed to providing reservation to the Maratha community in education and government jobs. Shinde also said that there was no misunderstanding between him and the two deputy chief ministers in the state and that all of them were working as a good team. Until the Maratha community gets reservation, the government schemes that are already in place will continue, and deserving people from the Maratha community will benefit from them. In 1997, Maratha Sangh and Maratha Seva Sangh organized the first major Maratha agitation for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. The protestors said that the Marathas were not upper caste but essentially Kunbis (members of the agrarian community). After a prolonged struggle, the Maharashtra legislature passed a bill proposing a 16% reservation in education and government jobs for the Maratha community. The bill declared Marathas a socially and educationally backward class by the government. The real Marathas or Marathas constituted 5 percent in Marathwada, 7 percent in Western Maharashtra, North Maharashtra, and Konkan, and 0.13 percent in Vidarbha of the states Marathi speakers as per the 1901 census. There was a movement in the 1920s when some agrarian groups who tilled the land sub-let to them by the Maratha Landowners were mobilized into the Maratha identity by the Maratha politicians for Vote Bank. Which makes the Marathas of today a cluster of castes (of somewhat unrelated castes of different social and economic standings). Most of this neo-Maratha agrarian population got the land they tilled registered on their names as per the land ceiling act (famously called the Kula Kayada in Marathi), thus achieving their total Maratha-status. This was unfortunate because the agrarian groups that deserved reservation long ago were ignored as they had taken up the new Maratha identity. But now, with the division of land (which they had gotten due to Kula Kayada), these groups seek reservation, for which they are even ready to revert back to their original caste identity. The Maratha Proper caste, on the other hand, is relatively well off and hasnt shown much interest in the reservation movement. Asking for reservations can be a constitutional right, but using Shivaji Maharajs name and Maratha identity for that is utterly unacceptable. The Maratha reservation is a hard sell, both legally and politically. Article 15 (4) reads: Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. article 15 (5) reads: Nothing in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the State from making any special provision, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions, including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article 30.] Article 16 (4) reads: Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens that, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State. From the above reading, it should be clear that currently, the constitutional provision of reservation is only for (i) any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens (Art. 15 for access to educational institutions and advancement in other areas). (ii) any backward class of citizens that, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State. The problem is that its difficult to establish that Marathas are socially and educationally backward. In 20032004, the National Commission for Backward Classes rejected the demand for including the Maratha community in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission held in 2008 that Marathas are both economically and politically a forward caste. They never faced social stigma to invite backward-class status. So, weighing these reports, no reservation can be given to marathas in educational institutions (art. 15), and similarly, marathas are adequately represented in the services under the state; therefore, no reservation can follow in matters of public employment (art. 16). The only solution is amendments to articles or new data to check the real deprived ratio. The USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile has announced two aircraft displayed on its premises were made by anonymous donation by Jimmy Buffett. The Grumman Goose and Boeing Stearman, both on display in the memorial parks Medal of Honor Aircraft Pavilion, arrived at the park in 2022. At the time, according to a post on the memorial parks Facebook Page, Buffett wished to remain an anonymous donor. The Mississippi native died on Friday after a four-year long battle with Merkel Cell Skin Cancer. He was 76. The park has placed a wreath and an iconic Hawaiian-styled shirt near the Grumman Goose in honor of Buffett. Buffet was well-known as a sailor, but he was also a pilot. A college friend introduced Buffet to aviation, but with little extra cash to spend on lessons, the musician had to put the hobby on hold. Later, after a few years of success, he would resume his dream of becoming a pilot, reports an article in Flying Mag, published a day after his death. In addition to touring in two French-built aircraft-- Dassault Falcon 50 and later Falcon 900-- Buffett owned and flew a succession of airplanes including a Grumman Albatross, a Boeing Stearman, and Cessna Caravan. Buffets most famous airplane, according to his official website, was the 1954 Grumman HU-16 Albatross, dubbed the Hemisphere Dancer. In 1996, Jamaican authorities shot the Hemisphere Dancer after mistaking it for a drug-runner plane while it taxied in the water near Negril. Seven years later, Buffett retired the plane and put it on display at the Lone Palm Airport outside of his Margaritaville Cafe in Orlando. See also: Alabama-based sporting apparel brand Tom Beckbe is opening a new retail location in Oxford, Miss. The location will be the brands third brick-and-mortar experience and first in the Magnolia State. The nearly 4,000 square foot space will be situated in the heart of Oxfords historic Courthouse Square. In addition to the brands full line of mens and womens premium outerwear, canvas and leather bags, and field-wear, the store will also carry a curated selection of limited edition and rare collectible sporting items, including art, books, and hand-carved waterfowl decoys. We are thrilled to be joining the Oxford Square, said Radcliff Menge, the founder and CEO of Tom Beckbe, in a press release. Celebrating the unique culture and traditions of the South has been a central part of our brand since its founding, and few places rival Oxford and the Squares richness of character. We look forward to connecting with the Oxford and greater Mississippi communities of sportsmen and women to share our passion for the outdoors. The Oxford Square retail location is set to open its doors in mid-September. In 2021, Tom Beckbe opened its flagship store in Mountain Brook. The 1,300-square-foot store, located on the corner of Canterbury and Culver Roads in Mountain Brook Village, features an in-store workshop for engraving and custom hunting vest fittings. The notorious BTK serial killer is suspected in decades-old crimes in Oklahoma, and law enforcement there wants the publics help solving them. Never-before seen drawings from BTK, showing barns and silos in the backgrounds of torture scenes, may hold the key to identifying the cases that involve a missing person and other homicides, CNN reports. BTK whose real name is Dennis Rader is under investigation in the 1976 disappearance of 16-year-old Cynthia Dawn Kinney and several other unsolved cases, said the Osage County Sheriffs Office. Kinney was last seen in 1976 at a laundromat in Pawkhuska, a northern Oklahoma town. Law enforcement is asking the public to help identify the barns and silos in areas across Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri possibly involved in Kinneys disappearance and BTKs other crimes. Rader says the 10 homicides in the Wichita, Kan. area which hes admitted committing from the 1970s to the 1990s are all the only ones he was involved in. Hes serving 10 consecutive life sentences in those cases, and his earliest release date is in 2180. But Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden who has recently interviewed Rader hopes that the trove of sketches, which authorities obtained after his 2005 arrest, will help prove otherwise. The drawings obtained by CNN show several of Raders victims. Authorities also say that recent communication was intercepted from Rader leads them to believe there may be some hidden items in old barns. Virden said that by releasing the drawings, someone might recognize one of these barns or the unique features in them, or the closeness of the silo to the barn or possibly might have even found items that they didnt know why were there that could be very important in this case. Even if the barns not there anymore. We would still like that information, he added. In letters to Wichita-area media before his capture in 2005, Rader referred to himself as BTK, which among other things stood for bind, torture, kill. 2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (CNN) Russian forces attacked Ukrainian port facilities on the Danube River used for food exports on Sunday, a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to discuss reviving a grain export deal with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At least two people were injured in the strikes, a regional military spokesman said. Port infrastructure was hit, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished. Ukraines Air Force said 25 drones were used in overnight attacks on the Odesa region, 22 of which were shot down. Russias Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it was targeting fuel storage facilities in the Ukrainian port of Reni used to supply Ukraines military. The Russian statement added that the attack was successful, with all assigned targets neutralized. The salvo hit just across the border from NATO member Romania, drawing a swift rebuke from the country. Romanias Ministry of Defense condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms, calling it unjustified and in deep contradiction with the rules of international humanitarian law. The ministry said that there was no direct threat to Romania territory or its territorial waters. An aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Kremlin of trying to create a food crisis with the attacks. Russian terrorists continue to attack port infrastructure in the hope that they will be able to provoke a food crisis and famine in the world,the aide, Andriy Yermak, said on the messaging app Telegram. The overnight airstrikes are the latest attempt by Moscow to target Ukrainian shipping infrastructure since July, when Russia pulled out of a deal that allowed Ukrainian ships to bypass a Russian blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports and navigate safe passage through the waterway to Turkeys Bosphorus Strait in order to reach global markets. The accords collapse pushed up global food prices and fueled fears that the worlds poorest countries would struggle to feed their populations. Erdogan, whose country effectively controls access in and out of the Black Sea, helped broker the initial deal and has taken on a role as mediator as he attempts to get Russia to rejoin. He will likely to discuss reviving the deal while meeting with Putin in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Monday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country will be ready to rejoin the pact as soon as it sees guarantees that benefits promised to Russia will be implemented. In the interim, Ukraine has attempted to create a temporary shipping corridors for merchant ships, but Kyiv has not been able able to guarantee their safety from Russian attacks or mines. Several vessels have employed these routes despite the risk. The UN has been seeking to revive the deal as well. This story was first published on CNN.com. "Russia strikes Ukrainian ports near NATO border ahead of talks to resume grain deal" Police in Georgia on Saturday shot and killed a 17-year-old boy they said killed a police dog and pointed a gun at officers, authorities said. The Clayton County Police Department identified the teenager as Stephon Ford, 17. Assistant Police Chief Bruce Parks told news outlets that officers were trying to apprehend Ford, who was suspected of firing a gun at officers and killing a police dog earlier in the day. Parks said officers shot and killed Ford after he pointed a gun at them. The overall situation is tragic. We hate it. We never want anything like this to happen, Parks told reporters. The events began unfolding just before 2 a.m. Saturday when the Jonesboro Police Department responded to a call of suspicious activity at a motel. Police arrested two people, and a K-9 unit from the Clayton County Police Department was used to track a third person to a wooded area, Parks said. Clayton Police Capt. John Ivey said officers gave verbal commands for the suspect to come out, but the suspect fired at officers and struck the police dog. The dog, named Waro, died from his injuries, the police department said. About eight hours later, police found Ford in a wooded area behind a neighborhood. Parks said an officer directed Ford to put his gun down and surrender. Parks said officers fatally shot Ford after he pointed a gun at them. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting. Jonesboro is about 17 miles (27 kilometers) south of Atlanta. Gunfire erupted outside UAB Hospital early Monday as multiple gunshot victims arrived in a private vehicle seeking help. According to authorities and witnesses, a champagne-colored Chevrolet Tahoe pulled up to the hospital entrance seeking help for gunshot victims inside. That shooting is believed to have taken place following an altercation at Aria Restaurant and Lounge on in the 900 block of Fifth Avenue North. When the SUV got to UAB about 2:17 a.m. another vehicle pulled up and opened fire on the Tahoe. Witnesses said they heard multiple shots fired, describing the sounds as iron pipes hitting. The gunfire hit a UAB police vehicle and a hospital window. Someone opened fire on an SUV as it arrived at UAB Hospital's emergency room with a gunshot victim on Monday, Sept. , 2023. (Carol Robinson) Birmingham and UAB police officers shut down the area surrounding the emergency room. The hospital was placed on lockdown. UAB officials referred all additional questions to Birmingham police. Birmingham police Officer Truman Fitzgerald at least five people were shot in the initial incident on Fifth Avenue North. Two of those victims - both females - were pronounced dead at the hospital. According the Jefferson County Coroners Office, a 33-year-old woman was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. and 24-year-old woman was pronounced dead at 2:55 a.m. Fitzgerald said the two women - who later died - and an injured man were in the SUV that showed up at UAB. The mans injuries are life-threatening. Two other women showed up at the hospital by private vehicle, also with gunshot wounds. Their injuries are not life-threatening. Police said at least two suspects fired on the victims when they arrived at the hospital. They have not been arrested. We believe this incident was a targeted attack, however we do believe many of the victims were innocent bystanders,' Fitzgerald said. Dozens of friends and family members were outside of the emergency room. They, too, said theyd been unable to get information about what happened. About 5:30 a.m., family members of one of the victims - a female - became visibly distraught when they were told their loved one had died. The two slain females are Birminghams 90th and 91st homicide victims this year. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 127 homicides including the 91 in Birmingham. Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. This story will be updated if more information becomes available. Labor Day has become the unofficial end of summer. The true meaning of the holiday is much different, however. Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday of September. This year, the holiday falls on Sept. 4. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of the American worker. The exact history of Labor Day specifically who founded it remains in question. According to the Labor Department, some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was the first to suggest a day to honor those who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold. Others credit Matthew Maguire, a machinist and later secretary of the Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., who reportedly proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. The first governmental recognition of the holiday came through municipal ordinances passed in 1885 and 1886. The first state bill to commemorate Labor Day was introduced into the New York legislature but the first to become law was passed in Oregon in February 1887. During 1887 four more states -- Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York -- created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1884, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on Sept. 5, 1883. Today, the day is often celebrated with cookouts and family gatherings. How is Labor Day different than Memorial Day? Memorial Day and Labor Day - in the U.S. the two holidays are the traditional bookends of summer. And while theres sometimes confusion over what the holidays are for, the two days commemorate very different things. Memorial Day is a time to remember all those who have died in service to their country. The day traces its roots to the period after the Civil War when groups began honoring Confederate and Union soldiers who died in the war. Memorial Day, celebrated on the last Monday in May each year, was declared an official holiday in 1967 and, a year later, moved to its current date as part of the Monday Holiday Act. Memorial Day is traditionally seen as the start of summer. Labor Day, celebrated the first Monday in September, is the traditional end of summer. A man died in an all-terrain vehicle crash in Randolph County early Monday. Patrick E. Malloy, 58, of Brookhaven Georgia, was killed when the 2022 Honda Pioneer he was riding in overturned, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Malloy was not using a seat belt at the time of the crash, was ejected, and pronounced deceased at the scene of the crash, the agency said in a statement Monday. The vehicles driver, Jeffrey Timothy, 47, of Marietta, Georgia, was taken to Tanner Medical Center in Wedowee, according to the agency. The accident happened on Dogwood Ridge North, about eight miles West of Wedowee. The agency is continuing to investigate the crash. Authorities have released the names of two women killed when gunfire erupted in Birmingham Monday morning, a shooting that also injured three other people. Police identified the slain victims a Markiezia Atkins, 24, of Center Point, and Chaveda Willis, 33, of Birmingham. The initial shooting happened about 2 a.m. following an altercation that began at Aria Restaurant and Lounge in the 900 block of Fifth Avenue North. More gunfire then erupted when three of the victims arrived at UAB Hospital in an SUV. Investigators say at least two gunmen opened fire on the SUV outside the emergency room, but no one was struck at the hospital. We believe the gunfire stemmed from a targeted attack, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald, however many of the victims who were struck by gunfire appear to have been bystanders. Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond released this statement following the deadly shooting: Two females lost their lives to yet again another senseless act of violence in our city, Thurmond said. Early indications are those who were shot were most likely innocent victims. As a result, we have two women whose lives were cut entirely too short. Two families were destroyed, and three other victims will have to live with the scars of this senseless violence for the rest of their lives, he said. The chief said the vast majority of Birmingham residents want a safer, better Birmingham, yet there continues to be a small group of people who can only resolve conflict by gunfire. Our city and its leadership will continue to work hard every day to hold those accountable for senseless acts of violence such as this mornings incident, he said. It is imperative for everyone to work together to prevent and eliminate future acts of violence. Put the guns down, they dont solve problems, they only create bigger problems, and destroy families and our city, Thurmond said. Birmingham and our residents deserve better. Authorities said Atkins, Willis and a man whose identity has not been released, were inside a Chevrolet Tahoe that arrived at UABs emergency about 2:17 a.m. When the SUV got to UAB, another vehicle pulled up and opened fire on the Tahoe. Witnesses said they heard multiple shots fired, describing the sounds as iron pipes hitting. The gunfire hit a UAB police vehicle and a hospital window, but no other people were injured in that shooting. Birmingham and UAB police officers shut down the area surrounding the emergency room. The hospital was placed on lockdown. Willis was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. Atkins was pronounced dead at 2:55 a.m. The wounded man was admitted in critical condition. Two other women showed up at the hospital with gunshot injuries, but they are expected to be OK. Willis and Atkins are Birminghams 90th and 91st homicide victims this year. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 127 homicides including the 91 in Birmingham. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. A man is in custody for allegedly killing a woman who was eight weeks pregnant and hiding from him at an Alabama fire station Friday night in Russell County, officials said Sunday. Bradley Wayne Stokes was arrested in Columbus, Ga. on Saturday around noon, according to a statement posted on the Facebook page on the Russell County Sheriffs Office. According to the statement, Russell County Investigators, with the assistance of the Muscogee County Sheriffs Office, arrested Stokes after a short vehicle and foot chase. Stokes is charged with capital murder and is awaiting extradition to Russell County. Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor held a press conference about the arrest on Sunday morning, according to WTVM. During the conference, Taylor announced Stokes was found at a hotel in Columbus. Authorities state Stokes was recently freed after serving 14 years of a 16-year prison sentence for federal gun charges and manslaughter. According to court records, Stokes in 2010 pleaded guilty in the 2008 shooting death of Crystal Lynn Bailey. The 21-year-old Phenix City woman was survived by her son, an obituary for Bailey states. Stokes, who was released from prison on June 2, allegedly began a romantic relationship with Treasure Hennessy, 37. During the conference, Taylor stated his office is in possession of at least two domestic violence calls filed by Hennessy against Stokes in the last two months. In late August, Hennessy reportedly moved out of Stokes address and was given permission to stay at the Fort Mitchell Fire Station as a safe house from Stokes. Taylor said authorities believe Stokes found out where Hennessy was staying. Evidence shows, said Taylor, that on Sept. 1, Stokes was waiting in hiding for her to arrive at that location before an altercation occurred. On Sept. 2 around 12:15 a.m., the sheriffs office received a phone call about a possible body at the fire department. The deputies responded and found a deceased body. The victim, Taylor said, was Hennessy. Investigators believe Stokes was concerned Hennessy, who was pregnant, might have pursued an arrest warrant for Stokes in regard to the domestic violence calls, Taylor said. The warrant would have violated Stokes parole and sent him back to prison. A woman died in a shooting Sunday morning in Selma. Officers were dispatched at 5 a.m. to a report of a person shot in the 600 block of Twenty-Foot Avenue. While they were en route, police said, officers located a vehicle that was trying to get the 23-year-old victim to the hospital. Police escorted the vehicle to the hospital. The woman was later pronounced dead. Anyone with information is asked to call Selma police. This is a guest opinion column When I was deployed in Afghanistan there were many things that kept me up at night, but worrying about the satellite capabilities I relied upon was not one of them. I was working with government contractors as an Army officer to move supplies from Bagram to Kunar Province, and the battlefield before me was a traditional one securing our land force and supply lines, winning over hearts and minds. Never once did I think that our battlefield actually extended to space. That was then and this is now. Our adversaries have always spied on us, but last week The National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the FBI and Air Force issued a broad warning Chinese and Russian spy agencies are specifically targeting private space companies. Regardless of the permanent headquarters of the United States Space Command, this is a major issue for Huntsville. The Huntsville community has, and will continue to have, legions of engineering entrepreneurs driving the U.S. capture of space. Who will bear the cost of securing their intellectual property, activities and the employees and future of these small businesses? Right now, the U.S. government is silent on the matter. Instead, the focus of the governments report was big companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and other prime contractors the companies that have conducted launches and built and fielded satellites fueling our national advantage. But small businesses are obviously vulnerable as well and offer an array of critical technologies that could aid an adversarys cyberattacks aimed at degrading U.S. satellite capabilities during a conflict or emergency. Small businesses are integrated into every aspect of our spacecraft, satellites, space stations, orbital launch vehicles, deep-space communication, in-space propulsion and related technologies. Every day, in my civilian job, I work with small business entrepreneurs who are building this widget or that part of our evolving space infrastructure. Take Linc Research, Inc., here in Huntsville. Linc Research is conducting research on lunar landing pads and is just one of many small businesses in Huntsville contributing to the American advantage in space. As Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks recently pointed out, small businesses are vital along the entire spectrum of the Departments needs, saying small businesses are key to our warfighter advantage. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said that innovation lies at the heart of American security, adding, nobody innovates better than the United States of America. But we cant take that for granted. Secretary Austin is right. We cant take the entrepreneurs that drive small business innovation for granted, and we cannot off-load the cost of protecting small business intellectual property from spies onto the already over-burdened small business community. Several years ago, the Center for International and Strategic Studies calculated that the financial loss of US intellectual property to Chinese cyber espionage could be as much as $600 billion. The victim company suffers revenue losses for years to come and the country is exposed to untold risks. We already know that the number of small businesses in the defense industrial base has declined over the last decade, a trend driven by the rigors and costs of doing business with Uncle Sam. Now entrepreneurs working on mission-critical technologies such as semiconductors and microprocessors used in satellites, missiles and other space-based military applications have a target on their back. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center said last week that, foreign intelligence entities 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 They see US space related innovation and assets as potential threats as well as valuable opportunities to acquire vital technologies and expertise. If federal agencies are expecting to off-load that fiscal and operational challenge onto the shoulders of an already burdened small business community, the nation and the community of Huntsville will pay dearly. The space diplomacy expert Michael Krepon once wrote that there are two kinds of failure in threat reduction: failure despite trying, and failure by not trying. The dangerous military competition in space now unfolding reflects both kinds of failure. Given the importance small businesses play, the federal government must provide the financial wherewithal to protect the intellectual property, employees and growing activities of small businesses working on the frontiers of space technology. Branden Irvine is Director of Client Services at sbLiftOff, a national mergers and acquisitions advisory firm, specializing in commercial and government contracting companies. Irvine served as an Officer in the Armys 10th Mountain Division and was awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan. English News China to promote construction of Giant Panda National Park Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Septembre 2023 Today, an increasing number of regions within the Giant Panda National Park have implemented industrial policies aligned with the park's conservation objectives. By providing guidance and supporting local communities near the park in the development of green industries, such as ecotourism, ecosystem-based experiences and featured agricultural products, relevant regions have achieved harmonious coexistence between man and nature. By Jin Xin, People's Daily Through collaborative legislation, southwest China's Sichuan province and the northwestern Chinese provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu recently made joint commitments to multiple matters, in an effort to unify criteria and standards for promoting construction of the country's Giant Panda National Park, which spans the three provinces. China's Giant Panda National Park, with a total area of about 22,000 square kilometers, was officially set up in October 2021. Before the establishment of the national park, relevant regions protected wildlife, giant pandas in particular, by designating scattered nature reserves and protected areas. A good number of infrared cameras have been installed across the Giant Panda National Park, facilitating wildlife conservation efforts by recording wild animal activities. For instance, an infrared camera caught on film activities of a wild giant panda in Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve, a part of the Giant Panda National Park, in Qingchuan county, Guangyuan city, Sichuan province. As the video footage shows, the giant panda first scratched its belly with one of its front paws, then slowly rolled over and got up off the ground, and turned its round and chubby head to glance around. In a giant panda Fertilization and Reintroduction Base in Daxiangling Nature Reserve that straddles the border between Yingjing county and Hanyuan county in Ya'an city, Sichuan province, few signs of human activity can be seen beyond a few buildings for scientific research and management and a metal fence enclosing a zone where giant pandas can gradually adapt to the wild after rewilding training. "This rewilding zone covers an area of about 200 hectares. It has almost no difference from the natural habitats of giant pandas except necessary protections. After receiving the initial rewilding training, giant pandas learn to adapt to the wild here," said Song Xinqiang, a ranger at the base, pointing to a forested area. "Only by returning giant pandas to nature can we truly protect them," said Gong Xiaoyan, director of the working committee on environment and resource protection under the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Congress. Inhabits of giant pandas in the Daxiangling Nature Reserve used to be rather fragmented, due to severe vegetation damage along the No. 108 national highway, which cut through the mountain area of the nature reserve, as well as long-term impacts of human activities, such as bamboo shoot digging and livestock grazing. By setting up quadrats to monitor staple bamboo regeneration, biodiversity, and other factors of the local ecosystem, the administration of the Giant Panda National Park has actively carried out habitat restoration in ecological corridors, and strengthened protection and management of the ecological corridors. In addition to constructing ecological corridors and restoring habitats, the administration has also made efforts to enhance connectivity between isolated patches of habitat to strengthen the protection of wild giant pandas. "During a patrol inspection in the national park's core protected area in May this year, we found traces of rare wild animal species like takin, golden snub-nosed monkeys and tufted deer, as well as rare orchid plants like Calanthe discolor and Cypripedium calceolus. The protected area has a large variety of animal and plant species and a sound ecological environment," said a member of the national park's patrol team. The endeavor to establish the Giant Panda National Park goes beyond the mere protection of giant pandas. It represents China's pioneering effort to safeguard biodiversity with giant pandas as an umbrella species. If protecting giant pandas is likened to holding up an "umbrella" in nature, numerous rare animals and plants can gain better shelter under the "umbrella" of the Giant Panda National Park. Surveys showed that since 2020, the number of wild vertebrate species in the Shaanxi section of the park have increased from 258 to 342. Relevant authorities in the country have also made provisions on protecting the overall ecological system of the Giant Panda National Park through legislation. According to the provisions, the main protected objects in the park include giant pandas and their habitats, as well as other sympatric wildlife; natural ecosystems like forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers and glaciers; unique natural landscapes, geology, landforms, as well as historical and cultural sites. The establishment of the Giant Panda National Park has also brought about gratifying changes to local villages. In Longcanggou township, which is located near the entrance of the Yingjing county area of the Giant Panda National Park, local farmers used to rely heavily on resources in mountains for their livelihood. That's why unsustainable practices like logging and excessive bamboo shoot digging that damaged giant panda habitats were once common in the locality. After the Giant Panda National Park was set up, Longcanggou township has successfully undergone a green transformation by developing tourism featuring giant pandas. As a result, environmentally destructive behaviors have virtually disappeared. In Fazhan village of Longcanggou township, a multitude of B&B hotels are adorned with captivating giant panda elements. Today, an increasing number of regions within the Giant Panda National Park have implemented industrial policies aligned with the park's conservation objectives. By providing guidance and supporting local communities near the park in the development of green industries, such as ecotourism, ecosystem-based experiences and featured agricultural products, relevant regions have achieved harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Dans la meme rubrique : < > China to firmly support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation Chinese industrial economy achieves stable recovery IFC Partners with FirstRand Bank to Expand SME Financing in South Africa Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) English News Japan bears permanent mark of "environmental polluter" from today on Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Septembre 2023 Once discharged, radionuclides in the water will quickly spread, inflicting different types of biological damage. Japan disregards the importance of the environment and ecology, and its reckless dumping poses grave threats to marine life, food chains, and human health. Japan's actions epitomize irresponsible ocean pollution and environmental destruction. By People's Daily Discharging nuclear-contaminated wastewater from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific ocean on Aug. 24, Japan has labeled itself as an "environmental polluter." Despite the strong opposition and doubts both domestically and internationally, and with obvious and widespread risks, Japan still prioritizes its self-interests over the long-term wellbeing of humanity. It only reveals the country's extreme selfishness and irresponsibility. This sets a terrible precedent. It might be hard for people to believe at the beginning that this is happening in a country that had long claimed to champion environmental protection and food safety and had previously succeeded in promoting those positive images of itself. But today, they have no choice but to agree that Japan's eco-friendly image in the past was all hype. If the country can make the world "share" nuclear-contaminated wastewater, what problems with Japanese products can't it gloss over and then peddle to others? To implement the discharge plan, Japan launched various public relation campaigns, flooding media with claims about the water's so-called safety to drown out public worries. The country established an 80-billion-yen ($410 million) special fund to subsidize the fishing industry in Fukushima to silence dissent and made excuses at the NATO Summit, the ASEAN-plus ministerials, the Eastern Caribbean Ministerial Meeting on Fisheries and Sustainable Use of Living Marine Resources and on other occasions. Even as the International Atomic Energy Agency clarified its report was not an endorsement, Japan still muddied the waters. Once discharged, radionuclides in the water will quickly spread, inflicting different types of biological damage. Japan disregards the importance of the environment and ecology, and its reckless dumping poses grave threats to marine life, food chains, and human health. Japan's actions epitomize irresponsible ocean pollution and environmental destruction. Bad deeds inevitably backfire. Japan's arrogance has drawn strong international condemnation and will definitely be retaliated by impacted nations. The discharge will also cause lasting reputational damage for the country. Trust and respect are the most valuable things. Japan's ocean discharge aligns with the country's strategic ambitions. It will generate short-term economic gains and faits accomplis, but Japanese leaders prioritizing quick wins will pay far heavier costs. Japan assumes established facts will force acceptance, but from today on, it bears a permanent mark of disgrace. The ecological, political, and economic fallout will accumulate globally. Governments, including those adopting appeasement, will face intensifying public opposition. Businesses reliant on oceans and water will demand compensation for major losses from Japan. The wastewater will become the most pressing, severe, and prolonged topic for international environmental protection organizations. Every drop of nuclear-contaminated water flowing from Japan to international waters will bring endless accountability to Japan. Dans la meme rubrique : < > China to firmly support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation Chinese industrial economy achieves stable recovery IFC Partners with FirstRand Bank to Expand SME Financing in South Africa Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) English News Japan's credibility deficit will only be further expanded Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Septembre 2023 A Japanese proverb says trust is the foundation of all things. But regarding the nuclear-contaminated water issue, Japan's credibility is completely bankrupt. The international community must urge Japan to correct its erroneous decision, halt the ocean discharge, communicate in good faith with neighboring countries, handle the nuclear-contaminated water responsibly, and accept strict international supervision. By Zhong Sheng, People's Daily Recently, the Japanese government forcibly started discharging the nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, in total disregard of the opposition from the international society and turning a blind eye to the rights to health, development and environment of the Japanese people and people in the rest of the world. This has set a dangerous precedent in human history. No matter how Japan tries to defend itself, it cannot evade responsibility for damaging the ecological environment and polluting the ocean. For over two years, the legitimacy, legality and safety of Japan's ocean discharge plan has been strongly questioned by the international community. Yet the Japanese side has constantly tried to create the false impression that discharging the nuclear-contaminated water is safe and harmless for the world. On the very day Japan unilaterally commenced the discharge, Japanese media revealed that the Japanese government had planned to spend 70 billion yen (about $480 million) in dealing with negative information about the nuclear-contaninated water discharge, which further indicated Japan's duplicity. If the nuclear-contaminated water was truly "safe to drink" as proclaimed by Japan, there would be no need for the Japanese government to discharge it into the ocean against strong opposition. Outwardly, Japan touts the safety of ocean discharge, but secretly it conceals accidents, falsifies data, reneges on promises, and more. Such duplicity will only exacerbate Japan's credibility deficit. When forcibly pushing ahead with the discharge plan, Japan deliberately concealed the fact that it lacks the capability to ensure safety. According to recent Japanese media reports, highly radioactive substances failing to meet standards were detected in June this year in water pooled inside the bank surrounding the contaminated water tanks of the plant's No.1 unit. However, it was not until recently that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant's operator, disclosed investigation results showing that cracks in a hose used to transfer nuclear-contaminated water caused leaks. This once again comfirmed doubts about Japan's ability to handle the nuclear-contaminated water. If Japan keeps having problems storing the water, how can it guarantee safety over the decades-long discharge of over 1.3 million tons into the ocean? TEPCO has a history of concealment and data falsification. Reports show that TEPCO admitted in 2007 to have falsified data in 199 inspections at the Fukushima No.1 and No.2 plants since 1977, even concealing serious reactor accidents. After June 2011, TEPCO long claimed that no new nuclear-contaminated water was flowing into the ocean. But following revelations of a series of leaks in 2013, TEPCO admitted in July that year that highly concentrated radioactive water had been leaking into the sea. In February 2015, TEPCO was again exposed for hiding the facts when it was revealed that the company knew that high-concentration radioactive water had been continuously flowing from a drainage ditch into the sea since April 2014 but did not announce it or take any remedial action. A Japanese journalist said that TEPCO routinely conceals facts and even releases false information regarding the nuclear accident and nuclear-contaminated water discharge. Japan's government also has a trust deficit regarding oversight and inspection of reactor safety. A 2011 UN report already revealed flaws like lax oversight and insufficient preparedness in Japan's nuclear safety practices. With such irresponsible behaviors, how can Japan ensure the nuclear-contaminated water is handled in a science-based, safe and transparent manner? The nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant contains dozens of radionuclides, many of which cannot be treated effectively with existing technologies. Some long-lived radionuclides may spread with ocean currents and form a bioconcentration effect, which will cause potential hazards to the marine environment and human health. Since trial operations began in 2013, problems have continuously occurred with Japan's Advanced Liquid Processing System for treating the nuclear-contaminated water. The facility's effectiveness and long-term reliability have not been verified by any third-party, and it cannot be guaranteed that treated water meets discharge standards. A South Korean civic group survey showed 79 percent of respondents considered the claimed safety of Japan's so-called "treated" nuclear-contaminated water "unreliable". Concerns from all parties have factual basis. In 2015, the Japanese government gave a written pledge to the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, solemnly promising no disposal measures would be taken regarding the nuclear-contaminated water without the understanding of stakeholders. Japan did not adequately consult with stakeholders including neighboring countries and still unilaterally commenced ocean discharge despite strong opposition. This practice of saying one thing and doing another completely lacks credibility. A Japanese proverb says trust is the foundation of all things. But regarding the nuclear-contaminated water issue, Japan's credibility is completely bankrupt. The international community must urge Japan to correct its erroneous decision, halt the ocean discharge, communicate in good faith with neighboring countries, handle the nuclear-contaminated water responsibly, and accept strict international supervision. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.) Dans la meme rubrique : < > China to firmly support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation Chinese industrial economy achieves stable recovery IFC Partners with FirstRand Bank to Expand SME Financing in South Africa Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) English News One-China principle an unstoppable trend of times Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Septembre 2023 In recent years, many Central American countries including Panama, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras have chosen to establish or restore diplomatic ties with China, which demonstrates that the one-China principle has become a broad consensus in the region. By Zhong Sheng, People's Daily On August 21 local time, the Central American Parliament adopted the resolution of revoking the "permanent observer status" of the so-called "Legislative Yuan" of the Taiwan region and accepting the National People's Congress (NPC) of China as a permanent observer. It once again indicates that the one-China principle represents the unstoppable trend of the times. The one-China principle was confirmed by Resolution 2758 adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971 and represents the universal consensus of the international community. There is but one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. This is an indisputable historical and legal fact. Taiwan has no international legal status other than being a part of China, and has no right to join international organizations whose membership is confined to sovereign states. In recent years, many Central American countries including Panama, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras have chosen to establish or restore diplomatic ties with China, which demonstrates that the one-China principle has become a broad consensus in the region. The decision of the Central American Parliament, a parliamentary body of Central American sovereign states, to revoke Taiwan's observer status and accept the NPC as an observer conforms to the trend of regional countries establishing or resuming diplomatic relations with China, and meets the expectation of peoples in the region to strengthen cooperation with China. The vast majority of Central American countries adhere to the one-China principle, which creates political conditions to enhance cooperation with China in various fields and delivers tangible benefits to their people. Since Panama established diplomatic ties with China, the two sides have launched broad mutually beneficial cooperation in economy, trade, finance, agriculture, tourism, transportation, and maritime affairs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, China provided strong support to the Dominican Republic, for which the Dominican Republic Senate specially commended China. Since establishing diplomatic relations with China, El Salvador has witnessed steady progress in its cooperation projects with the latter, including a National Library and a pier in La Libertad. Laureano Ortega Murillo, Advisor to Nicaraguan President on Investment, Trade and International Cooperation and Coordinator for Cooperation with China, described the development of Nicaragua-China ties since the establishment of diplomatic relations as "fast," "efficient" and "fruitful." Honduras established diplomatic relations with China in March this year. It has signed a memorandum of understanding on Belt and Road cooperation with China, and the first round of negotiations on China-Honduras free trade agreement kicked off in early July. Central American people can see that strengthening cooperation with China benefits national development and improves people's livelihood, and is in the fundamental interests of their countries and the region as a whole. Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a so-called "Taiwan International Solidarity Act." The act claims that UN Resolution 2758 merely recognized the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal representative of China at the UN, but it did not address the issue of representation of Taiwan and its people in the United Nations, nor did the resolution take a position on the relationship between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. Such rhetoric blatantly distorts the UN resolution and is a despicable ploy to deceive public opinion regarding the Taiwan question. It is reported that after the Central American Parliament proposed relevant motions, some U.S. politicians attempted to pressure the parliament under the guise of "democracy" while smearing China. The Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities parroted them to confuse the public, and even hurled abuses at relevant Central American countries. Faced with obstruction and pressure from U.S. politicians and the DPP authorities, the Central American Parliament made the right choice, which fully demonstrates the international community's universal and firm commitment to the one-China principle, which is unshakable and unassailable. It also proves that any attempt to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" is bound to fail. The one-China principle has the overwhelming support of the international community and represents the trend of the world. This trend cannot be stopped by any force. Guatemala remains the only Central American Parliament member state that has yet to establish diplomatic ties with China, but the voice calling to accept the one-China principle is rising in the country. It is believed that more and more countries and members of the international community will recognize the trend and make the right decision in line with the development of the times. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on China's foreign policy and international affairs.) Dans la meme rubrique : < > China to firmly support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation Chinese industrial economy achieves stable recovery IFC Partners with FirstRand Bank to Expand SME Financing in South Africa Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) English News To build high-quality China-South Africa community with a shared future Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Septembre 2023 Under the guidance of the two heads of state, the China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership will definitely be lifted to new heights and contribute more strength to China-Africa cooperation, South-South cooperation, and to building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era and a community with a shared future for mankind. By He Yin, People's Daily Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and South Africa should be strategic partners of high-level mutual trust, development partners making progress together, friendly partners enjoying mutual understanding and global partners with a commitment to justice. President Xi made the remarks when holding talks with his South African counterpart President Ramaphosa during a state visit to South Africa on Aug. 22 local time. What he said charts the course and provides guidance for further developing China-South Africa ties. The two heads of state had an in-depth exchange of views on the development of China-South Africa relations in the new era and international and regional issues of mutual interest, and they reached important common understandings, injecting strong momentum into elevating the China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership and building a high-quality China-South Africa community with a shared future. In the past 25 years since China and South Africa established diplomatic ties, their relationship has achieved leapfrog development - from a partnership to a strategic partnership, and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership. It is one of the most vibrant bilateral relations in the developing world. Especially in the past 10 years, the relationship has thrived and entered a "golden era." As the situation evolves, how to further deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership remains a topic that both sides need to work on. The key to the strong relationship and profound friendship lies in the mutual support by the two countries and the two political parties in pursuit of their respective development, Xi said when meeting with Ramaphosa. South African sinologist Paul Tembe said that Xi's every visit to South Africa has promoted the development of South Africa-China ties, which is an intangible but enormously meaningful gift. Comradeship and brotherhood are inherent to the bilateral relationship. The special bond of "camaraderie + brotherhood" between the two countries has traversed a long span of time and defied the obstacles of mountains and oceans. "Each of my visits to South Africa gave me new impressions. But the deepest is invariably the brotherly sentiments we have toward each other," Xi said in an signed article published on South African media. Ramaphosa described China as a sincere brother, friend and partner of his country, saying that China has provided valuable support to South Africa in its struggle for national independence and liberation as well as its national development. He also mentioned China's timely support for his country during the COVID pandemic. During this visit, the two sides reaffirmed their respect and support for each other's sustainable social-economic development paths and just transitions. South Africa pledged continuous support for China on issues concerning its core interests and major concerns. China reiterated its respect and support for South Africa's efforts to safeguard its national interests and social economic development and to better the livelihoods of its citizens. This fully demonstrates that China and South Africa are strategic partners of high-level mutual trust. Mutual benefit and win-win results are the hallmark of China-South Africa cooperation. South Africa was the first African country to sign the Belt and Road cooperation document with China. It has been China's biggest trading partner in Africa for 13 years in a row, as well as one of the African countries with the largest stock of Chinese investment. Xi said that with a focus on Belt and Road cooperation, implementation of the nine programs of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as well as the 10-Year Strategic Program of Cooperation, the two sides need to consolidate cooperation in areas of strength and foster new growth points for cooperation. Close ties between the two peoples are a vivid example of amity between the two countries. Xi said the two countries should strengthen exchange and cooperation on vocational education and youth employment, ramp up cooperation on tourism, and support closer technological cooperation and joint research by scientific research institutions and businesses. The two presidents witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents on Belt and Road cooperation, infrastructure, new energy, agricultural product, special economic zone, industrial park, blue economy, technological innovation and higher education. As development partners making progress together and friendly partners enjoying mutual understanding, China and South Africa will deliver greater benefits to both peoples. The China-South Africa relationship has gone beyond the bilateral scope and carries increasingly important global influence. The world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. China and South Africa, as natural members of the Global South, should all the more work together. China and South Africa agreed to continue supporting the development of BRICS in all three pillars of cooperation and to collaborate with all BRICS members to deepen practical cooperation in various fields and achieve progress in terms of BRICS membership expansion. The two sides agreed to enhance cooperation in international affairs and multilateral institutions, jointly uphold the UN-centered global system, an equitable international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing international relations, based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including to uphold the rights and interests of developing countries jointly and respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two countries' collaboration in the multilateral arena fully demonstrates their determination to be global partners with a commitment to justice. They will definitely make new contributions to building a more just and equitable global governance system. The China-South Africa relationship is standing at a new historical starting point. To carry forward the friendship, deepen cooperation, and strengthen coordination is a common aspiration of both countries, as well as a call of the times. Under the guidance of the two heads of state, the China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership will definitely be lifted to new heights and contribute more strength to China-Africa cooperation, South-South cooperation, and to building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era and a community with a shared future for mankind. Dans la meme rubrique : < > China to firmly support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation Chinese industrial economy achieves stable recovery IFC Partners with FirstRand Bank to Expand SME Financing in South Africa Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) English News To move China-South Africa ties toward deeper level with higher quality, broader scope Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 4 Septembre 2023 China has also established a science park in South Africa and the China-South Africa Joint Research Center for Mineral Resources, hosted an innovation and entrepreneurship forum for youth in the two countries, and implemented a joint China-Africa Partnership Plan on Digital Innovation in Africa. By Yang Yi, People's Daily This year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa. Over the past 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, our relationship has achieved leapfrog developmentfrom a partnership to a strategic partnership, and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Political mutual trust between the two countries has been enhanced continuously, practical cooperation has been advanced steadily, people-to-people exchanges have remained vibrant, and strategic coordination has been deepened constantly. These have brought tangible benefits to the two peoples and the African people at large. South Africa was the first African country to sign the Belt and Road cooperation document with China. A series of bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms have smoothed trade between the two sides and elevated the quality of China-South Africa economic and trade cooperation, including a South Africa-China joint economic and trade committee, the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, the China Import and Export Fair and the China International Import Expo. China has been South Africa's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, while South Africa has maintained China's biggest trading partner in Africa for 13 years in a row. In the first half of this year, bilateral trade between the two countries reached $28.25 billion, up 11.7 percent year-on-year. In May this year, the first shipment of 53,000 tons of feed corn from South Africa arrived at a Chinese port. After strict inspection and quarantine, the feed corn was supplied to Chinese feed companies. Following South African wines and citrus fruits, the shipment marked another successful attempt in China-South Africa agricultural trade. It provided diversified feed options for Chinese clients and boosted South African agriculture and increase local farmers' income. South Africa is one of the largest investment destinations for Chinese enterprises in Africa. In recent years, bilateral investment and cooperation has expanded steadily. Statistics show that by the end of June 2023, China's investment stock in South Africa stood at around $10 billion. In April this year, China actively responded to South Africa's "new investment initiative" and organized over 60 companies to participate in the 5th South Africa Investment Conference, announcing new investment intentions of nearly 15 billion rand (about $800 million). At a business meeting held this August in Johannesburg, enterprises from both countries signed trade agreements totaling nearly $2.2 billion. Stavros Nicolaou, of the South African chapter of the BRICS Business Council, said this business meeting brought new opportunities for enterprises in both South Africa and China. South Africa will increase exports of minerals and agricultural products to China while deepening extensive cooperation in areas such as the automotive industry and agricultural product processing, he added. South African Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel said Chinese companies have played a positive role in South Africa's economic and social development, and South Africa sees China as the most important economic and trade partner. According to Patel, South Africa will continue optimizing its business environment, and encourage more Chinese firms to leverage opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area for more trade and investment cooperation in South Africa. South Africa hopes to expand cooperation with China in the industrial chain of the new energy vehicle sector, the minister added. At the end of 2022, construction began on the South African site of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope in the small town of Carnarvon in the Northern Cape. The SKA, the world's largest radio telescope, is a key technology cooperation project between China and South Africa involving scientists from China and other nations. South African Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande said China's participation is very important for the SKA project, and South Africa wants to further strengthen cooperation with China in science, technology and innovation. In July this year, Chinese tech giant Huawei officially launched an innovation center in South Africa, which will continue supporting its South African partners, app developers and small- and medium-sized enterprises for innovation in areas like 5G, cloud computing and AI. At the launching ceremony, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the establishment of the innovation center aligns very well with the South African government's governance priority of using digital technologies to propel economic development. China has collaborated with South Africa and other African countries to build science and technology innovation cooperation platforms, expanding new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation and promoting sustainable economic and social development. China has supported the building of Africa's first 5G commercial network and 5G lab in South Africa, promoted South Africa's internet industry by laying fiber optic cables in the country and investing in multiple submarine cables, and partnered with major South African telecom carriers to provide fast and stable communication services to over 30 million South African people. China has also established a science park in South Africa and the China-South Africa Joint Research Center for Mineral Resources, hosted an innovation and entrepreneurship forum for youth in the two countries, and implemented a joint China-Africa Partnership Plan on Digital Innovation in Africa. South Africa has more Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms than any other countries in Africa. It has incorporated the Chinese language into its national education system. The Confucius Institute at Durban University of Technology and the Confucius Classroom at the Chinese Culture and International Education Exchange Center in South Africa have rolled out a slew of Chinese language-related programs in Juncao technology, e-commerce, innovation, entrepreneurship and tourism in collaboration with Chinese enterprises and industrial associations. Thanks to these programs, many South African youths have entered Chinese enterprises and have new choices of employment. Dans la meme rubrique : < > China to firmly support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation Chinese industrial economy achieves stable recovery IFC Partners with FirstRand Bank to Expand SME Financing in South Africa Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) The recent CUNY Law School commencement address, which the schools administration approved of and applauded, exposed CUNYs blatant, unapologetic encouragement of antisemitism, endorsement of BDS, and condoning of Jew-hatred on campus. When called out, CUNYs responded by ignoring critics and doubling down on its position. Despite the widespread outrage and condemnation, CUNY has now hired known antisemite Marc Lamont Hill who was fired by CNN for his Jew-hatred and was simultaneously under investigation by Temple Universitys board. Temple University President Richard M. Englert stated, Let me be clear: Professor Hill does not represent Temple University. Patrick OConnor, the chairman of Temples board, had directed legal counsel to explore options and remedies, and stated that members of the administration and board of trustees wanted to fire him right away. OConnor stated that Hills comments were lamentable and disgusting. Free speech is one thing. Hate speech is entirely different. Despite Hills racist history and prior dismissal, CUNY has welcomed him with open arms and an enviable salary. Marc Lamont Hill is now Presidential Professor of Urban Education at the CUNY Graduate School. Hill has unequivocally proclaimed that a key mission of the Black Lives Matter movement is to annihilate the State of Israel. Black Lives Matter very explicitly is talking about the dismantling of a Zionist project, dismantling of a settler-colonial project and very explicitly embracing BDS, stated Hill. He has labeled Israel as, ...a land that has been stolen by greed and destroyed by hate, and stated that Israel was poisoning Palestinian water. We have an opportunity...to commit to...what justice requires and that is a free Palestine from the river to the sea, says the unapologetic antisemite. All humans opposed to racism and bigotry know that his insistence that hes an anti-Zionist is intended to mask his antisemitism. It is plain and simple. Denying my people our right to self-determination as the Indigenous natives in the ancestral lands of our matriarchs and patriarchs is antisemitism. Hills philosophy is the same that we see behind the wrath of Pharoah, the destruction of our Temples, the exile from our homeland, our eviction from Spain, unsparing pogroms, the horrors of Holocaust, and the expulsion of 259,000 Jews from Morocco, 140,000 from Algeria, 100,000 from Tunisia, 75,000 from Egypt, 38,000 from Libya 135,000 from Iraq, 55,000 from Yemen, 34,000 from Turkey, 20,000 from Lebanon, 18,000 from Syria and 25,000 from Iran. Thus, he proudly dictates a decree for our demise. This is no surprise at CUNY, where Palestinian activists applaud our massacres and BDS supporters salute the appointment of Hill. Image: Marc Lamont Hill (cropped), who looks like a nice guy but isnt, by Way180. CC BY-SA 3.0. CUNY is home to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) with branches at Brooklyn College, College of Staten Island, Hunter College, and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. SJP supports terrorism, commits violent acts against those they label Zionists, harasses and physically assaults Jewish and pro-Israel students, and aggressively disrupts pro-Israel events. For me, personally, the saddest component of the overt Antisemitism at CUNY is the respect it denies and the dishonor it affords to the memories of countless Jews who generously contributed to the founding, funding, racial harmony, and remarkable reputation that CUNY once represented. These individuals include Bernard Baruch of Baruch College, Larry and Carole Zicklin of the Zicklin School of Business, Mildred and George Weissman of the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Herbert H. Lehman of Lehman College, Paul Klapper of Queens College, Samuel & Ethel LeFrak of Lefrak Concert Hall, Benjamin Rosenthal of the Rosenthal Library, Max & Selma Kupferberg of the Kupferberg Center for the Arts, and many others. CUNY prides itself on its 14 Alumni and faculty Nobel Laureates. They include CUNY graduate John OKeefe, Nobel laureate in Medicine, and thirteen Jews, including 17% of all female Nobel laureates in Medicine. Robert J. Aumann 1950 Nobel laureate in Economics, 2005 Julius Axelrod 1933 Nobel laureate in Medicine, 1970 Kenneth Arrow 1940 Nobel laureate in Economics, 1972 Stanley Cohen 1943 - Nobel laureate in Medicine, 1986 Gertrude Elion 1937 - Nobel laureate in Medicine, 1988 Herbert Hauptman 1937 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1985 Robert Hofstadter 1935 Nobel laureate in Physics, 1961 Jerome Karle 1937 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1985 Arthur Kornberg 1937 Nobel laureate in Medicine, 1959 Paul Krugman 2014 Distinguished faculty - Nobel laureate in Economics, 2008 Leon M. Lederman 1943 Nobel laureate in Physics, 1988 Arno Penzias 1954 Nobel laureate in Physics, 1978 Rosalyn Sussman Yalow 1941 Nobel laureate in Medicine, 1977 In 1964, CUNY Jewish students Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were abducted and shot dead while fighting for the Civil Rights of Black Americans. The ultimate sacrifice they made is muddied by the pitiful presence and pathetic propaganda of Marc Lamont Hill. So is the memory of William Hallett Greene, who graduated from City College in 1884. Greene went on to become the nations first Black meteorologist. Other CUNY Jewish Alumni include Zero Mostel, Jackie Mason, Alfred Stieglitz, screenwriter Ernest Paul Lehman (The Sound of Music, West Side Story, and The King and I), Ben Shahn, Red Holzman, Eli Wallach, Edward G. Robinson (Emanuel Goldenberg), Adrien Brody, Carole King, Simon and Garfunkel, and Jerry Seinfeld. When I attended CUNYs Queens College back in the 1970s, a common off-campus sighting was the Mitzvah Mobile. Approved by Rabbi Schneerson and manned by his menschkeits, one could take a break to don tefillin, or recite a last-minute brucha before an exam. Now, such a sighting would be a target for attack, not a refuge for our race. CUNY Jews, both students and faculty, must not fear their choice to wear Yarmulkes, display Stars of David, or select Kosher food options. They must not be castigated for praising the Israeli Defense Force, chastised for respecting Shabbot, or penalized for observing our High Holy Days. The CUNY Graduate Center, where Hill is employed, claims to be ...committed to advancing anti-racism in its policies and committed to addressing discrimination and retaliation reports promptly. These statements are blatant lies, and the institution must be held accountable for its unapologetic encouragement of Antisemitic racism and incitement of violence against Jews. It's tragic that a historic Hebrew-inspired institution of higher education and human dignity became engulfed in the flames of partisan prejudice and demonic discrimination. We must fight back. We owe it to the memory of the countless Jews who sacrificed so much and contributed so generously as part of their mission to make The City University of New York a haven of learning, not a hellhole of hate! Gary S. Branfman, MD, is co-founder and executive producer of Israel Now. For most people, Labor Day is a rather vague holiday without the clarity and meaning typically associated with other holidays. Yet in its most complete context, Labor Day should be recognized as the holiday that celebrates not only labor, but also the ideas, job creators, and institutions central to the flourishing of the United States and its people. For starters, consider the tools brought by the colonists who arrived in the New World along the eastern seaboard of what would become the United States. These were the same rudimentary tools -- such as shovels, axes, hoes, and ploughs -- that had been used for prior centuries. But something happened in America that sped up economic development and transformed labor output beyond what had ever happened previously in human history. Colonial America certainly benefited from the fact that early settlers were a self-selecting people willing to leave the familiarity of their European homes and cross a dangerous ocean. Because they were tough, willing to sacrifice and take risk, these settlers were predisposed to work hard and forgo immediate gratification. The Puritans not only prospered, but within a generation or two, many of their descendants achieved surprising wealth that in many cases was created from nothing. In addition, in contrast to today, what stands out about towns and cities in colonial America was the relative absence of poverty. It was Alexis de Tocqueville, whose ever-relevant classic, Democracy in America, pointed out that in contrast to Europeans, Americans regard work as positively honorable. In part, that was undoubtedly attributable to Christian influence in America. The Bible makes more than 450 references to the value and importance of work -- specifically referring to work as a virtue more times than it refers to other virtues, such as prayer, faith, hope, joy, forgiveness, mercy, grace, or peace. Thus, it was and still should be widely recognized that work is good for the soul and necessary to a fulfilling life with dignity and meaning. The idea of a labor day holiday was conceived in America in the 1880s by union labor leaders who sought recognition for the accomplishments of American workers. Finally, in 1894, Congress voted to establish Labor Day as a national holiday to celebrate workers contributions to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of the country. But as the U.S. laborers' standard of living rose above those in the rest of the world, the tie between Labor Day and labor unions diminished. Labor union membership peaked as a percentage of the entire American labor force at 26% in 1953. Today, the share of workers belonging to unions has dropped to a new low of 10.3%. What is striking now is union membership ratio of government workers -- at about 34% -- is more than five times higher than the union membership ratio of private-sector workers -- at about 6.1%. Since government produces little and is heavily unionized, while the private sector that produces most of the goods and services that people want is thinly unionized, its natural for many to perceive that non-unionized workplaces are more highly correlated to productivity than those that are unionized. And just as the private sector economy has moved away from unionization, it is entirely appropriate to recognize the need for a broader perspective and narrative about the meaning of the Labor Day holiday. While commemorating all who labor, it makes sense to also celebrate the entrepreneurs and the intermediaries who create jobs and new labor opportunities that come out of launching new business ventures. Like the early colonial settlers, these prophets and dreamers are often the ones most willing to take risks in developing new products, services, and market opportunities. Whats important to understand about Labor Day past and present is that these visionaries were the primary drivers of wealth creation that took the country from colonial poverty to world economic superpower in a little more than two hundred years. Some who have recognized that thread in history, find the Biblical reference of being the light of the world, a city set on a hill pertains not only to Christians positive spiritual influence on society, but also find it applicable to Americas vibrant political and economic success being a constructive example for other nations. We all know that 1776 was the year of Founding Fathers giving birth to America with the Declaration of Independence. 1776 was also the year that the Scottish enlightenment philosopher, Adam Smith, became known as the Father of Capitalism, when he published The Wealth of Nations. Now a classic, it was at the time the first major work providing a comprehensive understanding of how the essential elements of the free market system -- labor, private property, and capital -- provide the foundation for entrepreneurs, scientists, inventors, financiers, laborers, and consumers to freely interact for the economic benefit of society, producing results more proficiently than any other system, notably the socialist system. The central struggle throughout the ages has been between freedom and tyranny. Even before Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, Tocqueville asserted, Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude. He added, You cant have it both ways. Socialism is a new form of slavery. Anyone can see across nations and cultures that socialism has been associated with diminished prosperity and abuse of power by those in control who waste and steal, while free enterprise has been associated with flourishing and opportunity to pursue happiness. Socialism not only fails because it misallocates resources and thwarts creativity, but also because it discourages and destroys the human spirit. Few would disagree that up until the last few generations, the United States was inherently different from other nations. But even if the idea of American exceptionalism seems unfitting for some in contemporary times, no one can deny certain facts about the ways in which America is unique among nations of the world. The United States represents only 4% of the worlds population but it has produced 96% of the worlds creativity and 25% of the worlds wealth, providing more upward mobility than any other nation. Little wonder that America is the number one destination for immigration, which is the most reliable substantiation of the idea of America as an exceptional nation. What is also exceptional is the fact that the United States has had one constitution for 234 years, while the average length of other nations constitutions in the world has been less than twenty years. What accounts for our nations longevity, making America truly unique and exceptional, is found in its Declaration of Independence that established that citizens have unalienable God-given rights that cannot be taken away by the state. The founding of the United States was an exceptional moment in human history, and because those ideas cannot be cancelled or rescinded our country remains exceptional. Labor Day celebrates American exceptionalism through the work and the accomplishments of its diverse free people. Scott S. Powell is senior fellow at Discovery Institute. His recent book, Rediscovering America, was #1 Amazon New Release in the history genre for eight weeks. Reach him at scottp@discovery.org Image: National Archives In 1967, following the Six-Day War and the defeat of the Arab armies, the honor of the Arabs was severely wounded. It became unseemly to present the Israeli-Arab conflict solely as a clash between the big Arab world and little Israel, for the Arab armies had suffered a crushing defeat. It was much more profitable to present the case as an "aggression" of "big" Israel against the "heroic little Palestinian people." Such a commodity is easily bought and sold in the international political market of "progressive thinking." To strengthen the impression of this vocabulary of war and peace, another fruitful idea was put forward: the Palestinian Arab people were attributed the characteristics of the Jewish people -- small, dispersed, living in diaspora, persecuted, deprived of their homeland, suffering genocide. There was an inversion of roles. A "Palestinian people" was born, previously unthinkable even in the Arab milieu until the early 1960s. The people being born, receiving a Jewish guise, carried an anti-Jewish charge. The Arab world Goliath found itself beaten in the Six-Day War by Israel's David. However, the Arab world managed to outweigh the signs: Israel was declared Goliath, and the Arab world produced its own David -- the Palestinians. The 20th century is the age of acceleration. The breeding and destruction of peoples in it has surpassed all that was known of breeding and destruction in the past. Previously, nations disappeared over the course of centuries. In the twentieth century, one-third of the Jewish people were wiped out in three years of death camps. Nations used to be created over centuries. In a fifty-year period, the Arab people became twenty-two nations. The 21st century has begun, which promises prospects for an increase in the number of Arab nations, for the Arabic language is very rich: it has a thousand names for a camel. The Arab nation is spread over a territory of thirteen million square kilometers. This is larger than the area of Europe. It is less than it was in the seventh and eighth centuries, when it assigned names to foreign lands for future Arab nations: Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Palestine. Possessor of thirteen million square kilometers and twenty-one states, an earth and oil millionaire, the Arab world has managed to indoctrinate "progressive humanity" that one of the greatest misfortunes of modern times is the absence of a twenty-second, Palestinian state for the Arabs. The torches of Arab oil have ignited the conflict between Arabs and Israelis to enormous proportions. The territories, which are 0.17% of the area of the Arab world, are at the core of the conflict and are a factor in the disorder of world peace. The "Palestinian problem" has been globalized and has become an international asset, like protecting nature and the environment, like fighting the warming of the globe. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has grown to monstrous, disproportionate proportions. Israel is at the center of the problems that make up the world's malaise. It seems that on a planet where millions of people die of starvation and epidemics, where genocide claims millions of lives, there are no matters more important than the quarrel between Palestinian Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Although Israel is a democratic country with freedom of speech, the press, religion, respect for human life, and surrounded by a group of tyrannical regimes that claim to want to destroy it, it serves as a permanent source of discord and disharmony on Earth. Although Israel's oppressive neighboring countries infringe on Arab rights far more than Israel, it is the Jewish state that is stigmatized for its persecution of Arabs. Although homosexuals are imprisoned in Muslim countries, people suspected of belonging to terrorist organizations and their relatives are tortured, women who cheat on their husbands are beheaded in some places, opponents of the regime are killed without trial, the unwanted are imprisoned and executed on trumped-up charges, and in some places there is apartheid against non-Muslims, it is Israel that is accused of violating the rights of Muslims. The Jewish state is "central" to the list of sources of global malaise. The U.S. government accepts the Oslo Accords, under which the solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict is the creation of a "Palestinian state." What is Palestine? It was the Roman name for Judea, which rebelled against Rome in the 2nd century and was invented to erase from historical memory the existence of a rebellious Jewish state. Whether or not there ever was an Atlantis, there is no doubt that there never was a country called Palestine. "The "Occupied Palestinian Territories," which for a long time were South Syrian, Syrian, and even earlier Turkish, is a structure built not on love of homeland but on hatred of the people who claim the same territory. There are thousands of nationalities living on Earth, but not all of them get a state on a tray from the UN. The people of Tibet have no state of their own, nor do the Kurds, Copts, Basques, and many other peoples who are culturally, linguistically, or religiously different from the peoples who are masters of their territory. The Palestinian Arabs are in this sense a "chosen" people. A majority of the UN members have elected them as a "state" people. The Arabs of Palestine, who are neither religiously nor linguistically different from their brethren in Arab countries, have earned the privilege of being recognized as state-owners. They have never had a state in the area and did not accept the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish parts proposed to them by the British Peel Royal Commission in 1937, which would have given them a Palestinian state. They seek a state, although they gave it up in 1948 by waging war with all the then existing Arab countries against the newly formed Jewish state. They want a state on territories that were in the hands of Jordan and Egypt for nineteen years and which the Palestinian Arabs did not demand for themselves from these Arab countries or from the UN at that time. For nineteen years (1948-1967) the "Palestinian problem" was not solved by the Egyptians, the Jordanians, and the Palestinian Arabs themselves as a Palestinian problem, or rather it was not solved at all, because there was no demand for a Palestinian state. The Oslo Peace Declaration was a failed attempt to sell an air of imaginary change. It ended with the acquisition of an airless space in which there can be no peace, but only a pseudo-peace introduced by foreign dreamers gathered in the cold Norwegian capital. The dream of Oslo, made of fabulous ice cubes, melted in the desert like a mirage. The Oslo Accords looked good on documents signed by people dressed in elegant suits with nice ties. Warmed up in the Levant, the "Oslo Accords" broke away from the pretty papers and simply evaporated. Carefully prepared roadmaps for a peace settlement never found negotiating tables and bogged down in the Middle East off-road. French playwright Eugene Ionesco argued that the Six-Day War was about Arab aggression against Jews: "French Jewish intellectuals, poisoned by leftism, argue in letters to newspapers that the very presence of Jews in the country of Israel is aggression against the Arabs." The thirty-year stalemate of the Oslo Accords proved that hope for peace between Israelis and Arabs is as baseless as waiting for Godot in Samuel Beckett's absurdist play of the same name. Image: White House How can educated men like former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and former Texas Representative Will Hurd be so stupid? (I am leaving out former Attorney General Bill Barr since hes busy looking at bridges.) They have spent much of their lives in Republican politics and yet have a minuscule understanding of the largest grassroots Republican movement in modern history that is embraced and endorsed by more than half of Republicansprimarily the base. No Republican can win the nomination without the MAGA base. America First Patriots stand with Donald Trump just as we did in 2016 and 2020. These Republican elitists, along with Marxist Democrats, are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and accuse us of being in a cult of personality. What chutzpah! We are proudly in a Cult of Patriotism! Never Trumpers say we shouldnt litigate the last election. If a loved one had been murdered in 2020, would they stop trying to find the assailant just because a few years have passed? To many Patriots, Americas cherished election process was murdered in 2020 and the culprit has yet to be arrested and tried in court. Image: Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. June 16, 2015 When Donald Trump rode down the Trump Tower golden escalator and formally announced his candidacy, he had me and millions of other Patriots at hello. During his 46-minute speech, we knew Trump would win the election. It was just a matter of waiting for everyone else to board the Trump Train. Throughout the 2016 campaign, month after month, at the Republican club meetings I attended, I put up a poster board with all the announced candidates. Members and guests would initial who they were supporting. My RI initials were always under Trumps photo, where it sat alone for many months. Heading into the June California primary, the contest that started with 16 candidates was now between Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. By the time voting took place, Trump was the nominee promising to Make America Great Again for Americas forgotten men and women. Once in office, Trump kept many promises with minimal to no support from his own party. The first two years of a Republican Congress were led by Rep. Paul Ryan (aka Paul RINO). Ryan is now a member of the board of directors at Fox News and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. A trifecta for Ryan would be joining MSNBCs board of directors. Yes, Trump made mistakes with the Communist Chinese COVID virus, in large part because he naively relied on those who insisted they understood the science. However, while Trump was diligently working for the American people, RINOs (many in his administration) along with Marxist Democrats were focused on advancing their Deep State tentacles. It was easy to do, thanks to a complacent media filled with reporters who suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome. Election Day Eve 2020 With the Republican National Committee once again failing to prepare, Patriots saw Trump leading in swing states only to have multiple alleged voter fraud incidents change the final results. Fox News joined the leftist media and eagerly called the election for a candidate who once confused his sister with his wife. It would take pages to list all of Joeys dementia gaffes since his inauguration, which is why Americans see him as old and confused. Those who believe Joe Big Guy Biden got 81 million votes probably also think its normal for a grown man to shower with his daughter. Or that Biden interrupted Hunters business calls (on speaker, no less) just to discuss the weather. Here we are today Three years later, most Republicans still believe the 2020 presidential election was as kosher as a ham sandwich. Polls show that approximately one-third of Americans from all political parties believe Biden fraudulently won the election. As to the indictments (with possibly more to come), its obvious that Joe Bidens handlers fear the ballot box. So, like a banana republic, they get the Big Guy to go after his leading political opponent through lawfare. In the process, they are unraveling the foundation on which America was founded. Progressive Dr. Naomi Wolf has said about one of the indictments: Dont people understand much as they may hate this fellow that this is exactly what coup leaders in every banana republic do? Seek to imprison their political opponents? Especially while the political opponents are on the campaign trail? Trump supporters are still going to vote for Donald Trump even if a biased jury finds him guilty because he is the only candidate with a proven track record of pushing back at UniParty insanity. The GOP should be very concerned because in some states (such as California) you cannot write in a candidate in the general election. In other states, write-in candidates are allowed only if the candidate has registered as such before the election. Stalwart Trump supporters writing Donald Trump could invalidate their entire ballot including all down ballot Republican races. The RNC can keep holding debates, but along with millions of Patriot Americans, I want The Donald to win a third time for his second term. No matter how many people stand on the debate stage, Trump is our candidate. From unveiling Uniparty deep state corruption to creating a robust economy; from Middle East peace through the Abraham Accords to America being respected throughout the world; from energy independence to having a secure border; and everything in between, Patriots like me know that The Donald can Make America Great Again Again. Mr. Trump, Ill be the loudest person applauding when you speak at the California GOP convention on September 29! Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the elite science and engineering university, is altering its admissions requirements in an effort to make access to the ultra-competitive institution more equitable. Therefore, it is no longer requiring applicants to have already taken calculus, physics and chemistry in high school. According to the Los Angeles Times, prior to this decision, Ashley Pallie-- Caltechs executive director of undergraduate admissions-- began to question whether the requirements were unfair to students from less advantaged backgrounds. Ergo, Caltech dropped its calculus, chemistry, and physics requirements, as long as applicants could supposedly prove their academic chops otherwise, such as through taking an online course. Call me a skeptic, but this seems problematic, as the wokesters are wont to say, especially for an engineering school. So the dismantling of standards continues apace. Liberal arts schools eschew previously popular classical courses like Western Civilization and Western Literature. Debate and rhetoric are now all but extinct, having given way to more progressive disciplines like womens studies and gender race theory. So to hell with calculus, physics and chemistry. Say good-bye to STEM classes. (And Shakespeare, for that matter.) A new class list for the fall 0f 2024, regardless of the educational institution, might look very much like this: *Introduction to Marxist Theory *Reflections On Systemic U.S. Racism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Hyper-Christianity *Oceans On Fire: Humans Role In Existential Climate Change *Why Republicans Are Evil *Fun In The Butt: How Anal Sex Can Set You Free *Crapitalism: An Expose On Profit And The Free Market And Why They Suck American colleges and universities were once a net good, challengingand opening-- minds and driving invention and entrepreneurship. Today, too many act as cancers on our culture, poisoningand indoctrinating-- minds and promulgating disdain of excellence and hatred of America. These soul-deadening institutions sap families of money, unity and hope, extol credentialism and globalismand attempt to export this toxic mix to other lands in the guise of progress. For the good of society, we must do our best to return universities to what they once were. Even if we ultimately prove unsuccessful in that endeavor, we must give it the old college try. Image: Canon.vs.nikon, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0 You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. -Rahm Emanuel Rather than whining to Mother Nature, we need to hold people accountable for the destructiveness of the August 2023 Lahaina disaster. Pointing at abstractions like climate change deflects focus away from elected officials and apparatchiks responsible for the safety of their citizens and the maintenance of state property. Two years ago, Maui County issued a report on wildfire prevention, stating that most wildfires are caused by human actions, 75% of which are accidental and therefore preventable. One of the fire threats listed in the report included poorly maintained and overgrown propertiesone of the largest land owners in Hawaii is the state itself, which owns expanses of poorly maintained and overgrown properties north and east of Lahaina. The Aloha State has had more than its fair share of corruption and maleficence, but the dirty laundry does not appear to have grabbed as much national attention as the Lahaina disaster. As a part of the Trump administrations larger program (CARES Act) to protect the U.S. economy during the coronavirus panic, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provided $953 billion in low-interest, forgivable loans to protect employees and small businesses. Like bees to honey, the PPP lured criminals inside and outside the U.S. In Hawaii, one criminal was Honolulu resident Martin Kao, former president and CEO of Martin Defense Group. In 2022, Kao plead guilty to illegal campaign contribution and CARES Act fraud. United States prosecutors accused Kao of stealing more than $12 million from the PPP and sending illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine to steer federal contracts to his company. Apparently, unnamed members of Congress and authorities in Hawaii worked with Kao in grabbing a slice of free taxpayer money. Back on Maui, former state senate majority leader Jamie Kalani English was sentenced in 2022 to 40 months in federal prison for wire fraud. Federal prosecutors noted Englishs propensity to trade bribes in exchange for influencing legislation. The FBI arrested English in January 2021 but it was not until four months later that he announced his retirement from the Senate. English represented various regions of Maui, which at one point included Lahaina (District 6). Caught in the same dragnet were former Maui Department of Environmental Management official Wilfred Tamayo Savella and Ty J.K. Cullen, state representative and Vice Chair of the House Committee on Finance. Savella and Cullen were sentenced in April 2023 for accepting bribes and wire fraud, respectively. In February 2023, former Maui Environmental Management Director Stewart Stant was sentenced for wire fraud and accepting bribes. The Department of Justice stated that it is far from finished with Hawaii. One wonders why the Feds are doing the heavy lifting and where the state Office of the Prosecuting Attorney is in all this. Individuals, including those with privilege, should also shoulder the burden if found responsible for the Lahaina disaster. Another of Hawaiis biggest land owners is Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, one of the largest charitable trusts in the U.S. The Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, no stranger to corruption, was established in accordance with Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop's wish to support and educate orphans and the indigent, giving preference to Hawaiians of pure or part aboriginal blood. It appears that the wildfire near Lahaina started in Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate land. Maui is noted for winter whale watching and Haleakala rather than public and private corruption. Unfortunately, if there is money to be made, graft lies just below the surface. A wildfire tends to leave a bare, ashen landscape visible to all. Perhaps this disaster will leave bare the sheer incompetence of some elected Maui officials and apparatchiks. Survivors of the Lahaina disaster will need strength and support, but one hopes that they will not have to bear the greed of their brethren as well. Image: NordNordWest via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0 DE As they say, the plot thickens. For years, visitors to a small county museum in Thermopolis, Wyoming, had the opportunity to see an old photograph of Harry Alonzo Longabaugh alongside his ladylove, Ethel Etta Place. From an article published by the Wyoming outlet, Cowboy State Daily: The photo was taken in 1901 in New York by the DeYoung Photography Studio. Some historians have suggested its a wedding photo, as the two are rather handsomely dressed. Harry is holding onto a top hat, while Etta has a gold pocket watch pinned to the lapel of her dress, which Harry had just purchased for her at the Tiffany & Co. jewelry store. Public domain image. You may or may not recognize the photo, and his given name may or may not ring a bell, but youve certainly heard of himhes the Sundance Kid, a notorious outlaw of Butch Cassidys Wild Bunch gang. As it turns out, the photo on display in Thermopolis was an original, just one of five cabinet cards purchased by Sundance and Etta, to send to family and friends as a farewell; only days or weeks after this photo was taken, Sundance and Etta, along with Butch, boarded a ship for Argentina to escape the high-profile pursuing Pinkertons. If you know the story, you know that what really happened to Sundance is still up for debate; some claim he died in a shootout in Bolivia, some think he eventually made his way back to the United States and lived out his life under an alias. It truly is a fascinating tale, adding to the charm and mystique of the legends of the Old West, but the mystery of Sundances last known whereabouts isnt a new one. However, now that the photograph has been determined to be an original, sights turned to the chain of custody and how it came to be in the possession of the museum; but digging into this history begat an entirely new mystery, leaving us with more questions than before. Minnie Brown died a pauper in 1940, and upon her death, her estate gifted several photographs to the museum, one of which was the Sundance original. Jackie Dorothy, a director of tourism in Thermopolis, has been studying the life of Brown, who is herself, at the heart of an unsolved mystery. Per the article: Brown had married the town butcher, Mike Brown, in 1907, but in December 1908 she told authorities that she had shot and killed him. According to the account she gave law enforcement, hed been abusive and was choking her, so she shot him with one of his own guns. Because that would have been self-defense, she was never charged with a crime. But investigators noted at the time that none of the details of her account matched the forensic evidence. The bullet couldnt have been fired from where Brown said she was standing nor was the gun she claimed to have used the one that had killed her husband. Then, it gets weirder. According to Dorothys research: Brown also had in her possession watches from the infamous Wilcox train robbery. That was the crime that had finally forced Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid to flee the country in the first place [emphasis added]. And weirder still: On the back of the photo in Browns handwriting are the words, This gentleman is one of our real gentlemen who knew how to get the money and not cripple or kill Taken in New York just before he sailed to never return. From Legends of America: [T]he last known whereabouts of Etta Place were in 1907 when she was still living in San Francisco. Afterward, her location is unknown. (In 1907, Etta would have been about thirty years old.) Who was Minnie Brown, really? Image: Public domain. The plaintiffs were mostly children, and their lawsuit said that the states energy industry was depriving them of their right to life. From an article out by Washington Monthly: In Big Sky Country, young plaintiffs win a groundbreaking lawsuit arguing that the states energy industry is depriving them of the right to life, and a legal scholar explains why hes inspired. In a case brought by 16 young state residents, Montana District Judge Kathy Seeley ruled that the states pandering to the fossil fuel industry violated their rights to live clean and healthy lives in Montana. While the state will undoubtedly appeal to the Montana Supreme Court, this victory is a breakthrough for climate litigation. But, something major was missing, and despite this lack of evidence, the judge ruled for the plaintiffs. So what was it? The answer is a dead child where the cause of death was the use of oil, coal or natural gas. In fact, life expectancy has essentially doubled since we started using these natural resources since the second half of the 19th century. Thankfully, because these children all have modern amenities and luxuries like central heat and air, asphalt, rubber tires, computers, reliable and affordable electricity, water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, computers, buses, cars, planes, trucks, and thousands of other products derived from and services dependent on crude oil, they can focus on things like complaining about the energy industry, and litigating for the sake of pseudo-virtue. If we didn't use our natural resources, they would have a legitimate right to complain and sue the leftists that were depriving them of their right to life, because their quality of life would be much worse, and in fact, have the evidence to support it. (How many people have died in Europe because they couldnt heat their homes during blistering winters thanks to greenie policies?) Of course, the kids have been indoctrinated with the scam that humans and our natural resources are destroying the planet and killing them, so that is what they believe. There is no excuse for older adults who should know better. Sadly, the media and other green pushers including some judges clearly dont care about facts and we get ridiculous rulings like this. Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required. Historically, a girl who physically looked male like and was more interested in male activities and behaviors was called a tomboy. Boys who looked a little like girls physically and were interested in female activities and behaviors were called effeminate. Those girls probably wished they were boys and those boys wished they were girls. Society largely discriminated against tomboys and effeminate boys because naturally, they were the outliers. Both society and nature seem to abhor biological deviants or oddballs by disfavoring them and preventing most of them from reproducing sexually. This is a perfectly understandable situation and a just result to a certain extent. Transgender refers to a person whose gender identity does not correspond with his/her birth sex. The key word in this definition is gender identity which is merely a wish or desire to be considered of the opposite biological sex, or, anywhere on some undefined spectrum. The DSM-5-TR, a psychiatric diagnosis manual, notes patients with gender dysphoria have a strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of the other gender, and a strong desire to be of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from ones assigned gender). In the United States, gender dysphoria is not automatically considered a disability under federal law, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, the ADA does protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of disability, and some courts have ruled that severe gender dysphoria, when it substantially limits one or more major life activities, could be considered a disability under the ADA, providing protection against discrimination. More proof that left wing government actions and judges without objective proof can misrepresent gender dysphoria as a severe disability and not just delusional wayward thinking. With the promise of special treatment under the ADA, and away from the black sheep treatment of yesteryear, trans-deluded people turn to mental health experts. So, the psychiatric profession has gotten into the business of treating transgender patients for a profit. It seems that if you have a strong desire or strong wish or desire to be transgender then psychiatrists are ready and able to treat your delusion for a fee. The medical profession and drug companies have also gotten into making a buck off of the transgender craze by prescribing male and female hormones and puberty blockers for transgender patients. Never mind the bad immediate and long-term side effects of such unproven treatments with increased risk of blood clots, certain cancers, high blood pressure, infertility, and elevated cholesterol levels to name a few which eventually mean more pills and more money spent or that some teenagers were victimized and transitioned before they became fully consenting adults, a truly tragic and even criminal reality. Even more expensive are the body mutilations performed by surgeons who cut off healthy breasts and penises, implant vaginas made from fish skin, and facial reconstructions. Truly a tragic consequence when later in life the patients feel that they made a great mistake by trying to physically look like the opposite sex. The fact that transgenders are much likelier to suffer from depression, anxiety, distress, and suicide is just more money in the bank for psychiatrists. Transgenderism is a money-making scam, exploiting dysphoric and delusional patients. Most of these transgenders are little more than experimental guinea pigs for society. Discrimination and the absence of equal rights for transgenders has been replaced, by a tyrannical minority, with equal rights everywhere. Males insist on the right to participate in female sports, where they excel due to greater strength and speed, thus depriving many female athletes of fair competition, financial reward, and champion status. Biological males and females are different, and trying to make them equal both physically and mentally is a tragic delusion. This is all just another attempt at putting another nail into the coffin of healthy and happy heterosexual marriage unions. It is not enough to call transgenderism a tragedy for society, but worse yet is that it is an unethical money-making scam for the medical profession, psychiatric profession, and drug companies who victimize many. I personally feel that it is criminal to encourage a teenager to make a transgender transition before adulthood when they should have a right to screw up their lives with surgeries and hormones if they want to. It is a scam to pretend that a desire or wish to be of the opposite sex is actually attainable and a natural desire or wish. Of course a complete scam is actually making some money out of it. A true tragedy for society. Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required. In the small island of Okno near Monsteras, Sweden, a young girl named Karolina Olsson went to bed complaining of a toothache. She wouldnt wake up until three decades later, or so the story goes. Karolina was born on 29 October 1861, the second-eldest of six children. Her siblings were all brothers. Karolina's mother appears to have managed the household and children exceptionally well. Nonetheless, she believed it was important for Karolina to contribute to the household, so she kept her home and taught her how to read and write. Karolina didn't begin attending school until the late autumn of 1875 when she was already 14 years old. Karolina had hardly been to school for a month, when one day while returning home from school with her brothers, she complained of a toothache and a feeling of general unease. Her family suspected that she might be afflicted by witchcraft or under the malevolent influence of an evil spirit. Her mother instructed her to go to bed. Karolina continued to complain of toothache, but had no other symptoms. However, when she fell asleep, she did not wake up. A 17th century painting of a sleeping girl by an unknown painter. Karolinas father was a poor fisherman and was unable to afford a doctor. Instead, the towns midwife advised the family. Karolinas mother took great care of her unresponsive daughter, force-feeding her two glasses of milk every day. Eventually, the neighbors paid for a visit from a doctor, who was unable to wake up the sleeping girl and determined that she was in a coma. This doctor continued to visit her for a year, after which he wrote to the editor of Scandinavia's leading medical journal, soliciting the help of other professionals in finding a cure for Karolinas continuous sleep-state. In 1892, a doctor named Johan Emil Almbladh came to Monsteras and transferred Karolina to a hospital in order to observe her. During the hospital stay, Karolina's condition was completely unchanged and she was during this time in an almost stupor state, unable to speak and insensitive to pricks and touch. Treatment with electricity was ineffective and the only treatment must have been to make the food order reasonable, more regular. The doctor declared her 'hysterical' and the diagnosis at discharge was dementia paralytica. Dementia paralytica is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder that is caused by late-stage syphilis. However, there is little to suggest that she actually suffered from that illness. After spending one month at the infirmary, Karolina was sent back to her home. She wouldnt be examined again by a doctor until after she woke up in 1908 a full 32 years after she went to sleep. During her illness, Karolina was not examined by a trained psychiatrist. These specialists was at that time extremely scarce and the few that were available, were essentially tied to the state mental health care. Although Karolina had been interviewed by journalists on a few occasions, no serious study had been carried out regarding the circumstances surrounding the illness and the conditions under which the recovery took place. Two years after she woke up, a Stockholm-based doctor named Harald Froderstrom visited her and spent a lot of time trying to understand what had really happened to her. Froderstrom learned from the two brothers that in all the years, they had never seen their sister leave the bed. However, the father said that on a few occasions he saw her crawl on the floor on all fours and on at least three occasions heard her speak. Once she was sitting in bed and her father heard her cry: 'Good Jesus, have mercy on me!' She then crawled back into bed and pulled the covers over her head. Karolina's sole caregiver was her mother. The family members were under the impression that Karolina consumed only two glasses of milk daily. Even if someone placed bread beside her bed, she never showed any interest in it, although she had a fondness for caramels, but refrained from eating them when observed. The housekeeper had never heard her utter a word, but occasionally, she could hear Karolina cry or wail. Karolina was often left to her own devices while the housekeeper and other family members tended to their farm duties. However, the housekeeper occasionally noticed that certain objects in the room changed positions when she was outside. When her mother died in 1905, Karolina began to cry. These crying episodes persisted for several days, yet her overall condition showed no improvement. In the absence of her mother, her father assumed the role of caregiver, tending to her needs and providing daily nourishment. However, Karolina's health deteriorated, and she became confined to her bed, becoming increasingly emaciated. The only photograph of Karolina Olsson taken 11 days after she woke up. One dayApril 3, 1908the housekeeper came in and found Karolina on all fours on the floor, crying. When she was sternly ordered to bed, she asked: 'Where's mother?'. When the brothers came home, she did not recognize them. 'It's not my brothers, because they were so small,' she added. Karolina appeared severely undernourished and had a pallor reminiscent of someone who had suffered from starvation. In the initial days, she exhibited weakness, shunned light, responded to questions with hesitation, and struggled to move about. Surprisingly, despite her condition, she displayed a hearty appetite and consumed her meals with enthusiasm. Karolina could remember her school days and church visits, and she even started participating in the household chores. However, she did not ask any questions about the past or what happened during the illness. Nor did she ask about the mother's death. Froderstrom found Karolina to be above average intelligence. She could read and write and knew the names of her countrys king and queen, but couldnt point out Stockholm on the map. Frodestrom promptly dismissed the notion of total hibernation, asserting that it would have been impossible for Karolina to endure such an extended period without starving. Instead, he speculated that Karolina had undergone a form of psychosis triggered by a traumatic event. This led her to withdraw under her blankets as a way to shield herself from the harsh realities of the world. Throughout this challenging period, her devoted mother stood by her side, assisting her in concealing the fact that she wasn't actually in hibernation. Family members and relatives were led to believe that she was in a deep slumber, when, in reality, Karolina remained fully conscious throughout her illness. The family's claim that Karolina consumed only two glasses of milk daily for 32 years can only be explained by the presence of a loyal caregiver who discreetly provided for her needs. This caregiver operated in secret, unbeknownst to the others. The severe emaciation that set in after her mother's passing can be perceived as a consequence of her not being fed in the same way as before. Karolinas case has many parallels to another famous example of a sleeping girl, Ellen Sadler, who reportedly slept for nine years. Like Karolina, Ellen was taken care of by her mother, who fed her with port wine, tea and milk, and refused visitors and doctors from investigating her critically. After Ellens mother died, the responsibility of taking care Ellen fell upon her sisters, who perhaps were unable to keep up to the task with diligence, causing her to mysteriously wake up five months after her mothers death. After her awakening, Karolina went to lead a fairly healthy life, just like Ellen. She died in 1950 aged 88 from an intracranial hemorrhage. References: # Soverskan pa Okno The HONOR Magic V2 was originally launched back in July, in China. The phone made its first global appearance at IFA 2023 in Berlin. It managed to attract a lot of attention, for a good reason, more on that soon. The phone did get shown off on a global scene, but the company did not share its price tag. Well, the companys CEO did give out a hint as to what HONOR Magic V2 price we can expect, though. The HONOR Magic V2 global printed hinted at by the companys CEO This did not happen during the event, though. We were there, and the pricing was not mentioned. GSM Arena notes that it happened at the sidelines of the event. George Zhao allegedly said that the Magic Vs price tag is a good reference for the Magic V2s price. Advertisement Advertisement So, the HONOR Magic Vs did launch globally back in February, with a price tag of 1,599 for the 12GB RAM + 512GB storage model. That is the only model that was announced, actually. So, the Magic V2 may carry the same price tag, or something similar to it. We still do not know when its going to arrive, though. Wed like to believe itll happen at some point this year, but Q1 2024 is also a possibility considering the Magic Vs launch timeframe. On the other hand, the Magic Vs launched in China in November, and to global markets in February, so based on that difference, the Magic V2 should arrive by the end of this year to global markets. Well see. The phones design is in focus here, as its unbelievably thin & light In any case, the Magic V2 is a true powerhouse, but the main attraction of this phone are not the specs. The main attraction is its design. The device feels like a regular phone when its folded, and you hold it. Not only because its 9.9mm thick when folded, but because it weighs 231 grams, which is the weight of some regular, non-folding flagships these days. The device is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SOC, while it also includes 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 flash storage. A 5,000mAh battery is also included, and the phone supports 66W wired charging. A 50-megapixel main camera (OIS, Laser AF) is backed by a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera. A 20-megapixel telephoto camera (2.5x optical zoom, OIS) is also here. A side-facing fingerprint scanner is also a part of the package, and there are also two 120Hz displays on offer here. If youd like to know more about the phone, click here. (ANSA) - ROME, SEP 4 - Italian fuels giant Eni and Oando, Nigeria's main energy company listed in NIgeria and Johannesburg, on Monday signed a deal to sell Eni's wholly controlled Nigerian energy company NOAC to Oando. NOAC is active in the West African country in exploration aad production of onshore hydrocarbons and the generation of electrical power. The operation is in line with Eni's 2023-2026 Plan and its closing is subject to the authorization of all local regulatory competent authorities, among other things, an Eni statement said. photo: CEO Claudio Descalzi (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, SEP 4 - The government is set to crack down on juvenile crime after several headline grabbing cases recently including two cousins aged 10 and 12 were allegedly raped by a group of youths in the Camorra mafia ridden town of Caivano near Naples, and a 18-year-old woman was allegedly gang raped by youths in Palermo, sources said Monday. The government is reportedly tightening up its security package - it has not yet been decided whether it will be a decree or a bill - which could already go before cabinet this Thursday, the sources said. They said there will be new measures against juvenile crime after the events in Caivano. They range from the possibility of ordering the expulsion from certain urban areas (DASPOs) to minors between 14 and 18 years of age, to verbal warnings from the police commissioner for the same age group, to a beefed-up fight against the spread of firearms. (ANSA). Chinese astronauts inspire students to pursue dreams Xinhua) 11:04, September 04, 2023 Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (L), Zhu Yangzhu (C) and Gui Haichao attend a see-off ceremony at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China May 30, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Gang) BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Shenzhou-16 astronauts in the Tiangong space station encouraged the primary and secondary school students across the country on Friday, the first day of the new semester, to chase their dreams. Via a video link, Zhu Yangzhu, the country's first flight engineer in space, called on students to stay self-motivated, adding that his dream of flying in the sky had never faded. Gui Haichao, a professor at Beihang University and the country's first civilian astronaut into space, encouraged pupils to stay curious. "Twenty years ago, when I was a sophomore in secondary school, the news I heard from the school radio that Shenzhou-5 spacecraft was successfully launched ignited my passion for space," he said. "My curiosity for space has guided me in decision-making and perseverance." Jing Haipeng, the commander of the Shenzhou-16 mission, is the first Chinese astronaut to enter space four times. He inspired students to stick with their dreams, noting that he had made preparations for ten years before his first space flight. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) (ANSA) - ROME, SEP 4 - The Italian Islamic community has condemned Friday's sermon at a mosque in Birmingham, England, in which an imam described in detail how to stone to death women for committing adultery. In a statement, the Italian Islamic Religious Community (COREIA) said it "firmly condemned" the Birmingham imam and his "brutal technical description of a female stoning for adultery during Friday's prayers". COREIS descibed as "puerile" the imam's trying to justify the sermon by saying his words on female adultery and its rightful punishment according to the Koran had been taken out of context. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, SEP 4 - The Lower House Transport and Labour committees are to hear CEO of Italian rail operator Rete ferroviaria italiana (RFI) Gianpiero Strisciuglio in relation to the rail disaster at Brandizzo station near Turin in which five track maintenance workers were hit and killed by a train on Wednesday night in a joint session on Tuesday, parliamentary sources said on Monday. The committees will also hear representatives of trades union confederations CGIL, CISL, UIL and UGL and of the unions Usb, Orsa and Fast-Confsal. The RFI employee responsible for the worksite on which the five maintenance workers were killed is one of two people under investigation in relation to the incident, as prosecutors try to establish why work was allowed to begin before there was confirmation that traffic on the line had been halted. Sources say investigators believe work started even though the RFI employee was denied the all-clear for it to begin in three phone calls with network officials. The other suspect is the worksite foreman, employed, like the victims, by contractor Sigifer. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, SEP 4 - Hundreds of people on Monday joined the relatives of the five rail maintenance workers killed in an accident at Brandizzo station near Turin last week in a procession in Vercelli. The procession was organized by the Cgil, Cisl and Uil trade unions to mourn the victims and demand better safety in the workplace. The five workers' relatives carried photos of their loved-ones who were hit and killed by a passing train on the Milan-Turin line late on Wednesday while working on the track. "We have no more words," read one banner. "These aren't accidents, they are homicides," said another. The two survivors of the accident, the foreman of the team of workers employed by a contractor and the Italian rail company RFI employee responsible for the worksite, have been put under investigation. Investigators are trying to work out why work was allowed to begin before there was confirmation that traffic on the line had been halted. Sources say investigators believe work started even though the RFI employee was denied the all-clear for it to begin in three phone calls with network officials. Deputy Premier and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said Sunday that the disaster stemmed from an "unacceptable" and "dramatic mistake". "'The procedure is there," Salvini said. "You can't go to work on a track if there is no notification that no more vehicles are passing". (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, SEP 4 - The only thing to do about death is not to think about it, Woody Allen said in presenting his 50th film and first French-language effort Coup de Chance at the Venice Film Festival on Monday. The film, a thriller about a crisis that hits an apparently happy couple in Paris, returns to the importance of chance and luck in life, a key theme of his 2005 romantic drama Match Point, hailed as a masterpiece in Italy. Asked about his obsession with death, which he shares with his late idol Ingmar Bergman, the almost 88-year-old cult auteur said "there's nothing you can do against it, it's a really bad thing that exists. We can only not thin about it, distract ourselves form it". Allen has said about his latest (and perhaps last) film, shown in a world premiere out of competition at the world's oldest film fest: "This is my fiftieth movie. It was a great privilege to have made it in Paris and it's a great honor to show it in Venice." Talking on Monday ahead of its premiere, Allen also said he had "always been lucky in life. "I had parents that loved me, wives and children, and at almost 88 years of age, I've never been in hospital even for a day. "As a director, too, it has gone ok for me and I hope this good luck continues for me". According to the synopsis of Coup de Chance on th fest's website: "Coup de Chance is about the important role chance and luck play in our lives. Fanny and Jean look like the ideal married couplethey're both professionally accomplished, they live in a gorgeous apartment in an exclusive neighborhood of Paris, and they seem to be in love just as much as they were when they first met. But when Fanny accidentally bumps into Alain, a former high school classmate, she's swept off her feet. They soon see each other again and get closer and closer, and that's when the trouble begins". (ANSA). (ANSA) - BEIJING, SEP 4 - Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that a meeting he had in Beijing on Monday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi was the "opening of a new season" for "reinforced cooperation" between the countries. In a speech given at the end of the XI session of the Italy-China Governmental Committee, he also stressed the key role Italy plays in the European Union's relations with Beijing. "Italy is the supporter of dialogue with Beijing at the European Union level too, and of frank, open dialogue on principles and rights," Tajani said. He also announced that President Sergio Mattarella would visit China next year to "seal this strong friendship and cooperation on concrete issues". Earlier on Monday Tajani said that Chinese appreciation of Italy and its goods would not be changed by what Rome decides on its involvement in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a huge infrastructure programme to create a sort of modern-day Silk Road. The Memorandum of Understanding on the BRI signed n March 2019 by then premier Giuseppe Conte is up for renewal by the end of this year and it is not expected to be extended. (ANSA). The parents of a girl who died after doctors failed to admit her to intensive care are calling for the introduction of Marthas rule to make it easier to get a second opinion. Martha Mills, who would have been 16 on Monday, died after developing sepsis while under the care of Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in south London. A coroner ruled last year that the 13-year-old would most likely have survived if doctors had identified the warning signs and transferred her to intensive care earlier. Martha was being looked after at Kings after suffering a pancreatic injury following a fall from her bike while on a family holiday in Wales. Kings is a specialist national referral centre for children with pancreatic problems. An inquest heard there were several opportunities to refer Martha to intensive care but this did not happen. The trust has since apologised for mistakes in Marthas care. Marthas mother, Merope Mills, an editor at the Guardian, has said she and her husband, Paul Laity, raised concerns about Marthas deteriorating health a number of times but these were not acted upon. At one point, Martha began to bleed heavily through a tube inserted into her upper arm and through a drainage tube. She also developed a rash, with her mother voicing her concerns to staff that Martha would go into septic shock over a bank holiday weekend. The couple are now calling for Marthas rule to give patients, families and carers the chance to easily request a second opinion from a senior doctor in the same hospital in the event of a suspected deterioration or serious concern. The think tank Demos has written an accompanying report calling on NHS England to urgently put the rule in place. Ms Mills told the PA news agency: At Kings College Hospital, there were no consultants present after the ward round during the weekend when Martha deteriorated, and so when I had doubts about Marthas care I had no-one senior to turn to. I mentioned my concerns to a junior doctor when he misdiagnosed her rash, but he ignored me; questioning him further would have involved a confrontation. I talked to a nurse, but she said to trust the doctors. I didnt have the language or knowledge to request a critical care review. I had been managed, I hadnt been listened to and I felt powerless. A national expert on sepsis worked just down the corridor in paediatric ICU (intensive care): had he seen her following a review, we know her treatment would have been utterly different. If a patient and family escalation system such as Marthas rule had existed and had been clearly advertised around the hospital with posters and stickers Im sure I would have used it and it could well have saved Marthas life. Where such systems exist they are used appropriately and effectively which is why wed like to see Marthas rule introduced across the NHS. The Demos report said Marthas rule is modelled on the Call 4 Concern system that has been adopted by a number of hospitals in the UK and, to an extent, Ryans Rule in Australia, giving patients a direct line to a second opinion. The study said Marthas rule should be advertised to families, and staffed by an independent clinical review team, which many hospitals already have in place. It calls on NHS England to develop best practice guidance to allow hospitals to adopt the new system and for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to consider it standard practice in inspections. The report also proposes the right to access patient notes more easily and the right to a named consultant, which Demos says has not been consistently adopted across the NHS. Polly Curtis, chief executive of Demos and co-author of the paper, said too many reviews have highlighted a refusal to take families seriously with a doctor knows best attitude. She added: Marthas rule would help to shift power, encouraging patients to challenge in the most difficult of circumstances and clinicians to listen to them. In other countries it has been proven to save lives. An NHS spokesman said: All patients and families are able to seek a second opinion if they have concerns about their care and, as professional guidance for doctors in England sets out, it is essential that any patients wishes to seek a second opinion are respected. A spokeswoman at Kings said the trust remains deeply sorry that we failed Martha when she needed us most. Since Marthas death, we have put a number of improvements in place to help identify deteriorating children early, including mandatory sepsis training for all clinical staff in paediatrics. We have established a new paediatric iMobile service, which involves a specially trained team reviewing any seriously unwell children on our wards, and escalating their care where necessary. We also now formally document any parental concerns on our electronic paediatric early warning charts, and we have guidelines in place that recommend escalation of a childs care in those cases where we are unable to provide sufficient reassurance to parents. These are just some of the measures we have put in place, and our teams will continue to do everything they can to improve the care we provide as a result of learnings from Marthas sad death. UK Sepsis Trust founder and joint chief executive Dr Ron Daniels said: We have learned of numerous cases where parental concerns havent been addressed by healthcare professionals, and families have paid the ultimate cost. We support Meropes call for concerned parents to be able to access a second opinion from an intensive care team. A care home resident with multiple system atrophy (MSA) said she had a great time after getting her first tattoo and felt glad she could share the experience with her care home team who got matching designs. Alexa Peach, 56, a resident at Care UKs Bishops Manor in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, who was diagnosed with MSA in January 2022, expressed her dream of getting her first tattoo of a peach design to pay homage to her name. The care home team helped Ms Peach realise her wish and volunteered to get matching tattoos to raise money for the MSA Trust, a charity that funds research and provides support for those affected by the condition. Ms Peach visited nearby tattoo parlour Vivid Ink where she had the design tattooed on the upper part of her left arm by tattoo artist Summer, while 10 members of the care home team also had peach designs tattooed on their bodies. Alexa Peach, with the care home team at Bishops Manor, who got matching peach tattoos to raise money for the MSA Trust (Shaun Fellows/PA) While the care home resident was initially apprehensive, she enjoyed the experience and said she was overwhelmed after raising 1,000 on the day for the MSA Trust. Ms Peach said: I was nervous getting my tattoo at first, but I loved the design and felt confident with Summer. I was glad I had team members with me to share the experience. I feel so overwhelmed by the amount raised for the MSA Trust and would like to thank each and every person who donated to the cause. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Vivid Ink for making us all feel so welcome. We had a great time! David Godfrey, manager at Vivid Ink, said: I am glad the day went so smoothly, and we are honoured to be part of such a great cause. Care UK offers a match-funding scheme which took Ms Peachs fundraising total from 1,000 to 2,000. Thomas Bampfield, general manager at Bishops Manor, spoke of Ms Peachs fantastic sense of humour and said the care home team was honoured to be part of the experience. He said: Alexa has a fantastic sense of humour, she is constantly upbeat and she inspires everyone who has the pleasure of meeting her. The team jumped at the opportunity to help make her wish come true and raise funds for a cause close to her heart at the same time. Here at Bishops Manor we always want to build strong relationships with the charities that residents support and help them in any way we can. We are honoured to assist this charity, which we know will benefit from the donations received. Maddy Jukes, who is part of the Bishops Manor care home team, got a matching peach tattoo on her leg (Shaun Fellows/PA) He also thanked members of staff for volunteering to get a tattoo and expressed his gratitude to those who donated. He said: Wed like to express our gratitude to everyone who helped us accomplish our 800 goal. MSA Trust assists many families like Alexas across the UK, and we hope that our contributions will help them continue their essential work. Id also like to thank all of the team members at Bishops Manor who volunteered to get tattooed alongside Alexa this is definitely something that will be permanently inked in my mind! Eleanor Jarvis, events, community and digital fundraising officer from MSA Trust, said she was blown away by donations. She said: We were thrilled to be associated with such a creative fundraiser. We receive no government funding whatsoever and so we are blown away by the amount raised and thank everyone for their generosity and for making the event a success. A special thank you to the team at Bishops Manor and Vivid Ink for making this happen. Crimes with no associated threat, risk, harm or vulnerability and no lines of inquiry will not be investigated by police in a new pilot. Police Scotland announced the initiative in the north-east region on Monday, citing cuts to the police budget in recent years. The Scottish Government which funds but has no operational control over the force said it was vital it retains trust and relationships with communities. In an announcement on Monday, police have said the pilot mirrors how officers worked in the Grampian region before the founding of Police Scotland and stressed if any risk, harm or vulnerability is identified, appropriate measures will be taken. An example of a crime where no action could be taken would be a theft from a garden without CCTV or eye-witness evidence. The new process, police said, would allow those who reported a crime to find out quicker if no action will be taken and free up officers to investigate other crimes, respond to emergencies and keep the public safe. Divisional commander Chief Superintendent Graeme Mackie said: The pilot process will enable local police officers to focus on those crimes that have proportionate lines of inquiry and potentially enable them to give more time to local concerns and priorities in the area. We also know that sometimes people simply want to report a crime and we want to provide that service efficiently. Please continue to report crime in your area. Local officers will continue to review closed reports to enable them to map local crime trends and this may mean an inquiry is reopened and investigated. A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: While these decisions are a matter for the Chief Constable, it is vital Police Scotland continues to inspire public trust and maintains relationships with local communities. This will be crucial when the results of this pilot are examined to ensure local priorities continue to be met with no detriment to communities. Liam McArthur said the SNP had introduced brutal cuts to policing (Fraser Bremner/Scottish Daily Mail/PA) The Scottish Government has increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17, investing more than 11.6 billion since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, despite difficult financial circumstances due to UK Government austerity. Opposition parties have raised concerns about safety, with Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay saying: The SNP governments decision to impose severe and sustained cuts on police budgets has depleted policing across Scotland, with the fewest number of officers since 2008. Police Scotland should be applauded for being so candid about the reality of their predicament, but communities deserve better than the SNPs weak approach to justice and shabby surrender to criminals. Ministers must be up front with the public about whether this policy will potentially be rolled out elsewhere in Scotland. Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: The police are being forced to make terrible choices because the Scottish Government have expected them to do so much with so little for so long. The SNPs botched centralisation of policing and brutal cuts have hit officer and staff numbers hard. To cut crime and deliver for communities, Scottish Liberal Democrats would enhance community policing and ensure that officers have both the support and resources they need to do their jobs. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has defended holidaying with family in Spain as the crumbling concrete crisis hitting schools unfolded. The Cabinet minister said on Monday she has always worked remotely and continued to chair a response team while on the continent for her fathers birthday. Aides had conceded she was in Spain between August 25 and Thursday, when the closures at more than 100 schools were ordered. "I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me I'm certainly not getting that vibe from you". Education Sec @GillianKeegan defends going on holiday during the concrete crisis, and says she "came back straight away".#PoliticsHub https://t.co/GlTNastFii Sky 501, Virgin 602 pic.twitter.com/0pSsKZjTBa Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (@SkyPoliticsHub) September 4, 2023 Her holiday emerged as Ms Keegan was under pressure after being caught on microphone suggesting everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing as she tackled the crisis. Ministers have said they were acting after receiving concerning new evidence about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) over the summer. Ms Keegan said the trip to Spain where she reportedly owns property in Madrid and Marbella was her first opportunity to go on holiday this summer after dealing with striking teachers, as well as GCSE and A-level results. She told Skys Politics Hub: I dont expect anyone to feel sorry for me, Im certainly not getting that vibe from you. But what I arranged was to go on holiday on that day for my dads birthday it was a family occasion and we went. The minister said she chaired a response team from Spain every day despite the vacation. She said she has always worked remotely throughout her career, in business before becoming an MP, and said she planned to come back if investigations raised concerns. I came back straight away well actually I had to wait a day because of the air traffic control issue, she added. The complete or partial closures at 104 schools and colleges in England over Raac was announced with a press release on Thursday afternoon. Ms Keegan, according to aides, was in her department overseeing the publication of the guidance that day before speaking to broadcasters in the evening. A Department for Education spokesman said: Throughout this summer the Education Secretary has been driving forward this Governments priorities, bringing an end to strike action in schools, announcing 15 new free schools and seven new Send (special educational needs and disabilities) schools, as well as overseeing the return to pre-pandemic grading for GCSE, A-level and VTQ results. The Education Secretary took the cautious and proactive decision to change guidance on Raac and this week has chaired daily operational calls with ministers and senior officials in the department and virtually. Labours tax proposals will throw Scottish households under the bus, the SNP has said as it challenges its opponents to back energy rebates. SNP MP David Linden, who is his partys social justice spokesman at Westminster, has urged Labour to back the introduction of a wealth tax to fund an energy rebate if it wins the next election. It would see the UK move in line with countries like France, Spain and Switzerland, which taxes people on their net worth rather than just their income. Independent analysis by the House of Commons Library on behalf of the SNP found a 400 energy rebate for households from October 2023 to March 2024 would cost the UK Government around 11.9 billion, funded through the wealth tax. The research bases the figure on the cost of the energy bill support scheme in 2022/23. However, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves previously ruled out the idea, saying: I dont have any spending plans that require us to raise 12 billion. So I dont need a wealth tax. Mr Linden, the MP for Glasgow East, said the rebate is needed after projections suggested energy bills could increase again this winter, with Cornwall Insights estimating costs could hit 2,032.66 despite the Ofgem price cap reducing to 1,923 as of October. He said: Millions of families across Scotland are being hit hard in the pocket as a result of damaging Tory and Labour party policies, including Brexit and austerity cuts, which have hammered household incomes and increased the cost of living in the UK. Its vital the UK Government delivers urgent help for families by reintroducing a 400 energy bill rebate for all households from October. Families are seeing their incomes squeezed to the pips as the cost of mortgages, rents and everyday goods rise, but Sunak and Starmer are doing nothing to help. It beggars belief that the pro-Brexit Labour Party is copying Tory cuts and refusing to help suffering families. You dont beat the Tories by becoming them, but thats exactly what Starmer and Reeves are doing. SNP MP David Linden said families need more help with rising costs (UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor) They are throwing millions of Scots under the bus for a sniff of power. Its shameful. The SNP is the only party demanding real help for families and delivering progressive policies like the Scottish Child Payment to put money back into peoples pockets. In contrast, the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour are taking money away and leaving families in the cold. At the general election, voting SNP is the only way to secure real change with independence and real help with the cost of living. A UK Government spokesman said: We have been providing unprecedented support to families, with nearly 40 billion to cover around half a typical households energy bill last winter. Energy prices have fallen significantly since last autumn and the Energy Price Guarantee will remain in place as a safety net through to April 2024. Additional help is also available for the most vulnerable this winter through an increase to the Warm Home Discount, from which we expect over three million households to benefit, which is in addition to the significant welfare and income tax powers the Scottish Government has. Last month we also announced hundreds of new oil and gas licences to deliver cleaner homegrown energy for households capitalising on Scotlands energy resources while supporting 50,000 jobs. Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: This is the latest in an increasingly desperate series of attacks from the SNP, who know only Labour has a real plan to get energy bills down. Labours Green Prosperity Plans would see us establish GB Energy which would create 50,000 green energy jobs right here in Scotland and and take 1,400 off peoples bills for good. People with lung conditions are among those most at risk from the changing climate, a group of respiratory experts has said. They are calling for urgent action to stop climate change and reduce air pollution. High temperatures, changing weather patterns, an increase in pollen and other allergens as well as wildfires, dust storms and fossil fuel-based traffic all exacerbate existing respiratory conditions or can create new ones. Climate changes impact on the planet and human health is now irreversible, the authors said, and the two are interlinked. Air pollution is estimated to have killed 6.7 million people globally in 2019 and 373,000 in Europe, with greenhouse gases and air pollution sharing many of the same sources. In a peer-reviewed editorial in the European Respiratory Journal, the authors want the EU to lower the safe limit of air pollution in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO). Professor Zorana Jovanovic Andersen of the University of Copenhagen and an author of the report said: Climate change affects everyones health, but arguably, respiratory patients are among the most vulnerable. These are people who already experience breathing difficulties and they are far more sensitive to our changing climate. Their symptoms will become worse, and for some this will be fatal. Children are more affected by climate change and air pollution because their lungs are still developing, they breathe faster and inhale two to three times more air than adults while spending more time outdoors. Exposure to air pollution early in life could make it more likely that people develop chronic lung diseases later on, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or bronchitis from smoking, the authors said. Cutting greenhouse gas emissions and stopping the planet from further heating would lead to substantially larger and more immediate benefits, the authors wrote, as peoples health would swiftly improve as air becomes cleaner. Recent WHO reports have said that reducing emissions would result in better air quality, therefore regulating air pollution should be at the heart of any climate strategy, the authors wrote. Traffic is a significant source of both air pollution and greenhouse gases in cities (Dave Thompson/PA) On behalf of the European Respiratory Society, which represents more than 30,000 lung specialists from 160 countries, the authors want the EU to bring its air quality standards in line with the WHO. The limits are currently 25 micrograms per cubic metre for fine particles (PM2.5) and 40 micrograms per cubic metre for nitrogen dioxide, compared with the WHOs five micrograms per cubic metre for PM2.5 and 10 micrograms per cubic metre for nitrogen dioxide. The UK Government has set a target of 10 micrograms per cubic metre for PM2.5 by 2040, saying it was impossible to match the WHO guidelines because of emissions blowing over the English Channel and from shipping. There is also a limit of 40 micrograms per cubic metre for nitrogen dioxide, set in 2010 in line with the EU. Professor Jovanovic Andersen said: We all need to breathe clean, safe air. That means we need action from policy-makers to mitigate impacts of climate change on our planet and our health. As respiratory doctors and nurses, we need to be aware of these new risks and do all we can to help alleviate patients suffering. We also need to explain the risks to our patients so they can protect themselves from adverse effects of climate change. A killer has been handed a life sentence in his absence for stabbing a young rap artist to death while wearing a skull mask popularised by the Call Of Duty video games. Drug dealing enforcer Timothy Adeoye, 20, refused to attend the Old Bailey on Monday, when he was locked up for at least 23 years for murdering 18-year-old Donavan Allen. It comes five days after the Ministry of Justice announced planned legislation to make defendants attend sentencing hearings, including by force if needed. Mr Allen, who was not the intended target, died after Adeoye plunged a large kitchen knife into his chest at a block of flats in Enfield, north London, on February 7 last year. Adeoye, known as T-Trapz, denied being the person behind the distinctive mask. Adeoye was wearing a mask made popular by the Call Of Duty games (Alamy/PA) He was found guilty of murder, having a knife and threatening another person with a blade. On Monday, Mr Allens family gathered at the Old Bailey for Adeoyes sentencing only to learn he had refused to leave Pentonville prison. In a victim impact read to the court, Mr Allens father Orlando said his son was excited about writing lyrics, making rap videos and performing. He said: I was there when he was born and held him with my own hands and I used my own hands to shovel the dirt to bury him. Timothy, why did you kill my son? Mother Charmain Dubery said: Donavan was polite, kind, funny and talented and he was taken from us for no reason at all. There are no words to describe the loss. If I lost a husband Id be a widow, and a child that loses their parents is an orphan . . . but for a sister who has lost her brother and a mother that has lost her only son, there are no words. Judge Philip Katz KC said Adeoyes decision not to attend his sentencing showed a lack of empathy, and cowardice. The judge described Mr Allen as an extroverted and popular young man surrounded by a loving family and positive energy at the start of a promising career as a performing rap artist. Unfortunately, the judge said, at least one of his friends had gone down a negative path and become involved in drug dealing. The judge said: There is no evidence Donavan was involved himself in the dangerous world of drug dealing, which Im sure was the backdrop to his murder. I am 100% sure this was a planned attack to some degree to do with drug dealing. It is a mystery as to quite whether it was (over) debt or territory because no one has told the truth about it. Im satisfied (Adeoye) was out and about with a knife acting as an enforcer. The judge handed Adeoye a further 12 months detention for having the knife and 18 months for threatening a neighbour with the blade to run concurrently with his life sentence. Donavan Allen, 18, who died as a result of a single stab wound to the chest (Met Police/PA) Previously, prosecutor Alan Gardner KC said the defendant travelled from Barking in east London to Enfield on the day of the murder while carrying a knife. Just after 2.30pm, he appeared on CCTV footage at Barking Station wearing his very distinctive face mask. He spent some time walking around the Enfield area looking for the victims friend, the court was told. Learning where he might find the man, Adeoye went to a flat said to be used as a drug house and threatened to shank up the occupants. When Mr Allen and his friend arrived, the defendant grabbed a second larger knife from the kitchen and went to confront them, only to be interrupted by a neighbour. Adeoye followed them and confronted them again and, during an exchange, Mr Allen was stabbed. Timothy Adeoye (Metropolitan Police/PA) Mr Gardner said: It was an unprovoked and motiveless attack. There is some evidence that the defendant had an issue with (the victims friend), likely connected with drugs, but there is no evidence that he had any issue with Donavan Allen. Mr Allen collapsed in a nearby stairwell and died soon afterwards, the court was told. His friend gave his mobile phone to a neighbour so they could call 999. He was heard in the background naming the attacker, saying: Its T-Trapz. I screwed someone, T-Trapz is looking for me. Adeoye fled and dumped the knife in a drain outside the block of flats. It was found the next day and tests linked it by DNA to the victim and killer. Adeoye later sent a text message to Mr Allens friend saying: Better not (rat emoji), jurors heard. The defendant left London and travelled to Bristol and Wiltshire, where he was arrested three days later. Following the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Linda Bradley, of Scotland Yard, said: Adeoye is a dangerous individual. He has not taken responsibility for his actions, however he will now have time to reflect on their consequences. Of course there is no court outcome that could return Donavan to his family and the thoughts of myself and my team are very much with them today. Jonas Brothers star Joe Jonas and Game Of Thrones actress Sophie Turner have hit the headlines with reports about the state of their marriage. The couple, who got married after a year of dating, have since welcomed two children together. Here, the PA news agency details a timeline of their relationship: 2016 Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner in 2022 (Doug Peters/PA) Jonas direct-messaged Turner out of the blue on social media after mutual friends had been attempting to introduce the pair for a long time, Turner later told Harpers Bazaar. The 27-year-old later told Elle magazine that she had feared he would be a catfish and would have all of his security staff with him and so she invited her rugby friends to the bar in Camden. She said: I remember us two spending only a couple of minutes on the dance floor, and then we found a space in the far corner and we just talked. We talked for hours and hours and hours. And I wasnt bored. It wasnt contrived, it wasnt small talk it was just so easy. Soon, we were inseparable. And then I went on tour with him. The couple made their first public appearance at a Kings Of Leon concert in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in November. 2017 Turner made their relationship Instagram official on January 1, sharing a picture of Jonas riding on a boat which she captioned: Miami daze. The couple adopted a Siberian husky named Porky Basquiat months before bringing home another dog named Waldo Picasso. After a year of dating, the couple announced in October that they were engaged, with Turner sharing a picture of her diamond engagement ring on Instagram. A few months later she told Americas Marie Claire magazine it was lovely to be engaged, but described her career as her most important achievement. Its lovely to be engaged. Not like I achieved anything, but I found my person, like Id find a house that I love and want to stay in forever. Theres a sense of peace that comes with finding your person. Turner, who played Sansa Stark in hit fantasy series Game Of Thrones from 2011 for eight years and also appears in the X-Men films, added: But theres a drive that comes with your career. 2018 In October, the couple announced they had got matching Toy Story tattoos, with the words To infinity & beyond etched on their arms. The sentence was used by the film franchises space ranger character Buzz Lightyear. In the same month, Jonas amused fans dressing as Turners Game Of Thrones character to a Halloween party. He wore a long turquoise gown similar to one Sansa Stark wore in the hit series and donned a long red wig to complete the look. 2019 In March, Turner starred in the Jonas Brothers comeback single Sucker video, alongside Nick Jonas wife Priyanka Chopra and Kevin Jonas wife Danielle. The couple later got married in Las Vegas in May 2019 following the Billboard Music Awards after she had turned up to support The Jonas Brothers, who performed at the event. Shortly after the event, Turner and Jonas exchanged vows while an Elvis impersonator officiated at proceedings, before saying I do. The low-key ceremony, which was reported to have cost about 600 US dollars (460), was livestreamed by DJ Diplo and saw musicians Dan + Shay perform hit song Speechless. Turner later admitted she wished the wedding had been kept private. She told Net-A-Porters digital magazine PorterEdit: Its tricky when people livestream it. It would have been better if no one had known, but I actually think it was funny. Marriage is a private thing between two people and I think thats how it should always be. Its not about the dress, its not about the food. Its about being husband and wife, and being dedicated to each other forever. The wedding came after Turner told the Sunday Times that Jonas had saved her life, as she revealed she was desperately unhappy after growing up in the public eye. She said: I was going through this phase of being very mentally unwell. He was like I cant be with you until you love yourself, I cant see you love me more than you love yourself. That was something, him doing that. I think he kind of saved my life in a way. The couple followed up their wedding with a second ceremony in the south of France in June. A month later they got matching tattoos in memory of their dog, Waldo Picasso, who was reportedly killed by a car in New York. 2020 In July, representatives for the couple confirmed that Turner had given birth to the couples first child, a baby girl named Willa. In December, Turner shared a slideshow of throwback images, including a shot taken before she welcomed her daughter where the actress can be seen wearing pyjamas and a cropped top as she shows off her bare baby bump and snaps a selfie in front of a bathroom mirror. 2022 Turner confirmed her second pregnancy at the Met Gala after debuting her growing bump on the red carpet at the fashion event in New York City, wearing a long-sleeved black, floor-length Louis Vuitton gown. She told Elle UK in May: Its what life is about for me raising the next generation. The greatest thing in life is seeing my daughter go from strength to strength. Were so excited to be expanding the family. Its the best blessing ever. In July, a representative for the couple told People: Joe and Sophie are happy to announce the arrival of their baby girl. 2023 Nick Jonas (left) Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas of Jonas Brothers on stage during Capitals Summertime Ball (Isabel Infantes/PA) In January, Turner joined the Jonas Brothers and their wives as the band were inducted into the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Jonas described his wife as my partner in crime, telling fans at the ceremony in Los Angeles: You keep me motivated and inspired every day. I strive to be as cool as you have you got any plans later? he said, prompting laughter from the audience. He continued: This journey has been a wild ride, and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to share this passion for music for so long with the world. Weve been through many ups and downs, but through it all we have remained brothers that stay true to our passion for music. However, rumours have swirled about the state of their marriage as US publications reported that Jonas had been consulting divorce lawyers after being pictured several times without his wedding ring. Over the weekend, Turner was seen supporting her husband during a Jonas Brothers concert in Austin, Texas, and Jonas also posted a picture on Instagram wearing his wedding ring, seemingly quashing break-up rumours. Representatives for Jonas and Turner have been contacted for comment. An exhibition starring one of the largest cut black diamonds in the world has opened in London. Wallace Chan: The Wheel Of Time exhibition features 150 pieces of jewellery, alongside six titanium sculptures, from Chinese jewellery creator, visual artist and innovator Wallace Chan. It is the largest exhibition of 67-year-old Chans work in Europe, honouring the artists 50-year career. Wallace Chan during a preview of Christies The Wheel Of Time exhibition, in London (James Manning/PA) Among the work is the Legend Of The Colour Black a black diamond shoulder brooch sculpture. The centre stone of the piece is one of the largest known cut black diamonds in the world, weighing 312.24 carats. It is set alongside silver grey diamonds, crystal sapphire, black agate, titanium and the Wallace Chan Porcelain a material Chan has developed which is five times stronger than steel. Wallace Chans Legend Of The Colour Black (James Manning/PA) Another notable piece in the exhibition is The Joy Of Life brooch, featuring a butterfly comprised of pink sapphire, sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond, yellow diamond, pearl and titanium. On Monday, the free exhibition premiered at Christies King Street headquarters in London where it will be on view until September 10. The exhibition features more than a dozen never-before-seen works, including a series of titanium and iron sculptures which represent significant moments in Chans 50-year career. It is the fifth exhibition that auction house Christies has presented in collaboration with Chan, following previous shows in Hong Kong in 2015 and again four years later, as well as in Shanghai in 2020 and 2021. Wallace Chans The Wheel Of Time exhibition (James Manning/PA) The Wheel Of Time serves as a metaphor for Chans labour-intensive working process, requiring meticulous attention to detail and embracing Chinese aesthetics, Christies said. The majority of pieces on display, created during the past five decades, are on loan from many of Chans major international collectors. In the blink of an eye, half a century has flown by, Chan previously said. He added: Time is an eternal wheel that rotates for infinity with neither beginning nor end. In the creative process, time is a theme so intangible, yet omnificent. Arizona Republicans are bracing for the possibility of an extraordinarily volatile Senate primary in which Kari Lake and Blake Masters, two Trump-aligned candidates who both lost statewide bids last fall, could be among the competitors. Lake has said shes seriously considering getting in the race, and a senior adviser noted she could make a decision in the next month or so. A new Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with Masterss plans, said the failed Senate hopeful is set to announce another bid in the coming weeks. Both stoked controversies in their last bids for offices, and a win by either would leave some Republicans worried about their chances in November. This is obviously going to be the race to watch across the nation, said Arizona-based Republican strategist Lorna Romero Ferguson. I think this race will really set the tone of: OK, what is the path forward for Arizona? Liberals want Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema out of her seat as the party hopes to hold onto its slim majority. The incumbent hasnt said whether shell run for reelection as an independent. Meanwhile, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is running for his partys nomination, setting up the possibility of a three-way contest. Lake and Masters were each endorsed by former President Trump in their races last year, and while the party hoped the pair would be part of a red wave of Republican wins during the midterms, both candidates lost the sought-after Arizona seats. Lake, a former newscaster, narrowly lost her bid for governor to Katie Hobbs (D). After touting Trumps claims of election fraud during the 2020 race along the campaign trail, she refused to concede to Hobbs and has continued to allege fraud in the 2022 match-up. Masters, a former executive at conservative megadonor Peter Thiels Thiel Capital, lost his bid for Senate last year to Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly. Lake and Masters appeared on last years campaign trail together, but if they both get in the race for Sinemas post, theyll have to differentiate themselves and fight for votes in the primary, which could lead to the eventual winner heading into the general election considerably weakened. Obviously its not going to be a kumbaya when theyre competitors. And I do think that you will see Kari Lake going after [Masters] pretty vigorously, because obviously hes going to be a threat, Ferguson said. Though its still early to predict how the race could play out with multiple prominent possible contenders still undecided, strategists think Lake has the advantage to secure the GOP nomination if she does run, leaving the onus on Masters to make his case if he gets in. What Kari Lake voter is he going to convince to vote for him instead? Lake and Blake were a team last year, but in their events, Kari Lake was clearly the draw, said Arizona-based GOP strategist Barrett Marson. Im just not sure how Blake differentiates himself from Kari Lake in a meaningful way. Brian Seitchik, another GOP strategist based in Arizona, said Masters will need to aggressively pull voters from Lake if theyre competing. Part of the difficulty, Marson argued, is that both candidates are so well-defined already. He floated the possibility that Masters will run on the supposition that Lake doesnt ultimately launch a bid. But Ferguson suggested that being well-defined could end up being a detriment to Lake, because its different this time, because shes not brand-new. Lakes continued claims of election fraud may have tired some voters and alienated some in the donor class, she said. Now youll have, potentially, two previously Trump-endorsed candidates going into this cycle but two candidates that took very different approaches post-election, said Ferguson, referencing the fraud claims. Masters raised concerns about the 2020 election, but conceded his race to Kelly. Ferguson cautioned that Masters shouldnt fall victim to wanting to out-Trump Kari Lake, but said she sees a potential path to victory for him if he broadens his appeal, rather than leaning to the right. Given the unique electoral landscape of Arizona, where the largest group of voters in the state is unaffiliated with either major party, primary contenders will likely need votes from the middle to win. Thiel gave millions to Masterss midterm campaign, but Reuters reported in April that the megadonor was planning to take a step back from supporting political candidates in 2024. Strategists predict Lake, who is outspoken in her support of the former president, is the more likely of the two to get a potential Trump endorsement. Seitchik said that Lamb, who is already in the race, becomes an asterisk in this race if both Lake and Masters get in. This will just further suck any further oxygen out of his campaign. If he chooses to stay in the race, Im not quite sure where his support comes from, Seitchik said of Lamb. Marson, though, argued the sheriff has a much better lane to victory because he boasts a strong message on immigration and law enforcement that could appeal to Arizona Republicans, and because he hasnt bought into the election denialism. A Lake-Masters-Lamb primary could prove a headache for the party. Though many think Lake would be the front-runner, some Republicans worry the controversial Trump-aligned candidate could cost them the Senate come the general election. This potential outcome isnt lost on Democrats, who are cheering on the possibility of a brutal GOP primary. The Arizona Senate race is rapidly becoming the GOPs worst nightmare, Arizona Democratic Party senior communications adviser Olivia Taylor-Puckett said in a statement. But no matter who gets in the GOP race, the partys nominee will head into a critical general election that could include both the independent incumbent and a Democratic nominee for a three-way showdown. You cant count Sinema out, Ferguson said. This kind of unknown about having a legitimate third-party candidate running for a statewide office for U.S. Senate, at least in Arizona, but Im pretty sure most states, is completely unheard of. The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates Sinemas seat as one of just three toss up states not leaning to either side. A Noble Predictive Insights poll taken in July found Gallego leading Sinema and Lake in a hypothetical three-way contest 34 percent for the Democrat, 26 percent for the independent and 25 percent for the Republican. In a Gallego-Sinema-Masters matchup, the Democrat led with 32 percent, followed by the independent with 28 percent and the Republican with 24 percent. With Lamb as the GOP candidate, Gallego earned 33 percent, and Sinema and Lamb were statistically tied at 24 and 25 percent. Seitchik noted that Democrats will be defending seats in Ohio, Montana and West Virginia in 2024, but said states like Arizona will also be key to defending their slim majority and they will be heavily sought after by Republicans looking to take control. The United States Senate is up for grabs, Seitchik said, adding that the possible three-way race will be notably unpredictable. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Mr Biden speaks to members of the media after attending mass at St. Edmond Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach - AP Joe Bidens biographer said it would not be a total shock if the US president drops out of the race for the White House. Franklin Foer, whose book on the first two years of the Biden administration is published this week, said while it is unlikely the 80-year-old president will abandon the race, it could not be ruled out. Mr Bidens age remains an issue as does that, albeit to a lesser extent, of 77-year-old Donald Trump. It doesnt take Bob Woodward to understand that Joe Biden is old, and Im not a gerontologist and I cant predict how the next couple of years will age Joe Biden, Mr Foer said on Meet the Press. Age has become an increasing issue in US politics over the last few months, with Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley calling for competency tests for candidates over 75. And last week 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze for the second time in just over a month during a press conference. Democratic congressman Dean Phillips has urged Mr Biden to pass the baton onto the next generation. California governor, Gavin Newsom, has done little to dampen speculation that he is ready to run for the White House next year. Much to the annoyance of Mr Bidens supporters, 55-year-old Mr Newsom has raised his political profile in recent months openly sparring with Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who currently remains the likeliest challenger to Mr Trump for the Republican nomination. Mr Newsom has also set up a political action committee Campaign for Democracy, a move which is often seen as heralding a White House run. Supporters of Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, 51, are reportedly being urged to throw her hat into the ring. And should Mr Biden decide against running, other candidates are likely to include Vice President Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. On Sunday New Hampshires Republican governor, Chris Sununu, said there was a good shot that neither Mr Trump nor Mr Biden would be on the presidential ballot. A fierce critic of Mr Trump, Mr Sununu has urged Republicans to unite behind one candidate to defeat the former president for the nomination. I think Trump can very much lose if they winnow it down to one on one, he said on Meet the Press on Sunday. I think theres a lot of issues that are going to come to bear with President Biden over the next year and a lot of opportunity for the Democrats to find another another candidate. 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. China has built the worlds largest naval fleet, more than 340 warships, and until recently it has been regarded as a green-water navy, operating mostly near the countrys shores. But Chinas shipbuilding reveals blue-water ambitions. In recent years it has launched large guided-missile destroyers, amphibious assault ships and aircraft carriers with the ability to operate in the open ocean and project power thousands of miles from Beijing. To sustain a global reach, the Peoples Liberation Army Navy will need places for those blue-water ships to refuel and replenish provisions far from home. New analysis from Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) says Beijings growing push for that port access includes helping to build a naval base in Cambodia and scouting other potential locations for military outposts as far afield as Africas Atlantic coast. This is augmented by Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) facilities in places like Argentina, FDD reports, and Cuba, that can do everything from monitor space and track satellites to eavesdrop on the communications of Western countries. Together, experts say, these efforts aim to enhance Chinas military reach, which currently includes only one operational overseas naval base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. China maintains that the Djibouti base supports its anti-piracy and humanitarian missions in Africa and West Asia. Chinese officials have repeatedly stressed that Beijing does not seek expansion or spheres of influence abroad and have pushed back on various assertions that it is cooperating with other nations with an eye to establishing overseas bases on their land. But the FDD has gathered open-source intelligence and reporting to support its conclusion that China is building toward more naval outposts, including satellite imagery that shows the remarkable development of the Ream Naval Base, sitting on a stubby peninsula jutting from the west coast of Cambodia into the Gulf of Thailand. The PLAs expanding global footprint and corresponding ability to conduct a wider range of missions, including limited warfighting, carries major risks for the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific as well as other operational theaters, the report says. And the PLA is not slowing down, said the reports author, FDD senior fellow Craig Singleton. Its a question of when not if China will secure its next overseas military outpost, he said. CNN has approached Chinas Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment. A tale of two piers Chinese and Cambodian officials presided together over a ground-breaking ceremony for a Chinese-funded upgrade to the Ream Naval Base facility last year, with Beijings envoy in the country hailing military cooperation as part of the countries iron-clad partnership. Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh at the time dismissed claims that it would become a Chinese military outpost, stressing during the ceremony that the project is in line with Cambodias constitution, which bars foreign military bases on its territory. Chinese officials have described the base as an aid project to strengthen Cambodias navy and called assertions otherwise hype with ulterior motives. The FDDs Singleton says its analysis of satellite imagery shows a pier being built at the Ream base has similar dimensions to one at Chinas overseas military base in Djibouti. Cambodian naval personnel are seen on boats berthed at a jetty at the Ream naval base in Preah Sihanouk province on July 26, 2019, during a government-organized media tour. - Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images The Djibouti pier has the ability to receive Chinese blue-water ships, and these similarities suggest that Ream could support such vessels too. The Ream base is also more expansive overall, and Singleton and others wonder if it could be a blueprint of whats to come for Chinas military ambitions overseas despite official denials of this aim. In 2016, Chinese and Djiboutian officials similarly denied reports that China intended to establish a military foothold in the Horn of Africa, said the FDDs Singleton. But, less than a year later, the PLA deployed ships from its South Sea Fleet to officially open its base in Djibouti, after which the PLA conducted six weeks of live-fire exercises, he said. That is not the only example of China saying one thing and doing another when it comes to its military operations. In 2015, Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged that Beijing would not militarize artificial islands that it was building in the disputed South China Sea. But today Beijing uses military installations across those islands to bolster its territorial claims in the region. A sea change? China has long decried the US network of an estimated 750 overseas military installations, accusing Washington of undermining global security and using these outposts to interfere in other countries affairs. But Beijing has become more assertive in its home region, using the military to press its claims in the South China Sea and intimidate Taiwan a self-governing democracy that Chinas ruling Communist Party has vowed to take, by force if necessary. As its rivalry sharpens with the US, experts say Beijing has grown increasingly focused on finding ways to break what it sees as its physical encirclement by the US and its allies, while projecting its military might and its vision for global security abroad. A 2019 defense white paper stressed the need for the PLA to protect its overseas interests, including through developing overseas logistical facilities similar to the language it used to describe the Djibouti base. This photo taken on August 1, 2017, shows Chinese People's Liberation Army personnel attending the opening ceremony of China's new military base in Djibouti. - Stringer/AFP/Getty Images Chinas growing global clout and rapid expansion of its maritime commercial operations over the past decade has led to a more muscular approach to security on the seas, experts say. Xis sweeping Belt and Road infrastructure financing initiative has been a springboard for Chinese firms to gain a stake in what experts say are dozens of ports around the world, which can also support some logistics and refueling for Chinas navy and could host future military bases. A recent study by AidData, a research lab at William & Mary University in Virginia, looked at where Beijing may put new naval bases from a financial standpoint, focusing on ports and infrastructure projects that have already gotten big money from China between 2000 and 2021. While our data is neither exhaustive nor definitive, we suggest a list of port locations where China has invested significant resources and maintains relationships with local elites that may be favorable for future naval bases, AidData says. Top of the list is Hambantota, Sri Lanka, followed by Bata, Equatorial Guinea; Gwadar, Pakistan; Kribi, Cameroon; Ream in Cambodia; Vanuatu in the South Pacific; Nacala, Mozambique; and Nouakchott, Mauritania. The Hambantota commercial port in Sri Lanka has long been considered a prime candidate for a Chinese naval base. Beijing gained control of the port in 2017, when a Chinese state-run company signed a 99-year lease with Colombo to run the facility after Sri Lanka was unable to pay back the Chinese loans that built it. Naval cooperation was further cemented in 2018, when China gave a Type 053 frigate to the Sri Lankan Navy as a gift, rather than a foreign military sale, AidData said. Equatorial Guinea appearing second on the list shouldnt be surprising. US military leaders warned on more than one occasion last year that Beijing was making moves there. Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commander of US Africa Command, told a US House hearing in March 2022 that China was actively seeking a military naval base on Africas western coast that could threaten US national security. The thing I think Im most worried about is this military base on the Atlantic coast, and where they have the most traction for that today is in Equatorial Guinea, Townsend said. But US engagement with Equatorial Guinea, which is ruled by one of the worlds longest serving autocrats, may have put Bata on the backburner for Beijing, according to the FDDs Singleton, who says there are signs China may be focusing on nearby Gabon instead. A general view shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and now outsted Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba hold a meeting at the Great Hall of the People on April 19, 2023, in Beijing, China. - Ken Ishii/Getty Images Gabon this year elevated its bilateral relationship with China from a comprehensive cooperative partnership to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, one in which the two governments will almost certainly deepen collaboration in security and military-related domains, Singleton said. After Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family had ruled the country for 56 years, visited Beijing in April to seal the upgrade in relations, he told Chinas state-run Xinhua news service that the two countries have reached a high level of consensus on preserving global peace and security, as well as resolving conflicts. A coup in Gabon this week, in which military officer placed the president under house arrest, brings new uncertainty to the China-Gabon relationship. But no matter the exact details of any plan by Beijing to push forward military access in West Africa, Singleton said one thing is clear: China aims to one day develop the capability to project its forces throughout the Western Hemisphere. Smooth sailing? However, Chinas path to developing permanent overseas bases, if indeed that is its aim, is not straightforward. Many countries hosting US bases share defense treaties with the superpower, but China has a long-standing policy of not having formal allies raising questions about the incentive for countries to welcome Beijings bases on their land. Though China wields sizable economic clout that may help in that regard, governments that agree to host a Chinese military base could place their relations with the United States and its many allies in jeopardy amid growing rivalry and tension between the two powers. And operating overseas bases exposes Beijing to other security risks, including becoming drawn into domestic conflicts in host countries. Chinese nationals in Pakistan, for example, have been targeted by insurgents. Most recently on August 13, militants attacked vehicles carrying Chinese engineers in Gwadar, one of the places experts say China could be eying for military port facilities. Nonetheless researchers at the Naval Research Academy in Beijing argued in a 2014 report that Chinas maritime power must extend into the Indian Ocean to support the expansion of Chinas national interests. A possible strategic point could be the Pakistani port of Gwadar, which was built with Chinese support, the authors said, adding that given geopolitical sensitivities in the region, the development of overseas supply and support points should be done cautiously and in a low-profile manner. Chinese structures and buildings at the man-made island on Mischief Reef at the Spratlys group of islands in the South China Sea are seen on Sunday March 20, 2022. - Aaron Favila/AP While public discussion about overseas military bases has gathered momentum in China in recent years, there remain higher military priorities for the Peoples Liberation Army, according to Isaac Kardon, a senior fellow for China studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank in Washington. Chinese leaders perceive the most acute threats in maritime East Asia Taiwan, South and East China Seas and are unlikely to allocate major resources or leadership attention to far-flung outposts that serve limited strategic purposes, he said. Instead China may be likely to continue its preference for relying on lower-end dual-use options linked to its overseas commercial infrastructure, like ports, according to Kardon. Still there is a growing case for a few more military bases to support a more robust, higher-end presence, Kardon said, adding that China will be will be opportunistic about basing arrangements when they can be had. More than bases While the bulk of attention on the PLAs overseas ambitions focuses on naval facilities, it is also looking at facilities for eavesdropping and communications, according to the FDD something other powers like the US are widely believed to operate in key strategic locations. Sources told CNN earlier this year that China has been spying on the US from facilities in Cuba for years. A source familiar with the intelligence said Beijing also has a deal in principle to build a new spying facility on the island that could allow the Chinese to eavesdrop on electronic communications across southeastern US. The FDDs Singleton says the Cuban efforts show the extent of the PLAs reach already. Chinas deepening military and intelligence ties to Cuba reaffirms that the PLA need not establish regional military primacy in Asia as a precondition to project globally, he said. Satellite image provided to CNN by BlackSky shows China's deep space ground station in Argentina. - BlackSky Singleton also points to Chinas deep space ground station in Argentinas Patagonian desert region, which Argentina said both sides agreed was exclusively for civil purposes. The facility is run by the China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General Organization, which government records show is linked to the PLAs Strategic Support Force. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank in Washington points out why thats troubling to US military planners. Ground stations help keep track of the tens of thousands of satellites and other objects in Earths orbit a capability known as space situational awareness (SSA) that is critical for fighting and winning wars in information-rich battle spaces, the CSIS said in a 2022 report. The view from Washington In Washington, some members of Congress are taking notice, and urging the Defense Department not to hesitate in taking measures to counter a growing PLA footprint, whether by enticing possible Chinese base hosts to look to the US instead, or by beefing up the US military presence in areas where the PLA is. The Chinese Communist Party will continue their strategic expansion of military bases across the globe with access to major sea lanes, maritime chokepoints, and oil and gas import routes, Rep. Rob Wittman, a Virginia Republican, said in an email to CNN. The Defense Department must enhance its engagement with Beijings target nations to offer those countries the United States as a stronger economic and security partner, he said. The Type 055 guided-missile destroyer Nanchang is seen at Qingdao Port ahead of an activity to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) on April 20, 2023, in Qingdao, Shandong province of China. - Fu Tian/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images Wittmans colleague, Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton, told CNN that Washington should be getting more involved in countries where Beijing is trying to make inroads because it offers what China cant. Our first response should be to double down on diplomacy because America offers freedom, security, and economic opportunity where China wants control, Moulton said. Chinas goal is world dominance through authoritarian control. And authoritarianism is what they are exporting to other countries and regions by expanding their military footprint. That view is echoed in the Pentagon. What is particularly concerning about (Chinas) activities is the lack of transparency and clarity around the terms it negotiates with host countries and the intended purposes of these facilities, US Defense Department spokesperson Lt. Col. Martin Meiners told CNN. The US wants to ensure that Indo-Pacific nations can make choices about their economic and security future that serve their best interests, he said. CNNs Mengchen Zhang and Hayley Britzky contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Burning Man's estimated 70,000-plus attendees were isolated at the venue known as Black Rock City as rain returned Sunday and closed roads, muddy campgrounds, and one reported death darkened the day. But the CEO of Burning Man Project, Marian Goodell, told NBC News interview Sunday, "There is no cause for panic." "We're very pleased and surprised that there has been such a fuss over us," she said. Organizers under the nonprofit project planned an orderly exit Monday, which is the last day of the event, and have so far turned down help from the Nevada National Guard, she said. "We've made it really clear that we do not see this as an evacuation situation," Goodell said. "The water is drying up." The crowd at the countercultural music and arts festival was first advised to shelter in place and conserve food and water on Friday, according to notices from organizers. All inbound and outbound traffic was halted and remained so Sunday, and the shelter-in-place recommendation was still in place in the afternoon. Roads were essentially impassable, organizers said. Saturday night, the party had seemed all but over as organizers said their main focus was getting people out. "Most Festival operations have been halted or significantly delayed," the Pershing County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. But even with more rain falling, organizers on Sunday said the annual burning of a wooden man in effigy, which usually takes place on the last Saturday night of the party, will most likely happen Sunday at 9:30 p.m. The reported death at the festival site is under investigation, local authorities said Saturday. It's not clear what the cause of death was at this time. People walk towards the city limits of Burning Man in Black Rock Desert, Nev., on Sept. 3, 2023. (Trevor Hughes / USA TODAY Network via Reuters) President Joe Biden was briefed on Burning Man on Sunday, a White House official said. Administration officials are monitoring the situation and are in touch with state and local authorities, the official said. Heavy rain Friday and into Saturday flooded pathways and muddied the tents of campers as roads in and out of the festival were impassable for most vehicles and the weeklong event's main gate was closed. Organizers on Sunday said only four-wheel-drive vehicles equipped with off-road tires have been able to exit successfully, and passenger vehicles and other cars, trucks and RVs have only made exit attempts worse by getting stuck and blocking others. "Please do NOT drive at this time," organizers said Sunday on the festival's website. DJ and producer Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz Jr., said he hitched a ride out of Black Rock City in the back of a pick up truck with comedian Chris Rock on Saturday. The 44-year-old musician documented his journey out of Black Rock City to Washington D.C., where he says he had a concert on Saturday night. "I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out cuz i have a show in dc tonight and didnt want to let yall down," he captioned a post on his Instagram. Videos posted to his Instagram story show Diplo walking through mud before hitchhiking to Gerlach and Reno, he said, to make a flight to D.C. "I just got done DJ'ing for three hours, after walking f*****g for four hours out of the desert and taking a flight, mud still on my face," he said in a video posted to his Instagram story Saturday night. Representatives for Diplo and Chris Rock did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lawyer Neal Katyal, who served as the federal government's top attorney as acting solicitor general, also said he hiked through mud to get out of Black Rock City on Saturday. "It was an incredibly harrowing 6 mile hike at midnight through heavy and slippery mud, but I got safely out of Burning Man," Katyal, an MSNBC legal analyst, wrote on Twitter. "Never been before and it was fantastic (with brilliant art and fabulous music)except the ending." Katyal also posted some tips to others at Black Rock City who are trying to escape. "No one should try this unless in good shape and part of a group," he warned. "It was quite hard, and will get harder if/when it rains more. Talk your friends out of the hike unless you really think they can do it safely. There are treacherous places where it is worse than walking on ice." Another festival attendee, 22-year-old Kevin Schultz, was scheduled to leave Burning Man Friday so he could make his friends wedding in Houston, Texas. (Note: Schultz is the cousin of Liz Kreutz, one of the authors of this article.) What was supposed to be a few hours on a bus turned into a 20-hour escape from the desert. He left prior to the festivals lockdown, when the weather was still clear, and his bus ended up being stuck in the mud as the storm rolled in. We ended up being sheltered on the bus, you know, pretty much like indefinitely as we wait for the ground and the area to dry out, Schultz told NBC News. As what was thought to be just a short downpour of rain turned into a prolonged storm, Schultz and others were forced to spend the night on the bus. There was no plan to get back to camp or to the city, he said. Going back to Burning Man seemed like a bad idea, Schultz decided, as he considered ongoing issues with sanitation and resource scarcity. So he and six other people decided to take a risk -- tie trash bags around their feet and walk to town when they woke up Saturday morning. Its slippery, the most slippery thing ever, where one moment its likeits suction, cupping your foot and the next moment youre sliding all about, Schultz said. So its super unpredictable but we were able to find, like, walk along with the little dry ridges and whatnot for the majority of the distance. The group made it two miles out to the paved road, where they were able to hitchhike into the nearby town of Gerlach thanks to the kindness of a woman driving by in a farm truck. Schultz missed the wedding but made it home to California, where he says he is warm, safe and able to shower. On Sunday morning, organizers said the roads are still "too wet and muddy" to officially be opened, and were encouraging attendees to continue sheltering in place, conserving food, water and fuel. Under organizers' permit with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 33,000 vehicle permits are issued for the event. During normal "exodus" at the end of each year's party, a maximum of 800 vehicles per hour can exit the main gate, BLM states. Those vehicles include law enforcement, organizers', and the festival's famous art cars. The annual celebration of music, art and contemporary counterculture that started on the beach in San Francisco in 1986 is permitted through noon Tuesday. It started Aug. 27. It's temporarily built each year atop lava beds, alkali flats and the flat bottom of the defunct Lake Lahontan in the federally protected Black Rock Desert near the town of Gerlach. The Bureau of Land Management limits its capacity, including organizers and staff, to 80,000. Sgt. Nathan J. Carmichael of the Pershing County Sheriff's Office estimated the weekend crowd number at more than 70,000. The National Weather Service said Sunday there was a 70 percent chance of more rain through the evening. A flood watch was in effect for an area north of Gerlach, on the edge of the venue. BLACK ROCK CITY, Nevada After two days of rain that left the sprawling Burning Man festival awash in mud, by Sunday evening the ongoing art party of 72,000 people was still upbeat amid general good spirits. Gerardo Mendoza of New York City walked across the city with a large suitcase balanced on his head, his feet sliding on the slowly drying mud. Like many Burning Man attendees, he dismissed suggestions that the event had been anything other than a success: "We had a great burn, just amazing," he said. "A little mud didnt get us down. The whole point of the burn is self-reliance so we packed extra just in case." The culmination of the nine-day event, the burning of a towering sculpture called The Man, built anew each year, was called off Sunday afternoon. Later in the day Burning Man officials said they now plan to burn The Man on Monday evening, followed by the burn of the large-scale art piece Chapel of Babel at midnight. They did not say whether they still planned to burn the final piece of the event: the main Temple of the Heart. The event normally ends on Labor Day. In place of the raucous parties earlier in the week, attendees spent Sunday striking their camps as techno pumped more quietly. Attendees had been told on Friday to shelter in place and conserve food, fuel and water amid heavy rains that made driving out of the swampy desert venue almost impossible. Sunday night, organizers said they expected roads out of the event to be passable Monday morning. "We have confidence in communal effort and civic responsibility," organizers said in a statement. "This is a good moment to (keep) those principles in mind." Some online statements that participants were barred from leaving were untrue, organizers said. "Burning Mans advice is to delay departure to avoid getting stuck, but people are free to leave." Still, some with flights to catch took advantage of a break in the weather to walk out of the event's perimeter in hopes of hitching a ride back to Reno, about 90 miles south. They make up a small portion of the 73,257 people who were in attendance Friday night. By Sunday the population was at around 72,000. Most attendees took advantage of the improved weather Sunday afternoon to walk the desert floor one last time to admire the remaining art. Some visited still-open free bars hosted by other camps, or dismantled their elaborate shade structures and dance stages. Burning Man is guided by 10 principles, including "radical self-reliance," where attendees are encouraged to "discover, exercise and rely on their inner resources." The entire event's ethos reflects that, and there's no food or merchandise sales permitted during the event, although many camps give out free food via a published schedule. Sitting in the center of the city, Amanda Clark of Portland, Oregon, texted with her husband to let him know she wouldn't be home as planned, and to get their dogs out of boarding when he came back from his own trip. Clark said she's ready to leave but was respecting the driving ban, which was expected to remain in place until Monday afternoon. "You get out when you get out," she said. "You want to be safe driving out so you don't make it harder for other people by getting stuck." Monday's weather is forecast to be generally clear with some thundershowers, with temperatures in the mid-70s, a far cry from the sometimes baking heat and dush of the event. Vehicle traffic halted in muddy mess It began raining Friday, turning the normally rock-hard desert floor into a muddy mess almost impossible to walk or drive on. Burning Man officials said only four-wheel-drive vehicles with adequate tires appeared capable of navigating the streets. Sunday arrived to more mud, more stranded vehicles and more frustration for people who wanted to leave. Organizers said people are free to walk out of the event but noted it would mean a 5-mile trudge across the mud to reach the nearest paved road. Organizers were deploying buses to nearby Gerlach that could shuttle people to Reno if they were able to trek off the playa on foot. Despite Burning Man's frequent requests to stay put, a bumper-to-bumper stream of RVs and cars were seen driving south on State Route 447 through the small community of Nixon on Sunday afternoon. Many stopped for gas at the Nixon Store. Reno resident Jean Parraguirre took a chance and started walking to the entrance from her campsite at Burning Man on Sunday morning, hoping to get back to Reno. She was able to get a ride after about 15 minutes from a stranger. They stopped at Nixon before heading on to Reno. The conditions are really rugged out there, said Parraguirre, who was at her fifth Burning Man. Siobhan McAndrew, Reno Gazette-Journal One sticking point unserviced Porta-potties Burning Mans thousands of porta-potties quickly became disgusting, muddy and almost-overflowing messes as conditions kept the event's residents from driving home and service trucks from accessing the site. The portable toilets are normally serviced multiple times a day during the weeklong event, a must given the high demand. Although some people camp in RVs, many people use tents and depend on the portable toilets. A survey of several porta-potty banks on Sunday revealed thick clumps of mud in almost all of them, toilet paper strewn outside, and nearly full holding tanks. Some were also littered with empty plastic bottles people had used to store their urine overnight and then poured into the porta-potties. By Sunday evening, however, organizers said "sanitation trucks are moving through the city ensuring portable toilets are functional and clean." A nearly full portapotty at Burning Man. Despite hardships, a 'lovely' experience "I'm not mad at all," said repeat attendee Calvin Seleen of Portland. "I've learned to be prepared. We're just inconvenienced. Although I guess if you have to use the portapotties you're majorly inconvenienced." Walking down a muddy street carrying platform shoes in garbage bags, Martha Diaz of California said her first trip to Burning Man was a success. "I've had a good time, big time," said Diaz as she headed to find her car and leave. "I'm just a little frustrated because I was supposed to work tomorrow. I'm trying to get out of here and so far I can't." Barbara Wahl, 50, of Eugene, Oregon, sat in a folding chair in the sun reading an Isaac Asimov novel, little betraying her anxiety to get going. A nurse, she said she needs to get back to work soon. Wahl attended Burning Man once 20 years ago and hadnt been back until now. She said it was a positive experience overall. "Its been lovely. The art has been great the people have been great," she said. "Im just a little anxious about leaving. Hiking out to see her cat, daughter and job Francheska Cermeno was hiking out Sunday, hoping to catch a ride back to Reno. Still wearing a fur vest and with plastic bags taped over for feet, she said she needed to get home to Tennessee soon. "Everybody else from my camp is from California so they are just going to wait it out. But I need to get back," she said. "My cat. My daughter. My job. I need to be in Tennessee by tomorrow so I need to be at the airport today. Shanell Snyder, of Washington state, walked the roads Sunday with her husband and mother-in-law, hoping to find a clear path out. The plan was to leave last night, We all have work, she said. We will leave when we can, I guess. ... Its still a blast. Its probably all good until we get stuck here for days and days. As they packed up camp, Mel Cherne and Clint Randolph said they found the overall experience this year to be average. They didn't mind that the highlight of the annual event, the burning of the Man, had not taken place. Cherne said he mostly came to support his son, who had several DJ slots at dance parties. Burning man festival flooded Burning Man 2023: With no estimate of reopening time, Burners party in the rain and mud One death reported Authorities on Sunday were investigating a death out of the more than 70,000 attendees at the festival. Organizers said there had been a death on September 1 unrelated to the weather. "Our emergency services department reached a call for service extremely quickly for a male, approximately 40 years old, and could not resuscitate the patient. " Festival deaths are not uncommon. In 2019, Shane Billingham, 33, of New Zealand, was found dead in his vehicle. Toxicology results later found a lethal concentration of carbon monoxide in his blood. Burning Man was not held in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic, although people showed up on the playa anyway for unofficial gatherings. In an event that horrified witnesses in 2017, Aaron Joel Mitchell ran into the fire as The Man effigy burned, dodging safety rangers and firemen, and threw himself into the flames. Mitchell, 41, was pronounced dead after being flown to the burn center at UC-Davis. Alicia Cipicchio of Jackson, Wyo., 29, died at Burning Man in 2014 when she was hit by an art car. The Humboldt General Hospital told the Reno Gazette Journal at the time that at least two others had died at Burning Man since the hospital began providing medical response in 2011. Another attendee was killed by an art car in 2003, Burning Man officials told the Reno Gazette Journal. Art cars are like parade floats and include elaborate decorations, lighting and areas for groups of people to sit down or stand. Peggy Santoro, Reno Gazette-Journal What is Burning Man? The fest takes its name from a giant, humanesque sculpture that is the centerpiece, changing in appearance year to year. Called The Man, the sculpture is ignited and burned to cap off the event. It began in 1986, when two men burned an eight-foot tall human-shaped sculpture in San Franciscos Baker Beach as a small crowd gathered to watch the first annual Burning Man. Today, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevadas Black Rock Desert each summer for about nine days to create a temporary city known for its communal living and eccentric displays of art and expression. Burners create a kind of utopia, building villages, a medical center, an airport and performance stages. Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey laid out 10 principles of Burning Man in 2004, among them inclusion of all who wish to take part, unconditional sharing and gift-giving, self-reliance and civic responsibility. Burning Man is all about self-expression and the rejection of corporatism and capitalism instead of using money, attendees borrow, barter and trade. Francisco Guzman, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Burning Man updates: Mud, overflowing Porta-potties and more rain Editors Note: Sign up for CNNs Meanwhile in China newsletter, which explores what you need to know about the countrys rise and how it impacts the world. China on Monday indicated that leader Xi Jinping would skip an important gathering of the worlds 20 top economies for the first time with Premier Li Qiang traveling to the event in New Delhi this weekend in his place. Xis absence from the G20 summit comes as tensions simmer between China and host country India, especially over their disputed border and New Delhis growing ties with the United States. The no-show of Chinas top leader unprecedented since the first such summit was held in 2008 will likely be seen as a snub to India, which is hosting the powerful group of world leaders for the first time amid efforts to boost its global clout under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Questions about Xis attendance at the meeting were first raised last week when Reuters reported the Chinese leader was likely to miss it, citing two unnamed Indian diplomats. At a regular news conference Monday, Chinas Foreign Ministry said Li, Chinas second-ranking leader, would attend the summit on Saturday and Sunday, without mentioning Xi. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the ministry, sidestepped a question from a reporter about the reason for Xis non-attendance. The Group of 20 is a major forum for international economic cooperation, and China has always attached great importance to and actively participated in relevant activities, Mao said, without addressing the substance of the question. Even during the Covid pandemic, Xi attended the meetings in 2020 and 2021 by video link. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will also skip the summit. Russia will be represented by its foreign minister instead. Brian Hart, a fellow with the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Xis absence at the G20 summit will be highly conspicuous, but given Beijings opacity one can only speculate on the reasons behind that decision. It could be an intentional snub against India, or it could be that Xi is preoccupied with domestic issues. It could also be that Xi doesnt feel the timing is right for him to meet with certain leaders, like President Biden or Prime Minister Modi, he said. But perceptions matter. Regardless of whether it is intended as a snub against India, some will see it as such. Beijings announcement has dashed hopes that Xi and US President Joe Biden might meet at the summit, as the two superpowers seek to stabilize their rocky relations. Preempting confirmation from Beijing, Biden on Sunday publicly expressed disappointment that he would not see Xi in New Delhi. I am disappointed but Im going to get to see him, Biden told reporters on Sunday. Biden had previously told CNN he would be meeting with Xi in the fall. The two leaders last spoke in person in November 2022 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, where they pledged to restore channels of communication in an effort to prevent rising tensions from spilling into open conflict. That meeting is the only time the two have met in person since Biden took office. Four US cabinet officials have visited Beijing in recent months, after a suspected Chinese spy balloon derailed a fledgling effort at rapprochement earlier in the year. Xis absence from the G20 summit also means he will not have a formal bilateral meeting with Modi, as the two nuclear-powered neighbors remain at loggerheads over their contested border. Xi and Modi agreed to intensify efforts to deescalate tensions at the border last month on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in South Africa which was seen as a step toward mending their fraught relationship. But tensions rose again last week when India lodged a strong protest against Chinas newly published national map, which it said included the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the disputed Aksai-Chin plateau in Chinese territory. The disputed border has long been a source of friction between New Delhi and Beijing, with the agitation spilling into a 1962 war that ended in a Chinese victory. Tensions rose again in 2020 after a deadly brawl in the Galwan Valley resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com 'All I'd want is $1 per year': This NYC grocery billionaire wants to buy CNN, saying he'd run the embattled news network for pennies. Who is this mogul and why is he so interested? Another billionaire has added a media company to his wishlist: John Catsimatidis, the chairman and CEO of grocery chains Gristedes Foods and D'Agostino Supermarkets. Hes recently been telling news outlets hed be willing to purchase CNN from Warner Bros. Discovery. Id go run the place tomorrow morning, and all Id want is $1 per year and a piece of the upside, the grocery mogul told the New York Post. Don't miss Rich young Americans have lost confidence in the stock market and are betting on these 3 assets instead. Get in now for strong long-term tailwinds Worried about the economy? Here are the best shock-proof assets for your portfolio. (Theyre all outside of the stock market.) You could own a piece of your favorite city for as little as $100. Yes, really. Heres how Catsimatidiss comments come at a difficult time for the media outlet, which has faced declining viewership and turnover in the C-suite in recent years. On Aug. 30, CNN brought in Mark Thompson, former chief executive of the BBC and The New York Times, to replace former network head Chris Licht, who was let go in June after a brief one-year stint. Lichts exit came shortly after the highly scrutinized Donald Trump town hall broadcast that some of the companys most lauded reporters roundly criticized. If given the opportunity, Catsimatidis says he could run CNN better than it had been. Catsimatidis has big plans for CNN In an interview with Fox Business, the Catsimatidis said he believed he could quadruple CNNs viewership rapidly. CNN only has, what, 400,000 viewers every night? he said. I told them Ill have it up to two million in one year." Catsimatidis also indicated that hed be willing to consider joint ventures to finance the deal and that he could double the profits relatively quickly if given control. His strategy would include making the content more bipartisan in an effort to broaden viewership though his lack of television media experience and highly partisan views raise some doubts. Read more: Warren Buffett gets gloomy: America's 'incredible period' is coming to an end. Here's what nervous investors can do right now Who is John Catsimatidis? Born in Greece and raised in New York, Catsimatidis is an entrepreneur and radio show host. Besides grocery stores, his holdings include a real estate firm, an aviation company, an oil refinery and the Hellenic Times newspaper. He also hosts The Cats Roundtable radio show. His radio station, WABC-AM 770, is ranked 11th in New York City based on Neilsens data. Forbes estimates his net worth at $4.1 billion. As for his political leanings, Catsimatidis was a registered Democrat who supported the Bill Clinton campaign until 2009. He later decided to run for mayor as a Republican and has been a prominent voice on the conservative side of the aisle ever since. He supported Donald Trump during the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, but has recently said that he trusts the courts to legitimately adjudicate recent charges against the former president. Is CNN even for sale? Financial struggles in the media industry have ignited speculation about spin-offs and mergers. CNNs parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, has been sending mixed signals to financial observers. The company has laid off staff in an attempt to tackle its $50 billion debt burden. CNN has seen primetime viewership decline, while annual profits slipped from $1.25 billion in 2021 to $750 million last year, according to The New York Times. Investment bankers believe the outlet could be sold for $5 billion to $6 billion if its ever put on the market, a source told the New York Post. However, CNNs parent companys stock was up over 30% in the first half of 2023. Warner Bros. Discovery, for its part, hasnt given any sign it intends to sell the brand. What to read next Americans are spending a ridiculous $253/month more on groceries. But this simple hack can turn your stressful daily spending into a golden nest egg 'Hold onto your money': Jeff Bezos says you might want to rethink buying a 'new automobile, refrigerator, or whatever' here are 3 better recession-proof buys Millions of Americans are in massive debt in the face of rising rates. Here's how to get your head above water ASAP This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias is facing a felony domestic violence charge. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) Julio Urias, starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence Sunday, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Los Angeles Dodgers starter Julio Urias was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence charges late last night, an officer with the LAPD tells ESPN. Urias, 27, was booked late Sunday and released early this morning on $50,000 bond. Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 4, 2023 Los Angeles County jail records show that Urias was arrested around 11 p.m. PT and booked into jail at 1:05 a.m. He was released at 4:47 a.m. on $50,000 bond. No other details about the arrest are available, though we have a good idea where Urias was Sunday: at BMO Stadium watching LAFC take on Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. The Dodgers released a short statement regarding Urias' arrest. We are aware of an incident involving Julio Urias. While we attempt to learn all the facts, he will not be traveling with the team. The organization has no further comment at this time. MLB has yet to comment, though the league will likely begin investigating Urias soon. During that process, players are typically placed on administrative leave, meaning they do not play or travel with their team but still receive their salary and accrue service time. Urias, 27, has been with the Dodgers his entire career, and this is not the first time he has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. He was arrested in May 2019 in a parking lot in Los Angeles after witnesses told police that they saw him push a woman to the ground. Although security footage reportedly supported what the witnesses saw, the woman Urias was with told police that she fell. The L.A. city attorney declined to press charges, deciding instead to defer them as long as Urias attended a 52-week domestic violence counseling program and wasn't arrested for a violent crime in the subsequent year (the length of the statute of limitations). While charges weren't pressed in 2019, that's not the same as an expungement. Urias' arrest for domestic violence still exists in the public record, as does the police report. Commissioner Rob Manfred suspended Urias 20 games in 2019 as discipline for violating the MLB/MLBPA joint policy on domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. If MLB sees fit to suspend Urias for this incident, it's possible it could be for more than 20 games since this would be his second documented violation. Urias is scheduled to appear in court at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 27. Spanish star Gabriel Guevara was arrested on sexual assault charges while he was at the Venice International Film Festival on Saturday, September 2. The 22-year-old actor, who starred in Prime Videos hit Spanish-language film My Fault (Culpa Mia), was arrested by Italian state police on Saturday while he was at the festival, Variety reports. The arrest warrant was from France. The Venice court of appeals is expected to issue a ruling soon in order to determine if Guevara will be extradited. The Venice Film Festival has clarified that the charges were not related to anything that took place at the annual event. Following the news articles which have been emerging on various websites, regarding the Spanish actor Gabriel Guevara being arrested in Venice, the Biennale hereby clarifies that his presence in Venice was not linked to any events or productions related to the 80th Venice International Film Festival, the organization said in a statement via Variety on Sunday. Jeremy Piven, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Sexual Misconduct, Hollywood, Sexual Harassment While Hollywood may appear to be all glitz and glam on the surface, the industry has seen its fair share of scandals through the years. The New York Times and the New Yorker first published investigative pieces that accused disgruntled movie producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual assault and harassment in 2017. Soon after, Weinstein stood trial and was convicted [] His arrest came one day before he was set to receive a Best New Actor award from Finding Italy (which is not associated with the Venice Film Festival). The organization announced that they were not moving forward with the honor amid the news of the actors arrest. Guevara is the son of French actress Marlene Mourreau and Cuban dancer Michel Guevara. He was raised in Spain and first found fame in 2018 after starring in the first two seasons of Skam Espana. However, it was just this summer that Guevaras career exploded after Prime Videos My Fault premiered in June. The Spanish-language film franchise, based on Wattpad sensation Mercedes Rons bestselling Culpables book trilogy, follows Noah (Nicole Wallace) after her mom moves in with her new wealthy husband, dragging Noah along with her. Noah finds herself butting heads with her new street racer stepbrother, Nick (played by Guevara). Noah eventually starts a steamy affair with Nick. Promo David Hasselhoff Daughter Hayley Hasselhoff Joins In on Nepo Baby Debate A leg up. Not everyone starts at the bottom in Hollywood especially if their parents are already famous. These celebrity kids have spoken out about being nepo babies. Some Euphoria fans were shocked to learn Maude Apatow had famous parents, The Other Woman star Leslie Mann and writer/director Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin). Her [] I was quite surprised because I didnt expect such a big fandom, Guevara recently said in a cover story for Spanish outlet Folie while speaking about My Faults overnight success. It seemed crazy to me and the truth is that I feel very grateful for all the support they are giving me. The first film was a hit and Prime Video has confirmed that two sequels, Your Fault (Culpa Tuya) and Our Fault (Culpa Nuestra), are on the way. The streaming platforms official Instagram account noted that both films were in production, shooting simultaneously as of Wednesday, August 30. An escaped murderer's mother joined police efforts to find him, days after the 34-year-old man vanished from a Pennsylvania prison. But a growing manhunt is continuing as the woman's son has not yet heeded her calls to surrender. Danelo Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison in West Chester, about an hour's drive from Philadelphia, around 8:45 a.m. Thursday. He had still not been captured as of Tuesday afternoon. "He is desperate and dangerous and probably exhausted," Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark, the supervisor of the U.S. Marshal fugitive task force for eastern Pennsylvania, told CBS News. Earlier this week, authorities broadcasted a message from Cavalcante's mother in the search area. "That was broadcast through the helicopter yesterday and through the patrol cars in the hopes that perhaps, as desperate as he is, maybe he has a change of thought and hears his mother telling him to surrender and his family cares about him," Clark said on Monday. "He's desperate, he's hungry, he's been in the woods, he's dirty, perhaps this is what puts him over the edge so that we can get a peaceful surrender." Cavalcante is a Brazilian national fluent in Portuguese and Spanish. Cavalcante also speaks some English, authorities said. His mother, who is in Brazil, recorded the message for him in Portuguese. Cavalcante was last seen on Monday evening, said Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Colonel George Bivens at a news conference early Tuesday. Officials previously said there had been four confirmed sightings of Cavalcante in a 2-mile radius in the days since his escape. The focus of the search has been in the area around Pocopson Township, which located within Chester County. The most recent sighting happened within the perimeter of the original search area, Bivens said, but authorities have since shifted those boundaries slightly because security footage provided by a nearby botanical garden appeared to capture Cavalcante on their property. On 09/04/2023 at 8:21PM and 9:33PM, Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante was seen on a trail camera at Longwood Gardens in East Marlborough Township, Chester County. Anyone with information is asked to contact the tip line at 717-562-2987. pic.twitter.com/bSPWBxuTRB Trooper Grothey (@PSPTroopJPIO) September 5, 2023 "We had one additional sighting of Cavalcante last evening within that perimeter and conducted a multiple hours long search of the area, but were unable to locate him," Bivens said at Tuesday's briefing. "Early this morning, we were notified by security at Longwood Gardens that they had trail camera photos taken on their property which appear to be Cavalcante. This area is just south of the perimeter." Investigators confirmed the person seen in those images was Cavalcante, who had not changed his appearance but was seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt and carrying items he did not have before, including a backpack and a duffel bag. The Pennsylvania State Police tweeted the images on Tuesday. The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District and the Kennett Consolidated School District closed their schools and offices Tuesday as the search for Cavalcante continued. Bivens said law enforcement would work with the districts "to determine what will occur in coming days." Clark said Cavalcante is moving at night and hiding during the day, telling CBS News on Tuesday that the landscape has posed challenges for law enforcement trying to capture him. There are large patches of wooded areas with thick underbrush that officers are forced to hack through at times, as well as numerous structures such as sheds to search, Clark said. "We are trying to stress him out, keep him on the move, squeeze him, " Clark said. "This is what we do. His desperation will not outlast our dedication." Authorities are asking people in and around the search area to secure their homes, vehicles, businesses and any outbuildings. They believe the items Cavalcante obtained since his escape were stolen from a car or home, Clark told CBS News. "Cavalcante has clearly already obtained some clothing and unknown other supplies, and we want to minimize any opportunity to obtain anything more," Bivens said Tuesday, requesting that anyone with security cameras on their properties scan the footage and report anything suspicious to the state police. He noted that additional law enforcement agents from the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol have been mobilized to join the manhunt. More than 250 officers from multiple agencies are now assisting the search, including 40 members of the U.S. Marshal Service fugitive task force, with investigators using thermal imaging, night goggles, drones, helicopters, dogs and other technology in the manhunt. Bivens said Tuesday that authorities have received more than 100 tips relating to Cavalcante and are following up on all of them. A federal warrant has also been obtained to authorize the escapee's arrest if he flees Pennsylvania to Delaware or Maryland nearby. Danelo Cavalcante / Credit: U.S. Marshals Service "When you talk a 2-mile radius, you've got to remember this is a 5-foot tall gentleman, 120 pounds, and this is a heavily, heavily wooded area," Clark said. "It's very, very thick back there. There's a lot of ravines. There's a lot of hiding spots." At a news conference Monday, Bivens described what was at the time the most recent sighting of Cavalcante, which happened on Sunday afternoon. "It was a trooper, actually, that observed him at some distance, gave chase, but was unable because of the terrain and some other obstacles there, was unable to get to him before he disappeared," Bivens said. Officers have investigated two burglaries while searching for Cavalcante. They've asked that people in the community check on their neighbors, while Bivens warned at Monday's briefing of the possibility Cavalcante would try to obtain food, clothing and shelter on the run. "He is going to be looking for a means to sustain himself," Bivens said. "He's going to need clothing. He's going to need food and just to get in out of the weather. It's pretty hot out there." Cavalcante was convicted of first-degree murder on Aug. 16 for fatally stabbing his 33-year-old former girlfriend in April 2021. Her family has been notified of Cavalcante's escape, authorities said. Cavalcante was sentenced to life in prison. He's also wanted in connection with a homicide in Brazil. Authorities stressed that people should not approach Cavalcante if they see him. Anyone who spots him or has information should call 911. The Marshals Service and the Chester County District Attorney's Office are offering a combined $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Officials have not shared details on how Cavalcante escaped, saying it's under investigation. "The prison is very aware of whatever vulnerabilities they have and they have made efforts to correct those vulnerabilities," Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said. CBS News senior investigative reporter Pat Milton contributed to this report. John Dickerson looks back at 1 year of "Prime Time" "Prime Time with John Dickerson" turns one How empty office space hurts the economy Of the many worries that whirl around the minds of chief executives, few are more unsettling than the question of succession. Having toiled their way to the top of the corporate ladder, many bosses struggle to imagine relinquishing control and placing their legacy in the hands of another. A growing number of Americas bosses have instead opted to defer the matter altogether. By the end of last year 101 S&P 500 CEOs had held the corner office for more than a decade, up from just 36 ten years earlier, according to figures from MyLogIQ, a data provider. Although some, like Warren Buffett, the longest-serving of the lot with 53 years on the clock, built the companies they run, most are hired hands. Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, a bank, Shantanu Narayen of Adobe, a software firm, and Chris Nassetta of Hilton, a hotel franchise, are among the many who have outlasted their predecessors. Such long-serving bosses have pushed the average tenure of S&P 500 top dogs up from six years to seven over the past decade. Some bosses have become infamous for their reluctance to move on. Earlier this year Howard Schultz ended his third stint as boss of Starbucks, a coffee chain. Late last year Bob Iger took back the reins at Disney, a media giant, from his chosen successor, Bob Chapek. In July his two-year contract was extended until the end of 2026. The question of succession has long loomed over Mr Buffetts conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway. Of course, plenty of companies are well served by CEOs who hang around. And with populations healthier for longer, forcing bosses out once they reach an arbitrary retirement age, as many firms still do, is unnecessary. Yet the lengthening tenures of Americas bosses is a cause for concern. In 1991 Donald Hambrick and Gregory Fukutomi, then both at Columbia Business School, published an influential paper on the seasons of a CEOs tenure. They suggested that, in the early years, performance improves as the boss learns the ropes, but later declines as they become more resistant to change and less engaged in the job. A paper in 2015 by Francois Brochet of Boston University and his co-authors sought to quantify that tipping-point in performance by studying the relationship between market value and CEO tenure among listed American firms. They found that CEO performance rose through roughly the first decade on the job before flattening off, then beginning to decline after around 15 years. Eventually you lose the oomph and the creativity, says Bill George, a former CEO of Medtronic, a medical-technology company, who now teaches at Harvard Business School. That vigour is especially crucial when a company is in need of reinvention. Microsofts transformation under Satya Nadella into a cloud-computing giant at the vanguard of artificial intelligence may never have happened had Steve Ballmer, who led the business through a period of stagnation from 2000 to 2014, stuck around. An extended stay carries risks even when a CEOs long stint seems justified by stellar performance. Mr Iger delayed retirement three times during his original 15-year spell as Disneys boss, leading a number of potential successors to try their luck elsewhere. Boards waiting to find a replacement CEO with experience comparable to the incumbents necessarily find it harder the longer they delay, notes Jason Baumgarten of Spencer Stuart, a headhunting firm. Ideally, succession planning should begin the day the CEO starts, says Claudia Allen of KPMG, a consultancy. That involves building a pipeline of candidates, assessing their skills and developing a plan to fill gaps. Public spectacles like the six-year saga to replace Jack Welch at GE, a once-mighty American industrial giant, are best avoided. Separating the roles of chief executive and chairman of the board can help, too (appointing a lead independent director is seldom sufficient to keep in check an almighty boss with both jobs, let alone sack one). Two in three S&P 500 CEOs who have been in the role for longer than a decade also chair the board, compared with two in five for the whole group. Perhaps the most important rule for succession is to make a clean break. Bosses that hang around after their turn has ended do their successors a disservice. The most pernicious example of this is the CEO who stays on as executive chairman, a loosely defined title that gives its bearer the right to meddle in big decisions while shirking operational responsibility. James Gorman of Morgan Stanley will take on the title when he steps down as the banks CEO in the coming months. Last year 15% of S&P 500 companies were presided over by an executive chairman. Some, like Jeff Bezos and Rupert Murdoch, are founders eager to maintain a say over the companies they built. For the rest, the role may look like a handy way to smooth a transition. But it brings dangers. Predecessors may struggle to accept shifts in strategy, and confusion may reign as to who is ultimately in charge. During Mr Igers stint as executive chairman of Disney, he and Mr Chapek clashed over a number of big decisions, denting the new hands credibility. Get an afterlife That CEOs find it hard to let go is unsurprising, and not only because power is seductive. Many struggle with the sense that, having reached their professional pinnacle, there is little left to do, says Mr George. Rather than retiring to a life of leisure, he counsels bosses to find ways to make use of their wisdom. Some may choose to sit on boards. Others, like him, may teach. Others still may try their hand at politics. Before his latest return to Starbucks Mr Schultz toyed with a presidential bid; Mr Dimon is being urged by some to pursue one. It is uncomfortable to accept that an organisation you lead will survive without you. But stepping down need not mean stepping into obscurity. Many of Americas bosses still have plenty to givenot least a shot for the next generation. 2023 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on https://www.economist.com/business/2023/09/04/americas-bosses-just-wont-quit-that-could-spell-trouble With the screenwriters and actors strike at the forefront of the entertainment industry and hotel cleaners, Amazon warehouse employees and food industry workers following in pursuit, this summer has been coined the summer of strikes. In the first eight months of 2023, more than 323,000 workers walked off the job for better benefits, pay and/ or working conditions. But the rate of union members is the lowest in decades at 10.1% in 2022. With increasing strike activity over the past few years, why hasnt the rate of union membership followed? Strike activity increases, union membership lags Striking members of the WGA and SA-AFTRA picket in front of Disney Studios on August 22, 2023, SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America hold a ANational Day of SolidarityA rally Tuesday outside Disney Studios. The AFL-CIO and its affiliates participated in the event. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14, and the Writers Guild since May 2. In 2018, about 485,000 people participated in large-scale strikes, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the largest participation seen since 1983. The large-scale labor action was partially driven by the Red for Ed movement in 2018 and 2019. Educators across the country and across party lines walked out for increased salaries, better working conditions and more school funding. While worker stoppages have kept up, labor union rates have steadily declined for decades. The overall rate of union membership is much lower than it was 40 years ago. Between 1983 and 2022, union membership fell by half from 20.1% to 10.1%. "Union density reached a high of over 30% in the post-World War II decades in the 1950s and 1960s," said Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Labor Center. Are unions making a comeback? In the first half of 2022, unions won 662 election, covering a total of 58,543 workers the most in nearly 20 years, according to data from National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). But union membership rates have been in decline for several decades now. In the 1950s, 1 in 3 workers were represented by a union. Now its closer to 1 in 10. Why is union membership so low? Labor laws in the U.S. make it more difficult for employees to form unions: More than two dozen states have passed "Right to Work" laws, making it more difficult for workers to unionize. These laws provide union representation to nonunion members in union workplaces without requiring the payment of union dues. It also gives workers the option to join a union or opt out. Even if workers succeed in winning a union election, it's a two-step hurdle, Wong said. "They have to prevail in an election to be certified as the bargaining unit representing the workers in any given a workplace. But beyond that, they have to get the company to agree to a contract. "The unfortunate reality is that the laws are not working for workers." Along with the passage of laws unfavorable toward labor unions, corporations invest money into programs and consultants who introduce union-suppressing tactics to the workplace. A 2019 analysis from the Economic Policy Institute found that companies spent $340 million a year on "union avoiding" consultants who help deter organizers. And employers were charged with violating federal law in 41.5% of all union election campaigns. Workplace sectors that were traditionally union strongholds now make up less of the workforce, such as manufacturing, transportation, and construction. Writers strike 2023 explained: Why the WGA walked out, what it means for TV and film Summer of strikes: How many people are striking in 2023? Majority of Americans support labor unions More than two-thirds of Americans approve of labor unions, according to a poll from Gallup. That rate is even higher for Americans younger than 30 88% responded to a poll from AFL-CIO saying they support labor unions. Although public support for unions has been relatively high, it has not been reflected in unionization rates, Wong said. "The labor laws in this country are very heavily weighted in favor of corporations and employers and against workers." He added, "With the decline in unionization, we've also seen greater economic disparity, a bottoming out of the middle class, and a growing number of working poor." Why are people striking? The Red for Ed movement in 2018 and 2019 brought educators from across the country and across the political spectrum out of the classrooms and on the frontlines. Teachers demanded higher wages, more resources for students and increased funding for schools. Karen White, deputy executive director of the National Education Association, said many of those same concerns are top-of-mind today. White joined striking teachers in North Carolina and in Oklahoma. "Educators are fed up with the lack of respect, the lack of adequate compensation, and the lack of support in schools for their students," White said. The issues that NEA members and educators across the country are striking over are nontraditional issues, White said. Smaller class sizes, better mental health supports for students, and more nurses and counselors are some examples. "Educators want to make sure that their students have what they need to be the best learners in those classrooms." Striking employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District rally in downtown Los Angeles on March 21, 2023. Xxx News Lausd Teachers Strike 053 Jpg A Oth Usa Ca In March 2023, more than 60,000 Los Angeles Unified School District employees including school staff and teachers went on strike for increased equity wages and raises. Who belongs to labor unions now? Nearly 35% of workers in protective service occupations were represented by a union. That includes correction officers, police, firefighters and security guards. They had the highest unionization rates of any workforce. Education, training and library occupations followed at 33.7%, according to the labor statistics bureau. Sales, computer and mathematical occupations and food preparation/serving-related jobs had the lowest rates of union members: all less than 4%. Men historically have higher rates of union membership compared with women, but the gap between those rates has gotten smaller in recent years. Women now make up about 47% of all union members. Black workers continued to have a higher union membership rates (11.6%) compared with white workers (10%), Asian workers (8.3%), and Hispanic workers (8.8%). Which states have the most union-represented employees? Almost a quarter of workers living in Hawaii are represented by unions, according to the labor statistics bureau. At least 19 states have higher rates of employees represented by unions compared with the national average. South Carolina had the lowest rate of union represented employees at 2%. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The US labor movement is popular, but union membership is shrinking The largest wildfire in Louisiana history that has destroyed tens of thousands of acres was caused by arson, state officials announced. The Louisiana State Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) said it concluded its investigation into the wildfires in Beauregard Parish and found that the Tiger Island Fire was deliberately caused. Officials are offering a $2,000 reward to anyone who has information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who caused the fire, the LDAF said in a press release Saturday. MORE: At least 74 dead in Johannesburg building fire, authorities say The Tiger Island Fire began on Aug. 22 in a wooded pine plantation and has destroyed more than 31,000 acres of land and damaged 20 homes and structures, LDAF officials said. The fire is 50% contained as of Sunday, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. Louisiana State Department of Agriculture and Forestry officials couldn't provide specific details about the cause of the wildfire, as it's an active investigation, but told ABC News that investigators found the fire started in a secluded area on forested property. The fire season in Louisiana this year has been unparalleled due to extreme temperatures and dry conditions, according to The Associated Press. PHOTO: FILE - This photo provided by Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry shows scorched woodlands near Merryville, La., at the Tiger Island Fire, Aug., 30, 2023. (Alison Coons/AP, FILE) There were about 600 wildfires in the state in August, with officials anticipating that number to grow, according to The AP. "Louisiana is still facing unpredictable and dangerous conditions as we continue to fight wildfires across the state. This is a long-term event and until we get a significant amount of rain, we must remain vigilant," Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement Thursday. "Our state is still a tinderbox and there are still fires popping up all over. Do not burn anything. We must do all we can to prevent the further spread of wildfires and ease the stress on our responders." About 60,000 acres of land have burned in Louisiana this year, according to The AP. Louisiana declared a statewide burn ban Thursday to include any open flame outdoors. The State Fire Marshal's Office said people should not "burn anything" until further notice, according to the NWCG. "Citations and arrests are happening across this state in partnership with local and state law enforcement agencies," the NWCG said. The Lions Camp Fire and wildfires in Rapides Parish were also a result of arson, according to the LDAF. MORE: Maui official defends not using sirens during deadly wildfires Officials have asked the public for help identifying a suspect or suspects who may have caused those blazes. Louisiana state law defines simple arson as "the intentional damaging by any explosive substance or the setting fire to any property of another, without the consent of the owner," and "the starting of a fire or causing an explosion while the offender is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of another felony offense even though the offender does not have the intent to start a fire or cause an explosion." Louisiana's Tiger Island Fire was caused by arson, state officials say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - An initiative to boost Africa's carbon credit production 19-fold by 2030 drew hundreds of millions of dollars in pledges on Monday, as Kenyan President William Ruto opened the continent's first climate summit. In one of the most anticipated deals, investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) committed to buying $450 million of carbon credits from the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI), which was launched at Egypt's COP27 summit last year. "We must see in green growth, not just a climate imperative but also a fountain of multi-billion dollar economic opportunities that Africa and the world is primed to capitalise," Ruto told delegates. African leaders are pushing market-based financing instruments, such as carbon credits, or offsets, which can be generated by projects that curb emissions, usually in developing countries, such as planting trees, or switching to cleaner fuels. (See EXPLAINER for more details) Carbon credits can then be bought by companies to offset emissions they are unable to cut from their own operations to help meet climate targets. One credit is equivalent to saving or avoiding one ton of carbon dioxide. Organisers of the three-day summit in Nairobi say they aim to showcase that Africa as a destination for climate investment rather than a victim of floods, drought and famine. African governments see carbon credits and other market-based financing instruments as critical to mobilize funding that has been slow to arrive from rich-world donors. The offset market was worth around $2 billion in 2021 and Shell and Boston Consulting Group jointly forecast in January that it could reach between $10 billion and $40 billion by 2030. Several speakers at the summit said they had seen little progress toward accelerating climate financing because investors still saw the continent as too risky. Africa has received only about 12% of the money it needs to cope with climate impacts, according to a report last year by the non-profit Climate Policy Initiative. "There hasn't been any success for an African country in attracting climate finance," said Bogolo Kenewendo, a United Nations climate adviser and former trade minister in Botswana. Kevin Kariuki, a vice president at the African Development Bank, told Reuters the deals announced on Monday were "very welcome" but not enough. He said African states would push at the COP28 U.N. climate summit in Dubai, at the end of November, for the expansion of special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund that could unlock $500 billion worth of climate finance, which could be leveraged up to five times. "The private sector really remains an untapped opportunity that now must be seized," said Patricia Scotland, secretary-general of the Commonwealth of 56 countries. "If you look at what we've got on thermal energy, on solar, on wind, on hydro, this is a powerhouse just waiting to be unleashed," she told Reuters. More than 20 presidents and heads of government are expected to attend the summit from Tuesday. They plan to issue a declaration outlining Africa's position ahead of a U.N. climate conference later this month and the COP28. INVESTMENTS The oil-producing UAE has been positioning itself as a climate financing leader in Africa. The $450 million commitment by UAE Carbon Alliance, a coalition of private sector players, was announced by Hassaan Ghazali, an investment manager at the UAE Independent Climate Change Accelerators (UICCA). Climate Asset Management - a joint venture of HSBC Asset Management and Pollination, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm - also announced a $200 million investment in projects that will produce ACMI credits. Britain said UK-backed projects worth 49 million pounds ($62 million) would be announced over the course of the summit, while Germany announced a 60 million euro ($65 million) debt swap with Kenya to free up money for green projects. Many African campaigners have opposed the summit's approach to climate finance, and about 500 people marched in downtown Nairobi on Monday to protest. They say carbon credits are a pretext for continued pollution by wealthier countries and corporations, who should instead pay their "climate debt" through direct compensation and debt relief. Sultan Al Jaber, president of COP28, said carbon markets were an important tool, but "a lack of commonly-agreed standards was undermining their integrity and diminishing their value". A working paper released by the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Project found that sub-Saharan African countries face annual debt servicing costs that are nearly the same as their climate finance needs. ($1 = 0.7920 pounds) ($1 = 0.9265 euros) (Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Simon Jessop; Additional reporting by Jefferson Kahinju; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Hereward Holland, Angus MacSwan, Susan Fenton and Mike Harrison) WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden will nominate a longtime aide who once worked for the first lady to represent the United States at the United Nations agency devoted to education, science and culture, a White House official said Monday. The U.S. recently rejoined the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization after a five-year hiatus initiated by Biden's immediate predecessor in the White House, Donald Trump. The Democratic president's choice to become the U.S. permanent representative to the Paris-based UNESCO, with the rank of ambassador, is longtime aide Courtney O'Donnell, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the nomination before a formal announcement. O'Donnell currently wears two hats in the administration: She's a senior adviser in Harris' office and acting chief of staff for Harris' husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, and lends her expertise to a range of national and global issues, including gender equity and countering antisemitism, a top issue for Emhoff, who is Jewish. O'Donnell also was communications director for Jill Biden, when she was second lady during Joe Biden's vice presidency when Barack Obama was president. O'Donnell helped Jill Biden raise awareness and support for U.S. military families and promote community colleges. She has extensive experience in developing global partnerships, public affairs and strategic communications, having held senior roles in two presidential administrations, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, national political campaigns and the private sector, according to her official bio. O'Donnell most recently oversaw global partnerships at Airbnb. Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain said O'Donnell is trusted by colleagues worldwide. This is a fantastic pick and she will do a fantastic job at UNESCO, he said in a statement. Cathy Russell worked with O'Donnell in the second lady's office and said she is skilled at developing global partnerships, creating social impact campaigns and providing strategic counsel on a range of issues. Everyone who knows Courtney knows she is committed to the value of global engagement and strengthening American leadership around the world, Russell said. The Senate must vote on O'Donnell's nomination. The first lady attended a ceremony in late July at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where the U.S. flag was raised to mark Washington's official reentry into the U.N. agency after the absence initiated by Trump, a Republican. She spoke about the importance of American leadership in preserving cultural heritage and empowering education and science across the globe. The United States announced its intention to rejoin UNESCO in June, and the organizations 193 member states voted in July to approve the U.S. reentry. The ceremony formally signified the U.S. becoming the 194th member and flag proprietor at the agency. The U.S. decision to return was based mainly on concerns that China has filled a leadership gap since Washington withdrew, underscoring the broader geopolitical dynamics at play, particularly the growing influence of China in international institutions. The U.S. exit from UNESCO in 2017 cited an alleged anti-Israel bias within the organization. The decision followed a 2011 move by UNESCO to include Palestine as a member state, which led the U.S. and Israel to cease financing the agency. The U.S. withdrawal became official in 2018. By Jeff Mason REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that he was disappointed that Chinese President Xi Jinping was not attending the summit of G20 leaders in India, but added that he was going to "get to see him." "I am disappointed ... but I am going to get to see him," Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, without elaborating. Biden will visit India from Sept. 7-10 for a summit of the Group of 20 nations, followed by a trip to Vietnam as his administration seeks to strengthen U.S. relations in Asia. Xi is likely to skip the summit and Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to represent Beijing at the meeting in New Delhi, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. Asked if he was looking forward to his trip, Biden said, "Yes, I am." "I want a little more ... coordination. I think they both (India and Vietnam) want much closer relations with the United States and that can be very helpful," Biden said. (This story has been refiled to correct transposed words in paragraph 4) (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Ismail Shakil; editing by Diane Craft) (Reuters) -Binance's global head of product, Mayur Kamat, has resigned amid a string of executive exits and job cuts at the cryptocurrency exchange, a spokesperson for the company told Reuters on Monday. Kamat's exit follows a recent executive exodus from Binance that includes Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann and General Counsel Hon Ng. The cryptocurrency exchange has lately been under heavy regulatory scrutiny in the United States, where regulators aggressively clamp down on what they deem are illegal activities. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao in June for allegedly operating a "web of deception," listing 13 charges, including claims the company artificially inflated its trading volumes, diverted customer funds and failed to restrict U.S. customers from its platform. Binance has said it would defend itself vigorously. The company also laid off a number of employees in July. (Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Dhanya Ann Thoppil) By Tim Hepher PARIS (Reuters) -European space officials said on Monday they face crucial timing decisions in the coming weeks on the return to flight of Europe's flagship space launchers following a series of delays. The inaugural launch of Europe's new Ariane 6 launcher has been delayed until next year, while the failure of a test on the smaller Vega C has hampered chances of a return to service in 2023 for that rocket after it was grounded in December 2022. Europe's third traditional path to space, the Russian Soyuz programme, was interrupted last year amid the breakdown in East-West relations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Those development have left Europe scrambling to close the gap in launch capability as competition heats up in the market for commercial launches, with the larger and modernised Ariane 6 designed to be more competitive against rivals led by Elon Musk's SpaceX. In a news conference, the European Space Agency said it plans to set a window for the first launch of the Ariane 6 in early October after completing a series of engine tests. The next of these is due on Tuesday after efforts to light the engine of the main section, at the launch site in French Guiana, were postponed on Aug 29. A separate test of the complex upper stage was carried out successfully in Germany on Friday. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher declined to commit to a full launch in the first half of next year, but told reporters results so far pointed to a test debut "not too late" in 2024, followed by the first commercial mission about 6 months later. Ariane 6 is being developed at a cost of 4 billion euros to succeed Ariane 5, which ended operations in July, leaving European nations with a vacuum in autonomous access to space for the first time in more than four decades. Italy's Vega C was grounded in December 2022 after its second mission went wrong. Investigators blamed the launch failure on a faulty engine part and a fresh probe was launched in June after the failure of a ground test. Aschbacher said the timing of Vega C's return to operation would be set after the commission reports later this month. The previous generation Vega rocket is meanwhile due to carry out its first launch since the 2022 grounding of its larger new sister model on Oct. 4. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Jason Neely and Alison Williams) Talk of the invaders started in the early spring. Along Italys northern Adriatic coast and in Tuscan fish farms workers were pulling up their nets and finding them chewed to threads. Then they began discovering eels with missing heads and harvested clams and mussels with their meat already devoured. The culprit, which now threatens millions of euros worth of annual profits in shellfish, is the Atlantic blue crab, first introduced in the bilge water of foreign merchant and cruise ships several years ago. In just a few years, the foreign critters, which can produce two million eggs a year and hold no natural predators in Italy, have reproduced quickly, wiping out the entire clam and mussel harvest for some fishermen. Agricultural industry group FedagriPesca estimates that more than half the nations clams and mussels were eaten by the blue crab this summer. Culinary solution A fisherman harvests blue crabs in the lagoon of Scardovari, south of Venice, Italy, on August 11, 2023. - Piero Cruciatti/AFP/Getty Images Initially, the government recommended catching and destroying the crabs, which are delicacies in other parts of the world. And it didnt take long for some fishermen, their nets laden with the tiny beasts, to monetize the mayhem. Now Italians are turning the killer crustaceans into a culinary delicacy, introducing them into risotto, pasta dishes and even salads. Italian farmers group Coldiretti suggests serving the blue crab with rosemary in a salad, or with sauteed garlic over spaghetti. These are some of the dishes recommended by chefs, fishermen and farmers of [Coldiretti] to fight the invasion of the sea killer, which is devastating the national coasts with damage into the millions of euros, the group said in a statement in support of harvesting and selling the invasive crabs. The goal is to help contain the excessive diffusion of the crab, which is taking over the seabed of our coasts, identifying economic opportunities for the hard-hit territories. Marine biologists say warmer seawater and above average temperatures mean that the crabs are thriving and taking over. Theyve already been found all along Italys vast coastline and even in the Po Delta, a UNESCO heritage site known for its vongole veraci clam variety, which has been largely obliterated this summer. Usually when the water temperatures drop below 10 C (50 F), this variety of crab doesnt survive, Enridca Franchi, a marine biologist and researcher with the University of Siena, says. But now the crab finds the ideal temperature 12 months of the year. Natural disaster Blue crabs have been eating into shellfish and also profits. - Piero Cruciatti/AFP/Getty Images The Italian government has allocated 2.9 million to help sustain the fishermen and fight the invasion in the country, which is Europes largest producer of clams. Although the crabs seem to prefer shellfish like clams, mussels and oysters, they have also eaten into the profits of eel and seabream fishing in Tuscany. Coldiretti believes that this natural disaster is a threat to Italys entire fishing industry, warning that the blue crab invasion has already led to the loss of jobs and put those fishermen who rely on clams and mussels out of business this year. The Italian governments ruling Brothers of Italy party has proposed potentially converting tuna and other fish canning factories to crab processing plants as a way to essentially over-fish the predator in hopes of reducing its presence. The blue crabs, which have a market value of around 80 a kilogram in the United States and Asia, have not been able to fetch much on the market in Italy, with the fishing federation capping the legally sold price at 10 a kilo. But at most supermarkets, the going price is less than 6 a kilogram since the supply far outweighs the demand. By contrast, king crab, a rare treat in Mediterranean countries, sells for up to 100 a kilogram. Blue crab is fast becoming a feature item at restaurants across the country, primarily as a spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes. Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni was photographed with a plate of the crab in an image shared by her brother-in-law Francesco Lollobrigida, who is also Italys minister of agriculture. Lollobrigida has also posted Facebook videos of his own culinary crab creations, insisting that this predator can be an economic opportunity for many. Selling enemy fish Blue crab is a delicacy some find hard to stomach. - Piero Cruciatti/AFP/Getty Images As their popularity grows within restaurants in Italy, animal rights activists are making moves to protect the crabs, particularly the smaller ones, which are allegedly being caught and used as toys for children. Gabriella Gibin from animal rights protection group Coordinamento Tutela Diritti Animali, based in Rovigo, Italy, has denounced the treatment of the blue crabs, claiming that she has seen photographic evidence of the creatures being abused. They are put in buckets, tortured until their claws are severed and killed with sticks, she wrote in a recent Facebook post. Gibin went on to say that she had also seen evidence of the crabs being caught and released in car parks or along ditches with no access to water. But not all restaurateurs have welcomed this new addition to the food scene. Lionello Cera, who runs the two-Michelin-starred Antica Osteria Cera di Campagna Lupia, says he has tried it in various dishes, but will not be putting blue crab on his menu anytime soon. It is destroying our lagoon and it could be argued that it will soon take the place of the spider crab, so my answer is no, he said in a recent blog post. It is also not present at many smaller farmers markets. In the Roman neighborhood of Testaccio, one fishmonger told CNN he may offer it eventually, but as long as clams and mussels are still available, he will offer Italian fare first before giving in to selling enemy fish. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Thousands of supporters celebrated the nomination of Mexican Senator Xochitl Galvez on Sunday as the 2024 presidential candidate of an opposition alliance set to take on the country's ruling party. Galvez, a spirited communicator who has energized the opposition, is seen as the main candidate to take on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), which is due to announce its own candidate on Sept. 6. Supporters rallied near the capital's Angel of Independence monument to herald Galvez's nomination for the alliance Frente Amplio por Mexico - or the Broad Front for Mexico, made official in a ceremony on Sunday. Galvez said she received the nomination "with great pride." She gave remarks in an indigenous language, before delivering a speech in Spanish. "Problems are not fixed with ideologies, they are fixed with solutions," she added, in an apparent reference to Lopez Obrador. Supporters could be heard chanting "we are going to win" as they waved flags and banners supporting Galvez's nomination and the alliance. "She is going to get us all out of the hole, the indigenous people, the poorest, the middle class," said Hector Chavez, a supporter donning the emblematic red, white and green of Mexico's flag. "And she is going to boost the economy." Representatives of the coalition, the center-right PAN, the leftist PRD and the once-powerful PRI party - which supported Galvez at the expense of its own challenger, Beatriz Paredes - had called for Galvez's nomination earlier in the week. (Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Cassandra Garrison, additional reporting by Alberto Fajardo and Liamar Ramos; editing by Deepa Babington and Diane Craft) By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) -A Nigerian election tribunal will on Wednesday deliver its ruling to petitions challenging the result of a presidential vote that brought Bola Tinubu to power, the court registrar said on Monday. The victory in February for Tinubu, of the All Progressives Congress, is disputed by his two main opponents. Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party and Peter Obi who came second and third in the race, respectively, challenged Tinubu's victory in court on the basis of fraud claims. The tribunal, which started hearing in June, will give its ruling on Sept 6, the registrar said, adding that the judgment will be televised. Every election result has been contested since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, and none has been overturned by the courts, with the exception of the 2015 poll in which Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to Muhammadu Buhari. Most observers expect the tribunal to uphold Tinubu's win. Tinubu, 71, has since been sworn in as Nigeria's president, despite the election challenge, and has been under pressure to quickly improve economic and security conditions. He will be in India attending the G20 summit when the ruling is delivered. Tinubu, a long-standing member of the ruling party, won 37% of February's vote, the lowest share since 1999. The main opposition parties have described the outcome of the election as fraudulent after a new technology that the electoral commission had promised would make the process more transparent malfunctioned, eroding trust. Voter turnout was also low, even by Nigerian standards. With total votes cast at just under 25 million, out of 87 million people with voter identity cards and eligible to vote, turnout was only 29%. The previous 2019 election saw a 35% turnout. (Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Mike Harrison) BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Spain's acting deputy prime minister met exiled Catalan politician Carles Puigdemont in Brussels on Monday, seeking support from the separatist fugitive from Spanish justice to keep Pedro Sanchez's left-leaning coalition in power. Yolanda Diaz met the Catalan separatist following an inconclusive election on July 23 which resulted in a hung parliament, making Puigdemont, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since leading Catalonia's failed push for secession from Spain in 2017, the unlikely kingmaker. Diaz's political platform Sumar described the meeting as "fruitful" and "cordial", allowing the two sides to "establish a normal relationship." "We are in agreement about exploring all the democratic solutions to unblock the political conflict," Sumar said, according to a statement. Puigdemont was less effusive, saying on X, formerly Twitter, that "maintaining political relations between formations of different ideologies should not be a surprise, nor an exception." Alberto Nunez Feijoo, whose conservative People's Party won the most votes in the election, will take the first stab at an investiture vote on Sept. 27, although his chances of winning are seen as slim, as he is still four votes short after receiving support from his few allies including far-right Vox. Meanwhile, Sanchez, the Socialist head of the caretaker leftist coalition government, is in talks to get the necessary support for his own candidacy in a hypothetical second vote, if the conservative leader's attempt to form a government fails. The support or abstention of Puigdemont's Junts party, and an array of other separatist or regionalist parties that have supported Sanchez in the past, will be crucial for winning the right to form a government. Sanchez's Socialist party said it was not involved in coordinating the meeting, although it had been informed it would take place. The parties on the right have condemned Sanchez's reliance on separatist parties in the previous legislature, and the current attempts to sway Junts, as a betrayal of Spain's interests for the sake of preserving power. (Reporting by Bart Biesemans and Yves Herman; Additional reporting by Belen Carreno in Madrid; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Andrei Khalip, Peter Graff and Christina Fincher) Photograph: Constanza Hevia/AFP/Getty Images The social media company formerly known as Twitter has been accused in a revised civil US lawsuit of helping Saudi Arabia commit grave human rights abuses against its users, including by disclosing confidential user data at the request of Saudi authorities at a much higher rate than it has for the US, UK or Canada. The lawsuit was brought last May against X, as Twitter is now known, by Areej al-Sadhan, the sister of a Saudi aid worker who was forcibly disappeared and then later sentenced to 20 years in jail. Related: Germany says it ended training of Saudi border forces after abuses reported It centers on the events surrounding the infiltration of the California company by three Saudi agents, two of whom were posing as Twitter employees in 2014 and 2015, which ultimately led to the arrest of al-Sadhans brother, Abdulrahman, and the exposure of the identity of thousands of anonymous Twitter users, some of whom were later reportedly detained and tortured as part of the governments crackdown on dissent. Lawyers for Al-Sadhan updated their claim last week to include new allegations about how Twitter, under the leadership of then chief executive Jack Dorsey, willfully ignored or had knowledge of the Saudi governments campaign to ferret out critics but because of financial considerations and efforts to keep close ties to the Saudi government, a top investor in the company provided assistance to the kingdom. The new lawsuit details how X had originally been seen seen as a critical vehicle for democratic movements during the Arab spring, and therefore became a source of concern for the Saudi government as early as 2013. The new legal filing comes days after Human Rights Watch condemned a Saudi court for sentencing a man to death based solely on his Twitter and YouTube activity, which it called an escalation of the governments crackdown on freedom of expression. The convicted man, Muhammad al-Ghamdi, 54, is the brother of a Saudi scholar and government critic living in exile in the UK. Saudi court records examined by HRW showed that al-Ghamdi was accused of having two accounts, which had a total of 10 followers combined. Both accounts had fewer than 1,000 tweets combined, and contained retweets of well-known critics of the government. The Saudi crackdown can be traced back to December 2014, as Ahmad Abouammo who was later convicted in the US for secretly acting as a Saudi agent and lying to the FBI began accessing and sending confidential user data to Saudi Arabian officials. In the new lawsuit, it is claimed that he sent a message to Saud al-Qahtani, a close aide to Mohammed bin Salman, via the social media companys messaging system, saying proactively and reactively we will delete evil, my brother. It was a reference, the lawsuit claims, to the identification and harming of perceived Saudi dissidents who were using the platform. Al-Qahtani was later accused by the US of being a mastermind behind the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Twitter was either aware of this message brazenly sent on its own platform or was deliberately ignorant to it, the revised lawsuit states. Twitter, now X, does not respond to questions from the press. The Guardian contacted the company lawyer in the case, Ben Berkowitz of Keker, Van Nest & Peters, but did not receive a response. The Guardian also contacted Dorseys new company, Block, Inc, to request a comment from the former Twitter chief executive, but did not receive a response. After Abouammo resigned in May 2015, he continued to contact Twitter to field requests he was receiving from Bader al-Asaker, a senior aide of Mohammed bin Salman, for the identity of confidential users. He made clear to the company, the lawsuit alleges, that the requests were on behalf of his old partners in the Saudi government. The lawsuit also alleges that Twitter had ample notice of security risks to internal personal data, and that there was a threat of insiders illegally accessing it, based on public reporting at the time. Twitter did not simply ignore all these red flags it was aware of the malign campaign, the lawsuit claims. On 28 September 2015, Twitter received a complaint from a Saudi user that their accounts had been compromised. But, the lawsuit alleges, the company did not act to bar one of the Saudis who was later accused Ali Hamad Alzabarah from having access to confidential user data, even though he had accessed the users account previously. Saudi Arabian authorities, the lawsuit alleges, would formally follow up with Twitter once it received confidential user data from its agents working inside the company, by filing so-called EDRs or emergency disclosure requests in order to obtain documentation that confirmed a users identity, which it would then use in court. Often those EDRs were approved on the same day. In May 2015, when two Twitter users tweeted about the kingdom in a way that al-Asaker found objectionable, Albabarah accessed the users data within hours. EDRs about the users were then sent, and automatically approved by Twitter, the lawsuit alleges. Between July and December 2015, Twitter granted the kingdom information requests significantly more often than most other countries at that time, including Canada, the UK, Australia and Spain, the lawsuit alleges. On 5 November 2015, just days before Twitter was confronted by the FBI about its concerns about a Saudi infiltration of the company, it promoted Alzabarah now a fugitive living in Saudi. In response, Alzabarah sent his Saudi government contact, al-Asaker, a note, conveying his unimaginable happiness for the promotion. The note, the lawsuit claims, is evidence that Alzabarah believed al-Asaker had arranged or been influential in connection to the promotion. Once Twitter was made aware of the FBIs concerns, it put Alzabarah on leave and confiscated his laptop, but not his phone, which he has used extensively to contact his Saudi state contacts. Twitter, the lawsuit alleges, had every reason to expect that Alzabarah would immediately flee to Saudi Arabia, which is exactly what he did. The US attorneys office in San Francisco, which handled the case, did not respond to the Guardians request for comment on the companys handling of the matter. Twitter would later notify users who had been exposed, telling them their data may have been targeted, but did not provide more specific information about the scale or certainty that the breach had, in fact, occurred. By failing to give this crucial information, Twitter put thousands of Twitter users at risk, the lawsuit alleges, claiming that some may have had time to escape the kingdom had they understood the risk. Even once Twitter was aware of the breach, it continued to meet and strategize with Saudi Arabia as one of its vital partners in the region. Dorsey met with bin Salman about six months after the company was made aware of the issue by the FBI, and the two discussed how to train and qualify Saudi cadres. We believe in Areejs case and we will zealously prosecute it but what she wants most is for Saudi Arabia to simply release her brother and let him re-join his family in the United States, said Jim Walden, a lawyer representing Al-Sadhan from Walden Macht & Haran. Were that to happen, she and Abdulrahman would gratefully resume their lives and leave justice in Gods hand. VIENNA (AP) Iran has slowed the pace at which it is enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels, according to a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog seen by The Associated Press on Monday. That could be a sign Tehran is trying to ease tensions after years of strain between it and the U.S. The confidential report comes as Iran and the United States are negotiating a prisoner swap and the release of billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in South Korea. However, international inspectors also noted new challenges in trying to monitor Iran's program. In an effort to ensure Iran could not develop atomic weapons, world powers struck a deal with Tehran in 2015 under which it agreed to limit enrichment of uranium to levels necessary for nuclear power in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. U.N. inspectors were tasked with monitoring the program. Then-President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the accord in 2018, saying he would negotiate a stronger deal, but that didnt happen. Iran began breaking the terms a year later. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in its report that Iran has 121.6 kilograms (268 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. That means its stockpile of the fuel is growing at its slowest pace since 2021. A report in May put the stockpile at just over 114 kilograms (250 pounds). It had 87.5 kilograms (192 pounds) in February. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran has long denied ever seeking nuclear weapons and continues to insist that its program is entirely for peaceful purposes, though the IAEA's director-general has warned Tehran has enough enriched uranium for several nuclear bombs if it chose to build them. Irans mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Tehran likely would still need months to build a weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies said in March that Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device. The IAEA, the West and other countries say Iran had a secret military nuclear program it abandoned in 2003. Overall, the IAEA report estimated Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile at 3,795.5 kilograms (8,367 pounds). That's a drop from the last IAEA report, which put the stockpile at 4,744.5 kilograms (10,459 pounds). The stockpile reportedly declined because Iran diluted some of its enriched uranium. U.S. President Joe Biden has said he'd be willing to re-enter a nuclear deal with Iran, but formal talks to try to find a roadmap to restart the deal collapsed in August 2022. In the time since, Oman and Qatar have mediated indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. that led to the current planned prisoner swap and asset release. Under that proposal, anywhere from $6 billion to $7 billion, depending on exchange rates, would be changed from South Korean won into euros. The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid for oil purchased before the Trump administration imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019. The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts and Iran will only be able to use it for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. In exchange, Iran would release five Iranian-American prisoners now under house arrest. The U.S. likely will release Iranian prisoners as well, though those details remain murky. If that deal goes through, it could improve the chances of overall talks on the nuclear deal resuming though Biden already faces strident criticism from Republicans and others over the prisoner swap. While Iran has slowed enrichment, the IAEA reported other problems with trying to monitor its program. The report from the watchdog seen by the AP said Iran had denied visas for agency officials and affected their ability to work in other ways as well. Iran has not acknowledged the visa denials. The IAEA also hasn't been able to access surveillance camera footage since February 2021 under Iranian restrictions, while the only recorded data since June 2022 has been from cameras at a workshop in the Iranian city of Isfahan. The watchdog also said that no progress has been made on its request that Iran explain the origin and current location of manmade uranium particles found at two locations that Tehran has failed to declare as potential nuclear sites. ___ Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Vanuatu's parliament elected Sato Kilman as the nation's new prime minister on Monday after a court upheld a vote of no-confidence in the nation's former leader and amid China-US rivalry in Pacific Islands. Kilman, a former prime minister and leader of the People's Progressive Party, was elected prime minister 27/23 in a secret ballot by lawmakers. Vanuatu was plunged into political crisis last month when opposition parties lodged a no-confidence petition criticising then leader Ishmael Kalsakau Kalsakau for actions including signing a security pact with Australia. Opposition lawmakers said the security pact with Australia compromised Vanuatu's "neutral" status and could jeopardise development assistance from China, its biggest external creditor. A Vanuatu court on Monday dismissed an appeal against a ruling that the no-confidence motion had been won by the opposition parties. Vanuatu has been at the centre of a strategic rivalry between China and Western countries in the region. The United States and its allies are seeking to dissuade Pacific Islands nations from establishing security ties with China, after it signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands. A police commissioner before entering politics, Kilman served as deputy prime minister in Kalsakau's government until May, when he was removed from cabinet. He has previously served four stints as prime minister. As prime minister Kilman expelled 12 Australian Federal Police from Vanuatu in 2012, after he was stopped while transiting through an Australian airport and his advisor was arrested by Australian police on tax fraud charges. Police cooperation between the two nations resumed in 2013 after Kilman lost office. In June 2015 as leader he travelled to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, pledging closer ties between the two nations. Vanuatu's largest creditor is China's EXIM bank, accounting for a third of debt, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Kalsakau's government had sought to widen Vanuatu's international ties after winning a general election in November. Kalsakau signed a security agreement with major aid donor Australia in December, a month after being elected, although it is yet to be ratified by parliament. Chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development and Saudi Arabia's Minister for Tourism, Ahmed al Khateeb, met Kalsakau on Saturday in Vanuatu, signing an airport redevelopment deal. French President Emmanuel Macron visited in July, making a speech where he pledged greater support and warned against a "new imperialism" in the Pacific, comments taken to refer to China. China has sent police experts to Vanuatu amid the political crisis, and the Vanuatu police force said it would work with "all partners" - Australia, New Zealand and China. Australia and China sent navy ships carrying relief supplies when two cyclones hit in a week in March. (This story has been corrected to show Kilman had four previous stints as prime minister, not two, in paragraph 8) (Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry) By Martin Quin Pollard, Laurie Chen and Liz Lee BEIJING (Reuters) -Premier Li Qiang will lead China's delegation at a G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, China's foreign ministry said on Monday, indicating President Xi Jinping would not attend and scuppering chances of a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden there. The Sept. 9-10 summit had been seen as a venue for a possible meeting between Xi and Biden, who has confirmed his attendance in New Delhi, following months of efforts by the two powers to stabilise ties frayed by trade and geopolitical tensions. "The G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation and China has always placed great importance on and proactively taken part in such events," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press conference, when asked by a reporter why China's "leader" would not attend. Mao declined to directly confirm that Li's attendance meant that Xi would not go, although she did not correct reporters who made that assertion. Reuters reported exclusively last month that Xi was likely to skip the meeting and send Li. Li leading the delegation at the G20 meeting makes it all but certain that Xi will not be going since China would not have both its president and premier abroad at the same time, let alone at the same event. Biden said on Sunday that he was disappointed Xi was not going to the summit but added that he was going to "get to see him". Biden did not elaborate. Xi last met Biden on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Indonesia in November. This will be the first time that a Chinese president has missed a leaders' summit since the first edition was held in 2008, though in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi attended virtually. Also absent from the New Delhi summit will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, following an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Russia will be represented by its foreign minister. The other G20 leaders attending include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. 'SETTING HIS AGENDA' Wen-Ti Sung, political scientist at the Australian National University, pointed out that Xi had joined a meeting in South Africa last month of leaders of the BRICS group of major emerging economies. "Xi's skipping the West-heavy club of G20 right after attending the BRICS summit may be a visual illustration of Xi's narrative of 'East is rising, and the West is falling', as well as showing solidarity with Russia's President Putin who is also not attending," Sung said. The other venue where Xi and Biden could meet would be November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco. Senior U.S. officials have travelled to China in recent months to strengthen communications amid concern that their friction could spiral out of control. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the most recent official to have visited China, said the U.S. does not want to decouple from China. Alfred Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said Xi might be reluctant to travel abroad, given his focus on domestic issues. "Xi Jinping is setting his own agenda where his top concern is national security and he has to stay in China and make foreign leaders visit him instead," Wu said. "But if Xi skips APEC, that would be very substantial after all the preparations made for it by the U.S. side, and it would reflect even more badly on China's future and its international standing, since it still needs foreign investment." Xi's absence from the G20 gathering could also be seen as a snub of host India, say some analysts, suggesting it could be a signal that China is unwilling to confer influence on its southern neighbour that boasts one of the fastest growing major economies while China's slows. Ties between India and China have been also troubled for more than three years after soldiers from both sides clashed on their disputed Himalayan frontier in June 2020, resulting in 24 deaths. (Reporting by Liz Lee and Martin Quin Pollard, Additional writing by Ryan Woo, Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Raju Gopalakrishnan) Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday theres a powerful argument to be made for barring Donald Trump from the presidential ballot based on the 14th Amendments ban on insurrectionists holding public office. My sense is its probably going to get resolved in the courts, Kaine said on ABC This Week, adding that Democrats focus should be on winning in 2024. Legal experts have pointed to the 14th Amendment as a potential long-shot avenue to keep Trump from becoming president. The amendment includes a post-Civil War disqualification clause that bars anyone from holding public office if they have engaged in insurrection or rebellion. The Constitution does not, however, spell out how to enforce this ban and it has only been applied twice since the late 1800s, when it was used extensively against former Confederates. Election officials in battleground states, including attorneys general in Michigan and New Hampshire, have said theyre anticipating outside groups to file lawsuits on the matter, and are studying the legality of the provision and how it may disqualify Trump from appearing on ballots in their states. Liberal activists have championed the 14th Amendments disqualification clause and have already vowed to file suits to disqualify the former president, a tactic they have used against other elected officials to little success though some prominent conservative legal scholars have recently endorsed the idea. Kaine voiced support for the idea, saying, The language (of the amendment) is specific: If you give aid and comfort to those who engage in an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States it doesnt say against the United States, it says against the Constitution. In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose and that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as is laid out in the Constitution. Kaine also said that he had discussed using the provision with fellow senators during Trumps second impeachment in 2021, remarking that he thought it would have been a more productive way to go to do a declaration under that section of the 14th Amendment. He floated the idea of a censure vote in Congress under the 14th Amendment as an alternative way of holding Trump accountable and keeping him from holding public office again after the Senate acquitted the former president in a failed impeachment vote. Seven GOP senators joined the chambers 50 Democratic and Independent members in finding Trump guilty of inciting a riot on January 6. Kaine noted that Virginia will host its own races later this year to decide the makeup of its split legislature in an election that will act as a window into the state of politics in the battleground state ahead of next years presidential race. CNNs Marshall Cohen and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The Texas Senate will convene as a high court Tuesday to consider the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican firebrand accused by his own party of taking bribes and abusing his office. Paxton, 60, has spent the past decade as the right's chief legal attack dog, fighting many of President Donald Trumps battles from Austin. Lawsuits to overturn the Affordable Care Act, legal protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children commonly known as Dreamers and the results of the 2020 election made him a popular force for the right, even after he was indicted for securities fraud. But his political support fractured this year when the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives voted 121-23 to impeach him on charges of abuse of office and bribery. Paxton, only the third official in Texas history to be impeached, has denied wrongdoing and vowed to fight the charges in a trial that promises to be a political spectacle as it threatens to tear his party in two. Its not a criminal trial. Its not a civil trial. Its a political trial, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in an interview with Fox 26 Houston, a local television station, this summer. Patrick, a powerful Republican president of the state Senate, will preside over the high court as judge. Thirty-one Texas senators the majority of them Republican will serve as the jury, considering opening and closing statements, witness testimony, cross examination and 20 articles of impeachment. Heres what to expect: How did we get here? Paxton has faced allegations of wrongdoing and legal troubles for years. He was indicted on securities fraud counts in 2015, and his own staff reported him to the FBI for suspected corruption in 2020 over his dealings with Nate Paul, a donor and real estate investor. After whistleblowers sued and Paxton struck a $3.3 million settlement, House members began investigating the whistleblowers' claims in secret before impeaching Paxton on May 27 on 20 articles of impeachment. According to the articles, Paxton used his power and office to help Paul work through legal difficulties. They also accuse him of accepting bribes in the form of renovations to his home and a job for a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair. The articles say that when confronted allegations of wrongdoing, Paxton retaliated against whistleblowers in his office and spent government money trying to cover up his wrongdoing with a sham investigation into their claims. What happens Tuesday? The Senate is scheduled to convene as a high court at 9 a.m., and per trial rules, it will first consider pretrial motions filed by both sides lawyers. Paxtons defense is being led by Tony Buzbee, who has with his team filed numerous motions, including some to dismiss the articles of impeachment, compel the production of evidence from the House impeachment managers and prevent Paxton from being forced to take the stand. The House impeachment managers are being represented by longtime lawyers Rusty Hardin and Dick DeGuerin, who also sought rule changes in a motion. Senators will vote on motions to dismiss the articles of impeachment, while Patrick will rule on other motions. Paxton's wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, has been barred from voting in the trial but must attend as a juror. She announced her re-election campaign Saturday. According to the rules, the House managers or their lawyers can then present an opening statement before presenting their evidence and calling witnesses. Who will testify? According to witness lists the lawyers were required to submit to the court last month, which were obtained by The Dallas Morning News, there are more than 100 potential witnesses. They include Paxton himself; Paul; current and former staff members from the attorney generals office; Paxtons alleged companion, Laura Olson; the attorney generals 2022 primary challenger, George P. Bush; and even famed Texas political strategist Karl Rove. After all the potential witnesses were ordered to appear outside the Senate chamber Tuesday at 11 a.m. setting the stage for a remarkable political spectacle Patrick amended his order to allow for some witnesses to appear later in the trial. At the heart of the impeachment managers case is the testimony and records created by the members of Paxtons senior staff, who are likely to testify about how they became increasingly alarmed by Paxtons dealings with Paul in 2020. Their interviews and contemporaneous records reveal how they sought to stop the attorney general from helping Paul investigate his enemies. Contemporaneous memos detailing conversations and meetings offer a remarkable insight into the events that eventually led them to go to law enforcement agencies. I dont trust NP, wrote deputy attorney general Mark Penley in a handwritten note documenting a meeting with Paul. ALL OF THIS IS HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS. Paxtons attorneys have said he will not testify and have filed a motion to prevent him from being forced to do so. The House impeachment managers have argued that while the attorney general can exercise his Fifth Amendment right not to testify against himself, he must do so from the stand. What does Paxton say about all this? Paxton's attorneys have argued in filings that there is no evidence of wrongdoing or a bribe, and that any misconduct has been forgiven by voters when they chose to re-elect him in 2022. After an investigation spanning five months in both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate, interviewing over a dozen witnesses and reviewing almost 300,000 pages of documents, the two special prosecutors who were handed a blank check at taxpayers expense to find Ken Paxtons bribe cant locate one because it never happened, Buzbee said in a statement shared with NBC News. Paxton and his allies including President Donald Trump have also threatened political retribution. Hopefully Republicans in the Texas House will agree that this is a very unfair process that should not be allowed to happen or proceed I will fight you if it does, Trump wrote on Truth Social during impeachment proceedings against Paxton. Who is serving as attorney general in Texas right now? Angela Colmenero, a longtime aide to Gov. Greg Abbott, was appointed last month to serve as the acting attorney general. After Paxton was suspended following his sudden impeachment in May, former Secretary of State John Scott oversaw the office through early July. TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan expects to restore power supply by late on Monday to thousands of homes cut off by Typhoon Haikui in the island's south and east, where schools and businesses were shut, while domestic airlines cancelled all but a handful of flights. The first typhoon to directly hit Taiwan in four years, Haikui made landfall on Sunday in the island's mountainous and sparsely populated far southeast, before moving across the south. It knocked out power to almost 260,000 households, the economy ministry said, adding that it aimed to restore electricity to the last 26,000 homes by 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Monday. Classes were cancelled and workers given the day off for a second day across southern, eastern and central regions, while Taipei, the capital, received sporadic gusty rain showers. The world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), said its plants in Taiwan were operating normally and had not been affected by the storm. Fire officials reported 116 injuries from the typhoon but were still trying to ascertain if the death of a man found by a roadside in Taitung was linked to it. Taiwan airlines cancelled 208 domestic flights, leaving just a handful scheduled, while ferry services to surrounding islands were suspended. International flights, with just 23 cancelled, suffered less disruption, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said. Haikui is much weaker than Typhoon Saola, which hit Hong Kong and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Saturday. By Monday, Haikui had entered the Taiwan Strait, heading for China, Taiwan's weather authorities said, though it will continue to bring heavy rain across the island into the middle of the week. The typhoon is expected to make landfall on the border between the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, near the city of Shantou, on Tuesday morning and weaken further, China's weather forecast centre said. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue and Clarence Fernandez) Jelena Ostapenko extended her impressive unbeaten record over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Sunday, eliminating the defending US Open champion in the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows. The sheer power from the big-hitting Ostapenko once again proved too much for Swiatek, with the Latvian winning 3-6 6-3 6-1 to improve to 4-0 in their head-to-head record. Ostapenko, the 20th seed in New York, struck 31 winners en route to her victory, ending Swiateks 75-week run as world No. 1. Belarus Aryna Sabalenka is set to take over top spot for the first time after the US Open. I think the main thing is she doesnt really like to play big hitters, Ostapenko told reporters after her win. She likes to have some time. When I play fast, aggressive and powerful, shes a little bit in trouble. I always expect a tough battle against Iga, she is such a great player and very consistent but I just went for it. I know I had to play my game and be aggressive because that is not what she likes. After losing the opening set, Ostapenko then went on to dominate the match and hurried to a remarkable 5-0 lead in the deciding third set. Swiatek, who was yet to drop a set at this years tournament, managed to avoid one of the bagels that she so often hands out to opponents, but there was ultimately nothing she could do to halt Ostapenkos power and precision. Swiatek's run as world No. 1 is over once the US Open concludes. - Elsa/Getty Images Im surprised that my level changed so drastically, Swiatek told reporters. Usually when I play bad, I play bad at the beginning, then I catch up or problem solve. This time, it was totally the opposite. I dont really know what happened with my game. I felt no control suddenly. Coco Gauff marches on in New York Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, will play Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals after the teenager beat the returning Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 3-6 6-1. Gauff, who had to come back from a break down in the third set, won the biggest title of her career in Cincinnati ahead of the US Open and has continued her fine form in New York. The sixth seed and one of the favorites to lift the title in an open field, Gauff is bidding to reach a second grand slam final and her first on home soil. Her victory ended Wozniackis remarkable return to the sport after the Dane retired three and a half years ago to start a family. This was Wozniackis first appearance at a grand slam since the 2020 Australian Open after only returning to the tour last month. Wozniackis run at Flushing Meadows, during which she eliminated 11th seed Petra Kvitova, will no doubt fill her with confidence ahead of the new season. Theres a lot of positives to take with me going forward. Im on the right track, Wozniacki, the 2018 Australian Open champion, said. Im finding my form, Im finding my feet. Im excited to take on more events and more players. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The four members of SpaceX Crew-6 that have been orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station since March climbed back on board the Crew Dragon Endeavour to begin their trip home for a splashdown off the Florida coast. The quartet of mission commander NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, fellow NASA astronaut and pilot Woody Hoburg, mission specialists United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi and mission specialist Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev said their goodbyes to the Crew-7 replacements that arrived last Sunday to the station temporarily increasing the ISS population to 11. All but Bowen, who flew three missions on three space shuttles, were making their first trip to space, and AlNeyadi became the fourth astronaut from an Arab nation to go to space. SpaceX, NASA nail launch of Crew-6 to space station on 2nd try its been a trip of a lifetime, AlNeyadi said during a call last week with Houston. Every part of it was amazing. Our spacewalks, our experiments, our daily routine. The interaction with the students from all over the world. He said hes been asked if he would fly with the same trio for a future trip to space. I always say 100% So I would definitely choose you guys to fly in the future again, he said. Hatch closing happened at 5:19 a.m. with the spacecraft undocking around 7:05 a.m. Sunday now faced with a little more than 17-hour trip home. NASA and SpaceX are targeting a 12:17 a.m. landing early Monday of the coast of Jacksonville, one of seven preselected spots off the coast of Florida either in the Gulf of Mexico or in the Atlantic. Teams waited one more day than planned as what had been Hurricane Idalia made weather conditions in the Atlantic unfavorable. The quartet each told media what they were most looking forward to once arriving home. Im looking forward to the nice ocean air and peaceful calm seas. That will be really nice to get back to, said Bowen Im looking forward to a real shower, said Hoburg Family and friends are the most important, and besides that, I would love a real hot cup of coffee, said AlNeyadi. I think my dream is for good sleep, said Fedyaev. This marks the end of the fourth trip for Crew Dragon Endeavour, which was the capsule that brought up the first humans to the ISS in May 2020 on the Demo-2 mission. It has since flown the Crew-2 mission in 2021, Axiom-1 mission in 2022 and this flight that launched from Kennedy Space Center back on March 2. SpaceX has four active Crew Dragon capsules and a fifth planned to come online in 2024. They have flown 42 humans to space on 11 flights. Crew Dragon Endurance remains docked to the ISS for Crew-7, which wont be relieved for another six months. For now, the capsules are rated for five flights each with Endurance now on its third mission while Crew Dragons Resilience and Freedom have both completed two missions. SpaceX and Boeing originally won the contracts under NASAs Commercial Crew Program with the idea that both would have a working spacecraft up and running so they would each share taxi service duties to the station, but Boeings CST-100 Starliner has yet to make its first test flight to the station with crew. That flight wont happen until at least March 2024, so for now SpaceX continues the rotational duties with Crew-8 planned for as early as February 2024. ____ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that defense minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week, citing the need for "new approaches and different formats of interaction both with the military and with society." Zelenskyy, who made the announcement on his official Telegram account, wrote that new leadership was needed after Reznikov "has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war." The Ukrainian leader later confirmed that Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar lawmaker, would take over the role. "I have decided to replace the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large. Now Rustem Umerov should lead the Ministry, Zelenskyy said. Umerov, 41, a politician with the opposition Holos party, has served as head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine since September 2022. He was involved in the exchange of prisoners of war, political prisoners, children and civilians, as well as the evacuation of civilians from occupied territories. Umierov was also part of the Ukrainian delegation in negotiations with Russia over the U.N.-backed grain deal. In August, a scandal arose around the Ministry of Defenses procurement of military jackets. Ukrainian investigative journalists reported that the materials were purchased at a price three times higher than normal and that instead of winter jackets, summer ones were ordered. In the customs documents from the supplier, the jackets were priced at $29 per unit, but the Ministry of Defense paid $86 per unit. Reznikov denied the allegations during a news conference last week. President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that hes aware Zelenskyy had replaced his defense chief. Asked if he had any comment, Biden said, "not publicly." Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base on April 21, 2023, in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. The group, which coordinates international military support for Ukraine, is meeting as allied countries are struggling to deliver sufficient amounts of artillery rounds and other ammunition to the Ukrainian military. Developments: Three people were killed in two separate attacks by Russian shelling in the Donetsk area Sunday. An 85-year-old man was named among the victims after being crushed by the rubble of his own home, Ukraines Prosecutors Office reported. Ukrainian prosecutors announced Sunday that they had opened a war crimes investigation into the death of a police officer killed by Russian shelling on the town of Seredyna-Buda on Saturday afternoon. Two other police officers and one civilian were wounded during the attack, which hit Ukraines north-eastern Sumy region. Russian drone barrage hits Odesa Two people were hospitalized Sunday after a 3-hour barrage on a port in Ukraines Odesa region by Russian drones, Ukrainian officials said. Russian forces fired 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones along the Danube River in the early hours of Sunday, 22 of which were shot down by air defenses, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram. Zelenskyys chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, described the assault as part of a Russian drive to provoke a food crisis and hunger in the world. Russias Defense Ministry said in a statement that the attack was aimed at fuel storage facilities used to supply military equipment. August 14, 2023: This handout photograph taken and released by Ukrainian Emergency Service shows rescuers putting out a fire in a supermarket after a night strike in Odesa amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Putin to meet Turkish President Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to discuss the resumption of food shipments from Ukraine under a Black Sea grain agreement that Moscow broke off from in July. Putin and Erdogans long-awaited meeting is due to take place in Sochi on Russias southwest coast. Turkish officials have confirmed that the pair will discuss renewing the Black Sea grain initiative, which the Kremlin pulled out of six weeks ago. The long-awaited meeting is due to take place in Sochi on Russias southwest coast. The deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 had allowed nearly 33 million metric tons (36 million tons) of grain and other commodities to leave three Ukrainian ports safely despite Russias war. But Russia broke away from the agreement after claiming that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadnt been honored. Moscow complained that restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Contributing: The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine war updates: Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaces defense minister Criminal law has the power to destroy lives and its use for this reason must be guarded, measured and calibrated I have a novel out this month, and also an event that discusses the role of fiction writing in engaging with the material world. The lawyers who represented Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his case in Surat have also just published a work of fiction titled Theory of Suspicion. Kirit Panwala and Rohan Panwala (they also represent me in a similar case in Surat filed by the same BJP legislator) draw on their experience as lawyers practising on the criminal side to tell a story. The core of the book is a multiple murder mystery and the authors say that they draw their inspiration from an actual series of events. Their novel is unusual because in India few professionals write books and even fewer write fiction centred around their area of expertise. On my shelves I can see a couple of autobiographies by two Pakistan chief justices, M.C. Chaglas Roses in December and M.C. Setalvads memoirs, but there is not much else from those in the legal profession. For this reason, we must be grateful to the authors who, woven into their murder mystery, give us insights into how the police force functions, what the protocols of state are with respect to the judiciary, the conduct of lawyers and some tips for handling interrogation. For these alone, the book is worth reading. I wanted however to discuss another aspect outside of the mystery that the Panwalas take up, and that is regarding jurisprudence and innovation. They start and build their story around a judge who develops a theory that discards what we call common law and begins to adjudicate cases on whim. In brief, his theory may be described as suspicion being the same as guilt, and then this finding of guilt is followed swiftly by punishment. This reflects in many ways the view of large parts of our nation in these times. The modern criminal justice system is designed around the rights of the accused, because the power in a criminal case is overwhelmingly with the State. The government controls the police, it has a veto on the appointment and transfer of judges, it conducts prosecutions and carries out incarcerations. The accused has little power or agency in comparison, and it is for this reason democracies construct their justice system around the rights of those the State goes after. This will surprise those, likely the majority of the population, who think it should be centred around the States ability to punish bad people. Such a sentiment is common even among those who are or have been part of the State. In 2007, the fifth report of the Administrative Reforms Commission on public order opens with this quotation from former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. If real criminals in our society are left without punishment for years, because of the delay in criminal justice for various reasons, it will indeed result in the multiplication of people taking to criminal acts. This is of a piece with those who demand the death penalty and hangings on the assumption that State violence against real criminals produces a just society. This attitude, this mindset is the reason why independent India has tightened laws to give more power to the State against defendants, and either not undone colonial-era laws or made them even harsher. The massacre at Jallianwala Bagh came after a gathering that protested against the Rowlatt Act, which gave the government sweeping powers of detention without trial. Few might know that the law was never applied and was in fact rescinded. But in every state of India today there are laws worse than the Rowlatt Act and people are jailed without trial and even without any crime being committed, under laws that allow preventive detention. Has this harshness resulted been effective in curbing crime? The numbers produced by the Union government say no. The conviction rate in IPC cases was 64.8 per cent in 1961. In 2005 it was 42.4 per cent. The 2017 National Crime Records Bureau data shows that for murder the conviction rate is 43 per cent in India. For rape, it is 32 per cent, for kidnapping 26 per cent, for injury including acid attacks 29 per cent and for rioting 20 per cent. Harsher laws have not in fact resulted in what former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had wanted. The acquittals have another story to tell. Criminal law has the power to destroy lives and its use for this reason must be guarded, measured and calibrated, not recklessly and relentlessly applied, as is unfortunately the case in our nation. These are the thoughts one has when reading the Panwalas story about the judge and his family. Their judge is fictional but he has real-life parallels when it comes to going rogue. Consider, to give one example, how many judges in the lower judiciary overturn judgments and even explicit Supreme Court directives when it comes to arrests and the application of such charges as sedition, when there is no call or incitement to violence. It is in the middle of this reality that this novel has been written. Without revealing much, I should say that the judge in the novel gets his comeuppance in more ways than one. For this reason, to me the book was satisfying. INDIA is poised to unveil itself as a credible challenger to the hitherto invincibility of the BJP After the successful meeting of the INDIA parties in Mumbai, which had ended with a slogan: Judega Bharat, Jeetega INDIA; the 29-party INDIA collective is ready to lift off. In the just under seven weeks when it met in Bengaluru to present itself to the nation as the INDIA collective, signs of transformation in the political space are now beginning to show. INDIA is poised to unveil itself as a credible challenger to the hitherto invincibility of the BJP and its most popular leader Narendra Modi. The date has been set, October 2, and the place, New Delhi, where the alliance expects to see itself in power in 2024. The BJPs gaslighting -- the bewildering announcement of a special joint session of Parliament, possibly in the new building, that by the end of the day failed to answer the pertinent question -- what is the agenda of the session -- bombed. The One Nation, One Election kite that it flew to rattle the INDIA Opposition and monopolise the chatter in the media and the social media turned out to be a flop. There was a third attempt to steal the show, the announcement of the Amrit Kalash Yatra, an inclusive green-earth project that sank. The party and its leadership overplayed the move to seize attention and keep it focused on itself. The committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind has many of the usual suspects and the refusal by Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will be a positive embarrassment for the proposers, because its ambitions are as unrealistic as they are bizarre. The facts point to the unfortunate conclusion that by the time the INDIA parties announced their plans for the next one month, the BJP failed to ignite the gas. It did not inform the nation what was the whole point of the enormously expensive special session. It failed to consult with the Opposition, which would have been proper, by calling a meeting of the business advisory committees of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. There was noise over the very dangerous move to impose an entirely undemocratic calendar on elections; but thats all it was. INDIA has raised the political stakes for the BJP and is jostling with the partys most popular Prime Minister for public and media attention. Having raised expectations, especially among that entirely fickle layer of educated, influential relatively better-off middle-class voters, a large percentage of which tends to be swayed by rhetoric, suboptimal economic policies and miraculous cures for failing governance, the INDIA parties now need to begin to act as responsibly and convincingly as they have begun. This is not to argue that INDIA as an alliance is set to defeat the BJP and oust Narendra Modi from power should a snap Lok Sabha election be called by the Prime Minister tomorrow. For that matter, the BJP itself is not ready for such an adventure; it has just begun setting its squabbling house in order in several fractious states and it needs to serve up a few more revdis, or freebies, once described as irresponsible financial profligacy by the Supreme Court on the one hand and the finance minister and external affairs minister on the other. There is much that the INDIA parties have to do between now and whenever the Lok Sabha election is called. That sense of urgency was finally understood at the Mumbai conclave, prodded by the BJPs gaslighting and the misgivings of senior partners like Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) and Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamul Congress. The events of August 31-September 1 capture with exquisite accuracy Prof. Partha Chatterjees point time is heterogeneous, unevenly dense, in his book The Politics of the Governed. The 48 hours were very dense indeed, with INDIA blossoming into being on the one hand and the BJP launching a pre-emptive slapdash missile-drone mission on the other. The centrality of unifying India and rescuing it from the grip of the viciously divisive Hindutva agenda of the militant right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its political instrument, the BJP, is evident in INDIAs slogan of Judega Bharat-Jeetega INDIA. Converting this slogan into a political narrative will require back-breaking labour. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal hit the nail on the head; it is imperative for all Opposition parties to unify to win. In doing so, he conceded that his efforts to stitch together an anti-Congress-anti-BJP alliance in the past was a bad idea. INDIA, if it plans to succeed, does not have the luxury of indulging in the on-off efforts that it has made in the past nine, almost 10 years. By all accounts, the constituents of INDIA have been both brisk and business-like in Mumbai, getting through an agenda of committee formation, date setting and finalising a slogan in record time. INDIA now has to work on its strategy to define its targets on what must change or be corrected and how it will do so in plain-speak so that the man or woman on the street can relate to it in terms of lived experiences. Abstractions will not sway voters unless they realise how it is impacting them in the present. How will INDIA translate its promise to defend the basic structure of the Constitution and undo what it believes is destructive tampering? Dr B.R. Ambedkars unerring identification of the problem -- However good a Constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad... However bad a Constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will prove to be good -- is INDIAs real headache. The alliance has to propose policy measures that deliver secularism, justice, equality and inclusion, including prevent concentration of wealth or mitra parivarvaad, as Rahul Gandhi described it. The downside of the new formation is that the constituents of INDIA are parties of unequal size. The Congress is big, the Revolutionary Socialist Party is tiny. Even if the coordination committee succeeds working out a list of as many as possible one-to-one contests between the BJP and the INDIA parties, there is more that it needs to do. Anti-BJP votes will need to be pooled instead of squandered, or transferred to the BJP by disgruntled loyalists of one or another party. By not identifying a potential face to challenge Narendra Modi, INDIA parties have been smart. Up to now, INDIA as an alliance has been unexpectedly adroit; its challenge is to remain as nimble and quick as it has proved itself to be between meetings in Patna, Bengaluru and now Mumbai to keep the BJP on edge. China makes it final:Xi not to join G20 summit New Delhi/ Washington: US President Joe Biden said he was looking forward to his trip to India this week but is disappointed that Chinas President Xi Jinping would not attend the G20 Summit at New Delhi. Biden will travel to India on September 7 to participate in the summit and will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8 on the sidelines of the historic meeting, the White House announced on Friday. Ahead of his trip, reporters asked Biden Sunday whether he was looking forward to his visits to India and Vietnam. Yes, I am, Biden replied. On Xi not attending the summit, he said, I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him. Elsewhere, China confirmed on Monday that Xi will not be attending the summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, and announced that Premier Li Qiang will attend in his place. Beijing said Li will travel to New Delhi after attending the Asean and East Asia summits in Jakarta, which will also be attended by Prime Minister Modi. In all, heads of state/government of 17 of the 20 G-20 members are believed to have so far confirmed their participation at the summit to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russia had said it would be represented by its foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. It is understood that the President of Mexico, a G-20 member, hasnt attended the G-20 summit since 2018. Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier told Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his inability to attend but had said Moscow would be represented by Mr. Lavrov. The G-20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the worlds major developed and developing economies and comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the US) and the European Union (EU) Collectively, the G-20 accounts for 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the worlds population, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra had earlier sought full membership of the G-20 grouping for the African Union (AU), a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African continent. The AU is expected to be granted membership of the G-20 at the Delhi summit, which will make the grouping a G-21. India, as the G-20 president, has also invited Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the UAE as guest countries and most leaders of these countries are expected to attend. A few days ago Russia had said it would be represented by its foreign minister Sergey Lavrov New Delhi/Washington: China confirmed on Monday that President Xi Jinping will not be attending the G-20 Leaders Summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, and announced that Premier Li Qiang will attend in his place. In all, heads of state/government of 17 of the 20 G-20 members are believed to have so far confirmed their participation at the summit to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A few days ago Russia had said it would be represented by its foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. It is understood that the President of Mexico, a G-20 member, hasnt attended the G-20 summit since 2018. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning announced in Beijing on Monday: At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G-20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India, on September 9 and 10. While no official reason was given for President Xis absence, it is well known that ties between the two Asian giants remain strained since 2020 over the border issue and situation in Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control after Beijing had amassed troops there in violation of its border pacts with India. Beijing said Chinese PM Li Qiang will travel to New Delhi after attending the Asean and East Asia summits in Jakarta, which will also be attended by Prime Minister Modi. In Washington, US President Joe Biden said he is looking forward to his trip to India this week but is disappointed that Chinas Xi Jinping will not attend the Delhi summit. Mr Biden will travel to India on September 7 to participate in the G-20 summit and will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8 on the sidelines of the historic meeting, the White House announced on Friday. Ahead of his trip, reporters asked Mr Biden Sunday whether he was looking forward to his visits to India and Vietnam. Yes, I am, Mr Biden replied. He expressed his disappointment over Mr Xi of China not attending the summit. I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him, Mr Biden said, in response to a question. Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier told Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his inability to attend but had said Moscow would be represented by Mr. Lavrov. The G-20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the worlds major developed and developing economies and comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the US) and the European Union (EU) Collectively, the G-20 accounts for 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the worlds population, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra had earlier sought full membership of the G-20 grouping for the African Union (AU), a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African continent. The AU is expected to be granted membership of the G-20 at the Delhi summit, which will make the grouping a G-21. India, as the G-20 president, has also invited Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the UAE as guest countries and most leaders of these countries are expected to attend. WHO estimates at least 34,300 measles and rubella cases in the first seven months of the year, up from 27,000 in 2022 (with 220 deaths). Critical issues include an overburdened health care system and low immunization rates. Need to strengthen vaccination campaign. AsiaNews sources: situation still "precarious" for a population experiencing a "painful crisis." Sana'a (AsiaNews) - In the first seven months of the year there are at least 413 - but the real numbers could be even higher - the children who died of measles in Yemen, confirming a still critical humanitarian situation in the Arab nation battered by a long internal war and by proxy. Local sources told AsiaNews, anonymously, confirm that economic, health and humanitarian "conditions" remain "precarious" and the population is experiencing a "painful crisis" that does not seem to end, despite the timid attempts of international diplomacy to reach a truce. "As of July 31 of this year - explains a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) - the number of suspected cases of measles and rubella in Yemen has reached 34,300, while the deaths are at least 413". For the experts of the United Nations agency specialized in health issues, these are rapidly and progressively worsening figures compared to "the 27,000 cases and 220 deaths recorded throughout 2022". The spread of these potentially lethal diseases - especially in a reality where the health situation presents numerous criticalities - comes in a context of strong deterioration. Among the effects related to the conflict in Yemen, the WHO note explains, there is a serious "economic decline and low incomes, displacement combined with overcrowding in reception centers, together with an overloaded health system and low immunization rates". The UN agency works closely with local health authorities and international partners, he adds, to "increase support for routine vaccination campaigns" which also concern measles, a highly contagious viral disease that mainly affects children. It causes painful skin rashes, sore eyes, fever, muscle stiffness and a strong cough in those who contract the virus, with more serious effects in debilitated or at-risk individuals. Yemens civil war began in September 2014 pitting pro-Iranian Houthi rebels against the countrys Saudi-backed government. After it intensified over the following months, in March 2015, Saudi Arabia intervened, leading a coalition of Arab countries. Nearly 400,000 people have died in more than eight years of fighting, making it the worst humanitarian crisis in the world according to the UN, compounded by the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with millions on the brink of starvation and children (11,000 dead) likely to suffer the consequences for decades. More than three million Yemenis have become internally displaced, mostly surviving in extreme poverty, hunger and epidemics of various kinds, not the least cholera. In a critical reality, the dearth of information regarding the impact of the epidemic on pregnant women, a high-risk category, becomes a source of further concern. According to WHO-Unicef estimates of national vaccination coverage for 2022, 27 percent of children under one year of age are not vaccinated for measles and rubella. WHO representative in Yemen, Arturo Pesigan, points out that "the vaccination campaign should target all children under 10 years of age to be comprehensive and effective. However, funding shortages have eroded support and limited the target to children under five, a group with higher mortality rates." Last year the UN agency oversaw the vaccination of about 913 thousand children from measles and rubella, with a coverage rate as of July 2023 of 65 percent. A national measles and rubella prevention campaign covering 1.2 million children under the age of five is planned for September. (Unhcr Yemen photo) by Melani Manel Perera Families of missing people marked International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances with two silent vigils outside Sri Lankas ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs. Over the years, families have received no news or compensation from the government. Despite several obstacles, the Office remains the only hope to uncover the truth about the missing. Colombo (AsiaNews) Last 30 August, International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, a group of families called on the Sri Lankan government to keep the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) open, even though it has failed to make any significant progress in finding missing persons and compensate families for those who went missing during the countrys civil war. On 30 August, hundreds of people took part in two silent vigils in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice, while the official commemoration was held in the evening at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in the capital Colombo. During the ceremonies, it was noted that Sri Lanka has the second-highest number of enforced disappearances in the world. "The army came to my house and took my son, saying that they wanted to take a statement. It was in 1989, but we still don't know the reason why he was taken, said a father in Seethawaka who did not want to reveal his identity. Even though we were informed that compensation would be given by the Office on Missing Persons, we still have not received that compensation. Is there any use for us in this office?" he said to AsiaNews. Since 2017, ethnic Tamil families in the countrys northern and eastern regions have organised demonstrations to demand the truth about the fate of their loved ones, seized by the Sri Lankan government during the civil war that began in 1983 with the Tamil Tigers separatist group. At the end of the fighting, in May 2009, several young men who had been detained were handed over to the security forces and vanished. Due to the OMPs failures, families in the North are calling for the creation of an international body to bring justice, after at least 180 parents passed away without knowing the fate of their children. Upul Nandana is my elder brother, 22 years old. On January 16, 1990, at 11.16 pm, four army officers came inside the house and took him away by force, said the young mans sister, from Heenkenda, a village in Ragama (Gampaha district). At that time, my brother was doing an engineering course at the German Technical Training College and was involved in his studies for the last two months. He was supposed to go to Germany, she explained. Eventually, she was told that her brother would be sent to the military camp in Panagoda. But it's been 34 years and my brother still hasn't come home. Since my father was the village official at that time, he wrote to all the institutions, including the police and the Red Cross. He also went to search for my brother in all the detention camps in Sri Lanka, to no avail." After losing her mother in 1997 and her father in 2000, she is all alone. At least now, after 34 years, we all hope for justice from the Office on Missing Persons for these unjust abductions," she said. Victims mothers petitioned the Ministry of Justice, making six main demands. Highlighting the failures of the Office on Missing Persons in fulfilling its responsibilities, they call, among other things, for faster investigations, a comprehensive compensation package, and immediate action against those identified as responsible in various reports by the Commissions of Inquiry and the Presidential Commissions regarding abductions and enforced disappearances of civilians. "The Office on Missing Persons Act was introduced in 2016. An amendment was made in 2017. We were appointed to this commission in March 2018. But we didn't have an office. There was no board of directors, said former OMP chairman, Saliya Peiris, a lawyer. But with the help of former presidential secretary Mr. Austin Fernando, we established a temporary office. But when we went to select the board of officers, we realised that we are bound by the rules and regulations of the government, Peiris explained. We cannot hire officers as we like, we need to prepare procedures and get approval from the Ministry of Finance. We had to go to different people for approvals. Only former Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Minister Mano Ganesan gave us full support, he added. Some families will not get any answers in their lifetime, lamented the lawyer during the day of commemoration. Regrettably, our country, our society must admit to such abductions. We should make sure it doesn't happen again. Leaders should properly understand what the families need. Likewise, world leaders and foreign ambassadors should realise the wrongdoings by the countrys leaders who failed to give the OMP the consideration it needed. Because, whoever the leaders are, wrong is wrong. The late prelate served as auxiliary bishop alongside Archbishop Shirayanagi until 2000. For many years, he was the soul of Tokyos Catholic cultural centre. Very attentive to relationships with people, he said that the mission in the metropolis requires knowledge of how to win the trust of people, touch the hearts of the Japanese, making oneself close to those in need of hope. Archbishop Kikuchi will preside tomorrows funeral. Tokyo (AsiaNews) The Archdiocese of Tokyo is mourning the death of its auxiliary bishop emeritus, Mgr Paul Kazuhiro Mori, who passed away Saturday morning in a hospital in the Japanese capital at the age of 84. With him goes a figure who played an important role in the not always easy interaction between the Catholic Church and Japanese society, especially in the Shinsei Kaikan, the Catholic cultural centre in Tokyos central Shinjuku district, which he led from 1985 until 2021. Born in Yokohama in 1938 into a non-Catholic family, Bishop Mori was baptised in the third year of high school at a Jesuit school. He joined the Discalced Carmelites and made his perpetual vows in 1962. Ordained a priest in 1967, ten years later he left the order and became incardinated in the diocesan clergy of Tokyo. He explained his choice in an interview with Mondo e Missione, PIMEs magazine, a few years ago. Once I became a priest, I understood that the relationship with others is fundamental. As I encountered social problems and became passionate about them, I saw that the way of the Carmel was not for me. This is why I became a diocesan priest." Appointed auxiliary bishop of then-Archbishop Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi in 1985, he held this ministry for 15 years until 2000, when, to the surprise of many, he decided to retire at the age of only 62. Since then and until 2021, he was the soul of the Shinsei Kaikan, a facility that offers a rich programme of courses in Christian culture but also opportunities for reflection and comparison with leading Japanese in order to read in depth what makes the country what it is. For him, cultural activities are inseparable from human relationships. Through the courses for beginners in Christianity and thanks to informal contacts with a broad range of individuals I can meet many people and have the opportunity to touch the problems of Japanese society, he said. My impression is that the message of faith that the Church proposes does not always succeed in meeting peoples deep demands, their existential problems," he told Mondo e Missione in 2011, when he collaborated with the magazine writing a regular column on the Christian presence in Japan. "When I propose the words of the Bible to my interlocutors, at first they seem to have no value; but when a friendship starts, then things change and people open up." For Bishop Mori, it was not about East or West. The crucial problem is knowing how to win people's trust, to touch the hearts of the Japanese. Rather than a problem of theological inculturation, I stress, it is above all about people finding a balance between faith, life and the experience of Christ in their lives. Speaking on the eve of Pope Franciss trip to Japan in 2019, he said: "I have noticed a growing emptiness in people's hearts, especially in the younger generations. We face so many challenges. More specifically, I am thinking, for example, about the number of suicides, the hikikomori (severe social withdrawal by young people), broken families, the crisis of certain core values of our society, the excessive competitiveness of our economic and social system. Against this background, Proclaiming the Gospel for us today means being close to all these situations that need hope, he added. Funeral services for Bishop Kazuhiro Mori will be held tomorrow, 5 September, in Tokyos cathedral presided by Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi. Say what you want about Mach 1, but nobody can deny its performance appetite makes the Mustang even more intriguing. After all, there's a good reason for killing off the Mustang GT after the debut of the Mach 1. The new model was selling so well that Ford had no reason to keep the GT around for any longer. The Mustang GT got the axe after the 1969 model year when its sales couldn't reach 5,400 units. For comparison, the Mach 1 was a superstar, with its 1969 sales getting close to 72,500 units.The 1970 model year witnessed the debut of several styling refinements for the Mach 1, including dual-beam headlight updates, new bucket seats, and new side and rear badges.The engine lineup also received multiple updates. The 390 (6.4-liter) 4-barrel was no longer available, but the 428 (7.0-liter) remained the top option with 335 horsepower.The 351 Cleveland replaced the Windsor, becoming the most common choice for this model year.The 1970 Mustang Mach 1 that someone posted on Craigslist earlier this week comes with a 351. It's the original unit that shipped with the car, though its condition is unknown. Based on the photos, it might no longer be alive, especially because the seller claims the Mach 1 has been sitting for "quite some time." No further specifics were provided, so if you buy this Mach 1, bring a good mechanic to decipher everything under the hood.Unfortunately, the potato-quality photos won't allow you to thoroughly check every little part of the car, but you can see the rust in the floor pans and the trunk. As a result, the buyer should be ready for major patches, though I'd rather go for new pans altogether. The interior exhibits critical damage, too. The headliner is ripped, and the dash needs urgent fixes.It's unclear if the car is still entirely original and complete, so if you plan to bring it back to factory specifications, you'll have to ask for more information. You should look for the specific Mach 1 upgrades, as most abandoned examples served as donors for other projects. The hood scoop is a highly desirable part, and it seems to be missing on this 1970 Mach or at least, that's what I can tell from these horrible photos.The selling price makes perfect sense for the Mach 1's rough shape, suggesting the engine also struggles with mechanical problems. Finding a period-correct 351 shouldn't be too hard if the existing engine can't be fixed.The owner is willing to let this Mach 1 go for $4,000. You can find it in Arvada, close to Denver, if you want to see everything in person which I strongly advise, especially considering the potato-quality images. Everybody knows that crossover SUVs are all the rage nowadays. This type of vehicle offers an ideal compromise between overall size, interior space, practicality, and ground clearance. Make it a sporty plug-in hybrid like Mercedes-AMG did with the GLC, and you can even start asking for absurd amounts of money. Here's what you need to know about the all-new 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S E Performance. AMG Photo: mohamedgashoot on Reddit Is it an enticing update or just a fleet emission reduction strategy? SUV Photo: Mercedes What's in it for the buyer kWh EV Photo: Mercedes Decisions, decisions Photo: German Mercedes-AMG Configurator Gearheads or fans of the three-pointed star brand will remember that "63" used to refer to a 6.3-liter eight-cylinder powerplant hiding under the hood of iconicmodels. When those cars roamed around with low numbers on their odometers, a famous image making rounds on social media showed the iconic badge with a quote that read, "Only milk and juice come in two liters ." Owners liked to brag about their engine's displacement and were proud of their choice.But life can sometimes be so ironic that what was once a way to belittle fellow car owners is now the powerplant of choice of your beloved car brand. What goes around, sadly, comes around. Even more so when "trickled-down F1 tech" is touted as the best drivetrain solution for certain vehicles.We had a short window where a report brought affluent gearheads renewed hope that Mercedes-Benz would do the right thing and double the number of cylinders for its newer AMG units like the C-Class. But that quickly faded into oblivion as company officials confirmed they had no intention of doing so.Moreover, the upcoming high-performance E-Class is rumored to boast a six-cylinder. The only way to get your hands on that handcrafted V8 is to buy an S 63 E. But that's a heavy, large sedan, not a perky compact executive car or an iconic four-door unit like the BMW M5 that still proudly displays a V8 when opening the hood.But if cars aren't your thing, then a high-performance crossovermight be of interest. Mercedes-Benz 's high-performance division has you covered with the GLC 63 S E Performance. But you'll have to get ready for a hefty price because the Affalterbach-based brand wants over 121,000 for its new hybridized crossover SUV. The price for the German market starts at 121,856 ($131,609), to be precise.That figure includes the value-added tax (similar to a US sales tax but higher in percentage). It is also 16,500 more than a German would pay for a BMW X3 M Competition boasting the B58 in-line six-cylinder powerplant.The Bavarian crossover is lighter than the GLC 63 S E because it's not a plug-in hybrid. The former has a curb weight of 2,085 kg (4,597 lb), while the latter comes in at 2,310 kg (5,093 lb) per data available for the European market.But there's one major difference between the two the Merc puts out 671 hp (680 ps) and 1,020 Nm (752 lb-ft) of torque, while the Bimmer can only make use of 503 hp (510 ps) and 649 Nm (479 lb-ft) of force that causes an object to rotate on an axis. Will the extra 168 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque be enough to offset the feeling of 225 kg (496 lb) of added weight and justify the increased price? That's for you to decide!The all-wheel-drive GLC 63 S E can achieve such impressive power output for a plug-in hybrid and a zero to 62 mph time of 3.5 seconds because it comes with an "AMG-exclusive in-house developed" drivetrain that includes a two-liter four-cylinder engine at the front paired with a nine-speed transmission and a 201-hp electric motor at the rear. That figure, though, is only available for ten seconds. The rest of the time, the motor's output is limited to 107 hp.There's also a direct-cooled high-voltage (400V) 6.1-battery tucked in the vehicle that enables puredriving for an undisclosed number of miles and a two-speed gearbox that helps the motor administer its power as the driver wishes. The C 63 S E can go eight miles on a full battery, so we expect its sibling with an improved ride height to get about five miles of pure EV range.A larger turbocharger helps the engine churn out 469 hp at 6,725 rpm, with the maximum torque figure becoming available at 5,250 rpm.Mercedes-AMG believes Europeans will want an even pricier GLC 63 S E, and it created the Edition 1 pack that costs 18,445. It is available for just one year, until September 2024. To get all the goodies (like a panoramic sunroof, a head-up display, the Burmester sound system, and the lighting system with a projection function), buyers must spend an extra 4,295.There's also a "Real Performance Sound" option that should make up for the missing four cylinders by pumping artificial sounds through the speaker. It costs 654.The Germans also enjoy some peculiar options, like relocating the accelerator pedal to the left side, increasing the size of the pedals, and positioning the seats at custom measurements. These could be great for drivers with certain disabilities.We built a 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S E Performance with the Edition 1 pack and ticked the box for other cool options. Our spec resulted in a price of 145,251 ($156,907).For reference, a Tesla Model Y Performance made at Giga Berlin costs 60,990. It may have 456 hp and 497 lb-ft of torque, but it can reach 60 mph from a standstill in 3.5 seconds.But we can look further at a competitor from another bracket: the three-row and tri-motor Model X Plaid. It's sold as a six-seater in Germany and costs 114,990. It can also sprint to 62 mph in 2.6 seconds.Given all this, we can't say that it makes a lot of sense to buy the pricey plug-in hybrid when great gas-powered or all-electric vehicles rival AMG's crossover SUV on the market.Similarly, it doesn't look like it could work out as a sweet deal for die-hard fans of the brand. Why would they get a hybridized four-banger now? There are around 12 years left until the European Union bans the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines. Why not have some good old fun before filling up with gas becomes an archaic habit?Or, they could go right ahead and move to a completely electric vehicle that's as capable, as fun, and maybe even better than the crossover with the Affalterbach logo on its hood.Finally, the all-new GLC 63 S E Performance is expected to arrive in North America in late 2024 as a 2025 model-year unit. Tiny houses on wheels are enjoying great success in Australia and New Zealand, where you'd find some of the most talented builders. Big Fig Tiny Homes is one of them, and their Petite Maison (French for "tiny house") design reveals some of the best qualities a home can have. Photo: Big Fig Tiny Homes Photo: Big Fig Tiny Homes Photo: Big Fig Tiny Homes The Petite Maison doesn't stretch beyond standard measurements. It's only nine meters long (29.5 feet), 2.5 meters wide (8.2 feet), and 4.3 meters tall (14 feet). It's all about an ingenious configuration that maximizes spaciousness with a remarkably modern result. Petite Maison is no rustic cabin . It boasts the luxuries and high comfort levels of a contemporary home based on the adequate balance between form and function.Despite its name, this is meant to be a comfortable family home for three to four people. Accommodation-wise, it offers two large loft bedrooms, plus enough space in the downstairs living room for a large sofa that can be turned into an extra bed when needed.Its defining feature, a gorgeous kitchen with an island countertop doubling as a dining table, is also perfect for family dinners. Last but not least, even the bathroom inside this dwelling is better suited for family needs, with its elegant bathtub and generous storage.Looking from the outside, it's easy to see that the Petite Maison uses the classic window "trick" to create the illusion of a wider space and to bring in much more light. When it comes to tiny homes, Aussie concepts are rarely closed off or more discrete, like some European designs with a stronger rustic inspiration. Aussie tiny homes are always open to the outside world as much as possible, thanks to numerous full-size windows and glass doors. The addition of a wide exterior deck enhanced this connection further.The Petite Maison's living room might not be very big, but it comes with the privilege of wonderful panoramic views and abundant natural light. It would be better described as a lounge nook, with the sofa flanked by separating walls that create a cozy feeling of privacy.This sofa is nestled under the bridge walkway between the two lofts, with the bathroom on one side and the staircase on the other. Due to its placement facing the wall-to-ceiling windows and glass door, it seems bigger and closer to nature.The same effect is used for the kitchen, which is another cleverly designed area that's both connected to the outdoors and private. The large kitchen countertop with multiple seats on one side and lots of cabinets on the other side is an unexpectedly luxurious feature for such a compact space. Tiny homes often sacrifice dining setups in favor of other features. Petite Maison manages to include premium appliances (even a full-size fridge) and still has enough room left for a separate island countertop.A remarkable attention to detail is also obvious when it comes to access. Disconnected lofts and simple ladders can lack the safety and comfort you'd want in a place for long-term living. The Petite Maison offers comfort at every step. The staircase is elegantly flanked by the walls separating the living room from the kitchen. It then continues with a bridge-like walkway fitted with a beautifully crafted wooden railing. Once again, this keeps the two loft rooms separate yet connected.Each bedroom enjoys privacy, while the walkway ensures easy and safe circulation between the two. The main one is large enough for a queen bed, with additional storage. Another pleasant surprise is the big skylight bringing in natural light and that discrete connection to the outdoors, present all throughout this tiny.The smaller bedroom was designed to become a children's room, with just enough space for a single bed or two smaller ones and its own storage. This one comes with a regular horizontal window.Going back downstairs, anyone would be delighted by the luxurious bathroom. Tiny home bathrooms with bathtubs instead of basic showers are rare, and this one still has enough room left for large cabinets. Flexibility is another plus. Future owners can choose between standard or different types of eco-friendly toilets (incinerating, composting) and can even opt for a big shower instead of the bathtub.In fact, according to the builder, the design itself is customizable. Already boasting a great configuration with so many perks, the Petite Maison can also be tweaked to match anyone's dream home. It doesn't come as a standard build, only as a made-to-order home, with pricing starting at AUD 153,499 ($99,100).Offering only 30 square meters (323 square feet) of floor space, the Australian Petite Maison proves that it's not about how much space you've got but how you use it. With its two loft bedrooms, unique island kitchen, and luxurious bathroom, this home can rival most conventional dwellings while also bringing the outdoors in, like a true home on wheels. Greenpeace activists protested in Munich, Germany, against the IAA Mobility Show. The event has opened its doors to journalists and will offer access to the public starting September 5. People arriving there on the first day saw car parts sunk in the lake in front of the exhibition center. BREAKING: Greenpeace activists protest against international auto show #IAA23 in Munich, Germany. They demand an end to the climate-damaging business model of car manufacturers.#Mobility4All means more climate friendly and inclusive options such as public transport! pic.twitter.com/C5OISwIy1m Greenpeace e.V. (@greenpeace_de) September 4, 2023 Protests kicked off in August and continued through September. Nearly 25,000 people took part in the rallies, which bring together eight associations, including Greenpeace.This time, to show their resentment against the ever growing auto industry, activists sank car parts in the lake located in front of the Munich Exhibition Center, where the IAA Mobility Show is held. The protest took place on early Monday morning. Protestors sank a Mercedes-Benz E-Class W210, a first-generation Volkswagen Touareg, and also dragged the roof of an unspecified model into the water.The car parts floating looked like actual cars sunk into the lake. Two climate activists stood next to the car parts holding Greenpeace-branded banners with messages that read "Shrink now or sink later." It is a reference to lowering the level of emissions in the car industry in order to prevent global warming and the catastrophic phenomena that it causes.Yet the move is a two-edged sword. Trying to get attention while protesting against pollution, the activists polluted the lake themselves, social media users claim. But the Greenpeace representatives insisted that the parts they used for the protest were only mockups. None of the cars involved in the protest had an engine or any oil-rich mechanical components.They also claim that the focus is all wrong. "With its adherence to internal combustion engines and big SUVs, the auto industry is sinking itself and the planet. Instead of car shows, we need more focus on good public transport and punctual trains," they explain.It is not the first time that activists try to make themselves seen in Munich, ahead of the car event. Two years ago, a group of Greenpeace activists stood in the water holding photos of extreme weather aftermath and banners that warned about the effects of global warming.And the one that involved car parts sunk in the lake was far from being the the only protest in Munich these days. Several activists that call themselves Extinction Rebellion abseiled from a bridge over the George-Brauchle-Ring near the BMW World. They wore banners that demanded the car industry to stop rolling out SUVs.Last Friday, activists blocked the Mercedes-Benz stand set up in downtown Munich, displaying banners that read the car is over. Several activists were arrested.Georg Eisenreich, the Minister of Justice in Bavaria has threatened activists with tougher penalties for certain criminal offences, explaining that the law cannot accept crimes in the name of climate protection. It's Monday, and that means it's time for our weekly dose of U.S. Air Force (USAF) coolness. And this time it's all about aircraft skin, captured on camera from various angles and in various lights as the military aircraft were conducting all sorts of missions and demos meant to project America's might abroad. Stratotanker papa takes F-16 kids to record-breaking volleyball game Photo: USAF/Senior Airman Alexander D. Schriner Lonely Viper in the sky (not from the Colonial Fleet) Photo: USAF/Master Sgt. Roidan Carlson Rare three-Raptor hunting party Photo: USAF/Airman 1st Class Andrew Britten F-35 Lightning flips and rolls Photo: USAF/Master Sgt. Becky Vanshur Is that gum stuck to my plane? Photo: USAF/Tech. Sgt. Heather Salazar As usual, as soon as last week ended the USAF released into the wild a bunch of photos it believes are the most representative of its personnel's recent dealings. We picked five of them, and they're all listed below.You'll get to see a demo-team-operated F-35 do what it does best, Raptors flying formation, an F-16 cruising the skies alone, how checking of a stealth bomber is performed, and an impressive flyover of a tanker-fighter formation.We'll start with the flyover , something competition-going Americans are very used to. The method has been used by the American military for decades now as a means not only to wow the crowds and possibly draw in new members, but also in a bid to show that it is involved in the life of the community.Although flyovers generally take place over high-profile events like races and Super Bowls, apparently less high-profile ones do get a chance of having military aircraft fly overhead for the wow factor.The image we have here was captured at the end of August over the local stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Packed full with exactly 92,003 people, the location was home to a University of NebraskaLincoln volleyball game. I wrote the exact number because thanks to it this game broke the world record for women's sporting event attendance.The planes the USAF sent to fly over the stadium and mark the occasion are a KC-135R Stratotanker and a trio of F-16 Fighting Falcons. Together, they kind of look like a family of airplanes, father and sons, going out for a day at the stadium.The F-16 Fighting Falcon is without a doubt the most successful fighter jet of all time. Although it didn't take part in as many battles as the planes of World War II did, it remains the most widespread aircraft of its kind, and one with immense potential.The plane came to life in 1974 at the hands of General Dynamics, and since that time over 4,600 of them were built. Pilots are so fond of them, and so pleased with what they can do that they even imagine themselves to be pilots of Battlestar Galactica's Colonial fleet, so they nicknamed the plane Viper.You can see one of these beautiful beasts in the above pic, captured as a Viper deployed with the 8th Fighter Squadron was flying a mission over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.The F-16 shows much of its skin for the camera as the pilot, an instructor, was taking it out for a spin "for molding and training the next generation of combat-ready Viper pilots and preparing them for action in possible future conflicts."As one of the most advanced airplanes flying in the skies of the world today, the F-22 Raptor is also one of the most precious. Not only on account of its cost ($143 million per piece), but also because only so many of them were made: just 183 units, all of them deployed by American forces.That's why seeing three of them in one place is not something that happens very often. Yet here they are, planes deployed with the 3rd Wing as seen from inside a KC-46A Pegasus.The planes were captured on camera in one place in mid-August, as they were flying over the Joint Pacific-Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) during exercise Red Flag-Alaska 23-3. With 77,000 square miles (almost 200,000 square km) of airspace, JPARC is not only the world's largest military training range, but also the perfect place for Raptors and their pilots to show their skill in packs.Inverted flying is not something military pilots are not accustomed to, but no matter how many times we see such instances, we can't stop being amazed at how vulnerable and at the same powerful the planes doing this look.Civilians usually get to experience such things during air shows, and that is exactly from where this pic of an F-35 Lightning comes from. It's not just any F-35, if there ever was such a thing, but the one flying for the plane's official demonstration team, with pilot Major Kristin Wolfe in the cockpit.This image comes our way from the Gowen Thunder Airshow in Idaho, where the Lightning was present at the end of August. And we must say, even if we've seen this particular plane in action in official USAF releases before, this is perhaps the most spectacular instance of it yet.Before and after each mission, military aircraft get checked for possible issues. Contrary to popular belief, these procedures are not always performed using high-tech machinery, as sometimes the best way to see if something is wrong or not is to use human eyes and hands.Last week we've seen how a human performs such checks perched on top of a $143 million F-22 Raptor, in the sunset, armed with a flashlight. Now it's time for something a bit more bizarre.Climbed on top of a B-2 Spirit, a USAF maintainer seems to be scraping something off the fuselage of the plane, kind of like we all do when we see gum stuck to something of ours.The image was captured by USAF people in mid-August in Iceland, where the planes of the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron were taking part in the Bomber Task Force 23-4 exercise. Who wouldn't like to own a modern yacht sporting the good looks and impressive performance of a James Bond movie boat? It didn't take long for this Italian pleasure craft to be snatched off the market, and it's easy to see why. James Bond and high-speed luxurious yachts are a match made in heaven. It's no surprise that many wealthy yacht owners chose to name their toys after James Bond movies. The most famous one is, by far, John Staluppi, the American car magnate who owned no less than seven superyachts inspired by the iconic action figure.Casino Royale, Diamonds Are Forever, Skyfall, and Octopussy are some of his best-known personal yachts. Each of these luxury toys worth millions of dollars has something in common with the James Bond movies, whether it is speed, glamor, and, ultimately, an undying love for action.No Time to Die isn't part of this infamous fleet, yet it's a millionaire dream boat in its own right. It's one of the few Sanlorenzo SX88 in operation, launched just three years ago, in 2020. The prestigious Italian builder introduced the SX88 platform as an innovative 27-meter (88.5 feet) crossover with a unique and highly luxurious private loft.This "loft" is actually the yacht's entire main deck, from stern to bow. It offers vast space thanks to a different approach to the flybridge helm station. With the SX88, Sanlorenzo turned this into an entirely enclosed space with self-operated windows on the sides, effectively freeing up the space on the main deck.Mauro Micheli from Officina Italian Design styled the boat's exterior areas, while the acclaimed Piero Lissoni created the contemporary, minimalistic interiors.No Time to Die is equally a high-speed boat born for thrilling rides and a so-called "social yacht," where relaxation and family fun are guaranteed. Triple Volvo Penta engines propel it at 23 knots (42.5 kph). Inside, it reveals a four-cabin configuration with a master suite, a VIP, a double, and a twin. Two more cabins are meant for a three-person crew.Until now, No Time to Die has been successfully operating as a luxury charter yacht in Miami, with daily rates starting at $11,000. At 88 feet (26 meters), with a shallow draft and only 115 GT, it was an ideal option for cruising in the Caribbean.Pre-loved yachts like this find new owners fast because nobody likes to wait at least two years for a brand-new yacht to be built from scratch. At $5 million, this three-year-old pleasure craft was also reasonably priced.Still, it had to drop $1 million two months ago in order to become more attractive. It looks like it worked because the cheeky Sanlorenzo already changed hands and will be known as Mave from now on. If driving feels like a chore most of the time, you might want to look at Tesla's all-electric vehicles for your next purchase. The Texas-based automaker says that its EVs with the Full Self-Driving capability turned on can now drive themselves "almost anywhere with minimal driver intervention." And, get this, it's $3,000 cheaper when writing! Full Self-Driving FSD Photo: Tesla Will it happen? EV Photo: Tesla Still stuck in the testing phase Photo: TeslaFan on Twitter Will there be a light at the end of the tunnel? ADAS Photo: Tesla on YouTube Ten years ago, hyped-up investors launched the idea that Tesla is a technology company that also happens to make cars. Back then, that theory gained traction mainly because the company's stock price rose nearly 400% in around 12 months.But the narrative that Tesla is going to take over the industry started being spread around the world. Lo and behold, it's a decade later, and the brand is the world's most valuable automaker and one of the most important companies to have ever emerged out of the US.Now, it looks like Tesla is inching closer and closer to its CEO's goal of turning most of its EVs into robotaxis. Maybe we'll even get to see Elon Musk attempt that coast-to-coast drive with the) suite turned on the whole time. The executive promised that would be possible six years ago.FSD seems like it's finally ready to work at its maximum capacity. The move to the camera-only Tesla Vision is complete. The software is up to date and learned to function without radar or ultrasonic sensors. The next-gen hardware is being installed on most of the company's vehicles sold in the US, and we saw Elon Musk do a live demo of FSD V12 the out-of-beta advanced driver-assistance system.Everything points in the right direction. Even the updated information on the automaker's website says that by buying, for example, a Model Y that's equipped with the $12,000 Full Self-Driving capability, you will receive an all-electric vehicle that "will be able to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal driver intervention and will continuously improve."That's how Tesla decided to announce that the software would work on all its units. Previously, Hardware 4-equipped EVs could not use the entire FSD suite.But continue reading before adding this pricey option to your next. You will see that the brand clearly states that "the currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous." That goes against the statement mentioned above. A car that can drive itself almost anywhere surely must be somewhat autonomous, right?But that, of course, is true only if Tesla didn't use clever wording to suggest that your EV "will be able to drive itself almost anywhere" and omitted to add "at some point in the future" or "in two years" to clarify when that capability would kick in.At the time of writing, the most common version of FSD available to the average customer is v11.4.4, according to an independent tracker known as TeslaFi. This one is gradually being replaced by v11.4.7. But these are still "Beta" releases, which refers to users testing a product before its official launch.Moreover, when customers deal for the first time with FSD Beta or update it, they are warned that they should not take their hands off the steering wheel in any circumstance. Tesla even says the software "may do the wrong thing at the worst time."The only thing that would make sense with this recent wording change on the automaker's configurator is an imminent release of neural networks-only FSD V12 , the version that Elon Musk publicly tested out while holding a phone in his hand and allowing the EV to do the driving around Palo Alto. But even that version almost made the EV run a red light, and Musk had to jump in and correct it.It has been three years since the first FSD Beta-equipped Tesla vehicles were allowed to roam the public roads. Maybe the time has come for the software to become reliable and do what it has promised since its inception.But the road to regulatory approval remains complicated, and Tesla is known for giving half-baked solutions witty nicknames. A class-action lawsuit started last year because of this practice. The plaintiffs allegedly said that the brand was "misleading the public." Even Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said this product naming strategy lacks "common sense."But even more interesting is that some FSD Beta users who also buy Tesla insurance claim their premiums have come down since actively using the Autopilot part of the software. That makes little sense since the J3016 Level 2isn't considered safe to use without the driver always keeping their hands on the steering wheel. Ford's BlueCruise or GM's Super Cruise enables customers to experience hands-free driving, but only on pre-mapped roads. Tesla's system doesn't use such a solution. It gets fed videos and is allowed to think by itself about the optimal solution in various traffic scenarios.Tesla must prove that all these risky strategies were worth it. Especially now, since it's so confident in the software's abilities.Cruise and Waymo are already way ahead when it comes to driverless vehicles roaming the streets by themselves. The world's most valuable carmaker is obligated to meet its CEO's publicly announced vision that FSD would be worth around $100,000 or even double that once all the EVs using it are autonomous.When that will happen exactly is anyone's guess. Most classic sailing yachts can be considered priceless gems. Even more so if they come from one of the most prestigious builders of all time, the German Abeking & Rasmussen. Born in 1993, Asgard still flaunts the superiority of a pedigree world cruiser and race winner. Photo: Moravia Yachting Photo: Moravia Yachting Photo: Moravia Yachting HP Although similar in terms of performance and luxury, sailing yachts and motor yachts seem to come from two different worlds. Most motor yachts bring to mind images of lazy vacations and outrageous onboard parties, boasting features that make them feel more like floating resorts than active vessels.On the other hand, sailing yachts, whether true classics or modern classics, evoke the elegance and performance of a golden era when competing in regattas was just as important as exploring remote destinations.This 1993 Abeking & Rasmussen is not the only Asgard around. Perhaps the most famous one in all history is the 1904 51-foot (16-meter) sailboat that Irish writer and nationalist Erskine Childers bought from a famous Norwegian designer at the time, Colin Archer.Childers and his wife, Molly, participated in the design process and then embarked on numerous trips onboard their new ship. Asgard is famous for crossing the channel during the 1914 event known as the Howth gun-running. To this day, this is considered a historic boat trip.In the early 1960s, the Irish Government purchased the historic ship. For a few years, the Irish Navy used it for sail training. In the 2000s, it was restored and displayed in museums. For more than a decade now, it's been on display at the Collins Barracks (a former military facility) in Dublin.Another Asgard is a small, 25-meter (82-foot) sailboat built by Abeking & Rasmussen in 1960. It was designed by W. Ohlendorf and is available for sale with a 490,000 ($530,000) price tag.The 1993 Asgard is a bit over 40 meters long (42.3 meters/139 feet), born from the hands of two major names in the yachting world, Bruce King Yacht Design and Winch Design.Thanks to Bruce King, Asgard's classic silhouette is not just a head-turner but also a guarantee for top-level performance and durability. Its cold-molded mahogany hull is lighter than fiberglass and more affordable compared to modern carbon hulls. It gives Asgard its unique, timeless look and impressive qualities.On the inside, the famous UK-based studio adorned Asgard with the furnishings and decor items of a typical gentleman's yacht. Stepping onboard Asgard feels like a trip back in time. An exquisite staircase leads down to the yacht's split-level salon with opulent seating and a separate, spacious area for formal dining.Precious woods in dark tones abound, highlighted by the contrasting bright-white panels. All the decor items reveal a nautical theme, the perfect complement for a purely-classic style. The exterior teak deck reveals a cozy al-fresco dining area. The built-in sofa surrounding a semi-circular dining table is the perfect spot to enjoy the outdoors, with a great view of the old wheel.Asgard flaunts the same noble elegance in each stateroom. The full-beam master suite is truly worthy of a luxury yacht owner. In addition to the opulent furniture and spacious layout with an en-suite bathroom and a separate lounge area, it boasts a big, beautifully shaped skylight. With two more double staterooms and a twin cabin, the classic yacht can welcome up to eight guests. Its crew quarters can accommodate six people.Like most decade-old pleasure craft, Asgard is as good as new, thanks to multiple refits. The first major one was completed almost a decade ago when Asgard got its shiny new teak deck. Another acclaimed designer, Rhoades Young, refreshed its interiors without disturbing the classic ambiance on board. Other upgrades focused on the electrical and communications systems.The most recent refit was completed in 2020 when the old German yacht was brought up to date from a technological perspective. Everything from the main engine to the thrusters and generators was upgraded. Today, Asgard can still hit 12 knots (13.8 mph/22 kph) powered by its single 985MTU diesel engine. At lower speed, it promises a sailing autonomy of up to 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 km).In precisely three decades of existence, this classic Abeking & Rasmussen reached far-away destinations such as Alaska and New Zealand, smoothly crossing over the Pacific. At the same time, it demonstrated its prowess in high-end competitions like the Superyacht Cup and the Rolex Maxi World (known today as the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup), where it competed in the "Spirit of Tradition" class.Thirty years ago, Asgard was custom-built for a passionate yachtsman. Today, the majestic ship is looking for a new owner and ready for more adventures. It's been on the market for a while, and after a significant price cut back in March, it's now asking for 9,9 million ($10.6 million). Younger motor yachts might look shinier, but they can't replicate the unique charm of a timeless classic. Google has recently started the rollout of its most controversial Google Maps update in a long time, as it wants the maps to look modern and fresh. Photo: Google forums Photo: Google forums The company refreshed the color palette within the app, changing the traditional map colors to new shades that somehow push Google Maps closer to Apple Maps. Google uses new green, blue, and grey shares in Google Maps, likely as it wants to provide richer details on its maps.However, the new maps make certain elements harder to distinguish. The green areas, typically forests and parks, are harder to distinguish from water unless you zoom in. The roads are more visible, given they're now grey, but otherwise, the maps look unrealistic.The rollout kicked off in August, but the process is now gaining pace, reaching more users (possibly as Google accelerated the release beginning on September 1).Unsurprisingly, not everybody is a big fan of the facelift.Users who turned to Google's forums for feedback criticize the new look, explaining sometimes in harsh terms that Google Maps is now much harder to use.The first report was posted four days ago when someone turned to the forums believing something was wrong on their side. "Not sure what exactly I did," they said, thinking it was a bug on their side. The purpose of the post was to ask for help in bringing Google Maps back to the original color scheme.It was only a matter of time until other people confirmed the new color palette, making it clearer that Google was rolling out a new interface for Google Maps Most people the original post has 55 upvotes, but several other threads include similar complaints encourage everybody to send feedback to convince Google that its new design is ugly. "I'm lost in my surroundings now because I can't adapt to the new scheme," someone says.Users want Google to introduce a switch that allows them to choose between the old and the new interface. While the search giant has remained tight-lipped on the interface update and its rollout plans, I doubt it'll provide users with such a toggle. The company typically introduces an option to enable the new design to make the transition smoother (it happened with Gmail and a couple of other Google services), but eventually, it still enables the update for everybody, whether they want it or not.Others have tried all kinds of workarounds to get back the old color scheme. Someone even restored it by downgrading Google Maps on Android to an earlier version. However, it is worth knowing that the new interface is powered by a server-side switch, so it's not directly tied to a specific Google Maps version . Google enables the new maps gradually for its users, so even if you downgrade, the new maps will still appear again eventually."It looks like the '90s," someone explains, adding that the previous colors were "the best in the industry."Google Maps seems to follow in Apple Maps' footsteps, adopting more vivid colors. However, most people believe the new maps sport lower contrast, which makes it harder for them to distinguish the elements on the screen.In my time with the new Google Maps, I noticed that distinguishing roads from the background is easier when using the maps at the maximum zoom level. On the other hand, if you zoom out to explore a region, it's almost impossible to distinguish a road from the background or see a forest without zooming back in.The struggle to do this "hurts the brain," one user explains, while someone else calls the new Google Maps look "an abomination."One user claims they reached out to Google to ask for a way to return to the previous maps, but they've been told this is the new interface going forward. However, Google encouraged them to leave feedback, as the search giant wants to hear from its users if the new color palette is a good choice.In the meantime, Google looks like it's feeling the pressure from Apple Maps. The iPhone maker will soon release a major Apple Maps update that adds offline maps , allowing users to navigate without an Internet connection. Similar functionality has been available in Google Maps for many years, but the addition of offline maps signals Apple's commitment to improve Apple Maps and turn it into the preferred navigation solution on its platform.Apple is also working on more detailed maps with rich details, such as 3D buildings, street signs, traffic lights, crosswalks, sidewalks, and trees. All these updates are part of a so-called detailed city experience now rolling out worldwide. The new Apple Maps goes live in stages, with the parent company expected to share additional information in this regard at the September 12 event when it announces the iPhone 15 and its new iOS 17 operating system update. I have no idea what's happening to navigation apps these days, but the latest updates brought controversial changes or bugs that completely ruin users' experience. Google Maps received a new color palette for its maps, making it hard to distinguish roads from the background, parks, and lakes, and chances are the search giant won't undo the update.The latest Waze versions broke down the dark mode on CarPlay , making it dangerous to use the app at night, as the light visual style could make you blind for a second or two when looking at the screen. The workaround is opening the app on the iPhone, but picking up the mobile device when driving is a big no-no in the first place.It looks like Waze causes more confusion in its user base, as a top feature went missing after the latest update.The calendar integration no longer works in Waze, so users relying on the app to drive to their appointments must manually configure navigation.If you've never used the calendar sync support in Waze, here's how it works. Once users configured the calendar integration, they could launch the application and see their appointments within Waze, with a shortcut to drive to the next meeting (as long as an address was previously configured for the appointment). Additionally, the destination of each appointment appeared in search results when looking for an address.Based on the calendar data, the planned drives section also displayed the upcoming trips with relevant address info.The latest update in Waze breaks down the feature, so users must launch the calendar, expand the appointment, find the address, open it in Waze, select a route, and then start navigation. The process is cumbersome and not as convenient as having everything performed automatically by Waze.Surprisingly, not many people seem to complain about this bug despite the broken behavior spotted in August. It could be a sign that not too many users rely on the calendar integration in Waze, which made some believe that the Google-owned company intentionally removed it.However, a Waze user says on Google's forums that they reached out to the dev team, and they acknowledged it's a bug. The most recent update caused the glitch, so the Waze developers are now working on a fix to bring things back to normal with the next release. No information is available regarding the release date, but the good news is that the calendar integration is here to stay in Waze. At least for now, that is, as Waze has previously removed several features suffering from low usage, including the iOS widget which I enjoyed and used daily, but according to Waze, I was a very, very rare case. Armenias Investigative Committee confirmed on Monday reports that the small airports walls and windows were damaged by several gunshots fired early on September 1. The committee said it is conducting a criminal investigation into attempted murder and damage to property motivated by ethnic hatred. According to preliminary data, the gunshots were fired from Azerbaijani-controlled territory, the spokesman for the law-enforcement agency, Gor Abrahamian, told RFE/RLs Armenian Service. Armenias state border guard service said earlier that the Kapan airport first came under cross-border fire on August 18 less than 24 hours after a plane carrying Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian landed there. According to it, three gunshots were fired from Azerbaijani army positions overlooking the facility, damaging its roof and one of the windows. Another shooting incident was reported on August 19 just minutes after a plane carrying other senior officials from Yerevan touched down on the runway. Local officials accused Azerbaijan of trying to disrupt the first post-Soviet flight service between Yerevan and Kapan launched by the NovAir airline on August 21. Later in August, the Armenian government notified the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) about the shootings and asked the 193-nation body to help prevent a repeat of such incidents. A spokeswoman for a Yerevan-based ticketing agency representing NovAir said that the airline continued its twice-weekly flights to and from Kapan, most recently on Monday, following the latest gunfire. The private carrier uses small L-410 aircraft capable of carrying up to 17 passengers. 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Starting from Tuesday, every Stepanakert resident will be able to buy only half a loaf of bread weighing 200 grams. Bread has become an even more important staple food in Stepanakert and other Karabakh towns since Azerbaijan tightened the blockade in mid-June by halting all relief supplies to the Armenian-populated region carried out by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Local food stores have run out of most other basic foodstuffs rationed since January. The bread shortage worsened at the end of August, with locals spending more hours waiting in lines to buy up to two loaves per person from bakeries. Karabakhs Agricultural Support Fund again urged local farmers at the weekend to sell off their wheat stocks and thus help alleviate the deficit. The fund set a higher price -- 250 drams per kilogram (65 U.S. cents) -- and offered other incentives in hopes of buying more wheat grown by them. By comparison, the market-based wholesale price of wheat in Armenia currently stands at less than 100 drams per kilogram. Dear farmers, please sell the stored wheat to the fund so that we can together overcome the existing crisis as soon as possible, the public agency said in a statement. The struggle is not only war, this is also a struggle from which we can emerge victorious only thanks to our unity. The humanitarian crisis has prompted serious concern from the United States, the European Union and other international actors. As well as insisting on the immediate reopening of the Lachin corridor, the Western powers have implicitly urged Karabakh to agree to another, Azerbaijani-controlled supply route sought by Baku. Most Karabakh Armenians appear to remain strongly opposed to that route. Scores of them have been blocking a road leading to the Azerbaijani town of Aghdam to prevent two Azerbaijani trucks loaded with 40 tons of flour from entering Karabakh. They as well as the authorities in Stepanakert believe that the proposed aid is a publicity stunt aimed at legitimizing the blockade and helping Azerbaijan regain full control over Karabakh. 4 September 2023 11:25 (UTC+04:00) The manufacturer of an attack drone belonging to the armed forces of Armenia has been identified. It was detected yesterday afternoon by units of the Azerbaijan army located in the direction of the Kalbajar district and neutralized without reaching the target using special means, Azernews reports. The device was developed by the American company "Micro Aerial Projects". The official page of the company states that the said UAVs are designed exclusively for civil and scientific purposes. Military expert Ramil Mammadli told Xazar Xabar (Azerbaijan-based news program) that this step of Armenia proves the level of the country's army. Only this country can think of supplementing civilian and scientific equipment for military purposes with some artificial technical means. The expert also drew attention to the manufacturer's obligations. He stated that every company should be responsible for whom its products are sold to and how they are used. Armenia had designed 23 different types of loitering munitions (weapons that can fly and attack) in the past four years, but they didn't have enough money to buy them. Instead, they bought four fighter jets from Russia. During the war, Armenia got some drones from Russia. They are now trying to make their own drones that can attack. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 15:00 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement over the 32-year anniversary of the so-called "artsakh republic" confirmed that he is not a man of his word once again. Previously, Nikol Pashinyan stated that he recognized Azerbaijan territories including Garabagh. His words at that time raised hope for peace for many. However, some approached his then-statement with skepticism and unfortunately, Nikol's statement on September 2 approved that the latter was right. First of all, to congratulate the anniversary of the so-called republic is a violation of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Moreover, he later overtly stated that he does not recognize Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Besides, Nikol Pashinyan did not limit Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan to only Garabagh. Going further, he added several territories in Azerbaijan's Goranboy district (former Shaumyan district in Soviet period) to Armenian claims. Speaking to Azernews on the issue political analyst Elkhan Shahinoglu noted that Armenians forget the consequences of the Second Garabagh War. He pointed out that the Azerbaijani Army is much stronger than the Armenian Armed forces, and Azerbaijan can eliminate any provocation committed by Armenia. It seems that the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, has begun to forget the consequences of the Second Garabagh War and now he is starting to talk with war rhetoric again. However, it is not clear what he will fight with. In other words, the Azerbaijani army has repeatedly proved that it is stronger than the Armenian army. The number of military equipment Azerbaijani army possesses is fully sufficient. That is, Azerbaijan is able to properly respond to any provocation, the political analyst said. He added that it seems Pashinyan no longer is eager to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that he said he was ready to recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Garabagh, some time ago. But after that, he made so many excuses that I think the signing of this peace agreement has reduced the probability to a very low level. Because they are making claims about Garabagh. Armenians are trying to strengthen their propaganda against Azerbaijan through international organizations. All this indicates that it is difficult to expect the signing of a peace agreement between the two countries in the future. Of course, other issues will remain unresolved, as well. This will create conditions for the ongoing tension in the region. In fact, first of all, Armenia should avoid this. Because in case of the new clash, Azerbaijan will still be the winner, Elkhan Shahinoglu added. He pointed out that Armenian radicals have already forgotten the results of the second Garabagh war, as well. They make different claims. They want to overthrow Pashinyan as if they will dictate some conditions to Azerbaijan. On September 2, a rally was held in Yerevan with the participation of representatives of the radical opposition, including the former president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan. At the rally, they mentioned that Pashinyan should be overthrown. Supposedly, if they don't overthrow Pashinyan, Azerbaijan will get what it wants; with or without Pashinyan. In other words, people like Sargsyan and Kocharyan will not be able to prevent it. The process is moving towards the fact that Azerbaijan will liberate all of Garabagh and Azerbaijani laws will work throughout the territory of the region. There is no other alternative to this perspective. Even if they try to resist, it will be futile. Russia will not be able to be an obstacle to Azerbaijan. After two years, the Russian peacekeeping contingent will leave the region anyway, Shahinoglu concluded. --- Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 17:40 (UTC+04:00) Rena Murshud Read more The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (originally called the Organization of the Islamic Conference), made up of about 60 Muslim countries, was founded in Rabat, Morocco in 1969. In June 2011, an organization that closely cooperates with the UN was renamed the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by the decision of the Foreign Ministry Council of the 38th session of foreign ministers in Astana. A few days ago, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation visited Azerbaijan, which works to strengthen unity, develop relations, protect freedom and national rights, as well as protect international security and peace. The main purpose of the visit is to establish the facts of Armenia's destruction of religious and cultural monuments, and cemeteries belonging to Azerbaijanis, to collect materials about Azerbaijanis affected by occupation and rocket bombing, as well as to prepare a report on the results of the mission and present it to the international community. It should be noted that on January 24, at the suggestion of the Armenians, the European Union agreed to send a monitoring capacity consisting of observers to Armenia close to the border with Azerbaijan. The aim of the mission is to achieve stability in the border areas of Armenia, establish cooperation at the local level, and support efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan with the support of the EU. But for some reason, despite the establishment of control at the border, there were many provocations by Armenians, as well as cases of transportation of prohibited goods with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Over the past few months, we have seen that monitoring, created for the purpose of stability, has not yielded any results. At present, the delegation of the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which is on a visit to the districts near the former contact line with Armenia, made a report during the inspection of residential buildings, civilian objects, religious, cultural, and historical monuments destroyed by the Armenian armed forces during the occupation. Political scientists of the OIC member countries told Azernews about the great prospects that the organization will create for Azerbaijan. According to Talgat Kaliev, a political analyst, and doctor of political sciences of Kazakhstan, who is a full member of the organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation today is quite an influential and authoritative subject of international politics. "The number of members, the volume of their economies, and the importance of the world economy do not allow for ignoring the position of this organization," the pundit said Further, Talgat Kaliev spoke about the importance for Azerbaijan to be a member of the OIC touching on its strategic value. "In itself, Azerbaijan is an authoritative member of the world community and a significant participant in the oil and oil products market. And the very participation of Azerbaijan in the OIC, as well as the participation of each member of the organization, increases its authority and influence. Consequently, in this case, the benefit can be considered mutual," the political analyst added. Speaking about the reputation of the OIC, he noted that the organization's reputation is quite impeccable. No one in the OIC has a reason for double standards. All values and principles, including those on sensitive LGBT issues and gender roles in the Organization, are clearly defined. In other issues, the Organization is not noted anywhere in questionable approaches and decisions. "I think that the most promising for Azerbaijan is to attract investments from the OIC countries, especially in the development of infrastructure and transport projects, which will be of significant importance for the EU and the Arab world," Talgat Kaliev said. Further, Dr Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, a Pakistani political analyst, also commented on the issue. First of all, he touched upon the activity of the OIC's Fact-Finding Mission in Garabagh. "Right now, the delegations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are on a Fact-Finding Mission in Azerbaijan specifically in newly liberated areas. The government of Azerbaijan is extending full support to them to freely visit and complete its assignment. It is evident that the OIC has been supporting the just cause of Azerbaijan for long. It formed a Contact Group on Azerbaijan and highlighted structural cruelty, planned genocide, ethnic cleansing, and illegal occupation of Armenia on Garabagh and its adjacent areas. Remarkably, in the past, OIC reiterated the principled position and fully supported the just cause of Azerbaijan, on the peaceful settlement of the Garabagh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in accordance with the generally accepted norms and principles of international law, the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Even during recent provocations of Armenia against Azerbaijan on various borders, the OIC issued a statement entitled The General Secretariat calls for the immediate cessation of the attacks of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan. In this statement, the OIC once again expressed its solidarity with the Republic of Azerbaijan," the expert said. Further, Hassan Khan, speaking about the support of the organization, noted that the OIC recognizes the legitimate decisions of Azerbaijan to establish border checkpoints on its territory in response to security threats and in accordance with the principles and norms of international law. "It also welcomes the facilitation provided by Azerbaijan to use the Lachin road for medical purposes by the Armenian residents and its proposal to use the Aghdam-Khankendi route for the transportation of larger cargo. Such initiatives would further contribute to the reintegration of the residents into Azerbaijani society. The General Secretariat calls on Armenia to refrain from any provocative actions and support the utilization of Aghdam-Khankendi as well as other routes proposed by Azerbaijan to meet the needs of the Armenian population. Furthermore, the OIC General Secretariat underscores the need to move forward on the path of peace and to take necessary steps to strengthen security and stability in the region," the Pakistani expert emphasized. The political analyst also noted that the effectiveness of the OIC has been in question since its inception. Unfortunately, it has not yet received worldwide acceptability and recognition because of our multipolar world and conflicting national narratives. However, it worked hard to highlight sensitive issues of Kashmir, Garabagh, Cyprus and many more in its meetings. It played an important role in informing the international community about different burning issues pertaining to inter-faith dialogue, Muslim Brotherhood, and last but not least, Islamophobia. "I have doubts that OIC could properly convey to the European Community about the rights of Armenia and conflicting realities about their shameful history. But I am optimistic that OIC will try its best to share a detailed report of its fact-finding mission pertaining to the actual situation on the ground along with current socio-economic initiatives taken by Azerbaijans government, resettlement policies, peoples friendly projects and holistic policies for inter-faith harmony, protection the rights of ethnic minorities living in Garabagh and other newly liberated areas," the pundit said. In conclusion, the Pakistani expert spoke about the benefits of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the OIC. "Being a Muslim country Azerbaijan has been supporting various initiatives of the OIC which should be appreciated. On its part, OIC has been supporting Azerbaijans peaceful struggle for the liberation of its occupied areas by Armenia. During the Patriotic War OIC once again supported Azerbaijan. I foresee that further strengthening of bilateral ties between OIC and Azerbaijan would create numerous mutually beneficial propositions in the days to come," Dr Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan concluded. --- Rena Murshud is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 11:51 (UTC+04:00) Rena Murshud Read more Azerbaijan and China discussed the expansion of cooperation in the field of investment and trade, Azernews reports. The Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan, Mikayil Jabbarov, wrote about this on his page on the social network "X". During the meeting with Ling Ji, the Vice Minister of Commerce of the Peoples Republic of #China, we discussed the opportunities available for enhancing bilateral #economic relations, expanding cooperation in the fields of #investment and #trade, as well as promoting mutual pic.twitter.com/M9JQ4g666w Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) September 4, 2023 According to him, during the meeting between the Minister of Economy and Vice Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China Lin Ji, we discussed the existing opportunities for strengthening bilateral economic relations, expanding cooperation in investment and trade, and promoting cooperation in infrastructure projects. It should be noted that on September 3, the Trade House of Azerbaijan was opened in Beijing. The Trade House of Azerbaijan, established by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in accordance with the instructions of the head of state, will support the promotion of the Made in Azerbaijan brand in the Chinese market and expand the export of Azerbaijani products, and will also coordinate in this area. Recall that on September 1, Azerbaijan signed an agreement on investment cooperation with China. --- Rena Murshud is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 13:12 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more First Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Head of Client Services Group Jurgen Rigterink will pay a visit to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports. As part of his visit, Rigterink plans to meet with government officials, central bank governors, business leaders, and representatives of international financial organizations in each country. In Azerbaijan, he will participate in the launch of a public-private partnership in technical and vocational education and retraining, organized by the State Agency for Vocational Education and Avrora Group, aimed at strengthening human resources in the food industry. "The Caucasus is an important region for the Bank and we intend to provide continued support to the sustainable economic development of the region through our investments, advisory services, and policy engagement," Rigterink said ahead of the visit. Jurgen Rigterink, First Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Head of Client Services Group, will visit Azerbaijan as part of a week-long trip to the Caucasus. According to the EBRD, the trip will start in Armenia, continue in Georgia, and end in Azerbaijan. The EBRD Vice President will meet with government officials, central bank governors, business leaders, and representatives of international financial organizations in each country. He will also mark the handover between the outgoing EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus, Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, and her successor, Alkis Vryenios Drakinos. In Armenia, Rigterink will sign a credit line with a local partner bank to further boost the development of the private sector. In Georgia, he will launch a program with one of the EBRD's key partner banks as part of its commitment to supporting small and medium-size enterprises. In Azerbaijan, he will participate in the launch of the public-private partnership for technical and vocational education and training organized by the State Vocational Education Agency, aimed at strengthening skills capacity in the food production industry. J.Rigterink has been with the EBRD since 2018 and has since helped deliver record levels of investment volume for the EBRD regions and led the Bank's Covid-19 Solidarity Package. He was also the Bank's Acting President for four months in 2020 in the period between the departure of Sir Suma Chakrabarti, the EBRD's sixth President, and the arrival of his successor, Odile Renaud-Basso. The EBRD has invested over 10 billion in 680 projects across the region, in both the private and public sectors. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 10:42 (UTC+04:00) On September 4, 2023, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov left for an official visit to Hungary, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Within the framework of the visit, it is planned to hold the first meeting of the Azerbaijan-Hungary Strategic Dialogue, meetings between Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto and other high-ranking officials. Within the framework of the visit, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov will also speak at the conference of heads of diplomatic missions in Hungary. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 12:24 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more A delegation of the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has arrived in Ganja, Azernews reports. Members of the delegation visited the areas destroyed as a result of rocket fire by Armenian armed forces on Ganja and were informed about war crimes committed against civilians during the 44-day war. It was noted that the Armenian armed forces violated the norms and principles of international law and the Geneva Convention of 1949, deliberately striking the peaceful population of Azerbaijan by shelling residential houses with heavy artillery. It should be noted that yesterday the guests visited Agdam and Fuzuli districts liberated from occupation. The main purpose of the visit was to investigate on the spot the facts of the destruction of religious and cultural monuments and cemeteries belonging to Azerbaijanis by Armenia, collect information on Azerbaijanis who suffered as a result of occupation and rocket attacks, as well as prepare a report and present it to the international community. The IPHRC is a human rights agency and one of the principal organs of the OIC advocating for human rights within the scope of its 57 member states. The IPHRC was commissioned in 2005 and serves member and non-member states on the existing human rights mechanism under the international standards outlined for independence and professionalism as per its mandate granted by the OIC's charter. The IPHRC was formed in response to the OIC's Ten-Year Programme of Action, which was adopted by the 3rd Extraordinary Islamic Summit held in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 2005. The commission was formally created by the 38th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in 2011 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The IPHRC is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the OIC member states adhere to the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which was adopted in 1990. The Cairo Declaration was a product of the late 1980s and early '90s when the collapse of the Soviet bloc and democratic transitions in central and eastern Europe ushered in a period of liberal optimism in world politics. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 15:46 (UTC+04:00) Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Office Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade will pay a visit to Pune, India, to attend the G20 Interfaith Forum under the motto Shaping World Peace and Sustainable Development through Interfaith Harmony, to be held on September 5-7, Azernews reports. The G20 Interfaith Forum is a well-known global interfaith platform, which has been operating on the sidelines of the G20 Summits for many years. Having participated at the previous forums held in Bologna and Bali, Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade will attend the event at the invitation of President of the Forum Cole Durham Jr. Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade will address the opening ceremony, take part various cultural events as well as hold meetings with forum participants and officials. Executive Director of the Baku International Multiculturalism Center Ravan Hasanov will also join the forum. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 17:21 (UTC+04:00) Rena Murshud Read more On September 4, Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova received members of the inter-parliamentary friendship group Israel-Azerbaijan - Yevgeny Shova, Osher Shkalim, Tatyana Mazarsky and Almog Cohen, Azernews reports. At the meeting, it was noted that Azerbaijan and Israel are friendly and partner countries, the exceptional role of an active political dialogue, the role of visits and high-level meetings in the development of relations between our countries was emphasized. At the same time, it was noted that Azerbaijanis and Jews have been living together for centuries in conditions of peace, friendship and mutual understanding. Issues of cooperation between the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Israel were also discussed at the meeting. Attention was drawn to the activities of friendship groups and the importance of mutual visits of parliamentarians in the development of relations between our legislative bodies. --- Rena Murshud is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Biden's deadly AFG surrender and retreat never forget By Mark Alexander web posted September 4, 2023 August 30th marked the two-year anniversary of the departure of the last American combat troops from Afghanistan in a shameful retreat ordered by Joe Biden, leaving the country in the hands of the Taliban terrorists. Biden's compressed timeline was predicated on his desire to take a victory lap while claiming he ended the war before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 Islamist attack on our nation. The only victory lap was the one taken by the Taliban celebrating 9/11 in our abandoned Kabul embassy. In the inimitable words of Afghanistan combat veteran, former Navy SEAL, and U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), "In what f***ing world was it a good idea to just hand over a country to these people?" Despite all the love/hate and political division associated with Donald Trump, I can say with certainty that his domestic and foreign policy achievements, despite his "unorthodox" methods (to put it kindly), were outstanding. I am also quite certain that the context for conversations regarding two national security threats that reemerged under the inept and vacuous "leadership" of Biden and his cowering Democrat Party would be entirely different if Trump were still in office. First, Vladimir Putin would NEVER have dared to invade Ukraine in February 2022 if Trump were commander-in-chief. There is no question Putin's 2014 Ukraine incursion was with the full confidence that Barack Obama would do nothing. It is also clear that Putin did not advance an inch while Trump was in office because he knew Trump would not tolerate it. The blood of tens of thousands of Ukrainian men, women, and children is, inarguably, on the hands of every impenitent Biden/Harris voter. Second, the end of Operation Enduring Freedom and withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2022 would have looked nothing like Biden's deadly and disgraceful surrender and retreat. Had the Taliban dared to cross Trump, he would have smoked ALL of them, just like he did ISIS. (Remember them?) As I noted regarding the blood of Ukraine victims, the blood of thousands of Afghan men, women, and children is also on the hands of every impenitent Biden/Harris voter. So, on this second anniversary of Biden's disastrous Afghanistan exfiltration, let's be clear about his efforts to blame Trump's withdrawal terms with the Taliban, and let's be equally clear about the five capstone events in the wake of Biden's retreat: the murderous bombing of Kabul airport; the disastrous counterattack on the "terrorist mastermind" of the Kabul bombing; the turning over of billions of dollars in American military assets to terrorist Taliban warlords; the abandonment of thousands of our Afghan allies (many to certain death); and the abandonment of millions of Afghan women and children to the tyranny of Islamic law. The faux line Biden is still pushing regarding Trump's negotiations goes like this: Biden ended the longest war. The exit was difficult, but that was Trump's fault because he negotiated with the Taliban, thus he bears the blame. But thanks to Biden, we are out and all is good. That is a colossal dumper of bull manure. Trump's exit plan was with the Afghan government but included terms that the Taliban had to meet. The drawdown was contingent on the Taliban meeting specified conditions, and Trump's plan included leaving at least 2,500 troops on the ground. Trump's drawdown had two primary and finite conditions: First, that the Taliban had demonstrably cut their ties with al-Qa'ida, ISK, and other terror groups; and second, that they successfully negotiate and maintain peace with the Afghan government. Neither of those conditions were met when Biden folded. Biden and his cadre treated the Taliban as if they were some trustworthy and legitimate government entity rather than the amalgam of violent Sunni Islamist terrorists who invaded Afghanistan from Pakistan after the Soviet retreat and have now rapidly reconstituted. There is virtually NO degree of ideological separation between the so-called "Taliban government" thugs and their surrogate terrorist groups. And there is now no doubt that the more violent Sunni ISK Islamists (also from Pakistan) and Sunni al-Qa'ida Islamists have risen just as rapidly as surrogates under the Sunni Taliban protectorate. To insist that ISK and al-Qa'ida are not under the Taliban umbrella is a distinction without a difference. With Trump gone, the Taliban summarily discarded those conditions and ousted the AFG government. And why wouldn't they? Obviously, they had no fear of Biden enforcing those terms. According to former Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell: "The Taliban onslaught started coming once Joe Biden got into the White House. The Taliban knew they couldn't make the move when Trump was in office." Biden abandoned Afghanistan and its citizens to the Taliban tyrants. Seasoned political analyst Brit Hume declared, "If you believe the Biden administration's claim it was bound by the Trump-Taliban deal and thus had to get out fast," you need to get your facts straight. He added: "In fact, when that deal was struck in February 2020 [our negotiators] made it very clear that this was conditions-based and if the Taliban did not [meet those conditions] we were under no obligation to remove our troops. One of the key provisions of that deal was that the Taliban and the Afghan government would negotiate a [peace agreement]. They never did that." And National Review's Rich Lowry described Biden's taking credit for ending the war as akin to "the arsonist bragging about how many fires he has put out." On 26 August, days before Biden's evacuation deadline, his empowerment of the Taliban was directly responsible for the terrorist bombing of the Kabul airport. After 18 months with no American deaths in Afghanistan zero a Taliban terror surrogate walked through multiple Taliban checkpoints and murdered 10 Marines, two Army soldiers, and a Navy corpsman, along with more than 170 Afghan men, women, and children. There were 15 Americans injured (some with life-threatening injuries) and countless civilians severely injured. Recall that Biden was AWOL for eight hours after the attack, but no amount of spin prep relieved him of responsibility for all of the blood spilled. The failure was not Biden's plan; it was the man. In his rambling teleprompted read, Biden declared we would bomb some tents somewhere in retaliation. Biden put on his most menacing mean face and warned: "To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay." Answering a press question, Biden again attempted to deflect responsibility to Trump: "You know I wish you'd one day say these things you know as well as I do that the former president made a deal with the Taliban..." On 20 August 2021, the last American boarded a C-17 at Kabul, leaving tens of billions in military equipment in Taliban hands. I will never forget the images of those poor souls clinging to the outside of the departing military transports and falling to their deaths during takeoff. Days later, Biden launched a drone attack against what he insisted was a "high value" terrorist responsible for the Kabul airport bombing. In fact, he did not kill a terrorist, but murdered Zemari Ahmadi, a longtime U.S. aid worker, and nine other civilians, seven of whom were children. Ahmadi, who was among the Afghan people hoping to immigrate to safety, was bringing water to his family and neighbors. Biden was, again, AWOL when it came time to take responsibility. He departed for a beach trip, passing the buck to Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of United States Central Command: "I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike. We now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or a direct threat to U.S. forces. I offer my profound condolences to the family and friends of those who were killed." Asked if anyone would be held responsible, McKenzie responded, "We are in the process right now of continuing that line of investigation." Clearly, Joe Biden was responsible. And about the Americans and the thousands of our Afghan allies Biden abandoned? Biden lied when he promised, "If there are American citizens left, we're going to stay until we get them all out," before pulling our troops out. In fact, he left hundreds of Americans stranded behind enemy lines. Likewise, Biden insisted we would protect America's Afghan allies, promising to relocate them before withdrawing. In fact, more than 78,000 of our Afghan allies were abandoned, and the Biden administration even provided the Taliban what essentially amounted to a kill list with names of U.S. citizens and our allies. Biden's ineptitude, and that of his feckless administration, is epic, reckless, and deadly. The Army's 2,000-page assessment of Biden's deadly exfil is an unmitigated indictment of this inept commander-in-chief. But as our military analyst, retired Army Gen. B.B. Bell, concluded well ahead of that report, "Biden's ill-fated and hapless decision to summarily short-notice withdraw all remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan will forever be known as the day America's position in the world order cascaded behind that of China, and for that matter Russia and the European Union as well." Some Democrats have conceded that there were obvious "red flags" indicating the administration's plan was going to be a disaster. But the fact is, Joe Biden IS the red flag, and our nation is facing far more perilous national security threats today than the day before Biden took office. Fact is, Biden has reseeded the al-Qa'ida and ISIL turf, putting the U.S. homeland at risk of another terrorist attack. McKenzie, the CENTCOM commander Biden trotted out to confirm that his retaliatory strike for the Kabul bombing actually killed civilians, has declared: "ISIS has nevertheless reconstituted as an asymmetric threat. ... Their desire to harm us is as intense as ever." And of greater consequence, Biden's now-obvious failure as commander-in-chief has resulted in dire national security implications far beyond the borders of Afghanistan. Biden's AFG retreat has emboldened far more powerful tyrants, notably our near-peer adversaries Red China and, as previously noted, Russia. And, of course, Iran and North Korea are on the move. The most significant threat is China. Understanding that Biden will bow, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping is now aggressively threatening Taiwan and even trying to co-opt the Taliban as a terrorist surrogate. Power does not tolerate a vacuum, nor an inept and vacuous appeaser like Joe Biden. So, if you are considering casting another vote for Biden, or whomever will replace him as the 2024 Demo candidate, former presidential advisor Michael McKenna suggests, "Next time you vote for a president, vote as if the lives of our soldiers depend on it." Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. 4 September 2023 16:43 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more Representatives and volunteers of the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society (AzQAC) have been waiting at the post of Russian peacekeepers on the Aghdam-Khankendi road for a week, Vice President of the Society Gafar Askerzadeh told, Azernews reports. He said that the leadership of the society held relevant negotiations with the command of Russian peacemakers temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan. "We have not yet received a positive response from the other side and are currently waiting for updates. In case of a positive response, we will immediately ensure the delivery of food cargo to the residents of Garabagh of Armenian origin," Askerzadeh said. As known, trucks with 40 tons of flour and flour products, sent on August 29 by the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society for the Armenian residents of Garabagh, have been waiting at the post of Russian peacemakers on the AghdamKhankendi road for the seventh day. In order to create conditions for the delivery of cargo with food to Khankendi, an appeal was sent to the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and Azerbaijan's Red Crescent have been delivering humanitarian aid to people affected by the conflict since February 2021. UNHCR has delivered or procured locally some 30,000 blankets, 10,000 square meters of plastic tarpaulin, 4,000 kitchen sets, 443 dignity (sanitary) kits, 12,000 pillows, and 2,554 mattresses for the benefit of the conflict-affected communities, for approximately 2,400 families or more than 10,000 people. The Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society has been actively engaged in delivering emergency humanitarian assistance to the affected population. In addition to the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, local authorities of Aghdam and Aghjabadi districts have also received some core relief items directly from UNHCR, i.e. 3,108 blankets, 8,000 square meters of plastic tarpaulin, 443 kitchen sets, 1,554 matrasses, 3,108 pillows and 443 dignity (sanitary) kits, and started the distribution to those most in need of support during the harsh winter months. The Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society has been waiting at the post of Russian peacekeepers on the Aghdam-Khankendi road for a week in order to deliver humanitarian aid to those affected by the conflict. The Society is committed to providing assistance to those in need, regardless of their nation, race, religion, or political beliefs. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 18:28 (UTC+04:00) Rena Murshud Read more On September 4, a meeting was held between members of the Committee on International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations of the Milli Majlis and members of the Friendship Group of the Israeli Parliament with Azerbaijan, Azernews reports. Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Samad Seyidov welcomed the delegation led by Yevgeny Sovan, a member of the Israeli Knesset Friendship Group with Azerbaijan, and expressed satisfaction to see them in the Azerbaijani parliament. Speaking about the relations established between our countries in various fields, the chairman of the committee noted that the opening of the Azerbaijani embassy in Israel raised the quality of cooperation between our countries to a new level. He highly appreciated the close ties between our states and peoples and stressed that Azerbaijan, which is the birthplace of many religions and peoples, has also been the homeland of the Jews since ancient times. Yevgeny Sova, a member of the Israel Parliament's Friendship Group with Azerbaijan, thanked for the hospitality and sincere attitude. He spoke about the ties that bind our countries and shared his views on deepening relations. During the conversation, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Sevinj Fataliyeva, MPs Sevil Mikayilova, Asim Mollazade, Nasib Makhamaliyev, and Nigar Arpadarai, Israeli Knesset MPs Tatyana Mazarsky, Osher Shkalim and Almog Cohen discussed issues of cooperation and inter-parliamentary relations. based on mutual respect and the national interests of both countries, they spoke about the importance of development. Then, at the meeting, an exchange of views took place on issues of interest to the parties. --- Rena Murshud is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 18:59 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov is paying a visit to Hungary, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. According to the posts of Ministry on X, within the framework of the visit, Jeyhun Bayramov held a Tete-a-tete meeting with Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto. Later the sides had a meeting in an expanded format. The meeting focused on Azerbaijani-Hungarian bilateral strategic partnership and issues of mutual interest on the regional and international agenda. The first meeting of the strategic dialogue between the two countries was held. The Ministry noted that on the sidelines of the official visit of Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov to Hungary, Azerbaijani, and Hungarian top diplomats delivered statements on the outcomes of the meeting and prospects of bilateral and multilateral cooperation agenda between Azerbaijan and Hungary at joint press conference. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 08:00 (UTC+04:00) A Turkish defense company, STM, said it has reached an agreement to export its unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance system to an Africa country for the second time, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. STM has sold its multi-rotor unmanned aerial system for tactical surveillance and reconnaissance, named Togan, to Nigeria previously, and now agreed to export to another African country, Ozgur Guleryuz, the general manager of the company, told Anadolu. The projects, carried out in the sector under the leadership of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency, have maturated, Guleryuz said, adding: "We have gained confidence in ourselves, from now on, we are all motivated in exports." STM has exported its another unmanned aerial system, IHA KARGU, to more than 10 countries so far, while it is in negotiations with some other countries to sell Togan, he said. The company, he said, has also achieved significant export successes, particularly in the area of naval platforms. "We believe that there will be very important developments in this area as well. "There are very large and important projects we are discussing, I think that as our defense industry and platforms prove themselves, the exports of the sector will increase much faster." Togan Togan has a unique flight control system and mission planning software. The system, which can autonomously change/reverse missions in the air, offers operators uninterrupted and long-term surveillance. A single Togan platform can operate for 45-minute mission at a range of 10 kilometers (around 6.21 miles). Thanks to its unique autopilot and software, the platform can track moving targets autonomously by performing target detection, recognition, diagnosis and technical analysis. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 20:00 (UTC+04:00) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Russia's coastal city of Sochi on Monday, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. "The most important development everyone is looking at in Turkiye-Russia relations today is the grain corridor. "The message to be given at the news conference after our meeting will be a very important step toward the world, especially to the underdeveloped African countries, Erdogan said during the bilateral meeting with Putin. Erdogan is on a one-day working visit to Sochi to discuss current regional and global issues, as well as bilateral relations with Putin. The revival of last year's historic Black Sea grain deal that helped ease the global food crisis will also be on the agenda of the meeting. The two presidents are also expected to hold a joint news conference following their meeting. On July 17, Russia suspended its participation in the deal, brokered by Turkiye and the UN, to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that were paused after the Ukraine war, which started in February 2022. Moscow has complained that the West has not met its obligations regarding Russia's own grain exports, and that not enough Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need. It says restrictions on payments, logistics, and insurance have been a barrier to its shipments. Confirming the importance of fulfilling Russia's demands for the export of its own grain and fertilizer, Turkiye says there is no alternative to the initiative. Ankara has been carrying out intense diplomatic efforts for the restoration of the July 2022 deal and has also called on Kyiv and Moscow to end the war through negotiations. Central Bank governors meeting 'important' Turning to bilateral trade, Erdogan said the trade volume between Turkiye and Russia is $62 billion. "We are very glad that we are taking steps toward the target of reaching $100 billion," he added. Erdogan said Turkish Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan also accompanied him during his visit. "I believe that the meeting of our Central Bank governors is important in taking steps to use the domestic currency in bilateral relations," he added. Hailing developments between Turkiye and Russia in tourism, Erdogan said: "Russia is number one in tourism right now." The defense industry and the energy sector are the other important areas in bilateral ties, he added. About Turkiye's first nuclear power plant Akkuyu, Erdogan said the work at the power plant is continuing smoothly. "The step taken regarding the first unit is very good. Moreover, as we have discussed with you before, I think that we will have to take a step regarding the Sinop Nuclear Power Plant. Of course, the fact that there will be a hub in Thrace is another element of richness and vitality," he added. Akkuyu, currently under construction in Turkiye's southern Mersin province, will be the country's first nuclear power plant. An intergovernmental agreement for the plant was signed between Turkiye and Russia in May 2010. The plant's groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 3, 2018, after which construction started on the first unit. Construction of the second unit began on April 8, 2020, and the first batch of concrete for the third unit was poured on March 10, 2021. The site, which is considered one of the largest NPP construction sites in the world, entered its peak construction phase when the foundation was laid for the fourth and last unit on July 21 last year. Approximately 30,000 people were employed on the site during the most active project phase. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 September 2023 20:35 (UTC+04:00) EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi will arrive in Turkiye on Tuesday for a three-day visit, during which he will meet with senior government officials to discuss all dimensions of Turkiye-EU relations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Monday, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Varhelyi will meet on Wednesday to discuss Turkiye-EU relations, as well as regional and global issues, the statement read. "Commissioner Varhelyi will also have other high-level meetings during his visit to Turkiye," it added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz After the ribbon was cut, and as groups flocked to their cars, many left the ceremony Tuesday asking themselves the question: How easy is it f Almost Mysterious and Mystical Paths Hiding in Plain Sight Near Florence, Central Oregon Coast Published 09/01/23 at 3:07 p.m. By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Florence, Oregon) Sometimes the richest rewards are hiding in plain sight. Just that occurs near Florence, close to the dead center of the Oregon coast. A little ways north Florence and just below the top of the rise that overlooks the town's northern beaches, there's a wee gravel pullout unmarked and unceremoniously rich in finds. There's pure awe in the views here, but something even more inspiring lurks just below. If you look closely and you have to you'll see a long sandy path wandering down to the ocean. This secret pathway is a leg cramp-inducer, but it's a wonder. Here, you get treated to the dead-end of Florence's beaches, where they wind up at a point you can no longer cross. It's that mini headland described in the article link farther down (Killer Trails, Views), and you can see Cox Rock in all its lonely glory from a different angle. [Cox Rock, Near Florence, an Oregon Coast Puzzle in History, Geology, Sightseeing] What else is down here? That's a good questions. It's a rarely-touched stretch of beach, except by the occasional horse rider. Southview Lane is nearby. Also see On Edge of Central and South Oregon Coast, Florence's Killer Plants, Aerial Views, Horses Trails, horses, wilderness lakes, campgrounds, some particularly strange creatures There's some glorious hiking near here as well: Nearby is what has been called the Horse Coast Trail System, but it's actually known as the Cape Mountain Trail system, it says in the article. The point here is traipsing up to Cape Mountain, which lies some three miles up and to the east of Highway 101. Take Herman Peak Rd. and theres about 17 miles of trails awaiting you on foot or on your horse. The trailhead lies almost three miles up, then giving way to trails that lead you through lush forests, large meadows, huge ocean vistas, and even a replica of an old Indian shelter. These cliffs are the last of the basalt you'll find on the whole of the Oregon coast. From here on out, it's conglomerate material. The entire south coast is a whole other set of geological compositions. Inside Heceta Head / Cliffs Near Florence: All Come from Oregon Coast Volcano Cape Perpetua was a volcano, and a mighty one For more secrets, right around here lurks a semi-secret, fairly-paved road that darts off into the forests that covers the east hills of this part of the central coast. Primitive and rugged, it's a tad magical here. Streams crisscross with the road at times, helping to create a vibe where you almost feel like you might spot a gnome. Hotels in Yachats - Where to eat - Yachats Maps and Virtual Tours - Upper Lane County Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast. LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted More changes are on the way for the recently renamed Fort Bragg, and they come with a hefty price tag.Highway signs announcing the Army base now known as Fort Liberty will cost $500,000, according to North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).The change became official on June 2.About 30 signs with the new name have been ordered but not put up yet. More than 40 current signs will have the namecovered over with a sticker that saysIn addition to the highway signs, the cost to rename all assets at Fort Bragg - including many streets, buildings, uniforms, the USASOC Memorial Wall, the Parade Field, Hendrick Stadium Memorial Wall, and the 82nd Airborne Museum - is estimated to be $6.3 million, the most expensive of the 9 military bases changing their names due to ties with the Confederacy.An uproar over the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 led to calls across the country to change the Confederate names of things like military ships, bases, and assets.According to a press release issued by the United States Department of Defense, the complete report included the Naming Commission's plan to remove the names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America.Congress established the commission in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which then-President Trump vetoed in part due to the commission's existence. Bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate overrode his veto.Implementing all of the recommendations will cost an estimated $62.5 million. Benjamin M. Coulter, Ed.D.: Above. Every student is assigned a mentor when they enter college. If necessary, they can switch mentors when they declare a major or change majors. Colleges should hire mentors with personal experience from a student's field of study. Mentors can address how course curricula connect with real-world work experience. Mentors are proactive, scheduling regular calls or in-person meetings with their mentees. Highly self-motivated students might not need that regular interaction, in which case it can be brief, but many students would benefit from a regular check-in or nudge. Mentors should be fully aware of all available resources that their school offers, including tutoring, financial assistance and mental health resources. The National Education Association reports that 44% of college students reported symptoms of depression; 37% said they experienced anxiety; and 15% had considered suicide. While not a panacea for these issues, mentors can direct students to appropriate counseling and intervention resources. Graduation should not be the goal of this mentorship; successful job placement or acceptance into a postgraduate program should be. Throughout my career as a military officer, I received formal feedback from senior officers as part of the Army's highly regimented annual evaluation process, known as the Officer Evaluation Report, or OER. However, the most relevant, candid and meaningful guidance came from peers and ranking officers whom I worked with on a frequent basis. They were mentors in every sense of the word.As I entered academia, I benefited from similar mentor relationships among the faculty and senior administrators at NC State during my doctoral program, and at Western Carolina University, where I taught for several years.They often challenged me as a faculty member and administrator to learn new skills and explore innovative approaches to leadership, and counseled me on areas surrounding my career goals and pathway. I've seen firsthand how mentors provide value across various sectors, including the business world. More than 70 percent of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs.Yet one area where mentorship is lacking is in the student experience at our institutions of higher learning. Unfortunately, college advising today is largely rote, perfunctory and intermittent. It is incumbent upon students to seek out and make appointments with their advisors, rather than the other way around. Many of those interactions are based solely on discussing graduation requirements and corresponding class schedules rather than the students' well-being and career goals.Certainly, there are excellent advisors and mentors in our colleges and universities, but it is time for them to implement holistic mentoring programs for undergraduate and graduate students. Mentoring learners needs to be a proactive, continuous endeavor focused on the whole individual, rather than just their transcripts.Here are five considerations for an effective postsecondary mentoring program.Western Governors University, the accredited online nonprofit university where I currently work, assigns a program mentor to every incoming student. These individuals work with students from day one through to their graduation. In a 2022 Gallup Poll of WGU graduates, 63% said they had a mentor who encouraged them to pursue their goals, compared to the national average of just 30%.Shannon DeBruhl, MSN, RN, a senior program mentor from Zebulon, says,Progressing in one's higher-education journey today can be daunting. Freshmen and transfer students arrive on campus or enroll in online schools with little guidance from individuals committed to helping them succeed. More than one million adults in North Carolina have some college credit but no degree; perhaps some of them would have benefited from a mentor who could help them resolve financial or academic issues.To better serve our students, more colleges and universities should hire, train and empower professional mentors. Doing so will promote student success and lead to better outcomes for the schools and their alumni. The House committee assembled to investigate the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol did not properly document and save its communications or records it collected.Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight for the Committee on House Administration, is heading a GOP effort to audit the January 6 committee's findings but says his probe has been hampered because of a lack of documentation, according to Fox News. Numerous documents and recordings, as well as the January 6 committee's communications with the White House, appear to be missing from the stores of information and data left for Loudermilk to sort through.Loudermilk told Fox News, referencing a subgroup on the January 6 committee tasked with probing security failures.Loudermilk said, based on people he spoke with, the select committee on January 6 intentionally did not investigate security failures that contributed to the riot in order to focus blame on former President Donald Trump. Former January 6 committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said last month that he believes his committee's workon the Department of Justice to indict Trump over January 6.Thompson said.The gaps in the January 6 committee records came to light after defense attorneys representing clients charged over the riot began requesting documents and other evidence from Loudermilk for their cases. The congressman said some of what he was asked for, he did not have.Loudermilk relayed his concerns to Thompson, who said that his committee turned over all that was required of it, totaling four terabytes of information. Loudermilk contested that claim, saying he had only received 2.5 terabytes of data. He also said that Thompson's committee violated federal law and admitted as much in a footnote of a letter Thompson sent Loudermilk on July 7. Thompson has denied the accusation.The footnote said in part:Loudermilk told Fox News:The Georgia Republican also discovered that missing from the January 6 files are an unknown number of communications sent between the committee and the White House. Loudermilk made the discovery when he obtained a letter sent from Thompson to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that was not included in the committee's files.Loudermilk wrote in a letter to Thompson.The January 6 committee was largely a Democratic effort, except for former Republican Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who joined the committee after Republican leader Kevin McCarthy refused to countenance the committee over restrictions on which Republicans could join. This is Labor Day Weekend, 2023. For many it marks the beginning of the 2024 Election. Our Editorial Team has diligently researched the conditions we see extant that will impact, nay even determine, that election. We will thus begin a series of articles we trust will inform our readers to get prepared for what is to come. The first thing that is obvious to us is that the 2024 Election will be pivotal in the immediate future of our nation and thus the world. The second thing that is obvious is that this will be an election unlike any we have ever seen for President. It will not be a contest between two candidates as much as it will be a test of whether the American System will survive. Of course, the voters will vote in November of 2024. But we have serious doubts about whether the voter sentiments will determine the outcome. Rather, we fear that money will be the deciding factor, both in whether there is an honest election with every vote being counted and every voter voting only once. Moreover, Big Money will have a tremendous impact on voter attitudes. Into this mix comes an unusual assemblage of special interest politics in which the traditional parties (Democrat and Republican) will play much less of a role in the outcome and the battles will be based on conflicting approaches to government. The Republican part is stuck in a rut that is archaic. In its place is an organization, sometimes referred to as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) led by Donald Trump and a puppet Democrat Party now under the control of radical leftists. Each camp has a very different approach to how they believe government should function, what its purposes are and even how relevant the constitutional framework of our Founders is for today. We predict that the outcome will be driven more by voter turnout than any other single factor. The two ends of the political spectrum are pretty much set in stone and are not likely to change. Republicans on the right will support Trump no matter what. Democrats on the left will be intent on bringing down the traditional system of government, including the constitutional foundations such as freedom of speech, capitalism and traditional American moral and family values (i.e. gender politics). The mechanics of both movements are now in place, not the least of which is the composition of the U. S. Supreme Court. Whoever enters the White House and who controls the Senate will determine the composition of the SCOTUS while the sitting court may ultimately determine the outcome of a close election. The issue of the weaponization of the Department of Justice is already well entrenched. All the frivolous indictments of Donald Trump are designed to use the Rule of Law against political opponents. If Trump is elected we will see a massive clearance of the Justice Department, returning DOJ to is more traditional role while if the Democrat candidate is elected we will see a massive subversion of the legal system to control the government, and indeed the entire system. We dont doubt the basic dichotomy described above. The undecided factor is how the mass of the voters respond. We have great faith in the voters to right the Ship of State. They always have. And we believe they will again, but what we do not have a comfortable feeling about is how We The People will respond. There are many parallels in all of this today to the conditions that existed in the mid nineteenth century, which we all know resulted in an armed conflict between the opposing views of the role of the Federal Government versus the states. No, we do not believe the Civil War was fought to abolish slavery. That was only the issue used as a smoke screen to influence the masses. We see a similar scenario developing in this environment. No, white supremacists will not be the instigator of violent, conflict although they may well react quickly to such violence. Rather we suspect the conflict, if there is one, will begin from the Left. The first factor will no doubt be whether Donald Trump is elected, or it appears in advance that he will be elected. We dont think many on the extreme left will sit idly by and watch that happen. We have already witnessed that phenomenon in some of our large cities in recent months. We would expect Trump as President to pardon many/most of those convicted of insurrection from January 6, and even himself and his own family from what many believe are unjust convictions. That could be a spark such as Fort Sumter was in 1861. Lord help us if Trump is assassinated. Who knows what the spark may be but we predict that if it appears the country will move right and the response from the extreme left will be violent. As mentioned above, that has already begun in places such as Seattle. A corollary to all this is the question of the military. If a President orders the military to attack American citizens it will present a huge dilemma for many professional soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, coast guard and law enforcement. At the risk of overstating the obvious, we would suggest that should such an event occur then every able-bodied American may will have to decide how they will respond. Our advice now is to go ahead and think through this issue and decide early where your line is that will cause you to join the fight. If this thing results in a shooting match, then we wonder just how many Patriots would be willing to take up arms to defend our freedoms and constitution. But then, only about 3% of the males actually fought the King of Englands forces in 1776 so who knows the outcome. So, wonder with us just how many would follow Patrick Henrys give me liberty or give me death. But be advised, you may be put into a position wherein you are forced to decide. Best plan ahead. To assist you, as we approach the election, we will be posting articles that inform this situation. To summarize we believe we are at a unique point in American history and we will either lose our country as we know it or we will return it to the original foundations. We see both major political parties as pretty much irrelevant to the outcome. The Democrats, at least the extreme element that now control the party, are hell bent on destroying the nation and the Republicans are totally inept to prevent it. The media will take the side of the anti Americans and the battle will turn on how We The People respond. The first installment in our series can be found at Trending Politics with the article entitled: Soros Reveals Plan to Unleash Hell on Trump in 2024 Election Men constructing the Cedar Falls Hydro-Electrical Plant in 1921: Above. The origins of Labor Day are rather dubious, born from congressional guilt of Americans shot down by the Army and U.S. Marshalls, while exercising their first amendment right to congregate and protest during the Pullman Strike, in Haymarket Square in Chicago on May 4, 1894, was signed into law during the Grover Cleveland Administration, with the first holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September, 1894. As dubious as the origin of the holiday, was the origin of who killed whom during this Haymarket Massacre, where a bomb explosion and the resultant gunfire killed 4 protesters and 7 officers of the law during this protest to advocate for the eight hour day.The Pullman Strike occurred at the height of the origins of the labor Movement in America, where the oft referred to "Robber Barons" of the "Gilded Age" of American wealth creation, as America's wealthiest men and some of the richest in the world, competed with one another to see who could amass more wealth. These wealthiest Americans: J. P. Morgan (finance, industrial consolidation), Andrew Carnegie (steel), John D. Rockefeller (oil), Cornelius Vanderbilt (transportation, especially railroads), considered each other's wealth as an adversarial component to their ever-encompassing competition to best the other's financial position by building astounding sums of wealth, often at the expense of their workers, skilled and otherwise.These were fertile times, not only for the creation of staggering wealth, but for the origination of labor unions, which began for a reasonable purpose then, but have, for all practical purposes, outlived any purposeful existence now. These Robber Barons, and especially Cornelius Vanderbilt in this case, who sowed these strong seeds of extreme discontent with his ill-conceived greed in cutting the pay of his rank and file Pullman servants (Pullman Strike), to better compete with these upper echelon masters of wealth: Carnegie, Morgan and Rockefeller, may have been solely responsible for congress's rush to provide the American population with this new found holiday in that summer of 1894 - our labor Day.While these Robber barons were basically smart and hardworking, they were men that were competitive to a fault, who made great sport of amassing wealth. They were remarkably just as competitive with each other in their dispensation of that wealth to charitable trusts that still honor their names to this day. While many will appreciate the good deeds of their various charitable trusts, there will be even more Americans, who appreciate their (Robber Barons') unintended day off that their actions did most adequately facilitate.Now you know Stan's version of how we wound up with the American holiday of Labor Day. A spike in rude behavior emerged as one of the pandemic's many societal consequences and has not receded alongside the public health crisis. The uptick in poor behavior is likely driven by increased stress and isolation from society, The Atlantic's Olga Khazan reported in 2022. In many cases, these stressors mean people are easily set off when encountering innocuous requests, Keith Humphreys, PhD, a psychiatry professor at Stanford (Calif.) University, told The Atlantic. The trend has hit healthcare hard. Hospitals and health systems nationwide have reported an uptick in disrespectful, discriminatory or violent behaviors from patients since the pandemic. Nearly 24 percent of physicians reported experiencing workplace mistreatment in 2020, including verbal mistreatment or abuse, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Newer research suggests uncivil behavior has continued. In a 2022 survey of 2,575 nurses, 48 percent reported a small or significant increase in workplace violence. This number is up 119 percent from March 2021, according to National Nurses United, which conducted the survey. "Multiple studies have documented that incivility is common in healthcare and has been associated with burnout and intent to leave," researchers wrote in a June 2023 study published in Cureus. A growing body of research also suggests incivility toward healthcare workers can hinder care quality. A study published in Pediatrics involving 24 neonatal intensive care unit teams across four hospitals in Israel found being exposed to rudeness adversely affected team members' diagnostic and procedural performance. "In taking steps to enhance patient safety, policymakers should begin to consider the role played by the subtle and seemingly benign verbal aggression to which medical professionals are subjected on a routine basis," study authors said. While there's no telling if the pandemic-era trend is here to stay, healthcare leaders must take immediate steps to protect their workforces from heightened levels of incivility and promote high-quality care. Some health systems, such as Mass General Brigham, have enacted a patient code of conduct to protect staff from harassment and discriminatory behavior. On rare occasions, patients who violate this code may be asked to seek care elsewhere, the Somerville, Mass.-based health system said. The CDC updated its risk assessment on distant omicron relative BA.2.86 on Aug. 30, saying the strain which has concerned experts over the large number of mutations it carries has been detected in at least four states. "CDC continues to track the presence of the BA.2.86 [COVID-19] variant," the update said. "Since CDC's initial risk assessment, this variant has been identified in additional countries from both human and wastewater specimens." In the U.S., BA.2.86 cases have been detected in Virginia, Michigan, Ohio and New York either through human samples or wastewater samples. Separately, Houston Methodist in an Aug. 31 statement emailed to Becker's said it has identified Texas' first reported instance of BA.2.86 through genomic sequencing. The hospital's COVID-19 sequencing team continues to sequence all positive specimens. Over the past two weeks, the strain has comprised less than 1 percent of circulating SARS-CoV-2 circulating viruses in the U.S., the CDC's risk assessment said. However, since sequencing efforts have slowed down significantly, experts have said the true prevalence could be higher. The CDC said the current uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations the U.S. is seeing is likely driven by XBB lineages, not BA.2.86. Other assessments remain the same: existing tests and medications should still be effective, there is no evidence it causes more severe disease and more data is needed to make firm assessments on transmissibility at immunity. Experts told The Atlantic there are three potential scenarios for how BA.2.86 could play out: It could mimic omicron's spread and cause a significant surge the worst and least likely scenario; it could spread enough to overtake more common strains without driving a new large surge; or it could dissipate. Award-winning scalp micropigmentation artist and practitioner Mark Smith offers life-changing treatments at the Maypole Clinic in Holywood Job satisfaction and pride is high for Mark Smith, owner of Dot Micro, a hair loss treatment clinic he created in Holywood back in 2018. A scalp micropigmentation artist and practitioner, Mark is often rewarded with tears of joy from grateful clients. Youre changing someones confidence, youre giving them back their self-esteem, he says. You really are helping people, its a good job. Offering an affordable alternative to hair transplants, with instant results, scalp micropigmentation is a top trending hair loss treatment across the world. And Mark has gained an international reputation in the field, picking up global Rising Star and Best New Artist accolades at awards events in London and Orlando, Florida. He is a member of British Association of Hair Restoration Surgery and speaks at international events. A graphic designer for most of his working life, it was his own personal experience with hair loss which led to the career change. It was losing my hair through stress, business, family, marriage and all of that, Mark says. I lost my confidence, had some hair transplants, worked for a hair transplant clinic for a number of years and in return they gave me back a head of hair. He also ran his own hair transplant clinic in Northern Ireland, before getting his qualifications to move into the booming scalp micropigmentation sector. With winning the different awards over the years and becoming well-known to my peers around the world, I decided to stick with it, and its been a really good business, he says. I started around February 2018 and ever since then, Ive continued to train and retrain and see some of the artists I admire around the world. Ive always aspired to be as good as I can. Currently a one-man operation, Mark has bold expansion plans including a training school for practitioners and potentially rolling out his services to include permanent make-up. To date, he had handled around 600 clients. Ultimately what Im doing is using a cosmetic aesthetic technique to treat different types of hair loss, he says. Im adding these tiny impressions of flecks to the skin that resemble hair follicles. While alopecia comes in many different forms, its most common form is male pattern baldness. I can create what looks like a shaved look for people who have lost all their hair or with a man who is shaving his hair around the sides and back but is bald on top and has the horseshoe at the back, I can make it look like he has a full head of hair. For a man or woman with long but thin hair, it can make your hair look more dense, and I can also camouflage scars from hair transplants or medical procedures. Typical treatments cost 2,000 and involve three sessions of two hours each. Semi-permanent, it generally lasts for years and can be freshened up as required. In comparison to hair transplants, its generally a lot cheaper and the result are instant because in just a few weeks you have what looks like a full head of hair again, but with a hair transplant you potentially have to wait a year to see results, Mark says. Starter packs can help you get ready for uni even as rental prices soar The average rental price for all properties across Northern Ireland climbed by almost ten per cent in a year to 791 per month, according to latest research by property website PropertyPal.com. And there was a greater increase in Belfast where the cost of renting soared by 11.3 per cent in a year to 908 per month. With going to university an ever-increasing financial investment, those taking those tentative first steps into adulting, should draw up a budget showing your monthly income and outgoings. For discounts on clothing, download the UNiDAYS app and sign up for an NUS card if your university is affiliated with it. Discounts are typically 10% to 25% with retailers such as Topshop, ASOS and New Look. Meanwhile, charity shops are great for finding hidden gems at a fraction of the high street price. They're also a good option for fancy dress nights when you have to find an outfit you may not wear again. When you're doing your supermarket shop, download food waste apps such as Too Good to Go which allow users to collect items for a fraction of the usual cost at the end of the day that would otherwise have been thrown out. Shorter term though some thought will need to go into having all of the essentials uni students will need for day-to-day living and thats where starter kits come in. From the kitchen to bedding, lots of retailers offer various options at various price points. Heres a round-up of whats available to buy this September: Unpacked (www.unpacked.co.uk) A 46-item kit that the retailers says that covers sleeping, cooking and dining and is its most popular seller. It includes hotel quality bedding and pans that work on every type of hob. As a bonus, its delivered in one box. Items included: kitchen scissors, colander and five-piece utensils: slotted spoons, slotted turner, masher, solid spoon and ladle. There are options to customise the bedding from single, double and king size which varies the price from 190-220. Unikitout (www.unikitout.com) This online retailer insists its got a masters degree in the essentials, and has three options for its starter kits: complete kit, premium kit or custom kit. The options allow you to select different colours of duvet and bedding sheets and because it offers the opportunity for customisation prices can vary but broadly speaking the range is 219 to 280. Ikea Student Essentials Box Aimed at covering all that the necessities a student would require in the kitchen, and packed in a clear Samla box, which is to be used for storage, the kit includes a pot and a pan, a cutlery set, plates and bowls and the most recognisably Ikea mugs in the simple FARGRIK design and more. And all of that for only 49.50. Its just available in stores and only while stock lasts. Student Essentials (studentessentials.co) Just in time for the rush of Freshers Week, this site (at the time of going to print) was running a number of promotions. From its all-in-one university starter kit with 32+ items starting at 183 (originally 212.76), premium starter pack, 199.99 (originally 299.99) as well as lots of other options from bath towel kits and more. In a Box (www.inaboxgroupltd.com) As well as household essentials, uni students will need a lot of stationary and this retailer has a stationary starter kit for 40 which contains a whole host of items from pens, pencils, two black roller ball pens, Sellotape dispenser, scissors, stapler, hole punch, desk tin, bin, as well as a small dry eraser board with marker pens, eraser and magnets. Fane Valley group chairman Trevor Lockhart marking 120 years of the co-op this year, with chairman Patrick Savage Agriculture and food processing giant Fane Valley has won planning permission for new 4.5m premises in Co Down. Lisburn and Castlereagh Councils planning committee has given the go-ahead to the co-ops plans for a 5,500 sq m office and industrial unit at Glenavy Road in Moira. The site will be used as a distribution and storage hub for Fane Valley Groups online sales of agriculture supplies and for supplying its 17 retail stores across Northern Ireland. The planning application was submitted by Belfast-based planning advisors Clyde Shanks and is expected to create 25 full-time jobs. The councils planning committee has also granted approval to an application for nine modern industrial units on the Comber Road in Dundonald, which is expected to attract further investment to the area. The new units will offer modern manufacturing space, the council said, with parking for cars and bicycles as well as landscaping. Alderman Martin Gregg, chair of the councils planning committee, said: This is really positive news for Lisburn and Castlereagh and in particular, the villages of Dundonald and Moira. Both these projects will bring immediate employment and economic benefits to both areas and will help to continue to grow the councils business prospects. "By investing and developing new infrastructure we can help create more and better jobs for the people who live in Lisburn and Castlereagh. If passed, the proposed legislation would ban solar farms from millions of acres of English farmland (Gareth Fuller/PA) UK households could collectively lose up to 5 billion a year if a law blocking large-scale solar farms on productive agricultural land is passed, energy analysts have said. Tabled as an amendment to the Energy Bill, the proposed legislation would stop projects over 500 acres in size from being built when at least 20% is classified as best and most versatile agricultural land. If approved, it would leave each UK household up to 180 a year worse off because the equivalent electricity would be produced by using more expensive gas instead, analysts from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said. The proposed change was introduced by Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton in the East Midlands, who is campaigning against a large solar farm being built in her constituency. She argues the plant, at 1,144 acres, is too big for her county and that its supply chain may be linked to the forced labour of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, China. Developer Canadian Solar has said its internal investigations have found no evidence of this. The UK Government wants to build 70GW of solar capacity by 2035 and the ECIU said a large proportion of this will have to come from infrastructure installed on the ground. They calculated that of Englands 58GW share of the UKs total target, between 23GW and 38GW will need to be ground-based, depending on how much is added to rooftops, although they estimate that buildings have only enough space to accommodate up to 22GW on top of the 12.7GW of total solar capacity already installed. Tom Lancaster, land analyst at ECIU said: There has never been a cheaper form of energy than solar, and putting even more barriers in place to its rollout will cost the public dear, whilst locking in dependence on imported gas. This makes little sense when new solar farms will only need a tiny fraction of the available farmland, presenting no real risk to food security whilst providing a major boost to Britains energy security. The ECIU said almost 173,000 acres will be needed to meet the solar target, which accounts for 0.7% of English farmland, and if the amendment to the Energy Bill is passed it will prevent millions of acres from being suitable for solar farms. MPs are yet to debate and vote on the amendments and the proposed solar restrictions are just one of dozens of suggestions that may or may not be passed. A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: Last year, renewables accounted for over 40% of our electricity, increasing to almost 48% in the first quarter of this year, and solar is a key part of our plans to bolster our energy independence. As the most significant piece of energy legislation in a generation, the landmark Energy Bill is set to provide a cleaner, more affordable, and more secure energy system that is fit for the future. We continue to support deployment of solar panels on brownfield and low and medium grade agricultural land, alongside rooftop solar panels, to help us achieve our ambition of 70GW solar capacity by 2035. China buckles down to protect snow leopards on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Xinhua) 11:11, September 04, 2023 A snow leopard is pictured in a canyon in Zadoi County of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Feb. 21, 2023. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua) XINING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Kungari, a herdsman in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province, embarked on yet another climb along a steep mountain ridge to check on the infrared camera he had installed to monitor wildlife. He took out the memory card and started flipping through the photos. It was during this moment that he stumbled upon a remarkable find: footage of snow leopards, one of the world's most mysterious big cats. Snow leopards are the flagship species of the local plateau ecosystem. Under first-class state protection, snow leopards usually live in mountains between 2,500 meters and 5,000 meters high and can withstand temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius. The species is also known as the "king of snow mountains." Starting from Sept. 1 this year, a law on ecological protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, also known as "the roof of the world," came into effect. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an area of around 2.58 million square km, spans six provincial-level regions in western China, including Qinghai and Tibet. Kungari's family has been grazing animals in a sleepy village, Chumarle County of Yushu for generations, and he has a deep understanding of the great changes that have taken place in the ecosystem of his hometown over the years. This knowledge has helped him spot the wildlife via infrared cameras. "When I was young, I found that the environment of the grassland where my family grazes animals was getting worse each year. There were more and more black mud flats, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to feed our livestock. Some villagers moved out during those years," Kungari recalled. Like many locals, Kungari had never previously seen snow leopards and was afraid of the animal, imagining it as a sort of "beast" that is often spoken of in stories. However, as the local environment has improved, and with the protection efforts that have been made for wild animals in recent years, he came to realize that snow leopards will not attack humans unprovoked. He also realized that changes in the species' population can be used to determine the current restoration situation of the local ecological environment. In 2017, at the call of the management office in Chumarle County under the Sanjiangyuan National Park, Kungari joined a newly established snow leopard monitoring team. By establishing five monitoring locations along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, spanning over 760 km, as well as the villages and townships administered by the county, the administration office managed to build an activity database for the local snow leopards, said Niu Shaopeng with the office. Under the guidance of researchers and experts, the folk monitoring team, which has expanded from the initial 50 members to more than 100 today, has been spotting wildlife more frequently. "The team has identified and monitored more than 60 snow leopards so far," said Lian Xinming, a researcher at the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, adding that some college students have become lecturers on ecological and environmental protection, while more and more people have realized the importance of ecology. In August, three photographers, who are also herdsmen, saw their film of snow leopards hit the big screen. Themed on a female snow leopard and her friends, the movie has allowed the public to learn more about the endangered wildlife on the plateau. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Comparing the Canadian and the American Right updated to 2023 (Part Three) By Mark Wegierski web posted September 4, 2023 The intellectual, cultural, and academic life of Canada is clearly dominated to a greater extent by "political correctness" than is the case in the United States. Unlike in the U.S., homeschooling is comparatively rare in Canada, there are fewer private schools at the primary and secondary level, and there are very few private, post-secondary institutions. The hundreds of private, more traditional, usually religious-affiliated colleges in the U.S. may allow for the existence of a community of more traditionally-oriented scholars that can have some effect on U.S. politics. Intelligent persons of conservative or traditionalist outlooks are almost completely isolated in Canada, and have almost no hope of achieving the dream of (for example) a tenured academic appointment or even of finishing a Ph.D. Policies similar to employment equity operate, de jure or de facto, at virtually every Canadian university. These determine admissions (to undergraduate, as well as graduate programs -- and especially to professional programs like law and medicine); the disbursement of scholarships and other aid to students; and the hiring of all academic faculty, librarians, library assistants, and other academic and non-academic support staff. The Canadian media, including the publishing world, is also more hostile to persons of conservative or traditionalist outlooks than is the case in the United States. The so-called "alternative media" and "alternative publishers" in Canada usually embrace very left-wing outlooks and are even more hostile to conservatives than the so-called mainstream publishers. So, again, we see the Right being stymied in Canada. Even the sharpest and most reflective persons of conservative or traditionalist outlooks in Canada are highly unlikely to achieve the dream of becoming opinion-columnists in Canadian newspapers, or acclaimed authors with books appearing with credible publishers. Virtually the entire government-subsidized world of "CanLit" is inimical to conservatism. The atrophy of the broader Right in Canada means that Canadians are cut off from many stimulating intellectual and creative ideas and political options. It also means that any remaining socially conservative instincts of the general populace are untutored, and therefore easily pejoritized as "bigotry" by the left-liberal elites. Many people go through their entire lives in Canada without ever hearing even one seriously-presented, conservative or traditionalist argument. It could be argued that it is diversity of thought that is the most important, and most Canadians of any cultural or social group will never get beyond the prevalent, politically-correct, dogmas and taboos. Because of the atrophy of traditional religion in Canada, the gay rights and radical feminist agendas have certainly advanced more quickly than is the case in the United States. The birthrate in Canada has also fallen far below replacement level, in marked contrast to the United States, where even the birthrate of "non-Hispanic white" (to use the official term of the U.S. Census) women is comparatively high. At the same time, Canada has a very high rate of abortion. There is a general climate of social decadence, ill-discipline, and a never-ending war against the so-called "authoritarian personality." Many Canadians are to some extent accepting of all these various Canadian syndromes because they are linked to a very generous welfare-state. Apart from the obvious "true believers" in the left-liberal cadres (most of whom also clearly enjoy very comfortable lives), most ordinary people also tend to fall into line, unwilling to jeopardize their public sector job, or the government subsidy to their business, for the sake of what seem like distant and questionable notions. It should also be pointed out that Canada prides itself on its very generous medical system. The issue of healthcare is growing increasingly salient in Canada, especially with a rapidly-aging population. It seems that many people would be willing to accept virtually anything as far as the social and cultural outlooks they are required to profess, if they could be guaranteed high-quality medical care. At the same time, Canada today fails to meet many of the traditional criteria of a state. It fails to properly control its borders, and its armed forces have (except under Harper) been critically underfunded, to a point of near-atrophy. The federal government under the Chretien Liberals (1993-2003) had been able to achieve a budget surplus owing mainly to the high income tax rates; the 7% Goods and Services Tax (which is levied on virtually all economic activity) (Harper had lowered it to 5%); the reform of Unemployment Insurance (now called Employment Insurance), which significantly cut benefits; the so-called clawback of Old Age Pensions, over a certain, relatively modest income threshold; and the reduction of federal transfer payments for healthcare to the provinces. Considering these facts, the achievement of a federal budget surplus under Prime Minister Chretien and his Finance Minister, Paul Martin Jr. (who was Prime Minister in 2003-2006) is less of a "miracle" than it might appear. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home Filmmaker Ken Loach has described himself as a target for unfounded abuse from the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) after the pressure group condemned the BBC for working with his production company on a new feature film. The veteran director, 87, said he trusts the BBC will treat an offensive email from Jewish campaigners appropriately after the group described him as a denier of antisemitism. Loachs company Sixteen Films has partnered with BBC Film on an upcoming feature, believed to be set in Scotland, titled Downtrodden. Ken Loach with the award for Outstanding British Film for I, Daniel Blake (Ian West/PA) However, the CAA condemned the BBC for working with Loachs production company, describing the move as a terrible lapse in judgment after he was expelled from the Labour Party in 2021 during what he called at the time a purge of Jeremy Corbyn allies. Loach, who has long been celebrated for his socially-critical films, told the PA news agency: This is unfounded abuse from a pressure group. I have answered such allegations many times. There are important questions to put to the CAA when it makes these unpleasant attacks. They have a political agenda and they clearly do not represent all Jewish people, maybe only a minority. They never challenge me directly, simply seek to cause professional damage and personal distress. Protesters during the demonstration organised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism outside the Labour Party headquarters in central London (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Loach described himself as a target for pressure groups such as the CAA as he is known to be of the left and also someone who supports Palestinian rights. He also vehemently denied serving as a producer on the project, saying: In this instance, the CAA has its facts wrong. I am not a producer of the film Downtrodden, nor involved in its production. Sixteen Films is a production company that works with several directors. His comments come following a statement from the CAA over the weekend, which read: Ken Loach has been just appalling in his antisemitism denial, not only during the years of Jeremy Corbyns leadership of the Labour Party, but long after the Equality and Human Rights Commission found evidence of illegal antisemitism and the Labour Party admitted it. Even the Labour Party has ditched him, so why would anyone think hes still an acceptable partner for the BBC? The UKs equalities watchdog found Labour was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination as the former leader struggled to tackle antisemitism. On Monday, Loach said in all matters of antisemitism he takes advice from Jewish colleagues, which include senior academics who have written extensively on the subject, who have experienced antisemitism and understand it. He said: They have written many times in my support and continue to do so. Unlike the casually offensive language of the CAA, their rigorous examination of these issues will withstand any scrutiny. I share their views that there is racism, including antisemitism, in all parties, but that in the Labour party it was weaponised to undermine Jeremy Corbyns leadership, the left in general, and to inhibit criticism of Israel. In 2016, Loach directed I, Daniel Blake which won the Bafta Award for Outstanding British Film for depicting a mans struggle with the welfare system. The BBC has been contacted for comment. Aoife Moore: The Shinner stuff was one thing, but it was death threats, rape threats and out-and-out lies Breaking news of an Irish political scandal catapulted Aoife Moore into the spotlight but with it came a slew of online abuse. The Derry native talks about the murder of her uncle on Bloody Sunday, misogyny in Leinster House and why Sinn Fein the subject of her first book will struggle to make good on their promises. Aoife Grace Moore. Picture: Steve Humphreys Tanya Sweeney Sat 2 Sep 2023 at 09:59 Aoife Moore was driving down a country lane to interview a former IRA prisoner as part of the research for her first book, The Long Game: Inside Sinn Fein, when an unwelcome thought hit her. A man who allegedly spat blood into a police officers mouth has been remanded in custody. Nisha Gough, when informed that a nearby patient was receiving end-of-life care, is also said to have shouted, Good, I hope he dies. He was refused bail and remanded in custody when he appeared at the Londonderry Magistrates Court charged with committing a series of violent incidents when receiving medical care for a wound. The incident allegedly occurred in Altnagelvin Area Hospitals accident and emergency department on Sunday. Gough (22), from Dacre Terrace in the Carlisle Road area of Derry, is alleged to have assaulted a police officer in the hospital by spitting blood into their mouth. He is also charged with assaulting an ambulance paramedic, by spitting into his face, and with assaulting a nurse. The defendant is further charged with attempting to cause criminal damage to a door in the accident and emergency department and with resisting a police officer. A police officer told the court that the defendant was taken to hospital after police found him on Sunday morning on the Craigavon Bridge with an arm injury. While in hospital the defendant behaved in an aggressive manner towards medical staff and towards police officers. He told a member of the nursing staff that he would nail the first police officer who approached him, they told the court. He then took off his top and he had a visible wound dressing to his left arm. He continued to behave aggressively and he continually swore at anyone around him. He was warned three times about his behaviour before he was taken into a waiting area, where he continued to verbally abuse staff. Eventually the police had to handcuff him and thats when he spat at the officer and at the paramedic. His spittle contained blood and the officer whose mouth it entered is now off awaiting procedures for various potential issues. A nurse asked him to calm down, as there was a patient in a nearby room receiving end-of-life care, and he said: Good, I hope he f****** dies. Describing the incident as horrible, the police officer told the court that he believed there would be a high risk of the defendant re-offending in a violent manner if granted bail. Applying for bail, a defence solicitor described the allegations as bizarre and outrageous given the defendant himself was receiving treatment in the hospital for an injury to his arm. While the allegations are of a deeply unpleasant nature, I submit that, with proper conditions imposed, including a ban from entering the hospital, the defendant could be managed on bail, he said. Read more Farmer who criticised police for not catching those behind huge cannabis factory is charged himself When asked by District Judge Oonagh Mullan as to when the defendant moved to Derry, the solicitor replied that the defendant was originally from the north Belfast area and had moved to Derry earlier this year. Refusing bail, Ms Mullan said: To say what he did say about the person receiving end-of-life care was deplorable, disgusting and appalling. The circumstances surrounding this case, as outlined by the police officer, are despicable. He has just been brought into Derry a few months ago. He relocated here but he is continuing with his offending behaviour. Bail is refused. The defendant was remanded in custody until October 2. A woman allegedly took part in a 15,000 burglary at the home of a man attacked with a hatchet and dog chain due to her addiction to drugs, the High Court heard today. Prosecutors claimed Andrea Wilson, 34, was one of two intruders who beat and whipped the victim until he revealed the combination for a safe at his house in Ballyclare, Co Antrim. Jewellery, cash and the keys to two high-value cars were stolen from the property at Hillhead Road in the early hours of August 20. Wilson, of Parkgate Avenue in Belfast, denies charges of aggravated burglary, false imprisonment, attempted grievous bodily harm with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. A 43-year-old co-defendant, Paul Patterson, of no fixed abode, is accused of the same offences. The victim encountered a man and woman in his hallway after he heard glass smashing and got out of bed to investigate. Read more Farmer who criticised police for not catching those behind huge cannabis factory is charged himself Crown lawyer Adrian Higgins, said he was struck on the head with a hatchet which the intruders had brought with them. During a struggle he was forced onto the floor and tied up by the burglars. They repeatedly kicked and punched him, and whipped him with a dog chain until he provided the code for a safe where cash and valuables were kept, prosecution counsel submitted. Keys for Aston Martin and Land Rover vehicles were taken from the vault, along with watches and jewellery belonging to his late wife worth up to 15,000 in total. As the pair cleaned out the safe, the victim managed to wriggle free from his ties and escape from the house. He ran across fields in his bare feet and wearing only boxer shorts to a neighbouring property to raise the alarm, the court heard. Later that morning a woman went to a neighbouring property where she ordered a taxi which took her and an associate to the Parkgate Avenue area of Belfast. Police identified the alleged burglars following inquiries with the cab firm and further research in the area. Three days later officers searched Wilsons home and recovered items believed to have been stolen during the raid. Opposing her bid to be released on bail, Mr Higgins claimed the break-in was potentially fuelled by drug addiction. This applicant spends 80 a day on cocaine and has run up a debt to drug dealers, he contended. Police believe this may have been the motivation for this offence. Defence barrister Sean Doherty confirmed Wilson maintains her innocence. He described the mother-of-two as a vulnerable individual who has struggled with mental health issues. Adjourning the hearing, Lord Justice McCloskey requested more medical evidence before deciding on the bail application. An arson attack on a supermarket in south Belfast is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime. The premises on the Donegall Road were targeted in the early hours of Monday morning. Police believe a bin was placed against the shutters of the shop and set alight at around 2.15am. The incident resulted in the shutters and the shop sign being damaged. The incident is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime, a PSNI spokesperson said. "Officers would ask anyone with any information, or anyone who was driving in the area and who captured dash-cam footage which could assist with their enquiries, to contact them at Lisburn Road, quoting reference number 743 04/09/23. A number of Electric Ireland customers have been affected by a fault with keypad top-ups (Joe Giddens/PA) Electric Ireland has confirmed they are still working to resolve an issue which has led to some customers in Northern Ireland having their power interrupted due to a fault with keypad top-ups. In an updated statement this morning the company said they are really sorry for the impact on customers. The company previously said an error had occurred which had capped some customers meters at a 10 credit limit. Its understood customers have been experiencing issues since Friday afternoon and with some left without power for over 24 hours. "Electric Ireland continues to work to resolve the technical issue which is impacting some keypad customers, the company said. The vast majority of the approximately 120 customers who lost supply over the weekend have been reconnected. Friendly Credit ends at 11am Monday 4th. Any customer who experiences loss of power when the Friendly Credit ends should initially contact us on 0800 313 4926 and we will check on a case-by-case basis if their meter can be returned to normal operation. If we are unable to resolve remotely, we will work with the network operator to replace the meter. As we are prioritising customers who have been directly affected by this issue, we respectfully ask those who still have supply not to call us at present in order that we can assist those customers who have lost supply. "We appreciate this is very challenging for the affected customers and their families. We are really sorry for the upset caused. We acknowledge the inconvenience this is causing and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this complex issue. Electric Ireland is the third largest supplier in Northern Ireland. LATEST | Major operation under way in Newry after canal bursts banks as heavy rain causes chaos across NI PSNI chief has stepped down following a four-year stint as Chief Constable Faced with problems at every turn, Simon Byrne has finally fallen on his sword. After days of mounting pressure, Simon Byrne bowed to the inevitable on Monday afternoon. The beleaguered Chief Constable succumbed to overwhelming demands to resign from his role, with his departure announced following another emergency Policing Board meeting. In the end, the fallout from the Sean Grahams memorial arrest controversy proved insurmountable. Last week, High Court judge Mr Justice Scoffield ruled that two junior officers were unlawfully disciplined for an arrest made at a 2021 commemoration event for the victims of the 1992 UDA atrocity on the Ormeau Road. The judge said they had been disciplined to allay a threat that Sinn Fein could withdraw its support for policing. Sinn Fein has insisted there was no such threat. Though Mr Byrne came through an emergency Policing Board meeting last Thursday, his refusal to resign and claim that the ruling would be appealed sparked a furious reaction among unions associated with police officers and staff. Both the Police Federation and NIPSA the union representing much of the police staff indicated they would be meeting this week to discuss submitting motions of no confidence in the Chief Constable. It has proved the final straw in a series of gaffes that spanned not just the intense scrutiny of the last few weeks, but date back to the very days after he took on the role four years ago. Read more PSNI chief has been compared to Boris Johnson but theres a key difference In September 2019, Mr Byrne sparked a political storm when he said measures including taking their children into care could be employed in the policing of paramilitaries. He later said he did not intend to suggest children could be used as pawns in the battle against terrorism, but added that he would not be apologising. Just months later, he again caused controversy when an image of him posing with armed officers at a police station in Crossmaglen on Christmas Day was posted on X (formerly Twitter). The move which sources say he was advised against at the time was branded offensive by Sinn Feins Conor Murphy, and ultimately resulted in the PSNI carrying out a review of policing in south Armagh. That report which made 50 recommendations was welcomed by nationalists and people living in the area, but a section on the future of memorials for murdered RUC officers led to concern among unionists, with the first calls for his resignation being voiced. When questioned on the inclusion at a Policing Board meeting, Mr Byrne said the PSNI were not removing memorials and never have been. Further pressure to resign was heaped on the Chief Constable following the decision of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) not to prosecute anyone in relation to the funeral of veteran republican Bobby Storey in June 2020. The funeral had attracted 2,000 mourners at a time when Covid regulations were in place. PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne has resigned. Pic: Colm Lenaghan/Pacemakeer The incident that has ultimately led to his downfall occurred just months later following the handling of a mans arrest at the Sean Grahams massacre memorial in February 2021. Mark Sykes had been shot multiple times in the loyalist terror attack, and the two police officers who arrested him were referred to the PPS, but a decision was made not to prosecute them. The Police Federation later launched a legal case in defence of one of the officers, who was suspended following the incident. That legal case concluded last week, ruling the officers were unlawfully disciplined. The PSNIs handling of the Black Lives Matter protests also brought criticism of PSNI management. There were 72 cases of 60 penalty notices issued at Custom House Square in Belfast and Guildhall Square in Derry on June 6, 2020, at a rally that was part of a global movement following the murder of George Floyd in America by a police officer. There were 14 people reported to the PPS as well following the June 2020 protests. The PPS later said there was no reasonable prospect of conviction for any offence, and the PSNI had to ask the Courts Service to refund the fines. The comparison in the handling of the BLM protests and a Protect our Monuments protest that took place at the same time was also noted by human rights campaigners. No such fines were handed out at the gathering of loyalists attending the monuments rally at Belfast City Hall, which was also held in June 2020. In January this year the force said it sacked nine officers in the previous 12 months for misconduct related to sexual or domestic abuse. It has also revealed there were currently 74 ongoing cases, with 32 officers suspended on suspicion of sexual misconduct. At at time when the PSNI is also currently under fire for the poor representation of either Catholic of female officers in the higher ranks, the data breach of August 8 this year ramped up pressure on Mr Byrne even further. Details of 10,000 police officers and staff were mistakenly released in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, putting the security of the entire staff at risk. Read more Chief Constable Simon Byrne has to accept the buck stops with him The news led to further revelations that a laptop, radio and documents had been stolen from a police officers vehicle in Newtownabbey, while just days later an officer drove off with a number of documents on the car roof, sparking further security concerns. A number of those details have been posted publicly by dissident republicans, with one man already appearing in court to face charges relating to the breach. Another incident of this nature on Friday revealed further farce, after police initially claimed details of three serving officers had been posted on a bus shelter in Dungiven. Hours later, a second PSNI statement confirmed the information on the poster was incorrect, leading to one woman named on the poster to issue a statement through her solicitor to categorically deny she was a serving police officer, adding: I have never been employed by the police in any capacity. Later on Friday, the DUP confirmed they had submitted a motion of no confidence in the Chief Constable to the Policing Board and when the monthly meeting scheduled for September 7 was cancelled to be replaced by an emergency meeting on Monday, the writing was on the wall. Faced with problems at every turn, Mr Byrne has finally fallen on his sword. A forthcoming book has claimed that Martin McGuinness suggested Gerry Adams temporarily stand down from his position as Sinn Fein president in 2013 amid the controversy over his brothers sexual abuse of Mr Adams niece. Liam Adams was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2013 after being found guilty of raping his daughter Aine. He died from cancer at a Belfast hospice, where he had been moved to from Maghaberry Prison, in 2019. The offences, which were first reported to police in 1987, took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Gerry Adams had earlier admitted that he was aware of the abuse. His niece was extremely critical of her uncle in relation to the case. She told her story in a TV documentary in 2009. Liam Adams After the documentary was broadcast, it was revealed that Gerry Adams senior, Gerry and Liam Adams father and Aines grandfather, sexually abused members of his family. The revelation regarding Mr McGuinness orchestrating a move to have Gerry Adams temporarily stand down from his position as the head of Sinn Fein over the controversy is contained in The Long Game, a new book on Sinn Fein by journalist Aoife Moore. Mr Adams was Sinn Fein president from 1983 and 2018 and navigated the party through several significant changes, including ending its policy of abstentionism and supporting the police. He also played a key role in the peace process. The book reports a meeting of senior Sinn Fein officials in the partys headquarters at Dublins Parnell Square following the conviction of Liam Adams, according to The Irish Times. During the meeting Mr McGuinness suggested Mr Adams step aside for a period. Referencing police investigations relating to the case that were ongoing at the time, Mr McGuinness reportedly said: I think Gerry could stand down for the course of one of these investigations. Im only throwing that out, just a suggestion. Mr Adams resisted this and was backed by allies, the book says. The meeting never fully got off the ground, the book claims. And Adams remained in charge. Those who sat around the table walked away having received a lesson in how not to take on Gerry Adams. In response to a query from The Irish Times, Mr Adams said: This was a hugely traumatic time for my family but especially for my niece. I was giving evidence against my brother in court and he was later convicted. Myself and Martin spoke about it often, conversations which were always supportive and compassionate. On one occasion he offered to step in for me if I needed some time. I was grateful for the solidarity but was able to continue working. I will always be thankful for the bonds of friendship with Martin over a lifetime. The Long Game by Aoife Moore will be published on September 7 Dr Michael Watt had previously worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) An assessment report into a Belfast-based neurologist found that he repeatedly failed to make correct diagnoses, which led to patients inappropriately being given drugs with "serious and toxic side-effects", a fitness to practise tribunal has heard. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing into Dr Michael Watt was also told that the assessment found his use of "idiosyncratic diagnostic criteria" had led to patients receiving unnecessary invasive treatment. Dr Watt was at the centre of Northern Ireland's largest ever recall of patients in 2018 when more than 4,000 of his patients attended recall appointments. A previous MPTS tribunal granted Dr Watt voluntary removal from the medical register. However, the High Court quashed that ruling due to concerns it was "not sufficient to protect the public". The three-person tribunal began its new hearing on Monday, and was told that Dr Watt will not be in attendance but will be legally represented. Tribunal chairman Neil Dalton asked Dr Watt's lawyer, Matthew McDonagh, if any of the facts set out in the allegations against his client are admitted. Mr McDonagh said: "No, sir. In the absence of Dr Watt no facts are admitted." Charles Garside KC, representing the General Medical Council (GMC), told the hearing it is a performance case, rather than a misconduct case. He said that, after concerns were first raised about Mr Watt's work in 2016, an assessment was carried out by the GMC in October 2018. He said the four assessors will be called as witnesses during the hearing. Mr Garside said Dr Watt had been a consultant neurologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast but ceased clinical practice in 2017. He said Dr Watt had co-operated with the GMC assessment and was interviewed three times. The barrister then said that, conscious of the "considerable publicity" around the case, he would read directly from the summary and recommendations of the assessors' report in a number of categories. He said: "Knowledge, skills and performance, maintaining professional performance - unacceptable. "Assessment - unacceptable. Clinical management - unacceptable. Operative technical skills - no judgment. "Record-keeping - unacceptable. Safety and quality - no judgment. "Relationships with patients - unacceptable. Working with colleagues - acceptable." Continuing to read from the report, he said: "Dr Watt's performance has been found to be deficient. Dr Watt is not fit to practise and should cease practice. "The team has come to this conclusion on the following basis: Persistent failure to take adequate histories from patients and carry out clinical examinations. "Persistent and repeated failure to make correct diagnoses, resulting in patients receiving inappropriate management which included drugs with serious and toxic side-effects. "Use of idiosyncratic diagnostic criteria, leading to patients receiving unnecessary invasive treatment (epidural blood patches). "Failure to consider involving specialist neurologist colleagues in management of complex patients. Dr Michael Watt "Failure to discuss risks and benefits of treatments with patients to allow them to come to informed decisions. "Dr Watt showed little insight during the assessment with regard to any of the above points. "The scope of these deficiencies, combined with this lack of insight, led the team to conclude that remediation is unlikely to change Dr Watt's performance and he should cease practice." Mr Garside said the GMC's case is based solely on the report of the assessors. He added: "The GMC submit that if you accept the assessors' opinion you should find that Dr Watt's fitness to practise is currently impaired." The tribunal then went into private session at the request of Dr Watt's lawyer to discuss personal issues. When the hearing resumed, Mr Dalton said a "potential health issue" had arisen. He said: "It has become clear there is a large amount of material which now needs to be considered by the tribunal that relates to that private issue - I'm told it's around 1,000 pages of material." He adjourned the tribunal in public session until Wednesday afternoon. No, Jennifer Rubin, John Eastman's defense is not doing poorly By Rachel Alexander web posted September 4, 2023 Former Republican Jennifer Rubin wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post last week criticizing Trump attorney John Eastman's defense in the California bar disbarment trial against him. Unlike her, I've watched every minute of the trial, which is going into the third week. The bar is desperately trying to show there was no legal authority for Eastman to advise Trump that Mike Pence could have rejected electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud, but as more evidence comes out, their case is getting weaker and weaker. Rubin said Pence's attorney Greg Jacob told Eastman it was "gravely irresponsible for you to entice the President with an academic theory that had no legal viability." Since Rubin clearly hasn't bothered watching the trial, she won't tell you what Jacob said at trial. He contradicted himself. Eastman's attorney Randy Miller asked Jacob about a memo he wrote where he stated that "scholars disagree" whether it's the vice president's responsibility to substantively deal with accepting electoral slates. Jacob admitted , "There is a section in the Constitution that is at best ambiguous whether the vice president can reject electoral slates." He cited three legal scholars who wrote articles arguing that the vice president has somewhat of a substantive role in that area, and said this question was "debated and disputed" in law review articles. Rubin also claimed that a 91-page report authored by the bar's expert witness Matthew Seligman somehow destroyed Eastman's defense. The report from Seligman, who has probably been illegally practicing law without an active license while assisting the California bar on this, was all over the board on that issue. Rubin said his report found that the 12th Amendment, the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and congressional precedent show that "the Eastman positions were so devoid of support that 'no reasonable attorney exercising appropriate diligence in the circumstances would adopt them.'" However, Miller got Seligman to discuss the legislative debates of the 1876 election, where Republicans wanted the vice president to decide competing sets of electoral slates from some Southern states, but Democrats did not. There, a deal ultimately was reached by a special commission, allowing Republican Rutherford Hayes to become president and Democrat Samuel Tilden conceded. No Republicans were prosecuted nor their attorneys disciplined. If Seligman thought Eastman's position was so outrageous, why does he prominently feature a debate between Eastman and progressive legal scholar Lawrence Lessig about it on his website? One of the scholarly articles that Seligman wrote, " Disputed Presidential Elections and the Collapse of Constitutional Norms ," discussed how a political party could have deserted "constitutional norms" "while staying within the strict bounds of the law" to "steal the presidency in 9 of the 34 elections since 1887 and the opposing party would have been powerless to stop the theft." Tellingly, Seligman wrote the article in 2018, shortly after Hillary Clinton claimed she lost to Trump due to election fraud. While Seligman was presented as an expert, he doesn't appear to have any association with elections until about 2020; the scholarship on his website prior to that is papers like "Moral Diversity and Efficient Breach" in 2019 and "The Error Theory of Contract" in 2018. In contrast, Eastman is considered a longtime preeminent legal constitutional scholar on the right. And let's not forget the amendment to the Electoral College Act that Congress passed in December 2022. It states that the vice president does not have the authority to reject electoral votes. NPR said it was necessary because "[f]or years, legal scholars have worried the law was poorly written and in need of clarification." So it's false that there was clearly no authority for Eastman to have thought it might be an option. Rubin slammed Eastman for admitting that some of the information he relied on regarding felons and dead people voting had mistakes, which the indictment referenced. However, if she had actually watched the trial, she would have heard that the mistakes didn't change much substantively. Eastman said he stood by his assertion that 2,500 felons may have voted in Georgia, and corrected the accusation, pointing out he said "as many as 2,500," not 2,500. Eastman said the mistake was where election investigator Bryan Geels initially thought there were 66,247 underage people who registered, which Geels corrected later to just over 2,000 voters. Eastman said that was also mischaracterized, since Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensburger said he was referring to underage people who had voted, when Geels meant merely registered to vote. Rubin focused heavily on the concurrent prosecution of Eastman; he was indicted along with Trump and 18 others by politically motivated Georgia DA Fanny Willis, and is reportedly an unindicted co-conspirator in Special Counsel Jack Smith's federal witch hunt against Trump. The criminal prosecutions will likely go on for years, since the left wants to drag them out to damage Trump during the presidential race. But it is not likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold a conviction sending Trump or the others to prison; not only does the current court lean to the right, but several of the justices were appointed by Trump. They won't stand for sending a president to prison over politics . Nor will they allow Eastman, a fellow legal academic who once clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, to be disbarred for the First Amendment. Rubin gleefully discussed the indictment of Eastman, but failed to discuss how a good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, failed to discuss how RICO laws are so vague and broad they can be used to get anyone , and failed to discuss how attorneys regularly represent some of the most heinous criminals on earth and protect their lies. "Your honor, my client could not have been there bombing all those people since he was with a friend at the time." Everyone already knows how Disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland, who contributed recently to Democrats while serving as a judge, is going to rule. Can't wait for the grown-ups SCOTUS to take over. Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative. She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications. Home Campaign group is urging Executive to prioritise the issue when it returns Tina McKenzie from the FSB believes that NI women need help with childcare costs A grassroots campaign group which represents local parents said families are being pushed to breaking point after their survey showed childcare in Northern Ireland is the most expensive in Europe. A survey of nearly 3,000 parents by Melted Parents NI (MPNI) found that the average costs of having two children in full-time childcare was nearly 25,000, only 260 less than the average salary in Northern Ireland. MPNI has said that the results of the survey showed over 80% of parents said their childcare costs were higher than their mortgage. Among the findings was that 80% of parents said that childcare costs had been a key factor in their decision to not have more children, with some families saying they had terminated pregnancies as they couldnt afford the additional childcare bills. One parent who responded to the survey anonymously shared the personal impact of childcare costs on her family. The mum-of-two considered taking a career break following the birth of their second child, but this was denied due to staffing pressures in the NHS. We are now in 19,000 [of] debt and our marriage is at its end, with arguments due to money stress. We feel were the only people struggling so much, she said. We cant do anything with our children all summer to save money for food. My mental health is at its worst. My husband feels he has let down our family, but hes amazing. He has been having suicidal thoughts because of the stress. Its not the doctors help we need, its financial help, she said. Over 80% of families said that the cost of childcare had an impact on their mental health, with over 70% admitting it had impacted on their relationships. Rebecca Harper of MPNI said that politicians need to prioritise the delivery of a childcare strategy in the next Executive. Our survey results demonstrate the real cost of childcare on families in Northern Ireland. With what we believe is the highest cost in Europe, many families are being pushed to breaking point. Our families are feeling the effects on their mental health, their relationships, their careers, as well as their ability to even have children in the first place, said Ms Harper. Ms Harper added: We are asking all political parties in Northern Ireland to prioritise the delivery of a childcare strategy by an incoming Executive and are urging them to agree on it being on the agenda at the first Executive meeting, as well as publishing a timeframe for delivery in the first 100 days of a new government. According to the survey nearly 70% of parents may have to leave the workplace in order to bring down childcare bills. Policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, Tina McKenzie, said that thousands of women are being denied an opportunity to play their part in Northern Irelands economy due to a lack of investment in childcare. Ms McKenzie added: At the moment, too many parents and guardians primarily women are being forced to leave the workforce or are being prevented from entering it because of a lack of vision, strategy, and investment. That must change. Read more Childcare strategy is a major priority for our politicians MPNI was set up in March 2023 by a group of parents who were frustrated by the lack of childcare support in Northern Ireland. The group now has almost 10,000 followers online. Ms Harper said: A childcare strategy has supposedly been in development for the past decade, with a commitment in New Decade New Approach to the delivery of a strategy in 2020, but nothing has been delivered. This isnt good enough and we demand action. Northern Ireland currently ranks last in the UK and Ireland in terms of access to childcare support for working families. In other parts of the UK families are able to access 30 hours of free early learning and childcare for three and four year olds. Meanwhile families in Northern Ireland can only access 12.5 hours of pre-school education for all four year olds during term time. Hilary Benn has been named Northern Irelands new shadow Secretary of State after a reshuffle of the Labour team. He replaces Peter Kyle, who has been appointed as the shadow minister for science, innovation and technology. Mr Benn, the son of late Labour MP Tony Benn, previously served under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in government. The change sees Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer create a post to mirror the Whitehall departmental shake-up instigated by Rishi Sunak earlier this year. The Prime Minister decided in February to create standalone departments for energy security and science. Mr Kyle has been moved to a newly-established science brief in Sir Keirs top team. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood welcomed Mr Benn to the role. I want to thank Peter Kyle for his service as shadow Secretary of State during a very difficult time for people and politics in Northern Ireland. I know that he will continue to have an interest in this place and will remain a supportive voice in the shadow cabinet, he said. Hilary Benn is a senior figure in the Labour Party and his appointment as shadow Secretary of State is a serious move by Keir Starmer that underscores his interest in addressing the significant issues facing the North. The new shadow Secretary of State, as a former chair of the Commons Brexit Committee, keenly understands many of the issues facing Northern Ireland and I know that he will play a constructive role in attempting to re-establish power sharing. I look forward to working positively with him on these issues right away. Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie offered congratulations to Mr Benn. I am sure that the appointment of an individual with such an extensive political career is an indication of the importance the Labour Party leader places on Northern Ireland, he said. I would also like to thank Peter Kyle for his engagement during his time in this role; I always found him to be passionate about the issues we championed. I look forward to meeting with the new Shadow Secretary of State in the near future to share our strong and serious concerns on a range of issues. Hilary Benn is a veteran parliamentarian, and has represented Leeds Central since 1999. He has also served as shadow foreign secretary and chairman of the Brexit select committee. His father Tony Benn, who died in 2014, publicly supported Sinn Fein and the unification of Ireland. A leading voice in dissident republicanism has said that it is now time to re-evaluate our political thinking and change expectations over how their objective of a united Ireland may be realised . Francie Mackey, national chairman of the hardline 32 County Sovereignty Movement, was speaking at Balgriffin Cemetery in Co Dublin at a commemoration for murdered Real IRA leader Alan Ryan. Ryan (32) was shot in the head close to his home in Clongriffin, north Dublin, in 2012, while visiting family members. Former Omagh councillor Mr Mackey told those in attendance at yesterdays memorial that they would strive to set ourselves apart from those who have hijacked the struggle. But in so doing we must strike a tone of relevance if out distinct position is to have any practical meaning, he said. Francie Mackey addresses a commemoration for murdered Real IRA leader Alan Ryan. And what Irish republicans must recognise now, that whilst our objectives remain steadfast and inviolate, our expectations as to how they may be realised will have to change. The long war resulted in a politics it was not fighting for. A lesser war will not alter that fact. The Good Friday Agreement de-politicised the constitutional question thus marginalising political arguments based on conflict. And this is where Irish republicans need to re-evaluate our political thinking. The only credible means to have the constitutional question back on the political agenda is to formulate a solutions-based approach around it. After criticising Sinn Fein, he urged those in attendance to be the champions of democracy on this island and let the political careerists founder on their selfish ambitions. The 32CSM opposes the Good Friday Agreement and had been described in the past as the political wing of the now defunct Real IRA, which was responsible for the 1998 Omagh bomb, although both organisations denied this. Tanaiste Micheal Martin will hold a series of political meetings during a visit to the Middle East this week (PA) Tanaiste Micheal Martin will hold a series of political meetings during a visit to the Middle East this week. He will begin his trip in Israel on Monday before travelling to the occupied Palestinian territory and Jordan. As well as meeting with leaders, he will engage with UN and civil society partners providing support to people in the region. In Israel, the Tanaiste plans to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, president Isaac Herzog and foreign minister Eli Cohen. He will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied Palestinian territory before travelling to Jordan, where engagements will include a meeting with deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ayman Safadi. Mr Martin said: This visit is an important opportunity to see the political, security and human rights situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. There has been a worrying escalation in violence over recent months. Ireland has been consistent in its calls for the protection of civilians and the application of international law. This visit will allow the opportunity to discuss directly these issues with political leaders, as well as with Irelands civil society partners. He added: The visit will be my first to Jordan since the opening of Irelands embassy in Amman and I am looking forward to seeing the strengthened bilateral relationship between us, including Irelands support for the Jordan Young Scientist Programme and other innovation initiatives. Jordan also hosts a significant number of refugees from Syria, Palestine and elsewhere. I will meet with refugee families and UN partners and reiterate Irelands continuing support. The case was heard at Ayr Sheriff Court (John Linton/PA) Two animal rights campaigners who tried to stop the Scottish Grand National have each been fined 200. Activists interrupted the Scottish Grand National at Ayr Racecourse, South Ayrshire, to prevent horses from coming to harm on April 22, Ayr Sheriff Court heard on Monday. Sarah Foy, 23, and Osian Dixon, 26, were convicted of breach of the peace and fined 200 each with an additional 10 victim surcharge. Dixon, of Manchester, was also convicted of trespass. Kittys Light, ridden by Jack Tudor, triumphed in the Scottish Grand National (Jane Barlow/PA) Foy, of Alfreton, Derbyshire, was acquitted of trespass due to lack of evidence. The activists, who are both unemployed, were told to repay at 10 a month. A judge said they enjoyed public sympathy but needed to use lawful methods in future. She used sentencing powers to mark the event and admonished Dixon over the trespass charge at Ayr Sheriff Court. The breach of the peace charge said the pair entered the track at Ayr Racecourse when a race meeting was in progress, equipped with glue and piping designed to enable people to secure themselves to jumps, fences or railings. Reference to overcome security was removed from the charge. They were among 24 people from the Animal Rising group charged by police after disruption on the day of the race in April. Dixon told the court he walked through a gap in the fence in a Tesco car park, and there was nothing to indicate we couldnt. He said: I was waiting for an opportunity to enter the racetrack in order to disrupt it and prevent horses from coming to harm. About five minutes before, I walked down to the car park through a gap in the opening of the fence, and then I jumped over the fence bordering the racetrack and ran onto it. I was tackled by security, carried to the cycle track by police and arrested. We made sure we had enough time to get onto the race track before the race began, so as to limit the risk to horses, riders and ourselves. Forty-six horses have died on Ayr Racetrack since 2007. I wanted to get on the track to stop the race from happening to save these horses, and to raise awareness of the public and anyone who might read the news about the exploitation inherent to this industry. He said he did not believe writing letters to the racecourse would achieve anything and insisted the statistics regarding deaths were correct. Defending, Bethan Jones said: Ms Foy is very concerned with animal rights. Her motivations were that they felt it was important to protest. Sentencing the pair, Sheriff Shirley Foran said: Mr Dixon and Ms Foy are both first offenders. Im of the view that simply marking these events will be sufficient. I accept entirely that your beliefs are genuinely held and suspect you probably enjoy public sympathy, but the bottom line is you need to adopt lawful methods. On this occasion, you did not. The disruption caused personally was minimum. I know you offered no trouble to police. Rose Paterson, 34, from London, had been due to be sentenced on Monday after she and Joshua Parkinson, 27, from Leeds, last week admitted the breach of the peace charge. However, sentence on Paterson was deferred until October 16 while Parkinson is due to be sentenced later this month. The Scottish Grand National was not delayed and the 18-horse race, which started at 3.38pm, was won by Kittys Light. A pair of giant pandas which have been resident in Scotlands capital for nearly 12 years will be returned to their native China in early December this year, it has been confirmed. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) announced on Monday that Yang Guang (Sunshine) and Tian Tian (Sweetie) will likely be moved from Edinburgh Zoo within the first two weeks of the month although their exact date of departure is still being finalised. The wildlife charity described the pandas as having an incredible impact during their stay by connecting millions of visitors with nature. The pair were originally brought to Scotland in 2011 as part of a 10-year agreement between the RZSS and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which was later extended by a further two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite efforts to breed the two pandas, female Tian Tian has not produced a cub during her time in Edinburgh. She was believed to be pregnant in August 2017 but her hormone levels and behaviour later returned to normal. Alison Maclean, carnivore team leader at Edinburgh Zoo, commented: We are making arrangements with our partners in China for Yang Guang and Tian Tian to return in early December, possibly during the first week. Visitors to the zoo can expect to see them indoors and outside until the end of November, after which viewing will be outdoors only until they leave. Having cared for Yang Guang and Tian Tian since they arrived in 2011, I will be travelling back to China with them, to help them settle into their new homes. David Field, RZSS chief executive, said, With more than a million species at risk of extinction and our natural world in crisis, Yang Guang and Tian Tian have had an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature. Through scientific research alongside the University of Edinburgh, we have also made a significant contribution to our understanding of giant pandas, which will be of real benefit to efforts to protect this amazing species in China. It is encouraging that in recent years the outlook for giant pandas in the wild has improved, which gives real hope for the future. The giant panda habitat at Edinburgh Zoo will become home to a new species which RZSS can support in the wild, which will be announced next year. Our vision is of a world where nature is protected, valued and loved, which is why we have made an important pledge to reverse the decline of at least 50 species by 2030, said Mr Field. We have reached significant milestones recently with the release of wildcats, pine hoverflies and dark bordered beauty moths in the Scottish Highlands. With a fantastic home at Edinburgh Zoo, combined with our international expertise in conservation science and research, we have an opportunity to help protect a new species through public engagement here in Scotland and in the wild by working with global partners. Patients in Scotland with rare forms of cancer are being sought for a clinical trial (PA) Cancer patients in Scotland will be among the first to trial a new treatment aimed at those with rare forms of the disease. The project, known as Determine, matches people with rare conditions with existing medications already being used to treat other cancer patients. Trials for adults are set to be held in Edinburgh and children will be treated in Glasgow as part of the UKs first national precision medicine trial for rare cancers. Cancer Research UK is urging those who may be eligible to discuss the treatment with their clinicians. Precision medicine matches treatment to a specific patient and is a growing area. It is expected around 500 to 650 people across the UK will be able to benefit from the five-year clinical trial, and it is hoped it can then be quickly approved to treat other patients. Medications are approved for use in the NHS to treat specific cancers in specific circumstances, but the success of the trial could lead to them being approved for rarer cancers. There are currently eight drugs from pharmaceutical companies Roche and Novartis which have been committed to the trial, with more expected to be added as it progresses. Principal investigator Dr Patricia Roxburgh, of the Cancer Research UK Scotland Centre and University of Glasgow, said: We are very excited in Scotland to be amongst the first in the UK to offer these targeted drugs to patients with rare cancer as part of the Determine clinical trial. We are hopeful that, if successful, patients across the UK will be able to access treatments that have been approved for other types of cancer. We are seeking patients with rare cancers or cancers with very specific genetic faults. If you arent sure, please ask your treating clinician whether you may be eligible to take part in this trial. The trial is being run by the University of Manchester and managed by Cancer Research UKs Centre for Drug Development. Sarah Mellor, Cancer Research UKs lead on the Determine project, said: Precision medicine is an exciting focus for cancer research, and we hope this trial the UKs first national precision medicine trial for rare cancers will offer hundreds of patients across the UK the opportunity to access new treatments. We are delighted Scottish patients will be amongst the first to have this opportunity which we hope will lead to new, effective therapeutic options for patients with rare cancers. The fire has devastated the suburb of Stamata, in northern Athens, Greece (AP) A massive wildfire that devastated vast tracts of forest in north-eastern Greece over 17 days is gradually abating, although hundreds of firefighters are still tackling pockets that continue to burn, the fire department said. Reinforcements were sent over the weekend to the wildfire burning in the Evros region near the border with Turkey, bringing the total number of firefighters to 741, backed by 124 vehicles and two aircraft. The blaze has been blamed for the deaths of 20 people. All are believed to have been migrants who had recently crossed the border. The fire, which broke out on August 19 near the north-eastern city of Alexandroupolis and joined with other blazes to form one massive wildfire, had burned more than 93,000 hectares (230,000 acres) of land by Sunday, according to the European Unions Copernicus Emergency Management Service, making it the largest single blaze to have hit an EU country since records began in 2000. A firefighter sprays water inside a woodland near Athens (AP) Wildfires are common in Greece and other southern European countries during their hot, dry summers. Dozens of fires have been breaking out each day across the country for weeks, with the fire department saying its forces tackled 82 wildfires between Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, with 49 of them having broken out in those 24 hours. Another fire broke out on Monday in woodland on the northern outskirts of Athens. More than 70 firefighters, including 18 from France, backed by two planes and three helicopters, managed to bring the blaze under partial control within hours, the fire department said. With its firefighting forces stretched to the limit, Greece appealed for help from other European countries, and has received hundreds of firefighters, as well as a fleet of planes and helicopters, from across the continent. On Sunday, forces from France, Spain, Cyprus, Romania, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Albania and Serbia were still operating in the country. Benjamin Netanyahu and Kyriakos Mitsotakis met in Nicosia, Cyprus (Petros Karadjias/AP) Meanwhile, Greeces prime minister said the country is working with Israel on developing artificial intelligence technology that would help with the early detection of dangerous wildfires. After talks with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, Kyriakos Mitsotakis also said that Israel could be brought into the European Union fold when it comes to civil protection initiatives to better co-ordinate firefighting efforts. Mr Mitsotakis said Greece could act as a proving ground for Israeli AI technology in the early detection of wildfires. We are already talking to Israel about AI-based solutions that will offer us early detection capabilities, he said. Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks at Russias Black Sea resort of Sochi (Sergei Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin has said a landmark deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea amid the war will not be restored until the West meets Moscows demands on its own agricultural exports. Ukraine and its western allies have dismissed the Kremlins demands as a ploy to advance its own interests. Still, Mr Putins remarks dashed hopes that his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could revive the agreement, seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertiliser had not been honoured. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Mr Putin reiterated those complaints on Monday, while saying that if those commitments were honoured, Russia could return to the deal within days. Mr Erdogan also expressed hope that a breakthrough could come soon. He said Turkey and the UN which both brokered the original deal have put together a new package of proposals to unblock the issue. I believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time, Mr Erdogan told a news conference in the Russian resort of Sochi, where the leaders met. Earlier, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock lashed out, saying Mr Putins game with the grain agreement is cynical. Mr Erdogan was hoping to persuade Russia to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow broke off from in July (AP) Its only because of Putin that the freighters dont have free passage again, she told reporters in Berlin. A lot is riding on the negotiation. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Data from the Joint Co-ordination Centre in Istanbul, which organised shipments under the deal, show that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China. Grain prices shot up after Russia pulled out of the deal but have since fallen back, indicating that there is not a big crunch in the market right now, said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank. But the long-term picture is uncertain. I am more worried about the future, where the strengthening El Nino (weather phenomenon) might make 2024 the year to watch, he said. The meeting has implications for the worlds food supply (Sputnik via AP) Ukraine and its allies have often noted that Russias move left many developing nations in the lurch, since so many were recipients of the grain. Perhaps in an effort to address that accusation, Mr Putin said on Monday that Russia was close to finalising an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. Last month, he promised shipments to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic. The Russian leader added that the country will ship one million metric tons of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries. In addition to pulling out of the grain deal, Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, where Ukraines main Black Sea port is located. Hours before the Sochi meeting, the Kremlins forces launched a second barrage in two days on the area. The Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions. It did not specify damage caused by those that got through. Russia is hoping it can use its power over Ukraines Black Sea exports as a bargaining chip to reduce western economic sanctions. Some companies have been wary of doing business with Russia because of those sanctions, even though western allies have made assurances that food and fertiliser are exempt. Still, Moscow remains unsatisfied. Ukraines foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, on Monday urged Moscow to return to the deal, insisting there were no legal and political grounds for Russia to withdraw from the agreement. Mondays talks took place against a backdrop of Ukraines recent counter-offensive against the Kremlins invasion forces. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that defence minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Mr Zelensky said, without elaborating. On Monday Mr Reznikov published a photo of his resignation letter. Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Mr Erdogan in 2016 when Mr Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Turkish president has maintained those during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey has not joined western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. At the same time, Turkey, a member of Nato, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Mr Zelensky and backing Kyivs bid to join the Western alliance. Russia, meanwhile, has taken steps to strengthen its military ties with North Korea. Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, who travelled to Pyongyang last month, said on Monday that the two countries may hold joint war games. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is expected to travel to Russia within the month (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson noted that Mr Shoigu sought to persuade North Korea during his trip to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. The US has reason to think North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un expects these discussions to continue and to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia, Ms Watson said on Monday. Another US official said the US expects Mr Kim will travel to Russia within the month. The White House reported last week that it had intelligence indicating that Mr Putin and Mr Kim swapped letters following Mr Shoigus visit. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the letters were more at the surface level but that Russian and North Korean talks on a weapons sale were advancing. Hizbullah's increased activity among Arab Israelis intensifies the security risks Israel faces By Yoni Ben Menachem web posted September 4, 2023 In recent weeks, the Israel Security Agency apprehended four Arab Israelis from Kafr Qasem and Lod who collaborated with Hizbullah in Lebanon to facilitate weapons smuggling into Israeli territory. The weapons included large explosive devices manufactured in Iran. The smuggling operation took place through a route often used by terrorist elements, extending from Lebanon to Israel. The Israel Security Agency's revelation of a new smuggling route for Iranian-manufactured explosive devices into Israel, coupled with a Hizbullah terrorist's attack on the Megiddo Junction using a sizeable Iranian-made explosive device on March 13, 2023, indicate an intense push by Hizbullah to embed itself deeper within Arab society in Israel. Hizbullah's Intelligence Infiltration of Israel Hizbullah has been striving to recruit individuals from Israel's Arab population for over two decades and has achieved some success. In 2000, it recruited Arab Israeli Keis Obeid from the village of Taibe, who played a pivotal role in kidnapping Israeli citizen Col. (res) Elhanan Tannenbaum in Dubai, where he was involved in a drug deal. Tannenbaum was abducted and flown to Lebanon, held by Hizbullah for three years, and then exchanged for 435 prisoners in Israel. In 2002, Hizbullah recruited Bedouin-Israeli Omar al-Heib from the village of Zarzir, a former IDF lieutenant colonel. Israel convicted him of espionage and drug trafficking and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. Hizbullah also established ties with Azmi Bashara, a former member of the Knesset, suspected of passing information to the organization during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 in exchange for substantial sums of money. To avoid prosecution, Bashara fled the country in 2007 following the exposure of the affair. Today, Bashara is the director of the Qatari Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, which is affiliated with the Arab Center research center in Washington, D.C. These instances are just a few among several notable cases covered by the media. Infiltration through Criminal Elements Security officials believe that Hizbullah is capitalizing on the escalating crime rates within Israel's Arab community and the demand for weapons and explosive devices among Arab criminal factions engaged in internal conflicts. This situation allows Hizbullah to forge alliances with hostile elements within Israel's Arab population, potentially recruiting them as operatives and agents of chaos, especially in a military confrontation with Israel. Four Israeli Arabs caught in July 2023 who were in possession of Iran-made explosives. The successful infiltration of Israel with at least two large Iranian-made explosive Claymore mines even if initially intended for criminal purposes deeply concerns the Israel Security Agency. While initially intended for criminal activities, these powerful devices could potentially end up in the hands of terrorist groups, serving as tools for attacks. Hizbullah's attempts to establish new smuggling routes and refine its operational methods are ongoing. While the terror organization previously focused on recruiting individuals with extremist views within Israel's Arab population, the current surge in crime rates among Arabs has led Hizbullah to target potential recruits from the criminal underworld. Arab Israelis intimately know Jewish Israeli society, its vulnerabilities, economic dynamics, and social connections. Their insight makes them valuable sources of intelligence for Hizbullah, which can then be channeled to Iran. There is a genuine concern that Arab criminals seeking retribution may form alliances with Hizbullah, mobilizing and cooperating in ways that could threaten national security. Introducing hazardous Iranian explosive devices, like the Claymore mines, into Israel poses a substantial threat, even if intended for internal criminal conflicts. Such devices could potentially find their way into the hands of terrorist factions in Judea and Samaria, endangering both IDF soldiers and settlers. The disclosure of Iranian explosive devices results from the Israel Security Agency's expansion of duties into investigating criminal activities tangentially linked to terrorism. The boundary between these realms is thin, and the Israel Security Agency acknowledges the dual nature of weapon trafficking, which not only fuels the illegal arms market within Israel's Arab community but also supplies armed terrorist groups in Judea and Samaria. Iran's strategy includes smuggling weapons into northern Samaria through Jordan, alongside substantial financial support for terrorist groups in Samaria, enabling them to procure weapons on the black market among Arab Israelis. Hizbullah's Support for Palestinians Commentators in Lebanon speculate that the weaponry found among criminal elements in the Arab community may eventually be turned against Israel's security forces if tensions escalate, as happened in October 2000 and May 2021, particularly in response to events at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. During Operation "Guardian of the Walls" in May 2021, Hizbullah lauded the efforts of Arab Israelis who engaged in riots and targeted Jews and security forces in Arab and mixed cities. Hizbullah's media outlets proclaimed, "Palestinians inside Israel understand that this is first and foremost their own battle." Yoni Ben Menachem, a veteran Arab affairs and diplomatic commentator for Israel Radio and Television, is a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center. He served as Director General and Chief Editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Home The meeting is aimed at reviving a deal to movie Ukrainian grain (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File) Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to persuade Russia to revive an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports despite the war as he prepares to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. In July, Mr Putin refused to extend the agreement, which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year earlier. Russian officials had complained that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertiliser had not been honoured. They said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered agricultural trade, even though Russia has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. The leaders are to meet in the Black Sea city of Sochi, where the Russian President has a residence, and a lot is riding on the talks for the world food supply. The meeting takes place against a backdrop of more than 18 months of war and Ukraines recent counter-offensive. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his defence minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Mr Zelensky said, without elaborating. On Monday, Mr Reznikov published a photo of his resignation letter. Since Mr Putin withdrew from the grain initiative, Mr Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Fierce fighting continues in Donetsk (AP Photo/Libkos) Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Data from the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which organised the Ukraine shipments, shows that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China, which received nearly a quarter of the food. Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, Ukraines main Black Sea port area. On Monday, the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odea and Dnipropetrovsk regions, but did not specify damage caused by the drones that got through. The Turkish President has maintained close ties to Mr Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey has not joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. Nato member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Mr Zelensky and backing Kyivs bid to join Nato. Mr Erdogan angered Moscow in July when he allowed five Ukrainian commanders to return home. The soldiers had been captured by Russia and handed over to Turkey on condition they remain there for the duration of the war. Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Mr Erdogan in 2016 when Mr Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraines Black Sea exports to resume. Mr Erdogan has indicated sympathy over Mr Putins position. In July, he said Mr Putin had certain expectations from Western countries over the Black Sea deal and that it was crucial for these countries to take action in this regard. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov concrete proposals aimed at getting Russian exports to global markets and allowing the resumption of the Black Sea initiative. But Lavrov said Moscow wasnt satisfied with the letter. Describing Turkeys intense efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said it was a process that tries to better understand Russias position and requests, and to meet them. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that defence minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week with Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar politician. I have decided to replace the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, he said on his official Telegram account. Oleksii Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. Now Rustem Umerov should lead the Ministry. Oleksii Reznikov is to be replaced as Ukrainian defence minister (Alamy/PA) Later in his nightly address, Mr Zelensky said he believes that the Ministry needs new approaches and different formats of interaction both with the military and with society. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is well acquainted with this person, and Umerov does not require additional introductions. I expect support for this candidacy from parliament, the president told the nation. Mr Umerov, 41, a politician with the opposition Holos party, has served as head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine since September 2022. He was involved in the exchange of prisoners of war, political prisoners, children and civilians, as well as the evacuation of civilians from occupied territories. Mr Umerov was also part of the Ukrainian delegation in negotiations with Russia over the UN-backed grain deal. In August, a scandal arose around the Ministry of Defences procurement of military jackets. Ukrainian investigative journalists reported that the materials were purchased at a price three times higher than normal and that instead of winter jackets, summer ones were ordered. In the customs documents from the supplier, the jackets were priced at 29 dollars (23) per unit, but the Ministry of Defence paid 86 dollars (68) per unit. Mr Reznikov denied the allegations during a news conference last week. Mr Zelenskys announcement came after two people were hospitalised following a three-and-a-half-hour Russian drone barrage on a port in Ukraines Odesa region on Sunday, officials said. US President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he is aware Mr Zelensky had replaced his defence chief. Asked if he had any comment, Mr Biden said: Not publicly. Belfast-born historian Aaron Edwards has explored the profound challenges facing the unionist community A People Under Siege: The Unionists of Northern Ireland, from Partition to Brexit and Beyond by Aaron Edwards Unionism is the belief that Northern Ireland should remain in political union with the rest of the UK - but unionists are also considered a distinct people with distinct traditions - do the two things always go hand in hand? Aaron Edwards is from Rathcoole in north Belfast but lectures at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, educating the British Armys future officers. Aaron Edwards, author of A People Under Siege He sat down with the Belfast Telegraphs Northern Ireland Editor Sam McBride to discuss his new book A People Under Siege and where he believes the unionist community must go to secure the future of the Union. He also explains how he sees the history of unionism since the creation of Northern Ireland over 100 years ago. A People Under Siege: The Unionists of Northern Ireland, from Partition to Brexit and Beyond by Aaron Edwards Why retirement can wait for Hildegarde, who still loves the craic and camaraderie of her role helping customers on shop floor Most people Hildegarde McKeefreys age are enjoying their retirement, but for the 81-year-old, she was starting a job at Ikea when others were ready to finish their careers. Hildegarde has worked at the Belfast store for the past 15 years and works at the Swedish retailer 12 hours a week in the living room department. And when shes not helping people select their flat-packed furniture, she also finds the time to volunteer at a food bank as well as enjoy her hobbies. Im very interested in history and archaeology. Im obsessed with the news and like to keep up to date with current affairs and I enjoy the company of my good friends, explains Hildegarde. She insists that society shouldnt be so quick to judge people on their age. Older people arent really encouraged to work in our society, but I think thats a wealth of wasted talent and life experience, she says. Hildegarde McKeefrey is happy at her work Read more Belfast theatre company to celebrate its 25-year journey with a play exploring mental health In 2008, a friend sent her an application form for a job at Ikeas new Belfast store and after an initial visit to the shop to get a feel for the place, Hildegarde accepted the role and never looked back. Im one of the co-workers at the store we call lifers, she admits, laughing. We have a family atmosphere in the team, and everyone looks out for each other. We have great craic together. Its a choice at the end of the day and retirement is not for me. Im chatty by nature and I like to be with other people, so Im blessed to be working directly with customers every day. Why would I leave something that I love doing so much? I think its important to not define people by their age. There are many older people I know who would love a part-time job, but struggle to find one. In fact, 64% of people here want to work past state retirement age, according to a study published in 2022. Hildegarde with Ikea colleagues Louise Nicholson (left) and Hetty Blair The Unretirement Uprising report, which was conducted by age activism platform 55/Redefined and recruitment company Reed Talent Solutions, also found that one in five people in Northern Ireland also said they want to progress their career beyond their current role. Hildegarde, who was born in Kilkeel, Co Down, but grew up in Canada, stresses she gets so many benefits from working even if others encourage her to stop working. Anybody who knows me will tell you that the word retirement doesnt exist in my vocabulary. I couldnt justify it to myself, while I am fit and able, she insists. Lots of people outside of work tell me to pack it in, but its far too interesting its much more than just a job to me. When Im not at Ikea, I also volunteer at a local food bank. Before working at Ikea, which is celebrating its 80th birthday, Hildegarde had a career in social services and ended up volunteering in Kenya for around a decade. A colleagues brother visited Nairobi and was horrified at how poverty-stricken the area was. He asked if anyone would be willing to help and a group of us volunteered. We went over every January for about 10 years. We took over clothes and other essentials. We also built a school; it was a great achievement for us, she explains. Hildegarde working in the Living Rooms section Hildegarde recalled meeting the founder of Ikea, Ingvar Kamprad, during a visit he made to the Belfast store. Its so inspiring how our founder grew the company from nothing, when you look at where Ikea is today. I love how the company continues to do things differently its never stuck in a mould and were always looking at what can change; how we can make things better for our customers. I like to give every customer time and attention, sharing insight into product hacks, how to get the most from Ikea products, and chatting to people in the store who may just be feeling lonely. Everyone loves a bargain too, so I always point customers towards our pre-loved items, which tend to be in great condition, but at a heavily discounted price, she says. And her advice to younger people starting out in their careers at Ikea? I would tell them that our customers in the local community we serve should always be the priority. Ask them questions, pay attention to their needs and wants, to deliver the best possible experience Ikea can provide. Ultimately, Hildegarde says her passion is to give back to the community, adding: (And) long may it last! Id like to wish all of our staff and customers good health and happiness. Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi waves to supporters after the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed 47 charges of corruption against him, Sept. 4, 2023. A Malaysian court on Monday dropped 47 graft charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi linked to alleged misuse of millions of dollars at a charity he founded to fight poverty. The prosecution itself requested the move, requesting more time to investigate the case, Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said, delivering his decision with a rebuke. This court makes an order of discharge not amounting to an acquittal, he said. Should the prosecution decide to drop charges completely, much precious judicial time would have been wasted, and a great amount of taxpayers money will also have been wasted. The case was one of two lodged against Zahid in the year after his party, UMNO, was voted out of power for the first time in decades amid a massive corruption scandal. But following an inconclusive election in November, UMNO which had been trounced at the ballot box joined Anwar Ibrahims political coalition, allowing it to form a government. Activists slammed the dropping of charges, with clean-government group Bersih saying it had brought the reformist, anti-graft credentials of the Anwar government under serious doubt. Malaysians are sick of seeing this correlation: Those who stay in power forever stay innocent, while those who lose power also lose their innocence, a Bersih statement said. We also wonder if this is prelude to the dropping of all remaining charges against former prime minister Najib Razak? Down the drain Zahid previously served in the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption linked to the 1MDB financial scandal. Although he did not win a full acquittal on Monday, Zahid told supporters outside the courthouse that politically motivated accusations against me have ended. Our task in UMNO and BN is to continue this struggle so that the accusations that have been politically motivated can be stopped, he said, referring to the Barisan Nasional coalition that UMNO anchors. The prosecution had already established a prima facie case against Zahid, meaning it had presented enough evidence for the case to go to trial, requiring the accused to defend himself. An utter waste of public funds in proving a prima facie case and a waste of all the hard work of members of AG's Chambers. An explanation is definitely owed to the public, Malaysian lawyer and rights activist Ambiga Sreenevasan wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. I hope no [unity government] politician dares to justify this or ever again say they are anti-corruption, she fumed. Here we go ... our trust in the government of today went down the drain, once again...whats next for the people of Malaysia??!! X user Jack Sparrow said. Political persecution In making its request, the prosecution cited a government decision to investigate a memoir by former Attorney General Tommy Thomas, who brought the case against Zahid in 2018, amid claims that his office conducted selective prosecution of politicians. Moreover, a flood of petitions have been filed with the current AG's office and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) claiming that the investigation of Zahid has been rushed, careless and incomplete, the prosecution said. "Therefore we, the prosecution team, would like to request the judge to stop the proceedings against the accused and that the accused be freed without release until the detailed investigation of this case is carried out by the MACC," lead prosecutor Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar told the court. Zahids defense team had requested the case be completely dropped, saying the charges were baseless. A statement signed by his lawyers insisted that he had been a victim of political persecution during the reign of Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister, after UMNO was voted out of office. In our client's sworn testimony in court that Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia at that time, called our client and gave instructions in a firm tone to our client to dissolve UMNO or to accept any consequences if his instructions were not obeyed. "The meeting with Tun Mahathir was in June 2018. Our client refused to submit to Mahathir's threats and on 2 July 2018 the client was summoned by MACC for the purpose of investigation and court action. The client was accused on 19 October 2018," said the statement. In 2018, Zahid was charged with 47 criminal charges involving his foundation, Yayasan Akalbudi, as well as 40 corruption charges involving foreign visa system contracts. He was acquitted in the visa case in September 2022, although an appeal against that decision is still pending. Members of the Solomons International Assistance Force raise their caps in front of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (left) at a ceremony in November 2022 to mark the one-year anniversary of his request for law-and-order assistance from Australia following riots in the capital Honiara. UPDATED at 4 a.m. EDT on 2023-09-04 Australia will increase its security force in the Solomon Islands to help ensure stability during the Pacific Games and next years national elections, according to the island countrys government. The Solomon Islands, which has caused concern for the United States and Australia by forging closer ties with China, is expected to receive thousands of visitors in November for the 24-nation Pacific Games and also will hold its delayed national elections in the first half of 2024. The security support needed for both events is huge and Australias affirmative response will definitely fill security gaps, the office of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in a statement Monday. The statement, without giving numbers, said Australia will increase personnel deployed in the Solomon Islands and extend the broader security deployment, which began in late 2021 in response to a domestic crisis, until the middle of next year. The Solomon Islands, home to some 700,000 people, has become a focus of the U.S.-China competition for influence in the Pacific and has sought to benefit from the rivalry by securing more development assistance. Sogavares government switched its diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 2019 and signed a security pact with Beijing last year that the United States feared could pave the way for a Chinese military presence in the region. China has bankrolled more than half the cost of hosting the 2023 Pacific Games including the construction of a 10,000 seat stadium. Australia sent more than 200 police and troops to the Solomon Islands in December 2021 at the request of Sogavare following anti-China and anti-government riots in the capital Honiara. Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand also sent forces. Australias Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that Australia is proud to be Solomon Islands primary security partner. A spokesperson for the department said additional security personnel will be sent for the Pacific Games in the capital Honiara and Australias contribution to the Solomons International Assistance Forcewhich is the bulk of that forcewill continue until June 2024 to provide security for the national elections. The statement from Sogavares office said the formal request for additional security assistance was made to Australias Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in early August. Australia also will provide support for an increase in security forces from Papua New Guinea, the statement said. Papua New Guinea, meanwhile, is providing Solomon Islands with an electronic visitor processing system for the Pacific Games, according to a Papua New Guinea government statement last week. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (left) and Li Ming, the Chinese ambassador to the Solomon Islands, interact in front of the Pacific Games main stadium in Honiara, Solomon Islands during a ceremony on July 5, 2023 for sending 80 athletes to China for training. [Gina Makaa/BenarNews] Relations between Australia and the Solomon Islands appeared to dive in July when the Pacific island country signed a police cooperation agreement with China during Sogavares second visit to Beijing since 2019. Sogavare accused Australia of interfering in Solomon Islands internal affairs after it called for the police agreement to be made public. Both China and Australia have been providing training and equipment to the Solomon Islands police, including weapons, sparking concern their rivalry could cause new instability in a South Pacific country that spiraled into chaos only two decades ago. In November last year, China handed over two water cannon trucks, 30 motorbikes and 20 white utility vehicles emblazoned with the red China Aid logo to Solomon Islands police while Australia donated 60 MK18 rifles and 13 vehicles, some of which will be used in a new mobile protection unit for VIPs. The Solomon Islands statement indicated that officials have been discussing security relations between Australia and the Solomon Islands beyond June 2024. PM Sogavare encouraged officials of both countries to continue discussions on a comprehensive security partnership, it said. Sogavare has previously said the existing security agreement between Australia and the Solomon Islands needs to be reviewed to take into account challenges faced by both countries. Story updated to add comment from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. During Florida's Labor Day weekend (Sept. 4), a Neo-Nazi rally was conducted by two extremist hate groups. Neo-Nazis did the Nazi salute (aka Hitler salute), as well as paraded swastika flags. Florida Labor Day Sees Neo-Nazi Rally According to Business Insider's latest report, the latest Neo-Nazi protest in Florida was conducted by The Goyim Defense League and Blood Tribe. The Blood Tribe is a Neo-Nazi group that considers Hitler as a deity. It was founded by former U.S. Marine Christopher Polhaus (aka Hammer), who is linked to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack. Meanwhile, the Goyim Defense League, an antisemitic hate group, is known for harassing Jews. The two Neo-Nazi organizations teamed up to organize a rally called "March of the Redshirts" during Florida's Labor Day. The Daily Mail UK reported that members of the white supremacist hate groups were seen marching through parks in Orlando on Saturday, Sept. 2. One of the Neo-Nazi groups even went to the gates of Walt Disney World. In the video captured by State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, involved Neo-Nazis can be heard saying, "We are everywhere." While chanting, they can be seen doing the Hitler salute. "Nazis in Altamonte Springs at Cranes Roost Park screaming 'we are everywhere,'" said Eskamani via her official X post. "Absolutely disgusting stuff and another example of the far-right extremism growing in FL," she added. Read Also: Protesters Clash Outside New York City Mayor's Home Amid Worsening Migrants Surge What is Neo-Nazi? The Sydney Morning Herald explained that Neo-Nazi means "new Nazi" or "revived Nazi." Neo-Nazi believers adopted ideologies similar to the ones that the Nazi Party had when Hitler ruled Germany between 1933 and 1945. Neo-Nazis base their belief on the notion that white people are superior to all other races. They consider Jews, as well as Black people, to be at the bottom of the hierarchy. They are also against members of the LGBTQ+ community. The main goal of Neo-Nazis is to end the current society. After that, they want to build a new world based on the principles of racial purity. To do this, they want each race to stay in their designated countries/nations, such as Australia being for white people. These are just some of the things you need to know about Neo-Nazism. If you want to learn more, you can click this link. Related Article: Neo-Nazi Propaganda Shows Up Alongside Disney, Microsoft, NBA Ads on Twitter, Activist Says @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell issued joint guidance Monday for colleges admitting new students, calling on campuses to comply with the court's ruling while still advancing diversity efforts. The Ten Commandments came down from God to the recently liberated Hebrews at Mount Sinai, showing them the basics of living as a godly people, a shining light on a hill for the world to look towards and see the way of the one true God. He began with the ten, and then elaborated more with the Levitical law. Often, people look at these rules and believe they are easy to follow or can be selectively followed and ignored in certain circumstances. The sixth commandment is one that people feel they can avoid easily. However, God prioritized this law as one of the ten most important. When God said, You shall not murder in Exodus 20:13, He meant no one could take the life of another. But Jesus clarified that one should not harbor hatred, murderous thoughts, or wicked feelings for a neighbor either. Why Did God Send the 10 Commandments? The Ten Commandments were the foundations of the Law that Israel would build itself on. As a nation, these rules were important because Israel was meant to show the world the way of the one, true God. The Bible says that, The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious (Isaiah 41:21). He chose to magnify His law through the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God also handed down the Ten Commandments so that no one could claim to be ignorant of right and wrong. Paul wrote to the Galatian church, Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for The righteous shall live by faith. But the law is not of faith, rather The one who does them shall live by them (Galatians 3:11-12). The law created an impossible standard for sinful individuals, highlighting the need for a Savior; There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2). The Holy Spirit helps those who have become disciples of Jesus Christ grow more like Jesus, becoming more righteous through their lives. Where Does "Thou Shalt Not Kill" Command Appear? Before their time in Egypt, the people who became the nation of Israel were tribal shepherd people. God brought them out of Egypt to make them a nation modeled after His rules and His ways, and ...a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6b). When they gathered at Mount Sinai, God descended upon the mountain and gave Moses the basis of the laws the nation of Israel was to live by, with the first ten being carved into stone by Gods own finger. While God handed down more laws on Mount Sinai, only the first ten were written in stone. The first four focus on mans relationship with God, codifying the way man should interact with a Holy God. The last six deal with mans interactions with other people. In a perfect world, the sixth commandment would be easy to follow, requiring that no one take the life of another. What Does the Bible Say about Killing? If this world was perfect, then it would be easy to follow the sixth commandment. But sin entered the world, making killing a part of life, and justice harder to enforce. The Book of Deuteronomy outlines the ways of upholding justice and obeying the law. One such moral complication is manslaughter, when someone accidentally kills another. God instituted Refugee Cities for the displaced, the dispossessed, and for those who have committed manslaughter: This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies he may flee to one of these cities and live, lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past (Deuteronomy 19:4-6). Here, the law makes allowance for grace in the case of accidents. It is important to note that part of this allowance is the individuals heart, with the provision in verse six being, ...he had not hated his neighbor in the past. God sees the heart of each person, and asks the law to do it as much as possible. Such grace is not to be extended under mans justice for the intentional killing of another person, with Old Testament law requiring, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die (Deuteronomy 19:12). Life is sacred, and killing is a violation of the order God intended and must be dealt with. Photo credit: Getty Images In Biblically based approaches to the law, killing must be met with a firm hand of justice. The reason why God and by extension the Law takes this so seriously is because, Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image (Genesis 9:6). God gave man body, soul, and a will, a level of conscience and awareness that means man can create, invent, build, and know right from wrong. God endowed man with a unique mark of His own nature, and every human bears that mark, meaning each person is loved uniquely by God. To dishonor that image is blasphemous before the Creator of that image. Does This Verse Just Cover Murder? For many, the control over their actions is enough to feel they have not violated the sixth commandment. Not taking a life is enough for some. When Jesus came, He clarified the law, teaching what God truly desired from His people. The Law did not just dictate what actions people should or should not take, but also what the condition of the heart ought to be. The Lord wants people to be like Him, holy and righteous, which is an internal condition as much as it is external action. Of killing, Jesus said, You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, You fool! will be liable to the hell of fire (Matthew 5:21). Hating ones neighbor, harboring the feelings and thoughts that can lead to murder is sinful as well, and is failing to live up to the righteousness of Holy God. John the Beloved Apostle elaborated further on this internal state of sin, Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has evil thoughts and intentions, even if they are not acted on, as sinful (1 John 3:15). Is Exodus 20:13 Still Relevant for Us Today? Until the end of days, there will be death, murder, accidents, and hate in peoples hearts. Jesus came and released Christians from the burdens of the law, because He served as the final sacrifice in atonement for the sins of the world. But He also came to uphold and fulfill the law, including the Ten Commandments. People struggle to live upright lives that line up with their values, set by the first ten rules. Understanding that you shall not murder is both refusing to take a life, and not to harbor hateful feelings toward others can serve as a reminder to cling to Jesus for peace. When there is division, rather than caving into malicious thoughts, vitriolic words, and violent actions, Christians should look to their Saviors example, and remember that God is love. Sources Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. Grand Rapids: Academie Books, 1960. Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999. Wilmington, H.L. Wilmingtons Guide to the Bible. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 1981. Photo credit: Getty Images/fergregory Bethany Verrett is a freelance writer who uses her passion for God, reading, and writing to glorify God. She and her husband have lived all over the country serving their Lord and Savior in ministry. She has a blog on graceandgrowing.com. Not long before my grandmother passed away, she called me into her room and pulled a small treasure from behind her back. When you were little, I told you this would be yours one day. Then grandma placed her ruby ring in my palm. The ring is special to menot because of its worth, but because I adored my grandmother, and it is the last gift I received from her. In the same way, Christ had gathered his disciples to warn them of his death and give them something of value. But unlike my grandmothers ring, Jesuss gift was intangible and of incalculable value. John 14:27 (NIV) explains, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Do you have peace today? What Does 'My Peace I Give You' Mean? Rather than greeting one another with a handshake, Hebrew men at the time of Christ welcomed or parted ways with the words, Shalom, shalom which means peace. But, Jesus said, my peace I give you. What did Jesus mean? According to Biblehub.com, the Greek translation of peace is eirene. The root is thought to mean to join or set at one again while its everyday use inferred quietness or rest. Christ lived a life of peace and, as a result, was offering his followers peace in at least three specific areas. Peace with God. Whether He faced storms, temptations, or trials, Jesus remained rooted in God. John 10:30 (KJV) reads, I and the Father are one. In other words, they were joined together or at peace with one another. Christs disciples and other believers also receive a oneness or peace with God through Jesuss sacrifice on the cross which provided a way for people to be set at one again in a relationship that had been fractured as the result of the fall of man. Peace with self. Our society is flooded with stories about people struggling with poor self-image. Despite his humble birth and servant-leadership style, Jesus did not grapple with identity issues. Without apology, Jesus announced his deity when He proclaimed, before Abraham was, I am (John 8:48 ESV). When we accept Christs gift of peace, we begin to understand our identity rests in what God says about us. Even though we will continue to struggle with sin, our faith in Jesus will produce peacethat sense of quiet rest, through the fruit of the Spirit. Peace with others. When Christ gave his followers the gift of peace, they could not have known this would alter their relationship with the Romans who oppressed them. But after Jesus resurrection, the Lord commissioned the disciples saying, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15 NKJV). Every creature included the Romans. In obedience to Christs command and transformed by His life and resurrection, men who had detested the Romans began ministering to and caring for them. The Prince of Peace also equips us to share His love with those with whom we may not agree, understand, or be like. Scripture reminds us that if possible we are to live peaceably with all (Romans 12:18 ESV). Why Was it Important that Jesus Said 'My Peace I Give You' before His Ascension? A soldier for many years, my husband frequently deployed to out-of-the-way places. Because communication was limited during his months away from home, he penned daddy notes in advance for our two small boys which I delivered and read each morning before breakfast. These notes filled our children with hope as they anticipated their fathers return and reminded them of his love. They also provided reassurance, comfort, and encouragement. When Christ gave his disciples the guarantee of peace before His ascension, He also extended a reminder of secure love, reassurance, comfort, and encouragement. They would need it. After all, the disciples witnessed or were aware of all Jesus endured including the following: Jesus was: The disciples would hide in the upper roomunsure and mourning the death of their leader. Jesus had promised them His peace, but it is unlikely they understood what He meant until the miraculous happened. John 20:19 (NTL) readson Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! Peace be with you, he said (John 20:19 NLT). What were the first words Jesus said when greeting the disciples? Peace be with you. Why Is Jesus Known as the Prince of Peace? An Old Testament birth announcement composed by the prophet Isaiah gave Christ one of His many titles, the Prince of Peace. That Bible verse, Isaiah 9:6 (NLT), also tells us the government will rest on His shoulders. In our world, few if any governments rule peacefully. The kings, chiefs, despots, presidents, and other officials often battle for power and influence. And, unfortunately, countries war with one another and even within their own boundaries. The position Jesus holds as the Prince, or Sar, of Peace is far different from what we see around us. This is no ordinary person. Sar means ruler or chief of angels. Christ, who claimed equality with God as mentioned earlier in the article, is the ruler of angels and the chief of all government. He will not be overthrown, overcome, or overpowered. He has proven that through His resurrection. In addition, the word for Peace in this verse is from the Hebrew, shalom, which means: 1) wholeness and 2) peace and safety. Like me, you may long for a city, country, and world that lives in continual wholeness, peace, and safety. Without division and free of racism, hatred, and strife. A world of shalom. That is the sort of rule Jesus will bring when He returns as the Prince of Peace. You can read more about His coming rule here. How Does Jesus Give Us Peace Today? During the same discussion in which Jesus promised the disciples His peace, He also comforted them by saying, Do not let your hearts be troubledMy Fathers house has many roomsI am going there to prepare a place for you (John 14:1-2 NIV). Gods promises are as true for us as they were the early disciples. When our newsfeed swells with bad news or social media spills over with negativity, we can meditate on Christs words as we look forward to a hope-filled future. But knowing the words of Scripture, understanding His promises, and growing in our relationship with God requires action on our part. We will not be at peace if we are not soaking in His presence. Imagine you marry someone you adore. A few months after the wedding, you feel comfortable in your relationship and stop texting at random times, refuse to visit the in-laws because they annoy you, and decide spending time together is useless since you are already married. A marriage relationship with lackluster devotion deteriorates. In the same way, our relationship with Jesus suffersalong with our peaceif we fail to spend time communicating and learning from Him through prayer and worship, reading Scripture, and other spiritual disciplines. If you are struggling to find peace, seek Him; Jesus longs to give you His shalom. Further Reading 40 Powerful Prayers for Peace Within What Did Jesus Mean by 'My Peace I Give to You'? Photo credit: Unsplash/Priscilla Du Preez Tammy Kennington is a writer and speaker familiar with the impact of trauma, chronic illness, and parenting in the hard places. Her heart is to lead women from hardship to hope. You can meet with Tammy at her blog www.tammykennington.com where shell send you her e-book, Moving from Pain to Peace-A Journey Toward Hope When the Past Holds You Captive. This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy-to-read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. We hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in your life today. Listen to our Daily Bible Verse Podcast Now! The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Salem Web Network and Salem Media Group. Lissun is present in over 40 cities and has more than 150 partnerships in the healthcare & education ecosystem to offer its products and services Lissun, a Gurugram-based mental health platform, has raised $1.3 million in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) & Rainmatter Capital (Zerodha Group). The round also saw participation from Existing investors IvyCap ventures, WFC, Growx ventures and a few other marquee angel investors. Lissun has raised over $2.3 million to date in funding. The funds will be strategically allocated to enhance their technology and product offerings further, expand their services, and cultivate meaningful partnerships with healthcare institutions and other organisations. Lissun is revolutioniing mental healthcare through a holistic approach encompassing Awareness, Acceptance, Anonymity, Access, Affordability, and Assurance. Employing an innovative B2H2C (Business to Healthcare to Consumer) strategy, the company collaborates with healthcare institutions to effectively address high-stress use cases across domains such as infertility, rehabilitation, nephrology, oncology, and more. This unique approach extends to the education sector, aligning with Lissun's mission to make mental health solutions accessible and affordable to a broader demographic. The platform's impressive outreach is further demonstrated by its 150+ partnerships with leading industry players in healthcare and education. To further bolster their offering portfolio, the startup recently introduced a comprehensive Childrens Mental and Behavioral Health initiative, branded as 'Sunshine by LISSUN,' a network of full-stack centres dedicated to assisting children facing developmental or behavioural challenges. (Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed back against climate change alarmists in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia as he refused to meet with President Joe Biden. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to criticism by climate change alarmists following the destruction brought by Hurricane Idalia. The Republican lawmaker, also one of the GOP presidential candidates for the 2024 race, cited an 1896 storm that reportedly had winds of 125 mph. He also talked about the state's Labor Day hurricane in 1935. During a Sunday press conference, he said those two instances resulted in massive destruction and deaths. DeSantis Pushes Back Against Climate Alarmists DeSantis called the notion that hurricanes are new to the state false, adding that people should stop politicizing the weather and natural disasters. The Florida governor said that history had shown that there were times, in the late 40s and early 50s when there were a lot of significant hurricanes. The Republican pushed back against adopting what he called left-wing policies at the federal level, saying that it would not reduce the number of hurricanes that occur. As per Fox News, he claims that some people were trying to take the situation and use it as a pretext to advance their agenda. The situation comes as the Florida governor declined to meet with United States President Joe Biden during the latter's trip to the state in the hurricane's aftermath. Hurricane Idalia landed on Wednesday along Florida's sparsely populated Big Bend region. It was a category three storm that resulted in widespread flooding and damage before it moved northward toward Georgia and the Carolinas. One reporter previously asked DeSantis if he trusted the federal government to assist in the situation in Hawaii and East Palestine, Ohio. The Florida governor said they had prepared for the weather phenomenon and responded accordingly. Read Also: Sen. Kaine Claims Donald Trump Could Be Disqualified in US Presidential Election Providing Assistance to Florida The Republican lawmaker added that the federal government's role in the situation is turning on programs that Congress has enacted for many years. DeSantis said that disaster response is done from the bottom up. One noteworthy development in Florida is that electric vehicles caught fire after coming into contact with the saltwater that Hurricane Idalia brought. According to WIONews, firefighters from Palm Harbor, Florida, cited the incidents that included Tesla cars and warned residents of the risk. They said it was crucial to relocate electric vehicles that have come into contact with saltwater from floods in the last 24 hours from garages. The department's Facebook post also urged the public to transfer their electric vehicles to higher ground if possible. Biden also surveyed the destruction left by Hurricane Idalia in Florida, offering his support and condolences to those affected by the weather disaster. The president saw houses with fallen trees and said that thinking individuals could not doubt that climate change is happening. Following a DeSantis spokesperson's announcement that the Florida governor would not meet with the president, Biden was asked if he was disappointed with the decision. He said that he was not, arguing that the Republican may have other reasons to choose not to attend a meeting, said Aljazeera. Related Article: At Least 1 Dead, 70K Stranded During Burning Man Festival in Nevada @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. With a focus on expanding the company's portfolio in the US Bengaluru-based biopharmaceutical company Biocon has announced that its step-down, wholly-owned subsidiary, Biocon Generics Inc., has acquired Eywa Pharma Inc.s oral solid dosage manufacturing facility, located in Cranbury, New Jersey, US, effective 1st September, 2023. The facility is acquired for a total consideration of $7.7 million. As part of the acquisition, the existing workforce of the facility will transition to Biocon Generics Inc. The facility has a potential for capacity expansion up to 2 billion tablets/capsules per year. Siddharth Mittal, Managing Director and CEO, Biocon Limited said, The acquisition of this US FDA approved facility, our first in the US, will complement Biocons existing manufacturing capabilities and strengthen our foothold in the United States. The acquisition will also enable us to add oral solid dosage capacities for new products earlier than originally planned and ensure continuity of supply through the diversification of our manufacturing infrastructure. Our focus will be on integrating the acquired facility expeditiously and expanding our portfolio in the region. Trilife Hospital is currently a 200 bedded hospital, employing over 800 healthcare professionals offering a range of primary and tertiary healthcare services Leading healthcare services provider, Specialist Hospital, Bengaluru will now be known as Trilife Hospital. The rebranding exercise was undertaken by the hospital after completing a decade of providing high quality healthcare facilities and services to the people. Under the Trilife banner, the hospital will continue to provide a full range of healthcare services, while striving to redefine the standards of patient care and medical innovation. Trilife Hospital will therefore remain the same dedicated entity, providing exceptional care, amenities, and services by the same group of expert healthcare professionals, with focus on elevating the quality of healthcare services to greater heights. The management also plans to invest Rs 1500 crore in setting up 5 new hospitals in Bengaluru and Tier II cities, which will provide employment to around 10,000 healthcare professionals in the next 3 to 5 years. Trilife Hospital is currently a 200 bedded hospital, employing over 800 healthcare professionals offering a range of primary and tertiary healthcare services. As Trilife Hospital, a key focus area will be preventive maintenance, with emphasis on the importance of proactive healthcare management. Under the Trilife brand, we will be introducing robotic services for advanced neurorehabilitation. Additionally, we will soon unveil a sprawling 50,000 square foot outpatient department. Looking ahead, we plan to expand our presence across multiple locations in Bengaluru and Tier II cities over the next 3 to 5 years. This expansion effort will include the establishment of 5 new hospitals, with an investment of approximately Rs 1500 crore. Our growth will also create employment opportunities for around 10,000 healthcare professionals, encouraging them to remain in our country, said Dr. Shafiq, co-founder of the hospital. The New Generation Social & Digital Media Awards list of 2023 finalists was announced on 30 August. Creative-solutions agency, Machine_ successfully had each of their entries convert to a finalist, creating 12 in total, across creative and content marketing. The New Gen Awards recognise both the leading local corporates and agencies that produce outstanding and innovative campaigns that build brands in ground-breaking ways. This year, Machine_ entered a range of work from its creative and content marketing specialist department, with all entries converting to finalists. Four of the entries consisted of work from Machine_s long-standing client, Sanlam. We're thrilled to see our work across the Sanlam Group recognised, says Alex Forrester-Strydom, Machine_ Cape Town business unit director. It's testament to our ability to build client partnerships which allow for us to innovate, refresh and re-imagine, based on data, to create excellent work and value within their businesses, says Alex. Machine_ also proudly submitted work from its recent campaigns for Spotify South Africa, including the viral mockumentary, Ons Praat Nie Afrikaans Nie, Ons Sing Dit. Read more about the campaign, featuring comedic genius, Schalk Bezuidenhout, here. Spotifys You Like It, We Got It integrated campaign was also the first time that Spotify had done a campaign speaking purely to South Africans on such a scale TV, OOH, radio, online audio, social media and digital. And it received incredible results. This list is a testament to the depth and breadth of what Machine_ does and does well. Our finalists range from internal comms and content marketing to innovative use of social and integrated brand campaigns. These are for both proudly South African as well as global brands, making their mark in the country with help from us, Jabulani Sigege, Machine_ Cape Town executive creative director. Machine_s 12 2023 New Gen Finalists: Blogging Excellence: Sanlam Reality Wealth Sense Blog Most Innovative use of Social & Digital Media: Prime Video Jack Ryan S3 Binge-Watching Calendar Spotify SA You Like It, We Got It Best Integrated Marketing Campaign: Spotify SA You Like It, We Got It Best Influencer Marketing Campaign: Spotify SA Ons Praat Nie Afrikaans Nie, Ons Sing Dit Most Viral Campaign by Agency: Spotify SA Ons Praat Nie Afrikaans Nie, Ons Sing Dit Most Innovative use of Social & Digital Media by a Med-Large Agency: Prime Video Jack Ryan S3 Binge-Watching Calendar Best Influencer Marketing Campaign by an Agency: Spotify SA Ons Praat Nie Afrikaans Nie, Ons Sing Dit Best Marketing Automation Campaign: Sanlam Reality Open Market Acquisition Best Online Newsletter: Sanlam Retail Mass Takeover Best Online Magazine: Nutun Digital Brand Services From TCR Ngage to Nutun Ngage President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday urged authorities to enforce regulations preventing city residents from unlawfully occupying apartment blocks, after scores died in a fire in a Johannesburg building that was occupied illegally. The fire, which killed more than 70 people, has highlighted a housing crisis in a city that is one of the world's most unequal and where poverty and unemployment are widespread. "Local government has to enforce the laws," Ramaphosa said at an ANC event. "This has given us a wake-up call, and I have said that our cities and municipalities must now pay attention to how people live. We do encourage people to live in the inner city ...but we need to do it in accordance with our laws." The apartment block is owned by municipal authorities, but officials said it was "invaded and hijacked" by unknown groups. Government officials have said some of those who died may have been renting from, or were being extorted by, criminal gangs in the so-called "hijacked buildings" syndicates. Municipal officials have said efforts to evict residents in illegally occupied buildings are often hamstrung by court orders stopping the evictions. Ramaphosa said he has asked government ministers to look into ways of enforcing laws without violating people's rights. The gutted building is linked to Apartheid-era government where it served as a dompas or passbook collection station to allow black South Africans to access white-owned areas of the city. Ramaphosa said he collected his passbook at the building about 50 years ago, when he worked in the city. Mzamo Xala, the group CEO of Avatar Agency Group, is speaking at this year's IMC Conference on African creativity up close! Liberate it and drive business impact. Mzamo Xala, the group CEO of Avator Agency Group is a speaker at this year's IMC Conference that takes place this month Xala has over 25 years of strategic insight, making him a seasoned marketer and visionary leader, while the Avatar Agency Group, a full-service agency, is a proud sponsor of the 2023 IMC Conference. What does Africa have to offer in terms of creativity, specifically in marketing and advertising? Africa's creativity in marketing and advertising is shaped by its cultural diversity, storytelling traditions, vibrant art, music, and local influencers. Brands can draw from these aspects to create compelling campaigns that resonate with specific audiences. Collaborating with local figures, addressing social and environmental issues, and adapting global trends for local contexts are key strategies as African cities become creative hubs, and digital platforms offer opportunities for brands to engage with audiences authentically. Africa's creative potential in marketing and advertising is on the rise due to digital transformation, creative hubs, cultural resonance, and a youthful population Where is Africa now and how can we ensure Africa reaches its potential? Africa's creative potential in marketing and advertising is on the rise due to digital transformation, creative hubs, cultural resonance, and a youthful population. African cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Accra continue to thrive creatively, fostering talent and innovation across various creative industries, including marketing and advertising. To ensure its growth, we should continue to invest in creative education and digital infrastructure, as well as empower local talent with tech capabilities. Prioritising diversity, inclusion, and education that answers to clients future needs as well as social impact while embracing innovation and adapting to changing trends will help further develop Africas creative industries and contribute significantly to the global creative landscape while staying authentic to its cultural identity. Creativity unlocks purchase intent. That means businesses can grow their share of wallet and share of heart among consumers How does creativity address business problems and give business results? Creativity unlocks purchase intent. That means businesses can grow their share of wallet and share of heart among consumers. Creativity in business addresses challenges through innovative problem-solving, leading to differentiation, enhanced customer engagement, and strategic thinking. By encouraging creative approaches, businesses gain a competitive edge, sustainable growth, and positive long-term outcomes. One example of where creativity, backed by insightful strategy, resulted in significant business impact was when the Edgars business went through a business change in 2020 (as most businesses did). Through thoughtful consideration of creative outputs and campaigns, the business was turned around, proving its resilience and relevance to its customers. Edgars worked with Avatar Durban to reinforce the perception that it is here to stay, focusing on offering real value to all South Africans by combining quality, price and a refreshed assortment effectively. Today, Edgars is a thriving business that is giving back to the communities it serves through the Edgars CommUnity engagement. Explain how creativity is a powerful tool for addressing societal issues. Creativity is a potent tool for tackling environmental and societal issues by raising awareness, changing perceptions, promoting dialogue, and engaging communities. As an example, Avatar addresses gender inequality and diversity representation in how we created the latest Isuza D-Max ad. Opting to use a female lead in an otherwise male-dominated category (vehicles), the ad dials up a female lead and supports the notion that women, like men, make decisions about the cars they buy. Whats even more impressive is the all-female creative team that made all this possible director, producer, agency producer, client service, and of course, clients. Where does technology come into the creativity equation and it is positive or negative? Technologys role in relation to creativity and addressing societal issues is two-fold. Firstly, it is a great partner to creativity in terms of speed of production and scale from a business point of view Secondly, technology needs the human to help generate and refine new ideas. Technology promotes creativity by providing access to information, enabling collaboration, amplifying marginalised voices, and offering innovative tools. For example, weve used AI and machine learning to win some of our pitches and showcase data-driven insights, helping identify trends, needs, and gaps in addressing societal issues. This informs our targeted and effective creative solution approach to a business problem. We see people and technology working together to help liberate African creativity that delivers growth for our clients. Pick n Pay Clothing, renowned for its affordable yet quality clothing, is partnering with Nando's, the hottest chick in the game. These two iconic South African brands are launching an exclusive collection of tees that are set to fire up the fashionistas as we spring into Spring. Image supplied With the theme of Ignited by Diversity. One Nation. One Chicken, the range is a tribute to the Mzansi spirit of collaboration, creativity and multiplicity; perfectly timeous as we celebrate what it means to be truly South African this Heritage month. Nandos, the sauce of South Africas pride since 87, is sure to amass invaluable street cred through these fresh 100% cotton tees. Pertunia Mabotja, marketing manager of customer experience at Nandos, says: We are delighted to announce our exciting partnership with Pick n Pay Clothing for this exclusive t-shirt range. Just like our diverse menu, this collection offers something for everyone. We appreciate the love and support we receive from the South African community. Through this collaboration, we aim to give South Africans of all ages the opportunity to literally wear their hearts on their sleeves and join us as we proudly reaffirm our commitment and love for this amazing country we live in. Our commitment to South Africans is unwavering, making this project particularly special to us. This ones dedicated to you, Mzansi!" The Nandos & Pick n Pay Clothing collection harmoniously fuses the best elements of both brands: it melds Nandos zesty flavours and playfulness with the premium 100% cotton tees that Pick n Pay Clothing prides itself on. The range features 12 distinctively local tees catering to women, men, and children, alongside an adorable Born in the New SA onesie designed for babies. The collection showcases Nandos signature font and its iconic PERi-PERi sauce bottles. Vibrant hues, including the national flag and the outline of the African continent, infuse the designs with an authentically South African touch. Diverging from the usual style of designer collaborations, this unique partnership blends the spirited essence of Nandos with Pick n Pay Clothings dedication to accessible and trendy fashion, explains Hazel Pillay, general manager of Pick n Pay Clothing. The range of tees will undoubtedly elevate your t-shirt game this summer, making you feel as hot as Nandos legendary sauces, she adds. Pillay also notes that collaborations are gaining popularity because they allow brands to offer exclusive ranges that align with the latest trends, while injecting fun and uniqueness into their offerings. "Collaborating with Nandos, a popular brand known for its unique flavour and spirit, is an incredible opportunity to produce something unique and exceptional for our customers, says Pillay. The collection by this iconic Mzansi duo will be available exclusively at select Pick n Pay Clothing stores and online at www.picknpayclothing.co.za South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday that an independent inquiry has found no evidence that a Russian ship had collected weapons from the country late last year destined for Russia. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday that an independent inquiry has found no evidence that a Russian ship had collected weapons from the country late last year destined for Russia. Source: Reuters In claims that sparked a diplomatic row, the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, told local journalists in a May briefing that Russian cargo ship Lady R had uploaded weapons at a naval base near Cape Town in December. The US accusations raised questions over South Africa's professed stance of non-alignment and neutrality over Russia's war in Ukraine and concerns of possible Western sanctions. In an address to the nation, Ramaphosa said the accusations had a damaging effect on South Africa's economy and its standing in the world. "The panel found that there was no evidence to support the claim that the ship transported weapons from South Africa destined for Russia," Ramaphosa said. "No permit was issued for the export of arms and no arms were exported." Ramaphosa said the ship had docked at the base to deliver equipment that had been ordered for the South African National Defence Force in 2018 by South Africa's arms procurement company Armscor. He said he could not reveal details of the equipment offloaded because that could compromise important military operations and put South African soldiers' lives at risk. "When all matters are considered, none of the allegations made about the supply of weapons to Russia have been proven to be true," Ramaphosa said. "None of the persons who made these allegations could provide any evidence to support the claims that had been levelled against our country." When the accusations were made, South African officials were quick to reject the claims, and Ramaphosa launched the independent inquiry led by a retired judge. (Photo : Thomas Niedermueller/Getty Images) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fires Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, citing the need for new approaches amid the 18-month-long war with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday announced that he would be replacing his Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, citing the need for "new approaches" amid its 18-month-long conflict with Russia. Reznikov's position as defense minister has been in the spotlight and increasing speculation following reports of financial improprieties and the start of investigations into official corruption. In a statement, Zelensky said that the defense minister has not been implicated in the probes regarding the mishandling of military contracts. Zelensky Fires Defense Minister The president added that Reznikov would be replaced by Rustem Umerov, the country's State Property Fund chairman. Zelensky also said that he expects the nation's Parliament, which is needed to approve the change, to sign off on his request. Zelensky said that Reznikov has already experienced more than 550 days of the Ukraine-Russia war, adding that the ministry needs "new approaches," among other things. As per the New York Times, the president's decision comes as the nation is in the middle of a counteroffensive against Moscow's military troops. Last week, Ukrainian officials said they successfully captured the southern village of Robotyne, which suggests that the offensive had already penetrated the first layer of Russia's minefields, tank traps, trenches, and bunkers. An official in the Ukrainian president's office said that the decision was made based on several factors, including an understanding that the country will require new leadership as the war continues. Other factors are criticism from civil society groups and media outlets regarding the contract scandals and Reznikov's requests to step down from his position. Umerov has taken various critical roles for Zelensky's administration since the beginning of the war against Russia despite being a member of an opposition political party and a former investment banker. He was previously the chief Ukrainian negotiator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative and a negotiator on prisoner exchanges. Read Also: Hundreds of Thousands of Soldiers Recruited by Russian Military Ukraine's New Approaches Zelensky's decision to shake up leadership also comes after Reznikov claims that F-16 fighter jets supplied by the country's allies are set to be deployed next spring. According to Aljazeera, he also boasted during an interview about Ukraine's plans to increase drone production. At the time, Reznikov said there would be a boom in producing various Ukrainian drones, either flying, floating, crawling, or others. Zelensky spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday to discuss the "functioning" of a sea corridor. This would be set up by Kyiv and is meant to provide safe navigation of ships after Russia decided to exit the landmark Black Sea Grain deal. The talks happened on the eve of a summit held in Russia between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Amid the war against Russia, Reznikov's ministry has lobbied the West to get past so-called taboos on supplying powerful military gear to Ukraine. These include Germany's main battle tanks and HIMARS rocket artillery. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment regarding Zelensky's decision, saying it was internal. Reuters said this comes despite Reznikov having numerous interactions with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Related Article: Italian Victims of Nazi to Receive $13 Million Compensation 80 Years Later @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Photo by VIKTOR KOROTAYEV/Kommersant Photo/AFP via Getty Images) A picture shows detonation of ammunition caused by a fire at a military training field in the Kirovsky district of Crimea on July 19, 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed about a fire at a military site in Moscow-annexed Crimea that forced authorities to evacuate thousands of civilians on July 19, 2023, the Kremlin said. News of the blaze came two days after Ukraine used waterborne drones to attack the Kerch bridge, a key military supply artery from mainland Russia to annexed Crimea. Authorities ordered the evacuation of over 2,000 residents from areas near the military field. A section of the Tavrida highway -- connecting the eastern Crimean port of Kerch to the port of Sevastopol on the peninsula's Black Sea coast -- was closed due to the fire. Russian drones attacked a Ukrainian port near the Romanian border during a three-hour overnight barrage that risked triggering a global food crisis and bringing NATO into the conflict. Ukraine said today that it had destroyed 22 Russian drones out of 25 launched on the southern Odesa region, as Moscow said it struck the Danube port of Reni. Russian Drone Attack in Ukraine, Near Romanian Border After withdrawing from an agreement that guaranteed safe passage for ships carrying grain from Ukrainian ports, Russia has been targeting Ukrainian port infrastructure in the Odessa area for weeks. Per Daily Mail, prosecutors in Ukraine reported that some of the drones struck the Danube region, injuring at least two persons. In one video shared on social media, a large detonation occurs at night, while in another, a port building is engulfed in flames, and cinders are seen drifting through the air. The Russian army claimed to have attacked 'fuel storage facilities' in Reni, Romania, which is located across the Danube from NATO and EU member Romania. The attack on the Reni seaport comes a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the resumption of food shipments from Ukraine under a July-abandoned Black Sea grain agreement. According to Republic World, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated in a press release that the assault targeted petroleum storage facilities used to supply military equipment. Monday will mark the long-awaited meeting between Putin and Erdogan in Sochi, on Russia's southwest coast. Officials from Turkey have verified that the two countries will discuss reviving the Black Sea grain initiative, which the Kremlin abandoned six weeks ago. The agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022, had permitted nearly 33 million metric tonnes (36 million tonnes) of grain and other commodities to depart three Ukrainian ports safely despite the Russian conflict. However, Russia withdrew from the pact after alleging that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports had not been honored. Moscow complained that transportation and insurance restrictions impeded its agricultural trade despite the fact that it has shipped record quantities of wheat since last year. The Sochi summit follows Thursday's discussions between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers, during which Russia presented the West with a list of actions necessary for Ukraine's Black Sea exports to resume. Erdogan has expressed support for Putin's stance. In July, he stated that Putin had "certain expectations from Western countries" regarding the Black Sea agreement and that it was "vital that these countries act in this regard." Read Also: Hundreds of Thousands of Soldiers Recruited by Russian Military Ukraine's Corruption Crackdown Meanwhile, Zelensky has decided to dismiss Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and replace him with the director of the country's primary privatization fund. Zelensky's announcement during his nightly video address to the nation on Sunday sets the stage for the greatest reorganization of Ukraine's defense establishment during the February 2022 conflict with Russia. Reznikov, who was appointed defense minister in November 2021, has helped secure billions of dollars in Western military aid for the war effort. However, he has been plagued by corruption allegations that he has characterized as smears. The decision follows a crackdown on corruption in Ukraine, which Zelensky has stressed. As the conflict continues without end, Kyiv has applied to join the European Union, and the public has become extremely sensitive to corruption. The change in the minister of defense must be authorized by parliament but is likely to receive majority support from the Verkhovna Rada, ABC.net reported. Related Article: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky To Replace Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov Amid Investigations of Corruption @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Netflix has teased that the final season of The Crown will include Charles and Camilla's wedding. The streaming platform uploaded a photo to Twitter, now known as X, that showed the service of prayer and dedication for the marriage of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall. Advertisement Charles and Camilla were married in a civil ceremony in April 2005 at Windsor Guildhall and had a blessing at St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle. After six seasons, seven years and three casts, @TheCrownNetflix comes to an end later this year. Well be back with more soon, but heres a hint at whats to come in our final season. pic.twitter.com/zHbeqEqqWv Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) September 4, 2023 Advertisement Alongside the teaser, Netflix posted a caption which read: After six seasons, seven years and three casts, @TheCrownNetflix comes to an end later this year. Advertisement Well be back with more soon, but heres a hint at whats to come in our final season. Advertisement Season five of The Crown depicted the events surrounding Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce, including the BBC interview Diana had with journalist Martin Bashir. The next series could look into the death of Diana, who died following a car accident in Paris in 1997 alongside the driver Henri Paul and Dodi Fayed, the son of business tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed, who was seen getting to know Diana in season five. The marriage of the then-Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles will be portrayed in The Crown (Tim Ockenden/PA) Advertisement Actors to have been cast in The Crown include Viola Prettejohn, Claire Foy, Olivia Colman Imelda Staunton, who have all played versions of the late Queen. Josh OConnor and Dominic West are among the actors to have portrayed Charles, and Diana has been played by Emma Corrin and Elizabeth Debicki. The final season of The Crown will be released later this year and is expected to show the premiership of Sir Tony Blair, and the early relationship between Prince William and the then-Kate Middleton. Jonas Brothers star Joe Jonas and Game Of Thrones actress Sophie Turner have hit the headlines with reports about the state of their marriage. The couple, who got married after a year of dating, have since welcomed two children together. Advertisement Here, the PA news agency details a timeline of their relationship: 2016 Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner in 2022 (Doug Peters/PA) Advertisement Jonas direct-messaged Turner out of the blue on social media after mutual friends had been attempting to introduce the pair for a long time, Turner later told Harpers Bazaar. The 27-year-old later told Elle magazine that she had feared he would be a catfish and would have all of his security staff with him and so she invited her rugby friends to the bar in Camden. She said: I remember us two spending only a couple of minutes on the dance floor, and then we found a space in the far corner and we just talked. We talked for hours and hours and hours. And I wasnt bored. Advertisement It wasnt contrived, it wasnt small talk it was just so easy. Soon, we were inseparable. And then I went on tour with him. Advertisement The couple made their first public appearance at a Kings Of Leon concert in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in November. 2017 Advertisement Turner made their relationship Instagram official on January 1st, sharing a picture of Jonas riding on a boat which she captioned: Miami daze. The couple adopted a Siberian husky named Porky Basquiat months before bringing home another dog named Waldo Picasso. After a year of dating, the couple announced in October that they were engaged, with Turner sharing a picture of her diamond engagement ring on Instagram. Advertisement A few months later she told Americas Marie Claire magazine it was lovely to be engaged, but described her career as her most important achievement. Its lovely to be engaged. Not like I achieved anything, but I found my person, like Id find a house that I love and want to stay in forever. Theres a sense of peace that comes with finding your person. Turner, who played Sansa Stark in hit fantasy series Game Of Thrones from 2011 for eight years and also appears in the X-Men films, added: But theres a drive that comes with your career. Advertisement 2018 In October, the couple announced they had got matching Toy Story tattoos, with the words To infinity & beyond etched on their arms. The sentence was used by the film franchises space ranger character Buzz Lightyear. In the same month, Jonas amused fans dressing as Turners Game Of Thrones character to a Halloween party. He wore a long turquoise gown similar to one Sansa Stark wore in the hit series and donned a long red wig to complete the look. 2019 In March, Turner starred in the Jonas Brothers comeback single Sucker video, alongside Nick Jonas wife Priyanka Chopra and Kevin Jonas wife Danielle. The couple later got married in Las Vegas in May 2019 following the Billboard Music Awards after she had turned up to support The Jonas Brothers, who performed at the event. Shortly after the event, Turner and Jonas exchanged vows while an Elvis impersonator officiated at proceedings, before saying I do. The low-key ceremony, which was reported to have cost about $600, was livestreamed by DJ Diplo and saw musicians Dan + Shay perform hit song Speechless. Turner later admitted she wished the wedding had been kept private. She told Net-A-Porters digital magazine PorterEdit: Its tricky when people livestream it. It would have been better if no one had known, but I actually think it was funny. Advertisement Marriage is a private thing between two people and I think thats how it should always be. Its not about the dress, its not about the food. Its about being husband and wife, and being dedicated to each other forever. The wedding came after Turner told The Sunday Times that Jonas had saved her life, as she revealed she was desperately unhappy after growing up in the public eye. She said: I was going through this phase of being very mentally unwell. He was like I cant be with you until you love yourself, I cant see you love me more than you love yourself. That was something, him doing that. I think he kind of saved my life in a way. The couple followed up their wedding with a second ceremony in the south of France in June. A month later they got matching tattoos in memory of their dog, Waldo Picasso, who was reportedly killed by a car in New York. 2020 In July, representatives for the couple confirmed that Turner had given birth to the couples first child, a baby girl named Willa. In December, Turner shared a slideshow of throwback images, including a shot taken before she welcomed her daughter where the actress can be seen wearing pyjamas and a cropped top as she shows off her bare baby bump and snaps a selfie in front of a bathroom mirror. Advertisement 2022 Turner confirmed her second pregnancy at the Met Gala after debuting her growing bump on the red carpet at the fashion event in New York City, wearing a long-sleeved black, floor-length Louis Vuitton gown. She told Elle UK in May: Its what life is about for me raising the next generation. The greatest thing in life is seeing my daughter go from strength to strength. Were so excited to be expanding the family. Its the best blessing ever. In July, a representative for the couple told People: Joe and Sophie are happy to announce the arrival of their baby girl. 2023 Nick Jonas (left) Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas of Jonas Brothers on stage during Capitals Summertime Ball (Isabel Infantes/PA) In January, Turner joined the Jonas Brothers and their wives as the band were inducted into the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Jonas described his wife as my partner in crime, telling fans at the ceremony in Los Angeles: You keep me motivated and inspired every day. I strive to be as cool as you have you got any plans later? he said, prompting laughter from the audience. He continued: This journey has been a wild ride, and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to share this passion for music for so long with the world. Advertisement Weve been through many ups and downs, but through it all we have remained brothers that stay true to our passion for music. However, rumours have swirled about the state of their marriage as US publications reported that Jonas had been consulting divorce lawyers after being pictured several times without his wedding ring. Over the weekend, Turner was seen supporting her husband during a Jonas Brothers concert in Austin, Texas, and Jonas also posted a picture on Instagram wearing his wedding ring, seemingly quashing break-up rumours. Representatives for Jonas and Turner have been contacted for comment. A man and a woman have appeared by videolink in court on Monday, both charged with the murder of a man in his 60s whose body was found off the Sliabh Liag cliffs in Co Donegal. Alan Vial (38) and Nikita Burns (21) appeared separately by videolink at Letterkenny District Court before Judge Eiteain Cunningham. Advertisement Both are charged with murdering Robert Wilkin (also known as Robin Wilkin) on June 25th, 2023, at a place unknown within the State. Their arrests followed a weeks-long search for the remains of Mr Wilkin who was originally from Northern Ireland. Alan Vial is charged with the murder of Robert Wilkin His remains were found off Sliabh Liag on July 3rd last after a large-scale search by a number of State agencies including gardai, the Irish Coastguard and the Rescue 118 helicopter. Advertisement Garda Sergeant Jim Collins said the book of evidence was at an advanced stage but he was not sure if it was ready. Advertisement Mr Vial, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, was remanded in custody to appear again by videolink on September 18th. Nikita Burns Solicitor Rory OBrien appeared for Ms Burns. When the charge was initially put to Ms Burns, of no fixed abode, on August 28th last, she replied I didnt do it. She appeared by videolink on Monday when Mr OBrien said he presumed that directions in the case were still outstanding from the Director of Public Prosecutions officer. Sergeant Collins said he was seeking two weeks for all matters in the case to travel with Mr Vials case. Mr OBrien said I presume the State is endeavoring to expedite all matters. The case was adjourned, also to September 18th, to allow for directions from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Minister for Justice has said many people are very upset about a documentary featuring interviews with notorious drug trafficker John Gilligan. Helen McEntee said she would not be watching the first part of the Virgin Media programme Confessions Of A Crime Boss, which was scheduled to air on Monday evening. Advertisement Her comments come after the Jimmy Guerin, the brother of murdered journalist Veronica Guerin, criticised the documentary series featuring drug dealer Gilligan. Irish Justice minister Helen McEntee. Photo: David Young/PA. The investigative reporter was killed by members of Gilligans drugs gang in 1996. Advertisement Gilligan was acquitted of the murder of Ms Guerin in 2001 after a 43-day trial at the Special Criminal Court. Judge Diarmuid ODonovan said the court had grave suspicions about Gilligans involvement in Ms Guerins murder, but the evidence produced at trial was not enough to convict him. Advertisement However, Gilligan was later sentenced to 28 years in prison for drug trafficking that same year. Ms McEntee was asked about the controversy surrounding the documentary on Monday afternoon prior to it airing. Advertisement To be quite honest this is a man that has created misery for so many people in so many communities and I know theres a lot of people and families and communities that are very upset by the fact that this documentary is on this evening, she said. Ireland Many people very upset over John Gilligan interv... Read More Hes someone who has been convicted of very serious offences and I, for one, certainly wont be watching it. I think the producers maybe need to think about what theyre trying to achieve by showing this programme. But this is a person who has been convicted of very serious drug trafficking crimes and who has inflicted untold misery on people and, as I said, I certainly wont be watching that, and I know many people who wont be either. Virgin Media has been approached for comment. RTE has announced that Sharon Tobin and Ray Kennedy will be permanent presenters of the RTE Six One News and Nine O'Clock News. Journalist Sharon Tobin will join David McCullagh as the new presenting team for RTE's flagship Six One News from today, while broadcaster Ray Kennedy will present the RTE Nine O'Clock News on rotation with Sharon Ni Bheolain. Advertisement Ms Tobin replaces Caitriona Perry, who has moved to the US in a new role with the BBC. Mr Kennedy will take the place of Eileen Dunne, who has retired. Ms Tobin joined RTE News as journalist and TV reporter in 2008. She has been a regular news presenter in studio and for outside broadcasts in Ireland and abroad, such as the death of Britains Queen Elizabeth. Ms Tobin has also co-presented RTEs annual Budget coverage, hosted the current affairs programme Monday Night Live, and presented news specials, including US president Joe Bidens visit to Ireland in 2023. Advertisement Mr Kennedy has worked with RTE since 2008 as a journalist and newscaster. He has reported extensively from Africa on the humanitarian crisis throughout 2012 and 2013. Advertisement He previously spent almost five years as Ireland Correspondent with Sky News. Director of RTE News and current affairs Deirdre McCarthy said: "For all of us who work in News and Current Affairs the flagship Six One News and Nine O'Clock News are among our most watched and valued television programmes and represent the best of our daily newsgathering and trusted public service journalism. "Sharon and Ray join our dedicated News & Current Affairs presentation team who strive every hour of every day to tell honestly and clearly, with integrity and credibility, the stories that matter to you, your families and your communities. "They are accomplished journalists, and I am delighted they are joining the presentation team. Along with Eileen Whelan who will continue to anchor the One O'Clock News, our News and Current Affairs presentation team is a group of talented presenters who will continue to ask the probing questions, hold those in power to account and represent the public interest." Tanaiste Micheal Martin will hold a series of political meetings during a visit to the Middle East this week. He will begin his trip in Israel on Monday before travelling to the occupied Palestinian territory and Jordan. Advertisement As well as meeting with leaders, he will engage with UN and civil society partners providing support to people in the region. In Israel, the Tanaiste plans to meet with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, president Isaac Herzog and foreign minister Eli Cohen. He will meet with president Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank before travelling to Jordan, where engagements will include a meeting with deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ayman Safadi. Advertisement Mr Martin said: This visit is an important opportunity to see the political, security and human rights situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Advertisement There has been a worrying escalation in violence over recent months. Advertisement Ireland has been consistent in its calls for the protection of civilians and the application of international law. This visit will allow the opportunity to discuss directly these issues with political leaders, as well as with Irelands civil society partners. He added: The visit will be my first to Jordan since the opening of Irelands embassy in Amman and I am looking forward to seeing the strengthened bilateral relationship between us, including Irelands support for the Jordan Young Scientist Programme and other innovation initiatives. Jordan also hosts a significant number of refugees from Syria, Palestine and elsewhere. I will meet with refugee families and UN partners and reiterate Irelands continuing support. Temperatures could soar to 26 degrees this week just as pupils across the country return to the classroom for the first full week of the new school year. Forecasters are predicting warm spells reaching 26 degrees on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Advertisement The news will be welcomed by many underwhelmed by the wettest July on record, followed by a mixed bag of sunshine and rain in August. Thousands of children are already back in uniform and at school this week as their two-month summer break comes to an end. Misty or foggy in parts to begin, these soon clearing It will be another warm or very warm day with mostly sunny skies Highs of 22-26C, in light easterly breezes Tonight will be warm and humid with mostly clear skies More here https://t.co/9gKN6SVok4 pic.twitter.com/bFl4HcHY4E Advertisement Met Eireann (@MetEireann) September 4, 2023 Advertisement The change in weather is due to a flow of warm air between a high pressure area in continental Europe and low pressure in the Atlantic. Met Eireann said it will be very warm this week, both by day and night with the increasing likelihood of thundery showers breaking out. Monday and Tuesday will stay dry and clear in most areas, with temperatures reaching up to 26 degrees inland. Wednesday will be not quite as sunny as recent days, Met Eireann said, with cloud building at times, producing scattered showers. There may be scattered heavy or thundery showers on Thursday with warm or very warm sunshine at times too. Friday will bring a mix of cloud and warm spells of sunshine, with a top temperature of 24 degrees. The warm spell is set to continue into the weekend and next week, with Met Eireann predicting some warm or very warm sunny spells alongside scattered outbreaks of rain. Images of victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland have been projected onto the British houses of parliament ahead of the expected passing of the UK governments controversial legacy Bill. Amnesty International and some victims have made a late plea for the UK government to scrap the legislation which includes a form of limited immunity for some perpetrators of crimes committed during the conflict. Advertisement The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill is set to return to the UK House of Lords on Tuesday. The proposed legislation would also prevent future civil cases and inquests into Troubles offences. All of the main political parties in Northern Ireland, the Irish Government and victims groups are opposed to the Bill. At the weekend, Amnesty projected the images of some victims who have still to receive justice. Advertisement Advertisement The image of the Reavey brothers projected onto Parliament (Amnesty International/PA) These include Majella OHare, who was shot dead by a British soldier in Co Armagh when she was 12 years old; Tom Oliver, a 43-year-old farmer who was murdered by the IRA; and the three Reavey brothers aged between 17 and 24 who were killed by the Loyalist Glenanne Gang. Majellas brother Michael OHare said: I want Parliament and everyone to see my sister and pay attention to the many people being denied truth and justice. Advertisement Lasting peace and reconciliation can only come when victims are prioritised and there is an agreed way forward. Majellas life mattered and accountability for her killing and the many other crimes committed during the conflict also matters. Shame on the Government ignoring victims and the many others who reject this Bill. This is a final call to them: do not let us down drop the Troubles Bill. Advertisement Grainne Teggart of Amnesty International (Brian Lawless/PA) Grainne Teggart, Amnestys Northern Ireland deputy director, said: This is a hugely significant week for the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict and victims rights as the UK Government recklessly pursues a Bill that only it supports. We are on the cusp of seeing universally opposed legislation passed which not only betrays victims but also provides a blueprint for human rights abusers all over the world. Advertisement Advertisement The projection on Parliament shows the faces of some of the victims whose families are being bitterly let down by the Government. It is a timely and critical reminder that it is the victims, not perpetrators of serious crimes, who should be prioritised. She added: Amnesty is making a final call to the UK Government to scrap the Bill and if the Troubles Bill becomes law, the Irish Government must immediately challenge it by bringing an inter-state case to the European Court of Human Rights. Meanwhile, a number of families of Troubles victims will travel to Westminster to witness the Bill pass its final stages. Prominent victims campaigner Raymond McCord is to travel to Westminster this week (Rebecca Black/PA) They include campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond Junior was murdered by Loyalist paramilitaries in 1997. He said: Our cross-community victims group the Truth and Justice Movement will be in the public galleries of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Let us not forget this Bill has been rejected by victims groups, every political party in Ireland, every political party in the UK (except the Conservatives), every political party in the EU, every political party in America and also the United Nations. The Northern Ireland Office has been contacted for a response. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has previously said the the Bill provides the best opportunity for the families of Troubles victims who have gone decades without any information, to receive answers about what happened to their loved ones. UK Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has defended holidaying with family in Spain as the crumbling concrete crisis hitting schools unfolded. The cabinet minister said on Monday she has always worked remotely and continued to chair a response team while on the continent for her fathers birthday. Advertisement Aides had conceded she was in Spain between August 25 and Thursday, when the closures at more than 100 schools were ordered. "I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me - I'm certainly not getting that vibe from you". Education Sec @GillianKeegan defends going on holiday during the concrete crisis, and says she "came back straight away".#PoliticsHub https://t.co/GlTNastFii Sky 501, Virgin 602 pic.twitter.com/0pSsKZjTBa Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (@SkyPoliticsHub) September 4, 2023 Advertisement Her holiday emerged as Ms Keegan was under pressure after being caught on microphone suggesting everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing as she tackled the crisis. Advertisement UK Ministers have said they were acting after receiving concerning new evidence about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) over the summer. Advertisement Ms Keegan said the trip to Spain where she reportedly owns property in Madrid and Marbella was her first opportunity to go on holiday this summer after dealing with striking teachers, as well as GCSE and A-level results. She told Skys Politics Hub: I dont expect anyone to feel sorry for me, Im certainly not getting that vibe from you. But what I arranged was to go on holiday on that day for my dads birthday it was a family occasion, and we went. The minister said she chaired a response team from Spain every day despite the vacation. Advertisement She said she has always worked remotely throughout her career, in business before becoming an MP, and said she planned to come back if investigations raised concerns. I came back straight away well actually I had to wait a day because of the air traffic control issue, she added. The complete or partial closures at 104 schools and colleges in England over Raac was announced with a press release on Thursday afternoon. World Britain's Education Secretary apologises for choi... Read More Ms Keegan, according to aides, was in her department overseeing the publication of the guidance that day before speaking to broadcasters in the evening. Advertisement Advertisement A Department for Education spokesman said: Throughout this summer the Education Secretary has been driving forward this governments priorities, bringing an end to strike action in schools, announcing 15 new free schools and seven new Send (special educational needs and disabilities) schools, as well as overseeing the return to pre-pandemic grading for GCSE, A-level and VTQ results. The education secretary took the cautious and proactive decision to change guidance on Raac and this week has chaired daily operational calls with ministers and senior officials in the department and virtually. (Photo : Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images) Members of Israel's security forces clash with Eritrean asylum-seekers protesting an event organised by Eritrea's government in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on September 2, 2023. A dozen Eritrean asylum seekers were wounded by Israeli police gunfire on Sptember 2 after a demonstration against an Eritrean government event turned violent, police and medical sources said. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, has issued a fervent demand for the immediate expulsion of individuals involved in the violent riots in Tel Aviv involving migrants from Eritrea. The violence, which broke out between supporters and opponents of the regime of the African nation, resulted in the injuries of scores of people and sparked a critical debate about Israel's policy regarding African migrants currently living within its borders, as per the New York Times. Netanyahu Calls for Immediate Deportation The confrontations on the streets of south Tel Aviv escalated to alarming proportions as both sides held construction timber, metal shards, and rocks during the fighting there. The majority of the damage was done to storefronts and police vehicles, which prompted Israeli riot cops to use tear gas, stun grenades, and live rounds of ammunition. In the wake of this upheaval, Netanyahu called a special conference of the cabinet ministers to discuss the fallout and devise a comprehensive plan of action. Netanyahu stated his position during the meeting, saying, "We want harsh measures to be taken against the rioters, including the immediate deportation of those who took part." He then signaled a fundamental shift in policy by demanding complete plans for the deportation of the country's African migrants from his ministers, who he had instructed to report back to him. Israel has long struggled with roughly 25,000 African migrants, most of whom originate from the countries of Sudan and Eritrea and claim to have fled repression and conflict in their home countries. On the other hand, the Israeli government has shown reluctance to oblige asylum seekers, instead classifying them as economic migrants. With the help of this classification, Israel has established that it is under no legal obligation to offer asylum to the individuals in question, according to Daily Mail. Read Also: Hundreds of Thousands of Soldiers Recruited by Russian Military Israel's Varied Strategies to Encourage Voluntary Departure of Migrants Throughout the years, Israel has used a variety of strategies to encourage migrants to leave freely. These strategies include detaining some migrants in jails that are located in distant areas, withholding a portion of their salaries until they agree to go, and providing monetary incentives to migrants who are willing to move to other countries in Africa. However, these restrictions have been met with criticism, and the discussion regarding how migrants are treated in Israel continues to be controversial. One of the most significant points of disagreement is that, according to international law, Israel is prohibited from forcefully expelling migrants to countries where there is a risk to their lives or freedom. In response to the recent violence, Netanyahu expressed confidence that deporting Eritrean government supporters would not be a problem. He said this in response to the fact that the clashes had occurred. However, the ramifications of such deportations in terms of ethics and practicalities continue to be disputed. The members of the opposition in the Knesset have expressed their concern regarding Netanyahu's response to the violence, and they have been pressing him for specifics regarding the destination of the refugees who would be deported. The complexity of this matter extends beyond immediate concerns about safety to include questions about the humanitarian implications of deporting particularly vulnerable communities. Additionally, political tensions within Israel have been stoked due to Netanyahu's demand for rapid deportations. While the far-right coalition that makes up Netanyahu's government is adamant that instigators and ringleaders should be deported, they blame the Supreme Court for thwarting earlier deportation attempts. Members of the opposition in the Knesset claim that successive governments have been unable to adequately solve the situation with migrants, and they highlight the fact that the issue is fraught with political ramifications. Paul Brennan, reporting for Al Jazeera from West Jerusalem, notes in his observations that lawmakers from a wide variety of political persuasions have expressed their opinions regarding the issue. "There's politics involved in this," he says, underlining that Netanyahu's approach appears to be driven by a desire to be perceived as taking decisive action. "There's a political element involved in this," he emphasizes. The tension between Israel's security concerns, humanitarian considerations, and its commitments under international law continues to pose a serious obstacle as the country struggles to address the complicated problem of African migrants living within its borders. This sensitive subject has been thrown into the spotlight due to the recent violence in Tel Aviv, causing Israel to wrestle with the way forward in addressing the presence of its African migrant population, Al Jazeera reported. Related Article: Sen. Kaine Claims Donald Trump Could Be Disqualified in US Presidential Election @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Elvis Presley's former wife Priscilla said the legendary rock star had been the love of her life, despite eventually leaving him, as a film about their turbulent relationship hit the Venice Film Festival. Priscilla, directed by Sofia Coppola, is based on her 1985 autobiography, Elvis and Me, depicting her roller-coaster life with one of the most famous figures of the 20th century. Advertisement "It wasn't that I didn't love him. He was the love of my life, but it was the lifestyle that was so difficult for me," Priscilla told reporters in Venice ahead of the world premiere of the movie, which stars Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi. Priscilla Beaulieu met Elvis Presley in 1959 when she was just 14, and he was deeply homesick, stationed with the US army in West Germany. "Elvis poured his heart out to me in Germany, his fears and his hopes, the loss of his mother, which he never ever got over," Priscilla said. "People think it was the sex. Not at all. I never had sex with him. He was very kind, very loving, but he respected the fact that I was only 14 years old." Advertisement Elvis returned to the United States shortly after, but the two remained in touch and in 1963 he invited her to come and live with him in Memphis, where she finished school. Advertisement Jacob Elordi, Sofia Coppola, Cailee Spaeny and Priscilla Presley attend a photocall for the movie Priscilla at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 4th, 2023 in Venice, Italy. Photo: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images They got married in 1967, had a baby daughter, Lisa Marie, in 1968, and divorced in 1973, four years before Elvis died of heart failure, aged just 42. "We still remained very, very close," Priscilla said. The film offers perhaps the darkest screen portrayal yet of Elvis as he relentlessly manipulates Priscilla, verbally abusing her and at times threatening her before seeking to make amends. "It is very difficult to sit and watch a film about you and about your life and about your love," said Priscilla, 78, pausing a while as she struggled to overcome her emotions. "I think Sophia did an amazing job. She did her homework." Advertisement Coppola said she had leaned heavily on Priscilla as she put the film together. "I really tried to make the film from her point of view so we could go along on the journey with her," she told reporters. Spaeny said she had also turned to Priscilla for help as she prepared to bring the often vulnerable character alive on the big screen. "She was very generous with her time and she was very kind to me and supportive. And I think if I didn't have that, I would have had a much harder time," the US actress said. Priscilla is one of 23 movies competing for the Golden Lion award at the Venice festival, which runs until September 9th. The first African Climate Summit is opening as heads of state assert a stronger voice on a global issue that affects the continent of 1.3 billion people the most even as they contribute to it the least. Kenyan President William Rutos government launched the ministerial session on Monday while more than a dozen heads of state began to arrive, determined to wield more global influence and bring in far more financing and support. Advertisement The first speakers include young delegates, who demanded a bigger voice in the process. US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry addresses the Africa Climate Summit (AP) For a very long time we have looked at this as a problem. There are immense opportunities as well, Mr Ruto said of the climate crisis, as he raised the possibility of multibillion-dollar economic possibilities, new financial structures, Africas huge mineral wealth and the ideal of shared prosperity. Advertisement Advertisement We are not here to catalogue grievances, he added. There is some frustration on the continent about being asked to develop in cleaner ways than the worlds richest countries, which have long produced most of the emissions that endanger climate, and to do it while much of the support that has been pledged has not appeared. HAPPENING NOW! Youth at the Africa Climate Summit happening in Kenya, want their voices heard! Help amplify their voices and get leaders to take climate action. Sign the petition here https://t.co/2NErwM6M22 pic.twitter.com/gmI3iwaEaK Advertisement Greenpeace Africa (@Greenpeaceafric) September 4, 2023 Mithika Mwenda with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance told the gathering: This is our time, asserting that the annual flow of climate assistance to the continent is about 16 billion dollars (12.7 billion), a tenth or less of what is needed and a fraction of the budget of some polluting companies. Advertisement Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said: We need to immediately see the delivery of the 100 billion dollars (79 billion) of climate finance, pledged annually by rich countries to developing ones. More than 83 billion dollars (66 billion) in climate financing was given to poorer countries in 2020, a 4% increase from the previous year but still short of the goal set in 2009. Advertisement Kenya alone needs 62 billion dollars (49 billion) to implement its plan to reduce national emissions that contribute to global warming, the President said. Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa said ahead of the summit: We have an abundance of clean, renewable energy and its vital that we use this to power our future prosperity. But to unlock it, Africa needs funding from countries that have got rich off our suffering. Advertisement Kenyan President William Ruto has said there are many possibilities for the continent in terms of new technology and other areas (AP) Outside attendees to the summit include United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and the US governments climate envoy, John Kerry. Mr Kerry said: Of 20 countries most affected by the climate crisis, 17 are here in Africa. As Kenyas president spoke, hundreds of people joined a peoples march on climate in Nairobi, holding signs demanding the targeting of fossil fuels. Stop the neo-colonial scramble for oil and gas in Africa, one read. Mr Ruto in the past has said the addiction to fossil fuels must end. One project that is being focused on by protesters is the TotalEnergies-funded 897-mile East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline in Uganda and Tanzania. Advertisement Activist Vanessa Nakate of Uganda takes part in the climate protest in Nairobi (AP) Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate said: We know that fossil fuel companies have lots of subsidies, and called for more subsidies for solar power which are needed to massively scale up renewable sources. The UN has estimated that loss and damage in Africa due to climate change are projected to be between 290 billion dollars (230 billion) and 440 billion dollars (349 billion) in the period from 2020 to 2030, depending on the degree of warming. Mr Rutos video welcome released before the summit was heavy on tree-planting but did not mention his administrations decision this year to lift a years-long ban on commercial logging, which alarmed environmental watchdogs. The decision has been challenged in court, while the government says only mature trees in state-run plantations would be harvested. Kenya welcomes the whole world to Kenya International Convention Centre, Nairobi for Africa Climate Summit and Africa Climate Week to explore ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while adapting to the mounting fallout from the climate crisis. pic.twitter.com/zRjwAnvqIM Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Forestry (@Environment_Ke) September 2, 2023 Kenya derives much of its power from renewables and has banned single-use plastic bags, but it struggles with some other climate-friendly adaptations. Advertisement Trees were chopped down to make way for the expressway that some summit attendees travelled on from the airport, and bags of informally made charcoal are found on some Nairobi street corners. Mr Ruto made his way to Mondays events in a small electric car, a contrast to the usual government convoys, on streets cleared of the sometimes poorly maintained buses and vans belching smoke. Challenges for the African continent include simply being able to forecast and monitor the weather in order to avert thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damages. Pope Francis has wrapped up the first ever papal visit to Mongolia by inaugurating a church-run homeless clinic and shelter, insisting that such initiatives are not aimed at winning converts but are simply exercises in Christian charity. Francis toured the House of Mercy, a three-storey structure housed in an old school, which the local church has opened as an expression of the roots that it has taken in the three decades that the Catholic Church has had an official presence in Mongolia. Advertisement It was the final event of an historic four-day visit to a region where the Holy See has long sought to make inroads. Dear brothers and sisters of #Mongolia, thank you for the gift of friendship that I received in these days. Bayarlalaa! May God bless you. You are in my heart, and in my heart you will remain. Remember me, please, in your prayers and in your thoughts. #ApostolicJourney Advertisement Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 4, 2023 Advertisement Several of the foreign-staffed Catholic religious orders in Mongolia run shelters, orphanages and nursing homes to care for a population of 3.3 million where one in three people lives in poverty. But the new clinic for homeless people, people with disabilities and victims of domestic violence is aimed at showing the outreach of the Mongolian Catholic Church as a whole to its local community. Advertisement The true progress of a nation is not gauged by economic wealth, much less by investment in the illusory power of armaments, but by its ability to provide for the health, education and integral development of its people, Francis said at the shelter, urging Mongolians both rich and poor to volunteer to help their fellow citizens. Currently, some 77 missionaries minister to Mongolias Catholics, who with around 1,450 people constitute one of the tiniest Catholic flocks in the world. Faithful react as they see Pope Francis leaving in a car after a meeting with charity workers and the inauguration of the House of Mercy in Ulaanbaatar (AP) Advertisement But only two Mongolian men have been ordained priests, and no Mongolian women have decided to join religious congregations as nuns. These foreign missionaries say the biggest challenge facing them is to cultivate a truly local Mongolian church, with trained lay people who are well inserted into the fabric of society. Advertisement That, they hope, will eventually lead to more religious vocations so that foreign missionaries become less and less necessary. The Rev Ernesto Viscardi, an Italian priest of the Consolata missionary order who has been based in Mongolia for 19 years, said: We have to make this a church of Mongolia, one that has the flavour of this land, of its steppes, of its sheep, goats, of its ger. Advertisement There are 77 of us missionaries. Were all great, all saints, everyone works well, he said laughing. Pope Francis presides over a mass at the Steppe Arena in the Mongolian capital (AP) But we have to think about making the local church grow, so that the (Mongolian) people take their church in hand. Otherwise we colonize Mongolia anew, and that makes no sense. In urging everyday Mongolians to volunteer to help the poor, Francis said charity work was not just for the idle rich but for everyone. And he denied that Catholic charity was about winning new converts. Francis said: Another myth needing to be dispelled is that the Catholic Church, distinguished throughout the world for its great commitment to works of social promotion, does all this to proselytise, as if caring for others were a way of enticing people to join up. Advertisement Faithful from mainland China show the rosary beads they just received from Pope Francis (AP) No! Christians do whatever they can to alleviate the suffering of the needy, because in the person of the poor they acknowledge Jesus, the Son of God, and in him the dignity of each person. Francis comment was a tacit acknowledgement of the competition for souls in places like Mongolia, which banned religious observation during decades of Soviet-allied communist government. Now, religious freedom is enshrined in the Mongolian constitution, and a variety of Christian and evangelical churches have taken root here. Some, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, boast a much bigger presence in Mongolia and claim far more members than the Catholic Church. But in a sign that Catholics were not competing with the Mormons or other Christian churches, Francis invited their leaders to an interfaith meeting on Saturday in Ulaanbaatar to show their common concern for promoting a more peaceful and harmonious world. It is not necessary to be wealthy to do good. Rather, it is almost always common people who devote their time, skills and heart to caring for others. #ApostolicJourney #Mongolia Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 4, 2023 In seeking to encourage Mongolias tiny Catholic flock, Francis has insisted that their small size doesnt matter and that their success shouldnt be measured in numbers. Advertisement God loves littleness, and through it he loves to accomplish great things, Francis told priests, nuns and bishops from around the region during a Saturday encounter in the cathedral. Francis came to Mongolia to give a word of hope to the young church, but also to make a geopolitically important foray into a troubled region for the Holy See, particularly given neighbouring Chinas crackdown on religious observance. Meanwhile, Francis insisted that the Vaticans relations with China were going well but said work must still be done to show Beijing that the Catholic Church is not beholden to a foreign power. Francis spoke about the Holy Sees dealings with China during a press conference en route home from Mongolia, where Beijing and its crackdown on religious minorities overshadowed an otherwise historic first papal visit to the majority Buddhist nation. Pope Francis talks to reporters during the return flight from Mongolia (Ciro Fusco/ANSA via AP) Francis sent a telegram of greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping as his aircraft flew through Chinas airspace coming and going to Mongolia. The pontiff also gave a special shout-out to the Chinese people at the end of his main Mass in Ulaanbaatar. He brought up to the altar the current and retired bishops of Hong Kong to demonstrate his warm affection for the Chinese people. Advertisement But relations remain strained, particularly over a five-year-old agreement on nominating Catholic bishops. The 2018 accord aimed to unite Chinas estimated 12 million Catholics, who have been divided between an official church and an underground church loyal to Rome. The latter emerged when the Communists came to power and diplomatic relations between the Holy See and China ruptured. On Monday in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked about the popes Sunday greeting to the Chinese people. Pope Francis insisted that relations with China were very respectful (Ciro Fusco/ANSA via AP) We have seen relevant reports, and my colleagues have introduced Chinas position earlier. China has always taken a positive attitude towards improving relations with the Vatican and has maintained contact and communication with the Vatican. The terms of the 2018 deal were never released. But Beijing has made a handful of unilateral bishop appointments without papal consent, an apparent violation of the accord. The Vatican gave in and recognised the appointments after the fact. Francis insisted that relations were very respectful and said he retained great admiration for the Chinese people. I think theres more work to be done on the religious aspect to understand ourselves better, so the Chinese citizens dont think that the church doesnt accept their culture or values, or that the church depends on another foreign power, he said. So the relations are like this, under way. Japans supreme court has dismissed Okinawas rejection of a central government plan to build US Marine Corps runways on the island. The court ordered the prefecture to approve the plans, despite protests by locals who oppose the American troops presence. Advertisement Mondays ruling upheld a high court ruling in March that the central governments plan and its instruction for Okinawas approval are valid. It will move forward the suspended construction at a time Okinawas strategic role is seen increasingly important for the Japan-US military alliance in the face of growing tensions with China. Japans central government began the reclamation work at the Henoko area on the eastern coast of Okinawas main island in 2018 to pave the way for the relocation of the Marine Corps Futenma air station from a crowded area on the island. Advertisement The Japanese government plans to relocate a US air base from one area of the prefecture to another (Kyodo News via AP) Advertisement The government later found out about 70% of the reclamation site is on soft ground, and submitted a revision to the original plan with additional land improvement. The Okinawa prefectural government rejected the revision as insufficient and suspended the reclamation work. The ground improvement plan requires tens of thousands of pillars and massive amounts of soil, which opponents say would damage the environment. Advertisement Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki has called for a significant reduction of the US military in Okinawa, the immediate closure of the Futenma base and the scrapping of a base construction in Henoko. The Japanese and US governments initially agreed in 1996 to close the Futenma air station, a year after the rape of a schoolgirl by three American military personnel led to a massive anti-base movement. The move comes despite protests by locals who oppose the American troops presence (Kyodo News via AP) Advertisement But persistent protests and lawsuits between Okinawa and Tokyo have held up the plan for nearly 30 years. Tokyo and Washington say the relocation within Okinawa, instead of moving it elsewhere as demanded by many Okinawans, is the only solution. Advertisement Okinawa, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land, is burdened with the majority of the 50,000 American troops based in the country under a bilateral security pact, and 70% of US military facilities are in Okinawa. The Japanese government has increasingly stepped up its own defences to deal with Chinas growing assertiveness in recent years, triggering fear among Okinawan residents that they will be the first to be embroiled in a potential conflict. UK education secretary Gillian Keegan has apologised after being caught on camera saying she had done a f****** good job over the schools concrete crisis while others sat on their arse. The comments came in footage released by ITV News, filmed as the camera repositioned for extra shots. Advertisement She said: Does anyone ever say, you know what, youve done a f****** good job because everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing? No signs of that, no? Education secretary Gillian Keegan is recorded on camera saying others have been sat on their a***s on schools Raac crisis and shares frustration about not being thanked for doing a f***ing good jobhttps://t.co/c02gI4dXiM pic.twitter.com/jWbYTVZl5D Advertisement ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) September 4, 2023 Advertisement In a follow-up interview Ms Keegan apologised for her choice language and said it was an off-the-cuff remark. Advertisement The ministers comments came at the conclusion of an interview with ITVs Daniel Hewitt in which she said he had been pressing me quite hard and claimed he was making out it was all my fault. In her apology, the British education secretary refused to say who she believed was sat on their arse. Advertisement Ms Keegan said: I wasnt really talking about anyone in particular. It was an off-the-cuff remark after the news interview had finished, or apparently after it had finished. I would like to apologise for my choice language, that was unnecessary. She indicated she was frustrated with those who have not responded to questionnaires asking about whether schools have the dangerous aerated concrete present. Advertisement In her follow-up interview, Ms Keegan said: It is frustrating because were doing everything now to take a leading position to be on the front foot, to put all the support in place that responsible bodies and schools need. Its also frustrating that weve got some questionnaires that still are not there, weve been chasing and chasing them, weve written again today to say you need to get your questionnaires in by the end of the week. Advertisement Pressed on whether she was frustrated with councils, her predecessor as education secretary or UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, Ms Keegan said: No its not, its nobody in particular. But taking aim at ITVs award-winning Mr Hewitt, she said: Actually it was the interviewer, because the interviewer was making out it was all my fault, and thats what I was saying, do you ever go into these interviews where anyone ever says anything but youve just done a terrible job. Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said ministers appeared to be attempting to pass the buck for school building closures caused by the concrete issue. He said: I think this whole situation is descending into farce. The Government has dropped the ball here, failed to prepare. The Prime Minister bears responsibility for some of the key decisions along the way. And instead of coming out today and saying, This is what were going to do to fix the problem, which we have made a lot worse, youve got members of the Cabinet coming out trying to blame other people, trying to blame people within their own teams and to say, essentially, Put responsibility anywhere but on the Government. Advertisement That is not what Britain deserves. Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: Gillian Keegans disgraceful comments add insult to injury for parents whove seen their childrens return to school ruined by this concrete crisis. Expecting people to thank her when children are being taught in classrooms at risk of collapse shows Keegan must be living on another planet. UK education secretary Gillian Keegan has been caught on camera voicing her frustrations about coverage of the crumbling concrete row. In footage released by ITV News filmed as the camera repositioned for extra shots, Ms Keegan still wearing her microphone criticised others and claimed the UK government had gone over and above in addressing concerns relating to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac). Advertisement She said: Does anyone ever say, you know what, youve done a f****** good job because everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing? No signs of that, no? Education secretary Gillian Keegan is recorded on camera saying others have been sat on their a***s on schools Raac crisis and shares frustration about not being thanked for doing a f***ing good jobhttps://t.co/c02gI4dXiM pic.twitter.com/jWbYTVZl5D Advertisement Advertisement ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) September 4, 2023 The British education secretary took part in a series of broadcast interviews on Monday morning about the decision to fully or partially close schools in England because of safety concerns about Raac. Advertisement The Labour Party leader said ministers appeared to be attempting to pass the buck for school building closures caused by the concrete issue. Sir Keir Starmer, asked by broadcasters in Westminster about Ms Keegans remarks, said: I think this whole situation is descending into farce. The Government has dropped the ball here, failed to prepare. The Prime Minister bears responsibility for some of the key decisions along the way. Advertisement And instead of coming out today and saying, This is what were going to do to fix the problem, which we have made a lot worse, youve got members of the Cabinet coming out trying to blame other people, trying to blame people within their own teams and to say, essentially, Put responsibility anywhere but on the Government. That is not what Britain deserves. And obviously what is now being said shows the extent to which there is this passing the buck within the Cabinet. Is Rishi Sunak strong enough to do anything about it? I doubt it. Advertisement Advertisement Asked whether Ms Keegan should remain in post following her unguarded comments, Mr Starmer said that was the UK prime ministers decision to make. Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: Gillian Keegans disgraceful comments add insult to injury for parents whove seen their childrens return to school ruined by this concrete crisis. Expecting people to thank her when children are being taught in classrooms at risk of collapse shows Keegan must be living on another planet. The very least Keegan owes parents for her refusal to take responsibility for her shocking handling of this crisis and out-of-touch comments is an apology. She needs to bring herself before the nation and say sorry to the thousands of parents and children who have had their start to the school year wrecked on her watch. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said a landmark deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea amid the war will not be restored until the West meets Moscows demands on its own agricultural exports. Ukraine and its western allies have dismissed the Kremlins demands as a ploy to advance its own interests. Advertisement Still, Mr Putins remarks dashed hopes that his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could revive the agreement, seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertiliser had not been honoured. Advertisement It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Advertisement Mr Putin reiterated those complaints on Monday, while saying that if those commitments were honoured, Russia could return to the deal within days. Mr Erdogan also expressed hope that a breakthrough could come soon. He said Turkey and the UN which both brokered the original deal have put together a new package of proposals to unblock the issue. Advertisement I believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time, Mr Erdogan told a news conference in the Russian resort of Sochi, where the leaders met. Earlier, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock lashed out, saying Mr Putins game with the grain agreement is cynical. Mr Erdogan was hoping to persuade Russia to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow broke off from in July (AP) Advertisement Its only because of Putin that the freighters dont have free passage again, she told reporters in Berlin. A lot is riding on the negotiation. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Data from the Joint Co-ordination Centre in Istanbul, which organised shipments under the deal, show that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China. Advertisement Grain prices shot up after Russia pulled out of the deal but have since fallen back, indicating that there is not a big crunch in the market right now, said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank. But the long-term picture is uncertain. Advertisement I am more worried about the future, where the strengthening El Nino (weather phenomenon) might make 2024 the year to watch, he said. The meeting has implications for the worlds food supply (Sputnik via AP) Ukraine and its allies have often noted that Russias move left many developing nations in the lurch, since so many were recipients of the grain. Perhaps in an effort to address that accusation, Mr Putin said on Monday that Russia was close to finalising an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. Last month, he promised shipments to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic. The Russian leader added that the country will ship one million metric tons of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries. In addition to pulling out of the grain deal, Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, where Ukraines main Black Sea port is located. Advertisement I have submitted my letter of resignation to Ruslan Stefanchuk @r_stefanchuk, Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine @verkhovna_rada It was an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the #UAarmy for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraines modern history. pic.twitter.com/x4rXXcrr7i Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) September 4, 2023 Hours before the Sochi meeting, the Kremlins forces launched a second barrage in two days on the area. The Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions. It did not specify damage caused by those that got through. Russia is hoping it can use its power over Ukraines Black Sea exports as a bargaining chip to reduce western economic sanctions. Some companies have been wary of doing business with Russia because of those sanctions, even though western allies have made assurances that food and fertiliser are exempt. Still, Moscow remains unsatisfied. Our strategic political goal is opening EU accession talks. The European Commission has made seven recommendations to Ukraine. We've already completed a number of them. For the rest, the Ukrainian parliament must demonstrate tangible results. Timely results. The ones we agreed pic.twitter.com/aEBxOiSzNC Advertisement (@ZelenskyyUa) September 3, 2023 Ukraines foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, on Monday urged Moscow to return to the deal, insisting there were no legal and political grounds for Russia to withdraw from the agreement. Mondays talks took place against a backdrop of Ukraines recent counter-offensive against the Kremlins invasion forces. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that defence minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Mr Zelensky said, without elaborating. Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine 04 September 2023. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/AR3XZxJOya #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/lFsm0CCueL Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) September 4, 2023 On Monday Mr Reznikov published a photo of his resignation letter. Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Mr Erdogan in 2016 when Mr Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Turkish president has maintained those during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey has not joined western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. Advertisement At the same time, Turkey, a member of Nato, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Mr Zelensky and backing Kyivs bid to join the Western alliance. Russia, meanwhile, has taken steps to strengthen its military ties with North Korea. Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, who travelled to Pyongyang last month, said on Monday that the two countries may hold joint war games. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is expected to travel to Russia within the month (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson noted that Mr Shoigu sought to persuade North Korea during his trip to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. The US has reason to think North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un expects these discussions to continue and to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia, Ms Watson said on Monday. Another US official said the US expects Mr Kim will travel to Russia within the month. The White House reported last week that it had intelligence indicating that Mr Putin and Mr Kim swapped letters following Mr Shoigus visit. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the letters were more at the surface level but that Russian and North Korean talks on a weapons sale were advancing. UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmers reshuffle of his top team has started with the appointment of his deputy, Angela Rayner, to the post of shadow levelling up secretary. The reshuffle was put into gear after shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon announced he is standing down to focus on his health. Advertisement Ms Rayner, in a widely predicted move, has been shifted to focus on a brief that includes local government, housing and the so-called levelling-up agenda, which involves scrutinising the Conservative UK governments pledge to create economic opportunities outside London and the South East. She is also shadow deputy UK prime minister and had previously been shadowing the Cabinet Office. Deputy Leader Angela Rayner MP @AngelaRayner has been appointed Shadow Deputy Prime Minister and Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. pic.twitter.com/BdfSPdO9Je Advertisement Advertisement The Labour Party (@UKLabour) September 4, 2023 Lisa Nandy, one of Mr Starmer's leadership rivals in 2020, was previously shadowing levelling up secretary Michael Gove. Advertisement Mr Starmer's decision to create a new-look team comes as he uses British parliaments return from the summer recess to further set out his vision for government. In an interview with the Daily Mirror, the British opposition leader promised not to raise income tax if he wins the next general election, which is likely to be held next year. Mr Starmer has backed away from tax rises since pledging to increase income tax for the top 5 per cent of earners during his leadership bid three years ago, instead emphasising his aim to secure the highest economic growth in the G7. Mr McMahon, who had been expected to lose his position, told Mr Starmer in a letter on Monday that he has faced a number of personal challenges in the last year, coming back from a serious illness. Advertisement Lisa Nandy (left) was previously shadow levelling up secretary (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Publishing his resignation letter on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Oldham West and Royton MP said he remains a firm supporter of Keir despite his decision to resign. He added: After a testing year I want to focus on getting my health back to full strength so that I can make a full and active contribution to the general election campaign heading towards us, and to prioritise my constituents. Advertisement Advertisement Mr Starmer, in a letter also published on X, thanked Mr McMahon for his work in the shadow cabinet, which included a stint in charge of the transport brief. He said he is aware Mr McMahon has faced a number of personal challenges in addition to your frontbench work and that these have taken a personal toll. Thank you, @JimfromOldham, for your service and support in the shadow cabinet. I have no doubt you will continue to play an important role in the future of @UKLabour and the people of Oldham West & Royton are lucky to have you. https://t.co/Yh2TUByj4g pic.twitter.com/U2x60ihZNg Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 4, 2023 The opposition leader signed off his letter saying he looks forward to working with you again in the future. Moments after the exchange, Labour announced Ms Rayners shadow cabinet switch. A Labour source said: Keir is delighted that Angela has accepted this important role; in addition she will continue to be the strategic lead on Labours new deal for working people. The pre-election shake-up comes on the same day that former top civil servant and partygate investigator Sue Gray starts her new role as the Labour leaders chief of staff, according to the BBC. The anti-sleaze watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, had recommended a six-month delay to her starting the job with Mr Starmer advice Labour accepted. Sudans top military general has arrived in South Sudan for talks with its president on his second trip abroad since the war in his country started in April. Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan, chairman of the ruling Sovereign Council, landed at the airport in South Sudans capital Juba and was received by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. Advertisement Both leaders inspected an honour guard before departing for talks that would focus on the conflict in Sudan, according to the council. In April, simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital and elsewhere. The fighting has reduced Khartoum to an urban battlefield, with neither side managing to gain control of the city. Advertisement Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi met Gen Fattah al-Burhan last week (Egyptian Presidency Media Office via AP) Advertisement The military command, where Gen Burhan has purportedly been stationed since April, has been one of the epicentres of the conflict. In the western Darfur region the scene of genocidal campaign in the early 2000s the conflict has morphed into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African groups, according to rights groups and the United Nations. The conflict is estimated to have killed at least 4,000 people, according to the UN human rights office, though activists and doctors on the ground say the toll is likely far higher. Advertisement More than 4.8 million people have been displaced, according to the UN migration agency. Those include more than 3.8 million who fled to safer areas inside Sudan and more than one million others who crossed into neighbouring countries. This is the military leaders first trip abroad since his country plunged into a largescale conflict earlier this year (AP) In his trip to Juba, Gen Burhan is accompanied by acting foreign minister Ali al-Sadiq and Gen Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, and other military officers, according to the Sovereign Council. Advertisement Advertisement South Sudans minister of cabinet affairs Martin Elia Lomuro said that the South Sudanese President has a solution to resolve the conflict in Sudan, according to a statement by the presidency. It is known that President Kiir is the only person who has intimacy and knowledge about Sudan and can find a solution to the Sudanese crisis, Mr Lomuro said. Mr al-Sadiq, the Sudanese acting foreign minister, meanwhile, was quoted as saying that South Sudan is the best candidate to meditate the ongoing conflict because we have been one country for so long and we know each other, we know the problems and we know our needs. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long conflict. Advertisement Early in the ongoing war in Sudan, South Sudans Mr Kiir attempted to mediate between the warring generals, as part of an initiative by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-member regional block that includes Sudan. The Sudanese leader met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt last week in the Egyptian coastal city of el-Alamein. It was his first trip abroad since the war. Both Egypt and South Sudan are neighbours to Sudan. Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to persuade Russia to revive an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports despite the war as he prepares to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. In July, Mr Putin refused to extend the agreement, which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year earlier. Advertisement Russian officials had complained that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertiliser had not been honoured. Our strategic political goal is opening EU accession talks. The European Commission has made seven recommendations to Ukraine. We've already completed a number of them. For the rest, the Ukrainian parliament must demonstrate tangible results. Timely results. The ones we agreed pic.twitter.com/aEBxOiSzNC Advertisement (@ZelenskyyUa) September 3, 2023 Advertisement They said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered agricultural trade, even though Russia has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. The leaders are to meet in the Black Sea city of Sochi, where the Russian President has a residence, and a lot is riding on the talks for the world food supply. Advertisement The meeting takes place against a backdrop of more than 18 months of war and Ukraines recent counter-offensive. I have submitted my letter of resignation to Ruslan Stefanchuk @r_stefanchuk, Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine @verkhovna_rada It was an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the #UAarmy for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraines modern history. pic.twitter.com/x4rXXcrr7i Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) September 4, 2023 Advertisement In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his defence minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Mr Zelensky said, without elaborating. On Monday, Mr Reznikov published a photo of his resignation letter. Advertisement Since Mr Putin withdrew from the grain initiative, Mr Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Advertisement Fierce fighting continues in Donetsk (AP Photo/Libkos) Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Data from the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which organised the Ukraine shipments, shows that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China, which received nearly a quarter of the food. Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, Ukraines main Black Sea port area. On Monday, the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odea and Dnipropetrovsk regions, but did not specify damage caused by the drones that got through. The Turkish President has maintained close ties to Mr Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey has not joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. Nato member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Mr Zelensky and backing Kyivs bid to join Nato. Mr Erdogan angered Moscow in July when he allowed five Ukrainian commanders to return home. The soldiers had been captured by Russia and handed over to Turkey on condition they remain there for the duration of the war. Advertisement Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine 04 September 2023. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/AR3XZxJOya #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/lFsm0CCueL Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) September 4, 2023 Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Mr Erdogan in 2016 when Mr Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraines Black Sea exports to resume. Mr Erdogan has indicated sympathy over Mr Putins position. In July, he said Mr Putin had certain expectations from Western countries over the Black Sea deal and that it was crucial for these countries to take action in this regard. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov concrete proposals aimed at getting Russian exports to global markets and allowing the resumption of the Black Sea initiative. But Lavrov said Moscow wasnt satisfied with the letter. Describing Turkeys intense efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said it was a process that tries to better understand Russias position and requests, and to meet them. Typhoon Haikui made its first direct landfall on Taiwan in more than four years. As the powerful storm swept through the region, leaving a path of destruction in its aftermath, thousands of people were evacuated, and power was knocked out in several villages. Winds with a maximum sustained speed of 137 kph (85 mph) and gusts of 173 kph (107 mph) accompanied Hurricane Haikui's arrival on Sunday afternoon, according to BBC. Typhoon Haikui Ravages Taiwan in First Direct Landfall in Over Four Years The typhoon struck the mountainous and sparsely populated southeastern region of Taiwan, unleashing heavy rainfall and disruptive winds that significantly impacted transportation services, cut off roads, and disrupted mobile connectivity. Taiwan took precautionary measures in anticipation of the typhoon's arrival by suspending flights, rail transport, and ferry services, as well as canceling classes and outdoor events. Officials vehemently urged employees to remain at home, putting safety first. About 4,000 people were evacuated from vulnerable areas, and residents were advised to avoid the water and not leave their homes unless essential. Taiwanese airlines proactively canceled all domestic flights for the day, and ferries to the surrounding islands were also temporarily suspended. According to the Civil Aeronautics Administration, there were only 41 international flight cancellations reported on Sunday, indicating that the impact was less severe. Despite the potentially catastrophic nature of typhoons, Taiwan suffered comparatively few casualties during the storm's initial hours. In the eastern county of Hualien, only two persons were reported to have suffered minor injuries when a tree fell on a truck. Fortunately, there were few additional reports of significant damage. As Typhoon Haikui persisted along the coast of China, it was anticipated to move inland, prompting authorities in the Chinese city of Shantou, Guangdong province, to issue precautionary warnings. Haikui was significantly weaker than Typhoon Saola, which struck Hong Kong and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong just one day prior. Tropical Storm Risk predicted that Haikui would make landfall in Taiwan as a typhoon of Category 1 or 2 strength, as per Independent. Read Also: European Researchers Warn People With Lung Conditions are More at Risk as Climate Change, Air Pollution Worsen China's Daily Routine Upended by Twin Typhoons In some regions of China, the advent of these twin storms had already disrupted daily life. Numerous workers in numerous Chinese cities remained at home, and the start of the school year for pupils was postponed from Friday to Monday. On Friday, trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange was suspended, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded at the airport as approximately 460 flights were canceled. The impacts of Saola's destructive force were felt in the city, a regional business and transportation center. Despite these natural disasters, China's military continued to conduct operations aimed at intimidating Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that Beijing aims to subjugate by any means necessary. The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense closely monitored the movements of Chinese military aircraft and naval vessels near the island. Although there was no evidence that they had crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait or entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone, similar incidents have occurred in the past, heightening tensions in the region, South China Morning Post reported. Related Article: European Researchers Warn People With Lung Conditions are More at Risk as Climate Change, Air Pollution Worsen @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ukraine said on Monday Russian drones detonated on the territory of Nato member Romania during an overnight air strike on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River, but Bucharest denied its territory was hit. Reuters could not independently verify either account. Advertisement Moscow has conducted long-range air strikes on targets in Ukraine since the start of its invasion last year. Since July, when Moscow abandoned a deal that lifted a de facto Russian blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports, it has repeatedly struck Ukrainian river ports that lie across the Danube from Romania. Monday's Russian air strike came hours before president Vladimir Putin was due to discuss reviving the Black Sea deal with the deal's sponsor, Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan. "According to Ukraine's state border guard service, last night, during a massive Russian attack near the port of Izmail, Russian 'Shakheds' fell and detonated on the territory of Romania," foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said, referring to Iranian-made drones. Advertisement "This is yet another confirmation that Russia's missile terror poses a huge threat not only to Ukraine's security, but also to the security of neighbouring countries, including NATO member states," he wrote on Facebook. Advertisement Mr Nikolenko published a photo showing flames of an explosion visible from across a river. Reuters could not immediately verify the vantage point of the image. The Romanian defence ministry said Romania was not hit. "The ministry of defence categorically denies information from the public space regarding a so-called overnight situation during which Russian drones would have fallen in Romania's national territory. "At no time did Russia's means of attack generate direct military threats on Romanian national territory or waters." Advertisement Nato has a collective defence commitment under which the military alliance considers an attack on one ally to be an attack on all allies. Ukrainian lawmaker Oksana Savchuk told Ukrainian television that she believed the Romanian denial could be part of an effort by Nato to prevent a slide into a direct war with Russia. Damaged warehouses, buildings ablaze Kyiv officials said the attack damaged Ukrainian warehouses and set buildings on fire, hours before Erdogan was due to meet Putin in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi. Turkey, also a member of Nato, has sponsored the Black Sea grain export deal, and Erdogan has said he expects to persuade Putin to rejoin it. Russia quit the deal in July that had allowed Ukraine to safely export food across the Black Sea during the war. The Danube has since become a vital export corridor for Ukrainian grain and Russia has targeted the route with regular air strikes. Advertisement In the early hours of Monday, the Ukrainian border guard service said two drones hit Romanian soil near Ukraine's Izmail port, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported. It said it had relayed the information to its Romanian counterparts, but received no reply. The Ukrainian president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said the incident showed the need to increase supplies of modern air defence and long-range weapons to deprive Russia of the ability to launch drones and missiles as Ukraine. "Additional weapons and long-range missiles for Ukraine - to speed up the de-occupation of our territories. Russia must be defeated on the battlefield," Mr Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Two million-dollar paintings and early pre-pop works by Andy Warhol will head to Australias largest annual salesroom this week, in a test of the resilience of the art market amid rising recession anxiety. Regarded as part trade fair, part cultural smorgasbord, Sydney Contemporary opens on Thursday with works by 500 artists represented by 96 galleries, including a growing overseas contingent from Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Japan. Works for sale at Sydney Contemporary include works by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Suzanne Archer, Andy Warhols Flowers, and a Campbells Soup-inspired one-wear paper dress. All eyes will be on the shows two big-ticket items: a late-career work by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, an eminent Indigenous artist of the late 20th century, to be sold by Utopia Art Gallery, and a monumental waterfall painting by leading contemporary Japanese artist, Hiroshi Senju, available through Paddingtons Justin Miller Art. Each is for sale for $1 million. The fair will be a pretty good measure of how the market is going, Ralph Hobbs of Nanda\Hobbs said. Advertisement Eating outComing soon From Footscray to Reservoir, three new brew-pubs and taprooms to froth over this spring Emma Breheny September 5, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share As Melbourne emerges from its winter hibernation, knocking back a few cold ones on a sunny afternoon will be an even more exciting prospect thanks to new watering holes from three leading craft breweries, all set to open before summer. Deep in industrial Footscray, Hop Nation (6/107-109 Whitehall Street, Footscray) is levelling up its brew-bar offer with a fresh design from Studio Y, also responsible for Stomping Ground in Moorabbin. An artists illustration of the overhauled bar at Hop Nation. Supplied Aspiring to a Brooklyn warehouse look, the new bar will be far more open. Poky corners have been replaced with a single space for punters, who can perch with their drinks beside soaring brick walls and gleaming brewery equipment. Recycled timber will make way for polished finishes, and flashes of green neon nod to Hop Nations label artwork. Within the taproom will be Good Pizza, serving both thin-crust and puffy pizza by former Figlia and Arbory Afloat chef Alex Addams Williams. Pizzas come with dippers, such as whipped garlic and chilli sauce, and toppings may include pepperoni with habanero-spiked honey made from hops on the Dr Pep, and salami cotto with pickled pineapple. Advertisement Behind the bar, youll find 17 beers including the brand-new Footscray Draft to celebrate the new-look taproom. Limited-edition brews will rotate every fortnight. Hop Nation opens on September 28. The mega Melbourne outpost of Beechworths Bridge Road Brewers (127-149 Nicholson Street, Brunswick East) is looking more like a pub every day, as the 350-person venue inches closer to ditching power saws for pizza peels. A mid-September opening is on the cards for the sprawling site in Brunswick East. The Studio Y team is onboard for the design here, too, across a working brewery and split-level venue covering drinking and dining areas. The idea was to avoid stereotypes of the industrial brewery setting. Youre not in a warehouse. Its very, very comfortable, says co-owner Ben Kraus. An artists impression of the new Brunswick East location of Bridge Road Brewers. Supplied Advertisement There are multiple bars with up to 20 taps each, outdoor seating, booths and two murals by artist Drez. A menu is being drafted by new chef Jabili Mchawala that includes a between bread section plus salad-y plates, alongside the more common small and large share plates. Bridge Roads signature pizzas will also slot in. Mchawala has been working at social enterprise Free to Feed most recently after cooking at Rice Queen and his own food truck, The Voodoo Jerk Truck. After a rollercoaster 12 months for La Sirene that involved opening a bar, being shut out of said bar and brewery, reopening on a short-term lease and then relocating to more stable premises, owners Costa and Eva Nikias are nearly ready to welcome you to their new home (277 Edwardes Street, Reservoir). Bar La Sirenes original stint in Alphington was short-lived. Andrew Kuypers Advertisement Building on the promising beginnings of Bar La Sirene, the new HQ for all things wild fermented will offer a much larger menu of Euro-inspired bites that are as rustic and character-filled as the beers on offer. Early ideas include char-grilled sardines with tomatoes and capers, Spanish-style meatballs with tomatoes, and manchego and red capsicum. Costa Nikias says the 100-capacity bar will again upend the usual taproom offering. Although 14 beer taps will offer oak-aged wild ales, therell be a thoughtful wine list that leans heavily on Victoria, plus premier cru chablis and grower champagne, both available by the glass. An early October opening is pencilled. Look out, Reservoir. And, of course, Moon Dogs conversion of the Franco Cozzo showroom into a kitschy bar for Footscray draws closer to reality. The team hope to open this December. Theyre not slowing down, either, moving on a Docklands location for a fourth fabulously fun Moon Dog outpost. That should open mid-2024. Advertisement Eating outRestaurant news The experts guide to Victorias best regional food events to book right now Melbourne Food and Wine Festivals November regional dining program has been announced. Heres festival creative director Pat Nourses top picks to book right now. Dani Valent September 4, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share Wedged between Melbourne Cup weekend and the flurry of December, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festivals just-launched regional dining program is a banquet of events from November 10 to 19. The program spans the Yarra Valley, Ballarat and Gippsland, with a showcase Village Feast on November 18 in seaside Inverloch, two hours east of Melbourne. A number of Sydneysiders are steaming south for the festivities, including Good Foods Adam Liaw, who will collaborate with local chef Thi Le (Anchovy, Jeow and Ca Com) at one of 10 Village Feast food stalls. Adam Liaw will be at the Village Feast. Supplied Clayton Wells (previously of Automata and now at MOD Dining at the Art Gallery of NSW) is collaborating with Mark Briggs from Sardine Dining in Paynesville at another stall. My parents live in Gippsland, says Wells. Its a beautiful part of the world. This is all about showcasing a great part of Victoria, digging deep into local produce and having a chat to people who come along. You want to create that connection. Barbados-born chef Paul Carmichael. Supplied Advertisement And Village Feast is also a rare opportunity to sample the stylings of Barbados-born Paul Carmichael (ex-Momofuku Seiobo), who is teaming up with Nick Mahlook and his Lakes Entrance-based Sodafishcrew. Mahlook says theyll be using the south Gippsland produce he knows so well, particularly seafood, and steering it towards the Caribbean. Special access, hands-on events and bespoke tastings are a feature of the regional festival. Dining in the Mines (November 10) is a highlight of the Ballarat program, with snacks and smelting underground followed by dinner at the Charlie Napier Hotel. Theres a rose theme for the Chandon x Drom Brunch (November 12), which intersperses Yarra Valley sparkling with cult croissants. Down Home with Rachel and Bill, an afternoon party in Yarragon, West Gippsland, on November 17 includes music, wine and snacks with hosts cheese maker Rachel Needoba, from the Butterfly Factory, and vintner William Downie. We are really lucky as Victorians and visitors that these places are so close to Melbourne, says the festivals creative director, Pat Nourse. Jump on the train to Ballarat, head to the Yarra Valley, road trip to the splendid jewel of a town that is Inverloch. Its a good time, teeming with talent, celebrating beautiful food and drink. Head underground for Dining in the Mines at Sovereign Hill. Advertisement Pats picks A Spring Supra with Gippsland winery Momento Mori and Gray & Gray restaurant. November 18. Ill definitely be booking this for a touch of Georgian culture in Gippsland, says Nourse. Think polyphonic singing around a laden table, with guidance from a traditional toastmaster. Blend Your Own Pinot at Fleet Wines, Leongatha. November 19. This sounds ridiculously incredible, says Nourse. You start with great base wines and walk out with bottles of wines that youve made yourself. Hows that for a flex at your next dinner party or BYO session? Worlds Longest Lunches at Ballarat and Yarra Valley. November 11. Always nice for something traditional and relaxed, says Nourse. But if you want something a bit out there, consider the Interstellar Wine Worlds party (also November 11) hosted by Jayden Ong and showcasing movers and shakers of the Yarra Valley wine world. For more details on the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Regional Edition (November 10-19, 2023), visit melbournefoodandwine.com.au Road trip! Victorias 10 best regional pubs of 2023 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 At last, some news of hope and pure joy (Music program proves its the little strings that count, September 4). Congratulations to Richard Tognetti, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and all involved in the five-year trial at St Marys North Public School. This confirms what we know from music education integration across all public schools in Finland (which is to say all schools, as private education there, rightly, doesnt exist). This confirms what our late great educator and National Treasure, Maestro Richard Gill, was striving for all his life: that teaching music from the earliest age to every child in the country will change our nation fundamentally and forever. I hope our state and federal education ministers are listening. Neil Armfield, Patonga ACO artistic director Richard Tognetti with pupils from St Marys North Public School: (from left) Tanginoa Halaifonua-Palu, 6, Ava Tuckwood, 6, and Rebel Nordsven, 6, tune up before they play on Friday. Credit: Edwina Pickles So many news items can bring tears to the eyes, because of the terrible things that are happening worldwide. Helen Pitts story led to tears of joy for a change. Wonderful. Paul Parramore, Sawtell What a sound foundation for life for the children at St Marys North. As well as the musical skills, they are learning discipline, punctuality, teamwork and satisfying emotional expression, to say nothing of establishing a lifelong platform for self-satisfaction and giving pleasure to others. Keep up the practice, kids! Megan Brock, Summer Hill US schools are strong in developing school music programs, and in particular brass marching bands. Elementary schools begin with rhythms and instruments, middle schools develop the musicianship and introduce movement. At high schools, it becomes showmanship with marching, flags/colour-guards and understanding of their place in a big parade. The fact that it is a daily subject studied for a complete hour is indicative of its importance. And music teachers are highly regarded. Janice Creenaune, Austinmer As a long-time music educator, Ive seen firsthand the benefits to the child of a good music education. We read on a daily basis of the problems children and teachers face, including non-engagement with curriculum, addiction to screens and issues with bad behaviour. A good music education develops the whole child. Reading and playing music stimulates the brain, causing it to grow connections across the sections. Music improves every aspect of education. There are a vast number of reasons to prioritise a music program in all schools. There would be important funding problems to overcome, but every student deserves the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument. Every student should be encouraged to sing, sing and sing some more, every day. Music can save us. Wendy Simpson, East Ballina Advertisement What fantastic and refreshing news to start the day. The enthusiasm of the children to play music as part of the school work day gives me optimism for the future. Congratulations to the pupils and teachers at St Marys North Public School and to the ACO and its musical director Richard Tognetti. Alfredo Bustos-Ramirez, Mosman What a wonderfully uplifting story! After reading so many stories about the parsimonious state of our public schools, it was great to hear about the responses of pupils at St Marys North to the music program conducted by the ACO. Thank you, Richard Tognetti and the ACO for your excellent work. Patricia Farrar, Concord Taxpayers saved a trashed Qantas, not Joyce Alan Joyce may well have saved Qantas financially but he did not do it without taxpayer and government assistance (Letters, September 4). The head of a company should take some responsibility for trashing its brand, reducing its efficiency, displaying little empathy and failing to respond to customers, because he ultimately sets the tone. Who does he think he is, Elon Musk? Sue Morgan, Menai I wonder if John Forsyth, Dymocks chairman, penned his missive supporting poor, misunderstood, under-appreciated Alan from the Qantas Chairmans Lounge? Elisabeth Goodsall, Wahroonga Outgoing Qantas CEO Alan Joyce Credit: Eamon Gallagher I dont know Joyce but what I do know is that the reputation of a company that was once the pride of Australia has been trashed. With the apparent backing of the board and under Joyces leadership, the once loved Australian icon has changed into a company that is despised by a growing section of the public; many (like me) vowing to never fly with Qantas again. Surely, this cannot be good business practice? Gareth Turner, Louth Park Advertisement Yes, we all make mistakes. However, selling tickets for flights that have been cancelled (as has been alleged), grounding planes during COVID and stranding Australians abroad, having flights take off without passengers luggage, tardiness in refunding flight credits, piles of lost luggage, sacking thousands of workers and having the CEO attributing long queues at airports to passengers not being match fit is hardly synonymous with unfortunate instances that are causing passengers understandable angst as asserted by your correspondent. Maurice Critchley, Mangrove Mountain Its been suggested that shareholders vote against Joyces bonus payments. Unfortunately, voting at annual general meetings is stacked against the individual shareholder. Institutional shareholders hold the majority of shares and almost always vote for the status quo. Further, votes on remuneration packages should be binding and should have an immediate effect with no need for two more votes over the next two years. Barry OConnell, Old Toongabbie Your correspondent says we shouldnt be critical of Alan Joyce because nobody gets it right all the time. Nor does everyone receive tens of millions of dollars per year for their efforts. If you or your board of directors claim that you are so special that you wont work for less than hundreds of times the median salary, then you cant expect to be treated like everyone else. You cant have it both ways. Brenton White, Mosman Despite Qantas becoming the most complained-about corporation, Joyce is apparently still deserving of a $24 million payout. Even if the airline were hugely popular and profitable, no-one should qualify for such largesse. A teacher on $80k would need to work for three hundred years to make that figure. David Baird, Burradoo What a hero Alan Joyce is, turning Qantas into the Ryanair of the South Pacific. Nicholas Triggs, Katoomba John Farnham was also the Olympic Voice I noted the gesture made by John Farnham to allow his song The Voice to be used as a promotional tool for the upcoming referendum (Farnham gives Youre the Voice song to the Voice to parliament Yes campaign, smh.com.au September 4). Some have said that this is the first time that Farnham and the late Glenn Wheatley have given the song over for a particular use. This not the case as the two men made a similar gesture in 1991 when we set out to win the Olympic Games for Sydney. With consent from them we were able to use Youre The Voice as the music overlay on our video presentation: we also adapted the video of the song and dubbed it on to a video of Joan Sutherland to highlight who was our greatest voice. All this was done with the support of Farnham and Wheatley - Sydney will be forever grateful to them. Rod McGeoch, Woollahra Advertisement John Farnham performing in concert in the documentary John Farnham: Finding the Voice. Burns horror Harry Windsor, my father, was at Port Moresby with the Third Casualty Clearing Station when the 62 Australians were killed (The day a US Army crash killed 62 Australians, September 4). He recorded the horror in his memoir, The Heart of a Surgeon. One detail is particularly haunting. The standard management for burns at that time was to clean, remove the blisters and cover with vaseline gauze; awful in the light of modern experience. My task was to give anaesthetics, which I did while man after man was skinned and became one shiny body. Nearly all died. Gerard Windsor, Petersham Koala forests There is a bigger picture than that presented by your correspondents on the value of the so-called Great Koala National Park (Letters, September 4). Transferring State Forest into the National Park estate is a worthwhile but relatively simple option to help conserve koalas. However, State Forests have always been the leftovers after the early settlers claimed all the land and are mostly rocky, steep, dry and infertile and of second-rate value as koala habitat at best. Like all animals, koalas need nutrition and moisture and State Forests, in the main, do not provide enough of these during droughts. Chlamydia and other diseases take hold and the environmental stresses cause koala populations to crash, as has happened on the Liverpool Plains and the Pilliga. The key to survival is access to habitat on fertile, privately-owned lands where trees reach the water table and soils hold moisture. The NSW government needs to re-activate SEPP 44 and provide support to local governments to negotiate shire-wide koala management plans to protect their local koala populations. Chris Moon, Katoomba Should the jobs of forestry workers be so precious that we allow continued destruction of our forests, and consequently of our native fauna, just so these workers have jobs? Isnt the CFMEU at all interested in protecting and preserving our native environment? Have they not considered retraining programs to get their members jobs in industries of the future? Or is that too difficult and challenging for the union to deal with? Its sad that such shallow and uncreative thinking is what underpins the unions contribution to this critically important issue. Stuart Laurence, Cammeray Advertisement Parra matters The Powerhouse Museum saga has been a debacle from the start. But the new structure out there on the Parramatta riverbank might become the Museum Of Immigration. Parramatta is arguably the most multicultural metropolis in the nation, the ideal home for this museum. And Premier Minns and Co, much to their relief, can demonstrate that Parramatters. Kent Mayo, Uralla Suspicious survey I smell a rat (One in four businesses expect to cut back on staff, September 4). This speculative Business NSW survey lands slap bang in the middle of a fierce, escalating business campaign to kill the federal governments labour hire laws in the Senate. These laws offer greater protections for workers in areas like wage theft and wage undercutting, which languished under the Coalition. The survey conversely also found sentiment in some major areas including construction, manufacturing and retail has improved. So, will these sectors be cutting jobs? When last I looked, business was complaining that there was a worker shortage, hence the need for ramped-up immigration. You cant have it both ways. Alison Stewart, Riverview You can tell when the Labor Government has got the industrial relations legislation perfectly right for workers when the combined shrieks of the employer groups becomes ear-piercing. The Business Council, Industry Group, Minerals Council, Chamber of Commerce: all howling at legislation that closes loopholes in wage theft, labour hire and the gig economy that abuse workers salaries and conditions. I cant wait for the employer groups to give their reasons for supporting wage theft. Mark Berg, Caringbah South Dump Walkleys The question of whether the union should continue to honour the name of a long-deceased racist patron is easily resolved: just abandon the awards and the boozy annual function at which they are celebrated (Walkley organiser condemns founders racist comments, September 4). The Walkleys - like so many other similar exercises in self-congratulation - have always been tainted by snobbery, industry politics and inevitably subjective judging. David Salter, Hunters Hill Advertisement Casual workers at a chain of stationery stores have gone on strike claiming they are not given payslips and are paid well under award wages. Brisbane-based employees said they were paid in cash $5 notes and up to $16 an hour below the award wage. Brisbane Mint My Desk employee Louisa McCarthy says some staff are not given payslips and are paid in cash below award wages. Credit: Tony Moore Many of the employees at the Mint My Desk and Million-life stores are students working for the first time. They staged a protest in Brisbane on Saturday, taking to King George Square. After the war, Elizabeths mother Betty married Stanley Ellis, and they moved to live on a farm near Tarcutta, south of Gundagai, where she became elder sister to three younger siblings. She grew up surrounded by a loving and hardworking family. Her years of riding a bicycle along dirt roads to school in all sorts of weather moulded her determination. Elizabeths father, George Loder, left for the war in Europe before she was born. The navigator in a Lancaster bomber, he was shot down over Germany and never saw his baby daughter. There are touching newspaper photographs of the three-year-old Elizabeth at Admiralty House to accept his posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross from the governor-general. Elizabeth Webby was a teacher, a scholar and an editor who became the third professor of Australian literature at the University of Sydney. During her long career at the university, she established herself as a leading scholar of Australian 19th-century writing and, as editor of Southerly, Australias oldest literary quarterly, she supported the ongoing publication of creative and critical literary work. She nurtured the work of many writers and critics and is revered for her generosity to younger colleagues. She boarded at the Presbyterian Ladies College Croydon for high school and went on to the University of Sydney, where she was to spend the rest of her career. While working as a tutor in the Department of English she met palaeontologist Barry Webby at the university staff club and they married in 1966, the beginning of a long and mutually supportive marriage. Elizabeth embarked on a master of arts and then a PhD degree: she gave birth to her son Richard in the midst of her doctoral studies. Daughter Rosalind was born shortly after. Elizabeth quietly managed the feat of caring for a young family while keeping up with the demands of a university career. Her priority was always her family, but her commitment to work was such that few of the many people she taught or worked with on research projects would notice this. Her calm demeanour must have disguised some furious paddling under the surface. What kept her going was her genuine pleasure in reading, her enthusiasm for Australian writing and her awareness that it was a field of study that had much work to be done. Her PhD work on the circulation and reception of Australian literature in the early 19th century laid the groundwork for many other scholars who followed her. While her early work on Henry Handel Richardson and the poetry of Charles Harpur explored canonical figures, she gradually developed interests across the full history of Australian writing from Eliza Hamilton Dunlop to Elizabeth Jolley and Frank Moorhouse, and she also supported connections across the Tasman with New Zealand literature. Her decade as editor of Southerly brought her in touch with many contemporary writers who appreciated her support. Her patience proved a boon when she encountered writers such as Thea Astley, who rang her early one morning to protest at a review of her recent novel that Elizabeth had written: after an hour on the phone Astley decided that Elizabeths review was fair, after all. Australian MPs from across the political spectrum will travel to Washington this month in a bid to recruit American politicians to the campaign to pressure the Biden administration to drop its pursuit of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. With Assange, an Australian national, rapidly running out of options to avoid being extradited to the United States, the cross-party parliamentary delegation intends to meet members of the US House of Representatives and Senate as well as officials from the Department of Justice and State Department. Monique Ryan and Barnaby Joyce agree on Julian Assange and not much else. Credit: Among those pleading Assanges case are former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, Liberal senator Alex Antic, Labor MP Tony Zappia, independent MP Dr Monique Ryan and Greens senators David Shoebridge and Peter Whish-Wilson. Their trip, scheduled for September 20-21, is intended to raise the profile of Assanges plight in the weeks leading up to Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses first prime ministerial trip to Washington at the end of October. In a fit of imperial pique, Chinas Xi Jinping has slammed the door on the Indo-Pacific region. By pulling out of the big annual summits this week in Indonesia and India, Xi shows he has become deaf strategically and diplomatically in thinking that none of the other countries concerns matter, says leading Indian strategic analyst C. Raja Mohan of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. Illustration: Dionne. Credit: Xi might have overlooked one awkward fact. The problem is that the region is not going away; China still lives in it. The Chinese president tried to assert power and influence over a dozen Indo-Pacific nations in the last fortnight. And failed, in three phases. First was the phase of the BRICS summit held in South Africa on August 22-24. BRICS is a loose association of developing nations. The acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Xi wants to use the grouping to extend Chinas power in the world and to counter the West. The ceremonial burning of a 23-metre effigy at Nevadas Burning Man festival has been given the green light after dismal weather soaked the desert landscape, prompting some to leave on foot and others to revel in the mud. Black Rock City, the remote area of north-west Nevada where the event is held in the US, was closed over the weekend to all but emergency vehicles after heavy rain pummelled the makeshift city of 70,000 festivalgoers from across the world. Sydney digital creator Lila Neiswanger at Burning Man for the second time. The nine-day counterculture celebration, which has been running for almost four decades, was hit by wet weather in its final days, cutting road access and delaying the grand finale burning of The Man, a giant wooden effigy, and The Chapel of Babel, a hexagonal wooden structure. Attendees had earlier been asked to take shelter and conserve food, water and fuel, but some chose to leave the festival grounds, known as the playa (beach), on foot to seek alternative transport to reach pre-booked flights. President Joe Biden expressed his disappointment over reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping may forego this week's G20 summit in India. Biden stated that, despite his disappointment, he looks forward to meeting with Xi in the future, though he did not specify when or where this might occur, according to the Straits Times. Biden Expresses Disappointment Over Xi's Potential G20 Summit Absence This announcement follows multiple media reports from the previous week indicating that Xi will probably not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi. Biden's upcoming voyage to the summit, which was announced last week, is expected to provide the United States with another opportunity to strengthen cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies, effectively counterbalancing China's influence in the region. Last week,President Biden expressed his optimism that Chinese President Xi Jinping would attend the upcoming summit, which is widely viewed as a chance to ease the ongoing tensions between the United States and China. The first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since Biden's inauguration occurred at last year's G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. During that meeting, President Biden emphasized the significance of managing their countries' differences in order to prevent competition from escalating into conflict. On multiple fronts, including technology, espionage, economic competition, and military capabilities, tensions between the United States and China have continued to escalate. Several close military encounters in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait have further strained relations, as have incidents such as a February surveillance balloon encounter and recent reports indicating that China has operated an espionage base in Cuba at least since 2019. The National Security Adviser of the White House, Jake Sullivan, has verified that President Biden will visit India from September 7 to 10 for the G20 Summit. During the summit, President Biden is scheduled to participate in a number of bilateral meetings with world leaders; however, Sullivan did not specify which leaders would be present. Several US leaders, including Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, have visited China in recent months in an effort to enhance bilateral relations. President Biden expressed his disappointment on Monday over Chinese Premier Xi Jinping's apparent decision not to attend the two-day G20 summit scheduled for September 9 and 10 in India. This comes amid Washington's efforts to restore ties with Beijing. When asked about Xi's reported absence from the New Delhi gathering, Biden responded, "I am disappointed, but I will get to see him," without providing any additional information. During his trip to India, President Biden will meet with fellow G20 participants to discuss a variety of global issues. These include the transition to renewable energy and the fight against climate change, mitigating the economic and social effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and enhancing the capacity of multilateral development banks to combat poverty and address significant transnational challenges around the world, The Hill reported. Read Also: Anthony Fauci Criticized Following Release of Study Showing that Masks Had Little Effect in Preventing Spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic Reinforcing US Commitment and Tackling Global Challenges On August 29, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that President Biden would reaffirm the United States' commitment to the G20 as the preeminent global forum for economic cooperation. The President is also expected to address a broad range of issues, ranging from the social repercussions of Russia's actions in Ukraine to the urgent transnational challenges affecting countries around the globe. The G20 presidency was assumed by India on December 1 of the previous year. The upcoming 18th G20 Summit in New Delhi functions as the culmination of various G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year. The summit will conclude with the ratification of a G20 Leaders' Declaration, reaffirming the commitment of the leaders to the priorities discussed and agreed upon during ministerial and working group meetings. The G20, comprised of 19 nations and the European Union, accounts for approximately 85 percent of global GDP, over 75 percent of global trade, and nearly two-thirds of the world's population, as per the Big News Network. Related Article: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Pushes Back Against Criticism Following Destruction Brought by Hurricane Idalia @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. By Chris Thomas and Sethuraman N R BENGALURU (Reuters) -Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said on Monday he is open to increasing his stake in the Indian fintech firm if there are sellers, weeks after he became the largest shareholder in the company by buying stake from Chinese firm Antfin. Sharma, also CEO of Paytm, holds a 19.42% in Paytm after purchasing shares from Antfin amid broader concerns about Chinese ownership in Indian financial technology companies. "Paytm is truly an Indian company. It is a milestone that I'm able to acquire more stake in my company," Sharma told Reuters. "Antfin has not indicated that they want to sell (a further) stake at the moment, but if they do, I will jump at any opportunity to buy more equity in Paytm," he said. Antfin's selldown had followed a complete exit by Alibaba in February. Japan's Softbank Group Corp has also been cutting its stake in Paytm through open market deals. Paytm is focusing on its payments and credit business and is targeting free cash flow of sizable value soon, Sharma said. Paytm on Monday also launched a $12 "soundbox" device that lets merchants accept both mobile and card payments across networks including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and homegrown RuPay, as it looks to attract more subscribers from its large network. The soundbox provides instant audio alerts on amounts paid to merchants through an inbuilt speaker. Paytm competes with players such as Google Pay and Walmart's PhonePe in India, where digital payments gained traction after the country banned some high-value currency notes in 2016. Merchants from vegetable vendors to large retail stores now accept digital payments. The focus is to add as many merchants as possible and engage with them, riding the popularity of soundbox, Sharma said. Paytm shares ended little changed on Monday, trimming some earlier losses. The stock has rebounded sharply from November lows after the company reached operational profitability ahead of schedule, but is still about 60% off its IPO issue price of 2,150 rupees. Also Read Vijay Shekhar Sharma to buy a 10.3% stake in Paytm from Antfin for $628 mn Paytm founder set to acquire 10.3 per cent stake in the company from Antfin Softbank sells another 2% stake in Paytm, total holding now below 10% After consumers, Paytm is now offering cashback to woo merchants Paytm UPI LITE crosses 2 mn users with over half million daily transactions Insolvency proceedings: Gujarat High Court stays NCLT order against Rasna Tata Power Renewable Energy to set up 26 MW captive solar project in Maha Udaan makes organisational changes in business and tech verticals InterGlobe Aviation to set up subsidiary for financing aviation assets Domestic, short-haul international: A-I Express unveils vision after merger (Reporting by Sethuraman NR and Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Tomasz Janowski and Mike Harrison) In a gathering known as the Brahmin Mahasangam, held at Ramniwas Bagh in Jaipur, members of the Brahmin community voiced their demand for 35 political tickets each from both the Indian National Congress (Congress) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Rajasthan state Assembly elections . The gathering also urged the government to enhance the quota for Brahmins, both in educational institutions and job opportunities, to 14 per cent, according to a report by the Times of India. Furthermore, they sought five tickets from each political party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Public figures, including former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, State Cabinet Minister Mahesh Joshi, Jaipur Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Ramcharan Bohra, and film directors Madhur Bhandarkar and Anil Sharma attended the event. People at the event, however, were unhappy with the absence of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.MP Ramcharan Bohra became the target of slogans regarding the Union minister's absence. Minister Joshi, who came to Bohra's defence, also faced objections from the crowd. The event witnessed participation from more than 100 "saints and individuals" hailing from eight countries, including the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai, Italy, Canada, Nepal, and Singapore. Pandit Suresh Mishra, the National President of Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha, stated that despite the Brahmin community having a population exceeding 10 million in the state, they continue not "get adequate representation vis-a-vis their population." Mishra emphasised that the community's support in the upcoming state Assembly elections would depend on which political party addresses their concerns. Among the community's additional demands were the establishment of Lord Parashuram University, the construction of a monumental 111-feet statue of Lord Parashuram, rectification of disparities in economically weaker section (EWS) reservation, enactment of a law safeguarding priests, raising the income limit for EWS reservation from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 12 lakh, and the cessation of government control over temples and monasteries. Weighing in on the ongoing war of words between the Centre and the Delhi government over the beautification of the national capital ahead of the big-ticket G20 Summit on September 9 and 10, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, while acknowledging the efforts of the MCD and the PWD, said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government cannot take all the credit for the facelift as it was "missing in action". In the run-up to the summit, which will see the largest congregation of world leaders and delegates in the history of G20, streets and prominent public spaces in the national capital are being decked up with decorative lights, fountains, and hoardings. Cleaning of roads and other public areas is also in progress across the city. The big-ticket event, which is hosted under India's G20 Presidency, will draw dignitaries from 40 countries, including 20 member countries. While the Centre has been arguing that Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena deserves credit for the ongoing beautification of the city ahead of the mega huddle, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been commending PWD and MCD workers for the face-lift. "I was born and brought up here in Delhi and know the city better than most. Several areas in Delhi come within the territorial ambit of various ministries or authorities. Some fall under the cantonment board, which is run by the Ministry of Defence, while some others come under NDMC, which is run by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Road Transport Ministry, and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the PWD, which are under the Delhi government. Why did PWD and MCD officials and workers not work over the past several years? It is because these authorities lacked proper direction as the leaders were busy with something else," Lekhi told ANI in an interview on Sunday. "The L-G, in a period of just 2 months, made all arrangements (for the G20 summit). Also, many sculptures and statues were installed through the CSR of companies. He took the onus on himself and played a leadership role because of which such arrangements could be made. These people (AAP leaders) are raising hue and cry to appropriate credit. These people could not construct a flyover for the people in 9-10 years and neither could they provide drinking water and sanitation for them," she added. "What are they seeking credit for? NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board areas don't come under your (AAP government's) jurisdiction," Lekhi added. Also Read Ordinance has been brought to investigate corruption of AAP: MoS Lekhi Entire AAP govt in Delhi filled with scams: Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi Minister Meenakashi Lekhi flags off 'Tiranga Rally' in national capital G20 Summit: Delhi police's advisory; check restrictions, routes, and more MoS Lekhi pitches for 'reforming multilateralism' in Raisina Dialogue G20: Paramilitary forces, Delhi police taking care of safety, says Lekhi Vikram lander makes soft-landing, successfully undergoes hop test: Isro India has emerged as voice of Global south: G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant Traders at MP APMCs go on strike over demand for reduction in market fee Maratha Kranti Morcha calls for bandh in Kalyan town over Jalna violence While giving due credit to the PWD and MCD workers for the hard work they have put in to doll up the city for the G20 delegates, Lekhi took aim at the Delhi government, claiming it was "missing in action". India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1 last year. G20 accounts for 85 per cent of the global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and 65 per cent of the world population. The PWD and the MCD workers are working round the clock to contribute to the all-round success of the event. "In the last few weeks, Delhi's MLAs, councillors and corporation workers have worked hard to make the city glitter ahead of the G20 Summit. Engineers and employees of PWD, MCD and other departments have been toiling away to make this event a grand success. However, this cleanliness drive should not be only for the G20 or similar events. We should take a pledge to keep our city clean at all times," CM Kejriwal posted recently on X, sharing a legislator's post of workers cleaning Delhi roads. Cyber threat analysis company CloudSEK on Monday reported that personally identifiable information (PII) and medical diagnoses of over 320,000 patients, along with sensitive data about doctors, were found to have been leaked on the dark web from the Ministry of AYUSH website for Jharkhand. The breach was initiated by a threat actor who goes by the name Tanaka, and the compromised data included sensitive information about doctors, such as their PII, login credentials, usernames, passwords, and phone numbers. Information about 500 login credentials, some in cleartext (unencrypted form), was exposed on the dark web. The website for Jharkhand is designed and developed by Bitsphere Infosystem, an information technology services firm based in Ranchi. The threat actor shared a post titled bitsphere.in on an English-speaking hacking forum, CloudSEK said in a report. Email queries sent to officials of the AYUSH ministry, the office of the director at AYUSH Jharkhand, and Bitsphere Infosystem remained unanswered at the time of going to press. The Ministry of AYUSH website for Jharkhand serves as a critical resource providing information about ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homeopathy treatments. It connects patients to doctors working in these medical disciplines and is also used for education and research in these fields. Although the database is relatively small, at around 7.3 megabytes in size, it contains over 320,000 patient records, including their PII information and medical diagnoses. It also contains contact information for 737 people who used the contact us form on the website, as well as 472 records containing PII information of doctors. The database also contains PII information for 91 doctors, along with information about where they are posted. The link between the compromised data and AYUSH Jharkhands website was established by cross-referencing chatbot and blogpost data shared by the threat actor with publicly accessible data on the website. CloudSEKs contextual artificial intelligence digital risk platform, XVigil, was used to identify the source of the leaked data. CloudSEK researchers found a deeply concerning data breach that has far-reaching implications for patient and doctor confidentiality. The breach raises serious concerns about the digital security of health care data, the analytic platform said. In its report, CloudSEK also warned that the leaked data could enable account takeovers, as commonly used or weak passwords could lead to brute force attacks. It would equip malicious actors with the details required to launch sophisticated phishing attacks. Brute force refers to attacks that use trial and error to guess login credentials or encryption keys. Breach of health care databases may have severe implications as it includes sensitive data such as reproductive, sexual, and mental health data. This new report comes months after a Telegram bot was allegedly found leaking personal data collected by the governments CoWin portal. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta has said that there is no chance of corruption in the Union Territory now as all services have been made online. He said various schemes and platforms have brought transparency in the system which has ensured that no money can be withdrawn fraudulently from the public exchequer. "We have taken the initiative of making all services online. The aim is to create a corruption-free environment. Earlier it was said that out of one rupee, less than 10 paise would reach the ground. Today such a system has been created where the entire rupee reaches the ground," the officer told reporters after launching the 'Bhrashtachar Mukt J-K' campaign here. No money can be withdrawn without administrative approval, technical approval, e-tendering and geospatial photography, he said. Mehta said there were still some complaints of malpractices which the administration is working to address. "Our aim is to address the remaining complaints as well. The government is doing whatever possible, but the people also have to come forward and support this initiative to build a corruption-free society," he added. The chief secretary said the Jammu and Kashmir administration was trying to become number one in governance in the country. "We have made a lot of progress in many sectors. Now we want to be number one in governance as well. We are number one in IT services and are doing well in several other sectors too," he said. On reinstatement of lecturer Zahoor Ahmad Bhat who had appeared as petitioner-in-person before the Supreme Court bench hearing Article 370 petitions, Mehta said, "Let's leave it at that. Also Read Use of passports to travel for terror training stonewalled by J&K Police Increasing number of brick kilns near Srinagar airport pose risk to flights Skyrocketing airfares force many tourists to visit Kashmir by bus Police arrests 3 LeT terrorist associates in J-K's Budgam district TMS Ep497: Air India rebranding, tendering process, markets, deflation Govt to promote cactus plantations in low-irrigation areas: Giriraj Singh G20 Summit: Govt offices on alert mode from 'misleading, counterfeit emails Four Kerala PSUs part of India's first solar exploration mission Aditya-L1 President Murmu unveils 12-foot statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat Chandrayaan-3: Why rover is in 'sleep mode' and other mission updates Asserting that the country's foreign policy should always be based on reciprocity, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday if China does not accept "one India" policy, New Delhi should reconsider support to Beijing's 'One China' policy. Asking why China should have a problem with any meeting in Jammu and Kashmir or any other part of India, the National Conference Vice President said if China continues with this stance, India should also raise questions on Tibet, Taiwan and Hong Kong. "I think it's extremely unfortunate that the government of India keeps repeating its (adherence to ) One China policy yet for some reason, China doesn't reciprocate. "Our foreign policy should always be based on reciprocity. If China doesn't accept a one India policy, then why should India accept One China policy," Omar, a former Minister of State of External Affairs, said. "It shouldn't be one-sided that only China can raise questions about what happens in India and not vice versa. I believe that if China is going to continue to do this, then India must also revisit its One China policy," he told reporters. China, a G20 member, and Pakistan had objected to the decision to hold G20 events in Kashmir, which they call "disputed". China also disputes India's sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh. India has consistently dismissed such claims by China and Pakistan. When asked about the issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in an exclusive interview to PTI late last week said, "Such a question would be valid if we had refrained from conducting meetings in those venues. Ours is such a vast, beautiful and diverse nation.When G20 meetings are happening, isn't it natural that meetings will be held in every part of our country." India held the third G-20 working group meeting on tourism for three days from May 22 in Srinagar. Delegates from all G20 countries, barring China, visited the picturesque Valley for the event. A large number of delegates had also visited Arunachal Pradesh in March for a G-20 event. Also Read RBI likely to keep rate and policy stance unchanged to control inflation Does your regular car insurance cover flood and water damage? HP govt to reconsider opening summer-closing schools: Education Minister Tesla lawyers want court to reconsider Musk tweet deemed 'threat' Retailers' body asks Delhi govt to reconsider total shutdown for G20 summit Ahead of Chhattisgarh elections, CM Baghel scraps stipend for govt staffers INDIA's win must or country will turn into Manipur, Haryana: TN CM Stalin National parties declare assets worth Rs 8,829 cr in 2021-22: ADR RSS' annual all-India coordination meet to be held in Pune next week Uttarakhand: Straight contest likely in Bageshwar assembly bypoll Dismissing Chinese claims, India had then said that it was free to hold meetings on its own territory. By the time India's G20 presidency term ends, Modi had said, over 220 meetings would have taken place across 60 cities in all 28 states and eight Union territories, and added that over one lakh participants from around 125 nationalities would witness the skills of Indians. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of the party's Parliamentary Strategy group on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming special session of Parliament, party sources said. Sonia Gandhi was discharged from the hospital on Monday. She was admitted to Delhi's Sir Gangaram Hospital with symptoms of mild fever on Sunday. As per the information, there would be a discussion on party's plan to tackle questions and issues likely to be raised in the Parliament Session. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also called a meeting of MPs of the INDIA alliance to discuss the strategy for the special parliamentary session. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday informed about the five-day special session of Parliament from September 18-22. The agenda for the special session, however, was not revealed yet. Posting the information on social media app X, Joshi also attached a picture of the old parliament building and the new building, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28. The Centre on Saturday constituted an eight-member committee to examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in the country. The members of the committee, apart from former President Kovind, include Union Home Minister Amit Shah; Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury; former Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad; former Finance Commission chairman NK Singh, former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash C Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve and former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari. The Monsoon Session of Parliament, which concluded last month, was held in the old Parliament building. The announcement of the Special Session came as a surprise in political circles with the parties gearing up for assembly polls in five states later this year. The winter session of Parliament usually begins in the last week of November. Also Read BJP's politics set Manipur on fire, says Rahul Gandhi: Top quotes Sonia Gandhi never spoke of Karnataka sovereignty: Congress deletes tweet Manipur is sensitive matter, politics on it is shameful, says Amit Shah Parliament inauguration: Cong lacks national spirit and pride, says Puri Karnataka elections: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge wins back Gulbarga Centre seeks apology from Akbar Lone for raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogan Who ordered lathi-charge on Maratha quota protesters in Jalna, asks Raut 4-months after ethnic violence, Manipur lies 'forgotten' by Centre: Cong BJP govt is vengeful body primed against state govts opposed to it: Stalin BJP nominates former UP Dy CM Dinesh Sharma as Rajya Sabha candidate The US embraces a policy that fails to recognise Taiwan as a nation and adopts the posture of strategic ambiguity over whether or not it will defend the East Asian country against a Chinese invasion, Indian American Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has said. Beijing considers Taiwan as its breakaway province and insists it should be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary. Taiwan, however, sees itself as completely distinct from China. It is vital for US national security interest to ensure that China does not acquire sole control of the global semiconductor supply chain, Ramaswamy said in a statement on Sunday amidst increasing tension with China on the Taiwan issue. Accordingly, the US should shift from strategic ambiguity to strategic clarity: commit to affirmatively defend Taiwan against Chinese annexation until the US achieves semiconductor independence, at which point the US should resume its current posture of strategic ambiguity, he said. Last week, the Biden Administration approved a military transfer of USD 80 million to Taiwan under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF), a programme typically used for sovereign states. In response, a state-run newspaper in China stated that the US had crossed a red line with lethal consequences. The Vivek campaign said at present, the US embraces the One China Policy, which fails to recognise Taiwan as a nation and adopts the posture of strategic ambiguity about whether or not the US will defend Taiwan against an invasion. This creates mutual confusion with China about red lines and increases the risk of major conflict between the US and China, a risk that is heightened in the near term when the entire US economy and modern way of life rely on leading-edge semiconductors manufactured in Taiwan, the campaign said. In the meantime, Taiwan can double its own military expenditures to a more rational four to five of GDP while the US bolsters its own military and economic alliances with India, Japan, and South Korea and fortifies our own homeland defense capabilities including but not limited to a nuclear missile, super-EMP, and cyber defenses, Ramaswamy said. Also Read You'll make US less safe: Haley to Ramaswamy at Republican Party's debate Elon Musk calls Indian-American Ramaswamy a promising candidate for US prez Unclear who would aid Taiwan in a war with China, says foreign minister Tension on Taiwan Strait: What is the dispute between China and Taiwan? Want Musk to be my presidential adviser: Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy Yoon to call for strong int'l response to N Korea's nukes at ASEAN, G20 Ukraine Defence Minister Reznikov will be replaced this week: Zelenskyy I don't think Trump is going to be nominee: US prez candidate Nikki Haley Burning Man flooding strands tens of thousand peaople at Nevada site Saudi Arabia's PIF set to take control of country's top steel producers This is how we can stop Chinese aggression and advance vital long-run US interests while avoiding World War III. I am the only US Presidential candidate in either political party who has offered a clear vision for how to achieve this goal, said the Republican presidential candidate. Meanwhile, a super political action committee associated with Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has privately told his donors that all the attacks in recent days over Ramaswamy, his primary rival, were being carried by them, a media report said on Sunday. Everything you read about him is from us. Every misstatement, every 360 he's conducting or 180 that he is going through in life, is from our scrutiny and pressure," according to a report in Politico newspaper. "And so, he's not going to go through that very well, and that will get worse for him, Jeff Roe, the leader of the DeSantis-aligned Never Back Down told the gathering of donors. The quotes are part of an audio tape obtained by Politico from the speech of Roe with the donors of DeSantis just before last month's Republican presidential primary debate. Ramaswamy, 38, outshone the rest of the presidential opponents at the debate stage. The Ramaswamy campaign has slammed the DeSantis campaign for this. When DeSantis's Super Pac campaign, Chris Christie, the New York Times, MSNBC and the rest of the bipartisan establishment are all going after you at the same time, you know you're right over the target. "America watched Vivek dominate the debate stage, it's no wonder Never Back Down is pissing away another $20+ million after Labor Day, Ramaswamy spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin was quoted as saying. According to the report, Row told the donors that Ramaswamy would not be able to go through the avalanche of dirt thrown at him. He will not go through the discovery, scrutiny and decline phase of presidential politics very well. His scrutiny phase, we are putting him through it right now, he said. Roe indicated that his campaign against Ramaswamy would intensify after Labour Day. President Xi Jinping began his third term with a diplomatic blitz that bolstered his image as a global statesman. Now, hes set to skip the worlds premier international forum of world leaders and its not exactly clear why. It could be due to diplomatic sparring with India that Xi is snubbing the Group of 20 meeting in India. Or he wants to bolster the newly expanded BRICS forum. Maybe he wants to stay home to handle Chinas economic troubles, with one of the nations largest property developers on the brink of default. Whatever the reason, his absence would mark a major shift in how Xi operates. The Chinese leader has attended every G-20 leaders summit since taking power in 2012, and hes also sought to burnish his image as a peacemaker since emerging from three years of Covid isolation at last years meeting in Bali, Indonesia. Back then, Xi stressed the importance of dialogue, telling US President Joe Biden it was a statesmans responsibility to get along with other countries. Now Xi seems to be taking a different approach, dodging an event where hed likely face thorny questions over Chinas economic trajectory, Beijings military aggression toward Taiwan and his support for Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. That move also reinforces investor concerns that China is becoming increasingly unpredictable, with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo last week saying businesses in China told her the abrupt policy swings had made the nation nearly uninvestible. The Chinese leaders no-show at the G-20 would be made more flagrant by his recent trip to South Africa for a BRICS summit that also included India. Undercutting Prime Minister Narendra Modis big moment so soon afterward would lay bare the limits of that blocs ability to speak with a unified voice, or serve as a credible alternative to US-led groupings. His next major event on the world stage would be the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing this October. Russian President Vladimir Putin who is also skipping the G-20 has confirmed his attendance. Xi is now in an emperor mindset and expects dignitaries to come to him, according to Alfred Wu, associate professor at the National University of Singapores Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Leaders from Germany and France, along with four senior Biden administration lieutenants, have all visited Beijing since China lifted Covid controls. Xi enjoys a very high status when he receives foreign guests at home, Wu added. He also received special treatment at the BRICS summit. But hes unlikely to get that G-20. Also Read Will strengthen grouping, says PM Modi as Brics adds 6 countries to group PM Modi to attend 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg: Check details here BRICS Summit 2023: Will adding more bricks to a divided house help? BRICS Sherpas exchange views on enhancement of strategic partnership 15th BRICS Summit 2023: History, significance, top agendas, and more Commercial gaming regulator established in UAE as federal authority Leaders besieged by thorny issues as they hold ASEAN summit without Biden Israel PM pitches fiber optic cable idea to link Asia-Middle East to Europe Looking forward to India trip, disappointed Xi not attending G20: Biden F1 show to go on in Singapore as CPIB probe into Minister Iswaran continues Last November, after becoming Chinas most-powerful leader since Mao Zedong at a once-in-five-year leadership congress, Xi embarked on a whirlwind campaign to reinvigorate Beijings influence on the world stage. That was highlighted by his first in-person summit with Biden, helping temporarily reduce tensions over Taiwan, export controls on advanced technology and a range of human-rights issues. Then in March, Xi brokered a landmark deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and traveled to Moscow shoring up his position as Putins most-powerful backer. Shortly after, the Chinese leader held his first talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy since Russias invasion, bolstering his status as one of only a handful of people on the planet speaking to leaders on both sides of the war. But after that initial flurry of diplomacy, Xi significantly scaled back his international travel: the Chinese leader has left his nation twice this year compared to an average of 14 overseas trips per year prior to the pandemic. One diplomat in Beijing who was previously based in New Delhi suspected Xi had little interest in participating in an event aimed at bolstering the global profile of a rival with whom China has territorial disputes. That reluctance to embrace Indias moment will deny Xi the chance for in-person dialogue with leaders of friendly G-20 members, such as Argentina and Saudi Arabia. The summit would also have put him in the orbit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as the Asian powerhouses clash over Tokyos release of treated nuclear wastewater. Xi is focused on bolstering Chinas growing power in dependable groupings, said Drew Thompson, a former Pentagon official and a senior fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. China seeks to dominate a group of smaller, less-developed states like BRICS or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization where China can dictate the agenda, he added. Unpredictable Behavior Xis decision to pass on the G-20 would also highlight the lack of transparency in Asias second-biggest economy. In July, he abruptly ousted his handpicked foreign minister, Qin Gang, without explanation after only seven months in the job. Last month, Xi abruptly skipped delivering a scheduled speech at the BRICS Business Forum, even though other leaders from the bloc addressed the event. Instead, delegates were greeted on stage by Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, who read the text. Chinese-language state media reported that Xi delivered the speech. Xis comfort in delegating at major events suggests his leadership is becoming more like that of Mao, as he prefers to focus on grand visions rather than daily politics, said Neil Thomas, a fellow for Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institutes Center for China Analysis. But that approach also carries risks. The further Xi moves down this path, the more policymaking will be disconnected from mounting challenges, Thomas added. The Chinese presidents next major appearance outside China is supposed to be at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit in San Francisco in November. The White Houses reported decision to ban Hong Kongs leader from that event because hes subject to US sanctions, however, has cast doubt over Xis attendance. Certainly the momentum for dialogue is not ripe, said Karin Vazquez, a Shanghai-based associate professor of diplomatic practice at Indias O.P. Jindal Global University, noting that joint declarations at G-20 summits have been thwarted by warring ideologies in recent years. Member nations grandstanding at such events has become routine, added Josef Gregory Mahoney, a politics and international relations professor at Shanghais East China Normal University. China-India bilateral ties are more consequential here than China-US ties, he said. It raises the question of whether the G-20 is reaching the end of its effective lifespan. Hai Robotics, a global leading provider of autonomous case-handling robots (ACR) systems, is proud to announce that it has joined the United Nations Global Compact initiativethe world's largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative. Hai Robotics joins thousands of organizations across 160 countries that are committed to taking responsible business action to build a more sustainable and inclusive society. Hai Robotics commits to uphold the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and support the UN in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Hai Robotics will also share an annual Communication on Progress to showcase its continued engagement. "At Hai Robotics, we view sustainability as crucial in driving our long-term growth and resilience, and strive to serve as a responsible corporate citizen for our stakeholders," said Richie Chen, Founder and CEO at Hai Robotics. "We are excited to join the UN Global Compact in its mission to accelerate corporate sustainability. As a company continuing to expand globally, we recognize the growing importance of incorporating ESG increasingly into our business strategy. Participating in the UN Global Compact is critical in the improvement of our sustainability efforts during the development of warehouse automation solutions." Hai Robotics is actively involved in reducing its environmental footprint through sustainable business practices and production methods. Hai Robotics implements action in sustainable sourcing to hold itself accountable across all stages of the supply chain, such as the use of composite wood in packaging. With this new commitment, Hai Robotics will evaluate its existing ESG activities and support for clients to ensure they align with UN's Sustainable Development Goals and create positive impact. For more information on Hai's ESG efforts and commitment, click here to access our annual sustainability report. As the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, the UN Global Compact consists of more than 15,000 companies and 3,800 non-business signatories across over 160 countries, and more than 69 Local Networks. The Sustainable Development Goals consist of 17 global goals aimed to tackle societal issues and improve the quality of life by 2030, covering five key areas of people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. About Hai Robotics Hai Robotics, a leading global provider of Autonomous Case-handling Robot (ACR) systems, is committed to providing flexible, intelligent, and efficient warehouse automation solutions through robotics technology and AI algorithms. The HaiPick solution, independently developed in 2015, is the world's first ever ACR solution. Hai Robotics is a global enterprise that has more than 1,000 projects worldwide and serves customers from more than 30 countries and regions. We have offices to cover the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and Australia. We strive to combine global experience with local expertise to provide our customers with tailored, quality solutions. Hai Robotics is also a Participant of the United Nations Global Compact and adhere to its principles-based approach to responsible business. To learn more about Hai Robotics, visit www.hairobotics.com/ About the United Nations Global Compact As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 15,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the worlds largest corporate sustainability initiative one Global Compact uniting business for a better world. For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230903281684/en/ China allocates 1 bln yuan for disaster relief Xinhua) 11:12, September 04, 2023 BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- China has earmarked disaster relief funds worth 1 billion yuan (about 139.3 million U.S. dollars) to regions affected by floods, droughts, or crop pests, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Saturday. The funds were jointly allocated by the MOF, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Water Resources. A total of 272 million yuan will go towards drought relief in such regions as Gansu and Shaanxi, while 357 million yuan will be used to help Jilin, Heilongjiang and other provinces combat floods and restore agricultural production, the MOF said. The remaining funds will be allocated to regions including Jiangxi and Hunan for pest control and prevention, according to the MOF. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Multiple sources indicate that Joe Jonas, 34, has retained a divorce attorney. People and TMZ have both covered this development. Both Jonas and Turner, 27, have been dealing with significant issues for months, according to US Magazine. Joe Jonas Hires Divorce Attorney Amid Sophie Turner Relationship Troubles While a representative for Turner declined to comment, Us Weekly has contacted Joe Jonas' representative for further information. Earlier this month, when Jonas and Turner were spotted without wedding bands, rumors began circulating about the couple's relationship. The occurrence followed their August decision to sell their Miami mansion. Fans with keen eyesight also observed that Joe Jonas was not wearing his wedding band at recent Jonas Brothers concerts. On Friday, social media video of the group's performance at the Minnesota State Fair revealed that he did not wear the gold band. Jonas was wearing the ring the next day in an Instagram photo he posted with his siblings Nick and Kevin on Saturday, September 2. Joe Jonas wrote in the caption of his Instagram photo: "Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone. This tour has been incredible so far," accompanying a picture of the three brothers gathered around a fire pit. "Having a little family time in the Texas sunset tonight before the big Austin show tomorrow." Sophie Turner has also been noticeably absent from a number of The Tour performances by the Jonas Brothers. On August 12, she only appeared at the tour's inaugural night in New York City. The following evening, the actress was conspicuously absent while Kevin and Nick's spouses, Danielle Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, returned to the VIP section. Despite Turner's absence, Joe Jonas acknowledged her during the introduction of the song "Hesitate." Later, he dedicated the same song to her at the band's St. Louis and New Orleans performances, as per Page Six. Read Also: RIP Jimmy Buffett: Remembering the Iconic Musician A Love Story from First Link to Expanding Family Late in 2016, nearly a year prior to their engagement, Joe Jonas and Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner were first romantically linked. During a January radio interview on "On Air With Ryan Seacrest," Joe Jonas recalled the proposal: "I was probably more anxious to ask her father than to ask her. It is a complete mess. You throw it out there and hope that the response is positive, and you look back on it, and you're like, 'What did I say?' Fortunately, it went well." Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner eloped in May 2019, just hours after the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. A month later, they held a second ceremony in France to commemorate the occasion. Us Weekly announced in February 2020 that the couple was expecting their first child, expanding their family. The birth of Willa occurred in July of that year. Their second daughter was born in July 2022, although her name has not been made public. A source told Us Weekly in October 2022 that despite the challenges of rearing two young children, the family of four was doing well. "Two infants are a lot of work, but they're doing their best," the source said. They have indeed become remarkable parents. They attempt to offer their daughters a normal upbringing away from the spotlight, News18 reported. Related Article: Hulk Hogan's Sober Journey: WWE Star Loses Almost 20KG! @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Russian nuclear attacks could hit U.S. territories, as claimed by a Kremlin propagandist. National Defense magazine Editor-in-Chief Igor Korotchenko, who is also a military expert, explained why Russia's nuclear missiles could hit the United States. Russian Nuclear Strike Could Hit US Territories, Warns Russia's State TV According to Newsweek's latest report, Korotchenko shared the possibility of Russia's nuclear strikes on the U.S. during his guest on Russia 1; a state-sponsored television channel. The military expert said that Russia received continuous threats that when it went beyond the permission lines for the use of all kinds of Russian weapons, there would be serious warfare attacks on the Crimean Bridge and other Russian territories. He stated that Ben Hodges promises that if Russia misbehaves, the United States will not hesitate to attack the country's Black Sea Fleet (groups of Russian troops in Crimea), as well as the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria. Korotchenk warned that if the U.S. decided to attack Russia's civilian and military facilities, they would retaliate. However, he clarified that the nuclear attack would be a preventive, limited against the country's targets on U.S. territories. The latest warning coming from the Russian propagandist came after the combat duty preparation for the Satan II missile had been confirmed. Read Also: Russia Drones Strike Ukrainian Port Near Romanian Border as Putin Prepares for Grain Deal Talks with Erdogan Is Threat Connected With Satan II's Preparation? Recently, the Express UK reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin put Russia's terrifying Sarmat strategic missile (aka Satan II) on combat duty. The advanced Satan II missile is a nuclear weapon carrying up to 15 warheads. It can also carry around 24 Russian Avangard's Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV). Each of the HGVs is also capable of housing a nuclear warhead 27 times the speed of sound. Military experts warned that Russia's Satan II nuclear missiles can reach thousands of miles. Specifically, they believe that these hypersonic rockets can target the United Kingdom in just six minutes. "The Sarmat strategic complex has been put on combat duty," said Yuri Borisov, the head of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. As of writing, it is still unclear if the Russian government will consider using the Satan II missiles in case of nuclear war against the U.S. Related Article: Russian Military Recruits 280K Soldiers; Former Russian President Medvedev Shares Details @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 8:47PM VigorPool VigorPool, a company specializing in portable and eco-friendly power solutions, recently unveiled its new products at the IFA 2023. And if you are looking for the ultimate power backup, check out the VigorPool Captain 2400. This device is ideal for remote getaways or blackout emergencies, as it can power homes and RVs for long periods with its impressive 2,240Wh capacity. You can also extend its battery life up to three days by adding two extra batteries, giving you a whopping 6,720Wh capacity. The Captain 2400s powerful 2400W output can handle 99% of household and outdoor devices, whether you need it for off-grid living or unexpected outages. You can also pair it with solar panels for endless green energy. Unfortunately, the price of the VigorPool Captain 2400 is yet to be announced. Source Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, fondly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was a powerful nonviolent resistance and a key leader in the fight for India's independence from British rule. His impact reached far beyond India, inspiring movements for civil rights and freedom worldwide. Let's delve into the fascinating journey of this great soul, from his humble beginnings in coastal Gujarat to his transformative leadership in India. Let's explore the life and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi through the quiz which will be really helpful in preparing for several competitive exams. 1) What was Mahatma Gandhi's primary method of resistance in his campaign for India's independence? a) Armed rebellion b) Nonviolent resistance c) Diplomatic negotiations d) Economic boycott Answer: b) Nonviolent resistance 2) In which country was the honorific title "Mahatma" first applied to Gandhi in 1914? a) India b) South Africa c) United Kingdom d) United States Answer: b) South Africa 3) Where did Gandhi train in law before becoming a lawyer? a) Mumbai, India b) Johannesburg, South Africa c) Inner Temple, London d) Cape Town, South Africa Answer: c) Inner Temple, London 4) At what age was Gandhi called to the bar and became a lawyer? a) 18 b) 21 c) 22 d) 25 Answer: c) 22 5) How long did Gandhi live in South Africa before returning to India in 1915? a) 2 years b) 5 years c) 10 years d) 21 years Answer: d) 21 years 6) What was the main cause of Gandhi's campaign when he returned to India in 1915? a) Religious reform b) Land-tax reduction c) Women's rights d) Education reform Answer: b) Land-tax reduction 7) What is the meaning of the honorific title "Mahatma"? a) Great warrior b) Wise leader c) Great-souled, venerable d) Spiritual guru Answer: c) Great-souled, venerable 8) In what year was Mahatma Gandhi born? a) 1857 b) 1869 c) 1874 d) 1900 Answer: b) 1869 9) What was Mahatma Gandhi's profession before he became a political leader? a) Lawyer b) Doctor c) Engineer d) Teacher Answer: a) Lawyer 10) What is the name of the political party founded by Mahatma Gandhi? a) Indian National Congress b) All India Muslim League c) Bharatiya Janata Party d) Communist Party of India Answer: a) Indian National Congress 11) What was the title of Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography? a) My Political Journey b) My Struggles for Freedom c) The Story of My Life d) The Story of My Experiments with Truth Answer: d) The Story of My Experiments with Truth 12) What did Gandhi assume leadership of in 1921? a) Indian Parliament b) Indian National Congress c) Indian Independence Movement d) Indian Civil Service Answer: b) Indian National Congress 13) What was Gandhi's primary goal in his nationwide campaigns? a) Expanding urban development b) Achieving swaraj (self-rule) c) Promoting British colonialism d) Establishing a monarchy Answer: b) Achieving swaraj (self-rule) 14) What did Gandhi use as a mark of identification with India's rural poor? a) Western-style clothing b) A suit and tie c) A short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn d) Military uniform Answer: c) A short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn 15) In 1930, what action did Gandhi take to challenge the British-imposed salt tax? a) Boycotting British goods b) Organizing a protest march to the British Parliament c) Leading a 400 km Dandi Salt March d) Conducting negotiations with British officials Answer: c) Leading a 400 km Dandi Salt March 16) What did Gandhi call for in 1942 as part of his anti-colonial nationalism efforts? a) A peaceful coexistence with the British b) The establishment of a British-controlled Indian government c) The British to quit India d) Greater British involvement in Indian affairs Answer: c) The British to quit India 17) In the early 1940s, what challenge did Gandhi's vision of an independent India face? a) Economic instability b) Religious pluralism c) Communist uprisings d) Muslim nationalism Answer: d) Muslim nationalism 18) What did Britain grant to India in August 1947? a) Religious freedom b) Economic aid c) Independence d) A new constitution Answer: c) Independence 19) After independence, how was British India partitioned? a) Into three dominions b) Into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan c) Into a north and south India d) Into several small independent states Answer: b) Into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan 20) What region experienced religious violence and displacement of people after partition? a) Tamil Nadu b) Maharashtra c) Punjab and Bengal d) Kerala Answer: c) Punjab and Bengal 21) How did Gandhi respond to the religious violence and displacement in the aftermath of partition? a) He supported the violence. b) He abstained from any involvement. c) He visited affected areas to alleviate distress and undertook hunger strikes. d) He left India for an extended period. Answer: c) He visited affected areas to alleviate distress and undertook hunger strikes. 22) When was Gandhi assassinated, and by whom? a) On 15 August 1947, by a British officer b) On 12 January 1948, by a Sikh nationalist c) On 30 January 1948, by a militant Hindu nationalist named Nathuram Godse d) On 2 October 1950, by a political rival Answer: c) On 30 January 1948, by a militant Hindu nationalist named Nathuram Godse 23) What is the name of the place where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated? a) Sabarmati Ashram b) Jallianwala Bagh c) Red Fort d) Birla House Answer: d) Birla House 24) What is Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, commemorated as in India? a) Independence Day b) Republic Day c) Gandhi Jayanti d) Nonviolence Day Answer: c) Gandhi Jayanti 25) What affectionate term was Gandhi commonly called in Gujarat? a) Father of the Nation b) Bapu c) Mahatma d) Nathuram Godse Answer: b) Bapu Photo: Contributed The sly glows red over the Central Okanagan during the recent wildfires. I was terrified, feeling like a sitting duck when the authorities shut down the highways. On Aug. 18, we stayed glued to CBC radio, listening for updates and instructions, all-the-while taking turns looking at the surreal scene of a flaming sky. The fire was close, only a mile away, and ashes landed on our doorstep. A retired firefighter told us to remove any welcome mats by the doors and our patio furniture, as those items would block the exits if ignited. Good advice, as the embers may have set those things ablaze. A wildfire can spread 10 miles per hour or more, depending on the wind conditions and type of fuel its burning. The Glenmore landfill was on fire, and it spewed toxic smoke into the air, adding to the danger. On the Saturday morning, I learned one of our relatives and her firefighter boyfriend lost their house. She was distraught and her partner had to carry on, working some 36 hours straight. She worried for him and mourned their loss. The home they recently shared was now rubble. The resident firefighters' dedication to the community was admirable. They fought to save other peoples homes as 13 of their own places burned. It's difficult for me to fathom the horror they and others faced with nothing left. Some Kelownians had no insurance and fled only in the clothes they wore. I could barely hold it together. The idea of breaching the barricades crossed my mind. While a few people actually did so. The front-line workers endured verbal abuse while performing their duties and some equipment went missing. The reprehensible act of thievery floored me, and if caught, I think they should do life in prison for their malicious behaviour. People's true nature comes out in catastrophes like this. During the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre Twin Towers in New York City in 2001, an employee announced on the PA system her coworkers could stay or go. Many people returned to their workstations and died. Similar situations happened in other calamities. Sometimes we should follow our instincts instead of waiting for orders or approval. I tried my best not to panic as I packed up crucial documents and photographs. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, my sister, Pat Anderson, left her Sorrento residence for Calgary and stopped at a parking lot in Salmon Arm to sleep in her car. Her husband, Kent, and a former firefighter stayed briefly to set up sprinkler hoses around the area. It saved all the structures. My response to the imminent danger was to run, but my husband remained calm. The fight or flight mode kicks in, depending on the type of goliath Im facing. Thankfully, wed made plans to leave on holiday long before the wildfire. My husband and I, accompanied by a friend, left for a church camp meeting in the Cariboo on Aug. 20. We brought our camping gear in both vehicles, together with some evacuation supplies, keepsakes and important papers. The police stopped motorists from entering Kelowna, not exiting. Perfect timing to get away and forget our troubles. We enjoyed several days of sunshine, mostly clear skies and refreshing rain. The international Christian speakers were inspirational, providing hope for a better future as this world waxes old like a garment. (Isaiah 51:6). Many Christians view the world's climate change and disasters as labour pains for the planet. All these happenings will intensify, causing the inhabitants to witness a time of trouble that they have never experienced before. Christ's return will end this calamity. A new earth will be birthed. (Revelation 1:7, Contemporary English Version) Look! He is coming with the clouds. Everyone will see him, even the ones who stuck a sword through him. Everyone on earth will weep because of him. Yes, it will happen! Amen. I joyfully expect His return. How about you? If youd like to share your experience with me, please write to me at [email protected] This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Photo: The Canadian Press Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea wont be restored until the West meets its obligations to facilitate Russian agricultural exports. Putin made the statement after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who helped broker the deal seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. But Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that an agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadnt been honored. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Putin said that if those commitments were honored, Russia could return to the deal within the nearest days. He also said that Russia is close to finalizing an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. The Russian leader added that Russia will ship 1 million metric tons (1.1 million tons) of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday sought to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to revive an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports despite the war with Russia. Putin in July refused to extend the agreement, which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year earlier and was seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Erdogan said the grain deal was the headline issue at the daylong talks between the two leaders in Russias Black Sea resort of Sochi, where the Russian president has a residence. Everyone is looking at the grain corridor issue, Erdogan said in opening remarks. Putin acknowledged that issues related to the Ukraine crisis would be discussed between them. I know that you intend to raise questions about the grain deal. Were open to negotiations on that subject, he told Erdogan, repeating what has been the Kremlins official position on international efforts to resurrect the agreement. Russia broke off the deal, complaining that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadnt been honored. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. A lot is riding on the talks for the world food supply. I believe that the message we will give after our meeting will constitute an important step for the world, especially for the underdeveloped African countries, Erdogan said. Since Putin withdrew from the grain initiative, Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The meeting took place against a backdrop of Ukraine's recent counteroffensive against the Kremlin's invasion forces. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Zelenskyy said, without elaborating. Reznikov on Monday published a photo of his resignation letter. Analysts expect tough negotiations in Sochi. My gut feeling is that Putin recognizes the leverage he has by using food as an economic weapon, and thus will fight for all he can get in terms of concessions on his wish-list, said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank. Those may include Russias grains, or fertilizer exports, or wider issues, he said. Data from the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which organized the Ukraine shipments, shows that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China, which received nearly a quarter of the food. Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, Ukraine's main Black Sea port area. On Monday, the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odea and Dnipropetrovsk regions but did not specify damage caused by the drones that got through. The Turkish president has maintained close ties with Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasnt joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. Opening the talks, Putin mentioned various areas of bilateral cooperation, such as a proposed Russian gas hub in Turkey and the construction of the first nuclear power plant there, in which Moscow is actively involved. NATO member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and backing Kyivs bid to join NATO. Erdogan angered Moscow in July when he allowed five Ukrainian commanders to return home. The soldiers had been captured by Russia and handed over to Turkey on condition they remained there for the duration of the war. Putin and Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraines Black Sea exports to resume. Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putins position. In July, he said Putin had certain expectations from Western countries over the Black Sea deal and that it was crucial for these countries to take action in this regard. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concrete proposals aimed at getting Russian exports to global markets and allowing the resumption of the Black Sea initiative. But Lavrov said Moscow wasnt satisfied with the letter. Describing Turkeys intense efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it was a process that tries to better understand Russias position and requests, and to meet them. Five people were killed in four separate shooting incidents around Washington DC Friday (September 1), one of many violent losses of life across the county over the Labor Day weekend. The first shooting happened around 13:45 local time (17:00 UTC) when police alleged they responded to a shooting in the 5100 block of Astor Place SE. Officers found a certain 32-year-old named Mannin Quarles suffering gunshot wounds but was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are still looking for two suspects in connection to the incident. The first is a Black man about 5' 7" high (170 cm) who was last seen wearing a red shirt, blue jean shorts, and black and red Nike shoes. The second person is a heavyset woman who was last seen wearing a tan shirt and tan bottoms. Aside from the US capital, several cities also reported fatal shooting incidents over the Labor Day weekend, such as Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Kansas City. Read Also: At Least 1 Dead, 70K Stranded During Burning Man Festival in Nevada After Heavy Rains Create Muddy Environment Other DC Shootings DC Police also responded to a string of other shooting incidents, such as the one in the 100 block of Farragut Street NW, where they found 43-year-old Richard Ruffin III dead at the scene. No suspects or persons of interest were identified. Two teenagers and a girl were also shot in the 1300 block of Seventh Street NW. All three were taken to hospital, but both teenagers, Mikeya Ferguson, 19, of Southeast; and Cle'shai Perry, 18, of Northwest, died from their injuries. The girl remains in a critical but stable condition. A 15-year-old named Zyion Turner was the fifth person shot dead on that night when police arrived at the scene early Saturday morning (September 2) of an incident in the 4200 block of Fourth Street SE. No suspects or persons of interest were also identified. Turner was killed on the first night of DC's juvenile curfew hours in parts of the city, running from midnight to 06:00 local time. It was unclear whether or not Turner was inside the residence at the time of his death. Related Article: 'Extremely Dangerous' Oregon Suspect Escapes Mental Health Facility, Drives Off in Hijacked Van Despite Being in Full Shackles @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Photo: The Canadian Press Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Simon Byrne leaves James House in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Thursday Aug. 31, 2023. Northern Irelands top police officer resigned Monday following a series of controversies that plagued the police force, including what he described as an industrial scale data breach. The Northern Ireland Policing Board confirmed that Simon Byrne has resigned as chief constable, with immediate effect. Byrne faced growing pressure to step down since personal data on all serving members of the police force were mistakenly published last month in response to a freedom of information request. The details included the surnames, initials, location and departments for around 10,000 officers and other personnel. Police said dissident Irish republicans claimed to be in possession of information about police officers following the incident. The breach was particularly sensitive given the delicate security situation in Northern Ireland, which is still trying to overcome decades of sectarian violence known as The Troubles. Twenty-five years after a peace agreement largely ended the violence, many police officers continue to shield their identities because of continuing threats from dissident members of the republican and unionist communities. Byrne came under more scrutiny last week when a High Court judge ruled that two junior officers were unlawfully disciplined for an arrest made at a Troubles commemoration event in 2021. The judge said the officers were disciplined to allay any threat that Sinn Fein could withdraw its support for policing in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein has insisted there was no such threat. Byrne had said that he would not resign and that he was considering an appeal against the court ruling. But in a statement issued Monday, Byrne said it was time for someone new to lead the force. The last few days have been very difficult for all concerned, he said. Regardless of the rights and wrongs, it is now time for someone new to lead this proud and resolute organization. Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson said Byrne's resignation provided a chance for authorities to rebuild lost confidence with the public and within the police force. Fair and even-handed policing is just as foundational to progress in Northern Ireland as fully functioning political institutions operating on a cross-community basis," Donaldson said. The Police Federation of Northern Ireland, which represents rank-and-file officers, said last month it had been inundated with calls from worried officers following the data breach. Liam Kelly, the federation's chairperson, said morale in the force was never lower. Whoever succeeds Mr. Byrne has a mountain to climb to address the cultural deficiencies, rebuild confidence and restore credibility," Kelly said. BUA Cement says new plants will drive down cement prices 04 September 2023 BUA Cement has said that it hopes the completion of its two new plants this year would result in the lowering of cement prices in Nigeria. The company plans to add 6Mta of cement production capacity by the end of 2023 with the opening of Line 3 at its Obu plant and Line 5 at its Sokoto plant, according to Punch. Contractors in the country have reportedly been complaining to the government over the high cost of cement, suggesting that imports would be cheaper. The Minister of Works is now in talks with Nigerias cement producers regarding reducing the price of their products. I understand that the minister is quite concerned, that the price of cement is high at almost NGN5000 per tonne. I appreciate where the government is coming from and the frustration from all the issues in the country, said Abdul Samad Rabbi, chairman, BUA Cement. The price of cement at NGN5000 is not high. If we look at the rate of the US dollar today, to import cement will be at NGN5000. The cement cost, insurance and freight to any port in Nigeria will be in the region of about US$100 a tonne. So, at US$100 per tonne, if you take NGN800 to US$1, then it will be NGN4000 per bag. Then the port cost, and transportation from the port. Mr Rabui is confident that the increased capacity will boost the availability of cement and drive down prices by the close of 2023. Published under Bangladesh's mega infrastructure projects provide cement demand 04 September 2023 The Bangladesh government is implementing around a dozen mega projects using locally-made construction materials instead of imported alternatives. Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, inaugurated the 11.5km Airport-Farmgate segment of the 19.73km Dhaka Elevated Expressway, the first of its kind in the country, on 2 September. This expressway promises to be a game-changer for commuters in the capital city. According to the project details, 65 per cent of the work has been completed and with the remainder scheduled for completion in 2024. Chief Marketing Officer at Bashundhara Cement, Khandker Kingshuk Hossain, told the local media that 95 per cent of the cement used in the construction of Dhakas first Elevated Expressway has been provided by the Bashundhara Group. It has also provided bitumen for the entire project, he added. Stating the use of Bashundhara cement in other projects, he said, We are involved in various mega projects, including the main Padma Bridge, Padma Bridge River Management, Padma Bridge Approach Road, Padma Rail project, Dhaka Metro Rail, Ruppur Nuclear Power plant, Matarbari Thermal Power plant, Payra Bridge, Rupsa Rail Bridge, Rampal Power plant. Bashundhara Group commenced its commercial operation on 15 January 1996. It established (two) units of Bashundhara Cement under Bashundhara Industrial Complex Ltd at Mongla and Madangonj, having a total production capacity of 5.05Mta. Published under The U.S. is trying to become the first nation with systematic AI laws. The question is, will tech CEOs in the United States allow this to happen? Will Tech CEOs Allow US to Be First Country With AI Laws? As of writing, the U.S. government is making efforts to formulate a codified set of artificial intelligence regulations. However, Firstpost reported that thought-leaders of AI have different plans. Specifically, tech executives, such as Sam Altman (OpenAI), Sundar Pichai (Google), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), and other tech leaders are expecting regulatory leniency from the government. Before 2023 ends, a major meeting with these AI thought leaders is expected to happen. The U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed that they are planning to meet with prominent figures from the tech sector. The gathering, which has been labeled as the "AI Insight Forum," will aim to acquire insights from tech CEOs, which the U.S. government can use to shape the needed AI laws. Aside from tech leaders, the meeting will also invite civil rights and labor leaders, such as AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler. Experts claim that the AI Insight forum could lead to an impending regulatory action. However, since the majority of the participants are from the tech industry, the effectiveness of the gathering is being questioned. Read Also: US Restricts AI Chip Exports by Nvidia, AMD to China, Middle East EU Overtakes US in Regulating AI According to The Guardian, the European Union is one step ahead when it comes to regulating artificial intelligence. EU has been working on regulation around AI-related issues. Meanwhile, the United States' regulatory process is just beginning. Compared to the U.S., AI discussions in the EU are more advanced. CNBC reported that the European Parliament already approved the bloc's landmark rules for AI called the EU AI Act. This new law is the first formal AI regulation in the West. Under this law, AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are required to follow restrictions. Aside from this, generative AI developers are also required to send their systems to the EU before they can commercially release them. Workday's public policy senior director, Jens-Henrik Jeppesen, explained that the AI Act was established to create safeguards for AI developments. Jeppesen explained that the EU's new law will ensure that they can have an innovation-friendly environment for artificial intelligence tools so that society can benefit from them with fewer risks. These are just some of the restrictions imposed by the EU AI Act. If you want to learn more about this first-of-its-kind law, you can click here. Related Article: Elon Musk Sparks Federal Investigation of EV Manufacturer Tesla Over Use of Company Funds on Secret House Project @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A woman told police she dropped her phone at ARB Enterprises at 1509 E. 28th St. and said the phone was stolen. She said her phone, a Samsung Galaxy A54, had a butterfly case with her credit cards and drivers license attached to the back of it. She was able to track the location of her phone to the 4400 block of Rossville Boulevard. She found her phone and multiple credit cards on the side of the roadway. They appeared to have been thrown from a vehicle, causing damage to her phone. She didnt recover her Alabama driver's license. * * * An officer was flagged down by a citizen on Hamilton Avenue and said a homeless man slept on her porch the night before and left items behind on her patio furniture. She had a camera that captured the man on her porch. The officer requested she email a photo of the suspect. Her address was placed on the watchlist. * * * An employee at U-Haul at 8111 E Brainerd Road told police he found a firearm in a U-Haul. The man had information on the owner of the firearm. An officer spoke with a man over the phone and he said it was his. The firearm didnt come up stolen and was returned to the owner. * * * A man at W. 25th Street told police homeless people have been camping on their property and leaving trash everywhere. The man requested they be trespassed. An officer found a man camping there, and instructed him to leave and not return or face arrest for trespassing. The officer wasnt able to find anyone else in the camp, but know other individuals stay there. * * * A woman told police the No Parking signs in the 3900 block of St. Elmo Avenue are too close to the roadway. She pointed out that a sign had been hit by previous vehicles passing through the roadway due to its close proximity. The woman wanted to have the city of Chattanooga remove the signs and push them further away from the roadway as they are a traffic hazard. The specific sign the woman was referencing was posted on the curb side of the sidewalk. * * * While conducting routine patrol behind Cicis Pizza at 5425 Highway 153, an officer saw a homeless man hunched over, sitting on a wall. The officer checked on the man to make sure he was okay. He woke up and said he was resting. He said he was from Washington and had been in Chattanooga since April 23. He said he moved down here in hopes of finding a job in the restaurant industry, which is what he was doing prior to becoming homeless. He came to Chattanooga with only $600. He was not able to keep the room due to a fallout with his roommate, thus, not being able to secure a job. He didnt have a set camp where he stays and seemed to be by himself. He was a little hard of hearing. He was respectful and compliant with the officer. * * * Police responded to a noise complaint at Exile Bar at 1634 Rossville Ave. Once in the area, the officer saw the music was bearable but the bass was a bit loud and carrying throughout the area. The officer spoke with staff at Exile Bar and they complied when asked to turn the bass down. * * * Police were dispatched to a possible auto theft in progress at Regions Bank at 5529 Brainerd Road. Police arrived and spotted a man matching the description given by dispatch. Police spoke with the man and asked if he has saw anything or a vehicle matching the description. He said he helped someone get into their vehicle because they were locked out. He claimed they were there for about an hour. By the time police arrived, the person and vehicle had left. * * * Police were called to Ashley Home Furniture store at 5450 Highway 153 where a woman was asleep. The officer told the woman there was a standing trespass order for the premises after hours. She had no wants or warrants. She was given a verbal trespass warning and left the area without causing further incident. * * * Police were called to Texaco at 2121 E. 23rd St. where a woman was talking loud in the parking lot. She was asked to move along and did so without incident. * * * A passing driver called in concerned about a man on the side of the road at 2501 McCallie Ave. He said that he was waiting for a bus to get out to Walmart on Brainerd Road. The officer gave the man a ride to a bus stop on the line that went that direction. * * * A man at 801 Broad St. told police he keeps the homeless from setting up shop to panhandle in the area. As he was walking the area, he found a man putting two chairs, a TV and other items against the wall of the inside restaurant and told him he couldnt set up there. The man moved his things next to a flower pot next to the road and went inside the restaurant to have a drink. The officer spoke to him to make sure he understood that he couldnt set up there. He said that when he was done with his drink he would move from the area. * * * A woman told police she had gone to Walmart at 490 Greenway View Dr. and, when she returned to her car after shopping, she noticed several paint droplets on her rear windshield and trunk. She wasnt sure how they got there but wanted to make a report in case it needed to be reported to the insurance company. She also said there was a taxi and sedan parked near her, but was unclear if they were associated with the droplets. * * * A man told police that while driving southbound on I-75 a sheet of metal fell off a truck and caused a vehicle in front of him to hit the metal sheet and flip it backwards at his vehicle. The man said the vehicle sustained front passenger damage from the sheet of metal. * * * A woman on Clifton Terrace told police she answered a phone call that she thought was from one of her health care providers. When the woman answered the phone, the person on the other line asked for her date of birth. When the information was obtained, the caller hung up the phone. After the incident, the woman called the number back, to which an officer answered and informed her they didnt call her number. The woman was told a report would be written. * * * A man told police he was in the country on business and rented a 2022 black Cadillac sedan from Alamo. After he left Walmart on Greenway View Drive, he noticed that the driver's side door appeared to be damaged. Police looked at the door which seemed to protrude from the upper right edge. Also, there was inside damage that could be from someone wedging a tool between the door and inside. * * * A concerned citizen called requesting officers check on a man lying in the parking lot at Abba's House at 5208 Hixson Pike. The man said he had been homeless for two years but had only been in the Hixson area for a couple of days. He said he was a member of the Yellow Deli "people" and that he was trying to head north to Crossville. He asked police for a ride to the county line. The officer told him to move along. * * * A woman on Donlyn Lane told police she was calling back again because her grandson, who had established residency there, was trying to get back inside the house and the woman wouldnt let him. The woman called police and said he was trying to kick the door in. Once the woman confirmed that her grandson had paid towards rent or a bill, she tried saying the money he paid her wasn't actually for that and it was for money he owed her, allegedly. However, the woman said that regardless if he had established residency, she was not allowing him back into the residence. She also wanted another man trespassed from the property, which police did. The womans grandson and the other man left the property. * * * A woman told police she was in Miller Park on the phone when an unknown black male wearing all black with red stripes down his shirt stole her two backpacks and ran off with her belongings. The woman said one backpack was gray and the other was gray and green. Inside her backpacks were her identification and bus pass. She wanted to press charges over the incident. Officers tried to find the suspect but were unsuccessful. * * * A man on N. Highland Park Avenue told police he was upset with his neighbor because of parking issues and late-night parties. An officer spoke with the neighbor who said the man has been bothering him over parking, however, he said the vehicles he was upset about weren't even his or had anything to do with his residence. Both men agreed to separate and resolve their issues when they calmed down. Here is the latest Hamilton County arrest report: ARIAS, JUAN DIEGO 2534 J MACK CIR SW APT B CLEVELAND, 37311 Age at Arrest: 26 years old Arresting Agency: Tenn Hwy Patrol DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE BROWN, ERICA CHRISTINA 2353 COUNTY ROAD 78 PISGAH, 35765 Age at Arrest: 40 years old Arresting Agency: HC Sheriff Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s) CLARK, MARRELL RYAN 2615 E 20TH ST CHATTANOOGA, 374045460 Age at Arrest: 52 years old Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AGGRAVATED ASSAULT RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT POSSESSING A FIREARM WITH INTENT TO GO ARMED POSS OF FIREARM DURING A FELONY COOLEY, TIMOTHY K 312 MCBRIEN RD. Here are the mug shots: BROWN, ERICA CHRISTINA Age at Arrest: 40 Date of Birth: 07/31/1983 Arresting Agency: HC Sheriff Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s) CLARK, MARRELL RYAN Age at Arrest: 52 Date of Birth: 06/26/1971 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AGGRAVATED ASSAULT RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT POSSESSING A FIREARM WITH INTENT TO GO ARMED POSS OF FIREARM DURING A FELONY COOLEY, TIMOTHY K Age at Arrest: 32 Date of Birth: 12/07/1990 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): FAILURE TO YIELD TO EMERGENCY VEHICLE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE IMPLIED CONSENT LAW - DRIVERS DRIVING WITHOUT DRIVERS LICENSE / EXPIRED LICENSE DOUGLAS, KEUNDRA Age at Arrest: 18 Date of Birth: 04/27/2005 Arresting Agency: East Ridge Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s) FOLISE, WENDY ANN Age at Arrest: 48 Date of Birth: 06/08/1975 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): DOMESTIC ASSAULT GOODWIN, ERIC JAMAL Age at Arrest: 40 Date of Birth: 08/25/1983 Arresting Agency: HC Sheriff Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): POSSESSING A FIREARM WITH INTENT TO GO ARMED POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE HARVEY, BRANDON WILL Age at Arrest: 30 Date of Birth: 08/22/1991 Arresting Agency: HC Sheriff Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): THEFT OF PROPERTY HERNANDEZ-MEJIA, GENERO Age at Arrest: 38 Date of Birth: 08/10/1985 Arresting Agency: HC Sheriff Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s) JONES, KEVIN LEBRON Age at Arrest: 46 Date of Birth: 10/10/1975 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): PUBLIC INTOXICATION KNIGHT, TAMORA M Age at Arrest: 26 Date of Birth: 06/19/1997 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): AGGRAVATED BURGLARY (OCCUPIED HABITATION) LOCKHART, JESSICA DARLENE Age at Arrest: 41 Date of Birth: 04/25/1982 Arresting Agency: Soddy Daisy Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN SCHEDULE II MCCAIN, PAUL E Age at Arrest: 40 Date of Birth: 09/27/1982 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): DRIVING LEFT OF CENTER LINE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE IMPLIED CONSENT LAW - DRIVERS DRIVERS TO EXERCISE DUE CARE MCCALLIE, BRITTANY RANAE Age at Arrest: 35 Date of Birth: 09/09/1987 Arresting Agency: HC Sheriff Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA RESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESS TAMPERING WITH OR FABRICATING EVIDENCE MILLER, ROBERT WILLIAM Age at Arrest: 48 Date of Birth: 10/31/1974 Arresting Agency: HC Sheriff Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): DOMESTIC ASSAULT MONTGOMERY, JASMINE RENEE Age at Arrest: 35 Date of Birth: 09/28/1987 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): VIOLATION OF PROBATION (DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENC VIOLATION OF PROBATION (DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENC PETERSON, ROBERT LOUIS Age at Arrest: 46 Date of Birth: 02/18/1977 Arresting Agency: Soddy Daisy Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): POSSESSION OF FOR RESALE DRIVERS TO EXERCISE DUE CARE RAINES, STORMIE DONYELLE Age at Arrest: 30 Date of Birth: 12/31/1992 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): FUGITIVE (WHITFIELD GO GA) RECTOR, RUSTY DONYAL Age at Arrest: 34 Date of Birth: 12/28/1988 Arresting Agency: HC Sheriff Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s) SANDRIDGE, JOEL Age at Arrest: 51 Date of Birth: 10/23/1971 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AGGRAVATED ASSAULT DOMESTIC ASSAULT RETALIATION AGAINST JUDGE, JUROR, OFFICER POSSESSING A FIREARM WITH INTENT TO GO ARMED POSS. OF HANDGUN WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE POSS OF FIREARM DURING A FELONY POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA SHAW, LINDSEY MARIE Age at Arrest: 36 Date of Birth: 10/24/1986 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN SCHEDULE II POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA SMITH, MITCHELL LEE Age at Arrest: 36 Date of Birth: 12/19/1986 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): CRIMINAL TRESPASSING SPIKES, JAMALE LAMAR Age at Arrest: 39 Date of Birth: 10/10/1983 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN SCHEDULE II CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES SCHEDULE VI POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA TAYLOR, ANGEL DENISE Age at Arrest: 41 Date of Birth: 02/13/1982 Arresting Agency: Chattanooga PD Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA DRUGS GENERAL CATEGORY FOR RESALE WILNER, JERROD Age at Arrest: 54 Date of Birth: 09/13/1968 Arresting Agency: East Ridge Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): PUBLIC INTOXICATION WRIGHT, MICHAEL L Age at Arrest: 53 Date of Birth: 10/25/1969 Arresting Agency: East Ridge Last Date of Arrest: 09/03/2023 Charge(s): POSSESSION OF METH (SELL, DEL. OR MANUFACTURING) POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA APT. 308 CHATTANOOGA, 37411Age at Arrest: 32 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDFAILURE TO YIELD TO EMERGENCY VEHICLEDRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCEIMPLIED CONSENT LAW - DRIVERSDRIVING WITHOUT DRIVERS LICENSE / EXPIRED LICENSEDOUGLAS, KEUNDRA3814 JUANDALE DR CHATTANOOGA, 37406Age at Arrest: 18 years oldArresting Agency: East RidgeBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)FOLISE, WENDY ANNHOMELESS CHATTANOOGA, 37421Age at Arrest: 48 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDDOMESTIC ASSAULTGOODWIN, ERIC JAMAL298 ARCHER LANE DAYTON, 37321Age at Arrest: 40 years oldArresting Agency: HC SheriffPOSSESSING A FIREARM WITH INTENT TO GO ARMEDPOSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCEGORDON, TODD10518 BRICKHILL LANE SODDY DAISY, 37379Age at Arrest: 38 years oldArresting Agency: Soddy DaisyDOMESTIC ASSAULTHARVEY, BRANDON WILL808 RETRO HUGHES ROAD BAKEWELL, 37373Age at Arrest: 30 years oldArresting Agency: HC SheriffTHEFT OF PROPERTYHERNANDEZ-MEJIA, GENERO44 ST ROSSVILLE, 37407Age at Arrest: 38 years oldArresting Agency: HC SheriffBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)JONES, KEVIN LEBRONHOMELESS Madison, 371154023Age at Arrest: 46 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDPUBLIC INTOXICATIONKNIGHT, TAMORA M2801 TAYLOR ST CHATTANOOGA, 374062522Age at Arrest: 26 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDAGGRAVATED BURGLARY (OCCUPIED HABITATION)LOCKHART, JESSICA DARLENE43 SELF STORAGE RD DUNLAP, 37327Age at Arrest: 41 years oldArresting Agency: Soddy DaisyCONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN SCHEDULE IIMARTIN, DEVIN LEBRON2314 FAIRLEIGH ST CHATTANOOGA, 374062507Age at Arrest: 29 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDDOMESTIC ASSAULTMCCAIN, PAUL E83 BEAVER AVE ROSSVILLE, 307417703Age at Arrest: 40 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDDRIVING LEFT OF CENTER LINEDRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCEIMPLIED CONSENT LAW - DRIVERSDRIVERS TO EXERCISE DUE CAREMCCALLIE, BRITTANY RANAE8264 ELLIE PLAZA PLACE HIXSON, 37343Age at Arrest: 35 years oldArresting Agency: HC SheriffPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIARESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESSTAMPERING WITH OR FABRICATING EVIDENCEMILLER, MATTHEW ALLEN4322 KATIE KIM LANE CHATTANOOGA, 37363Age at Arrest: 44 years oldArresting Agency: CollegedaleBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)MILLER, ROBERT WILLIAM9052 HAILEYS POND DR OOLTEWAH, 373634863Age at Arrest: 48 years oldArresting Agency: HC SheriffDOMESTIC ASSAULTMONTGOMERY, JASMINE RENEE101 NORTH HOWELL CHATTANOOGA, 374045407Age at Arrest: 35 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDVIOLATION OF PROBATION (DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCVIOLATION OF PROBATION (DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCPETERSON, ROBERT LOUIS38 HOODENPYLE LANE WHITWELL, 37397Age at Arrest: 46 years oldArresting Agency: Soddy DaisyPOSSESSION OF FOR RESALEDRIVERS TO EXERCISE DUE CAREPHELPS, NICOLE ANTONIETTE3202 JOSELIN LN Chattanooga, 37415Age at Arrest: 42 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDDOMESTIC ASSAULTRECTOR, RUSTY DONYAL870 PONDEROSA DRIVE SODDY DAISY, 37379Age at Arrest: 34 years oldArresting Agency: HC SheriffBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)SANDRIDGE, JOEL2010 IVY ST CHATTANOOGA, 374042628Age at Arrest: 51 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDAGGRAVATED ASSAULTAGGRAVATED ASSAULTAGGRAVATED ASSAULTDOMESTIC ASSAULTRETALIATION AGAINST JUDGE, JUROR, OFFICERPOSSESSING A FIREARM WITH INTENT TO GO ARMEDPOSS. OF HANDGUN WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCEPOSS OF FIREARM DURING A FELONYPOSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCEPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIASHAW, LINDSEY MARIE140 Neighbors Rd Hohenwald, 384622566Age at Arrest: 36 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDCONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN SCHEDULE IIPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIASMITH, MITCHELL LEE2606 E 46th St Chattanooga, 374073319Age at Arrest: 36 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDCRIMINAL TRESPASSINGSPIKES, JAMALE LAMAR727 E 11th St Chattanooga, 374033104Age at Arrest: 39 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDCONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN SCHEDULE IICONTROLLED SUBSTANCES SCHEDULE VIPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIATAYLOR, ANGEL DENISE3RD THOMAS DRIVES CHICAMAUGA, 30707Age at Arrest: 41 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIADRUGS GENERAL CATEGORY FOR RESALETAYLOR, MARIO GLENDEL1012 OAK ST CHATTANOOGA, 374032223Age at Arrest: 43 years oldArresting Agency: Chattanooga PDDOMESTIC ASSAULTWILNER, JERROD3919 WELDON DR CHATTANOOGA, 37412Age at Arrest: 54 years oldArresting Agency: East RidgePUBLIC INTOXICATIONWRIGHT, MICHAEL L1945 IGOU CROSSING CHATTANOOGA, 37421Age at Arrest: 53 years oldArresting Agency: East RidgePOSSESSION OF METH (SELL, DEL. OR MANUFACTURING)POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIAYOTHER, ALLEN JAMES6589 CASSIE LANE HIXSON, 37343Age at Arrest: 31 years oldArresting Agency: HC SheriffDRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSEFAILURE TO APPEAR Levity, smothered with love, is the only way to make a tough topic easier to handle. Thats why producers of the breakout Peacock series, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning knew that comedian Amy Poehler was the ideal narrator. Poehler, who also serves as the series executive producer, narrates each death cleaning episode, reminding viewers that prioritizing and organizing life before death is a natural and oftentimes humorous process. Amy Poehler and her company Paper Kite productions were partners with Scout Productions in this project, showrunner JJ Duncan told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. As we all know, Amy brings with her a levity in most any situation and yet her heart is so evident in all the work she does. She really was the perfect voice to land this topic in the hearts and minds of an audience. The thing that struck me about working with Amy was witnessing how much respect she has for others. She and I were totally aligned with truly wanting to help our heroes as they death cleaned, she added. Amy Poehler gets that laughter is important in Swedish Death Cleaning Along similar lines as Queer Eye, the series follows the work of three real-life Swedish death cleaners, Johan Svenson, Katarina Blom, and Ella Engstrom. The death cleaning trio tackles a unique challenge each week and walks their client through the process. Duncan said infusing the series with Poehlers narrative balanced some of the more intense moments on the show. This was not just about getting the shot of the clean room, or going for a joke, she said. It was about helping people deal with something that is traditionally difficult and it turns out the idea of laughter being the best medicine is a cliche for a reason. Laughter helps us through the toughest of times. Amy gets that. Amy Poehler lends levity during darker moments Swedish Death Cleaning isnt necessarily about death. Instead, it is about organizing possessions before death. Based on the Swedish practice of dostadning, where people get rid of unnecessary belongings and put their homes in order, IMDb describes the series. Some episodes deal directly with death. One client has terminal cancer and the death cleaners not only help the client organize her belongings but make her life comfortable. When we face hardship in life, its hard to see that better days will come, Svenson explained, who created a dreamy and comfortable bedroom for the client. Amys narration is that humor and spark of light we all use as a coping mechanism. In darker moments, laughter can be something we need to fuel ourselves with positive energy to see our way forward, he added. How does Swedish Death Cleaning make life better? Blom, who is the series psychologist appreciated Poehlers balance of what can be a tough topic. I love how Amy balances this intense topic of death with her wit and humor! she said. She has always been fond of Sweden and Swedish culture, so I think she just felt this was a fit when she was offered to join the show. Loss is everywhere around us, and despite that fact we do not talk about it, she shared. We just push through and numb any discomfort with external devices. No wonder so many people are unsatisfied with their lives. When we turn our attention inwards towards pain, we can work through it and understand ourselves better and what we need to do to make our lives meaningful, she added. In each episode, viewers get nuggets and tools to do this in their own life. I hope we can end the stigma around loss and death, and understand that embracing everything that life serves us makes us ultimately more alive, happy, and grateful. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning is currently streaming on Peacock. In a cooperation between the Universities of Groningen and Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (Italy), researchers have been able to substantially improve photoclick chemistry. They were able to boost the reactivity of the photoclick compound in the popular PQ-ERA reaction through strategic molecular substitution. In Chemical Science, the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, they report a superb photoreaction quantum yield, high reaction rates and notable oxygen tolerance. The paper was designated a HOT Article as well as Pick of the Week. UvA HIMS / ChemSci At the University of Amsterdam, Michiel Hilbers and Wybren Jan Buma of the Molecular Photonics group (Van t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences) contributed to the research of which the synthetic and reaction characterization part was conducted in the laboratories of Wiktor Szymanski and Nobel laureate Ben Feringa at the University of Groningen. Photoclick chemistry is a light-activated variety of click chemistry (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022), a set of elegant and efficient chemical reaction methods that couple dedicated molecular units to yield desired products. Photoclick chemistry has unique advantages over conventional click chemistry as it allows for a high degree of both spatial and temporal control over the reaction. It has a broad range of applications, including 3D printing, protein labelling, and bioimaging. A boost for the PQ-ERA photoclick reaction A specific photoclick reaction is the so-called PQ-ERA reaction - the light-induced photocycloaddition of 9,10-phenanthrenequinone (PQ) with electron-rich alkenes (ERA). It has drawn much attention because of its excellent kinetics and biocompatibility. However, the conventionally used PQ compounds show limited reactivity, which hinders its overall efficiency. In the study now presented in Chemical Science, the international research team presents a simple strategy to change that. They describe how a thiophene substitution at the 3-position of the PQ scaffold significantly boosts the reactivity of the PQ triplet state to enhance the efficiency of the PQ-ERA reaction. Nanosecond time-resolved spectroscopic studies and quantum chemical studies in the Amsterdam Molecular Photonics group combined with femtosecond time-resolved spectroscopic studies performed in Florence provided a fundamental understanding of this specific photoclick chemistry. The investigations show that the substitution significantly increases the population of the reactive triplet state (3*) during excitation of 3-thiophene PQs. This results in a superb photoreaction quantum yield (FP, up to 98%), high second order rate constants (k 2 , up to 1974 M1 s 1 ), and notable oxygen tolerance for the PQ-ERA reaction system. Both US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to attend global summits happening in Asia. Biden plans to attend the G20 summit scheduled for September 7 to 10 in India. Beforehand, China's President Xi Jinping has been speculated to not attend the summit and has designated Premier Li Qiang to represent Beijing in the meeting. Meanwhile, Harris would represent Washington at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia to erase the bloc's doubts about US commitment to the region due to Biden's absence. Biden 'Disappointed' with Xi's No-Show at G20 Summit Biden told reporters Sunday (September 3) he was disappointed Xi would likely not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi, but added he would be "see[ing] him" without elaborating why, when, or how. After G20, he would travel to Vietnam to seek US relations in Asia, Reuters reported. "I want a little more...coordination," he said. "I think they both [India and Vietnam] want much closer relations with the United States and that can be very helpful." This year's G20 meeting would focus on several issues, like the war in Ukraine and the tensions between China and its land and maritime neighbors with the release of its recently released map. The last time both Biden and XI met was during the G20 summit in Indonesia last year. The BBC reported there is a possibility both leaders would have an opportunity to speak at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, slated this November. Putin Also a G20 No-Show, Talks with Erdogan on Grain Deal The Kremlin also confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not attend the G20 summit. On the other hand, he is in Sochi on Monday (September 4) and is currently meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding a possible renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Russia abandoned upon its expiry last July. Erdogan and the United Nations, who jointly brokered the deal, have since been urging Moscow to renew it in order not to cause a food shortage after the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported last month that the food price index averaged 123.9 points in July due to food products not allowed to be shipped out of Ukraine, such as wheat grain and sunflower oil. Putin told Erdogan he would tackle the grain deal after finishing talks about establishing a natural gas hub in Turkey. For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also sought Erdogan's backing on the grain deal as the war in his nation continues. Read Also: China's Current Map of the South China Sea Rejected by Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia Harris Sent to ASEAN Meet to Allay Regional Fears Since the G20 and ASEAN summits are logistically scheduled close to each other, Harris has been the designated representative to the regional bloc's meeting in Jakarta. According to the Associated Press, this trip would be her third Southeast Asian trip and fourth to Asia overall as Washington positioned her to become a key interlocutor for the Biden administration as it tries to bolster a network of partnerships to counterbalance Chinese influence, as well as to strengthen her foreign policy credentials as she prepares to run for a second term in office and a possible takeover should Biden be incapable of finishing a probable second term. Speaking about Harris, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said she made the country's alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region a "key part of her agenda" as vice president, and also described her itinerary as "perfectly in keeping with the issues that she's been focused on." However, Biden's absence from the ASEAN Summit remained a cause of frustration to some in the bloc, particularly because he would be visiting both India and Vietnam at around the same time. For former Indonesian foreign affairs minister Marty Natalegawa, the president's proximity would make his absence "all the more glaring than would otherwise be the case." On the other hand, Natalegawa conceded that ASEAN was struggling to convince world leaders to consider their place and role in the region, which represents over 650 million people and has the world's fifth-largest economy combined across its 10 member-states. Some of the factors the organization is facing are the non-resolution of the civil unrest in Myanmar, as well as China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. This creates tensions between the member nations, with the Philippines and Vietnam leaning towards Washington, while Cambodia leans toward Beijing. "We can complain all we want about other countries not respecting us or not coming to our summits," Natalegawa added. "But ultimately, it is actually a point of reflection." Back in Washington, Kirby rejected the purported notion of Biden's ASEAN snub, emphasizing he had already hosted the first-ever Washington Summit with ASEAN leaders last year. However, the National University of Singapore associate professor of political science Chong Ja-Ian retorted that Harris's presence would help the US cover its bases at an event that analysts perceived might not be productive on key issues. Meanwhile, Center for Strategic and International Studies Southeast Asia director Gregory Poling called Washington's choice to send Harris to the ASEAN Summit to fill in for Biden "unfortunate." Related Article: G20 Summit 2023: US President Joe Biden Expresses Disappointment Over Chinese President Xi Jinping's Hint of No-Show @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Oklahoma education officials to investigate hiring of principal arrested on child porn charges State officials 'looking into all accusations' as drag images surface State education officials in Oklahoma are investigating the hiring of an elementary school principal earlier this summer who was known to previously face child pornography charges. Shane Murnan was hired by Western Heights Public Schools in Oklahoma City in June to serve as principal of John Glenn Elementary School despite a district statement at the time publicly acknowledging Murnans past arrest record. In 2001, Murnan then working as a fifth-grade teacher at Will Rogers Elementary School was charged with felony possession of child pornography after police found photographs in his computer of young boys having sex." He was also charged with drug possession after police said they found six grams of marijuana in Murnans home. According to an affidavit cited by The Oklahoman at the time of Murnans arrest, investigators found four images depicting adolescent boys having sex with each other. Murnan was suspended before ultimately resigning in May 2002. A judge later dismissed the child pornography charges which were expunged from his record in 2003. Upon his hiring by the Western Heights Public Schools earlier this summer, the district initially released a statement in June acknowledging they were made aware of previous charges that were dismissed more than 20 years ago involving Murnan but did not provide any additional details. Dr. Murnan has been serving the field of education for more than 25 years and has an outstanding reputation. He comes highly recommended from previous supervisors, colleagues, and educators, the June 12 announcement from the district added. Following reports that Murnan is also a drag performer who goes by the name of Shantel Mandalay, WHPS Superintendant Brayden Savage issued a statement on Aug. 30 saying that the districts board of education was given all the information that the District had regarding Dr. Murnan at the time the employment recommendation was made on June 12. Meet Shane Murnan- elementary principal at @wh_isd. Shane is a drag queen who performs for children and reads books about gender to kids while dressed in drag. Shane was also previously arrested on child porn charges. Would you want this person in charge of your kids school? pic.twitter.com/yNuZyt3HRK Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 30, 2023 While Savages statement did not reference new allegations about Murnan as a drag performer, the superintendent said he has continued to be certified as an elementary school teacher and principal, including having his certificate renewed in April of 2023 and signed by State Superintendent Ryan Walters. The letter also noted that the State Department of Education would have conducted another felony background check upon renewal of Murnans certification. Please know we are aware of the situation and handling this matter with the utmost attention and care, she added. In response to Savages statement, Walters called the reports disturbing and said the Department of Education is looking into all accusations and will taken [sic] any necessary action to protect our children. Anything that might expose kids to inappropriate sexual content at school is cause for serious concern to parents and is absolutely contrary to Oklahoma values, he added in the Aug. 31 statement. I will not allow rogue educators to endanger our kids. An investigative report by The V1SUT Vantage found an archived post from March 2023 showing Murnan was named Miss Gay Oklahoma USofA Classic 2017 and other similar titles dating all the way back to 2004. The report also found Murnan is listed in a 2018 corporate filing for Oklahoma City Drag Queen Story Time Hour, an event in which he participated in 2021 as part of a Facebook Pride Online Storytime. A public records request submitted by The Christian Post also found Murnan applied for ministers credentials in 2014 in connection with Universal Life Church. While the docket was closed in 2014, Murnan is listed as minister under the documents parties. In April, Murnan (going by his drag name of Shantel Mandalay) shared an image on Facebook of a person dressed in an Easter bunny costume surrounded by children with the caption, Life is about experiences and choices. Ive made a lot of bad decisions in my lifetime and learned from them. Ive also made some amazing decisions. One of those was becoming an educator. "Having the opportunity to work with kids and encouraging them to do and be their best is so rewarding. US slams Azerbaijans blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh amid concern of genocide against Christians The United States government has condemned Azerbaijan for blocking food and essential supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh, raising concerns over a genocide by starvation perpetrated against the regions 120,000 ethnic Armenians. Sunday marked the 266th day of the regions siege by Baku. As Nagorno-Karabakh has been under varying degrees of blockade since December 2022 and completely cut off from Armenian supplies since mid-June, the U.S. State Department expressed deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the region due to the blockade of food, medicine and other essential goods. The department called for the immediate reopening of the Lachin corridor, which connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, for humanitarian and commercial traffic and urged officials from Baku and Stepanakert to convene without delay to discuss the crisis. Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, warned last week that Azerbaijan was preparing for genocide against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to The Associated Press. In a report, Ocampo said there was a reasonable basis to believe that a genocide is being committed. It emphasized that starvation was being used as an invisible genocide weapon and called for the U.N. Security Council to intervene a necessary step since Azerbaijan is not a signatory to the statute that created the international court. Azerbaijan regained control of territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh after a six-week war with Armenia in 2020. A Russia-brokered armistice left the region connected to Armenia only by the Lachin Corridor, where Russian peacekeepers were supposed to ensure free movement. Hikmet Hajiyev, an assistant to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, dismissed Ocampos report as biased and containing unsubstantiated allegations. In June, the Switzerland-based human rights group Christian Solidarity International drew attention to the fact that the only way for sick Armenians to leave the region for medical treatment was to go in vans operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which was allowed to make occasional visits to Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan has the final say on who can leave the territory. Until recently, patients who go to Armenia for treatment could take along a caregiver a spouse, for example and their children under 5, so that they could continue to take care of them, CSI said, adding, On July 14, Azerbaijan changed the rules. Now, no patients can take along their children, no matter what their age. In December, alleged demonstrators from Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin Corridor, and Baku later established a military checkpoint there. In Kornidzor, near the Azerbaijan border, 19 trucks loaded with 360 tons of essential supplies have been parked for two weeks, awaiting permission to cross, Vardan Sargsyan, a representative of a crisis management working group for Nagorno-Karabakh set up by the Armenian government, told the AP late last week. The ICRC also reported difficulties in delivering aid to the region. Azerbaijan also blocked a French humanitarian convoy for the second time in weeks, OC Media reported last week. The convoy, accompanied by the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, was barred entry at the Azerbaijani checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor. France has supported Armenia in its efforts to lift the blockade. Both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh reject Azerbaijani proposals to send aid through Azerbaijani-controlled territory. Azerbaijan continues to deny that the region is under blockade as the humanitarian situation worsens. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a long-standing dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The region is recognized internationally as part of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan even though it has a majority Armenian population. It is controlled by ethnic Armenians as the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh, a de facto independent state not recognized by the United Nations. A process of genocide has been underway since the Ottoman massacres of Armenians in the late 19th century, CSI President John Eibner told The Christian Post in February. What is generally called the Armenian Genocide (1915-'18) was, in fact, a broader genocide of Christians, including the Syriacs/Assyrians/Aramaeans. It was the high point of a process that continues in waves until the present day, he said. It continued in the Caucasus after the end of the First World War and was only suspended by the imposition of Soviet rule. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the process resumed in the first Karabakh war, again two years ago in the second Karabakh war and now in the strangulation of Karabakh by means of blockade. International Court of Justice orders Azerbaijan to end blockade hurting Armenian Christians The International Court of Justice has ordered Azerbaijan to end the more than two-month blockade of the Lachin Corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, essentially keeping 120,000 from accessing food, medicine and other essentials. Under last Thursdays binding order of the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, Azerbaijan must take all measures within its power to ensure the unimpeded movement of people, vehicles and cargo in both directions along the Lachin Corridor under its obligations to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. "The Court observes that, since 12 December 2022, the connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia via the Lachin Corridor has been disrupted. The Court notes that a number of consequences have resulted from this situation and that the impact on those affected persists to this date," an official summary of the order states. "The information available to the Court indicates that the disruption on the Lachin Corridor has impeded the transfer of persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin hospitalized in Nagorno-Karabakh to medical facilities in Armenia for urgent medical care. The evidence also indicates that there have been hindrances to the importation into Nagorno-Karabakh of essential goods, causing shortages of food, medicine and other life-saving medical supplies." The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a long-standing dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The region is recognized internationally as part of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan even though it has a majority Armenian population and is controlled by ethnic Armenians as the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh, a de facto independent state not recognized by the United Nations. Armenian Christians living in Nagorno-Karabakh (known to Armenians as Artsakh) are facing dire conditions due to the blockade thats preventing much-needed food, medicine, and other resources from reaching the region. The blockade has been in place for more than two months, with Azerbaijani protestors blocking the only road into the landlocked territory. Despite the ruling, an independent news blog that reports on military developments in the region, Nagorno Karabakh Observer, tweeted Sunday that the blockade was still in place. #NagornoKarabakh authorities refute news on social media that #Azerbaijans roadblock has been lifted, The Observer wrote. The state-run Artsakh InfoCenter also wrote on Facebook that The information circulating in social networks, according to which the only road connecting Artsakh with Armenia has been opened, is false." "The only way connecting Artsakh to Armenia has been blocked by Azerbaijan for 78 days," the Artsakh InfoCenter stated in a post Monday. Baroness Caroline Cox, a prominent member of the U.K.s House of Lords, expressed her concern over the situation last week. The situation is now very, very serious. Indeed, it has been said by people, it may indeed be an impending genocide, she told CBN News. With Armenians suffering from a shortage of food and medicine, patients in urgent need of medical attention are being hampered. The shortage of medicines is very, very serious, especially medicines like insulin for people with diabetes, and the transfer of patients from Karabakh into Armenia needing urgent medical treatment, that has been very, very much stymied, Cox stated. One has already died, so it is a very dire situation indeed. The potential destruction of Christian churches, historic landmarks and entire cultures is also a concern. "This could be another stage of genocide, destruction of Christian people, destruction of Christian heritage. And we need to pray," she said. Gayane Beglarian, whose 4-year-old daughter suffers from liver cancer, recently told CBN News that the family was frightened and worried about her child missing life-saving treatment. But after weeks of anxiously waiting, the Red Cross helped the family exit. Gayane emphasized that other ailing residents also need help. We have no necessary equipment; we have no doctors who can come there and have necessary treatment," she said. In a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden last month, John Eibner, the president of Christian Solidarity International, and Baroness Cox urged the United States to take action. The letter called for a resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would authorize a humanitarian airlift into the region if Azerbaijan does not comply. You are the first American president to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Eibner and Baroness Cox wrote. We urge you not to allow another Armenian Genocide to occur on your watch. CSI, a Christian human rights organization that promotes religious liberty and human dignity, said its all part of an ongoing genocide. A process of genocide has been underway since the Ottoman massacres of Armenians in the late 19th century, Eibner told The Christian Post at the time. What is generally called the Armenian Genocide (1915-'18) was, in fact, a broader genocide of Christians, including the Syriacs/Assyrians/Aramaeans. It was the high point of a process that continues in waves until the present day, the CSI president said. It continued in the Caucasus after the end of the First World War and was only suspended by the imposition of Soviet rule. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the process resumed in the first Karabakh war, again two years ago in the second Karabakh war and now in the strangulation of Karabakh by means of blockade. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has its roots in the early 20th century when the region, which has a majority Armenian population, was part of the Russian Empire and later, the Soviet Union. In the 1920s, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin established the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within Soviet Azerbaijan. As the Soviet Union began to collapse in the late 1980s, ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh voted to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia. This led to a war between the two countries that lasted from 1988 to 1994, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of over 1 million. A ceasefire was signed in 1994, but sporadic violence continued in the region. In 2016, a four-day war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, resulting in hundreds of deaths. In September 2020, the fighting broke out again, escalated rapidly and resulted in a large-scale military operation by Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey, to retake the regions of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding areas under Armenian control. A ceasefire was signed again in November 2020, but tensions remain high, with both sides accusing each other of ceasefire violations and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remaining tense. Pastor Mike Baker announces new church 6 months after resigning over sons adultery scandal Six months after resigning as senior pastor of Eastview Christian Church in Bloomington, Illinois, after his son, Caleb Baker, was fired from his job as a pastor at Central Christian Church following an extramarital affair with another church staffer, Pastor Mike Baker has launched a new church set to begin gathering this month. Baker, who made the announcement on his YouTube channel on Aug. 20, has named his new ministry Song & Sword Church after his online ministry and will begin meeting at The Chateau Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington on Sept. 10. I'm encouraging you to attend our opening day of worship September 10, at nine o'clock at the Chateau Hotel and Conference Center, he said. The Chateau Hotel is our place where we've signed a contract. And we're going to meet there, at least for the next year, foreseeable future, and it's a great location. Baker said the last six months for him and his family has been like going through a Category 5 soul hurricane that came with spirit-tossing winds and tidal waves [of] just emotional pain. Through it all, he said, they learned that God was still in charge, and they received spiritual direction for the new ministry. God blessed us, and I believe in the Holy Spirit moment. God directed us to Psalm 149, and so that's what we're going to be today as we look at His vision for the Song and Sword ministry, Baker said. In June, independent investigators for Eastview Christian Church concluded that Pastor Caleb Baker used his position in the church to "persuade women to engage in sexual activity." Mike Baker, according to the report, exhibited a "serious conflict of interest," and "should have recused himself due to his conflicting loyalties and allowed others in leadership to exercise proper biblical discipline regarding Caleb." The conclusions were made public in an 11-page report produced by attorneys from the law firm Wagenmaker & Oberly about three months after being hired by the church to investigate Caleb Baker's alleged sexual misconduct, the alleged cover-up and the impact of power dynamics upon staff and the congregation from Baker and Eastview's upper-level leadership. Allegations that Baker covered up his son's sexual misconduct erupted in February after Central Christian Church in Arizona announced Caleb Baker's firing after he was caught in an extramarital affair with another church staffer. Eastview Christian Church elders said in an earlier statement that they only became aware of allegations of abuse against Caleb Baker after he left the church in 2016. It was not until July 2022 that they got a complaint from a former employee alleging an abusive culture in 2016. When Eastview Christian Church attempted to have Mike Baker questioned as part of an internal investigation, elders alleged that he resigned instead and insisted he was not involved in a cover-up of his son's indiscretions. "When people say Mike Baker is covering things up, I didn't know. What I do know is that at Christmas time, we resolved one of the most trusted members of our staff ever resolved that there's no conclusion here. Can't prove or disprove these allegations, and I thought it was done," Mike Baker said about an attempt to investigate initial rumors of the allegations against his son while he was working at Eastview Christian Church in 2015. In his recent announcement about his new church, Baker said he isnt seeking revenge or trying to compete with Eastview Christian Church. Song and Sword Church, I've gotta say this from the beginning, is not about competing with Eastview Christian Church. With a clear conscience, the Holy Spirit is my witness, I can tell you, I'm not seeking revenge; I don't hate Eastview. I don't hope they fail. I love Eastview Christian Church, Baker said. I've given half of my life to that place. I love the people there. I love all the stuff that has happened in my life there, and I pray that God is going to use them in a powerful way, he added. He urged his followers that if they plan on joining Song & Sword Church in retaliation to stick it to somebody to not join because his new church is about Jesus. I just need to say this from the very beginning, we are at war, but Eastview or Vale or any other of the 124 churches in this town are not our enemy, he said. If you just want to stick it to somebody, and that's why you're joining Song and Sword, I'm just asking you, don't join us ... because I believe that God will never bless a church that is trying to seek harm or competition with another church, which is His body. Pakistan police arrest Christians as chief deflects blame for Muslim mob violence on foreign conspiracy' LAHORE, Pakistan Church and rights leaders in Pakistan are demanding an investigation into anti-Christian rioting in Jaranwala amid illegal arrests of area Christians and a police claim of a foreign conspiracy to create religious strife, sources said. Violent Muslim mobs incited by hard-line Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) attacked churches and homes of Christian residents in Jaranwala tehsil in Faisalabad District after two Christian brothers were accused of blasphemy on Aug. 16. Multiple churches were set on fire and homes and businesses of Christians were ransacked for hours while police were silent spectators, triggering condemnation across the world. Punjab Police Inspector General (IG) Usman Anwar said at a press conference last week that the riots in Jaranwala and the desecration of a copy of the Quran in Sargodha on Aug. 19-20 were evidence of a conspiracy by officials in India to detract from that countrys mistreatment of Christians. Church of Pakistan President Bishop Azad Marshall said the police chiefs claim was ludicrous and an attempt to bury the facts, as has been the past practice in all such incidents. Instead of investigating the underlying reasons for such attacks and addressing the root cause, i.e. misuse of the harsh blasphemy laws, the police are arresting and harassing innocent Christians and trying to cover up the truth behind the violent attacks in Jaranwala by blaming foreign intelligence, Marshall told Morning Star News. He added that Anwars statements insinuate that poor Christians are Indian spies, which he said is dangerous for the entire community. The senior church leader said he had filed a petition in the Lahore High Court seeking the formation of a judicial commission to investigate all aspects of the attacks, justice for negligent police and district administration officials and measures to protect Christians from mob violence. The Jaranwala incident could have been prevented if appropriate steps were taken from the attacks in Shantinagar, Gojra and Joseph Colony, etc., but it seems our state apparatus isnt interested in addressing the root cause that leads to such senseless violence, he said. Marshall also condemned the arrests of Christians in Jaranwala, saying police were trying to intimidate victims from filing charges against the rioters. We hope the Lahore High Court will admit our petition and form a judicial commission for a thorough and transparent investigation of the incident, Marshall told Morning Star News. We do not trust the joint investigation teams formed by the government, as the police chiefs press conference has laid bare the governments intention to sweep the facts under the rug. This attitude is unacceptable to Christians. Akmal Bhatti, chairman of the Minorities Alliance Pakistan (MAP), also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident, saying the international community witnessed how police remained passive as frenzied mobs looted Christians possessions and set their homes ablaze. We reject and condemn IG Anwars press conference, Bhatti told Morning Star News. Our state needs to reevaluate its policies to eliminate religious extremism and address the sense of insecurity among minorities caused by such violent incidents. This foreign hand narrative is a cliche used by the state to hide its own failures. Anwar told reporters at the press conference that police had found evidence of a foreign conspiracy behind the Jaranwala rioting and two alleged desecrations of copies of the Quran on Aug. 19 and 20 in Sargodha, designed to divert attention from the ill-treatment of Christians in India. It transpired during the investigation that the two accused arrested in Sargodha had links to the hostile agency, Anwar said, apparently hinting at Indias Research and Analysis Wing without naming it explicitly. The hostile agency hatched a well thought-out and coordinated conspiracy to divert the attention from their country towards Pakistan. As he spoke, Anwar waved a copy of a news item regarding mistreatment of Christian women in the Indian state of Manipur and a news report about a European Union resolution against injustices and violence against Muslims and other minorities in India. We have busted the anti-Pakistan network, Answar said. Inshallah [If Allah wills], such incidents will not occur in the future. The police inspector general said that officers had arrested 180 people suspected in the Jaranwala attacks, including three main suspects. He did not say, however, why Christians in Jaranwala were being arrested and whether they were suspected of being Indian agents. Illegal Arrests The Rev. Khalid Mukhtar, priest of the Catholic church in Jaranwala, confirmed that more than 20 Christians had been taken into illegal custody by police this week. We have filed petitions in the high court for their release and managed to free 14 persons, Mukhtar told Morning Star News. These people were related to the family of the two accused brothers as well as two other Christians whom the police are blaming for desecrating the Quran that led to mob attacks. Mukhtar said that he also had received reports that police and local Muslims were intimidating Christians to keep them from testifying against the rioters. We are not being told anything about the investigation, nor have the police shared what progress they have made against the rioters and instigators, he told Morning Star News. Instead, our people are being harassed without reason. We have raised this matter with senior police officials, and they have assured us of intervention. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has reported that it suspected the Jaranwala rioters were not a spontaneous or random crowd but part of a larger campaign of hatred against local Christians. In its fact-finding report of Aug. 25, the HRCP stated police officers in Jaranwala had confirmed that some Muslim religious groups have raised issues that have created communal tension in the near past. The mission has also learned that several videos made during the attacks in different localities of Jaranwala are in circulation, showing members of a particular religious political party inciting the crowd to violence, the HRCP reported. Other factors reported above indicate that there could be larger political and social motives behind the attack. The fact-finding mission comprised HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani, Centre for Social Justice Executive Director Peter Jacob, Womens Action Forum senior member Neelam Hussain, and historian and rights activist Yaqoob Bangash. According to the report, several witnesses stated that those who committed arson were not from the city but came from nearby villages. One person attested that a tractor trolley full of people as well as several persons on motorbikes had arrived from a village, transporting men who then burned down a church and houses, thus giving more credibility to the notion that the attack was premeditated, the HRCP reported. The report highlighted that the HRCP missions inspection of the fire damage pointed toward planned arson and deliberate desecration of religious symbols, though the looting of homes may have been more opportunistic. Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year. Open letter to President Biden: Stop the second Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was committed in 1915 by Ottoman Turkey. Around 1.5 million Armenians perished in the genocide. One hundred and eight years later, the world is witnessing a second Armenian genocide, and tragically no one is taking action to stop it. The victims are the indigenous Armenian Christians of the landlocked Armenian Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as Artsakh) in the South Caucasus. The perpetrator is the government of Azerbaijan. Since December 12, 120,000 Armenians living in Artsakh have been held hostage by the Azeri government within the borders of their ancestral land. The only road connecting Artsakh with the outside world (the Lachin Corridor) has remained blocked by Azerbaijan's orchestration. The Azeri government has created a humanitarian disaster through so-called eco-activists and this crisis will soon reach a critical point. Media coverage has been scarce. Diplomatic responses from the world have been weak and ineffective. On January 25, the Philos Project, an organization devoted to supporting indigenous Christian communities in the Near East, issued an open letter to President Joe Biden. The letter called on him to avert a second Armenian genocide by taking decisive action now. The lives of 120,000 Armenians and nearly 1,700 years of Christian culture hang in the balance, wrote Robert Nicholson, President of The Philos Project. Among this number are 30,000 children who remain deprived of daily nutrition and medical supplies. Hospitalized patients on life-support are struggling. Furthermore, all educational institutions have been shut down due to a lack of resources. All supplies are now rationed, including critical medical and food sources. Sporadic gas, electricity, and internet connections keep the population frozen, hungry, and isolated. People are placed under severe psychological oppression. As a result of Azerbaijan's illegal blockade and its deliberate disruption of critical infrastructure of this Armenian republic, the people's right to adequate livelihoods such as heating, hot water, and food production and access to food and medical supplies, as well as their right to healthcare and education have been systematically violated by Azerbaijan. According to the 7th article of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, Extermination includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population. That is exactly what Azerbaijan is doing to the people of Artsakh extermination through the deprivation of food and medicine. Global governments, however, have been mostly silent. The lack of a swift response to Azerbaijans illegal actions further enables Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev's pursuit of ethnic cleansing with absolute impunity. The letter by Philos Project noted: Day by day the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh grows more dire, as routine shipments of basic supplies, medicines, and food supply on which the region is utterly dependent remain completely shut off, save a handful of International Red Cross humanitarian convoys. Soon the situation will become untenable for the 120,000 Armenians of Artsakh. Thats why we joined a recent warning issued by the Armenian National Committee of America that describes how more than a dozen risk factors for crimes against humanity are present in this mountain enclave. Some feel we are on the verge of a second Armenian genocide. Meanwhile, the European Parliament adopted a joint motion for a resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the blockade in Nagorno-Karabakh, urging Azerbaijan to "immediately reopen the Lachin corridor to enable free movement and ensure access to essential goods and services, thus guaranteeing security in the region and safeguarding residents livelihoods." President Biden, as the leader of the free world, it is your administration that must make a swift decision right now: Will you save the lives of 120,000 innocent people or will you allow Azerbaijan to commit yet another Armenian genocide? The most in-your-face Christian doctrine A number of economic observers believe San Francisco is caught in a doom loop. Doom loops start with a triggering event often tied to a major industry, such as when manufacturing jobs began evaporating in Detroit during the 1970s. Naturally, tax income shrinks, services do too, businesses close, and social disorder rises. This causes residents to leave, commuters and shoppers to bail, and the cycle spirals downward. Which is precisely whats happening in San Francisco. John Chachas, who owns one of the citys most well-known department stores Gumps paid for ad space in a print edition of San Franciscos Chronicle to run an open letter decrying the state and moral decay of the citys downtown. In her article applauding Chachas editorial, Erica Sandbergs way of summing up San Franciscos problem really caught my eye. The city has a let people do whatever they want problem, she said. So, I have a question: if people are allowed to do whatever they want in San Francisco, why dont they want to do good things instead of bad? Why isnt the city a blessed and happy utopia instead of a dark and mangled dystopia? The Babylon Bee answers this amusingly in one of their satire pieces saying, A newly released report has revealed that people are following their hearts at record levels, with remarkably disastrous results. 'People are just being true to themselves! Why is everything so terrible?' said lead researcher Tim Scottsdale. 'It's almost like there is some innate depravity in the heart of man. It's very surprising.' Except, of course, that its not surprising. Well, at least not to those of us with a Christian worldview. Thats not to say non-Christians havent noticed the problem. The 18th-century philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau diagnosed the issue by saying that were all born as innocent savages but we get corrupted by society. A prickly fact escaping Rousseau was that societies are composed of people who are supposedly born innocent. Others turn a blind eye to the problem like psychologists Abraham Maslow, who said, As far as I know we just don't have any intrinsic instincts for evil and Carl Rogers who stated, I do not find that evil is inherent in human nature. Oh, but it is. R. C. Sproul says, If each one of us is born without a sinful nature, how do we account for the universality of sin? If four billion people were born with no inclination to sin, with no corruption to their nature, we would reasonably expect that at least some of them would refrain from falling ... But if everybody does it, without exception, then we begin to wonder why. Theologian Francis Schaeffer labeled our problem mans dilemma, writing, Man is able both to rise to great heights and to sink to great depths of cruelty and tragedy. Schaeffer asked what hope we have, in and of ourselves, that we will get any better, especially since the 20th century was the bloodiest in human history. Well, here we are in the 21st century where our current culture has never preached more about tolerance and morality, and yet it shows less acceptance, kindness, and moral respect towards others than in the past. Novelist Franz Kafka described our present situation long ago when he said, The state we find ourselves in is sinful, quite independent of guilt. The Bible describes that as having a conscience, which is seared (1 Tim 4:2). And when you have people with seared consciences running around doing whatever they want with no objective moral law constraining them, as in San Francisco, you experience what philosopher L. D. Rue called the madhouse option, which results in complete chaos and societal breakdown. The other choice in a secular-only culture, said Rue, is the totalitarian option. And weve seen how well it plays out. That plan delivers a horrifyingly brutal culture, which gets worse and worse. As C. S. Lewis said: The more cruel you are, the more you will hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become and so on in a vicious circle forever. Sounds like a different kind of doom loop, doesnt it? Of course, there is another possibility other than the madhouse or totalitarian options listen to what the Bible says about our brokenness and heed its plan on how to fix it. In the Psalms, David writes, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me (Ps. 51:5), with Jeremiah concurring: The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it (Jer. 17:9). This being the case we are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3) and dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1) going estranged from the womb (Ps. 58:3). John Wesley said about our condition: Such is the freedom of the will; free only to evil; free to drink iniquity like water; to wander farther and farther from the living God and do more despite the Spirit of grace! Any honest observer of history would have to concur with Wesley. Maybe this is why Reinhold Niebuhr once remarked, The doctrine of original sin is the only empirically verifiable doctrine of the Christian faith. Its the one thats constantly in our face with no way of denying it. The biblical antidote for it will cure both San Franciscos doom loop and each one of us: Be saved from this perverse generation (Acts 2:40). Thats strong, life-changing medicine, which has proven effective 100% of the time, but few on the Left coast and other places like it seem willing to down the remedy. Without it, theres only one conclusion: An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it has come! Your doom has come to you (Ezek. 7:6-7). Texas' new law, Bentley's Law, now requires drunk drivers who accidentally kill parents to pay for child support. Texas Bentley's Law The Bentley's Law was signed by Texas on Friday, Sept. 1. It was first adopted by Tennessee in July. After that, the legislation was introduced in numerous U.S. states (24 states to be exact). Yahoo News reported that Bentley's Law was created by Cecilia Williams, a St. Francois County woman. Before she created the law, Williams' son, Cordell, daughter-in-law, Lacy, and her 4-month-old grandson died in April 2021 because of a drunk driver in Missouri. "I made a promise to my kids, and my grandson, and other people that I was going to do what I could to stop people from driving under the influence," said Williams via KHOU. "I made a promise to my kids, and my grandson, and other people that I was going to do what I could to stop people from driving under the influence," she added. The death of the two parents left their two sons, Bentley and Mason. Now, Texas finally adopted Williams' law to punish drunk drivers who accidentally kill people with children. Read Also: 'Extremely Dangerous' Oregon Suspect Escapes Mental Health Facility, Drives Off in Hijacked Van Despite Being in Full Shackles Killer Drunk Drivers Now Required to Pay Child Support Under the new Bentley's Law, drivers in Texas who accidentally kill parents will be required to pay child support to their orphaned victims. The legislation states that the charges that DUI (driving under the influence) convicts will face will depend on the orphans' physical and emotional condition, education needs, and standard of living. Killer drunk drivers will be ordered to pay for child support until their victims turn 18 years old or until they graduate from high school. If the criminals are not able to pay for the child support, the law will allow them to settle it on the first anniversary of their release. But, this will only apply to those facing incarceration. Many people support the arrival of the new Bentley's Law in Texas. These include the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). The organization said that it supports Bentley's Law, as well as other similar bills in the future. Related Article: Ohio Police Brutality: Body-Cam Footage Showing Pregnant Black Woman Getting Shot to be Released @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The spiritual significance of Labor Day Ask any secular American what Labor Day means to them, and he or she will likely say that its one last opportunity to relax and party at the end of the summer. Ask any Christian American, and he or she will likely say the same. Even though Labor Day is a secular holiday, the idea is a good one, and Christians have more reason to celebrate it than anyone else. Labor Day was first deemed a national holiday in 1894 by President Grover Cleveland. At the time, the country was in the midst of an economic depression. Hundreds of thousands of workers nationwide went on strike. To appease the labor unions and honor the American workforce, President Cleveland signed legislation declaring Labor Day be celebrated across the country with a long weekend and a break from all labor. But we should not celebrate Labor Day as a symbol of the radical labor movement, nor should we minimize it as a mere opportunity to party. Instead, we should realize that this holiday gives us the opportunity to celebrate Gods creation of the world as a place where businesses and workplaces exist; we should be thankful for the responsibility he places on our shoulders to work rather than mooch; and we should honor the Sons own labors on the cross to save us from our sin. The real reason we have a Labor Day As believers in Christ, we find profound significance in labor. In the Bibles creation account, the opening scene depicts God at work. It begins with God working: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). And it ends with God working: By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day, he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it, he rested from all the work of creating that he had done (Gen 2:2-3). Whats more, smack dab in the middle of the creation account, we learn that God created human beings to work. He tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, which means that humans are to build families and societies. And, He tells them to till the soil and have dominion, meaning that we are supposed to work hard and manage Gods good world so that we can provide for the families and societies we have created. What is clear from the very beginning of Gods Word is that work is not a curse but rather a good purpose through which humanity lives out a life of obedient worship to God. While work, service, and worship do not share the same connotation in modern English, the same word avodah is frequently used for each of these concepts in the Hebrew Scripture. Work and worship are two translations of the same word (Genesis 2:15). As Tom Nelson notes in his book, Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work, work and worship are not separate activities but are seamlessly integrated. Not only that but this relationship between work and worship is understood in the context of genuine liberation, as opposed to menial slavery. The Bibles opening scene also underscores the importance of rest and leisure. God himself rested after working, and he expects us to do the same through natural rhythms such as sleep and a divinely ordained day of rest, Sunday. If God is the one who commands us to rest after our labors, we should take heed. There is no honor in working relentlessly, with no rest, merely for the sake of wealth accumulation or some other motivation. But there is honor in working hard and then resting seriously. After all, God himself rested after his six days of creation. If rest is good enough for God, it should be good enough for us, too. Labor Day in an eternal perspective While Labor Day is a time of celebration and rest, it also serves as a reminder of our eternal hope in Christ. As Christians, we believe that our labor in this world is not in vain, for it is building treasures in Heaven. After all, Jesus labored on our behalf 2,000 years ago, as He gave his life on the cross. Through his redemptive labor, he gave us his name, Innocent One, and in return took upon himself our name, Guilty One. Because of his faithful labor, we have been set free. May we never lose this eternal perspective. If we keep it in mind, it will transform our understanding of work and Labor Day itself. It fills us with gratitude. And, it instills in us a sense of purpose and dedication to our daily tasks, knowing that our labor is contributing to Gods Kingdom and will be rewarded in the life to come. New Mohawk translation of the Bible published The completion of the Bible in the Mohawk language is being celebrated in Canada this month. The Mohawk translation was carried out mostly by Harvey Satewas Gabriel, of Kanesatake, Quebec, and took over 17 years to complete. He built on the foundation laid by his great-grandfather, Sose Onasakenrat, also known as Rev Joseph Swan, who translated the Gospels into Mohawk in the mid-1800s. A group of retired teachers formed in 1999 translated 2 Corinthians, Esther, Ruth and Proverbs into Mohawk. The remaining 58 books of the Bible were translated by Gabriel. The translation was completed with the support of Kanesatake United Church, the Canadian Bible Society, the United Church of Canada Foundation and the Mohawk Council of Kanestatake. His wife, Susan Gabriel, said, "Harvey's primary focus is 'The Word,' especially in Mohawk Language. His favourite passage from the Bible is First John, 'In the beginning was the Word.' He always remembers the first time he heard that in church, and he asked his mother why we don't have a Mohawk Bible. "That question always remained on his mind, and when asked by ministers to provide a translation of short Scriptures, he did so and read them in church. "He is happy that the whole Bible is not only translated, but printed and available for all Mohawks; the language will not be lost, because every word you will ever need is in there for all time." Profits from the sale of the Mohawk Bible will go towards Indigenous language projects. A dedication of the Mohawk Bible will be held on Saturday at the Kanesatake United Church, followed by a celebratory dinner hosted by the Canadian Bible Society in Caledonia, Ontario, on 26 September. Prime Minister warned over conversion therapy ban A Christian organisation has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warning him against introducing a ban on so-called 'conversion therapy'. The letter coincided with the one-year anniversary of a ban in the Australian state of Victoria which criminalises pastoral advice and prayer that upholds the Bible's teaching on sexual ethics. The Victoria ban criminalises change or 'suppression' practices "undertaken with the intention to change or induce that person to change or suppress their sexual orientation or gender identity". Under the wording of the ban, prayers that are "likely to cause harm" are those that "ask for healing", "ask for a person to change", "ask for a person to not act on their attractions", "talk about a person's brokenness or need to repent", or "ask for long-term celibacy". Prayers deemed acceptable are those that ask "for guidance", "acknowledge their God loves the individual", and "that are supporting and reassuring that the person is created in their God's image and perfect the way they are". The guidance states, "This law is not about stopping people from practicing or enjoying their faith, it is about preventing harm and these practices are harmful. "However, the definition of change or suppression practices could capture some religious activities, such as pastoral conversations, in certain circumstances. For example, it would likely be a change or suppression practice if a person goes to a religious leader seeking advice on their feelings of same-sex attraction, and the religious leader tells them they are broken and should live a celibate life for the purpose of changing or suppressing their same-sex attraction. "This conduct would only attract criminal penalties where injury resulting from the practice is able to be proven, and where there is proof of criminal negligence." The UK government has promised to ban so-called conversion therapy but legislation has been delayed. Supporters are pushing for the UK to model its legislation on the Victoria ban. The Christian Institute has warned that if the UK copies the Victoria ban, it could result in "one of the most religiously repressive laws in centuries". It fears that even the Lord's Prayer could be considered a criminal conversion practice if it is said with an LGBT person because it asks for forgiveness of sins and for people not to be led into temptation. The letter from The Christian Institute to Mr Sunak warns, "It is almost certainly impossible to placate the demands of pro-ban activists whilst also protecting the freedom of religious people to live out their faith, and the freedom of parents to protect their children from radical gender ideology in their own homes. "Any legislation on 'conversion therapy' will likely see ordinary people facing investigation over claims that their innocent conversations were really malign attempts to 'change or suppress' LGBT people. "Any protections in the legislation will be attacked by activists and may be stripped out by their allies in Parliament." Simon Calvert, a Deputy Director at The Christian Institute, said there were "dangers" in copying the Australian ban in the UK. "Religious believers could undoubtedly experience the worst effects of this sort of law," he said. "As we have seen in Victoria, it won't take long for state bodies to feel they have the right to dictate to churches what they can and cannot teach and precisely how to pray. "Those who refuse to ditch the teaching of the Bible could soon find themselves at the mercy of the criminal justice system." He continued, "A whole plethora of Christian creeds and teachings would be found wanting when compared to the guidance. "Because right at the heart of the Christian Gospel is a message that all people are sinners who need to repent and be forgiven, and that we all need to seek God's help in avoiding all sorts of temptation. "If what the official guidance says was upheld in the law courts, whole swathes of scripture could not be read with LGBT people and every church would have to rethink their hymnbooks and prayers." Thousands March for Life through London Thousands of people marched through London in support of the unborn at the weekend. Police estimates put the number of participants in this year's March for Life UK at 7,000. They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday under the banner of 'Freedom to Live' despite being heckled by pro-abortion activists at the sidelines. A number of pro-life speakers took to the stage in Parliament Square. They included March for Life co-director, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, who shared about her experience of being arrested for praying silently near an abortion clinic. A public spaces protection order (PSPO) in place around the clinic prevented pro-life activity within the vicinity, including prayer and offering information and assistance to women. Vaughan-Spruce was later found not guilty but was subsequently arrested a second time for praying silently within a PSPO zone near an abortion clinic and is still waiting to hear if she will be formally charged. She told the crowds in Parliament Square: "On the second time I was arrested I was told my prayers were an offence. I'll tell you what is offensive: that our country has the highest ever abortion figures, 100,000 of them annually being repeat abortion and the only response we see happening in or government is a clamp down on those who peacefully offer alternatives to pregnant women." Lois McClatchie-Miller from ADF (Alliance Defending Freedom) said that the mantra of 'my body, my choice' has "led to a deficit of male responsibility, allowing men to shrug and say 'your body, your choice, your problem'". Scott Klusendorf, president of The Life Training Institute, encouraged pro-lifers "to have the confidence to make our case persuasively". The march was supported by Christian leaders including Catholic bishops John Sherrington, Richard Moth and John Keenan, and Free Church of England priest, Rev Calvin Robinson. A young woman named only as Ellie shared her heartbreaking experience of abortion trauma. "I instinctively knew when it was time to go to the toilet and deliver my baby. That moment of separation is burned into my memory forever," she said. "I think I can speak for every post-abortive woman stood here today that abortion didn't grant us freedom, but made us captives in one way or another." Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh was also there on Saturday. Tweeting about the march, he said, "Great to see so many turn out for this weekend's March for Life UK defending the rights of the most vulnerable in our society." March for Life is aiming to bring 10,000 pro-lifers to London next year when it marks its 10th anniversary. Transitioning to a new wineskin And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says. 'The old is better.' (Luke Chapter 5, verses 37-39) Transitioning is often not an easy process as it involves leaving the familiar to what may be totally different or not-so-familiar. It was just a few weeks ago that I moved from one area of my city to another and it wasn't the easiest thing in the world. Packing and moving boxes around, buying new stuff, and soliciting help from friends were part of the process. But immediately I settled into my new apartment, and the worries and stress of moving soon faded as I basked in the euphoria of living in the new place. Similarly, transitioning from an old wine/wineskin to a new wine/wineskin is never easy. Most people like to stay with what they perceive as familiar. It is the desire to stick with the familiar that made the Pharisees and Sadducees miss out on receiving the Messiah they had been waiting for. They wanted him to function within the confines of their religious dogmas. Have we limited God today because of our traditions? Sadly, many have. I have heard Christians say things like, 'God doesn't heal the sick today,' and 'the gifts of the Spirit are not functional in the church today.' These dogmas are nothing but veils that limit the manifestation of God in many denominations. I would rather live in faith than in unbelief. A lot of Christians have missed out on revivals because instead of following the move of God's Spirit, they preferred to camp within the confines of their religious boxes. God can do more than we can ever ask, think, or imagine (Ephesians chapter 3 verse 20). Many of the great revivals that have happened in the past did not take place in the established and well-known churches of the day. Most occurred among humble believers who were not seeking to be famous or establish ministries but just wanted to see a move of God in their day. Thus, they were able to receive the new wine of God because they were not rooted in an old wineskin. Lessons from church history One of the most important lessons I have learned from church history is that the previous move of God often persecutes the current move of God. I once watched a video of John Wimber sharing a testimony about Lonnie Frisbee's first message in his church in Yorba Linda, California, on Mother's Day, 1980. John Wimber was about to speak when the Holy Spirit urged him to allow Frisbee to speak. He had heard some negative opinions about Lonnie, so he was unwilling to let him speak, but he eventually called the young evangelist to the platform to speak. Towards the end of his message, Frisbee said, "come Holy Spirit," and just like on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit invaded the building, and people began to speak in other tongues. Some people ran out because they weren't used to that manifestation. Wimber himself searched scriptures all night, trying to understand what had happened. Thank God he got it! That short service in California began a move of God that would span the United States. The new wine was strange to him at first but because he humbled himself, he could partake of the new move of God and steward it for the next generation. The need for humility The way to transition from an old to a new wineskin is to walk in humility. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter chapter 5 verse 5). It is those who are willing to lay down their opinions, pride, and self-righteousness that often receive God's new win. Grace will always find those humble to seek the Lord till he comes. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claims that Chinese nationals are pretending to be tourists just to breach U.S. military sites. These Chinese violators, whom the FBI calls "gate crashers," are now facing a major investigation. FBI Investigates Chinese Nationals Pretending To Be Tourists As of writing, the FBI said that it tracked over 100 incidents involving Chinese nationals posing as tourists. Aside from U.S. military sites, the law enforcement agency said that these fake tourists are trying to access federal sites. The FBI shared numerous incidents that show how these Chinese violators attempt to breach U.S. military and federal sites, as reported by Fox News. One of these is when Chinese tourists were detected crossing into an American missile range in New Mexico. In another incident, the Chinese gate crashers were reportedly scuba diving. However, they allegedly tried to swim in murky waters near a U.S. government rocket launch site in Florida. Reuters reported that the FBI investigation stated that the Chinese gate crashing incidents typically happen in rural areas in the U.S. where there is little tourism. Officials explained that these fake tourists from China are pressed into service and required to report back to the Chinese government. Read Also: Russia Drones Strike Ukrainian Port Near Romanian Border as Putin Prepares for Grain Deal Talks with Erdogan Is the FBI Making Efforts to Prevent Them? In 2022, the FBI, the Department of Defense, and other agencies held a review focused on preventing Chinese gate-crashing incidents. But, it is still unclear if their efforts to deter fake Chinese tourists are working. This is because they are having a hard time identifying the real Chinese gate crashers. Many factors affect their investigation, such as the arguments provided by these Chinese violators. For example, many of the alleged Chinese gate crashers claim that they were only following Google Maps to reach their destinations. They argued that Google Maps and other navigational apps they were using directed them to nearby military bases, which they didn't notice. If you want to learn more about the FBI's ongoing Chinese gate-crashing investigation, you can click this link. Related Article: China Allegedly Making Harassment Phone Calls to JapanIs the Fukushima Wastewater Release to Blame? @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. There is No Drop-in Replacement for China PCB Manufacturing Yet Published: 04 September 2023 by Greg Papandrew, Clement Yuen by Greg Papandrew, Clement Yuen Observations from Malaysia and Thailand. There has been a push of late by many OEM and EMS companies in the PCB industry intensified by Covid and simmering trade and political tensions to reduce the West's reliance on China for printed circuit board manufacturing. In the past year, several of our customers, primarily from OEMs in the automotive, RF and testing industries, have asked for an "Out of China" or "China+1" strategy. These customers have been buying boards from China for years for products or technology that does not fall under any export control. So why the change now? Concerns about IP protection and supply chain issues certainly factor in. But also, the optics of buying PCBs from China are not as favorable as they once were. In that vein, we recently traveled to Thailand and Malaysia to search for PCB manufacturing facilities in those countries. Our "test quotes" for the technology our customers require consisted of multilayer power boards with 3 oz. of copper each layer, and HDI product that was 14 layers and above, requiring 100-200 pieces to be built at a time. What we found during this trip was that the task of decoupling from the very mature China PCB supply chain is easier said than done. There does not appear to be an immediate drop-in replacement to China's available capacity to produce high-mix, low-to-medium technology PCBs in a timely manner. Everyone we met in Thailand and Malaysia seemed hopeful that business will soon return to normal. The PCB industry throughout Asia has been slow, so it can't come soon enough. Our trip started in Taiwan and China, where we visited our current circuit board vendors. For me, it was the first time I'd been able to return after a nearly four-year hiatus due to the Covid restrictions. While overall business in China was slow during Covid, that did not stop our vendors from making process and facility improvements. Automatic optical and visual inspection (AOI and AVI) was much more prevalent than before. We saw more vertical plating lines and robotics not robots in the sense of loading or unloading, say, a machine, but rather as transport devices that moved manufacturing panels from one department to another. We even saw facilities that had automatic stockrooms where a robotic cart could fetch a bin containing a specific part number from an opposite side of the warehouse and deliver it quickly to the packaging area. Thailand was chosen for this trip because two of our PCB manufacturing partners in China are building manufacturing facilities located a few hours outside of Bangkok, with completion expected next year. Our visit coincided with the Nepcon trade show in Bangkok, where we searched for additional PCB manufacturers. We did our homework, of course, and reached out to several factories prior to our arrival. We hoped to find others at the show. Surprisingly, though, while the show was large and well-attended, most board houses represented were from China. We did later visit several Thai PCB manufacturers, and we were impressed by their size of operations. The industrial parks they are located within are large and spread out; it's not the usual claustrophobic feeling of an industrial area in Taiwan, China or India. While Thailand produces over $4 billion annually in PCBs, we found the shops were limited in the availability of higher technology manufacturing. Most of the work in the factories we visited was of lower mix, medium-to-higher volume. While some shops did produce HDI boards, we saw nothing above eight layers. Our opinion of the capability for PCB manufacturing in Thailand is obviously subjective and based on a single visit to available shops. We do believe, however, the capacity to do higher layer count boards in Thailand is limited. Clement, who has extensive experience with PCB manufacturing in Asia, says there are not many "sub-cons" in the country. Unlike China, where you can get any process completed, Thailand is limited, and that is why it may be hard to service all of our customers' needs when it comes to certain technologies. Most of the work we saw was for automotive, appliances and televisions, including remote control devices. In fact, the silver-in-hole process is available a technology we saw in the US PCB industry some 30 years ago. Not as many AOI stations were available, but every shop had punch presses. Plenty of punching was going on with boards that required carbon ink. Metal finishes available per manufacturer were limited, with OSP being prevalent, followed by ENIG. HASL came next, with immersion tin a hard option to find. Some shops were more automated than others; in some places, we had concerns about the handling techniques. Minimum order values quoted were higher, and lead times were longer compared to China or Taiwan. Concerns we noted about the future of the Thai PCB industry are focused more on workforce than technology, however. Technology will come as the demand for that technology increases. However, while labor costs are less than that of China, there will be a workforce crunch come next year. Where will the operators and engineers come from when there will be multiple facilities opening in the next six to 18 months that intend to hire 300-500 people each? Thailand's language barrier may also affect its PCB industry. With Taiwan and China expected to play a big part in the growth of the Thai market, a lack of Chinese speakers may be a problem. While English is prevalent in Thailand, Chinese is not. In fact, one of our China manufacturing partners building a facility in Thailand has several key management personnel learning Thai in preparation for the new facility opening. There is little doubt Thailand can become a PCB powerhouse. When it comes to automotive work in particular, a China +1 strategy featuring Thailand would be a good option. But what we see at present is a lack of capacity in the country to build higher layer-count boards at medium to lower volumes and in a reasonable amount of time. We may have to wait until our China manufacturing partners open their facilities in Thailand next year to place orders like we have become accustomed to placing in China or Taiwan. Our trip took us next to Penang, Malaysia, to visit one of our OEM customers. We wanted to check out a few board houses during this visit, hoping to find a shop to meet our immediate high-layer count requirement. But it was just as challenging as Thailand. One of the PCB factories we visited was immaculate, and it had a great sales and engineering team in place. Communication was excellent, as English is the country's official second language. However, this facility still uses film throughout manufacture no LDI anywhere. It had plenty of mass-lam capability, usually building four- or six-layer product, with the occasional eight-layer. As in Thailand, the Penang facility made heavy use of punch presses and had OSP as one of the main finishes. We will keep an eye on this facility. It is expanding, and we hope it will increase its layer-count capacity and its technology. Just as in Thailand, however, Malaysia does not appear to be an immediate alternative to China for PCB manufacturing. If you need PCB assembly rather than bare board fabrication, however, the island city of Penang is the place to be. You'll find many well-known names in the electronics manufacturing industry there. We did not have enough time on this trip to visit India, South Korea or Vietnam to assess PCB manufacturing possibilities in those countries. We will report on that on our next trip. Thailand and Malaysia each have their strengths and weaknesses in PCB pricing, technology and preferred order values. But they both share the same capacity limitations compared to that of China. For now, a China+1 or Out of China policy is possible if your company's technology and/or order size(s) will permit it. But for many PCB buyers, realistically, China will continue to be the only game in town for some time to come. GREG PAPANDREW has more than 25 years' experience selling PCBs directly for various fabricators and as founder of a leading distributor. He is cofounder of DirectPCB and can be reached at greg@directpcb.com. CLEMENT YUEN is cofounder of DirectPCB; clement@directpcb.com. PCB West, Engineering Tomorrows Electronics / September 19-22, 2023 Primeste notificari pe email Nota bene: Adresele email cu extensia .ru nu sunt acceptate. Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele Transparenta Consiliului Superior al Procurorilor, intre a fi sau a nu fi. Ce constatari se regasesc intr-un raport prezentat de CRJM? The Xinjiang-based company credited its reportedly rapid construction to the refining of its assembly line and installation process ashore. "Through strategies like rotor pre-assembly, modular designs, improved conditions for upending tool disengagement, etc., Goldwind can speed up hoisting by 26 hours, improving overall efficiency by 40%!" the company said. Read Also: US Restricts AI Chip Exports by Nvidia, AMD to China, Middle East 30 working hours is the time it takes for the GWH252-14.3MW wind turbine to start rotating from scratch in Zhangpu. #Goldwind leverages its expertise to transform wind into electricity in every offshore area, contributing to green energy. See ocean and feel the future. pic.twitter.com/DSZXUDkYno Goldwind (@Goldwind_Global) September 4, 2023 Where Was the Turbine Installed? Goldwind claimed the turbine was installed at the Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2 offshore wind farm in the southeastern Fujian Province, along the southern portion of the Taiwan Strait, and was being built by state-owned power company China Three Gorges (CTG), Electrek reported. The company has also announced a 16 MW turbine they installed last June already ran at its fullest capacity for 24 consecutive hours beginning September 1. According to Chinese media, it also withstood the onslaught of Typhoon Doksuri's extreme winds at the end of July. The 400 MW Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2 offshore wind farm was claimed to be capable of producing about 1.6 terawatts per hour (TWh) of electricity per year. According to CTG, this performance could save about 500,000 tons of standard coal and reduce emissions by about 1.36 million tons annually. However, there was no information on whether or not they would expand their wind farms to its coastline or install them near the hotly-contested South China Sea in the future. Related Article: China's Current Map of the South China Sea Rejected by Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. British Museum hires interim director The British Museum has recruited Mark Jones as its interim director after its director stepped down due to stolen items last month. Hartwig Fischer was in the role for seven years until the recent scandal, when an employee was dismissed over 2,000 missing, stolen or damaged items from the museum. George Osborne, chair of the British Museum, said: I promised we would learn lessons and then lay the foundations for a strong future. Marks appointment is a big step in that direction. I look forward to working together. The appointment is still subject to approval from the prime minister, but culture secretary Lucy Frazer and colleagues at DCMS and the treasury were involved in the appointment, the museum said. Jones was assistant keeper of coins and medals at the British Museum from 1974 to 1990 and then keeper of coins and medals from 1990 to 1992. Previously, he has been director of the National Museums of Scotland, Victoria & Albert Museum and was master at St Cross College, Oxford. He is chair of the Pilgrim Trust, Hospitalfield and the National Trust for Scotland. Cherie Blair Foundation for Women recruits permanent CEO The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women has appointed Dhivya O'Connor as its permanent CEO. She takes over from interim CEO Peter Sargent, after permanent CEO Helen McEachern left to lead Care International UK. She joins from The Girls Network, where she was interim CEO for almost a year. Previously, she has been CEO of Children with Cancer UK, United World Schools and interim chief of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising. Chair of the foundation, Mathias Terheggen, commented on her appointment: Dhivya brings a wealth of expertise and experience with her to the Foundation, and clearly demonstrates a passion and commitment to women's rights around the world. I am confident with Dhivya leading us we will achieve our goal to reach one million more women, continue to grow our impact and influence, and bring women entrepreneurs further into the heart of our work. Reading charity appoints CEO Bookmark Reading Charity has appointed Emily Jack as its CEO. She succeeds Graihagh Crawshaw-Sadler, who stepped down in July to become CEO at Now Teach. Jack has been promoted from her role as head of schools at the reading charity, a role she has occupied for 18 months. Before then, she founded Kings Tutors, a private tutoring company, which was bought by Ivy Education. She is a qualified tutor and was director of the Tutors Association from 2019 to 2021. Jack said: I look forward to leading the team to implement our plans for future growth; building on our solid foundations to increase the depth and reach of our services, our impact and, most importantly, the number of children supported. Bookmarks mission is very close to my heart - all children must be enabled to experience the joy of reading to have a fairer start in life. Sharon Pindar, chair of Bookmark added: As an established member of the Bookmark family and with her extensive experience in the education sector and her proven track record to inspire, lead and execute, we are confident that Emily will excel in her new role as CEO. New director at Diabetes UK Diabetes UK has appointed Charlotte Augst as the charitys director of policy, campaigns and improvement. She succeeds Bridget Turner, who is retiring after more than 20 years at the charity. She joins from National Voices, where she was chief executive for almost four years. She was previously a director at Macmillan Cancer Support and a trustee at Mosaic Clubhouse. Augst began her career as a researcher and office manager in the House of Commons. CEO of Diabetes UK, Chris Askew, said: Charlottes long track record of driving excellence in patient-centred care, health inequalities and long-term conditions make her the perfect person to lead our policy and care improvement work. We are thrilled to have Charlotte join the team in our fight for a world where diabetes can do no harm. Medaille Trust hires director of engagement Medaille Trust, the modern slavery charity, has appointed Ben Ryan in its newly created role of executive director of engagement and strategic development. He joins from the Church of England, where he was home affairs adviser for over three years. Before then, he was a researcher at Theos think tank. Ryan said: Im incredibly excited to be starting this new role. The Medaille Trust has built an outstanding reputation as a leading charity in the fight against modern slavery and Im delighted to be able to help them in this next phase as they look to expand their public and advocacy engagement. Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Charity announces next chair Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Charity has recruited Richard Jones as its chair. He takes over from Dorothy Dalton, who is stepping down after three years in post. Previously, Jones was CEO of Viapath and has been a trustee of Ambient Support. Commenting on his appointment, Jones said: I am delighted to be taking over as chair and I am excited by the opportunity to strengthen the partnership between the RNOH charity and RNOH to transform the hospitals infrastructure and services for the benefit of RNOH patients, the hospital workforce and wider musculoskeletal service innovation. PM appoints trustee to Natural History Museum The prime minister has appointed Shahpur Kabraji as a trustee of the Natural History Museum. Kabraji is a partner of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, a global law firm. Trustees at the museum are not remunerated. Four trustees recruited to Money Advice Trust Four trustees are set to join Money Advice Trust in January. Mark Allison is a policy and strategy specialist and former leader of London Borough of Merton. Adam Khan has more than 20 years of tech experience at Google and Microsoft. Alexandra Meagher is group head of regulation at Octopus Energy Group. Zitah McMillan is CEO and co-founder of Predictive Black, a software service. Christine Farnish, chair of the Money Advice Trust, said: I am pleased to welcome Mark, Adam, Alexandra and Zitah, who all bring new skills and expertise to our strong board of trustees as we enter a new period of expansion and growth. Our four new trustees bring extensive experience across technology, policy, marketing and strategy which will be invaluable as we grow our work for people in financial difficulty. sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector, AVON, Ohio -- If you like cars and art, and want to help veterans, Creative Space Avon is the place to be Saturday (Sept. 9). The Creative Gents III art show and the open class car cruise-in will run from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday. The art show will continue through its closing reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 6. There are spaces for 50 vehicles in the car show, which is open to all makes and models. There is no charge to enter. Show visitors can expect music, too. There will be a live band, Music on a Mission, which features musicians who are veterans. Hot dogs and snacks also will be available. Donations for the evening will be accepted for the Emergency Veterans Fund for Lorain County. This is the third time Kean has curated an art show for male artists only. The previous shows were highly successful. Judging the show will be artist Adrian Eisenhower. My vision was to combine the Creative Gents III show with my 2018 veterans focus, said Creative Space Avon owner Judy Kean. There are five veterans out of 19 men in this show. The Veterans Service Commission is supporting the event. I am very proud of the artisans this year. They brought some very unique items in. The quality is very good and there is certainly something for all the art collectors. The men provided art for the show that is mixed media, wood, photography and many forms of painting and drawing styles, she said. We will be presenting awards on opening night at 8 p.m. All art will be for sale, and there will be two items that are special auction items for the Lorain County veterans. We will be collecting donations for the Emergency Fund for Lorain County Veterans and supporting the REVS 22k Race for Nov. 11, she said. In addition, Keans stained-glass studio will be open to visitors for the evening. For more information, Kean can be contacted at Creative Space Avon, 33760 Lear Industrial Parkway. Phone is 440-823-7406. Read more from the Sun Sentinel. True crime shows have become a popular genre due to its dramatic reenactments of some popular crimes that happened worldwide. Many people are tuning into such shows either by their pure interest or maybe they want to research into a specific case. Regardless of the intention, these shows have managed to provide a detailed look into each crimes and how criminal justice system varies on every situation. Are you curious yet? Here are some true crime shows that are available for streaming on Disney+ : Read Also: 'Barbenheimer' is Becoming a Reality Thanks to Social Media Trend 'Boston Strangler' (2023) The "Boston Strangler" film follows the story of Loretta McLaughlin, a reporter who was investigating murder cases in Boston, as she tries to unveil the truth about these strange cases. The film received some praises by being historically accurate with the details of the crimes and even some of the moments that the female reporters experienced during the 60s. The nickname Boston Strangler was given to the serial killer who was famous for killing through strangulation during the 1960s. It was also reported that he sexually assaulted his victims before strangling them to death. 'Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey' (2018) The "Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey" film narrates the gruesome story of McVey who was reportedly abducted and raped by a serial killer in 1984. The producers of the film also made a special screening in the same theater where the serial killer, Bobby Joe Long, was arrested. Unlike most of the true crime shows, "Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey" portrayed McVey to be successful as a deputy sergeant with an advocacy to prevent young people to experience what happened to her. The film garnered awards for its screenplay and was also nominated for performances awards which gives more reason not to miss this movie. 'Escaping the Nxvim Cult: A Mother's Fight to Save Her Daughter' (2019) The film follows the story of how Catherine Oxenberg found that her daughter has joined the NXIVM organization. Many applauded the film for its great portrayal of how cult-like organizations can change ones life and how some of these can be dangerous. For years, NXIVM had been under legal investigations. In 2018, cult leader, Keith Raniere, was convicted of sex trafficking, racketeering, and conspiracy. 'Fantastic Lies' (2016) "Fantastic Lies" is based on the widely-talked criminal case known as the Duke lacrosse case in 2016. The media quickly got on the hype of the case, wherein the lacrosse team was accused of sexually assaulting and raping a hired stripper. The case film centers on how media plays an important role in shaping the public's opinion. The film was known as a cautionary tale on the dangers of rushing judgment based on what the media is showing. 'The Jewel Thief' (2023) "The Jewel Thief" tells the story of how Gerald Blanchard became the world's most ingenious thief." The film captured various events of Blanchard's and how people around him perceived him as a person. In 1998, Blanchard stole a rare jewel from the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. He was also indicted for other counts of theft and fraud. Related Article: 5 Binge-Worthy Sitcoms on Netflix AI has been both a blessing and a curse ever since it became a commonly used technology. Although people are happy to use it to make their lives a little easier, companies and developers still can't iron out a few kinks which include bias and discrimination in AI models. An expert believes this could lead to grave consequences. AI Bias and Its Risks Even though AI technology still has a long way to go before it can become a reliable source of data, a lot of organizations and agencies already use it for certain functions like facial recognition. The problem is that AI can be inaccurate sometimes. Since AI is trained using the available data online, it picks up other discriminatory and biased opinions as well, which are then embedded into AI models. Faculty of Law Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta, Dr. Gideon Christian warned people of the potential risks. Dr. Christian was given a $50,000 Office of the Privacy Commissioner Contributions Program grant, which funds research called Mitigating Race, Gender and Privacy Impacts of AI Facial Recognition Technology, as reported by Interesting Engineering. The study looks into bias in AI-based facial recognition technology in Canada, particularly the issues it has with identifying race. He stated that there is a "false notion that technology unlike humans is not biased," which is not accurate. He also explained that facial recognition had a 99% accuracy rate in white male faces, while recognizing people of color, especially when it comes to women, has a high error rate of about 35%. This leads to others being arrested for a crime someone who looked like them committed. The issue is not limited to the US. There have been cases in Canada where immigrants are stripped of their refugee status, all because their faces were matched to another person using facial recognition technology. As a result, the government believed that the immigrants were using false identities. These cases involved black women in the country, which just confirms the statistics that people of color were more at risk when AI misidentified a person. Read Also: Google Apologizes for Racist Photo Tag - Black People as 'Gorillas' It Got a Pregnant Woman Falsy Arrested A recent incident occurred back in early August, where a pregnant woman, Porsche Woodruff, was arrested by the Detroit police after being identified by facial recognition. The victim already had her photo in the police database due to a previous arrest. She was held by the authorities for 11 hours and was questioned. Woodruff was charged in court with what she was alleged with, as well as paid a $100,000 personal bond in order to get released, all while she was innocent of the crime. What's worse is that the victim of the crime said that Woodruff was the perpetrator when presented with a photo lineup, which was the confirmation the police needed to arrest her. The falsely accused already filed a lawsuit against the city after the incident. As mentioned in Ars Technica, City Police Chief James E. White, expressed his concern over the mistake, stating that the matter was being taken seriously. Before Woodruff, there have already been three other false arrests. Related: Facial Recognition Results in Pregnant Woman Being Wrongfully Arrested In this article TSLA MBG-DE BMW-DE Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT BMW took the wraps of the Vision Neue Klasse electric vehicle at the IAA motor show in Munich, Germany. It underpins BMW's big push into electric vehicles. BMW MUNICH, Germany BMW and Mercedes are making their biggest push yet into electric cars in a bid to fend off rising competition from Chinese players and catch up with U.S. giant Tesla . In the last few days, as part of the IAA Mobility motor show in Munich, Germany, the auto giants took the wraps off electric concept cars and new platforms for their future battery-powered vehicles. European carmakers, which have been perceived to be behind Chinese companies like Warren Buffett-backed BYD and Elon Musk's Tesla, have had to move quickly to show the market they're ready to be major players in the electric era. On Sunday, Mercedes-Benz unveiled its Concept CLA Class, an electric vehicle built on a new architecture that will underpin future battery cars from the German auto giant. The company said the concept car has a range of 750 kilometers (466 miles) as well as an ability to reach a range of 400 kilometers with just 15 minutes of charging. Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius talked up the car, calling it a "revolutionary development" for the German firm. "With those efficiency numbers, that kind of range, that kind of fast charging, I am not aware of any vehicle, in that class that can match that," Kallenius told CNBC's Annette Weisbach on Sunday. On Saturday, rival BMW showed off the "Vision Neue Klasse," another electric concept car that highlights the company's EV ambitions. Neue Klasse is BMW's new architecture for its EVs. The first vehicles based on this platform are set to enter production in 2025. "In only two years' time, these cars will hit the road and with that, overall, we lead BMW to a new era of innovation and sustainability. That's the purpose of our show here at the IAA," BMW CEO Oliver Zipse told CNBC's Arabile Gumede. Zipse said BMW is going to double its EV sales this year. By the end of 2023, 15% of BMW's global sales will be battery EVs, he added. Mercedes and BMW's dedicated EV platforms are a departure from previous architecture where they would adapt combustion engine or hybrid models and add batteries. This is the companies' biggest push yet toward a new platform for the electric vehicle era. Analysts said that Mercedes and BMW's announcements are big steps but might leave them still lagging behind Tesla. watch now "The new platforms at Mercedes and BMW showcase, for the first time, what the European OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] will be capable of. These cars are likely still a year away, but their specifications show that European OEMs will be able to create compelling products," Daniel Roeska, senior research analyst at Bernstein Research, told CNBC via email. Roeska said that these new platforms "will close a large portion of the gap" to Tesla and the Chinese players, "but not all the way." Price war in focus BMW and Mercedes are wading further into an increasingly competitive electric vehicle market, broadly dominated by Tesla and various Chinese players. Tesla commanded 20% of the global EV market in the second quarter, followed by 15% for BYD, according to Counterpoint Research. And the competition has become more fierce thanks to a price war largely sparked by Tesla. The U.S. automaker began cutting prices in 2023, vowing to sacrifice margins in the short term for market share gain. Mercedes and BMW both play in the premium segment of the market, where cars like Tesla's Model S and Model X compete. As they prepare to release more EVs in the coming years, Mercedes maintains its focus is not on pushing large volumes. "We are not pushing volume, we are focusing on value over volume," Kallenius said. watch now Meanwhile, Volkswagen's strategy appears to be to release cars at various prices to capture different segments of the market. The company announced Sunday that it will launch eleven new all-electric models by 2027, underscoring its EV push. In 2026, Volkswagen said it plans to launch the ID. 2all, an electric vehicle that will sell for less than 25,000 euros ($26,942). The German auto giant showed off the ID. GTI Concept electric vehicle at the IAA show, and said a production version of the car is scheduled to hit the road in 2027. Tesla, China dominate with tech in focus watch now Germany is once again the "sick man of Europe," according to Hans-Werner Sinn, president emeritus at the Ifo institute, and the challenges that poses, particularly in terms of the country's energy strategy, could serve to benefit increasingly popular right-wing parties. The "sick man of Europe" moniker has resurfaced in recent weeks as manufacturing output continues to stutter in the region's largest economy and the country grapples with high energy prices. The label was originally used to describe the German economy in 1998 as it navigated the costly challenges of a post-reunification economy. "It is not a short-term phenomenon," Sinn told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy on Friday. It "has to do with the automobile industry, which is the heart of the German industry and many things hinge on that," he said. Cars were Germany's main export product last year, accounting for 15.6% of the value of goods sold abroad, federal statistics office data shows. Germany reported a foreign trade deficit for the first time in decades in May 2022, totaling 1 billion euros ($1.03 billion). The country had briefly shifted from a trade surplus to importing more than it exports. Germany has since returned to a trade surplus, which came to 18.7 billion euros in June 2023, according to the federal statistics office, but exports remain sluggish. Plunge in business sentiment Sinn said investor doubts about the feasibility of Germany's sustainability goals also play into the description of the country as the "sick man of Europe." One target currently in the sights of the German government is becoming carbon neutral by 2045. These plans came into sharp focus as Europe looked to detach itself from Russian gas supplies following the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and prices shot up. Some described Germany's ambitions to move away from Russian gas as "wildly optimistic," particularly in light of the country's climate targets. Rain falls over the finance district and the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, Germany. Thomas Lohnes | Getty Images News | Getty Images Speaking at the Ambrosetti Forum, Sinn said a reliance on renewable technologies such as wind and solar would cause a "volatility problem," which could pose issues for businesses. "You need to fill [those gaps] with conventional energy so it's very difficult to have this double structure which we will have to sustain in the future. On the one hand the green volatile energy and on the other hand the conventional energy to fill the gaps," he said. "This is double cost. This is high energy cost and this is not good for industry. It is a difficult course." Germany could lose 2% to 3% of its current industrial capacity as companies move operations to countries where gas and electricity are cheaper, such as the U.S. or Saudi Arabia, according to a research note released in August by Berenberg. Uncertainty about energy prices has likely contributed to a "plunge" in business sentiment, Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, wrote in the note. He added that "the current policy uncertainty and the dismay about half-baked government plans are not structural factors that look set to hold back the German economy for long." There is a backlash clearly The population is now moving to the right. Hans-Werner Sinn President emeritus at the Ifo institute U.S. schools face surge of chronic absenteeism after pandemic Xinhua) 13:13, September 04, 2023 SACRAMENTO, the United States, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- As the new school year has begun, public schools across the United States face a common problem -- rising absence rate, which was worsened by the pandemic and shows no sign of abating. From West Coast to East Coast, from urban to rural districts, public schools are struggling to bring students back to classrooms. Many local news outlets said this week that some schools have to get creative to combat chronic absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism means missing 10 percent or more of a school year. For students on a typical 180-day school calendar, this totals about one month of missed school. In Bakersfield, California, McKinley Elementary School held a "Walk to School" event on Friday, inviting parents and community leaders to walk students into school. The school said the goal was to address chronic absence. Last year, 45 percent of the school's students were chronically absent. In Baltimore, Maryland, Mayor Brandon Scott launched a friendly competition between schools this week to tackle the same absence problem. The mayor planned to hold a special event at the end of the school year, where he would award trophies and certificates to schools that have achieved significant progress on attendance rate. ABSENTEEISM WORSENED BY PANDEMIC The rate of chronic absenteeism among U.S. public school students grew substantially as students returned to in-person instruction from the COVID-19 pandemic. A new national analysis, based on data from 40 states and Washington, D.C., found that since the pandemic the number of students who were chronically absent nearly doubled to about 13.6 million. "Specifically, between the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years, the share of students chronically absent grew by 13.5 percentage points -- a 91-percent increase that implies an additional 6.5 million students are now chronically absent," said the study by Stanford University education professor Thomas Dee. The study, published in August on OSF Preprints, showed that absences worsened in every state. In seven states, the rate of chronically absent students doubled for the 2021-22 school year from the 2018-19 year. For the past 2022-23 school year, Connecticut has reported continuing high absence rates. The state's education department released the 2022-23 attendance and student assessment data on Monday, which showed chronic absenteeism remains nearly double pre-pandemic rates. More than 100,000, or 20 percent, of students across the state were still missing at least 18 days of school throughout the year, according to the report. Prior to the pandemic, about 10.4 percent of students were chronically absent. In California, the rate of chronically absent students rose from 12.1 percent in 2018-19 to 30 percent in 2021-22, according to Dee's study, with the highest chronic absenteeism rate of 35.7 percent in rural districts. The analysis showed that 1.77 million students across California missed at least 20 days of school through 2021-22 year. The state's attendance data for 2022-23 is not yet available. It also found that rural districts have seen the sharpest increases in chronic absenteeism and that the problem has been especially acute among Native American, Black and Latino students. CAUSES UNCLEAR Educators tried to find out what caused the rising absence rate and found there were a variety of factors. Connecticut Education Department had surveyed over 5,000 families regarding absences. Responding families said illness was a leading factor for keeping their students at home, followed by mental health and family obligations. In Detroit Public Schools Community District, 77 percent of students were chronically absent during the 2021-22 school year. Experts said the reasons were largely rooted in the economic challenges -- transportation hurdles, health problems, family and housing instability. The exact causes for the sharp spike in absenteeism were unclear, Dee said in his study, adding there's no evidence of linkage with sickness, enrollment loss, or COVID-related policies, such as mask mandates. "This suggests the sharp rise in chronic absenteeism reflects other important barriers to learning (e.g., declining youth mental health, academic disengagement) that merit further scrutiny and policy responses," said Dee. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Korea's exports of lipsticks are anticipated to hit a new record in 2023, the customs agency said Monday, on the back of increasing demand as people have taken off masks around the globe. The outlook came as exports of the products reached a record high of $198 million over the January-July period, soaring 63.5 percent on-year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The agency said the sharp growth came as consumers around the globe returned to pre-pandemic normalcy, taking off masks while purchasing more cosmetic products. Sales of budget products, such as lipsticks, also tend to rise during economic uncertainties, it added. Over the seven-month period, the United States accounted for 42.2 percent of the exports, followed by Japan and China with 15.1 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively. As of July, Korean lipsticks had been sold to 125 countries, slightly up from the previous year's 122 nations, setting a new record, it added. (Yonhap) Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was "happy" that the relationship between Turkey and Russia was becoming "increasingly diverse" in remarks made during a meeting between the two leaders in Sochi, according to a Telegram post by the Kremlin. "Russia and Turkiye have preserved the momentum in promoting their relations," Putin said in the post. "I would like to draw your attention to the fact that our trade increased by 86 percent last year, I think. This positive trend spilled over into the first half of this year, even if it has not been as massive as last year. But there is still positive momentum." "Our relations are becoming increasingly diverse and not only within the sectors where we have been working together for quite a while, such as agriculture and energy, but also in other areas, which makes me happy," Putin said. Russia's president has previously commented on the close ties between the nations, and his relationship with his "dear friend" Erdogan. Talks between Putin and Erdogan took place in Sochi and ended after three hours, Russian state media outlet TASS reported. They included discussions on the likes of grain, finances, and energy, Reuters reported. Hannah Ward-Glenton Xi Jinping, China's president, on the closing day of the BRICS summit at the Sandton Convention Center in the Sandton district of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Premier Li Qiang will lead China's delegation at a G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, China's foreign ministry said on Monday, indicating President Xi Jinping would not attend and scuppering chances of a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden there. The Sept. 9-10 summit had been seen as a venue for a possible meeting between Xi and Biden, who has confirmed his attendance in New Delhi, following months of efforts by the two powers to stabilise ties frayed by trade and geopolitical tensions. "The G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation and China has always placed great importance on and proactively taken part in such events," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press conference, when asked by a reporter why China's "leader" would not attend. Mao declined to directly confirm that Li's attendance meant that Xi would not go, although she did not correct reporters who made that assertion. Reuters reported exclusively last month that Xi was likely to skip the meeting and send Li. Li leading the delegation at the G20 meeting makes it all but certain that Xi will not be going since China would not have both its president and premier abroad at the same time, let alone at the same event. Biden said on Sunday that he was disappointed Xi was not going to the summit but added that he was going to "get to see him". Biden did not elaborate. Xi last met Biden on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Indonesia in November. Germany, Europe's largest economy, also "regrets" Xi's decision not to attend, a spokesperson for its government said on Monday. This will be the first time that a Chinese president has missed a leaders' summit since the first edition was held in 2008, though in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi attended virtually. Also absent from the New Delhi summit will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, following an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Russia will be represented by its foreign minister. The other G20 leaders attending include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Delhi is all set to host the G20 Summit on september 9 and September 10. Leader from across 20 countries are expected to attend the key meet in the national capital this weekend. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said G20 in India will be historic as it will be attended by the largest number of world leaders. Over 40 world leaders are expected to be part of the summit in New Delhi, News 18 reported. As the preparations for the upcoming G20 Summit are in full swing, here's a look at who's attending the meet and who's not. Following are the world leaders who will be attending the summit: US President Joe Biden will travel to India from September 7-10 to attend the summit. Biden will discuss joint efforts to tackle global issues including clean energy transition and combating climate change, increasing the capacity of multilateral development banks and mitigating economic and social impacts of Ukraine war, mitigating economic and social impacts of Ukraine war, white House said last week Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning informed that Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit. This confirmed that China President Xi Jinping won't attend this year's G20 meet in Delhi. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will attend the summit. According to reports, Sunak my discuss the UK-India trade negotiations in a separate bilateral meeting with Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit. Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier told PM Modi that he will not attend the G20 Summit in Delhi. Rather, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the summit. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will be attending the G20 Summit. South Korea's ambassador to India Chang Jae Bok said earlier this month, Our President is coming to the (G20) Summit which is being held on 9-10 September." French President Emmanuel Macron will be attending the G20 Summit. According to News 18, Macron is expected to stay at Claridges hotel in New Delhi. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also confirmed his attendance at the G20 Summit. I will be at the G20 in a week and we will continue to make sure that the world is standing with Ukraine," Trudeau said. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's visit to India will be part of his three-nation tour including Indonesia and the Philippines. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also be attending the summit. After the summit, Erdogan will head to New York to attend the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will attend the summit and is expected to host French President Macron following the summit in New Delhi, according to reports. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will not be part of the summit in New Delhi as he has not been invited to attend the summit. According to News 18, many others who have not confirmed their participation to the summit are: Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina. The summit will also be attended by some guest countries including Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, UAE, Oman, Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, and Nigeria. Under India's presidency, the G20 (Group of Twenty) Summit is scheduled to take place on September 9 and 10 and the theme -- Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or One Earth One Family One Future - is drawn from the ancient Sanskrit text of the Maha Upanishad. The grouping comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU). (With inputs from News 18) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he would push the country's priorities while in Indonesia for the ASEAN Summit and use the time overseas to build stronger ties with other nations. "My participation will highlight our advocacies in promoting a rules-based international order, including in the South China Sea, strengthening food security, calling for climate justice, tapping the potential of the digital and creative economies, protecting migrant workers in crisis situations, as well as combating Trafficking-in-Persons," Marcos said in his speech before his departure Monday. He added it would also be an opportunity for ASEAN as a whole to deepen relationships with Australia, Canada, India, China, Japan, Korea, the United States, and the United Nations. "I will also participate in the ASEAN Plus Three and East Asia Summits, during which we will discuss developments in the South China Sea, the situation in Myanmar, and the conflict in Ukraine; as well as on other major power rivalries," said the president. "My administration will continue to ensure that our constructive engagements with ASEAN, our Dialogue Partners, and stakeholders serve our national interest and the well-being of the Filipino people." The president arrived in Indonesia at 6:59 p.m., Manila time. The 43rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits will be held in Indonesia from Sept. 5 to 7. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) The Philippines ranked first among Southeast Asian countries to have the most number of visitors to Japan in July, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) said. JNTO logged 51,700 travelers from the Philippines. This was followed by Thailand with 49,600 visitors and Vietnam with 44,800 tourists. The number of visitors from the Philippines in July 2023 is 36.9% percent higher compared to the same month in 2019. JNTO said the collected data came from the Japan Ministry of Justice. Travelers entering Japan for transit purposes and international students are included in the data, JNTO said. However, the report excluded people whose primary residence is in Japan and crew members of the transportation that arrived in Japan. From January to July this year, at least 320,000 travelers from the Philippines visited Japan. In May, Google reported that Japan was the most searched country while its capital, Tokyo, was the most searched travel destination of Filipinos. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) may declare Malabang town in Lanao del Sur under its control following an incident of election-related violence in the area. Comelec Chairperson George Garcia on Monday said there was indiscriminate firing in Malabang last Friday to allegedly stop the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). "Yung ganong klaseng karahasan, ganoong klaseng violence, ay walang puwang sa inaayos natin," he said. "Sobra naming mamatyagan at babantayan ang araw ng eleksyon sa mga lugar na katulad niyan." [Translation: That kind of violence has no place in what we want to achieve. We will observe and guard election day in those areas.] Garcia added that the Philippine National Police is applying for a warrant of arrest to apprehend the erring individuals. They will file cases for violation of the gun ban, illegal discharge of firearms, and alarm and scandal. Aside from the violence in Malabang, Garcia said COC filing across the country has been smooth. "Maayos na maayos po yung ating filing. Talaga po'ng siguro ikukumpara natin sa mga last filing ng candidacy, ito na po ang pinakatahimik, pinakamaayos, at pinaka-organized na filing ng ating certificates of candidacy," he said [Translation: Filing was very orderly. Comparing it with the last filing of candidacy, this is the most peaceful, most orderly and most organized filing of certificates of candidacy.] Monday was the last day of COC filing in Metro Manila and Abra. The activity was supposed to end nationwide on Sept. 2 but was extended in these areas after work was suspended in government offices due to monsoon rains. In Ilocos Norte, COC filing ended on Sunday, while the rest of the country met the Sept. 2 deadline. As of Sunday, there were 1.366 million individuals who lodged their COCs for the BSKE. Seoul, South Korea (CNN) China has built the worlds largest naval fleet, more than 340 warships, and until recently it has been regarded as a green-water navy, operating mostly near the countrys shores. But Chinas shipbuilding reveals blue-water ambitions. In recent years it has launched large guided-missile destroyers, amphibious assault ships and aircraft carriers with the ability to operate in the open ocean and project power thousands of miles from Beijing. To sustain a global reach, the Peoples Liberation Army Navy will need places for those blue-water ships to refuel and replenish provisions far from home. New analysis from Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) says Beijings growing push for that port access includes helping to build a naval base in Cambodia and scouting other potential locations for military outposts as far afield as Africas Atlantic coast. This is augmented by Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) facilities in places like Argentina, FDD reports, and Cuba, that can do everything from monitor space and track satellites to eavesdrop on the communications of Western countries. Together, experts say, these efforts aim to enhance Chinas military reach, which currently includes only one operational overseas naval base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. China maintains that the Djibouti base supports its anti-piracy and humanitarian missions in Africa and West Asia. Chinese officials have repeatedly stressed that Beijing does not seek expansion or spheres of influence abroad and have pushed back on various assertions that it is cooperating with other nations with an eye to establishing overseas bases on their land. But the FDD has gathered open-source intelligence and reporting to support its conclusion that China is building toward more naval outposts, including satellite imagery that shows the remarkable development of the Ream Naval Base, sitting on a stubby peninsula jutting from the west coast of Cambodia into the Gulf of Thailand. The PLAs expanding global footprint and corresponding ability to conduct a wider range of missions, including limited warfighting, carries major risks for the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific as well as other operational theaters, the report says. And the PLA is not slowing down, said the reports author, FDD senior fellow Craig Singleton. Its a question of when not if China will secure its next overseas military outpost, he said. CNN has approached Chinas Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment. A tale of two piers Chinese and Cambodian officials presided together over a ground-breaking ceremony for a Chinese-funded upgrade to the Ream Naval Base facility last year, with Beijings envoy in the country hailing military cooperation as part of the countries iron-clad partnership. Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh at the time dismissed claims that it would become a Chinese military outpost, stressing during the ceremony that the project is in line with Cambodias constitution, which bars foreign military bases on its territory. Chinese officials have described the base as an aid project to strengthen Cambodias navy and called assertions otherwise hype with ulterior motives. The FDDs Singleton says its analysis of satellite imagery shows a pier being built at the Ream base has similar dimensions to one at Chinas overseas military base in Djibouti. The Djibouti pier has the ability to receive Chinese blue-water ships, and these similarities suggest that Ream could support such vessels too. The Ream base is also more expansive overall, and Singleton and others wonder if it could be a blueprint of whats to come for Chinas military ambitions overseas despite official denials of this aim. In 2016, Chinese and Djiboutian officials similarly denied reports that China intended to establish a military foothold in the Horn of Africa, said the FDDs Singleton. But, less than a year later, the PLA deployed ships from its South Sea Fleet to officially open its base in Djibouti, after which the PLA conducted six weeks of live-fire exercises, he said. That is not the only example of China saying one thing and doing another when it comes to its military operations. In 2015, Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged that Beijing would not militarize artificial islands that it was building in the disputed South China Sea. But today Beijing uses military installations across those islands to bolster its territorial claims in the region. A sea change? China has long decried the US network of an estimated 750 overseas military installations, accusing Washington of undermining global security and using these outposts to interfere in other countries affairs. But Beijing has become more assertive in its home region, using the military to press its claims in the South China Sea and intimidate Taiwan a self-governing democracy that Chinas ruling Communist Party has vowed to take, by force if necessary. As its rivalry sharpens with the US, experts say Beijing has grown increasingly focused on finding ways to break what it sees as its physical encirclement by the US and its allies, while projecting its military might and its vision for global security abroad. A 2019 defense white paper stressed the need for the PLA to protect its overseas interests, including through developing overseas logistical facilities similar to the language it used to describe the Djibouti base. Chinas growing global clout and rapid expansion of its maritime commercial operations over the past decade has led to a more muscular approach to security on the seas, experts say. Xis sweeping Belt and Road infrastructure financing initiative has been a springboard for Chinese firms to gain a stake in what experts say are dozens of ports around the world, which can also support some logistics and refueling for Chinas navy and could host future military bases. A recent study by AidData, a research lab at William & Mary University in Virginia, looked at where Beijing may put new naval bases from a financial standpoint, focusing on ports and infrastructure projects that have already gotten big money from China between 2000 and 2021. While our data is neither exhaustive nor definitive, we suggest a list of port locations where China has invested significant resources and maintains relationships with local elites that may be favorable for future naval bases, AidData says. Top of the list is Hambantota, Sri Lanka, followed by Bata, Equatorial Guinea; Gwadar, Pakistan; Kribi, Cameroon; Ream in Cambodia; Vanuatu in the South Pacific; Nacala, Mozambique; and Nouakchott, Mauritania. The Hambantota commercial port in Sri Lanka has long been considered a prime candidate for a Chinese naval base. Beijing gained control of the port in 2017, when a Chinese state-run company signed a 99-year lease with Colombo to run the facility after Sri Lanka was unable to pay back the Chinese loans that built it. Naval cooperation was further cemented in 2018, when China gave a Type 053 frigate to the Sri Lankan Navy as a gift, rather than a foreign military sale, AidData said. Equatorial Guinea appearing second on the list shouldnt be surprising. US military leaders warned on more than one occasion last year that Beijing was making moves there. Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commander of US Africa Command, told a US House hearing in March 2022 that China was actively seeking a military naval base on Africas western coast that could threaten US national security. The thing I think Im most worried about is this military base on the Atlantic coast, and where they have the most traction for that today is in Equatorial Guinea, Townsend said. But US engagement with Equatorial Guinea, which is ruled by one of the worlds longest serving autocrats, may have put Bata on the backburner for Beijing, according to the FDDs Singleton, who says there are signs China may be focusing on nearby Gabon instead. Gabon this year elevated its bilateral relationship with China from a comprehensive cooperative partnership to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, one in which the two governments will almost certainly deepen collaboration in security and military-related domains, Singleton said. After Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family had ruled the country for 56 years, visited Beijing in April to seal the upgrade in relations, he told Chinas state-run Xinhua news service that the two countries have reached a high level of consensus on preserving global peace and security, as well as resolving conflicts. A coup in Gabon this week, in which military officer placed the president under house arrest, brings new uncertainty to the China-Gabon relationship. But no matter the exact details of any plan by Beijing to push forward military access in West Africa, Singleton said one thing is clear: China aims to one day develop the capability to project its forces throughout the Western Hemisphere. Smooth sailing? However, Chinas path to developing permanent overseas bases, if indeed that is its aim, is not straightforward. Many countries hosting US bases share defense treaties with the superpower, but China has a long-standing policy of not having formal allies raising questions about the incentive for countries to welcome Beijings bases on their land. Though China wields sizable economic clout that may help in that regard, governments that agree to host a Chinese military base could place their relations with the United States and its many allies in jeopardy amid growing rivalry and tension between the two powers. And operating overseas bases exposes Beijing to other security risks, including becoming drawn into domestic conflicts in host countries. Chinese nationals in Pakistan, for example, have been targeted by insurgents. Most recently on August 13, militants attacked vehicles carrying Chinese engineers in Gwadar, one of the places experts say China could be eying for military port facilities. Nonetheless researchers at the Naval Research Academy in Beijing argued in a 2014 report that Chinas maritime power must extend into the Indian Ocean to support the expansion of Chinas national interests. A possible strategic point could be the Pakistani port of Gwadar, which was built with Chinese support, the authors said, adding that given geopolitical sensitivities in the region, the development of overseas supply and support points should be done cautiously and in a low-profile manner. While public discussion about overseas military bases has gathered momentum in China in recent years, there remain higher military priorities for the Peoples Liberation Army, according to Isaac Kardon, a senior fellow for China studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank in Washington. Chinese leaders perceive the most acute threats in maritime East Asia Taiwan, South and East China Seas and are unlikely to allocate major resources or leadership attention to far-flung outposts that serve limited strategic purposes, he said. Instead China may be likely to continue its preference for relying on lower-end dual-use options linked to its overseas commercial infrastructure, like ports, according to Kardon. Still there is a growing case for a few more military bases to support a more robust, higher-end presence, Kardon said, adding that China will be will be opportunistic about basing arrangements when they can be had. More than bases While the bulk of attention on the PLAs overseas ambitions focuses on naval facilities, it is also looking at facilities for eavesdropping and communications, according to the FDD something other powers like the US are widely believed to operate in key strategic locations. Sources told CNN earlier this year that China has been spying on the US from facilities in Cuba for years. A source familiar with the intelligence said Beijing also has a deal in principle to build a new spying facility on the island that could allow the Chinese to eavesdrop on electronic communications across southeastern US. The FDDs Singleton says the Cuban efforts show the extent of the PLAs reach already. Chinas deepening military and intelligence ties to Cuba reaffirms that the PLA need not establish regional military primacy in Asia as a precondition to project globally, he said. Singleton also points to Chinas deep space ground station in Argentinas Patagonian desert region, which Argentina said both sides agreed was exclusively for civil purposes. The facility is run by the China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General Organization, which government records show is linked to the PLAs Strategic Support Force. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank in Washington points out why thats troubling to US military planners. Ground stations help keep track of the tens of thousands of satellites and other objects in Earths orbit a capability known as space situational awareness (SSA) that is critical for fighting and winning wars in information-rich battle spaces, the CSIS said in a 2022 report. The view from Washington In Washington, some members of Congress are taking notice, and urging the Defense Department not to hesitate in taking measures to counter a growing PLA footprint, whether by enticing possible Chinese base hosts to look to the US instead, or by beefing up the US military presence in areas where the PLA is. The Chinese Communist Party will continue their strategic expansion of military bases across the globe with access to major sea lanes, maritime chokepoints, and oil and gas import routes, Rep. Rob Wittman, a Virginia Republican, said in an email to CNN. The Defense Department must enhance its engagement with Beijings target nations to offer those countries the United States as a stronger economic and security partner, he said. Wittmans colleague, Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton, told CNN that Washington should be getting more involved in countries where Beijing is trying to make inroads because it offers what China cant. Our first response should be to double down on diplomacy because America offers freedom, security, and economic opportunity where China wants control, Moulton said. Chinas goal is world dominance through authoritarian control. And authoritarianism is what they are exporting to other countries and regions by expanding their military footprint. That view is echoed in the Pentagon. What is particularly concerning about (Chinas) activities is the lack of transparency and clarity around the terms it negotiates with host countries and the intended purposes of these facilities, US Defense Department spokesperson Lt. Col. Martin Meiners told CNN. The US wants to ensure that Indo-Pacific nations can make choices about their economic and security future that serve their best interests, he said. Offer a personal message of sympathy... By sharing a fond memory or writing a kind tribute, you will be providing a comforting keepsake to those in mourning. If you have an existing account with this site, you may log in with that below. Otherwise, you can create an account by clicking on the Log in button below, and then register to create your account. Doosan Robotics' A Series collaborative robot arm / Courtesy of Doosan Robotics By Lee Min-hyung More companies are opening public subscription of shares ahead of their planned initial public offerings (IPOs), as corporate demand for fundraising grows faster amid long-lasting macroeconomic uncertainties here and abroad. According to the Korea Exchange, a group of around 10 companies are scheduled to jump into pre-IPO procedures in September. The number exceeds the average of seven for the same month between 1999 and 2022. This raises hopes for the revitalization of the local IPO market for the year after a number of companies postponed their bids for going public due to the sluggish stock sentiment. Even if the benchmark KOSPI and secondary Kosdaq have yet to join a stable recovery track, the overall sentiment has turned more optimistic this year, as was shown by the growth of the two representative stock indexes. Doosan Robotics, a robot manufacturer, plans to conduct demand forecasting with institutional investors for five days from Sept. 11, and hold its general subscription of shares on Sept. 21 and 22. The company is valued at as high as 3 trillion won ($2.27 billion) in the market. Shinsung ST, a secondary battery components manufacturer, is also set to go public in October after ending its public subscription for shares during the same period as the Doosan affiliate. The firm's planned IPO is considered timely, as investors pay growing attention to secondary battery-linked shares amid global sensation for electric vehicles. Industry officials said the outcome of Doosan Robotics' subscription will determine the overall IPO market sentiment until the end of this year. "If the company attracts better-than-expected attention from investors and the market, this will have positive impacts across the local IPO market, as no other companies have done so far this year," an investment industry source said. But it still remains unclear whether the firm's IPO will make a hit, as the company still reports lukewarm earnings. Doosan Robotics reported an operating loss of 9.9 billion won in the first half. Its total operating loss last year also came in at 13.2 billion won. The firm's sales are on the rise, but its profitability remains weak due to its expanded expenditure on research and marketing. The de facto end to the global monetary tightening cycle, however, is widely expected to add more vigor to the IPO market here. The main bourse is on the recovery track after having faced an adjustment period in mid-August. As the U.S. Federal Reserve is not forecast to return to its earlier hawkish rhetoric, expectations are that more capital will flow into the stock and other forms of asset markets. The UK government has laid out its five ambitions for the upcoming AI Safety Summit, due to be held at Bletchley Park at the start of November. First announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in June during a visit to Washington to meet with US President Joe Biden, the summit aims to bring together government officials, AI companies, and researchers at Bletchley Park to consider the risks and development of AI technologies and discuss how they can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action. In March, the UK government published a white paper outlining its AI strategy, stating it was seeking to avoid what it called heavy-handed legislation, and will instead call on existing regulatory bodies to use current regulations to ensure that AI applications adhere to guidelines, rather than draft new laws. Regulators are expected to start issuing practical guidance to organizations in coming months, handing out risk assessment templates and setting out how to implement the governments principles of safety, security and robustness; transparency and explainability; fairness; accountability and governance; and contestability and redress. The UK looks forward to working closely with global partners on these issues to make frontier AI safe, and to ensure nations and citizens globally can realise its benefits, now and in the future, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said in a statement, adding that the five objectives outlined by the department build upon initial stakeholder consultation and evidence-gathering and will frame the discussion at the summit. The term frontier AI is defined in a July 2023 academic paper by Anderljung et al as highly capable foundation models that could exhibit dangerous capabilities. Foundation models are a kind of generative AI, and the dangers that the next generation of such models might pose include significant physical harm or the disruption of key societal functions on a global scale, resulting from intentional misuse or accident, the papers authors warned. The five objectives of the UK governments summit are: Develop a shared understanding of the risks posed by frontier AI and the need for action Put forward process for international collaboration on frontier AI safety, including how best to support national and international frameworks Propose appropriate measures which individual organisations should take to increase frontier AI safety Identify areas for potential collaboration on AI safety research, including evaluating model capabilities and the development of new standards to support governance Showcase how ensuring the safe development of AI will enable AI to be used for good globally. The full list of invitees has yet to be announced. The Busworld trade fair will be held again for the first time in four years between October 7 and 12, 2023, after it was canceled in autumn 2021 due to the pandemic. ebmpapst will once again be taking part at the industry meeting for buses in Brussels at Booth 521 in Hall 5 and will be presenting new products for bus air conditioning and battery cooling, particularly for battery electric vehicles. Components installed in vehicle technology, such as fans, are exposed to harsh ambient conditions. They have to withstand road dirt, small particles and chemically aggressive contamination. Assemblies must be designed to withstand vibration and shock loads in a tight space. That is why ebmpapst offers particularly robust and quiet fans for this application. After all, electric mobility means that the components' noise emissions play a greater role. As the diesel engine is replaced by an electric motor, the fan comes to the fore as the loudest source of noise. The size 400 AxiEco axial fans from ebmpapst are specially designed for use in vehicle technology. Aerodynamic optimizations of the impeller achieve a better and even air flow, and the noise level has been significantly reduced again. As a result, noise emissions for this application have been reduced by 12 dB (A) compared to conventional axial fans. The AxiEco is equipped with a continuously adjustable BLDC motor. The fans are maintenance-free and groundbreaking in global commercial vehicle applications. The electronics meet the requirements for the IP6K9K degree of protection, meaning that they withstand use of high-pressure cleaners. For an electric bus to be operated in an energy-efficient manner, it is necessary to keep the temperature of the battery, and other components, at an optimum temperature range. Batteries have an ever higher capacity, extending the range of the buses, but the batteries' cooling requirements are also increasing. For battery cooling, ebmpapst has the size 310 RadiCal centrifugal fan in its product range, which runs particularly quietly and almost imperceptibly in quiet electric buses. Please share the news Prof Yunus with Barrack Obama Moreover, the BNP is yet to declare its participation in the national polls, as it leads an opposition alliance for a caretaker administration in Dhaka to conduct the elections. Otherwise, they decided to boycott the electoral exercise, but PM Hasina had refused to step down for a neutral caretaker government prior to the elections. There are wild speculations that the combined opposition parties may project Prof Yunus as their leader in the January 2024 general elections. The man who pioneered the microcredit movement and formed the extraordinary institution Grameen Bank of Bangladesh (which shared the 2006 Nobel prize with him) already stated that he would not join in active politics. But the worlds longest-serving female government head apprehends that Prof Yunus may influence the voters against her party candidates in the forthcoming polls. The ground reports reveal that the incumbent Hasina government may lose the elections, if it is conducted in a free and fair manner. In fact, soon after coming to power once again in 2008, PM Hasina started a series of probes against Prof Yunus. First he was accused of receiving money from foreign organisations (including royalties from his books) without informing the government. Later he faced charges under the company rule violation in Grameen Telecom. A group of workers complained that Prof Yunus as its chairman deprived them of various due job benefits. With more to add, Prof Yunus along with a few others were accused of misusing funds of the telecom company. Now the Supreme Court has directed Prof Yunus to pay a tax of Taka 12 crore to the government as he donated money to three of his own trusts. Recently, 177 global leaders including Nobel laureates, elected officials, business and civil society leaders, etc urged the Sheikh Hasina led government to stop harassing the octogenarian economist turned revolutionary banker to an acclaimed social thinker. We respectfully ask that you (Prime Minister Hasina) immediately suspend the current judicial proceedings against Prof Yunus, followed by a review of the charges by a panel of impartial judges drawn from within your nation with some role for internationally recognized legal experts. We are confident that any thorough review of the anti-corruption and labor law cases against him will result in his acquittal, said the open letter, issued on 28 August. Appreciating Prof Yunus work as inspirational to all of them which focuses on how social business can be a force for international progress resulting in zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions, the letter added that Prof Yunus is a leading example of how Bangladesh and Bangladeshi nationals have contributed to global progress in recent decades. Prof Yunus withe the author We sincerely wish that he (Prof Yunus) be able to continue his path-breaking work free of persecution or harassment, stated the letter adding that they expect PM Hasina to ensure the resolution of these legal issues in an expedient, impartial, and just manner. The influential global citizens asserted that they would join with millions of concerned citizens around the world in closely tracking how these matters are resolved in the coming days. Pointing out over a current judicial proceeding against Prof Yunus, they termed it as a broader assault on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Bangladesh. Commanding on the laudable progress made by Bangladesh since its independence in 1971, they however expressed deep concern over the threats to democracy and human rights in the country.We respectfully ask that you (Prime Minister Hasina) immediately suspend the current judicial proceedings against Prof Yunus, followed by a review of the charges by a panel of impartial judges drawn from within your nation with some role for internationally recognized legal experts. We are confident that any thorough review of the anti-corruption and labor law cases against him will result in his acquittal, said the open letter, issued on 28 August.Appreciating Prof Yunus work as inspirational to all of them which focuses on how social business can be a force for international progress resulting in zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions, the letter added that Prof Yunus is a leading example of how Bangladesh and Bangladeshi nationals have contributed to global progress in recent decades.We sincerely wish that he (Prof Yunus) be able to continue his path-breaking work free of persecution or harassment, stated the letter adding that they expect PM Hasina to ensure the resolution of these legal issues in an expedient, impartial, and just manner. The influential global citizens asserted that they would join with millions of concerned citizens around the world in closely tracking how these matters are resolved in the coming days. The signatories include Nobel laureates Barack H Obama, Jose Ramos-Horta, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Roberta Gbowee, Albert Arnold Gore Jr., Tawakkol Karman, Denis Mukwege, Nadia Murad, Maria Ressa, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Juan Manuel Santos, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Jody Williams, Peter Agre, Thomas R. Cech, Martin Chalfie, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, Walter Gilbert, Alan Heeger, Richard Henderson, Edmund Phelps, Vernon L. Smith, Joseph E. Stiglitz, J. M. Coetzee, Herta Muller, Orhan Pamuk, etc. They did not forget to ask Hasina for ensuring a free, fair, and participatory national election in the coming months. Stating that the previous two national elections in Bangladesh lacked legitimacy, the acclaimed citizens expressed hope that the administration of the election (for its 350-member Jatiya Sansad) be acceptable to all major parties in Bangladesh. The ruling AL won over 250 Parliamentarians in December 2018 elections and the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman arguably enjoys an electoral advantage over the opposition parties. The letter was also signed by Ban Ki-moon (former UN Secretary General), Hillary Rodham Clinton (former U.S. Secretary of State), Narayana Murthy (founder, Infosys), Ron Garan (former NASA astronaut), Dumitru Bragish (former Moldova Premier), Emil Constantinescu (former Romania President), Mirko Cvetkovic (former Serbia Premier), Ameenah Gurib Fakim (former Mauritius President), Yves Leterme (former Belgium Premier), Giorgi Margvelashvili (former Georgia President), Mary Robinson (former Ireland Premier), Viktor Yushchenko (former Ukraine President), etc. --- *Senior journalist based in Guwahati As Bangladesh is approaching the next national elections in early next year, where the ruling Awami League (AL) party will seek the mandate from 170 million people (including voters) for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajeds fourth consecutive term in office, one may witness more attacks on Professor Muhammad Yunus, the south Asian nations lone Nobel laureate, by the AL government in Dhaka and incumbent PM Hasina herself.The poverty-stricken countrys main opposition political entity Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) remains in a fragile position as its uncontested leader Begum Khaleda Zia continues to be unhealthy and its acting chairperson Tarque Rahman is exiled in London since 2008. Number of newborns drops for 91 straight months By Yi Whan-woo Korea saw its population decline in June of this year at the steepest rate for that month on record. The latest data adds to concerns that the country's entire population will retreat for the fourth consecutive year. Analysts said the worsening demographic crisis casts doubts over the effectiveness of subsidies provided by the government to encourage couples to have more children. They said the government should focus instead on building daycare centers, pre-schools and other facilities where parents can safely leave their children during working hours as many of them are dual-income families. According to Statistics Korea, Korea's population declined by 8,205 in June from a month earlier with 18,615 babies born compared to 26,820 deaths. It was the steepest decline for June since 1981 when the government began collecting such data. The number of babies born was down 1.6 percent from a year ago, extending a year-on-year decline for 91 consecutive months. The number of deaths inched up 7.6 percent year-on-year, continuing the trend of deaths surpassing births for 44 straight months. As a result, Korea saw a cumulative population decrease of 52,032 people during the first six months of 2023. Correspondingly, the population is anticipated to shrink for the fourth straight year after falling by 33,000 in 2020, 57,000 in 2021 and 124,000 in 2022. To keep the country's population stable at 51 million, the fertility rate or average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, should stand at 2.1. The birth rate, however, fell to a record low of 0.70 in the second quarter of 2023, compared to 0.78 a year earlier. Under the circumstances, analysts said improving conditions to raise children is the key to countering the rapidly dwindling population. They noted that the number of marriages increased 7.8 percent year-on-year to 16,053 in June, with couples who had delayed their weddings during the COVID-19 pandemic tying the knot. "I'd say there are more people who want to marry than those who want to have children," said Park Hye-rim, a researcher at Korea Institute of Local Finance. "The government should take that trend into account in its policies and ensure that increases in marriages also result in an increase in births." The researcher pointed out that although subsidies provided by the government continued to increase to up to 1 million won ($757) per child, such support measures "do not reflect what parents need to raise children." Park said since many parents are dual-income couples, having someone take care of their children while they are at work "will serve their interests the most." Especially if you live in a bohemian (read: heavily gentrified) neighborhood like my own of Bushwick, Brooklyn, chances are that youve noticed a remarkable swell of modern occultists. Theres probably more Wiccans on my local dating apps than there are Catholics, and while other local businesses fail, a nearby witch shop is booming. The study of the spooky is back in full force these days. To be honest, who can blame someone for trying to add a little more mystery into their life? When the answers to everything require only a bend of the elbow, 21st century life is definitely lacking a little bit in the wonder and awe department. Do I think crystals can bring you riches and love? Absolutely not. But its a whole lot more exciting to imagine your bank account in the grip of some moon goddess than the Fed and the undulations of the S&P 500. Theyre also in good company; thats because some historical figures you might know better for other accomplishments were doing a little hoodoo on the side as well. Here are five in particular who had a magical side hustle 5 Sir Isaac Newton Public Domain Black metal beliefs, 1980s metal hairstyle Isaac Newtons probably known best as a mathematician and physicist, two jobs that would suggest someone with high disdain for magic, rather than an active practitioner. Its like someone agreeing that the world revolves around the sun, but that the sun is also a mystical fire god. For someone that occasionally, depending on opinion, is crowned the father of modern science, it feels almost unbecoming. Which is partly why his relatives hid away his extensive occult writings for centuries after his death, wanting him to be known more as the gravity guy than an aspiring sorcerer. Advertisement Newton was, though, fascinated with the occult, particularly the halfway mixture between science and magic known as alchemy. In the dark ages. This wasnt a passing curiosity, either. Of all Newtons surviving work, only about 30 percent is scientific or mathematical. He wrote twice that amount about religion and alchemy (the remainder is about his work at the Royal Mint). He even, by his own admission, thought that religion and alchemy were his greater studies. Debatable, but theres also evidence that his open-mindedness led to some of his most significant scientific discoveries, maybe a good argument for modern STEM majors not to be such massive wet blankets. 4 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Public Domain If you ve never seen Arthur Conan Doyle, he looks exactly like you thought he did. Advertisement Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a doctor as well as an author, and his most enduring hero, Sherlock Holmes, is one of literatures great skeptics and logicians. If you assumed his creator turned up his nose similarly at any extraordinary explanations of the unexpected, though, youd be dead wrong. Doyle was a spiritualist, which meant something different back then than today, when it mostly just refers to earth-shatteringly horny men wearing seven to eight rings. Spiritualists of the time believed that the human spirit survived death, which must have been comforting for Doyle in case of any fuck-ups at his doctor day job. What separated them from your classic soul, afterlife, heaven-and-hell folks was that they were also very into attempting seances to say whats up to said spirits. Doyle even received an invitation to join the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which was basically the Bilderberg group for people trying to summon demons. He turned it down, which is surprising, because however strongly you believe in that stuff, seems like an enemy you dont want on your list. Advertisement Advertisement 3 William Butler Yeats Public Domain A face built to say, My god, what have we done? While were on the Hermetic Order, Doyle had a contemporary who threw himself in head first. The famous poet William Butler Yeats was a bona-fide obsessive when it came to the supernatural, writing, The mystical life is the center of all that I do and all that I think and all that I write. Chill out, dude. Even the devil thinks youre coming off a little desperate. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn wasnt even his first occult membership. He was kicked out of another, the Theosophical Society, for trying to create ghosts. He had a notable feud with infamous boogeyman Aleister Crowley, too. The basis of this feud? Literally the age-old battle between good and evil. Yeats was concerned that if Crowley was able to learn sorcerys deepest secrets, he would unleash a horrific fate upon humankind. These two dudes truly thought they were living a real life D&D campaign. Advertisement 2 H.R. Giger Smalltown Boy My process is I wake up in a bed full of piss and then I draw what I saw. Advertisement Okay, so this one is less than surprising. If youve ever seen any of H.R. Gigers art, you likely didnt come away thinking, This guy seems well-adjusted. When you make your living bringing literal nightmares to life, youre already walking parallel to the left-hand path. The dude straight up lived the life of a haunted man from a horror story. Once, when he was told that his visions were just his mind, he deadface responded, That is what I am afraid of. Go off, you deeply disturbed king. Advertisement Giger reportedly never personally practiced the occult, but was a stalwart student of it. He was introduced to occultism and its well-known figures like H.P. Lovecraft through his friend Sergius Golowin, who, based on his name, was probably a shapeshifting demon. Gigers reticence to get into the unpleasant nooks and crannies comes partly from the fact that, according to his second wife, he was a huge scaredy-cat who was freaked out by real corpses and, um, meat. Meanwhile, he was publishing books literally titled Necronomicon. Chinese tourists arrive at the Incheon International Airport, Aug. 25. Newsis Korea's finance ministry said Monday it plans to lift visa processing fees for Chinese tourists through the end of this year and increase the number of flights in line with efforts to attract more Chinese visitors. The latest move came three weeks after China's tourism authorities announced the decision to lift the ban on group tours to South Korea, ending a six-year hiatus caused by frayed relations following the deployment of a U.S. defense system here. From 2017 to 2019, the average number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea came to 4.99 million annually. While the figure came to just 540,000 over the January-June period of this year, the number of visitors is widely expected to start a full-fledged recovery in the fall on the back of normalized international travel and Beijing's updated policies. The government plans to attract 1.5 million additional Chinese tourists in the second half, with a goal of reaching 2 million for all of 2023. The figure is expected to contribute to a 0.16 percentage-point growth in Korea's gross domestic product. In order to attract more tourists, Korea plans to lift visa processing fees, currently set at 18,000 won ($13.6) for visitors arriving in groups, until the end of December. The country also opened two additional visa centers in China, raising the total number of such offices to seven. Korea added it will "proactively" approve additional flights between the two countries. In August, the number of weekly flights between Korea and China came to 697, which is around 63.4 percent of the number posted in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The government will also develop package programs that connect to the annual Korea Sale FESTA the Korean equivalent of Black Friday scheduled in November. Korea plans to immediately refund value-added taxes for foreign tourists through mobile payment platforms as well, with the service being available for WeChat Pay starting in October. The service for UnionPay and Alipay will start in December, the government added. The government will begin expanding efforts to crack down on unauthorized accommodations and tour guides in September. (Yonhap) A military enthusiast has claimed he knows how much members of the King's Guard earn as an annual salary - saying the lowly amount might shock those assuming the soldiers earned more. British TikToker @howmuchthough gave his followers a breakdown of different ranks - and many were surprised to be told that trainees start on as little as 18,687 a year. The creator explained that to get into the King's Guard, you need to be aged between 16 and 35and-a-half and be physically fit - but 'there are no stated education requirements'. Training would kick off with a course of need-to-know basics, like weapons-handling, map reading and drills at The Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, North Yorkshire. Then, soldiers join their Foot Guards Battalion, where there is a greater focus on mission-specific training and State Ceremonial duties. TikToker @howmuchthough gave his followers a breakdown of different ranks - and many were surprised to be told that trainees start on as little as 18, 687 The social media creator said soldiers start on a whoppingly low 18,687. After being promoted to Guardsman - equivalent to Private - this increases to 23,496. The next step up, according to @howmuchthough, at Lance Corporal, will earn 34,497 and following on, Lance Sergeant will get 36,728. Finally, he said a Sergeant will get 41,374 and a Colour Sergeant, 46,815. 'Bro, thats so little,' one commenter said. 'That doesnt seem like a lot,' a second added. 'Pathetic pay,' another slammed, while one penned that they're 'basically paid nothing'. However, some people pointed out that there are other financial perks to consider in the job. 'Considering they generally have their housing paid for and oftentimes food payed for for the most part, its not terrible,' one comment read. The social media creator said soldiers start on a whoppingly low 18,687. After being promoted to Guardsman - equivalent to Private - this increases to 23,496. Stock image used Social media users hit out at the 'pathetic' pay they felt soldiers start off on as they commented on the TikTok The original TikToker also claimed that if you don't make it to Lance Sergeant within 12 years, you're booted out of the King's Guard - but this doesn't appear to be confirmed. The British Army website doesn't confirm the salaries - other than stating that a minimum of 18, 687 will be earned during training and that 23,496 is the pay after this is complete. However, it also promises 'significant benefits', including subsidised meals, low cost accommodation and free medical and dental care. Soldiers also don't tend to pay for food or accommodation when they are deployed on exercise or operations. MailOnline has reached out to the Ministry of Defence for comment and clarification of details. A mom-of-two has revealed that she has been having 'the best sex' of her life with her husband who is 13 years her junior. Stephanie O'Shea, 42, met Charlie, 29, when she called a plumber to fix a burst pipe in her home - and soon realized that he was the love of her life. The hospital financier's beau is only eight years older than 21-year-old daughter Zoe who has branded her mom as a cougar. The Virginia-based couple, who claim to be 'inseparable,' got married in 2019 and now share seven-year-old son Lucas together. Stephanie O'Shea, 42, met Charlie, 29, when she called a plumber to fix a burst pipe in her home - and soon realized that he was the love of her life The Virginia -based couple, who claim to be 'inseparable,' got married in 2019 and now share seven-year-old son Lucas together Zoe (right as a child) and Charlie at times didn't get along but he 'went out of his way' to bond with her daughter who has become 'pretty mellow' over time Stephanie, who initially doubted the couple's compatibility, claimed that her own daughter previously made fun of their relationship. Zoe had initially teased the pair with 'cougar jokes' but the mom-of-two argues that it was 'all in good fun' and that she 'respects' their marriage. Her daughter and Charlie have not always got along as their personalities are completely 'opposite' which was 'irritating' for them. But Stephanie claims her partner 'went out of his way' to build a bond with Zoe who has become 'pretty mellow' over time. Stephanie has said that Charlie's age gap proximity to her daughter doesn't affect her because they differ in their 'levels of maturity,' being that 'she's a 21-year-old college student and he's a 29-year-old business owner who's a military veteran.' The couple were able to 'move past it' after deciding that it 'doesn't matter' because they 'enjoy each other's company.' At the time she was going through the divorce of her 16-year-long marriage and was busy looking after the teenager when the two met. Charlie had just gotten out of a long-term relationship himself and they were both 'just trying to enjoy time without the drama,' Stephanie said. At first Zoe (left) teased the couple with 'cougar jokes' but the mom (right) argues that it was 'all in good fun' and that she 'respects' their marriage, therefore, she wasn't offended Stephanie was utterly shocked to find out she was pregnant soon after the couple made it official The mom who has a history of endometriosis, thought she'd never be able to have any more kids, so the news came as a 'pleasant' shock She confessed that it 'took a lot' for her to 'get over' her divorce and start a new chapter. The mom recalled the special moment the two met when he came over to address water damage at her home - in his capacity as a plumber. They 'hit it off immediately' and he gave her his personal phone number. Four months later. she had water damage again and had forgotten she had his number so his company sent somebody else instead. To her surprise Charlie arrived after the appointment to collect payment and the two ended up sitting on her porch 'talking for hours.' The pair was 'finishing each other's sentences' and Stephanie felt like she was 'talking to herself at his age.' Their 'strong connection' led to a first date and within one month the couple made it official. The duo's private life was thriving and Stephanie confessed: 'I would say we are probably much more sexually active than many other long-term couples, it's the best [sex] I've ever had.' Stephanie was utterly shocked to find out she was pregnant soon after. Stephanie said gushingly that even her former in-laws were 'really welcoming' while attending the pair's wedding and 'showered' the duo with baby gifts Now, eight years later, the family couldn't be happier and she claims their romance is 'true love,' and that everyone is very supportive of their relationship Although Stephanie confessed that she believes 'some people have negative opinions' about their relationship, she will continue to do 'what she wants when she wants' The mom who has a history of endometriosis, a condition where tissue grows outside the uterus - often causing intense pain, thought she'd never be able to have any more kids, so the news came as a 'pleasant' shock. She was 'thrilled' by the surprise and Charlie 'could not get the smile off his face.' Stephanie was taken back by his positive reaction because he 'swore up and down that he didn't want children.' The couple spoke having children previously, however, neither thought it would 'happen so quickly.' Now, eight years later, the family couldn't be happier and she claims their romance is 'true love' and everyone is 'very supportive of their relationship.' 'People keep saying ''You look so happy'' which is lovely to hear,' she said joyfully. Stephanie said gushingly that even her former in-laws were 'really welcoming' while attending the pair's wedding and 'showered' the duo with baby gifts. The mother of two along with her children Zoe (middle) and Lucas (right) are all smiles in their kitchen They couple shamelessly 'still flirts,' charmingly hit each other's bottoms and proudly say they've 'never lost the spark' Although Stephanie confessed that she believes 'some people have negative opinions' about their relationship, she will continue to do 'what she wants when she wants,' and the trolls don't 'bother' her. She calls Charlie her 'best friend all these years later' and she happily shares that they are together 'almost all day, every day.' Stephanie 'misses him' whenever he leaves the house and so they consistently stay in contact to check up on each other throughout the day. The couple shamelessly 'still flirt,' charmingly hit each other's bottoms and proudly say they've 'never lost the spark.' Stephanie concluded: 'We are inseparable and I'm so glad the pipe burst.' A wheelchair-bound woman who is on permanent life support after suffering from a horrific spinal cord injury at birth is pregnant with her second baby. Alyssa Higgins, 32, from Rockland County, New York, shared the exciting news via Instagram on Thursday - more than three decades after doctors told her family she'd likely never be able to breathe, speak or eat on her own. The mother-of-one posted a video that showed her two-year-old son, Luke, running towards the camera holding a sonogram photo as she and her husband, Jimmy, 32, watched on adoringly. The toddler donned a T-shirt that said, 'I'm going to be a big brother.' A wheelchair-bound woman who is on permanent life support after suffering from a horrific spinal cord injury at birth is pregnant with her second baby Alyssa Higgins, 32, shared the news via Instagram on Thursday - more than three decades after doctors told her family she'd likely never be able to breathe, speak or eat on her own Alyssa broke her spine when a doctor roughly used forceps to pull her out during birth, and for the first 18 months of her life, she was unable to move on her own. She's seen as a baby She has regained most of her movement over the years, but she still uses a wheelchair and a breathing tube that's hooked up to a ventilator at all times. She's seen during her childhood 'We've been keeping a secret. Couldn't be more excited to be announcing that our family is growing,' Alyssa captioned the clip. 'Can't wait to see Luke as a big brother.' Alyssa broke her spine when a doctor roughly used forceps to pull her out during birth, and for the first 18 months of her life, she was unable to move on her own. She has regained most of her movement over the years, but she still uses a wheelchair and a breathing tube that's hooked up to a ventilator at all times. Alyssa, who often documents the realities of living with a disability to her 129,000 followers, previously told Good Morning America that she always dreamed of having children, but wasn't sure she'd be able to get pregnant since she only has one ovary. But after doctors confirmed that she could conceive, the couple started trying. 'I don't have any fears,' Alyssa told the outlet during her first pregnancy. 'I've been through so much that it's like, "Let's bring it." There's no fear, I'm just excited.' She and husband Jimmy - who she wed in 2019 - welcomed their son in March 2021, and now, they're gearing up for the birth of their second child. And while Alyssa is looking forward to growing their family once again, she admitted to People magazine that this time she was a little 'nervous' because having two young children at the same time can be difficult. Alyssa posted a video that showed her two-year-old son, Luke, running towards the camera holding a sonogram photo as she and her husband, Jimmy, 32, watched on adoringly Alyssa previously told Good Morning America that she always dreamed of having children, but wasn't sure she'd be able to get pregnant since she only has one ovary 'I don't have any fears,' Alyssa told the outlet during her first pregnancy. 'I've been through so much that it's like, "Let's bring it." There's no fear, I'm just excited' She and husband Jimmy - who she wed in 2019 - welcomed their son in March 2021, and now, they're gearing up for the birth of their second child 'Luke's in his terrible twos, so it's going to be hard running around and teaching him without him throwing tantrums, at times, and it'll be all while having a new baby,' she explained. 'He was such an easy baby himself, so we're just hoping the second baby will somewhat be the same. We're so excited.' Alyssa and Jimmy met on a dating site back in 2013, but because she kept her wheelchair hidden in most of her profile photos, he didn't learn about her condition until their first date. However, he wasn't deterred by her spinal cord injury and the two quickly fell in love. He popped the question in 2017, and they tied the knot two years later. While Alyssa is looking forward to growing their family, she admitted to People that this time she was 'nervous' because having two young children at the same time can be difficult Jimmy and Alyssa met on a dating app in 2013. Now, he is determined to prove she's just as capable of being a mother as anyone else '[People] underestimate and undermine her capabilities,' he told People. 'It's more important to have a mom that is loving. The emotional things are more important than the physical things' Now, he's her number-one supporter - and he is determined to prove she's just as capable of being a mother as anyone else. '[People] underestimate and undermine her and her capabilities,' he told People. 'They think certain people shouldn't deserve... or that they're putting a child at a disadvantage by not having a mom as capable of doing things, you know? 'But it's more important to have a mom that is loving. The emotional things are more important than the physical things.' Alyssa added that she hoped being so open about her story would help 'normalize inter-able relationships' and 'disabled parents.' 'People need to realize, like, it's OK. It's not un-normal, it's normal,' she said. A woman who may well be the original 'Barbenheimer' has enjoyed a summer of fame thanks to the blockbuster craze. Barbara 'Barbie' Oppenheimer has had a taste of Tinseltown over the past few months thanks to the highly-anticipated double feature release of Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. The retired professor, from Newton, Massachusetts, whose unusual name was the center of the recent 'Barbenheimer' phenomenon, said she's loved the unexpected attention her name has created. But the 68-year-old has also explained that many people think her moniker is a joke. Barbara 'Barbie' Oppenheimer has had a taste of Tinseltown over the past few months thanks to her blockbuster moniker This summer saw the highly-anticipated double feature release of Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer 'Most people don't believe me when I say my name. They think I'm joking,' she told the New York Post. 'I'm having a lot of fun with the craze,' she confessed. 'It's always important to embrace the serendipity in life, isn't it?' Oppenheimer - whose husband is distantly related to J. Robert Oppenheimer - admitted she hasn't been 'Barbie' for a few years - but was happy to lean into the nickname during the craze. 'You know, I started as a Barbie, spelled just like Barbie. Because in those days, everyone wanted to be like Barbie,' she told Slate in an interview. 'Then when I got to be 12, I changed it to Barby, with a Y, and then I became Barb,' Oppenheimer, who worked as a speech and language pathology professor at Boston University before she retired, told the outlet. 'I grew up in Milwaukee, it was the Midwest of course, I was Barb. But then when I graduated and got my fellowship at Mass General, I went by Barbara. I was so professional and serious.' Oppenheimer, who has two sons and five grandchildren, reported the whole family is in on the joke, and she proudly wore her 'Barbenheimer' t-shirt to watch Barbie. However, she and her husband chose to see Oppenheimer first due to their familial connection. Oppenheimer - whose husband (pictured together) is distantly related to J. Robert Oppenheimer - admitted she hasn't been 'Barbie' for a few years - but was happy to lean into the nickname during the craze Oppenheimer's husband is related to J. Robert Oppenheimer - the 'father of the atomic bomb' 'My husband's father is third cousins to J. Robert, so we really wanted to see how they treated his story,' she explained. 'Well, the first thing I heard before I even saw it was that it's three hours long, and you're like, "Oh, boy." But I didn't find that a barrier at all,' Oppenheimer said. 'I thought they did a good job,' she continued. 'It really gets into the moral dilemmas that Oppenheimer faced. Did he face them head-on at the time? That's a good question.' Oppenheimer, who got her first Barbie at age six, was thrilled with how Barbie was portrayed in the film. 'I only had sons, but my friends with daughters their age wouldn't get them Barbies because they thought it sent the wrong message,' she explained. Oppenheimer, who got her first Barbie at age six, was thrilled with how Barbie was portrayed in the film However, she and her husband chose to see Oppenheimer first due to their familial connection 'But now my granddaughter plays with Barbies, and Barbie is an astronaut and all that now. In fact, she plays with my Barbie! And my Ken and my Skipper.' Despite her long history with the famous doll, she can't fault either movie. 'They're so different,' the self-professed feminist shared. 'I was tickled pink, I might say, that they put Barbie in the Barbie world and then Barbie in the real world. I laughed out loud practically through the whole thing.' 'Oppenheimer is more serious - not that feminism isn't. I do think there were some serious notes women today stand on the shoulders of their mothers, who lived the Barbie life.' In the world of fashion and beauty, dupes or so-called duplicates of expensive products at a much lower price are big business. But what about wine? Can you find a dead ringer for that pricey Provencal rose Whispering Angel weve been swigging this summer, at a fraction of the cost? The devil is in the detail. The nature of wine means where and how its made determines the style. Given the numerous countries where wine is produced, not to mention the hundreds of grape varieties used to make it, the possible combinations are endless. So, whenever I see a wine hailed as a dupe, I cant help but roll my eyes. Helen McGinn has picked out some excellent copycat wines that don't compromise on flavour Even wines made by the same winemaker will vary from year to year, such are the vagaries of vintages. However, with a little know-how it is possible to find great wines that are similar in style to the pricey wines we love. The trick is knowing where to look. Here are some of the best similar sips worth seeking out WHISPER IT . . . The Original: Whispering Angel, 19.99, widely available Similar Sip: Chosen By Majestic Rose, 9.99, Majestic The real thing comes from Provence in the South of France, but go west a bit and youll find lots of producers in the Languedoc region making lovely pale rose wines from similar grapes. Chosen By Majestic Rose, 9.99, Majestic (pictured) is a great alternative to Whispering Angel, which is priced at 19.99 This one, a blend of Grenache and Cinsault, is brilliantly made and has a similar texture and taste to the famous(ly expensive) Whispering Angel with light red fruits and plenty of freshness. Whispering Angel comes from Provence in the South of France MODEL FIZZ The Original: Della Vite Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore, 21.50, Sainsburys Similar Sip: Finest Prosecco Valdobbiadene Superiore, 9.50, Tesco This Tesco Prosecco may not have been created by one of the worlds most famous supermodels and her sisters the Della Vite brand is owned by Cara, Poppy and Chloe Delevingne but its still stunning. It comes from the smartest area in the Veneto region with the same top-quality DOCG status as the Della Vite wine, and in terms of style is similarly light and frothy with gentle lemon sherbet fruit flavours. The most obvious difference is you can have two bottles of this for one of the Della Vite. I know which Id prefer. CHIN CHIN! The Original: Chin Chin Vinho Verde, 12, shopcuvee.com Similar Sip: The Best Vinho Verde, 8.50, Morrisons Chin Chin is like catnip for many a wine-loving hipster, with its eye-catching label and trendy credentials (the wine is a collaboration between cult London restaurant Noble Rot and a boutique producer in Portugal). But as we all know its whats on the inside that counts and if youre looking for a great value Portuguese white thats similar in style, try this Vinho Verde from Morrisons posh own-label range with the same touch of natural spritz and fresh citrus fruit flavours. Chin chin indeed! SPICE OF LIFE The Original: CUNE Imperial Rioja Reserva, 23.75, Co-op Similar Sip: Baron de Ley Rioja Reserva, 9.75, Co-op Rioja wine with its seductive oak-and-spice combo is seriously hard to resist, but in recent years prices have been creeping up especially if you go to highly awarded wineries such as CUNE. Finding a good Reserve quality wine (meaning the wine has been aged for at least three years with one of them spent in oak barrels) for under a tenner from this famous Spanish region nowadays is the holy grail. But this one, from Baron de Ley, is fabulous. Both wines are made (mostly) from the Tempranillo grape, bringing all its usual black cherry fruit to the party, with the long oak ageing adding plenty of cinnamon spice to each. Definitely not dissimilar. BERGERAC BEAUTY The Original: Berry Bros. & Rudd Good Ordinary Claret, 13.50 Similar Sip: Eglise Saint Jacques Bergerac, 7, Tesco London wine merchant Berrys has been selling its GOC, as its known to its fans, for years and it is pretty good value. But go a little further inland from Bordeaux and youll be in Bergerac where red wines made from the same grape varieties can be close in style, too. This one from Tesco is an absolute steal at the price, with its bramble fruit flavours and touch of earthiness. Definitely worth a punt. A US influencer has revealed how she's 'taking control' of her fertility by flying to the UK to freeze her eggs. Brittany Allyn, 37, from New York, took to TikTok to announce the transformative decision after living a life full of 'adventure, career' and 'not settling for love in my 30s'. Egg freezing, also known as oocyte cryopreservation, involves harvesting a woman's eggs and freezing them so she can attempt pregnancy at a later date through in vitro fertilization (IVF) The tech marketer-turned-content creator added that she is still 'not ready to have a family', but opted for the procedure because she wants the option of becoming a mother 'one day'. She revealed that she headed to London for the procedure because at $6,000 it would cost 'a third' of the price - compared to $15,000 in the US. Brittany Allyn (pictured), 37, from New York, took to TikTok to announce she's 'taking control' of her fertility by freezing her eggs She also revealed that she was headed to London for the pricey procedure as it would cost $6000 - 'a third' of the price - compared to $15,000 in the US Her video inspired a wave of supportive messages from fellow women, who also shared their egg-freezing experiences. Documenting the journey, she said: 'This is the story of a single 30-something living in New York city, and heading to London to freeze my eggs for one third of the cost. 'I've lived a life of adventure, career and not settling for love in my 30s. And you know what? I still want to do that for a while longer'. She said that while she was happy to save a stack of cash by having the procedure in London, she was 'scared' it may not work out. 'I want to show you guys the reality of it all' continued Brittany. The singleton said she would be 'honest' about her emotions throughout the process, and would document it all for fans. 'I hope my story can help show another option to take back your fertility at a fraction of the cost' concluded Brittany. Her clinic of choice was Harley Street Fertility Clinic in West London, where she filmed a snippet from the building and remarked 'how nice the offices are here'. Lastly, she revealed the entire process would take two weeks, and she invited her followers once more to tag along for the ride. Brittany's video inspired a wave of supportive messages from fellow women, who also shared their egg-freezing experiences Reactions to the video were positive across the board and offered realistic portrayals of motherhood. One parent wrote: 'Being an older Mom is HARD. I had my first three in my 20s, early 30s I could do so much! Had my last at 40 and its been exhausting. Brittany admitted: 'I sometimes worry but also Im so happy to have lived my independent life all these years creating memories'. 'I just turned 35 and I plan on looking into freezing my eggs by early next year. Im so glad I saw this!' said a doctor. Someone else wrote: 'I froze my eggs this I year and you were a large inspiration'. Another person revealed the procedure costs 4,500 in Scotland. Meanwhile, another commenter cheered Brittany for 'representing' singletons: 'YAY! Congratulations Im on day six of egg freezing. So much of the content around IVF and egg freezing is with couples! Thank you for representing us'. Last year, Brittany told Buzzfeed that her decision was a 'form of insurance for having a baby down the road'. She added: 'I think its such a special opportunity our generation has that allows us to take back some control in our fertility. 'I think Ill be able to have a kid naturally by 40, but might need help in my early 40s.' Some light competition between the UK and the US is nothing new, but one American expat has revealed all the British habits that make his blood boil. Mark Cole, who is living in Scotland, took to TikTok to reveal the multitude of things about the British Isles that drive him around the bend. Among his extensive list of grievances are Britons not celebrating Thanksgiving or the 4th of July - the USA's Independence Day. However, his annoyances don't stop there, with Mark sharing that everything in Britain is 'tiny'. Whether it's the sinks, the living rooms or the showers - Britain isn't doing it big like its friends across the pond, according to the TikToker. Mark Cole - an American living in Scotland - was left baffled by our strange parking habits But the complaints about housing did not stop there. Despite, being miffed about quintessential rainy summers, the American was left baffled as to why many homes don't have air conditioning. However, while the sinks, rooms and houses may not be the size of a grandiose Calabasas mansion, apparently the size of the spiders is something to behold according to Mark. Another aspect of British life that left the American perplexed was the driving and no, it wasn't the roundabouts, it was actually the parking. Mark was also left bemused by the lack of air conditioning in Britain, and complained about our rainy summer months Posing next to a series of cars next to a residential road, the baffled American said: 'Brits just park at the side of the road.' Mark who has nearly 5,000 followers on TikTok, declared that Britain was not the tidiest nation. According to Mark, 'everything looks like it needs a power wash' and Brits love to discard of their rubbish everywhere. And while the island does have many American imports such as McDonalds, KFC and Taco Bell, it is not enough for the American, who deemed the lack of iHop, Cheesecake Factory or Target as a disadvantage. Much like a pair of squabbling siblings, both US and UK viewers took to the comments to argue who was better. After Mark said, 'They don't do fall like the USA,' a Brit quipped, 'We don't do fall because it's called Autumn.' Another added: 'It's almost as if you're in a different country.' Others hurried to Britain's defence, stating, 'We have Greggs,' while another added: 'Yeah but we have Tesco.' Some backed up the American's British peeves, writing: 'I'm British and complain about all of the same things, except the rain, heat makes me feral.' Others were unimpressed by his desire for air conditioning while complaining it rained too much, to which Mark replied: 'It can still be hot when it's raining.' Some offered to help Mark pack his bags, with one woman summing up the feelings of many by saying: 'Close the door on your way out.' By Ko Dong-hwan International fashionistas, designers and traders will flock to Seoul for the 2024 Spring/Summer edition of Seoul Fashion Week (SFW) running from Tuesday to Saturday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza. A total of 30 runway events will be held during the event for 21 top local brands and eight new brands. The opening day will see K-pop girl band NewJeans who are the event's global ambassador at a photo call. Runways for nine brands including Whysocerealz, Demoo Parkchoonmoo and Seokwoon Yoon have been arranged separately to showcase special presentations that fuse fashion and arts. Jointly presented with Hyundai Department Store, the special feature is for "artsumers" who crave cultural elements in fashion, according to the Beauty and Fashion Industry Division under the city government's Economic Policy Office. All the runway events will be livestreamed on the . The event is expected to provide a backdrop for exchanges among 94 of the country's local fashion brands, some 127 buyers from 27 countries as well as distributors and investors in the country's local fashion industry. In addition to the event's frequent participants like French mall chain Printemps and American brand 3NY, newly participating traders joining this year's trade show include French department store Bon Marche, Italian high-end boutique shop Eraldo, British luxury mall Liberty London and Japanese mall brand Isetan. The event will be open to the public on Saturday and items showcased at the trade show will be available for purchase. Outside DDP, a fashion-plus-technology experience zone will invite visitors for an AI hologram photoshoot, while a special exhibition, collaborated by Scandinavia-inspired local brand Anderson Bell and Uruguayan photographer JP Bonino, titled "ADSB X JP Bonino," will also be held. The sideline shows' common themes will be climate change and sustainable fashion. K-pop's global popularity is now extending to K-fashion, which makes SFW a perfect opportunity for Korean local brands and designers to leap forward globally, according to Kim Tae-kyun, who heads the Economic Policy Office. SFW happens a month prior to the world's four biggest fashion shows in New York, Paris, Milan and London, offering early previews of the next spring and summer. The event's next Fall/Winter collection will be showcased in February. Meghan Markle is 'preparing to launch a major new commercial venture' which is 'genuine to who she is', a source claims. The Duchess of Sussex, 42, has been ramping up appearances in recent months, most recently attending a Beyonce concert with Prince Harry in LA on Sunday night. And now sources have claimed she is about to announce a new project - insisting it is not a relaunch of her lifestyle blog The Tig. It comes after the Sussexes' lucrative Spotify project was dramatically pulled. According to The Daily Telegraph's Victoria Ward, the project will be 'authentic' to Meghan, and her 'imminent return to Instagram is surely connected'. Last month, it was reported Meghan is getting ready to 're-launch' herself on Instagram, and with experts predicting she could make a million dollars per post. Meghan Markle, 42, is 'preparing to launch a major new commercial venture' which is 'genuine to who she is', reports claim The Duchess of Sussex has been ramping up appearances in recent months, most recently attending a Beyonce concert in LA on Sunday night Insiders also claimed future projects for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will 'reflect their differing professional interests and talents and are the result of significant thought about their future direction and careers'. A source claimed: 'They are both working on their own things. They are fully supportive of each others concepts and ideas, but they are different from one another, they have different meanings.' The duchess, whose last account with Prince Harry, @sussexroyal, had 9.4million followers before it was deactivated in 2020 when the couple quit their roles as senior royals, is said to be behind a new account named @meghan. Decorated with a picture of pink peonies, reportedly Meghan's favourite flowers, a source close to her team this week confirmed: 'Yes, that's her. Expect an announcement very soon. She's coming back.' The account is already followed by several of Meghan's friends including activist Mandana Dayani, who served as president of Archewell, the Sussexes' foundation, until last December. A source told The Mail on Sunday: 'Everyone in Hollywood is talking about the re-launch being imminent. Meghan has never made any secret of the fact she wants to return to Instagram.' Prior to her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry, Suits actress Meghan's personal Instagram following stood at more than three million, while tens of thousands of fans signed up to her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig. Meghan first announced she was planning a return to Instagram in an interview with The Cut last year, telling writer Allison P Davis: 'Do you want to know a secret? I'm getting back on Instagram.' The duchess' 'new' account already has 76,000 followers and experts say it could prove a huge boost to her finances. She was criticised by a Hollywood bigwig as 'not a great audio talent' after her Spotify series was cancelled The Instagram account that is said to belong to Meghan Markle and will be the stage for her social media comeback Eric Schiffer, a social media expert who advises the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars, ex-Disney actress Bella Thorne and cast members from the US version of Dragons' Den, said: 'I don't think Meghan coming back to Instagram will surprise anyone. 'She has a new talent manager and this is the next logical step. 'I would expect her to quickly become one of the most followed accounts on Instagram. You have celebrities like the Kardashians who can command $1million (790,000) and up for a single post promoting a product. 'There is no reason Meghan couldn't be earning those sorts of fees. 'She has to be careful, as a duchess, to avoid being seen to be hawking every product under the sun. She will align with quality brands and companies that are on point with her political and social beliefs.' Any new project from Meghan comes after a turbulent few months for the couple, after their Spotify project was dramatically pulled after they produced one 12-episode podcast and a festive special over three years. An old Instagram post from Meghan, from a holiday in New Zealand. Sources close to the duchess have said the new account is hers, adding: 'Expect an announcement very soon' Jeremy Zimmer, the boss of United Talent Agency, criticised Meghan in June, saying: 'Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent.' The couple also reportedly did not produce enough content to receive the full pay-out from the reported 18million deal they signed after stepping down as senior working royals. But an Archetypes production source claimed Harry and Meghan had 'a lot of ideas and did pitch them' - although the project was delayed by huge amounts of red tape between the two parties and 'things moved very slowly on both ends'. It was reported the source said last month: 'They were given no formal lay of the land to kick things off, so they were already on unsteady footing even before the ink was dry.' Ever since she met Prince Albert on a plane in 1997, Nicole Coste has played a strange role on the outskirts of Monegasque society. While the leader of the micro-nation was clearly infatuated with the Togo-born fashion designer, the couple's seven-year relationship was never made public, until their son Alexandre was revealed in the press in 2004. Their liaison became the best-kept secret among Monaco society. Although they both attended red carpet events and mixed with socialites and celebrities, the majority of Albert's subjects knew nothing of the relationship. And even since going public, Nicole has stayed on the outskirts of the ultra-wealthy nation's events, until recently. Last week the fashion designer posed next to Prince Albert to mark their son Alexandre's 20th birthday. They were joined by Jazmin Grimaldi - Albert's other illegitimate child - and her other sons from her first marriage. Ever since she met Prince Albert on a plane in 1997, Nicole Coste has played a strange role on the outskirts of Monegasque society. Pictured in April and Prince Albert's ball Last week the fashion designer posed next to Prince Albert to mark their son Alexandre's 20th birthday. They were joined by Jazmin Grimaldi - Albert's other illegitimate child - and her other sons from her first marriage Prior to this, Nicole nearly came tete-a-tete with Albert and Charlene at the 74th annual Red Cross ball. Former Air France stewardess Nicole, 51, was among the guests at the fundraiser, which was founded by Prince Albert's grandfather, Prince Louis II of Monaco, in 1948. Nicole shared a photograph online of her inside the venue at the Sporting Club Salle des Etoiles. 'Red, my favourite colour,' she said of her choice of dress. The former air hostess was also spotted at Prince Albert Foundation's ball in Monte Carlo in April. There is no love lost between Nicole and ex-Olympic swimmer Charlene, 45. Coste has not forgiven the Princess for allegedly putting Alexandre in the palaces staff wing before her 53million wedding in 2011. Prior to this, Nicole nearly came tete-a-tete with Albert and Charlene at the 74th annual Red Cross ball. Former Air France stewardess Nicole, 51, was among the guests at the fundraiser, which was founded by Prince Albert's grandfather, Prince Louis II of Monaco, in 1948 While she has previously had a frosty relationship with Albert too - claiming he 'doesn't want to see his son' - she has recently lavished praise on the monarch - shairng a photo with him on his birthday with the caption: 'Happy birthday Albert.The world will recognise you as The Loyal, the Dignity, the KING Prince Albert is pictured today in front of the SolarStratos solar powered aircraft prototype in Switzerland While she has previously had a frosty relationship with Albert too - claiming he 'doesn't want to see his son' - she has recently lavished praise on the monarch - shairng a photo with him on his birthday with the caption: 'Happy birthday Albert.The world will recognise you as The Loyal, the Dignity, the KING'. In November, she shared another shot of Albert with Alexandre and Jazmin in New York, New York, with the cheeky caption: ' Paternally king'. Perhaps, Nicole's presence on the social scene is due to Charlene's absence. European media has been rife with rumours of the star of the couple's marriage, recently reporting that Charlene is 'living in Switzerland' and only sees her husband Prince Albert for ceremonial reasons. The royal, 45, has spent the summer on a yacht trip with her husband, 65, and their eight-year-old twins Jacques and Gabriella. Nicole was also seen at Monaco cathedral during the traditional Sainte Devote procession in Monaco, January 27, 2022 But she has not returned to the Palace and is living in abroad, fuelling speculation about the state of the couple's marriage. A source close to the couple told French newspaper Voici that the former Olympic swimmer and son of Grace Kelly are just a 'ceremonial couple'. It adds that Charlene has promised to return to Monaco on official occasions and is now allowed to see her children more often. 'Albert and Charlene are now good partners, take turns taking care of the children,' a source added to German newspaper Bild. FEMAIL has contacted the Monaco Royal Palace for comment. Nicole previously admitted she felt little sympathy for Charlene after she was hospitalised for exhaustion in 2021. Prince Albert's twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella with their half-siblings Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and Alexandre Grimaldi-Coste I dont care whats going on with her, she told me. Nicole, who had a six-year clandestine relationship with Albert, even claimed: The people in Monaco love me more than they do Charlene. They really love and respect me. In an interview with the Mail on Sunday in 2014, Nicole told how she was shunned by Monaco society and left to explain to her tearful son why his father no longer sees him. At the time she lived just five miles away from Monaco in an estate in the town of Villefranche-sur-Mer provided for by Prince Albert, but she has since relocated to London. 'The truth is that, I'm sorry to say, Albert hasn't seen Alexandre since a brief visit last September. It has become impossible since he married that girl,' she said at the time. Who are the Monaco Royal Family? Rainier III had three children with wife Grace Kelly Rainier III ruled Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs in European history. He was crucially responsible for the transformation of Monaco economy, shifting from its traditional casino base to its current status as a tax haven and cultural destination. He also coordinated the substantial reforms of Monaco's constitution, which limited the powers of sovereign rule. He wed US film star Grace Kelly in 1956, with generated global media attention. They had three children, Caroline, Princess of Hanover, Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie. Caroline served as first lady of Monaco until her brother married Charlene in 2011. She regularly attends important social events in Monaco, such as the National Day celebrations, the annual Rose Ball and the Red Cross Ball. She married French banker Philippe Junot in 28 June 1978, before divorcing in 1980, before marrying Stefano Casiraghi, with whom she had three children Andrea Albert Pierre Casiraghi, Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi and Pierre Rainier Stefano Casiraghi. Stefano was killed in a speed boating accident in 1990, with Caroline going on to marry Prince Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick in 1999, and have one daughter Princess Alexandra Charlotte Ulrike Maryam Virginia of Hanover. Meanwhile Princess Stephanie has been a singer, swimwear designer and fashion model. Tragically, on 13 September 1982, while returning home from their farm in Rocagel, France, Stephanie and her mother had a car accident. Grace died the next day, on September 14, while Stephanie sustained a fracture of a neck vertebra. She began a relationship with Daniel Ducruet with whom she had two children, Louis and Pauline. She gave birth to her third child Camille Gottlieb in 1992. Prince Albert II ascended to the throne after the death of his father, Prince Rainier III, on 6th April 2005. He is one of the wealthiest royals in the world, worth an estimated $1 billion. He married former Olympic swimmer Charlene in 2011 and gave birth to twins Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques in 2014 The children are often seen at royal events alongside Princess Charlene and Prince Albert, including on the balcony at Monaco's National Day celebrations on 19th November every year. Advertisement 'I suppose as a new wife, how would one feel? But she should think about my innocent child. I don't want to attack her but I think it is just jealousy and I don't know why. I have been through hell in my fight for my son's name and future.' Speaking about how she met Albert, she went on: 'The strange thing is that I wasn't even supposed to be on the flight,' recalls Nicole. 'I was on standby that day and was filling in for a colleague. 'I always served in First Class so I was accustomed to dealing with VIPs. When I saw Albert our eyes met and I knew this was different. There was definitely an aura around him and we hit it off immediately. 'I found him attractive with a twinkle in his eye. 'He asked for my mobile telephone number. I didn't write it on a napkin but on proper paper from the First Class cabin. I think he knew I wasn't intimidated by him, that I felt comfortable in his presence. 'I was charmed but no, it wasn't love at first sight. That came later. Albert called me and asked me to come to Monaco for the weekend. It all seemed very natural and I bought my own ticket and stayed with him at his private apartment. I remember thinking, 'Oh, this is nice.' ' Nicole, whose father was a merchant in Togo, West Africa, admits she was excited and flattered by the attention. 'I think he was attracted by my softness, but I was determined not to be a plaything. I needed him to respect me. So when we slept together we cuddled up but didn't have sex. 'I was determined that we wouldn't make love until we got to know each other better. Albert respected that. I was no gold-digger. If anything, I bought him gifts.' She admits: 'I didn't expect to fall for Albert. I recall waking up in the night and realising that I had fallen in love with him.' 'It is not my fault I fell in love with a Prince,' Nicole says defensively. Inevitably, however, their initial passion waned and the relationship petered out. But in its final days, Nicole discovered she was pregnant. 'When I first broke the news to Albert he was fine about it,' she says. 'He said I should keep the baby and promised to support me.' However, months later the Prince's enthusiasm waned. 'I think Palace officials had got to him, possibly pointing out future inheritance problems.' In spite of Nicole's suspicions it is unlikely that was Albert's motive. A year before Alexandre was born in 2003, Prince Rainier concerned that Monaco would revert to becoming part of France if his son did not produce an heir changed the constitution to decree that only the legitimate offspring of Albert or his sisters, Caroline and Stephanie, could inherit the royal title. This ensured that, should Albert die childless, Caroline or her children would ascend to the throne. When Alexandre was born Albert provided a generous financial allowance for Nicole and her son and moved them into an exquisite villa on the French Riviera. Though Alexandre's birth scandalised Monegasque society, initially Albert was a loving father. Nicole says that she taught the Prince how to change his son's nappies. 'Albert and his son shared an affectionate, natural father/son relationship with trips and pirate-themed birthday parties,' she reveals. 'The Prince was proud of his son, often cuddling him warmly. But while Albert was, albeit in private, a hands-on father, he refused to acknowledge paternity. It was only when DNA tests proved he was the father that he accepted the situation. In 2005 he announced he was the father but decreed his illegitimate son would not inherit the throne. He did, however, vow that Alexandre would be cared for financially. When Albert met and then became engaged to South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock in 2010, his interest in his son waned. Nicole felt sidelined and snubbed by society friends who feared they would offend the new Princess-to-be if they consorted with her. Many criticised Nicole in public, dubbing her 'audacious' for demanding recognition and rights for her son. She also caused anger by being pictured strolling with her son in the Monaco sunshine on the eve of Albert and Charlene's wedding in 2011. 'I was fed up being a secret,' she says angrily. 'I was with Albert for nearly seven years, when I didn't know where it was going. I carry a lot of hurt inside,' she said at the time. Complications from a sinus operation led to the royal (pictured with her husband) staying in her native country for 10 months, and there have been rumours about the state of her marriage ever since 'I don't want to see my son rejected. He sees other boys in his class have their fathers around and it is not good that he doesn't even hear from his. I'm worried that this will upset Alexandre emotionally. 'Although Albert is very generous I don't feel I can contact him after his marriage. 'At Easter, Alexandre said two things upset him. One was the British weather and the other was not seeing his father. 'But I can't make miracles happen. There is more to being a father than just money.'A son needs a father to love, help and guide him through life. We must find a way to make this happen. 'As for me, I want people to know me as Nicole Coste, the talented fashion designer not Nicole, that woman who once slept with the Prince of Monaco.' Princess Charlene of Monaco is 'living in Switzerland' and only sees her husband Prince Albert for ceremonial reasons, reports in German and French media have claimed Princess Charlene of Monaco stepped out in Milan in March without her engagement ring after denying divorce rumours with her husband Prince Albert Meanwhile, the couple's son Alexandre is also stepping into the spotlight, recently giving a tell-all interview to French tabloid Point de Vue. He hit back at being called 'illegitimate' complaining that online trolls question his legitimacy. 'When I was born, neither of my parents were in another marriage, and they did not commit adultery. Using that word [illegitimate] is insulting! I hope no one believes the lies conveyed on the internet. One bears the name of one's father when one has been recognised since birth. I had voluntary recognition from my father when I was a baby. Not from a judge or the press who have forced him to,' he added. It comes after Charlene spent 10-months away from her husband after returning to her native South Africa for what was supposed to be a month-long trip. She wasn't picture in Monaco from January 2021 until March 2022, citing an ear issue which stopped her from flying. Upon her return to the principality, Albert claimed she was 'overwhelmed' and 'unwell'. Complications from a sinus operation led to the royal (pictured with her husband) staying in her native country for 10 months, and there have been rumours about the state of her marriage ever since Speaking to People magazine, Albert said the family reunion in Monaco last week initially went 'pretty well' in the first few hours, but it then became 'pretty evident' that Charlene was 'unwell.' He said the former Olympian 'realised she needed help', adding: 'She was overwhelmed and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life.' The Prince said the final decision making process about treatment involved an intervention-style meeting with family members, explaining: 'I sat her down with her brothers and a sister-in-law. She had already made her decision, and we only wanted her to confirm it in front of us. She wanted this. 'She already knew the best thing to do was to go and have a rest and have a real medically framed treatment. And not in Monaco. For privacy reasons, it would have to be someplace outside of Monaco.' Meanwhile he revealed Gabriella and Jacques would 'visit' Charlene once they had the 'medical go-ahead', saying the twins 'knew she was tired' and 'not quite herself.' A couple have quit their jobs and sold their family home to bring their toddler up in a DIY 'off-grid' cabin in the wilderness in Chile. Scott Rawlings, 34, and his wife Scarlette, 33, sold their North Yorkshire home along with all their furniture and set off on the 7,000-mile journey to a remote part of Chile in South America in September 2021. Incredible photos show the remote cabin surrounded by endless forest that Scott built after quitting his 50-hour weeks as a quarry firm assistant manager. The 34-year-old decided to quit his UK office job while his wife Scarlette, left her role as a restoration workshop supervisor and the pair moved 'off-grid' with son Lucas, three. Once there, Scott purchased a 32,000 five-acre plot of forest land 20 minutes from the town Paredones in the O'Higgins region and began to build their new lodgings from scratch in May 2022. Scott Rawlings (pictured right) ad his wife Scarlette Rawlings (pictured left) left their jobs and sold their home to move to a 'DIY- cabin' in Chile with their son Lucas (pictured middle) During the building process, Scott spent five months living in a tent while he constructed their 30,000 house while Scarlette and Lucas, who was one at the time, lived with relatives. The young family then moved into their 860sq ft cabin in September 2022 to begin their new lives in the middle of the forest - with the nearest town a 20-minute drive away. Father-of-one Scott said that he was inspired to live off-grid after travelling the globe for six years in his early twenties and finding it hard to settle back into the UK working lifestyle. He used the 50,000 profit from selling their house to buy the land and build their new home in Chile but hopes to start making and selling furniture to earn money to support his family - because their living costs still total 400 per month. The Rawlings family have now been in their two-bedroom forest cabin for almost a year and Scott says living disconnected is the best decision he has ever made. However, because little Lucas may be lacking in 'social interaction' being so remote, Scott says they may opt to take him to nursery if they can afford the fuel. Scott, from Kippax in Leeds, West Yorkshire, said: 'I was contracted to work 38 hours, but I was working 50-hour weeks and they were long, hard days. 'In my industry people seemed so depressed and not happy to be at work and it was grinding on me. Scott said that he was inspired to live off-grid after travelling the globe for six years in his early twenties and finding it hard to settle back into the UK nine-to-five lifestyle Scott built the cabin after quitting his 50-hour weeks as a quarry firm assistant manager in Yorkshire 'I also found it hard to settle back into a normal lifestyle in the UK after travelling for six years and meeting lots of different people. 'Being in management I was just stuck behind my desk and I was working with a lot of people that weren't happy. 'It seemed like a waste of life. I don't want to sound rude but it just seemed like a waste of time and life to me. 'By the time we paid our mortgage and our bills we literally were just looking at your payslip thinking what is the point. 'We literally packed a suitcase each, and put our dogs Ollie and Samba in cargo and left.' As little Lucas may be lacking in 'social interaction' being so remote, Scott says they may opt to take him to nursery if they can afford the fuel The Rawlings have their own chickens and make their own compost and soon hope to buy pigs and grow their own produce so they can reduce their food outsourcing It took Scott five months to build their 'basic cabin', which has two bedrooms, a large balcony and the roof is covered in 10 solar panels and one lithium battery to power their home. Their shower is located in the forest and is powered through a gravity water tank and small boiler that is heated using a gas bottle. The Rawlings have their own chickens and make their own compost and soon hope to buy pigs and grow their own produce so they can reduce their food outsourcing. Scott said: 'The house itself cost about 30,000 with all the solar panels - they were the most expensive part. 'People think it [our house] is all very fancy but it is very basic. 'For me the concept of living off-grid is not paying for your utilities and having no mains, water or electrics into your house. 'So, for me I am living off-grid. During the building process, Scott spent five months living in a tent as he constructed their 30,000 house The Rawlings have solar panels for electricity and a borehole for water access, which Scott built by himself 'We have solar panels for electricity and we have a borehole for water - that's it basically. 'I built the bore hole myself and it's built 25 metres deep into the ground in the forest. 'We then use a generator to pump water up to a tank near our house which we can store 2,000 litres of water and then water is pumped from this into the house. 'We don't have telephone connections. 'We are on the net and people think this is not living off-grid, but each to their own. 'The solar panel system is amazing. We have a fridge-freezer and washing machine and it powers these amazingly. 'We obviously struggle a bit when it's cloudy though. 'Our shower uses water from a tank located at the top of our property, fed by gravity and then it has a little boiler with a gas bottle to hear the water up. 'We also have a little gas bottle for our stove but we hope to soon eliminate these by getting a solar powered water tank and wood fired oven.' Since converting to the off-the-grid lifestyle, Scott said that the family have a monthly budget of 400, which is spent only on food, gas bottles and petrol and they then pay 100 a month on land tax. But with no bills or mortgage to pay, Scott says the family have cut their monthly expenditures by almost a quarter. Scott said: 'This lifestyle is so much cheaper. 'The outgoings on just mortgage and council tax was 1,500 [in the UK] without food every month. 1,500 plus food [so it would cost] at least two grand a month in the UK easily. The family pay 400 a month on food and fuel, but they hope to reduce this by 50% in the next year when they start growing their own things Despite sometimes worrying about money, Scott has said that he would never look back- and he encourages other to do the same Lucas (pictured), three, lived with relatives while the house was being built with his mother Scarlette 'We pay 400 a month on food and fuel and we hope to reduce this by 50% in the next year when we start growing our own things. 'It's definitely on the top of our list to grow and the climate here is fantastic for that.' While living off-the-grid Scott has picked up the odd labouring job to make some money, but both he and Scarlette are currently not in full-time employment. Despite the odd money worry, Scott says he would never look back and encourages others to bring up their family off-the-grid. Scott said: 'This [the money] is the main thing that makes and breaks people living this lifestyle. 'The next few months are going to be hard but trying to make money anywhere remote is hard. But, I would absolutely encourage people to live this lifestyle. 'It's not easy. There are always things to do, but hands down there is more to life than the rat race and we are normal working class people. 'This is hands down the best thing I have ever done in my life and if it fails we'll just go back to the grind - but I hope it works out. 'For me it is amazing raising our child without smartphones or tablets and raising him in nature. 'He's three years old and not scared of anything. 'On the other hand, we are concerned that he might lack social interaction raising him like this. 'He is at that age where he could go to nursery but we're unsure if we can afford to pay the fuel to get him there and back but if we do start making money, then we'll send him.' She pointed out that her husband doesn't get asked about his work life balance Jenna Bush Hager did not hold back as she slammed the phrase 'work-life balance' and pointed out that husband Henry never gets asked about his - even though she always does. The 41-year-old presenter, who married her 45-year-old spouse in 2008, unleashed her opinions on the matter on Monday's Labor Day episode of the Today show alongside her co-host Hoda Kotb, 59. Launching into an impassioned speech, Bush Hager branded the phrase 'elitist' and 'female focused,' admitting that she wants it to be binned. 'I have to say, I hate the word "balance,"' she began. 'First of all, it's inherently elitist. I know that my kids, my students' parents who are working a million jobs to get their kids and do whatever was best by their kids weren't like "Am I balanced? Have I done enough?" Jenna Bush Hager clapped back at the phrase 'work-life balance' during Monday's episode of Today The married mom-of-three pointed out that her husband Henry never gets asked about his work-life balance 'No, they were working as hard as they possibly could. Number two, no one asks Henry about his work-life balance. 'I wish they would more often, but it's such a female-focused thing that makes you feel bad, because I'm never balanced. I always spill on myself, I'm always feeling guilty about missing one thing or trying not to. 'So, here's the thing, let's just get rid of it.' Bush Hager went on to acknowledge that stay-at-home moms 'hustle the hardest.' 'They hustle, they're working all the time!' she continued, adding that they're not given any reward for the job they're doing. 'How much would a stay-at-home mom job pay?' co-presenter Kotb asked. 'You don't get any rest, you get no vacations, you work 24/7, you're always on call. 'You're doing everything - and you get no praise. You just get "I don't like tacos."' Bush Hager married Henry Chase Hager in 2008 - four years after they met during the 2004 Presidential Campaign. Is hustle culture over? Hoda and Jenna weigh in. pic.twitter.com/jslVX6kgnP TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) September 4, 2023 Bush Hager married her husband, 45, in 2008 - and they now share children Mila, 10, and Poppy, eight, and son Hal, four The couple, who met during the 2004 Presidential Campaign, recently celebrated their 15th anniversary Their relationship became public when they appeared together at a White House dinner for King Charles III and Queen Camilla, when he was the Prince of Wales and she was the Duchess of Cornwall. The couple, who recently celebrated their 15th anniversary, share three children, daughters Mila, 10, and Poppy, eight, and son Hal, four. Henry is the Managing Director at Waterous Energy Fund, a North American private equity firm seeking to invest in established oil and gas businesses. Before joining Waterous Energy Fund, he was a Director with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Henry began his professional career working alongside Bush Hager's father as Staff Assistant to the Senior Advisor at the White House to President George W. Bush. During the Bush-Cheney Presidential Campaign in 2004, he served as Deputy Operations Manager. Last month, Bush Hager revealed her husband was so nervous to ask her father for her hand in marriage that he read the Bible for courage before getting his blessing. Bush Hager made a point that stay at home moms 'hustle the hardest' because they're working around the clock Bush Hager and her co-host Hoda Kotb unpacked the phrase 'work-life balance' together during the program's Labor Day episode '[It was] not easy,' she said. 'He actually read the Bible. I was like, "Come see the movie," or "We're going to go do this." 'We had friends there, and he was like, "No." He called my dad. He's like, "I'd like to come speak to you." He's like, "I'm taking a nap. Come in a couple hours." So he had to sit and stew.' The former First Daughter noted that her other half was more than prepared when it came time to share his intentions with his future father-in-law. 'He had like a seven-point plan of why he wanted to marry me and how he was going to take care of me,' she explained. 'My dad goes, "Henry, I said yes. You don't need to go through anything else Laura, Henry's proposing," and that was that. Good thing he did it.' Production for Netflix's final series of The Crown in underway - but it appears some viewers are not excited about the latest instalment. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the team behind the smash hit royal drama shared an insight into the new season. Its social media post featured an image from the upcoming series alongside a caption. The caption said: 'After six seasons, seven years and three casts, [The Crown] comes to an end later this year. 'We'll be back with more soon, but heres a hint at whats to come in our final season.' Netflix took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a sneak peek into the upcoming (and final) season of royal drama The Crown Meanwhile, the image showed what looked like a church pew, upon which an order of service rested. The document said: 'Service of prayer and dedication following the marriage of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall. St. George's Chapel Windsor Castle. Saturday, 9th April, 2005 2.30 p.m.' A number of viewers seemed disappointed with the apparent focus of the nuptials of Charles and Camilla, and the direction the post hinted the series may be going in. One wrote: 'Team Diana.' A second agreed, sharing the same sentiment in their response, which simply said: 'Team Diana !!!' Another added: 'No I will not watch the last season.' And a fourth simply wrote: 'No.' Some viewers noted that they had enjoyed the earlier seasons more than the later ones, with some criticising the programme's artistic license. One said: 'Loved the first two series. Let's hope it's a bit more realistic rather than showing the commodification of diana's trauma from the deception of bashir and the media.' The then-Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall pictured in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle after their wedding ceremony on April 9, 2005 Another wrote: 'Will you finally admit that its fiction this time?' However, others seemed more excited about the upcoming final series, including one keen viewer. They wrote: 'I have loved every scene, minute and second of this show. Im gutted to say goodbye. Emotionally not prepared. But also ready. All I will say - is I hope Peter Morgan really is considering that prequel, so that we can see even more history from previous reigning monarchs.' The official update comes several months after photos from the set of the upcoming series were seen, showing the filming of Charles' and Camilla's 2005 wedding ceremony. Actor Dominic West, playing Charles, was snapped at York Minster as scenes were shot representing the royal's second marriage, with the location being used instead of St George's Chapel in Windsor where the King and Camilla tied the knot. Photos from the filming also showed actors portraying Prince William and Prince Harry, as well Camilla's children Laura Lopes and Tom Parker Bowles on set. For some social media users, the Netflix post about the upcoming series seemed a little disappointing Meanwhile the bride herself, who is portrayed by Olivia Williams, was nowhere to be seen in the snaps. It is understood Charles and Camilla's nuptials will be portrayed in a positive way, with some working on the show hoping it will mean the public will be left with a 'warm and happy' feeling rather than outraged over how Princess Diana's death, at the age of 36, was depicted. A source close to Netflix told the Mail at the time the photos were published: 'For some months it has felt like the show has been goading the public by ghoulishly telling the story of Diana's death in a heartless way, therefore causing upset to Princes William and Harry needlessly. While a number of viewers seemed somewhat critical about the upcoming season, some appear more enthusiastic 'So the decision to end it so nicely, Netflix hope, will change the perception that they want to be callous, they hope it will remove the bad taste from viewers' mouths. 'Charles and Camilla's wedding will be a true celebration and a really happy moment in the history of the monarchy. It also fits nicely into the King's Coronation year. 'But there are some staff working on the programme who see this all as a cynical move to protect Netflix from leaving its audience really upset at retelling Diana's tragic death.' Imelda Staunton will reprise her role as Queen Elizabeth II, with Jonathan Pryce playing her husband Prince Philip. Elizabeth Debicki will once again appear as Princess Diana in the build-up to her death, while Dominic West plays Prince Charles. Kmart fan was shocked by comment another woman made about her body A Kmart shopper was lost for words over a 'brutal' comment another woman made about her body while shopping for a popular dress. Tahrnia Peach, from New South Wales, was searching for the sold-out $25 Luxe Maxi Dress, which is said to be an affordable 'dupe' of styles sold by Glassons and Skims. The young customer managed to get her hands on a size eight, but claims another shopper looking for the same outfit said she 'might fit a size ten better'. Tahrnia recounted the details in a TikTok video and left hundreds gobsmacked, but admitted the other woman probably 'just wanted the last size eight' for herself. Tahrnia Peach (pictured) was searching for Kmart's popular Luxe Maxi Dress and managed to get her hands on a size eight in grey. However, while in store she claims anther woman told her she 'might fit a size ten better'. The comment left her lost for words She goes, "Oh, is that a Size 8?" And I said "Yeah". And she's like, "You might fit a size 10 better". hat the f***?! Get your own dress, you little rat,' she said. After arriving home Tahrnia tried on the grey dress which fit her physique perfectly 'I have seen this Kookai, SKIMS dupe dress from Kmart all over my For You page, so I'm gonna go and find,' Tahrnia began. She filmed herself purchasing the dress then returned to the car looking stunned. 'So that was kind of carnage. There was one Size 8 left and this girl saw me grab it,' she said. 'And she goes, "Oh, is that a Size 8?" And I said "Yeah". And she's like, "You might fit a size 10 better".' With a shocked look on her face, she paused then said: 'One, not having a dig at Size 10s or anything, there's nothing wrong with that - I can fit a Size 10. 'But like, what the f***?! Get your own dress, you little rat.' After arriving home Tahrnia tried on the grey dress which fit her physique perfectly. The $25 Luxe Maxi Dress (pictured) has been in hot demand and is already sold out across multiple Kmart stores Since posting the video it's since been viewed more than 94,000 times and others were just as shocked. 'What the!! Who says that to someone!! Eight is perfect for you!' one woman wrote Another said: 'Looks so good on you.. glad you didn't fall for her trick.' 'Wow, that other shopper was brutal,' a third added. 'The things girls will say. And also, she was wrong - Size 8 fits you like a glove,' another added. Read more: Best friends become millionaire beauty moguls in less than three years after launching $79 eyelash growth serum Tana Mongeau reveals she matched with a guy on Hinge and he ended up 'stalking her' in the middle of the night I bought $18 earbuds from a cheap website everyone's been talking about - and believe me, they're just as good if not better than $160 Apple AirPods Uber Eats have named the best restaurants in each region on the UK A jerk chicken shop, a burger bar and a Mexican restaurant are among the finalists of the Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year Awards. National finalists have been announced, unveiling the winning restaurants from each region who will compete in the hopes of winning a cut of the 200,000 prize money to invest in their business. The ten top restaurants will go head to head to win the coveted Restaurant of the Year Title, with the finalists having their food judged by Bake Off's Prue Leith and Chef Monica Galetti, before the winner is announced in a star-studded ceremony. Spanning over 35 towns and cities, and representing 33 different types of cuisine, the awards celebrate the best restaurants in each region and highlight the diversity of the industry. This year, the judging panel will also include content creator Seema Pankhania, formerly of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants and Mob Kitchen, as well as Lorraine Copes, Founder of Be Inclusive Hospitality. Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year LONDON WINNER: Brorritos, Eltham Runners up: What the Pitta, Eat Lebo, Skewd Kitchen, It's All Greek To Me, Roti King, Tofu Vegan Gunpowder, Halo Burger NORTH EAST WINNER: Brack Burger, Newcastle Runners up: Sibu Street Food, Chef Dokidoki, Farsley Fire & Smoke BBQ, Scream for Pizza, Acropolis, Brack Burger King, Baby Bagels, Sims Kitchen SOUTH WEST WINNER: Sandwich Sandwich, Bristol Runners up: Chilli Daddy, The Arjee Bhajee, Sandwich Sandwich, Streatwok Low and Slow Barbecue, Daily Noodles (from the founders of Woky Ko), Koocha Taylors, Bagels & Coffee, Cathay Rendezvous NORTH WEST WINNER: PICNIC, Liverpool Runners up: Big Lola's Caribou Poutine, Aros Kitchen, Nashville Cluck Burger & Co, Mughli Charcoal Pit, Salt & Pepper, Three Brothers WALES WINNER: Haystack Cafe, Swansea Runners up: Eat the bird (Cardiff), ANSH CYMRU, Poutine Box, Baba's, Top Deck, The Pizza Boyz, Smokin Griddle (Swansea), Bashed UK SOUTH EAST WINNER: Natty's Jerk Kitchen, Portsmouth Runners up: Baffi Mango, Thai Tapas, Need Street Food, Drgnfly, LostBoysLand, Carlito Burrito Social Board, Half Man! Half Burger! MIDLANDS & EAST ANGLIA WINNER: LYFBAR, Telford. Runners up: Seoul Bowl, Doorstep Desserts, Grosvenor Fish Bar, Chainak, Taste From India, Doreen's Kitchen, Asha's TZATZIKI SCOTLAND WINNER: Big Manny's, Aberdeen Runners up: Razzo Pizza Napoletana, Jimmy's Express , Mother India , Yippon Damasqino, Charcoals Bucks Bar, Salt & Chilli Oriental IRELAND WINNER: Locke Burger, Limerick Runners up: Griolladh, The SpitJack (Bedford Row), Sambros, Chaat&Co., Kale+Coco, Dublin Pizza Co, Handsome Burger, SabaToGo NORTHERN IRELAND WINNER: Seed, Belfast Runners up: Eatao Asian Fusion, Pizza Guyz, Taste of India, Oggies Street, Dogs Street Kitchen, Sunnys Nu Delhi, Yosi Healthy Street Food Advertisement Together, they will be determining the winner of various categories including the coveted 'Restaurant of The Year' award. In London, Broritto's has been named the best. The Mexican-inspired kitchen was set up in 2020 by two friends who had been 'experimenting in their uni kitchen' and 'watching burrito-wrapping tutorials online'. Their menu includes the likes of Beef Birria Tacos, Loaded Fries, a Cauli Popper Broritto and Classic Churros. Meanwhile, the best takeaway in the South-East, is, according to Uber Eats, Natty's Jerk Kitchen. The restaurant serves fried jerk burgers, rice and peas, corn on the cob and plantain. In the North East, the prize goes to Newcastle's Brack Burger. These include the BBQ Boss burger, the Halloumi Heaven burger and the a bacon double burger served with peanut butter. A jerk chicken shop, a burger bar and a Mexican restaurant are among the finalists of the Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year Awards (stock photo) And the the Pioneer and Innovator Awards goes to... Beyond the grand prize category, the judges will also determine the winners of the Pioneer and Innovator Awards. Female Chef of the Year: Koocha Mezze Bar (Bristol), Taylor's Bagels (Bath) and Doreen's Kitchen (West Bromwich) Sustainable Restaurant of the Year: Ansh (Cardiff), What The Pitta (London) and Chainak (Walsall) Health-focused Restaurant of the Year: EAT LEBO (London), Tofu Vegan (London) and PICNIC (Liverpool) Community/Social Impact Restaurant of the Year: Taste from India (Dudley), Need Street Food (Portsmouth) and Brack Burger (Newcastle) These categories will highlight the trailblazers in the industry who are leading the way for restaurants and the hospitality industry. Matthew Price, General Manager for UK, Ireland and Northern Europe at Uber Eats said: 'A huge congratulations to all of our finalists. Competition this year has been fierce and we have received an unprecedented number of votes from across the UK and Ireland, making it an even more impressive achievement to make it to the final. 'I look forward to welcoming our finalists to London in October and cannot wait to try all the wonderful food they have to offer and celebrate the amazing independent restaurateurs behind the dishes.' Advertisement Lyfbar in Telford took the top prize for the Midlands. The health-conscious eatery serves the likes of grass-fed flank steak served with rice and veggies. It was founded by partners Alex Archibald and Bethany Tomlinson, who believe healthy food should fill your stomach without emptying your wallet. Meanwhile, the top restaurants in the South-West went to Sandwich Sandwich in Bristol - which, unsurprisingly, sells sandwiches. The shop opened in 2010 as Cothan Sandwich Co before rebranding to Sandwich Sandwich two years later. Scotland's best takeaway went to a pizzeria - Big Manny's in Aberdeen. The restaurant serves 18' NYC-style pizza, with options including Flamin' Hot Cheetos & Chicken, The Italian style-Tony Soprano and Vegan She Ain't No Chick. Meanwhile a burger joint in Limerick was named the best in Ireland - with Locke Burger picking up the prize. In Northern Ireland, the prize went to Belfast's Seed, a breakfast bar. Picnic, in Liverpool, which serves sandwiches and juices, got the top prize in the North-West while a humble local cafe was named the best in Wales. Haystack Cafe in Swansea took the prize for their delicious brunch menu. Grace Cheng say she felt unsafe during her week-long holiday A tourist has revealed why visiting Egypt quickly turned into one of the worst travel experiences of her life. Grace Cheng, better known as @gracietravels, spent a week in northeast Africa visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza and other historical landmarks but felt unsafe the whole time. Her holiday was ruined by 'aggressive' scammers lurking around 'everywhere' in attempt to rid innocent tourists of their money. 'I felt so uncomfortable visiting Egypt... Scamming is a big issue here and I didn't really know how big it was as a first timer,' she said in a TikTok video. 'The hustle culture here is insane. Everywhere we went it was non-stop begging for us to pay for something. If I'm being completely honest, I did not feel safe here.' Grace shared her experience in attempt to alert other travels about the 'exhausting' dangers she endured. Grace Cheng felt unsafe throughout her time in Egypt. She says scammers lurk around tourist attractions in attempt to trick visitors and demand money 'Don't let anyone take a picture of you, don't let anyone put anything in your hand, and don't follow anyone if they have something to show you because they will demand money from you,' Grace continued. She added how she 'didn't even feel safe' even with a tour guide by her side. 'Ours had a lot of friends in the area and they just kept offering us tons and tons of upgrades, like climbing a rock to get a picture with the background,' she said. Gracie said it felt 'scary' when she refused to pay the scammers and they kept demanding money. 'That being said though, if you have a good tour guide they will know what's real and fake when it comes to scamming. So for that you can trust them,' she added. Gracie also would not recommend travelling to Egypt alone, especially if you're a woman. 'When it comes to men they do stare at you, and it's not even a normal stare, it's one of those really uncomfortable stares where they'll never take their eyes off of you,' she said. In addition to feeling anxious around people, she was terrified about losing her luggage. 'We had private drivers wherever we went, but whenever we got dropped off at a site and left out bags in the van I for sure [thought] I was never going to see them again,' she added. 'Don't let anyone take a picture of you, don't let anyone put anything in your hand, and don't follow anyone if they have something to show you because they will demand money from you,' Grace warned Other travellers who have also visited Egypt before said they too never felt safe during their stay. 'I agree. Ive traveled the world and Egypt has been the only country where I did not feel safe,' one wrote. 'I felt the same way visiting Egypt and Morocco,' another commented. 'I've seen so many videos of people saying Egypt is the worst place to visit. Which makes me sad, cause I want to see it someday,' a third added. Another said: 'I'd love to go to Egypt but I've honestly not heard a good word about it.' Read more: I visited the most beautiful tropical island I've ever seen for a quick holiday from Australia - and it's so small you can't even see it on a map Young couple who achieved the 'Australian dream' of owning a home by age 30 reveal why they decided to sell and go travelling for four years - as they're back to renting again Taken daily, trials showed the drug had double the success of current tablets Millions of migraine sufferers could soon benefit from a new drug which has been found to reduce attacks by half. Taken as a daily pill, trials of atogepant revealed it cut migraines from an average of eight to four a month double the success of current tablets. The drug has been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and experts predict it will soon be available to patients, pending a green light from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Known as a CGRP inhibitor, it works by blocking the effect of calcitonin gene-related peptide a protein known to trigger migraines. Made by US company AbbVie, it is thought to cost around 8,000 annually Millions of migraine sufferers could soon benefit from a new drug which has been found to reduce attacks by half Taken as a daily pill, trials of atogepant revealed it cut migraines from an average of eight to four a month double the success of current tablets Professor Peter Goadsby, of Kings College Hospital who led the discovery of CGRP in the 1980s, said it could be life-changing for sufferers. Pirola is 'likely' to become Britain's dominant Covid variant, experts have warned, as cases of the virus almost doubled to more than 90,000 in a month. Scientists suspect the Omicron spin-off strain's catalogue of more than 35 mutations could help it to evade immune defences, driving up infections. Experts fear this could mean Pirola, scientifically known as BA.2.86, poses a potential threat to the NHS as the health service heads into the normally busier autumn period. However, they added that many of these genetic quirks are similar to other Omicron descendants, meaning many Brits should still have good protection from being severely ill from an infection. There is also little evidence to suggest Pirola is any more of a threat than the dozens of strains that have come before it before fizzling out, they said. Pirola's arrival comes as Covid cases take off once again, sparking concerns that the UK is on the brink of another wave just as the country heads into the winter when the NHS is busiest. NHS hospital data shows daily Covid admissions have risen almost 30 per cent since June, with a seven-day rolling average of 322 as of August 25, compared to 251 on June 7 While virologists have warned it is too early to reliably pinpoint BA.2.86 specific symptoms, its ancestor BA.2 had some tell-tale signs. Experts aren't yet certain, however if it behaves like similar Omicron subvariants, the signs to watch out for include a runny nose, sore throat and fatigue Professor Paul Hunter, a respected infectious disease specialist at the University of East Anglia told MailOnline: 'Bottom line is it is likely to become dominant. However, he added it is 'not possible to say how much it will push up total infections and especially the incidence of severe disease'. He said: 'As we head towards Christmas I would expect infections to increase whether or not we had this new variant so disentangling everything may still prove somewhat difficult.' Four known Pirola cases have been confirmed in the UK by health officials to date. But alarm bells have been raised because three of the cases had not left the country, so must have caught it in Britain. Global cases of the Pirola have doubled in the last week and has now been detected in the UK, US, Israel, Denmark, South Africa , Portugal, Sweden, France, Canada, Thailand and Switzerland. Health experts fear it is rapidly spreading worldwide undetected Details surrounding the fourth case have not yet been disclosed. This has raised fears the virus is already spreading within the community. These concerns were amplified last week when Public Health Scotland (PHS) confirmed Pirola had also been found in wastewater testing, in an undisclosed part of the country. Scientists can test community wastewater samples to monitor the prevalence of the virus through the stools of infected people. Last week officials also confirmed Covid testing and community surveillance is set to be 'scaled up' ahead of this winter, after originally scaling it back. Experts were alarmed by the new spin-off of Omicron because of the 35 mutations on its spike protein, the part of the virus that Covid vaccines are designed to target. But reassuringly Professor Hunter added that as many of the mutations 'have been seen previously in other variants', Brits should already have some protection against them. However, he added it is still unclear what effect the variant's novel mutations, or a combination of mutations would have. 'It is still impossible to say one way or the other about transmissibility,' he said. 'On balance, it is likely to be able to out compete other circulating variants but whether it will generate a huge wave of infections is difficult to say.' 'As we have seen will all variants since Delta, new variants have not been associated with much if any increased severity needing supplementary oxygen or hospitalisation. Office of National Statistics data released on Wednesday shows there were 74 Covid deaths registered across the two countries in the week ending August 11. This was a 57 per cent rise on the 47 logged in the previous seven-day spell. But for comparison, this is just a fraction of January's toll, when cases soared to pandemic highs and deaths peaked at 654 'This is in part because the parts of the virus that the immune system targets when preventing severe disease hasn't changed as much with new variants.' 'This is also because of the fact that almost everyone has survived at least one and probably multiple Covid infections already.' It comes as Covid cases in the UK have almost doubled in a month to nearly 93,000 new infections a day. Data from the ZOE health study shows there were 93,432 new daily cases of symptomatic infection on September 2 up from about 50,000 at the start of August. The study, which is based on data from millions of users of the ZOE app, estimates there are around 1.17million people in the UK with the virus right now roughly one in 57. Read more: At-risk patients unable to access vital Covid drugs after the NHS closes all dedicated hospital clinics Advertisement Last month UKHSA officials designated Pirola 'a variant for the purposes of tracking and assessment', just a day after World Health Organization officials said they were 'monitoring' the strain. At the time, the UKHSA's variant technical group said the 'appearance of the variant rapidly in multiple countries' in individuals who had not left their respective countries suggested there was 'established international transmission'. During another meeting last week it confirmed the UK's three known BA.2.86 cases were identified through hospital testing and 'have no known recent travel history'. The group is tasked with forecasting scenarios of Covid variants and producing assessments on the risk of emerging strains. 'The first UK case was mildly unwell and the second UK case in England did not have respiratory symptoms', they said. A third case in Scotland however was symptomatic. But officials noted there was no laboratory data available yet, with two of the UK samples currently 'in culture'. They added: 'Neutralisation and other phenotypic data is still likely to be one to two weeks away at minimum in the UK.' While there is still 'uncertainty about the impact of the mutations present', the strain does not yet meet the definition of a 'variant of concern', they said, and 'at present there are a wide range of possibilities for the fitness and growth' of Pirola. PHS today confirmed a second case in Scotland and fourth for the UK had been identified through PCR testing. 'The early identification of a second case of BA.2.86 within Scotland is not unexpected and provides the opportunity for an enhanced investigation to increase understanding of the variants transmissibility,' Dr Nick Phin, director of public health science at PHS, said. Globally Pirola has been spotted in the US, Israel, Denmark, South Africa, Portugal, Sweden, Canada, Thailand and Switzerland. Concerns over the variant led to health officials u-turning on the autumn Covid and flu jab drive start date, bringing it forwards from October to September 11. Officials have also confirmed Covid testing and community surveillance is set to be 'scaled up' ahead of this winter. Covid and flu vaccines will only be offered to over-65s this winter, health chiefs confirmed. In a bid to 'go back to normal', invites won't be dished out to millions aged 50-64 who were eligible during the pandemic The announcement, made last week, comes ahead of the return to school and university for many students after the summer break. Indoor gatherings are also expected to rise as winter approaches all factors known to increase the risk of respiratory infections, including Covid, spreading. Despite concerns there is currently no evidence that Pirola is any more of a threat than the dozens of strains that have come before it. Virologists have warned it is too early to reliably pinpoint if BA.2.86 has any new specific symptoms, as scientists are still analysing the recently discovered cases. Professor Francois Balloux, a vocal Covid commentator throughout the pandemic, from University College London, told MailOnline: 'Based on the tiny number of BA.2.86 cases diagnosed to date there is no evidence for, but also no reason to expect, a significant shift in symptoms.' But early expert analysis shows Pirola may be more capable of causing infection in people who have had Covid or have been vaccinated against it. Last week the US's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also confirmed its genetic leap 'is roughly of the same magnitude' as seen between the initial Omicron variant and the Delta variant. Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, also told MailOnline: 'Very recent work suggests that this variant is likely to be more able to evade the immune response. 'However, BA.2.86 appears to be less infectious than previous variants which is some good news.' Late last month, Steve Russell, NHS England's chief delivery officer and national director for vaccinations and screening said: 'While it is difficult to predict the combined effect of the large number of mutations on severity, vaccine escape and transmissibility, expert advice is clear that this represents the most concerning new variant since Omicron first emerged.' He added: 'The UKHSA has determined the most appropriate intervention with the greatest potential public health impact is to vaccinate all those eligible, quickly.' Scientists have recommended a return of pandemic mitigation measures, including mask wearing, and increased ventilation because of the virus' resurgence. Others have instead urged Ministers to re-consider vaccine eligibility criteria, after the Government ditched plans last month to offer the jabs to under 65s this winter. According to the CDC, existing tests to detect and medications used to treat Covid such as Paxlovid, Veklury, and Lagevrio appear to be effective with BA.2.86. Brits have also been urged to continue testing for the virus if they begin displaying symptoms to help reduce the chance of spreading it to other people. Elizabeth Salmon, right, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korean human rights, poses with Son Myung-hwa, a representative of the Korean War POW Family Association, in Seoul, Monday, as she begins her nine-day trip. Courtesy of Korean War POW Family Association Evidence for Kim's crimes against humanity 'more than sufficient,' rights activists say By Jung Min-ho Evidence of atrocities committed in North Korea by the Kim Jong-un regime is abundant. Therefore, human rights activists are wondering whether the evidence collected in the South would meet the U.N.'s requirements to bring him to justice at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Speaking to The Korea Times on Monday, rights advocates said this is one of the main issues they are planning to raise if given the opportunity to speak with Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korean human rights. Arriving Monday in Seoul, Salmon began her nine-day trip where she will meet with government officials, members of civic groups and North Korean escapees. "My first question to Salmon would be whether it is possible to bring the case against Kim to the table of the U.N. Security Council based on evidence collected by state prosecutors and investigators here," an official at a rights organization, who refused to be named, said. "That would be unprecedented and help unite international support even if the case fails to elicit action from the ICC due to objections from China and Russia." Despite numerous accounts from victims and other proof accumulated over many years, the ICC, the Hague-based independent judicial body for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, has not issued an arrest warrant for Kim. The court says it has "no jurisdiction" over North Korea, which is not a party to the Rome Statute, a treaty that established the ICC. Moreover, the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to refer a situation to the ICC for investigation, has not taken such steps. "Monitoring how human rights are respected in North Korea was one of the key reasons for setting up the Seoul branch of the OHCHR in 2015," Lee Ji-yoon, program manager at the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, said. "If rights are being violated and practical hurdles are preventing any meaningful ICC action, Salmon needs to check whether there are other ways to bring justice through the U.N. system." Compared to previous cases whereby the ICC issued an arrest warrant for a head of state for Sudan's Omar al-Bashir in 2009 and Libya's Muammar Gadhafi in 2011 the evidence in Kim's case seems more than sufficient, she said. This March, the ICC surprised the world by granting an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for allegedly deporting Ukrainian children against their will after invading the country last year. This was only possible after the Ukrainian government approved the ICC to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on Ukrainian territory by Russian forces. Given that Russia just like North Korea does not recognize the ICC, its warrant is unlikely to result in the arrest of Putin. However, experts say this carries a symbolic significance and would limit his travel to the nations that recognize the ICC's authority, which could be a frightening message to Putin and Kim. On her first day, Salmon had a meeting with families of South Korean prisoners detained by the North during the Korean War. Based on the results of her visit, Salmon will submit a report on human rights issues in North Korea to the U.N. next month. Parents in Utah are being urged to keep their children away from bats amid fresh reports of rabies cases in the state. Another two bats were diagnosed with the disease which is nearly always fatal in humans in the Salt Lake City area last week, with one found lying in a local skate park and the second on a residential street. Residents are being told to steer clear of all bats, as those coming into contact with humans are more likely to have the deadly virus, and to keep their pets and kids away from the animals. At least four other states Colorado, Florida, Ohio and South Carolina have also reported rabid bats over the last month, with Florida placing a county of nearly half-a-million people under a two-month alert for the disease. Parents in Utah are being urged to keep their children away from bats in the state amid fresh reports of rabies cases (stock image) The above graphic shows the symptoms of rabies. These are triggered within about one to three months of the initial infection A bat infected with rabies was discovered at Smith Fields Park Skatepark in Draper, near Salt Lake City, on August 26 after it was reported by residents. In the same week a second rapid bat was found on a residential street in nearby Midvale, also in the Salt Lake City area. The National Park Service reported another bat with rabies in Arches National Park on August 25 and, at the start of June, three bats with the disease were also detected in the Salt Lake City area. No rabies cases or deaths in humans have been reported in the state to date, but officials say on average 15 bats test positive for the virus every year. A spokesman for the Utah Department of Health said: 'Parents whose children frequent [parks] should ask their kids about encountering a bat, and contact [the department] if anyone touched or was touched by a bat. The local police department added: 'If you or your child or teen touched, or was touched by a bat in the skate park this week, please call the health department to be evaluated for rabies prevention medication. 'Rabies is considered 100 percent fatal if not treated before symptoms appear. 'If you encounter a bat, DO NOT TOUCH IT or attempt to harm it.' Health chiefs are elevating concerns amid the discovery of rabid bats because the animals are the leading cause of rabies deaths in humans in the United States. People are most likely to be infected in late August and September when young, potentially infected, bats have fledged and are learning to forage. This presents a higher risk of infection because the young bats are still learning to forage and, as a result, are more likely to come into contact with people. A bite from an infected bat, no matter the age, can transmit the rabies virus which is passed from animal to human via saliva. The animals often leave bites or scratches on people that are so small there is no visible wound. And the lack of a bite mark makes a bite even more concerning, as someone could be bit by a rabid bat and not know it. Symptoms of rabies appear one to three months after exposure and rapidly develop into hallucinations, delirium and hydrophobia a fear of water closely followed by death. But the disease which is more than 99 percent fatal in humans once symptoms appear can be treated using an aggressive medications regime, such as receiving multiple vaccines. However, the regimen must be started on the day of exposure. A rabid bat was also reported in the Arches National Park, which draws around 1.5million visitors every year Less than one percent of bats are infected with the virus, official estimates suggest. But those that act strangely or come into contact with humans are up to ten times more likely to be carrying the disease. Some bats infected with rabies show no symptoms of the disease. In addition to Utah residents, those in Seminole County, Florida are under a rabies alert after a rabid bat was found in the area. The alert was declared on September 1 after the bat was found near Sunrise Community Park in the Oviedo neighborhood. It will be in place for 60 days. Officials in Colorado also raised concerns over rabies on August 30 after a bat infected with the disease was detected in the Paonia area, in the west of the state. In South Carolina, officials also reported rabid bats and raccoons in Oconee County in late August. No humans were exposed, but three cats and two dogs were believed to have had contact with the bat carcass. The animals are now in quarantine. And in Cincinnati, Ohio, there have been 14 reports of people coming into contact with bats mostly inside their homes. About two to three Americans die from rabies every year, official estimates suggest, with figures kept low thanks to the rapid administration of treatments and efforts to discourage people from contact with potentially diseased animals. People who are feared to have been exposed to rabies are given Rabies Post-Exposure Prophlaxis (PEP) a vaccine and man-made antibody treatment. This involves injecting patients with a dose of man-made rabies antibodies to fight the infection as soon as they are exposed. People suspected to have been exposed to rabies also receive four doses of a rabies vaccine over two weeks. The rabies vaccine contains a small spike protein from the surface of the rabies virus in order to prepare the immune system to fight the real virus should they become infected. At this time last year, Adrian Taylor was given a devastating prognosis: he had incurable cancer in his lungs and without treatment there was a 100 per cent chance he'd die from it, potentially within months. But now, thanks to a clinical trial for a cancer vaccine - a UK first - he says 'that despair turned to hope. I am not dying of cancer, I'm living with it and feeling great'. Adrian, 54, a supply chain consultant, was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in December 2021. After undergoing gruelling months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, a CT scan in June 2022 showed the cancer was gone in his head and neck - but revealed a 9mm tumour in his right lung. The cancer had spread and was now deemed incurable. 'I had learnt to deal with my first cancer diagnosis, but this was shattering news,' says Adrian, who lives with his wife, Karen, 61, in Wallasey, Merseyside. The couple have three daughters and a son. Adrian, 54, (pictured) was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in December 2021 'It was then that the consultant said, 'Put it this way, Mr Taylor, without treatment there's a 100 per cent chance you're gonna die from this', I went into survival mode - thinking about my children, my wife, my family; I needed to be around to provide for them. It was very sobering.' Adrian was referred back to his original oncologist to discuss his options. This time chemotherapy and radiotherapy couldn't help as the cancer was too advanced - and further scans showed tumours spattered across his lung, so surgery wasn't suitable. 'One of the tumours had grown from 9mm to 25mm in a few months, suggesting it was a very aggressive cancer,' he says. 'I was at the last-chance saloon, staring death in the face.' His only hope was to enrol on to a clinical trial for a new treatment. Then, in September last year, he was thrown a lifeline - to join a trial for a cancer vaccine, a new approach that could revolutionise how the disease is treated. The trial, at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool, is for patients with head and neck carcinoma caused by HPV-16 - a third of head and neck cancers are linked to this virus. As part of the trial, patients are also given pembrolizumab - a new drug known as a checkpoint inhibitor that helps the immune system attack the cancer cells. The hope is that the vaccine will stimulate new immune cells that will also kill off the cancer cells, effectively supercharging the immune response to the tumour. Cancer vaccines and checkpoint inhibitor drugs are types of immunotherapy, treatments that work by harnessing the immune system - 'they each target different aspects of cancer biology', says James Spicer, professor of experimental cancer medicine at King's College London. Adrian was referred to the trial team by his consultant. 'I saw them a few weeks later and they said I was eligible - I had the first dose in November, and go back every three weeks for more doses and have scans every eight weeks,' he says. 'A CT scan before the trial started showed at least six tumours across the right lung that were up to 25mm wide and they were growing quickly. 'In May, I sat with an oncologist who looked at the latest scan, shook his head in disbelief and said, 'This is remarkable'. He showed me the images - there had been a massive grey patch in my lung before the trial, indicating cancer, yet now it looked clear. It felt surreal. Last week's scan showed there was just one final bit of cancer left - the largest, 25mm tumour had shrunk to just 4.6mm. Cancer vaccines and checkpoint inhibitor drugs are types of immunotherapy, treatments that work by harnessing the immune system 'I feel reborn and I'm doing things I never thought I'd be able to: I walked my daughter down the aisle in November and have seen two of my children graduate in the past year. I feel fantastic and positive about the future again.' Adrian will receive the vaccine regularly for as long as he is also having pembrolizumab; currently, this is capped at two years. He is one of the first in the UK to benefit from a cancer vaccine. Unlike vaccines given to prevent infectious diseases, such as Covid, in cancer they work primarily as treatments, given to patients with the disease to stop it returning. The vaccines can either be off-the-shelf (see story on the right) or tailor-made to target the patient's unique cancer based on its genetic make-up. Once injected, the theory is that these vaccines prepare the immune system to recognise specific proteins in cancer cells so that the body can destroy them. Professor Christian Ottensmeier, a consultant oncologist and director of clinical research at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and who treated Adrian, says: 'With a vaccine, it's a little bit like you want to train a sniffer dog to find a particular scent - you'd hold a rag under their nose with that scent and then tell them to go and find it. 'A vaccine is a way to train our new immune T cells - our sniffer dogs. In Adrian's case it is quite remarkable that the training has been so successful and his cancer has shrunk enormously. 'His progress is beyond what I expected - we are all delighted and cheering him on. Success like this colours my thinking about what is possible and how a vaccine can turn things around. 'It is early days for this type of cancer treatment and not everyone will have such a remarkable reaction to it, but we are very excited about the possibilities.' Those possibilities for cancer vaccines are huge, experts told Good Health, with potential to treat every type of cancer. Currently, as well as head and neck cancer, there are vaccine trials under way in the UK for prostate and colorectal cancers, and melanoma (skin cancer). A trial in lung cancer is about to start, too. There are six cancer vaccine trials at the Clatterbridge alone - and the UK has the potential to be a leader in terms of cancer vaccine research, after the Government signed a partnership with BioNTech to support trials for the treatment; 10,000 patients should receive individualised vaccines, designed specifically for them, by 2030, it was announced in July. Recruiting patients to these trials will be helped by a new cancer vaccine 'launch pad', a national network of hospitals being developed by NHS England to identify patients eligible for vaccines. The launch pad will ensure patients are able to access these trials irrespective of which hospital they're being treated at. A number of other companies are said to be in talks to set up cancer vaccine trials in the UK, including Moderna and Merck. 'This new funding and deal between BioNTech and the Government means more clinical trials will be launched to test personalised cancer vaccines,' says Dr Renato Baleeiro, an honorary senior research fellow at the Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, who is developing a vaccine against triple negative breast cancer. 'The UK is one of the world leaders, with several ongoing and scheduled trials.' So how do cancer vaccines work? The basic technology is the same pioneering mRNA approach used during the pandemic to give us the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 jabs. MRNA is the genetic blueprint that instructs cells to make proteins in the body. For Covid, the mRNA vaccine instructed cells to make the spike protein found on the surface of the virus itself. After vaccination, cells begin making the spike protein, 'training' the immune system to recognise it and then to make cells that fight it - if you later become infected with the Covid virus, these immune cells are ready and primed to fight it. With cancer, if scientists already know which protein causes it, they can use an 'off-the-shelf' mRNA vaccine that instructs cells to make that protein - or they could make a personalised vaccine based on a patient's particular tumour. First, a sample of a patient's tumour is analysed to identify any genetic mutations in proteins that are responsible for its growth. Then a tailor-made molecule of the mRNA that instructs cells to make that tumour protein, known as a neoantigen, is produced. This is injected into the patient, prompting new cells to make these tumour proteins, which then train new immune cells that mount a response. The theory is that the immune system is then primed to recognise and destroy the cancer. The concept of vaccinating against cancer has been around for decades, but hasn't been particularly effective until now, says Professor Spicer. 'You'll find a lot of studies showing vaccines can induce a detectable immune response in blood - but this hasn't then translated to tumour shrinkage.' In the past decade, new technology such as genome sequencing and a better understanding of the immune system and how it recognises and destroys tumours have led to better vaccines. 'We're finally moving from that theoretical activity - i.e. knowing it's possible to educate the immune system to recognise and kill a cancer - to something that's clinically meaningful which patients might benefit from,' says Professor Spicer. Professor Ottensmeier agrees, and says new immunotherapy drugs have given the field of cancer vaccines a massive push. 'Drugs such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab are good at 'waking up' immune cells that are already able to attack the cancer - but they don't train new cells to do the same; that's where the vaccines come in,' he says. Professor Spicer argues that, strictly speaking, the mRNA cancer vaccines shouldn't be called vaccines at all: he'd call this field 'RNA therapeutics'. 'Conventionally, a vaccine is useful for creating an immune response before the body meets the invader, such as the Covid virus,' he says. 'With cancer, we are generating an immune response for something that's already in the body - helping it fight something it couldn't before. 'For example, you're taking patients who have had surgery for colorectal cancer; you have taken out the tumour but there's a high risk of it coming back because tiny metastatic cells are left behind. 'Instead of waiting for it to grow, we'll now take the removed tumour, sequence its genetic code, prepare an mRNA vaccine that makes the abnormal proteins, and inject it into patients - so the immune system learns to recognise and fight that protein, should it encounter it again. 'That's the Holy Grail of cancer treatment - and it's completely bespoke for each patient.' As all cancers are driven by genetic mutations that help them attack cells, grow and spread, this treatment approach really could help anyone - 'there's no type that's off the table in theory,' says Professor Spicer. A number of personalised cancer vaccine trials have reported promising results so far. For example, more than three-quarters of melanoma patients with high-risk disease treated with a personalised vaccine and immunotherapy had recurrence-free survival 18 months later, compared with 62.2 per cent of those who received immunotherapy alone, it was reported at the American Association for Cancer Research conference earlier this year. And a trial of an mRNA vaccine for pancreatic cancer - one of the most aggressive types at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center showed it prevented or delayed relapses in about half of the 16 patients involved, reported the journal Nature in May (a trial is underway with 260 patients). Leading UK trials into colorectal cancer is Robert Jones, a consultant liver surgeon at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 'We can now take out a tumour, sequence the genetic code in that cancer to identify the relevant mutations and make the vaccine for that specific patient in about seven weeks,' he says. The vaccines are then given as a simple jab. Different trials are investigating different protocols; while some deliver two, three or more doses of a given vaccine after surgery and chemotherapy (the 165 patients taking part in the Liverpool-led trial for colorectal cancer, involving 12 centres across the UK, will be given 12 doses), others are more ongoing. As well as being personalised to the patient's cancer, another advantage is that the vaccines don't have the side-effects of conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Professor Ottensmeier explains: 'With radiotherapy, the rays have to go through skin, muscle, bone and other tissues and can't work out what is cancer and what isn't - so it causes the same damage to all cells in its way. It's a similar issue with chemotherapy. It's a poison to dividing cells and so many of them die, which is why patients develop side-effects such as a sore mouth, diarrhoea and a low blood count. These poisons aren't selective. But the vaccines avoid all these side-effects.' Adrian's experience is testament to this: 'I found chemotherapy and radiotherapy very tough, both physically and emotionally. I stopped work for eight months - my saliva glands were destroyed, I couldn't eat or drink anything and I lost 4-6st in weight. 'But with the cancer vaccine, it's simple and easy: I turn up, they put a cannula in my hand and I sit there for two hours or so while they monitor me. 'I might need paracetamol to control my temperature but, apart from that, there are no side-effects: I feel completely fine afterwards, and I've continued to work throughout.' So far there are very few downsides to cancer vaccines, experts say. 'Because we used the mRNA platform during the pandemic, we know what could go wrong - the main side-effects are soreness where it is injected, and fever [part of the normal immune response],' says Professor Ottensmeier. 'It breaks the mould - we are used to saying we can control the disease for a while, but it may be a hard walk to walk [owing to chemo side-effects]. 'Now we can say we could induce good clinical effects, and won't make you ill in the process - you can get on with your life; it's astounding to be able to say that.' There are even talks to explore whether a cancer vaccine could one day prevent cancer developing in the first place - but in keeping with his sniffer dog analogy, Professor Ottensmeier says the challenge here is that 'not all cancers smell the same'. 'Those at high risk of developing cancer again or who have a genetic abnormality that's likely to cause cancer, will be the first to benefit,' he says. 'But if it works, we could, in principle, open trials down the line and study it as a preventative vaccine.' Professor Spicer adds: 'If we found one dominant gene is effective at secondary prevention and killing of a specific cancer, such as breast for instance, we could explore whether we can roll out the vaccine to everyone to see if it reduces incidence in general. Who knows, at the rate of progress we have seen, in my lifetime we might see that.' One of the challenges will be the logistics of rolling it out more widely - as Professor Spicer explains: 'It's doable but more complicated than a standard pharmaceutical.' Dr Lennard Lee, an associate professor in cancer vaccine research at the University of Oxford, is more optimistic: 'Can our country deliver vaccines at pace for cancer? Yes, we've proven we have the infrastructure during the pandemic response . . . A bit of sequencing for the bespoke vaccines means we need to step things up, but we are already doing it and proven we can with other personalised therapies.' The bespoke vaccines will be more costly owing to the genetic sequencing required and various steps in making a personalised for each patient. But Dr Lee notes that this is not necessarily a barrier because other new cancer treatments are expensive and still used. Meanwhile, Adrian is intensely grateful to the team at Clatterbridge. He says: 'I feel proud and privileged to be taking part in research which could change cancer treatment for ever.' Off-the-shelf version for patients with breast cancer Two types of cancer vaccines are being developed. There are 'personalised' vaccines, tailor-made for an individual patient's specific cancer, based on the patient's genes (see main piece), and 'off-the-shelf' ones. Off-the-shelf vaccines are designed using the proteins that cause most cases of a particular type of cancer, explains Dr Lennard Lee, an associate professor in cancer vaccine research at Oxford University. 'There will be a role for both types of vaccine,' he adds. James Spicer, professor of experimental cancer medicine at King's College London, says: 'From what we know so far, we'll probably have an 'off-the-shelf' vaccine for melanoma or stomach cancer, for instance, because we've identified the most commonly mutated proteins in these types that occur in a high proportion of cases. Mother-of-three Jennifer Davis (pictured), a 46-year-old nurse from Ohio, received an 'off-the-shelf' vaccine against triple negative breast cancer in October 2021 'Off-the-shelf options are scalable and practical because you can manufacture them like any pharmaceutical and have them ready when a patient comes in. With personalised vaccines, there is an added complexity as you need to make one for each patient and they have to wait weeks or months - and sometimes patients cannot wait. 'Then again, an off-the-shelf vaccine is not personalised, and so who knows if it'll work?' In fact, there is early evidence that off-the-shelf vaccines could work for some people, at least. Mother-of-three Jennifer Davis, a 46-year-old nurse from Ohio, received an 'off-the-shelf' vaccine against triple negative breast cancer in October 2021. She'd been diagnosed three years earlier and underwent chemotherapy, radiation and a double mastectomy. 'I was told it was a fast-growing and aggressive cancer,' she told Good Health. In general, triple negative is more aggressive, harder to treat and more likely to come back than other types of breast cancer. After finishing treatment, it was 'a waiting game to see if it would come back', she recalls. At one of her follow-up appointments, a nurse practitioner mentioned a vaccine that had been created for her type of breast cancer, with the potential to stop it coming back entirely. 'But it was still in laboratory tests, and it wasn't until September 2021 that it was ready for human studies.' As a recent scan showed no signs of recurrence (this was one of the criteria for enrolment), Jennifer was accepted on the study. She says: 'I asked: 'How many times did they see mice die or have terrible reactions after the jab? And of those that received the vaccine, what proportion saw recurrence of cancer?' 'The answer to both was zero. So that October I received the first of three doses, two weeks apart. I had no side-effects: it was just like a regular jab.' The idea is that the protection from three doses lasts a lifetime. Preliminary results released in April showed all 14 women given this vaccine built an immune response - meaning their bodies were, in theory, prepared to identify and kill the tumour should it return. 'I'm almost at five years since remission and I'm living a normal life,' says Jennifer. The vaccine she was given is based on research by the Cleveland Clinic, which identified a protein called alpha-lactalbumin that shows up in many forms of breast cancer, including triple negative. The research focused on the 'retired protein hypothesis', identifying proteins that are known to be expressed in normal tissues only at specific times, but that are expressed in some cancers outside these normal times, explains George Thomas Budd, a professor of medicine at the Cleveland. For example, alpha-lactalbumin is only expressed in lactating breasts (i.e. when breastfeeding) - or in cases of breast cancer. 'Targeting this protein seems to delay and prevent development of cancer in mouse models,' says Professor Budd. 'In the recent study, we could see immunologic responses in the majority of patients. It tells us the immune system is seeing the protein and responding to it - we are now defining the dose for future trials.' London venues are cashing in on a return of business travel as a major hotel firm says video meetings over Zoom are not cutting it for bosses anymore. Corporate bookings at PPHE Hotel Group are back to pre-pandemic levels despite fears that work-related travel was a casualty of virtual meetings. The firm behind Westminster's gigantic Park Plaza hotel and Radisson hotel chain is seeing 'a very strong traction' in corporate booking demand, its chief financial officer, Daniel Kos told The Mail. 'We are hearing about a lot of significant meetings with a lot of attendees and from companies with a global scale,' he said. Kos added: 'In the pandemic, the general opinion was that nobody will travel anymore and they will do meetings on Zoom. Cashing in: Corporate bookings at PPHE Hotel Group are back to pre-pandemic levels despite fears that work-related travel was a casualty of virtual meetings 'Zoom is very efficient but in the end, you want to see a person and meet a person.' Corporate travel has focused on midweek, with many taking 'bleisure' trips combining business and leisure, PPHE added. The resurgence has also helped ring tills of pubs and restaurants, according to UKHospitality. 'Business trade has picked up significantly,' UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said. In another sign of the times, Eric Yuan, the boss of Zoom, told staff they needed to be in the office at least two days a week, claiming 'we cannot debate each other well because everyone tends to be very friendly when you join a Zoom call'. The London-listed company said that contract is for an initial five years The Wood Group have won a contract with Britain's largest North Sea oil and gas producer, which it says will provide hundreds of jobs in the Aberdeen area. The London-listed company said it has entered into a five-year contract with Harbour Energy for $330million (around 262million). In a statement, Wood said it will 'provide engineering, procurement and construction and operations and maintenance services, including digital and decarbonisation solutions, for a number of Harbour's offshore assets critical to UK energy security.' The Aberdeen-based company said that has entered in a five year contract with Harbour Energy for $330million (around 262million) Steve Nicol, Wood's executive president of operations, said: 'We are incredibly proud to have been selected and trusted by Harbour Energy to partner with them across their North Sea assets. 'We share a commitment to ensuring safe, reliable and sustainable energy production and are confident our integrated digital solutions and world-leading engineering, operations and decarbonisation expertise will enable Harbour to maximise their investment and ensure the UK continues to have the energy mix it needs.' Last week, Harbour Energy revealed it had swung to a small first-half loss as the effect of declining energy prices was compounded by high tax payments. Britain's largest North Sea oil and gas producer reported an $8million loss for the six months ending June, having made a $1billion profit for the same period last year. The company saw turnover from hydrocarbon production plummet by around a quarter to $1.99billion as oil and gas prices slid from their elevated highs. Nicol added: 'We have worked on North Sea assets for more than 50 years and excel in designing and managing the complexity of energy infrastructure while at the same time seeking to minimise associated emissions. 'This new agreement and new contracts are testament to Wood's role as a trusted technical partner to the energy companies of the future, where our priority is to help our clients deliver the energy the world needs and be able to transition to a low carbon future.' Audrey Stewart, Harbour Energy's vice president of supply chain, said: 'Harbour is excited to develop our relationship with Wood and the signing of this contract is an important step forward in establishing our suite of long-term strategic partnerships across our North Sea assets.' This partnership will support the employment of hundreds of people from Wood's Operations business in Aberdeen and offshore across the two EPC and O&M contracts, with further recruitment expected in 2024. Harbour shares were up by 0.55 per cent to 255p in Monday afternoon trading. For many, having a savings passbook is both practical and nostalgic, given the rise of digital banking. A simple ledger of money going in and out, and interest earned, the humble passbook has been a mainstay of savings accounts for generations. And nearly three in four Leeds Building Society members would prefer to use passbooks to manage their savings, according to a survey. As a result, one of Britain's biggest mutuals has reassured customers that passbooks are here to stay. End of an era: Lloyds bank is moving to axe 2.6million passbook accounts It comes as Lloyds draws up plans to scrap millions of passbook savings accounts, used by customers at its Halifax arm. Certain passbook accounts will be replaced by Instant Saver, Instant Isa Saver and Kids' Saver accounts all of which offer mobile banking and cash machine cards. Santander has also axed passbooks, as did Barclays when it bought Woolwich and Nationwide no longer offers new passbook accounts. Campaigners fear the move by Lloyds will discriminate against the elderly and pave the way for more branch closures. But its not just the elderly who want to keep their passbooks Leeds Building Society's research reveals that 58 per cent of savers aged 16 to 44 would prefer to use passbooks to manage their accounts, making up the majority of customers who want to keep them. Passbook savings accounts come with a physical notebook, allowing the account holder to record their deposits and withdrawals. Newcastle Building Society is another building society which offers passbooks and passcards to all its branch customers, making up around 200,000 savings members or about 54 per cent of its savers. A spokesman from Newcastle Building society says: 'Customers tell us time and again how much they value the traditional passbook as a way of helping them feel connected and in control of their savings. 'We've seen when competitors stop offering passbooks, we'll usually enjoy a spike in account openings from customers who prefer a more tangible way to keep track of their money. 'As an organisation owned by our members, we're committed to maintaining passbooks, as well as the friendly welcome, reassurance, and range of services that can only be found by a visit to your local branch.' 'That's why we're investing in our branch network, and unlike other providers, are absolutely committed to growing access to financial services especially in places where banks have closed.' Yorkshire Building Society and Nottingham Building Society also confirmed that their branch-based products offer passbooks. 'I feel as if my generation hasn't been forgotten about' David Marr, 62, is a Newcastle Building Society customer from the Ponteland branch in Newcastle who uses a passbook. David says: 'I like that it allows me to easily see what we have in the account at a glance when we need to. I am 62 now and was always brought up with a passbook, call me old school but I like being able to continue using it. 'I also like meeting the staff at the branch and having a chat with them on a regular basis. 'I feel as if I haven't been forgotten about and that my generation hasn't been forgotten about. It's the personal touch which means a lot to me. Yet another bank axes savings passbooks I trust Lloyds Banking Group is prepared for a backlash from customers over its discontinuation of more than three million savings passbooks, writes Jeff Prestridge. Although many banks and building societies have already done away with these books, they still remain popular among savers who prefer to use a branch rather than go online. They are particularly liked by the elderly who are comforted by the fact that the book provides them with hard evidence of how much they have in their accounts. The withdrawal of most Lloyds' passbooks will take place between October and the end of the year. Read more: Lloyds Bank faces backlash for ditching savings passbooks 'I think it's very sad that it feels like it's the end of an era for passbooks with bigger banks getting rid of them. 'Newcastle Building Society stands out in that regard to me as they are opening more branches and allowing passbooks to continue to be used by their members.' Richard Fearon, Leeds Building Society chief executive, says: 'Passbooks are an important way for many savers to feel in complete control of their money and we want to encourage that as much as possible. 'Many members feel passionate about their passbooks and have told us they would look elsewhere if we decided to withdraw them, and we've no plans to do that. 'Anyone opening a savings account in one of our branches will be able to take a passbook away with them there and then. 'Clearly if preferences change significantly over time then we'd need to look again at them but when you consider the strength of feeling among younger savers we see no signs of that happening soon.' James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance comments: 'It's great that building societies are keeping passbook accounts as an option for those that want them. 'But it's inevitable that these accounts will be less in demand as more and more people switch to doing all their banking online, and it's no surprise to see the likes of Halifax phasing them out. 'It's clearly expensive to run a branch network, and it's not sustainable to retain it for an ever decreasing number of customers. 'However, it is crucial that as we move to a more digital banking world that banks and building societies are careful not to exclude people who have no other choice. 'There are still many people who are digitally excluded or who can't engage with digital banking because of disabilities. 'It's important that banks and building societies find ways to continue servicing these customers, and don't penalise them with lower rates.' An Indigenous man found guilty of helping start a fire that caused $5.3million in damage to Old Parliament House is a hardline activist who runs what he calls a 'Tribal Lore Enforcement' body. Bruce 'Muckadda' Shillingsworth posts videos to social media advising First Nations people on how to deal with NSW police, who he calls 'foreign private corporate agents', and has been filmed blocking their path. The 32-year-old established the unarmed Tribal Lore Enforcement in the NSW north-west with his father Bruce 'Mundagutta' Shillingsworth four years ago. On Monday, Shillingsworth Jr was convicted of aiding and abetting arson and destroying Commonwealth property in relation to the fire at Old Parliament House in December 2021. He appeared at the ACT Supreme Court wearing a traditional headdress and loincloth, and draped in a kangaroo pelt inscribed with a declaration of independence signed by 'his people'. A jury had watched CCTV footage of the Muruwarri and Budjiti man referring to 'eviction papers' posted at the entrance of the historic Canberra building before its doors were set ablaze. 'We served that notice,' Shillingsworth told his fellow protesters. 'An immediate notice of eviction We tell them they must move out immediately.' Shillingsworth runs a popular Facebook page where he shares statements such as 'First Nations hold supreme power, jurisdiction and authority over their lands'. He has appeared wearing a black and grey uniform and driving a white Hyundai Accent with a police-like chequered pattern and the words 'Lore Enforcement' emblazoned on its side. Tribal Lore Enforcement covers an area of about 200 square kilometres and a population between 2,000 and 3,000 - most of them Indigenous - from Bourke up to Enngonia near the Queensland border. Shillingsworth told Daily Mail Australia that Tribal Lore Enforcement, which has recently acquired a Toyota Hilux four-wheel drive, was unlike a government-run police force. An Indigenous man filmed blocking police from using a public road through traditional lands in outback Australia runs an independent 'Tribal Lore Enforcement' force. Bruce 'Muckadda' Shillingsworth is pictured with a vehicle marked 'Lore Enforcement' Muruwarri land stretches over 16,000 square kilometres. The area covered by Tribal Lore Enforcement is about 200 square kilometres from Bourke up to Enngonia near the Queensland border 'First of all, there is a difference between law and lore,' he said. 'Lore is in reference to natural lore. 'First Nations people have that close relationship with the land, the flora, fauna, all of it. So it's very very different from man-made law. 'This isn't something that we just created. We've had this system in place since existence. We've been doing this for thousands upon thousands of years. 'It's a really good thing for us to be able to bring our systems and processes forward in order to manager our own affairs.' Shillingsworth said much of Tribal Lore Enforcement's work was helping young people understand their cultural roles and responsibilities, while 'dealing with our affairs within our nations'. 'It has currently been working to date but as you can see there is a bit of conflict there with the system in acknowledging our jurisdiction or our existence as well as our knowledge, skills and expertise,' he said. Tribal Lore Enforcement covers an area of about 200 square kilometres and a population between 2,000 and 3,000 - most of them Indigenous - from Bourke up to Enngonia near the Queensland border 'A lot of people look at that situation and they apply the racial narrative. In no way is race a part of that. It's the construct of the police force that is the issue. 'I couldn't care whether they were black or white in that uniform. It is the construct of it that gives the illusion that they have more power, jurisdiction and authority than natural lore. 'And what we're saying is, no it doesn't. It doesn't override natural lore, regardless of where you are.' Shillingsworth was filmed last year in a confrontation with police who responded to reports of illegal squatting on Ledknapper Nature Reserve at Enngonia. 'We've got the police here,' Shillingsworth says to the camera. 'What's happening is they're going out onto Muruwarri country, they're thinking that they've got authority. I'm going to ask them right here right now about whether they've got jurisdiction. One of the officers interjects, telling Shillingsworth: 'You're blocking a public road'. Shillingsworth is pictured parading with Tribal Lore Enforcement supporters at Redfern Park in inner-city Sydney on January 26 this year for a 'training and capacity-building' day Another officer says, 'You're blocking a roadway, move your vehicle. This is a roadway in New South Wales.' Shillingsworth tells the officers again, 'This is Muruwarri land,' before warning them they are not allowed to enter traditional Aboriginal land. After being given a direction to move his car, Shillingsworth identifies himself as a 'Lore Enforcement officer'. 'You're committing an offence because that land from here onwards is Muruwarri land and you should know that,' Shillingsworth says. Mr Shillingsworth was subsequently charged with obstructing traffic and disobeying directions over the incident, which occurred in March last year. He was found guilty of both offences and fined $400 after a hearing in September 2022 at Bourke Local Court. Shillingsworth was back before a magistrate in July when he pleaded guilty to using a recording device inside court premises and posting the results on social media. He was placed on a nine-month conditional release order without conviction. Bruce Shillingsworth was found guilty on September 4 of aiding and abetting arson and damaging Commonwealth property over a fire at Old Parliament House in December 2021 (above) In another confrontation, this time outside the Oasis Hotel in Enngonia in April 2022, Shillingsworth again objected to police being on Muruwarri land. 'You guys are trespassing,' Shillingsworth tells police in a video of that encounter. 'We served you guys with an eviction notice and now you are overstepping that. 'This is the second time we've given you a warning. Next time you come out on Muruwarri land you may be liable to prosecution under our law and you may be arrested. Do you understand that?' READ MORE: Aboriginal protester wears kangaroo pelt and a loincloth to court - as he chokes back tears addressing a jury over Old Parliament House arson charge Advertisement Shillingsworth said there were about 30 people involved in Tribal Lore Enforcement, which was privately funded and working with other groups including local farmers. 'We're self-sufficient so that we're less vulnerable to getting caught up with any other corporation's narrative,' he said. 'And it's not very hard we're finding. 'There is an alternative way of dealing with certain things as well as seeing things as a community. It's working to date and it seems to be getting a lot of traction, which is really good.' The father-of-four said he did not want conflict with the NSW Police Force. 'As you've seen in some of the videos, it's not very well received by the police for a number of reasons,' Shillingsworth said. 'There is the illusion that they've got more power, jurisdiction or authority than the First Nations people that have been here for thousands upon thousands of years.' Shillingsworth would be voting No in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum but said the issue was barely discussed on his homelands. 'I'd say a majority of our people don't know about it,' he said. 'You ask people on the ground back in our region about the Voice and they'll know nothing about it.' Muruwarri land stretches over 16,000 square kilometres from Barringun on the Queensland/NSW border to Mulga Downs and Weela in south Queensland. It includes Enngonia on the Warrego River, Brenda and Weilmoringle on the Culgoa River, and as far south as Milroy and Collerina in NSW. Multi-billionaire Laurene Powell jobs was a top backer for Joe Biden and Democrats in 2020, and attended Bidens glamorous first state dinner as president, with President Emmanuel Macron of France. But so far this election cycle she has not put her fortune toward getting the 80-year-old incumbent reelected at a time when he needs every well-heeled backer he can summon. Jobs, who is estimated to be worth about $14 billion and who ranks 145th on the Forbes wealth list, cut big checks to the Biden Victory Fund and the Democratic National Committee during the 2020 election cycle. Now, the Atlantic magazine she owns, has published a withering account of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan he presided over, while also featuring articles making the case for a primary challenge. Her campaign giving came late, mostly in June 2020, after Biden had already sewn up the nomination. But as of the latest Federal Election Committee deadline, Bidens campaign had not disclosed a contribution from her even as it leans on big donors to make up for a drop in small dollar donations even as he prepares to potentially face Donald Trump. Billionaire Laurne Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, gave more than $700,000 to back Biden's campaign in 2024. She hasn't contributed this cycle to his reelection bid, according to the latest campaign finance disclosure reports I dont know if its too early for her, one California Biden donor told DailyMail.com. Some of the big fundraisers for Biden last time around arent in there because they got ambassadorial appointments. The billionaires late summer place on the sidelines comes amid signs that Bidens West Coast fundraising needs a boost to account for a $30 million drop in small dollar donations compared to this point in 2020. The fundraiser noted that Vice President Kamala Harris has been out west more than Biden 'Hoovering up money,' but hasn't been nearly as prolific as the president himself. The campaign cash will crucial in a TV air war Biden, whose approval ratings remain under water, must carry out against energized Republicans girding to impeach and defeat him. Back in 2020, Powell Jobs cut a $610,000 check to the Biden Victory Fund a joint fundraising committee in June, followed by another $100,000 in September. She also gave big to Bidens campaign, Biden for President, with a pair of $2,800 contributions. She also cut checks to the DNC totaling $355,000. She has close ties to two other Democrats who could step in should Biden decide to back away from his effort, something that appears unlikely as Biden beefs up his skeleton campaign staff and positions himself against a potential rematch with Donald Trump. President Joe Biden must rely on high-dollar donors to help make up for a drop in small dollar donations, as he prepares for a touch reelection fight in 2024 Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president of the Emerson Collective, right, and Reed Jobs, arrive to attended a state dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron. One is Harris, who Powell Jobs met with last July at the VPs Los Angeles residence, CNBC reported at the time, amid speculation about whether Biden would seek reelection. The two sat for a joint interview with Recode back in 2017. Powell Jobs has also been a major donor for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, giving nearly $500,000 over the years. Newsom decided to sit out the 2024 campaign despite speculation he may run, although he continues to draw headlines through potential stunts like a debate with GOP candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, runs the Emerson Collective out of Palo Alto, California. The group makes charity contributions and makes venture capital investments to advance some of societys most calcified systems, creating pathways to genuine opportunity so people from all communities can achieve their full potential, according to its web site. She declined comment through a spokeswoman, and any future plans to play in 2024 aren't known. Her overall political giving has gone dormant, at least for now, FEC records show. Her last attempted contribution came in September 2022 and went to former New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who suffered a humiliating primary defeat to Republican Mike Lawler even while helming the House Democratic campaign arm, although it appears to have been returned (she had already maxed out in June). That status comes even as the publication she owns, the Atlantic magazine, ran an article by political scientist Eliot A. Cohen urging Biden to step aside. Another piece in February by D.C. journalist Mark Leibovich called for a freethinking Democrat to challenge the groupthink and primary him and noted dryly that the Delaware Corvette has flipped through the odometer a time or two.' Last week, the Atlantic excerpted Franklin Foer's new book, The Last Politician, which recounts Biden's White House struggling to manage the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan after a sudden Taliban takeover. Powell Jobs has long stated she has no role in the editorial decisions of the magazine. She likes to keep a low profile, maintaining a focus on policy issues promoted by her Emerson Collective, although she did step out for the Macron State Dinner and accepted the Medal of Freedom posthumously on behalf of her late husband, Steve Jobs, last summer. Also on the sidelines as Biden ramps up his campaign is Doug Hickey, a prominent California fundraiser who was sworn in April as U.S. ambassador to Finland. He gave $25,000 to the Biden Victory fund during the 2020 primaries and $10,000 to the same PAC in October 2020, along with a $35,500 contribution to the DNC and a $41,000 contribution to the Biden Victory fund in May 2020. His appointment overseas takes him away from the pool of donors of whom he was an effective fundraiser. The Biden team is bringing in another diplomat, Rufus Giffords, the former U.S. chief of protocol, to serve as his new campaign finance chair. Giffords, who was with Biden on his recent trip to Europe, is gearing up after posting summer images from Nantucket on his Instagram account. Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is advising Biden's effort and last month called Biden's age 'his superpower,' saying his wisdom will prevail. California was key to Bidens fundraising success in 2020, as it is for most presidential candidates. He raised $306 million from the state in 2020, or 22 per cent of his total, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. At a California fundraiser in June, Biden hit up tech and climate donors at an event hosted by Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott and his wife Shannon Hunt-Scott, along with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. EBay exec Steve Westly and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman were among those hosting fundraisers for him. Mike Moritz, who recently stepped down from Sequoia Capital, gave $3.5 million in 2020, backing American Bridge 21st Century and Pacronym. He gave $2 million to the PAC in June, according to FEC data. Others contributing to Biden's $72 million fundraising haul through June include hedge funder Nathaniel Simons, John Doerr ($462,000), Hoffman ($706,000), and hedge funder Nathaniel Simons ($807,000), the San Francisco Standard reported. 'We need to be taking some of that money we're sending to Ukraine and start spending it on the crisis we're having right here at home' 'People feel dispossessed, and we need to start healing people, RFK told DailyMail.com during an exclusive interview Recovering heroin addict RFK Jr. has called for billions in taxpayer dollars being sent to Ukraine to be redirected to fund healing farms for Americans struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. The Democratic longshot presidential candidate says there is an epidemic of not just substance abuse but loneliness, despair, disassociation, alienation - while those in power are addicted to war.' The 69-year-old points to the thousands being killed by fentanyl and insists its time to start spending on the crisis were having here at home.' RFK is no stranger to mental health and addiction challenges. He was addicted to heroin for 14 years and his ex-wife Mary killed herself in 2012 after a long battle with drugs and alcohol. His 22-year-old niece Saoirse Kennedy Hill died in 2019 after taking a fatal mixture of prescription medications, methadone and alcohol. He has also been vocal about stopping the cash flow to Kyiv during their war with Russia. Its one of the many controversial viewpoints that have drawn criticism from his family and led to relatives opposing his 2024 White House bid. In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, he said that instead of 'warehousing' people who are desperate and alienated, he wants to start the process of 'rebuilding communities' one American at a time. 'We're now seeing an epidemic of addiction, alcoholism. But also just loneliness, despair, disassociation, alienation. 'People feel dispossessed, and we need to start healing people. 'And one of the things I'm going to do is to launch a series of healing farms in rural areas all across the country, in places where the only industry now are prisons.' He pointed to the ongoing fentanyl crisis in America as an issue that needs to be taken more seriously. 'We're losing a whole generation of youth. We lost 106,000 people this year alone from fentanyl deaths,' he told DailyMail.com - twice the amount of U.S. soldiers killed in the 20-year Vietnam war, he says. 'We need to be taking some of that money we're sending to Ukraine and start spending it on the crisis we're having right here at home.' RFK has been a vocal advocate of removing U.S. aid to Ukraine amid the country's ongoing war with Russia. 'Well, you know, were addicted to war. And we're spending now almost $150 billion in the [Ukraine] war. It's a war that should never have happened.' RFK told DailyMail.com that the war 'clearly' could have been 'solved diplomatically.' Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his ex-wife Mary Richardson pictured in Paris Friday June 12, 1998 RFK's 22-year-old niece Saoirse Kennedy Hill (left) died in 2019 after taking a fatal mixture of prescription medications, methadone and alcohol. He insisted that media narratives by the American and British press 'have not been true' about the war. The longshot presidential hopeful says that diplomacy must be put first, before the needs of the military industrial complex. The Biden administration recently made a request to Congress for an additional $21 billion in funding for Ukraine. The breakdown of the $13 billion defense request includes $9.5 billion for equipment and replenishment of Pentagon stocks and $3.6 billion for continued military, intelligence and other defense support. If approved, Congress would put total committed U.S. aid to Ukraine at over $124 billion. The administration also authorized the sending of F-16 fighter jets to the country, who has been fending off a Russian invasion for almost two years. Biden has said the U.S. will support Ukraine in its fight against Russia 'for as long as it takes.' RFK's fight for mental health comes after his own personal struggles. After his father Bobby was gunned down in 1968 while mounting his own presidential bid, RFK turned to drugs. He said in a recent interview that he began using heroin to fill 'an empty space inside of me' starting at the age of 15. But he says that he wouldn't blame drugs on the tragedies of his family, saying it 'may or may not have contributed.' 'I feel like I was born an addict that I was an empty spiritual hole.' He finally got clean after 14 years of using in September 1983, shortly after he was publicly arrested for heroin possession. His ex-wife Mary committed suicide by hanging at the family's Mount Kisco estate in Westchester County, New York. She had an ongoing battle with drugs and alcohol and on several occasions tried to seek help. Her suicide was the latest in a succession of tragedies to strike the glittering and powerful Kennedy clan, known as the 'curse of Camelot.' She and RFK had four children together before their divorce in 2010. RFK is now married to actress Cheryl Hines, best known for her role as Larry David's wife on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Four-old Bobcat joined Hines and two of RFK Jr's sons, Aidan and Finn with his cousin Anthony Shriver (far left) also onstage Hines previously told DailyMail.com that she was fully supportive of her husband's plans to run for the White House The Democrat and former environmental lawyer also addressed the ongoing 'environmental crisis.' He told DailyMail.com that the U.S. 'addiction' to fossil fuels is 'not good for American health. 'It's not good for our independence. It keeps us in a constant state of war.' He blasted how dependent the fuel industry is on subsidies. 'I believe in free market capitalism. And if true, free market capitalism will transition very quickly off of fossil fuels.' It is not suggested Slater knew he was surfing with Azevedo A Brazilian pro-surfer who was slammed by Kelly Slater after savagely punching a woman in Indonesia has shared footage of himself surfing alongside the 11-time world champion - just months after the sickening attack. Joao Paulo 'JP' Azevedo ignited global outrage after a viral Instagram video showed him brutally hitting American woman Sara Taylor several times in the head while they were surfing in famous Bali surf spot, Uluwatu, in April. The horrific incident sparked calls for him to be deported as big names in the surfing community - including Felicity Palmateer and Filipe Toledo - rallied to support Ms Taylor and condemn his 'disgusting' behaviour. Leading calls for Azevedo to be booted from the country, Slater also took to the video's comments to ask his Bali-based friends to help get the Brazilian 'sent home where he belongs'. But despite the online clash - and Slater's public repulsion over Azevedo's actions - the pair was filmed surfing together at Padang Padang Beach, in Bali's south, earlier this month. Kelly Slater, pictured with his partner Kalani Miller, spoke out against Azevedo at the time of the attack Commenting on the video, Slater publicly called for the Brazilian to be deported Footage posted to Azevedo's YouTube channel on August 4 shows the pair sharing a wave, standing just metres away from each other as they passed under a barrel. In the caption, Azevedo gushed over how it was a 'dream' to finally surf alongside his childhood idol. 'Surfing with the GOAT [greatest of all time] Kelly Slater in Bali, Indonesia, is a dream session,' he wrote. 'Paradise of perfect waves with Kelly Slater is a dream come true, because since I was a child I watched movies and Slater always inspired me and my friends and everyone in the world of surfing.' '[He was] always winning the world WSL competitions and raising everyone's level, both athletes and competitors in general.' It remains unclear whether Slater and Azevedo have since made peace or whether the surfing legend was even aware he was sharing a wave with the Brazilian. The most likely scenario is that Slater did not know he was surfing with the man he had months earlier called to be deported from Indonesia. Daily Mail Australia have contacted Azevedo and Slater for comment. Ms Taylor was surfing in Uluwatu, in Bali's south, on April 5 when she caught a wave at the same time as Brazilian Adriano Portela, a friend of Azevedo's. Both believing they had the right of way, a brief skirmish broke out as the pair bumped into one another as they mounted their boards before Portela bailed and left the wave to Ms Taylor. But outraged on Portela's behalf, Azevedo decided to take matters into his own hands, with footage showing him paddling over to Ms Taylor and punching her in the back of the head. Ms Taylor swam back to shore, but as she and her British friend Charlie McHarg prepared to leave the beach, Azevedo, Portela and their entourage continued their assault. A second video shows Azevedo appearing to throw his fist into Ms Taylor's face before a group of eight men surround the women, pushing them and vandalising their belongings. Bali Police confirmed at the time the women, who both suffered bruising, had reported the matter to South Kuta Police and it was under investigation. However, despite calls for his deportation, Azevedo has remained in Indonesia and has taken to vlogging his surf adventures. American Sara Taylor (pictured) was attacked by Brazilian surfer Joao Paulo 'JP' Azevedo in Bali on Wednesday Azevedo (pictured) later claimed he hit Ms Taylor because he thought she was a man Over the past three months, he has shared around 30 videos on YouTube under the handle @Ironsurf of him and friends surfing at beaches across Bali. Now, Ms Taylor's friends claim Azevedo was let off scot-free and want justice. 'He wasn't deported. Not even arrested,' Ms McHarg said. 'Bali police said the video wasn't enough evidence to charge him. A true s*** show.' While he has not competed on the World Surf League, Azevedo is a star surfer in Brazil, having won titles in the national Espirito Santo competition in the beginner, child, junior, and professional divisions. He was invited to Indonesia to make a surfing documentary in 2019 and, despite filming being delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he fell in love with the area and relocated permanently. In the wake of the attack, Azevedo was abruptly dumped by his sponsor Quebra Onda, who issued a statement saying the company 'repudiate all kinds of violence being mainly against women'. Footage captured Joao Paulo 'JP' Azevedo paddling over to Ms Taylor and punching her in the back of the head A group of angry men were later filmed surrounding and intimidating the women as they tried to leave the beach As the video began circulating online, Azevedo spoke out to Brazilian media outlet Globo, claiming he hit Ms Taylor because: 'I didnt know she was a woman. She surfed like a man, dressed like a man.' In a later video posted on YouTube, Azevedo said he was 'deeply sorry and ashamed' about what happened but claimed he was the true victim. 'I saw a surfer push my friend and went to ask [them] why [they did it] and got punched on my face and then I retaliated,' he claimed. 'Then I realised it was a woman. Then I got out of the sea to apologise. 'They took my board inside the car.. I went to get my board back defending myself from attacks... And in between attacks I also attacked.' Portela also responded by releasing a statement apologising to the women, admitting he was 'disgusted' and 'ashamed' for losing his temper and speaking to the pair disrespectfully. He said the video did not show everything that happened, but there was not excuse for the way he spoke to the women, and that he had reached out to them to try to make amends. Fellow surfers - including Mick Fanning, comedian Ivy Miller and Othmane Chouf - weighed in on the incident Former British surfing champion Laura Crane slammed the men for attacking Ms Taylor The vicious assault drew widespread condemnation as surfers across the world offered their support to Ms Taylor and Ms McHarg. 'This is so disgusting and actually terrifying,' Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer wrote. 'I hope youre alright. Get these guys deported ASAP!' Brazilian professional surfer Filipe Toledo offered his apologies and sent his well wishes to Ms Taylor and Ms McHarg. 'Im sorry that happened to you guys!' Toledo said. 'Hope you guys are okay! Dont stress with people with this kind of energy! They dont last long, life will come back to them!' The perfect life of an Australian father suddenly collapsed following the birth of his daughter. Now he is trapped in Israel until the year 9999 and caught in a nightmare. 'I just wanted to see my children,' pharmaceutical chemist Noam Huppert, 46, told Daily Mail Australia. 'But now I am banned from ever leaving.' An Israeli court has imposed a travel ban on Mr Huppert for almost 8000 years to ensure he stays in the country to pay his child support after his divorce turned nasty. And even though he's paying AU$3,000 a month to his ex-wife - who can't be identified for legal reasons - he still doesn't even get to see his children. 'They're alienated from me now,' he said. 'And my ex-wife has even taken out a restraining order against me. I'm stuck here paying - and I can't even see them.' The perfect life of Australian father Noam Hubbert (pictured with his son) collapsed after the birth of his daughter. Now he is trapped in Israel until the year 9999 and caught in a nightmare The Israeli-born father-of-two and his wife moved to Australia with their two-year-old toddler son for a new start in 2007 The family set up home in a three-bedroom bungalow on a leafy street in Ryde, in Sydney's north-west, and quickly settled into the Aussie way of life The Israeli-born father-of-two and his wife moved to Australia with their two-year-old toddler son for a new start in 2007. They set up home in a three-bedroom bungalow on a leafy street in Ryde, in Sydney's north-west, and quickly settled into the Aussie way of life. 'We wanted to go to Australia to get away from Israel,' he admitted. 'I realised Israel was not a good place to live and we chose to come to Australia. 'We had just the best life in Sydney - weekends at the beach, having brunch and enjoying the sport. It was an absolute dream. 'We'd go on trips around the country and loved Australia's unique nature. It was so much fun. It was just amazing.' But their idyllic life suddenly came crashing down soon after they celebrated the birth of their daughter in 2010 and his wife was hit by postpartum baby blues. After struggling to cope with depression and juggling two young children, Mr Huppert's wife decided to return to Israel to be closer to her family for support. Mr Huppert initially thought the move was temporary and remained in Australia waiting for his family to return, until he realised: 'She had abducted my children. 'She originally didn't even say she wanted a divorce - she just said she wanted me to come to Israel. I said I wasn't going there - I wanted her to come back with the kids.' He eventually launched an unsuccessful legal fight under the Hague Convention to try to force them to return to Australia where Mr Huppert was now an Australian citizen, as is his Sydney-born daughter. 'But the Israeli court refused,' he said. 'That was to be expected though, as the courts rarely side with the father over the mother. 'So I travelled to Israel to try to see my kids, but even then my wife made life difficult for me and wouldn't let me see them.' Noam and his young family left Israel in 2007 after realising 'it was not a good place to live' to create a better life in Australia where he and his daughter became citizens. (Pictured: Protesters and Israeli police officers clash during a demonstration on July 24 in Jerusalem) He has now been trapped in Israel since 2013 and unable to leave, even on holiday He returned to court in Israel and secured fortnightly weekend access of about four days a month. But it came at the price of never being able to leave the country, even to go on holiday, under a stay-of-exit order to prevent him running out on his child support payments. 'She got a motion for child support which was equal to 50 per cent of my salary,' he revealed from his home in Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv. 'The institution that handles child support did their sums and said I owed 1.8 million shekels (about A$700,000). 'I can never leave the country until that is paid in full, or the year 9999.' The ban has kept him stuck in Israel for the last 10 years without any escape, and he still faces years more trapped behind Israel's borders by the ruling. He added: 'I'm actually trapped here for an infinite length of time according to the court ruling but their computer system only goes up to 9999, so almost 8000 years.' He admits he knew there was a risk he could be trapped in the country by the Israeli legal system, but says: 'I wanted to be next to my kids. 'The travel ban is not the default though - I knew my wife would have to file a motion to get it enacted but I didn't think that would be a problem when I left Australia. 'I didn't think she would do it - but she did.' His life has since become a living hell, trapped in a country where he had already decided he didn't want to live and cut off from his family and happy life in Australia. He desperately wants to be able to return to the idyllic life he enjoyed in Sydney Noam Huppert says as soon as his $700,000 child support payments are finally paid off he will be straight back on a plane to Australia The ban prohibits him from even owning a passport, and if he misses even a single child support payment, he will be instantly thrown in jail for three weeks every time. The courts will also deduct any sums outstanding from his salary direct from his employer, once taking his entire pay packet and more, leaving Mr Huppert owing his bosses hundreds. 'I want to go on vacation,' he said. 'I want to feel free to come and go as I please. 'I only came here to see my kids but now I don't even get to see them - and I'm just forced to live here and never leave. 'I'm being held here like a prisoner just to pay my child support.' His son has now turned 18 and no longer qualifies for the child support payments but Mr Huppert still faces another five years of paying for the daughter he never meets, even thought they only live 25 minutes away from him. 'My wife turned them against seeing me but they don't say I am a bad dad or anything like that,' he added. At the moment, he still owes about $200,000 in outstanding child support until his daughter is 18 in 2028 'They just say they have no reason to meet me any more. 'But I still have to pay for them.' He now hopes to save up enough cash to pay off the outstanding amount within three years to finally set him free from Israel and return to Sydney. At the moment, he still owes about $200,000 in outstanding child support until his daughter is 18 in 2028. He said he had previously tried to do an online fundraiser to raise the cash without success. 'People understandably weren't too keen to pay my child support for me!' he said. 'But that's fine - I hope to be able to pay what's left in a lump sum in a few years. 'In three years, it will be under $100,000 and I hope to be able to finally pay that off and get out of here at last. 'Then I will jump straight on a flight to Australia, try to get a job there - and start to put my life back together again.' Russia proposed conducting three-way naval exercises with North Korea and China when Moscow's defense minister held a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in late July, South Korea's intelligence agency was quoted as saying Monday. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the proposal when he held a one-on-one meeting with the North's leader, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Kim Kyou-hyun said during a close-door briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee, according to Rep. Yoo Sang-bum of the ruling People Power Party. Shoigu visited the North from July 25-27. Asked about the agency's analysis of North Korea's recent increase in military provocations, Yoo said they appear to be in response to the South Korea-United States joint Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise conducted from Aug 21-31. The agency reportedly confirmed North Korea's two short-range ballistic missile launches last Wednesday, saying only one succeeded while the other failed. North Korea has claimed both were successfully conducted. The NIS was also quoted as saying that it is "too early" to conclude whether Kim Jong-un has designated his daughter Ju-ae as his successor. "Currently, North Korea is very obsessed over the Baekdu bloodline, so it's too early to conclude that Kim Ju-ae is his successor," Yoo said, citing the intelligence agency. According to Yoo, the NIS also shared intelligence with lawmakers that the North has issued orders to "anti-state forces" in the South to carry out protest movements related to Japan's discharge of contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima power plant. (Yonhap) If Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell steps down from his role atop the Republican Party there are three Johns - and two women - waiting in the wings who could take over his prominent leadership role. McConnell's successor is being more publicly discussed after the 81-year-old Republican leader froze at an event in Kentucky on Wednesday. This was the second time a freezing incident occurred and it happened in the aftermath of a bad spill, which resulted in a concussion, the senator suffered leaving a hotel dinner in March. So far, there is no indication that McConnell plans to step aside - but two current and one former lieutenant - Sens. John Thune, John Barrasso and John Cornyn - are considered the most likely to take the top role in Senate GOP leadership. Additionally, two women in GOP leadership - Sens. Joni Ernst and Shelley Moore Capito - are also considered dark horse candidates. On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze for about 30 seconds and said he was feeling lightheaded after suffering a concussion in March. This was the second freezing incident since late July JOHN NO. 1: Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is currently Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's No. 2 in Senate leadership John No. 1 is Sen. John Thune of South Dakota who currently serves as McConnell's No. 2 in Senate leadership. At 62, he's the youngest of the top three contenders. Thune has served in the Senate since 2005 after his shocking election win against then Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle. He won narrowly against the prominent Democrat 50.6 to 49.4 percent and put on display the state's increasingly rightward tilt. It was one of the most watched races in the 2004 cycle. Thune took the place as McConnell's No. 2 in 2019, as one of the other Johns - Sen. John Cornyn of Texas - was term limited out due to Republican leadership rules. Like McConnell, he had a falling out with former President Donald Trump over the ex-president's push to overturn the 2020 presidential election. JOHN NO. 2: Sen. John Cornyn of Texas previously served as McConnell's top lieutenant but Republicans term limit leadership positions, so Thune took over in 2019 John No. 2 is Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who previosly served as McConnell's No. 2 in Senate leadership. Cornyn, 71, was elected to the Senate in 2002, and served as the GOP's Senate Whip from 2013 to 2019, after a successful run at chairing the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Before that he served as a district judge, on the Texas Supreme Court and as the Lone Star State's attorney general. Republicans term limit their leadership positions, so Cornyn's whip gig was taken over by Thune in 2019. Since then, he was the Republicans' negotiator in a bipartisan gun control bill that was passed after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde in Cornyn's home state of Texas. Like McConnell and Thune, Cornyn has been critical of Trump, saying in May that 'we need to come up with an alternative' GOP nominee in 2024. 'I think President Trump's time has passed him by and what's the most important thing to me is we have a candidate who can actually win,' Cornyn said according to the Dallas Morning News. JOHN NO. 3: Sen. John Barrasso is the current No. 3 in GOP Senate leadership and more likely to move up to the No. 2 spot if Senate Republicans get a new head honcho John No. 3 is Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming and is currently the chair of the Senate Republican Conference, meaning he's the third most powerful Senate Republican. Barrasso, 71, is a orthopedic surgeon by trade, but also served as a rodeo physician for a time. He originally ran for the Senate in 1996 as the state's longtime Sen. Alan Simpson was retiring, but lost the GOP primary to state Sen. Mike Enzi, who won the general election in the deeply red state. He gained his seat after the death of Sen. Craig Thomas in 2007, after serving in the Wyoming state Senate. While Barrasso is more likely to take the No. 2 position, he does have a good relationship with Trump, who could win another White House term in 2024. Two other contenders - who could help the GOP make history by having a female Senate leader - are Ernst and Capito. Ernst of Iowa currently serves as chair of the Republican Policy Committee, the No. 2 position in leadership. Capito of West Virginia is the current vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference. A barrister and property tycoon who has changed sex three times is putting the finishing touches to the first phase of a 10m restoration of her remote 'fairy-tale' castle in the Scottish Highlands. The lawyer who is now known as Lady Samantha Kane is preparing to open the doors of Carbisdale Castle to groups of ten or more guests for around 50,000 for all-inclusive long weekends. She is promising well-heeled guests a luxury taste of 'authentic Highland hospitality' which will include gourmet meals, butler service and a wake up call from their own bagpiper. Her guests will also be able to enjoy forest walks, four wheel drive safaris and spectacular views from most of the rooms and the Castle terrace before being entertained in the evenings with Highland music and dancing, and the chance to sample her whisky bar. Lady Samantha, 63, said: 'I want to offer people a true Scottish experience at its best. They will be treated like lords and ladies, and enjoy the best cuisine prepared by top chefs with all food locally sourced. Lady Samantha Kane (pictured) is preparing to open the doors of Carbisdale Castle to groups of ten or more guests for around 50,000 for all-inclusive long weekends She is is putting the finishing touches to the first phase of a 10m restoration of her remote 'fairy-tale' castle (pictured) in the Scottish Highlands Lady Samantha is promising well-heeled guests a luxury taste of 'authentic Highland hospitality' which will include gourmet meals, butler service and a wake up call from their own bagpiper 'Renovating this castle is a huge project. It is a spectacular place with the most wonderful views, and I want other people to enjoy it. I am not doing this to make money because I could make more in London. 'I just want this Castle to survive so it can be here in perpetuity and pay for itself. It costs 30,000 a month to run and that is just for the heating bills and routine maintenance. 'We have very severe winters here. You have to keep the place at a certain temperature, and the roof and guttering need constant looking after. At the end of the day, the Castle is an iconic building and I want to protect it.' Lady Samantha bought 64-room Carbisdale Castle on a hilltop overlooking the Kyle of Sutherland last October when it was in a near derelict condition after being put on the market with offers invited of over 1.2 million. The historic building is famously known as the 'Castle of Spite' after it was built for the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland in the early 20th century following her spectacular fall out with the family of her second husband, the Duke of Sutherland. Lady Samantha fell in love with the mansion set in 2,000 acres of forest and with its own loch for fishing and wild swimming when she saw it for the first time after booking a last minute flight to Inverness to view it. She put in a successful offer for it on the spot, even though water was pouring through ceilings in several rooms and it was clear that a small fortune needed to be spent on restoring it to its former glory. Lady Samantha said: When I saw that this building was derelict and ruined, I thought, 'This can't be allowed'. I thought that if anyone could sort it out, then I could do it, and I should . I am putting all my effort into it. Her guests will also be able to enjoy forest walks, four wheel drive safaris and spectacular views from most of the rooms Lady Samantha (pictured in whisky bar) was born into the Hashimite Royal family in Iraq and known as Sam Hashimi when he arrived in London as a student in 1976 and went on to make a fortune as investment head of a Saudi-owned company Her purchase and restoration so far has been funded by the sale of her London property portfolio including her former home in Kensington which was worth twice as much as the purchase price of the castle 'I have no Scottish roots, but what I love about Scotland is how welcoming it is. I am accepted as a Scottish person and a highlander, and I have adopted the name of the Castle as my own.' Her purchase and restoration so far has been funded by the sale of her London property portfolio including her former home in Kensington which was worth twice as much as the purchase price of the castle. Lady Samantha has now transformed much of the interior, having made the roof watertight, and carpeted half the 42,000 square foot interior with a luxurious deep red Carbisdale tartan carpet. Her own wallpaper design, featuring Scottish thistles and stag skulls, now adorns the walls of the rooms and galleries in the main part of the house, named the Duchess Wing. She is reluctant to say how much she has spent on renovations so far, but said she is close to finishing the first phase which will allow guests to stay in the Duchess Wing with the use of a galleries, a lounge area, ballroom, billiards room and dining room. The second phase of her renovations will involve restoring the separate 23 room west wing of the castle which will eventually have a cinema, fitness area and indoor and outdoor swimming pools, while the third phase will target the mansion's clock and bell tower. Lady Samantha admits to having a background which is almost as 'colourful' as that of the Duchess of Sutherland who is said to have designed the Castle to annoy the family of her late husband after they battled to stop her inheriting the bulk of his estate. Lady Samantha is reluctant to say how much she has spent on renovations so far, but said she is close to finishing the first phase which will allow guests to stay in the Duchess Wing with the use of a galleries, a lounge area, ballroom, billiards room and dining room The divorced father-of-two shocked family and business associates by undergoing private gender reassignment surgery to remove male organs and construct female genitalia in 1997 She was born into the Hashimite Royal family in Iraq and known as Sam Hashimi when he arrived in London as a student in 1976 and went on to make a fortune as investment head of a Saudi-owned company. She underwent private gender male to female reassignment surgery in 1997. She reinvented herself as glamorous interior designer Samantha Kane, spending 100,000 on cosmetic operations, breast implants and tooth veneers to create what she described, back in interviews at the time as the 'ultimate male fantasy'. After being briefly engaged to a wealthy landowner during her seven years as a woman, she found her new existence 'shallow' and decided to spend a further 25,000 on surgery to transition back into a man. She regretted her transition into Samantha and hoped to mend bridges with her traditional family and estranged adult children by reincarnating herself as Charles Kane. The change involved removing her breast implants and replacing oestrogen patches with testosterone. The change involved removing her breast implants and replacing oestrogen patches with testosterone. A view of Carbisdale Castle from across the river. The castle was built between 1906 and 1917 Although her original sex change surgery was irreversible, surgeons attempted to fashion new male genital organs, which she says were no more than an 'approximation' and non-functioning. But her transition was not a success and led to her feeling trapped in a body which was a pale imitation of the man she had once been. She then reverted back to being a woman, having her final round of surgery abroad to remove her male appendage, and going back on female HRT to revive her physical feminisation process. Wearing sensible tartan skirts, and country-style jackets, she now says she is 'comfortable in her own skin', as a mature woman living as the 'Lady of the Manor' in her own grand castle. She insists that she has been welcomed by the majority of her new neighbours who are delighted that she is breathing life once again into the castle, and preserving it for future generations. But she said: 'While most local people are pleased to see me and are very supportive, there are a minority who have not come to terms with me. A few don't want change for the sake of it. 'Some people say they don't want rich people here which I find extraordinary because rich people will maintain the Castle and bring jobs. Once I get this place up and running, I hope to create about 25 jobs. 'There is some discrimination because of my gender and also some because of where I come from. I am viewed as a stranger. People say, 'You are not Scottish'. It is bordering on racism, but I have to be strong.' Lady Samantha admitted she was fascinated by the story of the Castle's original resident, Mary Caroline Blair who became the Duchess of Sutherland. The Oxford-born Army captain's wife found herself at the centre of a high-society scandal in Victorian London when she had an affair with George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, a married man and the third Duke of Sutherland. A bitter family feud ensued when Mary Caroline became the Duke's second wife just months after the death of his first wife, following the death of her own husband in a shooting accident. Her new husband's children were unhappy at how quickly they had married while Queen Victoria, a close friend of the duke's first wife, was among those who had appealed to the duke to wait longer before remarrying. Despite her title being the Duchess of Sutherland, she was nicknamed Duchess Blair, before her three-year marriage ended in 1892 when the duke died. He left the bulk of his estate to his second wife, leading to his son contesting her inheritance, and the Duchess being jailed for six weeks in London's Holloway Prison after being accused of destroying documents relating to the will. The dispute was eventually settled, with the Duke of Sutherland's family agreeing to build the Dowager Duchess a new home, provided it was outside the boundary of the family's Sutherland Estate. The duchess selected a hillside plot close to - and visible from - the estate so that her late husband's estranged family could be permanently reminded of her presence. The castle was built between 1906 and 1917 with its clock tower having only three faces, and the side facing Sutherland Estate being blank because the duchess did not want to give her former in-laws 'the time of day'. Lady Samantha's website states that she is hoping to start a private member's club with the aim of attracting donations of at least 10,000 from supporters who want to help fund the restoration. Here, Lady Samantha is pictured on the terrace In another move she created a roof terrace with views over the railway line and viaduct carrying the Duke of Sutherland's own trains. As a result, he is said to have ordered dark curtains to be raised in the carriages every time he went past to avoid seeing his former stepmother's castle. Lady Samantha admitted she was proud of her home's links to the former Dowager Duchess, describing her as a woman from the Victorian era who built a castle when 'women didn't have many rights'. She said: 'She was a woman standing against men and society. This castle was a statement by her. It reminds me of myself. She is saying, 'nothing will put me down and that is what I am saying.' Many of the rooms of the Castle are furnished with photographs of the Duchess, and Lady Samantha admits she is 'inspired' whenever she sees them. She added: 'I want people to have the experience of being Lords and Ladies here as the duchess intended. I don't want it to be a hotel or something that will kill the spirit of the place. It's my home. I just want to restore it to how it was. It's a tribute to her and needs to be preserved for future generations.' Lady Samantha's website states that she is hoping to start a private member's club with the aim of attracting donations of at least 10,000 from supporters who want to help fund the restoration. She added: 'I am not ashamed of asking people to pay towards the high maintenance. Maybe someone will think, 'Samantha is doing a good job here', and support me, either individuals or heritage bodies. Lady Samantha insists that she has been welcomed by the majority of her new neighbours who are delighted that she is breathing life once again into the castle, and preserving it for future generations 'The building is worth all the effort. There are 365 windows, one for every day of the year, and there are breathtaking views from each one, each better than the last.' The castle had spent 60 years as a youth hostel until the cost of repairs and maintenance became untenable, and it was sold in 2016 by a London investment firm which started renovation work before putting it on the market. Lady Samantha said: 'There must have been a million people who stayed here when it was a youth hostel. A lot of people hold this Castle dear to their hearts. I have had letters of support from people in America, Canada and Germany who have stayed here.' She hopes to create an eco-glamping site with 12 treehouses by her private loch which she hopes will appeal to younger people while the 'older generation' stay in comfort in the Castle. The PM has previously claimed it is one page long New book says the Uluru Statement is multiple pages A new book written by two campaigners for the Voice to Parliament says the Uluru Statement from the Heart is multiple pages, despite Anthony Albanese repeatedly claiming it's only one page. In their newly released book 'Our Voices from the Heart', Indigenous activists and Uluru Dialogue co-chairs Professor Megan Davis and Patricia Anderson explain that the statement is 15 pages'. 'The Statement was drafted and overwhelmingly endorsed by the Convention's delegates,' it reads. 'It is 15 pages long and includes three elements: the one-page pitch to the Australian people; 'our story' of the First Nations history of Australia; and the explanation of the legal reform.' In their new book, Uluru Dialogue co-chairs Professor Megan Davis (pictured centre with Rio Tinto Managing Director Joanne Farrell & BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie) and Patricia Anderson say the Uluru Statement is '15 pages', with one page being the 'pitch' to the Australian public The debate over the length of the Uluru Statement has been a prominent topic in discussions about the Voice to Parliament. The longer version of the document includes calls for a treaty, reparations, 'rent' to be paid, a reconsideration of land rights and a re-writing of Australia's history. It also raised Aboriginal sovereignty, saying 'the unfinished business of Australia's nationhood includes recognising the ancient jurisdictions of First Nations law.' These arguments were not included in the final statement, however critics are concerned they will be topics that the Voice to Parliament will be interested in pursuing. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously described claims about a longer version of the Uluru Statement as a conspiracy theory. Last month, when asked if he had read the longer version of the Uluru Statement, Mr Albanese responded, 'Why would I'. Before the controversy arose, Professor Davis had, on at least one occasion, mentioned an '18-page' version of the document and Aussies to thoroughly review the entire document. However, in more recent times, Professor Davis has dismissed the idea of an extended version of the document as 'disinformation.' In a statement released on behalf of Professor Davis and Ms Anderson, who represent the Uluru Dialogue, a spokesperson clarified: 'The Uluru Statement from the Heart consists of just one page.' 'This one-page, 439-word statement described as 'the one-page pitch to the Australian people' in the book you are referring to and supporting documents that reflect and record the many regional dialogues and consultation leading up to it have been public for seven years. They are found on the Referendum Council website,' a spokesperson said. 'We are not surprised that the No campaign want to focus on anything but the question that is before the Australian people, which is about recognition and a Voice. 'When you listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on matters that affect them, you get better outcomes for their communities.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) has repeatedly stressed that the Uluru Statement is only one page The Uluru Statement (pictured) is a one-page document, while the remaining linking pages are background and excerpts drawn from the regional dialogues Yes campaigners and officials have repeatedly insisted the Uluru Statement from the Heart 'respects the primacy of parliament' and that all decision making power will ultimately fall on politicians of the day to negotiate. The referendum would ensure that an advisory body - the Voice to Parliament - would be constitutionally enshrined, and there would be no way for a future government to abolish it. Mr Albanese has repeatedly said Labor is committed to adopting the Uluru Statement from the Heart 'in full', i.e. the single-page statement. Confusion around the Voice and Mr Albanese's handling of the impending referendum has hurt him and the Yes vote at the polls. The latest Newspoll revealed support for the Voice is plummeting only weeks out from the October 14 referendum. Only 38 per cent of the population planning to vote Yes and 53 per cent is tracking to vote No in the poll, which was conducted for The Australian. It's first time support for the No vote has risen to an outright majority. In another recent poll, Victoria was the only state that backed a Yes vote. The Yes campaign will need a majority of Australians and a majority in at least four of the six states in order to succeed. Only eight of 44 referendums have succeeded in Australia's 122 year history - all with bipartisan support. Confusion around the Voice and Mr Albanese's handling of the impending referendum has hurt him and the Yes vote at the polls (pictured, Anthony Albanese speaks to the media following Pat Farmer's arrival at the Sydney Opera House on his Run for the Voice campaign) Meanwhile, a Resolve Political Monitor poll from last month saw Labor's primary vote drop to just four percentage points ahead of the Coalition The government fell from 39 to 37 per cent, while the opposition boosted its vote by three percentage points to 33 per cent. Mr Albanese remains the preferred prime minister with 46 per cent of voters, a five per cent drop from July. An international bestselling Aussie author who writes queer fiction has hit back as a second novel faces being banned in the US. Adelaide woman Sophie Gonzalez was shocked to learn her book 'Only Mostly Devastated' could be banned from a Ozark-Dale County Library in Alabama. Outraged parents complained about the appropriateness of the 288 page book claiming it describes bestiality and a student having sex with another's parents. The announcement is another blow for Ms Gonzalez whose book 'Perfect on Paper' was among dozens banned in Texas schools last year. Only Mostly Devastated, a title by Aussie author Sophie Gonzalez is set to be pulled from the shelves at Ozark-Dale County Library in Alabama 'Only Mostly Devastated' is among dozens of books featuring LGBTQ characters that could be pulled from the shelves at the public library in Alabama following a fiery public meeting attended by more than 200 residents last week. Only Mostly Devastated is a contemporary, queer re-imagining of the film classic Grease and centres around teen Ollie who get his heart broken by Will after a summer fling. A family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school attended by Will, where he learns the sweet, comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn't the same one attending Collinswood High. READ MORE: Teacher sacked after reading gender identity picture book to students Advertisement Ozark mayor Mark Blankenship threatened to defund the library if the titles weren't removed while one woman branded the books as 'an abomination to God'. Ms Gonzales, who writes queen fiction for teens between 12 and 18, took to TikTok to defend her book. 'So one of my books Only Mostly Devastated was banned. Again,' Ms Gonzalez began. 'There were a few reasons given, one being bestiality, and the other being sexual contact between a student and the mother of another student.' 'So I just want to clarify, to anyone who needs to know this, that if a teenager is roasting another teenager and they say 'I slept with your mum' it's generally safe to assume that in reality they did not actually sleep with that other student's mum.' 'And saying that you wouldn't make out with a labrador is not, in fact, a graphic depiction of bestiality.' She added that the 'Labrador' conversation in the book was a group of discussing how the Frog Prince was 'kind of messed up.' Sophie Gonzales (pictured) has hit back to defend her latest book being banned in the US 'So when queer characters say 'I wouldn't do that' it's discussions of bestiality but if a fairytale actually does it, it's a heartwarming innocent tale for kids,' she added. The ban comes after Ozark mayor Mark Blankenship threatened to stop funding Ozark Dale County Public Library if LGBTQ books remain in the young adult section. 'We have been trying to remove this trash from the kids section of our library for several months,' he posted on Facebook prior to last week's meeting 'We have been told several times it would be removed. It never happens and the library receives three or four more books per month. 'If we cut the funding they will be closed and our children will not be exposed to this mess. Its time the majority of the people stand up and address this liberal mess in Alabama.' Library board members want the proposed ban to be reviewed by an attorney before before voting on a final decision their next meeting. Ms Gonzalez has been inundated with messages of support over the proposed ban. 'Gee these people must have read a totally different book to me. I definitely read a fantastic, wholesome, funny book that everyone should read,' one man commented. Another fan added: 'I love Only Mostly devastated. I didn't come to those conclusions while reading it. Who did? Because that's over analysing the book.' Another novel by Sophie Gonzalez (pictured) was banned from schools in Texas late last year Last December, Ms Gonzales discovered on X (formerly Twitter) that another title Perfect on Paper was on a 16-page list of titles banned in Texas schools. 'These are just stories written for kids that happen to star children who aren't white, cis (cisgender) and straight,' she said at the time. 'I want to say it's a shock, but it's not as much of a shock as I would like it to be, but it's still so ridiculous.' Earlier this year, renowned Australian children's author Mem Fox spoke out after learning one of her children's books was banned 35 years after it was first published. The iconic book 'Guess What' was stripped from shelves across Duval County, in north-east Florida, over an illustration of the book's main character Daisy O'Grady unclothed and taking a bath in a laundry sink. The popular children's book joins hundreds of titles removed from school libraries since the Parental Rights in Education Act was enforced in Florida last year. The devastated mother of two children killed in a horror crash revealed her children always wanted 'to help people' as locals paid their respects at a candlelit vigil. Alina Kauffman, 24, was picking up her brother Ernesto Salazer, 15, from work when they were struck by an allegedly stolen car at Heckenberg, in Sydney's south-west, at about 9.20pm on Friday. The Mercedes smashed into the Toyota Echo the siblings were in, metres from their home, before it hit a stationary Toyota RAV4 and flipped onto its side. NSW Ambulance paramedics treated the siblings however they both died at the scene. About 150 people gathered on Sunday night to pay tribute to the brother and sister who were tragically killed. Mourners were seen placing cards, flowers and toys at the roadside crash site during the vigil. The siblings' mother Angelina Kauffman broke down in tears after returning to the crash site on Saturday. A vigil (pictured) was held for the brother and sister killed in a horror crash when an alleged stolen Mercedes smashed into their car just metres away from their home in Heckenberg The driver of the Toyota Echo (pictured) Alina Kauffman, 24, and her 15-year-old brother Ernesto Salazer and were treated by paramedics at the scene but were unable to be saved Ms Kauffman shared a harrowing tribute to her children, describing them as 'good people' who wanted to make a difference. 'My babies, they took them from me, my babies,' Ms Kauffman said. 'My kids were going to help people, my kids wanted to make a difference in this world, my kids were good people.' 'My daughter she's such a beautiful girl, she loves her brother and my son, he loves his sister. 'Now my son is gone and my daughter she's gone. My kids are gone and I have to live the rest of my life with no kids, why? I don't understand.' Ms Kauffman said Alina was a dedicated nursing student with a kind heart, while Ernesto was an animal lover who was working at K-mart saving for his first car. She explained her daughter had collected her son from his new job at Kmart and the pair were nearly home when they were hit. 'Alina called me and said ''mum I picked up my brother, we are going to get some food and then we are coming home'',' Ms Kauffman said. 'I said ''are you okay'' and they said ''yes mummy''.' Alina Kauffman (left), 24, and her brother, Ernesto Salazer (right), 15, died when the Toyota Echo they were in waa struck by an allegedly stolen Mercedes just metres away from their home Angelina Kauffman (pictured) broke down in tears after returning to the scene of a horror car crash that killed her two children When she didn't hear from them in 20 minutes, Ms Kauffman and her other child tracked their location down via social media. The distraught mother said she arrived at the scene just minutes after the crash. 'The police came and told me my kids died. My beautiful kids,' she continued tearfully. 'These people hit my kids and left them to die.' Police arrested 20-year-old Johnson Kokozian after he handed himself into Liverpool Police Station on Saturday. Kokozian denies he was behind the wheel but was charged over the crash and refused bail at Parramatta Court on Sunday. However, Magistrate Rob Rabbidge said he was satisfied Kokozian was the Mercedes driver in what he called an 'appalling situation', the Daily Telegraph reported. Johnson Kokozian, 20 allegedly filmed a Snapchat video of himself enjoying a meal from KFC just after the crash (pictured) Police have charged Johnson Kokozian (pictured) over the crash. The 20-year-old denies he was behind the wheel of the Mercedes The young father was charged with two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, two counts of failing to stop and assist after vehicle impact causing death, negligent driving occasioning death, and driving a vehicle during a disqualification period. READ MORE: Young dad accused of crashing Mercedes into another car killing brother and sister aged 15 and 24, allegedly made a Snapchat video dining on KFC before turning himself in to police Advertisement Kokozian also allegedly filmed himself eating KFC in the hours before turning himself into police. The Mercedes was reported stolen by Kokozian's father after police attended his address about an hour after the crash. CCTV allegedly shows the Mercedes travelling at high speed along a residential road just minutes before the crash. Another 18-year-old handed himself in to police on Sunday but was released without charge. Police allege Kokozian and two other people climbed out of the wrecked Mercedes and got into another car to drive off after making no attempt to help the siblings who were fatally wounded in the Echo. A manhunt is underway for the other two passengers of the Mercedes who fled the scene. Police are also on the hunt for the person who filmed the crash victims dying inside the car before sharing it to social media. A six-second video circulated online on Sunday of the moments after the crash showing the two siblings sitting inside the wreckage. The gruesome video shows the young people close to death but no attempt made by the camera operator to offer first aid. Wiradjuri elder 'Riverbank Frank' Doolan says he will vote No in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum because he believes it is racially divisive. The respected community leader and poet, who lives in a caravan on the banks of the Macquarie River on outskirts of Dubbo in central NSW, said he believes the change would create division between Indigenous communities and wider Australia. Australians will be asked to vote 'Yes' or 'No' on October 14 on whether to enshrine in the Constitution an Indigenous body, which must be consulted on all proposed laws that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people. Mr Doolan told journalist Hugh Riminton this week: 'Altering the constitution along racial lines, to me that's repugnant'. He sent Riminton a follow up message saying that he doesn't intend to 'court controversy' and has 'no animosity towards Yes voters' Indigenous or otherwise. 'I love my people and I love their right to vote as they see fit. I'm simply one black man with an opinion. Respect, tolerance, peace,' he wrote. Aboriginal elder 'Riverbank Frank' Doolan has revealed he will be voting No in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum saying he believes the change will be divisive Riminton's post to X, formerly Twitter, caused a stream of comments. 'I'm meeting a few Aboriginal people up here saying 'No',' one person from the Northern Territory wrote. 'Some want treaty first. Some just No. But many more absolutely wanting 'Yes'. There are four Land Councils in NT representing 30 per cent of Territorians who are Indigenous. All four support the Voice,' they said. Riminton agreed, saying most Aboriginal people he had spoken to about the Voice intend to support it in the October 14 poll. 'From hard, enthusiastic 'Yes', to 'meh, yes'. The 'No's' tend to fall into either 'it will make no difference' or 'it's just a bloody advisory body - we've gotta do better than that!' Mr Doolan previously told The Western Herald, the local newspaper of Bourke where he is from before he moved to Dubbo, that the Voice sounded to him like a new version of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) - the former body representing indigenous people which was abolished. 'None of us know too much about the Voice to Parliament, but what's suggested, and proposed with an almighty flourish that makes us believe they're doing something magnificent for Australia, is a re-hashed version of ATSIC,' he said. 'As an indigenous man, I reject the government assertion that we need another Voice to understand and hear Aboriginal people,' Mr Doolan said. 'They have known about Aboriginal people since the Whitlam days when we had our first Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.' Mr Doolan, who lives in a caravan on the outskirts of Dubbo (left), sent a follow up text message to Riminton further explaining his views (right) Wiradjuri elder 'Riverbank Frank' Doolan has explained why he is voting No on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Opposition to the Indigenous voice to parliament has now tipped over into the majority according to a new poll. Newspoll, conducted for The Australian, showed support for constitutional change has fallen to 38 per cent, while backing for the 'No' vote has risen to 53 per cent. Consecutive polls have shown support for the voice has been sliding. Success will require a majority of voters and a majority of states voting in favour. Despite the polls, Minister for Employment Tony Burke said he was confident the referendum would succeed. '(Opposition Leader) Peter Dutton has underestimated the goodwill of a whole lot of Liberal voters here as well,' he told ABC radio on Monday. 'There's a generosity in the Australian people and as people come closer to the date, focus their minds, look at the proposal, we see something where there's nothing to lose and everything to gain.' Mr Dutton has confirmed that, should this referendum fail, he would hold a second plebiscite proposing formal recognition of indigenous people in the Constitution, but without the consultative role of the Voice. 'Yes, I believe very strongly that is the right thing to do,' he told Sky News. 'But enshrining a Voice in the constitution is divisive.' Opposition leader Peter Dutton (pictured centre with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price) has said he would hold another referendum to recognise First Nations Australians in the Constitution but leave out the Voice Under Labor's plan, which follows the Uluru Statement from the Heart, the Voice would be able to advise parliament and the executive government on issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Mr Dutton again argued the Voice would 'divide the country down the middle' and fail to deliver practical outcomes for Indigenous Australians. READ MORE: Why these Aboriginal Australians are voting No First Nations women from Cummeragunja spoke out against the Voice Advertisement Megan Davis, an Aboriginal activist who has been one of the prominent proponents of the Voice, said Aboriginal people would not accept the powerless Constitutional recognition Mr Dutton proposes. 'There's a unity ticket among Australians on this point: there is no use going to a referendum if it's not going to change the daily lives of First Nations peoples,' Professor Davis, one of the architects of the Uluru Statement, told reporters on Sunday. 'There's zero evidence anywhere in the world that a statement of recognition (on its own) changes anything.' Uluru Dialogue strategic advisor Kirstie Parker said Mr Dutton's comments showed he was not listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the majority of whom are in favour of the Voice according to YouGov and Ipsos polls conducted earlier this year. 'Some people have said the referendum is an expensive exercise and yet here we have an opposition proposing to spend the same amount of money on something that would not change lives,' Ms Parker said. The Uluru Dialogue - the organisation dedicated to advancing the Uluru Statement - would continue to combat that through 'face-to-face yarns' with Australians, Prof Davis said. Both the Yes and No campaign are ramping up ahead of the October referendum Nationals Leader David Littleproud backed his Liberal counterpart Mr Dutton on Sunday, saying the referendum would pass 'with flying colours' if the scope of the Voice was more defined and limited. 'If it does go down on October 14, I'm pledging my leadership to restart a process to make sure we do get to constitutional recognition,' he told Nine's Weekend Today program. The 'Yes' campaign on Sunday announced it had secured permission to use John Farnham's famous song, 'You're the Voice'. Asked if he thought Farnham's support would make a difference to the 'Yes' campaign, Mr Littleproud claimed Australians don't understand what a voice to parliament means. 'The line, 'You're the Voice, try to understand it', is a big one,' he said. 'The prime minister might want to have a little think about that today.' The referendum's success depends on majority support across the country and in four of six Australian states. The referendum question is: 'A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?' If successful the government will design the specific form of the voice, which will be implemented via legislation debated and passed by federal parliament. With a nervous glance and a hesitant paw, Ruben the lion has his first taste of freedom. The 15-year-old forgot how to roar after spending the past six years alone in a cramped cage in Azerbaijan. But now after diplomatic negotiations, multi-national planning and a 22-hour flight he is starting a new life at a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa. The rescue was triggered after the Daily Mail highlighted his plight as the only animal left in a zoo in Azerbaijan following the death of its businessman owner. UK-based charity Animal Defenders International masterminded the effort to deliver Ruben from the tiny enclosure where he had spent his entire life to its safe haven in South Africa, with the help of Qatar Airlines. ADI president Jan Creamer said: We were in tears when Ruben stepped out of his crate, walking on grass for the first time in his life. SOUTH AFRICA: New pride as Ruben walks on grass for the first time AZERBAIJAN: A vet helps look after Ruben before he is moved to safety The lion had forgotten how to roar after spending the past six years alone in a cramped cage - but has now taken his first steps on African soil Ruben being loaded onto the aircraft for his flight to freedom William Tyrrell's foster mother has pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting an 11-year-old girl. The 58-year-old entered the plea at the beginning of a five-day court hearing into allegations of violence against the young girl. The foster parents, referred to before the court as SD and JS, are accused of common assault against a child and stalk, intimidate and cause fear of physical or mental harm against a child between Australia Day 2021 and August 30, 2021. The offences allegedly occurred at two different Sydney North Shore residences. The foster mother maintained pleas of not guilty to two separate charges of stalking and intimidating the young girl. The girl is due to testify via pre-recorded evidence during a week-long trial at Parramatta Local Court in Sydney's west. The court heard about heated verbal exchanges between the child and allegedly about a recording of the then primary schoolgirl being smacked. Defence barrister John Stratton, SC, argued the repeated incidents, including a threatened warning by the foster mother that if the child continued to behave badly 'she would slap her' was just 'lawful chastisement, not a criminal activity'. He said if a threat by a parent to issue a child with a smacking was deemed criminal 'that would criminalise every household in Australia'. He said a reference in a recording to a 'smack, smack smack, could have been a recording of 'someone in the family striking a desk'. But police prosecutor Detective Chief Inspector John Marsh said the 'smack, smack, smack' was clear on the recording, and the multiple incidents and alleged threats was 'certainly not what (happened in) every household in Australia' He said there was an incident in which the child used a phone without permission, and then called the foster mother 'a f***ing b***h'. 'It is the cumulative effect of all these incidents to show that (the foster mother) knew her conduct was likely to cause fear but nonetheless continued.' William Tyrrell's foster mother (pictured) pleaded guilty to two charges of common assault at Parramatta Local Court on Monday. The charges related to a young child, who is not William Police allege the mother threatened the girl while her foster father, 56, allegedly grabbed her by the neck after the girl said she 'hated' them. READ MORE: How William Tyrrell's foster parents escaped scrutiny... until now The problems that beset the William Tyrrell case from the moment the three-year-old vanished go directly to the heart of Australia's flawed foster parent system. On one side, you have a his foster parents, a wealthy, well-educated couple who live in a $4 million home on Sydney's exclusive north shore. And on the other are his biological parents, who fell under suspicion from police because of the problems which saw them lose custody of the little boy in the first place: substance abuse and issues with law and order. READ MORE: How toddler 'couldn't get up' after 'distressing' accident, hit and bit foster mum Advertisement William's foster father allegedly 'grabbed' the girl about the neck and 'physically restrained her to sit back down' in the kitchen of a suburban home. She later told a teacher she was afraid to go back to the house, police will allege. One one day in November 2021, the child had been placed in a 44-minute time-out period and had then told the couple she 'hated them'. Attending the hearing was a large group of detectives from Strike Force Rosann, which is investigating the disappearance of William Tyrrell, including the task force commander Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw. The court was told the foster mother had been 'attempting to intervene in the (alleged) victim's problematic behaviour'. She warned the girl that if she were to defecate on the floor she would rub her face in it, it is alleged. Police will allege that when the child screamed out in pain, SD 'then forced the child to sit on the floor for an extended period of time before kicking the (alleged) victim and causing her pain and bruising. 'The (alleged) victim is reported to have tried to get up a number of times but (SD) forced her to sit down.' A psychological report after the event alleges the child was 'pleading' with SD to stop while the two defendants allegedly subjected her to a 15-minute 'tirade of verbal abuse'. William Tyrrell (above) disappeared aged three in September 2014 in the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall and no trace of the toddler has ever been found However lawyers for the accused lodged an objection at the beginning of the five-day hearing to at least one psychological expert, Dr Banks. The alleged victim spoke to her schoolteacher and 'expressed being afraid to return home'. SD and her husband JS were charged with common assault of the girl in late 2021, as police embarked on a new search of bushland near the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall for the remains of William Tyrrell. They have also entered guilty pleas to charges of using a dummy bidder to increase the sale price of their former 'forever home' for missing William on Sydney's North Shore at an auction in 2020. The foster father faced court alongside his wife, charged with the alleged assault and stalking or intimidating of a child The foster mother (above in Kendall after William vanished) is appearing in Parramatta Local Court on charges of assaulting and stalking a child The charges were downgraded to regulatory offences under the Property and Stock Agents Act and the pair will be sentenced this week and fined. William disappeared aged three in September 2014 in the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall and no trace of the toddler has ever been found. No-one has ever been charged over his disappearance. A new search of bushland within 700m of the Kendall house where William was last seen was conducted in late 2021, but no items of significance have been identified. Coles is facing a customer backlash over a new store where the self-checkout machines do not accept cash. The newly opened store in Brisbane has a row of self-service checkout machines that all say 'card only'. A video of the cashless machines was posted on social media. 'Here we are at a new Coles, no cash machines at all,' the narrator says. This sparked a call for boycotting shops that won't accept cash. Coles supermarket self-service checkouts are increasingly only accepting payments by card 'Everyone needs to only use cash. If they don't accept cash, then don't buy from them,' one said. 'Everyone needs to leave the groceries at the check out and walk off,' another said. A third noted that the supermarkets are cutting back on jobs. 'Bad enough that companies like Coles have increased prices, I know they cut hours of their employees but now more self serve check outs... Less jobs.' However, others thought the trend was inevitable. 'Cash is going, get use to it. Cash unfortunately is mostly used by criminals and tax cheats. more and more businesses are declining to do cash transactions,' another added. A spokesperson for Coles said that there were no cashless stores yet, even if the self-checkouts only accepted cards. 'There are still options for our customers wanting to pay cash in all our stores,' the spokesperson said. In 2021 Woolworths abandoned a trial of cashless supermarkets, which were unpopular with many shoppers. The trial, which included 14 'metro' stores across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, was sold as a way of making shopping as 'seamless as possible for busy inner-city customers'. The move away from cash has angered some customers who say the supermarket has to accept legal tender However, it was met with fierce resistance. 'I refuse to shop at any of your card-only places,' one customer wrote on Woolworths' Facebook page. 'Cash is legal tender and I do not support the cash ban and will take my money elsewhere.' National Seniors Australia chief advocate Ian Henschke called the trial 'a form of ageism' because many older customers still prefer cash. Woolworths Metro general manager Justin Nolan admitted the trial was before its time. 'While almost all Metro customers choose to pay with cards, cash remains incredibly important to those who don't for a whole range of reasons we didn't fully appreciate,' he said. 'Based on feedback from our customers, we can see we've moved ahead of current community expectations on cash and will be ending the trial.' Australia is rapidly moving towards being a cashless society, forcing people into using bank cards which record all spending. The Reserve Bank estimated just 13 per cent of transactions in late 2022 were in cash, a halving in just three years since the start of the Covid pandemic. A major benefit of using just cash means fees are avoided. When a customer uses tap-and-go banks charge a fee that ranges from 1.1% to 2 per cent of the purchase price, whereas for EFTPOS is a maximum fee of .5% is charged. Australian bank branches are increasingly limiting cash withdrawals, with customers now advised to call ahead if they want a large sum from a teller. ANZ, Commonwealth Bank NAB have announced they were no longer permitting cash withdrawals over the counter at some of their outlets as more banking is done online than with cash. Woolworths tried cashless supermarkets in 2021 but abandoned the trial in the face of customer anger Critics warned the move to cashless banks could cause significant harm to older people and those with disabilities who still rely on branches and physical cash. The number of bank branches in Australia has fallen by about 30 per cent in the past five years. And ATMs have decreased even more, with figures showing that they have fallen from a high of 14,000 in 2017 to around 6,000 as of last year. Millennials are increasingly moving to small towns to escape unaffordable housing and congestion in Australia's big cities. Even before the floodgates were reopened to migrants, those born from 1981 to 1996 were already flocking to remote postcodes a few hour's drive from a capital city. An analysis of 2021 Census data by the Regional Australia Institute showed 57,000 Millennials moved to the country compared with the previous Census in 2016. Liz Ritchie, the chief executive of the Regional Australia Institute, said younger people were increasingly relocating to smaller towns from a big city, instead of just major regional centres, which meant more were moving in than moving out. 'Millennials have a higher propensity to move to more remote areas than the general public,' she said. Millennials are increasingly moving to small towns to escape unaffordable housing and congestion in Australia's big cities (pictured is a couple in far north Queensland) 'For so many years we've heard stories about young people from regional communities leaving the country to undergo further study and take up jobs in the cities, never to return. READ MORE: Gold Coast house prices seriously booming Advertisement 'But today we can debunk that myth.' Dungog, a local government area in the Hunter Valley less than three hours from Sydney, saw its Millennial population grow by 14.2 per cent based on a net inflow of 187 Millennials. The town of Dungog, population 9,542, has a median house price of $576,840 - less than half greater Sydney's $1,359,936, CoreLogic data showed. In eastern Victoria, the Mansfield council area north-east of Melbourne saw its Millennial population increase by 21.2 per cent with an inflow of 253 Millennials. Mansfield, a two-and-a-half drive from Melbourne has a median house price of $800,685, compared with $925,374 in the Victorian capital. The town of 10,177 people is between Bonnie Doon, the setting for the 1997 film The Castle, and the Mount Buller ski fields. Sydney and Melbourne receive the biggest influx of overseas immigration but also have the biggest exodus to regional areas, with these cities respectively losing 110,180 and and 81,857 between the 2016 and 2021 Census surveys. Dungog, a local government area in the Hunter Valley less than three hours from Sydney, saw its Millennial population grow by 14.2 per cent based on a net inflow of 187 Millennials (pictured is a young couple in Paterson within that council area) More than 86.1 per cent of regional Victoria's new residents from a capital city came from Melbourne while 77.5 per cent of capital city movers in regional NSW came from Sydney. The smaller states also received an inflow of Millennials. In Queensland's tropical far north, the Mareeba local government area's Millennial population grew by 3.34 per cent with an inflow of 128 Millennials. Mareeba's median house price of $392,056, for a town with 22,855 people, is well below nearby Cairns' $506,794, with both much more affordable than Brisbane's $832,247. Kangaroo Island, a ferry ride from Adelaide, saw its Millennial population grow by 12.2 per cent with 82 new Millennials. Kingscote, a town on the island, has a median house price of $403,898, which is wll below Adelaide's $733,501. In Queensland's tropical far north, the Mareeba local government area's Millennial population grew by 3.34 per cent with an inflow of 128 Millennials (pictured is a young guitarist in Mareeba) Kangaroo Island, a ferry ride from Adelaide, saw its Millennial population grow by 12.2 per cent with 82 new Millennials (pictured are sand boarders on Kangaroo Island's sand dunes) Tasmania's Glamorgan-Spring Bay council, in the state's east coast covering picturesque Coles Bay, Wineglass Bay and Freycinet National Park, saw its Millennial population swell by 18.9 per cent or 113 new arrivals. Western Australia's Chapman Valley council area, north and north-east of Geraldton, saw its Millennial population grow by almost a third of 32.5 per cent with 61 new arrivals. The last Census was taken in August 2021, four months before Australia reopened its borders to skilled migrants and international students. By Jung Min-ho Korea, under President Yoon Suk Yeol's leadership, has officially embraced the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) as a strategic partner, championing the cause of online freedoms and human rights in its diplomatic endeavors. In an announcement made last week, the FOC said it welcomed the country as its 38th member. "As a state party to several international treaties that relate to the FOC's mission, the ROK has demonstrated a commitment to human rights online both at a domestic level and in key international forums and initiatives," the FOC said in a statement, referring to Korea by an acronym of its official name, the Republic of Korea. "The country has a track record of actively engaging in various forums and human rights bodies, having supported efforts to bring attention to topics concerning human rights violations occurring globally." Korea has been in talks with the United States, the current rotational chair, and other members to obtain partnership since early this year, a senior government official revealed in April. The organization was launched in 2011 to advance internet freedom, mainly through shaping international norms. Its members are mostly EU countries as well as nations of the Asia-Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mongolia and the Maldives. Korea aims to become an "active member" in a joint effort to promote freedom of speech and connectivity, Foreign Minister Park Jin said. "Given the rapid development of digital technology and its profound impact on our everyday lives, the international community must stay agile in harnessing its positive potential while addressing its risks," Park said. "The Freedom Online Coalition has been playing an important role in steering international efforts towards this goal. The Republic of Korea is pleased to join the coalition to support internet freedom and protect human rights online." An upcoming play about Princess Diana's infamous BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir will use a 'very limited' number of quotes for legal reasons, after Prince William vowed for the exchange never to be aired again. Only two or three lines from the disgraced interview will be used in the production, creator Jonathan Maitland, who worked alongside Bashir at the BBC and ITV, said. The former journalist, who also wrote The Last Temptation Of Boris Johnson, insisted he will not use 'substantial chunks' of the interview because of the Prince of Wales's view, and copyright law. He said: 'On the advice of lawyers, we can use a very limited amount of it, i.e. two or three lines - but only ones well known and famous enough to be in the public domain as historical quotes, like 'there were three of us in this marriage'. The play comes two years after a report by Lord Dyson concluded that the BBC had covered up 'deceitful behaviour' by Bashir, who used fake documents to earn Princess Diana's trust. An upcoming play about Princess Diana's infamous BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir will use a 'very limited' number of quotes for legal reasons Creator and former journalist Jonathan Maitland (pictured) insisted he will not use 'substantial chunks' of the interview because of the Prince of Wales's view, and copyright law It led to a furious Prince William demanding a boycott of the 1995 interview, blasting Bashir's 'lurid and false claims' to fuel the 'paranoia and isolation' of his mother's final years. The production, directed by Royal Shakespeare Company pro Michael Fentiman, is set to premier at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, London next month. It is described as giving 'an insight into the story behind the interview: the woman who gave it, the man who made it happen, and the institute that broadcast it'. Mr Maitland added: 'There's an awful lot of her trying to decide whether or not she should do the interview and, if so, what she should say. 'Then there's a kind of bit of the interview, but with kind of working around it... and then there's a lot of the aftermath and the subsequent scandal and fall from grace of Bashir.' Paul Burrell, Princess Diana's former royal butler turned I'm A Celebrity Star, will also be played by an actor as a 'narrator who breaks the fourth wall'. Last year, hit Netflix series The Crown was criticised for being 'too kind' when presenting the Panorama interview, with critics claiming the reality of the betrayal was 'far worse' than how it has been played out onscreen. Prince William demanded a boycott of the 1995 interview following Lord Dyson's report, blasting Bashir's 'lurid and false claims' to fuel the 'paranoia and isolation' of his mother's final years Prince Harry's decision to use footage of the interview in his Netflix docuseries came despite both brothers previously slamming the BBC over the interview. Pictured: The brother's together following the death of the Queen Andy Webb, who had previously spoken out against the BBC's treatment of the former Princess of Wales, spent years trying to get to the bottom of Bashir's interview. While he praised The Crown's depiction of the incident overall, he said some aspects portraying the 'wicked campaign of deceit' could have been improved. Writing in the Telegraph in November he said the scenes had been 'carefully researched' and showed how 'horrendous' the deception was, but said it fell short by depicting Bashir himself as the 'lone assassin who duped his bosses as thoroughly as the Princess herself'. He argued that in his opinion, there were also several people at The BBC involved in covering up Bashir's deception. Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were also criticised for using elements of the interview in their explosive Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, which aired last November. Midway through the first episode of the series, clips are shown of Princess Diana speaking to the journalist. Footage from Princess Diana's interview with Martin Bashir has been shown in Harry and Meghan's Netflix docuseries Journalist Andy Webb, who worked for the BBC, said The Crown has been 'too kind' in depicting the deceit. Pictured: Elizabeth Debicki and Prasanna Puwanarajah as Diana and Bashir in series five of The Crown In The Crown's last series, a four-minute long depiction of the 1995 interview is depicted, despite Prince William asking for it 'never to be aired again' when the Dyson report found Bashir had played on Princess Diana's paranoia Sources close to Prince of Wales at the time said he would have been 'furious' that his brother seemingly appeared to ignore his plea that the Panorama interview never be aired again. 'Sadly once more it shows the gulf between the two brothers couldn't be wider,' one told the Mirror. Before the clip is shown, Harry, speaking about his mother's struggles with press intrusion, says: 'I think she had a lived experience of how she was struggling living that life. She felt compelled to talk about it. 'Especially in that Panorama interview. I think we all now know that she was deceived into giving the interview. But at the same time she spoke the truth of her experience.' In the snippet from the Panorama interview used in the Netflix episode, Diana is shown saying: 'I still to this day find the interest daunting and phenomenal. Because I actually don't like being the centre of attention. 'When I have my public duties, I understand when I get out the car I'm being photographed. But actually, it's now when I go out of my door, my front door, I'm being photographed. I never know where a lens is going to be.' The decision to use the footage comes despite both brothers previously slamming the BBC over the interview. Prince Harry slammed the exchange as 'unethical', following the publishing of Lord Dyson's report. At the time he thanked those who took 'some form of accountability' for 'owning it', but said 'the ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took [Diana's] life'. Both brother's received 'unconditional apology' letters from the BBC over Bashir's conduct and the 25-year cover up. Local ranchers said the tech billionaires' actions are 'so arrogant it's amazing' Farmers near the land purchased by the Silicon Valley tech billionaires planning the California Forever development say they are furious over the purchase Farmers who live near the land purchased by Silicon Valley titans looking to create a 'utopian city' are terrified the development will cripple their livelihoods. On Friday, renderings for the California Forever project were released and showed plans for a 50,000 acre idealistic city backed by tech billionaires and giants. The project immediately sparked backlash from farmers and ranchers who live near the land bought by 'Flannery Associates' as they decried the group's actions. 'They are so arrogant it's amazing,' said a farmer who talked with SF Chronicle. 'They know what they are going to do but they don't even know anyone who lives here?' California Forever is now the largest landowner in Solano County - about 60 miles northeast of San Francisco. The group paid more than $800 million for the land. Jeannie McCormack and Al Medvitz, ranchers in Solano County, said in an interview they worry about the survival of their ranch after plans for California Forever were announced On Friday, renderings for the ' California Forever ' project were released and showed plans for a 50,000 acre idealistic city backed by tech billionaires and giants California Forever is now the largest landowner in Solano County - about 60 miles northeast of San Francisco. The group paid more than $800 million for the land in Solano County Jeannie McCormack and Al Medvitz, local ranchers in Solano County, told the Bay Area outlet that they worry about how long their ranch can survive after the tech titans swept up the land near them. 'If they want a new city, San Jose is ripe,' Medvitz said. 'Fix what's there.' The ranch they live on - which sits on six square miles - is right near the agricultural district where California Forever is planned. It's also the home to nearly 2,000 sheep, as well as wheat, barley, alfalfa and grape vineyards. The McCormack Ranch is now 'totally surrounded by Flannery.' 'That means we have new issues because we have to deal with neighbors who have no experience or expertise in agriculture,' Medvitz said. McCormack's own grandfather founded the ranch in 1896 and her family has been living there and working there for the past 125 years. It's one of the only ranches that doesn't have any windmills from the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, which net farmers $25,000 a year per windmill. Medvitz said that they are worried that the development will cause major negative impacts for Solano County and the family-owned farmers. Multi-generational farming families have a 'profound bonding to the land.' 'With this new proposal and the way the new people are behaving, all of that is going to be lost,' Medvitz said. 'For a fantasy.' McCormack's own grandfather founded the ranch in 1896 and her family has been living there and working there for the past 125 years It's also the home to nearly 2,000 sheep, as well as wheat, barley, alfalfa and grape vineyards. The McCormack Ranch is now 'totally surrounded by Flannery' The McCormack Ranch is one of the only ranches that doesn't have any windmills from the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, which net farmers $25,000 a year per windmill 'If they want a new city, San Jose is ripe,' Medvitz (pictured) said. 'Fix what's there' Ranchers aren't the only ones speaking out about the planned development. After the renderings were released, local and state politicians discussed the utopian city and the negative impact on the residents. 'The community is very angry by the secrecy, by the duplicity, by the attack on family farmers,' said Rep. John Garamendi. 'The atmosphere is very, very negative.' West Sacramento's former mayor Christopher Cabaldon said that even if the farmers are able to survive, it would be too difficult without critical mass. 'When a single, non agriculture-based owner establishes a monopoly in the entire agricultural infrastructure of the region, it becomes very difficult for any single farmer to continue' farming, he said. The project is led by former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek and has names like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Andreessen Horowitz investor Marc Andreessen, and Steve Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs attached. It's not smooth sailing, though, as the group's acquisition of the land - which also surrounds Travis Air Force Base - had sparked national security concerns and a federal investigation. California Forever is now the largest landowner in Solano County, which is about 60 miles northeast of San Francisco, after snapping up more than 50,000 acres The renderings show pedestrians, bikes, and trains but do not show any cars On their newly published website, California Forever offered the first renderings of its plans to turn the arid, hilly farming region into an ideal planned community In a statement, the group acknowledge that its silence as it mysteriously snapped up land had 'understandably, created interest, concern, and speculation' On their newly published website, California Forever offered the first renderings of its plans to turn the arid, hilly farming region into an ideal planned community. The drawings show Mediterranean-style homes clustered on hillsides and shorelines, with wind farms dotting the background. Streetscapes are dominated by pedestrians and cyclists, with outdoor cafes filling the town square and no cars to be seen. In one drawing, kayakers paddle in a nature preserve, while another shows workers installing a solar energy panel. In a statement, the group acknowledge that its silence as it mysteriously snapped up land had 'understandably, created interest, concern, and speculation.' 'Now that we're no longer limited by confidentiality, we are eager to begin a conversation about the future of Solano County,' the group added, saying the area 'faces many challenges - but also presents countless opportunities.' 'Residents want more opportunities to buy homes in safe, walkable communities. Good paying local jobs, so they can both live and work in the county,' said California Forever. 'Better funding to improve schools, promote public safety, and reduce homelessness, as well as resources to invest in infrastructure for transportation, water, and wildfire protection,' the site added. Other renderings depart from the Mediterranean architecture and depict a townhouse style A survey previously circulated by the group suggested the plan included a 'new city with tens of thousands of new homes, a large solar energy farm, orchards with over a million new trees, and over ten thousand acres of new parks and open space' One image shows workers installing a solar energy panel. Wind and solar generation farms are part of the proposal for the dream city in Solano County The land is near crucial Travis Air Force Base, and the group says they hope to work with the base by providing homes to base personnel, and training and career options for veterans Jan Sramek, the leader of California Forever, is a 36-year-old financial prodigy who made a name and fortune by his early 20s as an emerging markets trader in Goldman Sachs' London office. Days after his 24th birthday, Sramek mysteriously quit Goldman Sachs and dropped out of the limelight. Since then, Sramek relocated to the Bay Area, and appears to have been quietly working on his plan for California Forever since 2017. US Rep. Mike Thompson told the Daily Beast that he met with Sramek earlier this week, and relayed that the investment guru said he'd chosen Solano County based on studies that determined the area was a prime target for Bay Area expansion. Jan Sramek, the leader of California Forever, is a 36-year-old financial prodigy Sramek said he grew up in a walkable, blue-collar town in the Czech Republic and that it had always been his dream to recreate that in the US, according to Thompson. 'After moving to California a decade ago, Jan spent time in Solano County during fishing trips on the California Delta and fell in love with the area. 'He became committed to a vision for the future of Solano County,' the site added. Sramek and his pregnant wife Naytri recently purchased their first home in Solano, where the live with their toddler daughter and golden retriever named Bruce, the group says. California Forever's other financial backers include billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz, who has recently been vocal in his criticism of San Francisco's failures in governance and public safety. In a February essay for the Financial Times, Moritz slammed San Francisco as a city that 'bans plastic straws but permits plastic needles' 'Fentanyl, the synthetic drug that is 50 times more powerful than and a fraction of the cost of heroin, has turned many blocks of the city into zombie zones,' he wrote. Mortiz lamented the city's failing schools, rising crime, deserted downtown, and exorbitant housing costs, placing the blame on the city's fractured governing structure, with a mayor and board of supervisors vying for power. In a separate essay for the New York Times in February, he wrote: 'Even Superman equipped with a light saber would not be able to govern San Francisco.' 'Like it or not, San Francisco has become a prize example of how we Democrats have become our own worst enemy,' he added, noting that he himself is a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party. The leader of the Flannery Associates venture is former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek, seen above in York at age 19 after shattering British A-levels records with 10 As Billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz, who sits on the boards of Stripe and Instacart, is one financial backer of a mysterious project to build a utopian city in California's Bay Area Venture capitalists Marc Horowitz(left) and Chris Dixon have also been named as two of the secretive buyers Moritz characterized the city as disintegrating under the control of petty bureaucrats who deceive voters and perpetually re-write local rules in their quest to retain individual power. 'The core of the issue, in San Francisco and other cities, is that government is more malleable at the city level than at higher levels of government,' he wrote. 'If the US Constitution requires decades and a chisel and hammer to change, San Francisco's City Charter is like a live Google doc controlled by manipulative copy editors.' In a 2017 letter to investors in the Solano County project obtained by the NYT, Moritz said 'this effort should relieve some of the Silicon Valley pressures we all feel rising home prices, homelessness, congestion etc.' Moritz, 68, last month exited as a partner at VC giant Sequoia Capital after 38 years, and will now focus on Sequoia Heritage, a separate $15 billion wealth management fund that he helped launch in 2010, according to Reuters. The backers of the California Forever include Marc Andreessen, Patrick and John Collison, Chris Dixon, John Doerr, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Reid Hoffman, Michael Moritz, and Laurene Powell Jobs, the group says. Califorina Forever says approximately 97 percent of its capital comes from U.S. investors, with the remaining 3 percent comes from Patrick and John Collison, and other UK and Irish investors. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has shared a series of vile, sexually-loaded violent and racist messages she has been bombarded with while campaigning against the Voice to Parliament referendum. The Country Liberal Party senator published just four of the messages sent to her by various men to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on the weekend. One threatening message warned: 'If I see u anywhere around Alice (Springs) I'm gonna punch the f*** out of u c***'. Ms Nampijinpa Price also published a series of sexually explicit messages which describe the No campaigner in crude terms and are too obscene to publish. Two of the sexually explicit messages were sent by one person, who shared his full name, email address and mobile number. The man described Ms Nampijinpa Price as 'without a doubt the grubbiest, most revolting spec of s**** on the political landscape today'. The Country Liberal Party senator published four messages sent to her by various men to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, at the weekend One threatening message warned: 'If I see u (sic) anywhere around Alice (Springs) I'm gona punch the f*** out of u c***'. One troll even compared her to a 'Jew who worked with the Nazis'. The Opposition's spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians said: 'This is what bile looks like.' Ms Nampijinpa Price is the leading figurehead of the No campaign against the constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament. She argues the Voice will sow division and won't deliver the intended results for communities most in need. READ MORE: Horrific experience driving Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's concerns about the Voice Advertisement Ms Nampijinpa Price fears a Voice is no more than a 'brand-new, bloated, detail-less bureaucracy to sit over the top of all others... and will be permanently etched into our Constitution'. Ms Nampijinpa Price previously told Daily Mail Australia 'there is no policy issue that doesn't impact Indigenous Australians, or one that impacts us differently'. 'And that's the word that concerns me most - differently. That we are being treated differently based on our racial heritage.' The wording of the amendment - which will become constitutionally enshrined if the majority of Australians in the majority of states vote Yes in the referendum on October 14 - does not limit the scope of the advisory body, she said. 'Unless there is a specific list that is pre-determined by the parliament that are ''no go'' areas... there is no way we can say that something is off the table. 'Everything is in play,' she claimed. One troll even compared her to a 'Jew who worked with the Nazis' Ms Nampijinpa Price also exposed a series of sexually loaded messages - the contents of which is unpublishable on a family website The government has long maintained the Voice will make representations on matters that affect Indigenous Australians differently, and will focus primarily on health, housing, education and employment. The Voice will not be trying to 'change the date of Australia Day' or interfere with climate or defence policy, the government says. Ms Nampijinpa Price is not alone in experiencing an uptick in racist trolling. Fellow No campaigner Warren Mundine has been outspoken in his mental heath struggles throughout the referendum campaign. Mr Mundine launched a fiery attack on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week, claiming the debate over the Voice had 'opened up the floor' for division in Australian society. That is furiously disputed by Mr Albanese's office. The latest poll results indicate support for the Voice is continuing to fall across Australia, with the No vote tracking at 53 per cent about six weeks out from the referendum. The Newspoll suggests only 38 per cent of Australians will vote Yes. The opposition is now leading Labor 37 per cent to 35 per cent on primary votes - the first time the Coalition has been ahead since May last year. Mr Albanese and Labor party however still hold a significant lead when it comes to the two-party preferred data - ahead by 53-47 per cent. Squatters have taken over a Wyoming city after some left millions of dollars worth of damage to a motel and others left 500lbs of feces in the downtown area. Casper, the second-largest city in the state, is home to 60,000 residents but now also has about 200 homeless people. Some have seized various properties that are empty or abandoned, including an abandoned Econo Lodge motel that hasn't operated since November. Casper Mayor Bruce Knell described the extent of destruction as akin to 'third-world-country stuff'. One of the squatters is seen in the boiler room of the motel which had already been flooded A group of 200 homeless people in Wyoming have caused millions of dollars of damage upon a local motel in downtown Casper Aside from the mess, the squatters also left 500lbs of human waste strewn about the property The squatters broke into the abandoned Econo Lodge that had already been closed due to flooding 'It's like nothing I've ever seen. It's third-world-country stuff happening in Casper, Wyoming,' he told Cowboy State Daily. 'They destroyed everything. It's horrible.' The motel which had about 300 rooms was already closed due to flooding, was taken over by squatters, who have now rendered it both uninhabitable and hazardous. The flooding was initially caused last winter after water lines froze and burst, flooding one floor and submerging the electrical switch panel. Casper's Mayor, Bruce Knell, pictured, characterized the level of destruction as unparalleled and likened it to conditions typically seen in third-world countries That alone caused millions in damage but the squatters have only served to make matters worse. After the property was foreclosed by the bank, the building was secured and boarded up. But the homeless group broke inside and have now left hundreds of pounds of human feces which the city has to deal with as part of a cleanup. 'They have destroyed this business,' Knell said to Oil City News. 'It broke my heart to see,' noting how he saw drug paraphernalia and the wanton destruction of furnishings. 'You cannot wrap your head around what happened to that hotel,' he said. City officials admit they have run out of ideas with how to effectively deal with the growing numbers of vagrants and note that fines and arrests do not seem to be working when it comes to sorting out the problem. 'We know very well we cannot litigate our way or arrest our way out of the problem, but our police need some teeth to start dealing with the squatting,' Mayor Knell said. 'They're just causing so many problems.' 'In desperate times people do desperate things, and unfortunately we're the ones left having to deal with it,' he continued. The motel, previously closed due to flooding, was overtaken by squatters who have since rendered it unfit for habitation and hazardous The property had been boarded up and abandoned following flooding that had occurred Homelessness has become a huge problem in Casper with about 200 squatting in a city of 60,000 people The city council is now considering implementing a new code that would require squatters to obtain written consent from property owners and set limits on how long they can could camp on private property. The city's mayor has suggested that while homelessness is a complex issue to deal with, many of those who find themselves in such a position are also struggling with substance abuse or mental illness and make a point of refusing to conform to society's rules and laws. It means they are unable to access shelters, leading them instead to roam the community and engage in further antisocial behavior. 'There's a certain part of the homeless population, whether substance abuse or mental illness, that is getting them to where they don't want to conform to society's rules,' Knell said. 'When they do that, they're not allowed to go in the shelter, which means they're just out and about in our community raising hell.' Labour was last night accused of 'neglecting' pupil safety in Wales as thousands of children return to school today not knowing whether their classrooms are safe. The Welsh government has been urged to check its school buildings for the potentially dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) after concerns that the pace of work has been too slow. While 104 schools in England have been told they are affected ahead of the new school term with 24 of them ordered to shut entirely none in Wales have heard if they are at risk despite an expert saying faulty concrete is likely to have been used. The delay sparked Education Secretary Gillian Keegan to offer her department's support on Saturday amid fears the task 'will take some time', the Mail can reveal. In a letter to her devolved counterpart Jeremy Miles, the Education Secretary wrote: 'I know you will be keen to ensure your programme is under way as quickly as possible given the uncertainty many children and parents will be feeling regarding the safety of school in Wales. While 104 schools in England have been told they are affected ahead of the new school term with 24 of them ordered to shut entirely none in Wales have heard if they are at risk despite an expert saying faulty concrete is likely to have been used The Welsh government has been urged to check its school buildings for the potentially dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) after concerns that the pace of work has been too slow 'I appreciate it will take some time, so my team and I stand ready to support you as you seek to address this.' Whitehall bosses were also left furious when Mr Miles failed to show up for a snap meeting to outline the situation in England, it is understood. Sending officials instead, one source said the minister 'did not seem to be bothered' by the crisis. A second added: 'Parents in Wales will be sending their children to schools unsure if their schools are safe. They've left schools without support and taken no action to identify where RAAC is on their estate. 'The Labour-run Welsh government has been negligent in their duty to keep children safe.' The Department for Education (DfE) began surveying schools in England for RAAC last year after part of the roof at Singlewell Primary in Gravesend, Kent, collapsed in 2018. In Wales work reportedly began in May this year. Keith Jones, the director of the Institution of Civil Engineers Wales Cymru, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast last week: 'I would suspect that it is used [in Wales] ... when you're a designer, you're a contractor, you won't recognise 'this is in England, this is in Wales'.' Meanwhile, many pupils in England will begin the school year by learning online from home today in an echo of the huge disruption caused by the pandemic. RAAC was used for many public buildings between the 1950s and mid-1990s and is prone to failure. It has been discovered in the roofs of dozens of hospital buildings, police stations, leisure centres and courts Teachers spent the weekend scrambling for alternatives, erecting tented classrooms and bringing in festival-style toilets ahead of the start of term. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the Government will 'spend what it takes' to make schools safe as the crisis threatened to engulf the public sector. Dame Rachel De Souza, the Children's Commissioner, vented her fury at a lack of planning that forced schools to shut just days before the start of the new term. Appearing on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme yesterday, she said: 'I am extremely disappointed and frustrated that there was not a plan in place for this happening. The Government might not have known that it would happen this week, but we knew the stock was in this situation.' She added: 'There should have been planning in place and a really good school building programme that has addressed this over the years. 'Is it really the least to ask to say that we want safe, fit for purpose buildings. 'We need a far better grip on these issues that really affect children and young people.' RAAC was used for many public buildings between the 1950s and mid-1990s and is prone to failure. It has been discovered in the roofs of dozens of hospital buildings, police stations, leisure centres and courts. The Welsh government is expected to give an update on the presence of the concrete today. Pictured: A taped off section inside Parks Primary School in Leicester which has been affected with sub standard reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete Public buildings containing RAAC have been deemed to pose no 'immediate risk to safety' to school pupils and hospital patients in Scotland. Pictured: Scaffolding is seen outside classrooms as repair work continues at Hornsey School for Girls in London Meanwhile, public buildings containing RAAC have been deemed to pose no 'immediate risk to safety' to school pupils and hospital patients in Scotland. The Welsh government is expected to give an update on the presence of the concrete today. A spokesman said: 'We continue to work closely with the WLGA and local authorities and have been since March of this year. 'We are also engaging urgently with engineers to carry out survey work to ascertain the presence of RAAC on school estates. 'We want to reassure parents and carers, pupils will not be asked to come to school if we think there are concerns. We will provide an update on Monday.' A landlord made a concerning discovery after his rental house was trashed by his tenant and his plans to sell the property and retire ruined. Kevin Martin, 55, who works as a handyman, gave his tenant 90 days to vacate the property he had been renting out to them at Melbourne. Mr Martin planned to sell the brick and fibro home to fund his retirement but he has been left with a repair bill worth hundreds of thousands of dollars instead. He said he was appalled after finding the home in shambles with broken furniture, mouldy walls and buckling floorboards among the destruction left behind. The most concerning discovery came after Mr Martin had the house tested for drug contamination - with the result coming back positive. Kevin Martin, 55, was stunned to find his investment property in an appalling condition when a tenant left. He'd planned to sell it to fund his retirement but now says it should be pulled down Some of the damage included the oven door being ripped off its hinges and the cookers missing, but he also found dirty dishes, soiled clothes and rubbish strewn outside The brick and fibro house was left filled with water after being hosed out, smelling foul and was filthy throughout, with a serious mould problem. Rotting furniture was left in the loungeroom, dirty dishes were left piled in the dishwasher and soiled clothes were strewn throughout the house, including on the floor and in a sink. Much of the home was wrecked with several holes kicked in walls, deep scratches in the timber flooring, some of which buckled after being soaked and tap fittings were damaged. In the kitchen the door of the oven, which was also left dirty, was ripped from its hinges and its burners were missing. 'I don't know why you'd do that? Why would you do it?' a dazed Mr Martin told A Current Affair. Outside, toys, car tyres and pool equipment had been abandoned and the shed was crammed with junk. Mr Martin called the police and found worse was to come. He said the house was 'drug-tested' and claimed the results picked up traces of meth in several rooms. He is angry at the scale of the clean-up and repair job he faces, which he estimates could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in total. The clean-up alone would cost thousands, with the home so dirty and so much rubbish needing to go to landfill. Then there's the rental income lost while he fixes the damage done. 'I really think this house needs to be pulled down and thrown in the bin.' Mr Martin is waiting for his insurance company to assess the damage before he knows his next move. How Mr Martin's home looked inside before he rented it out to a tenant whom he claims trashed it He Martin claimed 'most landlords are getting this' when tenants move out. Over two million Australians are property investors, and in total they own 3.25 million investment properties. Over 70 per cent own just one investment property, in many cases the home they intend to retire in. The Real Estate Institute of Victoria claimed 'very sizeable numbers' of property investors are looking to exit the market because landlords have lost too many rights. German police are hunting for a Russian man who hospitalised a young Ukrainian boy by throwing him off a bridge and chucking a glass bottle at his shoulder for daring to speak his native language. Investigators from the Prosecutor's Office of Gottingen are treating the 'politically motivated' attack as attempted murder, which was carried out last week against a group of children sat on a bridge in the small German town of Einbeck, Lower Saxony, who all spoke Ukrainian. The Russian man, believed to be in his early 40s, threw an as-yet-unnamed boy off a bridge, understood to be one that crossed the Krummes Wasser river in the south of the town, and pulled the hair of a young girl. The boy hit the bridge's iron girders before dropping into the water fives metres below, before the unnamed Russian picked up a glass bottle and threw it at his shoulder. He then fled the scene, and the other children told their parents about the incident, which prosecutors are treating as an attempted murder. The attack is understood to have taken place over this bridge over the Krummes Wasser river in the south of the town Cops are on the hunt for the as-yet-unnamed Russian man, who is believed to have been in his early 40s The attack took place in the small town of Einbeck in Lower Saxony The Russian man, who was reported to have been wearing a blue T-shirt, a black cap and denim shorts, told the children they needed to speak Russian, and claimed that Ukraine had started the war. The Ukrainian boy was taken to hospital, where doctors said he suffered injuries to his head and left foot. He was released from hospital shortly after arriving after doctors said he had not suffered serious injuries. The attack drew swift condemnation. Sergej Sumlenny, the director of the European Resilience Centre, told the Telegraph: 'This clearly shows the level of hatred among a certain large group who lives in Germany. Many identify themselves with Russia and the Soviet Union they watch Russian TV and are totally brainwashed with Russian propaganda' 'This is a standard level of anti-Ukrainianism that you see among Russians, a readiness to hate, cause pain and even kill indiscriminately just because this person speaks Ukrainian.' Germany has one of the highest number of ethnic Russians outside of Russia in the world, with 3.5 million people in the country considering themselves to have Russian blood. Attacks on Ukrainians in Germany have increased dramatically since Russia invaded Ukraine last February. Germany's support of Ukraine has only grown since war broke out, angering both ethnic Russians and the German far-right. Some Ukrainians in Berlin have reported removing all Ukrainian symbols from their clothing for fear of being targeted. BBC bosses are under pressure to explain why a report about a convicted paedophile was edited to remove references to his career as a drag queen. Andrew Way, 61, who was organising the first Pride event for Welshpool, Montgomeryshire, was jailed for 34 months after vigilantes set up a fake social media profile for a boy of 14. The performer, whose stage name was Miss Gin, exchanged a string of sexual messages and images of his genitals with the youth while pretending to be a 27-year-old man. The BBCs original online news report from August 24 was headlined Ex-drag queen caught in paedophile hunters sting operation. But, a day later, it had been changed to Man caught in paedophile hunters sting operation, while references to the Pride event and his drag queen act were also removed. Andrew Way, whose stage name was Miss Gin (pictured), believed he was sending explicit messages to a 14-year-old boy Way (pictured) pretended he was 27 and began contacting the 'teenager', not realising a paedophile hunting group had set up the profile and trapped him The drag artist veteran of more than 40 years sent 'highly sexualised' messages over a chat website, Snapchat and WhatsApp to the decoy The BBCs original news report was headlined Ex-drag queen caught in paedophile hunters sting operation, which was changed to Man caught in paedophile hunters sting operation A footnote said the story was altered to remove details not mentioned in court. But there was no formal court request to remove references to Ways occupation or links to the Pride event, which was cancelled in late June. Graham Breeze, a county councillor in Welshpool, said: I think there should be some kind of explanation [from the BBC] as to why they are not saying who he is. Appearing at Mold Crown Court, Way, of Wrexham, admitted trying to engage in sexual communication with a child of 14 and breaching a sexual harm prevention order. The BBC declined to comment. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are in a dead heat for 2024, a new poll has shown - with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos branding it 'shocking'. Both the president and his predecessor were backed by 46 percent of respondents to a Wall Street Journal poll, published on Sunday. Voters were asked which of the two they would chose, in a hypothetical re-run of the 2020 election. The same poll gave Trump a resounding lead over GOP challengers. Trump was the first choice of 59 percent of respondents, with Ron DeSantis a distant second at 13 percent. Nikki Haley, who was widely judged to have performed well in the first primary debate on August 23, was narrowly behind DeSantis, with 8 percent of the vote. Vivek Ramaswamy, a political newcomer who exploded onto the scene on August 23 and catapulted himself to the forefront of discussion, was fourth with 5 percent. Stephanopoulos, host of ABC's This Week, said it was remarkable that the 91 criminal charges filed against Trump failed to dent his political chances. George Stephanopoulos, host of ABC's This Week, said it was 'kind of shocking' that Trump was leading in the polls Donald Trump has used his Georgia mugshot to fundraise 'It is kind of shocking in a way that despite all of the baggage that Donald Trump carries, he's tied with Joe Biden right now,' said Stephanopoulos, who served as Bill Clinton's communications director and then senior advisor. 'With every passing month, with every new indictment, Donald Trump seems to be consolidating his control over the Republican Party. 'Republicans almost unanimously on that stage several days ago would vote for a convicted felon,' Stephanopoulos said, in a clip posted to Mediaite. He asked right-leaning Reihan Salam, a contributing writer for The Atlantic: 'Did you ever think you'd see the day?' Former DNC chair @DonnaBrazile says the biggest challenge facing Democrats is that young voters, young Black and Latino votersthey're not ready to come back to the party. Without them, it is a tight race, and it's going to come down to four states. https://t.co/lCmr9iLfeR pic.twitter.com/XQiDxlyxJf This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 3, 2023 Trump, 77, is seen speaking after his indictment in Atlanta, Georgia on August 24 Salam said that Republicans across the board supported Trump, and emphasized that the 77-year-old was making arguments that resonated with a variety of people. 'The truth is that we are in a very polarized moment,' Salam said. 'And when you're looking at the Republican Party, it is strikingly unified. 'If you look at the most conservative voters and the party, they back the former president disproportionately. If you look at more moderate voters, female Republican primary voters, he just really has a lock on both wings of the party, so to speak. 'And that's something that any rival has to appreciate it and respect.' Donna Brazile, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, said that the new poll was something which 'could keep me up at night'. She said Democrats were not doing enough to reach out to young voters who were not inspired by Biden's candidacy, and urged the party to work on selling the president's accomplishments. She described the Trump campaign as 'a movement', likening it to the momentum behind Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, and said Democrats should not underestimate the power of Trump's message. A Scots expat has been jailed for 20 years in the US for killing his wheelchair-bound wife hours after they enjoyed a romantic meal together. Wayne Fraser, 47, moved from Aberdeenshire to America after forging a relationship with university professor Natalie Ryan Fraser but has been convicted of manslaughter after shooting her dead. The body of the 55-year-old was found in an apartment in Caledonia, Mississippi, in December 2021, the day after she posted on social media from a restaurant saying 'dinner with my love'. Sheriff's deputies made the discovery after carrying out a welfare check the following day after one of her brothers called 911. Fraser was arrested at the scene and a 9mm handgun was recovered. He had been charged with first- degree murder but was instead convicted of manslaughter by a jury at Lowndes County Court House in Columbus. Wayne Fraser, 47, moved from Aberdeenshire to America after forging a relationship with university professor Natalie Ryan Fraser but has been convicted of manslaughter after shooting her dead. The couple are pictured together Mrs Fraser's body was found in an apartment in Caledonia, Mississippi, (pictured) in December 2021, the day after she posted on social media from a restaurant saying 'dinner with my love' Fraser had been charged with first- degree murder but was instead convicted of manslaughter by a jury at Lowndes County Court House in Columbus One of the victim's brothers, George Brinton Ryan, told the court that Fraser called him and claimed she had shot herself. READ MORE: Scottish man goes on trial in the US accused of shooting dead his wheelchair-bound wife hours after enjoying a romantic dinner together Advertisement Mr Ryan then contacted the emergency services. Evidence was also heard from a 911 operator and the state medical examiner's office. Members of Mrs Fraser's grieving family, who have described her death as a 'senseless tragedy', had been in court to hear district attorney Scott Colum's case against her husband. Television footage showed Fraser, who has a grey beard and was smartly dressed in a white shirt, listening intently to the proceedings. He had denied murder. Mrs Fraser's wheelchair was also brought into the courtroom during the second day of the trial. She was left paralysed at the age of 17 after crashing her car while drunk but went on to have a career as an academic and was an English professor at the Angelo State University in Texas. The couple met in 2010 and Fraser moved from his home in Mintlaw so they could be together. They married in 2014 and settled in Texas. Fraser later secured a job as a foreman for an industrial painting firm in Mississippi. The indictment against Wayne Fraser (pictured) stated that he 'did feloniously, wilfully and unlawfully with deliberate design to effect the death of Natalie Fraser... without the authority of law and not in necessary self-defence' Natalie Ryan-Fraser, 55, a professor of English at Angelo State University in Texas, pictured with her Scottish-born husband Wayne Fraser. After her death, the university renamed its English and Modern Languages department in her honour On the day of her death his wife was visiting him at the apartment he stayed in while he was working away from home. Fraser had been held in custody at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center since his arrest as a 388,000 bond would have been needed to secure his release. The indictment against him stated that he 'did feloniously, wilfully and unlawfully with deliberate design to effect the death of Natalie Fraser... without the authority of law and not in necessary self-defence'. Fraser did not face the death penalty as he was not charged with capital murder, which is reserved for the most serious cases such as the murder of a police officer. Jurors took three hours to convict the Scot of the lesser charge of manslaughter on Friday. The presiding judge James T Kitchens Jnr imposed the prison sentence. After her death, the university where Mrs Fraser worked renamed its English and Modern Languages department in her honour. Her brother Kristopher Ryan also paid tribute to her, saying: 'This just doesn't seem real. She will be dearly missed. This is just so difficult to swallow. 'She was definitely one of a kind. Just such a senseless tragedy.' Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights, holds a news conference on the outcomes of her visit to South Korea at a hotel in Seoul, Sept. 2, 2022. Yonhap The U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights arrived in Seoul on Monday for a nine-day visit to meet with Seoul officials and defectors from the reclusive regime over Pyongyang's dismal human rights situation. During her stay, Elizabeth Salmon plans to meet with foreign, unification and justice officials, as well as North Korean defectors and rights groups, according to the foreign ministry. She is also scheduled to hold a press conference in Seoul on Sept. 12. The rapporteur will submit a report on North Korean human rights issues to the U.N. based on the results of this week's visit. Elizabeth Salmon, right, U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights, meets with Son Myung-hwa, representative of the association in Seoul, in this Sept. 4 photo provided by the Korean War POW Family Association. Yonhap Later in the day, Salmon met with Son Myung-hwa, representative of the Korean War POW Family Association, a civic group dedicated to resolving the issue of South Korean prisoners of war (POWs). Son delivered a letter to Salmon that calls for the South Korean government to establish a fact-finding commission to investigate the POW issue and publish a comprehensive report on it, according to the group. The special rapporteur position was first created in 2004 to investigate and report to the U.N. Human Rights Council and General Assembly on the human rights situation in the reclusive regime in light of international human rights law. (Yonhap) Ex-Partygate inquisitor Sue Gray will start work for Labour today, as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to shake up his top team. The former Whitehall mandarin sparked fury in government and the civil service when she defected to the party earlier this year. The Cabinet Office pushed for her to be barred from taking up the role as Sir Keir's chief of staff for at least 18 months because of the access she had to government secrets in her highly sensitive job. But the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) recommended she serve a cooling-off period of just six months, clearing her to start this morning. Ms Gray is expected to draw up plans for reform of the civil service to help Labour push through its programme if the party wins power next year. But her first task could be to assist with a reshuffle a job she had substantial experience of in government. Ex-Partygate inquisitor Sue Gray will start work for Labour today, as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to shake up his top team Labour sources said the much-delayed shake up could come as soon as today, when MPs return to Westminster following their summer break. Sir Keir is considering shifting his troublesome deputy Angela Rayner to the Levelling Up brief, currently held by former leadership rival Lisa Nandy. However, union barons are pressing for the Left-wing firebrand to keep control of Labour's plans for the 'future of work', which include making it easier to strike. Labour chairman Anneliese Dodds is tipped to lose her role, with the more energetic Shabana Mahmood among the favourites to take the high profile job in the run-up to next year's election. Rising star Darren Jones is expected to get a promotion to the shadow cabinet from his current role as chairman of the Commons business committee. And Sir Keir is under pressure from some shadow ministers to sack Ed Miliband as energy spokesman. One shadow cabinet source said it was time to 'rid ourselves of the ghost of Ed Miliband', who lost the 2015 election and is the architect of Labour's radical green agenda. Another said the Labour leader had been 'listening to Ed too much'. Sir Keir is also considering moves to purge the party of scandal-hit MPs who could distract from the party's efforts to regain power after more than a decade in the wilderness. Ms Gray led the controversial inquiry into lockdown gatherings in Downing Street which helped force Boris Johnson from office last year. Mr Johnson's former communications director Guto Harri revealed this year that the then-prime minister believed she 'lacked perspective' and allowed her inquiry to get 'completely out of proportion'. But, as the former head of the government's propriety and ethics team she was also privy to the secrets of every Cabinet minister. The Cabinet Office pushed for her to be barred from taking up the role as Sir Keir's chief of staff for at least 18 months She was first approached by Sir Keir about the job in October last year, but it was not revealed until March. An investigation by the Cabinet Office found she broke civil service rules when she held secret talks about joining Labour. The inquiry found that she should have declared her dealings with Sir Keir when he first contacted her about becoming his chief of staff. Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin told MPs her conduct was 'deeply unfortunate'. Ms Gray refused to cooperate with the Cabinet Office inquiry and Labour dismissed it as 'Mickey Mouse nonsense', saying: 'All rules were complied with.' She will draw up plans to overhaul Whitehall. Ms Gray was yesterday accused of using her civil service connections to lobby for a favoured candidate to be made the new chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, who advises the PM. Sources told The Mail on Sunday she has been 'pushing hard' for the job to go to Lady Mary Arden, a former Supreme Court justice. Lady Arden sat in the controversial 2019 case which saw the court rule that Mr Johnson's suspension of Parliament prior to the final Brexit deadline was unlawful. Ms Gray declined to comment. Humza Yousaf will unveil plans to pilot a four-day working week in proposals being derided as a 'fantasy'. The First Minister is expected to outline the idea in his Programme for Government tomorrow, in a bid to move on from the U-turns that have defined his first six months in the job. But critics have warned that the plan, which was touted by his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon, would 'blow a 2.5billion hole' in his budget. Despite huge challenges facing the Scottish Government, Mr Yousaf is expected to tell MSPs there will be a 12-month trial within parts of government, with the aim of rolling it out across the public sector. Tory finance spokesman Liz Smith said: 'Humza Yousaf is living in a fantasy land if he thinks this ridiculous plan is feasible at a time when our economy is lagging behind the rest of the UK, our NHS is on its knees and councils are having their budgets savagely cut. Humza Yousaf will unveil plans to pilot a four-day working week in proposals being derided as a 'fantasy' Mr Yousaf is expected to tell MSPs there will be a 12-month trial of a four-day working week within parts of government The annual report on government finances last month showed that Scotland's theoretical deficit was 19billion in 2022-23 - nearly double the UK's as a percentage of GDP 'The SNP are attempting to fool voters with fantasy economics... pressing ahead with this unworkable plan would blow a 2.5billion pound hole in the Scottish Budget every year.' Official figures released last month showed that Scotland's theoretical deficit was 19billion in 2022-23 - nearly double the UK's as a percentage of GDP. Expenditure north of the border was 19,459 for every resident - 2,217 more than in the country as a whole. Revenues were 696 higher than the UK average in 2022-23, meaning that the net 'dividend' was 1,521. READ MORE: Cambridge academics face questions over independence of report praising introduction of four-day week after emails emerge showing it was edited by council before being published Advertisement The SNP pointed out the 9 per cent deficit was down from 12.3 per cent the previous year, but the respected IFS think-tank stressed that the improvement was down to spiking oil and gas prices. Unionists said the figures showed there was 'no positive case' for breaking up the UK, and staying together was a better way of protecting schools and hospitals than relying on 'the extreme volatility of North Sea oil'. Ahead of his Programme for Government speech, Mr Yousaf said: 'Our focus on boosting economic growth will enable us to invest more in anti-poverty measures and support our vital public services, protecting the most vulnerable in society and raising the standard of living for everyone.' Deputy leader of the Scottish Tories, Meghan Gallacher, said the SNP's 'independence obsession means many promises made in last year's Programme for Government have not been achieved'. She added: 'From education, to health and housing, the SNP-Green Government are letting down the people of Scotland on their real priorities.' Since succeeding Ms Sturgeon, Mr Yousaf has delayed or ditched swathes of policies, including the Deposit Return Scheme, a planned fishing ban in some areas and a bid to outlaw alcohol advertising. There have also been 27 broken promises that his Government have failed to deliver on since announcing them in last year's Programme for Government. They include a dropped pledge for an education reform bill, the lack of a housing bill and not eradicating the longest waits for patients stuck in the NHS backlog. A married TUI pilot is being investigated over claims that he had sex with a stewardess in a hot tub at a three-star hotel in the US. The captain was caught in the pool area with his colleague, who is also married, by another hotel guest staying at the Hilton Rialto in Melbourne, Florida. It's understood that the crew had joined them earlier while they flirted and drank rum and vodka together. The other staff then left before someone staying at the hotel caught the pair in the act at 2am and launched a complaint to TUI and senior staff at the Hilton Rialto where a room with two queen beds costs around 118 a night. A source told The Sun: 'Apparently his marriage was a bit rocky so he wanted a bit of companionship while travelling so much.' A married TUI pilot is being investigated over claims that he had sex with a stewardess in a hot tub at the three-star hotel in Florida. (File image) They claimed that the pilot had asked if the stewardess could be on more flights with him but that chances were now 'slim'. The source said that the stewardess saw it as 'just a bit of fun' while they were abroad and 'nothing serious'. It's claimed that members of the crew had seemingly laughed the incident off but rumours soon started and the complaint has been taken very seriously by TUI. The pilot and stewardess, who are both in their 40s, are understood to have worked for TUI for around five years. They got close after meeting on a flight from Birmingham to Orlando last month. They are both reportedly still working. A spokesman for TUI said: 'We're aware of this incident and can confirm an internal investigation is under way.' Last month, a new mother blasted TUI for 'discrimination' after claiming she was told not to breastfeed her six-week-old baby during take-off as she might 'make other people feel uncomfortable'. Chelsea Williams, 28, had boarded a flight with airline TUI headed for a holiday in La Marina, Alicante, Spain, with her family on July 26, when the incident happened. The mum-of-two decided to breastfeed her newborn during take-off and landing to alleviate any potential ear pain the baby might feel. But, she claims she was later approached by a member of the cabin crew who told her she 'wasn't permitted' to feed during take-off and landing. It's claimed that members of the crew had seemingly laughed the incident off but rumours soon started and the complaint has been taken very seriously by TUI. (File image) She says she stopped feeding her baby to avoid 'making a scene' but was left feeling anxious about the family's return trip home as a result. Her husband Thomas, 28, decided to ask the airline if his wife was allowed to feed their newborn during flight take off via the company's app the day before they were due to return home. The full response from TUI read: 'Thank you for contacting TUI. 'There are no official restrictions, however we would not recommend it because it could make other people feel uncomfortable. Let us know if you have any further questions.' A spokesperson for TUI said at the time: 'We are really sorry for the distress caused to Ms Williams and her infant. As a family friendly travel company, we support breastfeeding on our flights at any time. 'We are currently conducting an urgent internal investigation and will be making sure that all colleagues are retrained on our breastfeeding friendly policy.' The figures will fuel fears that the Ulez is being used by Mr Khan as a cash cow Sadiq Khan is issuing demands for more than 700,000 in Ulez fines every day including for cars thought to be pollution compliant. Latest official figures show 3,944 fines were, on average, triggered daily for breaching emissions rules in June. With fines costing 180 if not paid within 14 days, it means Transport for London (TfL) sent out demands for 709,920 worth of fines on average each day that month, equivalent to nearly 5million a week. For May, the average daily number of fines issued was 3,919 while it was 3,971 in April. It means Labours London mayor made demands for more than 64million in fines in the second quarter of this year. The figures will fuel fears that the Ulez Ultra Low Emissions Zone is being used by Mr Khan as a cash cow to plug the financial black hole in TfLs finances The zone, which charges motorists 12.50 a day for driving older more polluting cars and fines them for non-compliance, was expanded last Tuesday to cover all the capitals boroughs. READ MORE: More spy cameras are stolen by activists as Sadiq Khan faces growing backlash over expansion of hated scheme which sees motorists charged 12.50 EVERY time they drive Advertisement This means the number of daily fines being issued will now probably be much higher. The figures will fuel fears that the Ulez Ultra Low Emissions Zone is being used by Mr Khan as a cash cow to plug the financial black hole in TfLs finances. Yesterday it emerged that some older cars are being hit with fines despite being compliant. The charge generally applies to pre-2005 petrol cars and pre-2015 diesel cars. However, some older than this are compliant as manufacturers made them to cleaner standards before these became mandatory. But Ulez cameras have been failing to spot older cars that do meet its emission standards, The Sunday Times reported. The problem is thought to be affecting models from makers including BMW, Land Rover, Mercedes and Toyota. Experts believe as many as 100,000 petrol cars registered from 1999 to 2005 may be affected and fines could be being wrongly issued. Their drivers are advised to get a certificate of conformity from the cars maker giving details of its emissions. Latest official figures show 3,944 fines were, on average, triggered daily for breaching emissions rules in June Ulez cameras have been attacked including with paint, pictured, as the schemes expansion loomed. Police said 500 such crimes have been committed in the last five months. And James Bond actress Naomie Harris, 46, who has a hybrid Range Rover, has joined criticism of the scheme, saying it hits the poor hardest. TfL director Christina Calderato said Ulez was not about making money and revenue will fall as drivers move to cleaner vehicles. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Eritrean migrants involved in violent clashes in Tel Aviv must be deported immediately. Yesterdays remarks came a day after bloody protests by rival groups of Eritreans left dozens of people injured. Supporters and opponents of the African countrys regime smashed shop windows and police cars, while Israeli riot officers fired tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds. Mr Netanyahu said in a ministerial meeting: We want harsh measures against the rioters, including the immediate deportation of those who took part. He also ordered a plan to remove virtually all of the countrys African migrants. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Eritrean migrants involved in violent clashes (pictured) in Tel Aviv must be deported immediately The top three roles most at risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence in small businesses have been revealed. Sobering results of a new survey of 79,000 companies found that one third of Australian small businesses plan to replace staff with artificial intelligence. About 41 per cent of businesses said they intended to incorporate AI, according to the survey conducted by business consultancy Peninsula Group. Of the small businesses already using AI, the three top functions the technology is being used for is creative writing (28 per cent), administration tasks (39 per cent) and drafting internal or company communications (20 per cent). However, small business owners said they still had doubts about AI, including an increased safety risk and the risk of a higher margin of error. The three Aussie jobs at the greatest risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence have been revealed as companies prepare for massive layoffs (stock image) Sobering results of a new survey of 79,000 businesses has found one third of Australian companies plan to replace staff with artificial intelligence Small business owners are also concerned AI could have an impact on the quality of work, but were less bothered by any impact on the businesses' reputation. Up to 56 per cent of business owners said either they thought the introduction of AI would reduce the number of people they employed, or they remained unsure. The survey of almost 80,000 businesses was conducted in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Ireland was the biggest supporter of using AI in workplaces, with 10 per cent of businesses saying they regularly used the technology. This was double the amount of workplaces in Canada, the UK and New Zealand. It comes as chilling data analysis found that 1.3million Australians could be replaced by 2027, according to research done by AI company Faethm by Pearson in collaboration with technology firm ServiceNow. The hospitality industry will also be impacted by AI - barista roles could drop by as much as 16 per cent in the next four years It's predicted almost one in 10 Aussie employees may need to retrain by 2027 to remain in the workforce. Bank workers are under the biggest threat with 46 per cent of their workload expected to be automated. READ MORE: The Aussie suburbs where AI is more likely to replace jobs Sydney had four spots on the top 20 danger list, including Blacktown, Castle Hill and Baulkham Hills in the city's nearby north-west, along with Parramatta Advertisement Checkout operators and finance brokers (37 per cent), bookkeepers (38 per cent), data entry operators (35 per cent) and call centre operators (34 per cent), could also see their workloads reduced by automation. In terms of jobs lost, more than 100,000 full-time sales assistant roles could be slashed - a reduction of 17 per cent. A wide range of industries are tipped to be affected by the predicted job losses, including transport, hospitality, construction trades and even childcare. The good news for Aussies in the industries at risk is that automation doesn't necessarily mean job losses. '(Employers could ask) 'can we reposition this individual or individuals into other jobs that we're hiring for?' Pearson vice president of AI products Dr Richard George told News Corp. Dr George added many jobs will still need 'a human in the loop' and that AI would make workers more productive rather than replace them. 'But going out beyond that five year view, maybe 10 or 15 years you could potentially see (AI) taking over entire tasks and doing them for you,' he said. The Australian tech industry will need an additional 370,000 workers to deploy AI. 'More people from a wider background will be able to do jobs that were previously only reserved for people with specialised technical skills,' ServiceNow managing director Eric Swift said. 'When anyone can now create software and applications with simple text inputs which AI turns into code it means we can supercharge innovation.' The data also revealed that many of those in fear of losing their roles to AI could be better off salary-wise if they transition to a new career. More than 1.3 million jobs will be displaced by AI within four years. Checkout operators are among those in the firing line A fire that caused millions of dollars of damage to the front of Old Parliament House was deliberately lit, a jury has found. Bruce Shillingsworth Jr and Nicholas Reed stood trial in the ACT Supreme Court having pleaded not guilty to arson and aiding and abetting arson, and damaging Commonwealth property. After a two-day trial, the jury on Monday found both men guilty. Both men were accused of being ringleaders of the group that had been camping near the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and damaged Old Parliament House on December 30, 2021. As the jury read out their verdict, supporters of Reed and Shillingsworth who had gathered in the back of the Canberra courtroom gasped. Bruce Shillingsworth Jr was found guilty in the ACT Supreme Court on Monday of aiding and abetting arson and damaging Commonwealth property over a December 2021 fire at Old Parliament House. Shillingsworth is pictured outside court Leaning forward, one cried out 'no' as Shillingsworth was declared to be guilty. The woman silently cried while the group whispered to each other about the outcome. Neither Reed or Shillingsworth visibly reacted to the verdict. Crown prosecutor Soraya Saikal-Skea told the court that until that point the protest had been largely peaceful. READ MORE: Aboriginal protester wears kangaroo pelt and a loincloth to court - as he chokes back tears addressing a jury over Old Parliament House arson charge Advertisement In CCTV footage tendered to the court, a man the jury found was Reed was shown taking supplies for a smoking ceremony from a silver Mercedes, before building a fire. Reed was later seen to be putting coals onto a piece of wood and carrying it up the stairs. The prosecution alleged he then placed it out the front of the door, where it caught fire. Reed's barrister James Sabharwal argued it was 'difficult' for the jury to identify a complete stranger based on a couple of CCTV videos. 'You have only seen him sitting in court. How difficult [is it] for you to identify a complete stranger,' Mr Sabharwal said during closing arguments. The barrister submitted that the jury couldn't come to a conclusion just based on the 'suspicion' the man in the footage was Reed. But the jury ultimately sided with the prosecution and found the evidence, which included the silver Mercedes being registered to a woman who shared the same last name and address with the accused, was enough to convict. Meanwhile, Shillingsworth was found guilty of aiding and abetting arson by co-ordinating protesters, directing someone to conceal cameras, and linking with other protesters to stop police from extinguishing the blaze. The prosecution alleged the day prior to the incident Shillingsworth encouraged members to 'make a stand' and 'come here and let's knock this door down'. The social media footage tendered to the court on Thursday showed Shillingsworth on the portico of the building delivering an emotive speech to fellow protesters. 'We can break down any door. Doors of injustice. Doors of genocide. Doors that they take our children and hide 'em behind,' he could be heard saying. In CCTV footage tendered to the court, a man the jury found was Reed (above) was shown taking supplies for a smoking ceremony from a silver Mercedes, before building a fire In another video from December 29, 2021, Shillingworth made reference to the 'eviction papers' the group posted on the doors of Old Parliament House. 'We served that notice. An immediate notice of eviction... We tell them they must move out immediately,' he said in the video, played to the court. In CCTV and body camera footage from December 30, Shillingsworth was identified as part of the crowd blocking police attempts to reach the fire. Ms Saikal-Skea asked the jury if they could, beyond a reasonable doubt, 'infer 'from the videos that Shillingsworth had aided and abetted Reed. In his own closing address, Shillingsworth argued the events of the day were simply a cultural ceremony. 'What we wanted to do was go in there and smoke that place out,' he said on Friday. 'Smoking ceremony is a cleansing process. It's to cleanse out the bad spirits. Trust me there are a lot of bad spirits in that place. That's where they made those decisions to kill my people.' The tradie killed in a tragic accident under a home last week was a beloved big game fisherman who was renowned for his love of the sport while enjoying a VB. Father-of-two Grant Kime, 53, was reported missing when he never came home from an address on Lackersteen St in Callala Bay on the NSW south coast on Thursday. Emergency services eventually found his body under a home in the quiet seaside town, with witnesses revealing he was still holding the live cable which killed him. SafeWork NSW have since launched a probe into the tragedy, while NSW Police are investigating his final moments to deliver a report to the coroner. Now his distraught friends have spoken of their horror at their mate's sudden death, and the impact of the loss of a 'great knockabout bloke' and fishing legend. Mr Kime - who ran the local Callala Electrical firm - is survived by his wife Lynette and their two daughters Mia and Eve, who are being supported by his fishing mates. The family had only recently returned from a dream holiday to Broome in Western Australia. The tradie killed in a tragic accident under a home last week was beloved big game fisherman Grant Kime (pictured with wife Lynette), renowned for his love of the sport Emergency services (pictured) found his body under a home in Callala Bay on the NSW south coast, with witnesses revealing he was still holding the live cable which killed him Grant Kime was a beloved fisgure in the sea fishing community, who loved the sport and was rarely pictured without a can or stubby of VB in his hand The self-employed electrician was a lifelong angler who had featured in two landmark videos about his passion for land-based game fishing which inspired many. But he was equally well-known for his love of VB - and was rarely pictured without a can or a stubby in his hand, which his pals regularly poked fun about. 'To say we are all devastated is a understatement,' said his friend Guy Jamieson. 'We all lost one of the best blokes around. 'I hope they have VB up there big fella.' Videomaker Phil Atkinson said news of the tragedy was 'heartbreaking'. The pair had first met in the late 1980s when he found him fishing on the rocks of Jervis Bay. 'He was an outstanding bloke and good friend of mine for many, many years,' Mr Atkinson told Daily Mail Australia. 'Grant was a great waterman - he was a complete angler who could fish anywhere for anything, and also a great surfer who could read the water perfectly. 'He was just a really genuine guy and so helpful to others. I was looking back at our movies and you could see him always trying to help others in the background. 'He was never elitist and would always assist newcomers to the sport. He was just a top shelf kind of bloke. My heart just goes out to his family who he adored.' He added: 'His love of VB was legendary - it was a running joke among his friends...but to be honest, I'm not sure he actually liked it all that much! 'He was just a true blue Aussie larrikin.' Pal Glenn Ross added: 'The whole fishing community is in mourning and we are all thinking of [his] family.' 'He was a super nice guy and starred in both the movies that made me become a land-based game fisherman,' friend David Verret said. Close pal Mark Crompton is comforting Mr Kime's family in the wake of the tragedy and paid tribute to his friend in a series of posts on social media over the weekend. His mates shared pictures of him catching spectacular fish like marlin, swordfish and bonito, but also his beloved smaller bream. 'What a legend, after watching him land that cobia on Landbased Addiction video, it inspired me to go and hit them north coast ledges,' posted one friend on Facebook. 'Thanks for inspiring me Grant, rest in peace.' The self-employed electrician was a lifelong angler who had made two landmark videos about his passion of land-based game fishing which inspired many He was equally well-known for his love of VB Beer - and was rarely pictured without a can or a stubby in his hand, which his pals regularly poked fun about He was also as well known for his cheeky chat online with memes shared in private messages and group chats having a dig at sporting rivals Another added: 'Awesome fisho and an all round top bloke. 'The world needs more people like Kimey. Deeply saddening news. A unique individual and a tragic loss. 'Rest in peace Kimey. You will be missed by everyone that was fortunate enough to know you.' Mr Kime was also as well known for his cheeky chat online with memes shared in private messages and group chats having a dig at sporting rivals. 'I'll miss the banter,' admitted Mr Crompton. 'He will be severely missed by all who know and love him.' NSW Police say there are no suspicious circumstances. Two cousins killed in a motorbike crash have been named as its revealed the tragedy took place during a family party on a private property. Ali Elhouli, 17, and Zena Houli, 18, were riding off-road motorbikes at their uncle's property on Beattys Rd in Grangefields, in Melbourne's northwest, about 6.35 pm on Sunday when they crashed. Zena, from Altona Meadows, died at the scene. Ali, from Hoppers Crossing, was rushed to hospital but later succumbed to his injuries. Two young boys, aged 11 and 6, were also rushed to hospital in critical conditions but are now stable. It is understood they each suffered multiple broken bones. Zena's father, also called Ali, 43, heard the crash and rode to the scene on a quad bike. It's understood he lost control of the bike as he got close to the incident and was also injured. Ali Elhouli, 17, (pictured) was killed in a bike accident at a family Father's Day party on Sunday night His cousin Zena Houli, 18 (pictured) tragically died at the scene It's understood the two bikes were being ridden on a private property before the incident. A man, 43, rode to the scene of the crash on a quad bike but was also injured when he lost control of the vehicle He was also taken to hospital, but his injuries are not life-threatening. Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Lineham told Radio 3AW there was a Father's Day party being held at the property at the time of the crash. He said the Major Collision Investigation Unit is probing the accident and exact circumstances surrounding the collision are yet to be established, but police are aware the bikes were unregistered. 'The family members at the party they're being uncooperative with police so inquiries are continuing but we're asking for anyone to come forward. 'We don't know how the two children were injured. 'It's incredibly hard for police to do their job when people won't provide the details.' Detective Sergeant Paul Lineham urged anyone who witnessed the accident to contact police. 'We do appeal to the family to come forward, regardless of how they feel about police,' he said. The owner of the property and uncle of the teens killed, Omar El Houli, told reporters the loss was 'heartbreaking'. 'We were driving down (the road) and we got out. Omar El Houli (pictured) said his nephew and niece were 'good kids' Zena Elhouli is pictured in October 2022, when she passed her provisional license test Tributes have begun pouring in online for the two teenagers. Pictured: Ali Elhouli (left) Helmet parts were seen scattered by the roadside on Sunday night as officers investigated the crash 'My niece was on the floor dead and my nephew was also on the ground. 'I wanted to see who they were, it was my farm. I saw the motorbikes, I saw them, they were on the ground. READ MORE: Tragedy as 9-year-old killed after she was thrown off a quad bike her dad was driving near Perth Advertisement 'I couldn't imagine anything worse than what happened.' Mr El Houli said the teenagers were family-oriented and loved spending time with their relatives. 'They loved just being happy, they loved being all together, they just enjoyed life,' he said. 'They're beautiful kids with beautiful parents, it's unfortunate what happened. 'They're in heaven looking down on us now.' Meanwhile, tributes have begun to flow online for the teenagers' whose lives were tragically cut short. 'Love you Zena Houli,' one friend wrote. 'Forever 18 beautiful girl.' 'Fly high my angel.' Jaz Haddara said she was so shocked by the news she has been lost for words. Police have wrapped up initial investigations into the crash and reopened Beattys Rd on Monday morning 'Sending my condolences to Zena Houli who went to school with my son,' she said. 'Such a good girl. Thoughts to the family.' Another friend said: 'Rest in peace now Ali.' 'I love you forever.' Any witnesses or anyone with dashcam, CCTV footage, or information about the crash is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. CBS New York's medical correspondent Dr Max Gomez has died aged 72 after battling a long illness. The award-winning journalist, affectionately known as Dr Max, became the face millions of New Yorkers looked to for advice during the pandemic. Dr Max had been a medical reporter and health editor for WCBS-TV between 1994 and 1997 before returning as chief medical correspondent in June 2007. He won New York Emmy Awards, Philadelphia Emmys, a UPI honor for Best Documentary for a report on AIDS and an Excellence in a Time of Crisis Award from the NYC Health Department for his reporting on the health issues after 9/11. 'Dr. Gomez was deeply loved and respected in our newsroom, by medical professionals he worked with, patients who shared their stories with him and our viewers,' CBS News wrote in a statement on Sunday night. Dr. Max Gomez, a journalist and medical reporter for CBS New York, has passed away at the age of 72 after a long illness CBS said Dr. Gomez was a steady voice of reason during the COVID-19 pandemic.' Dr. Max, had been a medical reporter and health editor for WCBS-TV between 1994 and 1997 'He was our in-house consultant for whatever ailed us, eager to help, genuinely concerned and never thought twice about going the extra mile. His academic track was in health and science, but his depth of medical knowledge and easy, relatable style combined to develop his strong broadcast presence. 'There was always great depth to Dr. Gomez's medical reporting, but never more so than when he candidly shared a number of his own medical challenges with his TV family. 'He was also a steady voice of reason during the COVID-19 pandemic,' the tribute read. He also worked for Fox 5 New York and NBC 4 New York during his lengthy career. 'He was one of the signature pieces of this place as I like to call him,' anchor Chris Wragge said in a tribute posted by the station. Aside from medical reporting, Dr. Gomez also co-wrote three health and science books and worked with various advisory boards Longtime CBS health reporter Dr. Max Gomez is seen in a tribute video posted on Sunday 'Certain places have foundational pieces Dr. Max was just one of those guys that every time you saw him you immediately identified him not only as Dr. Max but CBS 2's Dr. Max.' 'He was in tune with the viewer. In this business, you have to have a connection. If there's no connection, then there's no message. Dr. Max mastered that,' anchor Kristine Johnson said in the tribute. Aside from medical reporting, Dr. Gomez also co-wrote three health and science books and worked with various advisory boards. He served on the national board of directors for the American Heart Association, the Princeton Alumni Weekly and the Partnership for Afterschool Education. Gomez crossed paths with presidents and popes during his time as a reporter He was also a mentor to journalism students particularly medical students and physicians who were interested in crossing over to medical journalism He was also a mentor to journalism students particularly medical students and physicians who were interested in crossing over to medical journalism. Gomez was born in Cuba before he moved to the U.S, with his family to Miami. After graduating cum laude from Princeton University, with a Ph.D. from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, he became a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University in New York City. 'He could converse on anything - sports, travel, current events, the mundane or esoteric. He was a friend, trusted advisor and confidant to us all. It seemed like there wasn't anything he didn't know or hadn't experienced himself,' said a tribute written by CBS News staff. Dr. Gomez is survived by his children Max Gomez IV and Katie Gomez. President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a ceremony at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul on Sept. 1, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the academy's foundation. Yonhap South Korea's president says he'll tell world leaders about the need to faithfully enforce U.N. sanctions on North Korea and block the country's illicit activities to fund its weapons programs when they converge in Indonesia and India for annual summits this week. President Yoon Suk Yeol is to visit Jakarta for four days starting Tuesday to attend a series of summits scheduled on the margins of a meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders. On Friday, he'll travel on to New Delhi for a summit of the leading rich and developing nations. "At the upcoming ASEAN-related Summits and the G20 Summit, I intend to urge the international community to resolutely respond to North Korea's ever-escalating missile provocations and nuclear threats and to work closely together on its denuclearization," Yoon said in written responses to questions from The Associated Press. "As long as the U.N. Security Council sanctions currently in place are faithfully implemented, North Korea's financial means for developing (weapons of mass destruction) can be blocked to a significant extent," Yoon said. Despite the economic troubles deepened mainly by its draconian pandemic curbs, North Korea has been performing a record number of missile tests since last year. South Korean officials believe the North's weapons programs are increasingly financed by illicit activities like cyber hacking and the export of banned items. A large number of North Korean workers has also reportedly remained in China and Russia despite a U.N. order for member states to repatriate all North Korean guest workers a key source of foreign currency for the North by December 2019. Yoon said he will particularly use the Group of 20 summit to underscore "the need to actively deter North Korea from stealing cryptocurrency , dispatching workers overseas, facilitating maritime transshipments and other illegal activities the main funding sources for its nuclear and missile development." North Korea's advancing nuclear arsenal is the most vexing security concern for South Korea, but it also poses serious threats to the United States and Japan. North Korea's long-range missiles target the mainland U.S., while its shorter-range missiles are capable of reaching South Korea and Japan, both key U.S. allies. In a trilateral summit at Camp David in August, Yoon, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to hold annual trilateral exercises and put into operation by year's end the sharing of real-time missile warning data on North Korea. The three also decided to establish a trilateral working group to boost cooperation to combat North Korean cyber threats and block its cyber-enabled evasion of sanctions. North Korea reacted angrily, accusing the three leaders of plotting nuclear war provocations on the Korean Peninsula. Leader Kim Jong-un called Yoon, Biden and Kishida "the gang bosses" of the three countries. Yoon, citing unspecified recent assessments, said North Korea is in its worst economic condition since Kim took power in late 2011. This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile 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, North Korea, Thursday, July 27. AP-Yonhap Australians have been warned there could be fewer mangoes on the shelves this Christmas, as farmers urge shoppers not to be put off by potentially higher prices. Queensland mango producers, who are responsible for more than 40 per cent of Australia's supply, are struggling with significantly reduced yields due to a warmer than average winter. Sandy Cove Mango Plantation owner Brad Bowen said warmer temperatures had resulted in poor flowering rates across-the-board, including the popular R2E2 and Kensington Pride varieties which have reported reduced yields by about 60 per cent. 'It's a combination of a warm winter and a big crop last year but this year's winter hasn't been cold enough to get trees to fruit,' Mr Bowen said. 'We're definitely concerned.' Mangos supplies this summer will be limited due to a warmer than average winter READ MORE: How a British expat was left with a gruesome rash over his body after picking fruit on a farm Advertisement Based in Queensland's north, between Bowen and Townsville, he said lowered yields were likely worrying the state's mango farmers who were hoping for a return to normalcy after a challenging 2022-23. Despite a 'massive crop' last summer, Mr Bowen said most farmers lost money due to an oversupply of mangoes. 'That drags down the cost and people don't make any money from it,' he said. 'It's the years you should do the best that you do the worst.' While the decreased yields could result in reduced stock levels and higher prices this summer, Mr Bowen urged mango lovers to remember farmers also needed to sustain business costs. 'We need the retail costs to come up to match the cost of product but we don't make to make them unaffordable,' he said. 'At the end of the day, we need to be able to stay in business so they can turn around and make more fruit next year.' Fruit volumes are down year-on-year in Queensland, which produces about 22,000 tonnes of mangoes annually Farmer Brad Bowen urged mango lovers not to be put off by potentially higher prices The Bureau of Meteorology Queensland recorded the warmest average winter temperatures since which were 2.32C above average temperatures. Both maximum daytime and minimum temperatures were also among the highest 10 per cent of winters since 1910. Industry peak body Australian Mangoes reported fruit volumes were down year-on-year in Queensland, which produces about 22,000 tonnes of fruit a year. The most recent regional update from August 29 found growers in Mareeba and Dimbulah reporting lowered volumes of Kensington Pride mangoes year-on-year. 'Absence of flowers in some Kensington Pride orchards have some growers starting off with disappointment for the beginning of season as they should be looking at reasonable sized fruit set at by now, but little to nothing has eventuated. 'R2E2s have set well but still may be down a little on volume compared to last year. Keitts and Honey Golds are starting to flower well.' A young couple whose $90,000 was lost by their bank claim they have yet to receive a cent back and have only been given a link to a suicide helpline. Ellie Houston, 21, and her partner, 23, were emailed a link to Beyond Blue by the Commonwealth Bank after their deposit vanished into thin air over two months ago. The couple transferred $90,000 from their account to a Bank of Melbourne account on June 30. The pair had saved the substantial amount of money for a land settlement in Yarrawonga, a town located near the NSW and Victoria border. 'Our money bounced back into our CBA account because both our names weren't approved yet on the Bank of Melbourne account,' Ms Houston told 3AW radio on Monday. The couple tried again to transfer the $90,000 to the Bank of Melbourne account on July 4, but the money bounced back to their account a few days later. As they were on holiday in Bali at the time the couple couldn't transfer the money internationally and were charged a $2,500 late settlement fee. 'We came home from Bali on the 20th (of July), we went straight into Commonwealth to settle this land and transfer the money to the Bank of Melbourne,' she said. 'No money in our account. 75c. And they can't tell us where it's gone, nothing.' Ms Houston said the $90,000 had been in the CBA account while they were in Bali but when it came to transferring it to the Bank of Melbourne when they returned home, it had disappeared. She and her partner took a day off work to sit in the office of a bank employee in the hopes of finding the deposit. 'We were visibly distressed because we had lost so much money,' she said. 'They asked us if we were being held ransom because we were so upset. This was a whole day, then they took five weeks to come back with an answer.' The couple were finally given a 'three dot point' explanation from the complaints team who stated their records did not match those of the couple. Ms Houston says she has receipts and screenshots from the two occasions the $90,000 was transferred. She claims the bank sent a link to Beyond Blue, a suicide prevention hotline, after she described the toll the missing money was having on her and her partner. 'They said 'we're really sorry, we're still investigating this, here are some links if you need some help',' she recalled. Ellie Houston, 21, claims Commonwealth Bank sent a link to Beyond Blue, a suicide prevention hotline, after she described the toll the missing money was having on her and her partner The couple transferred a $90,000 deposit for a land settlement in Yarrawonga, Victoria The couple have had to increase the amount of an existing loan to keep the land. 'My partner and I have been together since we were 15-years-old, we've saved for so long for this land and our goal was always to pay it off before we put a house on it so we could then travel,' she said. 'It feels like everything's been taken from under us.' A CBA spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: 'Mr Trae Murphy made a complaint to CBA where he asked CBA to investigate the balance of his account after two transfers to the Bank of Melbourne failed. 'Mr Murphy contends the balance of his account should be $96,000. Following an investigation by CBA, we have informed Mr Murphy: 'The account in question (or any other account held Mr Murphy) did not have a balance of $96,000 (or an amount close to it) at the time of the relevant transfers or the 12 months prior. 'On examination of the images of the receipts provided, the documents differ from genuine CBA receipts and the receipt numbers do not exist in CBA's records. 'The account from which the transfers allegedly took place is a NetBank Saver which only permits transfers to another CBA account and is unable to process transfers to another financial institution. 'Subject to receiving additional information from Mr Murphy, CBA is willing to make further enquiries.' A young girl has died and four people rushed to hospital after a car rolled over on a rural road. The eight-year-old girl was riding in a black Great Wall station sedan when it struck trouble on Millstream Road at Fortescue, about 650km from Exmouth Western Australia, at 11.45am on Sunday. The young girl died at the scene. St John Ambulance rushed the driver and a passenger, women aged 29 and 42, to hospital with serious injuries. A Royal Flying Doctor Service spokesperson said two adult passengers are set to be flown from Karratha to Perth before being taken to Royal Perth Hospital. Another 35-year-old woman and a four-year-old boy were taken to hospital with minor injuries. A young girl has died and four people rushed to hospital after a car rolled over on a rural road. Police are urging anyone who witnessed the crash or has any information or dashcam footage to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. The young girl's death marks the sixth road fatality in Western Australia in less than a week. A 73-year-old man and a 66-year-old died after their cars collided on Pinjarra Road in Ravenswood just before midday on Sunday. The man, who was driving a Toyota Hilux tray top utility was taken to Peel Health Campus but was unable to be revived. His car crashed into a grey Mazda CX5 driven by a 66-year-old woman who died at the scene. A 9-year-old girl, who was a passenger of the Mazda, was airlifted to Perth's Children Hospital for treatment. A woman and man died and two people injured in a crash in Boxwood Hill, near Albany, on Saturday. The four victims are believed to have been travelling in the car when it rolled on Borden-Bremer Bay Road in Boxwood Hill, near Albany, at about 7.30am. Two people died at the scene while the other two people were plucked from the wreckage by firefighters. A 36-year-old man died on August 31 in West Toodyay, 85km north east of Perth, after his Hino truck veered off River Road and collided with a tree at about 3:55am. The man died at the scene. Dr Anthony Fauci has been branded a 'fraud' and a 'liar' after admitting there is now a lack of evidence to suggest wearing a mask helped stop the spread of COVID. The immunologist, who retired from public service in December, was roundly slammed over the weekend after he said 'the data are less strong' now. Some online accused him of 'more subterfuge' after he still called on Americans to cover up as cases start to spike once more. While others took a stronger stance and said he was 'smoked' as more statistics and research is done on wearing masks during the pandemic. 'When you're talking about the effect on the epidemic or the pandemic as a whole, the data are less strong,' Fauci finally admitted to CNN's Michael Smerconish about the effectiveness of masks 'When you're talking about the effect on the epidemic or the pandemic as a whole, the data are less strong,' Fauci admitted to CNN's Michael Smerconish. 'But there are other studies that show at an individual level, for individuals,' they might be protective, he said. The former health chief was responding to questions about a study by Tom Jefferson, a senior associate tutor at Oxford University, whose research concluded 'there is just no evidence that they - masks - make any difference. Full stop.' Social media users exploded at the findings and Fauci's response, branding him full of 'bullsh*t'. 'Fauci admits that masks don't work for the public at large but still absurdly claims masks work on an individual basis. More subterfuge,' wrote Senator Rand Paul. Conservative political commentator Buck Sexton went further branding Fauci a 'fraud and a liar.' 'Fauci confronted with most definitive data analysis possible that masks make ZERO difference against Covid. Not a little, not slight- Zero. And he just mutters some numerical illiteracy bulls it about 'individual protection.' He's a fraud and a liar.' Conservative political commentator Liz Wheeler was also direct in her criticism of the doctor and his poor interview performance. 'Wow Fauci is SMOKED on masks and he has zero comeback,' she wrote. 'Fauci now says that mask mandates did not stop the spread. Perhaps we didn't know that in 2020, but we certainly knew it in 2022, when toddlers were still being forcibly masked. These children deserve an apology,' school social worker Justin Spiro wrote. Some were more forgiving of the former top doctor's flip-flopping on the issue. 'His recommendations are his recommendations. Science and medicine change. No, Dr. Fauci didn't get everything right, but neither did others,' wrote Ed Krassenstein online. Dr Fauci, 82, was known as the nation's Covid czar - and during the pandemic he sternly recommended wearing face coverings. But he's been criticized for flip-flopping in his beliefs as he admitted there is a lack of evidence to suggest they worked in halting the spread of the virus Fauci's admission that the data is 'less strong' on a population level comes as New Yorkers are being told to consider masking up this Labor Day weekend due to concerns about rising Covid cases and two new variants Fauci's admission is a far cry from his early-pandemic steadfastness that mask mandates were going to curb the spike in cases. The former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 82, was branded as the nation's Covid czar because he strongly recommended wearing face coverings and social distancing in public. As early as April 2020, he told fearful Americans: 'If everybody does that, we're each protecting each other. Because the data is, it's more efficient to prevent transmitting to others than it is to prevent transmission to yourself.' People had to wear masks in schools, public transportation, restaurants, and workplaces. But following a series of leaked emails and interviews since the height of the pandemic, Fauci has been criticized for flip-flopping in his beliefs as he admitted there is a lack of evidence to suggest they worked in halting the spread of the virus. Fauci's admission that the data is 'less strong' on a population level comes as New Yorkers are being told to consider masking up this Labor Day due to concerns about rising Covid cases and two new variants. A spokesman for NYC's health department told DailyMail.com that wearing a mask may be a 'good idea' in crowded indoor areas when people are expected to congregate in large groups for the holiday. But they also expressed that 'nothing about the guidance has changed' and that the city currently had no plans to make masks compulsory. New York City is currently recording a rise in Covid cases and hospital admissions caused by the virus. The latest data suggests the city's infection rate is about 18 cases per 100,000 people on August 29 although this is likely to be an underestimate because so few people are now testing themselves for the virus. Hospitalizations are also rising, with 502 patients who had Covid admitted to the city's hospitals on August 31. People wear protective masks while walking in front of luxury retail stores on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills on May 19, 2020 People had to wear masks on public transport and airplanes during the pandemic That marks a five percent rise compared to the previous week. However, it is still well below the peak this year of almost 2,000 patients in hospital. Last summer in an interview with CBS, Fauci said that he had no regrets over his advice regarding mask mandates in the pandemic. He said: 'I don't regret anything I said then because in the context of the time in which I said it, it was correct. 'We were told in our task force meetings that we have a serious problem with the lack of PPEs and masks for the health providers who are putting themselves in harm's way every day to take care of sick people.' In December 2021, Fauci told the public that he could not see the end of mask wearing on planes: 'Even though you have a good filtration system, I still believe that masks are a prudent thing to do and we should be doing it.' But then one year later, in December 2022, Dr Fauci acknowledged that there is a certain 'fatigue' about the mandates pertaining to COVID-19 even as cases begin to climb during the winter months. Speaking with Fox 5, Fauci said that local health authorities should be the ones making calls about COVID restrictions, but he is aware that people 'don't like being told what to do.' 'You would like people to use good judgment to protect themselves and their family,' he told Good Day New York. But, 'there is a fatigue about being mandates. People don't like to be told what to do.' He added, however, that when there is an uptick in infections, 'which is followed by an uptick in hospitalizations, you want to make sure you do something to mitigate against that.' She picked apart their handling of the Voice debate Senator Jacqui Lambie has slammed both sides of the political spectrum over their handling of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament debate. The Independent Senator for Tasmania came out firing as the government and opposition ramped up their arguments for and against the Voice weeks out from the referendum that will be held on October 14. Senator Lambie hit out at Peter Dutton first, stating his promise of a second referendum should the first fail is 'absolute rubbish'. Mr Dutton's referendum would constitutionally recognise Indigenous Australians without establishing the advisory body in the constitution. But Lambie hit back, reflecting on how the Coalition had 'nine years to do something' while in government but failed to do anything for Indigenous people. 'I find this absolutely bizarre, and here he is, gobbing off out there, and once again, where's your detail mate!' 'You're going at the other side, the red team over here, and asking them where the detail is, but you come out, make some absurd comment yesterday, absolutely idiotic of him. 'This absolutely blows me away this morning. 'You want to trust Peter Dutton in the future to get this done? Oh please Australians. I'll tell you what, it's absolute rubbish,' she added. Senator Lambie then called out the Labor party, claiming they have not been campaigning hard enough to win support for the Yes case. 'I want to say this to the Labor Party: you're just as bad when it comes to selling stuff, and you know why? Because you end up buying your goddamn political seats instead of going out there and earning them,' she said. 'You are doing a rotten job of selling the Voice and you're gonna get a slap for it this morning. 'Cause when it goes down, and at this stage, it looks like it's going to go down, the only people to blame - if you think you can walk away from this and leave all that unintended hurt that it's going to leave behind, I tell you I'm going to be holding you personally responsible.' Senator Lambie expressed her agreement with the concerns that many Australians were growing tired of the ongoing debate surrounding the referendum, especially given the current cost of living crisis in the country. She said that she was confronted by an frustrated man at the supermarket over the growing pressure on household budgets, claiming there was 'anger' in communities that the government was not doing enough to ease the burden. 'Nobody on the street is talking to me about the Voice,' she said. An October 14 referendum will ask Australians if they wish to recognise Indigenous people in the constitution and enshrine a proposed advisory body called the Voice. The latest Newspoll revealed support for the Voice is plummeting only weeks out from the referendum. Only 38 per cent of the population is planning to vote Yes, and 53 per cent is tracking to vote No in the poll, which was conducted for The Australian. It's the first time support for the No vote has risen to an outright majority. In another recent poll, Victoria was the only state supporting a Yes vote. The Yes campaign will need a majority of Australians and a majority in at least four of the six states in order to succeed. Only eight of 44 referendums have succeeded in Australia's 122-year history - all with bipartisan support. A political editor has declared the Indigenous Voice to Parliament 'is over' after a devastating Newspoll released on Monday found the No vote ahead 53 to 38. 'They can't win. It's over,' Sky News' political editor Andrew Clennell said of the Yes campaign on Monday ahead of Question Time. 'So now it becomes about the margin, and not embarrassing the Prime Minister. It's dire straits. 'When do you see 38 to 53 turn around in six weeks?' Sky News political editor Andrew Clennell declared that the Voice to Parliament 'is over' An October 14 referendum will ask Australians if they wish to recognise Indigenous people in the constitution and enshrine a proposed advisory body called the Voice. Consecutive polls have shown support for the Voice has been sliding. Success will require a majority of voters and a majority of states voting in favour. Cabinet minister Tony Burke said he was confident the referendum would succeed. '(Opposition Leader) Peter Dutton, I think, has underestimated the goodwill of a whole lot of Liberal voters here as well,' he told ABC radio on Monday. 'There's a generosity in the Australian people and as people come closer to the date, focus their minds, look at the proposal, we see something where there's nothing to lose and everything to gain.' Mr Dutton has confirmed he would hold a second referendum solely to enshrine Indigenous recognition into the constitution if the voice fails to pass. The Newspoll showed the Voice Yes campaign was behind 38 points to 53. Above, advocates Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Affairs minister Linda Burney Defending the coalition's failure to push for constitutional recognition in almost 10 years of government, Mr Dutton said Australia wasn't previously ready for the issue. READ MORE: Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is bombarded with sexual and violent texts The Country Liberal Party senator published four messages sent to her by various men to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, at the weekend Advertisement 'We're going to spend about $450 million to pose a question on October 14 that he (Anthony Albanese) knows is going to fail,' he told Nine's Today. 'I just don't think he's going to shift votes unless he gives the detail.' Nationals leader David Littleproud said the majority of the nation would support constitutional recognition because 'our country has grown over those nine years'. He wants the government to split the question or pull the referendum, saying consultative bodies have failed rural and regional Australia in the past. 'We live with the scars of that every day. That's where it failed and that's where the gap hasn't been closed,' Mr Littleproud told reporters in Canberra. 'The Voice is a step too far because it's just about more bureaucracy rather than a better one.' The polling also shows support for the coalition has reached its highest level since the federal election last year, with the opposition now leading 37 per cent to Labor's 35 per cent on primary votes. Labor leads in two-party terms - 53 per cent to 47 per cent. A daycare centre has been slapped with a record $90,000 in fines after an unsupervised child was found unconscious with a skipping rope around their neck. Childcare provider G8 Education was fined by the Western Australia's State Administrative Tribunal following the incident on September 8, 2022. Two children were temporarily left unsupervised at Learning Sanctuary in King's Square, Perth. When staff returned 14 minutes later, one of the children was found hanging by a skipping rope after it became tangled around their neck while they went down a slide. The child, a three-year-old, was unresponsive and required 18 chest compressions before coming around and being transported to hospital. It is understood the child has recovered but the family are too shaken to speak publicly. A daycare centre has been slapped with a record $90,000 in fines after an unsupervised child was found unconscious with a skipping rope around their neck (stock image) The child was left unsupervised at The Learning Sanctuary at King's Square Perth (pictured) G8 Education was given two fines worth $50,000 and $40,000, the largest of their type ever handed down in Australia. 'It's about as close as you can get to the worst-case scenario without it actually being a child's death,' Angelo Barbaro, from the Department of Communities, said. 'The supervisor was actually carrying out other duties when this tragic accident happened.' 'My understanding is that the child is physically doing okay but obviously still quite traumatised from the incident,' Barbaro said. A G8 Education spokesperson said it 'took immediate steps' to review its facility and practices and had rolled out improvements across its entire network. 'We have worked closely with the Education and Care Regulatory Unit during its investigation of this incident and accept the findings of the State Administrative Tribunal report,' the representative said. The centre owner G8 Education was fined an Australian record $90,000 (stock image) 'We have implemented all recommendations in the report and remain committed to providing safe, secure and supportive learning environments for the children in our care.' WA Community Services Minister Sabine Winton said the size of the fine sends a message to daycare centres across the state. 'For parents, when they drop their kids off at centres right around Western Australia they need to know that the supervision of their children is 100 per cent of the time and is an absolute priority.' The grieving sister of a dirt bike crash victim has lashed out at trolls demanding that they 'stop nonsense comments' after her brother and cousin were killed during a Father's Day party at their uncle's house. Ali Elhouli, 17, and Zena Houli, 18, died after crashing off-road motorbikes at their family's property on Beattys Rd in Grangefields, in Melbourne's northwest, about 6.35pm on Sunday. Police say they are still working to determine the cause of the crash as the family have been 'uncooperative', but detectives have determined the bikes were unregistered. Now, Ali's devastated sister Fatima has hit back at social media users who said 'dirt bikes on roads don't mix' and that incidents such as this tragedy 'give motorcyclists a bad name'. 'Stop your nonsense comments,' Fatima said. 'They were just being kids having fun and being responsible. Fatima Elhouli is pictured with her brother Ali, 17, who died in a dirt bike crash at Grangefields, in Melbourne's west, on Sunday night Their cousin Zena Houli, 18 (pictured) was also involved in the crash and tragically died at the scene 'No one knows when (their) time is. 'Keep your nasty comments to yourself.' Family friends also weighed in - telling off strangers for casting judgment. 'These are kids you ignorant human. Parents have lost their kids. How about have a heart or sod off with your pathetic comments,' one woman wrote. 'They're young people who have lost their lives. Show some respect to their family and friends. Disgusting person you are,' another said. Family members on Monday told how Zena, from Altona Meadows, died almost instantly - with relatives rushing to the scene after hearing the crash. Ali, from Hoppers Crossing, was rushed to hospital but later succumbed to his injuries. Two young boys, aged 11 and 6, were also caught up in the accident. They were rushed to hospital in critical conditions but are now stable. It is understood they each suffered multiple broken bones. Zena's father, also called Ali, 43, was injured while trying to reach the teenagers on a quad bike. It's understood he lost control of the bike as he got close to the incident and was also injured. He was also taken to hospital, but his injuries are not life-threatening. Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Lineham told Radio 3AW there was a Father's Day party being held at the property at the time of the crash. Fatima Elhouli hit back at trolls on Facebook on Monday He said the Major Collision Investigation Unit is probing the accident and exact circumstances surrounding the collision are yet to be established, but police are aware the bikes were unregistered. 'The family members at the party they're being uncooperative with police so inquiries are continuing but we're asking for anyone to come forward. 'We don't know how the two children were injured. 'It's incredibly hard for police to do their job when people won't provide the details.' Sgt Lineham urged anyone who witnessed the accident to contact police. 'We do appeal to the family to come forward, regardless of how they feel about police,' he said. The owner of the property and uncle of the teens killed, Omar El Houli, told reporters the loss was 'heartbreaking'. 'We were driving down (the road) and we got out. It's understood the two bikes were being ridden on a private property before the incident. A man, 43, rode to the scene of the crash on a quad bike but was also injured when he lost control of the vehicle Omar El Houli (pictured) said his nephew and niece were 'good kids' Zena Elhouli is pictured in October 2022, when she passed her provisional license test Tributes have begun pouring in online for the two teenagers. Pictured: Ali Elhouli (left) Helmet parts were seen scattered by the roadside on Sunday night as officers investigated the crash 'My niece was on the floor dead and my nephew was also on the ground. 'I wanted to see who they were, it was my farm. I saw the motorbikes, I saw them, they were on the ground. READ MORE: Tragedy as 9-year-old killed after she was thrown off a quad bike her dad was driving near Perth Advertisement 'I couldn't imagine anything worse than what happened.' Mr El Houli said the teenagers were family-oriented and loved spending time with their relatives. 'They loved just being happy, they loved being all together, they just enjoyed life,' he said. 'They're beautiful kids with beautiful parents, it's unfortunate what happened. 'They're in heaven looking down on us now.' Meanwhile, tributes have begun to flow online for the teenagers' whose lives were tragically cut short. 'Love you Zena Houli,' one friend wrote. 'Forever 18 beautiful girl.' 'Fly high my angel.' Jaz Haddara said she was so shocked by the news she has been lost for words. Police have wrapped up initial investigations into the crash and reopened Beattys Rd on Monday morning 'Sending my condolences to Zena Houli who went to school with my son,' she said. 'Such a good girl. Thoughts to the family.' Another friend said: 'Rest in peace now Ali.' 'I love you forever.' Any witnesses or anyone with dashcam, CCTV footage, or information about the crash is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. A Delta flight from Atlanta to Barcelona was forced to turn around after a passenger on board suffered a bout of diarrhea which 'ran all the way through the plane'. Flight DL194 had already departed Georgia on schedule at 8:47 pm, Friday September 1, and was over Virginia when the pilots decided to abandon the journey. In a text message sent to Air Traffic Control, the captain was succinct in explaining the problem: 'Divert to ATL passenger diarrhea all over aircraft biohazard.' Air traffic control audio recordings also reveal one of the pilots confirming the situation over the radio. 'It's just a biohazard issue, we had a passenger who had diarrhea all the way through the airplane so they want us to come back to Atlanta.' A Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Barcelona was forced to turn around after a passenger on board suffered a bout of diarrhea which 'ran all the way through the plane'. Pictured, an FAA flight strip in which the crew relayed details The aircraft bound for Barcelona returned to Atlanta and underwent a five hour cleanup operation in which the carpet had to be removed (file photo) The situation was distressing for both passengers and crew. Some with knowledge of the situation posted to social media. 'My partner was on that flight! It was pretty bad. It was dribbled down the aisle, smelled horrible. 'The vanilla scented disinfectant used on it only made it smell like vanilla s***. After the plane landed, it was thoroughly cleaned. They didn't leave until around 2:30am,' wrote Dee W. 'The flight was met by emergency vehicles and EMTs carried the sick passenger off the plane. 'My partner said the plane was cleaner when they got back on at 2am than it was the first time they got on. No smell either.' Another passenger onboard the Airbus A350 aircraft also praised the cleanup operation. 'Both my wife and I were on the flight. It was a mess. The pilots made the right decision to turn around. The ground crew ripped out the carpet and put new in. 'Considering the circumstances, the ground crew did a great job, along the attendants and the pilots,' wrote John Hurdt. The plane was only one hour into its journey when it was forced to turn around One passenger praised the crew and cleanup staff with how they dealt with the situation Some with knowledge of the situation posted to social media Upon landing back in Atlanta, focus shifted to addressing the 'biohazard' issue through a thorough cleaning of the aircraft. Fortunately for passengers, the flight was not entirely canceled. The aircraft touched down in Atlanta at 10:40pm and eventually resumed its journey to Spain just over five hours later at 3am. Following an 8-hour and 13-minute flight, the plane finally landed in Barcelona at 5:10pm - eight hours behind schedule. While Delta acknowledged the flight encountered an unexpected medical event, the airline remained tight-lipped about the specifics. 'Our teams worked as quickly and safely as possible to thoroughly clean the airplane and get our customers to their final destination. 'We sincerely apologize to our customers for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans,' the airline wrote in a statement. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has sparked outrage after claiming no one was forced to get the Covid vaccine despite widespread mandates in his country. Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Mr Hipkins was asked about an election promise by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters to compensate New Zealanders injured by the vaccine or forced out of employment because of mandates. 'There is a process for people who are injured in a medical procedure, there's already processes in place for dealing with that,' Mr Hipkins said. 'In terms of the vaccine mandates, I acknowledge that it was a challenging time for people but they ultimately made their own choices. 'There was no compulsory vaccination, people made their own choices.' New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has been called out for claiming no one was forced to take the vaccine when he imposed mandates as a minister The comments sparked outrage from Kiwis who lost their jobs, were refused travel or couldn't see loved ones in aged or hospital care because they refused the Covid jabs during the pandemic. Mr Hipkins was the country's minister at the time of the pandemic before rising to the role of Prime Minister on January 22. Angry comments flooded X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, accusing Mr Hipkins of 'gaslighting', which means to manipulate someone into distrusting their perceptions, experiences or understanding of events. 'There was mandatory vaccinations in New Zealand for health workers, military, teachers & police officers,' one noted. 'It isn't a choice when you can't continue your uni degree, keep your job, open your business, play your sport, or participate in life. without it,' another wrote. 'And he damned well knew it when he forced the mandates.' One account even invited New Zealanders to share their stories around the 'choices' they made around vaccination and mandates, and the impact on their lives. 'Did it feel like a 'voluntary undertaking' to you?' the account asked. The majority of responses answered firmly in the negative. 'My wife and I are teachers. We could not work!' one reply read. A woman gets a drive-through Covid vaccination in the New Zealand city of Whangarei 'Even when the mandates ended I was still asked my vaccine status at interviews as the school board hadn't changed their policy. After 6 months we moved to UK where sanity prevails.' 'Not voluntary!' another fusmed. 'Every day life things withheld including access to family members was coersion in to compiling with their orders! 'Get jabbed or else! Thats exactly how it was! Coercion under duress is not consent!' 'And if you weren't vaccinated you couldn't come home......' one person noted about New Zealand's draconian border laws at the time. In March 2021, while he was the Covid Response Minister, Mr Hipkins imposed mandatory vaccinations for border protection workers 'on the frontline'. At the time he claimed no one was being forced to take the vaccines. He admitted some people were refusing vaccines on reasonable grounds, such as pregnant women who wanted to wait until after their baby was born. A customs employee who was sacked for refusing the vaccine took his bosses to the Employment Court of New Zealand before a decision was made in his favour on June 30. New evidence of Japanese germ warfare unit made public Xinhua) 08:10, September 04, 2023 This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) HARBIN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Two rosters of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, has gone on public display for the first time in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The new evidence of "crimes committed by Unit 731 through military-medical coordination" was made public on Sunday by the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army, which is located in Harbin, as China marks the 78th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. The rosters contained lists of names of staff members from 24 Japanese army hospitals in Chinese cities, including Harbin, Dalian, and Mudanjiang. Six pages in length, and classified as a military secret, the rosters were compiled by the Japanese Kwantung Army in August 1940, and discovered in the National Archives of Japan as a result of the cooperation of the exhibition hall and Japanese scholar Seiya Matsuno. Furthermore, clues about cooperation between a Japanese army hospital in Harbin and Unit 731 in a plague outbreak in Jilin Province have also been discovered. A document showed that in October 1940, the Japanese Kwantung Army dispatched the Japanese army hospital in Harbin to engage in the "prevention and control" of plague bacteria carried out by Unit 731, which was, in fact, operations to test the results of a plague bacteria attack in the name of outbreak control. The discoveries further suggested that the Japanese army hospital in Harbin was closely related to Unit 731 and was an extension of medical crimes committed by Unit 731, said Jin Shicheng, a researcher with the exhibition hall. Studies found that the human experiments and germ warfare carried out by Unit 731 were assisted by Japanese wartime medical institutions, said Jin Chengmin, curator of the exhibition hall. "It once again proves that the Japanese invasion of China was a top-down, organized, and planned group crime carried out by the Japanese militarism." Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin as the nerve center for Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during World War II. This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Jin Shicheng, a researcher with the exhibition hall, presents new evidence of "crimes committed by Unit 731 through military-medical coordination" at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 2, 2023.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Jin Shicheng, a researcher with the exhibition hall, presents new evidence of "crimes committed by Unit 731 through military-medical coordination" at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 2, 2023.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Huawei high-end Mate 60 Pro now on sale, as Chinese consumers' frenzy builds up Global Times) 13:23, September 04, 2023 Huawei officially kicked off online sales for its latest flagship Mate 60 Pro on Sunday, marking a major step for the high-end smartphone to hit the mass domestic market as public expectations and demand for the device remain high. The move immediately triggered a buying spree among Chinese people, with long queues seen appearing at Huawei stores across major Chinese cities on Sunday. On Tuesday, the Chinese tech giant, unexpectedly, announced the start of preorders for the smartphone, which industry analysts speculate is using a made-in-China 5G capable chipset. Huawei has been low key about the advanced chip, but observers, industry players and netizens believe the unexpected launch highlights the country's capability of conducting independent technological research and development despite US sanctions. Consumers who have preordered Huawei Mate 60 Pro smartphones have been notified that they can go to the stores to pick up the phone at 18:08 pm on Sunday. And, an online notice seen on the sales pages of major e-commerce platforms such as Huawei Mall, Taobao and JD.com, said that sales of Huawei Mate 60 Pro will begin at the same time, the Global Times learned. As of 19:10 pm on Sunday, the new phone already sold out on Taobao.com and JD.com. "It is now a more 'presentable' gift than iPhone, with people who use it basking in national pride," a Beijing-based white-collar worker surnamed Long, told the Global Times on Sunday. Long already grabbed one Mate 60 Pro online, and the phone will arrive in 10-15 days. Washington has restricted Huawei from buying advanced 5G chips and software from US companies since 2019, which dealt a heavy blow to its high-end smartphone business and left it only able to launch limited batches of 5G models using stockpiled chips. Some industry analysts predicted the strong comeback could mark a turning point for Huawei's smartphone businesses, while a pre-release may also aim to achieve the first-mover advantage in competing with Apple, which is set to launch its iPhone 15 series on September 12. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) President Yoon Suk Yeol smiles during a talk with young diplomats at the Korean National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of presidential office President calls on China to play role in addressing NK's nuclear threats By Nam Hyun-woo President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit Indonesia and India this week to attend summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Group of 20 (G20), with a goal of putting his South Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative into practice. The president will also be seeking to use the multilateral events as a platform to urge global cooperation to disrupt North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats, calling for China to play its role in exercising its influence on Pyongyang to give up its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. Yoon will fly to Jakarta today as the first stop of his seven-day trip and will attend the South Korea-ASEAN and ASEAN Plus Three summits, focusing on expanding diplomatic engagements with ASEAN member nations based on the solidarity initiative. Yoon announced the solidarity initiative during the previous South Korea-ASEAN Summit in November last year, as his government's basic direction of engaging ASEAN members. The initiative is distinguishable from Seoul's previous policies toward ASEAN, which focused mostly on expanding economic partnerships with them. The new initiative states that it seeks strategic coordination and joint responses to regional and global challenges, expanding the landscape of South Korea's ties with ASEAN members. "ASEAN is South Korea's key partner for building a free, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," Yoon said in an interview with the Associated Press, published Monday. "At the South Korea-ASEAN Summit, I will review the key achievements of the solidarity initiative, which South Korea proposed last year, and explore action plans for that initiative." As part of the initiative, Yoon will call for ASEAN members' greater interest regarding North Korea's missile and nuclear threats. "At the upcoming ASEAN-related summits and the G20 Summit, I intend to urge the international community to respond resolutely to North Korea's ever-escalating missile provocations and nuclear threats and to work closely together on its denuclearization," Yoon said. "As long as the United Nations Security Council sanctions currently in place are implemented faithfully, North Korea's financial means for developing WMDs can be blocked to a significant extent." President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during the South Korea-ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 11, 2022. Courtesy of presidential office Australia Post will honour some of the country's best-known tourist attractions, from Queensland's Big Pineapple to NSW's Big Banana, in a special one-off 'Big Things' coin collection. The $1 coin set, which celebrates the nation's 'love affair' with outsizes sculptures, will be available for purchase online or in-store at Australia Post from Monday as part of Collecting Month. The coins will cost $3 each or $29 for a full coin set, with one in every 10 sets featuring a special coloured Giant Murray Cod coin. Coins will also be used as change at select AusPost stores. Australia Post will honour some of the country's best-known tourist attractions, from Queensland's Big Pineapple to NSW's Big Banana, in a special one-off 'Big Things' coin collection The new $1 coins will feature iconic 'Big Things' such as the Giant Murray cod in Swan Hill, Victoria which is the only coin to get a special coloured version The Big Blue Heeler located in Muswellbrook, NSW gets a spot in the coin collection The Big Jumping Croc from Wak Wak in the North Territory looks pleased to be included The reverse of the coin will commemorate the life of Queens Elizabeth II Australia Post general manager of retail product Kayla Le Cornu said that despite their kitsch, Australia's famed 'Big Things' had been visited by as much as 90 per cent of the population and were well loved. 'Our 'Big Things' are colourful, entertaining and truly make their mark in so many local communities across Australia,' Ms Cornu said. 'We're celebrating some of our most iconic 'Big Things' with this new coin collection, in partnership with the Royal Australian Mint.' An accompanying stamp collection also includes the Big Tasmanian devil, Giant Murray Cod, Big Swoop, Big Jumping Crocodile and the Giant Koala, which will be available for purchase from $1.20. The postal service had previously surveyed the public on 'Big Things' they wanted to see, including a big black swan in Perth, a gold nugget in Ballarat, and a AFL footy or big coffee in Melbourne. The Royal Australian Mint last month launched a special commemorative $5 coin featuring the country's world heritage sites, including the Queensland rainforest and 'ancient Aboriginal settlements'. The Big Lobster in Kingston, SA celebrates the region's spectacular marine life The Giant Ram from Wagin Western Australia has earned a place as one of the country's premier big tourist attractions Big Swoop celebrates the humble magpie and was newly built in the nation's capital Canberra The Big Tasmanian devil located in Mole Creek, Tasmania where the marsupials are found in their natural habitat William Tyrrell's foster mother has failed to have her trial for charges of allegedly stalking or intimidating an 11-year-old girl heard in secret. It comes as a judge said that the child's fears of 'physical violence, humiliation and punishment' may have been valid. The 58-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting the girl on Monday. The foster mother's lawyer John Stratton SC then applied to have her trial for the remaining charges held entirely behind closed doors. But Magistrate Susan McIntyre dismissed the application on Monday afternoon, find 'it goes beyond the principles of open justice.' Her Honour also dismissed an application to have the prosecution's tendency evidence thrown out. The magistrate found that it had 'probative value' in pointing towards the foster mother's guilt. William Tyrrell's foster parents arrive at court on Monday for a five-day trial overf allegations they assaulted and stalked and intimidated an 11-year-old girl during an eight months period in 2021 'I would categorise the material relied upon in relation to (foster mother) SD's conduct as threat and warning as to what will happen in relation to continuing behaviours,' she siad. Both foster parents are accused of stalking or intimidating and cause fear of physical or mental harm against a child between January 26, 2021 and August 30, 2021. They have pleaded not guilty to these offences. The foster father is also accused of common assault against a child, to which he has pleaded not guilty. The offences allegedly occurred at two different residences on Sydney's North Shore. The girl is due to testify via pre-recorded evidence during a week-long trial at Parramatta Local Court in Sydney's west. The court heard about heated verbal exchanges between the child and about an alleged recording of the then primary schoolgirl being smacked. The foster mother of missing toddler William Tyrrell (above) has failed in bid to have trial on charges related to a young girl heard in secret Defence barrister John Stratton SC argued that repeated incidents, including a threatened warning by the foster mother that if the child continued to behave badly 'she would slap her' was just 'lawful chastisement, it's not a criminal activity'. He said if a threat by a parent to discipline a child as deemed criminal 'that would criminalise every household in Australia'. He said a reference to an alleged recording of the sound of three smacks being issued could have been about 'someone in the family striking a desk'. But police prosecutor Detective Chief Inspector John Marsh said the sounds 'smack, smack, smack' had been indicated in a recording, and that multiple alleged incidents or threats to the young girl were 'certainly not what (happened in) every household in Australia' He said there was an incident in which the child used a phone without permission, and then called the foster mother 'a f***ing b***h'. 'It is the cumulative effect of all these incidents to show that (the foster mother) knew her conduct was likely to cause fear but nonetheless continued.' William Tyrrell's foster mother (pictured) pleaded guilty to two charges of common assault at Parramatta Local Court on Monday. The charges related to a young child, who is not William Police allege the foster mother threatened the girl while her foster father allegedly grabbed her by the neck after the girl said she 'hated' them. READ MORE: How William Tyrrell's foster parents escaped scrutiny... until now The problems that beset the William Tyrrell case from the moment the three-year-old vanished go directly to the heart of Australia's flawed foster parent system. On one side, you have a his foster parents, a wealthy, well-educated couple who live in a $4 million home on Sydney's exclusive north shore. And on the other are his biological parents, who fell under suspicion from police because of the problems which saw them lose custody of the little boy in the first place: substance abuse and issues with law and order. READ MORE: How toddler 'couldn't get up' after 'distressing' accident, hit and bit foster mum Advertisement William's foster father allegedly 'grabbed' the girl about the neck and 'physically restrained her to sit back down' in the kitchen of a suburban home. She later told a teacher she was afraid to go back to the house, police will allege. One one day in November 2021, the child had been placed in a 44-minute time-out period and had then told the couple, referred to before the court as SD and JS, that she 'hated them'. Attending the hearing was a large group of detectives from Strike Force Rosann, which is investigating the disappearance of William Tyrrell, including the task force commander Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw. The court was told the foster mother had been 'attempting to intervene in the (alleged) victim's problematic behaviour'. She warned the girl that if she were to defecate on the floor she would rub her face in it, it is alleged. Police will allege that when the child screamed out in pain, the female foster carer 'then forced the child to sit on the floor for an extended period of time before kicking the (alleged) victim and causing her pain and bruising. 'The (alleged) victim is reported to have tried to get up a number of times but (SD) forced her to sit down.' A psychological report after the event alleges the child was 'pleading' with SD to stop while the two defendants allegedly subjected her to a 15-minute 'tirade of verbal abuse'. William Tyrrell (above) disappeared aged three in September 2014 in the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall and no trace of the toddler has ever been found However lawyers for the accused lodged an objection at the beginning of the five-day hearing to at least one psychological expert, Dr Banks. The alleged victim spoke to her schoolteacher and 'expressed being afraid to return home'. SD and her husband JS were charged with common assault of the girl in late 2021, as police embarked on a new search of bushland near the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall for the remains of William Tyrrell. They have also entered guilty pleas to charges of using a dummy bidder to increase the sale price of their former 'forever home' for missing William on Sydney's North Shore at an auction in 2020. The foster father faced court alongside his wife, charged with the alleged assault and stalking or intimidating of a child The foster mother (above in Kendall after William vanished) is appearing in Parramatta Local Court on charges of assaulting and stalking a child The charges were downgraded to regulatory offences under the Property and Stock Agents Act and the pair will be sentenced this week and fined. William disappeared aged three in September 2014 in the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall and no trace of the toddler has ever been found. No-one has ever been charged over his disappearance. A new search of bushland within 700m of the Kendall house where William was last seen was conducted in late 2021, but no items of significance have been identified. Pharmacists and their allies have stormed out of Parliament and heckled the government as 'liars' during chaotic scenes to kick off the new sitting week. Health Minister Mark Butler was spruiking the government's cheaper medicine policy in the House of Representatives Question Time on Monday when he drew the ire of dozens of protesters - all dressed in white - in the viewing gallery. Seconds after Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley accused the government of 'ripping out thousands of dollars from community pharmacy', all the white coats rose to their feet in unison and stormed out of the chamber. The group booed and jeered at the government, with some lifting their middle finger in the air while others gave a 'thumbs down' sign. Calls of 'liar' echoed through the chamber from the protesters, as Speaker Milton Dick tried in vain to get the House in order. The protesters were joined by the Opposition who also began shouting at the government, pointing fingers and directing attention up to the gallery The protesters were joined by the Opposition who also began shouting at the government, pointing fingers and directing attention up to the gallery. It was the second outburst from the gallery and prompted swift action from security guards, who helped to direct protesters out of the viewing area and proceeded to stand in the stairway. Leader of the House Tony Burke later claimed parliamentary staff had been 'subjected to verbal abuse by members of the public galleries' - a situation which will now be reviewed. Mr Dick said: 'I warned those in the gallery early in Question Time today that they were not to participate and were not to interject during Question Time. 'As a result of their behaviour, they have left the chamber. I want to say this going forward there will be no interjections from the gallery. 'For the rest of this week and for the rest of the time that I'm Speaker that will not happen again.' These protesters had earlier gathered out the front of Parliament House to protest the government's new prescription dispensing policy The policy will see patients get PBS prescriptions for 60 days for the same price as their current 30-day scripts, a move pharmacists fear will force them to let staff go and even shut up shop These protesters had earlier gathered out the front of Parliament House to protest the government's new prescription dispensing policy. The policy will see patients get PBS prescriptions for 60 days for the same price as their current 30-day scripts, a move pharmacists fear will force them to let staff go and even shut up shop. But it is expected to benefit four million Australians living with chronic health conditions. Mr Butler said the program would deliver much needed cost relief for people to get the care they need. 'People with a Medicare card buying just one of these medicines will save up to $180 every year. Concession card holders will save $43.80 a year for each eligible medicine,' he said. The group booed and jeered at the government, with some lifting their middle finger in the air while others gave a 'thumbs down' sign The Pharmacy Guild has consistently opposed the dispensing framework, claiming that it will force local pharmacies in regional areas to close down. Earlier, Nationals Leader David Littleproud had met with these protesters, thanking them for being 'the heroes of the pandemic'. He said: 'The men and women who stayed our communities and now are being discarded by this government because it's politically expedient and saves them money. 'What sort of government does that to the health professionals that got us through one of the biggest challenges this country has ever faced since the Second World War. But for The Nationals, let me say this is deeply personal.' Mr Littleproud is concerned about the viability of up to 400 pharmacies which are the 'last line of primary healthcare defence' in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia. The Pharmacy Guild - which strongly opposes the policy - issued a statement immediately after the chaos distancing itself from the protesters. 'The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is not and has never been involved with the organisation of events in Canberra today,' the statement read. A NASA scientist has revealed the space agency has discussed what they should do if the James Webb telescope finds evidence of aliens. Dr Michelle Thaller, NASA's assistant director of science communication, said they were open to the possibility the powerful telescope may discover new forms of life. The telescope, launched on Christmas Day in 2021, was sent by NASA to 'solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it,' the agency said. Thaller told a gathering in New York City that those mysteries could include alien life, The US Sun reported. Dr Michelle Thaller, a NASA scientist, believes it is only a matter of time until alien life is found The James Webb telescope was launched on Christmas Day in 2021 'We actually work with SETI - the search for extraterrestrial intelligence,' said Thaller. 'There are extra scientists that are searching the sky for signs of alien civilizations. 'We've had conferences about what happens if the James Webb Space Telescope observes an atmosphere of a planet around another star and we see things that don't look natural.' She said suspicious signs could be pollution coming from a planet, and said that she felt it was only a matter of time before alien life was detected - perhaps microbial life on Venus, Mars, or Saturn's largest moon, Titan. She told the gathering that the $10 billion telescope, which provides detailed new images every day, was giving a remarkable array of data. 'The Webb Telescope has the ability to actually detect chemicals, gases that are in planets around other stars,' she said. 'We've done this already with Webb but all the planets have been very different from Earth. I'm hoping this year maybe that we find one that's very similar to Earth.' Last month the Department of Defense unveiled a new website that will provide official declassified information on UFOs - about a month after a prominent UFO whistleblower delivered bombshell testimony before Congress. Still under construction, the web page will offer pictures and videos for the public to easily peruse once completed, with several already online just hours after its release. Its existence was announced during a briefing from Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, weeks after former intelligence official David Grusch claimed the Pentagon is covering up evidence related to extraterrestrials. Other information the will soon be available, the general said, includes reports and frequently asked questions about unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), as well as links to reports, transcripts, and other resources that's been declassified. Federal officials said the release shows how 'committed' the Defense Department is to 'transparency with the American people' about their work on UAPs - the government's term for UFOs. The Department of Defense has unveiled a new website that will provide official declassified information on UFOs. A video from the site showing an unidentified flying pbject (circled) at an undisclosed location in South Asia in January of this year is seen here Its release comes come roughly a month after David Grusch claimed the Pentagon is covering up evidence related to extraterrestrials, in a bombshell testimony before Congress 'This website will serve as a one-stop shop for all publicly available information related to the Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and UAP,' the release reads, Defense officials said the 'AARO will regularly update the website with its most recent activities and findings as new information is cleared for public release.' The new site can be accessed via the domain aaro.mil, the department added - where users will be able to also find links to other available government aircraft, balloon, and satellite tracking sites. The new site can be accessed via the domain aaro.mil - where users will be able to also find links to other available government aircraft, balloon, and satellite tracking sites Its release comes as the government has been forced to take the presence of unknown flying objects more seriously in recent months, especially after Grusch in July testified under oath that the Pentagon had firsthand encounters or knowledge about secret government programs involving technology that is 'non-human.' 'My testimony is based on information I've been given by individuals with a long-standing track record of legitimacy... whom have shared compelling evidence in the form of photography, official documentation and classified oral testimony to myself and many various colleagues,' Grusch said, adding that he was driven to share by a 'commitment to truth and transparency.' 'I am asking Congress to hold our government to this standard and thoroughly investigate these claims,' he told lawmakers at the time. 'But as I stand here under oath now, I am speaking to the facts as I have been told them.' He told the committee that he and more than 30 aircrew members and veterans have experienced UAPs, unidentified aerial phenomena, along with members of Congress who have confided in him. He also claimed the government currently has in their possession, 'intact and partially intact' extraterrestrial vehicles, though provided no evidence to support that or any of his other assertions. Still under construction, the web page will offer pictures and videos for the public to easily peruse through once completed, with several like this one from the Navy in 2021 already online just hours after its release This July 2022 clip was taken by an MQ-9 at an unspecified location in the Middle East, and while AARO assesses the object in the clip is not exhibiting anomalous behavior, the object, seen slightly below and to the left from the UAV's crosshairs, remains unidentified In a caption for the South Asia clip, officials said that the object on the right likely is a commercial jet, and 'the trailing cavitation is a sensor artifact resultant of video compression' Suggesting the American people for nearly a century have been left in the dark, he claimed the first recovery of a UFO was in Magenta, Italy, in 1933. He said Mussolini's Italian government held it until 1944 through 1945 when Pope Pius XII tipped America off about it. When asked if he firmly believes the government has possession of UAPs, Grusch responded, 'absolutely.' He said that is based on interviews with at least 40 witnesses. Asked where the craft are, he said: 'I know the exact locations and those locations were provided to the inspector general ... I actually had the people with the firsthand knowledge provide a protected disclosure to the Inspector General.' He further claimed he has faced brutal retaliation after coming forward about his firsthand accounts of UFOs. 'I do have knowledge of active planned reprisal activity against myself and other colleagues,' Grusch said. 'There were certain colleagues of mine that were brutally administratively attacked. It makes me very upset as a leader to see that happen to other co-workers and superiors of mine in the last three years.' Grusch claimed the US had records of an alien spacecraft crash in Northern Italy in 1933, after he said it was secreted away by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Pictured is a handwritten memo claiming to describe the crash An artist's impression of the alleged 1933 UFO crash outside Magenta in northern Italy shows a craft shaped like a saucer Ryan Graves - a former F-18 pilot in the Red Rippers- told the committee last month that he and more than 30 aircrew members and veterans have experienced UAPs, unidentified aerial phenomena, along with members of Congress who have confided in him Retired Navy Cmdr. Fravor, meanwhile, recalled his experience seeing what he described as a 'Tic Tac-looking object' while on a flight in 2004, during a routine mission with aircraft carrier USS Nimitz off the California coast. He said he told superiors but it was never investigated He was among three military whistleblowers who testified under oath in July that they had firsthand encounters or knowledge about secret government programs involving technology that is 'non-human.' His remarks, however, were condemned, by the head of the Pentagon's UFO office, Sean Kirkpatrick, who slammed Grusch's claims about alleged secret programs that retrieve crashed UFOs and reverse engineer the technology as 'insulting'. Grusch alluded to both programs in his statements, which were there bolstered by testimonies Navy Commander and veteran fighter pilot David Fravor and Ryan Graves, also a former pilot. Graves said, as an F-18 pilot in the Red Rippers, their squadron was 'split by UAP' during a training mission near Virginia Beach in 2014. He described the object as 'dark gray or black inside a transparent sphere.' It was about 15 feet in diameter and came within 50 feet of the lead aircraft. Retired Navy Cmdr. Fravor, meanwhile recalled his experience seeing what he described as a 'Tic Tac-looking object' while on a flight back in 2004, during a routine training mission with the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz off the California coast. The object was 'far superior to anything we had at the time, have today or are looking to develop in the next 10-plus years,' Fravor said in his statement. When asked whether the U.S. has been concealing evidence of non-human aircraft. The commander of the F/A-18F squadron on the USS Nimitz said he spotted the object and later told his superiors, but that there was never any official investigation When asked if any reporting took place after the incident, Fravor said there was just a standard debrief, but no more. All three men were sworn in and made their assertions under oath, with Grusch openly testifying that he knows colleagues who were injured while reverse-engineering UFO tech. He further accused the government of 'absolutely' hording UFO tech and 'biologics' of 'non-human origins' since the 30s, and claimed to known the exact locations where they're being held. He added that he would be willing provide specifics in a classified setting. The testimonies the way for six members of Congress - Reps. Tim Burchett, (R-Tenn.), Jared Moskowitz, (D-Fla.), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) and Andy Ogles (R-Tenn) - to pen a letter to Inspector General Thomas Monheim this past week demanding details about alleged secret programs. Within six days, the DoD unveiled its new website, which, while unfinished, already has several videos showing UFO-involved cases over the years, with real-time UAP reporting soon to come. The site can be accessed here. Families are soaking up the heatwave at UK beaches on the final day before children return to schools as temperatures are set to hit 29C today. After a somewhat gloomy summer, the start of autumn is bringing brighter days, with the mercury forecast to hit highs of 32C by the middle of the week. Photos show Britons enjoying the sun at popular seaside spots, lakes and parks around the country on Monday. The Met Office says a jet stream which has been bringing largely unsettled spells of weather to the UK is continuing to shift north, allowing higher pressure to build widely across the UK. It also explains a second reason for the heatwave: the former tropical cyclone Franklin continuing to move into the north Atlantic, amplifying the build-up of high pressure. Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Chris Bulmer, said 'fine and settled conditions will develop and along with this we will see a rise in temperature across most parts of the UK next week'. Families play on the beach at New Brighton as temperatures are set to soar today Revellers are flocking to beaches with their children as the mini heatwave is in full flow After a somewhat gloomy summer, the start of autumn is making up for it - pictured today Members of the public relax during hot and sunny weather by Tower Hill in central London today A weather map for today. Temperatures are rising - and will continue to increase this week He added: 'Many places can expect to see maximum temperatures rise to 25C or above for several days, which would bring some locations into the realm of heatwave conditions. READ MORE: Sun-seeking Britons pack out Bournemouth beach as they enjoy sunshine and blue skies before 32C HEATWAVE Advertisement 'Although the highest temperatures are likely to be in the south and east of England, these areas also have higher temperature thresholds for heatwave conditions to be declared. 'So, while some areas may just miss out on the actual definition, regardless of thresholds, many areas will enjoy a fine period of weather with plenty of sunshine and temperatures are likely to be the highest for many since June or early July. Met Office senior operational meteorologist Amy Bokota added: 'Most places are going to see wall-to-wall sunshine by the middle of the week, which is something we haven't seen for much of the summer. 'It's going to feel warmer than we would expect for the start of autumn, particularly in London and the South East, where the heatwave threshold could be met. 'But it will also feel humid and muggy in some areas, with temperatures in parts of the country staying above 20C (68F) overnight, making for uncomfortable sleeping conditions.' A paddle boarder enjoying the sunshine in Derwent Water, Keswick, Cumbria A dog cools off in the autumn sunshine in Derwent Water, Keswick, on Monday A woman walks her dogs along the beach at New Brighton today Warm and sunny weather extended across the country over the weekend with beachgoers flocking to seaside spots from Bournemouth in the south of England to resorts in the north. Seaburn Beach in Sunderland was packed with families rounding off the school holidays in the sunshine. Surfers and swimmers took to the North Sea as the balmy temperatures, while others brought buckets and spades to play on the beach. Shocking footage has captured the moment an Australian skateboarder tripped over and slammed into the pavement after hitching a ride behind a speeding tram. The young skater was caught holding onto the wiper at the back of the light rail tram on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Passengers on the tram and locals walking past were left in a state of disbelief as they filmed the dangerous stunt. Wearing a backwards cap, black t-shirt and baggy shorts, the young man is seen grabbing the wiper while the tram was stationary at the station in Southport. The young skater was filmed by passengers and people outside the carriage, holding onto the window wiper at the back of a G:link light rail tram on the Gold Coast Video shot from inside the tram shows the youth landing heavily then rolling, before appearing to get up quickly to retrieve his board He then crouched in preparation as the tram took off and quickly gathered speed. The city's Bombardier Flexity 2 trams can travel at up to 70km/h, though the average speed is 23km/h, making them them the fastest in the country. When the skater let go of the tram and began to film himself on his phone camera, his deck wobbled and he suddenly crashed. Video shot from inside the tram shows the youth landing heavily on the pavement and then rolling, before appearing to get up quickly to retrieve his board. The lucky skater appears uninjured as he begins to walk in the opposite direction along the tracks. The footage comes just months after a teenage girl was killed after becoming trapped under a tram in Sydney earlier this year. Sydney's trams have the same top speed as trams on the Gold Coast, but recent statistics showed they usually go far slower in the inner city, at just 11km an hour. Melbourne trams have a top speed of up to 80km/h but in reality are as slow as Sydney's. The at-times slow speeds of trams are at odds with how dangerous they can be. Kyra Dulguime, 16, was killed shortly after falling into a gap between two light rail carriages when it stopped at Chinatown, Sydney, then took off before she could recover, in May. Kyra Dulguime, 16, was killed shortly after falling into a gap between two light rail carriages at the George Street platform in the city's CBD at midnight in May 2023 Witnesses told Daily Mail Australia the girl had tried to cross the tracks between two carriages while the tram was stopped at a red light at Haymarket. When the tram suddenly started moving, she became trapped under one of the carriages and was dragged up the road before the driver came to a stop. The tragedy has thrown a spotlight on safety issues surrounding the light rail - with video emerging showing a thrillseeker joyriding on the connection between the light rail late last year. It comes amongst a backdrop of historic warnings from unions that the light rail could be deadly - given it runs down George St, one of Australia's most congested pedestrian thoroughfares. Police have wasted thousands of hours appealing against low-traffic neighbourhood fines, with the process taking up more than 12,000 hours of officers' time in London. Since 2020, the Metropolitan Police has received more than 54,000 penalty charge notices, 56 per cent of which were for LTN-related offences. Officers have the right to travel through LTN areas when responding to an emergency, but unmarked police cars frequently get tickets from the local council. The process of appealing a ticket can take an average of 25 minutes, which has led to 12,668 hours - equivalent to 1,600 days - of police time being wasted over the past three years, according to a Freedom of Information request. One police source said there was a 'trust issue', with forces not wanting to share the number plates of unmarked police cars with councils. Officers are personally liable for LTN fines if they cannot prove they were on duty and acting in an emergency as part of the appeals process 'We don't want people knowing there are undercover officers doing police work,' they told The Times. Since LTNs were introduced in 2020, Lambeth council has issued 2,635 fines to the police. The Met has successfully appealed against 1,000 of these, but more than 1,600 weren't cancelled. Officers are personally liable for the fines if they cannot prove they were on duty and acting in an emergency as part of the appeals process. This means that in Lambeth - which has the highest crime rate in London - police officers have had to absorb 200,000 in fines for driving through LTNs. Some residents are concerned the fines were affecting policing in the borough. One said routine unmarked police car surveillance in Railton area of Lambeth had been reduced. In a letter to a resident, Labour MP Helen Hayes denied LTNs were deterring police from patrolling. But a police source said: 'We've been told for years that paperwork was going to end and we'd be out on the streets permanently. But we're still doing more paperwork than ever. It wastes a lot of our time.' They added that the process should be simplified, with senior officers sending the council a list of tickets issued to unmarked police cars and that being the end of it. Some London councils have seen a reduction in the number of LTN tickets issued. Police have wasted thousands of hours appealing against low-traffic neighbourhood fines, with the process taking up more than 12,000 hours of officers' time in London Ten LTNs were put in place in Hackney. In 2020, it issued 2,000 tickets to the police, but after adding exemptions for unmarked police cars this dropped to 310 in 2021 and just 52 in the first six months of this year. There are calls for Hackney council's approach to be adopted on a wider scale, but due to the 'trust issues' this is proving difficult. Rezina Chowdhury, deputy leader of Lambeth council, said: 'Emergency vehicles are exempt from enforcement and no fines are issued to unmarked vehicles where the details have been shared with us. 'However, its important that emergency vehicles follow the rules of the road when not responding to an emergency to reduce their danger to other road users.' An FOI to Northumbria Police revealed officers were concerned about the introduction of LTNs in Newcastle. An internal document stated it would 'adversely impact' the forces' ability to provide effective policing in the area due to the increase on vehicle response times and fuel consumption because of the longer distances. Met Police, Northumbria Police, Hackney council and Lambeth council have been contacted for comment. A judge excoriated tragic Amber Gibson's depraved brother who was today jailed for life for her sickening murder, calling him 'truly evil'. Connor Gibson, 21, attacked his sister Amber Gibson, 16, removing her clothes, sexually assaulting with the intention of raping her, inflicting blunt force trauma to her head and body, and strangling her in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire in November 2021. He was handed a life sentence yesterday and ordered to spend a minimum of 22 years behind bars before he can be considered for parole. Passing sentence, Lord Mulholland told him: 'You beat her about the head breaking her nose, removed her clothing and sexually assaulted her with intent to rape then manually strangled her. 'The last person she saw was you, her brother, strangling the life out of her. What you did was truly evil.' Amber was reported missing on the evening of November 26 and her body was discovered two days later. On the night she disappeared, staff at the Hillhouse Children's Unit in Hamilton, where she was living, tried to discourage her from going out to meet her brother because workers were concerned about his behaviour. CCTV footage from that night showed them chatting and appearing to be in good spirits as they made their way through the town. Amber sent a Snapchat picture of the two of them to friends. They were last seen just before 10pm. Neither Amber nor Gibson appeared again on CCTV until he re-emerged - alone - more than an hour-and-a half-later. He returned home just before midnight and phoned Hillhouse, saying Amber had stormed off after an argument and he wanted to make sure she'd got home safely. Gibson was arrested on December 1. The day before his arrest, he posted a chilling tribute to the sister he had murdered, writing on Facebook: 'Amber, you will fly high for the rest of time. 'We will all miss you. Especially me. I love you ginger midget. GBFN (goodbye for now) X.' Stephen Corrigan, 45, who was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and breach of the peace by intimately touching and concealing Amber's body after discovering her at some point in the following two days, instead of contacting the emergency services, was jailed for nine years at the same court. Amber Gibson's body was discovered in Cadzow Glen in Hamilton on November 28 at 10.10am Connor Gibson will be sentenced at the High Court in Livingston on Monday Foster parents Craig (back right) and Carol Niven (front left) said Amber (front right) was the 'most giving, caring, loving supportive and admirable person' who had 'the most amazing outlook on life'. Amber was murdered by her brother Connor Gibson (back left) Following Gibson's conviction, judge Lord Mulholland described the crime, which happened in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, on November 26 2021 as 'depraved'. During the trial, the court heard how evidence from forensic pathologists showed Amber had died as a result of compression of the neck. When Gibson was convicted, the former foster family of both siblings said in a statement that Amber was 'the most giving, loving, supportive and admirable person', and their life will 'never be the same again'. The family said: 'She kept us on our toes and had the most amazing outlook on life consider the suffering she had experienced.' The statement continued: 'When they arrived at our home - Amber aged three and Connor aged five - Connor stated: 'We are safe now'. 'They were until he took her safety away.' Connor Gibson walking alone on a bridge in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire at 11.42pm on November 26, 2021 Connor and Amber are pictured together in CCTV the night she was killed. The pair were seen walking on a street in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire at 9.55pm Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday November 26 and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen at about 10.10am on November 28 Former school friends of Connor Gibson described him as a loner who was prone to sudden fits of rage. 'He would talk about killing other pupils which, to be fair, I saw as an over-exaggeration, but looking back on it now maybe the stuff he said wasn't exaggeration at all,' one classmate said. A former female pupil described him as a 'disgusting human' who 'threatened to rip' her baby from her while she was pregnant. READ MORE: Man who raped a teenager five months before she was sexually assaulted and murdered by her brother is jailed for ten-and-a-half years Advertisement At the time of Amber's murder, her brother was a resident at Hamilton's Blue Triangle project, a hostel for homeless youngsters in Lanarkshire, while she was living at the Hillhouse unit. Angel McKean, 19, a friend of Amber's there, said the siblings' relationship was turbulent. But she said when she last spoke to Amber, hours before she was killed, she had been looking forward to seeing her brother. Care home manager Ian Currie, 55, said Connor Gibson called the Hillhouse unit to speak to his sister on the day she was killed. A short time later, Amber left with him, despite Mr Currie's attempts to discourage her from doing so. She was never seen alive again. By the time she was murdered, Amber had spent almost all her life in the care system. And last month a man who raped her five months before her big brother lured his sister to a secluded woodland to kill her, was jailed for more than a decade - as a judge branded his actions 'appalling'. It was while in the care of the state that Amber was raped by 20-year-old Jamie Starrs, who attacked her in June 2021 after being released on bail for another sex attack. Amber was raped by 20-year-old Jamie Starrs, (pictured) who attacked her in June 2021 after being released on bail for another sex attack Starrs had violated the teenager while she was asleep or unconscious at a property in Bothwell, South Lanarkshire. Starrs denied any wrongdoing and went on trial at the High Court in Lanark. However, Jurors took two hours to convict him of raping Amber and also raping a second teenager just two weeks earlier. Starrs was jailed for 10-and-a-half years and two years of supervision upon release. Sentencing the double rapist, Judge Thomas Welsh said: 'You have been convicted of appalling crimes against two innocent teenage girls and you have been assessed as being of very high risk of sexual violence on release.' Staff at US bank Citi who do not come into the office at least three days a week could have their bonuses docked amid a crackdown on working from home culture. Bosses are now monitoring use of access passes to establish how often its 12,500 UK employees are at their desks across its offices in London, Edinburgh and Belfast. Staff who do not turn up at least three days each week could now face financial penalties, with the company saying it has 'firm expectations for office attendance'. Employees have been formally told they are being monitored and informed that 'one swipe, per person, per location will be captured', according to Bloomberg. It comes as other banks such as Lloyds and HSBC are also increasing their efforts to get staff back in the office, nearly 18 months after the final Covid restrictions ended. Citi is among the banks with a UK headquarters in London's Canary Wharf (pictured in June) The area around Canary Wharf Underground station is quiet at 8am on Friday, June 28 this year Lloyds Banking Group is also now monitoring swipe cards of its 40,000 staff who would normally work in the office, and wants them in for at least two days a week. What are major banks doing on WFH culture? Citi : Its 12,500 UK staff must come into office at least three days a week : Its 12,500 UK staff must come into office at least three days a week Lloyds Banking Group : Wants staff in office for at least two days a week : Wants staff in office for at least two days a week HSBC UK : 18,500 UK staff are told to work in office for three days a week : 18,500 UK staff are told to work in office for three days a week Goldman Sachs : 6,000 London staff must be in office five days a week : 6,000 London staff must be in office five days a week JP Morgan : All senior directors must now be in the office every day Advertisement And the 18,500 UK staff of HSBC UK the domestic subsidiary of the global lender - have been ordered to work from offices for three days a week from next month. Investment management firm BlackRock has also told its 3,700 London-based staff, as well as others globally, to reduce their working from home days from two to one, reported the Sunday Times. Goldman Sachs has demanded that its 6,000 London staff return five days a week, while all senior directors at JP Morgan are also now not allowed to work from home. The increase in efforts to bring staff back in for more days each week comes as the Daily Mail revealed hundreds of council staff are 'working from the beach' with a ten-fold increase in the number allowed to log in from abroad. Town hall bosses have granted more than 1,350 requests to work from overseas over the past three years, figures show. The number jumped from 73 approvals in 2020/21, the year the Covid-19 pandemic was at its height, to 440 in 2021/22. It then surged to more than 700 last year as the remote-working revolution took hold. One local authority granted nearly 300 requests over the three-year period. Low footfall around Canary Wharf Underground station at 8am on Friday, June 28 this year An empty Canary Wharf Tube station in March 2020, the day after the first lockdown began Figures from accountancy firm RSM UK in July showed that 33 per cent of businesses are allowing employees to work remotely outside the UK. The phenomenon has been branded 'working from the beach'. It comes as the private sector shifts away from working from home, with the likes of HSBC banks and even Zoom saying staff should be in the office more often. Meanwhile Downing Street is poised to issue new guidance to all Whitehall departments in a bid to end the culture of 'Tuesday to Thursday' working. Another option being looked at is requiring civil servants to seek permission to work from home before being able to do so. Longer term, ministers are also considering changing civil service contracts for new recruits and including a clause which states that they are obliged to go to the office a certain number of days. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said that going into the office should be the 'default' option and that remote working risks damaging creativity. EXCLUSIVE The widow of disgraced stockbroker Rene Rivkin was farewelled at a private funeral in Sydney's suburbs on Monday afternoon. Gayle Rivkin died suddenly two weeks ago - 18 years after her husband took his own life aged 60. The mother-of-five was in her early 70s. Sombre friends and family gathered at Sydney's Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park in Matraville to say their final farewell at a service which was not announced publicly. About 100 mourners including Rene Rivkin's onetime business associate and former Labor senator Graham Richardson packed the South Chapel with many carrying a single tangerine rose. Tears flowed as Gayle and Rene's only daughter Tara read a goodbye tribute to her mum, describing her recent grief 'as all consuming'. 'Every second of every day your absence feels like a sharp pain going through me,' she began. Gayle Rivkin suddenly died in her early 70s - 18-years after her husband took his own life Heartfelt exchanges flowed outside the chapel 'I don't know how I will accept this new reality we're living in and how I'll live the rest of my life without you in it.' Tara spoke of an idyllic childhood and close relationships with her four older brothers Damien, Jordan and twins Dion and Shannon. 'I don't know of a closer family and that is completely resolved by mum and dad - what a wonderful legacy to leave.' she said. Jordan Rivkin also made a touching tribute to his mother and reflected on her ongoing battle with depression. 'Perhaps the most insidious aspect of mum's depression was her loneliness, she was lonely in the company of others,' 'It must be said that my mum wasn't alone, you need only to look around and my siblings and I are incredibly touched' he said. Former senator Graham Richardson was amongst the mourners at the funeral of Gayle Rivkin Hundreds of mourners packed the South Chapel at Sydney's Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park in Matraville Gayle's friend of more than 50 years, Beryl Sundin, delivered a heartfelt eulogy in which she said she would always remember a kind, loyal, loving woman with a smile on her face. 'We are going to miss her so much and now need to find a way to move on,' she said. The service was led by family friend, filmmaker Peter Scarf, who regaled mourners with tales from the Rivkin household. 'Gayle and Rene shared much of their lives together creating a closely-knit and truly inseparable family unit - I have never seen a bond quite like the one Gayle created.' 'She loved her children deeply. She loved Rene deeply, she was completely devoted to them all.' Mr Scarf said. 'The conversations would be endlessly entertaining - it was Rene and Gayle - that was it and it was a full, colorful and joyful life.' The funeral took place just metres from where Rene and his younger brother Leonard's memorial plaques lie. Leonard was just 31 in 1978 when he drowned in Bali. 'I don't know of a closer family and that is completely resolved by mum and dad - what a wonderful legacy to leave' Tara Rivkin said in a touching tribute to her mum 'It must be said that my mum wasn't alone, you need only to look around and my siblings and I are incredibly touched,' Jordon Rivkin said in a heartfelt eulogy READ MORE: Kyle Sandilands to play the lead role in Rene Rivkin biopic? Advertisement Mourners heard the Bette Midler song, Wind Beneath My Wings play during the photo slideshow to celebrate the ebullient woman's love of dancing. Gayle had stood by her husband during his high-profile fall from grace and leaves behind five children, two of whom followed their father into the family business. Eldest son Damien confirmed his mother's death to Daily Mail Australia on August 25. 'We are devastated at the loss of our mother Gayle Rivkin,' he said. 'She was a loving and devoted mother and grandmother. 'The family requests privacy at this time and will not be providing further statements.' Rene was the youngest-ever member of the Sydney Stock Exchange and in 1985 was named Business Review Weekly magazine's Stockbroker of the Year. He gained nationwide fame beyond financial circles after establishing the Rivkin Report, a newsletter providing stock tips and other investment advice, and was often photographed chomping on a cigar. Rivkin was a household name through the 1990s, making regular media appearances and mixing with leading political and business figures, before a spectacular downfall. Fame did not bring out the best side of Rivkin, whose public lifestyle seemed to revolve around flash cars, fast boats and a coterie of hangers-on, many of them handsome young men and models. 'Some of his friendships in the '90s were completely different from his friendships in the '80s,' Gayle Rivkin once said. 'He discovered a bunch of playmates.' Rivkin was first embroiled in a major controversy after a printing plant called Offset Alpine, of which Rivkin was chairman and chief investor, was destroyed by fire in 1993, resulting in a $53million insurance payout. In April 2003, Rivkin was found guilty of insider trading by purchasing Qantas shares based on market-sensitive information the carrier was to merge with Impulse Airlines. Rivkin was sentenced to nine months' periodic detention, but collapsed in his cell after just one day. He underwent brain surgery and resumed his sentence in 2004. After his first attempt at suicide Rivkin moved from the family's Point Piper resident to his mother's Darling Point home where in May 2005 he took his own life. Rivkin's funeral was attended by about 300 mourners including Richardson, radio star Alan Jones, fashion designer Peter Morrissey and convicted drug trafficker Simon Main. Son Dion, who is now director of dealing at the Rivkin Report, told mourners at Eastern Suburbs Crematorium: 'I'm not sad for him because he's finally found peace.' Shannon Rivkin is chairman and chief investment officer at Rivkin Private Wealth, Damien and Jordan are clinical psychologists and sister Tara is an English teacher. LIFELINE: 13 11 14 Goths on the Beach / Courtesy of Goths on the Beach By Ali Safavi Combining 1980s new wave and surf rock with a tongue-in-cheek theatrical element, Goths on the Beach (GotB) is an exciting new band on the local scene. The Busan band has been making sad, gothy waves since forming last October. In that short time the group has already released an album, garnered international radio play (featured on BBC Stereo Underground, A1M Records Indie Rocks, Rock Rage Radio and Sounds from the Korean Underground , among other shows) and done a number of shows and festivals around the southern region of the Korean Peninsula, gaining a loyal fan base with their atypical stage performances and catchy songs. In a world that can be dominated by generic, plodding guitar bands, GotB is a last breath of fresh salt-sea air. The band's name in fact led to the style of music played by GotB. After a day on the beach in Busan, the band's two founders who introduced themselves as Kimberly Grave Roberts and Isaac Guillotine noticed there were a lot of goths on the beach. "We left Haeundae about an hour after thinking it up and started writing music. It was too good of a name to not make a band," Isaac told The Korea Times. With this simple premise GotB creates songs and live performances that mix two contrasting ideas. Goth subculture on the one hand that can stereotypically be dark, serious, brooding and morbid, and on the other hand beach life that comes with a typically sunnier view of the world. "You'd think it'd be a challenge blending goth and surf rock, but it comes naturally for us," Isaac said. "Yeah it's definitely fun," Kim added. "People think goths are all doom and gloom, but actually they're not." Kim and Isaac, the leading couple of the band, share singing duties and write most but not all of the music. Isaac believes that mixing their relationship with the band helps with songwriting. "It probably makes it easier because we're around each other so often so we use a lot of real-life occurrences for material," he said. The band also includes Claire 'McFearlan' on bass, Oscar 'Terrorbeigi' on guitar and Jarrod 'Beastman' on Drums. The band was originally planned to be just Kim and Isaac on stage dancing to backing tracks, but it quickly grew into a full band, initially with just bass and drums and then guitar after the first few gigs. "We did an open mic with just the two of us...in Vietnam," he said. "People liked it but, for me, it felt lacking. Ideally we'd like to have every citizen of Busan in the band in some capacity." Goths on the Beach / Courtesy of Goths on the Beach While the band has grown, becoming a mix of Canadians, Brits, and Aussies, the performance element of GotB has remained integral to their style. There is an almost theatrical core to their live shows. A typical live band will play their songs and maybe chat to the audience a little and that's it, whereas a GotB set is a full-on experience with dance moves, stories and even a bit of a comedic element, tying in with Isaac's other life running Busan's monthly comedy stand-up open mic event the Ha-Ha Hole. Rather than these elements being an afterthought, it is a conscious choice on the part of the band. "Choreography is a big part of our songwriting process. I've watched a ridiculous amount of K-/J-pop videos and that definitely has an influence on the dance moves." She added that her theater experience is limited to "once playing a tree in a play," Kim said. "Performing (in South Korea) has been great. We've always get good reactions from foreign crowds and Korean crowds have really been into it as well despite any language barriers." Comedy and music can be tricky bedfellows but GotB walks the right side of the line. With groups like Tenacious D or Flight Of The Conchords, comedy is the central element, and the music takes a backseat. However, GotB writes catchy songs with superb hooks that are dancy and energetic. The tongue-in-cheek combination of goth and beach cultures shows in songs such as "Bela Lugosi is Dead Serious about Surfing" and "Don't Hang (Ten) Yourself." The German language song "Du Liebst Da Surfing" (You Love Surfing) is a pastiche of the Rammstein song "Du Hast (Mich)" (You Hate (Me). Again the simple idea that led to the band's moniker has proved fruitful. "I think the concept is inherently comical, so whatever we do tends to crack people up," Isaac said. "Our main goal is to write killer tunes though." "So far we've ran with whatever we think is funny and have not gotten bored with it yet," Kim added. "Maybe ask us again in five years" The two-track ender to the GotB album "The Boat Party/The Boat Party Is Cancelled" plays out a conversation between Barbie and Ken, based on real events that happened to Kim and Isaac. This sing-along number usually ends a GotB set. "The songs truly encapsulate the duality of life. Ideally we'll be put on the 'Barbie 2' soundtrack as well as any future soundtracks for surf- or goth-related films," Isaac said, adding a final request to any filmmakers out there. "Please, filmmakers, put us in your soundtracks. We're really, really good." Goths on the Beach live in concert / Courtesy of Goths on the Beach Russia is said to have suffered fatalities and casualties in the Ukrainian strike This is the moment a Russian landing boat was reportedly destroyed by a Ukrainian drone amid intense new sea battles in the war in Ukraine. Footage reportedly shows a Ukrainian Bayraktar-TB2 kamikaze drone destroying a Russian KS-701 Tuna vessel in the northwestern Black Sea. Russia suffered fatalities and casualties in the strike, with a military helicopter airlifting the wounded, according to reports. It comes as a Ukrainian kamikaze drone struck an FSB security service building in the nuclear town of Kurchatov in the Kursk region in a separate attack, according to the Russian news outlet Baza. Baza claimed the wreckage of a shot-down drone hit the FSB building's roof. The extent of any damage was not clear. This is the moment a Russian landing boat was reportedly destroyed by a Ukrainian drone amid intense new sea battles in the war in Ukraine Footage reportedly shows a Bayraktar-TB2 kamikaze drone destroying a Russian KS-701 Tuna vessel in the northwestern Black Sea A landing boat with Russian marines was destroyed by Ukrainian Army's drone at a northwestern shore of the Black Sea Video shows the moment the suspected Ukrainian drone exploded on the roof of the FSB building in Kurchatov, which is the location of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant. Regional governor Roman Starovoyt said: 'An attack by a Ukrainian drone caused fire to a non-residential building in the city of Kurchatov. 'The fire was extinguished. No one was hurt.' Separately, a huge inferno was under way at a warehouse in the Moscow region. Flames spread to 13,000 square metres as more than 20 flights were delayed and eight more cancelled at major Moscow international airports due to kamikaze drones. Unconfirmed Russian reports said the warehouse contained 'paints and varnishes'. But Vladimir Putin's forces claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on Ukraine. Naval aircraft allegedly destroyed four US-supplied Willard Sea Force speedboats as they sought to land near Cape Tarkhankut on the coast of Russian-annexed Crimea. Ukraine has tried to stage several landings on the occupied territory, but disputes the Russian claim over the four boats. It comes as a Ukrainian kamikaze drone struck an FSB security service building The strike on the FSB was in the nuclear town of Kurchatov in the Kursk region Separately, a huge inferno was under way at a warehouse in the Moscow region Russia also claimed to have 'wiped out' more than 125 Ukrainian marines in the south Donetsk area. 'Over 125 Ukrainian servicemen, a combat armoured vehicle and two automobiles were destroyed,' said the Moscow ministry of defence. Meanwhile, a Russian general has admitted a shortfall in Russian mobilisation recruitment. At the weekend former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said some 280,000 had signed contracts with the defence ministry since the start of this year. Some were reservists and some volunteers. But Lt General Viktor Sobolev - now a Communist MP - said that the target was 400,000 - indicating a 120,000 shortfall in Kremlin plans. 'We need 400,000 in total,' he said. 'This is due to what our general staff has planned - the creation of new associations, formations and units. 'This number is determined so that there will not be any more mobilisations, for which we are not quite ready.' Activists who want the planet to survive without using gas or oil have invaded Westminster Bridge during rush hour to light flares and display a banner. Protesters Fossil Free London are calling for a stop of the further development of the Rosebank oil field. The stunt was timed to coincide with MPs' return to Parliament after their summer recess. Campaigner Joanna Warrington said: 'Rishi Sunak wants to give billions of pounds of public money to a giant oil company in exchange for the climate time bomb, which will do absolutely nothing to lower our energy bills. It's reckless and absurd. 'People want clean, cheap renewable energy, but the government is on autopilot, handing money to their oily chums. Yet again, they are prioritising fossil fuel industry profits over a future safe from climate breakdown. We need to stop Rosebank and drive oily money out of our politics.' Despite activist calls, the current Government of First Minister Humza Yousaf has so far not opposed the much larger Rosebank oil field in the North Sea. The protesters - whose identities are not known - are calling for a stop of the further development of the Rosebank oil field Asked if this is due to the substantial revenues generated by fossil fuels, Mr Gray said: 'We recognise that oil and gas is going to be with us for some time to come. 'But we want to see much more stringent climate compatibility checks to ensure oil and gas continues to be compatible with our net-zero objectives.' The minister added that 'unlimited extraction', which he claims would be the result of the 100 new oil and gas licences announced last month by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is not compatible with Scotland's climate objectives. But he added: 'Neither can we see the shutdown of the oil and gas sector prematurely, as appears to be being suggested by the Labour Party. 'We need to make sure that we have an accelerated just transition that involves those energy companies, their investment potential, but also their skilled workforce to make sure that we fully realise the opportunities both from an economic and a net-zero perspective from the renewables sector.' Surfers Against Sewage in Aberdeen took part in the Wave of Resistance protest in June also against Rosebank Asked if he supports Rosebank, Mr Gray said it is 'not a decision that I am going to have to take', given those issues are reserved to Westminster. Pressed on the matter, he added: 'I want to see much more stringent climate compatibility checkpoints for projects like Rosebank and others that are coming forward to ensure that those projects are consistent with our net-zero climate objectives. 'We haven't seen that from the UK Government.' The Scottish Government has consistently said it will work towards a 'just transition' away from oil and gas, but Mr Gray was unable to say when the revenue generated from renewables would match the 9.4 billion value to the Scottish purse of fossil fuels claiming Scottish ministers are being 'held back'. He added: 'We need to work with the UK Government to ensure they recognise the opportunity from a net-zero, but also from an economic, perspective, of continuing to invest in the renewables sector in the same way that they invest in the nuclear sector, which is huge.' Air pollution increased in Glasgow after the introduction of its low-emission zone (LEZ) in June, it has emerged. Levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) rose in the city centre after older cars and vans were banned from the zone, compared with the same period last year. SNP-led Glasgow City Council claimed on its website that 'harmful nitrogen dioxide is being recorded in our city centre at levels that do not meet the legal requirements'. But testing on Hope Street showed that in the past two years NO2 levels did not exceeded the illegal mark, and have in fact gone up since June when compared with last year. Levels were, on average, 31 micrograms per cubic metre in June, July and August last year but were 34 this year. The legal limit is 40. Thousands of drivers risk punishing fines if they travel into Glasgow city centre after the SNP ramped up its war on motorists Scotland's first low-emission zone (LEZ) bans older vehicles from the city's roads Yesterday an air quality expert told The Scottish Mail on Sunday: 'Buses are the main polluters, hence the reason levels remain more or less the same as before, and therefore you have to question the point of banning cars.' Scottish Tory deputy transport spokesman Graham Simpson said that if the figures were worse the LEZ scheme 'has to be seen as a failure'. Glasgow City Council said pollution levels were 'highly variable and dependent on a number of factors, including weather patterns'. In June the SNP introduced the LEZ to ramp up its war on motorists, and now thousands of drivers risk punishing fines if they travel into Glasgow city centre. Cars, vans, buses and lorries face fines of 60 if they fall foul of the strict environmental rules. Scotland's LEZ which bans older vehicles from the city's roads was given the green light despite a last-ditch court bid to stop it. It meant more than 730,000 vehicles registered in Scotland were not 'green' enough to enter the zone unpunished. Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are due to follow suit with their own LEZs in June next year. Glasgow Council claimed the drastic measures were necessary because air pollution in the city centre had long been above the legal requirement for 'green' environmental targets. But Steven Grant, the Unite union's representative for the city's cabbies, said the electrification of buses which the council said was responsible for 70 per cent of the limit-breaking emissions had brought pollution well below the legal threshold. He said at the time: 'This damaging and punitive plan is going to be devastating for our trade, without a shadow of a doubt. 'Frustrated taxi drivers are asking, "Why are we being punished when the air monitoring shows Glasgow is now below the legal threshold?" More than half of the city's 1,421 black cabs do not comply with LEZ requirements, so they will be forced off the road in the next year. Satellite images show the Tu-95 nuclear bombers with car tyres on the wings Russia has started covering its Tu-95 nuclear bombers with car tyres in a bizarre bid to protect them from Ukrainian drones. Satellite images show the Bear strike aircraft at Engels-2 Air Base in Saratov region with tyres spread out over the wings. The base was hit by Ukrainian drones in two strikes in December, after which Vladimir Putin was forced to move some Tu-95 strategic bombers to other air bases. The planes are a key part of his nuclear strike force, but have been used to inflict carnage on Ukraine with conventional weapons during the current war. 'While the reason for covering the wings and part of the upper fuselage in this way is not completely clear, the most likely theory is that the car tyres are used to protect the valuable bombers from attacks carried out with kamikaze drones,' said a report in The Aviationist website. Russia has started covering its Tu-95 nuclear bombers with car tyres in an apparent attempt to protect them from Ukrainian drones Tu-95 nuclear bombers such as this one are a key part of Vladimir Putin's nuclear strike force, but have been used to inflict carnage on Ukraine with conventional weapons The base was hit by Ukrainian drones in two strikes in December, after which Vladimir Putin was forced to move some Tu-95 strategic bombers to other air bases The aim may be to absorb the impact of drones or to protect fuel tanks on the hulking planes. The move comes after two recent alleged Ukrainian strikes on Russian war planes. In one, in Pskov, four Il-76 transporters were put out of action, with two aircraft beyond repair after being engulfed in flames. Separately, Kyiv claimed to have damaged four Su-30 fighter jets, one MiG-29 fighter jet, two Pantsir-S1 close-range air defence systems and a radar linked to a long-range S-300 surface-to-air missile system in a strike in Kursk with aerial drones made of cardboard. But experts question the effectiveness of the tyre strategy. The tyres do not fully cover the wings and body so Ukrainian drones could still inflict damage. 'The drone could be guided to detonate below the surface of the wing and still cause the total loss of the aircraft,' said the report. 'Last but not least, tires are flammable although they need a high temperature to burn. 'However, when you store plenty of tyres in the same place and conditions for combustion are present, they can become a hazard. Satellite images revealed Russian bombers at the airport were being armed with cruise missiles for a likely attack on Ukraine's energy network in November Engels-2 is home of the 121st & 184th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiments, respectively operating the Russian Aerospace Forces Tu-160M Blackjack and Tu-95M Bear strategic bombers (file image) 'When tyres catch fire they burn with intense heat and produce noxious smoke.' Engels-2 is home of the 121st & 184th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiments, respectively operating the Russian Aerospace Forces Tu-160M Blackjack and Tu-95M Bear strategic bombers. The base has been used for many of Moscow's air strikes with deadly Kh-101 cruise missiles. It is some 435 miles from the Ukrainian border. Up to eight Tu-95s and four Tu-160Ms have been spotted at Engels-2. On December 5 Ukraine hit the base, damaging two Tu-95s, while on 26 December there was a repeat attack causing the deaths of three Russian officers. The Tu-95s are the world's only propeller-powered nuclear bombers. They first flew some 70 years ago, but remain an integral part of the Russian nuclear armoury. A drunk British tourist was savagely attacked by two locals who claimed they were annoyed that he catcalled one of their girlfriends in Thailand's 'Sin City' Pattaya. Steven Lord, 35, visited a convenience store to buy a bag of ice for his beer but started arguing with two Thai men drinking alcohol at the front of the shop at 5.10am on Sunday morning. The 'heavily intoxicated' Brit reportedly began to pester them despite the shopkeeper's attempts to usher him away. The locals lost their temper when the holidaymaker allegedly catcalled one of the men's girlfriend, prompting them to lunge at him and beat him brutally on the pavement. Paramedics at the Sawang Boriboon Thammasat rescue team said they received a report about the injured tourist in the Bang Lamung District in the early hours of the morning. Mr Lord receives treatment after he was attacked in the street Steven Lord (pictured after he was beaten), 35, visited a convenience store to buy a bag of ice for his beer They found Lord bleeding heavily, with a swollen face, a broken front tooth, and cuts to his eyebrows and head. However, the rampaging Brit initially refused help and tried to attack the rescuers while screaming at them. They managed to calm him and administered first aid before rushing him to a hospital. Store owner Euaamporn Rattanamethakoson, 36, said: 'The British man came to buy ice, but I noticed he was very drunk. 'I saw him disturbing some men in front of my shop, but he wouldn't listen to me when I tried to tell him to go away.' Police Colonel Thanapong Phothi, superintendent of the Pattaya Police Station, said a search was launched for the suspects who had fled the scene before officers could arrive. They reviewed the store's CCTV footage and tracked down Apichai Prawe and Denchai Khanteetao, both 28, at a nearby rented room in the city. The pair reportedly admitted to police that they had attacked Lord. They claimed they tried to make him leave, but he was 'too stubborn' and refused to listen to them. They added they lost their tempers when he catcalled Prawe's girlfriend. Both were remanded in police custody to face legal charges. Paramedics at the Sawang Boriboon Thammasat rescue team said they received a report about the injured tourist in the Bang Lamung District in the early hours of the morning The paramedics managed to calm him and administered first aid before rushing him to a hospital Meanwhile, Lord was understood to be under close medical supervision due to his injuries, including intracranial bleeding Meanwhile, Lord was understood to be under close medical supervision due to his injuries, including intracranial bleeding. The policeman added: 'The two attackers have confessed and they will be prosecuted. Being drunk is not illegal and does not justify the attack. 'We are now waiting to interview the victim to receive his account of the incident and get more evidence from him.' The attack on the British holidaymaker comes just a month after a British father and his son were brutally beaten by bouncers outside a bar in Pattaya. Holidaymaker Ian Thomas, 60, and his son Gregory, 37, had entered the Matador Bar in the city's Soi Buakhao red light street but were allegedly asked to leave by the bar owner at around 1.35am on August 5. The pair were ushered outside by bouncers when their heated argument descended into a physical brawl, with Gregory first being beaten up. CCTV footage shows how he was hit and pulled to the ground where he was then kicked repeatedly. This is the shocking a British tourist and his son were attacked by bouncers outside a bar in Thailand's 'Sin City' Pattaya Footage then shows how the older Brit Ian, in a black shirt, then slapped a guard across the face, sparking more chaos as the staff pushed him to the ground while repeatedly kicking him in the head. Gregory, in a checkered polo, was seen trying to help his father but was again attacked and beaten, with his father left in a heap in the road. Police found Gregory tending to an injured Ian, who was lying on the ground with a wounded left eyebrow and broken glasses. Thailand's current military government has made efforts to clean up Pattaya after it was dubbed the 'sex capital' of the world and a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. However, the city's lucrative shadow economy based on sex, crime, drink and drugs has proved difficult to tame in the once-sleepy coastal city. A large number of British ex-pats have also set up bars in the sun-drenched resort, which has become an attractive place for pensioners to retire. Barnet Council was today exposed as having granted the most requests to work from abroad of any local authority as it emerged hundreds of council staff across Britain are 'working from the beach'. Town hall bosses at the North London council have granted 286 requests to work from overseas over the past three years, data from the TaxPayers' Alliance revealed. This was followed by Merton Council in South London at 251 and Islington Council in North London at 237. Central Bedfordshire Council was next, giving 161 staff the green light to work from overseas, while Leeds City Council granted 74 requests. Also in the top ten were Bradford at 49, Edinburgh at 40 and Enfield in North London at 25 - as well as Havant in Hampshire and Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, both at 20. Following behind were Barnsley at 11, South Oxfordshire and Haringey in North London, both at ten; then Shetland and Aberdeen in Scotland, both at eight. Multiple councils allowed staff to work from abroad for weeks or months. Town hall bosses at Barnet Council in North London have granted 286 requests to work from overseas over the past three years, data from the TaxPayers' Alliance revealed HOW MANY REQUESTS HAVE COUNCILS GRANTED FOR WORKING ABROAD? COUNCIL 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 LONGEST TIME ABROAD (DAYS) HIGHEST SALARY TOTAL Barnet 0 134 152 286 Merton 0 53 198 81,702 251 Islington 30 114 93 697 237 Central Bedfordshire 16 61 84 226 161 Leeds 74 Bradford 0 5 44 49 Edinburgh 242 40 Enfield 0 13 12 76 25 Havant 20 28 63,456 20 Vale of Glamorgan 2 5 13 20 Barnsley 0 0 11 14 11 South Oxfordshire 3 7 0 46 60,648 10 Haringey 0 7 3 42 10 Shetland 3 2 3 Permanent 40,273.57 8 Aberdeen 2 3 3 41,847 8 Warwick 0 3 4 55,879 7 Cheshire East 5 155,153 7 Folkestone and Hythe 2 3 2 70 7 Wokingham 1 2 4 91 7 Hammersmith and Fulham 7 Luton 0 3 3 91 61,034 6 Leicestershire 1 1 3 21 38,157 5 Surrey Heath 1 1 3 136,812 5 Tendring 21 5 Test Valley 0 2 3 30 5 Cardiff 1 2 1 40,478 4 Wiltshire 0 0 4 104 43,516 4 Argyll Bute 1 1 2 334 62,211 4 Ealing 21 4 Croydon 1 1 2 824 4 Teignbridge 0 1 2 182 30,151 3 Melton 0 2 1 60 43,000 3 East Suffolk 0 0 3 Permanent 43,516 3 Orkney 1 1 1 53,835 3 Winchester 0 0 3 111,493 3 Wigan 1 1 1 730 3 Cambridgeshire 0 1 2 Permanent 3 Lewes and Eastbourne 1 2 0 Permanent 3 South Hams 0 1 1 91 27,852 2 East Staffs 0 0 2 14 32,909 2 Falkirk 0 1 1 40,243 2 Bracknell Forest 0 0 2 Permanent 43,000 2 Belfast 1 1 0 48,587 2 Cheltenham 1 1 0 49,332 2 Basildon 1 1 0 150 50,998 2 Aberdeenshire 1 0 1 Permanent 50,999 2 Vale 1 1 0 28 55,789 2 Solihull 0 1 1 42 55,859 2 Gateshead 0 0 2 175,226 2 Mid and East Antrim 0 1 1 396 2 Harlow 0 1 1 Permanent 2 Nuneaton and Bedworth 42 19,235 1 Norwich 1 0 0 24,948 1 Torbay 0 0 1 45 30,151 1 Braintree 35,750 1 Lancaster 0 0 1 91 36,298 1 Epsom and Ewell 0 0 1 28 36,711 1 Ceredigion 0 0 1 39,493 1 Castle Point 0 0 1 91 44,539 1 Fylde 0 0 1 91 46,000 1 Bedford 0 0 1 21 46,546 1 Wrexham 0 0 1 7 47,573 1 St Albans 0 0 1 3 58,829 1 West Norfolk 4 80,167 1 Swale 87,120 1 Great Yarmouth 89,814 1 Dacorum 1 Shropshire 0 0 1 1 Tameside 1 1 The TaxPayers' Alliance sent Freedom of Information requests to all 383 councils in the UK, with 320 responding. On top of the 1,221 approved requests in the past three years, a further 137 requests were given the green light, but the councils did not supply yearly breakdowns Croydon Council in South London allowed an employee to log-on from abroad for 842 days, one Wigan Council staff member has worked from France for two years, and an Islington Council worker logged on from abroad for 697 days. READ MORE Come into the office or risk losing your bonus: Bank workers given ultimatum if they don't show up to office for at least three days a week Advertisement Teignbridge District Council in Devon allowed a staff member to work from Spain for 182 days, while Fylde Borough Council in Lancashire gave an employee permission to work from Australia for six months. Harlow, Cambridgeshire County and Lewes and Eastbourne councils have allowed staff to work from abroad permanently. There were also hundreds of examples of being allowed to work from abroad for shorter periods. Tendring District Council in Essex gave a staff member permission to work from Turkey for ten days, Haringey Council gave the green light to a worker to log in from Cyprus for 15 days and a Bedford Borough Council staff member was allowed to work from Italy for three weeks. Several staff on six-figure salaries were among those given permission to log on from overseas, and more than 70 councils across the UK approved requests. The TaxPayers' Alliance sent Freedom of Information requests to all 383 councils in the UK, with 320 responding. On top of the 1,221 approved requests in the past three years, a further 137 requests were given the green light, but the councils did not supply yearly breakdowns. In second place on the list was Merton Council in South London which granted 251 requests Overall, there has been a ten-fold increase in the number of council staff allowed to log in from abroad. READ MORE HMRC staff leave TEN MILLION phone calls unanswered a year as it is revealed that 80 per cent of employees now work from home Advertisement Town hall bosses have granted more than 1,350 requests to work from overseas over the past three years, The number jumped from 73 approvals in 2020/21, the year the Covid-19 pandemic was at its height, to 440 in 2021/22. It then surged to more than 700 last year as the remote-working revolution took hold. One local authority granted nearly 300 requests over the three-year period. As many workers return to their jobs today after the summer holidays, the figures will infuriate council taxpayers who do not have the luxury of working remotely. Council employees have been allowed to log in for weeks, months and even years from far-flung destinations, according to responses to Freedom of Information requests by the TaxPayers' Alliance. They include Spain, Australia, Dubai, Brazil, India, Italy, France, Thailand, the Philippines, Jamaica, Croatia, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, Gran Canaria and Indonesia. There were examples of staff being forced to work abroad due to Covid restrictions preventing their return to Britain, but the number of requests granted increased ten-fold to 708 in 2022-23, when travel curbs had been scrapped. Figures from accountancy firm RSM UK in July showed that 33 per cent of businesses are allowing employees to work remotely outside the UK. The phenomenon has been branded 'working from the beach'. Third was Islington Council in North London which granted 237 requests to work abroad It comes as the private sector shifts away from working from home, with the likes of HSBC banks and even Zoom saying staff should be in the office more often. READ MORE Civil servants face curb on working from home 'Tuesday to Thursday' as ministers draw up plans to tackle plummeting public sector productivity Advertisement And Chancellor Jeremy Hunt recently said that going into the office should be the 'default' option. Councils doubled down last night, saying that 'flexible working' was crucial for recruiting and retaining the right staff. But MPs branded the approvals 'absurd' and called on ministers to investigate. Conservative MP Peter Bone said: 'Most people will think this is really unacceptable and outrageous. Local councils need to be in touch with people locally to deliver good public services. You can't do the job properly if you're not local.' Fellow Tory Sir John Redwood added: 'For better delivery of public services, it would be much better if councils found people locally who need the jobs and can go into the office on a more regular basis.' Former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: 'It indicates a contempt for the taxpayer they're just not taking work seriously. We have a productivity problem in this country, particularly in the public sector, which has been exacerbated by working from home. Working from abroad is likely to be even less productive.' John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Hard-pressed households will be shocked by the number of public sector staff working from abroad. 'Residents forking out record rates expect officials to be using the office space taxpayers are footing the bill for. Council staff should get off the sun loungers and get back to town halls.' Leeds City Council has granted 74 requests for staff to work abroad over the past three years Barnet Council defended its tally of approvals to work from abroad. A spokesman said: 'Flexible working is crucial for recruiting and retaining the right staff, and we only allow working from abroad for limited periods and where we are satisfied that it won't affect the employee's ability to do their job and productivity. READ MORE HSBC tells its 18,500 UK workers back to their desks for three days a week Advertisement 'Currently 15 staff have permission, though none are working abroad permanently.' Islington Council said its tally included some cases of staff seeking permission to take their device abroad on holiday in case they needed to use it in an emergency. A spokesman added: 'Islington Council recognises the importance of flexible working options to provide our staff with greater choice and flexibility, so that we continue to deliver an excellent service for our residents.' A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents town halls, said: 'Councils have long experience of managing staff remotely and it is a matter for individual councils to agree where staff can work from depending on their role and ensuring the needs of the business are met.' The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: 'Because local Government is autonomous, councils are responsible for independently managing their own staffing arrangements. 'However, wherever their staff work from, councils must ensure that their services remain efficient and easily accessible to the public, while also being cost-effective to the taxpayer.' The NYPD has been called to the Big Apple's once exclusive Roosevelt Hotel more than 40 times since the landmark became a migrant shelter in May, a shocking new report says. The vast majority of those arrests stem from domestic violence incidents, reports the New York Post. Just this weekend, a 30-year-old man was taken into custody after he was accused of endangering a child in the midtown hotel. The alleged victim was his 11-year-old daughter. The Manhattan's DA office has opted not to pursue charges in the case. In another horrific case, a hotel worker was whacked with a No Parking sign in June after the migrant was removed from the building because of his behavior. That caused a site visit from Mayor Eric Adams who vowed to investigate the incidents. NYPD officers have arrested over 40 people at New York City's Roosevelt Hotel since it became a migrant shelter in May this year Most of those who have been arrested were cited on domestic violence charges Migrants outside the hotel had to sleep on cardboard boxes for several days In August, throngs of migrants were cleared from sleeping in front of the hotel Away from the Roosevelt, a woman, 20, was arrested last week and accused of attacking an NYPD officer who was impounding her unregistered motorcycle at the Stratford Arms Hotel, located in the city's swanky Upper West Side section. A month previously, that same woman was arrested and accused of attacking her boyfriend, she was out on bail a few days later. Just last week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul met White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and other senior Biden administration officials on Wednesday to discuss the influx. During the meeting, the Biden administration agreed to work with both New York State and New York City to close 'the gap between non-citizens who are eligible for work authorization and those who have applied,' the White House said in a statement. The administration also committed to 'starting a first-of-its-kind national campaign' with information on how to apply for employment authorization. Since May, newly arrived international immigrants have waited night and day outside of the Roosevelt Hotel while Mayor Adams attempts dissuade migrants from coming to New York. Thousands of those migrants arrived on buses sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, who has tried to shift the burden of receiving them to Democratic strongholds. A man waiting outside of the Roosevelt with a child waiting for accommodation over the summer The images of migrant men huddled outside in the heat prompted the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless to call out New York Mayor Eric Adams But some critics accuse New York City officials of exploiting the lines outside the Roosevelt as part of a campaign to pressure state and federal officials to come up with more money to tackle the crisis and discourage more migrants from entering the U.S. from Mexico. 'Mayor Adams should not be using asylum seekers as props to get the attention of the Biden administration or discourage asylum seekers from coming to New York,' said Murad Awawdeh, the executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, in August. He added the city should work harder to free up space in shelters and keep migrants off the streets. 'It's hard to imagine that there are not enough beds to actually accommodate the people that the Adams administration is leaving out on the street,' he told The Associated Press in a statement. 'I don't think I or any person in this administration would use people to do any type of a stunt,' said Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom said at a press conference in August. She said the city has conducted itself 'with humanity and with compassion,' adding the shelter system is at a 'breaking point.' City officials say the number of migrants arriving in New York since the spring of 2022 is approaching 100,000, overwhelming a shelter system designed to hold tens of thousands fewer people. New York City has a unique court-ordered obligation to provide emergency shelter to anyone who asks for it, but officials have said in recent weeks that the influx of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. had made it increasingly difficult to fulfill that duty. While the number of migrants crossing the border has fallen in recent months, busloads still arrive nearly every day. City officials said that some 2,300 more migrants came to the city seeking shelter last week alone. In July, Adams dispatched emissaries to the border to hand out fliers, informing migrants that shelter space in his city is no longer guaranteed and that housing and food in New York City is expensive. It urged them to consider other U.S. cities. The Associated Press reported in August that migrants outside of the Roosevelt were threatened and told not to talk to the press. During one interview, a migrant was told by a guard to stop speaking first putting his finger on his pursed lips then dragging it across his throat like a knife. The migrant, who had been speaking about his arduous passage to the U.S. and his hopes for a better life, immediately stopped talking. 'That's pretty plainly a threat,' said Joshua Goldfein, an attorney for the Legal Aid Society in New York. 'There's no question that the city could provide additional spaces for the folks who are on the sidewalk,' he said, though he added state and federal governments should do more, too. Former Attorney General, Christian Porter, has agreed to represent a man who allegedly lured a little girl into his ute and abducting her. Ryan Ashley Darken, 37, appeared in Rockingham Magistrates Court on Monday morning via video link from Hakea Prison. He's been held there since his arrest on Friday, July 21, when he allegedly tried to entice a nine-year-old girl into his silver ute outside the girl's school in Perth's south about 8.40am. A parent witnessed the alleged incident and alerted the school, police say, the girl was later found in distress at a Port Kennedy shopping centre. Mr Porter told Magistrate Janelle Scutt in Court on Monday that he will be Darken's defence lawyer in the case. Former Attorney General Christian Porter (pictured left with Karen Espiner) has agreed to represent a man accused of luring a nine-year-old girl into his car and tying her up in July Mr Porter told the Rockingham Magistrates Court that he had agreed to take on Ryan Darken's (pictured) case, having been charged with detaining another with intent to do harm, deprivation of liberty, assault, and making threats READ MORE: Man charged after nine-year-old allegedly lured into car in Perth Advertisement Mr Porter, 52, retired from politics and Scott Morrison's government in December 2021, nine months after revealing he was the anonymous man referred to in media reports about a 16-year-old girl allegedly being raped back in 1988. Mr Porter strongly denied the allegation and sued the ABC for defamation with the case eventually being dropped and no damages awarded to the former attorney-general. Magistrate Scutt granted a six-week adjournment so Mr Porter, of Geoffrey Miller Chambers, and Darken can discuss the case before facing the court. After granting the adjournment, Magistrate Scutt told Mr Darken directly that 'matters will need to move along because of the types of charges these are'. She instructed him to either enter a plea at his next hearing or inform the court on how his case was going to proceed at his next appearance on October 23. 'They should be dealt with quickly,' the magistrate said. Mr Darken has been charged with detaining another with intent to do harm, deprivation of liberty, assault, and making threats. He did not apply for bail at his first hearing in Perth Magistrates Court on July 22, nor did he try to apply on Monday. Chinese citizens, often posing as tourists, gained access to top secret military installations on more than 100 occasions over the last few years in the latest escalation in the Communist nation's espionage war with the US, a shocking new report says. In 2022, officials, including FBI agents and Defense of Department officials, held summits in order to combat the growing problem, reports the Wall Street Journal. Speaking to the newspaper, authorities called the problem an 'espionage threat.' The bizarre lengths that operatives from the Communist nation have gone in recent times include scuba diving close to Cape Canaveral, wandering on to a missile launch site in New Mexico and claiming to be staying on an Army base in Alaska. Officials who are investigating the spying say that those who are caught are usually cited under local trespassing laws, given meagre fines and told not to return. Trespassing offenses are not covered by federal law which inhibits more extensive scrutiny, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow told WSJ. This latest bombshell comes just months after the Chinese spy balloon, which US officials say had rudimentary flight controls, passed over a number of US nuclear missile facilities in late January and early February, before it was shot down by an F-22 Raptor fighter off South Carolina. Fort Wainright, the center of the US military's operations in the Arctic, was the subject of an apparent espionage attempt, the Wall Street Journal reports A group of Chinese nationals were stopped while scuba diving close to missile row in Cape Canaveral, shown here, recently Another group of Chinese people, posing as tourists, wandered on to a base in New Mexico that is adjacent to White Sands National Park When caught, the Chinese nationals give what appears to be a rehearsed script when they encounter security guards, they claim to be tourists who are lost, unnamed officials told the newspaper. The Wall Street Journal describes the Chinese nationals as being 'pressed' into national service. A spokesperson with the Chinese embassy in DC was bullish when asked about the report telling the newspaper that the claims were 'purely ill-intentioned fabrications.' 'We urge the relevant U.S. officials to abandon the Cold War mentality, stop groundless accusations, and do more things that are conducive to enhancing mutual trust between the two countries and friendship between the two peoples,' Liu Pengyu said. In what the Journal describes as a 'recent case,' a group of Chinese citizens claimed that they were staying a Holiday Inn which is located in Fort Wainright, Alaska. Security at the base became immediately suspicious as tourism in the area is extremely unusual. The base plays host to the US Army's 11th Airborne Division. Emily Harding, a former official with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told WSJ that the Chinese spy operation is more of a numbers game. 'The advantage the Chinese have is they are willing to throw people at collection in large numbers. If a few of them get caught, it will be very difficult for the U.S. government to prove anything beyond trespassing, and those who dont get caught are likely to collect something useful,' Harding said. The spy balloon, which US officials say had rudimentary flight controls, passed over a number of US nuclear missile facilities President Joe Biden downplayed the Chinese spy balloon that drifted across the US in February, alleging that Beijing may not have known about the operation Harding added that even if a Chinese citizen was arrested on espionage charges, it's unlikely to cause much outrage in China unlike if a US national was arrested in a hostile nation. In New Mexico, a group of Chinese citizens went on to a missile site that is located close to White Sands National Park, in other cases the spies used drones to aid their activities. Another group was caught a few years ago swimming in waters in Key West, Florida, taking pictures beside a naval air station. In 2019, three Chinese nationals were sentenced to prison for illegally taking photographs at a Florida Navy base. Lyuyou Liao, 27, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, after pleading guilty to illegally entering NAS Key West and taking photographs and video footage of property on the Truman Annex of the station. Two others, Jielun Zhang, 25, and Yuhao Wang, 24, were sentenced to 12 months and nine months in prison, respectively, for entering the base in January 2019, and taking photographs of military and naval infrastructure. The same year, a Chinese woman was sentenced to eight months in prison after she entered then-President Donald Trump's estate Mar-a-Lago along while carrying electronic devices and two passports. Also in 2019, two Chinese citizens were expelled from the US after attempting to drive on to the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach, reported the Virginia Pilot. The two men, who were with their wives, said that they read directions wrongly and inadvertently wound up on the base. In June, President Joe Biden attracted criticism for downplaying the Chinese balloon scandal. The beleaguered president suggested that Beijing may have been unaware that the spy balloon was in operation. 'China has some legitimate difficulties unrelated to the United States. And I think one of the things that that balloon caused was not so much that it got shot down, but I don't think the leadership knew where it was and knew what was in it and knew what was going on,' said Biden in June. 'I think it was more embarrassing than it was intentional,' he added. Police have a suspect in the mystery killing of a neurosurgeon who was shot twice in the back of his head before being wrapped in a comforter and shoved into the attic of his $1.2million mansion in Detroit. Dr Devon Hooper, 53, who is believed to have lived alone, was found naked in a crawlspace at his home in West Boston Boulevard in the Boston-Edison District on April 23 this year. Detroit police officers have now said they are 'confident' they have evidence to prove there is a suspect in connection with the homicide. 'We are very confident we are going to bring this family justice. We are confident that we are aware of the circumstances. We are confident in our suspect,' Detroit Police Chief James White said on Thursday, according to the NY Post. 'We just need a little bit more time to work with the prosecutor's office and we have a to-do list, and we're prepared to make an announcement before snow hits the ground. We just have a lot of work to do,' he said at a meeting of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. Devon Hoover, 53, (pictured) was found fatally shot and wrapped in a sheet in the attic of his Detroit mansion in late April. cops have now said they are confident they have a suspect An autopsy report suggests he was shot twice in the back of the head before being stuffed into a crawlspace of his home (pictured), where he is believed to have lived alone Dr Hoover was found in the crawlspace in April after police carried out a welfare check when he failed to show up for a family party in Indiana. Detroit Police Chief James White declined to go into details about how the surgeon was found, but he said officers were 'quickly concerned about some of the things that they saw' inside the home. Police ruled his death a homicide and announced on April 28 they had a person of interest under custody on unrelated charges that was believed to have key information about Dr Hoover's death. This person, however, was released just days later. At the time, White said the arrested man and Dr Hoover knew each other, but declined to go into detail over the nature of their relationship. 'This was not a random act', added White. The official did not divulge a possible motive for the killing, but said his department has 'some theories'. 'Right now, we're happy to have a person of interest who we can question,' he said. 'We're not going to stop until we have every piece of information that we need.' 'We are actively still investigating this case,' insisted White, adding that there is no indication there is still a risk to the community. But just one day later, Dr Hoover's multi-million dollar home was entered by at least one suspect who came in through a window. Nobody was home at the time of the break-in, and it remains unclear whether anything was stolen from the home. Hoover was one of the most renowned neurosurgeons in Detroit. He was described by the community as 'wonderful' The leading neurosurgeon was praised as a 'dedicated and well-respected' doctor by his employer, Ascension Michigan Hospital Dr Hoover was well liked in his community, and was previously named in Hour Detroit Magazine as one of the leading neurological surgeons in Detroit in 2008. In a statement following his murder, Ascension Michigan Hospital said Dr Hoover 'was a dedicated and well-respected member of the Ascension Michigan family and will be greatly missed by our community. Our sincerest condolence and heartfelt prayers are with his family, friends and fellow associated during this incredibly difficult time'. His former neighbor, Roland Radinski, also told DailyMail.com that the community was experiencing 'sadness for loss of a nice neighbor and good surgeon'. 'I have several friends that were patients of Dr Hoover and they were shocked by his untimely death,' he continued. 'They also had nothing but good things to say about him.' In the months following his death, the community paid tribute to the 'wonderful' doctor. A Facebook page dedicated to him reads: 'Rest In Peace beautiful and kind soul. You will forever be missed. You taught me how to love Neuro surgery working alongside you in the operating room,' wrote one of his colleagues. 'Your patience was unmatched. Prayers to your family and all those that knew you. We are devastated that we have lost you! May your legacy and love for surgery forever live in those that were touched by your presence in this world.' Roland Radinski (pictured), a neighbor of Dr Hoover for 15 years, said those who knew him had 'nothing but good things to say about him' 'Last weekend, we lost a beloved colleague,' added another Ascension Hospital colleague. 'A very talented doctor... a man who no one can say anything bad about. He was a true gentleman. He was genuine and loved to help people.' A former patient added in a separate post that Dr Hoover was regarded as 'the best' and was 'not like most surgeons'. 'He said he would not operate unless absolutely necessary,' she continued. 'Always so wonderful, knowledgeable and supportive. We are so very devastated for his family, friends and colleagues. May he rest in peace.' 'I am beyond disbelief of how such a horrific tragedy could happen to such a gentle, brilliant soul,' said another. 'God bless you, Dr Hoover... I will never forget your kindness and respect.' Dr Hoover was born in Indiana and is survived by his father and six sisters. His mother, Lauretta Hoover, tragically died four days after her sons murder. The food at Que Rico in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of Shuttle Delivery By Mark Boesch The "Ville," adjacent to U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Humphreys Main Gate in the Anjeong-ri village of Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, is home to a host of fantastic restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs. Restaurateurs began flocking to the area for the chance to serve U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) customers as USAG Yongsan underwent a slow relocation process to Humphreys over the last several years. For Pyeongtaek residents, this meant loads of new kebab spots, but also some really good Mexican food. There are a lot of really good Mexican restaurants in the area, but Que Rico is favorite to many and known locally for its authentic Mexican cuisine. Que Rico's proprietors Park Tae-sang and her husband Raul Ugalde Leon almost opened a jewelry studio instead. After traveling back and forth for four years between Korea and Cozumel, Mexico, the couple decided to open a taqueria and torteria, a Mexican restaurant with a menu focused on tacos and tortas, in Pyeongtaek. The couple rescued some traditional recipes, and began cultivating herbs and spices in house. They put together a concise but impactful menu with tacos, tortas, burritos and enchiladas. No matter what you order, this restaurant will leave you saying, "Ay que rico!" (Oh, that's lovely!) Tacos celebrate the essence of Mexico's culinary heritage, while also showcasing the ingredients, flavors and traditions of the local region. Que Rico serves chicken and al pastor tacos on homemade corn and wheat tortillas topped with cheese, fresh cilantro, lime and salsa. Chef Raul was raised and learned how to cook in Mexico City, but his tacos use coastal ingredients like pineapple and tangy citrus, which create vibrant flavors when blended with other ingredients and their homemade salsa. Each order comes with two tacos, so you'll have a smile on your face and a taco in each hand. Que Rico's lineup of tortas, Mexican sandwiches stuffed with seasoned meats and veggies on home-baked bread, are ridiculously tasty. Their homemade Mexican telera bread, a salty sourdough bread, is baked on premise daily. Their torta bread is an oval roll with a thin crust on the outside and light and fluffy inside. The lineup consists of the Chicken Torta, Carnitas Torta and Cubana Torta, their best seller which is stuffed with loads of sausage, bacon, beans, onions and blend of Mexican cheeses. Each sandwich is grilled and stuffed with the perfect blend of fillings, toppings and flavors. The Cubana Torta at Que Rico / Courtesy of Shuttle Delivery Que Rico is a family-owned establishment serving authentic Mexican food at a reasonable price. The portions are generous, too. A user pro tip: the restaurant can get crowded, especially on weekends, so call ahead to make a reservation. Also, if you prefer corn tortillas for your tacos, you'll have to visit in house to ensure freshness and quality, as Que Rico limits delivery to wheat tortillas. Que Rico has limited hours, opening Wednesday through Sunday. From Wednesday to Friday, they open at 2:30 p.m. and close at 8:30 p.m. But on weekends, they open early at 11 a.m. for lunch service. If you're in the greater Anjeong-ri area of Pyeongtaek, you can skip the queue, pay online, and place delivery or pickup orders using the Shuttle app or by visiting shuttledelivery.co.kr . Mark Boesch is co-founder and chief marketing officer of Shuttle Delivery. TikTok killer Mahek Bukhari will appeal against her life sentence for murdering her mother's toyboy lover and his friend in a 100mph car chase. The 24-year-old social media influencer was jailed for life, while her mother was handed a 26-year prison sentence, for ambushing and then murdering Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin in February last year. Bukhari, her mother Ansreen and two others - Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal - were all convicted of murder on Friday. Three others were convicted of manslaughter. Unless her appeal succeeds, Bukhari must spend the next 31 years and 8 months behind bars before she is eligible to be considered for parole for the 'cold-blooded murder'. It came after the breakdown of an affair between Ansreen and Mr Hussain which saw him threaten to send a sex tape of her to her husband to expose their relationship. Social media influencer Mahek Bukhari, 24, was jailed for life, while her mother was handed a 26-year prison sentence TikTok killer Bukhari (pictured with her mother Ansreen) is said to be set to appeal against her life sentence for murdering her mother's toyboy lover and his friend in a 100mph car chase Saqib Hussain (left) and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin (right) were ambushed and murdered in February last year Mr Hussain was killed in the fireball crash alongside his friend Mr Ijazuddin, both 21, after their Skoda was deliberately rammed off the A46 dual carriageway near Leicester by balaclava-wearing assailants in two pursuing cars on February 11 last year. But Bukhari's barrister, Christopher Millington KC, said she would be requesting leave to appeal against the conviction. The first step will be an application to a High Court judge. If leave to appeal is granted, the case will go to the Court of Appeal. If that attempt is rejected she will be able to have a second go to get leave to appeal in front of a panel of judges. At the sentencing hearing at Leicester Crown Court on Friday the barrister for another defendant, Natasha Akhtar, announced that his client was also going to appeal. It is understood from solicitors involved in the defence case that several others - possibly including Mahek's mother Ansreen - will also consider an attempt to appeal. The victims, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, were in a Skoda being chased by Audi and Seat vehicles containing the eight defendants in the case. Bukhari was said to have taken part in the ambush after Mr Hussain threatened to use sexually explicit material to expose a long-running affair he had been having with her mother, who was married. The court was told Mr Ijazuddin's Skoda Fabia 'split in two' and caught fire after hitting a tree at the Six Hills junction in the early hours of February 11 last year. The victims had to be identified by their dental records. Mahek Bukhari (left) and her mother Ansreen Bukhari (right) have been found guilty of the murders of Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin in a high-speed car chase in February last year Mr Ijazuddin's car was deliberately rammed off the road and was split in two before erupting into flames on the A46 in February last year Bukhari's TikTok account, which has some 135,000 followers, shows videos being posted right up until four days before the crash During sentencing, the judge said that a chilling phone call played to the court, which was a recording of Mr Hussain's desperate 999 call seconds before the crash, was one of the most harrowing pieces of evidence he had ever heard. Bukhari showed no remorse during the trial and lied to police about the chase, as she was seen talking and laughing in court and even playing games while the jury was out. After sentencing, she blew a kiss to her father and said 'call me' as she was taken down. Her TikTok account, which has some 135,000 followers, shows videos being posted right up until four days before the crash. The jury spent about five days considering their verdicts in the case. Each of the eight defendants had been charged with murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter, with additional charges of causing death by dangerous driving for Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal. Akhtar was found guilty of manslaughter but not murder and the same was the case for defendants Ameer Jamal and Sanaf Gulammustafa. The eighth defendant, Mohammed Patel, was cleared of all charges. A traveller has taken up permanent residence in London's exclusive Park Lane where the average property price is around 12million. Aurel Roman and his partner Larisa erected a giant tent on a grass verge in the centre of the Mayfair dual carriageway three months ago and have ignored police instructions to leave. Mr Roman, 39, who arrived in the UK legally from Romania, said: 'They come regularly to tell us we must leave and I say "No" and one of the officers said "You mustn't act like you are the King of Park Lane" and I told him I am! 'This is my new home and I don't have to pay anybody a penny for it. Larisa and I have come to the UK legally and maybe, yes, we are breaking somebody's laws, but we cannot do anything but survive.' He showed their passports had UK entry stamps and revealed they had left their children - they have a son and daughter each - behind with their ex-partners. Aurel Roman erected a giant tent on a grass verge in the centre of the Mayfair dual carriageway three months ago He lives there with his partner Larisa erected a giant tent on a grass verge in the centre of the Mayfair dual carriageway three months ago Asked why he had chosen one of Britain's most expensive streets to reside in, he said: 'Larisa and I are beggars. This is a good place to reach Victoria Station and Oxford Street to ask people for money. 'The London people do help us but some tell us to f*** off and to get jobs. 'I would love to work but somebody stole all my papers from our tent. We lost our "government papers" and now I cannot get any labouring work or any job. What am I to do?' Mr Roman and his wife sleep in a tiny green tent which has a larger tent erected over it. As he spoke, Larisa fed a loft of pigeons from crisp packets. She has strung up apples for birds to peck on and planted flowers to help make their stay more homely. But nearby officials have installed traps to snare rats and other vermin and some drivers sneer and shout abuse at them as they drive by. Larisa speaks no English, but Mr Roman said: 'She wants you to know that we are good people. We are struggling in life and have to beg. But we cause nobody any trouble.' Previously, homeless people who have taken up residence between the dual carriageway have been known to cause trouble with pickpocketing and anti-social behaviour. Food and drink can be seen outside the tent, including three Activia yogurts, a packet of Thai Sweet Chilli flavoured Walkers Sensations, a clementine, and a Nutella and Go snack pot, as well as what appears to be a candle Mr Roman, 39, has ignored police instructions to leave. He said 'they come regularly to tell us we must leave and I say "No"' and he is 'the King of Park Lane' He doesn't 'have to pay anybody a penny for' his new home and said he and Larisa have come to the UK legally. 'Maybe, yes, we are breaking somebody's laws, but we cannot do anything but survive' He showed his and his partner's passports with UK entry stamps and revealed they had left their four children - each have a son and daughter - behind with their ex-partners Asked why he had chosen one of Britain's most expensive streets to reside in, he said they are beggars and 'this is a good place to reach Victoria Station and Oxford Street to ask people for money' Mr Roman and his wife sleep in a tiny green tent which has a larger tent erected over it opposite the the 1,000-a-night Park Lane Hilton Hotel The couple use the facilities offered by local coffee shops and visit homeless charities for support but said they were worried about a cold winter and expected to be there into the New Year. Opposite their home are the luxury Park Lane Hilton and The Dorchester hotels where room rates can start from more than 1,000 a night. Top of the range cars such as Mclarens, Bentleys and Ferraris line the streets nearby and an Aston Martin showroom has pride of place next to the five star Grosvenor House Hotel. Mr Roman added: 'Good luck to them. In this lifetime I will never have that money. But we survive and remain happy.' They each have pieces of cardboard which have marker pen messages which they brandish when begging for money. A drifter from Scotland called 'Keef' has also taken up residence. He said: 'I have a place to stay in the east end of Glasgow by a homeless charity. But I am a traveller and I have stayed here before. 'I have just come down for a few weeks to pick up a bicycle and then head back. Larisa sits on a deckchair outside the tent surrounded by a loft of pigeons. She feeds the birds from crisp packets and has strung up apples for them to peck on George Roman, who is 60 this month and speaks no English, said he was looking for a job A drifter from Scotland called 'Keef' has also taken up residence. He said: 'I have a place to stay in the east end of Glasgow by a homeless charity. But I am a traveller and I have stayed here before' 'I like it here in Park Lane. It's my second home, my London residence. I always stay right here when I am in town. 'I have brought my tent with me. But it needs repairing because last time I was here somebody took a knife to it and slashed it. It can be dangerous here at night.' Another Romanian has pitched up a tent nearby opposite The Dorchester. George Roman, who is 60 this month and speaks no English, said he was looking for a 'profession'. A Westminster City Council spokesperson said: 'We spend more than any other local authority - 7m a year - on rough sleeping services which include safe hostel beds, with on-site support and professionals who work closely with those who may experiencealcohol and drug addiction. 'Our teams are out every night offering help to those living outdoors in partnership with experienced organisations like The Passage and St Mungos. 'The reasons people end up sleeping rough are complex - they can range from relationship and family breakdown or loss of home from eviction, to people who may be traumatised and consider living on the streets to be a safer place for them. Wider national trends - like the cost of living crisis - mean we are seeing rough sleeping rise across the country. 'As the centre of London, Westminster is a destination for rough sleepers from both the UK and abroad and we see new faces arriving all the time.' For whatever reasons people end up on the street, Westminster City Council is there to support individuals with a route to a better life. The crumbling concrete scandal that has thrust schools up and down the country into crisis with thousands of pupils still in the dark on whether their ceilings will collapse has been branded a 'mess'. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan looked visibly uncomfortable as she was grilled by Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid this morning. Sitting alongside fellow presenter Ed Balls - a former secretary of state for education - Ms Reid said: 'This is a mess, isn't it?' Ms Keegan appeared uncomfortable as she went on to try and explain what had happened over the summer which has plunged more than a hundred schools into chaos with some having to shut off buildings, while others have closed completely as term started today. Three 'incidents' occurred - some not in schools - where in one a roof panel had fallen at a 'non-critical' site towards the end of August, she said. A taped off section inside Parks Primary School in Leicester which has been affected by the Raac crisis After speaking to experts and structural engineers, Ms Keegan took the 'very cautious decision' guidance. READ MORE: Schools closed today: Full list of RAAC concrete closures as new term begins Advertisement 'I didn't want to risk this happening anywhere,' she said. 'So I change the guidance on non-critical roofs to say we had to do the same with critical ones, which is prop them up or get temporary accommodation in place. 'I do understand that for parents and the headteachers who are affected that was last minute, but you can only act on the evidence when it emerges.' Interrupting her, Ms Reid pointed to an ITV investigation in March where it was found 68 schools were aware it had RAAC - a lightweight form of concrete used between the 1950s and 1990s - and could be at risk with more than 1,500 in the dark, with 2,000 still to have an inspection. Ms Reid said: 'That was back in March, we are now in September and you won't know the full scale of this until the end of the year. Daniel [Hewitt, ITV reporter] said at the time in March that he had not had an interview with the Department for Education. 'We bid for an interview with you or one of your ministers back in March and could not get anywhere with this. It seems remarkable that now the first day of term we are in the situation we are in when you knew the full scale of this back in March.' Ms Keegan appeared to look uncomfortable during the interview as she was criticised for not acting sooner Ms Keegan appeared to lay the blame on the local authorities and trusts in charge of schools saying they were responsible for checking the ceilings and doing the analysis. How and when did evidence come to light on the concrete scandal? 1950s up to the mid-1990s - RAAC, a lightweight building material, is used 1995 - The Times newspaper reports the first warnings about RAAC cracking in roofs came in 2018 - The Department for Education (DfE) considers RAAC as a potential issue June 2023 - Problems were highlighted in a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) Summer 2023 Schools minister Nick Gibb says fresh evidence came to light August 31, 2023 Parents are informed some schools will be forced to close Advertisement The Department for Education decided to go 'belt and braces on this' in March 2022, the Education Secretary said, as 'we didn't have visibility of what everyone was doing as a responsible body'. 'We identified 1,500 schools that could have RAAC as they were built in the period,' she said. 'We sent out a detailed questionnaire with guidance on how they identified RAAC. Ninety percent of those came back and the vast majority of those do not have RAAC. 'Of the ninety percent that came back only one percent of them had any kind of suspected RAAC.' Some 1,500 schools have not returned surveys asking whether they have concerns about the concrete on their estates. Another 450 schools with suspected issued have yet to be inspected by engineers. Ms Keegan acknowledged that meant 'hundreds' of schools could have further issues that will require mitigations, although she stressed the vast majority will be completely safe and the government's approach is 'very, very cautious'. The minister signalled that structural inspections were being dramatically speeded up, after an outcry that the current timetable of December was unacceptable. And she committed to publishing a full list of institutions affected after they have been double-checked. Although she insisted that schools will not be left out of pocket, Ms Keegan was unable to give any estimate of the cost to the taxpayer from dealing with the problems. Gillian Keegan told BBC Breakfast: 'We've now increased to eight surveying companies. We have a national propping company who's all prepared to go in and prop. 'And we have contracted with three Portakabin or temporary accommodation companies who have on stock the Portakabins available. 'So normally we wouldn't do this, the responsible bodies would do it, but to make it much more efficient we've centrally taken that on board so that we can a) pay for it and b) make sure that it's very quickly available.' Chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday promised that ministers would take action 'whether it is RAAC or the wider asbestos issue' and 'do what it takes to keep children safe'. Speaking on Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Hunt said: 'We will prioritise spending money to sort out these problems where that needs to happen. 'We have 22,000 schools in the country and there has been since that incident a huge programme going through this RAAC/asbestos issue because we want to be absolutely sure that every child is safe.' A woman has died and a major investigation is underway after the ceiling of a home collapsed in a DIY renovation that went tragically wrong. The 64-year-old woman was in the kitchen of her rural home in East Nanango, Queensland when the ceiling suddenly gave way on Monday. The collapse trapped her underneath the rubble in the South Kerton Street property, which is 203km north-west of the state capital Brisbane. Emergency services arrived at the home at 1.30pm and tried to get the woman free from the debris. A woman has died and a major investigation is underway after the ceiling of a home (pictured) collapsed in what was reportedly a DIY renovation that went tragically wrong The 64-year-old woman was in the kitchen of her rural home (pictured) in East Nanango, Queensland when the ceiling suddenly gave way on Monday Paramedics performed CPR but were unable to save her. Aerial shots taken by 9News showed that the roof of the house appeared to be still intact when viewed from the outside. The police are preparing a report for the Queensland state coroner. Campaigners have called for a ban on disposable e-cigarettes in Britain Campaigners have called on Britain to follow countries including Australia and New Zealand in cracking down on e-cigarettes following new plans by France to ban disposable vapes by the end of 2023. More than 150,000 people have now signed a Greenpeace petition to ban disposable e-cigarettes after Britain's local councils previously called for a ban on the 'inherently unsustainable products' that 'blight our streets'. The Local Government Association (LGA) previously urged the UK to take action 'to protect our planet, keep children safe and save taxpayers money' as it warned vapes are 'almost impossible to recycle' and that they are being marketed to young people. Now, the French government has vowed to push ahead with its own plans to ban disposable e-cigarettes over claims they encourage smoking among young people. France's plans follow the imposition of tough new restrictions on vapes in both Australia and New Zealand, alongside plans put forward by countries including Germany and Ireland to crack down on e-cigarettes. France has vowed to ban disposable vapes as part of a national anti-smoking crackdown. It has not been announced when the ban will come into force yet Elisabeth Borne (pictured), France's prime minister, said in an interview with RTL radio that the government will soon unveil its new plan to combat smoking, which she said is the cause of 75,000 deaths a year in the country French prime minister Elisabeth Borne said in an interview with RTL radio on September 3 that the French government is planning to unveil new plans to tackle smoking, which will include a ban on disposable vapes. Ms Borne said vapes 'are giving bad habits to young people,' as she said claimed smoking causes 75,000 deaths in France each year. 'It's a reflex and a gesture that young people get used to. That's how they get into smoking,' she said. France's plans come amid a growing backlash against vapes, that has seen the EU propose plans to ban disposable e-cigarettes by the end of 2026. Both Germany and Ireland have outlined their own plans to place restrictions on vapes, with the German government currently considering an outright ban on disposable e-cigarettes. Separately, Australia has put in place measures to make vapes available only to those who have prescriptions. New Zealand has also put in place restrictions that ban vape shops from being within 300 metres of a school and which ensure all vapes must have removable batteries. The UK's LGA in July had previously called for similar measures to be put in place in Britain, in calling for vapes to be 'banned on environmental and health grounds'. Greenpeace has launched a petition calling for a ban on disposable vapes that has been signed by more than 150,000 people The LGA claimed 1.3million disposable vapes are thrown away in Britain each week The body representing Britain's local councils said disposable vapes are 'almost impossible to recycle' as it warned the flammable lithium batteries contained inside them pose a fire hazard for bin lorries. READ MORE Vape shop sells E-CIGARETTES alongside SWEETS as worries grow about the vaping epidemic among children as young as eleven Advertisement The LGA claimed the 1.3 million disposable vapes that are thrown away each week are littering Britain's streets. Environmental campaign group Greenpeace has also launched a petition calling for a ban on disposable vapes, in claiming they 'are littering our communities, leaking chemicals into the environment and endangering local wildlife.' Campaigners claim the sweet and fruity flavours available - including pink lemonade, gummy bear and watermelon - make vapes attractive to teenagers and young people. Vapes are currently sold in France at prices ranging from between 8-12 euros (6.86-10.29). An existing ban on the sale of electronic cigarette devices to those under 18 is not widely respected. Promoting or advertising such products is also banned. A former Tory council chairman and boarding school teacher at a prestigious 48,000 a year school has been jailed for more than five years for sexually assaulting pupils. Russell Tillson, 73, was accused of historic sex abuse while teaching at the renowned Tonbridge School in Kent - a private all-boys' boarding and day school. The Conservative councillor, who was previously the local party chairman in Folkestone, denied six counts of indecent assaults against three boys dating back almost 40 years. He had dismissed all the charges as 'fiction'. But following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court he was convicted of four counts on two boys. He was jailed for five years and eight months and given a 15-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Tillson, of Dymchurch, Kent, abused his position of trust to isolate and attack the students in the 1980s. In one incident a boy was offered an enhanced university reference, that Tillson suggested could be achieved by 'unconventional methods.' Russell Tillson, 73, was accused of historic sex abuse while teaching at the renowned Tonbridge School in Kent - a private all-boys' boarding and day school Jurors were told he touched the genitals of his victims either during one to-one tuition or at 'social occasions' in his private accommodation at the school He served as a councillor in multiple districts around the county, including as deputy leader of Shepway District Council, as it was called before 2018, and was chairman of the Conservative association in what is now referred to as Folkestone and Hythe. He was charged with the alleged offences, said to have taken place between January 1984 and October 2001 while he taught economics and was also head of sixth form. Jurors were told he touched the genitals of his victims either during one to-one tuition or at 'social occasions' in his private accommodation at the school, where he also allowed pupils to drink alcohol and smoke. Dominic Connolly, prosecuting, said: 'This case concerns allegations of sexual assaults by Tillson when he was employed as a teacher at Tonbridge School. 'All say they were sexually assaulted in a very similar manner, namely, that Tillson grabbed their genitalia.' He told the court that between 1980 and 2001, Tillson taught economics and politics and was also head of sixth form. Mr Connolly added: 'It is clear that he was a charismatic and successful teacher, but the Crown say that he abused his position of trust to assault pupils for his sexual pleasure.' Mr Connolly added: 'When asked about his sexuality Tillson described himself as a closet homosexual. 'He said he had never had a sexual relationship with a man of any age and said he had no sexual interest in children.' As recently as last year, Tillson still held a seat on New Romney Town Council and St Mary in the Marsh Parish Council. Following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court Tillson was convicted of four counts on two boys He was jailed for five years and eight months and given a 15-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order Tonbridge School is regularly in the top five of the academic league table in the UK and is only slightly more expensive to attend than Harrow School. Alleged abuse committed in 1984 had been reported to the school at the time but the boy was told it would not be taken further as Tillson was 'too valuable' a staff member, the court heard. Further indecent acts were reported to the school in 2001 and Tillson left, after 21 years of teaching, following an internal investigation. Allegations which related to Tillson's employment at Tonbridge School were first made to Kent Police in 2018. An investigation led to evidence he committed offences over a period spanning almost 20 years, in both the classroom and in a private residence he held at the school. Tillson was arrested in October 2020 and during police interviews denied all allegations put to him. He was charged with five counts of indecent assault but denied any wrongdoing and the case went to trial, where an additional count of the same offence was added. DC Josh Gearing, of the West Kent Vulnerability Investigation Team, said: 'Sex offenders like Tillson wreak incalculable damage on their victims, many who will suffer in silence for years, or throughout their whole lives. 'Thankfully in this case the victims have shown tremendous courage to come forward. 'Today's sentence will not take away the trauma they were made to endure as children, but it will hopefully bring some closure. 'I hope that this case is a reminder that all non-recent allegations of abuse will always be investigated fully by Kent Police, and we will do everything within our powers to ensure offenders are brought before the courts and punished.' The flat has a tiny kitchenette next to the window and a pull-down double bed A tiny London studio flat with a pull-down bed that folds into a cupboard has gone on the market for 1,100 per month. The compact property on Camden High Street in north London, is listed as a 'spacious room' with 'high ceilings' and 'wooden flooring' The 'self contained' apartment, which has a 'compact and functional kitchenette' besides the window, is described as having a 'neutral decor'. The furnished flat comes with its own bathroom, an 'undercounter fridge freezer,' a freestanding microwave oven, and a hob. The 1,100 a month rent includes gas and electric bills - although anyone planning to rent it will be required to put down a 1,269 deposit, equivalent to five weeks rent. A tiny London studio flat with a pull down bed is on the market for 1,100 per month The cramped London apartment is listed as having a 'tiled bathroom' and a 'power shower' The flat is on Camden High Street in north London and is described as being opposite Mornington Crescent tube station Tenants must pay their cold water bills, council tax, and internet bills themselves, the listing says. Any student planning to rent the property will be required to find a guarantor or to alternatively fork out up six months' rent in advance. Studio flats in Camden are generally priced around 1,500 per month so this property, meaning the property could be a bargain for those happy with the space. The tiny apartment is listed as being opposite Mornington Crescent tube station, which offers access to the Northern Line. The furnished flat has a 'functional kitchenette' next to the window with a microwave oven and a hob The flat near Mornington Crescent is described as having 'high ceilings' and 'wooden floors' The flat is described as having a tiled bathroom with a 'power shower' and double glazed windows. 'A compact double self-contained studio flat located in the heart of Camden Town, NW1,' the avert reads. 'Features of this property include a spacious room with double pull-down bed compact and functional kitchenette with sink, freestanding microwave oven and electric hob. 'There is also an under-counter fridge freezer, tiled bathroom with shower cubicle and power shower, hand basin and W/C.' TikTok star and teacher Luke Rockwell has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a minor her mother says he infected with STDs while teaching English at private Christians schools in Bangkok. The 29-year-old, from Florida, reportedly contacted a 16-year-old schoolgirl on social media before having sex with her on multiple occasions' while recording it and telling her to keep it a secret'. Last month the young girl fell ill with abdominal pains caused by chlamydia and gonorrhea passed onto her by Rockwell, who uses the name Teacher Luke for his TikToks, according to the girl's mother. Her worried mother rushed her to hospital before uncovering the alleged sex. The horrified mother filed a police report on August 29 and Rockwell was arrested yesterday at his luxury apartment for sex with a minor' and recording the acts'. TikTok star and teacher Luke Rockwell, 29, (pictured in Thailand in 2020) has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a minor he is said to have infected with STDs The 29-year-old, from Florida, was arrested yesterday morning at his home (pictured) Speaking today, the shaken mother said: My daughter had been messaging Teacher Luke for months using my phone. She deleted the messages after they chatted. They met and had sex without me knowing, then my daughter caught gonorrhea and chlamydia from him. I knew something was wrong when my daughter looked very sick. She looked pale and she was clutching her tummy complaining about the pain in that area. I kept on asking her questions until she told me about this man called Teacher Luke. My daughter said the first time they had sex, Teacher Luke used protection but after he did not use any. She trusted him. Teacher Luke told her to keep everything a secret until she turned 18. He told my daughter that he loved her and would let her come live with him when she's no longer a minor. My daughter messaged him the STD test result where she had tested positive for gonorrhea. He promised that he would take responsibility for the costs. I'm not complaining to the police because I want money or compensation. I don't care about the money. I want every woman and child to know how evil Teacher Luke is. It's embarrassing for me to tell people about what's happening to my family but I hope it prevents Teacher Luke from ever taking advantage of any girl in the future.' Rockwell is from Melbourne, Florida. He graduated from the University of Central Florida. He previously worked at the prestigious Wall Street English college in Bangkok, where he taught locals. Rockwell (pictured speaking at a stand-up comedy event last year) was arrested at his luxury apartment for sex with a minor' and recording the acts' Pictured are Thai police leading Rockwell away to custody He has previously worked at the Bangkok Christian College (BCC) and Thai Christian School, giving short English lessons. Over a few years, his TikTok has gained more than two million followers, many being young girls. The alleged victim, who attended a school that Rockwell had previously taught at, is said to have exchanged messages with the teacher over another one of his social media accounts on Instagram. Her mother said that her daughter was a vulnerable and troubled' teenager who had been adopted when she was three and had hardly any friends'. She added: My daughter can hardly speak Thai and she has very few local friends. She is troubled and she really believed that Luke loved her. We have been home schooling her because of all the difficulties she has had.' Police at the Khlong Tan district station received the report on August 29. An arrest warrant for Rockwell was later approved by the city's criminal court. According to the complaint, Rockwell is accused of depriving a minor over fifteen years but not over eighteen years of age for indecency'. The age of consent in Thailand is 15 but anyone under 18 is still considered a minor. It continues: The alleged victim's mother came to see the investigator informing him that her daughter had pain in the abdomen. When she questioned her daughter, she found that in early February she had been in contact with the suspect over Instagram. They talked often before meeting in a shopping mall and then he took her to his condo where they had sex. The couple had been in constant contact afterwards.' Police at the Khlong Tan district station (pictured) received the report on August 29. An arrest warrant for Rockwell was later approved by the city's criminal court Officers from the Khlong Tan station were joined by a team from the Department of Welfare For Children and Women at Police Headquarters when they served the arrest warrant on Sunday morning. Rockwell was then questioned in custody where he admitted to being the person named in the arrest warrant. Lieutenant General Thitsit Sangsawan, commander of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), ordered the arrest operation led by Deputy Commissioner Lieutenant General Piyarat Wesakanok, along with the assistance of the police investigative team from the Khlong Tan Police Station. Police chief Sangsawan said: The American suspect was arrested for sex with a minor who is over 15 years old but not exceeding 18 years and recording the act of sex with a minor. Additionally, he is accused of taking a minor away from their parents, guardian, or caretaker without reasonable cause, willingly and intentionally. The suspect surrended willingly and was cooperative. He has confessed to the relationship with the minor. There are now extra details to investigate in order to gather all information in the case against the suspect.' Chilling footage shows a knife-wielding rapist moments before he broke into a flat and brutally attacked a teenage female student. Hooded and gloved Courtney Adams, 32, was caught clambering over a metal gate carrying a carrier bag after he broke into an apartment in Greater Western Street, Manchester, armed with a crowbar. Moments later, he broke into a flat a 20-minute walk away in Cavendish Place where the sleeping 19-year-old student awoke to find Adams hovering over her holding a knife to her face. He then demanded she handed over cash, thrust her against a wall and got her into a headlock in a sickening attack despite her handing over 400. Manchester Crown Court heard Adams ransacked the room for more money and told her she would have to 'use her body if she did not prove she had any cash', reported the Manchester Evening News, and angrily told her he would 'f*** her'. Courtney Adams, 32, has been jailed for 20 years with a further five years on license after being convicted of raping a teenage female student The masked Adams then raped her multiple times before apologising when he discovered she was a virgin, saying her first time should not have been with him. He was put behind bars for 20 years with a further five years on license following a sentencing hearing on August 31 at the same court. The sick monster marched the teen to a cash machine following the horrific ordeal and demanded she took out 1,000 despite her only being able to withdraw a maximum of 250. He then took her back to her room through a window before leaving with some of her belongings and cash. Earlier that evening, Adams - who had taken heroin, cannabis and crack cocaine - broke into another home. The victim heard him break in and fled to her neighbours for help. While she was gone, Adams tore through her home and stole debit cards and numerous bags. He left no DNA or bodily-fluids at the scenes. Detective Inspector Kat McKeown has revealed how Greater Manchester Police's extensive investigation brought down a serial predator - and put him behind bars. Chilling footage captured the rapist holding a carrier bag after he left an apartment he had broken into earlier that night Hooded and gloved Adams scales the metal gate following the burglary. The victim had caught him in her home before fleeing to her neighbours to get help 'This was a series of offences increasing in seriousness over a period of 15 hours,' she said. 'There was the attempted theft of a bike, entering a student flat when she was present, and burglary after the victim ran away from the room. He then entered another student flat, stealing property, robbing her, strangling her and raping her, then taking her to a cash point at knifepoint. This was a massive increase in seriousness over a short amount of time.' It quickly became clear that the suspect was a prolific burglar due to his movements and knowledge of the area on CCTV footage that had been quickly gathered, she said. 'We deal with rapes on a daily basis, but I have never seen it where somebody has come into the room at night, this is the first case I've dealt with in 20 years for someone to do that on a first sex offence,' DI McKeown said. 'That tells me he was a sex offender - but he was a burglar first and foremost. 'So how do you find someone like that? We went to the neighbourhood bobby, who had six years experience and knowledge of the local area. 'He suggested a potential suspect in Adams.' From the information received from the local police officer and his experience of him, namely that Adam's was local to the area, and a prolific burglar - suspected of previous sex offences - Adams was raised as a suspect. Officers went to his home address in Hulme, but he wasn't there. 'He knew we were looking for him,' DI McKeown said. A number of CCTV appeals were then urgently issued to the press to find him. The inspector said: 'We would not usually issue a picture of the suspect or name them, but the risk to the public was really high. Adams - who had taken heroin, cannabis and crack cocaine - tore through the home while she was gone and stole debit cards and numerous bags 'We put out a picture of him in the press at that point, saying we wanted to speak to him about the rape.' Whilst the appeals were underway, Adams was linked to a burglary in south Manchester, one occurring just an hour before the rape on November 29 last year. With a similar modus operandi, the offender had broken in through the ground floor bedroom window of student accommodation. Officers also went on to find receipts which revealed the bank card from the first burglary had been used fraudulently - and they were outside the flat where the second burglary - and the rape - occurred. Adams was arrested five days later and interviewed by the police. He claimed he didn't remember where he was at the time of the offence. Officers now had their hands on his mobile phone, unlocking evidence which placed him at the scene of both burglaries and the rape. Cell site analysis showed he was also at the attempted theft of a bicycle outside Manchester Business School the day before. 'Because of that we got the charges, and because of the risk he posed he was remanded in custody,' DI McKeown said. Now the officers had enough evidence to charge, they had to prepare for the impending trial. 'For six months we collected as much evidence and coincidences as we could, because there was a lack of "golden nuggets" or DNA, we had to rely on circumstantial evidence,' she explained. He then calmly walks off holding onto the bag. Moments later, he broke into the teen student's flat where he raped her after demanding she handed over cash 'Some of these included the jeans he wore for the theft were the same jeans he wore for the burglary, which was caught on CCTV. 'His phone made a call after the rape, we called that person, carried out a warrant and found a camera which was the same make and model which was stolen during the burglary and rape. 'The victim also identified him at the ID parade and was 80% sure. And so we ask the jury to consider the cell site analysis, and whether if it was the right place at the right time, or if he wasn't responsible, then it was an unfortunate set of circumstances.' The detectives continued working to gather as much evidence as possible, and it was a week before the trial began that they finally obtained a DNA profile matching Adams'. 'He didn't ejaculate, so we had to look at touch DNA evidence and if it had transferred,' the DI said. 'We went through everything. We were able to find the DNA on a pair of knickers she put on after the rape. But we had to make sure we had enough evidence to convict without the DNA.' The trial lasted seven days, during which Adams maintained his not guilty plea. He claimed that the police planted evidence at the scene, that they had a 'vendetta' against him. He also claimed that a 'long-lost family member' - one who he couldn't provide details for - was the real criminal. He was found unanimously guilty of a string of offences - attempted theft, theft, burglary, rape, robbery, suffocation and strangulation - after jurors deliberated for just over an hour. He has since accepted full responsibility for his actions. Speaking of the impact of the case on the young rape victim, she said: 'The victim was amazing throughout, she helped us so much. We just didn't give up. She got justice for us by helping us so we needed to get justice for her. 'We don't deal with jobs like this everyday, so when a job shocks us, it's because it's genuinely a horrific one. This is one of the worst I have ever done.' Adams will serve two thirds of the jail term in prison before being considered for release by the Parole Board. DI McKeown added: 'It's difficult to convey just how traumatising this attack was for the victim. She was subjected to a harrowing ordeal by Adams who invaded her home where she should have felt safe and subjected her to a heinous and violent sexual assault. 'She was a young student and should have been enjoying living and studying in Manchester, but Adams took this from her and she will bear the psychological scars for the rest of her life.' A fighter jet fuel tank has smashed two cars in a Turkish parking lot after falling from the sky. The spare fuel tank of an F-4 Phantom II fighter jet belonging to the Turkish Air Force fell on parked cars at the headquarters of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) - the national oil company owned by the Turkish government - in Ankara this morning. Shocking videos show the massive fuel tank fall from the sky before it crashed into two parked cars. Debris from the tank also destroyed the windshield and roof of a third car. The aftermath filmed by bystanders shows the tank sitting on top of the two cars, whose roofs, windows and parts of the doors were completely crushed by debris. Those who witnessed the falling fuel tank crashing into the cars were reportedly running away in a panic, according to local media reports. No injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of the accident. The aftermath filmed by bystanders shows the tank sitting on top of the two cars, whose roofs, windows and parts of the doors were completely crushed by debris. No injuries and deaths have been reported as a result of the crashed fuel tank The spare fuel tank of an F-4 Phantom II fighter jet belonging to the Turkish Air Force fell on parked cars at the headquarters of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) - the national oil company owned by the Turkish government - in Ankara this morning. Shocking videos show the massive fuel tank fall from the sky before it crashed into two cars The fighter jet the tank belonged to took off from an area in north-western Ankara - where an aviation festival is currently taking place - this morning and returned safely to the base in Eskisehir. The Turkish Ministry of Defence said in a statement today: 'A part of the F-4 Warplane belonging to our Turkish Air Force crashed into an open parking lot belonging to TPAO for an unknown reason during its flight in the skies of Ankara. 'The aircraft in question landed safely in Eskisehir square. There were no loss of life or injuries. A detailed technical investigation on the issue continues.' People on X (formerly Twitter) were outraged due to the falling tank putting people into danger: 'People could have died. If someone left their child in the car, the child could have died. This is an example of complete ignorance and incompetence,' one wrote. The fighter jet the tank (pictured here after it crashed into the cars) belonged to took off from an area in north-western Ankara - where an aviation festival is currently taking place - this morning and returned safely to the base in Eskisehir A Korean GPS Guided Bomb is loaded on an FA-50 light attack aircraft at the Republic of Korea Air Force's Eighth Fighter Wing in Wonju, Gangwon Province, Aug. 31. Courtesy of Republic of Korea Air Force By Kang Seung-woo LIG Nex1 will participate in the 2023 International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Poland, scheduled to take place Tuesday (local time), where it will showcase various guided weapons. The MSPO, Poland's annual national defense fair established in 1993, is the third-largest defense trade show in Europe after Eurosatory in Paris and Defence and Security Equipment International in London. Poland has selected Korea as the lead nation for this year's exhibition, a role that presents the opportunity to deliver an opening ceremony speech and hold senior-level meetings and joint seminars. Korea was also selected to be the lead nation in 2017. According to the Yongin, Gyeonggi Province-based company, it will showcase its airborne guided weapons such as Korean GPS Guided Bomb (KGGB) and Korean Air-Launched Cruise Missile (KALCM), along with land-based weapon systems including Raybolt and Chiron, as well as a drone system, displaying its unique cutting-edge technologies. KGGB is a smart bomb system operable on various airborne platforms, including FA-50 light attack aircraft, and is capable of conducting precision strikes from long distances with day-and-night and all-weather capability. KALCM, currently under development, will be the first airborne guided munition developed locally with the Agency for Defense Development in the lead. The bomb has the capability to conduct precision strikes on critical targets hundreds of kilometers away. It will be the main armament for the KF-21 for ground strike missions. "LIG Nex1 has since MSPO 2017 been exploring various ways to cooperate with government organizations and Polish defense companies in order to establish a foothold in the European defense market," its CEO Kim, Ji-chan said. "Through this year's MSPO, as the leading K-defense company, LIG Nex1 will showcase its cutting-edge technology and its competitiveness, and will secure its position in the global defense market with its unique and exceptional brand value." An 83-year-old woman who shot to fame after marrying her Egyptian toyboy lover more than half her age has slammed him as a selfish money grabber. Iris Jones, 83, tied the knot with Mohamed Ibrahim, 37, in June 2020 and assured critics who included her family, insisted there relationship would last. But three months ago it emerged she has thrown him out of her home near Weston-super-Mare and replaced him in her affections with her cat Mr Tibbs. In a post on her Facebook page Iris, who once boasted of the great sex the couple had, said: I wish to tell you all the truth about the relationship between Mohamed and myself from the day her first messaged me until now. On June 25 2019, I received a message from Mohamed, and we became friends on messenger. Iris Jones, 83, gave her thoughts on the now-abandoned romance on her Facebook page She has thrown Mohamed out of her home near Weston-super-Mare and replaced him in her affections with her cat Mr Tibbs He seemed a nice bloke and right from the start that he was forced into a marriage and that as a result four children were born. He was going through a divorce and felt that I was the person who could understand and that he could talk to. He sent me photos of himself and I told him: You will soon find someone else, a good looking chap like yourself. I told him about myself, an old biddy pushing 79 years with two grown up sons, older than him, both married and living not far from me. Our messages to one another continued and I began to realise he was getting to be more loving and on July 10 2019, he proposed marriage! Hed never seen what I looked like and my first reaction was You are bloody mad! But the love bombing continued and in November 2019 I flew to Cairo and met him. I had taken several thousand pounds with me, and I paid all his debts as he had ben borrowing on his credit card. The romance captivated the country and the pair would post loved-up images on Facebook We had a wonderful time and I stayed for a month. We tried to get married, but we didnt have the correct documents. Iris then went on to describe how an official at the British Embassy in Cairo, called john Neil, warned her: Dont give him any money. Sadly, Iris failed to listen to his advice and wrote how the next time she went to visit Mohammed she took 15,000 and handed it to him. By now Covid had hit and attempts to get married were thwarted by the pandemic but on her third trip in 2020 they did tie the knot. Iris said: I had 40,000 in my bank account and I handed over my bank card to Mohamed every day and we were drawing 1000 Egyptian pounds daily. This was to pay for living expenses, eating out, a honeymoon in Sharm-El-Shiek and generally enjoying the high life. After three months in Egypt Irish returned to the UK and as she left Cairo, she wrote how Mohammed had told her: Check your bank account when you get back to Heathrow. I think you will have about nine grand in there. Furious Iris stormed: He was absolutely correct. 9,000 left of the 40,000. Mohamed has never had a job and has never had any money. I used to say to people that we shared expenses, but my money paid for everything. Iris added how even when back in the UK, Mohammed would ask for money, and she sent him another 14,000. In November 2021, Mohammed obtained a spousal visa and was able to travel to the UK where he was allowed to stay for two years, pending a review in two months' time. To satisfy the Home Office, Iris paid money into his account so that it wouldnt look as if he was sponging off state. But even after getting a job at a local supermarket, Irish wrote how he would still keep asking for many so much so that she gave him another 26,000. Iris said: I told him: no more money. If I dropped dead tomorrow, I wouldnt have enough to bury me. She went on: He did say at that stage that he needed another 40,000. Well, you will have to whistle for it because I havent got it. Iris added the relationship then started to deteriorate, with numerous rows, especially after Mohamed learned he would not be inheriting her seaside bungalow. Mohamed offered to give Iris the names of women who were coming onto him if she changed her will and tellingly on her post she wrote: This occurred to me that maybe thats why he married me. Iris ended her lengthy post by saying: There is much more I can say at this juncture, but it could involve legal issues. From Mohameds behaviour, I learned that he was displaying many of the traits of narcissism. I researched the condition thoroughly, as I wanted to save my marriage, but Mohamed wouldnt listen. He was always right, I was always wrong. On June 13 of this year, after another vitriolic row, I told him to go. It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, as my love for Mohamed was genuine but it was no good pretending that things would improve. I let my head rule my heart. There is so much more I could say at this point but that will be for another post. Furious villagers are snubbing 5,000 compensation to allow giant 700ft-high wind turbines to be erected near their homes - vowing to fight plans for a sprawling wind farm. Hundreds of locals have joined the battle against the plan, which include proposals for a 60-mile stretch of pylons cutting through the rolling Welsh hills. The villagers fear the proposed 36 wind turbines and miles of pylons in the Nant Mithil Energy Park will forever ruin their views of the beauty spot. Some have been offered cash payments to compensate living near the 'monstrous' structures - but say they will refuse the money. The Barstow family run a campsite in the village of Hundred House, Powys, but fear for its future if the wind plans are successful. The villagers fear the proposed 36 wind turbines and miles of pylons in the Nant Mithil Energy Park will ruin their views in a beauty spot part of the world Hundreds of locals have joined the battle against the wind farm. Pictured are Will Barstow and Natalie Barstow who own Fforest Fields, Caravan & Camping Site and are opposing the plans Villagers are snubbing 5,000 offers to allow giant 700ft-high wind turbines near their homes which they say will forever ruin the view of the rolling hills of the Welsh countryside (pictured) Katie Barstow, 68, said: 'The preferred line goes over our campsite lake and right in front of it. 'That would mean 35 years of building up a business gone. People aren't going to want to come and sit under a pylon and have a picnic. 'They come to Mid Wales because it's peaceful, because it's quiet, because there's nothing here and because of the unspoilt landscape. 'We've worked incredibly hard to bring people to this area, to introduce them to what we have here in Mid Wales. They come now in their numbers and they'll be devastated if this happens to their favourite place.' Her daughter-in-law, mother-of-two Natalie, was also worried about the noise the turbines would make. The 43-year-old added: 'All we've got to trade on is the great outdoors - that's why people come here. 'But will they still come if the campsite is surrounded by giant wind turbines and electricity pylons?' The family's Fforest Fields site is sheltered by a 350ft wooded hill, now destined to have 700ft wind turbines sitting along the top - almost as high as the Pen-Y-Fan mountain. Natalie's husband Will, 44, added: 'Families are being torn apart by this and it has split communities. Residents are up in arms over the new wind farm plans which they say will blight the Welsh countryside (pictured is a protest sign outside the town of Builth Wells) 'Some people have signed up to have a turbine on their land, others to have pylons. Their neighbours are furious about it, there is a lot of ill-feeling. 'I'm not interested in compensation - how do you compensate for ruining one of the most beautiful parts of the UK?' Another villager, who asked not to be named, said: 'This isn't just about ruining the view nearby - these are monstrous structures. 'Surely it makes more sense to build these things out to sea and not in the middle of the countryside churning up land and destroying wildlife.' More than 500 campaigners joined a public meeting at the Royal Welsh Showground earlier this year to oppose the plans by developers Bute Energy. Conservative MP Fay Jones attended the public consultation and said she was 'against' the plans. A local Facebook group fighting the turbine proposals also has more than 650 members with villagers discussing ways to oppose the plans. Ross Evans, of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, said: 'Bute Energy, who have no experience and no assets in this field, are trying to become the biggest player in Wales. More than 500 campaigners joined a public meeting at the Royal Welsh Showground earlier this year to oppose the plans by developers Bute Energy (pictured is a protest sign) The turbines are 700ft and some would sit on hills 350ft high 'They've gone in very heavy-handed and are trying to build their own transmission network through the backdoor. 'They claim to have 25 per cent of people signed up although I sincerely doubt it - but it's caused a level of anger in the community.' Bute Energy insisted the new wind turbines would generate around 237MW of cleaner, green energy - which could power about 71,000 homes. The firm said all feedback would be 'carefully considered' ahead of the next round of public consultation in early 2024. A spokesman added: 'Together, the projects will empower rural communities through investment, jobs and skills, enabling communities across Wales to live modern electric lives, and support the Welsh Government's target for electricity to be 100 per cent renewable by 2035. 'We know people have differing views on new infrastructure. But across Wales, there's broad agreement that renewable energy has an important part to play in responding to the climate emergency.' This comes as neighbors has come forward to allege that they themselves contacted child protective services more than a year regarding Franke A picture showing the YouTuber being led away was accompanied with the caption 'Finally' The moment Ruby Franke was taken into custody on child abuse charges in Utah on Saturday was caught on camera The moment that YouTuber Ruby Franke was taken into custody on child abuse charges outside of her home in Utah was caught on camera. Just days after Franke's arrest, several over her neighbors have come forward to claim that they were long concerned for the safety of the 8 Passengers' host's children. Allegations of abuse first emerged all the way back in July 2020. The picture posted last week along with the caption 'Finally' was posted by Franke's eldest daughter, Shari, 20. The 41-year-old was arrested on two counts of aggravated child abuse on Wednesday along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt after two of her malnourished kids were found starved with open wounds and wrapped in duct tape. Franke gained fame online through her YouTube channel 8 Passengers and had 2.2 million subscribers before she stopped posting in January 2022. 'I'm really angry because I spoke up. Other people spoke up,' a neighbor who chose not to be named told NBC News. Ruby, her husband, and their six kids were shot into stardom back in 2015, after she started sharing videos giving an inside look into her life as a Mormon mother-of-six on YouTube Earlier this week, Franke's eldest daughter Shari, 20, posted about her mother's arrest on Instagram, sharing an image of police officers outside the home captioned 'Finally' The neighbor said that she made contact with child protective services in Utah in September 2022. When authorities called at Franke's home, there was no answer, the neighbor alleges. 'I want those kids to know that the community loves them and wants them to be safe,' another woman told the network.' 'If people knew the amount of tears and time spent talking with law enforcement and CPS over the last year I want people to understand that. And I want those kids to know that because I think they thought they were abandoned,' she added. Franke's husband, who she shares six children with - Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve - was seen at the property on Saturday as a man came to remove the YouTube branding from the van parked outside. Over the weekend, DailyMail.com spoke to one of Hildebrandt's neighbor's whose home is also in the Kayenta Community located at the base of the Red Mountains in Ivins, Utah. They recalled seeing Franke's '8Passengers' van regularly parked in front of the home at the time. 'One thing we noticed and we told the police the same thing, six to eight weeks ago when it was really hot I was outside in the late morning, afternoon pulling weeds and over at Jodi's home several kids were also outside her home pulling weeds. 'Over the course of the day the temperature was over 100 degrees and I gave up after a while because it was so hot but I noticed that the kids stayed out there,' the neighbor explained. Ruby Franke's Springville, Utah home, is seen on Saturday Kevin Franke was seen pacing around outside his home on Saturday in Springville, Utah Ruby Franke, who ran the 8 Passengers page, was arrested for two counts of aggravated child abuse along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt. Pictured, her branded van Ruby Franke, (left) who ran the now-defunct 8 Passengers channel, was arrested along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (right) on Wednesday The resident also noted how they never heard any sounds coming from the home such as those of children playing outside, which they thought was unusual. On one day a child is thought to have escaped through the window of a home, before running to a neighbor who then called the police. The neighbor said they believed the child picked that particular home after they had been given cookies by them at Christmas time and knew them to be friendly and 'safe enough to go to them for help.' Both Franke and Hildebrandt have been previously criticized for their teachings on parenting collaborating on Hildebrandt's life counseling service ConneXions. 'Everyone is just breathing a collective sigh of relief because we thought they were going to come out of that house with body bags,' another neighbor said to NBC News following the arrest. The Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department in Utah arrested Franke and Hildebrandt after a report of a juvenile in need at 10.50am on Wednesday. Authorities said the child was described as 'emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and duct tape around their extremities' and was asking for food and water. 'I remember that she took away their Christmas one year and she would say things like "They're not repenting correctly," which is a Mormon term for 'they're sinning.' Just complete insanity,' a male neighbor explained. The local residents also told how Franke would interfere in the lives of her neighbors. One recalled an incident where Franke lectured a neighbor over what she deemed to be 'inappropriate' posters of women posing in shorts that were on display in a garage. Kevin Franke is believed to have been kicked out of the family home last year. He said earlier this week that he is 'trying to keep his children together' following the arrests. Four minor children were taken into the care of Child and Family Services following the investigation, and two were rushed to hospital. It is unconfirmed if they were Franke's children Kevin's attorney, Randy S. Kester, told Page Six his client's 'urgent focus is simply to keep his children together under his fatherly care'. Four minor children were taken into the care of Child and Family Services following the police's investigation. It is unconfirmed if the children were related to either Franke or Hildebrandt. Once Kevin had departed the family home, one neighbor said it appeared the children stopped going to school with one of the daughters knocking on the doors of other homes in the neighborhood that had kids. A United Stares Army veteran who has been detained in the United Arab Emirates for more than five years says he is losing hope that he will ever return home to his family. Robert Dobbs, 55, has been prevented from leaving Dubai, and from securing a new work visa, because of an ongoing financial dispute with his former employer. When Dobbs and his wife first moved their blended family to Dubai, the veteran became a teacher at a private school, where he worked for four years. In 2018, Dobbs sued the school for withholding his end-of-service benefit - a bonus for employees who complete a term of employment in the UAE - following the end of his contract. He also alleged that the school in Sharjah - Providence English Private School - would not let him out of his work visa, which was tied to his employment at the institution. The foreign court ruled in Dobbs' favor and the school was told to fork over his benefit. Robert Dobbs was formerly an English and Literature teacher at a private school in Sharjah, a city outside of Dubai He cannot leave the country, or acquire a new work visa, because courts allege he owes $100,000 to the private school The school reacted by bringing a civil suit against Dobbs, claiming he owed them $100,000 in tuition for his four children who attended the school. Dobbs says the claim against him is unfounded and retaliatory. However, he missed his opportunity to make his case formally. The hearing took place just as the COVID-19 pandemic was shutting down the world and Dobbs says he was never informed of the court date. He has since attempted to appeal the matter to local officials to no avail. Insider reported that the school maintains that Dobbs owes them the tuition money. The Wisconsin native spoke out via press release last month, saying he's been 'stuck in this open-air prison for dive years, three-and-a-half years away from my family.' 'I am a veteran with PTSD as well. I'm at the end of my life, basically.' The organization Detained in Dubai has been working on Dobbs' behalf to move the ball forward on Dobbs' release. Radha Stirling, a UK-based legal advocate and CEO of Detained in Dubai, said Dobbs has been jailed repeatedly and beaten by local law enforcement. 'Robert has no legal avenue to appeal or to show evidence to the court that he does not owe the money,' she said. 'He was not even told there was a court date and was unable to defend himself. US diplomats must work with UAE authorities to resolve this miscarriage of justice.' 'If diplomatic efforts are not made, the veteran will likely die in Dubai,' she said. Dobbs says the claim against him is unfounded and retaliatory, but he missed his opportunity to make his case formally because he was not informed of the court date Dobbs with his wife, who has only been able to visit him twice since 2020 The State Department clearly warns US travelers of the possibility of being detained while attempting to leave the UAE His children and stepchildren say their hope that he will come home is dwindling Dobbs has been in contact with Senator Tammy Baldwin's office, and has reached out to the State Department - though it is unclear exactly what, if any, action either entity is taking. Earlier this summer, a Houston woman was allowed to fly home after paying local police more than $1,000 to lift a travel ban against her. The woman had been detained in April after car-rental employees claimed she screamed at them - a violation of a broadly defined law against behavior that can be interpreted as offensive in Dubai. Insider reported that the US Embassy in UAE said they were limited in their capacity to speak about some cases, but noted that the the State Department clearly warns US travelers of the possibility of being detained while attempting to leave the UAE. 'Travelers have been arrested at the airport and have had their passports seized due to outstanding financial cases, unsettled legal disputes, and late credit card payments, including for cases that were previously unknown to the traveler,' reads the department's website. Dobbs said his life right now is 'like Groundhog Day. Every day I am worried it will be the day I am taken to jail while the false debt is unpaid. It can never be paid because I dont have the money. I am also legally forbidden to get a work visa while the case is open. 'It is no exaggeration to say I will probably die here because of this. My friend Robin Berlyn died trying to escape from exactly the same circumstances 18 months ago.' Dobbs has been in contact with Senator Tammy Baldwin's office, and has reached out to the State Department - though it is unclear exactly what, if any, action either entity is taking Stirling added that because the UAE legal is easy to abuse, cases like Dobbs' are 'all too common.' 'We have seen people die in Dubai because they were not allowed to leave, nor were they allowed to work to support themselves because the open police/civil case prevents them from getting a work visa,' she said. 'These people are left relying on charity, often succumbing to malnutrition or as they get older, lack of medical treatment.' Since sending his family to the United States in 2020, Dobbs' wife has only been able to visit him twice. His children and stepchildren say their hope that he will come home is dwindling. During the last visit, Dobbs said he noticed a local police officer following them. 'I'm looking over my shoulder all the time. That's one thing I think that really gets you - after a point - is that hypervigilance,' he said. These are the first photos of a 'kind and gentle' father of two who died in a 'car rampage' in Coventry - as a 33-year-old man was arrested for murder and detained under the Mental Health Act. Joel Carriedo was struck by the car as he was cycling home from the University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire on Sunday morning after working a night shift. Moments before the same car had hit and killed a 44-year-old pedestrian. Mr Carriedo, 47 - originally from the Philippines - was described this afternoon as 'a great person, very kind and gentle'. A friend added: 'This is a tragedy. He was cycling home after a night shift and had only just returned to work after being on holiday with his family. 'He was so well liked, a brilliant father and colleague. We'll miss him.' Cyclist and hospital support worker Joel Carriedo pictured with his wife, Marilyn Retired builder Barry Dean told today how a car smashed into his home following a rampage Mr Dean opened his front door and found the wreckage of a black Mercedes on his front drive surrounded by bricks and rubble Mr Carriedo (pictured) was struck by the car as he was cycling home from the University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire on Sunday morning after working a night shift Former colleagues of Mr Carriedo also paid tribute today. Lalu Scaria, 47, a nurse at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire said: Joel was always very cheerful and a very talented man. We used to work on the same ward and the patients always really appreciated his compassion. When I left the ward, he helped arrange a party with staff and patients to thank me for my work. He was a very kindhearted person. Another colleague Bittaj Augustine, a 52-year-old supervisor in sterile services, said: I think Joel had recently moved over to the gastro ward and was looking after mainly elderly patients. Hed recently moved from working the day to working a lot at night. He and his family had been on holiday recently and theyd not long moved house. Another colleague of mine whod also been working nights was walking home and came across the aftermath of what happened. She could see paramedics trying to resuscitate someone on the ground. There was a small crowd gathered round. She couldnt tell who it was but knew it was someone from the hospital as the victim still had their uniform on. It turned out to be Joel. All of his colleagues are devastated. He was always smiling and was one of those people who are always positive and forward-thinking. After the rampage the car crashed into a house in the area. The house owner Barry Dean, 76, was watching Match of the Day on TV yesterday morning when he heard a huge crash. He opened his front door and found the wreckage of a black Mercedes on his front drive surrounded by bricks and rubble. West Midlands Police officers were called to Gosford Street near the city centre in Coventry. A 44-year-old pedestrian and a cyclist died after being hit by a car in separate crashes The car hit a house in Beckbury Road, Coventry, after a pedestrian and a cyclist were killed The driver had fled by the time Mr Dean came out and a man was later arrested by police near to local flats. Mr Dean said today: It shook me out of my seat. I was sitting watching Match of the Day and all of sudden there was a huge crash and the house shook. I immediately got up and went to fetch the front door keys. I opened up and found the smoking wreck of a black Mercedes. The car partially destroyed my fuse box so Ive now had the electricity and gas cut off. There's a lot of damage to the front of the house, where the hallway and cloakroom is. I built this house myself, it's gutting. Luckily my wife was out at the time; shed gone out not long before to a car boot sale. By the time Id opened the door and seen what had happened, the driver had managed to climb out the wreckage and had run off. A man who was walking nearby whod watched it happen called the police and they came about five minutes late. There must have been about ten cars, police dogs, a drone and even the helicopter was up. The car crashed into a house on Beckbury Road. An hour later police arrested a 33-year-old man who is currently in custody being quizzed by officers West Midlands Police said that a man arrested on suspicion of murder has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act. A spokesman said: 'We detained a 33-year-old man in Beckbury Road following a series of collisions in the city around 8am yesterday morning (3 September). 'A 44-year-old pedestrian who was struck on Gosford Street and a cyclist, aged 47, who was hit on Woodway Lane sadly died of their injuries. 'Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have tragically lost their lives, and we'll be doing all we can to support them during this deeply distressing time. 'Another pedestrian who was struck on Gosford Street has been treated for injuries which are not life threatening. 'We're not looking for anyone else in connection with what happened, and from the information we have, this is not being treated as terror-related. 'Our enquiries are continuing and anyone who can assist is asked to contact us.' An antiques dealer who featured on a popular BBC show has been branded unethical for advertising human bones on his shop's social media accounts. Chris Barnes, the owner of Stratton-Oakford Antiques, based in Whittlesey, Peterborough, posted photos on Facebook and Instagram of what he claimed are 'ex medical specimens' that were for sale. One image, which was posted on Facebook but has since been deleted, showed the remains of human skulls, priced between 100 and 195. Labels boasted that they are 'real human'. Another photo showed a jumble of remains that included pelvic, leg bones and ribs. The initial announcement told customers that the sale of the bones was 'not for the feint hearted' and for their 'more macabre collectors'. Mr Barnes and his shop featured on BBC One show Antiques Road Trip in March, when it was visited by presenter and antiques expert Irita Marriott. Reacting to the images of the bones, bestselling historian Dr Cat Jarman told MailOnline it is 'very much considered ethically wrong' to sell them and said they have been presented as if they are 'nuts and bolts in a hardware store'. A shop which featured on BBC show Antiques Road Trip has been branded 'unethical' for selling human bones. Stratton-Oakford Antiques, based in Whittlesey, Peterborough, and owned by antiques dealer Chris Barnes, posted photos of what were claimed to be 'ex medical specimens' on Facebook and Instagram Chris Barnes is the owner of the shop where human bones are being sold to customers. Above: When he featured on BBC show Antiques Road Trip in March The sale of bones that have in the past been used for medical research is not illegal but is considered by many experts to be unethical. It comes after an investigation found last year that the largely unregulated but popular online market for human remains has fueled a rise in grave-robbing in the UK. Commenting on the deleted Facebook posts, one customer posted an image of what they claimed was a 'half skeleton' on top of their wardrobe. Another asked how much the shop is selling bones for and wanted to know if there were 'any skulls available' so they could make one into a Bluetooth speaker 'for my hearse'. The original Instagram post was put online a week ago and said: 'Not for the feint hearted. One here for my more macabre collectors! A post on the shop's Instagram account advertised the bones, saying they were 'not for the feint hearted' and for their 'more macabre collectors' Another post on the antique shop's Instagram account boasted: 'Dem bones have now been priced and out for sale' 'We have just collected these ex medical specimens. Yes these are genuine human bone specimens'. A follow-up post added: 'Dem bones have now been priced and out for sale'. When approached for comment, Mr Barnes claimed he was never selling the bones. He said the remains were once owned by a doctor who has since passed away and that he had been asked to advertise them by a customer. 'A customer asked us if we are interested. I said no but I said I would advertise them,' he claimed. 'They are not in my shop, they never were in my shop to actually buy.' He claimed the bones have since been given back to the customer. 'It was misjudged in my part thinking that I would be able to help,' he said, adding that he deleted the Facebook posts after a backlash online. Dr Jarman, the author of upcoming book The Bone Chests and the bestselling River Kings, said: 'Professionally everyone who works with remains agrees that morally and ethically these are people so to sell like them is not something we think is okay.' Speaking of the images in question, she added: 'It's as if they are nuts and bolts in a hardware store. Commenting on the Facebook posts, which have now been deleted one customer posted an image of what they claimed was a 'half skeleton' on top of their wardrobe The original post on Facebook, which was deleted after being criticised 'Today you can get such good 3D copies of human bones, there is no need even for medical students to have them,' she added. Dr Nicholas Marquez-Grant, a forensic anthropologist at Cranfield University, told MailOnline that the bones had 'not been ethically presented as a jumble'. 'It says they are ex medical specimens, so they were obtained legally at one point, but selling them is not very ethical,' he said. Speaking of the image of the skull fragments that were being advertised, he added: 'It's so terrible that they put a price to bones, it's just terrible. It's just not nice. These are human cranial bones. 'I think it's terrible, especially when we have nowadays 3D imaging, you've got virtual autopsies, you've got scans. It's really not good.' On her visit to Stratton-Oakford Antiques on Antiques Road Trip, Ms Marriott examined a potable surgeon's amputation kit housed in a battered leather box and spoke to Mr Barnes, who was seen giving her a discount on various items. Ebay banned the sale of human remains in 2016 after scores of dealers were found to be selling bones on the online marketplace. The Human Tissue Authority, which is part of the Department of Health, strictly regulates organisations that use human remains for treatment, post-mortem examinations, education and training and display in public. However, specimens bought and sold by private collectors are not regulated by the HTA. An investigation by popular website Live Science found that Facebook and Instagram make it easy to buy and sell human remains, and that it is often impossible to find where they have come from. Stratton-Oakford Antiques is based in Whittlesey, Peterborough The market has led to an increase in thefts from churchyards, experts said. Trish Biers, an osteologist and paleopathologist at the University of Cambridge, told Live Science: 'We're seeing an increase in vandalism to churchyards. 'We're seeing some crypts online, and we're having to contact them [the people working in the crypts] in response to what we think is a security risk.' In 2018, 21 skulls were stolen from a church in Kent. It was feared they may have been taken to sell on the black market. Live Science's investigation also found that looted skulls were being bought and sold in private Facebook groups. Dr. Lauren McIntyre, of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology, told MailOnline in a statement: 'The trading of human remains for commercial gain is both unethical and unacceptable. 'Most medical/anatomical remains currently being sold openly in the UK (even as "antiques") are the product of 20th century mass export from India and China rather than being from consenting donors. 'The export of human skeletons from India was banned in 1985 amid government fears of grave robbing and murder, although there is evidence that the trade continues. 'The export of human skeletons from China was banned in 2008. Many of the anatomical/medical examples seen for sale may therefore be of very recent date.' 'In the UK, all human remains less than 100 years old fall under the 2004 Human Tissue Act. 'It is an offence to hold these remains for any purpose unless a licence has been obtained from the Human Tissue Authority.' Kyiv today said Iranian-made Russian drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory during an overnight strike on the Ukrainian port of Izmail, a claim that NATO member Romania denied. 'According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Russian 'Shaheds' fell and detonated on Romanian territory overnight,' Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on social media, referring to Iranian-made drones. He said the incident took place during a massive Russian attack near Izmail, located on the Danube river, across from Romania. Nikolenko added: 'This is yet another confirmation that Russia's missile terror poses a huge threat not just to Ukraine's security, but also to the security of neighbouring countries, including NATO member states.' The spokesman shared an image of what appeared to be flames of an explosion near a body of water. It was not immediately possible to verify the image. But the Romanian Defence Ministry said it 'categorically denied' that Russian drones fell on its territory during the strike. Oleg Nikolenko shared an image of what appeared to be flames of an explosion near a body of water. He claimed Iranian-made Russian drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory during an overnight strike on the Ukrainian port of Izmail - a claim Romania denied Nikolenko said the incident took place during a massive Russian attack near Izmail, located on the Danube river, across from Romania 'At no time did the means of attack used by the Russian Federation pose a direct military threat to Romania's national territory or territorial waters,' it said. However, a spokesman for the State Border Guard Service told AFP that Nikolenko's account was 'reliable' and that two detonations had been observed. 'We recorded two detonations on the territory of Romania near the Izmail port during the Russian attack overnight,' Andriy Demchenko said. Meanwhile, Daniela Tanase, whose house in the Romanian village of Plauru overlooks Ukraine's Izmail port across the river, said she was not aware of explosions on the Romanian bank but could not say for certain. 'We heard the drones, the booms and the air defence systems across the river,' she told Reuters by telephone. 'We saw a light in the distance from our window, it was raining last night.' NATO has a collective defence commitment under which the military alliance considers an attack on one ally to be an attack on all allies. Ukrainian lawmaker Oksana Savchuk told Ukrainian television that she believed the Romanian denial could be part of an effort by NATO to prevent a slide into a direct war with Russia. Following its withdrawal from an agreement in July allowing the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, Moscow has pounded ports in Ukraine's south including Izmail. While most fighting during Russia's invasion has taken place within Ukraine's borders, Kyiv has occasionally claimed the conflict has spilled over into European countries, claims that its NATO allies have largely dismissed. In March 2022 a Soviet-made Tupolev drone crashed into the Croatian capital Zagreb causing no injuries, and in November a missile landed on a Polish village near the Ukrainian border, killing two people. Ukraine suggested Russia was behind both incidents but in both case its Western allies dismissed this, suggesting instead that they were of Ukrainian origin and had fallen there accidentally. Officials in Kyiv said Monday's attack damaged Ukrainian warehouses and set buildings ablaze, hours before Erdogan met Putin in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) during their talks in Sochi, Russia, on Monday Turkey, also a NATO member, has sponsored the Black Sea grain export deal and Erdogan has said he expects to persuade Putin to rejoin it. Russia quit the deal in July that had allowed Ukraine to safely export food via the Black Sea during the war. The Danube has since become a vital export corridor for Ukrainian grain, and Russia has targeted the route with regular air strikes. In the early hours of Monday, the Ukrainian border guard service said two drones had hit Romanian soil near Ukraine's Izmail port, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported. It said it had relayed the information to its Romanian counterparts, but received no reply. The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the incident showed the need to increase supplies of modern air defence and long-range weapons to deprive Russia of the ability to launch drones and missiles as Ukraine. 'Additional weapons and long-range missiles for Ukraine - to speed up the de-occupation of our territories. Russia must be defeated on the battlefield,' Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app. It comes days after his surviving son insisted he was wrongfully convicted Disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh is seeking a second murder trial based on 'newly discovered evidence' that he claims wasn't presented to a jury before his double-murder conviction in March. Attorneys for the killer, 64, have announced a bombshell press conference for Tuesday afternoon, where they are set to lay out their strategy for overturning Murdaugh's double life sentence for murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul. His lawyers Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, who represented Murdaugh at his trial earlier this year, have not offered details about the new 'evidence' they plan to submit. The move comes days after Murdaugh's surviving son Buster broke his six-month silence on his family's ordeal to insist he believes his father was wrongfully convicted. Alex Murdaugh has filed to overturn his murder conviction six-months after he was found guilty of killing his wife and son. He is pictured before his sentencing on March 3, 2023 with his attorneys Jim Griffin (left) and Dick Harpootlian (right) The disgraced legal scion was found guilty in March of fatally shooting his son Paul (left) and wife Maggie (center right). Last week, his surviving son Buster (right) insisted he believes Murdaugh was wrongfully convicted The press conference is set to be held at the South Carolina State House grounds near the Court of Appeals, where Murdaugh's attorneys filed their retrial request just over six months after they lost his murder case. A jury convicted Murdaugh on March 2 for the fatal shootings of Maggie and Alex at their family hunting lodge in June 2021. He was sentenced to two life sentences the day after his guilty verdict, and he has reportedly spent his time behind bars enjoying his 'celebrity' status as he responds to fan mail, plays video games and watches television. But Murdaugh has also allegedly rubbed prison officials the wrong way with his behavior and flouting of inmate rules. Officials in the McCormick Correctional Institution said Murdaugh had a disciplinary hearing last week after he violated the prison's policies on giving news interviews and using another inmates PIN number to make a call behind bars. Murdaugh first reportedly read information to Griffin , who recorded their exchange and provided it to the media. When prison guards found out, Murdaugh's tablet and phone were revoked immediately, leading him to then steal another inmate's PIN number to make further phone calls. Following his disciplinary hearing, the disbarred attorney lost his telephone and canteen privilege's for 30 days, according to Live5News. The Murdaugh family were a prominent legal dynasty in South Carolina. Following Alex's arrest for the murders, it emerged that he stole millions from clients The eldest son of the disgraced former South Carolina attorney told Fox Nation that he doesn't think it's possible that his father, 55, killed Maggie and Paul at their hunting estate Moselle in 2021 Last week, Murdaugh's surviving son Buster, 26, broke his silence over six-months after the blockbuster trial to sensationally claim he doesn't believe his father killed his brother and mother. The eldest son of the disgraced South Carolina attorney told Fox Nation he doesn't think it's possible his dad, 55, killed Maggie and Paul at their hunting estate in 2021. He said: 'I think that I hold a very unique perspective that nobody else in that courtroom ever held. And I know the love that I have witnessed.' Buster, 26, also had the finger pointed at him over the death of his schoolmate Stephen Smith, 19, in 2015 as well as claims the pair had a gay relationship. But in the interview he denied any links to it, adding: 'I never had anything to do with his murder and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level of any regard.' Buster has insisted on his father's innocence. He is pictured exchanging a look with the convicted killer as he walks up to the witness stand at Colleton County courthouse in Walterboro in February 2023 Murdaugh is serving two consecutive life sentences in McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina, where a judge told him he will life 'for the rest of his natural life' upon his sentencing Murdaugh's trial earlier this year captured international attention as numerous shocking details emerged during the proceedings, including how Alex allegedly stole millions of dollars from his clients. The high-profile trial was slammed by Buster as unfair, feeling the public outcry over the crimes may have swayed the outcome as he branded it a 'tilted table.' He took aim at the police and judge, claiming they had a 'crappy motive' and he does not 'believe it was fair' that all 12 jurors found him guilty. 'I was there for six weeks studying it, and I think it was a tilted table from the beginning,' Buster said. 'And I think, unfortunately, a lot of the jurors felt that way prior to when they had to deliberate. 'It was predetermined in their minds prior to when they ever heard any shred of evidence that was given in that room.' He believes that the jury ultimately found his father guilty of the shootings because of 'everything they had the ability to read prior to the trial.' The killer's attorney Jim Griffin (left) offered a glimpse inside Murdaugh's comfortable life behind bars where he plays video games and responds to fan mail The 64-year-old, seen in a recently released shirtless selfie, is under protective custody at the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina In May, Griffin offered a troubling insight into Murdaugh's comfortable life in his maximum security prison. The 64-year-old is under protective custody at the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina, alongside 28 other inmates deemed to be at risk of violence if placed with the general population. 'When he came in, he obviously had a lot of notoriety and was a celebrity of sorts, but he gets along with everybody in the pod,' his lawyer Jim Griffin told Fox News Digital. Murdaugh's fans have even sent him money for his commissary - where inmates can buy sodas, snacks and toiletries Murdaugh reportedly stays away from most of the other inmates in his unit, who have committed 'horrendous sex crimes,' per Griffin. Those he does interact with are said to enjoy playing card games with the convicted killer. Griffin added that CourtTV is the preferred channel inside the prison. Despite concerns for his safety, Murdaugh wants to be move to the prison's general population, according to his lawyer. Inmates in protective custody cannot participate in the facility's programs which include producing upholstered furniture and powder coating metal products. He reportedly would rather take the chance of being harmed by other inmates than remain isolated. His lawyer Griffin said: 'He thinks he can be productive in the general population. He would rather take his chances on the yard than rot away in a cell, to be honest with you.' Two women have been killed and several others wounded during an early morning shooting that began at an Alabama nightclub and continued as victims were being transported to a local hospital. Witnesses said that before 2:30 am on Monday a Chevrolet Tahoe pulled up outside of the University of Alabama Birmingham hospital, those inside were seeking treatment for victims of the first shooting. As they pleaded for help, a car pulled up behind the SUV and began opening fire. That gunfire broke a hospital room window and hit a nearby police car, reports AL.com. All of those who were wounded where shot at the nightclub. According to the AL.com report, in addition to the two that were killed, three others were injured. Police have confirmed that the shooting is being investigated as a double homicide. There have been no arrests and the suspects remain at large. The university hospital is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in Alabama. The University of Alabama Birmingham hospital is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in Alabama The altercation began here, at the Aria Restaurant & Lounge in Birmingham in the early hours of Monday The original shooting occurred at Aria Restaurant & Lounge, just a five minute drive from the hospital. According to the club's Instagram page, the venue was hosting an event named Labor Day Rehab Sunday at the time of the attack. A witness described the gunshots as being like 'iron pipes hitting' in an interview with AL.com. The two women are the 90th and 91st people to have been the victim of a homicide in Birmingham so far in 2023. A postman made the ultimate delivery as he helped his partner give birth to their baby in the living room of their home. Postie Scott Rogers, 41, rushed home and delivered his daughter when partner Joanne Stephens, 37, called him to say she was having contractions then soon after went into labour. Little Taymar May Rogers was given a first class welcome when she arrived weighing 7lb 10oz. Scott, who has worked as a postman for 22-years, was guided through the delivery by a midwife as there wasn't enough time to get to hospital. Joanne, of Argoed, North Wales, said: 'Scott was out when I started to have contractions and then my waters broke. The postman made the ultimate delivery when he delivered his baby daughter Postie Scott Rogers, 41, delivered his baby daughter when partner Joanne Stephens, 37, went into labour at home Pictured here is Baby Taymar with Scott Rogers, Joanne Stephens and big brother Cai 'The pains were getting worse and I was walking up and down the living room saying to myself hurry up Scott. 'He got home at 8.42am and I told him I thought the baby was coming. I phoned the hospital who told me to come in but I shouted that I needed to push. 'The midwife wanted to speak to Scott and then I put myself into the position ready to give birth on the living room floor. 'Scott put the phone on loud speaker and the midwife talked Scott through what to do. He reacted fast and delivered our daughter with their guidance. He didn't even have time to take his coat off when he got home. 'Scott was overwhelmed and stunned to deliver the baby on the living room floor.' Joanne says the midwives arrived shortly after the birth before hailing Scott's skills. She said: 'They said Scott had done a fantastic job. He then rang close family members and friends to say what had happened and at first they thought he was winding them up but they all think it was amazing what he did. 'How many people can say they delivered their own child. He's a postie and he has taken delivering to the next level.' Daughter Taymar was born on her due date August 2 after her parents have been together for two years. Joanne also has an eight-year-old son Cai while Scott has a daughter Georgia, 17. Taymar May Rogers was given a first class welcome when she arrived weighing 7lb 10oz Joanne said: 'If Scott hadn't come back in time I would have had to deliver Taymar myself which would have been scary. 'I coped very well when giving birth to Taymar. It happened very quickly but I kept calm. 'I can't thank Scott enough for what he did bringing our daughter into the world. It is so special to him what he did. 'I would like to thank all the midwives involved that day. They all did a great job from Ystrad Mynach Hospital. Taymar didn't need to go to hospital after she was born and I was all okay too. 'Scott's work friends said he did amazing job and that he's taken delivering post to the next level delivering babies as well.' A person glues a mourning message onto a wall of an elementary school in southern Seoul, Sept. 4, after a young teacher who taught at the school took her own life. Yonhap Police have launched an investigation into the death of a high school teacher who took his own life amid a lawsuit filed by one of his students injured during class, officials said Monday. The physical education teacher in his 60s, who taught at a high school in Yongin, just south of Seoul, was found dead on a hiking trail on Mount Cheonggye in the adjacent city of Seongnam on Sunday morning in an apparent suicide. The teacher, who was reportedly a year away from retirement, was awaiting police questioning in connection with a lawsuit one of his students had filed against him after suffering an eye injury from a ball kicked by a classmate during a class in June while the teacher was briefly away. The injured student sued the classmate and the teacher on charges of negligence resulting in injury. Two schoolboys who climbed onto the roof of a train have been rushed to hospital after touching the live overhead wires, with one suffering 'life-changing injuries'. The 14-year-olds were shocked after clambering onto a commercial goods train parked at Stechford railway station, near Birmingham, on Saturday afternoon. Emergency services raced to the scene, with at least seven response vehicles and two fire engines being spotted at the scene. The injured schoolboys were rushed to Birmingham Children's Hospital, with one suffering from life-changing injuries. West Midlands Fire Service has since confirmed the incident involved two boys who suffered burns after touching overhead lines on the train track. Police and emergency services are pictured at the Stechford railway station near Birmingham after two boys were shocked while climbing on a train The 14-year-olds were shocked after clambering onto a commercial goods train parked at Stechford railway station (pictured) near Birmingham, on Saturday afternoon. A fire service spokesperson said: 'At approximately 5pm on Saturday, September 2, we responded to an incident at Stechford railway station. Two fire engines, crewed by firefighters from Sheldon and Ward End, responded. 'This incident involved two teenage boys who had been electrocuted after touching overhead lines on the train track, after climbing onto the roof of a commercial goods train that was parked alongside the station. The boys were treated for burns by paramedics on scene, before being taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital.' A British Transport Police spokesperson added that one of the teenager boys had suffered injuries believed to be life-changing. They said: 'Officers were called to Stechford station at 4.57pm on September 2 following a report of young people sustaining electrocution injuries on the railway. 'Paramedics also attended and two 14-year-old boys were taken to hospital where they remain. One has suffered injuries which are believed to be life-changing and another has suffered injuries which are not believed to be life-changing or life-threatening. 'The incident is not being treated as suspicious and anyone who witnessed what happened is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016 quoting reference 355 of 02/09/23.' The UKHSA has issued a yellow heat health alert for large swathes of the country A sizzling heatwave is set to hit the UK from tomorrow with the mercury set to soar to 32C (90F) this week as Briton's brace for the 'hottest September night on record'. Britain is set to be covered in a Saharan dust plume, bringing with it uncomfortably warm nights of 20C plus and consecutive day time temperatures of above 30C. The belated burst of summer sun has prompted the UK Health Secretary Agency (UKHSA) to issue a yellow heat health alert for large swathes of the country. Vulnerable people including the elderly and very young are being warned to take extra precautions when going out in the heat. As the glorious weather kickstarted the week, families flocked to beaches on the last day before children return to schools as temperatures are set to hit 29C today. After a somewhat gloomy summer, the start of autumn is making up for it, with the mercury forecast to get as high as 32C by mid week - hotter than in Madrid and Lisbon. Sunbathers pack the beach as they flock to the seaside resort of Lyme Regis in Dorset An aerial view of Lyme Regis today as Britons bask in an autumn heatwave Sunbathers are packing the beach, making the most of hot sunshine and clear blue skies Natalie Jones relaxes by her beach hut in Bournemouth Rosa Doran, 21, and Katie Appleton, 21, splash in the sea as they enjoy the sun on Portobello Beach, Edinburgh Sunbathing friends, Milena Strong, Aliona Petrosidou and Lucy Sand enjoy the sun Friends Chloe Gaconnier, Galen Terranova and Lailia Latif catching the rays on Portobello Beach The Met Office map shows temperatures hitting 30C in London today Britons splashing in the sea as the week begins with an autumn heatwave A man relaxing on the beach in Edinburgh as the country basks in a heatwave A man exercising in the sea on Portobello Beach, Edinburgh Sunbathers enjoy the warm weather on Brighton beach as temperatures hit the high 20s A sunseeker enjoying the heat in gardens near St Paul's Cathedral, central London The heatwave is particularly hitting the south east and around London Families play on the beach at New Brighton as temperatures are set to soar today People are flocking to beaches with their children as the mini heatwave is in full flow After a somewhat gloomy summer, the start of autumn is making up for it - pictured today Members of the public relax during hot and sunny weather in Potters Fields Park in central London today A lovely start to the week with people out exercising and walking in Windsor great park The highest overnight temperature for September on record is 21.7C but warnings have been issued that this record could be threatened on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The Met Office says a jet stream which has been bringing largely unsettled spells of weather to the UK is continuing to shift north, allowing higher pressure to build widely across the UK. Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Mark Sidaway said: 'High pressure is situated to the southeast of the UK, which is bringing more settled conditions with temperatures on the rise through the first half of this week. 'While the highest temperatures are expected in the south, heatwave conditions are likely across much of England and Wales especially, with parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland also likely to see some unseasonably high temperatures. 'An active tropical cyclone season in the North Atlantic is helping to amplify the pattern across the North Atlantic, and has pushed the jet stream well to the north of the UK, allowing some very warm air to be drawn north. 'It's a marked contrast to the much of meteorological summer, when the UK was on the northern side of the jet stream with cooler air and more unsettled weather.' Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Chris Bulmer, earlier said 'fine and settled conditions will develop and along with this we will see a rise in temperature across most parts of the UK next week'. He added: 'Many places can expect to see maximum temperatures rise to 25C or above for several days, which would bring some locations into the realm of heatwave conditions. Members of the public enjoy the hot and sunny weather as they relax in gardens near St Paul's The temperature is rising as the day goes on - families feeding the ducks Bright, sunny scene along the River Thames in Windsor today The houses of Parliament and Westminster bathed in bright sunshine this morning A woman and her dog walk in the sea at Portobello Beach, Edinburgh READ MORE: Sun-seeking Britons pack out Bournemouth beach as they enjoy sunshine and blue skies before 32C HEATWAVE Advertisement 'Although the highest temperatures are likely to be in the south and east of England, these areas also have higher temperature thresholds for heatwave conditions to be declared. 'So, while some areas may just miss out on the actual definition, regardless of thresholds, many areas will enjoy a fine period of weather with plenty of sunshine and temperatures are likely to be the highest for many since June or early July.' 'Most places are going to see wall-to-wall sunshine by the middle of the week, which is something we haven't seen for much of the summer,' Met Office senior operational meteorologist Amy Bokota said. 'It's going to feel warmer than we would expect for the start of autumn, particularly in London and the South East, where the heatwave threshold could be met. 'But it will also feel humid and muggy in some areas, with temperatures in parts of the country staying above 20C (68F) overnight, making for uncomfortable sleeping conditions.' A paddle boarder enjoying the Autumn sunshine in Derwent Water, Keswick, Cumbria A dog cools off in the Autumn sunshine in Derwent Water, Keswick, on Monday A woman walks her dogs along the beach at New Brighton today A lady keeps cool underneath an umbrella whilst sitting outside Windsor Castle Men playing bowls at the Windsor and Eton Bowls Club in Windsor A lovely warm and sunny day in Windsor, Berkshire, for tourists today Warm and sunny weather extended across the country over the weekend with beachgoers flocking to seaside spots from Bournemouth in the South of England to resorts in the North. Seaburn Beach in Sunderland was packed with families rounding off the school holidays in style. Surfers and swimmers took to the North Sea as the balmy temperatures, while others brought buckets and spades. It wouldn't be a 'total shock' if President Joe Biden ended his 2024 reelection campaign by the end of the year, noted a biographer with enhanced access to the White House. Author Franklin Foer said Sunday that he found during his time with Biden and his inner circle that 'one of the primary insecurities' of the President 'is that he does not want to be perceived as stupid.' Biden, 80, announced in late April his bid for a second term with Vice President Kamala Harris but questions have emerged in the last year over whether the President is too old or too unfit to serve for four more years. Foer had 'unparalleled access' to Biden and his inner circle during the first two years of his presidency, according to publisher Penguin Random House. When asked Sunday how he would react if Biden decided not to complete his 2024 bid, Foer said: 'It would be a surprise to me. But it wouldn't be a total surprise.' Joe Biden's biographer Franklin Foer said he wouldn't be 'totally surprised' if the President dropped out of the 2024 election by the end of the year Author Foer said in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday morning that Biden's biggest insecurity is being 'perceived as stupid' WATCH: Biden has insecurities about being perceived as stupid, says @FranklinFoer, who wrote a book about the presidents first term. He has this plagiarism scandal back in the 1980s. So when he walks into an interview ... he wants to have mastery of what hes discussing pic.twitter.com/6oEXXE7vbm Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 3, 2023 'When he talks about his life, he uses this word, fate, constantly,' he added when speaking with NBC's Meet the Press host Chuck Todd. 'Joe Biden is a very religious guy, and fate is a word loaded with religious meaning. And he always talks about, 'He can't say where fate goes.' And so I always, when I hear that, to me, it's the ellipses in the sentence when he's talking about his own future.' There are already two Democrats running longshot bids in the Democratic primary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson. Both attended the Iowa State Fair last month in an attempt to drum up support for an alternative Democratic candidate. A poll last week reveals that 77 percent of Americans are concerned about Biden's age and ability to serve out a second term. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, 77, also faces questions over his age. If either Biden or Trump were elected again in 2024, they would set a new record as the oldest-ever inaugurated U.S. President. While a candidate must be 35-years-old to run for the White House, there is no cap. Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has suggested implementing an age limit of 75 to seek the presidency. She has also said required mental competency tests would be a good idea. Foer's book The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's Future provides a comprehensive inside account of the President's thinking and the goings-on of the Biden administration. 'It doesn't take Bob Woodward to understand that Joe Biden is old,' Foer told Todd on Sunday morning. 'And I'm not a gerontologist and I can't predict how the next couple of years will age Joe Biden.' 'I think what my book does is shows that he's buried in details. He's somebody who is very technocratic, really obsessed with the intricacies of policy. He's a very activist president in that he micromanages a lot of the dealings in the White House,' Foer added. Biden announced in April he is running for a second term in 2024 with Vice President Kamala Harris Foer said in his NBC interview on Sunday morning that Biden has 'insecurities' about being 'perceived as stupid.' He said the President still feels scarred by a 1980s plagiarism scandal, and now remains passionate about being seen as being on top of policy debates. 'He is somebody buried in details, he is somebody who is very technocratically obsessed in the intricacies policies,' Foer told Todd. 'He micromanages all of the dealings in the White House,' Foer added. 'He has these insecurities that govern a lot of the ways he moves through the world. One of the primary insecurities is that he does not want to be perceived as stupid.' 'So when he walks into a press conference, he wants to have mastery of what he is discussing. His prep sessions can go on for a long time.' A teenager in Orlando, Florida, flashed an eerie smile while being arrested for the deaths of a six-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man. Nico Brown, 15, was detained on charges of first-degree murder after little Ajahliyah Hashim died from gunshot wounds - and he gave a grimacing smirk as he was handcuffed and led into a police car by Orlando Police. The ordeal took place on August 29, just before 8.30pm when shots were fired from a moving vehicle into a home. Ajahliyah Hashim, six, was inside her living room on 1100 block of Poppy Avenue with her mother, who was also hit by the multiple bullets. According to police, the mother and young daughter were not the intended victims. The elementary school girl died from her injuries. Nico Brown, 15, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder after Ajahliyah Hashim died from gunshot wounds He gave a grimacing smirk as he was handcuffed and led into a police car by Orlando Police Isaiyah Wright, 19, was also shot and killed on the same night. It's unclear how he was involved in the ordeal, but died at another hospital. Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez wrote in a statement: 'My heart goes out to the Eagle's Nest Elementary community, which has just lost a 6-year-old student to gun violence (Thursday) night. 'Our students should not have to live in a world where their lives are in danger in their own neighborhoods. 'I cannot imagine the pain Ajahliyah's family is going through. We can not accept that these tragedies have become all too common in our community.' The ordeal took place on August 29, just before 8.30pm when shots were fired from a moving vehicle into a home A witness told News 6: 'I heard the rapid gunfire and I called 911. They were really shooting. 'She was such a beautiful girl. So quiet. You would want (the mother) for a neighbor. No loudness, no riffraff, her kids were very controlled.' Another neighbor told WFTV: 'Pow, pow, pow, pow. I thought it was a machine gun. Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. They done shot up my house before.' And a third local said bullets struck her home in a separate shooting: 'Twice on my home and they were on Facebook saying 'I shot your grandma's house up.'' A married rabbi from New York City has been arrested in Israel for 'rape by deception' after his double life as a secular dating app Romeo was exposed. Rabbi Yosef Mordechai Paryzer, 35, has been criminally charged for using a false identity to get women to have sex with him - with one of the relationships lasting more than seven years. The father of two allegedly used fake names such as Jake Segal to set up online dating profiles on sites like Tinder and Bumble and dated many of the women simultaneously. Two of the women he allegedly fooled filed a criminal complaint of rape by deception with Israel police and an investigation led to Parazer's arrest. Authorities say they have interviewed an additional 18 women and a dozen more have come forward since Paryzer's arrest. Originally from Brooklyn, the rabbi moved to Israel about 10 years ago and worked as a teacher at a Jewish school but has been fired. Rabbi Yosef Mordechai Paryzer, 35, has been criminally charged for using a false identity to get women to have sex with him The father of two allegedly used fake names such as Jake Segal to set up online dating profiles on sites like Tinder and Bumble 'Consensual sex performed under false pretenses, ie. false identity of the perpetrator, is a criminal offense that is legally defined as rape,' the accusers said on social media, as reported by i24ews. Police say Paryzer would tell unsuspecting women that he was single and living with roommates while working for a non-profit organization as a trainer for dogs for the blind. One of the women told Fox News Digital she met the rabbi on Tinder and he seemed 'very normal.' The two reportedly discussed a future together after dating for a few months. But the woman began noticing red flags in the relationship, as she was never invited to his apartment and he did not want to spend weekends together, claiming he had roommates and had to observe the Jewish Sabbath. It wasn't until they had a fight over a month ago and she went to the building where she believed he lived that she discovered he did not actually live there. The woman then remembered the names of two women he had mentioned and followed on Instagram, and managed to track them down. The women then told her they were currently dating the rabbi or had recently broken up with him. The women then put more names together and found even more who were or had been involved with the rabbi through his fake identities. 'I contacted those women too and heard very similar stories,' the first woman told Fox News Digital. Originally from Brooklyn, the rabbi moved to Israel about 10 years ago and worked as a teacher at a Jewish school but was fired after his arrest 'The conversations we had were devastating and very emotional.' The women then decided to confront Paryzer by inviting him to one of their apartments, where several of the alleged victims were present and demanded the truth. But Paryzer at first only admitted to dating all the women, saying he was lost and depressed. The women only later discovered he was a rabbi and a married father of two young children - with one having just been born. Another woman told Fox News Digital she met Paryzer on Bumble and knew him as Jake Segel. She had introduced him to her parents, and her mom raised concerns when she couldn't find anything about him online or through the Jewish community. Paryzer reportedly said he was having a panic attack when confronted and the two broke up. 'My friends keep telling me that Im so strong but there are still times when I feel totally depleted and confused again,' she told Fox News Digital. 'But I do have this underlying motivation to make sure that justice is served, and that no woman should ever be hurt by this man again.' But a lawyer for Paryzer said the rabbi's actions 'were immoral but not criminal.' 'All social media networks and especially dating apps are full of lies, every adult knows this so anyone claiming these were serious relationships lacks logic and common sense,' the attorney said. 'Once we have all the material for the case, we will be able to prove that.' Shamed Prince Andrew has been spotted again today doing his seemingly-regular daily dual activities of riding a horse and driving his Range Rover. The disgraced Duke, 63, has been frequently seen carrying out both transport-related past-times after his fall from grace. But this week they have appeared to take on a different complexion, given his surprise showing at Balmoral. Today Andrew - said to have paid sexually abused Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts 12million to settle a case she brought against him outside court, allegations he strenuously denied - appeared relaxed in his horse's saddle. Normally his riding and driving activities are caught in Windsor but today they were set in the Scottish Royal residence. Desperate to shield his eyes from the sun, Andrew teamed his horse riding helmet with mirrored sunglasses as he trotted out with some other riders. Later he got back to driving and was spotted behind the wheel of a deep green Range Rover. It comes after his appearance with William and Kate as the family travelled to church in Balmoral was taken as a 'public statement of togetherness'. Andrew teamed his horse riding helmet with mirrored sunglasses as he trotted out on the grass Driving ambition: Prince Andrew looked at home behind the wheel of his trusty Range Rover Andrew took centre stage on his magnificent horse as he put his difficulties to one side Sitting beside Prince William on their way to church last week, Andrew appeared to be well and truly back in the royal fold. He was driven to church by the future king, whose wife Catherine sat in the back seat. They joined other family members at church as the Royal Family had their first summer break at the estate since the Queen's death there a year ago. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline the photographs of Prince Andrew travelling to church with the Waleses were 'clearly intended to send a message of family unity'. But he insisted it was not a sign Andrew could return to public duties in any form. 'This is a sad time for the royal family on their customary break at Balmoral. They and the nation will shortly be commemorating a year since the death of the Queen,' Mr Fitzwilliams said. Prince Andrew's appearance in a car with William and Kate as the family travelled to church in Balmoral was a 'public statement of togetherness', a royal expert has said Andrew was invited on the summer trip by the King, who was said to have offered the olive branch to his brother so the whole family could be together at Balmoral 'We know how close Andrew was to the late Queen, his appearance at the Duke of Edinburghs Memorial Service in March 2022, where he supported her physically whilst she was giving him emotional and financial support caused much controversy. 'It has been reported that his allowance has been cut. It was rumoured that his tenure at Royal Lodge in Windsor, which is his home, was in danger. 'He is also reportedly attempting to regain the police protection he lost when he stepped down from royal duties.' But Mr Fitzwilliams added: 'It is important to stress that there is no possibility, as King Charles and Prince William have always realised, of him returning to public duties in any form. 'A glance at his non-existent popularity ratings in the polls make the public mood very clear on this issue. 'However what is being emphasised is harmony on a personal level and clearly he and his immediate family, who are also at Balmoral, will appreciate this a great deal, especially as the photographs we see today are such a very public statement of togetherness.' William drove a Land Rover Defender with his uncle in the front seat on the way to church and his wife, the Princess of Wales, sitting behind. The passengers swapped seats after the service. Andrew was invited on the summer trip by the King, who was said to have offered the olive branch to his brother so the whole family could be together at Balmoral. William drove a Land Rover Defender with his uncle in the front seat on the way to church and his wife, the Princess of Wales, sitting behind Prince William drives Catherine Princess of Wales from church yesterday morning - the passengers swapped seats after the service King Charles and Queen Camilla were among the group, having spent their summer break at the Scottish estate Prince Edward was seen driving a car with his wife Sophie, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and Princess Anne to church The prince lost his official duties and his place in public life following the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal. A car crash Newsnight interview in November 2019 was followed by a lawsuit in which former teenage Epstein victim, Virginia Roberts, sued the duke over her claims that he had sex with her while she was under the paedophile financier's control. When Andrew vowed to fight the case last January, vehemently denying the allegations as he has always done, he was told to stop using the title His Royal Highness, and all military titles and royal patronages were returned to the late Queen following demands by Charles and William. Months later, he settled out of court with Ms Roberts for a reported 12million without any admission of wrongdoing. He is said to believe that a return to public life may be possible. Ta'Kiya Young, the Ohio mother who was fatally 'shot in the face' by a cop last month was seven months pregnant at the time, a close friend has revealed. The 21-year-old mother of two little boys had been 'excited' to have her first daughter, according to her former high school teacher and close friend Malissa Thomas St Clair. But both mother and baby were killed when a local cop shot through her windshield at a Kroger parking lot on August 24 - a shocking moment caught on their bodycam footage. A witness who posted gruesome videos of medics trying to resuscitate Young and her unborn baby on the sidewalk shortly afterwards said she was 'shot in the face' - as footage seen by the Daily Mail appears to confirm. Police have said the officers approached Young because they believed she had been shoplifting, though the family's lawyer denies she was involved in theft. Ta'Kiya Young, 21, was pregnant when she was fatally shot by a cop while sat in her car in a Kroger parking lot at Blendon Township, northern Columbus, Ohio, on August 24 Hundreds of furious protesters marched through Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday night - the same city where mother-of-two Young was killed last month 'The family of Ta'Kiya Young deserves to know who killed their daughter,' Young's high school teacher Malissa Thomas St Clair told DailyMail.com. (Pictured: Young as a schoolgirl, with St Clair) The horrific incident in Blendon Township, northern Columbus, has caused an uproar in the local community and beyond. Her longtime friend and former high school teacher St Clair, 48, told the Daily Mail that she has known Young since she was 11 years old and they became 'close friends' after she graduated. St Clair revealed that Young had two sons aged three and five, and she had been 'excited' to welcome a baby girl in just two months time. 'Ta'Kiya was due at the start of November,' St Clair told the Daily Mail. 'She had a baby in her belly. 'She had already named her daughter, she already has two sons, and she was very much looking forward to becoming a mother of a daughter - that was something very special to her.' The Ohio teacher said Young overcame 'adversity' in her younger years that 'could have made anybody else hardened' - but described her as 'joyous, engaging and hard-working'. 'She had a smile that would light up the room,' St Clair said. 'She helped others that were being bullied - that was her big thing. She would always stick up for the underdog.' The high school teacher said Young confided in her when she fell pregnant with her first child five years ago. Young was a mother to two young children and she was pregnant when she died. Her unborn child was also killed in the shooting Young's 7th grade high school teacher Malissa Thomas St Clair (pictured) paid tribute to her as a pupil with a 'beautiful smile' and 'bright brown eyes' who 'didn't get a chance to develop' 'When she was 16, she told me: "I'm pregnant - but I promise you I'm going to graduate high school and go to college",' St Clair recalled. 'And she did. 'It's a testament that she was a fighter through adversity. She cared about her children so much.' St Clair said Young's family is still reeling from her death and they can't begin their grieving process until they know the name of the cop who killed her. 'The family of Ta'Kiya Young deserves to know who killed their daughter,' she said. 'I feel like it is unfair for the family not to know who the murderer is.' St Clair said she did not support the cop's name going public if it would hurt his family, but stressed that Young's relatives had a right to know his name. The high school teacher was also among protesters who spoke at a rally demanding 'justice' for Young in Goodale Park, north Columbus, on Sunday evening. Speaking to the hundred-strong crowd at the demo, St Clair slammed people who have claimed Young 'used her vehicle as a weapon' against the officer who shot her. St Clair (right) said Young (left) overcame 'adversity' in her younger years that 'could have made anybody else hardened' - but described her as 'joyous, engaging and hard-working' 'That vehicle was going no more than two miles an hour,' she said. 'That man (the cop) wouldn't have died from that miles per hour. 'She was getting out of the way because she knew she was going to die. She was trying to save her daughter's life.' Several more speakers took to the stage, including event organizer Raman Obey, who blasted 'police violence'. 'We're out here because people have lost their lives due to police escalation, police militarization and overall police violence,' he said. 'And that added pressure of being pregnant - I can't even begin to imagine what she was thinking at that time... but it's not until that second police stepped in front of that car that it turned into a tragedy. 'That baby's last words were, "are you going to shoot me?'" Another organizer, Emily Cole, pointed out that the cop who shot Young has not yet been named or arrested. 'They [police officers] get to hide their name and not face the community,' she said. 'These families get no justice, no accountability and they can't even sue because of qualified immunity.' A former teacher of Takiya Young speaks at todays demonstration in Goodale Park in Columbus, Ohio pic.twitter.com/KUdxHO8yx9 Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) September 4, 2023 Organizers of the Sunday protest Raman Obey (right) and Emily Cole (left) made impassioned speeches on stage at Goodale Park on Sunday before protesters marched on the streets Shocking bodycam footage shows the moment one officer shoots through the front windshield - killing Young and her unborn child - as her car began to roll slowly towards him After the park protest, the demonstrators' numbers swelled as they took to the streets chanting 'black lives matter' and 'no justice, no peace'. Many carried banners bearing Young's name along with others killed by cops in America. Young's family has called for the cop responsible for her death to be arrested, according to their lawyer. Attorney Sean Walton said the bodycam video clearly shows that the shooting was unjustified. 'The video did nothing but confirm their fears that Ta'Kiya was murdered unjustifiably...and it was just heartbreaking for them to see Ta'Kiya having her life taken away under such ridiculous circumstances,' Walton told AP. 'Ta'Kiya's family is heartbroken.' Gillian Keegan issued a grovelling apology today after launching an extraordinary foul-mouthed rant while she was being grilled about the schools concrete crisis on TV. The Education Secretary apologised for her 'choice language' after being caught in a 'hot mic' moment venting her frustration during an interview with ITV News. In a clip posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Ms Keegan seems unruffled and thanked the journalist as they wrapped up the questioning. But the footage keeps rolling as the clearly angry minister remarks: 'Does anyone ever say, you know what, you've done a f***ing good job, because everyone else has sat on their a** and done nothing? No signs of that, no?' It is unclear who Ms Keegan was criticising for their inaction. She took over as Education Secretary from Kit Malthouse in October last year, long after concerns had first been raised about Raac (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete). Rishi Sunak has been under fire for curbing spending on upgrading school buildings, while Ms Keegan also hit out at Labour for failing to take action when it was in power before 2010. No10 distanced itself from Ms Keegan's eruption, branding it 'unacceptable' - and she later recorded another interview apologising. She said she had been referring to 'no one in particular', and was 'frustrated' at the journalist 'making out it was all my fault', as well as at schools being slow to supply information about Raac. 'I would like to apologise for my choice language, it was unnecessary,' she said. 'I apologise for the language, but it is something that I am very keen to make progress on.' Gillian Keegan was caught on camera venting her frustration as she finished giving an interview to ITV News A taped-off section of Parks Primary School in Leicester which has been affected by the Raac crisis Mr Sunak held a cross-government briefing on the Raac issue in Downing Street today The TV crew seemed slightly taken aback by her outburst. Typically, comments made before an interview starts and after it finishes are regarded as off the record. However, ITV pointed out on X that Ms Keegan was still wearing her mic and they were about to film extra shots when the exchanges took place this morning. 'In the moments after the main body of the interview had finished, and as the camera repositioned for extra shots, Keegan - still wearing her mic - criticised others and claimed the govt has gone "over and above" in addressing concerns relating to Raac,' ITV said. Braving the cameras again to apologise, Ms Keegan said: 'It is frustrating because we're doing everything now to take a leading position to be on the front foot to put all the support in place that responsible bodies and schools need. 'It's also frustrating that we've got some questionnaires that still are not there. We've been chasing and chasing them, we've written again today to say you need to get your questionnaires in by the end of the week.' How and when did evidence come to light on the concrete scandal? 1950s up to the mid-1990s - RAAC, a lightweight building material, is used 1995 - The Times newspaper reports the first warnings about RAAC cracking in roofs came in 2018 - The Department for Education (DfE) considers RAAC as a potential issue June 2023 - Problems were highlighted in a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) Summer 2023 Schools minister Nick Gibb says fresh evidence came to light August 31, 2023 Parents are informed some schools will be forced to close Advertisement The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'I think that the language used obviously is not acceptable. It is right that the Education Secretary has apologised for that. 'But at the front of parents' minds will be the situation in their schools and I think that is what they will want to hear more about.' Ms Keegan has endured a painful day as she toured studios trying to put forward the Government's case about the developing concrete issue. She was accused of 'going missing' after the crisis dramatically escalated on Thursday night, sending schools minister Nick Gibb out for the morning broadcast round the following day. And Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was the one being quizzed on the Sunday politics shows. Ms Keegan is due to make a statement to the Commons this afternoon as ministers return from the summer break. More than 100 schools are having to fully or partially shut after alarm was raised about Raac - a lightweight type of concrete that was used from the 1950s to the 1990s, now believed to collapse without warning. Thousands of children in England are facing the prospect of online lessons once again as they return for the start of the new academic year today. Ms Keegan looked visibly uncomfortable as she was grilled by Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid in another interview. Sitting alongside fellow presenter Ed Balls - a former secretary of state for education - Ms Reid said: 'This is a mess, isn't it?' Ms Keegan tried to explain that three 'incidents' occurred - some not in schools - where in one a roof panel had fallen at a 'non-critical' site towards the end of August. 'I didn't want to risk this happening anywhere,' she said. 'So I changed the guidance on non-critical roofs to say we had to do the same with critical ones, which is prop them up or get temporary accommodation in place. 'I do understand that for parents and the headteachers who are affected that was last minute, but you can only act on the evidence when it emerges.' Interrupting her, Ms Reid pointed to an ITV investigation in March where it was found 68 schools were aware they had Raac and could be at risk, with more than 1,500 in the dark, with 2,000 still to have an inspection. Ms Reid said: 'That was back in March, we are now in September and you won't know the full scale of this until the end of the year. Daniel [Hewitt, ITV reporter] said at the time in March that he had not had an interview with the Department for Education. 'We bid for an interview with you or one of your ministers back in March and could not get anywhere with this. It seems remarkable that now, the first day of term, we are in the situation we are in when you knew the full scale of this back in March.' Ms Keegan's rant was branded a 'staggering display of arrogance' and an 'insult to families' by Labour. Shadow schools spokesman Stephen Morgan blasted the Education Secretary following her furious rant today. Speaking to MailOnline, Portsmouth South MP Mr Morgan said: 'This extraordinary outburst is an insult to frightened families who still don't know whether their children's schools are safe and an admission that the Conservatives have done nothing to address a problem that they have known about for years. 'The Education Secretary has displayed staggering arrogance for saying she deserves a pat on the back for the chaos that is gripping our schools on her watch. 'Families, school leaders and school staff deserve an immediate apology for these appalling comments.' Education Secretary Gillian Keegan was grilled by Good Morning Britain's Susan Reid over the crumbling concrete crisis that has impacted schools An Italian sausage maker who shot dead a bear seen just hours earlier in an adorable video with her two cubs has been given police protection after receiving multiple death threats. Andrea Leombruni, 56, blasted Amarena with a shotgun after he caught her trying to get into his chicken coop. Vets called to the scene battled to save her life but were unable to do so and a team of forestry workers is still hunting for her two missing cubs following the shooting last week. Leombruni was held in the village of San Benedetti dei Marso, in the central Italian region of Abruzzo and is now under investigation over the killing but has also been given protection. He has received hundreds of hate messages and death threats after furious animal lovers found his mobile number on his Facebook page advertising his sausage business. Andrea Leombruni (pictured), 56, blasted Amarena with a shotgun after he caught her trying to get into his chicken coop The bear which was known and tagged and called Amarena was caught on camera by dozens of tourists as she strolled through the centre of the village last week. Initially Amarena was seen first and then seconds later to the sound of cooing from bystanders her two cubs suddenly appeared and followed her across the road Leombruni who has now closed his Facebook page and his business page - said:'I haven't slept, eaten or lived for the last three days as I continually getting death threats. 'These people have even called my 85-year-old mother, and other members of my family. We are being pilloried. 'We have a guard on the balcony of our home, where the shot was fired from and we have people just stopping and staring and shouting at us all day. I have a police escort as well. 'You have no idea what I am going through. I made a mistake, and I realised that as soon as I pulled the trigger. It was me who called the police. 'I was scared that night and it all happened in the little space in front of the chicken coop. I had just looked out to see what was happening and I saw this bear and I fired. 'I actually shot towards the ground. I didn't aim for the bear. There was only one round.' His lawyer Berardino Terra said:' I am seriously concerned about him. He is completely distraught over what happened, and he is really fearful for his life.' If convicted of unlawful killing of an animal he could face a jail sentence of between four months and two years. Meanwhile police are also investigating a mural which was painted in the village which showed a hunter with a death skull and a twisted shotgun barrel pointing to his face with the word 'Justice'. The bear which was known and tagged and called Amarena was caught on camera by dozens of tourists as she strolled through the centre of the village last week. Vets called to the scene battled to save her life but were unable to do so and a team of forestry workers is still hunting for her two missing cubs following the shooting last week. Leombruni was held in the village of San Benedetti dei Marso, in the central Italian region of Abruzzo and is now under investigation over the killing but has also been given protection Leombruni who has now closed his Facebook page and his business page - said:'I haven't slept, eaten or lived for the last three days as I continually getting death threats. These people have even called my 85-year-old mother, and other members of my family. We are being pilloried' Meanwhile police are also investigating a mural which was painted in the village which showed a hunter with a death skull and a twisted shotgun barrel pointing to his face with the word 'Justice' Initially Amarena was seen first and then seconds later to the sound of cooing from bystanders her two cubs suddenly appeared and followed her across the road. The family then trotted down some stairs and away into the forest at San Benedetto dei Marsi in Italy's central Abruzzo region which is home to dozens of brown bears. Following the shooting Abruzzo region president Marco Marsilio said: 'This is a very grave episode, against the whole community and it fills us with rage and pain because it is an incomprehensible gesture. 'In all these years, the community both inside and outside the region's parks have known how to live with and alongside the bears and not interfere with their behaviour. 'Never has a bear in the Abruzzo region represented a danger to man, not even when they have wandered into built up areas I the past. After they were spotted, the ursine family then trotted down some stairs and away into the forest at San Benedetto dei Marsi in Italy's central Abruzzo region, which is home to dozens of brown bears After a bear sighting earlier this year, officials captured a bear in a specially constructed bear trap (pictured) in northern Italy after it killed a jogger 'This act of aggression has no justification. We put our trust in the investigation that has been started by the police, and who have already identified the person responsible and will now face justice.' Officials said a task force of 100 forestry workers was now combing the nearby regional park using drones to locate the two missing cubs. READ MORE: Killer bear that disembowelled a trail runner in Italy is captured and set to be euthanised, despite having three cubs Advertisement Amarena was one of around 60 Marsican brown bears in the region and an adult can reach a weight of up to 210 kg and 180cm in length while female bears are smaller. Earlier this year in another incident, a bear in the northern Italian region of Trento was captured after it attacked and killed a jogger. A court initially ruled that the bear should be put down, but this has now been overturned. Elsewhere in Italy, police have launched an investigation after video footage was posted online of a group of youths kicking a goat to death on a holiday farm at Anagni near Rome. If found guilty of animal cruelty they face up to 18 months jail and a maximum fine of 15,413. In a statement on its Facebook page, alongside a graphic picture of the dead bear, the National Park of Abruzzo wrote: 'The Park veterinarian intervened on the scene with the emergency response team, who could however only determine the bear's death given the severity of the injury. 'The man was identified by Park staff and taken by the Carabinieri of the local station, who intervened following their call. 'The dynamics of the incident are underway and will continue as park staff are engaged in identifying the two bear cubs to evaluate what to do. 'The episode is a very serious incident that causes enormous damage to the population that counts about sixty and involves one of the most prolific females in the history of the Park. 'Obviously, there is no reason to justify the incident since Amarena, despite causing damage to agricultural and zootechnical activities, always and in any case compensated by the Park has never created any kind of problem for humans.' 'Joshua' allegedly confessed to the theft, and returned the shoes after a dramatic in-person and online exchange The man, known as 'Joshua', is alleged to have taken her pricey designer shoes the morning after their date User @nextlevellexuss on TikTok shared a horror story about a date who allegedly snatched her designer footwear A woman has opened up about a traumatic Tinder encounter after her date allegedly swiped her designer shoes and handed them off to his girlfriend. Lexus, known as @nextlevellexuss on TikTok, is a New York City-based creative who sells knitwear through her brand Maddi and Dannii. The designer recently went viral after exposing her match from hell. In a TikTok posted September 2, Lexus explained how her date stole her coveted Tabi shoes which had been a birthday gift. The Japanese-style footwear is a trademark of fashion house Maison Margiela and the influencer's pair retails for $990. Lexus, or @nextlevellexuss on TikTok, opened up about her horror encounter with a Tinder match who stole her prized designer shoes after sleeping with her The NYC-based knitwear designer was given the shoes by her father as a birthday present. They retail for just shy of $1000 and come from Maison Margiela, a French fashion house The man who said his name was 'Joshua' left after the pair had sex. Lexus realized hours later that her shoes had gone missing and the man had deleted all traces of himself from her phone 'This man is out here on Tinder and Hinge and he will steal from you,' Lexus said. The TikTok racked up over 850,000 views in a matter of days and was captioned 'Girls and gays of TikTok, please get to work.' Lexus included screenshots of the man's dating profile which show that he is named Joshua. He listed his age as 23 years old. The swindler is pictured wearing pricey items including an Arc'teryx jacket priced upwards of $400. Their encounter began when she ran into Joshua in NYC's upscale SoHo neighborhood. The man later messaged her on Tinder, where they had apparently matched before, and the pair went out for drinks. 'He seems like someone I would probably hang out with for a little fling and sleep with,' Lexus said. The duo met up in Lexus's apartment and had sex. While the designer didn't think much of it, Joshua expressed that he wanted a pair of Tabi boots. On Tinder, Joshua was listed as 5'10" and 23 years old. He could be seen wearing expensive clothing in some photos, like an Arc'teryx jacket which costs several hundred dollars During their meetup, Joshua expressed interest in owning a pair of Tabi boots, but Lexus thought nothing of the remark 'Before we sleep together, we're chatting about fashion and stuff, and he really wants Tabis and I'm like, "Oh yeah I have some Tabis,"' she said. After having sex again the following morning, Joshua asked to show Lexus a Spotify playlist. He didn't have the app downloaded, so Lexus offered her phone. However, Joshua said that he couldn't find the playlist. He handed her phone back and left soon after. Hours later, Lexus remembered their conversation about footwear. 'I'm on my computer, I look over to my shoe rack,' Lexus said. 'And they're gone.' The influencer headed to Tinder to message him and saw he'd unmatched her, preventing her from contacting him. Lexus combed through her call log and found he'd deleted all traces of his number while pretending to look for the Spotify playlist. The designer posted updates to her Instagram story including a video of herself confronting the man next to a yellow cab. 'SECURED!! This man is a demon. He was smiling the whole time,' she wrote. Lexus shared that Joshua had asked to use her phone to find a Spotify playlist but he deleted their calls and erased his number instead. She had no luck contacting him on Instagram, as his account was private Lexus learned that her date had been cheating on his girlfriend and had stolen the shoes to give them to her. The pair subsequently broke up, with Lexus pleading people online to respect the unnamed woman She also filmed herself waving a bundle of sage over the shoes, proclaiming that she was 'Getting the demon energy off,' after the stolen Tabis were finally returned to her. In a follow-up video, Lexus explained how she'd gotten her shoes back. She eventually made contact with Joshua who denied that he'd stolen the shoes and offered hundreds of dollars to appease her. 'When you're offering money, that means you did it. An innocent person would not give $1000,' she said. Lexus was shocked to learn that Joshua had a girlfriend and had gifted the shoes to her. 'I thought I could get away with it but you caught me,' he wrote over text while begging her to take the video down. Lexus provided a follow-up video showing that she finally got her hands on the shoes. Joshua had offered hundreds and then thousands of dollars when she confronted him, before her ultimately admitted that he'd been caught The designer slammed TikTok users for 'slut-shaming' her while thanking others for supporting her fashion brand Maddi and Dannii The designer thanked people for supporting her and her knitwear brand throughout the ordeal. She shared that Joshua was no longer with his girlfriend and asked people to give the woman space. Lexus also fired back at people shaming her for sleeping with a stranger. 'To focus on that and not what he did shows how there are layers of misogyny to this whole entire situation,' she said. Fashion retailer SSENSE joined the conversation on Twitter, writing: 'PSA: SSENSE has a wide variety of Tabis in stock. Theres no need for theft.' PSA: SSENSE has a wide variety of Tabis in stock. Theres no need for theft. https://t.co/1eoVcAtzb7 SSENSE (@SSENSE) September 2, 2023 Soon after the incident, Lexus was approached by other social media creators including NYC-based Isaac Hindin-Miller. In an Instagram reel posted September 3, the designer was asked to give opinions on the best neighborhood and the best dating app. 'Not Tinder,' she said with a laugh. When asked how to stay safe, Lexus said: 'Vet the guy who comes over to your house. 'Go on at least four or five dates. And lock up your Tabis.' As teachers are set to stage a massive rally, children and a mother lay flowers on the memorial altar for the deceased teacher at an elementaryy school where she taught in Seoul, Monday, Sept. 4. Yonhap School teachers were set to hold a massive rally in Seoul on Monday to mourn the recent suicide deaths of fellow teachers distressed by disgruntled parents and unruly students, and to call for measures to prevent such tragedies. The rally, set to begin at 4:30 p.m. in front of the National Assembly, had originally been planned to mourn the death of a young teacher in Seoul who took her own life in July after struggling to deal with a school violence case. But at least two additional teacher suicides happened last week, one in Seoul on Thursday and the other in the southwestern city of Gunsan on Friday, adding fuel to the anger about bad treatment of teachers and raising the possibility of Monday's rally becoming the largest-ever teacher protest. Many teachers have filed for a one-day leave of absence to attend the rally, and some 30 elementary schools across the nation have even designated Monday a temporary holiday as too many teachers wanted to take a day off for the collective action, called "Public Education Stoppage Day." A teacher at an elementary school in western Seoul said only 14 of the school's 48 teachers came to work, with the rest taking the day off apparently to attend the rally. Situations at other elementary schools were believed to be similar. Teachers in provincial regions also planned to hold rallies in front of regional education offices. Monday marks the 49th day since the young teacher died. In Buddhism, the 49th day after death is when the souls of the deceased head off to the afterlife. In Korea, the 49th-day ceremony is one of the most important postmortem rituals for the dead. Tension mounts ahead of teachers' collective action Phone calls to teachers to be recorded from Tuesday Police probe launched into death of veteran teacher embroiled in student lawsuit "Participating teachers plan to call for the truth behind the young teacher's death to be found and an immediate revision to the child abuse crimes act in front of the National Assembly," a person in charge of organizing the rally said. Teachers believe the act can hold teachers accountable for child abuse for what they consider to be necessary disciplinary action against students. The act, they said, exposes many teachers to abusive behaviors by students and parents. A temporary commemoration place was to run through the day on the schoolyard of the Seo2 Elementary School in southern Seoul, where the young teacher taught, while the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education was scheduled to host a commemoration ceremony at the school's auditorium in the afternoon, with Seoul education superintendent Cho Hee-yeon and the chiefs of three major teachers' unions in attendance. Teachers hold leaflets calling for changes to education laws to better protect their rights, during a rally near the National Assembly in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap On Saturday, around 200,000 teachers from around the country gathered in Seoul's Yeouido near the National Assembly to commemorate the recent deaths of teachers and to call for the better protection of their rights. It is very rare for teachers to stage such a large rally on their own without the involvement of labor unions. The Education Ministry maintains that any teacher taking a leave of absence to join the collective action will be dealt with sternly in accordance with the law and principles. Education Minister Lee Ju-ho on Sunday asked for teachers to refrain from taking a leave of absence to attend the planned mass rally while pledging to take measures to enhance their rights and authority in the classroom. Under the current labor law, teachers don't have the right to collective action, and the ministry has warned that taking a leave of absence by teachers en masse is tantamount to an indirect walkout. The education ministry said no major class disruptions have been reported, but about 1,500 elementary teachers were estimated to have taken the day off in Busan, which has a population of some 9,400 elementary school teachers. In South Gyeongsang Province, about 10 percent of its 12,400 elementary school teachers did not report to work. Boots and M&S meal deals are under threat as hundreds of staff at Britain's biggest sandwich maker are set to go on strike. The action is threatened at Greencore, which supplies sandwiches to all the major supermarkets, ranging from Boots and Aldi to Lidl and M&S. Its products can also be found in Boots, coffee shop chains and petrol station convenience stores. More than 500 workers at Greencore, who are demanding an increase to their 10.53-an-hour pay, will strike from September 11 to October 9. Greencore made 975million sandwiches and other food-to-go products last year from 16 factories. The Boots meal deal could be under threat after Greencore workers threatened to go on strike in a row over pay The firm said some 52 per cent of its sandwiches that are bought in supermarkets are part of a meal deal. The Unite union says the workers at Greencore's Manton Wood site in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, will walk out over what it calls poverty levels of pay and claims it is likely to lead to a shortage of sandwiches on the shelves. In October, Greencore reported full-year revenue of 1.7billion - up from 1.3billion in 2021. A rise in the sales of meal deals has been driven by a return to the office and the cost of living crisis. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'Greencore workers do difficult work to ensure sandwiches reach supermarket shelves across the country,. 'Yet their employer, whilst making substantial profits, sees fit not to share the spoils with its workers.' A Greencore spokesman said: 'Having been in discussions with union representatives regarding pay in respect to colleagues at our Manton Wood site since January, we are disappointed that Greencore's final pay offer, which we believe to be both strong and competitive, has been rejected by union members on a small turnout. 'We will be undertaking a number of planning and mitigation measures at the site in the coming weeks in order to prevent any disruption to service levels for our customers should potential industrial action take place. 'In parallel, we will continue to liaise with both Unite and our Manton Wood colleagues with the aim of reaching agreement.' The sandwich-maker supplies shops up and down the country, including Boots and M&S, as well as petrol stations and convenience stores Workers at a factory which produces KP Nuts have agreed to postpone strike action following a new pay offer. Trade union Unite previously warned that its members at the site in Rotherham, South Yorks, would start a week-long walkout on Tuesday and take two more weeks of strikes from September 18 if the dispute over pay was not resolved. After a meeting with KP Snacks management on Monday, strike action will be suspended while workers vote on the revised pay offer from the company, Unite said. Speaking before the latest pay offer, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'The workers have made it abundantly clear that they're sick of being paid peanuts while the company rakes in tens of millions in profit. 'That's why the workers are determined to secure a fair pay deal.' The workers previously rejected an 8% pay offer.' Statistics published last month by sandwich-maker Greencore revealed that more than half the sandwiches sold by UK supermarkets are bought as part of meal deals. Greencore has distribution and manufacturing sites dotted around the UK, including a dedicated M&S site in Northampton, and a food to go unit in West Drayton, Heathrow, where it prepares sandwiches, wraps, and baguettes. This is the moment a German Shepherd narrowly escaped death after vets removed a ball that was trapped in his throat. The dog, called Kaiser, had been playing with the red ball during a daily walk when it bounced into his mouth. The eight-year-old pooch soon started choking and gasping for breath leaving owner Suzanne MacKenzie petrified. The grandmother then drove her beloved dog straight to the local vets in Clydebank, near Glasgow, Scotland. The vets then sedated the German Shepherd before popping the small red ball out of the choking dog's throat as he lay just moments from death. Suzanne MacKenzie (right) rushed her German Shepherd, called Kaiser (left), to the vets he started choking on a ball Ms MacKenzie said: 'Chasing a ball is Kaiser's favourite thing, but he's got some hip problems. 'So I never throw it high to stop him jumping up. 'We were at some nearby grass, and it must have just bounced and gone straight down his throat. 'I tried to reach in and manipulate it out, but it was too far down. 'He was choking and gasping for breath. 'But, halfway driving to the vet, his breathing changed to a horrible rasp. 'I knew it was bad. 'It was so scary.' With the ball stuck too far down the throat to easily reach, Kaiser was sedated and put on a catheter as he was panicking and asphyxiating. A dental gag was put in place to keep the mouth open. Video footage shows vets successfully popping out the small red ball from the pooch. Reunited with her pet, Suzanne said: 'I couldn't stop crying while sitting waiting. 'The thought that they might be unable to save him was awful. 'I've binned all his balls, and I'd definitely advise everyone not to take any chances.' Vets said Kaiser was just minutes away from death. Vets in Clydebank, near Glasgow, saved the choking German Shepherd by removing the ball from his throat Clinical Director, Joanne Cameron, from My Family Vets, said: 'There was a tiny gap allowing some air to get in, but the soft tissue was swelling, and his tongue was blue through lack of oxygen. 'Kaiser couldn't have survived much longer, so time was critical. 'The ball was too slippery to get out using instruments, and I didn't want to risk pushing it down and blocking the airway completely. 'So, I used my fingers to work at the ball from the outside of the throat, and then I felt it moving and suddenly popped out.' Having witnessed another case where, tragically, the dog didn't survive, the vets are warning other owners about the potentially deadly dangers balls can pose. 'Never let your dog play with a ball that's small enough to obstruct the throat, and also watch if it runs after someone else's ball at a park. 'If a ball does get stuck, then don't try and get it out. 'Just get the dog to a vet immediately.' A teenage boy has been left with life threatening injuries after being forced into a car and stabbed in what is believed to be a violent armed robbery. Police are actively hunting for a group of thugs who pulled the 14-year-old into a dark grey Volkswagen Tiguan on Neerim Road outside Glen Eira College in Glen Huntly, southeast Melbourne, just after school finished at about 3:35pm. Police said the car drove a short distance with the teenager inside before he was thrown out at the corner of Neerim Road and Grange Road. He was believed to have been stabbed during the altercation and has been taken to hospital in a critical condition. Investigators are exploring the possibility that the attack is linked to an earlier incident where four teenagers were robbed by two machete-wielding offenders on nearby Kambrook Road at about 3:25pm. A 14-year-old boy is fighting for his life after being forced into a car and stabbed in what is believed to be a violent armed robbery (pictured, emergency services at the scene) He was pulled into a dark grey Volkswagen outside Glen Eira College in Melbourne's Glen Huntly about 3:35pm before receiving 'significant injuries' and then forced out of the car READ MORE: Melbourne teens arrested after man was allegedly stabbed in broad daylight outside a busy train station Advertisement The teenager is believed to be a student. One student said he saw the teenager coughing up blood as he laid on the ground following the attack, according to the Herald Sun. Victoria Police confirmed they are still unsure about the 'exact circumstances surrounding the incident'. A statement from Victoria Police confirmed the teenager had sustained 'significant injuries' during the attack. Anyone who witnessed either incident, has CCTV or dashcam footage or any other information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers. Anyone who sees the vehicle that was involved are urged to call 000. Migrants gave a thumbs up and made 'V' signs as a newly-arrived group was driven away from Dover today - as the number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK topped 21,000 this year. Dozens were intercepted crossing the English Channel in small boats today as temperatures hit 29C. Groups of mainly men were seen on board the Border Force vessels Hurricane and Ranger as they were brought into the harbour at the Port of Dover this morning. Many were wearing red life jackets as they were brought into the immigration processing centre at the former jetfoil terminal at the port. Later on, they were pictured leaving the Border Force compound in Dover on a coach, following a small boat incident in the Channel. Migrants gave a thumbs up and made 'V' signs as a newly-arrived group was driven away from Dover today Groups of mainly men were pictured leaving the Border Force compound in Dover on a coach Border Force officials escort 60 migrants into Dover Docks, Kent, this morning One gave a thumbs-up through the window, while another made a 'V' symbol with his forefinger and middle fingers, while others slept on the journey. READ MORE: More than 870 migrants crossed the Channel crammed into FIFTEEN small boats on Saturday Advertisement It comes after the Home Office revealed that 113 migrants were picked up at sea packed into just two dinghies on Sunday. On Saturday, 872 migrants were rescued in 15 dinghies - a daily record so far this year - with an average of 58 on board each flimsy inflatable. In the past four weeks, more than 6,000 arrivals have been recorded, PA news agency analysis of government figures shows. According to official figures, a total of 21,086 have been intercepted making the crossing in 436 boats with the figures for today yet to be confirmed. In August alone, 5,369 made the voyage in 102 boats. In 2022 there were a record 45,755 migrants detained compared to 28,526 in 2021 and 8,410 in 2020. Others slept on the journey, after they were intercepted crossing the English Channel in small boats Passengers thought to be migrants are driven away from the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent Dozens of migrants were intercepted crossing the English Channel in small boats today Groups of mainly men were seen on board the Border Force vessels Hurricane and Ranger as they were brought into the harbour at the Port of Dover this morning A group of people thought to be migrants are driven away from the Border Force compound in Dover The Home Office 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.' He is being investigated for putting the lives of passengers and himself at risk Cesar was caught on camera running across the tarmac on Sunday afternoon Mexico City police arrested a teenager identified as Cesar for climbing into a Volaris Airlines airplane's landing gear as it was waiting to take off A teenager is under police custody after he evaded the security at Mexico City International Airport and ran inside the landing gear of an airplane that was waiting to take off. The teen, who was identified as Cesar, climbed over a chain-linked fence and could be seen running across the airport tarmac towards a parked Volaris Airlines aircraft on Sunday afternoon. The individual, who authorities said was under the influence of a controlled substance, then approached the landing gear and stood in front of before he climbed into inside. In an attempt to get Cesar to step out of the airplane, a guard handed him a soft drink can although its unknown if that was the teen's request in exchange for him leaving. Mexico City International Airport security camera captures a teenager identified as Cesar running across the tarmac before he climbed inside the landing gear of a Volaris airplane that as awaiting to take off Sunday Cesar climbs out of a Volaris Airlines airplane's landing gear before he was taken into custody by soldiers at Mexico City International Airport Cesar immediately pried the can open and took a sip before he started to make his way out of the landing gear area. Footage showed an agent signaling at Cesar to just wait because they were afraid that he would have fallen climbing down without any assistance. An airport worker then stepped forward with ladder was then placed in front of the landing gear. However, security and cops were afraid that he might fall while doing so and asked him to wait for a ladder. In a statement, Mexico City International Airport said Cesar was under the influence of a controlled substance and was being investigated for risking the lives of himself and passengers Cesar opens a soft drink can while moments before he climbed out of the airplane's landing gear Mexico City teenager identified as Cesar steps out of Volaris Airplane's landing gear Mexico City International Airport security guard the Volaris Airlines airplane where a teenager was pulled out from its landing gear area Cesar finally stepped down the ladder and was immediately grabbed by a soldier and escorted away. In a statement, Mexico City International Airport said that Cesar was being investigated for putting the lives of the passengers in danger as well as his. "Thanks to the timely response of the aforementioned authorities and the airline itself, an event with greater implications could be prevented," the airport said. DailyMail.com reached out to Volaris for comment. A seriously ill British charity worker held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan for almost eight months has described his conditions in a secret prison as 'horrendous' and begged his wife to do whatever she can to bring him home. The Mail on Sunday can today reveal that Kevin Cornwell's release was twice ordered by the Taliban's supreme leader, Haibatullah Arkhundzada, in mid-July and again in early August, on compassionate grounds due to severe kidney problems. But his family's joy at the news he might soon be home turned to heartbreak when, on both occasions, the supreme leader went back on his word, with no explanation for 53-year-old Kevin or his distraught relatives. Last night, Mr Cornwell's wife, Kelly, said he fears he could die in custody if he is not released soon. He has not had access to proper medicine or adequate medical care throughout his captivity. She said that during their last phone call, on Thursday morning, he was 'very, very poorly' and asked her to get him home safely as soon as possible. 'He told me "the conditions that we are living in are horrendous" and said 'Kelly, you do what you need to do',' she said. Kelly Cornwell pictured with her husband Kevin before the Taliban detained him. She now fears her husband could die after being locked away in a secret Afghan jail for eight months 'Even when he does come home, he will probably need dialysis treatment for the rest of his life. 'He has lost about 15 kg in weight, he can't eat half the food that they are providing because it triggers his kidney problems, so there is no proper nutrition, he has anaemia, he is tired all the time. 'He has stones in both kidneys, so if he loses function in one kidney the other will not hold up. He can't recover, so he keeps getting more serious.' Mr Cornwell, a medic with a UN-backed charity, was taken prisoner by the Taliban's secret police, along with another Briton who was managing the guesthouse where he lived on the outskirts of the Afghan capital, Kabul. They were accused of having an illegal firearm. The gun and its licence issued by the Taliban were kept in a safe in Mr Cornwell's room at Darya Village Hotel. No criminal charges have been brought and the men have not faced trial. A so-called 'danger tourist' Miles Routledge, 23, from Birmingham, has also been held for months after he travelled to Afghanistan to film videos shooting guns with Taliban militants for his popular YouTube channel. At least one other British man, and dozens of other Westerners, including Americans, Australians, Canadians and French, are also believed to be in Taliban custody. Mrs Cornwell has spoken to her husband seven times since he was arrested in short phone calls Kevin's prison guards have allowed him to make home. It was during one call that former soldier Mr Cornwell revealed he had undergone two operations to remove kidney stones in an Afghan hospital. Mrs Cornwell said the Taliban had lied about why Kevin was detained and when he would be released. She said: 'If they can't send him out when he is in critical condition, when will they? They could have done it on medical grounds, they've had so many opportunities.' Kevin Cornwell was detained along with an unnamed British hotel manager following a raid at Afghanistans Darya Village Hotel on January 11 The couple have seven children and 17 grandchildren between them. Kelly said she wasn't aware that Kevin had been physically tortured in captivity, but said: 'There is a level of torture involved in depriving him of his freedom, of contact with his wife and family. What we are going through every day is a form of torture.' Scott Richards, a negotiator with the Presidium Network charity which is assisting Mr Cornwell and his family, said Kevin had developed an infection on July 26 and his condition rapidly deteriorated. The Taliban leadership told him and Mrs Cornwell in mid-July and again in early August that her husband would be released, and that the orders had come directly from the Afghan supreme leader. But the release orders were pulled at the last minute, causing further pain for his devastated family. Mrs Cornwell said: 'One of the great tragedies of this is Kevin wanted to be in Afghanistan to help the country's most vulnerable, and in doing so has risked his life, not from being in the field, but from being held hostage. Kevin is a UN-badged worker, and one of, if not the first to be held by a government like this, and that has no doubt impacted the ability of other aid agencies to operate in Afghanistan.' The UK Foreign Office suspended diplomatic relations with Afghanistan and closed the Embassy in Kabul after the Taliban seized back power two years ago, following the withdrawal of US troops by President Joe Biden. An FCDO spokesperson said: 'We continue to raise the cases of British nationals detained in Afghanistan with the Taliban and are supporting families.' A California motorist has been rescued nearly five days after his pickup truck became trapped in a desert ravine after plunging 100 feet down a bluff. The driver, whose name was not disclosed, miraculously survived the near-death experience in the Tehachapi Mountains, Kern County Fire Department said. He had been trapped inside his vehicle since Tuesday in the arid Stallion Springs desert, located just outside Bakersfield and around 120 miles north of Los Angeles. Fire officials said they received reports of a badly damaged truck at the base of a step hill just before 11am on Saturday. Four fire engines and 21 first responders from six patrols rushed to the scene. Dramatic photographs show the moment a firefighter was lowered down the ravine in a stokes basket attached to a rope. A California motorist has been rescued nearly five days after his pickup truck became trapped in a ravine after plunging 100 feet down a bluff The driver, whose name was not disclosed, miraculously survived the near-death experience in the Tehachapi Mountains, Kern County Fire Department said The unnamed trucker had been trapped inside his vehicle since Tuesday in the arid Stallion Springs desert, located just outside Bakersfield and around 120 miles north of Los Angeles The department said the responder noticed the driver was wounded but alive. Three more firefighters descended into the ravine to secure the patient on the stretcher before taking him to safety. He was driven by ambulance to a landing zone before being airlifted to a local area hospital. It is unclear what the driver's injuries were, but rescuers described him as 'immobilized'. Also under investigation is what caused his pickup truck to plummet over the edge. The California Highway Patrol and the Stallion Springs Police Department also assisted in the rescue. Daily Mail reached out the California Highway Patrol for further information but they were unavailable for comment. The mother of a teenage girl who was bullied in school and eventually sex-trafficked is suing her daughter's school district for withholding the information that the teenage student was identifying as a male at school. Michelle Blair, the mother of Sage Blair, filed a lawsuit against the Appomattox County School Board and district staff, in addition to a Baltimore public defender for actions that she allege deprived her of properly parenting her child. Blair now claims that her daughter was severely bullied in high school, which she was aware of - but alleges that the school district withheld information about why the bullying was happening. Sage had begun identifying as a boy at school. The bullying, says Blair included 'verbal' and 'physical' assaults, but also included a constant barrage of 'threats of rape by the male classmates.' 'Despite this, the school encouraged her to use the boys' bathroom,' she said. Blair previously informed the school that her daughter had a history of mental health issues, including depression, eating disorders, self-harm, and hallucinations. Even with that information, however, the school opted to pursue a social transition for Sage behind the backs of her parents. Sage, then 14, was encouraged to socially transition by her school, without her parents knowing Michele Blair is now suing the Virginia school district for withholding information from her and her husband about their child, which they claim led her to run away and eventually be sex-trafficked The then-14-year-old girl was allowed to change her name to Draco at school. Her parents eventually uncovered details of the situation only when they found a hall pass in Draco's name. According to the Child & Parent Rights Campaign, who filed the suit on behalf of Blair, the school's decision to withhold information about Sage's gender identity 'deprived' Blair of her ability to 'exercise her fundamental parental rights to direct the upbringing of her daughter, including making educational and mental health decisions.' Vernadette Broyles, Blair's CPRC attorney, told the Washington Examiner that Sage ran away from home because of the bullying and harassment she was facing at school. Previous reports indicate that Sage first ran away from home the night her parents found the hall pass with the name Draco on it. 'The school officials were encouraging her to use the boys' bathroom, even though they knew she was being threatened with sexual assault, so she perceived herself that she wasn't safe and she runs away from home,' said Broyles. 'She runs into the arms of a waiting pedophile, who encounters her, rapes her, traffics her with two other men, and takes her across state lines into Washington, D.C., and then ultimately into Maryland.' In Maryland, Sage was eventually tracked down and rescued by FBI agents, which is where her nightmare journey should have ended. However, the Baltimore juvenile court system assumed custody of the adolescent at the instruction of Aneesa Khan, an area public defender. Khan had made the call that Sage's parents were not 'sufficiently affirming' of her new identity and, according to the suit, fabricated a 'story of abuse and neglect by the parents' that convinced a judge to keep her in custody. Sage's parents said in the time she ran away, she was abducted and abused by numerous men in several locations before she was tracked down and rescued by law enforcement. She was then placed under court protection and spent nearly a year away from her family. Pictured: A missing persons poster after Sage ran away from home Blair is suing the Appomattox County school district because of the way it handled the information that her daughter had begun to publicly identify as a male Sage Blair for short time identified as the trans boy, Draco, with a vibrant streak of blue hair While in state custody, Sage was placed in a juvenile facility for young men, 'where she was again sexually assaulted, exposed to drugs, and denied medical and mental health care,' the suit claims. 'This is a 100-pound girl, what do you think happens in this facility?' said Broyles. Maryland's top public defender, Natasha Dartigue, said she and her office were backing Khan in the fight. 'We fully support our attorney, who appropriately represented her client in accordance with her legal, ethical, and professional obligations,' she said. At the male facility and once again in fear for her safety, Sage again ran away and was again picked up by a sex-trafficker who brought her to Texas 'where she was again raped, drugged, starved, and tortured until law enforcement in Texas rescued her and notified her mother who returned her to Virginia,' the suit states. Since her return to her parents' home, Sage has 'undergone intensive in-patient and outpatient therapy to address the multiple incidents of extreme trauma.' She was also diagnosed with complex PTSD. Broyles argues that what happened to Sage is a direct result of the school's failure. The issue at hand, however, will be fixed when 'ideologically driven school officials are forced to recognize it is not within their competency, their authority to be transitioning a child without the direct involvement of their parents, period.' 'It is frankly just cruel and irresponsible for school officials to be encouraging confusion, gender confusion in particularly traumatized young girls with histories of mental health.' Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has spoken about Sage's case before, and several months ago implemented new state guidance that will tamp down some of the school policies that led to the teen's experience. Baltimore public defender Aneesa Khan is also named in the suit for allegedly sending Sage to a juvenile facility for young men, instead of returning her to her parents, who she said did not affirm her gender identity Activist lawyer Vernadette Broyles, founder of Child and Parental Rights Campaign, has led cases against school districts and other face-offs between parents and teachers Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin created a guidance that would prevent schools from withholding information about a child's gender identity from their parents Under Youngkin's guidance, parents must now be informed if their child is socially transitioning - which was not the case in 2021, when Sage underwent her traumatic experience. Youngkin, a Republican, won his race in late 2021 against former Governor Terry McAuliffe in a state that Joe Biden had won by ten points just one year earlier. Michele and Roger Blair and Sage's biological grandparents - they legally adopted her when she was a toddler. When Sage was 14 she began treatment for depression at the same time she was starting a new high school in central Virginia. It was at school, say the parents, that Sage was exposed to a barrage of 'emos,' goths, and a panoply of sexuality and gender options. Seattle is officially on track to break its all-time record for the most murders in one year after another bloody weekend saw the 50th murder of 2023. Three years after City Council began defunding the Seattle police department, the city is one of 10 in the nation to report a surge in homicides - even registering a bigger spike than that of New York City (4.9 percent). Homicides in the Washington state capital increased by seven percent in the first half of 2023, with the city expected to surpass the record of 69 murders in one year, set in 1664, according to a study by the Council on Criminal Justice. Last year, the city saw its most homicides in 25 years, with 52 murders. With the current rate of 6.5 homicides a month, and with four months left of 2023, Seattle is on its way to break the grim record. Seattle reached its 50th homicide over Labor Day weekend after two adults and two children were found dead after a fire and possible shooting in the Wallingford neighborhood. Seattle is officially on track to break its all-time record for the most murders in one year after another bloody weekend saw the 50th murder of 2023. There were 52 murders in all of 2022 Seattle reached its 50th homicide over Labor Day weekend after two adults and two children were found dead after a fire and possible shooting in the Wallingford neighborhood Angelina Tran, 21, was stabbed a shocking 107 times in August when she intervened as her stepfather was assaulting her mother in their Seattle home Lincoln, Nebraska, saw the highest percentage increase in homicides, at a shocking 133 percent, followed by Chattanooga, Tennessee (36.4 percent), Memphis, Tennessee (28.2 percent), and Chandler, Arizona (25 percent). Surprisingly, Seattle saw a higher increase in the number of homicides, 63 percent, between 2019 ad 2020 than New York, which saw 3 percent, and Chicago, which recorded a 55 percent increase. Experts have blamed the crisis on a lack of effective laws and officers - the Seattle police department has lost around 600 police officers since the City Council began defunding the department in 2020. '[Criminals] no longer fear the police because they understand that the police are literally handcuffed for being able to effectively do our jobs, so theyre emboldened,' President for the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) Mike Solan told KOMO News. Others like Jim Fuda with Crime stoppers said there are murder investigations piling up and the department is under strain. 'Theres people out there that think that theyre not going to get caught,' he told the local news outlet. After adopting cries for Defund the Police following the murder of George Floyd, Seattle is testing a pilot program that will see some 911 calls answered by so-called 'crisis responders' instead of law enforcement officers. Democratic Councilwoman Lisa Herbold said late last month that the city has begun the hiring process for unarmed first responders who are mental health professionals. The move comes as the city suffers from a homelessness crisis, with many mentally ill and drug addicted residents living in sprawling encampments prone to dangerous incidents. According a KUOW report from earlier this year, the crisis responders will respond to Priority 3 and Priority 4 calls, which include calls with a person down and welfare checks. The program has reportedly received $1.6million as part of the city's midyear supplemental budget. In August of 2020 - following a summer of protests and riots stemming from the murder of George Floyd - the Seattle City Council voted to cut the police department's budget by $3million, and cut the police department by 100 officers. The mayor at the time vetoed cutting police jobs. One hundred officers from the city's 1,400-person police force were also cut. Two criminals who supplied a deadly handgun and silencer to a pair of British-educated terrorists who planned to slaughter UK soldiers in drive-by shootings have been freed from jail. Nyall Hamlett and Nathan Cuffy served just over four and a half and five years respectively for supplying the powerful handgun to medical student and plot leader Tarik Hassane - known by his friends as 'The Surgeon'. Hassane and his childhood friend Suhaib Majeed, both from west London, intended to execute soldiers, police officers and even civilians in a series of drive-by shootings inspired by ISIS. All were jailed in April 2016. The four were all snared as part of Operation Exactness, described in 2016 as one of the most significant counter-terrorism investigations conducted in the UK. Knowledge of the proposed attack made officials raise the UK threat level to severe. The trial at the Old Bailey in London heard that Cuffy had an arsenal of five guns he held at his home and supplied a Baikal self-loading pistol, silencer and ammunition to Hamlett. Nyall Hamlett (left) and Nathan Cuffy (right) served just over four and a half and five years respectively for supplying the powerful handgun to medical student and plot leader Tarik Hassane - known by his friends as 'The Surgeon'. Hassane (pictured with a pistol) and his childhood friend Suhaib Majeed, both from west London , intended to execute soldiers, police officers and even civilians in a series of drive-by shootings inspired by ISIS. All were jailed in April 2016. Majeed (left) and Hassane are pictured shaking hands while under surveillance by police Hamlett, then 25, a British Muslim convert who was a former Catholic alter boy, knew Majeed and Hassane through the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in Ladbroke Grove, west London, where he used to work as a cook. The mosque later emerged as a focal point of a network of ISIS extremists which included Mohammed Emwazi - AKA Jihadi John - and two other men, together known as 'the Beatles' by the captives they tortured in Syria. Ringleader Hassane - a physics undergraduate at Kings College London - worked with Majeed to get a gun and moped for what would be a drive-by attack. The pair communicated secretly through social media apps. Hamlett, who had a criminal record, supplied the gun to Majeed, though both he and Cuffy, then 26, denied knowing what it was going to be used for. They were found not guilty by a jury of being part of the terror plot. They admitted firearms offences and Hamlett was given six and a half years in jail while Cuffy received 11 years. Sentencing Hamlett, judge Mr Justice Wilkie said: 'Of course you were not aware that they were to be used for terrorist murder but you did anticipate that they would be deployed for criminal purposes and, inevitably, that a firearm with silencer and ammunition would be used in circumstance whereby life may be endangered. In sentencing Cuffy, the judge said that it was apparent that the 'street criminal' had for nearly a year provided a safekeeping 'service for three serious criminals as a repository for five firearms and associated ammunition and a silencer.' He added: 'You were an integral part of the way in which these three serious criminals organised their criminal activities. Hassane (left) and Majeed (right) are both pictured after being arrested by police for planning an ISIS-inspired terror attack Majeed is photographed by undercover police sitting under a tree in Regents Park, London, using an encrypted communication programme on his laptop Hassane (pictured) poses with a handgun in a photo found on Majeed's mobile phone by police 'You were trusted to keep safe and deliver up, on instruction, firearms.... the deadly means by which those criminals might advance their serious criminal endeavours and which, as you knew and intended, may well endanger life.' The Ministry of Justice has confirmed to MailOnline that Hamlet's release was recommended by the Parole Board in December 2020 and Cuffy in July 2021. They were subsequently freed. A spokesperson for the Parole Board said:'We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board directed the release of Nyall Hamlett following an oral hearing in December 2020. 'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.' A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: 'We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board directed the release of Nathan Cuffy following an oral hearing in July 2021.' The court was told that Hamlett, Cuffy and Majeed were arrested in September 2014. They had been under surveillance by the police and MI5. Hassane, a medical student who split his time between London and university in Sudan, was out of the country. Dubbed The Surgeon by friends, he later came home to continue his planning. Tarik Hassane, Suhaib Majeed, Nyall Hamlett and Nathan Cuffy pictured in the dock at the Old Bailey during their trial for terrorist offences The pair of wannabe terrorists had wanted to try and kill soldiers at this Army Reserve base in London in a Lee Rigby-inspired terror attack Hassane (pictured) was part of a terror gang who plotted to kill a soldier, police officer or member of the public in a 'drive-by' shooting The court heard he was immersed in extremist ideology and aspired to kill in London months before ISIS urged supporters in the West to carry out such attacks. Counter-terrorism detectives discovered he had identified Shepherd's Bush police station and the Parachute Regiment Army Reserve barracks at White City as possible targets on Google Street View. Armed police swooped on Hassane's west London home in the early hours of October 7, 2014, as they attempted to avert a terrorist attack on the capital. It was when they examined Majeed's phones that they discovered the pair had been part of encrypted discussions on social media, including as part of a group calling itself the Turnup Terror Squad. It was here they found Hassane had pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State group. Majeed, then 22, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder and preparation of terrorist acts after Hassane, 22, admitted the charges midway through the Old Bailey trial. Mr Justice Wilkie jailed Hassane for a minimum of 21 years and Majeed for a minimum of 20 years. The judge told them: 'It is shocking, tragic and deplorable that you, two young British men, educated through the UK school system, undertaking university courses, should be so influenced by the bloodthirsty version of Islam presented by ISIS and other similarly minded groups, that you decided to take up arms against your fellow British citizens and those charged with protecting them in the streets of your own city.' Republic of Korea Army Apache attack helicopters fly over Seoul, Monday, during a tactical flight training exercise. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul By Lee Hyo-jin Military aircraft spotted in the skies above Seoul recently have left residents confused and scared, with some mistaking the roaring sounds of fighter jets for a North Korean invasion. The South Korean Army's Apache attack helicopters conducted a tactical flight training exercise over central Seoul, including the areas near City Hall and Seoul Station, Monday morning. "The helicopters were so loud and they flew quite near the office buildings. My colleagues and I got a little nervous," said an office worker surnamed Yoo, 32, who works in central Seoul. Although he received a notice from the Seoul Metropolitan Government about the training in advance, he did not expect the helicopters to fly so close to his office. "I received the text alert around 9 a.m., which read that a flyover will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. across Seoul. This is too vague, I think they should have given some detailed information," Yoo said. Republic of Korea Army Apache attack helicopters fly over Seoul, Monday, during a tactical flight training exercise. Yonhap Monday's flyover was a part of the South Korean military's preparations to hold a major festival commemorating Armed Forces Day on Oct. 1. The ceremony will consist of various events, including a showcase of Apache helicopters' tactical maneuvers as well as the Korean Air Force Black Eagles aerobatic team's celebratory flyover. In preparation for the ceremony, the Black Eagles conducted training exercise from Wednesday to Friday last week. But citizens were baffled by the loud noise caused by the flight team, especially on Thursday, a day after North Korea had fired two ballistic missiles toward the East Sea. An elementary school teacher in Yangcheon District surnamed Lee said the thundering noise caused by the flight exercise caused commotion in the classroom on Thursday morning. Republic of Korea Air Force's Black Eagles aerobatic team holds a training flight in the skies over Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan dramatically appeared to declare war on a surprised Vladimir Putin when they met today. The Russian dictator appeared momentarily nonplussed as the interpreter mis-translated the Ankara president's opening remarks at a summit in Sochi. 'There is war between Russia and Turkey,' announced the Turkish-Russian translation of Erdogan's remarks. Turkey is a NATO state so such a war would engulf the entire world. 'The current situation between Ukraine and Russia.This is the backdrop of this visit,' said Erdogan, as he made clear he wanted to act as a broker over the grain deal to feed the world's poorest nations. The Russian dictator appeared momentarily nonplussed as the interpreter translated the Ankara president's opening remarks at a summit in Sochi. 'There is war between Russia and Turkey,' announced the Turkish-Russian translation of Erdogan's remarks The translation continued: 'And your invitation - we are glad to have received this invitation. My delegation is glad to have received this invitation' Telegram channel Crimean Wind called out an 'epic mistake' by the official interpreter at the summit between Turkey, a NATO member, and Russia 'And your invitation - we are glad to have received this invitation. My delegation is glad to have received this invitation.' Telegram channel Crimean Wind called out an 'epic mistake' by the official interpreter at the summit between Turkey, a NATO member, and Russia. It was unclear if the male interpreter was Russian or Turkish. The official record of Erdogan's remarks show that he did not make the mistake - it was the interpreter's. It was a rare visit for a foreign leader for an isolated Putin ostracised over his bloody war with Ukraine. Russia is ready to supply up to one million tons of grain at a preferential price through Turkey to the poorest countries, said the dictator. It was unclear if the male interpreter was Russian or Turkish. The official record of Erdogan's remarks show that he did not make the mistake - it was the interpreter's (pictured here: Putin looking at Erdogan after the interpretation blunder) It was a rare visit for a foreign leader for an isolated Putin ostracised over his bloody war with Ukraine. Russia is ready to supply up to one million tons of grain at a preferential price through Turkey to the poorest countries, said the dictator Erdogan, 69, agreed to travel to Russia after Putin, 70, refused to go abroad to Turkey. Some say this is due to paranoia over arrest for war crimes, others that he is suffering from hidden health problems. Putin used his press conference to claim he had been cheated by the West over the grain export deal across the Black Sea - a familiar charge. 'As usual it often happens this way with our Western partners, they cheated on us again,' said the dictator.'And didn't do as promised - again.' Chilling never-before-scene sketches by the BTK serial killer have shown girls gagged with nooses around their neck. Cops released the images as they step up the investigation into a slew of unsolved murders which they suspect Dennis Rader may have been involved in. Rader, known as the BTK killer, 'Bind, Torture, Kill' went on a murderous two decade killing spree during 1970s to the 1990s, including two children in Kansas. He pleaded guilty to ten murders and is currently serving ten consecutive life sentences. The images released by the Osage County Sheriff's Office this week were first recovered after Rader's arrest in February 2005, but in January, an investigation was opened into other evidence that was discovered by Wichita Police, including, writings and sketches that officials believe may be a possible link to several unsolved cases in the area. Though there were hundreds of sketches recovered, Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden told CNN that a 'few rare color images' may depict more crimes committed by Rader. The digital images obtained exclusively by the news outlet show eerie pictures of three different female victims gagged - some have a noose around their neck with their arms and legs bound. Each are wearing a short garment and have a terrifying expression on their faces. Investigators believe all three victims are being held captive in a barn. PICTURED: Prolific serial killer, Dennis Rader, also known as BTK, is pictured in 2005 after his arrest. Investigators are hoping to link to him to other unsolved crimes One of the sketches shows a young blonde female in pigtails wearing a green top, with her arms and legs bound and sitting on what looks like a stack of hay. Officials noted the black piping in the picture that may be the walls of a barn A second drawing shows a young dark-haired girl in a red top sitting on her knees as she is bound and gagged with a rope looped around her neck. The image shows brown horizontal lines in the background The third sketch differs from the other two as it was drawn in black ink and the young victim is pictured in a different angle. The girl is seen lying flat face first and bound by her neck to a staircase post that appears to be in some type of barn loft space The sheriff went through each of the images describing some critical details. One of the sketches that shows a young blonde female in pig tails wearing a green top, with her arms and legs bound and sitting on what looks like a stack of hay. Officials noted the black piping in the picture that may be the walls of a barn. The sheriff told CNN that if 'you were moving livestock through there, that those bars would keep the livestock from hitting probably the tin or the wood on the outside of the barn so that if an animal hit it, you know, they wouldn't go through and dent up the tin or knock the wood off the outside.' The picture, officials said, ay be connected to a young woman who vanished in Southeast Kansas in 1991. The victim's name has not be made public in connection with Rader at this time, as per the news outlet. Virden added: 'We know from things Dennis said on this exact photograph that it was a drawing he created from an actual barn,' Virden told CNN. A second drawing shows a young dark-haired girl in a red top sitting on her knees as she is bound and gagged with a noose looped around her neck. The image shows brown horizontal lines. 'That would be a barn that had wood slats,' the sheriff said. 'You know, possibly a rounded post but in that area of the barn what would have possibly a wooden floor, you know and a lot of times in tack rooms inside of barns or in feed rooms or storage. They wouldn't leave a dirt floor because they didn't have livestock in that area.' The third sketch differs from the other two as it was drawn in black ink and drawn in a different angle. The victim is seen lying flat and bound by her neck to a staircase post that appears to be in some type of barn loft space. In that picture, the construction of the staircase was of particular interest to investigators. Virden explained that 'the support post appears to have a bracket and then a bolt that bolts through that to hold everything together.' Pictured: mug shot of Dennis Rader taken on Feburary 27, 2005 Pictured: Cynthia Dawn Kinney, 16, who went missing on June 23, 1976. She was last seen in at the Osage Laudromat where she worked in Osage, Oklahoma. Investigators have interviewed Rader twice regarding the young woman's disappearance BTK's ten victims: (L-R) January 15, 1974: #1 Julie Otero (aged 33) Strangled with a rope; #2 Joseph Otero (aged 38) Suffocated with a plastic bag; #3 Josephine Otero (aged 11) Hanged with a rope; #4 Joseph Otero, Jr. (aged 9) Suffocated with a plastic bag; April 4, 1974: #5 Kathryn Bright (aged 21) Stabbed 3 times in abdomen with a knife (L-R) March 17, 1977: #6 Shirley Vian (aged 24) Strangled with a rope; December 8, 1977: #7 Nancy Fox (aged 25) Strangled with a belt; April 27, 1985: #8 Marine Hedge (aged 53) Strangled with hands; September 16, 1986: #9 Vicki Wegerle (aged 28) Strangled with Nylon stocking; January 19, 1991: #10 Dolores E. Davis (aged 62) Strangled with pantyhose Last month, police raided the ex- Air Force sargeant's former property in Park City, Kansas, over the disappearance of Cynthia 'Cyndi' Dawn Kinney, the 16-year-old cheerleader who was last seen in 1976. Detectives said they hope the probe will help to tie him to more grisly unsolved cases. Osage County Undersheriff Gary Upton said his department is 'continuing to follow leads in unsolved missing persons and murder cases possibly related to BTK.' Rader's adult daughter, Kerri Rawson, has been assisting police in trying to help investigators crack the case of the other unsolved crimes. She told DailyMail.com on Monday that the new drawings that came out this weekend have been 'evidenced and private to only law enforcement until this weekend.' Kerri Rawson, the daughter of Dennis Rader, told DailyMail.com she has assisted in the investigations into her father 'Osage County Sheriff's Department were trying to find out were these actually women that were victims and murdered or what my dad fantasized about,' she said. She explained those drawings were released because they had certain details about barns that investigators are looking into. The sketch of the young woman in the green top may be connected to a 1991 missing person from the Southeast Kansas area. 'We have an ID and a pretty strong lead on her, but we don't have a location so they are trying to find a location,' Rawson said. The drawing shows the young victim behind some type of cattle or livestock that could be in a barn or outside that may provide some further clues, she said. Rawson said the black-and-white sketch that she refers to as 'barn girl number one' and the drawing of the young woman in the red top continues to be a mystery. And, pointed out that it can be any missing person in the Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma or Arkansas areas between 1963 to to the time of her father's 2005 arrest. 'We have no idea right now on a timeline or missing person information on them that is why we released them on a missing person's poster yesterday with a partner,' she said. 'Those are my theories.' Since the images release to the public, she said, some of her colleagues have been using AI to try and enhance the drawings which, she said, have been helpful. Rawson revealed to DailyMail.com that of the 200 sketches that her father drew only 10 of them had color. 'We released these because it is rare that my dad would use color,' she said. 'The black and white sketch has very specific details. Someone might recognize it.' Rawson said her father had taken some drafting classes at college and as a youngster remembered seeing his drafting materials out, a drafting board, ruler and some drafting tools. 'I only ever saw him draft sketches of the garden or a second addition that we were going to put on the house but, then he got laid off, and we never did it.' She recalled that her fathers liked to using his drafting skills to draw barns and silos and said he 'was very particular when he drew those.' But, doesn't remember ever seeing him draw people or use color or colored markers. The images released over the weekend may have been a 'secret hobby' something he may have done privately, when he was on the road. 'We believe he kidnapped these people. Took took them someplace to draw them in real time, in between binding them, somewhat torturing them, and maybe drawing them after they were killed.' She added: 'So we think these are done in real time, but we've got to solve that and figure that out. That's what we're trying to solve right now is, 'How many are there? Who are they? Where are they from? Where cam we find them? We could be at this a very long time,' she said, in part. 'That's my working theory.' Rawson said that if you view the drawings, they look as if they were sketched in the 'first person,' and described them as 'very particular.' 'There are some that have extreme detail, like the first black and white one at the barn. There's a detail down to her mascara, that's smudged, the exact bondages, and what the barn looks like.' The 19-year-old patient was suffering with poor mental health when they spoke A Christian doctor 'overstepped the boundaries' while talking about religion and praying with a patient but is not guilty of serious misconduct, medical watchdogs have ruled. Dr Richard Scott, a medic since 1983, began discussing religion to his vulnerable patient, including talking about his own faith, before clasping his patient's hands in prayer, a fitness to practise tribunal of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) found. The medic, who ran two mission hospitals in Tanzania before becoming a GP, also gave the patient a Bible when he left the Bethesda Medical Centre in Margate, Kent. The patient, identified only as patient B, a 19-year-old man with a history of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, was suffering with poor mental health when he went to see Dr Scott on August 25 last year, accompanied by his mother, the tribunal sitting in Manchester heard. Two weeks later the teenager's mother made a complaint to NHS England about her son's consultation with Dr Scott. Dr Scott told the tribunal hearing he declined the use of anti-depressants for his patient, discussed counselling then asked permission to 'tackle his issues from a third, spiritual, angle'. Dr Richard Scott 'overstepped the boundaries' while talking about religion and praying with a patient but is not guilty of serious misconduct, medical watchdogs have ruled But the teenager told the tribunal he was 'taken aback' when the doctor began talking about Christianity, which made him feel 'uneasy' and claimed the GP told him he needed to 'reconnect' with God. Dr Scott told the tribunal that he does not pressurise anyone into a spiritual discussion but rather 'offers and encourages'. The tribunal found that though patient B did consent to undertake a spiritual discussion, Dr Scott 'then overstepped the boundaries'. He should have checked the teenager was 'comfortable' with engaging in such a discussion and did not feel under pressure to continue it, the tribunal ruled. General Medical Council (GMC) guidance states doctors may practise medicine in accordance with their beliefs provided they do not cause distress to patients. And they must not impose or express personal beliefs or values, including political, religious and moral beliefs, to patients in ways that exploit their vulnerability or are likely to cause them distress. In a 41-page ruling following the tribunal hearings, which began on August 21, the MPTS concluded Dr Scott's conduct constituted misconduct. But the ruling continued: 'However, in the context of these events, it did not find that Dr Scott's conduct could be considered deplorable or disgraceful. The medic, who ran two mission hospitals in Tanzania before becoming a GP, also gave the patient a Bible when he left the Bethesda Medical Centre in Margate, Kent (pictured, file image) 'Therefore, it concluded that, although this amounted to misconduct, Dr Scott's actions did not cross the high threshold required to be considered serious misconduct.' The tribunal is currently sitting to consider if Dr Scott should be given a warning letter - which would be his second. In June 2012 the GMC issued Dr Scott with the warning letter after a patient complained the GP had abused his position to push his religion upon him. Another instance in 2019 saw the National Secular Society complain that a 'highly vulnerable' patient 'felt discomfort at the use of prayer' by Dr Scott. In 2022, Dr Scott was ordered by NHS bosses to attend an education course designed for doctors facing allegations of having sex with patients, despite facing no such accusations himself. He refused to undergo the three-day 'maintaining professional boundaries' course and accused health chiefs of an 'outrageous' attempt to 'humiliate' him. Despite being cleared after a General Medical Council (GMC) probe, NHS England continued a separate inquiry and ordered him to go on the 1,800 course at his own expense. Dr Scott said at the time: 'It was essentially aimed at sexual miscreants. There was nothing that I could see was relevant to me. I was outraged.' Meanwhile NHS England said the course was applicable as it covers a 'wide range of professional boundaries'. Gillian Keegan's hot mic gaffe has been mocked by people on social media with sites flooded with memes, as the Education Secretary comes under fire over the schools concrete chaos. Ms Keegan was caught on camera saying she had done a 'f****** good job' over the schools concrete crisis while others 'sat on their arse'. The comments came in footage released by ITV News, filmed as the camera re-positioned for extra shots. But people on X, formerly known as Twitter, ripped into the MP over the gaffe - which she has now apologised for, saying it was an 'off-the-cuff remark'. One person on the social media site wrote: 'So when you're not all sitting on your a***s all day, what's your favourite f*****g subjects?' One person on the social media site wrote: 'So when you're not all sitting on your a***s all day, what's your favourite f*****g subjects?' In another The Thick Of It tweet, a caption read: 'Today, you have laid your first big fat egg of solid f***' One post read: '"Does anyone ever say: You know what, you've done a f****** good job because everyone else is sat on their arse and done nothing." 'Who said it: Gillian Keegan or Nicola Murray?' While another person shared a picture of the character Nicola, where she says: 'Get me some ketamine, I want to separate my mind from my body. F***.' And Gordon Brown's infamous hot mic gaffe where he called British voter Gillian Duffy a 'bigoted woman' was harped back to in one tweet. A picture of Ms Duffy was captioned: 'Bad luck Gillian (not that one).' Others likened the gaffe to a scene out of The Thick Of It, with one tweet saying: '"Does anyone ever say: You know what, you've done a f****** good job because everyone else is sat on their arse and done nothing." Who said it: Gillian Keegan or Nicola Murray?' READ MORE: Education Secretary Gillian Keegan says sorry and admits she is 'frustrated' after No10 rebukes her for hot mic moment snapping at ITV crew grilling her over concrete chaos engulfing schools Advertisement While another person shared a picture of the character Nicola, where she says: 'Get me some ketamine, I want to separate my mind from my body. F***.' The tweet was captioned: 'Gillian Keegan right now - I maintain that the last 13 years have been a slow burn episode of The Thick Of It.' Another popular show people were reminded of in light of Ms Keegan's mic mishap was The Office UK. One meme showed Ricky Gervais's character David Brent saying 'You do one good deed' - which was captioned: 'Gillian Keegan right now.' Another social media user wrote: 'Is that OFCOM? I wish to log a complaint about Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. I can cope with the swearing but telling everyone shes doing a good job is a step too far' The minister's comments came at the conclusion of an interview with ITV's Daniel Hewitt in which she said he had been 'pressing me quite hard' and claimed he was 'making out it was all my fault'. In her apology, the Education Secretary refused to say who she believed was 'sat on their arse'. Ms Keegan said: 'I wasn't really talking about anyone in particular. It was an off-the-cuff remark after the news interview had finished, or apparently after it had finished. Another social media user wrote: 'Is that OFCOM? I wish to log a complaint about Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. I can cope with the swearing but telling everyone shes doing a good job is a step too far' One social media user shared a picture of British voter Gillian Duffy, who Gordon Brown famously called a 'bigoted woman', after Gillian Keegan's gaffe One meme showed Ricky Gervais's character David Brent saying 'You do one good deed' - which was captioned: 'Gillian Keegan right now.' Another meme said Ms Keegan had been called the 'Nicola Murray of the cabinet' in a scathing tweet One social media user likened her to David Brent from the UK Office One footie fan cleverly managed to bring former Newcastle forward Kevin Keegan back in the spotlight following the education secretary's blunder 'I would like to apologise for my choice language, that was unnecessary.' She indicated she was frustrated with those who have not responded to questionnaires asking about whether schools have the dangerous aerated concrete present. In her follow-up interview, Ms Keegan said: 'It is frustrating because we're doing everything now to take a leading position to be on the front foot, to put all the support in place that responsible bodies and schools need. 'It's also frustrating that we've got some questionnaires that still are not there, we've been chasing and chasing them, we've written again today to say you need to get your questionnaires in by the end of the week.' Pressed on whether she was frustrated with councils, her predecessor as education secretary or Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Ms Keegan said: 'No it's not, it's nobody in particular.' But taking aim at ITV's award-winning Mr Hewitt, she said: 'Actually it was the interviewer, because the interviewer was making out it was all my fault, and that's what I was saying, do you ever go into these interviews where anyone ever says anything but "you've just done a terrible job".' Pope Francis today hinted that he may soon halt travelling abroad as the 86-year-old pontiff admitted it 'is not as easy as it was' when he took office a decade ago. 'I'll tell you the truth, for me taking a trip now, it's not as easy as in the beginning, there are limitations, in walking,' said the pope when asked by reporters on his return from Mongolia - his 43rd trip of his papacy - what future official trips he envisioned. His trip to Mongolia came just three months after he underwent a three-hour operation in Rome to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in his abdominal wall. The pope's medical team had decided that the surgery was required to treat a 'recurrent, painful and worsening' constriction of the intestine. The procedure came two years after Francis had 13 inches of his colon removed because of an inflammation and narrowing of the large intestine. Pope Francis said Monday that papal voyages were not as easy as they used to be, as the 86-year-old pontiff completed the 43rd trip of his decade-long papacy Pope Francis attends the press conference with accredited journalists on the return flight from Mongolia on Monday Pope Francis speaks during a press conference aboard the papal plane on his flight back after visiting Mongolia on Monday During his visit to Mongolia, the elderly pontiff insisted that the Vatican's relations with China were going well but said work must still be done to show Beijing that the Catholic Church isn't beholden to a foreign power. READ MORE: How Pope Francis has battled health problems over the years Advertisement The 86-year-old ventured to the vast, isolated Central Asian nation as a gesture of support to its tiny Catholic community, but the trip was overshadowed by apparent overtures to Beijing, with whom the Vatican for years has struggled to make inroads. 'Relations with China are very respectful, very. I have a great admiration for the Chinese people,' the pope told reporters on his flight home. He added: 'I think we need to go further on the religious side to understand each other better. 'So Chinese citizens don't think that the Church doesn't accept their own culture, their own values and that the Church represents another foreign power.' He also directly addressed the Chinese people - some of whom were in the congregation of a Sunday mass, on pilgrimages unauthorised by Beijing - telling them to be 'good Christians and good citizens'. Francis, in the 11th year of his papacy, is anxious to make inroads for the Catholic Church in China, where a contentious 2018 deal renewed last year both Beijing and the Vatican a voice in choosing cardinals. But an invitation to visit from Beijing is yet to arrive, and Francis on Monday suggested, as he ended the 43rd voyage of his papacy, that future trips could be limited. 'I'll tell you the truth, for me taking a trip now, it's not as easy as in the beginning, there are limitations, in walking,' he said, when asked what official visits he envisioned. The pope underwent a hernia operation in June and knee pain forces him to rely on a wheelchair or cane. While in Mongolia, he walked unsteadily and often looked tired. Pope Francis attends a Mass in the Hun Theatre on September 03 in a wheelchair Pictured: Pope Francis shakes hands with Mongolia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Batmunkh Battsetseg while sat in a wheelchair before departing the country on Monday The pope has been plagued with health issues since he was a young man, owing to the complications of a severe condition he contracted in his 20s. When he was 21, he developed pleurisy - the inflammation of the tissue between the lungs and the ribcage. The affliction was so serious he almost died and doctors were forced to remove several pulmonary cysts and a small part of his upper right lung, according to the pope's biographer Austen Ivereigh. A lengthy recovery process followed, which impacted his voice - he is often heard speaking in little more than a whisper. The pontiff said he had made a full recovery from pleurisy, but his reduced lung capacity puts him at greater risk of chronic respiratory diseases. The Argentine pope also suffers from sciatica nerve pain. He was hospitalised in March this year with a bout of pneumonia after he experienced difficulty breathing at his weekly general audience at the Vatican. He emerged on April 1 saying 'Still alive!' Asked about his health in an interview with US Spanish-language network Telemundo broadcast in May, Francis said it was 'much better'. 'I can walk now. My knee has been mending. I could hardly walk beforehand. Now I can. Some days are more painful than others,' the pope said. Francis added that doctors had caught his respiratory infection just in time. 'If we'd waited a few more hours, it would've been much more serious. But I was out (of hospital) in four days,' he said. Ramandeep Kaur Mann, 38, from Derby, was found guilty of murdering her husband Sukhjit Singh (right), 34, while they were on holiday at his mother's house in India in September 2016 after feeding him a biryani laced with sedatives. Mann, a mother-of-two, was given the capital punishment earlier this month by Judge Pankaj Kumar Srivastava following her trial at Shahjahanpur District Court in Uttar Pradesh, north India. The death penalty is only awarded in India to cases deemed as the 'rarest of the rare' and in his 75-page judgment he bizarrely ruled that Mann's case fell into this category because she hurled abuse at her mother-in-law Bans Kaur during the hearing. Judge Srivastava ruled: 'During the trial she hurled abuse at her mother-in-law. This is one of the reasons why her case is one of the 'rarest of the rare,' as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court of India. She should be given capital punishment because if she is not given strict punishment then every mother would think a thousand times before admitting her daughter in law into her home.' Russias most feared general has been spotted for the first time since Vladimir Putin fired him for being too close to now-dead coup leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. A new picture seemingly shows General Sergei Armageddon Surovikin walking with his wife, 50-year-old Anna, near his palatial home in Moscow. General Surovikin, 56, had not been seen for more than two months since Yevgeny Prigozhin attempted to throw Putin out of power by marching towards Moscow with his Wagner forces. A New York Times report based on US intelligence claimed that Surovikin had advance knowledge of Prigozhin's attempted coup in June, though the Kremlin strenuously denied this at the time. Putin fired Surovikin as head of aerospace forces two weeks ago. The general is believed to have been held in custody in the Lefortovo military prison, and likely faced interrogation over his relationship with Prigozhin. Some experts even claimed that Surovikin, who was given his nickname due to his cruelty and aggressive approach to warfare, was dead, as reliable sources said that his wife and family had not seen him for weeks. General Sergei Armageddon Surovikin (pictured left) was seen walking with his wife, Anna (pictured), in Moscow Putin reportedly had him arrested and interrogated to see whether he knew anything about Yevgeny Prigozhin's attempted coup Fuelling further speculation about his wellbeing, on Monday Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu refused to answer questions about Surovikin and whether Russia is criminally investigating him. In June, the head of the Russian parliament's defence committee, Andrei Kartapolov, was heard saying in a video that Surovikin was 'currently resting', adding that he was 'not available' at the time. The top-level commander was briefly in charge of Russia's invasion of Ukraine until Putin removed responsibility from him in January, handing it to the current armed forces chief, General Valery Gerasimov. Analysts have noted his cruelty towards perceived enemies of Russia. The couple were seen walking near their home in Moscow, two months after Surovikin was last seen Russian media reported in 2004 that a colonel serving under General Armageddon committed suicide after receiving a heated reprimand from him Under his watch, Russia's forces launched rocket attacks against civilians in Ukraine, with one such attack blowing up a major road junction near a children's playground and a university. Despite his cruelty, he was described as one of the few people in the Russian army who knew 'how to oversee and streamline different army branches.' Gleb Irisov, a former air force lieutenant who worked with Surovikin up to 2020, told the Guardian at the time of his appointment as leader of Russia's invasion: 'He is very cruel but also a competent commander.' Another former defence ministry official told the newspaper at the time: 'Surovikin is absolutely ruthless, with little regard for human life. I am afraid his hands will be completely covered in Ukrainian blood.' Surovikin was also in charge of 'defending' Moscow's interests in Syria. According to a 2020 Human Rights Watch report, Russian forces under his command attacked Syrian 'homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and markets the places where people live, work, and study.' Even people who could be considered friends or allies of Russia aren't safe. Russian media reported in 2004 that a colonel serving under General Armageddon committed suicide after receiving a heated reprimand from him. The general first shot to notoriety in the early 1990s during an attempted coup against Gorbachev by communist hardliners. He led a rifle division that drove through barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters. Three men were killed in the clash, including one who was crushed. Police have partially sealed off a Tesco supermarket as fears grow for a missing woman who vanished on her way home from work. Gabriella Kosilko, 26, was last seen in a shop on Fosse Road North in Leicester last Thursday at 11.30pm. She was reported missing the next day after she failed to return home after her night shift. Police revealed that her red Audi A1 was found abandoned and are now appealing to the public to help find Ms Kosilko. The 20,000 car was found in Ratby Lane in Leicester at 4.20pm on Friday. As part of the ongoing enquiries to locate Ms Kosilko searches are being conducted in the Newton Linford area and around Groby Pool. Gabriella Kosilko, 26, (pictured) was last seen in a shop on Fosse Road North in Leicester last Thursday at 11.30pm. She was reported missing the next day after she failed to return home after her night shift Police have cordoned off two areas of Leicestershire as part of its investigation into missing Gabriella Kosilko An area behind a Tesco in the Beaumont Leys neighbourhood has also been cordoned off as part of the investigation. Leicestershire Police said: 'Officers are keen to speak to Gabriella or anyone who may have seen her since Thursday night. 'She is described as being 5ft 5ins tall, of medium build, with light brown/red hair.' Anyone who with information about Ms Kosilko's whereabouts should call 101, quoting incident 484 of 1 September. The owner was sent back home, but she has not given up hope in finding her dog Rodriguez and Maia got to Atlanta before being turned back around due to visa paperwork issues Paula Rodriguez's six-year-old dog Maia was lost by Delta Airlines and is still missing A woman was offered $1,800 from Delta Airlines after they lost her dog at Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta Airport in Georgia on August 18. Paula Rodriguez booked a flight to San Francisco from the Dominican Republic with her dog Maia for a two-week long vacation. During their layover in Georgia, Rodriguez was soon informed that her tourist visa 'didn't meet requirements'. Her visa was then canceled as border control staff told her she had to go back home on the next flight which wasn't until the following day. The border patrol staff then moved her to a detention center to stay in overnight. Maia, Paula's six-year-old dog never reunited with her owner after being split up in the Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on August 18 Because of US regulations Rodriguez was not allowed to stay at the airport to wait for her dog and had to get on the flight back home without her Mia still hasn't been found and Delta Airlines reached out to Rodriguez and offered compensation of $1,800 which her attorney's called an 'insult' In this time she was not able to have her dog back and was told she would get that opportunity once she touches back down in the Dominican Republic. According to New York Post Delta promised to keep an eye on Rodriguez's six-year-old dog while she awaited deportation. Their new flight back home was scheduled for 10.20am the following day where she was told her and her beloved pup would reunite, but Maia did not show up. Rodriguez told 7NEWS: 'I started asking questions about where she'd be spending the night, and told him that she'd been in a lot of distress on the flight.' Maia had diarrhea and puked when they got to Atlanta. Because of US regulations Rodriguez was not allowed to stay at the airport to wait for her dog and had to get on the flight back home without her. The airline put her on a flight to Punta Cana, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Santo Domingo. She hoped that the airline would put her dog on the next flight back to their home, but that never happened. She hoped that the airline would put her dog on the next flight back to their home, but that never happened She filed a report as soon as she got to Punta Cana after Maia was nowhere to be found. While she stayed put, her mother decided to go to the Santo Domingo airport in case the dog showed up there. Claims were then filed at the Atlanta and San Francisco airport. Staff went around to local shelters as well, but still, no sign of the dog. 'She's been missing for more than 72 hours in the biggest airport in the United States,' Rodriguez told Atlanta News First. The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport is 4,700 acres. Mia still hasn't been found and Delta Airlines reached out to Rodriguez and offered compensation of $1,800 which her attorney's called an 'insult.' In a statement Delta said that the money is not an 'offer of compensation' and claimed they 'have shown sympathy through many actions, gestures and communications with our customer.' Maia, a chihuahua mix has not been found and Rodriguez, her owner, has issued a $1,000 reward for any information on her lost dog In a statement Delta said that the money is not an 'offer of compensation' and claimed they 'have shown sympathy through many actions, gestures and communications with our customer' Delta added that they remain 'heartbroken' over the situation. Taking matters into her own hands, Rodriguez has turned to social media and posted videos on TikTok warning people to be on the lookout for Maia if they are at the Atlanta airport. She has also issued a $1,000 reward for any information on where Maia might be. Rodriguez's sister Danielle has also created a GoFundMe dedicated to raise money to help get the best possible resources to help find Maia. An elderly couple are being chased by rail firms and debt collectors for fare dodging throughout Western Europe - despite not having gone abroad for 15 years. David and Marjorie Ball receive up to two letters a week demanding payment for train journeys they have not taken. Businesses in France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK have been sending threatening messages to the couple since 2017, leaving them in fear that debt collectors will start turning up at their home. They arranged for a solicitor to draft a 'cease and desist' letter which is sent out to the companies but most ignore them. 'The demands are for about 150 Euros each time. It is not in our name but for our address,' said retired computer engineer Mr Ball, 81, of Luton, Bedfordshire. David and Marjorie Ball (pictured) receive up to two letters a week demanding payment for train journeys they have not taken Businesses in France , Germany , Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK have been sending threatening messages to the couple since 2017, leaving them in fear that debt collectors will start turning up at their home. Pictured above is one of letters they received 'I have been pondering how this person can walk onto a train with no ticket. He gets stopped and they say 'What are your details?' And he gives them a false name and our address. 'I can't understand why they did not make any more checks, to ask the person what they are doing on an international railway without any money. 'I can't work out who it is - whether it is someone we have upset in the past who I can't think of or whether it is just random.' Mrs Ball, 78, a former secretary, added: 'We just wait for the letters to drop at our door and think 'Oh god, I hope it's not another one'. Your stomach turns.' She added: 'There's always a fear of debt collectors knocking on the door. So far it's not happened but we just don't know where it's all going to end.' The fare dodger has used aliases including Ashley Wills, Michael Roschu and David Barnfield. The first penalty letter, from Virgin Rail, arrived in 2017 asking for 165.50 for a journey from Crewe in Cheshire to Euston in London. 'I spoke to them and the woman there quashed it straight away, sent an apology and there was no problem,' Mr Ball said. He and his wife spent 400 on the solicitor's letter to fire off to other firms but said it was 'wasted money' as foreign companies ignore it. They are being chased for seven fares at present. They also tried contacting Action Fraud but were advised to call Bedfordshire Police. 'I heard the officer, who was speaking to a superior, say 'No, he is not senile',' Mr Ball said. They couple (pictured together) arranged for a solicitor to draft a 'cease and desist' letter which is sent out to the companies but most ignore them 'I phoned them up again the other week. The woman was quite good and took everything down but advised me to go back to Action Fraud. So I am going round in circles. 'Both me and my wife are old age pensioners and it's just beating us down day after day, never knowing what to expect in the post.' One letter came from a company called Credit Limits International, issued on behalf of SNCF, French National Public Railways. It said: 'The French Treasury may instruct doorstep collection agents to visit you at the above address.' CLI have since agreed not to send any more letters but others continue to arrive from other firms. The latest demand was to pay 165.97 Euros to debt collectors by September 9 on behalf of a German rail firm. The couple don't have any children and have lived in the same house for 36 years. It was new when they bought it, so no one else has lived there. Their last holiday abroad was Cuba in 2008 and since then they have gone no further than the south coast of England - and insist they always drive. 'We are nowhere near getting to the bottom of it. We have got to the court stage in the Netherlands. I'm not going,' added Mr Ball. The latest demand was to pay 165.97 Euros to debt collectors by September 9 on behalf of a German rail firm The fare dodger has used aliases including Ashley Wills, Michael Roschu and David Barnfield. Pictured above is a letter from Virgin Trains about an unpaid fare for a journey from London Euston to Chester 'We try to push it to the back of our minds but it just flares up. We think 'Is it ever going to go away?' 'We have got enough evidence to show them though. I have a ten-year passport that expired in 2022 and has nothing in it.' The Rail Delivery Group said it couldn't comment on individual cases but added: 'When someone is issued a penalty fare, the address provided to the ticket inspector will be used for correspondence. 'Revenue protection staff will, wherever possible, try and verify and address.' Anyone wrongly sent a demand letter should 'inform the relevant authority that the fine in question is not related to them'. A woman sheds tears at Seoul Seo2 Elementary School in Seocho District, southern Seoul, Sunday, while mourning the death of a teacher who took her own life inside her classroom in July. Yonhap By Jun Ji-hye Some 120,000 teachers held memorial events and rallies in Seoul and other parts of the country on Monday to commemorate the recent deaths of their colleagues and to demand proper measures to better protect their rights and prevent such tragedies. Principals of nearly 40 elementary schools designated the day a discretionary holiday, while a considerable number of teachers in other schools took their yearly leave or even their sick leave in order to participate in the collective action. In order to minimize disruptions, some schools shortened teaching hours, while others combined classes. Some parents did not send their children to school as a way to show their support for the collective action of teachers. Monday was considered special as it marked the 49th day since a young teacher at Seoul Seo2 Elementary School in southern Seoul took her own life, allegedly after struggling to deal with complaints from parents of some of her students regarding an assault case. Forty nine days is the total mourning period for Buddhists who believe that is how long it takes for a dead person to be reborn. Citizens lay flowers at Seoul Seo2 Elementary School in Seocho District, southern Seoul, Monday, to mourn a teacher who took her own life inside her classroom in July. Yonhap Following the young teacher's suicide, three more teachers two working at elementary schools in Seoul's Yangcheon District and in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, and one working at a high school in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province ended their own lives in the last four days. Although police investigations into their deaths are still ongoing, the anger felt by teachers across the country has been fueled based on the belief that their deceased colleagues were all under excessive stress due to parents being too demanding. A 40-year-old teacher at an elementary school in Gyeonggi Province said, "Every teacher, including myself, has had a similar experience, but there has been no proper protection." This wolfhound puppy might well be Britain's luckiest dog after the poor soul was rescued from a tiny gap in a wall following a freak accident. Seven-month-old Lulu ran away from her owner Niki Littlewood after being frightened while walking on a canal path near Huddersfield. 'She was spooked by some other dogs and just ran, we then spent an hour and 20 minutes looking for her and posted appeals on social media,' Ms Littlewood told Telegraph & Argus. 'We couldn't find her anywhere and were beside ourselves. Then we heard her whimpering and found her trapped in-between a drystone wall. 'The gap was so narrow you couldn't even put a foot across it and it was around five feet deep.' Lulu the wolfhound puppy, pictured with her owner Niki Littlewood The seven-month-old pup was stuck in this tiny gap in a wall after it got spooked on a walk Lulu's owner explained how she thought the Wolfhound tried to get into their home by jumping the neighbour's fence. However, in doing so, Ms Littlewood believes she hit her head and laid unconscious for over an hour. After finding Lulu, Ms Littlewood called vet Rohin Aojula from Donaldson's Vets Emergency Hospital in Huddersfield, who rushed to the scene. Lulu was then injected with a sedative to relax her before the rescue operation took place. Once she was carried out from the gap in the wall, she was immediately rushed to the veterinary hospital where she underwent a check-up and stayed overnight. All in all, Lulu was extremely fortunate to only escape with a few minor cuts and she was able to go home the next day. Her dramatic rescue will be featured on The Yorkshire Vet on Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 5. Ms Littlewood said: 'The gap was so narrow you couldn't even put a foot across it and it was around five feet deep' Vet Rohin Aojula, from Donaldson's Vets Emergency Hospital in Huddersfield, pictured next to Lulu Number 10 sent Gillian Keegan out to apologise for her foul-mouthed rant where she accused everyone of 'sitting on their a***s' over the concrete crisis - only for her to blame schools for being too slow to respond. Education Secretary Ms Keegan was in Spain with family in the lead-up to the eruption of the crisis in schools centring on crumbling concrete, it has also been revealed. It comes as more than 100 schools have closed or partially closed due to the dangerous concrete - as another 450 with suspected issues are yet to be inspected by engineers. Ms Keegan issued a grovelling apology after launching an extraordinary rant while being grilled about the crisis on TV, but later laughed as she was shown the clip during a follow-up interview. Apologising for the remark on X, Ms Keegan wrote: 'I'm sorry for my off the cuff remark and choice language earlier. 'I know parents are concerned. I've been working non-stop to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.' Gillian Keegan (right) was caught on camera venting her frustration as she finished giving an interview to ITV News Ms Keegan issued a grovelling apology today after launching an extraordinary rant while she was being grilled about the concrete crisis on TV A taped off section inside Parks Primary School in Leicester which has been affected by the Raac crisis Appearing on Sky News's Politics Hub on Monday night, Ms Keegan was put on the spot again over her remarks, laughing briefly and appearing uncomfortable as she watched them back. She was then asked by host Sophie Ridge: 'So, do you think you're doing an effing good job?' Ms Keegan responded: 'I wasn't talking about me, I was talking about the department. The job I was talking about started in March 2022, so way before I was in [post].' Her defense came as aides said the Cabinet minister was 'working from home' on the continent between August 25 and Thursday, when the closures at more than 100 schools were ordered. They argued she continued to chair operational calls every day while in Spain, while taking calls and messages, after heading abroad after GCSE results were announced. The MP reportedly owns a flat in Madrid and a house in Marbella, but a spokesman declined to say where in Spain she was. The complete or partial closures at 104 schools and colleges in England over reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) was announced with a press release on Thursday afternoon. Ms Keegan, according to aides, was in her department overseeing the publication of the guidance that day before speaking to broadcasters in the evening. A Department for Education spokesman said: 'Throughout this summer the Education Secretary has been driving forward this Government's priorities, bringing an end to strike action in schools, announcing 15 new free schools and seven new Send (special educational needs and disabilities) schools, as well as overseeing the return to pre-pandemic grading for GCSE, A-level and VTQ results. 'The Education Secretary took the cautious and proactive decision to change guidance on Raac and this week has chaired daily operational calls with ministers and senior officials in the department and virtually.' Ms Keegan today revealed a list of all 156 schools affected by the crumbling concrete crisis will be published 'this week'. Mr Sunak held a cross-government briefing on the Raac issue in Downing Street today Making a statement in the Commons, Ms Keegan said: 'We will publish a list of schools once mitigations are in place. 'It is right that parents are informed by schools if they are impacted and that schools have time to work with their DfE caseworker on those mitigations. 'I'm confirming today that we will publish the list of the 156 schools with confirmed cases of Raac this week, with details of initial mitigations in place.' She added: 'After this, we will provide updated information as new cases of Raac are confirmed and existing cases resolved.' The Education Secretary said sorry for her 'choice language' after being caught on camera venting her frustration during an an interview with ITV News. In a clip posted on the X social media site, Ms Keegan seemed unruffled and thanked the journalist as they wrapped up the questioning. But the footage kept rolling as the clearly angry minister remarked: 'Does anyone ever say, you know what you've done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their a** and done nothing? No signs of that, no?' It is unclear who Ms Keegan was criticising for 'sitting on their a**'. She took over as Education Secretary from Kit Malthouse in October last year, which was long after concerns had first been raised about Raac. Rishi Sunak has been under fire for curbing spending on upgrading school buildings, while Ms Keegan also hit out at Labour for failing to take action when it was in power before 2010. No10 distanced itself from Ms Keegan's eruption, branding it 'unacceptable' - and she later recorded another interview apologising. She said she had been referring to 'no-one in particular' with the jibe about others being lazy, and was 'frustrated' at the journalist 'making out it was all my fault', as well as at schools being slow to supply information about Raac. 'I would like to apologise for my choice language, it was unnecessary,' she said. 'I apologise for the language, but it is something that I am very keen to make progress on.' The TV crew seemed slightly taken aback by her outburst, as she stared at the reporter. Typically comments made before an interview starts and after it finishes are regarded as off the record. However, ITV pointed out on X that Ms Keegan was still wearing her mic and they were about to film extra shots when the exchanges happened this morning. 'In the moments after the main body of the interview had finished, and as the camera repositioned for extra shots, Keegan - still wearing her mic - criticised others and claimed the govt has gone 'over and above' in addressing concerns relating to Raac,' ITV said. Braving the cameras again to apologise, Ms Keegan said: 'It is frustrating because we're doing everything now to take a leading position to be on the front foot to put of all the support in place that responsible bodies and schools need. 'It's also frustrating that we've got some questionnaires that still are not there, we've been chasing and chasing them, we've written again today to say you need to get your questionnaires in by the end of the week.' How and when did evidence come to light on the concrete scandal? 1950s up to the mid-1990s - RAAC, a lightweight building material, is used 1995 - The Times newspaper reports the first warnings about RAAC cracking in roofs came in 2018 - The Department for Education (DfE) considers RAAC as a potential issue June 2023 - Problems were highlighted in a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) Summer 2023 Schools minister Nick Gibb says fresh evidence came to light August 31, 2023 Parents are informed some schools will be forced to close Advertisement The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'I think that the language used obviously is not acceptable. It is right that the Education Secretary has apologised for that. 'But at the front of parents' minds will be the situation in their schools and I think that is what they will want to hear more about.' Ms Keegan has endured a painful day as she toured studios trying to put the government's case about the developing shambles. She was accused of going missing after the crisis dramatically escalated on Thursday night, sending schools minister Nick Gibb out for the morning broadcast round the following day. And Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was the one facing a quiz on the Sunday politics shows. Ms Keegan is due to make a statement to the Commons this afternoon as it returns from the summer break. More than 100 schools are having to fully or partially shut after alarm was raised about RAAC in buildings - a lightweight type of concrete that was used from the 1950s to the 1990s, but it is now believed can collapse without warning. Thousands of children in England are facing the prospect of online lessons as they return for the start of the new academic year today. Ms Keegan looked visibly uncomfortable as she was grilled by Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid in another interview. Sitting alongside fellow presenter Ed Balls - a former secretary of state for education - Ms Reid said: 'This is a mess, isn't it?' Ms Keegan tried to explain that three 'incidents' occurred - some not in schools - where in one a roof panel had fallen at a 'non-critical' site towards the end of August. 'I didn't want to risk this happening anywhere,' she said. 'So I change the guidance on non-critical roofs to say we had to do the same with critical ones, which is prop them up or get temporary accommodation in place. 'I do understand that for parents and the headteachers who are affected that was last minute, but you can only act on the evidence when it emerges.' Interrupting her, Ms Reid pointed to an ITV investigation in March where it was found 68 schools were aware it had RAAC - a lightweight form of concrete used between the 1950s and 1990s - and could be at risk with more than 1,500 in the dark, with 2,000 still to have an inspection. Ms Reid said: 'That was back in March, we are now in September and you won't know the full scale of this until the end of the year. Daniel [Hewitt, ITV reporter] said at the time in March that he had not had an interview with the Department for Education. 'We bid for an interview with you or one of your ministers back in March and could not get anywhere with this. It seems remarkable that now the first day of term we are in the situation we are in when you knew the full scale of this back in March.' Ms Keegan's rant was branded a 'staggering display of arrogance' and an 'insult to families' by Labour. Shadow Schools Minister Stephen Morgan blasted the Education Secretary following her furious rant today, recorded by a film crew. Speaking to MailOnline, Portsmouth South MP Mr Morgan said: 'This extraordinary outburst is an insult to frightened families who still don't know whether their children's schools are safe and an admission that the Conservatives have done nothing to address a problem that they have known about for years. 'The Education Secretary has displayed staggering arrogance for saying she deserves a pat on the back for the chaos that is gripping our schools on her watch. 'Families, school leaders and school staff deserve an immediate apology for these appalling comments.' Education Secretary Gillian Keegan was grilled by Good Morning Britain's Susan Reid over the crumbling concrete crisis that has impacted schools A dog which mauled a three-year old girl's face in a horror attack was a banned Pitbull breed, it has been confirmed. Merseyside Police were called to an incident in Kirkby town centre following reports that a dog had bitten a young child. The youngster was taken shortly after to Alder Hey Children's Hospital for treatment for her injuries, which were initially described as serious but not life-threatening. The girl has since been discharged from hospital. A police spokesperson confirmed to the Liverpool Echo on Monday that the dog was a Pit Bull, which is one of four banned breeds in the UK along with the Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro. Witnesses described seeing the young girl outside the Market Tavern in Kirkby, northeast of Liverpool, earlier in the day dressed in 'pretty pink', while they claimed the 'big dog' kept having to be pulled back by its owners. Witnesses described seeing the young girl outside the Market Tavern in Kirkby, northeast of Liverpool, earlier in the day dressed in 'pretty pink', while the 'big dog' kept having to be pulled back by its owners. Pictured: Police outside the pub A 31-year-old man from Ormskirk has been arrested on suspicion of affray and having a dog dangerously out of control in a public place. Pictured: Police outside the Market Tavern A 31-year-old man from Ormskirk, Lancashire, has been arrested on suspicion of affray and having a dog dangerously out of control in a public place. Outside the Market Tavern one pubgoer said she witnessed the terrifying attack which happened while many were out enjoying the sunshine. The woman, who did not wish to be named, said she had seen the girl earlier in the day dressed in 'pretty pink' and playing happily outside the pub with a hula-hoop. She claimed 'a big dog was outside the pub' and, although it was on a lead, it kept having to be pulled back by its owners. The woman claimed the owners, who also had a puppy, were 'happy for people to come over and pet the dogs'. She claimed the girl 'stroked the bigger dog once, then stroked it again', at which point it attacked her. The woman said she was horrified when she heard the 'scream of the baby'. 'They [the owners] did try and pull it back and it was on a lead at all times,' she said. 'The dog had water and had been fed, and had been petted throughout the hours that it was here. We even said, these dogs shouldn't be in this situation. It was chaos.' She said she was shaken to see a girl who, just moments earlier, had been having such a fun time, in such pain. The woman also alleged the owners had told how they had only got the ''bigger dog' yesterday. A three-year-old girl has been hospitalised with serious injuries after her face was mauled in a vicious dog attack while she was playing outside the Market Tavern (pictured) in Kirkby A spokesperson for the Market Tavern said staff were 'devastated' by what happened and were assisting the police with their enquiries. Merseyside Police has appealed for witnesses to come forward with footage which could help their investigation. Chief Inspector Jim Wilde said: 'This was a horrific attack which has left a young girl receiving hospital treatment for significant injuries to her face. I want to reassure people that she is currently receiving the best possible care and treatment for her injuries at Alder Hey, and we hope she makes a speedy recovery. 'We seized the dog at the scene, which will now be humanely destroyed, and extensive efforts are now underway to establish exactly what happened. I want to appeal to anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident, who may have information which could help us with our investigation to come forward as soon as possible. 'You may even live locally and have CCTV, or have been passing in a vehicle and captured dashcam footage - if so, we want to hear from you. This case highlights in the starkest terms the potential dangers of dogs, and I would appeal to anyone with information about dangerous dogs in their area to contact us so that we can take proactive action.' An attorney and prosecutor from Kentucky was indicted for allegedly killing his wife and tampering with evidence after the murder. Donald Kyle Deskins, 54, was indicted on August 30 for the murder of 46-year-old Judith Dawn Deskins back in April of 2021. Dawn died of blunt force trauma at home - allegedly as a result of domestic violence - for which no one was charged at the time. Deskins, who formerly served as an assistant Pike County attorney and is currently the City Attorney for Elkhorn City, was charged with killing his wife 'with the intent to cause her death or under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life wantonly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.' In the month's following his wife's death, Deskins allegedly tampered with evidence that would eventually lead investigators to him. Deskins is accused of tampering with evidence on April 24, 2021 - the day Dawn died - and on July 28, 2021, when he allegedly tampered with laptop that he gave to police. The indictment charges that he 'destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed or altered physical evidence, namely his laptop computer when he offered it as evidence in the death investigation of (Dawn Deskins).' Donald Deskins, 54, was indicted by a grand jury on August 30 and charged with murder and tampering with evidence Judith 'Dawn' Deskins, 46, died on April 24, 2021 at the home she shared with her husband. Court documents allege that her death by blunt force trauma was the result of domestic abuse The lead prosecutor on the case suggested to local outlet the News-Express that the reason it took such an extended period of time to arrest Deskins is because it took law enforcement a long time to find someone with the skills to interpret the physical evidence of the crime. Finding that person, Floyd 'Tony' Skean, said took 'forever.' 'I got involved in late 2021 and it took me nearly all of 2022 to find somebody that could look at it,' he said. That person wound up being Dr. Bill Smock, the director and 'police surgeon' at the Louisville Metro Police Department's Clinical Forensic Medical Program. His unique title and qualifications have led to his involvement in several high-profile cases in recent years, including serving as an expert witness at the trial of Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd, and the investigation surrounding the killing of Breonna Taylor. On August 30, a roughly four hour presentation was given to a jury, which resulted in the indictment. The date in July was also one day after Deskins noticeably updated his Facebook relationship status to declare he was with another woman. His feed was quickly filled with friends and family congratulating him and saying how happy they were that the dad and fresh widower had found someone new just three months after his wife's sudden passing. Currently, he is listed as single on Facebook. Deskins was previously a prosecutor in the Pike County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office and prior to his arrest was the Elkhorn City Attorney He had also previously been sanctioned in his role as a lawyer for omitting information in his representation of a woman seeking a divorce Prior to his current legal predicament, Deskins has a history of facing professional discipline for several screw ups and omissions in his representation of a woman divorcing her husband. Consequently, in 2014, Deskins was suspended from practicing law in Kentucky for a period of 30 days and sentenced to a one year probationary period. In the sentencing opinion, a judge wrote that Deskins had notably tried to mitigate the seriousness of his misconduct by citing mental health struggles and ongoing 'family problems.' In his Motion for Suspension, Deskins admits to wrongdoing and states he was suffering from 'anxiety and depression-related illnesses corresponding with certain personal and family problems during the events giving rise to this case.' Though Deskins was indicted in Pike County, which is located in eastern Kentucky in the heart of Appalachia, he will not be prosecuted by the county Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. As he was once an assistant prosecutor at that office, there is a clear conflict of interest. Instead, Skeans - the Johnson County Commonwealth's Attorney - has been named the special prosecutor. Deskins remains behind bars without bond after being booked on the afternoon of August 31. He was listed as six-foot-three-inches tall and 330 pounds. One of Britain's most senior judges will lead the inquiry into serial baby killer nurse Lucy Letby's crimes, the Health Secretary has said. Steve Barclay told MPs Lady Justice Thirlwall has 'many years of experience' as a senior judge and senior barrister. The inquiry will have legal powers to compel witnesses, including former and current staff of the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, where Letby worked and killed. Letby, 33, was last month sentenced to a whole-life term for murdering seven babies and trying to murder six more. Making a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Barclay said: 'This inquiry will examine the case's wider circumstances, including the (hospital) trust's response to clinicians who raised the alarm and the conduct of the wider NHS and its regulators. Lucy Letby, 33, was last month sentenced to a whole-life term for murdering seven babies and trying to murder six more Steve Barclay told MPs Lady Justice Thirlwall (pictured) has 'many years of experience' as a senior judge 'I can confirm to the House that Lady Justice Thirlwall will lead this inquiry. 'She is one of the country's most senior judges, currently sitting in the Court of Appeal and with many years of experience as a senior judge and a senior barrister before that.' He added: 'I have raised with Lady Justice Thirlwall that the families should work with her to shape the terms of reference. READ MORE: Chilling image shows Lucy Letby at the christening of a newborn baby who died on the unit where nurse carried out her killing spree Advertisement 'We hope to finalise these in the next couple of weeks so the inquiry can start the consultation as soon as possible. 'I have also discussed with Lady Justice Thirlwall the families' desire for the inquiry to take place in phases so it provides answers to vital questions as soon as possible.' The Health Secretary later told MPs: 'The crimes of Lucy Letby were some of the very worst the United Kingdom has witnessed. 'I know that nothing can come close to righting the wrongs of the past, but I hope Lady Justice Thirlwall's inquiry will go at least some way to giving the victims' families the answers they deserve.' Mr Barclay said another look will be given to calls to disbar senior managers for serious misconduct. He said such a recommendation in the 2019 Kark review had been previously looked at by the NHS but it was decided introducing wider changes called for by the same review 'mitigated the need to accept this specific recommendation on disbarring'. Lucy Letby is pictured while working at the hospital The photo - taken at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2013 - shows Emily Morris lifting her baby son Alvin out of a cot as Letby leans over to help Pictured: Countess of Chester Hospital where Letby murdered six babies Mr Barclay told MPs: 'In light of the evidence from Chester and ongoing variation in performance across trusts, I have asked NHS England to work with my department to revisit this. READ MORE: Lucy Letby was caught after a witness was haunted by accounts of the screams of the babies she killed Advertisement 'They will do so alongside the actions recommended by General Sir Gordon Messenger's review of leadership, on which the Government has already accepted all seven recommendations from the report dated June last year. 'This will ensure the right standards, support and training are in place for the public to have confidence that NHS boards have the skills and experience needed to provide safe, quality care.' The hospital saw a significant rise in the number of babies suffering serious and unexpected collapses in 2015 and 2016. Concerns among some consultants about Letby increased and were voiced to hospital bosses when more unexplained and unusual collapses followed, her trial at Manchester Crown 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. She was confined to clerical work but registered a grievance procedure, which was resolved in her favour, and was due to return to the unit in March 2017. A chilling photograph has emerged of killer nurse Lucy Letby comforting a newborn as she poses as a poster girl for the Countess of Chester Hospital Lucy Letby is pictured holding an infant at Countess of Chester Hospital in 2012 The move did not take place as soon after police were contacted by the hospital trust. Tamlin Bolton, a solicitor for law firm Switalskis, which is representing the families of seven of Letby's victims, said in a statement: 'Given what is in the public domain so far around the circumstances of Letby's crimes, it is imperative that the families affected are heard if they are to have the highest confidence in the process. 'That's why we are delighted that the families will be working with Lady Justice Thirlwall to help shape the terms of reference of the inquiry, which will specifically consider the trust's response to the clinicians who raised the alarm about Letby. 'We hope that the trust demonstrates honesty and co-operation during the process and, ultimately, takes accountability for what has happened.' A British policewoman who plunged to her death while on holiday in Corfu has been named. Hannah Emily Byrne, 22, had been out on the first night of her holiday in the Greek resort of Kavos when she suffered a fatal head injury after falling several metres in the early hours of Friday. The officer, who was serving with Surrey Police, had decided to stay out while her colleague went back to their hotel on Friday night. Greek authorities believe the fatal injuries she sustained outside a bar are compatible with an 'accidental fall'. But authorities on the island are now investigating whether the victim had unwittingly drunk alcohol that had been laced with methanol, which is much more toxic than the ethanol found in regular alcoholic drinks. Hannah Emily Byrne, 22, had been out on the first night of her holiday in the Greek resort of Kavos when she suffered a fatal head injury after falling several metres Leading coroner Ioannis Aivatidis told The Sun: 'There are questions as to what kind of alcohol she consumed. Had it been illicitly tampered with? 'Was she so intoxicated because [illegal] methanol was in the alcoholic drinks she had consumed? The answer lies in the toxicology tests that will be carried out.' Aivatidis said he would be carrying out further examinations of the 22-year-old's body including toxicology tests today. The Brit was allegedly left bleeding on the street - possibly for hours - before she was found, according to Greek media. Ms Byrne's friends, who had travelled to Corfu on holiday with the victim, had told Corfu police that her phone was missing at some point during Friday night, suggesting that it might have been stolen. But her mobile was found 'nearby', making the accidental manner of her death 'now much more possible', Aivatidis said. 'But the autopsy will be definitive. It will rule out other possible scenarios.' Her stepfather, who is also a police officer, is expected to arrive on the island to repatriate the policewoman's body back to the UK this week. Ms Byrne's friends, who had travelled to Corfu on holiday with the victim, had told Corfu police that her phone was missing at some point during Friday night, suggesting that it might have been stolen Surrey Police said in a statement on Saturday: 'Yesterday we were sadly made aware of the sudden death of a serving office whilst they were on holiday in Corfu, Greece. 'We are working to support both their family and their colleagues here during this extremely difficult time. 'An investigation into the circumstances of the death is being led by the Greek authorities and we await further updates from them as they conduct their enquiries.' The Surrey Police Federation echoed these sentiments and said the police officer's death was 'devastating'. It added: 'The thoughts of all at Surrey Police Federation are with the officer's family, friends and close colleagues at this time. Both the Federation and the force are supporting them.' A spokesperson for the Foreign Office told MailOnline: 'We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities'. Night after night, it is not only the broken bodies of Ukraine's soldiers that torment them as they fitfully sleep. Thousands of Ukraine's soldiers, having witnessed daily horrors that would curdle the blood of most, will lie awake tonight replaying scenes of battle and death in their minds, desperately trying to rest to fight a war that has emotionally and physically exhausted them since Russia invaded the country 19 months ago. A crisis of soldiers with few options to deal with immense psychological scarring is worsening as each day of the bloody conflict drags on. Andrey Smolenskiy, a brigade commander, is just one of thousands of soldiers who are in dire need of psychological care. Andrey suffered grave injuries as he led an air reconnaissance group from the 47th Mechanised Brigade. Andrey Smolenskiy (pictured), a brigade commander, suffered grave injuries while fighting Russia He was a commander in the 47th Mechanised Brigade Andrey lost both of his arms and both of his eyes while fighting for Ukraine The commander has been in hospital since May 2023 He's been undergoing psychological and physical treatment since he was injured The soldier was forced to undergo several rounds of surgery to treat his injuries His partner has been helping him recover from the life-changing injuries The commander, currently resting in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, lost both of his arms and both of his eyes fighting off Russian soldiers in a war that he volunteered for almost immediately after it began. Though he was admitted to hospital in May, and has had many operations since, he is still receiving physical and psychological treatment for his life-changing injuries. Despite the horrific injuries, he was still seen pulling his partner into a loving embrace, kissing her gently on the head. He was also seen using adapted utensils to independently feed himself despite not having arms, though he does occasionally need his partner to help him. She appears to be helping him get used to civilian life again, with the pair being seen walking around the area around the Kyiv hospital Andrey is recuperating in. While there are a handful of centres in the country dedicated to treating the mental scars soldiers bear on the frontlines, the mental health system in a war-torn country is, understandably, stretched to its limit. He was seen feeding himself with adapted utensils His partner has been helping him adapt to a more normal life Though he is able to do a lot independently, he does occasionally need help The pair were seen walking around the Kyiv hospital he is recovering in The hospital he is in is one of a few that has wards that can help with psychological trauma While thousands like Andrey are currently being treated for psychological scars, thousands more will simply have to tough it out, or else turn to destructive coping methods to try and see another day. Many have reported turning to drink and even drugs to cope with the hideous trauma they suffer every day. Roman, a 38-year-old military doctor in Ukraine's army who asked only to be identified by his first name, told the Washington Post that he drank copiously to try and forget the horrors of war. He revealed that after he unsuccessfully searched an area of about three square kilometres to find the leg of a dead fellow soldier, her son asked him where his mother's leg was when she was buried. 'One bear and a vodka was not enough to get over that' he told the newspaper. Soldiers on the front line are often given just a few days off to recuperate, and most are in desperate need of psychological treatment to process the tragedies that many, if not all, have witnessed. Though front line soldiers are in desperate need of long-term rest and years of treatment, the tiny number of centres, that only have a few days with traumatised soldiers, often have one goal in mind: make these people well enough to send them back to the front. Mental health centres in the war-torn country are taking unusual measures in a desperate attempt to try and fix soldiers. At Lisova Polyana, a hospital near Kyiv, therapists use 'biosuggestive therapy,' a mix of talk, music and touches to the head, chest, shoulders and arms. They also encourage barbers to give scarred soldiers haircuts, with the rationale being that a safe, up-close encounter with a stranger can settle even the most mentally-frayed person. Andrey will likely need years of therapy to deal with the horrors he witnessed on the frontlines Thousands of soldiers like him are receiving mental health care But thousands more simply have to suck it up, as resources are stretched incredibly thin Ksenia Voznitsyna, the hospital's director, told the New York Times that the problem has been getting worse and worse, adding that she and her team also have to work with soldiers who were tortured while in Russian captivity: 'This has become an epidemic now because Russian artillery is like rain.' It is not currently known how bad the long-term effect on soldiers who were allegedly tortured by Russian forces will be. But the allegations themselves paint a truly unbearable picture of how bad the mental state of captured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians will likely be. A 2023 report by Dignity, a Danish anti-torture group, found more than 700 instances of torture allegedly conducted by Russian soldiers. Dignity interviewed 121 victims of Russian abuse, including in official detention centres such as prisons and police stations, and unofficial detention centres such as school basements, houses, and government buildings. Mental health centres in Ukraine that help soldiers are often only focused on helping them get well enough to go back to the front lines Long-term mental health care will be needed for the country's soldiers once the war is over Many soldiers are forced to turn to destructive coping mechanisms Thankfully, Andrey can still walk with his partner's help His partner was seen preparing him some food to eat They found the use of torture by Russian forces was a matter of routine, used against members of the military, police or government officials to force them to collaborate or as revenge, and against civilians to intimidate them or to extract information. One a detainee recalled being forced to listen to a female Ukrainian soldier being raped for three days straight before she was dragged away and never heard from again. I heard a female soldier being raped. This lasted for about three days,' the unnamed soldier said. Then I couldn't hear her anymore and I don't know what happened with her. In one of the most extreme cases recorded by Dignity, a man who served as a military volunteer in Mariupol revealed he was tortured for days on end when he was held for five months. It is not currently known exactly how bad the deepening mental health crisis among soldiers is Testimony from soldiers paints a horrifying picture of how bad the mental health crisis among soldiers is One hospital director said she and her team are also having to help victims of Russian torture The hospital director said 'This has become an epidemic now because Russian artillery is like rain' The man recalled being bound, gagged, beaten, strangled with electrical wire until he passed out, then doused in water to wake him up only so the torment could start over again. He said: On the third day, I asked my tormentors [to] finish me off, because I didnt have anything to tell them. [One of the torturers] called one of his supervisors [and] showed me to him through the phone. The one on the phone just nodded and said nothing. The man expected to be killed, but his jailors ignored the order and carried on abusing him. They kept torturing me, he said. My hands were turned back and shackled. I was laid on the floor face down, strangled with wire from the extension cable. When I started to lose consciousness, they said: "Wait. It's too early. You haven't gone through all seven circles of hell yet. Residents of East Palestine fumed after President Joe Biden said Saturday that he'd been too busy to visit their Ohio town, which was impacted by a toxic train derailment seven months and one day ago. On February 3, a Norfolk Southern freight train slid off the tracks, igniting a huge fire that lasted several days. While federal officials were on the ground immediately, it took 20 days for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to pay East Palestine a visit, and Biden never scheduled a trip. Trying to show a contrast, former President Donald Trump flew to Ohio the day before Buttigieg's appearance. Seven months later, one resident who was interviewed by News Nation called Biden's lack of interest 'reprehensible,' especially after vacationing for much of August. Resident Tammy Tsai noted how Biden 'was at his homes in Rehoboth and Wilmington and Lake Tahoe relaxing and having family time.' 'He should have been here. He should be helping these people. He should learn how to say the name of the town,' Tsai said. President Joe Biden was asked Saturday why he never visited East Palestine, Ohio. He was surveying Hurricane Idalia damage in Live Oak, Florida When Biden was asked about East Palestine on Saturday, he pronounced it '-stein' and not '-steen.' 'Well, I haven't had the occasion to go to East Palestine. There is a lot going on here, and I just haven't been able to break,' Biden said from Live Oak, Florida as he surveyed Hurricane Idalia damage. 'I was thinking whether I'd go to East Palestine this week, but I then was reminded I've got to go literally around the world. I'm going from - from Washington to India to Vietnam to - and so, I - it's was going to be a while,' he continued. 'But we're making sure that East Palestine has what they need materially in order to deal with their problems,' Biden added. On Thursday, Biden leaves for the G20 Summit in New Delhi and then will make a stop in Vietnam before heading back to the U.S. Before that, he's expected to travel to Montgomery, County Pennsylvania on Wednesday, however the White House has yet to release additional details on that trip. Monday marked seven months and one day since the East Palestine, Ohio train disaster and President Joe Biden has yet to make a trip to the town He slipped in the trip to Florida to survey Idalia damage before heading back to Rehoboth Beach on Sunday. Biden told reporters leaving church that he wasn't on 'vacation' but rather the Secret Service was making security improvements to his Wilmington home. The president spoke briefly in Philadelphia Monday morning to mark Labor Day before spending several hours at the Wilmington home before arriving back in D.C. late Monday afternoon. East Palestine resident Jamie Wallace said, 'You know at this point, I think it's pointless to come,' about a future presidential visit. 'Just give us the federal support that we need,' she told News Nation. 'You've already shown us how little you think of us, so coming now would just add to the insult, because we know he would be forced to come in here.' She pointed to Biden's Saturday trip to Florida. 'The only difference between East Palestine and a hurricane, is the hurricane never left from above us, it's still there seven months later, it's just invisible,' she said. 'You can't see the homes that it destroyed, that are full of chemicals that people can't live in.' 'If he doesn't care enough about American citizens to come here and visit us, give us the support that we need,' Wallace added. Two women were booted off of an Air Canada flight on the first leg of their journey to Vienna after refusing to sit in vomit-covered seats for a five-hour flight. Air Canada staff had sprayed perfume and left coffee grounds in the seat pouches in a bid to remove the stench on the flight from Las Vegas to Montreal on August 26 that was caused by passengers on an earlier trip. The two passengers - whose chairs and seatbelts were still wet with vomit residue - complained about the dire conditions before the flight took off. But the attendants said there was nothing they could do because the airplane was full. The pilot then marched down to the two ladies and told them they would be escorted off the flight and put on a no-fly list for being 'rude' to the air hostesses. Witnesses sitting behind the women said they were not rude at any point, despite having every reason to be after being forced to sit in the rancid seats. Air Canada staff had sprayed perfume and left coffee grounds in the seat pouches in a bid to remove the stench on the flight from Las Vegas to Montreal on August 26 that was caused by passengers on an earlier trip Susan Benson (pictured) was a witness on the Air Canada flight. She said she was sitting in the row behind the two women who were subjected to the ordeal on August 26 Air Canada admitted that the passengers did not receive the 'standard of care' expected from the airline. But the ordeal has caused many online to vow to boycott the company because of the poor treatment. Susan Benson, who was on flight AC1706 from Las Vegas to Montreal, wrote on social media: 'So we recently flew with Air Canada from Las Vegas to Montreal. 'Seated in front of us were two ladies and a gentleman who were struggling to get seated. There was a bit of a foul smell but we didnt know at first what the problem was. 'Apparently, on the previous flight someone had vomited in that area. Air Canada attempted a quick cleanup before boarding but clearly wasnt able to do a thorough clean.' Benson said that the airline had tried to mask the smell of vomit by putting coffee grinds in the seat pouch and spraying perfume in the area - but it clearly did not work. She added: 'When the clearly upset passengers tried to explain to the flight attendant that the seat and seatbelt were wet and there was still visible vomit residue in their area, the flight attendant was very apologetic but explained that the flight was full and there was nothing they could do. 'The passengers said they couldnt possibly be expected to sit in vomit for five hours. 'They argued back-and-forth for several minutes and then the flight attendant said she would get her supervisor. 'The supervisor reiterated the same thing. We are sorry, but you have to, its a full flight and theres no other seats available. The passengers asked if they could at least have blankets to sit on and wipes to clean more themselves. 'Reluctantly they were given blankets wipes and more vomit bags. The best Air Canada could do.' After getting the passengers blankets and wipes, Benson said that the pilot came down from the cockpit himself and addressed the complaining flyers. She said that they were left with two options. Eventually, they were escorted off the flight 'for refusing to sit in vomit for five hours.' Benson added: 'The pilot came down the aisle and very calmly knelt down and told the two ladies that they had two choices: They could leave the plane on their own accord and organize flights on their own dime, or they would be escorted off the plane by security and placed on a no fly list! 'When they asked why he said they were rude to the flight attendant. They were certainly not! They were upset and firm, but not rude! 'The passenger beside them explain to the pilot that they have literal vomit in their seats and as a police officer they would never treat people like that. 'He explained that they were not rude just upset. The pilot got up and walked to the front of the plane. Next thing we know Security comes down the aisle and escorted the two ladies off the plane! For what? Refusing to sit in vomit for five hours! 'Air Canada literally expects passage to sit in vomit or be escorted off the plane and placed on a no-fly list! 'I have no idea if they were actually placed on the no-fly list or not. I cannot stop thinking about these two ladies. They did nothing wrong. 'They were flying to Vienna via Montreal. I am ashamed to be a Canadian and ashamed of Air Canada. I would like for as many people as possible to share this. 'I have already complained to Air Canada directly and placed it on other social media platforms. I hope they find a good lawyer and sue the pants off Air Canada. 'Shame on you Air Canada! shame on you!' Air Canada said in a statement: 'We are reviewing this serious matter internally and have followed up with the customers directly as our operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance. 'This includes apologizing to these customers, as they clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled, and addressing their concerns. 'We remain in contact with them about this matter.' One person, after hearing about the ordeal on social media, wrote: 'There was a simple solution. Delay boarding of the flight until the seats, seat belts, trays, etc., could be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected and the area fumigated. 'This was a health risk to passengers and should have been treated as a bio hazardous situation, so delay of flight totally appropriate decision.' Another added: 'This was not handled correctly by Air Canada. The company should always be prepared to handle the cleanup of vomit in a medically health sanitary manner. 'Possibly all the passengers were subject to a health unsanitary environment.' And a third said: 'I wonder what the pilot or the security people would have done if they were required to sit in those seats!!! disgusting!!!' A fourth furious person added: 'Vomit like blood and feces, is a biohazardous waste. They were ready to subject these 2 women to possibly infected matter. 'The Canadian Health Department should close the airline down.' Another wrote: 'Total d**k, who should lose his license and never be allowed the responsibility of getting passengers safely to their destination.' The 34-year-old was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2021 murder of his former girlfriend Debora Brandao Pennsylvania authorities have ramped up the search for a Brazilian fugitive by blasting his mother's voice from police speakers and helicopter. Danelo Cavalcante escaped from a Chester County maximum security prison Thursday morning. The 34-year-old was sentenced two weeks ago a life sentence for the April 2021 murder of his ex-girlfriend Debora Brandao, 34, a mother of two children. The state police, which have taken over the investigation, has deployed patrol cars and helicopters which are transmitting a recorded message from Cavalcante's mother. Authorities in Pennsylvania have deployed patrol cars and helicopters that are blasting a message in Portuguese from the mother of Brazilian convicted killer, Danelo Cavalcante, who has been on the run since Thursday when he escaped a Chester County prison, where he was awaiting transfer to a state prison after he was convicted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Debora Brandao (pictured) was stabbed dead in April 2021 by Danelo Cavalcante, who feared that she would turn him over to police because she knew he had murdered a person in Brazil The message, in Portuguese, asks him to turn himself in to the police without the threat of violence. Pennsylvania State Police deputy commissioner George Bivens said Monday that if Cavalcante 'is not actively surrendering, lethal force is authorized.' Authorities have received reports of four credible sightings but have not been able to locate the convicted killer. A residential surveillance camera showed Cavalcante walking through a wooded area Saturday around 12:30 am. At the time he was wearing pants, a light-colored t-shirt and white sneakers, police said. Pennsylvania authorities have said that 'lethal force' will be used if Danelo Cavalcante fails to turn himself Debora Brandao was murdered in front of her two children by Danelo Cavalcante in 2021 Authorities have yet to say how Cavalcante escaped from the jail, where he was being held pending a transfer to a state prison. Cavalcante is also wanted for a 2017 murder of a man in Brazil. Prosecutors say he stabbed Brandao dead in front of her two children to stop her from reporting him to United States authorities. He was apprehended in Virginia after killing Brandao. Authorities believe he was trying to flee to Mexico in order to return to Brazil. Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said last week that Cavalcante may be looking to travel south once again. Teachers from Gangwon Province pay silent tribute to a teacher who recently committed suicide, at the front yard of the Gangwon State Office of Education in Chuncheon city, Gangwon Province, Monday. Yonhap School teachers held a large-scale rally in Seoul on Monday to mourn the recent suicide deaths of fellow teachers distressed by disgruntled parents and unruly students, and to call for measures to prevent such tragedies. An estimated 15,000 teachers, dressed in black outfits, gathered in front of the National Assembly building in western Seoul, demanding the protection of their rights in the classroom, and the truth behind the deaths of their colleagues. The rally had originally been planned to mourn the death of a young public school teacher in Seoul who took her own life in July after struggling to deal with a school violence case. But at least two additional teacher suicides happened last week, one in Seoul on Thursday and the other in the southwestern city of Gunsan on Friday, adding fuel to the anger about bad treatment of teachers and raising the possibility of Monday's rally becoming the largest-ever teacher protest. Many teachers have filed for a one-day leave of absence to attend the rally, and some 30 elementary schools across the nation have even designated Monday a temporary holiday as too many teachers wanted to take a day off for the collective action, called "Public Education Stoppage Day." A teacher at an elementary school in western Seoul said only 14 of the school's 48 teachers came to work, with the rest taking the day off apparently to attend the rally. Situations at other elementary schools were believed to be similar. Teachers in provincial regions also planned to hold rallies in front of regional education offices. "Participating teachers plan to call for the truth behind the young teacher's death to be found and an immediate revision to the child abuse crimes act in front of the National Assembly," a person in charge of organizing the rally said. Teachers believe the act can hold teachers accountable for child abuse for what they consider to be necessary disciplinary action against students. The act, they said, exposes many teachers to abusive behaviors by students and parents. A temporary commemoration place operated through the day in the schoolyard of the Seo2 Elementary School in southern Seoul, where the young teacher taught, while the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education hosted a commemoration ceremony at the school's auditorium in the afternoon, with Seoul education superintendent Cho Hee-yeon and the chiefs of three major teachers' unions in attendance. Dressed in black, teachers and other participant began arriving at the road facing the National Assembly hours before the rally kicked off, some of them holding the hands of their young children. "It could be a matter of time before we run out of luck, or just meet the wrong parent, and I think that's what's bringing in more teachers nationwide to join the rally," said Kim, a teacher for students with disabilities in Seoul's Dongjak district for 12 years. Another teacher, who gave only her surname Lee and is from Goyang in Gyeonggi Province, said she was angered by "unrealistic and superficial" measures set out by the education ministry last month, and denounced the ministry's move asking teachers to refrain from collective action Monday. "Taking a leave of absence or sick leave is the right of teachers as workers, but the education ministry's threat to penalize us for exercising our rights makes us, teachers, feel hopeless about whom we can trust in the face of these challenges," said Lee. Han Su-min, 45, who joined the Monday rally with her 8-year-old son, said she came to give teachers her support. She said teachers' rights should be balanced, and not sacrificed, against children's rights. Participants stood in long lines to lay carnations on the stage set up for the rally in honor of the 49th day since the death of the Seo2 Elementary School teacher. In Buddhism, the 49th day after death is when the soul of the deceased heads off to the afterlife. In South Korea, the 49th-day ceremony is one of the most important postmortem rituals for the dead. "The 1,000 stems of carnations represent what the deceased teacher should have received during her time teaching," explained a teacher on stage. On Saturday, around 200,000 teachers from around the country gathered in Seoul's Yeouido near the National Assembly to commemorate the recent deaths of teachers and to call for the better protection of their rights. It is very rare for teachers to stage such a large rally on their own without the involvement of labor unions. The Education Ministry maintains that any teacher taking a leave of absence to join the collective action will be dealt with sternly in accordance with the law and principles. Education Minister Lee Ju-ho on Sunday asked for teachers to refrain from taking a leave of absence to attend the planned mass rally while pledging to take measures to enhance their rights and authority in the classroom. Under the current labor law, teachers don't have the right to collective action, and the ministry has warned that taking a leave of absence by teachers en masse is tantamount to an indirect walkout. The education ministry said no major class disruptions have been reported, but about 1,500 elementary teachers were estimated to have taken the day off in Busan, which has a population of some 9,400 elementary school teachers. In South Gyeongsang Province, about 10 percent of its 12,400 elementary school teachers did not report to work. An elementary school in Seoul belatedly decided to cut down the school hours for the day, saying, "Difficulties arose in the stable running of the education curriculum as most of our teachers went on sick leave." The school told students and parents that all students should return home after lunch." (Yonhap) Twisted Shauna Hoare, who helped kill 16-year-old schoolgirl Becky Watts, has been pictured smoking and smiling for the first time since she was released from prison. The 29-year-old was released under licence on Friday after serving eight years, which she received for her part in the murder of the Bristol teen that shocked the nation back in 2015. She was found guilty of manslaughter in October that year, and given a 17-year sentence. Her then boyfriend Nathan Matthews - who was Becky's step-brother - was convicted of murder and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 33 years. Hoare, who was pregnant at the time of Becky's murder, denied all knowledge that her then-boyfriend had murdered his step-sister while she was in Becky's family home in St George, loaded her body into the back of their car, drove it to their flat in Barton Hill and, over the course of the next few days, dismembered it. But a jury at Bristol Crown Court in October 2015 heard that the couple went on shopping sprees over the following few days buying cling film, goggles and masks - all items used in the 'meticulously' process of packing up her body parts. Killer Shauna Hoare is pictured smoking and smiling after she was released from prison The woman who helped her boyfriend murder 16-year-old Becky Watts (pictured) has been released from prison after just eight years in a move criticised by the victim's mother Hoare searched 'do you want to hide a body' on YouTube the day after Becky was killed, but said it had been a parody of the Disney film, Frozen. When police searched the couple's home, they discovered a cluttered house although a clean bathroom, with no traces of Becky's DNA or blood. She was convicted of manslaughter, and later lost an appeal against her conviction and the length of her sentence. Tanya Watts, Becky's mother, recently revealed her fury at Hoare's release, saying: 'She's not even 30, she's got her whole life ahead of her and she's got a future, whereas when we go to talk to our daughter, we're talking to the ground.' Ms Watts had been dreading the release - and had been given notice that it was imminent - before being informed earlier on Friday that it had happened. It is understood that part of the conditions of Hoare's release include that she is not allowed to return to Bristol, but Home Office officials will give no details of the arrangements. 'I don't want her to feel like she's free to walk down the street without a care in the world, after what she did. I think she's cold and evil,' the grieving mother said. 'The worst thing for me is that Becky trusted her and what eats away at me is when I remember all those times when I would ring Becky and Shauna would answer and she was so sweet and for a few seconds sometimes I would mistake her for Becky. Ms Watts added: 'Becky liked her and trusted her and she betrayed Becky's trust, and it is hard when I think of how she smiled at the camera in the police station when she was arrested.' Shauna Hoare, 29, (pictured) was released under licence on Friday after serving half the sentence she received for her part in the murder of the Bristol teen Hoare denied all knowledge that her then-boyfriend (pictured) had murdered his step-sister while she was in Becky's family home in St George Matthews is pictured on CCTV buying a circular power saw at a B&Q in Bristol in October 2015 Footage from the documentary about Shauna Hoare and Nathan Matthews in the murder of Becky Watts Hundreds of members of the community in St George joined the search for Becky, 16, back in February 2015. But the entire city was left horrified in early March by the gruesome discovery of her dismembered body close to the flat in Barton Hill where Matthews and Hoare lived. Prisoners in the UK who have served half their sentences are routinely eligible for being released under licence, and with that time Hoare spent in 2015 on remand awaiting trial taken into account, she has now spent eight-and-a-half years in custody and on September 1 was released on licence. Ms Watts has said she is angry and feels helpless knowing that the woman convicted of being involved in the death of her daughter was out of prison. Hoare was the subject of several national newspaper reports in the early years of the eight-and-a-half years she spent in prison. In November 2015, just after she was convicted, the Daily Mail reported that she was 'having the time of her life' with a new lesbian girlfriend in HMP Bronzefield, Surrey. But a year later, in November 2016, the Mail reported that she had been so badly beaten in prison that she had to resuscitated twice, and was 'having a terrible time'. At that time, the Mirror reported that Hoare had told friends that she was still adamant she knew nothing about Becky's murder. One brave man broke through the front door of his own house to face them A group of burglars has broken into 13 homes in Brooklyn and Queens This is the astonishing moment a homeowner burst through his own front door to defend his family from a band of burglars. The thieves have broken into 13 homes across New York City, stealing luxury cars and clothing in an operation that spanned three months. The video was released as police continue the hunt for three men associated with the break-ins. The men targeted neighborhoods across Brooklyn and Queens, including quiet cul-de-sacs in upscale parts of Whitestone and Bayside. The New York Post reported the men stole vehicles including a Porsche, Mercedes and Range Rover in a span stretching from June through August. A group of thieves has targeted homes across several boroughs in New York City since June, snatching jewelry, clothing and cars According to police, the collective worked in bands of three or four while they targeted homes mostly in suburban Whitestone. The most recent Crime toppers report, released September 3, pictured three masked men. The group broke into the first house on June 2 near Point Crescent but were chased out by the homeowner before they could grab anything. One victim spoke to CBS New York after the men attempted to rob her home later that month. The woman said she and her husband woke to alerts from their Ring camera at 5am before her husband saw two men heading up the front steps. One victim spoke to CBS New York after the men attempted to rob her home later that month She called 911 but her husband acted on pure impulse seeing as their young children were asleep upstairs. 'Out of panic mode he just punched right through the door,' she said. At the time she thought the men had shot into the house. Video obtained by CBS shows glass splintering before the man bolts out the door, forcing the burglars to scatter. The following day, a BMW sedan was taken from a house near 291th Street and 38th Avenue. A Range Rover SUV and a Porsche went missing from a home near Cambridge Road and Somerset Street the day after that. A Range Rover SUV and a Porsche went missing from a home near Cambridge Road and Somerset Street the day after that The men proceeded to take jewelry, clothes, money and a Mercedes Benz from a home near Ridge Boulevard and 77th Street in Brooklyn. Three of the thieves managed to get inside a home near Coleridge Street and Oriental Boulevard and took items ranging from clothes to jewelry, but also made off with a Mercedes Benz and a BMW SUV. According to the New York Police Department, authorities found the stolen BMW sedan, a Mercedes Benz sedan and the Genesis sedan. The other cars are still at large, just like the burglars. As police continue to hunt for the three men, the unpredictable nature of the robberies has ignited concern across Whitestone. Alex Arsenis showed CBS the window used when his home was broken in to two years ago. He told reporters that he'd added extra cameras since hearing about the string of break-ins. Another neighbor, Thomas Doherty, said: 'If it continues to escalate, someone is going to be killed perhaps. Where do we step in?' Even though the last known burglary took place on August 2, police warned people to remain vigilant. The NYPD has asked anyone with information to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 (English) or 1-888-577-4782 (Spanish). 'I hear you've banned our biggest advertiser,' said the somewhat menacing voice down the phone from New York. It was Rupert Murdoch. We're in the mid-1980s, I was editor of The Sunday Times and I had indeed just banned our biggest advertiser. A few hours before Murdoch's call I'd been contacted by Mohamed Al Fayed, then the controversial and voluble owner of Harrods. Obviously, I knew who he was but I'd never met him. And our exchange was not of the friendly 'let's-get-to-know-each-other' sort. The previous Sunday we'd run a story which reported criticism of the way he was renovating Villa Windsor, the grand mansion in Paris, which had once been home to the former king Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson. He wasn't happy. Our piece was a travesty of the truth, he claimed. In an effort to be reasonable, I offered him space in the forthcoming edition to put his point of view. But only a retraction and an apology would satisfy him. I refused. He then threatened to withdraw all Harrods' advertising from The Sunday Times. ANDREW NEIL reveals how his old boss Mohamed Al Fayed blamed himself for the tragic crash deaths of his son Dodi and Princess Diana (pictured in August 1997) Princess Diana with Mohammed Al Fayed attending a charity dinner for the Harefield Heart Unit held at Harrods in 1996 'You can't do that,' I said. 'Why not?' he asked, somewhat puzzled. 'It's my advertising.' 'Because, as of this moment,' I replied, 'you are banned from advertising in The Sunday Times.' He hung up, clearly mystified. Barely half an hour later the phone rang again. This time it was the late John King, the legendary chairman of the newly-privatised British Airways, who was in the process of turning a state-owned basket case into the world's favourite airline. READ MORE: Inside the rags to riches life of Mohamed Al Fayed Advertisement Clearly, Al Fayed had been in touch with him and he sought to intercede on his behalf, though whether to get me to lift the advertising ban or accede to an apology, I never ascertained because I bit his head off the moment he mentioned the Harrods boss. 'Look, John,' I said, a little stridently, 'I've just banned Britain's biggest department store. I'm happy to ban Britain's biggest airline, too.' A mixture of bravado and bad mood was getting the better of me. 'I think I'll just stay out of this,' said John. 'Good idea,' I snapped. Then came the Murdoch call. I wasn't quite dreading it. But I was apprehensive. I explained to him what had happened. 'How much do Harrods spend with us?' he inquired. 'About 3 million,' I replied, sheepishly. What seemed like an eternity of silence followed during which I contemplated what I'd do as an ex-editor. Then he spoke. 'Screw him if he thinks we can be bought for 3 million!' and hung up before I could respond. Almost a decade later and I was on an Air France Concorde flight from New York to Paris to meet Mohamed Al Fayed. Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed in the back of the car before the accident The car crash that killed Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed Mohamed Al Fayed holds his face as he leaves London's Westminster Abbey with his wife after Diana's funeral Fayed and his wife Heini Wathen leaving Westminster Abbey after the funeral service for Diana, Princess of Wales, 6th September 1997 Mr Al Fayed with his son Dodi, who was killed in the same crash that killed Diana in 1997 We had not spoken after our contretemps, but I had no reason to keep the feud alive when Harrods' ads started appearing again in the paper not long after our fallout. I had left The Sunday Times and was putting together a varied portfolio of media work. He had set his eyes on becoming a media mogul as part of his long-running battle with the British Establishment and wanted advice. I saw no harm in a meeting. His chauffeur met me at the airport and I was whisked to Al Fayed's swanky Ritz hotel in the back of a large black Mercedes. It was a Sunday night and that day's edition of The Sunday Times had been carefully placed on the seat beside me. When he wanted you, Al Fayed knew how to woo you. I was shown to a huge, extravagant suite, my billet for the next couple of days. I met him the following morning. Over coffee he explained how he was acquiring media assets he had relaunched Punch magazine and owned a radio station but what he really wanted was a national newspaper. I explained how that would not be easy. As part of my induction into 'Mohamed's World' I was taken to see the Windsor house, a magnificent edifice on the edge of Paris's vast Bois de Boulogne. He was clearly proud of his expensive restoration and to this untrained eye it seemed as if he'd done a great job. I thought it best not to mention The Sunday Times story and he didn't bring it up either. I suspect he'd forgotten. Al Fayed did not have the longest attention span. Back in London I accepted a consultancy from him. He took me to my new office across the Brompton Road from Harrods. It was full of 'boys' toys' models of Formula 1 cars and private jets. There were no files or paperwork. Indeed, no sign of any work being done there. 'This is Dodi's office,' I said, referring to his son. 'I can't take this.' 'Don't worry,' he replied. 'He never uses it. He's a waste of space when it comes to work.' It seemed a harsh thing to say about a son. But Al Fayed was no doting father. He complained that Dodi spent too much time in Los Angeles living off a generous monthly subvention from his father, for which he 'did nothing'. The love he showed for his son after his death a loss which brought him unbearable, prolonged grief was not always obvious when Dodi was alive. A funeral service was held for Mohamed Al Fayed on Friday at London Central Mosque in Regents Park Mohammed Al Fayed (right) with son Dodi at a party for the film Hook in 1992 Mohamed Al Fayed pictured with his wife Heini Wathen in 2016. The couple had four children Film producer Dodi Al Fayed, Mohamed Al-Fayed's first son, was killed alongside Diana in Paris in 1997 I knew Al Fayed Jr a little. He never complained I'd pinched his office. I doubt he cared. He was always polite, even charming, though once you'd got through the ritual polite inquiries after each other's health, you had pretty much exhausted the possibilities of conversation. One thing, however, stuck in my mind because it subsequently took on an eerie significance. I mentioned to my dear friend, the late Terry O'Neill, one of our greatest photographers, that Dodi seemed a nice chap. Terry, who knew him much better than I, replied: 'Yes, he is, but never get in the back of a car with him. He does nothing but shout at the driver to go faster. It's scary.' I enjoyed my dealings with Mohamed Al Fayed. There was no doubt he could be a monster but I never saw that side of him. He was an original: always generous, often funny, reliably personable aware, even, of his absurdities. I saw him regularly in his office on the top floor of Harrods. I rarely left him without some pill or potion that he assured me would result in a massive improvement in sexual performance (despite obligatory protestations that, naturally, I had no need!) and yet another Harrods teddy bear. He was undoubtedly eccentric and paranoid. He had a protection detail to rival the prime minister's. I remember once travelling with him from his flat in Park Lane to Harrods a journey of less than a mile in an armoured Mercedes with a Range Rover in front and another behind, both crammed with bodyguards. He was a job creation scheme for ex-British servicemen. He once told me he had around 80 security folk on the (Harrods) payroll to ensure round-the-clock protection at his many properties. Given all the enemies he'd made, from Haiti to the Middle East and beyond, as he scaled the greasy pole, perhaps he had good reason to take his security seriously. He even wore clip-on ties which would come off in an assailant's hands if they tried to strangle him. He gave me a selection as I say, you never left empty-handed. Mr Al Fayed (right) with Prince Charles (with his back to camera) and Diana during a Harrods-sponsored polo match in 1987 Mr Al Fayed (right) with Diana, Princess of Wales, a young Prince William and his son Dodi (left) at a polo match in July 1988 Mr Al Fayed (left) is seen with Princess Diana and Prince Charles at a Harrods-sponsored polo game in July 1988 Mohamed Al Fayed with the Queen in 1997. His business connections and charity work saw him mixing with high society Since I'd last used a clip-on in primary school, when I was still struggling to tie a knot, they languished for years in a drawer until I threw them out. His office was regularly swept for bugs and, when I visited, he would often point to the top floor of an office block across the road and assure me that was where MI6 were spying on him from. 'I think MI6's job is to gather intelligence abroad, Mohamed, not in Central London,' I remarked. 'OK, MI5 then,' he replied. Of course, it was neither. If anybody was bugging our meetings, it was him. I always operated on the basis that everything said in his office was being recorded, President Richard Nixon-style. I met with silence his savage, often libellous attacks on those politicians he thought most active in denying him the British passport he craved. And he was how shall we put this politely? not exactly in the vanguard of modern attitudes to homosexuality. It was best to greet his homophobic slights in silence, too or change the subject. The rule of thumb among savvy courtiers was simple: never say anything in his office you couldn't live with if it was reported in the newspapers. It made for some stilted conversations but it was the safest course of action. A friend, who also knew him well, asked me if I had considered that the teddy bears might be bugged. I said I hadn't but, no matter, they'd all been passed on to my godchildren so they were unlikely to reveal very much. It soon became clear to me that his ambition to be a media mogul was never going to be realised. He was creating too many powerful enemies for no good reason. The modest media outlets he did own could not be scaled into something important and any bid he made to buy a significant and influential media asset would likely fall foul of the 'fit and proper person' test. After all, the government wouldn't even grant him a British passport. I always thought that unfair. Yes, he was something of a rogue but if that's the main criterion for denying a British passport then there would be a lot fewer British passports in circulation. He was never tried nor convicted of anything illegal in Britain and he rescued Harrods from a shabby decline, which was symbolic of the nation's deterioration at the time. He restored its status as a major British asset and tourist attraction. That alone should have been worth a passport. I admitted there was nothing I could really do for him and he decided he could spend his money better elsewhere. We parted amicably enough and stayed in touch. Truth is, I enjoyed his company perhaps because I was not beholden to him. Then came that terrible night in Paris 26 years ago when he lost his son and his dream (almost certainly an impossible one) of becoming the father-in-law of the mother of a future king. Mr Al Fayed later unveiled a statue of Diana and his son Dodi in Harrods commemorating their lives - the slogan 'innocent victims' is inscribed on its base Mr Al Fayed - seen here leaving the Royal Courts of Justice in 2007. The inquest into the death of his son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales, concluded the pair were killed unlawfully Mr Al Fayed's repeated espousing of conspiracy theories relating to the death of his son Dodi alongside Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 meant he was often in the media eye For him that would have been the ultimate revenge on an Establishment which never accepted him and part of which actively despised him. In the immediate aftermath I went to pay my respects. He was weighed down by grief, a lost soul. There was no word then of the ludicrous conspiracy theories he was soon to espouse. Instead, he told me something that I've never forgotten. He recounted how Dodi had come up with the cockamamie plan to shake off the paparazzi by escaping via the back entrance of The Ritz hotel, where he and Diana were ensconced in the Imperial Suite. But his security detail said they did not work for Dodi and that to leave the hotel in the manner he wanted would require Mohamed's approval. So Dodi called his dad. His dad spoke to security. He then told Dodi he should just relax with Diana at the Ritz. They were safe and secure in one of the world's greatest hotel suites. Why leave? Get room service and watch a film. But Dodi told him Diana was distraught because a paparazzi mob had gathered outside. He wanted to give them the slip and take her to the privacy and anonymity of his flat off the Champs-Elysees. After all, it would be their last night together for some time and he wanted Diana to leave with nothing but happy memories. Mohammed caved in to his son. He looked at me with a tear in his eye as he recounted this story and said: 'I will never forgive myself for going along with Dodi's plan. He would still be alive but for me.' Of course, Dodi was, sadly, the architect of his own death and of Diana's. The decision to leave The Ritz wasn't taken until the very last minute, as was the roundabout route through a tunnel to get to Dodi's apartment. By Al Fayed's own testimony to me, nobody could have been lying in wait to assassinate them since nobody knew in advance what they were going to do or how they were going to do it. In the end, the People's Princess died a tragic but strangely prosaic death at the hands of a drunken driver who was going too fast. We can only wonder if the last words the occupants of that car heard were Dodi urging the driver to 'Go faster, go faster'. Rishi Sunak was tonight being urged to get a grip as the school concrete crisis descended into farce. The warning from Tory MPs came after Education Secretary Gillian Keegan was forced to apologise for a foul-mouthed rant over who was to blame. In an embarrassing blunder on the first day back from parliament's summer recess, Mrs Keegan was caught on camera insisting that she had done a 'f****** good job' while others 'sat on their a**e'. Yet it emerged that she was on holiday in Spain last week while the crisis unfolded. Days before the start of the autumn term more than a hundred schools in England were told they could not fully open because of safety fears over crumbling concrete. It meant scores of pupils began the school year yesterday by learning online in an echo of the huge disruption caused by the pandemic. Teachers spent the weekend scrambling to erect tented classrooms and acquiring festival-style toilets in a bid to keep classrooms open. The last-minute closures left parents racing to find emergency childcare as they juggled remote learning with full-time work. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan (pictured) was forced to apologise for a foul-mouthed rant over who was to blame for the concrete crisis Rishi Sunak (pictured) was tonight being urged to get a grip as the school concrete crisis descended into farce Ms Keegan came under fire for failing to appear on the airwaves over the weekend to address the issue, and instead released a bizarre video with a dance music soundtrack. In a round of broadcast interviews yesterday, she admitted hundreds of schools could be affected by crumbling reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). But then in an extraordinary outburst, filmed as a TV camera repositioned for extra shots, she said: 'Does anyone ever say, you know what, you've done a f****** good job because everyone else has sat on their a**e and done nothing? No signs of that, no?' She said ITV journalist Daniel Hewitt, who conducted the interview, had been 'pressing me quite hard' and claimed he was 'making out it was all my fault'. In her apology, the Education Secretary refused to say who she believed had 'sat on their a**e'. She added: 'It was an off-the-cuff remark after the news interview had finished, or apparently after it had finished. 'I would like to apologise for my choice language.' In other developments on a chaotic day in Westminster: Mr Sunak insisted that 95 per cent of England's schools were unaffected leaving open the possibility that more than a thousand could still be hit by the crisis; Labour's Keir Starmer said ministers appeared to be trying to 'pass the buck' for the closures and said the situation was descending into farce; Union leaders wrote to Mrs Keegan demanding urgent answers on the RAAC 'emergency' including clarity over the funding and support for schools; The Labour-run Welsh Government said two schools on Anglesey that had been due to open for the autumn term today would be closed temporarily; The Scottish Government confirmed that RAAC had been discovered in 35 schools with local authorities in the process of checking other buildings; The Ministry of Justice is inspecting buildings built in the 1990s for RAAC after Harrow Crown Court was found to contain the material; The PM is facing yet another by-election after former Tory chief whip Chris Pincher lost an appeal against a lengthy Commons suspension over groping allegations. Mr Sunak was dragged into the concrete crisis yesterday after a former top civil servant claimed the PM had failed to fully fund a programme to rebuild schools. Jonathan Slater, ex-permanent secretary at the Department for Education, blamed the Prime Minister for halving the rebuilding budget while he was chancellor in 2021. Rishi Sunak hosts a cross government briefing on RAAC in the cabinet room in 10 Downing Street Mr Sunak insisted that 95 per cent of England's schools were unaffected leaving open the possibility that more than a thousand could still be hit by the crisis; n an embarrassing blunder on the first day back from parliament's summer recess, Mrs Keegan was caught on camera insisting that she had done a 'f****** good job' while others 'sat on their a**e' Mr Sunak rubbished the claim, insisting: 'Actually one of the first things I did as chancellor, in my first spending review in 2020, was to announce a new ten-year school rebuilding programme for 500 schools. Now that equates to about 50 schools a year that will be refurbished or rebuilt. If you look at what we have been doing over the previous decade, that's completely in line with what we have always done.' The row follows a lacklustre summer which has riled many Tory MPs who fear the PM is not doing enough to win the next election. They have grown frustrated by stubbornly poor poll ratings and misfiring campaigning events such as 'small boats week' a plan to hail progress in tackling Channel crossings that soon unravelled. A senior backbencher said: 'The Government is spending all its time addressing problems and cock-ups from the past that's all the media we're getting. It's time to get on to the front foot and have a positive message, otherwise the floating voter will start firming up for Labour.' Another ex-minister said that Mr Sunak was 'showing he can't cope and is not up to the job sadly'. No 10 said Mr Sunak yesterday held a cross-government meeting with key departments affected by the concrete crisis including education, health and justice. He is said to have made clear that parents should be given clarity and reassurance. Ministers have also promised that a list of schools confirmed to have RAAC in their buildings will be published this week. The material was used for many public buildings between the 1950s and the mid-1990s and is prone to failure. The collapse of Singlewell primary school in Gravesend, Kent, in 2018 sparked concerns over the concrete, which was dubbed 'Aero-like' by structural engineers. But it was the collapse of a beam at a school once deemed to be safe during the summer that spurred action. A Department for Education spokesman said: 'The Education Secretary took the cautious and proactive decision to change guidance on Raac and this week has chaired daily operational calls with ministers and senior officials in the department and virtually.' A former mandarin sacked over the Covid A-level fiasco sought his revenge yesterday as he blamed Rishi Sunak for halving school repairs. Jonathan Slater, who was permanent secretary at the Department for Education from May 2016 to August 2020, said the Treasury had failed to fully fund rebuilding schemes including while Mr Sunak was chancellor. He said he was 'absolutely amazed' that a decision was made after he left the department to halve the school rebuilding programme. Mr Slater said up to 400 schools a year need to be replaced, but the DfE got funding for 100 while he was the senior official, which was 'frustrating'. When he left the department he was 'optimistic' that a push for extra funding would be successful but in fact the number was halved to 50 a year. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The actual ask in the Spending Review of 2021 was to double the 100 to 200 that's what we thought was going to be practical at first instance. Jonathan Slater (pictured), who was permanent secretary at the Department for Education from May 2016 to August 2020, said the Treasury had failed to fully fund rebuilding schemes including while Mr Sunak was chancellor Gillian Keegan arrives wearing red for media rounds in Westminster Gillian Keegan was forced to apologise after a foul-mouthed rant over the crisis 'I thought we'd get it, but the actual decision that the chancellor took in 2021 was to halve the size of the programme.' Education secretary Gillian Keegan later apologises for her outburst caught on camera Mr Sunak insisted that 50 schools a year was in line with what had taken place over the previous decade. He told reporters that Mr Slater's attack on his record was 'completely and utterly wrong'. 'Actually, one of the first things I did as chancellor, in my first spending review in 2020, was to announce a new ten-year school rebuilding programme for 500 schools,' the PM said. 'That equates to about 50 schools a year, that will be refurbished or rebuilt. If you look at what we have been doing over the previous decade, that's completely in line with what we have always done.' Mr Slater stepped down in 2020 after then-prime minister Boris Johnson concluded that there was 'a need for fresh official leadership' in the department following the A-levels fiasco that year. It unfolded after grades were calculated using an algorithm developed by watchdog Ofqual, but after widespread student fury, ministers U-turned and based grades on teacher estimates instead. Mr Slater was handed a 278,000 payout to leave in compensation 'for loss of office'. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosts a cross government briefing on RAAC in the cabinet room in 10 Downing Street ducation secretary Gillian Keegan is caught swearing on camera He was one of several senior Whitehall figures who quit during that period, including Simon McDonald, the top Foreign Office mandarin between 2015 and 2020. The career diplomat did not see eye to eye with Mr Johnson, and was reportedly on a No10 's*** list' because of his anti-Brexit views. He later accused No10 of not telling the truth over the scandal involving allegations of inappropriate behaviour against former Foreign Office minister Chris Pincher. Some 104 schools, colleges and nurseries were ordered to close parts of their sites last Thursday amid fears they could collapse because of flawed RAAC concrete. Around 24 of them have been forced to shut their doors completely and find alternative teaching spaces just days before term. Experts have warned that RAAC should never have been used in any permanent buildings and that it could take weeks to find. Dr John Roberts, former president of the Institution of Structural Engineers, told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: 'I didn't think it was ever a material that I would be happy to use as a structural material spanning across openings. It doesn't resemble ordinary concrete in the slightest. 'I don't recall it being marketed as a short-life material. I think that is something that has been determined afterwards. 'I believe it was missold. I don't believe it should have been sold as effectively a pre-cast manufactured concrete product. It was inherently, in my view, a risky material to be using.' The collapse of Singlewell primary school in Gravesend, Kent, in 2018 sparked concerns over the concrete, which was dubbed 'Aero-like' after the chocolate bar. North Korea may supply Russia with more weaponry for its war in Ukraine and other military cooperation, it has emerged. Kim Jong-un plans to travel to Russia this month to hold a 'leader-level diplomatic engagement' with Vladimir Putin, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing US and allied sources. Officials say Kim - who rarely travels outside his country - is likely to travel this month to Vladivostok, on Russia's Pacific coast not far from North Korea, to meet with Putin. Moscow has also taken steps to strengthen its military ties with North Korea with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claiming on Monday that the two countries may hold joint war games. It comes after Shoigu travelled to Pyongyang last month in a bid to convince North Korea to sell artillery ammunition to the Kremlin. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (pictured in July this year) plans to travel to Russia this month to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the possibility of supplying weapons for the war in Ukraine Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet with Putin (pictured last year) Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia in April 2019 Last week the White House said that Russia was already in secret, active talks with the North to acquire a range of munitions and supplies for Moscow's fight in Ukraine. The US has reason to think Kim 'expects these discussions to continue' and 'to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia', National Security Council (NSC) spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said said on Monday. 'As we have warned publicly, arms negotiations between Russia and the DPRK are actively advancing,' she said, using an acronym for the North. 'We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia.' Watson said Monday that the United States urged North Korea 'to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia.' The White House also reported last week that it had intelligence indicating Putin and Kim swapped letters following Shoigu's visit. NSC spokesman John Kirby said the letters were 'more at the surface level' but that Russian and North Korean talks on a weapons sale were advancing. He also claimed that despite its denials, North Korea supplied infantry rockets and missiles to Russia last year for use by the privately controlled Wagner military group. White House officials revealed last week that Russia was already in secret, active talks with the North to acquire a range of munitions and supplies for Moscow's war. Pictured: Ukrainian service members prepare a mortar at their position near a frontline in Zaporizhzhia on Monday Moscow has also taken steps to strengthen its military ties with North Korea with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claiming on Monday that the two countries may hold joint war games. Pictured: The Ukrainian frontline in Zaporizhzhia The White House also reported last week that it had intelligence indicating Putin and Kim swapped letters following Shoigu's visit. Pictured: A Ukrainian serviceman loads a shell into a mortar as he fires toward Russian troops in Zaporizhzhia on Monday The US has previously warned that North Korea could provide more weapons to Russia, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a war that the United States and its European allies vehemently oppose and that Moscow calls a 'special military operation.' READ MORE: Russia scrambles to draft in mercenaries from Armenia and Kazakhstan to plug gaps in troop numbers fighting in Ukraine Advertisement The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The planned meeting comes as Putin has said a landmark deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea amid the war will not be restored until the West meets Moscow's demands on its own agricultural exports. Ukraine and its western allies have dismissed the Kremlin's demands as a ploy to advance its own interests. Still, Putin's remarks dashed hopes that his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could revive the agreement, seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertiliser had not been honoured. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Putin reiterated those complaints on Monday, while saying that if those commitments were honoured, Russia could return to the deal 'within days'. Erdogan also expressed hope that a breakthrough could come soon. He said Turkey and the United Nations - which both brokered the original deal - have put together a new package of proposals to unblock the issue. 'I believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time,' Erdogan told a news conference in the Russian resort of Sochi, where the leaders met. Monday's talks took place against a backdrop of Ukraine's recent counter-offensive against the Kremlin's invasion forces. Pictured: A firefighter works at a site that was hit during Russia's drone attacks in Odesa region, Ukraine, on September 3, 2023 n the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that defence minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. Pictured: A Ukrainian self-propelled artillery system fires towards the Russian positions at the front line near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on September 1, 2023 The planned meeting comes as Putin has said a landmark deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea amid the war will not be restored until the West meets Moscow's demands on its own agricultural exports. Pictured: A firefighter works at a site which was hit during Russia's drone attacks in Odesa region on Sunday Earlier, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock lashed out, saying Putin's 'game with the grain agreement is cynical'. 'It's only because of Putin that the freighters don't have free passage again,' she told reporters in Berlin. A lot is riding on the negotiation. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Data from the Joint Co-ordination Centre in Istanbul, which organised shipments under the deal, show that 57 per cent of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China. Grain prices shot up after Russia pulled out of the deal and have since fallen back, but experts allege the long-term picture is uncertain. Ukraine and its allies have often noted that Russia's move left many developing nations in the lurch, since so many were recipients of the grain. Perhaps in an effort to address that accusation, Putin said on Monday that Russia was close to finalising an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. Ukrainian service members wait before fire a mortar toward Russian troops at their position near a frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region on Monday Ukrainian service members are pictured in the frontlines on Monday in the Zaporizhzhia region READ MORE: Ukraine spy chief trolls Russia by suggesting that Vladimir Putin is DEAD and has been using doppelgangers in his place for the past year Vladimir Putin kisses and hugs one of young female residents of Dagestan, who greeted him during a June 28 visit to the republic Advertisement Last month, he promised shipments to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic. The Russian leader added that the country will ship one million metric tons of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries. In addition to pulling out of the grain deal, Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, where Ukraine's main Black Sea port is located. Hours before the Sochi meeting, the Kremlin's forces launched a second barrage in two days on the area. The Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions. It did not specify damage caused by those that got through. Russia is hoping it can use its power over Ukraine's Black Sea exports as a bargaining chip to reduce western economic sanctions. Some companies have been wary of doing business with Russia because of those sanctions, even though western allies have made assurances that food and fertiliser are exempt. Still, Moscow remains unsatisfied. Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, on Monday urged Moscow to return to the deal, insisting 'there were no legal and political grounds for Russia to withdraw from the agreement'. Monday's talks took place against a backdrop of Ukraine's recent counter-offensive against the Kremlin's invasion forces. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that defence minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires 'new approaches', Zelensky said, without elaborating. Ukraine's President Zelenskiy leaves a sign on a national flag as he visits a position of Ukrainian service members at a frontline in the Donetsk region on Monday On Monday Reznikov published a photo of his resignation letter. Putin and Erdogan - both of whom have been in power for more than two decades - are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Turkish president has maintained those during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey has not joined western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russia's overseas trade. At the same time, Turkey, a member of NATO, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Mr Zelensky and backing Kyiv's bid to join the Western alliance. Yesterday morning, I received a revealing text message from an American general. I think I spoke too soon and was too downbeat, he wrote. He was referring to a conversation wed had a fortnight ago, in which he gloomily told me there was little chance of a meaningful advance by Ukrainian troops against their Russian invaders before next spring. As his subsequent text message acknowledged, however, today the landscape looks rather different. Yesterday, we learned that following three months of fierce fighting and weeks of painstaking mine clearance, Ukrainian forces have decisively breached Russias first defensive line near Zaporizhzhia in the south-east of the country. This is not only a major military breakthrough that could, in time, split Russias occupied territory in two. It is also a sharp rebuttal to recent anonymous grumbles from some quarters of the international military and political community about Ukrainian fighting tactics being less than efficient. Among the pessimistic voices were those in the German Ministry of Defence who suggested Ukrainian troops were not using the Nato tactics they had been taught. Yesterday morning, I received a revealing text message from an American general. I think I spoke too soon and was too downbeat, he wrote Ukrainian service members fire a mortar toward Russian troops at their position near a frontline Meanwhile in Washington there were whispers that senior Ukrainian officers were being too casualty-averse truly to succeed. Neither of these criticisms is remotely fair. Nato tactics are largely based on an assumption of air and artillery superiority, which Ukraine does not have. And while Kyivs 70,000-strong death toll falls short of Russias 120,000 dead, it must be seen in the context of the latters vast population thrice that of its smaller neighbour. Proportionately, Ukraines losses are far worse: their bravery has been exemplary and they are only as casualty-averse as the theatre of war demands. READ MORE: Ukraine says Russian drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory overnight Advertisement So the timing of this breakthrough is crucial. The mood among many Western commentators has been notably defeatist of late, with even talk of the need to negotiate with the tyrant Vladimir Putin. Certain Western governments, too, have been weakening in their willingness to offer aid to the Ukrainians. In Washington, a presidential election is looming, and officials on Capitol Hill are keenly aware that most Americans minds are on domestic issues. Europe, too, is facing spiralling energy and living costs, and voters are finding foreign aid a much harder sell. Yet the simple fact is that alongside Western tanks and artillery, our billions in financial aid have kept Ukraines economy on life support. Without it, Kyiv would be in a very different position, as Putin well knows which is why one of his aims is to keep his war going long enough for the well of Western enthusiasm to run dry. My gloomy conversation with that American general two weeks ago suggested this might have been paying off. But now, at last, good news: a significant victory that promises to galvanise both Western allies and the embattled defending population. Breaching this first line of defence raises hopes of further breakthroughs, as Ukraine attempts to cut the crucial land bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia. The Ukrainians still have a long way to go, of course: Russias second defensive line is said to be tougher than the first. This is not only a major military breakthrough that could, in time, split Russias occupied territory in two A British intelligence source, with whom I discussed the latest news yesterday, was also unusually optimistic Nonetheless, defensive lines can break like dams: first cracks appear, then all of a sudden they come crashing down. That may yet take time in this case, but Moscow is clearly feeling the pressure, redeploying troops to Zaporizhzhia from Kherson to the west and Lyman to the north-east. History will judge whether this most recent advance will truly determine the final outcome of the war. But it will generate much-needed momentum ahead of heavy winter rains that make significant advance nigh-on impossible. A British intelligence source, with whom I discussed the latest news yesterday, was also unusually optimistic, predicting that by the time the Ukrainian offensive stops for the winter, Russian supply lines will be under their guns. We must hope he is right. Mark Galeotti is honorary professor at the University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies and the author of 24 books on Russia, including a biography of Putin. Pence was the only candidate of the five at the picnic who was protested The protester held up a blue t-shirt featuring Donald Trump's mugshot and the words: 'Never surrender' Mike Pence was met with a lone protester waving a t-shirt with Donald Trump's mugshot during Labor Day remarks at a picnic in Salem, New Hampshire. A man sitting front-and-center to listen to five presidential hopefuls speak in the first-in-the-nation primary election state on Monday 'booed' Pence, who was the first speaker, when he came out to make his pitch for president. The former Vice President had to look at a blue t-shirt with the ex-President's mugshot along with the words 'Never Surrender' during his remarks Monday. The man stood up, 'booed,' and waved the t-shirt when Pence first came on stage. Throughout the remarks, the man held up the mugshot laden t-shirt and at the conclusion stood up to show the entire crowd the image and message. Trump's first mugshot was released last month when he turned himself over to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia after his fourth and latest indictment in the scheme to overturn the 2020 election results. Former Vice President Mike Pence was met with a single protester at the Salem GOP Labor Day Picnic on Monday The blue t-shirt featured Donald Trump's mugshot and the words: 'Never surrender' The mugshot was immediately embraced by his supporters - as evident by its use on the t-shirt to protest Pence on Monday. Following Pence's remarks, four other candidates made their case to get New Hampshire voters. In order those candidates were Former Texas Rep. Will Hurd; former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson; former Cranston, Rhode Island Mayor Steve Laffey; and biotech millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy. By far the fan-favorite at the Salem GOP Labor Day Picnic was Ramaswamy, who made a splash at the first Republican debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last month. Pence was also one of the eight candidates on that stage, which was noticeably absent of Trump. Pence has faced hecklers and protesters several times in the past, specifically those die-hard Trump supporters who think the former vice president is a traitor for refusing to block Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election results. The ex-VP has stood by his actions that day, claiming that he took a vow to uphold the Constitution and did so by overseeing certification of the Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021. Despite holding arguably one of the highest name recognitions of the other about a dozen candidates below Trump, Pence is struggling to gain ground in polls and has remained in the middle of the pack. Earlier on Monday, Pence made a stop at the Granite State Baptist Church Smokeoff in Concord, New Hampshire. After the Salem picnic, he took off for Scott Brown's No B.S. Backyard Barbecue in Rye, New Hampshire to wrap up his Labor Day campaign stops. A teenage boy is fighting for his life after he was pulled inside a car and allegedly stabbed by a group of men in a suspected armed robbery. Police are actively hunting for the thugs who took the boy, 14, into a dark grey Volkswagen Tiguan in front of other students on Neerim Road outside Glen Eira College in Glen Huntly, southeast Melbourne, at about 3:35pm. The victim, believed to be a student at Glen Eira College, was walking home from school at the time of the abduction. He was reportedly stabbed by the offenders while inside the vehicle. The car then drove a short distance before the boy was either thrown out or managed to get out at the corner of Neerim Road and Grange Road. A teenage boy is fighting for his life after being forced into a car and reportedly stabbed in what is believed to be a violent armed robbery (pictured, emergency services at the scene) He sustained life-threatening injuries and his mobile and belongings were stolen following the altercation. One student saw the victim lying on the ground and coughing up blood. Witnesses called emergency services. He was taken to the Alfred Hospital and is now in a serious but stable condition. Police believe the attack was random, and the victim did not know the offenders. 'That is how it does appear to me at the moment. That this child was an innocent victim on his way home from school,' Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Lisa Watson told reporters on Tuesday. 'Obviously, as I have said, we haven't been able to speak to him to find out if they were known (to him), but I have no information at the moment to suggest that they were.' Detectives from the Moorabbin CIU are investigating the incident. A Volkswagen was found burnt out in Dandenong around midnight on the same day. Police are determining if it is the same vehicle that was used in the attack. He was pulled into a dark grey Volkswagen outside Glen Eira College in Melbourne's Glen Huntly about 3:35pm before receiving 'significant injuries' and then forced out of the car It's unknown how many offenders were involved. Police are also exploring the possibility that the attack is linked to an earlier incident where four teenagers were robbed by two machete-wielding offenders on nearby Kambrook Road at about 3:25pm. 'My detectives are working tirelessly to investigate those involved and the vehicle involved and links to other events that took place earlier that afternoon,' Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Watson added. 'They are working to try and bring these victims justice.' 'As a parent, it makes me absolutely sick to think that my boy could be walking home from school and randomly confronted by people with knives.' 'It is a heinous attack. It is reprehensible and we will do everything that we can in our power to bring these offenders to justice as soon as possible.' Police have been providing assistance to Glen Eira College after multiple students witnessed the distressing incident. Anyone who witnessed either incident, has CCTV or dashcam footage or any other information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers. A driver plowed his SUV through a wall of a busy Texas restaurant - injuring 23 people in a shocking Labor Day wreck. Police in the Houston suburb of Rosenberg began receiving calls about a maroon Jeep SUV crashing into Denny's at around 11.22am. The vehicle slammed into the south wall leaving patrons with injuries ranging from minor cuts to 'severe injuries' that don't appear to be life-threatening, cops said. Victims ranged in age from 12 to 60 years old, though a woman told ABC13 that her parents, who are aged 75 and 79, were also hurt. This image provided by the Rosenberg Police Department shows police tape in front of a Denny's restaurant after a vehicle crashed into it in Rosenberg, Texas, Monday Officials stated that everyone who was injured was conscious when they were transported to area hospitals. A spokesperson for Rosenberg Police told DailyMail.com that many of those injured were released within hours. People were said to be in the emergency room being treated for their injuries in the hours after the crash. The driver of the SUV - believed to be around the age of 30 - was not injured and is under investigation, police said. Officials said that speed and the freshly wet road contributed to the crash but added that investigators will be reviewing all facts and evidence over the next few days to determine all causative and contributing factors. 'As of now, the driver has not been arrested however charges may be filed later, if appropriate given the outcome of the pending investigation,' police said. Video of the aftermath shows a red vehicle fully inside the restaurant, with the wall and windows around it demolished. Police in the Houston suburb of Rosenberg, Texas began receiving calls about a maroon Jeep SUV crashing into the Denny's at around 11:22am The vehicle slammed into the restaurant's south wall leaving patrons with injuries ranging from minor cuts to 'severe injuries' that don't appear to be life-threatening, police said in a statement Victims ranged in age from 12 to 60 years old, though a woman told ABC13 that her parents, who are aged 75 and 79, were also hurt Officials stated that everyone who was injured was conscious when they were transported to area hospitals A photo released by Rosenberg Police showed the vehicle fully inside the restaurant surrounded by debris. Multiple lanes of the Southwest Freeway were closed as police investigated the scene. Rosenberg is located about 35 miles west of downtown Houston. DailyMail.com has reached out to a spokesperson for Denny's for further comment. President Yoon Suk Yeol is considering replacing the second deputy national security adviser and the presidential secretary for defense as early as this month due to "personnel needs," an official said Monday. Lim Jong-deuk, the deputy national security adviser in charge of defense and security issues, and Lim Ki-hoon, presidential secretary for national defense, could be replaced as soon as mid-September, the presidential official told Yonhap News Agency, denying speculation it was related to the ongoing controversy over the death of a young Marine during a search operation for victims of downpours in July. The deputy national security adviser is reportedly under consideration for vice defense minister, while the presidential secretary, an Army major general, is expected to return to the Army. As Lim's replacement for deputy national security adviser, In Sung-hwan, former president of the Joint Forces Military University, is reportedly under consideration. In previously worked in the U.S. policy division of the defense ministry and at the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command. (Yonhap) Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has been forced to quit and walked out on the airline months before he was due to retire with a $24million golden handshake. Mr Joyce, 57, was due to exit the company in November at the AGM but has been under growing pressure in recent days, throwing the airline into crisis mode. Qantas has come under increased scrutiny since it posted a $2.5billion profit last Thursday after it received $2.7billion in government Covid handouts. Mr Joyce's role in the government's decision to ban Qatar Airways from adding 28 more Australian flights to its schedule has also been questioned. Rivals claim the move has inflated Australian air fares by around 40 per cent for travellers. The airline is also facing multiple legal actions over tickets sold for already cancelled flights and passengers unable to get their money back for trips axed during Covid. Now in the wake of the public fury, Mr Joyce has decided to quit immediately rather than ride out the firestorm until his planned leaving date in November. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce (pictured with PM Anthony Albanese and his girlfriend Jodie Haydon) has quit the airline after walking out on his job months before he was due to retire with a $24million golden handshake Qantas has come under increased scrutiny since it posted a $2.5billion profit last Thursday after it received $2.7billion in Government Covid handouts He has immediately handed over the reins to incoming CEO Vanessa Hudson who will start in the job on Wednesday. 'In the last few weeks, the focus on Qantas and events of the past make it clear to me that the company needs to move ahead with its renewal as a priority,' he said. 'The best thing I can do under these circumstances is to bring forward my retirement and hand over to Vanessa and the new management team now, knowing they will do an excellent job. 'There is a lot I am proud of over my 22 years at Qantas, including the past 15 years as CEO. 'There have been many ups and downs, and there is clearly much work still to be done, especially to make sure we always deliver for our customers. Qantas's list of woes The airline is fighting several different PR nightmare battles at the moment. The ACCC competition watchdog has launched legal action over allegedly selling tickets for cancelled ghost flights. Customers have launched a class action over Qantas hanging onto their cash after their flights were cancelled during Covid. It had to do an embarrassing backflip on a decision to try to expire outstanding Covid flight credits at the end of the year. It announced record profits of $2.5billion after being given $2.7billion in government Covid handouts. It is at the centre of the row over the government's refusal to allow Qatar Airways to fly 28 more Australian flights. Rivals claim the move is keeping airfares 40 per cent higher than they should be. CEO Alan Joyce had to be formally summoned to appear before a Senate select committee hearing to answer questions about the way the company is being run and its impact on the cost of living. Advertisement 'But I leave knowing that the company is fundamentally strong and has a bright future.' In a damning reaction to the announcement, Labor senator and former union boss Tony Sheldon said Mr Joyce's legacy was 'low pay, insecure work, illegal sackings and consumer rip offs.' He added: 'If the Board allows Mr Joyce to walk away with $24 million after illegally sacking 1,700 people, gouging customers and while subject to an ACCC prosecution, it will be the swindle of the century.' Mr Joyce earned a record $23.9million in 2018 and is expected to rake in between $15million and $18million after bonuses this year, with another $6million in incentives when he quits, for a $24million nest egg to cushion his retirement. He sold more than 80 per cent of the Qantas shares he owned on June 1 for almost $17million, unloading 2.5million shares at $6.75 each. Since then, ongoing bad publicity and legal actions have seen the share price crash to its current level of $5.65, meaning Mr Joyce's shares would now be worth $2.7million less than he got for them in June. The share price later rose to $5.71 on Tuesday after the news of Mr Joyce's exit was revealed. The airline is now facing legal action from the ACCC over allegations Qantas sold tickets for 8,000 ghost flights which had already been cancelled. Furious customers have also launched a class action against Qantas over the way the airline has held onto their cash when their flights were cancelled. Last week, Qantas backtracked on an earlier decision to expire all current Covid flight credits by the end of the year after a furious backlash. Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas said the CEO's early exit was inevitable. 'He is the CEO of the airline, he's the face of the airline,' he told ABC News. 'And he's been a lightning rod for all the problems of the airline. 'I think it was time for Alan to to move on simply so the focus can be taken away from him and let the airline deal with the issues without him being the focal point of all the all the criticism. 'Maybe in the longer term. history will judge him kindly, but at the moment history is not judging him very well at all.' The company released a statement on Monday admitting its shortcomings in the way it has handled the ticketing issue, which was made inaccessible from the airline's website by a broken link which was later fixed on Tuesday. Alan Joyce has also faced questions over granting the PM's son Nathan, 23, and his girlfriend Jodie Haydon complimentary membership of the Qantas Chairmans' Lounge Qantas admitted in Monday's statement: 'We openly acknowledge that our service standards fell well short and we sincerely apologise. 'We want the community to know that we hear and understand their disappointment. We know it will take time to repair. And we are absolutely determined to do that.' 'We have worked hard to fix them since and that work continues.' A Senate select committee hearing summoned Mr Joyce on Monday to face a grilling from senators over the way the airline was being run. Mr Joyce has also faced questions over granting the PM's son Nathan, 23, and his girlfriend Jodie Haydon complimentary membership of the prestigious Qantas Chairman's Lounge. Mr Joyce launched his career in airline management after his poor eyesight ruled him out of being a pilot while working as a research analyst with Irish national carrier, Aer Lingus. He was born in Irish capital Dublin and studied for a bachelor's degree in applied science and a masters in management science before joining Aer Lingus. He moved to Australia in 1996 to join in the latter days of Ansett Airlines where he worked in network planning and strategy. Mr Joyce switched to Qantas just before Air New Zealand-owned Ansett collapsed in September 2001 in the wake of 9/11. He later said the airline's demise was one of his biggest regrets but said 'it did teach me a lesson. 'You have to have management that is determined and aggressive and will do what they have to do,' he said in 2007. He soon switched again to be CEO of Qantas discount airline Jetstar in 2003 and tripled its size in just a few years, including branching out into international routes. Alan Joyce, pictured in 2004 with Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon who he later replaced He returned to Qantas in 2008 as CEO where he has been a polarising figure ever since. He sold his sprawling harbourside mansion on Sydney's ritzy north shore in July for around $20million after it was egged and had rolls of toilet paper thrown at it in a mystery attack. The life and times of Qantas CEO Alan Joyce June 30, 1966: Born in Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland, the son of a cleaner and a tobacco factory worker. He attended the local community school before studying at Dublin Institute of Technology and Trinity College Dublin. 1988: Joins Aer Lingus but his poor eyesight stopped him from achieving his dream of being a pilot. Moves into management instead. 1996: After eight years as a research analyst, he moves to Australia and joins Ansett Airlines in charge of network planning and strategy. 2000: He jumps ship to rival Qantas just before Ansett collapses in the wake of 9/11 2003: Appointed CEO of fledgling Qantas-offshoot Jetstar and triples its size, and starts international flights. 2008: Returns to Qantas as CEO 2023: Fast-tracks his retirement under the cloud of controversy currently engulfing the airline. Advertisement He and husband Shane Lloyd owned it for a year after buying it for $19million but they never actually moved in. The couple have instead bought the next door apartment to their neighbouring unit at a luxury block in The Rocks with spectacular views over the Harbour to create a spectacular penthouse home. In 2007, Mr Joyce admitted his dream was to one day split his time between Australia and Ireland. 'Maybe when I retire I'll spend six months in Ireland and six months in Australia each year,' he said at the time. Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder paid tribute to the outgoing CEO and said: 'Alan has always had the best interests of Qantas front and centre, and today shows that. 'On behalf of the board, we sincerely thank him for his leadership through some enormous challenges and for thinking well-ahead on opportunities like ultra long-haul travel. 'This transition comes at what is obviously a challenging time for Qantas and its people. 'We have an important job to do in restoring the public's confidence in the kind of company we are, and that's what the Board is focused on, and what the management under Vanessa's leadership will do.' But senator Sheldon said Mr Goyder needed to resign too. 'The Qantas Board cannot hide behind Joyce's resignation,' he said. 'Richard Goyder should go next. 'The board has backed Joyce's behaviour at every step and must be held equally accountable for the disgraceful state of the company. 'If Qantas is serious about turning over a new leaf, they will reinstate the 1,700 illegally sacked workers and support closing Joyce's labour hire loophole. 'Mr Joyce's resignation makes the Liberals and Nationals' continued support for Mr Joyce's labour hire loophole even more indefensible.' He added: 'The Qantas Board and shareholders now have an obligation to knock Mr Joyce's bonus off. 'Qantas illegally outsourced baggage handlers earn $65,000 per year. If Mr Joyce walks away with his S24 million, he will make their annual salary in less than 6 hours.' Four police officers had to be rescued in appalling weather conditions from a Scottish island peak. The weather was so bad that a search and rescue helicopter had to turn back. It took a mountain rescue team eight-and-a-half hours to get the two men and two women to safety. The off-duty members of Police Scotland were climbing on the Cuillin Ridge on Skye when they got into difficulty on Saturday night. A Coastguard rescue helicopter from Stornoway was scrambled to 3,097ft Sgurr Dubh Mor just after 8pm to assist the officers, who are believed to be based in Inverness. The off-duty members of Police Scotland were climbing on the Cuillin Ridge on Skye (pictured) when they got into difficulty on Saturday night (File image) The epic rescue mission started when the group made an emergency call at 6.45pm when they became stuck on a rockface. But terrible weather conditions hampered the rescue and it is believed it was not until after 7am on Sunday they were taken off the mountain. Five members of Skye Mountain Rescue Team reached the summit at 2am, finding the officers cold and wet. Neil Urquhart, leader of Skye MRT, said the officers had got caught out by the conditions and the rescue helicopter had been delayed by an hour because of a technical issue. He said: 'The cloud was too low and the winds too strong for the helicopter to carry out the rescue. 'Our team members had a very long, wet night on the hill. They did a great job. A Coastguard rescue helicopter from Stornoway was scrambled to 3,097ft Sgurr Dubh Mor just after 8pm to assist the officers, who are believed to be based in Inverness (File image) 'The police group had climbed up the Dubh's slabs from Coruisk but had been unable to find their way back down. They were well equipped and had reached the summit, but then they got caught out by the worsening conditions. 'Setting off just before 10.30pm, the team reached the summit at 2am, and found the cold, wet climbers after a short descent to the North. 'The rain was now relentless, getting heavier and heavier all the time. Visibility was down to just a few metres, leading to difficult route finding, as well as the team having to negotiate swollen streams and slippery rocks. But by carefully retracing their steps, all were back at Glen Brittle by 7am. 'The officers were friends who were off duty and simply got caught out by the conditions.' Sir Keir Starmers low-key reshuffle shows the Labour leader is deadly serious about winning the next general election. While shadow cabinet big beasts such as Yvette Cooper and David Lammy stayed put, Sir Keir took the chance to promote a string of lesser known, battle-hardened pragmatists to key roles. A striking number of those moving up are outspoken Blairites who were pushed to the margins during the Corbyn years, but are now coming in from the cold. Most are not household names outside their own households but they will have a big role in shaping Labours approach to the next election. Pat McFadden, who served as Sir Tony Blairs canny political secretary in No10 and is still in regular contact with the former PM, has been put in charge of running Labours election campaign. Sir Keir may have few definable principles, but he has demonstrated again that he has a genuine will to win Hilary Benn, who served in Sir Tonys Cabinet, is back on the front bench for the first time in years. Best known as the son of Left-wing firebrand Tony Benn, he is nevertheless on the Labour Right, telling anyone who will listen: Im a Benn, not a Bennite. And a string of other prominent Blairites have won promotions, including former leadership contender Liz Kendall, former campaigns co-ordinator Shabana Mahmood and Sir Keirs friend Peter Kyle. Fifteen years after he left office, it seems the Labour leadership has come round to loving Blair again or at least loving his knack for winning elections. The Labour leader was under pressure yesterday to come clean about how he will fund his programme in office after ruling out a rise in the basic rate of income tax. He tried to defuse concerns about Labours high-tax reputation by insisting: Were not increasing tax across the board. Sir Keir added in the Daily Mirror: We will do nothing to increase the burden on working people. Tory sources say his tax pledges were not credible given Labours spending pledges. Advertisement The SNP MP David Linden described the shake up as Blairism on steroids, joking: At this rate, Ill be surprised if we are not invading Iraq by tea time. Some shadow cabinet members had urged Sir Keir to finish the job by also sacking Ed Miliband, who defined himself against Sir Tony. But Sir Keir has a blind spot about the former leader and has left him in place for now. The Blairite takeover is a far cry from Sir Keirs pitch for the Labour leadership, when he painted himself as a Left-wing successor to Jeremy Corbyn He had vowed there would be no more illegal wars, pledged to tax the rich, nationalise utilities and scrap university tuition fees promises which have all been ditched. Sir Tonys battered reputation is not the only winner from yesterdays changes. The reshuffle suggests Sir Keir has also buried the hatchet for now with his troublesome deputy Angela Rayner. During a botched reshuffle two years ago, Sir Keir tried to demote Ms Rayner, only to end up promoting her to an even bigger role following a backlash from her allies. This time, he squared the pitch with her first and pandered to her substantial ego by promising that she will serve as deputy prime minister if Labour win next year. The shift to the levelling up brief means she will spend a lot of time campaigning in Red Wall seats where Labour strategists believe her crude but effective style will play well. Its about putting round pegs in round holes, said one Labour source diplomatically. And in a sop to the unions, Sir Keir also agreed that Ms Rayner will keep control of Labours employment rights agenda, which includes strengthening union recognition and the right to strike. Yesterdays reshuffle will make few ripples with the public in the short term. But Rishi Sunak cannot afford to ignore it Sir Keir gave a further indication of his ruthless streak yesterday when he ruled out raising income tax if Labour win. Labour sources insisted that there is nothing in our plans that requires us to raise taxes. It is hard to square this with the lavish promises made by some frontbenchers and the policy of spending an extra 28billion a year on green initiatives, but Sir Keir is hoping the public will not notice. Yesterdays reshuffle will make few ripples with the public in the short term. But Rishi Sunak cannot afford to ignore it. Sir Keir may have few definable principles, but he has demonstrated again that he has a genuine will to win. The Blairites are back in Starmer reshuffle Sir Keir Starmer signalled a Labour shift to the Right today as he appointed a string of Blairites to his top team. In a major shake-up of the shadow cabinet, the Leader of the Opposition gave prominent roles to a number of admirers of the ex-prime minister. Sir Keir brutally demoted former leadership rival Lisa Nandy and shifted his troublesome deputy Angela Rayner sideways. Fellow Left-winger Rosena Allin-Khan quit, complaining her mental health brief had been demoted. Most of Sir Keirs most senior colleagues kept their jobs, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy and shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband all staying put. Sir Keir brutally demoted former leadership rival Lisa Nandy and shifted his troublesome deputy Angela Rayner sideways But the long-awaited reshuffle was dominated by the promotion of those known to be close to Sir Tony Blair. Pat McFadden, Sir Tonys political secretary in Downing Street, was appointed as Labours national campaign co-ordinator, to work with Sir Keir on running the partys election campaign. Liz Kendall, another prominent figure on the Labour Right, was promoted to shadow work and pensions secretary, where she has been tasked with producing proposals for reform. Ms Kendall stood for the party leadership in 2015 when she lost to Jeremy Corbyn, getting just 4.5 per cent of the vote. Peter Kyle, another admirer of Sir Tony, was shifted to shadow secretary of state for science, innovation and technology. Former minister Hilary Benn, who served in Sir Tonys Cabinet, was brought in from the backbenches to shadow the Northern Ireland brief. Former campaigns chief Shabana Mahmood, another figure on the Right of the party, was rewarded for her work in the local elections with a promotion to shadow justice secretary. Lisa Nandy has been appointed shadow cabinet minister for international development as part of Sir Keir Starmer's reshuffle of his top team Sir Keir said the reshuffle meant Labour had the strongest possible players on the pitch for what is going to be a crucial part of the journey. After cooling off, Gray starts Labour job Former Partygate inquisitor Sue Gray started work as Sir Keir Starmers chief of staff yesterday and posed in her office in the Houses of Parliament for photographers. Ms Gray triggered a furious reaction from the Government and the civil service earlier this year when she defected to Labour. But an official body cleared her to take the job after a six-month cooling-off period, despite claims that she broke civil service rules by secretly discussing the role with Labour while still in government. She is expected to draw up plans for reform of the civil service to help Labour push through its programme if the party gets into Downing Street next year, and was reportedly instrumental in Sir Keirs Shadow Cabinet reshuffle yesterday. Advertisement Labour sources acknowledged its Blairite nature, saying Sir Keir wanted the right team for the job. But Harriet Harman rejected the idea that he has moved to the Right. The Labour MP told the BBCs World at One: I dont accept that. I think that if you look at the mission statement that Keir Starmer has set out, that is a very progressive, radical and hopeful agenda. All Leaders of the Opposition have to build [and] mould the policy and the organisation of the party. Thats exactly what Keir Starmer has done. So I dont see it at all as a swerve from one side of the party to another or a watering down of aspiration for the Government. Another big winner was Ms Rayner, who was confirmed as shadow deputy prime minister despite her sometimes difficult relationship with Sir Keir. Sir Keir had not previously confirmed she would be made deputy prime minister if Labour win power. She also takes over from Ms Nandy as shadow levelling up secretary. But in an unusual move, she will retain responsibility for Labour policy on the future of work a demand of trade union bosses who have welcomed her plans to make it easier for employees to strike. A Labour source said: Keir is delighted that Angela has accepted this important role. A 'friend' has spilled the beans on her Fatal mushroom chef Erin Patterson lashed out at her local community while putting together the local newsletter, an insider has revealed. Erin branded contributors to Korumburra newsletter The Burra Flyer 'illiterate motherf**kers' during a rant to an old friend. A person claiming to be a former friend of the 46-year old spilled the beans on the Leongatha stay-at-home mum on a true crime online forum. Images of a young Erin Patterson have emerged online A post allegedly written by Erin Patterson has been shared shared online by a former friend Erin Patterson has been described as a 'genius' who previously worked as an accountant Erin and her then husband Simon had put together the 48-page booklet of advertorials and promotions of the regional Victorian community for years after taking it over from Simon's parents - and messages show she did not think highly of some of the contributors. In another message, Erin seemingly took aim at Simon himself, attacking the engineer for failing to do enough housework. 'My husband has no idea we have a cleaner come. I love it,' Erin allegedly posted while the couple were still together. 'Now I don't resent the fact that he never helps me with anything because I'm not doing the big jobs either... now all I have to resent him over are the nightly dishes.' Pastor Ian Wilkinson was the only one of four guests to survive the poisonous beef wellington dished up on July 29 by Erin at her home in Victoria's east. Mr Wilkinson, his wife Heather and her sister Gail and husband Don Patterson were invited over for lunch as part of a 'mediation' gathering to discuss Erin's relationship with her estranged husband Simon, who pulled out at the last minute. Erin has denied any wrongdoing and Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting she intentionally poisoned her four relatives. A young Erin Patterson after the birth of her child Erin Patterson lashed out at her husband Simon while the pair were still together An anonymous person claiming to be a friend of Erin hit the forum last weekend in a thread that received more than 200 posts before it was closed by administrators. The poster claimed Erin had previously worked as an accountant and with the Department of Defence. 'She's meticulous and very smart,' the person stated. 'Her whole family are extremely smart people.' The former friend posted several messages they had saved from the true crime group before Erin deactivated her account in August. Don and Gail Patterson died after having lunch with Erin Patterson Heather and Ian Wilkinson. Heather did not survive the lunch The so-called 'ex-friend' claimed to have met Erin online through the true crime group. She shared two photos of Erin after the birth of one of her children. 'I think she was also into a lot of crime fiction. Like Agatha Christie,' the person claimed. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Ms Patterson had sinister motives or was inspired by true crime. Indeed, it is one of the most popular categories of podcasts in Australia. Erin was also passionate about Lego, it was claimed. 'She was also an obsessive reader. She had tonnes of books. She's very smart and very well read,' members of the private group were told. The person claimed she had only ever engaged with Erin online, with a planned dinner never going ahead. 'We had a very tight group. It was more intimate than normal due to our shared fascination with crime,' the person wrote. 'We thought we knew her deeply but we are now discovering that a lot of her life was very secretive ... EP didn't have any other friends than this close circle groups. 'You have to imagine the most extreme introvert you have ever met. That is EP. Reclusive. Only online friends.' Simon Patterson during Thursday's memorial for his parents Erin Patterson has been described as having a keen interest in true crime Erin Patterson has avoided the media since early last month The former friend claimed Erin had told them her estranged husband had once fallen ill from clostridium difficile infection - a germ usually spread from one's hands. Simon himself spent 21 days in intensive care after collapsing from the mystery stomach illness at his home in May 2022. Throughout his stay in hospital, Erin kept his worried friends updated about his condition on social media. The friend disputed previous reports Erin had been keen to get back together with her deeply religious husband, claiming she had initiated the split. 'She's an atheist as far as I know ... She was very unhappy in her marriage and felt like a single parent. At the time I thought it was normal 'my husband isn't pulling his weight ' type commentary,' the friend stated. 'We didn't hear much about Simon other than he was never at home. Never helping her. She was very closed about this ... She left him. She didn't want to get back with him. ' The friend answered numerous questions from members, including her thoughts on Erin's cooking. 'She shared a few cooking photos with us in the group. Pad Thai. Etc. Honestly (not being mean) but it never looked super appetising. If I was to guess, I would say she was a mediocre cook,' the person claimed. Simon paid tribute to his parents before up to 450 mourners who gathered at the Korumburra Recreation Centre on Thursday. It was the first time he had addressed the shocking incident that claimed the lives of his loved ones. He recalled his mother Gail's final text before she lapsed into a coma of which she would not wake. Simon described his parents as both being pacifists, with her text ring tone sounding out on his phone to the tune of Edwin Starr's 'War'. 'It was no fluke that mum's final text message in our family group chat, as she lay in Dandenong Hospital, was 'Lots of love to you all',' he said. Interest in the fabled creature is surging again following claims of sightings Academics and members of the public alike have been searching for the Loch Ness monster for hundreds of years. Affectionately referred to as Nessie, the large marine creature is said to inhabit the freshwater loch south of Inverness and be a species as yet unknown to science. Interest in Scotland's Loch Ness Monster is once again surging following several purported sightings of the fabled beast. But evidence of its existence is anecdotal and largely based on blurry photographs so why are people so convinced it's there to be found? Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford, said we are hardwired to believe things that can't be explained. Experts weigh in on why people are so obsessed with finding the Loch Ness Monster, hundreds of years after the beast was first referenced. It comes as a 12-year-old girl said she spotted the Loch Ness monster in 2018 and has the image to prove it READ MORE 12-year-old girl says she also spotted Nessie Charlotte Robinson at Loch Ness where she took a photo of what she thinks is the Loch Ness Monster in August 2018 the same week that Chie Kelly took her photos Advertisement 'It's clear that humans have this very, very strong tendency to try and find explanations for things they can't explain the kind of things that go bump in the night,' Professor Dunbar told the Times. 'There's also an element of terror underpinning it all as well. 'It's a monster, it's not just a tiddly wave and its not even just a seal because that is too boring.' Animals that are thought to exist somewhere in the wild whose existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science are known as 'cryptids'. Dr Jason Gilchrist, an ecologist and lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University, said, the mystery of cryptids such as Nessie, Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman are 'self-perpetuating'. 'People want to see or find something rare or special it's a part of human nature and it doesnt get any more rare or special than the Loch Ness Monster,' Dr Jason Gilchrist told MailOnline. 'The legend of the Loch Ness Monster brings people to the loch and they want to see a monster. 'They may therefore see or give attention to evidence that they would otherwise, at any other loch or location, not get too excited about.' A civil servant thinks he spotted the Loch Ness monster after claiming to see a head and two humps moving in the water (pictured) Famously, the legendary marine creature is said to inhabit the freshwater loch southwest of Inverness READ MORE Loch Ness Monster is NOT just a giant eel, study claims Sturgeon's Photograph: For 60 years this celebrated photograph of a long necked creature helped keep afloat the legend of the Loch Ness Monster Advertisement Dr Gilchrist said he doesn't think 'there is a creature inhabiting the loch that is not otherwise known to science'. 'Any photo, video, or described evidence should first be viewed through the lens of most plausible explanations,' he told MailOnline. 'I have yet to see convincing evidence of a monster.' The earliest report of a monster in the vicinity of Loch Ness dates back to AD 565, as detailed in a work by Irish abbot Adomnan. It became a global phenomenon in the early 1930s upon the publication of the Sturgeon's Photograph, which purported to show the beast (although doubts surrounding the snap's authenticity remain). Since then, people from all over the world with an interest in the legend have flocked to the site to try and capture it on camera for themselves, including the recent surge of visitors. While there's little doubt the new images show some sort of animal, it's likely something already known to exist, like a species of eel or even an inanimate object, according to Professor Dunbar. 'The big problem is that these photos, like the original, are all so far away and fuzzy they could be anything a floating log, otters, who knows,' he told MailOnline. Thermal imaging drone captures what appears to be a large animal on the banks of Loch Ness. It was captured at night using heat sensing drone technology as part of a recent mass hunt for the elusive creature in Scotland 'The chances of "The Monster" being anything interesting like a dinosaur (they died out 60 million years ago) or any kind of large deep sea creature that somehow got into a lake that is effectively landlocked or survived from earlier times when sea levels were higher (around 10,000 years ago) are, well, fanciful. Chie Kelly who took photographs of unknown creature on Loch Ness 'It is all a bit like the yeti mysterious hints that make a good story that persists precisely because there is no firm evidence.' Arthur Cassidy, chartered psychologist and associate fellow of the British Psychological Society, said people 'want to see what they believe in pictures'. 'People like to believe in things that are not completely implausible,' he told the Times. 'They know there is marine life in the loch, so it is not impossible, they think, there could be a monster even if rationally people know it not to be true.' It was recently revealed that various Nessie hunters have made separate sightings of the elusive Loch Ness Monster and presented photos as proof. A mystery creature on Loch Ness was photographed by Chie Kelly. The creature moved about 100m across the lake before going underwater and failing to resurface again. Enthusiasts think it represents one of the clearest pictures of the Loch Ness Monster yet Chie Kelly said she wondered whether the creature she saw was an otter or a seal, but noted she never saw it come up for air Nessie hunter Steve Feltham described one set of images taken by Japan-born tourist Chie Kelly as the 'most exciting' surface pictures of Nessie he had ever seen. Ms Kelly's photos were taken in August 2018, the same month as the ones snapped by young Yorkshire girl Charlotte Robinson. Robinson, from Leeds, was staying at Loch Ness Highland Lodges at Invermoriston when she said she saw the beast pop up about 50 feet away from her on the first day of her holiday. Meanwhile, the largest search for the creature in more than 50 years, involving around 100 volunteers, took place at the bank holiday weekend. The search expedition led to three reported sightings including the 'first ever video' of Nessie, taken by a film crew using a thermal imaging drone. Whether it's Jack and Rose in the Titanic, Danny and Sandy in Grease or the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast, we've been led to believe that opposites attract. But analysis of more than 130 personality traits across millions of couples suggests the adage simply isn't true. 'Our findings demonstrate that birds of a feather are indeed more likely to flock together,' said author Tanya Horwitz, from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her team combined data from nearly 200 previous studies dating back to 1903 with their own current analysis. They examined dozens of traits in couples including parents, those who were married, engaged pairs and partners who lived together. Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder found links between height, weight, medical conditions and personality traits in British couples (stock image) READ MORE: We do not grow to look like our significant other, study finds The phenomenon of couples looking alike has long fascinated scientists. Pictured, Juliette Lewis and Brad Pitt in 1991 Advertisement Across both analysis they discovered traits like political and religious attitudes, level of education and certain measures of intelligence were strongly similar between couples. Partners were also likely to share traits linked to substance use - with heavy smokers, heavy drinkers and teetotalers tending strongly to couple up with those who had similar habits. There were also links between height, weight, medical conditions and personality traits between partners, they found. The trait for which couples were most likely to be similar was, unsurprisingly, birth year. From their analysis the team said there was 'no compelling evidence' on any trait that opposites attract. Overall they discovered that for between 82 and 89 per cent of traits analysed, partners were more likely than not to be similar. For only 3 per cent of traits, and only in one part of the analysis, did individuals tend to partner with those who were different than them. These included chronotype whether someone is a 'morning lark' or a 'night owl', tendency to worry and hearing difficulty. This correlation was only small, they added. Whether it's Jack and Rose in the Titanic, Danny and Sandy in Grease or the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast (pictured), we've been led to believe that opposites attract. 'These findings suggest that even in situations where we feel like we have a choice about our relationships, there may be mechanisms happening behind the scenes of which we aren't fully aware,' Ms Horwitz said. The team, whose research was published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, said couples could share traits for a range of reasons. Some people are attracted to people who are similar than them, while others grow more similar the longer they are together. However there could be long-term consequences for example if short people are more likely to have children with short people and tall people with tall people, there could be more height extremes in the next generation, they said. Meanwhile people coupling up with those from a similar educational background could inadvertently be widening the socioeconomic divide. It has long been believed that our ancestors originated exclusively in Africa - but the skull of an 8.7-million-year-old ape found in Turkey suggests they first appeared in Europe. The skull is a newly identified ape named Anadoluvius turkae and is said to be the first known radiation of early hominines - a group that includes African apes and humans. Scientists claimed the skull proves that hominies evolved in western and central Europe and spent over five million years there before migrating to Africa from the Mediterranean. The widely-held view that our ancestors evolved in Africa largely stems from the skull of Sahelanthropus tchadensis, which is believed to be the oldest known species in the human family tree - it lived up to seven million years ago. The skull was recovered from the Corakyerler fossil locality near Cankiri, a city in Turkey about 87 miles north of Ankara. It pre-dates remains found in African by more than five million years It has long been believed that ancient human ancestors originated in Africa. Remains have been found that date back to some seven million years The new research is based on an analysis of a significantly well-preserved partial cranium uncovered at the site in 2015, which includes most of the facial structure and the front part of the brain case. The findings are described in a study published in Communications Biology co-authored by an international team of researchers led by Professor David Begun at the University of Toronto (U of T) and Professor Ayla Sevim Erol at Ankara University. The skull was recovered from the Corakyerler fossil locality near Cankiri, a city in Turkey about 87 miles north of Ankara. Researchers said Anadoluvius weighed 110 and 130 pounds, lived in a dry forest setting, and probably spent much time on the ground. Begun said: 'The face is mostly complete after applying mirror imaging. The new part is the forehead, with bone preserved to about the cranium crown. 'Previously described fossils do not have this much of the brain case.' Researchers said Anadoluvius weighed 110 and 130 pounds, lived in a dry forest setting, and probably spent much time on the ground The researchers also suggested that Anadoluvius and other fossil apes from nearby areas, such as Ouranopithecus in Greece and Turkey and Graecopithecus in Bulgaria, formed a group of early hominines. This points to the idea that the earliest hominines appeared in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. Specifically, the ancient Balkan and Anatolian apes evolved from ancestors in western and central Europe. 'With its more comprehensive data, the research provides evidence that these other apes were also hominines and means that it is more likely that the whole group evolved and diversified in Europe, rather than the alternative scenario in which separate branches of apes earlier moved independently into Europe from Africa over the course of several million years and then went extinct without issue,' the researchers shared in a statement. Begun admitted that there is no evidence of the latter. 'It remains a favorite proposal among those who do not accept a European origin hypothesis,' he said. The popular theory stems from the skull of Sahelanthropus tchadensis, found in Chad, which is believed to be the oldest known species in the human family tree - it lived up to seven million years ago 'These findings contradict the long-held view that African apes and humans evolved exclusively in Africa. 'While the remains of early hominines are abundant in Europe and Anatolia, they were completely absent from Africa until the first hominin appeared there about seven million years ago. 'This new evidence supports the hypothesis that hominines originated in Europe and dispersed into Africa along with many other mammals between nine and seven million years ago, though it does not definitively prove it. 'For that, we need to find more fossils from Europe and Africa between eight and seven million years old to establish a definitive connection between the two groups.' Ever since their Panda Express cargo plane landed in 2011, Yang Guang and Tian Tian have been enchanting visitors at Edinburgh Zoo. But now the UK's only giant pandas also known as Sunshine and Sweetie will return to China in early December. Zoo chiefs said that over nearly 12 years in Scotland, the pair 'have had an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature'. Visitors will still be able to see the pandas, now both 20 years old, before they return to the care of the China Wildlife Conservation Association. The loan deal saw the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland pay China an annual 'donation' of 750,000 amid hopes a cub would be produced. The UK's only giant pandas also known as Sunshine and Sweetie will return to China in early December. Pictured: Yang Guang There are only two giant pandas in the UK. Not offspring has been produced since their arrival in December 2011 Despite efforts to breed the two pandas, female Tian Tian has not produced a cub during her time in Edinburgh. She was believed to be pregnant in August 2017, but her hormone levels and behaviour later returned to normal. Alison Maclean, carnivore team leader at Edinburgh Zoo, commented: 'We are making arrangements with our partners in China for Yang Guang and Tian Tian to return in early December, possibly during the first week. 'Visitors to the zoo can expect to see them indoors and outside until the end of November, after which viewing will be outdoors only until they leave. 'Having cared for Yang Guang and Tian Tian since they arrived in 2011, I will be travelling back to China with them, to help them settle into their new homes.' David Field, RZSS chief executive, said, 'With more than a million species at risk of extinction and our natural world in crisis, Yang Guang and Tian Tian have had an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature. Visitors will still be able to see the pandas, now both 20 years old, before they return to the care of the China Wildlife Conservation Association. Pictured: Tian Tian 'Through scientific research alongside the University of Edinburgh, we have also made a significant contribution to our understanding of giant pandas, which will be of real benefit to efforts to protect this amazing species in China. 'It is encouraging that in recent years the outlook for giant pandas in the wild has improved, which gives real hope for the future.' The giant panda habitat at Edinburgh Zoo will become home to a new species which RZSS can support in the wild, which will be announced next year. 'Our vision is of a world where nature is protected, valued and loved, which is why we have made an important pledge to reverse the decline of at least 50 species by 2030,' said Mr Field. 'We have reached significant milestones recently with the release of wildcats, pine hoverflies and dark bordered beauty moths in the Scottish Highlands. 'With a fantastic home at Edinburgh Zoo, combined with our international expertise in conservation science and research, we have an opportunity to help protect a new species through public engagement here in Scotland and in the wild by working with global partners.' If you're planning on visiting Turkey anytime soon, it pays to know what to look out for. Unsuspecting tourists could fall victim to all sorts of scams which could leave them thousands of pounds out of pocket. Luckily, one TikToker has shared five essential travel tips for those visiting the popular travel destination. The 26-year-old mother is quite the jet setter, and has ventured everywhere from Ibiza, Amsterdam and Barcelona to Dubai and Qatar. Now, the South African TikToker has turned her attention to Turkey, warning her 172,000 followers to be on the lookout for potential scams. Aaliya Adam has shared five tips to anyone interested in travelling to Turkey, her methods may save you a fortune while on holiday The 26-year-old mother told her followers to be on the lookout for any potential scams, such as overly expensive taxi rides Aaliya Adam told her followers they should always pay in Turkish Lira when visiting the country. She explained: 'There are a lot of scams, when I mean scams it is absolutely out of hand like they change prices in front of you and they don't want to take the Turkish Lira.' She explained that many Turkish natives will try to charge you in euros and dollars, for a significantly more amount, and tourists should stick to paying in Lira to avoid confusion. Another costly trick tourists fall victim to are taxi rides, she urged her followers not to take any old taxi and choose one with a meter to avoid being charged more than necessary. Aaliya explained: 'Make sure you guys use public transport or meter taxis as they can get money out of you guys.' She explained that a 5km trip could cost you up to 400 South African Rands (16.77), whereas she would only usually pay 25 to 30 Rands (1.26). Aaliya also warned her followers never to buy brands in Turkey unless they're 'at the mall.' She said that while some may think they're getting an amazing deal on a Louis Vuitton bag that it's actually 'all fake'. She also pointed her followers away from a popular tourist trap, claiming that Istanbul's largest and oldest covered market, Grand Bazaar, isn't actually that cheap. She said: 'It's a tourist attraction so it's really highly priced make sure you go in the inner streets to try and get really good bargains. The last and 'most important' thing tourists should be aware of is the language barrier. Aaliya described this as a 'really huge barrier' and suggested to overcome it, travellers should use Google translate to make themselves clear. The popular video has gained over 100,000 views, and hundreds of TikTokers flocked to the comments to thank her for the advice. One person said: 'On point, I experienced all of the above.' Another added: 'Couldn't agree more. I am a victim where I have been scammed by taxi guys.' Meanwhile, others added their own advice, one person said: 'Always check the meter taxi starts from 0.' 'The Grand Bazaar was ridiculous I bought everything from the streets and it was so cheap There are myriad reasons for flight delays, from bad weather to technical problems with an aircraft. To the list, reveals one former air traffic controller, can be added petty revenge. Writing in his riveting book Life With A View Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller, Robin A. Smith reveals that pilots who disobey instructions from air traffic controllers or dont pay close enough attention to them can be routed off course as punishment. These changes in course are called delay vectors in the business, Smith explains. He writes: We tell pilots where to go and what to do with no ability to inflict consequences. Amazingly, pilots comply. Unlike real law enforcement, controllers cannot levy a fine or pass and execute a sentence at will. With one exception delay vectors. Writing in his riveting book Life With A View Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller, Robin A. Smith reveals that pilots who disobey instructions from air traffic controllers or dont pay close enough attention to them can be routed off course as punishment Noncompliant pilots occasionally find themselves on the receiving end of delay vectors. In other words, they are routed off course. Smith, who served as a domestic and international controller at two Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) towers in the U.S, continues: Delay vectors are sometimes issued just to give the pilot time in the penalty box for not paying attention. Life With A View Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller is available from Amazon in the UK and U.S He also revealed that sometimes sarcastic instructions are issued, writing: The controller might order, Turn left ten degrees for noise abatement. [And the aircraft might respond] Were 30 miles south of the airport over desert. What noise abatement? To which the air traffic control operator would respond: Two airplanes hitting makes a lot of noise. Traffic, 12 oclock five miles opposite at your altitude. Smith adds: In general, pilots comply with instructions without question, believing that the voice in their ear is omnipotent. A Boeing Dreamliner captain, speaking anonymously, confirmed to MailOnline Travel that flight crews are sometimes punished by air traffic controllers. He said: I got put on the naughty step by Tokyo ATC a couple of months back. We wanted a turn to avoid a storm - they didnt like it and we got around 20 minutes extra flying for our trouble. Life With A View Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller, by Robin A Smith and published by iUniverse, can be ordered from Amazon for 9.95 ($9.20). Highlights of Smart China Expo Smart Automobile Scenario Challenge in Chongqing Xinhua) 13:28, September 04, 2023 A vehicle is seen during the Smart China Expo Smart Automobile Scenario Challenge in Yongchuan District of southwest China's Chongqing, Sept. 1, 2023. The challenge was held in Yongchuan District of Chongqing from Sept. 1 to 3. More than 180 industry representatives and 19 teams from the field of intelligent vehicles participated in the competition. (Xinhua/Chu Jiayin) Referees check the information of participating vehicles during the Smart China Expo Smart Automobile Scenario Challenge in Yongchuan District of southwest China's Chongqing, Sept. 2, 2023. The challenge was held in Yongchuan District of Chongqing from Sept. 1 to 3. More than 180 industry representatives and 19 teams from the field of intelligent vehicles participated in the competition. (Xinhua/Chu Jiayin) A self-driving bus (front) takes part in the Smart China Expo Smart Automobile Scenario Challenge in Yongchuan District of southwest China's Chongqing, Sept. 2, 2023. The challenge was held in Yongchuan District of Chongqing from Sept. 1 to 3. More than 180 industry representatives and 19 teams from the field of intelligent vehicles participated in the competition. (Xinhua/Chu Jiayin) A self-driving bus takes part in the Smart China Expo Smart Automobile Scenario Challenge in Yongchuan District of southwest China's Chongqing, Sept. 2, 2023. The challenge was held in Yongchuan District of Chongqing from Sept. 1 to 3. More than 180 industry representatives and 19 teams from the field of intelligent vehicles participated in the competition. (Xinhua/Huang Wei) Referees watch participating vehicles via live video during the Smart China Expo Smart Automobile Scenario Challenge in Yongchuan District of southwest China's Chongqing, Sept. 2, 2023. The challenge was held in Yongchuan District of Chongqing from Sept. 1 to 3. More than 180 industry representatives and 19 teams from the field of intelligent vehicles participated in the competition. (Xinhua/Huang Wei) A vehicle is seen during the Smart China Expo Smart Automobile Scenario Challenge in Yongchuan District of southwest China's Chongqing, Sept. 1, 2023. The challenge was held in Yongchuan District of Chongqing from Sept. 1 to 3. More than 180 industry representatives and 19 teams from the field of intelligent vehicles participated in the competition. (Xinhua/Huang Wei) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol denounced former President Moon Jae-in on Monday for "meddling excessively" in the issue surrounding the relocation of the bust of revered independence fighter Hong Beom-do from the Korea Military Academy (KMA). The KMA announced a decision last Thursday to remove Hong's bust from its grounds in northern Seoul due to controversy over his past record of collaborating with Soviet communist forces. The statue was erected during Moon's presidency in 2018. Moon showed apparent displeasure over the KMA's decision, saying in a Facebook post Sunday that the presidential office should step forward and clarify the issue because it has become a big controversy. Moon expressed similar concerns a week earlier, calling for a reconsideration of the bust relocation plan. An aide to Yoon was asked to comment on Moon's remarks in a media briefing Monday and made the accusation, saying, "It's not a problem that the presidential office does not take action on the bust relocation issue." (Yonhap) The next time a big storm is cited as the reason for your flight delay, try to suppress your annoyance and be thankful instead that air traffic control or the flight crew aren't willing to take any chances. As a Dreamliner captain revealed to MailOnline Travel, if a storm is severe enough, it could make the aircraft 'unflyable'. He said: '[In a storm there would be] horrendous turbulence, which would likely lead to lots of injuries to passengers and crew as a minimum. 'Worse-case scenario - either loss of control of the aircraft or possibly a structural failure across control surfaces such as ailerons, elevator, rudder, which would make the aircraft unflyable.' Pilot Rick James, who runs pilotteacher.com, further explains that storms can create 'strong windshears with rapidly changing wind directions'. A Dreamliner captain revealed to MailOnline Travel that if a storm is severe enough, it could make an aircraft 'unflyable' If an aircraft takes off and the wind direction suddenly pivots, this can stall the aircraft. He adds that storms can contain super-cooled water droplets that freeze upon impact with an aircraft, leading to a potentially dangerous ice build-up. Ice adds weight to the aircraft, alters the flow of air around it and can freeze up the fuel and flight controls. Captain Steve Allright, who runs British Airways' Flying with Confidence course for nervous flyers, reveals in the fascinating companion book - Flying With Confidence: The Proven Programme To Fix Your Flying Fears (Random House UK) that storms are the adverse weather condition most likely to lead to a diversion. Captain Allright says: 'Flight crew would be highly unlikely to take off or land with a huge thunderstorm overhead because of rapidly changing wind conditions, lightning and heavy precipitation in the form of rain or hail. Captain Steve Allright, who runs British Airways' Flying with Confidence course for nervous flyers, reveals that storms are the adverse weather condition most likely to lead to a diversion 'Fortunately, commercial aircraft are fitted with high-technology weather radar that detects this precipitation, enabling the flight crew to identify a thunderstorm from over 100 miles (160km) away and take avoiding action, day or night. 'It is possible to fly through a thunderstorm safely, and sometimes this is necessary because of crowded airspace. This will feel quite turbulent and uncomfortable in the cabin, but it is totally safe. Thunderstorms are really only a problem if there is a big storm over an airfield you are trying to land at. Air Canada Dreamliner captain Doug Morris (above) in his fascinating book This Is Your Captain Speaking explains how he is always on the lookout for storms 'The wind around and beneath a thunderstorm can change in speed and direction very quickly, which would change the amount of lift being produced by the wings.' Veteran Air Canada Dreamliner captain Doug Morris in his fascinating book This Is Your Captain Speaking (ECW Press) explains that he is always on the lookout for thunderstorms. He writes: 'One of the best methods, still to this day, for avoiding showers, heavy rain, and turbulent cloud is with a pair of eyeballs. 'At night, you'll find me with the flight deck lighting turned down, looking intently outside and scanning the sky. [If] we are near a thunderstorm, I have the flight deck lights dimmed and, usually, the external strobe lights turned off, finding the best path to get out of this meteorological predicament.' READ MORE: Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul cast reunite on the picket line He picketed outside Sony Pictures in California alongside his former co-stars Aaron Paul says its 'insane' that he doesn't get residual pay from Netflix Aaron Paul has made the shocking revelation that he hasn't earned a single dollar in residuals from his role in Breaking Bad despite the show's ongoing success. The actor, 44, who played Jesse Pinkman, the student turned drug-making business partner of Bryan Cranston's Walter White, disclosed the damning news while picketing outside Sony Pictures in California alongside his former co-stars amid the ongoing Hollywood strike. 'I don't get a piece from Netflix on Breaking Bad to be totally honest and that's insane to me,' Paul said. 'Shows live forever on these streamers and it goes through waves. I saw just the other day that Breaking Bad was trending on Netflix' Aaron Paul joined the picket line outside Sony Pictures studios in California on August 29 The 44-year-old actor played Jesse Pinkman alongside Bryan Cranston's Walter White in the hit show Paul continued to ET Canada: 'It's such common sense and I think a lot of these streamers, they know they've been getting away with not paying people fair wage and now it's time to pony up.' The Jesse Pinkman star marched in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA, which has been on strike since July 14 in solidarity with the Writers' Guild, which has been striking since May. Together, the unions are fighting for necessary action over residual pay and the increasing use of AI in production. Breaking Bad debuted in January 2008 and was the second original series ever to debut on AMC, behind the critically acclaimed Mad Men. The hit drama, which ran for five seasons, followed Walter White as a 50-year-old science teacher who gets sucked into the world of drugs. According to reports, Paul made an eye-watering $150,000 per episode while his co-star and lead protagonist Cranston took home $225,000. The success of Breaking Bad spawned the creation of the equally beloved spin-off Better Call Saul, starring Bob Odenkirk as the shady lawyer Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman. Better Call Saul aired for another six seasons on AMC, between 2015 and 2022, which showed how a mild-mannered lawyer named Jimmy McGill transformed into an outlaw and friend of the cartel. Paul revealed that he hasn't earned a single dollar in residuals from his role in Breaking Bad The star, pictured with Bryan Cranston, reckons that now it's time to 'pony up' against the streaming giants Paul picked up the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 2014 awards for his role as Jesse Breaking Bad won 16 Emmy Awards including back-to-back Outstanding Drama Series wins for its final two seasons in 2013 and 2014. Paul himself picked up the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 2014 awards, beating the likes of Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, Downton Abbey's Jim Carter, and Ray Donovan's Jon Voight. Paul's fans have been left aghast over his bombshell, with many disgraced over the injustice. 'Breaking Bad is an EXCELLENT show, the actors deserve every dime they worked for,' wrote one on Twitter, while another posted: 'This is so unacceptable. How is it even possible?' Paul isn't the only star to have called out Netflix in recent weeks over its lack of paying actors residuals. In July, Orange Is the New Black's Diane Guerrero revealed she made so little money while starring in the hit Netflix series that she was forced to continue working at a bar to make ends meet. The 36-year-old actress, who played Maritza Ramos, said the money she was earning from the show didn't give her the financial freedom to give up her night gig. Meanwhile, Kimiko Glenn, who played inmate Brook Soso, shared a foreign-royalty statement containing a measly $27.30. Orange Is the New Black actress Diane Guerrero revealed she made so little money while starring in the hit series that she was forced to continue working at a bar to make ends meet Kimiko (seen in a 2014 episode) took to social media to reveal how little she made in royalties After the streamer posted a clip of her in an episode about a man with a bazooka shell stuck in his chest, she reposted it and wrote, 'Also me when @netflix Doesn't pay actors residuals' Ellen Pompeo recently blasted the streamer after it posted a meme featuring her Grey's Anatomy character referencing a season two episode. 'Me when there's a [bomb emoji] in the chest cavity,' Netflix wrote at the time, alluding to the over-the-top storyline of the episode. 'Also me when @netflix Doesn't pay actors residuals,' she wrote atop the image in her own post, which was shared to her Instagram Stories. 'Holla let's talk,' she added. Ozzy Osbourne's loving family have shared a promising update on his health, revealing that he is 'living life' despite a spate of recent worrying setbacks. It's been a tumultuous few years for the Black Sabbath rocker, 74, who announced in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with a form of Parkinson's disease, Parkin 2, which affects the nerves in the body. More recently though, Ozzy was forced to pause touring in February this year following extensive spinal surgery because he was not 'physically capable' of the travel involved. He had previously fallen at home in 2019, which intensified his injuries from a near-fatal quad bike crash in 2003. Ozzy Osbourne's daughter Kelly has revealed that the rocker still had a zest for life despite his spate of health setbacks In July, Ozzy made the 'painful' decision to cancel a scheduled performance at Power Trip festival in California due to his body not being 'ready yet' and that he didn't want his show to be 'half-assed.' Shedding light on Ozzy's current health ahead of the release of The Osbournes Podcast on September 12, daughter Kelly, 38, said: 'He's got Parkinson's and a terrible spine surgery and he's still getting up every day, and still making music, and still doing singing lessons....' Wife Sharon, 70, who married her rock star husband in Hawaii in 1982, added: 'You know, he is living his life.' The mother and daughter duo also shared that Ozzy's sense of humor hadn't waned despite his series of setbacks. 'He's in a real alien kick right now,' Kelly divulged. 'This morning, I came down to get a bottle for the baby because I was staying with my parents for the last couple of weeks and I found him watching live court hearings of the UFO trials. It's six o'clock in the morning!' Kelly is currently living back with her parents for a little bit of extra help with her little one, although she often finds herself waiting on her father. 'Essentially, I am my dad's b**** in the sense. He wants me to do everything at any time of day,' she said. 'Ozzy will text Kelly to get him takeaway food sent over,' Sharon added. 'He calls Kelly, Kelly orders it for him. She's like his in-house waitress.' The Black Sabbath rocker, 74, hasn't lost his sense of humor in the wake of his Parkinson's diagnosis and spate of surgeries Ozzy's wife Sharon told DailyMail.com that he was 'living life' as the family prepared for the launch of their podcast The wildly iconic family have recorded new episodes of The Osbournes Podcast 'Everything that he's discovered on YouTube, he wants me to look up for him and new books he's very funny,' Kelly continued. Kelly - who welcomed baby son Sidney with her boyfriend, Slipknot star Sid Wilson, nine months ago - has said that being at home with her family has brought her a lot of joy. Speaking about her little boy, she beamed: 'He really, really makes my dad happy. 'You know, he has his papa minutes where he goes up in the morning and sits with my dad and every night before he goes to bed he sits with my dad. 'And he makes him laugh and it is just, they love each other.' The Osbournes Podcast is set for a triumphant return some five years after the last episode dropped. Ozzy and Sharon tied the knot in 1982 and share three children together: Aimee, Jack, and Kelly. The family pictured in 1987 Kelly - who welcomed her first child, a son named Sidney - revealed she was currently living back with her parents and waited on her dad's every request The new series comprises of 20 episodes, with Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly, and Jack sitting in their living room to discuss everything from Emmy memories to pop culture, current events, and mental health. 'Some days, Dad didn't make it because he was not feeling great or whatever,' Sharon revealed. 'But Ozzy's done about 20 of his own shows with his friend, Billy Morrison, and they discuss everything from nuclear bombs to squirrels.' Kelly revealed that comedian and actress Margaret Cho, 54, also featured. 'She blew my mind a little bit with how much she knows about crime and criminal investigations and different serial killers. And that was really interesting,' she said. In July, Ozzy himself said that he was 'battling through' his health issues and recently had a filter removed from his artery. The Osbournes Podcast is officially back on September 12 - and will feature celebrity guests Speaking on his Ozzy Speaks SiriusXM channel, he told listeners: 'When I had the blood clots in my legs, they put a filter in your artery to stop the blood clots going to your heart and your brain. It sounds worse than it is. So, on Monday I went to have it removed. 'The blood clots have jammed you all up. It's just disappointment after disappointment. Just get this thing f***ing done so I can go get on with my life.' Ozzy admitted he was in 'constant pain' and added: 'I feel like a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest. The only thing I've got that keeps me going is making records. But I can't do that forever. 'I gotta get out there. I'm still in constant pain. I do the best I can to stay away from the pain medication.' The Osbournes Podcast launches on Tuesday, September 12 on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google Play, and Stitcher. Rival brands such as Disney and HBO are forecasted to come out less unscathed A PR expert has warned that Netflix could suffer major damage to its reputation as a result of the ongoing Hollywood strikes - because it has been positioned as the ultimate 'villain' in the narrative, while rivals like Disney+ and HBO Max go relatively unscathed. The streaming giant is one of several to be majorly impacted by the ongoing industrial action, with hugely popular shows such as Stranger Things, Emily In Paris, and Outer Banks on hold until further notice while actors, writers, and crew take a stand against the threat of artificial intelligence and low wages. The Screen Actors GuildAmerican Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which represents approximately 160,000 actors, has been on strike since July 14 after failing to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over concerns about residuals and the use of AI. They followed the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which has been on strike since May 2. Netflix is set to bear the brunt of the reputational damage in the aftermath of the Hollywood strikes due to being painted as the 'villain' over other brands The Screen Actors GuildAmerican Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America are both on strike While there currently seems to be no end in sight especially given that the latest offer from the Hollywood studios was rejected by the WGA PR expert Louise Findlay-Wilson believes that Netflix's reputation will be in the gutter in the aftermath although she insists the damage won't be 'irreparable.' Sharing her forecast exclusively with DailyMail.com, Findlay-Wilson, who is the managing director of Energy PR, said: 'Disney and HBO are more established brands with a potentially stronger sense of loyalty from audiences and it is Netflix which is being painted as the villain of the piece. 'That's never a good position to be in reputationally. It also comes at a time when people are looking for excuses to cut costs and subscriptions tolerance is low. 'People love brands that align with their values, tie with their identity and become part of their lives, so, when a brand's behavior undermines one of more of these things, that brand will lose the support of that person. 'In this case, Netflix is perceived to be acting unfairly, impacting peoples' livelihoods during a cost-of-living crisis, and risking preventing it from providing what its audience wants fresh new content. 'This sort of behavior would be a brand turn off, and for Netflix that turn off could be literal.' In Findlay-Wilson's view, Netflix has more to lose as the strike rages on because of its high profile. And given that it is a service that is only available on its streaming platform, this could also pose a problem. While the giant is the biggest producer of original content compared to its rivals, with Media Play News citing that its unique output makes up 37 per cent of all its movies and shows, it could fall into troubled waters given that US production has grinded to a halt. Netflix star Sarah Paulson pictured on the picket line outside the streaming giant's office in Los Angeles Netflix, which is home to hit series Stranger Things, is perceived to be acting unfairly and impacting peoples' livelihoods during a cost-of-living crisis On the other hand, its rivals HBO and Disney+ both have viewing opportunities outside of its streaming platforms, with both networks having its own cable television distribution. 'In the short run the strikes are actually reducing costs for these companies,' she pointed out. 'Looking at its latest figures, Netflix's cash flow had improved by some $1.5 billion, thanks to strike-driven cutbacks on content. Similarly, Disney said it anticipated a $3 billion production cost cut due to the strikes. 'Also, Netflix isn't as dependent on content produced in the US as you might think. It has a massive network of international studios to draw on. Some of that foreign language programming has done really well. Added to this, a lot of Netflix content is licensed or old material.' However, Findlay-Wilson stressed that eventually, all the streamers would be hurt by the industrial action. 'Cushions of stockpiled content won't last forever,' she said. 'They will all need US writers to write and actors to act.' According to Findlay-Wilson, Netflix's reputation will be more in the firing line than most. A-List actor Adam Driver took aim at Netflix while promoting his new movie, Ferrari, at Venice Film Festival 'It's the most high-profile player, the disruptor who created this unstable and unsustainable working environment for writers,' she said. 'Given its position, I think Netflix would be well placed to reach a deal look like they're listening to and wanting to support the industry. I think their reputation would benefit if they did so sooner rather than later.' Findlay-Wilson's insights come after A-list actor Adam Driver, who appeared in the Netflix film Marriage Story, slammed the streamer for not being 'willing to support' people in the industry. While promoting his movie Ferrari at Venice Film Festival, which has been boycotted by many stars during the SAG-AFTRA strikes, the 39-year-old said: 'I'm very proud to be here to be a visual representation of a movie that's not part of the AMPTP and to promote the SAG leadership directive which is an effective tactic which is the interim agreement. 'The other objective is obviously to say, why is it that a smaller distribution company like Neon and STX International can meet the dream demands of what SAG is asking for this is pre-negotiations the dream version of SAG's wishlist, but a big company like Netflix and Amazon can't? 'And every time people from SAG go and support a movie that has met the terms of the interim agreement, it just makes it more obvious that these people are willing to support the people that they collaborate with, and the others are not. 'Understanding the interim agreement, it's a no-brainer for all of these reasons why you'd want to support your union, and I'm here because of that: to stand in solidarity with them by showing up, and further proving the point that it's really about the people you make it with.' DailyMail.com has contacted Netflix for comment. Tommy Dorfman picketed outside the Netflix office in New York City, showing her solidarity for her fellow members of SAG-AFTRA and WGA Jane Fonda, who appeared in the Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie, picketed outside Netflix HQ in June Several Netflix stars have picketed outside the streamer's offices since strikes began, including 13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman, who attended a New York rally just last week. Dorfman's appearance at the rally came one month after she opened up on social media about her less-than-acceptable wages for appearing in the teen drama. 'My earnings for the entire first season of 13 Reasons Why were $29,953.24 prior to agency and manager fees (20 per cent) and taxes. Eight episodes over six months,' she wrote. 'I did all of the promo and had KEY ART for this show, flew round trip from NYC to SF to shoot for every episode, was kept for days without pay/working. Dorfman also shockingly claimed to 'barely qualify for insurance' while filming scenes. In June, Jane Fonda, who starred in the Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie for seven series, was joined by her co-star Lily Tomlin at a demonstration at Netflix headquarters in Los Angeles. Speaking to the crowds, she said at the time: 'If Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and I were making 9 to 5 today, we'd be gig workers,' Fonda told crowds. 'Contracted out by one company to another we probably wouldn't know who our boss was. We wouldn't know who to complain when there's wage theft; we'd likely be working two to three jobs to make ends meet.' Ashley Benson was spotted with her fiance, Brandon Davis, at Nobu in Malibu on Saturday evening. The 33-year-old performer cut a fashionable figure as she departed the celebrity-favorite eatery in the company of her 43-year-old partner. The actress, who recently showed off her massive engagement ring, wore a slightly oversized pinstripe jacket on top of a black shirt during her night out. Benson paired her outerwear with a matching miniskirt, which showed off her impressively toned thighs. The Spring Breakers cast member added a bit of glam to her look with knee-high leather boots, and she kept a matching purse slung over her right shoulder. Date night: Ashley Benson was spotted with her fiance, Brandon Davis, at Nobu in Malibu on Saturday evening Standing out: The Spring Breakers actress wore a slightly oversized pinstripe jacket on top of a black shirt during her night out, while her beau kept casual in a white tee and black jacket Her gorgeous blonde hair contrasted perfectly with the dark tones of her clothing. Davis kept it relatively casual in a white t-shirt worn underneath a navy blue button-up shirt as he spent time with his partner. Benson and her fiance were initially linked this past February, when People confirmed that they were dating. A source spoke to the media outlet at the time and stated: 'They have a lot of mutual friends and are both super fun and very social people.' Prior to becoming involved with her current partner, the actress was in a relationship with Cara Delevingne that began in 2018. The former couple remained together for two more years before they ended their romance. The performer eventually moved on with G-Eazy, although the two split up after less than a year of dating. Benson and her former partner remained in contact, however, and briefly reconciled last year before they went their separate ways. Making it official: Benson and her fiance were initially linked this past February, when People confirmed that they were dating; they are seen in January Putting a ring on it: The performer later began seeing Davis, and she revealed they had become engaged in July, when she posted a photo of her engagement ring on her Instagram The performer later began seeing Davis, and she revealed that they had become engaged in July, when she reposted a photo of her engagement ring on her Instagram Story. The snap was initially taken by her fiance, who referred to her as the 'love of my life' in a text graphic that was added to the post. The Pretty Little Liars star also described Davis as her 'best friend' in a separate text graphic. Benson has not publicly shared any details about her upcoming wedding ceremony as of yet. Maya Jama looked stunning as she posed for some fun and flirty Instagram snaps on Sunday. The Love Island presenter, 29, showed off her ample cleavage as she put on a very busty display in a series of pictures as she seemed to have her own personal photoshoot in the back of a car. The star pouted and flashed a cheesy grin in snaps as she donned a stylish halter neck little back dress. Maya kept her make up to a minimum as she enhanced her eyes with a cat eyeliner flick and a layer of shining lip gloss. The snaps were in aid of a brand deal with Rimmel for the makeup brand's new London Thrill Seeker lip gloss. Stunning: Maya Jama, 28, put on a VERY busty display as she stunned in Instagram snaps on Sunday after going public with her relationship with Stormzy last week Beautiful: The Love Island presenter, 29, showed off her ample cleavage in the pictures as she seemed to have her own personal photoshoot in the back of a car Wow: The star pouted and flashed a cheesy grin in snaps as she donned a stylish halter neck little back dress Maya looked to be letting her hair down for the evening as she posed with her head out the window of the car as she held up the peace sign. Fans rushed to compliment the star as they flooded the comment section with flatteries. Rimmel sent their love as they wrote: 'Its giving BIG. GLOSS. ENERGY'. The snaps come after power couple Maya and Stormzy finally ended months of speculation last week by revealing they've rekindled their romance, stepping out together hand-in-hand during a holiday in Greece. The couple previously split in 2019 after four years together, but for months have sparked rumours of a reconciliation. For weeks the pair had dropped hints that their relationship was back on, with festival meet-ups and cosy rendezvous at his house. Eagle-eyed fans then noticed that Maya and Stormzy had jetted to Greece together to celebrate the Love Island host's birthday, with both sharing social media posts from the same 2,700-per-night Greek villa. But last weekend marked their first public appearance together since the rumours surfaced more than a week ago. Gorgeous: Maya kept her make up to a minimum as she enhanced her eyes with a cat eyeliner flick and a layer of shining lip gloss Glossy: The snaps were in aid of a brand deal with Rimmel for the makeup brand's new London Thrill Seeker lip gloss Night out: Maya posed with her friend in the snaps as they appeared to head to a bar Messing around: Maya also posted a video in black and white as she struck a series of poses In love: The snaps come after power couple Maya and Stormzy finally ended months of speculation last week by revealing they've rekindled their romance Fans were thrilled by the reconciliation and took to Twitter to rejoice over the news, declaring the photo of them holding hands should be hung in the Louvre. One said: 'Stormzy and maya jama back together is like what dreams are made of, the comeback of all comebacks'. Another echoed: 'tonight we raise a glass to stormzy and maya, the world is HEALING!!!!' A third wrote: 'More buzzin that Stormzy & Maya Jama are on holiday together than I was for my own' while a fourth added: 'Invested in the Stormzy/Maya Jama reunion as if I know them personally'. And the relationship is clearly going from strength to strength as it was revealed that Stormzy is reportedly already planning to propose to his girlfriend. The grime star has reportedly told pals' he's 'determined' to show his commitment to the presenter after winning her back following their split in 2019. A source told The Sun: 'Stormzy knows how lucky he is to have gotten back, and he's determined not to lose her again.' 'He wants to make her his wifey for lifey. He's telling his mates this is it for him now, he's found the one.' Kanye West and his Australian 'wife' Bianca Censori have been banned for life by a Venetian boat rental company following their indecent exposure scandal in Italy last week. The couple sparked controversy last Monday when they were spotted enjoying an amorous moment on a water taxi in Venice, with West exposing his bare buttocks in front of gawking tourists. Images of the couple showed the American rapper, 46, seated at the back of the river taxi while his Australian so-called bride, 28, placed her head in his lap. Venezia Turismo Motoscafi, the company that rented the boat to West and Censori, have since spoken exclusively to Daily Mail Australia and confirmed the couple are 'no longer welcome' aboard their boats. In its statement the company condemned the pair's bawdy activity, while confirming it was 'completely unaware' what occurred on the boat the photos were made public. Kanye West, 46, (right) and his Australian 'wife' Bianca Censori, 28, (left) have been banned for life by a Venetian boat rental company following their indecent exposure scandal in Italy last Monday 'On board, the driver had to keep a lookout for traffic and did not see these obscenities. If this had happened, he would have immediately disembarked and reported the transgressors to those in authority.' 'In addition, there was a third person on board the taxi, who accompanied Mr. and Mrs. West, who obstructed the captain's view to the stern in any case.' The third person was a woman who has been pictured chaperoning West and Censori during their Italian holiday. Venezia Turismo Motoscafi, the company that rented the boat to West and Censori, have since spoken exclusively to Daily Mail Australia and confirmed the couple are 'no longer welcome' aboard their boats. (The couple are pictured together in Italy last month) The company went on to denounce the couple's explicit display, saying: 'We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behaviour. 'Mr. West and his wife will certainly no longer be welcome on board our company's boats,' they added. Venezia Turismo Motoscafi is one of Venice's leading private navigation companies, boasting an impressive array of celebrity clientele, including Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Florence Pugh, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. Venezia Turismo Motoscafi is one of Venice's leading private navigation companies, boasting an impressive array of celebrity clientele including Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (both pictured disembarking the company's boat in September 2021 during the Venice Film Festival) It comes after online critics argued that Kanye's flesh-baring display constituted 'public indecency,' a charge which comes with a fine of up to 309 (AU$520), according to the Italian Constitutional Court. 'How are these two not arrested for lewd behaviour?' one commenter complained, as another agreed: 'Public indecency! Keep it for the privacy of your own home.' Someone else added: 'Italian authorities need to arrest them for indecency doing that lewd and disgusting behaviour in public. There are clearly crowds, kids probably saw.' Lady Gaga rented a boat from the company in August 2018 during the Venice Film Festival Yet another user complained: 'What is the matter with them? Maybe time the police stepped in,' as someone else asked: 'Why won't the Italian government police or someone stop them?' Other users said the bawdy display was 'disrespectful' to residents of the conservative Catholic nation. 'This kind of dumb stunt is what helps paint all Americans as having zero class or respect,' one user lamented. The company denounced the couple's explicit display, saying: 'We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behaviour, which, moreover, constitute a crime in our country' 'I wish the police would arrest these two for their ignorant behaviour. They are making a mockery of the country,' another added. Other concerned fans have questioned whether the bizarre display is proof that the rapper is 'controlling' Bianca. 'Cant anyone see that both of these people need help? Where is this woman's family and surely Kanye has people that are interested in his well being,' one wrote. Kanye and Bianca wed in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills in January, about two months after the rapper's divorce to Kim Kardashian was finalised 'Poor girl. She looks miserable,' one commented, as someone else added: 'Well she certainly doesn't look happy.' Another fan claimed Bianca 'needs to get out of that sick relationship' while someone else wrote: 'How humiliating for you. That poor woman needs help. She looks miserable. Free Bianca!' One user branded Kanye a 'sicko' for the explicit display. However, the legality of the union is in question, as they did not file a marriage certificate. (The couple are pictured in Los Angeles in May) Prior to boarding the boat, West was covered from head-to-toe in an all-black ensemble while Censori wore a knee-length trench coat which she teamed with a pair of nude heels. However both shed their layers once getting on board, with Censori ditching her coat in favour of a a strapless nude-coloured number as West pulled down his pants which exposed his bare behind. It appeared that things were getting very steamy as Censori rested her elbows on his knees while he was then seen cradling her head as they sailed along the river. Bianca has a degree in architecture and worked Kanye's design company Yeezy prior to their getting together West and Censor have sparked fury among locals over the past month for their odd wardrobe choices while holidaying in Italy, with critics especially taking aim at Censori for 'going around virtually naked' in the conservative Catholic country. The brunette has stepped out on several occasions with her bare breasts clearly visible beneath see-through mesh outfits. Among them was the outrageous nude catsuit - which saw her forced to cover her nipples with a black cross-body bag. There is speculation that West and Censori's Italian antics are part of an elaborate publicity stunt to promote an upcoming album and fashion line According to major tourism website CIU Travel, locals find it 'offensive' to see visitors 'wandering the streets in varying states of undress.' The website reads: 'Walking around in beach attire or, worse, shirtless, is a huge no-no in Italy, unless you have your feet buried deep in the sand.' It remains to be seen whether West or Censori will face any form of official punishment for their latest over-the-top display. The fashion designer who is widely believed to be behind all of Censori's recent and controversial looks and his new muse were first romantically linked in January 2023 just months after his divorce was finalised. Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from West in February 2021 after six years of marriage. (Pictured together at the Met Gala in 2019) The couple wed in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills in January, about two months after the rapper's divorce to Kim Kardashian was finalized. However, the legality of the union is in question, as they did not file a marriage certificate. Previously, Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021 after six years of marriage. Throughout their longtime romance, West often called her his 'muse' and heavily influenced her fashion choices. The former couple share four children together North, 10, Saint, seven, Chicago, five, and Psalm, four. Hana Cross looked sensational in a glamourous black cut out dress as she attended the amfAR gala at the 80th Venice Film Festival on Sunday. The model flaunted her fabulous figure as she flashed her cleavage and toned abdomen in the garment. The 23-year-old drew eyes as she arrived at the event in the floor length gown which featured a sheer skirt adorned with an embroidered leafy pattern. The star was one of many stars to attend the gala this evening which featured a notably improved guest list for the 80th Venice Film Festival which so far has been lacking the usual Hollywood sparkle. Hana was joined by fellow celebrities including actresses Kate Beckinsale, Milla Jovovich and Bella Thorne who had all travelled to northern Italy exclusively for the charitable event. Glam: Hana Cross, 23, flaunted her fabulous physique as she wowed in black cut out dress while attending the amfAR gala at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday Gorgeous: The model flaunted her fabulous figure as she flashed her cleavage and toned abdomen in the garment Jaw-dropping: The 23-year-old wore the floor length gown which featured a sheer skirt adorned with an embroidered leafy pattern amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the worlds leading non-profit organisations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested more than $635 million in its programs and has awarded more than 3,500 grants to research teams worldwide. Hana kept a serious face as she posed confidently for snaps with her hands on her hips. The ex-girlfriend of Brooklyn Beckham swept her brunette locks back in a slicked back high bun as she donned a striking makeup look. Featuring precise winged eyeliner, she accessorised the outfit with a pair of huge diamond earrings. The star attended the event with fellow fashion model and friend Elle Trowbridge as the two donned matching outfits. The duo looked iconic in their similar black gowns, which both featured plunging necklines and a sheer skirt with detailing. Keeping their poker faces, the pair's expressions didn't falter as they sat down together at the table for the dinner. Twinning! The star attended the event with fellow fashion model and friend Elle Trowbridge as the two donned matching outfits Pout: Featuring precise winged eyeliner, she accessorised the outfit with a pair of huge diamond earrings Angles: Hana revealed a 360 angle of the dress which revealed the backless gown Poker face: The pair's expressions didn't falter as they sat down together at the table for the dinner The festival opened with the premiere of Italian World War Two film Comandante, directed by Edoardo De Angelis. The event will run until September 9 and closes with a Spanish-language Netflix drama Society of the Snow. The event marks the start of the awards season and regularly throws up big favourites for the Oscars. Eight of the past 11 best director awards at the Oscars went to films that debuted at Venice. Movie stars and directors traditionally enjoy travelling to the lagoon city to launch their films. However, this year will offer a bit less sparkle than usual because a Hollywood actors' strike will prevent many stars from promoting their work here. The festival's artistic director Alberto Barbera is putting a brave face on the expected disruption and has managed to attract one of the strongest line-ups in recent years, defying dire predictions of a mass no-show by big studio productions. Fast X action star Michelle Rodriguez took the plunge in a glamorous gold-sequin dress while attending the amfAR Gala Venezia 2023 benefit, which was held at La Misericordia in Venice, Italy on Sunday. The Texan-born 45-year-old appeared to have trouble figuring out how to properly drape the nude chiffon overlay on the Alberta Ferretti Resort 2024 gown selected by stylist Sarah Nearis. 'I grew up in the ghetto [in New Jersey],' Michelle (born Mayte) told People in April. 'You grow up quick when you're in poverty and see kids having kids - teen moms are a big thing. I was such a tomboy because I was scared of getting pregnant. But if you dig deep, underneath all of that armor, I'm a very feminine creature.' Hairstylist Laini Reeves coiffed Rodriguez's partial updo and make-up artist Jenn Streicher mostly let her natural beauty shine through. Ciao! Fast X action star Michelle Rodriguez took the plunge in a glamorous gold-sequin dress while attending the amfAR Gala Venezia 2023 benefit, which was held at La Misericordia in Venice, Italy on Sunday The Independent Spirit Award winner was at the AIDS charity function to support the cause as well as her best friend - Red Sea Film Foundation CEO Mohammed Al Turki - whose festival served as the presenting sponsor for the third consecutive year. Michelle and the Saudi 37-year-old - whom she affectionately calls 'Mo' - have known each other as far back as 2013, and they might actually be closer than just pals. For her 45th birthday on July 12, Al Turki posted a sunset snap of Rodriguez captioned: 'To the most delicate super woman. When a single look at each other puts us into utter laughter... Thank you for loving me. 'Thank you for being hard on me. Thank you for believing in me and pushing me to always believing in myself. Thank you for watching me grow. Thank you for being you. Happy Birthday Fam.' The Google paid partner and the Ferrari executive producer were thick as thieves, sitting next to each other during the amfAR festivities. Michelle has previously engaged in alleged romances with S.W.A.T. co-star Colin Farrell, BloodRayne co-star Kristanna Loken, IMG Model Cara Delevingne, and That Awkward Moment co-star Zac Efron. Career-wise, Rodriguez is next slated to reprise her role as former criminal and professional street racer Letty Ortiz in Louis Leterrier's Fast X: Part 2 - which is already scheduled to hit US/UK theaters April 4, 2025. But the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves actress isn't sure how much longer she'll be apart of the $7.4B-grossing franchise, telling Variety on May 22: 'You pass the baton on. You take the back seat. You go passenger side. When it comes the next generation, you have to. It's the only way to let them define the future.' Wardrobe malfunction? The Texan-born 45-year-old appeared to have trouble figuring out how to properly drape the nude chiffon overlay on the glittery Alberta Ferretti Resort 2024 gown selected by stylist Sarah Nearis Michelle (born Mayte) told People in April: 'I grew up in the ghetto [in New Jersey]. You grow up quick when you're in poverty and see kids having kids - teen moms are a big thing. I was such a tomboy because I was scared of getting pregnant. But if you dig deep, underneath all of that armor, I'm a very feminine creature' Ample: Hairstylist Laini Reeves coiffed Rodriguez's partial updo and make-up artist Jenn Streicher mostly let her natural beauty shine through Boss man: The Independent Spirit Award winner was at the AIDS charity function to support the cause as well as her best friend - Red Sea Film Foundation CEO Mohammed Al Turki - whose festival served as the presenting sponsor for the third consecutive year Intimate: Michelle and the Saudi 37-year-old - whom she affectionately calls 'Mo' - have known each other as far back as 2013, and they might actually be closer than just pals For her 45th birthday on July 12, Al Turki posted a sunset snap of Rodriguez captioned: 'To the most delicate super woman. When a single look at each other puts us into utter laughter... Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being hard on me. Thank you for believing in me and pushing me to always believing in myself. Thank you for watching me grow. Thank you for being you. Happy Birthday Fam' Date? The Google paid partner and the Ferrari executive producer were thick as thieves, sitting next to each other during the amfAR festivities Presenter: Michelle later helped Mohammed and Emily in Paris actor Lucas Bravo (M) introduce a live performance from three-time Grammy nominee Leona Lewis Gorge: The British 38-year-old dazzled the crowd with a stirring song while wearing a sparkly silver caped gown Michelle later helped Mohammed and Emily in Paris actor Lucas Bravo introduce a live performance from three-time Grammy nominee Leona Lewis. The British 38-year-old dazzled the crowd with a stirring song while wearing a sparkly silver caped gown. Also joining Rodriguez, Al Turki, and Bravo at the gala were Only Murders in the Building actor Jesse Williams and Echo 3 action star Luke Evans. The 42-year-old Chicago native and the 44-year-old Welshman both opted for classic black tuxedos for the fancy function. Jesse and Luke then sat beside each other for the catered dinner, auction, and concert. British belter Rita Ora - who's married to Oscar-winning screenwriter Taika Waititi - also served performing duties at amfAR alongside a 50-piece orchestra. The Kosovo-born 32-year-old bared her pelvis in the sheer cut-out of the bizarre white caped gown selected by stylist Tom Eerebout. Handsome men club? Also joining Rodriguez, Al Turki, and Bravo at the gala were Only Murders in the Building actor Jesse Williams (2-L) and Echo 3 action star Luke Evans (R) GQ smooth: The 42-year-old Chicago native (L) and the 44-year-old Welshman (R) both opted for classic black tuxedos for the fancy function Sharing a laugh! Jesse and Luke then sat beside each other for the catered dinner, auction, and concert In the spotlight: British belter Rita Ora - who's married to Oscar-winning screenwriter Taika Waititi - also served performing duties at amfAR alongside a 50-piece orchestra Flirty frock: The Kosovo-born 32-year-old bared her pelvis in the sheer cut-out of the bizarre white caped gown selected by stylist Tom Eerebout Hands up! The Fifth Element alum Milla Jovovich looked lovely in a single-strapped lavender gown while presenting onstage Tres chic! Former French first lady Carla Bruni also spoke onstage while wearing a single-sleeved olive-green dress designed by Clement Lomellini Woman of the hour! The honoree at Sunday night's amfAR Gala was none other than Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker, Ava DuVernay The Fifth Element alum Milla Jovovich looked lovely in a single-strapped lavender gown while presenting onstage. Former French first lady Carla Bruni also spoke onstage while wearing a single-sleeved olive-green dress designed by Clement Lomellini. The honoree at Sunday night's amfAR Gala was none other than Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker, Ava DuVernay, who was seen earlier in the day wearing a b&w-polka dot midi-dress with a red sheer top, matching clutch, and black Valentino Garavani heels. Jock Zonfrillo's widow Laurern Fried has shared a heartbreaking post to commemorate her first Father's Day since the tragic death of her husband. The MasterChef judge was found dead aged 46 on May 1 and left behind four children: six-year-old Alfie and two-year-old Isla, who he shares with Lauren, and teenage daughters Ava and Sophia, from his first two marriages. Posting to Jock's Instagram page on Sunday, Lauren shared a gallery of previously-unseen photos of the chef spending quality time with his kids. She accompanied this with a bittersweet essay describing her late husband's incredible bond with his brood, but chose only to mention Ava, Alfie and Isla by name. 'When I met Jock he had two daughters, we then made two gorgeous babies together. There were 20 years between his first child and his last, and he was a different person and parent for each of them,' began Lauren, who married Jock in 2017. Jock Zonfrillo's widow Laurern Fried has shared a heartbreaking post to commemorate her first Father's Day since the tragic death of her husband. (Jock is pictured with Lauren and their two children Isla, two, and Alfie, six) 'What was the same was that he loved them beyond any words or actions,' she added. The advertising and media specialist went on to praise Jock for his playful approach to fatherhood. 'Jock never really grew up: he taught the kids ways to do things that would drive me crazy,' she wrote. Posting to Jock's Instagram page on Sunday, Lauren shared a gallery of previously-unseen photos of the chef spending quality time with his kids (pictured) 'From dunking their roast chicken directly INTO the gravy boat as it was the safest way to cover the entire surface area, how to wedge a whole donut into their mouth at one time, to scaring the absolute s**t out of me for a laugh,' Lauren mused. 'Theres roles that I can pick up, but this one - the cheekiness that was his parenting superpower - that is uniquely his,' she added. Tragically, Lauren also revealed that it was Jock's dream to become a nonno [grandfather in Italian], adding: 'I wish he had that chance'. She accompanied this with a bittersweet essay describing her late husband's incredible bond with his brood, but curiously chose only to mention Ava, Alfie and Isla by name Lauren concluded with a message directed to Jock's children. 'Ava, Alfie and Isla - Im so grateful that he left a little piece of himself behind in each of you. You are brave and strong and the sole reason why life will be wonderful again for us all,' she concluded. It is unclear why Lauren chose not to mention Sophia's name. Tragically, Lauren also revealed that it was Jock's dream to become a nonno [grandfather in Italian], adding: 'I wish he had that chance'. (Pictured is Jock with daughter Ava) Jock died on May 1 aged 46. He was laid to rest in a private funeral in Sydney in May, surrounded by 200 family and friends. The media personality was scheduled for several publicity engagements for season 15 of MasterChef when he died suddenly. Daily Mail Australia can reveal that when the police entered the hotel room to conduct a welfare check, officers believed that Zonfrillo had died of natural causes and didn't find anything that suggested otherwise. There was also no drug paraphernalia found in the hotel room, sources said. In the wake of the tragic news, Zonfrillo's fellow Masterchef judges Melissa Leong and Andy Allen pulled out of all media appearances to promote the cooking show's return. Jock died on May 1 aged 46. He was laid to rest in a private funeral in Sydney in May, surrounded by 200 family and friends A Republic of Korea Army Apache attack helicopter hovers over Jeong-dong in downtown Seoul, Monday, during a tactical flight training exercise in preparation for Korea Armed Forces Day celebrations on Oct. 1. Yonhap The Only Way Is Essex returned with a a bang on Sunday after 10 weeks of filming in Cyprus, Somerset and the titular county. And in the first instalment of the latest ITVBe series, fans were treated to all the juicy gossip that unfolded in the away trip. Dan Edgar broke his silence on his recent split from Amber Turner after six years together. Dan head out on a boy's sand buggy day with Roman and Diags, and claimed that Amber had been acting 'shady' before they split up. Curious about the rumours surrounding his breakup, Roman asked Dan the questions viewers have all been dying to know the answers to: How did things with Amber actually end? Tense: In the first instalment of the latest TOWIE series, fans were treated to all the juicy gossip that unfolded in the away trip, including Dan Edgar breaking his silence on his recent split from Amber Turner after six years together Dan responded: 'It's been a mad couple of months. The final straw was Amber, she went to Dubai and the stuff I had heard previous to that and overlooked it. 'She went to Ibiza last summer and there's things I heard, she went missing and turned her phone off, couldn't get a hold of her and she was going on and offline, just acting shady. 'When she went to Dubai I had a big chat with her, she said "listen I'm going to show you that you can trust me, I want to be with you" so went away and it was fine for a few days and then literally the first night she went out with her mates and I didn't hear from her. 'I asked her who she was with and she was being funny about it, saying she was with the girls and that was the final straw for me then because I was like I can't do this anymore. He added: 'I spoke to her the next day and said "I'm not having this. I'm sitting at home with a dog in our house and I'm worrying about what you are doing. I feel like a weight has been lifted off me, feel like I'm in a good place now and I'm just happy to put it behind me.' It comes after Amber told her followers of their split: 'I wasn't going to post anything but due to speculation and questions I feel like I need to. Yes me and Dan have split'. She continued: 'I honestly wish him the best for the future. Please respect our privacy at this time. Thank you'. Following the announcement, Amber was pictured driving away from the 'dream' Essex mansion they had recently purchased together just before Christmas. Later the same day, Dan was pictured arriving at the house. However it was previously understood that he has moved out of their home. Despite being an item since 2017, it's certainly not the first time cracks have shown in Dan and Amber's relationship. Last year, Ella Rae Wise slammed the former electrician for acting 'inappropriately' in a nightclub and claimed Amber shouldn't trust him. Brutal: Last year, Ella Rae Wise slammed the former electrician for acting 'inappropriately' in a nightclub and claimed Amber shouldn't trust him Relationship: Dan head out on a boy's sand buggy day with Roman and Diags, and claimed that Amber had been acting 'shady' before they split up TOWIE star Ella, then 22, told MailOnline Dan 'needs to keep his hands to himself' and she was shocked he behaved in such a way given he's in a long-term relationship. Elsewhere in the episode, Harry Derbidge and Junaid Ahmed raged at each other, for the former screaming: 'Don't f**cking talk to me like s**t!' The outspoken duo are seen at a bar discussing the feud between Ella Raw Wise and Dani Imbert, which they have been caught up in. Harry's mediation tactics quickly backfire, leading to feisty expletive-filled accusations of bias from Junaid. Ella and Dani's friendship breakup has caused shockwaves throughout the TOWIE cast, and a bid to salvage their relationship, Dani goes to see Ella to try and make amends. But it is not that easy, as a visibly emotional Ella throws claims of Junaid's influence swaying Dani's opinions. Ella's ongoing feud with Dani and Junaid is the talk of the drinks table and after seeing how distraught Ella was, Harry tries to help Junaid see the argument from a different perspective. While trying to talk through what's taken place, Harry suggests: 'I think you need to look at the bigger picture. 'She [Ella] has been going through a lot, so as a friend you should have been picking up the phone to her sometimes, because then you wouldn't have got to this point.' 'Stop backing her up. Stop backing her up!' demanded Junaid, to which Harry insisted: 'No, I'm not backing her up. I'm giving you the chance to listen. I'm giving you a chance.' TOWIE FIRST LOOK: In a first look clip which will air on Sunday, Harry Derbidge and Junaid Ahmed rage at each other, for the former screaming: 'Don't f**cking talk to me like s**t!' Yikes! The outspoken duo discuss the feud between Ella Raw Wise and Dani Imbert. Harry's mediation tactics backfire, leading to feisty expletive-filled accusations of bias from Junaid Junaid contended: 'Yeh but everything I'm saying you're trying to back up: what about this, what about this, what about this?' Harry interjected: 'Do you know, none of your stuff makes sense!' to which Junaid fumed: 'Are you f**king deluded?' A furious Harry responded: 'No I'm not f**cking deluded. Don't f**cking talk to me like s**t. I'm giving you the chance. I'm giving you the chance to f**king talk. There are no facts to what you're saying.' TOWIE airs Sunday 10th September at 9pm on ITVBe & ITVX. Christian Wilkins has faced some major hurdles when it comes to his Hollywood career. The son of Richard Wilkins had his dreams of becoming an actor postponed indefinitely when his arrival in Tinseltown coincided with the SAG-AFTRA strike. But Christian, 28, isn't coming back home to Australia just yet because he's been busy volunteering for charities helping actors on strike. Over the weekend, the Dancing with the Stars alum shared a story to his Instagram which showed him speaking to reporters in front of a food bank organised by Food For Health AHF. 'Volunteering with Food For Health AHF to help those affected by the #SAG strike. Such an awesome organisation,' he wrote in a caption to his story. Nepo baby Christian Wilkins volunteered to help feed struggling SAG members affected by the strike over the weekend Christian moved to Los Angeles in April to pursue acting, and has struggled to find work because the SAG strike has brought Hollywood to a standstill. Despite this, Christian has been involving himself with the industrial action. Earlier this year, he also attended a protest with Australian actor Luke Cook outside Netflix headquarters. Over the weekend, the Dancing with the Stars alum shared a story to his Instagram which showed him speaking to reporters in front of a food bank organised by Food For Health AHF Speaking to The Daily Telegraph during the demonstration, Christian said: 'It definitely wouldn't have been my choice example of a time to move here but it is also kind of amazing to be here and see how the community has banded together.' Because Christian has been unable to work as an actor in the United States, it is unlikely that he is a member of SAG, but this has not affected his passion. 'It really has fortified my interest in it and my love and passion for acting,' he said. Christian moved to Los Angeles in April to pursue acting, and has struggled to find work because the SAG strike has brought Hollywood to a standstill Christian also hopes the strikes will inspire Australian actors and writers to 'stand up' for themselves back home. Christian's connection to his famous father previously helped him pave a modelling and reality TV career in Australia. Dynasty star Luke Cook, who recently made headlines for revealing his incredibly low pay, meanwhile told the publication the strike may drag on until March next year. That means Wilkins might be waiting a while yet before kickstarting his Hollywood career. Hayden Panettiere appeared on Instagram over the weekend to share a new glamour shot featuring her new pink hair color. The 34-year-old longtime actress - who debuted her fresh look last week - looked beautiful in a closeup photo that showed her admiring herself in small, heart-shaped mirror. The Nashville star wore a white robe as she sat in a black makeup chair with cosmetics that complemented the bubblegum hue of her hair. Hayden's eyelids were dusted in a shimmering, rosy shade that coordinated with her blush and lipstick. The mother-of-one wrote in the caption to her 749,000 followers, 'Pink hair dont care!' Pretty! Hayden Panettiere appeared on Instagram over the weekend to share a new glamour shot featuring her new pink hair color Days ago: The beauty first showed off the new color of her tresses when she was spotted at LAX Airport with on-off beau Brian Hickerson last week The beauty first showed off the new color of her tresses when she was spotted at LAX Airport with on-off beau Brian Hickerson last week. The small hand-held mirror had her makeup artist's, Janice Daoud, name printed in white Olde English font. Hayden used the hashtags, '#photoshoot #pinkhair #glamteam,' and tagged her professional squad. Over the course of their turbulent relationship, Brian faced multiple domestic violence charges, and in 2021 he served time for injuring the actress. Despite their volatile connection, they have been spotted together again and again since November 2022, appearing to have reconciled. In an interview with the New York Times, published in April, Hayden hinted that they were back on, but did not say it outright. She revealed they had become friends again while pursuing their sobriety, but insisted their relationship was 'contingent on him continuing on this road of recovery.' It was noted that Brian was in her apartment during the interview, and despite repeatedly calling him 'babe,' she did not plainly state whether they were officially back together. Back together: The couple pictured in December 2018 History: Over the course of their volatile relationship Brian faced multiple domestic violence charges, and in 2021 he served time for injuring Hayden; pictured 2019 Earlier this year: Panettiere revealed she had a breast reduction in a sit-down with Women's Health Earlier this year Panettiere revealed she had a breast reduction in a sit-down with Women's Health. Discussing the choice to go under the knife eight years after giving birth to daughter Kaya in 2014, she said, 'My body still didnt feel like it belonged to me.' The Scream star added, 'I dont think theres anything wrong with somebody who wants to tweak something if it makes them feel more confident.' The blonde bombshell continued, 'Thats all I have to say about it. My confidence is back.' Rapper ChriseanRock livestreamed the birth of her first child - son Chrisean Malone Jr. - via Instagram on Sunday morning. The Baltimore-born 23-year-old - who boasts 3M social media followers - put her mother Charla Malone in charge of filming her during the natural labor inside a hospital. ChriseanRock (born Chrisean Eugenia Malone) gave birth while rocking her signature long false lashes, long blue acrylic nails, three diamond chokers, and a diamond watch. In between contractions, the Crazy in Love producer-star voiced her concerns to the nurses about her baby potentially suffocating, her baby's potential head shape, the medical instruments, and potentially defecating. When ChriseanRock said she couldn't 'feel s***' while pushing a nurse responded: 'The epidural works wonders!' Moments before the miracle: Rapper ChriseanRock livestreamed the birth of her first child - son Chrisean Malone Jr. - via Instagram on Sunday morning At one point, a nurse urged the nervous mother-to-be to not move upright otherwise labor would take longer and she replied: 'I think if I stand up he'll just come out.' ChriseanRock warned her supportive mother - who gave her ice cubes and lip ointment - to stop filming as soon as the baby arrived as she did not want him to be on camera. 'Is my c****ie stretching?' the Fashion Nova brand ambassador cried as the nurses all responded 'No.' Her mother replied: 'It was made to stretch, even if it's cut. It's going to heal.' Minutes before the baby came, ChriseanRock hilariously exclaimed: 'Get this n**** out, f***! Alright, alright, reboot. Reboot. I've got to wait one more contraction?!' After the birth, the Baddies star wrote that 'the doctors and nurses [were] awesome guys' and shared an Instastory of godmother Lisa Jones holding her newborn. Meanwhile, ChriseanRock's absentee babydaddy - rapper Blueface - was canoodling with his high school sweetheart Jaidyn Alexis in Miami on Sunday. The 26-year-old LA native and his prior 24-year-old babymama are parents to two toddlers - son Javaughn and daughter Journey. 'Believe!' The Baltimore-born 23-year-old - who boasts 3M social media followers - put her mother Charla Malone in charge of filming her during the natural labor inside a hospital Ice: ChriseanRock (born Chrisean Eugenia Malone) gave birth while rocking her signature long false lashes, long blue acrylic nails, three diamond chokers, and a diamond watch 'The epidural works wonders!' In between contractions, the Crazy in Love producer-star voiced her concerns to the nurses about her baby potentially suffocating, her baby's potential head shape, the medical instruments, and potentially defecating Push! ChriseanRock warned her supportive mother - who gave her ice cubes and lip ointment - to stop filming as soon as the baby arrived as she did not want him to be on camera Minutes before the baby came, the nervous mother-to-be hilariously exclaimed: 'Get this n**** out, f***! Alright, alright, reboot. Reboot. I've got to wait one more contraction?!' Bundle of joy! After the birth, ChriseanRock wrote that 'the doctors and nurses [were] awesome guys' and shared an Instastory of godmother Lisa Jones (pictured) holding her newborn ChriseanRock and Blueface (born Johnathan Jamall Porter) have had a tumultuous on/off relationship since they began dating during the height of the pandemic on his OnlyFans reality show, Blue Girls Club. At first, the Thotiana rapper denied he was the father, accusing ChriseanRock of having 'encounters with 10 different men in the last year' via Twitter as well as stealing his G-Wagon. Blueface was later confirmed to be Baby Chrisean's father while taking a DNA test on their Zeus reality show, Crazy in Love, and he even attended the gender reveal party last month. The Lit couple - who pretended to marry in his Dear Rock music video - hosted a family gathering at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore on September 16, which ended with her father Eugene Malone and Blueface in a physical altercation. 'So my boyfriend knocked my dad out da family stuff didn't go well [I don't] even know what's going on,' ChriseanRock wrote via Instastory at the time. Partying: Meanwhile, the Fashion Nova brand ambassador's absentee babydaddy - rapper Blueface - was canoodling with his high school sweetheart Jaidyn Alexis in Miami on Sunday Please keep me an rock out the same conversation respect my BM #1 thats what it is an thats what its gone be I will never go back to that I know whats best for me respectfully blueface (@bluefacebleedem) September 4, 2023 August 6 family portrait: The 26-year-old LA native and his prior 24-year-old babymama are parents to two toddlers - son Javaughn and daughter Journey Toxic? ChriseanRock and Blueface (born Johnathan Jamall Porter) have had a tumultuous on/off relationship since they began dating during the height of the pandemic on his OnlyFans reality show, Blue Girls Club (pictured September 4) 'It's not mine': At first, the Thotiana rapper denied he was the father, accusing ChriseanRock of having 'encounters with 10 different men in the last year' via Twitter as well as stealing his G-Wagon 'We are excited!' Blueface was later confirmed to be Baby Chrisean's father while taking a DNA test on their Zeus reality show, Crazy in Love, and he even attended the gender reveal party last month The Block fan favourite Steph Ottavio has denied she's out to get Shaynna Blaze's job as a judge on the hit Channel Nine reality show. But the likeable 27-year-old has not ruled out a TV career after The Block wraps up. Steph, who is is appearing on the renovation series with her husband Gian, 27, had been pegged by fans as a possible replacement for Shaynna after sharing her outspoken and helpful styling views with fellow contestants. Steph told Woman's Day she would be happy to be tapped as a judge on The Block, but won't be taking anyone's job. 'For sure, it would be an amazing opportunity,' she said of a possible gig on The Block. The Block fan favourite Steph Ottavio has denied she's out to get Shaynna Blaze's job as a judge on the hit Channel Nine reality show (pictured with husband Gian) 'I think like anyone in the profession, I can talk about the rooms in a constructive way. 'I really love walking into all the other contestants' houses and saying, ''Oh yeah, I can see this and that''. '(But) I would never strip Shaynna of her title.' Steph, who is a founder of SJO architects in Sydney, described all of the current judges including Shaynaa and Neale Whitaker, Darren Palmer, and Marty Fox as 'amazing professionals'. It comes after controversy has dogged the new season of The Block. Steph, who is is appearing on The Block with her husband Gian, 27, had been pegged by fans as a possible replacement for Shaynna pictured) after sharing her outspoken and helpful styling views with fellow contestants Steph told Woman's Da y she would be happy to be tapped as a judge on The Block, but won't be taking anyone's job Last month, Channel Nine was forced to disable comments on a post to the show's official Instagram account that inspired the ire of viewers. It comes after scores of fans began complaining about the constant in-fighting and bullying among the Blockheads. A single mother penned a lengthy protest slamming Channel Nine's hit renovation show as 'toxic' and 'disturbing'. Long-time viewer Evie Farrell says she won't let her young daughter watch the program and has turned off the ratings juggernaut because it features 'more bullying than building'. Farrell called out the show's 'negativity, drama and scandal', zeroing in on the feud brewing between couple Steph and Gian and the other contestants. Steph said she was 'creative' and keen to explore TV opportunities Steph, who is a founder of SJO architects in Sydney, described all of the current judges as 'amazing professionals' Farrell says Blockheads Leah and Ash and Kristy and Brett are 'targeting' Steph especially, who appears, she says, to be emotionally vulnerable. 'It's beyond me why The Block is promoting a toxic and disturbing bullying narrative as the main storyline for this season,' Farrell wrote in an article for Mamamia. She said it would be better to show 'positive role models the whole family can watch and support together.' Farrell said what fans really want to see are 'likeable couples', who create beautiful rooms and homes. Christian Wilkins may be struggling to find work as an actor after moving to Los Angeles five months ago. But it seems the son of Australian showbiz guru Richard Wilkins is doing his best to fit in with the Hollywood crowd, after debuting an American accent in a local news broadcast on Saturday. The aspiring thespian, 28, spoke to Los Angeles' ABC7 News on Saturday morning while volunteering at a food bank to help struggling members of SAG-AFTRA amid the Hollywood strike. 'I am Australian. I moved here a week before this strike happened,' the model told reporters with an American twang. 'Not the best timing, but it has been amazing to see how the community has really rallied around each other,' he added. Christian Wilkins 28, (pictured) debuted an American accent on Saturday while volunteering at a food bank charity for struggling SAG-AFTRA members on Saturday - five months after moving to Tinseltown with dreams of becoming an actor While it's unclear whether Christian is a member of SAG-AFTRA given his lack of prior acting credits, he was very happy to speak to reporters at the scene. 'I think that volunteering is really good for the soul,' he smiled. The Dancing with the Stars alum also shared a post to his Instagram which showed him speaking to reporters. 'I am Australian. I moved here a week before this strike happened,' the model told reporters with an uncannily American twang While it's unclear whether Christian is a member of SAG-AFTRA given his lack of prior acting credits, he was very happy to speak to reporters at the scene 'Volunteering with Food For Health AHF to help those affected by the #SAG strike. Such an awesome organisation,' he wrote in the caption. Christian has enjoyed several European holidays since moving to America in April. In late July, he travelled to Greece before jetting to Sweden and Paris in August, meaning that the time he's actually spent living in America only tallies up to around four months. The Dancing with the Stars alum also shared a post to his Instagram which showed him speaking to reporters Christian moved to Los Angeles in early April to pursue acting, but has struggled to find work because the SAG-AFTRA strike has brought Hollywood to a standstill Christian moved to Los Angeles in early April to pursue acting, but has struggled to find work because the SAG-AFTRA strike has brought Hollywood to a standstill. Despite this, he has been involving himself with the industrial action. Earlier this year, he also attended a protest with Australian actor Luke Cook outside Netflix headquarters. Christian has enjoyed several European holidays since moving to America in April. He is pictured at the Acropolis, Athens, in late July In late July he travelled to Greece before jetting to Sweden and Paris in August, meaning that the time he's actually spent living in America only tallies up to around four months. He is pictured at the luxurious resort Canaves Oia while holidaying in Santorini in August Speaking to The Daily Telegraph during the demonstration, Christian said: 'It definitely wouldn't have been my choice example of a time to move here but it is also kind of amazing to be here and see how the community has banded together.' Because Christian has been unable to work as an actor in the United States, it is unlikely that he is a member of SAG, but this has not affected his passion. 'It really has fortified my interest in it and my love and passion for acting,' he said. Christian moved to Los Angeles in April to pursue acting, and has struggled to find work because the SAG strike has brought Hollywood to a standstill Earlier this year, he also attended a protest with Australian actor Luke Cook outside Netflix headquarters Christian also hopes the strikes will inspire Australian actors and writers to 'stand up' for themselves back home. Christian's connection to his famous father previously helped him pave a modelling and reality TV career in Australia. Dynasty star Luke Cook, who recently made headlines for revealing his incredibly low pay, meanwhile told the publication the strike may drag on until March next year. That means Wilkins might be waiting a while yet before kickstarting his Hollywood career. Robert Irwin went 'Instagram official' with his girlfriend Rorie Buckey last month. But the public announcement reportedly came after Rorie completed an Irwin-approved 'wildlife warrior boot camp'. Woman's Day claims Rorie had to win over the family by having a willingness to get out into nature. The couple, both 19, recently went on crocodile research trip together, where they uncovered 'critical data' for the Wildlife Warriors' Worldwide foundation. Robert's mother Terri, 59, and sister Bindi, 25, have since been impressed by Rorie's dedication to Australian wildlife. Robert Irwin went 'Instagram official' with his girlfriend Rorie Buckey last month, but the public announcement reportedly came after Rorie completed an Irwin-approved 'wildlife warrior boot camp' An insider claimed Rorie was 'determined to not let Robert down and show him - and his mum and sister - that she's not just some puff piece. And she blew them away.' The couple, who have been dating since November 2022, live on opposite sides of the country, with Robert in Queensland and Rorie in Western Australia, but are reportedly making it work. But there is also mounting speculation Rorie winning the Irwin's good graces means she will be moving to Australia Zoo sooner rather than later. Robert's mother Terri, 59, and sister Bindi, 25, have since been impressed by Rorie's dedication to Australian wildlife Rorie recently shared some loved-up photos to social media capturing the two of them on a romantic lunch date on the Sunshine Coast. One precious photo saw the lovebirds tenderly embracing as they posed up a storm in front a scenic lakefront. Robert looked to be in good spirits as he rocked his best angles alongside his girlfriend in the precious snap. An insider claimed that Rorie was 'determined to not let Robert down and show him - and his mum and sister - that she's not just some puff piece. And she blew them away' Another photo captured a platter of food they enjoyed together, which consisted of various cheeses and crackers, and chocolates. 'Adventure buddy,' they wrote next to the photos. It didn't take long for Robert's friends and family to gush over the heartwarming snaps. Rorie recently shared some loved-up photos to social media capturing the two of them on a romantic lunch date on the Sunshine Coast 'You guys,' wrote Robert's sister Bindi along with a love heart emoji. 'All the happiness in the world to you two,' added Rove McManus. Irwin and Buckey both come from famous Australian families, as Robert is the son of late conservationist Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin while Rorie is the niece of the late Oscar winning actor Heath Ledger. Actress Ashley Madekwe and husband Iddo Goldberg have announced the birth of their first child. The 39-year-old English born star - who debuted her baby bump in April - took to social media to share the news with her 585,000 Instagram followers on Monday. Sharing a carousel of photos from her pregnancy, Madekwe added a heartfelt caption. 'I loved holding him inside my body and I already miss it But now he is here and to actually hold him in my arms is pure bliss. Theres nothing like it,' she gushed. Then, taking to Instagram Stories, she thanked her husband for making her 'feel so beautiful' during while she was pregnant. New parents: Actress Ashley Madekwe and husband Iddo Goldberg have announced the birth of their first child Announcement: The 39-year-old English born star - who debuted her baby bump in April - took to social media to share the news with her 585,000 Instagram followers on Monday At the end of Ashley's slideshow of images was a snapshot of her baby boy's tiny feet as he lay on a rumpled gray sheet. In the Story, the new mother looked back on her pregnancy with awe. She wrote along with a black and white photo from her post, 'I loved being pregnant. 'It surprised me how much I loved it. Thank you to my husband @iddophoto for taking 1000's of pictures of me so that I never forget the best experience of my life.' She finished the thought by adding, 'You made me feel so beautiful,' with a red heart emoji. Iddo, who she wed in June 2012, reshared the post in his Instagram Stories. The BAFTA nominee debuted her baby bump with a mirror selfie shared on Instagram back in the spring. Wearing a black turtleneck, she cradled her burgeoning midsection and wrote, 'Weekends look a little different now.' Message: Taking to Instagram Stories, she thanked her husband for making her 'feel so beautiful' during while she was pregnant Nesting: In one of her maternity photos the then-expectant mom wore pale pink silk pajamas Precious: Another maternity shoot featured the entertainer posing in a field of wildflowers as she cradled her bump Preparation: An intimate image showed Madekwe folding baby clothes in anticipation for her little one Flashback: She celebrated reaching her third trimester with a cute snapshot The longtime couple met when they were working on the British drama Secret Diary Of A Call Girl. Last summer Ashley paid tribute to her husband online as she uploaded a selection of images from their trip to the Amalfi Coast. 'We haven't been to Italy together since our honeymoon 10 years ago,' she wrote in the caption. 'Can't believe we waited so long. We fell in love all over again,' she added. Iddo playfully wrote, 'You're diving next time,' in the caption. Susanna Reid has showed off her dramatic hair transformation as she made her ITV Good Morning Britain return. The star, 52, had been on her summer break from the show but returned to screens on Monday with a brand-new look. She first shared the results of her new look on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Sunday. Susanna looks incredible after swapping her glossy dark hair for a short bob with blonde highlights. She captioned the post: 'NEW TERM - NEW TRIM! Back @gmb tomorrow with @edballs. Looking forward to seeing you from 6 am'. Looking good: Susanna Reid has showed off her dramatic hair transformation as she made her ITV Good Morning Britain return on Monday (pictured right in June) Stunning: Susanna looks incredible after swapping her glossy dark hair for a short bob with blonde highlights Susanna's followers were quick to pay compliments to the star, including First Dates star Fred Sirieix who commented: 'Suits you. Radiant! #ohlala.' Fans added: 'Yasssssss queen! Fabulous'; 'Fabulous as always!'; 'You look lovely Susanna!'; 'Ooo nice! Like it'; 'Absolutely luv that new hairstyle on you. Really looks great xx Im a hairdresser and Im guessing we will be having a few clients asking for a susanna'; 'Be nice to see you back sweetie missed you'; 'Love it'; 'Swiss swoo! Fabulous Susanna'; 'Thats how I want my hair to look! Going to take that image to the hairdressers and ask for a Susanna!' After debating the key to looking young with Cher earlier in the show, Susanna penned: 'The mid-life hair debate! At 52 Ive had the CHOP. But Cher told me @gmb this morning, women should keep it LONG as they grow older. What do YOU think?' Susanna has off from Good Morning Britain for a couple of weeks for the summer holidays. Last month, she paid tribute to her dear friend Suki Thompson, who died just 11 days after appearing on GMB. Suki had been interviewed by Susanna on GMB from her hospital bed about having been diagnosed with cancer four times over the past 15 years and how important it is to wear SPF on your skin in the sun. Just days later, on July 30, the campaigner - who raised more than 200,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support following her diagnosis - sadly died and Susanna has now paid tribute to her 'beautiful' friend in an emotional post shared to Instagram. She posted a photograph of the order of service for Suki's funeral and wrote about how her friend was the 'embodiment of strength' in an accompanying caption. She posted: 'Our beautiful friend Suki Thompson. The embodiment of strength & optimism. A passion for living life to the fullest. Go well lovely.' New look, who is this? Susanna first showed off her dramatic hair transformation on Twitter on Sunday night Loving it: Susanna's followers were quick to pay compliments to the star, including First Dates star Fred Sirieix who commented: 'Suits you. Radiant! #ohlala' Snap happy! Susanna shared a striking selfie with her Instagram followers as she showed off her dramatic new look Fan reaction: After debating the key to looking young with Cher earlier in the show, Susanna asked her followers for their thoughts Just days before her death, entrepreneur Suki, who ran multiple businesses, had appeared on GMB from her hospital bed where she was interviewed by her close friend Susanna. Suki had been diagnosed with cancer four times over the past 15 years, and told how she might only have days left to live on the show, before her death on July 30. Speaking from her bed in a hospice in Cornwall, Suki opened up to Susanna and co-host Martin Lewis about how she would be spending her final days. Susanna was left visibly emotional as she and her friend told each other how much they meant to each other, with the broadcaster hailing her pal as 'an inspiration'. Susanna told Suki: 'It's been a privilege knowing you and being friends with you.' She went on to call her an 'incredible person', before adding: 'What you are doing is so so remarkable. Huge love to you and the family. And just keep going, keep going. Human sunshine.' Extending the kind words back to her pal, Suki said back to Susanna: 'I am so inspired by having a friend like you Susanna.' Touched by Suki's moving words, Susanna choked back tears as she quickly added: 'You're the inspiration.' Suki's diagnosis came when she discovered what she thought was a wart on her foot and was given verruca cream to treat it, before it was confirmed it was more serious. The cancer then spread to her brain and became terminal. In June, Suki had shared an emotional video of herself and Susanna holding hands on a beach as she detailed how much the star meant to her. She wrote in her caption: 'Friends are so important to our wellbeing, and @susannareid100 is one of the best. 'Susanna inspires me to always ask the important questions in life, even when that is not the easiest way forward. 'We must always look to see the best in people, even when you may disagree.' Emotional: Last month, Susanna paid tribute to her 'beautiful friend' Suki Thompson who sadly died just days after appearing on Good Morning Britain Service: She posted a photograph of the order of service for Suki's funeral and wrote about how her friend was the 'embodiment of strength' in an accompanying caption Close: In June, Suki shared an emotional video of herself and Susanna holding hands on a beach as she detailed how much the star meant to her Success: Suki co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer for the Oystercatchers intermediary marketing consultancy in 2007 (pictured in 2018) Suki co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer for the Oystercatchers intermediary marketing consultancy in 2007 and also served as chair of the Marketing Society. She was also a valued member of Wacl (Women in Advertising, Communications and Leadership) and the MGGB (Marketing Group of Great Britain). Since her own cancer diagnosis she raised in excess of 200,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Richard Robinson, managing director of Xeim Engage and Oystercatchers, told The Drum: 'Suki was my long-time business partner and friend. I always knew from my first day as an Oystercatcher this day would one day come, but never believed it would. 'Suki was one of a kind, the best of us, someone who leaves a legacy across the marketing and communication industry in the relationships she shaped and the humanity she shared. She was a beautiful soul and I will miss her greatly. MailOnline has contacted a representative for further comment. Visit Suki's JustGiving page at https://justgiving.com/page/teamsuki to support her fundraising campaign. Married At First Sight 2024 will feature a same-sex couple after a groom 'derailed' the show's plans and fled the country, leaving his partner without a match. Daily Mail Australia can reveal producers have now found Mike Felix an alternate partner, after weeks of 'hell'. Despite reports the gay storyline will be scrapped, Michael, also known as 'Mike' will be entering the show as an intruder alongside two other couples. According to sources on set, the pair will be enter the show's dinner party as a last minute surprise. The pair are understood to have secretly married in front of family and friends without any of the cast attending their wedding. Married At First Sight 2024 will feature a same-sex couple after a groom 'derailed' the show's plans and fled the country, leaving his partner without a match Daily Mail Australia can reveal producers have now found Mike Felix (pictured) an alternate partner, after weeks of 'hell' Despite the bumpy start, insiders reveal that the mood on the set is upbeat and hopeful that this last-minute backflip could turn out to be a blessing in disguise, making this season one for the history books. One spy tells Daily Mail Australia that show runners were worried about the potential backlash if they didn't include a same-sex pair after initial reports revealed that a gay pair would appear on the show. Michael was first spotted on set back in July, when he was pictured crashing the show's hens' party. Despite reports the gay storyline will be scrapped, Mike will be entering the show as an intruder alongside two other couples The pair are understood to have secretly married in front of family and friends without any of the cast attending their wedding One spy tells Daily Mail Australia that show runners were worried about the potential backlash if they didn't include a same-sex pair after initial reports revealed that a gay pair would appear on the show His partner is yet to be identified. Do you recognise his partner? Email ali.daher@mailonline.com It comes after his original partner, Simon Flocco, an Adelaide-based restaurant manager, almost 'ruined' the show's plans to highlight a same-sex couple during their year of 'diversity' at the eleventh hour before his nuptials. 'He kept having doubts, expressing his discomfort,' a well-placed source revealed. 'Producers, hungry for a groundbreaking narrative, persuaded him to stick around. That's why he was at the bucks. 'He kept telling them that he didn't feel comfortable about certain things but was eventually talked into staying.' Michael was first spotted on set back in July, when he was pictured crashing the show's hens' party Daily Mail Australia understands that the behind-the-scenes madness was unparalleled to any other season. One production insider exclaimed, 'It's complete and utter chaos! Simon leaving was a blindside. Everyone's been running around like headless chickens trying to salvage the situation.' Breaking his silence, Simon told Daily Mail Australia: 'MAFS wasn't what I thought I wanted at this point in my life, that's all.' Expressing his remorse, he added, 'I just felt bad for whoever they set me up with. I did initially leave, but they managed to coax me back... I gotta look out for myself.' It comes after his original partner, Simon Flocco, an Adelaide-based restaurant manager, almost 'ruined' the show's plans to highlight a same-sex couple during their year of 'diversity' at the eleventh hour before his nuptials Breaking his silence, Simon told Daily Mail Australia: 'MAFS wasn't what I thought I wanted at this point in my life, that's all' Runway groom flees to Europe: After quitting the Channel Nine show, Simon immediately booked a trip to Europe, where he has been since late July. Instagram photos show Simon lapping up the European sun and sights in the arms of a mysterious friend in Florence and celebrating his birthday. Meanwhile, producers were left to get the 'derailed' series back on track, deciding to edit out all scenes and storylines involving the couple. After quitting the Channel Nine show, Simon immediately booked a trip to Europe, where he has been since late July Instagram photos show Simon lapping up the European sun and sights in the arms of a mysterious friend in Florence and celebrating his birthday The show's past record with LGBTQ+ representation have been shaky to say the least. 'It's important to get this right. We're not just adding diversity for the sake of it, but to genuinely represent the many colours of love,' said a source close to the set. Expert Mel Schilling has previously confessed to the experiment's shortcomings in representing LGBTQ+ relationships. 'For us, it was really important to find people who genuinely wanted to find love. We didn't want to simply match people based on sexual orientation,' she told Metro last year. Schilling admitted the Australian series 'got that horribly wrong' in the early seasons, suggesting that 'great lessons' could be gleaned from the experience. Back in 2019, a spokesman for Nine told Daily Mail Australia they hadn't included a same-sex couple due to the limited number of applications from gay singles. Expert Mel Schilling (pictured) has previously confessed to the experiment's shortcomings in representing LGBTQ+ relationships 'For us, it was really important to find people who genuinely wanted to find love. We didn't want to simply match people based on sexual orientation,' she told Metro last year 'Unfortunately, we didn't feel there was a good enough match, and we didn't want to include a gay couple just for the sake of appearances,' they said. While the show received a staggering 10,000 applications from heterosexual singles, only about 20 came from gay singles. The following year, the experiment featured its first lesbian couple, with Amanda Micallef, 34, and Tash Herz, 31, tying the knot. In 2016, MAFS Australia welcomed its first gay couple, Craig Roach and Andy John, which didn't go as planned. Married At First Sight will return to Channel Nine in January 2024. In 2016, MAFS Australia welcomed its first gay couple, Craig Roach and Andy John, which didn't go as planned By William R. Jones Quite some time back I wrote a stingingly incisive piece on "so-called experts." It was not published in this paper. Perhaps, because it leaned toward a scathing attack upon anyone calling themselves an expert. I now amend that writing a bit after happening upon an academic paper by Kim Smith, University of South Wales. Her paper was titled "An Expert Common Key Characteristics." The article "proposes core characteristics of a subject matter expert," and she considers the different definitions of an expert as she essays to answer the question: What is an expert? It appears that an expert can be anyone with knowledge or experience of a particular field or discipline beyond that to be expected of a layman. Kim surveyed the global corpora of literature sources to provide descriptive words for an expert. She boiled it down to three distinguishing traits: competent, qualified and principled with integrity and trustworthiness. Usually, an expert has a terminal degree or else extensive "work-based experience." Whatever the issue or matter that is being commented upon, it would do us well to consult, confer, concur and arrive at consensus and conclude through multiple references in order to be knowledgeable and well aware. The experts need to know that we mass of laypeople may not be peers, but it is possible for us to self-educate with determination and know enough to decide who to believe or whose advice to follow. Now is a time when we all need to be accurately, exactly and precisely informed, apprised and notified. When I want to hear from an expert, I seek information and advice from the most successful in their field. I'm fearful of occupational incompetence. Let not John Ruskin say to us: "He thinks by infection, catching an opinion like a cold." We can ardently do our own research and investigation, even if it means a cost of time and money to us. We, indeed, are stakeholders in society. Whatever the issue, we could educate ourselves by reading much of what is available dedicated to the topic. We could compare and contrast with a rational continuous absorbing interest. Then finally, we can take our own stance and make better-informed decisions to support the fabric of society. I like what the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said: "We do not need to be shoemakers to know if our shoes fit, and just as little have we any need to be professionals to acquire knowledge of matters of universal interest." The Russian writer Ivan Turgenev stated: "I agree with no man's opinion." However, we must beware of irrational passions and consider "climates of opinion" or face the consequences and repercussions. We need subject matter experts because we cannot know everything. I am most certainly not a know-it-all. I do not make absurd and extravagant claims; I am only an expert on me, myself and I! The author (wrjones@vsu.edu) published the novella "Beyond Harvard" and presently teaches English as a second language. Carol McGiffin delighted her Instagram followers on Sunday as she posed up a storm in a striking orange swimsuit. The former Loose Women star, 63, looked sensational in the snap as she clutched a glass of champagne while soaking up the sunshine in the South of France. She added to the glamour with a pair of gold wedges and accessorised with a dainty necklace and mirrored shades. While Carol looked sensational in the garment she confessed she had been unsure about opting for a one-piece rather than a bikini. She explained: 'Im not a big swimsuit fan, I have a few but I much prefer a bikini. I think one-pieces can be ageing and for me theyre never long enough in the body so they tend to disappear up your jacksy and are annoying when you need to go to the lavvy.' Looking good: Carol McGiffin delighted her Instagram followers on Sunday as she posed up a storm in a striking orange swimsuit Loving it: Carol was immediately complimented by her followers as they praised the star Carol continued: 'But today is Sunday and it was time for a little pose-up so I slipped on this little cracker for the first time. Its from the Iris Apfel x for H&M 100 range and I only bought it because its my favourite colour, orange! 'Its a great fit and is solid two-ply Lycra so its a bit controlling but not too much. Imagine my surprise then to go on Instagram to see a post pop up from Iris herself (I dont even follow her!) celebrating her 102nd birthday which was last week. Weird? Anyway, cheers @irisapfel!' She was immediately complimented by her followers, with Lizzie Cundy quipping: 'Thats better than a Cunders pose', while others penned: 'Looking fabulous miss you so much on LW. Please come back on another program '; 'Looks great, does it have pockets for a prosthesis? You wear fab swimwear where are they all from ?'; 'You look amazing'; 'Jesus you never age ever look incredible.' Earlier in the month, Carol showed off her toned figure in a white bikini as she holidayed with Denise Welch. The Loose Women stars soaked up some sun in their swimwear and joked that they were shooting content for 'OnlyNans' in the fun Instagram update. Denise, 65, also looked incredible as she opted for a plunging cherry red one-piece with a slick of matching lipstick while smiling for the photo. The presenters were having the time of their lives as they kicked back on a love seat in the shade. Sharing the photo to her Instagram, Carol wrote: 'What a great day yesterday having Denise and Lincoln for lunch followed by a little shimmy around Saint Paul de Vence and finishing with ice cream in Vence. 'Perfect. See Densys post below for other activities #OnlyNans.' 'A momentary lapse in concentration whilst shooting our Only Nans content chez!!!! Get ready to subscribe,' Denise joked. Iconic: Carol was wearing a swimsuit from the Iris Apfel x for H&M 100 range. Legendary fashion icon Iris celebrated her 102nd birthday this month Beach ready: Earlier this month, Carol and her former Loose Women co-star Denise Welch, 65, looked incredible as they relaxed during a holiday to the French Riviera Carol shared another stunning bikini snap in March as she celebrated her 63rd birthday on a beach in Phuket. The youthful television host cosied up to her husband Mark Cassidy, 40, who is 23 years her junior, on the beach as they toasted her special day with rose wine. Carol teamed a white sporty bikini top with matching shorts for her day in the sunshine, unbuttoning them to show off her toned tummy. While Carol will proudly don a bikini now, she previously confessed that she doesn't find wearing a bikini easy after having a mastectomy. Carol was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and had a mastectomy, an intensive course of six rounds of chemotherapy and 15 sessions of radiotherapy. Speaking on Loose Women last year, she explained: 'I don't like looking at myself like that. I used to be proud of my body and walk around naked all the time. 'I've worked out what bikinis I can wear. Getting in a swimming pool is not that easy because sometimes the prosthetic might come out or something. 'You know, you're always kind of aware of that and making sure you have the right sort of swimwear on that covers up the bits of - not scars but where the tissue's been taken away - because it looks completely different. 'I'm not complaining, I'm alive, for crying out loud.' Breast reconstruction sees a plastic surgeon create a breast shape using an artificial implant or a flap of tissue from another part of your body and can be done many months or years after a mastectomy. Nadia Fairfax-Wayne will soon welcome her first child. And the Sydney socialite, 34, ensured all eyes were on her in a semi-sheer frock for the Paspaley White Luncheon on Hamilton Island. Nadia, who is married to financier Michael Wayne, flaunted her blossoming bump in a pearl-embroidered sheer gown. The expectant star was all smiles as she affectionately touched her bump while posing next to the luxe set-up on the island. The star opted for a minimal makeup look and wore her blonded tresses down allowing them to rest on her shoulders. Pregnant Nadia Fairfax, 34, flaunted her blossoming baby bump in a sheer, pearl-encrusted dress at the Paspaley Luncheon during Hamilton Island Race Week last month. Pictured The socialite will welcome her first child with financier husband Michael Wayne. Pictured She complemented her upmarket, tropical look with a pair of designer sunglasses, and gold rings and a matching bracelet. During the extravagant celebrations, she nestled in close to her husband Michael, who looked to be enjoying himself. Michael opted for a white shirt which he paired with a structured blue blazer and white linen pants for the occasion. He finished his look with a pair of square sunglasses to protect his eyes from the sun. Elsewhere, socialite Deborah Symond O'Neil looked every inch the fashion princess wearing a glamorous strapless white wool dress. Pictured She paired the figure-hugging gown with a string of pearls and a bespoke pearl clutch Elsewhere, socialite Deborah Symond O'Neil looked every inch the fashion princess wearing a glamorous strapless white wool dress. She paired the figure-hugging gown with a string of pearls and a bespoke pearl clutch. Deborah opted for minimal makeup and wore her blonde tresses back in a low bun. Deborah was joined by racing princess Kate Waterhouse and her former rugby league star husband, Luke Ricketson. Both pictured Kate, the daughter of horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, looked spectacular in the form fitting dress which hugged tightly to her curves. Pictured Deborah was joined by racing princess Kate Waterhouse and her former rugby league star husband, Luke Ricketson. Kate was at her stylish best wearing a pearl-encrusted minidress for the star-studded occasion. Kate, the daughter of horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, wore her blonded tresses down and minimal makeup for the day out. Husband Luke opted for a stylish blue linen shirt which he paired with white pants. Former blogger Tash Sefton opted for a fitted blazer dress which hugged her figure along with a small Dior handbag. The star cuddled-up to a suited and booted Adam Genovese Revellers danced the afternoon away at the event, held at Qualia luxury resort Former blogger Tash Sefton opted for a fitted blazer dress which hugged her figure along with a small Dior handbag. The star cuddled-up to a suited and booted Adam Genovese. The Paspaley White Luncheon occurs annually and celebrates Race Week along with showcasing the inspiration behind their designs. The event was held at Qualia luxury resort. January 2021: The beginning of the end Gruffudd filed for divorce in March 2021, shortly after Evans claimed on social media that her husband of 14 years was walking out on her and their two daughters. October 2021: Ioan goes public with his new love After Evans' explosive announcement about her split all seemed to quieten down until October 2021 when she took to Twitter to claim to her 29,000 followers that her estranged husband had been cheating on her for three years with a much younger woman. Evans implied that her ex had gaslighted her for years, betraying her and their two daughters (but did not offer any evidence to support her accusation). February 2022: Ioan files for a restraining order against Alice After months of pointed tweets and social media posts made by Evans, Gruffudd responded by filing for a restraining order, submitting 113 pages of unhinged texts and emails that had not previously been made public. In his court filing, Gruffudd claimed he told Evans that he wanted out of the marriage in August 2020 and that since then, she had harassed him with hundreds of unanswered text messages, abusive emails and social media posts - many of which he included in the filing. He claimed she verbally threatened to tell the media he had abused her 'do what Amber Heard did to Johnny Depp'. Inside the most bitter divorce in Hollywood: A look back at Alice Evans and Ioan Gruffudd's shock slanging match (pictured in 2004) June 2022: Alice begs fans for money to pay for a divorce lawyer As their divorce proceedings entered its 15th month, Evans claimed to be 'completely out of money for food and bills.' She claimed she would receive no financial support from Gruffudd and that she was struggling to pay her legal fees and would be unable to 'feed or clothe' their daughters with her dwindling funds. July 2022: Ioan asks for joint custody of daughters After Evans filed for sole custody of their daughters, Gruffudd filed for custody and visitation rights to see his children, claiming in the filing that Evans had been purposely trying to cut communication between himself and the children. He also petitioned that the girls attend in-person therapy and reunification therapy via zoom with him pending court-ordered mediation about custody. In the filing, Gruffudd reiterated allegations that Evans had been verbally abusing during their 14-year marriage, and 'undermin[ing him] in front of the girls throughout their lives.' August 2022: Ioan gets a three-year restraining order against Alice Having previously been awarded a temporary restraining order against his estranged wife, Gruffudd successfully obtained a three-year restraining order against Evans in August 2022. Harsher restrictions were put in place by a US judge, including a ruling preventing Alice from leaking private text messages from their children. In the court documents, Gruffudd claimed Evans continued to cause him issues and wanted additional provisions added to the existing restraining order. He also requested Evans not post his text messages or any other communications to the parties children, or the childrens text messages or any other communications to Ioan, on any social media account. Gruffudd also asked for the judge to order Evans not to contact his employer or make disparaging statements about him to his employers. October 2021: Ioan went public with his new love Bianca Wallace, posting a picture with the Australian actress who is 21 years younger than Alice September 2022: Ioan and Alice's child custody battle hits a wall Two months after Gruffudd filed for joint custody of his two daughters and asked for custody and visitation rights, the exes failed to settle their differences in family court, despite the help of a mediator. Court documents showed the exes meeting was set for 31 August and that mediation had taken place but that 'no agreement' had been reached. The document went on to confirm that that both Gruffudd and Evans had completed the mandatory Our Children First program. The Superior Court of Los Angeles states of the program that: 'Parents are required by law to attend a mediation orientation/parent education program and a mediation session prior to appearing at an Order to Show Cause or Trial regarding the custody and/or visitation of their children.' November 2022: Alice is reported to police over claims of 'child abuse' and drug use Amid her ongoing custody battle, Evans claimed that someone called social services and the police on her with concerns over child abuse and drug and drink use. The actress took to Twitter to allege that someone had sent authorities to her property who then found 'absolutely no signs of abuse' and 'no drugs or drink'. July 2022: Ioan asked for joint custody of their daughters Ella, 13 and Elsie, nine, claiming Alice had been trying to cut communication between himself and the children (pictured in 2018 February 2023: Child custody agreement is stalled again after Alice is charged with 'violating restraining order' Evans appeared in court in February 2023 to answer two charges of violating a restraining order that was put in place by her estranged husband. The warring former couple were scheduled to appear later that month at a custody hearing but Evans asked for a postponement. Her attorney, Marie LaMolinara, argued that testimony Alice gives at the custody hearing could be used against her in her later criminal trial, which would violate her right, under the 5th Amendment, not to incriminate herself. March 2023: Charges against Alice are dropped Prosecutors in Los Angeles dropped charges against Evans who had been accused of defying a restraining order the Welsh actor has against her. Evans had pleaded not guilty to two counts of violating the order and at a hearing at LA's Airport Courthouse, Commissioner James Cooper dismissed the charges after prosecutors told the court they were 'unable to proceed.' At a follow-up hearing, Evans' attorney, public defender, Daniel Stefanic, filed a motion asking for a ruling that would declare her 'factually innocent' of the charges. August 2022: Ioan successfully obtained a three-year restraining order against Alice that banned her from mentioning him or his girlfriend on social media (Ioan and Bianca pictured May 2022) May 2023: Alice moves out of $2million family home as ex Ioan is 'too poor' to pay for it Evans and her children moved out of her family home and into a rented abode with their two daughters after Gruffudd pleaded with a court to allow the home to be sold, saying he didn't have the money to keep up with mortgage payments for his family following their split in 2021. The Fantastic Four star told a court in a document filed last year that neither he nor Evans could afford the $6,750 a month in mortgage payments, insurance and property tax. He said he'd had just one paid job in the past year and was so poor he was relying on handouts from his young girlfriend. May 2023: Ella, 13, applies for a restraining order against dad Ioan and his girlfriend Bianca The teenage daughter of Evans and Gruffudd asked for a restraining order against her famous father and his girlfriend in documents filed on May 31 at the Los Angeles Superior Court. In the documents, Ella stated that she is 'afraid' of her father and accuses him of 'threatening to call the police on her anytime she misbehaves' during their visitations. Ella filed for a domestic violence restraining order against her father following what she said was an ugly incident at their home, during which she claims Bianca 'slammed a door on her head'. In her filing against her father, Ella requested that he be made to keep at least 100 yards away from her and not contact her for five years and asks that Gruffudd be ordered to undergo a '52-week batterer intervention program'. The program, which involves weekly classes, is intended - the document states - to 'stop abuse, teach accountability, abuse effects, and gender roles'. Ella requested that the restraining order also cover her nine-year-old sister Elsie, noting that she 'lives with her sister and is afraid that [Ioan] will abuse and/or continue to allow abuse to happen to my sister too'. She also asked that her father be made to pay 'for some or all of her lawyer's fees and costs' and requests that her phone account and that of her sister Elsie's be transferred to their mother, alleging that Gruffudd has 'threatened to cancel my sister's phone account and my phone account'. Along with her domestic restraining order filing, Ella included a declaration as evidence to support her case, in which she shared her recollection of a bitter spat that she claims took place while she and her nine-year-old sister Elsie were visiting their father's home on May 26. Ella admitted that she was 'so mad' at her father to find that Wallace was at his apartment when she arrived that she began throwing food on his bed, on the floor, and on him, before she attempted to flee the apartment - which, she says, is when the actress 'slammed a door on her head', leaving her with 'a small bump' and a 'bruise on her arm'. May 2023: The teenage daughter of Alice and Ioan asked for a restraining order against her famous father and his girlfriend in documents filed on May 31 (Alice and Ella pictured) June 2023: Ioan accuses Alice of abusing him via fake Twitter accounts In court documents seen by MailOnline, Gruffudd claimed his estranged wife screamed at him outside his Los Angeles home and called him a 'f***ing abuser' and 'abusive c***' in front of their 13-year-old daughter. Gruffudd also claimed Evans repeatedly broken a three-year restraining order he took out against her which has resulted in criminal charges - and flashed him while wearing no underwear when their children were being dropped off. The bombshell papers also contained claims from Gruffudd that: Evans has made 'thousands of false, threatening and harassing posts' about him; Evans claims to be home-schooling Ella, but has 'provided no information'; Evans has interfered with the girls' therapy and they are missing appointments; and Ella poured rolled oats from a bag over his head, which left him 'in shock'. July 2023: Ioan and Alice are declared legally divorced In a court order handed down in LA Superior Court, Judge Josh Freeman Stinn finally granted Gruffudd's request for divorce amid the couple's ongoing custody battle. The Welsh actor had filed for bifurcation and termination of marital status in May which would allow him and Evans to be declared legally divorced even as they continue settlement negotiations in their split. A minute order obtained by DailyMail.com show the judge approved the request on July 3, ruling: 'The Court finds irreconcilable differences have arisen in the marriage and grants judgment for the dissolution of marriage as to status only, effective today.' July 2023: Ioan's daughter loses bid for domestic violence restraining order against him Two months after Ella filed documents a judge at the Los Angeles Superior Court dismissed an application by Ella for a domestic violence restraining order. Gruffudd was present in court, along with Ms Evans for the hearing, as well as the lawyer appointed as the minor's counsel last month. The judge ruled: 'The minor's request for a domestic violence restraining order against the petitioner is hereby dismissed without prejudice.' The decision came three weeks after the teenager's bid to get a civil protection order against Gruffudd's actress girlfriend Bianca Wallace, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was also denied. Ioan said: Friends of the Liar star said he was 'very relieved' at the outcome. They also claimed that the situation is a 'nightmare' but they are 'happy to see some progress'. August 2023: Ioan accuses Alice of 'child abuse' and keeping their daughters from him A Los Angeles judge attempted to shield Gruffudd and Evans from the fallout of their parents' ugly battles by banning the press from a custody hearing, keeping the proceedings secret. But that didn't stop the warring former couple who are both seeking custody of the girls from taking vitriolic shots at each other in written court filings that are public and not sealed. The Welsh star called his ex a 'child abuser' while Evans claimed Gruffudd hadn't seen or called his children for almost three months, according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com. Ioan said: 'Alice has continued to inflict serious emotional harm on Ella and Elsie by her statements and by interfering in my relationship with them. 'Alice has verbally abused and undermined me in front of the girls throughout their lives. 'Since January 2021, Alice has also encouraged and instructed them not to see me or communicate with me and she has made thousands of threatening and abusive communications to me and about me.' Alice said: 'I have read and disagree with the declaration of petitioner (Gruffudd) as to allegations that I am inflicting or causing our children ''serious emotional harm". 'No one has ever contacted me or reported me for such conduct. No professional, nor teacher, nor school administrator, nor counsel, nor therapist. 'Petitioner has not seen, complied with, nor called the children for 11 weeks. I don't understand how having no recent information, "petitioner believes" there is an urgency such that a child custody evaluation must be commenced.' Jodie Whittaker was spotted on set with co-star Aimee Lou Wood to film the first scenes of Netflix's new drama Toxic Town on Saturday. The Doctor Who actress, 41, looked unrecognisable in a red vintage Adidas jacket as she was pictured sipping on a can of beer in the park. Netflix's upcoming four-part limited series from Broke & Bones, Toxic Town, tells the story of the real life Corby poisonings, one of the UK's biggest environmental scandal. Jodie, who made her final appearance in the iconic BBC sci-fi series in October last year, looked edgy as she sported dark-washed denim jeans and a pair of classic black and white Adidas trainers, with a gold chain. Meanwhile, Sex Education star Aimee, 29, was dressed in boot leg denim jeans and a brown suede jacket. New drama: Jodie Whittaker was spotted on set to film the first scenes of Netflix 's new drama Toxic Town on Saturday Co-stars: The Doctor Who actress, 41, appeared alongside Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood, 29, to film the upcoming drama The pair were seen linking arms and chatting in one of the scenes before taking a seat on a bench. The drama focuses on three mothers fighting for justice following toxic waste spillages in the town of Corby in Northamptonshire. In 1980, the town experienced one of the biggest child poisonings cases and exposed children to a high volume of toxic waste, which saw more birth defects in this period than ever. Alongside Jodie and Aimee, fans will see Downton Abbey star Brendan Coyle, Robert Carlyle and The Diplomat star Rory Kinnear. The release date is yet to be announced. The writer, Jack Thorne, said: 'The Corby toxic Waste case is one of those moments in history that is defining. 'It showed our ability to close our eyes and ears to the safety of our people. It also showed the remarkable way that people will fight for what's right. 'Toxic Town tells the story of these funny, brave, incredible women and the way they scrapped for their children.' Since quitting Doctor Who, Jodie was spotted filming scenes for the Australian thriller One Night at Malabar ocean pool in Sydney in February. Stepping into character: Jodie looked edgy as she sported dark-washed denim jeans and a pair of classic black and white Adidas trainers, with a gold chain Actress: Jodie was spotted learning her lines ahead of filming the first scenes for Netflix's drama, which is unknown when it will be released Toxic Town: Jodie looked unrecognisable in a red vintage Adidas jacket as she was pictured holding a can of beer in the park (pictured with Aimee) Background: The drama focuses on three mothers fighting for justice following toxic waste spillages in the town of Corby in Northamptonshire Series: Alongside Jodie and Aimee, fans will see Downton Abbey star Brendan Coyle, Robert Carlyle and The Diplomat star Rory Kinnear In 2021, Jodie confirmed she would be leaving Doctor Who, with the BBC revealing that her departure will play out across a three-part special. The British star, who was the show's first female Doctor, described her four-year stint manning the Tardis as being 'the best job I ever had'. Ncuti Gatwa was unveiled as the 15th Doctor on the popular sci-fi show in May 2022 after Jodie Whittaker confirmed her departure from the role. He is the first black actor to take on the leading role as The Doctor, after Whittaker made history as the first permanent female Time Lord in 2017. Helen Skelton has been holidaying in the South of France with family and friends. Taking to Instagram on Monday, the Countryfile presenter, 40, shared an array of snaps from the fun getaway. Helen looked radiant as she splashed about in a plunging black swimsuit while soaking up the sunshine with her closest loved ones. The mother-of-three also shared a glimpse of her three children - Ernie, eight, Louis, five, and 16-month-old daughter Elsie - who she shares with ex-husband Richie Myler, 33. Helen captioned her social media post: 'Beach with babes #summer #summertime #schoolholidays #southoffrance.' Happy: Helen Skelton, 40, has been holidaying in the South of France with family and friends and took to Instagram on Monday where she shared an array of snaps from the fun getaway Gorgeous: The Countryfile presenter looked radiant as she splashed about in a plunging black swimsuit while soaking up the sunshine with her closest loved ones Love: Helen shared a cuddle on the beach with one of her sons It comes just weeks after Helen officially divorced her rugby player husband Richie, 16 months after their high-profile split. The TV star was issued a decree nisi, signalling the end of their ten-year marriage with the couple receiving confirmation of this in the post. Strictly star Helen, announced her split from England and Leeds Rhinos rugby league star Richie last April. Since the end of their marriage, Richie has gone on to have a baby with new girlfriend Stephanie Thirkill, 32, the daughter of Leeds Rhinos president Andrew. Helen and Richie are now awaiting the granting of a decree absolute which will legally cement the end of their ten-year marriage. This is a legal formality once a decree nisi has been granted and will be issued by the court as neither of them are contesting the divorce. News of Helens divorce came as she has revealed major changes to her life, including putting her former marital home up for sale and quitting her show on BBC Radio 5 Live so that she can spend more time with her children. Helen and Richie previously lived in north Leeds, which she has now put on the market as she makes a fresh start. Good times: The TV presenter included a snap of herself with two female friends Family: The mother-of-three also shared a glimpse of her three children - Ernie, eight, Louis, five, and 16-month-old daughter Elsie - who she shares with ex-husband Richie Myler , 33 It's official: It comes just week after Helen officially divorced her rugby player husband Richie Myler, 16 months after their high-profile split Former Strictly Come Dancing star Helen and Richie married in 2013 and moved into their Yorkshire property together seven years later. Following news of Helens divorce, a friend told MailOnline: Things are moving very fast for Helen and her life is going through a lot of changes. Shes quit a high profile job, has left the home she shared with Richie and now their divorce is finalised. These are exciting times for her and shes looking forward to a new life. Another added: A source told MailOnline: It has been a tough time for Helen, but she is moving on with her life, putting the marriage behind her and wants to make a fresh start. As Helen moves on with her life, it has also emerged that she has launched herself back into the dating scene. A source said: 'Helen's family and friends encouraged her to get back out there and she was happy to dip her toe back into the dating scene, but she has had some wobbles and found herself feeling guilty. She's concerned about who to let into her life and worried about being judged for any decisions she makes. 'There have also been some people who have made comments about her not trying hard enough to make it work with Richie, and it's made her think about her marriage and what went wrong. 'Ultimately, she knows she tried everything she could, and once the trust was broken there was just no going back. But dating again has brought up some unexpected feelings that she's been struggling with.' It comes after source revealed: 'After her trust was broken, she's nowhere near ready for an all-in long-term romance. 'But she's not closing herself off to anything anymore. She's open to new adventures in all respects and is making it her aim to say 'yes' to more things that excite her.' Born and raised in Cumbria, Helen co-presented the BBC children's programme Blue Peter from 2008 until 2013 and since 2014, she has been a presenter on Countryfile. The TV favourite also starred in last year's Strictly Come Dancing where she made it through to the final. Padam Padam songwriter Lostboy, aka Pete Rycroft, has branded British radio 'ageist' and claims the megahit could have been bigger. Pete, who wrote the song alongside Norwegian hitmaker Ina Wroldsen, has taken aim at Radio 1 and Capital for not adding the song to their playlists until fans called them out. 'We were trying to get it played on the radio,' he told The Independent. 'It was everywhere, everyone was talking about it and it was at least top two in the charts but Radio 1 and Capital were refusing to play it, essentially because she's [Kylie's] an older woman.' Rycroft went on to call out the apparent sexism, adding David Guetta is often added, and the pair are the same age. Kylie Minogue (pictured) has been caught up in sexism stoush after Padam Padam producer Lostboy, aka Pete Rycroft, slammed 'ageist' British radio Pete (pictured) has taken aim at Radio 1 and Capital for not adding the song to their playlists until fans called them out. 'I could see it as clear as day; it was definitely a wake-up call,' he said. 'There are other 55-year-old artists, David Guetta for example, and he's all over the radio obviously, because he's a bloke and he's got some amazing tunes. 'Padam' should have been on there from the beginning and it's just a reflection on Radio 1.' Despite the claims, Padam Padam has rocketed up the charts, reaching top 20 in her native Australia and the top 10 in the UK. It also went viral on TikTok, racking up millions of views and spawning hilarious memes online. Kylie recently released her second single Tension, off her forthcoming album of the same name, which is set for release later this month. Kylie recently released her second single Tension, off her forthcoming album of the same name, which is set for release later this month. Since its release on Thursday, Tension has topped iTunes in the UK, Australia, and Mexico, and has even made the top twenty in the US. The beloved songstress addressed her chart comeback on social media back in June, thanking fans for their support. 'It has been an incredible week topped off by being my birthday today and I can't thank you enough. My heart is bursting with joy so thank you so so much,' she gushed. 'What an incredible, another wild turn in my life and my career. Thank you so much for all of your love and support, everyone who has got onto Padam Padam and made this possible for me. I love you, thank you so so much.' Celebrity parents were quick to praise their children as they joined most of Britain in starting the new school year on Monday. After a lengthy summer break, it was back to business as usual for the families, with the likes of Myleene Klass and Kelsey Parker documenting their children's return. Myleene, 45, admitted she was left in tears after her 16-year-old daughter Ava returned to school having earned herself three scholarships. Sharing a makeup-free selfie alongside the talented teen pianist, Myleene penned: 'And she's off. New chapter for my clever/beautiful, @pianos_our_forte. '#ALEVELS #startofschool. (No, I'm not sitting in the car crying).' Sweet: Myleene Klass was left in tears after her 16-year-old daughter Ava returned to school having earned herself three scholarships Cute: Kelsey Parker, 32, also shared a sweet post as she marked daughter Aurelia's first day at reception Heartbreaking: She referenced her late husband Tom Parker in the post as she called her daughter 'perfection' Myleene added: 'Super proud of how hard she tries. She was offered THREE scholarships to three schools which is just beyond. 'Good luck to everyone starting a new year and chapter today. Glad to know I'm not the only mum with butterflies.' Kelsey, 32, also shared a sweet post as she marked daughter Aurelia's first day at reception. Sharing a snap of the youngster she referenced her late husband Tom Parker, writing: 'What do you think Tom? Isnt she just perfection? The world is yours baby girl go get it and make us proud x' Michelle Heaton was also marking a milestone moment as daughter Faith, 11, started high school. Sharing a snap of the youngster alongside brother AJ, nine, Michelle penned: 'And there she goes .. off to secondary school 'As a parent its hard not to freak out when the time comes you have to take away that cotton wool and let them off into the world to make their own decisions. 'But I kept it in till she walked off up the road.. just about lol. 'Faith, mummy and daddy are so proud of you. We know whatever direction this part of your life takes you in.. you are bright and strong enough to make the right choices. Because, You amaze me everyday with how mature you are, loving, thoughtful and wise. 'To me, you will always be my little girl. But Im ready to embrace the woman you are coming to be. 'And my little AJ .. year 5 .. no longer his big sister to annoy him at school lol we adore you darling .. 'Love you both to the moon and the stars in the sky.. Mummy & daddy x @hughhanley @xfaithxhanleyx #bigschool #bigday #beautiful #kind #happy #joy #family. [sic]' Milestones: Michelle Heaton was also marking a milestone moment as daughter Faith, 11, started high school while son AJ started year five Aww: Ex On The Beach star Lillie Lexie Gregg went all out to mark her sons Beau, three, and Cruze, five, starting school Surprise: She splashed out on personalised balloon decorations and sorted out a back to school box for the youngsters filled with books and toys Preparations: Georgia Tennant shared a rare snap of her daughter Olive getting her hair done as she marked the school return Tiny: The actress - who is the wife of Doctor Who star David Tennant - revealed her daughter was already taller than her at the age of 11 (pictured with David in 2018) Ex On The Beach star Lillie Lexie Gregg went all out to mark her sons Beau, three, and Cruze, five, starting school. She splashed out on personalised balloon decorations and sorted out a back to school box for the youngsters filled with books and toys. She captioned the images: 'First day of Reception and Pre School for our Boys! Proudest mummy today xxx Love them so much xxx.' Georgia Tennant shared a rare snap of her daughter Olive getting her hair done as she marked the school return. The actress - who is the wife of Doctor Who star David Tennant - revealed her daughter was already taller than her at the age of 11, with Georgia needing to hop on a stool to plait her child's hair. Sarah Cawood revealed her son Hunter was off on a new adventure as she shared a sweet snap of the 11-year-old in his school blazer. Ready for it: Sarah Cawood revealed her son Hunter was off on a new adventure as she shared a sweet snap of the 11-year-old in his school blazer Gigi Hadid has given a rare insight into life as a co-parent with ex-boyfriend Zayn Malik and how it affects her life as a working mother. The supermodel and designer, 28, and One Direction star, 30, share daughter Khai, who turns three later this month, from their on-off romance which ran from November 2015 until their ultimate split in October 2021. While the pair remain fairly guarded about their union, in a new interview with NET-A-PORTERs digital title, PORTER, Gigi spoke about her work commitments and how she is now forced to be 'intentional' due to her co-parenting arrangements. She said: 'I think when you are a parent, you have to be intentional because, now, I literally have half the time. I work when my daughter is with her dad and that's the time I have. And the jobs that I choose to fill that time with have to be fulfilling'. In an accompanying photoshoot with the interview, Gigi looked nothing short of sensational as she posed in a series of funky ensembles, including a chic suit with her bra on show underneath and bold coloured looks. Stunner: Gigi Hadid has given a rare insight into life as a co-parent with ex-boyfriend Zayn Malik and how it affects her life as a working mother alongside a stunning new shoot for PORTER Magazine Sweet: The supermodel and designer, 28, and One Direction star, 30, share daughter Khai, who turns three later this month, from their on-off romance which ran from November 2015 until their ultimate split in October 2021 Sizzling: While the pair remain fairly guarded about their union, in a new interview with PORTER , Gigi spoke about her work commitments and how she is now forced to be 'intentional' due to her co-parenting arrangements Cheeky! She looked stunning in the accompanying shoot Sexy: She was pulling all her best poses for the camera in the shoot Gigi and Zayn's relationship was famously tumultuous, with insights given when it was revealed her had a physical altercation with her mother Yolanda in 2021, which saw him charged with four counts of harassment. He pleaded no contest to the charges after allegedly pushing his former partner Gigi Hadid's mother into a dresser and calling her a 'f*****g Dutch sl*t' in September 2021. Court documents revealed that he had to complete 360 days probation in addition to completing an anger management class. Despite their trying times, the couple now happily co-parent, with Gigi revealing that the time spent with and without Khai helps dictate her work. In the chat, Gigi revealed Khai helps with her work for her brand Guest in Residence, saying: 'Khai and her best friend are our fit models. They come into the office, Khai tries on one dress and then shes like, Do you want to go to the donut store? Gigi launched Guest in Residence, back in 2022, and revealed she is working hard on learning the ins and outs of fashion production as well as how best to be a boss by being 'assertive but not a b***h'. Explaining about what she has learnt in her new role, she went on: 'I have learnt a lot about being assertive, which doesnt make you a b***h As long as you do what comes naturally, which is not to be rude, you can say how you feel.' On her support from those in the industry, she revealed her late friend and Off-White and Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh was a driving force behind her work with Guest In Residence and how she's established herself beyond being a model. She said: 'I think about him a lot in this Guest In Residence job. He was someone who really encouraged me and made me feel more confident that I was capable to be a creative director.' Sweet: The couple are pictured together in 2016 Tough times: Gigi and Zayn's relationship was famously tumultuous, with insights given when it was revealed her had a physical altercation with her mother Yolanda in 2021, which saw him charged with four counts of harassment (Zayn and Yolanda pictured in 2017) Wow! She looked incredible in the shoots from the stunning shoot Friends: On her support from those in the industry, she revealed her late friend and Off-White and Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh was a driving force behind her work with Guest In Residence and how she's established herself beyond being a model Stunner: Gigi looked incredible in the striking shots Thanks to her work as a model, she gave insight into how she knows what people should wear: 'Ive probably worn almost every type of clothing you could ever wear 'I think I understand what works for people in their lives and what they want. And that starts with these weird, crazy couture things I wear... 'When I design, I dont just think about myself as this flashy public figure that everyone sees, because thats not what I am most of the time... 'What my wardrobe is, and why I started a company like this, is what I know well and love: its all about classic basics and making those fun.' Away from the catwalk and design studio, Gigi revealed she also has her sights set on the screen or the stage if she received the right offer. She said: 'If and when the right script comes around, Id still like to do a movie one day. I took acting classes for a few years in New York. But a lot of scripts that Ive gotten over the years are just the most obvious roles for me to play.' To see the full feature with Gigi Hadid read PORTER at https://www.net-a-porter.com/porter/article-53de7f8f851ce7d3 or download the NET-A-PORTER app for iPhone, iPad and Android Green girl: She wowed in a striking green number for the incredible shoot Hey there! Gigi flashed a peek of her toned abs in the shot Terri Irwin has publicly marked the anniversary of her husband Steve Irwin's death with a solemn tribute to the late Crocodile Hunter. The wildlife star, 59, who only joined Instagram last week, shared a rarely seen photo of Steve sitting crouched in a hut with a dog next to him. Terri kept it brief but deeply meaningful on the 17th anniversary of her husband's death, leaving the caption, 'Remembering Steve,' with just a singe red love heart. Steve tragically died when a stingray barb pierced his chest on September 4, 2006, while filming near Batt Reef, Queensland, in his native Australia. He was just 44-years-old at the time. Terri Irwin has publicly marked the anniversary of her husband Steve Irwin's death with a solemn tribute to the late Crocodile Hunter. Both pictured The wildlife star, 59, who only joined Instagram last week, shared a rarely seen photo of Steve sitting crouched in a hut with a dog next to him. Pictured Fans of Steve quickly poured their heart out to Terri, offering love and support to the beloved conservationist, as they too remembered Steve. 'Thank you for keeping him alive and present for all of us. You have forged a path for the rest of us widowed mamas to follow,' one fan wrote. 'I wish I could say how much Steve Irwin and you Terri meant to us growing up...I wish you had more time together, but he is with you always and shaped the next generation in many ways. Love to you and your family from the USA!' wrote another. Yet another wrote their daughter was becoming a vet after being inspired by Steve's work with animals and passion for wildlife. Terri kept it brief but deeply meaningful on the 17th anniversary of her husband's death, leaving the caption, 'Remembering Steve,' with just a singe red love heart 'My daughter grew up watching him. She's now finishing up her veterinarian degree. He played a huge role in her love for animals,' another wrote. 'Brilliant man and such a beautiful family. Thank you for continuing this work and sharing with all of us,' wrote one more. 'Thinking of you Terri and the family today. I feel honoured to have been able to see him spread the word on wildlife conservation. Will always be dearly missed by all,' added another concerned follower. Terri famously took over Australia Zoo after being widowed with the couple's two children, with Bindi just eight-years-old at the time. The couple's son Robert was just two-years-old. Fans of Steve quickly poured their heart out to Terri, offering love and support to the beloved conservationist, as they too remembered Steve Princess Mary's nephew Count Nikolai has revealed the advice his Australian-born aunt gave him before he arrived Down Under. Nikolai, 24, who is studying for a semester at the University of Technology in Sydney, spoke to The Daily Telegraph on Monday. Nikolai revealed that Hobart-born Mary gave him a 'survival list' for his time abroad. 'She gave me a long list, an itinerary of what to do and what not to do, I can't remember it now but I have it at home,' Nikolai said. The Burberry model went on to say it was 'survival' stuff. Princess Mary's nephew Count Nikolai, 24, (pictured) has revealed the advice his royal aunt gave him prior to arriving in Australia. Pictured in Sydney 'Basic ''survival skills'', I would say clap your boots before putting them on, stuff like that, flush the toilet before you use it. I do not (want a snake or spider),' he added. Nikolai is Down Under with his girlfriend, Benedikte Thoustrup. The pair will stay in the Harbour City from August to November. Nikolai, whose father is Prince Joachim of Denmark, is seventh in line to the Danish throne. His own father spent time in Australia when he was younger, working at a farm outside of Wagga Wagga, in New South Wales. 'She gave me a long list, an itinerary of what to do and what not to do, I can't remember it now but I have it at home,' Nikolai said. He went on to say it was survival stuff. Here: Princess Mary In March, Count Nikolai of Denmark launched a new Instagram account to promote his modelling career after being stripped of his 'HRH' status by his grandmother, Queen Margrethe. It was a tumultuous year for the Danish Royal Family after the monarch controversially took the title from Prince Joachim's eldest son, as well as also taking the prince and princess titles from his younger children Athena, 11, Prince Felix, 20, and Prince Henrik, 13. They are now Counts and Countess and referred to as Their Excellencies - and in January this year the Danish Royal Family updated their website to show the new status. The Queen insisted the move will be 'good for them in their future' and allow the children - who have maintained their positions in the line of succession - to 'shape their own lives without being limited by the special considerations and duties' that a formal affiliation with the Danish Royal Family involves. Nikolai is Down Under with his girlfriend, Benedikte Thoustrup. The pair will stay in the Harbour City from August to November. Pictured Following his grandmother's move to strip him and his siblings of their titles 'for their own good', Count Nikolai said that he was sad, shocked and confused. 'My whole family and I are of course very sad. We are, as my parents have also stated, in shock at this decision and at how quickly it has actually gone,' he told Danish newspaper Extrabladet. 'I am very confused as to why it has to happen like this,' he told reporters from outside the Copenhagen apartment where he lives with his girlfriend. Countess Alexandra, mother to Count Nikolai and Count Felix, was also 'very sad' and 'shocked' about the decision. It was a tumultuous year for the Danish Royal Family after the monarch controversial took the title from Prince Joachim's eldest son, as well as taking the prince and princess titles from his younger children Athena, 11, Prince Felix, 20, and Prince Henrik, 13 (all pictured) 'She can't believe why and why now, because there's no good reason,' Helle von Wildenrath Lvgreen, press secretary to Countess Alexandra told CNN. 'They would lose their titles anyway when they get married one day. 'Her sons are young men so maybe they might get married in the near future so why shouldn't it wait until that day so that the titles would disappear on a happy day?' Prince Joachim told Ekstra Bladet that his children had been 'hurt' by the decision - and claimed he had only been given a few days to break the news to them before the announcement was made publicly. Prince Joachim, the brother of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, is now married to Princess Marie of Denmark. Scrap plan to relocate bust of freedom fighter Hong Beom-do An ideological controversy is intensifying over the current government's decision to relocate the bust of independence fighter Hong Beom-do outside of the Korea Military Academy. Former President Moon Jae-in threw his hat in the ring by lambasting the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's move. "It is equivalent to distorting history and undermining the integrity of the ROK's armed forces. I urge the presidential office to immediately withdraw the relocation plan," Moon said on his Facebook account, Sunday. Moon's attack, using scathing words, has drawn attention as it came amid fresh ideological feuding waged by the conservative ruling camp led by Yoon. Moon had abstained from commenting on current issues barring the one related to Japan's recent release of wastewater from Fukushima's crippled nuclear plant. Earlier, the KMA received some flak after announcing the plan to relocate Hong's bust and moving those of other independence fighters to a different section of the academy. It cited, among others, Hong's stint as a former member of the Soviet Communist Party. Yet, Hong's admission into the party in 1927 was not the result of his own ideological choice. He was forced to enter the socialist camp as part of efforts to continue engaging in the independence struggle. In 1937, Hong was forced to move to Kazakhstan by the Stalin regime and died there in 1943 after suffering from financial difficulties. His wife and son also died in the middle of fights against the Imperial Japanese Army. Given this, it is improper to underestimate Hong regarding his affiliation with the communist party only. Further, Hong never conducted any anti-state activities. The Ministry of National Defense also claimed that Hong played a part in quelling independence fighters during the Free City Disaster (aka Massacre of Svobodny). Yet this claim is baseless, according to historians. They say Hong was not in a position at that time to engage in the suppression of freedom activists. The defense ministry cannot deflect criticism for its allegations, echoing some ultra-conservative YouTubers. Previous governments, regardless of their ideological inclinations, honored Hong, an undisputed hero of the independence movement with his renowned victory at the Battle of Bongo-dong, by providing him with top national merits. This means a national consensus has always been formed regarding Hong's past activities. Thrusting Hong into the center of the ideological battle between the liberal camp and communist forces is highly anachronistic politicking. President Yoon Suk Yeol cannot avoid criticism for having fanned the ideological dispute, in an apparent bid to muster support from conservative forces behind him ahead of the upcoming general election in April next year. For starters, Yoon told lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to fight against "communist totalitarianism." Such remarks will only deepen the schism in our society and will not help Yoon garner support from "sensible" people. Describing his potential opponents as "communist followers and anti-state forces," Yoon said they are instigating anti-Japan sentiment. "They claim as if the agreement reached between Seoul and Tokyo at Camp David will eventually endanger the nation and the people," Yoon said during the meeting. Yoon has been eager to solidify relations with Japan at as early a date as possible, prompted by his seemingly successful summit at Camp David on Aug. 18. Despite Yoon's expectations, however, any hasty move to relocate Hong's bust will only bring about adverse effects. Yoon will likely face a setback as more people, respecting independence heroes like Hong, will eventually turn their back on him. It will not take so long until Yoon realizes the stupidity of power trying to ignore history. And the consequences will come far earlier ahead of the general election. Paul Mescal looked trendy in a blue shirt and black loose-fitted trousers as he headed out for dinner at at Pierluigi Restaurant in Rome on Saturday. The actor, 27, who is famously known for starring in Normal People, enjoyed an alfresco dinner with a mystery woman and friends. He appeared to be happy and relaxed while he caught up with friends at the lavish eatery. Paul cut a casual display as he sported black Adidas trainers and wore a white vest top underneath his unbuttoned shirt. The unidentified woman sported a stylish khaki bomber jacket and wore a chic black dress with a cream Yves Saint Laurent handbag. Stylish: Paul Mescal looked trendy in a blue shirt and black loose-fitted trousers as he headed out for dinner at at Pierluigi Restaurant in Rome on Saturday Cosy: The actor, 27, who is famously known for starring in Normal People, enjoyed an alfresco dinner with a mystery female companion and friends MailOnline have contacted Paul's representatives for a comment. It comes after the director of All Of Us Strangers, a new movie Paul stars in, said that he and co-star Andrew Scott were 'fearless' when filming the sex scenes. Filmmaker Andrew Haigh has praised the work the two Irish actors did on the flick which is based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada. The film follows writer Adam (Andrew) whose neighbour Harry (Paul) returns home one night and flirts with him, with their fling turning into a romance. Adam later returns to his childhood home where he discovers that his dead parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) are in face alive and have not aged a day in 30 years. Director Andrew said Paul and Andrew Scott both understood how important the sex scenes were to the story. Speaking to Vanity Fair, he said: 'There was chemistry between the two of them literally the second I saw them together. 'Both of them were pretty fearless. There was no sense of them being afraid of approaching those scenes. They knew how important they were.' Trendy: Paul cut a casual display as he sported black Adidas trainers and wore a white vest top underneath his unbuttoned shirt (pictured with a friend) Fancy: He appeared to be happy and relaxed while he caught up with friends at the lavish eatery Mystery: The unidentified woman sported a stylish khaki bomber jacket and wore a chic black dress with a cream Yves Saint Laurent handbag Movie: It comes after the director of All Of Us Strangers, a new movie Paul stars in, said that he and co-star Andrew Scott were 'fearless' when filming the sex scenes Long-time love: Last year, Paul broke his silence on the 'difficult' split from his long-time girlfriend Phoebe Bridgers, 28, (pictured at The Met Gala in 2022) Last year, Paul broke his silence on the 'difficult' split from his long-time girlfriend Phoebe Bridgers, 28. 'Sometimes I can drown it out and then other times it makes me really mad and upset,' he told Vanity Fair. 'People are going to write and say things because theres a certain interest with any person whos in the public eye in how that person lives their life, and who theyre living up with, and what theyre doing and how theyre going about doing it. 'And look, a lot of the time people are really kind about their support for me. Thats my predominant experience.' Mescal began dating the talented musician in 2020 - shortly after the remarkable BBC drama Normal People turned him into a household name. He said: 'I definitely feel the temptation to say the status of my whateverthat will always be there. But I dont think thats a wise thing to do. The View host Ana Navarro has begged fans for help in a candid new social media post and admitted she's eating a full meal in the early hours of the morning. The 51-year-old star took to Instagram and revealed that her body clock was completely messed up due to her recent vacation in Europe. Ana and her husband Al Cardenas spent three weeks in Turkey and Greece before returning to America almost a week ago - but it seems that she's still suffering with the time difference. Recording herself sitting in her kitchen at her home in Miami, Ana told her 737,000 followers: 'I need help! This jet-lag is kicking my butt! I wake up at three in the morning every day. 'I eat like the refrigerator at five in the morning, today I ate mahi mahi and broccolini at four in the morning. I play Word with Friends, then I'm a zombie the rest of the day, I need help!' she pleaded. The View host Ana Navarro has begged fans for help in a candid new social media post The 51-year-old recorded herself in her kitchen and revealed she is suffering with the jet-lag Ana eased herself back into reality by going boating on the weekend with Al and their dog 'You all always know the answers, what's the cure for jet-lag? Because Greece was great, but I'm no longer in Greece!' Ana added, and she was immediately inundated with advice from her fans. 'Give yourself time. Your body is resetting to your Florida life. Allow yourself some grace and self-care,' one person wrote. Another advised: 'Don't sleep during the day!!! And go to bed at about 7 pm and the next day at 8 pm. It will go soon. I had the same when I returned from Turkey,' and a third said: 'Lots of water and vitamins.' Someone else commented: 'No naps. Turn off tv and phone at bedtime. Stay away from fridge in the middle of the night,' and a different fan agreed and wrote: 'Stay awake all day!!! No naps!!' Ana and Al eased themselves back into life in Florida by going boating over the weekend and even took their pet pooch ChaCha with them. The brunette star looked happy and relaxed as she sat onboard wearing a blue and white patterned shirt along with a blue crochet top. Ana completed her look with a pair of oversized sunglasses and appeared to be making the most of her last days off work before The View returns to TV screens on Tuesday, September 5. Posting her official new promo picture for season 27 of the ABC program, the official Instagram page for the show captioned it: '@ananavarrofl is ready to bring it at the #HotTopics table! See you soon!' The View returns to television screens on Tuesday, September 5 for season 27 The political strategist looked very glamorous in a nude-colored ankle length dress as she flaunted her slimmed down figure and posed with her hands on her hips. The other hosts looked incredible too as Sara Haines also showed off her slim physique in a fitted short-sleeved cream dress, while Alyssa Farah Griffin opted for a chic two-piece suit in the same color. Alyssa, 34, wore her hair down in her usual glossy waves and completed her look with a pair of white pointed stilettos and teased that she has 'SO much to catch up on with the ladies!' A group shot of the ladies posing alongside fellow hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, and Sunny Hostin was also shared - and many joked that the women looked like Real Housewives. 'They look like a Housewives Franchise,' one person commented, while another wrote: 'The Real Housewives of The View.' Someone else said: 'This is a great picture,' and another fan commented: 'Wow, strong team, strong women, powerful messages, love it!' Kaz Crossley enjoyed a relaxing holiday in Ibiza as she moved on from her harrowing arrest ordeal in Dubai. Last month, the Love Island star reopened painful wounds as she reflected on being questioned and held in prison in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of drug offences. Yet she appeared in much better spirits on Sunday as she enjoyed a day round the pool at the Jacaranda Lounge. Kaz looked incredible as she showed off her toned figure in a skimpy zebra print bikini that highlighted her ample cleavage and toned bottom. The 28-year-old Love Island star kept her accessories simple with a gold necklace and wore her brunette locks swept up in a topknot. Fun in the sun: Kaz Crossley enjoyed a relaxing holiday in Ibiza on Sunday as she moved on from her harrowing arrest ordeal in Dubai Last month, Kaz opened up about her Dubai imprisonment and revealed it was the 'lowest point of her life'. In 2020, the reality star was filmed without her knowledge, appearing to snort lines of white powder in Dubai by her 'controlling and manipulative' ex-boyfriend. She said it 'destroyed her mental health and career' and she admitted she 'didn't leave the house for three months due to crippling anxiety'. After flying into Abu Dhabi for a work trip following the incident, Kaz was put in jail for a week alongside a new mother and her six-month-old baby. As authorities did not have a translator, Kaz was left confused and frightened about why she was being held in prison. She was only allowed to send a single email to a friend to tell her loved ones she had been imprisoned and was not allowed to take shower. A friend said: 'She's very shaken up, the very worst thoughts were going through her mind. 'You see stories of Brits being banged up for years and years in these countries over drugs issues. 'She didn't have drugs, but she had been associated with someone else police are looking into from a previous trip, and that's why they arrested her.' Beach babe: Kaz looked incredible as she showed off her toned figure in a skimpy zebra print bikini that highlighted her ample cleavage and toned bottom Previously Kaz broke her silence on the matter in February as she spoke her 'own truth' in a short Instagram clip. Dubai has recently liberalised its drugs laws with first-time offenders given a minimum of three months in prison and a fine of between 4,559 and 22,799. Previously, offenders would have faced a minimum of four years in prison for any drug use. After serving jail time, suspects are then deported to their home state - in Kaz's case to the UK - and banned from returning to the UAE. Sentences for drug-trafficking can include the death penalty. Joey King is a married woman. On Saturday the 24-year-old tied the knot with Steven Piet, 32, while on the island of Mallorca in Spain, claimed JustJared. Only their closest family and friends were in attendance, a source told People. This comes a month after she enjoyed a 'Steve-themed' bachelorette party with her friends ahead of her upcoming nuptials with Piet. The Lie actress and her guests dressed up as various well-known 'Steves' for the celebratory occasion. King's bachelorette weekend was hosted in Napa Valley, California, and she's been using social media to document the festivities. She shared video footage of her and her pals in their versions of Steve on Instagram and TikTok. Joey wrote in her Instagram caption to 18.7 million followers, 'I love all my Steve(n)s.' Congratulations: Joey King is a married woman. On Saturday the 24-year-old tied the knot with Steven Piet, 32; seen in August 2022 in LA Man and wife: According to JustJared, they got married in Mallorca, Spain The bride-to-be dressed as her director fiance, donning gray trousers, a short-sleeved maroon shirt, and beige suspenders. The movie star additionally wore a pair of dark-rimmed eyeglasses and she pulled her hair back. Two of her friends arrived as the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, showing up in black turtlenecks and jeans. Someone else dressed up as the beloved, nerdy 90s sitcom character Steve Urkel. Another party guest chose to portray Steve Irwin, while someone else chose to be Steve from Blues Clues. One of the Los Angeles native's friends was an iteration of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. And finally, someone else had the idea to be daredevil Steve-O from MTV's reality series Jack***. An earlier social media post showed Joey and her close friends at Cakebread Cellars. Bride-to-be: King's bachelorette weekend was hosted in Napa Valley, California, in late July Happy couple: The duo will soon become mister and missus One snap showed the Bullet Train star in a white veil and a cream-colored halter neck dress. King met Piet on the set of her hit TV series The Act, and they began dating in September 2019. The 32-year-old filmmaker popped the question in February 2022, which King announced in an Instagram post shortly after. 'I never knew happiness could be so powerful that it can take the air from your lungs, overwhelming every part of you that you cant help but feel your eyes well from the undeniable joy,' she wrote. 'I never knew that a person's presence and heart could feel like a real home,' she added. 'I never knew love could be so unquestionably beautiful. I never knew until you. The date was 2/2/22 when you asked me to marry you and made me the luckiest lady alive,' she noted. 'I love you more than an Instagram caption could ever do justice. Hanging out with you forever sounds like a real dream, so lets do it,' she finished. Joey used Steven's May birthday as another opportunity to express her love for her man. Sharing a slew of photos with Piet, she wrote, 'To the man who, when I lay my eyes on him, makes my breath catch from how lucky I feel that hes mine. 'How does one describe a person like you? I dont fully know. What I do know is that the world became a better place the day you were born. Happy birthday Stevie P. Your love is my happy place.' The post currently has 1.3 million likes from the star's devoted fanbase. Vita Sidorkina looked glowing as she displayed her growing bump in a black bikini on a family getaway in Mexico on Monday. The Victoria's Secret model, 29, showcased her bump in a gorgeous strappy two-piece while she walked bare-foot in the sand. The Russian model, who has been enjoying a relaxing babymoon on the sunny island, spent the day soaking up the sun with her family. Vita, who is expecting her second daughter with her husband Valerio Morabito, 49, looked stylish in her beach ensemble. The blonde beauty also shares eldest daughter Allegra with her Italian movie producer husband. Stunning: Vita Sidorkina looked glowing as she displayed her growing bump in a black bikini on a family getaway in Mexico on Monday Chic: The Victoria's Secret model, 29, showcased her nearly full-term bump in a gorgeous strappy two-piece She later took to Instagram to share a sweet selfie, with her bump on show, to her 863K followers, captioning: 'Baby and I are loving this Tulum life.' The mother-of-one, who is 28-weeks-pregnant, wore a dainty necklace with a 'V' initial and sported gold aviator sunglasses. The star has been enjoying some quality time with her family and her parents over in Mexico before she enters her third trimester and is unable to fly. Taking to Instagram, Vita shared some gorgeous pictures of the family getaway as she cosied up to her husband in snaps. She captioned the post: 'A recap of our spontaneous trip to Mexico with my family so I could see them before the birth of my second baby. 'This trip to Mexico revealed a different side to me. Firstly, I haven't gotten food poisoning like on my previous trips - that's truly an achievement. 'Secondly, I always thought of it as a party place and not a family-friendly vacation destination! I was completely wrong - there are so many family-friendly places to visit and activities to do with kids 'I'll save story highlights with a recap of this trip and the places we visited 10/10.' Having fun: The Russian model, who has been enjoying a relaxing babymoon on the sunny island, spent the day soaking up the sun with her family Glowing: She later took to Instagram to share a sweet selfie, with her bump on show, to her 863K followers, captioning: 'Baby and I are loving this Tulum life' Happy couple: Vita shared some gorgeous pictures of the family getaway as she cosied up to her husband in snaps Stunning: The expectant mother flaunted her fabulous figure as she donned a beige strapless bikini as she laughed in the photo Wow: Vita looked to be enjoying her day at the beach as she wowed in a one shoulder dark green swimsuit which showcased her pregnancy curves Family: Vita enjoyed some time with her family and parents in Mexico as she snapped a pic of her daughter and mum In another snap the expectant mother flaunted her fabulous figure as she donned a beige strapless bikini and laughed in the photo. Vita and her husband announced back in May that they were expecting their second child and were overjoyed that Allegra would have the chance to be a big sister. The couple tied the knot back in 2017 when Vita was 23 in a lavish ceremony at the Ravello Cathedral on Italy's Amalfi Coast. Spending quality time with her mother, Vita posed in a gorgeous snap with her mum who placed a hand on her daughter's bump. She wrote 'Sunset walk together with mama'. The star has been keeping her 858,000 followers up to date with her pregnancy over on her social media with a series of bump update posts as well as style suggestions on how to dress your bump. Sydney Sweeney and her fiance Jonathan Davino enjoyed a double date with Lili Reinhart and her beau Jack Martin in Venice, Italy. The couples were spotted with huge smiles on their faces as they returned to their boat on Sunday evening. Sydney, 25, looked oh-so in love as she held hands with her beaming fiance. The Euphoria actress wowed in a leggy LBD with sheer accent and pleated skirt. Her blonde locks were styled down glossy and sleek with a black headband accessorizing the look. Sydney had a chic chain purse slung over her shoulder and rocked a classic French tip manicure, perfect slick of eyeliner, and touch of blush. Double trouble! Sydney Sweeney and her fiance Jonathan Davino enjoyed a double date with Lili Reinhart and her beau Jack Martin in Venice, Italy on Sunday Looking good! Lili, 26, and her beau, 26, also looked equally enchanted with one another as they headed out, hand in hand Her partner was also wearing all black, looking smart in a casual T-shirt, slacks, and glossy shoes. Lili, 26, and her beau, 26, also looked equally enchanted with one another as they headed out, hand in hand. The couple were both smiling as they headed to their boat several paces ahead of their friends. Lili displayed her eye for style in a fitted black halter dress with a red necklace and her hair styled back into braids. She carried a glossy leather purse and had her feet slipped into heels. The Riverdale star rocked earrings, a silver bracelet, and touch of makeup. Both Lili and Sydney were assisted by their partners as they climbed into their awaiting boat. Months after they sparked dating rumours, Jack went Instagram official with Lili in a slew of Instagram snaps shared in July. Jack has a huge following on social media, in particular, TikTok, where he has over 50 million likes. Star-studded! The power couples headed towards their boat So in love! Reinhart's romance with the TikToker was confirmed last month Lead the way! Jack and Lili strolled several paces ahead of Sydney and Jonathan All aboard! Jack assisted his lady love as she stepped onto the boat The double date occurred during the 2023 Venice Film Festival. While the Venice Film Festival usually attracts the biggest names in Hollywood, stars have been shunning the do this year because the SAG-AFTRA strikes has prevented them from promoting their work there. Since July 17, Hollywood has ground to a halt as members of the SAG-AFTRA union joined the Writers Guild Of America in going on strike over growing concerns of the use of artificial intelligence and streaming residuals. According to Variety, a select list of films premiering at Venice have obtained SAG-AFTRA interim waivers since they are independent productions that have not been produced by AMPTP members. The ongoing SAG-AFTRA Strike, which enters its 43rd day of protests, have seen many well-known actors showing solidarity with striking actors by doing one (or several) of the following actions: issuing statements of support of the strikes; joining picket lines in LA, New York City; and donating/handing out water bottles and/or food to the picketers. Too cute! The couple beamed brightly Matching! Lili and her beau wore matching black for their night on the town Right this way! Jonathan also helped his fiancee as she climbed onto the boat Superstars: The duo are in town during the Venice Film Festival Fashionistas: Both Sydney and Lili have been attending various fashion events in town Stunning: The White Lotus star wore a flirty LBD and matching headband PDA! The couple held hands as they made their way about town Among the well-known names who took part in the picket lines in either Los Angeles or New York City include Jason Sudeikis, Susan Sarandon, Vanessa Hudgens, Mandy Moore, Logan Lerman, America Ferrera, and Josh Gad, to name a few. While there has been little movement in talks between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA, discussions with the WGA appear to have reached a stalemate. The sides have not met since August 18 when the AMPTP rejected a counter-offer from the WGA, and since then there's been no move to resume talks. SAG-AFTRA told members in an email that the negotiating committee is ready to return to the table 'at a moment's notice,' but so far there has been little progress. Alessandra Ambrosio has been seen solo a lot lately. That is because DailyMail.com has learned she is on a break from her 41-year-old model boyfriend Richard Lee. 'They have not been spending much time together this summer,' a source tells DailyMail.com. 'She has been with pals and kids, and he has been working so they have drifted apart and have not been dating for a while.' The insider added that there is a chance they may get back together. 'She has always been really fond of him so maybe they will work it out, but who knows?' it was added. 'They have been apart for months now, so it's not likely.' Over: Alessandra Ambrosio has been seen solo a lot lately. That is because DailyMail.com has learned she is on a break from her 41-year-old model boyfriend Richard Lee A year ago: Ambrosio shows some PDA to Lee while playing volleyball with friends in Santa Monica in May 2022 DailyMail.com has reached out to her rep for comment. He was not with her in Ibiza this summer and he did not appear to attend the 15th birthday party of her daughter Anja last month. The last time Alessandra and Richard were photographed together was in mid June in Santa Monica, California as they were on the beach together playing volleyball. They seemed more like friends than lovers in the photos. The last time he appeared on her Instagram page was in January when they were in Utah. And the last time she was on his Instagram page was in January as well. They were on vacation at the Montage Deer Valley ski resort in Park City with her family. Alessandra and Richard started dating in January 2021. The star has two children - Anja and Noah - with her ex Jamie Mazur whom she split from in 2018 after 10 years together. She was also romantically linked to Nicol Oddi from 2018 until 2020. Not together: 'They have not been spending much time together this summer,' a source tells DailyMail.com. 'She has been with pals and kids, and he has been working so they have drifted a part and have not been dating for a while' The way they were: The insider added that there is a chance they may get back together Round two? 'She has always been really fond of him so maybe they will work it out, but who knows,' it was added. 'They have been apart for months now, so it's not likely' Last Instagram was from January 2023: They were together in Utah at the Montage Alessandra - born Alessandra Corine Ambrosio - is a Brazilian model. She is known for her work with Victoria's Secret and was chosen as the first spokesmodel for the company's PINK line. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2004 to 2017 and has modeled for fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Next. Over four years ago she launched her own swimwear line GAL Floripa. Alessandra with Gisele Coria and sister Aline Ambrosio, joined forces to conceive an 'authentic and personal project': a lifestyle brand with purpose to inspire women to embrace their femininity with a 'holistic approach,' it says on the company's website. Her mini me kid: Lee did not seem to be at Anja's 15th birthday party last month A party summer: Anja and mom on vacation together on a kayak Meaningfully named GAL Floripa, symbolizing the synergy between Gisele + Alessandra + Aline and the location where it was created and inspired by, Floripa. 'Growing up in Brazil, Gisele, Aline and I spent most of our summers together by the beach, immersed in the natural beauty of Florianopolis, known as The Magic Island, and spending almost every moment of the day in our swimwear,' said Alessandra. 'It makes sense that swimwear became like a second skin. 'With that knowledge and experience, the partners designs, by women for women, highlight their understanding of how swimwear effortlessly enhances a womans feminine figure and curved lines paying special attention to fabric, contour, color, cut and detailing. 'The spirit of GAL Floripa is aligned with Mother Natures essence; its many rhythms and flows, mysteries and magnificence, as well as connection of its elements with womens lives.' Addison Rae is back in a bikini. The star, who first found fame on TikTok, shared two new images in the skimpy swimsuit in a post to Instagram on Monday, which was also Labor Day. Addison posted the snaps for her 33.4M followers. There were also images of a tropical vacation destination. 'An apple a day..' wrote Rae in her caption as she put a green apple to her mouth. Denise Richards' daughter with Charlie Sheen - Lola Sheen - hit the like button as did Reese Witherspoon's daughter Ava Phillippe. Last month Addison had a new album out. The 22-year-old released 2 Die 4 and has taken to social media to spread the word. The siren posted several images taken by Vogue shutterbug Ellen Von Unwerth. Add-a girl: Addison Rae is back in her bikini. The star, who first found fame on TikTok, shared two new images in the skimpy swimsuit in a post to Instagram on Monday, which was also Labor Day Apple queen: Addison posted the snaps for her 33.4M followers. There were also images of a tropical vacation destination. 'An apple a day..' wrote Rae in her caption as Denise Richards ' daughter with Charlie Sheen - Lola Sheen - hit the like button She was seen in a bra top with frilly little miniskirt that highlighted her toned figure. The star also thanked fans for their support as she releases the new tunes that were leaked earlier this year. 'So much love and gratitude. Cant help but get emotional. you are ALLLLL 2 die 4,' wrote the He's All That star. And she added: 'AR out now. 'Before I can move on to my next chapter in music, heres a little sign off to my previous one,' she noted in another post. 'A few of you may have heard these songs after they were unfortunately leaked last year.. but if you loved them, now you can listen to them on all streaming platforms!!! Ahhh!! 'If you havent heard them, I hope you take a listen and they make you dance!! 'I love you all so much. And I love these songs. Thank you to everyone who has been so excited about these and has supported me so much!! 'And thank you to all of the writers/producers/engineers/everyone who were a part of creating and finishing this little time capsule & helping to get it out in the world (officially). 'Time to turn the page now. Stay tuned. Itll be worth the wait. <3.' This comes after she was seen in a blue denim bikini top that made the most of her figure. The actress added very short Daisy Duke shorts that matched. 2 fun: Rae has a new album out. The 22-year-old TikTok star released 2 Die 4 and has taken to social media to spread the word The frill of it all: She was seen in a bra top with frilly little miniskirt that highlighted her toned figure. The star also thanked fans for their support as she releases the new tunes that were leaked earlier this year Her prop was a red cherry that she positioned in her mouth just so as if she was going to take a bite out of it. The Louisiana native shared two different photos from the same set up. This comes after the close pal of Kourtney Kardashian was seen on vacation in Hawaii where she modeled swimwear for her followers. In July she was seen with Kourtney Kardashian in a series of cheeky photos. In the poolside snaps, The Kardashians reality star, 44, showed off her blossoming baby bump in a hot pink string bikini, and the TikTok personality modeled a matching set. The Poosh founder who is currently expecting her first child with her husband, Travis Barker captioned her post simply with an array of pink emojis. In one photo, the entrepreneur had her hands in her raven black, chin-length bob and held her hair back while pouting sultrily at the camera. At her side, the actress feigned a dramatic expression of shock as she gently touched the expecting mother's baby bump. In a similar photo, Kourtney turned to the side to show off a better angle of growing bump and curvy figure. While facing forward, Addison posed with her hands on her hips and her face in a relaxed expression. Sun goddess: Rae was enjoying some down time last week in a blue bikini that made the most of her figure Another image part of the carousel showed Kourtney and Addison at a different angle underneath the lavish pool shade in front of a flat screen television and bar. Once again, the reality TV personality turned to her side and cradled her baby bump with both of her hands. She threw her hair back with her mouth slightly ajar in the typical model expression. In the same photo, Addison leaned towards the camera and scrunched up her face while pointing to her lips with her finger. More visible in the photo, the social media sensation was seen wearing a white oversized scrunchie made up of doily lace on her wrist. Later, the dynamic duo appeared to have moved to the pool to take a solo picture in which Kourtney was seen laying to the side and lounging atop towels on a daybed. Matching bikinis: in July she was seen with Kourtney Kardashian in a series of cheeky photos. In the poolside snaps, The Kardashians reality star, 44, showed off her blossoming baby bump in a hot pink string bikini Unlike the other snaps as part of the photo series, she shielded her face from the sun with a Prada denim wide-brimmed hat as well as a pair of rectangular shades. Both of the socialites left their hair down for their relaxing day by the pool. To showcase their radiant skin after a day of sunbathing, Kourtney and Addison appeared to be sporting makeup-free looks. Previously, the eldest sister of the Kardashian-Jenner clan started becoming close friends with Addison after they met through Kourtney's son, Mason Disick, 13, in 2020. Because Kourtney's eldest child whom she shares with her ex-boyfriend, Scott Disick was particularly interested in TikTok at the time and was a fan of Addison, they met up to make a video together. Since then, Kourtney and Addison became close friends despite their age gap which became a questionable concern on past episodes of the family's hit Hulu series. The gal pals were inseparable for the majority of 2020 and 2021 to the point that Kourtney even made a cameo in Addison's film debut, He's All That, and they even modeled for Kim Kardashian's clothing line SKIMS together. Since Kourtney started her romance with the Blink-182 drummer and has been busy keeping up with her family, however, the two have been spotted together less in the past two years. The last time Kourtney and Addison were publicly spotted hanging out was in a photo shared by the official social media page of Poosh in March. The duo flaunted their friendship in a series of stunning photos posing for Kourtney's beauty and wellness brand. The caption of the cute snaps referenced the hit Max anthology series, The White Lotus: 'Looking for the Mia to your Lucia?' With their cute friendship snaps, they also encouraged other people to get out there and make new friends: 'Poosh the link in our bio for tips on making friends as an adult.' Kim Kardashian posted an adorable series of photos with her daughter, North, on Monday. The reality TV personality, 42, took to Instagram to share some snaps of herself enjoying ramen with her 10-year-old daughter from their trip to Tokyo, Japan. In a sweet post simply captioned with a bowl of noodles and a white heart emoji, she was seen posing with her eldest child as they dined at a restaurant. She also shared a photo of her and North making kissing faces with their arms wrapped around each other in a cute mother-daughter moment. A third photo in the carousel showed the SKIMS founder who recently sparked concern over her very slender frame in a solo shot while enjoying her meal. Mother-daughter moment: Kim Kardashian posted an adorable series of photos with her daughter, North, on Monday In the photos, The Kardashians star put on a glamorous display in a brown, snakeskin corset top teamed with a pair of similarly textured, black bottoms. For their mother-daughter date, she left her raven black tresses down and opted for a light makeup look. She looked radiant with long, wispy eyelashes, peach blush, and a nude pink pout to complete her look. She was effortlessly stylish as she had also appeared to have forgone any jewelry. At her side, North sported an oversized Los Angeles Kings jersey with large star-shaped statement earrings. She had braided her half-pink hair at the crown of her head in two chic pigtails. Recently, Kim has been keeping her 364 million followers on Instagram well-updated as she enjoys a mother-daughter getaway to Japan. She had shared multiple photos of North with one of her best friends having fun together on vacation. Sweet snaps: The reality TV personality, 42, took to Instagram to share some snaps of herself enjoying ramen with her 10-year-old daughter from their trip to Tokyo, Japan Grabbing a bite: A third photo in the carousel showed the SKIMS founder who recently sparked concern over her very slender frame in a solo shot while enjoying her meal. Late summer getaway: Recently, Kim has been keeping her 364 million followers on Instagram well-updated as she enjoys a mother-daughter getaway to Japan. She had shared multiple photos of North with one of her best friends having fun together on vacation Her ex: As Kim continues to enjoy her getaway with North, she is reportedly ' desperately embarrassed and worried ' by her ex-husband, Kanye West. Recently, the father of her children has been gallivanting around Italy with his scantily-clad 'wife' Bianca Censori As Kim continues to enjoy her getaway with North, she is reportedly 'desperately embarrassed and worried' by her ex-husband, Kanye West. Recently, the father of her children has been gallivanting around Italy with his scantily-clad 'wife' Bianca Censori. The pair have sparked outrage from locals for their indecent exposure in the conservative, Catholic country. Kim and Kanye share daughters North and Chicago, five, as well as sons Saint, seven, and Psalm, four. It's become common for major musicians to sell off their publishing rights or master recordings to corporations in exchange for massive payoffs. But Diddy has surprisingly bucked the trend of selling out by instead helping out the artists who were signed to his Bad Boy Records label. The 53-year-old rapper-turned-mogul (real name: Sean Combs) is now returning publishing rights previously held by the label to the original artists, according to TMZ. The move to help out artists who worked for him comes shortly after Diddy donated $2 million to Black initiatives at Invest Fest and the Jackson State University Development Fund late last month. According to sources family with the matter, Diddy isn't just giving back the rights, but he's turning down offers worth potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to do so. Giving back: Diddy, 53, has returned publishing rights held by Bad Boy Records to the rapper Ma$e, and sources tell TMZ that he will be giving more artists with the label their publishing rights back; seen in 2019 in Virginia Cam'ron seemed to reveal part of the arrangement in an Instagram post from last week. He wrote that his friend Ma$e, a former artist for Bad Boy, had 'got his publishing back from Puff' and 'just finished the paper work for that yesterday. 'Congrats @rsvpmase while he getting his music back in order,' he added. However, sources claim that Ma$e is only one of several former Bad Boy artists who will be able to reclaim their publishing rights. Bad Boy Records' most famous artist was undoubtedly the Notorious B.I.G., who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1997. Biggie (real name: Christopher Wallace) was good friends with Diddy, who paid tribute to him after his death. Now the late rapper's estate will reportedly be able to take back some of his publishing rights after signing a deal with the label. Others reportedly benefiting from the arrangement include Faith Evans, The Lox, 112 and others. Because Diddy own all of their publishing rights, he would have been able to see it off after he was reportedly approached for a massive nine-figure deal, but now he appears to be letting the original artists take charge of their music again. Of course, several of them have hits of their own and other popular songs, so they may not be able to make smaller deals to sell off their rights for lump sums. Sources claim that Diddy wants to 'revolutionize' the music industry, which has been moving toward consolidation in recent years, with large corporations and hedge funds taking control from artists and smaller record labels. Big news: Cam'ron announced last week that Ma$e had signed a deal to get his publishing rights back Turned down a payday: Diddy reportedly turned down an offer worth hundreds of millions to sell the publishing rights for Bad Boy Records' artists, but instead he's returning them to many of his former acts; seen in 2019 in LA Better late than never: The estate of the late Notorious B.I.G. is among the entities that have reported signed a deal to get his publishing rights back; seen in 1995 in NYC Taking control: Faith Evans (pictured in 2019) has also reportedly gotten her publishing back. The move comes as hedge funds are trying to buy up as many songwriting catalogues as possible That trend is partly responsible for the shrinking earnings many professional musicians are seeing, even seemingly successful artists, though the changing nature of music purchase and consumer habits also has made music less lucrative over time. However, Diddy's move to return publishing rights to his former artists could be a major boost to their bottom lines. Sources compared the move to his recent string of charitable donations. They added that he hopes that other executives and record labels will follow suit. However, trends have been for labels and companies to take more money and control from artists over time, so it may be hard to counteract all that inertia. Lee Jong-ho, CEO of Tmap Mobility, speaks during a press conference at SKT Tower in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Tmap Mobility By Baek Byung-yeul Tmap Mobility revamped its navigation app, Tmap, to offer a wider array of services ranging from searching for public transportation routes to booking restaurants and hotels in order to offer enhanced customer experience, its CEO said Monday. "Today, we're releasing version 10.0 of Tmap and embarking on a new journey. We offer an all-new personalized and integrated Tmap service powered by AI technology," Lee Jong-ho, CEO of the company, said during a press conference in Seoul. The CEO said the revamped Tmap focuses on offering integrated and personalized services. "We've integrated public transportation services that used to be separate, allowing users to compare different types of transportation. If you are traveling to Incheon International Airport, you can easily book an airport bus on Tmap," he said. Tmap Mobility is also expanding its services to what it calls mobility life area, which includes searching for places and making restaurant and accommodation reservations. "You can also rent a car and make restaurant and hotel reservations using Tmap. All of these changes are made possible by Tmap's unrivaled data competitiveness and AI technology," the CEO said. Jung Min-gyoo, chief technical officer at Tmap Mobility, said, "Tmap's data is a unique asset for integration and personalization." Jung added that the company will offer enhanced services based on its data to further solidify its position as the most popular navigation app in Korea. "We will use data and AI to deliver personalized and contextualized user experiences across all areas of mobility," the CTO said. He also said Tmap uses AI to learn data such as user information, activities and driving habits to offer personalized services by matching interests and situations. The company will also utilize large-language models to provide more customized venue recommendations and traffic predictions. The company is also strengthening its collaboration with automakers such as Mercedes-Benz. Magnus Ostberg, chief software officer of Mercedes-Benz, emphasized close collaboration in a video message. Rita Ora is 'horrified' after making an awkward mistake about her husband Taika Waititi's ethnicity during an episode of The Voice Australia. The British pop star, 32, was trying to persuade a contestant from Christchurch that he should join her team because she was 'married to half a Samoan man'. However, her husband, celebrated Maori filmmaker Taika Waititi, has never identified as Samoan, Stuff reported. According to New Idea, Rita is 'completely horrified' that viewers think she confused her husband's identity. 'She's completely horrified that people think she screwed up Taika's family heritage,' the source claimed. Rita Ora is 'completely horrified' after mistaking husband Taika Waititi's ethnicity and calling the Maori filmmaker 'half a Samoan' The source added that Rita 'is so worried about disappointing' Taika as the couple begin their married life together. During the episode which aired last week, Rita who is on the judging panel alongside Guy Sebastian, Jason Derulo and Jessica Mauboy, was trying to convince Marley Sola from Christchurch that he should join her team. Marley was discussing his background with Derulo, revealing his connection to the Samoan Seventh Day Adventist Church and his part-Samoan heritage. Derulo also pointed out his own Samoan tattoos and mentioned a Samoan security guard. It was at this point that Ora chimed in, 'I'm married to half a Samoan man, so...' During an episode of The Voice, the British pop star was trying to persuade a contestant from Christchurch that he should join her team because she was 'married to half a Samoan man' Marley (pictured) was discussing his background with Jason Derulo, revealing his connection to the Samoan Seventh Day Adventist Church and his part-Samoan heritage However, eagle-eyed viewers were quick to notice that Ora seemed to have gotten her information mixed. In fact, his heritage is a mix of Maori, Russian Jewish, Irish, and French Canadian roots. He often refers to himself as a 'Polynesian Jew,' celebrating his diverse lineage. It seems Ora likely meant to use the term 'Polynesian,' which encompasses various indigenous peoples of the Polynesian region, rather than 'Samoan,' which specifically refers to the indigenous population of the Samoan islands. Controversial director Woody Allen was booed by critics as he arrived at the screening for his film Coup De Chance with his family on Monday evening. The filmmaker, 87, was supported by his wife Soon-Yi Previn and their adopted daughters Manzie Tio, 23, and Bechet, 24, at the premiere of his film, which was screened out of competition at the 80th annual Venice Film Festival. Allen, 87, was hand-in-hand with Previn, 52, as they arrived at the Venice Lido ahead of its first official screening, but the applause was overshadowed by booing from those opposed to his presence over allegations that he sexually assaulted his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, which he vehemently denies. Soon-Yi is the adopted daughter of Woody's ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow. Mia and Woody had been together since 1979, but that all changed 13 years later when Woody, then 55, and Soon-Yi, then 21, were caught having an affair. Side by side: Controversial director Woody Allen was booed by critics as he arrived at the screening for his film Coup De Chance with his family on Monday evening In attendance: The filmmaker, 87, was supported by his wife Soon-Yi Previn and their adopted daughters Manzie Tio, 23, and Bechet, 24, at the premiere of his film (L-R Woody Allen, Soon-Yi Previn, Bechet Allen and Manzie Tio Allen) Dapper: The American director looked appropriately smart in a black dinner suit, white dress shirt and bow tie as he greeted photographers Woody and Soon-Yi share two adopted daughters Bechet, 23, and Manzie, 22. The American director wore a black dinner suit, white dress shirt and bow tie as he greeted photographers alongside his wife, who opted for an elegant evening dress. Appearing at a press conference earlier that day, Allen admitted he has been 'very lucky my whole life' and 'not been held accountable for things I did poorly' in his work. The four-time Oscar winner has become a divisive figure in Hollywood in recent years, with many of the stars of his films distancing themselves from him following a renewed focus on allegations that he sexually assaulted Dylan, his adoptive child with former partner Mia Farrow. However, Allen said he has been blessed by good fortune throughout his life and career. Speaking at a press conference for his new film Coup De Chance at the Venice Film Festival, where it is screening out of competition, he told reporters: 'I've been very, very lucky; lucky my whole life really. 'I had two loving parents, I have good friends. I have a wonderful wife and marriage, two children. 'In a few months I'll be 88 years old. I've never been in hospital. I've never had anything terrible happen to me. I've been very, very lucky my whole life. 'When I started making films, all the people chose to emphasise what I was able to do well, and to not hold me accountable for the things that I did poorly. They were very generous to me. 'And I've been very lucky with my filmmaking. And I've had, over my lifetime, much undeserved praise and an enormous amount of attention and respect. Opening up: Appearing at a press conference earlier that day, Allen admitted he has been 'very lucky my whole life' and 'not been held accountable for things I did poorly' Say cheese: The family gathered as they posed for photos in Venice on Monday evening Greetings: Allen posed for photographers after arriving at the Venice Lido on Monday evening Iconic: The director is best known for films such as 1977's Annie Hall, 1979's Manhattan, 1986's Hannah And Her Sisters and Crimes And Misdemeanors from 1989 Family: (L-R) Woody Allen, Soon-Yi Previn and their adopted daughters Manzie Tio Allen and Bechet Allen on the red carpet 'And so I have nothing but good fortune, and I hope it holds out of course, it's early this afternoon. 'So far I've been very lucky.' Coup de Chance is a 'sophisticated affair' that fits in the classic Allen mould - a light-hearted dissection of love and infidelity with a beautiful woman at its centre. It is the story of a bond between two young people, which leads to marital infidelity and ultimately crime. Coup de Chance (Stroke of Luck), is his first film entirely in French - reflecting the fact that the director is now more popular in Europe than the United States. Allen has been effectively blackballed by Hollywood since the #MeToo movement due to allegations he molested his adopted daughter in the 1990s, which he said were fabricated by his ex-partner Mia. Allen is best known for films such as 1977's Annie Hall, 1979's Manhattan, 1986's Hannah And Her Sisters and Crimes And Misdemeanors from 1989. In 2020, Allen hit back at Hollywood stars who denounced him, saying it is 'like everybody suddenly eating kale'. Stars such as Mira Sorvino, Greta Gerwig, Colin Firth and Rebecca Hall are among the names who distanced themselves from the director, having previously worked with him. He has gone from becoming one of the most important living directors to struggling to secure financing for his films in the US. His latest film is his first in French and was filmed in Paris, starring Lou de Laage and Valerie Lemercier. Ashley Tisdale is being sued over a car crash she allegedly caused in 2022. The High School Musical star - who recently celebrated her 38th birthday - is being taken to court by a woman named Lina Gonzales, who claims she suffered injuries from the accident, which occurred on Hollywood Blvd last September, as per TMZ. Gonzales states that because of the crash she has 'suffered wage loss, medical expenses and loss of love and protection' and is now seeking damages. Her attorney, Michael R. Parker, told the publication that following the crash Gonzales claims Tisdale 'called her names' and 'made a big fuss about the situation.' Parker explained the accident took place as Gonzales was waiting to make a left turn in the left lane. However, while Gonzales was waiting Tisdale allegedly changed lanes and collided with her. DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Tisdale. Legal woes: Ashley Tisdale is being sued over a car crash she allegedly caused in 2022 on Hollywood Blvd; She is pictured March, 2023 Parker claims that the accident caused his client 'severe neck and back injuries' and that she is facing around $140k in medical expenses. The attorney said he made a $600k demand to Tisdale but because it was rejected they have proceeded to take the matter to court. Meanwhile a representative for Tisdale told the publication 'there was no aggressiveness or words exchanged' following the crash and that the two exchanged information and moved on. This is not the first car drama the actress has dealt with. In 2019 she took to Twitter and accused filmmaker Kevin Smith of damaging her car in a minor accident and then driving off without so much as an apology. The two lived in the same neighborhood in the highly coveted and beautiful Hollywood Hills at the time. 'Thanks @ThatKevinSmith for scratching my mirror on my car and not stopping. Classy move neighbor!' she wrote. A few hours later, the Clerks director tweeted back an apology and explanation. Latest: The High School Musical star, 38, is being taken to court by a woman claiming she has 'suffered wage loss and medical expenses' due to the collision; Tisdale seen driving in 2007 Yikes: The alleged victim claims that following the crash Tisdale 'called her names' and 'made a big fuss about the situation'; Tisdale pictured in 2019 Recollections may vary: Meanwhile a representative for Tisdale told the publication 'there was no aggressiveness or words exchanged' following the collision; Tisdale seen in 2023 'Apologies - I drive like Cruella de Vil in the Hills! However I did do a courtesy stop. Then when you pulled away first, I was like 'That's soooo Sharpay...' The actress seemed to buy his story and shot back: 'HA! Apology accepted.' The two later rectified the situation in a face-to-face meeting as Kevin Tweeted that Ashley came by his house and apologized. The lawsuit comes after Tisdale recently enjoyed a birthday celebration. Tisdale offered her fans a beachy photo carousel and some life advice after turning 38 in July. The former Disney star showed off her trim torso in a black one piece bathing suit and white unbuttoned shorts. 'This last year has had so many unbelievable moments,' the MTV Movie Award winner began. 'Things Ive dreamt up but never thought was possible.' 'Here is what I learned thus far. Manifestation is real, being present is most important, hard work pays off, being authentic takes learning about yourself and that takes time, being there for others goes such a long way, and when life surprises you and it gets hard learn the lesson and rise above! 38 and life is great ' Birthday gal: The lawsuit comes after Tisdale celebrated her 38th birthday in July Family: The High School Musical star celebrated the big day in New York with her husband, Christopher French, 41, and their daughter Jupiter, two Claim to fame: Tisdale shot to fame when she landed the role of Sharpay Evans in the fan-beloved High School Musical film series, from 2006 until 2008; Seen in 2006 promo shot The High School Musical star celebrated the big day in New York with her husband, Christopher French, 41, and their daughter Jupiter, two. The couple have been married since 2014. Tisdale came to prominence as Maddie Fitzpatrick in the Disney Channel teen sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, which ran from 2005 until 2008. She then landed the role of Sharpay Evans in the fan-beloved High School Musical film series, from 2006 until 2008. Jacob Elordi towered over almost everyone at the premiere of Priscilla on the weekend. The six foot five Aussie hunk, 26, was attending the film's launch at the Venice Film Festival and looked dapper on the red carpet in a chic black suit. The Euphoria actor ranged far beyond his Priscilla co-star Cailee Spaeny, 25, who sparkled in a white dress with bejewelled shoulders. Director Sophia Coppola and subject of the biopic Priscilla Presley were also present and likewise looked tiny next to the lofty Jacob. There were some doubts whether the actor and his compatriots would even be allowed to walk the red carpet at the film festival due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Jacob Elordi (pictured left) towered over almost everyone at the premiere of the biopic Priscilla on the weekend. The Euphoria actor ranged far beyond his Priscilla co-star Cailee Spaeny (pictured right), 25, who sparkled in a white dress with bejewelled shoulders Director Sophia Coppola (pictured right) was also present and likewise looked tiny next to the lofty Jacob The red carpet lineup had been announced in late July, just weeks after actors union went on strike, with one of the provisions of the strike being that no actor can promote any of their films made by a struck company The lineup had been announced in late July, just weeks after actors union went on strike, with one of the provisions of the strike being that no actor can promote any of their films made by a struck company. However, Priscilla has landed a SAG-AFTRA Interim agreement, according to Deadline, which would allow Elordi and co-stars to attend the world premiere screening at the 80th Venice Film Festival. Priscilla was produced by A24 - which is not a part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and has gotten interim agreements for two other films during the strike. However, Priscilla has landed a SAG-AFTRA Interim agreement, according to Deadline, which would allow Elordi and co-stars to attend the world premiere screening at the 80th Venice Film Festival The film's agreement has more to do with the fact that it was filmed in Canada under the TCB Productions Canada banner, than its affiliation with A24. Shortly after the actors portion of the strike launched on July 12, SAG-AFTRA issued waivers for 39 productions, including two A24 films: Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel, and Death of a Unicorn, starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega. The waivers raised eyebrows among many, since it included other films from A-listers such as Matthew McConaughey, Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson, as some questioned whether these waivers went against the spirit of the strike itself. Shortly after the actors portion of the strike launched on July 12, SAG-AFTRA issued waivers for 39 productions, including two A24 films: Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel, and Death of a Unicorn, starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega A month later, SAG-AFTRA modified the waivers, stating they would exclude any projects shot in the United States, therefore opening it up to include projects that weren't filmed in the U.S. Since the film was shot in Toronto, it qualifies for a waiver, which would allow Elordi, who plays Elvis Presley, and Spaeny, who plays Priscilla Presley, to attend the premiere. The film follows a teenage Priscilla Presley as she meets Elvis Presley at a party in Germany, following their friendship through their eventual courtship and then marriage. Priscilla also stars Raine Monroe Boland, Emily Mitchell, Dagmara Dominczyk, Jorja Cadence, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll and Luke Humphrey. The Kardashians producer-star Khloe Kardashian and her five-year-old daughter True Thompson enjoyed a pizza-making cooking class with their family during a lavish vacation to Italy last month. The 39-year-old Calabasas socialite and her kindergartner were joined at the class by momager Kris Jenner, half-sister Kylie Jenner and her daughter Stormi Webster, as well as family friends Harry Hudson and Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger. Hilariously, Khloe flaunted her shrinking 5ft10in figure in a sheer leopard-print gown, which exposed her panties during the class. Each small pizza appeared to be topped with marinara sauce, grated mozzarella cheese, and green basil leaves. The Kardashian-Jenner clan got glam to prepare the pizza, but they were dressed down when they mixed the pizza dough earlier that day while clad in personalized aprons. Cute moment: The Kardashians producer-star Khloe Kardashian and her five-year-old daughter True Thompson enjoyed a pizza-making cooking class with their family during a lavish vacation to Italy last month The cooking class must have actually taken place around August 20 as Kylie previously posted snaps of the process on her Instagram account. It was Kris who shared the never-before-seen cooking snaps in a slideshow on her Instagram account last Friday, which she captioned: 'Italy never tasted so good!' Not only did the Keeping Up with the Kardashians alums make pizza in the fancy kitchen, they also created their own pasta as an experienced chef supervised. Eight years ago, the Good American co-founder - who hosted Cooking With KoKo on her now-defunct app khloewithak.com - got into a mini-scandal for her efforts in the kitchen. On Thanksgiving 2015, Khloe claimed to have baked three pies (pecan, pumpkin, and cherry) from scratch - all of which turned out to have been purchased from the bakery Sweet Lady Jane. After being exposed by TMZ a week later, Kardashian tweeted her outrage: 'Petty motherf***ers! I have real s*** going on in my life. Try not to choke on my n**s. You're sucking them pretty hard.' The Celebrity Apprentice 2 alum mothered little True and 13-month-old son Tatum from her on/off relationship with Los Angeles Lakers center Tristan Thompson, which ended in 2021 after numerous cheating scandals. Khloe and the Canadian 32-year-old reportedly still have two more frozen embryos - a boy and a girl - in the bank, so to speak. Pass the toppings! The 39-year-old Calabasas socialite and her kindergartner were joined at the class by momager Kris Jenner (2-R), half-sister Kylie Jenner and her daughter Stormi Webster (L), as well as family friends Harry Hudson (2-L) and Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger (R) Casual: Hilariously, Khloe flaunted her shrinking 5ft10in figure in a sheer leopard-print gown, which exposed her panties during the class Ready for the oven! Each small pizza appeared to be topped with marinara sauce, grated mozzarella cheese, and green basil leaves Flour and eggs! The Kardashian-Jenner clan got glam to prepare the pizza, but they were dressed down when they mixed the pizza dough earlier that day while clad in personalized aprons Throwback! The cooking class must have actually taken place around August 20 as Kylie previously posted snaps of the process on her Instagram account It was Kris who shared the never-before-seen cooking snaps in a slideshow on her Instagram account last Friday, which she captioned: 'Italy never tasted so good!' Crank it! Not only did the Keeping Up with the Kardashians alums make pizza in the fancy kitchen, they also created their own pasta as an experienced chef supervised Eight years ago! The Good American co-founder - who hosted Cooking With KoKo on her now-defunct app khloewithak.com - once got into a mini-scandal for her efforts in the kitchen 'I am so proud of myself!' On Thanksgiving 2015, Khloe claimed to have baked three pies (pecan, pumpkin, and cherry) from scratch - all of which turned out to have been purchased from the bakery Sweet Lady Jane After being exposed by TMZ a week later, Kardashian tweeted her outrage: 'Petty motherf***ers! I have real s*** going on in my life. Try not to choke on my n**s. You're sucking them pretty hard' Tristan is father to six-year-old son Prince Oliver with babymama #1 Jordan Craig and 21-month-old son Theo with babymama #3 Maralee Nichols. Thompson also has custody of his 17-year-old epileptic brother Amari Thompson following the January 5th death of their beloved mother Andrea Thompson. Kardashian will next executive produce and stars in the 10-episode fourth season of The Kardashians, which premieres September 28 on Hulu. On May 7, The Kardashians triumphantly won the best docu-reality series trophy at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards. Tensions between America and China are at boiling point amidst President Biden's crackdown on US investments into Beijing firms. The escalation has shone renewed light on an uncomfortable question for most Americans: would you be happy for your 401(K) to fund Chinese military operations? For many this is a reality as leading Wall Street investment companies have been exposed for both directly and indirectly funding Chinese firms which have been blacklisted by the US Government. In July, Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House Select Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, wrote a letter to the leaders of major investment groups BlackRock and MSCI to raise his concerns about their ties to certain Chinese companies. The letter - which was cosigned by Democrat and fellow committee member Raja Krishnamoorthi - accused both firms of 'fueling the People's Republic of China's military advancement' and 'facilitating the Chinese Communist Party's human rights abuses.' Last month President Bident signed an executive order banning new American investment in tech industries which could enhance Beijing's military capabilities. Pictured: Biden with China's President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in November 2022 US investment firms have been linked to 'red flag' companies such as those that manufacture Chinese fighter jets. Pictured: a Chinese J-11 military fighter jet BlackRock is one of the country's biggest asset managers, with around $9 trillion in funds, while MSCI is an investment research firm which provides stock indexes, portfolio risk and performance analytics to investors. Some $13.7 trillion worth of assets are invested in funds benchmarked to MSCI indexes. Millions of Americans have their personal and retirement savings invested in funds either benchmarked by BlackRock and MSCI. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi conducted an 'initial review' of both companies and identified dozens of 'red flag' Chinese firms that were part of BlackRock and MSCI's funds - either directly or through their subsidies. The term 'red flag' refers to those that appear on the US Government's blacklist. Such activities are technically legal for the Wall Street firms. Yet examples of Chinese firms covered by their funds include the Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC) which produces advanced Chinese air force fighter jets, according to the Washington Post. They were also tied to the China State Shipbuilding Corp which manufactures Chinese navy warships. CGN Power Co. - a firm which has been accused of trying to steer US nuclear technology to the Chinese ministry - also has links to BlackRock and MSCI, according to the letters from Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi. Early last month President Biden signed an executive order banning US venture capital and private equity firms from investing in tech industries which could enhance Beijing's military capabilities. China hit back declaring it was 'very disappointed' by the order and hinted at retaliation. But critics insist it doesn't go far enough. Biden's order only addressed US investments into helping China develop artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics and semiconductor technology. Examples of Chinese firms with links to both BlackRock and MSCI were laid out in a letter by Rep. Mike Gallagher and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi who both sit on the House Select Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Gallagher, pictured, told the Washington Post it made 'no sense' to allow Wall Street to fund Chinese companies developing technologies with 'clear military applications' Yet it left a loophole for firms to invest in other sensitive areas such as biotechnology and energy technology. Rep. Gallagher told the Washington Post: 'It makes no sense that we restrict the export of sensitive technologies to China but allow Wall Street to fund Chinese companies trying to overtake us in these same technologies with clear military applications.' Similarly, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul accused the White House of 'solely pursuing half measures that are taking too long to develop and go into effect.' And the order only covered direct investment into such firms, leaving another loophole that facilitates US investment in Chinese military-related companies via index funds offered by both MSCI and BlackRock. Krishnamoorthi told the Post: 'Its really important we do things to make sure that we dont end up either wittingly or unwittingly funding the military capability that could be used against us. 'It doesnt get enough attention, but it is vital.' For the past few decades, American investors have been encouraged to strengthen their ties to China - to unite the two economic superpowers. But recent Government reviews have concluded such investments were fueling China's military and intelligence-collection abilities. A spokesman for MSCI told DailyMail.com: 'MSCI indexes measure the performance of equity markets available to international investors, and comply with all applicable US laws. MSCI does not manage or recommend or facilitate investments in any country. 'MSCI is engaging constructively with the House Select Committee.' Meanwhile BlackRock said: 'Like many global asset managers, BlackRock offers our clients a number of strategies to invest in or exclude China from their portfolios. 'The majority of our clients investments in China are through index funds, and we are one of 16 asset managers currently offering US index funds investing in Chinese companies. 'With all investments in China and markets around the world, BlackRock complies with all applicable U.S. government laws. We will continue engaging with the Select Committee directly on the issues raised.' State-owned Punjab & Sind Bank plans to raise Rs 250 crore through share sale to institutional investors in the third quarter of the current fiscal. The bank has got approvals for capital raising of Rs 250 crore via Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) in the next quarter, Punjab & Sind Bank managing director Swarup Kumar Saha told PTI. It will help achieve the twin objective of capital raising and dilution of the government's holding in the bank, he said.Government of India holds a 98.25 per cent stake in the bank which was listed on the stock exchanges in 2010.He said that the government's nod is also in place for the capital raising. The bank had written to the Centre seeking its approval for capital raising in May this year. As part of a strategy to increase touch points and brand visibility, Saha said the bank is aiming for 2,000 branches and as many ATMs in the country in the next three years. The addition of branches would help mobilise low-cost deposits and also increase penetration of loan products, he said. We are trying to build operational efficiency more so that I can reduce my cost and increase my fee income. We are moving to very granular areas like increasing ATM network, improving digital banking experience, Saha said. He said the ATM network can itself be a profit centre because an outside customer pays about Rs 17 per transaction for the use of an ATM. The bank is in the process of upgrading its core banking solution (CBS) which would help the digital journey much better and also bring in efficiency, he said. The politicians should refrain from provoking the believers and poking fun at their beliefs It is unfortunate and saddening to note that a particular religion in Kerala has come under attack from all political parties that swear by secularism, tolerance and pluralism. Onam, portrayed as the national festival of Kerala is an occasion when Mahabali is portrayed as a buffoon and comedian. Though this mythological character is described as the former ruler of the State, his image as a monarch evokes laughter and fun from the people. Add to this the flippant dialogues delivered by him in TV programs and plays! Days before Onam, Speaker of Kerala Legislative Assembly A N Shamseer, who had declared his aversion for anything associated with Sanatana Dharma, made fun of Lord Ganapathi which hurt the devotees of the God with an elephants head. Shamseer was propagating the virtues of scientific temper and he chose Lord Ganapathi as the mascot of reactionary forces. Addressing school students, the CPI-M leader with his open proclivity for Islamists, asked them not to worship such false icons because plastic surgery was unknown in the era of Ganapathi and Lord Shiva. It cannot be that Shamseer is unaware of Charaka and Susrutha, the founding fathers of Ayurveda and who wrote Charaka Samhitha and Susrutha Samhitha, the compendiums of Ayurveda which are widely referred to by medical scientists and physicians across the world. It was Dr M S Valiathan, the national professor of India who translated Charaka Samhitha to English. Scientific temper has to be appreciated and made a compulsory course in schools and colleges alike. But justifying the scientific temper should not be done by ridiculing the age-old Indian traditions. Super Brain Yoga, (popularly known as Thoppukaranam in Tamil) has been found to boost brain power as well as strengthen memory by scientists and physical therapists like Annie Pilates. Moreover, Lord Ganesha does not belong to the Hindus alone. It was the Sarvajanik Ganesh Festivals in Maharashtra organized by LokManya Tilak that integrated the people to fight for freedom from the colonial masters. The Sanatan Dharma pontificates that all religions are equal while the Semitic religions shun that teaching. While obscurantist and reactionary rituals should be banned by law, the same should be made applicable to miracle crusades and wonder healings which are practised across India with impunity. Religions and Gods should be left to the personal business of devotees. While Hindus are ridiculed for their beliefs and Gods, one should not forget what happened in the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo, a political satirical magazine in France that published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed. On 7 January 2015, two gunmen gatecrashed into the magazine's office and massacred 12 editorial staff as retaliation. The likes of Shamseer should understand that the Hindus do not hurt the religious sentiments of anybody and their response to the insults meted out to the God who removes all obstacles should not be seen as a weakness. The latest development coming from Kochi is a cause for worry. There is substance to the demand by Hindus that the temples be left at the hands of devotees and believers. Politics has no place in the Houses of Gods. (The writer is a special correspondent with the Pioneer. The views expressed are personal) Asserting that a slew of financial benefits and increased job reservation for women in Madhya Pradesh by the BJP Government are not "revadis" but genuine efforts to institutionalise "women empowerment" in the State, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said a "clear mandate" awaits BJP in the forthcoming Assembly polls as the Congress has no Common Minimum Programme (CMP). On the question whether the State may go to polls with "collective leadership" rather than projecting a chief ministerial face, he said, "Why not (collective leadership)?" Speaking to The Pioneer at his picturesque 'Shyamla Hills' residence at Bhopal, Chouhan said, "There is infighting within the Congress, the Modi wave has hit the State and the Congress is staring at defeat. Busy with his 18-day 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra' criss-crossing the poll-bound State Assembly, the Chief Minister said, "Vikas aur jan kalyan hi ek mudda BJP ka hai chunav main (We will fight the election on the issue of welfare and progress)." Madhya Pradesh along with Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, is going to polls in the next two-months as Assemblies in these States will be completing their term by December 17. Asked whether the Congress model of development and freebie template in Karnataka may work for the Opposition party in Madhya Pradesh, too, Chouhan said, "No model will work. The Congress does not have a CMP. He said the Congress is "stooping too low in its election campaign and making wild charges (of corruption) as they know they will not win the poll." "The Congress is a den of brokers The Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate recovered crore rupees from their leaders", he said. On the question of the chief ministerial face in the BJP and whether the party would go for 'collective leadership" in MP like in Karnataka, he said, "Yes, why not...we are not bothered about CM face, we are focused on serving people." Asked about many Congress leaders crossing-over to the BJP and many in the saffron party feeling insecure on this account, the Chief Minister said, The Congress did not fulfill many promises thats why Scindia and other leaders came to us. He said none in the BJP is feeling insecure or threatened by those who have come from other parties. The Chief Minister said the party will fare much better this time round including in the Gwalior-Chambal region. Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who hails from Gwalior has since joined the BJP. In 2018 Assembly poll, Chauhan said, "The BJP got 1,000 more vote than Congress...seats main ham kam they." On the spate of women-oriented schemes announced by his Government relating to girl-education, providing financial aid for 'Kanya vivah' , 50 per cent reservation to women in local election units in the state, 50 per cent reservation in teaching jobs and giving property rights to them, the Chief Minister said "These are not revadis or freebies but real empowerment of women and an authentic step to give women their rights on a equal footing with men". " And why not women given more powers...do they not deserve to reach their heights..?", he sought to ask. "Maine 30 percent reservation Mahilaon ko zidpurvak diya...aaj betiyan command kar rahin hain sarkar chala rahin hain..", he said . The Chief Minister said " today we signed an MOU that toll tax counters would be run by women". Detailing women-centric schemes, he said one percent reduction in stamp duty for registering property jn the name of woman has shown results "with 45 percent women in the state owning properties." He said these welfare measures have improved the sex-ratio with the state "registering 956/1000 daughters in the state." "We are aiming that women earn minimum of Rs 10000 monthly and we are moving towards this target...and this is not revadi...", said the 64-year-old four-time Chief Minister of the state. Chauhan did not give his views on the issues of one nation one election and women reservation in the Lok Sabha and state Legislatures as also on the implementation of Uniform Civil Code, saying "party ke vicar mere vicar hain". Showering praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership , Chauhan said "Modi changed agenda of Indian politics, there is a big change now". "Pahle apne ko Hindu kahna apradh tha, Ram aur Ram Setu ko kalpnik batate they, ab Congress bhi raste main hain , usko lagta hai agar Hindu hith ki baat nahi boli to nuksan ho jayega...", the Chief Minister said hitting-out at the "double-faced politics " of the opposition party. Quizzed on him currently taking a hard-line even though he was earlier known as a soft-liberal politician , Chauhan said " when I started as CM , the state was infested with dacoits..I finished them in six-month , also ended Naxalism. " Main janata ke saath soft hoon...dusht ke Saath dusht..." The CM said as he got up to attend to his next party programme awaiting him. On the last question whether he has ambition to play a bigger role at the national level, Chauhan waved-off saying " main Arjun ki Tarah chidiyah ki aankh.. Madhya Pradesh.. dekh rahan hun." Chauhan's popular 'Ladli' schemes for women and girls under different nameplates have earned him affectionate acronym 'Mama' . Last month, financial aid given to women in the 'Ladli Behna' scheme was raised from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,250 per month. The Chief Minister also announced 35 percent reservation for women in government jobs and gas cylinders to them for Rs 450. Mamata Banerjee may be silent at the moment but she is unhappy, if not angry with the Congress, post the Mumbai Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) meet. With the CPI (M) turning down the Bengal Chief Ministers proposal for a consensus on a blanket nation-wide seat-sharing formula in the Mumbai summit and the Congress doing nothing to restrain CPI (M)s general secretary Sitaram Yechury, the Trinamool Congress top brass is fuming. Though the party leaders are under strict instruction not to speak out of turn, sources said in the TMC said that the partys second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee has given instructions to prepare for an all-out campaign for all the 42 parliamentary seats sans both the Left and the Congress. This means that there will be no INDIA in Bengal in the parliamentary elections and there will be no CPI (M) and the Congress in the State after that, said a senior TMC leader close to Kalighat. According to a very senior leader and a former Union Minister, Mamata has not liked the extension of the phraseology as far as possible (in the alliances resolution on fighting the elections together) to Bengal her own home turf. Though Mamata was initially half-willing to leave only two seats of Bahrampur and Malda South to the Congress in Bengal and back the Left not in Bengal but in Tripura, at present she wants her cadres to go all-out for all the seats. After Mumbai, the TMCs one-point agenda should be to decimate the Left and the Congress in Bengal even if that means going soft on the BJP in some place because they must be taught a lesson here, said a senior member of the TMCs think tank. Earlier eyebrows were raised in the coastal city when the TMC chairperson on Friday skipped the joint Press conference addressed by the alliance leaders after the Mumbai meet leaving for the airport along with his nephew Abhishek apparently in a huff. Senior TMC leader Derek OBrien, too, did not attend the Press conference as their repeated plea for including a statement on seat-sharing from the national level was turned down by the Left and the Congress which reportedly suggested keeping Kerala, Punjab and Bengal out of the scheme of seat-sharing proposal for now. Sources said while the TMC remained committed to the INDIA alliance it wanted seat sharing to be decided at a faster pace. The Bengal ruling outfit wanted the Mumbai meeting to put a timeline by which the seat-sharing talks should be completed. According to TMC sources, Mamata was so angry with her proposal not getting received from the Left and the Congress that she even jerked the hands of Maratha patriarch Sharad Pawar who tried to make some last moment efforts to calm her down by pulling her hands and went away without talking to Yechury who was seen rising up from his seat to speak to her. Mamata is also known to have told her confidants about the conduct of the Congress Working Committee member Adhir Chowdhury. No one (from Delhi) restrained some Bengal leaders (of the Congress) who were attacking us from Dhupguri (in North Bengal) at a time when the INDIA meeting was on is this is a right message and commitment for the alliance, Mamata was quoted as saying. This was apparently in reference to Chowdhury who earlier said, Mamata is holding the feet of the Congress to save herself as her family is embroiled in scams. Dhupguri Assembly seat which fell vacant following the local BJP MLAs death is going to a bypoll on September 5. The Left has put up a candidate here with the Congress backing. Ioniq 5 N is seen in this photo provided by Hyundai Motor. Yonhap Korea's Hyundai Motor on Monday launched the N brand's first all-electric model, the Ioniq 5 N, in the domestic market as it accelerates its transition to a future mobility solutions provider. The Ioniq 5 N, first unveiled at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed in Great Britain in July, comes with an 84 kWh battery pack and can accelerate from zero to 100 kph in 3.4 seconds, the company said in a statement. The new model represents a new segment of driver-focused high-performance EVs since it boasts advanced cornering and racetrack capabilities as an everyday sportscar. It is priced at 76 million won ($58,000) after individual consumption taxes and tax benefits given to environment-friendly vehicles. It can travel about 350 kilometers on a single charge, the statement said. Ioniq 5 N combines the standard Ioniq 5 model's electric global modular platform (E-GMP) with N's motorsport-bred technologies. E-GMP is Hyundai Motor Group's dedicated EV platform. Hyundai's Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 are built on the E-GMP platform, with the same platform-based Ioniq 7 set to be released next year. Hyundai's independent Genesis brand's GV60 SUV, and its smaller affiliate Kia Corp.'s EV6 and EV9 SUVs also share the E-GMP platform. The maker of Sonata sedans and Santa Fe SUVs plans to invest 109.4 trillion won by 2032 to secure a leading position in the global future mobility market, while aiming to sell 1 million pure electric models by 2030. Hyundai's first dedicated EV factory, the 300,000-unit-a-year Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia, the U.S., is under construction with a goal to start operations in the second half of 2024. Another EV-dedicated plant is being built in Korea with the aim of starting production in 2025. Hyundai Motor sells vehicles under the Hyundai and independent Genesis brands. Under the Hyundai brand, models with the N Line and N badges are available in the markets. The N models bring full performance capability to daily driving, while the N Line brings performance-inspired elements to base model vehicles. The N Line models sit between Hyundai's high-performance N brand and the general Hyundai brand. (Yonhap) Even though the residents of the national Capital are acutely aware of the great honour that comes with being the city that is hosting the prestigious G-20 Summit from September 8 to 10, Delhiites are also bracing for restrictions that come with the event. A number of banks and shops have been closed in some specific markets and in areas like Connaught Place, Khan Market besides retail liquor stores in the city. A multi-agency security blanket is being put in place to secure the summit venue and the dignitaries and ensure no infiltration, terror act or sabotage takes place. A multi-tiered security cover entailing dog squads, Quick Reaction Teams and Special Weapons and Tactics contingents deployed during the event will provide foolproof security and the security arrangements will entail closure of markets and routes as also diversion of roads in the NDMC areas and the summit venue near Pragati Maidan. To mitigate the hardships of the citizens, the Delhi Police has issued detailed advisories regarding the closure of institutions or diversion of routes during the multilateral meeting. Malls and markets outside NDMC limits will remain open. Essential services like milk booths and medical stores will also remain open. Buses will also ply on the Ring Road except the NDMC areas. Delhi Metro operations will continue as usual except for the Supreme Court station. However, three-seater auto-rickshaws and taxis will remain barred during the summit in the New Delhi district. The Delhi Police issued a Helpline Number 6828400604 for ambulance assistance during the event. The security paraphernalia will include components of the paramilitary forces or the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and the commandos of the elite anti-terror contingency force National Security Guard. Delhi Police and central forces personnel will be clad not in the usual khaki uniform but in blue during the summit. Officers of the rank of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police and above will wear blue suits, while others will have safari suits in the same colour. They have been provided the cloth, and will get it stitched in prescribed unified designs, said officials on the condition of anonymity. As many as 1,30,000 security personnel including the 45,000-strong Delhi Police, will be deployed during the summit. The 45,000 personnel include commandos who will act as personal security officers for the dignitaries. Apart from snipers placed atop key buildings in the Lutyens Zone, the Delhi Police will mount drone surveillance to thwart any aerial threats. In addition, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will also be kept on standby to mitigate any contingencies during the mega event to be attended by nearly 30 heads of states and multi-lateral fora. The IAF has set up a special Operations Direction Centre (ODC) to coordinate various aspects of the arrangements with the security agencies in a bid to safeguard Delhis airspace. The IAF would be keeping its airborne warning systems, fighter jets including the Rafale on high alert along with stationing the new air defence missile systems at vital locations. Sources said the Army IAF and paramilitary forces, too, will deploy anti-drone systems, while 400 firefighters will remain on standby. North India will remain under vigilant surveillance through the utilisation of Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), often referred to as the eyes in the sky. Various agencies will work with backroom support from the Intelligence Bureau. Other security measures include taking off the public transport buses and private vehicles in the bungalows zone area and its vicinity where the venue at the Pragati Maidan is located. The gathering of the heads of state and other dignitaries will be held on September 9 and 10 at the newly-built Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan. Security control rooms have been set up at Pragati Maidan and special arrangements are being made at important hotels like ITC Maurya, where US President Joe Biden and other heads of states will be staying. In an awareness meeting organised by the Kandhamal district Congress in Baliguda of the district on Friday, Odisha in-charge A Chella Kumar came down heavily on the Odisha Government. Kumar said in its 23-year rule the Naveen Patnaik Government has not increased irrigation facilities by one per cent in Kandhamal district. In the district, schools are there but there are no teachers. Similarly, hospitals are there but no doctors are there. In Odisha, democracy is dead. A Secretary has snatched the rights of the Ministers and MLAs. If the Congress comes to power in the State, the people would get rid of the Naveen-Pandian rule, he added. A 100-bed dengue ward will be established at the Gandhi Shatabdi hospital along with a blood bank. The Health secretary R Rajesh Kumar instructed officials concerned to set up the dengue ward at the hospital in 24 hours after conducting inspection of the hospital, the district (Coronation) hospital and the control room on Sunday. This comes at a time when five new cases of dengue on Sunday increased the number of active cases in Dehradun to 40. Kumar along with department officials visited the Coronation-Gandhi district hospital where he expressed dissatisfaction at the emergency arrangements. Inspecting the Gandhi hospital, he found that a dengue ward with about 100 beds can be set up there and directed officials to set up the facility in 24 hours. He also directed that the blood storage centre at the hospital should be converted to a full-time blood bank to prevent shortage of blood for patients. He also pulled up the officials on finding the central pathology facility closed and directed them to ensure that it is opened daily systematically. He directed that blood sample reports of patients should be taken till 8 PM. He also interacted with the patients and their caretakers while directing the officials to resolve the complaints received from the patients. The Health secretary and his team also visited the dengue control room at ITDA. He said that coordination between the dengue control room and 104 service will be established so that information from all the districts can be exchanged. The daily figure of dengue patients in the State will be released after this on a daily basis. He said that the government is working on strengthening the information system and ensuring that those in need receive treatment on time. Kumar also directed officials of the municipal corporation to make fogging more effective than in the past. Fogging should be done repeatedly in notified areas and public awareness campaigns should be conducted consistently to ensure that the mosquito larvae are not breeding in houses.The Health secretary further said that government and private hospitals are being inspected by the authorities. Action is being taken on the complaints received by the government. Strict action will be taken against the hospitals not providing treatment to dengue patients under the Ayushman scheme, he added. Appealing to the public for voluntarily donating blood, Kumar said that doctors recommend hospitalisation if a dengue patients platelet count falls below 50,000. The demand for platelets has increased considerably in most hospitals but the availability is limited. Voluntary blood donation is important to meet this demand so that the lives of the seriously ill patients can be saved. Kumar was accompanied by the Health director general Dr Vinita Shah, Dehradun chief medical officer Dr Sanjay Jain, Health Directorate assistant director Dr Mayank Badola and the municipal health officer Dr Avinash Khanna among others. The Surat police of Gujarat arrested two persons from their village in Udala in Mayurbhanj district on Sunday for stealing a diamond-studded idol worth Rs from Surat. The arrested were identified as Chandan Mallick and a minor boy of Siripur village. The black-granite idol, which was stolen by the accused, was studded with a diamond, and its value is pegged at over Rs 7 lakh. According to the police, a temples construction was underway at Piplod in Surat where the two accused were working. On August 28, they stole the two-and-half-inch-high idol and fled from there. However, the theft was captured in the CCTV cameras. After the incident surfaced, the temple authorities immediately lodged a complaint with the police. When the footage captured in the CCTV cameras was examined, the police zeroed in on the two accused. Collecting their addresses from the contractor who engaged them in work, a team of the Surat police came to Siripur villag and with the help of the local police, they arrested the duo and recovered the idol from their possession. The police produced them in a local court, sent the minor to remand home, and returned to Surat with Chandan Bollywood actor-cum-philanthropist Sonu Sood has thrown his weight behind the Punjab Police's campaign to combat the rising menace of drug abuse in the border state. In a heartfelt video message shared by the state Director General of Punjab Police Gaurav Yadav on social media, the actor passionately appealed to the public to contribute to the fight against drug addiction in Punjab. In the video, Sonu Sood expressed his deep concern about the escalating issue of drug abuse among the youth in Punjab. Acknowledging Punjabs history of vibrant and spirited youth, Sood also noted that the problem of drug addiction has taken a toll on the states younger generation. Punjab has always been known for its spirited youth. But for quite some time now, I have been observing that people say the use of drugs has increased in Punjab. The new generation, our youth, seems to be greatly affected by drugs. Even when I personally visit Moga or various parts of Punjab, I see that many people, especially the youth, are trapped in drug addiction. Due to drugs, crime has increased as they need money to buy it, Sood said in the video message. The actor recalled a past campaign he led to rescue approximately 280 children who were ensnared by drug addiction. He mentioned that his team's efforts were unable to reach all those who needed assistance. To address this issue, Sood commended the Punjab Government, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann bhaji, and DGP Yadav Ji for their outstanding initiative to make Punjab drug-free. At the same time, he urged everyone to rally behind this crucial cause, emphasizing that a united front is essential to achieving a drug-free Punjab. Sonu Sood also highlighted the need for collective efforts and unity in supporting the campaign. Let's work together to make Punjab drug-free, and let the land of Punjab be known once again for its youth. I salute the efforts of the Punjab government and the entire police force for their dedication. Keep this initiative going, and together, we will bring Punjab back to the top, he added. Sharing the video message, DGP Yadav expressed gratitude to Sonu Sood for his motivational message and reaffirmed Punjab Police's commitment to dismantling the drug trade. Thank you, Sonu Sood, for the motivational message. Punjab Police is working tirelessly to break the backbone of drugs. Very soon, our collective efforts will help eradicate drugs from Punjab under the vision of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, DGP Yadav wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). BOX Punjab Police Conduct Raids at 297 Hideouts of Terrorist Landas Associates Punjab Police, in a move aimed at disrupting nexus between terrorists, gangsters, and drug smugglers based in India and abroad amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a crime-free state, on Sunday launched a special cordon and search operation (CASO) at suspected hideouts of persons linked with terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa. The simultaneous raids were conducted from 6 am to 10 am on the directions of the state Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav, wherein all the residential and other premises, linked with at least 297 close associates of Lakhbir Landa, were thoroughly searched in all the 28 police districts in the State. The state Special DGP, Law and Order, Arpit Shukla said that all the Commissioners of Police (CPs) and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) were directed to depute strong police parties led by an Inspector or Sub-Inspector to make this operation successful. Police teams were also asked to round up suspicious persons during the operation, he said. He said that as many as 150 parties of Punjab Police, involving at least 1,200 Police Personnel, carried out these raids across the State. The CASO was planned after the questioning of several persons in the recently busted modules backed by Lakhbir Landa, he added. The Special DGP said that several persons have been detained for further verification and incriminating material has been seized from their possession, which is being further examined. During the operation, the Police teams conducted thorough searches at the houses and other premises linked with these criminals and also collected the data from Electronic devices, which will be sent for forensic examination, he added. He said that the Police teams have also checked arms licenses and questioned people about the sourcing of ammunition, besides, gathering travel details of foreign-based family members, bank transactions from abroad, and Western Union and property details for further examination. Pertinently, such raids help in infusing fear among the anti-social elements, whilst instilling a sense of safety and security among the common people. PMS The three-year tenure of the Country's famous genetics and plant breeding expert, as Vice Chancellor of Birsa Agricultural University (BAU), Dr Omkar Nath Singh is going to be completed on September 18. Despite the severe shortage of human resources, the university has achieved countless successes at the National level in the last three years in the research field of agriculture and allied subjects. Dr Singh says that on the research front, the last three years can be called the golden years of BAU. During this period, a book named 'Compendium of Technologies' was published by the university by documenting more than 150 technologies developed in agriculture and related subjects in 40 years which is proving useful for making strategies for agricultural development and for agricultural stakeholders, he added. There has been a lot of change in the weather patterns of Jharkhand in the last years. Apart from excess rainfall, deficit rainfall, drought, thunderstorms and hailstorms, agricultural work is at risk. Lack of rain water management, acidic problem land and fallow uplands have been the main reasons for agricultural risk, said Dr Singh. As soon as he assumed the charge of the VC, he gave impetus to the research program by giving special focus on timeliness in research activities in agriculture and allied subjects, development of locally suitable crop species and locally applicable technological development. Under the Directorate of Research, the international projects of IRRI and INCRISAT and All India Coordinated Research Projects of ICAR carried forward the research programs with the coordination and team spirit of the scientists. The university has got much better results than expected due to the immense cooperation and dedication of the scientists. After two years of continuous efforts and 22 years after the formation of Jharkhand, the Government of India recently launched an ambitious project named Caste of Cultivation under the university. With this, the State will be represented in determining the MSP of crops as per the sentiments of the farmers. After about a decade, a total of 16 improved varieties of 11 different crops suitable for the local ecology were developed by the agricultural scientists of the university which was released for the farmers by the State Varietal Release Committee under the chairmanship of the Agriculture Secretary. Out of these, gazette notification of a total of 12 improved varieties of 9 crops was issued by the Central Varietal Release Committee. All these crop species are improved varieties with short duration, drought and disease resistance and high production. These varieties have been brought into the state seed chain effectively and among the farmers through Krishi Vigyan Kendras. Scientists were successful in preserving more than 3030 germplasm from India and abroad. The university has made many outstanding achievements in the field of medicinal research. For the first time, the University received patents for two herbal formulation products Birsol and Bircin developed by a forestry scientist. This has been a major historical achievement. Similarly, 'Aloe Vera Village' established in Deori village of Ranchi district got national recognition by the Prime Minister's address in the 81st episode of 'Mann Ki Baat'. NPGR allotted National Identification Number to the collection and research of 30 quality germplasm of Giloy from Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and other remote rural areas of the Country. The inauguration of the Country's first 'Giloy Processing and Research Centre' was completed. After decades, with special efforts, the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) project got approval from ICAR. Two indigenous pig breeds 'Banda' and 'Purnia' were discovered by scientists which was registered by the National Bureau of Animal Genetics under new animal species and allotted national identification number to both the breeds. The expansion of hybrid pig breed Jharsuk and hybrid chicken breed Jharsim was promoted. These two hybrid breeds are becoming popular not only in Jharkhand but also in East and Eastern India. Under the ICAR-NAHEP project, 'Integrated Farming System' is being developed and standardized for 2 hectares of land suitable in different districts of the State. Organic vegetable based integrated farming system and biodiversity park have been developed and commendable initiatives have been taken in the direction of natural farming. For the first time, research on apple, fruit and cashew cultivation has been promoted in Palamu and East Singhbhum districts of Jharkhand. The Chandigarh Administration on Sunday advised the people to book cabs having only yellow commercial number plates through two companies Ola and Uber. The UT Administration has granted aggregator license to the two companies only Ola and Uber to provide the cab services in UT Chandigarh. UT officials, in an official statement, said that the general people has been advised to book cabs having yellow commercial number plates through these two companies for the safety of the general public and not to book cabs through un-registered app-based aggregator companies. It is also advised not to travel in a cab or bike having a private number (white plate) which is illegal, failing which strict legal action will be taken against passengers as well as drivers of private vehicles. The panic buttons are also installed in the commercial cabs which can be pressed in an emergency, added the official. Chandigarh Administration has fixed maximum fare rate for cabs of Rs 34 per kilometer in UT Chandigarh. If any cab operator or company over-charges the fare, the STA office may be contacted on telephone number 0172-2700159 or email sta18-chd@nic.in immediately, said the official. The official said that in case, any cab operator takes the wrong route or lengthy route, commuters may press the panic button and call police helpline 112 immediately. The Forest Rights Recognition Act is being effectively implemented in Chhattisgarh. Due to this, all the poor and weaker sections, including tribals and forest dwellers, have got relief and their economic condition has improved, an official statement said on Sunday. Through effective implementation of the Act, the government has collected 73 percent of the country's minor forest produce. Forest Rights Certificates have been provided to 5,17,096 beneficiaries. Help has been provided through many schemes for people's overall development including land levelling, development of water resources and more. A total of 46,000 cases have been given recognition under the Community Forest Rights in the state, which is the highest in the country. A voluntary group called the Foundation for Ecological Security is exploring possibilities for processing and increasing income resources in about 700 villages in 19 districts of the state. Campaigning for the bypoll to Ghosi assembly seat in Mau district ended on Sunday evening. The polling will be held on September 5. The Ghosi bypoll in eastern Uttar Pradesh has turned into an electoral battle between the National Democratic Alliance and the newly-formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) with only two major candidates in the fray. The high-voltage campaign was led by senior leaders from both sides. The Ghosi assembly seat was vacated by former minister Dara Singh Chauhan, who won the seat on a Samajwadi Party ticket in 2022 but quit the party in July this year and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Chauhan, an Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader who initially quit the BJP months before the 2022 assembly elections only to return to the BJP fold, is also being backed by NDA constituents Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), NISHAD party and Apna Dal (Sonelal). Facing him is SPs Sudhakar Singh is backed by the Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) and Janata Dal (United), making him the de facto INDIA bloc candidate. Singh is also supported by Suheldev Swabhiman Party (SSP), a splinter group of the SBSP. The third force in UP politics, the Bahujan Samaj Party, has neither fielded a candidate nor has it extended its support to either aspirant. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav displayed a show of strength by campaigning in Ghosi earlier this week while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath hit the ground on September 2. On the NDA side, SBSP extensively campaigned for the BJP candidate. Chauhan won the Ghosi seat as an SP candidate in 2022 by 22,000 votes. In 2017, BJPs Phagu Chauhan had won this seat by 7,000 votes. SP leaders maintain that if the polls are free and fair, the SP candidate will sail through easily. However, campaigning for the BJP candidate, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Brajesh Pathak said: The SP candidate is going to forfeit his deposit and the BJP will have a landslide victory. The SP and allies are also dubbing Chauhan as an outsider to Ghosi and Sudhakar Singh a native. Sudhakar Singh is a two-term MLA who last won from Ghosi seat in 2012. Before 2022, Dara Singh Chauhan had never contested from the Ghosi seat. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday dubbed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Laljit Singh Bullar as partners in crime in their botched up assault on grass-root democracy through dissolution of and election to panchayats in the State. The Chief Minister is now acting like a coward and by trying to hide by officers as scapegoats. The fact is that the entire process of dissolution of Panchayats to be followed by election was initiated, piloted, and signed by Bhagwant Mann through the concerned Minister Bhullar. IAS officers had merely presented the concerned file for perusal and necessary orders by the Chief Minister. The officers had specifically noted on the file itself that it was being sent as desired by the Chief Minister, said Sukhbir. Sukhbir said that the Minister deserved dismissal as he was responsible for steering the decision to dissolve the Panchayats from the beginning to end, and the Chief Minister owed an apology to the people before resigning on moral grounds, as all this exercise was carried out with the complete knowledge and assent of the Chief Minister. Neither Laljit Bhullar nor the CM can be absolved of the criminal decision as the file containing the CMs instructions carried the signatures of both of them, he said, adding that if anyone needs to be punished following the adverse notice taken by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, it is the Panchayat Minister and the Chief Minister and not the two bureaucrats who have been suspended. Asserting that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was looting the State exchequer to fund the partys campaign nationwide, Sukhbir said: The Rs 750 crore annual advertising budget is being used for this purpose only. By Kim Hyun-bin Hyundai Motor Group unveiled "Art Cars" created in collaboration with K-culture artists during the ASEAN summit to promote Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, according to the company, Monday. The 43rd ASEAN Summit is being held between Sept. 5 and Sept. 7 in Jakarta, Indonesia, and at the event, Hyundai Motor Group is set to operate 23 specially produced Art Cars. To emphasize the unique aspect of Busan's bid, which focuses on a "carbon-neutral Expo through eco-friendly technology," Hyundai Motor Group selected three electric vehicle (EV) models, including IONIQ 5, IONIQ 6, and Genesis G80 electric models, as Art Cars. They will also introduce the Stargazer X, which was selected as the "Car of the Year in Indonesia" last year and is a strategic model for Southeast Asia. Hyundai Motor Group collaborated with artist J Flow, who contributed to the globalization of K-graffiti, to create the Art Car. The vehicle is wrapped with graffiti designs that represent major symbols of Busan, such as the Gwangan Bridge and seagulls, on the front and sides. The slogan "BUSAN is Ready," displayed in J Flow's colorful style on the vehicles, expresses hope for Busan's successful bid. Hyundai Motor Group plans to operate the Art Cars near the ASEAN summit venue and major landmarks in Jakarta to create a favorable atmosphere for Busan Expo's bid. In addition, they will screen promotional videos for the Busan Expo on over 30 screens installed at Sukarno Hatta International Airport Terminal 3 and on more than 20 outdoor billboards in major areas of Jakarta. "The Art Cars, which embody the sentiment of K-culture, will contribute to promoting the Busan's determination to host the Expo," a Hyundai Motor Group official said. Hyundai Motor Group plans to continue promoting Busan's Expo bid by using specially produced Art Cars in various cities around the world, including Paris, France, where the headquarters of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) is located. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami listed the achievements of the Central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the State government while criticising the Congress on various issues while addressing the public on the last day of campaigning in the Bageshwar Assembly by-election on Sunday. Addressing a large public gathering at Kafligair, Dhami said that the Congress had given a slogan to eradicate poverty but the partys government increased the woes of the poor instead of eradicating poverty. Recalling the late MLA and cabinet minister Chandan Ram Dass, he said that Dass was always concerned about the welfare of the people in his constituency. He consistently approached me to get various works including construction of roads, drinking water projects and other works done in his constituency. It is difficult to find a person like him who was so dedicated to serving the people of his constituency. This election is not about a person but about taking forward his works and fulfilling his dreams for the constituency, said the CM. Targetting the Congress he said that the party had ruled the country for about 60 years and out of that one family had ruled for 55 years. They gave the slogan of eradicating poverty but instead caused more woes to the poor. Under Congress governments, the Indian soldiers were unable to respond with bullets when they were shot at by the enemy along the borders. However, PM Modi has given a free hand to the armed forces and now the soldiers respond to firing by the enemy with bullets, Dhami said. In Uttarakhand, there were major malpractices in competitive examinations and those with resources were able to pass instead of those who studied hard. We brought a strict anti-copying law to ensure that there are no malpractices in such competitive exams and that justice is done to the meritorious students, he said. The CM further said that considering the large number of people who had gathered on the occasion, he is confident that the nationalist people of Bageshwar who accord priority to the heritage and culture of Uttarakhand is ready to make the BJPs lotus blossom in the Bageshwar by-election. The BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt, party candidate Parvati Dass and MP Ajay Tamta along with other party leaders were also present on the occasion. he Delhi Police conducted full dress rehearsals smoothly largely owing to advisories issued in advance and light vehicular movement on Sunday. The forces escorted carcades from different parts in the national Capital, said officials. Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary P K Mishra were among the senior Government functionaries who visited key sites related to the upcoming G20 Summit meeting to take stock of preparedness for the mega event. In order to avoid inconvenience to the public, Saxena and Dr Mishra, along with all senior officers, travelled by minibus. They visited Bharat Mandapam, the convention centre that will host key G20 meetings, the Palam technical area and some of the roundabouts in the area through which the foreign delegates will be travelling, officials said. The Delhi Police, which is the nodal agency for security arrangements of G20 Summit, has officially clarified that there will be no lockdown, suggesting residents to use Delhi Metro during the summit. The Delhi Traffic Police conducted the rehearsals in three shifts from 8 am to 9 am, between 9.30 am to 10.30 am and 12.30 pm to 4pm. On Sunday, the restrictions were in effect on 30 points or stretches of roads for an almost seven hours to facilitate the movement of carcades from different parts of the city towards the New Delhi district. The visuals of the rehearsals show that the traffic was affected briefly when the carcades were moving. The police advised people to follow real-time traffic updates on theG-20 Virtual Help Desk' for route suggestions for commuting from/to the airport, railway stations, or bus terminals. Delhi Police chose a quirky way to assure Delhiites that there is no need to panic over the traffic situation during the G20 Head of States and Governments Summit on September 9 and 10. With a filmy twist, it shared an image from the South Indian movie Don No.1 and clarified that there will not be a lockdown during the summit in the national capital. This comes after speculations of a possible lockdown in the capital city in view of maintaining the security. Dear Delhiites, don't panic at all! There is no lockdown. Just keep yourself updated with traffic information available on @dtpftraffic's Virtual Help Desk, it said on X (formerly Twitter). During the carcades rehearsals, traffic were restricted at Mahatma Gandhi Marg, IP Flyover, Rajghat Chowk, Shanti Van Chowk, Saleem Garh Bypas, Bhairon Road, Ring Road, Mathura Road, Shershah Road, C-Hexagon, roundabouts at Mansingh Road, Gol Methi, Teen Murti, Yashwant Place, Brig Hoshiyar Singh Marg, and Tolstoy Marg. Commuters too said that they avoided taking the road in anticipation of traffic jams. People who will be travelling on the north-south corridor have been advised to take the Ring Road, Ashram Chowk, Sarai Kale Khan, Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Noida Link Road, Pusta Road, Yudhistir Setu, ISBT Kashmiri Gate, Ring Road and Majnu Ka Tila. Six officers, including the then Collector of Jhabua and the CEO of the District Panchayat, have been sentenced to four years each for paying an excess of Rs 27.71 lakh for printing material under MNREGA and the overall cleanliness campaign. The Special Lokayukta Court, while giving its verdict on Saturday, held the printers of Bhopal guilty and sentenced them to 7 years. All the seven convicts have been sent to jail for not getting bail. However, the court acquitted the two then officials of the government press. Meghnagar's printer Rajesh Solanki had complained about the matter to Lokayukta Police Indore on the basis of information received under RTI. In this, it was said that Rs 33.54 lakh was paid to Rahul Printers of Bhopal for the official printing work done between August and November 2008, while this work could have been done for Rs 5.83 lakh. The accused are Jagdish Sharma, the then Collector: The day the file of the order for printing came, it was approved on the same day. Jagmohan Dhurve, the then CEO, Zip: As soon as the file was received, the approval was sent to the Collector on the same day. Nathu Singh Tanwar, the then Project Officer (Technical) Employment Guarantee Scheme: After approving the file for printing from the government press, sent it to the Senior Accounts Officer and CEO. Amit, the then District Coordinator (now consultant in the cleanliness campaign of Indore Municipal Corporation): The order was sent to Rahul Printers instead of the Government Press. Sadashiv Davar, the then Senior Accounts Officer, District Panchayat: The file was sent to the CEO the next day. Ashish Kadam, the then Accounts Officer, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, District Panchayat: Rahul presented the bills received by the printers for payment. Mukesh Sharma, owner of Rahul Printers, Bhopal: Completed the printing work and took an additional profit of Rs 27.71 lakhs. The court acquitted the then government printer and deputy controller of stationery AK Khanduri and Devdutt of all charges. Jagdish Sharma, Jagmohan, Nathusingh and Sadashiv have retired. The question is arising as to why the convicts, who have been senior officers like former Collector and Zip CEO, have not made efforts for bail whereas in most of such cases bail is readily available. On this the expert said, 'The former officers would not have any idea that they would be punished. This was the reason why he could not make enough efforts to get bail. He said that due to the time taken in court proceedings, preparations for bail may not have been made. In the year 2010, when Jagdish Sharma was Jhabua Collector, posters and other materials of the cleanliness campaign were printed under MNREGA. The district administration had got this work done by Bhopal firm Rahul Printers instead of Government Press. In return, Rs 33.54 lakh was paid, whereas if the same work had been done through Government Press, it would have been done for only Rs 5,83,891. In this manner the government was defrauded of Rs 27 lakh 70 thousand 725. The entire matter was sent to Indore Lokayukta for investigation. After confirmation in the investigation, Lokayukta police had made 9 people accused including the then collector of Jhabua, Jagdish Sharma. All of them were prosecuted by filing a complaint in the special court. After the court's decision, senior Congress leader Arun Yadav targeted the Shivraj government by tweeting. He wrote- The commission fraud that took place during the tenure of BJP is beginning to be exposed. Will soon liberate the people of the state from the 50 percent commission government of BJP. Filing a complaint for the molestation of his daughters proved costly to a former corporator, as the accused stabbed him to death in broad daylight in Mohalla Sarai Sadak, Sirsi in Sambhal on Saturday. A few days ago, the former ward No.14 corporator, Jamal Abbas, had filed a case against four youths of the locality for molesting his daughters. The police had sent two accused, Wafa Abbas and Rustum, to jail. Based on the complaint of the deceased's wife, the police have registered a case of murder against four people. Police are scanning the footage of CCTV cameras. Some people have been detained for questioning. The brutal killing, which took place a few steps away from the Sirsi police post in the Hazratnagar Garhi police station area, spread terror amongst the local residents. Jamal Abbas wife, Naseem Zahra, said that the accused were pressuring them to withdraw the case. Around 10.30 am on Saturday, when Jamal and his elder daughter were alone at home, the accused, Ali Mohsin, Ali Jamil, Sahil and Danish, barged into the house and attacked him with a knife. Hearing the screams, the daughter raised an alarm but the accused fled from the spot. Neighbours rushed Jamal to the district hospital where doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival. Assistant Superintendent of Police, Shrishchandra said that a case had been registered against the accused and efforts were on to nab them. Meanwhile, a 24-year-old man was arrested in Bahraich for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl after sedating her, police said on Sunday. Assistant Superintendent of Police, Pavitra Mohan Tripathi said that the accused, Israr, was an acquaintance of the minor whom he allegedly raped on Friday. An FIR was registered against Israr under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code on Saturday and he was arrested a few hours later, the ASP said. The Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today laid the foundation stone for two units of ITC involving an investment of Rs1500 crore in the industrial area of Badiakhedi, Sehore - Integrated Food Manufacturing and Logistics Facility and Sustainable Packaging Products Manufacturing Facility.Both units will cover 57 acres, ensuring employment to 5000 people. The ITC will produce world-class Indian brands like Ashirwad floor, Sunfeast biscuits, and Yippee noodles, while the molded fiber products plant will set new standards in sustainable packaging. This will provide an alternative to plastic packaging in the electronic goods, FMCG, and food and beverage sectors. The ITC investment in the food processing sector in Sehore will add value to the state's manufacturing sector and immensely support the agri-value chain. Addressing the foundation laying ceremony, Chouhan said that Madhya Pradesh has gone far ahead of other states in respect of farm growth rate, which is 18 percent for one and a half decades. He further emphasized the need to change the pattern of crop production to save farmers from crop losses and make agriculture profitable venture. In addition to conventional crops, the production of commercial crops like medicinal plants is the most preferable. Efforts are being made to invest in agriculture-based industries to ensure good prices for farmers and provide employment to local residents.Investment Proposal of Rs.15 lakh 42,750 crore The Chief Minister said that proposals for investments totaling Rs. 15 lakh 42 thousand 750 crore have been received at the Global Investors Summit including those of ITC involving Rs. 1500 crore in Badiakhedi. He said that ITC is working for the development of agriculture in collaboration with farmers. This initiative will provide employment to 5000 people in and around Sehore. Continuous efforts are being made to facilitate more industries and create employment opportunities for local youth. Chouhan assured that the farmers need not worry about the situation caused by scanty rainfall. He said that the demand for electricity has increased due to low rainfall. Earlier, this happened to be around 7,000 megawatts. Today it is 15,000 megawatts. Chairman of IT Limited, Sanjeev Puri, gave details about ITC's new investment ventures. MLA Karan Singh Verma, MLA Sudesh Rai, MLA Raghunath Malviya, District Panchayat President Gopal Singh Engineer, Sehore Janpad President Smt. Nawadi Bai Barela, and Municipal Council President Prince Rathore were present. On Teachers Day, Chhattisgarh Governor Vishwabhushan Harichandan will honour 52 teachers with the State Teacher Award and Memorial Award on Sept 5, it was announced on Sunday. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will preside over the programme. School Education Minister Ravindra Choubey and Parliamentary Secretary Dwarkadhish Yadav will be special guests. Of these, 48 teachers will get the State Teacher Honour and four teachers the Memorial Award in the name of the great litterateurs of the state. Apart from this, Rs. 21,000 and a citation will be given to teachers selected for the State Teacher Award and Rs. 50,000 and a citation will be presented to teachers selected for the Memorial Award. The Bharatiya Janata Party has stated that an anti-encroachment campaign is being undertaken across the State on the orders of the court. However, the State government fully sympathises with the people who have been conducting their livelihood in these areas for years. The BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt alleged that the Congress is spreading confusion in the public and preaching on this issue whereas this is the result of an amendment bill brought by the Congress government. Bhatt said, As per the amendment bill brought in 2014, any construction on five metres on both sides of the road will be considered encroachment. Today the Congress is advising on land category and various technical aspects. However, this situation may not have arisen had it studied the geographical conditions of the mountainous regions while bringing the amendment, the BJP State president said. He alleged that in the Uttarakhand Roadside Land Control (Amendment) Act, the Congress had intentionally ignored the interests of the common people and is now pretending to stand with the people when they are facing problems. He said that the State government under chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is executing various schemes for employment. The people are paying the price for the policies of the Congress but the government is alert and sympathises with the affected people. The government has made it clear that a solution will be found in this regard soon, Bhatt added. Hanumanganj police have arrested accused of theft with illegal weapons and recovered the stolen valuables and a sharp edged weapon from his possession. Rakesh Singh Baghel, station in-charge Hanumanganj and arrested the accused in theft cases and he was also carrying illegal weapons. On September 1 information was received that the suspect was at Alpana Talkies as soon as the information was received police team reached the spot and caught Sonu Jhulelal Kushwaha(19) and when he was frisked a sharp edged weapon was found. On questioning the accused in police custody, accepted that about 6 months ago he had stolen a purse from a red bus and about 4 months ago he had also stolen another person's purse from a red bus. Past criminal record of accused, he was booked under Section 379 IPC, Section 379 IPC and Section 25 Arms Act. Meanwhile Chola Mandir police have arrested a bootlegger with 63 liters of country made liquor worth Rs 28000. The accused is a watch list goon from the Chola Mandir police station area, against whom 37 crimes have been registered like assault, admonition, NDPS Act, selling illegal liquor are registered in the Chola Mandir police station. Cholamandir police received information that Kamal was trying to take illegal liquor near his house in the cement warehouse, Chandbadi Chola, Bhopal .The team went to the Cement Godown Chandbadi and nabbed the accused. Police recovered 7 boxes full of country made liquor bottles and on checking contained 350 bottles of country made liquor, a total of 63 liters of liquor worth Rs. 28000 was found. Accused was booked under section 34(2) of the Excise Act. xpressing concern over the growing illegal drug trade in the state, Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla on Sunday said that it was a big challenge to deal with it. The State Government has made serious efforts against illegal drugs trade and is also working to control and create awareness at its level. But, police surveillance is very importantBy controlling such anti-social elements within the ambit of law, we could save the youth power from this social evil, said the Governor, while addressing a gathering during the DGP Disc Felicitation Ceremony at the historic Gaiety Theater in Shimla. The Governor said that the State police have also arrested the drug peddlers with their continuous efforts, and 23 cases of attachment of their illegally acquired property, worth more than Rs 13 crore, have also been sent to the competent authority. In addition, 10 cases have been referred to the Enforcement Directorate for financial investigation as per the provisions of the Narcotics Act, he added. Shukla, at the same time, appreciated the State Police for their commendable services during natural disasters in the State. The way the work was done to evacuate people, including tourists, from the affected areas, the general public has gained faith and respect towards the police, said Shukla, after presenting DGP Disc Awards to 334 police personnel for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022. The program was organized after three years. Congratulating the awardees, the Governor said that the State Police and State Disaster Response Force have rescued more than 70,000 people, including tourists of foreign countries from Kullu alone. The Governor also expressed contentment that due to the State Polices tireless efforts by using technology like Integrated Traffic Management System, there has been a huge reduction in the number of road accidents, injuries, and deaths due to road accidents in 2023 as compared to the last several years across the State. The State Police has several achievements to its credit, including first position in India in Passport Verification, third position in implementation of Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System in the year 2022 and 11th position in implementation of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System in the year 2020-2021, he said. Shukla said that Himachal Pradesh Police is the eight state police in India to have the honour of receiving the President's Colour, and secured first position in hilly and north eastern states. The state police is technically capable of dealing with the problem of cyber crime as well. The state Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Kundu, welcoming the Governor, said that many innovative efforts have been made in the state police, which were also being adopted by the police of other states. Special efforts have been made against drug abuse, reduction in road accidents, prevention of organized crime, and welfare of police personnel. To fulfill these objectives, every police personnel is working diligently, he added. Campaigning for the September 5 bypolls to Dumri assembly seat ended on Sunday with I.N.D.I.A bloc candidate Bebi Devi locked in a direct contest with NDA candidate Yashoda Devi. The seat has turned out to be a prestigious one for both alliances amid Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) claiming that the I.N.D.I.A bloc will begin its victory journey from Dumri, while the NDA exuded confidence that it is all set to snatch the seat from JMM. On last day of campaigning on Sunday, State Chief Minister Hemant Soren took part in the road show seeking votes for JMM candidate, while at the same time AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto too addressed public meetings. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, former education minister, in April. Mahto had been representing the seat since 2004. The JMM has fielded Mahto's wife Bebi Devi as the I.N.D.I.A bloc nominee, while AJSU Party has fielded Yashoda Devi. Though, Yashoda Devi is AJSU party candidate, BJP leadership including state president Babulal Marandi has put his strength in the bypoll. The bypoll will also be the test of Marandi popularity as Dumri will be the first bypoll after Marandi was appointed as State BJP president. BJP State President and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi has addressed several public meetings in the constituency seeking votes in support of NDA candidate Yasodha Devi. Marandi in his rallies has attacked the State government over corruption and loot of state mineral resources. Marandi said that the present government has looted the state for the last three and a half years. Mines, minerals, land and sand stones have all been looted. Such a looter government needs to be thrown out of the state. Marandi also raised the collapsed law and order situation of the state, stating that criminals in the state are unbridled. Incidents of murder, loot, theft, robbery, kidnapping have become common. Rape incidents are happening everyday. Daughters are being murdered, criminals are burning daughters with petrol. He said that all this is happening because the present regime has engaged the state police not to restore law and order but to recover money. Jharkhand unit of opposition I.N.D.I.A too has jointly campaigned for the Dumri by-poll to ensure the victory of its candidate. victory of its candidate, sources in it said on Saturday. Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren appealed the voters to ensure the victory for the ruling alliance in the upcoming Dumri assembly bypoll as a tribute to former ministers and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leaders late Jagarnath Mahto and late Haji Hussain Ansari. The chief minister had said the opposition in the state was attempting to win the election with money power and by creating divisions in society. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a general call for everyone to stay locked indoors. However, along with our ministers, we ensured that no poor person died of hunger, as many people in this state earn their livelihood daily. Two of our ministers were martyred due to Covid-19. Our senior minister, Haji Hussain Ansari, who was 75 years old, lost his life fighting the coronavirus. We paid tribute to him by appointing his son as a minister even before he became an MLA, said Soren while addressing a rally at Dumri. Today is not the right day to count the achievements of my government. Its time to pay tribute to Jagarnath Mahto, who lost his life serving the people despite the challenges posed by Covid-19. I have done my part by appointing Bebi Devi (his wife) as a minister. Now its your turn to pay tribute on September 5 (voting day), Soren had also said. Apart from these the seat also witnessed the entry of AIMIM. Slogans of Pakistan Zindabad were raised at the rallies. AIMIM candidate for Dumri by-election was booked for alleged 'pro-Pakistan' slogan raised during the party chief Asaduddin Owaisi's public rally in Giridih district. Dumri Block Development Officer (BDO), Anwesha Ona, who is also a member of the flying squad, had said that the alleged video footage was examined with the footage of their videographers team before lodging the FIR. "Now police will take action accordingly," she said. The AIMIM Jharkhand president Md Shakir, however, refuted the allegation terming it a "tampered video". The polling for the by-election to the Dumri assembly constituency will be held on September 5, and the votes will be counted on September 8. The by-election was necessitated due to the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, the former education minister, in April. The JMM has fielded Mahto's wife Bebi Devi as the candidate of the INDIA bloc, while the AJSU Party has nominated Yashoda Devi as the NDA candidate. In the 2019 assembly elections, Mahto defeated AJSU Party's Yashoda Devi by a margin of 34,288 votes. AIMIM's Rizvi was in the fourth position with 24,132 votes. By Park Jae-hyuk The Smart Cottage, a prefabricated home developed jointly by GS E&C's European subsidiary, Danwood, and LG Electronics, was unveiled at the IFA 2023, the largest home appliances exhibition in Europe, which kicked off last Friday in Berlin, the Korean builder said Monday. Since May, GS E&C and LG Electronics have collaborated on developing the Smart Cottage. GS E&C utilized its expertise in building modular homes, while LG Electronics took advantage of technologies on home appliances, energy and air conditioner systems. In particular, Danwood's steel-timber hybrid modular construction technology was used for the Smart Cottage to be a house that needs just 40 percent of the annual primary energy required by a similar reference house, in accordance with Germany's Efficiency House 40 Plus standard. LG Electronics equipped the Smart Cottage with smart heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technologies, a 4-kilowatt solar panel on the roof and an energy storage system, so that the prefabricated home can be a "net-zero house" tailored for the European market. "It was meaningful that Germany, the main market for Danwood, became the place where we unveiled the Smart Cottage equipped with the high-efficiency energy technologies of GS E&C and LG Electronics," GS E&C President Huh Yoon-hong said in a press release. "Both companies will continue cooperation to come up with innovative residential spaces in Korea as well." In 2020, GS E&C acquired Danwood, a prefabricated timber-frame house builder which was founded in 1972 in Poland. Danwood has held an especially large market share in Germany, one of the leading markets in Europe, according to GS E&C. With the development of the Smart Cottage tailored for European customers, the Korean builder expects Danwood to expand its presence in other European countries. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met with around 200 people for the second consecutive day at the Janata Darshan on Sunday. Chief Minister Yogi, who is on a visit to Gorakhpur, instructed the officials present to pay attention to every issue raised by the public, resolve them, and ensure that the people feel that the government is sensitive towards their problems and is supportive of them at all times. The chief minister patiently listened to the problems of each visitor gathered in front of the Mahant Digvijayanath Smriti Bhavan on the premises of the Gorakhnath temple for Janata Darshan. He also assured people of all help. Chief Minister Yogi said, Dont worry, dont panic at all. Action will be taken on every complaint. Whatever the problem, we will get it resolved. Chief Minister Yogi reached out to the people seated on chairs and told them that he would ensure the resolution of all their issues. While handing over the applications to the officials concerned, the chief minister instructed them to handle every problem promptly with quality, and to the satisfaction of the individuals concerned. In response to complaints about land encroachments, he directed officials to take strict legal action. Some people had also come to the Janata Darshan to seek financial assistance for medical treatment. The chief minister assured them that the lack of funds would not be a hindrance to their treatment. He directed officials to expedite the hospital estimation process for treatment and send it to the government promptly. He assured them that an adequate amount would be provided from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for their treatment. The chief minister blessed children who had come along with their mothers, enquired about their studies and gifted them chocolates. After discussing the probable candidates from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday discussed the names of candidates for the parliamentary polls with the leaders of Jharkhand. Four-time chief minister of UP, Mayawati has already announced that her party would keep distance both from Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and INDIA bloc and would go it alone in the coming parliamentary elections. Apprehending that the Lok Sabha elections may be preponed, Mayawati, is holding meetings with the leaders of various states to discuss party candidates. The BSP chief on Sunday held discussions with the leaders of Jharkhand. She had held a similar meeting with party leaders on Saturday regarding selection of candidates from UP and Uttarakhand. In a tweet on Sunday evening, the BSP president said that the party was working towards expanding its reach among the masses and alongside strengthening its organisational structure. The party has begun shortlisting candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, the BSP chief added. Mayawati has asked party leaders to refrain from extravagant campaigns and instead focus on holding cadre camps and small public meetings to expand the partys outreach in rural pockets and among the sarv samaj or people from different communities. In a state-level meeting held in Lucknow on August 23, the BSP had decided that cadre camps would form a key part of the strategy to strengthen the party base at the grassroots in UP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The partys graph in the state, where it formed the government four times, has been sliding since 2012. The emphasis, therefore, is to win back its core voters, Dalits, who have moved towards other parties over the years. Sources revealed that the BSP leaders have been asked to ensure the presence of at least 500 Dalits in every cadre camp. These camps serve to energise the existing force of the partys foot soldiers and add new cadres by reinforcing the partys ideology in them. The focus is also on inducting more youths into the party. | A 65-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death while his son sustained injuries following an argument in the Rudrapur area of Deoria district, police said on Sunday. Circle Officer Jilajeet Singh said the victim, Prashuram, was returning to Nagrauli village when he had an argument with some people from another community, with whom he had a past enmity. Following the argument, the group allegedly thrashed Prashuram to death and his 22-year-old son, Krishna Chandra, was seriously injured. Prashurams another son Ravi Shankar and daughters, Pinki and Rinki, also sustained injuries in the attack, the officer added. The police have arrested five accused in this connection and police personnel have been deployed in the village as a precautionary measure. Meanwhile in a tragic road accident in Pilibhit district on Sunday morning four people, including a couple from Lucknow, were killed while two children were critically injured. The injured have been admitted to the hospital. Police started an investigation and sent the bodies for postmortem. Abdullah, a resident of Khadra in Lucknow was travelling to Nainital along with his wife Saima Rahat, their eight-month-old daughter Abhiya, cousins Butul, Maryam and Amin. Around 4 am, their speeding car collided with the DCM parked near Garhwa Chowki on Sitapur Highway in Sehramau North Zone in Pilibhit district. Abdullah, Saima, Butul and Maryam died on the spot while Abhiya and Amin were critically injured. The injured were rushed to Puranpur community health centre from where they were referred to Puranpur district hospital while the bodies were sent for post-mortem. Meanwhile, hearing the screams, a driver of a bus going towards Palia pulled the brake, and a private bus going towards Khutar hit it from behind. Some bus passengers sustained minor injuries. Police seized both vehicles and admitted the injured to the hospital. Six Naxalites including a Maoist couple who carried a collective reward of Rs 6 lakhs on their heads were arrested from Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh, police said on Sunday. Munna Barsa alias Lalu and his wife Mangali Punem were apprehended by security forces on Saturday from the forest of Basanpur village, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Gaurav Rai said. Barsa was a Peoples Party Committee Member (PPCM) of the Maoist platoon number 13 while his wife was a Matwada Local Organisation Squad member. Barsa carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh and his wife had a bounty of Rs 1 lakh. The couple was involved in several Naxalite incidents. The police seized three detonators, two gelatin rods and Rs 54,650 in cash from the couple. Similarly, the security forces nabbed four Maoists from the jungles of Gondaras village on Saturday. A court sent the six to prison. BJP state president Babulal Marandi called the administration an agent of JMM/ Congress alliance government alleging that present government wants to turn Jharkhand into Bengal. He was talking to journalists at the state office today. Making a big allegation on JMM, he said that there is panic in JMM due to the increasing popularity of the NDA candidate. In this frenzy, JMM workers Bhola Singh and Tapeshwar Singh have kidnapped BJP workers and former chiefs Mathura Soren and Jaiprakash Mandal in Jaridih. He said that he has spoken to the Director General of Police of the state in this regard. Demanded the release of the workers. Babulal Marandi said during the conversation that another example of how the government is using the administration was seen in Nawadih. He said that the workers staying in the private school of BJP worker Nirmal Mahato in Nawadih last night were harassed by repeated raids in the name of investigation throughout the night. He said that women in the village are being threatened to have their ration cards cancelled if they vote for NDA. He said that the state government wants to create an environment of fear. Wants to influence the elections on the power of terror. He warned that NDA workers will also not tolerate the disturbances silently. He said that it is the responsibility of the administration to conduct fair and peaceful voting. If any untoward incident happens, the state government will be fully responsible for it. He said that the state administration should ensure fear-free elections. State media in-charge Shivpujan Pathak and state spokesperson Pradeep Sinha were also present in the press conference. Campaigning for the September 5 bypolls to Dumri assembly seat ended on Sunday with I.N.D.I.A bloc candidate Bebi Devi locked in a direct contest with NDA candidate Yashoda Devi. The seat has turned out to be a prestigious one for both alliances amid Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) claiming that the I.N.D.I.A bloc will begin its victory journey from Dumri, while the NDA exuded confidence that it is all set to snatch the seat from JMM. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, former education minister, in April. Mahto had been representing the seat since 2004. Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi said on Sunday the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has identified and cleaned more than 11,000 garbage vulnerable points and is conducting anti-larval spraying in all wards ahead of the G20 Summit. Oberai claimed that the AAP Government in MCD tip-topped Delhi in just two months. We used 311 App, deployed 12,000 workers and 95 machines to make Delhi clean and green,she said. In a press conference at the AAP headquarters, she said teams have been also set up to clean areas adjacent to posh hotels, tourist attractions and the city airport, adding that Delhi is ready to welcome guests for the summit. We deployed 12,000 workers on special duty to prepare Delhi for G20 summit; this includes 1500 workers in Central Zone, 1000 workers in South Zone, 1500 workers in Najafgarh Zone, 250 workers around Pragati Maidan, said Oberai adding over 250 employees are deployed to clean Delhi's Rajghat Marg, Jawaharlal Marg, Zoo Area and Bhairav Marg, Vikas Marg, Tilak Marg. The MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) is working continuously to ensure that the roads, parks, markets and other public places are neat and clean. It is a matter of great pride for Delhi that India is hosting the G20 Summit and we will put our best foot forward. MCD is cleaning 35 prominent roads round the clock, she said. As Dumri by election is getting nearer campaigning has gained momentum. Both the parties camp NDA and I.N.D.I.A have put their full strength with senior leaders from the both the camp addressing rallies. In the same episode former Jharkhand Chief Minister cum Union Minister (Tribal Affairs) Arjun Munda also campaigned at Dumri along with Bokaro MLA Biranchi Narayan. Before leaving to Dumri, Union Minister addressed a press conference at the residential office of Bokaro MLA Biranchi Narayan. Union Minister Arjun Munda, while addressing press conference attacked the State government in terms of poor law and order situation in State. Munda said that the state is losing revenue due to illegal mining. Minister further said that Hemant government is scared of BJP state president Babulal's Sankalp Yatra. This is the reason why unrestrained allegations are being leveled against them by JMM, to which the public will respond in the upcoming elections including Dumri by-election. During the media interaction Union Minister Munda was asked whether Babulal Marandi is the CM face from BJP, in response Munda said that it is a matter of the organization, every decision in BJP is taken by the organization and here also organization will take a decision when the right time comes. Further during media interaction Munda while praising nation scientist expressed happiness over the success of Chandrayaan 03 and the successful launching of Aditya-L1 and said that India has hoisted the flag in every field under the Modi government. In the coming days, more work will be seen in the field of medical and science and more opportunity would be coming in the field of space science. Also Mr Munda expressed full confidence over the commencement of Bokaro Airport soon seeking current developments and appreciated efforts made by Local leader and Legislator Biranchi Narayan and said that this airport would be time saving affairs for all. Also during this occasion BJP District General Secretary Sanjay Tyagi, District Vice President Kamlesh Rai, Shashi Bhushan, Mukul , Aarti Rana, Inder Kumar Jha, Mathur Mandal, Mahendra Rai, KK Boral , Pannalal Kundu , Anil Singh etc were present . BJP president J P Nadda on September 3 appealed to people to reject the opposition bloc INDIA, which he alleged was spreading "hatred" and "poison" and attacking the country's culture and tradition. Speaking at a function in Chitrakoot city of Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Assembly polls due this year-end, Nadda also urged people to make the BJP victorious in the State and also at the Centre in the next Lok Sabha elections to help the country become the third largest economy in the world. Later, amid slogans of "Bharat Mata ki Jai", Nadda flagged off the BJP's 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra' from Chitrakoot. BJP's national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, standing on a vehicle of the yatra, waved party flags as the crowd chanted "Vande Matram" and "Bharat Mata ki Jai". "Rahul Gandhi's 'Mohabbat ki Dukaan' (shop of love) has turned out to be 'nafrat failane wali dukaan' (shop spreading hatred). Why is hatred being sold in Rahul Gandhi's Mohabbat ki dukaan?" he asked. "The Opposition (INDIA alliance) that met in Mumbai a couple of days ago is attacking India's culture, tradition and religion. Has this political game plan been hatched in Mumbai? Is their politics revolving around finishing Sanatan Dharma?" Nadda asked before flagging of his party's mass outreach programme. He said a major constituent of the opposition alliance (Tamil Nadu's ruling) DMK has attacked Sanatan Dharma. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin has remarked that Sanatan Dharma should be abolished and had likened it to the coronavirus, malaria, the BJP chief said. "Throw away such an alliance which is against our Sanatan Dharma and is spreading poison. They want to abolish it (Sanatan Dharma). Eradicate them. Will the opposition alliance go to the people with the issue of finishing off Sanatan Dharma for the polls," he asked. The National Democratic Alliance under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working with all its might to make India a developed state while the opposition's arrogant (opposition) INDI alliance gathered in Mumbai, he said. "On one hand, India is trying to win over the sun and the moon (apparent reference to lunar Chandrayaan-3 and solar Aditya-L1 missions), on the other hand the arrogant alliance is inflicting heavy wounds on our religion, culture and tradition," Nadda said. He said people must bless BJP with victory in the Assembly polls and in the Lok Sabha polls so that the country can emerge as the third largest economy in the world. "MP has been buzzing with development since the BJP came to power in 2003. In 2002, the MP had just 620 medical seats, while it is more than 4,000 now. Then, there were 310 educational colleges. Now the number has shot up to 536. Twenty years ago, there were 23 industrial areas in MP, which has climbed to 112 now. Industries were just 0.6 per cent in MP. Now they are 24 per cent," he said. The former Union minister said MP was number one in the country in cleanliness, water conservation and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The PM Awas Yojana was derailed during the time Kamal Nath was chief minister between December 2018 and March 2020 but the BJP managed to bring it back on track, Nadda said. "During economic slowdown in the world, there is a ray of hope that the Indian economy is the fastest growing in the world," he said. It is believed that Lord Ram spent a major part of his 14-year exile in Chitrakoot. The BJP's yatra starting from Chitrakoot will end on September 22 at the famous Ram Raja Temple in Niwari district of Bundelkhand region, a BJP leader said. A recent opinion poll conducted by the India Today Group (Mood of the Nation Survey) has put again the BJD Supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the top of the popular Chief Ministers list. In the top five category, Patnaik (with 61.3% score) is followed by Congress Chief Minister of Chhatisgarh Bhupesh Baghel (59.1%), Aam Aadmi Party Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal (57.7%), BJP Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel (55.3%) and BJP Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswasharma (49.2%). However, the survey has shown a marginal decline in the popularity-rating of Patnaik from 73.2 % of 2022 to 61.3 % now. The survey was taken from the citizens living in their respective home States. In the context of Odisha, the survey trend is significant as the general election to the Assembly is knocking at the door. The high popularity of Patnaik is an indication that the BJD is electorally more acceptable among the people of the State than the Opposition. The marginal decline in the popularity of Patnaik might be due to false propaganda by the Opposition and the anti-incumbency of a few sitting BJD MLAs. The BJD leaders shall surely analyse and take adequate urgent measures to restore the last highest popularity score of their leader. To expedite the development process in the State in the election year and to get the blessings of the people, the Chief Minister of Odisha has been using innovative ways. On the instruction of the Chief Minister, his Private Secretary and States 5T Secretary VK Pandian has been visiting field and listening to the long-standing developmental grievances of the people to be solved immediately by the Chief Minister. This approach has been popularising the Chief Minister among the rural masses, especially among the women, who come to the local grievance- camps in large numbers as new development-stakeholders. However, some opposition leaders are criticizing the active CMO- strategy for political reasons and are seen spreading false-propaganda. It is said that the Prime Minister is also using a triple- engine administrative set-up to expedite the welfare and security of the nation which comprises the regular administrative machinery, the PMO and the office of the national security advisor. How is Opposition currently placed in Odisha? The State Congress is yet to evolve its plan to achieve the electoral score above the last performance level of 16% vote share, one Lok Sabha seat and nine Assembly seats. It has one trump card to rely upon which is former Congress president and the popular MP Rahul Gandhi. The State unit is heard of planning to invite Rahul to kick-start the election process and then again invite him later at the time of election. However, the State unit has the main task of forming an effective team finalising its alliance and its Assembly and Lok Sabha seats and candidates, crafting its manifesto, building campaigns, settling suspension issue and inducting new leaders and so on. It was complained by some State Congress leaders that senior leaders of Odisha were ignored by the partys High- Command during the allotment of seats in the CWC( Congress Working Committee). Only former MP Bhakta Charan Das has got a seat in the CWC. But instead of putting the blame on the top leaders , the Odisha leaders should evaluate their own performance in the national context. If the State leaders fail to perform electorally in the State how would the Central leaders give space to them instead of allotting the limited space to the leaders of the electorally performing States? What about State BJP? The general situation of the State BJP is no different from that of the Congress in Odisha though it is in the rising graph. No leader from Odisha has found a place in the top decision- making body of the BJP i.e. the BJP Parliamentary Board. Without serious electoral and political performance in the State, the Central leaders of the cadre-based party BJP would not offer leaders of Odisha a berth in the top -body. As election is nearing, the new BJP State president Manmohan Samal is trying to move fast. He took charge in March 2023 but his State committee was only approved by the High Command in August 2023. He has huge task of forming district and Mandal- committees, settling groupism issues, finalising candidates and election strategy. The State BJP has already made a historical blunder by not actively contesting the last Panchayat election. It has to also finalise the CM face issue, whether to go to the poll with Dharmendra Pradhan or Aparajita Sarangi or any other as the Chief Ministerial face or go without a face. However, to compensate the low organizational strength issue, the BJP is hoping to gain electorally from four short-cut plans such as to shift the falling vote share of the Congress towards it, create propaganda war against the BJD and its Government, induct the ticket- denied dissidents from the BJD and cash in on the Modi-wave. It has to be seen how the Congress and the BJD counters the plan of the BJP. In last by-election, the BJP used divisive electoral narratives such as local vs. outsider, male vs. female, daughter vs. daughter-in-law and so on. Now the Opposition is using a divisive narrative such as public servants vs. peoples representatives, Odia vs. non-Odia civil servants, local vs. outsider businessmen, people with so called Odia-pride vs general Odias , men vs women and so on. In this situation, the BJD is much ahead of the Opposition in the forthcoming Assembly elections due to the popularity of the Chief Minister. The organizational strength of the BJD which is regularly upgraded by the partys organisation secretary MLA Pranab Prakash Das too is unmatched. The State Government's development and welfare programmes, the Mission Shakti programme, the mobile CMO- programme and the 5T governance reform have added to the strength of the BJD. The Bageshwar district magistrate Anuradha Pal along with the Kumaon zone inspector general of police Nilesh Anand Bharne and superintendent of police Akshay Konde held a briefing of all police officials and security officers deployed for election duty on September 5 in the district. Regarding the safe conduct of Assembly by-elections, the officials talked about necessary guidelines which must be followed by each of the officials and personnel appointed on election duty. The DM said that voters must not be allowed to carry any mobile phone or camera among other items inside the polling booth. Only voters and persons authorised by the administration should be allowed entry within 100 metre radius of the polling area. She said that no person can vote after the polling time ends. Bharne asked the police and security officials to not allow entry to any unauthorised person in any circumstances. He asked them to timely inform the senior officials in view of the possibility of any kind of law and order related issues during their duty. The SP asked officials to stay vigilant and disciplined while carrying out their duties on the election day and take necessary action as per the guidelines if they observe any violations in and around the polling station. The officials and personnel from the police, Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) besides officials deployed on election duty were present in the meeting. Black Rock Mining Chief Commercial Officer Greg Wheeler, left, poses with Faru Graphite CEO Alimiya Osman Munge, center, and POSCO International Vice President Kim Byung-hwi during a signing ceremony for the partnership on graphite supply in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Sept. 1. Courtesy of POSCO International By Kim Jae-heun POSCO International signed two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Canadian and Australian mining companies to procure raw materials for its secondary battery business, the company said Monday. Company officials visited Madagascar and Tanzania from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2 to establish a graphite supply chain in Africa by utilizing its overseas network to serve as a platform for sourcing key raw materials. "We were able to confidently start the project of establishing the secondary battery materials supply chain there due to our 25 years of global experience in the nonferrous metal business. The company will use its capabilities as a business developer and trader to complete the secondary battery value chain of the group and contribute to national resources security," a POSCO International official said. It first signed a business agreement for joint investment in the Molo graphite mine in Toliara, Madagascar, with Canadian mining company NextSource. POSCO expects to procure 30,000 tons of flaky graphite annually, or 15,000 tons of spherical graphite per year, produced in the Molo mine for the next 10 years. The secured raw materials will be supplied to POSCO FutureM, a secondary battery firm of the group. The Molo mine, owned by NextSource, is considered one of the top-tier mines in Madagascar with graphite reserves of about 22 million tons. The production line to produce 1.7 million tons of graphite annually was established in February this year, and is now in commercial operation. More than 150,000 tons of flaky graphite will be produced there per year starting in 2026. On Sept. 1, POSC signed a second MOU in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to participate in the capital increase of Australia's Black Rock Mining company and discuss the expanding number of natural graphite purchases to 60,000 tons per year. Black Rock Mining has the world's second-largest natural graphite mine. In May, POSCO signed a supply contract with the Australian company to procure a total of 750,000 tons of natural graphite about 30,000 tons per year for the next 25 years by investing $10 million (13.1 billion won) in the Mahenge graphite project. The mobile wings of Punjab Taxation Departments State Intelligence and Preventive Units (SIPU) have imposed fines of Rs 15.37 crore to 873 vehicles seized for not having e-way bills and other required documents for the goods being carried, during the special checking drives conducted against tax evaders in August. Sharing the information, the state Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Sunday said that during the month of August, SIPU took action against 1052 vehicles, whereas 70 cases were cases from the month of July. Total penalties of Rs 15,37,30,704 (Rs 15.37 crore) were imposed in 873 cases, while in pending 249 cases, fines of Rs 4.38 crore were likely to be leviedOUT of the total fine imposed, fines to the tune of Rs 14,90,94,501 (Rs 14.91 crore) have been collected and the outstanding fine will also be recovered soon, he said. Highlighting the highly performing SIPU teams, the Finance Minister said that action was taken against the maximum 184 vehicles by SIPU Shambhu, 172 by SIPU Ludhiana, 158 by SIPU Patiala, and 134 by SIPU Ropar. Under this campaign against tax evaders, SIPU Shambhu imposed the maximum fines of Rs 3.21 crores and recovered fines of Rs 3.18 crores. Similarly, SIPU Patiala recovered Rs 2.67 crore out of the total fines of Rs 2.80 crore, he added. Congratulating the SIPU teams for the success of this campaign, Cheema encouraged them to improve their performance further as the Punjab Government is providing all kinds of modern technology and tools to the Department to provide all possible assistance to the honest taxpayers and tightening the noose around the tax evaders. Revealing that more than 22,000 persons have downloaded the newly-launched Mera Bill app, the Finance Minister appealed to the general public of the State to be a part of this campaign of strengthening fiscal health of the state through the mobile app Mera Bill. Exhorting farmers to not put matchstick to crop residue, and instead use mechanisms to manage paddy stubble, Punjab Government is providing Surface Seeders an in-situ paddy stubble management device to the farmers on subsidy. The Department has invited applications from farmers for availing subsidy on the Surface Seeders, said the state Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Sunday. Appealing the farmers to take maximum advantage of the scheme, Khudian said that the states farmers can apply online by logging in at the Departments portal agrimachinerypb.com by September 10, 2023, till 5 pm to avail the benefit of this scheme. The Agriculture Department is offering Rs 40,000 subsidy to individual farmers, while, Customer Hiring Centres can avail subsidy of Rs 64,000 on the purchase of a Surface Seeder. Apart from this, the Minister said that the Punjab Government is also providing subsidies on the purchase of other Crop Residues Management (CRM) machinery to bring the crop residue burning cases to zero in the state to save the environment. The farmers can dial the toll-free number 1800-180-1551 or visit the Agriculture Office in their respective districts for more information in this regard, he added. Terming this step as cost-effective for farmers, Khudian said that the farmers can increase their income by adopting mechanization, besides, saving the environment. He also directed the department officials to ensure complete transparency in the whole process. A red-carpet welcome awaits G20 leaders and their spouses, who will be treated to Southeast Asian, Arab and East Asian cuisines, along with fare from various Indian States including flavourful delicacies from Chandni Chowk, and innovative millet dishes, during their stay in New Delhi for the Summit on September 8-10. Spouses of heads of State of various countries coming for the G20 Summit, will be treated to a special lunch at the iconic Jaipur House, on the sidelines of the mega event. The menu will also include millet-based delicacies. An elaborate spread of millet recipes has been planned for the world leaders and delegates attending the G20 Summit on September 9-10 at the Bharat Mandapam, showcasing the climate-resistant and highly nutritious coarse grains grown across the country. The cuisine is being given special attention, with over 120 chefs working at the Taj Hotel alone. A menu of nearly 500 items is being arranged, including several fusion cuisines. The Taj has also added millet-based meals to its menu in honour of the International Year of Millets in 2023. The Taj Hotel is in full gear with preparations. The premier hotel has created a unique cuisine that uses millet in a variety of dishes. Raw Banana Barnyard millet Tikki with puffed Amaranth, Jowar-Mushroom Khichda and the multi-course millet medley with millet Thekua and a Lemon Shrikhand mille-feuille dessert will be served to first ladies and spouses of G20 leaders. Some of the dishes to be displayed include millet Brioche Bun with Gelato (Italy), Barnyard millet Nasi Goreng (Indonesia) and Ragi Mysore Masala Dosa (India). The spouses will also visit the field research centre in IARI campus where millet crops including jowar, ragi, bajra and fox millets are at the flowering stage. They will interact with women farmers from key millet producing states Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Assam. Spouses of heads of state of various countries coming for the G20 Summit, will be treated to a special lunch at the iconic Jaipur House. They (spouses of heads of states) will be treated to a special lunch at the Jaipur House, and the menu will include millet-based delicacies, sources said. Jaipur House that is home to the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), an official source said. The NGMA possesses a rich collection of artworks, including paintings, sculptures, photographs and other forms of art. It comes under the Ministry of Culture. The British-era edifice, one of the several former royal houses facing the India Gate circle in the heart of Delhi, was built originally as a residence for the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1936. In an interview to a new agency, India Special Secretary Muktesh Pardeshi said, there would be an introduction to street food, and local and regional cuisines of India. The chefs are working overtime to finalise the menu, keeping all aspects in mind. But certainly, there will be some exposure. Delhi is very well known for its street food, particularly the Chandni Chowk area. So, when you visit our international media centre, I am sure you will also get a taste of the street food of India, he said. After not getting an appointment from the Raj Bhavan, members of the State Coordination Committee (SCC) of the State Government reached the Raj Bhavan on Sunday, but they were not allowed to enter Raj Bhavan. Questioning the working style of the Raj Bhavan and the Governor, the members of the committee got a Police personnel of the security cell posted at the gate to receive the demand letter and left from there. Vinod Kumar Pandey, Rajesh Thakur, Bandhu Tirkey, Yongendra Mahto and Fagu Besra etc. were included in the delegation. While talking to media persons near Raj Bhavan, committee member and JMM General Secretary, Vinod Kumar Pandey and State Congress President, Rajesh Thakur made scathing attacks on Raj Bhavan. They said that even before this, time was sought from the Raj Bhavan, but it was not given. This time duly wrote a letter to the Raj Bhavan on September 1 seeking time for September 3, but neither time was received nor any information was given. It is clear from this that the Raj Bhavan and the Governor are working under the pressure of a particular party or a particular person, they added. When the members of the coordination committee were asked why did you go to the Raj Bhavan even after not getting time from the Raj Bhavan? In response to this, they said that there were issues related to the State interest that's why despite not getting time from Raj Bhavan, we came to hand over the demand letter. It is unfortunate that neither any OSD nor any secretary nor any responsible officer was available in Raj Bhavan. That's why the coordination committee handed over the demand letter to a sentry posted in the security, he added. Pandey said that whenever a bill is passed by the Assembly it is sent to Raj Bhavan and if the Governor returns it, then he has to be informed about it, so that the Government can amend it and get it passed in the Assembly again after that the bill can be sent to Raj Bhavan. He said that Raj Bhavan did not do so in the matter of returning three important bills of Hemant Government. He alleged that the Governor has violated Article 200 of the Constitution and it seems that the Governor is trying to shelve three important bills at someone's behest. He said that they are working on the instructions of a particular party and the Governor does not want local and planning policies to be made and reservation for OBCs to increase. The JMM General Secretary said that 1932 Khatian-based planning and local policy, increasing the reservation limit of ST, SC and OBC and mob lynching bill is related to the interest of the people of the State. This is a question of the prestige of the people of Jharkhand. Local policy had been the main issue in the fight for separate statehood. Even after this, the then Governor, Ramesh Bais returned it without any message. The new Governor, CP Radhakrishnan also did not take any notice in this matter, he added. caption: Members of State Coordination committee. As part of the G20 security arrangements, the Delhi Police has asked the Delhi Metro to close the gates of its stations that open towards VVIPs' place of stay and routes, and the summit's venue, officials said on Monday. The G20 Leaders' Summit is scheduled to be held from September 9-10 at a newly built international convention and exhibition centre -- Bharat Mandapam -- at Pragati Maidan Gates of more than 20 metro stations, including three of Khan Market, two of Moti Bagh and five of ITO, are "required" to be closed to strengthen the security matrix from September 8 to September 10, according to an official communication between police and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). "As you are aware that the G20 Summit-2023 is round the corner and we are making all possible efforts to enhance the security matrix. Hence, in order to maintain foolproof security arrangements during the upcoming summit, it is required to ensure that the gate numbers of metro stations that open towards the VVIPs route/venue of summit/place of stay may be closed from September 8 to 10," the letter stated. It also stated that if any gate-closing request is received from any deputy commissioners of police or the police headquarters or if circumstances warrant, the DMRC shall be informed immediately at a short notice. This has the approval of the "special commissioner of police/vigilance and the public transport safety division, Delhi", the letter stated. India is hosting summit in Delhi in its capacity as the current president of the grouping and it is likely to be attended by more than 30 heads of states and top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries, and 14 heads of international organisations. The Group of 20 comprises 19 countries - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, United Kingdom and the United States, and the European Union. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday rejected the 'One nation, One election' concept, asking what will the common man get from such an arrangement. In Bhiwani, Kejriwal also launched a counter attack on the BJP on another issue, a day after Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said many parties offer freebies to the public. The AAP national convener asked if giving quality and free education to the poor, building good hospitals for the poor and giving free treatment to them was any sin or a crime. With Haryana going to polls next year, Kejriwal, who was addressing a gathering at a party event in Bhiwani, said there is an undercurrent in AAP's favour as people of the state are looking for a "badlaav" (change). "...Aur dheere dheere iska BJP ka safaya dekhna ek din Aam Aadmi Party hi karegi iss desh k andar (And one day it will be the AAP which will wipe out the BJP from this country)," Kejriwal said. He took on the BJP on the 'one nation, one election' idea, saying rather there should be one nation-one education, where rich or poor all get good education. "What will the common man get from 'one nation, one election'?" he said. "Since yesterday, the BJP is talking about this," he said. "One nation, one election. What will we get out of it? Whether a common man will get anything from one nation, one election, one nation, 100 elections, one nation, 1,000 elections, what will we get. Will common people get anything," he asked. "One nation, one education, everybody should get the same education whether rich or poor," he said, adding that everyone should also get good health facilities and that is when the country will benefit. "We do not need one nation, one election. You keep it with you," he told the BJP. The Centre on Saturday notified an eight-member high-level committee to examine and make recommendations at the earliest on the issue of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats. Kejriwal, who was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other party leaders for a party programme, while targeting the BJP government in Haryana, said corruption is rampant, they did not undertake any development. "They did not build any schools, hospitals or roads," he said. "Khattar sahab said one party comes and says it will give this and that free," he said, making a reference to the Haryana chief minister's remarks. A day earlier, Haryana Chief Minister Khattar, without naming anyone, had said many parties offer freebies while the BJP government prioritizes skill development and training for individuals, along with providing necessary capital and grants when needed. "I want to ask you (the gathering) if we give good and free education to the poor children of this country, do we commit any sin. Giving good education to the children free, can there be anything better nation building work than this," asked Kejriwal. "If we build good hospitals for the poor of this country, build good Mohalla clinics and give them better treatment and make arrangements of free medicines, do we commit any sin. And then they say we are giving freebies," he said. We don't indulge in corruption like them and commit sin, he said. Kejriwal was in Bhiwani for the oath-taking event of nearly 4,000 office bearers of the party which included state, district and party's circle level office bearers. People are connecting with the AAP with each passing day, said Kejriwal, while adding people are fed up with other parties and the incumbent regime and they want "badlaav". On his party's expanding base in Haryana, he said by October 31, on every booth, booth committees will be set up. There are nearly 20,000 booths in Haryana and two lakh AAP office bearers, with 10 people for every committee, will be in place. Ninety per cent workers are those who are common people of Haryana including farmers and traders, he said referring to the AAP. Taking on other parties, he said, had these people done their job properly, "why would we have entered politics". "Name any single party in the country which says we will establish schools for your children and give us vote. There is no (such) party in the entire country..," he said, while adding only the AAP says this. "Only the AAP can take the country forward. Only the AAP is the future of India and it can take the country on the path of development," he said. Kejriwal said Union Minister Amit Shah used to once say that the AAP will be finished in a short time, "but we came to power in Punjab". "Now we will come (to power) in Haryana and one day it will be the AAP which will wipe out the BJP from this country," he said. Lambasting the Khattar government for "doing nothing" for the state, Kejriwal said, "Can today Khattar sahib say if I (Khattar) have not done any work then do not vote for me. He cannot say this because he did not do any work." He also hit out at the Centre, accusing it of indulging in corruption and "working only for one person". "They need vote of 140 crore people but 'one nation, one dost'," he said. Attacking the Prime Minister, Kejriwal said, "Are you working for the country or for only one person." Apparently attacking the BJP-led Centre, Kejriwal said they tried hard to stop from carrying out works in Delhi, despite this, they did so much work and people voted them to power for third time. "If any research is conducted over this, then perhaps I will get a Nobel prize for doing so many works despite having been stopped from doing so," he said. He also told the party workers at the gathering that they should not come to AAP with the thinking that they will get posts or positions, but serving the country should be their sole motto. "Today, Manish Sisodia is in jail, it has been six months. Satyendar Jain remained in jail in a "farzi" (fake) case and the BJP had sent him messages 10 times to leave Kejriwal and the AAP...But they are followers of Bhagat Singh...All who will join us should be ready to give up everything," he said. He asked party volunteers to meet each family in the state under a door-to-door campaign and tell them that Kejriwal is from Haryana and he will set the state right. Singapores two Indian-origin cabinet ministers have sued Lee Hsien Yang, the younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, for defamation over allegations relating to their rental of two state-owned bungalows. The case conference will take place on Tuesday (September 5) at 9 am, according to a hearing list on the Singapore Courts website, Channel News Asia reported on Saturday. The two ministers - Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan - had sent lawyers letters to Lee Hsien Yang in July, saying they would sue unless he apologises, withdraws his allegations and pays damages relating to the colonial-era bungalows in Ridout Road. In a Facebook post on July 27, Shanmugam said Lee Hsien Yang had accused him and Balakrishnan of acting corruptly and for personal gain by having Singapore Land Authority (SLA) give us preferential treatment by illegally felling trees without approval, and also having SLA pay for renovations to 26 and 31 Ridout Road. These allegations are false, Shanmugam added. Lee Hsien Yang and his wife left the country after declining to attend a police interview in July 2022 that relates to lying in judicial proceedings about the will of his late father and founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Shanmugam says he rented Ridout Road property to prepare for sale of family home, not profiting from rental. The issue surrounding the rental of the two Ridout Road state properties surfaced in early May when opposition politician and Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam questioned if the ministers were paying less than the fair market value for the bungalows. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was tasked to investigate whether there was any misconduct related to the transactions and found no wrongdoing. The CPIB report, released on June 28, said the two ministers did not benefit from getting any privileged information. They were not given preferential treatment and their rental rates were comparable to that of neighbouring properties, the report stated. The issue was debated in parliament on July 3. Lee Hsien Yang has made at least eight Facebook posts on Ridout Road before and after CPIBs report and the parliament debate, according to the channel report. A Facebook post on July 23 resulted in a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), with the Law Ministry saying that it contained untrue statements. Pakistans security situation has further deteriorated as the country fights a relentless rise in terrorist attacks by militant groups, active in the volatile northwestern and southwestern regions, according to a media report citing data from a prominent think tank. The number of attacks in August was the highest tally for monthly strikes in almost nine years, Dawn newspaper reported, quoting data from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS). The think tank stated that there were 99 attacks across the country, the highest in a month since November 2014. The numbers released by the Islamabad-based think tank were lower than the 147 attacks claimed by the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), most of which couldnt be verified through independent sources, PICSS said, adding it only recorded verified terrorism attacks. The attacks resulted in the deaths of 112 civilians and security forces personnel while 87 were injured. The data showed a month-on-month increase of 83 per cent, compared to 54 attacks reported in July. There were four suicide attacks in August, three in tribal districts and one in mainland Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Overall, the country witnessed 22 suicide attacks in the first eight months of 2023, in which 227 people were killed and 497 injured. Balochistan and erstwhile Fata were the regions most affected by violence in August. The former witnessed a 65 per cent increase in attacks, from 17 in July to 28 in August, while there were 37 attacks in the latter, up by 106 per cent from 18 in July. However, both regions recorded a decrease in fatalities, by 19 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively. The attacks also increased in mainland KP, up by 83 per cent from 15 in July to 29 in August. The deaths and injuries also increased by 188 per cent and 73 per cent, respectively. The province was mainly targeted by the outlawed TTP and its splinter groups, who claimed responsibility for several attacks. Sindh witnessed a slight increase in militant attacks, from three in July to five in August. The deaths also increased from one to four. Punjab remained relatively peaceful, with no militant attack reported in August. The only attack reported in July was a low-intensity blast near a police station in Lahore, which caused one injury. The data also revealed that security forces remained the primary target of violence, accounting for 50 per cent of the total deaths and 63 per cent of the total injured. There was a 51 per cent rise in military fatalities in August compared to July 2023. The security forces also responded to the militancy threat and killed at least 24 alleged militants and arrested 69 in operations across the country, according to the report. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with Vladimir Putin on Monday, hoping to persuade the Russian leader to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow broke off from in July. The meeting in Sochi on Russias southern coast comes after weeks of speculation about when and where the two leaders might meet. Erdogan previously said that Putin would travel to Turkey in August. The Kremlin refused to renew the grain agreement six weeks ago. The deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 had allowed nearly 33 million metric tons (36 million tons) of grain and other commodities to leave three Ukrainian ports safely despite Russias war. However, Russia pulled out after claiming that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadnt been honored. Moscow complained that restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Since Putin withdrew from the initiative, Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. The Turkish president has maintained close ties to Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasnt joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade.NATO member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and backing Kyivs bid to join NATO.Erdogan angered Moscow in July when he allowed five Ukrainian commanders to return home. The soldiers had been captured by Russia and handed over to Turkey on condition they remain there for the duration of the war. Putin and Erdogan both authoritarian leaders who have been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support.Traditional rivals Turkey and Russia grew closer over the following years as trade levels rose and they embarked on joint projects such as the Turkstream gas pipeline and Turkeys first nuclear power plant. Ankaras relations with Moscow have frequently alarmed its Western allies. The 2019 acquisition of Russian-made air defense missiles led to Washington kicking Turkey off the US-led F-35 stealth fighter program. Russia-Turkey relations in fields such as energy, defense, diplomacy, tourism and trade have flourished despite the countries being on opposing sides in conflicts in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Since Erdogans reelection in May, Putin has faced domestic challenges that may make him appear a less reliable partner, most notably the short-lived armed rebellion declared by late mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June. The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraines Black Sea exports to resume.Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putins position. In July, he said Putin had certain expectations from Western countries over the Black Sea deal and that it was crucial for these countries to take action in this regard. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concrete proposals aimed at getting Russian exports to global markets and allowing the resumption of the Black Sea initiative. But Lavrov said Moscow wasnt satisfied with the letter.Describing Turkeys intense efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it was a process that tries to better understand Russias position and requests, and to meet them. He added: There are many issues ranging from financial transactions to insurance. Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas Hotel BMW charging station / Courtesy of BMW Korea By Kim Hyun-bin BMW Korea continues to invest heavily in establishing domestic charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs). Starting with the "BMW Charging Station" on Incheon's Yeongjong Island at the end of last year, BMW Korea has been actively expanding its charging stations to various regions. Since introducing the pure electric model i3 as the first imported car brand in Korea in 2014, BMW Korea has been a pioneer in expanding EV charging facilities in line with the substantial increase in EV adoption. Last December, BMW Korea established the largest EV charging station in Korea, capable of charging up to 80 EVs simultaneously, at the Incheon Yeongjong BMW Driving Center. Additionally, a BMW Charging Station capable of charging up to 16 vehicles was set up at Paradise City Hotel on the island. In June, BMW Korea opened a charging station at the Hilton Hotel Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province, and this month, a BMW Charging Station was introduced at the Parnas Hotel in Seoul. These facilities can simultaneously charge up to eight and six vehicles, respectively. Furthermore, BMW Korea plans to introduce additional BMW Charging Stations at the Hyundai Hotel in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, in November, and the Park Hyatt Busan hotel in December. As a result of its focus on expanding EV charging infrastructure, BMW Korea is the only member of the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) to receive subsidies for charging infrastructure this year. These subsidies are given to manufacturers that have installed more than 100 rapid chargers within the past three years. As of last month, BMW Korea possesses 891 EV charging units. The company plans to further expand its charging infrastructure by adding over 20 additional BMW Charging Stations across the nation, totaling more than 1,100 by the end of the year. Notably, all current and future BMW Charging Stations, including those already operational, will be accessible to all EV drivers in Korea, not just those driving BMW and Mini vehicles. The BMW Group is a global premium car and motorcycle manufacturer with four brands: BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad. It also offers innovative premium financial and mobility services. Currently, it operates 31 production networks in 15 countries and has established a global sales network spanning over 140 countries. In 2021, BMW Group sold over 2.5 million cars and 194,000 motorcycles worldwide. AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) pays an annual dividend of $6.60 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 4.06%. AVB has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. The company does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio is 100.46%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, AVB will have a dividend payout ratio of 59.30% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. Read our dividend analysis for AVB. Wartime lifeline transformed into cross-border trade corridor Xinhua) 13:43, September 04, 2023 KUNMING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- It is getting dark, but the Houqiao land port in Tengchong City in southwest China's Yunnan Province remains busy as a seemingly endless flow of vehicles pass on a road between China and Myanmar. The road, previously named after former U.S. General Joseph Stilwell, now facilitates the transport of fresh fruits like bananas and watermelons from Myanmar to China, and groceries and construction materials in the opposite direction. "This is a land passage between China and Myanmar that facilitates our trade," said Li Jianping, who works at the port's management office. While serving in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, Stilwell provided support for the Chinese people in their resistance against Japanese aggression. Linking the northeastern Indian town of Ledo and Yunnan's provincial capital of Kunming via Tengchong, the 1,726-kilometer road was once dubbed a "lifeline" during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. More than 50,000 tonnes of supplies were transported along the road to battlefields in China. Although some sections of the road were damaged during the war, cross-border exchanges and trade never stopped. In 2004, China funded upgrades to the road between Tengchong and Myitkyina in Myanmar, reducing the travel time on the 200-kilometer section from about eight hours to just three. In 2020, an expressway between Tengchong and Houqiao opened to traffic, marking the completion of the high-speed road between Yunnan's capital of Kunming and Houqiao Port. In the same year, the construction of the Stilwell Road Museum was completed, with the building housing more than 5,000 WWII artifacts, including Dodge trucks, Willys jeeps and road construction tools. At the same time, trade between China and its bordering countries continued to grow. In 2013, China and India proposed the construction of a Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which, with a market of more than 3 billion people, is believed to boost the integrated development of the economic plates of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia. Deng Zhongjie, who works at the logistics company RUIHEJC, has been working in cross-border transportation and trade between China and Myanmar for more than seven years. "The Stilwell Road is still an important route for Yunnan's opening-up, which has also promoted the development of the planting industry in Myanmar," he told Xinhua, noting that the road could help integrate the production and resource advantages of countries such as China, Myanmar and India, thus aiding development along the route. In the first five months of this year, the number of passengers crossing the border through ports in Tengchong rose 302.4 percent from last year, the freight volume increased 148 percent, and total imports and exports grew nearly 400 percent. "While continuing to upgrade the Stilwell Road, we could boost its extention to form a land route with more openness and vitality," said Fan Yujin, an associate researcher at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov shows a military uniform during a news conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 28. Reuters-Yonhap Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that defense minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week with Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar lawmaker. Zelenskyy made the announcement on his official Telegram account, writing that new leadership was needed after Reznikov went through "more than 550 days of full-scale war." Later in his nightly address, Zelenskyy said he believes "that the Ministry needs new approaches and different formats of interaction both with the military and with society." "The Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine is well acquainted with this person, and Umerov does not require additional introductions. I expect support for this candidacy from parliament," the president told the nation. Umerov, 41, a politician with the opposition Holos party, has served as head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine since September 2022. He was involved in the exchange of prisoners of war, political prisoners, children and civilians, as well as the evacuation of civilians from occupied territories. Umierov was also part of the Ukrainian delegation in negotiations with Russia over the U.N.-backed grain deal. In August, a scandal arose around the Ministry of Defense's procurement of military jackets. Ukrainian investigative journalists reported that the materials were purchased at a price three times higher than normal and that instead of winter jackets, summer ones were ordered. In the customs documents from the supplier, the jackets were priced at $29 per unit, but the Ministry of Defense paid $86 per unit. Reznikov denied the allegations during a news conference last week. U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he's aware Zelenskyy had replaced his defense chief. Asked if he had any comment, Biden said, "not publicly." Ukraine's Minister of Defence Oleksiy Reznikov attends a meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, June 15. AFP-Yonhap Zelenskyy's announcement came after two people were hospitalized following a 3-hour Russian drone barrage on a port in Ukraine's Odesa region on Sunday, officials said. The attack on the Reni seaport comes a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the resumption of food shipments from Ukraine under a Black Sea grain agreement that Moscow broke off from in July. Russian forces fired 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones along the Danube River in the early hours of Sunday, 22 of which were shot down by air defenses, the Ukrainian air force said on Telegram. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, described the assault as part of a Russian drive "to provoke a food crisis and hunger in the world." Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement that the attack was aimed at fuel storage facilities used to supply military equipment. Putin and Erdogan's long-awaited meeting is due to take place in Sochi on Russia's southwest coast on Monday. Turkish officials have confirmed that the pair will discuss renewing the Black Sea grain initiative, which the Kremlin pulled out of six weeks ago. The deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 had allowed nearly 33 million metric tons (36 million tons) of grain and other commodities to leave three Ukrainian ports safely despite Russia's war. However, Russia broke away from the agreement after claiming that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn't been honored. Moscow complained that restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraine's Black Sea exports to resume. Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putin's position. In July, he said Putin had "certain expectations from Western countries" over the Black Sea deal and that it was "crucial for these countries to take action in this regard." Rescuers work at the area where a shock drone hit the Danube River port infrastructure, Ukraine, Sept. 3, in this handout photo by the Emergency Service of Ukraine. EPA-Yonhap In the evening, a massive mega rally will be taken out near Hyderabad and a public meeting will be held wherein the party would release five guarantees for Telangana, which is heading for Assembly elections soon, said AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal. DC Image The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has decided to conduct the newly-constituted Congress Working Committee meeting in Hyderabad, Telangana on September 16. According to AICC general secretary K. C. Venugopal, another extended meeting of the CWC would be conducted the next day, on September 17, observed as Telangana Liberation Day. Along with the CWC members, PCC Presidents and CLP leaders, parliamentary party office-bearers will attend this meeting. In the evening, a massive mega rally will be taken out near Hyderabad and a public meeting will be held wherein the party would release five guarantees for Telangana, which is heading for Assembly elections soon. After the public meeting, the Congress president will flag off a cavalcade of CWC members, PCC presidents and CLP leaders would visit 119 constituencies and make a night stay there. On September 18, they will participate in a party programme schedueld to be held in their respective constituencies. In the meeting scheduled to be held on September 18, the MPs are exempted from participating as there is a special Parliamentary session from the next day. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Revnath Reddy thanked AICC leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Party president Mallikarjun Kharge for having the confidence in them and giving them an opportunity to hold the CWC meeting. DK Aruna, the BJP national vice-president. (Image: P.Surendra) HYDERABAD: The Election Commission of India on Monday directed the state government and the Legislature secretary to declare D.K. Aruna, BJP national vice-president, as winner from the Gadwal Assembly constituency in the 2018 elections. The ECI directive follows Aruna winning a case in the Telangana High Court where she challenged the declaration of BRS candidate Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy as the winner from Gadwal. The court on August 24, declared Aruna as the returned (winning) candidate following which Aruna approached the ECI last week. Aruna had contested the 2018 elections on a Congress ticket. This means that as and when she takes oath as n MLA, she will have to do so as a Congress candidate. Sources close to Aruna said that she will take oath as soon as she can. The Election Commission, in its letter to the Chief Secretary and the Legislature Secretary, informed them of the Telangana High Court order and its decision to recognise Aruna as the returned (winning) candidate from Gadwal. It also directed the state government to publish Arunas election as the winner from Gadwal in the State Gazette. The ECI letter comes as a blow to the BRS, and Krishna Mohan Reddy, who has been announced as the party candidate from Gadwal. Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's remark on Sanatana dharma has divided the Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc. (File Image: PTI) New Delhi: Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalins remark on "Sanatana dharma" has divided the Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc, with the Congress, TMC, Shiv Sena (UBT) and AAP distanced themselves. With Assembly elections approaching in the Hindi heartland states, and the BJP painting the comments as an attack on the Hindu religion, the Congress is steering clear of backing the DMK. The Janata Dal (U), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Uddhav Thackerays Shiv Sena were uncomfortable too. The Trinamul Congress (TMC) on Monday condemned Udhayanidhi Stalins remark, and said the Opposition bloc had no connection with such comments. "We condemn such remarks. Harmony is our culture. We have to respect other religions. The I.N.D.I.A. bloc has no connection with such comments. Whoever he may be, if anyone says something like this, we should condemn such statements," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said. The JDU and RJD have advised the TN minister to issue an apology on his "controversial and unfortunate" remark. Although Tamil Nadu Congress leader MP Karti Chidambaram had seemingly supported the Stalin scion, the Congress stayed away from the issue. Former MP Chief minister and Congress leader Kamal Nath said he did not agree with Udhayanidhi Stalin. Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister T.S. Singhdeo of the Congress said, "Sanatana dharma is an established way of life and a religious expression. It should be respected completely." Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, said, "Anyone making derogatory comments against it is ignorant of what it stands for." Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh said, "We dont need to learn what Hindu religion is from Amit Shah and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)." Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Mritunjay Tiwari said, "The BJP does politics in the name of Sanatan and the person who gave such a statement should apologise to all Sanatanis." : Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi (PTI file image) Hyderabad: Come September 17, Hyderabad would hog the national limelight as the country's two major parties -- BJP and Congress -- step up their efforts to woo voters in Telangana ahead of the Assembly elections. While the BJP is planning to rope in its key strategist and Union home minister Amit Shah for meetings on September 17 to mark the day Hyderabad joined India, the Congress went a step further to summon all its leaders to Hyderabad on September 16 for a CWC meeting, which would culminate with a mega rally on September 17. The Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan signed the instrument of accession on September 17, following the Operation Polo, merging the Princely State of Hyderabad with the Indian Union. The Congress meeting on September 17 also assumes significance as it shows the party's resolve to prevent the BJP from appropriating the nationalist agenda by celebrating September 17 as the Hyderabad Liberation Day. "The Congress President has decided to convene the new CWC meeting on September 16 at Hyderabad. The extended working committee meeting on September 17, along with the CWC members, CPP presidents, CLP leaders, and Parliamentary party office bearers will also attend this meeting," the Congress said in a release. On September 17th evening, the Congress will hold a mega rally near Hyderabad, where the party will launch its 5 guarantees for the people of Telangana. "After the public meeting, on the 18th our leaders will hit the constituencies going door-to-door distribution of 5 guarantees and chargesheet against the BRS govt," the party said. Launching a scathing attack on the NDA government at the Centre, Stalin said it has destroyed the sense of unity among Indians.. X.com Chennai: Releasing the inaugural episode of his newly launched podcast 'Speaking for India', Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday weighed in on what he claimed was the "destruction of the country under the BJP". Launching a scathing attack on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, the DMK chief said it has destroyed the sense of unity among Indians. "We are living in times where each and every one of us has to speak up for India. The Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to damage the basic structure of India and destroy the sense of unity that Indians have cherished and protected for so long," CM Stalin said in the inaugural podcast episode. Accusing the BJP of failing to fulfill the promises it made to the people ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK chief added, "The Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in 2014, has failed to fulfill its pre-election promises, especially with regards to the people's welfare schemes." "There were many other yarns that were spun that just remained tall tales," he added. Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CM Stalin said the former lied to the people about the "Gujarat model" and would leave the country's highest office with "no significant model to call his own". "The Narendra Modi model, which came to power lying about the Gujarat Model, is now going to end with no significant model to call his own. It has become a rudderless model, and there are no tall claims about the once-famous Gujarat model either, especially after we listed the achievements of the Dravidian Model in Tamil Nadu with statistical proof," he said in his podcast. "This failure being on one hand, on the other it is disheartening to see how Indias strong public sector is being dismantled and destroyed by the Union government. It is clear that they are misusing their power to transfer the public sector to their corporate friends. The welfare of the entire country has been reduced to the welfare of a few. Government-owned Air India has now been privatised," the CM claimed further. "Airports and ports all over India are going into the hands of private organisations. While Prime Minister Modis promise to double the income of farmers is far from fulfilled, the living standards of the poor and downtrodden haven't become better either. They have taken religion as their weapon to hide all their shortcomings," he added. Citing the ethnic violence in Manipur and clashes in Haryana's Nuh district, CM Stalin accused the BJP of stoking the "sectarian fire" saying, "In 2002, BJP sowed the seeds of violence and hatred in the state of Gujarat. In 2023, the sectarian fire ignited in the northeastern state of Manipur and saw the State burn. In Haryana, the fire of religious fanaticism is claiming the lives and property of innocent people. If we don't put an end to this right now, no one can save India and Indians. Whenever India's diversity, federalism, and democracy have been threatened, DMK has always been the vanguard, standing at the frontline." "During the 9-year BJP rule, there have been many harmful scams that have destroyed the States. GST has taken away the financial rights of the States. Tamil Nadu has lost its right to financial autonomy. Despite repeated requests by the states to extend the GST compensation for another two years, the Union government paid no heed to it. Tamil Nadu gives huge amounts of funds annually to the Union Government through taxes. At the same time, for every rupee paid as tax revenue to the Union Government, only 29 paise was returned to the State," the Tamil Nadu CM added. On the Opposition alliance Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) the CM said, "Social justice, Secular politics, Socialism, Equity, Social harmony, State autonomy, Federalism, Unity in diversity- An India where these facets thrive in its full glory is the real India. An unparalleled India. We have formed the INDIA Alliance to restore such an India." "It is this INDIA alliance that is going to save India. If we want to prevent the whole of India from becoming Manipur and Haryana, which, unfortunately, fell victim to BJP's communal politics, and hate-inciting policies, the INDIA alliance must win. Initial rounds of consultation meetings for the streamlining of the INDIA alliance have been held in Patna, Bangalore, and Mumbai," he said. The inaugural podcast episode was released amid outrage over a statement by the DMK chief's son and minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, equating 'Sanatan Dharma' with "mosquitoes, Dengue, Malaria, fever, and Corona". Addressing a conference in Chennai, Udhayanidhi said, "Few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose Dengue, Mosquitoes, Malaria, or Corona, we have to eradicate this that's how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated." "The word Sanatana, derived from Sanskrit, is against social justice and equality," he had claimed. The remarks drew saffron ire, with BJP national president JP Nadda on Sunday questioning if the statement of the Tamil Nadu minister was consistent with the position of the INDIA bloc vis-a-vis 'Sanatan Dharma'. Addressing a public rally in Chitrakoot, Nadda said, "Udhayanidhi Stalin says that 'Sanatan Dharma' should be abolished. He says just like dengue and malaria, 'Sanatan Dharma' should be abolished. They have no hesitation in making such statements. Does Udayanidhi's statement reflect the INDIA bloc's political strategy?" Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was formed in 1961 with the merger of the Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial Bank of Canada. The merger, the largest in Canadian banking history, gave the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce its name but not its true origin. The founding banks originated in 1867 and 1873 respectively and were among the countrys oldest surviving banks at the time. The business is headquartered in Toronto and located at the iconic CIBC Square in downtown Toronto. Today, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is a diversified international financial institution serving more than 13 million clients globally. It provides a full range of financial products and services for individuals, families, businesses and institutions in North America and around the world. The companys goal is to create value by providing consistent returns and sustainable growth. The company maintains a lower-than-average credit profile to help achieve that goal and keep it in a position to take advantage of strategic opportunities. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce operates in 4 segments that include Canadian Personal and Business Banking, Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management, U.S. Commercial Banking and Wealth Management, and Capital Markets. In late 2022 the company brought in over C$20 billion in revenue, had more than C$678 billion in deposits and had more than C$896 million in total assets. In regard to the banks health, it carries high AA or A+ investment grade credit ratings from all the major credit rating agencies. The companys products and services include personal and business deposit accounts, checking, savings, credit cards, and loans. Loans include mortgages, business credit, student loans, and agri-business. Other products include investment services, wealth management, and insurance services. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerces digital platform, which was the first launched in Canada, is award-winning and ranked #1 for customer satisfaction by J.D. Power. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerces strategy is built on 3 drivers. The first is focusing on high-growth, high-traffic client demographics, the second is elevating the customer experience through digital and the third is investing in differentiators within fast-growing markets. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is also a committed dividend payer that has not only paid a dividend every year since its inception but increases it on a regular basis as well. The company is also well-known for its long-term dividend growth and has a 15-year CAGR above 5.0%. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is committed to sustainability. The companys efforts won it a spot on Canadas Greenest Employers list for 2022 as well as recognition as Best Diversity Employer and for gender equality. Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) pays an annual dividend of $2.67 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 4.20%. CNQ has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. The dividend payout ratio is 52.46%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, CNQ will have a dividend payout ratio of 42.05% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. Read our dividend analysis for CNQ. Starco Brands, Inc. markets consumer products through retail and online in the United States. It offers products in various categories, including household cleaning, DIY/Hardware, paints, coatings and adhesives, household, hair care, disinfectants, automotive, motorcycle, arts and crafts, personal care cosmetics, personal care FDA, sun care, food, cooking oils, beverages and spirits, and wine under the Winona, Whipshots, and Breathe brand names. The company was formerly known as Insynergy Products, Inc. and changed its name to Starco Brands, Inc. in September 2017. Starco Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Santa Monica, California. Schneider National, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of surface transportation and logistics solutions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company operates through three segments: Truckload, Intermodal, and Logistics. The Truckload segment offers over the road freight transportation services primarily through dry van, bulk, temperature-controlled, and flat-bed equipment across either network or dedicated configurations. The Intermodal segment provides door-to-door container on flat car services through a combination of rail and dray transportation using company-owned containers, chassis, and trucks. The Logistics segment offers asset-light freight brokerage, supply chain, warehousing, and import/export services to manage and move its customers' freight. It also leases equipment, such as trucks to owner-operators; and provides insurance for the company drivers and owner-operators. The company was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. A Burning Man participant walks their bike through the mud near the exit, after a severe rainstorm left tens of thousands of revelers attending the annual festival stranded in mud in Black Rock City, in the Nevada desert Sept. 3. Reuters-Yonhap An unusual late-summer storm turned a week-long counterculture fest into a sloppy mess with tens of thousands of partygoers stuck in foot-deep mud and with no working toilets in the northern Nevada desert. But some Burning Man revelers said Sunday that their spirits remained unbroken. Organizers closed the festival to vehicles after one death was reported. Officials provided no details of the fatality. The annual gathering in the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Reno attracts nearly 80,000 artists, musicians and activists for a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances. Disruptions are part of the event's recent history: Organizers had to temporarily close entrances to the festival in 2018 due to dust storms , and the event was twice canceled altogether during the pandemic. More than a half an inch (1.3 centimeters) of rain fell at the festival site on Friday, disrupting this year's festival. "We are a little bit dirty and muddy but spirits are high. The party still going," said Scott London, a Southern California photographer, adding that the travel limitations offered "a view of Burning Man that a lot of us don't get to see." More than half an inch (1.3 centimeters) of rain and possibly close to 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) fell this weekend in parts of northwest Nevada, which includes the area where the Burning Man festival was being held, said Mark Deutschendorf, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno. For the Reno area, which is about 141 miles (227 km) south of the festival, the average rainfall for the whole month of September would be 0.21 inches (0.53 centimeters), Deutschendorf said. "Already, everywhere from Reno up to the Burning Man area, Black Rock, we've already exceeded that and it's only three days into the month," he said. Rainfall for the area around the festival was ending on Sunday, he said. The road closures came just before a large wooden effigy was supposed to have been burned Saturday night. Organizers said that all burning had been postponed, and authorities were working to open exit routes by the end of the Labor Day weekend. Officials said late Saturday they didn't yet know when the roads would "be dry enough for RVs or vehicles to navigate safely," but they were hopeful vehicles could depart by late Monday if weather conditions improved. A general view shows people standing amid mud during the Burning Man event, at the temporary desert settlement of Black Rock City, Nevada, U.S., Sept. 2 in this screen grab taken from a social media video. Reuters-Yonhap President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he is aware of the situation at Burning Man, including the death, and the White House is in touch with local officials. He doesn't know the cause of the death, Biden said. With their party closed to motorized traffic, attendees trudged through mud, many barefoot or with plastic bags on their feet. Revelers were urged to conserve supplies of food and water, and most remained hunkered down at the site. A few, however, managed to walk several miles to the nearest town or catch a ride there. Celebrity DJ Diplo posted a video to Instagram on Saturday evening showing him and comedian Chris Rock riding in the back of a fan's pickup truck. He said they had walked six miles through the mud before hitching a ride. "I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out," wrote Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz. The event is remote on the best of days and emphasizes self-sufficiency meaning most people bring in their own food, water and other supplies. Those who remained Sunday described a resilient community making the most of the mucky conditions: Many posted selfies of themselves covered in mud, dancing or splashing in the makeshift lakes. "We have not witnessed any negativity, any rough times," organizer Theresa Galeani said. "Some people were supposed to leave a few days ago, so they're out of water or food. But I am an organizer, so I went around and found more water and food. There is more than enough here for people. We just have to get it to everyone." London, the southern California photographer who was attending his 20th Burning Man and just published a book on the festival, "Burning Man: Art On Fire," spent much of Saturday walking barefoot across the site, which is about 5 square miles. He said that the biggest challenge was logistics because no vehicles could traverse the site, supplies could not be brought in and most people could not leave. "Usually it's very crowded with art cars, bikes and people all over the place. But yesterday it was like an abandoned playground," he added. Rebecca Barger, a photographer from Philadelphia, arrived at her first Burning Man on Aug. 26 and was determined to stick it out through the end. "I'm not leaving until both 'The Man' and 'The Temple' burn," Barger said, referring to the wooden effigy and wooden structure that are traditionally torched during the event's last two nights. She said one of the biggest concerns has been the lack of toilet options because the trucks that normally arrive to clean out the portable toilets multiple times a day haven't been able to reach the site since Friday's rainstorm. Some revelers said trucks had resumed cleaning on Sunday. To prevent her shoes from getting stuck in the muddy clay, Barger says she put a plastic bag over each of her shoes and then covered each bag with a sock. Others were just barefoot. "Everyone has just adapted, sharing RVs for sleeping, offering food and coffee," Barger said. "I danced in foot-deep clay for hours to incredible DJs." Ed Fletcher of Sacramento, a longtime Burning Man attendee, arrived in Black Rock City over a week ago to start setting up. When the rain hit, he and his campmates threw a party and "danced the night away" in their muddy shoes. "Radical self-reliance is one of the principles of Burning Man," he said. "The desert will try to kill you in some way, shape or form." A general view shows inundated tents and mud during the Burning Man event, at the temporary desert settlement of Black Rock City, Nevada, U.S., Sept. 3, in this screen grab taken from a social media video. Reuters-Yonhap TELUS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of telecommunications and information technology products and services in Canada. It operates through Technology Solutions and Digitally-Led Customer Experiences segments. The Technology Solutions segment offers a range of telecommunications products and services; network services; mobile technologies equipment; data services, such as internet protocol; television; hosting, managed information technology, and cloud-based services; software, data management, and data analytics-driven smart food-chain and consumer goods technologies; home and business security; healthcare software and technology solutions; and voice and other telecommunications services. The Digitally-Led Customer Experiences segment provides digital customer experience and digital-enablement transformation solutions, including artificial intelligence and content management solutions. The company was formerly known as TELUS Communications Inc. and changed its name to TELUS Corporation in February 2005. TELUS Corporation was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Vancouver, Canada. The Manitowoc Company, Inc. provides engineered lifting solutions in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific. It designs, manufactures, and distributes crawler-mounted lattice-boom cranes under the Manitowoc brand; a line of top-slewing and self-erecting tower cranes under the Potain brand; mobile hydraulic cranes under the Grove, Shuttlelift, and National Crane brands; and hydraulic boom trucks under the National Crane brand. The company also provides aftermarket services, such as sale of parts and accessories, field service work, routine maintenance services, technical support, erection and decommissioning services, crane remanufacturing, and training services. Its crane products are used in various applications, including energy production/distribution and utilities; petrochemical and industrial projects; infrastructure, such as road, bridge, and airport construction; and commercial and high-rise residential construction. The company serves a range of customers, including dealers, rental companies, contractors, and government entities in the petrochemical, industrial, commercial construction, power and utilities, infrastructure, and residential construction end markets. The Manitowoc Company, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A judge at Derry Magistrate's Court has said that she has no confidence a man with 265 previous convictions would abide by bail conditions. John Patrick McGilloway (40) of no fixed abode is charged with the burglary of a business premises stealing hair straighteners valued at 1,400 and 2,800 in cash on April 11 this year. At a bail application hearing today a police officer said that included in the 265 previous convictions there were 74 burglaries. He said police were currently investigating 12 further burglaries 'with the same MO' where the defendant is a suspect in. The police officer said that there was 'an extremely high risk' of McGilloway re-offending if released. Defence solicitor Paddy MacDermott said that at present his client is only charged with one commercial burglary. He said that McGilloway now has an address and could be managed by conditions. District Judge Oonagh Mullan said that McGilloway had 'an atrocious record'. She refused bail and McGilloway will appear again on September 14. A man who is alleged to have spat blood into a police officer's mouth in Altnagelvin Hospital's accident and emergency department yesterday and who shouted "good I hope he dies" when informed that a nearby patient was receiving end of life care, was refused bail and remanded in custody charged with committing a series of violent incidents when receiving medical care for a wound. The defendant, Nisha Gough, 22, from Dacre Terrace in the Carlisle Road area of the city, is alleged to have assaulted a police officer in the hospital by spitting blood into the officer's mouth. He's also charged with assaulting an ambulance paramedic by spitting into his face and with assaulting a nurse. The defendant is further charged with attempting to cause criminal damage to a door in the accident and emergency department and with resisting a police officer. A police officer told the court that the defendant was taken to hospital after police found him on Sunday morning on the Craigavon Bridge with an arm injury. While in hospital the defendant behaved in an aggressive manner towards medical staff and towards police officers. A police officer told the court that Gough told a member of the nursing staff that he would nail the first police officer who approached him. The court heard the defendant had taken off his top and had a visible wound dressing to his left arm. Bough was said to have continued to behave aggressively and he continually swore at anyone around him and he was warned three times about his behaviour before he was taken into a waiting area where he continued to verbally abuse staff. The officer said police eventually handcuffed the defendant and that was when he spat at the officer and the paramedic. The court heard his spittle contained blood and the officer whose mouth it entered was now off awaiting procedures for various potential issues. The officer added: A nurse asked him to calm down as there was a patient in a nearby room receiving end of life care and he said "good, I hope he f...... dies." Describing the incident as horrible, the police officer told the court that he believed there would be a high risk of the defendant re-offending in a violent manner if granted bail. He said the defendant's criminal record showed nineteen offences in the last four years, most of them for violent and public order offences. Applying for bail a defence solicitor described the allegations as "bizarre and outrageous" at a time when the defendant himself was receiving treatment in the hospital for an injury to his arm. "While the allegations are of a deeply unpleasant nature, I submit that with proper conditions imposed, including a ban from entering the hospital, that the defendant could be managed on bail", he said. When asked by District Judge Oonagh Mullan when the defendant moved to Derry, the solicitor replied that the defendant was originally from the north Belfast area and had moved to Derry earlier this year. Refusing bail, Judge Mullan said "to say what he did say about the person receiving end of life care was deplorable, disgusting and appalling. She added that the circumstances surrounding the case were despicable. The judge said Gough had relocated here but continued to re-offend. Bail was refused and the defendant was remanded in custody until October 2. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. A woman has appeared in Derry Magistrates Court charged with disorderly conduct in Altnagelvin Hospital's A&E department, as well as two counts of assault on police officers and one count of assaulting a paramedic. Shannon Coyle, 24, of John Street, was arrested on September 3 after police were called to Altnagelvin Hospital after an incident involving Coyle and an aggressive male. The male was detained and then Coyle became involved with police. Coyle became disorderly shouting and roaring and then was said to have proceeded to kick the officers and a paramedic as she was escorted out in handcuffs. A police officer opposed bail due to the location of the alleged offences and said there was a high risk of re-offending. Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said that he could not disagree with the sentiments as regards the hospital. He said his client accepted there was some kind of substance abuse involved but not alcohol and said Coyle has mental health issues. When giving bail, District Judge Oonagh Mullan ruled that Coyle was not to possess or consume any illegal substances and was to consult with her doctor within the next three days. She will appear in court again on September 18. An assessment report into a Belfast-based neurologist found that he repeatedly failed to make correct diagnoses, which led to patients inappropriately being given drugs with serious and toxic side-effects, a fitness to practise tribunal has heard. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing into Dr Michael Watt was also told that the assessment found his use of idiosyncratic diagnostic criteria had led to patients receiving unnecessary invasive treatment. Dr Watt was at the centre of Northern Irelands largest ever recall of patients in 2018 when more than 4,000 of his patients attended recall appointments. A previous MPTS tribunal granted Dr Watt voluntary removal from the medical register. However, the High Court quashed that ruling due to concerns it was not sufficient to protect the public. The three-person tribunal began its new hearing on Monday, and was told that Dr Watt will not be in attendance but will be legally represented. Tribunal chairman Neil Dalton asked Dr Watts lawyer, Matthew McDonagh, if any of the facts set out in the allegations against his client are admitted. Mr McDonagh said: No, sir. In the absence of Dr Watt no facts are admitted. Charles Garside KC, representing the General Medical Council (GMC), told the hearing it is a performance case, rather than a misconduct case. He said that, after concerns were first raised about Mr Watts work in 2016, an assessment was carried out by the GMC in October 2018. He said the four assessors will be called as witnesses during the hearing. Mr Garside said Dr Watt had been a consultant neurologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast but ceased clinical practice in 2017. He said Dr Watt had co-operated with the GMC assessment and was interviewed three times. The barrister then said that, conscious of the considerable publicity around the case, he would read directly from the summary and recommendations of the assessors report in a number of categories. He said: Knowledge, skills and performance, maintaining professional performance unacceptable. Assessment unacceptable. Clinical management unacceptable. Operative technical skills no judgment. Record-keeping unacceptable. Safety and quality no judgment. Relationships with patients unacceptable. Working with colleagues acceptable. Continuing to read from the report, he said: Dr Watts performance has been found to be deficient. Dr Watt is not fit to practise and should cease practice. The team has come to this conclusion on the following basis: Persistent failure to take adequate histories from patients and carry out clinical examinations. Persistent and repeated failure to make correct diagnoses, resulting in patients receiving inappropriate management which included drugs with serious and toxic side-effects. Use of idiosyncratic diagnostic criteria, leading to patients receiving unnecessary invasive treatment (epidural blood patches). Failure to consider involving specialist neurologist colleagues in management of complex patients. Failure to discuss risks and benefits of treatments with patients to allow them to come to informed decisions. Dr Watt showed little insight during the assessment with regard to any of the above points. The scope of these deficiencies, combined with this lack of insight, led the team to conclude that remediation is unlikely to change Dr Watts performance and he should cease practice. Mr Garside said the GMCs case is based solely on the report of the assessors. He added: The GMC submit that if you accept the assessors opinion you should find that Dr Watts fitness to practise is currently impaired. The tribunal then went into private session at the request of Dr Watts lawyer to discuss personal issues. When the hearing resumed, Mr Dalton said a potential health issue had arisen. He said: It has become clear there is a large amount of material which now needs to be considered by the tribunal that relates to that private issue Im told its around 1,000 pages of material. He adjourned the tribunal in public session until Wednesday afternoon. Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday expressed disappointment that Chinese leader Xi Jinping would not attend the G20 summit in India this week, as Washington seeks to repair relations with Beijing. Asked about Xi reportedly not planning to join the gathering in New Delhi, Biden told reporters, "I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him," without elaborating. Bilateral ties between the United States and China face a long list of problems, from trade disputes to Taiwan's future to the expansive Chinese presence in the South China Sea. The United States has been working to restore a more effective working relationship, sending a series of senior officials to China in recent months despite continuing friction. On Thursday a senior EU official said that Xi would not be at the G20, represented instead by Premier Li Qiang. Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held rare face-to-face talks at the BRICS group summit in South Africa last month, but tensions also remain high between the Asian giants. Relations between the world's two most populous countries have been in deep freeze since a Himalayan border clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops in 2020. (AFP) Foxconn, Pegatron charting paths in India and Vietnam Due to supply chain disruptions and rising geopolitical risks, companies are speeding up their production diversification efforts, with Foxconn and Pegatron de-risking themselves from the over-reliance on China, particularly in mobile phone manufacturing in India. According to Counterpoint Research, China accounted for 67% of the global mobile phone production in 2021, with India and Vietnam contributing 16% and 10%, respectively. Still, according to DIGITIMES Research, India is expected to represent 25% of global iPhone production and account for 4550% of global iPhone production capacity, putting it on par with China. The reasons smartphone manufacturers favor India include its demographic dividend and to avoid import customs duties. These factors prompted manufacturers to increase local production in India, with Apple suppliers primarily located in southern India. India and Vietnam have become preferences for manufacturers going after "China-plus-one" or even "China-plus-N", and the Indian plans of Foxconn and Pegatron, two of the major Apple suppliers, have been in the spotlight in the supply chain. Vietnam is the largest production base for Foxconn outside of China. Since 2016, after Microsoft sold its Nokia feature phone business to HMD Global and FIH, and FIH's subsequent takeover of the production base in Vietnam, Foxconn has been making mobile phones in the country. In recent years, Foxconn has expanded its production in Vietnam to meet customers' needs as well as diversify its business beyond mobile phone manufacturing. As for India, Foxconn has had production lines for smartphones for years. Driven by "China-plus-one" and Apple's focus on the Indian market, Foxconn initiated expansion and investments in the South Asian country, including FIT's facility in Telangana, which is expected to start operation in 2024. However, considering India's consumer market, Apple will initially focus on basic models, with some high-end products assembled in India to meet local demands and improve its global supply chain resilience. Taiwan-based Pegatron has been expanding productions outside of China, including Taiwan, Indonesia in 2020, Vietnam in 2021, and Mexico and India in 2022, with India and Vietnam the primary focus of Pegatron. Indian media reported that Pegatron was talking about setting up another manufacturing facility near Chennai, which may come with a smaller production capacity than the first facility. Pegatron has never confirmed the rumor. Jason Cheng, vice chairman and deputy CSO at Pegatron, said while the progress in India exceeded expectations, Pegatron will pursue a steady and cautious strategy for its investments in India. It is expected that Pegatron will make products for Apple in India, starting with the iPhone 12 before advancing to the iPhone 13. Tzu Hsien Tung, chairman at Pegatron, said the 'Make in India' movement will not stop in the coming years, and compared with experiences in China, Taiwan-based companies will be confronted with cultural, legal, and language challenges. He added that assemblers will rely on component imports from China initially, with the local supplier ecosystem remaining to be developed. Meanwhile, mobile assembly carries a low gross margin, particularly for iPhones, and the huge investments in India and Southeast Asia are expected to exert pressure on a company's profitability, leading to some suppliers selling their assets to Chinese or other interested companie Investment plans in South and Southeast Asia Company India Vietnam Foxconn Setting up facilities since 2006, making iPhones, Android smartphones, TVs, and E2W components Largest production base outside of China for mobile phones and components, with plans to venture into EVs Petagron PhoneFirst facility in 2022/9, reported to have up coming second facility, making iPhones Consumer electronics production, such as Surface and Google Nest series Source: DIGITIMES Asia, August 2023 The SDLP said the Irish Government should have a consultative role in formulating the budget for Northern Ireland in the continued absence of a functioning Stormont Assembly. The partys two MPs, Claire Hanna and leader Colum Eastwood, have tabled an amendment to the Budget Bill which would mandate the UK Government to engage with the Irish Government on the terms of financial settlements. The NI Budget Bill, introduced by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, will be debated by MPs when the House of Commons returns from summer recess. The Stormont Assembly remains dormant as the DUP seeks further assurances from the UK government about post-Brexit political and trading arrangements following the signing of the Windsor Framework. Mr Eastwood said the spirit of power-sharing must be facilitated through enhanced co-operation between the British and Irish governments. He said: For 19 months people have been waiting for the DUP to get back to work. We were told to wait until after the local government elections, then until after the summer and then to autumn. Autumn has arrived and still we are without a local devolved government. Meanwhile this Tory budget will have a devastating effect on people here as a result of the brutal cuts to public services. The DUP cant be allowed to call the shots anymore. They need to understand that power-sharing will endure whether they like it or not and whether they take part or not. In the absence of an Executive, the spirit of the agreement must be facilitated by enhanced co-operation between the British and Irish governments. Ms Hanna said: This is a short-term reactionary budget; it will deliver hardship now and stores up more of the same for the future by failing to tackle issues around the transformation of services. We must also be cautious of the false economy of penny pinching today only to have to pay a bigger price down the road. Urgent reform of services cannot be put off. We need a new approach, new thinking to create solutions to these problems and it would be prudent to approach some of these on an all-island basis. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed Gretchen Biery Director for its eastern Mediterranean region, leading its operations in Jordan, Lebanon and the West Bank and Gaza. Ms Biery took up her new role on 1 September 2023, reporting to the Managing Director of the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region. She will be based in Jordan, where she succeeds Philip ter Woort. An American national, Ms Biery joined the Bank in 2018 as Head of Lebanon, based in Beirut, where she established the EBRDs office and oversaw operations. Since 2021, she has been Senior Advisor to the Managing Director of the SEMED region, focusing on preparations for the Banks potential expansion into sub-Saharan Africa and Iraq, as well as working with newer shareholders in the region, including Algeria. It is a great privilege to take over this role delivering the EBRDs activities in the eastern Mediterranean, Ms Biery said. Im very happy to return to the region and look forward to building on the achievements of my predecessors, supporting the regions economy and working to deliver the Banks green and sustainable agenda with the public and private sectors. Prior to joining the Bank, Ms Biery held strategic and operational positions at multilateral development banks and the US Treasury, and consulted for bilateral development agencies. She worked extensively in the Middle East and south-east Asia. She brings to the role vast knowledge of the region, significant public-sector and policy dialogue experience, as well as experience supporting private-sector development. She holds a masters degree in international relations and economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a degree in international political science from the University of Louisville. The EBRD launched its operations in the SEMED region in 2012 and, to date, has invested over 19.2 billion there. The Bank is working to strengthen the resilience of local economies in the region with a combination of investment and policy engagement. It focuses on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, promoting agribusiness, developing infrastructure and local services, supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency, and developing local capital markets. First Vice President visits Caucasus to meet government officials, partners and clients Focus on private sector development, infrastructure and reforms Bank has invested over 10 billion in 680 projects in the region The EBRDs First Vice President and Head of Client Services Group, Jurgen Rigterink, begins a week-long visit to the Caucasus on Monday, 4 September 2023. Starting in Armenia, the trip will continue in Georgia and finish in Azerbaijan. First Vice President Rigterink, accompanied by Matteo Patrone, EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, will meet government officials, central bank governors, business leaders and representatives of international financial organisations in each country. He will also mark the handover between the outgoing EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus, Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, and her successor, Alkis Vryenios Drakinos. In Armenia, the First Vice President will sign a credit line with a local partner bank to further boost the development of the private sector. In Georgia, Mr Rigterink will launch a programme with one of the EBRDs key partner banks as part of its commitment to supporting small and medium size enterprises. In Azerbaijan he will participate in the launch of the public-private partnership for technical and vocational education and training organised by the State Vocational Education Agency, aimed at strengthening skills capacity in the food production industry. Ahead of the visit, Mr Rigterink said: This visit is an opportunity to meet government representatives and members of the business community to discuss the priorities in the region, especially given Russias war on Ukraine and increasing economic uncertainty. The Caucasus is an important region for the Bank and we are committed to offering continuous support for the sustainable economic development in the region through our investments, advisory services and policy engagements. The EBRD has invested over 10 billion in 680 projects across the region, in both the private and public sectors. Citeste in romana EBRD President to visit Romania this week for bilateral talks with government, business Odile Renaud-Basso will address the Summit of Three Seas Initiative on EBRD work with Ukraine and region EBRD has done 10.5 billion of business in Romania, a top-six investment destination Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), pays a two-day visit to Romania this week to hold talks with government and business leaders and to address the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative 2023 taking place in Bucharest on Wednesday. President Renaud-Basso will also welcome the new EBRD Director for Romania, Victoria Zinchuk. Ms Zinchuk follows Mark Davis, who has held the role of Regional Director, Romania and Bulgaria, since 2019, and moves to Zagreb to take up the role of Regional Director, Central Europe. In 2022, green economy investments made up more than 61 per cent of the years total EBRD investment in Romania, which at 709 million was the second highest level ever in the country. This is Ms Renaud-Bassos first visit to Romania as EBRD President. It will take place a few months after Marcel Ciolacu, leader of the Social Democratic Party, became Prime Minister of the countrys coalition government in June. Since then, Romania has announced a major advance in renewable energy provision, preparing for the launch of its first auction for a contract-for-difference (CfD) support scheme for renewable energy, supported by the EBRD. Onshore wind and solar projects with a total capacity of 2000 MW will be supported through a CfD scheme for 15 years, with successful bidders expected to be announced in November. Developing renewable energy is a priority for EBRDs investments in Romania. I warmly welcome these auctions as a support mechanism for renewable investments, said the EBRD President. The EBRD stands ready to support more such advances to help Romania reach its sustainability and other - targets within the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility. As well as bilateral meetings with President Klaus Johannis and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, President Renaud-Basso is meeting officials including Marcel-Ioan Bolos, Minister of Finance; Sebastian Burduja, Minister of Energy; Sorin Grindeanu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure and Mugur Isarescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania. She will also hold talks with investors and the business community as well as civil society. On Wednesday, Ms Renaud-Basso will also address the 2023 Summit of the Three Seas Initiative, a forum of 12 states in the European Union that lie between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas in central and eastern Europe and meet to discuss increasing integration. Since February 2022, one key question has been the impact of Russias war on Ukraine on the wider region. The EBRD has been at the forefront of efforts to support the economies of Ukraine and its neighbours in wartime. The Bank has committed to invest at least 3 billion in Ukraine by the end of 2023 of which 2.5 billion has already been deployed - and has enhanced investments in neighbouring countries affected by the war. Romania is a key partner of the EBRD and one of its top six investment destinations. To date, the EBRD has done 10.5 billion of business through 515 projects in Romania, focussing on financing infrastructure, especially in the regions, boosting private sector productivity and further developing the financial sector and capital markets. The private sector share of the portfolio is 80 per cent. CORK Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH), together with Cork City Council, Cork County Council and Kerry County Council, is asking the public to use a free service to dispose of their medications safely and properly. The Dispose of Unused Medicines Properly (DUMP) campaign runs from today until Sunday, October 15 with almost all pharmacies across Cork and Kerry taking part. The campaign allows the public to bring unused or out-of-date medicines to participating pharmacies to ensure that they are disposed of properly. The DUMP campaign has run successfully in Cork and Kerry since 2007 and in 2022, almost seven tonnes of medicines were safely disposed of as part of this vital campaign. Unused or out-of-date medicines can build up in the home for a variety of reasons but people are advised that storing these medications long-term is not safe and can result in accidental poisonings, intentional overdose, inappropriate sharing of medicines and environmental damage. Explaining why people should take this opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted medicines, HSE Pharmacist Louise Creed said: We would strongly urge people to take this opportunity to get rid of out-of-date or unused medicines. Medication can pose a real hazard in the home, particularly to children or other vulnerable people. Clearing out your medicine cabinet is something that should be done on a regular basis. Please take 10 minutes to check all the medicines you keep at home including over-the-counter medicines and vitamins and remove anything that is out of date or no longer required. Medicines have an expiry date for the same reason food does and out-of-date medicines could do more harm than good. Resource Officer for Suicide Prevention in Cork, Martin Ryan, said: I would urge you to review all medications you have in your home on a regular basis. One of our strategic goals in the Connecting for Life Strategy Cork and Kerry is to support local communities' capacity to prevent and respond to suicidal behaviour. Reducing access to unused or unwanted medications in the home is of vital importance. Drug and Alcohol Services Co-ordinator David Lane said pharmacies involved have embraced the campaign and are actively encouraging people to return unwanted or out-of-date medicines to them. I cannot emphasise strongly enough how important it is to ensure these medicines are disposed of properly and safely. Please take some time to check out whats in your cabinets and avail of this free service over the coming weeks, he said. Tanaiste Micheal Martin will hold a series of political meetings during a visit to the Middle East this week. He will begin his trip in Israel on Monday before travelling to the occupied Palestinian territory and Jordan. As well as meeting with leaders, he will engage with UN and civil society partners providing support to people in the region. In Israel, the Tanaiste plans to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, president Isaac Herzog and foreign minister Eli Cohen. He will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied Palestinian territory before travelling to Jordan, where engagements will include a meeting with deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ayman Safadi. Mr Martin said: This visit is an important opportunity to see the political, security and human rights situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. There has been a worrying escalation in violence over recent months. Ireland has been consistent in its calls for the protection of civilians and the application of international law. This visit will allow the opportunity to discuss directly these issues with political leaders, as well as with Irelands civil society partners. He added: The visit will be my first to Jordan since the opening of Irelands embassy in Amman and I am looking forward to seeing the strengthened bilateral relationship between us, including Irelands support for the Jordan Young Scientist Programme and other innovation initiatives. Jordan also hosts a significant number of refugees from Syria, Palestine and elsewhere. I will meet with refugee families and UN partners and reiterate Irelands continuing support. A RECENT report on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Cork exposes totally inadequate mental health supports available to children and young people" in the region, a Cork TD has stated. Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould called on the Government to support Sinn Fein legislation to regulate CAMHS. His comments followed the publication of a report by the Mental Health Commission into mental health support in Community Healthcare Organisation 4 (CHO4), which includes Cork. The report revealed that CAMHS teams in Cork/Kerry are without a permanent psychologist, and that children have been left waiting almost 200 days for intervention after deliberate self-harm and over 50 days after suicidal intent and ideation. Last month, The Echo revealed that 365 children had been waiting more than 12 months for CAMHS in Cork/Kerry. Information obtained from Cork Kerry Community Healthcare shows that 838 children are on the CAMHS waiting list in Cork alone. Speaking about the latest report, Deputy Gould said: The latest report by the Mental Health Commission into CAMHS exposes totally inadequate mental health supports available to children and young people in Cork. "Three teams are without a permanent psychologist in Cork/Kerry, poor communication leaves teams without any information when they escalate a case, children are left waiting almost 200 days for intervention after deliberate self-harm and over 50 days after suicidal intent and ideation. Mental health care should be based on need and not where a child lives but that is exactly what this report highlights. "A postcode lottery of care has developed under this Government and children in Cork are suffering as a result. The Mental Health Commission has made 49 recommendations that the government must accept and implement to reform CAMHS and improve care to children," he added. We have had no commitment or direction from the Government outlining if they will implement these recommendations. This is a Government asleep at the wheel and totally failing to step up and provide the services young people should be able to rely on. Our young people and their families cannot wait, which is why Sinn Feins mental health spokesperson Mark Ward has introduced legislation that would give statutory powers to the Mental Health Commission to oversee the implementation of their recommendations. Deputy Gould called on the Government to support the legislation so children and young people in Cork can get the support they need, saying they deserve better. HSE Response A spokesperson for Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH) welcomed the publication of the report on CAMHS in the Cork/Kerry area, and said work is underway to improve and develop mental health services for children and young people in Cork. The spokesperson said progress over the last 12 months included intensive work to open a regional CAMHS Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) assessment service, which will open this autumn; additional work to establish a regional CAMHS crisis hub; ongoing work to transform the way CAMHS services are delivered across the region by creating new roles; and implementation in full of 29 of the recommendations of the Maskey Report, with intensive work underway on the six remaining recommendations. The spokesperson also noted, however, that the commission recommends other methods of CAMHS provision, which the spokesperson said has been part of the ongoing work to fully implement the Maskey recommendations. As well as making greater use of telemedicine (remote appointments), we are examining other approaches to service delivery," they added. Young people and their families and indeed CAMHS staff may understandably be concerned by this report. We want to reassure them that the Maskey Report has proved to be a significant catalyst for positive change across our CAMHS services, and we are committed to using this additional feedback from the Mental Health Commission to support our efforts to make a real difference for young people using CAMHS. The seizure of over 4 million worth of cocaine in Dunkettle last month saw three men remanded in custody for a further fortnight today. The three accused appeared at Cork District Court by video link from prison. Sergeant Gearoid Davis said directions were awaited from the Director of Public Prosecutions. On the application of Sgt. Davis, Judge Olann Kelleher remanded all three accused in custody until September 18 to appear again at Cork District Court by video link from prison. The three accused are 39-year-old Gentjan Dodaj of Paradise Road, Athlone in Co Westmeath, 22-year-old Donatel Dodaj of the same address and Daniel Afedoaei of Sli an Aifreann in Athlone, who is also aged 22. An Albanian interpreter translated proceedings at Cork District Court today for two accused. For the other accused, a Romanian interpreter was available but was not required. All three are charged with possession of cocaine, and having cocaine for sale or supply on Sunday, August 6, at L2998 in Richmond, Dunkettle, Co Cork. Detective Garda Gavin Curran and Det. Garda Val Russell gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in the cases where none of the men made any reply. Mr Afedoaei, who is a native of Romania, spoke up during the brief hearing to indicate that he had changed his free legal aid solicitor from Dara Hayden to John Quinn who is based in Dublin. The other two accused, Donatel Dodaj and Gentjan Dodaj were represented by Shane Collins Daly solicitor. The seizure of the drugs occurred following an intelligence led operation targeting persons suspected of involvement with organised crime, a joint operation conducted by the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau and personnel attached to the Revenue Customs Service. During this operation, Revenue officers seized approximately 60kg of cocaine with an estimated value of 4,200,000. A TOTAL of 28 Cork-based charities and community organisations are set to benefit from ALDIs Community Grants programme. Each group will receive a sum of 500 including the Good Shepherd Cork, The Crann Centre, Glansillagh Animal Rescue, CSPCA Animal Rescue, Cork Deaf Association, Skibbereen Geriatric Society and Men's Shed Passage West, to name but a few. Marymount Hospice, which received multiple nominations from ALDI employees, is to receive a 1,000 grant from the retailer. The initiative goes towards helping local charities and community organisations provide vital services in their local areas. Each beneficiary is chosen by ALDI employees, enabling them to help local good causes they are passionate about. This will form part of an overall 615,000 donation from ALDI to charity during 2023. More than 1,000 local charity branches and community organisations across Ireland have benefitted from donations since the initiatives inception in 2016. Recipients range from rescue teams to animal sanctuaries, cancer support and mental health support, or any charitable organisation that resonates with ALDI colleagues. Liz Fox, National Sustainability Director, ALDI Ireland spoke of their commitment to helping local communities thrive. We are very proud to continue to support local charities and community organisations across the country through the ALDI Community Grants programme and were pleased to see the impact of our donation in the local communities of County Cork", she said. The company has also donated more than 358,000 meals to local charities through their partnership with FoodCloud, avoiding a total of 480,000kgs of CO2 emissions. The supermarket giant has pledged to raise 2 million by 2024 for charity partner Barnardos to help support vulnerable children and families across Ireland. To date, more than 1.4 million has been raised for Barnardos since partnering in November 2020. Cork GAA clubs who have designed Decade of Centenaries commemorative jerseys are being invited to have these jerseys exhibited in the upcoming Cork Commemorative Jersey exhibition. The exhibition, which will commence later this month, will feature local club and Cork intercounty jerseys commemorating Irish revolutionary figures and / or events on their kits during the Decade of Centenaries (2016-2023). The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy is urging clubs who have not already submitted their jerseys to do so. To date, 16 jerseys have been submitted to the exhibition by Cork City and County clubs, including Ballyphehane, Beal Athan Ghaorthaidh, Brian Dillons, Cork Boston GFC, Delaneys, Diarmuid O Mathunas, Fermoy, Kilmichael, Na Piarsaigh, St. Vincents and Valley Rovers we really want to make sure everyone is included and to feature any more that might be out there, so Im calling out to clubs across the county to send in their commemorative jersey, which must relate to events or persons in the period 1916-1926. "We want to have your local club be a part of this celebration of history, heritage and Irish sporting culture. Intercounty jerseys commemorating the martyred Lord Mayors, Terence MacSwiney and Tomas MacCurtain, and the 1916 Rising are also set to feature as part of the exhibit. The display will begin in late September at the Public Museum in Fitzgerald Park. It will later move around as a mobile exhibition and will be hosted in locations such as City Hall, the Central Library on Grand Parade and other local areas of cultural and sporting significance. The exhibit is being co-ordinated by Cork City Councils Commemorations working group, along with the help of Cork GAA and Public Museum curator, Dan Breen. A virtual edition of the exhibit will launch later in the year. THE case against a young man for spray-painting graffiti over pre-existing graffiti at The Shakey Bridge in Cork was dismissed after it emerged that Cork City Council could not come up with a cost for the damage. The case before Cork District Court had been adjourned a number of times as the question of how much damage was caused by a piece of graffiti was teased out. Frank Buttimer solicitor described the graffiti in question as graffiti upon graffiti at a location which he called spray-painting central. Barry OBrien of 7 Innishannon Road, Fair Hill, Cork, pleaded guilty to a charge that without lawful excuse he caused damage to property, namely the walkway, arches, walls of The Shakey Bridge - the popular name for Dalys Bridge on the Mardyke - belonging to Cork City Council, intending such damage or being reckless as to whether the property would be damaged. The date of the offence was March 6, 2022 and when the case was first in court an official valuation for the damage was given 1,500. Defence solicitor, Frank Buttimer, said that while the offence was not in dispute the valuation for the criminal damage was very much in dispute. On Monday Sergeant Gearoid Davis said, Cork City Council cannot come up with a cost. Although the defendant was seen spraying the graffiti and admitted the offence, Judge Olann Kelleher said he would dismiss the criminal damage charge in the absence of evidence of how much damage was caused. The same defendant admitted having cannabis for his own use when he was caught at the scene. He had four similar convictions. Judge Kelleher gave him a four-month suspended sentence for the cannabis possession. Line-up for UCM Research Festival announced University College Isle of Man (UCM) has announced its line-up for this years Research Festival on October 13, which will be themed around the three strands of the Island Plan, with a keen focus on Sustainability. The free admission event will be opened by the Chief Minister followed by the keynote address by Climate Research Scientist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr Douglas Fox. Attendees will then select from three pathways which include presentation of research projects and findings from local organisations as well as international speakers. The Sustainable pathway features Manx Blue Carbon, Renewable Electric Grid Simulation and Peat Survey & Restoration and Seagrass Conservation among other presentations. Meanwhile the Vibrant and Secure pathways feature talks on Awesome Manx Women, A paradigm shift required in celebrating our world of differences, Becoming an Effective Leader of a Remote Team and Chatbot Vs Librarian. Gail Corrin, UCMs Higher Education Manager who organises the event, said: What an incredible line up weve got again at this years festival. We call for papers each year and it is extraordinary the range of research thats being undertaken on or about our Island. Research is incredibly important, not just in educational settings. "As it is for individuals, so to for communities, curious and informed minds will be the source of a sustainable and thriving future. As we face the challenges of climate change, AI and more research and creative thinking can change those challenges into opportunities." Igualdad Montero defiende el derecho al cuidado y pide al Estado que se haga "corresponsable" de una tarea que es "esencial" The NFU is advising farmers to plan ahead for a change in the law that means they will need to provide photo ID before they can purchase ammonium nitrate fertiliser. A widening of the Control of Poisons Regulations 2023 will affect sales of AN fertilisers with a nitrogen content of 16% or more after 1 October. The NFU said farmers should be aware of this new regulation so that they can work with their suppliers ahead of the need to purchase fertiliser. The new rules will apply to compounds, blends and mixtures such as NPK fertilisers that exceed the AN threshold regardless of the overall nitrogen content. The regulations will also apply to CAN (ceric ammonium mitrate) and potassium nitrate. The NFU said photo ID provided can be of anyone in the farm business tasked with making the purchase. Verification will be kept on record and will need to be updated every 18 months in the case of professional users, the union said, or if there is a change to a usual order. "If someone is seeking to buy fertiliser on behalf of others, the key test is likely to be who is acquiring the fertiliser on delivery," the NFU said. "If youre buying on behalf of a group, a photo ID for the farm it will be delivered to is likely be required by the merchant. "It doesn't need to be a passport or driving licence. You will need to record the type of business and VAT number." The changes have been the subject of considerable lobbying from fertiliser trade association Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC), which has said that tens of thousands of farmers could be caught out by the change. AIC head of fertiliser, Jo Gilbertson said: While we will always support efforts to further minimise the public safety risks of fertiliser falling into the wrong hands, the government has failed to understand how ammonium nitrate products are bought and sold within agriculture." NFU crops board chair, Matt Culley added: "The NFU has stressed the importance of ensuring additional measures such as this do not put barriers in place that disrupt a grower's ability to purchase important crop nutrients, especially during times of urgency to get fertiliser on farm." Fresh and frozen sheep meat exports from the UK performed well in the first six months of the year, recording a 14% year-on-year increase - while imports fell considerably. Some 94% of volume went to markets within the EU and both France and Germany received an additional 2,500 tonnes and 1,700 tonnes, compared with 2022. This is according to Hybu Cig Cymru-Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) analysis of HMRC data detailing January-June UK red meat export performance. This occurred despite lamb production on the UK market being less than one per cent higher than year-earlier levels, said Glesni Phillips, HCCs market insight executive. And as supply in the UK is usually highest during the latter half of the year, we would expect this strong trade to continue. The total volume of sheep meat - including offal - exported from the UK during the 6-month period totalled 43,400 tonnes, a 16% rise on the year, while the total value rose by 13% to 277.5m. Imports of sheep meat saw a decrease of 31% (or 12,800 tonnes) with 28,000 tonnes of sheep meat arriving into the UK during the first half of 2023. Fresh and frozen imported products also experienced a significant decrease of 33%, around 8,000 tonnes less sheep meat from New Zealand than in the comparable period a year earlier. Shipments from New Zealand still accounted for almost 60 per cent of the total volume of fresh and frozen sheep meat received into the UK. Ms Phillips said: It would seem that this decrease reflects changes to global consumer demand that have impacted on UK import trends. Much of the product from New Zealand and Australia has been shipped into China." It was a different story for beef exports however. The HMRC data reveals the total volume of beef exported from the UK in the January June period stood at 65,300 tonnes (down 22%), while the value of total exports fell by 10% to 287.4m. Fresh and frozen beef export volumes stood at 50,300 tonnes also down nearly a quarter (22%). Exports are down as much on the year due to subdued demand from consumers in Europe and because UK cattle prices have been strong, and therefore not as competitive on the global trading landscape, said Ms Phillips. The total volume of beef imported to the UK during the six-month period fell by 5% on the year to 143,100 tonnes, while the value of imports increased by almost 2% to 754.7m. Fresh and frozen imports of beef volumes were down seven per cent (or 7,700 tonnes) on the year to 109,400 tonnes. Pork volume exported during the period decreased significantly year on year by 23 per cent to 151,800 tonnes worth 294.7 million (down just 0.5%). Total pork imports during the six-month period fell by eight per cent in volume terms to 381,900 tonnes. Pork exports are subdued due to the continued contraction of the UK pig herd as cost of production values rocketed for UK producers, said Ms Phillips. This is also highlighted in the UK Government figures, which indicate pork production during the six-month period was down 13 per cent on the year at 457,200 tonnes. NASA is searching the skies for signs of alien civilisations. NASA is hunting in the skies for aliens Dr. Michelle Thalller, a scientist at the US space agency, explained that conferences have been held regarding the possibility of the James Webb telescope finding evidence of extraterrestrial life on another planet. Speaking at Artechouse's Beyond the Light exhibit, Dr. Thaller said: "There are extra scientists that are searching the sky for signs of alien civilisations. "We've had conferences about what happens if the James Webb Telescope observes an atmosphere of a planet around another star and we see things that don't look natural." The James Webb Telescope is on a journey into deep space and is sending images back to Earth on a daily basis and Dr. Thaller hopes it will soon find another planet. She said: "The Webb Telescope has the ability to actually detect chemicals, gases that are in planets around other stars. "We've done this already with Webb but all the planets have been very different from Earth. "I'm hoping this year maybe that we find one that's very similar to Earth." The downturn in Germany's manufacturing sector extended into August, according to the latest Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB) purchasing managers index (PMI) survey conducted by S&P Global. The HCOB Germany manufacturing PMIa gauge of overall business conditions based on measures of new orders, output, employment, supplier delivery times and stocks of purchaseswas 39.1 in August, registering close to July's 38.8. The downturn in Germany's manufacturing sector extended into August, a survey by S&P Global found. Output fell at a faster rate amid rapidly declining new orders. Goods producers remained pessimistic towards the year-ahead outlook, albeit slightly less so than in July. Supplier delivery times quickened for a tenth straight month in August. Output fell at a faster rate amid rapidly declining new orders. Goods producers remained pessimistic towards the year-ahead outlook, albeit slightly less so than in July. Destocking remained a prominent feature of the survey, with firms looking to streamline inventories in line with falling workloads and improved material availability. Weaker demand across the sector meanwhile fed through to lower input costs and factory gate prices, although the rates of decline eased compared to those seen in July. Manufacturers scaled back output for a fourth consecutive month in August. Furthermore, the rate of contraction accelerated once again to the fastest seen since the initial COVID shutdowns in spring 2020. Production was down across all main industrial groupings, reflecting a broad-based reduction in demand. New orders continued to fall sharply, with the rate of decline quickening slightly since July to the fastest for more than three years, and far outstripping the reduction in output. New export orders were markedly down, amid reports of reduced sales to China and across Europe, although the rate of decline eased from the previous month and was noticeably slower than that of total new business, S&P Global said in a release. Manufacturers continued to make rapid inroads into their backlogs of work during August, and they remained downbeat about production prospects over the forthcoming year. Expectations did however pick up slightly from July's eight-month low. Factory employment fell fractionally midway through the third quarter, having posted the first decline for two-and-a-half years in July. The survey suggested firms were reluctant to make large-scale reductions in staffing capacity, with incidences of lower employment often attributed to the non-replacement of leavers. An area where manufacturers did make substantial cutbacks was on the purchasing front, with buying levels falling to the greatest extent since May 2020. This partly reflected attempts to reduce inventory levels in line with not only weaker customer demand, but also shorter lead times on inputs. Supplier delivery times quickened for a tenth straight month in August, with the rate of improvement remaining marked but easing for the second straight month. Falling raw material prices and competition among suppliers meanwhile contributed to a further sharp drop in average purchasing costs faced by German manufacturers. The rate of decline eased since July, but it was still the second-fastest recorded in over 14 years. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) The eurozone manufacturing sector is facing persistent hardship according to the latest HCOB Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey data. New orders are plummeting and backlogs of work are rapidly depleting, placing significant pressure on production lines throughout the eurozone. Despite marginal decreases in factory employment levels, purchasing activity was notably cut as companies continue to streamline their inventories. The HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, managed by S&P Global, remained below the crucial 50.0 no-change mark for the fourteenth consecutive month. Although the headline index rose from 42.7 in July to 43.5 in August, the manufacturing economy of the eurozone is still under serious strain. New data from the HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing PMI survey reveals the ongoing struggles of the manufacturing sector. Despite hitting a 3-month high at 43.5, the index remains below the 50.0 no-change level for the 14th consecutive month, signifying deteriorating conditions. New orders plummeted, and factory employment levels continued to fall. For the sixth consecutive month, a reduction in manufacturers' input costs was reported. The rate of decline remained substantial, causing factories to discount the prices of goods leaving the factory gates. This strategic move aims to increase the competitiveness of their products amid declining demand. Performance varied among eurozone countries. Ireland and Greece were the only nations to see improvements since July. In contrast, Germany, France, Italy, and Spainfour of the zone's largest economiescontinued to contract. Germany and Austria were the poorest performers, although their rates of decline have slightly eased. The volume of new orders received by eurozone manufacturers plummeted at a rate rarely seen in the survey's 26-year history. This downward trajectory is affecting both domestic and foreign order volumes, which have been weakening consistently for over a year. The volume of backlogs also significantly declined in August, marking the 15th consecutive month of such decreases. This has led to a rise in spare capacity and contributed to the downfall in manufacturing production, except for minor rises in February and March of this year. In terms of employment, job cuts were marginal but notable for their consistency. This marks a significant shift from the trend of employment gains observed from early-2021 to mid-2021. Despite these dire circumstances, an uptick in optimism was observed. Growth expectations rose to a three-month high but remain far below historical averages. Positive sentiment was strongest in Ireland and Italy, counterbalancing pessimistic outlooks in Germany, France, and Austria. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD) TOKYO, Sep 04 (News On Japan) - The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Lesotho, who has recently arrived from Africa, is hooked on 'Don Quijote'! See what favorite items she's buying in bulk! We also introduce Lesotho Kingdom cuisine and 'sacred dances' at the Ambassador's residence! The United Kingdom and the Philippines are planning a new Joint Trade Economic Committee to boost bilateral trade, which is now at the highest-ever level of 2.6 billion, the UK government recently said. UK foreign secretary James Cleverly recently visited Manila and met his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo. The UK and the Philippines are planning a new Joint Trade Economic Committee to boost bilateral trade, now at the highest-ever level of 2.6 billion, the UK government said following foreign secretary James Cleverly's visit to Manila. Both sides will jointly enhance trade and investment, focused on renewable energy, agriculture and infrastructure and sustainability. Together, we will enhance trade and investment with a particular focus on renewable energy, agriculture, infrastructure and technology and promoting inclusive and sustainable growth, the British Embassy in Manila said in a press release after the visit. The United Kingdom, which has made 99 per cent of Filipino exports eligible for tariff free access to the UK market, has 4 billion in UK export finance to further support British trade with the Philippines, it said. The United Kingdom has developed strong partnerships with the Philippines on climate, environment and biodiversity. Over the last year, it has worked with the Philippines to support the development of climate tools and strategies that set the countrys direction on climate action. This includes a National Adaptation Plan, which will be launched at COP28. Both sides are jointly implementing a suite of programmes to enhance climate resilience and adaptation, halting and reversing nature and biodiversity loss and accelerating the transition towards a green economy. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) The sudden death of Rishi Kapoor was a shocking event for the entire film industry. On the occasion of his birthday, his niece Kareena Kapoor Khan expressed that she misses him by sharing a picture.On Monday, Kareena took to Instagram stories and shared a monochromatic picture of Rishi Kapoor. She wrote, "Happy Birthday Chintu UncleAlways in our (red heart emoji ) Miss You."Rishi Kapoor passed away on April 30, 2020, at the age of 67. He had received treatment in New York before returning to India.The late Rishi Kapoor, who was the father of Ranbir Kapoor, was a well-known Indian actor who appeared in numerous Bollywood movies. He hailed from a highly influential and prominent Bollywood dynasty, with his father Raj Kapoor and grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor being iconic actors and filmmakers.In 1970, Rishi Kapoor took his first steps into the world of acting as a child artist in the movie Mera Naam Joker, a film directed by his father, Raj Kapoor. Fast forward to 1973, he made his grand entrance as a leading actor in the film Bobby, solidifying his status as one of Bollywood's beloved romantic heroes. According to reports, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner's marriage has reached a difficult point and a divorce may be in the future. According to sources close to the couple, Joe has been speaking with divorce attorneys in Los Angeles about the prospect of splitting with Sophie. According to insiders, the couple has been having "serious problems" for around six months. Given that they have been spotted together at public occasions and have appeared to be supportive of one another, including Sophie supporting Joe during his recent tour, this news has surprised many. Joe's decision to forgo his wedding ring, a gesture that frequently attracts attention in celebrity circles, is one indication of tension. The pair also only recently sold their Miami mansion, which may have been done more for monetary reasons than a long-term departure from the area. When they started dating in 2016, their journey as a couple started. Their brief courtship resulted in an engagement in 2017 and an unforgettable, impromptu Las Vegas wedding in 2019, immediately following the Billboard Music Awards. They began a family in the years that followed, welcoming their first child in 2020 and their second in 2022. Although Joe has been on tour, reports indicate that for the previous three months, he has been the family's main carer for their two young children. Both Joe and Sophie have had successful careers in their respective fields. While Joe and his brothers went on a successful musical tour, Sophie, who is most recognised for her part in Game of Thrones, has worked on numerous TV and film projects. Who Is Chandni Bainz: Bollywood actor Ishaan Khatter's romantic life has seen its share of ups and downs. His relationship with actress Janhvi Kapoor came to an end, followed by a three-year romance with Ananya Panday, which eventually fizzled out due to irreconcilable differences. Now, it seems Ishaan has found new love and is moving forward from his past heartbreak. If reports are to be believed, the Phone Bhoot actor is reportedly in a relationship with Malaysian model and actor Chandni Bainz, and they are quite serious about each other. As per a report by the Bombay Times, Ishaan Khatter started dating Chandni Bainz earlier this year. In July, the Bollywood actor was seen riding a bike with a mystery girl, and since then, fans have been eagerly waiting to know more about Ishaan's mystery girl. ENT Highlights: Deepika Wears Jacket Ft Ranveer Singh To RARKPK Screening; Sobhita-Ishaan Turn Showstopper The outlet quoted an insider as saying, "They are quite serious about each other. Ishaan has even introduced Chandni to his close circle of friends." Let's find out more about the Malaysian model, who is also said to be trying her luck in Bollywood. Who is Chandni Bainz? Chandi Bainz is a 21-year-old Malaysian actress and model who was born in Kuala Lumpur. She has appeared in a Malaysian TV series called Ghaib and the Singaporean TV drama My Mother's Story. She shifted to India post-pandemic and is currently working as a model, aspiring to become an actress in Bollywood. Ishaan Khatter and Chandni Bainz follow each other on Instagram. On the other hand, Shah Rukh Khan's son, Aryan Khan, also follows her on the photo-sharing platform. In 2020, in an interview with Zalora.com, Chandni said, "I was offered a Bollywood Netflix series. Unfortunately, it has been possibly delayed/cancelled due to the travel restrictions caused by the current state of the pandemic. Hopefully, the situation improves and I get the opportunity to be a part of the unnamed project." However, no such announcement has been made yet. Shahid Kapoor Reportedly Charged A HEFTY Sum For Bloody Daddy. Here's How Much Diana, Ronit & Others Charged Meanwhile, it is reported that Ishaan broke up with Ananya Panday while he was shooting for Pippa. The split had quite affected him, but he had moved on. Meanwhile, Ananya is rumoured to be dating Aditya Roy Kapur. The Indian film industry, Bollywood, is currently embroiled in a controversy that has exposed the alleged divisive tactics of what some have coined the "Bollywood Mafia." The recent uproar revolves around the disruption of the much-anticipated screening of Panch Kriti: Five Elements at the iconic Maratha Mandir Cinema in Mumbai on August 27, 2023. As protests mount against film critic Komal Nahta's involvement and the broader issue of inequality, the clash between the 'Mafia' and the film's creators has garnered widespread attention. Maratha Mandir Cinema, famous for showcasing Bollywood classics, holds a special place in the hearts of cinephiles. It was, therefore, shocking for both audiences and industry insiders when the screening of Panch Kriti: Five Elements was marred by chaos. This incident has not only left everyone bewildered but has also thrust the long-whispered feud between the self-proclaimed 'Bollywood Mafia' and the creators of the film into the limelight. What has added an extra layer of intrigue to this incident is the revelation that the article's author, Komal Nahta, has alleged ties to the enigmatic "Bollywood Mafia." The news of this alleged connection has sent shockwaves through the film community. It has prompted many to question whether the disruption during the screening and the subsequent media coverage are part of a calculated effort to undermine the film or its creators. One of the central issues at the heart of this controversy is the fundamental right of every individual, regardless of their economic standing, to enjoy the magic of cinema within a theatre. Depriving people of this opportunity based on financial constraints is not only unjust but also runs counter to the principles of inclusivity and equitable access. Cinema has the unique power to transcend societal divisions and unite people through shared narratives and emotions. Moreover, categorizing emerging actors and producers as "outsiders" is a narrow-minded perspective that dismisses the potential for fresh talents to inject vitality and innovation into the film industry. Embracing diversity and welcoming new voices is not only essential for the enrichment and advancement of Bollywood but also a reflection of a progressive and inclusive society. Panch Kriti: Five Elements, a film consisting of five distinct stories set in rural India, directed by Sannjoy Bhargv and featuring a talented ensemble cast, is an embodiment of these principles. The film seeks to celebrate the beauty and diversity of India's hinterlands, and its disruption at Maratha Mandir Cinema has only added an unexpected layer of suspense to its journey. As the controversy continues to unravel, questions remain about the extent of the Bollywood Mafia's influence behind the scenes and their true motives. The film's reception and future success may also hang in the balance. In a surprising twist, the production team behind Panch Kriti: Five Elements has prepared a special return gift for the audience. Three lucky viewers in each show of the film will be given multiple gifts such as TVs and mobile phones for one week, underlining the film's commitment to inclusivity and appreciation of its audience. As the nation watches this unfolding drama, one thing is certain: the debate about the influence of the Bollywood Mafia and the need for inclusivity in the film industry is far from over. Bollywood, known for its larger-than-life stories, has now become the setting for a real-life drama that will undoubtedly shape the future of the industry. Raghava Lawrence Speaks About Superstar Title Controversy: Director P Vasu and actor Raghava Lawrence have spoken about the much discussed 'Superstar' title controversy recently. Lawrence As Vettaiyan Chandramukhi-2 is going to release on September 15. In this case, yesterday the trailer release ceremony of the film was held at Chennai Express Avenue Mall. P Vasu, Raghava Lawrence, Kangana Ranaut, Mahima Nambiar and all the film crew participated in this event. Speaking at the event, the film's director P Vasu said, "When the first part of Chandramukhi was released, people had no idea what the film was about. They came without any expectations. The film was a huge success. Don't come with any expectations about the second part. Come with no expectations. The film will definitely satisfy you. Lawrence has said that he stood in the fourth row as a group dancer in the films I directed. From there he gradually progressed and worked as a dance master in my film. Now he is acting in Chandramukhi - 2. Raghava Lawrence's performance is the first thing people will appreciate when they come out of the theatre. Don't Compare Anyone With Superstar After that, Kangana Ranaut, who has done an amazing job will also get a big welcome. Don't compare anyone with superstar. People should give Vijay and Ajith the place they deserve for their hard work. People will give them all the titles. So let's leave this 'superstar' panchayat here!" Lawrence said, "Did Vijay sir asked for the superstar title? Whenever I see Vijay sir, he always asks 'How is Thalaivar?'. Similarly, when I see Rajini sir, I said 'Beast is not bad'. To that, Rajini sir replied, 'Sun Pictures said that the collection is too good.' This is what they are. A coconut tree bears only coconuts. A mango tree bears only mangoes! My brother, my guru Rajinikanth, director Vasu, Sivaji Productions are the reason why this 'Chandramukhi-2' was made. It was a big task for Vasu sir to take out the superstar influence in me and make me perform in a different way. Kangana will come to the shooting spot with armed policemen. She has already received 4 national awards. So I was afraid to talk to her on the first day. After that, we started getting along well. Finally, I started calling her by the pet name, Kangu!" Sun TV Removed Atlee's Speech About Vijay From Jawan Program? The audio launch event of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan was held last week. New Controversy Has Been Created In this event held at Chennai Sairam College, Atlee had said that Vijay was the reason behind the creation of Jawan. Sun TV broadcasted the Jawan audio launch program yesterday (September 3). In it, Atlee's speech about Vijay has not been aired and has created a stir in Kollywood. Thankyou for the confirmation... @GokulamMovies U are the distributor of #Leo too .. Why You should Cut Thalapathy Vijay 's & #Leo Related clips ??? Really Worst .. Lost our respect on you & Your Team @srkrishnamoorty sir ! We Didn't expect this from you... pic.twitter.com/Cln6S81wHW Ro Roer (@PeaceBrwVJ) September 3, 2023 Vijay, one of the top mass heroes of Kollywood, has now gone to America for Thalapathy 68. On the other hand, the post-production work of his earlier film Leo is going on at a fast pace. Also, arrangements are being made for a grand audio launch for Leo. Did you enjoy #JawanAudioLaunch ? Produced and edited by @gokulammovies Sun TV (@SunTV) September 3, 2023 Meanwhile, the audio launch of Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan was held in Chennai last week. Speaking at that time, Atlee proudly said, "My brother, Thalapathy Vijay is the reason why Jawan happened." Apart from that, he has continuously praised Vijay for bringing him out of his comfort zone. Edited By Gokulam Movies? Atlee's talk about Vijay went viral among fans. In this case, it is said that everything that Atlee talked about Vijay in the Jawan audio launch event were removed and aired on Sun TV. This incident has created a sensation in Kollywood. In the context of Vijay acting under the Sun TV banner, the question has arisen as to why Atlee's comments about him should be deleted. Speaking at Jailer's audio release earlier, Nelson also spoke proudly about Vijay. At the same time, the superstar title controversy between Rajini and Vijay is still not over. However, a tweet has been put up to explain this from the Sun TV side. It said, "Did you enjoy Jawan Audio Launch ? Produced and edited by Gokulam Movies." Fans are now questioning Gokulam Movies for removing Atlee's speech about Vijay at the Jawan audio launch event. Vijay And His Son Jason Sanjay Are Not In Good Terms? Journalist Anthanan from the film industry has shared a shocking information about actor Vijay and his son Jason Sanjay. Grandfather Helps Jason Sanjay Actor Vijay is one of the top heroes in Tamil cinema. He has a son named Jason Sanjay and a daughter named Sasha. He was keen to become a director like his grandfather SA Chandrasekhar. So he started studying in London in this regard. While studying, he directed a short film called Pull the Trigger. It was said that his making and direction were good. Currently, Jason Sanjay is going to direct his first feature film with Lyca Productions. The official announcement reagrding this was released recently. The photos of Vijay's son Jason Sanjay signing the agreement went viral. Anthanan Speaks About The Relationship Vijay & His Son In this situation, in an interview given to a private media by journalist Anthanan, he mentioned, "It is said in the film circles that Vijay and his son Jason Sanjay are not talking with each other. It is also true that Vijay does not know the news that Sanjay is going to direct a film with Lyca before the announcement. Sanjay is in London with his mother. His grandfather in London is financially well off. Lyca Subhaskaran and Sanjay's grandfather are friends. So he himself may have directly talked to Subhaskaran and told him to make the film with Sanjay. Sanjay also has the support of SA Chandrasekhar on the other side," he said. Abhiya music video: Love or hate but you cannot ignore them. From making waves inside the Bigg Boss OTT 2 house to creating ripples with their single poster, Abhishek Malhan and Jiya Shankar have hogged all the limelight since last week. The duo has been trending on social media ever since a picture from the set of their music video surfaced on the internet. ABHISHEK MALHAN-JIYA SHANKAR MUSIC VIDEO JUDAIYAAN TEASER Before they kick-started the shoot of their music video, Abhishek and Jiya received a special surprise from their fans. They featured on Times Square in New York City as their ardent followers ensured that AbhiYa's special moment was showcased on the popular major center for tourism and business. 'Abhiya on Times Square' trended on X (earlier known as Twitter) as netizens expressed their happiness on seeing them on Times Square. They continued to trend for two days with over a million tweets. Drop everything and check out the leaked photo that captured the attention of everyone. JUDAIYAAN TEASER Abhishek Malhan and Jiya Shankar will unveil the teaser of Judaiyaan on the occasion of Teachers' Day 2023. It will release on Tuesday (September 5). The teaser will be launched with a bang at 11am. Ahead of the launch, the duo shared the poster along with the caption, "The most heart-touching song of the year is dropping soon. Get ready for Judaiyaan." Contrary to the rumours, the song will be based on heartbreak and separation. It will showcase the breakup of Jiya Shankar and Abhishek Malhan's characters. JIYA SHANKAR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: FIRST VLOG On Monday (September 4), Jiya Shankar conducted an interactive Instagram live session for her fans. Over 41k users tuned in as she shared a special surprise with them. Guess what? The TV diva made a big announcement while she interacted with her followers and expressed her excitement for the love and support that she has garnered in recent times. "I am finally starting my YouTube channel guys. So, aap sab mera vlog dekhoge. Kuch na kuch karti rahugi, vo dekh sakte ho regular basis pe," the Pishachini actress. She promised to share a vlog of the BTS video from the set of Judaiyaan in Chandigarh. Jiyu starting her new YouTube channel soon and she will share BTS of Mv also I am so excited #Abhiya #JiyaShankar pic.twitter.com/Bzp4aax5Fb Jessica (@Medico_life28) September 4, 2023 ABHISHEK MALHAN REACTS TO JIYA SHANKAR YOUTUBE VLOG A source close to the YouTuber exclusively told Filmibeat, "Abhishek extended his warm wishes to Jiya as she is in the process of starting her own YouTube channel. Considering he enjoys a significant fan following on the video-sharing platform, the 26-year-old has shared tips with Jiya." Isn't he the sweetest BFF ever? Are you excited for Judaiyaan? Do share your thoughts with us @Filmibeat. The one thing that stops Mumbaikars from reaching their workplaces on time is none other than traffic jams! Some celebs have found a new way to evade traffic jams and reach work on time. We have seen a lot of celebs hopping on to the metro these days rather than driving their own car to save time. Recently, popular actress Yesha Rughani ditched travelling in a luxury car and took the Mumbai metro to reach her destination. Sharing her experience of travelling in the metro, Yesha said, "People who live in Mumbai will understand that we have to leave our homes so early to reach a place, even if it's only a few kilometres away, just because of the traffic situation in the city. So, to beat the traffic and in order to reach my workplace on time, I recently took the metro and, trust me, it was so much fun and saved my time. It was easily accessible, cleaner, less crowded and air-conditioned. Moreover, it seems an easy way to avoid traffic. In the future, too, I would prefer to commute via the metro." Meanwhile, on the work front, Yesha stepped into the world of television with the show Jeet Gayi Toh Piya Morey. Post that, she showcased her spectacular acting chops in the popular shows- Musakaan and Hero Gayab Mode. Yesha also became a household name with her popular role in Star Plus's show Kabhi Kabhie Ittefaq Sey. NHK - Oct 27 The number of shops and staff at Japan's Narita Airport has taken a big hit since the start of the pandemic. The slump comes at a difficult time for the transport hub, which is facing a resurgence in tourists and other travelers. Ravie Dubey News: Ravie Dubey is basking in the praises inundated on him for delivering the longest monologue recorded ever in a single take for his latest show Lakhan Leela Bhargava streaming on Jio Cinema. Achieving the impressive feat of shooting a 28 minute monologue as a part of the concluding statement in his recent courtroom dramedy Lakhan Leela Bhargava, Ravie Dubey who plays a criminal lawyer from Lucknow has been garnering love and appreciation for performing the extraordinary one take dialogue has been bestowed with praises for the record-breaking scene. From celebrities across quarters including Badshah, Neha Kakkar, Raaj Shaandliyaa, Ravi Kishan, Salim Merchant, Ridhi Dogra and Nia Sharma amongst others, the internet is filled with comments hailing Ravie for his dedication and immense talent. While Badshah commented with a gif praising Ravie, Neha Kakkar touted him as a star. Acclaimed Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan exclaimed "Jai Ho", while Salim Merchant called it a historic performance. Lakhan Leela Bhargava started streaming from August 21 on Jio Cinema and has been winning everyone's hearts for its quintessential masala courtroom dramedy vibes along with the light-hearted yet impactful portrayal as the criminal lawyer. Establishing himself as one of the most versatile and bankable actors, Ravie Dubey has achieved a phenomenal feat bringing his innate swag and charm to Lakhan's character and created an interesting and heroic portrayal that being hailed across the viewers. Ravie Dubey yet again earns the title of a chameleon for slipping into different looks for the show and was also hailed for his diverse avatars in Matsya Kand earlier. On the career front, Ravi Dubey will next be seen in Farradday, which not only stars him in the lead but is also being produced by Ravie Dubey. Well, the actor-producer is on a consistent run to deliver entertaining and impactful content to the audience. Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - September 3, 2023) - ICEBERG Financial, a leading investment consultancy firm based in Dubai, is thrilled to announce the launch of its groundbreaking fintech product, a state-of-the-art Prop-Trading Platform designed for financial institutions. Adding to the excitement, the company has already signed its first institutional contract for the platform, details of which will be announced separately after the product's official launch. The Prop-Trading Platform is a revolutionary solution aimed at transforming the way financial institutions identify and nurture trading talent. This platform allows institutions to run online contests and various testing phases under their own approved risk frameworks. By doing so, they can pinpoint top individual traders or asset management teams from a vast pool of participants. In a financial landscape where agility and innovation are paramount, ICEBERG Financial's Prop-Trading Platform offers a unique blend of flexibility and robustness. It addresses the industry's need for a reliable mechanism to discover trading talent while also providing a new revenue stream. ICEBERG Financial is committed to seamless integration and operational excellence. The platform syncs effortlessly with MT4 and MT5 Manager through a proprietary API machine, ensuring a smooth transition for institutions. A comprehensive dashboard allows both clients and prop-firm management to track performance, manage inquiries, and generate insightful statistics, all in real-time. As pioneers in fintech solutions, ICEBERG Financial believes that the future of prop-trading is bright and full of potential. With the increasing democratization of financial markets and the advent of sophisticated trading tools, the company estimates that prop-trading capabilities will become an integral part of the financial ecosystem. The platform is designed to evolve, incorporating future trends and technologies to stay ahead of the curve. Financial institutions looking to leverage this platform will find the setup process straightforward and user-friendly. ICEBERG Financial offers both full ownership options and limited quarterly licensing, allowing institutions to choose a model that best suits their needs. With the added benefit of expert consultancy services in risk management, operational best practices, and marketing strategies, institutions are well-equipped to run a successful prop-trading firm. About ICEBERG Financial Founded in Dubai, UAE, ICEBERG Financial is a premier investment consultancy firm specializing in a variety of investments in different fields such as financial markets and fintech solutions. With years of experience and a global tech team, ICEBERG Financial is a trusted partner for financial institutions worldwide. Media Contacts: Name: Public Relation (Sarah Travis) Website: https://iceberg.financial/ Business email: PR@ICEBERG.Financial To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/179444 Industry Veteran Graeme Jenkins Joins to Lead Sales in UK, Ireland, and Nordics Seraphic Security, the leader in enterprise browser security, announced today that it is expanding its presence in Europe, hiring industry veteran Graeme Jenkins as Regional Sales Director for UK, Ireland, and the Nordic countries. Graeme will report to Arik Kasha, VP of EMEA Sales. The majority of work these days is done using a browser and yet browsers are one of the biggest cybersecurity holes. The Seraphic Security Platform makes every browser Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc. a secure enterprise browser by preventing 0-day and unpatched N-day exploits, other web-based attacks, and phishing, and also providing fine-grained DLP and governance controls. The company recently announced that enterprises can now use Seraphic to deploy uniform security, governance, and DLP policies to the desktop versions of collaboration applications including Asana, Microsoft Teams, Notion, Slack, and more. Graeme Jenkins joins Seraphic Security from SentinelOne where he spent five years running the company's UK and Ireland territories and closed the region's first $1M+ deal. Prior to SentinelOne, Graeme spent six years at MobileIron in roles spanning channel sales, public sector accounts, and industrial global account management, winning anchor accounts across a variety of verticals including automotive and energy. "We've seen a big increase in interest in enterprise browser security among European companies and it was clear that it was time to make a real commitment to the region," said Ilan Yeshua, CEO of Seraphic Security. "The browser is the super app of the digital workplace, but it's also the least protected and most vulnerable to exploits, web-based attacks, and phishing. Graeme has great experience and a proven track record of working with customers to help them understand where emerging technologies fit into their cybersecurity strategy." "Enterprise browser security is a critical emerging market because it protects the most important business app. Companies are dealing with all sorts of browser-based challenges from data going into ChatGPT to phishing that can lead to a ransomware crisis," said Graeme Jenkins, Regional Sales Director for UK, Ireland, and the Nordic countries, at Seraphic Security. "Seraphic is the only solution that delivers the security that enterprises need without negatively impacting the end-user experience." About Seraphic Security: Seraphic Security was launched in August 2022 on the idea that web security could-and should-exist directly in the browser while remaining transparent to the end user. The result is an easy-to-deploy browser security solution that can transform any commercial web browser into an enterprise browser, for any user on any device, anywhere. This novel approach provides organizations with the threat protection and governance capabilities they need while reducing complexity and without jeopardizing employee productivity. Seraphic is a winner of the 2023 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, two 2023 Globee Cybersecurity Awards and is named a 2023 SC Awards finalist. The company has offices in San Jose and Tel Aviv. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904231692/en/ Contacts: Press@seraphicsecurity.com Eigenmann Veronelli S.p.A., a leading distributor in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry, today announced that it has acquired 100% of IMEA Technologies FZC, a regional distribution company of specialty chemicals with a focus on the industrial market, based in the United Arab Emirates. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904875181/en/ Eigenmann Veronelli announces the acquisition of IMEA Technologies to accelerate growth in the MEA region. (Photo: Business Wire) The acquisition represents an excellent fit with E&V's existing operations and a strategic commercial expansion in the Middle East and Africa region, in addition to the Far East and Indian markets, reinforcing its international footprint to consolidate its compelling portfolio and execute its growth strategy. IMEA Technologies was founded in 2011, in Sharjah (U.A.E.), and offers a wide range of products, mainly industrial, such as emulsion polymers for industries, paints, plastic, inks, water treatment, sealants adhesives, oil gas, and construction, as well as cosmetic cleaning applications. Headquartered in Sharjah, with offices warehouses in U.A.E., the Company ensures the full coverage of the MEA region in addition to the Far East and Indian markets. In 2022, IMEA Technologies generated revenues of approximately AED 68.5M (ca. EUR 17.7 million). IMEA Technologies, as part of the E&V Group, will be led by its present management line-up and staff retaining its well-established name. Gabriele Bonomi, Chief Executive Officer of the E&V Group, comments: "In line with our strategic vision to be an established international solutions provider, we are delighted to welcome IMEA Technologies to the E&V Group. This acquisition strengthens our international footprint and allows us to offer a truly compelling value proposition to both principals and customers." Ayoob Chekkintakath, Executive Director of IMEA Technologies, adds: Becoming part of E&V, a key international market player, marks a milestone in our company's evolution. We share a similar vision and culture, and I am confident that IMEA Technologies will continue to thrive as part of the E&V Group, continuing its long-term relationships with key suppliers and customers." ABOUT EIGENMANN VERONELLI S.p.A. Eigenmann Veronelli is an international solutions provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry with a direct presence in 4 countries and a commercial reach in more than 30. Headquartered in Rho, Milan, Italy, E&V is synonymous with effectiveness and efficiency, combining local market knowledge with international chemical innovations. In 2022 the E&V Group generated a consolidated turnover of EUR 417 M with 340 employees. To find out more about E&V, please visit: www.eigver.com ABOUT IMEA TECHNOLOGIES FZC IMEA Technologies is a regional distributor of specialty chemicals, specialized in industrial market, such as emulsion polymers for industries, paints, plastic, inks, water treatment, sealants adhesives, oil gas, and construction, as well as cosmetics cleaning applications. Headquartered in Saif Zone, Sharjah (U.A.E.), with offices and warehouses in U.A.E. IMEA Tech. posted a consolidated turnover of EUR 17.7 M in 2022. To find out more, please visit: www.imeatech.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904875181/en/ Contacts: Press Contact Federica Urso Group Corporate Communication Manager, E&V S.p.A mediarelations@eigver.it +39 338.7295116 Commercial Contact Ayoob Chekkintakath Executive Director, IMEA TECHNOLOGIES FZC info@imeatech.com -+971 6 5574800 STUHR, Germany, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BLUETTI, the leading brand in clean energy storage, will launch its latest product, the BLUETTI EP760 home backup power system, in the European market on September. BLUETTI EP760 Vs its predecessor BLUETTI EP600 While both models share the same modular design and offer a flexible capacity of 9,9kWh to 19,8kWh with B500 expansion battery packs, their key difference lies in their outputs. The EP600 is a 6.000W three-phase mode power system. However, its single-phase output at 230V is limited to 2.000W. Furthermore, the EP600 is exclusively available in Germany. While the EP760 provides a single-phase output of up to 7.600W in grid or off-grid mode, (only 4.600W in Germany) meeting the power needs of a broader range of users in Europe and Australia. There are some of EP760's main highlights and benefits. 7.600W uninterrupted power for backup Featuring 7.600W uninterrupted power, the EP760 charges up all equipment plugged in, like refrigerators, heaters, microwaves, power tools, and even electric vehicles. During power outages, the EP760 seamlessly switches from grid power to battery power in under 10 milliseconds, ensuring a seamless power supply. Significant savings on electricity bills The EP760 is widely compatible with solar systems, supporting up to 9.000W solar charging. It stores free solar power and guarantees a stable power source regardless of weather or time. Excess solar power can even be sold to the utility for additional income. Even without a solar array, the EP760 remains beneficial. By scheduling its charge time during off-peak hours, users can utilize the stored, low-cost power during peak hours to save on electric bills. They also can use BLUETTI App to further optimize their energy consumption with few clicks on the phone. Built to last with a 10-year warranty The EP760 system boasts an IP65 rating for excellent dust and water resistance. It employs the safest LiFePO4 batteries, which offer a lifespan of at least ten years. Additionally, an advanced battery management system (BMS) safeguards against short circuits, overcharging, and other potential hazards. BLUETTI also provides a hassle-free 10-year warranty, ensuring peace of mind for years to come. Easy and flexible installation The BLUETTI EP760 is designed to be user-friendly. Rather than wall-mounting, it can be vertically stacked on the floor, preserving walls and conserving space. With IP65 protection and quiet operation at less than 50dB, the EP760 can be installed indoors or outdoors. Furthermore, BLUETTI offers on-site installation services worldwide, simplifying the path to achieving power independence. For further details, please visit https://www.bluettipower.eu/pages/ep760-b500 About BLUETTI BLUETTI has been committed to promoting sustainability and green energy solutions since its inception. By offering eco-friendly energy storage solutions for both indoor and outdoor use, BLUETTI aims to provide exceptional experiences for our homes while also contributing to a sustainable future for our planet. This commitment to sustainable energy has helped BLUETTI expand its reach to over 100 countries and gain the trust of millions of customers worldwide. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2200678/image.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/bluetti-ep760-home-backup-battery-system-lands-in-europe-301916809.html Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois--(Newsfile Corp. - September 4, 2023) - Goldstone Financial Group, a registered financial planner based in Chicago, has a new combined investment and retirement planning service. Goldstone Financial Group has called their new combined service their Retirement Roadmap, and it takes a comprehensive five-pronged approach to long-term retirement planning that encompasses income planning, investment planning, tax planning, healthcare planning, and estate planning. Goldstone Financial Group believes that this new systematic approach to retirement planning, which will be tailored to each individual client's unique set of financial circumstances, will ensure that a client's finances and financial plans are working synergistically. For more details, visit https://goldstonefinancialgroup.com/. Retirement & Investment Advisory Roadmap Service Launched by Goldstone Financial Group, Chicago To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/179334_ea65f64e14b6c9d5_001full.jpg Goldstone Financial Group has created their new Retirement Roadmap so that they can offer clients a completely unified financial plan; one which will address all their incoming funds and outgoing expenses, and one which will take a holistic look at both their current and predicted future financial position to create the best 'map' of where to go. Goldstone Financial Group describes their new Retirement Roadmap service as having three core phases. Beginning with 'discovery', Goldstone's new Retirement Roadmap involves several initial consultations where, together with their client, the firm's financial planners develop a picture of both a client's financial position and their vision for their retirement. Then, Goldstone will move to the evaluation phase of their new service, where they will take this information and use their industry experience in combination with advanced financial modeling to determine a client's retirement income needs. Finally, through their new Retirement Roadmap service, Goldstone Financial Group's team will create a long-term plan or map. This map will encompass ongoing savings, investment, and taxation choices designed to ensure their client can guarantee lifetime income. Brian Korienek, the Partner & Vice President of Wealth Management at Goldstone, said, "At Goldstone Financial Group, we have a process for building a financial strategy that gives you a firm foundation for pursuing your goals. We'll provide a tactful and comprehensive financial strategy just for you." Interested readers can find out more at https://goldstonefinancialgroup.com/contact-us/. Contact Info: Name: Anthony Pellegrino Email: contactus@goldstonefinancialgroup.com Phone: 630-620-9300 Organization: Goldstone Financial Group Address: 18W140 Butterfield Road 16th Floor, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, United States Phone: +1-630-620-9300 Website: https://goldstonefinancialgroup.com/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/179334 Singapore-based WealthGreen disrupts sustainable investing with its new app, allowing retail investors access to the burgeoning carbon credits market. Telok Ayer St, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - September 4, 2023) - WealthGreen, a Singapore-based leader in sustainable investment solutions, has announced the launch of their groundbreaking mobile application, offering retail investors access to the burgeoning carbon credits market. This pioneering move has generated significant interest from consumers and underscores Singapore's emergence as a key hub for carbon markets, epitomized by the corporate carbon exchange, Climate Impact X. Singapore's WealthGreen to Launch Innovative Carbon Credits App to Tackle Climate Change To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/179463_60046c594451cb9d_001full.jpg As the global community grapples with the existential threat of climate change, carbon credits have swiftly emerged as one of the fastest-growing asset classes. WealthGreen's innovative app democratizes access to this expanding market, enabling individuals to invest in carbon credits, thereby contributing to global carbon reduction efforts while potentially reaping financial rewards. Derrick Dao, the founder of WealthGreen, expressed his vision for the platform, stating, "We aimed to create a platform that doesn't just make investing accessible but also aligns with the values of the modern investor." In a recent Q&A, he elaborated on the company's mission, saying, "We use the term 'profit with purpose.' We're not just trading an asset - we're trading in old paradigms, making room for a future where profit and purpose are seamlessly interwoven." The launch of WealthGreen's app comes at a pivotal moment in the carbon credits market. WealthGreen's platform offers a user-friendly interface that allows both seasoned investors and newcomers to engage with carbon credit trading, an investment opportunity previously considered inaccessible to retail investors. In addition to facilitating investment in carbon credits, WealthGreen is deeply committed to transparency and education. Dao emphasized, "Transparency and education are at the core of WealthGreen's mission." This commitment to transparency aligns with broader market trends that prioritize integrity and sustainability in carbon markets. WealthGreen invites all individuals to join the movement in addressing climate change through responsible investing. The launch of their innovative app represents a significant step towards a future where investing not only generates financial returns but also contributes to a more sustainable and resilient world. About WealthGreen: WealthGreen is a Singapore-based company dedicated to providing sustainable investment solutions. Through their innovative mobile application, WealthGreen empowers retail investors to participate in the carbon credits market, aligning profit with purpose of addressing climate change. For more information, please visit https://www.wealthgreen.app/ Contact Info: Name: Derrick Dao Email: info@wealthgreen.app Organization: WealthGreen Website: https://www.wealthgreen.app/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/179463 MUNICH, GERMANY, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chuhang Technology ("Chuhang,"), a pioneer in millimeter-wave sensing radars, will exhibit a full range of new technology at the IAA Mobility trade show held between Sept. 4 to Sept. 8 in Munich, Germany. The highlight of these radar innovations is a new cabin sensing suite based on its 60 GHz vital sensor developed in partnership with emotion3D. "We are thrilled to present the distillation of our hard work in the international spotlight," said Chu Yongyan, Chief Executive Officer of Chuhang Technology. "IAA is one of the most prestigious gatherings of the transportation industry, and our presence here represents our dedication to enhancing the capabilities of next-generation radar. Chuhang's attendance at IAA 2023 is the first time it has exhibited outside of China, notching a milestone in its international expansion. Founded in 2017, Chuhang has reached rapid success across its business verticals. It's now poised to execute the next phase of its expansion strategy. Chuhang specializes in the R&D, production and manufacturing of advanced sensing solutions, having developed a suite of active radar systems that offer superior reliability, compliance, cost-effectiveness, and ease of integration. It became China's first millimeter-wave radar technology company to receive investment from FORVIA, the merger between HELLA and Faurecia, and has successfully graduated from accelerator programs by Tencent and Nvidia. Reliability, safety and integration underscore Chuhang's commitment to proactively adhere to international standards. Its core products, the 60GHz vital sign radar, 77 GHz forward radar, and the 77 GHz corner radar, have all passed EU's CE certification, ready to meet the demands of next-generation vehicles. The Company's millimeter-wave radar chip, digital signal processing chipset, integrated antenna array, microcontroller unit and Autosar-based software architecture have all passed the ISO 26262 ASIL-B compliance. Led by Wogong Zhang, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Chunhang, the company has made significant contributions to the development of the ISO/PWI 13389 "Road vehicles - Test Method for Detection Performance of Millimeter-wave Radar," aiming to set an international standard for the testing millimeter-wave radar systems. Chuhang has also made major investments across all organizational functions, especially its research and production capabilities, to increase its supply chain resilience and technological leadership. It has established research facilities in Stuttgart, Shanghai, and Anqing. These effective strategic investments have enabled Chunhang to further accelerate its growth. The company completed its MMIC, PCB and path projection research and development in two years, and SOP ramp production in just one. And with a new IATF16949-certified production facility in Anqing capable of producing 1.8 million radar products annually, the company is poised to meet the scalability, reliability and stability volume requirements of any customer with its world-class manufacturing. Chuhang has garnered the trust of major vehicle industry members, including Ninebot, Navinfo, APOLLO and many others. Having already supplied its products to more than 50 vehicle designs, Chuhang expects to ship nearly five million units to commercial and personal vehicles. Recently, Chuhang has jointly developed a multi-sensing solution for in-vehicle drowsiness detection, combining Chuhang's radar solution with eMotion 3D's CABIN EYE software. Chuhang is also constantly expanding its vibrant partners network. It's currently negotiating to be a supplier for a major German vehicle manufacturer, with products expected to be delivered in 2026. As it penetrates global markets, Chuang is committed to developing localized and targeted solutions to meet the specific needs of its international customers. Finally, Chuhang is a champion of employee wellness and social responsibilities, having pooled extensive resources for employee growth and development. In addition to offering clear growth paths and comprehensive benefits, Chuhang has vast resources for talent development for employees of all levels. About Chuhang Technology Chuhang Technology is a startup established by a team previously based in Germany. The Company is dedicated to the development and production of 77 GHz to 79 GHz millimeter-wave (MMW) radar sensors for the Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Automated Driving (AD) applications. Its products have been deployed in passenger and commercial vehicles to helps to enhance ADAS functions such as Blind Spot Detection System (BSD), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), supporting the development of the worldwide AD system and Cooperative Vehicle Infrastructure System (CVIS) of Intelligent Connected Vehicles (ICVs). Chuhang has established headquarters in Jiangbei New Area, Nanjing, Jiangsu, PR. China, R&D centers in Stuttgart, Germany, and Shanghai, Hefei, Anhui, PR. Recently, it finished the SOP ramp-up phase at its new ATF16949-certified manufacturing facility with annual production capacity of 1,800,000 radars in Anqing, Anhui, China. Learn more at en.Chuhang.tech. Press contact: Mobile Phone: Wang Bo +49 15152192552 E-mail: bo.wang@chuhang.tech Attachment Dallas, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - September 4, 2023) - Reyna Law Firm Dallas has announced newly upgraded personal injury legal services aimed at unfortunate victims of road accidents caused by fatigued 18-wheeler truckers and commercial drivers. Reyna Law Firm Dallas understands the dangers posed by fatigued drivers on busy Dallas-area roads, and its newly announced legal representation services are designed specifically for victims of accidents caused by tired motorists. For more information, see https://www.reynainjurylaw.com/dallas. Reyna Law Firm Dallas Injury Attorneys Announce Fatigued Driver Accident Service To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/179333_27f4468794d5d8ff_001full.jpg Injury claims related to fatigued driver accidents can be approached from multiple fronts, says Reyna Law Firm. Those injured by drowsy truckers may wish to pursue legal action against individual motorists due to their inherent negligence, which the firm seeks to ascertain through its updated services. Conversely, trucking companies can be held responsible for mandating long working hours leading to accidents caused by driver exhaustion. Following the announcement, Reyna Law Firm also represents victims of accidents who are filing injury claims against companies. The firm's new services involve evidence gathering as its attorneys seek to demonstrate culpability for accidents on the part of commercial drivers or their employers. Investigations aim to determine whether companies created demanding work environments conducive to fatigue, leading to impaired reactions and diminished cognitive functions. Wherever liability ultimately lies, Reyna Law Firm's newly upgraded services are brought forward to help prospective Dallas clients recover from their injuries. Compensation attained through legal action can help victims pay for medical bills or physical therapy while reimbursing potential earnings lost as a result of their condition, notes the firm. Such figures can be achieved either through personal and insurer-tendered settlements or awarded in court in line with Texas's at-fault laws. Those deemed wholly responsible for accidents must compensate those injured as a result, and as such, Reyna Law Firm's new services also include negotiations with the aim of securing appropriate monetary amounts for the injured. Interested parties in Dallas and nearby can find additional details about Reyna Law Firm and its renewed approach to fatigued driver accident claims at https://www.reynainjurylaw.com/dallas. Contact Info: Name: James Lewis Email: james@jreynalawfirm.com Phone: +1-682-251-1981 Organization: Reyna Law Firm Dallas Address: 17330 Preston Road #200 D, Dallas, Tx 75252, United States Website: https://www.reynainjurylaw.com/dallas To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/179333 Singapore, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - September 4, 2023) - In a world where technological innovation constantly pushes boundaries, DeepFakeAI emerges as a platform that can help redefine the use of technology in marketing and serve as a platform for content creation and monetization. A recent interview published on the platform's blog, which discusses the AI-powered tool, sheds light on the platform's potential and the experiences of its users who leverage AI-generated videos. The quality and realistic movements showcased in the platform's video creation have sparked the curiosity and creativity of users who go by the handle SillySalmon while exploring another AI project featuring voice generation. The lifelike video generation features can potentially leave an impression on marketers, encouraging them to deeply explore the platform. Having spent approximately 2.5 months immersed in the DeepFakeAI experience, SillySalmon highlights the seamless process of generating high-quality content. With a roster of 12 characters at their disposal, users can command the AI to bring characters to life through interactive conversations or make them speak their own text. The Telegram bot or dapp handles the magic, converting text inputs into fully-fledged videos with remarkable efficiency. DeepFakeAI's capabilities shine in various domains, from crafting promotional materials and announcements to instructional videos and even music videos. This versatility stems from the ease of combining deepfake segments with basic editing through mobile apps, enabling the creation of diverse content that resonates with audiences. SillySalmon's monetization strategy underscores the symbiotic relationship between AI-generated content and project promotion. The unique approach of crafting engaging videos for other projects with minimal effort garnered recognition and rewards. As for newcomers venturing into AI-generated content, SillySalmon advises both to be insightful and practical. Acquiring the platform tokens provides unlimited access to DeepFakeAI's capabilities, with early adoption holding significant value as token supply dwindles. For those without tokens, the platform's fiat on-ramp and token purchasing options offer avenues to engage with the technology. Additionally, being attuned to emerging technologies and finding joy in the creative process are key takeaways. For media inquiries and more information, please contact: Alex Jonas, DeepFakeAI Email: info@fakeai.io Website: https://fakeai.io To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/179469 Renovated homes of overseas Chinese preserve ancestral bonds Xinhua) 13:44, September 04, 2023 FUZHOU, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- In Wulin Village of east China's Fujian Province, visitors are often enthralled by the medley of architectural styles: local red-brick houses, Gothic buildings, Greco-Romanesque structures, and buildings blending both Chinese and Western elements. The eclectic blend of architectural styles vividly narrates the story of the village's connection to the overseas Chinese community. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many villagers traveled to Southeast Asia to work and sent money back to build homes. As a result, the houses often showcased a captivating fusion of exotic influences. Wulin is known as an ancestral home, while the village has a permanent population of over 1,800, the number of overseas Chinese with ties to it is 10 times higher. Cai Lianqing, a Filipino Chinese in his 80s, recently returned to the village after decades away. Here, he found what once was a simple path was now a bustling road, surrounded by modern amenities. However, amidst the changes, Cai caught a familiar sight that evoked a flood of memories his two-story ancestral house, "Chang Cheng Xiaozhu." "The building was named after my father and uncle. As young teenagers, they had gone to the Philippines to work, saving up their earnings to build this house in their hometown," Cai said. Seventy years on, the house still stands proudly. In recent years, over 100 former residences of overseas Chinese, once dilapidated and unattended, have been renovated and preserved under local government efforts, allowing overseas Chinese like Cai to maintain connections to their roots. Unsurprisingly, the village has also proven a hit with tourists, keen to immerse themselves in its rich cultural confluence and hear stories of overseas Chinese. "When we revitalize the ancestral homes, we respect their historical and cultural significance, and take an approach based on the local overseas Chinese culture while injecting new elements based on the buildings' unique features," said Hong Mianmian, deputy general manager of Wulin Qingpu Cultural and Tourism Development Co., Ltd., a developer of the village. Many of these buildings have transformed into cultural venues, cafs, restaurants, and heritage centers. Since 2021, the village has clocked up more than 400 culturally enriching events, which are especially appealing to the younger generation. The transformation of Wulin Village serves as a quintessential example of the recurrence of ancestral homes in Fujian. The province boasts a remarkable legacy, being the ancestral homeland of 15.8 million overseas Chinese worldwide, reflecting the enduring ties that bind this thriving community to their roots. Overseas Chinese history museums have sprung up across Fujian to honor their history and contributions. Earlier this year, in Yujiang Village, Zhangzhou City, the former residence of patriotic overseas Chinese leader Lin Kaide was renovated and opened as a memorial hall, allowing the public to visit for free. Lin Kaide's children funded the renovation of their father's former residence to commemorate his lifelong patriotic pursuit and the local government later organized the exhibitions. "As long as the old houses remain, our roots remain, carrying the deep nostalgia of overseas Chinese compatriots. We will continue to protect the sentiments of our forebears and pass them on," Lin Shaofen, son of Lin Kaide, said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Captured on security cameras, the "Last Samurai of Brazil" foils a gang of bike thieves as he chases them away with a Japanese sword. In the middle of the night in a residential area, the security cameras of a condominium in South America's Brazil captured footage of a group of three bicycle thieves. It appears they intended to steal several bikes from the parking lot. A man who was monitoring the situation on his smartphone, along with a resident, prepared for battle inside the elevator. The man pulled out something ominous. It was a sword. With disheveled hair, he chased after the criminals in a furious dash. He resembled a samurai, aiming to take down the leader. The criminals abandon the bikes and flee. The sight of him sheathing the sword was quite impressive. He's known as the "Last Samurai of Brazil." Who exactly is he? We asked him. "Last Samurai of Brazil" Alison (39): "Hello to everyone in Japan. My name is Alison." Alison is a physical therapist and a model. He has been practicing Aikido since he was a child and has always had a strong affinity for Japan. The sword, he says, was imported from Japan. "Last Samurai of Brazil" Alison: "I think what drove away the criminals was the spirit of the katana. It embodies 'strength,' 'courage,' and 'discipline.' Thank you very much!" The new vitola was unveiled by Fifth Avenue Products Trading, G.M.B.H., the exclusive distributor of Habanos, S.A. for Germany, Austria and Poland to more than 250 lucky people at an exclusive event held in the city of Buckeburg. Cupidos (55 x 148mm length) will be on sale exclusively at Las Casas del Habano and Habanos Especialistas. LA HABANA, Cuba, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Habanos, S.A., through its exclusive distributor for Germany, Fifth Avenue Products Trading, G.M.B.H., has presented in the city of Buckeburg a new vitola for the historic Romeo y Julieta brand, "Cupidos". In a spectacular dinner held at the Buckeburg Castle during Habanos Day, the old town of the city witnessed a dream encounter for Habano lovers, where live music and artistic performances created a magical atmosphere for the more than 250 attendees, including specialized retailers, smoking clubs, aficionados, journalists and, as guest of honor, the Commercial Advisor, Mrs.Anamary Suarez Quinones, who were the first to taste the new Romeo y Julieta Cupidos vitola. Romeo y Julieta Cupidos is a product for Las Casas del Habano and Habano Specialists. This new vitola will make aficionados fall in love and want to enjoy this magnificent Habano with a thick wrapper and figurado format, which offers all the aroma, balance and complexity of the Romeo y Julieta brand's shades. Cupidos is presented to the market in a special box of 20 Habanos "Totally handmade with Long Filler" after a careful selection of the wrapper, filler and binder leaves from the Vuelta Abajo* plantations, where the world's best tobacco is produced, in the region of Pinar del Rio*, Cuba*. This new vitola joins the Romeo y Julieta brand's portfolio, which has one of the most extensive ranges of Habanos' vitolas. The Cupidos vitola, with a 55 ring gauge x 148 mm length, comes to the market with an additional band as a sign of its exclusivity for sale at Las Casas del Habano and Habano Specialists to continue growing the great international prestige of the Romeo y Julieta brand. Lovers of classic, medium-strength, aromatic and delicate Habanos from all over the world will be able to find the new Cupidos vitola after its launch at the different official points of sale in the more than 140 countries where Habanos, S.A. distributes its products. Romeo y Julieta Cupidos Market name : Cupidos Factory: Veronas Measures : ring 55 x 148 mm length Wrapper: red, beautiful, elegant and silky, Tasting Notes: Shot : It offers a wide smoke, with excellent wisps of gray smoke and medium strength. As the smoke progresses, bitter notes are appreciated, with intense aroma of tobacco, spices, with excellent intensity and permanence. The second third reaffirms the aromas and flavors of this brand, expressing its notes with greater intensity and character. : It offers a wide smoke, with excellent wisps of gray smoke and medium strength. As the smoke progresses, bitter notes are appreciated, with intense aroma of tobacco, spices, with excellent intensity and permanence. The second third reaffirms the aromas and flavors of this brand, expressing its notes with greater intensity and character. Ash : beautiful light gray color, with excellent compactibility, leaves a pleasant aftertaste of permanence, with notes of wood, spaced and complex. Pairing : Excellent Habano for after-dinner, elegant relation with Havana Club Smoky Click here to download video and high resolution product images (P.D.O.)* Protected Designation of Origin View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/habanos-sa-presents-the-new-romeo-y-julieta-cupidos-vitola-in-germany-301917014.html CHICAGO, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MarketsandMarkets has released 360 Quadrant for Top 17 3D Printing Materials Companies, Worldwide 2023 to help businesses make quicker and more informed decisions. Companies' market presence and product footprint are used to build quadrants, which will be revised annually. The technology of printing a three-dimensional (3D) object from a digital file using materials such as plastic, metal, and ceramic is called 3D printing, and the materials used are called 3D printing materials. Plastics, metals (including powders), resins, and ceramics are among the materials used in 3D printing. 3D printing materials are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. Designers and engineers prefer to create functional prototypes using 3D printing materials that have the same or similar material properties as those of the final product. Plastics are the most commonly used 3D printed materials, and they are available in filament, resin, granule, and powder forms. The global 3D printing materials market is projected to grow from USD 2.5 billion in 2022 to USD 7.9 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 25.6% during the forecasted period. The market growth can be attributed to factors such as ease in the development of customized products and reduction in manufacturing costs and process downtime. However, the high cost of materials and lack of standard process control are some of the challenges that restrict the market's growth. Downlaod Research Sample @ https://www.360quadrants.com/chemicals/3d-printing-materials Unveiling the Market Leaders: Honoring Excellence in 3D Printing Materials Markets Stratasys was identified as the market leader in the 360 Quadrant, owing to its wide product portfolio and robust business strategies to hold on to its market share. The company accounted for the largest share of the market in 2022. Stratasys is one of the global leaders in developing innovative 3D printing solutions for industries such as aerospace, automotive, consumer products, and healthcare. Some of the materials offered by the company for advanced manufacturing and 3D printing include photopolymers, thermoplastics, metals, and urethanes. The company is focused on developing complete solutions for specific use cases to grow 3D printing's footprint further into manufacturing. was identified as the market leader in the 360 Quadrant, owing to its wide product portfolio and robust business strategies to hold on to its market share. The company accounted for the largest share of the market in 2022. Stratasys is one of the global leaders in developing innovative 3D printing solutions for industries such as aerospace, automotive, consumer products, and healthcare. Some of the materials offered by the company for advanced manufacturing and 3D printing include photopolymers, thermoplastics, metals, and urethanes. The company is focused on developing complete solutions for specific use cases to grow 3D printing's footprint further into manufacturing. General Electric (GE) through the GE Additive business division is recognized as another prominent entity in the 3D Printing materials market that has established a robust presence and earned a reputation for excellence over the years. GE Additive is one of the leaders in providing machines, software, consultancy, and advanced AP&C powders, and spherical metal powders designed for additive manufacturing. The company focused on strengthening its market position by expanding its geographic reach and innovating its product portfolio. through the GE Additive business division is recognized as another prominent entity in the 3D Printing materials market that has established a robust presence and earned a reputation for excellence over the years. GE Additive is one of the leaders in providing machines, software, consultancy, and advanced AP&C powders, and spherical metal powders designed for additive manufacturing. The company focused on strengthening its market position by expanding its geographic reach and innovating its product portfolio. Carpenter Technology through its Carpenter Additive business unit registered a strong position in the global 3D Printing materials market, boasting a strong brand name in the 3D printing materials market. The company offers Carpenter Additive's suite of PowderRange metal powders to various sectors including aerospace, medical, transportation, energy, and industrial sectors. The company is focused on developing high-quality metal powder products and services. through its Carpenter Additive business unit registered a strong position in the global 3D Printing materials market, boasting a strong brand name in the 3D printing materials market. The company offers Carpenter Additive's suite of PowderRange metal powders to various sectors including aerospace, medical, transportation, energy, and industrial sectors. The company is focused on developing high-quality metal powder products and services. 3D Systems is a comprehensive player in the 3D printing materials market. The company offers a comprehensive range of products and services in the 3D printing materials market. Some of the 3D printing materials offered by the company include plastic, elastomer, metal, wax, and composite materials among others. The company is focused on growing through the expansion of its core business and new adjacent categories in the market. It also plans to focus on its metal systems. Categorization Of 3D Printing Materials Companies On 360 Quadrants 3D Printing Materials companies' evaluation was conducted over 200 companies, of which the top 17 were categorized and placed in a quadrant under Market Leaders, Contenders, Innovators, and Emerging Companies. All the companies in the market leader segment demonstrated strong offerings and the ability to influence the market's direction with their deep expertise. These companies include Stratasys, GE, Carpenter Technology, and 3D Systems. These companies dominate the market, together accounting for nearly one-third of the entire 3D Printing Materials market. Arkema, Hoganas, Sandvik, and GKN Powder Metallurgy have been recognized as contenders in the 3D Printing Materials quadrant. The contenders are companies with a strong market presence, excelling in specific niches. While not offering the full range of market leaders, they wield significant influence and impact. These companies focus on specific technologies and aim to establish leadership within their chosen segment. In the quadrant, innovators are highly innovative companies with a strong product portfolio, but a smaller market presence compared to leaders. They push industry boundaries with forward-thinking approaches and have the potential to become major players despite lower corporate growth strategies. Markforged, Materialise, Formlabs, and Proto Labs have been identified as the innovators in the quadrant. The 360 Quadrants effectively evaluates emerging companies in the 3D Printing Materials industry. They focus on specific areas and offer specialized knowledge, targeted support, flexible terms, and competitive prices. While they may have limited capabilities, they are preferred for specific use cases. These companies employ strategies to expand sales and reach a broader client base. This segment of the quadrant has identified Evonik, Solvay, Henkel, BASF, and Huntsman as emerging companies. Evaluation Criteria The vendor evaluation was conducted on over 200 companies of which the top 17 were categorized and recognized as the quadrant leaders. Factors such as revenue, geographic presence, growth strategies, investments, and sales strategies for the market presence of the 3D Printing Materials quadrant. While the top criteria for product footprint evaluation included Material Form (Powder, Liquid, Filament), Material Type (Plastic, Metal, Ceramic), Technology Served, Application, and End-Use Industry (Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, Healthcare, and Consumer Goods, Construction). 360 Quadrants Scoring Methodology 360 Quadrants employs a comprehensive and transparent scoring methodology to evaluate companies. It identifies relevant evaluation criteria, collects and validates data from multiple sources, and employs an algorithm that considers parameter weights to generate scores. Normalization ensures fair comparisons and the aggregated scores categorize solutions into quadrants such as Market Leaders, Contenders, Innovators, and Emerging Companies. This unbiased approach equips users with accurate information, empowering them to make well-informed decisions and select solutions that best suit their needs and objectives. Claim Your Free Marketing Kit @ https://www.360quadrants.com/chemicals/3d-printing-materials See Also: Top Paint and Coatings Companies, Worldwide 2023 Top Lubricants Companies, Worldwide 2023 Top 21 Sustainable Packaging Companies, Worldwide 2023 Top 21 Flexible Packaging Companies, Worldwide 2023 Top 20 Personal Care Ingredients Companies 2023 Top 21 Smart Grid Companies, Worldwide 2023 Top 20 Composites Companies, Worldwide 2023 Top 20 Hydrogen Generation Companies 2023 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research and facilitates analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry. 360 Quadrants will also be launching 100 quadrants in Chemicals and Materials, Packaging, Energy & Power, and Healthcare. Visit https://www.360quadrants.com to access our interactive quadrants. For media inquiries, please contact: Mr. Agney Sugla MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road, Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: agney@marketsandmarkets.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2200869/3d_Printing_Material_Quadrant.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/top-17-3d-printing-materials-companies-worldwide-2023-marketsandmarkets-360-quadrant-revealed-301916830.html VENICE, Italy, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cangzhou, a city of north China's Hebei Province, and known as the country's most beautiful shooting location made debut at the 80th Venice International Film Festival which kicked off on August 30th in Venice, Italy. During the festival, Cangzhou held an exhibition demonstrating the charm of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal culture and martial arts acrobatics culture through press conferences, scenery films, and photo exhibitions. Among them, the performance of Cangzhou martial arts inheritors was even more brilliant, which attracted much applause. "Many fans have learned about Chinese culture, history and customs through Chinese Kung Fu films, " said Xiang Hui, mayor of Cangzhou, in his speech of the city's development. Cangzhou, a city of more than 1,500 years old, has nurtured characteristic cultural veins such as Grand Canal, Bohai Bay, acrobatics, martial arts and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Cangzhou is a well-known hometown of martial arts and acrobatics at home and abroad, an and a hub northern seaport of the "Maritime Silk Road" in the 21st century. Xiang Hui also extended his invitation to friends from all over the world to come to Cangzhou for film and television shooting, to further get closer Cangzhou, understand Cangzhou and feel Cangzhou, to convey friendship and promote exchanges and mutual learning. "We will also provide favorable policies for everyone to carry out deeper, broader and more comprehensive communication in cultural tourism and film art and contribute to the sustainable development of the world film industry," said Xiang. Nowadays, Cangzhou adheres to cultural tourism resources such as the Grand Canal, martial arts, and acrobatics, has attracted domestic and foreign tourists to "check in" here and has also become the shooting location for numerous film and television works. Cangzhou was awarded the "China's Most Beautiful Shooting Location" certificate at "Focus on China" event. The "Focus on China" event of this Venice International Film Festival, jointly organized by the Film Bureau of the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Italian National Film City, the Italian Pavilion of the Venice International Film Festival and Xinhuanet, aims at promoting cultural exchanges between China and Europe, and has become the most significant China-themed event at the Venice International Film Festival since it was launched in 2016. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2201057/IMG_5974.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/chinas-most-beautiful-shooting-location-cangzhou-makes-debut-at-venice-international-film-festival-301917018.html Article L. 238-8-II of the French commercial Code and article 223-16 of the AMF (French Financial Markets Authority) general regulation Regulatory News: Corporate name of the issuer: Veolia Environnement (Paris:VIE) 21 rue La Boetie 75008 PARIS FRANCE (ISIN code: FR0000124141-VIE) Information closing date Total number of shares forming the share capital Total number of voting rights August 31, 2023 715,383,875 Total number of theoretical voting rights (1): 732,894,022 Total number of voting rights that may be exercised (2): 722,529,713 Inclusion in the Veolia Environnement Articles of Association of a clause requiring a reporting obligation of the declaration of crossing a shareholding threshold, complementary to the one relating to the thresholds provided by the French law and the regulations in force (article 8). (1) Number of theoretical voting rights after taking into account the number of shares with double voting rights as of August 31, 2023 (17,510,147 shares) and the number of treasury shares held as of August 31, 2023 (10,364,309 shares). (2) Number of voting rights that may be exercised number of theoretical voting rights (or total number of voting rights attached to shares) shares without voting rights (number of treasury shares held as of August 31, 2023). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904778955/en/ Contacts: Veolia Environnement NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 4, 2023 / International Paper Company Every day International Paper (IP) along with their longtime partner National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), take strides toward enhancing wildlife's precious habitats by supporting on-the-ground partners that help landowners manage their forests sustainably. National Wildlife Day provides an opportunity to highlight how responsible forest management is helping protect and enhance habitats for many rare and endangered species such as gopher tortoises, Louisiana pine snake, reticulated flatwoods salamanders and red-cockaded woodpeckers. Dedicated efforts are made by partners to recover gopher tortoises and red-cockaded woodpeckers, supported by grants funded through the Forestland Stewards Partnership, a partnership formed by IP and NFWF in 2013 to protect and enhance ecologically important forestlands and coastal savannas in 12 southern states. "We recognize the importance of strategic collaboration when the future of wildlife is in all of our hands," said Sophie Beckham, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, International Paper. "We are committed to partnerships that help landowners protect, enhance, and restore forest habitats for native and migratory species." A couple examples of important projects, led by The Longleaf Alliance, and supported by NFWF and IP, include translocating federally endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers and head-starting gopher tortoises in South Carolina. These species play a vital role in the intricate web of life of these forests. The Alliance is working to restore 5,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat which is crucial for red-cockaded woodpeckers and gopher tortoises. The red cockaded woodpecker exclusively lives in pine trees, preferably mature longleaf pines, and excavates cavities used by many other birds and small mammals as habitats to survive. Without the woodpeckers, other species are at risk. Translocating, which is the process of moving the species from one location to another, supports the establishment of woodpecker populations in forests that will benefit most from them. Hundreds of species depend on gopher tortoises in big and small ways. It's called a 'keystone species' because more than 350 animals - such as owls, snakes, foxes, toads, skunks, and lizards - use gopher tortoise burrows to shelter from the heat, fires and predators. Partners are supporting gopher tortoises through head-starting, which involves collecting eggs from the wild each year, hatching them in the safety of managed care, raising them for a year, then releasing them back to nature. This process gives gopher tortoises a greater chance to survive in the wild, reducing their risk of predation, and enhancing the size of the gopher tortoise population. This vital conservation partnership has restored, enhanced or protected more than 1.2 million acres of wildlife habitat since the Forestland Stewards Partnership was founded. About International Paper International Paper (NYSE:IP) is a global producer of planet-friendly packaging, pulp and other fiber-based products, and one of North America's largest recyclers. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 39,000 colleagues globally who are committed to creating what's next. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2022 were $21.2 billion. Additional information can be found by visiting www.internationalpaper.com About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chartered by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nation's fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Working with federal, corporate, foundation and individual partners, NFWF has funded more than 6,000 organizations and generated a total conservation impact of $8.1 billion. NFWF is an equal opportunity provider. Learn more at nfwf.org. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from International Paper Company on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: International Paper Company Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/international-paper-company Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: International Paper Company View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/780152/on-national-wildlife-day-ip-celebrates-ongoing-support-for-endangered-species-through-sustainable-forestry-with-nfwfs-forestland-stewards-partnership BOCA RATON, FL / ACCESSWIRE / September 4, 2023 / Halten Records is an Electronic Dance Music (EDM) company proposing a change that disrupts traditional financing models. If songs that are currently in production are to be considered the equivalent of a minimum viable product (MVP), gauging investor interest at this stage can revolutionize how music is distributed. Through presales, the industry can turn increasingly towards data. Thus, a new era can be envisioned with change to the following areas: Music Distribution: Attaining an early form of traction metrics or social proof can enable discussions with parties such as angel investors, venture capital firms, businesses interested in exploring partnerships, crowdfunding, record labels, or prove to be sufficient to obtain royalty advances (debt). However, should the artist be able to find the right branding and marketing partners, an alternate route to securing distribution may be possible. By making early financing more prevalent, music deals can mature into structured instruments with pre-defined milestones and exits. Fan Engagement: The general public can have a direct impact in an artist's career, arguably when he or she needs it most. This creates a more intimate and meaningful journey to be shared, where an artist may be able to reward early fans or investors financially and through unique experiences. Facilitated by technology, an industry shift may already be underway. New market offerings include an accelerator by Warner Music Group (WMG) and Polygon, and an AI Incubator by Universal Music Group (UMG) and YouTube. While the focus may have been historically on established artists, using data to test commercial viability, international licensing interest, and collaborative branding, can prove to be equally important in producing successful artists by utilizing a more targeted business-centric approach. Halten Records is exploring its distribution strategy with its near-term goal of producing EDM music. For prospective investors wanting to learn more and preview Halten's EDM tracks, its official website is https://haltenrecords.com/ Halten Records LLC is 'testing the waters' to gauge investor interest in an offering under Regulation Crowdfunding. No money or other consideration is being solicited. If sent, it will not be accepted. No offer to buy securities will be accepted. No part of the purchase price will be received until a Form C is filed and only through Wefunder's platform. Any indication of interest involves no obligation or commitment of any kind. Media Contact Organization: Halten Records LLC Contact Person: Jaime Penaranda Website: https://haltenrecords.com Email: jaime@haltenrecords.com City: Boca Raton State: Florida Country: United States SOURCE: Halten Records LLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/780165/halten-records-llc-aims-to-transform-the-music-industry The information and services on this website are not intended to and shall not be used as legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed. You use the content, information, and services on this website at your own risk. The information and services are general and educational in nature, may not reflect all recent legal development,s and may not apply to the specific facts and circumstances of individual transactions and cases. 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Its core meals include 12 fresh recipes, plus a selection of treats, chews and supplements. The company is operating in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and most recently Poland following its April 2023 acquisition of PsiBufet, one of the largest fresh dog food companies in Central and Eastern Europe. Since its inception in 2016, Butternut Box has grown rapidly, raising over 100m to date including investments from L Catterton, White Star Capital, Five Seasons Ventures, Passion Capital, Literacy Capital, Claret Capital, and HSBC. Now, the expansion of the company includes the development of a new European manufacturing facility. The planned facility will be the second of its kind for Butternut Box after Rudies Kitchen, a fully integrated manufacturing and fulfilment facility that opened in March 2021, giving the company complete visibility and control over its emissions production. FinSMEs 04/09/2023 Eat Just, an Alameda, CA- and New York-based company that applies science and technology to create healthy and sustainable food, raised an undisclosed amount in funding. The round was led by VegInvest/Ahimsa Foundation. The company intends to use the funds to continue improving the quality and profitability of its products. Led by CEO Josh Tetrick, Eat Just is a food technology company which created egg brands, made entirely of plants, and meat made from animal cells instead of slaughtered animals. GOOD Meat, Eat Justs cultivated meat division, received a landmark U.S. regulatory approval this summer, which allowed the companys chicken to be sold to American consumers for the first time in history. This builds on the firms clearance and commercial sales in Singapore in late 2020. Its products are now available in more than 48,000 retail points of distribution in North America, including 4,000 new doors across retailers year-to-date. VegInvest/Ahimsa Foundations initial investment and partnership enabled the company to move from lab-scale to commercial launch and grow to the point of selling the equivalent of 400 million eggs, saving more than 14 billion gallons of water, 69 million kilograms of CO2e and 21,000 acres of land. FinSMEs 04/09/2023 TOKYO, Sep 04 ( News On Japan ) - The Tokyo Branch of the Japanese Red Cross Society has been forced to cancel an exhibition of AI-generated content marking the 100th anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake following outrage online claiming the subject matter was "fake news." The Red Cross used AI to create characters from figures in paintings from the Taisho Era (1912-1925) and planned to have these provide what it called "testimonies" of experiences from the massive earthquake that measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. The earthquake, a firestorm, typhoon and massacres resulted in over 140,000 casualties, including at least 105,000 deaths. The Great Kanto Earthquake is the severest natural disaster recorded in Japanese history. The Japanese Red Cross Society has apologized over the exhibition originally intended to be held in the entrance lobby to its offices from August 25 to September 7. "We have decided to suspend the implementation of this project as we determined explanation had been insufficient and that our original intention was not conveyed, leading to misunderstanding in some quarters and the message that what had intended to convey through could not be conveyed properly," the society said on a statement on its website. "We regret that more careful consideration was needed on this matter." The Red Cross and other media reports have not specified any precise content from the exhibition that drew outrage. The massacre of Koreans in the aftermath of the earthquake has become a controversy in recent years with more people deny it, or the severity of the slaughter. Some estimates put the death toll at over 10,000 with the killings blamed on Japanese police, military and bands of vigilantes. The Red Cross used the Taisho Era painting said to depict relief efforts following the quake to generate characters for the exhibition intended to raise awareness about the calamitous earthquake that struck on September 1, 1923. The project generated characters from 20 people depicted in the painting. It used a database of about 600,000 words taken from stories of survivors accounts of the earthquake and its aftermath to create what the Red Cross called "new testimonies." The use of the term sparked online outrage, with critics calling the planned exhibition "fake news" and "fabrication of history." Criticism prompted the Red Cross to cancel the exhibition. PhotonVentures, an Eindhoven, The Netherlands-based deep tech venture capital firm, launched a venture capital fund aimed at early-stage photonic chip startups and scale ups. 60m was raised in its first financing round with PhotonDelta as the lead investor alongside numerous private investors. PhotonVentures plans to raise a total of 100 to 150m, with its final close set for the start of 2024. It will prioritise Series A rounds, with the aim of providing investments between 1m 2.5m. The fund is planning to initially invest in 15 European deep-tech companies that have potential to grow into international winners in their sectors. The startups should have an integrated photonics-based MVP connected to the European ecosystem. The firms investment strategy leverages on the Dutch PhotonDelta ecosystem to accelerate European startups and scale-ups. PhotonVentures and PhotonDelta are strategic partners with the aim of supporting the growth of Europes photonics industry. Photonic chips are critical in a range of applications like quantum computing, robotics, sustainable agriculture, and autonomous vehicles. Founded in 2014, PhotonDelta has made significant investments in photonics companies and R&D over the last five years. In backing the fund, PhotonDelta has taken another step forward in its goal of building a world leading industry for integrated photonics in the Netherlands and Europe. Last year, PhotonDelta secured 1.1 billion in public and private investment to scale up production, build 200 startups, create new applications for photonic chips and develop infrastructure and talent. The PhotonVentures board consists of Joachim de Sterke, Pieter Klinkert and Rijkman Groenink. FinSMEs 04/09/2023 Shah Rukh Khan and Lady Superstar Nayantharas Jawan is scheduled to release theatrically on 7 September in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The much-anticipated trailer for Atlees action-packed film was released on Thursday and advance bookings are in full swing. According to Bollywood Hungamas report, Jawan is one of the most expensive films in India with a budget of Rs 300 crore. Now, reports are rife that Nayanthara, who is set to make her Bollywood debut with the film, charged a whopping amount for Jawan. According to speculation, the actor has been paid Rs 11 crore for Jawan. There has been no statement from Nayanthara or the team of Jawan regarding the matter. Nayantharas career Nayanthara is widely known for her acting prowess in the South film industry. She debuted with Manassinakkare in 2003, which was a commercial hit. Later, the Chandramukhi star became a leader in women-centric movies with Anaamika, Maya, Airaa, and Netrikann, among others. Nayanthara and husband-director Vignesh Shivan fell in love on the sets of the 2015 movie Naanum Rowdy Dhaan and tied the knot in June 2022. Shah Rukh Khan and Rajinikanth were among the few guests who attended the lavish ceremony in Mahabalipuram. The couple welcomed their twin boys, Uyir and Ulag, via surrogacy in October. Nayantharas Instagram debut Nayanthara was recently in the news for her grand Instagram debut, just days before the release of her action-drama-based movie. The 38-year-old Tamil star posted a reel featuring her twin sons alongside her. The Bigil star has already amassed over 18 lakh followers and counting. The actress also posted a trailer for the upcoming movie Jawan on Instagram, captioned the post, My First With My Favvvv @iamsrk. A lot of love, passion, and hard work has gone into making this film. Hope you like it and keep showering the love as always. Jawan trailer View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) The upcoming thriller will be Shah Rukh Khans second film this year following the record-breaking release of Pathaan in January. While the films plot is under wraps, the Don star is playing a dual role. Based on the trailer, SRKs character hijacks the Mumbai Metro with a six-women squad. Nayanthara, on the other hand, will play the role of a police officer in the film. Based on records by industry tracker Sacnilk, Jawan sold 2,00,454 tickets worth Rs 6.84 crore on Friday, less than 24 hours after tickets were on sale. Directed by Atlee, Jawan features Vijay Sethupathi, Yogi Babu, Priyamani, Deepika Padukone and Sanya Malhotra in pivotal roles. Scam 2003 has dropped on Sony Liv with a ton of expectations and a steady inflow of appreciation. Gagan Dev Riar, who plays the protagonist Abdul Karim Telgi, has won high praise from critics and viewers because of his immaculate, genuine performance. Resembling the mastermind of the mind-boggling 30,000 crore stamp paper scam that has taken 12 years for government agencies to clean up (and is still ongoing), this series focuses on his intelligence, courage, and dare-to-do ability. The success of this series reflects a clear trend in Indian shows on OTT- a good anti-hero makes for great viewing. Writers Kiran Yadnopavit, Kedar Patankar, and Karan Vyas have focused on building the effectiveness of Telgi as the common person who became a financial crime mastermind. While the plot is not gripping or foolproof, it works because Telgis desire to become incredibly wealthy while beating a preset-class-driven destiny is easy to relate to. Without any job prospects in Karnataka despite being a graduate, he moves to Mumbai to make a living. Here he gets exposed to incredible wealth and the opportunity to make money through illegal trades in the financial world. The fact that getting higher education doesnt bring any job prospects in India is true today, with a job market in crisis. As countless people move to metro cities to earn a livelihood, Telgis success feels enviable. Telgis instincts in navigating and manipulating a money-crazed political and law and order system resonate with many. In the time frame of Indias economic liberalization and financial growth knocking on the doors of many, Telgi just picks a loophole in this system, exploits it by breaking the law and bribing people, and keeps opening that loophole gradually to an unimaginable scale. Only as the first part of this two-part series comes to a close, does a dramatic and difficult scene offer the rationale behind Telgis unlimited hunger for money. He is striving to move to a higher aukad (social status) with incredible wealth. He seeks power, to control his destiny, and doesnt want to be subject to a lifetime of financial struggle. His successes underline a common belief amongst Indians, one that is often justified. To actually grow and become rich, you have to bend the rules and break the law. This feeling, coupled with Riars brilliant performance, makes one root for him. Scam 2003 repeats the popularity of the first season, Scam 1992 (2020) told Harshad Mehtas story. A reputed stockbroker who got exposed as a fraudster in the 1992 securities scam, his story brings the dramatic arc of a common man hero from rise to downfall. In this series, Harshad Mehta (Pratik Gandhi) makes for a likeable anti-hero who will not let economic circumstances and the monopoly of the powerful put him down. He keeps taking huge risks, ignoring his brothers caution, and pushes ahead with stock market manipulation, giving a fillip to rising speculation around share trading in our country. Mehta also courted the media and enjoyed the spotlight that press coverage would bring him, ultimately bringing his nemesis from this desire to be known. While his downfall is presented, the series high point is his rise against complicated limitations set by financial governance. Mehta is a lower middle-class boy that upgrades his life enough to live in a plush South Bombay flat and luxury foreign cars. Most viewers connect with his aspirations and grudgingly admire his courage and ability to outsmart bankers, and financial experts for a long time, making his story the biggest draw for this series. Audiences have rooted for a strong villain in Hindi cinema forever. This is visible in the popularity and favour that anti-heroes have found in the OTT series. Unlike film villains, these are rooted and driven to change their difficult economic and social reality. Caste origins that can destroy a life make for a solid origin story of Hathora Tyagi (Abhishek Banerjee) in Pataal Lok (2020). In a series peppered with strong characters, this performance and persona caught on with audiences because his violence and anger almost seem justified. He kills because he is loyal and uses his murderous abilities to bring justice to the wronged. Speaking less and letting his eyes do most of the talking, Tyagi is almost mysterious and destined to die, but his lifes story is poignant. Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Ganesh Gaitonde in Sacred Games (2019) was followed closely by viewers because of his unpredictability. This series elevates him from a regular Mumbai gangster who rises to the top on violence and blood lust, to an adaptable survivor. He also has a gentle heart and cares for those that love him. Riding on his instincts alone, he navigates a powerful religious cult guru and the Indian intelligence services to build his power at home and overseas. Coupled with Siddiquis performance, Gaitonde is a complex anti-hero that keeps the audience guessing. This aspiration to break rules and grow beyond ones wildest dreams also built curiosity around the Netflix docu-series Bad Boy Billionaires (2020). This chronicle of real-life business tycoons that duped the Indian financial and governance system to accrue millions and escape to foreign shores reflects a common aspiration- leave the struggle of this competitive, populated country for a better life abroad. Watching the journey of anti-heroes who took on a present social system and beat the laws is like living these aspirations vicariously. As the stories of anti-heroes are presented in a realistic, relatable manner, their ability to pull audiences to an OTT series will keep growing. A simple story on teenagers can be made interesting too. Friday Night Plan failed to bring out the real emotions of the characters. Netflix is known for its brilliant teenage shows and films like To All The Boys Ive Loved Before, Gilmore Girls, Ginny & Georgia, Elite, Class to name a few. But the makers of Friday Night Plan did a shoddy job by not being able to bring out the different layers of the characters. Probably they were in a rush in making a one-and-a-half-hour film. There are different sides to a human being, but Friday Night Plan couldnt bring that out. Friday Night Plan, directed by Vatsal Neelakantan, is a film about brotherhood and self-discovery. Only Babil Khans character had a few layers which were definitely not peeled off well. But sadly there was nothing gripping or engaging in the content. What was so different I ask myself? Nothing is my answer. Though Babil tried doing justice to his role, but unfortunately this movie is not even a fun one-time watch. The expressions of his eyes makes the character relatable. But again, this is far from Babils best performance. In the movie, Babil Khan plays the nerdy older brother, and his characters partner-in-crime is his mischievous younger brother, portrayed by Amrith Jayan. Together, they are the ultimate duo, ready to conquer the coolest, most happening party of the year. Coming back to the film, the story revolves around two school-going brothers and their love-hate relationship. The elder one Sid (Babil) is a mature kid, but keeps a lot of things to himself. The night of freedom turns out to be a night of self-discovery. The youthful adventures in the movie are fun sometimes, but mostly forced. Most importantly, the cast doesnt look like school kids in their teens and that includes Babil too who in no way looked like an eighteen-year-old. They looked more like college kids, but definitely not school kids. Though Babil tried hard to add depth to the film, but he too couldnt save the flawed storytelling. In short, Friday Night Plan is a feel good film which could have been done better. We definitely need these ligh-hearted movies, but the storytelling needs to be gripping because at the end of the day you cannot fool the audiences any more. Rating: 2.5 out of 5 France is set to ban disposable vapes. Frances prime minister Elisabeth Borne made the announcement on Sunday. Borne did not give details as to when the ban would be implemented. But why is France doing this? Lets take a closer look: Borne, speaking to RTL Radio, said this is part of a nationwide anti-smoking plan. Borne said smoking in France causes 75,000 deaths every year. Vapes are known as puffs in France, as per The Guardian. Borne has argued that disposable vapes are giving bad habits to young people. Its a reflex and a gesture that young people get used to. Thats how they get into smoking, she added. According to the website The National News, while the government has decided not to implement a tax on cigarettes in 2024, it hopes the ban on disposable vapes will deter young people from taking up smoking. According to the website, around a fourth of the population of France one of the highest rates in the West smokes every day. In France, you have to be 18 to be allowed to smoke. Most of the disposable e-cigarettes, which are thrown away after theyre used up, come in sweet and fruity flavors like pink lemonade, gummy bear and watermelon which makes them attractive to teenagers. They are sold in France usually at a price of between 8 euros ($8.7) and 12 euros ($13). An existing ban on the sale of electronic cigarette devices to those under 18 is not widely respected. Promoting or advertising such products is also banned. According to The Guardian, Frances previous health minister claimed a law on vaping could be passed before the end of this year. Francois Braun added that even though the Emmanuel Macron government did not have a majority in Parliament, ministers would work with lawmakers to achieve a deal. Vaping and smoking in other nations As per The National News, the United States Food and Drug Administration is yet to act on vaping. The UK in 2007 increased its age for buying cigarettes from 16 to 18. As of 2021, it is projected that 13.3 per cent of adults around 6.6 million people smoke in the UK. The NHS pegs smoking as causing around 76,000 deaths every year in the UK. It says smoking causes many more debilitating conditions The government in 2019 had vowed to make the UK smoke-free by 2030, as per the website. As per The Guardian, Belgium has banned online sales of vapes. Meanwhile, in Ireland, a national consultation on prohibition is ongoing. Germany has already banned flavoured e-cigarettes with its drugs tsar warning this may only be the beginning. New Zealand in June unveiled a slew of measures to curb vaping by young people as it extended its aggressive anti-smoking campaign. These included limits on sales near schools to a ban on some disposable units. Though New Zealand has one of the lowest rates of adult smoking among the 38 nations in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, it has banned future generations from smoking in a push to be smokefree by 2025. With inputs from agencies We are just days away from the G20 Summit in New Delhi (9 and 10 September) which will see world leaders gather for the important meet. Most of the leaders of the G20 countries have confirmed their participation Russias Vladimir Putin has announced that he would be skipping the meet while questions persist over Chinese president Xi Jinpings presence. Ahead of the highly-guarded meeting in New Delhi, G20 sherpas have gathered in Haryanas Nuh, where violence had broken out in late July, and are making a last-minute attempt to reach a consensus over the proposed Delhi Declaration to be adopted at the summit. The Sherpas meet, which began on 3 September (Sunday) and run until 7 September (Thursday), will their last meeting before the leaders meet and will be an attempt to iron out differences over the two paragraphs of the proposed Delhi Declaration. Theres a fear that the G20 summit may also end without a joint declaration as Russia and the West continue to spar over the Ukraine war among other issues. Race for joint declaration The G20 Sherpas are racing against time to hammer out the final declaration that will be adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of G20 nations over the weekend. However, they face a tough challenge to create consensus. The main issue is the Ukraine war with the Western countries and Russia not being able to see eye to eye on the matter. In fact, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, who will represent Moscow at the meet, said that Russia will block any summit Declaration that doesnt reflect Moscows views on Ukraine and other crises. There will be no general Declaration on behalf of all members if our position is not reflected, Lavrov was quoted as telling Reuters. He added that western countries were eroding international institutions by promoting their own interests and said if the G20 meeting is not able to reach a consensus, the G20 president might consider releasing a chair summary. Another option is to adopt a document that focuses on specific decisions in the sphere of G20 competences, and let everyone say the rest on their own behalf, he said. After Lavrov, Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipov also reiterated that there was no consensus on the text related to the Ukraine war. And its not just Russia that is a hurdle to having a joint declaration. Christina Segal-Knowles, the US soux sherpa, said the text referring to the Ukraine crisis doesnt have to be exactly the same as that used in the Bali leaders declaration of 2022. The US position is that we need to find a way, as the G20, to be able to talk about the major issues affecting the global economy. The war in Ukraine is certainly a major issue thats affecting the global economy We need to be able to talk about that for the G20 to remain a credible institution, she was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times. Even Germany has said that it will not sign a joint statement that ignores Russias war of aggression against Ukraine. Germanys G20 sherpa Jorg Kukies in an interview to The Mint said that Germany did not agree with Chinas position that the Ukrainse war does not belong in an economic grouping like the G20. No joint communique Interestingly, none of the G20 ministerial meetings held until now have been able to issue a single Joint Communique thus far. Instead India has been forced to issue a series of Chairmans Summary and Outcomes Documents at the various meetings. This is because Russia and the West have been disagreeing on two paragraphs of the Bali Declaration that have been brought forth to the Delhi Declaration. For the unaware, at the end of the 17th G20 Summit held in Indonesia in November of 2022, the leaders had signed off on the Bali Declaration in which most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine while others had different views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions. However, Russia and China are now opposing the text in the declaration, but for different reasons. The Hindu reports that Russia says the Russia says the language at Bali no longer holds true as it does not include increased US and European military support to Ukraine, or the increased sanctions against Russia that followed. China has said that it doesnt believe the G-20, essentially an economic forum, should discuss geopolitical issues as it hasnt in the past two decades, indicating the Bali statement was an exception. In July after the G20 finance ministers meet concluded, India only released a chairs summary and outcome document. Speaking after the meet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said there was no consensus because we still dont have a common language on the Russia-Ukraine war. Catch up on all our G20 explainers G20: How India has walked the talk on Global South Why G20 is leaving Delhi with a shortage of luxury cars G20 Summit: Are monkeys the big scare for leaders coming to Delhi? G20 Summit: What will be open, what will be shut in Delhi from 8 Sept to 10 Sept? G20 Summit: From millets to litthi chokha, the food being served to world leaders Even External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in June had said that a common landing point for a final G20 declaration was challenging. There are differences of opinion even about what was agreed to in Bali last year. So how do we handle it? Its very hard for me. I mean, you know, diplomats are still working at it. So I dont want to predict. I dont want to sort of, in a way, give too much details. I mean, I accept your point that its a challenge. But, you know, diplomacy is a business for optimistic people. So I think its something that we would look at, he had said, as per a report in The Wire. Significance of a joint declaration If the G20 Summit in New Delhi ends without a joint declaration, it will be a first for the grouping since its inception in 1999. As Derek J Grossman, a senior defence analyst at the Rand Corporation, said on X, Indias upcoming G20 summit is likely to go down as the first ever not to issue a joint statement. If this comes to pass, then it wont be New Delhis fault. The reality is that forces beyond Indias control are at play. Some experts believe that a lack of a joint declaration could raise questions about the purpose of the grouping and if it holds any relevance in todays age. Interestingly, in 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea, the G20 summit in Brisbane had managed to issue a joint declaration without the mention of the conflict. Surprisingly, it also had a family photo with all the leaders including Russian president Vladimir Putin. With inputs from agencies Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) forum will descend upon India this week to attend the summit at New Delhis Pragati Maidan. Over 40 heads of state and leaders of global organisations will mark their presence as India plays host. However, the presidents of China and Russia will be skipping the mega event on 9-10 September. Russias Vladimir Putin had earlier notified Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his absence at the upcoming G20 summit. In his stead, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the conclave. While media reported last week that Chinese president Xi Jinping is unlikely to attend, the Asian countrys foreign ministry said today (4 September) that Premier Li Qiang will represent Chinas delegation at the summit. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning did not answer a reporter about why Xi would miss the event in New Delhi. The G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation and China has always placed great importance on and proactively taken part in such events, Mao said. Premier Li Qiang will elaborate on Chinas views and propositions on G20 cooperation, promote the G20 to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and work together to address global economic and development challenges, Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson was further quoted as saying by Associated Press (AP). With two bigwigs skipping the G20 summit, will it have an impact on Indias presidency? Lets understand better. What Xis absence at G20 means It remains unclear as to why Xi is not attending the G20 summit for the first time since coming to power in 2013. The Chinese premier had attended last Novembers G-20 summit in Indonesias Bali, wherein he held talks with Prime Minister Modi and United States president Joe Biden. Xis expected absence this year comes at a time when tensions remain high between India and China over the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Despite several rounds of deliberations following military clashes in 2020 in Ladakhs Galwan Valley, both sides have not been able to reach an agreement over the disengagement of troops at key friction points such as Depsang and Demchok, noted Hindustan Times (HT). Heightening the rift, Beijing recently released a standard map showing Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh within Chinas border. India rejected Chinas territorial claims, with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar calling the map absurd. If Xi decides not to attend the G20, this could set back Chinas efforts to thaw relations with India and harden New Delhis position on the border dispute, Sameer Lalwani, South Asia senior expert with the US Institute of Peace, told South China Morning Post (SCMP). Xis absence might also make it easier for India to flex its global leadership muscles. As per New York-headquartered Bloomberg, Xi may be snubbing the G20 summit because of Beijings diplomatic sparring with India or probably because he wants to stay back to handle the countrys economic troubles. China has a startling high youth unemployment rate, its property sector is facing losses, and the manufacturing sector has been shrinking. Xis likely absence at the G20 comes just weeks after he travelled to South Africa for a BRICS summit, which was also attended by prime minister Modi. The bloc consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Experts say the Chinese leader, who successfully advocated for the expansion of the BRICS bloc, would not get the same warm welcome at the G20 summit, noted SCMP. Xi is now in an emperor mindset and expects dignitaries to come to him, Alfred Wu, associate professor at the National University of Singapores Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, told Bloomberg. Xi enjoys a very high status when he receives foreign guests at home. He also received special treatment at the BRICS summit. But hes unlikely to get that at G20, Wu added. A diplomat in Beijing said Xi does not seem to have an interest in attending an event that could bolster the global profile of its rival India, the New York-headquartered media company reported. Speaking to SCMP, Farwa Aamer, director of South Asia Initiatives at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, said, It is evident that Sino-Indian relations are navigating complex terrain. As for the G20 summit, the eventual outcome will serve as a barometer of the extent to which geopolitical tensions and strategic competition are impacting global economic cooperation and multilateral diplomacy. Aamer said India as a host will still gain with China attending the G20 event, even if Xi will RSVP no. Xi will also miss a tete-a-tete with US Biden, who said he was disappointed that the Chinese leader will not be present at the New Delhi summit. The ties between the US and China have also worsened over the years due to several issues. Many European member nations have also expressed concerns over Beijings support for Russia after the Ukraine war. Another analyst pointed out that Xi wants to strengthen China on smaller forums where Beijing can set the agenda. China seeks to dominate a group of smaller, less-developed states like BRICS or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization where China can dictate the agenda, Drew Thompson, a former Pentagon official and a senior fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, told Bloomberg. ALSO READ: G20 Summit: Why a joint declaration is unlikely Putin to skip G20 Before the G20 summit, Putin stayed away from the BRICS summit in Johannesburg following an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. He addressed the bloc virtually, blaming the unpredictability in global markets for food and other products on Western sanctions, reported The Guardian. While he is averting presence at the G20, Putin is expected to visit close partner China next month. Is it a blessing in disguise for India? Some see these leaders absence at the G20 as a blessing in disguise for Indias presidency. If Xi were to participate in the Summit, much of the attention of the hosts as well as of the media, both national and global, would be on his activities, movements, meetings, body language etc. There would be much greater interest and attention on the possibility of bilateral meetings between Biden and Xi, as well as between PM Modi and Xi. This would necessarily distract from the focus that should rightly be accorded to the deliberations under the G20 agenda, Ashok Sajjanhar, a former Ambassador of India to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia, wrote for India Narrative. Putins absence will save India from dealing with possible embarrassing situations, such as a heated exchange between the Russian president and Western leaders. The Russian presidents presence could have also created a tense situation or led to an acrimonious debate, which would deal irreparable damage to the G20 and split the group. Such a development under Indias presidency would have been a major embarrassment for the host country, as per a Moneycontrol report. India downplays the absence Minister of state for external affairs Meenakshi Lekhi said China and Russian leaders absence will not impact the outcome of the G20 summit. The absence of these leaders would not have any impact on the summit. Most things that have been worked on are part of the declaration. It is those countries prerogative to send whoever they wish and who will represent them. Both countries will be represented, respectively. I am sure there would be internal reasons of the countries, Lekhi told ANI earlier. On Xis absence, people aware of the matter told HT earlier that G20 leaders have skipped summits of the bloc for their own reasons from time to time and the level of attendance is different every year. They added that the Chinese president skipping the event will not reflect on the host country. With inputs from agencies Over a lakh of Indian children in the United States are facing a risk of separation from their parents. The research by David J Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, shows that over 10 lakh Indians are awaiting green cards. The Cato Institute is a Washington, DC-based libertarian think-tank. Lets take a closer look: What happened? As per Economic Times, 10.7 lakh Indians are in the queue to receive green cards. The United States only issues 1.4 lakh employment-based green cards every year. It also caps such green cards at seven per cent per nation. This means that the estimated wait time to clear this backlog excluding factors such as death and aging out would be an incredible 134 years. As per The Times of India, around half of all newly-sponsored immigrants will die before getting a green card. The fact that Chinese and Indians dominate the backlog is the result of the country caps where green cards are not issued proportionally to the number of pending applicants in each country but rather limited arbitrarily at 7 per cent per nation of birth, Bier was quoted as saying by the newspaper. The 1.1 million cases from Indians in the backlog bear most of the burden of the broken system. New applicants from India will face a lifetime wait, and more than 400,000 will die before they receive a green card, Bier added, as per the newspaper. So, how are children affected? According to News18, many children enter the United States with their parents or guardians. While the parents have H1-B Visas, their children have H-4 visas. H-4 visas expire when these dependants turn 21. By the time their green card applications get processed, around 1.34 lakh children would have aged out, as per the study. These youth, known as documented dreamers, then face the difficult choice of getting an F-1 visa meant for international students that allows limited work options or self-deporting. The latter option would of course be far worse as these children have grown up in the United States and have little or no connection to their home country, as per The Times of India. Whats the solution? As per India Today, the Biden administration had proposed allowing some H-4 visa holders over 21 to remain in the United States and work. However, uncertainty over its implementation remains. Biden had also vowed to increase the seven per cent cap for green cards. Meanwhile, US lawmakers have introduced legislation to protect these documented dreamers. The latest such legislation is the Americas Children Act which is yet to be enacted. In May, these young Indian-American dreamers, who number around 250,000, made yet another round of the US Capitol the temple of American Democracy knocking on the doors of one lawmaker after the other, seeking support for the Act. They are seeking more support from congressmen and senators to make necessary legislative changes that give citizenship pathway to aged-out kids. It is time to permanently end the aging out and pass the Americas Children Act, Dip Patel, founder, Improve The Dream, said. He is leading an unprecedented fight on behalf of the documented dreamers. Of the 2,50,000 dreamers, 90 per cent are pursuing STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers, he said. In 2005, my parents immigrated to the United States to start a small business to give our family the best opportunity to succeed. We made America our home, Patel told reporters at the Capitol. This country raised me, educated me, and has made me who I am today. After nearly two decades of living here lawfully, my parents and I have not yet received permanent resident status. This resonates with everyone standing with me today, he said, adding that a loophole in the system is forcing young people brought here legally to leave the country after they turn 21. Muhil Ravichandran, 24, who first came to the United States at the age of two, said she would now have to self-deport from the country that she had been calling home for almost two decades. This means having to leave my family because they have already received their green cards. It is heartbreaking that I have to spend every day in fear that I may have to leave my home, simply because I aged out, she rued. Due to the Green Card backlog, I had aged out by the time my parents finally received their green cards. My future is now uncertain, she added. Laurens van Beek moved to the United States when he was 7-years-old with his parents. I have been coming to Iowa since I was small. My family has had a very close relationship with the United States, specifically Iowa, since the World War II, he said. In July 2022, after more than 17 years, I had to leave the United States, my family, friends, and coworkers. I moved to Belgium in order to keep working for IDT in their European facility after three failed attempts at the H-1B lottery. I do not know when or if I will be able to return to a life in the United States or be stuck as a tourist in order to see my parents, Beek said. Merry Joseph, a third-year medical student at the University of Utahs Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, moved to Utah from Singapore when she was 10-years-old with her family due to her fathers job transfer. Halfway through my junior year in college, when I turned 21, I aged out of my familys green card application and subsequently the dependent visa that was allowing me to live in the US. Being stuck in this immigration limbo definitely took a toll on my mental health. Despite all the stress and uncertainty I faced, I did not give up on my dream to serve as a physician in this country, she said. I went through the intense process of switching to an international student visa just so I could finish my bachelors degree and continued to work hard, believing that if all that I could do to serve my country, then maybe I would eventually get to call the United States my permanent home! she said. According to Patel, four years ago, son of a dairy farmer was forced to self deport after spending over 19 years in the country. Two years ago, a nursing graduate was forced to leave the US after having grown up and lived here for 17 years with lawful status, despite the Covid-19 pandemic and shortage of nursing staff in the country, he said. This year, 10,000 more will face the same fate. This does not make sense. For us, our family is our country. And that is why we need Americas Children Act, which will put in place a policy that most Americans assume is already a reality, Patel said. Delay in solving this problem will not only fail people like us, but also fail America by depriving it of the contributions of the children it raised and educated, he argued. In 2022, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that included age-out protections for dependent children on Green Card applications, as well as non-immigrant dependent children. With inputs from agencies The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been bestowed with the status of a deemed-to-be university. The announcement was made by Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan during his address at the NCERTs 63rd foundation day on Friday. But what is the NCERT? And what does this mean for it? Lets take a closer look: What is it? As per Livemint, the NCERT was founded in 1961 under the Society Act. The organisation advises the Centre on education. It undertakes various activities and programmes including educational research and innovation, curriculum development, and development of textual and teaching-learning materials. As per DrishtiIAS.com, a deemed university is recognised under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1956. According to Livemint, the Centre can on the recommendation of the University Grants Commission declare an institute of higher learning (other than universities) as a Deemed-to-be-university. The tag allows such institutes that work at an extremely high level in a specific area the same academic status and privileges as a university. As per News18, the NCERT has been granted this status under the de novo category. What does it mean for the NCERT? As per News18, the NCERT has been granted this status under the de novo category. The council had applied to the UGC for this status last September. The NCERT can now offer graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degrees, as per Livemint. According to DrishtiIAS.com, deemed universities can avail of several benefits including Increased opportunity for funding Better faculty Greater flexibility in admissions policies Being allowed to revise the curriculum Conducting examinations and evaluations. There are over 125 such deemed universities in India, as per New Indian Express. Pradhan was quoted as saying by The Hindu, NCERT has established a formidable presence in research, actively shaped school education, teacher training, and adult literacy. NCERT on becoming a research university will offer opportunities for global collaborations and contributions to the global educational landscape. The deemed-to-be university status is on lines of Indian Institute of Science, he added. Pradhan said the NCERT, on becoming a research university, will offer opportunities for global collaborations and contributions to the global educational landscape. The credit for the Chandrayaan-3s successful handling should also go to NCERT as it is where the idea of such projects germinate, Pradhan said, as per LiveMint. NEP is like Chandrayaan-3. It would be successful. Nothing can stop it, Pradhan added. As per The Hindu, Pradhan also counselled the organisation to standardise the Teachers training curriculum to NCERT in its Early Childhood Care and Education syllabus. Pradhan advised adding a chapter on Chandrayaan 3 and agreements of G20 summit to new textbooks. The new generations must be taught of the latest developments as well as Indian values and ethos, Pradhan added, as per New Indian Express. He also announced that the NCERT would help create educational material in 22 languages by using software. Pradhan said Jadui Pitara a play-based learning-teaching material tailored for children between the age group of 3-8 years developed by NCERT would be an instrument of change that will benefit 10 crore children across the country. Pradhan also put emphasis on developing content in the mother tongue. He suggested setting up Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence labs in all seven regional centres of NCERT. To make India the global hub of research and innovation these centres should be equipped with the latest technologies from around the world with future-ready infrastructure, he added. The NCERT had caused an uproar in January when it dropped several topics from Class 10 textbooks. These included chapters on the Periodic Table, contribution of agriculture to the national economy, challenges to democracy and sustainable management of natural resources. With inputs from agencies Help, I need somebody, (Help) not just anybody (Help) you know I need someone, help. Many years ago, The Beatles comprising Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr sang this song, making it one of the bands biggest successes. Now, many years later, fans of the quartet are responding to calls of help to locate a missing bass guitar, belonging to Sir Paul, which many describe as a national treasure and a piece of modern social cultural history. A global search has been launched, dubbed the Lost Bass Project, inviting anyone to share information on Paul McCartneys original Hofner bass guitar, which he had bought in 1961 and used in songs such as Twist And Shout, Love Me Do and She Loves You. Notably in the first 24 hours of the project being launched, hundreds have volunteered their help in solving one of Rock and Rolls great mysteries. We take a closer look at how the guitar shaped the sound of the modern world and also trace how it went missing years ago. The guitar that powered Beatlemania In 1961, McCartney bought the violin-shaped Hofner 500/1 electric bass for 30 (Rs 3,133) from a shop in Hamburg, Germany. At the time, the Beatle had bought the instrument because it was cheap, and because its symmetrical violin shaped body looked elegant held upside down to suit his left-handed playing. McCartney, speaking of the guitar, said in the past, Because I was left-handed, it looked less daft because it was symmetrical. I got into that. And once I bought it, I fell in love with it. And he did love it. McCartney used the guitar regularly only to put it aside in 1963. The guitar at the time was in need of repairs the neck pickup frame had broken and was held together with black tape. However, he brought out the guitar when the band recorded the Let it Be album in London in 1970. McCartney has said that the guitar mysteriously disappeared from his life just before The Beatles split up and he has been trying hard to track down the bass, but has had no effort. There are some who believe that the instrument was stolen from Abbey Road, while others think it went missing from a basement in the Beatles Savile Row offices. Hunt for the missing guitar McCartney has yearned to find his beloved guitar and even reached out to manufacturers Hofner to track down the instrument. But this is the genesis for the Lost Bass Project, which has been started by Nick Wass, who worked in Hofner prior to this hunt. Wass has also written about the guitar in the past and told BBC that it was after a recent conversation with The Beatle that the campaign began. Joining him in this effort is husband and wife team Scott and Naomi Jones, both of whom have worked for BBC News in the past. Speaking to BBC, Scott said: Now were working together on this. Nick has more technical knowledge about this guitar than anyone on the planet, and me and my Naomi are bringing some investigative skills. On their website, the sleuths write, Paul McCartney has given us so much over the last 62 years. (This) project is our chance to give something back. If you have credible information about the bass, this is your chance to share it and be part of music history. But how does one spot a guitar that went missing years ago? The sleuths have offered some tell-tale signs to identify the bass. The simplest way of identifying the instrument is the Hofner logo, which is written vertically on the headstock of the original model but was horizontal on later versions played by McCartney. McCartneys missing bass also has been given a dark paintjob and had the pearl pickguard removed and had the two pickups mounted in a single piece of black wood. Since being launched on 3 September, the project has already prompted some leads with Scott Jones saying that they have narrowed down two emails which collaborate what they believe. We didnt expect to get necessarily thousands of super-hot leads instantly what Im anticipating is that people who know something will probably just sort of reflect on what they know and then come forward at some point, Jones was quoted as telling The Evening Standard. Interestingly, Wass believes that the missing guitar could be valued more like a Van Gogh or a Picasso than just an instrument. If one gauges by previous guitar auctions, then the instrument is priceless. John Lennons stolen guitar sold for $2.4 million (Rs 19 crore) when it resurfaced half a century later, and the acoustic Kurt Cobain played during the iconic MTV Unplugged set sold for $6 million (Rs 41 crore). With inputs from agencies TOKYO, Sep 04 ( News On Japan ) - Skyrocketing numbers of elderly without relatives are being exposed to predatory practices by private companies. The number of single-person households of those aged 65 or over has more than doubled this century, skyrocketing from 3.03 million in 2000 to 6.72 million in 2020, the most recent year statistics are available. This has created a red-tape nightmare with many of the elderly lacking relatives and often leaving them in a limbo when it comes to matters such as guarantees for hospitalization or institutionalization, property management, wills, cremation after death and disposal of their personal belongings. Among the single elderly who have prepared in advance by paying private companies to look after their affairs upon falling ill, infirm or dying are those who have been exploited. According to the Consumer Affairs Agency, there was an average of over 100 complaints per year from fiscal 2013 to fiscal 2020 made to consumer affairs agencies about private companies paid to look after single people 65 and older and accused of not fulfilling promised services. An agency official said the cause of the complaints often lies in the complexity of agreements, diversity of services offered that make it difficult to make precise choices of desired care and the payment for postmortem services made while the person seeking care is still alive. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently told officials in Tokyo's Toshima Ward, which has the nation's highest proportion of residents aged 65 or over at nearly 40%, that the government will seek to rectify the situation. Private companies offering, but sometimes not providing, paid services are behind many problems, especially those with malicious intent. 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The information does not constitute advice or an offer to buy. Any purchase made from the above press release is made at your own risk. Consult an expert advisor/health professional before any such purchase. Any purchase made from this link is subject to the final terms and conditions of the websites sales as mentioned above as a source. The Advertising Agency and its downstream distribution partners do not take any responsibility directly or indirectly. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the company this news is about. Advertising and Marketing by: This content was marketed by Brandingbyexperts.com on behalf of their client. For queries reach out support@brandingbyexperts.com This is a Partnered Post. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday held discussions with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi to urge the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the state. During the 30-minute-long meeting, the two leaders discussed the roadmap the the withdrawal of AFSPA from Assam. Sarma cited the significant improvement in the law and order situation in the state and also appraised Shah on how scores of underground cadres of extremist outfits have surrendered following the signing of several peace accords. The Union Home Minister put forth some suggestions to the chief minister to pave the way for the complete withdrawal of AFSPA from Assam, the release said, without getting into specifics. I met Honble Union Home Minister @AmitShah ji at his residence today to discuss the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Assam. The Government of Assam will take further steps based on the suggestions of Honble Home Minister, Sarma said on X, formerly Twitter. The whole of Assam has been under the Disturbed Area notification since 1990. On April 1, 2022, AFSPA was removed from the entire State of Assam except for nine districts, including one subdivision of another district. From April 1, the districts under the AFSPA in Assam were further reduced to eight as the Act was withdrawn from the Lakhipur subdivision of Cachar district. The law empowers the Armed Forces and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed in Disturbed Areas to arrest a person without a warrant and enter or search premises without a warrant along with some other actions. With inputs from ANI Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said that his government has filed an FIR against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India, and accused them of trying to create more clashes in the state which is rocked by ethnic strifes for nearly four months. The Editors Guild recently claimed that the medias reports on the ethnic violence in Manipur were one-sided and accused the state leadership of being partisan. The state government has filed an FIR against the members of the Editors Guild who are trying to create more clashes in the state of Manipur, Singh said. Those booked are the President of the Editors Guild Seema Mustafa, and three members Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor. Guha, Bhushan and Kapoor visited the state last month to study media reportage of the ethnic violence. The chief minister also said that they should have met the representatives of all communities and not some sections only before coming to a conclusion. Janmashtami, one of the most colourful and vibrant festivals of India that celebrates birth of Lord Krishna, will be observed on 6 and 7 September this year. On this day, devotees keep fast, chant Krishna shlokas, sing Hari bhajans and closer to midnight, they bath idols of the Lord, put Him on a swing, decorate their houses with flowers and diyas, and engage in celebrations. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna, the avatar of Lord Vishnu, was born on the eight day of the month of Bhadra, as per the Hindu Calendar. It is also known as Gokulashtami. It is said that Lord Krishna was born on this day to destroy Mathuras demon king, Kansa who was the brother of Krishnas virtuous mother, Devaki. Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated with a lot enthusiasm especially in Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna, and Vrindavan, the place where Krishna spent his childhood. Devotees gather to enact dance dramas based on the life of Krishna. Many even sing devotional songs and hymns of praise. Some even fast through the day. If you are Krishna devotee or someone who wishes to get the true feeling of how Janmashtami is celebrated in India, then you must visit to these 5 places. Mathura and Vrindavan Though these two cities in Uttar Pradesh see a lot of footfall of bhakts everyday, it gets even more crowded on Krishna Janmashtami. Mathura is considered to be birthplace of Lord Krishna and sees people visiting the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple to celebrate Janmashtami. In Vridavan, devotees can visit to several Krishna temples where several programms are organised for people of all age groups. In several temples, petals, colourful water, perfume or itra are sprinkled on devotees. Also, children are adorned in the likeness of Lord Krishna and carry a flute with them. Special bhog is organised in most temples and places in these two cities of Uttar Pradesh. Dahi Handi in Maharashtra A special Dahi Handi tradition is followed almost in all corners across Maharashtra on Krishna Janmashtami. On this day, men form groups called Govindas form human pyramids to break the handi (pot) suspended at a height. In Mumbai, areas like Dadar and Lalbaug, witness fierce and competitive Dahi Handi events. Punjab, Haryana, Delhi In northern India, especially in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, devotees perform Raas Leela, where people depict Lord Krishnas playful dance with the gopis. Temples and homes are decorated with flowers and rangoli. Also, special sweets and variety of delicacies are prepared and served to people on Krishna Janmashtami. Rajasthan Janmashtami in Rajasthan is celebrated with Phoolon Ki Holi, where flower petals and colored powders are sprinked instead of traditional water and colours. Devotees throng in large numbers to several temples, and processions featuring idols of Lord Krishna are taken out by several groups. Tamil Nadu and Kerala Southern India too celebrates Janmashtami with great enthusiasm as Gokulashtami. People in Tamil Nadu and Kerala prepare a variety of sweets and savories like seedai and murukku and also create small footprints with rice flour leading to the puja room, symbolising Lord Krishnas childhood adventures. Indias capital New Delhi is leaving no stone unturned for the smooth conduct of the G20 Leaders Summit scheduled to be held on 9 and 10 September at a newly built international convention and exhibition centre Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan. The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) Monday said 35 fire tenders and 500 personnel will be deployed to combat any fire-related situation during the Summit. Rains will not dampen G20 Summit Delhi Fire Service (DFS) Director Atul Garg in an interview to PTI video said four special high-voltage water pumping machines have been procured to avoid any waterlogging in the Rajghat area if it rains. Every department is preparing for the upcoming G20 meet. DFS is considered one of the most prominent departments, and the department has prepared itself to tackle any fire incident that may take place, Garg said. DFS action plan for G20 Sharing about the action plan, Garg said they have divided the summit area into three prominent parts for deployment. First will be the meeting venue Bharat Mandapam, where all the delegates will gather for the meeting. The second area is where all dignitaries will stay (mostly all the prominent hotels of the city). And the third part includes the tourists places where all dignitaries will visit, the senior official said. During the G20 Summit, all the holidays of the employees have been cancelled and they will be ready with advance and new equipment. We have chalked out a proper plan so that we will also provide immediate help and respond to routine calls as well. We almost receive 100 fire calls in a day, we will manage them as well, he added. The DFS had been conducting mock drills by the crew who are part of the assignment for a better understanding of how they will immediately take charge of any condition. There will be six to seven members in every unit. Units will be deployed at key locations and they will be prepared for any situation. From Delhi airport to every important location, we have also decided that these units will not be carrying out any bird rescue exercise, he added. With inputs from PTI Former Union Minister and BJP leader RCP Singh has accused the Nitish Kumar-led JDU of orchestrating an attack on his close aide and relative on Monday in Bihars Nalanda district. Singhs close aide Pragati Kumar was shot on Monday in the Dharhara village in Nalanda district. We have received information that Pintu alias Pragati Kumar was shot at Dharhara village in Nalanda district. We have sent a police team to the hospital and another team is camping at Dharhara village, Deputy Superintendent of Police Pradeep Kumar said, as quoted by ANI. Hitting out at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for indulging in political intimidation, he claimed that there was Gundaraj in Bihar instead of the rule of law. The one who was shot at is my close relativehe keeps coming to meet me, today also he came to meet me. But after he met me, there was an attempt to kill him. He was shot at and he was told that he should leave my side or else he would be killedhe (victim) is naming a man who belongs to JD(U), Singh told ANI. Nitish Kumar doesnt have the guts to fight politically so theyre (JD(U)) attacking my relatives and telling them that they will ruin meGundaraj going on in Bihar, Singh said. Maharashtra LIVE Updates Phone call ordering lathi-charge came from Maha Home ministry, claims NCP's Anil Deshmukh Anil Deshmukh, a senior NCP politician, said on Monday that police lathi-charged demonstrators seeking quotas for Marathas in Jalna district after receiving a phone call from the Maharashtra home ministry. The former state home minister also sought that a retired judge conduct an investigation into who summoned the Jalna district superintendent of police and instructed him to lathi-charge the demonstrators. On Friday, police used baton charges and tear gas shells to disperse a rowdy mob in Antarwali Sarathi hamlet in Jalna district after demonstrators allegedly refused to let officials transfer a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota to hospital. Several people were injured, including 40 police officers, and more than 15 state transport buses were set fire in the ensuing unrest. Responding to Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalins statement about eradicating Sanatana Dharma, Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi expressed her concern, saying that there has been a surge of such reactions and attributed it to what she perceives as a form of mental bankruptcy. Lekhi that these reactions stem from individuals who demonstrate a lack of understanding and respect for the traditions of Sanatana Dharma, along with a limited knowledge of their living heritage. The one whos firm in his statement is doing politicsHe has hatred in his mind against Sanatana. This is not the first time that the Hindu society has received hatred, it has kept happening throughout but today the people havent accepted the resistance Lots of reactions are coming these days because this kind of mental bankruptcy is what we are witnessing in the minds of people who have shown disrespect towards Sanatana traditions, who have no knowledge about their living traditions, she said. Speaking at a conference on Saturday, Udhayanidhi said Sanatana Dharma is like malaria and dengue that should not merely be opposed, but eradicated. There are some things which we have to eradicate and we cant merely oppose. Mosquitoes, dengue fever, malaria, corona, all these are things that we cannot oppose, we have to eradicate them. Sanatanam is also like this, he had said. The Supreme Court Monday asked National Conference leader Mohd Akbar Lone to file an affidavit swearing allegiance to the Constitution of India and accepting the countrys sovereignty, after the Pakistan zindabad slogan that he allegedly raised in the Jammu & Kashmir assembly in 2018 kicked up a massive row. Lone, the lead petitioner challenging the abrogation of Article 370 that accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, will file the affidavit by Tuesday, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. The senior lawyer said he will not represent Lone if he does not file the affidavit as sought by the bench. He is an MP of Lok Sabha. He is citizen of India and sworn to his office by the Constitution. He accepts the sovereignty of India, Sibal said. Earlier in the day, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that the central government wanted Lone to apologise for raising Pakistan zindabad (long live Pakistan) slogan in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in 2018. Lone has to state that he owes allegiance to the Constitution and apologises for raising the slogan on the floor of the House, the law officer said. On September 1, a Kashmiri Pandit group had questioned in the top court the credentials of Lone, claiming he was a supporter of secessionist forces. An intervention application in the apex court has been filed by an NGO Roots in Kashmir, which claims to be a group of Kashmiri Pandit youths, seeking to bring some additional documents and facts on record in the matter. It alleged that Lone is known as a supporter of secessionist forces operating in J-K, who support Pakistan. A 38-year-old businessman has claimed that his wife and her parents practised dark sorcery in his home to cause harm to him and his family. The Cubbon Park police in Karnataka have initiated legal proceedings under the Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act, 2017, in response to this accusation and are presently conducting an investigation. The complainant reportedly resides in an apartment situated on Rest House Road, just off Church Street. He narrated that he married Dr. Kalpana, aged 35, on June 1, 2022. However, on February 22, 2023, upon his return from a business trip, he was startled to discover that his wife had severed both of her thumbs and was using the blood that flowed from them to anoint ash, camphor, and coconut scattered in the bathroom. Additionally, he found lemon slices strewn in various locations and evidence of a ritual conducted in the bathroom and several corners of the house. Growing suspicious, he enlisted the services of a private detective agency to delve into the matter. The agencys investigation revealed that his wife and her parents had consulted with an astrologer from Attiguppe and a priest who conducted rituals in a cemetery. Furthermore, on June 22, his wife visited her parental home and upon her return, allegedly began adding various substances like oils, ash, and even saliva into the meals prepared by their cook at their matrimonial residence. These same meals were being served to the husband and his family members. Fearing for their safety, he and his family decided to send the wife back to her parents home. Under various pretexts, the husbands mother successfully arranged for her departure on July 5. The complainant also claimed that his father had been bedridden for a few days, and their pet dog had passed away several months ago. He suspects that these unsettling occurrences at home are a result of the black magic rituals being performed. A senior police official confirmed that the complaint was lodged on Saturday evening, and they plan to commence an investigation at the earliest opportunity. TOKYO, Sep 04 ( NHK ) - A group of people who say they were sexually abused by the founder and president of Japan's leading talent agency, Johnny & Associates, have sent a requests list to the agency that includes setting up a panel to pave the way for compensation. A team of outside experts probing the allegations against the late Johnny Kitagawa confirmed last Tuesday that widespread abuse against minors occurred over long periods. The experts urged the agency to set up a program that will compensate the victims. The group of alleged victims met reporters in Tokyo on Monday, where they announced they had sent the list. They said they also asked the agency to set up a panel including expert members that the victims' group and the agency each nominate. They say the panel should comprise two groups. One would focus on shedding full light on the allegations and clarify where the responsibility for the alleged abuse lies. The other would hold a dialogue with the victims and provide relief, including compensation and address issues such as their psychological distress. They requested that a fund to be set up for these purposes, and that the agency and the current president of Johnny & Associates, Julie K. Fujishima, contribute to the cause. They also requested voluntary financial contributions from media organizations, including TV stations. The group disclosed plans to submit a claim soon for human rights relief to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. They also announced they are preparing to take their case to prosecutors, and in the event the talks collapse, they plan to file a civil suit. The head of the group, Hiramoto Junya, said they proposed that the panel be active for ten years, so that victims who hesitate to come forward can have time to speak out. He added that he wants the panel to create a framework to work with the victims to help them, rather than have the talent agency provide relief on its own. Johnny & Associates earlier announced it will hold a news conference on September 7. A 55-year-old woman has been arrested by the police for killing her husband by pouring hot oil on him. She did this because she was very angry with him for fighting with her frequently. The man, who got seriously hurt during the incident on August 27, was taken to the Dindigul Government Medical College Hospital. Sadly, he passed away on Saturday night. The man who died was Chellamuthu, aged 63. He worked as a farmer in the Oddanchatram taluk of Dindigul district. He was married to Ponnathal, and they had two sons together. Chellamuthu had a habit of drinking alcohol, and he often argued with Ponnathal when he was drunk. On August 27, Chellamuthu came home drunk and started arguing with Ponnathal. He asked her to make puris for him, but she refused. In his anger, Chellamuthu physically attacked her before falling asleep. Frustrated and furious, Ponnathal heated coconut oil in a frying pan and poured it on her husband while he was asleep. Neighbors heard his screams and rushed to help. They took Chellamuthu to the Oddanchathiram government hospital, but his condition was so bad that he had to be moved to the Dindigul Government Medical College Hospital. Unfortunately, he died on Saturday night. Following his death, the police changed the case from one of injury to a murder case and arrested Ponnathal. She admitted to the crime and explained to the police that she had become extremely tired of her husbands behavior. Two people died, several got injured and three people are still trapped after a three-storey building collapsed in the Fatehpur Kotwali area of Uttar Pradeshs Barabanki district, said police. According to the Superintendent of Police Barabanki District Dinesh Kumar Singh, the two deceased have been identified as Roshni Bano (22) and Hakimuddin (28), both residents of Barabanki districts Fatehpur town. Late night at 3 am, a three-storey building suddenly collapsed in Barabankis Fatehpur Kotwali area. There was a stir in the whole area due to the loud sound of the building falling. We received information about this from the local residents, said the SP. The SP further said that shortly after the information about the collapse was received, the police along with the fire brigade and a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the spot. The rescue team immediately started the rescue operations and 12 people were pulled out of the debris. They were seriously injured in the collapse, said the police. The SP added that the 12 injured were then sent to the district hospital for treatment. During the treatment, two people succumbed to their injuries and died. Eight others in critical condition were sent to Lucknows King Georges Medical University (KGMU). Two people have been discharged after first aid treatment at the district hospital, added the official. The injured that have been sent to the KGMU for treatment have been identified as Mehak (12),Shakeela (50), Sultan (24), Kulsum (47) Zainab Fatima (7), Zafarul Hasan (20), Salman (26) and Sameer (16). The two injured who have been discharged from the district hospital are Mohammed Azam (18) and Altamas (11), both residents of Fatehpur town in Barabanki district, said officials. The official stated that by 6 am, the rescue team was still evacuating three people who were trapped under the debris of the building. As per the local residents, the building was not dilapidated and had been built only a few years back, added the SP. The official further said that the reason for the collapse has not been ascertained and that further investigation into the matter is underway. Further details into the matter are awaited. In Ghaziabad, a 26-year-old gym receptionist Pinky Gupta died by suicide over being deceived by one Sakib who allegedly continued to be with her in a relationship for four years while being married to another woman. Ghaziabad police have lodged a case of abetment in the suicide against Sakib, a resident of Delhi after uncovering a shocking diary entry from her rented apartment on Sunday. Pinky was reportedly discovered hanging in the apartment she shared with her boyfriend on August 31. In the handwritten note, police say that Pinky accused her partner of being responsible for her tragic death. According to reports, Pinky Gupta worked as a receptionist at a gym and had been in a four-year relationship with Sakib Khan, who was a trainer there. Gupta allegedly exerted pressure on Sakib to marry her, but he consistently declined her requests. Later on, Gupta learned that Sakib had deceived her regarding his marital status; he was already wedded to another. This revelation placed significant strain on their relationship, ultimately leading the victim to taking the extreme step. In her alleged note, Pinky wrote, I am deeply ashamed of myself. I fought for you, both with you and within myself, but you did not value my love. Everyone tried to open my eyes to my mistake, but I couldnt see anything else when I looked at you. I even contemplated changing my religion, embracing everything about you, just to make you mine. However, you still did not grasp my feelings. I can no longer bear this Bye, Sakib. The police retrieved the diary from her room, which contained detailed accounts of her life over the past four years, including her employment as a receptionist at a gym managed by a man named Sakib Ali. Earlier Pinkys mother had said, We tried our best to make her understand, but she refused to listen. Its as if she was under a spell from that young man. I would often tell her to leave him, Why wont you heed our advice? I would ask. She would then reassure us, No, he wont do that. However, after my pleas, she distanced herself from her family. She stayed away from us for about three to four months. DCP (Trans-Hindon) Shubham Patel informed PTI that the victims brother, Shubham Gupta, filed a complaint, leading to the registration of an FIR under Section 306 of the IPC, and the subsequent arrest of Ali. The deceaseds brother has alleged that she had been residing with Ali for the past four years and accused him and his family members of her death. Pinkys sister-in-law, Soni, shared that on Instagram, Saqib used to go by the name Bunny, which led them to assume he was a Hindu boy. However, just a few days ago, they discovered that his real name was Saqib. They had previously tried to talk to Pinky about their concerns. Their last visit to Saqibs room was on Rakshabandhan, a special Indian festival celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters. On that occasion, Pinky had tied a Rakhi to her brother, but she remained quiet throughout the visit. It appeared as though she had something to say but couldnt find the words to express it. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Monday that the day is not far when women will get proper representation in Parliament and legislative assemblies through a constitutional amendment. Dhankhar said this while participating in a dialogue programme on the topic of Womens Participation in Nation Building with the students of the Maharani Mahavidyalaya, affiliated with the Rajasthan University, here. Interacting with the female students, the vice-president said the sky is the limit for women as they are creating new models of success in every field, including administration, the Army and the corporate world. He asked women to make their own decisions and become financially self-reliant. Do not copy men, they are not better than you, keep yourselves original, he added. Dhankhar gave three mantras to the girl students never get stressed as nothing is achieved by that, never be afraid of failure and if a good idea comes to your mind, implement it on the ground. He appealed to youngsters not to get overly competitive and said they should choose their careers in accordance with their interests. Dhankhar expressed confidence that the day was not far when women would get their due representation in Parliament and legislative assemblies through an amendment to the Constitution. He asserted that if women get this reservation soon, India will become a world power before 2047. Talking about education for women, Dhankhar said by educating a boy, only one family achieves progress, but when a girl gets educated, several families benefit from it. Replying to a question asked by a student on womens safety, Dhankhar said it is not only the work of the government machinery but the society, individuals and institutions will have to make joint efforts to create a safe environment for women. Asserting that anti-social elements should be dealt with strictly, he expressed happiness that the country is about to change the penal code made by the British. The vice president said he derived all his strength from his maternal grandmother, paternal grandmother, mother and wife. There were many ups and downs in my five-decade-long public life, but these women stood behind me as firm as a rock, he added. Highlighting the change in the attitude towards women in the country, Dhankhar said he has promoted the gender-neutral word chairperson in the Rajya Sabha instead of chairman. He said the Panel of Vice-Chairman is now called the Panel of Vice-Chairperson. For the first time, I have appointed 50 per cent of women in the panel of the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha and their performance has been excellent, he added. Dhankhar also said whenever he decides the names of delegation members for a trip within the country or abroad, he gives priority to women. He said there have been many attempts to hinder the progress of women but now, societys attitude towards them is changing. For the first time in 2019, 78 women MPs were elected to the Lok Sabha. The world cannot achieve progress without the contribution of women, Dhankhar said. Praising the role of women scientists in the success of Chandrayaan and the Aditya Mission, he said India will change the world on the basis of its womens power. During my visits abroad, I have seen that a representative from India is viewed with great respect. Ten years ago, India was counted among the weak five countries and today, India is among the top five economies of the world and soon, it will be the third-largest economy, he said. Stressing that wastage of natural resources, such as electricity, water and fuel, should be stopped, Dhankhar said human beings are the trustees of these resources, which should be used according to their requirements. The vice president appealed to youngsters to perform their fundamental duties alongside enjoying their fundamental rights. He also said there should be no compromise on economic nationalism for the sake of little monetary gains while wondering why articles such as toys and earthen lamps for Diwali decoration should come from outside the country. Seeing his former professors present in the auditorium, Dhankhar, who is an alumnus of the Rajasthan University, said it was an auspicious day for him as he got an opportunity to meet his teachers on the eve of Teachers Day. Dr Sudesh Dhankhar, Vice-Chancellor of the Rajasthan University, Professor Rajeev Jain, principal of the Maharani Mahavidyalaya, Professor Nimali Singh and other teachers were present on the occasion. As New Delhi gets ready to host the G20 finale this week, China has let it be known that Xi Jinping would skip the event. In a measure of the state of bilateral relationship, it appears that Xis decision to send Chinese premier Li Qiang to the summit instead was conveyed to western officials and the media before the hosts were made officially aware, and even as speculation went rife and suspense grew, a written communication wasnt shared with the Indian side until Saturday (2 September). In fact, latest reports in Indian media on confirmation of Xis non-attendance are still based on sources. Contrast this with Vladimir Putin who had dialled Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 August to convey his inability to attend the multilateral gathering and his decision to send foreign minister Sergey Lavrov as proxy. It is not that China is unaware of protocol, or the importance and pride the Modi government has attached on hosting the event as the chair of G20, the first time India has done so under the rotating system. Since assuming presidency of the influential, if conflicted, geopolitical grouping India has left no stone unturned to leave its mark. India has differentiated its term as one where the voice of the Global South reverberates and issues that are rarely discussed ges ample airtime led by a leading power that sees itself as exceptional, responsible, and an increasingly capable democracy the worlds fifth-largest economy that is aiming higher and driving global growth. Organised under the theme of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or One Earth, One Family, Indias approach to G20 can be understood from the fact that since taking over from Indonesia in December last year, the Modi government has held over 220 sectoral meetings in 60 cities across the length and breadth of the country including Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, and over 300 cultural programmes showcasing Indias strength in diversity. The finale is expected to confirm and reinforce Indias status as a preeminent power, and that is exactly why the action of Xi Jinping, who has never failed to attend any edition of the key geopolitical forum since coming to power in 2013, may be interpreted as a spiteful snub and a cynical attempt to undermine Indias moment. It is already known that a consensus on Ukraine will be difficult to achieve in the final Leaders Declaration with the US-led West on one side, and Russia and China on the other adopting intractable positions. With just days to go, Lavrov has already declared that Russia will block the final declaration unless it reflects Moscows position on Ukraine, leaving India with little negotiation space for a joint communique except another possible chairs summary. That said, India has already caught global imagination with its hosting of the G20, a grouping of nations whose combined GDP amounts to 85 per cent of the worlds GDP, and Modi government has deftly used the forum to project power and announce Indias arrival on the geopolitical stage. As an impact event, regardless of whether Putin or Xi is absent from the summit in New Delhi, Indias presidency is already a resounding success. For emphasizing inclusive global growth and becoming the voice of nations that have been cast aside in the decades of globalization and have not found a seat at the high table, for stressing on sustainable development goals, for championing the cause of climate justice funds for developing nations that are being made to pay for their development curve, or for making climate change a mass movement through campaigns such as LIFE (Lifestyle for Environment), or pressing for a reformed multilateral architecture that represents current geopolitical realities India is showcasing that G20 need not become a conflicted club of bickering powers but a forum to drive real change and illustrate Indias geopolitical ambitions. The message that New Delhi has given so far is that fissures within the G20 members notwithstanding, Indias emergence as a key player in the global order is evident, and New Delhi shall not be held hostage by malevolent actors such as China in derailing its goals. In an interview to news agency PTI published Saturday, asked whether India may be able to help forge a consensus between the G7 nations and China-Russia, the prime minister said: Whether as G20 president or not, we will support every effort to ensure peace across the world. We recognize that we all have our positions and our perspectives on various global issues. At the same time, we have repeatedly emphasized that a divided world will find it difficult to fight common challenges The world is looking at G20 to deliver results on many issues such as growth, development, climate change, pandemics, and disaster resilience, which affect every part of the world. We can all face these challenges better if we are united. In the same interview, on why India hosted G20 delegates in Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh despite objection from Pakistan and China, Modi replied, I am surprised that PTI is asking such a question. Such a question would be valid if we had refrained from conducting meetings in those venues Ours is such a vast, beautiful and diverse nation. When G20 meetings are happening, isnt it natural that meetings will be held in every part of our country? In other words, there is a clear indication that if China was trying to make Xis presence a bargaining chip to force compromises from India on the ongoing border standoff, perhaps betting on the fact that New Delhi could be arm-twisted to ensure the success of hosting the event, that ploy did not work out. India brushed off Chinas obstructionism and simply went ahead with the task. The point is moot, whether this leaves India-China ties in a more precarious state and risk management, becomes harder. For now, India has decided that bilateral friction cannot be allowed to spoil its G20 moment. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The existing multilateral system was created after the Second World War. More than 750 million people living under colonial rule in countries could not participate in this process when the UN Charter was adopted in June 1945. It was only following the independence of India in August 1947 that the entry of newly independent former colonial countries, referred to as the Global South, into the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) occurred. The agenda of the Global South in multilateral institutions prioritizes the consolidation of their sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the creation of a supportive external environment for their accelerated socio-economic development. The Global Souths demand for reformed multilateralism seeks to correct institutional biases built into multilateral decision-making structures by the major powers of 1945, while ensuring an interlinked, effective, and human-centric functioning of the multilateral system. The two major structures that are the focus of demands for reformed multilateralism, in terms of equitable participation of the Global South in their decision-making process, are the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Global South calls to reform multilateralism seek to safeguard the special and differential treatment provisions designed to increase the effective participation of developing countries in multilateral institutions. The veto provision, requiring the concurring votes of the five self-selected, unelected, permanent members (known as the P-5, consisting of China, France, Russia, the UK, and USA) in UNSC decisions, has ensured that the UN Charters mandate giving primary responsibility to the UNSC for maintaining international peace and security has been used to further the geopolitical aims of these five states, often at the expense of Global South interests. The weighted quota governance system, giving Western economic powers of 1945 dominance over decisions by the IMF, has similarly been used to impose conditionalities on economic and governance policies of Global South states. India put on record its opposition to the UNSCs undemocratic veto provision at the first session of the UNGA on 18 January 1946. It asserted that the veto safeguard measure had been unwillingly agreed to after receiving the commitment in Article 109 of the UN Charter by the major powers to review the provisions of the treaty ten years after the UN was established. This review, due by 1955, has not taken place till today. Similarly, efforts to reform the IMF quota-based decision-making system came to a head only after the voluntary contributions of several Global South countries to the IMFs financial bail-out corpus to rescue major Western economies from the 2008 financial crisis. In 2010, the IMF agreed to reforms by readjusting the quotas of several Western members and increasing the quotas of emerging economies of the Global South, like India and Brazil. Till today, these reforms have not been implemented. Despite these structural impediments, working through the UNGA using the democratic principle of one-country one-vote enshrined in Article 18 of the UN Charter, the Global South has succeeded in bringing its priorities to the fore of the multilateral system. Represented by the Group of 77 (G-77) since 1964, the Global South catalyzed the formation of the UNDP in 1965 to coordinate the implementation of the multilateral development agenda. This agenda was given shape by the G-77s Charter of Algiers in 1967 calling for a New International Economic Order. A holistic approach to environmental protection and accelerated development emerged after the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment of 1972. In 1986, the UNGA declared the right to development as an inalienable human right. In 1992, the UNs Earth Summit adopted sustainable development as an integrated agenda, resulting in the negotiation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biodiversity. This process culminated in 2015 with the UNs adoption of the ambitious, universally applicable, Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development revolving around 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The overarching goal of Agenda 2030 is the eradication of poverty. Agenda 2030 commits to broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance (SDG 16.8). It commits to multilateral flows of finance and technology to implement the SDGs. Yet, the prospects for achieving the SDGs by 31 December 2030 have suffered major setbacks during the past three years. These setbacks have primarily impacted the Global South. Since early 2020, the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic has, according to the World Bank, pushed an additional 100 million people, mostly in the Global South, into extreme poverty, and exacerbated inequalities within and between countries. Multilateral institutions have been held hostage to the protectionist priorities of developed countries when responding to Global South initiatives for using effective international cooperation to mitigate the pandemic. In 2015, when Agenda 2030 was adopted, the UN reported that 60 million people across the world were impacted by violent conflicts placed on the agenda of the UNSC. By 2022, this figure had ballooned to 314 million, a stark indictment of a malfunctioning UNSC riven by increased P5 confrontation. Adding to the misery of people living in conflict areas, in Asia, Africa, and Latin America is the ineffectiveness of the UN Secretary-Generals elaborately funded and structured preventive diplomacy system, consisting of the Mediation Support Unit, the Standby Team of Mediation Experts, and the High-Level Advisory Board. Agenda 2030 asserts there can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development. Yet, multilateralism today is being fractured by the rise of new forms of confrontational regionalism. The steady erection of protectionist trade and investment barriers, the recourse to unilateral economic sanctions applied extra-territorially to sovereign countries, and the weaponization of the negotiated economic and technological interlinkages of globalization are indicators of the dangers lying ahead. These are amplified by calls by some major Western powers for a second Cold War to the detriment of the Global South. Dialogue and diplomacy using the commitment to convene a General Conference of the UN in Article 109 of the UN Charter is increasingly the most viable method for the Global South to reform multilateralism. The UNs Summit of the Future in 2024, and the 80th anniversary commemoration of the UN in 2025, provide a window to achieve this outcome. The author is former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The knowledge of Sanatana Dharma goes beyond the tenets of religious pontification, doctrine, or behaviour. To be a follower of Sanatana Dharma is to walk the path that transcends religion and brings you to the realm of spirituality. Most politicians, if not all, are often concerned about religion, not spirituality. Politicians and spiritual knowledge of Sanatana Dharma do not often go hand-in-hand. Religion is often used as a tool by some politicians to control a sect of religious masses. The insensitive and controversial statement of Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and a state minister in his fathers cabinet, equating Sanatana Dharma to mosquitoes, dengue, malaria fever, Covid-19, and his declaration that they should be stamped out like these infections, must be condemned by people of all faiths, not only Hindus. His reluctance to apologise and to take back his unwarranted and threatening statement is an indication of his depravity in knowledge of Sanatana Dharma and Indias civilisational and cultural ethos. To understand Sanatana Dharma is to understand its essence in its simplicity. Sanatana Dharma is about finding God in you and around you. It is about understanding the role of your consciousness in this universal consciousness. It is about being one with nature and Gods creation. It is about finding your purpose in life your Dharma. It is downright absurd to even have the thought that Sanatana Dharma can be eradicated. It cannot be eradicated because it is the very essence of human existence. Religious fault lines or divisional theories and practices prevalent in society in the past and now cannot become the reason to think that the fault line is Sanatana Dharma. The principles of Sanatana Dharma have not divided Indian society on caste lines; people with prejudices did, and continue to do so. It should not come as a surprise to many in the country that political leaders have often preached on divisional thought and behaviour some religious leaders too to further divide society on caste lines in India; it happened in the past and it is happening in the present too. Udhayanidhi Stalin is merely walking the path of divisional politics, attributing the curses of Indian society to the Brahmins. However, in the eyes of Sanatana Dharma, we are all equals, and we are known or should be known by our mental and physical skills and not birth in families categorised as different castes. A look at the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity will reveal to you that division based on social classes has existed outside of India too, in Europe and Arab nations, and in most cases, the propagators and implementers of the class-based divide were the priestly class. In Christianity, if we look at the story of St Francis of Assisi. Francis left the riches and wealth of his noble house to pursue living the life of simplicity just like Jesus because he saw that the Catholic Church was biased towards the noble, princely caste, and most of all, priestly class, while the lower castes were considered children of a lesser God. In 1500, the Catholic Church held enormous power and influence. Across most of the continent, the Pope and a hierarchy of archbishops, cardinals, and bishops organised and supervised the work of local priests, who looked after the souls of the people living in a particular area or parish. Religious rituals marked the key events of life: the baptism of newborn children, marriage, and the last rites before death. People prayed to saints for help in times of trouble. The year was divided by religious festivals such as Christmas and Easter, and even dates in the farming calendar when to plough, sow, or harvest often corresponded with days associated with particular saints. However, the church was increasingly coming under attack from reformers, led by Martin Luther (14831546) and John Calvin (15091564). They argued against Catholic theologythe understanding of God and his relationship to the world. They also criticised church practices such as selling indulgences (promises that the purchaser would be let off some of the penalties of purgatory), arguing that there was no justification in the Bible for such actions. These debates struck at the most fundamental understanding of God, of the role of the Church, and of how people should live their lives. If you look at Islam, you will see that the branches of it began to appear and develop after the death of Muhammad, with his followers disagreeing about who the true successor of the religion would be. Despite their differences, they follow the same God and the exact religious text; the Quran. From largest to smallest, the denominations of Islam are Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya, Ibadi, and Sufism. But there is no denial to the social divide that persists among the believers of Islam. A study into the Casta System in Latin America will reveal that Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors passed laws creating a social hierarchy to maintain power known as the Casta System. This system ensured European superiority in all sections of life. They remained in control of the region until the 1820s, when countries began to fight and gain their independence. Despite gaining independence and no longer being under colonial rule, a social hierarchy remained in place, leaving those of indigenous and African descent at the bottom. The Casta System was created in colonial times to explain mixed-race families to those back in Spain, but this racial hierarchy remained in place long after the Spanish had left Latin America. The Casta System was created by the Spanish to maintain their power and superiority over other racial groups in the colonies. This system was used throughout their rule and continued to be unofficially in place after independence. Sri Aurobindo beautifully stated in 1907 on Caste and Democracy: The division of classes in Europe had its root in a distribution of powers and rights and developed and still develops through a struggle of conflicting interests; its aim was merely the organisation of society for its own sake and mainly indeed for its economic convenience. The division of castes in India was conceived as a distribution of duties. A mans caste depended on his dharma, his spiritual, moral and practical duties, and his dharma depended on his swabhava, his temperament and inborn nature. A Brahman was a Brahmin not by mere birth, but because he discharged the duty of preserving the spiritual and intellectual elevation of the race, and he had to cultivate the spiritual temperament and acquire the spiritual training which could alone qualify him for the task. The Kshatriya was a Kshatriya not merely because he was the son of warriors and princes, but because he discharged the duty of protecting the country and preserving the courage and manhood of the nation, and he had to cultivate the princely temperament and acquire the strong and lofty Samurai training which alone fitted him for his duties. So it was with the Vaishya whose function was to amass wealth for the race and the Sudra who discharged the humbler duties of service without which the other castes could not perform their share of labour for the common good. Religion is not immune to politics. In fact, religion is a tool viciously used by most politicians and some religious leaders to create social divide. It is a phenomenon seen in most countries of the world. Therefore, I have often stated that Sanatana Dharma goes beyond a religion and is a walk in the realm of spirituality because religion divides, spirituality unites. Something Udhayanidhi Stalin needs to learn is that no one is a custodian of God. More importantly, Stalins son needs to first decide whether he is a follower of a religion or a seeker on a spiritual journey, because sometimes he is an atheist, sometimes a Christian, and at no time a Hindu, though some members in his family, like his mother, are known to visit temples and pray. The writer is an author who writes on religious, political and social issues impacting India and the world. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Taking potshots at Congress for protecting DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin after his comments on Sanatan Dharma created a stir, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that had the leader made remarks about any other religion, Congress would have not used freedom of speech as a veil. Rather than taking action against their alliance partners for anti-Hindu statements, Congress is seeking refuge behind the veil of Freedom of Speech, Sarma said on X, formerly Twitter. The chief minister added, Had the said leader made a comment on eradicating Islam or Christianity or any other religion, would Congress have brushed aside the issue as freedom of speech? In fact, it is now clear that Congress is a key conspirator in the Annihilation of Sanatan Dharma gang. What did Udhayanidhi Stalin say? Udhayanidhi Stalin, who serves as a Tamil Nadu minister, on Saturday, made a controversial statement on Sanatan Dharma saying that it is incompatible with the concept of social justice and should be eliminated. He drew a parallel between Sanatan Dharma and vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria, which has led to strong criticism from BJP leaders. Sanatan is like malaria and dengue and so it must be eradicated and not opposed, Udhayanidhi Stalin had said. Meta, the tech giant encompassing various platforms, has often displayed a predictable response to challenges, particularly when it involves new regulations aimed at enhancing transparency in its targeted advertising business. However, Metas compliance tends to come with its own set of conditions. The company behind Facebook and Instagram is reportedly contemplating a significant departure from its traditional business model, considering the introduction of a subscription option for users in the European Union. Meta completely changes its course in the EU According to The New York Times, citing information from three anonymous insiders familiar with Metas plans, the company is exploring the possibility of offering a subscription model to EU users. In essence, this subscription would allow users to pay for an ad-free experience, while Facebook and Instagram would continue to provide a free version supported by advertisements. Details such as the subscription cost and additional features that might accompany it remain undisclosed at this time. Nevertheless, this potential move signifies a major departure for Meta, which has long relied on the users-as-product model as a cornerstone of its business strategy over the past decade. The reported move by Meta to introduce a subscription option for European Union users is seen as an effort to navigate the complexities arising from the EUs Digital Services Act. This legislation imposes greater transparency requirements on major tech companies, particularly those with extensive platforms, regarding their practices related to targeted advertising and content moderation. Although the law passed through the European Parliament last year, it has yet to come into full effect, but some of its provisions are already being enforced by the EU. Metas history with EU laws Meta has already faced challenges under the EUs tightening regulatory framework for advertising. In Germany, antitrust regulators prevented Meta from aggregating user data across its major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other websites. Metas ability to attract advertisers is heavily reliant on this collected user data. Furthermore, in May, the EU imposed a $1.3 billion fine on Meta for transferring EU data to the United States. Pay-to-remove-ads model is becoming more common Its worth noting that there are only a few social media networks that offer users the option to pay in exchange for an ad-free experience. Twitter, with Elon Musks involvement, introduced a paid verification service for $8, promising subscribers to see fewer ads than non-subscribers. Meta already provides a paid verification service, priced at $12 on the web and $15 on iOS, offering enhanced account monitoring capabilities but not extending into additional ad-related services. Instagram has been taking steps in response to evolving regulations and user demands. Last month, the platform announced the introduction of a chronological feed for Stories and Reels in Europe, alongside a commitment to providing more transparency regarding the ranking of posts in its AI algorithms. Additionally, Instagram recently introduced a new setting that allows users to restrict Meta its parent company, from using their posts to train its AI models. This move aligns with ongoing efforts by the European Union to encourage major tech companies to establish systems capable of recognizing and labelling AI-generated content. Scientists and engineers at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) in Bengaluru, who were responsible for the primary payload of the Aditya L-1 solar mission, implemented a stringent policy against the use of perfumes and sprays. This precautionary measure was set in place due to the potentially disruptive impact that even the minutest particle could have on the crucial work being conducted on Adityas primary payload, called the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph or VELC. In order to maintain an impeccably pristine environment, these dedicated professionals carried out their tasks within a highly controlled cleanroom, often referred to as a sanctuary. This cleanroom maintained a level of cleanliness surpassing that of a hospital intensive care unit by a factor of 1,00,000. Furthermore, every member of the team wore specialized suits to prevent any form of contamination. Additionally, they underwent ultrasonic cleaning procedures as an extra precautionary measure, every time they entered the clean room. Nagabushana S, the head of the VELC technical team, explained, The cleanroom had to be maintained at a level of cleanliness 1-lakh times higher than that of a hospital ICU. We used HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters, isopropyl alcohol (99 per cent concentrated), and rigorous protocols to ensure no foreign particles caused disruptions. A single particle discharge could have undone days of hard work, Sanal Krishna from IIA, a member of the VELC technical team, added. IIAs scientists worked in six-hour shifts without even using medicinal sprays within the confines of the cleanroom, Krishna explained It should be noted that this practice was not observed by scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), as reported. In interviews conducted with three ISRO scientists, all confirmed that they were not obliged to abstain from using perfumes and deodorants while working. However, all of them agreed and underscored the significance of upholding the cleanliness and purity of cleanrooms. One of them even speculated that perhaps the IIA scientists were taking additional precautions, as reported by the Times of India. You can now apply online for an appointment with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for emergency and special requests. You can find a list of acceptable reasons for requesting an appointment here: tinyurl.com/mwcefcjf, and you can make your request here: tinyurl.com/y3rt59st. Asking for an appointment online should be much fairer and more efficient that asking by phone. If you try making an online request, let me know how it goes and I will report it here. The two most common reasons individuals seek USCIS appointments are for proof of permanent residence and for advance parole permission granted to a person whos not a permanent resident to return after travel abroad. An example of when you might want to request an appointment is if you lost your green card and plan to travel abroad your reentry will be much easier if you have proof that you are a permanent resident. You may have applied for a new card, but you cant wait the 20 months USCIS says it is taking to process applications to replace a green card. USCIS will schedule you for an emergency appointment to get an Alien Documentation Identification and Telecommunication (ADIT) stamp (also known as an I-551 stamp). The stamp is proof of permanent residence for all purposes. The stamp is typically put in your foreign country passport or, on your I-94 Arrival/Departure document. Advance parole is another common reason for requesting an emergency appointment. Advance parole allows you to leave the United States and return. Advance parole is available to green card applicants who are interviewing for permanent residence in the United States, the process called adjustment of status, individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), certain asylum applicants and others. USCIS says that typical processing times for an advance parole request is many months to more than a year. If you suddenly have an urgent personal, educational or business need to travel for example, to attend a funeral or your boss suddenly needs to send you abroad you may qualify for an emergency appointment where USCIS will consider your request. If all goes well, USCIS will issue an advance parole document the same day as your appointment. Allan Wernick is an attorney and senior legal adviser to City University of New Yorks Citizenship Now! project. Email questions and comments to questions@allanwernick.com. Follow him on Twitter @awernick The US is desperately trying to be the first country that formulate a codified set of regulations on AI, hoping that its legislation around artificial intelligence would then be followed by the rest of the world. However, the CEOs of some of the biggest AI development studios and tech companies have other plans. Thought-leaders of AI to meet The US Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, disclosed plans for his office to convene a meeting with prominent figures from the tech sector, especially those that deal with AI and ML, sometime later this month. The aim of this gathering is to garner insights that could potentially shape forthcoming regulations. In his influential role, Schumer wields substantial authority in shaping the trajectory of federal regulations if they do materialize. The individuals slated to participate in this meeting do not necessarily represent the average citizen. The invitees to this upcoming summit include tech magnate Elon Musk, hypothetical debate counterpart and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, NVIDIA President Jensen Huang, and Alex Karpy, CEO of defence contractor Palantir, among other notable figures from the upper echelons of Silicon Valley. Tech CEOs expect leniency, emphasis on profitability on leveraging AI Schumers upcoming gathering, which his office has labelled as an AI Insight Forum, does suggest the possibility of impending regulatory action. However, judging by the guest list comprised largely of corporate figures, it raises doubts about the effectiveness of such action. The selection of attendees for the meeting with Schumer has faced significant criticism online, with many perceiving it as a gathering of influential corporate elites. Nonetheless, Schumers office has indicated that the Senator will also engage with civil rights and labour leaders, including the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in America, with its president, Liz Schuler, slated to participate. Despite this inclusion, it remains challenging to view this closed-door assembly as anything other than an opportunity for the tech industry to seek regulatory leniency from one of Americas most influential politicians. The US trying to dictate how the world uses AI The US has been trying to dictate how the world develops and uses AI. From imposing sanctions on China that restricts the flow of AI-capable silicon to the country, to imposing bans on machinery that is vital to the making of power AI silicon, the US is trying to cut the legs from under the biggest threat it has in AI application. Several reports surfaced last week which revealed that the US was trying to impose a similar sanction on West Asian countries, trying to stop them from developing their own AI. Although the US has denied that the President Joe Biden-led administration has imposed any such restrictions, regulatory filings from NVIDIA and AMD have revealed that US-based tech companies need a special kind of export license if they want to send their products to any West Asian nation. Chinas Premier Li Qiang will attend the G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, a Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman said Monday. At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10, Mao Ning said in a press release. It has been reported in recent days that President Xi Jinping would not attend the gathering of world leaders, with his American counterpart Joe Biden on Sunday expressing his disappointment he would not see him there. Asked at a regular press conference about whether the announcement meant Xi would not travel to New Delhi, Mao said: I made an announcement about this just now. Premier Li Qiang will lead a delegation to New Delhi, India, to take part in the G20 Leaders Summit. What I can tell you is that the G20 is an important forum for international economic cooperation. The Group of 20 major economies consists of 19 countries and the European Union (EU), making up about 85 percent of global GDP and two-thirds of the worlds population. China has always placed high importance on and actively participated in relevant events, Mao continued. In attending this meeting, Premier Li Qiang will convey Chinas thoughts and positions on G20 cooperation, pushing for the G20 to strengthen unity and cooperation, and working together to combat global economic and development challenges. We are willing to work with all sides to jointly push for the success of the G20 Leaders Summit, and to make active contributions to promoting a stable global economic recovery and sustainable development. Asked about Xi reportedly not planning to join the gathering in New Delhi, Biden told reporters, I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him, without elaborating. Chinas largest banks are increasingly providing substantial financial support to Russia as sanctions continue to push Western banks out of the country, as reported by the Financial Times. Since Moscows invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western regulators have cracked down on Russia by imposing sanctions and urging banking institutions to pull back on operations in the country. Chinese lenders are now filling the gap, the newspaper said. The four biggest banks in China have quadrupled their exposure to Russias banking sector since the war in Ukraine began, according to data analyzed for the FT by the Kyiv School of Economics. At the beginning of 2022, Bank of China Ltd., Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China Construction Bank Corp., and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. collectively held an exposure of $2.2 billion. According to Russian central bank data cited in the report, this exposure surged to nearly $10 billion over the 14-month period ending in March this year. When approached for comment, the mentioned Chinese banks declined to respond, as reported by the Financial Times. Andrii Onopriienko, the deputy development director at the Kyiv School of Economics, who compiled the data, remarked that The loans provided by Chinese banks to Russian banks and credit institutions, primarily involving the yuan as a substitute for dollars and euros, indicate that the sanctions are having their intended impact. A man from Florida is in police custody for allegedly showing off a stolen Mercedes-Benz on social media, which he had used to carry out a series of break-ins. The Volusia County Sheriffs Office reported this incident. On Sunday morning, Nicholas Coffey, aged 23, was arrested after being recognized as one of the two individuals involved in multiple car break-ins that occurred in the Deltona area over the weekend. According to the sheriffs office, Coffey and the other suspect, both masked and gloved, were captured on home security cameras while committing these crimes. Surveillance footage from a Deltona gas station appeared to show Coffey arriving at the establishment in a Mercedes-Benz that had been reported stolen from Ormond Beach. This happened around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday. He had a face covering around his neck and wore blue latex gloves when making a purchase inside the store. The sheriffs office reported that images from the gas station footage were shared, and a Volusia County detective identified Coffey as the person involved due to his distinctive face and neck tattoos. Furthermore, the detective had a warrant for Coffeys arrest because of an unrelated case involving him. Upon examining Coffeys social media accounts, authorities found photos of him wearing the same attire seen in the gas station footage and home security videos. He had also posted about his new Mercedes-Benz, according to the VCSO. In addition to the video evidence, data from license plate readers indicated that the stolen Mercedes had been on five different streets in Deltona during the time of the car break-ins, which occurred between approximately 3 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. on Saturday. Coffey was located in Daytona Beach around 5 a.m. on Sunday, where deputies and detectives arrested him based on the outstanding warrant. Subsequently, he was transported to Deltona for questioning. During the interview, Coffey did not deny being the person seen in the videos but also did not confess to any of the crimes, as stated by the sheriffs office. Coffey has been placed in jail on multiple charges, including 11 counts of conspiracy to commit burglary of a vehicle, one count of conspiracy to commit attempted burglary of a vehicle, fraudulent use of a credit card, and a probation violation, as he is a convicted felon with a firearm. The investigation is ongoing as the second suspect involved has yet to be identified, according to the sheriffs office. With just four days left for the G20 Summit, top negotiators from the member nations of the bloc on Monday held extensive negotiations to build consensus on a number of crucial issues with an aim to finalise the draft leaders declaration for the conclave. The G20 Sherpas primarily focused on having a globally acceptable governance framework for digital public infrastructure, steps for ensuring women-led development, climate financing and ways to strengthen multilateral development banks (MDBs), people familiar with the matter said. The three-day Sherpa meeting is taking place at the ITC Grand Bharat Hotel in Haryanas Nuh district. The meeting is being chaired by Indias G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant. China has reservations on various aspects of these agenda items resulting in difficulties in building consensus, the people cited above said. The G20 operates under the principle of consensus and any divergent view by any one member country can create hurdles. India is hosting the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10 in its capacity as the current president of the bloc. The draft leaders declaration was based on Indias priorities such as inclusive and sustainable growth, green development, reform of multilateral institutions and digital transformation. The focus has been to build consensus for the draft declaration, said a source. The draft leaders declaration also features Indias proposal to accord permanent membership of the G20 to the African Union. It is not immediately known whether there is full consensus on the proposal. India is also facing the uphill task of building consensus on the text to refer to the Ukraine crisis in the leaders declaration. India is finding it difficult to build consensus on the issue in view of the sharp differences between the West and Russia-China combine. Both Russia and China had agreed to the two paragraphs on the Ukraine conflict in the Bali declaration, but they backtracked from it this year creating difficulties for India. Almost all key meetings held under Indias G20 presidency, including those of finance and foreign ministers, could not come out with consensus documents in view of opposition from Russia and China to any text referring to the Ukraine conflict. The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the worlds major developed and developing economies. The members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. The grouping comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU). Indian American Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has criticised the United States for its policy of not officially recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign nation. Ramaswamy argued that the U.S. maintains a position of strategic ambiguity regarding whether it would come to Taiwans defence in the event of a Chinese invasion. China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and asserts that it should be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary. Taiwan, however, sees itself as completely distinct from China. It is vital for US national security interest to ensure that China does not acquire sole control of the global semiconductor supply chain, Ramaswamy said in a statement on Sunday amidst increasing tension with China on the Taiwan issue. Accordingly, the US should shift from strategic ambiguity to strategic clarity: commit to affirmatively defend Taiwan against Chinese annexation until the US achieves semiconductor independence, at which point the US should resume its current posture of strategic ambiguity, he said. Last week, the Biden Administration approved a military transfer of USD 80 million to Taiwan under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF), a programme typically used for sovereign states. In response, a state-run newspaper in China stated that the US had crossed a red line with lethal consequences. The Vivek campaign said at present, the US embraces the One China Policy, which fails to recognise Taiwan as a nation and adopts the posture of strategic ambiguity about whether or not the US will defend Taiwan against an invasion. This creates mutual confusion with China about red lines and increases the risk of major conflict between the US and China, a risk that is heightened in the near term when the entire US economy and modern way of life rely on leading-edge semiconductors manufactured in Taiwan, the campaign said. In the meantime, Taiwan can double its own military expenditures to a more rational four to five of GDP while the US bolsters its own military and economic alliances with India, Japan, and South Korea and fortifies our own homeland defence capabilities including but not limited to a nuclear missile, super-EMP, and cyber defences, Ramaswamy said. This is how we can stop Chinese aggression and advance vital long-run US interests while avoiding World War III. I am the only US Presidential candidate in either political party who has offered a clear vision for how to achieve this goal, said the Republican presidential candidate. Meanwhile, a super political action committee associated with Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has privately told his donors that all the attacks in recent days over Ramaswamy, his primary rival, were being carried by them, a media report said on Sunday. Everything you read about him is from us. Every misstatement, every 360 hes conducting or 180 that he is going through in life, is from our scrutiny and pressure, according to a report in Politico newspaper. And so, hes not going to go through that very well, and that will get worse for him, Jeff Roe, the leader of the DeSantis-aligned Never Back Down told the gathering of donors. The quotes are part of an audio tape obtained by Politico from the speech of Roe with the donors of DeSantis just before last months Republican presidential primary debate. Ramaswamy, 38, outshone the rest of the presidential opponents at the debate stage. The Ramaswamy campaign has slammed the DeSantis campaign for this. When DeSantiss Super Pac campaign, Chris Christie, the New York Times, MSNBC and the rest of the bipartisan establishment are all going after you at the same time, you know youre right over the target. America watched Vivek dominate the debate stage, its no wonder Never Back Down is pissing away another $20+ million after Labor Day, Ramaswamy spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin was quoted as saying. According to the report, Row told the donors that Ramaswamy would not be able to go through the avalanche of dirt thrown at him. He will not go through the discovery, scrutiny and decline phase of presidential politics very well. His scrutiny phase, we are putting him through it right now, he said. Roe indicated that his campaign against Ramaswamy would intensify after Labour Day. Iran has shuttered a water park for allowing women entry without the mandatory headscarf, local media reported Monday. The closure is part of stepped-up measures by authorities over the past few months against women and businesses who fail to observe the Islamic Republics strict dress code. The Mojhaye Khoroushan water park has been closed since Sunday evening, Fars news agency quoted the complex manager Mohammad Babaei as saying. Babaei said authorities have declared the parks closure due to peoples ignoring chastity and hjiab rules. Covering the head and the neck has been compulsory for women in Iran since 1983, following the 1979 Islamic revolution. Babaei insisted that the park has adhered to the law and regularly warned female visitors to respect the hijab rules. Around 1,000 people working at the park are worried about losing their jobs, Babaei told Fars. The Mojhaye Khoroushan complex which spans 60,000 square metres (more than 70,000 square yards) is among the largest indoor water parks in the world. It sits on the outskirts of the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, home to the shrine of the eighth Imam of Shiite Islam. Women in Iran have increasingly flouted the dress code since mass protests triggered by the custodial death of a 22-year-old woman last September. Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd, was arrested for allegedly breaching the dress rules. As part of efforts to enforce the ban over the past few months, businesses have been closed when they do not adhere to the rules, and cameras have been installed in public places to monitor violations. In July, state media reported increased police patrols aimed at catching those ignoring the law. An investigation by the BBC revealed a grim reality of the UK family courts where five mothers lost their lives, following family court decisions allowing fathers accused of abuse to get custody of their children. The gravity of these cases is further underscored by a separate study conducted by the University of Manchester, in conjunction with the BBC, which unearths alarming incidents involving 75 children compelled to live with fathers previously implicated for domestic abuse, including some who were convicted paedophiles. In this wide-ranging inquiry, the mothers stories, veiled in anonymity due to legal constraints, paint a distressing picture of mental anguish, physical ailments, and, tragically, suicides. One mother, devastated by the courts ruling to have her child live with a convicted child rapist, spiraled into a harrowing state of despair, forsaking nourishment and ultimately succumbing to death. The backbone of these troubling cases is a disputable notion known as parental alienation, employed by accused fathers as a means of defense in court. This concept asserts that mothers have unjustly turned their children against fathers, prompting scepticism within legal circles and the wider society. Dr. Elizabeth Dalgarno, who spearheaded the research, deems parental alienation a tool wielded by abusers and decries its pervasive acceptance in family courts as a national scandal. This concepts misuse by fathers, claiming it encompasses anything opposing their desired level of contact, has also caused concern among family law experts. The mothers, comprising 45 individuals in the University of Manchester study, report grievous health issues resulting from the immense stress of family court proceedings. These issues range from miscarriages to heart attacks and suicidal thoughts, illustrating the dire consequences of these emotionally fraught legal battles. The harrowing stories detailed here form part of a broader BBC investigation into the family courts handling of domestic violence claims within parental disputes. Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, decries the distressing cases as a clarion call for urgent and wide-reaching reform within family courts, asserting that abusers, abetted by unregulated experts, employ so-called parental alienation to divert attention from their own abusive behavior. The government, responding to the BBCs revelations, is initiating an inquiry into alienation, while the judiciary has issued draft guidelines for public consultation on managing parental alienation claims in domestic abuse cases. However, critics contend that these measures fall short of addressing the root issues. The personal tragedies in these cases are indeed heart-rending. Grace, for instance, initially in love with her partner, discovered his dark past involving child rape convictions. Separation from her husband led to a prolonged legal battle where he accused her of mental instability and threatened she would alienate their child. The court, aware of his criminal history, believed the risk to the child could be managed, a decision that took a severe toll on Graces mental health, ultimately leading to her death. Another mother, identified as Sarah, endured two years of grueling family court proceedings that took a devastating toll on her mental health. The court determined that she had been brutally abused by her former partner, who subjected her to physical violence and invasive surveillance. The father, invoking parental alienation, sought contact with their children, but Sarahs fragile state led her to take her own life before the final ruling. In yet another case, a mother who had sought refuge from domestic abuse saw her health deteriorate due to the trauma of her medical records being discussed in court. Accused of mental illness and parental alienation, she lived in fear of losing her child, eventually succumbing to a treatable illness that claimed her life. Sheila, victimized by a coercive and controlling partner, also faced allegations of parental alienation during court proceedings. The courts decision went against her, leaving her feeling imprisoned by the family courts and her abuser. Over a year later, she, too, tragically took her own life. While the causes of these suicides are complex, the involvement of family court proceedings raises concerns about a potentially heightened risk. Researchers studying the family courts express apprehension regarding the increasing use of parental alienation claims in private law cases, where one parent takes the other to court, rather than cases initiated by social services. The University of Manchester study, conducted in partnership with the domestic abuse research group SHERA, underscores that accusations of parental alienation were a common thread among the 45 mothers and their 75 children. Dr. Dalgarno laments that, in many private law cases, credible evidence of abuse, including criminal convictions, is often overlooked or dismissed. Dr. Dalgarno calls for emergency measures to counter the misuse of parental alienation claims, stressing that the consequences include severe health impacts and even suicidal thoughts for both children and adult victims of abuse. Jess Phillips, Labours shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, highlights the severity of the issue, likening it to major abuse scandals and demanding a shift in the presumption of contact in cases involving domestic abuse, sexual violence, or child abuse. The term parental alienation traces back to a controversial US psychiatrist, Richard Gardner, who introduced the concept of parental alienation syndrome. He suggested that mothers in acrimonious divorces manipulate their children into believing they were abused by their fathers. Despite criticism for a lack of evidence, the term has been repurposed as parental alienation and embraced by family courts. The call for change is growing louder, with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls advocating for a global ban on parental alienation. Nicole Jacobs while talking to BBC, highlighted the need to separate claims of domestic violence and parental alienation to protect women and children. Cafcass, which advises courts on childrens best interests, now focuses on alienating behaviors instead of parental alienation, considering factors like domestic abuse before making decisions about contact. In response to these tragic cases, the Ministry of Justice expressed deep sympathy and outlined improvements made to the family court system to protect domestic abuse victims. Walter Isaacson, a writer who spent three years following Elon Musk for his biography Elon Musk, disclosed recently that days before buying Twitter, Musk had a dinner meeting with Parag Agarwal, who was then the CEO of the company. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) shared an excerpt from the book, shedding light on Mr. Musks thoughts about Mr. Agarwal during their March meeting. In this meeting, Mr. Musk stated that he found Mr. Agarwal to be a nice person. However, he pointed out a crucial leadership quality that he believed was missing in him. As per the WSJ report, Musks philosophy was that managers shouldnt prioritize being liked. He remarked, What Twitter needs is a fire breathing dragon, and Parag does not fit that description. The book is scheduled for release on September 12. Its worth noting that Bret Taylor, the then-chair of Twitters board, also attended this dinner meeting, according to Mr. Isaacson. After the meeting, both Mr. Musk and Mr. Agarwal exchanged friendly messages. These messages were made public in September 2022 as part of Twitters lawsuit against Mr. Musk. Parag Agarwal messaged Elon Musk on March 27, 2022, saying, Hey Elon great to be connected directly. Would love to chat. To which, Mr. Musk responded with a simple Great dinner :). However, tensions arose in April when Mr. Musk sent out a tweet from Hawaii, questioning the activity of some of Twitters top accounts and suggesting that Twitter might be declining. Ninety minutes later, Mr. Agarwal sent Mr. Musk a text message. He expressed his understanding that Mr. Musk was free to express his thoughts about Twitter but advised him that it wasnt helping improve Twitter in the current context. While Mr. Musks response was sharp, asking Mr. Agarwal what he had accomplished that week, it was noted in the WSJ report as a significant critique from Mr. Musk. In another message, Mr. Musk conveyed his reluctance to join Twitters board and his belief that the current situation was a waste of time. He hinted at making an offer to take Twitter private. Mr. Agarwal requested a conversation with Mr. Musk, and Twitters board chair also sought five minutes to talk. However, Mr. Musk firmly believed that chatting with Mr. Agarwal wouldnt address Twitters issues and insisted that drastic action was required. Ultimately, an agreement was reached to take Twitter private in October. One of the initial actions Mr. Musk took was to remove Mr. Agarwal from his position. President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia was open to talks on restoring the landmark Black Sea grain export deal, hours after Moscow pounded one of Ukraines key grain-exporting ports overnight. The UN and Turkey-brokered deal, which aimed to ensure safe navigation for civilian ships through the Black Sea, collapsed after Russia pulled out in July. Moscow has since repeatedly attacked Ukraines port infrastructure in what Kyiv says is a cynical attempt to damage its exports and undermine global food security. The Russian drone attack on Monday damaged a grain export hub on the Danube river, officials said, adding that warehouses and agricultural equipment were damaged. The regional governor Oleg Kiper announced that air defence systems had downed 17 drones. Hours later Putin met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi, amid hopes the two could restore the deal, with Erdogan promising he would make a very important announcement on grain exports after the talks. I know you intend to raise the issue of the grain deal. We are open to negotiations on this issue, Putin said in televised comments alongside Erdogan. Defence minister resigns Ukraines foreign ministry claimed Monday that some of the drones in the attack had fallen on Romanian territory, although Bucharest categorically denied the claim. While most fighting during Russias offensive has taken place within Ukraines borders, Kyiv has occasionally claimed Russian munitions have fallen into European countries, claims that its NATO allies have largely dismissed. At no time did the means of attack used by the Russian Federation pose a direct military threat to Romanias national territory or territorial waters, the Romanian defence ministry said. Ukraines military said Russia had used Iranian-made Shahed drones in the massive overnight attack. The strikes come a day after Ukraine fought off a barrage of Russian drones in the same region, with Russias army claiming the assaults targeted fuel storage facilities in the nearby port of Reni. Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov meanwhile announced on Monday he had handed in his resignation to parliament after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for new approaches to face Russias offensive. Zelenskyys decision to remove Reznikov comes after several corruption scandals rocked the defence ministry, and the Ukrainian leader removed senior military recruitment officials across the country. It was an honour to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the (Ukrainian army) for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraines modern history, he added. His departure comes during a highly-scrutinised Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south and east of the country, which officials said Monday had made limited progress. The enemy is on the defensive in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson sectors, Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said, referring to two southern regions that Moscow claimed to have annexed last year. Black Sea tensions rise She added that Ukrainian forces had also captured three square kilometres (around one square mile) near Bakhmut, a town in the east captured by Russia this May. Earlier on Monday, Russia said it destroyed four US-made Ukrainian military boats carrying troops in the Black Sea. The ministry said the boats were travelling in the direction of Cape Tarkhankut on the Crimean coast, without providing further details. In a similar attack on 30 August, Russia said its forces destroyed four Ukrainian military boats carrying up to 50 soldiers in the Black Sea. In the early hours of Monday, the ministry said it had repelled a separate Ukrainian attack over the Black Sea. Crimea was last attacked on Saturday, when Russia destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones that targeted the bridge connecting the peninsula to the Russian mainland. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscows Ukraine offensive but has recently come under more intense, increased attacks. Kyiv has repeatedly said it aims to take back Crimea. On 24 August, Ukraine said it flew its flag on Crimea, in a symbolic move during a special operation to mark its second wartime Independence Day. A man riding an electric bike was killed after he collided with a Jeep in Brooklyn on Sunday. The cyclist and the driver of a white Jeep slammed into each other on Eastern Parkway near Schenectady Ave. in Crown Heights shortly after 8 p.m., according to police. The bike came to rest on the southbound lanes of Eastern Parkway, four lanes away from where the victims shoes were spotted surrounded by police tape on the thorofares northbound lanes. Police investigate a fatal collision between a Jeep SUV and an e-bike on Eastern Parkway and Schenectady Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City on Sunday, September 3, 2023. Paramedics rushed the biker to Kings County Hospital, where he died, cops said. The driver of the jeep remained on the scene and no arrests have been made. The crash is being investigated by the NYPDs Collision Investigation Squad. Three people including two officers killed after a Pakistan Navy helicopter crashed during a routine training flight in the countrys restive Balochistan province on Monday, a navy spokesperson said. The crash happened in the provinces port city of Gwadar when the helicopter developed a technical problem, killing two Navy officers and a sailor of the Pakistan Navy, The News International newspaper reported. The helicopter crashed during the training flight due to a possible technical fault. Three Navymen two officers and one sailor died in the crash, a spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report. The spokesperson added that an investigation had been launched into the accident. Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has expressed grief over the loss of lives in the helicopter crash and prayed for the bereaved. Last year in September, six Pakistan Army officials, including two majors, were killed when their helicopter crashed in Balochistan province. Same year in August, a Pakistan army aviation helicopter carrying six senior military officers, including a top commander of XII Corps, crashed while on a flood relief operation in Balochistan province after losing contact with the air traffic control. Resource-rich Balochistan, Pakistans largest province, is also the hub of a decades-old separatist movement. Various armed groups based in the province have attacked Pakistani security forces and Chinese nationals working in the province in the past. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has said that he will raise the need to enforce United Nations sanctions on North Korea and prevent the countrys illicit activities to fund its weapons programs during the annual summits in Indonesia and India this week. President Yoon Suk Yeols itinerary includes a four-day visit to Jakarta, beginning on Tuesday, where he will participate in a series of summits alongside the meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders. Following this, he will proceed to New Delhi for a summit involving both affluent and developing nations on Friday. At the upcoming ASEAN-related Summits and the G20 Summit, I intend to urge the international community to resolutely respond to North Koreas ever-escalating missile provocations and nuclear threats and to work closely together on its denuclearization, Yoon said in written responses to questions from The Associated Press. As long as the U.N. Security Council sanctions currently in place are faithfully implemented, North Koreas financial means for developing (weapons of mass destruction) can be blocked to a significant extent, Yoon said. While grappling with economic challenges exacerbated by stringent pandemic restrictions, North Korea has significantly escalated its missile testing activities over the past year. South Korean authorities suggest that North Koreas weapons programs are increasingly funded through illicit means, such as cyber hacking and the illicit export of banned goods. Furthermore, it has been reported that a substantial number of North Korean labourers have continued to stay in China and Russia, defying a United Nations directive issued to member states to repatriate all North Korean guest workers a crucial source of foreign currency for North Korea by December 2019. Yoon said he will particularly use the Group of 20 summit to underscore the need to actively deter North Korea from stealing cryptocurrency, dispatching workers overseas, facilitating maritime transshipments and other illegal activities the main funding sources for its nuclear and missile development. North Koreas advancing nuclear arsenal is the most vexing security concern for South Korea, but it also poses serious threats to the United States and Japan. North Koreas long-range missiles target the mainland U.S., while its shorter-range missiles are capable of reaching South Korea and Japan, both key U.S. allies. In a trilateral summit at Camp David in August, Yoon, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to hold annual trilateral exercises and put into operation by years end the sharing of real-time missile warning data on North Korea. The three also decided to establish a trilateral working group to boost cooperation to combat North Korean cyber threats and block its cyber-enabled evasion of sanctions. North Korea reacted angrily, accusing the three leaders of plotting nuclear war provocations on the Korean Peninsula. Leader Kim Jong Un called Yoon, Biden and Kishida the gang bosses of the three countries. Yoon, citing unspecified recent assessments, said North Korea is in its worst economic condition since Kim took power in late 2011. North Korean authorities are wasting scarce financial resources on the development of nuclear and missile capabilities. Consequently, the hardships faced by North Koreans in their everyday lives are worsening, and its economy continues to register negative growth, Yoon said. Amid such circumstances, unless North Korea stops its nuclear development, the regimes instability will continue to increase. North Korea has been trying to deepen cooperation with China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council who have repeatedly blocked the U.S. and others attempts to toughen U.N. sanctions on the North despite its run of prohibited missile tests. Foreign experts also believe China and Russia have not fully implemented U.N. sanctions on North Korea. U.S. officials suspect North Korea has shipped artillery shells and other ammunition to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. Last week, the White House said Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged letters as Moscow looks to Pyongyang for more munitions. Yoon said China seems to have considerable leverage over North Korea, adding that about 97% of North Koreas total external trade volume last year was with China. What really matters is whether Beijing will use its leverage, and if so, how much and in what way, Yoon said. Yoon said China must put forth constructive efforts to denuclearize North Korea if the North continues its banned missile tests. He said China must realize that North Koreas nuclear program has a negative effect on Chinas national interests by further disrupting regional order among other things. The exact status of North Koreas nuclear capability is unclear, with experts divided over whether the country possesses functioning nuclear-tipped missiles. But most agree that Kim wont likely voluntarily abandon his nuclear program, the backbone of his authoritarian rule. They believe North Korea would eventually aim to use its enlarged nuclear arsenal to win sanctions relief from the U.S. Last week, North Korea said it conducted missile tests to simulate nuclear attacks on South Korea and rehearsed an occupation of the Souths territory in response to the summer South Korea-U.S. military drills. The international community must clearly demonstrate that its determination to stop North Koreas nuclear program is much stronger than North Koreas will to continue developing it, Yoon said. In Jakarta, Yoon is to attend the South Korea-ASEAN summit, the ASEAN Plus Three (South Korea-Japan-China) summit, and the East Asia Summit, a gathering of Indo-Pacific nations including the U.S., China and Russia. Yoon said the joint South Korea-U.S.-Japan statement issued after the Camp David summit clearly emphasizes the importance the three countries place on ASEAN and Pacific Island countries by prioritizing cooperation with them over any other regional issues. Yoon said he sees the G20 summit as an opportunity for South Korea to lead G20 cooperation to resolve the challenges humanity is facing. He said South Korea will expand its contributions to help climate-vulnerable countries and strengthen cooperation with the international community for the transition to clean energy. With inputs from AP. Typhoon Haikui toppled hundreds of trees, damaged coastal roads and dumped torrential rain across Taiwan Monday before it weakened into a severe tropical storm and headed for southern China. Haikui had initially appeared to depart the island but made a second landfall early Monday in southwest Kaohsiung before moving out into the Taiwan Strait. There were no reports of deaths. More than 100 people suffered injuries during the typhoon, according to authorities, though they were minor mostly due to fallen trees and car accidents. Destruction was seen in coastal Taitung, a mountainous county in lesser-populated eastern Taiwan where the storm directly hit the day before. This is the first time I have seen such a big typhoon in my life, said Chen Hai-feng, 55, a village chief in Taitungs Donghe township. Although Haikui is considered less severe than previous storms, Chen told AFP it felt more powerful as he surveyed an early-morning work crew removing trees from a road. It came like an arrow straight at us, he said. Workers carefully manoeuvred diggers to move downed tree branches and snapped power cables from the road. Further north in Changbin township, workers ferried massive concrete blocks to a coastal highway that had partially collapsed because of powerful waves, hoping they would absorb the impact. Heavy orange-coloured barriers were placed near the edge to prevent cars from skidding on slippery roads. Kirin Chen pitched in to help a work crew clear branches from a pathway leading to a school in Taitung county. So many trees have fallen, she said. We are trying to remove the trees on the sidewalk so that the children can safely come to school tomorrow. And in Keelung a northern port city surrounded by mountains vendors at a market braved the rain to sell fruit to raincoat-clad shoppers. Thousands without power Haikui the first typhoon landfall in Taiwan in four years forced the evacuation of nearly 8,000 people across the island, particularly from landslide-prone mountainous regions. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and businesses were closed. More than 260,000 households temporarily lost power and around 22,000 homes still had no electricity by Monday afternoon, while schools and businesses remained closed in 14 cities as torrential rain bucketed down. A forecaster with Taiwans Central Weather Bureau said Haikui initially appeared to track away from the island and out to sea but made a second landfall in Kaohsiung at around 4:00 am (2000 GMT Sunday). During the night the centre of the typhoon was almost circling the port city, but as it moved along the coastline the structure of the typhoon is damaged by the terrain and gradually weakens, she said. By mid-day, the storm had moved southwest of Taiwans outlying island of Penghu. Kaohsiungs local government reported hundreds of toppled trees and flooding in dozens of locations, although the situation was easing as the storm departed and the weather conditions improved. Ukraine said on Monday it had made gains against Russian forces in the south and clawed back territory near Bakhmut in the east, as it battles to break through Russian defences. Kyiv launched a counter-offensive against Moscows forces in June after stockpiling Western weapons and building up assault battalions, but has struggled to make headway against heavily fortified Russian positions. The enemy is on the defensive in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson sectors, Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said, referring to two southern regions that Moscow claimed to annex last year. She said Ukraines forces had made success near the towns of Novodanylivka and Novoprokopivka in the south, and had also captured three square kilometres (around one square mile) near Bakhmut. The enemy in the south is suffering significant losses in personnel, weapons and equipment, she said. Ukraine has hit back at criticism of the apparent slow pace of its counter-offensive, acknowledging tough battles against Russian defensive lines of trenches and minefields that are kilometres deep. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he was replacing Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and called for new approaches, a year and a half into Russias invasion. Ukrainian defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced on Monday he had handed his resignation letter to parliament after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for new approaches to face Russias invasion. Zelenskyys decision to remove Reznikov comes after corruption scandals rocked the defence ministry. The Ukrainian leader had also recently dismissed senior military recruitment officials across the country. Many Kyiv residents welcomed the decision. If something goes wrong, you have to fix and rebuild and change quickly, said artist Maria Shkuro. He should have resigned himself, rather than wait until he was dismissed, she said, speaking to AFP near a display of Russian war trophies in central Kyiv. Reznikov persuaded Western allies to supply Ukraine with Western-made weaponry including advanced air defence systems, tanks and US fighter jets. All the good things he has done are instantly reversed by one bad deed, pensioner Anatoly Kifa said. At a time like this, in such positions, one cannot allow the crimes I have read about, the 70-year-old added. Not a villain Maksym Chumak, a 32-year-old serviceman on leave, did not blame Reznikov alone for the defence ministrys alleged misdoings. There are claims about mistakes he made in deliveries and purchases, Chumak said. But he added: There is no person who does not make mistakes, and I do not think that he is a villain. Reznikov was appointed three months before Russias invasion and became one of the best-known faces of the countrys war efforts. It was an honour to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the (Ukrainian army) for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraines modern history, he said in his resignation letter. Ukraine launched a counteroffensive against Russian forces in June after building up Western-supplied weapons, a drive to which Reznikov was seen as being central. Progress has been limited. Zelensky nominated Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar who has been head of the State Property Fund since last year, to replace Reznikov subject to approval by Ukraines parliament. A prison in the US state of Minnesota went into lockdown Sunday because many prisoners refused to go back to their cells. Around 100 prisoners staged a protest, but officials said they resolved the situation peacefully. The prisoners were unhappy because there werent enough staff to watch over them during the Labor Day weekend, according to the states Department of Corrections (DOC). A spokesperson for the DOC said that all prisoners had now gone back to their cells. Extra police, firefighters, and emergency teams were at the prison in Baywater, which is about 25 miles (40km) east of Minneapolis, the largest city in the state. People who support the prisoners said the protest was about bad conditions in the prison, like the extreme heat, not being able to shower often, and having unclean drinking water. The US National Weather Service says its very hot in the area until Tuesday, with temperatures as high as 100F (37.7C). People have been talking a lot about how hot its been in US prisons and saying that they need to change. The DOC says the prison is missing 50 officers, and because its a holiday weekend, there have been times when prisoners have had to stay in their cells longer, without air conditioning. The DOC said the prisoners were also upset because they couldnt use phones, have recreational time, or take showers as much as they wanted. But they said the prisoners did have access to clean water. A spokesperson said that nobody was hurt and that everything was calm throughout the day. The head of the DOC, Paul Schnell, said prisoners usually get a few hours of recreational time on the weekend, but because of staff shortages due to the holiday, they only got one hour. The union that represents the prison officers, AFSCME Council 5, also said that the problem was not having enough staff on Sunday. A spokesperson said the problem is long-term and shows that the Department of Corrections in Minnesota has a chronic problem with not having enough staff. According to department records, there are about 1,200 prisoners at the prison. US President Joe Biden will miss his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi on 9-10 September. I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him, Biden said when asked about the Chinese leaders decision to skip to high-profile meet on 9-10 September. If Xi sticks to the decision, the next opportunity for both leaders to come face-to-face would be just a few months later when the US hosts the APEC conference in San Franciso in November. According to reports last week, the decision to skip the summit in Delhi came in the backdrop of tensions between India and China at the LAC in Ladakh and the North-east. Reportedly, Chinas Premier Li Qiang will attend the summit in Xis stead. However, according to Bloomberg, a source in the know of things says that some other government official could be sent to Delhi. The name of this official filling-in for Xi hasnt been announced yet. The last the two leaders met was at the G20 summit in Bali in November, 2022. However, after an alleged Chinese spy balloon was sighted over the US in February earlier this year, any progress reached after the meeting was thwarted. There have been a number of issues the two countries have come to disagreements about over the last year: US lawmakers visiting Taiwan especially after Nancy Pelosis visit that triggered China into launching a massive military exercise in the Taiwan Strait; Taiwan Presidents visit to the US, Banning the export of semiconductor technology to China; Reports of China running surveillance near mainland US in Cuba; and of course the spy balloons. The US has repeatedly stressed diffusing tensions with China. To this end a number of high-level US officials have travelled to China in recent months: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, climate envoy John Kerry, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The US was looking at the Delhi summit as an opportunity to thaw relations with China. Last week Biden had said he hopes that Xi would attend the summit. A death at the Burning Man festival being held in Nevada desert in US is being investigated as heavy rain pounds the event, leaving thousands stranded. The roads in and out of the festival grounds in the Nevada desert have been shut down due to flooding. Festival attendees have been told to save food and water and find shelter, as none of the toilets are functioning. The police reported that someone died during this rainy period but didnt give more details. The family of the deceased has been informed. The US Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the festival area, stated that continuous rain over the last day led to a complete halt in vehicle movement on the festival grounds. The forecast predicts more rain in the coming days, making it unlikely for vehicles to enter. The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation. Paul Reder, who has been attending the festival for 22 years, shared, Luckily, were in a large camp with ample supplies. As a community, everyone is helping each other out. He anticipates that it will take at least two days for the area to dry up. Although he was prepared to wait it out, Reder mentioned that some attendees are leaving the site on foot and walking to the nearest highway. Heavy rainfall has affected much of Nevada, with the National Weather Service issuing flash flood warnings until Monday morning. The location of the festival, Black Rock City, received over half an inch of rain overnight, according to organizers. The annual event in the desert, situated about 110 miles north of Reno, draws nearly 80,000 artists, musicians, and activists for a unique combination of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances. Burning Man is known for celebrating self-expression and concludes with the ceremonial burning of a massive 40-foot effigy. Its roots trace back to the burning of an eight-foot wooden man on Baker Beach in San Francisco in 1986, eventually evolving into an annual gathering in the Black Rock Desert. This years festival began on August 27 and is scheduled to continue until September 4. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announces: At the invitation of President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Vice Chairman Zhou Qiang of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference will attend President Mnangagwas inauguration ceremony as President Xi Jinpings special envoy. The ceremony is scheduled to be held in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, on September 4. A burglary crew targeting homes with high-end cars seemingly knew just where to look when they snatched the keys to one Queens familys luxe vehicles, the rattled homeowner told the Daily News. The team of break-in artists has struck 13 times since June, taking Mercedes Benz sedans, an Audi SUV and BMWs from a string of homes in Queens and Brooklyn, cops said. They didnt stay long when they came calling at Syeda Begums home near Cambridge Road and Somerset St. in Jamaica Estates July 23 spending just enough time to steal her familys Range Rover and Porsche. After this thing happened Im very scared, the 50-year-old mother of two said. We were scared to sleep. They might be coming another time to get another thing. One of her two sons washed both vehicles and left them in the driveway instead of in the garage. I have young sons so they love the sporty car. For them, I bought it. One for me and one for my older son, she explained. The crew, which typically operates as a three- or four-person team, usually strikes in the wee hours of the morning, and has focused on the Whitestone neighborhod of Queens though the crooks have also targeted homes in Bayside, Jamaica Estates, Bay Ridge, Holliswood, and Manhattan Beach. The burglars came to the home when the family was sleeping, and when Begum woke up for prayers at 5 a.m., she noticed the family cat had been let out. At 7 a.m., her older son noticed the kitchen window was ajar, and the back kitchen window was open. Then he realized the cars were gone. Begums house was one of nine targeted in a nine-day spree, cops said. We dont hear any sound, she said. We checked the camera. We saw two people. Other than a camera system, the house didnt have any alarm installed a fact Begum believes the burglars must have figured out. I dont know if its an inside job or not. But exactly they know where we kept the key, she said. They just exactly came through the window. They knew where we put the keys. They took the keys and left. Boom. Five minutes. She added, How could that be possible? If you come inside the room and dont touch anything? Just grab the key and go. The crew, which typically operates as a three- or four-person team, usually strikes in the wee hours of the morning, and has focused on the Whitestone neighborhod of Queens though the crooks have also targeted homes in Bayside, Jamaica Estates, Bay Ridge, Holliswood, and Manhattan Beach. The family had a tracker in the Porsche, and police found it in New Jersey. But cops still havent recovered the Range Rover. My son was crying. Not only the money, also the time consumed, she said of the Porsche. It was a beautiful car inside and out. Not even one scratch. She thinks that her block was targeted because most of the people over here are professionals. They have the money. Police released photos of the burglary crew on Sunday, tying them to 12 other break-ins since June 2. The burglary team typically operates as a three- or four-person team and strikes in the early hours of the morning, focusing mostly on the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens, cops said. One Whitestone resident explained that his neighborhood made for the perfect target, full of wealthy homes whose owners dont expect to be touched by crime. The crew, which typically operates as a three- or four-person team, usually strikes in the wee hours of the morning, and has focused on the Whitestone neighborhod of Queens though the crooks have also targeted homes in Bayside, Jamaica Estates, Bay Ridge, Holliswood, and Manhattan Beach. Its tucked away. Its quiet, said the resident man, who declined to give his name. You dont expect it and there are nice cars. Neighbors have heard the burglary crew might hail from New Jersey, he said. The thieves have also targeted homes in Bayside, Bay Ridge, Holliswood, and Manhattan Beach. They havent always gotten away clean, though in their first three heists, the crooks were chased off by a homeowner or tripped an alarm, cops said. Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577 TIPS. A man was killed in a hail of gunfire blocks from the site of the West Indian Day Parade in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, as revelers partied into the night Monday part of a series of violent incidents that marred the celebrations. Earlier in the day, a man was shot and two others were stabbed in a fight along the parade route, with another man shooting himself in the leg during a separate fracas less than two miles away. A 911 call drew police to the sidewalk outside a dimly lit construction site on Sterling Pace near Schenectady Ave. at 8:49 p.m., according to police. Thats where officers found the 51-year-old victims body riddled with bullets, cops said. A witness coming from one of the many impromptu sidewalk parties held along the parade route was passing by the scene when he heard a series of gunshots ring out. There were lots of shots, said the man, who would only give his name as Roman. They gave him everything. They made sure he was dead. Lingering near the scene of the shooting, he saw paramedics attempt to revive the victim. Despite their best efforts, they couldnt save the mans life, he said. They were pumping and pumping, but he wasnt moving, said Roman. He was a dead man. There were no immediate arrests in the slaying and the victims identity was withheld as police worked to inform his family. The fatal shooting occurred less than five blocks away from another bout of gun violence on Eastern Parkway near Rochester Ave. where the parade kicked off hours earlier when at 5:21 p.m. a man pulled a gun amid a fight and started blasting, according to cops and witnesses. Medics remove an injured person after a multiple shooting on Eastern Parkway and Rochester Ave. in Brooklyn on Monday. The shooter struck one unidentified victim in the butt, while another man was stabbed in the leg and a third slashed in the hand, according to police. They said the gunman hightailed it on foot, heading north on Rochester Ave. A witness claimed she saw paramedics loading the shooter into an ambulance, explaining that he tried to play the victim after a group of men beat him following the armed assault. They were beating him up I mean, they were stomping him down, said 35-year-old Monique, who came to the parade draped in a Barbadian flag. He was covered in blood, with a gash on his forehead. People were shouting, Hes the shooter, hes the shooter!' Firefighters with Engine 234 were on their way back from a call about a woman passed out on the street when a bullet struck their windshield on the drivers side as they passed by the shooting. FDNY Engine 234 is pictured with a possible bullet hole in its windshield after a multiple shooting on Eastern Parkway and Rochester Ave. on Monday. We were on our way back and there were shots, said a firefighter who was riding on the damaged truck. It was too much, just too much. The smoke-eaters of Engine 234 were unsure if they should replace the windshield or keep the damaged glass as a trophy. Theyre going to have to change the windshield, but Im thinking we should keep it, said another firefighter. It looks cool like that. The incident took place as the parade was ending but the party was still going strong, with revelers eating, drinking and dancing to music playing on outdoor sound systems. That shooting followed hot on the heels of a fight between two men outside a five-story residential building fronting Eastern Parkway at the corner of Franklin Ave. at 4:20 p.m., cops said. A firearm carried by one of the men discharged, resulting in a self-inflicted leg wound, according to police. Police investigate after a person accidentally shot himself in the leg on Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn during the West Indian Day Parade on Monday. Paramedics rushed the shooter to Kings County Hospital, where hes listed in stable condition, authorities said. Cops recovered the firearm, which was in the victims waistband when the shot was fired, according to law enforcement sources. Police are expected to slap the gunman with charges related to illegal possession of a firearm after hes received medical attention, according to an NYPD spokeswoman. Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York City is filled with paradegoers during the West Indian Day Parade on Monday. The West Indian Day Parade and night of revelry that precede it, known as JOuvert, have historically been plagued by gun violence, though it appeared to subside last year, when there were three shootings across Flatbush and Crown Heights. The Police Department took special precautions this year to prevent shootings along the crowded parade route, including contacting 40 known gang members as part of the NYC Ceasefire Initiative requesting a peaceful holiday. Police have made seven arrests for firearm possession related to this years JOuvert festivities, cops said. Thousands of people attending the Burning Man festival in Nevada found themselves stranded in the desert after a weekend of heavy rain turned the ground to mud. Organizer said one event attendee died at the festival Saturday, though they dont believe that persons cause of death was weather-related, according to the Guardian. Pershing County Sheriffs Office are investigating. Event organizers havent returned a Daily News request for comment. Attendees known as burners strike down their Unicorner camp before new rainfalls in a muddy desert plain on September 3, 2023, after heavy rains turned the annual Burning Man festival site in Nevadas Black Rock desert into a mud pit. At least 70,000 participants were stuck in Black Rock Desert about 100 miles north of Reno, Nev. when rough weather hit. Organizers warned would-be attendees to stay clear of Black Rock City Friday while the festival site was receiving more than a half-inch of rain. They repeated their warnings Saturday as wet weather continued. The Gate and airport in and out of Black Rock City remain closed, organizers posted online. Ingress and egress are halted until further notice. No driving is permitted except emergency vehicles. If you are in BRC, conserve food, water, and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space. Attendees look at a double rainbow over flooding on a desert plain on September 1, 2023, after heavy rains turned the annual Burning Man festival site in Nevadas Black Rock desert into a mud pit. Revelers were told to conserve food and water. Toilets were rendered inoperable. The area hosting the festival is typically dry, but the outlook for organizers and some attendees brightened Sunday night. Despite afternoon drizzle, the conditions are improving on the playa, organizers wrote on the events website. We will be opening for Exodus on Monday morning 9/4. Shortly before noon, they said roadways remained too wet & muddy for most vehicles, but would likely be dry around noon. Exodus marks the end of the week-long annual event, which began in 1986 and has taken place in the Black Rock Desert since 1991. We are a little bit dirty and muddy but spirits are high, Southern California photographer Scott London told the Associated Press Sunday. The party [is] still going. Attendees including comedian Chris Rock and celebrity DJ Diplo headed for higher ground Saturday night. I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out, the musician posted on Instagram. The end of the festival is typically marked with the literal burning of a man-like sculpture, but the ceremony was postponed from Saturday evening until Monday night. With News Wire Services An emergency lockdown has been initiated at Minnesotas Stillwater prison due to approximately 100 inmates in one housing unit refusing to return to their cells on Sunday. The act came as the region deals with a heat wave and inmates were reportedly dealing with dangerously high temperatures in the prison, located in Bayport, just east of Minneapolis. As afternoon heat advisories warned of temperatures around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, one former inmate called their refusal an act of self-preservation. A fleet of emergency vehicles sit parked outside of Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater prison in Bayport, Minn., on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Some family members of the prisoners, as well as other advocates, claim those inside are struggling with excessive heat, unclean drinking water and limited access to showers and ice. But the situation was described as currently stable by a Department of Corrections spokesperson, who said the reason why the prisoners were refusing was unclear. Advocate groups maintain that the prisoners actions were not premeditated and came in response to unsafe conditions in their cells. My organization got calls from inmates who are actually inside starting at 6:30 a.m., said Marvina Haynes of Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform, who has a brother incarcerated at Stillwater. Snow coats the rooftops of the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater prison, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Bayport, Minn. One of the issues contributing to the frustration of the inmates is significant understaffing in the prisons, according to Bart Andersen, who serves as executive director of the union representing Stillwaters correctional officers. The staffing shortages have reportedly led to intermittent lockdowns at the prison in past days, causing inmates to be kept in cells that allegedly dont have air conditioning. In response to the emergency lockdown Sunday, the state Department of Corrections activated their crisis negotiation team and sent a Special Operations Response Team to the area. Around 1,200 inmates currently reside in the Stillwater prison, which has been described as a pizza oven in the summers by Kevin Reese, the founder of the criminal justice organization Until We Are All Free. With News Wire Services Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, saying the ministry needs "new approaches" as the war with Russia enters its 19th month. Zelensky has said rooting out corruption across Ukraine's government is vital to Kyiv's chances of attaining long-awaited membership in NATO and the European Union.The Ukrainian president made cracking down on internal scandals a central issue in his campaign for office. Quote "This week, parliament will be asked to make a personnel decision. ... I have decided to replace the minister of defense of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war," the Ukrainian leader said on Sunday, September 3.Zelensky nominated Rustem Umerov, the former people's deputy of Ukraine, to become the new defense minister. Quote "The Verkhovna Rada (legislature) of Ukraine knows this person well, and Mr. Umerov does not need any additional introductions," Zelensky said. "I expect parliament to support this candidate." Realme C51 affordable smartphone launched in India: Check Price, Specifications, Offers News oi -Carlsen Martin Realme has officially unveiled a new budget smartphone in India. The Realme C51 arrives as the latest smartphone in the company's entry-level C series. To recall, the Realme C51 made its debut in Taiwan back in July. The Realme C53 arrives as a budget smartphone with a tall 90Hz display, a large battery, Unisoc chipset, and fast charging support. Realme C51 Pricing, Sale, Offers in India The Realme C51 price in India is set at Rs 8,999 for the sole 4GB/64G configuration. The Realme C51 is available in Mint Green and Carbon Black colour options. The Realme C51 is set to go on an early bird sale in India later today (September 4) at 04:00 pm (IST). The handset will be available for purchase via Flipkart, Realme.com, and offline stores. Additionally, customers can get a discount of Rs 500 through purchase of the Realme C51 using HDFC, SBI, ICICI, Axis, and Kotak Bank cards. Realme C51 Specifications The Realme C51 also appears to feature the same design as the C53. The Realme C51 is powered by the Unisoc T612 SoC. The chip is paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage that can be expanded up to 2TB. Additionally, up to 4GB of unused storage can be utilized as virtual RAM. The Realme C51 sprots a 6.7-inch HD+ IPS LCD panel with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 180Hz touch sampling rate. For optics, the Realme C51 gets a 50 MP dual camera setup on the back. Up front, there's an 8 MP selfie camera. The phone packs a 5,000 mAh battery with 33W SUPERVOOC fast charging support. The Realme C51 runs Android 13-based Realme UI T Edition on top. The device also features a side-mounted fingerprint reader and a headphone jack. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Ambassador highlights role of cultural exchanges amid fraught Sino-US relations 14:05, September 04, 2023 By Zhao Huanxin in Washington ( Chinadaily.com.cn Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng speaks at the 21st Washington Chinese Cultural Festival on Saturday in Washington. Photo by Zhao Huanxin/China Daily A top Chinese envoy in Washington has called for ramping up cultural exchanges to enhance understanding between China and the United States and help improve the fraught bilateral relations. Speaking at the 21st Washington Chinese Cultural Festival held in downtown of the capital on Saturday, Ambassador Xie Feng said both China and the US are multi-ethnic, multi-cultural countries, whose hard-working and talented people "share the same guts, grit and gusto" to chase their dreams. "Be it coffee or tea, each is there for its own reason. Differences between civilizations should not be the cause of conflict, but should be the impetus for progress," he said on a stage on Pennsylvania Avenue near Capitol Hill. "Let's open our minds, appreciate the beauty in each other's culture, break down barriers, and strengthen cultural ties so that we will understand each other better and grow our friendship, and bring more positive energy into China-US relations," he said. The annual festival was started in 1999 and had run for 20 years except in 2001 -- in a row before being suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through food, music, dancing, and traditional performances and ceremonies, the event offers a window to see the beauty and variety of Chinese culture, while helping build a bridge of friendship between China and the US, its organizer said. "This is really a great event. It's hot weather, but I think people's enthusiasm about the cultural exchanges is even hotter," Xie told China Daily in an interview. "So I hope that together with this festival, the exchanges and friendship between the Chinese and American people will further grow," the ambassador said. Asked about the status quo of the people-to-people exchange between the two countries, Xie said he had noted some progress, but "still a lot needs to be done". Over the past few months, the two countries have stepped up efforts to stabilize their tense relations, beginning with a series of trips of high-level officials. Dancers from the Beijing Dance Academy perform at the 21st Washington Chinese Cultural Festival on Saturday in Washington. Photo by Zhao Huanxin/China Daily In the tourism sector, earlier last month, China lifted pandemic-era restrictions on group tours for more countries, including the US, a key market. The US Travel Association said in a release on Tuesday that a complete rebound in Chinese visitation to 2019 levels would boost the US economy with an additional 2 million visitors a year and more than $11 billion in export spending, The two countries have agreed to hold a tourism summit in the first half of next year in China to revive their once booming tourism cooperation, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism said last week. In a congratulatory message to the Washington Chinese cultural festival, US President Joe Biden said the US has been "immeasurably" enriched by the vast contributions of Chinese Americans, with countless Chinese immigrants helping to shape the nation's character. Biden noted that for over two decades, the Washington Chinese Cultural Festival has been a "wonderful" occasion to celebrate the proud heritage and wide breadth of achievements of the Chinese-American community. "This festival unites people from all backgrounds to reflect on the ways that the Chinese community has contributed to the vibrancy of American life," he said. Beijing, a sister city of Washington, sent a delegation to attend the festival. One of the delegation members was Yang Hao, a teacher at the Beijing Dance Academy. She led a group of eight young dancers to come to Washington, the first such group ever flying from Beijing to the city since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dancers performed dances of various ethnic groups in China, including Chinese, Mongolian, Uygur, and Tibetan styles, drawing cheers and sometimes standing ovations from the audience. Dancers from the Beijing Dance Academy perform at a "Chinese Dance Salon" in the Chinese embassy in the US on Friday. Photo by Zhao Huanxin/China Daily "I believe they understand us and enjoy our performances," Yang said. "We are glad to show the people here the beauty of Chinese arts, and hopefully we can keep up the momentum in the cultural exchanges to enhance understanding and friendship between the two countries." Jane Pennewell, a resident from Falls Church, Virginia, was on the first row to watch the Chinese folk dancing, Chinese opera, and music. "I thoroughly enjoyed it, every minute of it. I mean, I just couldn't believe how talented the individuals are and how they conformed -- all in sync," Pennewell, an artist who runs JPimage Consulting Co, said. After the show, she went to one of the 24 Chinese food stalls near the stage for lunch and tried beef stirred in rice. Then she tasted a white patty that had chocolate in it. "It was delicious," she said. "I hope to make it next year." (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Neo-Nazis took to the streets in the greater Orlando area on Saturday, with one group rallying outside the entrance to Disney World to spread antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ hate, according to officials. About 15 people wearing Nazi insignia and waving flags gathered outside the Disney Springs shopping center for about two hours, according to the Orange County Sheriffs Office. Christopher Pohlhaus (C) aka Hammer leads a rally with neo-Nazi groups Blood Tribe, and Goyim Defense League on September 2, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. Officers were dispatched to the scene at 10:40 a.m. Saturday but no arrests had been made by the time the group dispersed, NBC News reported. The Anti-Defamation League said the group was comprised of members from extremist white nationalist organizations including the Order of the Black Sun, Aryan Freedom Network and the National Socialist Movement. Later on Saturday, a group of over 50 neo-Nazis demonstrated across the greater Orlando area, waving flags with swastikas, shouting hateful messages and saluting Adolf Hitler. The members reportedly chanted rallying cries including White power and Jews will not replace us. The demonstrations serve as the latest examples of growing antisemitism in the U.S. In May, the Biden administration created the first-ever national strategy to counter antisemitism, which referenced repeated episodes of hate since the Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally in 2017. There were over 3,600 reported incidents last year of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism in the United States, according to ADL. The Orange County Sheriffs Office deplores hate speech in any form, but people have the First Amendment right to demonstrate, law enforcement said in a statement. What these groups do is revolting and condemned in the strongest way by Sheriff [John] Mina and the Sheriffs Office. They are looking for attention, and specifically media attention, it added. NEWARK, Del, Sept. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global medical tourism market is likely to register a CAGR of 30.5% during the forecast period. The market is likely to register US$ 5.2 Billion in 2022 and is expected to cross US$ 75 Billion by 2032. Some of the market's prominent drivers are cost savings and additional benefits to visitors, such as enhanced healthcare, innovative technologies, breakthrough medicines, sophisticated devices, superior hospitality, and individualized care. While an increasing number of Americans are traveling abroad for availing medical treatment, there has been a significant surge in inbound medical tourism in the country as well. The Availability of cheaper treatment options abroad without compromising on the overall standard and quality of healthcare services is the chief driver of medical tourism in the East. The field contributes significantly to the generation of revenue across developing economies, which has been motivating government aid. Request a Sample PDF Overview of the Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-249 Increasing Internet Penetration Has Influenced the Medical Tourism Market Growth Medical tourism, although not a new concept, has been gaining significant traction on the internet as a viable healthcare option accessible to people worldwide. From a marketing perspective, the Internet provides a dynamic medium for healthcare service providers and operators to raise awareness about diverse medical travel options. Moreover, the internet can play a pivotal role in influencing a patient's decision regarding medical tourism. It has become commonplace for patients to thoroughly research information from various online sources before making their decisions. Consumers are increasingly engaging in web-based healthcare communities to access authentic and reliable data about healthcare facilities and infrastructure in foreign countries. Additionally, the use of social media is experiencing a surge among medical tourism marketers as a means to reach potential patients. Leveraging social media platforms like Facebook allows marketers to benefit from the segmentation tools available within the platform. This enables them to precisely identify target audiences based on specific geographic locations and effectively advertise their services to those individuals. Key Takeaways: The U.S. Medical Tourism Market is expected to lead in terms of healthcare travel spending. However, in the coming years, Chinas spending is forecast to surge considerably is expected to lead in terms of healthcare travel spending. However, in the coming years, Chinas spending is forecast to surge considerably Among services offered under medical tourism, therapeutic services are highly sought-after. Wellness services, too, are gaining traction as an increasing number of medical tourists are seeking meditation and wellness retreats Phone and online booking will remain more preferred modes of booking for medical tourism Medical tourism is often sought for cancer and cardiovascular treatment. Besides this, cosmetics and bariatric procedures are very popular among medical tourists Request the Full Report Methodology Now! https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/request-report-methodology/rep-gb-249 Medical Tourism Shows Resilience amid COVID-19 While the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak might have caused significant disruptions, recovery is on the card, thanks to prompt response by governments around the world. Thailands response to the ongoing pandemic, for instance, has won praise from the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and other experts around the world. Thailand has been ranked among the top five countries among 184 in terms of the effectiveness of their battle against the virus. According to the Thailand Board of Investment, more than 50 applications for investments, worth over US$ 400 million were submitted during the first half of 2020 to introduce a range of novel measures, accelerating investment in the medical sector. Proactive steps taken by government and non-government organizations will enable the medical tourism market sail despite losses incurred during COVID-19. Who is winning? Medical tourism market is expanding at a fast rate. Tier 1 companies such as AsklepiosKlinikenGmbH, Bangkok DusitMedical Services, Fortis Healthcare Limited, Apollo Healthcare, BumrugrandInternational Hospitals, ChristusMughuerza, and others contribute nearly 6% to 17% of revenue generated by the market. Tier 2 companies operating in the market include Asian Heart Institute, Prince Court Medical Center, ShouldiceHospital, Gleneagles Hospital, ClemenceuMedical Centre, AnadoluMedical Centre, and others. These companies account for the lions share of the global market. Medical Tourism Market Research Report Coverage: Attribute Details Growth Rate 30.5% CAGR from 2022 to 2032 Market Value in 2022 US$ 5.2 Billion Market Value in 2032 US$ 75 Billion Forecast Period 2022 to 2032 Historical Data Available for 2017 to 2021 Market Analysis USD Billion for Value Key Regions Covered North America Latin America Europe East Asia South Asia Oceania Middle East & Africa Key Countries Covered USA Canada Brazil Mexico Germany UK France Italy Spain China Japan South Korea India Thailand Indonesia Malaysia Australia New Zealand GCC Countries South Africa Turkey Key Segments Covered Treatment Type Service Type Tourist Type Tour Type, Customer Orientation Age Group Booking Channel Region Key Companies Profiled Clemenceu Medical Center Asklepios Klinik Barmbek Fortis Hospital Apollo Hospitals Gleneagles Hospital Prince Court Medical Center Shouldice Hospital Christus Muguerza Super Specialty Hospital Anadolu Medical Centre ITL World Global Healthcare Connection Inc. Mednamaste Satori World Medical E-Medsol Pvt. Ltd. Bumrungrad International Hospital Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Asia Heart Institute Report Coverage Market Forecast, Company Share Analysis, Competition Intelligence, DROT Analysis, Market Dynamics and Challenges, and Strategic Growth Initiatives Get Ahead with Detailed Market Intelligence: Purchase Now to Access Segment-specific Information and uncover Key Trends, Drivers, and Challenges: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/249 About the Travel and Tourism Division at Future Market Insights The Travel and Tourism team at Future Market Insights offers expert analysis, time-efficient research, and strategic recommendations with the objective to provide authentic insights and accurate results to help clients worldwide. With a repertoire of over 100+ reports and 1 million+ data points, the team has been analysing the industry lucidly in 50+ countries for over a decade. The team provides a brief analysis on key trends including competitive landscape, profit margin, and research development efforts. Author Sneha Varghese (Senior Consultant, Consumer Products & Goods) has 6+ years of experience in the market research and consulting industry. She has worked on 200+ research assignments pertaining to Consumer Retail Goods. Her work is primarily focused on facilitating strategic decisions, planning and managing cross-functional business operations, technology projects, and driving successful implementations. She has helped create insightful, relevant analysis of Food & Beverage market reports and studies that include consumer market, retail, and manufacturer research perspective. She has also been involved in several bulletins in food magazines and journals. Have a Look at Related Research Reports on Travel and Tourism: UK Medical Tourism Market Size: The UK medical tourism market is estimated to reach US$ 6 Billion in 2022. As per the report, sales are forecasted to increase at a robust 14.6% CAGR. Total sales in the UK medical tourism market represent ~3%-7% of the global medical tourism market size. Thailand Medical Tourism Market Share: The Thailand medical tourism market is estimated to reach US$ 5,687 Million in 2022. As per the report, sales of Thailand Medical Tourism market are forecasted to increase at a robust 18.4 % CAGR. GCC Countries Medical Tourism Market Trends: The GCC countries' medical tourism market is estimated to reach US$ 6,605 Million in 2022. As per the report, sales are forecasted to increase at a robust 10 % CAGR during the forecast period. Italy Medical Tourism Market Demand: The Italy medical tourism market is estimated to reach US$ 3,532 Million in 2022. Sales are predicted to increase at a robust 10.8% CAGR in the forecast period (2022 to 2032). The Italy medical tourism market holds nearly ~2-5% of the share of the global medical tourism industry. Outbound Medical Tourism Market Forecast: In 2023, the outbound medical tourism market is projected to reach an impressive figure of US$ 221.21 billion. According to FMIs comprehensive report, the demand for outbound medical tourism is predicted to experience an astounding CAGR of 11.6% from 2023 to 2033. About Future Market Insights (FMI) Future Market Insights, Inc. (ESOMAR certified, recipient of the Stevie Award, and a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) offers profound insights into the driving factors that are boosting demand in the market. FMI stands as the leading global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, consulting, and events for the Packaging, Food and Beverage, Consumer Technology, Healthcare, Industrial, and Chemicals markets. With a vast team of over 5000 analysts worldwide, FMI provides global, regional, and local expertise on diverse domains and industry trends across more than 110 countries. Contact Us: Nandini Singh Sawlani Future Market Insights Inc. Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive, Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA T: +1-845-579-5705 For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com LinkedIn| Twitter| Blogs | YouTube WESTPORT, Conn., Sept. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HMG Strategy, the Worlds #1 platform for enabling technology executives to reimagine the enterprise and reshape the business world, is excited to be hosting its 2023 Boston CIO Executive Leadership Summit on September 6 at The Harvard Club of Boston. Hot topics to be explored at the 2023 Boston CIO Executive Leadership Summit will include successful use cases for applying Generative AI to the business as well as the CIO as the CEO of Technology. As the CEO of Technology, CIOs require the ability to peer around the corners to anticipate whats coming next to help position the business to succeed, said Hunter Muller, Founder and CEO of HMG Strategy. To hear more from Hunter Muller about the 2023 Boston CIO Executive Leadership Summit, click here. World-class CIOs and business technology executives speaking at the 2023 Boston CIO Executive Leadership Summit will include: Vic Bhagat , Global Advisor & Senior Partner, Kyndryl , Global Advisor & Senior Partner, Kyndryl Monica Caldas , EVP Global CIO, Liberty Mutual Insurance , EVP Global CIO, Liberty Mutual Insurance Lee Caswell , SVP, Product & Solutions Marketing, Nutanix , SVP, Product & Solutions Marketing, Nutanix Jim Chilton , EVP & CIO, Cengage Group , EVP & CIO, Cengage Group Brook Colangelo , CIO, Waters Corporation , CIO, Waters Corporation Jason Cooper , CTO, Technology, Data & Analytics Group, Paradigm , CTO, Technology, Data & Analytics Group, Paradigm Martin Davis , CIO, Mevotech , CIO, Mevotech Patrick Ford , CISO, Americas Region, Schneider Electric , CISO, Americas Region, Schneider Electric Shannon Gath , CIO, Teradyne , CIO, Teradyne David Gerstle , Chief Digital Officer, MBTA , Chief Digital Officer, MBTA Danielle Goulet , VP & CISO, The Hanover Insurance Group , VP & CISO, The Hanover Insurance Group Ken Grady , SVP & CIO, IDEXX Laboratories , SVP & CIO, IDEXX Laboratories Rocco Grillo , Managing Director Global Cyber Risk Services & Incident Response Investigation, Alvarez & Marsal , Managing Director Global Cyber Risk Services & Incident Response Investigation, Alvarez & Marsal Elizabeth Hackenson , CIO, Schneider Electric , CIO, Schneider Electric Anjana Harve , SVP & CIO, Fresenius Medical Care , SVP & CIO, Fresenius Medical Care Emily Heath , General Partner, Cyberstarts , General Partner, Cyberstarts Eric Helmer , SVP & CTO, Rimini Street , SVP & CTO, Rimini Street Michael Israel , CIO, The Kraft Group , CIO, The Kraft Group Todd Mazza , CTO, FM Global , CTO, FM Global Kevin Powers , J.D., Director, MS in Cybersecurity Policy & Governance, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Business Law and Society Department, Boston College , J.D., Director, MS in Cybersecurity Policy & Governance, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Business Law and Society Department, Boston College Ramesh Razdan , Global CIO, Bain & Company , Global CIO, Bain & Company Brian Shield , SVP/CTO, The Boston Red Sox , SVP/CTO, The Boston Red Sox Ken Spangler , EVP IT CIO Global OpCo Technologies: Express, Ground, Freight, Logistics, FedEx Services , EVP IT CIO Global OpCo Technologies: Express, Ground, Freight, Logistics, FedEx Services Mike Towers , Chief Digital Trust Officer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. , Chief Digital Trust Officer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. Mark Troller, CIO, Tangoe Luminary CIOs and business technology executives who will be recognized under HMG Strategys 2023 Global Leadership Institute Awards program at the 2023 Boston CIO Executive Leadership Summit will include: Vic Bhagat , Global Advisor & Senior Partner, Kyndryl , Global Advisor & Senior Partner, Kyndryl Brook Colangelo , VP & CIO, Waters Corporation , VP & CIO, Waters Corporation Shannon Gath , CIO, Teradyne , CIO, Teradyne Ken Grady , SVP & CIO, IDEXX Laboratories , SVP & CIO, IDEXX Laboratories Anjana Harve , SVP & CIO, Fresenius Medical Care , SVP & CIO, Fresenius Medical Care Elizabeth Hackenson , CIO, Schneider Electric , CIO, Schneider Electric Ramesh Razdan , Global CIO, Bain & Company , Global CIO, Bain & Company Patty Patria, CIO, Babson College Valued Partners for the 2023 Boston CIO Executive Leadership Summit include 8x8, Akamai, Apptio, Aryaka, Avalor, BetterCloud, Box, Coretelligent, Creatio, Darktrace, Delphix, Fortinet, Illumio, Intuitive.Cloud, Lakeside, LastPass, Nasuni, Netskope, Nutanix, OutSystems, Palo Alto Networks, Ping Identity, Proofpoint, Rimini Street, RingCentral, SafeGuard Cyber, SAP, SentinelOne, SoftwareOne, Tangoe, Tanium, Trustmi, Upwork, Zoom, and Zscaler. To learn more about the 2023 Boston CIO Executive Leadership Summit, click here. The 2023 Boston CIO Executive Leadership Summit is the first of 17 Executive Leadership Summits that HMG Strategy will be producing across the fall of 2023. The theme for the fall summit series is Visionary Leadership: Driving a Modern AI Enterprise and a Secure Digital Agenda. These summits are designed by HMG Strategys Research and Program Management teams along with advisory boards for each region comprised of top-tier CIOs, Chief Digital Officers, CISOs, CTOs and other forward-thinking business technology leaders. Additional regions where Executive Leadership Summits are being planned include: Huntington Beach, CA Chicago, IL Detroit, MI Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, PA Toronto, ON St. Louis, MO San Diego, CA Silicon Valley, CA Greenwich, CT Minneapolis, MN Charlotte, N.C. Denver, CO Houston, TX New York, NY To learn more about HMG Strategys upcoming Executive Leadership Summits and to register for these events, click here. About HMG Strategy HMG Strategy is the world's leading digital platform for technology executives to reimagine the enterprise and reshape the business world. The HMG Strategy global network consists of more than 500,000 CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, CDOs, senior business technology executives, search industry executives, venture capitalists, industry experts and world-class thought leaders. HMG Strategys global media model generates more than one million impressions per week, providing vast opportunities for business technology leaders and sponsor partners to promote themselves and their brands. HMG Strategy was founded in 2008 by Hunter Muller, a leadership expert who has worked side-by-side with Fortune 2000 executives with strategic planning and career ascent for the past 30+ years. HMG Strategys regional CIO and CISO Executive Leadership Series, authored books and Digital Resource Center deliver unique, peer-driven guidance from CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, CDOs and technology executives on leadership, innovation, transformation and career ascent. HMG Strategy offers a range of peer-led advisory services such as its Global CIO & CISO Executive Leadership Alliance (CELA) service which bring together the worlds top CIOs, CISOs and technology executives to brainstorm on the top opportunities and challenges facing them in their roles. HMG Strategys Global Advisory Services are a unique set of peer-driven research services that are designed to keep business technology executives up to speed on the latest leadership, business, technology and global macro-economic trends that are impacting businesses and industries. To learn more about the 7 Pillars of Trust for HMG Strategy's unique business model, click here . A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/063b559d-0831-462e-8c6e-6e08b26b0e1f RADNOR, Pa., Sept. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (www.ktmc.com) informs investors that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey 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 companys business, operations, and prospects. As a result of Bauschs materially misleading statements and omissions to the public, Bauschs 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 TO VIEW OUR VIDEO, PLEASE CLICK HERE LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 CLASS PERIOD: AUGUST 6, 2020 THROUGH MAY 3, 2023 CONTACT 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 worlds 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. BAUSCHS ALLEGED MISCONDUCT Bausch 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 Bauschs 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 Bauschs 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 Bauschs 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, Bauschs 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, LLP or 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 CASE WHO CAN BE A LEAD PLAINTIFF? A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff is usually the investor or small group of investors who have the largest financial interest and who are also adequate and typical of the proposed class of investors. The lead plaintiff selects counsel to represent the lead plaintiff and the class and these attorneys, if approved by the court, are lead or class counsel. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. ABOUT KESSLER TOPAZ MELTZER & CHECK, LLP Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country and around the world. The firm has developed a global reputation for excellence and has recovered billions of dollars for victims of fraud and other corporate misconduct. All of our work is driven by a common goal: to protect investors, consumers, employees and others from fraud, abuse, misconduct and negligence by businesses and fiduciaries. The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com. CONTACT: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Jonathan Naji, Esq. 280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 (484) 270-1453 info@ktmc.com Trondheim, 4 September 2023: NORBIT announces an add-on acquisition of the Canadian maritime technology company PING DSP. The acquisition will broaden the product offering in the Oceans segment. With the target company having developed an Interferometric Side Scan Sonar technology, complementary to NORBITs current portfolio, this acquisition supports our strategy to broaden product offering in the Oceans domain by capitalizing on our global sales and distribution platform, says Per Jrgen Weisethaunet, CEO of NORBIT. The target company is valued at USD 3.24 million on a cash and debt-free basis. The acquisition is to be financed 70 per cent by cash and 30 per cent as a private placement to the sellers of the target company (consideration shares). Closing is expected to take place end of September. For further queries, please contact: Per Jrgen Weisethaunet, CEO, +47 959 62 915 Per Kristian Reppe, CFO, +47 900 33 203 About NORBIT ASA NORBIT is a global provider of tailored technology to selected applications, solving challenges and promoting sustainability through innovative solutions, in line with its mission to Explore More. The company is structured in three business segments to address its key markets: Oceans, Connectivity and Product Innovation & Realization. The Oceans segment delivers tailored technology solutions to global maritime markets. The Connectivity segment provides wireless solutions for identification, monitoring and tracking. The Product Innovation & Realization segment offers R&D services, proprietary products, and contract manufacturing to key custofmers. NORBIT is headquartered in Trondheim with manufacturing in Europe, has around 450 employees, and a worldwide sales and distribution platform. For more information: www.norbit.com The information is such that NORBIT is required to disclose in accordance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication by Elise Heidenreich, Investor Relations at NORBIT ASA, on 4 September 2023 at 07:15 CEST. MUNICH, Germany, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LG Magna e-Powertrain, the Joint Venture (JV) between LG Electronics (LG) and Magna (Magna) formed in 2021, announced at IAA Mobility 2023 that it is expanding its footprint with a new facility in Miskolc, Hungary. The facility will be in Miskolcs industrial area which features well-developed infrastructure and is strategically located near OEM customers and other Magna facilities throughout the region. The company has also received strong support from both the Hungarian government and local authorities. Scheduled for completion in 2025, the new facility will start production with e-motors and plans to offer a suite of electrified powertrain solutions in the future, including inverters and on-board chargers for the growing EV market. The 284,000-square foot facility will be LG Magna e-Powertrains first production operations in Europe and, at initial start of production in 2026, the company expects to create roughly 200 new jobs. Adding the new Hungary facility marks another milestone for the JV in executing its growth plan, said Diba Ilunga, president of Magna powertrain. With this new capacity the JVs first in Europe - LG Magna e-Powertrain is well positioned to keep pace with customer demands and increases in global EV production. Our new facility is a testament to the remarkable growth of LG Magna e-Powertrain, thanks to our strong partnership, said Eun Seok-hyun, president of LG Vehicle component Solutions (VS) Company. The new facility aims to meet the demands of European automakers, demonstrating our commitment to delivering innovative solutions to our customers. As the industry shifts toward vehicle electrification, the JV offers automakers a scalable portfolio including complete component solutions that enable electrification and functionality. This new facility seeks to amplify the growth of LG Magna e-Powertrain in the European market, said Cheong Won-suk, chief executive officer of LG Magna e-Powertrain. Along with the facilities in Mexico, China and South Korea, the facility in Hungary will be critical as the company accelerates its position as a go-to mobility solutions partner in the fast-growing global EV market. The joint venture combines Magnas expertise in electric powertrain systems and operational excellence, with LGs capabilities in component development for e-motors, inverters and on-board chargers. The collaboration in design, engineering and manufacturing happening within LG Magna e-Powertrain allows both companies to capitalize on market trends and address customer needs with innovative solutions. ABOUT LG MAGNA E-POWERTRAIN LG Magna e-Powertrain launched in July 2021 as a joint venture between LG Electronics and Magna. We are driven by the strong synergy created by combining LGs capability in EV component and Magnas experience in traditional automotive business. Based on the technologies and manufacturing competitiveness on key components of EV powertrain motors, inverters, converters, IPGM, and more we are growing into a top e-mobility solutions partner leading the rapidly changing EV component market. More than 1,900 LG Magna employees in Korea, North America, Europe, South America, and Asia are working organically throughout technology innovation, marketing, R&D, purchasing, and manufacturing. For more information, please visit www.lgmagna.com and follow us on LinkedIn LG Magna e-Powertrain. Media Contacts: LG Electronics, Inc. Magna International Inc. Lea Lee Tracy Fuerst +82 2 3777 3981 248-761-7004 lea.lee@lge.com Tracy.fuerst@magna.com www.LGnewsroom.com www.magna.com THIS RELEASE MAY CONTAIN STATEMENTS WHICH CONSTITUTE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS UNDER APPLICABLE SECURITIES LEGISLATION AND ARE SUBJECT TO, AND EXPRESSLY QUALIFIED BY, THE CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMERS THAT ARE SET OUT IN MAGNAS REGULATORY FILINGS. PLEASE REFER TO MAGNAS MOST CURRENT MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND FINANCIAL POSITION, ANNUAL INFORMATION FORM AND ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 40-F, AS REPLACED OR UPDATED BY ANY OF MAGNAS SUBSEQUENT REGULATORY FILINGS, WHICH SET OUT THE CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMERS, INCLUDING THE RISK FACTORS THAT COULD CAUSE ACTUAL EVENTS TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE INDICATED BY SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. THESE DOCUMENTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW ON MAGNAS WEBSITE AT WWW.MAGNA.COM. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0cb296fb-5e38-405d-8eea-0117958609be Dublin, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Cloud Network Security Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The cloud network security market is expected to register a CAGR of 18.1% during the forecast period. Protection against cyberattacks is becoming more critical for industrial establishments. Therefore, industries are now considering implementing cloud network security right at the development stage for new machines and throughout their entire life cycle. The entry of new cloud security start-ups will bring more financial investment to the market, adding to the advancement and development of the service. The adoption rate for cloud storage became high during the COVID-19 period as the work-from-home option emerged significantly, and many companies continue to follow this. These modifications in the work environment are fueling the need for cloud security. Key Highlights The market comprises major players, such as IBM, Cisco, and Intel, who are the leaders in technology and the networking market (Cisco). Being early adopters and significant investors in cloud-based networking technologies, these players are pioneers in the market. To hold on to their competitive edges and positions in the market, these companies have continued to invest in this field. Deloitte announced the expansion of its global Google Cloud practice, which will not only advance the company's cloud capabilities but also provide training and certification for cloud professionals. The clients will also benefit by helping them realize value from cloud investments. CrowdStrike and EY signed an alliance to deliver cloud security and observability services. This venture will provide joint customers the ability to secure their cloud workloads with CrowdStrike Cloud Security and real-time visibility to better understand and assess issues in their infrastructure environments. The COVID-19 pandemic affected every organization. There was a high demand for cloud storage, which required a secure and efficient operation due to the rise in work-from-home adoption, web-based conferences, and rising user traffic on the networks that connected users to these services. Forecasts for the development of data centers indicate that construction on 4.1 GW worth of facilities is already underway in 55 regions, posing challenges for cloud network businesses to store, preserve, and secure this data. Cloud Network Security Market Trends Application-based Classification and Products to have Significant Demand for Cloud Network Security Application-based segmentation and product availability have driven positive demand for cloud network security-based products in the market. Organizations opt for data encryption or other available means to safeguard information. Commercial usage varies from the military-grade products and services used in defense to industry-grade products and services for financial businesses to public-use products and services. Some network applications require uninterrupted connectivity vital for the operation of the business, while others require the network to be operated continuously with a tolerance for disruption. United States Accounts for the Largest Share in the Cloud Network Security Market The United States is the largest consumer of cloud network security in the world. This could be attributed to the presence of large enterprises, the growing frequency of cyberattacks, and the increasing number of hosted servers in the country. Many cloud security-providing companies are headquartered in the United States, and the country is home to approximately 63% of the world's privately-owned cybersecurity companies. Most of the companies pilot their new services in the country before launching them globally. The rapid adoption of new technology in the country and the growing focus on security are pushing the market forward. The presence of large cloud service providers in the country, such as Microsoft and Amazon, is playing a significant role in the growth of the cloud security market. US federal, state, and local government agencies rank last in cybersecurity compared to 17 major private industries, including transportation, retail, and healthcare. Presently, however, the government in this region has tightened the security norms to provide better cloud security. With higher penetration levels in medium- and large-scale companies compared to the rest of the market, this segment of the market is expected to be the main buyer of network security solutions. Also, as smaller enterprises access their cyber exposures, growth in the adoption of cloud-based solutions is expected. As a result, investments in this sector are also expected to increase exponentially over the forecast period. Moreover, there is huge growth potential in other industry segments in the country, such as manufacturing, energy, and utilities, as they have already migrated to digitally transformed methods of operation and are now beginning to get a better understanding of their cyber exposure. Cloud Network Security Industry Overview The global cloud network security market is highly fragmented, as several cyber threats are forcing governments and respective industries to invest more in their cyberspace. Increasing investment is driving many new players that offer solutions at lower prices into the market, which makes the market competitive. Some of the key players in the market are IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation, Trend Micro Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. These players are constantly innovating and upgrading their product offerings to cater to increasing market demand. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/al6f87 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment Dublin, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Electric Vehicle Weekly" newsletter has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Welcome to our weekly newsletter, your premier source of insights and updates in the energy and infrastructure sector in India. Our dedicated research and consulting services aim to keep you informed about the dynamic developments taking place in this rapidly evolving landscape. As India sets its sights on achieving a remarkable goal a 100% transition to Electric Vehicles (EVs) by 2030 the nation is making strategic moves to propel this transformation forward. With the emergence of EV-related advancements happening at an accelerated pace, businesses eager to maintain a competitive edge amid this disruptive shift seek comprehensive updates to refine their EV strategies. The Ministry of Road and Transport's resolute intention to align the automobile industry with this vision demonstrates the government's commitment. While policies are in the making, the government has already embarked on its journey by announcing procurement plans for Electric Cars and Buses, and it is actively encouraging the industry to establish charging infrastructure to bolster the growth of the EV ecosystem. Stay ahead in the race to electrification with our insights that illuminate the path toward India's electrified future. What you get ? News and Our Views: This section will capture all the new developments related to EV in India and will also provide our analyst view on what this development means for a company/overall sector Industry View Point: This section will provide insights from industry on a trending topic pertaining to EV in India. For instance, Whether or not Battery Swapping is a feasible model for country like India? News maker: This section will provide snapshot of a company that is getting EV ready. Every week 1 new company will be covered under this section. Business Opportunities: This section will provide details on tenders, business collaboration, capacity creation etc. For more information about this newsletter visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/d6ra0s 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. French group LACROIX in partnership with American company ICONICS strengthens its digital offering of water and HVAC network supervision While water and energy needs continue to grow on a global scale, the resources remain limited and must therefore be protected as much as possible. Well aware of whats at stake, LACROIX has strengthened its commitment to conserving these resources by teaming up with American company ICONICS to launch a new LX SCADA supervision software offering for connected, secure and controlled management of water and HVAC networks. Collaboration of two leaders in advanced infrastructure management Collaboration with ICONICS has enabled LACROIX to develop its LX SCADA supervision offering. This new software offering combines LACROIX's expertise in the monitoring and control of water and HVAC networks with the industrial automation know-how of ICONICS, a world-renowned software developer in smart grids, smart factories and smart buildings markets. Based on a combination of modules from the ICONICS Suite, the LX SCADA solution natively supports a wide variety of communication protocols from popular telemetry and Internet standards, enabling network operators to easily integrate their LX SCADA supervision with their existing equipment and business applications through remote management. The new supervision solution already tested and adopted on 4 continents In addition to major investments in new product launches as part of the Leadership 2025 plan, this new offering strategically supports LACROIX development ambition in France and abroad. The launch will officially be introduced to the public in October 2023 at the Pollutec (Lyon), IBS (Paris) and H20 (Italy) trade shows, the leading international events for environmental solutions for industry, cities and regions. Ahead of this launch, LACROIX has already deployed its new LX SCADA solution at pilot sites in France, as well as internationally, with the support of local partners in Indonesia, Spain, Morocco and Mexico. Based on a core software already deployed globally, this offering will enable LACROIX to accelerate its international development by drawing on a strong network of 50 channel partners spread over 5 continents. Upcoming events Half-year results 2023: 28 September 2023 after market close Join our shareholders Club LACROIX Shareholders Club View our financial data on our investors page Investors Zone - LACROIX Group About LACROIX Convinced that technology should contribute to making our living environments simpler, more sustainable and safer, LACROIX supports its customers in the construction and management of intelligent living ecosystems, thanks to connected equipment and technologies. As a publicly listed family-owned mid-cap, with a turnover of 708 million in 2022, LACROIX combines the essential agility required to innovate in an ever-changing technological sector with the ability to industrialize robust and secure equipment, cutting-edge know-how in industrial IoT solutions and electronic equipment for critical applications and the long-term vision to invest and build for the future. LACROIX designs and manufactures its customers electronic equipment, in particular in the automotive, home automation, aerospace, industrial and health sectors. LACROIX also provides safe, connected equipment for the management of critical infrastructures such as smart roads (street lighting, traffic signs, traffic management, V2X) and the management and operation of water and energy systems. Drawing on its extensive experience and expertise, the Group works with its customers and partners to build the connection between the world of today and the world of tomorrow. It helps them to create the industry of the future and to make the most of the opportunities for innovation that surround them, supplying them with the equipment for a smarter world. About ICONICS ICONICS, a group company of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, is headquartered in Foxborough, Massachusetts USA and is a global software developer of visualization, HMI, SCADA, and energy solutions. With installations running in over 100 countries worldwide and in over 70 percent of Global 500 companies, ICONICS software is recommended for automating, monitoring, and optimizing a customer's most critical assets. ICONICS offers competitive software products for various business sectors, such as manufacturing, industrial, and building automation, and it possesses advanced technology and remarkable industry leading knowledge in the development of industrial software. Contacts LACROIX COO & Executive VP Finance Nicolas Bedouin investors@lacroix.group Tel.: +33 (0)2 72 25 68 80 ACTIFIN Press Relations Jennifer Jullia jjullia@actifin.fr Tel. : +33 (0)1 56 88 11 19 ACTIFIN Financial Communication Marianne Py mpy@actifin.fr Tel. : +33 (0)6 88 78 59 99 Attachment NEW YORK, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of securities of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE: HE) between February 28, 2019 and August 16, 2023, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), of the important October 23, 2023 lead plaintiff deadline. SO WHAT: If you purchased Hawaiian Electric 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 Hawaiian Electric class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=18336 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than October 23, 2023. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Hawaiian Electrics wildfire prevention and safety protocols and procedures were inadequate to meet the challenges for which they were ostensibly designed; (2) accordingly, despite knowing the degree of risk that wildfires posed to Maui, the Companys inadequate safety protocols and procedures placed Maui at a heightened risk of devastating wildfires; and (3) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the Hawaiian Electric class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=18336 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 lrosen@rosenlegal.com pkim@rosenlegal.com cases@rosenlegal.com www.rosenlegal.com A gunman opened fire on an SUV that was transporting shooting victims to an Alabama emergency room, where two people reportedly died. A police vehicle was struck as well. Five gunshot victims who were wounded in an altercation at a Birmingham, Ala., nightclub were brought to UAB Hospital in a Chevrolet Tahoe around 2:30 a.m. Monday, according to AL.com. A second vehicle reportedly opened fire on that SUV outside the ER, where a hospital window was broken and a squad car was hit by gunfire. The shots sounded like iron pipes hitting, a witness said. The ER was locked down amid the chaos outside. The status of the three surviving victims inside is unclear. Two women believed to have been gunned down in the earlier shooting were pronounced dead at the hospital. Those unidentified victims were 24 and 33 years old, according to WVTM. They are Birminghams 90th and 91st homicide victims in 2023, AL.com reports. Police are seeking information on both Labor Day shootings. Mondays killings happened 85 miles northeast of Dadeville, Ala., where at least 20 people were shot during a birthday party in April. Four people were killed during that Sweet 16 celebration, including the birthday girls teenage brother. SALISBURY, N.C., Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, Food Lion Feeds is responding to the needs of its neighbors in South Georgia, whom recent power outages have impacted. Providing support to partner food bank Second Harvest of South Georgia, Food Lion Feeds is sending a truckload* of 19 pallets of water. The Food Lion brand bottle water equals more than 40,000 pounds, or nearly 4,000 gallons. Food Lion Feeds was founded in 2014 by Food Lion to address food insecurity in the towns and cities it serves. Second Harvest of South Georgia serves 26 counties with branches in three cities. At Food Lion, we care for the towns and cities we serve because we know our neighbors and associates count on us every day, said Angela Wheeler, Community Relations Specialist, Southern Division, Food Lion. Part of demonstrating care is lending a hand to support our communities during times of need. We are humbled to assist our neighbors in South Georgia by providing cases of water that will help them as they recover from the effects of the hurricane. Video 1: An ADUSA Distribution associate supports Food Lion Feeds emergency-relief efforts by loading water onto a semi-trailer for delivery to Second Harvest of South Georgia in Valdosta, GA. Video 2: The semi-trailer is set to deliver 19 pallets of Food Lion water by Tuesday, Sept. 5, to Second Harvest of South Georgia in Valdosta, GA, to support neighbors impacted by the power outages from Hurricane Idalia. *Editors Note The delivery of the truckload of water is supported by the ADUSA Distribution Center in Greenville, SC. The ADUSA Distribution Center, Ahold Delhaize USAs distribution and transportation company, supports Food Lion. Both Food Lion and ADUSA Distribution and Transportation companies are part of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize. About Food Lion Food Lion is an omnichannel retailer committed to nourishing its neighbors during the moments that matter most. More than 82,000 associates across 1,100+ stores deliver an easy, fresh and affordable shopping experience throughout 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. Through its Count on me culture, Food Lion fosters a sense of belonging for all associates, promoting a diverse and inclusive environment that has supported LGBTQ+ equality for nearly two decades. Food Lion is the only company in the country to be named an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for 22 consecutive years. It also pioneered a food rescue program to support food-insecure neighbors. Through Food Lion Feeds, the retailer has donated more than 1 billion meals to individuals and families since 2014 and has committed to donate 1.5 billion meals by 2025. Founded and based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize. For more information, visit foodlion.com. CONTACT: Food Lion Media Relations 704-245-3317 publicrelationsteam@foodlion.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bfd8b936-3ca0-422e-9b5c-1e63d13c0c33 Videos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/13e8822a-6ee7-40b3-a96e-7bfb237461b2 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/06108e99-3ed2-4975-81d9-026e5df9abed Governments must rescue Italian GP with guarantee Governments must intervene to rescue the embattled and historic Italian GP at Monza. Valtteri Bottas, Italian GP 2023 Alfa Romeo Although he's Italian, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali warned at the weekend that he is under pressure to make room on the bloated race calendar for new, non-European venues. The level of supply is rising, he said, "so the real issue that will have to be addressed at the political level is understanding the future of F1 in Italy. "Will it still be possible to invest in two GPs - in Imola, which I thank for being ready in the covid year, and in Monza. Or only one of the two? We need to evaluate whether we want to keep the F1 platform at the centre of the country's infrastructure investments, Domenicali added. It is notable that Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni attended Sunday's Italian GP. Italian automobile chief Angelo Sticchi Damiani says Monza needs government help in order to agree a new race contract with F1 beyond 2025. This grand prix on the oldest circuit will stop in 2025 if the institutions don't help us, Damiani warned at Monza. "We can't do it alone. TBSC semi-finals today ACUC,GCTU make maiden appearance Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu Business News Sep - 01 - 2023 , 04:39 SIX schools will battle it out for a slot in the final of the Tertiary Business Sense Challenge (TBSC) version 5.0 in Accra today. They include Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU) and Academic City University College (ACUC) who are making their maiden appearance at the semifinals of the competition. The rest are University of Ghana (UG), University of Cape Coast (UCC), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and University of Education, Winneba (UEW). Semifinals The first semifinals contest will be a tough one between UEW, the team with the highest point accumulation at the quarterfinals stage, and UG, the southern zone champion and one of last years semifinalists. The second contest will be between GCTU, and UCC, the two times national champions. The last contest will be between KNUST, the defending national champions and ACUC. Quarter finals Koforidua Technical University (KTU), Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD UBIDS) and Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED) dropped out of the competition after making it to the national quarter final stage. The unstable timetables of the Tertiary institutions where some of the participating schools are either writing IAs or major exams is the major cause of the dropout. As a result, their scheduled adversaries: UG, UCC and GCTU automatically secured their slots in the semifinals stage of the competition. While KNUST defeated Pentecost University 74-31.33 after a heated contest on Tuesday, UEW won 85.5 - 23 points against Accra Technical University (ATU) to secure a slot in the semifinals. After a tough competition Wednesday at the Executive Theatre of TV3, ACUC for the very first time on a second attempt in the competition secured the last slot in the semifinals after earning 31 points against Christ Apostolic University - 22.5 points. Impact The TBSC is a tertiary school quiz contest organised by the Graphic Business to encourage intellectual rivalry among students in various tertiary institutions around the country. As the country's leading economic and financial newspaper, it is optimistic that the challenge will serve as a fertile ground for nurturing students' interest in business issues and entrepreneurship in general, in addition to providing contestants with the opportunity to demonstrate their intellectual prowess, which could earn their schools bragging rights. Sponsors GLICO Life Insurance, MTN Ghana, CompuGhana, PwC, Goil Ghana, Cal Bank and McVities are among the sponsors for the fifth edition of the business challenge. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana (ICAG), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Graphic Business, Graphic Online, TV3 and Asaase Radio are providing technical support for the event, which has the theme Preparation Ahead of Opportunity; Business as a Way of Life. Staten Island Ferry workers are finally setting sail on a new labor contract. After 13 years without one, the Staten Island Ferry workers union has reached a deal with Mayor Adams administration on a labor contract that ensures retroactive raises and establishes new scheduling and vacation protocols. The deal which was first reported by the News before being announced by Adams on Monday ensures salary increases of at least 38% for all Staten Island Ferry captains, assistant captains, mates and engineers, as calculated from the retroactive Nov. 7, 2010, start date of the contract through the Jan. 4, 2027, end date. The contract will cost city taxpayers a total of $103 million. A Staten Island Ferry boat at the Whitehall Terminal. Renee Campion, Adams Labor Relations commissioner, explained the wage structure means Staten Island Ferry mates will earn $124,400 annually at the end of the contract if theyve been on the payroll since 2010. By comparison, a Staten Island Ferry mate earned $51,000 in 2010. Unveiling the deal during an afternoon press conference that coincided with the Labor Day holiday, Adams voiced disbelief about the fact that ferry workers have gone without a single raise for 13 years. Thirteen years without a raise, that is just hard to believe. Everything is going up around you, and youre seeing your pay stagnant for 13 years unbelievable, Adams said at Staten Islands St. George Ferry Terminal. He added: I dont know how these guys made it 13 years without a salary increase. Rent doesnt wait, mortgage doesnt wait, food doesnt wait, they had to wait for 13 years. Roland Rexha, treasurer of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, which represents the ferry systems roughly 150 unionized workers, called the deal historic and also highlighted the plight his members have endured while going without a contract. Its been a very long time coming. People have struggled, he said. Theyre in debt, theyve gone into their pensions, theyve taken pension loans. This is a relief that theyre going to have to get their lives back in order. Staten Island Ferry on the water. The contract has already been ratified by the Marine Engineers Beneficial Associations rank-and-file, with support from 94% of its members, according to City Hall. In addition to ensuring wage bumps, the contract will put Staten Island Ferry employees on 40-hour workweek schedules an increase from the current 32-hour structure. The contract also permits union workers to take vacation in one-week blocks instead of two-week blocks, a shift Adams administration officials said will allow for more flexibility. When the Staten Island Ferry unions last contract with the city expired, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg was refusing to settle labor agreements with a number of municipal unions, citing fallout from the 2008 financial crisis. Upon taking office, Mayor Bill de Blasio moved quickly to settle dozens of the outstanding contracts but his administration never managed to reach a deal with the Staten Island Ferry union despite years of tedious negotiations. The yearslong wait for a contract has driven many ferry workers to leave for higher-paying private sector jobs. Subsequent staff shortages have prompted ferry service disruptions on a regular basis, leaving thousands of New Yorkers who rely on it for their commutes in limbo. Last summer, Adams blamed one such service disruption on ferry workers calling out from work without good reason. That accusation drew harsh pushback from the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association at the time. On Monday, though, the union had nothing but praise for Adams. Throughout two previous administrations, it often felt like City Hall and the MEBA were sailing on separate courses. However, today, we proudly announce that we have finally brought this contract to dock, Rexha said. This achievement is due in part to having a mayor who truly values the hard work of our members and comprehends the challenges our mariners face day in and day out. Vodafone introduces initiative to champion Western Region devt Business Desk Report Business News Sep - 04 - 2023 , 15:30 Vodafone Ghana has launched its Grow Western 2023 initiative, a comprehensive programme tailored to the Western Region. With this initiative, Vodafone hopes to incentivise customers, improve healthcare, increase tech knowledge, and foster community growth. In a release issued by the company, it said, central to the initiative is Vodafones dedication to rewarding loyalty. The Consumer Business Director at Vodafone Ghana, David Umoh, said the initiative demonstrates the companys commitment to the Western Regions growth and prosperity. We believe in the power of community, and we aim to contribute meaningfully to customer loyalty, healthcare and education, he said. The release said the company is organising events to honour its customers and partners in the area. In addition to this, Vodafone is also intensifying its commercial efforts in the region through Merchant Storms, sales events, and a strategic partnership with the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), enabling drivers to purchase fuel using Vodafone Cash, it said. It added that the Vodafone Ghana Foundation will lead several health programmes under its Connected Health pillar. Homecoming will settle hospital bills and offer free National Health Insurance cards to insolvent patients. Rural Ultrasound Scan will help expectant mothers in remote areas to get prenatal care on time, reducing maternal mortality. Healthfest will offer free medical screenings to prevent and detect health problems early on, the release said. It explained that the Foundation's Connected Education programme will bring STEM activities to primary schools to improve learning outcomes and bridge the technology gap. This endeavour is geared towards fostering a tech-savvy generation ready to face the challenges of the modern world. Vodafone Ghanas commitment to the Western Region extends beyond the Grow Western event. The company has pledged to ensure long-term sustainable development in the region, with plans to continually monitor, evaluate, and expand these programmes to cater to the evolving needs of the community. Residents keen on more information about the Grow Western 2023 initiative can visit any Vodafone retail store in the Western Region or explore the Vodafone Ghana website, the release added. Mastering the art of negotiation: Strategies for business success Kenneth Krieger Opinion Sep - 04 - 2023 , 12:39 Many of us realize too late that we've missed out on getting a better deal because we failed to negotiate effectively. This six-part series aims to change that by shedding light on the art of negotiation, especially in the business world. Imagine the impact on your bottom line if you could improve your negotiation outcomes by just 5% on all future deals, be it salary, purchases, sales, or contracts. Introduction to Negotiation: Understanding the Importance The stark reality of negotiation's importance hit me hard in my first job post-graduation. A fellow graduate, let's call him Mike, joined the same department at the same time as I did. Over lunch one day, he casually mentioned his salary, and to my surprise, it was significantly higher than mine. Despite my longer hours and superior results, Mike was earning more. When I asked him how he secured such a lucrative offer, he simply replied, "I negotiated, of course." I vowed to myself that day, that I was going to become an expert at negotiation. Negotiation is a process by which people resolve differences. It's a delicate balance of achieving the best possible outcome for your position while ensuring fairness, mutual benefit, and relationship maintenance. It's not about winning or losing, but about creating win-win situations. This was the secret to Mike's success. As a wise friend once said, "The art of negotiation, my friend, is about understanding, communicating, and finding a solution that benefits everyone." So, let's embark on this journey to become better negotiators and ensure we never leave anything on the table again. Stay tuned for the next part of this series, where we'll delve deeper into the fundamental principles of negotiation. In business, negotiation skills can mean the difference between a successful deal and a missed opportunity. Whether its salary negotiations, client contracts, or corporate mergers, effective communication can lead to improved outcomes and stronger relationships. In this series, we will explore the principles of networking, the preparation and use of strategies, and how to apply these strategies to real-world situations. We will also discuss the skills needed for successful communication and how to make it work. Types of negotiation: Distributive vs. Integrative Negotiation can take many forms, but two common ones are distributive and integrative negotiations. Distributive negotiation is often referred to as a 'zero-sum' or 'win-lose' situation, where any benefit I make is at your expense. One way to look at this is to imagine that two people are sharing 100 Ghana Cedis. For every Cedi assigned to one, the other loses a Cedi. Integrated negotiation or 'win-win' negotiation involves a scenario where the parties arrive at mutually beneficial solutions, they cooperate to find a mutually beneficial outcome. In general, you stand to gain more when you approach the conversation from an integrative mind rather than a distributive one. Allow me to illustrate this with a short story. Two chefs (lets call them Chef A, and Chef B) reach into the fridge to pick up an orange for a recipe each is working on. They find that theres only one orange left. Conventional wisdom tells us that they should split the orange in equal halves. This is a distributive mindset. However, if they each take their time to ask the other, what he/she needs the orange for, they will be surprised to find out the following: Chef A needs the juice for an orange Bundt cake while Chef B wants to use the zest (i.e. the peeled skin) of the orange for an orange pound cake. Had they not taken time to understand what the other chef needed in the orange, they would have each walked away with exactly 50% of what they wanted from the orange. From this example, integrative negotiation has given them 100% of what they want instead of the 50% from distributive negotiation. The Role of Perception and Culture: Age and Cultural Norms Our perceptions and biases can significantly impact the negotiation process. For instance, if we perceive the other party as untrustworthy, we might be less open to their ideas or less willing to share information. It's crucial to be aware of these biases and not let them cloud our judgment. An example of this difference in perception that we see play out in our business environment is one where there is a vast difference in age. Where the young see the older as conservative, strict, and unbending, the older party views the younger as brash, disrespectful, and careless. It is important for the two to see the strength in the other and use that to forge a strong agreement. Whereas the young know the rules, the old know all the exceptions. In addition, the young must take care in respecting all cultural norms that are expected whenever he/she is interacting with older people. Behaviors like shaking hands with the right hand and using please and thank you go a long way in removing any preconceived notion that the young may be acting disrespectfully. In 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion, a deal that was significant not just for its size but also for the age difference between the key negotiators. Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was 27 years old at the time, while Instagram's CEO, Kevin Systrom, was just 28. However, their young age also led to perceptions of risk and uncertainty among their stakeholders. Investors, employees, and users of both platforms were concerned about the ability of these young CEOs to manage such a significant deal and the integration of the two companies. Zuckerberg and Systrom had to manage these perceptions throughout the negotiation process. They had to demonstrate their maturity and capability to lead the deal and the subsequent integration of Instagram into Facebook. They also had to convince their stakeholders of the strategic value of the acquisition. In the end, they were able to successfully negotiate the deal, and the acquisition has since been hailed as one of the most successful in the tech industry. The Importance of Trust: Building Confidence in Deals Trust is a vital component of successful negotiation. When parties trust each other, they're more likely to share information, consider each other's viewpoints, and work collaboratively towards a solution. Building trust can involve demonstrating reliability, showing empathy, and maintaining open and honest communication. In 2016, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, marking one of the largest tech deals at the time. The negotiation process was swift, taking only a few weeks, and was characterized by a high level of trust between the two parties. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner had a shared vision for the potential of the integration, which facilitated the negotiation process. Both leaders trusted each other's intentions and commitment to the deal, which allowed them to navigate the complex details efficiently. The trust between the two CEOs was crucial in ensuring the success of the deal. It allowed them to overcome potential roadblocks and move quickly towards an agreement. The acquisition was completed successfully, and LinkedIn has since continued to operate independently under Microsoft's ownership, as was promised during the negotiations. This case study highlights the importance of trust in negotiations, particularly in high-stakes corporate deals where the future of entire companies and their employees are at stake. Non-Verbal Communication: The Unspoken Language of Negotiation In the world of business, negotiation is an art form, a delicate dance that requires a balance of assertiveness and empathy, strategy and spontaneity. While the words we use in negotiation are undoubtedly important, non-verbal communication often speaks louder. It's an underappreciated aspect of negotiation that can significantly influence the outcome of a deal. Non-verbal communication includes a range of behaviors and cues, such as facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye contact, and tone of voice. These signals can convey confidence, interest, understanding, or discomfort, often more accurately than words. Consider the power of eye contact. Maintaining steady eye contact during a negotiation communicates confidence and sincerity. It shows that you're engaged in the conversation and that you respect the other party. On the other hand, avoiding eye contact can signal discomfort or a lack of confidence. Similarly, body language plays a crucial role. An open posture, leaning in slightly, can indicate interest and openness to the other party's ideas. In contrast, crossed arms or leaning back might suggest defensiveness or disinterest. Even the tone of voice can significantly impact the message's reception. A calm, steady tone can convey confidence and control, while a high-pitched, fast-paced voice might indicate nervousness or uncertainty. However, non-verbal communication is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Cultural norms can influence the interpretation of these cues. For instance, in some cultures, maintaining direct eye contact might be seen as aggressive rather than confident. Therefore, it's essential to be aware of these cultural nuances in international business negotiations. In conclusion, mastering non-verbal communication can give negotiators an edge. It allows them to convey their intentions and emotions more effectively, build rapport, and read the other party's signals. So, the next time you enter a negotiation, remember, it's not just about what you say, but also how you say it. Common Mistakes in Negotiation: Pitfalls to Avoid Navigating the complex world of negotiation can often feel like walking through a minefield. Even the most seasoned negotiators can fall prey to common missteps that can undermine their efforts and lead to suboptimal outcomes. One of the most frequent errors is the lack of preparation. Going into a negotiation without a clear understanding of your own goals, the needs of the other party, and the broader context is akin to setting off on a journey without a map. Thorough research, careful analysis, and strategic planning are the cornerstones of successful negotiation. Another common pitfall is focusing too much on positions (what we want) rather than interests (why we want it). By digging deeper to understand the underlying interests, negotiators can uncover new possibilities for mutual benefit and create solutions that leave all parties feeling satisfied. The story recounted earlier about the two chefs in a restaurants kitchen illustrates this point perfectly. Negotiators often make the mistake of neglecting the relationship aspect of negotiation. It's not just about clinching the deal; it's also about fostering and maintaining relationships. Treating the other party with respect, demonstrating empathy, and striving for a fair outcome can help build trust and lay the groundwork for future negotiations. Emotions can run high during negotiations, and it's all too easy to let these feelings cloud our judgment. However, allowing emotions to dictate decisions can lead to poor outcomes. It's crucial to manage emotions effectively, stay calm under pressure, and maintain a clear, rational perspective. Unilateral concessions are another common mistake. While compromise is an integral part of negotiation, making concessions without getting something in return can set a dangerous precedent. It's essential to ensure that any concessions are reciprocated by the other party. Many negotiators fall into the trap of viewing negotiation as a zero-sum game, where one party's gain is automatically the other party's loss. This is known as the "fixed pie" fallacy. In reality, by exploring creative solutions, it's often possible to expand the pie and create win-win outcomes. Finally, ignoring the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement, or BATNA (well talk more about this in part 2), can lead to accepting unfavorable terms. Knowing your BATNA gives you the power to walk away from a bad deal and can significantly strengthen your negotiating position. Conclusion: The Art of Win-Win and Continuous Learning In conclusion, being aware of these common negotiation pitfalls and actively working to avoid them can significantly enhance your negotiation outcomes. Remember, negotiation is a skill that can be honed with practice, self-awareness, and continuous learning. In this first part of the series, we've explored the art of negotiation, its types, the role of perception, trust, non-verbal communication, and the common mistakes made during the process. We've also delved into the impact of culture and age on negotiation, providing real-life examples and case studies to illustrate these concepts. We've learned that negotiation is not just about winning or losing, but about creating win-win situations that benefit all parties involved. It's about understanding, communicating, and finding solutions that cater to everyone's needs. It's a delicate balance of assertiveness and empathy, strategy and spontaneity. We've also discovered that our perceptions and biases can significantly impact the negotiation process. Trust is a vital component of successful negotiation, and non-verbal communication often speaks louder than words. Moreover, we've realized that even the most seasoned negotiators can fall prey to common missteps that can undermine their efforts and lead to suboptimal outcomes. In the realm of business, these insights are invaluable. Whether it's negotiating a salary, a client contract, or a company merger, effective negotiation can lead to improved outcomes and stronger relationships. It can mean the difference between a successful deal and a missed opportunity. As we conclude this series, remember that negotiation is a skill that can be honed with practice, self-awareness, and continuous learning. So, the next time you enter a negotiation, remember, it's not just about what you say, but also how you say it. And most importantly, leave nothing on the table. In the high-stakes world of business negotiations, the principle of leaving nothing on the table signifies the meticulous pursuit of all available opportunities, resources, and concessions to their maximum potential. This approach demands that negotiators explore every conceivable advantage, ensuring that no potential benefits remain unclaimed or overlooked. The essence of this strategy is to craft negotiations so astutely that the best possible deal is secured, with no opportunities left untapped or compromises left unexplored. It's a doctrine that embodies the relentless pursuit of excellence in the negotiation arena. Phone costs, low skills hampering womens participation Dickson Worlanyo Dotse Opinion Sep - 04 - 2023 , 11:56 Electronic government, or e-government, is the practice of providing public services to citizens, businesses and other government agencies through Information Technology (IT), Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and other web-based telecommunication technologies. The primary purpose of Ghanas national e-government initiative, like any other countrys, is to improve public service delivery. As a nation, we have understood that adopting digital technologies can unlock opportunities for poor and vulnerable groups to gain access to and benefit from economic resources and basic services, empower women and girls towards greater gender equality, develop resilient infrastructure and foster innovation. It is also evident that promoting digital transformation can grow a countrys digital economy and accelerate progress towards achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs). It is for these reasons that the office of the Vice-President and the Ministry of Communications and Digitisation (MoCD) have been charged with the responsibility of leading the countrys digital agenda and the implementation of associated initiatives. This year, the MoCD submitted a draft Digital Economy Policy to cabinet for approval in a bid to strengthen the governments efforts and provide more comprehensive and coordinated strategic digital policy planning and implementation. It would serve as a blueprint for achieving the five main objectives; universal broadband access for all, enhanced digital skills, efficient public service delivery through a user-centric digital government model, increased growth opportunities for local technology innovators, and faster adoption and use cases for emerging technologies. A woman engaging in a mobile money (momo) transaction with an agent The government has also greatly expanded e-government services including the introduction of platforms such as Ghana. GOV, the MyNHIS app, the national biometric identification card also known as the Ghana Card, cash transfer programme such as the Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) platform and the GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP) platform among others. Digital gender divide However, if not pursued properly, digitalisation can contribute to widening socio-economic gaps for those who lack connectivity, affordable devices or requisite skills to benefit from digital services. Therefore, e-services are always at risk of serving the needs of some users and neglecting the needs of others. According to a 2023 report by Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), the high cost of mobile devices was preventing women from fully participating in and benefiting from the nations digital economy. It said more than nine out of every 10 Internet users used mobile phones to access the Internet with 58 per cent of male Internet users accessing it via mobile exclusively compared to 75 per cent of female Internet users highlighting the key role of mobile phone across the population, especially among women. A fishmonger using her mobile phone at the beach after sourcing fish However, the report stated that the average cost of a smartphone was estimated to be $41, which translated to about a quarter of the average monthly income in the country. The price, it said, was effectively preventing lower-income individuals, especially women, whose average earned income was less than a third of that of males, from participating in the nations digital economy. The report further explained that it contributed to why women were 10 per cent less likely to own a smartphone and 14 per cent less likely to have used mobile Internet services adding that when women have access to a mobile Internet connection, they were less likely to use it than men, due to cost implications. It added that the cost of mobile Internet services was further impacted by significant sector-specific taxes imposed on mobile network operators (MNOs), which reduced their resources for infrastructure investment and their ability to drop service prices. The report dubbed: Inclusive E-Government Services in Ghana: Enhancing Womens Access and Usage further indicated that inadequate digital skills among women was gravely attributing to the digital gender divide. It explained that at least three-quarters of women who did not use mobile Internet services had attained only a primary education or less adding that more than a third of the women surveyed who did not use mobile Internet attributed being digitally excluded to insufficient skills. In Ghana, digital literacy initiatives largely exclude self-employed/informal business owners (34 per cent) and those involved in farming (25 per cent) who make up the greater part of Ghanas workforce, as well as people aged 61 years and above (9 per cent), the report said. Two women cooking and engaging online with a mobile phone The report, which followed a six-month study incorporating an extensive literature review and field surveys in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Northern regions as well as focus group consultations with women in various roles and contexts, also said unawareness of government e-services, despite being widely available, was preventing large-scale adoption among women. It explained that out of eight reasons for not using e-services, 40 per cent of women surveyed (the next highest reason had 11 per cent) said they had no idea such platforms existed. The report also indicated that inadequate awareness campaigns showcasing the benefits of available e-government services, absence of real-time support and user-centric design of e-government platforms, poor network coverage in remote locations, and general decline in the use of mobile money services due to the e-levy on mobile transactions were significantly hampering womens ability to meaningfully participate in the digital economy. Solutions The report noted that digital inclusion was a critical tool for womens economic empowerment and financial independence as it helps to break down social norms that limit opportunities for women, supporting womens inclusion in household financial decision-making and increasing prospects of financing expansion of women-owned businesses. For example by enabling access to health information they may otherwise not have been privy to, or by conducting financial transactions more conveniently via digital financial services, it said. It added that inclusion was also critical because womens inability to access digital services meant a large part of the population was excluded from actively participating in the digital economy. A fashion designer conducting a transaction on a mobile phone The report suggested a unified front by policymakers/regulators, mobile operators and donor agencies as the way to address the obstacles of wide adoption of e-services. To address the affordability barriers, it urged policymakers to establish public-private partnerships with MNOs, device manufacturers or other relevant players to subsidise the cost of smartphones and digital services, while mobile operators considered partnering government to encourage differential pricing strategies for e-government services and donor agencies partnered with and supported the mobile ecosystem on projects that promote affordable handsets financing schemes provided through grass roots NGO networks led by women. It also stated that to increase knowledge of how to use e-government services, government could expand the role of existing community ICT centres and libraries with training facilities for continuous digital learning opportunities for all, and trained personnel who can assist users in navigating online platforms and utilising public e-services while mobile operators trained and incentivised mobile agents to provide digital skills training and support to customers and donor agencies brought digital literacy programmes to underserved populations and rural areas through face-to-face training. ASP Asante Antwi assisted Bugri Naabu to record the leaked tape - Supt Asare alleges Zadok Kwame Gyesi Sep - 04 - 2023 , 14:44 An Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Frank Asante Antwi has been alleged as the one who assisted Daniel Bugri Naabu to record a conversation between himself and two senior police officers. Superintendent George L. Asare, one of the officers captured on tape discussing the plot with Daniel Bugri Naabu and Commissioner of Police, Mr George Alex Mensah mentioned the name of Asante, when he appeared before the the Parliamentary committee probing the tape and the discussions captured on it. Supt Asare said his own intelligence gathering exposed that ASP Asante was the one who did the recording. He said, coincidentally, when the tape was leaked and Bugri Naabu called him [Asare] on telephone, he mentioned the name Asante and questioned why he leaked the tape, seemingly unknowing that he had rather called Asare. Already, Daniel Bugri Naabu when he appeared before the committee last week admitted that he did and recording and mentioned that he got someone to assist him to do it, but he did not mention the name of the said person who assisted him. COP George Alex Mensah when he appeared before the committee last week also mentioned that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr George Akuffo Dampare had a hand in the recording and the subsequent leaking of the tape. The committee has said it may invite IGP Dampare. Related article: Dampare to be invited by Committee probing plot to remove him as IGP Superintendent Asare, who did not disclose so much information on ASP Asante, told the committee that after the tape had leaked, Bugri Naabu mistakenly called him and referred to him (Superintendent Asare) as Asante, wanting to find out why he (Asante) had leaked the tape. When he appeared before the committee on Monday, September 4, 2023, Supt. Asare told the committee that the said ASP Asante was assisted to go to the Police College by COP George Alex Mensah, one of the officers also captured on the said leaked tape. He, however, told the committee that he will disclose much of the information on the said officer to the committee in camera. Superintendent Asare is part of those captured on tape discussing why the IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare should be removed from office. The secret recording of the conversation between Daniel Bugri Naabu, Superintendent Asare and COP Mensah was leaked into the public domain after which Parliament set up a committee to investigate the matter. The Committee is chaired by the Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta-Akyea. Cyber security awareness month launched Emmanuel Bonney Sep - 04 - 2023 , 07:20 The National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NSCAM) has been launched to raise awareness of digital security and empower people to protect their personal data from digital forms of crime in view of the ever-evolving global digital trends. The event, launched at the Ministry of Information by a Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ama Pomaa Boateng, in Accra yesterday, will be held from October 1 to 31, 2023. It is on the theme: Promoting a Culture of Digital Safety. In an address read on her behalf, the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, said the rapid advancement of digital technologies had transformed the way people lived, worked and interacted as the digital age brought numerous opportunities and so were the risks to individuals, organisations and societies. Cyber threats, such as cyber bullying, privacy breaches, misinformation and disinformation have become prevalent and of urgent concern. Ghana is no exception to these risks, particularly as the country scales up connectivity and encourages e-Commerce activities as part of the governments digitalisation agenda. Report She said the Groupe Special Mobile Associations Connectivity Index 2023 Report, which measured the performance of 170 countries against the critical enablers of mobile internet adoption, showed that Ghana was ranked third in Africa with a score of 51.4 per cent marking a significant progress in its internet penetration in the last five years. The same report highlights Ghanas score of 86.69 per cent in Online Security (a key dimension of the index), which is consistent with the countrys score on the ITUs Global Cybersecurity Index. Also, Ghana's internet access rate in 2023 stands at 23.05 million, representing 68.2 per cent of the population. Of this number, 6.6 million (19.5 per cent) are active social media users contributing to the country's 13th place in the world on the list of countries that spend substantial amount of time on the internet, she said and added that These developments have contributed to the countrys exposure to high-risk cyber threats such as Romance Scam, Phishing, Advance Fee Fraud, Online Bullying, Sextortion, and Online Impersonation. Statistics As a key component of the NCSAM, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said the launch aimed to address those worrying concerns by promoting cybersecurity awareness, in collaboration with government officials, private sector players, business executives, cybersecurity professionals, educationists, representatives from civil society organisations and the media. The Director General of the Cyber Security Authority, Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, said the NCSAM is a period dedicated to awareness creation activities, educating and conscientising organisations and the wider Ghanaian public on all the opportunities and threats of the cyberspace and to encourage a more secure usage of online resources for a safer digital Ghana. He said recent statistics indicated that more than 62 per cent (4.95 billion) of the worlds population had access to the internet and that in Ghana internet penetration had increased exponentially from 2.31 million in 2012 to 17 million users in 2022, representing 53 per cent of the population. We expect the media launch to set in motion a month-long national cybersecurity awareness creation that will assemble public and private sector players, cybersecurity professionals, the academia, and representatives from civil society organisations, in preparation for the NCSAM as we seek to encourage every Ghanaian to stay digitally alert, he said. Stakeholders The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, said cyber security was something that everyone needed to be involved in. The President of the Ghana Association of Banks, John Awuah, said as banks, a lot of investments had taken place to ensure that customers could transact safely on the channels that had been created. The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, pledged his outfits support to the NCSAM to enhance the countrys cyber security practices. On behalf of the Board of the Cyber Security Authority, Carl Sackey said the theme for the NCSAM underlined the necessity of the collective action of Ghanaians to safeguard the countrys digital assets, intellectual property and the private information of citizens. In an addressed on his behalf, the President of ISACA), Accra Chapter, Daniel Gyampo, said in todays interconnected world, the significance of cyber security could not be overstated. Representing the Joint Cyber Security Committee, Col. Dr Tim Ba-Taa-Banah, appealed to ministries, departments and agencies and civil society to allow their staff to be actively involved in the NCSAM. Background The awareness month was started in 2004 by the US Department of Homeland Security to bring cybersecurity awareness to Americans. Since then, it has evolved into a collaborative event to include other government entities and experts across the world, including Ghana. Engage women in fight against violent extremism, terrorism Emelia Ennin Abbey Sep - 04 - 2023 , 07:56 The important role of women in the prevention of violent extremism and terrorism must not be taken for granted, the Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Centre (KAIPTC), Major General Richard Addo Gyane has said. That, he said, was because women were indispensable change agents in preventing violent extremism. Women, he said, make invaluable contributions to the development of every society, with the domain of peace and security being no exception. He was speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop last Wednesday in Accra on the theme "the role of women and youth in the prevention and fight against violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel. The workshop is being organised by Partners West Africa under their Regional Programme for monitoring women and youth participation in Violence Extremism in ECOWAS and the Sahel Region. The programme, dubbed "The sentinels of resolutions, women, peace and security and social cohesion, was aimed at contributing to the promotion and protection of the rights of women and the youth. Participants at the workshop also reviewed the phenomenon of violent extremism in West Africa and discussed the challenges of womens participation in the fight against violent extremism while recommendations and proposals from the meeting would be compiled as a policy brief. Major General Gyane said the recent canker of violent extremism in some West African states had become an issue of great concern both at the regional and national levels. The evolution of violent extremism in West Africa, he said, had presented women as active players and contributors to violent extremism. Accra initiative The Special Advisor to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, on the Accra Initiative, Major General (Rtd) Francis Adu-Amanfoh, in an address, said women have God-given talents that need to be tapped. "They are the mothers of the young people who are recruited and trained for the perpetration of violence extremism and terrorism and also the wives of the perpetrators of these criminal activities. They can dissuade their children and husbands from perpetrating violent extremism and other crimes. We cannot leave women out in combating violent extremism." He said the Accra Initiative, spearheaded by the government of Ghana in collaboration with six other countries -Cote D'Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Mali, Burkina and Niger- is an interstate organisation with an aim to address issues of transnational organised crime and violent extremism. Outcome of workshop The Regional President of the Peace and Security Network for Women in the ECOWAS Region, Diago Ndiaye, said the organisation was committed to promoting the inclusiveness of women and the youth in efforts to address violent extremism, terrorism and transnational organised crime. Lets join forces to combat domestic violence Italian Ambassador Dickson Worlanyo Dotse Sep - 04 - 2023 , 08:02 The Italian Ambassador to Ghana, Daniela d'Orlandi, has called on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), advocates, the public and all relevant stakeholders in the fight against domestic violence to join forces and intensify their campaign against the menace. That, she said, was because gender-based violence, particularly against women, was not unique to the country but rather an international phenomenon that could effectively be dealt with through a unified approach. You and other people may be doing the same thing in the same area but you may not even know. So by joining forces and creating a strong synergy and relationship, we can do more, she stressed. Ms d'Orlandi made the call last Thursday when the Founder of the Humanity Magazine, a humanitarian organisation, Yahaya Alhasan, together with some advocates, paid a courtesy call on her at the embassy in Accra. The visit was to solicit the Italian governments support in the organisations quest to ensure domestic violence was clamped down while victims were given access to free medical care. Commendation, support Ms d'Orlandi, who is also the ambassador to Togo, commended the organisation for continuously pursuing the agenda to protect women from all forms of gender-based harassment and pledged to use her platform to create a strong network of advocates for the cause. She mentioned that a civil society made of women entrepreneurs, professors and spouses of Italians working or based in the country, known as the Ghana-Italian Women Association, was equally committed and focused on improving the social welfare of women and children. For instance, in Agbogbloshie, they are supporting schools and dispensaries, bringing in medicines and providing training for the young girls. They also have a programme to educate adolescent girls and Kayayei against unwanted pregnancies, she explained. Due to the prevalent cases of abuse across the country, Mr Alhassan reiterated an earlier appeal to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the entire government to help scrap the cost of medical treatment for victims of gender-based violence and abuses. It is mainly the poor and the voiceless who are beaten in society. The medical cost is quite expensive, especially at such a distressful time for our economy. So how many of them can afford proper medical care? he lamented. Mr Alhasan stated that the organisation had made some modest gains in combating the problem by championing a campaign that led to the passage of an anti-witchcraft law, criminalising the accusation of anyone as a witch. National transformation agenda on course Ntim Fordjour Emmanuel Bonney Sep - 04 - 2023 , 09:07 A Deputy Minister of Education in charge of General Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has affirmed that the countrys transformation agenda is on course. He explained that the craving for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, especially by the youth and the support being received from the private sector, were enough evidence to indicate that the nation was gradually being transformed through education. As a country, we are on the right path of transformation. We just have to do more, a lot more collaboration is also needed. This summit is apt since that is what the country needs to move forward. Innovative discussion from the summit will help us chart a path ahead of us, Rev. Ntim Fordjour said. STEM He said this at the just-ended Ghana 2023 Global STEM and Computing Education Summit held in Accra. The three-day summit brought together STEM education and Computing experts from across the world together to brainstorm on how to get the best for the countrys development. Papers were presented by experts and best practices were shared after which participants looked at how best the country could also position itself among great nations with STEM education and computing. Investment The deputy minister recounted the investment being made by the government towards revamping the education sector as the pipeline to serve the critical manpower needs of the country. All we are doing is to expose our youth to the fast-changing global market needs. We are training them with critical thinking skills to meet the changing dynamics. To catch up with the rest of the world, requires good education which is exactly what we are doing, he said and added that a lot is being done towards increasing access to STEM education to students and the nation as a whole. Afia Kobi SHS, for example, is now becoming the hub of Aviation and Aeronautic Studies in the country due to their interest and readiness to learn. They have attracted national attention. Measures The deputy minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Assin South, enumerated the various measures that had been put in place by the government to ensure that the nations transformation agenda through education was boosted for the good of the nation. He praised the private sector and all other stakeholders who were working very hard and collaborating with the government towards the transformation of the nations economy through education. A lecturer at the Cape Coast University Business School, Dr Charles Hackman Essel, commended the government for its efforts to make STEM education the driving force for the nations development. The Director in charge of Strategy and Innovation at the Education Ministry, Aeron Kwaku Twum Akwaboah, assured all the stakeholders of the Ministrys preparedness to ensure that they all worked as a team to get the best for the country and the rest of the world. He was, particularly, excited by the huge acceptance of STEM-related courses by students in the country and described it as a great motivation towards going forward since any investment made in that direction would not go to waste. New face of PFJ 2.0: Transformative strategy for agric sector Severious Kale-Dery Sep - 04 - 2023 , 07:36 In 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the agricultural flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), which seeks to increase food production to ensure food sufficiency and promote farming as a noble and profitable business. Phase one successes For six years, the PFJ made a significant impact on food production in the country, having roped in 1.7 million farmers onto the programme, resulting in increased agricultural sector growth rate from 2.7 per cent in 2016 to an average of 6.3 per cent from 2017 to 2021. The five key pillars designed for phase one of the PFJ policy action were the provision of 50 per cent subsidised certified seeds; 50 per cent subsidised fertiliser; e-agriculture; market opportunities; and free extension services. The programme led to the attainment of food self-sufficiency in major food staples such as maize, cassava and plantain as well as increased yields in maize, rice and soyabean by 135 per cent, 67 per cent, and 18 per cent respectively from 2016 to 2022. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture attributed this largely to, among other things, the increased fertiliser application rate from eight kg/ha in 2016 to 25 kg/ha in 2022; increased distribution of certified seeds from 2,000 MT in 2016 to 36,000 MT in 2022, as well as enhanced extension service delivery with the recruitment of 2,700 agricultural extension agents (AEAs) in 2018, thus reducing the AEA-farmer ratio from 1: 1,906 in 2016 to 1:709 in 2020. Surely, these are great strides to celebrate as a country. However, there were a number of limitations in the implementation of the programme. For instance, the programme put serious financial strain on the government, especially with the subsidised fertilisers and improved seeds. For the first five years of the implementation of the programme, a total accumulated amount of GH 2.68 billion was expended on seeds and fertiliser from 2017 to 2021. It is, however, a fact that this investment yielded over GH47 billion worth of the produce, though this was not reimbursed to the government. That is why the current Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Bryan Acheampong, must be commended for reviewing the programme, in light of these and many other identified gaps during the implementation of the first phase of the programme. Launch of PFJ 2.0 Consequently, last week, Monday, August 28, 2023, President Akufo-Addo was in Tamale in the Northern Region to launch the rebirth or the second phase of the PFJ, which was dubbed PFJ Phase Two (PFJ 2.0). PFJ 2.0 seeks to build on the achievements of its initial phase, with a five-year comprehensive plan to modernise agriculture in Ghana. It takes a holistic view of the value chain approach by focusing on strengthening linkages among actors along selected agricultural commodity value chains and improving service delivery to maximise impact. This plan emphasises the development of specific commodity value chains and active participation from the private sector. Input credit Known as the Input Credit System, the PFJ 2.0 will provide affordable and timely credit specially designed to meet the needs of farmers. It is aimed at transforming and modernising the agricultural value chain through the active participation of the private sector, improving service delivery to maximise impact and creating decent jobs for the teeming youth. The input credit system replaces the input subsidy programme under the first phase of the PFJ, where fertiliser and improved seeds are supplied to farmers. This was susceptible to all sorts of abuses including the smuggling of these farm inputs to neighbouring countries and onto the open market. This was an open secret, which led to the interception of loads of trucks with farm inputs at the various borders of our neighbouring countries. Therefore, the decision to fashion the PFJ 2.0 on input credit system to be managed entirely by the private sector will wipe out the infiltration of people rather than the real beneficial farmers. The inclusion of the commercial large-scale farmers in a complete departure of the first phase is heartwarming and this is possible because an input credit taken would be borne by the beneficiary individual, who would be required to pay back. This initiative is an intervention that would eliminate access to credit barriers, increase productivity and production, stabilise food prices, promote commercial agriculture and ultimately improve food security and resilience. 5-Year programme Modelled on the successful implementation of the first phase, the five-year PFJ 2.0 programme is expected to create more than 420,000 direct and indirect jobs along the value chain. The government of Brazil is supporting the programme with $62 million, while the government of the Czech Republic has voted 10 million for the intervention over five years. The underpinning model, which is the Input Credit System, according to Dr Acheampong, would solve a number of critical challenges such as access to credit, quality of agro-inputs, unstructured markets of agricultural produce and low mechanisation. Indeed, when we roll out the programme in full, one will no longer need to mobilise upfront financing for land development and preparation, as well as seeds and fertilisers which together constitute about 80 per cent of production cost. Im bold to predict that with time, the new slogan for agriculture would be: PFJ 2.0, ne wohia ara ne asaase to wit all you need is access to land and all other things shall be added, Dr Acheampong told the farmers and officials at the launch of the PFJ 2.0. The PFJ 2.0 programme, therefore, focuses on transforming and modernising agriculture through the development of selected agricultural value chains with active private-sector participation. As the sector minister rightly said, the success of the PFJ 2.0 will hinge largely on access to tracts of arable lands. Therefore, the role of our traditional authorities is crucial in implementing the PFJ 2.0 programme. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced Monday that Bram Kranichfeld, a former prosecutor who has since been ordained as an Episcopal priest, will serve as interim states attorney for Franklin County. Effective immediately, he replaces John Lavoie, who resigned last month amid misconduct accusations. Kranichfeld will serve until a permanent replacement is found, Scott said. The veteran prosecutor headed the Vermont attorney general offices criminal division from 2018 to 2019. Before that, he was the deputy states attorney and then chief deputy of the Chittenden County states attorneys office. In 2019, Kranichfeld left his state post to attend divinity school and is currently the head priest at All Saints Episcopal Church in South Burlington and St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Vergennes. Scott implied that was part of what made Kranichfeld a good choice. Given the difficult nature of this vacancy at the states attorneys office, I believe its important to provide stability and certainty through this transition until a permanent replacement is identified, Scott said in a statement obtained by local news site Seven Days Vermont. Bram has demonstrated his commitment to community, and his significant experience practicing law makes him a good fit to serve in this interim role. Kranichfelds predecessor Lavoie was accused earlier this year of harassing and discriminating against employees. A Vermont legislative committee was formed in May and met over the summer to determine whether to impeach Lavoie, and he announced his resignation Aug. 23. Lavoie acknowledged what he called inappropriate humor, but said it stopped short of being harassing or racist. If I thought that anyone found my language or comments offensive, I would have stopped and apologized, Lavoie said in May. I guess I have to apologize for now suddenly being out of step with the times. Kranichfeld said he was eager to smooth the transition to a permanent replacement. This is an office that has experienced harm and trauma. And I see my mission as, primarily, one of starting the healing process, Kranichfeld told Vermont Digger. I also see it as restoring public trust in the office, and restoring confidence in the community. With News Wire Services Oguaa marks Fetu Afahye Shirley Asiedu-Addo & Francisca Eshun Sep - 04 - 2023 , 01:52 Hundreds of people from across the country and beyond joined the chiefs and people of Cape Coast to celebrate this years annual Fetu festival over the weekend in spite of the intermittent rains. Though the ecstatic patrons thronged the Victoria Park durbar ground for an anticipated climax, the rains took some shine off the carefully-planned festival, as some adjustments had to be made to save the guests from being drenched. Procession The chiefs, in their graceful traditional regalia, had earlier processed in palanquins from the Mfantsipim School junction through the streets of the metropolis before converging on the Victoria Park for the grand durbar. This year's festival was on the theme, "Celebrating our educational institutions for enhancing the name of Oguaa," and saw the active participation of some of the senior high schools (SHSs) in Cape Coast. The occasion was graced by dignitaries, including the Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan; the American Ambassador, Virginia Palmer, and the Chairman of the McDan Group of companies, Daniel McKorley, aka McDan. There was also a delegation from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by Prof Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang and the two Members of Parliament for the area, Kweku Ricketts Hagan and Kwamena Mintah Nyarku. In his address, the Omanhen of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, underscored the critical role of education to the development of Cape Coast and urged parents to ensure that their children were educated in the renowned schools in the metropolis. Osabarimba Kwesi Atta said he was worried that while the metropolis was home to many important senior high schools, many indigenes could not access the schools due to truancy, adding that the traditional authorities would not allow truancy to fester. A retinue of chiefs in a procession through the principle streets of Cape Coast He attributed the situation partly to the irresponsibility on the part of some parents and parental neglect of children, saying the situation must be corrected. He urged parents to work harder to raise their children into well-meaning members of society. *We need to work harder to get our children into the schools, he stated, saying many children in the metropolis followed tourists around at the expense of their education, and therefore, charged parents to ensure their children were educated. He charged them to have unity of purpose to ensure children in the area were educated to the highest level. He also called on all, particularly the youth, to eschew indiscipline and develop character traits of respect and discipline which were critical to the development of the area. Historical significance Mr McKorley said Cape Coast still remained a city of great historical significance and a beacon of education. "Education is not just the transmission of knowledge but a key to unlocking the potential of individuals and communities," adding that his company's McDan Entrepreneurial Challenge was to unlock such potentials and support them to thrive. He paid glowing tribute to the educational institutions in Cape Coast for nurturing thousands of people who had gone on to contribute immensely to national and international development. Support He urged entrepreneurs and businesses to give back to the country. "We cannot be riding in our luxurious SUVs, living in our plush mansions and enjoying ourselves in our various luxurious communities while we look at the children and helpless people at the market places and on the streets to perish," he stated. He said the McDan Foundation had pledged GH100,000 towards an endowment fund to support education. He used the occasion to present GH20,000 to Emmanuel Kusi, a student of the university of Cape Coast, to start an entrepreneurial venture. Central Regional Minister The Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan, said the Fetu festival was an international festival that boosted the local economy and commended the traditional council for the peaceful environment in which the festival is celebrated. She said considering the role of education and Cape Coast's role to education development in the country, the President was renovating the Philip Quaque Boys and Philip Quaque Girls schools in the metropolis in line with their historic significance. She also presented GH20,000 to the traditional council from the presidency. Cultural gatekeeper She acknowledged the important role the traditional authorities played in preserving tradition and also as a cultural gatekeeper in ensuring that traditions allowed for the safety, human rights and progress of the people. The Fetu festival was referred to as Black Christmas by the white colonial masters in the pre-colonial times. It is held to mark the bumper harvest and to thank the 77 deities of the Oguaa Traditional Area. Police service introduces online criminal clearance application system Emelia Ennin Abbey Sep - 04 - 2023 , 07:48 Persons seeking criminal clearance can now do so in the comfort of their homes or office or on their phones through an online software the Ghana Police Service has introduced for the application of police clearance reports. The police clearance certificate is used to verify criminal records and is usually requested by employers and also important for visa application processes. The online platform, which could be accessed through e-services.police.gov.gh, is to improve efficiency and accessibility of the system which had for years been operated manually. The new system is also linked to the official government payment platform, Ghana.Gov to make payment easy and secure. The online application portal is also to provide a user friendly interface for individuals to submit their applications, upload required documents, and make necessary payments, if applicable Under the traditional system of applying for police clearance certificates, applicants had to apply in person and had to wait for up to 10 days before they could receive the certificate. However, the new digital platform, which is currently being piloted, has simplified the process for the application which has made it faster, more efficient and convenient for applicants. A police source told the Daily Graphic that the new system would be rolled out soon following a successful piloting. The source said the innovative digital solution would alleviate the stress on applicants as it would provide a convenient and accessible means to obtain police clearance certificates from the comfort of their homes. The technological advancement, he said, marked a significant step in the transformation agenda of the Police Service and streamlining administrative procedures for the benefit of the public. He said the Police Administration was hopeful the digital platform would improve efficiency and contribute significantly to a more efficient and accessible criminal justice system, benefiting both the public and law enforcement agencies. How it works To utilise the new digital service, applicants must first register an account on e-services.police.gov.gh. Once registered, applicants can select the desired service type, provide their personal information, and securely make payments through the official government payment platform, Ghana.Gov. Subsequently, applicants will be required to schedule an appointment and visit the designated centre in any of the 25 police administrative regions across the country to have their fingerprints digitally scanned using advanced live scan technology. Old system The Police Administration has decentralised the criminal clearance record system since May 22, 2023, which makes it possible for applicants to apply at any of the 25 police regions across the country to replace an old system where all criminal background checks are conducted exclusively at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Accra, a situation which puts a lot of pressure on individuals and organisations who require a police clearance. Before then, all applicants, no matter their location, had to travel to the CID headquarters in Accra. The online approach has since eliminated the need for the conventional method involving manual ink fingerprinting using rollers and slabs, which often require applicants to travel to police regions. Before this digital advancement, there were some persistent challenges for individuals residing outside Accra, with delays occurring due to the processing of applications not being promptly transferred to the central processing unit in Accra. The manual scanning of ink fingerprints on paper at the CID Headquarters also contributed to additional delays while some of the concerns also related to loss of receipts, incorrect spelling of names on receipts, and difficulty in tracking status of applications. SIGA boss partners ECG, Ghana Gas company Dickson Worlanyo Dotse Sep - 04 - 2023 , 06:32 The Director-General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), Edward Boateng, has begun an exercise at the various entities to foster a deeper understanding of the key projects and operations of various entities under the authority's oversight. The exercise, which has seen visits to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana National Gas Company so far, is intended to address infractions highlighted in the 2022 Auditor-General's report. The exercise, which began on August 28, 2023, will end in mid-September. During his visit to the ECG, Mr Boateng lauded the companys recent efforts in revenue mobilisation and applauded the management of the company for recovering a significant amount of debt from power consumers. Acknowledging the company's innovative cashless system, the Director-General encouraged ECG to continue to develop innovative ways to enhance customer convenience. Progress "You have demonstrated outstanding dedication to progress and recovery through your revenue mobilisation strategy. I urge you to further pioneer ingenious solutions while partnering the SIGA to showcase your endeavours," he said. The interaction also involved the infractions raised in the 2022 Auditor Generals Report, with the ECG management providing responses. The management expressed the commitment to mitigate infractions in the years ahead. The Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Mahama, extended gratitude to the Director-General of SIGA and his team, affirming their determination to rectify the identified issues and foster a strengthened partnership with the SIGA. Infractions "We greatly appreciate the visit from the Director-General and his team. We are determined to rectify the infractions and are excited to collaborate with the SIGA to showcase our strides, especially in digitalisation," the MD affirmed. Continuing the tour, the Director-General's team proceeded to the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC). The Director-General commended the company for its noteworthy contributions, particularly in social investments and its initiatives to invest in local talent and provide employment opportunities through the engagement of local technicians. "We recognise the positive strides made by Ghana Gas in fostering local talent and contributing to the community. It is time to tell your story to the public to reshape perceptions about public institutions," the Director-General stated. Recommendation Addressing the concerns raised in the Auditor-General's report, the Ghana Gas team provided comprehensive explanations and welcomed the recommendations offered by SIGA. The Chief Executive Officer of GNGC, Dr Ben K. D. Asante, expressed gratitude for the visit. "We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the Director-General and his team for this visit, we value this opportunity for open dialogue and are committed to complying with SIGA's recommendations while collaborating to fulfil our mandate," he remarked. The Director-General was accompanied by Head, Corporate Affairs, Stephen Asiedu; Head of Finance, Alexander Agambilla; Head of Governance, Risk and Compliance, Eric Opoku; Manager PR & External Relations, Louisa Aubin; Manager Director-Generals Secretariat, Godfred Sowah Khartey, and Manager Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Godfred Owusu Adjei. The Director-General's entity visitation is slated to continue with visits to other entities before mid-September, reinforcing a spirit of transparency, accountability and collective progress in Ghana's Specified Entities. Smallholder farmers benefit from $69.7m project Biiya Mukusah Ali Sep - 04 - 2023 , 02:00 The Ministry of Finance has launched a $69.7 million Affordable Agricultural Financing for Resilient Rural Development (AAFORD) project in Sunyani to benefit over 540,000 smallholder farmers in six regions. The beneficiary regions are Bono, Bono East and Ahafo in the middle belt, and the Northern, Savannah and North East regions in the northern belt. Funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the project is expected to provide direct services to about 75,000 rural households and indirectly to about 465,000 individuals in smallholder households. The project is specifically designed to provide financing to small-scale and large-scale farmers, farmer-based organisations, as well as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in agriculture-related businesses. The goal of the project is to support food security and improve living standards of smallholder farmers, poor and vulnerable women, and youth in the regions. Launching the AAFORD project, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, said the agricultural sector accounted for 54 per cent of the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He explained that the sector contributed 40 per cent of Ghana's export earnings, while providing over 90 per cent of the food needs of the country. He said a source from the Third Ghana Economic Update, 2020, by the World Bank showed that around 71 per cent of formal employment in rural areas was in the farming sector, indicating the importance of increasing agrarian incomes as a means of lowering rural poverty. Dr Adam said agribusiness had a very high multiplier effect on employment, creating over 750 jobs for every additional $ 1 million of output as indicated by the Ghana Economic Update, 2018, yet agricultural growth was affected by low productivity and competitiveness. He explained that because of the importance of agriculture to the Ghanaian economy and the livelihoods of the ordinary Ghanaian, governments over the years had introduced policies to boost the sector to improve the livelihoods of rural folks and curtail poverty levels among its citizens. Dr Adam said the objective of the project would be achieved through increased access to affordable finance in support of better market linkages, sustainable and climate change adapted agricultural intensification, skills and enterprise development in agricultural value chains. In addition, he said, the project would support inclusive policy engagement and build on the potential of women and youth as untapped resources for family resilience. Rural poverty Dr Adam said the project areas had a population of about 6,599,868 (Source GSS) suffering from high levels of rural poverty arising from relatively small cultivable areas, limited production, low yield, weak bargaining power and weak community institutions. He explained that the people in the project area had little incentive to borrow funds to increase their investment in agricultural production, fearing that the uncertainties of markets and income could cause losses that could lead to loan repayment problems and adverse consequences related to it. Dr Adam said smallholders in the project areas were also vulnerable to the effects of climate change such as droughts, changes in rainfall patterns and high temperatures. He added that currently, they had little resilience to those adversities due to inadequate technical knowledge, limited incentives to borrow and invest in adaptation measures and limited access to affordable agricultural insurance services. He said periodic droughts also affected the availability of nutritious food and the health of children and young mothers, adding that youth and women unemployment in the rural areas remained high due to the lack of employment and skills, mismatch of education and industry, inability of the economy to create new jobs and limited access to capital for the youth. Intervention Dr Adam said the AAFORDs intervention would assist smallholders and their associations in the regions in developing secured market linkages that could incentivise and stimulate those households to borrow and invest in increasing agricultural production, improving food security and nutrition and building resilience against the effects of climate change. He said through AAFORD, the skills of youth and women entrepreneurs would be developed to have more access to finance to support a range of micro enterprises along the agricultural value chains as a way of sustaining increased production, productivity, value addition and income to target the households. For his part, the AAFORD Project Coordinator, Godwin Anku, said the project had targeted 80 per cent of smallholder farmers, 20 per cent of market-oriented and large farmers, 50 per cent of women, 50 per cent of men, and 40 per cent of youth between 15 and 35 years. He said the objectives were to improve productivity, income and resilience of smallholder farmers, vulnerable women and the youth. UGMC celebrates 5 years of operationalisation Juliet Akyaa Safo & Diana Mensah Sep - 04 - 2023 , 06:25 The University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) last Friday climaxed its fifth anniversary celebration of operationalisation with a durbar and an awards ceremony. The founding directors, 150 staff and some individuals received awards for their dedication and service at the medical centre over the five-year period. The celebration was christened Five years of working towards the provision of world-class patient care, training and research. It was attended by the management and staff of the centre, UGMC board members and officials from the Israeli Embassy. Achievements The Chief Executive Officer of UGMC, Dr Darius Osei, said the centre had been for excellent patient care, training and research. He said its response to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 after the centre was designated as one of the National COVID-19 Treatment Centres demonstrated its commitment to patient well-being and safety. He said the centre had partnered UK-based South Tees NHF Foundation Trust in 2022 to perform five high risk open-heart surgeries in March 2022. We have again partnered Forte Medical and Nanox Vision in Israel to establish a new Radiology Learning Centre to train healthcare professionals from Ghana and across Africa on the use of innovative Nanox.ARC 3D multi-source system which is a cross between the CT scan and normal X-rays and more affordable as compared to the CT scan, he said. Dr Osei said the Medical and Scientific Research Centre was also about to establish the first-ever inpatient Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) in collaboration with MDS-Lancet-Cerba and other partners and sponsors. This Clinical Trials Unit will help ensure that medications brought to Ghanaians and West Africa are more suitable for our genetic make-up and also have fewer side effects, he said. He appealed to Corporate Ghana and individuals to support the centre to raise the five million dollars needed to establish the inpatient CTU at the Centre. He thanked healthcare professionals at the centre for their support and the Ministry of Health and the University of Ghana for their contribution to the expansion and modernisation of the centre. Accessible health care A Deputy Minister of Health, Mahama Asei Seini, said the success of the Centre reaffirmed the importance of collaboration between the government and educational institutions. In a world where health challenges continue to evolve, the UGMC has proven itself to be adaptable, resilient,and focused on the well-being of our people, he said. He called for the pursuit of mutually beneficial partnerships to foster a healthcare ecosystem that would leave no one behind. We are hopeful that the board, management and staff of the centre will continue to work hard to ensure that the UGMC becomes a veritable centre of excellence and the preferred destination for medical tourism not only in the sub-region, but on the continent, he said. Partnership The Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Shlomit Sufa, said Ghana and Israel shared a strong history of collaboration in the health sector with the exchange of knowledge, expertise and best practices. She said the Israeli Agency for International Cooperation MASHAV had facilitated the training of several medical professionals in the country. Since 2009, MASHAV has also supported the management of the Mother and Baby Units in the Kumasi South and Suntreso Hospitals in Kumasi. By fostering a culture of innovation, nurturing research and development, capacity-building and continuing to exchange ideas, Ghana and Israel can contribute to a healthier, more prosperous future for both our nations, the region and global community, she said. The Vice-Chancellor of University of Ghana, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, also congratulated the centre on its hard work and lauded the planning committee for instituting an award ceremony to recognise the effort of the centre. She urged stakeholders of UGMC to proceed with integrity and support the centre to discharge its duties. I encourage you to continue to leverage the benefits of partnerships and utilise them to make a profound difference in the lives of patients, trainees and researchers towards the advancement of medical knowledge, she said. Court refusal to grant OSP application to freeze Cecilia Dapaahs acount justified but Kpebu Citinewsroom Politics Sep - 04 - 2023 , 03:30 Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has said the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) by failing to provide the court with details of the bank accounts of former Minister of Sanitation Cecilia Abena Dapaah when it filed an application requesting that her accounts be frozen erred. The OSP, after visiting the houses of the former sanitation minister, found a significant amount of money and filed an application seeking to freeze her accounts. However, the High Court in Accra on Thursday, August 31, instructed the OSP to return the money within seven days and rescind its August 9 decision to freeze her bank accounts. In a television discussion programme on Citi TV on Saturday, Mr Kpebu said that the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Adjebeng, should have made the details of the accounts available to the judge in-camera. He, however, disagreed with the courts order for the money seized from Madam Dapaahs apartment to be returned. For the seizure, Im not with the judge, I think he could have done something about it. And not say the money be returned. Notwithstanding, he didnt go within 7 days, I think that there was enough room, the judge could have confirmed that order. But when it comes to the de-freezing of the account, the judge is spot on, you cant send a judge a case on an empty sheet for him to fill it for you. What prevented OSP from giving details? It didnt give details of the account, the money in the account is the volume of transactions and not the account balance. Kissi Adjebeng should have applied to the judge to have an in-camera hearing so that you could show him and tell him that it would jeopardise the investigations if it went out in the public domain. He stressed, Any judge will understand, but where you totally ignore this, and you just say that you are investigating Cecilia Dapaah, so because of that freeze the account, no, it doesnt work that way. As for the de-freezing, the OSP got it wrong. He should realise that we are all partners in this fight, and so he shouldnt be hiding information. The private legal practitioner advised the Special Prosecutor to reapply instead of filing an appeal. What he can do is reapply. Reapplying, he has the highest chances of getting the freezing other than an appeal. On appeal, he cant bring those statements. It is better to show the judge the statements, so that if the judge refuses to hear the application in camera, then you run to the Supreme Court. You dont just say once you are investigating, its sufficient, no you dont do that. The court last week reversed an order by the OSP to freeze the bank accounts of Dapaah at Societe Generale and Prudential Bank. These orders were made after an application to confirm an order to freeze the bank accounts of the former sanitation minister and seize some monies found in her home was dismissed by the court as without basis. However, the court dismissed the application on the grounds that it was made out of time. Dapaahs lawyers had argued that, in accordance with Section 32(2) of Act 959, such an application must be made within seven days of the seizure order being issued. The court agreed with this argument. In response to the Courts order, the OSP in a statement said it respects the directive but disagrees with it because it is erroneous. credit: Citinewsroom Dampare to be invited by Committee probing plot to remove him as IGP Nana Konadu Agyemang Politics Sep - 04 - 2023 , 03:37 The parliamentary committee probing the purported plot to oust the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, from office has hinted that it could invite Dr Dampare to respond to certain questions and concerns raised by the witnesses. Speaking to the press after last Fridays hearing, the Chairman of the committee, Samuel Atta Akyea, said that was informed by the way evidence was evolving and unfolding. "This is because of the fact that what we should place before the plenary should not be shoddy and one-sided. "If the presence of the individual will give the relevance to the fact-finding exercise, we will do that," he said. He, however, stopped short of disclosing the specific day the committee would invite the IGP. Asked if the committee would opt for an in-camera hearing to obtain security-sensitive information from one of the key witnesses, Commissioner of Police (COP) George Alex Mensah, Mr Atta Akyea did not rule out that option. "If it becomes imperative that we should do it, we will because the man has a lot to say, but it would be improper to say so on air," he said. Allegation During last Fridays hearing, the Director-General, Technical, Ghana Police Service, COP Mensah, accused the IGP of being behind the recording of a tape containing a discussion about a plot to remove the latter. Appearing before the parliamentary committee investigating the audio containing the purported discussion on the removal of the IGP, COP Mensah said his intelligence suggested that what was used to tape his conversation with Bugri Naabu, a former Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was done by Dr Dampare. He sent some people to do it, and after which he went for the tape. So, the tape, from my intelligence, is with the IGP and he caused it to be leaked, he said. Appearing before the committee for a second time to respond to questions relating to the secret tape in Parliament last Friday, COP Mensah said: If this committee wants the tape, the right person to call before this committee is the Inspector General of Police. He made the revelation after the Chairman of the committee, asked him if he had the complete tape on grounds that he had persistently told the committee that the tape in its possession was incomplete. Mr Atta Akyea also asked the witness if he had the proof to back what his intelligence told him or it was all hearsay. Contradiction Responding, COP Mensah, a former Director of Operations of the police service, said: This is not just something I believe it to be true, but Mr Chairman, I would not want to say it here, but I can tell the committee in camera but not here. COP Mensah, in the company of his counsel, Kojo Owusu Agyeman, spent close to five hours being grilled over what some committee members said were inconsistent utterances made before the committee. The committee at a point had to take a one-and-a-half break to allow COP Mensah and his counsel to peruse the documents to identify portions of the transcript attributable or otherwise. Mr Naabu had earlier, last Tuesday, admitted to the committee that he masterminded the recording of the conversation with COP Mensah. I was surprised Asked by the Chairman of the committee what he sought to achieve by engaging Mr Naabu in a private conversation, COP Mensah said the conversation was at the invitation of Mr Naabu. He explained that his visit was informed by a rumour that there was a high probability of the government changing the current IGP, adding that they were looking for people who can do the job and do it well. The purpose of Bugri Naabu inviting me was that one of my boys, Supt George Asare, has gone to tell him that if they are looking for a new IGP then he thinks the person that can do the job well is COP Alex Mensah, he said. COP Mensah said Mr Naabu asked Supt Asare to bring him (COP Mensah) to meet him at his office, a reason I ended up at Bugri Naabus office. When the Chairman of the committee asked him if he got the impression that Mr Naabu was scouting for a new IGP, COP Mensah said: My impression was that, yes, he was scouting for a new IGP. That is why I was even surprised that the audio was edited because Bugri Naabu said so many things about this current IGP that he has done, what he is not doing and the promise he gave him that he has not satisfied. Bugri Naabu said the likelihood of the IGP being changed is 100 per cent and they (NPP) are scouting for one person who can do the work well, he said. Superintendent Asare recommended me When he was questioned about who recommended him to Mr Naabu, COP Mensah named Supt George Asare as the one. Quizzed if he believed Mr Naabu had the influence to help him to become an IGP, COP Mensah answered in the affirmative. I had faith because I knew or heard his name (Bugri Naabu) when it comes to NPP party circles that he was a former chairman and a friend of the President. So, once my boy (Supt Asare) told me that Bugri Naabu said he is ready to recommend me but wants to see me; if somebody wants to see you not for a bad thing but a good thing, I would go, he said. Asked by the Vice-Chairman of the committee if he found out from Mr Naabu why they were looking for a new IGP, COP Mensah said Mr Naabu told him that the NPP wanted to change the IGP because they do not like the kind of job that he is doing. Dr Akoto team confident in party elections committee Severious Kale-Dery Politics Sep - 04 - 2023 , 07:09 The campaign team of Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, one of the flag bearer hopefuls of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has reposed its trust and confidence in the election committee of the party. "We believe in the election committee and we believe in the one that will be elected. We all know that the real choice is there. "What we saw on August 26 was to satisfy some people's ego, but the real one will happen on November 4," the National Campaign Coordinator of the team, Peter Oteng Darko, told the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra last weekend. Fantastic job Mr Darko commended the party elections committee, the Electoral Commission (EC) and security personnel for "a fantastic job. "The election committee did a fantastic job. Per the regulations that they put across for this election, ideally, we should have had the best election so far. "All the regulations were followed to the letter," Mr Darko told the Daily Graphic. Marred election He, however, alleged that the beauty of the election was marred in some of the regions with coercion, intimidation and influence of officialdom. "You could see that people were coerced and forced to vote in a certain pattern. "So, there were some levels of force in the whole process," Mr Darko alleged, adding, for instance, that the heavy presence of government officials in the voting centre in the Ashanti Region made it difficult for people to vote with their conscience. Speaking in support of the complaints by one of the candidates, Alan Kyerematen, Mr Darko said in all the three regions of the former Northern Region, the election rules were flouted, with delegates displaying their votes to the regional chairman before putting them in the ballot boxes. Real deal He, however, believed that the August 26 election was for the party to reduce the aspirants to five in consonance with the party's election rules. "For us, the important thing is that we are part of the five and the real deal will be on November 4, when we will be dealing with about 210,000 delegates, a number nobody can manipulate," Mr Darko said. He expressed worry that what went happened on August 26 was a potential danger for the party, stressing," what we saw was not the true will of the people. "We lost it when the National Council of the party decided that the election should be held in the various regions," he said. Mr Darko explained that in the national election, close to 5,000 delegates voted and that was even held in one voting centre in Accra, "but this election of a little over 900 delegates, we had to vote at the regional level. "So, that made it difficult for people to do their will as against the forces that be and the fact was that people's votes were being inspected before they put it in the ballot box," he added. Minority street protest against BoG governor suspended Getrude Ankah Nyavi Politics Sep - 04 - 2023 , 17:06 The Minority in Parliament has suspended Tuesdays street protest against the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison and his deputies. The decision to suspend the protest follows an injunction by the police as the police is asking the Minority to change the route of the street protest. The case came up Monday but the High Court in Accra has adjourned the case to Friday for a determination. The police had raised security concerns, over the route chosen by the Minority especially at the Bank of Ghana frontage in Accra. Lawyers for the Minority had raised preliminary legal objections against the Greater Accra Regional Police Commands injunction application. According to the lawyers, on the face of the motion paper the application was irregular and should be struck out by the court. The lead counsel, Godwin Edudzie Tamekloe contended that the signing of the motion paper by Superintendent of Police, Mr Sylvester Asare offends sections 19(a) of the state proceedings act and same ought to be struck out as defective. Superintendent Asare while opposing the preliminary objection said, the application before the court is competent and should be heard. He prayed the court to reject the request and hear the application seeking to injunct the minority from holding the street protest. According to him, per Article 88(5) of the 1992 Constitution and the State Proceedings Act, it is only the Attorney General that can institute the instant action. Speaking to journalists after the proceedings, the MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga said, The court has not stopped us from demonstrating, and the court has not changed the route of the demonstration, and we have no intention to change the route of the demonstration. We are appealing with those our supporters and those who have prepared themselves for this march to remain prepared because this march will happen, it will happen on the same route. It is only the date that will change after the court has given a ruling. Related articles: Minority to go ahead with routes for BoG protest Police spell out route for Minority protest against BoG governor Bawumia will win NPP flagbearer slot with over 75 per cent votes Getrude Ankah Nyavi Politics Sep - 04 - 2023 , 10:36 The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has predicted a 75 per cent victory for Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the November 4 New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearership race. In a radio interview on Accra based Okay FM on Monday morning, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said he was confident that Dr. Bawumia will lead the NPP as the flagbearer into the 2024 general elections. Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is also the Member of Parliament for Suame in Kumasi said: "I am convinced and persuaded in my mind that next time, when the contest comes on, the least the man [Bawumia] can have is 75% nationwide." He said the qualities, experience and leadership skills of Vice President Bawumia puts him ahead in the race. Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu suggested that the other contestants should step down, since Dr Bawumia will carry majority of the votes. He appealed to the other contestants to be mindful of their choice words in their campaign and after the election. Reacting to Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu's comment, Hopeson Adorye, a member of the Alan Kyerematen campaign team said it was wrong for the Majority Leader to openly declare his support for the Vice President, especially as he was a member of the NPP Executive Committee and National Council that stated clearly that no leader should openly endorse a candidate. Related: NPP super delegates conference: 4 Cruise into Nov. 4 - Run- off to decide last slot The Nobel Foundation has withdrawn its invitations to Russia and Iran to attend the prize ceremony after an international outcry. Belarus is also on the outs with the organization, which bestows the famous Peace Prize and other awards each year. The three nations were excluded last year, as well Russia and Belarus over the war against Ukraine and Iran for its human rights record and vicious crackdowns on protests. The decision to include them this year raised hackles in Sweden, which hosts the prizes, and in Ukraine. The Nobel laureates and the royal family of Sweden during the Nobel Prize award ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Saturday Dec. 10 2022. Ambassadors of countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden are usually all invited, but several politicians suggested they would boycott the ceremony if dignitaries from the three nations, especially Russia, were present. The goal of inviting the them was to counteract a global trend in which dialogue between those with differing views is being reduced, Nobel Foundation Executive Director Vidar Helgesen said Friday. We are now broadening our invitations to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, free culture and free, peaceful societies. A day or two later, the foundation said that the invitations would be taken back because that message was getting lost in the controversy. We recognize the strong reactions in Sweden, which completely overshadowed this message, the foundation said in a statement. The board of the Nobel Foundation, therefore, choose to repeat last years exception to regular practice that is, to not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm. As before, all ambassadors will be invited to the ceremony in Oslo. Ukraine called Saturdays about-face a victory for humanism, BBC News reported. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya of the Belarusian opposition on Friday called the reversal a clear sign of solidarity with the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples and asserted that it was a better way to show your commitment to the principles and values of Nobel. The awards in the fields of medicine, physics, literature and economics are given out in Stockholm by the king of Sweden every Dec. 10. The same day, the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is held in Norways capital, Oslo. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who had objected to their inclusion but had not gone so far as to threaten a boycott, said he welcomed the decision. The many and strong reactions show that the whole of Sweden unambiguously stand on Ukraines side against Russias appalling war of aggression, he said on X, the former Twitter. With News Wire Services I'm peoples choice for Asuogyaman Hadzide Daniel Kenu Politics Sep - 04 - 2023 , 07:01 An Aspiring Parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for Asuogyaman in the Eastern Region and Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Pius Enam Hadzide, has said he is poised to pick the sole ticket at the party's primary to reclaim the seat for the party. He faces off with a former Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Paul Asare Ansah, and an administrator at the National Premix Fuel Secretariat, Nana Abrakwa Asare, in a three-horse race. Despite the herculean task ahead, Mr Hadzide, also a former Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, said he was better placed to win the contest. The Asuogyaman seat has been occupied by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) since 2017. Any of the three who wins the primary comes up against the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Thomas Ampem Nyarko of the NDC, who is vying for a third term. Mr Hadzide, who was speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic at Anum after a presentation of medical equipment to the Anum Salvation Army Health Centre said his philanthropic gestures in the area would enable him to win the seat. "The projects on the ground attest to the fact that when given the opportunity, I will do more for my people," he said. He lobbied the Elite Gals Club, a non-governmental organisation with specialist interest for women in the rural area, to donate a number of hospital equipment to the health facility. Projects The CEO is facilitating the construction of an Astro turf for the youth and the building of a six-unit classroom block to promote education. Beyond that, he has championed skills training of the youth to make them employable and relevant to their communities. The CEO has helped to provide a school bus to Anum Senior High School and equipped the only TVET school in the area. He said it was incumbent on those occupying public offices to serve their people and create opportunities for them to thrive. Due to his benevolent gesture, the youth in the area were said to have contributed to pick the nomination forms for Mr Hadzide to win the primary and contest on the ticket of the party. "This is a huge vote of confidence for me because of the good relationship I have with them. "As a result, it is not difficult campaigning at all. I'm sure it's the spirit of service that they have seen in me and the ability to attract major development projects," he told the Daily Graphic. Concerns He said when given the nod, his main focus will be to lobby for the Anum roads to be constructed. The road is said to be a deathtrap, killing mostly pregnant women when they are referred to either Akosombo or Ho for delivery. The roads have been awarded on contract for more than two years but the pace has been extremely slow. It is a major connection between many smaller towns even up to Dzemeni for food crops and fish supplies. Return to IPAC; it offers numerous opportunities Afari Gyan urges NDC Citinewsroom Politics Sep - 04 - 2023 , 08:08 Former Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, has urged members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to rescind their boycott of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC). The main opposition party withdrew its participation from IPAC after the 2020 general elections, accusing the leadership of the EC of alleged bias in favour of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). Related: NDC boycotts IPAC meeting to review Election 2020 While addressing the ard annual conference of the NDC Lawyers Association in Akosombo in the Eastern Region, Dr. Afari Gyan emphasized the opportunities that IPAC offers to the various political parties. The IPAC makes it possible for political parties to know and make inputs to the important thing the Electoral Commission is doing at any point in time. It makes it possible to discuss the concerns of the parties and makes it possible to contribute to the making of subsidiary legislation, and I will appeal to the NDC to go back. Dont worry if your ideas are not adopted, please go there and make your ideas felt. Indeed, in some cases, IPAC is the forum for stakeholder dialogue towards achieving common ownership of the electoral system. Under Ghanas Electoral system, there are many opportunities for political parties to participate in Electoral processes that promote free and fair elections, Dr Afari Gyan advised. NDC boycotts IPAC meeting on 2020 general elections The National Democratic Congress (NDC) refused to attend an IPAC meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 21, 2021. The meeting was aimed at giving the various political parties the opportunity to review the December 7, 2020, general elections. The National Democratic Congress (NDC), declined an invitation by the Electoral Commission of Ghana to attend an IPAC meeting to review the 2020 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections which was scheduled for Wednesday 21st April 2021. The party took this decision because of the lack of candour, odious duplicity, and open bias that was displayed by the Jean Mensah-led Electoral Commission in favour of the New Patriotic Party in the conduct of the 2020 general elections, the NDC said in a statement. The NDC, in the statement, justified the action, saying it was to protest the supposed bias displayed by the Electoral Commission during the polls. It is the considered view of the NDC, that the current leadership of the Electoral Commission who supervised the manipulation of the 2020 general elections and the stolen verdict that resulted from same, lack the integrity, credibility and impartiality to lead any such discussions or review of the very elections they rigged, it said. Vote for independent candidates in 2024 - Group urges citizens Dickson Worlanyo Dotse Politics Sep - 04 - 2023 , 07:14 The National Interest Movement (NIM), a group of independent political thinkers, has called on Ghanaians to make it a point to elect independent candidates vying for parliamentary seats in the upcoming 2024 general election. In a statement issued and signed by its founder, Dr Abu Sakara Forster, it explained that individuals who had been elected based on a partys ticket often promoted the interests of the party at the expense of the national interest, a situation which led to the polarisation of the citizenry. Such dominance of partisan interests has also cost the nation its advancement through perpetual changes in direction, abandonment of projects and plans, large sums of judgment debt payments and bred a culture of corruption fuelled by periodic elections that offer no hope, it stressed. Alliance The NIM also advocated an alliance of independent parliamentary candidates to form a caucus in Parliament after the elections because it would effectively ensure accountability and champion reforms for the restoration of development which was centered on the people and not the dominant political parties interests. The NIM said it believed that this would create representatives not subject to the whim of partisan leaders of the house who demand that they backed everything and anything that their party leadership and executives asked of them. We propose that constituencies send their own parliamentarians to Parliament and not let them simply ride on the back of party palanquins, only to serve party interests first. Such an alliance would empower independent parliamentarians to punch above their numbers and truly represent their constituents, it explained. The statement further stated that citizens who wished to see a change in the country should first join hands to demonstrate solid support for the emergence of at least 16 worthy independent parliamentary candidates as the next step for the growth and advancement of the nations democracy. There are 275 MPs in the house. To begin with, we can set aside one independent Member of Parliament per region to force the evolution of our democracy towards greater independence for greater accountability, the statement explained. Increasing the number of independent candidates that are truly not aligned to the parties will enhance independence of the house, especially if the candidates are supported by major stakeholder groups of civil society like workers unions, traders and religious communities that seek to protect shared values and equity, it explained further. The NIM said it believed that successfully rallying a caucus of independent parliamentary candidates could lead to a realistic pursuit of the presidency as a final step to bring real change, true democracy and sustainable national development. The NIM, therefore, called on civil society and all stakeholders to join hands to support the emergence of an Alliance of independent parliamentary candidates by identifying and supporting self-made men of integrity to win parliamentary seats. A pact will be signed with the candidates to assure the public that all elected candidates will refuse the temptation of appointments to ministerial positions and boards of state enterprises in order to ensure that they wholly serve the people faithfully and fearlessly in Parliament, it said. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov resigned Monday, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced his replacement. I have submitted my letter of resignation to Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine, Reznikov said Monday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. It was an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the Ukrainian Army for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraines modern history, he added. His letter followed Zelenskyys announcement that he was replacing Reznikov, who had endured more than 550 days of full-scale war, with Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov in a search for new approaches against the Russian invasion. The Defense Ministry had been beset with a procurement-related corruption scandal that prompted the resignation of Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov in January. While Reznikov has not been charged with any wrongdoing and maintains that his conscience is absolutely clear, the controversy sparked speculation for weeks over the fate of the ministrys leader. Rustem Umerov in February 2022. Accusations were also directed at regional recruitment offices as several officers were arrested for allegedly taking bribes to help men evade being drafted into the Ukrainian military, BBC News reported. On Friday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan urged senior Ukrainian anti-corruption officials to pursue anti-graft cases no matter where they lead, according to BBC News. Reznikov was a good and prominent international negotiator, but it appears that there is chaos and disorder within the Ministry of Defense, which many deputies have taken advantage of, resulting in corruption scandals during the war, said analyst Volodymyr Fesenko of the Kyiv, Ukraine-based Penta Center. All actions of the Ukrainian authorities are geared toward the interests of the war, and scandals and statements about Ukraines slow counteroffensive in the face of very limited military resources compel Zelenskyy to be flexible and seek new personnel solutions. Reznikov, 57, became defense minister months before the February 2022 start of Russias invasion. In his resignation letter, he highlighted contributions such as his success in coaxing sophisticated weaponry out of international donors, taking them from the categorical refusal to provide Ukraine with Stingers in November 2021 to the creation of an aviation coalition. With News Wire Services Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Tab S9 FE+ tablets soon, and pricing leaked once again. Previous reports suggested pricing close to the regular Galaxy Tab S9 series in India, and today we learned Europe might also see similar pricing. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE with an 11 display and 6/128 GB memory is tipped to cost 549.99, while the bigger 12.4 Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ with 8/128 GB memory will reportedly be 749.99. The prices might vary across the European Union due to different taxes and tarriffs, but this is the starting point around which retailers will set their own prices. The 550 cost of the smaller Tab S9 FE is similar to the previously leaked INR63,000 tag in India both are equal to roughly $600, which is a more than the $529 price of the 12.4 Galaxy Tab S7 FE. The Fan Edition tablets are supposed to be a cheaper alternative to the Galaxy Tab S9 series both variants reportedly have an Exynos 1380 chipset, which is not as powerful as the l Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. We are yet to learn more about the Tab S9 FE series Samsung hasn't set an announcement date for the lineup even if it published their support pages. Source Week 35 brought us lots and lots of new hardware - Huawei surprised the world with the announcement of the Mate 60 Pro and Mate 60. The Pro has a triple dot notch on the front, with a selfie camera and a 3D tOf sensor. Other notable features include a 50MP main camera with a variable f/1.4-f/4.0 aperture, a 5,000mAh battery with 88W wired and 50W charging, and a Kirin chipset (likely the 9000S). The phone is a Chinese exclusive for now. The Fairphone 5 also became official. It has 5 years of warranty and up to 10 years of software support (8 years guaranteed). The Fairphone 5 is the easiest phone to repair, all you need is a Phillips head screwdriver. There are ten modules that you can replace yourself, you dont need to go to a repair shop. The modules are sold by Fairphone and partners. The modules include the new OLED display, the rear and front cameras, the USB port and the battery, of course. Lets have a closer look at these components. There is only one version and it costs 700/620 (up from 580/500 for the previous model), you only need to pick a color: Matte Black, Sky Blue or the new Transparent edition. Shipping is set to start on September 14, though the Sky Blue version won't be available until the end of September. Realme announced the GT5 in China with 150W and 240W of charging and up to 24 GB of RAM. They come with 5,240 mAh and 4,600 mAh batteries respectively, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and a 6.74-inch 144 Hz AMOLED. There's no word yet on a global release. Apple sent out invites to the iPhone 15 event on September 12. Expect the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, the 15 Pro, and the 15 Pro Max. The Pro Max will likely arrive on shelves a bit later (October) and will be the only one with a periscope zoom camera. ZTE's nubia is making a phone with a classic 35mm main camera and a huge 1-inch sensor. The device, which looks nearly identical to the Z50S Pro was pictured with a humongous camera island. Check out the full list of hot topics below. nubia's first 1-inch 35mm camera-equipped phone pictured The camera module is huge compared to the nubia Z50S Pro's 35mm one. Fairphone 5 goes official with 5 years warranty, up to 10 years of software support The company is promising 8 years of support but thinks that 10 years is possible too. It will deliver at least 5 OS updates to the phone. Tecno announces Phantom Ultimate rollable smartphone concept The device unfurls from 6.55 to 7.11 in just over 1 second. iPhone 15 and 15 Pro dummies show off the new colors: gray, gray and more gray The new hero color for the Pros will be Titan Gray to celebrate the new chassis material, but did the other colors have to be so drab? Google Pixel 8 Pro leaks on Google Store The Pixel 8 series is expected to launch in October. Realme GT5 unveiled with 150W and 240W versions, up to 24GB RAM Both are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The 150W version tops out at 16GB/512GB, the 240W one has a 24GB/1TB memory configuration. Samsung Galaxy Fold6 prototype emerges in video The Z Fold6's cover screen is expected to be identical to the one on the upcoming Galaxy S24 Ultra. Report: Asus to discontinue Zenfone series The Zenfone 10 may very well be the last of its kind. Fairphone 5 specs leak: up to 8 years of support, new AMOLED display, more modules The new phone will be more repairable and more durable to boot. And it will have three 50MP cameras. Unfortunately, it will be pricier than its predecessor too. New Huawei Mate 60 leak confirms dual-color design The bottom part of the back panel will have a different finish, resulting in a new color. Motorola Edge (2023) render leaks, shows a familiar design The Edge (2022) from last year was unique hardware for the US market, this year's Edge might be not be so different from what launched in Europe and India. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 vs. Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 Probably the best of what the foldable market can offer right now. European Galaxy S24 series will use the Exynos 2400, tipster claims Ice Universe also revealed the CPU config of the chipset and the resolution of the Galaxy S24+. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will use only Snapdragon chips, leakster claims It's the European Galaxy S24 and S24+ that will get the Exynos 2400, the Ultra will be spared this fate. Scientists working with the Coast Guard described how they collected three tons of debris and thousands of soil samples at a former military base on Cocos Island, looking for a possible source of industrial chemicals found in fish near the island. But residents who attended Friday nights information session in Malesso wanted more information on the safety of fish from the lagoon and possible long-term health consequences of eating food contaminated with PCBs and DDT. A fish consumption advisory has been in effect for Cocos Lagoon since 2006, when high levels of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were found. PCBs, banned in the U.S. in 1979 because of harmful effects on human health, were used in electrical devices and equipment, capacitors and transformers. In 2016, researchers also identified the pesticide DDT, used to control mosquitoes until it was banned in the U.S. in 1972, in fish taken from the lagoon. Last year, a team of engineers surveyed the area on Cocos where a long-range navigation station, or Loran, operated from the end of World War II until the early 1960s. The base which according to news articles from the period included barracks, a mess hall and a generator was located on the west side of Cocos Island and closed in 1965. A 1967 Territorial Sun article stated that during a typhoon years earlier heavy machinery, generator and a walk-in reefer were also swept away, and can be seen underwater today by skin divers. A petroleum contamination near the former power plant was identified at some point in the past, the result of a diesel fuel leak. Today the property is owned by the government of Guam and includes the remnants of Dano pier, a dilapidated concrete boat landing known by the islands CHamoru name. The eastern side of the island, which now houses Cocos Island Resort and the larger pier, was under private ownership when the station was operational. After analyzing samples collected during last years field work, researchers found: There were no significant remaining sources of PCB or DDT contamination in the soil or groundwater. DDT is present in the sediment and the porewater the water that collects in rocks and soil around Dano pier. PCBs are present in the porewater near the pier. Concentrations of PCBs and DDT found in fish around Dano pier exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency safe levels. The petroleum plume found in soil and groundwater does not appear to be moving, and is naturally decomposing on its own. Mark Marini, an environmental engineer with the Coast Guard in Honolulu, explained that 24 fish were caught in waters near Cocos for analysis, 21 were caught in deeper waters in the outer lagoon area and seven fish were collected from other Guam waters for comparison. Malesso resident Jessica Nangauta said she wanted more information about any connection between contaminants in the fish and cancer rates in the community. This is our livelihood. And I thank you for cleaning up what you found, but are you familiar what is being done about cancer in the Malesso residents? she asked. I mean, you guys are testing the fish, but what about the people thats consuming the fish? Is there anything being done to study the correlation between the PCBs found in the fish and the cancer that our families are suffering from? Marini said the environmental team was specifically focused on removing the contaminants and their sources, and the relationship between the chemicals and cancer levels would be moving into a different branch of expertise. That should have been the priority, Nangauta said. In 2011, a study published in the Hawaii Medical Journal found that there was a distinct increase in new cancer cases recorded in Malesso village residents beginning more than 10 years after the closure of the Loran station and continuing for about 20 years. The study can be read at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3254225/#R1. While it is not possible to conclude with certainty that PCB contamination of the Cocos Lagoon was responsible for the observed increase in the proportion of cancer deaths in Merizo village beginning during the 10-year period 19781987, that increase and the subsequent decrease as PCB levels also decreased presents the possibility that these trends may be related, the authors wrote. Nangauta also asked the Coast Guard researchers why land crabs werent sampled. Thats a big thing down here people consume, she said. Marini and Matthew Neal, the senior environmental scientist for the contracting company Element, said crabs and other marine life, such as sea cucumbers, could be sampled in the future. Fishers also raised concerns about both the safety of the fish around the island and the effect of the fish advisory on their businesses. Marini and Neal said the goal was to remove source of contaminants. Every time weve come out here, you know, six, seven, eight times, therell be new electrical components that are unearthed even through storm events moving sand away, or things washing in, Neal said. Now that the land has been thoroughly searched, plans are being made to check the area offshore, and possibly even Dano pier itself. Neal said PCBs are very rarely found in white, sandy areas. They are more common in sediment in darker, muddier areas with decaying organic material. Youll feel it, right? he said. Your feet will sink in this gooky muck. Other challenges have emerged as the years have gone by. Were finding things that were literally a part of the coral mountain, Marini said, describing metals that have become attached to the reef. The engineers will have to work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. What do we want to do with that? Do we leave it chip it out? Like what does that do to the coral system? In the meantime, Marini and Neal told residents and fishers that PCBs accumulate in the organs of fish and are generally not found in fillets. To collect material for sampling, the fish are put into a blender. The news brought relief to fishers and residents, who told the scientists that information should be widely distributed to the community. The scientists also said the contamination was only dangerous if people consumed large amounts of fish, a fact that brought no comfort to those in the audience. Its Malesso, Nangauta said. Former Gov. Carl T.C. Gutierrez is the president and CEO of Guam Visitors Bureau, Guam Permit Czar, and chairman of the Governors Economic Strategy Council. Send comments or questions to GVB at communityrelations@visitguam.org. Haiti - Insecurity : UN call to end the carnage in Haiti Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), called on X (old twitter) to end the carnage in Haiti "Alarming reports from #Haiti where escalating violence killed and injured over 70 people in Port au Prince in the last two weeks. So far this year, more than 2,500 people have been killed and almost 1,000 have been injured. This carnage needs to stop." More than 10,000 people have been displaced in the past two weeks alone and have sought refuge in more than 20 spontaneous sites and with host families. Nearly 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, a tenfold increase in two years. As population displacement intensifies, forced repatriations of vulnerable Haitians from neighboring countries have quadrupled compared to 2022. Human rights violations have been reported, including kidnappings, lynchings as well as sexual violence against women and girls. Despite access challenges, humanitarian partners stepped in and provided hygiene and dignity kits, hot meals and water. Mobile clinics have been rolled out to ten sites so far. Psychosocial and medical support and emergency shelter were provided to nearly 500 people at risk of GBV and more than 1,200 women and girls benefited from sexual and reproductive health services. The humanitarian community calls on all actors in the crisis to put an immediate end to the violence. Haitians cannot continue to live locked in their homes, unable to feed their families, find work and live with dignity. The children cannot go to school. The world must act now to prevent further atrocities. Remember that nearly half of the Haitian population needs humanitarian and food aid. The $720 million Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti is only 26% funded HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - History : Message of tribute from Lesly Conde to Jean Jacques Dessalines Saturday September 2, 2023, as part of the 219th anniversary of the proclamation of Jean Jacques Dessalines as Emperor, by the General Staff and the fourth demi-brigade (September 2nd, 1804), Lesly Conde, Ex-Consul General of Haiti in Chicago delivered a message of tribute to Dessalines that we invite you all to read and share. Message from Lesly Conde: "Dear compatriots and friends, One cannot prevent to think of what we would be today if the vision of Jean-Jacques Dessalines had triumphed. We must always celebrate the life of this great man, and draw from him the imperishable lessons that can guide us, generation after generation. Jean-Jacques Dessalines is a powerful example of bravery, tenacity and foresight. His attachment to the cause of human dignity makes him an admirable giant whose magnanimity transcends our borders. However, there are many who have sought and still seek to downplay his exploits and the importance of our country on a global scale. It is up to each of us to glorify Jean-Jacques Dessalines, to be proud of him, and to allow ourselves to be guided by his example. His pragmatism will be particularly beneficial to us at this time because our Nation desperately needs the wisdom of all its sons. It is to be hoped that in the not too distant future, the citizens of the country of Jean-Jacques Dessalines will find the courage and the foresight to embrace the Dessalinian ideal. It would be doing justice to the memory of one of the most valiant beings in all of human history." Reflective messages from Lesly Conde 2023 : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40251-haiti-history-message-from-lesly-conde-on-the-occasion-of-the-232nd-anniversary-of-the-bois-caiman-congress.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39882-haiti-social-message-from-lesly-conde-for-the-feast-of-our-lady-of-perpetual-help.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39859-haiti-social-message-from-lesly-conde-for-haitian-father-s-day-2023.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39639-haiti-social-message-of-reflection-from-lesly-conde-on-the-occasion-of-mother-s-day-2023.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39562-haiti-220th-flag-day-message-of-reflection-from-lesly-conde.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39348-haiti-national-day-of-the-haitian-diaspora-message-of-reflection-from-lesly-conde.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39261-haiti-easter-2023-message-of-reflection-by-lesly-conde.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39222-haiti-holy-week-2023message-of-reflection-from-lesly-conde.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-39124-icihaiti-social-international-day-against-racism-message-from-lesly-conde.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-39116-icihaiti-international-francophonie-day-message-from-lesly-conde.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39016-haiti-social-message-of-reflection-by-lesly-conde.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38747-haiti-black-history-month-message-of-reflection-from-lesly-conde.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38592-haiti-earthquake-2010-message-of-reflection-from-lesly-conde.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38507-haiti-history-message-of-reflection-from-lesly-conde.html All Lesly Conde's reflection messages in 2022 : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38451-haiti-christmas-end-of-year-message-from-lesly-conde.html All Messages from Lesly Conde in 2021 : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35584-haiti-social-wishes-from-lesly-conde-on-the-occasion-of-the-new-year.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... Closure of the Pastor Marco church Jean Victor Geneus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship announced the closure of the Bethesta Church led by Pastor Marco Izidor alias "Pastor Marco" as well as the temporary suspension of the Church's operating license. Recall that Pastor Marco did not show up at the invitation of the Public Prosecutor's Office https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40401-haiti-news-zapping.html to answer questions about the massacre of faithful in Canaan https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40355-haiti-flash-a-faithful-march-against-the-canaan-gang-ended-in-a-bloodbath-video.html Two former Colombian soldiers heared Two of the former Colombian soldiers https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34183-haiti-flash-the-commando-that-killed-the-president-included-26-colombians-and-2-haitian-americans-official-video.html Naiser Franco Castaneda and Jhon Jairo Alegria Suarez, imprisoned in the national penitentiary in connection with the case of the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34162-haiti-flash-president-jovenel-moise-assassinated-by-mercenaries-official-updated-7am-+-video.html were heard by the examining magistrate Walter Wesser Voltaire. However, the hearing was interrupted and continued due to heavy gunfire near the investigating magistrate's office. Massacre in Canaan, at least 20 victims Carnage in Canaan, the unofficial figures show more than twenty people killed during a march of the faithful Protestants towards Canaan aiming to dislodge the bandits who make the law in this locality located at the northern entrance of the Haitian capital, at the instigation of Pastor Marcorel Zidor alias "Marco https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40355-haiti-flash-a-faithful-march-against-the-canaan-gang-ended-in-a-bloodbath-video.html Tribute to those killed by bullets Sunday, September 3, 2023 a tribute was paid in Port-au-Prince to the hundreds of people killed by the bullets of armed groups, in particular in the massacres of Carrefour-Feuilles Rosemberg, Tabarre, Martissant and Canaan. Compagnie creole : Jose Sebeloue is deceased Sunday, September 3rd, 2023, Jose Sebeloue founding member of the Creole Company, "died peacefully in France with his relatives" at the age of 74 announced in a press release La Compagnie creole and Productions Martin Leclerc. HL/ HaitiLibre Korean Movie | 2012 Drama Directed by Chung Ji-young () Written by Chung Ji-young () Jeong Sang-hyeop () Kang Min-hee () Lee Dae-il () 110min | Release date in South Korea: 2012/11/22 Links Synopsis In 1985, Jong-tae Kim was illegally kidnapped in front of his wife and children and forcefully imprisoned by agents in the Namyoung area. And savage torture began. Professional interrogator and torturer Doo-han Lee was at the center of the fabricated incident. He was a no nonsense expert in interrogations and tortures, yet a cold-blooded man who never hesitated or felt remorse in driving his interrogation victims to their deaths. 20 years have passed, Korea is a democracy, and Kim, who now holds a rank of a Minister, is on the way to meet Lee in prison. Kim cannot stand bear to put his hand on Lees shoulder as Lee kneels down and asks forgiveness. Now Kim thinks about the cruel past, the deep scars left in his mind, and the possibility of forgiveness. Source Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday he would replace his defense minister in a search for new approaches against Russias invastion amid anti-corruption investigations within the government. I have decided to replace the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, he said in a statement. Oleksii Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large. Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint news conference with Greeces Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Maximos Mansion in Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. His replacement will be Rustem Umerov, a 41-year-old Crimean Tartar member of parliament from the opposition Holos Party who has headed the State Property Fund of Ukraine since September of last year. Umerov has helped facilitate the exchange of prisoners of war, political prisoners, children and civilians and helped orchestrate the evacuation of civilians from Russian-occupied territories. He served on the Ukrainian delegation that negotiated a U.N.-brokered grain deal that Russia pulled out of six weeks ago. The politician also participated in peace talks in the initial weeks after Russias February 2022 invasion. Reznikov, 57, had been hinting at a departure, saying last week that he was exploring other government positions with Zelenskyy. Media in Ukraine have been speculating that Reznikov would be appointed as ambassador to London, capitalizing on his strong relationships with Western allies, BBC News reported. Ukrainian Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov in April 2023. Asked Sunday if he had any comment about the switch, President Biden said, not publicly. The disclosure capped weeks of speculation as an investigation unfolded into the Ministry of Defenses procurement practices. Ukrainian investigative journalists had discovered that summer military jackets were ordered instead of winter ones and that the government had paid $86 per unit when the suppliers customs documents priced them at $29. The scandal led to the resignation earlier this year of Reznikovs deputy, Vyacheslav Shapovalov, according to BBC News. Reznikov said at the time that his conscience is absolutely clear. He has not be accused of any wrongdoing himself. Zelenskyy urged the parliament to approve his choice. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine knows this person well, and Mr. Umerov does not need any additional introductions, the president said. I expect the Parliament to support this candidate. With News Wire Services Diverse classes prepare kids for the real world Brooklyn: Im a 1976 graduate of Stuyvesant High School. My best friends were eight other African-American women who, like me, traveled from the outer boroughs to the outdated Stuyvesant building on E. 15th St. We didnt have a pool, computer room or modern labs in a modern building overlooking the Hudson River. The girls gym was a converted shop room. But we were educated and happy, and all graduated on time and went on to successful careers in law, medicine, education, etc. I have degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh Law School and Brooklyn College. If you check out the yearbook from 1976, you will see a diverse class with Brown faces throughout who have as many degrees as they can list. Unfortunately, since I returned to my hometown in 1994, every year the headlines speak about the lack of diversity at my alma mater. What is wrong with this picture? This year, only seven Black students were offered admission? I believe there are many reasons for such a paucity of Brown faces but none are based on the lack of smart, motivated Brown-skinned middle schoolers. Those in charge must find solutions and fix the problem. The student populations of schools like Stuyvesant do not reflect the real world and it is a disservice to their graduating classes. I learned how to appreciate those who are different, and I share a common goal of getting a great education. I believe it helped me to adapt to my surroundings personally and professionally throughout my life. Justine Chambers Deserving of gratitude Bethesda, Md.: This Labor Day, when we honor workers, lets consider laborers who are often unseen: Farm workers, many of whom are immigrants and refugees, laboring in fields in the hot sun picking our fruits and vegetables, others work in slaughterhouses, gutting hogs, cows and chickens carving up carcasses, they make thousands of repetitive motions at high speeds and are at imminent risk for injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves. They often develop post-traumatic stress disorder from killing and dismembering sentient creatures. Injured workers are often fired when they cant keep up the fast pace. So, this Labor Day, lets also not forget those workers in grocery stores, restaurants, dry cleaners, police departments and government offices who provide important products and services that help us every day in so many ways. Jane DeMarines Womens work Hallandale Beach, Fla.: This Labor Day, lets give special recognition to the labor of women, in our current time and throughout our history, in all its forms. Far too undervalued and taken for granted. Vital for life and the continuation of all we hold dear. Paul Bacon RIP West Islip, L.I.: Thank you, Jimmy Buffett, for the music and taking me and many others to this place you call Margaritaville. As I write this on a Saturday afternoon with a margarita, I toast you and say, Its 5 oclock somewhere. Sean Burns One of a kind Ozone Park: That lost shaker of salt can be found, but Jimmy Buffet will never have a replacement. He was the epitome of relaxation, with a music style that made you think of palm trees and gritty sand between your toes. Ray Hackinson Dutiful service Manhattan: A politician and a diplomat / A man committed to freedom and liberty / A salute to Bill Richardson, congressman, governor, UN ambassador, presidential candidate / secretary of energy, hostage negotiator, Nobel Peace Prize nominee / His legacy will be his years of service / and belief in justice for all / tireless in freeing political prisoners and hostages / Richardson answered the call / We thank him for his years in government / We are grateful for his dedication / His loss is just so heartbreaking and sad / We will always remember his devotion to our nation / His name will be enshrined / in the history books as a great politician / He did his best to promote peace and harmony / a true patriot who dutifully accepted every mission. Phoebe Celentano Seniority Terre Haute, Ind.: The Marxist legacy media is going after Mitch McConnell given his mental freezing experiences stemming from the brain concussion he sustained during a fall in Washingtons Waldorf Astoria in March. But these mainstream media types never go after President Biden as he stumbles and falls up the stairs to Air Force One, falls down during an Army ceremony, mumbles and slurs words with that droning speech pattern of his, with those obnoxious clicking sounds he makes as he picks his right eyebrow with a feeble thumb and index finger while licentiously hugging little girls. Biden shuffles about, unaware of where he is half the time, gets lost with no sense of direction or plunges through a door as he enjoys endless weekends in Delaware and vacations throughout the U.S. as he did for most of August. As painful as this is to state, its time for Kamala Harris. Earl Beal Know when its over Riverhead, L.I.: Like many others, I am concerned about President Bidens advanced age and current mental prowess. But I am confident I will know when he is no longer mentally fit to be president, and that will be when he suggests that it might be a good idea to ingest bleach to get rid of a virus, or that it might be a good idea to nuke a hurricane, or for the U.S. to buy Greenland or that windmills cause cancer. Of course, anybody of such a deteriorated mental state would have the humility and love for this country to never run for any public office, wouldnt they? Colin Grattan Extremist blind spot Staten Island: To Voicer Mike Greaney, Jan. 6 will mark three years since the white wing tried to overthrow the government of the U.S.A. Do you intend to fret over the Murican morons who tried to bring us in line with Russia, China and North Korea as you do the terrorists who came before them? A terrorist is a terrorist no matter what they look like, and as far as I know, no Central or South American has ever tried to destroy us or take down democracy, as the GOP is doing every day. So why conflate the two? You compare apples and lettuce, Mike, just to make yourself feel better about backing terrorists and the real threat to the U.S.A.: the GOP and its wackos. No, Mike, its not your dads GOP. Please pay attention. And remember, these folks you vilify are fleeing the results of Repugnicon presidents often illegal actions in their home countries, and arent at fault for what our government did to them in our name. Did you root for Timothy McVeigh, too? Tom McGuire Boycott the broadcasters Woodstock, N.Y.: As an add-on to Voicer Judith Clarkes astute letter, we all pay a small fortune every month just to watch TV while were hammered with billions of dollars worth of advertising! You cant tell us consumers that were not getting hosed. And then Spectrum has the audacity to refuse to provide ordinary channels like ESPN, saying its costing them too much! We should all expect to be able to watch sports, for heavens sake! And, like Clarke pointed out, ABC is supposed to be a network channel. Hello! This is a giant scam. Perhaps we should all cancel TV altogether and go to the library and then to the movie theater! Suzanne Hayes Kelly Eye in the sky Brooklyn: NYCLU, please find something else to complain about. I have no problem with the NYPD using drones to keep me safe during JOuvert. There are many young punks who come with bad intentions. If the drones help weed them out, I am good with that. June Lowe Pleasant surprise Chicago: This is the first time I have noticed Bill Maddens writing. I enjoyed the clear thinking. Reminds me of Mike Lupica. I enjoyed Maddens thoughts on Jerry Reinsdorf but I have to disagree. He doesnt deserve another year. It will just be time wasted, mark my words, Mr. Madden. I will now look for your byline. Thank you. Frank Abromitis The persistent labor shortage continues to challenge businesses, with 39% of companies reporting difficulties in finding new employees, according to the latest Entrepreneur gallup. Responding entrepreneurs and business representatives have proposed solutions such as increasing local agreements and shortening unemployment security periods. Currently, one in eight businesses employs foreign labor, and the majority believe their companies have sufficient language proficiency for such hiring. Among companies employing five or more individuals, approximately 67% face workforce recruitment challenges. The issue is most pronounced in the industrial and construction sectors, where over half of businesses struggle to find suitable candidates. The labor shortage appears to be a nationwide concern, with minimal regional variations. The most recent survey, conducted in March 2023, revealed that 39% of small and medium-sized business representatives reported labor shortages. Furthermore, one in four businesses (26%) still sees workforce shortage as an obstacle to growth. Janne Makkula, Director of Finlands Entrepreneurs, expressed concern, stating, "The labor shortage limits the growth of up to 80,000 companies in Finland. Enormous growth potential remains untapped. That's why we need changes in the labor market and social security system. Additionally, actions by companies, such as offering internships, play a vital role." Proposed remedies include reducing ancillary labor costs and increasing workplace agreements. Entrepreneurs who participated in the survey suggested several effective ways to alleviate the labor shortage, encompassing both regulatory reforms and internal company measures. The top solution identified was reducing ancillary labor costs (48%). Other significant measures included increasing local agreements (39%), easing individual-based layoffs (38%), and simplifying fixed-term contracts (37%). For businesses employing more than ten individuals, the most important actions to address labor shortages were reducing ancillary labor costs (63%), increasing local agreements (59%), easing individual-based layoffs (59%), removing the re-employment obligation (55%), and simplifying fixed-term contracts (54%). Makkula commented positively on these suggestions, saying, "Entrepreneurs are proposing the very measures included in the government program. It's excellent that the government has swiftly initiated regulatory changes." Offering internships (29%), increasing local agreements (27%), and enhancing cooperation with educational institutions (27%) received the most mentions among the company's internal measures to alleviate labor shortages. However, only one in eight companies (12%) currently employs foreign labor, with the proportion increasing significantly with the size of the company. The industrial sector reports the highest percentage of foreign labor employment (31%). Albert Makela, an expert at Finlands Entrepreneurs, emphasized that work-related immigration is not a universal solution to all companies' labor shortages, citing the cumbersome recruitment process for small enterprises. Approximately 10% of businesses indicated intentions to hire foreign labor, a lower figure than in a comparative 2021 survey. Meanwhile, 77% of respondents had no plans to employ foreign workers. Nonetheless, 54% of companies believe that facilitating the hiring of foreign labor should be a priority. Makela urged for streamlined and simplified immigration processes, especially emphasizing the need to abandon considerations of foreign labor availability. He noted, "When labor is needed immediately, companies can't afford to wait several months for a work permit. Immigration processes must be expedited and simplified." The majority (71%) assessed their companies as having adequate language proficiency for hiring foreign labor, although there was a significant difference between the capital region (84%) and Northern and Eastern Finland (65%). HT End the Silence!, the organiser of the demonstration, stated in a press release that the demonstration is an attempt to prompt the government and parliament to move from words to action in the fight against racism. AROUND 11,000 PEOPLE expressed their opposition to racism at a demonstration held in downtown Helsinki on Sunday, according to a joint estimate by police and the organisers. The government, it underscored, must not only reject racism but also implement policies that weed out racism. After gathering at the Senate Square, the demonstrators moved along Aleksanterinkatu and Mannerheimintie to Toolonlahti Bay, where they were treated to speeches and live music during the afternoon and early evening, reported Helsingin Sanomat. The programme ended at 7pm, with the last few thousand attendees leaving behind to dance and clean up the site at the request of the organisers. Helsinki Police Department on Sunday reported that no disturbances occurred during the demonstration. This has gone very well and peacefully from a police viewpoint. We havent had counter-protests, altercations or disturbances, a spokesperson from the command centre of Helsinki Police Department told Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday. Over a hundred organisations and stakeholders had expressed their support for the demonstration, according to End the Silence! Aleksi Teivainen HT On Sunday, September 3rd , a large anti-racism and anti-fascism demonstration brought together an historically significant crowd in Helsinki. The massive demonstration, organized by the "We Will Not Be Silent" working group consisting of over a hundred citizens, began at Senate Square and proceeded for over two hours toward Toolonlahti event park. As the first participants arrived at their destination, the last had not even departed yet. The demonstration proceeded peacefully and in good spirits. Massive Turnout According to the organizers' count, approximately 20,000 people participated in the march and the Toolonlahti event park concert. Throughout the day, a total of 15 speeches were given by experts on anti-racism and human rights, as well as representatives of groups experiencing racism in society. Despite the seriousness of the main message of the demonstration, a strong sense of community prevailed. The organizers aimed to provide a safe space for everyone to participate. A shorter accessible march route was arranged for those with mobility impairments. The event was trilingual and fully interpreted in sign language. The principles of diversity and non-discrimination were also evident in the actions of the demonstrators. People encouraged the speakers and performers and took exemplary care of one another. Cooperation with the Helsinki Police went smoothly, and the participants themselves spontaneously cleaned the event area at the end. Anti-Racism Concerns All The demonstration sent a strong anti-racist message to the Finnish Parliament, which reconvenes after the summer break this Tuesday. Citizens agreed that individuals known and recognized for their racist actions should not serve as ministers in the Finnish government. Many signs at the demonstration asked, "How could you not have known about the racism of the Finns Party?". Demonstrators believe that the government's racist actions affect Finland's international reputation, economic competitiveness, societal atmosphere, and people's trust and sense of security. At the end of the demonstration, Karri Paleface Miettinen, who led the "Allies' Choir," emphasized the responsibility of allies: "It is the duty of white people to use their privilege to promote equality and anti-racism. It is the civic duty of every citizen." The speeches during the demonstration highlighted personal experiences of racism and stressed that racist opinions should not be conflated with freedom of speech. "Racist rhetoric is not about hurting someone's feelings. This is not about differences of opinion. It is about violence that affects not only 'someone out there' but me," stated Laura Eklund Nhaga in her powerful speech. HT Lindtman, who was widely considered the frontrunner to take over the reins from Sanna Marin , received over three-quarters of the roughly 16,000 votes cast in the leadership election, handily beating his rival candidate, Krista Kiuru . THE PARTY CONFERENCE of the Social Democratic Party on Friday elected Antti Lindtman , a 41-year-old Member of Parliament for Uusimaa, as the new chairperson of the opposition party. Wow, thats quite the result, he exclaimed after the election according to Helsingin Sanomat. Lindtman was asked later at a press conference about his vision for the party especially in contrast to the term of Marin, who led the party since mid-2010 after a closely fought leadership election win over Lindtman. Marin, who had become prime minister about six months earlier due to the resignation of Antti Rinne, announced after last springs parliamentary elections that she will not seek a second term at the helm of the party. Id say that the times around us have changed, replied Lindtman. He acknowledged that the need for fiscal stimulus was obvious in the past couple of years as the country was faced with the coronavirus pandemic and Russias war of aggression in Ukraine. In this electoral term and in the coming years, therell clearly be a need to focus on beefing up the public economy, he viewed, stressing nonetheless that the party will determine its platform together. Well show [in our shadow budget] that balancing the public economy can be done more justly. The biggest problem with the current governments economic policy is that the burden falls completely on the shoulders of low and middle-income Finns. Nasima Razmyar was elected as the first deputy chairperson, Niina Malm as the second deputy chairperson and Matias Makynen as the third deputy chairperson of the Social Democrats on Saturday. Lindtman stirred up controversy almost immediately after taking the helm, stating his preference for two of the four candidates vying for the influential post of party secretary, Hanna Kuntsi and Mikkel Nakkalajarvi, who was elected as party secretary on Saturday. Nakkalajarvi, 33, is returning to national politics after a few-year absence following controversy about his criminal record, which appeared to damage his campaign for a seat in the European Parliament in 2019. Many news outlets reminded following his appointment that as a 16-year-old he was found guilty of criminal damage, violation of domestic privacy and animal welfare offence, the latter for participating in killing a cat with a shovel. Four years later he was also found guilty of driving while intoxicated and causing a traffic hazard after falling asleep on the wheel and crashing off the road with four passengers in the car with him. Lindtmans announcement prompted the two other candidates to withdraw from the race, causing unease within the party conference. Helsingin Sanomat on Saturday reported that some attendees said the chairperson interfering to prop up his preferred candidates made the contest ugly, particularly as he did so only a couple of hours after underscoring the unity of the party. More than 50 blank and disqualified votes were cast in the election, accounting for some 10 per cent of the party conference attendees. Some attendees interpreted this as a sign of protest, the newspaper wrote. Lindtman defended his decision to state his preference with transparency, saying he had told all candidates that he would possibly be commenting on the race. The party secretary, he also reminded, is the most important partner of the chairperson. I wanted to do this as openly and fairly as possible, so that this was known to all party secretary candidates from the start, he commented to STT. Marin bowed out from the party leadership without speaking to media, cancelling without explanation the press conference she was scheduled to hold on Friday. Aleksi Teivainen HT Suicidal thoughts have become more prevalent, as evidenced by the extensive "Terve Suomi" population study conducted by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in 2023. MIELI ry's helpline callers are facing increasingly severe situations, with more people dialing 112. While the number of suicides in Finland has halved since the economic downturn in the 1990s, the country still has the highest suicide rate in the Nordic region, with approximately 750 suicides annually. Currently, services are struggling to meet the demand for help. This is reflected in MIELI ry, where the Crisis Helpline, Solmu Chat, and Sekasin Chat have experienced more contacts with emergency services this year. This means that more callers are at immediate risk of self-harm, and their situations are increasingly critical. While the number of self-harming contacts at the Crisis Helpline has been on the rise for the past decade, there was a significant increase during the pandemic. Self-harming individuals are often directed home with medication to seek help. This is evident from THL's study published last year and MIELI ry's monitoring conducted in June and July 2023 regarding callers' experiences with public services. According to THL's research, nearly half of those who died by suicide had visited a healthcare facility in the last week. On the day of their suicide, one in five had been at a healthcare appointment. MIELI ry's monitoring shows that self-harming individuals sought help from the public sector but were sent home from emergency services, psychiatric outpatient clinics, and health centers. Sanna Vesikansa, Director of MIELI ry's Crisis Center, is deeply concerned about the situation. She emphasizes that it is not enough to include suicide prevention in the national mental health strategy; concrete resources must be allocated, and it must be reflected in local government programs, in addition to the national government program. "Regional health authorities have the responsibility to provide sufficient care for those at risk of suicide. Actions are needed to ensure that those at risk of suicide and their families receive prompt support in difficult situations. Every healthcare professional should receive training in suicide prevention and addressing suicidal thoughts," Vesikansa states. The decrease in suicide rates since the 1990s has been significant but is at risk of stalling due to increased stress and overwhelmed services. In recent years, suicides among women have become more common. "The treatment of self-harm poses two challenges: the failure to identify or address suicide risk, and even if treatment progresses properly, there is often insufficient follow-up care available," says Marena Kukkonen, Head of the Suicide Prevention Center at MIELI ry. The number of psychiatric hospital beds has decreased by 41% over the last five years, and the length of inpatient care has shortened. It is crucial to increase outpatient care, which, in many cases, would be an effective solution. "While the primary concern is for those at risk of self-harm and their families, healthcare professionals are also in an extremely difficult position when there is no place to refer individuals in acute danger," Kukkonen adds. In 2021, 747 people died by suicide in Finland. Figures for 2022 will be confirmed at the end of this year, but preliminary data from THL in July suggests that the total number of suicide deaths has remained at the previous year's level. Each year, more than three times as many people die by suicide in Finland as in road traffic accidents. Finland also ranks high in suicide statistics within the EU, only trailing Lithuania, Slovenia, Hungary, Belgium, and Estonia. International Suicide Prevention Day is observed on September 10th. The goal of the day is to increase knowledge about suicide, disseminate information, and reduce the stigma associated with suicide. Above all, the day aims to convey the message that suicides can be prevented, help is available for those with suicidal thoughts, and talking about suicide can be done safely. Each of us can ask the question that can save a life, #howareyou. Whenever possible, we kindly request that any articles or programs share information about where help can be found: The Crisis Helpline is available in Finnish 24/7 at 09 2525 0111. Crisis centers throughout Finland provide face-to-face, remote, and group counseling for free and without a referral. Online counseling is available through the Solmu Chat and Sekasin Chat, designed for young people. The Suicide Prevention Centers in Helsinki and Kuopio provide assistance for those who have attempted suicide and their loved ones. HT Gabriel Guevara, an actor who stars in the Spanish Amazon Prime film My Fault, was arrested on sexual assault charges in Venice during the citys annual Venice International Film Festival. Italian state police arrested Guevara on Saturday, one day before he was scheduled to receive the organization Filming Italys best young actor award, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Filming Italy canceled the award as a precautionary measure after Guevaras arrest, the magazine added. Before extradition proceedings can begin, Venices court of appeals must make a determination in Guevaras case. The actor was the subject of an active international warrant for an alleged sexual assault in France, but further details about the charges against Guevara are not currently available, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Venice International Film Festival confirmed Guevaras arrest while noting that the actor was not involved in the festivals events, Variety reports. Following the news articles which have been emerging on various websites, regarding the Spanish actor Gabriel Guevara being arrested in Venice, the Biennale hereby clarifies that his presence in Venice was not linked to any events or productions related to the 80th Venice International Film Festival, organizers said in a statement, per Variety. Guevara hit it big in 2018 as he played Cristian Miralles Haro in the first season of Skam Spain, a teen drama following a group of 16-year-olds and their in-person and social-media interactions in real time, according to THR. He then starred in this years My Fault, in which he and Nicole Wallace play step-siblings who overcome their clashing personalities and develop a romantic attraction. Guevaras other roles include the TV series Dangerous Moms, HIT, Youre Nothing Special, Bose, and Como mandarlo todo a la mierda. He also appeared in the films Charter and Manana es hoy. Guevaras IMDb filmography shows he has one project in the pipeline, a TV series titled Red Flags. Sean Diddy Combs has reportedly transferred music-publishing rights to the individuals who contributed to the success of his Bad Boy Records. A source told Variety on Monday that Combs decided to reassign his Bad Boy publishing rights back to all Bad Boy artists and writers who helped build Bad Boy into the powerhouse it is today. The recipients of those rights believed to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars including Faith Evans, Ma$e, The Lox, 112, Notorious B.I.G.s estate, and many more creators, according to Variety. Music mogul and entrepreneur Sean Diddy Combs arrives at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 15, 2022. Combs has received multimillion-dollar offers for the rights to the Bad Boy catalog, but the rapper-turned-mogul instead decided to reassign the rights to the creators, the publication adds. The source explains that Combs whose latest musical effort, The Love Album: Off the Grid, comes out on Sept. 15 considers the decision part of a broader goal of promoting economic empowerment for Black artists and culture. Faith Evans poses in the press room at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Los Angeles. A rights reassignment would likely come as a relief to Ma$e, who claimed on social media in 2020 that Combs originally bought the rappers publishing rights for $20,000 and then declined Ma$es $2 million offer to get the rights back, according to Complex. Fellow rapper Camron revealed in an Instagram reel on Wednesday that Ma$e just got his publishing back from Puff and finished the paper work for that yesterday. Rapper Chris Wallace, known as Notorious B.I.G., is pictured outside his mothers house in Brooklyn. Publishing rights have become a hot commodity for recording artists. Stevie Nicks sold the majority of her publishing rights to music publishing company Primary Wave in 2020 for an estimated $100 million, as Rolling Stone recaps. Days later, Bob Dylan sold his songwriting catalog to Universal Music for an estimated $400 million, per the magazine. And this January, Justin Bieber sold his publishing to Hipgnosis Songs Capital in a deal priced at more than $200 million, according to Billboard. Sprawling over a massive 159 acres of area, Aeropolis City, undertaken by M/S Sukhm Infrastructure Private Limited, is an upcoming world-class mega real estate project conveniently located at the heart of Sector 66A of Mohali. The well-planned township will comprise a diverse blend of commercial, residential and industrial plots to cater to a varying spectrum of customers. Strategically located, Aeropolis City enjoys geographical proximity to Chandigarh Airport, which makes it an ideal place to be. This mega township, situated on New International Airport Road, has multiple healthcare facilities, leading educational institutions and transport hubs nearby, elevating its prominence as a future investment option. The location advantage of Aeropolis City is immense, offering unparalleled living experience, comfort and benefits for commercial operations across the board; whether you are planning to open up a car dealership or set up your boutique, this is the perfect place to do so. The showrooms are located right by the new international airport road, and the project is just 3 km from the international airport. Also, the Mohali Railway Station is just a few metres away, and the Fortis Hospital is within 3.8 km, and PCA Stadium is at 2.8 km; this township is at the heart of the city and undoubtedly the best option to live and invest in. Through this real estate project, M/S Sukhm Infrastructure Private Limited aims to transform the real estate landscape of Mohali completely. It wants to provide customers with a one-of-a-kind living experience and lucrative opportunities for business and investment. Tejinder Singh Bhatia, Managing Director at Aeropolis City said,Aeropolis City will feature best-in-class amenities, premium layouts for commercial ventures, top-notch development quality and efficiency, and robust security systems. Also, the focus of Aeropolis City has always been sustainable development, so taking care of the environmental balance is imperative to us, and we strive to achieve that goal without fail. Because we know that striking the right balance here will also amplify your experience as a resident and business owner, and this is something we do not compromise on. The integrated township will house a plethora of residential, commercial and industrial properties. Residential plots will include a vast range of property options, including eye-catching low-rise independent floors, residential plots and premium high-rise apartments offering breathtaking views, top-class luxury and convenience. Coming to commercial properties, the mega township will offer exceptional options like retail showroom sites, double-storied showroom sites and dedicatedly built commercial spaces. These commercial property options have the advantage of being situated on the new international airport road, which will supposedly be one of the busiest roads in the coming days. Being at the heart of the city, this project is creating a hub for businesses and providing opportunities to succeed and grow. Aeropolis City also has a lot to offer for industrialists planning on expanding their businesses. This township offers green industrial parks, which are ideal for setting up automobile stations, BPO, IT and tech parks, non-polluting small-scale production-based factories, healthcare industries, FMCG industries, garment industries, warehouses, corporate offices and more. Regarding location advantage, Aeropolis City scores a ten on ten. As mentioned, the township is located at the heart of Mohali and by its new airport road, which means the footfall and traffic are significant. It also enjoys easy access to all parts of the Tricity and is already a bustling hub for IT, business and commercial activities. It is a fast-growing investment destination with proximity to various amenities like educational and healthcare institutions. Aeropolis City is undoubtedly a smart and wise investment decision, and there is more than one reason to support this. It is a promising choice for investors who seek a solid return on their investments. Growth of Investment The creators of Aeropolis City, M/S Sukhm Infrastructure Private Limited, wish to help their investors witness growth in their investments. It is, therefore, offering investment opportunities at the most competitive prices, which ensures great ROI and sustainable growth. Secure Investment Option One of the most significant reasons to choose Aeropolis City is that it is a 100% safe investment choice. The developer offers almost immediate possession of properties for all new sales while only ready-to-move properties are already being launched. Naturally, with Aeropolis City, the investments are in safe hands. Also, sale deeds for the new properties that are being launched will be provided almost immediately. Presence of High-Value Projects Around Aeropolis City is surrounded by already existing properties and projects on its 3 sides, which are of great market value. The Aeropolis City projects are at the stage of launching, and their prices are expected to match that of the existing projects in the adjacent areas. This increases the chances of multiplying the current investment value manifold for customers and investors of this mega township. Exponential Vicinity Mohali is a fast-growing city and the location of this mega-project is witnessing a lot more activity and a consistent rise in property prices. An investment in this mega township can prove to be a financially sound decision in the coming years. Significant Frontage The existing properties located on the new Airport Road have witnessed skyrocketing increase in valuation in the past two years. The same can be expected for properties developed in Aeropolis City. This fully-integrated township project comes with extensive and significant frontage on Airport Road, which is around 700 metres. This will offer a major location advantage for investors, buyers and businesses. About Sukhm Infrastructure Private Limited Sukhm Infrastructure Private Limited, incorporated in 2005, is a leading organisation which is involved in real estate development and renting. The company is registered in Chandigarh. Sukhm Infrastructure Private Limited takes pride in offering quality and sustainable development of the property, complete customer care assistance throughout the property-buying journey, investment security, unparalleled transparency and reliability, along with all the financial assistance required for the process. Moreover, the company has all the required licensing and permissions, making it even easier for you to invest without worry. Its focus on revolutionising the real estate sector of the country has brought it many laurels, awards and accolades since its inception. The company is dedicated to providing world-class amenities, superb customer experience and 100% customer satisfaction in the field of real estate. Website - https://www.aeropolis.city/contact/ Contact No: +91 - 7888 688 798 Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Interview: China goes extra mile to liberalize services sector -- Italian trade official 14:26, September 04, 2023 By Ma Qian ( Xinhua This photo taken on Sept. 1, 2023 shows an interior view of the China National Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Hao Jianwei) "We would like to express our sincere appreciation for the efforts undertaken by the Chinese government to create a level playing field for everybody to access the services sector in this country," said an Italian trade official. BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- China has gone the extra mile in its efforts to liberalize the services sector and open up its market to foreign companies, said an Italian trade official. "We would like to express our sincere appreciation for the efforts undertaken by the Chinese government to create a level playing field for everybody to access the services sector in this country," Gianpaolo Bruno, trade commissioner of the Beijing Office of the Italian Trade Commission, told Xinhua on Saturday at the ongoing 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). China is further opening up to global businesses, particularly in the services sector, reckoned Bruno, suggesting that is the main message China wants to deliver through this year's CIFTIS. "We are really acting very positively, because we're honored to present the strength of the Italian economy in the service sector," Bruno said. Italy would also like to convey its strong commitment to promoting "the already brilliant cooperation we have with Chinese partners and to discuss concrete projects for mutual benefit," he added. Traders learns about bamboo winding composite pipes at the environmental services exhibition of the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 2, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Xin) The Italian official highlighted a series of policy measures that China has carried out, from intellectual property rights (IPR) protection to foreign direct investment (FDI) incentives. In particular, he talked of China's ramped-up efforts to grant foreign companies equal access to participate in government procurement activities. "They are also very good signals that we really appreciate. We hope that the Italian business community could take advantage of these opportunities," he added. China's State Council released in August a new set of opinions on boosting FDI. The document contains 24 suggestions for attracting foreign investments, ranging from improving IPR protection to facilitating cross-border data flows. Authorities should guarantee that foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) can participate in government procurement in accordance with the law, and support FIEs in innovating and developing world-leading products through measures such as first-order purchases, said the document. This photo shows a self-driving vehicle on display during the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at Shougang Park in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 3, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) In regard to e-commerce, Bruno noted that Italy has stepped up efforts to improve its business environment and further digitalize its economy to increase efficiency and effectiveness. "We are working with Chinese platforms to explore more possibilities for Italian companies to sell their products on the Business-to-Customer basis, given the fact that Chinese consumers are looking for more foreign goods," he said. "So there is a win-win situation." The Italian official also noticed China's ongoing efforts to transform the manufacturing industry "to reap the benefits of a high-valued segment of the global value chain." "We are following very carefully this process, because I think there are many opportunities to cooperate with China in the high-tech sector, as China is working to stoke (up) its long-term economic development process," he continued. "So we're very happy that China is working very strongly towards that end, and we are available to cooperate with (Chinese) manufacturing companies, high-tech companies and consulting companies in order to help China make this possible," Bruno said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Blog Archive: Oct 2023 (150) Sep 2023 (150) Aug 2023 (155) Jul 2023 (155) Jun 2023 (150) May 2023 (155) Apr 2023 (150) Mar 2023 (155) Feb 2023 (140) Jan 2023 (155) Dec 2022 (156) Nov 2022 (150) Oct 2022 (155) Sep 2022 (150) Aug 2022 (155) Jul 2022 (154) Jun 2022 (150) May 2022 (155) Apr 2022 (150) Mar 2022 (155) Feb 2022 (140) Jan 2022 (156) Dec 2021 (156) Nov 2021 (150) Oct 2021 (155) Sep 2021 (150) Aug 2021 (155) Jul 2021 (155) Jun 2021 (150) May 2021 (155) Apr 2021 (150) Mar 2021 (155) Feb 2021 (140) Jan 2021 (155) Dec 2020 (155) Nov 2020 (150) Oct 2020 (158) Sep 2020 (150) Aug 2020 (130) Jul 2020 (124) Jun 2020 (120) May 2020 (124) Apr 2020 (120) Mar 2020 (124) Feb 2020 (116) Jan 2020 (125) Dec 2019 (126) Nov 2019 (120) Oct 2019 (124) Sep 2019 (120) Aug 2019 (125) Jul 2019 (124) Jun 2019 (120) May 2019 (123) Apr 2019 (121) Mar 2019 (124) Feb 2019 (112) Jan 2019 (125) Dec 2018 (126) Nov 2018 (120) Oct 2018 (124) Sep 2018 (121) Aug 2018 (124) Jul 2018 (125) Jun 2018 (120) May 2018 (124) Apr 2018 (121) Mar 2018 (124) Feb 2018 (112) Jan 2018 (123) Dec 2017 (124) Nov 2017 (124) Oct 2017 (141) Sep 2017 (135) Aug 2017 (138) Jul 2017 (137) Jun 2017 (134) May 2017 (138) Apr 2017 (135) Mar 2017 (139) Feb 2017 (129) Jan 2017 (143) Dec 2016 (135) Nov 2016 (138) Oct 2016 (142) Sep 2016 (128) Aug 2016 (133) Jul 2016 (136) Jun 2016 (138) May 2016 (164) Apr 2016 (311) Mar 2016 (348) Feb 2016 (320) Jan 2016 (348) Dec 2015 (314) Nov 2015 (338) Oct 2015 (363) Sep 2015 (358) Aug 2015 (399) Jul 2015 (374) Jun 2015 (331) May 2015 (337) Apr 2015 (319) Mar 2015 (320) Feb 2015 (271) Jan 2015 (286) Dec 2014 (254) Nov 2014 (238) Oct 2014 (287) Sep 2014 (267) Aug 2014 (259) Jul 2014 (260) Jun 2014 (238) May 2014 (241) Apr 2014 (228) Mar 2014 (240) Feb 2014 (217) Jan 2014 (263) Dec 2013 (226) Nov 2013 (254) Oct 2013 (256) Sep 2013 (252) Aug 2013 (263) Jul 2013 (261) Jun 2013 (251) May 2013 (250) Apr 2013 (221) Mar 2013 (193) Feb 2013 (164) Jan 2013 (157) Dec 2012 (155) Nov 2012 (240) Oct 2012 (526) Sep 2012 (411) Aug 2012 (394) Jul 2012 (284) Jun 2012 (229) May 2012 (213) Apr 2012 (213) Mar 2012 (253) Feb 2012 (269) Jan 2012 (298) Dec 2011 (273) Nov 2011 (219) Oct 2011 (204) Sep 2011 (201) Aug 2011 (236) Jul 2011 (217) Jun 2011 (211) May 2011 (206) Apr 2011 (215) Mar 2011 (215) Feb 2011 (186) Jan 2011 (215) Dec 2010 (107) Nov 2010 (98) Oct 2010 (55) A historic moment graces AMET's chronicles as 155 pioneering Maersk select cadets set foot into the hallways of the Maersk Centre of Excellence that commenced operations in August 2023. Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Business Wire India Amidst a wave of excitement, proud parents and eager cadets enrolled into the cutting-edge facility at the Maersk Centre of Excellence (MCE) campus at Thenpattinam near Chennai. They recently celebrated the first day of life on campus as students made their transition into the professional course of BE Marine Engineering and BSc Nautical Science with the inauguration of the induction program. The grand occasion was graced by the venerable founder and Chancellor of AMET University, Dr. J Ramachandran, whose presence as the esteemed chief guest elevated the event to a pinnacle of prestige and promise. The Maersk Centre of Excellence emerges from a harmonious three-decade partnership between the Academy of Maritime Education and Training (AMET) and A.P. Moller - Maersk. Exclusively dedicated to harnessing the benefits of industry-academia collaboration for preparing cadets for seafaring careers, the Maersk Centre of Excellence proudly stands as an educational stronghold. Within its bounds, cadets are fully immersed in a comprehensive training regimen spanning nautical and engineering disciplines and paying heed to the future skills required by mariners to stay aligned with the needs of the industry. In a remarkable feat, the MCE was swiftly completed within three years of the MOU signing between Dr. Ramachandran and Mr. Niels Bruus of A.P. Moller - Maersk. This cutting-edge learning facility finds its home within the sprawling 137-acre AMET Knowledge Park. The foundation stone of which was laid by Mr. Niels Bruus on October 24, 2019. The commencement of construction on October 28, 2021, was marked by the presence of Shri Amitabh Kumar IAS and Capt. Karan Kochhar. Close to 1.5 years down the line, the campus was officially inaugurated on June 29, 2023, a testament to the rapid progress and dedication of the AMET management. Within the MCE, we house a diverse range of electrical and electronic laboratories, dynamic workshops, interactive communication labs, a safety training haven, a central seamanship mastery hub, and an ingenious integration of immersive augmented and virtual reality experiences await. Moreover, an ingeniously crafted canal serves as a hands-on training ground for boat rowing and lifeboat operation. The Maersk Centre of Excellence epitomizes a harmonious fusion of academic excellence and practical skill development, providing cadets a platform to not only gain knowledge but also excel as proficient maritime professionals. Embedded within the cadets' daily pursuits are the purpose and values of Maersk and their unwavering commitment towards sustainability and Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness (DEI). This transformation is masterfully orchestrated by Capt. Arvind Shankar, Maersk's Culture and Capability Manager, stationed on campus to craft an integration framework aligned with the pioneering Women Cadet Programme. During the Inaugural Address, Dr. J. Ramachandran highlighted the enduring three-decade partnership between Maersk and AMET. He praised Maersk for creating an opportunity for cadets to get a "Sponsorship agreement for sea time" right from day 1, encouraging cadets to not just aim for becoming Chief Engineer and Captain but also to aspire to become ship owners one day. He commended AMET for launching 20,000+ cadets into the maritime world over the years and reflected on how many of them now are in key positions in global shipping. Dr. Rajesh Ramachandran, the University's Pro-Chancellor, extended congratulations and stressed AMET's commitment to establishing top-notch facilities for academic excellence. He urged cadets to explore beyond coursework, embracing technological advancements and research in shipping. Capt. Arvind Shankar, Culture and Capability Manager at Maersk, emphasised the importance of networking and learning among peers, fostering future partnerships. He also celebrated the brave decision of pioneering women cadets breaking barriers and taking up this rewarding career at Maersk. Dr. (Mrs.) Deepa Rajesh, Vice-President (Academics) and Induction Programme Coordinator welcomed and shared insights about the 15-day Orientation Programme. Dr. (Mrs.) V. Sangeetha Albin, Additional Registrar of AMET University, gave the Vote of Thanks, expressing gratitude to all. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! A 31-year-old woman allegedly died by suicide in Ramanagara district after recording a video, in which she is purportedly heard accusing the police of not registering her complaint, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The family members and relatives of the deceased filed a complaint with the Ramanagara superintendent of police (SP) urging him to take action against the police officials who allegedly insulted her. (Representative Image) In the purported video, the woman is heard saying that she had a dispute with another woman over financial matters on last Thursday. The woman had gone to the local police station to file a complaint regarding the altercation. However, she alleged that the police declined to accept her complaint, citing her previous involvement in multiple fraud cases. HT cannot independently verify the veracity of the video. In the video, the woman has also alleged that Channapatna town circle inspector Shobha and a few other personnel insulted her referring old cases against her. She accused the police personnel of humiliation in the video. On September 1, the woman was admitted to Channapatna government hospital and later shifted her to Mandya Institute of Medical sciences (MIMS) hospital, where doctors diagnosed her of sleeping pill overdose. The woman died in the hospital on September 3. Her family members filed a complaint with the Ramanagara superintendent of police (SP) seeking action against the police officers named by the woman in her video. In the complaint filed by the womans husband, he also mentioned the names of some who lent money to the deceased, Ramanagara SP Karthik Reddy said. We have registered a complaint against four people including a woman in connection with the suicide, he said, adding that a special team has been formed under Channapatna rural circle inspector Krishna. Eight FIRs were registered against the deceased woman in Ramanagara and various police stations in Bengaluru. There is information that there was a financial transaction between the deceased and the other woman. It is suspected that she committed suicide due to this pressure. If the charges against our staff are proven, disciplinary action will also be taken against them, he added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Yet another piece of Chandigarhs heritage is set to be auctioned in Barcelona, Spain, on September 7. Made of teak wood and wicker, the chair that will go for auction in Spain bears the inscription: PEC, Boys Hostel, 59. (HT File) The easy chair, designed by architect Pierre Jeanneret in 1959 for Punjab Engineering College (PEC), has a reserve price of 3.56 lakh. Made of teak wood and wicker, the chair bears the inscription: PEC, Boys Hostel, 59. Earlier, in last week of July, a pair of Kangaroo Chairs, also designed by Jeanneret, were sold for $8,500 ( 6.9 lakh) by Bartons auction house in Pennsylvania, US. The reserve price for the chairs was $5,000 ( 4.11 lakh). In a similar auction held in April, a total of nine heritage furniture items from Chandigarh were sold off in Chicago, US, for 1.64 crore, with the most expensive item selling for 18.8 lakh. On January 27, a French auction house had put up for sale 40 heritage items from Chandigarh, but called off the bidding process hours before the auction. According to sources, the French Police had taken note of the auction, the biggest so far, and initiated an investigation. Thereafter, the website of the auction house was also not accessible. Earlier on January 20, 10 heritage items from Chandigarh also went under the hammer in New Jersey, US. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Agitated over not getting salaries since July, the medical and healthcare contractual workers union held a gate rally protest in front of the administrative block of Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, Chandigarh, on Monday. The protesters said after getting assurance from the higher authorities, the union members decided to wait for the next two days, and if the salary still wont be released, they will intensify the protest. (HT File) Hundreds of contractual employees from GMSH-16 and civil hospitals of Sector 22, 45 and Manimajra, along with employees of health and wellness centres, participated in the silent protest after their morning duties from 2 pm to 3 pm. During the protest, the delegates from the union were called upon by the GMSH-16 medical superintendent Dr VK Nagpal, who assured the members that the administration was trying their best to release the salary as early as possible. The delegation was led by union president Mandeep Kaur, senior vice-president Rahul Sharma, general secretary Manoj Kumar and press secretary Simranjeet Singh. The protesters said after getting assurance from the higher authorities, including GMSH-16 and the UT health secretary, the union members decided to wait for the next two days, and if the salary still wont be released, they will intensify the protest. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Education minister Rohit Thakur has hit back at Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur saying that by raising the issue of Sardar Patel University (SPU) he is only making political gains. The education minister said that while in power, Jairam started Sardar Patel University in the college building. Education minister Rohit Thakur has hit back at Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur saying that by raising the issue of Sardar Patel University (SPU) he is only making political gains. The education minister said that while in power, Jairam started Sardar Patel University in the college building. (HT File Photo) Leave aside qualitative education here, there was neither proper arrangement for holding classes for students nor was the university able to conduct their examinations. Jairam opened the varsity keeping only political gains in mind and played with the future of the students, he said. He added that there are not enough teaching and non-teaching staff in the university. In such a situation how can the students studying there get proper facilities? In view of this situation, some colleges had written that they should be removed from Sardar Patel University and attached to Himachal Pradesh University, he said. The education minister said that the present state government has no intention of closing Sardar Patel University nor is this university being closed, but in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Jairam once again raised the issue of the varsity. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The student-centric polls at Panjab University and city colleges seem to have lost their intrinsic vibrancy and cacophony over the years, which the old-timers blame on implementation of restrictive Lyngdoh guidelines nearly a decade ago and deep-pocketed mainstream parties growing interest in student politics. The over 150-year-old university has been holding student polls for decades now, initially indirect elections, where department representatives would elect the student council. (HT File) The over 150-year-old university has been holding student polls for decades now, initially indirect elections, where department representatives would elect the student council. In 1977, these were replaced by direct elections, which got halted briefly due to trouble in Punjab. They eventually resumed in 1997-98, along with emergence of home-grown Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) and Students of Panjab University (SOPU). Elections in the 80s and 90s were about debates on student-centric issues, with no political interference. Now, with funding from mainstream parties, the culture of freebies and party hopping has set in. From politics of conviction, it has become politics of convenience, commented Satya Pal Jain, additional solicitor general of India and BJP leader, who remained the general secretary of the PU student council in 1974. Majority of students on campus and its affiliated colleges come from Punjab and Haryana, but student polls are not held there. Himachal Pradesh is the only state in the region, with significant number of students at PU, where student polls are held. Parties making inroads since 2010 Leaders say sometime around 2009-10, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) started showing interest in PU politics through its student wing, SOI. But a major shift came in 2012, when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi came to PU campus and re-launched NSUI. The party went on to win the presidents post in the 2013 polls for the first time and hit national headlines. Ever since, all major political parties increased their presence on the campus aggressively, with funds no bar. This left home-bred SOPU and PUSU struggling for survival, and for over a decade now, most elections have been swept by student wings of mainstream parties, the latest being AAPs CYSS that won the presidents post in 2022 in its maiden foray in PU polls. Earlier, mainstream political parties interference was less. But now student parties have become direct extension of political parties, said Mohammad Khaled, a political science professor at PU, adding that the parties brought in huge money, with no checks on how it was being spent. Navdeep Goyal, a physics professor at PU, who has remained dean student welfare and has supervised polls for years together, agrees that campus polls had been severely politicised. Huge flow of funds from political parties in recent years has brought in plethora of problems. The culture of freebies, bribes, paid trips and distribution of liquor is increasing by the year. Now, PU has a mixed electorate undergraduate as well as post-graduate students. It is easy for parties to target vulnerable Class 12 pass-outs and there is no effort from the university to educate them, lamented former Congress MLA Kuljeet Nagra, who was the student council president from PUSU in 1992-93. He added that to make this exercise meaningful, varsity should use social media for debates and educate students about the importance of student polls. 5,000 cap on expenditure, ban on recontesting As violence grew on campuses in late 90s and use of money started coming to light, the Lyngdoh guidelines were enforced in 2005. The guidelines cap the campaign expenditure at 5,000 and bar students from recontesting. Also, an FIR against a student makes them ineligible for polls. These guidelines were temporary in nature. But have never been revised. This has stalled the natural progression of a student leader. One can contest the elections just once, even if they remain a PU student for a decade, said Berinder Dhillon, a Congress leader and a dominant former leader on campus, initially of SOPU, but later credited with reviving NSUI. Dhillon pointed out that due to PUs inability and non-emergence of quality leadership, police interference had increased. Most active student leaders are dubbed as trouble makers and harassed. Little time is given for campaigning. The student polls have been relegated to a yearly ritual by authorities and not an exercise that produces future leaders, added Dhillon, referring to prohibitory orders imposed by the UT administration this year against assembly of four or more students during polls. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Posing as a customer, a man tried to rob a jeweller of a gold chain at his shop in Kalka on Saturday. The accused was arrested and was produced before the duty court in Panchkula. He was sent to two-day police remand. (Getty image) The accused, identified as Sumit Gupta of Nalagarh, Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, was nabbed on the spot. Complainant Nikhil Bhatt of Kalka said he owned a jewellery shop in Kalka. On Saturday evening, Sumit came to his shop and asked for a gold chain. When he showed him one, Sumit used pepper spray on him and tried to flee but other people present there got hold of him and informed the police. The accused was arrested and booked under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence), 392 (robbery) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code. He was produced before the duty court on Sunday and was sent to two-day police remand. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON National Conference Member of Parliament from Baramulla Akbar Lone, who is one of the petitioners on Article 370 case in Supreme Court, will file affidavit as required by the Chief Justice of India. National Conference Member of Parliament from Baramulla Akbar Lone, who is one of the petitioners on Article 370 case in SC, will file affidavit as required by the Chief Justice of India. Whatever the directions of the Supreme Court are, they will be fulfilled in toto. The affidavit, as required by the chief justice, will be filed in the court before end of proceedings tomorrow, said former chief minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah. (PTI) Meanwhile, BJP on Monday alleged that National Conference leaders have double standards. Whatever the directions of the Supreme Court are, they will be fulfilled in toto. The affidavit, as required by the chief justice, will be filed in the court before end of proceedings tomorrow, said former chief minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah in Supreme Court when he was asked by reporters whether Lone will file an affidavit in which he pledges allegiance to the Constitution of India. National Conference chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq also confirmed that Lone will be filing affidavit. Yes, he will do it. Meanwhile, BJP criticised the National Conference leaders and alleged that their double standards are at its peak. National Conference leaders who brought autonomy resolutions and its leaders like Akbar Lone raised Pro-Pakistan slogan inside J&K assembly, took oath under Indian Constitution as MP, and today trying to prove more loyal than the king by submitting petition before Supreme Court against roll back of Article 370 and swearing that he is Indian, BJP J&K spokesman Altaf Thakur said in a statement. A Kashmiri Pandit group had questioned in the Supreme Court the credentials of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Akbar Lone, one of the petitioners challenging the abrogation of Article 370, claiming he was a supporter of secessionist forces. An intervention application in the apex court has been filed by Roots in Kashmir, which claims to be a group of Kashmiri Pandit youths, seeking to bring additional documents and facts on record in the matter. It alleged that the Lone is known as a supporter of secessionist forces operating in J&K, who support Pakistan. The petitioner No. 1 (Lone) was a member of the legislative assembly from 2002 to 2018 and has raised slogans like Pakistan Zindabad on the floor of the J&K assembly, the intervention application alleged while referring to several media reports in support of their claim. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After filing of nominations on August 31, the four-day long campaigning by candidates came to a close at 9 pm on Monday, 36 hours before voting is set to get underway for the Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) election on September 6. Supporters of CYSS and ABVP holding rallies on the last of campaigning at Panjab University on Monday. (Ravi Kumar/HT) The much-awaited polls to pick the campus president for the 2023-24 session will be a nine-horse race. The number of candidates in contention is highest in recent years, while eight candidates were in the fray last year. There is only one female presidential hopeful this year as compared to two last year. With Monday being the last day of campaigning, the dean students welfare (DSW) office allowed all parties to hold a second rally on the campus, after a similar permission on Sunday. With varsity reopening for classes on Monday, students also made a last-ditch effort to net votes by visiting departments and hostels. Still, compared to previous years, the last day of campaigning was relatively quieter. Flamboyant processions, complete with swanky cars, were conspicuous by their absence. While the poll code was in effect, campaigning remained mostly peaceful, except in the second week of August, when police had to register a case after a brawl broke out at GGDSD College in Sector 32. Defacement with party stickers and posters was seen in parts of the university, especially on the south campus. But DSW Jatinder Grover said till now, no action had been taken against any party. On Tuesday, parties will head out for one-on-one campaigning and focus on reaching out to voters through their social media handles. No clear favourite While campaigning hit the peak on Monday, there was no noticeable wave in favour of any particular party. Aayush Khatkar from AAPs student wing Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) is the incumbent president. While CYSS played up their hand in getting a grant of 48.91 crore from the AAP-lead Punjab government for building two PU hostels, many, including party insiders, feel Khatkar did not do enough to gain foothold for the party. Other parties also united against CYSS after their election in-charge and Dharamkot MLA Davinderjeet Singh Laddi Dhose visited PU campus multiple times to make announcements for the party. Earlier emerging as a major competitor, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) plan to forge an alliance with the Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) and Himachal Pradesh Students Union (HPSU) fell through after a scuffle at University Institute of Engineering (UIET). While the party has now decided to fight the election solely, just for the president post, insiders feel the public display of internal struggles will cost them some votes. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has tied up with Panjab University Helping Hands (PUHH). However, for the second year in a row, a candidate from the party has gone to the rival camp and become their president candidate. Last year, it was Aayush Khatkar, who joined CYSS, while this year, Jatinder Singh, a former ABVP convener, is NSUIs presidential pick. There are three alliances in play this year, with CYSS aligning with Himachal Students Union (HIMSU); SOI with INSO and HPSU; and ABVP with PUHH. Last year, there were two alliances. PUSU presidential candidate allegedly beaten up Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) presidential candidate Davinder Pal Singh alleged that he was beaten up by CYSS supporters outside University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) around 5.30 pm. Singh, along with members of PUSU and some other parties, staged a protest outside the administrative block building. They demanded that the nomination of the CYSS candidate be revoked and a FIR be registered. Slogans against CYSS and the Punjab government were also raised. Meanwhile, CYSS general secretary at PU, Paras Rattan said the party had nothing to do with the incident. While DSW Jatinder Grover remained unavailable for comment, as per sources, no evidence was found of involvement any political party in the incident. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! A terrorist was killed and an army jawan and a policeman were injured during an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Reasi districts Chassana area on Monday evening, said officials. A terrorist was killed and an army jawan and a policeman were injured during an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Reasi districts Chassana area on Monday evening, said officials. (PTI File Photo/Representational image) Additional director general of police Mukesh Singh said, One terrorist has been killed and a policeman was injured during an encounter that has started in Reasi district. On the basis of police inputs regarding presence of two terrorists, an operation was started in Gali Sohab in Tuli area of Chassana, he added. He informed that that the police and army were on job to neutralise the terrorists. Jammu-based Defence PRO Lt Col Suneel Bartwal said an army jawan was also injured in the encounter. Both the injured personnel have been hospitalised, officials said. The encounter broke out around 2 pm when a joint team of police, Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) zeroed in on a house where the terrorists had taken shelter at gunpoint on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, they said. After receiving information about the presence of terrorists in the house, the security forces reached the village after trekking for over four hours. They cornered the terrorists, who opened indiscriminate firing to escape the cordon but in vain, the officials said. The exchange of fire between the two sides stopped late in the evening. Due to the darkness, the security forces are exercising caution and not moving inside the house to find out the fate of the second terrorist, who is also believed to have been killed, they said. The identity and group affiliation of the terrorists would be known once the operation is over, they added. 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. ---With PTI inputs Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that were the case, 99-year-old World War II veteran Charan Singh would never run out of things to say. Circa 1942: A young lance naik Charan Singh after getting enrolled in the British Indian Army. Memories of the war which began and ended in the first week of September six years apart may for most be something that are best forgotten, but Charan Singh continues to hold onto his box of sepia-toned photographs from his time in the South-East Asian theatre of WWII. Born in the hamlet of Dekwala just outside Rupnagar in 1924, Charan Singh enlisted in the Royal British Indian Army as an 18-year-old. India under the British was in the thick of WWII and he took the ship to Malaya (now Malaysia) as lance naik on his first assignment. I was in Assam at the time. We travelled by ship and it took us a week to reach Malaya. I did not stay there for long and moved to Kranji on the border of Singapore and Malaya, he says. Japanese forces had gained a strategic advantage in the region following February 1942s Battle of Kranji. Circa 1945: Japanese troops ferrying supplies near Kranji, Singapore, during World War II. Through his lens It was at this time that Charan Singh, determined to document his time in war, managed to get his hands on a camera. He still speaks fondly of his love for photography. I was the only one with a photo camera in my unit so people would come to me to get their pictures taken. I obliged more often than not, he says. He scribbled dates, locations and anecdotes on the back of his collection of photographs, which still aid his memory. Uniformed men dominate his frames, with several pictures of Indian troops cutting across ranks. An image of a rifle-wielding quartet standing guard at one of the posts, he says, was one of the first photographs he ever took. Then there is the obvious collection of his own pictures, some solo, some with his fellow troopers. Charan Singh, however, did not stop there. He wanted to capture the world as he saw it. Fascinated by the theatres and parks of Singapore, he made sure that he had wide-angle shots of landmarks to remember them by. The theatre in Singapore, Capitol Theatre, was the biggest building I had ever seen. I also came across a huge amusement park, New World. While I never got the chance to go inside, I have photographs of both, he says with pride. And then there were the photographs of enemy troops. Were they easy to capture, one may ask? We were on the opposite side of the war, but that did not keep us from sharing the odd moment of peace and quiet, Charan Singh says. Lance naik Charan Singh and his wife Jeet Kaur Recalling an incident of perceived bonhomie, he says a Japanese soldier once shouted Gandhi, very good! while giving him a thumbs up, almost as if to signal his approval of the leaders non-violent ways right in the heart of a battleground. Those are among the few moments that Charan Singh remembers well despite not having been able to capture them. That, and the detailed food menus that continue to live in his head rent-free. Tiffin tales A part of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, Charan Singh found himself dealing with ration supplies and their despatch during his time in Singapore. We had all the control, he recalls. All the supplies would come to us and we were the ones sorting and forwarding them. There were different categories of tiffins, ones meant for Indian soldiers and others for the British, he says. Circa 1945: Japanese troops on the move during World War II Even within the Indian troops, Hindus soldiers would not eat beef and Muslims soldiers obviously avoided pork so the planning had to be meticulous. That was not a problem with the British, they would eat it all. The Chinese and Japanese were fonder of oysters and shellfish that they often fish out themselves, he adds. End of hostilities Charan Singh would make a few trips back-and-forth during his time in Singapore. One particular sea voyage saw him return as a married man. The hostilities of war were practically over with the Japanese surrender being signed by emperor Hirohito on September 2, 1945. Charan Singh remembers being one of the two from his unit who were left behind as troops began to return home. He would still step out to capture frames on Sinagporean soil. An undated photograph of a quaint beachfront from his collection signalled at imminent peace. Immigrants in their own land Charan Singh and wife Jeet Kaur welcomed their eldest son in February 1946 right before he got posted to Lahore. He has plenty of anecdotes to recall from the turbulent time leading up to the Partition of India. From refugees offering him and his wife tea and shelter near the Ferozepur railway station only to request for his rifle in the same breath, to some more violent episodes, the threads of memory weave a vivid canvas. He, however, chooses to selectively remember the good in the people a young Muslim subedar who he recalls being his closest friend to the bus ride with a kind couple who were made immigrants in a land that was once their own. Circa 1945: Capitol Theatre, a cinema hall in downtown Singapore. Charan Singh shifted bases over the rest of his years in service only to return home to Dekwala, a town that he still calls home. He took up the odd government-assisted job, but found solace in farming. His family grew and while some moved out to bigger cities and abroad, the 99-year-old continues to live in his ancestral home with son Harinder Singh, his daughter-in-law and grandson. HelpAge, a non-governmental organisation, visit the veteran for regular health check-ups as part of their senior care programme. Elders such as Charan Singh have contributed so much to the nation and to the larger community, and it is important for us to ensure they live their later years with dignity and good health. Our Mobile Healthcare Unit programme is one such initiative that aims to provide primary healthcare access to disadvantaged elders living in the remotest of areas, organisation chief executive officer Rohit Prasad said. Charan Singh lost his camera to a neighbour who borrowed it for family pictures, never to return. His face, however, still lights up every time he holds, in his shaky hands, one of his prized celluloids that remind him of the worthwhile years. . 99-year-old Lance Naik Charan Singh (retd) at his home in Dekwala, Rupnagar. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A village head (gram pradhan) was arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old woman with mental health issues in Uttarakhands Rudraprayag district, police said. The accused was identified and arrested from the village on Sunday evening. (Representative file image) The accused was identified and arrested from the village on Sunday evening, police said. Rudraprayag superintendent of police (SP) Vishakha Ashok Bhadane said, We arrested the accused, Bhagwan Singh, the Pradhan of the village, on Sunday evening. The search for the two others accused is on as they are absconding. She said, One of the three accused is an unidentified person of Nepali origin. His identity is not clear as the girl hasnt been able to give clear details about him. Also Read:2 women who filed 5 rape cases in Gujarat and Goa arrested for extortion: Police We didnt invoke gang rape charges in the FIR (first information report) as the three accused raped her on different occasions (over a period of time), the SP added. Sub-inspector and investigative officer (IO) Seema Chauhan told HT on Sunday, I received the case file on Saturday and cant give any statement about the incident before recording the statement of the survivor. A case in this regard was registered under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), she said. Narendra Singh Rawat, revenue sub-inspector, said, the survivors father filed a complaint with the revenue police against three people, including gram pradhan (village head) and two others. On August 28, the case was officially transferred to the regular police from the revenue police on the orders of district magistrate (DM) and I sent the case to the office of the superintendent of police (SP) on August 29, he said. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In the run-up to the G20 Summit in Delhi, mayor Shelly Oberoi talks to Paras Singh about the preparations for the event by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and about projects after the Summit ends. PREMIUM Shelly Oberoi (Arvind Yadav/HT) What preparations has MCD made for the Summit? All preparations have been completed. Over the last one month, MCD has been working on a war footing to rigorously clean Delhi. Over 11,200 garbage-vulnerable points have been identified, cleared and beautified. We have also deployed mechanical road sweepers, water sprinklers and anti-smog guns to scrub streets and footpaths (on arterial roads around Pragati Maidan and venues where delegates are expected to travel) Re-carpeting has been done on major roads and waste-to-art installations have been added at public spaces. About 12,000 MCD workers are deputed in six zones that delegates are likely to visit or pass through. The additional infrastructure and cleanliness standards we are creating in preparation of the Summit will be sustained even after the event is over. Earlier, MCD used to create new infrastructure but due to lack of funds, it could not be maintained. I assure you that all these projects will have mandatory operation and maintenance components so that the city continues to look beautiful. MCD was facing an acute financial crisis under the BJP. Now AAP is in power in both MCD and the state government. The government is helping us with finances while MCD is also being made self-sufficient. Colony roads will be upgraded on a massive scale. An amendment has been made to the Mukhyamantri Sadak Yojana to make councillors a part of this scheme. They are giving estimates and proposals to the government. MCD has budget problems but we have used our own funds for these works. We cannot disclose the amount spent. A race for credit should not be our aim. Each agency had responsibilities. The mayor or the state ministers were not invited to these meetings. The lieutenant governor is the MCD administrator and he called officers for meetings. Despite being the first citizen of the city, I have not been officially invited for the G20 Summit. The last G20-related community dog removal order (in August) was cancelled by the veterinary department after my direction. No such official order has been issued. If this (removal of community dogs) is happening, I will order an inquiry. Delhi saw floods (in July) and we thought dengue cases would increase but the situation is under control. The public health department is carrying out massive checks. There was no specific reason for stopping the weekly reports. Maybe the public health department is busy in G20. I will talk to the head of the department concerned. In another month, these DBC workers will be adjusted against the posts of MTS (multitask staff) workers. Around 3,100 workers will benefit from this move. We have started a 365-day cleanliness campaign. We are focusing on providing salaries on the first day of every month and regularising contractual workers. MCD schools will be seen in a new form. We also plan to revamp dispensaries and mother and child welfare centres to provide facilities such as ultrasound and CT scans. Primary health infrastructure will be upgraded on the lines of mohalla clinics. Three months after a 16-year-old girl was brutally murdered by her stalker in outer Delhis Shahbad Dairy, police officers on Sunday said that they have filed a fresh first information report (FIR) with rape charges, adding that they are investigating whether the minors killer had sexually abused her. On Sunday, officers said that a fresh first information report (FIR) was registered at Shahbad Dairy police station under IPC section 376 (rape) and under the Pocso Act. (Representational image) On May 28, 20-year-old Sahil, stabbed the teenager his former girlfriend at least 16 times, kicked her limp body, and battered her relentlessly with a stone slab in a ruthless attack, even as several passersby did little to intervene, the police said. The murder was caught on a surveillance camera and led to widespread outrage across the Capital. After committing the murder, the 20-year-old fled to his aunts house at Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, and was arrested from that city the next day after police traced a call he made to his mother. Sahil, who is currently in judicial custody, was first booked for murder, and police later added Indian Penal Code sections 354(a) (sexual harassment), and 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), and sections of the Arms Act, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act. The police had simultaneously sent the victims samples to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) to determine if she was sexually assaulted. On Sunday, officers said that a fresh first information report (FIR) was registered at Shahbad Dairy police station under IPC section 376 (rape) and under the Pocso Act. We received the FSL report last week. Since the report suggested that the victim was sexually abused, we registered a separate FIR, a police officer said, declining to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media. He added that police will investigate whether Sahil sexually abused her, or someone else. It does not matter whether or not the victim gave her consent to have sex because she was a minor, said the officer. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Ahead of the high-level G20 Summit, scheduled to be held at the sprawling Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi this week, the Delhi Metro has issued an advisory for commuters. According to the Delhi Metro Police, the entry and exit gates of some sensitive stations will remain closed from September 8 to 10. Delhi metro (PTI) However, during this period, passengers can continue to use one or two gates at some stations, while other routes will continue to operate normally, the police said. "In order to maintain foolproof security arrangements during the G20 Summit, scheduled to be held in Delhi from September 9 to 10, the Delhi Police metro unit asked the Chief Security Commissioner to close some metro station gates that open towards the VVIPS Route/venue of Summit/Place, from September 8 to 10," the order read. According to the order issued by the Delhi Metro Police, traffic will be completely shut off at Moti Bagh, Bhikaji Cama Place, Munirka, RK Puram, IIT, and Sadar Bazar Cantonment Metro stations. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Metro Station, the nearest station to the venue, will remain completely closed. The police, in its order, have kept Dhula Kuan, Khan Market, Janpath, Supreme Court and Bhikaji Cama Place metro stations on the list of sensitive places. People, who will be travelling to Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) from September 7 to September 11, have been advised to use the Metro. Meanwhile, anticipating increased passenger footfall for the G20 Summit, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has started selling 'Tourist Smart Cards' through dedicated counters at 36 stations from Monday. These cards will be available in two categories -- one-day and three-day validity -- offering "unlimited rides" in the metro network. The one-day card will be available for 200 while the three-day card will cost 500. This amount also includes a refundable security deposit of 50, the DMRC said. The Delhi Traffic Police has also released a detailed advisory on the traffic movement during the G20 Summit. Traffic restrictions will come into effect from the night of September 7 and remain in place till September 11. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) will open during the G20 Summit with a sprawling lunch on one side, and an exquisite exhibition of Indias traditional weaves and art, curated especially for the members of the family of heads of State, according to officials part of the process. The NGMA, located on Shershah Road, is currently closed for beautification for the visit. (HT ARCHIVE) The exhibitions at the beautified NGMA, located on Sher Shah Road in central Delhi, will allow the families of the leaders to partake in a curated shopping experience, the officials said. The visit is likely scheduled for September 9, they said. Also read: All online delivery services except medicines to be barred in New Delhi during G20 Summit: Delhi Police The spouses of G20 leaders will get to see Indian textiles and jewellery, traditional weaves and toys, and interior design materials from various regions of the country , an official said, requesting anonymity. In addition to the NGMA exhibit, some works are also being flown in from museums across the country. We only have modern art at the gallery, so it was decided to move things to Delhi so that they (visitors) could also get a sense of history, said an NGMA official, asking not be named. For the past two weeks, the gallery has been closed weeks for preparation for the same. The NGMA complex has undergone unique landscaping and a 115ft Indian flag has been installed at the site. The idea is not just to have a touristy experience but one of content and substance, said an official in the ministry of external affairs on condition of anonymity. Due to security concerns, the government decided to have crafts and other textiles and artefacts in the complex so that shopping could also be facilitated, officials said. Officials aware of the matter said that commandos with special training from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) will provide security to the family members of the dignitaries. Similar visits are also being discussed for locations such as the Dilli Haat, which are being spruced up to welcome the invitees, according to a senior Delhi Police officer. A plan for the visitors to take a tour of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in the Capital at Pusa has also been finalised for September 9 evening, and the Rajghat on Sunday. As they explore the expansive 1,200-acre Pusa campus of IARI, millets will take centre stage, not only in cuisines but also through startups specialising in superfoods, celebrity chefs, and an exhibition to delight the visitors. Also read: Delhi preps in full swing as G20 Summit nears: See photos During the visit, the visitors will meet woman millet farmers from 11 states, said officials. They will then be led to an exhibition on millets and other highlights of Indias agricultural journey, while three celebrity chefs will present millet- based snacks. The grain is being advocated rigorously by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to position India as the global hub for millets, and has found a place in several menus for the Summit. The year 2023 has been declared as the International Year of Millets by the United Nations. Delhi is set to host 43 heads of state for the G20 Leaders Summit on September 9 and 10, marking the citys largest multilateral event since the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! A 32-year-old woman along with her three minor children were found dead in a tank at Ratangarh in Rajasthans Churu district on Sunday, said police. Police rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies from the tank and sent them to the local district hospital for autopsy. (Representative Image) The station house officer of the Ratangarh police station, Subhash Chander, said that a first information report (FIR) has been filed based on the complaint of the womans brother, who alleged that her in-laws used to torture her mentally and physically. The woman, identified as Manju Meghwal, was married to Hemaram Meghwal for 12 years and had three children- Aarti (10), Sulochana (7), and Vikas (4). When the woman didnt return home for a long time after going to the local market to buy vegetables in the morning, her mother-in-law started searching for them, following which she found that the door to the tank of their house was opened and bodies were floating inside the tank, the SHO said, quoting the FIR. Following the incident, police rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies from the tank and sent them to the local district hospital for autopsy. The SHO said that the womans husband had left for Kuwait for his work on August 30 and her father-in-law was in another village for agricultural work when the bodies were recovered. The SHO said that the case was filed under sections 498 (A), 302, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on the brothers statement. We added the murder charge based on his suspicion, said the SHO. The autopsy report is awaited. Further investigation is underway. We will interrogate her in-laws accordingly, he added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Officials of state-run universities are not mandated to take direct orders from the West Bengal state government or execute it without the consent of the vice chancellor, a circular issued by the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata stated. A circular was issued in this regard by the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata. (Raj Bhavan West Bengal) The development comes two days after West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose, who is chancellor of all 31 state-run universities, drew the ire of the chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government by deciding to be acting vice-chancellor (VC) of 14 universities where the post is currently lying vacant. The officers of the university are to execute the orders issued by the VC and they are not mandated to take orders directly from the government or to execute them without the knowledge and consent of the VC. The registrars and other officers have no independent authority to function circumventing the VC, the circular issued on September 2 said. Also Read: WB Guv CV Ananda Bose seeks Isros help to curb ragging in state universities Bengal is witnessing an impasse in the higher education department since last year when the tenure of VCs at 29 universities ended. Their services were extended till May 31 this year and the government started the process of forming search committees to select new incumbents. Autonomy of educational institutions, particularly universities, are sacrosanct and have to be honoured by everyone. This is not an instruction issued by the chancellor. This is based on the Constitution the UGC Act and the orders of the Supreme Court, Bose told reporters in Kolkata on Sunday. Reacting to the developments, TMC MP Santanu Sen said the governor is trying to run a parallel administration. The governor is trying to run a parallel administration. He is following the footsteps of his predecessor and trying to satisfy the BJP. Thats the reason he is taking some laughable decisions. He is challenging the education department of an elected government, Sen said. West Bengal BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya called out the ruling state government for creating confusion. The governor who is the chancellor has cleared his stand saying that the VC will autonomously take decisions. The root of the problem lies elsewhere. The TMC government knows very well that if UGC guidelines are followed while appointing a VC, the party wont be able to appoint its own puppets. Thats why they are creating confusion, Samik Bhattacharya told media persons. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will leave for New Delhi on Tuesday and is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the evening, those aware of the development said. The agenda of the likely meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath has not been shared. (FILE PHOTO) Chief minister Yogi Adityanath is leaving for New Delhi on Tuesday. He may meet the prime minister at about 6pm, they said. Though no agenda has been shared for the likely meeting between the two leaders, Yogis visit comes close on the heels of a debate on the Centres one nation, one election move and there are also indications that the progress of construction of the Ram temple may come up for discussion. Yogi Adityanath may also request the Prime Minister to be the chief guest at the Ram temple inauguration ceremony likely to take place early next year. The state government also proposes to hold a groundbreaking ceremony around the festival season (in October or November 2023) to implement the investment proposals received at the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit-2023 held in Lucknow from February 10 to 12, 2023. Yogi Adityanath may invite the prime minister for the groundbreaking ceremony as well. He may also discuss with the prime minister various political developments. Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar has time and again given indications about the representation that his party may get in the state ministry following the SBSPs decision to align with the NDA. Former minister Dara Singh Chauhan, who left the Samajwadi Party and joined the BJP recently, is contesting the Ghosi byelection on the BJP ticket. Yogi may also discuss political developments in the backdrop of the formation of INDIA alliance ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In the first NDA vs INDIA bloc electoral faceoff in Uttar Pradesh, voters will exercise their franchise in the Ghosi assembly bypoll in Mau district of the states Purvanchal region on Tuesday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks to wrest the seat from the Samajwadi Party (SP). Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and other BJP leaders during the Ghosi bypoll campaign on September 2. (FILE PHOTO) This will be the seventh election in Ghosi since 2012. During this period, voting has taken place in three assembly elections, two Lok Sabha elections, and one assembly bypoll. The previous bypoll was held in 2019 when the then BJP MLA Phagu Chauhan was made Bihar governor. The current bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of the then SP MLA Dara Singh Chauhan, an OBC leader who returned to the BJP in July. Chauhan, a minister in the Yogi governments first term, had resigned from the council of ministers on January 12 last year and joined the SP. Now a BJP nominee, Chauhan is pitted against the Samajwadi Partys Sudhakar Singh, a Bhumihar Rajput. Ghosi assembly constituency has nearly 4.38 lakh voters and 90,000 of them are Muslims, 1.5 lakh OBCs, 60,000 Dalits and 77,000 from the upper castes -- 45,000 Bhumihars, 16,000 Rajputs and 6,000 Brahmins, according to estimates. Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm, and votes counted on September 8. Besides the BJP and SP candidates, there are eight other nominees in the fray. The Bahujan Samaj Party has not fielded any candidate. The BJP-led NDA includes Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), NISHAD party, and Apna Dal (S). Besides the SP, the INDIA alliance here includes Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), CPI, CPI-M, CPI-MLA, Janta Dal (United), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The Opposition also has the backing of non-INDIA ally Suheldev Swabhiman Party (SSP). The bypoll result will have no bearing on the BJP government, which enjoys a comfortable majority in the 403-member state legislative assembly. Nevertheless, its outcome could be an indicator of what is in store in the 2024 elections to the 543-member Lok Sabha. Uttar Pradesh sends 80 MPs to the Lower House of Parliament. The bypoll will be an opportunity for the ruling BJP dispensation to assert its hold on Uttar Pradesh. If the SP registers a win in Ghosi, it will strengthen Akhilesh Yadavs position and role within the opposition INDIA alliance and seal his candidature for leading the bloc in the state during the general elections. Akhilesh Yadav has already called it an INDIA vs. NDA battle that is not just a bypoll but an indicator to the 2024. Those who canvassed for Chauhan include chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak and other leaders of the BJP-led NDA, including nearly 15 U.P. and central ministers. Seeking support for Chauhan, Adityanath on September 2 said only those who witnessed the 2005 Mau riots can understand the importance of Ghosi.At that time, the SP was in power and it could not do anything. Now, those who instigated the riots are seen begging for their lives in a wheelchair, he had said in an apparent reference to gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, a five-time MLA from Mau. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav were among Sudhakar Singhs main campaigners. Both the BJP and the SP have petitioned the Election Commission over alleged malpractices. On August 20, a youth threw ink at Chauhan when he was being welcomed by BJP supporters at Adri Chatti in Kopaganj block. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Two people died and 10 others were injured after a double-storey building collapsed in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki on early Monday morning. The authorities suspect that around three to four people may still be trapped under the debris and are carrying out a search and rescue operation to locate them, the police said. A screengrab of the incident shows the police officials and SDRF members engaged in rescue operation the accident site in Barabanki, UP on Monday morning.(ANI) The police said initially 12 people were rescued and rushed to a hospital for treatment but two of the victims could not be saved and succumbed to their injuries. The rest are undergoing treatment at the hospital. Meanwhile, a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) is present at the accident spot to carry out the search operation to locate those individuals suspected to be trapped. A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will also join the rescue efforts soon. 'Rescue operation is going on' "Around 3.10 am, we received information about a building collapse in Barabanki. Initially, we were informed that around 19 people were trapped in the incident. Subsequently, the fire service vehicles were mobilised and local residents also lent a hand in the rescue efforts. Later, it was found out that four of a family were out of station and escaped the incident. Of the remaining 16 people, we rescued 12 individuals. We have got information that three or four people are likely still trapped under the debris. SDRF team is also at the spot, (NDRF) will arrive soon. Among the 12 people who were rescued and hospitalised, two have died", said Dinesh Kumar Singh, SP, Barabanki. A video of the accident site also emerged showing the police officials and members of SDRF engaged in the rescue operation, attempting to remove debris from the collapsed building while the bystanders anxiously watched in apprehension. Barabanki is located 30 km east of UP's capital city Lucknow. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nisha Anand Trainee Content Producer at HT Digital. I read about feminism, late modern history, and globalisation of Korean music. ...view detail The University of Lucknows office for international affairs on Monday hosted a transformative professional development programme (PDP) to enhance cross-cultural competence among foreign students. The event featured prominent life skill speakers Mahalakshmi, an expert in cross-cultural communication and Monalisa Dubey, an intercultural trainer. PDP for foreign students underway at Lucknow University on Monday. (HT PHOTO) The event was conducted in the workshop mode and attended by the foreign students of Lucknow University, mainly from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Fiji, Mauritius, Russia and Sri Lanka. Students from diverse backgrounds shared their experiences of understanding intercultural dynamics. Mahalakshmi delivered a keynote address that emphasised the importance of cultural sensitivity in todays interconnected world. She highlighted practical strategies for building bridges across cultural boundaries. While Monalisa led interactive and game sessions to encourage participants to explore their own cultural identities and engage in cross-cultural dialogues. The students were empowered with the tools and knowledge needed to navigate the complexities of an increasingly globalised society. Some key participants including Hadi from Afghanistan, Iskandar from Tajikistan, Romina from Fiji, Shahana from Mauritius, and Gul from Afghanistan shared their experiences and insights during the session. They narrated their personal stories of cultural adjustment and cultural shocks that added a human touch to the event, illustrating the value of cross-cultural competence in their academic and personal journeys. Vice-chancellor (VC) Prof Alok Kumar Rai, in his message, said, The professional development programme for foreign students at LU reaffirms the institutions commitment to creating an inclusive and globally aware learning environment. By equipping international students with the skills to navigate cultural diversity effectively, the university aims to prepare them for success in an interconnected world. The programme was coordinated by Prof RP Singh, director of the international cell at LU. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON MUMBAI: A 51-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly firing at a private security guard over a property dispute. The bullet missed the security guard, Mittu Kumar Shaikh, 41, who escaped unhurt. HT Image The incident occurred around 10.30pm when the accused, Mustakin Shaikh, had an argument with some people over a property dispute as he wanted to grab a piece of the government land in the Kurla scrap area in Mandale, said Mahadev Koli, senior inspector, Mankhurd police station. The land, which belongs to the government, is encroached upon by the local goons as dumping scrap, and later, they construct shanties. During the argument, Mustakin pulled a pistol and fired a round at Shaikh, but the bullet missed him and passed from near his ear, said Koli. After firing the round, the accused threw the pistol somewhere, which has not been recovered yet, said Koli. A case has been registered under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Arms Act and remanded in police custody till September 8. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Mumbai: Inspired by lawyer Afroz Shah, who spearheaded the Versova beach clean-up, Chinu Kwatra and his team started a drive to protect the marine life of Dadar-Prabhadevi beach which was being systematically ravaged by pollutants. Today, they are celebrating a milestone with six years of unceasing work that also includes cleaning and beautifying the walls around the beach. Beach warriors complete six years of cleaning Dadar, Juhu beaches; Babil Khan joins cause In order to celebrate their success and to amplify their cause, actor Irrfan Khans son Babil Khan of Friday Night Plan fame from Netflix joined Kwatra on September 3. Kwatra and his core team of 40 members have completed 293 cleanups in the last six years and prevented almost 4,000 tonnes of plastic from entering the ocean. Kwatras journey first began on September 3, 2017, when he sought inspiration from Shahs initiative on Versova beach. The nearest beach for me was Dadar as I stay in Thane. So, I went to Dadar with 10 friends and did a cleanup, but my college professor Indu Mehta (from Welingkar Institute of Management), who was a mentor for beach warriors advised me that this cannot be a one-day activity. The moment I saw the beach on that day, I understood why she said it, said Kwatra. He then decided to continue it on next weekend, but that cleanup looked like a big failure as only two of his friends joined and the rest backed out. When we three started the cleanup, a bunch of college students chilling at the beach enquired about the clean-up and joined hands. I felt it could be a movement if we approached more students. We havent stopped since then, he added. Ever since, Kwatra and the team that started clean-up from Dadar beach later expanded to six more locations like Cuffe Parade, Bandra, Worli, Madh, Erangal, Juhu-Koliwada during pre-Covid days. Post covid, their clean-up activity has been restricted to only Dadar and Juhu Koliwada beaches. Commenting on the challenges, Kwatra said that in the early days it was not easy to convince and gather volunteers to work that included picking up garbage and that too for free. Another one was the mindset of people who trolled us every now and then for doing it. I was also always questioned why I didnt do it in Thane instead of Dadar. I was always considered an underdog. In fact, we are still in the same frame. I have been recognised internationally more than nationally, said Kwatra. Kwatra elaborated that the other challenge was BMCs support to dumping collected garbage in the very initial days. I didnt know whom to talk or where to talk but later with the intervention of Aaditya Thackeray (when he joined the cleanup) things became easy, he said. Till date, Kwatra has received the support of more than a lakh Mumbaiites for saving tonnes of plastic from entering the ocean. Im at peace when I know when Im doing my bit for the environment. But I also wish to do more as I have the support of 1000s of youth with me. I wish to reach the delegates of central ministry, Advisory of G20 and all such panels to share my ground journey and spread the word to other cities and states, said Kwatra who has received several awards like Hero of Swachh India. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A cleaning staff of a housing society in Mumbais Marol area was arrested on Monday for allegedly murdering a trainee airhostess living in the building, Powai police said. Further investigation to ascertain the motive behind the murder is underway. (Representative file image) Police received information about the body of the 24-year-old woman found inside a bathroom of her third floor flat in NG Complex in Marol late on Sunday night. Eight teams were formed to nab the accused, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Datta Nalawade said. Also Read: Woman head constable found unconscious with stab wounds on train at Ayodhya junction Vikram Atwal, 40, a cleaning staff of the building was arrested on Monday morning, the official said. On the basis of technical investigation and interviewing several people in the building, we narrowed down the list of suspects until we reached the accused. The accused was arrested within 14 hours after the FIR (first information report) was registered. He was nabbed from his residence in Tunga village on Sunday morning, said Nalawade. The body of the woman was sent to Rajawadi Hospital for post-mortem. Further investigation to ascertain the motive behind the murder is underway. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Cleaning staffer confesses to crime; says she had offended him in a previous argument Mumbai, India - Sep 04, 2023 : The Powai police on Monday morning arrested a cleaning staff of a housing society in Marol for allegedly murdering a trainee air hostess living in the building, in Mumbai, India, Monday, Sep 04, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) MUMBAI: A 24-year-old trainee flight attendant was found dead in her apartment in Andheri East on Monday morning, following which Powai police arrested a member of the cleaning staff of the housing society in a case of alleged murder. The victim had moved to the city six months ago from Raipur, Chhattisgarh, and lived in the third floor rented accommodation in N G Complex, with her elder sister and a friend. However, at the time of the incident, she was alone in the apartment. Three days ago, her sister and friend had left for their hometown. The victim last spoke to her family on Sunday morning, but in the course of the day when they tried to get in touch with her, their calls went unanswered. They then reached out to her friends in the city, asking them to check on her. When they arrived at her house around 9.30pm, they found the door closed from inside. There was no response to repeated knocking and the doorbell, whereupon they sought the help of a security guard to break open the door, said an officer from Powai police. When they saw the body of the victim lying in a pool of blood in the bathroom, they reported the matter to the local police. Eight teams were formed immediately after registering the murder. We made a list of 35 suspects initially based on the probable time of death, after accessing all the entries in the visitors register. The suspects were questioned throughout the night. After a thorough technical investigation and several interviews, we narrowed down the list of suspects until we reached the accused -- 40-year-old Vikram Atwal, said, deputy commissioner of police, Datta Nalawade. The wife of the accused also works in the housekeeping department of the building. The couple has two daughters, one of them a teen. When the investigating team arrived at Atwals residence in Tunga village, Andheri, 14 hours after the FIR (section 302 of IPC, for murder) was registered, they found him in a blood-soaked shirt, with visible injury marks over his hands and face, indicating a prior scuffle between him and the deceased. The questioning revealed that Atwal was offended by the way the deceased spoke to him during a previous argument. Upon arrest, the accused told the police he decided to go to her house with a knife at a time he knew she was alone. He told us that in the course of the struggle, the deceased had managed to overpower him physically and at one point even took away the knife. Scared that her complaint might put him out of work, he acted swiftly, wrested the knife back from her and slit her throat, said an officer. After ensuring that she was dead, he shifted the body to the bathroom as he did not want the blood to flow out from under the main door of the flat. He thought that the body would not be discovered for a couple of days at least or until the victims sister returned home. This, he thought, would give him sufficient time to run away and escape arrest, said an officer. Police are not ruling out the possibility of a sexual assault. Her viscera have been sent to the state Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina and results are expected in a couple of weeks. The body was sent to Rajawadi Hospital for postmortem on Monday morning and the results are awaited. It was later handed over to the family who arranged for it to be flown to the victims hometown for last rites. The probe to find the motive of the murder is still underway. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The issue of reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC) persons is a hot-button issue around the country. In Maharashtra, this has seen a multi-pronged effort by OBC groups and the state to ensure that the representation of various communities that fall within the category are able to access the socio-economic benefits afforded by the state. Yet, even as the state has sought to expand the reservation net and various communities have simultaneously applied to the state backward classes commission to be counted within the category the courts have demanded greater rigour from the state. After the Supreme Court struck down the reservation given by the state government two years ago, the only viable option left with it is the inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category, which the castes in the existing OBC category are opposing strongly. Here are five points that explain the legal battle that the state government (irrespective of who is in power) has waged: PREMIUM Members of Maratha Kranti Morcha staged a protest at the district collectorate on Saturday over the police lathi charge on those seeking reservation at Jalna on Friday. (KALPESH NUKTE/HT) 1. The ordinance: On July 9, 2014, the Maharashtra government brought an ordinance providing for 16% reservation to the Maratha community and 5% reservation to 52 Muslim communities in public employment and education. Several petitioners including Sanjeet Shukla, an anti-reservation activist, advocate Jaishree Patil, former journalist Ketan Tirodkar, as well as other intervenors, challenged it before the Bombay high court (HC) primarily on the grounds that the ordinance exceeded the 50% limit on reservation in public employment in the state. This limit, stipulated by the Supreme Court itself, in the Indira Sawhney case, did not allow reservations to exceed more than 50%, including those that were provided to other marginalised communities, including the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. The petitioners argued that the decision had taken the prevailing total reservation in Maharashtra from 51% to 73% which was impermissible. 2. Staying the ordinance: On November 14, 2014, the Bombay HC stayed the ordinance and, crucially, also observed that it was not open to the state government to regard the Maratha community as a backward class in view of clear and cogent findings recorded by the Mandal Commission (1990), by the National Commission for Backward Classes in February 2000 and July 2008 report of the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (Bapat Commission). Rather, the National Commission for Backward Classes and the Mandal Commission has concluded that the Maratha community is socially advanced and prestigious, the bench observed while placing a stay on the benefits of reservation extended to the community in public employment as well as education. The HC also stayed the decision to provide 5% reservation in public employment to 50 of the specified Muslim communities, but allowed the benefit of 5% reservation to the communities in education. 3. Counter move by government: While the matter was pending before the HC, the state government enacted a law in 2018 and reduced the percentage of reservation provided to the Maratha community to 12% in education and 13% in public employment. In its final verdict delivered on June 27, 2019, the HC upheld the validity of 12% and 13% reservation for the Maratha community as described above. In its final verdict, the high court concluded that the report of the MSBCC (Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission) under the Chairmanship of Justice MG Gaikwad was based on quantifiable and contemporaneous data and it had conclusively established social, economic and educational backwardness of the Maratha community and inadequacy of representation of the community in public employment. The high court also approved the classification of the Maratha community as a socially and educationally backward class (SEBC), saying the process complied with the twin test of reasonable classification under Article 14 of the Constitution and it was permissible for the state government to provide for the reservation in view of the exceptional circumstances concerning the community. 4. Matter travels to Supreme Court: Several petitioners took the matter to the Supreme Court, which referred the issues involved to a Constitution bench. On May 5, 2021, a five-judge bench overturned the HC ruling and held that the decision to provide reservation for the Maratha community was not covered by any exceptional circumstance as contemplated under the apex courts ruling in the Indira Sawhney case. The MG Gaikwad commission report did not make out any exceptional circumstance either, the bench held. The SC also stated that after the 102nd amendment to the Constitution (made in 2018) only the President of India can identify a community as SEBC and the states and Union Territories can only make recommendations to that effect. 5. Review petition rejected: On June 26, the SC rejected a review petition filed by Shiv Sangram, a Maratha outfit. The Supreme Court observed that the main judgement covered many of the grounds in the review petitions, while some others were outside the scope of review. State officials said that the government was planning to file a curative petition in the Supreme Court against this judgement, but it is yet to happen. In a reprieve to former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar, the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai police on Monday assured the Bombay high court that they would not arrest the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader for two days. Mumbai, India - Nov. 18, 2019:Shiv Sena corporator Kishori Pednekar(C) along with Suhas Wadkar( R) for the Deputy Mayor where greeted by her party coporator's after filling nomination papers for the post MumbaiOs Mayor at BMC head office in Mumbai, India, on Monday, November 18, 2019. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times) According to EOW, Pednekar, unknown public servants and private persons hatched a conspiracy and defrauded the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to the tune of 49,63,200 after purchasing body bags from M/s Vedanta Innotech Private Limited (VIPL) at an inflated rate during the pandemic. Pednekar approached the HC on August 31 after a sessions court last week rejected her anticipatory bail plea on grounds that she was accused of an economic offence involving a large amount of public money. On Monday, when her plea came up for hearing before a single-judge bench of justice N J Jamadar, her lawyer, advocate Rahul Arote said she was apprehending arrest and urged the court to grant her interim protection. A prosecutor, appearing for the police, said the investigating officer was present in the court and that the police would not take any coercive action against Pednekar till Wednesday. The court then posted the matter for hearing on Wednesday. In her plea, Pednekar claimed that she had been falsely implicated in the case and there was no material to indicate that she was in any way connected to the firm alleged to have been given the contract. The complaint has political overtures and it is evident from the fact that only after a split in Shiv Sena, it was lodged against the applicant who was then a mayor, and is affiliated to Udhav Thakare faction, the plea said and added that complainant Kirit Somaiya, a BJP leader, was a habitual complainant, and had a history of targeting politicians who did not owe allegiance to his party. Police claimed that Pednekar called BMC official Haridas M Rathod at her residence and pressured him to award the contract to a specific entity. Refuting the allegations, Pednekars plea said, Dr Rathod was only a medical officer and during Covid-19, he was given the additional charge of deputy dean of the central purchase department. He had no authority to either propose or issue the purchase order on May 15, 2020, for supply of 1,000 body bags in favour of M/s Care One Solutions. The said decision was taken by a committee of BMC. The police claimed that this contract was cancelled, and a fresh contract was awarded to VIPL. They also alleged that VIPL had supplied body bags to BMC at 6,719 a piece against the earlier price of 2,583. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the state government regrets for lathi-charge on Maratha quota protesters in Jalna district. "Lathicharge by police was not right... I am apologising on behalf of the government. The CM has said the action will be taken against those who are responsible for it," Fadnavis, whose government is under fire for the violence, told reporters after a meeting chaired by chief minister Eknath Shinde. Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde with deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar (not in pic) address a press conference after a meeting on Maratha reservation in Mumbai on Monday,(PTI) He also said the lathi-charge order was not given by any top official to the Jalna Police last week. "Such decisions (use of police force, etc.) are taken at the local level," Fadnavis, who also handles the home department, said. The Maharashtra government expresses regret for the use of force by police in Jalna district a few days back, news agency PTI quoted him as saying. Giving updates on the meeting, Shinde said, Today, we held a high-level meeting on the Maratha reservation. I have already spoken to protesters and we will resolve this issue systematically. Our government is serious about resolving the issues related to Maratha reservation. Opposition slams Maharashtra govt Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had claimed that the lathi-charge order was given on a phone call made from the office of the chief minister and state home minister. Senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh has also claimed that police lathi-charged protesters in Jalna district after a phone call was made from the Maharashtra home ministry. The former state home minister also demanded an enquiry by a retired judge to find out who called up the Jalna district superintendent of police and ordered him to lathi-charge the protesters. Protest turned violent in Jalna district Police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna district on Friday after protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota to hospital. Several persons. including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze in violence. (With inputs from PTI) Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai Police in DCP Zone 1 raid at Juhugaon , Vashi in Navi Mumbai, India, on Friday, September 1, 2023. (Photo by ) (Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) In the first ever crackdown on the Nigerians in Navi Mumbai on a massive level, the Navi Mumbai police on Saturday arrested 36 of the 75 detained on Friday and seized drugs valued at more than Five crore. Of the 36 arrested, 14 were found to be with the possession of the contraband, 11 with invalid passport and Visa, three with Leave India Notice and eight others facing ongoing cases. Various quantities of drugs worth 5 crore were seized from the 14 Nigerians which include men as well as women. The police had mobilised 600 personnel for the raids including the police teams, fire brigade and ambulance personnel, anticipating a back lash from the Nigerians. However, the raid went ahead smoothly without any scuffle. We had the fire team with us at all six locations, but we did not have to use their services. The biggest challenge was to have the raid started simultaneously and that we could achieve with proper coordination and homework that the team had been doing for past two months, assistant commissioner of police (crime branch) Gajanan Rathod said. The team of police had been mapping the location of Nigerians in each node with the help of local police and the narcotics department. This raid was not just to curb the drug menace, but to act as a deterrent and send out a signal to the wrong doers that we are going to come down heavily on the drug menace in the city, he added. Officials said action against one Nigerian drug pushers would alert another group who then went into hiding and returned to the business again a few days later. Thats why a simuletaneous, coordinated raid was carried out at six locations. The police seized MD, Cocaine and Tramadol Hydrochloride strips worth 4.26 crore from a hideout in Sector 27 of Kharghar and arrested seven people. They found nine Nigerians staying without calid documents at sector 35 of Kharghar and Phase I of Taloja. At Bonkode in Koparkhairane, the police found 450 gram Cocaine and 100 gram MD worth 45 lakh and 10 lakh respectively from one person each. At Juhu gaon in Vashi, the police found 120-gram Cocaine worth 12 lakh from five women occupants. This is not going to be the last operation and we would continue having such drives whenever they are needed, Rathod added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Navi Mumbai Three arrested from Haryana in insurance swindle worth 2.40 cr Cyber police station of Navi Mumbai has arrested three men from Haryana for conning a Kamothe man of 2.40 crore in the name of giving more benefits on closure of life insurance policies. The 49 year old complainant from Kamothe had written to Intergrated Grievance Management System (IGMS) run by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) website for the closure of his insurance policy. According to police, the data from the IGMS website was leaked and the accused got hold of the same following which they contacted the complainant in August 2020. A few years ago, the complainant had taken insurance policies of eight different companies worth 4.28 lakh. He could not pay the premium of the policies during the pandemic period and eventually decided to close them. In January 2020, he had filled the form to cancel his policy on the IGMS website, which is the portal to address issues pertaining to insurance policies. The accused approached him as the representatives of the redressal website promising more benefits of approximately 58 lakh if he invested a little more money. In the process, in the last three years, the complainant sold his house and land in his native place and paid 2.40 crore only to realise that he was being cheated. In the first week of August, after the FIR was lodged with Kamothe police, the case was being investigated by Cyber Police Station. While tracing the transaction trails, we got the bank details of one of the accused in Gurugram in Haryana and we left for Haryana and nabbed him on September 1. The accused eventually confessed the crime and we could also trace two more men who helped him get sim cards and bank accounts. We could recover 1.80 crore along with five sim cards and five mobile phones, police inspector Gajanan Kadam from Cyber Police stations said. The arrested accused have been identified as Prashant Chamoli (35), Parvez Mohammad Sharif (41) and Ranjit Beas Tiwari (32). Chamoli was arrested from Gurugram, while Sharif and Tiwari were arrested from Delhi. In the investigations, it has been found that the gang had cheated a man from Vile Parle as well in a similar way and committed similar crimes in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. More accused are wanted in the case who made calls under various names along with Chamoli, Kadam added. According to police, the accused were drug addicts and used all the money earned for their addiction habits. The accused have been arrested under the sections of IT Act and IPC and are in police custody till September 6. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Navi Mumbai: Three persons were booked on Saturday for employing a 14-year-old girl as a house help. The action was taken after residents of NRI Estate, Seawoods, complained to the police about a minor girl being employed by Saket Ojha, a resident of building number 53 in phase II of NRI Estate. HT Image On August 28, a team of NRI Coastal police headed by senior police inspector Pramod Toradmal along with a representative of Child Helpline and a social worker, visited the flat. By the time we reached the flat, the child had already moved somewhere and we could not find anyone there. We had asked the owner of the house to present the girl at the earliest before us, a police officer from NRI Coastal police station said. Upon verifying the CCTV footage, the police found that the girl was taken away by the family to an undisclosed location after they got a whiff that the society members had informed the police. On August 25, the girl was found in a poor state at the terrace of the building by some residents after which the society members alerted us, the officer added. On August 31, Ojha produced the girl before the police and on further talks with the girl, the police found that she was brought to Navi Mumbai from the hometown of Ojha in Gopalganj, Bihar, by his relatives Mercy Pandey and Manisha Mishra. The girl was told that she was being taken to Mumbai for a holiday and sightseeing and after reaching here, she was never taken out and was made to work. She has been rescued and handed over to the child welfare committee and is currently in a shelter home in Sanpada and is also undergoing counselling, the officer added. Ojha along with Pandey and Mishra have been booked under sections 14 and 4 of The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 and section 79 of the Juvenile Justice Act (care and protection) Act, 2015. None of the accused are arrested yet and we have called them to the police station for interrogation, the officer added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Mumbai: Six months after it expressed interest in starting drug-resistant tuberculosis centres (DR-TB) in private hospitals to make TB treatment more accessible for patients, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) finds only one private hospital coming forward as others continue to show reluctance. HT Image BMCs health team held a second round of meetings with Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (KDAH)-Andheri last week, which said they are ready to collaborate with the corporation to fight TB. Dr Santosh Shetty, CEO, KDAH, said, We will be going ahead with the collaboration as it will also mean that our patients will get access to the latest TB drugs for treatment of drug-resistant forms of TB. BMC held the first meeting of the corporate hospitals in March this year to start DR-TB centres in private hospitals. To meet the Centres End Tuberculosis by 2025 target, we have appealed to the major corporate hospitals to partner with us. There have been a series of meetings but only SevenHills Hospital in Marol and KDAH have come forward. We hope to sign the MoU soon to set an example for the rest, said Dr Varsha Puri, Mumbai TB officer. According to a BMC health official, apart from the DR-TB centre, the BMC has also asked if the hospital can give a ward or two beds dedicated to TB patients. For our TB patients, we need hospitals where diagnostic services like CT Scan/MRI are under one roof. It is seen that private hospitals do not admit TB patients, especially drug-resistant TB. We are appealing to them to change their approach towards TB after the Covid-19 pandemic where in compulsion, they did admit Covid-19 patients and dedicated beds. Covid-19 too is an airborne infectious disease. Many corporate hospitals now have isolation beds, air flow control systems, using heap-filters etc. to stop cross infections, said the official, who added with the city having the countrys highest TB burden, the collaboration is much needed to meet the Centres goal to end TB by 2025. As per the BMCs TB data, the city recorded 65556 new cases in 2022, the highest in the last five years. In 2021, the city had registered 58221 new TB cases. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2018, Mumbai had reported 53,828 cases, which surged to 60,387 in 2019. The TB cases fell only in 2020 (only 43244 new cases) because many refrained from visiting hospitals and healthcare machinery was busy tackling the pandemic. BMC said PD Hinduja Hospital-Mahim and BJ Wadia Children hospital- Parel are the only hospitals working with the corporation. While private Dr-TB is presently functional in PD Hinduja Hospital and KJ Somaiya Hospital, Dr Yatin Dholakia, secretary of Maharashtra State Anti-TB Association said having more DR-TB centres in private hospitals will improve access to DR-TB treatment. It is a known fact that the majority of TB patients prefer going to a private physician/hospital. Drugs like Bedaquiline and Delamanid are only available in the public health system. Private chemists cant stock them. Private doctors have to refer their DR-TB cases to the public system for management. There are many private physicians who are not referring the DR-TB patients to public centres for treatment, he said. Dr Dholakia added that having more private centres will increase the DR-TB treatment ambit. Many patients do not want to come to public TB centres due to long waits etc. For them, having more DR-TB centres in private hospitals will be a boon, he said. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Brijesh Singh, the minister in charge of Gautam Budh Nagar, visited the District Hospital in Sector 39, Noida, on Monday after several shortcomings in its operations emerged since it opened in January of this year. The 240-bed hospital opened in August 2020 but served as the districts dedicated Covid-19 facility until January of this year, when the district hospital was relocated to the building. Brijesh Singh, the minister in charge of Gautam Budh Nagar, at the District Hospital in Sector 39, Noida, on Monday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo) I am satisfied with the hospitals level of cleanliness and hygiene. I went through all of the hospitals wings. I understand that some inadequacies have emerged since the district hospital recently relocated to this new building. The chief medical superintendent has been informed of these issues, and concerned officials have been directed to resolve them as soon as possible, said Singh. When asked about these shortcomings, the minister and Chief Medical Superintendent of the District Hospital, Renu Aggarwal, said the matters have been kept confidential. The hospital is understaffed because new vacancies have not been created since the district hospital relocated here. The district hospital used to have 100 beds, but it now has 240 beds. However, the medical staff has not been expanded to accommodate the increased patient load. This matter was discussed with the minister, said Aggarwal. Singh said the matter would be addressed at the state level. I can see that the hospital receives many patients daily. I have requested that the hospital management prepare a report on the staff shortage. I will discuss the matter with deputy chief minister Brijesh Pathak, and every effort will be made to increase the number of staff deployed at the hospital, Singh said. Singh, also in charge of the state governments Public Works Department, inspected the hospitals Medicine Distribution Counter, ICU, emergency ward, dengue ward, general ward, OPD, and IPD ward. At the hospital pharmacy, he took a patients prescription and inquired whether the listed medicines were available at the hospital pharmacy. He then went to the first-floor emergency ward and inquired about the patients condition and spoke with their relatives about the behaviour of doctors and staff, treatments, and medical facilities. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Inaugurating a two-day science conference , Science 20 (S20), being held in the run-up to the G20 Summit in Noida, Union science and technology minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Monday said the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 has fuelled the global aspirations of Indian students. Union science and technology minister Dr Jitendra Singh at Amity University in Noidas Sector 125. (Sunuil Ghosh/HT Photo) Dr Singh was addressing a gathering at Amity University in Noidas Sector 125, which is hosting the conference on the topic Disruptive Science for Innovative and Sustainable Development. The S20 is an engagement group vertical of the G20, to offer science-based advice and recommendations to policymakers. It was co-hosted by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and Amity University. This is an auspicious year for India, as not only is the country presiding over the G20 Summit, but also celebrating the success of Chandrayaan-3. The successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 has sparked global aspirations of Indian students. The world is ready to be led by India and the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 is a testimony to the collective acumen of Indias incredible scientific temperament, said Singh. The G20 Summit is being held days after Indias lunar mission successfully landed on the south pole of the moon on August 23. The minister said after the opening up of the space sector by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2020, the number of space startups sky-rocketed from merely four in 2019 to 150 in 2023 and most of them are being led by science students, researchers and entrepreneurs. The conference began with a round-table discussion on innovation and sustainability through startups, wherein entrepreneurs running science-based start-ups addressed the gathering. There were just around 350 startups before 2014, but after PM Modi gave the clarion call from the ramparts of the Red Fort in his Independence Day address and rolled out special startup scheme in 2016, there has been a quantum jump with over 1.25 lakh startups operational now and more than 110 Unicorns. Similarly, in the biotech sector, from 50-odd startups in 2014, we now have 6,000 such startups, said the minister. It is the hard work and determination of scientists, researchers and scholars that India is now ranked among the top 3 nations in terms of publications and ninth in terms of patents. Indias global innovation index has also seen significant improvement in the past years moving up the ladder from 81st position to 40th position, he said. Prof Ashutosh Sharma, president, INSA, said, The world can only be transformed through collaborative efforts and this conference will provide a platform for creating the road map to success. Following the inaugural event, Dr Singh visited the startup exhibition at the university, where students from schools and colleges presented several of their ideas and models. I have created a wall climbing spy robot, with a unique feature of camouflage. Once developed, the robot can replace human spy operations, said Nitesh Raj, a researcher at Amity University, Haryana. Ashok K. Chauhan, Founder President Amity Education Group, said, Science is the driving force behind economic expansion and human progress and the prestigious S20 Conference will play a major role in developing a scientific temperament among the youth who are the future leaders of the country. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Ghaziabad municipal corporation has begun work to improve civic infrastructure on the Delhi-Wazirabad Road and the Hindon elevated road, which connect commuters to Delhi, ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, officials aware of the matter said on Monday, adding that the project costs 8.26 crore and has been approved by the state government. A civic worker paints a stretch of the Hindon elevated road in Ghaziabad on Monday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo) The project includes, among other things, revamping road patches and central verges, beautification, the installation of 4,000 pot plants, the installation of LED street lights, the beautification of seven intersections, installing signages, and painting. The road stretch on the Delhi-Wazirabad road is approximately 6.5km, while the elevated road is 10.3km. The work has begun and will most likely be completed within the next two days. The corporation was a funding crunch for this, so we approached the state government, which approved it, said NK Chaudhary, the corporations chief engineer. Officials at the Hindon civil terminal have been asked to maintain readiness for services that may be required during the G20 Summit on September 9-10. The civil terminal is linked to the Delhi-Wazirabad Road, and it is also linked to New Delhi via the Hindon elevated road. The G20 delegates who may arrive at the civil airport are expected to take the road route to New Delhi via the two roads that are being revamped and beautified. Ghaziabad traffic police are also expected to release a traffic plan within the next day or two. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The agitation against the recent lathi-charge on Hapur lawyers reached sub-registrar offices at Agra tehsil. On Monday, no documents were processed at these offices, and lawyers, there, were expected to abstain from routine work till Wednesday in compliance with a call given by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh. Lawyers protest n Lucknow on Monday. (Deepak Gupta/HT) Lawyers across Uttar Pradesh are agitated because of the brutal cane-charge on our colleagues in Hapur a week ago. The state government and Hapur district administration have not initiated any action to address our grievances, stated Hemant Bhardwaj, a senior member of the Agra Bar Association. In a letter, Anurag Pandey, the vice-chairman of the state bar council, has communicated to various associations about the decision taken during a virtual state level meeting of the state body of lawyers on Sunday. The agitation will continue till lawyers in Hapur get justice. In compliance with the decision taken for a state-wide agitation, lawyers in Agra submitted a memorandum to the additional city magistrate (First) on Monday, added Bhardwaj. Lawyers will burn effigies of the chief secretary and the director general of police peacefully on Tuesday within the civil court premises here, said Bhardwaj. The strike will continue till Wednesday when a state-level virtual meeting will be held by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to decide our future strategy. We have demanded the immediate transfers of the superintendent of police (SP) and district magistrate of Hapur. A case needs to be registered against the cops guilty of cane-charging the lawyers, stated Bhardwaj. Works at sub-registrar offices in Agra came to a halt after lawyers and deed writers went on strike on Monday to join the call given by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh, stated Rajesh Shukla, a lawyer. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Dhanpur and Boxanagar constituencies in Tripuras Sepahijala district will go to bypolls on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) pitted against each other. A total of 93,234 electorates--43,087 from Boxanagar and 50,147 from Dhanpur-- have been enrolled to exercise their franchise on Tuesday. (Representative Image) BJP candidate Tafajjul Hossain would contest at Boxanagar seat against CPI(M) nominee Mizan Hossein while Dhanpur constituency would see a contest between the BJPs Bindu Debnath and CPI(M) candidate Kaushik Chanda. Besides them, two independent candidates are also in the fray. The TIPRA Motha and Congress have not fielded their candidates for the seats. The Congress has decided to support the CPI(M), though they initially expressed dissatisfaction over the latters declaration of candidates without any consultation with them. Three days ago, the TIPRA Motha announced not to support anyone in the bypolls though the CPI(M) claimed that the TIPRA Motha is campaigning in favour of CPI(M) in the two constituencies. Our party didnt put up candidates and decided not to support either BJP or CPI(M), said opposition leader Animesh Debbarma. We want people to cast their votes freely. We have earlier requested the Election Commission to ensure peaceful voting. I also appeal to the people to cast their votes in their respective polling centres without any fear, said CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury. BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said, People are not with the CPI(M). They will vote for development. BJP ally Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT)s president Prem Kumar Reang said, The BJP is our alliance partner, and we shall continue the alliance in future. Naturally, we shall support the BJP in the bypolls. The bypoll in Dhanpur was necessitated after Union minister Pratima Bhoumik resigned from the Assembly days after her election. The Boxanagar bypoll was necessitated following the death of CPI(M) legislator Samsul Haque. The India-Bangladesh bordering areas adjacent to Sonamura in Sepahijala district have been sealed till the polling concludes, as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India. Security has been tightened in the polling areas to ensure free and peaceful voting. A total of 93,234 electorates--43,087 from Boxanagar and 50,147 from Dhanpur-- have been enrolled to exercise their franchise on the polling day. A total of 51 polling stations at Boxanagar and another 59 polling stations at Dhanpur have been set up for the bypolls. The results of these bypolls will be announced on Friday. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! PRAYAGRAJ In the case of a vicious attack on a female police constable aboard the Saryu Express on August 30 by unidentified assailants, the Allahabad High Court has ordered the Government Railway Police (GRP), Lucknow, to present a progress report in court on September 13, 2023, the next scheduled hearing date. Allahabad High Court (FIle photo) Previously, during a special session held on Sunday night, the court took suo moto cognisance of the heinous incident and summoned relevant officials to appear before it. The court decided to treat this matter as a public interest litigation (PIL). This directive was issued by a division bench composed of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwakar and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava on Monday while hearing the PIL. On Monday, Puja Yadav, superintendent of police (SP) for GRP, Lucknow, along with the deputy superintendent of police (Deputy SP) from the Railway division were present in the court. SP Puja Yadav told the court that the victims statement under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) could not be obtained as she is currently unable to provide a statement. Furthermore, she stated that no evidence implicating any specific individuals has surfaced thus far. Additionally, there is no evidence of sexual assault; the victims injuries are confined to her head and face. However, when questioned about the details of the incident and the timing, SP Puja Yadav was unable to provide a clear response. She mentioned that the incident likely occurred between Ayodhya station and Mankapur station, and the weapon used has not been recovered. During the Sunday hearing, the court directed the court registry to serve notices to the central government through its secretary, the Ministry of Railways/Railway Board in New Delhi, the director-general of Railway Protection Force (RPF), the Uttar Pradesh Government through its secretary, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the State Commission for Women, Uttar Pradesh. It is worth recalling that the 45-year-old woman head constable was discovered unconscious with multiple stab wounds in a general compartment of the Saryu Express at Ayodhya Junction railway station last Wednesday. Initially, sexual assault was suspected due to the absence of the lower part of the head constables uniform. However, SP Puja Yadav of GRP, Lucknow, has refuted any incident of sexual offense based on the ongoing investigation. An FIR has been registered against unidentified individuals under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant), and 353 (assault of criminal force to deter a public servant) on the complaint of the head constables family members at the Ayodhya Cantt GRP station. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! The Burkhalter Group can look back on a very successful first half in 2023. Due to the first-time, full consolidation of half-year results according to the accounting standard Swiss GAAP FER of poenina holding ag, which was merged as of 29 June 2022, and strong acquisition-related growth, Group profit and the ope Rating result have increased sharply, as have sales. The income statement and the cash flow statement can therefore only be compared with the previous years figures to a limited extent. At 13.3%, earnings per share increased significantly compared with the first half of 2022. The outlook for the 2023 financial year as a whole is confident at the current date. On 30 June 2023, the Burkhalter Group closed the first half of 2023 as follows: Earnings per share increased to CHF 2.04 (previous year CHF 1.80 (+13.3%), Group profit stands at CHF 21.2 million (previous year CHF 10.8 million), the operating result (EBIT) came to CHF 26.0 million (previous year CHF 13.4 million) and sales amounted to CHF 526.2 million (previous year CHF 277.0 million). Due to the consolidation of half-year results with poenina holding ag, which was merged as of 29 June 2022, for the first time and strong acquisition-related growth, Group profit and the operating result were significantly higher than in the previous year, as were sales. The income statement and the cash flow statement can therefore only be compared with the previous years figures to a limited extent. Strong acquisition-related growth On 10 January 2023, LKE Haustechnik AG in Landquart (Canton of Grisons) was acquired, on 12 January 2023 Strassle Installationen AG in Amriswil (Canton of Thurgau), on 26 January 2023 Elektro Saas AG in Saas-Fee (Canton of Valais) and on 28 March 2023 Botschi Holding AG, Mauren (Canton of Thurgau), along with its subsidiaries Botschi AG Feuer Luft Wasser, Mauren (Canton of Thurgau), Angele AG Feuer Luft Wasser, Bronschhofen (Canton of St. Gallen) and Perl-Pool AG, Mauren (Canton of Thurgau). On 6 July 2023, Riggenbach AG, ventilation and air-conditioning technology, in Olten (Canton of Solothurn), and its branches in Brugg (Canton of Aargau) and Solothurn (Canton of Solothurn) were also taken over. Acquisition-related growth will continue to be part of Burkhalters strategy. Since takeovers are effected opportunistically, it cannot be assumed that additional companies will join the Burkhalter Group to this extent in the second half of 2023. Outlook remains confident At the current date, the management assumes that a moderate increase in earnings per share compared with the previous year can be achieved in the 2023 financial year. This is largely dependent on sustained strong demand for building technology services and rising demand for energy-efficient buildings. Burkhalter is ideally positioned to make a significant contribution to achieving the goals of the Swiss Federal Governments Energy Strategy 2050. Thanks to our employees The Burkhalter Group owes its success to the expertise, dedication and flexibility of its employees. To show its appreciation, the Board of Directors and management thanked them with a big staff party on 16 June 2023 at The Valley in Kemptthal (Canton of Zurich). Comparison of figures In CHF million 30.06.2022 30.06.2023 Group profit 10.8 21.2 Operating result (EBIT) 13.4 26.0 Group sales 277.0 526.2 CHF Earnings per share 1.80 2.04 The Interim Report 2023 can be downloaded from the Burkhalter website: www.burkhalter.ch/en/about-us/investor-relations/publications Telephone conference: Monday, 4 September 2023, from 9 a.m. The Burkhalter Group will discuss its 2023 consolidated interim financial statements during a telephone conference today. Please call in five minutes before the start of the conference (at 9 a.m.) on +41 (0)58 310 50 00 (Europe) +44 (0)207 107 06 13 (UK) +1 (1)631 570 56 13 (USA) The moderator of the telephone conference will connect you with the Chairman of the Board of Directors Gaudenz F. Domenig, the CEO Zeno Bohm and the CFO Urs Domenig. LUCKNOW Soaring temperatures and humid weather conditions have pushed the power demand in the state capital beyond 1,300 MW. Simultaneously, the number of line faults and power outages is on the rise in both the old city areas and the peripheral regions of the state capital, exerting immense pressure on the citys power infrastructure. Weather conditions have pushed the power demand in the state capital beyond 1,300 MW. (Representative photo) The increase in power demand is a natural consequence of the scorching heat and humidity. I have instructed all LESA engineers to closely monitor the power supply in the city. Our foremost priority is to minimise technical faults, and if any occur, they must be promptly addressed, said Sanjay Jain, the General Manager of Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA) in Cis-Gomti. Meanwhile, power supply in areas such as Balaganj, Sarosa, Bharosa, Gaughat, Aishbagh, Rajajipuram, Faizullaganj, Daud Nagar, and Campbell Road has been severely impacted. Vishal Srivastava, a resident of Para Road, reported that several transformers in these areas have been damaged in the past 15 days due to overloading. Avadhesh Kumar Varma, the chairperson of Uttar Pradesh Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad, expressed concerns about LESAs readiness to provide uninterrupted power to consumers. He said, Out of approximately 8,000 transformers in the city, a staggering 1,654, with capacities ranging from 16 kW to 630 kW, urgently require replacement as they have undergone repairs more than four times. These transformers, primarily located in the old city areas, have exceeded their intended lifespan. Varma added, Contrary to ideal conditions where a transformer should operate at only 80% of its overall load capacity, those in the city are enduring up to 120% of their capacities, leading to premature damage even after repairs. Regarding the distribution network, he pointed out that while the Cis-Gomti area has 90 substations with a capacity of 33/11 kW and the Trans-Gomti area has 53 more with similar capacity, the combined supply capacity is 24.55 lakh kilowatt (kW). However, the sanctioned load currently stands at 32.24 lakh kW, which has been a major contributor to the recent power disruptions. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! LUCKNOW Following the suo moto cognisance taken by the Allahabad High Court on Monday regarding the brutal assault on a lady head constable aboard the Saryu Express in Ayodhya, senior police officers visited the KGMU Trauma Centre on Monday to enquire about the womans condition. Senior police officers visited the KGMU Trauma Centre on Monday. (Representative photo) As the police remain clueless about the identity of the assailants, the state police headquarters has roped in the Special Task Force (STF) to crack the case. Currently, three police teams -- comprising the STF, Government Railway Police (GRP), and the Ayodhya police unit -- are collaborating to apprehend the culprits. On Monday, Director General of Police Vijay Kumar, Special DG Prashant Kumar (law and order), ADG Railways Jai Narain Singh, and Principal Secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad visited the Trauma Centre at KGMU. The incident occurred when the constable was returning home aboard the Saryu Express after completing her duty in Ayodhya. She is currently in recovery, and we will speak with her once she is able to communicate, said Prashant Kumar. He added, All forensic evidence collected from the train compartment is under examination. In the ongoing investigation, no evidence of sexual assault has been found yet. Every aspect is being thoroughly investigated. We will comply with the instructions received from the Allahabad HC. The KGMU administration has also been instructed to provide the constable with the best possible treatment, Kumar further stated. The 45-year-old female head constable was discovered unconscious with multiple stab wounds in a general compartment of the Saryu Express at Ayodhya Junction railway station on August 30. An FIR has been filed against unidentified individuals under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant), and 353 (assault of criminal force to deter a public servant) based on the complaint lodged by the head constables family members at the Ayodhya Cantt GRP station. The head constable sustained five stab wounds on her face, head, and abdomen. She was found in a pool of blood in an empty general compartment by a fellow passenger on August 30. She was posted in Sultanpur district and had come to Ayodhya after being deployed near Hanuman Garhi for Shravan Mela duty. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Former Union minister and BJP leader RCP Singh on Monday hit out at the Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) for the attack on his relative in Bihars Nalanda district. The incident took place within the Silao police station area of Nalanda district. (Representative file image) Singhs relative Pragati Kumar was shot at in his village in Bihars Nalanda district on Sunday. Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Pradeep Kumar said a police team has been sent to Dharhara village while another team is in the police station. The accused has been identified and the investigation is on, he added. Reacting to the incident, Singh said that he was campaigning in the state when he came to know about the incident. He is my grandson in relation and keeps coming to meet me. He came on Sunday too and after a few hours I got this news. I have been campaigning in all the seven assembly constituencies of Nalanda and I was on the last leg when it happened. He was shot at with warning that he should dissociate from me. How can he dissociate when he is my grandson. He is a government servant, he said. Also Read:Ex-Union ministers relative shot at in Bihars Nalanda, blames Nitish Kumars JDU Singh claimed that the injured person, who was returning from his Asthawan Assembly constituency meeting in a village, was taking the name of a JD-U leader for the attack. Hitting out at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Singh said it was heights of lawlessness in the state. How low could Nitish Kumar stoop? If he cannot fight politically due to his constantly falling clout, he would get my relatives attacked to hurt me. This is the height of lawlessness. Nalanda is also my native place, not just Nitish Kumars, he added. BJP state president Samrat Choudhary also released a video of the injured relative of Singh from the hospital. The victim also corroborated Singhs allegation in the video clip, saying that he was warned against associating with Singh. There were three-four persons. They stopped me and surrounded me. They asked me to mend my ways,They all carried arms. I fell close to my house. They kept saying that they were searching for me, the injured person said in the video clip. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. Choudhary also hit out at Kumar. There is nothing called law and order in the state and every day innocent people are falling prey to bullets. This is Nitish Kumars achievement now. The entire state has been witnessing killings and loot every day, he added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Avinash Kumar Avinash, a senior correspondent, reports on crime, railways, defence and social sector, with specialisation in police, home department and other investigation agencies. ...view detail A 32-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was stabbed to death while another critically injured in Bihars West Champaran district in the wee hours of Monday, police said. The deceased was serving as the BJPs Schedule Tribe (ST) president of Bettiah Mandal. (Representative file image) The deceased, identified as Sonu Kumar, was serving as the BJPs Schedule Tribe (ST) president of Bettiah Mandal. According to police, the deceased Sonu Kumar and his friend Sujit Kumar (28) were attacked at Godwa Tola village in West Champaran, when they were on their morning walk around 4am on Monday. The duo was attacked with knives and critically injured. The duo was taken to the hospital where Kumar was declared brought dead, said Rakesh Bhaskar, station house officer (SHO), Mufassil police station. Also Read: Goa man, 22, arrested for killing woman who broke up with him: Police The matter came to the fore after a few bystanders noticed the duo lying in a pool of blood during their morning walk. The duo used to go for their morning walk daily. At around 4am, unidentified criminals attacked them. Soon after, they were rushed to the hospital in an autorickshaw, Neeraj Kumar, victims relative recalled. Bettiahs superintendent of police (SP) D Amarkesh said the criminals have been identified. Further investigation into the matter is underway, the SP added. Meanwhile, former BJP state president and MP from Paschim Lok Sabha seat Sanjay Jaiswal threatened to launch a district-wide agitation if the criminals were not arrested. We want the police to arrest the criminals as soon as possible else we will be forced to launch an agitation, said Jaiswal. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Pune city police arrested a man from Sangli district for duping seven people after luring them to get income from a rental car business. The accused lured the complainant, to attach his car to the company and assured him monthly business of 50,000. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO) Police seized seven vehicles from him worth 45 lakh and claimed to solve at least seven other cases. The accused identified as Sayaji Dyandev Patil, 35, from Palusn in Sangli district was arrested by crime branch unit 3. Police said a case of duping the complainant over a car rental basis was registered at Sinhgad road police station. The accused lured the complainant, to attach his car to the company and assured him monthly business of 50,000. Lured by the offer, the complainant handed over his car to the accused but the accused neither returned the car nor paid the rental amount. Hence, he approached the police station. During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused similarly duped six more people. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is set to hold wide-ranging discussions on a host of topics ranging from national security, economy, social harmony, and socioeconomic scenario in the country at its annual coordination meeting in Pune this month, RSS functionaries said on Monday. Preparations underway at SP College in Pune for RSS annual meet. (Ravindra Joshi/HT PHOTO) As many as 36 organisations affiliated to the RSS including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishva Hindu Parishad, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, will participate in the three-day all-India coordination meet. The meeting will be held at Sir Parshurambhau (SP) College campus on Tilak road from September 14 to 16. The RSS annual meeting is likely to see around 250 participants including the Hindutva fountainheads chief Mohan Bhagwat, general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, all five joint general secretaries, including Arun Kumar -- its points person in the BJP -- and other prominent functionaries. Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda may also attend the crucial meeting, which is being held months ahead of the assembly polls in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana while national elections are also scheduled next year in April-May. RSS all-India spokesperson Sunil Ambekar said,Those participating in the meeting will conduct extensive discussions and exchange views on important issues related to social harmony, environment, family values, social service, economy and national security. Discussions will also be held on various activities that will aid social transformation. The participants, according to Ambekar, will also discuss in detail their experiences and activities in various aspects of social life and the current national scenario. The coordination meeting of RSS is held annually. Last year, the Akhil Bharatiya Samanvay Baithak of the RSS was held at Raipur in Chhattisgarh. During the annual meeting, the participants talk about their work and give presentations regarding their achievements. The other RSS inspired outfits participating in the meeting through their key office bearers include Vidya Bharti, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Sanskar Bharti, Seva Bharti and Sanskrit Bharti. The meeting assumes significance as it coincides the special session of parliament called by Narendra Modi-led government from September 18 to 22. As per official source, while around 250 delegates will participate in the meeting, the RSS has made additional arrangements for functionaries who will be able to stay at SP College campus on Tilak Road. Pune district guardian minister and BJP senior leader Chandrakant Patil on Sunday visited SP College to take the review of the preparations underway for the meeting. Ahead of the annual coordination meeting, RSS local unit plans to hold another meeting to review preparations. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! YSR University of Health Sciences, Andhra Pradesh on September 4 released the revised seat allotment result for phase 1 AP NEET PG counselling 2023 for competent authority quota for non-service candidates. Candidates can check the revised state National Eligibility Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) counselling seat allotment result on the official website at drysruhs.edu.in. YSR University releases revised seat allotment result for AP NEET PG counselling 2023; Check now(Arvind Yadav/ Hindustan Times) The direct link to check the revised allotment list given below: http://drysruhs.edu.in/notification/Admission/2023/01092023/PG%20CQ%20Phase%201%20Collegewise%20-%20Revised.pdf The last date to report at the allotted college is by 3 pm September 8. The classes will commence on September 5. AP NEET PG seat allotment result: Know how to check Visit the official website at drysruhs.edu.in On the homepage, click on the PG (Medical) Admissions 2023-24 - Revised CQ Non-service Phase-I College wise allotments A PDF will be displayed on the screen Check the results and take print for future reference. Download the PDF for future reference Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Get latest news on Education along with updates on Board Exams and Competitive Exams at Hindustan Times. Also get latest Job updates on Employment News SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Exam and College Guide Top Engineering Colleges in India Click here Click here Top Medical Colleges in India Click here Click here Popular BBA colleges in India Click here Click here Explore Scholarships Click here Click here Top LLB Colleges in India Click here Directorate of Government Examinations (DGE) Tamil Nadu has issued the notification for Tamil Language Literary Proficiency Test 2023. Applications for the test will be made available for Class 11 students tomorrow on dge.tn.gov.in. Tamil Literary Aptitude Test 2023 notice out (Photo: Gokul VS/HT) The exam is conducted to improve the Tamil language literary skills of school students. The test is scheduled for October 15. Through the test, the state government will select 1,500 Class 11 students who will get a monthly stipend of 1,600 for two years. The examination will be conducted at all district capitals on the basis of the Tamil Nadu government's Class 10th standard syllabus. Class 11 students studying in recognized schools, including schools affiliated to CBSE and ICSE in Tamil Nadu can apply for the test, TNDGE has informed. Candidates can download application orms from dge.tn.gov.in from September 5 to 20. They have to fill and hand it over to school principals with a fee of 50. The deadline for submitting forms offline is September 20. For further information, students can check the official website of the board. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Get latest news on Education along with updates on Board Exams and Competitive Exams at Hindustan Times. Also get latest Job updates on Employment News SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Uma Bharti, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, has expressed her disappointment on not being invited by the party for its Jan Ashirwad Yatra, flagged off by BJP national president JP Nadda in Bhopal. Maybe they (BJP leaders) are nervous that if I am there, then entire public attention will be on me, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister told reporters on Sunday Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti(File picture) Claiming that the BJP's victory over the Congress under her leadership in 2003, Bharti said, If Jyotiraditya Scindia helped them form the government in 2020, even I helped them form a bigger majority government in 2003." The 64-year-old BJP firebrand, however, said, "I love him (Scindia) as my nephew. But at least I was worthy of being invited to the yatra launch, even though I wouldn't have gone there." The BJP leader also asserted that she would continue to campaign for the party in the coming polls. While the BJP was yet to comment on her statement, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, who was in Bhopal, criticised the BJP alleging that it is "habitual of insulting all its leaders". Modi and Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government has continuously sidelined veteran party leaders. The prime minister sidelined his own leader Lal Krishna Advani, retired Murli Manohar Joshi. In our culture, even God does not forgive the one who does not respect elders, the Congress MP said. In 2003, leading the BJP to a three-fourth majority, Bharti had put a full stop to the 10-year-old Congress rule in Madhya Pradesh -- then headed by Digvijaya Singh. However, in 2005, the senior BJP leader was expelled from the party and then reinstated in 2011. In 2013, Bharti was appointed as one of the 13 vice-presidents to steer the BJP party through the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP leader refused to support then BJP party leader Yashwant Sinhas idea of declaring Narendra Modi as the NDAs prime ministerial candidate because of his growing popularity. Bharti told NDTV that popularity cannot decide the prime ministerial candidate and there were several leaders with lesser mass appeal who could be very efficient as Prime Minister. On being asked about Tamil Nadu minister Udhyanidhi Stalins Sanatana Dharma remark, Bharti told reporters, It is highly condemnable. The INDIA bloc should apologise to the nation. He is Stalin's son and associated with the opposition alliance. If the INDIA alliance leaders don't apologise, it'll cost them." SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took a potshot at the Congress party during the Bhartiya Janata Party's Parivartan Sankalp Yatra in Jaisalmer on Monday, indicating that the Congress failed to launch Rahul Gandhi in the last 20 years Defence Minister Rajnath Singh(File picture) Rajnath Singh flagged off the BJP's Parivartan Sankalp Yatra in Jaisalmer on Monday. Addressing the public, the BJP MP said, In a country where successful launching and landing of Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan is taking place, Congress' "Rahul Yaan" has not been launched for the last twenty years. The union minister also praised the Indian scientists for the recent successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 during the event. "No one had ever doubted the capabilities and talent of the Indian Army and Indian scientists," said Singh. "I believe India took the same leap with the success of Chandrayaan 3 on August 23, 2023 that it took in 1998 when it conducted a successful nuclear test," added the BJP leader. Targeting the Congress Party for raising questions on Indias space mission, Singh said, Today India has reached the Moon and Mars and the entire country has successfully launched Aditya-L1. This time when the landing of Chandrayaan took place, even then the Congress tried to raise questions in a subdued voice. But when it saw the mood of the country, it remained silent. Before flagging off the Parivartan Sankalp Yatra, Singh offered prayers at Ramdevra Temple in Jaisalmer. Ramdevra temple is sacred to the folk deity of Rajasthan, Baba Ramdevji. I feel happy to be present among you on the sacred land of Ramdevra, the land where an incarnate man like Baba Ramdev took samadhi. This area of Jaisalmer holds a special place in my heart because this entire area is not only a desert land, but it is also the land of heroes, Tapobhoomi as well as the atomic land of India. The land of Pokhran, located nearby, has witnessed not one but five nuclear tests, expressed the senior BJP leader. The Battle of Longewala" was also fought on this soil during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in which India won decisively, he added. Rajasthan is scheduled to go to the polls later this year with the BJP and the incumbent Congress locked in a straight fight. In 2018 the Congress had won 99 seats while the BJP had won 73 seats in the 200-member house. The Congress led by Ashok Gehlot formed the government with the support of Independents and the BSP. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Ukraine has long been a major developer and manufacturer of weapons and military equipment. Before 1991, when Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union, these innovation and manufacturing capabilities were recognized and encouraged. Since independence in 1991 Ukraine has continued to encourage its defense firms to continue their work. This has resulted in several new weapons and upgrades for existing systems. One new weapon is a long range (nearly 200 kilometers) high-speed missile with a guidance and targeting system that can get past Russian electronic jamming and air-defense missile systems. The new missile, like many new Ukrainian weapons, doesnt have an official name or details of its specifications and capabilities. That is normal for a weapon developed during a war and not seeking export sales. That will happen once the war is over and Ukraine offers its combat -tested new weapons to export customers. The new missile was revealed as the mystery weapon used to destroy a Russian S-400 SAM (surface-to air missile) battery. This was not the first new Ukrainian missile design to be used against Russia. In 2021 Ukrainian introduced its Neptune anti-ship missile and, starting two months after the 2022 Russian invasion, Neptune was used to cripple and eventually neutralize the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Neptune was first used in April 2022 to attack and sink the 12,000-ton Moskva, flagship of Russias Black Sea fleet. Moskva was hit by two Neptunes. Russia denied this and said the explosions and fires on the Moskva were the result of an accident on the ship that damage-control efforts by the 500-man crew were unable to handle, leading to major ammunition explosions. Moskva was directing operations off the Ukrainian port of Odessa at the time. As the flagship of the Black Sea fleet, Moskva had senior officers and their staffs on board to plan and direct Russian efforts to attack Ukrainian ports, especially Odessa, and turn Ukraine into a landlocked nation. Russia later admitted Moskva sank while being towed back to its home port in the nearby Crimean Peninsula. Russia will not admit Moskva was hit by two Ukrainian anti-ship missiles because the Moskva had multiple defenses against such attacks. Apparently Ukraine used one or more of their Turkish TB2 UAVs to track and harass Moskva and that enabled the two Neptune missiles to get through and start the fires that the crew could not handle and led to the abandon ship order. Ukraine may also have used ECM (Electronic Countermeasures) on Moskva to enable the missile strike. Russia tried to blame the loss of the ship on massive crew incompetence rather than admit the ship was hit by two Ukrainian missiles. To do so would also include crew incompetence; as in not turning on all the anti-missile defenses because they were distracted by the Ukrainian UAVs. It might also indicate that the missile defenses were inadequate. With the ship at the bottom of the Black Sea, the crew will have to explain what happened and why. The Neptune is an upgrade of the Russian Kh-35 anti-ship missile. Ukraine played a major role in designing and supplying components for the Kh-35. That was because work on Kh-35, the Russian answer to missiles like the American Harpoon, began in the 1980s when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union and a major component of the massive Soviet weapons defense design and manufacturing industries. After the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, independent Ukraine continued doing business with Russia and Kh-35 development was completed in 1996. The Russian Navy procurement budget was so small that Russia could not afford to buy Kh-35s until 2003, Meanwhile, Kh-35 was popular with export customers, who still account for most of the Kh-35s produced in Russia. Ukraine decided they could improve the Kh-35 design and did so, completing that in 2019 and delivering missiles in early 2021 for use in coastal defense. Neptune was heavier than Kh-35, had longer range (300 kilometers), and a much better guidance system and several other unspecified improvements. The Kh-35 is similar to the American Harpoon but lighter at 520 kg (1,150 pounds), compared to 728 kg and has less range; 130 kilometers compared to 224 for the latest version of Harpoon. The Kh-35 can also be fired from helicopters, aircraft or shore batteries. The Kh-35 had not been used in combat until the Ukraine war and turned out to be a competent anti-ship missile. The 870 kg Neptune was later used successfully against Russian transports and warships in the Black Sea. NATO nations supplying Ukraine with weapons have noted that Ukraine manages to continue developing and producing new weapons while under constant attack by Russian missiles, and have agreed to joint-production and development deals inside Ukraine, some of them before the war is over. Ukraine had sought such co-op deals before the Russian invasion but there was little interest from NATO nations until they saw Ukrainian capabilities under wartime conditions. Ameesha Patel has responded to Gadar 2 director Anil Sharma's comment that Sakeena was created from his heart, not hers. Highlighting writer Shaktimaan's name for creating her character in the superhit historic epic, Ameesha also told News18 that the filmmaker tried his best to 'push his son a lot' in Gadar 2. Anil's son Utkarsh Sharma reprises his role of Jeete in Gadar 2. (Also read: Gadar 2 crosses 500 crore-mark in 24 days) Ameesha Patel celebrated her birthday with director Anil Sharma in June this year. Even after hurling several allegations against him, she has said he is family for her. (PTI) Anil wanted Govinda, Mamata Kulkarlni Ameesha told the news channel that her character of Sakeena (Gadar Ek Prem Katha, Gadar 2) was created by film writer Shaktiman, and not by Anil Sharma. She added that it was Zee Studios that cast her, and not the director. "For me, Gadar was always about Sunny and for Zee. In fact, Mr. Nitin Kenny (Gadar Ek Prem Katha producer) was the reason I was in Gadar 1, and Mr. Anil Sharma preferred Mamta Kulkarni over me. Anil Sharma wanted Govinda as Tara, but Zee wanted Sunny Deol. So yes, his and my choices are poles apart. Zee Studios and Sunny have always been the reason for me to do Gadar. The script, which was written by Shaktiman ji, as Anil ji always says, also, it was Mr. Shaktiman who created Sakina, not Anil Sharma." Anil 'tried to push his son' Asked about the recent comments that Anil made about Sakeena and Ameesha, the actor said, I feel bad for Anil ji since he tried to push his son Utkarsh a lot in Gadar 2, but eventually, Tara and Sakina stole the limelight. Utkarsh is a very sweet boy, and I got him into the industry, and his father is very sweet to keep promoting him." She also expressed hopes that big filmmakers of the industry sign up Utkarsh for films as hes a sweet boy and no boy would like to only be signed by his dad. Gadar: Anil versus Ameesha For a long time now, Ameesha has been accusing filmmaker Anil Sharma of various things. It all began with allegations of delay in payments and soon turned into accusations of mismanagement on sets as well. In one of her recent interviews, Ameesha claimed she'd reject Gadar 3 if Tara Singh and Sakeena do not have enough screen time. In response, Anil insisted that he respected her but added that Sakeena was created from his heart. Gadar 2 Directed by Anil Sharma, the new film (like the first one) is set in a village near India-Pakistan border. The new film traces the journey of Tara Singh (Sunny) as he rescues his son Jeete (Utkarsh) from Pakistan. The new film is set in the 1970s as tensions brewed between the neighbouring nations right before the 1971 war. Manish Wadhwa in the role of the main antagonist in Gadar 2. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ibrahim chose his second film? According to the source quoted by Pinkvilla, "Ibrahim Ali Khan loved the script and immediately gave his nod. Its a very balanced, well-written love story that promises to take audiences on a ride filled with love and music. The conversation with Ibrahim has reached a final stage, and he will soon be signing on the dotted line. Ibrahims jump from thriller to romance also showcases his versatility as an upcoming performer." The plot of the story is kept under wraps, meanwhile the other lead of the film has not been finalized yet. As per the report, the shooting of the film is scheduled to go on floors from December 2023 and will be largely shot in London. More details about debut film Ibrahim is already attached to mark his debut with Dharma Productions, which is titled Sarzameen. The film will be directed by Kayoze Irani, son of actor Boman Irani. Last month Hindustan Times had exclusively reported that producer Karan Johar had roped in one of his close friends, Kajol to stare in the film. The source said, "He is very warm, childish. He is new to the business and has yet to catch up. He has zero attitude. Unlike some other newcomers, he isn't over-smart (or doesn't carry the star kid tag). Work wise, he was good. And, of course, he reminds everyone of Saif Ali Khan. When he comes to the sets, it feels like Saif from 20 years ago has stepped in. He is so young and just a true carbon copy of his father. Ibrahim already enjoys a lot of social media coverage, thanks to his industry connections as well as close equations with Palak Tiwari, Khushi Kapoor, and Nysa Devgn. Although he maintains a private Instagram account, he is oftentimes spotted by the paparazzo, and sister Sara Ali Khan is there to share pictures of him on her social media. Recently, she posted pictures with him for Raksha Bandhan celebrations. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT Entertainment Desk Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail Kiara Advani was about to fall in Kareena Kapoor's lap during a recent event. Thankfully, Arjun Kapoor stepped forward to help her and the Satyaprem Ki Katha star managed to stay afoot. Kiara and Kareena were co-stars on Good Newzz and attend the launch event for Isha Ambani's beauty products portal Tira. (Also read: Kiara, Kareena reunite for a glam night) Kiara Advani, Arjun Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor during an event. Kiara almost fell A new video from the Mumbai event has surfaced online. Kiara seemed to have tugged on her pant leg and lost balance while on stage. Kiara stood right in front of Kareena Kapoor, who sat on a chair. Kiara would have fallen in Kareena's lap had she not regained her balance. Arjun Kapoor, who was standing on the stage at the time, leaped forward to help Kiara. Arjun's gesture Arjun has won the internet with his gesture. The video does not have any original sound. Some of his fans praised him in the comment section. One of them commented, The way Arjun made everything normal for her again (heart eye smiley). Another one wrote, Sometimes I feel like Arjun gets unnecessary hate. Fans love Kiara's grace Several fans of the actors also praised Kiara for gracefully handling the situation while others shared the pain of wearing heels. Oh I feel bad for her foot, @kiaraaliaadvani I hope your ankle is fine, it looked painful, wrote one. Another one commented, That foot twist of hers was so bad I love how she managed so beautifully. Kiara's recent films' Kiara Advani was most recently seen in Satyaprem Ki Katha which reunited her with Bhool Bhulaiyya 2 co-star Kartik Aaryan. Next, she has the Telugu film Game Changer alongside Ram Charan in the pipeline. Kareena's recent films Kareena is all set for her digital debut with the thriller drama Jaane Jaan this month. It is directed by Sujoy Ghosh and is set for release on Netflix on September 21. She also has The Buckingham Murders and The Crew in the pipeline. Last year, she was seen opposite Aamir Khan in Laal Singh Chaddha. Arjun Kapoor's recent projects Last seen in the box debacle Kuttey which marked the directorial debut of Vishal Bhardwaj's son Aasman Bhardwaj, Arjun now has a film with Bhumi Pednekar and Rakul Preet Singh, He also has The Lady Killer in the pipeline. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Jonas Brothers, comprising Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas held their latest concert in Texas. Nick's wife-actor Priyanka Chopra travelled with him to the city to attend the show. Several pictures of the couple posing with people emerged online. (Also Read | Priyanka Chopra's mother-in-law shows framed photo of her 3 daughters-in-law kept at home) Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas with their fans. Priyanka shares pics with Nick Taking to her Instagram Stories on Monday morning, Priyanka posted pictures as she travelled with Nick Jonas. In the first picture, Priyanka looked in front of her as she clicked the selfie inside her car. She wrote, "Ice ice baby" and geo-tagged the location as Austin, Texas. In the next picture, Priyanka smiled looking sideways as Nick looked at the camera. She tagged Nick and wrote, "See you soon." As they flew to Austin, Priyanka also posted a photo of the clouds. Posting a candid picture of Nick looking outside, Priyanka wrote, "Dreamy (heart eyes emoji)." Priyanka posted pictures as she travelled with Nick. More pictures of Priyanka and Nick A fan account also posted pictures of Priyanka and Nick posing with several people. In the photos, taken ahead of the show, the couple smiled as they looked into the camera. For the event, Priyanka wore a blue dress and silver heels. Nick was seen in a white shirt, matching pants and shoes. About Priyanka and Nick Priyanka has been attending the Jonas Brothers concerts regularly. She and Nick Jonas got married in a Christian and a Hindu ceremony in Jodhpur's Umaid Bhawan Palace on December 1 and 2, 2018. In January 2022, the two announced that they welcomed daughter Malti Marie Chopra Jonas via surrogacy. Priyanka's projects Priyanka was recently seen in Citadel, which has been created by The Russo Brothers. The action-packed show revolves around two elite agents Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka) of the global spy agency Citadel. She will also be seen with John Cena and Idris Elba in Heads Of State. It is being helmed by Ilya Naishuller. Priyanka will also be seen alongside Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif in Jee Le Zara. The film will be directed by Farhan Akhtar. The shoot has not started yet. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Neetu Kapoor, Riddhima Kapoor Sahni, Kareena Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, and Rakesh Roshan among others remembered late actor Rishi Kapoor on his 71st birth anniversary. Taking to Instagram on Monday, they shared old pictures with Rishi and penned notes. (Also Read | When Rishi Kapoor praised future daughter-in-law Alia Bhatt, called her 'talented and lucky') Rishi Kapoor was married to Neetu Kapoor. Neetu shares post, remembers Rishi Neetu Kapoor posted a video collage of Rishi from several of his movies. She simply captioned the post, "In remembrance (folded hands emoji)." The films included clips from Mera Naam Joker, Bobby, Karz, Chandni and Kapoor & Sons among many others. Reacting to the post, Riddhima, Ekta Kapoor, Saba Ali Khan, and Maniesh Paul posted red heart emojis. Riddhima remembers her father Rishi's daughter Riddhima posted a picture collage from her childhood days on Instagram Stories. It showed Riddhima and Ranbir, both toddlers, posing stylishly with Rishi. One of the pictures featured Rishi, Neetu, Riddhima and her daughter Samara. "Happy Birthday papa (white heart emoji). Miss you a little more today...," she captioned the post. Sharing another old photo of herself with her parents, she wrote, Papa's carbon copy. Rishi's daughter Riddhima posted a picture collage from her childhood days. Kareena also drops an old pic Kareena Kapoor posted a throwback photo as she remembered her uncle Rishi. In the black and white picture, Rishi smiled while looking back. She wrote, "Happy birthday Chintu Uncle...Always in our (red heart emoji). Miss you." Kareena posted a throwback photo. Sanjay remembers 'Chintu Sir' Sanjay Dutt posted an old picture with Rishi and his son-actor Ranbir Kapoor. All of them held each other and smiled for the camera. He captioned the post, "Chintu Sir was more than family, he embodied the essence of one of the finest actors and human beings. His infectious laughter, stories, and genuineness knit us together. On his birth anniversary, the void he left is palpable, but the warmth of his memory keeps him alive in our hearts. Miss you, sir." Rakesh Roshan shares post Rakesh Roshan posted a throwback picture with Rishi, seemingly from their film set. In the candid photo, while Rakesh looked in front of him Rishi was seen staring at the ground with folded hands. He wrote, "Chintu miss you, buddy, its 4th Sept Celebrate!!!" Alia Bhatt recalls father-in-law Rishi Kapoor Alia Bhatt took to her Instagram handle and posted a photo form her pre-wedding festivites to show how Rishi Kapoor was also a part of her wedding. She wrote, Always with usalways. Alia Bhatt remembers Rishi Kapoor. About Rishi Kapoor Rishi died at the age of 67 on April 30, 2020, after a two-year battle with leukaemia. He worked in many films including Bobby, Chandni, Henna, Saagar, Do Dooni Chaar, Agneepath, Amar Akbar Anthony, Kabhi Kabhie, Naseeb, Coolie and Ajooba, Kapoor & Sons and Mulk among many others. His last film, Sharmaji Namkeen was shot with Paresh Rawal as the actor's some portion of films were incomplete. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Kanye West and his rumoured wife Bianca Censori have been travelling through Italy. The couple was recently banned by a boat company in Venice for indecent exposure, where Kanye flashed his butt during the boat ride. The company said that its employees had no idea about the same until they saw the news. A Venetian boat rental company, Venezia Turismo Motoscafi, banned the American rapper and his rumoured wife after the photos of him flashing his butt went viral in the news. The company said that its employees had no idea about the same until they saw the news. Additionally, the driver was unaware of the same as he was looking out for other boats. The company also mentioned that there was another person accompanying the couple who blocked the driver's view of the two. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the company talked about Kanye's NSFW moment. The driver had to keep a lookout for traffic and did not see these obscenities, If this had happened, he would have immediately disembarked and reported the transgressors to those in authority. We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behaviour. Mr. West and his wife will certainly no longer be welcome on board our companys boats. As of now, the duo have been banned from all the boats of the company for life. Netizens have not been completely unaware of the duo's atypical activities and have quite a bit to say about the same. Is Kim Kardashian embarrassed? Many were of the view that Kanye's ex-wife Kim Kardashian would be embarrassed by the actions of Kanye and his rumoured wife. However, a source close to the celebrity reported to Page Six that, Kim has very much moved on. [She] only wishes Kanye and Bianca the best. Kanye and his rumoured wife Bianca, did have a marriage ceremony in January this year, however, their marriage has not been legalised yet. The speculation that Jenna was dating the 60 year-old actor was started by celebrity gossip account Deuxmoi. This led to widespread social media attention, where many even wondered if Johnny was in a sequel to Tim Burton's 1988 hit, Beetlejuice, that marks the second collaboration of Jenna Ortega with the director. Together, they made the Netflix hit series Wednesday, which released last year. What Jenna said Shutting down these reports, Jenna has now addressed the speculations on Instagram Stories, as reported by Daily Mail. She wrote, This is so ridiculous I can't even laugh, I have never met or worked with Johnny Depp in my life. Please stop spreading lies and leave us alone. Meanwhile, a representative for the Pirates of the Caribbean star also addressed the dating rumours and said, Mr. Depp has no personal or professional relationship with Ms. Ortega whatsoever. He has never met her or spoken to her. He is not involved in any project with her, nor does he intend to be. He is appalled by these baseless and malicious rumours that are intended to harm his reputation and career. More on the actors' recent work Johnny Depp was recently in the news for the Netflix docuseries titled Depp vs Heard, that chronicled the heavily discussed courtroom trial in 2022 involving Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. The series got mixed reviews with many pointing out how the series has no scope for scrutiny and is only interested in eschewing how social media commenters and influencers adds noise to the ordeal altogether. On the work front, Johnny Depp was last seen earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, where he premiered the historical drama Jeanne Du Barry. Directed by Maiwenn, Johnny played King Louis XV in the film that served as the opening film for the festival. Meanwhile, Jenna Ortega scored an Emmy nomination in the Best Actress category for playing Wednesday Addams in Netflix's Wednesday, a spin-off series based on The Addams Family. She is also set to return for the second season. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Roman Polanski's latest feature film The Palace premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival on Sunday. It has now opened with a dismal 0 percent rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Based on a total of 10 reviews submitted by Rotten Tomatoes approved critics, the score implies an unanimous note of disappointment with the filmmaker's latest work, which is playing at the main competition of the festival. (Also read: Woody Allen calls cancel culture silly, considers retirement after latest film Coup de Chance) Roman Polanski's The Palace premiered at the Venice Film Festival.(REUTERS) Rotten score The Palace chronicles a New Years Eve celebration of 1999 in a luxurious hotel called the Gstaad Palace, which is located in the Swiss Alps, where the lives of various guests and those who work for them, intersect. It stars Oliver Masucci, John Cleese, Fanny Ardant, Luca Barbareschi, and Mickey Rourke. Although the dismal 0 percent score might see an improvement as more reviews arrive, the poor reception of the film has certainly proved to be a major hindrance for the distribution of the film. So far, the film has sold distribution rights across continental Europe only. Poor reviews The Palace did earn a modest standing ovation at the premiere at Venice, although the reception was particularly harsh, with many critics calling it a 'misfire' that is to be ranked as Polanski's worst to date. A press member took to Twitter and said, "#Polanski's #ThePalace makes What? feel like a comedic masterpiece, in comparison. Imagine Playtime being remade by Michael Bay but without the wit and subtlety of the Transformer films. I don't want to sound negative, but it's one of the worst films I've ever seen. #Venezia80" The Variety review said, 'Nothing in the movie is funny,' and wrote, "Even at 90, he wants to be the bad boy. In The Palace, though, hes just a bad filmmaker." The Times review by Kevin Maher called it, "An eye-scorching atrocity that is instantly one of the most egregious film-making failures of the year, possibly even the decade." Whereas, writing for The Wrap, Ben Kroll said, "Perhaps there is none beyond the simple desire to make filmgoers squirm, trapping them in a garish getaway filled with grotesques, and watching everyone get drunker and louder and more unpleasant until the clock strikes, the fireworks hit, and little is resolved but the audiences resolve to check out of this hotel and never return." Roman Polanski's inclusion at Venice had also caused outrage and protests at the Lido as the controversy surrounding the director have not stopped. Polanski was arrested and charged with drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He left the U.S. in 1978 after pleading guilty to the statutory rape. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT Entertainment Desk Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail Woody Allen's latest marks his 50th film, and it might just mark his last work. In a new interview with Variety, Woody Allen has now said that his French language film Coup de Chance might be his last as he is considering retirement. The director said that he does not know if he has the 'same verve to go out and spend a lot of time raising money' for his movies. (Also read: Spanish actor Gabriel Guevara arrested at Venice Film Festival on sexual assault charge) Woody Allen will premiere his 50th film at the 80th Venice Film Festival.(AP) What Woody said Woody Allen's Coup de Chance will premiere at the 80th Venice Film Festival. In an interview with Variety, Woody detailed that because of the constant hustle to secure funding for his movies, he isn't sure if he still has what it takes to make another film after Coup de Chance. He said, "I was thinking this is my 50th film and I have to decide if I want to make more films. Theres two things that I thought about. One is, its always such a pain in the neck to raise money for a movie. And do I want to go through it? Making the movie is one thing, but raising the money for it, you know, is tedious and not glamorous. And now if somebody steps out of the shadows and says, Ill give you money to make your movie, that would be an influential factor in making another movie. And the other thing is where movies have gone. I dont like the idea and I dont know of any director that does of making a movie and after two weeks its on television or streaming." On cancel culture The problems began when the director was alleged by his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow of sexual abuse in 2018. The director has denied the claims. In the same interview when Woody was asked about his thoughts on cancel culture and whether he thinks of himself as canceled, he said, "I feel if youre going to be canceled, this is the culture to be canceled by. I just find that all so silly. I dont think about it. I dont know what it means to be canceled. I know that over the years everything has been the same for me. I make my movies. What has changed is the presentation of the films. You know, I work and its the same routine for me. I write the script, raise the money, make the film, shoot it, edit it, it comes out. The difference is not is not from cancel culture. The difference is the way they present the films. Its that thats the big change." The premiere of new films by Woody Allen and Roman Polanski-who has also been accused of sexual assault- at the Venice Film Festival also gave rise to widespread criticism, with many protesting on the Lido near the film festival on Sunday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Nagarjuna Akkineni playfully asked Vijay Deverakonda about the whereabouts of his co-star Samantha Ruth Prabhu and even showered praises on her when they met recently. Nagarjuna was speaking to Vijay at the grand premiere of the reality show Bigg Boss Telugu 7. Vijay was on the show to promote his latest film Kushi which stars Samantha opposite him, while Nagarjuna hosts Bigg Boss Telugu. Samantha was Nagarjuna's daughter-in-law when she was married to his son, Naga Chaitanya. (Also read: Nagarjuna's next film titled Naa Saami Ranga, teaser out) Samantha is not a part of the promotions of her new film Kushi. Nagarjuna praises Samantha A video from the episode shows Nagarjuna asking why Vijay decided to visit alone and asked where was Samantha. Vijay then told the veteran actor that Samantha is in the US as she needs to look after her health. He added that he hoped Samantha would be able to join the promotional events and interview in India soon. According to an Indian Express report, Nagarjuna said, You are a fantastic actor. She is a very good actress and together, you make for an amazing pair. Vijay also performed on a song from Kushi. When Vijay said he had a crush on Samantha Soon after the launch of Kushi trailer, Vijay said that he had a crush on Samantha. He added that he admired her ever since he watched Em Maya Chesave, and has watched all her films. Last year, Vijay took to social media and praised her Yashoda trailer. Was in love with her, when as a college kid I saw her on the big screen for the first time. Today I admire and adore her for everything she is (heart emoji). So very happy to share with you all @Samanthaprabhu2's new film #YashodaTrailer. In theatres 11-11-2022. Wishing the entire team all the very best and sending all my love! Samantha and Nagarjuna Samantha Ruth Prabhu parted ways with her former husband - Nagarjunas son Naga Chaitanya - in 2021. They had been married for four years before the announcement. Neither have opened up on what went wrong in their relationship. Samantha's break Late last year, Samantha Ruth Prabhu was diagnosed with the autoimmune condition, myositis. After completing her pending films and projects, including the Indian version of Citadel, Samantha is currently on a break from work and is focussing on her health. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! ott:10 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After waiting nearly a year for a response from the United States, Poland was finally told that the United States would supply it with 96 of the latest version of the AH-64E helicopter gunship. Each one will cost 125 million dollars, although that also includes support equipment, some training and an initial supply of spare parts. Poland ordered the AH-64s as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022l. Poland ordered a lot of other modern weapons to handle the potential Russian threat to Poland. In 2011 the U.S. Army began receiving the first of 51 Block III models of the AH-64D Apache helicopter gunship. The Army soon decided to rename the new model the AH-64E. This was the latest version of the AH-64 which had its first flight in 2008. It was decided that the Block III improvements were so numerous and dramatic that it made more sense to go to a simpler and more descriptive AH-64E designation. The first model, the AH-64A, entered service in 1986. The last AH-64A was taken out of service in 2012 for upgrade to the AH-64D standard. The AH-64B was an upgrade proposed for the early 1990s, but was canceled, as was a similar C model upgrade. Some of these canceled improvements were in great demand. Thus the B and C model upgrades were incorporated in the AH-64D Block I (1997). The AH-64D Longbow, so named because of the radar mast, making it possible to see ground targets and flying obstacles in all weather, began appearing in 1997. By 2006, over 500 American AH-64As had been upgraded to AH-64Ds. By 2010 634 army AH-64s were upgraded to the new AH-64E standard. The first AH-64Es entered service in 2011 and were heavily used to reveal any design or manufacturing flaws. These were fixed before mass production and conversion begins. AH-64Es have more powerful and fuel efficient engines, as well as much improved electronics. AH-64Es will also have Internet-like capabilities enabling these gunships to quickly exchange images, video, and so on with other aircraft and ground troops. AH-64Es will be able to control several UAVs and launch missiles at targets spotted by these UAVs. The AH-64E III radar will have longer range and onboard computers will be much more powerful. The electronics will be easier to upgrade and maintain. The combination of improved fire control and Internet capabilities is expected to greatly increase the capabilities of the AH-64. The 10 ton AH-64E carries a pilot and a weapons officer, as well as up to 16 Hellfire missiles (plus the 30mm automatic cannon). Sorties average three hours. The AH-64 can operate at night and has a top speed of 260 kilometers an hour. In addition to the U.S. Army, the AH-64E is exported to a growing number of allies, who also qualify for future upgrades. About 2,500 have entered service since the first one appeared in 1986. The U.S. sought to develop a replacement for the AH-64 but found that the constant upgrades to the AH-64 made that difficult and certainly not cost-effective given the high cost and long time required to design and get a new helicopter gunship into production. As a result, the AH-64 will remain the primary American helicopter gunships until 2060 if not longer. The trailer of Bambai Meri Jaan is out. On Monday, the makers released the explosive new trailer of the new series directed by Shujaat Saudagar, and starring Kay Kay Menon, Avinash Tiwary, Kritika Kamra in pivotal roles. (Also read: September upcoming web series: Scam 2003, Bambai Meri Jaan, The Morning Show to The Freelancer) Bambai Meri Jaan releases on Prime Video on September 14. About the trailer Bambai Meri Jaan takes viewers back to the city of Bombay in the 1960s, as it introduces a world of gang wars, guns and deceit, at the core of which lies the relationship between a duty-bound police officer father and his gangster son. Kay Kay Menon takes on the role of a honest cop Ismail Kadri who realizes that his son Dara Kadri (Avinash Tiwary), has chosen the path of crime. "Seher saaf karte karte mera ghar ganda ho gaya," says the cop, lamenting how the process of cleaning the city has instead stained his home. The show then delves into the years unfolding ahead, as the son transforms into a powerful gangster. About the show The official tagline of the show reads, "Bambai Meri Jaan chronicles the life of gangster Dara Kadri through the eyes of his father, an ex-cop, Ismail Kadri. In this season, we see how Dara puts everything at stake including his family as he goes on to become a cold-blooded, fearless gangster who uses his business acumen to fight not only the police and his rivals but also his own demons along the way." Fan reactions Reacting to the trailer, a fan commented, "K.K Menon is the most underrated "SUPERSTAR" of Indian film industry. It's so good to see actors like Vijay Sethupathi and K.K Menon getting such big projects and credit which they rightly deserve, at least they are 100 times better than so called "Rajas" and "Brothers" of one segment of Indian cinema producing one garbage after another." A fan wrote, "Finally Avinash Tiwary getting his due! (fire emoticons) Top actor in the making..." A comment read, "reminds me once upon a time.. sultan mirza." Apart from Kay Kay and Avinash, the film also stars Saurabh Sachdeva, Kritika Kamra, Nivedita Bhattacharya and Amyra Dastur in supporting roles. Bambai Meri Jaan is created by Rensil DSilva and Shujaat Saudagar, and is directed by Shujaat Saudagar. It streams on Prime Video from September 14. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON While the row over Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks on Sanatana Dharma snowballed into a massive political slugfest, his father and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Monday launched a podcast Speaking for India series a bid to support the Opposition's INDIA or Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin.(FB/Udhayanidhi Stalin) In the first episode, Stalin reiterated the INDIA bloc's stand that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was destroying the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. "We are living in times where each and every one of us has to speak up for India. The Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to damage the basic structure of India and destroy the sense of unity that Indians have cherished and protected for so long," CM Stalin said. He alleged the central government failed to fulfil its pre-election promises and deliver welfare schemes in its decade-long rule. "There were many other yarns that were spun that just remained tall tales," he said. Stalin also said Modi lied about the Gujarat Model and would leave the country's highest office with "no significant model to call his own". It has become a rudderless model, and there are no tall claims about the once-famous Gujarat model either, especially after we listed the achievements of the Dravidian Model in Tamil Nadu with statistical proof," he added. 'Gujarat model', frequently endorsed by Modi and his party, refers to the development-oriented governance carried out in the state during Modi's tenure as its CM. He further alleged the government is misusing its power to transfer the public sector to their corporate friends." "The welfare of the entire country has been reduced to the welfare of a few. Government-owned Air India has now been privatised," the CM said. religion as weapon to hide shortcomings "Airports and ports all over India are going into the hands of private organisations. While Prime Minister Modis promise to double the income of farmers is far from fulfilled, the living standards of the poor and downtrodden haven't become better either. They have taken religion as their weapon to hide all their shortcomings," he added. Stalin also took a potshot at other policies of the Modi government, including handling of the Manipur ethnic violence and Haryana's Nuh clashes, and alleged scams and bias against non-BJP ruled states and said it had "threatened" India's federalism. He further advocated for the INDIA bloc and said, It is this INDIA alliance that is going to save India. If we want to prevent the whole of India from becoming Manipur and Haryana, which, unfortunately, fell victim to BJP's communal politics, and hate-inciting policies, the INDIA alliance must win The podcast was released amid controversy over his son and state minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks intensified. Udhayanidhi on Saturday had called to eradicate Sanatana Dharma a set of religious duties practised in Hinduism and had equated it to dengue and malaria. He later clarified that he had not called for any "genocide" as alleged by the BJP but insisted on uprooting Sanatana Dharma, which he said divides people in the name of caste and religion. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday reiterated his suggestion on equal education and healthcare and added that there should be an election every third month while taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Opposition the proposition of conducting one nation, one election, Kejriwal said BJP will not show their faces for five years if this move is implement. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal(ANI) There should be an election every third month. Otherwise, they (BJP) will not show their faces for five years if 'one nation, one election' gets implemented, the Delhi CM said in Jaipur. This comes a day after he questioned the rationale behind the proposal of such move. He asked what would a common person get from one nation, one election. Conduct hundred or thousand elections, what would we get? he asked at an event in Haryana. What is important for the country? One Nation One Election or One Nation One Education (Rich or poor, equal good education for all) One Nation One Treatment (Rich or poor, equal treatment for all) What will the common man get from One Nation One Election? he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). An eight-member committee was formed on Saturday to examine and make recommendations on the prospect of holding simultaneous elections. The panel was constituted days after the Centre announced a special session of the Parliament from September 18 to 22. Apart from Kovind, the Centre named Union home minister Amit Shah, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Finance Commission chairman NK Singh, former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash C Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve and former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari as the panel's members. Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the committee meetings as special invitee. Soon after the announcement, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury decline to be a member of the panel. He argued that the committee's terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions. The Bengaluru police arrested a 26-year-old man for allegedly blackmailing a woman with her intimate photos and demanding sexual favours from her, police said on Monday. A 26-year-old man arrested for allegedly blackmailing, asking sexual favours from a woman. (Representative Image) The accused has been identified as Amir Hussain Faisal, from Darrang district in Assam. He was working at a private software company in Bengaluru, where he is said to have befriended the victim. According to police officers, the accused and the victim got acquainted two years ago, after which the two were in a relationship. The relationship allegedly lasted a year-and-a-half, during which the accused recorded their private moments, police officers said. Faisal later quit his job six months ago and returned to Assam, but allegedly continued to harass the victim. The accused contacted the woman last month and sought sexual favours from her. He also created fake Instagram accounts in the victims name and uploaded some private photos of her when she disagreed, a police officer privy to the development said. The woman then filed a complaint at the HSR Layout police station. A police officer said that he was arrested from Chennai where he was waiting to meet the victim. We asked the woman to cooperate with the accused and sent a special team with her to nab the accused, a police officer said. The police have booked the accused under section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and section 384 (Punishment for extortion) of the Indian Penal Code, and under various other sections of the IT Act, 2000. They are also investigating to ascertain whether the accused has blackmailed other women as well, police added. To patch cracks in state units that can derail the partys electoral plans and to circumvent the contentious issue of leadership, the Bharatiya Janata Party has made collective leadership the driver of its election campaign. In poll-bound states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, where there are multiple claimants for the top job, the central leadership has sidestepped the issue of picking faces for the elections by making room for several leaders in its outreach plans, even as it maintains that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his pro-people policies will be at the core of the election campaign. (File photo) In poll-bound states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, where there are multiple claimants for the top job, the central leadership has sidestepped the issue of picking faces for the elections by making room for several leaders in its outreach plans, even as it maintains that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his pro-people policies will be at the core of the election campaign. Also read: Amid Udhayanidhi Stalin's 'Sanatana Dharma' remarks row, father's podcast targets BJP Referring to the intraparty differences that have been in the public eye in states such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, a party leader said that efforts are being made to keep the factions together. BJP workers are disciplined soldiers. But it is also true that leaders have ambitions and sometimes personal aspirations prevail, the leader said, seeking anonymity. The party has a strong mechanism to patch differences and ensure the whole unit fights as a cohesive team. It is for this reason that we have decided that under the leadership of Modi, the partys campaign will be led by a collective leadership. In Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP will be contesting to retain power, there is ambiguity over whether chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan will be the face of the election, but more worrying for the central leadership are the differences in the state unit that have come to the fore. A case in point being former union minister Uma Bhartis scathing comments about having been overlooked for the Jan Ashirwad Yatras (public blessing marches) that were flagged off on Sunday by party president JP Nadda. Although the party made amends and reached out to the upset leader, once considered a stalwart in the state, Bharti put out a comment on X (formerly Twitter) that she would not join the yatras. If Chauhan were to reach out to her for campaigning, she would consider that, Bharti said. She would not damage the party for being overlooked, Bharti said. Earlier, there were reports about strained ties between Chauhan and state unit president VD Sharma. A state leader admitted that there is a push from supporters of various regional leaders to pitch them as the face of election, but the central high command has decided to press ahead with the collective leadership gambit. When we say collective leadership, we do not mean that all the leaders who are aspiring for roles are being accommodated. It means representation of various castes, regions and demographics, which is why you will see not one or two, but a dozen leaders leading rallies, on posters and part of the election outreach, the second leader said, declining to be named. Also read: Arvind Kejriwal claims BJP will 'hide its face for 5 years after one nation, one election drive In Rajasthan, where the question of who will be the face of election in the state puts the central leadership in a bind, collective leadership has been used to quell the awkwardness. There is a large support group that swears allegiance to (former chief minister) Vasundhara Raje, who is considered one of the tallest leaders of the BJP, said the first leader. However, the party has also set in motion a plan that allows generational shift, giving newer and younger leaders a chance to take centre stage, which means balancing the aspirations of the older and younger generation of leaders. The BJP is hopeful that it will be able to prevent differences from escalating, even though Raje, miffed at not being projected as the chief ministerial face, embarked on a dharmic yatra (religious march) ahead of the partys parivartan yatra (march for change). The central leadership has also urged the state unit to refrain from public attacks against colleagues. This came close on the heels of long-term legislator Kailash Meghwal setting off a flutter by accusing union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal of being corrupt. Even as the party downplayed the comments, it has issued a show-cause notice to Kailash Meghwal for his comments. In Telangana, too, where there is no clarity on who will be the partys face, the BJP has decided to conduct rallies with 12 leaders in charge. The state has been divided into three segments, and four leaders will lead the outreach in each of the segments. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has initiated an investigation into alleged evasion of excise duty during 2012 to 2017 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in power in the state, in a move widely seen as an attempt to counter the now-stayed Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe iinto a similar fraud under the Congress government. The Chhattisgarh economic offences wing (EOW) initiates probe into evasion of excise duty during 2012 to 2017 during BJP government. (HT Archive) A senior Chhattisgarh police officer said a private complaint was received last month regarding evasion of excise duty between 2012 and 2017 to help certain people of the then ruling party. Following the complaint, the state EOW has summoned around 40 people, including excise officers, liquor contractors and some businessmen in the last two months, the officeradded, requesting anonymity. A senior EOW official said no first information report (FIR) has been registered yet. We are questioning people including the contractors, liquor businessmen and excise officers who were involved in alleged excise duty evasion, the EOW official said, declining to be named. An FIR will be registered after investigation. The officer refused to divulge details of the complainant, saying since both complainant and the accused parties are from Chhattisgarh their names cannot be shared for security reasons. The officer said that the excise policy was changed in 2017, enabling the state government to directly involve in sale of liquor. Prior to 2017, liquor was sold by private contractors, who are now distillers. We have asked for year-wise figures from the excise department about liquor sold and excise duty paid by the contractors, the officer added. The ongoing probe aims to find out the exact quantum of evasion of excise duty during 2012-17 and the number of people involved in it, the officer further said. We have also asked the excise department to provide details about what action, if any, was taken by officers against these contractors between 2012 and 2017 and how many seizures took place across the state. The EOW probe has come close on the heels of ED arresting five people during its money laundering probe in connection with an excise scam in the Congress-ruled state. In November 2022, the federal agency started its probe alleging that 2,161 crore of corruption money was generated in the liquor scam between 2019 and 2023 through multiple methods. Raipur mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebars elder brother Anwar Dhebar was the first person to be arrested by ED in the case in May this year. Of the five people arrested by ED in the case so far, four are currently out on bail. On July 18, the Supreme Court stayed the ED probe after the Chhattisgarh government argued that the federal agency was conducting an investigation without any jurisdiction and with the sole objective of implicating chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. The EOW probe, months before the crucial assembly elections in Chhattisgarh is being seen by many as the state governments attempt to counter the ED investigation. The EOW officer cited above, however, said the two investigations are different. The ED submitted their charge sheet in July in their case and they have also handed over a list of officers to the state government on whom they demanded action under Prevention of Corruption Act (PMLA), the officer said. The opposition BJP termed the EOW probe a political stunt by the Congress government. This is an attempt of Congress to save its image. This is political because investigation started a few months ahead of elections, state BJP chief spokesperson Ajay Chandrakar said. We are ready for any investigation but it should have started four years back when they formed the government. The Congress, however, said the investigation is fair and non-political. It was ED which started a political investigation. Our government wants a fair investigation to know about the evasion of excise duty, Congress spokesperson Shushil Anand Shukla said. People should know what happened during BJP rule. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China on Monday confirmed President Xi Jinping will skip the G20 Summit to be hosted by India this weekend as speculation swirled in diplomatic circles about whether the grouping of 20 largest economies would overcome differences standing in the way of a joint leaders declaration. President of China Xi Jinping (AFP) Premier Li Qiang will attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi during September 9-10 at the Indian governments invitation, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said without giving reasons for Xis decision not to travel to India. Even before the confirmation from the Chinese side, it had become clear Xi would be the second head of State of a G20 member country after Russian President Vladimir Putin to skip the Summit being held against the backdrop of deep divisions over the Ukraine conflict. External affairs minister S Jaishankar sought to play down the issue of leaders of some G20 states skipping the summit by saying the focus should be on the position taken by countries on key burning issues of the day. During a discussion on Doordarshan on Monday, he said: At the end of the day, countries are represented by whoever they have chosen to represent them. The levels of representation do not become the final determinant of the position of a country. Jaishankar said this years G20 will be remembered for the outcomes it produced, and the focus should be on solutions and actions to tackle the burning issues of the day and the willingness of countries to address such matters. US President Joe Biden said he was disappointed that Xi planned to skip the G20 Summit. I am disappointed...but I am going to get to see him, Biden told reporters without saying when a meeting with Xi might take place. A person aware of the matter later said the two leaders are tentatively expected to meet during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in November in California. Jaishankar acknowledged that the G20 Summit is being held under difficult circumstances, including East-West polarisation and North-South gaps, though everyone would have to wait till September 10 to see the outcomes. He emphasised Indias priorities, including concerns of the Global South, debt predicament of many countries, food and energy prices, and resources for education, nutrition and health. Asked about Chinas expectations from the G20 Summit, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the forum for economic cooperation should strengthen partnership and contribute to world economic recovery and global sustainable development. The sherpas, or senior officials who negotiate on behalf of leaders of G20 states, began their fourth and final meeting at Manesar on Sunday to draft the joint communique or leaders declaration. People familiar with the matter said the sherpas will work intensely over four days to overcome differences on a range of issues, not the least of which is the Ukraine crisis. The sherpas will also hold a joint meeting with finance deputies on September 6. This is the first sherpa meeting that is not open to the media, reflecting the sensitivity of the negotiations. While obvious focus has been on the divergence over the Ukraine crisis with G7 states insisting on a reference to the conflict in the communique and Russia and China contending the G20 isnt the forum to discuss geopolitical issues other contentious issues have emerged in recent weeks, the people said. The US and its partners have said, at a minimum, the language used to refer to the Ukraine war should be close to the text used in the last G20 leaders declaration in Bali, while Russia has said this formulation is no longer acceptable as the ground situation has changed. China has pushed back on several of Indias signature initiatives, including digital public infrastructure, sustainable development initiatives, women-led development, and even the theme of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), and the people said much of this opposition appeared linked to the current state of India-China relations, with the two countries locked in a standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Indian sides proposal for full membership of the African Union (AU) has faced pushback from Australia and Asean members, some of whom made a counterproposal regarding involving the rotating chair of the AU in the G20 process, the people said. Saudi Arabia has expressed reservations on certain climate action and transition initiatives and differences have also emerged on a possible regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, they said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping is apparently skipping this weeks Group of 20 summit in India as bilateral relations remain icy. Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip this weeks Group of 20 summit in India, amid a downturn in bilateral relations, with Premier Li Qiang to attend in his place, Chinas Foreign Ministry said Monday (AP File) Instead, Premier Li Qiang will represent China at the Sept. 9-10 gathering, the Foreign Ministry said Monday in a one sentence notice on its website. Relations between China and India have grown frosty over their disputed border, and three years ago the tensions resulted in a clash in the Ladakh region that killed 20 Indian and four soldiers. It turned into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets. Frictions have also risen over trade and Indias growing strategic ties with Chinas main rival the United States. Both India and China have expelled the others journalists. India recently overtook China as the worlds most populous nation and the two are rivals in technology, space exploration and global trade. Chinese and Indian military commanders met just last month and pledged to maintain the peace and tranquillity along their disputed border, in an apparent effort by the sides to stabilize the situation. India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin Plateau, which India considers part of Ladakh, where the current faceoff is happening. China, in the meantime, began cementing relations with Indias archrival Pakistan and backing it on the issue of disputed Kashmir. Firefights broke out again in 1967 and 1975, leading to more deaths on both sides. Theyve since adopted protocols, including an agreement not to use firearms, but those protocols have fractured. Other than the potential effects on China-India relations, Xis absence at the summit will also eliminate the possibility of an interaction with US President Joe Biden. China-US relations remain at a historic low despite recent visits by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials to Beijing. Xi has accumulated more power at home than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, and has adopted an increasingly aggressive approach to what he views as Chinas territorial interests in the South China Sea and toward self-governing Taiwan, which China threatens to annex by force if necessary. At the same time, China has struggled to recover economically from the hard-line policies it took to control Covid-19. Foreign businesses also have complained of an increasingly difficult environment in which to invest in and trade with the country. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has convened a meeting of the newly constituted CWC on September 16 in Hyderabad, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal announced on Monday. Mallikarjun Kharge (ANI)(HT_PRINT) Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee headquarters here, Venugopal said on September 17, an extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting will be held and it will include all Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs. On the evening of September 17, a rally will be held near Hyderabad where the party will announce its guarantees for the upcoming assembly polls in Telangana, Venugopal said with general secretary Jairam Ramesh beside him. Congress chief Kharge had on August 20 reconstituted the CWC, retaining the old guard, giving space to the young and including prominent G23 group leaders such as Shashi Tharoor and Anand Sharma, in the 84-member top decision-making body of the party. The all-important CWC, formed 10 months after Kharge took charge, has 39 regular members, 32 permanent invitees and 13 special invitees. These include 15 women and several new faces such as Sachin Pilot and Gourav Gogoi who are among the regular members. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A terrorist has been killed in a joint encounter of a police team and Army that broke out on Monday in Chassana area of Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district. According to the local police, there were inputs of two terrorists being present in the area. A police personnel and a jawan were injured. Operation is being carried out to hunt down the other terrorist. Encounter operation continues in Reasi(HT_PRINT) An encounter started at Reasi on the basis of Police input regarding the presence of two terrorists. Encounter going on in Gali Sohab in Tuli area of Chassana. Police and Army are carrying out the operation, ADGP, Jammu, Mukesh Singh said. (This is a developing story. Kindly check back for updates) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China is adding a nuclear submarine and a Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine to its growing number of museum ships. With these new additions China will have seven museum ships. Worldwide there are over 200 museum ships, most of them established and maintained by non-government organizations. In China the government owns and maintains the seven military museum ships. Many countries maintain some commercial vessels as museum ships. All but two of the seven Chinese military museum ships were foreign built. The Chinese built museum ships include a destroyer and a nuclear submarine. The rest were originally obtained from Russia. Chinese are particularly proud of the nuclear submarine museum ship because the sub was built in China. It is a Type 091 Long March No. 1 SSN (nuclear attack boat), completed in 1974. This first Chinese SSN was definitely a learning experience, not fully entering service until the mid-1980s. The Type 091s are small (4,100 tons) as SSNs go and have a crew of about 75 sailors. French sonar was installed, and a lot of the other electronics came from foreign suppliers. In the 1980s it was thought the Chinese would just scrap this class but they kept repairing and updating them. The 091s are hopelessly out of date but five were built, one has been retired and the oldest is being turned into a museum ship. The other Chinese museum ships include three destroyers, one frigate, and a Kiev-class Russian aircraft carrier. The Chinese are particularly proud of the museum ships built in China, especially the nuclear submarine. There are a growing number of military museum ships worldwide, but many of them are not maintained by the government but by private groups. The growing number of museum ships has created a crisis in dealing with the growing cost of maintaining old warships as museums and tourist attractions. Most of these vessels are in the water and literally rusting away. Many are now in need of major refurbishment, which can cost over $100 million for a carrier or battleship. Even smaller ships (cruisers, destroyers, and submarines) can require over $20 million to put back into shape to just sit in the water, receive visitors, and not sink or fall apart the next time a major storm hits. Most of the largest of these museum ships are American, largely because the U.S. has had the largest fleet in the world for nearly a century. The end of World War II and the Cold War put a lot of warships out of work. Most were broken up for scrap or sunk using weapons as a form of training. But increasingly over the years many were donated by the U.S. Navy for use as museum ships. Most of these were smaller ships, like PT Boats or patrol boats. A small seaside town could afford to maintain these small craft with local volunteers and some cash donations. But many cities sought to obtain large ships. This led to five aircraft carriers (USS Hornet, Intrepid, Lexington, Midway, and Yorktown) and ten battleships (USS Alabama, Arizona, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin) becoming impressive and very expensive to maintain museum ships. The Arizona was sunk at Pearl Harbor during the infamous 1941 Japanese sneak attack and a museum and memorial built around the largely submerged vessel. The other carriers and battleships are tied up at a pier and visitors are allowed to view many parts of the ship. There are also over fifty destroyers, cruisers, amphibious ships, and submarines serving as museum ships. More are on the way, if the cost of maintaining current museum ships does not scare off everyone. The World War II Museum Ships are all up for major refurbishment and the few that have had it have demonstrated that this sort of thing is very expensive. For example, in 2009 the U.S. Navy retired its last non-nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy. The navy offered the ship to any government or non-profit organization that wants to maintain it as a museum ship. The navy never found any organization willing or able to turn the carrier into a museum ship and it was scrapped in 2021. Entering service in 1968, the Kennedy was 321 meters (1052 feet) long and displaces 82,000 tons. It would have been the largest museum ship ever. The big problem was that it could cost several hundred million dollars to transform it into a museum ship and maintain it. The U.S. Navy has long been willing to donate old ships to groups that were willing to maintain the retired vessels as museum ships. But the navy attached some very expensive strings. That is, the navy expects the ship to be kept in decent shape. This is a problem with many old metal ships, as they rust. And eventually they rust so much that the hull is breached and ultimately will collapse. The navy has not yet repossessed any museum ships but a growing number of these ships are deteriorating. Refurbishment is so expensive that some sponsoring groups are considering letting the navy have the ship back. For example, the World War II era Essex class carrier USS Intrepid, in New York City, returned to its display berth in 2009, after a two year refurbishment costing $120 million. The entire hull was examined, in dry dock, for decay and over a hundred square meters (nearly a thousand square feet) of hull had to be replaced. A sister ship of the Intrepid, the Yorktown, requires a similar refurbishment. Since 1975, the Yorktown has been on display in Charleston, South Carolina, with several other museum ships. The Yorktown, which entered service four months before the Intrepid, needs the same kind of work. The navy is insisting on it, with the alternatives being sending the ship to the breakers or a lawsuit. The naval museum in South Carolina is in a bad situation, as $120 million is hard to find, even when the economy (and wealthy donors) are doing well. The big donors are much harder to find these days. Another popular option is to use old ships for target practice. A prominent example of this is how most of the 30 decommissioned Spruance class destroyers were used for target practice. Some old warships are sunk closer to the shore, to provide reefs for fish and scuba divers. Running a SINKEX (sinking exercise) enables the navy to test some theories on how vulnerable, or invulnerable, modern warships are. But environmentalists oppose these two methods as well because it puts toxic materials into the ocean. Going to the breakers is now seen as viable because of more efficient breaking techniques and higher prices for recycled metals. For the moment anyway. Former union minister RCP Singh's relative was allegedly shot at in his village in Bihar's Nalanda district on Sunday. Singh alleged that the attacker belonged to chief minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United). Singh claimed that his relative, Pintu, was shot at in a bid to threaten him to snap ties with the former minister. Former union minister RCP Singh's relative shot at in Bihar's Nalanda.(X/ ANI) "Nitish Kumar doesn't have the guts to fight politically so they are attacking my relatives and telling them that they will ruin me," he said. The incident took place in Dharhara village within the Silao police station area of Nalanda district when the victim was on his way back from the Asthawan Assembly constituency meeting in Mustafapur village, the police said. The police said they received information that Pintu alias Pragati Kumar was shot at Dharhara village in Nalanda district. From the Police station, one team was sent to the hospital and another team of Police is at Dharhara village. Investigation is underway against the identified accused, deputy superintendent of police Pradeep Kumar told news agency ANI. "The one who was shot at is my close relative. He keeps coming to meet me, today also he came to meet me. But after he met me, there was an attempt to kill him. He was shot at and he was told that he should leave my side or else he would be killed. He (victim) is naming a man who belongs to JD(U)," Singh said. BJP state president Samrat Choudhary also released a video of the injured relative of Singh from the hospital. The victim also corroborated Singhs allegation in the video clip, saying that he was warned against associating with RCP Singh and the assailants told him that he was under watch for the past few days. Choudhary said that attack was a testimony to the gundaraj in Nitish Kumars backyard and the CM was busy weaving plans to delay his ouster from the chair. There is nothing called law and order in the state and every day innocent people are faking prey to bullets. This is Nitish Kumars achievement now. The entire state has been witnessing killings and loot every day, but he remains unconcerned to cling on to his chair, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Bengaluru: As Tuesday marks the sixth anniversary of the assassination of activist and journalist Gauri Lankesh, her family and activists, who are unhappy with the slow pace of proceedings, are demanding a special fast-track court to conduct the trial on a day-to-day basis. Six years after the assassination of activist and journalist Gauri Lankesh, her family and activists demands a faster trial. (HT Archive) Despite the charge sheet in the case being filed under the Karnataka Control Of Organized Crimes Act in 2018, the trial remains in its initial stages. Only 83 of over 500 witnesses in the case have deposed before the court so far. The trial began as late as March 2022, and since then, three judges have changed. Kavita Lankesh, the younger sister of Gauri, said that the family is unhappy with the slow pace of the trial and hopes the government will speed up the proceedings. The charge sheet was filed in 2018, but instead of a speedy trial, the proceedings are being dragged on. We hope the government will speed up the trial, she said. An activist and a close associate of Gauri Lankesh requesting anonymity said, that the government should establish a special fast-track court to conduct the trial on a daily basis. This demand is not new; in the past, we have approached the government, citing the delay in the trial. The murder and revelations during the investigation are worrisome, and it is important that the accused are punished at the earliest, he said. Gauri was shot dead outside her Rajarajeshwarinagar home in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017. The special investigation team probing the case found that an unidentified organization had recruited right-wing activists to carry out the murder. The trial is also crucial because the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation unearthed a link between the murders of four rationalists MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, Narendra Dhabolkar, and Lankesh. During the initial days of the investigation, the SIT found a connection between the murders of Lankesh and Professor Kalburgi, who was killed on August 30, 2015. The four bullet slugs and cartridges recovered from Lankeshs house matched with the slugs and cartridges of the Kalburgi murder case. The forensic labs found that both bullets were fired from the same gun. The Maharashtra SIT, which is probing the murder of another rationalist, Govind Pansare, also found that the same gun was used in the Lankesh and Pansare murders. The link between the murders of Lankesh and Narendra Dhabolkar, another Maharashtra-based rationalist murdered on August 20, 2013, emerged during the later stages of the investigation. Meanwhile, the state government has handed over the probe into death threat letters to several writers across the state for over a year now, to the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bengaluru City Police. Over 15 writers and intellectuals from the state have written to G Parameshwara, the state minister of home department, stating that they have been receiving threatening letters for the past year and have sought time to meet him. They also said that they received letters saying that they will meet the fate of the late activists MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh. According to the complaint from the writers over the past year, several liberal writers in Karnataka have been persistently receiving death threats signed by an entity identifying as Sahishnu Hindu. While one individual was apprehended in connection with these threats, the threatening letters have persisted. The order issued by Karnataka state police chief Alok Mohan has directed the Bengaluru City police commissioner to form a special team to probe the matter, with an assistant commissioner of police rank officer as the investigating officer (IO) and directed joint commissioner of police (Crime) to supervise the investigation. A total of seven First Information Report (FIRS) were registered over death threat letters to writers K Veerabhadrappa, BL Venu, Banjagere Jayaprakash, BT Lalitha Nayak, and Vasundhara Bhupati, which have been transferred to the CCB. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Manipur government has filed an FIR against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI), chief minister N Biren Singh said on Monday, accusing the body of trying to instigate more clashes in the northeastern state rocked by ethnic clashes since the first week of May. Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh addresses a press conference on Monday.(PTI) Singh said that the fact-finding committee members of the EGI did not meet representatives from both communities (Meiteis and Kukis) and came to an incorrect conclusion. While addressing a press conference, he said "I give a warning to the members of the Editors Guild, Who constituted them? if you want to do something, then do visit the spot, see the ground reality, meet the representatives of all communities and then publish what you found. Otherwise, meeting some sections only and coming to a conclusion is highly condemnable." The FIR was filed at the Imphal police station on the complaint of a man who claimed to be a social worker. The complainant listed different parts of the report, which he claimed were false and fabricated. On Saturday, the Editors Guild of India released a report of its 'Fact-Finding Mission on Medias Reportage of the Ethnic Violence in Manipur' which claimed that the medias reports on the ethnic violence in Manipur were one-sided and accused the state leadership of being partisan. "There are clear indications that the leadership of the state became partisan during the conflict. It should have avoided taking sides in the ethnic conflict but it failed to do its duty as a democratic government," it had said. Those booked are the President of the Editors Guild Seema Mustafa, and three members - Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor. The three members had visited Manipur last month to study media reportage of the ethnic violence. Meanwhile, the state government has appointed retired decorated Army officer Col (retired) Nectar Sanjenbam, who was in charge of the operation to destroy militant camps in Myanmar eight years ago, as the senior superintendent of police (combat) in Manipur. Over 160 people have been killed and hundreds injured since theclashes broke out after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. (With inputs from agencies) Manipur chief Minister N Biren Singh said that his government has filed a first information report (FIR) against four members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI) over a report that they had published on the ethnic clashes in the state. Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh addressed a press conference on Monday. (PTI Photo) Addressing media persons, CM Singh confirmed that the FIR was filed for allegedly trying to create more clashes in the state. Singh said that the fact-finding committee members of the EGI did not meet representatives from both communities and came to an incorrect conclusion. The FIR was filed at the Imphal police station on the complaint of a social worker. The complainant listed different parts of the report, which he said were false and fabricated, a copy of which HT has seen. The FIR said the EGI report showed a photograph of a burnt building captioning that it was a Kuki house which was burnt on May 5. Also Read: 100 traumatised among 12,694 displaced children in Manipur: Govt data The true fact of the case is that the building is the office of a forest beat officer at Mata Mualtam Village, Churachandpur, the FIR said. The EGI had clarified on Sunday that there was an error in a photo caption in the report released on September 2. We regret the error that crept in at the photo editing stage, EGI said on X (formerly Twitter). The complainant said the report was false, fabricated and sponsored on different accounts. According to EGI, they had set up a three-member committee that visited Manipur from August 7 to 10 after receiving representations that the media was playing a partisan role in the ethnic conflict between the majoritarian Meitei community and Kuki-Chin minority. EGI said they had also received a complaint from the Armys 3rd Corp headquarters on July 12, 2023 citing instances where the Manipur media may be playing a major role in arousing passion. EGI said that while the committees mandate was not to examine the cause of the ethnic clashes, it would be difficult to understand the medias behaviour without getting into the social and political context within which the violence took place. At least 160 have died and over 50,000 were displaced in the clashes that started on May 3 in Churachandpur and quickly spread to other parts of the state. The EGIs report titled -- Report on the fact-finding mission on medias reportage of the ethnic violence in Manipur, said chief minister Singh had circumvented rules and facilitated collective anger of the Meitei community towards the Kukis through seemingly partisan statements and policy decisions. The report said the state leadership had labelled the entire community of Kuki-Zo tribals as foreigners and illegal immigrants without any reliable data or evidence. It also said that the government had declared parts of hills as reserved and protected without following the due procedure as laid down in the Hills Area Committee Act of 1972. All land ownership documents within these areas were cancelled and a drive to evict them started in December 2022,the report said. Tribal groups such as Indigenous Tribal leaders Forum (ITLF), an umbrella groups of tribal bodies, have in recent months accused Singh of targeting Kuki in hill areas by holding the anti-encroachment drive in the hill where the majority of Kukis reside. The complainant in the FIR said that the areas were declared reserve forest or protected before 1990. The committee said in their report that media houses in Manipur wrote one-sided reports and listed different instances when fake news was published by local media to spread disinformation. Terming the internet ban as a mistake, EGI said that such as ban only feeds rumours and blocks the view of the disadvantaged community, as has clearly happened in Manipur. They also said that there were clear indications that the leadership of the state became partisan during the conflict when it should have avoided taking sides. (HT has contacted EGI for a response. The copy will be updated when EGI issues a comment on the development) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) will be held in poll-bound Telangana on September 16-17 in a departure from the usual practice of holding such meetings at the partys national headquarters in New Delhi. CWCs first meeting to be held in poll-bound Telangana on September 16-17. (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has convened a meeting of the committee in Hyderabad on September 16, general secretary KC Venugopal said on Monday. On the next day, the extended panel will meet with state Congress unit presidents, office bearers of the Congress parliamentary party and Congress legislative party leaders. It is possibly the first time when the committee will be meeting outside Delhi, a party leader said, seeking anonymity. Steering committees have met across the country. But after Independence, this is the possibly the first time when the CWC is meeting outside Delhi, said the leader known for in-depth knowledge of party history. Telangana is expected to go to polls by December along with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. The Congress is fighting against both the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the southern state. Holding the first meeting of the recently reconstituted CWC in Telangana definitely has a political sub-context, a committee member said, declining to be named. The working committee, the highest executive body of the Congress, was reconstituted on July 20, with at least 22 new faces in the panel, including party MPs Shashi Tharoor, Gaurav Gogoi and Manish Tewari, and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot. In the latest organizational rejig on Sunday, a number of prominent young leaders have been elevated, erstwhile rebelsincluding those from the now-defunct G23 group of leadershave been given prominence and veterans and loyalists have been rewarded. The new committee has also expanded quota for castes, minorities and women for the first time. The meeting will be followed by a big public rally around Hyderabad on September 17. The rally has been organized to coincide with the liberation day of Hyderabad on September 17, Venugopal said. In the rally, the Congress will also announce five guarantees to the people of the state. Kharge will also flag off the cavalcades of leaders to 119 assembly constituencies of Telangana, Venugopal said. All the leaders will stay overnight in their respective allotted assembly constituencies, he said. On September 18, Congress leaders will start doorstep outreach in their respective segments and make people aware of the partys five guarantees and details of a charge sheet against the incumbent regime. Parliamentarians who are members of the working committee will not participate in this programme because they will have to return to New Delhi for the special session of Parliament. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A burglar after failing to open the lockers of a bank's branch in Mancherial district of Telangana left a message appreciating the security measures and appealed not to search for him, police said on Saturday. The masked burglar gained entry into a government-run rural bank's branch at Nennel Mandal headquarters. The masked burglar gained entry into a government-run rural bank's branch at Nennel Mandal headquarters after breaking the main door's lock on Thursday, they said. He searched the cabins of cashier and clerks but could not find any currency or valuables. He was unsuccessful in opening the lockers. He then took a newspaper and wrote on it in Telugu with a marker pen stating, "I could not get single rupeeso don't catch me. My finger prints will not be there. Good bank," police said. The bank is functioning from a residential house and there were no security guards, they said. After noticing the robbery attempt on Friday, the bank officials lodged a complaint and based on it a case was registered under relevant IPC sections. Efforts were on to nab the burglar and the CCTV footage was being verified, police said adding further probe was on. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Harish Salve, the top lawyer and former solicitor general of India, took wedding vows in London, uniting with his British partner, Trina. The event was graced by numerous high-profile guests, including Nita Ambani, Lalit Modi, Ujjwala Raut, and many others. Harish Salve, top lawyer and former solicitor general of India with wife Trina. This union marked Salve's third marriage. Prior to this, he was married to Meenakshi (his first wife), and later in 2020, he wed Caroline Brossard. His marriage with Meenakshi ended in divorce after a marriage spanning over three decades in June 2020. Several undated images and video of the ceremony emerged on social media, showing the couple surrounded by close friends and family on the special occasion. Some prominent public figures who reportedly attended the ceremony: Nita Ambani, chairperson and founder of the Reliance Foundation Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Lalit Modi, chairman and League Commissioner of the Indian Premier League Ujjwala Raut, Indian model Sunil Mittal, founder and chairperson of Bharti Enterprises LN Mittal, executive chairman of ArcelorMittal SP Lohia, founder and chairman of Indorama Corporation Gopi Hinduja, chairperson of the Hinduja Group The Supreme Court lawyer has been involved in many high-profile cases, one notable example being the defense of Kulbhushan Jadhav. Jadhav had been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage. His list of clients include Tata Group, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, and ITC Group among others. In 2015, Salve was awarded one of Indias highest awards the Padma Bhushan. Salve served as the Solicitor General of India from November 1999 to November 2002, was appointed as the Queen's Counsel for the courts of Wales and England in January. Salve pursued his LLB degree at Nagpur University. His legal career saw him ascend to the position of senior advocate at the Delhi High Court in 1992, followed by his prestigious appointment as the Solicitor General of India. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday hit out at the Congress over its freedom of speech remark on Udhayanidhi Stalin, whose statement calling for the 'eradication' of Sanatana Dharma has triggered a massive political slugfest. While reacting on the DMK leader's remark, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the party respects all religions but political parties have the right to express their views. Our view is clear. Sarva Dharma Samabhava (respect for all religions) is the Congress ideology. But you have to understand every political party has the freedom to tell their views.We are respecting everybodys belief", Venugopal said at a press briefing. The grand old party is DMK's ruling ally in Tamil Nadu. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.(PTI) Reacting to Venugopal's remark, Sarma told news agency PTI,"Today, Congress said that it (Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks on Sanatan Dharma) is his freedom of speech. If I make a comment on eradicating Islam or Christianity, would Congress say that it is my freedom of speech? Congress is working to create anti-Hindu environment in the country. They are the kingpin of the conspiracy against the Hindu and Sanatan". But this was not the first attack by Sarma on the Congress. Earlier in the day, he had taken to social media platform X to target the Congress. Rather than taking action against their alliance partners for anti Hindu statements, Congress is seeking refuge behind the veil of Freedom of Speech. Had the said leader made a comment on eradicating Islam or Christianity or any other religion, would Congress have brushed aside the issue as freedom of speech ? In fact it is now clear that Congress is a key conspirator in the Annihilation of Sanatan Dharma gang, Sarma had posted. ALSO READ: I respect Sanatan Dharm: Mamata on row over Udhayanidhi Stalin's remark Will repeat it again and again The BJP has been unsparing in its attack on the DMK and the INDIA alliance. However, Udhayanidhi has been defiant over his remarks, saying he will repeat it again and again. Day before yesterday I spoke at a function about it (Sanatana Dharma). Whatever I said, I'll repeat the same thing again and again...I included all the religions and not just Hindus...I spoke condemning the caste differences that's all", the Tamil Nadu minister was quoted by ANI as saying. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The INDIA grouping of 28 political parties can provide solutions to many problems faced by the country, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said in his first podcast episode on Monday, adding that the opposition alliance must win the next general elections to ensure the entire country doesnt turn into Manipur and Haryana, which have been riven by ethnic and communal clashes. MKStalin accused the BJP-led Union government of destroying the countrys social justice, secular politics, social harmony, state autonomy and federalism. (ANI) In a sharp attack on the Centre, Stalin alleged the Union government is acting as a vengeful body primed against state governments run by opposition parties. They only want to destroy the sovereignty of the state governments, which are directly responsible for the welfare of the people, he said in his podcast named Speaking for India. The BJP is using religion as a weapon to hide its shortcomings, Stalin said. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief blamed the BJP and its politics for the continuing ethnic violence in Manipur for four months and last months communal clashes in Haryanas Nuh district. The BJP is trying to damage the basic structure of India, and destroy the sense of unity that Indians have cherished and protected for so long, he said, insisting that it was the INDIA bloc that was going to save India. Stalin, who heads the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which is a part of the Opposition bloc, accused the BJP-led Union government of destroying the countrys social justice, secular politics, social harmony, state autonomy and federalism. If we want to prevent the whole of India from becoming Manipur and Haryana, which, unfortunately, fell victim to BJPs communal politics and hate-inciting policies, the INDIA alliance must win, Stalin said In his podcast titled Speaking for India, as he reminded people about the 2002 riots in Gujarat under the BJPs watch. The purpose of this podcast series is that I as someone who is one among you, want to speak for India, he added. The BJP is trying to damage the basic structure of India, and destroy the sense of unity that Indians have cherished and protected for so long, he added, insisting that it was the INDIA bloc that was going to save India. The Narendra Modi model, which came to power after lying about the Gujarat model, is now going to end with no significant model to call their own. It has become a rudderless model, and there are no tall claims about the once-famous Gujarat model either, especially after we listed the achievements of the Dravidian model in Tamil Nadu with statistical proof. The BJP, which formed the Union government in 2014 and again in 2019, has failed to deliver on its election promises such as recovering black money from the foreign countries and doubling farmers income, Stalin said. It is soon going to be 10 years of the BJP governance, and none of those promises have been fulfilled, the chief minister said. Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai hit back at Stalin, saying that it was the chief minister and his son who were promoting religious hatred. Corrupt DMK is responsible for transforming TN into a lawless state, Annamalai said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). While Thiru @mkstalin and his son are busy promoting religious hatred, the state continues to pay the price for electing this corrupt dynast, he said, in a reference to Udhayanidhi Stalins statement on eradicating Sanatan Dharma (a set of duties and way of living as proscribed in the Hindu religion) to establish social justice and equality. On Sunday, Union home minister Amit Shah reacted to Udhayanidhi Stalins statement in Rajasthan. The Opposition alliance has been insulting Sanatana Dharma. Leaders of the DMK and Congress are talking about ending Sanatana Dharma just for vote- bank politics. This is not the first time they have insulted our Sanatana Dharma, Shah said at a rally in poll-bound Rajasthan. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Opposition-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or I.N.D.I.A. bloc is likely to hold is next meeting in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, news agency PTI reported citing sources. There was a broad consensus in the alliance's just-concluded meeting that the next congregation be held in Bhopal along with the first joint public rally of leaders of various Opposition parties. Leaders in the INDIA bloc meeting held in Mumbai(ANI) The modalities and date of the meeting are yet to be finalised, however, it is likely that it can be held as early as October. Delhi was also considered among the venues in the last meeting. So far, the Opposition parties, joined forces to take on the ruling NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, have conducted three meeting in Patna, Bengaluru and Mumbai. During the last meeting, the Opposition bloc tackled the Modi challenge with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi putting forth the need for busting three myths incorruptible, improving Indias global standing and welfare of backward and Dalit groups about the Prime Minister. In the two-day meeting in Mumbai, the Opposition leaders deliberation on key issues that could be taken up before the elections and stressed on the need to get poll-ready quickly. Many parties pushed for urgent election preparations, saying that time was running out. However in the meeting, the issue of appointing a convenor was not raised even after the name of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was doing the rounds. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said this matter could be discussed among the members of coordinating committee when they meet. On the sidelines of the last meeting, as reported by HT earlier, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had an argument with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar over the caste censusa politically sensitive topic. According to leaders present in the meeting, Kumar spoke about the importance of a caste census and insisted that the issue be highlighted by the alliance. But Banerjee disagreed with him and asked why all issues needed to be discussed at this stage. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON , Attica Group India can be invited to the next trilateral-- Israel, Greece and Cyprus summit expected to be held next year, The Times of Israel reported. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece's prime minister and leader of New Democracy party(Bloomberg) In the 9th Trilateral Summit between Israel, Greece and Cyprus, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the country is especially interested in natural gas exports partnership with countries such as India, which may even be invited to the next trilateral summit, expected next year, as per The Times of Israel. In the joint press conference, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu in Nicosia said, "We reaffirmed our strong commitment to the 3 1 format with the United States and agreed on the value of intensifying 3 1 cooperation, with concrete deliverables also with other countries and we talked specifically about India," according to an official statement issued by Cyprus government. At the Summit, the leaders said that they reaffirmed their commitment to continue strengthening the dynamic cooperation of the trilateral partnership platform. The engagement reflects shared values and ever-increasing common interests, aiming to contribute to peace, stability, security and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region. "As underlined on previous occasions, our three countries remain committed to welcoming other like-minded parties in our resolute effort to create and advance synergies, to the benefit of our countries and peoples, as well as of our region," the statement read. "We agreed that the energy sector, and in particular, natural gas, electricity and renewable energy, is a solid foundation for cooperation in the region, based on international law including the law of the sea and the respect of all states to exercise their rights in their respective EEZ/Continental Shelf," it added. In light of the growing need for energy diversification and interconnectivity, due to the geopolitical developments, the leaders reaffirmed the common interest to advance prospects for a reliable energy corridor from the Eastern Mediterranean basin to Europe. In this context, the leaders stressed the importance of further promoting energy synergies with like-minded countries including the EMGF and regional projects such as electrical interconnections, like the EuroAsia Interconnector, and possible natural gas/hydrogen pipelines. "Addressing the global challenge of climate change, we agree to reinforce our efforts through regional cooperative projects, R&D, innovative energy technologies and promoting further regional energy connectivity. Against the backdrop of recent wildfires in Greece and Cyprus, taking note of the recent assistance provided by Israel, we reaffirm our mutual commitment to assist each other in responding to emergencies and further enhance our coordination and joint capabilities for that purpose," the statement read. "We also reaffirmed on the value of the 3 1 format with the United States, which can offer tangible deliverables, inter alia, in the areas of energy, economy, climate action, emergency preparedness and counterterrorism. It was agreed to work together towards holding a ministerial 3 1 meeting later this year," the statement added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has gone crazy after his kidney transplant, a leader of RJD ally Janata Dal (United) said on Sunday, as he opposed the veteran politician's backing for Congress' Rahul Gandhi as the next prime minister. Rahul Gandhi at Lalu Prasad Yadav's house in Delhi No one can become the prime minister just because someone says so, remarked Gopal Mandal of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U). It was Nitish Kumar who united all the opposition parties against the BJP (for 2024 Lok Sabha polls). Lalu ji is the messiah of the poor and our senior leader, but just because he took Rahul Gandhi's name as PM, it does not mean that he (Gandhi) gets to be the PM, Mandal said, according to news agency ANI. The JD(U) leader, however, noted that he is not saying that Gandhi does not have the qualities of a prime minister. Gandhi comes from a family of former PM's, but he cannot be a PM himself just because Lalu ji has backed him. Lalu ji had a kidney transplanthe has gone crazy, Mandal stated. The JD(U), RJD, and the Congress, along with the Left parties, run Bihar as the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance). Each is also among the 28 constituents of the I.N.D.I.A (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) opposition bloc that will take on the Centre's BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in next year's general elections, when Narendra Modi will seek a third straight term as the prime minister. While I.N.D.I.A is yet to announce its PM candidate, parties such as the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), and even the JD(U) have put forward names of their respective leaders (Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar) for the position. Such statements, however, have been made by people who are not part of formal interactions among the parties. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With the deployment of polling officials and security personnel in their respective booths, Maoist-affected Dumri assembly seat is all set for a by-election on Tuesday when nearly three lakh voters will decide the electoral fate of six candidates. The polling in 373 polling stations, of which 200 are Maoist-affected, will begin at 7 am and continue till 5 pm.(PTI File) The polling in 373 polling stations, of which 200 are Maoist-affected, will begin at 7 am and continue till 5 pm. As many as 1,640 polling personnel have been deployed for the exercise, a top official said. "All preparations are completed for conducting the by-election in Dumri on Tuesday. Polling personnel and security forces have been deployed in all booths of the constituency," Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar told PTI. READ | Dumri by election: High octane campaigning ends Over 2.98 lakh voters, including 1.44 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-election. The counting of votes will take place on September 8. Besides central forces, various wings of Jharkhand Police have been deployed to ensure free and peaceful voting, a senior police officer said. Voting will be held in 373 polling stations in 240 buildings falling in three blocks of two districts --- Giridih and Bokaro. Of the 373 booths, around 200 are Maoist-affected and adequate security has been provided in those, Dumri Sub-divisional Magistrate and returning officer for the bypoll, Md Shahzad Parwez said. READ | Dumri bypoll: I did my bit for Mahto, your turn now, says Soren "All the booths will be monitored through webcasting. In case of any health emergency, air ambulance will also be available," Giridih Deputy Commissioner Naman Priyesh Lakra said. In the Dumri bypoll, INDIA bloc candidate Bebi Devi is locked in a direct contest with NDA nominee Yashoda Devi. Dumri has become a prestige seat for both blocs, with ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) asserting that INDIA alliance will begin its victory journey from this seat, while the NDA exuding confidence of snatching the seat from the JMM. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, former education minister, in April. Mahto had been representing the seat since 2004. READ | INDIA, NDA candidates in Dumri file nominations for high-stake by-polls The JMM has fielded Mahto's wife Bebi Devi as the INDIA bloc nominee, while AJSU Party has nominated Yashoda Devi as the NDA candidate. As many as six candidates including three independents are in the fray. The AIMIM has fielded Md Abdul Mobin Rizvi. However, the AIMIM candidate is facing an FIR for alleged 'pro-Pakistan' slogan raised during party chief Asaduddin Owaisi's public rally in Giridih on August 30. In the 2019 assembly elections, Jagarnath Mahto had defeated AJSU Party's Yashoda Devi by a margin of 34,288 votes. AIMIM's Rizvi was in fourth position with 24,132 votes. In the 81-member Jharkhand House, the ruling UPA currently has 47 MLAs -- JMM 29, Congress 17 and RJD one. The BJP has 26 members and AJSU Party three. The NCP and CPI (ML) have one lawmaker each, apart from two Independents. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON On August 15, 2018, 40-year-old Jijo Abraham was across the Indian Ocean in Muscat, but his eyes were glued to visuals from Kerala. Terrified, he watched as the television screen showed the river Pampa cascading dangerously into human settlements; he worried for his parents in their home just on the banks of the enraged river. In many ways, the 2018 flood was a watershed moment in Keralas ecological history. It raised pertinent questions about the state of rivers and streams, dam management, disaster preparedness and quality of weather alerts in the state. (File Photo/PTI) He remembers calling almost incessantly; his fathers breathless voice; the sound of furniture being dragged across the floor as the family desperately shifted furniture and appliances from the ground to the first floor of their two-storey home in Chengannur. In those days, I would call every few hours to check on them. Till about 2am, my father had moved most things to higher ground. By then, floodwater had already begun to seep in. That was my last phone conversation with him, Jijo said. By the time the sun rose, things had turned a deathly grim. Floodwaters engulfed the neighbourhood. Those in single-storey homes were evacuated to relief camps in boats and canoes by local fishermen. Abrahams family were, for the most part, safely ensconced on the first floor, waiting for the rain to subside. But at one point in the morning, Jijos father, CG Abraham stepped out and braved the shoulder-high water to bring his sister-in-law, who lived nearby, home. On the way, he found time to assist locals to carry a generator from a nearby church to higher ground. He returned securely from all this daredevilry, but at 8.30 am, waded out into the water again, to shut the front gate. He didnt return for a while, and I stepped downstairs to look for him, said his wife Soshamma. The water was ice-cold; the current so strong the 63 year old woman could barely stand. Desperate, she persisted, and stumbled through, only to find what she had most feared. Her husband lay prone next to a tree. He was breathing, but barely; it was clear he had slipped and fallen in the water. Within minutes, the shallow sound of air whistling through his nose was gone. He was dead. Jijo was in disbelief, but for the family in Chengannur, there was no time for grief. The waters were still rising, and there was no sign of a rescue mission. So, for two days and two nights, the 63-year-old Soshamma and her sister-in-law, sat with a body tied to a staircase to prevent it from floating away. Jijo flew in on the 18th, and only when he called everyone he could--the local legislator, journalists, and local officials- were they evacuated. They had to wait 12 more days for a cremation. Five years later, Jijos two-storey home, white and brown with a green roof still stands, but carries the markers of the Keralas nootandile pralayam(flood of the century) that claimed 480 lives and affected over five million people, swallowing homes, panchayat offices and large tracts of paddy fields in areas like Chengannur. In one corner of the living room for instance, the plaster continues to peel off despite being painted several times over, showcasing the structural damage to the home. In many ways, the flood was a watershed moment in Keralas ecological history, raised pertinent questions about the state of rivers and streams, dam management, disaster preparedness and quality of weather alerts. Half a decade on, HT spent time in Chengannur speaking to victims and officials to understand if the state is equipped to handle another deluge, or if like the Abraham home, the fresh paint masks untended damage within. What went wrong Between August 1 and August 30, 2018, Kerala received 821 mm of rainfall as against a normal of 419.3 mm, a departure classified by the India Meteorological Department(IMD) as large excess. A report submitted by the state relief commissioner of the state disaster management authority (SDMA) in September 2018 noted that the extreme rainfall came in two batches, from 8-10 August in northern Kerala and 15-17 August in the south. Except, for such a prodigious amount of rainfall (the first twenty days of August broke a 87-year record), there was no warning. 62-year-old Pushpavally Kunjamma who has a home that stands less than 500 metres from the Pampa, said that waterlogging during the monsoons was not unusual. So when it started to rain, she did not think much of it. But that day, the water rose fast. I was at home with my elder daughter and her two children aged three and two. By the evening, the water had entered my kitchen. I knew if we waited, we would drown. We picked up our identity cards, property certificates and just left. There was no warning, and there was no time, she said. The SDRF report red-flagged this lack of warning, noting that IMD had issued a red alert in four districts on August 15, but the eventual rainfall showed that a red alert should have been issued in all 14 districts. A red alert is issued for very heavy rainfall ranging between 115.6 mm and 204.4 mm in a 24-hour period . A second report by the National Institute of Disaster Management into the floods said that the rainfall till the end of July, that was at 857.4 mm, higher than the July average of 726.1 mm, meant that all 35 major reservoirs in the state were close to the full reservoir level (FRL). They had no buffer storage to accommodate the heavy inflows from 8th August onwards. The continued exceptional heavy rainfall in August in catchment areas compelled authorities to resort to heavy releases downstream. This led to overflowing of river banks which in turn led to widespread flooding, the report, released in 2020 said. Overall, the SDMA report outlined, 9,500 kilometres of roads were destroyed, over 10,000 houses fully damaged, 99,000 partly damaged and over 65,000 hectares of land inundated for days. The things that have changed One of the first things the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan-led government announced after the floods was the Rebuild Kerala Initiative (RKI), an expansive policy framework that would prepare the state for future disasters. The core aim, the chief minister said, was to rebuild the state but from the perspective of climate resilience -- from establishing civil defence forces to strengthening wetland monitoring mechanisms to a central command centre for reservoir management. Sekhar L Kuriakose, member secretary of the Kerala SDMA said that several important facets of these have been worked on in the past five years. One of the primary projects under the RKI is that we have published flood susceptibility maps. Whether it is policy or legal interventions, they are now part of risk-informed master planning. A key issue in 2018, that led to bitter criticism by the opposition, was improper dam management that many believe accentuated the crisis. These concerns were given heft by a 2021 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the state assembly that said, Communication infrastructure was non-functional in some areas including dam sites and government offices during or subsequent to the 2018 floods...the responsible authorities failed to issue mandatory alerts or warning when the rain situation deteriorated. Professor R Ramakumar, an expert member of the Kerala State Planning Board, said there are now better protocols in place. We now have warning systems in place to alert locals when shutters are opened to release excess water. Blue, orange and red alerts now exist when sluice gates are opened depending on the urgency. He added that there are time appropriate mechanisms to relocate people to relief camps and safer areas in landslide-prone zones. There are also karma senas or action teams deployed at the panchayat level to respond to disasters. A major area where the government says it has made serious interventions is the clean-up of existing rivers, streams, and canals as well as the reclamation of river systems that disappeared in recent decades. In Chengannur, for instance, before 2018, the Illimala-Moozhikkal stream, once an important rivulet of the river Pampa that coursed through four panchayats, was clogged with sediment and solid waste. A natural drainage system, its health is key to releasing the pressure on Pampa, particularly during floods. Between April 2021 and March 2022, the 12 kilometre stream was finally desilted and cleaned, officials said. At 3pm on August 3, at the border between the Puliyoor and Pandanad panchayats, 64-year-old Sunny pointed at the banks. For the first time in several decades, he said, the pace of the water is high, the sides cleaned and strengthened on both sides using boulders. In 2018, one of the reasons why floodwaters rose rapidly is because streams like these were jammed. There was no way for the water to flow out, he said. The things that havent But 8 kilometres away from Puliyoor, under the Cheloorkadavu bridge in Edanadu, there is evidence of continued infringement, and that not everything has been accomplished yet. In the year 2013, a project to revive the river Varattar, a system that was once believed to be the original course of the Pampa but has since disappeared, was launched. There was a full-fledged campaign that included local stakeholder participation-- panchayats, legislators and ministers-- under the name Varatte Aaru. But the floods in 2018 undid a lot of that work, with large scale deposits of silt and mud. Barely any work since then have meant that the river has dried up again; the river-bed is over-run by weeds and invasive plants. 2022 saw the second phase of the rejuvenation project launched, but on the ground, there has been little progress over the last six months. On one side of the Cheloorkadavu bridge, there is barely any depth, men are able to cross without wetting the knees. On the other side, the river is visibly narrow, hemmed in by banks with wild plant growth. PR Pradeep Kumar, a Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and former councillor admitted that this was once a big river. It used to be called the Adi Pampa as it was the earlier form of Pampa. It was a big river, but has now shrunk considerably to resemble a stream. Work has now started to clear the encroachments on both sides so that it can absorb the excess water from Pampa. It is an important instrument of flood control. In May 2019, the Left Democratic Front (LDF)-led government also announced a room for river project, borrowing the idea from the Netherlands, a country to which chief minister Vijayan paid a visit in the same month. The Dutch had conceptualised the project in 2007 to manage the water level in the Rhine, Meuse, Waal and Ijssel rivers, with the regions around them, Gelderland and South Holland, below sea level and therefore leaving cities like Rotterdam and Dordrecht prone to flooding. The idea was to create more space for the river to flow during times of high discharge by lowering the levels of the flood plans, relocating levees and creating flood bypasses. After his return from Netherlands, chief ,minister Vijayan said that the model could be replicated in Kuttanad, a region in central Kerala that grows paddy below sea level. In June 2020, IIT Madras was entrusted to conduct hydrodynamics studies before a pilot project was kick-started in the Pampa. Three years on, only an interim report from IIT has been submitted to the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) and a final draft is expected soon, officials said. CR Neelakandan, a prominent environmental activist and writer said that the only achievement that the Kerala government could boast of, was dam management. We can say that the way excess water is released from them is better. That is the only positive from my perspective. Neelakandan said that there had been little control on illegal quarrying, and that illegal pattayams or land deeds were being legalised and distributed in hill districts such as Idukki and Wayanad. Encroachment of rivers has also increased, and while they are being cleaned, there is no scientific process followed. This has led to uneven sand banks on river beds. Back in Chengannur, at home in the last few days of his vacation, Jijo Abraham breathes a little easier, his mind at rest because of the improved dam management. I dont fear another flood because if water was released at regular intervals, the river wouldnt have flooded like that. My family has lived here for generations, and that flood was once in a lifetime. His mother isnt as sanguine. She lives in fear, and in memory. She is afraid because of what happened to my father. She lived that experience, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vishnu Varma Vishnu Varma is Assistant Editor and reports from Kerala for the Hindustan Times. He has 10 years of experience writing for print and digital platforms and has worked at The New York Times, NDTV and The Indian Express in the past. He specialises in longform reportage at the intersections of politics, crime, social commentary and environment. ...view detail A lot of time is consumed to conduct elections in the country every year which could be invested mindfully in development of the nation, Union minister Anurag Thakur on Monday said on the Centre's prospect of conducting simultaneous elections in the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipal bodies and panchayats under the one nation, one election drive. Pointing out the benefits of such move, Thakur said thousands of crores of rupees of contending parties from both sides spent on elections every year which could possibly be evaded. Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur(ANI) "In elections, a lot of time is consumed every year. If that time is invested mindfully in the development of the nation, then the country will get the benefit. The government and the candidates spend thousands of crores on conducting elections. If it happens at the same time, then a lot of money could be saved. All in all, it is for the benefit of the nation. If the opposition has a better solution, they can give it," the Union minister told reporters. Earlier, Centre announced an eight-member committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to deliberate on the possibilities of implementing the one nation, one election drive. The Kovind panel will explore the feasibility and the mechanism of going back to having Lok Sabha and state assembly polls simultaneously. These polls were held together until 1967. A political slugfest erupted after the announcement between the Opposition and the central government. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi earlier hit out at the Centre's the move calling it an attack on the Indian union and all its states. INDIA, that is Bharat, is a Union of States. The idea of one nation, one election is an attack on the Union and all its States, Gandhi posted on X, formerly called Twitter. Apart from Kovind, the panel named Union home minister Amit Shah, Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former leader of opposition Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chairman of 15th Finance Commission NK Singh, former Lok Sabha general secretary Subash Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve and former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari. Arjun Ram Meghwal, MoS law, will attend the meetings of the high-level committee as a special invitee. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said India is about Unity in Diversity, referring to the remark made by Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatana Dharma' that has sparked a massive controversy. Every religion has separate sentiments. India is about 'Unity in Diversity' which is our origin. We should not be involved in any matter which might hurt a section of people, the Bengal chief minister told PTI. I respect Sanatan Dharm. We know Rig Veda, Atharva Veda originated from it. A lot of priests get pension by my government. They carry out religious ceremonies, she added. Instead of saying condemn, my humble request to everybody that we should not comment anything which may hurt the major or small section of people, Mamata Banerjee added. The Trinamool Congress chief's remark comes after her party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh condemned the remark made by Tamil Nadu chief minister's son. His comment is most unfortunate. This is not related with INDIA alliance. We (TMC) strongly condemn it. He should change his comment, he told news agency PTI. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. (ANI) Udhayanidhi's remark calling for the eradication of Sanatana Dharma has triggered a massive political slugfest, with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the newly formed opposition alliance INDIA of insulting Hinduism. A few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or corona. We have to eradicate this, that's how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated", Udhayanidhi Stalin had said. With the BJP escalating attack on INDIA, Congress said it respects all religions but the political parties have the freedom to express their views. INDIA leaders must tender apology Union minister Anurag Thakur on Monday demanded apology by members of INDIA alliance. Leaders of the INDIA alliance should tender a public apology to the nation as well as the Hindu community. The Congress and its allies are in a desperate race to malign and demean the Hindus, either by calling them extremists or by their verbal barbs or physical attacks, especially in West Bengal, Bihar and other places, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON On Monday, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde will hold a meeting of the state's Cabinet sub-committee on Maratha Reservation to discuss the community's demands after its quota protests in the Jalna district took a violent turn following a police lathi-charge. Sakal Maratha Samaj members stage a 'Rasta Roko' protest on Pune-Solapur Highway against Jalna administration over alleged lathicharge on protestors.(PTI) Also, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis called up Manoj Jarange Patil, who is the leading the ongoing agitation, to discuss the Maratha community's demands. Earlier, Fadnavis assured Patil over a call that those responsible for the incident in Jalna would be brought to justice. Meanwhile, the Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) is observing a day-long bandh in various parts of the state to condemn the lathi-charging of protesters in Jalna during their demand for the Maratha quota. The protesters also blocked a road in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad) expressing their anger over the police action. Patil said he conveyed the demands to a government delegation led by minister Girish Mahajan who came to meet the agitated protesters. "The government had called us to Mumbai for talks but we do not feel that there is any need to come to Mumbai now because a govt delegation led by Minister Girish Mahajan met us and discussed with us. Whatever we had to say, we have told them. We have made it clear to them that the government will have to announce the Maratha reservation in Maharashtra within 2 days, and will also have to implement it," he told ANI. Earlier on Saturday, Shinde said that the state government was committed to providing reservations to the Maratha community. Speaking on the incident, he said, "In November 2014, when the coalition government was in power under the leadership of then CM Devendra Fadnavis, the government announced the Maratha reservation. The high court also upheld the Maratha Reservation decision taken by the government. But the supreme court took a different decision." "Everyone knows that this is due to someone's negligence. The issue of the Maratha Reservation is currently in the court. The state government is fully prepared to fight this case in court. There are some difficulties, and the state government is trying to resolve them," he added. Shinde also appealed to the people to be careful of those who wanted to take political mileage from the situation. On Sunday, the chief minister announced that Jalna's superintendent of police, Tushar Doshi, is being sent on compulsory leave, and two deputy SP-rank officers have been transferred out of the district. On Friday, a clash had broken out between police and protesters in Jalna after police lathi-charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the violent mob after the protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift to hospital a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota. Several people including 40 police personnel, were injured and over 15 state transport buses were set on fire in the violence. (With inputs from agencies) The Muslim side on Monday filed an objection against the Archaeological Survey of Indias application in the Varanasi district court seeking more time to complete the ongoing scientific survey of Gyanvapi mosque complex and submit its report. The court posted the matter for hearing on September 8 (PTI) In its objection, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC), which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, alleged that the ASI was carrying out digging activities in the basement of the mosque complex, which was in violation of the directions of the Allahabad high court and Supreme Court. We filed an objection in the Varanasi district court against the application moved by ASI seeking additional eight weeks to submit the survey report, Mumtaz Ahmad, counsel for the mosque committee, said. The district judge, AK Vishvesh, posted the matter for hearing on September 8. The ASIs plea, which was filed before Varanasi district court on September 2, was placed before the district judge on Monday. Both the ASI plea and the Muslim sides objection will be heard on the same day, September 8. The ASI which was granted four weeks time on August 5 (to submit the survey report) has filed an application yet again to delay the survey proceedings, Ahmad said. We urged the court to reject the ASIs application. In its objection, the mosque committee also claimed that a lot of soil was taken out from the basement of the Gyanvapi complex and collected on the open ground west of the mosque. The removal of debris or soil present inside barricading near the western wall poses a threat to the Gyanvapi Masjid building, the AIMC said in its objection. Digging in the mosque premises and removing soil from the basement of Gyanvapi complex are contrary to the affidavit given as an undertaking by ASI in the Allahabad high court, Akhlaque Ahmad, another AIMC counsel, said. Standing counsel for the Union government, Amit Kumar Srivastava, who had filed the application on behalf of ASI on September 2 seeking additional time to submit its survey report, rejected the Muslim sides allegation of taking up digging activities. The ASI is conducting survey following the order of the court. It has not carried out any sort of digging in any part of the Gyanvapi mosque premises, Srivastava told HT. Since August 4, the central agency has been carrying the survey in barricaded portions of the Gyanvapi complex, excluding the sealed section, in consonance with the courts order. The survey was ordered to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The opening day of the naval commanders conference saw the navy showcase some of its ongoing and planned indigenous projects based on niche technologies in areas including combat platform integration, underwater domain awareness, cyber security, tactical communications and combat management systems; even as a few newly designed uniform items that are set to be introduced were also displayed on the sidelines of the biannual event on Monday. Indian Navy personnel (PTI) The commanders conference agenda includes an operational review, assessing the readiness of the maritime force, deliberating on issues related to tri-services synergy, matters related to logistics, training and administration, indigenisation, and identifying and removing archaic practices. Also read: Navy brass to discuss indigenisation, tri-services synergy The newly designed uniform items being introduced in service for enhanced comfort, hygiene and functionality include jackets, high absorption T-shirts, high ankle shoes, camouflage caps and a national civil dress for messes and functions, the navy said in a statement. Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar is chairing the three-day conference. As an instrument of the nations maritime power, we must accomplish every mission and each task that comes our way. We must be ready for the heavy lifting in the Indian Ocean Region and beyond, in pursuance of the vision SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region) ...We are working closely with the CDS and the other two services to progress jointness and integration to meet challenges of the future, Kumar said in his opening remarks. The inaugural session of the conference saw minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt interact with the navys top leadership and release the Maritime Infrastructure Perspective Plan 2023-37. The plan puts together the navys infrastructure requirements during the next 15 years and is aligned with the governments vision on the creation of sustainable infrastructure, the statement said. Bhatt commended the navy for its efforts towards indigenisation and innovation with the goal of becoming an Aatmanirbhar Force by 2047. Since beginning, the Indian Navy has been the torchbearer of the governments Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative, and it has earmarked more than 70% of its modernisation budget in the current financial year for indigenous procurement...The launch of Vindhyagiri by the President of India last month, and the launch of Mahendragiri by the Vice President this month, underscore the strength of indigenous warship building enterprise, Bhatt said. Also read: Police launch search operation for Navy personnel who went missing from Colaba A warships launch marks a significant milestone in its construction and refers to the vessel entering the water for the first time. Vindhyagiri and Mahendragiri are among the seven stealth frigates being built in the country under Project 17A. The minister also released the navys electronic service document project that will transform human resource record keeping and management of naval personnel into an efficient, digital, centralised and transparent process in line with the Digital India vision, the statement said. The ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre of not taking the southern states into consideration in the ongoing exercise on one-nation-one-poll proposal. T Harish Rao (ANI) Senior BRS leader and state finance minister T Harish Rao alleged that the Centre had always discriminated against the southern states in taking key decisions. There is not a single leader from South India in the eight-member committee constituted by the Centre under the leadership of former President of India Ram Nath Kovind, he said while speaking to reporters at Palakurthy in Jangaon district on Monday. Stating that the BJP national leadership doesnt want to take the southern states into confidence in such crucial matters, Rao said it (BJP) had sought to enact a big drama in the name of simultaneous polls all over the country, as it had failed to mark its presence in the South India. Forget coming to power, the BJP cannot win even a single digit in the upcoming Telangana elections. Whether the Centre holds simultaneous elections or does jumbling, the BRS is certain to come to power in Telangana for a third successive term, the minister said. Another senior BRS leader and former MP B Vinod Kumar also found fault with the Centre for taking out the proposal of the simultaneous polls without giving scope for any scientific discussions. Maybe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thought he would spring yet another surprise on the people, just like he had done in the case of demonetisation. The decision caught even his own partymen by surprise, Kumar said. The leader also criticised the Centre for not giving representation to any of the southern states in the committee constituted to look into the possibility of conducting simultaneous elections across the country. He said the NDA government was creating uncertainty in the country by hastily pushing through its agenda. In 2018, the BRS had conveyed its support for the one-nation-one-poll proposal through a letter to the Law Commission of India. But we insisted that there should be a thorough discussion. But after failing to hold any such discussions all these years, the Centre is now hastily reviving the proposal, he said. He said the formation of the committee might be a mere formality, and a report on simultaneous elections might have already been prepared without consulting the stakeholders. There is no surprise if the Centre gets the bill on simultaneous polls passed in Parliament, because its has majority and ratified by the states, as more than 50% of the states are ruled by the BJP, he said. The erstwhile combined state of Andhra Pradesh had witnessed the conduct of the assembly elections coterminus with the general elections to Lok Sabha since 1999. After the bifurcation of the state in 2014, too, there were simultaneous elections to the Telugu states along with the Lok Sabha. But with the BRS (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) government headed by chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, dissolving the assembly in September 2018, the Telangana state went for early polls to its assembly in December 2018, nearly five months ahead of the schedule. Now, Telangana is scheduled to go for assembly elections in December 2023 again. But if the Centre really pushes through the one-nation-one-poll proposal, the Election Commission might either postpone the Telangana elections by a few months or advance the general elections by a few months, Vinod Kumar added. Telangana BJP official spokesperson N V Subhash said the one-nation-one-poll had been there on the BJP election manifesto for the last five years and the exercise of seeking the opinion of various parties began way back in 2017. Now, all the parties have the opportunity to discuss and debate the issue in the five-day special session of the Parliament, he said. On the lack of representation to South India in the committee, Subhash said, For that matter, even the northeast doesnt have representation in the committee. That doesnt mean the Centre neglected it. One should not look at it from a regional angle. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience. ...view detail Twelve students from Bahrain are set to participate in this years edition of Huaweis Seeds for the Future programme for university students across the Middle East and Central Asia. The participating students are from the University of Technology Bahrain, Bahrain Polytechnic, the University of Bahrain and Ahlia University. Huawei kicked off the first phase of the 2023 Seeds for the Future Programme at an official opening ceremony at the Qatar National Convention Centre, Doha, Qatar. Bringing together 175 students from the Middle East and Central Asia (ME & CA) for the first time ever in Qatar, the regional event aims to develop local talent, share knowledge, increase ICT sector awareness, and foster a digital community for young ICT talents. Elite universities The 2023 edition of the competition will witness the participation of students from elite universities representing 15 countries in the region, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Oman, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, and Kyrgyzstan. Shunli Wang, Vice President of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, said: Huawei is committed to nurturing an open, shared ICT talent ecosystem across the Middle East and Central Asia, including Bahrain. The Seeds for the Future programme is our flagship global CSR programme that aims to inspire talent to shape the future of their respective countries. We are honoured for the unwavering support and endorsement the programme continues to receive in its sixth year now. We extend our best wishes to the 2023 regional participants and look forward to an exciting edition. Dr Jassim Haji, President of Bahrain-based AI International organisation, commented: Young ICT talents will help usher in a new era of technological development and innovation in Bahrain. They are an integral element of Bahrains digital future and through global initiatives like Huawei Seeds for the Future, they gain an opportunity to develop skills with the latest technologies like AI, 5G, cloud, and more. Digital transformation Jawad Abbassi, Head of GSMA, Mena, said: Advanced technologies like AI, 5G, and cloud are revolutionising how we live, learn, and work. Digital transformation across the Mena is accelerating at an unparalleled pace, and its crucial that we narrow the ICT talent gap and arm students with 21st-century skills. Enabling students to upskill their tech knowledge while gaining crucial soft skills is of paramount importance. Huawei's Seeds for the Future programme is the company's flagship CSR programme that aims to develop ICT talents globally. With an ever-increasing emphasis on innovation and technological advancements, this competition offers a unique platform where these young minds can exchange ideas, network with international peers, and gain valuable insights into the ICT sector that will shape their future and promote their participation in the digital community. Since its launch in 2008, more than 15,000 students have participated from 139 countries. The programme has been endorsed by more than 450 senior officials and heads of states. Tech4Good regional competition The Tech4Good regional competition, now in its third year, will also be held during the Seeds for the Future programme to empower and engage the youth in driving positive change within their communities. This year, the Seeds for the Future programme will host intensive training sessions and workshops, including cutting-edge ICT technologies, scientific and technological leadership, discussions on global topics and Tech4Good group projects, etc. Through learning and mutual exchange, participants will gain a better understanding of 5G, AI, and cloud technologies, build more strengths for future growth, and improve their competitiveness in the job market. Participating students will present their Tech4Good projects to the judges, and eight outstanding teams of 40 students will be selected to move on to the second phase of the Tech4Good programme, which will be held in Dubai, UAE, from September 10 to 16, 2023. The winners will then qualify to compete in the final global competition in China against other teams from around the world. The students will jointly explore ICT's huge potential to drive sustainable development. Winners from the Tech4Good Global Competition will be invited to the Tech4Good Startup Sprint in China, where they will visit Shenzhen, Beijing, and other cities to experience real-world entrepreneurial environments and compete for a startup support fund of $100,000.-- TradeArabia News Service In two strategy meetings of the Opposition on Tuesday, political parties will plan their agenda for the special session of Parliament on September 18-22 and prepare for any surprise move by the government, which has not yet revealed its plan, according to people aware of the matter. INDIA bloc to hold two key meeting to plan their agenda for special session of Parliament. (HT Archive) The Congresss parliamentary strategy group will meet at 5pm, followed by a meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc leaders at 7.30pm, Congress leader Manickam Tagore said. Also read: INDIA bloc's next meeting likely in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh: Report The agenda for the four-day special session will be declared only after the G20 summit on September 9-10, government functionaries have indicated. This has forced opposition parties to prepare for the governments surprise moves, including a possible draft legislation on major issues such as the sub-categorisation of other backward classes (OBCs) and the Womens Reservation Bill. The session also comes days after the government made a renewed push for simultaneous elections in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, and named a panel under former president Ram Nath Kovind to delve deeper into what is calls a one nation, one election plan. While many opposition parties including the Congress, which piloted the Womens Reservation Bill in March 2010 in the Rajya Sabha, and the Trinamool Congress party, a vocal supporter of the draft law, have little option but to support it, OBC sub-categorisation might turn out to be a more complex issue for the INDIA bloc. A Congress strategist said they will have to study any bill on OBC reservation, while Trinamool Congress leader Derek OBrien said his party will take a call on it in due course. The G Rohini Commission, established in 2017, was entrusted to identify OBCs and put them in different subcategories. The panel was also tasked to review the disparities in benefits to the different castes and communities within the OBCs. The committees report was submitted to President Droupadi Murmu on July 31. HT reported on Saturday that the commissions recommendations may be a major departure from the traditional way in which the reservation policy is handled in India. This comes at a time when several Opposition parties have been demanding a caste census. The ruling coalition in Bihar, which comprises the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and Left parties, has gone a step further and passed a resolution in the assembly to start such a survey. The Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar has supported the resolution. A section of the opposition leaders said the INDIA bloc might demand a caste census, or put pressure on the government to make the Socio-Economic Caste Census data public, which has been withheld by the government. But it would not be possible to oppose a bill on sub-categorisation of OBCs, an Opposition leader said, asking not to be named. We will, of course, demand that the bill be referred to standing committee for review, if it comes. The Congress had proposed a sub-quota for most backward castes in the 27% OBC reservation in the run-up to the 2012 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. It is yet to take a call on the overall restructuring of the OBC quota. Also read: PM Modi hasn't taken single leave since assuming office in 2014: RTI reply The meetings on Tuesday have also been called to evolve a common strategy over issues such as the latest adverse revelations on the Adani Group and topics discussed during the past three meetings of the INDIA bloc, a Congress leader said. Apart from the Adani issue, we have identified unemployment, price rise, India-China border situation and federal structure are key issues for this session. Manipur, too, remains an important issue for us, the Congress strategist said, seeking anonymity. Trinamool Congress, the largest opposition outfit after the Congress in Parliament, was in broad agreement. All these are important issues. The Trinamool Congress will attend the floor leaders meeting with an open mind to work together with other INDIA parties, said OBrien. The Congresss parliamentary strategy group led by Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi will meet to discuss the partys internal strategy on the possible issues. Our strategy will be in sync with the larger opposition plans, a second Congress leader said, wishing to remain unnamed. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Saubhadra Chatterji Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies. ...view detail Petitioning the Supreme Court is neither illegal nor anti-national, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday, welcoming the UT administration's move to revoke the suspension of a lecturer who supports the restoration of Article 370 in the former state. Zahoor Ahmad Bhat refused to comment on the revocation of his suspension (HT) I think it is a good thing. His suspension was, I think, a violation of his fundamental right to seek justice from the Supreme Court. All he was doing was petitioning against what happened on the 5th of August. Petitioning the Supreme Court can neither be seen as something illegal nor anti-national. The fact that his suspension was raised by Kapil Sibal ji, and yesterday that was overturned, I think it is a good nothing, Abdullah told PTI. Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, a political science lecturer at Srinagar's Government Higher Secondary Higher School, was suspended by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on August 25, two days after he made a Supreme Court appearance in favour of Article 370. His suspension was lifted on September 2, days after the apex court raised questions over the action taken against him, and directed Centre's top law officers to speak to Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha in this regard. On August 2, a five-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, began hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the Narendra Modi government's August 5, 2019, move to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution of India; the article granted a semi-autonomous status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and by withdrawing it, the government integrated J&K with the rest of the country. Also, as part of the abrogation, Jammu and Kashmir got spilt into the Union territories of J&K, and Ladakh. To maintain law and order in the wake of its decision, the government took several measures, including putting top politicians from the Valley under house arrest. As many as three former chief ministers were among those put under house arrest Farooq and Omar Abdullah of the National Conference (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not taken a single leave since he assumed office in 2014, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a response to a Right to Information (RTI) query. In the question, the person who filed the RTI asked about the number of days PM Modi has attended office since 2014 and number of days he attended various events and functions till date. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi(REUTERS) To the first question, the PMO said, The Prime Minister is on duty all the time. No leave has been availed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since taking office." To second question, it gave a website link where it mentioned PM Modi attended over 3,000 events since 2014 including India and abroad. The RTI response was shared by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with a caption #MyPmMyPride. In 2015, a similar RTI response mentioned that PM Modi had taken no leave from work during the first tenure in his office. In 2019, Union minister Amit Shah went a step ahead and claimed that PM Modi had not taken any leave in 20 years since holding a public office. In a recent meeting with Indian community in Bangkok, Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar said, I feel its been an enormous good fortune of the country to have someone like PM Modi at this time. And I am not saying this because he is the prime minister of the day and I am a member of his cabinet." SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail Election strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Monday backed the Centre's One Nation, One Election move, saying if" done with right intentions along with a transition phase of 4-5 years, then it is in interest of the country". In a video shared by ANI, Kishor recalled how simultaneous elections were held in the country for 18 years since Independence until 1967. He also cited reasons what could work in favour of holding Lok Sabha and state assembly elections at the same time. In a country as large as India, around 25% of the country votes every year. So, the people running the Govt remain busy in this circle of election. If this is limited to 1-2 times, it will be better. This will cut down expenses and people will have to take a decision only once, Kishor, who launched his own organisation Jan Suraj last year. If you attempt an overnight transition, there will be issues. The Govt is perhaps bringing a Bill. Let it come. If the Govt has good intentions, then it should happen and it will be good for the country...But it depends on the intentions with which the Govt is bringing it, Kishor, who worked as election strategist for BJP, JDU-RJD Mahagathbandhan, YSRCP in 2019 to name a few, said. Political strategist-activist Prashant Kishor (PTI File)(HT_PRINT) Kishor's support for the One Nation, One Election move comes at a time when several opposition parties including the Congress are opposing the government's idea of holding simultaneous elections. ALSO READ: Lot could be saved: Anurag Thakur on benefits of imposing one nation, one poll Attack on Indian Union and all states Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, hit out at the One Nation, One Election move, calling it an attack on the Indian union and all its states. His Congress colleague and party's leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury refused to join the panel set up by the law ministry under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind. "I have no hesitation whatsoever in declining to serve on the committee whose terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions. It is, I am afraid, a total eyewash," Adhir Ranjan wrote. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail Congress Parliamentary Party (CCP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of the party's Parliamentary strategy group at 5pm on Tuesday to discuss the plan for the Parliament's special session from September 18-22 Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi (ANI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has also called a meeting of MPs of the newly formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or INDIA to discuss the joint strategy for the session. The Union government has called a session of both Houses of Parliament from September 18 to 22 without Question Hour or private members' business, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha secretariats have said. The session will have five sittings and members will be informed about the provisional calendar separately. "Kharge ji also called a meeting of MPs of like-minded opposition parties," he told reporters adding that the agenda for the upcoming session would be discussed in the meeting," KC Venugopal had informed. The Opposition bloc is working in cohesion with each other and is planning to take on the BJP unitedly on various fronts as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, the Centre has constituted an eight-member committee with former president Ram Nath Kovind as its head to examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in India, a day after it announced a special session of the Parliament. However, the Centre remained tight-lipped on the issues to be taken up during the special session. Opposition leaders slammed the Narendra Modi-led government for announcing a special session without holding prior consultations with them or informing the Business Advisory Committee. A person seeking to assert constitutional rights must be unequivocal about his allegiance to the Constitution and sovereignty of the people of India, the Supreme Court emphasised on Monday, demanding a categorical affidavit from National Conference parliamentarian Akbar Lone pledging allegiance to the countrys sovereignty after the court received complaints that Lone in 2018 raised Pakistan zindabad slogans in the Jammu & Kashmir assembly. The court directed Akbar Lone to file his affidavit by Tuesday when the court will hear the case for the sixteenth consecutive day (ANI) Lone is one of the chief petitioners before the constitution bench, which is hearing a clutch of petitions against the 2019 abrogation of Article 370 that granted J&K special status and restructured the state into two Union territories. Also read: Akbar Lone to file affidavit in SC pledging allegiance to Constitution: Omar Abdullah Do we take it that Mr Lone unconditionally accepts the sovereignty of India and that J&K is an integral part of India? When he invokes the jurisdiction of our court under Article 32 of the Constitution, he, therefore, has to necessarily abide and owe allegiance to the Indian Constitution, the five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, told senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who represents the NC leader. The bench, which included justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, Bhushan R Gavai and Surya Kant, said it wants Lone to file his personal affidavit within 24 hours in deference to the Constitution and integrity of the nation. We want to have it from him that he unconditionally accepts that J&K is an integral part of India and that he abides by and owes allegiance to the Constitution...Here, in this court, you argue that J&K is an integral part of India. But if your client says something outside which is in contradiction...then probably, he is also accepting that there was a problem that needed to be dealt with, the bench said. The complaint against Lone was made by Roots in Kashmir, an organisation of Kashmiri Pandit youth that filed an application on Saturday, contending that Lone is a known protagonist for secessionist forces in J&K that support Pakistan and that in February 2018, he had raised pro-Pakistan slogans on the floor of the assembly. During the proceedings on Monday, solicitor general Tushar Mehta stood up to oppose Lones intervention in the case, arguing that somebody who does not owe his allegiance to India does not deserve an audience from the Supreme Court. He should file an affidavit saying he owes allegiance to the Union of India and the Indian Constitution. He should state that he is against the secessionist forces. He must say he is opposed to terrorism by Pakistan in J&K or anywhere else. Efforts of the nation to bring stability to the region, which has been substantially successful so far, may get affected if something like this is allowed. Such things coming from an MP have their own seriousness, Mehta added. Attorney general R Venkataramani supported Mehta. Responding, the bench said it will enquire from Sibal, Lones lawyer, about what he has to say on this after the Union government and those supporting the 2019 abrogation complete their submissions. When Sibal appeared before the bench to argue the matter in rejoinder, he began by saying that nobody on the petitioners side challenged the sovereignty of India and that he would rather want to focus on the legal arguments. I am not standing for him or what he said, if he said it. If he has said it, in what circumstances, is it recorded, you ask him for an affidavit...He is a member of parliament today. He has sworn to the Constitution of India. He is a citizen of India. How can he say otherwise? And if anyone has said it, at my level, I deprecate it, Sibal said. The bench, however, said it wants Lone to submit a specific affidavit. Thats a submission Mr Sibal. But we want to have it from him that he unconditionally accepts that J&K is an integral part of India and that he abides by and owes allegiance to the Constitution of India, said the bench. Sibal said he would rather focus on pure constitutional issues involved in the matter, since the incident being mentioned may have different versions. There was a speaker of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) who was present there when this allegedly happened. There are some people who asked him to say something he didnt say. And now, its not part of record, its withdrawn, its deleted. He was asked to say something which people ask other people to say on the streets of this country. Why do we need to go into this? asked Sibal. Unmoved, the bench retorted: We proceed on the basis that he is willing to file an affidavit before our court that he owes allegiance like any other citizen of India and that J&K is an integral part of India... We have heard people from across the political spectrum in J&K. But all of them have come in one spirit, which is that they abide by the integrity of India. Also read: SC to hear US nationals plea on bribery charges It directed Lone to file his affidavit by Tuesday when the court will hear the case for the sixteenth consecutive day. The constitution bench is expected to conclude the hearing on Tuesday and reserve its verdict in the matter. On the fifteenth day of the hearing, those supporting the August 2019 abrogation wrapped up their arguments. Senior counsel V Giri, Mahesh Jethmalani and additional solicitor general KM Nataraj and Vikramjit Banerjee argued that abrogation of Article 370 was necessary for complete integration of J&K into the Union. Giri at one point said that continuance of Article 370 was in derogation of the basic structure of the Constitution, but the bench was unimpressed. This might be a little too far-fetched because then that would be to postulate that original Article 370 was violative of basic structure. You cant invite us to hold in your favour on an unstatutable proposition, it said. The bench is seized of a raft of petitions, filed by parliamentarians from the National Conference party, Kashmiri citizens, former bureaucrats and various organisations that have laid the challenge to the abrogation of Article 370 soon after the presidential order in August 2019. On July 3, the Supreme Court notified the setting up of a new constitution bench, comprising its five most senior judges, that began day-to-day hearing from August 2. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Utkarsh Anand Utkarsh Anand is Legal Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on law, judiciary and governance. ...view detail NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed an order of the Madras high court directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe alleged financial irregularities at Pondicherry University following a petition by the varsity. The Supreme Court bench said it will next take up the Pondicherry University petition in October (HT File Photo) A bench of justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra stayed the high court order of July 24 that came to be reiterated on August 9 when the universitys review application was dismissed. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra appearing for the university along with advocate Uday Gupta told the court that the high court order was first passed without hearing the university and argued that the high court wrongly assumed that the universitys executive council was sitting on the complaint for more than four months. In its August 9 order, the high court said the university was an interloper seeking to torpedo the investigation and refused to alter its earlier decision. The top court has issued notice to Anand, the petitioner before the high court and the CBI. It will next take up the case in October. The matter relates to allegations of misappropriation levelled against a retired university professor from 2008 to 2016 when he was the head of the human resources development centre of the university. The high court order came on a complaint by Anand in January 2022, alleging misappropriation of funds to the tune of 2.25 crore. It was also alleged that the vice chancellor was protecting professor Hariharan who retired in 2019. The high court noted that the request to grant sanction to investigate Hariharan under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was pending with the university since June 2022. Since the authority is required to take a decision in four months, the high court concluded that since this period was long over and there was no order, the competent authority would be deemed to have been granted and told the CBI to proceed with the probe. The university said that the allegation against Hariharan formed part of an earlier complaint received in 2013 which ended with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) directing the ministry of human resources development (MHRD) in October 2019 to close the case since it only found discrepancies with regard to payment of honorarium and travel allowance during Hariharans tenure. After Hariharan retired in December 2019, another high-level committee was constituted by the university in March 2022 and the accounts were verified by an independent auditor who concluded that the total misappropriation was to the tune of a little over 80,000. This sum was deducted from the terminal benefits payable to Hariharan, the university said. The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a petition filed by a foreign national who alleged that he was tortured and assaulted for not paying bribes to immigration officials in Uttar Pradesh. The FIR, filed at Sonauli police station in Maharajganj district, however, said the petitioner tampered with the departure stamp to obtain entry into the country with fake documents (ANI) The petitioner, Scott Boyd Knox (61), had approached the immigration officials last year in June for an emergency exit stamp to travel to the United States to visit his ailing mother. In his petition, filed through advocate Vanshaja Shukla, Knox alleged that he suffered humiliation and sexual assault at the hands of the officials of Gorakhpur district jail -- where he was lodged after being booked for passport forgery in June last year. Knox claimed that the officials at the immigration centre demanded illegal gratification and since he did not succumb to it, he was illegally arrested in a criminal case. The FIR, filed at Sonauli police station in Maharajganj district, however, said the petitioner tampered with the departure stamp to obtain entry into the country with fake documents. Meanwhile, Scott said his passport is valid till 2031 and the visa will expire in 2025. A bench of justices AS Bopanna and Prashant Kumar Mishra issued a notice to Centre and state government. The petitioner informed the Court that his mother was diagnosed with leukemia and was to undergo an operation on June 13 last year. Owing to her deteriorating condition, Scott wrote to the foreign regional registration office (FRRO) to get an emergency exit stamp to travel to the US. On getting no response despite writing to FRRO twice, the petitioner was advised by his travel agent to approach the immigration centre at Sonauli to get an emergency exit stamp to enable him to enter Nepal for his onward journey. Referring to the FIR against him for which he is still in jail, the petitioner said that the charges of cheating and forgery involving Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code are not even prima facie made out. On August 15, 2018, 40-year-old Jijo Abraham was across the Indian Ocean in Muscat, but his eyes were glued to visuals from Kerala. Terrified, he watched as the television screen showed the river Pampa cascading dangerously into human settlements. Jijo was worried for his parents, for his home which is situated just on the banks of the enraged river. The 2018 Kerala floods has claimed lives of 480 people. (HT Archives) He remembers calling almost incessantly back home, and hearing his fathers breathless voice, the sound of furniture being dragged across the floor as the family desperately shifted furniture and appliances from the ground to the first floor of their two-storey home in Chengannur. During those days, I would call every few hours to check on them. Till about 2 am, my father had moved most things to higher ground. By then, floodwater had already begun to seep in. That was my last phone conversation with him, Jijo said. By the time the sun rose, things had turned grim. Floodwaters had engulfed the neighbourhood. Those in single storey homes were evacuated to relief camps in boats and canoes by local fishermen. Abrahams family was, for the most part, safely ensconced on the first floor, waiting for the rain to subside. But at one point in the morning, Jijos father, CG Abraham stepped out and braved the shoulder-high water to bring his sister-in-law, who lived nearby, home. On the way, he found time to assist locals to carry a generator from a nearby church to higher ground. He returned securely, but at 8.30 am, waded out into the water again, to shut the front gate. He didnt return for a while, and I stepped downstairs to look for him, said his wife Soshamma. The water was ice-cold; the current so strong that the 63-year-old woman could barely stand. Desperate, she persisted, and stumbled through, only to find her husband lay prone next to a tree. He was breathing, but barely; it was clear that he had slipped and fallen into the water. Within minutes, the shallow sound of air whistling through his nose was gone and he was dead. Jijo was in disbelief, but for the family in Chengannur, there was no time for grief. The water was still rising, and there was no sign of a rescue mission. So, for two days and two nights, the 63-year-old Soshamma and her sister-in-law, sat with the body tied to a staircase to prevent it from flowing away. Jijo flew in on the 18th, and only when he called everyone he could- the local legislator, journalists, and local officials- his family was evacuated. Five years later, Jijos two storey home, white and brown with a green roof still stands, but carries the markers of the Keralas nootandile pralayam(flood of the century) that claimed lives of 480 and affected over five million people, swallowing homes, panchayat offices and large tracts of paddy fields in areas like Chengannur. In one corner of the living room, for instance, the plaster continues to peel off despite being painted several times over, showcasing the structural damage to the home. In many ways, the flood was a watershed moment in the states ecological history, raised pertinent questions about the state of rivers and streams, dam management, disaster preparedness and quality of weather alerts. Half a decade on, HT spent time in Chengannur, speaking to victims and officials to understand if the state was equipped to handle another deluge or not. What went wrong Between August 1 and August 30, 2018, Kerala received 821 mm of rainfall as against a normal of 419.3 mm, a departure classified by the India Meteorological Department(IMD) as large excess. A report submitted by the state relief commissioner of the state disaster management authority (SDMA) in September 2018 noted that the extreme rainfall came in two batches, from 8-10 August in northern Kerala and 15-17 August to the south. Except, for such a prodigious amount of rainfall(the first twenty days of August broke a 87 year record), there was no warning. 62-year-old Pushpavally Kunjamma, who has a home that stands less than 500 metres from the Pampa, said that waterlogging during the monsoons was not unusual. So when it started to rain, she did not think much of it. But that day, the water rose fast. I was at home with my elder daughter and her two children aged three and two. By the evening, the water had entered my kitchen. I knew if we waited, we would drown. We picked up our identity cards, property certificates and just left. There was no warning, and there was no time, she said. The SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) report had red flagged this lack of warning, noting that the IMD had issued a red alert in four districts on August 15, but the eventual rainfall showed that a red alert should have been issued in all 14 districts. A red alert is issued for heavy to very heavy rainfall ranging between 115.6 mm and 204.4 mm. A second report by the National Institute of Disaster Management into the floods said that the rainfall till the end of July, that was at 857.4 mm higher than the July average of 726.1 mm, had meant that all 35 major reservoirs in the state were close to the full reservoir level (FRL). They had no buffer storage to accommodate the heavy inflows from 8th August onwards. The continued exceptional heavy rainfall in August in catchment areas compelled authorities to resort to heavy releases downstream. This led to overflowing of river banks which in turn led to widespread flooding, the report, released in 2020 said. Overall, the SDMA report outlined, 9,500 kilometres of roads were destroyed, over 10,000 homes fully damaged, 99,000 partly damaged and over 65,000 hectares of land inundated for days. The things that have changed One of the first things the Pinarayi Vijayan government announced after the floods was the Rebuild Kerala Initiative (RKI)- an expansive policy framework that would prepare the state for future disasters. The core aim, the chief minister said, was to rebuild the state but from the perspective of climate resilience; from establishing civil defence forces to strengthening wetland monitoring mechanisms; to a central command centre for reservoir management. Sekhar L Kuriakose, member secretary of the Kerala SDMA said that several important facets of these have been worked on in the past five years. One of the primary projects under the RKI is that we have published flood susceptibility maps. Whether it is policy or legal interventions, they are now part of risk-informed master planning, Kuriakose said. A key issue in 2018, that led to bitter criticism by the opposition, was improper dam management that many believe accentuated the crisis. These concerns were given heft by a 2021 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the state assembly that said, Communication infrastructure was non-functional in some areas including dam sites and government offices during or subsequent to the 2018 floods...the responsible authorities failed to issue mandatory alerts or warning when the rain situation deteriorated, the report said. Professor R Ramakumar, an expert member of the Kerala State Planning Board, said there are now better protocols in place. We now have warning systems in place to alert locals when shutters are opened to release excess water. Blue, orange and red alerts now exist when sluice gates are opened depending on the urgency, Ramakumar said. Similarly, Ramakumar said, there are time appropriate mechanisms to relocate people to relief camps and safer areas in landslide-prone zones. There are also karma senas or action teams deployed at the panchayat level to respond to disasters, he said. A major area where the government says it has made serious interventions is the clean-up of existing rivers, streams, and canals as well as the reclamation of river systems that disappeared in recent decades. In Chengannur, for instance, before 2018, the Illimala-Moozhikkal stream, once an important rivulet of the river Pampa that coursed through four panchayats, was clogged with sediment and solid waste. A natural drainage system, its health is key to releasing the pressure on Pampa, particularly during floods. Between April 2021 and March 2022, the 12 kilometre stream was finally de-silted and cleaned, officials said. The things that havent But 8 kilometres away from Puliyoor, under the Cheloorkadavu bridge in Edanadu, there is evidence of continued infringement, and not everything has been accomplished yet. In the year 2013, a project to revive the river Varattar, a system that was once believed to be the original course of the Pampa, but has since disappeared, was launched. There was a full-fledged campaign that included participation from the local stakeholder- panchayats, legislators and ministers- under the name Varatte Aaru. But the floods in 2018 ruined a lot of that work, with large scale deposits of silt and mud. With barely any work since then, the river has dried up again; the river-bed is over-run by weeds and invasive plants. The year 2022 saw the second phase of the rejuvenation project launched, but on the ground, there has been little progress over the last six months. On one side of the Cheloorkadavu bridge, the river is barely deep. On the other side, the river is visibly narrowing, hemmed in by banks with wild plant growing. PR Pradeep Kumar, a CPI leader and former councilor admitted that this was once a big river. It used to be called the Adi Pampa as it was the earlier form of Pampa. It was a big river, but has now shrunk considerably to resemble a stream. Work has now started to clear the encroachments on both sides so that it can absorb the excess water from Pampa. It is an important instrument of flood control, he said. CR Neelakandan, a prominent environmental activist and writer said that the only achievement that the Kerala government could boast of, was dam management. We can say that the way excess water is released from them is better. That is the only positive from my perspective, he said. Neelakandan said Encroachment of rivers has also increased, and while they are being cleaned, there is no scientific process followed. This has led to uneven sand banks on river beds. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON CHENNAI: In his first podcast, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Monday pitched the coalition of 28 opposition parties, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA, bloc as the solution to many problems facing the country, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading hatred and insisted that the bloc must win the next general elections to ensure the country doesnt turn into Manipur and Haryana. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin at a press conference of the Opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) leaders meet in Mumbai (ANI FILE) Stalin also launched a sharp attack on the central government, saying the Centre was operating as a vengeful body primed against state governments run by opposition parties. They only want to destroy the sovereignty of the state governments, which are directly responsible for the welfare of the people, he said. Stalin said the BJP was using religion as a weapon to hide all their shortcomings, inciting the fire of religious sentiments of people and basking in the warmth of its fiery flames. Stalin, who heads the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) which is a part of the Opposition bloc, blamed the BJP and its politics for the continuing violence in Manipur for more than three months and last months clashes in Haryanas Nuh district. The BJP is trying to damage the basic structure of India, and destroy the sense of unity that Indians have cherished and protected for so long, he said, insisting that the it was the INDIA bloc that was going to save India. Stalin accused the BJP-led Union government of destroying the countrys social justice, secular politics, social harmony, state autonomy and federalism. If we want to prevent the whole of India from becoming Manipur and Haryana, which, unfortunately, fell victim to BJPs communal politics, and hate-inciting policies, the INDIA alliance must win, Stalin said in his podcast Speaking for India as he reminded people about the 2002 riots in Gujarat under the BJPs watch. The purpose of this podcast series is that I as someone who is one among you, want to speak for India, said Stalin. The Narendra Modi model, which came to power after lying about the Gujarat model, is now going to end with no significant model to call their own. It has become a rudderless model, and there are no tall claims about the once-famous Gujarat model either, especially after we listed the achievements of the Dravidian model in Tamil Nadu with statistical proof. Stalin said the BJP, which formed the Union government in 2014, has failed to deliver on its election promises such as recovering black money in foreign countries and doubling farm income. It is soon going to be ten years of the BJP governance, and none of those promises have been fulfilled, Stalin said. Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai hit back at the chief minister, declaring that it was the chief chief minister and his son who were promoting religious hatred. Corrupt DMK is responsible for transforming TN into a lawless state, Annamalai said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. While Thiru @mkstalin and his son are busy promoting religious hatred, the state continues to pay the price for electing this corrupt dynast, he said, a reference to Udhayanidhi Stalins statement on eradicating Sanatana Dharma (a set of duties and way of living as proscribed in the Hindu religion) to establish social justice and equality. On Sunday, Union home minister Amit Shah reacted to Udhayanidhi Stalins statement in Rajasthan. The Opposition alliance has been insulting Sanatana Dharma. Leaders of the DMK and Congress are talking about ending Sanatana Dharma just for votebank politics. This is not the first time they have insulted our Sanatana Dharma, Shah said at a rally in poll-bound Rajasthan. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NW China's Shaanxi accelerates high-level opening up thanks to China-Europe freight train service People's Daily Online) 15:34, September 04, 2023 As a frontier of China's westward opening up, northwest China's Shaanxi Province has continuously advanced high-quality opening up thanks to the China-Europe freight train service, which was launched when the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed in 2013. About 2,000 years ago in the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.- 220 A.D.), a Chinese envoy named Zhang Qian opened up a trade route that later became the ancient Silk Road, with today's Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi, as the starting point. The China-Europe freight train service has since become the modern-day "caravans of steel camels" of the BRI. A Chang'an China-Europe freight train driven by Qin Kai arrived at a railway station in Xinfeng township of Xi'an on July 25. A Chang'an China-Europe freight train driven by Qin Kai arrives at a railway station in Xinfeng township, Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on July 25, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Jia Kailu) This year marks the 10th year for Qin to work for Chang'an China-Europe freight trains. "I was fortunate to see that the first Chang'an China-Europe freight train departed from Xi'an International Port in 2013, even if I didn't work on that train," Qin recalled. With the BRI materializing, Qin later realized his dream of driving Chang'an China-Europe freight trains. The Chang'an China-Europe freight train service operated 4,639 train trips in 2022, up from 486 in the first five years of the launch of the service, with the number of train trips, the volume of goods transported, and the proportion of fully loaded trains ranking among the highest in the country. So far, Chang'an freight trains have reached 45 countries and regions along the Belt and Road via 17 routes. The goods handled by the Chang'an China-Europe freight train service have expanded from construction machinery to engineering raw materials, rubber products, decoration and building materials, clothing, shoes and hats, and grain. By rolling out favorable measures and policies surrounding the Chang'an China-Europe freight train service, Shaanxi is accelerating the construction of international trade channels in inland areas featuring efficiency, low cost and good services. Workers of the Xi'an Aiju Grain and Oil Industrial Group load a truck with goods. (People's Daily Online/Jia Kailu) Leading enterprises in Shaanxi, including the Xi'an Aiju Grain and Oil Industrial Group, have accelerated the pace of exploring overseas markets. The BRI has presented an important opportunity for numerous enterprises to transform, upgrade and go global. "So far, one-third of our grain and oil products are imported from Kazakhstan, and the selling price of imported flour is now less than 12 yuan ($1.65) per kilogram, down from around 18 yuan in the past," said Liu Dongmeng, deputy general manager of the Xi'an Aiju Grain and Oil Industrial Group. Actively responding to the BRI, the group has already built an oil processing plant in Kazakhstan with an annual output of 300,000 tonnes. It has also signed cooperation contracts on 1.5 million mu (100,000 hectares) of land with over 20 farm operators in the country, guaranteeing local farm operators' incomes and providing job opportunities to local farmers. A robotic arm works in the industrial park of Shaanxi Konka Intelligent Appliance Co., Ltd. in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (People's Daily Online/Jia Kailu) In the industrial park of Shaanxi Konka Intelligent Appliance Co., Ltd. in Xi'an, two automated production lines are humming, with washing machines being packaged by industrial robots. These washing machines will soon be sent to countries in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Taking the opportunity of the BRI, the company has made great strides in exploring overseas markets, said Chen Zhao, general manager of the company. "For the European market with the highest market access for dishwashers, our team took just five months to develop the first dishwasher prototype. At present, we have secured orders for 50,000 dishwashers from top-tier German brands," Chen added. In 2022, Shaanxi's total import and export value with countries along the Belt and Road rose by 41 percent year on year to over 100 billion yuan, accounting for 23.3 percent of the province's total. In the first quarter of 2023, Shaanxi's trade with Belt and Road countries totaled 32.9 billion yuan, a 43.7 percent year-on-year increase, making up 31.7 percent of the province's total. Shaanxi has seized the opportunity of the BRI to promote high-level opening up. In 2022, the foreign direct investment in actual use surged by 37.6 percent year on year to $1.46 billion in Shaanxi, with the growth rate ranking 11th in China, and 314 foreign-invested enterprises were established in the province. A Kazakh live-streaming hostess promotes products in an overseas warehouse. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee) Chinese entrepreneur Yuan Zhaohui and his wife Anita from Kazakhstan have witnessed and benefited from the growth in economic and trade vitality under the BRI. Starting from a brick-and-mortar store in Kazakhstan, they founded a cross-border e-commerce platform called Silk Road City, which has over 2,000 physical stores, six warehouses in Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, and cooperated with over 300 Chinese suppliers. Photo shows a physical store of a cross-border e-commerce platform called Silk Road City founded by Chinese entrepreneur Yuan Zhaohui and his wife Anita from Kazakhstan. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee) They also teamed up with over 2,000 local young people to promote products. "Just pick up their mobile phones to shoot and share videos about the products, and they can get a commission," Yuan said. The entrepreneur added that they hope to help more and more young people along the Belt and Road with opportunities for business start-ups. Photo shows the Belt and Road Lingang Industrial Park in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Photo courtesy of Xi'an International Trade and Logistics Park) (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, inaugurated the new headquarters of Radio Bahrain 96.5, the kingdom's first English radio station, in Isa Town, thus marking the start of the radios digital transformation journey. The station, operated and managed by Radio Bahrain Company, a subsidiary of the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, has a potential broadcast reach of 6.5 million listeners. Now with the start of the stations digital transformation journey, it will see the size of the potential audience grow even larger. Also Radio Bahrain has announced the launch of its own app, now livestreaming 24/7 to listeners around the world. Commenting on the occasion, Khalid Mohammed Mattar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Radio Bahrain Company, said: "The inauguration of our new headquarters by the Deputy King, HRH Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, marks the start of the radios digital transformation journey, which is an exciting new chapter for our growing audiences in the region and around the world." "Continuing our journey, we expect to add exciting new frequencies and business verticals to the Radio Bahrain Company portfolio offerings in the near future," he stated. Radio Bahrain Company CEO Omar Khalifa Shaheen said: The introduction of our new high-tech studios has created so many opportunities for the Radio Bahrain team, providing us with the space, environment and resources we need to create even better content for our listeners. We will continue to innovate and look for new ways to reach and engage with our listeners." "Our soon-to-be-introduced, visual radio is a great example of this. Visual radio will allow us to combine the best of both worlds - the audio experience of radio with the visual experience of video. This will create a new and immersive way for listeners to engage with our content, he stated. Tamil Nadu police on Monday arrested one person for the murder of an entire family of four in Tamil Nadus Tirupur district, officials familiar with the matter said. The shocking murder led a huge posse of police officers to be stationed in Palladam. A FIR was registered against four accused under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on September 3. (HT Archives) The victims have been identified as a farmer Senthil Kumar (49), his cousin Mohanraj (47), and aunts Pushpavathi (65), and Rathinambal (55). On Sunday around 7 pm, Senthil kumar went to his farm land after he was told that a group of unidentified people were drinking alcohol on his land and told them to stop, people in the know of the matter said. The verbal argument escalated and Senthil kumars relatives also joined him, after which, the group took out sickles and murdered them. All of them died on the spot, said chief minister M K Stalin while offering his condolences and providing a solatium of 2 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased. They were found dead with several cut injuries on their bodies . I have instructed the police to arrest the other criminals as soon as possible, the chief minister said. An FIR was registered against four accused under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on September 3, a police officer from the Palladam police station said, adding that, We have arrested one accused today. He is yet to be remanded. Three other accused are absconding. Tamil Nadu BJPs state president K Annamalai said that one of the deceased was a functionary of the party. They were brutally killed last night for objecting to drunkards for using their backyard, he said. Member of the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] was murdered in Tirunelveli district last nightIt is clear that there is a breakdown of law and order. Tamil Nadu has become a centre of violence. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Divya Chandrababu Divya Chandrababu is an award-winning political and human rights journalist based in Chennai, India. Divya is presently Assistant Editor of the Hindustan Times where she covers Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. She started her career as a broadcast journalist at NDTV-Hindu where she anchored and wrote prime time news bulletins. Later, she covered politics, development, mental health, child and disability rights for The Times of India. Divya has been a journalism fellow for several programs including the Asia Journalism Fellowship at Singapore and the KAS Media Asia- The Caravan for narrative journalism. Divya has a master's in politics and international studies from the University of Warwick, UK. As an independent journalist Divya has written for Indian and foreign publications on domestic and international affairs. ...view detail HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Monday refused to grant bail to Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddys father YS Bhaskar Reddy and their aide Uday Kumar Reddy in connection with the murder of former Andhra Pradesh minister YS Vivekananda Reddy in March 2019, people familiar with the matter said. YSR Congress Party MP YS Avinash Reddy speaks with the media as he arrives at CBI office in connection with the Vivekananda Reddy murder case in Hyderabad on March 10 (PTI) Mondays verdict was delivered by a single-judge bench of justice K Laxman, which reserved its verdict on the bail petitions on August 24. The bench said it could not grant bail to the accused as the investigation was at a crucial stage and cited investigators insisting that there was strong evidence against Bhaskar Reddy. Bhaskar Reddy and Uday Kumar Reddy, who were arrested on April 16 and 14 respectively, are currently in Chanchalguda Jail, filed separate appeals for bail in the high court after the special court for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases rejected their request on June 9. Bhaskar Reddys lawyer T Niranjan Reddy had argued that the CBI arrested them without direct or substantive evidence against them. He also reasoned that they were entitled to bail since the CBI completed its investigation and filed the chargesheet in June. CBI, however, opposed bail, arguing that the case was at a crucial juncture and granting bail to Bhaskar Reddy at this point might create hurdles in the investigation. The agency also argued that there was enough evidence to prove that Bhaskar Reddy was a co-conspirator in the murder of Vivekananda Reddy and that there was a possibility of Bhaskar Reddy tampering with the evidence and influencing witnesses. The CBI filed the third charge sheet in the Vivekananda Reddy murder case naming Avinash Reddy, who is the cousin of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, as an accused. Vivekananda Reddy, brother of the former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on the intervening night of March 14 and 15, 2019, weeks before the general elections in Andhra Pradesh. The case, which was initially probed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police, was handed over to the Central Bureau of India (CBI) in July 2020, following a direction from the high court. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Telangana high court on Monday refused to grant bail to Y S Bhaskar Reddy, father of YSR Congress party parliamentarian from Kadapa Y S Avinash Reddy, in connection with the murder of former Andhra Pradesh minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy in March 2019. Bhaskar Reddy was arrested in the case on April 16. (Shutterstock) A single judge bench of Justice K Laxman, which reserved its judgement on August 24 after hearing the arguments on the bail petitions, also declined bail to the Kadapa MPs close aide Gajjala Uday Kumar Reddy, another accused in the same murder case. Bhaskar Reddy and Uday Kumar Reddy, who were arrested in this case on April 16 and August 14, respectively in connection with the murder, are currently lodged in Chanchalguda jail as remand prisoners. On June 1, they filed separate bail petitions in the special court for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases, but they were rejected by the court on June 9. Immediately, the accused challenged the lower court order in the Telangana high court. During the course of arguments, Bhaskar Reddys counsel T Niranjan Reddy had argued during the hearing that the bail petitions of the accused should be disposed of within two weeks from the date of filing of the charge sheet, as per Supreme Court guidelines. He said the CBI had filed the chargesheet in June and the petitioners were entitled to bail as the investigation was complete. He said the CBI had arrested the petitioners without direct or substantial evidences against them. The counsel for the CBI and also that of Vivekananda Reddys daughter Narreddy Sunitha argued that granting bail to Bhaskar Reddy at this crucial stage might create hurdles in the investigation into the murder case. The CBI counsel argued that there was enough evidence to prove that Bhaskar Reddy was a co-conspirator in the murder of Vivekananda Reddy. He explained in detail how there was a possibility of Bhaskar Reddy tampering with the evidence and influencing the witnesses. Agreeing with their contentions, the high court said it cannot grant the bail to the accused as the investigation was at a crucial stage. It said as per the CBI contention, there is strong evidence against Bhaskar Reddy and hence, there was every possibility of him influencing the judgement. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience. ...view detail Trinamool Congress on Monday condemned Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's remark on Sanatana Dharma, calling it 'most unfortunate. TMC general secretary Kunal Ghosh.(ANI Twitter) His comment is most unfortunate. This is not related with INDIA alliance. We (TMC) strongly condemn it. He should change his comment, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told news agency PTI. We should prefer the secular structure. Param Dharm Sahishnuta (Tolerance is the supreme faith). I am from Hindu dharma, someone from other faiths. We must respect all religions, Ghosh added. ALSO READ: Amid Udhayanidhi Stalin's 'Sanatana Dharma' remarks row, father's podcast targets BJP The TMC spokesperson's statement comes amid the massive political slugfest over Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks on Sanatana Dharma. The son of Tamil Nadu chief minister is facing backlash over his remark calling for the eradication of Sanatana Dharma. A few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or corona. We have to eradicate this, that's how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated", he was quoted saying. The Bharatiya Janata Party tore into the INDIA alliance of which DMK is the member, accusing it of insulting Hinduism. For the last two days, the INDIA alliance has been insulting Sanatana Dharma. Leaders of DMK and Congress are talking about ending Sanatan Dharma just for vote bank politics. This is not the first time they have insulted our Sanatan Dharma, Union home minister Amit Shah said at a rally in poll-bound Rajasthan. Under fire from the BJP over Udhayanidhi's remark, the Congress on Monday said it respects all religions but every party has the freedom to express its own views. Our view is clear. Sarva Dharma Samabhava (respect for all religions) is the Congress ideology. But you have to understand every political party has the freedom to tell their views.We are respecting everybodys belief", Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said at a press conference. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Monday remained defiant over his controversial remark calling for the eradication of Sanatana Dharma, which has triggered a massive political controversy across the country. Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin sparked row over his remark calling for the eradication of 'Sanatana Dharma'.(X/ANI) Day before yesterday I spoke at a function about it (Sanatana Dharma). Whatever I said, I'll repeat the same thing again and again...I included all the religions and not just Hindus...I spoke condemning the caste differences that's all..., the DMK leader was quoted by ANI as saying in Thoothukudi. Addressing a meet organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association, Udhayanidhi Stalin had said that Sanatana was against the idea of social justice and had to be eradicated. A few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or corona. We have to eradicate this, that's how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated," he was quoted as saying. The Bharatiya Janata Party launched an all out attack against the DMK leader, accusing him of calling for genocide against the Hindus, an allegation rejected by Udhayanidhi later. Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamilnadu CM MK Stalin, and a minister in the DMK Govt, has linked Sanatana Dharma to malaria and dengue He is of the opinion that it must be eradicated and not merely opposed. In short, he is calling for genocide of 80% population of Bharat, who follow Sanatan Dharma, BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya had posted on X. ALSO READ: DMK, Congress insulting Sanatan Dharma for vote bank: Amit Shah in Rajasthan In reply, Udhayanidhi had said,"I never called for the genocide of people who are following Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan Dharma is a principle that divides people in the name of caste and religion. Uprooting Sanatan Dharma is upholding humanity and human equality. I stand firmly by every word I have spoken". The saffron party and several religious leaders have condemned Udhayanidhi Stalin over his remark. The Congress, which happens to be DMK's ruling ally in the state, said it respects all religions but every political party has the right to express their views. We should not comment anything to hurt major or small sections of people West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee warned against making remark which could hurt sentiments of other people. Every religion has separate sentiments. India is about 'Unity in Diversity' which is our origin. We should not be involved in any matter which might hurt a section of people", she told news agency PTI. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) commanded the Vikram Lander to fire its engines again, raising itself by about 40 cm, made it land safely at a distance of 30 40 cm away, announced the Indian space agency on Monday. Vikram lander on Earth's moon as clicked by the navigation camera onboard the Pragyan rover.(X(formerly Twitter)/@isro) Taking to social media platform X, the Indian space agency wrote, "Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Vikram soft-landed on Moon, again! Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment. On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 40 cm away." The Indian space agency also shared the video of the manoeuvre captured by Vikram Lander's camera. It vividly shows the lander lifting and achieving a soft landing the second time. ISRO added that all systems of the lander performed nominally and were healthy. Deployed Ramp, Chandras Surface Thermo physical Experiment (ChaSTE) and Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) were folded back and redeployed successfully after the experiment. Pragyan Rover's sleep mode has already been activated and ISRO will shortly enable hibernation of Vikram lander too as lunar night nears the 'Shiv Shakti' Point. What next for Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover? Chandrayaan 3 has already accomplished its primary objectives, ISRO scientists, however, anticipate that both the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover could potentially recharge, provided they can endure the frigid temperatures that can drop as low as -200 degrees Celsius on the lunar surface. According to NASA's Moon Tracker, the lunar sunset commenced on September 4, initiating from the location where Chandrayaan-3's lander is positioned, known as Shiv Shakti Point by India. This lunar night is expected to last until September 6, with the subsequent lunar sunrise anticipated on September 20, according to NASA's tracker. However, it's worth noting that this sunrise might occur slightly later at the South Pole, potentially on September 22. ISRO expressed its hope for a successful reawakening of another series of tasks, adding that if not, the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover will remain as enduring representatives of India on the lunar surface. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Teachers' Day wishes: National Teachers' Day is celebrated every year on September 5 in India. This day marks the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was the second President of India and a renowned educationist. While Teachers' Day is celebrated on many dates around the world, in India it is celebrated on 5 September. This day honours all teachers who have made us better people, had a significant impact on our lives and inspired us to excel. It could be your parents, your elder siblings or even your school teachers. On this special day, people express their gratitude to teachers through various gestures such as cards, gifts and special events. Happy Teachers' Day: Wishes, images, messages, quotes to share with your teacher(HT Photo) To make the teachers in your life feel special, we have compiled some best wishes, messages, greetings and images for you to share with your favourite teachers on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms this day. (Also read: Teachers' Day 2023 speech ideas for students: Short and long speech ideas, tips for Teachers' Day celebrations at school ) Teachers' Day 2023 Best Wishes, Images And Messages Dear Teacher, your guidance and wisdom have been a light on my path. Happy Teacher's Day! Teachers' Day is celebrated to honour and appreciate the invaluable role teachers play in shaping future generations.(HT Photo) Thank you for inspiring me to be the best version of myself. Wishing you a Happy Teacher's Day! To the world, you may just be a teacher, but to me, you are a hero. Happy Teacher's Day! September 5 also also marks the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.(HT Photo) The influence of a good teacher can never be erased. Thank you for making a difference in my life. Happy Teacher's Day! May your day be filled with appreciation and love for all the lives you've touched. Happy Teacher's Day! The day often includes special ceremonies, events, and programs organized by students and educational institutions to express gratitude to their teachers.(HT Photo) Happy Teacher's Day to the one who taught me not just subjects, but also valuable life lessons. You are not just a teacher; you are a mentor, a friend, and an inspiration. Happy Teacher's Day! The celebration of Teachers' Day is an opportunity to acknowledge and highlight the importance of education in society.(HT Photo) To the teacher who believed in me when I didn't believe in myself, thank you. Happy Teacher's Day! Best Teacher's Day Quotes 2023 "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." - William Arthur Ward "A teacher affects eternity; they can never tell where their influence stops." - Henry Adams On this day, students often present gifts, cards, and tokens of appreciation to their teachers as a symbol of respect and gratitude.(HT Photo) "The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don't tell you what to see." - Alexandra K. Trenfor "One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world." - Malala Yousafzai Many schools and institutions organize functions and ceremonies to honor teachers.(HT Photo) "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats "Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges." - Joyce Meyer Teachers not only impart knowledge but also instill values and life skills.(HT Photo) I have always felt that the true text-book for the pupil is his teacher. Mahatma Gandhi It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression & knowledge. Albert Einstein Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! International Day of Charity serves as a reminder of the importance of charitable acts and philanthropy in improving the lives of those in need around the world. It also honours the memory of Mother Teresa, who dedicated her life to helping the less fortunate and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work. On this day, people and organizations are encouraged to engage in acts of charity, donate to causes they care about, and contribute to making the world a better place for all. This day presents you with a great opportunity to get involved in the charity events that are going on around the world. Scroll down to know more about this day. (Also read: World Samosa Day 2023: Date, history, significance ) International Day of Charity holds significant importance as it serves as a global platform to promote acts of kindness, generosity, and humanitarian efforts. (Unsplash) When is International Day of Charity 2023? The International Day of Charity is an international day observed annually on 5 September. History of International Day of Charity In 2011, the Hungarian Parliament and Government backed the creation of the International Day of Charity as a civil society initiative in Hungary. The day's objectives are to encourage philanthropy, social responsibility, and intergroup harmony. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work in the fight to alleviate poverty and suffering, which also pose a threat to peace. The date of September 5 was chosen to honor her death anniversary. According to her obituary, Mother Teresa of Calcutta passed away on September 5. In response to a request from Hungary, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution on December 17, 2012, proclaiming September 5 as the International Day of Charity. International Day of Charity significance The International Day of Charity is designed to promote and strengthen social responsibility around the world by increasing our support for charitable causes and bringing everyone together in solidarity. The day celebrates the essential role that acts of kindness, philanthropy and charitable giving play in addressing global challenges and improving the well-being of those in need. It is a powerful reminder that collective efforts, no matter how small, can have a positive impact on communities and individuals around the world, fostering a spirit of compassion and solidarity. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), led by ChatGPT, is creating waves all over the world. Its astonishing capabilities to generate conversations, art and videos led ChatGPT to race to 100 million subscribers in two months. The Large Language Models (LLMs) and transformers that power GenAI are ground-breaking technologies that promises to be as disruptive as the internet or the smartphone. Google CEO Sundar Pichai likens AI to fire, Satya Nadella of Microsoft heralds it as a platform shift, and Goldman Sachs believes GenAI will add $7 trillion in extra annual global Gross Domestic Product over the next decade. However, this excitement is accompanied by some unease around the loss of jobs and human agency, and the looming threat of an AI superintelligence. There are also worries about bias, environmental damage, plagiarism, and a threat to democracy itself. FILE PHOTO: ChatGPT logo is seen in this illustration taken, February 3, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo(REUTERS) Predictably, most GenAI action is happening in two countries, the United States (US) and China, and both have vastly divergent structures and worldview. In the US, Big Tech is leading the charge, as it has through all the technology waves of the internet, search and social networking. The China way is different with Chinese companies, working with the government, creating their own GenAI models built with informational and contextual safeguards. Other large geographies are carving out their own space, albeit in a more limited way: The European Union is focusing on regulation to make GenAI ethical and responsible, and the United Kingdom aims to lead the world in global AI governance. In this melee, India seems left out. There has been a lot of talk, and some recent announcements, of creating its own LLMs, though OpenAI CEO Sam Altman actively discouraged it. We have absolutely no doubt that both the government and corporate India have the capability to build a local LLM fine-tuned with Indian data for Indian languages, context, and unique use cases. We believe, however, that it is more important to consider the objective and aim for such an exercise. Should India follow the western capitalist method, or the Chinese State-controlled one? We assert that there is a third path, one that India has shown the world in recent years. Our proposition, however audacious it may seem, is that India should consider building Generative AI as a digital public good we call this JanAI or GenAI for the people. The amazing success of the Indian Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) story is well known. Riding on IndiaStack, this digitisation at population scale has led to 1.4 billion Indians with a digital biometric identity with Aadhaar, simplified payments at scale, with UPI leading to almost half the worlds digital payments, the worlds largest vaccination campaign, and many other achievements. Services built on top of this stack have considerably eased health care, logistics, e-commerce, government subsidies and have led to inclusive societal growth across the country. Innumerable startups have leveraged open APIs of the stack to create innovative and at-scale services for Indian citizens. IndiaStack is already growing global, with countries such as Singapore, France, United Arab Emirates, and others signing up. In fact, the global spread of DPI and IndiaStack is a strong idea that India is championing through its leadership of the G20, including at the leaders summit this week. The true power of the stack has been realised by offering it as a digital public good (much like clean air, defence or law enforcement), so that it reaches each citizen; and making it open enables large companies and startups to build value and wealth on top of it. We believe that GenAI should be treated similarly. India could build its own BharatLLM: Trained on the rich data that IndiaStack generates, and finetuned for Indian languages and context to solve India-specific use cases and problems. JanAI could be a set of LLMs built as another layer of IndiaStack, where the key is that it will be offered as a public service. Thus, it will bridge the inevitable digital divide, and provide benefits for the entire population, much like Aadhaar and UPI have done. This will also give India the opportunity to build guardrails and safeguards around privacy, bias, and other ethical AI concerns, using Indian notions of collective and societal privacy and trust which are sometimes quite different from the western concept of individuality-oriented privacy. We believe that this could happen through a tripartite partnership between a proactive government, our world-leading IT industry, and some leading technical institutions like the IITs. Indian companies could then spin out their own specific finetuned LLMs from BharatLLM; startups could leverage this through open APIs along with ChatGPT and others to build innovative India-specific products; and millions of individual creators could use its awesome generative powers to build content- and creativity-led businesses. This is how India could combine the two biggest movements in digital technology generative AI and digital public goods into a uniquely Indian third way to create JanAI out of GenAI, and, once more, serve as a GenAI for All model for the world. Jaspreet Bindra is managing director and founder, Tech Whisperer Limited UK, and Sudhir Tiwari is Global Head of the Digital Engineering Centre at Thoughtworks India. The views expressed are personal. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As New Delhi hosts the G20 summit this week, India finds itself in a geopolitical and geo-economic sweet spot. New Delhis leadership credentials today are taken more seriously than ever and most nations remain keen to enhance their ties. As one of the fastest growing major economies in the world, a young and aspirational demographic, a vibrant democracy trying to deliver to those at the bottom of the pyramid, and a foreign policy that seeks to find pragmatic convergences, India seems set to emerge out of its self-imposed constraints of the past. PREMIUM New Delhis leadership credentials today are taken more seriously than ever and most nations remain keen to enhance their ties(PTI) This emergence has been long pending. Observers often complained that India was a land of forever promise that never quite reached its potential. A major factor in this global gravitation towards India is New Delhis ability to consolidate itself internally and underscore the potency of the Indian State. There has been a remarkable shift in the internal security environment in the last few years. Domestic terrorism has been brought under control in an efficacious manner, both by strengthening the internal security apparatus and by keeping the nations external adversaries on a tight leash. It is in this context that the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A by Parliament which led to the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories assumes critical importance. The status quo in Kashmir became unsustainable long back. It was only the political and policy inertia that was keeping policymakers from challenging it. The success of the governments reform agenda is critically important for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and for Indias own future. And its full operationalisation will take time. This seriousness of intent is appreciated by Indias adversaries. After all, one of the reasons China upped the ante in Ladakh was in recognition of the fact that these measures can fundamentally alter Indias strategic periphery to Chinas long-term detriment. The other periphery that has seen serious engagement is the Northeast. This is a geography that was always eyed by China but never deemed important enough by New Delhi to be brought into the mainstream of the nations consciousness. It is also what makes India more than just a South Asian power. Indias Northeast is the nations organic link with Southeast Asia, making the countrys claims of being an Indo-Pacific power more credible. With a multidimensional approach to reviving the Northeast as an economic and cultural hub, Indian policymakers have now revolutionised the way the rest of the country engages with this region. The unfortunate turn of events in Manipur shouldnt blind us to the magnitude of change in the governance of the Northeast. This is reflected in the declining number of insurgent activities as well as security and civilian casualties in the region over the last few years. As a result of a significant improvement in the security situation, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) has been removed from large parts of the region. The third leg of Indias success story in the domestic realm has been the marginalisation of Left-wing extremism (LWE). From the security forces gaining an upper hand over the Maoists to the financial choking and targeting of their top leadership, Indian policymakers have shown a worthwhile resolve to achieve targeted results in this struggle. The whole-of-government approach that incorporates a mix of security and development initiatives has had a significant impact on the trajectory of LWE. What was once deemed to be the gravest internal security threat facing the nation, the Maoists no longer pose an existential threat to the Indian State. A more effective governance machinery on the development and security fronts makes it difficult for the insurgents to generate attraction for their ideology. Growing resources alone dont make for a major power or a player in global politics. India has long been viewed through a strong society, weak State prism. But without a strong State that can effectively demonstrate its grip over domestic governance, no country can rise in the global inter-State hierarchy. Indias claims to global leadership become credible only if it manages to showcase an effective grip on internal security. Only a strong State that has managed to consolidate its control over internal turbulence would be able to harness the national economic prowess for its external engagements. Thats a lesson Indian policymakers seem to be learning, slowly but surely. Harsh V Pant is vice president for Studies at Observer Research Foundation. The views expressed are personal Sometime in the mid-1990s, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary in Mumbai had said, The birthplaces of Ram, Krishna and the abode of Shiva (Kashi) will be liberated one day, notwithstanding the Places of Worship Act, 1991. PREMIUM The ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, which abuts the Kashi Vishwanath temple, restarted on August 4 (PTI) The RSS functionarys statement had sounded unbelievable at the time because the Narasimha Rao government in September 1991 had brought in the Places of Worship Act at a time when the Ram Janmabhoomi temple movement in Ayodhya was at its peak. The Act had provided for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947 or for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Only the disputed shrine in Ayodhya was exempted from the provisions of the Act. On December 6, 1992, the Babri Masjid was demolished. The trial in the Ayodhya case continued and eventually on November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court delivered its final judgement, handing over the disputed land to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Kshetra Samiti trust to build the Ram Janmabhoomi temple. While delivering its verdict, the apex court reiterated the Places of Worship Act, saying it manifests the secular value of the Constitution and prohibits retrogression. The Ram temple is near completion and is scheduled to be inaugurated in January 2024. Meanwhile, the Places of Worship Act, too, has been challenged in the apex court on various grounds, including the plea that it takes away the right of judicial remedy to reclaim a place of worship. The court has asked the Centre to respond to the Public Interest Litigations and has granted time till October 31, 2023, to submit its reply. As of today, the Kashi and Mathura shrines (considered by Hindus to be the abode of Shiva and the birthplace of Krishna, respectively), are very much on the agenda of the Sangh Parivar, and neither are exempted from the acts provisions. In other words, the status quo of their religious character, as of August 15, 1947, has to be maintained. However, Hindus who filed their first petition in the court in 1991 to reclaim Gyanvapi the mosque complex in Kashi believe that the twin temples of Kashi and Mathura existed before August 15, 1947 and thus would not contravene the above law. At the same time, the Muslim community including those who worship at the mosque find solace in the Places of Worship Act, which prohibits conversion of religious places. There is both hope and despair as the temple/mosque issue is hotly debated on the streets of Varanasi as a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque is underway and cases are pending in various courts. The case pertaining to the survey is listed for hearing on September 8. On August 3, the Allahabad High Court gave the go-ahead for a scientific survey to be conducted by a team of experts from the ASI. Various Hindu groups have demanded a survey of the complex since 1991, a demand that was stiffly opposed by the Anjuman Islamia Masjid Committee (AIMC). On September 2, the ASI sought eight more weeks to submit its report on the Gyanvapi mosque survey. October promises to be a crucial month. Hopes raised The ongoing survey has raised the hopes of many Hindus: With the Kashi-Vishwanath corridor ready, they believe its anytime now. Pilgrims have thronged Kashi from across the country since Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath corridor built with red stone on December 13, 2021. Visitors cannot miss the cordoned off and heavily barricaded mosque in white, barely 30 metres away from the sanctum sanctorum. Within a year of its opening, the Corridor had attracted 7.35 crores pilgrims from across the country. Over 1.57 crore pilgrims had visited it between July and August the Hindu month of Sawan and the numbers explain the pull of the new corridor. Given the enthusiasm shown by pilgrims, its evident that the petitioners and stakeholders are pinning their hopes on the survey. Advocate Vijay Shankar Rastogi said the ongoing survey will provide scientific evidence of a temple pre-existing as a mosque. "Yes, there is enough evidence in history to prove a temple was demolished to build a mosque. But only a survey can provide the scientific and pramanik (authoritative) evidence," Rastogi said. A sense of despondency, on the other hand, has seemingly engulfed Muslims who after the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya had taken solace in the fact that the other two shrines, on the list of the Sangh Parivar, would remain protected. Their confidence also stems from the fact that unlike in Ayodhya, temples existed in Kashi and Mathura. Scepticism about the situation prevails among the community. SM Yasin, joint secretary of AIMC, questioned the comparison of Kashi and Ayodhya disputes. No namaaz was offered in the Babri mosque after 1949, whereas Gyanvapi is a functional mosque where five-time namaaz is offered. Then what about the Places of Worship Act 1991? It clearly states that the status quo of the religious character of any shrine would stay, Yasin said when asked about a temple possibly pre-dating a mosque. The survey is not going to decide the title of the shrine, Yasin claims. Advocate Akhlaque Ahmad said the lawsuit was not maintainable under the Places of Worship Act. But the Hindu side is clear as they say that unlike in Ayodhya Hindu inscriptions have reportedly been found on one of the walls of the mosque. Legal Battle As many as 22 cases are pending in various courts from Varanasi to the Supreme Court. A legal battle to reclaim the temple began in 1991 when, for the first time Pandit Somnath Vyas, Vijay Shankar Rastogi and others, filed a petition in a local court in Varanasi on behalf of the deity Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Bhagwan Vishweshwar seeking permission to worship in the Gyanvapi area. The petitioners claimed that the Muslims had occupied parts of the temple complex and built a mosque there. After the demolition of the mosque, the VHP-RSS temporarily shelved their Kashi andolan (movement) while the legal cases went into abeyance. Rastogi explained the 22-year-long hiatus: "The matter is pending in various courts and there was a stay for almost 22 years from 1998 to 2020. The cases were revived after the apex court in 2021 limited the validity of the stays for six months. In fact, on December 10, 2019, an application was filed in the court of the civil judge, requesting a survey of the entire Gyanvapi compound by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to verify the claims of the Hindu community that the mosque was built in 1664 on the ruins of an ancient Shiva temple and settle the ownership issue. This was opposed by AIMC, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque. In August 2021, five women plaintiffs moved a local court in Varanasi seeking permission to worship the idols of Shringar Gauri and other deities in the Gyanvapi compound daily. Their contention was that they were given only one hour in a year on the Chaturthi of Chaitra Navratri to worship Shringar Gauri. The matter went up to the Supreme Court, which directed the Varanasi district judge to decide if it was maintainable. District judge Ajay Krishna Vishwesha, on September 12, 2022, observed, According to the pleadings of the plaintiffs, they were worshipping Maa Shringar Gauri, Lord Hanuman, Lord Ganesha at the disputed site incessantly since a long time till 1993. After 1993, they were allowed to worship the above-mentioned Gods only once a year under the regulations of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Thus, according to the plaintiffs, they worshipped Maa Shringar Gauri and others at the disputed place regularly even after 15 August 1947. Therefore, the Places of Worship Act, 1991 does not operate as a bar on the suit of the plaintiff and the suit of the plaintiffs is not barred by section 9 of the Act. Rekha Pathak, one of the plaintiffs, said: Since my childhood in the 1970s, I have been going regularly with my parents to worship Shringar Gauri. Earlier we used to perform puja from inside the barricading, while now we do it from outside. Advocate Ahmad, quoted earlier, disputed it, insisting no 'puja' has ever been performed on the outer wall of the Masjid. In fact, prayers are offered almost 25-30 feet away from the mosque. A mention of a wall on the western side of the mosque with Hindu deities has been made by Rana PB Singh and Pravin S Rana, in their research paper on The Kashi Vishwanath, Varanasi: Construction, Destruction and Resurrection to Heritagisation, published in 2022. It says, In 1669, the temple was demolished by the order of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, and today, the Gyanvapi mosque stands (71 high minarets) on its site. As it would have been only a little additional trouble for Aurangzeb to order the demolition of the entire temple, one can only assume that the back portion was consciously spared as a warning and insult to the feelings of the citys Hindu population. [A] century later in 1780, by the patronage of Queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore, the present temple of Vishwanatha was completed. By the 19th century, the whole area surrounding the Vishwanatha temple became the sanctuary of gods and godlings attached to Lord Shiva and his family, they write. Singh and Rana are both professors at Banaras Hindu University and have cited Puranic as well as other historically researched sources. When asked since when women have been worshipping Shringar Gauri on the outer wall of the mosque, Yasin said: There are two walls- inner and outer- in the mosque. The Shringar Gauri sthal is nearly 25 ft away from the Gyanvapi Mosque. This place, (where Hindus offer prayers once a year), is outside the barricaded area of the mosque." From her perch in Lucknow, HTs resident editor Sunita Aron highlights important issues related to Uttar Pradesh Addressing the country on the 77th anniversary of Indias Independence, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi complemented the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on his initiative to make available the essence of the top courts judgements in regional languages. Talking about education, the PM remarked that we are now realising the importance of regional languages. It is a mockery of our democracy that it has taken 76 years to understand why regional languages are crucial. PREMIUM Governments would be well advised to pay those who write stories, screenplays and songs involved to prepare government documents in languages that are not only understandable but enjoyable for ordinary people (GETTY IMAGES.) The British termed these tongues vernaculars, or the languages of domestic slaves. This was a part of their strategy to persuade Indians that their own culture and languages were inferior to those of the British. They wanted the vernaculars to survive merely as the languages of the lower, uneducated classes, but the well-educated upper classes needed to become, as Macaulay put it, persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect. This was challenged by many patriots, culminating in Mahatma Gandhi calling on the British to quit India in 1942. In 1909, he wrote in his Hind Swaraj that free India should become a republic of self-governing village communities. These village communities would, of course, employ their own regional languages, and English would be replaced by Indian languages as soon as the British left. Our progressive Constitution later declaring that the people are sovereign strongly supported this position. So, on Independence in 1947, regional languages should have been adopted as languages of administration, of judiciary, of industry and commerce, and of learning. Notably, this was fully achieved in South Korea, an industrially and technologically advanced country with a population density greater than that of India and a total population smaller than that of most linguistic states of India. Nevertheless, Indias first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, found English the most convenient medium to govern our multilingual country. But there were other people-oriented freedom fighters who disagreed. They wanted regional languages to take over from English in every way. One such leader was Potti Sreeramulu who fasted unto death in December 1952 while demanding a separate Telugu state. This created pressure from people all over India, forcing Nehru to accept the linguistic reorganisation of Indian states, which was fully accomplished by 1960. Regretfully, however, this linguistic reorganisation failed to genuinely achieve its objective since many vested interests did not want to empower the people. The states created their own strange convoluted lingo, often excessively Sanskritised with peculiar constructions of sentences that made no sense to anybody. In Maharashtra, for example, the government issues many government resolutions (GR) on issues of vital interest to my friends from rural communities. They call them Gangarams and ask me what these mean. I, too, cannot understand that weird Marathi, so I read the English version and explained the Gangarams to them. In our 76 years of freedom, neither the governments nor research institutions or industry have done much for Indian languages. It is films and shows on television employing vibrant versions of Indian languages that have kept them alive. Governments would be well advised to pay those who write stories, screenplays and songs to prepare government documents in languages that are not only understandable but enjoyable for ordinary people. Now, commercial enterprises have stepped in to back Indian languages, naturally to promote their own interests. Google supports many Indian languages and scripts and provides several facilities of great value to Indian language users. Samsung smartphones have reached remote Indian villages and support Indian language scripts. Social media such as WhatsApp with its audio/video clips allows even illiterates to communicate with each other with complete ease. But the Artificial Intelligence-based translation facilities that the Supreme Court is relying on continue to have serious limitations because many words in English and Indian languages have multiple meanings. For the correct meaning to be used in translation, a very large amount of searchable text has to be available on the web. Since this is unavailable for Indian languages, the translations tend to be not only faulty but sometimes plain misleading. The only way forward is for more good texts in Indian languages to be made available on the web. This calls for the involvement of people with a mastery over their own languages. There are many such among newly educated members from rural communities. They must be brought to the forefront, and encouraged to help enrich online repositories of the languages they have mastered. Madhav Gadgil is one of Indias most widely regarded ecologists. His autobiography A Walk up the Hill: Living with People and Nature was published in eight Indian languages, namely, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. The views expressed are personal The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has back-to-back missions lined up for the extraterrestrial exploration, with the latest being the Aditya-L1 mission that set-off to study the Sun. The payload of this mission will send us data about the brightest star in the solar system from a distance of around 1.5 million km from the Earth. Illustration of Lagrange point L1 where (ISRO) solar mission, Aditya-L1 will be placed, on Saturday.(ISRO) In order to receive information from the payload efficiently, a robust communication infrastructure is an essential aspect. Here, the European Space Agency (ESA) plays a pivotal role as it offers its services in deep space communication. It ensures in receiving not only the scientific data from faraway distance but also to ascertain the location and status of the spacecraft. "For the Aditya-L1 mission, we are providing support from all three of our 35-metre deep space antennas located in Australia, Spain, and Argentina," Ramesh Chellathurai, ESA service manager said. Along with this, the foreign space agency is also providing additional support from its stations in French Guiana and UK. Both ISRO and ESA will continue to work together throughout the stretch of the Aditya-L1 mission over two years of routine operations. ESA's other job is to validate a dedicated software developed by ISRO to determine the exact position of the spacecraft. It will use the process known as orbit determination to ascertain the craft's position. How will the payload be injected into the Lagrangian point? The name Lagrangian Point was given after its discover and French mathematician Louis Lagrange and its L1 is one of five such points, situated between Earth and Sun. Aditiya-L1 will carry out its journey to one of the unstable Lagrangian points by performing transfer manoeuvre over the period of 125 days. How long ISRO, ESA have been working together? Both ISRO and ESA joined forces since 2022 and has been intensively working together to evaluate Aditya-L1 mission's operations and the development of the software. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a meeting with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. PM Modi and Huang spoke at length regarding the rich potential India offers in the artificial intelligence sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, in New Delhi on Monday.(X/Narendra Modi) In a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, PM Modi noted that Jensen Huang appreciated strides made by India in the artificial intelligence sector. PM Modi in a post on X wrote, "Had an excellent meeting with Mr. Jensen Huang, the CEO of @nvidia. We talked at length about the rich potential India offers in the world of AI. Mr. Jensen Huang was appreciative of the strides India has made in this sector and was equally upbeat about the talented youth of India." US-based technology company Nvidia was founded by Jansen Huang in 1993. Since its inception, Jansen Huang has served as its chief executive officer, and a member of the board of directors, according to the company statement. ALSO READ: India getting ready for 6G, task force set up: PM Modi in Independence Day address Earlier in June, PM Modi stressed on the role of G20 nations in striking the right balance between the opportunities and challenges posed by digital technology, which he termed as a force multiplier in increasing access to education and adapting to future needs. While addressing a G20 Education Ministers' Meeting held in Pune via video message, PM Modi touched upon the potential of Artificial Intelligence which offers great potential in the field of learning, skilling and education. The Prime Minister stressed that G20 countries with their respective strengths can play a crucial role in promoting research and innovation, especially in the Global South. He urged the dignitaries to create a path for increased research collaborations. ALSO READ: Beyond imagination: PM Modi lauds Digital India programme at G20 meet PM Modi said that continuous skilling, re-skilling, and up-skilling are key to making youth future-ready, noting that education is not only the foundation upon which India's civilisation has been built, but is also the architect of humanity's future. Throwing light on the emphasis laid on research and innovation, the Prime Minister highlighted that India has set up 10,000 'Atal Tinkering Labs' across the country which act as research and innovation nurseries for our school children. He informed that more than 7.5 million students are working on more than 1.2 million innovative projects in these labs. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! A passenger on an American Airlines flight was asked to get off the plane. Reason? He constantly complained about a fellow traveller hogging the overhead bin space with too many bags. Another passenger recorded the incident on camera and shared the video on social media. The passenger was kicked out of an American Airlines flight after he argued with a cabin crew member over locker space. (Reddit/@Cool_Disaster2484) In the video, the man, in a yellow t-shirt with his hair in a top knot, is heard saying, This guy put his luggage up here, now we dont have any space, as other passengers continue to board the plane. Hes got no space. Look, he remarked, gesturing towards the passenger sitting across the aisle. Also Read| Dad feeds flight attendant daughter as she gets ready for work A cabin crew member quickly intervened and said, Sir, Im going to ask one more time. You need to stop with this whole luggage situation, pointing his finger in the passengers face. To this, the passenger said, You point your finger at me one more time, Im calling the police. Towards the end, an airline employee asks the woman with the man if she intends to stay on the flight. No Im going with him, the woman says. The man then stood up, removed his bags from the storage bin above his seat, and walked out of the plane. Guy freaks out over overhead storage on flight and gets himself kicked off the plane, reads the caption written alongside the video shared on Reddit community Public Freakout by a user Cool_Disaster2484. In the description of the video, the Reddit user wrote, Ironically, he had like four big bags on the overhead bins. I left out the horrendous racist comments he made to the gentleman who put his luggage in the overhead bin. Watch the video shared on Reddit below: The video was shared four days ago on Reddit. Over 8,300 people upvoted this video. Many even took to the comments section of the video to share their thoughts. Check out a few reactions to this video: You pointed your finger at me! (as he points his finger at the flight attendant), posted a Reddit user. Another added, Im surprised he didnt cross his arms and stay in his seat until the cops came. I dont understand what hes so pissy about? His bags are already overhead? Who cares what the guy across the aisle does with his own? expressed a third. A fourth commented, I feel so bad for that flight attendant. Seemed like a very nice person. Doesnt make sense. He was losing his cool about the available space when his stuff was stowed away already? wrote a fifth. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON America is facing a new epidemic, and it's all about the bursting and foaming of watermelons on their own. Numerous people have taken to social media to share pictures and their experiences of watermelons bursting on their own. But why is this happening? Watermelons are reportedly bursting in America. (Unsplash) According to Foodnetwork.com in some regions in the United States, a particular type of bacteria can proliferate within watermelon crops. When this bacteria resides within the watermelon alongside natural sugars and yeast, it triggers a fermentation process. The elevated temperatures prevalent in these areas further create an environment conducive to the growth of this bacteria that eventually leads to an explosion. (Also Read: Is eating watermelon on empty stomach good or bad for you? What a nutritionist says) But fermentation is not the only reason why watermelons explode. Dr. Steve Reiners, a professor of horticulture in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell, told TODAY.com that a bacterial or fungal mold disease can also be a cause of exploding watermelon. Normally the inside of the fruit is protected by the rind, but there are a few diseases that may find their way inside soon after the flower experiences fruit set (bees bringing pollen to the flowers.) Sometimes the part of the fruit where the flower was attached does not close entirely, and a small passage allows the disease to enter. It's likely worse in rainy conditions. According to Reiners, unless the entry hole is completely blocked, the fruit will normally not explode but may start to ooze. Experts believe that it is not safe to have exploded or oozing watermelons. It is also advisable to store watermelons in a cool place. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The organisers of the so-called Khalistan Referendum received a jolt on Sunday as Canadian authorities withdrew their permission to hold voting at a public school after concerns were raised over their promotional materials that featured the image of an AK-47 machine gun. The poster for the referendum had featured both an AK-47 machine gun as well as a kirpan, alongside the image of the school. (Representative Image) The referendum was scheduled for September 10 at the Tamanawis Secondary School in the town of Surrey in British Columbia. However, on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Surrey District School Board said, in a release, that they had cancelled a community rental of one of their schools due to a violation of their rental agreement. The poster for the referendum had featured both an AK-47 machine gun as well as a kirpan, alongside the image of the school. Despite repeated attempts to address the issue, the event organizers failed to remove these concerning images, and materials continued to be posted throughout Surrey and on social media, the release noted. It said the decision had been communicated to the event organisers. As a school district, our primary mission is to provide quality education and support to our students and ensure a safe environment for our school communities. Our agreements, policies and guidelines, including those for rentals, support our district in creating a safe environment for our community. Anyone renting our facilities must adhere to this, the statement added. Maninder Gill, president of the Surrey-based Friends of Canada and India Foundation welcomed the decision on behalf of his organisation. Earlier in the past week, concerned Indo-Canadians, upset over the referendum and a government school being used for the purpose, complained to the school board, that there were posters of Talwinder Singh Parmar pasted all around the school premises. Parmar is considered the mastermind of the terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182, the Kanishka, which claimed 329 lives on June 23, 1985. The letter from Concerned Residents of Surrey also pointed out the image of the AK-47. The School Board, City of Surrey and Provincial Government of BC is answerable to the parents for this day light promotion of gun violence, it said. The issues raised in the letter were out to Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke during an interview with the outlet Surrey Talk Radio on Saturday. Host Ivan Scott said she clarified that the city does not and has never endorsed the Khalistani Movement or referendum activities planned for Tamanawis Secondary School or any other Surrey-controlled premises. Surrey City Council has no legal say in how Surrey School District uses school premises. She also strongly condemned the posters depicting an AK-47 automatic weapon as absolutely unacceptable. India had already reiterated its displeasure over Canadian territory being used for the separatist referendum in a formal communication to Global Affairs Canada, the countrys foreign ministry. While another date for the referendum has not been announced, Sikhs for Justice or SFJ general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun called for a pro-Khalistan element to lock down Indias Consulate in Vancouver on September 8. US President Joe Biden said he was disappointed about reports his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, plans to skip the G-20 summit in New Delhi this week. China's President Xi Jinping (left) and US President Joe Biden I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him, Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Sunday when asked about indications Xi will not join the leaders summit. Biden didnt say where he might next meet with the Chinese president. If Xi doesnt travel to Delhi, he and Biden may have an opportunity to meet in November, when the US hosts the APEC conference in San Francisco. Xi is not planning to travel to the Indian capital for the summit, according to officials familiar with preparations for the meeting who requested anonymity to speak about the planning. The decision comes amid mounting tensions between China and India and is likely to further chill their relations. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the summit in Xis place, according to a person familiar, while another said it would be another yet-to-be-named government official. Biden and Xi last spoke on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November, but any progress was derailed when an alleged Chinese spy balloon crossed the US. The two countries have fundamental disagreements over a range of issues from Taiwan, fueled in part by US lawmakers visiting the island and a trip by Taiwans president to the US, to Bidens export bans on semiconductor technology, reports about Chinese surveillance from Cuba, and the balloon incident. A number of high-level Biden administration officials have traveled to China in recent months, seeking to improve ties, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, climate envoy John Kerry, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The US had expectations that the G-20 meet in India could be the next step to thaw the relationship with China. Biden said last week he hopes that Xi would attend the summit. Iran has shuttered a water park for allowing women entry without the mandatory headscarf, local media reported on Monday. Iran Anti-Hijab Protests: A woman holds a placard with a picture of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini during a protest against her death.(AP) The closure is part of stepped up measures by authorities over the past few months against women and businesses who fail to observe the Islamic republic's strict dress code. "The Mojhaye Khoroushan water park has been closed" since Sunday evening, Fars news agency quoted the complex manager Mohammad Babaei as saying. Babaei said authorities have declared the park's closure due to people's "ignoring chastity and hjiab" rules. Covering the head and the neck has been compulsory for women in Iran since 1983, following the 1979 Islamic revolution. Babaei insisted that the park has "adhered to the law" and regularly warned female visitors to respect the hijab rules. Around 1,000 people working at the park are worried about losing their jobs, Babaei told Fars. The Mojhaye Khoroushan complex -- which spans 60,000 square metres (more than 70,000 square yards) -- is among the largest indoor water parks in the world. It sits on the outskirts of the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, home to the shrine of the eighth Imam of Shiite Islam. Women in Iran have increasingly flouted the dress code since mass protests triggered by the September 16 death in police custody last year of a 22-year-old woman. Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd, was arrested for allegedly breaching the dress rules. As part of efforts to enforce the ban over the past few months, businesses have been closed when they do not adhere to the rules, and cameras have been installed in public places to monitor violations. In July, state media reported increased police patrols aimed at catching those ignoring the law.Rea SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The UN nuclear watchdog said that Iran's estimated stockpile of enriched uranium was down compared to May but it was still more than 18 times the limit set in the 2015 accord. According to a confidential International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 3,795.5 kilograms (8,367.7 pounds) as of August 19, down by 949 kilograms from May, news agency AFP reported. The limit in the 2015 deal was set at 202.8 kilograms. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran Nuclear Deal: The limit in the 2015 deal was set at 202.8 kilograms. (Reuters) This implies that Iran has slowed its enrichment of uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels. This could be used by Iran as it seeks to lower tensions between it and US after years of tensions since the collapse of its 2015 nuclear deal. Till now, Iran has maintained that its program is peaceful, but the IAEA's director-general has warned that Tehran has enough enriched uranium for several nuclear bombs if it chose to build them. Iran likely would still need months to build a weapon, US intelligence agencies said in March but Tehran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device. Meanwhile, the UN nuclear watchdog said that it "regretted" that "no progress" had been made by Iran on several outstanding issues, including installing additional cameras to monitor the country's nuclear programme. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Grossi "requests Iran to work with the agency in earnest and in a sustained way towards the fulfilment of the commitments," the agency said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail Organisers of the so-called Khalistan Referendum received a jolt on Sunday as Canadian authorities withdrew permission to hold voting at a public school. The referendum was scheduled for September 10 at the Tamanawis Secondary School in the town of Surrey in British Columbia. However, a spokesperson for the Surrey District School Board said, in a release, that it had cancelled a community rental of one of our schools due to a violation of our rental agreement". Concerned Indo-Canadians were upset over the referendum and a government school being used for the purpose, (File) The ostensible reason for withdrawing permission was that promotional materials for the event featured images of the school, alongside images of a weapon. The poster for the referendum actually featured both an AK-47 machine gun as well as a kirpan. The poster for the 'Khalistan Referendum' featured both an AK-47 machine gun as well as a kirpan.(Concerned group of Residents, Surrey) Despite repeated attempts to address the issue, the event organizers failed to remove these concerning images, and materials continued to be posted throughout Surrey and on social media, the release noted. It said the decision had been communicated to the event organisers. As a school district, our primary mission is to provide quality education and support to our students and ensure a safe environment for our school communities. Our agreements, policies and guidelines, including those for rentals, support our district in creating a safe environment for our community. Anyone renting our facilities must adhere to this, the statement added. Maninder Gill, president of the Surrey-based Friends of Canada and India Foundation, welcomed the decision on behalf of his organisation. Earlier in the past week, concerned Indo-Canadians, upset over the referendum and a government school being used for the purpose, complained to the school board that there were posters of Talwinder Singh Parmar pasted all around the school premises. Parmar is considered the mastermind of the terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182, the Kanishka, which claimed 329 lives on June 23, 1985. The letter from Concerned Residents of Surrey also pointed out the image of the AK-47. The School Board, City of Surrey and Provincial Government of BC is answerable to the parents for this day light promotion of gun violence, it said. The issues raised in the letter were out to Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke during an interview with the outlet Surrey Talk Radio on Saturday. Host Ivan Scott said she clarified that the city does not and has never endorsed the Khalistani Movement or referendum activities planned for Tamanawis Secondary School or any other Surrey-controlled premises. Surrey City Council has no legal say in how Surrey School District uses school premises. She also strongly condemned the posters depicting an AK-47 automatic weapon as absolutely unacceptable". In a formal communication to Global Affairs Canada, the country's foreign ministry, India had already reiterated its displeasure over Canadian territory being used for the separatist referendum. While another date for the referendum has not been announced, Sikhs for Justice or SFJ general counsel Gurpatwant Pannun called for a pro-Khalistan elements to lock down Indias Consulate in Vancouver on September 8. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON German chancellor Olaf Scholz joked that he was eagerly awaiting reactions from social media after an official photograph showed him wearing an eye patch following a weekend jogging accident. "Excited to see the memes. Thanks for the get-well wishes, looks worse than it is," the chancellor posted on his account on X (formerly known as Twitter). German Chancellor Olaf Scholz with a black eye-pad at the chancellery in Berlin.(AP) Olaf Scholz's face is also visibly scratched in the photo. He will have to wear the eye patch for the next few days and weeks, government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said. The chancellor is set to take part in a Catholic Church event in Berlin and is doing well considering the circumstances, the spokesperson said, adding that Scholz is a regular jogger but he had to cancel his commitments after he fell while running on Saturday. His appointments for the rest of the week are unaffected, the spokesperson said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail A Pakistan navy helicopter crashed in a southwestern city on Monday after suffering a suspected mechanical fault, killing three crew members, the military said. The Sea King aircraft crashed during takeoff at around 10:00 am local time (0500 GMT)(Representational) The helicopter was on a training flight in the port city of Gwadar, in Balochistan province, a navy spokesman said, a region where Islamabad has been battling a separatist insurgency for decades. The Sea King aircraft crashed during takeoff at around 10:00 am local time (0500 GMT), after suffering an engine fire and losing its rear tail, according to a preliminary report shared with AFP by a military source. The accident "possibly attributed to a technical malfunction" killed two officers and one enlisted man, the navy spokesman said. Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province, is heavily militarised owing to huge Chinese investment schemes in the region which are regularly targeted by separatist militants. Last September, six servicemen were killed in the province after their helicopter crashed in the small town of Khost. A month earlier, six more servicemen including one of the army's top commanders were killed when their helicopter crashed during flood relief operations in Balochistan. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China has emerged as America's major competitor in various sectors, in last few years. The Asian giant's meteoric rise and economic development is proving to be a big challenge to USA's hegemony across the globe. Amid the current scenario, multiple cases of trespassing at US military sites in recent years by Chinese nationals, has sparked spying fears among the intelligence agencies including the Defense Department and FBI and other agencies. Representational Image(Getty Images) According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, about 100 incidents involving Chinese nationals trying to access American military and other installations is being investigated by the US intelligence agencies. US officials informed that spying fears are being looked into as the cases involved people crossing into a United States missile range in New Mexico. In another incident, scuba divers were found swimming near a rocket launch site and Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The report said that when caught, many trespassers claimed to be confused tourists who said they had a reservation at an on-base commercial hotel. US Representative Jason Crow weighed in on the situation and said that Congress might consider bringing legislation to improve security measures at the sensitive military sites. Notably, the trespassing laws are currently state and local, not federal. We need to work closely with our state and local partners to train them and equip them. Right now, they dont know how to deal with it, said Crow. The advantage the Chinese have is they are willing to throw people at [intelligence] collection in large numbers, said Emily Harding, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and a former deputy staff director at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as quoted by the New York Post. If a few of them get caught, it will be very difficult for the US government to prove anything beyond trespassing, and those who dont get caught are likely to collect something unusual, added Harding. ALSO READ| Rochester's Labor Day Parade 2023: Timing, route, participants and more Chinese nationals have also attempted to trespass and access unauthorised areas in the White House and former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate. The report said that in many of the cases, officials briefly detained and later deported the Chinese nationals who were found trespassing on military bases. A royal family expert believes that Prince Harry and Meghan won't permanently return to the UK anytime soon as the Duchess of Sussex does not want to curtsy to Prince William's wife. Royal expert Andrew Morton said that the relationship between the Duchess and the Princess of Wales is one of the reasons the Sussexes are likely to continue their life in the United States. Kate Middleton-Meghan Markle: Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are seen. (File) The Sussexes have their own commitments in the United States, the expert claimed adding, "What, and have Meghan Markle curtsying to Kate Middleton? I don't think so. I don't see that as a runner. They've got their own lives in California. They've got their own set, they've got their own influence, and they've got their own companies." The comments come days before Prince Harry is expected to return to the UK to mark the one-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's death. Royal Highnesses bow and curtsy only to majesties, so Meghan Markle would only have to do so to Kate Middleton once the princess becomes Queen. Prince Harry earlier explored Meghan and Kate's fractious relationship in his autobiography Spare, recounting how the princess, pregnant at the time with Prince Louis, said she was owed an apology from Meghan Markle after she said Kate Middleton was suffering from "baby brain" due to her "hormones". Prince Harry shed further light on the row between Kate and Meghan over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress, saying the incident left Meghan "sobbing on the floor". Discussing Prince Harry and William's relationship, the royal expert said that Princess Diana "saw Harry very much as a back up, as a wingman to William in the difficult, lonely job that he will face. Well, that hasn't happened." SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Russia's defence minister has proposed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that their countries hold a naval exercise, along with China, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Monday, citing South Korea's intelligence agency. Russian president Vladimir Putin (AP) Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, celebrated in North Korea as "Victory Day", in July when he met Kim. They attended a defence exhibition featuring North Korea's banned ballistic missiles, North Korean state media reported at the time. Yonhap reported that Shoigu had made the proposal for a three-way naval exercise to Kim during his visit but it provided no details. South Korea's National Intelligence Service told the National Assembly that Shoigu appeared to have held a private meeting with Kim to agree on broad military expansion, Yonhap reported. Read more: Karachi residents likely to face water crisis amid power outage Russia and North Korea have recently called for closer military ties but North Korea has denied having any "arms dealings" with Russia. White House national security spokesman John Kirby told a press briefing last month that Shoigu had tried on his visit to North Korea to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. The United States recently imposed sanctions on three entities it accused of being tied to arms deals between North Korea and Russia. North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006 and had been testing various missiles over recent years but it rarely holds military exercises with its neighbours. The United States and its ally, South Korea, hold regular military exercises, which North Korea denounced as preparations for war against it. Ukraine's top diplomat said that Kyiv had photographic evidence to show that Russian drones struck Romanian territory during an overnight air attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River. Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba made the comment to reporters after a press conference in Kyiv. Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba(Reuters) Russia launched a three-hour overnight drone siege on Izmail, a Ukrainian city on the border with Romania. Some drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory, a member of the NATO alliance, Ukrainian foreign ministry said. Ukraine's air force said it had shot down 23 out of 32 Iranian-made "Shahed" drones launched from Russia and occupied Crimea. The attack followed Russian strikes on another Danube River port, Reni, yesterday, which Romania's foreign minister Luminita Odobescu called a "barbaric attack against civilian targets". "According to Ukraine's state border guard service, last night, during a massive Russian attack near the port of Izmail, Russian 'Shaheds' fell and detonated on the territory of Romania," Ukrainian official Oleg Nikolenko said. "This is yet another confirmation that Russia's missile terror poses a huge threat not only to Ukraine's security, but also to the security of neighbouring countries, including NATO member states." Romania's defence ministry has denied reports that Russian drones fell in its territory contradicting statements by Ukraine's foreign ministry. "The ministry of defence categorically denies information from the public space regarding a so-called overnight situation during which Russian drones would have fallen in Romania's national territory," it said, adding, "At no time did Russia's means of attack generate direct military threats on Romanian national territory or waters." SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea won't be restored until the West meets its obligations to facilitate Russian agricultural exports. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting.(AP) Putin made the statement after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who along with the UN brokered the deal seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. But Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that an agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn't been honoured. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Putin said that if those commitments were honoured, Russia could return to the deal within the nearest days. He also said that Russia is close to finalising an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. The Russian leader added that Russia will ship 1 million metric tons (1.1 million tons) of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries. Since Putin withdrew from the grain initiative, Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. A lot is riding on the talks for the world food supply, and beforehand analysts predicted Putin would drive a hard bargain. My gut feeling is that Putin recognises the leverage he has by using food as an economic weapon, and thus will fight for all he can get in terms of concessions on his wish-list, said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank. Those may include Russia's grains, or fertiliser exports, or wider issues, he said. Data from the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which organised the Ukraine shipments, shows that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China, which received nearly a quarter of the food. The meeting took place against a backdrop of Ukraine's recent counteroffensive against the Kremlin's invasion forces. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Zelenskyy said, without elaborating. Reznikov on Monday published a photo of his resignation letter. In addition to pulling out of the grain deal, Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, where Ukraine's main Black Sea port is. On Monday, the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odea and Dnipropetrovsk regions but did not specify damage caused by the drones that got through. The Turkish president has maintained close ties with Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasn't joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russia's overseas trade. The return of wolves to parts of Europe threatens livestock as well as people, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned, promising a review of the predator's protected status. Wolves had once been hunted almost to extinction in Europe but in the 1950 countries began granting them protected status resulting in their populations to grow in several regions of Europe. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen speaks.(Reuters) "The concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger for livestock and potentially also for humans," Ursula von der Leyen said. She urged local communities, scientists and officials to submit data on wolf numbers and their impact to a European Commission email address. Using this information, the commission will decide on how to modify wolf protection laws "to introduce, where necessary, further flexibility". The president of the European Commission has had a personal experience of the alleged threat posed by wolves. In September 2022, a wolf crept into a paddock on the family's rural property in northern Germany. In the incident, Ursula von der Leyen's elderly pony Dolly was killed, it has been reported. Conservationists have hailed the return of healthier wolf populations to Europe's mountains and forests as the large predator is seen as part of the natural food chain. Under the EU Habitat Directive, first adopted in 1992, the wolf enjoys protected status. The EU chief urged "authorities to take action where necessary," adding, "Indeed, current EU legislation already enables them to do so." SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail A tragedy unfolded at the University of South Carolina as a 20-year-old junior, Nick Anthony Donofrio, lost his life while mistakenly entering the wrong house on his own street early in the morning. Donofrio, who hails from Madison, Connecticut, was discovered lifeless on the front porch of an off-campus residence on South Holly Street. Nicholas Donofrio a junior at The University of South Carolina fatally shot entering wrong house on street; questions on safety and loss of young life arise.(Google Maps) He had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to his upper body at around 2 a.m. on Saturday. The incident occurred just after his parents had helped him move in for his third year of college. Nick was pursuing his kinesiology and exercise science degree at the university. A member of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, he was excited about living with friends in a fraternity house this year. ALSO READ: Murdered South Carolina student may have thought car was her Uber ride: Police Mother of 6-year-old who shot school teacher in US pleads guilty to felony child neglect The police were initially alerted about a possible burglary but were soon informed of shots being fired. When they arrived, they found Donofrio deceased on the porch. The location was approximately two miles away from the university's primary campus. Despite the tragedy, no arrests have been made, and investigations continue. The university said in a statement: Our Student Affairs team is providing resources and support to those who may be affected by this tragedy, and we remind all of our students that help is always available to them. The university offered its condolences and assistance to those impacted by the unfortunate turn of events. According to the City of Columbia police department, the incident unfolded when Donofrio, residing on South Holly Street, mistakenly attempted to enter the wrong house, leading to the fatal shooting. The identity of the person who shot Donofrio has not been disclosed by the police, and it's unclear if any charges have been brought as the ongoing investigation is still in progress. The heartbreaking incident raises questions about safety and vigilance, prompting contemplation of measures to prevent such unfortunate events. The loss of a young life under such circumstances is a reminder of the unexpected turns life can take. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON 60th Anniversary of Gibraltar at the United Nations The Gibraltar National Archives will be holding an exhibition this month to mark the 60th anniversary of the appearance of petitioners from Gibraltar before the United Nations. The exhibition has been curated by Acting Archivist Gerard Wood assisted by the team at the Archives and by volunteers. The exhibition will be formally opened by the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia who is the Minister with responsibility for the Archives. The public will know that the then Chief Minister Sir Joshua Hassan and Opposition Leader Peter Isola first addressed the UN on 19 September 1963. This was the very first time that any elected representative of the people of Gibraltar stated their case before the international organisation. There was a considerable gap until the then Chief Minister Joe Bossano resumed the addresses to the UN in 1992, a practice which was continued by his successors Peter Caruana (who stopped going to the C24 after 2008) and Fabian Picardo. The exhibition will consist of a selection of 210 curated images ranging from photos, documents and press clippings. The objective is to explain how the United Nations came into being post - World War Two and how Gibraltar came to be a subject for the Committee of 24. The exhibits will show how the visit by Peter Isola and Joshua Hassan to the United Nations in New York on the 19th of September 1963 was formative for the Gibraltarians as a people. There will be two hundred panels on display divided into four main themes. Those themes are Crime of the Century, We the Peoples, Self-Determination and Moving Forward. The content also consists of exclusive audio and video footage from 1963, which will be available at the venue. Such content is supported with primary sources belonging to the event in the form of documents and artefacts, which are held at the Gibraltar National Archives. In a foreword to the exhibition booklet, the Deputy Chief Minister says that Sir Joshua Hassan and Peter Isola made history when they addressed the Committee of 24 in September 1963. This was Gibraltar and the Gibraltarians finding their voice on the international stage for the very first time. This exhibition is about the collective journey of a small people seeking the recognition and the exercise of their democratic right to choose, he explained. Dr Garcia added that there will always be a faint glimmer of hope that the United Nations may eventually engage with Gibraltar in order to take forward our eventual decolonisation and delisting. In the meantime, it is our sacred duty to continue knocking on their door, he said. The Government says it is very grateful to Acting Archivist Gerard Wood and to the team who have prepared this exhibition so diligently and professionally. Republican presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy said on Sunday that while he expects to become the party's nominee for the November 2024 US elections, but will vote for Donald Trump if the former president secures the nomination. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy(AP) Appearing on a Sunday talk show, the 38-year-old Indian American entrepreneur also expressed his intention to pardon Trump, who currently faces an array of legal challenges, should he be elected as President of the United States. If Donald Trump's the nominee -- yes, I will support him, and if I'm the president, yes, I will pardon him because that will help reunite the country. But it's not the most important thing I'm going to do as the next president. It is the table stakes for moving this country forward, Ramaswamy told ABC news. Following his impressive performance in the inaugural Republican primary presidential debate last month, Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur-turned-politician, has experienced a surge in popularity, competing alongside fellow Indian American rival Nikki Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina. Ramaswamy is notably the sole Republican presidential hopeful to openly endorse Trump, who is facing multiple charges and is currently out on bail, and his 'America First' policies, including stances on issues like climate change. My bottom line is that I will vote for the person who I think is best positioned to move this country forward. I do not think that's Joe Biden. I do not think that is whichever other puppet, Kamala Harris or anybody else, that they roll out after Joe Biden, he said. Ramaswamy said while he may have disagreements with several of his Republican counterparts on various issues, he firmly believes that any of them would be more effective than Biden or Harris in steering the US towards progress. "That is my arbitrator when I cast my vote for who the next president is -- who's going to serve the interests of the American people? That's not some sort of commitment driven by vengeance or grievance. It is driven by a commitment to our purpose as citizens of this country. Thats what we need to revive in the United States, our civic spirit, remembering that even the 'America First' movement is bigger than Donald Trump. It is bigger than me. It is bigger than one political candidate," he said. Ramaswamy said the 'America First' movement belongs to the people of the US, the same people who still retain the power to elect their next president, and he aims to preserve this system rather than see it replaced by a federal police state determining the nation's leadership, "and I stand by that without apology. Ramaswamy said he is in the US presidential race because he expects to be the Republican nominee and lead the country forward. The Indian American candidate reiterated his opinion that many of the charges against Trump are politically motivated that set a detrimental precedent for the United States. I do not want to see us become a banana republic where the administrative police state uses police force to eliminate opponents from competition. That's not the way it works, he said. by Lydia Stryk Riding the train to the small city of Darmstadt to sleep over with a friend after a day spent at the Frankfurt Book Fair, I observed an impeccably dressed elderly gentleman sitting several rows away from me across the aisle. He wore an elegant calf-length overcoat which men of a certain class in Germany are partial to wearing. His shoes were fine leather and shining. He was tall, with excellent posture, a full mane of white hair and the bluest of eyes, which I noted because they reminded me of my fathers eyes and because they were staring into the beyond behind me. He was in possession of a large expensive-looking wrist watch to which he turned his attention occasionally. And though I could see no evidence of a briefcase, his would have been top of the line. He had, in fact, the air of a publisher of tasteful literary titles on his way home from a successful but tiring day at the fair. And I pictured him the sort who would have attended the fair every year without exception until the pandemic temporarily shut it down and would continue to attend, out of habit, for as long as he was able. Perhaps, he was the scion of a publishing empire, I told myself, a fitting story. It had been a long day, and I was happy to be on the train. Nothing else about the day had been happy, so eventually my mind wandered away from the old man to my own state of affairs. I was cold and hungry and admittedly forlorn, none of this conducive to conjecture and true curiosity. I closed my eyes. And that is when a certain commotion broke out on the until-that-moment quiet and peaceable train. Concerned womens voices could be heard, and I opened my eyes to find the concern centered around the elegant elderly man. My station was approaching and though readying to disembark, I was able to make out the following: The elderly gentleman had apparently turned to his seat companion and asked her where the train was heading and if she could tell him where he was. Upon questioning, it became clear that he did not know where he wanted to go. The literary lion of my imagination had presumably boarded a train with no direction or purpose and was lost. Leave it to women to take a lost man under their wing. The group now hovering over him had made the decision to call ahead to the next large station and put him back on a train to Frankfurt. But the Darmstadt stop had arrived, and I left him to his fate. * Picture a convention center of the kind insulting the landscape across the globe; three floors of cavernous, windowless, inescapable halls times three and in each hall of three floors, an arcane numerical system guiding visitors through the jerry-built stands and small stages. A dreary courtyard containing a tented area and an assortment of unsavory food trucks complete the picture. Imagine books confronting you at every turn; an assault of books and images of books plastered on temporary walls, a glut of titles and blurbs, glaring book covers and the uncomfortable photographs of writers blown up out of all proportion, monstrous and seemingly troubled by their surroundings; and the books, themselves, splayed across folding tables and crammed into temporary shelving from floor to ceiling; replaceable and worthless if the sellers fail to convince the buyers otherwise. Cast your eyes from the books and observe the people of the fair. The trades persons, slightly dominated in numbers by women. You might be surprised by their appearance. The clothes are chic with just the right touch of the casual. Designer outfits and gym shoes abound. Armani jackets and jeans. Then spot yourself in a mirror, frayed cuffs hidden under a borrowed jacket (but your sneakers are new). Backpack hoisted on your shoulders, worn by time and use. And inside that backpack, several copies of your novel, recently published in the US by a small press, but you are greedy for a larger audience. It is your goal to convince UK and German editors and publishers to take a lookbut why stop there? Publishers from the world over are here and the world is your oyster. But what on earth were you thinking? The buyers and sellers, otherwise known as editors, publishers, as well as press reps, directors of rights and agents are huddled in animated discussions at small tables wherever you turn. Enthusiasm for the latest titles dominates the aisles, broken only by the unabated schedule of appointments. The writer observes a slight hysteria behind the veneer and the occasional sign of exhaustion. Everyone here is very busy with no time to lose with one true goal in mind survival. Unspoken but palpable is the underlying dread that the publishing industry is near collapse. Given the lightening-speed changes in technology as well as the surge in indie publishing, to say that the traditional book business is under stress is an understatement. And here is the point where I must disappoint my readers. Because to tell you the truth, to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what the book people were saying to each other. Try as hard as I might to listen in, they keep their tones hushed and just below the reach of curious ears; a presumably practiced tone of secrecy. My hunch from the snatches I was able to garner is that books are discussed like any other product at a market. But I cant tell you more than that. Because the combined loudness of all of these quietly held secretive conversations in the echoing halls is deafening. Pity the poor authors, then, who are scheduled by their publishers for a reading slot at one of the innumerable reading nooks across the fair. The readers do their best but you just cant compete with the overwhelming din and bustle. Whether cookbook authors or poets, fantasy writers or historians, they all share one overriding trait, that of looking utterly miserable and out of place, and they disappear from their half-hour turn, shoulders hunched, defeated. Its painful to witness but at least it is recognizable. Very different from the hyperbole of sales pitching and gung-ho presentation surrounding them. You are witnessing the human condition of humiliation but its comfortingly human, nonetheless. Its not that I hadnt been warned. I had been warned not to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair by everyone with any knowledge of the book industry. A pained expression crossed their brows when I mentioned my plan. It isnt for writers, they said. Dont go with any expectations, they urged. And yet, large as life on the book fair website, writers are invited (for a small fortune) to attend the first three professional days of the book fair before it is opened to the general public.* And so I chose not to heed the warnings. A certain cockiness or desperation propelled me towards my own annihilation, as Freud might speculate. I had written a novel, after all, and writing it had taken years of my life. Surely it was worthy of attention. * A little background. The Frankfurt Book Fair is the biggest international book marketplace in the world. Beth Driscoll and Claire Squires, two scholars of the publishing world who have written a playful analysis of the fair, have described it as the most important date on the publishing calendar. The industry gathers there once a year chiefly to buy and sell book rights. In 2022, the Fair boasted (according to their website): 93,000 trade visitors from 121 countries, 6,400 media representatives from 63 countries, 4,000 exhibitors from 95 countries, 2,330 events for trade visitors and the general public, 1,608 rights-selling companies on Frankfurt Rights from 135 countries and 170,834 titles on Frankfurt Rights. Perhaps a few of you are as overwhelmed by these figures as I am. I can tell you that Frankfurt Rights is the licensing company owned and operated by the Book Fair, itself, though agencies in the US and China both own minor shares. I can tell you this because it is on their website, not because I understand it. As a writer, I should brush up on the issue of book rights, some of you might be thinking. Its shameful how little creatives understand their own business, I hear you saying. And while were on the subject, you cant help pointing out, its hard and often thankless work selling literature, cut us some slack. The Fair is also quite a party, if you can believe the stories. Driscoll and Squires, who went undercover as journalists at the fair, have described its carnivalesque quality after participating in after-hour events and parties, the most excessive of which are sponsored by the biggest publishers. Invitations and attendance, what else is new, are intimately linked to the circles of influence and power. Partying, then, is a crucial element of Buchmesse buzzness, they tell us. Most interesting is their observation that the book fair buzz at parties is around the cool publishers or literary agencies, rather than around individual books or their authors. Books and writers are apparently tossed to the wind after hours. As for the Book Fairs history, according to Peter Weidhaas, who ran the Frankfurt Book Fair for twenty-five years and has written an historical account, it appears that Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, attended in 1454. But even before the printed word, evidence suggests that hand-written texts were bought and sold there going back at least to 1370. But it doesnt stop there. Weidhaas can point to the sale of books at a fair in the city dating back to the twelfth century! And the Frankfurt Book Fair comes and goes over the centuries, influenced by wars and plagues and politics and cultural rivalries and rises out of the ashes of the book burnings that consumed Germany starting on May 10th of 1933that mad, calculated act to cleanse Germany of Jewish and progressive thought (because books are ideas in the end) set in motion by Adolf Hitler, who himself was an avid even obsessive reader (as well as popular author), it turns out, of virulent pseudo-scientific literature by antisemites and racists, among them eugenicists and purveyors of the occult, whose works have been best-sellers over the ages and the primary influencers of some of our darkest chapters since the advent of literature, a fact that cant be overlooked when we think about booksellers and books. The Book Fair rose out of the ashes, as I said, in 1949, in a newly democratic West Germany, bent on a new start (and a certain distancing and forgetting, as some critics describe it) with fresh democratic impulses and a euphoric culture of debate and has continued its steadfast international path through times of bloody wars and student revolts, the Red Army Fraction and reunification, cultural tumult without end and a new plague, to this day. But perhaps it is best to let the Fair speak for itself as to how it views itself today, its importance and its values. Our Values Frankfurter Buchmesse is a meeting place for publishers, authors, literature and culture fans from all over the world [and]thrives on the diversity and internationality of its exhibitors and visitors, as well as the exchange among these in an open dialogue. Our Code of Conduct Frankfurter Buchmesse stands for respect, diversity and tolerance. We celebrate our wide range of different participants whom we engage at eye level in open dialogue. Learn about our rules for an appreciative atmosphere of collaboration at the fair. * If you are a writer attending the Frankfurt Book Fair with the hope of talking to the book people, be prepared to outsmart or charge past the mostly stylish young women gatekeepers posted like sentries at the entrance to the larger publishers presentation stalls. Otherwise, youre not going to get very far. You wont meet a single professional. However, it is my experience that if you attempt a break-through or happen to catch an individual off-guard you might meet a number of them with the following success. The following three instances sum up my experience of attending the Frankfurt Book Fair pretty well. I have mentioned how full the schedules appeared, how busy meeting each other everybody was, but walking the halls, I noticed a man sitting alone at the table of a respected world press. I took my chance. In a sea of white faces on the European floor, this rotund man had an air of jollity and appeared to be of non-European descent. Most promising of all, he did not look away when I approached. Buoyed on, I asked him if I could sit down and talk to him for a moment at which he mumbled something I took to be a yes. I sat down on the hard chair and introduced myself, taking my book out of my backpack at the same time and began to tell this receptive man why I thought my novel might be worthy of a world publisher. To give credit where credit is due, he listened, to a point. And then with a polite if cooling demeanour, he slowly and carefully told me this: You are wasting my time and you are wasting your time. Nothing you say to me will help you publish your novel and then this: You are the eighth writer who has approached me about their book this morning. Eight writers before lunch! This was news, indeed! I wasnt alone. I swallowed hard, unsure how to take this new piece of information. Had I really assumed I was the only writer to have shown up at the fair? As we were still seated, and I still appeared to have his ear, I let the book professional know that it was important for writers to come and to be heard and perhaps among the eight was a book that was worthy of his attention. But by then he was standing up and stretching his hand out warmly to greet his next appointment. In less than an instant, I had been wiped clean from his consciousness. I have not mentioned that it was a big day in British political history. By early afternoon, the news filtered in that Liz Truss had just resigned! I took this as a chance to address various UK book people I was passing on my continual rounds of the book fair hallsand with some success. The British at the fair were variously euphoric at the quick and sudden demise of this unpopular prime minister and willing to exchange a word or two. I spied a woman seated alone at a table with a friendly expression and sauntered over to offer my congratulations, and we had a healthy human exchange about the state of British politics. She even let slip that she was an associate publisher at the important press whose stall she was seated in, and so I took my chance and mentioned that I was a writer and wondered if I could at which point she lifted her hand in front of my face in a gesture I hope to forget one day and cried out Stop!. Indeed, I was stopped by the shock of the gesture. Dont say anymore, she went on, theres no reason for you to continue. I will not look at your book, and I am sorry if this seems unfriendly, but you have to understand. But you seemed so friendly I managed, near tears. I am sorry, she said, lifting her shoulders with a sigh, ushering me out of her space. You might assume I would have given up by now, but sometimes sheer demoralization spurs you on to dig an even deeper hole in your self-worth. I stopped off at the stall of another well-known and discriminating smallish press where someone I took to be an editor (something about her glasses and proprietary manner) was seated in a meeting with a presumable buyer. Their talk appeared to be coming to an end. I went through the motions of studying the shelves of books and the publishers fancy catalogue, though my heart wasnt in it, and waited for the buyer to disappear. Alone at last in the stall with the editor, I introduced myself as a writer and asked her if I might take a moment of her time. Her response was swift and not friendly, at all, which in some way set her apart from the others. Im not here to talk to writers, she said, glancing in my general direction. Thats not what were doing here. Theres a protocol for that and you can find it on our website. Im sorry but I have another appointment. She turned back to her laptop and that might have been the end of it, but I had reached my limit. You wouldnt be here without us, I murmured. There is a time and place for everything, she answered, without looking up, and this isnt it. At which point, I gave up, gave in, succumbed to the reality I was facing. I had made a dreadful mistake, broken a taboo, committed a crime. The double crime of hubris and naivety. The relief I felt at this epiphany was immense. I treated myself to a wildly over-priced ice cream and let myself be shooed away like a fly by stylish gatekeepers at several of the larger presses with a laugh and a knowing nod. *** *Since writing this piece, the Frankfurt Book Fair has for the first time placed a cautionary note to writers who attend the fair on their website. I like to think my presence may have played a small part. Hampton by Hilton Budapest City Centre is a short walk from some of the city's mustsee sightseeing destinations. Hampton by Hilton Budapest City Centre opens its doors to guests - the debut Hampton by Hilton hotel to open in Hungary, located in downtown Budapest City Centre. Alongside 219 stylish and comfortable guest rooms, the hotel features a fitness centre and a lobby bar, giving visitors the opportunity to unwind after a long day exploring the vibrant city. Bedrooms have been designed to incorporate some of the brand's recently refreshed design principles. Vibrant colours and modern artwork can be seen throughout the interiors and flexible social spaces offer opportunity to work and meet during the day or socialize in the evening, including meeting spaces available for bookings, as well as on-site parking and EV charging for guest use. Guests can start their day with a free hot breakfast, featuring the brand's famous waffles, which is always included in the price of the stay, as well as complimentary Wi-Fi. Hampton team members are always on hand to deliver the exceptional stay that customers deserve, with a special focus on friendly and thoughtful service. TIME Magazine announced Budapest as 'One of the World's Greatest Places' in 2023, and Hampton by Hilton Budapest City Centre's downtown location is perfect for sightseers and guests visiting the must-see destination. Iconic local landmarks including St. Stephen's Basilica, Parliament and Hungarian State Opera are all less than a ten-minute walk away and foodies can indulge in culinary delights and local delicacies with a host of restaurants, all within walking distance. The famous luxury shopping destination Andrassy Avenue and Westend Shopping Center are just a few minutes away from the hotel and there are several public transport networks nearby, including Arany Janos metro station, which is a 2-minute walk away, and the Danube port just a short walk from the hotel. Hampton by Hilton Budapest City Centre is also part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest loyalty program for Hilton's 22 distinct hotel brands. Members who book directly have access to instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that allows members to choose nearly any combination of Points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount, free standard Wi-Fi and the Hilton Honors mobile app. Book direct at Hilton.com, through the Hilton Honors app or through other official Hilton channels for more benefits and a price match guarantee. Hilton Honors members can redeem Points using the Points Explorer tool. Hampton by Hilton Budapest City Centre is located at Dessewffy Street 7-11, Budapest 1066. For more information, or to make a reservation, travelers may visit Hampton by Hilton Budapest City Centre or call +36 1 211 3050. The property is owned by Long Bridge Dessewffy utca Kf and managed by Hilton. Hotel website Hotelschool The Hague is proud to announce the appointment of Rogier Busser as Dean and member of the Board of Directors, effective 1 October 2023. As Dean, he will be responsible for education and research. His appointment marks a great start of the new academic year. Mr Busser has over 20 years of experience in various academic management positions at research universities and universities of applied sciences. He is currently Dean of the Amsterdam School of International Business (AMSIB) at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA). He is also visiting professor at Thammasat University Bangkok, Thailand and research fellow at Leiden University. He brings extensive leadership experience and is passionate about business, economics and culture. Busser has studied Economics and Asian studies in Leiden and Kyoto, Japan. He has been a lecturer and researcher at Leiden University. Apart from that, he has also been in several administrative positions such as director of international relations (Faculty of Humanities, Leiden), managing director of the Leiden University College in The Hague, and programme director for International Business Studies at the Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS). View the website of Hotelschool The Hague. Hotelschool The Hague The Hague Netherlands, The Website Adagio, the European leader in aparthotels, announces the arrival of Virginie Barboux as Senior Vice-President of Customers and Marketing, member of the management committee. She specifically takes charge of management of the Communication, Marketing, Customer Experience, CSR and Design functions of the company. Adagio's mission is to support the "Next Adagio" strategic growth plan as it continues its development in France and internationally. With more than 20 years of experience, Barboux aims to strengthen the reputation and brand image of Adagio with its audiences. Along with optimising the journey and the customer experience both in establishments and digitally to support the ambitious plan of renovation and openings, and to implement the raison d'etre of the sign, "Making life in the city more beautiful". Holder of a Dess in Business Communication, Interculturality and New Technologies, Virginie Barboux began her career in the retail sector and moved on to industry. She worked in the Personal Insurance and Wealth Management market for 15 years, where she notably contributed to the launch of the Skandia life insurance platform on the French market. Following this, she became the Marketing and Communication Director and then Director Management and Partner Relations for the long-term savings subsidiary, Vie Plus within Suravenir, Credit Mutuel Arkea group. After an experience in headhunting, Virginie Barboux moved into the hotel industry in 2016 and joined Best Western Hotels & Resorts as Deputy CEO, in charge of Communication, Digital and Customer Experience. In this capacity, she was a member of the Executive Committee for France and the Maghreb as well as a member of the Marketing Functional Team of the group internationally. As part of HSMAIs Commercial Strategy Week in Toronto, HSMAI hosted a roundtable for ownership executives. Through insightful discussions, industry leaders identified five key challenges and shared strategies to navigate through them. 1. Talent Acquisition and Development Challenge: One of the foremost concerns shared by participants revolved around talent acquisition and development in revenue management roles. The industry seeks individuals with a rare combination of analytical prowess and effective communication skills. Ensuring a pipeline of qualified talent remains a pressing worry, prompting the need to foster career growth and nurture rising stars. Strategy: To address this, hotels and management companies can invest in talent development programs, mentorship initiatives, and attractive career advancement opportunities. By creating a conducive environment for growth, the industry can attract and retain the best minds in revenue management. 2. Revenue Management Challenge: Participants also emphasized the importance of focusing on both revenue and profitability. While driving revenue is crucial, it should not come at the expense of overall profitability. The concern lies in ensuring revenue teams understand the financial implications of their decisions, striking a balance between revenue optimization and sustainable financial success. Strategy: By integrating financial training into revenue management programs, industry professionals can equip revenue teams with a comprehensive understanding of financial performance. This alignment ensures decisions are data-driven and contributes to the long-term financial health of the organization. 3. Technology Challenge: The ever-evolving technology framework in the hospitality industry poses a formidable challenge. Integrating various technologies can be complex, placing a burden on frontline employees. The participants expressed concerns about the juggling act of handling multiple technologies simultaneously, impacting operational efficiency. Strategy: To address this, hotels and management companies can invest in comprehensive training for employees to enhance their tech-savviness. Additionally, implementing user-friendly and interconnected technologies can streamline processes and minimize the strain on staff, fostering a more efficient and seamless operation. 4. Safety and Security Challenge:Safety and security concerns have become paramount. Roundtable attendees worry about the well-being of both staff and guests, highlighting the need for robust safety measures and protocols. Strategy: The industry must prioritize safety and security by investing in advanced security technologies, enhanced staff training, and proactive risk assessments. By instilling a culture of safety and vigilance, hotels can offer guests peace of mind and create a secure environment for all. 5. Career Growth and Development Challenge: Participants expressed concerns about the limited career growth opportunities within hotels and management companies. Addressing wage pressures and finding ways to offset increased labor costs emerged as crucial focal points for industry professionals. Strategy: By offering competitive compensation packages and implementing incentive-based structures, hotels can attract top talent and reduce employee turnover. Moreover, providing clear pathways for career advancement and continuous professional development can instill a sense of loyalty and dedication among staff. The executives gathered from ownership group executives certainly are facing their share of challenges, but they also recognize and are hopeful about the opportunities for progress and growth. Thank you to the companies sponsoring this roundtable Dragonfly Strategists and MyDigitalOffice. This Roundtable was attended by ownership groups such as Apple REIT Hospitality, Ohana Real Estate Group, Park Hotels, Summit Hotel Properties, and Trinity Investments. HSMAI hosts this unique by-invitation only forum annually for executives from ownership groups who specialize in a commercial role at their company. If you are interested in being invited next year, please email Bob Gilbert. About HSMAI The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) is committed to growing business for hotels and their partners and is the industry's leading advocate for intelligent, sustainable hotel revenue growth. The association provides hotel professionals and their partners with tools, insights, and expertise to fuel sales, inspire marketing, and optimize revenue through programs such as the Marketing Strategy Conference, Adrian Awards, Sales Leader Forum, and HSMAI ROC. Founded in 1927, HSMAI is a membership organization comprising more than 5,000 members worldwide, with 40 chapters in the Americas Region. Connect with HSMAI at hsmai.org. View source Hotelschool The Hague is proud to announce the appointment of Rogier Busser as Dean and member of the Board of Directors, effective 1 October 2023. As Dean, he will be responsible for education and research. His appointment marks a great start of the new academic year. We trust that Rogiers profound expertise and knowledge will greatly contribute to the success of our students, educational excellence, and research programmes of Hotelschool The Hague. With his expertise in cross-cultural collaboration and internationalisation of higher education, we believe he can make a great contribution to our community. Roeland Vos, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hotelschool The Hague Mr Busser has over 20 years of experience in various academic management positions at research universities and universities of applied sciences. He is currently Dean of the Amsterdam School of International Business (AMSIB) at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA). He is also visiting professor at Thammasat University Bangkok, Thailand, and research fellow at Leiden University. He brings extensive leadership experience and is passionate about business, economics, and culture. Busser has studied Economics and Asian studies in Leiden and Kyoto, Japan. He has been a lecturer and researcher at Leiden University. Apart from that, he has also been in several administrative positions such as director of international relations (Faculty of Humanities, Leiden), managing director of the Leiden University College in The Hague, and programme director for International Business Studies at the Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS). By sharing my experiences in higher education and research with the learning community at the Hotelschool The Hague, I aim to contribute to the further growth of this prestigious institution. ROGIER BUSSER Nina de Graaf +31 62331 6589 Hotelschool The Hague View source WASHINGTON Leaders of top hotel industry groups, including the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers, and the Latino Hotel Association released the below statements on the second annual National Hotel Employee Day. Employees are the lifeblood of every hotel, and we created National Hotel Employee Day to help thank Americas nearly two million hotel professionals for their incredible service and dedication. Today and throughout the year, we are proud to celebrate hotel employees and their important work. From wedding receptions to family reunions and vacations, our workforce helps create some of Americans most important memories. And with hotel pay, benefits, flexibility, and upward mobility all at near-historic levels, theres never been a better time to start a hotel career. AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers Americas travel and tourism industry doesnt work without millions of dedicated hotel employees, and today is an opportunity to recognize all of their hard work. AAHOA Members employ more than 1 million employees across the U.S., and the hotel industry depends on these energetic and hardworking team members who work day in and day out to ensure smooth operations and make the guest experience unforgettable. We thank these hardworking professionals and hope you also find time to thank a hotel employee today. AAHOA President & CEO Laura Lee Blake The second annual National Hotel Employee Day is a chance to thank the millions of hotel employees who are facilitating Americas vibrant travel industry. We at NABHOOD are grateful for hotel employees professionalism and drive and glad to see the country honor them with this day of recognition. National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers President, CEO, and Founder Andy Ingraham Employees are the cornerstone of an enjoyable hotel stay, and were proud to recognize Americas nearly two million hotel professionals this National Hotel Employee Day and all year long. Americas hotel employees are the backbone of our industry, and we salute their professionalism, dedication, and hospitality. Latino Hotel Association President & CEO Lynette Montoya AHLA and the National Day Calendar established National Hotel Employee Day in 2022 to honor the nearly two million employees who work in the hotel industry. It is observed annually on September 1. To learn more about National Hotel Employee Day, visit www.ahla.com/day About the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) is the sole national association representing all segments of the U.S. lodging industry. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AHLA focuses on strategic advocacy, communications support and workforce development programs to move the industry forward. Learn more at www.ahla.com. International visitors to the U.S. love to shop and spend money at stores across the country. In fact, according to NTTOs Survey of International Travelers (SIAT), more than 80% of overseas travelers reported that they engaged in shopping, more than any other activity. The U.S. wasand remainsthe single most popular destination for shopaholics according to a recent WTTC report. In an age when online shopping has replaced many in-person purchases at diverse U.S. businesses throughout the country, the full returnand continued growthof inbound travel is critical for numerous U.S. retailers. By the Numbers: In 2019, shopping accounted for 21% of overseas visitor spending according to NTTOs SIAT survey. Based on that, we estimate that overseas travelers contributed nearly $25 billion in valuable sales for American retail companies and export income for the U.S. economy.1 Japan ranked highest in terms of retails share of total travel spending in the U.S. (35%), as well as total retail spending during visits to the U.S., which we estimate at about $2.8 billion in 2019. China ranked second-highest in terms of our estimates for total retail spending ($2.6 billion). What else: Retail spending by international visitors does not only benefit American companies and workers, but also helps U.S. taxpayers and communities via sales taxes that foreign shoppers pay in most states. An example: New York City typically attracts more than a quarter of all overseas visitors. International visitors spent about $4.4 billion in New York City on retail shopping in 2019. That equated to almost $400 million in sales taxes. 2 When we estimate total sales taxes paid by all overseas shoppers in the U.S., we found that overseas visitors contributed $1.9 billion to state and local economies via sales taxes in 2019. Total international visitors including Mexicans and Canadianscontributed well over $2 billion. Why this matters: The slow return of overseas travelers has been difficult on U.S. retailers who rely on their spending. In 2022, overseas retail spending was at roughly half of pre-pandemic levels, a loss of $12 billion. With overseas travel only 73% recovered so far in 2023, we are on track to see an additional loss of more than $6 billion in retail spending this year. Go deeper: Many U.S. retailers have disclosed that the still-slow return of overseas visitation has been noticeably hurting sales. Just last week, Macys pointed out that international visitors, which used to account for 3-4% of total sales, now account for less than 2%. The company has invested heavily in its flagship locations in order to attract high-spending overseas visitors, and ittogether with retailers at major tourist destinations throughout the countryis eager for the complete return of inbound travel. The U.S. economy, in conjunction with its retailers, taxpayers, workers and businesses, is in need of a full return of the lucrative overseas travel market. 1. This estimate focuses on overseas travelers, which have the highest share of retail spending and which are furthest behind. It is based on survey data from NTTO, which highlights the share of retail spending (available only for Overseas countries) and spending data from the BEA. The value of total international visitor retail spending in the U.S. in 2019, including Canada and Mexico, according to WTTC was $35 billion, though that is calculated differently. 2. This calculation, which includes spending by Canadians and Mexicans, is based on international spending data for NYC provided in this report, a NYC retail share of 19% (from NTTO) and a city sales tax rate of 8.875%. Greg Staley U.S. Travel Association WorldVue, formerly known as World Cinema, Inc., is a trusted provider of video, advanced connectivity and professional services to properties and enterprises on a global basis. With a dedication to customer service, WorldVue leads the way in delivering innovative technology solutions that enhance the resident, guest, and staff experience. From managed services to digital transformation, WorldVue is a single point of contact for all of a propertys technology needs. Founded in 1974, WorldVue is a privately held company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company serves over 7,000 properties with nearly 900,000 rooms under management. OpenAIs strategic collaboration with Microsoft is widely perceived as a remarkable achievement, with the release of ChatGPT last year not only seeing resounding success but also sparking fresh conversations and opportunities around AI. Nonetheless, OpenAI now grapples with the double-edged sword of its alliance with the industry titan, triggering both favorable outcomes and challenges, according to GlobalData. GlobalDatas latest report, In Focus: Generative AI Watch: Large Language Models (LLMs), reveals that OpenAIs relationship with Microsoft seems to be hitting a rocky period. Not only is Microsoft Azure locked in as OpenAIs cloud provider, but Microsoft also plans to sell a new version of data firm Databricks software that helps customers make AI apps for their businesses, placing it in direct competition against OpenAIs offerings. Furthermore, Microsofts forthcoming AI-driven collaborative software, Copilot, will also compete with ChatGPT Premium. Beatriz Valle, Technology Analyst at GlobalData, comments: Microsoft Azure is OpenAIs exclusive cloud provider, powering workloads across research, products, and API services. This arrangement restricts OpenAIs ability to partner with other public cloud providers, as its competitors have done. In addition, despite revenue growth from the premium ChatGPT release, substantial operational costs have rendered OpenAI increasingly dependent on financial benefactors. The potential internal competition is particularly troubling for OpenAI. For example, OpenAI customers currently paying $20 per month for the premium version of ChatGPT may decide to opt for the $30-worth version of Copilot by Microsoft when it is released. Valle continues: OpenAI has just released a powerful enterprise version of ChatGPT, targeting market expansion. However, Microsofts continuous introduction of OpenAI-driven business solutions on Azure, including Bing Chat Enterprise, poses a challenge. Microsofts strategy to seamlessly integrate Copilot with Office365 is appealing to its users. The overlap in AI offerings might prompt some of OpenAIs clientele to consider Microsofts integrated alternatives, potentially leading to customer migration. Despite these challenges, OpenAI has been seeing some growth. Its solutions have been adopted by Duolingo, Morgan Stanley, the government of Iceland, Be My Eyes, Waymark, and Stripe. In addition, OpenAI has made GPT-3.5 Turbo available for businesses to fine tune using their proprietary data and has just released an enterprise version of ChatGPT. Valle concludes: OpenAI finds itself in an unenviable position, both collaborating and competing against its powerful backer, Microsoft. However, it is still early days in the generative AI market, and it will take some time to gauge the level of adoption of offerings such as ChatGPT Enterprise. In the meantime, OpenAI remains in a somehow vulnerable position due to revenue imbalances resulting from the massive spend of its cloud computing usage. Melia Hotels International has announced that its recently appointed Chief Financial Officer, Sonia Jerez Burdeus, is stepping down from her role due to personal reasons. Thanking Jerez for her services, the Mallorca-based group has announced the appointment of Angel Luis Rodriguez Mendizabal, Vice President of Joint Ventures and Portfolio Management in the Real Estate Area, as the new Chief Financial Officer. Angel Luis Rodriguez, who has a solid track record in the company, joined the group in 2004. Before that, he held various positions in Financial Management and Project Development in different companies within the hotel industry, both in Spain and abroad. This appointment has been approved by the Appointments, Remuneration and Sustainability Committee of the company's Board of Directors. In line with this change and following the current structure of the Senior Executive Team and the Company's Strategic Plan - focused on digital transformation - the Company is also merging the Information Technology (IT) Department, which until now was part of the Finance Area, with the Digitalisation Department, which is part of the Strategy Area. From now on, both will report to the Chief Strategy Officer, Carlos Gonzalez. According to Melia's Chairman and CEO, Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, Appointing Angel Luis Rodriguez as the new CFO brings a combination of the company's culture and values and a comprehensive knowledge of the organisation and its financial needs, both in terms of the group and its key partners in the different joint ventures. He also has broad expertise in the real estate market and a thorough understanding of all aspects of the business and corporate areas. He is highly regarded in the market and the financial and real estate fields. And so, we would like to thank Sonia Jerez for having been part of our executive team and are thrilled to welcome the Company's new Chief Financial Officer." by Steve Gimbel and Gwydion Suilebhan Harry Frankfurt, who died of congestive heart failure this July, was a rare academic philosopher whose work managed to shape popular discourse. During the Trump years, his explication of bullshit became a much used lens through which to view Trumps post-truth political rhetoric, eventually becoming deeply associated with liberal politics. Ironically, the original target of Frankfurts argument was an earlier post-truth movement: postmodernism, which became the heart of liberal political correctness in the 1980s and 1990s. Interestingly, that shift from a liberal to a conservative target illustrates the way in which postmodern machinery has infiltrated politics. On On Bullshit Frankfurt had an illustrious career as a philosopher, but his immortality rests on a cute and clever argument he published in his most famous piece, On Bullshit. In it, Frankfurt distinguishes between lying and bullshitting. Liars intentionally deceive, believing they know the truth and working to keep ownership of it to themselves. Bullshitters, on the other hand, are perfectly happy to convey the truth as long as doing so serves their pragmatic rhetorical goals. Bullshitters want you to believe something and are comfortable using either truth OR lies to shape your views. Given that distinction, it seems at first glance that bullshitters are preferable to liars because they sometimes speak truthfully. In a clever twist, however, Frankfurt argues that bullshitters are actually worse than liars. While liars are wrong to try to deceive people, the fact that they hoard the truth for themselves illustrates that they understand and are committed to its value. Bullshitters, on the other handwho treat truth and lies the samedeny the privileged status we ought to afford the truth. As such, On Bullshit makes clear, we overlook the danger of bullshitters at our peril. During the Trump years, Frankfurts technical use of the otherwise crude term bullshit became the stuff of mainstream journalism. The application of Frankfurts argument to the claims of the former President appeared in discussions in the Washington Post, Atlantic, New Republic, Time, CNN, Vox, Daily Beast, and even Psychology Today. Truth in the Public Sphere Jurgen Habermas argued that for democracy to work, there needs to be a public sphere in which the population comes together to rationally set out the needs of the society and openly debate the best way to address them. Democracy does not need agreement; acrimonious debate is natural and healthy. We want a range of different viewpoints on how to take the truths of the world and use them to shape policy to create a better society. Unless we can agree on those truths of the world, however, a good faith discussion isnt possible. When administration spokesperson Kellyanne Conway tried to justify the fact that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer lied during a press briefing by saying he was simply providing alternative facts, she wasnt just defending Spicer. She was establishing an official stance on the nature of truth. Conway was acting as a bullshitter, and thanks to Frankfurt, we knew why. He was rightly celebrated for his insight, and in short order, that celebration cemented in the public mind an association between liberal accusations of bullshit and conservative political rhetoric. Old School Bullshit While the shoe may have fit during the Trump administration, Frankfurt cobbled together his conceptual scheme much earlier, during the mid-1980s: the heyday of postmodernism and the dawn of the age of political correctness. At that time, philosophy was experiencing a civil war between two rival approaches: analytic and Continental philosophy. Analytic philosophers, like Frankfurt, argued in favor of a scientific approach to understanding the world, one in which objective truth can be uncovered by a combination of logic and science. The job of the philosopher, in this worldview, is to provide a rigorous analysis of language and of the ways of reasoning that allow us to differentiate between truth and falsity. On Bullshit is a classic example of this approach, wherein terms (like bullshit) that have slippery meanings in ordinary language are rigorously defined and then shown to have the power to help more clearly understand the world. Continental philosophy, by contrast, doubted the existence of objective truth, arguing that reality is constructed by political power. The reason we wrongly believe some claims are objectively true, their reasoning goes, is not because they are true but because we are forced to believe they are by the powers that be. According to Continental philosophy, those so-called objective truths are the basis of a world built to reify the power of the powerful. They are only considered objective to make sure no one challenges them. Theyre a tool to ensure that the voices of women, people of color, LGBTQ scholars, and the members of religious minorities continue to be suppressed, their truths denied. Continental philosophers rejected science and objectivity to create an intellectual foundation for their liberation. They considered the sort of linguistic analysis Frankfurt trafficked in to be a weapon of systemic oppression. Finding meaning in life, according to the Continentals, requires an aesthetic sensibility, not a scientific one. During the 1980s and 1990s, their intellectual approach migrated from the philosophy department to sociology, political science, history, and eventually most of the humanities and social sciences as well. Social constructivismthe postmodernist position that truths are created by social structures, rather than objective facts discovered by observationbecame the most important buzz phrase in literary criticism. Frankfurts Radical Decision That shift explains why Frankfurts decision to publish his essay in Raritan, a literary journalrather than in a traditional philosophical outlet, safe in his analytic homelandwas such a radical act. Frankfurts piece was playful enough that it seemed innocuous, but On Bullshit was a work of analytic philosophy deployed behind enemy lines. Moreover, it wasnt just a random work of linguistic analysis. It cut to the heart of the disagreement between analytic and Continental thought. It attacked those who did not believe in the power of truth, objective truth. Frankfurt walked straight into a Continental stronghold and called the foundation of Continental philosophy bullshit. By defending the value of objective truth in a literary journal, Frankfurt was risking being called a collaborator with right-wing revolutionaries. During the Trump years, his argument was considered liberal, but back in the 1980s and 90s, that same argument was seen as conservative because it was attacking political correctness, which began as an effort to fight racism, sexism, and homophobia. To be clear, though, Frankfurt didnt devalue that fight. To the contrary, like so many other analytic philosophers, he was afraid of where the rejection of objective truth might lead. Indeed, there was a good reason analytic philosophersespecially Jews like Frankfurt-might be nervous about championing the elevation of power over truth. Beating Swords into Stock Shares In the 1980s and 1990s, political correctnessthe instantiation of the postmodern presumption that language creates the worldbecame a dominant social phenomenon. As a movement, the goal of political correctness was to generate social justice by cleansing corrupted language from everyday use. The basic notion of political correctness is that words retain the power of the social structures that create them, so liberating oppressed people requires fresh words free of harmful connotative baggage. Political correctness gave rise to many neologisms. Colored people, for example, became African Americans, then people of color, and then (more recently) BIPOC, or Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. The ubiquity of those new terms and the speed with which they adapted made some peopleeven those whose good intentions led them to support political correctnesshesitant to speak, fearing they might use obsolete terms and commit what felt like a language crime. They didnt want to offend anyone, and they wanted to be on the right side of history, but linguistic reconstruction moved so fast they were never sure they knew the latest lingo. Conservatives seized on this insecurity and mocked it. Being politically incorrect became a medal of honor, a verification (in their minds) that they spoke the truth, not fashionable nonsense. Initially, the political right initially vilified the rejection of objective truth as a rejection of God and morality. Postmodernism, as the basis for political correctness, became the enemy, until conservatives had a collective realizationthat they, too, could start transforming language to suit their purposesand a change of heart. A man named Frank Luntza Republican communications consultant and pollsterled the charge. Under his guidance, the estate tax became the death tax. Global warming became climate change. Torture became enhanced interrogation. In 2004, an unnamed Bush administration official accused reporter Ron Suskind of being part of the reality-based community who believe in objective truth. Thats not the way the world really works anymore, the official continued. Were an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while youre studying that realityjudiciously, as you willwell act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and thats how things will sort out. Were historys actors and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do. While the left was using Jacques Derridas notion of deconstructionwhich works to expose the power relations contained within the concepts we usethe right was using it to pre-construct truth, using their power to make non-facts into facts. The rights mirror image of political correctness came to its logical conclusion during the Trump years, becoming Kellyanne Conways alternative facts. Usefully, Frankfurts argument has a sort of reflective invariance. It doesnt care who the rejection of objective truth serves. Bullshit from the left AND the right is pernicious because it rejects objective truth, which explains how Frankfurts notion of bullshit changed sides without changing sides at all. Malin Selander - Communications Director - Scandic Hotels Group Malin Selander has been recruited as new Communications Director for Scandic Hotels Group where she will be responsible for the companys external and internal communication. Most recently, she was VP Communications at Telia Sweden. Malin Selander has broad experience from senior leadership positions within communications at large Nordic companies including SAS, Tele2 Sweden and SATS Group. Most recently, she has been responsible for Telia Swedens communications department with a focus on proactive, commercially driven communication strategies and change processes. - With strong momentum in the company, Im very happy to welcome Malin to Scandic. Malin is an established leader with broad experience from well-known companies. She will be an asset on Scandics growth journey, says Jens Mathiesen, President & CEO of Scandic Hotels Group. - It will be extremely exciting to work with the strongest hotel brand in the Nordic region. I look forward to continuing to develop Scandics communication, both internally and externally, as well as to helping further strengthen Scandics brand and culture. I feel enthusiastic about starting this new position, says Malin Selander, new Communications Director at Scandic Hotels Group. Malin will take over after current Communications Director Elin Westin, who after seven years at Scandic has decided to leave the company. - During her time at Scandic, Elin has been a key player in establishing a strategic communicative position in the Nordic countries and Northern Europe. She has built a high-performing unit that has played an important role in driving Scandics growth agenda, sustainability program and corporate culture. Id like to express my sincere thanks to Elin for her valuable contributions over the years and I wish her all the best in her future endeavors, concludes Jens Mathiesen. Malin started as Communication Director for Scandic Hotels Group on September 1, 2023. Exhibit Opens at the Hillman Jackson Gallery at Simon's Rock GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. Simon's Rock would like to invite the public to a new artistic experience by Zohar Lazar being held at the Hillman Jackson Gallery at the Daniel Arts Center on campus. Lazar's showcase of drawings and paintings, entitled "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" will open with an in-person reception on Sept. 4, 2023, at 5 p.m. Curator Jacob Fossum describes the show as: "Steeped in the nostalgia of Saturday morning cartoons, particularly the indelible imprint of Tex Avery, Lazar's visual narratives delve into a realm where exaggerated mayhem and the pliancy of characters kindle his distinct approach to corporeal portrayal." According to a press release: A thread of enigmatic humor weaves through Lazar's work, a testament to his enduring fascination with themes encompassing societal, carnal, and spiritual dimensions. Noteworthy for their appearances in esteemed publications like The New Yorker, The New York Times, Wired, Rolling Stone, and GQ, Lazar's illustrations have garnered international recognition. His creative canvas extends beyond mere print, having left an indelible mark on projects for corporate giants including Nickelodeon, Apple, and Netflix. Situated in the picturesque environs of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Lazar draws inspiration from his surroundings as he crafts his artistry." This will be the first exhibit in the new academic year and will run from Sept. 4, 2023, to October 30, 2023. NOTE: Some of the art works in this show contain images that are sexually explicit or depict violence, self-harm, or Nazi symbols. This content may be disturbing for some viewers. A survey revealed that townspeople would like to see an option for just a police station, a combined police and emergency medical services complex, and a complete facility with police, EMS, and the Fire Department. Lanesborough Public Safety Committee Supports Fire Station Study LANESBOROUGH, Mass. Residents asked the Public Safety Building Committee for three proposals to solve the town's public safety facility, and the committee will abide. On Tuesday, the panel voted to spend $10,000 on a needs assessment, schematic design, and a cost estimate of adding the fire department to the public safety building proposal. A survey revealed that townspeople would like to see an option for just a police station, a combined police and emergency medical services complex, and a complete facility with police, EMS, and the Fire Department. "The Select Board has charged you people with seeing what the town's people want and coming back with choices so, somehow, we might get a building if the town's people will accept," Selectman Timothy Sorrell said. "And if it's police, police, and ambulance, or all three, we give it to the people, and they vote they decide what it is they want." In March, the town rejected a $6 million police and EMS proposal. The committee has been working for a few months to produce a proposal that resonates with residents while meeting the town's needs. In July, the panel received over 250 responses to a community survey. Of those, 161 responses indicated interest in a complex with all three public safety departments, 139 in just a police station, and 124 in a police and ambulance facility. "We're really down to an equation of how to pay for it," Architect Brian Humes said. "If you figured out the needs and those are the needs and you've understood the needs, now is the question of how to pay for it. If you add square footage for a fire department, I don't care if you add square footage for anything, you're going to raise the price of the project. Its square footage is what's driving the overall cost of the project." It is believed that the panel still has all of the $40,000 that was appropriated for the design of a public safety building at the annual town meeting, as the costs that have been expelled so far came from American Rescue Plan Act funds. This will allow for an accurate estimate of what it would cost to add the fire department to the equation. The space needs assessment will then translate to a schematic design that will go to a professional cost estimator. Humes explained that to do it right, all three have to be done. "I am interested in trying to find a solution for Lanesborough. I've been doing this with Lanesborough for years now so I want to find a solution," he said. "If this helps to get to a solution, great." There have been several reports on how humans can trick ChatGPT to write malware, but the possible applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in cyberattacks go beyond scripting malicious software. Kaspersky, a global cybersecurity company, disclosed that this network of smart machines can be utilized by cybercriminals in each stage of a sophisticated attack. oushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher for Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) Asia Pacific at Kaspersky, revealed how AI can assist even in Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), a more targeted and sophisticated type of online assault. Noushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher for Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) Asia Pacific at Kaspersky Beyond malware development, AI can be used in various stages of a sophisticated cyberattack. Nowadays, APT actors combine sophisticated techniques to evade detection and stealthy methods to maintain persistence. New AI developments can be of assistance to cybercriminals from reconnaissance stage to data exfiltration, warns Shabab. As the name "advanced" suggests, an APT uses continuous, clandestine, and sophisticated hacking techniques to gain access to a system and remain inside for a prolonged period of time, with potentially destructive consequences. One of the main characteristics of an APT attack is to gain ongoing access to the system. Hackers achieve this in a series of attack stages including reconnaissance (collecting information about the target, its systems, and potential vulnerabilities), resource development, execution, and data exfiltration. Reconnaissance Shabab shared that at present, there are at least 14 active APT groups operating in APAC. One of which is Origami Elephant, known to acquire domains and virtual private server during its resource development stage. This threat actor (aka DoNot team, APT-C-35, SECTOR02) has been targeting the South Asia region with special interest in government and military entities mainly in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka since the beginning of 2020. The infamous cyberespionage and cybersabotage APT, Lazarus, utilizes social media platforms and messaging apps such as LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and Telegram to reach its targets. The adversary is also known for compromising web services like vulnerable Wordpress websites to upload its malicious scripts. During reconnaissance, AI can help actors find and understand potential targets by automating the analysis of data from various sources such as online databases and social media platforms and by collecting information about the target's personnel, systems and applications used in a companys environment. Smart machines can even spot the weak entry points by assessing the companys employee details, third-party relationships, and network architecture, she explained. As widely known, AI can also play a role in malware development, but Shabab also shared that AI can assist in automating tasks related to building attack infrastructure including purchase of network infrastructure, creation of accounts, and compromising network infrastructure and accounts. Initial access Shabab also revealed that spear phishing is still the preferred initial access technique for APT actors in APAC. Among the 14 active cybercriminal groups in the region, 10 use this tactic to break into their targets network. Spear phishing is an email or electronic communications scam targeted towards a specific individual, organization or business. Although often intended to steal data for malicious purposes, cybercriminals may also intend to install malware on a targeted users computer. In this initial access stage, AI can help cybercriminals craft highly convincing and personalized phishing messages. These smart machines can also be trained to find the best entry point into a target network and know the best timing to launch an attack. AI can analyze patterns in network and system activity and launch attacks during periods of low security vigilance or high noise. Thus, machines can assist cybercriminals to find the best timing for a phishing campaign to get initial access into the victims networks, Shabab explained. This technology can also enhance traditional brute-force attacks by intelligently selecting likely passwords based on patterns, dictionaries, and previous breaches. By analyzing patterns in user behavior, social media activity, and personal information, AI algorithms can make educated guesses about passwords, increasing the chances of successful access. Execution During the execution stage, AI has the capability to adapt the behavior of its malware in response to security measures, increasing the chance of a successful attack. AI-based obfuscation can also create polymorphic malware that changes its code structure to evade detection. AI-chosen command and scripting interpreter can also analyze the target environment, understand system characteristics, and select the most suitable options for running malicious scripts or commands. AI-driven social engineering tactics could also increase the likelihood of users interacting with malicious files, enhancing the success of the execution phase. Persistence APT groups are known for the sophisticated technique to remain inside a network without being caught. Shabab shared that the most common techniques among APT actors in APAC to achieve persistence are: Scheduled Task/Job: Scheduled Task Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder For this stage, AI can create the most suitable script to execute the malware based on user behavior analysis. Threats actors can also develop AI-powered malware that can dynamically adapt its persistence mechanisms based on changes in the target environment. AI-driven monitoring mechanisms can also track system changes and adjust persistence tactics accordingly and AI-guided techniques can also manipulate Windows Registry entries to update persistence registry keys and evade detection. Data exfiltration and Impact Shabab also explained how AI can help exfiltrate stolen data in a more stealthy and efficient way. AI can analyze network traffic patterns in order to better blend in with the regular network behaviors and determine the most suitable communication channel to exfiltrate data for each victim. It can even optimize obfuscation, compression, and encryption of the stolen data to avoid abnormal traffic detection, she added. She also warned that AI can assist in maximizing the attack impact by enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of attackers actions. To boost enterprises and organizations defenses against AI-assisted APT attacks, Shabab suggests the following: Advanced security solutions: Implement security solutions that use advanced methods to monitor user and system behaviors. This can help identify deviations from normal patterns, potentially signaling malicious activities. Regular Software Updates: Keep all software, applications, and operating systems up to date to mitigate vulnerabilities that attackers might exploit. User Training and Awareness: Provide employees with training on cybersecurity best practices, including recognising and avoiding social engineering attacks and phishing attempts. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Enforce MFA for accessing critical systems and applications, reducing the risk of unauthorized access even if credentials are compromised. To know more about Kasperskys advanced security solutions, interested customers can visit: https://www.kaspersky.com/enterprise-security. Kaspersky will continue the discussion about the future of cybersecurity at the Kaspersky Security Analyst Summit (SAS) 2023 happening in Phuket, Thailand, from 25th to 28th October. This event welcomes high-caliber anti-malware researchers, global law enforcement agencies, Computer Emergency Response Teams, and senior executives from financial services, technology, healthcare, academia, and government agencies from around the globe. Interested participants can know more here: https://thesascon.com/#participation-opportunities. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} French actor Mathieu Kassovitz has been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident, local media reports. The 56-year-old star, who starred in and directed the 1995 film La Haine and appeared alongside Audrey Tatou in Amelie (2001), was participating in a motorbike training course at the time of the incident. French media is reporting that Kassovitz is in worrying condition, and suffered head trauma as well as a fractured pelvis. Agence France-Presse reports that Kassovitz was undertaking the training in preparation for a role in a new film. According to Le Parisien, his daughter was on a motorbike behind him at the time of the crash. Authories in Essone, which is located south of Paris, said that Kassovitz has been taken to hospital in Kremlin-Bicetre. The actor, who received his motorcycle licence when he was 40, burst onto the scene in 1995 with La Haine. Kassovitz was 27 when he starred in and directed the film. For the film, which he co-starred in with Vincent Cassel, Kassovitz won the Cesar for Best Film and the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His Hollywood film credits include the Halle Berry-starring horror film Gothika (2003), which he also directed, and Steven Spielbergs drama Munich. Kassovitzs most recent directorial effort was the 2011 film Rebellion, a war film based on a true story of French commandos who clashed with tribes in New Caledonia, the Melanesian territory of France. He most recently starred in Visions alongside Diane Kruger. The film premiered just two weeks ago at the Angouleme Francophone. The Independent has contacted Kassovitzs reps for comment. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Priscilla, Sofia Coppolas telling of the courtship of the 14-year-old Priscilla Presley nee Beaulieu by the 24-year-old Elvis, will make uncomfortable viewing for fans of The King. It shows him in a far from flattering light, as an insecure narcissist fixated on a teenage girl and unwilling to allow his young wife any independence. The film, endorsed by Presley herself and adapted from her book Elvis and Me (which she co-wrote with Sandra Harmon), is a downbeat and dour affair, with little of the exuberance of Baz Luhrmanns Elvis last year. We are leading separate lives, Priscilla (Mare of Easttowns Cailee Spaeny) tells Elvis (Euphorias Jacob Elordi) toward the end of the movie, which has had its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Truthfully, though, she always seemed to exist on the periphery of his world ever since they first met while she was enrolled in a German high school, with Elvis visiting as part of his stint in the US army. When Priscilla is first asked over to Elviss house, piercing her life of restlessness and boredom in the process, she leaps at the chance of some excitement. Her father, a military officer, is at first extremely reluctant to allow her to hang out with Elvis and his friends. But once he is reassured that his daughter will be strictly chaperoned, he relents. Elvis towers over Priscilla. Shes a schoolgirl and he is effectively grooming her. They have long talks and soon become close. He is grieving the recent death of his mother and sees Priscilla, in spite of her youth, as someone to confide in. Elordi makes a decent stab at playing Elvis. He has the voice and physique for the role, but lacks his charm and vulnerability. From the outset, he tries to control Priscilla, telling her what to wear and insisting she dye her hair black. Upon returning to the US with her family, Priscilla assumes Elvis has forgotten about her, until she is summoned to Memphis to join him at his home. At times, as she lives alone and neglected in Elviss mansion, Priscilla seems more like a heroine in a chilly Gothic novel by the Bronte sisters than someone in a movie about a rock n roll star. Spaeny gives a compelling and moving performance as the bright young woman whose spirit is slowly crushed. Elviss father Vernon is mean and cruel to her. When she visits the office to shoot the breeze with his secretaries, he scolds her for distracting them from their work. Elvis himself is forever heading off to Hollywood to make movies, leaving her behind. When he is at home, he spends much of his time drinking and shooting pool with his male hangers-on, the so-called Memphis Mafia. When Elvis becomes interested in crackpot religious ideas, he demands Priscilla follow him on his spiritual journey. At one stage, they take psychedelic drugs together. In spite of his obsession with Priscilla, Elvis doesnt have sex with her. If anything, she seems keener to sleep with him than he does with her. Eventually, when Priscilla is 21, they marry and have a daughter, Lisa Marie, but her arrival doesnt make him any more attentive to her. Very little Elvis music is heard on the soundtrack. Instead, Coppola opens the film with The Ramones Baby I Love You as Priscilla puts on her false nails and eyelashes. The Colonel, Elviss famously slippery manager played in last years Elvis by Tom Hanks, is also talked about but never seen. Uncomfortable viewing: Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny in Priscilla (Philippe Le Sourd) The director tells her subjects story in short, self-contained episodes which dont always link to each other and arent always fully explained. Everything is seen from Priscillas perspective. She is a young woman growing up in the strangest environment imaginable. Her Elvis is very different from the rock star the entire world seems to love. In her own coolly analytical way, Coppola makes some trenchant points about the way Priscilla is controlled by the men in her life. She is living in a gilded cage. The wealth and luxury she experiences dont compensate for her complete loss of freedom. And while Elvis may indeed have been the King, his court on the evidence here was a very dreary place indeed. Dir: Sofia Coppola. Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Dominczyk. 110 minutes. Priscilla is in selected UK cinemas from 26 December, and opens widely on 1 January Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Chris Rock and Diplo have shared their experience of escaping Burning Man festival this weekend, with some 73,000 attendees stranded in the desert following heavy downpours in Nevadas Black Rock Desert. Burners, as the festivals attendees are referred to, have been instructed to remain at their campsites as a slow-moving rainstorm fell on the desert. Organisers asked festivalgoers to conserve food, water and fuel and shelter in a warm, safe space, with driving and biking temporarily banned on the boggy roads. Anyone planning on travelling to the festival, scheduled to run 27 August to 4 September, will now be turned around as it is shutting down. Despite the restrictions on driving away from the site, comedian Chris Rock, 58, and music producer Diplo, 44, managed to trudge their way out of the mud for five miles before a fan picked them up in a drier part of the desert, and gave them a ride in their truck. Diplo shared a video of the pair fleeing the chaos to Twitter/X, writing in the caption: Just walked five miles in the mud out of Burning Man with Chris Rock and a fan picked us up. The annual event, which closes each year with the torching of a 40-foot effigy, has become a pilgrimage of sorts for those who want to leave the banality of everyday life behind and participate in an experiment in temporary community. Unlike at other festivals, at Burning Man, it is the attendees themselves who design and build all the art, activities, and events. Festival organisers have called Burning Man the place to find out who you are, then take it a step further, and each year, thousands flock to the commerce-free event, where cash is basically useless apart from buying ice and coffee. Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Burning Man 2023 (TikTok) The scenes at Burning Man this year have been compared to those at Fyre Fest, the 2017 festival that notoriously left attendees stranded in the Bahamas. What was promised to be deluxe housing actually turned out to be disaster-relief tents, and attendees were served soggy cheese sandwiches. Many of the musical acts didnt turn up, and ticketholders were left stuck on the island. The disgraced organiser of Fyre Fest, Billy McFarland, is planning another edition of the event. In 2018, McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison on two counts of wire fraud and ordered to pay 23m back to investors. He was given an early release last year. This makes Fyre Festival look like a Chuck E Cheese Bday party, joked one commenter on X. Looking at Burning Man, Fyre Festival is sounding pretty good right now, added another. A third wrote: Burning Man heard that Fyre Fest was making a comeback and said, Hold my beer. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Indias import of Russian oil dipped to a seven-month low in August after steady purchase during the course of war in Ukraine, amid lower discounts for Moscows grades and planned maintenance outages at some plants. Since Russias full scale war on Ukraine, India had steadily increased its purchases of discounted Russian oil. Indian imports of Russian oil hit a record high in October, with the country becoming Indias top oil supplier in terms of barrels per day. The Asian ally of Vladimir Putin switched to gulf nation Saudi Arabia for its oil needs as preliminary data by Kpler and Refinitiv trade flows shows a multi-month high spike. "Imports of Russian oil are likely to remain at subdued levels for a couple of months due to lower discounts, and that would force suppliers of Russian oil to provide deeper discounts, said analyst at Refinitiv Ehsan Ul-Haq. Since June this year, Indias import of Russian oil has been dipping after discounts from the European nation began to shrink, according to the data. While the import from Russia in August has slashed by a fifth from July to about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), buying from Saudi Arabia spiked by about 63 per cent, according to Refinitiv data. For October loading, discounts on Russian oil are below $5 a barrel to benchmark dated Brent, a refinery source said. His company is yet to place an order for the upcoming months oil import. Indian refiners could trim down imports of Russian oil as narrowing discounts were making the price of Russian grades expensive above the $60 per barrel ceiling set by Western nations, a government source told Reuters. India could also turn to the US as the OPEC producer group is cutting oil output, at a time when gasoline demand in India and Asia is rising, "there is a possibility that Indians might increase imports of oil from the USA", Mr Haq said. Indias fuel demand is expected to rise in the next two months due to major festivals, likely boosting Indias oil imports from the Middle East, he said. In April this year, Russian crude oil exports were back above levels seen before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, despite the ratcheting up of Western sanctions as India and China accounted for 90 per cent of Russias seaborne crude oil exports, according to figures by Kpler. The dynamics could spell a change in the oil economy and shifting bilateral relationships between New Delhi and Moscow, which diplomatically appear to be changing, as Mr Putin will not be attending India-hosted G20 summit this month. Their BRICS coalition, however, includes Saudi Arabia among three of the worlds biggest oil producers alongside the UAE and Iran, who are set to join the group in January next month. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Chinas premier Li Qiang will attend the G20 summit on 9-10 September in New Delhi, the countrys foreign ministry said on Monday. The confirmation comes days after Indias special secretary for G20 said the hosts were awaiting a written confirmation from China on president Xi Jinpings attendance. Mr Lis attendance means that Mr Xi will not attend the meet for the first time since he became president. China hopes the summit can consolidate consensus, convey confidence and promote development, said spokesperson Mao Ning as he sidestepped the question seeking the reason behind Mr Xis absence. The Group of 20 is a major forum for international economic cooperation, to which China has always attached great importance and actively participated in relevant activities, Mr Mao said. India, which has strained bilateral ties with their northern neighbours, has so far not issued an official statement. Mr Xi is the second leader after Russian president Vladimir Putin to skip the meet. Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden expressed his disappointment over not being able to meet Mr Xi on the sidelines of the summit. I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him, Mr Biden told reporters on Sunday when asked about Mr Xis absence. Beijing and New Delhi are facing a tough reconciliation dialogue on a border dispute, spurred by Chinas latest map that showed the entire Indian northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh as its own territory. Mr Xi and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi recently met at a Brics group meeting last month in South Africa where leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa gathered. The two held a rare conversation on the sidelines of the meeting in Johannesburg with officials claiming that Mr Modi discussed reducing tensions in the bilateral relationship that soured after clashes along their Himalayan frontier in 2020 left 24 soldiers dead. A diplomatic row erupted shortly after over which side requested the meeting between the two leaders. India and China have faced strained ties for many years, with relations plummeting further after the nuclear neighbours were embroiled in a bitter border dispute that began in 2020. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Thailand's new prime minister Srettha Thavisin will skip the meeting of Asian leaders in Indonesia this week reportedly due to his tight schedule. The Association for Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit will meet in Jakarta from 5-7 September, where leaders of the Asian countries led by host president Joko Widodo will discuss Myanmar, a code of conduct for the South China Sea, the region's economy, transnational crime among other issues. Mr Srettha won a parliamentary vote to become prime minister last month and his cabinet was endorsed by the king on Saturday. The prime minister and his cabinet are due to take an oath before an audience with King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Tuesday and will then deliver a policy address in parliament. Permanent secretary Sarun Charoensuwan will represent Thailand at the summit, two officials told Reuters, without specifying why the prime minister was not attending. Ahead of the summit, Cambodian prime minister Hun Manet said the South Asian country wants to enable constructive dialogue on the Myanmar conflict one of the crucial issues for the bloc. Myanmar is a member of Asean though its military rulers have been excluded from top bloc meetings since they ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering a violent conflict. The bloc has agreed on a peace plan, known as its five-point consensus, that calls for an end to violence and dialogue among all parties but the generals have paid little more than lip service to it. The Cambodian prime minister said Asean must prevent the use of force against a sovereign state, adding that geopolitical rivalries were tightening. Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi on Monday said as mandated by leaders "we would conduct a comprehensive review" of the five-point plan implementation. Asean can only steam forward in full power if we can ensure a peaceful and lasting solution in Myanmar," she said. The bloc for decades operated under the principle of not interfering in each other's internal affairs and reaching agreement by consensus, but that has left it struggling to help resolve problems like Myanmar, unable to press the generals beyond barring them from its high-level meetings. Indonesia, which has urged unity amid growing scepticism of the bloc's credibility, has been conducting behind-the-scenes efforts to find a solution to Myanmar's turmoil but has little to show for its effort. Chinese premier Li Qiang was set to join the meetings, including the 18-member East Asia Summit. There, he would meet US vice president Kamala Harris, who will fly in lieu of president Joe Biden. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to participate as well. (With agency inputs) For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Fears are growing over the health of Aung San Suu Kyi after a request for urgent medical care was denied by military authorities in Myanmar with her youngest son calling for the junta to reverse the callous and cruel decision regarding his mother. According to sources within the country, Ms Suu Kyi, 78, had been prescribed a number of medications by the doctor treating her, including for gum disease, which has left her unable to eat due to pain. Yet, a request for private medical care to treat Ms Suu Kyi who was imprisoned after her democratically-elected government was ousted in a military coup in 2021 has been denied despite it being made by prison authorities. Speaking to The Independent, Kim Aris has expressed deep concern about the consequences for his mother, saying that he believes Ms Suu Kyi has been experiencing bouts of vomiting and severe dizziness. He added that being unable to eat could put her life at risk. To deny a sick prisoner access to recommended medical care is callous and cruel, said Mr Aris, a British national. To the best of my knowledge, my mother has been vomiting and has severe dizziness as a result of her ill health. Urgent care has been recommended by prison authorities, but this has been denied by the military junta. Anyone who has such painful gum disease that they are unable to eat obviously has their entire health at risk if suitable treatment is denied, he added. Mr Aris wants his mother to be allowed to return to her home in Myanmars largest city Yangon formally known as Rangoon in order to be treated. I urge the authorities in Myanmar to relent and act in a humane way, he said. There were suggestions last month that Ms Suu Kyi could be placed under house arrest, after the military junta pardoned a number of cases against her as part of a wider amnesty. However, military authorities have not confirmed any such move and Ms Suu Kyi is still in prison. The continued detention of Ms Suu Kyi has sparked outrage from the international community. While authorities pardoned her over five of the 19 cases that the former leader faces, that merely brought down the number of years she faces in jail from 33 to 27. At her age, that is still effectively a life sentence. The slew of cases against Ms Suu Kyi is seen by both her supporters and officials in the West as trumped up, aimed at discrediting her in order to legitimise the militarys takeover, while also preventing the former leader from returning to politics. Myanmars supreme court is said to have declined requests by Ms Suu Kyis legal team for special appeals in the five cases in which she has been pardoned, saying that she has already been granted clemency. Ms Suu Kyis team is continuing with the appeals process in order to prove her innocence. Those five cases, the earliest convictions Ms Suu Kyi faced, include charges over allegedly violating coronavirus restrictions, illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, as well as sedition. There are appeals in the works for a number of the other 14 cases that Ms Suu Kyi faces, although her legal team have faced a number of hurdles including not being able to meet with the former leader in person. Despite a number of requests to see Ms Suu Kyi, lawyers have not been unable to do so since December. Mr Aris said that it is heinous that his mother is facing such debilitating health issues on top of her unjust detention. To hold someone illegally in prison, a move condemned by the outside world, is compounded into further and heinous wrong when basic human rights are abrogated, he said. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} It began with a fake screenshot on the social media platform X, and quickly spread across the internet and to tens of thousands trapped in swamp-like conditions at Burning Man. The annual festival in the Nevada desert, plagued by tropical storms and mud that forced gate closures and festival goers to shelter in place, was at the centre of an Ebola outbreak, the bogus post claimed on Saturday 2 September. A cursory glance at the social media account that published the doctored post from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would have revealed its long history of spreading tongue-in-cheek claims about psyops and oppressive government operations. And yet conspiracy theorists quickly flooded the zone with unhinged posts about military aircraft landing in the Black Rock City area, and quarantine zones being set up. Some were clearly in on the joke, others apparently not. Festivalgoers, already facing considerable challenges due to the deluge of rain and resulting mud, were apparently taken in by the rumours, eventually forcing authorities and festival organisers to address them. In a statement to Indy100, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the Black Rock Desert site, said: I can confirm the event entrance was closed for the year because unusual rainfall caused muddy conditions where there was a full stop on vehicles, and not for an Ebola outbreak. We have heard no information of any participants with Ebola. Burning Man organisers added in a post on the event website: The online rumors of transmissible illnesses in Black Rock City are unfounded and untrue. Ebola outbreak, cannibalism and climate change brainwashing The origins of the Ebola rumours came from an account on X, formerly known as Twitter, with around 30,000 followers. EBOLA OUTBREAK BURNING MAN the post read above a doctored image from the CDC claiming that a state of emergency was in progress. The post was shared thousands of times. A second account shared the same fake image, stating: Apparently there's a f**king Ebola outbreak at Burning Man right now. This had been viewed more than 300,000 times by Monday. Xs crowd-sourced fact checking service Community notes added an amendment to the posts stating that there was in fact no outbreak. But this did little to stem the spread. The Died Suddenly social media account, which regularly shares Covid misinformation, got in on the action. Another account shared a fake Forbes headline claiming that the outbreak was real. Ebola was a trending topic on Elon Musks platform X over the weekend. Screenshots of fake text messages began circulating. The bogus rumours also found fertile ground on TikTok. Doctored images of people in hazmat suits at the festival soon spread, while others claimed the military had been sent in to enforce a blockade. A daring escape from the festival by comedian Chris Rock and DJ and producer Diplo soon formed part of the fantastical tale. The celebrity duo walked five miles along mud-strewn roads before being picked up by a fan, according to a post on Diplos social media accounts. Festivalgoers walk through the mud at Burning Man (Trevor Hughes USA Today Network) Basically everybody at Black Rock City is saying that Diplo was 100% present at the source of infection for the alleged Ebola outbreak at Burning Man. And he just broke quarantine, the TrueAnonPod tweeted. A parade of conspiracy-mongers got in on the action. There are reports of a hemorrhagic fever like Ebola or Marburg having broken out at Burning Man. And FEMA is there, telling 73,000 people they are not allowed to leave, claimed one X user. Another X user who was at Burning Man later posted facetiously that we just tested positive for ebola at burning man. Several factors appear to have helped the spread of the online falsehoods. On Saturday, a 40-year-old man died at the Burning Man festival. His death is under investigation, and authorities have only said it was not weather-related. The closure of routes in and out of the festival was forced on organisers after many vehicles became trapped in the mud-clogged roads. Fuelling the spread was the decision to scrap Xs verification system under Mr Musks ownership. Now, anyone who pays $8 a month is a verified user, with their posts boosted and displayed prominently by the platforms algorithm. The bogus theories often overlap and intermingle with previous ones, with climate change denial, land grabs, and shadowy government forces being consistent themes. Satirical posts, such as one on the Burning Man subreddit stating that there were Unconfirmed Reports Of Cannibalism, can also take on a life of their own. A small group of survivors was trapped by the trash fence overnight during the rainstorm and were forced to consume one of their camp mates before making the several mile dangerous trek back to their camp on foot, the post by SunDiegoSurfer said. Authorities are asking for prayers and advising festival goers that if your food source has been exhausting, cannibalism should be used as a last resort. The clearly sarcastic take was then spread on X by seemingly credulous posters. BREAKING: Were hearing about the first reports of Cannibalism at the Burning Man event, one X user wrote. Mad drug addicts out there, this seems like a cult, another posted. Meanwhile, the account that set off the fake Ebola rumours has been gloating about all the attention it has received. On Sunday night, the conspiracy-touting Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene went on Alex Jones InfoWars show to claim that Burners were being brainwashed into believing the historic flooding was caused by climate change. She insisted instead that it was an act of God. Theres 73 to 75,000 in the Nevada desert right now at this Burning Man. Theyre locked in, the Georgia far-right lawmaker said. Theyre not allowed to leave and theyre basically probably being brainwashed that climate change is the cause of it and its going to destroy the Earth. Mr Jones, who has helped to popularise innumerable conspiracy theories, was ordered to pay billions in damages to the families of Sandy Hook victims after falsely and repeatedly telling his followers that the 2012 school shooting was a false flag operation. According to the CDC, Ebola is a rare and usually fatal disease primarily found in subsaharan Africa. Only 11 cases have ever been recorded in the United States, during an outbreak between 2014 and 2016. It is usually spread through body fluids and blood, infected fruit bats or primates. Symptoms include fever, bleeding, rashes and abdominal pain. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Elon Musk offered lofty praise to the Burning Man festival - after this year's event descended into disaster with one person dead and thousands left stranded in the Nevada desert after intense floods. Burning Man is unique in the world, Mr Musk wrote on his platform X on Sunday. Hard to describe how incredible it is for those who have never been. Best art on Earth. The post drew scrutiny for two reasons. First off, it came as the desert festival is suffering from utter chaos on all sides torrential floods caused by Tropical Storm Hilary, false claims of an Ebola outbreak, tens of thousands of stranded attendees, and even a death caused by reasons unrelated to the weather. On top of this mess, Mr Musk seemed to be commenting on a video from Paris Fashion Week in 2022 not Burning Man. He was replying to a post of someone who claims to be stuck at the festival: Im currently stranded at Burning Man, along with thousands of others. Despite the unexpected challenges, some artists managed to put together an impromptu catwalk show. The Im in the mud show is a metaphor for trying stuff and always learning, the user wrote. Im deeply inspired by the ingenuity and resourcefulness of this community. The post was accompanied by a video of someone in a long black dress, black gloves and boots trudging through mud. A note from the social media platform explained: This is not burning man. It is from Balengiaga fashion show in Paris. The note even included a link to the video clip of the luxury brands mud bath show. In fairness to the Tesla founder, festivalgoers were in fact schlepping through mud and some were even building mud sculptures. After some postponement, Burning Man said that the site is expected to open on Monday morning, though that will depend on weather cooperation. According to its website, the festival is a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. The six-day event in the Black Rock Desert was set to run from 27 August through 4 September. As of Monday morning, the Burning Man officials suggested that festivalgoers might be able to finally leave the premises, writing on X: Gate Road remains too wet & muddy for most vehicles to safely navigate out of BRC this morning, but is drying. Exodus likely to begin around noon today. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} This holiday weekend is shaping up to be one of the hottest on record for parts of the United States with more than 200million facing a heatwave, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Temperatures in the 90 degree Fahrenheit (F) range are forecast for the start of the week across the middle of the country with some pockets reaching 100F - 10 to 20 degrees higher than historical averages. The east coast won't be spared - AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dave Dombek said that the high 90s are expected in "many areas". "It is possible that New York City and other locations that have not yet had a heatwave, finally check that off the list next week," he said. Washington DC will go even higher with 97F forecast on Labor Day. This was the hottest summer on record for at least 20 US cities including New Orleans, Houston, Miami, Austin, San Antonio, and Phoenix. "This summer was the hottest on record for virtually every site along and just inland of the Gulf Coast, from Brownsville, Texas, to Key West, Florida," weather historian Christopher Burt told Weather.com. Labor Day temperatures are expected to reach 90F in New Orleans, 90F in Tampa, 93F in Houston, and 102F in Del Rio, Texas, according to the NWS . The central US, stretching from Texas to the northern border, will be especially hot. Oklahoma City and Minneapolis are expected to see 99F while Dallas may hit 100 degrees. The heatwave expected for central, southern and eastern parts of the US on Labor Day (National Weather Service) The heatwave is expected to impact more than 210 million people across the US, and will likely last until Wednesday or Thursday for the Plains states when highs drop into the 70s. However, the northeast is expected to remain hot until Friday. A historic heatwave gripped the US southwest this summer with Phoenix, Arizona remaining above 100F every day in July. Alberquerque, Las Vegas, and the San Joaquin Valley in California also all experienced more than 100-degree days for much of July. Record breaking heat isnt just a US problem, the climate crisis has driven temperatures into uncharted territory across the world. Climate scientists attribute the high temperatures around the world this year to an emerging El Nino pattern and the climate crisis driven by the burning of fossil fuels. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Carlos Sainz chased down thieves and retrieved his watch worth 500,000 in a scary robbery incident in Milan just hours after Sundays Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari star Sainz, still in his team kit, was targeted near the Armani hotel in central Milan at around 8:30pm on Sunday evening, reports in Italy detail. Sainz, alongside members of his entourage and the public, then chased the thieves and successfully recovered his Richard Mille watch worth in the region of 500,000. Carlos Sainz chased down thieves and retrieved his watch worth 500,000 on Sunday night (Getty Images) Local police have arrested two suspects. Sainz confirmed the incident on Monday morning, posting on X (formerly known as Twitter): As many of you already know, yesterday we experienced an unfortunate incident in Milano. The most important thing is that we are all OK and this will only remain as an unpleasant anecdote. Many thanks to all the people who helped us yesterday, to the Milan police for their quick intervention and thanks for all your messages. The unsavoury incident is a sour end to a largely encouraging weekend for Sainz who was on pole after a storming performance in qualifying on Saturday as the Spaniard was on the podium for the first time this season. Spaniard driver Sainz, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday, finished Sundays race on the podium in third place, with Max Verstappen victorious at Monza. It is not the first occasion an F1 driver has been targeted by thieves: Lando Norris had a 144,000 watch stolen outside Wembley following the Euro 2020 final between Italy and England in July 2021. Norris was also robbed whilst with friends in Marbella earlier this year. Sainzs team-mate Charles Leclerc has also had a Richard Mille watch stolen, in the Italian resort of Viareggio last year. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Kourtney Kardashian and her husband Travis Barker were spotted leaving a Los Angeles hospital on Saturday (2 September) after Barkers band Blink-182 postponed European tour dates due to an urgent family matter. The American rock band announced on Friday (1 September) that they have postponed a handful of their upcoming Ireland and UK shows as drummer Barker had to return home to the States. No other information was released at the time but Barkers ex-wife Shanna Moakler told TMZ that she didnt know whats going on but that the two children she shares with Barker, Landon, 19 and Alabama, 17, are safe and sound. However, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star and Barker, who are expecting their first child together, were seen leaving the hospital on Saturday in photos obtained by MailOnline. The pictures show the pair as they are ushered into a black SUV. The Independent has contacted representatives for both Barker and Kardashian for comment. The three-piece rock group were scheduled to perform two shows at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Friday (1 September) and Saturday (2 September), followed by concerts in Belfast on Monday (4 September) and Dublin on Tuesday (5 September). Barker, 47, married Kardashian, his third wife, in May 2022. Kardashian announced her pregnancy during a surprise appearance at a Blink-182 concert in June when she held up a sign during a Los Angeles show that read, Travis Im pregnant, as she showed off her pregnancy bump. While the pair have not announced when the baby is due, fans have speculated that it could arrive by October. Her announcement came around six months after she publicly shared that she had stopped in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments because it had taken a toll on her physical and mental health. The child will be the pairs first child together and Kardashians fourth; she shares three children, Mason, 13, Penelope, 12, and Reign, 10, with her ex-boyfriend Scott Disick, with whom she dated for nine years. Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian photographed in 2022 (Getty Images for The Commons at ) Blink-182s reunion tour marks the first time the original trio consisting of Barker, guitarist Tom DeLonge and vocalist Mark Hoppos have performed together since 2015 when DeLonge left the band to focus on his lifelong extraterrestrial passion. Hoppos and DeLonge formed the band in 1992 with drummer Scott Raynor before he was dismissed in 1998 and replaced by Barker. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Fans are over the moon following reports Joey King and Steven Piet tied the knot over the weekend. On Saturday (2 September), the Bullet Train actor, 24, married the Hollywood director, 32, in Spain, according to People. Five days before the ceremony, King posted an Instagram slideshow of photos with Piet in Portugal. In the series of photos, the two could be seen embracing each other, with the blurred lights of a Portugese city behind them. Love is cool! Love is grand! Love is kissing in front of the Fonte dos Amores and having too many caipirinhas together, King captioned the post. Kings followers immediately gushed over the happy couple, as they sent the pair love with heart-shaped emojis. One fan wrote, Love you two!! while another added: All you need is LOVE! Im so happy for you, one follower commented. Another individual said: I forgot she was married because she rarely posts pics together with him. On X, formerly known as Twitter, some people responded to reports that King and Piet hosted their nuptials in an intimate setting, surrounded by their closest family and friends. Yay, said one fan, while another tweeted: Yasss. The Kissing Booth star met Piet on the set of the Hulu original series, The Act, in 2018, when he directed two episodes. In March 2022, King announced they were engaged with a poignant post on Instagram. I never knew happiness could be so powerful that it can take the air from your lungs, overwhelming every part of you that you cant help but feel your eyes well from the undeniable joy, King captioned her post at the time, which showed the couple kissing after Piet popped the question. The date was 2/2/22 when you asked me to marry you and made me the luckiest lady alive. I love you more than an Instagram caption could ever do justice. Hanging out with you forever sounds like a real dream, so lets do it, she continued. I never knew that a persons presence and heart could feel like a real home. I never knew love could be so unquestionably beautiful. I never knew until you. On his Instagram, Piet added his own heartfelt message after the proposal. The weather was less than perfect. Cold. Windy. Perfectly imperfect to ask my best friend to spend a lifetime together, he wrote. A lifetime of incredibly safe and vulnerable conversations. Holding hands on silent cab rides home, exhausted from great food and red wine. And oh, the laughter. Uncontrollable laugher. Youve unlocked a dimension of love in me that I never knew existed. Speaking to Allure in July 2022, King opened up about how much she loved working with Piet, in both their on and off-set relationship. We work really well together. We also just really love spending time together, King revealed. So getting to do something where were both doing what we love and we get to hang out with each other, [thats] the best. I think hes so talented, she added. He thinks the same about me. We really love just being able to put our minds together. King was previously in a relationship with her Kissing Booth co-star, Jacob Elordi, from 2017 to 2018. aillarionov The US military aid to Ukraine is not $60 bn, but $19 bn Alexei Reznikov: Weapons and military equipment. We received weapons and various equipment, cartridges, shells, and shots, in monetary estimate, I think, under 100 billion. Only from the USA more than 50 billion, already close to 60. https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-politics/3756451-oleksij-reznikov-ministr-oboroni-ukraini.html This statement is not true. From the start of Russia's wide-scale aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, to September 1, 2023, all military assistance that the Biden administration has committed to Ukraine amounted to $43 bn . But the US administration provided military assistance to Ukraine, as of September 1, 2023, for $19.3 bn. This amount is made up of the following components: - military assistance delivered to Ukraine via the PDA channel, but accounted for at inflated prices, amounted to $24.0 bn ; - overpricing of military aid provided to Ukraine via the PDA channel in 2022-2023, according to Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, amounted to $6.2 bn ; - thus, the military aid delivered to Ukraine via the PDA channel, accounted in prices that are correct from the DOD point of view, amounted to $17.8 bn; - military assistance delivered to Ukraine via the USAI and FMF channels, according to the US State Department, amounted to $1.5 bn ; - military aid delivered to Ukraine via the Lend-Lease channel amounted to $0. Thus, all military assistance actually delivered by the US to Ukraine from February 24, 2022, to September 1, 2023, amounted to: - not $50-60 bn declared by Reznikov, - not $43 bn promised (committed) by the Biden administration, - but $19.3 bn actually delivered. In an yesterday interview with Ukrinform, then still Defense Minister Aleksei Reznikov said that Ukraine received military assistance from the United States in the amount of more than 50, almost 60 billion dollars:Alexei Reznikov:This statement is not true.From the start of Russia's wide-scale aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, to September 1, 2023, all military assistance that the Biden administrationto Ukraine amounted toBut the US administrationmilitary assistance to Ukraineas of September 1, 2023, forThis amount is made up of the following components:- military assistance delivered to Ukraine via the PDA channel, but accounted for at inflated prices, amounted to- overpricing of military aid provided to Ukraine via the PDA channel in 2022-2023, according to Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, amounted to- thus, the military aid delivered to Ukraine via the PDA channel, accounted in prices that are correct from the DOD point of view, amounted to- military assistance delivered to Ukraine via the USAI and FMF channels, according to the US State Department, amounted to- military aid delivered to Ukraine via the Lend-Lease channel amounted toThus, all military assistanceby the US to Ukraine from February 24, 2022, to September 1, 2023, amounted to:- notby Reznikov,- notby the Biden administration,- but Tags: , , , , , , , From: sur_nal15 Date: September 4th, 2023 04:30 pm (UTC) (Link) . , , , , , . . - , . ... , . , , - . , , . ?! 15. , - . . , . ... . - . - , ! - ? From: shumakova_elena Date: September 4th, 2023 04:40 pm (UTC) (Link) https://t.me/mariabarabash/217 From: shedsahead Date: September 5th, 2023 02:55 pm (UTC) (Link) , , ? / ? . From: Date: September 6th, 2023 11:44 am (UTC) (Link) " " ! " " ?! 5% . - , ! 5% ... , , , . . , . , , , , .. , . !(( Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Duchess of Sussex will not want to return to the UK in the future and face curtseying to the Princess of Wales, a royal biographer has suggested. Andrew Morton, who collaborated with Diana, Princess of Wales on his 1992 book Diana: Her True Story, ruled out a move back from the US for Meghan and the Duke of Sussex. Morton, asked whether he thought the Sussexes would ever come back to Britain, told Sky News Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: What, and have Meghan Markle curtseying to Kate Middleton? I dont think so. I dont see that as a runner. Theyve got their own lives in California. Royal Highnesses bow and curtsey only to majesties, so Meghan would only have to do so to Kate once the princess becomes Queen. Harry is set for a brief solo trip to the UK without Meghan this week to attend the WellChild awards in London on 7 September, before he heads to the Invictus Games in Germany, where the duchess will join him later. He is not said to be meeting his father the King, who is reported to have no time in his diary, or his brother the Prince of Wales, amid their continued troubled relationship, which Harry laid bare in his Netflix documentary and Spare memoir. Harrys visit falls on the eve of the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth IIs death and the Kings accession on 8 September. Harry and Meghan moved to LA in March 2020 (Getty Images forA 2022 Robert F. ) Harry explored Meghan and Kates fractious relationship in his autobiography, recounting how the princess, pregnant at the time with Prince Louis, said she was owed an apology from Meghan after she said Kate was suffering from baby brain due to her hormones. The duke shed further light on the row between Kate and Meghan over Princess Charlottes bridesmaid dress, saying the incident left Meghan sobbing on the floor. Morton described how Diana had wanted her youngest son Harry to be a wingman to William. She also hoped her husband Charles would move to Italy with his then-mistress Camilla, now the Queen, to spend his time farming and sketching, leaving his eldest son to become King. Morton said: Her ambition was to see Prince Charles, her estranged husband, go off to Italy with his lady, being Camilla, and take up farming, sketching, watercolours and the rest of it, and leave her to guide Prince William into his future destiny as King this is to say, to jump a generation. Well, that never happened. He added: She also saw Harry very much as a back up, as a wingman to William in the difficult, lonely job that he will face. Well, that hasnt happened either. Mr Morton was speaking just days after the 26th anniversary of Dianas death and as unheard audio tapes of the late princess are due to air in an upcoming documentary. He described how hearing her voice again in the recordings, which were originally given to him with the princesss permission 30 years ago for his book, was eerie. Extracts of clips were shared through ABC News on Friday to trail the release of documentary Diana: The Rest Of Her Story, and featured Diana talking about how the King expressed disappointment Harry was not a girl at his christening. Morton said: It can be quite unnerving, especially when you listen to the parts where she talks about her ambition for the future is to just walk along a street in Paris, we all know what happened. News comes as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted enjoying themselves at Beyonces Renaissance world tour in LA, days before they head to the Invictus Games. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Royal fans gathered their pet corgis outside Buckingham Palace on Sunday (3 September) to remember Queen Elizabeth II, almost one year since her death. Around 20 corgi-owning royal enthusiasts dressed their pets in crowns, tiaras and royal outfits to parade them outside the palace in memory of the late Queen who died on 8 September last year. Corgis were the late queens constant companions since she was a child, and Elizabeth owned around 30 throughout her life. Generations of the dogs descended from Susan, a corgi that was given to the queen on her 18th birthday. Agatha Crerer-Gilbert, who organised Sunday's event, said she would like the corgi march to take place every year in Elizabeth's memory. I cant see a better way to remember her than through her corgis, through the breed that she loved and cherished throughout her life," she told Associated Press. You know, I cant get used to the fact that shes not physically around us, but shes looking at us. Look, the sun is shining, I thought it would shine on us today, added Crerer-Gilbert. After the Queen died, Prince Andrews ex-wife Sarah Ferguson adopted her two corgis. Muick and Sandy joined the duchesss five Norfolk terriers at their house at Royal Lodge, Windsor. Muick and Sandy also made an appearance at the Queens state funeral, as the royal corgis were seen waiting for her coffin at St Georges Chapel in Windsor. The dogs were brought out by two pages in red tailcoats. Royal fans and their pet corgis have gathered outside Buckingham Palace to remember Queen Elizabeth II a year on since the late monarch's death (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Two days before the funeral, Prince William greeted fans waiting in line to see his grandmothers coffin when a woman asked him about the late royals corgis. In the clip, shared on Sky News, William reassured fans that the pets will be properly looked after. This Friday (8 September) will be the first anniversary of the death of the 96-year-old queen. According to reports, the Prince and Princess of Wales will lead tributes to the late monarch on the anniversary of her death. Corgi gathering at Buckingham Palace (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Prince William and Kate Middleton will reportedly deliver a message to Britons in honour of the Queens legacy. It is unclear, however, whether this will be made in person, broadcast on television, or released on social media. Meanwhile, King Charles III is reportedly expected to spend his mothers death anniversary quietly and privately at Balmoral in Scotland, where she passed away. With additional reporting from Associated Press. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Ruby Franke, who once operated her own YouTube channel about the lives of her six children, has been placed under arrest on charges related to child abuse. Franke first made headlines back in 2015 for her controversial parenting advice that she shared on the YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which featured her husband Kevin Franke and their children: Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve. The now-deleted channel was once popular, having accumulated more than two million subscribers before speculation and concern began to mount in 2020 about the familys daily activities. Two years later, the Utah-based mother went on to announce that she was joining a new YouTube channel called ConneXions - which has since been deleted - alongside Jodi Nan Hildebrandt. The pair also sparked controversy with their videos, including one in which they made claims about what loving children unconditionally means. On Wednesday, the mother-of-six was arrested after officials said they discovered a malnourished minor with visible injuries and duct tape on their limbs. In a press release, the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department explained that, based on the evidence gathered, officers proceeded to a nearby residence where they discovered another juvenile in a comparable condition. Two of Frankes children were taken to a hospital for medical treatment, according to court documents. Those children, along with Frankes other children, were placed into the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services. Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were set to appear in court in St George, Utah on Friday afternoon but the virtual hearing was delayed by tech issues. Both women were ordered to be held without bail. Their bond hearings are slated for 21 September. Since her arrest, Frankes family, including her daughter, has made several statements about the situation, including that they are so glad justice is being served. Heres everything we know about Frankes rise to fame on YouTube as a former family vlogger and her arrest. Who is Ruby Franke? In January 2015, Franke first launched the 8 Passengers YouTube channel, which highlighted her familys life in Springville, Utah. One year after sharing the channel, she told local news stations KSL that her page was a way for her to just let [her] heart rate come down and to just enjoy being with the kids as they are right now. She also expressed that, as her children were getting older, she gained an even bigger perspective about why her family was so important. I just want women who are still nursing babies, women who are still trying to get their families, women who are not sleeping through the night to see what it looks like at the finish line, to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and its beautiful and its powerful and its worth it, its worth all the effort that families put into their family, she said at the time. After making headlines for her videos about her controversial parenting choices, which racked up millions of views, she went on to become a part of ConneXions, in which she and Hildebrandt gave daily advice. The now-deleted YouTube channel, which Franke joined in June 2022, had more than 4,800 subscribers, with videos also racking up thousands of views. How have her parenting choices sparked controversy online? Following her rise to fame with 8 Passengers, Franke went on to spark criticism after she said in a video that one of her sons, Chad, had been sleeping in a beanbag for seven months, after playing a prank on his sibling. In June 2020, concerned viewers contacted local child protective services, with a Change.Org petition created to encourage a CPS Investigation of 8 passengers. Amid the backlash, Franke told Insider at the time the sleeping arrangement was Chads choice after he stopped sharing a room with his younger brother amid behavioural concerns. A letter from DCFS, seen by Insider, said the claims were unsupported and that the case which alleged that Franke was the perpetrator was closed. In August 2022, she also faced criticism for refusing to bring lunch to her then six-year-old, after her daughter said shed packed food but had actually forgotten it. Franke alleged that she didnt want anyone to give her daughter lunch, since she wanted the child to realise how painful it is to be hungry all day, so shell make sure to always pack a lunch. As a teacher, Id be filing a report if a parent had this reaction to me asking them to fulfill basic needs, one person responded to Frankes comments, which were shared on TikTok. My hope is it will be painful all day. No maam, another commented, while a third wrote: Kids cant learn if theyre too hungry or tired!! Most schools will have a sandwich or something even if you forget one or something. Franke and Hildebrandts joint channel has also sparked outrage. In December 2022, they shared a now-deleted video about the concept of love, and gave examples in which they claimed children allegedly dont love their family unconditionally. The Utah-based mother claimed that if her child doesnt love or trust her, after offering them the gift of truth, then they are refusing to love unconditionally. She alleged: If my child will only love me if I give them what they want, then thats not really love, is it? What are the accusations against Franke amid her arrest? On 31 August, Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety said in a statement that it had received a report regarding a juvenile asking for help. The caller told officials that the child appeared to be emaciated and malnourished and had open wounds and duct tape around the extremities. After another child was found in similar physical condition of malnourishment, Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety said that the Department of Child and Family Services was contacted, and four minor children were taken into the agencys care. Along with Franke, Hildebrandt was also arrested. Due to the sensitive nature of this case, no additional information will be released at this time, officials said in the statement. The charging documents accuse both women of causing or permitting serious injury to two of Frankes children in three different ways, according to the Washington County attorneys office. This includes through a combination of physical injuries or torture; through starvation or malnutrition that jeopardizes life; and by causing severe emotional harm. The alleged abuse adds up to the six aggravated child abuse counts each woman faces. Each count carries a sentence of 1-15 years in prison, and a fine up to $10,000. Springville Police Department records later revealed that the authorities had responded to Frankes home numerous times over the years, twice regarding the welfare of her children. The most recent check was on 18 September 2022, when her daughter Shari Franke reported to the police that her sisters and brother had been left home alone for five days while her mother visited a friend in St. George, the Salt Lake Tribune reported, according to court documents. The daughter called for a welfare check on the children and asked police to make sure they had enough food for the extended period. But when the police responded to the home, the children would not answer the door. They were able to see the children through the window. There are several other reports from neighbors who told police video cameras on their property showed that Frankes car would be continuously gone for four days or more. Everyone who came to the scene was very concerned about the children and them being left at home alone, an officer wrote in a police report. [They] expressed great concern about the two youngest children being homeschooled while the two older ones go to public school. Mostly because it shows they are home alone during the day by themselves, and there isnt any way for them to contact emergency services if needed. An earlier incident was reported on 16 April 2022, according to the documents, in which a DCFS caseworker alerted police that two unsupervised children were running in the street near Frankes Springville home. But the officer who responded to the house said he did not see any children in the street. What has her family said about her arrest? Following her mothers arrest, Shari Franke, 20, has taken to Instagram to make several statements about the situation. She started off by posting a photo of a police car and an officer, as she wrote: Finally. Me and my family are so glad justice is being served, she wrote in another post. Weve been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they decided to finally step up. Kids are safe, but theres a long road ahead. Shari also created a document asking followers to share questionable or concerning information about ConneXions or 8 Passengers. Frankes sisters Ellie Mecham, Julie Deru, and Bonnie Hoellein released a statement saying that, for the last three years, they have kept quiet on the subject of their siblings for the sake of her children. They went on to say that they tried everything they could to ensure the children were safe. The post said: For the last three years we have kept quiet on the subject of our sister Ruby Franke for the sake of her children. Behind the public scene we have done everything we could to try and make sure the kids were safe. We wouldnt feel right about moving forward with regular content without addressing the most recent events. Once we do, we will not be commenting on it further. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} When Ethan Hawke strutted down the Cannes Film Festival red carpet this summer ahead of the premiere of his new film, Pedro Almodovars romantic western Strange Way of Life, his wardrobe bore an interesting bit of trivia: it was put together by the films producer. Strange Way of Life marks the first creation of Saint Laurent Productions, a newly minted film production arm of the esteemed fashion house. The nascent studio is overseen by Anthony Vaccarello, Saint Laurents creative director, and boasts projects in development from an enviable roster of talent including David Cronenberg, Wong Kar-wai, Paolo Sorrentino, Jim Jarmusch and Gaspar Noe. I want to work with and provide a space for all the great film talents who have inspired me over the years, said Vaccarello when announcing the studios launch. Though Saint Laurent may currently be the only fashion house to boast an in-house film studio, Strange Way of Life is hardly the first project of its kind. In 2019, the Cannes Directors Fortnight hosted the premiere of the Valentino-funded The Staggering Girl from Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name), another popular auteur with a chic European sensibility. Similarly, both of Olivier Assayass lauded collaborations with Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper, were partly supported by Chanel, for whom Stewart is a longtime ambassador. And this months release of Louis Garrels The Innocent was in part made possible through the participation of Giorgio Armani, which is thanked in the films opening credits. Fashion has of course been intertwined with film since the inception of cinema the medium is able to capture the sweep and sway of garments in ways that photography or illustration rarely can. Many of cinemas most iconic moments have been hewn from the handiwork of fashions greatest artists; think Audrey Hepburns Givenchy dresses in Breakfast at Tiffanys, or Richard Geres wide-shouldered Armani suits in American Gigolo. In more recent decades, it has become commonplace for fashion houses to task cinemas creme de la creme with forging their brands visual identities; Martin Scorsese and David Lynch directed adverts for Jil Sander and Calvin Klein, respectively, in the Eighties, while the likes of Sofia Coppola and Darren Aronofsky have picked up work between films by bringing their sensibilities to bear on ads for Marc Jacobs and Saint Laurent. For a fashion-conscious director like Almodovar, whose films are renowned for their colour and spectacle, partnering with big-name fashion labels seems like a perfect fit. Almodovar is one of the European filmmakers who has collaborated with designers since the very beginning, says Elena Caoduro, a film and media scholar at Queens University Belfast. She points to his 1993 film Kika, which in one scene showcased Jean-Paul Gaultiers iconic cone bra. For him, collaborating with designers is essential, says Caoduro. Very visual filmmakers have an interest in the texture of their films, which is why costumes or fashion garments come in handy. The collaboration is very fruitful. By producing major works by filmmakers such as Almodovar, fashion brands are shrugging off the advertorial reputation that clung to some previous director-led campaign films. Theyve then gained acceptance at esteemed festivals and film institutions in return. But this might not solely be down to the artistic merits of the work. The film festival, as a business, survives on the revenue that comes from sponsorship, and from the PR circulation that is driven by hosting these branded events, says Caoduro. So for the festivals themselves, its beneficial from an economic standpoint. Fiona Cuningham, of the fashion PR firm LDN Communications, sees Saint Laurents move as part and parcel of a decades-long transformation: the festival red carpet as a highly competitive advertising space for fashion brands. The red carpet is probably one of the most important tools in a brands annual marketing calendar, she says. The right dress on the right star can reach billions of consumers. Producing the films that said stars are promoting therefore seems a fitting next step. Consumers these days want brands to have a purpose. Partnering with renowned film directors is one way that brands can create meaning Melanie Larsen, trend strategist Were deep into an attention recession, says Melanie Larsen, a strategist at trend forecasting firm WGSN. Consumers these days want brands to have a purpose. Partnering with renowned film directors [] is one way that brands can create meaning. Larsen sees these new collaborations as part of a sea-change in the luxury industry, in which brands are reaching beyond fashion as they expand their audiences and reposition themselves as wider cultural brokers. The fashionable traveller may have noticed this transition getting under way over the last decade. In 2014, Louis Vuitton opened a gallery in Paris, and Saint Laurent followed suit with its own Marrakech-based museum in 2017. Prada, meanwhile, operates the Fondazione Prada in Milan, an exhibition space that features a cinema and a cafe with plush interiors designed by Wes Anderson. As a company, it is also active in funding the restoration and re-release of classic films and has produced a decade-long series named Womens Tales, which invites female filmmakers as disparate as Naomi Kawase, Lynne Ramsey and Isabel Sandoval to create short films featuring items from Miu Mius latest collections. Its not automatically altruistic, though. Arts philanthropy can also transform the intangible benefits of a branding opportunity into something that more directly impacts a businesss bottom line. There are often tax breaks if parts of a business are reinvested in the arts, says Caoduro. In Italy, for example, if a business wants to invest in cultural production, there could be a tax rebate of up to 30 per cent. Fashion film: Julianne Moore starred in Luca Guadagninos Valentino-funded The Staggering Girl (Mubi) The directors involved at least seem grateful for the opportunity to realise otherwise commercially challenging visions. Chanels financial assistance on Clouds of Sils Maria allowed Assayas to shoot his film on 35mm rather than on digital, and Noe previously received Saint Laurents support to create Lux terna, a favourably reviewed, improvisational video essay featuring witchcraft, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and the spectre of Cecil B DeMilles oeuvre. I was interested in doing things that have not been done in the western before, Almodovar told IndieWire of the inspiration behind his new project, which features Hawke and Pedro Pascal as two lonesome gunslingers embroiled in a passionate reunion. Meanwhile, Guadagninos non-linear The Staggering Girl was built from the ground up to capture the essence of Valentinos designs. If I have the time, Id always prefer to be doing something, he told Deadline in 2019. I felt that in [Valentino creative director Pier Paolos] work there was a narrative to be fleshed out. Fittingly, for a well-heeled film inspired by couture collections, The Staggering Girls credits close with a detailed description of the items worn by star Julianne Moore as her character attempts to coax her artist mother back to New York from Italy. But for all the lavish garments featured in these films, critics have at times been cool. Despite The Staggering Girls starry cast (Mia Goth and Kyle MacLachlan also appeared), and its long list of esteemed collaborators, including the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, the film was broadly critiqued as a somewhat threadbare work and currently holds a score of just 29 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. This all feels like distractingly elaborate packaging for [Valentinos] haute couture collections, wrote The Hollywood Reporters David Rooney in a negative review. So far, Saint Laurents approach seems to be lighter on labels, providing custom costumes rather than branded items. Strange Way of Life has enjoyed a somewhat warmer reception, too, with critics seeming to agree that Almodovars film carries off its haute stylings with ease. Its also worth pointing out that two of the biggest blockbusters of 2023 Barbie and Super Mario Bros are stealthy, studio-washed promotions for a doll and a computer game. It means fashions new model hardly feels egregiously commercial. In fact, with Saint Laurent Productions as the first name listed on Strange Way of Lifes poster, the project appears almost admirable in how nakedly it wears its patronage. And if brands are determined to turn the arthouse into a showroom, theyre at least keeping good company. Strange Way of Life will be released in cinemas for one night only on 25 September, featuring an exclusive Q&A with Pedro Almodovar Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} On Monday, October 9, millions of Americans will celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day. Indigenous Peoples Day, which is celebrated on the second Monday in October, is a holiday that honours the history and contributions of Native Americans. The holiday has become a replacement for federal holiday Columbus Day, which also falls on October 9, and which many have argued should no longer be celebrated due to the fact that Christopher Columbus does not deserve credit for discovering the Americas. Currently, there are 29 states and 198 cities across the country that have chosen to adopt Indigenous Peoples Day, according to renamecolumbusday.org. In 2021 and 2022, President Joe Biden also issued proclamations declaring the holiday Indigenous Peoples Day. First introduced by Congress in 1885 when it was decided that federal employees should have certain days off from work, the list of US federal holidays is made up of 11 days of significance that Americans recognise - and celebrate. To ensure that these holidays are observed, certain guidelines have been put in place, with federal holidays that fall on a Saturday observed by federal employees on the previous Friday, while holidays that fall on Sunday are observed the following Monday. On these 11 days, all non-essential federal offices are closed, while banks, post offices and schools may also be closed. However, that doesnt mean that all Americans will receive a day off from work, as employees in the private sector may or may not get the day off, depending on their employer. From Memorial Day to Thanksgiving, these are the dates of the 2023 federal holidays. 2023 federal holidays: New Years Day: Sunday, January 1 (Observed Monday, January 2) Martin Luther King Jr Day: Monday, January 16 Presidents Day: Monday, February 20 Memorial Day: Monday, May 29 Juneteenth: Friday, June 16 Independence Day: Tuesday, July 4 Labor Day: Monday, September 4 Indigenous Peoples Day (also observed as Columbus Day): Monday, October 9 Veterans Day: Saturday, November 11 (Observed Friday, November 10) Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 23 Christmas: Monday, December 25 Other important days to note: Valentines Day: Tuesday, February 14 St Patricks Day: Friday, March 17 Passover: Thursday, April 6 Good Friday: Friday, April 7 Easter: Sunday, April 9 Mothers Day: Sunday, May 14 Fathers Day: Sunday, June 18 For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Algerias Defense Ministry has acknowledged that its forces fired on a group of people on water scooters who strayed into Algerian waters from Morocco, and that a body was later found. The shooting has provoked national anger in Morocco. The North African neighbors have no diplomatic relations and their maritime border has been closed since the 1990s because of long-running disputes over the territory of Western Sahara, among other issues. But deadly confrontations in the sea are unusual. Moroccan media say Algerian forces killed two vacationers in the incident last week. France says a French citizen was among those killed and another French citizen was detained. A protest was planned Monday in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, to denounce the killings. The Algerian Defense Ministry said in a statement late Sunday that coast guard units last Tuesday intercepted three water scooters that had clandestinely entered Algerian waters. Given the increased activity of drug trafficking gangs and organized crime in this maritime border region and the obstinacy of those riding the water scooters, coast guard personnel fired warning shots. After several attempts, shots were fired, forcing one of the water scooters to stop, while the other two fled,'' the statement said. The next day, an Algerian coast guard patrol recovered the body of a man with a bullet hole from a firearm, the statement said, without elaborating. Moroccan forces recovered another body, according to Moroccan media reports. One of the men on the water scooters, Mohamed Kissi, told Moroccan news website 360.ma that he, his brother Bilal and friends were on vacation and riding personal watercraft off the coast of the Moroccan town of Saaidia when they ran low on gas and drifted into Algerian territory. His brother was killed and was buried in the area last week. The family of the other person killed is seeking repatriation of his body from the Algerian forces, according to Moroccan media reports. Moroccan prosecutors opened an investigation into a violent sea incident involving five people on water scooters, the official Moroccan news agency MAP reported. Moroccan officials havent provided details about what happened. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Clashes erupted in an immigrant neighborhood in Swedens third largest city after an anti-Muslim protester set fire to a copy of the Quran, police said Monday. Police in Malmo said they were pelted with rocks and dozens of cars were set on fire, including in an underground garage, and described the events that started Sunday and lasted overnight as a violent riot. The clashes started after an anti-Islam activist, Salwan Momika, burned a copy of the Quran on Sunday and an angry mob tried to stop him, police said. At least three people were detained, they said. Early Monday, a crowd of mainly young people set fire to tires and debris and some threw electric scooters, bicycles and barriers in Malmo's Rosengard neighborhood, which has seen similar clashes in the past. Several banners condemned the Quran burning. I understand that a public gathering like this arouses strong emotions, but we cannot tolerate disturbances and violent expressions like those we saw on Sunday afternoon," senior police officer Petra Stenkula said. It is extremely regrettable to once again see violence and vandalism at Rosengard, she said. "Regardless of the reason behind these riots, the car fires, the harassment, violence against police officers, ... regardless of the reason, I think that all Swedes find this completely unacceptable, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at a news conference. In the past months, Momika, a refugee from Iraq, has desecrated copies of the Quran in a series of anti-Islam protests mostly in Stockholm. Swedish police have allowed his actions, citing freedom of speech. The Quran burnings have sparked angry protests in Muslim countries, attacks on Swedish diplomatic missions and threats from Islamic extremists. 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 has announced an investigation into the possibility of enabling police to reject permits for demonstrations over national security concerns. Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Health Check email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A new Covid variant dubbed Pirola is sweeping the United States and is currently being closely monitored by the World Health Organisation. Pirola is a combination of the Greek letters Pi and Rho, has more than 30 mutations to its spike protein compared to XBB.1.5, a variant of Omicron that had been the dominant strain in the US, according to a Thursday bulletin in Yale Medicine. Such a high number of mutations is notable, said Yale Medicine infectious diseases specialist Scott Roberts, MD. Dr Roberts said that this was similar to the number of mutations that differed between Delta, one of the early strains of the coronavirus, and Omicron. When Omicron hit in the winter of 2021, there was a huge rise in COVID-19 cases because it was so different from the Delta variant, and it evaded immunity from both natural infection and vaccination, Dr Roberts added. The other concern is that this strain has been picked up in at least six countries, and the cases are unrelated. This suggests some degree of transmission in the [international] community that were not detecting. What is BA.2.86? Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist and lead for the Covid response at the WHO, said very limited information was available on the newly discovered strain. But a large number of mutations within it needed closer monitoring, she wrote on Twitter. Surveillance, sequencing and Covid-19 reporting [are] critical to track known and detect new variants, she added. The variant, also referred to as BA.X, was found through genetic sequencing a process where scientists determine the building blocks of a molecules DNA. Scientists are on alert due to the overly high number of mutations of the variant, with more than 30 in the spike protein the part of the virus that vaccines aim to neutralise. How many cases are there in the US? Pirola has been found in 10 states, according to data from GISAID , a global database. So far, it has been found in Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. The CDC noted in a statement released 23 August that the current hospitalisations in the country are not likely driven by BA.2.86, but added, this assessment may change as additional data become available. Globally, the variant has been detected in Denmark, Sweden, South Africa, Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom and the US, as The Independent previously reported. Covid hospitalisations and deaths have steadily risen for the last several weeks, as the US sees the effect of a summer surge. From 3 September to 9 September, hospitalisations from the virus rose 7.7 per cent compared to the previous week, the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show. During that same time, deaths rose 4.5 per cent. As the summer surge has gained traction, experts have started speaking more about preventative measures. In a recent interview with CNN, Dr Anthony Fauci said he hopes Americans wear masks to protect their loved ones if case counts continue to rise. What can you do to protect yourself? The CDC has advised people to protect themselves from the virus as it is not yet clear how well this variant spreads, however as a precautionary measure people have been asked to do the following: Get your Covid-19 vaccines. Get tested for Covid. Seek treatment if you have Covid-19 and are at high risk of getting very sick If you choose to wear a mask, wear a high-quality one that fits well over your nose and mouth Improve ventilation. Wash your hands. What are the symptoms? Symptoms of the new variant include a runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing and a sore throat. What are the experts saying? Kristian G Andersen, an immunologist and infectious diseases expert, said the lineage had all the hallmarks of something that could take off, but added: Our immunity landscape is now complex, so its too early to say it will. Dr S. Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist, a flagship Texan hospital, said it remained to be seen whether BA.2.86 would be able to out-compete other strains of the virus or have any advantage in escaping immune responses from prior infection or vaccination. Researchers are currently studying how much if any protection against BA.2.86 might be offered from immunity from previous Covid infections, per The New York Times. However, the research on this topic is still in its infancy, so its difficult to say for sure how past infections may influence Pirola cases. Close Jill Biden tested positive for Covid and experienced mild symptoms, per a 4 September statement from the White House. Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Health Check email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} New Covid boosters from Pfizer and Moderna are now available at pharmacies nationwide, and the US has restarted its free Covid test program. Tests can be ordered from COVIDTests.gov; you can order four per household. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are recommending one dose of the updated vaccine for everyone six months and older in the US; some children may be eligible for up to three doses depending on their age and previous vaccination status. Hospitalisations and deaths rose steadily during the last weeks of summer, and global health authorities are monitoring two new variants, BA.2.86, known as Pirola, and EG.5, known as Eris. First reported in February, Eris is now responsible for nearly 30 per cent of Covid cases in the US, per CDC estimates. Some experts are urging Americans to wear a mask when necessary to slow the spread of the virus. CDC Covid tracker 16,186 hospitalisations from 15 October to 21 October For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The trial opened Monday of a Russia-born Swedish citizen charged with collecting information for the Russian military intelligence service GRU for almost a decade. Sergey Skvortsov, 60, is accused of gross illegal intelligence activities against Sweden and against a foreign power," according to prosecutor Henrik Olin who has identified the foreign power as the United States. Skvortsov was arrested in November together with his wife in a predawn operation in Nacka, outside Stockholm. Swedish media reported that elite police rappelled from two Black Hawk helicopters to arrest the couple. Skvortsov has been in custody since his arrest and denies any wrongdoing, according to his defense lawyer, Ulrika Borg. His wife was released without charge following an investigation by Swedens security agency. The trial is being held at the Stockholm District Court. It is the second trial in recent years of people accused of spying on Sweden for Russia and its military intelligence service. In May, Swedens highest court upheld the life sentence for the eldest of two Iranian-born Swedish brothers. Peyman Kia was sentenced to life in January in one of the Scandinavian countrys biggest espionage cases in decades. His brother, Payam Kia, was given nine years and 10 months. They were found guilty of having worked jointly to pass information to Russia between Sept. 28, 2011, and Sept. 20, 2021. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Sir Keir Starmer said his shadow cabinet reshuffle meant Labour has the strongest possible players on the pitch ahead of the next election. The biggest winner in the top team shake-up looked to be his deputy Angela Rayner, who was given the wide-ranging levelling-up brief and formally appointed shadow deputy prime minister. The decision to move Ms Rayner, who had previously been shadowing the Cabinet Office, led to Lisa Nandy being demoted from her job opposite Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove and switched to covering the international development brief. It means the Wigan MP, who rivalled Sir Keir for the leadership in 2020, is now deputy to shadow foreign secretary David Lammy a position he replaced her in a little under two years ago. We now have the strongest possible players on the pitch for what is going to be a crucial part of the journey Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer A source close to Ms Nandy signalled there would be no dissent over her relegation, stating that she is a team player and was looking forward to getting stuck into her new role. Sir Keir defended the change, saying the international development post would be crucially important to a future Labour governments plans to reset our position on the world stage. The widely-tipped shift of moving Ms Rayner to the levelling-up brief a role that takes in housing, devolution and scrutinising the Conservative Governments pledge to create economic opportunities outside London and the South East went more smoothly for the leader than the reshuffle in May 2021. Ms Rayner, as part of negotiations with Sir Keir, who wanted to move her from her party chairman post after the Hartlepool by-election defeat saw her emerge in a stronger position with a bolstered set of responsibilities. Sir Keirs tinkering with his front bench on Monday, which started at 9am and was completed by lunchtime, saw allies handed promotions, including Shabana Mahmood, who made the jump from national campaign co-ordinator to shadow justice secretary. A key ally to the Opposition leader, the Birmingham Ladywood MP is understood to have been given her new role as a reward for helping to reshape the partys campaign machine and overseeing by-election and local election successes since her appointment two years ago. Liz Kendall, who unsuccessfully ran for the leadership in 2015 against Jeremy Corbyn and is considered to be on the right of the party, was promoted to shadow work and pensions secretary after impressing in her former social care brief. Pat McFadden, a former political secretary to ex-prime minister Sir Tony Blair, moves from shadow Treasury chief secretary to shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, while also taking on the campaign co-ordinator position vacated by Ms Mahmoods promotion. Ms Kendall denied the reshuffle made the shadow cabinet more Blairite, telling BBC Radio 4s PM programme: No it isnt. We dont want to go back to 2010 let alone 1997 this is a team focused on the future. Rising star Darren Jones, who had made a name for himself grilling ministers in his position as chairman of the Business and Trade Select Committee, was given Mr McFaddens previous post. Sir Keir also filled his shadow cabinet with more experience, appointing Hilary Benn as shadow Northern Ireland secretary. He served in the cabinet during Labours last time in power. Speaking to broadcasters in Westminster about his revamp, Sir Keir said his reforms to the party meant he was now in position to put our top team on the table, to show it to the country. He said: I think what is important is to recognise that with this reshuffle, we now have the strongest possible players on the pitch for what is going to be a crucial part of the journey. He said Ms Rayners job switch had been about putting her in a role that is crucial to the rebuilding of our country. Other changes made saw Lucy Powell and Thangam Debbonaire effectively undergo a job swap, with Ms Powell moved over to shadow Commons leader and Ms Debbonaire taking over the culture brief. There were demotions for Jonathan Ashworth and Nick Thomas-Symonds, who were removed from their work and pensions and international trade briefs respectively and given lesser Cabinet Office-shadowing roles. Mr Ashworth, in his new position as paymaster general, is expected to play a central role at the next general election. Steve Reed was shifted from justice to environment, taking Jim McMahons role after he resigned to focus on his health. In a move that put Mondays reshuffle into gear, Mr McMahon, who had been tipped to lose his job, offered his continued support for Sir Keir but said he wanted to focus on getting my health back to full strength. Elsewhere, Rosen Allin-Khan announced she was quitting as shadow mental health minister after she said Sir Keir had refused to bump up the position. In a letter posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, the qualified doctor told Sir Keir: As discussed previously, and in our call earlier, you made clear that you do not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour cabinet, which is why I told you many weeks ago that I would not be able to continue in this role. The pre-election shake-up came on the same day that former top civil servant and partygate investigator Sue Gray started her new role as the Labour leaders chief of staff. The anti-sleaze watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, had recommended a six-month delay to her starting the job with Sir Keir advice Labour accepted. Greg Hands, chairman of the Tory Party, said: This reshuffle shows Sir Keir Starmer offers no new ideas, just more of the same old short-term approach to politics which has failed this country. He constantly changes positions to win votes, showing he doesnt have the strength of character to lead Britain. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Former Tory whip Chris Pincher has lost his appeal against an eight-week suspension from the House of Commons following allegations he drunkenly groped two men at Londons exclusive Carlton Club last year. The suspension exceeds the 10-day threshold that would trigger a recall petition in his Tamworth seat if MPs approve it. This could pave the way for a by-election if more than 10% of constituents sign it. The Commons Standards Committee in July recommended a lengthy suspension for Mr Pincher after it found the MPs conduct last summer was profoundly damaging and amounted to an abuse of power. His actions were described as unwanted, inappropriate and upsetting, in what amounted to an egregious case of sexual misconduct. Boris Johnsons handling of the row over his former chief whip was the final nail in the coffin of his premiership, triggering his resignation last year after an exodus of ministers from his administration. Mr Pincher, who remains MP for Tamworth, lodged an appeal against the committees findings arguing it was disproportionate. However, Parliaments watchdog, the Independent Expert Panel (IEP), on Monday dismissed his appeal and upheld the Standards Committees recommended sanction. The IEPs report said: We consider that the appellants arguments are misconceived or erroneous. The sanction is far from being arbitrary or disproportionate. Mr Pincher did not appeal against the Standards Committees conclusion that he had broken the MPs code of conduct by behaving in a way that would cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the Commons. But he argued in his appeal submission that his behaviour had not damaged Parliaments reputation as he had spoken at the private members club as a minister rather than as an MP. He resigned as a Government whip after the incident and subsequently lost the Tory whip, meaning he now sits in the Commons as an independent. Mr Pincher, who has already indicated he will not seek re-election, could choose to stand down as an MP following the appeal decision, which would automatically trigger a contest in his Staffordshire constituency. Downing Street refused to be drawn on whether Mr Pincher should quit the Commons and said it was a matter for him. His suspension could leave Rishi Sunak facing a tricky double by-election as the Conservatives languish in the national polls. Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries bitter exit last week means one is set to take place this autumn in her Mid Bedfordshire seat. Mr Pincher has been comfortably voted for by Tamworth residents since 2010, and he won a 19,634 vote majority at the last general election. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The mother of a six-year-old boy found dead in woods nearly 30 years ago said her journey of horror and tragedy is finally over after the schoolboys murderer lost an appeal against his conviction. Ruth Neave said the judges decision to throw out 42-year-old James Watsons appeal marks the end of a chapter. She said: Now Rikki can rest in peace and I can start a new chapter and start living again. Last June, following an Old Bailey trial, Watson was jailed for at least 15 years after being found guilty of killing Rikki, whose naked body was found near his Peterborough home in November 1994, when he was 13. The news today brings to an end a very long journey of horror and tragedy Ruth Neave He challenged the jurys verdict, with judges Lord Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Morris and Judge Angela Morris overseeing a Court of Appeal hearing in London in June, saying his trial was unfair. Speaking after the judges dismissed Watsons appeal on Monday, Ms Neave, who was cleared of her sons murder in 1996 but given a seven-year prison term after admitting child cruelty, said: The news today brings to an end a very long journey of horror and tragedy. This is the end of a chapter and the start of a new one. Watson, who denied murder, was charged after a police cold case review produced a DNA match eight years ago. The Crown Prosecution Service said a key piece of evidence against Watson was DNA he left on Rikkis clothes. Prosecutors said samples from clothes were taken in 1994 but technology was not sufficiently advanced to provide a DNA match until 2015. Watson told police he lifted Rikki up so the youngster could see over a fence, prosecutors said. Trial judge Mrs Justice McGowan had said the law meant Watson had to be handed a minimum term relevant to his age at the time of the offence. We are... satisfied that the judge was correct to find that the appellant could and would have a fair trial Lord Justice Holroyde Lord Justice Holroyde said in a written appeal ruling that lawyers representing Watson argued that his prosecution was an abuse of process because the unavailability of important exhibits meant that it was impossible for him to have a fair trial. He said Watsons lawyers had also complained about the trial judge allowing bad character evidence to be considered by jurors. Lord Justice Holroyde said prosecutors had applied to adduce evidence showing that Watson had a sexual interest in young boys and strangulation. He said the trial judge had held that it was open to the jury to find that the killing had a sexual element. We are satisfied that the judge was correct to find that the appellant could and would have a fair trial, added Lord Justice Holroyde. We are satisfied that the judge did not err in admitting the bad character evidence. The weight to be given to the evidence was then a matter for the jury. Watsons lawyers also argued that remarks by the trial judge placed undue pressure on the jury to reach a verdict. But Lord Justice Holroyde said: Taking the remarks collectively, we are satisfied that they could not have caused any juror to feel under any pressure to compromise his or her oath, and they do not render the conviction unsafe. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The President of Mozambique has won a High Court immunity fight in London. President Filipe Nyusi had become embroiled in commercial litigation involving allegations of fraud. He had claimed immunity from the jurisdiction of the High Court of England and Wales because he was a serving head of state and a judge has ruled in his favour. Mr Justice Robin Knowles has concluded that in relation to the claims alleged against him in the litigation, President Nyusi had immunity from the jurisdiction of this court while he was Head of State of Mozambique. He outlined his conclusions in a written ruling released on Monday after considering legal arguments at a High Court hearing in London in August. The judge has been told how the Republic of Mozambique has alleged that it has been a victim of fraud concerning the supply of various vessels and maritime systems and taken legal action against various defendants, including the Credit Suisse International bank and Privinvest Shipbuilding. He said in a written ruling that Privinvest had made claims against President Nyusi and a trial was due to begin in October. The litigation concerns a number of transactions or alleged transactions, including alleged purchase and financing transactions, he said. The claims by the Privinvest Defendants against President Nyusi are for a contribution as an alleged joint tortfeasor or a party to an alleged unlawful means conspiracy and in deceit, under Mozambican or English Law, he said. The claims are concerned with alleged activity by President Nyusi outside the United Kingdom, at least primarily before he became president, and in any event not in his public capacity or part of his official functions. He added: The president has responded by claiming immunity from the jurisdiction of this court as a serving head of state. The judge said he had considered the terms of the 1978 Sovereign Immunity Act and concluded that in relation to the claims alleged against him in these proceedings President Nyusi had immunity from the jurisdiction of this Court whilst he is Head of State of the Republic. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The final WhatsApp messages of the father of a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her Surrey home have been revealed as an international manhunt continues. Urfan Sharif messaged businessman Nadeem Riaz shortly before 10pm on 8 August, urgently asking for eight flight tickets to Islamabad, Pakistan. Mr Riaz, who owns a money transfer shop and ad hoc travel agency, did not realise then that the client he has known for 11 years was leaving one child behind. He said he needed to book as soon as possible, Mr Riaz, 46, told The Times. I asked why and he said his cousin had passed away in Pakistan. He sounded normal. No different to his usual self. When asked what type of tickets he wanted, Mr Sharif responded with just two words: One way. The body of Sara was found at a property on Hammond Road after police were called from Pakistan by her father Urfan Sharif (PA) Mr Sharif, 41, his partner, Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother, Faisal Malik, 28, are all wanted for questioning but despite house raids of relatives in Pakistan, the trio have not been found. Mr Riaz said Mr Sharif wanted updates on WhatsApp within minutes, asking at 10.12pm: Any luck[?} Less than 24 hours later, Mr Sharif boarded a flight at Heathrow to Islamabad via Bahrain at 2pm with his five children aged between one and 13, Ms Batool and his brother Mr Malik. The flight tickets bought at the eleventh hour cost 5,180. Urfan Sharif, left, and Beinash Batool are wanted for questioning (PA) After touching down in Islamabad, Mr Sharif called police to inform them that the body of his daughter Sara was at the property on Hammond Road. The 10-year-old was found with extensive injuries over a sustained period, a post-mortem examination showed. It has been claimed that Sara, who was known to Surrey County Council, had been seen in school with injuries to her face and neck in April. Her neighbour, identified only as Jessica by the BBC, said her daughter told her Sara had gone to school with the injuries but claimed she had fallen off a bike when asked about them. Just before the Easter holidays she was in school and had cuts and bruises on her face and her neck, Jessica told the BBC. My daughter had asked what had happened and she said shed fallen off a bike and then kind of walked away. The next day the teacher announced she had left school and she was being home-schooled. People lay flowers for Sara outside her home in Woking, Surrey (PA) Another neighbour told the broadcaster she never saw Sara smile or laugh and she seemed like a quiet and reserved child. A cousin of Ms Batool has now urged her to hand herself in to the police. The relative, who asked not to be named, told Sky News: Beinash should come back to the UK. I dont know where she is. But Im worried about her. Im worried about her kids. She should come back to the UK, go to the police and tell them exactly what happened. She added: I dont know my family dont know what happened. It could have been an accident, a misunderstanding. Muhammad Sharif said his son, Urfan, had briefly visited the family home in the city of Jhelum, Punjab province, earlier this month before he disappeared again. He said his son did not tell him about Saras death. He told The Sunday Times: We want them to present themselves. We want them to resolve the matter as the privacy of our house is affected due to frequent police raids. Anyone with information can call 101 quoting Operation Unison or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Education secretary Gillian Keegan has defended holidaying with family in Spain as the crumbling concrete crisis hitting schools unfolded. The Cabinet minister said on Monday she has always worked remotely and continued to chair a response team while on the continent for her fathers birthday. Aides had conceded she was in Spain between 25 August and Thursday, when the closures at more than 100 schools were ordered. The education secretary said on Monday she has always worked remotely (via REUTERS) Her holiday emerged as Ms Keegan was under pressure after being caught on microphone suggesting everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing as she tackled the crisis. Ministers have said they were acting after receiving concerning new evidence about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) over the summer. Ms Keegan said the trip to Spain where she reportedly owns property in Madrid and Marbella was her first opportunity to go on holiday this summer after dealing with striking teachers, as well as GCSE and A-level results. She told Skys Politics Hub: I dont expect anyone to feel sorry for me, Im certainly not getting that vibe from you. But what I arranged was to go on holiday on that day for my dads birthday it was a family occasion and we went. The minister said she chaired a response team from Spain every day despite the vacation. She said she has always worked remotely throughout her career, in business before becoming an MP, and said she planned to come back if investigations raised concerns. I came back straight away well actually I had to wait a day because of the air traffic control issue, she added. The complete or partial closures at 104 schools and colleges in England over Raac was announced with a press release on Thursday afternoon. Ms Keegan, according to aides, was in her department overseeing the publication of the guidance that day before speaking to broadcasters in the evening. A Department for Education spokesman said: Throughout this summer the Education Secretary has been driving forward this governments priorities, bringing an end to strike action in schools, announcing 15 new free schools and seven new Send (special educational needs and disabilities) schools, as well as overseeing the return to pre-pandemic grading for GCSE, A-level and VTQ results. Remedial work being carried out at Mayflower Primary School in Leicester, affected by RAAC (PA) The Education secretary took the cautious and proactive decision to change guidance on Raac and this week has chaired daily operational calls with ministers and senior officials in the department and virtually. In a follow-up interview Ms Keegan apologised for her choice language and said it was an off-the-cuff remark. The ministers comments came at the conclusion of an interview with ITVs Daniel Hewitt in which she said he had been pressing me quite hard and claimed he was making out it was all my fault. In her apology, the Education Secretary refused to say who she believed was sat on their arse. Ms Keegan said: I wasnt really talking about anyone in particular. It was an off-the-cuff remark after the news interview had finished, or apparently after it had finished. A taped off section inside Parks Primary School in Leicester (Jacob King/PA) (PA Wire) I would like to apologise for my choice language, that was unnecessary. She indicated she was frustrated with those who have not responded to questionnaires asking about whether schools have the dangerous aerated concrete present. In her follow-up interview, Ms Keegan said: It is frustrating because were doing everything now to take a leading position to be on the front foot, to put all the support in place that responsible bodies and schools need. Its also frustrating that weve got some questionnaires that still are not there, weve been chasing and chasing them, weve written again today to say you need to get your questionnaires in by the end of the week. Pressed on whether she was frustrated with councils, her predecessor as education secretary or prime minister Rishi Sunak, Ms Keegan said: No its not, its nobody in particular. But taking aim at ITVs award-winning Mr Hewitt, she said: Actually it was the interviewer, because the interviewer was making out it was all my fault, and thats what I was saying, do you ever go into these interviews where anyone ever says anything but youve just done a terrible job. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The British Museum was hit by a scandal worthy of an Edwardian crime novel this summer when it emerged that some 2,000 items from its world-class Towneley collection of Graeco-Roman artefacts were found to be missing, stolen or damaged. Peter Higgs, a curator of 30 years experience and head of its Greece and Rome department, was dismissed over the disappearance of gold jewellery and semi-precious stones. He has since protested his innocence with his family insisting his name had been dragged through the mud. Hartwig Fischer, the institutions director, duly resigned over the affair, while his deputy, Jonathan Williams, voluntarily stepped back from his normal duties as the museum on Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury, central London, launched an independent review of its security arrangements. The Metropolitan Polices economic crime command also opened an investigation into the thefts and has begun conducting interviews connected to the spree. Some of the missing relics have since been recovered, according to former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne, chairman of the museums board of trustees. A much more common complaint against the institution in recent years has revolved around its right to hold onto the treasures it houses, with some believing that many of the relics in its collection were effectively looted during the colonial heyday of the British Empire and ought to be returned to their countries of origin out of respect for the civilisations that created them. Egyptians call on British Museum to return Rosetta Stone The British Museum makes no secret of the debate surrounding the artefacts within its walls and lists contested objects on its website, explaining the historical circumstances of their acquisition and the current state of the often highly-sensitive discussions surrounding their retention. A list of disputed items from its archives follows. Chinese cultural relics A Ming dynasty stoneware figure displayed at the British Museum (Getty) The most recent appeal for the museum to return items came from Chinas state-run newspaper The Global Times, which used the visit of UK foreign secretary James Cleverly to Beijing in August 2023 to publish an editorial demanding that the institution give back all items acquired through improper channels to China free of charge. It referred to Britains refusal to return artefacts to other countries and accused the museum in particular of adopting a resistant, protracted and perfunctory attitude. The British Museum houses the biggest collection of Chinese relics anywhere in the West at least 23,000 objects ranging from paintings that date back to the Tang dynasty (618 to 907) to bronze vessels from the dawn of Chinas civilisation. Of these, The Global Times reported that about 2,000 are currently on display and cited a number of examples it regarded as particularly significant. These included The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies by Gu Kaizhi, which the museum describes as a masterpiece and a milestone in Chinese painting history dating from between 400 and 700. Other items cited include Liao tri-colored Luohan statues; ritual bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties and stone Buddhist sutra scrolls from the Wei and Jin dynasties. A spokesperson for the British Museum told The Independent: We understand and recognise the significance of the issues surrounding objects from other countries, and work with communities, colleagues and museums across the globe to share the collection as widely as possible. There has been no request for the return of any objects in the collection by the Chinese government. The Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone on display as part of the museums recent Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt exhibition (The British Museum/AP) Egypts former antiquities minister Dr Zahi Hawass launched a petition in November 2022 calling for the museum to return the Rosetta Stone on the 200th anniversary of its hieroglyphics being deciphered. That breakthrough greatly enhanced the worlds understanding of the wonders of Ancient Egypt. It is the time Egyptian identity comes back home. We are not asking the British Museum to return the 100,000 Egyptian pieces they have, we just ask them to return one item, Dr Hawass said. The stone was discovered by French soldiers in the northern town of Rashid in 1799 during Napoleon Bonapartes military occupation of the country but passed into British hands after the generals forces were routed in 1801. Dr Hawass said he hopes to see the stone, which he described as an icon of Egyptian identity, displayed in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza once it opens in late 2023 or early 2024. He is also pursuing the return of the Zodiac of Dendera from the Louvre in Paris and the Nefertiti bust from the Neues Museum in Berlin, although he is still some way short of the 1m signatures sought to endorse his appeal for the Stones repatriation. A spokesperson for the British Museum told The Independent: We have received no formal request from the Egyptian government to repatriate the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta stone is available to all interested audiences, whether in the galleries or via appointment to support academic research. The Benin bronzes The Benin bronzes seen in a gallery of African relics in the British Museum in London (Leon Neal/Getty) The museum houses over 900 elaborately decorated brass and bronze sculptures and plaques from the West African Kingdom of Benin dating as far back as the 16th century. Commemorative heads, animals, human figures and royal regalia originally crafted by specialist guilds are among the collection. Benin City is now the capital of the state of Edo in southern Nigeria but was part of the British Empire from 1897 to 1960. Many of its relics ended up in the hands of British collectors during this period, including the likes of Harry Beasley, William Oldman and Sir Henry Wellcome, who subsequently donated their items to the British Museum in 1944, 1949 and 1954 respectively. The institution reports that it received a written request for the return of Nigerian antiquities from Nigerias Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in October 2021 and that representatives of the Benin Royal Palace have made a number of public statements calling for their return. The museum states that it has been in discussions over the issue for several years, with Mr Fisher visiting Nigeria in August 2018, and enjoys positive relationships with the royal palace in Benin City, with the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NNCMM) and with The Benin Dialogue Group. It says it remains committed to thorough and open investigation of Benin collection histories, and engagement with wider contemporary dialogues within which these collections are positioned. However, the recent thefts from the museum have only heightened calls for the Benin bronzes return, with Abba Isa Tijani, the NNCMMs director telling Sky News in August: Its shocking to hear that the countries and museums that have been telling us that the Benin bronzes would not be secure in Nigeria have thefts happening there. The Parthenon sculptures Sections of the Parthenon sculptures on display in the British Museum (Matthew Fearn/PA) One of the longest-running controversies surrounding the British Museums collection concerns the Parthenon sculptures (also known as the Elgin marbles), which come from the temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. The museum holds 15 metopes, 17 pedimental figures and a 247-foot section of decorative frieze, all of which are believed to have been crafted between 447 and 432 BC. They were removed by Lord Elgin, British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire still governing Greece in the early nineteenth century between 1801 and 1805 and were subsequently shipped to Britain. His actions were investigated by a parliamentary select committee in 1816, which ruled that he had committed no wrong but consigned the antiquities to the museum in the best interests of their conservation. The Greek government first requested they be returned in 1983 and discussions have taken place ever since without resolution. Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson KC accused the museum of being among the worlds largest receivers of stolen property in 2019 over its failure to give back the sculptures and other pilfered cultural property. The British Museum states that it takes its commitment to be a world museum seriously. The collection is a unique resource to explore the richness, diversity and complexity of all human history, our shared humanity. The Parthenon sculptures are an integral part of that story and a vital element in this interconnected world collection, particularly in the way in which they convey the influences between Egyptian, Persian, Greek and Roman cultures. We share this collection with the widest possible public, lending objects all over the world and making images and information on over four million objects from the collection available online. Most recently, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak waded into the debate when he said in March this year that the sculptures are a huge asset and insisted they would not be returned, speaking in response to pressure from The Parthenon Project, a cross-party group of British MPs. The Maqdala collection The museum holds 80 objects from the reign of Ethiopias Emperor Tewodros II in the mid-19th century, including ornate ceremonial crosses, chalices, weapons, textiles, jewellery and archaeological material. Tewodros succeeded to the throne of Maqdala, now known as Amba Mariam, in 1855. Seven years later, he called on the British to help train his military in order to shore up his territorial claims in East Africa but the appeal was rejected. Enraged, Tewodros reacted by imprisoning the British consul and taking hostages, including Christian missionaries. Britain responded by dispatching troops under Sir Robert Napier to mount a rescue operation and lay siege to Maqdala, leading to the death of Tewodros in 1868 and the pillaging of his fortress by soldiers, much of the spoils subsequently picked up at auction by British Museum employee Richard Rivington Holmes and entering the archives. Delegates from Ethiopia have often visited Bloomsbury in recent years, including culture minister Hirut Kassaw in March 2019, to request the return of its sacred objects and the matter remains under discussion. The Moai Hoa Hakananaia, a basalt Easter Island head, is displayed at the British Museum (Dan Kitwood/Getty) Two moai are currently held at the museum. These are monolithic ancestral heads originating from Rapa Nui in the South Pacific, better known as Easter Island in English. The first moai, Hoa Hakananaia, is carved from basalt and has been dated to 10001200 while the second, Moai Hava, was made from volcanic tuff between 1100 and 1600. They were removed from the island by Commodore Richard Powell of HMS Topaze in 1868, who returned to England with them a year later. They were subsequently gifted by the admiralty to Queen Victoria, who in turn donated them to the museum. Rapa Nui requested their return in a letter of July 2018 and a delegation of representatives arrived the following November. A reciprocal visit was made in August 2019 and the museum is now in the process of developing a long-term relationship with the community of Rapa Nui. Early Australian shield The British Museum loaned a tribal warriors shield carved from red mangrove wood and thought to date back to the New South Wales of the late 1700s to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra for an exhibition in 2015/16. There, it was seen by Aboriginal man Rodney Kelly, who appealed for its return on behalf of his ancestors. He has since visited London on several occasions to meet with the curators, most recently in 2019, and has asked for further research to be carried out into the shields history. It is not clear precisely how the museum obtained it in the first place, although it is believed to have been shipped back from Sydney between 1790 and 1815, possibly by affiliate Joseph Banks, although this is not certain. Objects of uncertain provenance 1933-45 One of the most tricky and sensitive areas for the British Museum is establishing whether any of the objects donated to it since the Second World War were in fact stolen, looted or otherwise taken by the Third Reich prior to or during the conflict. In cases where it has become clear that an object was forcibly obtained by the Nazis, every effort has been made to ascertain that it was correctly restituted at the end of World War II and that the Museums acquisition was made with good title, the museum explains. It settled a number of claims related to artworks, antique clocks and watches and valuable porcelain between 2006 and 2014. Human remains The British Museum reports that it has over 6,000 human remains in its collection, which it says are managed in a way that protects the collection for the benefit of present and future generations. It says it has received two requests for repatriation since the Human Tissue Act 2004 came into force in 2005: the first in July that year for two cremation ash bundles from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and another in May 2011 for two skulls from a Torres Strait Islander organisation, in both instances in cooperation with the Australian government. Following a review, the ash was ultimately returned but the skulls were retained after the trustees ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the claim on them. The museum also lists six prior requests between 1995 and 2004, four of which had been made by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre for the same material. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Residents of a tiny Cornish port town were left fuming when a 60,000 tonne cruise ship docked in their harbour - increasing the population by almost half. The Spirit of Adventure arrived in Fowey on Sunday 3 September, and with a maximum passenger capacity of 987 marked a significant addition to the towns 2,240 residents. The huge 774ft vessel towered over its surroundings and is the biggest boat to have ever moored in the quaint town, according to Fowey Harbour. A spokesperson for Fowey Harbour welcomed the boutique cruise ship and said they hope to welcome larger vessels in the future to increase tourism. Have you been affected by this story? Email lydia.patrick@independent.co.uk However, some locals were not pleased with the giant visitor and took to social media to share their anger. One social media user said: The same thing will happen to Fowey Harbour that happened to Venice with these cruise ships. They destroy the area and overrun it with tourists. Venice finally banned them. Hopefully, Fowey will do the same. Another complained: Really out of place. I know its good for Foweys tourism but just looks awful in such a pretty harbour. Previously residents of the town have also fought against second home-owners pricing out locals. Fowey Harbour master Paul Thomas pictured with fellow workers (Fowey Harbour ) But not everyone was upset with the seafaring arrival, as other residents took to social media to welcome the new visitors. One Twitter user said: Us folk who actually live in Fowey love having the cruise ships here in our working port! Fowey Harbour also shared its delight at the arrival of the boat as the largest ever vessel to drop anchor in Fowey Harbour. They posted: The SAGA Spirit of Adventure has enjoyed a fabulous day in the picturesque Cornish harbour. Recommended Best spa hotels in Cornwall 2022 for relaxing by the sea According to reports, the boat arrived at 6am on Sunday and left that day at 5pm. SagaCruises specialises in holidays for the over 50s, and 10 night tours on the Spirit of Adventure would set you back around 2,784. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Jamie Oliver is calling for more free school meals help as two-thirds of voters back the expansion of help to all children whose families receive universal credit as campaigned for by The Independent. The celebrity chef is among those asking the government to put childrens health first and widen the eligibility for free school meals. Under current rules, only children from households with an income below 7,400 after tax and benefits are eligible. London mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to roll out free primary school meals to all pupils in London in a year-long pilot after this newspaper campaigned to expand the help. Now, new research, commissioned by the School Food Review Working Group, found that 68 per cent of voters are in favour of extending free school meals to all children whose families receive universal credit. Some 82 per cent of prospective Labour voters agree, as do 53 per cent of Conservative voters, the polling shows. And 65 per cent of Labour voters and 18 per cent of Tory voters said they would be more likely to vote for Sir Keir Starmers party if they committed to the expansion, campaigners said. The 7,400 income threshold for families has not been increased since 2018, despite rising food prices. This means that an estimated 900,000 schoolchildren living in poverty are not eligible, they added. Responding to the polling, Jamie Oliver said it was great to see that voters across all parties want to put child health first. He added: We know that nourishing young minds with nutritious food is an investment in their future, [and] boosts our economy and our health. Sadiq Khan has recognised this by giving all primary school children a free school meal, and now we need politicians across all parties to put child health above politics and act now. Anna Taylor, executive director of charity The Food Foundation, said the polling was a clear signal that the status quo is both unfair and damaging, and voters want it fixed. Matthew Knight, catering manager at Hillstone Primary School in Birmingham, said school meals should be a priority for all the country, adding: We need it, especially here in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. The 7,400 income threshold for families has not been increased since 2018, despite rising food prices (PA) He added: Surely it is a moral obligation to feed our children who are our future? The West Midlands and Birmingham in particular have an extremely high proportion of families living in poverty. Free school meals would directly address this inequality. Jared Brading, executive headteacher at Sacred Heart and St Marys RC primary schools in Battersea, southwest London, said they were excited for a year when all primary children in the capital would receive food. But she called on the government to not forget their siblings in secondary schools and cousins in the rest of the country who cannot enjoy the same provision. A government spokesperson said: Over a third of pupils in England now receive free school meals in education settings, compared with one in six in 2010, and we have extended eligibility several times to more groups of children than any other government over the past half-a-century. This includes introducing new eligibility criteria for families receiving universal credit, to ensure even more children were eligible for a free school meal. Polling was conducted by Public First of 3,011 members of the public across England. They were surveyed from 27 June to 4 July. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Tributes have been paid to a bright and enthusiastic British police officer who was found dead while on holiday in Corfu. PC Hannah Byrne, a serving officer with Surrey Police, is believed to have been killed in an accidental fall in Kavos last week. Greek authorities said they believe the fatal injuries she sustained are compatible with a low level accidental fall, the Mirror reports. PC Byrne is believed to have been killed in an accidental fall in Kavos (Surrey Police) It is understood PC Byrne was found by a passerby on Friday morning, a day after arriving at the seaside resort in Kavos. The Greek town has long been a favourite amongst British tourists, with around half a million usually travelling to Corfu each year. The 22-year-olds family have paid tribute to her, describing her as extremely kind, funny, and caring. Her family said: Our beloved Hannah was beautiful inside and out. She was extremely kind, funny, caring and had a real zest for life. She will be greatly missed by all who loved her. Chief Superintendent Chris Colley, Divisional Commander for East Surrey, said: Hannahs death has been a shock for everyone who knew her. She was a bright, enthusiastic and respected officer just at the start of her career in policing and she will be sadly missed. As a Force, we are now doing everything we can to support her family and her colleagues at this extremely difficult time. An investigation into the circumstances of her death is being led by authorities in Greece. Shortly after the 22-year-olds death, 28 bars in Kavos were raided and closed on Sunday after being found to have served adulterated alcohol. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Simon Byrne has resigned as chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) with immediate effect, the NI Policing Board has confirmed. The news that the embattled police chief has resigned following a string of controversies was announced at a press conference on Monday following an emergency meeting of the Policing Board. It comes after a row erupted last week when High Court judge Mr Justice Scoffield ruled that two junior officers were unlawfully disciplined for an arrest made at a Troubles commemoration event in 2021. The judge said they had been disciplined to allay a threat that Sinn Fein could withdraw its support for policing. Sinn Fein has insisted there was no such threat. Mr Byrne had originally insisted that he would not resign following an emergency meeting of the Policing Board on Thursday and indicated that he was considering an appeal against the court ruling. That statement was met by anger from the Police Federation, with its chair Liam Kelly expressing disbelief and anger at the Chief Constables statement. Mr Byrne has since been facing growing pressure, with both rank and file officers and civilian staff considering confidence votes in his leadership. At the press conference, Policing Board chair Deirdre Toner said Mr Byrne had tendered his resignation with immediate effect. She said: The chief constable Simon Byrne has today tendered his resignation to the Northern Ireland Policing Board with immediate effect. I have informed the board of the resignation at a special meeting this afternoon. I would like to record my thanks and appreciation to Simon for his work over the course of the last four years as chief constable. He is undoubtedly a dedicated police officer with a deep respect for the profession of policing. Mr Byrne was already facing pressure following a major data breach from the PSNI last month. Personal data on all serving members of the PSNI was mistakenly published in response to a freedom of information request. Details of around 10,000 PSNI officers and staff included the surname and first initial of every employee, their rank or grade, where they are based and the unit they work in. The PSNI has confirmed the list is in the hands of dissident republicans, who continue to target officers. A number of other data breaches has since come to light, including the loss of a police officers laptop and notebook which contained details of 42 officers and members of staff after the items fell from a moving vehicle. Ms Toner said the board will now consider new leadership arrangements as she paid tribute to the outgoing chief constable. She said: He was very aware of and greatly appreciated the often difficult job that officers and staff across the organisation do on behalf of the community. This may not always have been apparent to onlookers but it was very much his modus operandi, as was his desire to improve policing for the community through modernisation and investment in local policing arrangements. His tenure was subjected to intense scrutiny and I am sure that the last few weeks in particular have been incredibly difficult for him personally and professionally. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Police should have a zero tolerance approach to shoplifting, and investigate even if the stolen goods are worth less than 200, the policing minister said. Chris Philp told The Daily Telegraph forces must look into every crime where there is CCTV footage. Mr Philp said, of thefts worth under 200: The law says that this is still a criminal offence and police should be enforcing it comprehensively. He described shoplifting as affecting large and small businesses up and down the country, and often entailing violence or threats to retail workers. He added: It should not be tolerated at any level I expect a zero tolerance approach to this criminality. His remarks comes after Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy called for a change in the law to make abuse or violence towards retail workers an offence across the UK. Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Mr Murphy revealed the supermarket chain has offered body-worn cameras to members of staff who need them after seeing physical assaults rise by a third in a year. Mr Philp also said he would encourage security staff to intervene if they spot shoplifters, and warned that British cities could end like San Francisco which has faced a surge in shoplifting, forcing businesses to close or lock sections of their stores with chains. Last week, home secretary Suella Braverman insisted police have the resources necessary to meet a pledge to follow all reasonable lines of inquiry in a renewed effort to crack down on crime. Ms Braverman implored officers to act on leads for phone or car theft, shoplifting and criminal damage. She suggested that no crime is minor, hailed the announcement as a landmark, and said it was unacceptable some incidents have been treated as less important. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A boy thrown from the 10th floor of the Tate Modern art gallery now uses his wheelchair only for longer outings, his family has revealed. The French youngster was six when he was badly hurt in an attack by teenager Jonty Bravery at the London tourist attraction four years ago. The child, who was on holiday with his parents in August 2019, survived a 100ft (30m) fall but suffered life-changing injuries, including a bleed on the brain and broken bones. His family, who call him notre petit chevalier our little knight said, in an update posted on a GoFundMe page which has raised more than 400,000 euros (343,000) for his recovery, that their house is being adapted for his precarious walking. The youngster, who spent months in intensive care, has also developed a passion for green issues. He reinvests what he learned this year at school, in particular to protect the planet: he does not forget to remind us to turn off the lights, to save water and collect all the trash he finds on the beach or in the forest, his family said. We always have to have a bag on hand! The family added: Our son is now able to bend down, squat, grab his toys and clothes with both hands from his closet without falling or dropping them. More importantly, he now only uses his wheelchair for long outings. We are therefore rearranging the house to adapt it to its new mode of travel: precarious walking. They said that, during a summer spent in the mid-mountains, he has enjoyed walking with his cane, and although he falls a lot this happens much less than last year. He has been able to visit an indoor adventure park with an adapted high rope course, which he loves and where specialised instructors take turns to accompany him. He also undergoes intensive physiotherapy and calls his daily exercises his Naruto training a reference to the anime ninja character Naruto, who is known for his willpower. Jonty Bravery was 17 years old when he was charged with attempted murder of the boy (Met Police) Its a lot of work but our son loves it, his efforts pay off and he calls it his Naruto training, the family said. The child is preparing for the new school year, and will now attend each morning, with group care and rehabilitation in the afternoons. His memory is progressing, and he has been able to try watching movies with his family, which was previously too exhausting. We also took advantage of this summer to try watching films again as a family. Until now, it was too tiring for our son and he didnt remember anything from it, but its finally starting to improve, his family said. Autistic teenager Bravery was in supported accommodation at the time of the attack but allowed out unsupervised. He intended to select and kill someone, a court was later told. Bravery, who was 17 at the time, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was jailed in 2020 for 15 years. London nurse Vicky Diplacto, whose brother was paralysed after an accident overseas, set up the GoFundMe appeal to help. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} UK households could collectively lose up to 5bn a year if a law blocking large-scale solar farms on productive agricultural land is passed, energy analysts have said. Tabled as an amendment to the Energy Bill, the proposed legislation would stop projects over 500 acres in size from being built when at least 20 per cent is classified as best and most versatile agricultural land. If approved, it would leave each UK household up to 180 a year worse off because the equivalent electricity would be produced by using more expensive gas instead, analysts from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said. The proposed change was introduced by Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton in the East Midlands, who is campaigning against a large solar farm being built in her constituency. She argues the plant, at 1,144 acres, is too big for her county and that its supply chain may be linked to the forced labour of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, China. Developer Canadian Solar has said its internal investigations have found no evidence of this. This makes little sense when new solar farms will only need a tiny fraction of the available farmland, presenting no real risk to food security whilst providing a major boost to Britains energy security Tom Lancaster, ECIU The UK government wants to build 70GW of solar capacity by 2035 and the ECIU said a large proportion of this will have to come from infrastructure installed on the ground. They calculated that of Englands 58GW share of the UKs total target, between 23GW and 38GW will need to be ground-based, depending on how much is added to rooftops, although they estimate that buildings have only enough space to accommodate up to 22GW on top of the 12.7GW of total solar capacity already installed. Tom Lancaster, land analyst at ECIU said: There has never been a cheaper form of energy than solar, and putting even more barriers in place to its rollout will cost the public dear, whilst locking in dependence on imported gas. This makes little sense when new solar farms will only need a tiny fraction of the available farmland, presenting no real risk to food security whilst providing a major boost to Britains energy security. We continue to support deployment of solar panels on brownfield and low and medium grade agricultural land, alongside rooftop solar panels, to help us achieve our ambition of 70GW solar capacity by 2035 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero The ECIU said almost 173,000 acres will be needed to meet the solar target, which accounts for 0.7 per cent of English farmland, and if the amendment to the Energy Bill is passed it will prevent millions of acres from being suitable for solar farms. MPs are yet to debate and vote on the amendments and the proposed solar restrictions are just one of dozens of suggestions that may or may not be passed. A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: Last year, renewables accounted for over 40 per cent of our electricity, increasing to almost 48 per cent in the first quarter of this year, and solar is a key part of our plans to bolster our energy independence. As the most significant piece of energy legislation in a generation, the landmark Energy Bill is set to provide a cleaner, more affordable, and more secure energy system that is fit for the future. We continue to support deployment of solar panels on brownfield and low and medium grade agricultural land, alongside rooftop solar panels, to help us achieve our ambition of 70GW solar capacity by 2035. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An exhibition starring one of the largest cut black diamonds in the world has opened in London. Wallace Chan: The Wheel Of Time exhibition features 150 pieces of jewellery, alongside six titanium sculptures, from Chinese jewellery creator, visual artist and innovator Wallace Chan. It is the largest exhibition of 67-year-old Chans work in Europe, honouring the artists 50-year career. Among the work is the Legend Of The Colour Black a black diamond shoulder brooch sculpture. The centre stone of the piece is one of the largest known cut black diamonds in the world, weighing 312.24 carats. It is set alongside silver grey diamonds, crystal sapphire, black agate, titanium and the Wallace Chan Porcelain a material Chan has developed which is five times stronger than steel. Another notable piece in the exhibition is The Joy Of Life brooch, featuring a butterfly comprised of pink sapphire, sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond, yellow diamond, pearl and titanium. On Monday, the free exhibition premiered at Christies King Street headquarters in London where it will be on view until September 10. The exhibition features more than a dozen never-before-seen works, including a series of titanium and iron sculptures which represent significant moments in Chans 50-year career. It is the fifth exhibition that auction house Christies has presented in collaboration with Chan, following previous shows in Hong Kong in 2015 and again four years later, as well as in Shanghai in 2020 and 2021. The Wheel Of Time serves as a metaphor for Chans labour-intensive working process, requiring meticulous attention to detail and embracing Chinese aesthetics, Christies said. The majority of pieces on display, created during the past five decades, are on loan from many of Chans major international collectors. In the blink of an eye, half a century has flown by, Chan previously said. He added: Time is an eternal wheel that rotates for infinity with neither beginning nor end. In the creative process, time is a theme so intangible, yet omnificent. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A play about the controversial Panorama interview given by Diana, Princess of Wales will use only a very limited amount of quotes on the advice of lawyers. Jonathan Maitland, who wrote The Last Temptation Of Boris Johnson, is behind the production of The Interview, which focuses on how the bombshell programme featuring former BBC journalist Martin Bashir came about. The playwright, a former journalist, worked with Bashir at the BBC and ITV. He said that he will not be using substantial chunks of the interview due to copyright law and the view of the Prince of Wales. A report by Lord Dyson concluded in 2021 that the BBC covered up deceitful behaviour by Bashir to secure the meeting and led to a call from William for it never to be aired again. Maitland told the PA news agency: On the advice of lawyers, we can use a very limited amount of it (the interview) ie two or three lines but only ones well known and famous enough to be in the public domain as historical quotes, like there were three of us in this marriage. The production, directed by Michael Fentiman who worked on the Royal Shakespeare Company and a musical version of Amelie, is set to premiere at the Park Theatre in October. It is described as giving an insight into the story behind the interview: the woman who gave it, the man who made it happen, and the institution that broadcast it. Maitland said: Theres an awful lot of her trying to decide whether or not she should do the interview and, if so, what she should say. Then theres a kind of bit of the interview, but with kind of working around it and then theres a lot of the aftermath and the subsequent scandal and fall from grace of Bashir. Former royal butler turned Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! contestant Paul Burrell is also set to be portrayed by an actor as a narrator who breaks the fourth wall. In The Observer, Maitland previously recalled that Bashir would change the subject when Diana was mentioned to sport or music. He also told PA: Ive spoken to some people who are quite closely involved on the TV side And I reached out to a couple of people from the palace and got kind of limited responses. Previously, the hit Netflix series The Crown had dramatised the Diana interview in its fifth season. The Interview runs from October 27 to November 25 at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, London. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Money to repair school buildings at risk of collapse will come from the Department for Educations (DfE) existing capital budget, it is understood. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt promised on Sunday to spend what it takes to make classrooms safe after many were forced shut at the start of the new term over concerns about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac). The Chancellor moved on the weekend to reassure parents that an exhaustive process has been carried out to identify any unsafe buildings, amid accusations ministers failed to act quickly enough to mitigate risks raised in 2018. Speaking on the BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show, Mr Hunt would not speculate on the potential cost of fixing the problem, but said: We will spend what it takes to make sure children can go to school safely, yes. Treasury sources later said the cost of repairs could be managed through the DfEs existing capital budget. More than 100 schools and colleges have been told by the government to fully or partially shut buildings following the recent collapse of a beam previously considered safe. Schools minister Nick Gibb has admitted more classrooms could be forced to shut and Mr Hunt on Sunday confirmed further structural problems could emerge in the coming weeks or months. The Chancellor said education secretary Gillian Keegan had acted immediately after new information came to light over the summer about the potential risk Raac, a lightweight material used up to the mid-1990s. Questions remain over the extent to which the problem has been complicated by the co-existence of asbestos in schools and other public buildings. Speaking on Sunday, the chancellor said the government would act whether it is Raac or the wider asbestos issue, promising to do what it takes to keep children safe. He told Sunday With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: We have 22,000 schools in the country and there has been since that incident a huge programme going through this Raac/asbestos issue because we want to be absolutely sure that every child is safe. Unions were angered by uncertainty about which costs will be covered by central government. Ministers earlier sought to dampen the backlash by altering guidance to suggest the expense of temporary accommodation elsewhere would be covered by the government. But on Sunday Mr Hunt would not guarantee that headteachers would be reimbursed with extra money for rentals, saying only that we will make sure they can keep their children safe. General secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) Daniel Kebede said: It is essential that all costs are covered by government, not this halfway house where school leaders are uncertain of and unable to trust government guidance as to what costs will be incurred by their school. Meanwhile, Ms Keegan has promised the crisis will not lead to a return to the dark days of lockdown, despite the new guidance advising schools to use pandemic-style remote learning as a last resort if they are unable to hold face-to-face lessons. Writing in The Sun On Sunday, she said there was no choice other than closures after a handful of cases where Raac had failed. Remote learning for children unable to access face-to-face lessons should last days, not weeks, the government has said, but ministers have not said exactly when the disruption might ease. In the meantime, education leaders have been encouraged to use community centres, an empty local office building or other schools for the first few weeks while structural supports are installed to mitigate the risk of collapse. Labour said the spending promise was a bare bones response to a crisis that could become the defining image of 13 years of Tory government. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said she was concerned about the plan to fund mitigation work with the existing budget, saying that could then have an impact on other measures that need to happen within schools whether its addressing asbestos or the wider school rebuilding programme. Ms Keegan will give Parliament an update on the situation next week amid growing calls for transparency of the extent to which Raac puts the public sector estate at risk. Labour plans to force a vote next week to compel the government to publish a list of affected schools, which ministers have said they will do in due course. Schools in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are being assessed for the material. The Scottish government has said Raac is present in 35 schools, but that none posed animmediate risk to pupil safety. The Welsh government said councils and colleges have not reported any presence of Raac. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A couple whose baby daughter died after spending months in the care of an under-review NHS Trust said they were made to feel insignificant and that they dont have a voice. Ama Maduako and Sharma Thomas daughter, Adaora, died on January 25 this year, almost five months after being born at Nottinghams Queens Medical Centre (QMC). Her death is one of a number that is part of an independent review of maternity services at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages the QMC. Ms Thomas, 23, who previously worked as a community healthcare assistant for a private provider, said: Its opened my eyes a bit because I never thought that people that work in a profession where theyre working with such vulnerable people, babies, I just never thought that people would be capable of acting the way that they do. Its just a shock because I would never do that personally, myself. Ive got my own children now, but even before I had my own children, I was caring for someone elses child. It never would have never crossed my mind to treat a child or just treat that family in a certain way that makes them feel like they don't have a voice or makes them feel bullied or insignificant, or make them feel like they're doing something wrong or they can't look after their child Sharma Thomas It never would have never crossed my mind to treat a child or just treat that family in a certain way that makes them feel like they dont have a voice or makes them feel bullied or insignificant, or make them feel like theyre doing something wrong or they cant look after their child. Adaora was born at just 25 weeks and one day old, along with twin brother, Zikora, on September 5 last year after an unproblematic pregnancy. Both were then placed on ventilators, but the parents were later told their babies lungs were bleeding. Mr Maduako, a 26-year-old medical salesman, claimed that Adaora also sustained damage to her ears and eyes as a result of equipment being applied incorrectly, and that at one stage they watched her heartrate flatline three times due to the ventilator not providing any pressure. They also claim concerns were dismissed or interpreted as being resistant to treatment, something they deny. While the couple claimed that their children were ready for discharge on December 4, Adaora died over a month later, having never left QMC. Zikora was later discharged and will have his first birthday on Tuesday. The couple claim that Adaoras cause of death was given by the hospital as pulmonary hypertension, combined with the effects of Covid, but her parents claim a post-mortem was carried out which found no evidence of Covid and instead found damage to her lungs. We want to assure Sharma and Ama that we have heard the concerns that they have raised and are committed to working with them to review each of the concerns and respond in a way that best meets their needs Michelle Rhodes, NUHT Michelle Rhodes, Chief Nurse at Nottingham University Hospitals said: We offer our deepest condolences to Sharma Thomas and Ama Maduako for the loss of Adaora. We want to assure Sharma and Ama that we have heard the concerns that they have raised and are committed to working with them to review each of the concerns and respond in a way that best meets their needs. Mr Maduako and Ms Thomas, from London and Leicester respectively, also urged other minority ethnic families to come forward to the review, led by senior midwife, Donna Ockenden. Friday marked the first anniversary of the launch of the review, which is expected to be the biggest maternity investigation in NHS history and will include around 1,800 families and around 700 staff. The review was recently altered to an opt-out approach meaning families must opt-out, rather than opt-in, to being involved in part due to concerns being raised over the low number of responses from minority ethnic families. This has also led to letters about the review being sent to families in other languages, including Urdu. It's very important (that families come forward), but I think the worry is, we have spoken to other families that have told us about their experiences, but I feel like a lot of families feel like they're not going to be believed Sharma Thomas Ms Thomas said: Its very important [that families come forward], but I think the worry is, we have spoken to other families that have told us about their experiences, but I feel like a lot of families feel like theyre not going to be believed. We were lucky enough to say to each other, We need to document this a lot of people have not done that. They may suspect that something wasnt right, but they just think to themselves, weve made it out of here and so they just block it out and dont want to think about it, because when you actually do sit and think about what you have been through, it is traumatising. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A crowdfunding appeal for the funeral of a toddler who was hit by a vehicle at a holiday park has raised more than 16,000. Two-year-old Isabella Tucker was struck at Horsley Hale Farm in Horsley Hale, near Littleport, Cambridgeshire, on Friday August 25. Cambridgeshire Police said a 42-year-old woman from the Leeds area was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, and later bailed until November. Isabella, from Ronald Street in Shadwell, east London, was taken by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, after the incident, which happened at about 6.45pm. Despite efforts to save her she died of her injuries. Her mother, Vaida Sprainyte, said in a tribute released through police that Isabella was a beautiful daughter and little sister. Arune Bastyte, who set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Isabellas funeral, said the youngster had been playing with her sister and cousins on a family holiday. Ms Bastyte, who described herself as Ms Sprainytes best friend, set a target of 15,000, and more than 16,000 has been pledged to date. Writing on the website, she said: A time that was supposed to be for making good memories turned into our worst nightmare when Isabella was struck and killed by a car. As we struggle to come to terms with Isabellas death, I am trying to help Vaida organise a funeral to mourn the loss of her baby girl and celebrate her life. The burial we wish to have costs 15,000 and we are trying to raise these funds to support Vaida and her family as they navigate this terrible time. Ms Bastyte said some of the money will also be used for mental health support for Ms Sprainyte and her eldest daughter, who witnessed this tragic incident. She thanked people for their kind words, messages, and prayers. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Parents are still in the dark as millions of pupils return to school this week despite fears that thousands more buildings are at risk of collapse from crumbling concrete. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Sunday refused to be drawn on how many buildings were affected as he rejected accusations that government cuts were to blame. He insisted that the government had acted to close more than 100 schools known to have the potentially dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) as soon as they were alerted but ministers are no closer to revealing the full list, despite repeated calls to do so. It comes as Labour launched a stinging assault on the PM by reviving its controversial attack ads to this time claim the scandal showed Rishi Sunak did not want schools to be safe. Asked about an estimate that as many as 7,000 schools could be affected, Mr Hunt told the BBC he did not want to speculate on these numbers so as to avoid comments that might scare people unnecessarily. Education secretary Gillian Keegan is set to make an emergency statement to MPs when the Commons returns from its summer recess on Monday while Labour is due to force a vote that would make ministers reveal the full list of locations. Opposition shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson blamed Tory cuts dating back to 2010 for the problems, and said the chickens are now coming home to roost. But she declined to pledge more money to fix the issue, should Labour come to power at the next election, citing the economic situation. Labour wants the government to release what it knows about the scale of the problem, with parents still left in the dark about whether their childs school is affected. Teachers clear out classrooms after 104 schools in England were told to shut over potentially dangerous concrete (SWNS) A mother of two from Ilford told The Independent it was concerning that her childrens school had not communicated with her over the issue. I would have thought they would have sent out something, she said. Rather than having her fears about the building collapsing allayed, the mother is having to rely on her rough knowledge of the schools construction history to assess how worried she should be. The school is a fairly new building but they still have really old parts remaining, she said. Im not sure. Its definitely worrying. The government and councils need to do more to reassure parents, she added: If there are school closures, then thats more disruption. Kids have already fallen behind after Covid. But another mother with children returning to classes this week, Niyla Akhtar, from east London, said: I feel OK about my son going back as the school has been inspected and is deemed safe to return. But if it were to close down, I would expect the government to provide an alternative site for education. The latest Labour attack ad at is a reworking of an earlier one that attracted much criticism in April (Labour Party) Hoping to capitalise on concerns about the problems, Labour on Sunday relaunched a controversial attack advert targeting Rishi Sunak claiming he did not want schools to be safe. The image posted on social media and pushed out to voters on party channels is a reworking of an earlier ad which caused a furore in April when the opposition claimed Mr Sunak did not think sex offenders should go to prison. Blaming the poor state of the schools estate on government austerity cuts, Ms Phillipson said: This crisis stems from the Conservatives decision to axe Labours Building Schools for the Future programme and repeated raids on education capital budgets chickens are now coming home to roost. Using already-allocated money to just make safe school buildings with RAAC is funnelling money away from other necessary work to upgrade schools and remove dangerous asbestos, storing up problems for the future. The Conservatives must publish everything they knew about this dangerous concrete and the list of affected schools so that this mess can begin to be fixed. One of the first acts of David Camerons government in 2010 was to cancel Gordon Browns Building Schools for the Future programme, which was meant to renew school buildings. Construction expert explains what is RAAC concrete after reports of unsafe schools Asked whether he accepted that decisions to cut back public investment were to blame, chancellor Mr Hunt told the BBC: No, though he said the last government had run out of money and left the incoming administration with difficult decisions. The moment we found out there were problems, weve acted on them, he said, insisting that the government would spend what it takes to make the schools safe. Later on Sunday, Treasury sources said there were no plans for additional funding and the money would have to come from the existing budget for building costs, The Guardian reported. On Sunday, a whistleblower at the Department for Education (DfT) who worked in the private office of Nadhim Zahawi, then education secretary, claimed regular alerts crossed ministers desks. They told the Observer that ministers and special advisers were trying to get away with spending as little as they could and that they had seen at least four detailed warnings about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the space of a few months in early 2022. Meanwhile, the i newspaper reported that the DfT was warned four years ago by structural engineers that schools built from RAAC could collapse without warning. Some parents still do not know if their school is affected (PA) A DfT spokesperson said: We have been clear since Thursday about the number of schools immediately impacted by RAAC. It is vital that schools are given time to inform parents and consider their next steps, with extensive support from our caseworkers, before the list of affected schools is published. The education secretary will inform parliament next week of the plan to keep parents and the public updated on the issue. Fifty-two of the 156 RAAC cases identified already have mitigations in place, and while some of the remaining projects will be more complex, many will range from just a single building on a wider estate, down to a single classroom. We are incredibly grateful to school and college leaders for their work with us at pace to make sure that where children are affected, disruption is kept to a minimum, and in the even rarer cases where remote learning is required, it is for a matter of days not weeks. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is expected to begin the much-anticipated reshuffle of his shadow cabinet on Monday as Sue Gray finally starts her new role as his chief of staff. With recent speculation that deputy leader Angela Rayner could have some of her duties revised, anticipation is building as to the future of her role. But because she was elected by party membership, she cannot be removed from the position entirely. For the most part, Sir Keir is not expected to replace his most senior colleagues, with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper anticipated to be secure in their respective positions. However, multiple reports have suggested that Ms Rayner could be directed towards overseeing the shadow levelling up team, currently overseen by Lisa Nandy. The deputy leader has previously described her relationship with Sir Keir as an arranged marriage that has evolved over time, saying that the pair have worked constructively together following their mutual appointments in April 2020. But an ally of Ms Rayners told The Sun On Sunday that some people are out to put her back in her box, adding they might try to strike us down and find us more powerful than before. Elsewhere, Darren Jones, chair of the parliamentary business committee, has been rumoured for a possible promotion, according to BBC reports. Grilling companies including Thames Water, Royal Mail and P&O have landed him positive feedback, though its unclear which area he would oversee if successful. Ms Gray will finally start her new job with the party on Monday after leaving her high-ranking Whitehall job in March. The move angered Tory MPs who claimed her switch to the opposition party called the civil services neutrality into question. Labour currently has a 14-point lead over the Conservative Party, the latest poll by market research company Opinium on Saturday showed as MPs prepare to return to parliament on Monday after the summer break. Based on a survey of 2,055 British adults carried out between 30 August and 1 September, the survey showed support for Labour had risen to 42 per cent, up one point since the last poll in July, while support for the Conservative Party rose by two points to 28 per cent. The reshuffle rumours come as the Labour leader pledged that he would not increase income tax for workers if he wins the next general election. He told The Mirror a hike would be unfair as Britons have paid a heavy price for the incompetence of the government after the last 13 years. His anticipated shadow cabinet moves follow Rishi Sunaks mini reshuffle last week, which saw Claire Coutinho promoted to energy secretary as Grant Shapps departed for a future as defence secretary, following Ben Wallaces resignation. Ms Coutinho, 38 a loyal supporter of the PM who regularly took to the airwaves on his behalf during last summers leadership contest has a similar background to Mr Sunak. Rising quickly through the ranks, she has held junior ministerial roles for less than a year. Some expect the prime minister to carry out a wider government reshuffle in the coming months. It comes as both leaders gear up for the annual party conference season in October and look to get their top teams in shape for the next general election. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rishi Sunak scrambled to distance himself from a former mandarin's claim that he ignored warnings over a critical risk to life from crumbling schools when he was chancellor. The bombshell allegation was made by a whistleblowing mandarin at the Department for Education, who claimed the then-chancellor was involved in a decision to slash spending on school repairs - after being told pupils lives were in danger from falling concrete. It put Mr Sunak in the direct political firing line as the crumbling concrete crisis engulfs the government. The PM said it is completely and utterly wrong to suggest that he is to blame for failing to fully fund a programme to rebuild Englands schools when he was chancellor. He told broadcasters: One of the first things I did as chancellor, in my first spending review in 2020, was to announce a new 10-year school re-building programme for 500 schools. "Now that equates to about 50 schools a year, that will be refurbished or rebuilt. "If you look at what we have been doing over the previous decade, that's completely in line with what we have always done." But Jonathan Slater, the former permanent secretary at the Department for Education, said officials were aware of the need to rebuild between 300 and 400 schools a year while Mr Sunak was in the Treasury from 2019 to 2022. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme DfE was denied the funding to fix the schools. It was frustrating, said Mr Slater, whose voice was breaking with emotion as he spoke of his "frustration" at the way his pleas had fallen on deaf ears. He said the ministry had asked for cash to rebuild 300-400 schools per year after discovering the scale of the crumbling concrete crisis. But the Treasury would only provide money for 100 a year and in 2021 - when Mr Sunak was Chancellor - it was cut further to just 50 even though the department had asked it to be doubled to 200 for safety reasons. Mr Slater said he was absolutely amazed at the decision made by the Chancellor. Asked to spell out who was the Chancellor, he replied: Rishi Sunak. "We weren't just saying there is a significant risk of fatality, we were saying there is a critical risk to life if the (rebuilding) programme is not funded," he said. "When I was Permanent Secretary in 2018 a concrete block fell from the roof of a primary school so it wasn't just a risk, it was actually starting to happen. "It was frustrating - as you can hear from my voice." He said the Conservatives 'top political priority in education" when the crumbling concrete problem first emerged was not fixing it but delivering its 2015 manifesto pledge to create new style so called "free schools." "For me that should have been second to safety. "I was absolutely amazed to see the decision made the year after I left (his post at the DfE) was to halve the school rebuilding programme from 100 a year to 50." Mr Sunak was appointed Treasury Chief Secretary in July 2019 when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister and was promoted to Chancellor in February 2020. Mr Slater saidthe department for education (DfE) carried out a survey a decade ago of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools. A second survey was commissioned in my time, and we saw that the backlog of repairs had increased, he added. Mr Slater said officials knew what was needed and called for a proper school rebuilding programme to avoid situations such as the current crisis. But despite then prime minister Boris Johnson wanting to put more money into schools, and the quality of data illustrating the problem, the department was allocated just a quarter of what it required. The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank said the average capital spending on schools is 50 per cent below its 2010 peak. Spending on school buildings is low in historical terms and low compared with levels of need, said IFS research fellow Luke Sibieta. The National Audit Office reported that the Department for Education calculated it needed about 5.3bn per year from 2021 to 2025 in order to maintain school buildings and mitigate risks. It instead requested about 4bn per year based on the rate at which it could increase spending. HM Treasury allocated only about 3.1bn per year. And Mr Slaters shocking intervention comes as millions of pupils return to school this week despite fears that thousands more buildings are at risk of collapse from crumbling concrete. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Sunday refused to be drawn on how many buildings were affected as he rejected accusations that government cuts were to blame. He insisted that the government had acted to close more than 100 schools known to have the potentially dangerous RAAC as soon as they were alerted. And on Monday education secretary Gillian Keegan vowed to publish a list of the schools affected by the concrete crisis this week. Asked whether it is possible that parents will send their children to a school without knowing it is on the list, she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Well, we're hoping that's not the case, because we've spoken via the caseworker with each one of the schools and we've given them the template (letter to inform parents) and we're just going to double-check that. "We will publish the list, but I do want to double-check that the school has had the opportunity - because not all the schools are back yet - to tell all parents." Pressed further, she said: Well publish it this week. Labour said children being sat under steel girders to stop roofs falling in was the defining image of thirteen years of the Conservative-run education system. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: Rishi Sunak bears huge culpability for his role in this debacle: he doubled down on Michael Goves decision to axe Labours schools rebuilding programme and now the chickens have come home to roost with yet more disruption to childrens education. And she called on ministers to come clean about the total number of schools affected, what they knew and when they knew. She also doubled down on the partys bid to personally link Rishi Sunak with the RAAC crisis which has forced more than 100 schools to close. On Sunday, Labour launched its latest attack ad, claiming Mr Sunak does not think schools should be safe (Labour Party) Analysis by the party, based on figures from the National Audit Office, showed spending on school rebuilding in 2019-20 was 765 million, but after Sunak became Chancellor this dropped to 560 million in 2020-21 and as little as 416 million in 2021-22, a fall of 41 per cent overall. Labour said the cuts came despite warnings from the Department for Education that the cost of returning schools to satisfactory conditions would double between 2015-16 and 2020-21. It came a day after the party launched its latest attack ad, claiming Mr Sunak does not think schools should be safe. RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete that was used in construction from the 1950s until the mid-1990s. It is weaker than regular concrete which is used as a building material and has been described as 80 per cent air and like an Aero Bar. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rishi Sunak has been warned against fudging the Governments position on onshore wind. It comes amid reports the Prime Minister is set to overturn the current de facto ban in the face of party pressure. The Telegraph said on Monday ministers will release plans that will give councils the right to be able to build proposed wind farms if there is community support for the projects. It would mark the latest effort by Mr Sunak to see off backbench unrest on the issue, with the paper saying ministers are discussing ways to finalise the details on the amendment, particularly on how fast the Government could legally scrap the ban. Our position on this has not changed. We support the development where there is local support. Applications will continue to be decided at a local level Prime Minister's spokesman Downing Street refused to be drawn on the reports but said the Government position has not changed. The results of a consultation on the subject are expected to be published soon. Our position on this has not changed. We support the development where there is local support. Applications will continue to be decided at a local level, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said. We have consulted on technical changes to the National Planning Policy Framework that would help supportive communities take forward onshore wind projects. We are due to set out the responses to those consultations shortly. Last October, Mr Sunak pledged to keep the onshore wind farm ban in place. The Governments Energy Bill will be voted on as ministers return from their summer recess, with Labour said to support the proposed changes. Only six more Tory backbenchers will need to vote in favour to overturn the Governments majority. Some environmental campaigners reacted with scepticism to the newspaper report. Greenpeace UKs policy director, Dr Doug Parr, said: This proposal looks like yet another example of this Government deliberately blocking this country from having genuine energy security, lower bills and clean power. Why should onshore wind face more planning obstacles than new housing or roads when its one of the cheapest, greenest and fastest forms of electricity to develop? The truth is that Sunak seems to be fudging this amendment to try and appease his backbench MPs with an ideological opposition to wind turbines. In July, Sir Alok Sharma, the former Cop26 president, formally proposed an amendment to the Governments Energy Bill. His amendment requires the Government to show developers how they can demonstrate that local communities support their plans and how they can provide financial benefits to those communities. The plan would also prohibit appeals against a decision by a local council to refuse planning permission for a wind farm to ensure local wishes are respected. The amendment had been signed by more than 20 backbench Conservatives, including ex-prime minister Liz Truss and several other former ministers. Other signatories include former party chairman Sir Jake Berry, former chief whip Wendy Morton, Wales Committee chairman Stephen Crabb and former levelling up secretary Sir Simon Clarke. The current rules, introduced under David Cameron in 2015, require councils to draw up detailed plans showing all the areas suitable for onshore wind development before new wind farms can go ahead, and also mean that proposals can be blocked even if just a single person objects to them. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Labours tax proposals will throw Scottish households under the bus, the SNP has said as it challenges its opponents to back energy rebates. SNP MP David Linden, who is his partys social justice spokesman at Westminster, has urged Labour to back the introduction of a wealth tax to fund an energy rebate if it wins the next election. It would see the UK move in line with countries like France, Spain and Switzerland, which taxes people on their net worth rather than just their income. Independent analysis by the House of Commons Library on behalf of the SNP found a 400 energy rebate for households from October 2023 to March 2024 would cost the UK Government around 11.9 billion, funded through the wealth tax. The research bases the figure on the cost of the energy bill support scheme in 2022/23. Families are seeing their incomes squeezed to the pips as the cost of mortgages, rents and everyday goods rise, but Sunak and Starmer are doing nothing to help David Linden However, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves previously ruled out the idea, saying: I dont have any spending plans that require us to raise 12 billion. So I dont need a wealth tax. Mr Linden, the MP for Glasgow East, said the rebate is needed after projections suggested energy bills could increase again this winter, with Cornwall Insights estimating costs could hit 2,032.66 despite the Ofgem price cap reducing to 1,923 as of October. He said: Millions of families across Scotland are being hit hard in the pocket as a result of damaging Tory and Labour party policies, including Brexit and austerity cuts, which have hammered household incomes and increased the cost of living in the UK. Its vital the UK Government delivers urgent help for families by reintroducing a 400 energy bill rebate for all households from October. Families are seeing their incomes squeezed to the pips as the cost of mortgages, rents and everyday goods rise, but Sunak and Starmer are doing nothing to help. It beggars belief that the pro-Brexit Labour Party is copying Tory cuts and refusing to help suffering families. You dont beat the Tories by becoming them, but thats exactly what Starmer and Reeves are doing. They are throwing millions of Scots under the bus for a sniff of power. Its shameful. The SNP is the only party demanding real help for families and delivering progressive policies like the Scottish Child Payment to put money back into peoples pockets. In contrast, the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour are taking money away and leaving families in the cold. At the general election, voting SNP is the only way to secure real change with independence and real help with the cost of living. A UK Government spokesman said: We have been providing unprecedented support to families, with nearly 40 billion to cover around half a typical households energy bill last winter. Energy prices have fallen significantly since last autumn and the Energy Price Guarantee will remain in place as a safety net through to April 2024. Additional help is also available for the most vulnerable this winter through an increase to the Warm Home Discount, from which we expect over three million households to benefit, which is in addition to the significant welfare and income tax powers the Scottish Government has. Last month we also announced hundreds of new oil and gas licences to deliver cleaner homegrown energy for households capitalising on Scotlands energy resources while supporting 50,000 jobs. Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: This is the latest in an increasingly desperate series of attacks from the SNP, who know only Labour has a real plan to get energy bills down. Labours Green Prosperity Plans would see us establish GB Energy which would create 50,000 green energy jobs right here in Scotland and and take 1,400 off peoples bills for good. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A pair of giant pandas which have been resident in Scotlands capital for nearly 12 years will be returned to their native China in early December this year, it has been confirmed. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) announced on Monday that Yang Guang (Sunshine) and Tian Tian (Sweetie) will likely be moved from Edinburgh Zoo within the first two weeks of the month although their exact date of departure is still being finalised. The wildlife charity described the pandas as having an incredible impact during their stay by connecting millions of visitors with nature. The pair were originally brought to Scotland in 2011 as part of a 10-year agreement between the RZSS and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which was later extended by a further two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is encouraging that in recent years the outlook for giant pandas in the wild has improved, which gives real hope for the future David Field, RZSS Despite efforts to breed the two pandas, female Tian Tian has not produced a cub during her time in Edinburgh. She was believed to be pregnant in August 2017 but her hormone levels and behaviour later returned to normal. Alison Maclean, carnivore team leader at Edinburgh Zoo, commented: We are making arrangements with our partners in China for Yang Guang and Tian Tian to return in early December, possibly during the first week. Visitors to the zoo can expect to see them indoors and outside until the end of November, after which viewing will be outdoors only until they leave. Having cared for Yang Guang and Tian Tian since they arrived in 2011, I will be travelling back to China with them, to help them settle into their new homes. David Field, RZSS chief executive, said, With more than a million species at risk of extinction and our natural world in crisis, Yang Guang and Tian Tian have had an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature. Through scientific research alongside the University of Edinburgh, we have also made a significant contribution to our understanding of giant pandas, which will be of real benefit to efforts to protect this amazing species in China. It is encouraging that in recent years the outlook for giant pandas in the wild has improved, which gives real hope for the future. The giant panda habitat at Edinburgh Zoo will become home to a new species which RZSS can support in the wild, which will be announced next year. Our vision is of a world where nature is protected, valued and loved, which is why we have made an important pledge to reverse the decline of at least 50 species by 2030, said Mr Field. We have reached significant milestones recently with the release of wildcats, pine hoverflies and dark bordered beauty moths in the Scottish Highlands. With a fantastic home at Edinburgh Zoo, combined with our international expertise in conservation science and research, we have an opportunity to help protect a new species through public engagement here in Scotland and in the wild by working with global partners. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Images of victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles have been projected onto the Houses of Parliament ahead of the expected passing of the Governments controversial legacy Bill. Amnesty International and some victims have made a late plea for the Government to scrap the legislation which includes a form of limited immunity for some perpetrators of crimes committed during the conflict. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill is set to return to the House of Lords on Tuesday. The proposed legislation would also prevent future civil cases and inquests into Troubles offences. All of the main political parties in Northern Ireland, the Irish Government and victims groups are opposed to the Bill. At the weekend, Amnesty projected the images of some victims who have still to receive justice. These include Majella OHare, who was shot dead by a British soldier in County Armagh when she was 12 years old; Tom Oliver, a 43-year-old farmer who was murdered by the IRA; and the three Reavey brothers aged between 17 and 24 who were killed by the Loyalist Glenanne Gang. Majellas brother Michael OHare said: I want Parliament and everyone to see my sister and pay attention to the many people being denied truth and justice. Lasting peace and reconciliation can only come when victims are prioritised and there is an agreed way forward. Majellas life mattered and accountability for her killing and the many other crimes committed during the conflict also matters. Shame on the Government ignoring victims and the many others who reject this Bill. This is a final call to them: do not let us down drop the Troubles Bill. Grainne Teggart, Amnestys Northern Ireland deputy director, said: This is a hugely significant week for the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict and victims rights as the UK Government recklessly pursues a Bill that only it supports. We are on the cusp of seeing universally opposed legislation passed which not only betrays victims but also provides a blueprint for human rights abusers all over the world. The projection on Parliament shows the faces of some of the victims whose families are being bitterly let down by the Government. It is a timely and critical reminder that it is the victims, not perpetrators of serious crimes, who should be prioritised. She added: Amnesty is making a final call to the UK Government to scrap the Bill and if the Troubles Bill becomes law, the Irish Government must immediately challenge it by bringing an inter-state case to the European Court of Human Rights. Meanwhile, a number of families of Troubles victims will travel to Westminster to witness the Bill pass its final stages. They include campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond Junior was murdered by Loyalist paramilitaries in 1997. He said: Our cross-community victims group the Truth and Justice Movement will be in the public galleries of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Let us not forget this Bill has been rejected by victims groups, every political party in Ireland, every political party in the UK (except the Conservatives), every political party in the EU, every political party in America and also the United Nations. A Northern Ireland Office spokesperson said: In order to deliver greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families affected by the Troubles, we must do things differently. The Governments legislation provides a framework that will enable the Independent Commission for Reconciliation & Information Recovery (ICRIR) to deliver effective legacy mechanisms, while complying with our international obligations. The ICRIR, established by the Bill, has a primary objective to provide information to families, victims and survivors. Since the Bills introduction, a number of substantive UK Government amendments have been adopted to the legislation that address a number of key issues raised by stakeholders. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Joe Biden said he is disappointed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will be skipping the G20 summit in India. The comments came a day before the Chinese foreign ministry officially confirmed on Monday that Chinas premier Li Qiang will lead the Chinese delegation for the two-day summit, suggesting Mr Xis absence at the G20 summit. The US president, however, said he is going to get to see him anyway. I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him, Mr Biden told reporters on Sunday in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, when asked about Mr Xis absence. Mr Biden is scheduled to reach India on Thursday to attend the G20 summit alongside the leaders of two dozen countries of the grouping. This will be followed by a trip to Vietnam as his administration seeks to strengthen US relations in Asia. I want a little more... coordination. I think they both (India and Vietnam) want much closer relations with the United States and that can be very helpful, Mr Biden said. He will also hold a bilateral meeting with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, the White House announced. While in New Delhi, the President will also commend Prime Minister Modis leadership of the G20 and reaffirm the US commitment to the G20 as the premier forum of economic cooperation, including by hosting it in 2026, read the statement. The White House said Mr Biden will discuss the economic and social impacts of Putins war in Ukraine among other global issues amid Indian officials reluctance to discuss the Ukraine conflict, an issue threatening to overshadow the summit. India, which has taken a neutral stance in Russias war on Ukraine war by calling for diplomacy and dialogue, has maintained close relations with the US and its allies. In a show of their growing partnership, Mr Biden rolled out the red carpet for Mr Modi at the White House in June, with secretary of state Anthony Blinken lauding India-US relations as boundless. Washington is courting Delhi to counter China, despite India taking advantage of large amounts of cheap energy imports and weapons supplies from Moscow. On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Nao Ming said at a regular press briefing in Beijing that China hoped India is able to consolidate a consensus at the summit. Li Qiang will lead the representatives to attend G20 summit. Its an important global international forum. China has always attached importance on it and actively participated, she said. She appeared to sidestep the question on Mr Xis attendance without confirming if the Chinese president will attend the summit remotely. The chances of Chinas most senior leaders being physically present simultaneously at a summit outside their home country seem to be remote. Mr Biden held talks with Mr Xi at the G20 summit last year in Bali under Indonesias presidency. The two will still have a chance to meet in November during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in San Francisco. Ties between the US and China remain frosty despite a number of diplomatic visits from Washington to China amid spiralling diplomatic and trade issues. Their relationship remains tense despite a flurry of diplomatic visits from Washington this year to revive dialogue. The progress in ties following Mr Xi and Mr Bidens bilateral talks in Bali in November last year was marred by the US presidents order to shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon in the skies above the US. This incident resulted in a significant delay in efforts to initiate dialogue by several months. The relations have deteriorated over issues that include Russias Ukraine invasion, alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the Taiwan issue and Beijings growing presence in the South China Sea. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} This years Burning Man festival was interrupted by torrential rains that caused the typically dry grounds to turn into a massive mud pit, but that didnt stop attendees from enjoying their time in the Las Vegas desert. Every year, tens of thousands of people gather in Black Rock City, a temporary community in the middle of Nevadas Black Rock Desert, where they build and celebrate art and self-expression. Campers, vans, cars, tents and other forms of temporary housing pop up in the middle of the desert as attendees exchange gifts and create art for nine days which culminates in the annual burning of an effigy shaped like a man. Typically, the festival produces impressive art sculptures, interactive pieces, music and more. But this year has looked a lot different as clay-like mud took over much of the grounds. But instead of letting the muddy conditions get the best of them, attendees also known as Burners got creative, using the thick mud from the heavy rains to enact creative sculptures. Stranded Burning Man attendee insists they're 'keeping the party going' The whole point of the festival is to experiment with creativity and community by coming together to exchange gifts in order to create something larger no matter the circumstances. Unlike other festivals, there are no planned sets or headliners. Burning Man attendees follow 10 principles that promote self-reliance, community and creativity. The festival encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on their inner resources. So in true Burning Man spirit, some didnt let a little bit of dirt get in the way of their partying. One video, posted on TikTok, showed people dancing along to music in the middle of the desert with mud stuck to their shoes One creative way people avoided getting their shoes and clothes wet and muddy is by wrapping themselves in plastic bags. Another TikToker showed how one camp set up a mud slip-and-slide for others to enjoy. The northwest Nevada desert was flooded on Friday and Saturday by heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary. Festival organisers urged attendees to shelter in place on Saturday and conserve food and water as they anticipated it may take longer to leave than usual. The ground where Black Rock City is the remnants of an ancient lake. While it is typically dry and dusty, when water does come into contact it quickly turns it into slippery, thick mud. Despite photos and videos depicting a grim scene and even some celebrities fleeing the grounds most Burners are seemingly still enjoying this years festival. Gerardo Mendoza, an attendee, told USA Today, We had a great burn, just amazing. A little mud didnt get us down. He added: The whole point of the burn is self-reliance so we packed extra just in case. Close Burning Man festival-goer shows grim conditions after flooding chaos Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Burning Man exodus appears to have come to an end paving the way for a massive clean-up job to begin. Thousands of attendees cleared out from the Nevada desert campsite after being trapped for days when the festival descended into chaos with heavy rainfall, flooding and muddy conditions. Organisers will now spend the next three weeks cleaning up the sprawling site to fulfil the festivals key principle of leave no trace, after the area was left littered with abandoned vehicles, furniture and trash. People who attended this years festival said they were instructed to urinate in bottles to conserve space in the porta-potties. In the aftermath of the rain trash was left everywhere, wrote Rob Price in Business Insider. The porta-potties were surrounded by a halo of shredded toilet paper that clung to shoes, he added. The end of the tumultuous exodus comes after officials revealed the suspected cause of death for the man who died during the event. The man, identified as 32-year-old Leon Reece, was found unresponsive on the playa on Friday, with emergency responders unable to revive him. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The government is worried about the safety of chemical facilities across the country after its power to keep dangerous substances out of the hands of extremists lapsed a month ago. The Department of Homeland Security has long had the ability to inspect facilities where chemicals are used or stored to make sure their security systems are in place. And the facilities themselves have been required to vet prospective employees for any terrorism links. But the program, called the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, expired July 28 after Congress failed to renew it. Homeland Security officials say this left gaping holes in the country's national security, and they are calling on Congress to act quickly when it returns this week. The risk that terrorists could access and weaponize the dangerous chemicals produced in these facilities increases by the day, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told attendees at the Chemical Security Summit held in northern Virginia last week. The program requires any facility that has a certain quantity of any of a long list of chemicals of interest to report the information to the Department of Homeland Security. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, which falls under DHS, then determines whether the facility is considered high risk and therefore must develop a security plan. The agency assesses the plan to make sure it addresses things like physical security as well as cybersecurity, and then it does inspections to make sure companies are in compliance. There are more than 300 chemicals on the list, including substances like chlorine and sodium nitrate. There are about 3,200 high-risk facilities across the country, according to agency data. The regulations apply not just to chemical manufacturing or distribution companies but to any facility that uses the chemicals in certain quantities, such as those related to agriculture, plastics or pharmaceuticals, to name a few. Facilities also send the names of prospective employees to Homeland Security so they can be checked for links to extremist groups. CISA official Kelly Murray said at the conference that before the program expired, about 300 names per day were being run through databases. That has stopped. Congress gave the department the authority to begin the chemical security program in 2006, and it went into effect the following year. But Congress also has to renew the authority every few years. So far it has. This summer, the House overwhelmingly voted to reauthorize it. But then the Senate failed to do so after Sen. Rand Paul raised objections. Paul, a Kentucky Republican, said in a July 26 Congressional speech that such regulations favor big businesses because they create a barrier to new companies coming into the market and that even if these regulations didn't exist, companies would still keep security measures in place out of self-interest. My guess is if the program didnt exist, they would still all have fences and barbed wire and protections against terrorism because they want to protect their investment, Paul said. He said the legislation was being rushed though the Senate without enough consideration, such as whether it was duplicating other government programs. He said despite his reservations he'd vote to approve it if the Senate also approved his plan to implement a scoring system by which any proposed government program would be assessed to see whether it duplicates programs already in existence. With the Senate in recess all of August and only set to return Tuesday, there's been no movement on reauthorizing the rule. A notice on CISA's website warns that the program has lapsed. As a result, the agency says, facilities are no longer required to report chemicals of interest and the agency cannot perform inspections or require facilities to implement a site security plan. Homeland Security officials say the program's lapse has left them without a vital security tool. The agency does about 160 inspections a month of chemical facilities, Jen Easterly, who heads the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, told attendees at last week's conference. Murray said in the meantime the department is diverting staff to a program called ChemLock, which helps companies that use or handle potentially dangerous chemicals keep them secure. But that program is entirely voluntary, so there's nothing the department can do if companies don't comply. And Murray said she's worried about retaining staff if the program is not reauthorized soon. Many in the industry say they're also worried at the program's lapse. I think its a shame, to be blunt. Its a program that has proven to be successful, said Matt Fridley, senior director for security and safety at Brenntag, an international chemical distribution company with 17,500 employees across 72 countries. He said the program is focused on helping companies figure out what's wrong and remedying it, as opposed to just fining them. Theyre into the find it and fix it, he said. He said a company the size of Brenntag can and will continue with security plans already in place, but he said there's always a concern that companies facing competing financial pressures might not. Scott Jensen, a spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, which represents more than 190 companies, said another big concern for companies is the loss of vetting of prospective employees through DHS' terrorist databases. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Never-before-seen drawings from Dennis Rader, the self-proclaimed BTK serial killer, may hold the key to solving a missing persons case and several homicides. The Osage County Sheriffs Office released the chilling images that depict three different women who are bound and gagged in what appear to be barns, which investigators believe could be in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. The images are reproduced below. The convicted killer is already behind bars for 10 murders that took place from the 1970s to the 1990s in Wichita, Kansas, but now law enforcement, and his daughter, claim there are many more victims. Hundreds of Raders drawings and writings were recovered after his arrest in 2005, but Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden launched a new investigation in January and says the images may confirm more crimes were committed. Last month, Rader was named the prime suspect in the 1976 disappearance of 16-year-old Cynthia Dawn Kinney in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and in the 1990 murder of 22-year-old Shawna Beth Garber in McDonald County, Missouri. The 78-year-old is serving 10 consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty to 10 murders in 2005. He reportedly called himself BTK for the abbreviation blind, torture, kill. Investigators believe Rader may have buried Kinney in a barn near the Kansas-Oklahoma border. Her body has never been found. Sheriff Virden told CNN about an anonymous call they received months after Kinney disappeared from a man claiming her body could be found in an old barn along the Oklahoma-Kansas border. And just recently, law enforcement intercepted communications from Rader in prison that revealed there may be some hidden items in old barns, according to the sheriff. Dennis Rader in court in El Dorado, Kansas in 2005 (AP2005) Were hoping that releasing these, someone might recognize one of these barns or the unique features in them, or the closeness of the silo to the barn or possibly might have even found items that they didnt know why were there that could be very important in this case, Sheriff Virden told CNN. Even if the barns not there anymore. We would still like that information. One drawing shows a young female who is gagged and is sitting with her arms and legs bound, but its the black piping running through the barn walls that the sheriff points out. The reason you would have that is if you were moving livestock through there, that those bars would keep the livestock from hitting probably the tin or the wood on the outside of the barn so that if an animal hit it, you know, they wouldnt go through and dent up the tin or knock the wood off the outside, he told CNN. (Osage County Sheriffs Office ) Osage County, Oklahoma investigators believe this sketch could be linked to a missing woman last seen in southeast Kansas in 1991. Her name has not been made public in connection with Rader at this time. We know from things Dennis said on this exact photograph that it was a drawing he created from an actual barn, Sheriff Virden told CNN. A second drawing shows a female in a red top. She is also bound and gagged. The sheriff points out the barn with wood slats. That would be a barn that had wood slats. You know, possibly a rounded post but in that area of the barn what would have possibly a wooden floor, you know and a lot of times in tack rooms inside of barns or in feed rooms or storage, he said. (Osage County Sheriffs Office ) They wouldnt leave a dirt floor because they didnt have livestock in that area. The third sketch shows a female lying down in what appears to be a barn loft. She is tied to a staircase post that investigators are looking closely at. The support post appears to have a bracket and then a bolt that bolts through that to hold everything together, Virden said. Raders daughter Kerri Rawson has been working closely with investigators on her fathers case and has posted updates on her social media accounts. (Osage County Sheriffs Office ) She told CNN that her father loved barns and silos. My father absolutely loves barns and silos. Every time we drove around going camping, fishing, to college, hed absolutely say this one like he said, I want to retire here. And he would tease my mom about it, Ms Rawson told CNNs Jean Casarez. And then after he was arrested, we found out later that he had massive fantasies about those specific locations. So now were driving around trying to find those by my memory and noting them because we need to go see, is there anybody missing or buried there. She confronted her father for the first time in 18 years, visiting him in prison twice in recent months. (Osage County Sheriff's Office) Rader is incarcerated at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas. But she could not get a confession out of him. Hes literally sitting six feet across from me, she said. He hasnt seen me in 18 years and hes lying to me. She also talked about her fathers deteriorating condition behind bars. Hes rotting, she said. He has scoliosis very severe. Hes in a wheelchair, he has no teeth left, so he doesnt even look like he has a jaw, Rawson said. He went from this like vivacious man that was hiking with me right before he was arrested, to like an elderly man, you know, his legs wrapped with like bandages. Last month law enforcement dug up his former family residence, reportedly finding a pantyhose ligature. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Danelo Cavalcante was convicted of murder charges in August for brutally stabbing his former girlfriend to death in front of her children. Less than two weeks after receiving a life sentence, the 34-year-old sparked fresh terror as he broke free from a Pennsylvania jail. For the next two weeks, communities across Pennsylvania lived in fear with schools shuttered and residents told to stay indoors as the convicted killer managed to evade capture and steal a firearm. The massive manhunt finally came to an end on 13 September when Cavalcante who is considered extremely dangerous was finally captured. Here is everything we know about Cavalcante and his escape: The escape Cavalcante escaped from the Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania, at around 8.50am on 31 August. At the time, other inmates in the exercise yard were playing basketball. Video of the incident showed him crab-walking up a wall and pushing through razor wire in order to gain access to the prisons roof. He then jumped down into another area of the prison and left on foot. The unconventional method is exactly the same that was used by another inmate back in May, Chester County Prison acting Warden Howard Holland said. During that incident, the inmate was captured within minutes after a tower officer reported the break to prison staff. In Cavalcantes case, the tower officer tasked with surveilling the escape route failed to report the jailbreak, which went unnoticed for nearly an hour. CCTV footage shows Danelo Calvacante's prison escape Cavalcantes absence was only noticed during a head count when his block returned back inside around 9.50am after the basketball game. The jail was then put into lockdown and the 911 centre was notified 10 minutes later. The tower officer who failed to report the escape has since been fired. We can confirm that the corrections officer on duty when Danelo Cavalcante escaped was terminated yesterday afternoon, a source told CNN in a statement. He was an 18-year veteran of the prison. The acting warden said that an investigation into the escape was being conducted by the state attorneys office. Mr Holland said that following the escape attempt in May, the prison had brought consultants in to increase security at the facility. Razor wire which Cavalcante pushed through was placed to prevent access to the roof, but officials didnt expect the human element to fail, Mr Holland said. While we believed that the security measures we had in place were sufficient, they have proven otherwise, Mr Holland said. And we will work to enhance our security ... One key difference in [this] escape is the role of the tower officer whose primary responsibility is to oversee the inmate in the exercise yard. Mr Holland declined to say what the prison officer was believed to be doing during the escape, only noting that he was at the post. Sightings of Cavalcante On 4 September, a surveillance camera on a trail had captured him walking in an area of Longwood Gardens in East Marlborough Township. The images show that Cavalcante has obtained a backpack and a hooded sweatshirt during his escape. Cavalcante captured on a trail camera at Longwood Garden (PA State Trooper and Chester County District Attorney) Cavalcante has been seen at the intersection of Routes 926 and 52, north on Route 52 to Parkersville Road, southeast to Route 926 and west to the intersection of Routes 926 and 52 in Pocopson Township, police said. There were also two reported burglaries in the area that police have investigated, but these are not currently confirmed to be linked to the escaped prisoner. However, Lt Colonel George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said that the incidents are of interest to us. West Chester resident Ryan Drummond claimed in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer that one of Cavalcantes confirmed sightings occurred at his home. Mr Drummond said that he woke up to noises downstairs on 1 September and realised that there was an intruder. I decided not to confront him and thought it was a better move to flick the light switch, Mr Drummond, whose wife and children were also in the home, told the Inquirer. And he flicked it back at me, which was terrifying, so I told my wife to call 911. Mr Drummond said that Cavalcante entered the home through an old French door that couldnt lock properly. He said his nine-year-old daughter had raised fears about Cavalcante being able to gain access to the home through the door, but he tried to reassure her that the murder convict was likely far away. The last few days have been surreal. Its tough, Mr Drummond said. Were all jumpy, and I could see this has taken a psychological toll on my kids. If theyre in the room by themselves, theyre calling for us. Cavalcante was last seen on surveillance footage about one and a half miles from the prison at around 12.30pm on 31 August (Chester County district attorney office) Cavalcante was then spotted near Phoenixville in northern Chester County on 9 September. Earlier that day, he stole a white 2020 Ford Transit van that he used to drive from Longwood Gardens to Phoenixville. The fugitive showed up at an old associates home around 9.50pm that day and requested through the doorbell camera to meet with him. The individual was out having dinner and later alerted local police of the sighting. Doorbell video images showed Cavalcante to be now clean-shaven and wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, black baseball cap, green prison pants and white shoes. The fugitive then travelled to the home of another former coworkers home in Phoenixville. A female who was at the home when Cavalcante rang the bell called a friend, who eventually informed law enforcement about the sighting. Then, around 10.40am on 10 September, police found the van that Cavalcant had stolen in a field behind a barn in East Nantmeal Township, about 15 miles from Phoenixville. Lt Col Bivens said he believed Cavalcante abandoned the vehicle at least in part because it was low on fuel. Authorities are concerned that he would attempt to obtain another vehicle or has already done so. Around 8pm on 11 September, a motorist told 911 dispatchers that a male figure had crouched near the woodline near Route 100. Troopers responding to the scene investigated the sighting and found footprints on the mud consistent with Cavalcantes prison shoes, which were also found in the area. Mr Bivens said that although authorities arrived at the scene within minutes, Cavalcante managed to travel a significant distance during that time. Just because they found a footprint doesnt mean that we know what direction he travelled, Mr Bivens said during a press conference on 12 September. A resident of the area called shortly after to report that a pair of workboots on her porch had been stolen. Then at 10.10pm, a homeowner reported that a short Hispanic man broke inside his garage. Mr Bivens said that Cavalcante stole a .22 rifle with a scope and a flashlight on it. The homeowner opened fire on Cavalcante with his pistol but the fugitive is not believed to have been injured. Cavalcante fled before Pennsylvania State Police arrived at the scene. Near the edge of the driveway, authorities found clothes that Cavalcante had been spotted wearing over the weekend. The manhunt has been repeatedly expanded as Cavalcante has managed to sneak past the search perimeter several times. The area where Cavalcante abandoned the van is roughly a 40-minute drive from the previous eight-mile perimeter police had established near the popular Longwood Gardens botanical park. No perimeter is 100 per cent secure. We do the best we can. Most times were able to secure it adequately, Mr Bivens said on 10 September. Escaped killer Danelo Cavlacante has changed his appearance, police say (PA State Police) This image provided by the Pennsylvania State Police shows Danelo Cavalcante. (Pennsylvania State Police) The manhunt Police put out a poster with images of Cavalcante, both caught on the CCTV footage and a picture of him from prison. Authorities said in a case outline that there would be a combined reward of $5,000 from the US Marshals Service and $5,000 from Chester County. Crime Stoppers is offering an additional $15,000, bringing the reward total to $25,000. Authorities said law enforcement teams, including the US Marshals, SWAT and other federal agencies, have joined the search to find Cavalcante. The marshals had initially employed helicopters, drones and other resources to search for Cavalcante in the heavily wooded areas near the prison. Law enforcement also blasted a message from his mother, speaking in Portuguese, into his hiding place from police helicopters and patrol cars. Robert Clark, supervisory deputy US Marshal for the Easter District of Pennsylvania spoke at a conference explaining why these tactics were being deployed. As desperate as he is, maybe he has a change of thought and hears his mother telling him to surrender, and his family cares about him, Mr Clark said. Pennsylvania State Police Lt Col George Bivens provides and update to the press ( Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer 2023) PA State Troopers, US Border Patrol, Chester County Emergency Management, and FBI collaborate on the intergovernmental manhunt for Danelo Cavalcante ( Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer 2023) Pennsylvania State police search the woods and a creek in Pennsbury Township, Pa ( Copyright 2023 The Philadelphia Inquirer) Perhaps this is what puts him over the edge where we can get a peaceful surrender. Pennsylvania State Police are facing growing scrutiny after it was confirmed on 10 September that Cavalcante had managed, yet again, to sneak past the search perimeter. US Marshals Service supervising deputy Robert Clark said he believed Cavalcantes mobilization to more urban East Nantmeal Township would work to the advantage of law enforcement looking for him. I think the advantage switched to law enforcement. Before it was advantageous to Cavalcante while he was playing tactical hide and seek in the woods, Mr Clark said. Now its an advantage to law enforcement because hes in an urban area and thats what the US Marshalls do best and were forced-multiplied by other local and state agencies. Mr Bivens said that he is confident Cavalcante remains in Pennsylvania as he does not have the resources to leave the state. We dont have a defined search area at this point, Mr Bivens added. We are considering and acting and investigating any tip or piece of information we receive. There are areas in Nantmeal Township that may have more of our resources. Mr Bivens said that he was aware of some weaknesses in the previous ten-mile perimeter, but refused to acknowledge that the several agencies collaborating in the manhunt had made any mistakes. The Lt Col went on to say that the perimeter was strong but not infallible. Around 500 officers were hunting for Cavalcante on 12 September as one school district remained closed and residents were told to secure their homes and be vigilant. The search is now focused on South Coventry Township in Chester County near Route 23 to the North, Route 100 to the East, Fairview and Nantmeal roads to the South and Iron Bridge and County Park roads to the West. Cavalcantes sister is arrested by ICE State police confirmed on 10 September that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Cavalcantes sister Eleni Cavalcante over some immigration issues. She faces the possibility of deportation, Lt Col George Bivens said. Mr Bivens didnt say whether she is suspected of helping her brother Cavalcante, but noted that she had been of no value in the search for her brother. Its not Cavalcantes first time being on the run. Right after he stabbed Brandao to death in front of her children in April 2021, Cavalcante was briefly on the run before he was arrested in Virginia and extradited to Pennsylvania. During his trial earlier this year, Eleni Cavalcantes boyfriend Francisco Lima testified that he had helped Cavalcante escape following the brutal stabbing, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Mr Lima, who received immunity in exchange for his testimony, said that he had bandaged Cavalcantes wounds, given him a clean change of clothes and put gas in his car so he could drive out of state. The murder Cavalcante was found guilty of the murder of Deborah Brandao on 16 August more than two years after he stabbed her 38 times with a kitchen knife in Schuylkill Township back in April 2021. Prosecutors said he killed Brandao to stop her from telling police about an active arrest warrant he was facing for another alleged murder in his home country of Brazil in 2017. Cavalcante and Brandao reportedly met through mutual friends and moved in together with her two children not long after their two-year relationship began. Prosecutors outlined his domestic abuse against Brandao during the trial. Deborah Brandao (pictured) was stabbed to death in front of her children in April 2021 (Brandao family handout) It was reported that in June 2020, Cavalcante bit Brandao on her lip hard enough to draw blood and chased her and her children out of their home. Brandao and her kids hid in a neighbours apartment and a warrant was issued by police for Cavalcantes arrest. However, he did not turn himself in. Later that year, Cavalcante allegedly attacked Brandao again, chasing her with a knife, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Brandao then filed for a temporary abuse order against him, but this lapsed in March 2021 when she did not appear at a hearing. According to evidence presented at the trial, the two kept in touch and police said Cavalcante drove to Brandaos home to confront her in April 2021. While Brandaos children, then aged seven and three, were playing near by, Cavalcante pulled her hair and threw her to the ground. He then began to stab her repeatedly. Brandao was later pronounced dead at Paoli Hospital, the outlet said. Two friends of Cavalcante testified during his trial that they helped the murder convict escape and gave him clean clothes so he could disappear for a while. Prosecutors said Cavalcante killed Brandao to stop her from telling police about his outstanding arrest warrant for murder in Brazil. He was captured in Virginia shortly after the stabbing, while police said he was attempting to return to Brazil. At trial, the jury deliberated for just 15 minutes. He was sentenced to life in prison on 22 August. Brandaos sister Sarah Brandao said in an interview that she has been terrified since Cavalcantes jailbreak. I havent slept for many days, Ms Brandao said. I have been waking up with fright at night. Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said that Ms Brandao and her family are being protected by police. They do have protection and they are terrified. They havent left their home, theyre barricaded inside their home and they are very scared, Ms Ryan said. We do have police detail surrounding the home but I know they are very scared and very, very worried. The capture A nearly two-week manhunt for dangerous murder convict Danelo Cavalcante came to an end on Wednesday 13 September as he was captured in Pennsylvania. Cavalcante was arrested without incident on Wednesday and taken to the Pennsylvania State Police Avondale barracks. Authorities are set to hold a press conference on the capture at 9.30am. The fugitive was found hiding inside a shed in Pottstown with the rifle he had previously stolen from a home in South Coventry Township, FOX29 reports. Aerial footage of the capture showed dozens of law enforcement officers surrounding Cavalcante, who was wearing a grey Eagles hooded sweatshirt and dark pants. Cavalcante was escorted to a SWAT tactical car, where officers cut apart his clothing. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A teenager on the run in Georgia was shot dead by officers after opening fire on a police dog. The 17-year-old, identified as Stephon Ford by the Clayton County Police Department, was killed by police after allegedly pointing a gun at officers and refusing to drop the firearm. "The overall situation is tragic. We hate it," Clayton Assistant Police Chief Bruce Parks told reporters. "We never want anything like this to happen. We try to use all our training and experience to bring it to an easy resolution, but this is not easy on us. Its not easy on the suspects family. And its something that is going to take a while to get by." Ford is said to have opened fire on K-9 Waro, a police dog that was pursuing the teenager into a wooded area. The teenager was on the run after the Jonesboro Police Department was initially called out at 2am on Saturday to investigate suspicious activity at a hotel. Officers found Ford and two men with drug paraphernalia and weapons. The police arrested the two men but Ford managed to escape and flee. The Clayton Police Department was called to help in the search for Ford before K-9 Waro found the suspect in the woods. Ford did not comply with the demands of the officers and started to fire in their direction, hitting Waro, according to Clayton Police Captain John Ivey. While all officers were uninjured, Waro was taken to an animal hospital and died of his wounds. K-9 Waro, a Clayton County Police dog, died of injuries after being shot by Stephon Ford (Clayton County Police Department) Ford, 17, was killed by police after refusing to put down his firearm (Clayton County Police Department) Around eight hours after the shooting of Waro, police located Ford again in a wooded area. Police Chief Parks said another officer asked Ford to lower his firearm and surrender. After pointing a gun at officers, Ford was shot and killed, said Chief Parks. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is still looking into the shooting. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A manhunt continues for a dangerous inmate who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison last week as authorities focus on a heavily wooded area in Pocopsen Township after four confirmed sightings. Danelo Cavalcante, 34, has been on the run in Chester County since Thursday after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the fatal stabbing of his 33-year-old ex-girlfriend. District Attorney Deb Ryan announced at a press briefing on Monday that the Pennsylvania State Police will be taking over the investigation and manhunt. The goal right now is to find and capture this dangerous fugitive, Ms Ryan said, adding that she understands the communitys concerns. We are doing everything in our power to get this guy. The search is focused on a two-mile radius of a heavily wooded area in Pocopsen Township, Chester County where there have been four credible sightings since the escape. Police said on Monday that over the past five days, Cavalcante has been spotted at the intersection of Rt. 926 and Rt. 52, north on Rt. 52 to Parkersville Road, southeast to Rt. 926 and west to the intersection of Rt. 926 and Rt. 52 in Pocopson Township. Danelo Cavalcante ( Chester County Prison) Ryan said police have responded to well over 100 tips from neighbours in the area, including allegations of possible break-ins within the two-mile radius of the prison. We are requesting that residents in the area of Pocopson Township remain inside. Lock your doors, lock your cars. He is still considered an extremely dangerous individual. There is evidence to suggest that hes still in that local residence. We do not believe he has gotten more than one to two miles away from the prison, Ms Ryan said. Danelo Cavalcante seen in residential security camera footage We believe we are getting closer to locating the suspect at this time, and we are narrowing the scope of our search, she added. Community members were also made aware that an audio recording from Cavalcantes mother will be played throughout the day from police cars and helicopters. The message, which is in Portuguese Cavalcantes native tongue is of his mother pleading for him to surrender peacefully. He was spotted on cameras around 12.30am on Saturday in Pocopson Township, roughly one and a half miles from the prison. Local authorities received a report of an attempted burglary in the area just an hour before Cavalcante was captured on surveillance but it is not immediately clear if he was involved. Police said residents in the area should scan video from their doorbells or surveillance cameras for anything suspicious. They also advised people to check their cars and any sheds on their property. Cavalcante is described as a 5ft Brazilian man with light complexion, shaggy, black curly hair and brown eyes. He is also wanted for a homicide in 2017 in Brazil, the US Marshals Service for Philadelphia said. Since his escape, he was seen wearing a light-coloured shirt, pants, and white sneakers. He was also carrying a backpack, but police said they dont know when he obtained the bag. Cavalcante is described as 5ft tall with light complexion, shaggy, black curly hair and brown eyes Hundreds of law enforcement teams, including the US Marshals, SWAT, local, state, and other federal agencies, have joined the search. Authorities are also offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to Cavalcantes arrest. Authorities urged people to not approach Cavalcante, who speaks Portuguese and Spanish. Cavalcante killed his ex-girlfriend in Schuylkill Township in front of the victims seven-year-old daughter and a three-year-old before fleeing to Virginia. Ms Ryan called it a heartbreaking tragedy. Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the US Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Authorities investigating the violent death of Maryland mother Rachel Morin have admitted they have no idea where her murderer is. Morins body was found on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air on 6 August, a day after the mother-of-five was reported missing by her boyfriend when she didnt return home from her hike. The Harford County Sheriffs Office launched a manhunt for the killer after Morins death was confirmed to be a homicide, noting that detectives believed the attack was random. Law enforcement previously released footage from the scene of a home invasion and assault in Los Angeles, where DNA found matched that at the Morin crime scene. The images released to the public have prompted hundreds of tips, Sheriff Jeff Gahler told Law & Crime on Friday, but none of them have led investigators closer to finding the killer. Were still asking for the publics support to share that video, to check out the picture, Sheriff Gahler told the outlet. Somebody out there will recognize him and knows who he is. And I regret to say we have no idea where he is. I mean, he could be here in our community. The sheriff said last week that suspicions had risen about the suspect potentially being a serial killer. But despite frantic investigative efforts and a $10,000 reward for information regarding his whereabouts, the suspect remains at large nearly a month after Morins murder. Theres nothing right now to stop him from doing it again. I believe, and our investigators believe, he will do it again, Sheriff Gahler told Law & Crime. The sheriff previously told the outlet that detectives are also tracking leads in Chicago but did not elaborate on the topic. Harford County Sheriffs Office released this image of Rachel Morins suspected killer (Harford County Sheriffs Office) On Thursday, Morins sister Rebekah Morin shared a behavioural profile that suggested the killer likely exhibits several psychopathic traits, including lack of empathy, compulsive lying, narcissism and manipulation. The outline, reportedly volunteered by expert criminal profiler Pat Brown, also suggested that the suspect knows someone in Bel Air, possibly explaining how he was able to live in the tight-knit community without raising alarms. The suspect would not be accounted for, either at work or home, sometime between 6:00 PM and dusk on Saturday, August 5, 2023, when the attack happened, the profile also read. Morins body was found on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air on 6 August, a day after the mother-of-five was reported missing by her boyfriend when she didnt return home from her hike (Rebekah Morin / Facebook) Duane Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, has also joined the search. Mr Chapman appeared on NewsNation to offer his expertise on possible clues in the March footage from the home invasion in LA. The suspect is described as being approximately 59 and 160 pounds. He is between 20 and 30 years of age, has dark hair and muscular build and is believed to be of Hispanic descent. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A gender reveal party in Mexico ended in tragedy when a plane used during the celebration came crashing down. The incident happened as a couple in San Pedro, Sinaloa, prepared to receive news of their babys gender. Video of the reveal posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed excited attendees recording the expecting parents reaction. But as the small plane came into the frame and turned the sky pink, its left wing appeared to turn upwards. The aircraft spiralled out of control before it came crashing down in a nearby field. People witnessing the ordeal were seemingly unaware of the terrifying crash and continued cheering the couple as they locked in a kiss in front of a decoration of blue and pink balloons. According to local outlet Linea Directa, the pilot, who has since been identified as 32-year-old Luis Angel N, became trapped in the wreckage. Authorities were eventually alerted and dispatched to the scene. Images shared by Breaking Aviation News showed Red Cross staff pulling the pilot out of the debris. Luis Angel was transported to a hospital in Navolato in critical condition but later succumbed to his injuries. Authorities are now at the property where the incident took place conducting an investigation into the crash. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A man drowned at Georgias Lake Lanier after he ran down a dock and slipped into the water - marking the eighth death at the lake this year. Gavrie Alexander Whitlock, 23, was found dead at the Holiday Marina on Lake Lanier by the Hall County Fire Rescue on Saturday night. The Department of Natural Resources responded to a drowning call at the lakes oldest and largest marina at around 10.30pm after Whitlock fell into the water and didnt resurface. Whitlock, from Snellville, Georgia, is the eighth person to drown in Lake Lanier so far in 2023. A week prior to Whitlocks death, another 23-year-old man, Edgar Steven Cruz Martinez, drowned when swimming in Lake Lanier on 26 August. Before this two men, aged 27 and 61, died the same day in unrelated events; they were both swimming in the lake on 29 July when they drowned. Several days before both those men drowned, a 24-year-old man named Thomas Shepard Milner was electrocuted after jumping off a dock into Lake Lanier. It is estimated that more than 200 people have died at Lake Lanier between 1994 and 2022, according to USA Today and Georgia DNR. Six people drowned in the lake last year, four in 2021 and seven in 2020. More than 200 people have died at Lake Lanier since 1994 (Wikimedia Commons) In 2012, the son of Tameka Foster, a fashion designer and the ex-wife of R&B star Usher, died when a watercraft struck the boy while he was sitting on an inflatable on the lake. The death of her son, Kile Glover, who was 11, prompted Ms Foster to start a petition for officials to drain, clean and restore the lake, in order to make it safe and to remove dangerous debris. The online petition has more than 2,500 signatures. Draining, cleaning, and restoring Lake Lanier is not only necessary but also an opportunity to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives and prevent further tragedies, Ms Foster wrote in her Change.org petition. The lake has often been branded as dangerous for various reasons, and to some, thought of as haunted. Lake Lanier gets around 10 million visits per year and had a huge volume of boat traffic on the water. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, more than 170 boating and drowning deaths have been reported between 1994 and 2018. Additionally, there have been issues with people boating under the influence on the lake, with more than 525 BUIs handed out between 2008 and 2018. The lakes waters can also get murky, making it harder to perform rescue operations. The lake is situated northeast of Atlanta and is 60 square miles in size and has waters up to 160 feet deep. Before it became a reservoir in 1956, the town of Oscarville, a small Black community was situated in its place. After lynchings that happened in the area in 1912, more than 1000 Black people were displaced and many properties and businesses ended up in the hands of white people. The Lake Lanier website explains how many theories of an underwater ghost town have come about because of the displacement prior to the flooding of the town. Although numbers have not been confirmed, many outlets report that around 700 people have died on the lake since its creation in 1956. One user on X (formerly known as Twitter) commented on the recent Lake Lanier deaths and the possible haunting. They said: Of course the lake is haunted. I would say that is more than fair Part of some messed up history in Georgia. Another user commented on the previous death of Mr Martinez and said: Camp Crystal Lake Lanier claims 7th person in 2023. The ancestors are angry, my friend. This X user also said: Before Lake Lanier was created in the 1950s, it was one of DOZENS of U.S. towns racist white mobs flooded like Oscarville, GA. Lake Lanier is also one of the bodies of water legends say are haunted by our ancestors as many people have drowned in its waters. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A climber has been found dead in Glacier National Park, Montana, days after he was reported missing. Adam Fuselier, a 32-year-old from Castle Pines, Colorado, last had contact with his family on Tuesday afternoon. The enthusiastic rock climber had been due to climb Reynolds Mountian, a peak well-known for rock-climbing and hiking. A statement released by Glacier National Park said that when Fuselier was overdue for his Reynolds Mountain climb on Wednesday morning, rangers were alerted and sent to look for him. Later that day, his vehicle was found at Logan Pass the highest area of the park that vehicles can reach. The ground search got off to a slow start on Wednesday due to bad weather conditions. After the rain, wind and fog dispersed, two Bear Air joined the search on Thursday. By Friday morning, a US Forest Service (USFS) helicopter had also joined the operation by air while 50 searchers and a dog team covered the search by ground. Adam Fuselier, 32, was found dead at Glacier National Park in Montana (Glacier National Park) Hikers who had contact with Fuselier were able to share information about his location to National Park Services ground searchers. Later on Friday morning, Fuseliers body was found. His body was then transported from Reynolds Mountain to West Glacier by a USFS helicopter from the Hungry Horse Ranger District. His tragic death is still under investigation. Reynolds Mountian, standing at 2,783m tall, was the mountain Mr Fuselier was due to climb (Wikimedia Commons) Glacier National Park staff would like to express their sincere condolences to the family and ask that the public respect their privacy, the National Park Service wrote in a statement on Friday. Fuseliers death comes after a 28-year-old woman also died at Glacier National Park in May, when she fell off a ledge into Avalanche Creek. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Two people were killed and six others wounded after gunfire erupted outside a wedding venue in the Canadian capital Ottawa on Saturday, according to authorities. The shooting occurred in a parking lot at the Infinity Convention Centre in Gibford Drive near the citys airport just before 10.30pm, Ottawa Police Service said in a statement. The victims had been attending two weddings being held simultaneously at the venue. On Sunday, the two deceased victims were identified as Said Mohamed Ali, 26, and Abdishakur Abdi-Dahir, 29, both of Toronto. As of Monday, no arrests have been made, and no descriptions of the suspects were available. It was unclear what condition the wounded survivors were in. Two of the injured were US citizens. The Ottawa Police Service Homicide Unit appealed for surveillance, doorbell or dashcam footage from local residents and businesses. This is an active and ongoing investigation, police said. All investigative angles are being explored. Police at a wedding venue in Ottawa, Canada, where two guests were shot dead in a mass shooting on Saturday night (CBC ) A witness who arrived at the venue to pick up a wedding guest told the AFP that around 20 shots were fired in the melee. It was chaos, there was no general direction of where people were running, it was just everywhere, the witness, who was only identified by their first name Nico, told the AFP. It was rapid shots, and then there was screaming, and then there was a pause, and then there were more shots. An Ottawa police inspector told the AFP that there was no indication the shooting was a hate crime related to race or religious beliefs, but authorities were not ruling out the possibility. The murders were the 11th and 12th so far in 2023 in Ottawa, police said. Canada has experienced a significant increase in shooting deaths in recent years. The government has responded by banning assault weapons and freezing sales of handguns. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} On Monday, millions of Americans will take a public holiday as the country marks its annual Labor Day. But how did Labor Day start and what significance does it retain? What is Labor Day? Labor Day is a public holiday in the United States to honour the American labour movement and the contributions that workers have made to society. When is Labor Day? It is celebrated on the first Monday in September every year. How did Labor Day come about? The idea emerged in 1882 when the unions of New York City decided to have a parade to celebrate their members. The New York parade inspired other unions to have their own celebrations. By 1887, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Colorado made Labor Day a state holiday. President Grover Cleveland declared that Labor Day was a national holiday in 1894. What is the significance of Labor Day now? Labor Day was once perceived as marking the end of the summer season but it has also become an important sales weekend for many retailers in the US. It is one of the largest sales dates of the year, second only to Black Friday. Can you wear white after Labor day? This tradition dates back to Victorian times when it was seen as a fashion faus pax to wear any white clothing after the first Monday of September, although that tradition has long since died out for most Americans. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An Australian expeditioner was evacuated from Antarctica as he required urgent medical care. Australias icebreaking vessel RSV Nuyina sailed thousands of kilometres to reach the location of the man stationed at the Casey research station in Antarctica. It was accompanied by two helicopters and a medical retrieval team. The urgent rescue mission was launched last week to reach the man suffering from an undisclosed developing medical condition. RSV Nuyina sailed more than 3,000km, breaking through sea ice in some stretches to rescue the man. The Australian Antarctic Program said the man was rescued and the ship is expected to return to the city of Hobart next week. Its the earliest weve ever gone to an Antarctic station just a day or two after the official end of winter, said Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) acting general manager of operations Robb Clifton. Australias Antarctic stations typically possess limited medical resources, with just one or two trained doctors available. The Casey research station is closest to the permanent Antarctic station to Australia. Approximately 15-20 individuals reside at Casey, where harsh conditions and darkness hamper scientific activities during the winter season. The expeditioner will be looked after in the Nuyinas specially equipped and designed medical facility by our polar medicine doctors and Royal Hobart Hospital medical staff, said Mr Clifton. Getting this expeditioner back to Tasmania for the specialist medical care required is our priority. He said it is winter in Antarctica and an air evacuation would not have been feasible as the Wilkins aerodrome near the research station is unusable in extremely cold weather. A narrow window, however, allowed two helicopters to reach the station by taking an hour-long flight and collect the patient. We were really only able to attempt it because of the fantastic capabilities the Nuyina gives us in terms of icebreaking and aircraft capability, Mr Clifton said. AAD said the family of the expeditioner is being regularly updated on the situation, and all other station personnel are confirmed to be safe. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A British tourist has said she was raped by five men in her hotel room while on holiday in Cyprus. The 20-year-old said told Cypriot police she was attacked by five men in her hotel in the city of Famagusta. Cypriot police have since arrested five men from Israel. A spokesman at the islands police headquarters in Nicosia said on Monday: The five were detained overnight in a cell following the charges. They will appear today before Famagustas district court. We have not released their ages but can confirm that they are all young. The news comes after last year a British woman won her appeal to overturn a conviction for lying about being gang-raped by 12 tourists when she was 18 in Cyprus, On Friday Cyprus police arrested 20 people after a march against migrants and refugees on the islands second-largest city, Limassol, turned violent with mobs vandalising property. Five people were injured during the unrest on Friday evening after about 500 people took to the streets for the march, the police said. Rubbish bins were set alight and some shops were vandalised, police said. Witnesses quoted by Cypriot media outlets said some foreigners were attacked during the march. Asian delivery drivers were assaulted and storefronts belonging to migrants were smashed as the violence continued until the early hours of Sunday, according to Reuters news agency. Police used water cannon to disperse the protesters, some of them hooded and holding a banner that read Refugees not welcome. Overnight Saturday to Sunday, three people from southeast Asia were attacked and robbed, state media said. Among the victims were a group of visitors from Kuwait, according to social media accounts of witnesses. Senior diplomat Kyriakos Kouros said a protest was filed by an ambassador of an unnamed Arab state on Saturday after tourists were targeted. They cut short their visit. I doubt they will ever return, Kouros, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on the social media platform X on Sunday, posting a picture of the departure of a group at an airport. One member of the group was in a wheelchair. It is the first time I have felt so embarrassed about such an incident in our country, he wrote. This isnt the Cyprus I was born, raised, had a family and am getting old in, he said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A desperate search is underway for a father and son missing near Madrid after flash floods hit Spain just weeks after wildfires struck. Subway lines in the capital and high-speed train connections with southern cities were closed on Monday morning. Emergency services were involved in almost 1,200 incidents in the region overnight and firefighters and police were seeking two missing men in the rural area of Aldea del Fresno, southwest of Madrid, said Javier Chivite, the spokesperson of the emergency services in the region. Two people are missing, a father and his son, they were in a vehicle that got in an avalanche caused by the spate of the Alberche river, Chivite said. We hope this will have a positive outcome. Several roads in the Madrid region were closed as half a dozen bridges were torn down by water overflowing the riverbanks. The sudden torrential rain that hit the country transformed streets into rivers in Madrid, Castile, Catalonia and Valencia regions. Hail also fell in many areas. The heavy rainfall was waning on Monday morning, though. Rain continued in most of the country, but the National Weather Agency on Monday lowered the alert level to yellow from orange and red on Sunday. On Sunday Madrids mayor told all residents to stay at home as the capital braced itself for torrential rain and storms affecting parts of Spain. National weather agency AEMET issued a maximum red alert, which means possible extreme danger, for Sunday in the Madrid region, Toledo province, and the city of Cadiz. It said up to 120 litres per square metre of rain could fall over 12 hours in Madrid. Due to the exceptional and abnormal situation, in which rainfall records will be broken, I ask the people of Madrid to stay at home today, Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Dark storm clouds were gathering over Madrid during the early afternoon of Sunday, but many people were outside as usual. I think (the red alert) is a good idea, said Madrid resident Manuel Loro, 42. The best thing to do is not to use your car today. Its going to be strongest at six oclock so well go home earlier. Madrids emergency services sent texts to residents warning them of flood risks and advising them not to use vehicles. LaLiga suspended an evening match between Atletico Madrid and Sevilla at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid due to the alert. Close Aftermath of Russian missile strike on Ukraine mail depot that killed six For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Russian Army has used new, longer-range drones for the first time in an attack against Ukraine near Kyiv, reports suggest. The Italmas weapon, which is harder to detect than the Iranian-made Shahed drone, may be part of Vladimir Putins strategy to expand Russias arsenal as harsher winter weather approaches, the Institute for the Study of War said. It comes as the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, Donetsk, faced heavy shelling overnight as Russia continues with its offensive push into the region. The enemy dropped about 40 guided aerial bombs in two nights. But the number of ground assaults has been reduced, half of what it was yesterday and the day before, Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for Ukraines southern group of forces, said. Mr Shtupun added that Russia had suffered about 2,400 casualties in the last five days during its campaing in the Donetsk region. Meanwhile, Ukraine launched an underwater sabotage attack on Russias Black Sea fleet near Sevastopol, Crimea, on Tuesday, according to Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of the region. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Ukraines outgoing defence minister Oleksii Reznikov has turned in his resignation and said he was honoured to have served the war-hit country in its toughest modern-day history. From appearing next to president Volodymyr Zelensky in a viral video shot in Kyiv just hours into the Ukraine invasion last year to carrying out deals for military aid with dozens of Western allies, the lawyer-turned-politician had played a critical role in aiding the country against Russias continuing full-scale invasion. On Sunday, Mr Zelensky announced Mr Reznikovs removal as he believed the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole. I have submitted my letter of resignation to Ruslan Stefanchuk @r_stefanchuk, Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine @verkhovna_rada. It was an honour to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the #UAarmy for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraines modern history, Mr Reznikov said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. Over 50 per cent of the temporarily occupied territories by Russia have already been liberated. Every day our defenders are moving forward, the 57-year-old leader, tipped to possibly be Ukraines next ambassador to the UK, said in his resignation letter. There is an understanding that Ukraine is a shield of Europe in the east, he said, adding that one of his biggest priorities for Kyiv was long-term partnerships with allies and finalising real security guarantees. Mr Reznikov also shared on X a photo of himself smiling and holding his resignation letter. He cited the provision of modern tanks, air defence anti-missile systems, long-range missiles, armoured vehicles, artillery, the Multiple Launch Rocket System among other types of modern-style weapons procured during his ministership, and lauded the besieged countrys fierce wartime resistance against Russian forces. The ministers tenure saw heavy lobbying efforts to secure vital military aid from the West. In recent months, however, Mr Zelensky pushed for greater reforms to tackle corruption in the country. The defence ministry, under Mr Reznikovs handling, faced graft allegations of buying food at inflated prices. The allegations, that had emerged in January this year, sparked speculation of Mr Reznikovs tenure being cut short. He has described the charges against him and his ministry as a smear attack. While Mr Reznikov is not alleged to have signed a December contract worth some 13bn hryvnias (290m), he is viewed as ultimately responsible for the department and previously emphasised his own zero-tolerance approach to corruption. Mr Reznikov, who was appointed defence chief in November 2021, told reporters in February that his department had begun an internal audit of all procurement contracts and said his ministrys anti-corruption department needed to be overhauled and had failed to perform its role properly. Mr Zelensky has proposed the name of Crimean Tatar Rustem Umerov, currently the head of Ukraines main privatisation agency, as a replacement candidate as defence minister, subject to the parliaments approval. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Buses from Luton Airport have arrived in Ukraine to help troops on the frontline in the war against Vladimir Putin. The buses, operated by Go-Ahead, were used until March this year to shuttle passengers between Luton Airport and the nearby railway station. They will now be used as rest areas for soldiers in Eastern Ukraine and to transport supplies for front-line troops after being donated to a charity supporting the Ukrainian war effort. Go-Ahead donated the vehicles to local charity, Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership, which provides vehicles to Ukraine that can be used as field hospitals and rest areas for troops or for transporting supplies. The buses, which still have their Luton Airport livery intact, will be fitted with shower and toilet facilities. One of the buses is likely to be used as a mobile exhibition in Ukraine showing the devastation brought about by the Russian onslaught, Go-Ahead said. A spokesperson for the company said: These vehicles have done years of duty shuttling holidaymakers and suitcases. Theyre now retired from airport duty and were glad they can be put to good use as a small contribution to Ukraines war effort. Last month, Sheffield-based bus firm First donated two buses to Ukraine, loaded with medical aid. Mercy mission organiser Craig George, of Ukraine UK Aid Volunteer Group, said they would be used by volunteer medics in freshly targeted areas. The advance of Kyiv's troops against Vladimir Putin's forces on Ukraines bloody frontlines will be welcomed by Western allies, after weeks of having to scrap for every inch gained. The suggestion of some in Ukraines military that units have punched through a section of Russias first defensive line in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, as part of the longer-term aim of reaching the Azov Sea to sever the land bridge from Russia to southeastern Ukraine, may therefore be greeted with cautious optimism. It is not like there havent been other suggestions of progress in the region in recent days, not least from White House officials. But there is a reason why the Ukrainian government has been cautious about claiming any major successes from the outset of its campaign in June, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky having previously warned that the campaign would not play out like a fast-paced Hollywood movie. Instead, he said, it would involve a slow, steady slog with many casualties for his forces. The dismissal of a defence minister who helped to secure billions of pounds in military aid for Ukraine, and forged strong relationships with Western officials, reflects the challenges President Volodymyr Zelensky faces in the 18th month of Russias invasion. Oleksii Reznikov became well known in international diplomatic and defence circles, as he lobbied for more support for Ukraine and the need to form a pathway for his countrys future membership of Nato. But it was pressure from abroad which ultimately played a part in Reznikovs removal from his post. The defence minister became one of the highest-profile casualties in a crackdown demanded by the US and EU, as concern has grown about corruption in Ukraine. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The massive drone attack across multiple regions of Russia into Wednesday marked Ukraine's largest attack on Russian soil since the start of Vladimir Putin's invasion 18 months ago. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said it is one of 25 such attacks on Russia during August as Kyiv increases its attempts to "bring the war home" to Russia and destroy equipment that would be used on the frontline in Ukraine. The MoD believes that Russian air defences are likely having difficulty detecting and destroying the drones, given the number of drones hitting their targets. Follow the latest on the Ukraine war in our live blog here For Ukraine, their own mission to down drones coming from Russia, a constant menace throughout the war, is being added by the US-made 'Vampire' rocket system. The Vampire consists of a laser-guided-missile launcher that houses four rockets and can quickly be installed in a military or even civilian truck with a flat bed. It can fire BAE Systems Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System rockets outfitted with fuses designed to detonate near a drone. The Vampire, which stands for Vehicle Agnostic Modular Palletised ISR Rocket Equipment, has one major aim. As the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for policy Colin Kahl, put it, the launcher uses small missiles, essentially, to shoot [drones] out of the sky. The laser-guided element allows it to be very accurate, without being as hi-tech as other systems being sent by Western allies. There are other advantages to the system too. The cost per missile is about $27,000 (21,000), which is expensive for a single munition but relatively cheap for guided missile. The fact that it can be added to most flatbed trucks is useful, with Ukraine's ground forces having proved resourceful in adapting a number of vehicles to house the weapons they need. Ukraine air defences have had to shoot Russian drones out of the sky for almost all of Moscows 18-month invasion (Reuters) Air defence systems like the Vampire give Ukrainian forces the option to swiftly and relatively cheaply combat Russia's kamikaze drones, offering them the ability to keep their most advanced anti-aircraft systems for areas where they are most important. With many air defence systems built to take down airplanes, helicopters and missiles, small drones can prove a costly problem. While there is scope for advanced technology drones to cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to produce, but smaller ones can cost thousands or even hundreds of pounds. Missiles used to shoot them down can also cost hundreds of thousands, making the four-barrel Vampire rocket launcher system a relative steal. The Pentagon has confirmed that the Vampire, which is also able to strike ground units, is now being used by Ukrainian forces. Initial Vampire systems have been delivered and are in operation by Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Pentagons Acquisition and Sustainment Office said in statement. The company that makes the counter-drone system, L3Harris Technologies Inc have said that four of the 14 systems that make up a $40m contract signed in January, arrived in Ukraine in the middle of the year. The contract calls for the other 10 to be delivered by the end of 2023. While the bulk of US military support to Ukraine comes from existing stock, the contact for the Vampires comes directly under the billions of dollars set forth as part of Washington's Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. It is the first time the system has been deployed in a combat zone and it will prove extremely useful to Ukraine in a conflict where drones are playing an increasingly important role. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A military takeover of Taiwan is likely, according to one of many Chinese government-approved artificial intelligence chatbots that seem to toe the ruling Communist Partys official line. The island nation has transformed into a self-governing democracy, years after its separation from the mainland in 1949. But China claims the island is part of its national territory. The chatbots have dubbed Taiwan an inseparable part of China. The Chinese government recently approved a number of AI chatbots for use in the country, including a bot named Ernie and developed by tech giant Baidu and TikTok owner ByteDances Doubao. When Bloomberg tested some of these AI services for how government oversight affected the accuracy of information provided by these chatbots, it found they appeared to be trained to follow the ruling Communist Partys line. When asked whether Taiwan is a country, all the tested chatbots reportedly said the self-governed island was a part of China, and Baidus Ernie chatbot reportedly said a Chinese military takeover of Taiwan is likely. The Zhipu chatbot described Chinas current economic situation, which experts said is at one of its weakest points in recent decades, to be a mix of joys and sorrows, reported Bloomberg. Another chatbot, SenseTime, reportedly described the economy as very stable. When asked to respond queries that may be deemed sensitive content, the Ernie bot was found to change the subject, while Zhipu would delete its response if it found it to be controversial, according to the report. Such generative AI tools are trained by analysing large quantities of data to respond to user queries with unique human-like replies. For instance, OpenAIs ChatGPT has demonstrated a wide range of abilities, from summarising complex research, answering logical questions and also cracking business and medical school exams deemed crucial for students to pass. A number of Chinese companies have sought to build their own version of AI chatbots, prompting Chinas cyberspace regulator to release ground rules for companies developing generative AI services. But prior to the launch of these chatbots, the Chinese government made several months-long efforts to regulate the generative AI industry. Some of the proposed rules have sought to ensure the content of Chinese AI systems reflect socialist core values and avoid information undermining state power or national unity. Baidus launch of Ernie for full public use on Thursday led to the companys stock price rising by over 3 per cent following the announcement. Other AI firms such as Baichuan and Zhipu AI also launched their ChatGPT-like large language models on Thursday. The ruling Communist Party issued regulations on 15 August that required tech companies to carry out a security review of their chatbots, and obtain approvals before their products are publicly launched. It also requires companies providing such AI services to comply with government data requests, regulations which are currently absent in the US. This article was amended on 12 September 2023. It originally stated that Taiwan had been a self-governing democracy since it separated from China, but this is incorrect. The island transitioned to becoming a democracy in the 1990s. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The federal government is reportedly investing at least $22m into developing clothes that can record audio, video, and geolocation data. According to a 22 August press release from the office of the Director of National Intelligences Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the research and development arm of the organisation, recently launched a cutting-edge program that aims to make performance-grade, computerized clothing a reality. The DNI touted the SMART ePANTS program, which stands for Smart Electrically Powered and Networked Textile Systems, that seeks to develop clothing with integrated audio, video, and geolocation sensor systems that feature the same stretchability, bendability, washability, and comfort of regular textiles, IARPA stated. They will be used by the intelligence community, IARPA wrote. Since the surveillance technology will be woven into the clothing, Intelligence Community staff will be able to record information from their environment hands-free, without the need to wear uncomfortable, bulky, and rigid devices. For example, according to the release, the technology could assist personnel and first responders in dangerous, high-stress environments, such as crime scenes and arms control inspections without impeding their ability to swiftly and safely operate. The SMART ePANTS programs mission is to to incorporate sensor systems into clothes, like shirts, pants, socks, and underwear. The Intercept reported that the federal government has dedicated at least $22m in funding to the program. Its unclear just how big of a gamble IARPA might be making with its investment. Its website describes itself as investing federal funding into high-risk, high-reward projects to address challenges facing the intelligence community. A lot of the IARPA and DARPA programs are like throwing spaghetti against the refrigerator, Annie Jacobsen, author of a book called The Pentagons Brain about the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, told the outlet. It may or may not stick. Dr Dawson Cagle, an IARPA program manager leading the SMART ePANTS program, said that while he is proud of the intelligence aspect of the program, hes excited about the possibilities that the programs research will have for the greater world. He said that he was inspired in part to create the program by his father, who was a diabetic, and therefore had to monitor his health multiple times a day. His fathers experience paired with the research that supports that the components of a computer have already been developed, just as individual pieces, he explained. If you can convert all of the components into a single, wearable device, the programs goal will have been achieved, Dr Cagle said. Ms Jacobsen warned that the advancement of smart wearables could lead to future concerns over biometric surveillance by the government. Theyre now in a position of serious authority over you. In TSA, they can swab your hands for explosives, Ms Jacobsen told The Intercept. Now suppose SMART ePANTS detects a chemical on your skin imagine where that can lead. But IARPA pushed back on this assertion, as spokesperson Nicole de Haay told the outlet: IARPA programs are designed and executed in accordance with, and adhere to, strict civil liberties and privacy protection protocols. Further, IARPA performs civil liberties and privacy protection compliance reviews throughout our research efforts. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice The passenger who went overboard on the largest cruise ship in the world has been named as 19-year-old Sigmund Ropich. Mr Ropich, a college student, was identified by his sister Savannah Ropich, who said she had been in contact with the US Embassy in Cuba. Mr Ropich went overboard from Royal Caribbeans Wonder of the Seas before 9pm on 29 August during the second day of a seven-day trip sailing from Port Canaveral in Florida to the Grand Cayman Islands, the cruise company said. He has still not been found almost a week later. The teen was on holiday on the cruise with his best friends, his co-worker and his co-workers family, when the incident happened. "Sig is a great kid. Never gets in trouble and never caused trouble. Very intelligent, got As in Calculus/Physics/Government in high school with no effort. He is a college student as well and works too. He is a kind, reserved and humble kid who also loves to make people laugh. I always call him the Cool, Calm and Collected sibling," Ms Ropich told Fox News. Ms Ropich said that Cuban officials have stopped their search operation in the sea, but have now moved to the coastline and land to continue looking. I have a strong feeling theyre going the end this search, Ms Ropich told Insider. open image in gallery The search for Sigmund Ropich (centre) is ongoing but his sister Savannah Ropich (right) fears the search may be called off (Savannah Ropich/Facebook) We are very hopeful if they open [the] search back in the ocean. We need them to open it again, Ms Ropich said. The family of Mr Ropich said they have very few details on his disappearance and search. Royal Caribbean has not informed the family how long the ships crew has searched for the missing teenager, his sister said. The family have been "praying hourly day and night" for Mr Ropich to be found. Royal Caribbean said it was working with the US Coast Guard on the search for Mr Ropich. However, a spokesperson for the South Florida branch of the US Coast Guard told Business Insider that the Cuban Border Guard is leading the search, because the incident occurred in Cubas territorial waters. The incident was reported at around 9pm ET on 29 August when an Oscar! Oscar! Oscar! call, which signifies an overboard emergency, was made, according to industry blog Cruise Hive. The crew launched a three-hour search in the water using searchlights and smaller boats and the ship turned around to retrace its route. Passengers on board the 230,000-ton cruise ship Wonder of the Seas said that their original journey had already been diverted due to Hurricane Idalia. The Wonder of the Seas is a 1,188 feet long ship and enough space to accommodate 7,000 passengers and 2,300 crew members. At 18 decks high, this vessel is the largest cruise ship in the world. It is unclear whereabouts on the boat Mr Ropich went overboard from. A woman claiming to be a passenger on the Wonder of the Seas posted on TikTok saying the captain announced video evidence that showed the man jumping overboard. Mr Ropichs sister spoke against this, saying the woman was spreading misinformation. She has no clue what is going on with the whereabouts of my brother and his situation, Ms Ropich said in a Facebook post. Since Mr Ropich is an American citizen, the Coast Guard could not conduct an investigation until the Wonder of the Seas docked back in the US on Sunday. Corgis from across the UK gathered outside Buckingham Palace on Sunday as owners paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. This Friday 8 September, will mark the first anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who was well-known for her love of corgis. Around 20 royal fans and corgi enthusiasts walked with their dogs, who were dressed up in uniforms and tiaras, to celebrate the late Queen on Sunday. Organiser Agatha Crerer-Gilbert said: I cant see a better way to remember her than through her corgis, through the breed that she loved and cherished for her life. The education secretary has said that the vast majority of schools will not be affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). RAAC is a potentially dangerous material as it can be prone to sudden collapse as it ages. It was used to construct schools, colleges and other buildings between the Fifties and mid-Seventies in the UK. There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England and the vast majority of them are unaffected by RAAC, Ms Keegan told the House of Commons. We have been supporting schools and colleges to ensure that risks resulting from RAAC are being mitigated. The Lucy Letby inquiry will be led by Lady Justice Thirlwall - one of the UKs most senior judges - the health secretary Steven Barclay has confirmed. Mr Barclay told the House of Commons: On the day of conviction, I ordered an independent inquiry into the events at the Countess of Chester Hospital. This inquiry will examine the cases wider circumstances, including the Trusts response to clinicians who raised the alarm and the conduct of the wider NHS and its regulators. Bodycam footage shows the moment a sheriffs deputy in Oklahoma was arrested on accusations he fatally shot his wife and fellow officer. Cleveland County Deputy Vaughn Cannon, 41, was found at the scene of the early morning shooting of Jordan Cannon, 40 at their home in southwest Oklahoma City on Wednesday 30 August, authorities said. Officers responding to the domestic disturbance at the couples home arrested the suspect on a murder complaint. According to a news release from the Oklahoma City Police Department, the two were engaged in a heated argument before the shooting. A teenager smirked as he was being arrested on suspicion of murdering two people in Florida. Nico Brown, 15, was detained by Orlando Police in connection with a drive-by shooting that left Ajahliyah Hashim, 6, and Isaiyah Wright, 19, dead. The shooting, reported just after 8pm Tuesday, sent three victims to the hospital. Police said Hasim was shot while inside her living room. She was taken to the hospital along with her mother, who survived. Wright was dropped off at a hospital and pronounced dead, according to police. The Raac concrete crisis in schools is an utter shambles for the Tories, Labours shadow education secretary minister has said. Last week, more than 100 schools, nurseries and colleges in England were told by the government to close classrooms and other buildings that contain aerated concrete that is prone to collapse. Labours shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson told the House of Commons: This week, as the school year begins there is an awful lot of responsiblity for [government] ministers to take - what an utter shambles. This is the moment a Russain landing boat was destroyed by a Ukranian drone as the sea battles in the war-torn country intensified. The footage reportedly shows a Ukrainian Bayraktar-TB2 kamikaze drone destroying a Russian KS-701 Tuna vessel in the northwestern Black Sea. Russia suffered fatalities and casualties in the strike, with a military helicopter airlifting the wounded according to local reports. The strike comes as a Ukrainian kamikaze drone struck a FSB security service building in the nuclear town of Kurchatov in a separate attack. Ukrainian president Zelensky on Sunday, 3 September, announced the nomination of the current head of Ukraines State Property Fund (SPFU), Rustem Umerov, to replace the defence minister Oleksii Reznikov. Mr Reznikov, who was named defence minister in November 2021, has helped secure billions of dollars of Western military aid to help the war effort but has been dogged by graft allegations surrounding his ministry that he described as smears. I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large, said Mr Zelensky in his nightly video address. He added: I expect the Parliament to support this candidate. Autumn is a time for strengthening. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Theres a great, now-deleted tweet by American comedian and writer Jesse Farrar that reads: Well, Id like to see ol Donny Trump wriggle his way out of THIS jam! Trump wriggles his way out of the jam easily Ah! Well. Nevertheless, The context is pretty obvious: in 2016 Donald Trump was well on his way to winning the presidential election, despite a string of statements and actions that could generously be described as gaffes but could un-generously be described as a terrifying glimpse deep into his rotten soul. Since then the tweet has remained somewhat evergreen: Trump does something that would get a normal person banned from a McDonalds (never mind the presidency), the liberal left crows about how this is it, this is the one, and then Donald Trump continues on being extremely rich and powerful. Thats why a lot of us didnt really know what to do with ourselves these past few months when, against all reason and logic, Donald Trump actually seemed to begin facing some sort of consequences for his actions. Trump was indicted by a grand jury for his efforts to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat in Georgia, bringing the total number of criminal cases the former president is facing to four. We even got a mugshot out of the deal. God bless America. If that wasnt enough to satisfy your need for total-justified schadenfreude, senior Proud Boys member Ethan Nordean was recently sentenced to 18 years in prison for his involvement in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. If you arent familiar with the Proud Boys, theyre a far-right group with a history of political violence in service of the cause of fascism. Theyre also huge dorks, but that doesnt make them any less dangerous. In all honesty, the Capitol riots have been a buffet of well-deserved punishment, with more than 1,000 arrests having been made in conjunction with the attack. Nordean, however, is a cut above the rest due to both the severity of his punishment and his key role in assisting the violent neo-fascist organisation, proving definitively that sometimes it really is about quality over quantity. And who could forget our dear old former premier Boris Johnson, who proved that you can only lie to the British public a few thousand times before they wont let you be in charge of the entire country anymore. Sure, his version of accountability may involve a lucrative column at the Daily Mail, but since hes now officially been branded a liar by court order it means I can use that word to describe him in this newspaper as much as I want, which feels like a win in my book. It seems to be part of a heartening trend that goes well beyond the political sphere. Professional wrestler CM Punk was officially fired from All Elite Wrestling yesterday, after becoming involved in a violent incident with fellow wrestler Jungle Boy Jack Perry that spilled over to involve the companys billionaire owner Tony Khan. The incident was the culmination of two years of malfeasance by the so-called best in the world (which is a nickname that only sounds cool until people realise you picked it yourself), including brawling with the companys executive vice presidents following a pay-per-view last year. Like the other men in this article, Punk was able to hold on to his position despite his behaviour due to his popularity and perceived indispensability to the company, despite being a clearly toxic locker room presence. I know that Punk isnt quite on the same level as some of these other examples, but as a wrestling fan, its just heartening to see some accountability in an industry that sees so little. And to such a deserving candidate, at that. Wrestling may be fake, but what are you going to do, brother, when basic human decency runs wild on you? All in all, after what feels like a never-ending run of news stories about powerful and influential men being granted a pass for their behaviour, despite repeatedly doing things that would get you or me excommunicated from public life, its heartening to finally see some scant evidence that, hey, maybe the system really does work. Beware, those who f*** around this may just be the year that you find out. Finance Minister Michael McGrath is looking to create two new funds to bank excess corporation tax receipts. Photo: PA Corporation tax receipts were down 1bn in August, compared to last year, a higher-than-expected dip of 36pc that has contributed to a slight budget deficit. But corporation tax receipts for the year to date stand at 12.7bn, 7.3pc higher than in the first eight months of 2022, making it the third-largest revenue stream after income tax and Vat. While a sharp decline had been expected, the drop was somewhat higher than anticipated, underlining the exceptional volatility in this tax head, the Department of Finance said in its end-August Exchequer Returns. The Exchequer makes up the bulk - around 75pc - of total government spending and revenue. The fall in corporation tax - as well as a dip in capital and customs taxes - meant tax receipts for the month of August were down 16.6pc on the same month last year, at 5.3bn. Corporation tax made up 1.8bn, or around a third, of that amount. Not all tax heads saw a drop in the month. Income tax was up on the same month last year, while Vat was in line with August 2022 levels, Exchequer Returns show. So far this year, overall tax revenue is 6.6pc higher than it was in the same period in 2022, at 53.1bn, with corporation tax making up just under a quarter of all receipts. Income tax of 20.7bn has been collected so far this year, up 8.2pc on the same time last year. Vat receipts to end-August totalled 13.5bn, 11.2pc higher than last year, showing that consumer spending is holding up. But customs receipts have fallen 9.3pc so far this year, to 360m, reflecting weaker global and Irish trade. Non-tax revenue to end-August which includes 0.6bn earned from the sale of State shares in AIB, Permanent TSB and Bank of Ireland was 1bn lower than last year due to lower Central Bank surplus income and the timing of Namas surplus income payment. Total, or gross, expenditure for the year amounted to 66.4bn. Gross voted expenditure - amounts approved by the Dail - stood at 56.4bn, 9.5pc ahead of last year. Higher spending, the dip in corporation tax and a one-off transfer to the national reserve fund has left the Exchequer with a small deficit of 0.3bn in the eight months to the end of August. On a 12-month rolling basis, a better measure of the States finances, the Exchequer recorded a deficit of 1.6bn. The data still leaves the Government on track to record a large Exchequer surplus this year, estimated at around 10bn. But the Department of Finance estimates the underlying deficit - a measure that strips out excess corporation tax receipts - amounts to 8bn so far this year. Finance Minister Michael McGrath is mulling the design and size of two new funds in which to bank excess corporation tax receipts. He said this summer that he will set up a counter-cyclical infrastructure investment fund and a longer term sovereign wealth fund to help pay for future pensions. Parent company of leasing firm GTLK Europe has been linked to Kremlin The Kremlin-linked leasing company GTLK is planning to issue replacement bonds denominated in roubles in exchange for existing $3.2bn (3bn) Eurobonds issued by its two Irish entities and held by international creditors. The plan, which is being reviewed by regulators, was hatched after the High Court in Dublin began liquidation proceedings against GTLK Europe in June. Mikhail Kadochnikov, a director at GTLK, said the group will replace six existing Eurobonds placed by Irish subsidiaries GTLK Europe DAC and GTLK Europe Capital DAC six to eight weeks after the new paper is registered in October, according to the companys Telegram channel. GTLK remains a responsible, reliable borrower and, as a state company, will certainly fulfil all the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation, Mr Kadochnikov said. Up until December 31, 2023, the company will sequentially replace the Eurobond issues by foreign subsidiaries about which we will inform our investors in time. The replacement bonds will be serviced in roubles at the rate of Russias Central Bank on the coupon date with payments made on the coupon day. GTLK insisted that the parameters of the new issuance will be similar to the parameters of the existing Eurobonds. Back in Ireland, Mr Justice Conor Dignam said that he was satisfied to appoint liquidators to the insolvent firms earlier this year after he dismissed their application to be placed into examinership which he said was fatally deficient. The companies are worth an estimated $4.5bn (4bn), and their liquidation has been described as the biggest in the history of the State. The firms, which have been hard hit by sanctions imposed on Russian entities after the invasion of Ukraine, had launched a bid late to be given the protection of the courts from their creditors, several of whom had sought orders to have them wound up, and had submitted an independent experts report stating they could survive as going concerns following a successful examinership. That proposition, however, was rejected by Mr Justice Dignam. In his ruling he said the application lacked the good faith required to allow a court to appoint an examiner to a company. No payments had been made to GTLK bondholders since February 2022 prior to a recent resumption. Several lawsuits were filed against GTLK to recover debts related to the Eurobonds. Creditors petitioning the High Court for orders winding up the Dublin entities claim they are owed $178m by the GTLK Europe group, and that debt was rising. Dublin-registered Trinity investments DAC and an associated entity Allestor Europe Multi Asset Portfolio, a sub-fund of Allestor Capital ICAV, are among the creditors involved in Irish legal actions although there are other lawsuits involving Russian investors. GTLKs press service in Moscow did not respond to request for comment about whether existing bondholders were on board with the plan. GTLKs Irish operation, which has been in the Republic since 2012, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the GTLK State Leasing Company, the number one player in leasing in Russia. Several directors of the parent group are Kremlin ministers or deputy ministers. Aircraft make up about 90pc of GTLK Europes portfolio, with the remaining 10pc covering ocean vessels. All political parties in Ireland are obliged to show Sipo their accounts The firm announced that it has just completed 6,000 metres of drilling in the first phase of its joint venture programme with Demir Export, one of Turkeys biggest miners. In return for providing 9m to fund Conroys drilling exploration programme, as well as covering all the costs to bring any subsequent developments to shovel ready status, Demir will take a 57.5pc stake in the projects. London-listed Conroy said that as a result of the first phase of the drilling programme, it has identified four gold areas near its Creenkill gold target located in the townland of Creenkill in Armagh, Northern Ireland. The first phase of the joint venture involved Demir providing 4.5m to take an initial 25pc stake across all of the joint venture licences with Conroy Gold. It will now provide a further 4.5m during the second phase to earn an additional 15pc share in the joint ventures. Conroy Gold said Demir will also cover all expenditure required to bring a given project to shovel ready status, including all planning and land acquisition costs, to earn a further 17.5pc (total 57.5pc) in that given project. Conroy Gold will retain the right to a 42.5pc interest. Professor Richard Conroy, the chairman of Conroy Gold, said: I am very pleased that over 6,000 metres of drilling has been completed in phase one. [This is] together with other detailed technical work including the extensive deep overburden sampling programme. The collection of over 1,500 samples has yielded extensive information for follow up drilling which we will pursue in partnership with Demir Export. Conroy Gold previously said the focus of the joint venture project would be exploring gold deposits in an area around Clontibret, Co Monaghan on a rock formation called the Longford-Down massif. The firm is optimistic that the gold samples it has previously found indicate there is the potential to develop Irelands first ever commercial gold mine near the Irish border. Professor Conroy previously said that Demir had the expertise and cash to get the Clontibret gold mine to construction-ready status and bring it into operation. Conroy Gold said in a statement yesterday: The primary focus of the joint venture is to develop a mine at Clontibret, or elsewhere along the gold trends, with the long-term objective of the delivery of a series of mine developments across the new gold districts. The MrBeast burger image featuring Ireland and the flag that is at the centre of part of the dispute Hugely successful YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, is alleged to have unexpectedly deleted social media posts announcing the launch of his fast food burger brand in Ireland, according to claims in legal documents filed in a bitter dispute between the star and a business partner. In late July, Donaldson sued Virtual Dining Concepts, the company operating his fast-food chain MrBeast Burger, claiming it was making inedible food that had irreparably harmed his reputation. He asked a judge to give him the right to terminate the arrangement, claiming the company served low-quality products. Virtual Dining Concepts, which handled the fulfilment and delivery of MrBeast Burgers, responded, claiming the lawsuit was riddled with false statements and inaccuracies and filed a counterclaim last month. Media reports in the US said it sued MrBeast for over $100m (92m) in damages. VDC alleged that Donaldson didnt deliver on his contractual obligations, including publicity and promotional work, failing to support MrBeast Burger publicly, and making untruthful and disparaging statements. VDC claims Donaldsons actions have caused enormous financial harm and destroyed the burger restaurants reputation. According to the lawsuit, on April 21, 2023, VDC posted to the MrBeast Burger Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram accounts to announce its launch in Mexico and Ireland. However, later that day, the company alleges the posts were unexpectedly deleted by Donaldsons management team, which also changed the login credentials for the accounts, cutting off VDCs access to them. MrBeast (R) poses with a fan at the launch of the first MrBeast Burger Restaurant in New Jersey. Photo: Getty As Donaldson well knew and knows, social media is the brands primary and essential means of promotion and communicating with fans, customers, and potential customers. Given plaintiffs inability to promote MrBeast Burger through the brands social media accounts, sales declined and have continued to decline. VDC claimed actions relating to the Irish post being deleted were only the beginning, making various allegations, including that Donaldson had made malicious online swipes at the brand. Last month, the Sunday Independent reported Donaldson had claimed in his lawsuit against VDC it had used his name and image to launch the MrBeast Burger brand in Ireland without his consent. He claimed this was an indisputable breach of the parties agreement. The MrBeast filing includes the alleged image relating to Ireland, which shows MrBeast standing next to a burger with an Irish flag set against a typical Irish coastline background. MrBeast Burger launched in Ireland in April. A tech firm spun out of Irish ghost kitchen company Hosted, called OME, rolled out the brand to restaurants here. OME previously said it couldnt comment on the dispute, as it is between VDC and Beast Investments LLC. It added quality control was at the heart of what it does, with all partners signing up committed to this fact. Donaldson, the biggest individual YouTuber in the world, partnered with VDC in 2020 to launch MrBeast Burger out of ghost kitchens that prepare food for delivery services. Representatives for VDC responded to a request for comment with a link to a press release regarding its counterclaim. MrBeasts representatives did not comment on the claims. Vodafone said the change would save its customers 240 a year on its 500Mbps home broadband plan. Stock image Telecoms company Vodafone is to give families a new discount if they add broadband to their bundle. It comes two months after Vodafone scrapped promotional and introductory offers for broadband customers in a move it said will save existing customers hundreds of euro a year. Now it is offering discounts if families add broadband to their bill-pay mobile plans. This is being offered as part of the companys Red Family discount. It said the deal could see new and existing customers making cost savings of at least 240 a year. But the discounts could end up being as much as 960 a year. Up to now, Red Family was a multi-mobile plan. It allowed customers who have multiple bill-pay mobile phone subscriptions on one account to receive a 20 discount on the third plan and any after that. Up to six connections are permitted. Vodafone has now expanded the discount to all those who have signed up for the Red Family deal to include broadband. Mobile-only customers can continue to save, but the Red Family discount now includes broadband in a move that offers additional savings to loyal customers and ensures families can access further savings. Customers will get 20 off their broadband plan when it is added as a third line or subsequent line on their Red Family account. Vodafone said the change increases simplicity for customers who can enjoy the convenience of having only one bill per month for all household members. Vodafone Irelands Niall Gilmore said: This time of year is always a struggle for parents as their children go back to school or college, so ahead of the winter months, this latest offering will further ease the burden on households. Our updated plan will provide significant cost savings that not only include reduced mobile bills, but now also savings on fixed broadband. In July, Vodafone said it was breaking from the industry norm by treating all its customers the same. Most broadband providers give big introductory discounts to new customers, but deny these same deals to existing customers. Vodafone said the change would save its customers 240 a year on its 500Mbps home broadband plan. It said about 65pc of its fibre broadband customers are on this plan. It said the savings would amount to close to 1,000 over four years. At the moment, broadband customers get introductory tariffs, but the price goes up hugely after the minimum contract term. The non-promotional price can be as much as 117pc higher than the introductory price offered to new customers. Telecoms regulator ComReg has found that 84pc of households have not switched broadband provider in the past three years. This means that households are paying higher prices because of the ending of promotional offers. In another move, Vodafone said it was removing all broadband installation and set-up fees. Delta sows the seeds of a startup funding bounce Since launching its latest 70m fund, investment firm Delta Partners has been on the hunt for early stage tech startups in Ireland, general partner Amy Neale says There needs to be stronger links between the FDI giants and the countrys startups, says Neale. Picture by Frank McGrath Jonathan Keane Sun 3 Sep 2023 at 03:30 Over a year after the launch of Delta Partners latest venture capital fund, Amy Neale has got her feet under the desk now at the veteran Irish investment firm. Gerry Giggins: Beef farmers should hark back to 98 and look to exploit niche markets 25 years ago, the KK Club developed a way to tailor Irish beef to the Italian market. Finishers today can do something similar to stave off difficult times The high cost of store and falling beef prices have left many winter finishers despondent Gerry Giggins Mon 4 Sep 2023 at 07:00 Now that were nearing the end of harvest, winter beef finishers will be turning their thoughts to the three main things that affect their profitability: store prices, feed prices and finished beef prices. The cattle arent one bit scared of the guns how one farm found an unexpected diversification success Pat Hickey got into clay pigeon shooting as he recovered from a broken neck. When the local club shut down, he built a new range on his Clare farm. Now it is hosting major international competitions, and running smoothly alongside his beef enterprise and his wifes pre-school Pat Hickey shooting at his Crossmore Shooting grounds in Kilmurry McMahon, Co Clare. Photos: Eamon Ward Andrew Hamilton Mon 4 Sep 2023 at 23:22 A freak accident while on holiday in 2008 led Clare farmer Pat Hickey on an unlikely journey to develop one of Europes foremost shooting ranges on his land. Applications to audition for the Late Late Toy Show, hosted by incoming presenter Patrick Kielty, have officially opened. Young toy demonstrators and performers have been invited to apply for Kieltys first Late Late Toy Show. It will be the first Toy Show in 14 years without Ryan Tubridy at the helm. Tubridy left his presenting duties in March, just weeks before the RTE payments controversy was revealed. There was no connection between his decision to leave the Late Late Show and the revelations of misstated payments at RTE, the broadcaster said. Tubridy had intended to continue with his Radio One show at 9am each weekday, but was last month told by director general Kevin Bakhurst that he would not be welcomed back. Comedian Patrick Kielty will present his first Late Late Show on September 15. Inviting children across Ireland to apply, he said: "Many moons ago in Dundrum, Co Down this cheeky monkey had a Christmas jumper, a John Denver haircut and a dream. But never in his wildest did he think that one day, hed host The Late Late Toy Show. "Today we start the search for this years dreamers - the next generation of Toy Show superheroes. "So, if you think you have what it takes to be part of this years Late Late Toy Show, we want to hear from YOU. "No matter who you are or where youre from just tell us why you should be joining me for my very first Late Late Toy Show and, you never know, it might just happen. Late Late Toy Show host Patrick Kielty Kielty told hopeful applicants: Keep dreaming. And dream BIG. Because sometimes, dreams come true. Show producers are on the look out for young people willing to demonstrate a toy or perform on the show. Parents and guardians must answer a few questions about their child including what they think is special about them and their Christmas wish. They must also reveal who their hero is and why before sharing a video of their childs demonstration which can be as creative as they like. Applications close on Sunday October 1. 'Bullies never win' - Sophia Maher's message - The Late Late Toy Show 2019 - RTE One Kielty has said he is absolutely thrilled to take on the job of Late Late Show host and to follow in the footsteps of Gay, Pat and Ryan. Kielty signed a three-year deal for 30 episodes a year. In a statement released in the midst of Oireachtas committee grillings of RTE bosses, Ryan Tubridy and his agent Noel Kelly, Kielty said he would be paid 250,000 for each series with any additional episodes paid on a pro-rata basis. He waived flight and accommodation expenses, saying he made it clear to RTE that he would be covering these costs himself. "Ive also asked RTE to carbon-offset my flights. I genuinely hope this helps clarify things going forward. I cant wait to get started. Gangster John Gilligan walks free from Spanish court despite admitting drugs and weapons charges Convicted criminal had been told before his trial that he could face eight years in jail John Gilligan, Darren Gilligan & Tony Armstrong appeared at court today in Spain Gerard Couzens Mon 4 Sep 2023 at 15:47 Gangster John Gilligan left a Spanish court a free man today despite confessing to drugs and weapon charges. Ask Allison: My daughter has put on weight and let her hair go grey. I worry if her husband leaves, shell have nothing A man in his 20s has died following an incident in Cobh, Co Cork yesterday evening. Gardai are investigating all the circumstances following the death of the man in the Ballyvoloon area. The incident occurred at around 8.30pm on Sunday evening. His body has since been removed to Cork University Hospital where a post-mortem will take place at a later date. The results of the post-mortem will determine the course of the investigation. More to follow... TV presenter Martin King has described his late mothers journey with dementia as a very painful experience. His mother Christina died in 2019 after being diagnosed with the condition in 2011. The Ireland AM host spoke openly about the toll this had on his family in a Virgin Media documentary in 2021 titled, We Need to Talk About Dementia. Through my own mothers journey with dementia, I got a look at how tough it can be for families, and they really need so much support, he said. "My mam Christina was a beautiful soul, she was very caring and loving. She was a great mam and a great grand mam and then dementia came knocking at the door and she was in denial because she was afraid. Dementia is an umbrella term meaning a range of progressive conditions resulting in changes and damage to the brain. Anyone can be affected by dementia, regardless of their age. It is also a social issue that requires community response. Dementia and Alzheimers are called the long goodbye for a reason. You cant stop it as its happening, and its emotionally very painful to go through, Mr King added. Mr King was speaking as the Alzheimers Memory Walk will take place on Sunday, September 24, to celebrate the World Alzheimers Month. The Alzheimers Memory Walk will take place on Sunday, September 24, to celebrate the World Alzheimers Month. Figures show that there are 30 cases of dementia discovered in Ireland every day. An estimated 64,000 people live with dementia in Ireland, and that number will rise to over 150,000 by 2045, according to HSE. World Alzheimers Month is an international campaign to raise Alzheimers awareness, advocate for the rights of people living with dementia, give them an opportunity to come together, and challenge stigma every year. The family-friendly event is suitable for all ages and walking abilities. The walk aims to help raise funds for services such as daycare, family carer training or the national helpline, which supports people living with dementia and their carers. Head of fundraising for the Alzheimer Society of Ireland Mairead Dillon said: With over 30 locations nationwide, there will be a Memory Walk in your locality, and it is the ideal event for the whole family to get together and walk to remember or support a loved one living with dementia. A number of well-known faces will join the Memory Walk, including comedian Neil Delamere, actress Una Crawford OBrien, and rugby players Cian Prendergast and Jenny Murphy. Registration for the Memory Walk is open now until September 20. Justice Minister Helen McEntee says she has no intention of watching the John Gilligan gangster documentary tonight. The first episode of the three-part Confessions of a Crime Boss, which features interviews with Gilligan, begins on Virgin Media One tonight. Speaking about Gilligan, who served 17 years for importing cannabis and whose gang members murdered Sunday Independent investigative journalist Veronica Guerin, Ms McEntee said: This is a man that has created misery for so many people and so many communities. John Gilligan, Darren Gilligan & Tony Armstrong appeared at court today in Spain Hes someone who has been convicted of very serious offences and I for one certainly wont be watching it. She added: I know theres a lot of people, families and communities that are very upset by the fact that this documentary is on this evening. Asked if it was an error to broadcast the programme, she said: I think the producers maybe need to think about what theyre trying to achieve. This is a person who has been convicted of very serious drug-trafficking crimes and who has inflicted untold misery on people and as I said, I certainly wont be watching it and I know many people who wont be either. Meanwhile, junior minister for the National Drugs Strategy Hildegarde Naughton was accused by programme makers of being opportunistic after she criticised the decision to produce a three-part series on Gilligan. Her comments were made during a radio interview when she was asked for her view by a journalist. She said yesterday: I fail to understand how answering a journalists question can be described as opportunistic. I was asked my views about the appropriateness of airing a documentary about a notorious gangland figure and I gave my view. Ms Naughton added: Freedom of the press is very important in any democracy but John Gilligan threatened that democracy through his criminal actions. I would hope that any journalist involved in this programme would challenge any assertions he might make. I would not be in favour of banning anyone from the air, but I would question the merit of programmes like this. Gilligan (71) has always denied having any involvement in Ms Guerins 1996 murder, and was cleared after a trial in the non-jury Special Criminal Court on 2002. Separately, Ms McEntee said she was in favour of any legal enforcement measures that would reduce the toll of road traffic injuries and deaths in Ireland, after she and the Garda Commissioner agreed a 20pc increase in the use of speed camera vans. Embattled PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne has resigned from his role with immediate effect, the NI Policing Board has confirmed. The news that the police chief has resigned following a string of controversies was announced at a press conference today after an emergency meeting of the Policing Board. It comes after a row erupted last week when High Court judge Mr Justice Scoffield ruled that two junior officers were unlawfully disciplined for an arrest made at a Troubles commemoration event in 2021. The judge said they had been disciplined to allay a threat that Sinn Fein could withdraw its support for policing. Sinn Fein has insisted there was no such threat. Mr Byrne had faced a raft of calls to resign in recent days with the Police Federation of Northern Ireland, the DUP and NIPSA all calling votes of no-confidence in his leadership. Earlier, the DUPs Trevor Clarke said Mr Byrne should know his time is up, as the politician arrived for the last-minute meeting of the Policing Board. Mr Byrne had originally insisted that he would not resign following an emergency meeting of the Policing Board on Thursday and indicated that he was considering an appeal against the court ruling. That statement was met by anger from the Police Federation, with its chair Liam Kelly expressing disbelief and anger at the PSNI chiefs statement. Mr Byrne has since been facing growing pressure, with both rank and file officers and civilian staff considering confidence votes in his leadership. Simon Byrne tenders his resignation to the PSNI At the press conference today, Policing Board chair Deirdre Toner said Mr Byrne had tendered his resignation with immediate effect. She said: The chief constable Simon Byrne has today tendered his resignation to the Northern Ireland Policing Board with immediate effect. I have informed the board of the resignation at a special meeting this afternoon. I would like to record my thanks and appreciation to Simon for his work over the course of the last four years as chief constable. He is undoubtedly a dedicated police officer with a deep respect for the profession of policing. In a statement read out on his behalf at the press conference by Ms Toner, Mr Byrne said it was time for someone new to lead the PSNI. The statement said: The last few days have been very difficult for all concerned. Regardless of the rights and wrongs, it is now time for someone new to lead this proud and resolute organisation. Can I thank those who have shown me trust, advice and friendship, and, of course, thanks to the brave men and women of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Mr Byrne was already facing pressure following a major data breach from the PSNI last month. Personal data on all serving members of the PSNI was mistakenly published in response to a freedom of information request. Details of around 10,000 PSNI officers and staff included the surname and first initial of every employee, their rank or grade, where they are based and the unit they work in. The PSNI has confirmed the list is in the hands of dissident republicans, who continue to target officers. A number of other data breaches has since come to light, including the loss of a police officers laptop and notebook which contained details of 42 officers and members of staff after the items fell from a moving vehicle. Ms Toner said the board will now consider new leadership arrangements as she paid tribute to the outgoing chief constable. She said: He was very aware of and greatly appreciated the often difficult job that officers and staff across the organisation do on behalf of the community. This may not always have been apparent to onlookers but it was very much his modus operandi, as was his desire to improve policing for the community through modernisation and investment in local policing arrangements. His tenure was subjected to intense scrutiny and I am sure that the last few weeks in particular have been incredibly difficult for him personally and professionally. Asked if the former chief constable will receive severance pay, the chair of the board Deirdre Toner said Mr Byrne's contractual agreement is "a personnel issue at this stage". Political leaders have been reacting to the news with the DUPs Sir Jeffrey Donaldson saying Mr Byrnes resignation is an opportunity to make a fresh start in rebuilding lost confidence both inside and outside the PSNI. Jim Allister (TUV) said Mr Byrne "leaves behind a demoralised and politically compromised PSNI". Classroom sizes: Find out how your child's school fares among 3,000 nationwide as counties worst hit for overcrowding revealed Analysis shows 11.4pc of all children in primary schools here were in overcrowded classes last year Irish Primary Schools: What is the state of class sizes and overcrowding in 2023? Sean McCarthaigh Mon 4 Sep 2023 at 09:00 Schoolchildren in parts of rural Ireland were twice as likely to be placed in overcrowded classes at primary level last year compared with pupils attending national schools in Dublin. An Electric Picnic spokesperson said: The Wolfe Tones drew the biggest crowd ever in the Electric Arena, with fans enjoying the music inside and outside the tent, singing along to every song. One fan took to social media to praise the bands performance at the Picnic in Stradbally, Co Laois, stating: The popularity of the Wolfe Tones and for Irish rebel songs continues unabated. Long may it continue. Another said: This tent is too small for the Wolfe Tones. And another wrote: And the Wolfe Tones pushed into a tiny tent at the Electric Picnic. Another added: Wolfe Tones packing out a 10,000 capacity tent at Electric Picnic, full of young heads shouldnt be overlooked One to watch folks. From luxury campervans to improvised tents, there was all kinds of accommodation at this year's Stradbally festival The quote of the day had been secured before lunchtime on day two of this years Electric Picnic. It came from two young boys they were the first words I heard yesterday morning when I popped my head out of the tent. 70,000 festival goers had already made themselves at home in Stradbally, Co Laois, with every kind of accommodation option being utilised. Some made their living quarters more habitable than others. And, in a sea of polyester and nylon, still others opted for a more luxurious set up, taking advantage of the many glamorous options on offer. Charmaine Mulready from Limerick, for example, had returned for her sixth year at the festival and has yet to pitch her own tent. Mulready, who makes the annual pilgrimage every year with her friends, said this year was a cut above the rest. "We all come together every year for this, its just unbelievable, its the atmosphere that keeps up coming back, she said. Photo. Niall Carson/PA The group was glamping in an eight-person yurt in an area called Under the Stars. They paid 660 each for accommodation that included all the comforts of home. We have electricity, proper beds, a glam lounge and showers, she said. I would never go anywhere else. The Script perform to thousands of fans at Electric Picnic The group was disappointed with the overall VIP lounge experience, however, and said it wasnt worth the 85 daily rate to upgrade your ticket. Theyll all be returning next year though, and were keen to keep the accommodation in low demand. Dont advertise how nice it is until we get our tickets for next year! Monday morning is when the last of the festival-goers leave, and the operation to clean up the Electric Picnic site traditionally begins. Over the weekend, however, it felt like a temporary camping and glamping city, with all kinds of roofs over all kinds of heads. From bell tents to yurts and eco campsites and Irish-speaking only areas, Electric Picnic offered accommodation options for those looking to roll in with a specific crowd or lap up a bit of luxury. Pictured at Electric Picnic: Zara Gilsenan, Leah Gorry, Emma Hanley, Emer cross, Claire Keenan and Charley Smyth Seeing a campervan in ordinary circumstances used to evoke thoughts of cramped family holidays or pots and pans banging around in cabinets. But these vehicles have a totally different status inside the festival grounds. Here, they are shiny, temperature controlled beacons of comfort, mocking those walking past carrying pop-up tents on their backs like tortoises looking for a place to settle. They are a great option for families or those who dont fancy the multiple kilometre walk from the car park. For the rest of us, the accommodation situation was something you had to lean into. No amount of nice thoughts about duck down duvets or warm running water could lull you to sleep when the sound of teeth chattering is knocking around inside your brain and the tent is spinning. Some campsites are renowned for being rowdier than others, with many opting to steer clear of Jimi Hendrix for a number of reasons. Returning to her second year of college next week, Meath student Zara Gilsenan arrived with friends on Thursday night to get their tent pitched early and had another festival-goer threaten violence to a member of their party. There was a lot of anti-social behaviour on the Thursday night; someone went to punch our friend, but security were great and they removed him altogether, she said. Pictured at Electric Picnic (L-R): Laura Hennon, Danielle Clohessy, Ruth Conway, Charmaine Mulready, Mags Rice It was the first time camping at a festival for all six girls, and they will absolutely be coming back next year despite the consistent noise and sleep disruption. Music starts at about 10am or 11am and doesnt stop until half five in the morning, but thats when were heading to bed anyway, said Claire Keenan. She and three of her friends were at Electric Picnic to celebrate their Leaving Certificate results: Were all just so delighted to have done so well, she said. Its our first time camping at a festival and were having a great time. Billie Eilish says Electric Picnic 'was my favourite festival I'd ever played' during show The festival culminated last night with a main stage performance from Rick Astley, The Script, and The Killers before the mass exodus this morning. Attendees were urged to leave their campsite as they found it, and bring home all of their belongings. Tents that are left behind will be salvaged for use elsewhere, but minimising waste is the goal. Tony OBrien: Faceless mandarins of Merrion Street should carry a digital health warning The Department of Public Expenditure is blocking attempts to get Ireland off the bottom of Europes digital league table HSE and Health officials are taking flak for decisions made in Public Expenditure Tony O'Brien Sun 3 Sep 2023 at 03:30 For more than a decade, Department of Public Expenditure officials have blocked delivery of comprehensive e-health technologies and electronic health records, leaving Ireland at the bottom of the digital health pile in Europe. In the coming days, our national politicians will return from their summer break with one thing in mind: Budget 2024. We are just over a month out from what is widely predicted to be a spending spree fuelled by corporation tax. But in some ways having money to spend can result in harder choices, as everybody wants a slice. Inevitably some will be disappointed. When the Cabinet gathers for its first meeting of the new term, it will be at least a week behind most primary schoolchildren, who are now well ensconced in their classrooms. New figures today show almost one in eight of those children is in an overcrowded classroom. Average class sizes fell to their lowest level in two decades last year but the situation is still described by teacher representatives as a lingering national embarrassment. Last week saw the usual fuss over the release of college offers for teenagers completing their post-primary education. For tens of thousands of young people it was a major milestone in their life that will hopefully set them on the path to success. Education is a key that can unlock so many opportunities in life but it does not start in the Leaving Cert year. The first steps on that path though were taken 13 or 14 years earlier, when the children started primary school. Circumstance means we are not all born equal but when it comes to education, all children deserve a level playing field. Investment in recent years has made things better. St Vincent de Paul has reported a 20pc drop in calls from parents seeking help with back-to-school costs this year. The charity credits practical government initiatives such as the new free schoolbooks for primary students and the 100 increase in the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance for giving families breathing space. They are positive examples of ministers using money wisely for the greater good. Yet we learn today that the age-old problem of overcrowding in our education continues. Its not fair on teachers or pupils. It might surprise some readers to learn the most overcrowded classes are in rural areas. Almost one in five young schoolchildren in Leitrim (18.6pc) was taught in oversized classes in 2022, compared with just 8.5pc in Dublin. The figures may be somewhat skewed by the fact children in Deis schools located in disadvantaged areas tend to get extra resources, which is reasonable. But there are other anomalies too, such as the fact pupils attending schools with a Catholic ethos are almost twice as likely to be placed in an overcrowded class as those attending multi-denominational schools. These are statistics Education Minister Norma Foley should study carefully as she enters budget negotiations with her colleagues. Progress on class sizes has been made but there is massive room for improvement. If we can give our children the best opportunities starting out, then we can legitimately hope they will succeed to their best of their ability. And then we all benefit. One in seven Kerry primary-school students sat in an oversized classroom a classroom with 30 or more students during the last school year, Department of Education data has revealed. With 14.2 per cent of Kerry students placed in such classrooms during the 2022/23 academic year, the county was among the worst-affected of the 26 counties in the south of the country. Only Leitrim, Monaghan, Donegal, Kilkenny, and Westmeath recorded higher rates of classroom overcrowding, with Leitrim (18.6 per cent) highest of all. What started as an event to coincide with The Gathering in 2023 is now firmly established on the northern side of the West Kerry peninsula as celebration of all things heritage in Maharees. And this time, its the turn of the rich local fishing tradition. The annual Maharees Heritage Weekend returns from Friday evening, September 8, when the suitably named High Tide bring the music to Spillanes Bar in a gathering event from 9.30pm. And a gathering it could well prove to be as the weekend is today described as a community-led reunion, a social fixture in the area. Its 10 years since our first gathering event; since then, these heritage events every September have brought a lot of pleasure and enjoyment to many people at home and abroad, said Maharees Heritage committee chairperson Sean Spillane, who explained that the event has been nothing if not diverse in celebrating many aspects of the Maharees heritage. Weve covered different themes, all relating to remembering our heritage, including the days of the Old School in Maharees, songs our parents and grandparents loved, remembering the migrants who left in the 1940s and 1950s, those involved in the struggle for Irish independence. Martin Lynch has produced outstanding works about Maharees over this time, which have formed a cornerstone to much of what weve done. This years event will remember all who went to sea from Maharees. Wed like to thank all our dedicated committee members, our local and visiting community and our local businesses for supporting us every year. Celebrating the Fishing Tradition in Maharees, 1840-1960 takes place in Harbour House from 2.30pm on Saturday, and a rambling house will follow before Pat and Josephine provide music from 9pm at the Green Room Bar. On the following day, Sally Griffin leads a rock-pool exploration for families from 10.30am in Kilshannig, and 12.30pm Mass at Scraggane Pier precedes the unveiling of a plaque honouring all whove gone to see from the pier. Further information is available through contacting mahareesconservation@gmail.com or the Maharees Heritage and Conservation Facebook page. Children with a diagnosis of Autism or Intellectual Disability cant even get a spot the third worst CAMHS waiting list in Ireland. This stark statement has been confirmed by parent Jacinta Walsh, who also founded Drogheda ABACAS Special School for Children with Autism and Complex Needs. She says the recent report from the Mental Health Commission cataloguing multiple and endemic failings across the HSEs Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) has come as no surprise to parents and children who have additional needs in the Drogheda area. Figures published this week show that this Community Health Area (CHO8) has the third highest waiting list figures in the country. Indeed, children with additional needs are routinely not added to the waiting list at all in this and other areas because, CAMHS say, they do not have the resources to support affected children, for example those with a diagnosis of Autism. I have experienced this myself, says Jacinta. My autistic son was in serious crisis ten years ago. He has a diagnosis of autism and intellectual disability and CAMHS refused to see him or even so much as add him to their waiting list. For children under 18 with mental health issues and who need medication, the only people who can prescribe this are psychiatrists or consultant paediatricians. As a result many children are not seen by anyone because CAMHS will not see them and there are very few private child psychiatrists in Ireland. Jacinta says such children and teenagers are extremely vulnerable and live with high anxiety and other serious issues which may often manifest assaultive or aggressive behaviours. She adds that they need clinical support, supported by access to the appropriate medication but are routinely denied this, leading to school exclusion and even family breakdown in many cases. These terrible outcomes can be directly linked back to denial of reasonable access to Clinical Mental Health support. My family was in that situation for years, said Jacinta, but we finally found a private child psychiatrist in Dublin (who has since retired) and this made a huge difference to our son. "As a family we were in a crisis situation for years and this could have been prevented or alleviated had our son had access to the supports he needed at an earlier stage. Unfortunately, in the intervening ten years the situation has only gotten worse. At Autism Support Louth & Meath we are contacted by parents on a weekly basis who are at their wits end trying to get mental health help for their children and CAMHS will not accept the referral. Local parent Lucy Owens says she and her family are in the same situation. My son Joey is autistic and suffers from extreme anxiety and OCD but as he has a moderate Intellectual Disability CAMHS have refused to see him. This is despite Joey being referred by his GP and the Disability Team a number of times, she explains. "We are at our wits end trying to get mental health support for our son. We are constantly being told to talk about our Mental Health and get help if we need it but apparently this does not apply to our autistic children especially those who also have an intellectual disability as well. New data released on Monday has found that more than one in every twenty adults in Ireland are actively living with self-reported symptoms of long Covid. The data is based on a survey commissioned by Roscommon/Galway Independent TD Denis Naughten and conducted by leading polling company Ireland Thinks. Based on figures pertaining to the Irish adult population; the polling data shows that more than 192,000 people across the country could be impacted by long Covid. The results of the Ireland Thinks survey found that: 5.1% of adults in Ireland are living with self-reported symptoms of long Covid 76% of those with symptoms of long Covid report that their ability to perform daily activities has been reduced as a result The most frequently reported symptom is fatigue (68%) followed by shortness of breath (50%) and sleep problems (42%) Memory problems are more commonly experienced by 1834-year-olds (51%) compared to those aged 65+ (10%) A similar study commissioned by Deputy Naughten in November 2022, found that 6% of adults in Ireland were reporting symptoms of long Covid; hence this most recent study shows a marginal reduction in the active community prevalence. The significance of this reduction unclear but it is expected data from an official HSE commissioned survey on long Covid later this year should provide a greater insight into the emerging trends. The series of exploratory surveys commissioned by Denis Naughten has shed some light on the prevalence of long Covid by Irish adults self-reporting symptoms, similar to the methodology used in the UK. This series of surveys is the first of its kind to be conducted in Ireland and offers a stark perspective on the community prevalence of long Covid, which does not currently have a defined treatment pathway. Deputy Naughten is calling on the Government to work in tandem with the HSE, patients, frontline clinicians and other stakeholders to expedite the delivery of a national action plan on long Covid to include classifying it as an occupational illness for frontline workers, allocating funding to fully operationalise specialist clinics and recruiting specialist clinicians across the health service. Aside from the daily challenges of managing symptoms, many adults living with long Covid are unable to return to employment. Of the patients attending the countrys only neurology clinic for long COVID, two-thirds (66%) have been unable to return to full-time work. Commenting on the findings, Deputy Denis Naughten said: This polling data demonstrates that between November 2022 to the present day, there has been a reduction, albeit marginal, in the active community prevalence of long Covid. Given the complexity and varied nature of the symptoms being reported, it is imperative that patients receive access to cross-speciality treatment that meets their care requirements. As per figures released by the HSE, we know that patients are waiting an average of 15 weeks for an initial appointment at a long Covid clinic with some waiting up to 35 weeks, as was the case in Tallaght Hospital. It is imperative that we treat the scourge of long Covid with the appropriate level of urgency, commensurate with the debilitating nature of the disease and its associated symptoms. A 5% community prevalence of long Covid as reported in these findings could lead to a significant future burden of disease, across our health system and society more broadly. We need to see dedicated long Covid clinics established across every hospital group, with adequate multi-disciplinary staff in place to support the prompt rollout of services. These clinics must allow for equitable access to care, so that long Covid patients can be fully supported to recover and resume their lives something which so many are desperate to do. Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) gives the all-clear to a designated centre for adults in Riverchapel A designated centre for adults with disabilities in Riverchapel has been given all-clear in a newly published report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). The registerd provider of the facility is St Aidan's Day Care Centre Company Limited by Guarantee. Riverchapel is a designated centre which accommodates three adults, both male and female, with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, mental health, dual diagnosis and behaviours that challenge. The centre consists of one three-storey house. An inspector visited Riverchapel on May 3, in a short notice announced visit, and the report was published on August 23. Overall, the inspection found that residents had been in receipt of good quality care and support. This had resulted in improved outcomes for residents in relation to their personal goals and the wishes they were expressing regarding how they wanted to live. There was evidence of strong oversight and monitoring in management systems that were effective in ensuring the residents received a good quality and safe service. There were systems to ensure that staff were recruited and trained to ensure they were aware of and competent to, carry out their roles and responsibilities in supporting residents in the centre. Residents in this centre were supported by a core team of consistent staff members. Residents were complimentary towards the staff team. Staff were described as encouraging, helpful, welcoming, professional, kind and supportive. During the inspection, the inspector observed kind, caring and respectful interactions between residents and staff. Residents were observed to appear comfortable and content in the presence of staff, and to seek them out for support as required. In addition, staff took the opportunity to talk with the inspector about residents' strengths and talents. They spoke about how important it was to them to ensure that residents lived in a comfortable home where they were happy, safe and engaging in activities they enjoyed. A new person in charge had commenced in the centre since it had been registered and they were found to be familiar with residents' care and support needs and motivated to ensure they were happy and felt safe living in the centre. They were available to residents and staff both in person or on the phone during the week, and there was an on-call manager available in their absence. They were supported in their role by a team leader and a person participating in the management of the centre. The facility was found to be compliant or substantially compliant in all 12 categories of care surveyed. A man in his 20s has been arrested after cash and a quantity of controlled drugs were found at a Baltinglass property last week. A man in his 20s has been arrested after gardai found cash and a haul of controlled drugs at a property in Baltinglass, west Wicklow last week. Gardai attached to the Baltinglass District, supported by the Garda Dog Unit, raided the property at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, August 31, seizing a quantity of cocaine, MDMA, Ketamine and Cannabis, as well as a sum of cash as part of a recent operation targeting the sale of and supply of controlled drugs in the area. One male was arrested, charged and will appear before the Carlow District Court next week. A statement from the Garda Press Office said: Gardai carried out a search of a property in Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow on August 31, at 5.30 p.m. During the course of this search, a quantity of cocaine, MDMA, Ketamine and Cannabis, as well as a sum of cash, were seized. A man in his 20s was arrested and conveyed to Baltinglass Garda Station. They were later released and they will appear before Carlow District Court on September 13, 2023. Local representatives in west Wicklow have slammed the creation of a new Wicklow-Wexford constituency, a decision they say has doomed their district to more dark years with no representation in the Dail. Baltinglass councillors John Mullen and Patsy Glennon have been reacting to last weeks controversial announcement of the three-seat constituency which takes in territories from the south and north of the respective counties whose western boundaries fall just short of their district, extending to Ballybeg, Tinahely and as far as Rath on the Carlow border. The Rolling Stones are set to release details of their new LP Hackney Diamonds, their first studio album of original material since 2005. Band members Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood will be interviewed about the new material on Wednesday September 6 in Hackney, east London, by American TV host Jimmy Fallon. It is the first time in 18 years The Rolling Stones have created an album of new original material, since the LP A Bigger Bang. The bands last studio album, released in 2016, was called Blue & Lonesome and was comprised of blues covers. The new music has been teased online and in the form of a local newspaper advert which was printed in the Hackney Gazette. The advert included a website and a phone number, which when called, responded with the automated message: Welcome to Hackney Diamonds, specialists in glass repair: Dont get angry, get it fixed. Opening early September, Mare Street, E8. Register for a call at hackneydiamonds.com. Come on then. The phrase Hackney Diamonds is old east London slang for broken glass and specifically refers to shattered glass from when windows are smashed in during a robbery. The band also posted the web address to their Instagram page and the link takes fans to a website which looks as though it is made of broken glass. Clicking on the web page makes the glass break away, which leads viewers to a page with a countdown to the interview on September 6. Another website called www.dontgetangrywithme.com takes viewers to a page which says that they can hear a clip of a new song. Discussing the album, the band said: Hackney may be at the heart of Hackney Diamonds, but this is a truly global moment we want to share with fans around the world via YouTube. Fans can watch the interview on YouTube in a live-stream that is scheduled for 2.30pm BST, September 6. The Rolling Stones formed in the early 1960s. Beforehand Sir Mick, 80, and Richards, 79, had been in a blues band and became regular faces at a jazz club in Ealing Broadway. Mick Jagger performing on stage in Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA) In 1989, the band (with members Bill Wyman, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Ian Stewart, Mick Taylor, Sir Mick, Richards and Wood), were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame by The Whos Pete Townshend. According to the Official Charts Company, the band has had eight number one singles in the UK, including (I Cant Get No) Satisfaction, Paint It, Black and Honky Tonk Women. Last year the Stones Sir Mick and guitarists Richards and Wood travelled through Europe for their 60th anniversary tour which featured stops in cities including Madrid, Milan and Munich, and also a performance at British Summer Time (BST) festival in London. They were joined on tour by Steve Jordan on drums, following the death of the bands long-time drummer Charlie Watts in August 2021. I know that American and English tourists have been attacked lately and are getting the headlines, but so are locals As he set off on the new travel show to far flung locations like the Pacific Island of Vanuatu and the jungles of Papa New Guinea, Hector O hEochagain admits he didnt once feel in danger. In fact, after 20 seasons stretching over 23 years of his award-winning travel show, the 54-year-old presenter says he hasnt felt scared since his trip to Mexico City 15 years ago when he was surrounded by locals shouting gringo at him. Honestly, it took us days to get to some of the locations for this new series and we were face to face with tribes. But as soon as you stretch out your hand and smile you are instantly welcomed in, he assured the Sunday World in an exclusive chat. Hector in Ethiopia I havent felt in danger in 15 years since I was in Mexico City. I feel in more danger on the streets of Dublin at 3am to be honest. And Galway and Cork for that matter. Its gone crazy out there; lads with knives. I know that American and English tourists have been attacked lately and are getting the headlines, but so are locals. We need to be more vigilant. We need to stand up to them, but we need to be careful and safe. Because I dont think these young lads even care. The gardai have such a hard time at the moment trying to keep us safe. We need to come together and start standing up to these young lads. Even if it means we start shouting at them if we see someone in trouble. We are broken on so many levels. The travel journalist continued: People think that London and New York and Dubai is the goal. But it is not. We should be looking at places like Singapore. Five million people living in an area smaller than County Louth. Meeting locals in Kuala Lumpur They make good money, they have loads of free services, they get paid to have kids. One lad I spoke to just got $25k for the birth of his fifth kid. He also wears a FitBit and gets bonuses from the Government if he reaches a certain number of steps in a day. Singapore is the future lads; not London or New York. Thats all a myth. The Brits and the Dutch colonised most of Asia and robbed them blind. On this show I delve into that with locals in many countries. The Chinese are now grabbing other resources like fishing. The world is totally and completely fucked up at the moment. As we chatted to the trilingual star (he is fluent in Spanish also) it was clear that the father of two was all nostalgic about getting back in the air. We started this 23 years ago. I have been making these shows with the same two lads (Rosco OCallaghan and Evan Chamberlain) since day one. We know each other better than we know our families! I will never grow out of making these shows because we love what we do. We are not here to make shows about locations that you look up on Google or investigate on Trip Advisor. We go deep into the locals and find out what is going on in these countries and then we explore them. This year we have 52 minutes to fill as opposed to just 26 minutes per episode like in previous series so viewers will get so much more. Some of the people I met are just incredible. And the places are out of this world. Papa New guinea took 39 hours to get to. And it is 15,500km from my door, but Jesus it was worth the trip. The tribes people we met couldnt have been more welcoming. Speaking of viewers, hes asked if he ever thought he got a raw deal on ratings figures because his travel show, which has won 4 IFTAs, only goes out on TG4 in Irish meaning a lot of Irish people wont tune in. That has never crossed my mind. TG4 is my family. The bosses in TG4 took a gamble on me in the early years and let me go off and make shows in the Playboy Mansion or do interviews on the set of porn movies. No one else would. Tommy, Hector and Laurita I know everyone working at the station by name and we are a family. Its like the GAA club scene. The kids playing at St Brigids in Castleknock dont think that they are hard done by because they only have a few people watching them on the sidelines each week. They wear that jersey with pride and look forward to playing for their club. Thats me and TG4. I love them all so much. Would I like more Irish people to watch? Of course! But I dont dwell on the fact that I am only in TG4. Its an honour and thrill to be honest. While Hectors name was being mentioned for the Late Late Show earlier this year, he insists it was only ever speculation. Someone came up to me and said they put a couple Euro on me at 50/1. I told them wait until its out to 100/1. It was never an option. I never got the call. I didnt put my name forward. Tommys name was much higher up the list as he has the Saturday night show. But he is very happy in that slot. I didnt chat to him about it, but I doubt he would have gone for it. Hes brilliant on his show. Hector - O na Philippines go dti na Solomons on TG4 starts this Thursday at 9.30pm Pope Francis sent greetings to China yesterday, calling its citizens a noble people and asking Catholics in China to be good Christians and good citizens, in his latest overture to the communist country to ease restrictions on religion. At least two people died and three were missing as record rainfall caused heavy flooding in central Spain, shutting roads, subway lines and high-speed train connections, authorities said on Monday. Helicopters were sent to rescue people who had sought refuge on the roofs of their homes in the Toledo area some 50 km (31 miles) southwest of Madrid, emergency services said. LATEST | Ukraine's Zelensky sacks wartime defence minister as Putin launches drone attack on Kyivs grain exporting port Zelensky says he decided to replace Oleksii Reznikov Reznikov lobbied West for billions of dollars of aid His ministry faced graft allegations he called smears Replacement will be Rustem Umerov, privatisation fund head Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov speaks during a news briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, yesterday. Photo: Murad Sezer/Reuters Tom Balmforth Mon 4 Sep 2023 at 08:07 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he had decided to replace his defence minister, setting the stage for the biggest shake-up of Ukraine's defence establishment since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. A police officer outside the mansion in Culiacan, Sinaloa State, where Ovidio Guzman, son of "El Chapo", was arrested in January of this year. Photo: Juan Carlos Cruz/Getty On a remote farm in the foothills of the Mexican Sinaloa mountains, members of one of the largest drug-trafficking organisations in the world gathered to discuss their golden goose. Flanked by 40 machine gun toting men and six armoured trucks on a hot May day last year, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, who inherited the powerful Sinaloa Cartel from his father El Chapo, acknowledged an off batch of fentanyl would kill the user, evidenced by several of their own cooks dying after sampling their produce. Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/UNI US President Joe Biden has expressed disappointment that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping may not attend the upcoming G20 Summit in India. "I am disappointed... but I am going to get to see him," Biden told reporters on Sunday as quoted by BBC. However, he did not say where they were going to meet. Last month, the White House confirmed that Biden will travel to New Delhi from Sept 7-10 to attend the G20 Leaders Summit. India holds the Presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023. Biden and Xi Jinping had last met during a summit in Indonesia in 2022. Xi may skip the G20 meet in New Delhi: The chances of Chinese President Xi Jinping attending the G20 Summit hosted by India next week are extremely low and Beijing is expected to be represented by Premier Li Qiang, people familiar with the matter told Hindustan Times. The development comes at a time when India lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with Beijing over the issue of the 2023 standard map of China that lays claim to Indias territory. Also Read: Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam reject China's latest map In response to media queries, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi earlier said, "India rejects these claims as they have no basis." Also Read: US President Joe Biden to visit India from Sept 7-10 to attend G20 Leaders Summit "Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question," the MEA spokesperson said. India's response came after China on last Monday officially released the 2023 edition of its standard map where Arunachal Pradesh, the Aksai Chin region, Taiwan, and the disputed South China Sea were all included within the Chinese territory. The map was released days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi-Jinping called for a "resolution" of the long-standing border issues between the two nations on the sidelines of the 15th edition of the BRICS Summit in South Africa. Also Read: India logs strong protest over China's new 'standard map' including Arunachal Pradesh The two leaders also agreed to intensify efforts at expeditious "disengagement and de-escalation" to restore normal relationships between the two countries. Photo courtesy: Twitter/Congress New Delhi/IBNS: Congress top leader Sonia Gandhi has been admitted to a hospital in the national capital Delhi with mild fever, several reports have stated. Sonia, who is Congress' parliamentary party chairperson, is admitted to Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Her health is stable. Sonia was admitted to hospital twice in 2023 with ailments. She suffered from a viral respiratory infection in January while was admitted to the hospital with fever in March. Sonia, who is the pivot of Congress, last week attended the opposition alliance INDIA's two-day meeting in Mumbai. Photo Courtesy: Pixabay The Kolkata Police arrested Professor Rana Roy on Monday, accused of issuing alleged threat letters to Jadavpur University Registrar Snehamanju Basu and the Joint Registrar, threatening them with dire consequences if any harm was made to Sourav Chowdhury. Roy was arrested by the city police from a hotel in Bhubaneswar (Odisha) in another case related to molestation. A molestation FIR was lodged at the Tala Police station in north Kolkata, for which the professor, a resident of Belgachia was arrested. He was being brought to the city and would be produced in a court of law for judicial process later on Monday, sources added. The Jadavpur PS has traced the professor who had purportedly "signed" the threat letters to Jadavpur University registrar and joint registrar Sanjay Gopal Sarkar, asking him to appear before them at the earliest. The professor, who is presently posted at a Cooch Behar College, has denied any connection with the incident. Both JU authorities and police had clarified earlier that the sender has no link with JU. Also Read: UGC seeks report from Jadavpur University over death of first-year student The JU Registrar and Jt Registrar received an anonymous letter by post on Friday threatening them with dire consequences if any harm was caused to Sourav Chowdhury, one of the prime accused, who used to live in the JU hostel. Chowdhury is a pass-out student of 2022. He was arrested a day after a first-year 18-year-old student died following a fatal fall from the hostel's 2nd floor last month, allegedly due to ragging by senior and former students. (With UNI inputs) Xi Jinping to skip G20 Summit in New Delhi this weekend. Photo Courtesy: MEA Twitter (now X)page The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday confirmed the country's Premier Li Qiang will attend the G20 Summit in India this week, ending all speculation over President Xi Jinping's possible visit to New Delhi for the meet. China's latest statement effectively means that Xi Jinping will skip the meeting. Quoting foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, the statement read: "At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10." Xi Jinping is now the second top world leader after Russian President Vladimir Putin who will not attend the G20 Meet in the Indian capital city. The development comes at a time when India lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with Beijing over the issue of the 2023 standard map of China that lays claim to Indias territory. In response to media queries, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi earlier said, "India rejects these claims as they have no basis." "Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question," the MEA spokesperson said. India's response came after China on last Monday officially released the 2023 edition of its standard map where Arunachal Pradesh, the Aksai Chin region, Taiwan, and the disputed South China Sea were all included within the Chinese territory. The map was released days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi-Jinping called for a "resolution" of the long-standing border issues between the two nations on the sidelines of the 15th edition of the BRICS Summit in South Africa. The two leaders also agreed to intensify efforts at expeditious "disengagement and de-escalation" to restore normal relationships between the two countries. Image Credit: Facebook/Mamata Banerjee Kolkata/IBNS: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday expressed her disapproval at Tamil Nadu Minister Udhyanidhi Stalin over his "Sanatana Dharma" remarks, which have set off a political storm ahead of a string of state elections and drawn multiple barbs from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It also appears to have put the Opposition bloc INDIA in a dilemma, calling upon the diplomatic skills of the leaders to preserve unity. Banerjee, who has maintained silence for over a day, spoke up after Congress comments on the issue. "We should not be involved in any matter which might hurt a section of people," the Trinamool Congress supremo said. "As far as the remarks (of Udhayanidhi Stalin) are concerned, he is a junior. From my side, I am not clear about why and on what grounds he has made the comment. I feel that each and every religion should be equally respected," Banerjee said this evening, hours after her party spokesperson called the comments "unfortunate". "I respect the people of Tamil Nadu and South India. But my humble request to them is to respect all as every religion has separate sentiments," Banerjee said. Referring to the term "Unity in Diversity" and India's inclusive secularism, Banerjee said, "I respect the Sanatana Dharma and we derive our learnings from the Vedas... We have so many purohits and our state government offers pensions to them... We have so many temples across the country. We visit temples, mosques, and churches." The controversy erupted after Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said that "Sanatana Dharma is like malaria and dengue and so it must be eradicated and not opposed". Senior BJP leaders have dismissed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's son as "Udhayanidhi Hitler" and slammed the opposition INDIA alliance as "anti-Hindu". Continuing its attack against Congress and the INDIA alliance over the remarks on "Sanatan Dharma", the BJP on Monday said Congress has made it a policy to defame Hinduism and try to create a rift in the society. Photo courtesy: Rupal Ogrey/Facebook Mumbai/IBNS: A trainee air hostess was found dead at her apartment in Mumbai's suburban Andheri last evening, officials said. The victim, Rupal Ogrey, 25, hailed from Chhattisgarh and moved to Mumbai this April after landing a job with Air India. She lived with her sister and her boyfriend, who had gone home a few days ago. Ogrey's family reached out to her friends when she did not receive any calls on Sunday. The friends went to the apartment, found it locked from the inside, and informed the police. The police broke into the apartment and found Rupal lying in a pool of blood. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival. A dozen police teams traced and arrested the main accused in the case - Vikram Atwal, a 40-year-old man who worked as a sweeper in the housing society. He is currently being questioned. Representative image/ courtesy: Wikimedia Commons Kolkata/IBNS: A student of Class 10 allegedly jumped to his death from the terrace of his school in south Kolkata's Kasba area on Monday after being scolded by teachers for not completing a project, the police said. The 16-year-old boy was rushed to a hospital nearby only to be declared dead on arrival. The parents have alleged that two teachers had scolded their son at school for not completing a project and claimed that the school was trying to hide something. In a statement available to the media, the English-medium school said that an investigation is underway. "No school will ever target children and harass them. We are a child-friendly school and no teacher will react the way it is being claimed," it said. This comes less than a month after a Jadavpur University student jumped to his death allegedly due to ragging by seniors at the hostel campus. Photo courtesy: Instagram/Mimi Chakraborty Kolkata/IBNS: Actress-MP Mimi Chakraborty shared a new set of her pictures on her Instagram profile on Monday. The pictures once again reveal Mimi's love for her sarees. In the pictures, the leading Bengali actress looks glamorous in the saree, complimented with some gold jewellery. She left all heart emoticons in the caption for her fans and followers. On the work front, Mimi will next feature in Nandita Roy-Shiboprosad Mukherjee's upcoming Bengali film 'Raktabeej', which releases on October 19. Speaking to IBNS last week, Mimi shared her excitement over the release of 'Raktabeej' saying, "The film has been done very well. I hope all films which release this Puja do well but I wish my film performs a bit better (laughs)." Her passion for music and Tagore songs was recently evident in a music video- titled 'Amar Hiyar Majhe'- which she produced on her own. Her debut Hindi project 'Shastry Virudh Shastry', the remake of her own Bengali film 'Posto', is also expected to release later this year. In 'Shastry Virudh Shastry', Mimi shared screen space with veteran actor Paresh Rawal and Shiv Pandit. Photo Courtesy: Anwaarul Haq Kakar X page Official sources told The News International that the prime minister, who received an invitation to attend the two-day Africa Climate Change summit to be held on September 5 and 6 in Nairobi, decided to cancel his first-ever foreign visit after going through the pros and cons and situation in the country. The sources said the event was Africa-specific and the prime minister had accepted the invitation to share experience with foreign dignitaries to be present at the summit. Interestingly, no high-level Pakistani delegation has visited Kenya since 1980s. However, the prime minister has decided to cancel the visit after consulting the Foreign Office and his aides, a senior official told The News International. However, the prime minister, however, will go ahead with his planned visit to the United States to address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 22 in New York. He is going to be the first caretaker PM of the country to address UNGA. In a shocking revelation, Punjab police have exposed the deep-rooted connections between notorious drug smuggler Amrik Singh and Pakistans intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). With critical inputs from state intelligence sources, the police have unraveled Amrik Singhs active involvement with ISI, shedding light on his sinister role in leaking vital information from the Indian Army. Amrik Singh, who had been serving a sentence for drug-related offenses, managed to escape the clutches of Central Jail authorities in October 2022, only to be recaptured the following month. His story took a startling twist when a foreign SIM card was discovered in his possession prior to his initial arrest. Following his apprehension, a mobile phone belonging to Singh was seized, and despite his claims of a forgotten password, the device underwent forensic scrutiny. According to SHO Ghaggar, Amanpal Virk, the unlocked phone yielded astonishing results. Concealed within its digital confines was a comprehensive 140-page dossier detailing the operations of an Army camp located in Himachal Pradesh. The report encompassed intricate specifics, including troop movements, personnel strength, vehicle count, and various other sensitive details. Alarming sources reveal that this classified information was being shared with an ISI official known as Sher Khan. The dossier was accompanied by a trove of voice notes, further outlining convoy movements and intricate specifics about the targeted Army camp. As the intelligence wing pieced together the puzzle, it became evident that Amrik Singh was playing a significant role in disseminating strategic data to the ISI. Patiala SSP Varun Sharma, corroborating these revelations, confirmed that the ISI had not stopped at mere information acquisition. In a startling twist, the agency had supplied two AK-47 weapons and approximately 250 bullets as part of their sinister agenda. In light of this disconcerting information, the authorities have launched a fresh FIR against Amrik Singh. Furthermore, scrutiny is being directed towards a relative of Singh who is currently employed within the Indian Army. Amrik Singhs history takes a perplexing turn, as it is revealed that he managed a daring escape from a hospital visit on October 1, 2022, where he had been taken by jail officials for medical treatment. However, his freedom was short-lived, as he was recaptured in November. Hailing from Dedhna village in Patiala, Amrik Singhs criminal activities trace back to 2004, with his involvement in drug trafficking widely known. He is also the brother of Avtar Singh, a proclaimed offender linked to the infamous Jagdish Bhola drug case. Startling documents obtained by The Tribune highlight a disconcerting oversight by the Police Department and jail authorities. Despite explicit warnings in written correspondence, the jail officials failed to adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs), potentially enabling Amrik Singhs escape during court hearings or hospital visits. As the gravity of the situation unfolds, Amrik Singh, who faces a string of 12 FIRs in Punjab, including two cases involving substantial heroin seizures, now finds himself implicated under various sections of the Official Secrets Act, 1923. Top officials from the police, intelligence, and military branches are poised to interrogate Amrik Singh in the coming days, as they strive to uncover the depths of his espionage activities and his links with the ISI. (Text and Image credit: Khalsavox.com) Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons A large number of people from different sections of society recently staged a sit-in at Ghantaghar Chowk in Kandhkot town of Pakistan to protest against the polices failure to recover all hostages, including members of Hindu community, and restore law and order to the crime-infested Kandhkot-Kashmore district. The traders and shopkeepers kept their businesses and shops shuttered on a call for protest given by Hindu Panchayat again the abduction of Mukhi Jagdish Kumar, Jaideep Kumar, Hindu Sagar Kumar, Guddo, Dr Muneer Naich and several other hostages kidnapped in different areas of the district, reports Dawn News. The protesters leaders Dr Mehr Chand, Harish Kumar, advocate Abdul Ghani Bijarani, Hafiz Nasrullah Chana and others demanded a massive army operation against dacoits rule in the region. They told Dawn News that Hindu businessmen, including their children, had been kidnapped in many instances. We demand a massive army operation against the criminals and their patronizers, who have created a criminal state within a state, they said. A yellow saree hangs on a clothesline on the second floor of a three-storey building, reminiscent of a way of life thats conspicuously absent in todays apartment complexes. A brown door is bordered by stained glass with the trace of a face in the middle, a combination of influences you will not find in modern building design. The curve of yet another building is evident in its circular balconies, which taper at the bottom, rimming its windows, a feature replaced by hard, geometric lines today. Scattered shrubs sprout from between the patterned grills fencing a home, taking root in the loose mud thats absent in highrises. These images are a few of the several captured by the Instagram photography project Calcutta Houses, started in 2014 by three friends, Manish Golder, Sidhartha Hajra, and Sayan Dutta. "Our handle name may surprise city dwellers, but we have grown up calling the city Calcutta in English and Kolkata in Bengali," said Golder. The page, featuring photographs and little stories of the citys unique and picturesque houses, has built a community of over 20,000 architecture lovers, city enthusiasts, and nostalgists alike. Its followers include historian William Dalrymple and beloved writer Amitav Ghosh. Sometimes, the posts focus on windows, grills, doors, and other smaller aspects of the house; sometimes, they focus on the house as a whole. Much has changed in the close to ten years that theyve been doing this. Hajra, a photographer, is now in Delhi, and Dutta, a graphic designer, lives in Dubai. This situation has left Golder, a digital marketer, as the only active participant in the project. Credit: Calcutta Houses As photographers, my co-founders and I had been documenting the streets of Calcutta for a long time, said Golder. We noticed that the houses were disappearing. Sophisticated camera phones and the growing popularity of Instagram inspired the trio to start shooting Calcuttas old and unique houses in a bid to preserve this slowly eroding built heritage. When Calcutta Houses first launched, two to three posts a week went up. Now they pop up whenever something is worth discussing. A Love Of Built Heritage Among their most popular posts is that of a two-storey building divided down the middle: The right side has straight lines and is painted a bright yellow with red windows, and the left side is circular and painted white. The two styles complement each other, giving the home a whimsical and intriguing aura. Another popular post is a brief video of the sun reflecting gently on a gallery set to "Charus Theme" from Satyajit Rays Charulata. The sunlight, passing through patterned cloth blinders, forms a beautiful mesh of designs on the red floor, transporting the viewer, for a moment, to a different, slower era. The project serves as a visual record of a city in slow motion. They have documented homes all over Kolkata, including in places like Lake Market and Bhowanipore, among the oldest parts of the citys southern area, the area near Scottish Church College in North Kolkata, and several others. Bhowanipore, in particular, houses some of the most interesting architectural structures surviving in the city today, Golder said. Credit: Calcutta Houses Its also an attempt at writing a partial history of these spots. For instance, in the past century, Bhowanipores illustrious residents have included freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose, filmmaker and author Satyajit Ray, and educationist and barrister Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee. During the citys development, several wealthy families settled here and built luxurious homes since the area was still considered to be on the citys periphery and prices were comparatively lower. Post-Independence, Marwari and Gujarati business families bought these British properties, adding to the areas demographic diversity. Just as a citys history is archived in its architecture, Kolkatas old homes depict the confluence of traditional Bengali architecture with Mughal influences and European colonial styles. For over a century, Calcutta was the capital of British India and the zenith of trade and professional achievement, attracting residents from all over the world. "Thats why you see such contrasting architectural designs," said Golder. On a routine walk through the city, you can find neoclassical, art deco, and elements of different Indian architectural styles, with each home portraying the individuality of its residents. In more recent history, as development tightened its inevitable grip on the city, several older buildings were replaced with modern residential and commercial projects. Kolkata started losing a part of its identity. "Post Covid, there has been a surge in construction. More houses have been torn down recently than I can remember," said Golder. "What replaces them is entirely devoid of any aesthetic." Credit: Calcutta Houses A City Disappears As Kolkatas visual landscape evolves, whats lost is not just a house or a moment in history but the representation of collective memory and tradition, a way of living, thinking, and expressing. Together, these houses form a narrative of the city, rooted in togetherness while being unique. "Photography to me is like taking portraits, and these structures are like family members. If not documented, its like they never existed," added Golder. He recounts that they were faced with hostility earlier since people didnt quite understand why their homes were being photographed. "Now, people invite me to their homes for pictures." Projects like Calcutta Houses and author Amit Chaudhuris initiative, Calcutta Architectural Legacies, are signs of a general uptick in awareness about the importance of preserving heritage sites. "There have also been instances where people have brought old homes to restore them," said Golder. The art gallery, cafe, and store The Zs Precinct, housed in an old Ballygunge mansion, is one example; the boutique hotel Calcutta Bungalow, set in a 1920s townhouse, is another. Credit: Calcutta Houses The city has a knack for being charming, but always in its own strange way, Chaudhuri wrote in his book Calcutta. "The Calcutta Id encountered as a child was one of the great cities of modernity; it was that peculiar thing, modernity, that I first came into contact with here (without knowing it), then became familiar with it, and then was changed by it. By "modern," I dont mean "new" or "developed," but a self-renewing way of seeing, of inhabiting space, of apprehending life. By "modern," I also mean whatever alchemy it is that changes urban dereliction into something compelling, perhaps even beautiful. It was that arguable beauty that I first came across in Calcutta and may have, without being aware of it, become addicted to." This addiction is really just a form of nostalgia, an unrequited longing, as Calcutta Houses many followers will tell you. The hanging yellow saree will continue to sway in their minds. In Australia, a real estate agent got suspended for sending a racist email to a former Indian tenant. In the email, she criticized Indian cleanliness habits and expressed concerns about India's influence on the country. This happened in May 2021 when Sandeep Kumar disputed a cleaning bill deduction from his security deposit, as reported by the Australian website news.com.au. In the email, Bronwyn Pollitt, the director of Mavin Real Estate, compared Australian living standards and quality of life to the overcrowded, overpopulated, dirty squaller" of many countries, including India. In the mail, she hoped Indian migrants would not turn Australia into "the filth that is India." The email was submitted to the State Administrative Tribunal in Western Australia, which deemed Pollitt unfit to hold a real estate and business agents license for eight months from September 1. In the email, Pollitt said: "I, as a white Australian, believe you and the others come to Australia as you want to enjoy the lovely way of life we enjoy. Clean, fresh air, jobs or if you cannot get a job, social support, medical help, and no overpopulation. It all starts with cleaning the rental properties though and being mindful of what you have left and knowing the same thing as India will become Perth if you make no attitude changes." In an email, Pollitt later apologized to Kumar, saying she did not intend to be racist. "Firstly, I apologize if you believe I have been racist against you," she said. "That was never my intent." The tribunal heard Pollitt was under significant pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, regulatory changes, and increased rental conflicts. Suresh Rajan, an advocate for ethnic communities, urged the police to investigate the incident. He labeled it as one of the most severe cases of blatant racism he has witnessed in years and suggested that it may have violated the criminal code's racial vilification laws. (With PTI inputs) For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram. Sabyasachi Chakrabarty is not only one of the finest actors but also an avid wildlife enthusiast. Having traversed to several forests in India and outside, he has a fair share of experience, stories, and memories. In fact, he recently completed a trip to Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana with Travel Live. Indulge caught up with Chakraborty for a chat on wildlife photography on the sidelines of the second anniversary of Travel Live at Lalit the Great Eastern. How did you enter the field of wildlife photography? I was into photography since childhood but my interest in wildlife photography was much later. My father had given me a camera but then buying films, getting them processed and printing was financially difficult in those days. Once I went to the forests in 1995 that was when I thought the animals were great to see up front. After clicking some photographs I thought I needed a good camera and lens. A few photographers like Hirak Sen, Pranab Basu, and Utpal Sarkar helped me with their camera and lens and got me addicted to the field of wildlife photography. Since then I slowly got my own lens and camera, started venturing into forests and now this is a habit. Wild elephants Could you share your experience during your recent trip to Africa? I recently went to Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana. It was a wonderful experience. However, the group was more travel lovers than wildlife lovers. There were two or three wildlife destinations and the rest were towns, seaside, resorts, etc. But yes, I have to say that the desert, the Atlantic Ocean, the mountains, the Okavango Delta are truly sights that need to be seen. So, I liked it. But I could have enjoyed a bit more had there been more wildlife. Any life lessons that wildlife photography has taught you? This planet is for everyone. If animals and birds are not there, we will also not be there. Therefore, like nature conservation, animal conservation is also equally important. Without plants, we will not be able to breathe due to lack of oxygen Similarly not many are aware that without tigers there will be a dearth of drinking water. But its not only about the large animals, the smallest insect is also important in this cycle. Without them, natures cycle will become imbalanced. Since realizing this motto is save nature, save animals. Oryx Do you have a bucket list of places you want to visit? I have been to a lot of good forests in Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, and Botswana. I have heard South Africas Kruger National Park is very good and that is left. Also, in India, there are too many places that are left. So, I would like to go to Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam, and many more. I think the pull is now more towards Indian forests. Any message for amateur wildlife photographers The words wildlife photography and amateur dont go together. Amateur photographs are like me, tourists with a camera. Wildlife photography is complicated, hard-working and painstaking. A wildlife photographer cannot do anything more because they have to spend months and years in jungles. I will only say that dont run behind tigers, instead one should take photographs of everything, including insects. All wildlife images courtesy: Sabyasachi Chakrabarty The partial skull of a new ancient ape has been discovered in Turkey & it appears to predate African apes suggesting that human origins may actually lie in Europe Suspicions have arisen that algorithmic methods are being employed to enforce a kind of censorship Ladi Adebutu, the Ogun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has asked the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta to sack Governor Dapo Abiodun and declare him winner of the March 18 election. Chris Uche, counsel for Adebutu, who said this while adopting the petitioners final written address before the Justice Hamidu Kunaza-led tribunal, added that heavens will not fall if Adebutu is declared winner. Information Nigeria reports that the tribunal resumed hearing for adoption of final written addresses in a petition filed by Adebutu against Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday. PDP and Adebutu in the petition marked, EPT/OG/GOV/03/2023 accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of non-compliance to the Electoral Act and corrupt practices during the election. The petitioners also alleged that elections were disrupted by thugs in over 99 polling units, disenfranchising over 40,000 voters from participating in the election. In adopting the final address, Uche told the tribunal that the petitioners filed its addresses replying first, second and third respondents addresses, all dated and filed on August 25, 2023. The senior lawyer urged the election court to grant all the reliefs sought in the petition including disqualification of the second respondent, Abiodun, as a candidate in the gubernatorial election. Uche asked the tribunal to hold that all votes allocated to Abiodun by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are wasted, and declare the petitioner (Adebutu) as the rightful winner of the election. To find that upon a proper calculation of the lawful votes cast in the election, excluding the votes earned by multiple thumbprinting and ticking of ballot papers under the watch of INEC, that the petitioner scored the majority of the lawful votes, he submitted. According to him, about 40,891 votes were affected and wrongfully credited to the second respondent. READ ALSO: Release Ogun LGA Chair From DSS Custody, Gov. Abiodun Should Sue For Libel Instead Femi Falana On margin of lead in the election, Uche said the petitioners relied on exhibits 456,457, 576,609 and 617. The counsel said the petitioners had successfully discharged the burden of proof by calling 94 witnesses who gave vital evidence. He added that, I urge my Lords to do justice by granting the reliefs sought in this matter, the heavens will not fall. While adopting his final written address, INECs Counsel, Remi Olatubora, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition for being absolutely unmeritorious and for being a total waste of judiciarys previous time. He argued that the petitioners simply dumped the documents on the tribunal, saying all the bags and envelopes of evidence hauled into this tribunal and tendered from the bar are absolutely inadmissible. Wole Olanipekun, Abioduns lawyer, in his written address, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition, arguing that all the evidence tendered by the petitioners were not duly signed and stamped by appropriate authorities. He described all the evidence tendered by the petitioners as worthless, valueless, baseless and should have been voided ab initio. The position of the law is that an unsigned document is worthless. The principle of margin of lead cannot be a ground for a petition. I therefore urged your Lordships to dismiss this petition, Olanipekun argued. Counsel for APC, Onyechi Ikpeazu, submitted that the petitioners raised allegation of non compliance in six local governments but failed to mention any polling unit. He also argued that the video and picture of alleged political thugs on bikes who disrupted elections were not related to the polling unit. We humbly urged my lords to dismiss the petition, Ikpeazu opined. Nigerias former President, Muhammadu Buhari has lauded his administration for coming on a rescue mission and effectively saving Nigeria from corrupt undertones that were planted to expose its economy to imminent collapse. He said that the success of the administration in the fight against corruption was unprecedented. This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, in response to the allegations raised against him by former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, over Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID), Paris Club, and the Ajaokuta steel company. The statement noted that the cases cited by Adoke as a reference point for the Buhari administrations corruption were cases that originated in a government in which he was the man responsible for the administration of justice. While noting that the contract and incidental judgement in the P&ID were inherited by his administration, Buhari maintained that, to his credit, he succeeded in stopping its execution even when the previous administration that was responsible for the creation of the liability watched helplessly and exposed Nigeria to over $10 billion in liability. The Paris club saga that Adokie cited as an example of corrupt practises of the Buhari administration is not in any way different in origin and circumstances from the case of P&ID. It was rooted in administrations that predated that of President Muhammadu Buhari. Adoke was a product of the administration that planted the evil foundation and the judgements that resulted therefrom. The logical conclusion any reasonable person can draw on P&ID, Paris Club, and Ajaokuta is that President Buhari came on a rescue mission and effectively saved Nigeria from corrupt undertones that were planted to expose its economy to imminent collapse. The success of the Buhari administration in the fight against corruption is unprecedented. READ ALSO: Military Lacks Training On Evidence Gathering, Prosecution Of Criminals, Were Better Off PSC Chair New legislation was introduced, major recoveries were made at home, stolen monies were repatriated from abroad, and they were judiciously deployed in infrastructure development. High-profile convictions were recorded in unprecedented numbers, with enhanced percentages over and above the records in existence. It is in international recognition of these efforts that the African Union chose the former President as its African Continental Anti-Corruption Champion. Additional recognitions by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Corruption (UNODC), among others, were also lauded by the former president and his administration. Adokie also made some wild allegations in the aviation sector. The efforts of the Buhari administration in aviation are known: They were visible in terms of capital infrastructure development, safety, and policy; they changed the face of the aviation sector into an attractive one for investment, resulting in new airlines coming on board. No major commercial airline incident was recorded throughout this period. All Nigerians, by right, can say whatever they want about the Buhari administration. No one is offended by their actions, right or wrong. But when you come out with innuendos of corruption written all over your face and say that you want to moralise and pontificate, Nigerians in different walks of life will have problems with that, the statement declared. Aggrieved members of the Labour Party (LP), and All Progressive Party (APC) staged a massive protest against the local government, LG council elections in Edo state. It was gathered that voting could not commence as scheduled due to the late arrival of materials at several polling units. Accounts from eyewitnesses revealed that voters were seen in queues as early as 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, ready to vote; however, voting didnt commence in most units until noon. While voting started at Unit 7 Ward 4, Egor LGA, at about 10:30 a.m., materials arrived at some units a few minutes before 10:00 a.m. within the Benin metropolis. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that supporters of the LP chairmanship candidate of Oredo local government, Daniel-Ero Onaghise, stormed the premises of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state to request a nullification of the polls. According to Vanguard report, Onaghise, during the protest, said: I want to express my displeasure on this exercise. We had a series of stakeholders meetings; at a point, they said BIVAS and card readers would be used, but towards the election, they jettisoned that, they said there would be restrictions on movements, but two days before the election, the governor announced that there will not be restriction of movement so at that point, we started suspecting, but EDSIEC assured that everything will be fine. READ MORE: They Were Doing Their Job Edo Govt. On DSS Officials Denying Shaibu Access At Church Event Today, it took more than six hours for materials to arrive, and EDSIEC staff were not seen. I am the LP candidate for Oredo, but as I speak to you, I cant vote because there are no materials people have been waiting for since 7 oclock. I discredit the process, and I call for the cancellation of the exercise, it is so painful that I have not been able to vote for myself. Also reacting to the polls, the state chairman of the APC, Col (Dr) David Imuse (rtd), said, This election is a scam, it is a charade, they brought insufficient ballot papers but no single result sheets how can you conduct an election when there is no result sheet? It is happening in the entire Edo Central senatorial district I am calling from Ekpoma; the same thing is happening in Esan North East, Esan West everywhere here; no result sheets, and I dont see how an election can take place without result sheets. Meanwhile, the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, who voted in his polling unit at Emokpae Primary School, applauded the exercise while believing that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would carry the day because PDP fully mobilised in most of the state. He said: The turnout was very impressive in spite of the rain. There was quite a considerable turnout, and it showed interest in the local government election. This means that the political parties did well by going around sensitizing and mobilizing the electorates and the people. The process has been smooth and peaceful as a lot of people are still hanging around to see the end and conclusion of voting. I am very impressed by what has happened as the organisation by EDSIEC has gone fairly well. You have so many people still here at almost the closing of the poll, which shows that we have a fairly decent turnout. I have been getting updates from across the State, and this seems to be the trend all over. I have not received any report of violence yet, and pray everything goes smoothly. As part of efforts put together by the Kaduna State Government to end terrorism, no fewer than 7,000 youths have been recruited into the state vigilance service to assist the works of federal security agencies in tackling insecurity in the state. Speaking during the commencement of training for the new vigilante members at the Police College Kaduna, Governor Uba Sani said his administration will do everything possible to curb the menace of banditry, kidnapping and other related crimes that are threatening the peace and security of citizens of the state. Governor Sani said: In our administrations blueprint,we committed to strengthening the manpower and overall operational capacity of KADVS. Since its establishment, KADVS has been working with security agencies to degrade criminal elements. But we face the challenge of inadequate personnel to successfully wage the battle against bandits and other criminal elements. It is for this reason that our administration decided to recruit 7,000 personnel into the Kaduna Vigilance Service (KADVS). The recruitment and screening of the trainees were the collaborative efforts of our Local Government chairmen, traditional and religious leaders as key stakeholders at the grassroots level and security agencies. The screening was very thorough. We have here energetic young men and women of transparent honesty who are committed to securing our local communities. The Kaduna Vigilance Service is a complementary security outfit. It will assist the security agencies with actionable intelligence. With its knowledge of the local environment, bandits will have no hiding place. READ MORE: Kaduna To Recruit Additional 7,000 Youths In Fight Against Insecurity Gov. Sani To the recruits who are starting their training today, I charge you to show seriousness and commitment. Listen to your instructors and be disciplined. I am confident that you will all be found worthy of being enlisted in the Kaduna Vigilance Service (KADVS). l must however warn that when you are eventually enlisted into the Service and you start carrying out your duties, you must desist from violating the rights of the citizens. KADVS was set up to protect the people, not to violate their rights. We shall not hesitate to discipline any person who flouts the operational guidelines or code of conduct of the service, he said. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted various quantities of ephedrine, skunk and nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, concealed in semovita packs and dry pepper at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, September 3, said the trafficking was done by members of Transnational Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO), some of whom were promptly arrested, their mansions raided and their luxury vehicles seized. Through credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives on Friday 25th August intercepted a notorious drug trafficker, Suleiman Babatunde Oba who is a member of a cartel distributing cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and ephedrine between Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique, and Europe. READ ALSO: Drugs Cant Enhance Academic Performance, Only Distort Thinking NDLEA Warns Youths He was arrested while attempting to board a Rwanda Air flight to South Africa with two boxes loaded with ephedrine sealed in semovita packs. The recovered substance is a precursor chemical and active ingredient in the production of methamphetamine, Babafemi said. According to the statement, Suleiman who holds a South African passport, is married to a South African lady and has lived there for over 20 years, identified Hakeem Babatunde Salami who equally lives in Lagos and South Africa as the head of the drug ring. He said a follow-up raid in the house of Salami located at 75 Wosilatu Dawodu Street, Ijesha, Aguda area of Surulere, Lagos on Monday 28th August revealed that he had fled the country on the same day Suleiman was arrested. He mentioned that a white Toyota Venza car with registration number LSR 410 HT, a Mercedes Benz SUV marked LSD 998HP, phones and vital documents needed for further investigation were recovered from the house. The NDLEA spokesman recalled that in August 2021, the agency had seized 25.60kgs ephedrine from a trafficker, Arua Emmanuel Onwuka at the Lagos airport, a seizure that has also been traced to the same cartel whose identified members are currently on the run, while an official of the airport, Godwin Shedrack (a.k.a Goddy) fingered as a member of the syndicate is also under investigation. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won in all 18 Local Government Areas in the Edo State local government election. The state independent electoral commission released the results of the election which was held on Saturday. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the election was held in all the 18 local government areas of the state covering Edo North, Edo Central and Edo South senatorial districts. It was gathered that major political parties that participated in the election for Chairmanship and Councillorship of all the wards include the PDP, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP). See the full results below: PDP: 16077 APC: 2519 LP: 2536 Ovia South West APC: 5361 LP: 3216 PDP: 10,721 Total Registered: 89,897 Accredited: 21,442 Invalid: 429 Uhunmwode Local Government Adodo O. Kenneth of PDP Declared APC: 2317 LP: 1436 PDP: 15,615 Total Registered: 68,474 Accredited: 19,461 Valid; 19,431 Invalid: 27 Owan West Local Government READ MORE: My Loyalty To Obaseki Remains Absolute Shaibu Ahonsi Dickson Idojemu of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 3825 LP: 2365 PDP: 13, 171 Total Registered: Accredited: 19 Valid: Invalid: 63 Akoko Edo Local Government Tajudeen Alade Suleiman of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 5369 LP: 2083 PDP: 21,417 Total Registered: 95,711 Accredited: 28,957 Valid: 28, 957 Invalid: 10 Etsako East Local Government Ato Benedicta of PDP Declared Winner APC: 4076 LP: 1711 PDP: 16, 428 Total Registered: Accredited: Valid: 22, 269 Invalid: Etsako Central Local Government Obomigie Imokhae Solomon of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 7, 896 LP: 4, 606 PDP: 30, 594 Etsako West Local Government Zimbiril Marvelous of PDP is Declared Winner APC: 29, 445 LP: 23, 832 PDP: 98, 046 Total Registered: Accredited: Valid: Invalid: Ikpoba-Okha Local Government DR. ERIC IYOBA OSAYANDE of PDP Declared Winner APC: 3, 085 LP: 3, 857 PDP: 27, 768 Total Registered: 166,035 Accredited: 38,566 Valid: 37, 795 Invalid: 771 Ovia North East Local Government Collins Osamede Ogbewe of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 636 LP: 617 PDP: 4, 869 Total Registered: 50, 554 Accredited: 6, 176 Valid: 6, 165 Invalid: 11 Igueben Local Government Asueleme Clement of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 557 LP: 660 PDP: 5, 262 Total Registered: 63, 473 Accredited: 6, 551 Valid: 6, 540 Invalid: 11 Esan Central Local Government Iyoha Paul of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 23, 885 LP: 14, 331 PDP: 47, 771 Total Registered: 129, 850 Accredited: 97, 299 Valid: 95, 942 Invalid: 1911 Orhionmwon Local Government Ugiagbe Newman Oghomwen of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 1616 LP: 1737 PDP: 14, 904 Total Registered: Accredited: Valid: 18, 317 Invalid: 21 Esan West Local Government Aigbogun O. Collins of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 1, 665 LP: 2, 183 PDP: 11, 963 Total Registered: 83, 811 Accredited: 15, 875 Valid: 15, 866 Invalid: 9 Esan South East Local Government Imadegbeho Luis of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 1344 LP: 791 PDP: 16072 Total Registered: Accredited: Valid: 15, 866 Invalid: Esan North East Local Government Inegbe Paul of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 5550 LP: 3298 PDP: 20, 702 Total Registered: 101,006 Accredited: 29,680 Valid: Invalid: 16 Owan East Local Government Prince Aminu Kadiri of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 12, 203 LP: 7695 PDP: 35, 380 Total Registered: Accredited: Valid: Invalid: Egor Local Government Hon. Eghe Ogbemudia of PDP Declared the Winner APC: 8, 308 LP: 10, 188 PDP: 70, 293 Total Registered: 347, 076 Accredited: 92, 554 Valid: 91, 047 Invalid: 1506 Oredo Local Government Dr Obaseki Tom Osazee of PDP Declared the Winner The Plateau State Police Command on Monday paraded a 63-year-old man for allegedly defiling two minors aged 4 and 8 years at Mabel Village Butura Ward of Bokkos LGA of the State. The Police also paraded 25 others for crimes ranging from culpable homicide, rape, kidnapping, and vandalism among other crimes. Commissioner of Police in the state, Julius Alawari disclosed this while briefing journalists at the Commands Headquarters in Jos the State Capital. He said, On 22nd August 2023, at about 1800hrs, one Lucky Luka, of Mabel Village Butura Ward reported at the Bokkos Police Station that on the same date at about 14:00 hours, his two daughters namely, one Retyit Lucky, 4 years and one Loveth Nehemiah 8 years were playing in the house of one John Mahanan aged 63 of same address. They said John Mahanan deceived them and had unlawful carnal knowledge of the girls, he explained. On receipt of the complaint, the suspect was immediately arrested by the DPO, SP Agu Oliver C and team. READ ALSO: 94-Year-Old Man Allegedly Rapes 13-Year-Old Girl In Adamawa According to him, Both the suspect and the victims were taken to the Cottage Hospital for medical examination where it was revealed that the 4 years old girl had an abrasion on her upper thigh and blood stained Vulva with a Turn Hymen, while there was proof of penetration in the vagina of the 8-year-old by the penis of the suspect. The CP, however, said that an investigation is still ongoing. On the arrest of a suspect in connection with the kidnap of seven University of Jos students, Alawari said, It will be recalled that on 12th June 2023, at about 22:00 hours, seven students of the University of Jos were kidnapped. The Command is pleased to inform you that one of the suspects, Salisu Adamu, 30 years, of Minta village; Bassa LGA has been arrested in connection with the kidnap. Further investigation conducted by the Commander, Anti-Kidnapping Unit revealed that the suspect is an escapee of the recent Jos Prison Jailbreak of 2020. According to him, The suspect confessed to the crime and mentioned some of his gang members who are currently on the run. Efforts are being intensified with a view to arresting the fleeing suspects, he assured. Further speaking the CP said, Credible intelligence also led to the arrest of two notorious and wanted criminals. The criminals were eventually trailed and arrested by the DPO A division CSP Obinna S. Okpuru and team at their hideout in Angwan Mata, Jos. The suspects include; one Shammah Emmanuel aka (Hitman) aged 20 and one Joseph Seth aka (Small Seth) aged 19, all male of Angwan Mata, Gada-Biu. Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects belong to ferocious syndicates terrorizing the Gada-Biu and Rukuba Road axis in Jos North LGA, and specialize in robbing unsuspecting victims of their phones and other valuable items at gunpoint, he explained. Exhibits recovered from the suspects include one locally made revolver pistol. Investigation is still ongoing, and further developments will be communicated to you in due course, he maintained. The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja, has fixed Wednesday, September 6, 2023, to deliver judgment on petitions challenging the electoral victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 General election. It was gathered that the Court of Appeal Registrar Umar Bangari confirmed this to Channels Television on Monday, saying the proceedings will be open to live broadcast by interested television stations. Recall that the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), including their presidential candidates, had filled petition at the tribunal, seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election. READ MORE: Tribunal: Seyi Law Mocks Peter Obi As Judgement Approaches However, Judgement is also expected to be delivered by election tribunals in 25 states for governorship, National Assembly, and state assembly election petitions. The results of the polls announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are being contested in no fewer than 25 states out of the 28 states where elections were conducted. INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the Tribunal must deliver judgment on the petition on or before September 17, as the constitution gives a provision of a maximum of 180 days for the panel to conclude its job. Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has sued President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the unlawful ban and withdrawal of the accreditations of 25 journalists and media houses from covering the Presidential Villa. The Federal Government allegedly recently revoked the accreditations of some 25 journalists who had been covering events in the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Information Nigeria understands that the affected journalists were instructed to turn in their accreditation tags at the Presidential Villas main gate. In the lawsuit, the Federal High Court in Lagos under the case number FHC/L/CS/1766/23, SERAP asked for an order to direct and compel President Tinubu to reverse the revocation of the accreditations and ban on 25 journalists and media houses from covering the Presidential Villa. SERAP is seeking: an order of perpetual injunction to restrain President Tinubu or any other authority, person or group of persons from arbitrarily and unilaterally revoking the accreditations of any journalists and media houses from covering the Presidential Villa. a declaration that the withdrawal and revocation of accreditation tags and ban on the journalists and media houses from covering the Presidential Villa without any lawful justifications is inconsistent with the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, participation, and media freedom. In the suit, SERAP is arguing that: If not reversed, the arbitrary ban on the journalists from covering the Presidential Villa would open the door to other cases of arbitrariness and would restrict peoples right to freedom of expression, access to information, participation, and media freedom. The withdrawal of the accreditations of the journalists is without any lawful justifications. It is inconsistent and incompatible with plurality of voices, diversity of voices, non-discrimination, and just demands of a democratic society, as well as the public interest. The ban on the journalists from covering the Presidential Villa fails to meet the requirements of legality, necessity, and proportionality. The media plays an essential role as a vehicle or instrument for the exercise of freedom of expression and access to information in its individual and collective aspects in a democratic society. The existence of a free, independent, vigorous, pluralistic, and diverse media is essential for the proper functioning of a democratic society. The free circulation of ideas and news is not possible except in the context of a plurality of sources of information and media outlets. The lack of plurality in sources of information is a serious obstacle for the functioning of democracy. The exercise of the right to freedom of expression through the media is a guarantee that is fundamental for advancing the collective deliberative process on public and democratic issues. The strengthening of the guarantee of freedom of expression is a precondition for the exercise of other human rights, as well as a precondition to the right to participation to be informed and reasoned. Under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party, freedom and diversity must be guiding principles in the measures to promote media freedom. The ban on the 25 journalists is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with these principles. READ ALSO: Nigeria Was Terrible Under Abachas Regime, Rule Out Military Govt. Rufai Oseni Warns The Federal Government should aspire to promote and expand the scope of media freedom, access to information, freedom of expression, and citizens participation, not restrict these fundamental freedoms. Barring these journalists and media houses from covering the Presidential Villa is to prevent them from carrying out their legitimate constitutional responsibility, SERAP lawyers Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, Kolawole Oluwadare, and Valentina Adegoke, argued. The withdrawal of the accreditation tags of these journalists directly violates media freedom and human rights including access to information and the right to participation. It would have a significant chilling effect on newsgathering and reporting functions, and may lead to self-censorship. The withdrawal of the accreditations of the journalists would construct barriers between Nigerians and certain information about the operations of their government, something which they have a constitutional right to receive. Media freedom, access to information and the right to participation are necessary for the maintenance of an open and accountable government. These freedoms are so fundamental in a democracy that they trump any vague grounds of security concerns and overcrowding of the press gallery area. According to reports, the Federal Government on 18 August 2023 withdrew the accreditation tags of some 25 journalists and media houses from covering activities at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The banned journalists reportedly include those from Vanguard newspaper; Galaxy TV; Ben TV; MITV; ITV Abuja; PromptNews, ONTV, and Liberty. Other media personnel affected by the withdrawal are mostly reporters and cameramen from broadcast, print, and online media outlets. Under section 22 of the Nigerian Constitution, the mass media including the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people. Section 14(2)(c) of the Constitution provides that the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. Similarly, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights provides that, Every individual shall have the right to receive information. Every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinions. Article 13 of the Charter also provides that, Every citizen shall have the right to participate freely in the government of his country. Every citizen shall have the right of equal access to the public service of his country. Every individual shall have the right of access to public property and services. Articles 19 and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights contain similar provisions, the suit added. However, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has promised to improve medical services in all hospitals by treating medical doctors under the FCT Administration with humanity. According to a statement signed by Freda Aideyan, the Ministers assistant Director of Information, the minister made this known during a meeting with medical unions. Wike, who was represented by Mariya Mahmoud, Minister of State for the FCT, said the recent circular of the eight-year tenure retirement was a source of concern but that the administration would investigate the matter thoroughly. According to the minister, the eight years impacted more than just the medical sector. We have a guideline that exempted the medical doctors from the circular, so we need to have a backup document to speak on the matter. I will have to meet with the heads of departments, stakeholders, and other sectors concerning recalling the letter, and I assure you that we will do our best and come out with something good, she said. Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), FCT chapter, Ugwuanyi Charles, said the union appealed to the minister to look into the letter. READ ALSO: PDP Wins All 18 LGAs In Edo Council Election (Full Results) The removal of some of the Hospital consultants will affect those available and cause a great burnout in our hospital, he said. On his part, Musa Emmanuel, Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council Association of Nigeria (MD-CAN) FCTA chapter, explained that the rules were not followed correctly and that the retirement was done by people who did not know the rules or chose to ignore them. The FCTA, Medical Health Care services are accessible and affordable to everyone, but the retirement will affect the sector greatly, the letter is worrisome, he added. On July 27, the office of the Head of Civil Service issued a circular addressed to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to ensure compliance with the revised public service rules (PSR). The memo was also sent to permanent secretaries, the accountant-general of the federation, the auditor-general for the federation, and heads of the extra-ministerial department, informing them of the revised rules. Part of the rules require that directors in the civil service, who have spent eight years, should proceed on immediate retirement. DETROIT A 46% pay raise. A 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay. A restoration of traditional pensions. The demands that a more combative United Auto Workers union has pressed on General Motors, Stellantis and Ford demands that even the UAWs own president calls audacious are edging it closer to a strike when its contract ends Sept. 14. The automakers, which are making billions in profits, have dismissed the UAWs wish list. They argue that its demands are unrealistic at a time of fierce competition from Tesla and lower-wage foreign automakers as the world shifts from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. The wide gulf between the sides could mean a strike against one or more of the automakers, which could send already-inflated vehicle prices even higher. A potential strike by 146,000 UAW members comes against the backdrop of increasingly emboldened U.S. unions of all kinds. The number of strikes and threatened strikes is growing, involving Hollywood actors and writers, sizable settlements with railroads and major concessions by corporate giants like UPS. Advertisement Shawn Fain, who won the UAWs presidency this spring in the first direct election by members, has set high expectations and assured union members that they can achieve significant gains if they are willing to walk picket lines. In a speech to a Labor Day parade crowd in Detroit on Monday, Fain said that if the companies dont come up with a fair contract, come Sept. 14, were going to take action to get it by any means necessary. Fain has characterized the contract talks with Detroit automakers as a form of war between billionaires and ordinary middle-class workers. Last month, in an act of showmanship during a Facebook Live event, Fain condemned a contract proposal from Stellantis as trash and tossed a copy of it into a wastebasket, where it belongs, he said. Over the past decade, the Detroit Three have emerged as robust profit-makers. Theyve collectively posted net income of $164 billion over the past decade, $20 billion of it this year. The CEOs of all three major automakers earn multiple millions in annual compensation. Speaking last month to Ford workers at a plant in Louisville, Kentucky, Fain complained about one standard for the corporate class and another for ordinary workers. They get out-of-control salaries, he said. They get pensions they dont even need. They get top-rate health care. They work whatever schedule they want. The majority of our members do not get a pension nowadays. Its crazy. We get substandard health care. We dont get to work remotely. UAW members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize its leaders to call a strike. So, too, have Canadian auto workers, whose contracts end four days later and who have designated Ford as their target. The UAW hasnt said whether it will select one target automaker. It could strike all three, though doing so could deplete the unions strike fund in under three months. On the other hand, if a strike lasted even just 10 days, it would cost the three automakers nearly a billion dollars, the Anderson Economic Group has calculated. During a 40-day UAW strike in 2019, GM alone lost $3.6 billion. Last week, the union filed charges of unfair labor practices against Stellantis and GM, which it said have yet to offer counterproposals. As for Ford, Fain asserted that its response, by rejecting most of the unions demands, insults our very worth. All three automakers have countered that the unions charges are baseless and that theyre seeking a fair deal that would allow them to invest in the future. Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, suggested that the strong U.S. job market and the companies outsize profits have given Fain leverage in negotiations. In addition, he noted, the automakers are poised to release a slew of new electric vehicles that would be delayed by a strike. And they have only a limited supply of vehicles to withstand a prolonged walkout. They are vulnerable, Masters said. The question really is, he said, are the parties willing to move on some of these things at the table? That hasnt been evident yet. Even Fain has described the unions proposals as audacious in demanding the restoration of traditional defined-benefit pensions for new hires; an end to tiers of wages; pension increases for retirees; and perhaps boldest of all a 32-hour week for 40 hours of pay. Currently, UAW workers who were hired after 2007 dont receive defined-benefit pensions. Their health benefits are less generous, too. For years, the union gave up general pay raises and lost cost-of-living wage increases to help the companies control costs. Though top-scale assembly workers earn $32.32 an hour, temporary workers start at just under $17. Still, full-time workers have received profit-sharing checks ranging this year from $9,716 at Ford to $14,760 at Stellantis. At Detroits Labor Day Parade, workers said a strike appears likely now. Jason Craig, a worker at a Stellantis parts warehouse near Detroit, said his company appears most likely to be the strike target, but he said the union might go to Ford because it seems more family-oriented. Fain reiterated Monday that all three companies remain strike targets. Perhaps the biggest issue blocking a contract agreement is union representation at 10 EV battery plants that the companies have proposed. Most of these plants are joint ventures with South Korean battery makers, which want to pay less. These battery workers deserve the same wage and salary standards that generations of auto workers have fought for, Fain told members. The union fears that because EVs are simpler to build, with fewer moving parts, fewer workers will be needed to assemble them. In addition, workers at combustion engine and transmission plants will likely lose jobs in the transition; theyll need a place to go. Fain, a 54-year-old electrician who came out of a Chrysler factory in Kokomo, Indiana, is among several labor leaders across the economy who have been escalating their demands and flexing their muscles. So far this year, 247 strikes have occurred involving 341,000 workers the most since Cornell University began tracking strikes in 2021, though still well below the numbers during the 1970s and 1980s. Masters suggested that the automakers wouldnt be able to quickly replace striking workers. The tight job market, diminished interest in manufacturing jobs and comparatively modest wages would make it difficult to hire enough workers. Some auto workers regard the UPS contract, with a $49-an-hour top wage for experienced drivers, as a benchmark for their negotiations. Others say theyre just hoping to get near that figure. But automakers say a generous settlement would stick them with costs far above their competitors just as they start producing more EVs. The inability to bring Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, Volkswagen, Honda and Toyota factories into the union has weakened the UAWs leverage, said Harry Katz, a labor professor at Cornell. If you include the value of their benefits, workers at the Detroit 3 automakers receive around $60 an hour. The corresponding figure at foreign-based automakers with U.S. factories is just $40 to $45, Katz said. Much of the disparity reflects pensions and health care. If the Detroit companies end up with higher labor costs, theyll pass them on to consumers, making vehicles more expensive, said Sam Fiorani, an analyst with AutoForecast Solutions, a consulting firm. More than half of the vehicles built in the U.S. are in nonunion plants, he said. So if you raise the price to build a unionized vehicle, you could price yourself out of competition with vehicles already built in North America. A strike of more than a couple of weeks would reduce still-tight supplies of vehicles on Detroit automakers dealer lots. With demand still strong, prices would rise. The UAWs members are reminding management that management cant operate those factories without a settlement, Katz said. Masters and Katz say theres still time to settle without a strike. Katz predicts a settlement short of UPS numbers, possibly with 3% general pay raises plus cost-of-living adjustments, increased company contributions to 401(k) accounts for newer workers and faster transitions to top pay. That said, Katz suggested, Fain has to back up his tough talk: Hes got to prove himself. Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania. Read more As the fall semester gets underway on college campuses, as many as 750,000 undergraduates will be a part of fraternity and sorority life. Its a decision that comes with benefits and costs. One recent Temple University graduate joined her sorority in her sophomore year at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when she was feeling lonely and isolated. Her dues ranged from around $200 a semester during COVID, she said, to about $380 after in-person gatherings resumed her junior year. The money, paid by her parents, went toward tickets to formal dances, as well as costs incurred by her sororitys national headquarters, and T-shirts and other clothes that members wore for events such as recruitment, she said. Advertisement Despite Greek lifes issues, including a history of sexual assault and racism in some organizations, this 2023 graduate who asked not to be named so as to not be associated with negative aspects said the pros of her experience made the nearly $2,000 total in fees worthwhile. She made friends she believes shell have for life, and advanced to a leadership position, which gave her confidence, improved her public-speaking skills, and helped her secure internships and her first job. The thing with sorority life was we always said you get out what you put in, she said. I put in a lot of time and energy. On average, Greek life participation at U.S. colleges costs between $1,000 and $4,750 per semester, according to personal finance website Bankrate, though the exact price differs depending on university and Greek organization. In the Philadelphia area, however, the cost skews lower, ranging from a couple hundred dollars to around $1,300. Here are the basics on what Philadelphia-area fraternities and sororities charge members. How much does it cost to be in a fraternity or sorority? Chapter dues and other membership fees can range from $60 to $1,250 a semester. Locally, most colleges dont provide a breakdown of Greek life costs. Neither Drexel University, Temple University, Penn State University, nor Villanova University provide public estimates on their Greek life websites. At the University of Pennsylvania, fraternity members who dont live in fraternity housing pay a minimum of $544 and a maximum of $1,250 a semester, while sorority members who dont live in Greek housing pay between $470 and $1,326 a semester. U.S. News estimates about 20% of male-identifying students at Penn are in fraternities. At Temple, where Greek life is not as prevalent, active members pay on average $265 per semester toward their membership, university spokesperson Stephen Orbanek said. Membership fees range from $60 to $650 depending on the organization, he added. At Penn State, sorority fees each semester range from $200 to $600 a semester. How much does it cost to join a fraternity or sorority? The cost for the first semester of membership is usually steeper. At Penn, for example, fraternity new-member dues range from $325 to $1,200 a semester, while returning members pay $200 to $1,000. New sorority member dues range from $575 to $931 a semester, also more than the $250 to $709 that returning members pay. How much does it cost to live in fraternity or sorority housing? Not all colleges have fraternity or sorority housing, and the costs vary. At Penn, a semesters rent in a fraternity house is $4,689 to $5,930, as well as a $250 to $600 security deposit. Sorority members pay $4,262 to $5,439 for housing, plus a $300 to $500 deposit. That means Penn Greek life members are actually paying a price similar to or less than the universitys annual rate for on-campus housing, which is either $12,166 or $15,958 this year depending on room type. How much does fraternity and sorority membership cost in total? Locally, the total bill can be anywhere from $500 to more than $10,000 for four years of membership, excluding housing costs. Is financial aid available? Yes. But its not through the university financial aid office, since Greek life costs are usually billed separately. Scholarships are available, but you should contact your potential chapter directly for specific information about what is offered and how to apply. Is Greek life worth the cost? It depends whom you ask. Phoebe Galbraith, 30, says yes. With help from her parents, she paid more than $1,500 a semester for membership in Alpha Xi Delta at Boise State University from 2012 to 2016. A lot of times you heard the joke of, Well, you pay for your friends when you join Greek life, said Galbraith, who now lives in South Philadelphia. You dont. Those friendships are going to form regardless. All of my bridesmaids except for one, I met through sorority life. Frustration with the political process can lead many otherwise rational people to look for a magic solution to important problems. We saw this earlier this year in the one weird trick to raise the debt ceiling a fanciful proposal in some circles to mint a trillion-dollar coin and spend all our problems away. Now we are seeing it again in the suggestion by serious legal scholars that states use the 14th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from the ballot in 2024 because of his role in encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment says that anyone who shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof is prohibited from holding public office again. What this meant when it was written in 1866 is not hard to guess: If you were a state or federal official who supported the Confederacy in any meaningful way, you were barred from office. The reasoning is understandable people who had just broken their oaths to the Constitution should not have been put right back in charge of the government. Advertisement READ MORE: Between Bidens baggage and Trumps indictments, the country needs a fresh start | Kyle Sammin However, Congress also allowed for that restriction to be removed by a two-thirds vote of each house. With an eye toward sectional reconciliation, legislators did exactly that in the Amnesty Act of 1872, which allowed all but the highest-ranking rebels to have their rights restored. Last month, former federal judge J. Michael Luttig and law professor Laurence H. Tribe argued in an essay in the Atlantic that this provision applies to Trump every bit as much as it applied to Jefferson Davis. They cite as evidence a much longer treatment of the question by professors William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen in a forthcoming law review article. Its true that the amendments authors did not only exclude rebels from the war that ended a year earlier; they wrote generic language that covered any insurrection or rebellion against the United States. If a new civil war or revolution were to start tomorrow, this text would apply. So, case closed? Not really. As with every idea, execution is key, and heres where the Section 3 gang runs into trouble. In 1866, everyone knew who had fought for the Confederacy (they had uniforms and everything). Ex-rebels did not deny what they had done. Their culpability was not disputed. Today, who counts as a rebel is less obvious. Should any candidate be removed from a ballot in any state because some voter accuses him of being a rebel or insurrectionist? That is essentially what Luttig and Tribe suggest, with all the inevitable court challenges that would follow. When some state official disqualifies Trump from appearing on a ballot or declares him eligible, that determination will assuredly be challenged in court, they write. And such a case will inevitably land before the Supreme Court, where it will in turn test the judiciarys ability to disentangle constitutional interpretation from political temptation. Does that sound like a reasonable way to run an election? I hesitate to say that there is a potential for abuse. It would be more accurate to say I guarantee this process would be abused. Some voters would challenge Trump in every state but some other voters would challenge Biden in all 50, too. Every candidate would face a passel of mostly frivolous lawsuits. Even if you think Trump is an insurrectionist, the flaws of this process should be obvious. Fortunately, Congress in 1866 told us who would write the rules to enforce the 14th Amendment: itself. Section 5 of that same amendment is very clear: The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. If Congress wants to create a procedure to preclear all candidates loyalty credentials, it can do so but it never has. (Congress invoked it once on an ad hoc basis in 1919, to deny a House seat to a socialist who opposed American participation in World War I.) READ MORE: FBI caused lasting harm to our nation with Donald Trump investigation | Kyle Sammin The authors claim Section 3 is self-executing and waive away the only case on point (which says the opposite) as poorly reasoned. This gets us fully out of the legal mainstream and into hot-take territory. This strained reading bears a striking resemblance to the arguments another law professor, John Eastman, pushed in the days leading up to Jan. 6. Eastman convinced Trump that because the 12th Amendment gives the vice president the duty to preside over the electoral vote count, Mike Pence thereby had the power to accept or reject ballots according to his own judgment. Pence knew that was a dishonest reading of the text, a way for Trump to get what he wanted despite losing the election. Its a lot like the motivated reasoning of the Section 3 crowd if you cant beat Trump, disqualify him! The 2020 election was not stolen, but this plan would ensure that the 2024 contest would be. The best answer to Luttig, Tribe, Eastman, and the rest is that the way to keep unsavory characters from office is to defeat them at the polls. That, not arcane legal conspiracies, is what democracy looks like. When he was running for City Council in 2011, David Oh was criticized for misrepresenting his military service and apologized for inaccurately claiming that he was a member of the Green Berets, the Armys elite special operations force known for their distinctive headwear. But if you ask him today, Oh will tell you a different story. I did serve in the Special Forces. I did serve in the Green Berets, Oh said in a recent interview. The issue is that I was not Special Forces-qualified at the time. Oh went on to win three terms in Council after publicly admitting he wasnt in the Green Berets, seemingly putting the issue behind him. But now that he is the GOP nominee for mayor, Oh is once again pitching his biography to voters, including his military service as a member of the Army National Guard 20th Special Forces Group. Advertisement READ MORE: David Oh to face Cherelle Parker in challenge to Phillys Democratic dominance as the GOP nominee for mayor Part of Ohs argument is that, although he never completed the qualification course that is required to join the ranks of the Green Berets, he was issued a beret that was green. At the time that I served, we were all assigned a green beret, and we were generally called a Green Beret, Oh said. I served in a Green Beret unit without being Special Forces-qualified. For those who are undoubtedly Green Berets, Ohs argument doesnt hold up, said Steve Antson, an investigator with Guardians of the Green Beret, an organization that examines public figures claims about being in the elite unit. Wearing the hat doesnt make you a Green Beret. Everybody wore the green beret at some time, even cooks, Antson said, referring to the Armys varying sartorial standards over the years. In response to an Inquirer request, Antson confirmed through military records that Oh enrolled in the initial Special Forces Assessment and Selection course, but was not selected to continue on to the Special Forces Qualification Course, or Q Course, the famously long and grueling test that is required to become a Green Beret. He wasnt even close, Antson said. As a Republican in deep-blue Philadelphia, Oh faces long odds in the Nov. 7 general election against Democratic nominee Cherelle Parker. While on Council, he championed the interests of veterans and counts many among his most loyal supporters. What people find difficult to understand through all of this is that I have Green Berets and other Special Forces folks supporting me throughout my political career, he said. At the end of the day, the simple thing is that I did serve. David Ohs military record In 1988, Oh resigned from the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office to enlist in the Army. He went to the Army Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the National Guard, stationed in Maryland. Ohs National Guard group is part of the Special Forces, which are trained to engage in nonconventional tactics such as small targeted raids and counterterrorism. But unlike active-duty Special Forces groups, members of Ohs 20th Group are not required to pass the Q Course. In 1991, the United States launched Operation Desert Storm, or the first Gulf War, and Ohs unit was put on active duty. At that time, Oh was transferred to Fort Liberty, then known as Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, where he took the SFAS and was not selected for the Q Course. He was eligible to retake the SFAS, but did not. Oh did not see combat, was honorably discharged in 1992, and returned to his law career. Ohs misrepresentations Oh ran for Council unsuccessfully in 2003 and 2007 before winning a seat in the 2011 election. In his first two runs, Oh wrote on his campaign website, I am proud to have served my country as an officer in U.S. Army Special Forces (the Green Berets). In 2011, his website included a quote from a supporter saying, David Oh served his country in the Green Berets. After the Philadelphia Daily News reported in August 2011 that his former commander objected to how Oh characterized his service, Oh initially maintained that he had the right to call himself a Green Beret. But after a deluge of criticism from veterans, he published full-page newspaper ads to apologize. I will return any contributions made to my campaign under the misrepresentation that I was Special Forces, a Green Beret or a Special Forces Officer, Oh wrote in the ads. Though I served in the 20th Special Forces Group, I was none of those things. Now, Oh is back to saying he was a Green Beret. For clarification, I was not Special Forces-qualified during the time I served in the Green Berets, he said in the recent interview. READ MORE: Mystery shrouds the Latino Town Hall that featured mayoral candidate David Oh this week Oh also curiously misstated the reason that he apologized in 2011, saying that his error was that he failed to correct a speaker who introduced him at an event during that campaign. What did I apologize about? Oh said. Somebody called me a Green Beret in the eight people introducing me, and I did not refute that. Oh declined a request for a follow-up interview. False claims about Green Beret service are common For Antson, Ohs story is nothing new. Guardians of the Green Beret has disproven scores of claims from people who falsely said they had served in the Green Berets. Antson said its common for people to falsely claim they were in one of the militarys more selective special operations units, such as the Green Berets, the Navy SEALs, the Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance, or Air Force Pararescue, known as PJs for para-jumpers. They claim to be the more elite forces, he said. We never see them exposing people who claim to be cooks and motor pool and clerks, although the Army needs every job there is. Antson said its also common for those making false claims to be people who attempted to join special operations forces or were exposed to them, perhaps by serving on the same base with such a unit. A lot of them tend to be associated somehow with Special Forces, he said. They know how to talk the language and they know what the steps are going through the pipeline, so they can answer questions better than others not even associated with it. Antson said that, despite Ohs arguments, there is no dispute over the status of anyone who didnt complete the training. When you graduate the Q Course, thats when you become a Green Beret, he said. The centrality of the qualification process is even written into the lyrics of Ballad of the Green Berets, the units anthem: One hundred men will test today, but only three win the Green Beret. Staff writer Chris Brennan contributed to this article. OSKALOOSA, Iowa Tim Scott seldom specifically brings up race in Iowa. Nor does the Republican presidential candidate have to. He is often the only Black person at his campaign events in the state. The South Carolina senator introduces himself as the product of early-life mentors who taught him not to be bitter. When race comes up, he often says the United States is not fundamentally racist. We don't have Black poverty or white poverty. We have poverty, he told an all-white audience Thursday in Oskaloosa after being asked about race. He earlier had spoken about his poor Southern upbringing and his late grandfather, born into Jim Crow-era South Carolina. Advertisement The brilliance of this nation is that we keep moving forward, even though there are lots of forces who want us to think the problem is that someone doesn't look like you, Scott said. READ MORE: Who won the first GOP debate? Our Opinion staff weighs in. Scott, the only Black GOP presidential candidate campaigning aggressively in the early-voting state, is betting that his upbeat message of personal responsibility, wrapped in the Christian faith he comfortably cites, is a good fit for Iowa Republicans who might split from former President Donald Trump. So far, Scott and others in the White House race remain far behind Trump, and the senator did not achieve a breakout moment during the first GOP presidential debate. Scott has been criticized by scholars who say his rejection of systemic racism, especially in light of the recent racist killings in Florida, plays down larger social and political obstacles facing African Americans. But dozens of Iowa Republicans interviewed over the past several months say his position, common in the 2024 GOP field, resonates more coming from Scott than from others. It definitely means more from him," said Mary Rozenboom, a 77-year-old retired hospital employee from Oskaloosa who is white. "He's saying, This is me. Im Black. But I succeeded because I worked hard, and those opportunities remain in America.'" Recent polls suggest Scotts support in the state hovering around 1 in 10 among likely participants in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses, still four months away. That is significantly behind Trump and slightly behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Still, it suggests Scott's position in Iowa is slightly stronger than it is nationally, where his support in most recent polls hovers in the low single digits. Scott may have unique advantages among Republican voters on race issues, according to political experts, even if his argument may be out of step with more diverse voters or in a general election. READ MORE: Vivek Ramaswamy drew the most attacks, not everyone wanted to discuss Trump, and other GOP debate takeaways Among voters for Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, just 18% said racism is a very serious problem in U.S. society, compared with 61% of voters for Democratic candidates, according to AP VoteCast data. Hes a Black man who rejects the idea of systemic racism, which is very popular in Republican circles," said Christine Matthews, a national political pollster who has worked for Republican candidates. It absolutely resonates more. But Yohuru Williams, founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, said Scott is deliberately trying to appeal to voters who want to believe that racism is not a serious problem. He's glossing it over and saying hes achieved all these things because hes taken advantage of every opportunity and worked hard, Williams said. It creates this kind of powerful, yet flawed, narrative that its grievance politics on the left that are solely responsible for economic inequality, for continued police brutality, for housing inequality. But it buys him points with that GOP base that says, Finally, someone who sounds like me who is a Black person which proves Im not racist,'" he said. Scott argues that racism is one of many forms of hatred that exist in the U.S. and that American society has improved over time. He was asked to comment this summer on the accusation by Joy Behar, a host of the ABC talk show The View, that he failed to understand systemic racism. I said America is not a racist country, he said. Because its not. He achieved his political rise in South Carolina, once the cradle of the Confederacy. As in Iowa, the Republican primary vote there is vastly white. When he won a seat in the U.S. House in 2010, Scott became the first Black Republican elected to Congress from South Carolina since the 1890s, during an era when white Democrats ousted many Republican officeholders after Reconstruction and disenfranchised Black people through state-sponsored violence, including lynching. Scott won the House primary by beating Paul Thurmond, the son of longtime South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, a segregationist who fought against civil rights legislation. Scott was later appointed to the U.S. Senate and has been reelected twice to six-year terms. "I think it is important that, in the history of eternity, that I had the good fortune of being born in the place where the Civil War started, being elected in the seat that Strom Thurmond used to hold, to be in a position to have this serious conversation that confronts racial outcomes in this nation," he told The Associated Press in 2020. Bonnie Boyle, upon leaving a June event, compared Scott to the late former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Black figures popular among Republicans. I dont think Im prejudiced, but I know a lot of people who are, and I dont think the color of your skin should matter, said Boyle, who is white. Tim Scott says you can rise above the perception that youre stuck, and you can make it, and I like that a lot. Most of the Republican presidential candidates deny the U.S. faces systemic racism. And the study of race in American society has animated core Republican audiences. Several Republican-controlled states have invoked critical race theory in legislation restricting how race can be taught in public schools. GOP lawmakers in some states have also tried to outlaw or defund diversity and equity programs intended to address disparities in racial representation. Scott was a key spokesman for the party and involved in legislation in Congress aimed at reducing police violence after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by Minneapolis police in May 2020. The senator seldom mentions that legislative work in Iowa. The legislation would have, among other measures, established a commission to study race and law enforcement. Republicans and Democrats were unable to reach a compromise package and legislative efforts fell apart. Already in this campaign, Scott has faced unique expectations to respond when Florida issued new state education guidelines on slavery. DeSantis repeatedly defended the guidelines, which require teachers to instruct students that enslaved people learned skills "could be applied for their personal benefit." What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating, Scott told reporters in Iowa. So I would hope that every person in our country and certainly running for president would appreciate that. Scotts success has not come by ignoring America's legacy of slavery and segregation, said Stephen Gilchrist, a Black man who is a Republican and chairman and CEO of the South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce. He tries to live up to the creed of Dr. Martin Luther King, where we shouldnt be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character, said Gilchrist, who has not endorsed a candidate for 2024. Hes inspired many of us who are African American Republicans. But Frederick Gooding Jr., an African American studies professor at Texas Christian University, said untold more Black Americans have worked just as hard as Scott but struggled against invisible barriers. He did work hard, he said. But its not quite that simplistic. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaking at a news conference at Impact Services in Philadelphia in April. Read more HARRISBURG Within the first few weeks of Gov. Josh Shapiros administration, the new Democratic governor promised to make Pennsylvania more friendly for businesses and workers. Since then, Shapiros administration has made significant progress, after completing the first-ever catalog of all 2,400 state permits, certificates, licenses, and other necessary filings to begin working or start a business in the state. The administration is boasting of a number of successes in cutting wait lists, backlogs, and wait times by the thousands for different government approvals and services. Governor Shapiro promised to make state government work efficiently and effectively, and only seven months into his administration, hes already making good on that promise, said Will Simons, a spokesperson for Shapiro, in a statement. Advertisement Heres a look at four ways the administration has cut through red tape. Teaching certificates are faster As Pennsylvania and states nationally struggle with a teacher shortage, the Department of Education was able to significantly speed up its certification process. Nearly 10,000 teachers have left their jobs since the start of the 2021-22 school year, and Pennsylvania issued its lowest-ever number of teaching certificates last year. To help ease one of the challenges to begin teaching, the Department of Education was able to cut application wait times down from 10 weeks to one to three weeks, the department announced in July. The department hired four new full-time employees, streamlined the teacher certification website, and now allows teacher applicants to track their application as it progresses, according to the department. In Pennsylvania, its a pretty rigorous process to obtain your teacher certification, said Chris Lillienthal, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania School Education Association. Certainly, processing those applications on a more timely basis ... is a great step forward. More Medicaid providers The Department of Human Services announced in June that it completely addressed a backlog of more than 35,000 Medicaid provider applications. Providers are required to get state approval to provide services to the states 3.7 million Medicaid enrollees. Ending the backlog allows more providers to give necessary care to Pennsylvania residents. Pennsylvania is fortunate to have so many caring, high-quality health care providers and professionals who want to be part of the Medicaid program and care for some of our most vulnerable friends, neighbors, and loved ones, said Department of Human Services Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh in a news release. Easier to file for a birth certificate changes or form a charity In the Department of Health, a backlog of 6,200 birth certificate amendment requests was entirely addressed by July. The Department of State, which is responsible for a lot of the states licensing as the overseer of each industrys state board, said it had cut the wait times for businesses and charities after filing from eight weeks down to only two days. More challenges than just red tape Some industries, like public education, say they still need a lot more help than just cutting down on bureaucratic red tape. The Pennsylvania State Education Association has a list of proposals it believes will help address the states teacher shortage, including a $10 million student-teacher stipend program thats currently held up in final state budget negotiations. The state certification and many college teaching degrees require aspiring teachers to complete a 12-week student-teacher program, which is traditionally unpaid. Approximately $1.1 billion in programs approved in the state budget are on hold until additional legislative language is approved by the state House and Senate. The Senate Republican version cut out the teachers stipend, one of Democrats priorities, while negotiations stalled. Whats next The Shapiro administration said theres still more work to be done to make the state government more accessible. One area where theyre hoping to improve this: moving more environmental applications online. Only about 3% of permit and license applications are submitted online, according to the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience, which Shapiro created earlier this year to make more government processes available online. The Shapiro Administration will continue to improve state government permitting, licensing, and certification processes so Pennsylvanians can get the answers they deserve in a timely and consistent manner, added Shapiro spokesperson Simons. Shapiro will visit Philadelphia on Tuesday to sign an executive order to ensure small businesses and small diverse businesses can access the state procurement process for state contracts. The administration also plans to implement its money-back guarantee for any applicant who doesnt get their permit, license, or application approved by a state deadline. That will begin in November, a spokesperson said. Insurance companies have seen a range of new industry rules and standards come into force in recent years, many as a result of the Hayne Royal Commission. Some industry experts say two new regulations, in particular, are very significant for Australias financial services sector, including insurers. Crystal and Williams well-deserved promotions reinforce the caliber and depth of our leadership team at Arch Re, said Maamoun Rajeh, chairman and CEO of Arch Worldwide Reinsurance Group. We take great pride in our underwriting acumen, and I know they will be incredible stewards of the underwriting legacy that is well established at Arch Re Ltd. Matt and Pierre have been instrumental in building our operations in both Bermuda and Europe, and Im delighted they will once again apply their talents and experience to help our organization realize its full potential. We have incredible opportunities in front of us at Arch Re, and Im looking forward to whats next. Smaller nations, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Greece, have openly acknowledged their offensive cyber capabilities, while larger nations such as the US, UK, and Australia have reported conducting offensive cyber operations. Moreover, countries like North Korea, Russia, and Iran have engaged in catastrophic offensive cyber operations with significant impacts. The use of offensive cyber weapons by various nations is projected to drive the growth of the market throughout the forecast period. California regulators approved an expansion that will allow two rival robotaxi services to operate throughout San Francisco at all hours, despite safety worries spurred by recurring problems with unexpected stops and other erratic behavior. The states Public Utilities Commission voted to approve rival services from Cruise and Waymo to operate around-the-clock service. It will make San Francisco first major U.S. city with two fleets of driverless vehicles competing for passengers against ride-hailing and taxi services dependent on humans to operate the cars. It is a distinction that San Francisco officials didnt want, largely because of the headaches that Cruise and Waymo have been causing in the city while testing their robotaxis on a restricted basis during the past year. But it ended in a major victory for Cruise a subsidiary of General Motors and Waymo a spinoff from a secret project at Google after spending years and billions of dollars honing a technology that they believe will revolutionize transportation. Both companies view approval of their San Francisco expansions as a major springboard to launching similar services in other congested cities that would benefit from a technology that they contend will be more reliable, convenient and cheaper than ride-hailing and taxi services reliant on human drivers. During a public PUC meeting, many speakers derided the robotaxis as nuisances at best and dangerous menaces at worst. Others vented frustration about San Francisco being transformed into the equivalent of an ant farm for haphazard experimentation. Supporters of the robotaxis also stepped up to defend the technology as a leap forward that will keep San Francisco on the cutting edge of technology, while helping more disabled people who are unable to drive to get around town and reducing the risks from drunk driving. Waymo says there is so much interest in its robotaxis that it has already built up a waiting list of more than 100,000 people vying to take a driverless ride. The rising fears about the safety of the robotaxis had come into sharper focus during a preliminary hearing that included a sobering appearance by San Francisco Fire Department Chief Jeanine Nicholson, who warned regulators that the robotaxis had been repeatedly undermining firefighters ability to respond to emergencies. The Public Utilities Commission still decided to approve the expansion by a 3-1 vote. Both Cruise and Waymo cited their unblemished safety records as proof their robotaxis are less dangerous than vehicles operated by people who can be distracted, intoxicated or just lousy drivers. Cruise has been currently testing 300 robotaxis during the day when it can only give rides for free, and 100 robotaxis at night when it has been allowed to charge for rides in less congested parts of San Francisco for the past 14 months. Waymo has been operating about 100 of the 250 robotaxis it has available to give free rides to volunteers and employees throughout San Francisco. But the proposed San Francisco expansion has been facing increasingly staunch resistance. In a May 31 letter urging state regulators to continue to restrict the operations of Cruise and Waymo, San Francisco transportation officials asserted the driverless vehicles rely on a developmental technology that is not ready for unconstrainted commercial deployment. In a June 22 letter, the president of the union for San Francisco police officers warned of potentially dire consequences if Cruise and Waymo are allowed to expand throughout the city. Tracy McCray, the union president, cited a robotaxi obstructing emergency vehicles responding to a recent mass shooting that injured nine = as an example of how the technology could imperil the public. While we all applaud advancements in technology, we must not be in such a rush that we forget the human element and the effects such technology unchecked can cause in dangerous situations, McCray wrote. Unless Cruise and Waymo are able to fix the problems that have been cropping up in their robotaxis, the San Francisco expansion could turn out to be a pyrrhic victory, warned Nico Larco, director of the University of Oregons Urbanism Next Center. There is a real public sentiment risk here, Larco said. If they dont figure some of these things out, there will be growing frustration from the general public. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Numbers Oklahoma Cyber threats are more pervasive than ever and growing. Check Point Softwares Cyber Attack Trends: 2022 Mid-Year Report noted that cyberattacks intensified by 42% in the first half of 2022. Cybercrimes in the United States alone were responsible for over $4 billion in losses in 2022, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Even with this staggering data, many companies have failed to recognize just how serious and widespread cyberattacks are and their far-reaching ramifications. Beyond the loss of proprietary company data, there is the compromise of customers and employees sensitive personal information, productivity losses, costs incurred to remediate a breach, reputational damage, and loss of customer confidence. If an organization is found to have been non-compliant with cybersecurity laws and regulations, hefty fines may also result. For insurance brokers and agents, educating their clients regarding todays perilous cyber landscape and what an effective cybersecurity program consists of, is a way to demonstrate the value-add expected of a trusted advisor. Todays Cyber Landscape Following the 1,802 data breach cyberattacks in the U.S. in 2022 as reported by Statista, in which 422.14 million individuals were affected, 2023 continues with growing cyberattacks and new threats. Ransomware attacks remain the number one threat and now we are seeing cybercriminals target entire nations. Cloud supply chain attacks are also on the rise, most notably, those involving open-source communities. Other top cyberattacks projected for 2023 include: mobile device, phishing/spear phishing, crypto jacking, state-sponsored, Internet of Things (IoT), social engineering/social media, smart medical device, cyber-physical/infrastructure, and denial of service attacks. Further increasing our vulnerability to cyberattacks are todays hybrid and remote working environments. Where most organizations remain most vulnerable is in their lack of endpoint protection. An endpoint is any physical or virtual device that is connected to an organizations Information Technology (IT) network (e.g., PCs, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, routers, and printers). With more people working remotely or in a hybrid model, the number of endpoints has significantly increased. Open ports, created by unpatched software, misconfigured applications, and weak credentials, also increase an organizations likelihood of experiencing a cyberattack. New Technologies and Threats Cyber criminals are also gaining ground in their nefarious deeds by relying on new technologies. One example is the post-exploitation framework designed to secretly deploy ransomware within enterprises. The framework, EXFILTRATOR-22 (EX-220), is capable of establishing a reverse shell with elevated privileges, uploading/downloading files, logging keystrokes, and launching ransomware to encrypt files. It can also start live Virtual Network Computing (VNC) sessions through which criminals can gain real-time access to the network. iPhone users are at risk for a new cyber threat, which police stations nationwide are reporting. Cyber criminals are exploiting the iPhones passcode feature by observing users tap their passcodes, which are usually just several digits. Then, they apply that information to access their devices. Once they have access, they change the passcode associated with the iPhones owner, who is then locked out of their account, including all information stored on the iCloud. Cyber criminals can then gain access to the owners financial accounts, health records, and other personal information. In addition to the iPhone platform, another example of a platform being targeted with cyberattacks is Microsoft Office Outlook. These attacks include privilege escalation and remote code execution vulnerability exploitations. In privilege escalation attacks, criminals obtain users authentication credentials without any user interaction and then send malicious messages that trigger an authentication request enabling them to access sensitive information and systems. Remote code attacks enable criminals to execute arbitrary code with the victims privileges to gain remote access to the system. Whats further intensifying cyber threats is the speed at which they are now occurring. Rapid7s 2022 Vulnerability Intelligence Report cited that the time it takes from when a system vulnerability is disclosed and when a cyberattack takes place is decreasing. Its typically a period of seven days, representing a 12% and 87% increase in the exploitation speed timeframe in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Given todays cybercrime environment and increased threats, federal and state governments are stepping up their efforts to fight cybercrimes. Government Actions For many years now, federal and state governments have taken measures to protect sensitive personal information. Numerous laws and industry standards have been enacted for this purpose. Among them are: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) designed to ensure that ensures the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of personal health information (PHI). Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) encompassing various regulatory standards intended to ensure that all organizations maintain a secure environment for credit card information. New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Cybersecurity Regulation (23 NYCCR 500), a regulation introduced by the New York State Department of Financial Services which establishes cybersecurity requirements for financial service providers. System and Organization Control 2 (SOC 2) SOC 2, a voluntary compliance standard for service organizations developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) which specifies how organizations should manage customer data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a regulation of the European Union (EU) which sets forth standards for organizations located in or outside of the EU that collect data or target individuals in the EU. The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a U.S. federal law designed to ensure that students educational records are protected and private, which applies to all educational institutions that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which promotes innovation, industry competitiveness and quality of life with the advancements of standards and technology, and which has issued the NIST 800-53 Risk Management Framework providing guidelines to support and manage information security systems, and the NIST 800-161 Supply Chain Risk Management Framework. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), a California law developed to provide consumers more control over the data that organizations collect about them. Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CCMC), which imposes stringent cybersecurity measures on certain organizations that handle controlled unclassified information and to safeguard sensitive information. New York Shield Act, which strengthened New Yorks prior 2005 Information Security Breach and Notification Act by expanding the types of private information companies must provide consumer notice of if a data breach occurs. More recently, the Biden Administration unveiled its U.S. National Cybersecurity Strategy, developed by the Office of the National Cyber Director. Already underway, this plan is introducing more aggressive liabilities for those entities that fail to take reasonable precautions to secure their software. In addition, the new strategy authorizes law enforcement and intelligence agencies to hack into the networks of foreign entities to prevent cyberattacks or retaliation against advanced persistent threat (APT) campaigns. This strategy is intended to serve as a preemptive strike using disrupt and dismantle tactics against hostile networks of cybercriminals and adversarial foreign governments and disabling perceived threats to national security or public safety. Insurance Carriers Given the high cost of cyber breach claims, insurance companies are taking a much harder look at potential cybersecurity insurance policy holders. NetDiligences Cyber Claims Study 2021, which reviewed cyber incidents occurring between 2016 and 2020, found the average cost to an insurer for a small and medium sized enterprises breach is $145,000. For large companies, the average costs can rise to $10 million. With these high-cost claims, insurers are establishing baseline criteria, which they expect organizations to meet before they will consider issuing a cybersecurity policy. They include a proactive and consistent approach to managing cyber risks: multifactor authentication (MFA); comprehensive backup; regular penetration testing and vulnerability assessments; patching; cyber awareness training for employees; and incident response plan. Cybersecurity insurers want to know that an organization is fully committed to cybersecurity and has taken the appropriate steps towards mitigating their risks. The Role of Insurance Advisors Brokers can perform a real value-added service to their clients by raising their awareness of the importance of establishing a sound cybersecurity program. Taking a consultative approach, they can start by asking key questions such as: Are you operating a hybrid IT infrastructure (on-premises and in the cloud)? Are you using common access interfaces (e.g., PowerShell, PsExec, MSI, etc.)? Are you using technologies such as multifactor authentication (MFA) and agentless and proxy less technologies to extend MFA, as well as risk engines that continuously assess IT system usage? Are you triaging MFA requests and using an escalation policy for managing high-risk situations? Do you currently have a comprehensive cybersecurity program in place that includes regular penetration testing (ethical hacking), vulnerability assessments, employee cybersecurity education and training, established cybersecurity policies, and an incident response plan? Once a clients situation has been assessed, insurance professionals should see where they stand in terms of qualifying for a cybersecurity policy. If security measures need to be taken, the client should be encouraged to promptly follow through with the appropriate actions. This is where partnering with a dedicated cybersecurity firm is important. Many companies believe that their managed service provider and/or their internal IT team are qualified to manage the cybersecurity function. But unless those individuals have the essential credentials (e.g., Certified in Risk & Information Systems, Certified Network Security Administrator, Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator, Certified Information Security Systems Auditor, Certified Information Systems Security Professional, Licensed Penetration Tester, Systems Security Certified Practitioner, Certified Security Analyst, etc.) and experience providing cybersecurity services, they are not qualified. And, as the individuals tasked with overseeing IT operations, they are not an objective third-party, which is important to regulators should a breach occur. Cybersecurity Partners When looking for cybersecurity partners, insurance professionals should seek a firm that is not simply a vendor of technologies and services. In addition to having a proven track record and qualified, credentialed staff, the firm should exhibit a level of cybersecurity expertise and serve its clients in an advisory role and not in a transactional role. They should be proactive in supporting an organizations ongoing cybersecurity. That means keeping both their insurance partners, as well as their mutual clients, advised of the latest threats and developments, taking a role in educating and training the clients employees, and developing a program tailored to the clients specific industry, size and threat potential, in addition to supporting their regulatory compliance. The right cybersecurity partner will assume a long-term risk management strategy and not short-term technology fixes. Reporting to an organizations C-level suite, a cybersecurity partner becomes a trusted advisor in the same way that insurance professionals are to their clients. By teaming up with the right cybersecurity partner, insurance professionals will become more proficient in cybersecurity, gaining broader knowledge and in turn, becoming a better resource and advocate for their clients especially when a cyberattack occurs and a claim must be filed. Cause for Optimism Damages stemming from cybercrimes are projected to reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025 according to Cybersecurity Ventures. There is, however, some cause to be optimistic as more organizations recognize that cybersecurity must become embedded in their broader corporate culture. In fact, Gartner analysts reported that by 2026, at least 50% of C-level executives will have performance requirements related to cybersecurity risk built into their employment contracts. Further, according to Gartner by 2025 60% of organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a significant determinant when conducting third-party transactions and business engagements. The tide is turning, and insurance professionals can ride the wave to strong client relationships by taking a proactive and advisory role in the critical area of cybersecurity. Topics Cyber New York As the longest hard market in memory refuses to fade, standard property/casualty carriers are not only continuing to raise prices but also reimagining their books by shedding risks they no longer want. Its affecting large and small commercial lines business and personal lines as well. One expert calls it the niche firming phenomena within segments. Whatever its called, its a hard market unlike any other and the surplus lines industry is playing its part and benefitting. Its a historical hard market in every sense, says Tim Turner, president of Ryan Specialty, chairman and CEO of Ryan Turner Specialty, Ryan Specialtys wholesale brokerage division, and a member of Ryan Specialtys board of directors. Its generating a record-breaking volume of property and casualty business into the non-admitted channel, the E&S channel. Its not just catastrophe-exposed property risks moving into the excess and surplus lines channel. Theres multiple niche firming phenomena inside large property and casualty segments, Turner told Insurance Journal. But its not all large risks moving into E&S small personal lines accounts in catastrophe-exposed regions are also making their way into surplus lines. Hard market insurance conditions are not evident in every line of the insurance business. Most of the general P/C sector remains in the standard market. But the percentage of business thats non-admitted in the wholesale market today is record breaking, Turner said. While that shift is led by catastrophe-prone property its not all wind, flood and wildfire, Turner notes. Its convective storms, its hail and tornadoes at unprecedented levels driving much of the movement also skyrocketing loss costs and jury verdicts in other sectors, such as transportation. According to the 2023 Midyear Report of the U.S. Surplus Lines Service and Stamping Offices (See chart on page 30.), liability (non-professional) premiums in surplus lines increased 26.9% from 2021 to 2022, and property premiums jumped 25.9% during the same period. The Midyear Report also showed substantial increases in surplus lines premium for personal lines. Residential, homeowners and other personal property grew 29.5% from 2021 to 2022. While the majority of property/casualty insurance business remains in the standard market, the amount of business moving into the E&S sector continues to grow and E&S carriers and their wholesale brokers partners dont see an end to that trend anytime soon. The massive growth we saw across the country in the wake of the pandemic might be behind us, but the report demonstrates that the E&S market continues a strong trajectory and will be there to meet the needs of Americans seeking unique insurance solutions, said David Ocasek, CEO of the Surplus Line Association of Illinois, in August. Longest Running Hard Market This hard insurance market cycle is different than others in the past, says John Jennings, CEO and one of the founding members of Jencap Group, who added that its the longest hard market in his 35-plus-year career. [A hard market is defined as an upswing in the insurance market cycle where premiums rise, coverage terms constrict and capacity and/or availability of markets declines.] Ryan Specialtys Turner has worked through three full hard market cycles throughout his 35-plus year career. Patrick Ryan, founder, chairman and CEO of Ryan Specialty, has worked through five hard market cycles, he added. And weve never seen one quite like this, Turner explained. Its the hardest market weve ever seen, and its the most prolonged hard market weve ever seen, he said. Were on unchartered ground. The number one reason that the market continues to see rising rates and limited capacity has to do with pure loss scenarios, underwriting results, and capacity, says Jennings. If you look at all that, and if you look at California and Florida specifically, those are pure underwriting results driven events, he said. Floridas wind and flood, and Californias wildfires, are not going away, he said. The growth in surplus lines business in these two states alone has been dramatic, Jennings added. Personal lines business in those states has become surplus lines business permanently, at least as far as I can see, Jennings said. Its now a question of whether the E&S market can handle that influx, he added. Theres only so much reinsurance out there, he said. Jennings and Turner both feel confident that the surplus lines market can respond but questioned whether that response would be at an acceptable price point to some insureds. You have to wonder at what point can people afford to pay the type of prices that even E&S carriers will need to participate in some of those coverages, he said. In California, personal lines premiums for high-value homes in wildfire prone regions are running in the hundreds of thousands, even million-dollar premiums, he said. The E&S sector is not falling short when it comes to providing the necessary capacity to fill the need, but coverage may come with a high price and restrictions. That limits some buyers. I dont believe that the industrys falling short at all in terms of capacity, agrees Turner. The pricing, on the other hand, theres certainly accounts where the pricing causes the insured to either buy less insurance or seek alternative structures where they take on risk, or they go into a captive, he said. But I havent seen a single case where we couldnt deliver a solution. Those solutions are more complicated today than ever before, especially for large commercial accounts. The E&S market is delivering solutions, but coverage may have shorter limits, tighter terms, and increased pricing, Turner explained. Some of these accounts that may have taken 10 or 20 carriers to deliver a hundred-million-dollar limit [before], might need 30 or 40 carriers to get that done this year. But were getting it done, according to Turner. Tough Property Property is likely the most difficult line of coverage today. Property insurance pricing in the U.S. increased by 19% in the second quarter, compared to 17% in the first quarter, marking the 23rd consecutive quarter in which prices rose, according to the most recent Marsh Global Insurance Market Index. The main drivers of Q2 property price hikes in the U.S., Marsh says, were the cost of reinsurance and capital, strong capacity demand, limited new insurers, and ongoing losses. The good news: Best-in-class risks with limited natural catastrophe exposures and stable incumbent capacity experienced more favorable results compared to those affected by losses and/or with geographic concentration of assets in natural zones, such as along the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic coast, and California. Sam Baig, co-president of Amwins Brokerage, describes todays E&S market as a bit chaotic and mixed as each line of business presents its own set of challenges. Property remains very firm, he says. It doesnt matter if youre in California or Texas or Florida, its impacting every property broker across the country. Any account with a transportation component is also taking rate as well. For example, excess casualty is relatively flat unless youve got a transportation component, which can be very difficult, Baig said. For the most part, property everywhere is pretty firm, added Jeff McNatt, co-president of Amwins Brokerage. It doesnt matter what youre doing, there are issues everywhere from earthquakes to wildfires to flooding all those things are driving the market. I understand that the price can sometimes be shocking, but as a wholesaler our job is to go out, try to create a market, find capacity and try to find a solution for these extreme insurance situations, Jennings said. But he admits that some of todays market problems are hard to fix. You know, theres always a solution at a price, Jennings said You might be able to get coverage, but can the insured afford to pay it? Things will be very difficult going into the future. Talent Shortage and Stress Nir Gabay, senior vice president at Admiral Insurance Group, a Berkley Company, says there are not enough people to hire to service the new surplus lines business coming into the market. Thats a big challenge for the sector today. Everyone in the chain is trying to figure out new ways to operate, whether by investing in IT solutions to increase efficiency, or finding new ways to hire, train and retain younger talent, he told Insurance Journal. Jencaps Jennings says that investing in people is likely the biggest key to success in todays fast-paced hard market cycle. He advises others to think about where the market is going and hire for that. What kind of expertise is needed for the future, what kind of people, what types of backgrounds and make those investments in the business, on the people side, and on the technology side, Jennings said. He added that Jencap is always on the hunt for new talent and has added 160 people new hires this year alone. Finding new, young talent is a challenge for every sector in the property/casualty world. Anthony Manna, senior vice president financial lines, and one of Jencaps top young wholesale brokers, says its important to share the story of whats possible with a career in insurance with young people to attract new talent. Insurance is a hidden gem, but insurance isnt sexy, Manna said. Its up to the industry to tell the story of how rewarding a career can be, he suggests. Nobody likes insurance. Nobody wants to talk about their insurance, but everything that comes with a career in insurance has been far beyond anything Ive wanted in a career, he said. You have a healthy balance of sales, networking, and analytical work, he said. Thats something I may not have known at 17 or 18 years old, but it has been very rewarding in terms of a career. The talent shortfall coupled with the rapid increase in new surplus lines business submissions has created a heavy workload for existing staff, according to Amwins McNatt. At the same time, its exciting for us as we are building and growing in this market, he said. Its exciting because were getting to see opportunities on business that may have historically not been in our marketplace. He says finding solutions for these evolving risks is what the E&S market is there for to solve problems and address pain points for business that is leaving the standard market. But the huge volume of new business entering the surplus lines space does create stressful times. The workloads and the stress on some of our employees is very high right now, he said. To help employees, Baig and McNatt say Amwins tries to make sure that they are providing workers with good workplace environments and options. Weve worked hard on some of the flexibility with work schedules, so people can try to get some work-life balance in there, McNatt said. It takes time and effort on our part, and strain on our staff, to do what was done with one policy and one phone call before; now our folks are having to call eight markets and negotiate to get a deal done, Baig said. Keys to Succeed For the surplus lines market to excel in todays hard market, Matt Dolan, president of Liberty Mutuals North America Specialty and Ironshore, says three things come to mind. First, E&S carriers and their wholesale broker partners must attract and retain good talent. That means retaining experienced underwriters and brokers that understand historical risk, contemporary risk and merchant risk, he said. Thats fundamental to succeed today, he said, and those that are able to attract and retain top talent will be able to navigate through this environment. Second, carriers and their broker partners must be able to move across this data spectrum, he said. That means having the right data and interpreting that data correctly so that it becomes quality information. And then that information informs judgment. If we can harness the data and convert it into actionable information, that informs our view and judgment about risk; that is a critical component to success. Those who do that well will navigate through this environment effectively. Lastly, E&S markets must have an appetite for risk. We use the term risk aware, not risk adverse, he said. You must have appetite for risk. You cant run from it. Our job is to solve emergent risk problems, so you must be thoughtful and creative and curious, and thats the way that you enhance your relevance and design products that are responsive to this really unprecedented, incredibly complex but incredibly interesting risk environment. Companies that are responding to their wholesale brokers and being creative are seeing a major influx of new business, says Admirals Gabay. Because there is a lack of staffing and lack of systems, especially with legacy companies, they just cant keep up and they cant respond, he said. So, anyone whos really set up to take on the volume and be responsive is really winning right now. He said responsiveness and being able to connect with their wholesale partners the way that they want to connect is critical in todays fast-paced surplus lines world. The largest wholesale brokerages have invested in their own systems. Theyre trying to optimize their own stuff. Theyre experimenting right now with their economies of scale and trying to figure out how to transact business differently in different sectors, Gabay said. If you want to deal with the largest brokers, you need a system in place and you have to be ready to transact. If you dont have it, youre just left out. Amwins McNatt says that being transparent with carriers, retail partners and the insured is also critical when navigating through this hard market. We see the most successful retailers in this kind of market are the ones that are connected to their clients and theyre fully transparent, he said. They make sure that their customers understand that in this market, the more open they are with data and information, usually ends with better results for the client. The more successful brokers that we see tend to be the ones that are the most transparent, and have built a solid relationship with their client. Baig said the same is true in the wholesale broker space. Over communicate and communicate early and often and really manage expectations as best as you can, he said. The market changes daily, so those that are out in front and educating their retailers, educating their insureds, tend to do the best for the long haul. McNatt added, The more heads up we can give a client, the better off we all are. Outlook for 2024 As surplus lines carriers and wholesale brokers look toward a new year, discussions around property capacity will continue, the experts agree. There are so many variables that our business faces today, said Hank Haldeman, president of Worldwide Programs at Amwins Group. How prolonged are the property exposures facing the property/casualty industry from climate change? Obviously climate change is affecting our loss projections, but have the past couple years been an exaggeration, or will those issues slow down? Haldeman asked. It is hard to predict that future scenario, he said. One thing he knows for sure the existence of these unknown variables will mean that the role of the E&S segment will not diminish anytime soon. I dont know how challenging the property renewals are going to be in 2024. Some people are saying weve finally achieved some level rate adequacy, but capital isnt rushing to the market at the moment, he said. So its just tough to say whats going to happen with rates and capacity in 2024 but I dont see any rapid softening of the market. Theres just a lot of unknowns, Haldeman added. But that isnt necessarily a bad thing for surplus lines. Uncertainty is actually beneficial for the specialty end of the business, which performs best during times of uncertainty, he said. Topics California Florida Pricing Trends Excess Surplus Market Some headway on energy has been made in the Programme for Government, but targets around climate, agriculture, and water quality are in danger of failing, an independent assessment of progress by scientists has found. A report card by leading climate academics on the Governments progress gives an overall grade of C+ or moderate progress in nine key areas, some two-thirds into its term in office. Cara Augustenborg from University College Dublin (UCD), Paul Deane from University College Cork (UCC), and Diarmuid Torney from Dublin City University (DCU) were commissioned by the Friends of the Earth (FoE) environmental organisation to assess progress in nine areas. The assessors independently examined climate, nature and biodiversity, water and marine, waste and circular economy, air quality, transport, buildings, energy, and agriculture and forestry, and FoE had no input into the results. While there is cause for hope from the overall result of this years review, there is no cause for celebration as Ireland is still well behind where we need to be with respect to climate and environmental action, the assessment chaired by Ms Augustenborg concludes. Waste started excellently in relation to policy at the beginning of the Governments term but has since declined due to a lack of clear implementation of strategy, it said. Transport has also dropped off due to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions in the sector as well as a lack of spend on active transport infrastructure, the assessment concludes. Scoring just a four out of 10, similar to last year, agriculture and forestry commitments have stalled as the Government continues to flirt with failure in this area, while progress in drinking and wastewater commitments achieve the same poor score. Investment in water treatment has improved however, the assessors said. Progress continues on climate change, which receives a six out of 10, particularly with respect to financing and resourcing commitments, while recent emissions reductions are welcome but still far from what has been promised, the three academics said. Unfortunately, delays in 2021-2022 in setting 'the rules of the game' when it comes to climate governance have had a knock-on effect in achieving other climate commitments. In relation to biodiversity, significant progress began in 2021 and was sustained in 2022, particularly in the conclusion of the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, reform of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), development of many local nature projects, peatland rewetting investments, progress on invasive species management, and adoption of the Wildlife Amendment Bill. However, commitments for urban biodiversity including pesticide usage and biodiversity education appear neglected, the assessment said, leaving the sector with a 6.5 mark out of 10. Improvement in this category is largely dependent on the outcomes of the upcoming fourth National Biodiversity Action Plan, it added. Water quality continues to deteriorate and insufficient progress is being made on the Governments commitments to improve water quality, despite commitments progressing in marine and wastewater infrastructure, the academics warned. Transport, with a score of 6.5, has seen good investment in some areas, though still not at the 2:1 ratio committed by the Government. However, there is a difference between throwing money at a problem and spending it, and the underspend of local authorities in this area has been a roadblock to success. Good progress has been made in commitments on e-scooter legislation, lowering speed limits, facilitating taxi drivers to move to electric vehicles, electrification of some new trains, developments in a national rail strategy, and noticeable improvements in local link bus services and regional connectivity. However, there are glaring problems in a sector that needs major reform, the assessment shows. Commitments on ride-sharing, extending bike-to-work schemes, school transport and Western rail corridor do not appear to be progressing, and Metrolink and Bus Corridor projects have been plagued with planning issues, the academics warned. Agriculture and forestry fare poorly, scoring just four out of 10. The current agri-food strategy is still responsible for growing nutrient pollution and poor water quality and such trends now appear locked in for the remainder of this Government, the assessment said. The Government is flirting with failure in achieving their agri-environmental commitments, it warns, adding that some progress has been made in development of solar energy on farms, some peatland rewetting, tillage expansion, and organic farming supports. Gardai are seeking the public's help in tracing the whereabouts of a teenager who was last seen in Ballymun, Dublin 11 on Wednesday. Lennox Dunne, 15, is described as being approximately 5'11" in height with a slim build, black hair and brown eyes. When he was last seen, he is understood to have been wearing a grey North Face jacket and tracksuit bottoms. Gardai believe he may be in the Dublin city centre area. Anyone with any information on Lennox's whereabouts is asked to contact Blanchardstown Garda Station on 01 666 7000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station. The leadership of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) will have a job of work to restore confidence in policing, a Sinn Fein MLA has said. News that Simon Byrne had resigned with immediate effect from the top job in the PSNI came during an emergency meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board in Belfast on Monday. The board continued to meet for several hours after being notified of Mr Byrnes decision following a string of controversies. Board members agreed to prioritise the recruitment of a new chief constable, as well as initiating a review of the senior leadership team of the PSNI and requesting the Department of Justice commissions a review of the Policing Board itself. Speaking after the meeting, Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said the new senior policing team, when they come in, will have a job of work to do to rebuild confidence in policing, which he described as being at a low ebb. DUP MLA Trevor Clarke said Mr Byrnes journey with the PSNI has come to an end and they want to see the police service rebuilt. The processes have commenced now in terms of an appointment of the chief constables position and I think rank-and-file officers should take some confidence in that, that their concerns are being addressed and that were looking for a way forward in terms of getting a new chief constable to start the long road in terms of the process to rebuild the organisation to what it should be, he said. There are several issues to be resolved within the PSNI so I consider this to be the beginning ... this continues to be a crisis but we have now started a resolution Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister said her party has been clear that the issue is not just about one individual or any individual that there is a crisis. Thats why any review that takes place of the senior management team of the PSNI must be done so in a timely manner, and we must see real actions and recommendations from that review, she said. UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt said the resignation of Mr Byrne will not be the end of the matter. There are several issues to be resolved within the PSNI so I consider this to be the beginning this continues to be a crisis but we have now started a resolution, he said. SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said Mr Byrnes resignation was inevitable, adding this is an opportunity to find some certainty around the future of the police service. Irish criminal networks have travelled with other European gangs to South America to discuss the supply of the lethal synthetic opiate, fentanyl, into the Irish and European markets, it has emerged. The consortium of traffickers has engaged with notorious cartels in Mexico, including the Sinaloa cartel, who are specialists in the production and supply of fentanyl into the US market. A long-running west Dublin trafficking outfit, which has dominated the supply of heroin into Ireland for many decades, is considered the most significant Irish organised crime group involved in this endeavour. Irish and European experts are concerned that the Taliban crackdown in Afghanistan on the production of opium, from which heroin is made, may result in criminals turning to synthetic opiates, including fentanyl, to fill the market. These synthetic versions are far more potent than heroin. Senior gardai issued the warning about fentanyl at the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use, which held its fourth session at the weekend examining drug laws. Chief Supt Boland told the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use that fentanyl 'is a risk to all drugs consumers, as cartels can add fentanyl to other drugs to increase addiction, thereby increasing customer base'. Picture: Maxwells Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said: We are satisfied that Irish criminal networks have been considering the supply of fentanyl into the Irish market. Fentanyl, estimated to be at least 50 times more powerful than heroin, has been to the forefront of the devastating opiate epidemic in the US. Chief Supt Boland said: This is a very concerning development as fentanyl is not just significant as you know, to opioid users, but is a risk to all drugs consumers, as cartels can add fentanyl to other drugs to increase addiction, thereby increasing customer base leading to greater profits and drug deaths. Read More Gardai to strike deal with police in Colombia to tackle drugs gangs He said preliminary statistics from the US for 2022 indicated there were 109,000 deaths linked to synthetic opiates, primarily fentanyl. The Irish Examiner reported last Friday that HSE chiefs have been making preparations for any emergence of synthetic opiates following a crackdown on opium in Afghanistan. Chief Supt Boland also told the assembly that Irish criminal networks discussed a number of years ago investing in the emerging legal market for cannabis in Europe. In 2019 Irish criminal groups discussed the move to legalisation of cannabis in certain jurisdictions and potential for increased numbers of countries to follow this route," he said. "They planned to invest 30m into the global legal cannabis industry. He said this is just one case they had evidence of and that other and further discussions could have been held by Irish traffickers. Separately at the assembly, chairman Paul Reid repeatedly criticised the Department of Justice and the Government, as well as legislators, for their failure to implement a diversion programme for drug users that was adopted by the Government in August 2019. He asked why the bloody hell has the Government and the department not progressed the Health Diversion Programme and said the delay is inexcusable. He said the assembly, comprising 99 members from the public, is frustrated by the lack of progress on the issue. An assessment report into a Belfast-based neurologist found that he repeatedly failed to make correct diagnoses, which led to patients inappropriately being given drugs with serious and toxic side-effects, a fitness to practise tribunal has heard. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing into Dr Michael Watt was also told that the assessment found his use of idiosyncratic diagnostic criteria had led to patients receiving unnecessary invasive treatment. Dr Watt was at the centre of Northern Irelands largest ever recall of patients in 2018 when more than 4,000 of his patients attended recall appointments. A previous MPTS tribunal granted Dr Watt voluntary removal from the medical register. However, the High Court quashed that ruling due to concerns it was not sufficient to protect the public. In the absence of Dr Watt no facts are admitted The three-person tribunal began its new hearing on Monday, and was told that Dr Watt will not be in attendance but will be legally represented. Tribunal chairman Neil Dalton asked Dr Watts lawyer, Matthew McDonagh, if any of the facts set out in the allegations against his client are admitted. Mr McDonagh said: No, sir. In the absence of Dr Watt no facts are admitted. Charles Garside KC, representing the General Medical Council (GMC), told the hearing it is a performance case, rather than a misconduct case. He said that, after concerns were first raised about Mr Watts work in 2016, an assessment was carried out by the GMC in October 2018. He said the four assessors will be called as witnesses during the hearing. Mr Garside said Dr Watt had been a consultant neurologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast but ceased clinical practice in 2017. He said Dr Watt had co-operated with the GMC assessment and was interviewed three times. The barrister then said that, conscious of the considerable publicity around the case, he would read directly from the summary and recommendations of the assessors report in a number of categories. Dr Watt's performance has been found to be deficient. Dr Watt is not fit to practise and should cease practice He said: Knowledge, skills and performance, maintaining professional performance unacceptable. Assessment unacceptable. Clinical management unacceptable. Operative technical skills no judgment. Record-keeping unacceptable. Safety and quality no judgment. Relationships with patients unacceptable. Working with colleagues acceptable. Continuing to read from the report, he said: Dr Watts performance has been found to be deficient. Dr Watt is not fit to practise and should cease practice. The team has come to this conclusion on the following basis: Persistent failure to take adequate histories from patients and carry out clinical examinations. Persistent and repeated failure to make correct diagnoses, resulting in patients receiving inappropriate management which included drugs with serious and toxic side-effects. Use of idiosyncratic diagnostic criteria, leading to patients receiving unnecessary invasive treatment (epidural blood patches). Failure to consider involving specialist neurologist colleagues in management of complex patients. Failure to discuss risks and benefits of treatments with patients to allow them to come to informed decisions. The GMC submit that if you accept the assessors' opinion you should find that Dr Watt's fitness to practise is currently impaired Dr Watt showed little insight during the assessment with regard to any of the above points. The scope of these deficiencies, combined with this lack of insight, led the team to conclude that remediation is unlikely to change Dr Watts performance and he should cease practice. Mr Garside said the GMCs case is based solely on the report of the assessors. He added: The GMC submit that if you accept the assessors opinion you should find that Dr Watts fitness to practise is currently impaired. The tribunal then went into private session at the request of Dr Watts lawyer. A 15-year-old girl enjoying the Sunday afternoon sunshine with friends at the Mardyke in Cork was attacked and robbed of a 300 necklace she got for her Confirmation. Garda Conor Cronin arrested 35-year-old Michelle Harrington of Ravensdale Road, Mahon, Cork, and charged her with carrying out the robbery on this young teenager at about 4pm on September 3. Michelle Harrington said she spoke with the teenager and her two friends but had nothing to do with any attack or robbery. It is alleged the defendant demanded money from all three teenagers but that the 15-year-old only had 1 her bus fare home and the injured party was told this was not enough and she was then punched in the face, kicked in the back, caught in a headlock and robbed of her chain. Ms Harrington was brought before Cork District Court charged with three counts of robbery. Garda Cronin objected to bail and said one of the grounds for the objection was the seriousness of the alleged incident. Garda Conor Cronin said, At approximately 4pm, two females aged 15 and 16 and a male aged 18 were together in an area beside the skate park at Mardyke Walk, talking and enjoying the sun. They were approached by two females one of them being Michelle Harrington. At first the two females were talking normally to them. As the three began to leave, Michelle Harrington said they were not allowed to leave until they handed over money. The male handed over 9, the 16-year-old female handed over 4.80 and the 15-year-old female handed over 1 as that was all she had for the bus home. Michelle Harrington and the other female wanted more from this teenager and they attacked her. She was boxed in the face and body numerous times and kicked into the back. Michelle Harrington left and came back approximately 10 seconds later. She caught the injured party in a headlock and removed a chain from around her neck. She had gotten this for her Confirmation. As the three were leaving, Ms Harrington ran after her and threatened her that she knows who she is and she knows where she lives. After outlining the allegations, Garda Cronin said the accused was arrested near the scene a short time later. She admitted meeting three people but said nothing happened, Garda Cronin said. As well as the seriousness of the alleged robberies, another ground for the objection to bail was the possibility of interference with witnesses. This was a very serious and frightening incident for three very young injured parties. It was a completely unprovoked attack in particular on a very young girl who did not have enough money to hand over and was held in a headlock and had her necklace taken from her, Garda Cronin said. When asked to reply to the robbery charges, the defendant said, I was there, I didnt do it, I had no chain, I took no money. Defence solicitor Eddie Burke said on the Harringtons behalf: She has no idea where this person lives and has no intention of going next or near her. Mr Burke called the defendant to the witness box and put to her the prosecution concern about her knowing one of the injured parties and she replied: No, no such thing like that. She confirmed under cross-examination by Sergeant Gearoid Davis that she had a drink and drug problem. Judge Olann Kelleher refused bail and remanded her in custody until September 11, when she will appear by video link from prison on the three robbery charges. Beeping machines and tiny babies in care for weeks or months. It is not how most new parents experience birth, but, when the need arises, the neonatal service at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) is there for them. Jennifer Crowe and her husband Patrick first heard of the service, which includes a neonatal intensive care unit, last summer shortly before their twin girls were born. They were taken to see it by staff to help prepare for their daughters planned premature birth. Looking back now, with two healthy girls flying it at home and approaching their first birthday, Jennifer told the Irish Examiner she wants to both remember and forget what happened. Emily Crowe had to stay on in a CUMH neonatal unit incubator for months after her sister Hannah went home with parents Jennifer and Patrick. Picture: Tyrone Productions I would never say it was a terrible experience, she said. When I look back now its how did we do it? but at the time you just do it. You get a strength from somewhere and you dont know where you get it from. At first both Emily and Hannah, weighing 2lb 6oz at birth, were cared for in the unit, receiving breathing support, a common reason for premature babies to need help. However, while Hannah was discharged after four weeks, Emily ultimately spent almost three and half months in the unit. The hardest thing for me anyway, that killed me, was bringing Hannah home and having to leave Emily in there, Jennifer said. Also, with Emily, her oxygen levels kept dropping so youd go in one day and shed be perfect and you would be elated. Then you go in the next day and she was back on oxygen. It was just constant up and down, emotionally. Jennifer Crowe with Emily in the CUMH neonatal unit. Directed by Sarah Brophy, 'Born Too Soon' starts on Virgin Media One on Tuesday, September 5. Picture: Tyrone Productions Both girls came into the world perfectly formed but tiny, she said. The tops of their arms were the size of my thumb, it was crazy to see. They were so perfect but just so tiny, they needed that growing. During those stressful months, the worried parents forged strong bonds with other parents. You make the best friends down there, she said. I met a girl down there who had twins herself and she lost one so youre strong for each other but you do see the worst as well. Months interacting with staff built that relationship too: You put your whole trust in them, that you can walk out of there in the evening and leave your little baby with them. The Crowes are just one of the families featured in a powerful new series Born Too Soon which begins this week on Virgin Media One television. The series also shares the plight of new parents Marcelina and Washington, originally from Brazil, whose baby Diane was born at just 26 weeks gestation. Baby Diane was born at just 26 weeks gestation. Her parents, Marcelina and Washington, are among those telling the story of the care they received at CUMH neonatal unity in 'Born Too Soon' on Virgin Media One. Picture: Tyrone Productions Marcelina tells the documentary: I feel alone, I feel isolated, lonely. First, because I think its only me and my husband here in Ireland. We have no family here. Her husband later talks of his guilt at going to work in Cashel while the baby remains in the hospital. Its very tough to see her, he tells the crew. Its really tough to see her like that. Nurse specialist Susan Vaughan said of the couple: Its going to haunt them forever. It was really really scary. And especially poor Dad, he thought his wife was going to die, he thought his daughter was going to die. And youre just trusting these strangers that you cant even communicate properly with. Neonatologist and neonatology clinical lead for this unit and the Ireland South Women & Infants Directorate Peter Filan told the Irish Examiner there could be 30-50 babies on any given day in the unit. If youre a mother having a baby at full term, there is a 90% chance that your baby will be absolutely fine; stay on the post-natal wards and go home after a day or two, he said. But there is 10% of term babies [here] and we care for probably about 400 premature babies each year. "The need to come into the neonatal unit is very much dependent on the gestation of the baby. In the Virgin Media One series, 'Born Too Soon', CUMH consultant neonatologist Peter Filan points out that premature babies' chances of survival have greatly increased since his training days. Picture: Tyrone Productions Overall, out of 6,500 babies born at CUMH each year, including premature infants, one in five or 18% need this specialist care, he said. Babies are most commonly admitted with transient breathing problems, although infection and other serious conditions are also seen. For the teeny, teeny babies born prematurely, he said infants born at just 23 weeks nearly five months early can now survive. Recalling his own training days 25 years ago, the survival rate then for babies born at 23 weeks was just 10%, where now that is probably 50%, Dr Filan said. Definitely at the most premature end, survival rates have doubled and in fact probably tripled, he said. So near and yet so far: Parents including Marcelina, pictured here at the incubator with her daughter Diane, tell the 'Born Too Soon' TV series of the emotional rollercoaster they experience at CUMH neonatal unit. Picture: Tyrone Productions If you were born at 25 weeks gestation 25 years ago, you probably had a one in four chance of surviving, whereas now we expect you to survive. That is probably at 80% now. He points to advances in research as key to these changes. One research-led development is a process known as cooling. Whole-body cooling is when a babys temperature is lowered to between 33C to 34C for 72 hours, then slowly returned to normal. We cool babies who may have had lack of oxygen or blood supply to their brain at birth, he said, adding: It is a treatment that can potentially improve outcomes, but it doesnt for all babies. The service, which accepts transfers from regional maternity hospitals, has eight neonatology consultants and 80 specialist nurses; caring for babies who may stay up to six months. Dr Filan said the acute stress this causes for parents cannot be underestimated. As well as medical care, parents can access support from a social worker, psychologist, and chaplain if they wish. We are here for parents, we are here for their babies, he said. Were a 24/7 service like any obstetric service. I often say to people the lights never go out in the neonatal unit. For decades, it was the go-to venue of choice for generations of Corkonians' family gatherings. But on Monday, demolition crews moved in on the long-time derelict former Sunset Ridge bar and motel in Killeens, on the northern outskirts of the city, to pave the way for the regeneration of the site. The arrival of Loftus demolition crews marks the end of a long and sorry saga for the once bustling venue which has lain vacant, boarded up and derelict for over a decade. But it also marks the beginning of a new chapter for the site, which is poised for redevelopment with a mixed-use retail and residential development. The demolition phase is expected to take just over a week. It is understood the developers are anxious to press ahead with construction as soon as possible. The landmark former bar and motel was a very popular spot for many on the citys northside, which was run by the Cronin family across the 1970s and 1980s. It ceased trading several years ago and was boarded up and had become a magnet for anti-social behaviour in recent years. When it was in the jurisdiction of Cork County Council, planning was granted in 2011 for a mixed-use development, with retail and office units, a pub and a restaurant. But the project never went ahead, the planning permission expired in 2016 and the building fell into dereliction. The site ownership has changed hands several times over the years, and following the extension of the city boundary in 2019, the site was inspected by city officials and formally declared derelict. It was placed on the derelict sites register in October 2021. The former Sunset Ridge Hotel, Killeens, Co. Cork. Picture: Jim Coughlan It was also gutted in successive and suspicious bonfire night fires, in June 2021 and again in June 2022. Last March, the council granted planning to developers Oshawott Limited for the demolition of the former motel, and the construction of 43 residential units, with a mix of one, two and three bedrooms, ranging in height from two to two-and-a-half storeys, and a two-storey commercial building with a pharmacy and medical consulting rooms. The plans also provide for the construction of a new access point, along with traffic calming measures, a new footpath and cycle lane to the L2785 and a reduced curve at the junction of the L2785 with the Killeens flyover to make the area safer. A local woman who was out walking her dog on Monday morning stopped to watch the demolition work and recalled having her wedding reception in the function room. And that wasnt today or yesterday, I can tell you, she quipped. She declined to give her name but said the venue was a fantastic place which was run in its heyday by a fantastic family. We had our residents association meetings there, our births, deaths and marriages, she said. But it was such a sad situation what happened. Its been derelict and dangerous building for the last 10 or 12 years. Demolition of the former Sunset Ridge Hotel, Killeens, Co. Cork. Picture: Jim Coughlan She said local residents were furious the dereliction was allowed to endure for so long, especially on a site on the tourist bus route to Blarney, one of the most scenic areas in Cork. And she urged the authorities to provide amenities, especially for children, to cater for all the housing development which is ongoing in the area. Local Fine Gael councillor Damian Boylan, who celebrated his 21st birthday in Sunset Ridge, said everyone in the area had a connection to the venue. "The Sunset Ridge was the centre of our social lives, in lots of ways, he said. "The Cronin family gave so much to this area, and to see the venue today is sad but the dereliction had to be removed." A sketch of the proposed mixed-use development which has been granted planning permission on the site of the derelict former Sunset Ridge Hotel, in Killeens, near Blarney, Cork. He also thanked auctioneer Robert Harkin, who helped secure a buyer for the site who was willing to take on the regeneration. Local independent councillor Ken OFlynn also welcomed the demolition work but lessons need to be learned. This has been a long-awaited development and a positive step forward for the community, he said. The motel's derelict state has been a menace and a source of concern for the neighbourhood. I urge the city council to learn from this experience and adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards dereliction throughout the city." Education Minister Norma Foley has been backed by her Cabinet colleagues over plans to support schools that are trying to ban smartphones. A spokesperson for the minister said: Ms Foley is working closely with principals, stakeholder groups, and parents' organisations with a view to rolling out a suite of initiatives that will support primary schools that are implementing or looking to roll out bans on smartphones. Further details will be announced in the coming weeks. Read More Over 80% of parents support school mobile phone ban The Government is not, however, expected to legislate on the matter. Higher Education Minister Simon Harris tweeted his support for what Ms Foley is doing. "I fully support a smartphone ban in primary schools & welcome Minister Foleys work on this. My hometown of Greystones has led the way on this & the benefits for children, parents, teachers and the community is clear." The Irish Examiner previously reported that Waterford was due to become the first county in the country where all primary schools would ask parents to not give their children smartphones due to concerns over their impact. Smoking treatments It comes as the Cabinet is set to have its first away day since last January, with ministers due to travel to Wicklow for their meeting on Wednesday. The previous away day was held in Farmleigh, just weeks after Leo Varadkar returned to the Taoiseachs office. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is also expected to announce proposals to reduce the price of treatments to help people quit smoking. In particular, Mr Donnelly is looking to bring nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) under the drug payment scheme. This scheme allows individuals and families to only pay a maximum of 80 a month for specific prescribed drugs and medications. At present, people are only able to get NRT for free if they have a medical card. It is also expected that Mr Donnelly will scrap the two-week limit for initial NRT prescriptions, allowing people to access the recommended dose without requiring a second visit to a GP. Under the plan, all types of NRT including lozenges, gums, inhalers, and mouth sprays will be available. Tanaiste travelling to Middle East Neither Tanaiste Micheal Martin nor Environment Minister Eamon Ryan will be in attendance at the Cabinet away day as they leave for business abroad on Monday. Mr Martin is due to visit Israel, Palestine, and Jordan over the coming weeks. In Israel, Mr Martin will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Meanwhile, when in Palestine, the Tanaiste will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He is also scheduled to meet with the deputy prime minister of Jordan, Ayman Safadi. Eamon Ryan at Africa Climate Summit Meanwhile, Mr Ryan is travelling to Kenya for the Africa Climate Summit, which is set to focus on the impact of climate change across the globe, but particularly in Africa. Mr Ryan is set to take part in high-level meetings on climate, security and adaptation, as well as political meetings. The Dail itself is not due to return until September 20, after being adjourned for the summer on July 16. A new legislative schedule, which will include the landmark planning bill, is likely to be published in the coming weeks. His parents were music hall artists. His mistress was the mouthiest woman in politics and spewed the details of their affair in the diaries she published years later. After his father died, he discovered he had inherited two secret half-siblings. He wrote a history of music hall called My Old Man, which lovingly recorded acts which ran counter to what we believe to have been the constrained attitudes of a couple of centuries back, like the Barrison Sisters who played the Alhambra theatre in London in the middle of the 19th century to great acclaim. Provocatively billed as The Wickedest Girls in the World, he wrote, they dressed as children, played with dolls and sang songs with highly suggestive lyrics. They even achieved worldwide notoriety for their kitten routine. This, it should be said, included a 12-year-old sister in the line-up which teased majority male audiences with the question: Do you want to see our pussies? The audience would tend to answer in the affirmative. The girls would repeat the query until a satisfactory level of uproarious demand was achieved, then they would hitch up their skirts to reveal kittens cradled in purpose-built pouches located in their groins. Classy. It might surprise some Irish Examiner readers to learn that the one who wrote that was the grey man of British politics, John Major, who to this day is regarded as a personality-free failure, despite achieving a lot more for the Conservative Party than did the more recent leader Boris Johnson. Indeed, it might be argued that nobody other than Major could have succeeded Margaret Thatcher after the latters highly emotional exit, without seeming, in contrast, to be somewhat colourless. But what irrevocably hung the grey man definition around John Majors neck was TV programme Spitting Image. The Spitting Image puppet of British prime minister John Major gets to grips with the leader of the opposition Labour leader Neil Kinnock. Picture: PA Our own former finance minister Michael Noonan announced that he tried not to miss RTE Radios Scrap Saturday because he so enjoyed the mimicry of himself in that show. Micheal Martin, on the penultimate Late, Late Show delightedly imitated Mario Rosenstocks earlier imitation of the Tanaiste on the same show. Although seeing yourself caricatured can be fun, it cannot have been even mildly amusing for John Major, who could never have credibly claimed to enjoy watching himself portrayed by a grey puppet eating dinner with his wife in a silence broken only by him murmuring, nice peas, dear. The quietly courteous manner which initially endeared him to public and media became a deadly disadvantage. But that was the pattern of his career, even with his mistress. Edwina Currie started out by regarding him as a sexy beast and ended up throwing him to the wolves in her memoir. Despite his music hall background, or perhaps because of it, Major would have shuddered away from advisers counselling that he must show emotion in public. The kind of advice now being given to US presidential wannabe, Ron DeSantis, whos being told to put his wife front and centre and get passionate about things when canvassing. US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is being advised to show more emotion in public and put his wife front and centre. Picture: AP It doesnt seem to matter to these advisers that some of the other Republican candidate line-up have done passion without payoff so far. The myth never dies that showing your emotions is a sure-fire way to the heart of the voter. Hence the constant call from journalists to Hillary Clinton to show her emotions. Which she did now and again, usually in self-pity. Hillary and The Donald may not be siblings under the skin on much, but when it comes to blaming others for self-inflicted wounds, they march to the same drumbeat, or did when Hillary was still marching. Showing your emotions draws on the belief that we all want to identify with the hard-done by. Uh, uh. We may sympathise with the hard done by. We may send a Like their way, because what harm? But follow them into the gates of hell? Undergo the essential almost religious conversion process that will make us vote for them and continue to vote for them? Thats a different process. Them breaking down in tears on our news feed may be a great distraction from the miseries of our own lives, one worth sharing and commenting on. But imprinting them on our mind and heart as worthy of our effort on polling day requires a whole lot more than tears. Even more important in the rejectability of this show-your-emotions guff is that it is rooted in a contempt for voters. Hillary and The Donald may not be siblings under the skin on much, but when it comes to blaming others for self-inflicted wounds, they march to the same drumbeat, or did when Hillary was still marching. Picture: Getty Images Hang around any national or local election headquarters during a campaign and you will pick up the deadly disqualifying evidence of that contempt. There will be a candidate or adviser who rolls their eyes and talks of the repellent sense of entitlement they encounter. This is usually directed against a person less moneyed, less educated than they themselves are. In other words, the candidate/adviser is entitled to be entitled, the lower orders are not entitled to be entitled, and damn them, they think they are entitled to good and respectful healthcare and to housing. Then you have the candidate/adviser who explains to the room how the people they encounter dont appreciate the complexity of a particular issue. In other words, they think their uneducated desires are valid, the gobshites. Or the candidate/adviser who opines that this door-to-door stuff, this standing in supermarket car parks, is probably a waste of time. No, sunshine, it so isnt. Knocking on doors and climbing hedges between houses shows a wonderful political trait called humility. Whats that you said about standing in supermarket car parks? Standing? You mean you expect potential voters to come to you? How about you move your ass and go to them, looking as if youd like to learn about them. How about you ask open questions like: How do you mean? How about you learn to belt up and instead of lecturing them on the policies of your party or (if youve been in government) what you might unfortunately call the achievements of your party, just concentrate on them. Even if theyre boring you rigid, find them interesting. Even if you realise youve forgotten what point theyre making get them to make it again. You just go whoa, tell me that again. Make notes. Thank them. Go back on the email address you got from them, mentioning some specific detail they shared, or giving an indication of what youre going to do about it. Once upon a time, the big parties did that. Now, Sinn Fein specialises in it. No candidate should concentrate on learning to be colourful or emotionally performative. Every candidate should concentrate on finding the individual voter interesting. Candidates can learn more from paying attention to the human being in front of them than from research spreadsheets. If you let them, people will tell you the stuff that really matters to them. They mark your card for free. And like you better for listening to them. Because so few do. Pope Francis has wrapped up the first ever papal visit to Mongolia by inaugurating a church-run homeless clinic and shelter, insisting that such initiatives are not aimed at winning converts but are simply exercises in Christian charity. Francis toured the House of Mercy, a three-storey structure housed in an old school, which the local church has opened as an expression of the roots that it has taken in the three decades that the Catholic Church has had an official presence in Mongolia. It was the final event of an historic four-day visit to a region where the Holy See has long sought to make inroads. Dear brothers and sisters of #Mongolia, thank you for the gift of friendship that I received in these days. Bayarlalaa! May God bless you. You are in my heart, and in my heart you will remain. Remember me, please, in your prayers and in your thoughts. #ApostolicJourney Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 4, 2023 Several of the foreign-staffed Catholic religious orders in Mongolia run shelters, orphanages and nursing homes to care for a population of 3.3 million where one in three people lives in poverty. But the new clinic for homeless people, people with disabilities and victims of domestic violence is aimed at showing the outreach of the Mongolian Catholic Church as a whole to its local community. The true progress of a nation is not gauged by economic wealth, much less by investment in the illusory power of armaments, but by its ability to provide for the health, education and integral development of its people, Francis said at the shelter, urging Mongolians both rich and poor to volunteer to help their fellow citizens. Currently, some 77 missionaries minister to Mongolias Catholics, who with around 1,450 people constitute one of the tiniest Catholic flocks in the world. Faithful react as they see Pope Francis leaving in a car after a meeting with charity workers and the inauguration of the House of Mercy in Ulaanbaatar (AP) But only two Mongolian men have been ordained priests, and no Mongolian women have decided to join religious congregations as nuns. These foreign missionaries say the biggest challenge facing them is to cultivate a truly local Mongolian church, with trained lay people who are well inserted into the fabric of society. That, they hope, will eventually lead to more religious vocations so that foreign missionaries become less and less necessary. The Rev Ernesto Viscardi, an Italian priest of the Consolata missionary order who has been based in Mongolia for 19 years, said: We have to make this a church of Mongolia, one that has the flavour of this land, of its steppes, of its sheep, goats, of its ger. There are 77 of us missionaries. Were all great, all saints, everyone works well, he said laughing. Pope Francis presides over a mass at the Steppe Arena in the Mongolian capital (AP) But we have to think about making the local church grow, so that the (Mongolian) people take their church in hand. Otherwise we colonize Mongolia anew, and that makes no sense. In urging everyday Mongolians to volunteer to help the poor, Francis said charity work was not just for the idle rich but for everyone. And he denied that Catholic charity was about winning new converts. Francis said: Another myth needing to be dispelled is that the Catholic Church, distinguished throughout the world for its great commitment to works of social promotion, does all this to proselytise, as if caring for others were a way of enticing people to join up. Faithful from mainland China show the rosary beads they just received from Pope Francis (AP) No! Christians do whatever they can to alleviate the suffering of the needy, because in the person of the poor they acknowledge Jesus, the Son of God, and in him the dignity of each person. Francis comment was a tacit acknowledgement of the competition for souls in places like Mongolia, which banned religious observation during decades of Soviet-allied communist government. Now, religious freedom is enshrined in the Mongolian constitution, and a variety of Christian and evangelical churches have taken root here. Some, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, boast a much bigger presence in Mongolia and claim far more members than the Catholic Church. But in a sign that Catholics were not competing with the Mormons or other Christian churches, Francis invited their leaders to an interfaith meeting on Saturday in Ulaanbaatar to show their common concern for promoting a more peaceful and harmonious world. It is not necessary to be wealthy to do good. Rather, it is almost always common people who devote their time, skills and heart to caring for others. #ApostolicJourney #Mongolia Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 4, 2023 In seeking to encourage Mongolias tiny Catholic flock, Francis has insisted that their small size doesnt matter and that their success shouldnt be measured in numbers. God loves littleness, and through it he loves to accomplish great things, Francis told priests, nuns and bishops from around the region during a Saturday encounter in the cathedral. Francis came to Mongolia to give a word of hope to the young church, but also to make a geopolitically important foray into a troubled region for the Holy See, particularly given neighbouring Chinas crackdown on religious observance. On Sunday, Francis gave a special shout-out to Chinese Catholics, issuing a warm word of greeting from the altar of Mass at the Steppe Arena. Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip this weeks G20 summit in India as bilateral relations remain icy between the two countries. Premier Li Qiang will attend in his place, Chinas foreign ministry said. A notice on the ministrys website said: At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10. Relations between China and India have grown frosty over their disputed border that three years ago resulted in a violent clash between their troops, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese. They have also clashed over trade and Indias growing strategic ties with Chinas main regional rival the United States. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping back in 2014 (AP) India recently overtook China as the worlds most populous nation and the two are rivals in technology, space exploration and global trade. Chinese and Indian military commanders met just last month and pledged to maintain the peace and tranquillity along their disputed border, in an apparent effort by the sides to stabilise the situation. The Line of Actual Control separates Chinese- and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to Indias eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety. India and China fought a war over their border in 1962. As its name suggests, the line divides the areas of physical control rather than territorial claims. According to India, the de facto border is 2,167 miles long, but China promotes a considerably shorter figure. In all, China claims some 35,000 square miles of territory in Indias north-east, including Arunachal Pradesh with its mainly Buddhist population. The border clash claimed the lives of 24 soldiers, 20 of them Indian, back in 2020 (AP) India says China occupies 15,000 square miles of its territory in the Aksai Chin Plateau, which India considers part of Ladakh, where the current face-off is happening. China, in the meantime, began cementing relations with Indias arch-rival Pakistan and backing it on the issue of disputed Kashmir. Firefights broke out again in 1967 and 1975, leading to more deaths on both sides. They have since adopted protocols, including an agreement not to use firearms, but those protocols have fractured. Other than the potential effects on China-India relations, Mr Xis absence at the summit will also eliminate the possibility of an interaction with US President Joe Biden. Chinese-US relations remain at a historic low despite recent visits by US secretary of state Antony Blinken and other officials to Beijing. President Joe Biden (Matt Rourke/AP) It is not clear when such a meeting could take place as a question mark now hangs over whether Mr Xi will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in San Francisco in November. China has demanded that the US invite Hong Kongs chief executive John Lee to the forum despite a US visa ban over his role in crushing the semi-autonomous southern Chinese citys pro-democracy movement. Mr Xi has accumulated more power at home than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, and has adopted an increasingly aggressive approach to what he views as Chinas territorial interests in the South China Sea and toward self-governing Taiwan, which China threatens to annex by force if necessary. At the same time, China has struggled to recover economically from the hard-line policies it took to control Covid-19. Foreign businesses also have complained of an increasingly difficult environment in which to invest in and trade with the country. Japans supreme court has dismissed Okinawas rejection of a central government plan to build US Marine Corps runways on the island. The court ordered the prefecture to approve the plans, despite protests by locals who oppose the American troops presence. Mondays ruling upheld a high court ruling in March that the central governments plan and its instruction for Okinawas approval are valid. It will move forward the suspended construction at a time Okinawas strategic role is seen increasingly important for the Japan-US military alliance in the face of growing tensions with China. Japans central government began the reclamation work at the Henoko area on the eastern coast of Okinawas main island in 2018 to pave the way for the relocation of the Marine Corps Futenma air station from a crowded area on the island. The Japanese government plans to relocate a US air base from one area of the prefecture to another (Kyodo News via AP) The government later found out about 70% of the reclamation site is on soft ground, and submitted a revision to the original plan with additional land improvement. The Okinawa prefectural government rejected the revision as insufficient and suspended the reclamation work. The ground improvement plan requires tens of thousands of pillars and massive amounts of soil, which opponents say would damage the environment. Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki has called for a significant reduction of the US military in Okinawa, the immediate closure of the Futenma base and the scrapping of a base construction in Henoko. The Japanese and US governments initially agreed in 1996 to close the Futenma air station, a year after the rape of a schoolgirl by three American military personnel led to a massive anti-base movement. The move comes despite protests by locals who oppose the American troops presence (Kyodo News via AP) But persistent protests and lawsuits between Okinawa and Tokyo have held up the plan for nearly 30 years. Tokyo and Washington say the relocation within Okinawa, instead of moving it elsewhere as demanded by many Okinawans, is the only solution. Okinawa, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land, is burdened with the majority of the 50,000 American troops based in the country under a bilateral security pact, and 70% of US military facilities are in Okinawa. The Japanese government has increasingly stepped up its own defences to deal with Chinas growing assertiveness in recent years, triggering fear among Okinawan residents that they will be the first to be embroiled in a potential conflict. Two animal rights campaigners who tried to stop the Scottish Grand National have each been fined 200. Activists interrupted the Scottish Grand National at Ayr Racecourse, South Ayrshire, to prevent horses from coming to harm on April 22, Ayr Sheriff Court heard on Monday. Sarah Foy, 23, and Osian Dixon, 26, were convicted of breach of the peace and fined 200 each with an additional 10 victim surcharge. Dixon, of Manchester, was also convicted of trespass. Kittys Light, ridden by Jack Tudor, triumphed in the Scottish Grand National (Jane Barlow/PA) Foy, of Alfreton, Derbyshire, was acquitted of trespass due to lack of evidence. The activists, who are both unemployed, were told to repay at 10 a month. A judge said they enjoyed public sympathy but needed to use lawful methods in future. She used sentencing powers to mark the event and admonished Dixon over the trespass charge at Ayr Sheriff Court. I accept entirely that your beliefs are genuinely held and suspect you probably enjoy public sympathy, but the bottom line is you need to adopt lawful methods The breach of the peace charge said the pair entered the track at Ayr Racecourse when a race meeting was in progress, equipped with glue and piping designed to enable people to secure themselves to jumps, fences or railings. Reference to overcome security was removed from the charge. They were among 24 people from the Animal Rising group charged by police after disruption on the day of the race in April. Dixon told the court he walked through a gap in the fence in a Tesco car park, and there was nothing to indicate we couldnt. He said: I was waiting for an opportunity to enter the racetrack in order to disrupt it and prevent horses from coming to harm. About five minutes before, I walked down to the car park through a gap in the opening of the fence, and then I jumped over the fence bordering the racetrack and ran onto it. I was tackled by security, carried to the cycle track by police and arrested. We made sure we had enough time to get onto the race track before the race began, so as to limit the risk to horses, riders and ourselves. Forty-six horses have died on Ayr Racetrack since 2007. I wanted to get on the track to stop the race from happening to save these horses, and to raise awareness of the public and anyone who might read the news about the exploitation inherent to this industry. He said he did not believe writing letters to the racecourse would achieve anything and insisted the statistics regarding deaths were correct. Defending, Bethan Jones said: Ms Foy is very concerned with animal rights. Her motivations were that they felt it was important to protest. Sentencing the pair, Sheriff Shirley Foran said: Mr Dixon and Ms Foy are both first offenders. Im of the view that simply marking these events will be sufficient. I accept entirely that your beliefs are genuinely held and suspect you probably enjoy public sympathy, but the bottom line is you need to adopt lawful methods. On this occasion, you did not. The disruption caused personally was minimum. I know you offered no trouble to police. Rose Paterson, 34, from London, had been due to be sentenced on Monday after she and Joshua Parkinson, 27, from Leeds, last week admitted the breach of the peace charge. However, sentence on Paterson was deferred until October 16 while Parkinson is due to be sentenced later this month. The Scottish Grand National was not delayed and the 18-horse race, which started at 3.38pm, was won by Kittys Light. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) has infiltrated Maungdaw Township in Rakhine State, intimidating and kidnapping residents. Faced with a government crackdown in neighboring Bangladesh over refugee camp crime, ARSA members have been appearing in Maungdaw, said residents. A Rohingya villager in Maungdaw told The Irrawaddy: We are afraid of anyone armed, the Arakan Army [AA], Myanmars military and ARSA. Lately, ARSA members come and demand support. No villagers accept them but we are afraid. They demand we supply them with food. Business owners in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships fear they will be kidnapped for ransom, said a Muslim from Buthidaung. Refugees in Bangladesh have rejected ARSA and it is unpopular in Rakhine State, so its fighters are short of food. They kidnap fellow Muslims for ransom. They take photos with Muslim villagers and extort money from them by threatening to post the pictures, accusing them of being ARSA members. AA spokesman Khaing Thukha said the armed group is closely monitoring Maungdaw Township. On August 12, two Muslim villagers were abducted by approximately 20 ARSA troops while driving to Kyein Chaung village. ARSA members set fire to their vehicle, residents said. While both Buddhist and Muslim communities said ARSA was responsible for the abduction of the two businessmen, junta newspapers blamed the rival Rohingya Solidarity Organization. Former Rakhine State Parliament lawmaker for Maungdaw U Maung Ohn said: ARSA has been infiltrating Maungdaw. Both the AA and Myanmars military know that. [ARSA] troops have done nothing for Rakhine villages. The AA and ARSA clashed in the Mayu mountains near two Muslim villages in Buthidaung Township on July 19. Both sides reportedly suffered casualties. The AA, according to residents, was pursuing a Muslim villager for allegedly extorting money from fellow villagers when he sought help from ARSA troops, resulting in a fierce clash. A Muslim refugee from Bangladesh said Myanmars junta must have allowed large numbers of ARSA troops to cross the border. The border is heavily guarded and there are many outposts near Muslim villages in Maungdaw and Buthidaung. There is a division in Buthidaung. How can ARSA operate in the area? They have shared interests. Junta commanders use them to transport drugs and sell cattle in Bangladesh. I heard that the military even sells rice for ARSA, he told The Irrawaddy. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify his claim. Villagers say they have been reporting ARSAs arrival to the juntas border forces for years but no action has been taken. ARSA came into the spotlight after attacks on border outposts in 2016 and 2017 in Maungdaw. The group is active in Buthidaung and Maungdaw in Rakhine and Coxs Bazar in eastern Bangladesh. It is estimated to have around 300 fighters. The ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN Peoples Forum (ACSC/APF) has declared Myanmars military regime a terrorist organization and called on regional leaders gathering in Jakarta for this weeks ASEAN summit to cut ties with the junta. Today, we designate the Myanmar military as a terrorist organization that threatens the security and stability of the region because it is committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, said the ACSC/ APF in a statement issued on Sunday. Myanmar, an ASEAN member, has been plunged into violent turmoil since the 2021 military coup and crackdown triggered a nationwide armed uprising against military rule. The junta has ignored the regional blocs five-point peace plan and its demand for a halt to violence. As punishment, the bloc has banned the regimes leadership from joining ASEAN summits but continues to engage with the junta by allowing its senior military officials and ministers to join regional-level meetings. The ASEAN Air Chiefs Conference will be chaired by Myanmar junta Air Force Chief General Htun Aung in Naypyitaw later this month. Ahead of the summit this week, ASEAN civil society representatives from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam said they stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar who are resisting the military juntas oppression. They also acknowledged that the militarys 945-day brutal bid to seize control of the nation remains unsuccessful. The struggle of Myanmars people against the culture of impunity, while defending and organizing their own communities, and advocating for genuine political change, serves as a beacon of inspiration for the entire Southeast Asia region, the ACSC/APF said. Every day, the people of Myanmar endure the Myanmar militarys terror campaign of nationwide digital surveillance, internet shutdowns, gender-based violence, forced disappearances, aerial bombings, artillery shelling, massacres, beheadings, extrajudicial arrests, detention center torture and prison executions. As of September 1, the junta has killed 4,029 people and arrested 24,632 mostly for opposing military rule, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a monitoring group. The ACSC/APF called on ASEAN leaders gathering today for the Sept. 4-7 summit to deprive the junta of legitimacy by cutting financial and political ties and rejecting its plan for a bogus election. It asked them to impose targeted sanctions and a global arms embargo to block flows of cash, arms, and aviation fuel to the regime; eliminate impunity by holding military leaders accountable for their crimes; and support the revolution of Myanmars people by establishing official relationships with legitimate stakeholders including the National Unity Government, National Unity Consultative Council and ethnic revolutionary organizations and civil society. Civil societies in the region also called on Singapore and Thailand to end complicity with junta crimes as the third and fifth-largest weapons suppliers to the Myanmar military respectively. Around 10 Myanmar junta forces were reportedly killed and many injured when resistance groups attacked a convoy of regime vessels on the Chindwin River in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region, on Saturday, according to Myanmars Royal Dragon Army (MRDA). The resistance fighters from the MRDA and Monywa District Battalion 11 attacked a military flotilla of seven barges and three warships reportedly transporting rations, weapons, ammunition and fuel from Pakokku Township to Sagaing Region. The clash lasted for around an hour and a vessel was destroyed, according to the MRDA. According to our scout in Monywa, the killed soldiers were carried away in two funeral cars. Furthermore, many soldiers were injured. We heard that a warship and a barge were stuck in Alon harbor in Monywa Township as they were damaged, said Saytan, the commander of the MRDA. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the casualty report. A separate group of resistance forces attacked the same military flotilla in Salingyi Township from 12 noon to 5 p.m. on the same day, according to the Monywa Underground Guerrilla Force (MUGF). The MUGF and four other resistance groups attacked the flotilla in two places, and Myanmar junta troops sustained casualties during the clash. A resistance fighter was slightly injured, the MUGF said. The vessels were attacked by local PDF battalions along the river. The military fired back with various weapons, a resistance fighter told The Irrawaddy. The vessels opened fire on villages along the river with heavy weapons, he added. In the first week of August, resistance groups attacked a convoy of regime vessels carrying jet fuel on the Chindwin River. Faced with continuous land-mine ambushes by PDFs on its land routes, the Myanmar junta has to rely on riverine routes to transport rations, weapons and ammunition to upper Sagaing Region and Kachin State. However, the military flotillas and motorboats are also coming under attack from local resistance groups along the rivers. The Danish subsidiary of Germanys MAN Energy Solutions supplied engines, equipment and training for the Myanmar navys flagship during the Rohingya genocide, Danish newspaper Politiken revealed on Sunday. Working with activist group Justice for Myanmar (JFM), Politiken found that MANs Copenhagen branch delivered two engines and other equipment for the UMS Moattama, a Landing Platform Dock (LPD) ship, in 2018. Even before 2018, it was forbidden to export or support parts or engines for military systems [in Myanmar]. So, I cant understand how this sale could be approved from the Danish side, Siemon Wezeman, an expert in EU arms sanctions at Swedens Research Institute Sipri, told Politiken. The Danish newspapers expose on Sunday triggered the Denmark parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee to ask for an investigation. The development comes on top of existing criminal investigations by South Korean and German police into the 2019 transfer of the warship from its South Korean shipbuilders to Myanmar. In October 2022, Korean police launched a probe into Posco International, Daesun Shipbuilding & Engineering, and the Ministry of Defence over alleged violations of Koreas Foreign Trade Act in connection with the warships sale. In July this year, the German state prosecutor in Augsburg launched a criminal investigation into MAN Energy Solutions over allegations that it supplied key components to the UMS Moattama in violation of Germanys Foreign Trade Law and European Union Dual Use Regulations. UMS Moattama has boosted the militarys capacity to move troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers and other equipment to support its ongoing campaign of terror against the civilian and armed resistance. Since the 2021 coup, the UMS Moattama has reportedly been deployed to transport troops, rocket systems and heavy artillery to Rakhine State. The warship was also used in the juntas Sea Shield Military Exercises in April 2021 and July 2022. In Denmark, the Foreign Affairs Committee is now calling on the Justice Ministry and the state Defense Material and Procurement Agency (FMI) to explain how they allowed a Danish company to sell engines and equipment to the largest warship in Myanmars navy. Justice For Myanmars Ma Yadanar Maung said it was appalling that MAN Energy Solutions supplied the propulsion system for Myanmars flagship warship, with the approval of Danish authorities, at the same time as the military was committing genocide against the Rohingya. She welcomed the criminal investigations by South Korean and German authorities as positive steps. And we urge Danish authorities to follow suit with a full investigation into how export approval was granted, and the actions of MAN Energy Solutions. South Korea, Germany and Denmark must show that breaches of the law will not be tolerated, she said. A resistance drone strike killed five regime officials in Myawaddy Township, southeastern Karen State on Sunday. Federal Wings, a drone unit allied with the resistance group Cobra Column, told the Irrawaddy on Monday that it had targeted troops and police at the Myawaddy District Administration Department office in the town with two drones. Sundays attack killed three regime-appointed administrative members, a high-ranking military officer and a policeman. Another 11 police officers were also wounded by the strikes. A leaked official document listed the five victims as U Soe Tint, a district administrator; Lieutenant Colonel Aung Kyaw Min, commander of Light Infantry Brigade 275; two members of the Myawaddy Administrative Department; and a traffic policeman. A police superintendent was among the officers wounded in the attack. Sources said the first drone strike destroyed the roof of the administrative building while the second caused casualties among junta police and military personnel who were inspecting the damage. Myawaddy town residents said they heard the explosion, but they were unable to confirm the number of casualties. Tension is running high in Myawaddy Township after the strategic hilltop base of Lat Khat Taung was seized from junta troops by a combined force of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), Cobra Column and Federal Wings on July 21. The KNLA is an armed wing of the Karen National Union, one of Myanmars largest and oldest ethnic armed groups. Junta Infantry Division 44 backed by reinforcements suffered heavy casualties in an attempt to retake the camp last month but was unable to get close to the foot of the hill, according to Cobra Column. Federal Wings is conducting drone attacks in Karen and Kayah states and Sagaing Region. At least 30 Myanmar junta troops were killed and many others injured on Saturday in attacks in Demoso Township, eastern Kayah State, according to the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF). The Karenni Army (KA), KNDF and Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs) attacked junta strongholds in Thay Su Le and Pu Hpar villages before dawn on Saturday. At least 30 infantry troops were killed and the rest fled the camps, a KNDF member told The Irrawaddy on Monday. Resistance fighters were injured but they refused to disclose the numbers. The fighting lasted nearly four hours and the junta launched airstrikes, according to the KNDF. Resistance forces seized weapons and ammunition from Light Infantry Battalion 9. Meanwhile, fighting continues in Demoso and Hpruso townships after the junta sent heavy reinforcements to Loikaw, the state capital, in late July in an attempt to retain control of the Pyidaungsu Road and retake Mese town. Htee Paw So, Daw Ngay Khu and Htee Ka Lu Daw villages in Hpruso were reportedly seized by junta forces in August. Clashes also broke out in Ngwe Taung Ywar Thit and Htee Thaw Ku villages, Hpruso Township, in August, killing at least 70 junta troops, according to resistance forces. At least four KNDF fighters were killed during August, the group said. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports. Fighting has eased but tensions remain high in Pekhon Township in neighboring southern Shan State, the KNDF said. At least 800 clashes have been reported in Kayah State since the 2021 coup, killing more than 2,300 junta troops, according to the Progressive Karenni People Force, which monitors junta atrocities in the state. Around 320 resistance forces have reportedly been killed in clashes with junta troops. The group reported in late August that over 500 civilians, including those displaced, had been killed. Monday, Sep 4th, 2023 (11:12 am) - Score 1,392 The Government has posted an updated State Aid evaluation of the previous Superfast Broadband Programme (UK National Broadband Scheme), which specifically examines the final Phase 3 of the project to extend superfast (30Mbps+) coverage run between 2016 and 2022. Suffice to say, it finds various economic and coverage benefits. The SFBB programme managed by the Building Digital UK agency was first setup back in 2010 to help extend high-speed broadband connectivity to areas that were not expected to benefit from commercial rollouts (note: commercial coverage of superfast lines reached c.76% and SFBB helped to go beyond that toward 98% today). NOTE: Older Phase 1 and 2 SFBB contracts defined superfast as offering downloads of 24Mbps+, while Phase 3 bumped this to 30Mbps+ (aligned to EU and Older Phase 1 and 2 SFBB contracts defined superfast as offering downloads of 24Mbps+, while Phase 3 bumped this to 30Mbps+ (aligned to EU and Ofcom definitions). The programme was split into three phases (see below) and has since been superseded by the governments new 5bn rural-focused Project Gigabit scheme, which lifts the performance target to 1000Mbps (200Mbps on uploads). The final phase (3) of the SFBB programme also involved a lot more Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines, while most of Phase 1 and 2 were dominated by slower Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) tech. BDUK Phases One (Finished Spring 2016) Supported by 530m of public money via the Government (mostly extracted from a small slice of the BBC TV Licence fee), as well as significant match funding from local authorities and the EU. The public funding is then roughly matched by BTs private investment. Overall it helped to extend superfast broadband (24Mbps+) services to cover 90% of premises in the United Kingdom. BDUK Phase Two Supported by 250m of public money via the Government, as well as match funding from local authorities, Local Growth Deals and private investment from suppliers (e.g. BT, Gigaclear, Airband, Call Flow etc.). This phase extended superfast broadband services to 95% of premises in time for the end of 2017, but some newer contracts are on-going (e.g. the Welsh Governments new programme). BDUK Phase Three Similar to Phase Two, albeit without a solid coverage target, and funded under a new state aid judgement covering contracts awarded after 2016 (State aid SA. 40720 (2016/N)). So far, contracts awarded under Phase 3 by early-2022 have involved over 1bn in public funding (various sources) and mostly focused on extending FTTP coverage. These went to various operators including Openreach, Gigaclear, Airband, Quickline, Truespeed, Wessex Internet and Fibrus. Just to be clear about something. BDUK published the first version of this evaluation report back in 2021 (here), but at the time Phase 3 was still ongoing and thus the data they had was incomplete only extending up to 2018. The latest report uses data up to 2021, which is thus much more reflective of the impacts it has had (most of the contracts were at completion in 2021). The report itself was pieced together by analysis from Ipsos UK. Key Impacts Summary BDUK Phase 3 Subsidised coverage increased the share of premises in the programme area able to access superfast speeds by 44 to 48 percentage points, and the share of premises with gigabit capable coverage by 43 to 59 percentage points. The Programme is estimated to have increased the number of premises that can access superfast broadband services (30Mbit/s or above) by 202,000 to 247,000 by the end of September 2021. The associated rate of additionality ranges from 69 percent to 85 percent. NOTE: Additionality reflects the share of premises benefitting from coverage that would not have in the absence of the BDUK programme (i.e. some commercial builds also expanded their coverage after the BDUK state aid builds, which otherwise might not have occurred). Subsidised coverage is estimated to have led to 193,000 to 298,000 additional premises with FTTP/Gigabit capable coverage. The rate of additionality ranges from 66 percent to 102 percent (with most estimates in the region of 90 percent). Phase 3 contracts led to a significant increase in the maximum download speeds of connections taken by households and/or businesses by September 2021 (34 to 60 Mbit/s). As with the national pattern, FTTC is the dominant technology for NGA connections, representing most of the connections in Phase 3 areas however, this percentage is lower than the national average (around 40 percent in 2022 in Phase 3 areas compared to 50 percent nationally). FTTP connections represent a higher proportion of the market in Phase 3 areas than nationally in 2022 (24 percent in 2022 compared to 10 percent nationally). This suggests that the take-up of FTTP connections nationally is lower than take-up in Phase 3 areas which would be expected given that the Phase 3 Superfast Broadband contracts are required to provide gigabit capable networks, and the majority of contracts are doing this through FTTP technologies. The gross public sector cost per additional covered premises over three years was 1,418 for Phase 3 contracts. After allowing for clawback (i.e. public investment returned by operators as take-up by customers increases), this will fall to 1,225 to 1,276 per premises passed (depending on whether take-up stabilises at 60 or 85 percent in the long-term). The present value of net public spending required to deliver the Superfast Broadband Programme over the lifetime of Phase 3 contracts was estimated to be 273m in nominal terms. But it is said to have resulted in some key economic benefits (remember the economic impact of faster broadband is a hard thing to guage with any accuracy, so take with a pinch of salt): Local employment impacts: Subsidised coverage from Phase 3 was estimated to have increased employment in the areas benefitting from the programme by 0.88 percent, leading to the creation of 6,261 local jobs by March 2021. The programme as a whole was estimated to have led to 23,700 more local jobs up to March 2021. Turnover: Subsidised coverage also increased the turnover of firms located in the areas benefitting from Phase 3 of the programme by 1.6 percent by 2021, increasing the annual turnover of local businesses by 827m per annum. Estimates for the whole programme suggested that turnover of firms in areas benefiting from coverage increased by 1.4 percent (equating to around 2.6bn). House prices: The programme led to an increase in house prices (of between 1,900 and 4,900) suggesting that buyers valued the technology. At the national level, the programme is estimated to have resulted in: Economic benefits: Phase 3 is estimated to have led to a cumulative total of 7.2m in productivity gains between 2016/17 and 2021/22. This rises to between 20.8m and 23.1m over the 2016/17 to 2030 period. Additional economic benefits from the reduction in long-term unemployment is estimated to be 5.5m between 2016/17 and 2021/22, rising to between 15.7m and 17.4m over the 2016/17 to 2030 period. Social benefits: Based on its impacts on house prices between 2016/17 and 2021/22, the programme is estimated to have led to social benefits valued at between 370.3m and 946.9m. The estimated Benefit to Cost Ratio (BCR) was between 1.76 and 4.57 per 1 of net lifetime public sector costs based on its impacts between 2016/17 and 2021/22. BUT this assumes that the house price premium is a reasonable approximation of the average welfare gain associated with the programme, and that the house price premium can be applied to all premises in the upgraded areas. The width of the range is driven largely by modelling uncertainty regarding the size of the house price premium associated with subsidised coverage. Allowing for future economic benefits to 2030, the BCR is estimated to rise to between 1.87 and 4.70 per 1 of net public sector spending. The full report can be read here, including lots of additional data. But we did find that a fair bit of potentially useful information had been redacted, probably due to issues of commercial sensitivity with some of the contracted operators. One area where this happens quite a bit concerns contract clawback, although there is still some useful information. For example, the value of actual public spending associated with Phase 3 contracts by the end of March 2022 was, as above, estimated at 273.3m (with a present value of 239.2m in 2016/17). But these contracts were also expected to return 27.5m to 7.8m to the public sector via clawback (with a present value of 21.6m to 28.9m). This gives an estimated net cost to the public sector of 236.0m to 245.8m (with a present value of 210.2m to 217.5m). However, it should be noted that these estimates do not include administrative costs to BDUK, Local Bodies, or network providers. Monday, Sep 4th, 2023 (12:01 am) - Score 15,024 CityFibre has confirmed to ISPreview that theyve recently taken the decision to exit a number of UK full fibre (FTTP) broadband contracts with build partners for a variety of reasons. One of those is known to be the Kier Group, which held various contracts for places such as Weston-Super-Mare, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Bath and Worcester etc. The operators 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network currently covers 3 million UK premises (up from 2.5m in January 2023) and 2.6 million of those are considered to be Ready For Service by a supporting broadband ISP (up from 2.2m). NOTE: CityFibre is owned by Antin Infrastructure Partners, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Mubadala Investment Company and Interogo Holding. All of this forms part of their ambition to cover up to 8 million premises (funded by c.2.4bn in equity and c.4.9bn debt) across over 285 cities, towns and villages (c.30% of the UK) by the end of 2025 (here). The work is also being supported by various UK ISPs, such as Vodafone, TalkTalk, Giganet and Zen Internet etc. However, its fair to say that CityFibre has not unlike many other network builders had somewhat of a rocky 2023. The operator, under pressure from rising costs, competition and other factors, like the need to generate strong take-up, began the year by announcing hundreds of job losses (here). More recently, the operators build in Norwich has been paused after their local build partner, Telec Networks, called in the administrators (here). At around the same time as Telec was getting into trouble last month, we also started hearing reports of CityFibres work being suspended in other parts of the UK too. The full picture remains unclear, but some checking revealed that the biggest pauses seemed to be taking place in locations like Weston-Super-Mare, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Bath and Worcester these are largely the domain of build contracts with the Kier Group, worth up to 82m in total (here). A CityFibre spokesperson told ISPreview: Our rollout is progressing well towards our 8m target with over 3m premises now passed by our network and were on track to deliver 1m Ready For Service homes for our customers this year. As would be expected with a programme of this scale, we continuously review the prioritisation of our rollout locations to take account of factors including competitive rollouts, build partner performance, and deployment costs. As part of that process, were pausing some local builds. Alongside this activity we are continuing to align our rollout with our increasing participation in governments Project Gigabit programme, a project in which we are an integral delivery partner, and we are actively exploring a wide range of commercial opportunities to expand our footprint further. The decision to cancel or change a build partner is one that can often cause significant delays to related projects, and the larger the project, the longer it may take to resolve and restart. CityFibre will now have to find and appoint a new construction firm to replace Kier and Telec (as well as any other firms they may have exited), which in our experience is a process that typically takes up to around a year (sometimes longer, sometimes less). At this stage, CityFibre have declined to disclose more specific details about the current situation, which isnt surprising given that there will no doubt be various commercial and legal considerations. The good news is that the operator remains confident of both their roll-out targets and that theyll be able to find replacement contractors, with the first of these paused projects expected to be restarted within the coming months. Despite this, the level of disruption involved means that there will surely be some significant slowdown in their rate of build, although the operator has previously signalled that one way of overcoming that could be by acquiring a number of rival networks as part of a consolidation drive. However, consolidation is also a complex and expensive business, due to the many differences that can exist between networks and technologies. But for now, it remains to be seen how successful CityFibre will be in this regard and whether it will be enough to help keep them on target. Meanwhile, locals in the affected areas will have to resume thumb twiddling. We did ask Kier to comment too, but they have yet to provide a response. Monday, Sep 4th, 2023 (8:13 am) - Score 1,032 The first cohort of at least 90 apprentice full fibre (FTTP) engineers have just begun their training for future telecoms jobs, which forms part of the UK Governments 108m investment under their Project Gigabit broadband rollout contract with ISP Fibrus alongside network build partner Viberoptix in rural Cumbria. In case anybody has forgotten. The Cumbria (Lot 28) project was the first large-scale Regional Supplier contract to be awarded under the wider 5bn Project Gigabit scheme last year (here). Various rural towns, villages and hamlets across the region from Grasmere to Gilsland are expected to benefit (total of 60,000 premises). The first homes only recently began to go live in Staveley (here) and Aspatria followed. NOTE: Project Gigabit aims to extend 1Gbps capable (download) networks to reach at least 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025 (currently 77%), before aiming for nationwide coverage (c. 99%) by around 2030 ( Project Gigabit aims to extend 1Gbps capable (download) networks to reach at least 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025 (currently 77%), before aiming for nationwide coverage (c. 99%) by around 2030 ( here ). Commercial investment should deliver around 80%, with public funding being used in the final 20%. As part of that deal, Fibrus also aimed to spark new apprenticeship and employment opportunities in the county. At the time the ISP said they were aiming to create at least 90 apprenticeships over the next 3 years covering a range of roles from underground and overhead cabling to surveying and would also invest 50,000 to establish an apprentice training academy near Penrith. The first cohort of 8 Cumbrian apprentices under that plan are now in training at the brand new Viberoptix Training Academy in Newton Rigg (Penrith), and all are set to be offered permanent employment on completion. The site has gone through an extensive refit, after previously being used as a one-time agricultural training college. Sir John Whittingdale, Minister for Digital Infrastructure, said: Ultra-fast, reliable broadband is transforming the way we connect with each other and do business, and creating exciting opportunities in the UKs growing telecoms industry. These apprentices kick-starting their careers here at Newton Rigg are just the first who will be gaining the skills and expertise to take up good jobs and help accelerate the rollout of high-speed broadband in Cumbria. Our partnerships with businesses like Fibrus and Viberoptix are spurring investment in local communities and securing a pipeline of talent for years to come, backed by 108 million in Government funding to deliver lightning-fast broadband connectivity across Cumbria and level up the countys digital infrastructure. Linda McMillan, Chief People Officer at Fibrus, said: The enrolment of the first apprentices at Newton Rigg this summer is a testament to our commitment to local communities. Alongside offering people in Cumbria essential full-fibre broadband connections, were committed to supporting the region with community grants, job creation and training opportunities. I am delighted that were creating new career pathways for local apprentices this year through our trusted partner Viberoptix. In the past we reported on the issues being faced across the industry by a shortage of skilled fibre engineers, although its worth highlighting that this is now much less of a problem. This is partly because a lot of operators have recently been slowing their builds and thus making some engineers redundant as they come under strain from rising costs, competition and the related need to secure a viable level of take-up to satisfy investors. Eventually there will be a surplus of engineers once major operators, such as Openreach, reach a level of build maturity and the roll-out pace begins to slow. This is of course the inevitable reality of nearly all major infrastructure projects. 1371138342::cfb49c8e-2422-11e5-99a3-d7f5c6e8b241 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. Reddit Email 114 Shares A new report reveals how stock buybacks have inflated CEO paychecks and widened pay gaps at the 100 largest low-wage corporations. By Sarah Anderson ( Inequality.org ) In response to strikes and union organizing drives, corporate leaders routinely insist that they simply lack the wherewithal to raise employee pay. And yet top executives seem to have little trouble finding resources for enriching themselves and wealthy shareholders. In 2021 and 2022, S&P 500 corporations spent record sums on stock buybacks, a maneuver that pumps up stock prices by reducing the supply on the open market. Since stock-based pay makes up the bulk of executive compensation, CEOs reap huge and completely undeserved windfalls. CEOs could watch cat videos all day and still reap huge windfalls through stock buybacks. The Low-Wage 100 A new Institute for Policy Studies report, Executive Excess 2023, reveals how these financial shenanigans have widened disparities at the 100 S&P 500 corporations with the lowest median worker pay, a group weve dubbed the Low-Wage 100. Between January 1, 2020 and May of this year, these companies reported a combined $341 billion in stock buyback spending. Lowes led the buybacks list, plowing nearly $35 billion into share repurchases over the past three and a half years. In 2022 alone, Lowes spent more than $14 billion on buybacks enough to give every one of its 301,000 U.S. employees a $46,923 bonus. Im guessing rank-and-file Lowes employees, half of whom make less than $30,000 per year, could find more productive uses for that money. During their stock buyback spree, Low-Wage 100 CEOs personal stock holdings increased more than three times as fast as their firms median worker pay. At the 65 buyback companies where the same person held the top job between 2019 and 2022, the Low-Wage 100 CEOs personal stock holdings soared 33 percent to an average of $184.7 million. Median pay at these firms rose only 10 percent to an average of $31,972. Image by Jonathan from Pixabay FedEx founder and CEO Frederick Smith has the largest stockpile in the Low-Wage 100. With $3.6 billion in stock buybacks since January 2020, Smiths personal stock holdings have grown 65 percent to more than $5 billion. By contrast, median pay for workers at the notoriously anti-union company fell by 20 percent to $39,177 during this period. Taxpayer support for huge CEO-worker pay gaps What makes all this even more upsetting? Taxpayers are actually supporting, through federal contracts, the buyback-fueled disparities at FedEx and 50 other Low-Wage 100 firms. FedEx pocketed $6.2 billion in fiscal years 2020-2023 for mail services for the Veterans Administration and other agencies. The largest federal contractor in the Low-Wage 100 is another company known for union-busting Amazon. Over the past few years, Amazon has pocketed more than $10 billion in web services deals from Uncle Sam while spending nearly $6 billion repurchasing their shares. Fortunately, support is growing for solutions to our CEO pay problem. Solutions to executive excess Before 1982, stock buybacks were viewed as market manipulation and largely banned. President Joe Biden hasnt yet called for reinstating that ban, but he did rail against buybacks in his State of the Union address this year and called for quadrupling a new 1 percent excise tax on share repurchases. The Biden administration is also starting to use federal money going to corporations as a lever for change. In an important first step, the administration is giving preferential treatment in the awarding of new semiconductor manufacturing subsidies to companies that agree to give up buybacks. Now they should extend that policy to all corporations receiving taxpayer money. Buybacks are not the only trick CEOs can use to inflate their own paychecks. Over my decades of research, Ive documented how corporate leaders have used myriad shady means to hit personal jackpots, from cooking the books and moving executive bonus goalposts to creating housing bubbles and other reckless financial schemes. To tackle this systemic problem, policymakers need to go bolder. Executive Excess 2023 offers an extensive menu of CEO pay reforms. One of the most innovative: tax penalties for companies with huge CEO-worker pay gaps. Two major cities San Francisco and Portland, Oregon are already generating significant revenue through such taxes. Seattle is now considering a similar approach. The idea that the person in the corner office is hundreds of times more valuable than other employees is a myth even if that person is not just watching cat videos. All employees contribute to the profits of a corporation, and our economy would be far healthier if the fruits of our labor were more equitably shared. Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project and co-edits Inequality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies. She is the author of the report Executive Excess 2023. Via Inequality.org Content licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 License Reddit Email 66 Shares By Melissa Haswell, University of Sydney; David Shearman, University of Adelaide; Jacob Hegedus, University of Sydney; and Lisa Jackson Pulver, University of Sydney | (The Conversation) We are seeing deadly heat and fires circle the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns we are fast running out of time to secure a liveable and sustainable future. Without emergency action to stop mining and burning fossil fuels, the world faces an unthinkable 2.8 temperature rise. Its incomprehensible, then, that many of our politicians support unlocking the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory and developing another 48 oil and gas projects across Australia. Unlocking means starting large-scale shale gas extraction. After drilling through 34km of rock and aquifers, a cocktail of chemicals, sand and water is forced down the well. This process of hydraulic fracturing is commonly known as fracking. This brings to the surface, and then into the atmosphere, carbon that had been securely stored underground for 300400 million years. Today we have launched a report that demonstrates the many risks of oil and gas development for human health and wellbeing in Australia. Based on a review of over 300 peer-reviewed studies, our report provides the public and decision-makers with a summary of the now-extensive evidence of these risks. What is the evidence against oil and gas? There is a need to combat widely held misconceptions and repeated misinformation about the safety of the oil and gas industry. We undertook the review at the request of concerned paediatricians in the Northern Territory. New research clearly shows that unlocking gas is at least as harmful to the climate as mining and burning coal. This is largely due to methane leaks at many stages of production. Methane is 86 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over 20 years. Article continues after bonus IC video CBC News: Human health at the mercy of fossil fuels, Lancet report finds Doors opened for the 49 planned projects in Australia after state reviews of potential impacts. These reviews are flawed and outdated as the volume of published studies has grown rapidly in recent years. Reviews were undertaken, for example, in New South Wales in 2014, Northern Territory in 2017, South Australia in 2015 and Western Australia in 2018. Our report synthesises recent scientific and public health research on five areas of concern about oil and gas operations: threats to biodiversity, water and food security arising from site preparation, drilling, fracking, wastewater handling, gas pipeline transport and processing contributions to the climate emergency a vast array of potentially harmful chemicals contamination of water, soil and air physical, social, emotional and spiritual health impacts near oil and gas fields and their sprawling infrastructure. Each fracking event to release shale gas uses 6 million to 60 million litres of fresh water. Fracking is often applied many times to each of hundreds to thousands of wells in a region. This puts water security at risk in arid areas. Each step of gas production creates risks of contamination of surface and ground water. With vast quantities of wastewater, it can happen through spilling, leaking, flooding and overflows. Wastewater can even be deliberately spread for so-called beneficial uses. This wastewater contains hundreds of chemicals. Some are naturally occurring. Others are added during drilling and fracking. These chemicals can include heavy metals, phenols, barium, volatile organic compounds including benzene, toluene, ethylene and xylene, radioactive materials, fluoride, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, salt and many chemicals of unknown toxicity. Air becomes contaminated with volatile organic compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, radioactive materials, diesel fumes, hydrogen sulfide, acrolein and heavy metals. Formaldehyde, particulate matter and ground-level ozone are formed and travel long distances, damaging health and agriculture. What are the health impacts? People exposed to oil and gas operations experience a long list of harms. These include: Putting Indigenous people and others in harms way Many of the 49 planned projects affect Aboriginal land. Some companies have allegedly violated the rights of Traditional Owners to free, prior and informed consent. The massive disruption of Aboriginal Country and life puts people at great risk of physical, social, emotional, cultural and spiritual harm. The report also issues a loud warning about sexual violence against First Nations Americans and Canadians associated with oil and gas activities. The WA parliamentary inquiry into womens experiences of sexual harassment and sexual violence in fly in, fly out (FIFO) mines suggests these risks apply equally in Australia. Yet all government assessments of oil and gas development in Australia completely ignore these risks. In the United States, the industry has grown so vast within two decades that over 17.6 million people live within a mile (1.6km) of oil or gas wells. By 2016, the estimated cost to the community was US$77 billion. This was the cost of illness, extra health care and premature deaths (7,500) from asthma, respiratory and cardiovascular disease due to air pollution alone. Our report makes clear any further gas development will have serious impacts on the climate, the people living in or near gas fields and the overburdened health services that serve them. Melissa Haswell, Professor of Health, Safety and Environment, Queensland University of Technology and Professor of Practice in Environmental Wellbeing, Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Services) and Honorary Professor (School of Geosciences), University of Sydney; David Shearman, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Adelaide; Jacob Hegedus, Research Assistant, University of Sydney, and Lisa Jackson Pulver, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology, University of Sydney This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Residents of Khartoum awoke Sunday to artillery and rocket fire, hours after an air strike in the city's south killed at least 20 civilians including two children, according to Sudanese activists. "The death toll from the aerial bombardment" in southern Khartoum "has risen to 20 civilian fatalities," according to a statement by the neighbourhood's resistance committee. They are among many volunteer groups that used to organise pro-democracy demonstrations and now provide assistance to families caught in the crossfire between the army and paramilitary fighters. In an earlier statement, they said the victims included two children, and warned that more fatalities went unrecorded, as "their bodies could not be moved to the hospital because they were severely burned or torn to pieces in the bombing". Since war began between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15, around 5,000 people have been killed, according to estimates from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project. The Sudanese Armed Forces control the skies and have carried out regular air strikes while RSF fighters dominate the streets of the capital. Western countries have accused the paramilitaries and allied militias of killings based on ethnicity in the western Darfur region, and the International Criminal Court has opened a new probe into alleged war crimes. The army has also been accused of abuses, including a July 8 air strike that killed around two dozen civilians. More than half of Sudan's 48 million people now require humanitarian aid and protection, and six million are "one step away from famine", according to the United Nations. Despite insecurity, looting and bureaucratic obstacles, the world body says it has been able to get aid to millions of those in need. The war has internally displaced around 3.8 million people, the UN says, while another million have crossed borders into neighbouring countries. Among the displaced are nearly 2.8 million from Khartoum, according to the International Organization for Migration. That is more than half the capital's pre-war population of around five million. Those who remain shelter from the crossfire, rationing water and electricity. In Khartoum, resistance committees have been some of the only sources of relief, helping dig survivors out of the rubble of bombed buildings, braving gunfire on the streets to deliver medicine and documenting atrocities committed by both sides. Nearly five months in, the violence shows no signs of abating. Witnesses on Sunday again reported the army targeting RSF positions in northern Khartoum with "artillery and rocket fire". A historic trial opens in Stockholm on September 5, both in terms of its scope and the people involved. Alex Schneiter and Ian Lundin, respectively former director and former chairman of the Swedish company Lundin Petroleum, are accused of complicity in war crimes perpetrated between 1999 and 2003 by the Sudanese army and allied militias in an area of what later became South Sudan where the company was exploiting an oil field. In the late 1990s, Sudan was torn by war between the south of the country - which gained independence in 2011 - and the government of Omar Al-Bashir. It was against this backdrop that, on February 6, 1997, the Swedish company signed -- through a subsidiary -- an oil exploration and production agreement with the Sudanese government. The agreement gave the right to explore for oil and extract oil in a vast area of the south, known as Block 5A, in exchange for the payment of fees and the sharing of future profits with the government. Between 1999 and 2003, following Lundins discovery of an oil deposit, the Sudanese army and allied militias carried out large-scale military operations to control this area "and create the necessary conditions for oil extraction", the Swedish prosecutor's office says in a statement published in mid-August. "For four years, until Lundin Oil left in 2003, they led systematic attacks on civilians, or at least indiscriminate attacks, in violation of international humanitarian law," prosecutor Henrik Attorps explained in an interview with Justice Info in 2021. These included bombings, shooting at civilians from helicopter gunships, burning villages and crops. While the number of direct victims of these attacks has never been counted, the "Unpaid Debt" report by the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan (ECOS) estimated in 2010 that around 12,000 people had been killed by the fighting or starved to death by the destruction of crops, and some 160,000 forcibly displaced. It was this reports publication that triggered the opening of a preliminary investigation in Sweden. The NGO PAX, which authored the report, highlighted the influence - indeed, involvement - of Lundin's management in these operations. In November 2021, more than a decade after the start of the legal proceedings, the company's former director Alex Schneiter and chairman Ian Lundin were indicted by Swedish judicial authorities for "complicity in war crimes". "These two executives had a decisive influence on the company's activities, and had crucial contacts within the Sudanese government," explains prosecutor Attorps. In order to protect the activities of their subsidiary, the defendants "supported" the government of Omar Al-Bashir in "conducting warfare in a way that entailed the Sudanese army and regime allied militias systematically attacking civilians or at least carrying out systematic attacks in violation of the principles of distinction and proportionality", according to the Swedish prosecutor's office. Lundin's Defence rejects accusations These accusations are rejected outright by the defendants and the company - which, after being successively known as Lundin Petroleum, Lundin Oil and Lundin Energy, was renamed Orron Energy in 2022. In response to the Swedish Public Prosecutor's investigation, the oil company commissioned its own analysis of the accusations against it. Published in 2021, the report led by lawyer Steven Kay - a veteran of international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and elsewhere - denounced the "unreasonable credence" given by Swedish prosecutors to the "biased allegations" of NGOs and the absence of "objective evidence" and "independent witnesses". As soon as he was indicted in November 2021, the company's former director, Swiss national Alex Schneiter, challenged the legitimacy of the Swedish justice system to try him. In Sweden, government approval is required prior to any prosecution under universal jurisdiction - i.e. for international crimes involving foreign nationals and committed outside the country. The Swedish Public Prosecutor's Office had already obtained this agreement in 2018. But until then, only foreigners present on Swedish territory had been indicted for such crimes. Alex Schneiter argued that he could not be subject to this universal jurisdiction, as he was neither a Swedish citizen nor a resident of the country. His successive appeals - rejected at first instance, then on appeal - went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in November 2022. "The fact that the accused is not in Sweden is not an obstacle, provided that the links with Sweden are sufficient in other respects," the Supreme Court ruled, thus authorizing the prosecution to go ahead. High-profile witnesses It took the Swedish justice system ten months to prepare for this extraordinary trial, which promises to be the longest in the country's history. Hearings will be held three days a week until February 2026 at the Stockholm Court of Justice. The prosecution will need 23 days to present its 80,000-page investigation report, while the defence has set aside 50 days to present its case. Thirty-four victims have joined as civil parties, and 57 witnesses will be heard, including former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, former German Interior Minister Gerhard Baum, former Director of African Affairs at the US National Security Council John Prendergast, European Representative for the Horn of Africa Annette Weber and Africa Oil Corp CEO Keith Hill. The trial will be watched with particular interest, as the charges brought against Schneiter and Lundin target the actions of the oil company Lundin Petroleum. The criminal liability of private companies does not exist in Sweden, so the company cannot be charged as a legal entity. "But when an individual or a company makes a profit from a crime, that profit can be confiscated to the extent of any variation in its value," prosecutor Attorps explained to us in 2021. In addition, the company can be fined. Given that "the company's representatives did not implement what could reasonably be expected to prevent these crimes", the prosecution is asking for a fine of SEK 3 million (252,000 euros) and that SEK 1,391,791,000 (117 millions euros) be confiscated from the company's assets, i.e. the current value of profits from the 2003 sale of Lundin Oil's activities in that part of Sudan to Malaysian company Petronas Carigali. This confiscation is not specifically earmarked for reparations, but they could be claimed by civil parties to the trial. complaint in Norway "This lawsuit sends a very strong signal to companies and their executives in Sweden and elsewhere," says Olof Bjornsson, programme manager at the NGO Swedwatch and author of the "Fuel for Conflict" report on Lundin Petroleum's involvement in Sudan. "This shows that their actions and failure to respect human rights can lead to criminal prosecution." In parallel and independently of the criminal proceedings in Sweden, Swedwatch and seven other European and Sudanese NGOs filed a complaint in Norway in May 2022 denouncing the takeover of Lundin assets by Norwegian oil company Aker BP. "This is not a criminal procedure, but a complaint filed with the National Contact Point (NCP) [an independent commission responsible for ensuring compliance with the OECD principles of corporate responsibility in each member country]," explains Bjornsson. On December 21, 2021 - a few weeks after the publication of the indictment against the former Lundin executives - the Swedish oil company announced that its oil and gas operations had been acquired by Norway's Aker BP for some 12 billion euros, making the latter the country's second-largest oil producer. These assets, located in Norway, had been acquired by Lundin thanks to profits generated from the 2003 sale of its operations in southern Sudan," explains Bjornsson. And with this sale, nearly 98% of Lundin's capital was absorbed by Aker BP. We Swedes have all benefitted In Sweden the remaining capital of Lundin, since renamed Orron Energy, should be enough to cover the trial costs and any fines, reparations and confiscations by Swedish justice in the event of a conviction. But the possible reparations that could be obtained in this trial concern only 34 civil parties, out of thousands of people who may have been impacted by the company's actions - actions that generated the profit leading to this sale today," explains Bjornsson. With the takeover by Aker BP, it will be very difficult for all these victims to ever receive compensation. We therefore consider that, by not taking into account the impact of this sale on these victims, despite the widespread media coverage of the facts, Aker BP has failed to comply with the OECD principles on corporate responsibility." The NCP has no real power of sanction, but its opinion - which will be issued in the coming months - may be taken into account by the Norwegian state and lead to the company being monitored by the commission. Beyond that, Bjornsson hopes that these two independent proceedings - the criminal trial in Sweden and the complaint in Norway - will open up the debate on investor liability. "All Swedish banks and four government pension funds invested in Lundin Petroleum at the time of its operations in Sudan, or shortly thereafter. They invested at a time when reports from NGOs and the UN were already denouncing abuses taking place in the area," he explains. In many ways, we Swedes have all benefited from Lundin's profits in southern Sudan. Good news, K-Drama junkies! The month of September is about to be stacked with new amazing dramas with thrilling narratives and so much more! From the romance series "A Time Called You" to the exhilarating survival drama "7 Escape," there's surely going to be a drama that's right up your alley! Read on to know more about the upcoming series that will finally debut this September! 'A Time Called You' The long wait is over for Ahn Hyo Seop and Jeon Yeo Bin's fans as their fantasy romance drama "A Time Called You" is finally coming this September 8. Based on the Taiwanese series of the same name, the new Netflix show presents the beautiful love story between a mourning woman and a man who embodies hope. When a woman who yearns for her dead lover gets transported back in time, she meets a man who completely resembles her late boyfriend, exuding a bittersweet feeling. Don't miss the arrival of the drama. Apart from the duo, Kang Hoon, Rowoon and Kim Yi Kyung are also making appearances in the show. 'Arthdal Chronicles 2' "Arthdal Chronicles" proudly debuts its second season with Lee Joon Gi and Shin Se Kyung. Set eight years after the first season, the Arthdal natives clash and fight for their own safety as they face another rebellion to overthrow the new kingdom. Season 2 is coming to Disney+ this September 2 so make sure to check it out. 'Han River Police' The K-Drama experience wouldn't be complete without an action comedy series. Thankfully, Sung Dong Il's "Han River Police" is here. It follows the team tasked in patrolling the Han River and their quest to take down the villainous criminal who threatens to destroy the iconic river. Sung Dong Il welcomes Kwon Sang Woo, Kim Hee Won, Bae Da Bin and Shin Hyung Seung to his team who will fight against Lee Sang Yi who takes on his first-ever antagonist role. "Han River Police" premieres for the first time on September 14 on Disney+. '7 Escape' The survival series in South Korean media grows bigger and bigger, leading to the birth of "7 Escape." Starring Uhm Ki Joon, Hwang Jung Eum, Shin Eun Kyung, Lee Yoo Bi and more, the new exhilarating series focuses on the stories of seven individuals who are involved in a young girl's mysterious disappearance. As they try to search for the truth, they realize that they are more involved and intertwined more than they first thought. The new series is also about revenge and eternal punishment. If you love dramas like this, then check out "7 Escape," which debuts on September 15 on SBS TV. KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. In episode 10 of "The First Responders 2," the police force conduct an investigation after taking on a new murder case. Unfortunately, it's like their first day at work all over again as Kim Rae Won's team couldn't crack the code in order to take down the culprit. What will happen to them? Keep on reading to know more. Who Killed Lawyer Yang? The episode begins with the doctors conducting an autopsy on a brutally murdered Lawyer Yang (Jo Hee Bong) in "The First Responders 2" episode 10. Han Se Jin (Jeon Sung Woo), the new doctor, finds out that some of the victim's internal organs are missing including the lungs, liver and one of his kidneys. Unfortunately, the intention of the killer couldn't be found from the autopsy alone despite narrowing it down to a potential suspect: the father of Ma Tae Hwa's (Lee Do Yeop) victim. Jin Ho Gae Visits Prime Suspect After being murdered, the victim's family became the talk of the town as his mother took her own life. His father even faced a lot of financial loss and was living in isolation. Jin Ho Gae (Kim Rae Won) and Gongmyung Pil (Kang Ki Doong) then decide to meet with the suspect. The police ask him a bunch of questions and when they reveal that Lawyer was dead, he rejoices. However, Jin Ho Gae believes that he isn't the culprit behind the murder. Did Ma Tae Hwa Kill Him? Doctor Han Se Jin examines the body once again after noticing some glaring details. Along with Song Seol (Gong Seung Yeon), they reveal what they have found out to the police team. It is revealed that the lungs and the liver were taken out abruptly which means that the organs can no longer be useful to anybody. The kidney, however, was taken out with extra caution and case. This is when Jin Ho Gae realizes that Ma Tae Hwa was recently admitted to the hospital for kidney failure. They figure out that it could also be Ma Tae Hwa who ordered him to kill the lawyer in order for him to live. Jin Ho Gae Finds Himself at a Stalemate Jin Ho Gae arrives at the hospital to investigate but he finds out that there is someone else on the bed instead of Ma Tae Hwa, and he escapes the hospital. The police successfully find a fingerprint at the scene which belongs to the first suspect. When they go back to his home, the man is already dead as a few syringes lie on his body. Jin Ho Gae's father then calls to tell him that the death of Ma Tae Hwa's father might have been a murder, creating a much bigger confusion for the police force. KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has rejected the request for funding the Extraordinary National Delegates Conference, which was called by the party chairman, Mr. Wasswa Birigwa on grounds that the partys governing bodies were not informed in advance. In his letter dated August 24th, Birigwa had requested Shs638.2 million to support his conference scheduled for September 19th. In his letter, Birigwa stated, The office of the party Chairman has called for an extraordinary National Delegates Conference on Tuesday, September in Kampala. The total number of expected participants is 1,970, including 1,560 delegates and 410 other guests. According to the budget attached to the letter, the funds were intended for facilitating the attendance of delegates, providing security in the form of police officers, accommodating delegates for two nights each, covering meals and refreshments for delegates, and providing transportation to and from their respective districts among others. However, Mr. Birigwas request has been turned down by the party Secretary-General, Mr. Nandala Mafabi, on the grounds that the partys governing bodies were not informed about the delegates conference in advance. Mr. Mafabi stated in his September 2 letter said that You announced this extraordinary meeting in the Daily Monitor without notifying any party organ, including the Secretary-General, who is the principal accounting officer of the party, the party president, and the party treasurer, who is responsible for party finances. Mafabi also pointed out that Birigwa appears to be implementing the resolutions made during the press conference at Katonga by the party founder, Dr. Kizza Besigye, on August 2, and the gathering at Fairway Hotel on August 3rd. He warned that Katonga is not an official organ or structure of the FDC, and the chairman should not act on its resolutions. In his letter, Mafabi emphasized that the party is only informed about the National Delegates Conference called by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, which will lead to the election of the partys national leadership. This meeting had been approved by the 16th National Council meeting, according to Mafabi, and is slated to take place on October 6. Mafabi added, During your eight years as the party chairman, you had ample time to convene a delegates conference, but you chose not to do so until the end of your term. Your actions are causing disharmony at this critical time. Given these circumstances, the party has declined to fund Birigwas conference. Since this meeting is not a party-sanctioned event, and considering the partys financial constraints, the working committee has resolved that the party cannot fund it because it is not included in the budget, and you do not have the authority to incur expenses on behalf of the party through claims by third parties, the letter reads further. When reached for a comment, Birigwa mentioned that he is scheduled to hold a press conference today to address the fate of this conference and other issues affecting the party The crisis in the party deepened after the revelation of two upcoming and competing national delegates conferences, one called by Mr Birigwa and the other by the chairperson of the party electoral commission. While the two conferences have different agendas, both require substantial budgets to accommodate more than 1,700 delegates from various parts of the country. This had left party supporters uncertain about the two competing events. The agenda for the extraordinary conference called by Mr Birigwa involves receiving reports from the party chairman, party president, secretary general, and treasurer general. This will be followed by plenary sessions, resolutions, and adjournments. In contrast, the second National Delegates Conference aims to elect the National Executive Committee leadership, including the party president, deputy presidents, and the secretary general. The party president, Mr. Patrick Amuriat had last week requested to meet Birigwa to harmonize the two conferences but Biriggwa did not turn up. By Ronald Ssenvuma Security agencies have intensified surveillance in Kampala and across the country amid renewed terror threats to the country. Yesterday, an Anti-terrorism crack unit comprising experts from police, army, and sister security agencies arrested a 28-year-old man said was on the verge of blasting an Improvised Explosive Device at Rubaga Mirale Center in Kampala. In the bag there was an IED the food flask [contained powder], nails, battery of a motorcycle, which was the charger, [he] had used a [mobile] phone [handset] which was supposed to be a switch for it, detonator, booster charger, said Mr Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman. Meanwhile, a group of 70 District/Division CID officers is set to commence their 4-month Refresher Course at the Police Training School in Kabalye, Masindi. These were officially flagged off yesterday by the Director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate. According to a statement from the Directorate, the training aims at enhancing their skills and capabilities to effectively tackle the existing and emerging threats to law and order in the country. The US embassy in Uganda has warned that there remains a threat of terrorist attacks in Uganda and throughout the region This is after the police evacuated a business centre in Bunamwaya, recovering an Improvised Explosive Device. The US embassy has also told US citizens to stay alert and avoid large public gatherings, a day after the police thwarted a suicide bombing attack at Rubaga Miracle Centre, a church operated by the prominent preacher Pastor Robert Kayanja. Police spokesperson, Mr Fred Enanga has told a weekly news conference that a 28-year-old suspected suicide bomber was arrested before he entered the church yesterday. He says the arrested suspect is helping the police to locate three others believed to be part of a coordinated plot targeting churches across Uganda. According to police reports, the man had concealed an improvised explosive device in a food flask placed in a bag. Authorities successfully detonated the explosive, which comprised nails, a cell phone, detonator, booster charger and other components. A thrilling new historical play based on the extraordinary true story of the Irish Transgender American War Hero, Albert D.J. Cashier is coming to Kilkenny later this month. In this original new play devised by the company, Quintessence Theatre use their innovative physical ensemble storytelling techniques mingled with multi-media of stunning projection and emotive music to dramatise the incredible true story of the Clogherhead-born Transgender soldier. The play is set in Belvidere, Illinois, 1862: A young Irishman, Albert D.J. Cashier, enlists with the Union Army in the Civil War and becomes a decorated hero. But unknown to his comrades, Private Cashier is waging an internal war all of his own. When he is fifty years a veteran an indiscreet doctor reveals to all of America that Cashier was assigned female at birth, born under the name Jennie Hodgers, from Clogherhead, Co. Louth, Ireland. From that day on Alberts greatest battle truly begins: for identity, selfhood, and truth. Directed by Anna Simpson (a Creative Associate of the Pleasance Theatre, London, and practitioner with Shakespeares Globe) this exciting, moving & often comedic production, unearths a gem of a tale about a forgotten hero of Irish history, and explores urgent modern questions around gender, self-determination, and human tenacity, paralleling the struggles of the transgender community today. Quintessence Theatre dedicates itself to exploring the human condition through the most theatrical means available: the actor themselves, their imagination, and embracing the live relationship between actor and audience. The original ensemble cast who devised the play are all back for the National Tour, including: Ceara Carney; Fiona Keenan OBrien; Anthony Kinahan; Mark OReilly and Leah Rossiter. The Curious Case of Albert Cashier was created in association with Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda & the National Tour is kindly supported by The Arts Council of Ireland. Kilkenny female entrepreneurs are encouraging others from the county to join the latest cycle of ACORNS - a highly-successful free development initiative to support early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland. The call for applications for the 9th cycle of ACORNS was recently launched by Charlie McConalogue T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine. ACORNS is funded through the Departments Rural Innovation and Development Fund. The programme comes highly recommended by previous participants, with 100% of those surveyed at the end of the 8th cycle saying they would recommend the programme to others. The 46 entrepreneurs in ACORNS 8 made significant progress over the six months of their involvement, reporting significant growth in their new businesses. Their combined turnover almost doubled in the six months to April 2023 - from 1.9m to 3.6m. Participants in ACORNS 8 employed 96 (55 full-time, 41 part-time) staff at the end of the cycle, an increase of 16. There were also five new exporters over the cycle. There are 50 places available for ACORNS 9 which will run from October 2023 to April 2024. Those wishing to receive an application form for ACORNS 9 should register on the website (www.acorns.ie). The deadline for applications is midnight, September 22. Past participants from Kilkenny include Abby Mahon of Bee Media (www.beemediakk.com). Abby Mahon had been lending her digital marketing skills to a small business in Kilkenny city when her talent for driving engagement came to the attention of other local firms. That vote of confidence inspired her in 2021 to set up Bee Media, a one-stop shop for businesses in need of digital media solutions, including social media marketing, graphic design, videography, and website development. Abby was a participant on ACORNS 8. Abby says: ACORNS has been invaluable to my business, Bee Media, and has provided me with great insight and support on everything start- up related. Peer learning and knowledge sharing has been a highlight. Participants can share their experiences, insights, and lessons learned, providing practical advice and solutions to common challenges. Learning from others' successes and failures can help members make informed decisions. I would highly recommend joining ACORNS. Students from Kilkenny have been awarded an All Ireland Scholarship which will cover the full duration of their undergraduate studies. The 2022 Leaving Certificate students; Enda McCabe, Eoin Deely, Glen Crowe, Jack ONeill, Joan Akaehomen and Philip Byrne will be honoured at the All Ireland Scholarships Award Ceremony 2023 on the 16th of September in University Concert Hall, University of Limerick. In attendance at the ceremony will be Guest of Honour and Limerick Senior Hurling Team Manager John Kiely, Minister for Further and Higher Education Niall Collins T.D. and Deputy Secretary, Skills and Education Group, Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland, Moira Doherty as well as the family, friends and principals of the scholarship recipients. The All Ireland Scholarships were established in 2008 by JP McManus and this year marks its 15th anniversary. The third level educational scholarship is awarded to 125 of the highest achieving students per year, with a minimum of two students from each of the 32 counties. The recipients must meet a further set of criteria, including attending a non-fee-paying school and be in receipt of a third level education maintenance grant from Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) or be in receipt of an Education Maintenance Allowance in Northern Ireland. The scholarship offers full academic financial support for the duration of the students' third level studies. To date, 1,674 scholarships have been awarded across the island of Ireland, of which 1,348 winners have already graduated from university and have embarked on successful careers. The most popular courses chosen by the 2022 cohort of scholarship recipients include science, engineering, pharmacy, finance and medicine. Following the success of season one, Scealta Gra na hEireann is back for a second season - six new couples, with six new captivating and heartbreaking stories! These stories cover a wide range of historical events, including the 1798 Rebellion, the Easter Rising, the Irish War of Independence and the American Civil War. This second season of Scealta Gra na hEireann promises to be even more captivating and more heartbreaking than the first, as viewers are transported back in time to experience the love stories of Ireland's most iconic couples. With an expert team of historians the show brings these tales to life in a visceral and compelling way. We are thrilled to share these stories with our audience and can't wait for everyone to tune in and fall in love with Scealta Gra na hEireann, all over again. The captivating story of Grace Gifford and Joseph Plunkett is widely recognised as one of the most tragic love stories in Ireland's history. Grace and Joe are brought together by their love for Ireland and their shared ideals and spirituality. They are married in Kilmainham Gaol but their life together is cut tragically short by the violence of the 1916 Easter Rising. Their love for each other and their country will always be remembered. Lady Eleanor Butler of Kilkenny Castle and Sarah Ponsonby of Woodstock House, are two women who, despite the social norms of their time and the many obstacles they face, are determined to be together. They defy societal expectations and refuse to conform to traditional gender roles. Their story is an inspirational tale of undying love and unbreakable courage. This couple's story is a testament to the power of love, and to the importance of being true to yourself. Michael Joseph O'Rahilly and Nancy Brown were as devoted to one another as they were to the fight for Irish independence. The recent demolition of their home at 40 Herbert Park is a stark reminder of the government's disregard for preserving the country's historical and cultural heritage. However, despite the loss of their physical home, the legacy of their love for each other lives on through O'Rahilly's farewell letter to Nancy, written as he lay mortally wounded on the streets of Dublin, during the 1916 Easter Rising. Matilda and Theobald Wolfe Tone have a whirlwind romance that plays out in the era of revolutions. From Ireland to France and America this power couple almost bring the British Empire crashing to its knees and brush shoulders with Napoleon himself. Wolfe Tone is so vividly remembered today thanks to Matildas efforts in preserving his diaries and political writings in the now famous two volume biography, the Life of Theobald Wolfe Tone. Leslie Price and Tom Barry, the couple that brought down an Empire. Their respective involvement with the Cumann na mBan and the West Cork Brigade's flying column, play a key role in undermining the British Empire's operations in Ireland during the War of Independence. After the Civil War, Leslie Price contributes to the betterment of the Irish State, helping to establish the Irish Red Cross, Gorta and VHI, all of which still operate to this day. Toms book Guerilla Days in Ireland is the seminal work on the Irish fight for freedom and on the tactics of guerilla warfare. Their combined efforts during the revolution, made them one of the most active and influential couples of their time. John Mitchel and Jenny Verner's story is one of forbidden love, sacrifice, and political turmoil. Mitchel, a leading figure in the Irish nationalist movement, and Verner, a prominent member of the Protestant gentry, fell in love despite the disapproval of their families and the social divide of their time. Their commitment to one another and to the cause of Irish freedom will see them traverse four continents, numerous wars and years of incarceration. Episode 1 of Scealta Gra na hEireann season 2 will be shown 6th September 8:30pm on TG4. Newshub reports: labour says an Instagram post claiming a national-ACT coalition would reintroduce interest to student loans if elected was a mistake. The incumbent governing party has been accused of disinformation after several recent social media posts raised eyebrows. A National/ACT coalition will not only cut fees free for first-year students, but they will also add interest back on ALL current student loans, one post said, despite the Nat's last week saying it would keep fees-free if elected. Another post depicted a news story about military-style guns (MSSAs) being back if ACT was in Government. The report, however, was the headline of a press release by Labour itself. Labour leader Chris Hipkins on Thursday flat-out denied his social media team was spreading disinformation about other parties' policies. Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Mainly clear skies. Low 22F. SW winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear skies. Low 22F. SW winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. The installation view of Kang Seo-kyeong's solo exhibition, titled "Willow Drum Oriole," is seen in this photo provided by Leeum Museum of Art and Studio Suki Seokyeong Kang. Yonhap Korean visual artist Kang Seo-kyeong presents a wide range of works, including painting, sculpture, video and multimedia installations, at her solo exhibition set to open at Leeum Museum of Art in central Seoul later this week. Kang's largest-ever solo exhibition to date, titled "Willow Drum Oriole," will be held from Sept. 7 to Dec. 31 at the nation's largest private gallery, which is run by the Samsung Foundation of Culture. The upcoming exhibition will showcase a total of 130 pieces of her works, including those from previous series, and her latest sculptural installations and a video. The professor of Korean painting at Ewha Woman's University is one of the leading Korean contemporary artists, and has drawn attention for her wide spectrum of works combining traditional and contemporary elements. The installation view of Kang Seo-kyeong's solo exhibition, titled "Willow Drum Oriole," is seen in this photo provided by Leeum Museum of Art and Studio Suki Seokyeong Kang. Yonhap President Yoon Suk Yeol waves as he boards the presidential airplane at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 17. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon President Yoon Suk Yeol departed for Indonesia on Tuesday to attend annual summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) before traveling to India for a summit with leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies. This will be the second consecutive year the president attends both gatherings, underscoring the importance his administration places on boosting cooperation with a region noted for its strategic position in the U.S.-China rivalry and its growing economic potential. Yoon also said in an interview with the Associated Press published Monday that he will use the meetings to urge the international community to "resolutely respond to North Korea's ever-escalating missile provocations and nuclear threats and to work closely together on its denuclearization." ASEAN comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. On Wednesday, Yoon will attend a South Korea-ASEAN summit and check the current state of practical cooperation between the two sides while also discussing areas of future cooperation, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters last week. The same day he will attend an ASEAN Plus Three summit involving the 10 member states, and South Korea, Japan and China to discuss ways to realize an "East Asian community," before going to a gala dinner hosted by Indonesia, the current ASEAN chair. By Lee Jong-eun Eighteen months ago, Europe experienced the first major conventional military conflict since WWII when Russia launched a so-called "special military operation" against Ukraine. Since then, the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine has continued into attrition. Ukraine's determined resistance and the West's economic and military support prevented Russia from defeating Ukraine. However, Ukraine has failed so far to retake its territory still occupied by Russian forces, particularly Crimea and the Donbas region. For South Korea, what have been the lessons so far from the geopolitical crisis in Ukraine? I highlight four lessons relevant to South Korea in responding to its own geopolitical challenges in Northeast Asia. First, nuclear threats have real but limited coercive leverage. Throughout the war, Russia has warned the West not to provide military support to Ukraine, often with subtle and explicit signaling of the risks of nuclear warfare. In defiance of Russia's warning, the West has equipped Ukraine's military with HIMARS rocket launchers, Patriot missile defense systems, Leopold tanks and has announced plans to deliver F-16 fighter jets. The West has also tolerated Ukraine's increasing use of drones to strike into Russia's territory. Why has Russia's warning of nuclear warfare not deterred Western military support for Ukraine? The risk of using nuclear weapons is also too great for Putin to enforce his warning on a limited tactical objective, encouraging the West to test Russia's threat by gradually expanding the supply of sophisticated weapons to Ukraine. Russia's nuclear warning has also had limited leverage on demands the West perceives as too excessive. Even if Putin does threaten to use nuclear weapons on New York, it is unlikely for the West to acquiesce to the demand for the surrender of Kyiv. For South Korea, the West's response to Russia's nuclear threats provides reassurance that there are limits to North Korea's nuclear coercive diplomacy. North Korea's nuclear threats are serious risks but insufficient in pressuring the U.S. government to sacrifice its geopolitical reputation and strategic interests in abandoning its alliance with South Korea. Second, nuclear threats, however, do necessitate restraint against the provocation of a nuclear state. Western policymakers have expressed reservations toward Ukraine's attempt to recover Crimea from Russia, concerned that Putin could use tactical nuclear weapons as a last resort if Russia faces decisive defeat. Ukraine has faced contrasting signals from the West, which affirms support for Ukraine's territorial integrity but has also cautioned Ukraine not to seek maximalist victory over Russia. South Korea is familiar with similar restraints from the U.S. in response to North Korea's provocations. In 2010, when North Korea fired on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island, the Obama administration urged South Korea's restraint in retaliation. Should North Korea engage in threatening actions against South Korea, the U.S. will likely defend South Korea but also restrain South Korea from excessive military measures against the nuclear-armed regime, potentially causing friction in the bilateral alliance. Third, alliances are beneficial, but there are limits to support that can be expected from other allies. Ukraine has received security support from the West in fighting Russia's invasion. The West, however, has refrained from directly deploying its military to combat Russian forces. The volume of aid has also varied among individual Western nations, with some providing mostly economic aid while others also providing substantial military equipment. As the war continues, Ukraine could face tensions with the Western governments, who perceive they have already provided sufficient support to the former. In recent years, the South Korean government has expanded security cooperation with Japan and NATO, reinforcing the bilateral U.S.-ROK alliance with a multilateral security partnership with states sharing common strategic objectives of maintaining the "rules-based order" from the revisionist powers such as China and Russia. Though South Korea should take advantage of bilateral and multilateral security ties, South Korea should also have realistic expectations of the level of support it can receive from its security partners. As individual security partners will contribute to South Korea's security based on their strategic capacity and constraints, South Korea's own capacity and resolve are critical to overcoming its geopolitical challenges. In turn, South Korea should also define and communicate the realistic level of support it is committed to contributing to the security of South Korea's allies and partners. Fourth, countries will have to manage coexistence with their adversaries eventually. Whether the military conflict ends eventually with an armistice or a peace settlement, Ukraine will face the future challenge of coexistence with an adversarial Russia. Even if Ukraine is not accepted into NATO, post-war Ukraine will likely align with the West to strengthen security deterrence against Russia. However, despite the continued adversity, it is in Ukraine's and the West's interest to establish predictable and stable relations with Russia that could mitigate the renewal of the destructive military conflict in Europe. South Korea is moving away from "strategic ambiguity" in relations with China and Russia and has been aligning more explicitly with the U.S. and Japan. Such an alignment might be a necessary strategic response to counter China and Russia's assertive revisionist foreign policies. Nonetheless, the two countries and North Korea are geographic neighbors with whom South Korea has to coexist. As the phrase "keep your friends close and your adversaries closer" implies South Korea's diplomacy with strategic adversaries will be just as critical as diplomacy with strategic allies in ensuring South Korea's present and future security. The Russia-Ukraine War has caused destruction in Ukraine and has transformed Europe's security environment. The war has also provided costly lessons for policymakers on nuclear deterrence, alliances and geopolitical coexistence. Through learning these lessons, I hope South Korea and its neighbors can ensure a similar geopolitical crisis does not happen also in Northeast Asia. Lee Jong-eun, Ph.D., is assistant professor of political science at North Greenville University. A woman wearing a hijab walks through the water spray in front of the Praterstern train station in Vienna, Aug. 21. AFP-Yonhap Iran has shuttered a water park for allowing women entry without the mandatory headscarf, local media reported on Monday. The closure is part of stepped up measures by authorities over the past few months against women and businesses who fail to observe the Islamic republic's strict dress code. "The Mojhaye Khoroushan water park has been closed" since Sunday evening, Fars news agency quoted the complex manager Mohammad Babaei as saying. Babaei said authorities have declared the park's closure due to people's "ignoring chastity and hjiab" rules. Covering the head and the neck has been compulsory for women in Iran since 1983, following the 1979 Islamic revolution. Babaei insisted that the park has "adhered to the law" and regularly warned female visitors to respect the hijab rules. Around 1,000 people working at the park are worried about losing their jobs, Babaei told Fars. The Mojhaye Khoroushan complex which spans 60,000 square meters (more than 70,000 square yards) is among the largest indoor water parks in the world. It sits on the outskirts of the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, home to the shrine of the eighth Imam of Shiite Islam. Women in Iran have increasingly flouted the dress code since mass protests triggered by the September 16 death in police custody last year of a 22-year-old woman. Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd, was arrested for allegedly breaching the dress rules. As part of efforts to enforce the ban over the past few months, businesses have been closed when they do not adhere to the rules, and cameras have been installed in public places to monitor violations. In July, state media reported increased police patrols aimed at catching those ignoring the law. (AFP) While Koreans are praising Sungchan over his recent remark, Japanese fans were upset after the idol allegedly made offensive gesture towards his co-member, Shotaro. RIIZE Sungchan Refuses To Eat Sushi, Upsets Japanese Fans Following a recent anecdote with RIIZE Sungchan, Japanese fans expressed their disappointment over the idol. On September 3, the group attended the pre-recording of their prologue song, "Memories," for MBC's music program, "Show! Music Core." On this day, the members communicated with fans amid ments during breaks and Sungchan went on by sharing that he couldn't eat pizza for dinner because it would be too heavy. When there were fans who tried to recommend sushi as a dinner menu during the music show, Sungchan firmly declined by saying: "Oh, right. Nowadays, we shouldn't eat sushi." An anecdote spread that the idol even gestured "X" with his hand to express strong refusal. While it was also noted that fans and the members laughed and were having a good time interacting, Japanese fans were indignant at the remark made by a multinational group that included Japanese member Shotaro. Japanese fans were upset that Sungchan made the remark that "belittled" Japan in front of the Japanese member and even laughed loudly with the Korean members and fans. They stated: "This is why South Korea and Japan cannot have a good relationship." "Did you forget that Shotaro (a member of the same team) is Japanese?" RIIZE Sungchan Praised for Awareness About Social Issues Apparently, Sungchan refused to eat sushi for dinner not because he didn't like it in particular, but because recently, Japan has been discharging nuclear contaminated/treated radioactive water from Fukushima back into the Pacific Ocean; thus, Koreans have been protesting against the foreign country. Sungchan, who was actually a huge fan of sushi, was then praised for not recommending it for now and K-netizens were pleased. "It's better." "It's absurd to spray contaminated water on the sea while causing inconvenience and being considerate of Japanese people." "Even Japanese members would not want to eat sushi now." What are your thoughts about this? Meanwhile, SM rookie boy group RIIZE is set to release their first single album, "Get A Guitar," which will be released on September 4. Ahead of their official debut, a prologue song titled, "Memories," was dropped on August 21, teasing their own genre, "Emotional Pop." RIIZE is a seven-member multinational group with Korean members Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Seunghan, Sohee, and Anton. They are comprised of members who are Korean, have dual Korean-American nationality, as well as Japanese. The team's name combines the English words "Rise" and "Realize," which means, "a team that grows together and realizes dreams." For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dawson. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Delaware, September 4: US President Joe Biden on Sunday said he is disappointed by reports that Chinese Premier Xi Jinping would be skipping this weeks G20 summit in India, reported The Hill. I am disappointed, but I am going to see him, Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Del., when asked about Xi not attending the G20 summit, according to The Hill, a US political website. Biden did not elaborate on where he could encounter Xi in the future. Biden's remarks come after various media outlets reported last week that Xi will most likely not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi. Biden's trip to the summit, which was confirmed last week, is expected to provide another opportunity for the United States to strengthen collaboration with Indo-Pacific allies as a counterbalance to China, The Hill reported. G20 Summit 2023: 150 Fountains, 100 Sculptures, 7 Lac Potted Plants; New Look for New Delhi Ahead of Upcoming G20 Leaders Summit. Last week, speaking on the possibility of a meeting between Chinas President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden at the G20 Summit hosted by India this year, the White House stated that President Biden is looking forward to having a conversation and continuing ongoing engagement with China. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said, Ill just let the Presidents words stand for himself. He (Joe Biden) spoke about it during his press conference at Camp David. You heard him speak of it, hes looking forward to having that conversation, continuing that ongoing engagement. White House also recognised the uncertainty of the Chinese President's participation in the G20 Summit and said that President Biden has said multiple times that he is looking forward to continuing his engagement and conversation with President Xi." So, as it relates to his attendance President Xis attendance to the G20, I would leave that to, you know to his spokesperson to answer that question, not for me to answer" said the White House Press Secretary. The two presidents met in person for the first time since Biden assumed office during last year's G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. During the encounter, Biden advised Xi that their countries' differences should be managed in order to prevent rivalry from devolving into conflict. G20 Summit 2023: Delhi Police Holds Full Dress Rehearsals in National Capital; Traffic Restrictions in Place (Watch Video). Tensions between the United States and China have escalated on a variety of issues, including technology, espionage, economic competition, and military strength. Multiple close military encounters in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, as well as a spy balloon incident in February and current accusations that China has operated a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019, as reported by The Hill. White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden will travel India for the summit from September 7 to 10, where he will hold multiple bilateral meetings with other world leaders, although Sullivan did not name them. Several US leaders including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have made visits to China in recent months in an effort to improve relations with China, The Hill reported. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Much like many countries in Latin America, Nicaragua's culture stems from a mix of local indigenous culture and Spanish culture. In its case, Nicaragua takes most of its indigenous identity from the Chorotega and the Nahuatl. According to Mapa Nicaragua, while it got most of its history is linked with the Spaniards thanks to Spanish colonization, Nicaragua has kept many of its cultural traditions, including its native dances with different musical rhythms, heritage cities, and gastronomy. Right now, the country remains a multiethnic, multilingual, and multicultural hub with four UNESCO heritage sites that show the country's various cultures. Like most of its other neighbors in Latin America, Nicaragua is majority Roman Catholic. However, the current repression being done against the Roman Catholic Church by the current Daniel Ortega regime is a whole different story. Roman Catholic Traditions Still Prominent in Nicaragua's Culture Despite Repression Much like other former Spanish colonies like Mexico, Cuba, the Philippines, and Peru, the colonizers introduced a new religion to the country, and that is Catholicism, with the majority of the country's population still identifying as Roman Catholic. In the country's Pacific Lowlands, the Catholic faith is more prominent, with a widespread practice of Roman Catholic traditions such as the Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Christmas is also seen as one of the country's most important holidays, along with Easter, and this is all thanks to the Catholic faith. READ NEXT: Nicaragua: Bishop Rolando Alvarez Freed However, the eastern half of Nicaragua was once a British protectorate and English is often spoken in parts of that area instead of Spanish, according to Cross International. While Catholics dominate most of the country, many in Eastern Nicaragua identify as Protestants. Around 73% of Nicaragua are Roman Catholics, with the country treating many Roman Catholic holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and various fiestas as holidays. As for the Protestants, they make up 15% of the country, though this is further divided into various evangelical congregations. There are also several native pre-colonial religions that are still being practiced, especially in the country's most remote regions. Nicaragua Etiquette and Table Manners Nicaragua also does things differently in terms of etiquette and table manners, according to International Living, especially when it comes to certain foods. Some dishes, such as the cheap street food known as vigoron, which is yucca with pork and cabbage wrapped in a banana leaf, are eaten with your fingers instead of utensils. For sit-down restaurants, Nicaraguans who already have their food served will not wait for you and will begin eating even if your order has not arrived yet. While many in the West find this practice rude, it is very common in Nicaragua as e food gets cold quickly here, so it's best to eat when it is served. As for etiquette, Nicaraguans are often described as very passive people who do not like to insinuate themselves into somebody else's life. Nicaraguans often do not like asking personal questions and as much as possible, they do not like conflicts and stay far away from it as much as possible. READ NEXT: Daniel Ortega Net Worth This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Visit Nicaragua - The DON'Ts of Nicaragua - Wolters World Donald Trump may be disqualified from running in 2024, and this is all thanks to the 14th Amendment. The argument for this is connected to his election scandal, as Trump was behind the January 6 Capitol insurrection in his effort to overturn the 2020 election results. The argument was made by Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia last Sunday, and the Democrat says he believes that there is a solid legal argument for using the 14th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot. "In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment, and that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power of as is laid out in the Constitution," Kaine said in an interview with ABC News's George Stephanopoulos. "So I think there's a powerful argument to be made." The Democratic senator argued that "The language is specific." This referred to a section in the 14th Amendment that stated that a previous official "who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State," can still run for office if that person "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or [gave] aid or comfort to the enemies thereof." In other words, because Trump was involved in the scheme to overturn the election results and keep himself in power illegally through a violent insurrection on January 6, 2021, he may be barred from ever seeking office again. Legal Experts Agree That Donald Trump May Be Disqualified From Running in 2024 While Donald Trump is saying that all the legal actions against him are just political interference, legal experts, including several conservative ones, are saying otherwise as they argue that there are grounds to disqualify the former president. READ MORE: US Capitol Riot: Proud Boys Leader Slapped With Nearly Two Decades of Jail Time Law professors from the conservative Federalist Society argued that because of the "Insurrection Clause," Trump may be disqualified from running just as if he were only 24 years old or not born a US citizen. Rep. Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, agrees with the conservative law professors. Ned Foley, the director of election law at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, told PBS News, "Because it's a Civil War provision in the Constitution, there was some litigation around this clause back in the 19th century, but - and it has been tested not for a presidential election, but for lower offices." Adam Schiff Says 14th Amendment Disqualification 'Fits Donald Trump to a T' Meanwhile, California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff stated in a recent interview that he also agrees with the 14th Amendment argument that former President Donald Trump is disqualified from holding elected office again. "I think it is a valid argument. The 14th Amendment, Section 3 is pretty clear. If you engage in acts of insurrection or rebellion against the government, or you give aid and comfort to those who do, you are disqualified from running," Schiff stated in an interview. According to the Democrat also pointed out, "It doesn't require that you be convicted of insurrection. It just requires that you have engaged in these acts." He then added, "It's a disqualification from holding office again, and it fits Donald Trump to a T." READ MORE: Donald Trump Election Interference Co-Conspirators Turning on Each Other This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: How to DISQUALIFY Trump under 14th Amendment IMMEDIATELY - MeidasTouch Comedian Chris Rock and DJ Diplo found themselves in an unexpected adventure at Nevada's Burning Man, where they had to navigate through challenging circumstances to escape the desert festival. Rock, 58, and Diplo, 44, trekked for six miles through muddy terrain before catching a ride with a generous fan who offered them space in the back of his pickup truck, according to Fox News. Diplo captured their escapade in a video shared on Instagram, revealing the two celebrities and a group of people huddled together in the truck. "A fan offered Chris Rock and I a ride out of Burning Man in the back of a pickup. After walking six miles through the mud... all Chris could think about was a f---ing cold brew," Diplo captioned, shedding light on their unexpected journey: Later, Diplo updated his Instagram Story with footage of himself walking barefoot towards a plane and a photo of himself on board. He expressed his gratitude for making it out of Burning Man and the prevailing belief that they wouldn't reach Washington, D.C., in time for his scheduled DJ performance that night. READ NEXT: Nevada: Off-Duty Pilot Steps in to Help Fly Southwest Airline's Plane Burning Man Death Under Investigation A tragic incident at the Burning Man festival in northern Nevada prompted local authorities to launch an investigation, while adverse weather conditions added to the challenging situation, NBC News reported. The Pershing County Sheriff's Office disclosed the death, emphasizing that it occurred during the festival's ongoing rain and mud conditions. However, details about the individual's identity and the incident's circumstances remained limited. "As this death is still under investigation, there is no further information available at this time," the sheriff's office acknowledged in an official statement. The festival, which had been underway, now faces significant disruptions, and organizers were primarily focused on ensuring the safe departure of attendees. Initially, the sheriff's agency had indicated that attendees were free to leave the festival despite a lockdown on incoming vehicles. However, they later supported the organizers' recommendation for all 70,000 participants to shelter in place due to the ongoing challenges, cautioning against vehicle movement that might damage the Playa surface. The tragic incident cast a somber shadow over the event, prompting a pause in festivities as authorities worked to determine the circumstances of the death and ensure the safety of those in attendance. Burning Man Organizers Provide Assistance In response to the challenging conditions at the Burning Man festival, organizers have taken proactive measures to ensure the safety and well-being of attendees, per CNN. Mobile cell trailers are strategically placed, and the festival's Wi-Fi system is configured to provide public access. Additionally, buses are being deployed to transport individuals who may choose to leave the festival grounds and travel to nearby Gerlach, with the ultimate destination being Reno. It is important to note that this operation may not run continuously, as clarified in a statement on the festival's website. To address potential medical and other urgent situations, organizers are mobilizing four-wheel-drive vehicles equipped with all-terrain tires, facilitating the swift transport of individuals in need to paved roads. The Pershing County Sheriff's Office reported attendees making their way to a main road and awaiting transportation from festival organizers. The community spirit of Burning Man has shone through during this challenging period, with resources from across northern Nevada being enlisted to aid those with medical requirements on the event grounds. Organizers emphasized the festival's ethos of self-sufficiency, as participants come prepared with everything necessary for their survival, including contingencies for adverse weather events. Highlighting their proactive approach to safety, organizers mentioned prior tabletop drills for such situations and their continuous dedication to ensuring the well-being of participants, particularly as they plan for the Exodus phase of the event. READ MORE: Chris Rock Net Worth This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: One dead, 70,000 stranded at Burning Man after massive rains - From Today Celebrity couple Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner are reportedly heading towards a divorce, according to sources with direct knowledge who spoke to TMZ. Joe has taken steps toward ending their marriage, including consulting with at least two Los Angeles-based divorce lawyers. Sources have revealed that the couple has been grappling with "serious problems" for approximately six months. In the past three months, Joe has assumed the primary responsibility for caring for their two young children, even as his band continued its touring activities. Currently, Joe looks after both kids while the group performs across the United States. Despite appearances at public events together, recent observations suggest possible trouble within the relationship. Notably, Joe has been spotted without his wedding ring. Additionally, the couple recently sold their Miami mansion, which they had purchased just a year ago, reportedly making a decent profit on the sale. READ NEXT: Britney Spears Divorce Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner The love story between actress Sophie Turner and musician Joe Jonas began in the digital realm, as they initially connected through direct messages on Instagram in 2016, PEOPLE noted. Turner recounted their digital meeting during a cover interview for Harper's Bazaar UK, explaining that mutual friends had been trying to introduce them for a while. However, it was a spontaneous DM from Jonas that initiated their connection. Their first in-person encounter came about when Jonas invited Turner to hang out. At the same time, his tour made its way through the United Kingdom. Turner's friends found the situation "hilarious" and encouraged her to accept the invitation. For added safety, Turner brought along her "rugby boys" in case Jonas turned out to be an imposter. To her pleasant surprise, Jonas arrived with a friend instead of showing up with a security entourage, dispelling any concerns. Their relationship continued to blossom, and in 2017, Joe Jonas proposed to Sophie Turner. In matching Instagram posts, they made the joyful announcement, sharing a photo of Turner's hand adorned with her engagement ring. Jonas captioned his post with "She said yes," while Turner responded with "I said yes." Married Twice The love story of Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner includes a whirlwind of events, starting with their engagement in 2017 and a secretive wedding ceremony in Las Vegas in 2019, Hello Magazine said. They followed this with a grand wedding celebration at Chateau Du Taureau in France, attended by family and close friends, including Joe's brothers, Nick and Kevin Jonas, and their respective wives, Priyanka Chopra and Danielle Jonas. Sophie Turner's wedding attire was custom-made by Louis Vuitton, featuring an elegant design with a plunging neckline and long sleeves. The celebration continued with a lavish pool party where guests enjoyed drinks served outdoors. Joe Jonas shared a rare insight into his proposal to Sophie during an appearance on "On Air with Ryan Seacrest." He humorously mentioned that he was more nervous about asking her father for permission than the proposal itself. Joe described the moment as a bit jumbled, where he "just threw it out there" and hoped for a positive response. Fortunately, everything went well, and their love story continued to flourish. The couple welcomed their first daughter, Willa, in 2020. In 2022, they celebrated the arrival of their second child, whose name has not yet been publicly revealed. READ MORE: Chris Rock and Diplo Rescued from the 'Burning Man' Flooding This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Are Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner Splitting After 4 Years Of Marriage? - From Access Hollywood Ecuador authorities have made a significant announcement regarding the release of 50 guards and seven police officers who were held hostage for over a day, AP reports. This incident is believed to be in response to the government's efforts to regain control of several major correctional facilities in the country, which have been plagued by criminal activities. The National Service for Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty, responsible for the corrections system in Ecuador, reported that the 57 law enforcement officers scattered across six different Ecuador prisons have been safely released. However, the details of their release have not been disclosed. Government officials have attributed these violent acts to criminal gangs operating inside and outside prisons. They appear to respond to the authorities' attempts to regain control of the penitentiaries. These efforts include relocating Ecuador inmates, seizing weapons, and implementing various measures to restore order within the correctional facilities. READ NEXT: Ecuador: Car Bombs Set Off in Series of Explosions Ecuador Sees Series of Explosions in Less Than 2 Days Ecuador has been rocked by a series of explosions, including four car bombs and three explosive devices, occurring within less than 48 hours, per The Guardian. Before this, another explosion occurred when a domestic gas tank with dynamite attached detonated beneath a bridge in Napo province, situated within Ecuador's portion of the Amazon rainforest. Amid these disturbing events, Consuelo Orellana, the governor of Azuay province, reported that 44 of the hostages, who had been held at a prison in Cuenca, were released. Subsequently, the national corrections system confirmed that all 57 hostages held nationwide had been freed. Security analyst Daniel Ponton has described this series of explosions, which unfolded three weeks after the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, as a "systematic and clearly planned" attack. He criticizes the state's inability to prevent such violence, suggesting that orders for these explosions may have originated from within the Ecuador prisons through cell phones. Ponton believes these acts of violence are intended to instill fear among the population and influence the upcoming presidential election in Ecuador, scheduled for a runoff vote on October 15. The attacks began with a car bomb explosion in Quito, the capital, near the former location of an office of the national corrections system. Two additional car bombs followed in El Oro province in the country's southwestern part. The turmoil continued with another vehicle explosion outside the current offices of the corrections system in Quito and an explosive device detonation in Cuenca, located in the southern Andes mountains. Authorities have taken swift action, with a judge ordering the detention of six suspects linked to the capital's blasts pending an ongoing investigation. Police commander Fausto Martinez announced the arrest of four individuals associated with the explosions in Napo. Three adults and a minor were apprehended while traveling in a taxi containing blocks of dynamite already synchronized with an explosive device and a slow fuse. This discovery prompted controlled detonations for safety purposes. Growing Violence in Ecuador Ecuador is grappling with a concerning surge in violence linked to drug-trafficking gangs, a crisis that has placed immense pressure on the already under-resourced and overcrowded prison system, BBC noted. In recent years, the country has witnessed hundreds of Ecuador inmates losing their lives in deadly confrontations within its overcrowded prisons. The influence of narco-politics in Ecuador has made its prisons centers of power, where individuals involved in drug-related offenses are incarcerated. However, these Ecuador prisons have also become control hubs for various cartels and gangs. When inmates are dissatisfied with the authorities' actions, they often use violence and riots to make their grievances known. The situation has created a volatile environment in Ecuador, now less than two months away from the presidential runoff elections. READ MORE: Jair Bolsonaro Remains Silent About Undeclared Saudi Arabia Gifts This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: 30 guards held hostage in Ecuadorian prison - From The Mirror US President Joe Biden expressed his disappointment on Sunday over the absence of China President Xi Jinping at the upcoming G20 summit in India. Despite this, Biden hinted at an upcoming interaction with Xi. Speaking from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, he did not provide further details. Biden's itinerary includes visiting India from September 7 to 10 for the G20 summit, followed by a trip to Vietnam. These efforts align with his administration's goal of bolstering US ties within the Asian region. Sources have indicated that Xi is likely to forgo attendance at the summit, with Chinese Premier Li Qiang poised to represent Beijing at the New Delhi meeting, as reported by Reuters. When asked about his outlook on the trip, Joe Biden affirmed his anticipation. He also expressed a desire for enhanced coordination, highlighting the mutual interest of both India and Vietnam in strengthening their relations with the United States. READ NEXT: President Biden Names 37th Round of Judicial Nominees Why Did China President Xi Jinping Decide to Skip the G20 Summit? Amid uncertainty, President Xi Jinping's participation in the upcoming G20 summit in India remains unconfirmed, according to BBC. While Xi had previously indicated plans to attend the meeting in the Indian capital, China's foreign ministry declined to verify his attendance during a routine press briefing on Thursday. Citing undisclosed sources familiar with the summit's preparations, news reports suggest that Mr. Xi has opted not to attend this year's annual gathering. This development occurs against deteriorating relations between China and India, marked notably by ongoing tensions along their disputed border in the Himalayan region. Recent tensions escalated when Beijing unveiled a map asserting Chinese ownership of the Arunachal Pradesh state and the Aksai Chin plateau, inciting India's protest. Looking ahead, a potential avenue for dialogue between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden emerges in November. The leaders could potentially engage during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting held in San Francisco. Growing Tension Between the US and China The news about Xi Jinping's attendance at the G20 summit comes amid a continued deterioration of US-China relations over the past year. The two leaders convened at last year's G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. It marked their first face-to-face meeting since President Joe Biden assumed office, per The Hill. During this encounter, Biden conveyed to Xi the importance of managing differences between their countries to prevent potential conflicts from arising. Since then, tensions between the United States and China have escalated across multiple fronts. Areas of contention include technology, espionage, economic competition, and military capabilities. Close military encounters in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait have intensified these tensions. Incidents like a surveillance balloon event in February and recent revelations of a suspected Chinese spy base in Cuba since 2019 have also contributed to the strained relationship. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed President Joe Biden's visit to India from September 7 to 10th for the upcoming summit. The president is expected to engage in several bilateral meetings with global leaders, although specific attendees were not disclosed. In recent months, various high-ranking US officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, have visited China, reflecting an endeavor to improve relations between the two nations. READ MORE: Joe Biden Net Worth This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: 'Hope He Attends': US' Joe Biden On Xi Jinping Skipping G20 Summit In Delhi - From India Today A Florida teen is now facing murder charges following a tragic drive-by shooting in Orlando where a 6-year-old girl lost her life while seated in her living room, according to Law & Crime. The incident also resulted in the death of a 19-year-old man and injuries to the girl's mother. The arrested individual, 15-year-old Nico Brown, has been charged with first-degree homicide in connection with the incident. Video footage shared by the Orlando Police on their Facebook page captures Brown, handcuffed and seemingly smiling, being escorted by detectives from the police station to a police cruiser. The incident occurred shortly before 8:30 PM on August 29th in the western part of the city. Shots were fired from a moving vehicle, striking the girl and her mother inside their home. The victim, Ajahliyah Hashim, was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. Her mother survived with non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities clarified that neither of them was the intended target of the shooting. Tragically, the 19-year-old man, Isaiyah Wright, was transported to a different hospital and later pronounced dead. Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Maria F. Vazquez shared that the 6-year-old victim attended Eagle's Nest Elementary School, located approximately 2 miles away from the shooting site. READ NEXT: Florida Teen, 12-Year-Old Boy Arrested Following Fatal Shooting 6-Year-Old Girl, Mother Were Not the Florida Teen's Target The mother and daughter who tragically lost their lives in the shooting were not the intended targets, as confirmed by the police. Furthermore, as of Friday, it remained unclear how Wright became involved in the incident. Reporters observed bullet markings at the victims' residence earlier this week, accompanied by numerous evidence markers scattered outside the property, per News 6. A local resident, who preferred to stay anonymous for her family's safety, recounted the distressing situation: "I heard the rapid gunfire and I called 911. They were really shooting." She identified herself as a neighborhood watch leader and shared a personal connection with the victims. "She was such a beautiful girl. So quiet. You would want (the mother) for a neighbor. No loudness, no riffraff, her kids were very controlled," she described the mother and daughter. To provide support, grief counselors were present at Eagle's Nest Elementary School on Friday, attending to students and staff members affected by the tragedy. Florida Man, Woman Fatally Shot in Orlando In a separate incident involving a shooting in Orlando, Florida, a man and a woman were discovered shot to death on Monday morning, News 6 reports. Authorities later confirmed that the suspected shooter, identified as Michael Barclay, aged 52, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The tragic double fatal shooting occurred around 6:45 AM in the 3300 block of Azolla Street near John Young Parkway. Upon receiving the report, Orlando police promptly responded to the scene. Upon arrival, officers identified two individuals who had sustained gunshot wounds. Tragically, the man and the woman were pronounced dead at the location. After the incident, a search warrant was executed during the evening hours of Monday. As a result of this operation, the suspected shooter, Michael Barclay, was discovered deceased. Authorities have preliminarily determined that the incident is linked to domestic factors. In a tweet, police conveyed, "We believe this is domestic-related, and we are not looking for any additional suspects in this case," the police tweeted. At present, no further details regarding the incident have been made available. READ MORE: 4-Year-Old Girl Fatally Shot By Woman Teaching Her 'Firearm Safety' This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Teen arrested in deadly Orlando drive-by shooting that killed child, 19-year-old - From FOX 35 Orlando Pennsylvania State Police nabbed a 21-year-old Allentown man they say has been responsible for multiple noise complaints in the city. Troopers at 2:13 a.m. Aug. 18 made the arrest during a large party in the area of American Parkway and Jordan Drive. Police said they initially were called to a separate incident when they found the party under the bridge. There were multiple intoxicated party-goers and vehicles blasting loud music from large speakers, according to police. The group, police said, ended up being the subject of the complaints, spanning the past few months. The alleged owner of four Honda cars and the speakers was charged with disorderly conduct. The incident remains under investigation by Pennsylvania State Police in Bethlehem. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Authorities want residents within a two-mile wooded area in a southeastern Pennsylvania township where an escaped prisoner fled to remain on high alert as they step up the manhunt for his capture. Law enforcement have entered the fifth day in their search for 34-year-old Danelo Cavalcante. Cavalcante, of Royersford in Montgomery County, was convicted in August of murdering his girlfriend. He escaped this past Thursday morning from Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township. State Police and the Chester County District Attorneys Office held a joint news conference Monday afternoon about the continued manhunt. Since Cavalcantes escape, authorities have confirmed four credible sightings, including one made by a state trooper Sunday afternoon who later lost sight of Cavalcante during a chase. Cavalcante additionally was spotted overnight Friday into Saturday on a residential surveillance camera in the 1800 block of Lenape Road in Pocopson Township about a mile and a half from the prison, the county district attorney had said. The other two sightings, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said during Mondays news conference, were not made on video, but authorities believe them to be credible following interviews with the tipsters. Authorities are describing Cavalcante as 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and 120 pounds (54 kilograms). He has curly black hair and a closely cropped beard and mustache. He was last seen wearing pants, a light-colored T-shirt and white sneakers, as well as carrying a backpack. Authorities said Cavalcante did not have the backpack when he escaped the prison and they arent sure where he obtained it. In the most recent sighting, Bivens said Cavalcante looks the same, but a little more worn and tired. Authorities continue to focus their search to this estimated heavily wooded, 2-mile radius: near the intersection of Routes 926 and 52; north on Route 52 to Parkersville Road; southeast to Route 926 and west to the intersection of Routes 926 and 52 in Pocopson Township, Bivens said. In total, there have been four sightings within that boundary, said Bivens, who serves as deputy commissioner of operations for the state police. ... We have secured that area and continue to actively search it. While there are a number of challenges, we are confident that if he is in there, we will find him. Authorities during the news conference urged residents in that area to familiarize themselves with Cavalcantes photograph and know what he looks like. Those returning home from a possible Labor Day weekend away need to remain on high alert and notify authorities immediately if they see something disturbed, missing or suspicious, authorities said. Neighbors should be checking on each other and reviewing video surveillance footage for any suspicious activity. They also should be refraining from entering any wooded areas in that search area, authorities said. We want to keep residents as safe as possible, Bivens said. Bivens later added authorities are concerned as Cavalcante looks toward a means to sustain himself. Hes going to need clothing, hes going to need food. And just to get out of the weather, its pretty hot out there, Bivens said. Im sure hes looking for some better shelter. For a lot of reasons, we would be concerned about where he might hide. Police reportedly have already responded to more than 100 tips from neighbors of the search area. They currently are investigating two home burglaries but cannot confirm if those incidents involved Cavalcante, Bivens said. They are of interest to us, Bivens said of the burglaries. When asked by reporters what parents should do with school starting soon and children waiting at bus stops, Bivens said hell defer questions to individual school districts on those plans. Additionally, residents might hear broadcast recordings in Portuguese being played from police loudspeakers or over a helicopter. Thats Cavalcantes mother, residing in Brazil, stating in the recordings the family loves Cavalcante and wants him to surrender peacefully, authorities said. Law enforcement, Bivens said, intends to push Cavalcante hard until he gives up: I intend to stress him ... Hell make mistakes. Hell show himself. Hes already shown himself, we believe, a few times. Well contain him and well eventually catch him. Lethal force could be used in order to end this manhunt and has been authorized, Bivens added. The search for Cavalcante already led to shutdown of the popular Longwood Gardens this past Saturday. The site reopened Monday, according to its Facebook page. West Chester University announced Monday on Facebook classes would resume Tuesday after initially shutting down classes this past Friday. West Chester University Police continue to actively monitor the campus, and increased police presence continues on and around the University. Out of an abundance of caution, all buildings will continue to require a WCU ID for access or a physical key. All building access will be through the main entry of the buildings. Do not forget your WCU ID when seeking access to all buildings. Continue to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings, the posting stated. District Attorney Deb Ryan told reporters an investigation is ongoing into how Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison. She confirmed this is the second escape from Chester County Prison in recent months. She said there was a previous escape she believed happened in May, but did not offer any further information. A jury convicted Cavalcante last month of killing Deborah Brandao, his ex-girlfriend, in front of her children in 2021. Cavalcante was sentenced to life in prison and was awaiting a transfer to state prison. Prosecutors have said that he killed Brandao to stop her from telling police about the charges against him in Brazil in connection with a 2017 slaying. He was captured in Virginia after Brandaos murder, and authorities say they believe he was trying to return to Brazil. Cavalcante originally came to the United States illegally, after fleeing Brazil to Puerto Rico following the 2017 murder for which he is wanted, authorities say. Cavalcante is considered extremely dangerous. Anyone with any information on Cavalcantes whereabouts is asked to dial 911 immediately. Those with tips can additionally call the U.S. Marshals Tipline at 877-WANTED-2. Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to Cavalcantes capture. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Francie Gorman will officially launch his campaign for the IFA Presidency in the Manor Hotel Abbeyleix this Friday night, September 8, at 8pm. Special guest on the night will be the Managing Director of the National Ploughing Association, Anna May McHugh, as well as the IFA Kilkenny County Chair, Jim Mulhall. The hustings for the office take place in October with voting taking place in November. This year there will be a postal vote or members can cast their vote at the branch AGM. Francie has been nominated by Laois, North Tipperary, Offaly, Kilkenny, Cavan and Galway. A suckler, beef and sheep farmer from Ballinakill he farms 130-acres with his wife Kay and son Tom. A passionate advocate for farmers, with a 25-year track record with IFA, Francie says he believes in farmers collective ability and strength to work together and deliver for each other. I will stand up and fight for farmers. His positions include Laois County Chair and South Leinster Regional Chair. All are welcome on the night A Laois Offaly TD is seeking clarification on Bord na Mona's attempts to regularise historic peat extraction. Independent TD for Laois Offaly Carol Nolan said she has sought further clarification from Bord na Mona (BnM) following the companys response to concerns raised by her in July with respect to an application for substitute consent for historic peat extraction. She had sought assurances from BnM about the legal basis of historic peat extraction after it emerged that the company was making an application to An Bord Pleanala to regularise the planning status of peat extraction works and all associated bog development works that were carried out within these parts of the Allen Bog Group located on the borders of counties Offaly and Laois until its cessation. In a response issued to Dep Nolan, BnM have noted that, there exists a complex planning regulatory background associated with historic peat extraction, and as such, Bord na Mona (BnM) has decided to take a prudent and transparent approach by making substitute consent applications for Garryhinch and Garrymore bogs which facilitate a remedial assessment of historic peat extraction in order to support the continued progress towards Irelands journey to net zero, whilst continuing in its commitment to support local communities through provision of sustainable employment opportunities, improved biodiversity and developed amenities. This has not satisfied the Independent TD who has now written to BnM seeking additional clarification: While I appreciate the engagement by BnM, it has to be said that simply stating that there exists a complex planning regulatory background associated with historic peat extraction does not advance us very far, said Dep Nolan. All planning in Ireland is complex, so too is the regulation governing it, she said. What I want to know now is-1. Has an application been made/submitted to ABP or is that process ongoing? 2. Why did BnM not make such application sooner if there was an awareness that the existing position could be interpreted as less than transparent or imprudent from a planning/regulatory perspective? 3. Has BnM made any assessment on what it intends to do if ABP(An Bord Pleanala) reject the application for substitute consent? We are not talking here about a marginal case of potential planning irregularities. We are talking about the legal basis for vast, industrial scale peat extraction from the early 1950s to 2020 when extraction ceased, she said. I look forward to more positive and constructive engagement with BNM on this matter, concluded Dep Nolan. The hot weather overvIreland is bringing with it dust from Africa, according to Carlow Weather's Alan O'Reilly. The popular forecaster said some weather stations recorded temperatures over 27 celcius on Monday, September 4. He said satellite images show a mainly clear sky over Ireland earlier and something else. "If you look to the south you can see the system steering up the earmer air and carried with it is Saharan dust. "Dust will move over Ireland over coming days but largly stay above us unless you catch a shower that brings it down to the surface," he said. He expected this would be most likely in the Southwest on Tuesday. The national outlook from Met Eireann is for very warm weather by day and night with the increasing likelihood of thundery showers breaking out. National Forecast issued by Met Eireann at 8.22pm on September 4. Tuesday: Tuesday will be another warm or very warm day. It will be dry in many areas with spells of hazy sunshine. However, a few showers are likely with the focus of these across the southwest and west, where the odd thundery downpour is possible. Top temperatures of 22 to 26 degrees, warmest away from east and south coasts, in moderate easterly breezes, fresh on the south coast. Warm and muggy night with temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees, all in just light southeast breezes. While most areas will stay dry and clear, isolated showers may develop. WEDNESDAY: Not quite as sunny as recent days with cloud building at times, producing scattered showers, some of which may turn heavy. Very warm and humid, with top temperatures of 22 and 26 degrees, in no more than moderate southeasterly winds. Sultry again overnight, with temperatures not falling below 15 to 18 degrees as a southerly airflow persists. Some thundery showers will occur, with the east and southeast most at threat. THURSDAY: Scattered heavy or thundery showers with warm or very warm sunshine at times too. Top temperatures of 20 to 26 degrees, warmest in the east and northeast, in no more than moderate southwesterly breezes. Patchy rain and some mist in parts overnight with lows of 13 to 18 degrees. FRIDAY: A mix of cloud and warm spells of sunshine. A few well scattered showers will occur, mainly confined to southern areas later. Top temperatures will range 19 to 24 degrees, warmest away from western and northwestern areas, as light westerly breezes develop. FURTHER OUTLOOK: Some scattered outbreaks of rain, but warm or very warm sunny spells too. The death has occurred of Stephen Kelly Beechgrove, Rathangan, Kildare / The Curragh, Kildare Formerly of Orchard Park, The Curragh. Sadly missed by his loving mother Mary, stepfather Derek, grandparents Biddy and Butch, aunt and uncles, nephew and nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends. May Stephen rest in peace. Funeral Arrangements Later The death has occurred of Patrick (Paddy) McCabe Curryhills, Prosperous, Kildare McCabe, Patrick (Paddy), Curryhills, Prosperous, Co. Kildare, September 2nd 2023, peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family, lovingly remembered by his devoted wife Florrie, children Shirley, Patrick and Jess and their partners, brothers, sisters, extended family and many good friends. Rest In Peace Reposing at Oliver Reilly's Funeral Home, Prosperous (W91T62P) tomorrow, Monday, from 4pm - 8pm with evening prayers at 7pm. Removal from the Funeral Home on Tuesday at approx. 10:30am to arrive at the Church of Our Lady and St. Joseph, Prosperous, for 11am Funeral Mass, followed by burial in Killybegs Cemetery, Prosperous. Those who are unable to attend the funeral, please leave a personal message for the family in the condolences section below. The Funeral Mass can be viewed live in the webstream section below Oliver Reilly Funeral Directors accept no responsibility for any live webcam interruptions or issues Family flowers only please, donations, if desired, to the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association which can be made by clicking on the following link : Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association : Donate (imnda.ie) House strictly private at all times, please. For all enquiries, please contact OIiver Reilly Funeral Directors on (045) 868230 The death has occurred of John McNally New Road, Enfield, Meath / Enfield, Kildare The death has occurred of John Mc Nally New Road, Enfield, Co. Meath, Unexpectedly on 30th August 2023 Predeceased by his father, Jimmy, baby son, Eoin and father-in-law, Stephen. Deeply regretted by his heartbroken wife Veronica, loving sons Conor and Mark, mother Bridget, brothers Stephen and James, sister Bridget, sisters-in-law Carol and Edel, nieces and nephews, mother-in-law Mary, sister-in-law Margaret, brothers-in-law Joe, Steve, Martin, Aidan and Michael, cousins and extended family, work colleagues and a wide circle of friends. May John Rest in Peace John will be reposing in Murty ONeill & Sons Funeral Home, Johnstown Bridge, Eircode A83 CD39, on Tuesday from 4pm, concluding with Rosary at 8pm. Requiem Mass on Wednesday in Church of the Assumption, Jordanstown, Enfield Eircode A83 Y021, at 1pm and burial immediately afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. For those that cannot attend, you may view Johns funeral Mass on the parish webcam link https://www.mcnmedia.tv/camera/church-of-assumption Family flowers only, please. Family Houses private, please. "Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis" The death has occurred of Ciaran O' Shea Turnings, Straffan, Kildare O' Shea, Ciaran, Turnings, Straffan, Co. Kildare, September 2nd 2023, peacefully at Naas Hospital, surrounded by his loving family, predeceased by his parents Jackie and Virginia and his auntie Mary, deeply regretted by his loving wife Celina, children Lucy and Finn, father-in-law Michael, mother-in-law Cora, sister, brothers, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Rest In Peace. Ciaran will be reposing at Oliver Reilly's Funeral Home, Woods House, Clane, (W91YPX4) on Monday from 4pm to 8pm, with prayers at 7pm. Removal from the Funeral Home on Tuesday at approx. 9.30am to arrive at St. Brigid's Church, Kill for 10am Funeral Mass, followed by burial in Bodenstown Cemetery. Those who are unable to attend the funeral, please leave a personal message for the family in the condolences section below. The Funeral Mass can be viewed live on Tuesday at 10am by clicking on the following link : https://churchmedia.tv/test Oliver Reilly Funeral Directors accept no responsibility for any live webcam interruptions or issues. For all enquiries, please contact Oliver Reilly Funeral Directors on (045) 868230. ABOVE: (L-R) Belinda Kelly, Senior Marketing Manager, Sponsorship & Experiential, AIB; Emma Early Murphy, Network Ireland President; Anna-Marie Turley, Department Manager Entrepreneurship and HPSU Operations, Enterprise Ireland; Elaine Downey, Head of Products, Retail Banking at AIB. Pic: Jill OMeara Network Ireland has received an overwhelming response to its prestigious Businesswoman of the Year Awards which recognise the achievements of talented and dedicated female professionals. The womens business group, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, received 370 applications from members of all its branches around the country. 79 winners from a regional level went through another interview process with expert judges in AIBs Head Office in Dublin. The winners in the eight categories will be announced at a gala awards ceremony in Lawlors of Naas, Co. Kildare on Friday, September 29th 2023. The event coincides with the Network Ireland national conference which will include an array of inspirational speakers, panellists and focused workshops on topics such as leadership, financial wellbeing and social media strategies for business. Among the keynote speakers are owner of Meaghers Pharmacy Group, Oonagh OHagan, and Leinster and Ireland rugby star Linda Djougang. Film producer, entrepreneur, human rights campaigner and former Dragons Den judge Norah Casey will MC the sold-out conference which features a programme full of expert business insights and real-world advice for attendees. There will be a raffle on the night and all proceeds go towards this years charity partners IMNDA. National President of Network Ireland Emma Early Murphy said; The national conference is our flagship event and one we look forward to every year. This year is particularly significant as we celebrate 40 years of Network Ireland and the support the organisation has given to so many women around the country during that time. Its heartening to see new members join every year and Id like to personally thank all the branches for the tremendous work they do whether thats organising local events, providing invaluable assistance to members or promoting the organisation within the business community. I would also like to wish our finalists the very best of luck in the awards. The calibre of entrants this year has been outstanding and its a fantastic achievement to get to the final stage. The awards are divided into eight categories: Emerging Businesswoman Solo Businesswoman Established Businesswoman Creative Professional STEM Professional Employee - Rising Star Employee - Shining Star Networker of the Year - a new award to mark the 40th anniversary of Network Ireland Emma added; I would like to thank all our sponsors as without their support it would not be possible to put together such an exciting event. Pestle & Mortar are this years Business Awards Gifting Partner while Lily OBriens is our chocolatier partner. Others include Meta, J&J, Meaghers Pharmacy, McKenna Creative, Newbridge Silverware, Kildare Village, Balloon HQ, Lawlors Hotel and our charity partners IMNDA. AIB is Network Irelands official partner and Elaine Downey, Head of Products, Retail Banking at AIB, said; AIB began its collaboration with Network Ireland in 2013 and we are delighted to continue that partnership, particularly in this landmark year as the organisation celebrates its 40th anniversary. Network Ireland provides a critical support network for so many women, whether theyre the owner of a successful business or just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey. The Businesswoman of the Year Awards offer a great opportunity for women to promote their business and we have seen in the past that they open up a lot of opportunities for the winners and finalists. We wish them all the very best of luck on the night. Anna-Marie Turley, Department Manager Entrepreneurship and HPSU Operations, Enterprise Ireland said; Enterprise Ireland is delighted to partner with Network Ireland, marking our ongoing commitment to nurturing female-led entrepreneurship. Supporting ambitious women to start and to grow a business is a priority for Enterprise Ireland and the Businesswoman of the Year awards provides a platform to recognise and showcase the dynamism, innovation and talent of female business leaders throughout Ireland. I look forward to meeting so many inspiring women on the night and learning about the positive economic impact their businesses are making across the country. ABOUT NETWORK IRELAND Established in 1983, Network Ireland now has more than 1,000 members across 17 branches around Ireland. Each year they organise in excess of 250 events for members. They also run a number of flagship national events, including an International Womens Day Celebration and the Annual Conference and Business Award. As the Young Greens/Oige Ghlas Summer Camp comes to an end, participants from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium and Denmark gathered to reflect on their experiences. In the heart of County Leitrim, this group, brought together by the Green Party's commitment to cross-cultural understanding and sustainable communities, has come away with a feeling of connection to Drumshanbo, its people, and the essence of rural Ireland. The camp's schedule was packed with activities that showcased the beauty of Drumshanbo and County Leitrim. One of the highlights was a day of adventure on the waters of Lough Allen, led by Lough Allen Adventure. Participants took to the lake, enjoying kayaking which led to a day of laughter, bonding, and unforgettable memories against the backdrop of Sliabh an Iarainn. Another experience awaited the participants at Tommy Earley's Eco-Farm in Mountallen. Here, they had the opportunity to connect with the land, learning about sustainable farming practices and the importance of preserving the environment. Amy Winandy, Co-Chair of the Luxembourgish Young Greens, mentioned Getting to real-life experience the Irish nature and farming really put the green movement even more in perspective and has highlighted its importance. The dedication to ecological farming and protecting biodiversity through rewilding and rewetting bogs has left a lasting impression on the participants, reinforcing the Green Party's commitment to the environment and biodiversity. Drumshanbo's charm lies not only in its natural beauty but also in its heritage and culture. To help the participants uncover these facets of the town, Catriona McManus led a captivating walking tour exploring the history of Lairds and its transition to the Food Hub and also noting the role Drumshanbo plays in promoting traditional music in Ireland. The warm and welcoming atmosphere of Drumshanbo, extended by its residents, was noted by participants. Particularly the hospitality in Berry's Tavern on High Street, which embodied the spirit of Irish hospitality. The sense of belonging left a lasting impression on the young visitors. It reinforced the idea that communities are the lifeblood of any region. Blaithin Gallagher, Chair of the North West Greens said, "It was wonderful that the Young Greens chose Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim via Adam O Ceallaigh grandson of Paddy and Betty McManus as their location to host this fantastic event that brought together passionate participants from across rural and urban Ireland, Northern Ireland and seven other European countries. "As Chair of our constituency group, it was a privilege to welcome and get the opportunity to meet and chat with many of the participants. Their commitment to climate justice and their passion for change were palpable. "While they lit up Drumshanbo with their energy I have no doubt they will light up the world with their commitment to addressing climate change and ensuring social justice. With their ongoing dedication they will create a more sustainable future for all." Throughout their time in Drumshanbo, the participants came to understand that the Green Party is not just a party for urban areas but also for rural communities. The camp experience exemplified the party's dedication to fostering sustainable and inclusive rural regions. It highlighted the importance of preserving the unique character and culture of places like Drumshanbo. Adam O Ceallaigh, local member and the person who brought the camp to Leitrim, shared his thoughts on the positive interaction with the town. He said, "It's brilliant to witness the enthusiasm with which participants warmed to Drumshanbo. This experience has shown that politics is not just about policies but also about building connections and understanding between urban and rural communities. I eagerly look forward to the next time we can welcome such a group to our town." Eimer Conlon, Member of the North West Green Party from Ballymote and Co-Chair of the Irish Young Greens, added, "Green politics must transcend the urban versus rural divide and focus on finding common solutions that empower communities across the island in our collective pursuit of environmental sustainability. "In an increasingly interconnected world, initiatives like the Oige Ghlas Summer Camp serve as beacons of hope and unity. They remind us that by coming together, fostering genuine connections, and appreciating local culture, we can work towards a more promising and sustainable future for all. Drumshanbo and County Leitrim have left an indelible mark on the hearts of these young individuals, and the camp's legacy will continue to inspire unity, understanding, and positive change." RTE NEWS announced that Sharon Tobin and Ray Kennedy have been made permanent presenters of the RTE Six One News and Nine O'Clock News respectively. Journalist Sharon Tobin will join David McCullagh as the new presenting team for RTE's flagship Six One News from Monday, while broadcaster Ray Kennedy will present the RTE Nine O'Clock News on rotation with Sharon Ni Bheolain. Announcing the new appointments, Director of RTE News & Current Affairs Deirdre McCarthy said: "For all of us who work in News & Current Affairs the flagship Six One News and Nine O'Clock News are among our most watched and valued television programmes and represent the best of our daily newsgathering and trusted public service journalism." "Sharon and Ray join our dedicated News & Current Affairs presentation team who strive every hour of every day to tell honestly and clearly, with integrity and credibility, the stories that matter to you, your families and your communities. "Along with Eileen Whelan who will continue to anchor the One O'Clock News, our News & Current Affairs presentation team is a group of talented presenters who will continue to ask the probing questions, hold those in power to account and represent the public interest," she continued. Sharon Tobin has been a regular news presenter in studio and for outside broadcasts in Ireland and abroad since joining RTE News, as a journalist and TV reporter in 2008. She has co-presented RTE televisions annual Budget coverage, hosted the current affairs programme Monday Night Live, and presented RTE News specials, including President Bidens visit to Ireland in 2023.She has also presented RTE Radio 1s This Week programme. "Im excited to be part of the team that will continue to bring accurate, trustworthy news to our audience, and ask the questions that people want answers to," she said. Ray Kennedy has most recently worked with RTE since 2008 as a journalist and newscaster. He was shortlisted for Amnesty International Media Awards for reports about poverty in Brazil ahead of the Rio Olympics. In 2016 he won the overall television journalist category in the Justice Media Awards for coverage of the Gorse Hill repossession case. More recently he was part of the presenting team for RTEs coverage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, the coronation of King Charles and the recent visit to Ireland by President Joe Biden. The Nine O'Clock News was previously presented by Eileen Dunne who has retired. In a statement Ray Kennedy said that; "I am filling massive shoes in taking up a role vacated by the wonderful Eileen Dunne and hope I can be equal to the task" "Im very excited the role also involves presenting special event programmes on RTE One as they occur and with my extraordinary colleagues in RTE News and Current Affairs, we will now move forward with doing what we do best and deliver for our audience." Schools, libraries, bookshops and cultural venues across Leitrim are being invited to host a stop on Laureate na nOg Patricia Fordes Whole Wild World Bus Tour. The inaugural event will see a bus full of the very best Irish childrens authors and illustrators take a trip down the Wild Atlantic Way, making stops at every coastal county along the route to meet and work with young readers to imagine new worlds in words and pictures. Taking place in April 2024, the tour will see workshops, readings and artist events take place at each stage of the coastal roadshow. The Whole Wild World Bus Tour is Patricia Fordes first major event as Laureate na nOg, a role she has held since May 2023. Applications are now open for venues in Leitrim that wish to take part in the Whole Wild World Bus Tour. Organisations interested in hosting events for children as part of the event are asked to register their interest at www.childrenslaureate.ie/opencall before Friday, September 29, 2023. Forde, who chose the theme Samhlaigh! Samhlaigh! Making it Up as We Go Along for her time as Laureate, said her vision for the bus tour is to spark wild creativity across the country. She said: I want to bring together my two favourite groups of people the children of Ireland, and the writers and illustrators we have in such abundance to shape new stories and share old ones. Simply put, were bringing books and their creators to an audience that doesnt often get a chance to meet them. The spark for a new story is never far away, and with the Whole Wild World Bus Tour, were hoping to bring it a little bit closer. A native of Galway, Forde has published over 20 titles for children of all ages, in Irish and English. As a former teacher, former director of the Galway Arts Festival, and co-founder of the Baboro International Arts Festival for Children, she is an advocate for childrens right to culture. For years during the pandemic, the big wide world that is usually open to young people became smaller, closer and much less colourful. I want to get them daydreaming again, about amazing new places, characters and adventures. Im a big believer in making it up as we go along and thats what this tour will be all about. I can think of nowhere better on earth than Leitrim and the west coast of Ireland to get us dreaming about the worlds around us, and the ones in our heads, Forde said. The full programme of artists, illustrators and venues will be announced in early 2024. For more information, visit www.childrenslaureate.ie/opencall. General Brice Oligui Nguema (C), who was inaugurated as Gabon's interim President, gives a salute during the military parade in Libreville on September 4, 2023. - / AFP General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led a coup last week that toppled Gabon's 55-year-old ruling dynasty, took the oath of office as interim president on Monday, September 4, promising "free, transparent and credible elections" to restore civilian rule but without giving a timeframe. He also vowed to amnesty political prisoners, in a speech in which he insisted the coup had saved Gabon from bloodshed after elections that were "obviously loaded." Oligui, head of the elite Republican Guard, last Wednesday led officers to detain President Ali Bongo Ondimba, scion of a family that had ruled the oil-rich central African nation since 1967. The ousting came just moments after Bongo, 64, was proclaimed victor in presidential elections a result branded a fraud by the opposition. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Gabon's General Oligui Nguema, the leader of a palace revolution In a speech after taking the oath of office, Oligui said the promised elections would be the stepping stone to "handing power back to the civilians," although he did not specify any date. He said he was seeking the participation of all of Gabon's "core groups" to draft a new constitution, which "will be adopted by referendum." Oligui, 48, wearing the red ceremonial uniform of the Republican Guard, also said a new government would be named "in a few days" comprising "experienced" and "seasoned" people. He said he would instruct the future government "to consider ways of amnestying prisoners of conscience" and "facilitating the return of all exiles" from abroad. 'Surprised' by condemnation After detaining Bongo, the coup leaders on Wednesday said they had dissolved the nation's institutions, canceled the election results and temporarily closed the borders. Oligui in his speech strongly defended the coup, saying the military had acted to save lives following "an electoral process that was obviously loaded." Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Gabon coup: The Bongo dynasty, a French story "Without violence, clashes or loss of blood, the Committee for Transition and Restoration of Institutions changed the regime which for years had usurped the powers of the institutions of the public, flouting democratic rules," he said, referring to the name given to the junta. Quoting South African anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu, he said: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." He hit out at "international organizations," which he did not name, for criticizing the military takeover. Gabon joins Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Niger in the ranks of African countries that have undergone coups in the last three years a trend that has sounded alarm bells in Africa and beyond. "We are greatly surprised to hear certain international organizations condemn the act taken by soldiers who were simply upholding their oath to the flag to save their country at the risk of their lives," said Oligui. Interview Article reserve a nos abonnes Albert Ondo Ossa: 'Everything must be done so that General Oligui Nguema hands over power to me' Oligui, who for years worked in the wings under Bongo and his father Omar, has held high-profile discussions with business and religious leaders, unions, political parties, NGOs, diplomats and journalists. He sternly warned business chiefs that corruption would no longer be tolerated and unveiled plans to reform Gabon's dysfunctional pension system, a bugbear for many people. View of the Azerbaijan checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor, on August 30, 2023. KAREN MINASYAN / AFP For almost two months, the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh have been queuing as early as 4 am in the hope of finding bread. "People sign up on a list, but many wait many days without receiving anything," Louissa, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Le Monde by phone. The 25-year-old legal expert lives in Stepanakert, the capital of the pro-independence enclave at the heart of a 30-year conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. "There's not enough food not to fall asleep half-starved. There's also the constant fear that a war will start again or something worse," the young woman added. "I talk to my family every night as if it were the last time." The Lachin corridor, the only road linking this separatist enclave to Armenia, has been blocked by Baku since December 2022, causing food, medicine, essential goods, and fuel shortages. The humanitarian situation worsened abruptly when Azerbaijan stopped all traffic on July 11, citing security reasons. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh has been a black hole where, with few exceptions, no one is allowed to visit, including officials, humanitarian aid workers, and journalists. But as the weeks go by, supplies are running low. On social media, photographs and videos of empty stores are multiplying. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Nagorno-Karabakh: Lachin blockade weakens chances of solution between Armenia and Azerbaijan As the stalemate continues, Arayik Harutyunyan, president of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, tendered his resignation on Friday, September 1. "This decision is aimed, among other things, at guaranteeing strong public order and internal stability in Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh]," he wrote on Facebook. It is necessary to change approach and measures, to show flexibility." 'Genocide underway' Rumors of his resignation had been circulating for weeks. "He was increasingly isolated and humiliated by the prolonged blockade," said Richard Giragosyan, a Yerevan-based researcher. Harutyunyan had been elected president of Nagorno-Karabakh in May 2020, four months before the latest war in the disputed enclave. The ceasefire, signed on November 9, 2020, under the aegis of Moscow, sealed Armenia's humiliating defeat by Azerbaijan. It also marked Russia's return to the region with the deployment of some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers. On paper, they are the ones who are supposed to ensure the circulation and security of the Lachin corridor, a mission that Moscow, preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, is no longer able to fulfill. The president's resignation ushers in a new period of uncertainty. Since the end of the war, the situation of the 120,000 or so Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians according to official estimates, a figure disputed by the Azeris encircled by their enemies has continued to deteriorate. "People are very nervous and have dark thoughts," said Anna Musaielyan, another resident of Nagorno-Karabakh Le Monde contacted by phone. Already reeling from a winter punctuated by gas and electricity cuts imposed by Baku, this 23-year-old teacher, pregnant with a second child, is worried about shortages of infant formula, flour, sugar, olive oil, hygiene products, and soaring prices for other foodstuffs. "Even the ambulances are struggling to operate due to the lack of fuel. We live in anguish." You have 60% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is meeting with Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Olivia Rouamba in Tehran on September 4, 2023. - / AFP Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday, September 4, lauded African countries for resisting "colonialism" during a visit by Burkina Faso's foreign minister. Burkina Faso underwent two military coups in 2022 and the ruling junta subsequently demanded that French troops withdraw from the country. Burkina Faso, as well as Mali, are currently ruled by military juntas that severed military ties with France, a former colonial power, and bolstered relations with Russia. Niger, where a military junta seized power in July, has been the scene of mass protests calling for troops of former colonial ruler France to leave. On Monday, Raisi "praised the resistance of African countries in the face of colonialism and terrorism" during a meeting with Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Olivia Rouamba, without specifically mentioning France. He hailed their stance as a "sign of vigilance and awakening", according to a statement published on the Iranian presidency's website. During the meeting with Rouamba, Raisi expressed Iran's willingness to "share its experiences and achievements with friendly African countries". Rouamba also expressed interest in bolstering bilateral relations with Iran, according to the Iranian presidency statement. Iran has been bolstering ties across the African continent in an effort to reduce its isolation and offset the impact of crippling sanctions reimposed since the 2018 withdrawal of the United States from a painstakingly negotiated nuclear deal. In July, Raisi set out on a rare Africa tour that took him to Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Relatives carry the body of Bilal Kissi, shot dead by the Algerian coastguard when he and a fellow jet skier strayed across the maritime border between Algeria and Morocco, during his funeral in the city of Saidia in northeastern Morocco on August 31, 2023. - / AFP Algeria said Sunday, September 3, that its security forces had opened fire this week after a group of jet skiers from Morocco ignored warning shots and refused to comply with orders to stop. Lawyers for two men shot dead in the incident plan to file a complaint in France. One was French-Moroccan and the other held a residence permit in France. "During a security patrol inside our territorial waters, a coastguard unit intercepted on Tuesday at 7:47 pm, three jet skis that clandestinely entered our territorial waters," a defense ministry press release said. "After issuing an audible warning and ordering them to stop several times, the suspects refused to comply and fled," it added of Tuesday's incident in which two tourists were killed. Read more France says one citizen killed, one jailed by coastguard after straying into Algerian waters The defense ministry said that after several warning rounds, "shots were fired, forcing one of the jet skis to stop, and the other two fled". The ministry said the shootings happened "because of increased activity by drugs-trafficking gangs and organized crime" in the border zone, and because of "the obstinacy of those on the jet skis". The statement said one body was recovered on Wednesday, "of an unidentified man with a gunshot wound". His body was taken to Tlemcen for an autopsy, it added. The defense ministry statement said people should "not pay attention to false information that aims to sully the honorable image of the Algerian forces". Legal action Reports from Morocco said French-Moroccan tourist Bilal Kissi, 29, and his Moroccan cousin Abdelali Mechouar, 40, were killed. A third man, Smail Snabe, was wounded and detained in Algeria, according to media reports in Morocco on Friday. Kissi's brother Mohamed, who had also been in the group, said they got lost and ran out of fuel after leaving the Moroccan resort of Saidia, near the border with Algeria. He said he managed to leave the area after the incident and was picked up by the Moroccan navy. Bilal Kissi's body was recovered on Saidia beach on the Moroccan side of the border. Saidia is a popular Moroccan summer resort known for its long beach and water sports. Kissi was buried on Thursday in Bni Drar village near Oujda, in the presence of dozens of relatives. Sunday's statement from the defense ministry was the first official reaction from Algeria to Tuesday's incident. In Morocco, the prosecutor's office in the city of Oujda has opened an investigation, a judicial source told the official Moroccan news agency MAP on Friday. The family of the two tourists killed are to launch a legal action in France, their lawyers announced on Sunday. Hakim Chergui, who is acting for the families of the victims, said the legal action would be submitted on Monday or Tuesday. They are accusing the Algerian authorities of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, the hijacking of a vessel and failure to assist a person in danger. Increased tensions The break in diplomatic relations between Morocco and Algeria "does not justify the committing of the least crime and even less so the impunity of those responsible", said a statement from the lawyers. It was issued shortly before the Algerian defense ministry statement was released. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Israel recognizes Western Sahara as part of Morocco It comes at a time of increased tensions between Algeria and Morocco, exacerbated by antagonism over the disputed Western Sahara territory. The border between the two North African countries has been closed since 1994, and Algiers severed diplomatic ties in August 2021, accusing Morocco of "hostile acts" a decision Rabat called "completely unjustified". There has been no official statement yet from Rabat about the incident. Every day that passes increases the risk of a humanitarian disaster since the Azerbaijani president decided to subject Nagorno-Karabakh to an extremely harsh blockade. Three years after his victory over Armenian forces, Ilham Aliyev appears determined to maintain his advantage with the help of a passive Russian interposition force deployed after a ceasefire brokered by Moscow. Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave over which Azerbaijan's sovereignty is internationally recognized but which is mainly populated by Armenians who enjoy a form of autonomy, has seen no respite since the beginning of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Baku's re-conquest of buffer zones and the capture of part of the enclave itself, at the cost of thousands of deaths on both sides in 2020, have not led to peace quite the contrary. Since December 2022, tensions have been focused on the Lachin corridor, the only remaining link between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. After setting up roadblocks, officially for security reasons, Aliyev's regime sealed off the route in July, barring access to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the last international humanitarian organization to be allowed access to Nagorno-Karabakh. More than 100,000 Armenians survive there, a figure that Azerbaijan disputes. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Nagorno-Karabakh: Lachin blockade weakens chances of solution between Armenia and Azerbaijan By shamelessly using the weapon of hunger and deprivation, including for medical supplies, Baku wants to force the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to turn to Azerbaijan out of desperation. Instead of seeking the difficult path of cohabitation in a tormented land, the Azerbaijani regime is offering these Armenians an impossible choice: Submission while they are hated in Azerbaijan or exile. International passivity The Azerbaijani president's uncompromising stance is a huge political error, which increases hatred. His blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh is also, and above all, a challenge to the most elementary rules of international law. By turning a blind eye to warnings issued by the United Nations' International Court of Justice back in February, Aliyev is exposing himself to serious accusations. Luis Moreno Ocampo, a former prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, has already sounded the alarm, stating in a report published in August that "there is an ongoing genocide against 120,000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh." Baku took offense, but the 1948 UN Convention states that "deliberately inflicting on a group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part" should be considered genocide. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes In Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan's weapon of hunger The gravity of the threat makes even more deplorable the ineffectiveness of the UN Security Council, which met on August 16, without reaching the slightest decision. This helplessness is all the more condemnable given that lifting the blockade is one of the few areas of consensus between Moscow and Washington. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov have called in similar terms for the Lachin corridor to be reopened in recent months. This international passivity, or indifference, has lasted far too long. The reopening of the Lachin corridor is a humanitarian obligation. Baku must understand that maintaining the blockade would only increase the instability from which the region has already suffered far too much. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes 'The international community should undertake bold steps to stop the Sarajevo-style siege of Nagorno-Karabakh' A view of the entrance of Evin prison in Tehran, Iran October 17, 2022. WANA NEWS AGENCY / VIA REUTERS Sweden on Monday, September 4, urged Iran to free one of its nationals it says has been held in the country arbitrarily since April 2022 in a case exacerbating bilateral tensions. "A Swedish citizen a man in his thirties was detained in Iran in April 2022. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Sweden in Tehran are working very intensively on the case and are maintaining close contact with the EU," Sweden's foreign ministry told AFP in an e-mail. "The Swedish citizen has been arbitrarily deprived of his freedom and should therefore be released immediately." The ministry added it was in daily contact with the detained man's family. The New York Times named the man as Johan Floderus, a 33-year-old who works for the EU's diplomatic service. He was arrested on April 17 last year as he returned to Tehran following a holiday. Neither the Swedish authorities nor the European Union have confirmed the detainee's identity. Iran announced in July last year it had arrested a man on suspicion of espionage. "We are aware and have been following very closely the case of a Swedish national detained in Iran," a European Commission spokesman said. "We are in very close touch with the Swedish authorities who have the consular responsibility," the spokesman added. "This case has also to be seen in the context of the growing number of arbitrary detentions involving EU citizens," the Commission spokesman added. "We have used and will continue to use every opportunity to raise the issue with the Iranian authorities to achieve in close cooperation with the member states involved the release of all arbitrarily detained EU citizens." The announcement of his arrest in July 2022 came two weeks after an Iranian citizen received a life jail term in Sweden for his role in the Iranian regime's 1988 mass executions of thousands of opponents. A Stockholm court found former Iranian prison head Hamid Noury guilty of "aggravated crimes against international law" and "murder". Several Western states have denounced what they term "hostage diplomacy" on the part of Iran, consisting of arresting Western nationals to obtain concessions such as the release of its own nationals. Last May, Belgian humanitarian worker Olivier Vandecasteele, 42, was released after 15 months in Iranian detention for alleged spying in a prisoner swap for Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, sentenced to 20 years for plotting to bomb an opposition rally in Paris. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele is a bargaining chip between Iran and Belgium AN EIGHT-storey residential building planned for a Limerick city site derelict for three decades is an opportunistic breaking of a well-established street line, according to An Taisce. The National Trust for Ireland has appealed Limerick City and County Councils decision to grant planning, to An Bord Pleanala. The applicant - Pairc Na Daoine Limited- applied for planning for the 21-unit apartment complex overlooking the Peoples Park in May. Conditional permission for the development at 1-4 James Street and 6 and 7 Upper Mallow Street was granted by the council in July. It includes the construction of an eight-storey building encompassing three studio apartments, three two-bed apartments and 15 one-bed apartments. An Taisce has appealed the councils decision to An Bord Pleanala on a number of grounds. A detailed submission, seen by the Limerick Leader / Limerick Live, stresses that the proposal, at a time of severe housing shortage is strongly welcomed, in principle. An Taisce submits that should the proposal proceed in its present form it will constitute an opportunistic breaking of a well-established street line. It lists out the number of storeys in proximity to the proposed development, which range from two to five storeys. A second grounds for appeal is that it will sunder the relationship of this street with the Peoples Park which occupies the opposite side of the street. A public park such as this, bounded by terraces of sympathetically well-scaled, residential, commercial, and social buildings, is a familiar element in contemporary urban townscapes, something that the insertion of a bleakly modelled, stark, single-tower block, almost twice the height of its neighbours, will break that harmony forever, submits An Taisce. They also raise other concerns including adversely affecting the sunlight to a number of properties and that the prime front-facing facade on to Mallow Street is largely glass (between 80 and 90%). As Limerick city council planners will know, the residents of many other recently built city centre blocks are now struggling to live and work behind plate glass, south in facing windows, at a time of increasing weather extremes and without the mitigating effect of dual aspect or cross ventilation design. UL HOSPITALS Group have announced the appointment of Dr Alwin Sebastian as a Consultant Rheumatologist and General Physician. From Sri Lanka, Dr Sebastian has been working in Ireland since 2011, and completed his dual-specialty training in General Internal Medicine and Rheumatology here in the Midwest, Galway, Dublin and in the UK. As a Consultant Rheumatologist and General Physician, Dr Sebastian has general rheumatology clinics at University Hospital Limerick and Ennis. Dr Sebastian has both general medical and rheumatology in patients at University Hospital Limerick. Dr Sebastian also specialises in diagnostic Muscular-skeletal and vascular ultrasound and ultrasound-guided joint and soft tissue injections at the rheumatology day ward in Croom Orthopaedic Hospital. Dr Sebastian recently completed PhD research at the University of Essex into Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA), an inflammation of the lining of the temporal and large arteries. He developed and authored the pre-test probability-based algorithm for suspected GCA, which is used in many centres internationally. Keenly interested in research, Dr Sebastian is also an enthusiastic teacher. Funded by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Dr Sebastian completed a two-year fellowship in GCA at Southend University Hospital under the mentorship of Professor Bhaskar Dasgupta. In 2020 Dr Sebastian was honoured by the British Society of Rheumatology with the Paul Bacon Vasculitis Award for Best Research in Vasculitis. He is currently leading an international, multi-centre, prospective study in developing a quantitative ultrasound Halo Score for monitoring and assessing outcomes in GCA and large vessel vasculitis. His ambition is to develop a fast-track GCA and Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) service in the Midwest. With a Masters (MSc) in Rheumatology at King's College London, and postgraduate qualifications from MRCP Ireland and MRCP UK, Dr Sebastians other previous posts include honorary research fellow at Southend University Hospital, UK. Ryanair has revealed around 63,000 of its passengers saw their flights cancelled during last weeks air traffic control failure which caused widespread disruption across the industry and left thousands of passengers stranded overseas. In its August traffic update, the Irish carrier said more than 350 of its flights were cancelled on August 28 and 29 due to the air traffic control (ATC) issue. More than a quarter of all flights to and from UK airports were cancelled on Monday August 28 as National Air Traffic Services (Nats) were unable to process flight plans automatically. The knock-on effect continued for two more days and is said to have wrecked the travel plans of around a quarter of a million people. Ryanair said the ATC failure has still not been explained. Airlines have been infuriated by the incident, which came at one of the worst times of the year, with little spare capacity across the sector due to it being the end of the summer break for many schools. Ryanair chief executive Michael OLeary last week criticised Nats, calling the disruption unacceptable. In a video message, the groups boss described Monday as a very difficult day and hit out at Nats for failing to adequately explain what caused the failure and questioning why back-up systems did not kick in. Rival easyJets chief executive Johan Lundgren also last week demanded that a full independent review is launched into the failure and said it must not happen again. Nats has said an unusual piece of data it received forced it to switch to manual checks. Transport Secretary Mark Harper met Nats, the Civil Aviation Authority, Border Force, airlines, airports and trade groups on Friday last week to discuss the situation. Michael O'Leary, CEO of the Ryanair Group gives an update on delays/cancellations due to UK ATC failure on Aug 28 pic.twitter.com/HoebuSNqBy Ryanair (@Ryanair) August 29, 2023 Nats is carrying out an inquiry into what happened and will send a preliminary report to Mr Harper on Monday. The minister said after the meeting last Friday that airlines reported most customers affected by the chaos have now reached their destinations. But thousands of holidaymakers were left stranded overseas as many flights from popular destinations were full. Ryanairs latest traffic update showed it carried 18.9 million guests in total last month, up 11% on a year earlier. Fellow low-cost airline Wizz Air also revealed the impact of the ATC woes last week in its August traffic update, with 35 inbound and outbound flights cancelled due to the Nats failure. The Hungarian-based group said all other flights ran, even if with delays. Wizz saw 6.1 million passengers fly with the firm throughout August, up 23.9% on a year ago. Politics is supposed to be about persuasion; but it has always been stalked by propaganda. Campaigners dissemble, exaggerate and fib. They transmit lies, ranging from bald-faced to white, through whatever means are available. Anti-vaccine conspiracies were once propagated through pamphlets instead of podcasts. A century before covid-19 , anti-maskers in the era of Spanish flu waged a disinformation campaign. They sent fake messages from the surgeon-general via telegram (the wires, not the smartphone app). Because people are not angels, elections have never been free from falsehoods and mistaken beliefs. But as the world contemplates a series of votes in 2024, something new is causing a lot of worry. In the past, disinformation has always been created by humans. Advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI)with models that can spit out sophisticated essays and create realistic images from text promptsmake synthetic propaganda possible. The fear is that disinformation campaigns may be supercharged in 2024, just as countries with a collective population of some 4bnincluding America, Britain, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Taiwanprepare to vote. How worried should their citizens be? It is important to be precise about what generative-AI tools like ChatGPT do and do not change. Before they came along, disinformation was already a problem in democracies. The corrosive idea that Americas presidential election in 2020 was rigged brought rioters to the Capitol on January 6thbut it was spread by Donald Trump, Republican elites and conservative mass-media outlets using conventional means. Activists for the BJP in India spread rumours via WhatsApp threads. Propagandists for the Chinese Communist Party transmit talking points to Taiwan through seemingly legitimate news outfits. All of this is done without using generative-AI tools. What could large-language models change in 2024? One thing is the quantity of disinformation: if the volume of nonsense were multiplied by 1,000 or 100,000, it might persuade people to vote differently. A second concerns quality. Hyper-realistic deepfakes could sway voters before false audio, photos and videos could be debunked. A third is microtargeting. With AI, voters may be inundated with highly personalised propaganda at scale. Networks of propaganda bots could be made harder to detect than existing disinformation efforts are. Voters trust in their fellow citizens, which in America has been declining for decades, may well suffer as people began to doubt everything. This is worrying, but there are reasons to believe AI is not about to wreck humanitys 2,500-year-old experiment with democracy. Many people think that others are more gullible than they themselves are. In fact, voters are hard to persuade, especially on salient political issues such as whom they want to be president. (Ask yourself what deepfake would change your choice between Joe Biden and Mr Trump.) The multi-billion-dollar campaign industry in America that uses humans to persuade voters can generate only minute changes in their behaviour. Tools to produce believable fake images and text have existed for decades. Although generative AI might be a labour-saving technology for internet troll farms, it is not clear that effort was the binding constraint in the production of disinformation. New image-generation algorithms are impressive, but without tuning and human judgment they are still prone to produce pictures of people with six fingers on each hand, making the possibility of personalised deepfakes remote for the time being. Even if these AI-augmented tactics were to prove effective, they would soon be adopted by many interested parties: the cumulative effect of these influence operations would be to make social networks even more cacophonous and unusable. It is hard to prove that mistrust translates into a systematic advantage for one party over the other. Social-media platforms, where misinformation spreads, and AI firms say they are focused on the risks. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, says it will monitor usage to try to detect political-influence operations. Big-tech platforms, criticised both for propagating disinformation in the 2016 election and taking down too much in 2020, have become better at identifying suspicious accounts (though they have become loth to arbitrate the truthfulness of content generated by real people). Alphabet and Meta ban the use of manipulated media in political advertising and say they are quick to respond to deepfakes. Other companies are trying to craft a technological standard establishing the provenance of real images and videos. Voluntary regulation has limits, however, and the involuntary sort poses risks. Open-source models, like Metas Llama, which generates text, and Stable Diffusion, which makes images, can be used without oversight. And not all platforms are created equalTikTok, the video-sharing social-media company, has ties to Chinas government, and the app is designed to promote virality from any source, including new accounts. Twitter (which is now called X) cut its oversight team after it was bought by Elon Musk, and the platform is a haven for bots. The agency regulating elections in America is considering a disclosure requirement for campaigns using synthetically generated images. This is sensible, though malicious actors will not comply with it. Some in America are calling for a Chinese-style system of extreme regulation. There, AI algorithms must be registered with a government body and somehow embody core socialist values. Such heavy-handed control would erode the advantage America has in AI innovation. Politics was never pure Technological determinism, which pins all the foibles of people on the tools they use, is tempting. But it is also wrong. Although it is important to be mindful of the potential of generative AI to disrupt democracies, panic is unwarranted. Before the technological advances of the past two years, people were quite capable of transmitting all manner of destructive and terrible ideas to one another. The American presidential campaign of 2024 will be marred by disinformation about the rule of law and the integrity of elections. But its progenitor will not be something newfangled like ChatGPT. It will be Mr Trump. For subscribers only: to see how we design each weeks cover, sign up to our weekly Cover Story 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 In the bustling landscape of modern Indian households, the refrigerator stands as a silent yet indispensable companion. The evolution of this appliance has seen various designs, but none as prominent in recent times as the Best Double Door Refrigerators. Offering a blend of aesthetic appeal and functional prowess, these Double Door Refrigerators have become a staple in homes, catering to the evolving needs of the Indian consumer. Following are the top picks: Best Budget Double Door Refrigerators in India Amazon video of Godrej 223 L 2 Star Inverter, 30 days Farm Freshness With Nano Shield Technology Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator The Godrej 223 L double door refrigerator offers 30 days of farm freshness with Nano Shield Technology. Designed for small families, it ensures efficient cooling with multi inverter technology. With a stylish Fossil Steel finish and toughened glass shelves, it's a blend of aesthetics and functionality. Best Capacity Double Door Refrigerators in India Amazon video of Samsung 336 L 3 Star Inverter Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator Samsung's 336L refrigerator boasts advanced Digital Inverter technology, ensuring energy efficiency and consistent cooling. With Curd Maestro, it's the first to make and store curd. Features like Twin Cooling Plus and Easy Slide Shelf enhance freshness and accessibility. A modern solution for refined living. Best Energy-Efficient Double Door Refrigerators in India Amazon video of Whirlpool 240 L Frost Free Multi-Door Refrigerator Whirlpool's 240 L Frost Free Multi-Door Refrigerator, the FP 263D Protton Roy in Alpha Steel, boasts a 5-star energy rating. With Moisture Retention and Microblock Technology, it ensures fresh storage. The three-door design offers organized storage, while the toughened glass shelves add durability. Best Inverter Model Double Door Refrigerators in India Amazon video of Samsung 236 L 3 Star Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator Samsung's 236L 3 Star Refrigerator (RT28C3053S8/HL, 2023 Model) boasts Digital Inverter Technology for energy efficiency. Features include an Easy Slide shelf, Movable Ice Maker, and Deodorizing Filter. The All-around Cooling system ensures uniformity, while Toughened Glass Shelves support up to 175 Kg. LED lighting and Smart Connect Inverter enhance functionality. Best Overall Double Door Refrigerators in India Amazon video of LG 242 L 3 Star Smart Inverter Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator The LG 242 L 3 Star Smart Inverter Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator (GL-I292RPZX, Shiny Steel) is a sleek and efficient appliance. With a capacity of 242 liters, it's perfect for small families and bachelors. The refrigerator boasts a 3-star energy rating, ensuring energy efficiency. Its smart inverter compressor guarantees less noise and durability. The trimless tempered glass shelves are sturdy, and the top LED provides energy-efficient illumination. The auto defrost function prevents ice build-up, ensuring your food remains fresh and nutritious. 20 Best Double-Door Refrigerators in India Amazon video of Samsung 322L 3 Star Convertible 5In1 Digital Inverter with Display Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator The Samsung 322L 3 Star Convertible Refrigerator (RT37C4523S8/HL, Elegant Inox, 2023 Model) is a state-of-the-art appliance designed for modern households. With its Convertible 5in1 feature and Twin Cooling Plus technology, it ensures optimal freshness for your food. The Digital Inverter Compressor offers energy efficiency and a quiet operation. The interior boasts features like a Moist Fresh Zone, toughened glass shelves, and an anti-bacterial gasket. Features: - Convertible 5in1 for flexible refrigeration needs. - Twin Cooling Plus for prolonged freshness. - Digital Inverter Compressor for energy efficiency and reduced noise. - Frost Free Refrigeration with Digital Display Control Panel. - Moist Fresh Zone to maintain optimal humidity for perishable food. Pros: - Convertible design offers flexibility in usage. - Energy-efficient with a 3-star rating. - Spacious interiors with smart compartments. Cons: - Might be slightly pricier than other models in the same category. - Requires a stable voltage for optimal performance. Amazon video of LG 242 L 3 Star Smart Inverter Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator The LG 242 L 3 Star Smart Inverter Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator (GL-I292RPZX) in Shiny Steel is a modern kitchen essential. With features like Door Cooling+, a Gross Volume of 260 L, and a Smart Inverter Compressor, it ensures optimal temperature levels and energy efficiency. The refrigerator's design is complemented by its Toughened Glass Shelves and a special Anti-Bacterial gasket, ensuring your food remains fresh and hygienic. Features: - Frost-free refrigerator with auto defrost function. - Smart inverter compressor for energy efficiency and reduced noise. - Trimless tempered glass shelves. - Top LED for energy-efficient lighting. Pros: Energy-efficient with a 3-star rating. Door Cooling+ feature ensures even cooling. Toughened glass shelves can handle heavy loads. Cons: Some users reported minor scratches on delivery. Vegetable tray design could be improved for easier operation. Amazon video of Samsung 236L 3 Star Digital Inverter Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator The Samsung 236L 3 Star Digital Inverter Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator (RT28C3053S8/HL, Elegant Inox, 2023 Model) is a blend of style and efficiency. The Digital Inverter Compressor ensures energy savings and reduced noise. Features like the Moist Fresh Zone, which adjusts moisture levels, and toughened glass shelves that can hold up to 175 Kg, make it a top choice. The refrigerator also boasts of a Frost-Free system, ensuring no ice buildup, and a 3-star energy rating for cost-effectiveness. Features: - Frost Free Refrigerator with Auto Defrost technology. - Digital Inverter Compressor for greater energy efficiency and less noise. Pros: - Spacious storage. - Energy-efficient with a 3-star rating. - Digital Inverter Compressor ensures reduced noise and long-lasting performance. - Moist Fresh Zone and Deodorizer enhance food preservation. Cons: - Might be slightly large for very small kitchen spaces. Amazon video of Haier 237 L 3 Star Frost Free Inverter Double Door Bottom Mount Refrigerator The Haier 237 L 3 Star Frost Free Inverter Double Door Bottom Mount Refrigerator, model HEB-243GS-P, is a sleek appliance in a Moon Silver finish. This refrigerator is designed for convenience with its bottom mount freezer, ensuring frequently used items are at eye level. The 8-in-1 convertible feature offers flexibility in storage, and the inverter compressor ensures energy efficiency. Features: - Frost Free Refrigerator with auto defrost function. - Twin Inverter Technology and 8-in-1 Convertible Mode. - Toughened Glass Shelves and 2x Vegetable Box. - Twin Energy Saving Mode, Turbo Icing, and Twist Ice Maker. - Connect Home Inverter and Clean Back feature. Pros: - Energy-efficient with 3-star rating. - Advanced features like Twin Inverter Technology and Turbo Icing. Cons: - Might be slightly larger for very small kitchens. - Only one bottle holder section Amazon video of Samsung 236 L 2 Star Convertible, Digital Inverter with Display Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator Samsung presents the 236 L 2 Star Convertible, Digital Inverter with Display Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator (RT28C3922S9/HL, Silver, Refined Inox, 2023 Model). This stylish refrigerator boasts a digital inverter compressor, ensuring energy efficiency. With a spacious design, it offers features like Power Cool, Power Freeze, and a MoistFresh Zone. The refrigerator also provides a unique convertible freezer-to-fridge option, ensuring flexibility for your storage needs. Features: - Versatile freezer conversion. - Enhanced Power Cool & Power Freeze. - Cutting-edge Digital Inverter Compressor. - Dual Cooling Plus system. - Advanced MoistFresh Zone. - User-friendly Slide Shelf & detachable Ice Maker. Pros: Adaptable storage with the convertible option. Energy conservation through Digital Inverter tech. No hassles with frost-free design. Protection against voltage inconsistencies. Cons: 2-star rating may impact long-term energy savings. Occasional warmth on the refrigerator's sides. Door auto-closure could be enhanced. Amazon video of Whirlpool 327 L 3 Star IntelliFresh Inverter Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator Whirlpool's 327 L 3 Star IntelliFresh Inverter Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator is a state-of-the-art appliance designed for modern homes. With its Intellisense Inverter Technology, it ensures efficient cooling and energy conservation. The refrigerator boasts features like Touch UI inside, fast ice formation in 85 minutes, 40% quicker bottle cooling, and anti-odour action. Its freezer can reach temperatures as low as -24C. Additionally, it offers 99.9% bacterial growth prevention and operates stably even in high voltage fluctuations without a stabilizer. Features: - Intellisense Inverter Technology for adaptive cooling - Freshflow Air Tower for uniform cooling - Touch UI for easy temperature control - Honeycomb Crisper Cover for moisture balance - Zeolite technology to prevent excessive ripening Pros: - Advanced touch UI for easy temperature control - Zeolite technology ensures longer freshness of fruits and vegetables - Stylish design that complements modern kitchens Cons: - Might be slightly bulky for smaller kitchen spaces - The touch UI might require a learning curve for some users Amazon video of Samsung 256L 3 Star Convertible Digital Inverter with Display Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator The Samsung 256L 3 Star Convertible Digital Inverter Refrigerator (RT30C3733BX/HL, Luxe Black, 2023 Model) boasts a sleek design with a luxe black finish. This frost-free double door refrigerator offers a gross volume of 275 liters. It features a digital inverter with a display, ensuring efficient and silent operation. The refrigerator is equipped with a movable ice maker, easy slide shelf, and a door alarm. The digital display on the freezer door allows easy temperature control and access to various features. Features: - Frost-Free mechanism with an intuitive Digital Display Control. - Adaptable freezer for varied storage needs. - 3 Star Energy Rating ensuring efficiency. - Digital Inverter Compressor for energy-saving. Pros: - Dynamic storage with convertible freezer. - Energy-efficient and silent digital inverter compressor. - Organized, spacious interior. - Sturdy, easy-to-clean glass shelves. Cons: - Fully loaded vegetable drawer might be less accessible. - To remove the vegetable box entirely, the door must be fully opened, potentially causing inconvenience. Amazon video of Haier 240 L 2 Star Frost Free Double Door Top Mount Refrigerator The Haier 240 L 2 Star Frost Free Double Door Top Mount Refrigerator (Model: HEF-252DS-P) in Dazzle Steel finish is a modern kitchen essential. The refrigerator features an auto defrost function, a 2-star energy rating, and an inverter compressor for efficient cooling. Special features include a 5-in-1 Convertible Mode, toughened glass shelves, and an anti-bacterial gasket. Features: - Frost Free Refrigerator with auto defrost function. - Inverter Compressor with Expert cooling technology. - Special Features: 5-in-1 Convertible Mode, Connect Home Inverter, Anti-bacterial Gasket. Pros: - Energy-efficient with 2-star rating. - Spacious storage with separate compartments. - Advanced cooling technology for consistent temperature. - Durable and silent operation. Cons: - The power cord is short. - The absence of a separate dairy section. - The cover over the vegetable box might not be very sturdy. Amazon video of Samsung 336 L 3 Star Inverter Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator The Samsung RT37A4633S8/HL refrigerator offers a spacious 336L capacity with a 3-star energy efficiency rating. It boasts the innovative Curd Maestro feature, ensuring consistent curd preparation. The Digital Inverter Technology ensures energy efficiency and longevity. Its Twin Cooling Plus system maintains optimal humidity, preserving food freshness. The refrigerator also features a digital display, easy-slide shelf, and a deodorizer to eliminate strong odors, ensuring a fresh and organized storage space. Features: - Twin Cooling Plus Technology - Curd Maestro - Digital Inverter Technology - Digital Display - Movable Ice maker - Deodorizer - Door Alarm Pros: - Energy-efficient with a 3-star rating. - Spacious interiors with easy organization options. - Unique Curd Maestro feature for consistent curd quality. - Twin Cooling Plus Technology ensures optimal humidity levels. - Digital Inverter Technology for efficient performance. Cons: - Might be slightly on the pricier side for some. - The external digital display might be prone to wear and tear. - Requires regular cleaning to maintain its sleek appearance. Amazon video of Godrej 223 L 2 Star Inverter, 30 days Farm Freshness With Nano Shield Technology Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator The Godrej 223 L refrigerator, model RF EON 244B RI FS ST in Fossil Steel, boasts a 2-star energy efficiency rating. It integrates advanced Nano Shield Technology, ensuring 30 days of farm freshness. The refrigerator features Anti-B technology, a vegetable basket, movable ice tray, toughened glass shelves, adjustable shelves, and a door lock. The inverter technology ensures optimal cooling, and the temperature control system maintains the desired coolness inside. Features: - Over 95% disinfection with Nano Shield Technology. - Uniform cooling with innovative air flow system. - Extended freshness with Cool Balance and Moisture Control. - Smart cooling adjustments. - Inverter technology. - Adaptive auto-defrost system. - Movable ice maker and LED lighting. Pros: - Adaptive, energy-efficient cooling. - Spacious design with aesthetic Fossil Steel finish. Cons: - 2 Star rating might not suit energy-conscious users. - Might be compact for those needing larger storage. Amazon video of Whirlpool 308 L 2 Star Frost Free Inverter Double Door Refrigerator The Whirlpool IFPRO INV CNV 355 Arctic Steel(2S) is a 308-liter, 2-star rated frost-free inverter double door refrigerator. Designed for modern households, it boasts the 6th Sense NutriLock Technology ensuring up to 2x longer vitamin preservation. With 10-in-1 convertible modes, it offers flexibility in storage. The patented Zeolite technology prevents excessive ripening of fruits and vegetables. Its Intellisense Inverter Technology adapts cooling based on the load, ensuring energy efficiency. The refrigerator also features a Microblock Technology that prevents up to 99% bacterial growth. Features: - 6th Sense NutriLock Technology for vitamin preservation - 10-in-1 convertible modes for flexible cooling - Patented Zeolite technology to prevent excessive ripening - Intellisense Inverter Technology for energy efficiency - Frost Free feature for hassle-free maintenance Pros: - Advanced technology ensures longer preservation of vitamins in food. - Multiple convertible modes offer flexibility in cooling. - Energy-efficient design reduces electricity bills. Cons: - 2 Star rating might not be as energy efficient as higher-rated models. Amazon video of Whirlpool 240 L Frost Free Multi-Door Refrigerator The Whirlpool 240 L Frost Free Multi-Door Refrigerator (FP 263D PROTTON ROY) in German Steel offers a sleek design and efficient cooling. With a capacity of 240 litres, it features a Full-Sized Freezer-on-Top configuration. The refrigerator is equipped with stabilizer-free operation and a door lock for added safety. Its toughened glass shelves ensure durability, and it's designed for freestanding installation. Features - Multi-Door, Frost Free design. - Superior energy efficiency. - Stabilizer-free performance. - Unique features: ZEOLITE TECHNOLOGY, MOISTURE RETENTION, FRUIT CRISPER. - Frost Free cooling with thermostat display. - Durable toughened glass shelves. Pros: - Distinct zones ensure optimal food preservation. - Advanced technologies maintain freshness. Cons: - Potential noise when the compressor operates. - Temperature settings need careful monitoring. Amazon video of Whirlpool 259 L 3 Star Intellifresh Inverter Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator The Whirlpool Intellifresh 259 L refrigerator is a state-of-the-art appliance designed for modern homes. With a 3-star energy rating, it ensures efficient cooling while being energy-conscious. The refrigerator boasts of features like Intellisense Inverter Technology, up to 15 days of freshness for fruits and vegetables, and a unique Cool Pad that retains cooling for up to 17 hours during power cuts. Features: - Adaptive Intellisense Inverter Technology. - Freshflow Air Tower ensures rapid, even cooling. - Honeycomb Crisper Cover for moisture regulation. - Ice Twister and Collector for hassle-free ice access. - Zeolite technology curbing over-ripening. - Touch UI for intuitive temperature adjustments. - Microblock Technology for 99.9% bacterial growth prevention. - Cool Pad ensures up to 17 hours of cooling retention. Pros: - Efficient cooling with Intellisense Inverter. - Extended freshness with Zeolite technology. - User-friendly Touch UI. - Bacterial growth prevention. Cons: - Lacks manual temperature settings. - Potential door rubber looseness. Amazon video of LG 322 L 3 Star Frost-Free Smart Inverter Double Door Refrigerator The LG 322 L 3 Star Frost-Free Smart Inverter Double Door Refrigerator, model GL-S342SDSX, is a sleek and efficient appliance. It boasts a capacity of 322 liters, making it suitable for families with 5 or more members. The refrigerator features a smart inverter compressor that ensures energy efficiency, reduced noise, and durability. With a 3-star energy rating, it offers significant energy savings. The refrigerator's interior includes two trimless tempered glass shelves, a slide-out tray, and an anti-bacterial gasket. Special features include a convertible freezer-to-fridge option, multi air flow cooling, and smart diagnosis capabilities. Features: - Frost-Free Refrigerator with a capacity greater than 300 L. - Smart inverter compressor for energy efficiency and reduced noise. - Convertible function for flexible storage. - Multi Air Flow system for even cooling. - Express Freeze and Smart Diagnosis features. Pros: - Energy-efficient with a 3-star rating. - Smart diagnosis detects problems automatically. - Elegant dazzle steel finish adds to the aesthetics. Cons: - The vegetable tray might feel a bit constricted for some users. - No light in the freezer compartment. Amazon video of Godrej 244 L 3 Star, Inverter Double Door Refrigerator The Godrej 244 L refrigerator, boasts a 3-star energy efficiency rating. Designed in a sleek fossil steel finish, it offers a 6-in-1 convertible freezer, ensuring versatile cooling options. The fridge features a Cool Balance Technology, ensuring optimal cooling throughout. Its Multi Inverter Technology enhances cooling performance while being energy efficient. Features: - Frost Free Refrigerator with auto defrost. - 3-star energy efficiency. - Energy-saving Inverter Compressor. - Unique Features: Cool Balance Technology and Multi Inverter Technology. Pros: - 6-mode convertible freezer for adaptability. - Uniform cooling with Cool Balance Technology. - Power-saving inverter compressor. Cons: - Fixed back tray complicates water emptying. - Ambiguity over stabilizer necessity. - Absence of light in the freezer compartment. Amazon video of Panasonic 260 L Double Door 3 Star AI Enabled Inverter Technology Frost Free Refrigerator Experience the future of refrigeration with Panasonic's 260L Double Door Refrigerator. Designed with a sleek Electric Grey finish, this refrigerator boasts a 3-star energy rating, ensuring efficiency. The AG Clean Technology ensures 99.9% elimination of bacteria, while the Intelligent 6 Stage Inverter Compressor offers energy efficiency and reduced noise. With a spacious 30L Jumbo Fresh Vegetable Basket and advanced sensors, it promises to keep your food fresh and nutritious for longer. Features: - Stylish double door, frost-free design. - AG Clean Technology for hygiene. - Humidity Care Controller. - Advanced Intelligent 6 Stage Inverter Compressor. - Even cooling with Surround Airflow. Pros: - AI-driven inverter technology for efficient cooling. - Large vegetable basket. - Hygienic environment with AG Clean Technology. - Energy-efficient compressor with minimal noise. Cons: - Freezer's volume button may stiffen with ice buildup. - Absence of light in the freezer. - Potential backside base frame damage during delivery. Amazon video of Panasonic 338 L 3 Star Prime Convertible 6-Stage Smart Inverter Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator The Panasonic 338 L 3 Star Prime Convertible Refrigerator (NR-TG355CPKN, Diamond Black) is a 2023 model designed for modern households. It boasts a 6-Stage Smart Inverter technology ensuring energy efficiency and reduced noise. The refrigerator features a 35L Jumbo Fresh Vegetable Basket, tempered glass shelves capable of holding up to 100 kgs, and a double twist ice tray. The Prime Convertible mode allows flexible storage, and its AG Clean Technology ensures food remains fresh by eliminating 99.9% of bacteria. Features: - Prime Convertible Modes - Intelligent 6 Stage Inverter Compressor - Tempered Glass Shelves - Double Twist Ice Tray Pros: - Energy-efficient inverter compressor - Spacious storage Jumbo Fresh Vegetable Case - Durable tempered glass shelves - Convertible modes for flexible storage Cons: - It a bit pricey compared to other models in the same range. 18. Voltas Beko 360 L 2 Star Inverter Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator, StoreFresh+, Neo FrostTM Dual Cooling (RFF383IF, Silver, 2022 Model) Amazon video of Voltas Beko 360 L 2 Star Inverter Frost-Free Double Door Refrigerator The Voltas Beko 360 L refrigerator, a 2022 model, is a 2-star inverter frost-free double door appliance. It boasts the StoreFresh+ feature, ensuring fruits and vegetables remain fresh for up to 30 days. The Neo FrostTM Dual Cooling technology distributes cool air evenly, preventing odor transfer and regulating moisture. Additionally, the Active Fresh Bluelight technology maintains natural lighting inside, preserving the Vitamin C in produce. The refrigerator also features a ProSmartTM Inverter Compressor for efficient cooling and energy savings. Features: - StoreFresh+ technology for extended freshness. - Active Fresh Bluelight technology for preserving Vitamin C. - Neo FrostTM Dual Cooling system for even cooling. - Ion Guard for antibacterial effect. - ProSmartTM Inverter Compressor for efficient cooling. Pros: - Efficient cooling with ProSmartTM Inverter Compressor. - Antibacterial effect with Ion Guard. - Durable toughened glass shelves. - Energy-efficient with a 2-star rating. Cons: - Some users have reported issues with the LED brightness. Amazon video of Lloyd 340 L 2 Star Inverter Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator Lloyd presents a 340 L 2 Star Inverter Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator in a striking Metallic Wine shade. Designed for modern households, it boasts an inverter compressor ensuring stable temperature maintenance and energy efficiency. The refrigerator is equipped with Bactshield technology, preventing bacterial growth and ensuring long-lasting freshness. The Fleximax Design offers adjustable glass shelves for versatile storage, while the Fresh Lock Mega Box provides ample space for fruits and vegetables. The movable twist ice tray ensures easy ice dispensing. Features: - Frost Free Refrigerator with Auto-Defrost function - Energy Rating: 2 Star for energy efficiency - Inverter Compressor for uniform cooling and durability - Toughened Glass with 3 shelves Pros: - Bactshield technology prevents bacterial growth. - Ten Vent Technology provides uniform cooling. - Fleximax Design offers adjustable glass shelves for versatile storage. - Twist Ice Tray for easy ice storage and dispensing. Cons: - 2 Star energy rating might not be as efficient as higher-rated models. 20. Bosch 263L 3 Star Inverter Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator (CTN27S03NI, Sparkly Steel) Amazon video of Haier 325 L 3 Star Frost Free Inverter Double Door Bottom Mount Refrigerator The Bosch 263L 3 Star Inverter Frost Free Double Door Refrigerator (CTN27S03NI, Sparkly Steel) is a top-tier appliance that ensures efficient cooling and energy savings. With a 3 Star Energy rating, it boasts a VarioInverter compressor that adjusts its speed based on surrounding conditions. The VitaFresh technology maintains the freshness of fruits and vegetables for up to 10 days. Its elegant silver finish complements modern kitchen aesthetics, and the spacious design accommodates all your refrigeration needs. Features: - VarioInverter compressor for energy efficiency. - VitaFresh technology for prolonged freshness. - On-door display for easy control. - Easy Access shelf for convenience. - EasyClean feature for hassle-free cleaning. Pros: - Maintains freshness of produce for longer durations. - User-friendly with on-door display and Easy Access shelf. - Reliable performance during power outages. Cons: - Only one bottle rack in the freezer compartment Factors to Consider Before Buying a Double-Door Refrigerator: Assessing Capacity Needs: Determine the ideal refrigerator size based on the number of family members. Ideal for couples or small families: 250 to 300 liters. Larger families or frequent hosts: 350 liters or more. Consider your shopping frequency; if you shop in bulk or prefer stocking up, you might need a larger capacity. Energy Efficiency Insights: Familiarize yourself with the BEE star ratings; a higher rating indicates better energy efficiency. Understand that while energy-efficient models might be pricier initially, they can lead to significant savings on electricity bills over time. Exploring Cutting-Edge Features: Inverter technology is a game-changer, adjusting the compressor's operations based on cooling requirements, leading to energy savings. Features like water dispensers add convenience, allowing easy access to chilled water. Some models come with stabilizer-free operation, protecting the refrigerator from voltage fluctuations. Benefits of Double-Door Refrigerators: Enhanced Storage: Separate sections for fresh foods and frozen items, maximizing storage space. Separate sections for fresh foods and frozen items, maximizing storage space. Energy Efficiency: Often consume less power than larger, single-door counterparts. Often consume less power than larger, single-door counterparts. Optimal Cooling: Consistent temperature maintenance in both compartments. Consistent temperature maintenance in both compartments. Organized Storage: Designated shelves and compartments for specific food items, aiding in better organization. Designated shelves and compartments for specific food items, aiding in better organization. Less Frequent Opening: Reduced need to open the freezer when accessing the fridge section, conserving energy. Reduced need to open the freezer when accessing the fridge section, conserving energy. Frost-Free Technology: Most models come equipped with auto defrost, preventing ice build-up. Most models come equipped with auto defrost, preventing ice build-up. Convertible Features: Some models allow conversion of the freezer into a fridge, offering flexibility in storage. Some models allow conversion of the freezer into a fridge, offering flexibility in storage. Freshness Retention: Advanced cooling technologies ensure longer freshness of food items. Maintenance Tips for Double-Door Refrigerators: Regular Cleaning: Wipe down interior shelves and compartments with a mild detergent solution every month. Clean the exterior with a soft cloth to maintain its shine and prevent dust accumulation. Ventilation: Ensure the refrigerator is placed in a location with adequate ventilation. Keep it away from direct sunlight and heat sources to prevent overworking the compressor. Check Seals and Gaskets: Inspect the door seals regularly for any signs of wear or damage. Clean them with a mild solution to ensure they remain effective in trapping cold air inside. Avoid Overloading: Do not stuff the refrigerator to its maximum capacity. Ensure there's enough space for air circulation to maintain consistent cooling. Defrost Regularly: If not using a frost-free model, defrost the freezer section periodically to prevent ice build-up. Rear Coil Cleaning: Dust and clean the coils at the back of the refrigerator at least twice a year. This helps in efficient heat transfer and energy consumption. Monitor Temperature: Use a refrigerator thermometer to ensure it operates at the recommended temperature. Typically, the fridge should be at or below 40F (4C) and the freezer at 0F (-18C). Conclusion: Choosing the right double-door refrigerator is a crucial investment in daily living, impacting food storage habits and overall kitchen experience. Factors like capacity, energy efficiency, brand reputation, and advanced features should align with your needs. The market offers numerous options, but understanding these criteria will lead you to the best double-door refrigerators tailored for you. The ideal choice should integrate seamlessly into your lifestyle, ensuring consistent performance and durability. Whether for a small family or a larger one, there's a perfect refrigerator awaiting. Use this insight as a guide to find the best fit for your home. FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) What is a double-door refrigerator? A double-door refrigerator features two separate compartments with individual doors: one for the freezer and another for the fridge. Are double-door refrigerators more energy-efficient? While they often have larger capacities, many modern double-door refrigerators are designed with energy efficiency in mind. However, it's essential to check the energy rating to determine efficiency. How often should I defrost my double-door refrigerator? Most modern double-door refrigerators come with an auto defrost or frost-free feature, eliminating the need for manual defrosting. Do double-door refrigerators require more maintenance? Generally, they require similar maintenance to single-door models. However, with more features, there might be additional components to check. Can I adjust the temperature in both compartments separately? Yes, most double-door refrigerators allow separate temperature controls for the fridge and freezer sections. Are double-door refrigerators noisier than single-door models? Noise levels vary by model and brand. However, many modern refrigerators, whether single or double-door, are designed to operate quietly. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! In the bustling urban landscapes of India, the Best Single Door Refrigerators stand as an indispensable appliance in every household. As the nation's culinary habits evolve and the need for efficient food preservation grows, the demand for single door refrigerators has seen a significant uptick. These compact yet powerful machines have become a staple, especially among small families and individuals living in metropolitan areas. Why Choose a Single Door Refrigerator? The modern Indian consumer is discerning, prioritizing both functionality and aesthetics. Single door refrigerators, with their space-saving design, cater precisely to this demand. Their energy efficiency is unparalleled, often surpassing their multi-door counterparts. Furthermore, the ease of maintenance and cleaning associated with these models makes them a preferred choice for those leading busy lives. Following are the top picks: Best Budget Single Door Refrigerator in India Amazon video of Haier 165 L 1 Star Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator Haier's HED-171RS-P Direct-Cool Refrigerator, with a 165-liter capacity, is perfect for small families or bachelors. The 2023 model in Red Steel has a 1-star energy rating, elegant external bar handle, and freezer-on-top design. It includes a vegetable box, anti-bacterial gasket, and a base stand drawer. Stabilizer-free with inverter connectivity. Best Inverter Model Single Door Refrigerator in India Amazon video of Samsung 189L 5 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator Samsung's Direct-Cool Refrigerator (RR21C2H25UZ-HL) in Midnight Blossom Blue offers 189L capacity and a 5-star energy rating. Featuring inverter technology for consistent cooling, it has a single-door design with a base stand drawer. The 2023 model ensures advanced cooling and durability, blending functionality with aesthetics. Best Capacity Single Door Refrigerator in India Amazon video of LG 224 L 4 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator The LG 224 L Refrigerator (GL-D241ASCY) in Scarlet Charm offers 235 liters of space, perfect for small families. It features a 4-star energy rating, smart inverter for efficient cooling, and spill-proof shelves. The base stand drawer adds extra storage. This stylish refrigerator is both functional and a kitchen centerpiece. Best Overall Single Door Refrigerator in India Amazon video of Haier 190 L 4 Star Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Haier HED-204DS-P refrigerator, with a 190-liter capacity, is perfect for families of 2-3 or bachelors. It has a 4-star energy rating, direct-cool mechanism, vegetable box, and toughened shelves. With an elegant bar handle, base stand drawer, and stabilizer-free operation, it's both efficient and versatile. 20 Best Single-Door Refrigerators in India Amazon video of Samsung 189L 5 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Samsung 189L 5 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator (RR21C2H25UZ/HL, Midnight Blossom Blue) is a 2023 model designed for optimal efficiency. With a capacity of 189 liters, it's perfect for families of 2-3 members. This refrigerator boasts a 5-star energy rating, ensuring maximum savings. The digital inverter compressor ensures energy efficiency, reduced noise, and long-lasting performance. It features a fresh food capacity of 171L, a freezer capacity of 18L, and toughened glass shelves. The base stand drawer offers additional space for non-refrigerated items. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator: Economical and efficient cooling. - Digital Inverter Compressor for greater energy efficiency and less noise. Pros: - Energy-efficient with a 5-star rating. - Spacious with a total capacity of 189 liters. - Base Stand Drawer provides additional storage space. Cons: - Manual defrosting might be a hassle for some users. Amazon video of Haier 190 L 4 Star Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Haier HED-204DS-P is a sleek and efficient refrigerator designed for modern households. With a capacity of 190 liters, it's perfect for small families or bachelors. This 4-star energy-rated appliance boasts features like a large vegetable box, toughened glass shelves, and an anti-bacterial gasket. The external handle and clean back design add a touch of elegance, while its stabilizer-free operation ensures consistent performance. The refrigerator also offers a freezer capacity of 14 liters and a fresh food capacity of 176 liters, ensuring ample storage space. Features: - 190L capacity with an external bar handle. - 4-star energy efficiency. - Enhanced features: Large vegetable box, anti-bacterial gasket Pros: - High energy efficiency. - Ample storage for vegetables. - Resilient shelves. Cons: - Requires manual defrosting. - Lacks inverter technology. Amazon video of Whirlpool 207 L 5 Star Icemagic Pro Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Whirlpool 207 L refrigerator, model 230 IMPRO ROY 5S INV SAPPHIRE ABYSS-Z, is a 5-star rated appliance that ensures energy efficiency. It boasts the Honey Comb Lock In Technology, ensuring prolonged freshness for vegetables. The refrigerator also features the Intellisense Inverter Technology, adapting cooling based on the internal load. With a stylish Crescent Door Design and Breathe Arc Handle, it offers a blend of aesthetics and functionality. The Microblock Technology prevents bacterial growth, ensuring your food remains fresh and safe. Features: - Adaptive Intellisense Inverter Technology. - MicroBlock for bacterial prevention. - Honey Comb freshness lock. - Stylish crescent door and handle. Pros: - Superior energy efficiency. - Adaptive cooling technology. - Ensures prolonged food freshness. - Elegant design elements. Cons: - 207-liter capacity might be restrictive for larger households. Amazon video of Godrej 180 L 5 Star Turbo Cooling Technology, 24 Days Farm Freshness Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Godrej 180 L refrigerator, model RD EDGENEO 207E TDI BH BL, boasts a 5-star energy rating and is designed in a captivating Blush Blue color. It features innovative Turbo Cooling Technology, ensuring up to 24 days of farm freshness. The refrigerator is equipped with a 16.44 L jumbo vegetable tray, the thickest 54mm insulation, and a 16.5 L spacious freezer. Additionally, it offers the largest bottle space and is the tallest in its category. The refrigerator also comes with a base drawer for added storage convenience. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator. - Top-notch 5-star energy efficiency. - Sturdy shelves crafted from toughened glass. - Generous 13.5-litre bottle storage. Pros: - Superior energy conservation. - Ample storage solutions. - Robust shelving. - Stylish blush blue finish. Cons: - Periodic manual defrosting needed. - Might not cater to larger households due to its single door design. Amazon video of LG 185 L 5 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator The LG 185 L 5 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator (GL-D201ASCU) in a Scarlet Charm hue is a blend of style and efficiency. With a capacity suitable for 2-3 members, it offers a 5-star energy rating ensuring optimal power consumption. The smart inverter compressor ensures silent operation and significant savings. It features toughened glass shelves and a base stand with a drawer, providing extra storage for non-refrigerated items like onions and potatoes. Features: - Economical Direct Cool Refrigerator - Top-tier 5 Star Energy Rating. - Advanced smart inverter compressor. - Durable toughened glass shelves. - Handy base stand drawer for added storage. Pros: - Exceptional energy efficiency. - Whisper-quiet compressor. - Sturdy shelving design. Cons: - Might be snug for bigger families. - Manual defrosting needed with direct cool. Amazon video of Samsung 183 L 3 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator Samsung's 183 L 3 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator (RR20C1723S8/HL, Silver, Elegant Inox, 2023 Model) is a stylish and efficient appliance. This refrigerator boasts a Digital Inverter Technology that ensures energy efficiency and a long-lasting performance. It's designed to run even during power cuts and can operate on solar energy. The refrigerator features a Safe Clean Back, an Anti Bacterial Gasket, and a spacious freezer room. The toughened glass shelves can hold up to 175 Kg, ensuring durability and safety. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator - Capacity: 183 Liters - 3 Star Energy Efficiency - Digital Inverter Compressor - Toughened Glass Shelves Pros: - Energy-efficient with a 3-star rating. - Digital Inverter Technology ensures less noise and durability. - Spacious interior with toughened glass shelves. Cons: - Might be compact for larger families. - Manual defrosting required. Amazon video of Haier 165 L 1 Star Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Haier HED-171RS-P is a stylish single door refrigerator with a vibrant red finish. With a 165-liter capacity, it's ideal for small families or bachelors. The refrigerator boasts a 1-star energy rating, ensuring low energy consumption. Key features include a freezer-on-top configuration, a large vegetable box, an anti-bacterial gasket, and a base stand with a drawer for additional storage. It also offers stabilizer-free operation and the ability to connect to a home inverter. The external bar handle adds a touch of elegance to its design. Features: - Economical Direct-cool technology. - Fresh food: 150 Ltr; Freezer: 15 Ltr. - Stabilizer-free, vegetable box, anti-bacterial gasket. Pros: - Cost-effective cooling. - No external stabilizer needed. - Hygienic storage with an anti-bacterial gasket. Cons: - Not as energy-efficient as higher-rated models. - Occasional manual defrosting required. Amazon video of Whirlpool 192 L 3 Star Vitamagic Pro Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Whirlpool 192 L 3 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator (215 VMPRO PRM 3S INV MAGNUM STEEL-Z, Magnum Steel) is a 2023 model that boasts of Auto Defrost Technology. With a sleek Magnum Steel finish, this refrigerator ensures optimal moisture retention, keeping fruits and vegetables fresh for up to 7 days. It also features Intellisense Inverter technology, ensuring efficient cooling and defrosting. The refrigerator is equipped with MicroBlock technology, preventing 99% bacterial growth, and offers a spacious 192-liter capacity. Features: - Intellisense Inverter Technology for energy efficiency. - Honey Comb Lock-In & Zeolite Technology for extended freshness. - Auto Defrost Technology powered by IntelliFrost. - MicroBlock technology prevents up to 99% bacterial growth. Pros: - Energy-efficient with Intellisense Inverter Technology. - Extended freshness with Honey Comb Lock-In & Zeolite Technology. - Intelligent defrosting with Auto Defrost Technology. Cons: - Limited to a single door configuration. - Might be slightly bulky for smaller kitchen spaces. Amazon video of LG 185 L 4 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator The LG 185 L 4 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator (GL-D199OSEY) in Scarlet Euphoria is a stylish and energy-efficient choice. Suitable for small families or bachelors, it offers a capacity of 185 liters with a freezer capacity of 16L. The refrigerator boasts a 4-star energy rating, ensuring high energy efficiency. It features a smart inverter compressor for unmatched performance, significant savings, and super silent operation. The base stand comes with a drawer for added convenience. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator - Smart inverter compressor - 4 Star Energy Rating - Fast Ice Making - Spillproof Toughened Glass Shelves Pros: - Energy-efficient with a 4-star rating. - Smart inverter compressor for silent operation. Cons: - Suitable for small families or bachelors, might not be ideal for larger households. Amazon video of LG 224 L 4 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator The LG 224 L 4 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator (GL-D241ASCY, Scarlet Charm) is a stylish and energy-efficient appliance. With a capacity of 235 liters, it's suitable for families with 2 to 3 members. The refrigerator boasts a high energy efficiency 4-star rating, ensuring savings on electricity bills. Its smart inverter compressor ensures unmatched performance, super silent operation, and significant energy savings. The refrigerator also features spill-proof toughened glass shelves and a base stand with a drawer for additional storage. Features: - Smart inverter compressor for silent operation and energy savings. - 4-Star energy rating for high energy efficiency. - Direct-cool technology - Spill-proof toughened glass shelves. Pros: - High energy efficiency. - Elegant design in scarlet charm color. - Smart inverter compressor for silent operation. Cons: - Might be large for very small spaces. - Only suitable for small families or bachelors. Amazon video of Samsung 189 L 5 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator Samsung's 189 L 5 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator (RR21C2H25S8/HL) in Silver Elegant Inox is a 2023 model that combines style with efficiency. Designed for families with 2 to 3 members, it boasts a 5-star energy rating. The digital inverter compressor ensures energy efficiency and reduced noise. The refrigerator has a fresh food capacity of 171L and a freezer capacity of 18L. It features toughened glass shelves, an anti-bacterial gasket, and a base stand with a drawer for additional non-refrigerated storage. The deep door guard provides more space for larger bottles. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator - 5 Star Energy Rating - Digital Inverter Compressor - Toughened Glass Shelves Pros: - Energy-efficient with a 5-star rating. - Stylish design with a sleek silver finish. Cons: - Might require frequent defrosting. Amazon video of Samsung 223 L 3 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Samsung 223 L 3 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator (RR24C2Y23S8/NL, Silver, Elegant Inox 2023 Model) is a stylish and energy-efficient appliance. With a capacity of 223 liters, it's ideal for families with 2-3 members. The refrigerator features a digital inverter compressor for efficient cooling and reduced noise. It boasts a fresh food capacity of 205L, a freezer capacity of 18L, and toughened glass shelves. The deep door guard offers more bottle space, ensuring beverages are stored efficiently. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator. - 3 Star Energy Efficiency. - Digital Inverter Compressor. Pros: - Quiet Digital Inverter Compressor. - Stabilizer-free for protection against voltage issues. - Solar energy operable. Cons: - Potential need for manual defrosting due to Direct Cool. - Some might favor a frost-free model for simpler upkeep. Amazon video of Samsung 183 L 2 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Samsung 183 L 2 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator (RR20C2412GS/NL, Gray Silver, 2023 Model) is a sleek and efficient appliance. With its Digital Inverter Technology, it offers energy efficiency and reduced noise. The refrigerator is designed to run even during power cuts and can operate on solar energy. It features a Safe Clean Back, Anti Bacterial Gasket, and spacious Freezer Room. The toughened glass shelves can hold up to 175 Kg, ensuring durability and safety. The stylish crown design and bar chrome handle add elegance to your kitchen. Features: - Single Door, Direct Cool Refrigerator. - Digital Inverter Compressor for optimal energy use and quiet operation. - Durable Glass Shelves. - Enhanced bottle storage with Deep Door Guard. Pros: Energy-efficient and quiet Digital Inverter Compressor. Robust shelves support up to 175 Kg. Hygiene ensured with Anti-Bacterial Gasket. Cons: 2-star rating may not be the pinnacle of energy efficiency. Occasional defrosting may be needed due to frosting. Amazon video of LG 185 L 5 Star Inverter Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator The LG 185 L refrigerator, model GL-D201APZU, is a sleek, shiny steel appliance designed for modern households. With a 5-star energy rating, it ensures efficient power consumption. The refrigerator features an inverter compressor, a base stand with a drawer for extra storage, and stabilizer-free operation. The toughened glass shelves can hold heavy items, and the door lock ensures safety. Perfect for small families, this refrigerator combines style with functionality. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator: Stylish & cost-effective. - Smart inverter compressor: Quiet & efficient. - Durable Glass Shelves. Pros: 5-star rating ensures energy efficiency. Additional storage with base stand drawer. Cons: Best for smaller families. Manual defrosting needed due to direct cool mechanism. Amazon video of LG 185 L 4 Star Direct-Cool Smart Inverter Compressor Single Door Refrigerator The LG 185 L refrigerator (Model: GL-D199OPZY) in shiny steel finish offers smart inverter compressor technology for efficient cooling. Rated 4-star for energy efficiency, it comes with a base stand drawer for additional storage. The refrigerator is designed with toughened glass shelves and a spacious freezer. The door lock feature ensures safety, and it operates stabilizer-free, handling voltage fluctuations seamlessly. Ideal for small families. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator: Economical and stylish - Smart inverter compressor - Shelf Type: Toughened Glass with Frame Pros: - High energy efficiency with a 4-star rating. - Smart inverter compressor ensures silent operation and significant savings. Cons: - Manual defrosting might be required periodically. - The base drawer might collect water during defrosting. Amazon video of Whirlpool 184 L 2 Star Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Whirlpool 184 L refrigerator, model 205 WDE CLS 2S in a striking SAPPHIRE BLUE-Z shade, is a 2-star energy-efficient appliance. It boasts Intellisense Inverter Technology, ensuring optimal cooling based on internal load. With a capacity suitable for 2-3 member families, it offers features like stabilizer-free operations, up to 9 hours of cooling retention during power cuts, and a large vegetable crisper. The Honey Comb Lock In Technology ensures prolonged freshness, while the Quick Chill Zone provides rapid cooling for beverages. Features: - Efficient cooling with Intellisense Inverter Technology. - 2 Star energy efficiency. - Jumbo storage for large bottles. - Vegetable crisper with Honey Comb Lock In Technology. Pros: - Reliable compressor with Intellisense Inverter. - Spacious design with ample storage. - Suitable for fluctuating voltages. Cons: - Higher star models might be more energy-efficient. - Manual defrosting may be inconvenient for some. Amazon video of Samsung 183 L 4 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator Samsung presents the 183 L 4 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator in a stunning Camellia Blue shade for the 2023 model. This refrigerator is not only energy-efficient but also boasts features like a Safe Clean Back, Anti Bacterial Gasket, and a spacious Freezer Room. The toughened glass shelves are designed to hold up to 175 Kg, ensuring durability. With its Digital Inverter Technology, it offers efficient cooling, ensuring your food remains fresh even during power cuts. Features: - Direct Cool, Single Door design. - 4 Star energy efficiency. - Digital Inverter Compressor for silent, efficient cooling. Pros: - Robust interior design. - Hygienic storage with Anti Bacterial Gasket. - Compatible with home inverters and solar energy. Cons: - Might be compact for larger families. - Freezer space is relatively limited. - Absence of a specific vegetable section. Amazon video of Godrej 180 L 4 Star Turbo Cooling Technology, With 24 Days Farm Freshness Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Godrej 180 L refrigerator, model RD EDGENEO 207D THF AQ BL, is a stylish and efficient appliance in a striking Aqua Blue color. It boasts a 4-star energy efficiency rating and a 10-year compressor warranty. The refrigerator features a jumbo 16.44-liter vegetable tray to keep veggies fresh, toughened glass shelves that can support up to 150 kg, and a spacious 13.5-liter door bottle space. The Direct Cool technology ensures economical cooling, making it suitable for small families. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator: Economical and efficient. - 4-star energy rating. - Durable glass shelves Pros: Large vegetable storage. Swift cooling with Turbo technology. Stylish Aqua Blue design. Cons: Absence of a built-in stabilizer. Limited freezer space. No deodorizing feature mentioned. Amazon video of Samsung 183 L 4 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator Samsung's 183 L 4 Star Digital Inverter Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator (RR20C1824CR/HL, Camellia Purple, 2023 Model) is a stylish and energy-efficient appliance. With a 4-star rating, it ensures high energy efficiency. The refrigerator boasts a digital inverter compressor, ensuring long-lasting performance while consuming 50% less power. It has a fresh food capacity of 165L and a freezer capacity of 18L. The interior features toughened glass shelves, an anti-bacterial gasket, and a base stand with a drawer for additional non-refrigerated storage. Features: - Direct Cool Refrigerator: Stylish single door. - 4 Star Rating: Superior energy efficiency. - Base Stand Drawer: Extra storage. Pros: - Quiet, durable digital inverter compressor. - Robust interior with glass shelves. - Keeps food fresh with an anti-bacterial gasket. Cons: - Best for small families or singles. - No stabilizer-free operation mentioned. Amazon video of Godrej 180 L 3 Star Farm Fresh Crisper Technology With Jumbo Vegetable Tray Direct Cool Single Door Refrigerator The Godrej 180 L refrigerator, model RD R190C THF FR BL, comes in a captivating Floral Blue design. This 3-star energy-efficient appliance is perfect for small families of 2 to 3 members. It boasts Farm Fresh crisper technology, ensuring prolonged freshness and nutrient retention of fruits and vegetables. The refrigerator also features a spacious 165.2 L fresh food capacity, a 14.8 L freezer, and toughened glass shelves. The tall base design facilitates easy cleaning, and the jumbo vegetable tray offers ample storage. Experience freshness like never before! Features: - 54mm Thick Insulation: Superior cooling retention. - Segment-Leading 16.5L Freezer. - 16.44L Jumbo Vegetable Tray: For fresh greens. - Durable Glass Shelves: Holds up to 150 kg. Pros: Exceptional PUF insulation for lasting cooling. Spacious freezer for frozen treats. Durable, weight-bearing shelves. Cons: 3-star energy rating, not the highest. Might be compact for larger households. Absence of an in-built stabilizer. Factors to Consider Before Buying a Single Door Refrigerator Navigating the vast market of refrigerators can be daunting. However, understanding certain key factors can significantly simplify the decision-making process: Size and Capacity : The capacity, often measured in liters, directly correlates with storage space. For a nuclear family, a refrigerator ranging from 150L to 250L often suffices. : The capacity, often measured in liters, directly correlates with storage space. For a nuclear family, a refrigerator ranging from 150L to 250L often suffices. Energy Efficiency : The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) star ratings serve as a reliable metric. A higher star rating not only ensures reduced electricity consumption but also translates to considerable savings in the long run. : The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) star ratings serve as a reliable metric. A higher star rating not only ensures reduced electricity consumption but also translates to considerable savings in the long run. Cooling Technology : The advent of Direct Cool technology has revolutionized refrigeration, offering faster cooling at reduced energy consumption levels. : The advent of Direct Cool technology has revolutionized refrigeration, offering faster cooling at reduced energy consumption levels. Additional Features : Modern Best Single Door Refrigerators come equipped with features like stabilizer-free operation and in-built voltage protection, enhancing their longevity and performance. : Modern Best Single Door Refrigerators come equipped with features like stabilizer-free operation and in-built voltage protection, enhancing their longevity and performance. Price : A delicate balance between budget and desired features is crucial. The Indian market offers a plethora of options catering to various price segments. : A delicate balance between budget and desired features is crucial. The Indian market offers a plethora of options catering to various price segments. Warranty and After-sales Service: A robust warranty period and efficient after-sales service can significantly enhance the overall user experience. Maintenance and Care Tips for Single Door Refrigerators Ensuring the longevity of your refrigerator requires regular maintenance. Regular defrosting, especially in Direct Cool models, can prevent ice build-up. Strategic placement away from direct sunlight and heat sources can enhance cooling efficiency. Overloading should be avoided, and items should be arranged to allow unhindered air circulation. Conclusion The Indian market, with its unique challenges and demands, requires appliances tailored to its needs. Best Single door refrigerators, with their blend of efficiency, design, and affordability, have carved a niche for themselves. As technology evolves, these refrigerators will undoubtedly incorporate even more features, enhancing user convenience and sustainability. FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) What is the energy efficiency rating of this refrigerator? This Samsung refrigerator has a 3-star energy efficiency rating, ensuring optimal energy consumption. Does this refrigerator come with a warranty? Yes, the refrigerator comes with a 1-year comprehensive warranty on the product and a 20-year warranty on the digital inverter compressor. Is the refrigerator suitable for larger families? With a capacity of 183 liters, this refrigerator is ideal for families with 2 to 3 members. What type of shelves does the refrigerator have? The refrigerator is equipped with toughened glass shelves that are durable and can handle heavy utensils or containers. Does the refrigerator have a noise issue? The refrigerator operates at a noise level of 40 dB, ensuring a quiet operation. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! New Delhi, Delhi, India Business Wire India Hong Kongs incredibly diverse terrain makes it a true paradise for lovers of outdoor adventures. From international-standard races like Cyclothon, which attract cyclists from around the world, to heart-pumping activities that allow adventurers to go at their own pace, there are plenty of ways to rediscover Hong Kong from a new perspective. Speaking about the upcoming season of the Great Outdoors in Hong Kong and Mega Events, Mr. Puneet Kumar, Director South Asia and Middle East, Hong Kong Tourism Board said, The young and affluent Indian travellers coming to Hong Kong are increasingly seeking for an active, adventurous and undiscovered experiences. We are thrilled to present them the Great Outdoors in Hong Kong that would offer them citys energetic, vibrant and thrilling adventures such as beautiful rewarding green hiking trails, remote yet accessible self-sustained islands & beaches, soft adventure water sporting activities and outdoor sights to awaken their 5 senses in expansive natural landscapes. Hong Kong is also gearing up to welcome the international visitors who want an ultimate thrill seekers itinerary to combine their visit around the exciting international sporting events such as Hong Kong Cyclothon, Hong Kong Streetathon and Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon." He further said, We welcome our fans and friends from India for upcoming season as travelling to Hong Kong from India is seamless with visa free stay not exceeding 14-days after successfully registering for Pre-arrival registration and now a wide choice of full board and low cost carriers connecting Hong Kong from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru." Push the limits at a world-class international racing event As a global city, Hong Kong hosts a number of international sporting events each year. Many are open for overseas enrolment, allowing visitors to challenge themselves while taking in spectacular front-row views of Victoria Harbour and beyond. Getting a pole position at the Sun Hung Kai Properties Hong Kong Cyclothon Got a need for speed? The Cyclothon, Hong Kongs largest international cycling event, returns on 22 October, with participants speeding through streets and roads with roaring crowds alongside 5,000 other cyclists from around the world. Spectators will have the chance to witness the skills of nearly 100 professional cyclists, including more than 10 UCI WorldTour teams and pro continental teams, such as Jayco-AlUla from Australia, competing for the champions jersey and prize money as they stage a series of intense battles with the UCI 1.1 Road Race returning to the city after five years. The world-class race offers grandstand views of Hong Kongs city skyline and stunning natural landscape over its three-tunnel, three-bridge 30- and 50-kilometre routes, which include roads and thoroughfares opened exclusively for cyclists. Registration for this unforgettable ride opens on 6 September. For more information and to register one's interest, head to the event website: https://register.hongkongcyclothon.com. Lace up the running shoes for the HONG KONG STREETATHON and the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon Hong Kongs moderate winter climate is ideal for outdoor running, and this season, the city will host two incredible events for runners of all abilities seeking a different perspective on some of the citys best-known attractions and hidden wonders. On 17 December, over 20,000 runners are expected to race in the HONG KONG STREETATHON. Runners can challenge themselves by taking one of the three distinct routes, including a marathon, which traverses the Kwun Tong Bypass and features panoramic harbour views, a cross-harbour half-marathon, and a 10-kilometre run taking in several thoroughfares that will be open to runners for the very first time. Registration is open now via the event website: https://streetathon.com. Alternatively, enthusiastic runners can hit the streets in Hong Kong on 21 January 2024 for one of the regions most significant running events: the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. This popular event will once again encompass a marathon, half-marathon and 10-kilometre run. Head to the event website to register and keep up to date with the latest details: https://www.hkmarathon.com. Explore a different side of Hong Kong with a thrilling outdoor adventure Other than the exhilarating racing events that can be enjoyed, for adventure-seeking visitors looking for a way to stay active while exploring a different side of the city, Hong Kong also has everyone covered, thanks to its temperate winter climate and diverse natural landscape, with many outdoor adventures just a stones throw from the city. Heritage, scenery and cycling: the Tuen Mun to Sha Tin bike path Feeling inspired by the Cyclothon? Whether through bustling urban centres or on idyllic outlying islands, there are a number of alternative ways to explore Hong Kong on two wheels for cyclists of all skill levels. One unmissable journey can be found in the New Territories in the form of a 55-kilometre-long track that connects Tuen Mun to Sha Tin. En route, riders can explore some of the citys rich cultural history with the path boasting easy access to centuries-old temples, and other historic structures and monuments, all backdropped by a breathtaking terrain that features wetlands, rivers, parks, mountains and the sea. Plan the trip here: https://bit.ly/3OstLHS. Take a dive in Sai Kung, a paradise for water sports lovers As a city with a vast coastline, Hong Kong is an excellent place for water sports lovers. The verdant rolling hills and rugged coastline of the Sai Kung Peninsula have long made it a go-to destination for weekend hikers, but this expansive country park is just as spectacular when explored from the water. Head to Sai Kung Country Parks Three Fathoms Cove (Kei Ling Ha Hoi) and step onto a stand-up paddleboard to take in charming seafront villages framed by incredible geological formations, and marvel at breathtaking views as fish swim beneath one's feet. Discover more here: https://bit.ly/3KEdwqh. Scale new heights: Rock climbing on Tung Lung Chau Guarding the east entrance to Victoria Harbour is the small but mighty subtropical island of Tung Lung Chau, one of Hong Kongs true hidden gems. With its unique coastal scenery and sea cliffs dotting the shoreline, the islet is popular for thrill-seeking rock climbers of all experience levels. Tung Lung Chau is also home to a number of historical sites, perfect for exploring after a morning climb. For more information, head to the webpage: https://bit.ly/3OyRtCs. Redefining the luxury car rental industry in California, Monza Exotics is the brainchild of Aamer Sakallah, a passionate entrepreneur and car aficionado. In just three short years, this thriving business has gone from one vehicle to now boasting over 30 high-end cars. Monza Exotics' approachable style caters to a diverse clientele with an emphasis on serving car enthusiasts ages 18 and older. At Monza Exotics, customers aren't just renting cars - they're stepping into a world of exclusivity and glamor created by visionary entrepreneur Aamer Sakallah. With bespoke membership plans designed to meet every desire and handpicked exotic cars built for sophisticated tastes, clients have come to rely on Monza Exotics for memorable experiences at unbeatable prices. And now with an added presence in Florida, this luxury vehicle rental company continues to set new standards in exceptional service. With a focus on strategic planning, cultivating strong relationships, learning from failures, embracing new ideas with an open-mind, and drawing upon expert advice, Sakallah's entrepreneurial triumphs have propelled him to the forefront of Southern California's competitive luxury car rental market. Short-term objectives include positioning Monza Exotics as the preeminent exotic vehicle rental outlet in the area, with expansion into yacht rentals and frequent fleet updates signifying Sakallah's unwavering commitment to providing clients with unmatched service. Aamer Sakallah's Monza Exotics has come a long way in its quest to revolutionize the luxury vehicle rental industry. With an unwavering commitment to providing exceptional experiences and customer satisfaction, Sakallah envisions his business operating in every major destination city across the United States. His entrepreneurial journey serves as an inspiring tale of passion turned into success - one that he hopes will not only raise awareness for Monza Exotics but also connect with fellow entrepreneurs globally. Crafting unparalleled luxury experiences that exceed even the wildest expectations of its customers, Monza Exotics has set itself apart from any other offerings in its space. These innovative services are only gaining momentum due to founder Aamer Sakallahs dedication towards creating more expansive opportunities for growth. Those interested in keeping tabs on his many accomplishments and experiences should follow him on social media via @monzaexotics and @aamersakallah; booking for these services can be accessed through https://www.monzaexotics.com/. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! One97 Communications Limited (OCL) that owns the brand Paytm ,on MOnday announced the launch of Card Soundbox.The company in a statement said that empowers merchants to accept both mobile and card payments across all Visa, Mastercard, American Express and RuPay networks through its iconic Soundbox with tap and pay that will help merchants scale their business. With Paytm Card Soundbox, the company solves two problems for merchants accepting card payments along with getting instant audio alerts for all payments. The launch of Paytms unique device will transform in-store payments by expanding payment acceptance for merchants by combining Soundbox with NFC or contactless debit and credit card payments with mobile payments. An industry-first solution, the new Soundbox provides both audio and visual payment confirmation through a LCD display to the merchant and the customer. Paytm Card Soundbox has a built-in tap and pay functionality through which merchants can accept card payments up to 5,000. The Made in India device is powered by 4G network connectivity providing fastest payments alerts. With a 4W speaker, Paytm Card Soundbox enhances clarity of payment alerts. It has a long battery life of five days. Designed keeping the diverse merchant base in mind, the device offers alerts in 11 languages that can be changed by the merchant through Paytm for Business app. Moreover, with Paytm Card Soundbox, users with NFC-enabled smartphones can also pay through their phones using the tap feature. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO, Paytm said, Paytm has always been at the forefront of innovating for Indias small businesses, solving their payments and financial services problems. Today with Paytm Card Soundbox, we take it to the next level. We have found that merchants and consumers need card acceptance as simply as mobile payments with Paytm QR Code. The launch of Card Soundbox will go a long way in merging the two requirements of merchants - mobile payments and card payments. Gautam Aggarwal, Division President, South Asia, Mastercard said "With cardholders increasingly exploring faster, convenient, and more efficient ways to transact, India has seen remarkable growth in contactless card payments. By putting the cardholder in control and uniquely encrypting each transaction, such payments reduce the risk of loss or counterfeit and double billing. The Paytm Card Soundbox is yet another innovation that will enable small merchants to provide a seamless digital payment experience to their customers by easily accepting contactless card payments." NPCI said, Audio payment alerts have transformed digital payments in India and enabled many merchants to seamlessly digitize their businesses. Paytm Card Soundbox is Indias first Soundbox that will also accept contactless card payments and would further accelerate cashless transactions in the country." Sandeep Ghosh, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa said, The launch of Paytm Card Soundbox demonstrates the importance of contactless card payments in today's world. Visa is proud to be part of this innovation, which offers a versatile solution for merchants and aligns with the changing preferences of consumers in India." ONE 97 COMMUNICATIONS More Information "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! MUMBAI : Billionaire Uday Kotak, who stepped down as the chief executive of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd on 1 September, believes he has fulfilled his fiduciary duty in ensuring leadership transition in the bank he founded. The onus to approve the name of a CEO for the bank now lies with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after Kotak, 64, surprised everyone by stepping down from the role of managing director and CEO four months before his term was to end on 31 December. View Full Image Graphic: Mint Joint managing director Dipak Gupta will take charge as interim managing director and CEO until 31 December, subject to the approval of RBI. Kotak will, however, continue his association with the bank as a non-executive director. In an interview, Kotak said Indian institutions must prioritize value creation for local investors, emphasizing the importance of having banks that are majority-owned by domestic investors. While Kotak discussed several topics, he remained tight-lipped about his future plans and questions related to the banking regulator. Edited excerpts: Why did you decide to step down well ahead of your term? It was the right thing to do. It was a voluntary decision taken by me to step down. If you go back, we were all in transition. Transition meant three people stepping down at the same time. This is just sequencing out. The board has appointed Dipak Gupta as the interim managing director and CEO, which is permitted for a period of four months under the Banking Regulation Act. Then there is this new CEO and chairmans application we made well in time. All the work from the banks side, we have completed. My fiduciary responsibilities for transition and sequencing are done. I didnt want to hang around till the last day. I spent 38 years. A few months here or there doesnt matter. There is this whole overhang in the market over the transition. So, I have taken the first step towards that. There is an interim CEO, subject to regulatory approval. What is your message to investors? An individual should not become more important than the institution. I have had the pleasure of dealing with the best names in the world. But finally, charting our own destiny. I have dealt with Goldman Sachs, Old Mutual and ING. Finally, we did what was in the best interest of our firm. We need to keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive. Do you think the entrepreneurial spirit can survive at Kotak Mahindra Bank without you at the helm? Kotaks entrepreneurial spirit is deep in the DNA of the bank, and I have no doubt it will flourish in the years ahead. How important is it to have majority-owned Indian banks? There is only one Indian-owned majority bank among the top five banks, and that is Kotak. If Indian savers and investors have to get a return over time, Indian institutions must be run well and must create value for Indian savers. Global investors are welcome. But Indian investors are crucial for Indians at heart. While the succession plan has been in place, it has not crystallized yet without RBI approval. How should the market deal with this uncertainty? Its not in the hands of the institution. What is in our hands, we have done. Any regrets you have had over the last 38 years? There was a time in 2008-09 I may have made the mistake of reading The Wall Street Journal too much. I should have read the Indian papers. Post 2008, I slowed the speed at which we were growing because the world was looking bad. How will you keep yourself busy after retirement? Lets see where destiny takes us. But its a plain piece of paperno predetermined agenda. In Tripura, the Dhanpur and Boxanagar Assembly seats in the Sepahijala district will go to bypolls tomorrow, Monday, September 5. The campaigning for both constituencies ended on Sunday. BJP organized mega rallies, road shows, motorbike rallies, and door-to-door campaigns in the district. Chief Minister Manik Saha led the party's campaign from the front while ministers, MLAs, and leaders joined the campaign trail in the last couple of days, as per PTI reports. CPI(M) politburo member Manik Sarkar and party's state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury along with leaders campaigned for its candidates, but Tipra Motha, the main opposition, and Congress stayed away from campaigning making the electoral battle a one-on-one contest. BJP's Tafajjal Hussain, who unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election in February, will take on CPI(M)s Mizan Hussain in the minority-dominated Boxanagar constituency. The CPI(M) had managed to retain the seat by a margin of 4,849 votes. Mizan is the son of Boxanagar CPI(M) MLA Samsol Haque who passed away in July causing a vacancy. On the other hand, Dhanpur is heading for a direct fight between BJP's Bindu Debnath and CPI(M)s Kaushik Debnath. Political analysts said that two independent candidates who are in the battle are unlikely to make any impact, PTI reported. The bypoll in Dhanpur was necessitated after Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik resigned from the Assembly days after her election. Speaking to PTI, the Sepahijala district magistrate said that the campaign for the bypolls in two assembly constituencies came to an end on Sunday without any trouble and all steps have been taken to ensure fair bypolls on September 5. In the 2023 Assembly elections, the BJP won by a margin of 3,500 votes, and the Tipra Motha nominee polled over 8,000 votes, which ensured the saffron party's victory after 25 five years. Out of the total 110 booths, around 34 have been categorized as vulnerable where paramilitary forces will be deployed, he said, adding around 2,500 CRPF and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans have been deployed for the polls. (With PTI inputs) "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! X Corps owner Elon Musk has blamed the Anti-Defamation League for a fall in US advertising revenue on the social media platform. In a series of posts on Monday, Musk said that ad sales are still down 60% primarily due to pressure on advertisers" mounted by the Anti-Defamation League. Musk said that the ADL was trying to kill the social media platform since he acquired it in October last year, by falsely accusing" it and him of being anti-Semitic. Reports of harassment and extremist content on X have spiked since Musks takeover, the Anti-Defamation League had said. The billionaire said that he was pro free speech" but against anti-Semitism of any kind. He emphasized the need for X to be a public forum for all. In my opinion, they are excessive, but perhaps the public will agree with them," Musk said. Last week, X Corp. had said that it will allow political advertising in the US from candidates and political parties. X will expand its safety and elections team ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the Elon Musk-owned company had said in a blog post. The move by X to allow all political ads in the US could help it in increasing its revenue at a time when many advertisers have fled or reduced spending on the platform . X would create a global advertising transparency center to allow users to see what political ads were being promoted on its platform. It would also continue to prohibit political ads that spread false information or seek to undermine public confidence in an election, the company had said. The social media company was formerly known as Twitter. In January, the company had lifted the ban and began allowing cause-based ads" in the US that raise awareness on issues such as voter registration. It had also said that it planned to expand the types of political ads it would allow on the platform. (With inputs from agencies) "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Anand Mahindra is one of the famed entrepreneur of the country who is often seen sharing his learnings on business and finance via Twitter. In his recent post on the microblogging site, the Chairman of Mahindra Group shared his views on one RBI innovation. He was all praises for the RBI's latest pilot project. He took to X, (formerly known as Twitter) to share a demonstration video of RBIs Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit (PTPFC) pilot project. He appreciated the work by the RBI as it will help reduce the time to take loan. PTPFC, is created by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of the central bank-- aims to connect borrowers and lenders and make credit or loans more accessible to millions of individuals looking for small loans. This platform will help in seamless disbursal of non-collateral based loans for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Kisan Credit Card loans up to 1.6 lakh, dairy loans, personal loans, and home loans. Anand Mahindra who was present at the RBI board meeting in Indore said, Sometimes, you feel youve been privileged to get a front-row seat to a Social & Technological disruption. At the RBI board meeting in Indore last Saturday, we were given a demonstration of the Reserve Banks Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit (PTPFC) pilot project. This could revolutionise the credit delivery mechanism to rural customers by integrating a plethora of KYC processes & documents and reducing the time taken to grant a loan from days to just a few minutes. Most importantly, its an open platform, accessible to all Banks that want to use it. India taking the digital pole position again Bravo, RBI." The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monday said the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) System will also include pre-sanctioned credit lines issued by banks for transactions. Earlier, only the deposited amount could be transacted through the UPI System. On April 6, 2023, the Reserve Bank proposed to expand the scope of the Unified Payments Interface by enabling transfer to/from pre-sanctioned credit lines at banks. Currently, savings accounts, overdraft accounts, prepaid wallets and credit cards can be linked to UPI. The scope of UPI is now being expanded by the inclusion of credit lines as a funding account, Reserve Bank said in a circular on 'Operation of Pre-Sanctioned Credit Lines at Banks through UPI' "Under this facility, payments through a pre-sanctioned credit line issued by a Scheduled Commercial Bank to individuals, with the prior consent of the individual customer, are enabled for transactions using the UPI System," the RBI said. Banks may, as per their board approved policy, stipulate terms and conditions of use of such credit lines. The terms may include, among other items, credit limit, period of credit, rate of interest, etc," the release added. This can reduce the cost of such offerings and help in development of unique products for Indian markets. The UPI is a robust payments platform supporting an array of features. Presently it handles 75% of the retail digital payments volume in India. The UPI system has been leveraged to develop products and features aligned to Indias payments digitisation goals. Recently, RuPay credit cards were permitted to be linked to UPI. At present, UPI transactions are enabled between deposit accounts at banks, sometimes intermediated by pre-paid instruments including wallets. UPI, used for immediate money transfer through mobile devices round the clock, transactions crossed the 10-billion-mark in August. The number of UPI transactions in July was 9.96 billion (996.4 crore) and 9.33 billion in June, PTI reported. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Bharat Forge share price rose almost 2 per cent to hit its fresh 52-week high of 1,096 in intraday trade on BSE on Monday. The stock opened at 1,086 against the previous close of 1,078.15 and rose 1.7 per cent to scale its fresh one-year peak of 1,096. Over the past year, the shares of a diversified company with interests spanning multiple sectors, including automotive, railways, defence, construction, mining, aerospace, marine, and oil and gas, have been on a remarkably bullish trajectory. The stock has demonstrated an impressive surge, registering an impressive 42 per cent increase in value within this timeframe. This performance stands in stark contrast to the broader equity benchmark, the Sensex, which has posted a more modest gain of approximately 11 per cent during the same period. The stock has seen a remarkable acceleration in the last three months. During this relatively short span, the company's stock has experienced a meteoric rise of nearly 36 per cent, showcasing a robust and sustained momentum that has captured the attention of investors and market observers alike. The stock has been gaining as it is a major player for the defence sector and investor sentiment for the sector has been bullish of late. Recently, its defence arm, Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd received two export orders worth 850 crore. According to the company's exchange statement, its wholly-owned defence arm received two export orders totalling EUR 93.87 million (about 850 crores) from friendly nations for the delivery of parts and armoured vehicle chassis to be carried out over an 18-month period. Meanwhile, Bharat Forge's June quarter numbers came on a healthy line. The company reported a 34 per cent year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit at 213.73 crore in the June quarter. Consolidated revenue from operations was at 3,877.27 crore as against 2,851.46 crore in the year-ago period. More upside possible? The stock has gained strongly in recent times which raises the possibility of some profit booking in the short term. However, experts believe the stock is poised to move further upward at this juncture and investors can use the decline to accumulate the stock. Gaurav Bissa, VP of InCred Equities pointed out Bharat Forge witnessed a fresh swing high breakout around 920 level and has moved towards 1,100 since then. "While the stock seems to have achieved short-term targets, the long-term setup looks extremely strong. The stock has witnessed a breakout from the eight-year cup and handle pattern on the monthly charts with potential targets around 1,800 level. Investors can use any declines towards 1,000 as a buying opportunity for the long term. Short-term traders can ride the trend with stop loss trailed at 1,020 level," said Bissa. On the other hand, Jigar S. Patel, Senior Manager of Equity Research at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers observed that at the current Juncture, the stock looks overextended on the daily scale chart as it is trading way above its all-major exponential averages (i.e., 21-50-100-200 day ). "Even the monthly bottom central pivot range is around 985 level. So, as we advance, we can witness some profit booking in Bharat Forge. If already holding, then one should book partial profits. For fresh longs, wait and watch," said Patel. View Full Image Bharat Forge technical chart Read all market-related news here Disclaimer: The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts and broking companies, not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions. BHARAT FORGE More Information "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has revealed plans to release job advertisements for 22,000 positions in the coming two months as part of an initiative to hire 100,000 individuals for government roles during the current BJP-led administration. During an official event, Sarma personally handed out appointment letters to 514 successful candidates from the recent Assam Direct Recruitment Examination (ADRE), aimed at filling Class-III and Class-IV vacancies across multiple government departments. The total number of government jobs offered till date during his term as the chief minister stands at 87,402", Sarma said. Also Read: Assam to table bill to ban polygamy in state assembly, CM Sarma says, 'Will include issue of love jihad' "Within a month or two, advertisements for recruitment to fill another 22,000 vacancies will be published. That will take the total number of recruitments to well above the 1-lakh promised earlier," he said on Sunday. During the 2021 assembly election campaign in Assam, the BJP made a commitment to create 100,000 government job opportunities. Sarma explained that the state cabinet had formally approved the plan to offer these 100,000 jobs to unemployed youths in Assam during its initial meeting in 2021. However, due to the disruptions caused by the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire process was delayed. Also Read: Himanta Biswa Sarma says his govt aims to completely withdraw AFSPA from Assam by 2023-end "The recruitment process was expedited after the spread subsided and by the second anniversary celebrations of the current dispensation in the state, appointment letter distribution to around 86,000 job seekers was completed," he stated. (With inputs from PTI) "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Commuter woes are set to mount in the national capital amid the G20 Summit with metro closures, bus diversions and more. Officials have announced the complete closure of one metro station and indicated the possibility of additional curbs. Delhi Metro services will be affected at the Supreme Court metro station only. Metro services will continue at all other stations. At some metro stations, entry and exit may be closed for 10-15 minutes as per the security rules, but train services will continue," said Delhi Traffic Special CP Surender Yadav. DCP Metro had earlier flagged security concerns, calling for the gates of more than 20 metro stations to be closed. An official communication between police and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said that three gates of Khan Market, two of Moti Bagh and five of ITO (among others) were required" to be closed to strengthen the security matrix from September 8 to September 10. ALSO READ: Chinese Premier Li Qiang to attend G20 Summit in Delhi The letter sought the closure of gates 1, 2 and 3 for the Khan Market station while gate number 4 was opened for entry and exit. Gate number 2 of Kailash Colony station is to be closed and all gates of Lajpat Nagar metro station except gate number 5 are to close. The letter marked Janpath station as sensitive and called for just gate number 2 to be operational. DCP metro had also sought closure of all Gates of Bhikaji Cama Place. It did not call for any restrictions on entry and exit for commuters on stations such as Aero City, Dhaula Kuan, South Campus, Dwarka Sec-21, Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, Greater Kailash, Nehru Enclave, Kalkaji Mandir, Rajiv Chowk, Chawri Bazar and Chandni Chowk. Road transportation will also be affected during the event with officials announcing some diversions. The control of the ISBT buses, we will be implementing from 5 AM in the morning of September 8. They will not be allowed to enter from the Gurugram side, they will be diverted from IFFCO chowk towards MG road and from there they will enter through Mehrauli. The controlled zone will not have the facility of city bus service," Surender Yadav added during the briefing. (With inputs from agencies) "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! India is all set to host the G-20 Summit on September 9 and 10 at the newly constructed Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre in Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Ahead of the much-anticipated event, Delhi Police Metro unit head has asked the Chief Security Commissioner to close some metro station gates towards the VVIP routes from September 8 to 10. The Delhi Police have declared the Supreme Court, Bhikaji Cama Place, Khan Market, Dhaula Kuan and Janpath as 'sensitive' areas, meaning that the nearest Metro station to these areas will remain completely closed. According to a letter sent by the Delhi Police, Moti Bagh, Bhikaji Cama Place, Munirka, RK Puram, IIT and Sadar Bazar Cantonment metro stations will remain completely closed from 8 to 10 September. Meanwhile, other Delhi Metro stations are expected to function normally. The Delhi Police had issued a traffic advisory last month to regulate the movement of vehicles in the NCR with a focus on public safety and convenience ahead of the G-20 summit. Delhi Metro to sell tourist smart cards: Delhi Metro is planning to sell special tourist smart cards at 36 Metro stations from September 4-13 in view of the G-20 Summit. Senior officials told ANI that tourist smart cards are available on regular days as well but dedicated counters have been set up to sell these cards for a period of 10 days from Monday. The 36 metro stations where tourist smart cards will be sold include Kashmere Gate, Indraprastha, Chandni Chowk, South Extension, Sarojini Nagar, Chawri Bazar, Chhatarpur, New Delhi, Rajiv Chowk, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan, Lok Kalyan Marg, Supreme Court, ITO, Hauz Khas, Nehru Place, Kalkaji Mandir, Akshardham, Terminal 1 IGI Airport and Karol Bagh. The one-day tourist smart cards will be available for a price of 200 while the three-day smart card will cost 500. DMRC says that this amount also includes a refundable deposit of 50. The tourist smart card will allow travellers to take unlimited rides and will come in two variants one-day validity card and a three-day validity card. The one-day card will be available for 200 while the three-day card will cost 500. This amount also includes a refundable security deposit of 50, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is set to unveil the G20 Park in Chanakyapuri on Monday which will feature 19 sculptures representing the national birds and animals of the G20 member countries, all created from recycled metal scrap as part of a waste-to-art concept. This park makeover is one of several undertaken in preparation for the upcoming G20 Summit scheduled for September 9-10. Hindustan Times reported citing an official from NDMC, that a team of artists affiliated with Lalit Kala Akademi initiated the sculpture creation process in Garhi village back in April. By July, these sculptures had been completed. Subsequently, landscaping efforts have been underway at the park, with the sculptures being installed since July. The park will be inaugurated on Monday. The sculptures have been specially curated by artists to symbolise sustainability through representations from each of the G20 nations," the NDMC official said. Also Read: G20: US President Joe Biden 'disappointed' Xi Jinping not attending Summit In January, the council proposed to develop a G20 park in New Delhi to symbolise togetherness on the path of development. Developed on the theme of One Earth, One Family, One Future" (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam), the park is located at Kautilya Marg. The pieces for the G20 park have been conceptualised, designed and curated by a team of renowned artists who have earlier worked on waste-to-art projects. Each sculpture has been handcrafted and is a testimony to the fact that waste can be turned into wonderful objects," said V Nagdas, chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi. Moreover, an NDMC representative mentioned that approximately 50 students from universities in the National Capital Region (NCR) actively participated in the sculpture-making process as volunteers. Each sculpture is accompanied by an informative plaque that details information about the specific bird or animal, its country of origin, and credits the artist responsible for its creation. The raw materials used for these sculptures were procured from NDMC storage facilities and included items like iron bars, vehicle components, metal plates, wire mesh, and various other discarded materials. Officials have also designated specific selfie spots within the park. Also Read: From G20 Summit to democratisation of technology: Here's full transcript of PTI's interview with PM Modi The G20 Park showcases sculptures representing a diverse range of birds and animals, such as the Indian peacock, American bison, Brazilian jaguar, red-crowned crane from China, Saudi Arabian camel, Korean magpie, Australian emu, Canadian gray jay, Russian brown bear, and Mexican golden eagle. It's important to note that the G20 includes the European Union along with 19 individual countries. MARG More Information "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! A video of Uttar Pradesh Minister Satish Sharma recently went viral on social media platforms showing him washing his hands just next to a Shivling in Lodheshwar Mahadev temple in Barabanki, reported PTI. The viral video showed the Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies washing his hand in the 'argha,' or the base, of the shivling with the help of a priest. Congress and Samajwadi Party have expressed their anger at the actions of the BJP minister and have demanded resignation of the minister for "insulting the Sanatan dharma." Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput said BJP minister Satish Sharma had insulted the Lord Shiva with his act and must be sacked. "Washing hands in the 'argh' of shivling is an unrighteous act. Only those who do not care about Sanatan Dharma can do this. The BJP minister has insulted Lord Shiva. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should sack him for this anti-religious act," he added. Minister Sharma, however, countered the allegations saying he did nothing wrong, if he had, the priest would have stopped him. The priest of the temple said that as the minister's had 'prasad' in his hand, he helped him wash them in the 'argha' of the shivling and there is nothing wrong in this. The incident happened on August 27, when Sharma visited the temple with Public Works Minister Jitin Prasad. Sharma and district in-charge minister Jitin Prasad had gone to Hetmapur village of Ramnagar tehsil to distribute relief material to the flood victims and both of them had stopped to pray at the temple. "The minister should know what he is doing. Will we wash our hands when we offer water and pay our respects? The minister has insulted Sanatan Dharma." PTI reported quoting UP Congress President Ajay Rai. Samajwadi Party leader and former MLC Sunil Singh Sajan said that if the leader belonged to some other caste, BJP would have expelled him by now. "When will Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expel this 'adharmi' minister? This is the real character of BJP. First they will ask for votes in the name of religion and then do such things," PTI reported quoting Sajan as saying. Minister Satish Sharma told PTI that the opposition was unnecessarily blowing up the matter. "I am a Sanatani Shiv bhakt. I know very well what is right and what is wrong. The opposition is unnecessarily blowing up the issue," the minister told PTI. "I did what I felt was right. It was not my intention to hurt anyone. If I was wrong, the priest would not have washed my hands, " he added. Sharma related the entire sequence of events saying the act came in between the pooja ritual. The minister said "Nine days ago, I had gone to the Lodheshwar Mahadev Temple in Barabanki for worship I had sandalwood and honey on my hand, over which Acharyaji made me wash my hands under the feet of Lord Shiva." "Even in my dreams, I cannot think about disrespecting 'sanatani' faith. If my act has hurt someone, then I am sorry for it," the minister said. Aditya Tiwari, the priest of Lodheshwar Mahadev Temple, said that the minister had done nothing wrong. "Minister Sharma had sandalwood etc on his hands after performing the puja. When he asked to wash his hands, they were washed next to shivling. This was done because it was in the form of prasad. There is nothing wrong in this," Tiwari told PTI. YOGI More Information "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! An antiaging consultant in Florida. A technician in North Carolina. A semiretired broker. Theyre all part of a vast sales army aiming to profit from one of the biggest tax breaks Congress ever created for small businesses. Members of this networktotaling more than 50,000are talking to neighbors and cold-calling small businesses to trumpet the Employee Retention Credit, or ERC, tax break. They funnel potential clients to Bottom Line Concepts, a consulting firm that has helped clients pursue more than $6 billion in ERC tax refunds and could receive more than $1 billion in fees. Congress created the ERC in 2020 to reward businesses and nonprofits for keeping employees on payrolls during the pandemic. Three years later, it has turned into a headache for the Internal Revenue Service and a bonanza for firms such as Bottom Line that help clients calculate and claim the tax credit. Bottom Line is one of the largest of dozens of ERC companies clamoring to capitalize on the opportunity. The ERC is proving far more costly to U.S. taxpayers than expected. The IRS paid more than $150 billion in ERC refunds through early March, and the money is still flowing. Total payments through July could be $220 billion, with another $120 billion in the pipeline, according to a recent Piper Sandler estimate. That would be roughly triple early congressional estimates. Neal Magenheim, a semiretired broker in Florida, said he is expecting commissions for between five and seven customers he found for Bottom Line, and has already received one he landed while considering dental implants. I went in for an exam and talked to the oral surgeon," Magenheim said. He brought it up to one of the partners in the practice, and thats how that one happened." Magenheim, 66 years old, said hell talk to owners at businesses he patronizesrestaurants, dog spas, barber shops, auto dealers. He said almost everyone hangs up on him or deletes his emails. The companies that will sit and listen to me, do the research, know that Im coming from a place to help them," he said. But most people dont believe it." Bottom Line said it complies with the law, follows updates to IRS guidelines, employs tax professionals and has helped businesses identify cost savings for more than 14 years. The North Miami Beach, Fla., company said it is proud of its record of delivering valuable services to employers with no upfront fees in a compliant and transparent manner." Pandemic program Congress designed the ERC, a less-well-known cousin of the Paycheck Protection Program, with a focus on keeping workers attached to employers. The ERC expired in late 2021, but the window to claim the credit by filing amended tax returns is open until April 2025, fueling aggressive marketing efforts, often from firms that didnt exist a few years ago. Emails, texts and broadcast ads trumpet promises to help employers secure up to $26,000 per employee. Whether employers actually qualify under the law is whats tricky; the answer depends on each situation. For some helped by Bottom Line and its competitors, the tax credit will prove to be a lifeline. For others, it can start a messy, expensive dispute with the government. Even businesses that already received refunds can be audited. The IRS doesnt comment on specific companies but has warned about fraud and overstated claims. The amount of misleading marketing around this credit is staggering," IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in July. This was not how the law was intended to work." Werfel said the Biden administration might ask Congress to set earlier deadlines for filing amended returns seeking ERC payments, which would stop much of the ERC industry. Recruiting an army Bottom Lines founder, Josh Fox, 46, has promoted his ERC business with the help of online videos that mix motivational speeches and the prospect of wealth. You would make $1.3 million if you can bring 100 clients to us in a two-year period," Fox said in one video as an off-camera aide punched numbers into a calculator. This is your opportunity." Another video shows Fox fanning a thick stack of envelopes that, he said, contain IRS letters confirming clients are getting the ERC. This is the modern-day gold rush," Fox said in a third video. Bottom Lines affiliates dont need to fill out tax forms or persuade customers to shell out cash. The rep connects the client with Bottom Line. The firm collects its portion only after the IRS sends a refund, then it pays commissions to the affiliates. The IRS advises employers to beware of unsolicited calls or ads promising an easy application process" and promoters who charge large upfront fees or are paid by collecting a percentage of refunds. Taxpayers who improperly receive the credit could owe taxes, interest and penalties, the IRS warns. Bottom Line typically keeps 15% to 25% of IRS refunds, then passes on roughly 10% of its fee to affiliates who make client introductions. Affiliates can generally earn an extra 5% of Bottom Lines fee on deals made by other affiliates they introduce to Bottom Line, according to an online video. Bottom Line said its arrangement allows customers to tap the firms expertise to determine for themselves whether they qualify for the ERC. Bottom Line is compensated for our services only after our clients secure the appropriate refunds for which they fully qualify," it said. The company said it has helped more than 16,000 clients apply for ERC refunds and is aware of eight that have received examination notices from the IRS so far. Marketing muscle Fox started Bottom Line in his New York City apartment in 2009. Bottom Line originally helped companies cut shipping, utility and office-supply bills and claim tax benefits, in exchange for a share of the savings. From day one, he has said, Bottom Line used independent referral sources to make introductions. The ERC now accounts for more than 75% of Bottom Lines revenue. The company has joined with companies including iHub Global, a Vero Beach, Fla., business. IHub provides educational materials, marketing tools and a back-office system that lets affiliates track referrals and receives a portion of Bottom Lines fees. There is nothing to sell here. You are literally like an angel sent down from heaven," iHub executive Eric Zhivalyuk said in a video posted online last year and recently made private after The Wall Street Journal asked about it. This by far has been the most lucrative opportunity we have ever seen." IHubs affiliate training program for Bottom Line includes an online course that should only take 15 minutes to complete, iHubs website stated, followed by a 10-question quiz. IHub said the program provides an overview of the ERC, how to determine whether a business might qualify and an overview of what affiliates can and cant say. The company said it updates its materials and other resources in response to Treasury Department guidance. Shark Tank" veteran Kevin OLeary is Bottom Lines best-known partner. He promotes the ERC on television, on social media and to Congress, where he has pressed lawmakers to extend the deadline for claiming the ERC for an additional 24 months. OLeary and Bottom Line are partners in WonderTrust, a website for booking ERC calls with Bottom Line. WonderTrust has submitted roughly $140 million in ERC claims for more than 780 employers, OLeary said. The company aired two television ads featuring OLeary during the first Republican presidential debate; a competitor, Innovation Refunds, ran one. OLeary said he met with Fox and his team and put two of his companies through Bottom Lines ERC process before joining forces. I gave him some tough questions," said OLeary, who meets at least weekly with Bottom Lines leadership team. I dont want to press the edges." Most affiliates carry a lower profile. Beverly DAmico of Deerfield Beach, Fla., pitches Bottom Line in addition to antiaging and wellness products. I am going fishing. When I get you on the hook, I set up an appointment," she said. I get paid for connecting people to [Bottom Line], and they take it from there." With so many firms offering ERC services and so many claims already filed, emails and cold calls often produce meager results. Its really hard to crack," said Muhammad Rauf, owner of a cold-calling agency in Lahore, Pakistan, that worked with four Bottom Line affiliates. A lot of people think its a scam" and worry the IRS will check their books, he said. Rauf said he stopped working with two affiliates in June because of a fee dispute; his relationship with the others ended in disappointment. They were thinking they can become a millionaire," he said. Bottom Line has said it has more than 52,000 referral partners. The vast majority do not refer many, if any qualifying businesses to the company," it said. Tensions with accountants Bottom Line said that the number of businesses eligible for the ERC is vast, with one Bottom Line senior manager stating in an online video that almost 80% to 90% of businesses qualify. The video was made private after inquiries by the Journal. Some accountants say they worry that Bottom Line isnt doing enough to evaluate whether employers actually qualify. To get the break, businesses or nonprofits typically must show a significant decline in revenue or that a government order fully or partially suspended their operations. Bottom Line helps calculate the size of the break but relies largely on the business itself to make that crucial eligibility determination. Businesses themselves must assess whether they qualify for ERC based upon their unique facts and circumstances," Bottom Line said. Bottom Line has been responsible in its efforts to educate and assist small businesses who qualify, turn away those who do not." Sol Kuhnreich, a Baltimore certified public accountant, evaluated a Bottom Line pitch this year for a client that was potentially eligible for more than $500,000if it qualified. In back and forth emails, Kuhnreich said, he received promises about audit protection and general statements about executive orders in Baltimore and Maryland but never could get Bottom Line to identify a specific order that applied to his client. Im shocked at how many people are doing this," he said. Im actually not shocked because of how easy they make it seem." Bottom Line said it employs CPAs, tax and other attorneys, former IRS officials and other experienced professionals. Correspondence with Kuhnreich underscores the integrity and accuracy of the information" it provided, Bottom Line said. Bottom Line affiliate Welbon A. Salaam, a maintenance technician in Greenville, N.C., sometimes whips out his cellphone to book appointments for clients on the spot. It only takes under a minute," Salaam said. You dont have to convince anybody that the system works," he said. We are working alongside the IRS. Its legit." Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, running for the Republican presidential nomination, said that he and former President Donald Trump share a deep alignment on policy matters, with over 90 per cent agreement while also acknowledging that there exist small" differences. Referring to Trump's "America First" approach to foreign policy and trade, which centers on reducing US trade deficits and rebalancing burden sharing within alliances, Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old entrepreneur asserted that he and Trump are the only two America First candidates and he can take Trumps agenda even further. Significantly, amidst their vigorous campaign efforts, both Trump and Ramaswamy have been expressing admiration for each other and have appeared to be less inclined to criticize each other's policies. Also Read: Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, the man disrupting the 2024 US prez race Speaking at Fox News, Ramaswamy said, We have some of our areas of differences, but theyre small. By and large, we are the two America First candidates in this race, everybody else embraces the neo-con (neo-conservative) foreign policy view. So, I think we are deeply aligned on policies, 90 plus per cent of the way. There are some small differences". The term "neocons," which typically characterizes hawkish conservatives advocating for military intervention, had its zenith during the presidency of George W. Bush and his circle of advisors. In this context, when Vivek Ramaswamy mentioned "neocons," he seemed to be alluding to his rival Nikki Haley. I would rescind affirmative action, I would militarise the southern border instead of just building the wall. I would shut down the US Department of Education, not just put a good person Betsy DeVos on the top to reform it," he added. Also Read: 2024 US Presidential Elections: Republican Vivek Ramaswamy hopes for stronger US-India ties Ramaswamy further said that Donald Trump laid a very good foundation" as the President, and he would take the America First agenda further. I would be able to unite this country by leading the next generations of Americans with a vision, of what it means to be an American. Revive national pride in the next generation, where it is lacking. I think we have an opportunity to reunite this country on shared ideals, and that would allow me to take the America First agenda even further than Donald Trump did, by building on a very good foundation that Donald Trump laid," the Indian American leader said. He added, And so the fact that I am not running against him, that doesnt mean anything. I am running for this countryIm gonna lead us to national unity, thats my job and I expect to do it as the next President". The Ohio-based entrepreneur even claimed that he could win the upcoming presidential poll by a landslide margin". Also Read: US Presidential polls 2024: Indian-American Ramaswamy, a newly minted debate star thinks he can fake it Ramaswamys remarks on Donald Trump come days after the former President heaped praises on the Indian-American candidate and even signalled that would be open to having him as his running mate, stating that "He would be very good". Well, I think hes great. Look, anybody that said Im the best president in a generationI have to like a guy like that," the New York Post quoted Trump as saying to Blaze TVs Glenn Beck. Hes a smart guy. Hes a young guy. Hes got a lot of talent. Hes a very, very, very intelligent person," Trump added. Hes got good energy, and he could be in some form of something. I tell you, I think hed be very good. I think hes really distinguished himself," the New York Post quoted Trump as saying. However, Trump also posed a word of caution for Ramaswamy, who has stumbled into controversy over his policy prescriptions for Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. Hes starting to get out there a little bit. Hes getting a little bit controversial," Trump said. I got to tell him: Be a little bit careful. Some things you have to hold in just a little bit, right?'" Trump stated, according to the New York Post. Earlier, Ramaswamy had dubbed Trump the best president of the 21st century" during last weeks Republican primary debate and has characterized his candidacy as a bid to take the former presidents policies to the next level." During his campaign, Ramaswamy has consistently been a strong advocate for former President Trump, particularly in defending him against the four charges brought against him. He even made a promise to pardon Trump on his inaugural day if he were to win the presidency, as reported by the New York Post. Also Read: India is important to reduce the US' dependency on China: Vivek Ramaswamy Additionally, Ramaswamy garnered significant public interest and became one of the most frequently searched 2024 Republican candidates following the debate held at Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum. The Indian American entrepreneur has experienced a significant surge in GOP primary polls, reaching a tie with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the second position. Nevertheless, both candidates still trail far behind former President Donald Trump, who maintains a commanding lead with 56 percent support, according to The Hill. In a separate survey conducted by RealClearPolitics, Trump is firmly leading the 2024 GOP race with 53.6 percent backing, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 13.5 percent, and Ramaswamy with 7.3 percent, as reported by the New York Post. Ramaswamy's bid for the presidency has garnered notice, leading to an increase in his standing within GOP primary polls. Nevertheless, he continues to lag behind both Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in terms of support. It's important to note that the upcoming U.S. presidential election is set for November 5, 2024. (With inputs from ANI) "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Canadian authorities have withdrawn permission from the organizers of Khalistan Referendum to hold voting at the Tamanawis Secondary School in the town of Surrey in British Columbia on September 10, according to a report published by Hindustan Times. This came after the 'Khalistan Referendum' posters featured both an AK-47 machine gun as well as a kirpan. Alongside the images of weapons, the promotional posters also feature pictures of the school. In an official statement, the Surrey District School Board said the event organizers failed to remove the concerning images despite continuous attempts to address the issue, HT reported. "As a school district, our primary mission is to provide quality education and support to our students and ensure a safe environment for our school communities. Our agreements, policies, and guidelines, including those for rentals, support our district in creating a safe environment for our community. Anyone renting our facilities must adhere to this," the statement read as seen by HT. Last year, the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) proposed the referendum in Mississauga, near Toronto, on 6 November. Despite concerns raised by India over the Khalistan referendum, Canada refused to recognize the objectionable 'Khalistan' referendum. The first such exercise was held at Brampton on 18 September 2022 wherein over 100,000 Canadian Sikhs took part in the voting for the Khalistan Referendum which was organized by pro-Khalistani group SFJ. The SFJ was banned in India in 2019 as an unlawful association. As part of its separatist agenda, SJF campaigns for a Punjab independence referendum to carve out a separate Khalistan. The Khalistan referendum is a demand to carve out a separate country from Punjab. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! US President Joe Biden has commented on reports that claimed that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is unlikely to attend the G-20 Summit in Delhi this week. Speaking to reporters in Delaware on Sunday, Biden said, I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him,". President Biden did not clarify the location for his next meeting with Xi Jinping but the two leaders could have an opportunity to meet in November this year when US hosts the APEC conference in San Francisco, reported Bloomberg. President Biden will visit India between September 7 to September 10 for the G-20 Summit, later followed by a trip to Vietnam. Notably, President Biden and PM Narendra Modi are scheduled to engage in one-on-one discussions on Friday evening. Speaking about his visit to India and Vietnam, Biden said, "I want a little more ... coordination. I think they both (India and Vietnam) want much closer relations with the United States and that can be very helpful," Amidst rising tensions between India and China at the border, President Xi Jinping is likely to skip the G-20 Summit in Delhi. Moreover, Premier Li Qiang is expected to attend the G-20 Summit in his place but another government official could be named in his place instead, the Bloomberg report noted. The G20 Summit in Delhi will be held over two days, on September 9 and 10. The two-day summit will draw leaders and delegates from 40 countries, including the 20 member states. Apart from Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin has already conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi his decision to not attend the summit in person as he has to focus on the "special military operation" in Ukraine. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Royal biographer Andrew Morton has recently suggested that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are unlikely to return to the UK due to the prospect of Meghan having to curtsy to Kate Middleton, when and if Prince William takes the throne. Morton, who has been a close collaborator with Princess Diana, appeared on Sky News' "Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips" to share his insights on the matter. Meghan and Harry, who distanced themselves as senior royals in 2020, are now leading independent lives in California. According to Morton, this new chapter in their lives in the US is yet another reason they won't make Britain their home again. The couple are working on their own initiatives and expanding their influence through various ventures. Prince Harry is scheduled to return to the UK solo, to attend the WellChild awards ceremony in London. This trip back home coincides with the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's passing. However, no official word has been issued as to whether Harry is included in any memorial events for the late monarch. Following the WellChild awards, Harry will proceed to Germany, where he's expected to join Meghan for the Invictus Games - an event dedicated to injured soldiers. On the home front, an undisclosed source within the Royal circle has revealed to the Daily Mail that Harry is unlikely to meet his father, King Charles III, or his brother, Prince William, during his UK stay. Morton's comments come in the wake of the Duke of Sussex's candid remarks about the absence of a support system following his mother Princess Diana's tragic demise in 1997. He opened up in a recent Netflix series on the Invictus Games about feeling unsupported by the Royal Family. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! In a major reshuffle, the UKs Opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer on Monday demoted Indian-origin shadow ministers Lisa Nandy and Preet Kaur Gill among others. Nandy, the member of Parliament for Wigan and daughter of Dipak Nandy a Kolkata-born academic well-known for his work in the field of race relations in Britain, was removed as a shadow secretary of state and handed an international development ministerial post, which was previously held by Gill. Gill is the first British Sikh female member of Parliament in the House of Commons. On social media she reiterated her support for Starmers leadership. It has been a great privilege to serve as the Shadow Secretary for International Development through a tumultuous few years: a global pandemic that has set the clock back on years of progress, the UKs disastrous exit from Afghanistan, and Putins abhorrent war in Ukraine," the Birmingham Edgbaston MP tweeted. I am proud of our work we have done holding the government to account: over its disastrous decision to abolish DfID and mismanaged aid cuts that have harmed so many lives...It couldnt be clearer that we need to turf out this rotten, zombie government and put a mission-driven Labour government in power. It is as clear today as it was three years ago when I supported his campaign to be leader, that Keir Starmer is the Prime Minister Britain needs," she also said. The development comes ahead of the general election expected next year. There is so much potential across our country. But to realise it, we need a government that will spread power and opportunity far more widely," Nandy said in a post on social media platform X. Thats what the next Labour government will do, and its what All In is about," she said, referencing the paperback edition of her political book All In which released this month. The 44-year-old was one of the leadership contenders who went up against Starmer in the wake of Labours poor showing in the Jeremy Corbyn led 2019 general election, won by the Boris Johnson led Tories. Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has now been appointed as the shadow levelling up secretary. Starmer handed promotions to Pakistani-origin Birmingham Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood as the new shadow justice secretary, and Sri Lankan origin Thangam Debbonaire as the new shadow culture secretary. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Indian American Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that he will vote for Donald Trump if he becomes the party nominee and also cleared his intention to pardon Trump if he is elected as the next President of US. While talking to ABC News, Ramaswamy said, If Donald Trump's the nominee -- yes, I will support him, and if I'm the president, yes, I will pardon him because that will help reunite the country. But it's not the most important thing I'm going to do as the next president. It is the table stakes for moving this country forward," Ramaswamy also once again reiterated that many of the charges against the 45th US President are politically motivated and set a detrimental precedent for the United States. He said,I do not want to see us become a banana republic where the administrative police state uses police force to eliminate opponents from competition. That's not the way it works," Amidst their vigorous campaign efforts, both Trump and Ramaswamy have been expressing admiration for each other and have appeared to be less inclined to criticize each other's policies He recently told Fox News that Donald Trump laid a very good foundation" as the President, and he would take the America First agenda further. The 38-year-old entrepreneur asserted that he and Trump are the only two America First candidates. Entrepreneur turned politician Ramaswamy had experienced a surge in his popularity ratings after an impressive performance in the inaugural primary presidential debate last month, reported PTI. He is now witnessing increased popularity as compared to the other Indian American rival and former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley. While taking a potshot at the Biden-Harris administration Ramaswamy noted that he may have agreements with many of his Republican counterparts but any of them would be more effective than the current administration. He said, My bottom line is that I will vote for the person who I think is best positioned to move this country forward. I do not think that's Joe Biden. I do not think that is whichever other puppet, Kamala Harris or anybody else, that they roll out after Joe Biden," "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! In 2009-10, Indias civil aviation sector, including both scheduled and non-scheduled airlines, recorded just under 44 billion revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) - the total distance flown multiplied by the total number of fare-paying passengers. In 2022-23, Indigo airlines alone recorded more than double that figure, a staggering 93.9 billion RPK. That is a telling statistic that underlines the radical transformation of Indias civil aviation industry. For that matter, Indigo logged 29 billion RPK in the first quarter of the current fiscal. As the worlds third-largest domestic aviation market, India has seen its domestic air traffic soar 60% to 136 million passengers in FY23, inching closer to its pre-pandemic peak of 145 million in FY20. By next year, it is expected to overtake the UK to become the worlds third largest aviation market overall, three years ahead of a forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In fact, Union minister for civil aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that India will become the worlds largest aviation market by the end of this decade. The Airports Authority of India, which operates a bulk of the 147 airports in the country, is among worlds largest airports operators. The collective fleet strength of Indian airlines recently crossed 700 aircraft, which the number expected to more than to around 2,000 within five years. Currently, the Air India group and Indigo stand as the world's largest customers for passenger aircraft. Air India's record-setting order of 470 aircraft was swiftly outdone by Indigo's 500-plane contract with European manufacturer Airbus. Indian carriers have more than 1,100 aircraft currently on order, marking the highest tally for any country globally. But in a glaring irony, this enormous growth has served the economies of other nations more than India. India largely relies on imported aircraft, primarily from American manufacturer Boeing and Europe's Airbus, with the remaining fleet comprised of European ATRs and Brazilian Embraers, since aircraft and engine manufacturing technology is jealously guarded. Russia is the only non-NATO nation with significant aviation technology, although manufacturers in the country lag in technology and face certification challenges. Chinas C919, a twin-engine, single-aisle commercial aircraft with a seating capacity of 164, made its first commercial flight in May this year, marking the country's formal entry into the global civil aviation manufacturing map. While Japanese manufacturers supply almost a third of components and systems to Airbus and Boeing, Mitsubishi formally ended its 15-year attempt to manufacture a 100-seater aircraft in February this year. Although Indias MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) industry was estimated at $1.7 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $4.0 billion by 2031 at a CAGR of 8.9%, almost all of this will go abroad. Tiny Sri Lanka has a bigger MRO industry than India, while Singapore dominates the APAC market. Even the aviation turbine fuel burnt by the aircraft is either imported or refined from imported crude oil. It is time India looked to leveraging its massive domestic civil aviation market. An immediate start could be made through counter-trade. Back in 2005, the then state-owned Air Indias 68-aircraft order involved a 30% counter-trade component, with an additional $100 million investment in MRO facilities in India. Post privatisation, the nation given up on counter-trade, which could potentially add tens of billions of dollars to Indias exports. However, it is in aircraft manufacturing that the real potential to leverage Indias domestic demand lies. Earlier this year, civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal admitted that Indias inability to manufacture large commercial aircraft as one of the sectors biggest failings". Aircraft manufacturing is admittedly a steep technological challenge to surmount, but India has demonstrated that it is capable of tackling the highest order of technological challenges with the success of its moon mission. In fact, the Chandrayaan mission offers the template for how India could go about addressing aircraft manufacturing challenge. While ISRO developed and operated the mission, key contributions came from an array of public and private sector companies. A similar model of public-private cooperation and co-development needs to be used to develop the wide range of technologies and skills required for this. India could also look to alliances with other nations to break the current duopoly of Boeing and Airbus. We could look at collaborating with Japan, which already sees India as a key part of its China-plus-one strategy, for this. India also needs to look at strategic investments and acquisitions abroad to fill capability gaps. In fact, Embraers CEO, during a recent India visit, indicated that his company had already tapped Indian companies like HAL and Tatas to explore domestic manufacturing and was not averse to having India as an investment partner. India needs to explore more such opportunities with other manufacturers of aircraft, components and systems. Industry and academia also need to collaborate on developing training and skilling programmes to meet future needs. When Singapore pitched to get Rolls Royce to make key engine components in that country, it started years earlier by developing a new curriculum with its engineering schools so that the requisite skilled manpower would be available locally! The country has now developed the capability to design, build and operate world class airports, which can be leveraged to explore global markets. But all of this requires and all of government" and all of industry" approach. Leaving it to a few individual players, whether in government or private sector, will not work. The G20 is more than an economic platform; it is a crucible where the future of global governance is shaped. Indias ascent to its presidency is emblematic of the countrys rapidly evolving role on the world stage. As an active participant in some of the G20 proceedings, I have borne witness to Indias transformation into a leader, fostering collaboration and charting pathways to address universal challenges. The governments meticulous planning and inclusive strategy are indeed commendable, setting a new benchmark for future presidencies. Indias chosen themes during its presidency resonate with pivotal challenges of the modern world. The emphasis on green development and climate finance, and the inspiring LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) campaign is a testament to Indias commitment to infusing modern lifestyles with sustainability. Drawing from Indias ancestral wisdom, the ethos of Vasudhaiva kutumbakam beautifully captures the essence of our shared destinies, interconnected futures and need for global unity to make gainful progress together. The emphasis on accelerated, inclusive and resilient growth represents a future-forward vision, addressing the integration of MSMEs, labour welfare, and even the global skills gap. These pursuits align perfectly with strategic priorities set during previous G20 presidencies and their positive economic implications. Yet, what truly stands out in Indias G20 journey is the holistic approach taken towards accelerated, inclusive and resilient growth. The adoption of a multifaceted strategy, encompassing the integration of MSMEs, labour rights, global skills development and inclusive food systems, is a testament to Indias comprehensive vision for global progress. The crossroads of the 2030 agenda with the G20 presidency couldnt be more fortuitous. Indias agenda to invigorate global efforts towards Sustainable Development Goals, especially in a world reeling from the pandemic, emphasizes its role as a beacon of hope and resilience. In an era dominated by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the countrys emphasis on a human-centric technological transformation is ground-breaking and prescient. This approach not only fuels economic growth but ensures that technology remains an enabler, not a disruptor. A few days ago, some of our leading newspapers carried an image of Volker Wissin, Germanys federal minister for digital and transport, using UPI to pay a local vegetable vendor. This picture spoke a million silent words of attestation. Lets be honest, if a piece of technology has been adopted in every nook and cranny of the worlds most populous country at break-neck speed, it is a definitive case study for the world to learn from. Our countrys many digitization successes give us a unique edge in pioneering innovative models for the future world order and sharing our learnings globally. Reforming multilateralism for contemporary challenges, as proposed by India, is a clarion call for a new world order envisioned as more inclusive, equitable and representative. Such reforms can pave the way for a more cohesive and cooperative world, where challenges are met with collective effort and shared wisdom. Moreover, the push for women-led development, acknowledging the indispensable role of women in socio-economic growth, is noteworthy One of the most astute moves of the Indian government was its choice of cities to host G20 meetings. Call me biased, but the crown jewel was the manner in which the government showcased Indias cultural, geographical and historical diversity. Its equitable approach allowed participants to witness India in its entirety: its range, majesty and vibrant spirit. Cities like Bhubaneswar, Thiruvananthapuram, Hampi and Siliguri, which might not typically be in the limelight, received global attention. This strategic move expedited infrastructural development and facelifts in these regions, which otherwise might have taken years, to the benefit of local economies and communities. Cultural diplomacy, too, has been an integral part of Indias G20 strategy. Myriad cultural initiatives, from the grand display of 100 ASI monuments bathed in G20 colours to Sudarshan Pattnaiks mesmerizing sand art, have showcased Indias rich tapestry of traditions. These initiatives not only draw attention to Indias cultural wealth, but also foster a spirit of global camaraderie and speak volumes about our countrys intent to blend soft power with hard diplomacy. Its a symphony of Indias ancient heritage with its modern aspirations. Much like the tourism landscape of the country, which will now gain refreshed appreciation from global travellers. Reflecting on past G20 presidencies, the benefits of being the host country this year are manifold. The economic impetus, bolstered international reputation and enhanced tourism would be just a tip of this iceberg. To my mind, Indias G20 presidency isnt just an event; its a legacy in the making. A synthesis of tradition and modernity, of cultural wealth and technological prowess, and of national priorities with global objectives. It sets the stage for what global collaboration can achieve. I, for one, am filled with optimism and pride, and stand in solidarity with the governments approach. I am confident that this presidency will be a beacon of hope, resilience and sustainable leadership in tumultuous times. From offices in Americas State Department and Russias Ministry of Defence, officials take turns pinging" each other every couple of hours just to check the line is working. Then, almost always, silence follows. It is the dying heartbeat of global nuclear arms control. Until March the direct link between the Nuclear Risk Reduction Centres (NRRCs) of the worlds two biggest nuclear powers was alive with messages informing each other about the movement of missiles and bombers. Under New start, which came into force in 2011 and which includes caps on long-range nuclear weapons, there were 2,000-odd such notifications in 2022. No longer. The half-yearly updates on warhead numbers have stopped, too. And there have been no on-site inspections since March 2020. For now, Russia and America still abide by the treatys confines on warhead numbers. They also exchange notifications of upcoming ballistic-missile launches under a previous accord (they have swapped only a few such messages in recent months). And they still hear from each other through separate multilateral channels used for the dozen or so agreements requiring notification through NRRCs. Nevertheless, the world is drifting towards a new nuclear arms race. It will probably be harder to stop than that of the cold war, not least because of the complexity of three-sided deterrence involving a rising China. The danger of a chain reaction that would destroy the entire world"the words spoken by Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, at the end of Christopher Nolans eponymous filmlooms ever larger. View Full Image (Graphic: The Economist) That humanity averted annihilation owes much to the many agreements between America and the Soviet Union, now Russia, that limited nuclear weapons and built trust even as each retained the means to destroy the other. They brought down the global nuclear stockpile from 70,400 warheads in 1986 to 12,500 today (see chart). That era is ending, for four main reasons: Americas abandonment of agreements, Russias invasion of Ukraine, Chinas nuclear build-up and disruptive technology. Begin with America. In 2002 President George W. Bush withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (which limited anti-missile defences), pointing to the dangers from North Korea and Iran. And in 2019 another Republican president, Donald Trump, pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (which eliminated that category of missiles), citing cheating by Russia and Chinas rise. Democratic presidents have been keener on arms control. New start was negotiated by Barack Obama and then renewed for five years by Joe Biden in 2021. It limits each sides strategic" nuclear weapons (long-distance arms with high destructive power) to 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), bombers and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. But New start does not control non-strategic" or tactical" weapons, usually smaller ones for battlefield use. Russia is thought to have 1,800 of them and America just 200. Nor does it capture Russias work on things such as nuclear-propelled cruise missiles and torpedoes. In turn, Russia complains that the nuclear arsenals of Britain and France, American allies with more than 200 warheads each, are excluded. New start is set to expire in February 2026, and there is little prospect of a follow-on deal. In less than three years, the last major restraint on the worlds nuclear stockpile may well be removed. For that blame Russias invasion of Ukraine, and its repeated threats to use nuclear weapons. Western countries have armed Ukraine, but have not sent their own troops, in part for fear of world war three". In February Russia said it would suspend" New start, halting notifications. America responded in kind in March and June. Each side has since become ever less certain about the others posture, magnifying the risk of nuclear brinkmanshipespecially at a time when the Kremlin is at war. Poland says Russia has started moving tactical weapons to Belarus. Then there is China, which is already racing to build up its nuclear force. Unconstrained by treaties, it has long observed a minimal deterrence" policy with a few hundred warheads. But the Pentagon estimates its stockpile will grow to perhaps 1,500 by 2035. That is close to New starts deployed limit. Nuclear tensions could spread further and unpredictably. India, which has an unresolved border dispute with China, may feel compelled to increase its stockpile, currently estimated at more than 160 warheads. That in turn may prompt Pakistan, with a similar number, to build up. North Korea, with perhaps 30 warheads, is intensively testing ICBMs. And Iran has become a threshold nuclear state. New technologies could aggravate matters. Hypersonic missiles are harder to detect and shoot down than ballistic ones. Improvements in sensors and accuracy heighten worries about a disabling surprise attack. And the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) raises questions of how far nuclear war might be fought by computers. In response, America has been flashing its nuclear sabre, if not quite rattling it. Its ballistic-missile submarines, which usually lurk unseen for months-long patrols, have been surfacing around the world of late. In July the USS Kentucky moored in the South Korean port of Busan, and the USS Tennessee called at Faslane in Scotland. In May naval commanders from Japan and South Korea embarked the USS Maine off Guam. Last October the USS West Virginia popped up in the Arabian Sea, in an apparent signal to Iran, for a visit by the head of Americas Central Command. The silent service" is no longer silent. You cant have a credible deterrent without communicating your capabilities," Rear Admiral Jeffrey Jablon, commander of Americas submarine force in the Indo-Pacific, told Breaking Defense. If the adversary doesnt know anything about that specific deterrent, its not a deterrent." America wants to reassure allies that its extended deterrence"the promise to defend them from nuclear attack even if they eschew nuclear weaponsremains strong. Some in Poland and South Korea want America to store B61 nuclear gravity bombs in their countries. It has resisted. But showing boomer" subs serves as warning to foes and reassurance to friends. America is busy modernising all three legs of its nuclear triad" with new ground, air and sea systems. An unspoken aim is to rev up the nuclear industrial base to be able to produce more weapons in future, should they be needed. Some want to go further. A paper in March by the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, a government-funded institute that among other things designs nuclear warheads, said Americas current nuclear force is only marginally sufficient". America should expand it when New start expires by expeditious uploading", deploying weapons currently held in reserve, for instance as multiple warheads on ICBMs; before then, it should demonstrate the ability to do so. America has a greater upload capacity" than Russia. The Federation of American Scientists, which campaigns to minimise global risks, calculates that from the current total of about 1,670 deployed strategic warheads each (it uses different counting rules from those for New Start), America could within a couple of years deploy 3,570 compared with 2,629 for Russia. Some experts worry that big powers might also resume testing nuclear weapons, an idea discussed in the Trump years. Talking of an inflection point" in the nuclear balance, Jake Sullivan, Mr Bidens national security adviser, declared in June that America was ready to discuss arms control with Russia and China without preconditions". Neither is rushing to take up his offer. Given its heavy losses in Ukraine, Russia is either too aggrieved or too reliant on nuclear weapons to consider a new accord. China, for its part, seems uninterested in limits, possibly until it achieves parity with America. Indeed, parity has been the basis of arms control between America and Russia. But it is harder to agree on when three powers are involved. America, in particular, worries that Russia and China might ally against it, given that they have declared a friendship without limits" and conduct joint air and sea patrols. Mr Sullivan insists that America does not need to outnumber the combined total of our competitors" to deter them. Yet the pressure for America to increase its numbers may prove irresistible, says James Acton of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an American think-tank. As long as Americas targeting policy rests on counterforce"aiming nuclear weapons at the others nuclear sites to neutralise themmore weapons in the hands of rivals will mean that America will need more, too. Destroyer of worlds Eric Edelman, the Pentagons former under-secretary for policy under Mr Bush, puts it differently, recalling cold-war reckonings about the ability to absorb a first strike and still be able to inflict unacceptable damage on a foe: If youve got two adversaries with 1,500 weapons each and one launched a strike and you ride it out, then retaliate: what reserve do you have left to deal with the other adversary?" He adds: We dont really know yet what the right number is, but its probably north of 1,550." Given the poor prospects for new treaties to limit nuclear weapons, America is exploring less formal arrangements with China to prevent crises turning into conflict. Mr Sullivan proposed, for instance, extending the system of hotlines and notifications with Russia to all five permanent members of the UN Security Council. But the Chinese response has been dispiriting. He summarised it thus: If you wear a seat belt in a car, youre going to be incentivised to drive faster and more crazy, and then youll have a crash. So, in a way, better not to have the seat belt." Controlling the use of artificial intelligence is even harder, given that it cannot be seen and counted as ICBMs can. Even if AI can help decision-making, America, Britain and France have pushed for a norm requiring that there should always be a man in the loop" when it comes to the use of nuclear weapons. Americas NRRC remains fully staffed, with 40-odd people tending the lines, hoping for better times between Washington and Moscow. Maintaining that line in times of good relations is important; its much more important when tensions rise, because the potential impact of miscalculations grows as other channels are strained," says an American official. A Russian-speaker is always on hand. In a wiser world, there would be a Chinese-speaker, too. On screen Oppenheimer is told that he has given people the power to destroy themselves". The question now is whether humanity still has the power to save itself in the face of new nuclear nightmares. 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com New Delhi: Indias relationship with Canada seems to be in a tight spot. Tensions have flared in recent months over the presence of pro-Khalistan separatist groups in the maple country. In a significant move, just before the G20 Summit, Canada has reportedly suggested putting a pause on the ongoing free trade talks with India. Mint breaks down the development: What is the background to this? At the start of 2023, the India-Canada relationship was thought to be on an even keel. Canadas foreign minister Melany Joly visited India twice in just a month and spoke about a free-trade agreement between the two countries. However, trouble began to surface after a spate of attacks from pro-Khalistan groups on Indias embassies and consulates across the world. These were triggered by the nationwide manhunt for pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh. Demonstrations outside the High Commission of India in Ottawa were labeled threatening" by Indias ambassador to Canada. Besides this, there were investigations into the use of smoke grenades in these demonstrations. How were bilateral ties impacted? These developments strained the bilateral relationship. India believes that Canada has not cracked down strongly enough on separatist groups. Indias foreign minister S Jaishankar accused Canada of indulging in vote-bank politics", in reference to Canadas large Sikh minority. The implication is that Canada has been reluctant to put pressure on these groups due to its fear of domestic political repercussions. How has Canada responded? Canada has stated repeatedly that it remains committed to maintaining security around Indias diplomatic missions. When asked if Canada was soft" on Khalistani groups, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had pushed back and said those holding this view were wrong". Canada has always taken extremely seriously violence and threats of violence. We have always taken serious action against terrorism and we always will," he had said. However, Khalistani groups have targeted specific Indian diplomats in propaganda posters in recent months, many of which feature the phrase Kill India". This has led to significant outrage in India. What has happened since? While tensions have simmered on the issue, news came that Canada has requested India to pause talks for their bilateral free trade agreement. Indias high commissioner to Canada stated that it wasnt exactly clear why it had asked for a pause. While some have seen the timing as curious, coming just before the G20 summit, others have stated that the Canadian side is simply consulting with trade stakeholders. Nonetheless, it is seen as another sign that all is not well in the India-Canada relationship. Tamil Nadu minister and son of chief minister MK Stalin, Udhayanidhi Stalin's remark on Sanatan Dharma has cooked up a storm with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders slamming Congress, and its leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi , Mallikarjun Kharge of keeping quiet on the matter. While Tamil Nadu Congress leader Nana Patole had distanced the party from Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks saying that the Congress party respects all religions and does not want to make any comments that could hurt anyone's sentiments, the principal opposition party on Monday stressed that others also have the freedom to express their views. Congress supports Udhayanidhi's claims AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said while the Congress' stand is clear, every other political party has the freedom to express its own view. "Actually, our view is very clear - 'Sarvadharma Sambhav' (equal respect to all religions) is the Congress ideology. But, you have to understand that every political party has its own freedom to tell their views," he said. "We are respecting everybody's beliefs," the Congress leader said. While Venugopal harped on freedom of expression Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's son and Karnataka MLA Priyank Kharge supported Stalin's claims. Kharge said any religion that does not give equal rights is not a religion and "is as good as a disease". "Any religion that does not promote equality, any religion that doesn't ensure that you have the dignity of being a human being is not a religion, according to me. So it is as good as a disease," Priyank Kharge said. The campaigning for the Dumri assembly seat bypoll in Jharkhand, scheduled for September 5, concluded on Sunday. This contest features a head-to-head battle between Bebi Devi, the candidate from the INDIA bloc, and Yashoda Devi, representing the NDA. As reported by PTI, both alliances consider this seat crucial, with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) asserting that the INDIA bloc will kickstart its winning streak in Dumri, while the NDA expresses confidence in wresting the seat from JMM. The by-election in Dumri was prompted by the passing of Jagarnath Mahto, a JMM MLA and former education minister, in April. Mahto had been the representative for this constituency since 2004. In this bypoll, the JMM has put forward Bebi Devi, Jagarnath Mahto's widow, as the candidate for the INDIA bloc, while the AJSU Party has selected Yashoda Devi to represent the NDA. Also Read: Bypoll for UP's vacant Rajya Sabha seat scheduled for 15 Sept To secure the seat, prominent leaders from the ruling coalition, including the JMM, Congress, and RJD, have been actively present in the constituency since the commencement of the campaign on August 21. Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who conducted numerous rallies, including a notable road show, urged the electorate to support the INDIA bloc candidate. He emphasized that casting votes for the INDIA candidate would serve as a genuine tribute to Mahto. During his campaign rallies, Soren highlighted Jagarnath Mahto's significant contributions to the development of the constituency. On the other hand, NDA leaders made rigorous efforts to secure their candidate's triumph in Dumri. Prominent BJP figures, including two Union ministers, Arjun Munda and Annapurna Devi, as well as two former chief ministers, Babulal Marandi (who also serves as the BJP state president) and Raghubar Das, alongside others, actively campaigned to ensure the NDA candidate's victory. Sudesh Mahto, the leader of the AJSU Party, has been stationed in the constituency, working to secure the support of the people. Both the BJP and AJSU Party have been highlighting what they claim are the shortcomings of the present JMM-led government, focusing on issues such as corruption and a decline in law and order. "It failed to fulfill the promises like implementation of 1932 Khatiyan (land settlement) based employment policy or 27 per cent to OBC," the AJSU Party chief said, reported PTI. He said they are confident about the victory of their candidate. "This time, people will vote for the candidate who will fulfill their aspirations," he said. Also Read: 'One Nation, One Election': What does it mean? See benefits, disadvantages and other details here As many as six candidates including three independents are in the fray. The AIMIM has nominated Md Abdul Mobin Rizvi as its candidate. Nevertheless, the AIMIM candidate is currently under investigation due to an FIR filed in connection with an alleged 'pro-Pakistan' slogan that was raised during party leader Asaduddin Owaisi's public rally in Giridih on Wednesday. Md Shazad Parwez, the sub-divisional magistrate of Dumri and the returning officer for the election, has confirmed that the by-election for the Dumri assembly constituency is scheduled for September 5, with voting taking place at 373 polling booths. The vote count will occur on September 8. During the 2019 assembly elections, Jagarnath Mahto emerged victorious by defeating Yashoda Devi from the AJSU Party with a substantial margin of 34,288 votes. AIMIM's Rizvi secured the fourth position with 24,132 votes. Currently, in the 81-member Jharkhand House, the ruling UPA coalition holds a total of 47 seats, with the JMM having 29 members, Congress 17, and RJD one. The BJP has 26 members, while the AJSU Party has three. Additionally, the NCP and CPI (ML) each have one legislator, and there are two Independent members. Also Read: Lok Sabha Polls 2024: NDA-INDIA alliances comprise parties that are casteist, alleges BSP chief Mayawati Earlier on August 31, Jharkhand police destroyed a Maoist bunker containing a huge quantity of explosives during a search operation in Giridih district. As per a release, acting on a tip-off that explosives and other items were hidden by Maoists in the forest areas of Gamhrs village under Khukhra police station, around 180 km from here, Giridih police and CRPF 154 Battalion carried out a search operation and destroyed the bunker. (With inputs from PTI) "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) senior leader Anil Deshmukh on Monday reiterated fellow NCP leader Sharad Pawar's claim that the order to lathi-charge on protesters seeking Maratha Quota Reservation came from higher-ups. Deshmukh claimed police lathi-charged protesters in Jalna district after a phone call was made from the Maharashtra home ministry. Notably, the Maharashtra state Home Ministry is headed by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Anil Deshmukh had been appointed Home Minister of Maharashtra when the MVA alliance of NCP, Shiv sena and Congress led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray came to power in November 2019. The former state home minister also demanded an enquiry by a retired judge to find out who called up the Jalna district superintendent of police and ordered him to lathi-charge the protesters. Police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna district on Friday after protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota to hospital. Several persons. including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze in violence. Deshmukh, said the "inhuman" police action on protesters last week was "very unfortunate". "I had served as home minister of Maharashtra. As per my information, Maratha protestors (in Jalna district) were lathi-charged after a phone call was made from the home ministry. Police officials cannot take such action without the orders of senior officers," Deshmukh claimed while speaking to reporters in Nagpur. He said an enquiry by a retired judge into who had made the phone call would fix the responsibility. As the police action created a huge row, the senior police officer in Jalna was made a scapegoat and sent on forced leave, Deshmukh said. Meanwhile Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said, "Lathicharge by Police was not right... I am apologising on behalf of the Government. CM has said that the action will be taken against those who are responsible for it," at the Maratha Reservation meeting chaired by CM Shinde. A day before, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that Jalna district superintendent of police, Tushar Doshi, was sent on compulsory leave and ADGP (law and order) Sanjay Saxena would probe the lathi-charge incident. He had also said a judicial probe would be conducted if required. Addressing a state function in Buldhana, Shinde said two DYSP-rank officers were transferred out of Jalna district. (With inputs from PTI) "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Hours after Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks on Sanatana Dharma triggered a political debate, the Tamil Nadu minister on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of twisting his statement and spreading fake news. Speaking to media persons as quoted by ANI, the son of Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin said, I am saying again that I only criticized Sanatana Dharma and that Sanatana Dharma should be abolished." "I will say this continuously. Few are being childish saying I was invited for genocide while others are saying that Dravidam should be abolished. Does that mean DMKians should be killed? When PM Modi says 'Congress Mukth Bharat', does that mean Congressmen should be killed?" Udhayanishi said. What is Sanatana? Sanatana means nothing should be changed and all are permanent. But the Dravida model calls for change and all should be equal. BJP twisting my statement and spreading fake news, it's their usual job," the minister added as quoted by ANI. He further said, I am ready to face whatever cases they file against me. BJP is scared of the INDIA Alliance and to divert that they are saying all this...DMK's policy is One clan, one God." Udhayanidhi Stalin has found himself in deep trouble after a remark on Sanatan Dharma landed him in hot waters with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)'s senior leaders launching sharp retorts at Udhayanidhi and his father MK Stalin. Udhyanidhi was quoted saying, "Sanatan Dharma is like malaria and dengue and so it must be eradicated and not opposed" news agency ANI. "What is Sanatanam? The very name is only from Sanskrit. Sanatan is against equality and social justice and nothing else." "What is the meaning of Sanatan? It is eternal, that is, it cannot be changed; no one could pose any question and that is the meaning." Sanatan divided people on the basis of caste, he alleged. This remark saw a Supreme Court lawyer on Sunday file a complaint with Delhi Police against Udhayanidhi Stalin. Senior BJP leaders including Amit Malviya also criticized Udhayanidhi Stalin, MK Stalin, and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). (With ANI inputs) "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CCP), has convened a meeting of the party's Parliamentary strategy group scheduled for 5 pm on Tuesday. The purpose of this meeting is to deliberate on the plan for the Parliament's special session, which is slated to take place from September 18 to 22. In addition to this, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called a separate meeting of Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the newly established Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Speaking on these developments, KC Venugopal stated, "Kharge ji also called a meeting of MPs of like-minded opposition parties," reported Hindustan Times. He further stated that the meeting would involve discussions on the agenda for the forthcoming session. As per a press release, the first meeting of the newly constituted Congress Working Committee is set to take place on September 16, in Hyderabad, Telangana. On the following day, September 17, there will be a meeting of the extended Congress Working Committee. This meeting will be attended by all CWC Members, PCC Presidents, and CLP Leaders. In the evening, a massive public rally will be held in or near Hyderabad, during which the party will unveil the "5 Guarantees" for the upcoming assembly elections in Telangana. The event will be attended by the Congress President, Chairperson-CPP, Former Congress President, and other senior leaders of the party. Union government had announced a session of both Houses of Parliament during the period from September 18 to 22. This session will not include the Question Hour or private members' business, as communicated by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha secretariats. The session will encompass five sittings, and members will receive information about the provisional calendar separately. The Opposition bloc is actively coordinating its efforts and planning to present a unified front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on various fronts, including preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Opposition leaders have criticised the Narendra Modi-led government for announcing a special session without prior consultations with them or informing the Business Advisory Committee. Also read: Parliament special session between 18-22 September to skip Question Hour, Zero Hour Central government established an eight-member committee, with former President Ram Nath Kovind as its leader. The committee's mandate is to assess and provide recommendations for conducting simultaneous elections in India. This announcement came shortly after the declaration of a special parliamentary session. However, the government has not disclosed the specific issues that will be addressed during this special session, reported HT. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Summer in Denver started with almost nonstop rainfall. Rachel LeBar, owner of Colorado Luxe Picnics, had to chase down or break down several of her setups. An outdoor wedding event in Frisco, Colo., in June turned into a two-hour battle with wind. Gusts destroyed the food, knocked over cups and plates, shattered glass candleholders and sent floral arrangements flying. LeBar and her fiance, Bryce Oldfield, who helps run the business, had to put food in containers and keep picking up tableware and decorations. At one point, he held the wedding cake for a few minutes so it wouldnt get tipped over, too. I texted the bride about 10 to 15 minutes before she was going to show up and let her know that, Hey, Im so sorry but this is going to be a setup thats going to look a little bit rough," LeBar said. They havent used glassware for picnics since, she said. Luxury picnics, some costing upward of $300 per person, have been rising in popularity since the pandemic, when indoor gatherings were restricted. Customers hire picnic companies to provide food, lavish table settings, elaborate tents, delicate wine glasses, plush pillow seating and candlelight ambience for outdoor gatherings ranging from a romantic date to birthday parties to weddings. Not invited but showing up anyway this summer: heat waves, thunderstorms and high winds. To cope, owners of luxury-picnic companies say they are choreographing new ways to quickly dismantle tents, swapping delicate decor for sturdier options, changing picnic hours and developing better methods to deliver bad news when Mother Nature cancels an event. They are also amping up their meteorological vigilance. Jennifer Meister Knodler, co-owner of Berkshire Picnics, in Massachusetts, keeps four weather apps on her phone. Her 11-year-old son, Cooper, delivers her a weather report each morning based on his own review of news, Doppler radar and apps that track the paths of storms. She usually starts tracking the weather on an hourly basis about 48 hours before the event. Around Thursday morning, we start to strategize," Knodler said regarding her weekend picnics. Lets say the weather says theres more than 50% chance of rainwell need to think about backup plans." Especially high temperatures this summer prompted Lauren Cerrito and her sister Ashley Casoria, co-owners of the Little Gatherings in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to stop booking summer picnics during midday hours to protect themselvesand their clientsfrom the heat. Under the glaring sun, the sand during beach events became painful to stand on, she said. Now, most events from May to September are booked for sunrise or dusk hours. So far the companys earliest picnic was held at 6:30 a.m., Cerrito said. Gladys Prieto, owner of the Pretty Picnic in West Palm Beach, Fla., said this years weather still brought surprises despite her constant monitoring. Our staff was at the beach and out of nowhere, not even announced on any app or anything, sudden wind gusts just took our entire inventory off the ground and dumped them a mile out," she said of a February picnic on Jupiter Beach, Fla. The strong wind lasted 15 minutes and Prieto spent an hour walking the beach trying to recover the contents of her picnic. Two $250 beach umbrellas went flying into the ocean. A chalkboard sign had a leg snapped off. She was able to recover the table and many pillows and rugs, but most of the picnics accouterments were drenched or damaged by sand. Prieto estimated it cost $950 to replace lost and damaged materials. Typically, a party spread by the Pretty Picnic includes natural woven rugs, beach umbrellas, wooden white beach chairs, wooden picnic tables, cotton pillows, chalkboard display boards and flower arrangements. This year, weather events have increased Prietos annual inventory replacement rate from around 10% to about 15% to 20%, she said. In May, Colorado Luxe Picnics owner LeBar and Oldfield had to take down a 9-1/2-foot wedding arch on a mountain top to avoid lightning strikes. Ive never seen a summer where it rains daily," said LeBar. Denvers whole thing is the 300 days of sunshine." With florals and weights attached to the arch, it was a scary scramble as lightning flashed around them, she said. After moving the arch under a porch where it barely fit, they waited for the storm to pass. When the sky cleared, the wedding proceeded outdoors as planned but then a downpour started again just before the end of the wedding. As the guests took shelter nearby, LeBar rushed to pack up the party. Three heavy wooden farm tables that seated 10 each had to be disassembled by hand to fit into a truck. Then LeBar and Oldfield packed 32 chairs, a sweetheart table, decorations, plates, cups, silverware, table runners, LED candles and flowers. The wedding arch needed to be taken apart using a drill. An hour-and-a-half later, in heavy rain, LeBar and Oldfield were finishedand drenched. Michelle Ison keeps picnic stylists on site during the outdoor events she coordinates so they are ready to pounce if raindrops fall or wind picks up. Her system: first pack anything that can absorb moisture. Apart from this years weather, Ison, owner of Picnic & Peonies in Alexandria, Va., also faced a more traditional problemants. They accompanied picnic materials she brought home to clean. They got into everything, and they were all over the house," Ison said. After getting caught in a storm that flooded the yard where a July picnic took place, Emily Huxtable, owner of Seacoast Picnic in Portsmouth, N.H., spent $350 extra to dry clean soaked and soiled linens and four extra hours cleaning up, finishing around 2 a.m. She said she plans to renegotiate her business insurance package to cover more extreme weather incidents. Storms this summer inspired Huxtable to create a new, year-round category: indoor picnics. Similar to her outdoor parties, Huxtables indoor picnics involve guests sitting on soft rugs and blankets around a low table and nibbling sandwiches and charcuterie boards. She incorporates more lightweight blankets and delicate tableware, knowing they are sheltered from the weather. Lighting is especially important for indoor picnics, Huxtable said. She likes to drape the room with strings of tiny lightbulbs, known as fairy lights, along with candles and lanterns. The goal is to mimic the soft, warm glow of sunset or the gentle ambience of a sunny day," she said. View Full Image Luxury Picnic Planners Become Extreme Weather Watchers View Full Image Luxury Picnic Planners Become Extreme Weather Watchers Each year scientists discover an average of five new bird species. In 2013, on a trip to a remote set of islands in Indonesia, researchers found ten in six weeksthe biggest haul in more than a century. The region in question, known as Wallacea after Alfred Russel Wallace, a 19th-century naturalist, is one of the worlds biodiversity hotspots. Its rainforests host creatures found nowhere else, such as the maleo, an endangered bird that uses sunlit beaches and geothermal heat to keep its eggs warm rather than incubating them itself. But Wallaceas environment is rich in more than wildlife. Logging, clearance for agriculture and, more recently, the growth of palm-oil plantations have seen huge areas of forest chopped down since the middle of the 20th century. View Full Image (Graphic: The Economist) Now a new resource boom is under way. Indonesia is already the worlds biggest producer of nickel, a metal that isamong other usesvital for building high-performance batteries. Demand for those is expected to increase hugely as demand for electric cars ramps up. Helped by new technologies for extracting nickel from the soil, Indonesia is planning big production increases (see chart). Macquarie Group, an Australian financial firm, thinks that by 2025 the country could supply 60% of the worlds nickel, up from around half today. Most of the worlds nickel, including that mined in Indonesia, comes from laterite ores. These, in turn, come in two sorts, limonite and saprolite. Saprolite, which contains higher concentrations of nickel, is well-suited for processing in a device known as a rotary kiln electric furnace (RKEF). This melts the ore at more than 1,500C, producing a compound of nickel and iron called nickel pig iron (NPI), much of which is in turn used to produce stainless steel. But by injecting sulphur into the NPI to displace the iron, a higher-purity product, nickel matte, can be produced that is suitable for batteries. That approach has two drawbacks. The first is that it is energy-intensive. In Indonesia, that energy usually comes from coal-fired power stations built near the mines. Coal is cheap and reliable, but produces plenty of greenhouse gases. With Western electric-car makers such as Tesla keen to tout the green credentials of their products, that is a big concern. The more fundamental problem is that much of Indonesias saprolite has already been dug up and exported, mostly to China. In 2020 Indonesia imposed an export ban on what is left. But most of the countrys remaining nickel is locked up in deposits of limonite, which are not suitable for the RKEF process. For decades, mining firms have experimented with an alternative called high pressure acid leaching (HPAL). Instead of melting the ore, it is put in a pressure cooker-like machine and mixed with sulphuric acid, which strips the nickel out. The method works with limonite, and can directly produce the high-purity nickel needed in batteries. But it has been hard to master, with pilot plants costing far more than planned and operating well under their supposed capacity. Recently, though, that seems to have changed. Three HPAL plants have started up in Indonesia since 2021. Another seven (including five in Sulawesi) are under development, according to the Indonesian Nickel Miners Association. Most are built with Chinese technology. Two of the three operating plants are based on designs from China Enfi Engineering Corporation, a subsidiary of the China Metallurgical Group Corporation that operates an HPAL plant in Papua New Guinea. Besides their ability to process limonite, HPAL plants are greener tooat least in some ways. Without the need for high temperatures, they use much less energy than RKEF plants, and so produce less carbon. But the process also produces a great deal of toxic slurry. Known as tailings" in mining jargon, these are difficult and expensive to dispose of safely. There are three ways to dispose of HPAL waste: pump it into the sea (which the Indonesian government bans), store it in dams or dry the waste and stack it. For now, Indonesias HPAL plants dry-stack their tailings. But this requires lots of land. Given the amount of nickel the country is forecast to produce, the plants will eventually run out of room. Firms may opt to build tailings dams insteadalthough Indonesias vulnerability to earthquakes and heavy rain will make that tricky. Even if the waste is stored properly, deforested mining land erodes rapidly, especially given the intensity of the tropical rains. Run-off from mines can contaminate rivers and lakes. As of 2022, the Indonesian government has granted over 1m hectares of mining concessions, according to the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, a charity. Almost three-quarters are in the countrys dwindling forested areas. Exactly how big the environmental impact will prove to be is hard to know. Very few Indonesian nickel miners make public disclosures. And while carbon emissions can, in principle at least, be counted, lost biodiversity is harder to measure. Pressure to stay as green as possible may come from further up the supply chain. From 2024, battery manufacturers in the European Union, one of the worlds biggest markets, will have to disclose the carbon footprints of their batteries. But battling climate change, it seems, will be bad news for Indonesias remaining rainforests. Curious about the world? To enjoy our mind-expanding science coverage, sign up to Simply Science, 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 Clean shore power delivers greener Yangtze River cruise, shipping Xinhua) 08:23, September 04, 2023 Shore power maintenance staff members with the State Grid Yichang Power Supply Company works at Zigui port in Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province, Aug. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun) WUHAN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Yangtze River Cruise, a classic and picturesque tourist route in China, as well as cargo shipping along the Yichang section of the river, are both becoming greener thanks to the surging usage of shore power in Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province. At the Zigui Port in Yichang, a port on the emerald-colored Yangtze River flanked by undulating mountains on both sides, an electrician on the cruise ship "Century Mythology" is connecting the vessel to shore electricity. "Previously while docking, we powered the vessel with diesel engines, which created not only loud noises but also a great deal of gas emissions. Besides, one person must be on watch, lest the generator tripped," said Xu Ou, the electrician. "Many docks were plagued by gushing black smoke and buzzing engines," Xu added. According to Xu, the shift to stable-voltage shore power has made his job easier, and travelers' boarding experiences happier. Yichang, home to the Three Gorges Project and the Gezhouba Project, both hydropower projects, is situated at a strategic position on the Yangtze River waterway, which is also an ecologically sensitive area. Meanwhile, a large volume of vessels berth there waiting to pass through the ship locks. Nearly 500 such vessels are recorded daily along the section between the Three Gorges Dam and the Gezhouba Dam, according to Wang Ming, chief engineer of the transportation authorities of Yichang. Since 2015, Yichang has been active in constructing shore power facilities. To date, 168 sets of shore power facilities with a capacity of 27,000 kilovolt-amperes have been installed, covering 67 docks on the Yichang section of the Yangtze River. As of the end of July this year, shore power of 29.39 million kWh had been provided to ships passing Yichang, on par with the power provided by 6,900 tonnes of fuel, which resulted in the reduction of hazardous gas emissions by 21,000 tonnes. As Three Gorges tourism gains traction this year, the use of shore electricity continues the rise. During the first seven months of 2023, shore power of 6.27 million kWh had been transmitted to vessels making a total of 7,387 trips, among which the usage in July broke the monthly record and reached 1.78 million kWh, a year-on-year surge of 49.1 percent, according to Li Xingheng, a shore power maintenance staff member with the State Grid Yichang Power Supply Company. Shore power has been adopted by all passing cruise ships that berth in Yichang, while the usage of shore power at cargo wharfs increased by 83,000 kWh in the past year, Li added. Meanwhile, it does not require much persuasion to achieve this rise in use. "People used to need persuasion, but now they voluntarily apply for shore power usage, signaling a boom in demand," said Li. To Lyu Biyun, captain of cruise ship "Athena," the benefits of shore power are tangible. His ship usually arrives at the Zigui Port at 1 a.m. and departs for Fengdu in Chongqing Municipality at 9 p.m., and the shore power used in this time slot saves him about 7,000 yuan (about 975 U.S. dollars) compared to the cost of diesel fuel used previously. More importantly, the use of shore power reduces pollution in the Yangtze River, Lyu emphasized. This aerial photo taken on Aug. 4, 2023 shows the shore power facilities at Zigui port in Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun) This aerial photo taken on Aug. 4, 2023 shows ships docking at Zigui port in Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun) Shore power maintenance staff members with the State Grid Yichang Power Supply Company test the high voltage cable device at Zigui port in Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province, Aug. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun) This aerial photo taken on Aug. 4, 2023 shows the Zigui port in Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Bangkok, Thailand The e-Biz Expo 2023, OEM Manufacturer Expo 2023, EdTex 2023, and InterCare Asia 2023 will be held together from 31 August to 2 September 2023 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok, Thailand. The four expos will bring together over 1,500 exhibitors from around the world to showcase the latest products and services for businesses of all sizes. The e-Biz Expo is a leading exhibition for online business solutions. It will feature a wide range of products and services, including e-commerce platforms, payment gateways, logistics solutions, and marketing tools. The OEM Manufacturer Expo will showcase the latest manufacturing technologies and solutions for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The EdTex Expo will focus on educational technology, while InterCare Asia will feature products and services for the healthcare industry. The four expos are expected to attract over 30,000 visitors from Thailand and around the world. They provide a valuable opportunity for businesses to connect with potential customers, partners, and suppliers. The expos also offer a platform for businesses to learn about the latest trends and technologies in their respective industries. e-Biz Expo The e-Biz Expo is a must-attend event for businesses of all sizes that are looking to grow their online presence. The expo will feature a wide range of exhibitors, including e-commerce platforms, payment gateways, logistics solutions, and marketing tools. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the latest trends in online business and meet with potential partners and suppliers. OEM Manufacturer Expo The OEM Manufacturer Expo is a great opportunity for businesses to learn about the latest manufacturing technologies and solutions. It will feature a wide range of exhibitors, including machine tool manufacturers, automation suppliers, and material handling providers. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the latest products and technologies in action and learn how they can improve their manufacturing operations. EdTex Expo The EdTex Expo is a leading exhibition for educational technology. It will feature a wide range of products and services, including learning management systems, e-learning platforms, and virtual reality (VR) solutions. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the latest trends in educational technology and how they can use it to improve their teaching and learning. InterCare Asia InterCare Asia is a leading exhibition for the healthcare industry. It will feature a wide range of products and services, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare IT solutions. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the latest trends in healthcare and how they can improve their healthcare operations. A Golden Opportunity for Businesses The e-Biz Expo 2023, OEM Manufacturer Expo 2023, EdTex 2023, and InterCare Asia 2023 are a golden opportunity for businesses of all sizes to connect with potential customers, partners, and suppliers. The expos also offer a platform for businesses to learn about the latest trends and technologies in their respective industries. Here are some of the benefits of attending the expos: Connect with potential customers: The expos will attract over 30,000 visitors from Thailand and around the world. This is a great opportunity to meet with potential customers and learn about their needs. Find new partners and suppliers: The expos will feature a wide range of exhibitors from around the world. This is a great opportunity to find new partners and suppliers to help you grow your business. Learn about the latest trends and technologies: The expos will feature the latest products and technologies in their respective industries. This is a great opportunity to learn about the latest trends and technologies and how they can benefit your business. If you are a business owner or manager, I encourage you to attend one or more of these expos. They are a valuable opportunity to grow your business and stay ahead of the competition. The information contained on this website shall not be construed as (i) an offer to purchase or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or sell, any securities or services, (ii) investment, legal, business or tax advice or an offer to provide such advice, or (iii) a basis for making any investment decision. An offering may only be made upon a qualified investors receipt not via this website of formal materials from the Knightsbridge an offering memorandum and subscription documentation (offering materials). 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Thank you for your interest in Knightsbridge. Murphy was invited to address the communitys concerns, three weeks after officers shot and killed a teen, they thought had pulled a gun on them. If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option. Tanaiste Micheal Martin will hold a series of political meetings during a visit to the Middle East this week. He will begin his trip in Israel on Monday before travelling to the occupied Palestinian territory and Jordan. As well as meeting with leaders, he will engage with UN and civil society partners providing support to people in the region. In Israel, the Tanaiste plans to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, president Isaac Herzog and foreign minister Eli Cohen. He will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied Palestinian territory before travelling to Jordan, where engagements will include a meeting with deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ayman Safadi. Mr Martin said: This visit is an important opportunity to see the political, security and human rights situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. There has been a worrying escalation in violence over recent months. Ireland has been consistent in its calls for the protection of civilians and the application of international law. This visit will allow the opportunity to discuss directly these issues with political leaders, as well as with Irelands civil society partners. He added: The visit will be my first to Jordan since the opening of Irelands embassy in Amman and I am looking forward to seeing the strengthened bilateral relationship between us, including Irelands support for the Jordan Young Scientist Programme and other innovation initiatives. Jordan also hosts a significant number of refugees from Syria, Palestine and elsewhere. I will meet with refugee families and UN partners and reiterate Irelands continuing support. THE use of tents in Stradbally at the Electric Picnic for Ukrainian war refugees is not a matter for the festival, according to the managing director of the company that runs the festival. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth confirmed that by September 7, the 750 Ukrainian who have been given temorary protection in Ireland will be housed in tents on the site under a six week contract. While it has been reported that the Department had talks with the Festival operators, Melvin Benn, MD of Festival Republic, told the Leinster Express / Laois Live that the six week arrangement is not an Electric Picnic matter. "That is between the Government and Thomas Cosby. I know there are lots of tents here, and toilets and showers. "They would have to be moved from one field to another. It's not an Electric Picnic matter. We are not participating in it," Mr Benn said. Festival Republic or Thomas Cosby is not referenced in a briefing note to public representatives in Laois. It says an accommodation facility will be operated by Pastures New Limited. "The management of the company has experience in large scale event development, the commercial hospitality sector and human welfare supports to asylum communities in direct provision settings," it says. Department officials are due to meet public representatives in Laois this Monday to answer further questions on the arrangement. The Department has said that the number of arrivals from Ukraine increased during the summer, with more than 10,000 people fleeing here since May 1, an average of around 650 people per week. It is estimated that up to 500 people could continue to arrive over the next weeks from Ukraine. Images of victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles have been projected onto the Houses of Parliament ahead of the expected passing of the Governments controversial legacy Bill. Amnesty International and some victims have made a late plea for the Government to scrap the legislation which includes a form of limited immunity for some perpetrators of crimes committed during the conflict. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill is set to return to the House of Lords on Tuesday. The proposed legislation would also prevent future civil cases and inquests into Troubles offences. All of the main political parties in Northern Ireland, the Irish Government and victims groups are opposed to the Bill. At the weekend, Amnesty projected the images of some victims who have still to receive justice. These include Majella OHare, who was shot dead by a British soldier in County Armagh when she was 12 years old; Tom Oliver, a 43-year-old farmer who was murdered by the IRA; and the three Reavey brothers aged between 17 and 24 who were killed by the Loyalist Glenanne Gang. Majellas brother Michael OHare said: I want Parliament and everyone to see my sister and pay attention to the many people being denied truth and justice. Lasting peace and reconciliation can only come when victims are prioritised and there is an agreed way forward. Majellas life mattered and accountability for her killing and the many other crimes committed during the conflict also matters. Shame on the Government ignoring victims and the many others who reject this Bill. This is a final call to them: do not let us down drop the Troubles Bill. Grainne Teggart, Amnestys Northern Ireland deputy director, said: This is a hugely significant week for the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict and victims rights as the UK Government recklessly pursues a Bill that only it supports. We are on the cusp of seeing universally opposed legislation passed which not only betrays victims but also provides a blueprint for human rights abusers all over the world. The projection on Parliament shows the faces of some of the victims whose families are being bitterly let down by the Government. It is a timely and critical reminder that it is the victims, not perpetrators of serious crimes, who should be prioritised. She added: Amnesty is making a final call to the UK Government to scrap the Bill and if the Troubles Bill becomes law, the Irish Government must immediately challenge it by bringing an inter-state case to the European Court of Human Rights. Meanwhile, a number of families of Troubles victims will travel to Westminster to witness the Bill pass its final stages. They include campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond Junior was murdered by Loyalist paramilitaries in 1997. He said: Our cross-community victims group the Truth and Justice Movement will be in the public galleries of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Let us not forget this Bill has been rejected by victims groups, every political party in Ireland, every political party in the UK (except the Conservatives), every political party in the EU, every political party in America and also the United Nations. A Northern Ireland Office spokesperson said: In order to deliver greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families affected by the Troubles, we must do things differently. The Governments legislation provides a framework that will enable the Independent Commission for Reconciliation & Information Recovery (ICRIR) to deliver effective legacy mechanisms, while complying with our international obligations. The ICRIR, established by the Bill, has a primary objective to provide information to families, victims and survivors. Since the Bills introduction, a number of substantive UK Government amendments have been adopted to the legislation that address a number of key issues raised by stakeholders. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: September 04 2023 The Town of Islip and Property Owner Spent Over $30,000 in Remediation Costs. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Carleton Pulley, 48, of Bay Shore, was arrested and charged with Endangering Public Health, Safety or the Environment, Unlawful Disposal of Hazardous Waste, and other related charges, stemming from his alleged illegal dumping of hazardous waste and old tires at the former Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center in April 2023. This defendant allegedly disposed of dangerous materials illegally in order to avoid the fees that he would have been required to pay had he disposed of them properly, said District Attorney Tierney. Thankfully, the damage to the environment was mitigated due to the immediate discovery of the waste by law enforcement and the quick remediation by the Town of Islip and the property owner. This is an ugly act and a serious offense that we do not take lightly," said Town of Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter. "We are grateful to the district attorneys office, local law enforcement, state DEC, and the dedicated personnel in our Islip HAZMAT Unit, for acting quickly to prevent this crime from doing lasting harm to our environment. DEC does not tolerate illegal dumping and aggressively pursues criminals damaging New Yorks environment and communities, said New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos. Im proud DEC played a critical role in the investigation of hazardous waste illegally dumped at the former Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center and our team will continue to work with the Suffolk County District Attorney and our law enforcement partners to bring violators to justice. On behalf of the New York State Office of Mental Health, we thank the Suffolk County District Attorneys office and the emergency services personnel who responded to this unfortunate incident of illegal dumping, said Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan. In particular, we extend our sincerest appreciation to the Office of Mental Health Safety Officer whose investigation led to this arrest. The officers actions showed great respect for our environment and concern for the safety of the local community. According to the investigation, on April 23, 2023, a New York State Office of Mental Health Police Officer was patrolling the grounds of the former Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center when he observed Pulley rolling a tire out of the back of a tractor trailer in an area closed to the public. Once the officer approached, it became apparent Pulley had already unloaded multiple tires and other items, including hazardous waste that was stored in multiple large containers. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Town of Islips HAZMAT Unit responded to the scene and immediately began to clean up the site and collect evidence. The materials collected during the clean-up were tested and were determined to contain hazardous waste including Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, and Lead. The site has since been fully remediated, costing in-excess of thirty thousand dollars. On August 30, 2023, Pulley was arraigned before District Court Judge, the Honorable Eric Sachs for the following charges: Endangering Public Health, Safety or the Environment in the Second Degree, a Class D felony; Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree, a Class E felony; Unlawful Disposal of Hazardous Waste, a Class A misdemeanor; and Unlawful Disposal of Solid Waste, a violation. Judge Sachs released Pulley on his own recognizance during the pendency of the case. Pulley is due back in court on September 14, 2023, and faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of the top count. He is being represented by Robert Curran Esq. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Robert Kerr of the Biological, Environmental, and Animal Safety Team (BEAST), with investigative assistance from Environmental Conservation Officer Christopher DeRose of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservations Police Division and Office of Mental Health Police Officer John Decandia. Governor Kathy Hochul has launched the Pro-Housing Communities Program, a statewide initiative to give priority consideration for up to $650 million in state discretionary funds to localities committed to housing growth. The program, announced by Governor Hochul earlier this summer as part of a package of executive actions to promote housing growth, invites municipalities (cities, towns, and villages) to apply for Pro-Housing Community certification. Certified Pro-Housing Communities will receive priority over other localities in their applications for certain discretionary funds, including $650 million in State grant programs like the Downtown Revitalization Initiative that were included in the FY24 Budget. Applications for the new program are now open. Communities willing to help us solve the housing crisis should be first in line for State discretionary funding, Governor Hochul said. Increasing the housing supply in New York is critical, and Im using every tool a governor has at her disposal to make an impact. I look forward to visiting Certified Pro-Housing communities across New York to celebrate their accomplishments in the months to come. To be designated a Pro-Housing Community, municipalities must provide key information about their local zoning map/code and information detailing local housing permit approvals over the past five years. Localities who submit documentation that their housing stock has increased by one percent in the previous year or 3 percent over the previous three years (downstate) or by 0.33 percent in the last year or 1 percent over the previous three years (upstate) will qualify for the certification. Communities that have not yet seen housing growth can also achieve Pro-Housing Community designation by passing a resolution stating their commitment to Pro-Housing principles. The New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal will review program applications on a rolling basis and provide approval or denial within 90 days of submission. Those receiving certification must resubmit their housing permit data and any updates to their zoning on an annual basis to remain certified and qualify for prioritization. Certified Pro-Housing Communities will be considered first among localities applying for: Governor Kathy Hochul has marked the one-year anniversary of common sense legislation that strengthened New Yorks pistol permitting process and provided a national model for gun safety and the fight against gun violence. The laws that took effect on September 1, 2022, included requirements for comprehensive background checks and firearm safety and live-fire training for individuals seeking to obtain concealed carry permits; prohibited concealed carry permit holders from bringing their firearms into sensitive locations, such as schools, government buildings and hospitals, among others; and required renewal or recertification of permits every three years. The State also launched a gun safety website to provide the public, gun owners, and gun dealers with comprehensive information about the new requirements under state law. All too often, New York has witnessed the devastation caused by gun violence in our communities," Governor Hochul said. "As Governor, I took swift action to keep people safe following the Supreme Court's decision in Bruen to strike down our states century-old concealed carry law. One year later, we are continuing to lead the nation in the fight against gun violence and saving lives. New York State Police Acting Superintendent Steven A. Nigrelli said, "We applaud Governor Hochul for her unwavering commitment to reducing gun violence and preventing unnecessary tragedies in our communities. Gun safety and stopping the illegal possession of firearms, and gun violence in any form, is a top priority for the State Police and all our law enforcement partners. We remain steadfast in the fight against gun violence and keeping all New Yorkers safe. In response to the Bruen decision, the state standardized and strengthened the background checks for concealed carry permits by requiring four character references; a list of former and current social media accounts for the last three years; disclosure of applicant's spouse or domestic partner, any other adults residing in the applicant's home, including any adult children of the applicant; and an in-person interview with their licensing officer or designee. Under the law, licensing officers may request any additional information they deem appropriate. All concealed carry permit applicants who applied on or after September 1, 2022, must take a firearms safety training course that includes a 16-hour classroom component and two-hour, live-fire firearm safety training. Individuals who live in New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties are required to renew their permits and must take the training. The training is designed to provide licensed firearm owners the skills and knowledge necessary to safely store and carry their firearms, and educate them about other topics, including conflict de-escalation, suicide prevention and use of deadly force, that will help keep them and others safe. In addition, renewal and recertification of concealed carry permits is now required every three years instead of five. Information about the online recertification process for permit holders can be found here. Last year, Governor Hochul also announced new permitting and minimum age requirements related to ownership of semiautomatic rifles that took effect September 4, 2022. An individual must now be at least 21 years old and have a permit prior to purchasing or taking possession of a semiautomatic rifle. These new requirements were included in a package of legislation signed by the Governor in response to the racially motivated mass shooting and murders in Buffalo in May 2022. The State Police and state Division of Criminal Justice Services also developed Frequently Asked Questions about the new gun laws for the public, gun owners, and gun dealers. In addition to training and expanded background check requirements, the laws also: 4th September 2023 Runtime 13:15 Paradox Basin Lithium Royalty Trident Royalties (TRR) has announced the acquisition of a significant lithium brine royalty from the Paradox Basin in Utah, with lithium to be recovered using direct lithium extraction techniques. Adam discusses the $10M acquisition, with only $1.5M in cash up front. Key highlights include: 1) This is an advanced stage project, with a definitive feasibility study published last year. 2) You can see the pathway to cashflow from a royalty holders perspective 3) This is a lithium brine project, and its using Direct Lithium Extraction which is environmentally friendlier and much lower cost. Its hard to get good lithium royalty exposure and we are pretty excited about this one over the Paradox Basin. DLE has the potential to be disruptive and could be a methodology which takes over the lithium space. Sonora Lithium Royalty Adam also commented on Fridays announcement by the Mexican Government that the 9 lithium concessions comprising Ganfeng Lithium Companys Sonora Project appear to have been cancelled. He made it clear that Trident doesnt own the Sonora royalty as of today, rather Trident had effectively put down a deposit in the form of a loan. I suppose from where we stand said Adam, Weve got an option, we are happy to ride that option and to see how this situation develops. If it doesnt move in our direction we can call back our $2.5M and move on with nothing lost. Dandoko Gold Royalty Adam also referenced the Dandoko, West Mali gold royalty purchase, which was announced on 21st August, a Tier One gold mine, the flagship project for B2Gold. B2Gold are a muti-billion dollar gold producer who have already invested a significant amount of capital into the project. The fact that its in Mali is already factored into the price said Adam. Frankly if this asset was located in the US or Australia you would be paying multiples of what we paid. And from our perspective, you want some exploration exposure in your portfolio. (Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to gain at the open on Monday, taking their cue from a positive Asian session. The FTSE 100 was called to open 38 points higher at 7,502. US markets will be closed for Labor Day. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "Last week ended on a positive note, and this week started with a solid risk appetite, as the US jobs data hinted at a finally loosening jobs market, while Chinese stocks rallied on further measures deployed by the Chinese government to support the country's faltering property market. "In the US, Friday's jobs data was good, in terms of Federal Reserve (Fed) expectations. The US economy added 187K new nonfarm jobs last month, above expectations, but the unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.8% as the participation rate rose. The wages growth fell from 4.4% to 4.3% in August. The US 2-year yield, which is the most sensitive to changes in Fed expectations, tipped a toe below the 4.80% level, as investors took the opportunity to increase their bets that the Fed is certainly done with its rate hikes this cycle. Activity on Fed funds futures gives around 93% chance for another skip at the September meeting, and the probability of a pause in November has almost jumped to two thirds." In corporate news, engineering company Wood Group said it had struck a $330m services agreement with North Sea oil and gas producer Harbour Energy. Under the deal, Wood will provide engineering, procurement and construction and operations and maintenance services, including digital and decarbonisation solutions, for a number of Harbour's offshore assets. The partnership will run for an initial term of five years, with five one-year extension options covering Harbour's operated assets, including its J-Area, Greater Britannia Area, Solan and Armada, Everest, Lomond and Erskine hubs. Elsewhere, online trading platform CMC Markets said it had appointed Albert Soleiman as chief financial officer, replacing Euan Marshall, who has retired from the board. Soleiman first joined CMC in 2005 and became group head of tax in 2008. In 2019 he joined Bitfury UK as global tax director before rejoining CMC in 2020 to lead the launch of the CMC Invest business. Marshall will remain with the group for the next few months to "support the orderly transition" of the CFO role, the company said. FTSE 250 facilities management group Mitie said it was spending 31.5m to buy Stevenage-based JC Engineering, a specialist in cooling systems for data centres. Mitie, which provides everything from commercial cleaning to engineering maintenance and landscaping, said the acquisition price comprises an initial payment of 21m and deferred payments of up to 10.5m over three years, linked to performance. (Alliance News) - Wildcat Petroleum PLC shares jumped on Monday, after it said it has opened a new office in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Shares in Wildcat Petroleum were up 36% to 0.51 pence each in London on Monday morning. Wildcat Petroleum, the investor in upstream sector of petroleum industry, said the current political unrest in Sudan has not been fully resolved. The unrest first flared up in April. However, it said the Sudanese oil industry infrastructure has not been affected and the oil fields located around the Sudanese town of Heglig are still in operation. "Since the start of the unrest, South Sudan has actually doubled the amount of oil it is pumping through Sudan's pipelines to the Port of Sudan on the Red Sea," the company added. It now said that it will be opening a temporary base of operations in the South Sudan capital Juba, following extensive consultation with the director general of the Sudanese Oil & Production Authority. OEPA is the Sudanese government department that is responsible for the negotiation and awarding of oil contracts. "The director general will liaise with his counterparts in the South Sudan Ministry of Petroleum in order to facilitate Wildcat's cross border access to the oil fields in the Republic of Sudan. This will mean that once Wildcat has signed an oil contract with OEPA it will be able to get personnel and equipment unhindered to the Sudanese oil fields through South Sudan," Wildcat explained. By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Companies in Luxembourg have been targeted by a sophisticated scam in which a phone caller contacts financial or accounting departments and tells them to look for an email from the company president, which then directs that money be sent to the sender, the countrys financial regulator said on Monday. Scammers have been targeting large and small companies that typically begins with a convincing phone call from an individual identifying themselves as a lawyer from a reputable firm that informs the victim of a pending invoice, according to a report published by the Computer Incident Center Luxembourg distributed by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF). The fraudulent email impersonating their company's president or executive requests actions that could compromise financial and confidential information, the report said. The emails often spoof the identity of a financial regulator such as the CSSF, and they are sent from an email address that closely resembles the regulator's. Apart from the voice call scams, hundreds of businesses and other organisations across Luxembourg are leaving themselves exposed to serious risks of being hacked by failing to update computer networks, a government-backed cybersecurity centre warned in March. Separately, after a leak of personal data occurred with an external service provider last month, Luxair warned its customers about potential scamming attacks. Exploring the Significance of E-Money Licenses in the Digital Financial Landscape In the rapidly evolving realm of digital finance, e-money licenses have emerged as a pivotal element that facilitates the seamless flow of electronic transactions. These licenses grant companies the authority to provide electronic payment services, revolutionizing the way we handle our financial interactions. In this article, we will delve into the intricacies of e-money licenses, their relevance, and the benefits they offer in the modern financial landscape. Incluence assists with e-money licenses . Understanding E-Money Licenses An e-money license, also known as an electronic money license, is a legal authorization granted by regulatory authorities to companies. This license empowers them to issue electronic money, allowing users to perform digital transactions, store funds electronically, and conduct various financial activities online. Key Aspects of E-Money Licenses 1. **Scope of Services**: E-money licenses enable companies to offer a wide array of electronic payment services. This includes issuing prepaid cards, electronic wallets, facilitating peer-to-peer transfers, and conducting online transactions seamlessly. 2. **Compliance and Security**: Regulatory bodies ensure that companies holding e-money licenses adhere to stringent compliance and security standards. This ensures the safety of users' funds and the integrity of the digital financial ecosystem. 3. **Customer Protection**: E-money licenses often come with regulations that safeguard consumers' rights. This includes measures to prevent fraud, unauthorized access, and disputes related to electronic transactions. Obtaining an E-Money License: Key Steps 1. **Company Formation**: Before applying for an e-money license, a company must establish itself as a legal entity, often through registration or incorporation. 2. **Documentation and Business Plan**: Detailed documentation, including a comprehensive business plan, operational procedures, and financial projections, needs to be prepared for regulatory review. 3. **Capital Requirements**: Regulatory authorities typically impose capital requirements to ensure the financial stability of companies holding e-money licenses. 4. **Compliance Checks**: Companies must demonstrate their ability to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations. Advantages of E-Money Licenses 1. **Innovation and Convenience**: E-money licenses foster innovation in the digital payment sector, providing users with convenient and efficient methods to manage their finances. 2. **Cross-Border Transactions**: Companies with e-money licenses often have the capability to facilitate cross-border transactions, enhancing global financial connectivity. 3. **Financial Inclusion**: E-money licenses contribute to financial inclusion by providing access to electronic payment services to individuals who may not have traditional banking facilities. As digital transactions become an integral part of our daily lives, e-money licenses play a pivotal role in shaping the modern financial landscape. These licenses not only empower companies to offer innovative electronic payment solutions but also ensure user security, compliance with regulations, and financial inclusivity. As we continue to embrace the convenience of digital finance, the importance of e-money licenses remains paramount in establishing trust and reliability in the digital financial ecosystem. By S N Chatterjee Copyright 2023 S N Chatterjee - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Loud music rang in a small square in the Boston area as customers lined up to get their last taste of an authentic Mexican restaurant on its last day in business. Patrons packed Cantina La Mexicana, located in Union Square in Somerville, on Sunday, Sept. 3 to celebrate the restaurants successful run after 28 years. While joy filled the air in the form of trumpets, tubas and French horns from Honk Boston, there was an underlying sadness among customers and the Rendon family, who has run the restaurant since 1995. I immediately started sobbing. My husband and I have both cried multiple times, Catherine Smart told MassLive Sunday, recalling what she felt when she first heard Cantina was closing. Read More: Cantina La Mexicana closing after 28 years in Somerville Smart moved to Somerville with her boyfriend, now husband, 16 years ago. The broke graduate students were living in an apartment right across the street, she said. The more they shared meals within Cantinas four walls, the more Smart and her husband, Artie Lambert, developed a close relationship with owners Roberto and Carolina Rendon. The restaurant soon became a second home for the couple, where they have celebrated every life event from Lambert getting his PhD to their childrens first birthdays. Its just always felt like an extension of our home and a very comfortable place and its just a really special place, Smart said. Im just sad that theyre not leaving on their own terms. Read More: Aerosmith kicks off farewell tour in Philadelphia Labor Day weekend Karina Rendon, the owners daughter, previously told MassLive that steep competition from surrounding Mexican restaurants has caused mom-and-pop shops like her familys to be weeded out. This resulted in the family being told to evict the building two weeks ago. Customers, many of whom have been with Cantina since the beginning, were outraged and upset, including Smart and her husband. Its always really sad to see a business that has been such an anchor to the community not be able to continue to exist here, she said. Its just a really big part of the fabric of the community. Despite her parents forced retirement, Rendon said they have accepted the fact that its time to hang up the margarita shakers and pans and call it quits. Once the restaurant closes, Rendons parents plan on moving back to Texas to be closer to family. While her parents are relieved to close this long, difficult chapter, Rendon said she will miss having her parents so close, as well as her daily interactions with customers. Its just going to be different, she said. Obviously there is sadness but its just the relief that all of the stress is now finally over, and they can just close this chapter, rest, and just look on for the forward. The Taste of Northampton 2023 takes place this Saturday, Sept. 9, from noon to 8 p.m. Sponsored by the Downtown Northampton Association, this years Taste follows last Septembers return of what had once been an annual tradition in the Hampshire County city. Though organizers of this years Northampton Taste are enthusiastic about the food fests return, Tastes are a marketing strategy that many in the restaurant industry no longer enthusiastically embrace. The history of Taste events dates back to 1980, when Chicago restaurateur Arnie Morton of steakhouse fame organized the first Taste of Chicago, an outdoor festival at which participating restaurants sold samples of their signature dishes. With the success of that first and subsequent Chicago Tastes, the idea was soon copied by cities across North America. Authorities have identified two people in their 20s as those killed Saturday when gunfire broke out at a house party in Lynn. Abraham Diaz, 25, was shot and killed at the party on Essex Street, according to a joint statement from Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker and Lynn Police Chief Chris Reddy. On Sunday, Tucker and Reddy said 21-year-old Jandriel Heredia, of Revere, had also died from injuries sustained during the shooting. Five others were injured in the shooting, one person critically, authorities said. The shooting, which occurred just after 2 a.m. Saturday, was not believed to be a random act of violence, Tuckers office said in a statement. Authorities had not announced any arrests as of Monday morning. This horrendous act of violence has impacted the families of the victims, the neighborhood, and the entire city, Tucker said in a statement on Saturday. We will expend every resource in pursuit of justice and holding those responsible to be accountable for perpetrating this violence. The shooting was the first of two in Lynn on Saturday. Around 11 p.m., police responded to a 911 call on Lincoln Street and found a man shot inside a car. He was pronounced dead at Salem Hospital, Tuckers office said. Investigators do not believe the Lincoln Street shooting was random. They also do not believe the two shootings were related. Both incidents are under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police detectives attached to the Essex District Attorneys Office and the Lynn Police Department. We are committed to bringing those responsible to justice, Reddy said following the house party shooting. No family should have to endure the loss of loved ones through senseless violence like this. Authorities asked any members of the public with information on the shootings to contact the Lynn Police Department. Tips can be provided anonymously by calling 781-595-2000. Boston Police arrested a man on Sunday afternoon after a fatal shooting in Dorchester. Officers from the citys Youth Violence Strike Force arrested Mikai Thomson, 21, at Albert Street and Ruggles Street in Roxbury, the police said. Thomson was wanted on an arrest warrant from August for several firearms charges and one count of assault and battery on a police officer, the police said. Bostons Homicide Detectives also investigated Thomson and charged him for the killing of Xavier Rivas, 22, of Boston on Saturday, police said. Around 11:41 p.m. on Saturday, police said they came to Old Road and Michigan Avenue in Dorchester for a report of a person shot. Upon arrival, police found Rivas suffering from gunshot wounds. Rivas was transported to a local hospital where he was then pronounced dead. AGAWAM This year, about 35 bikes wound up in the hands of the Agawam Police Department, because they were either abandoned or never claimed after the close of an investigation. Now, Mayor William Sapelli would like the Town Council to consider donating them to the Pedal Thru Youth organization. A resolution to donate the bicycles to the nonprofit group will go before the full council on Tuesday. A town policy supports the disposal of surplus items valued at less than $10,000 at less than fair market prices when donating to a tax-exempt charitable organization, as long as it receives support from the mayor and Town Council. The nonprofit bicycle donation organization based in Chicopee but with bike drop-off sites throughout the area collects, repairs and then donates the bikes to school children in need around the region. To see the expression on a kids face is priceless. To get a bike is an immense thing, and it changes lives. A bike is everything. It is like giving freedom, said Robert Charland, the founder and operator of Petal Thru Youth, on Monday. Charland, also known as Bob the Bike Guy, said his organization has donated nearly 4,000 bikes, helmets, locks, and first aid kits to students throughout Western and Central Massachusetts, in Connecticut, and to orphanages overseas. Tanya Carreira, of the Hampden County Sheriffs Office, and Bob Charland, a deputy and also the owner of Pedal Thru Youth, at a community event. (Ed Cohen photo) Pedal Thru Youth partners with schools, police departments and charities to promote an active and healthy lifestyle to young people; the groups work also helps to build a relationship between police and their communities, Charland said. Typically, at school events, kids are paired with police officers who will bring tools along to adjust the donated bike after kids receive them, Charland said. To Charland, this is when the important relationship building can happen. Charland, a also deputy with the Hampden County Sheriffs Office, started fixing up bikes to donate around 2012, after he started teaching automotive classes at the Willie Ross School for the Deaf in Longmeadow. After being diagnosed with an incurable neurodegenerative disease in 2017, the idea for Pedal Thru Youth was born. His condition is considered terminal. For Charland, donating bikes has been helpful, and beneficial for him personally. The work is done through donations from people and local businesses, but also with his own money. Between the bicycle and his other donation programs, he estimates he has spent more than $10,000. I am just lucky and fortunate. I have been featured in two medical journals, because doctors are trying to figure out how I am still alive. I have taken on this life and decided to do something crazy with it, and I said, Screw it. I am going to help people, he said. Since 2017, Charland has worked with over 13 police departments and has expanded operations to include donations to the Special Olympics, veterans, unhoused people, people released from incarceration and immigrants who need transportation, bike safety supplies and basic necessities. CHICOPEE Citing a regionwide housing deficit, city councilors will recommend the development of two small buildings that are to have a combination of businesses and apartments. One is proposed on a small vacant lot on 520 Chicopee St., and the second is to be added to an existing business at 873 Grattan St. Both call for two apartments to be built on the second floors and a business to be constructed on the first floors. The City Councils Zoning Committee voted 6-0 on Wednesday to recommend that special permits be granted for both projects. The proposals will now go to the full City Council for a final vote on Tuesday. I think it is great. We need more housing, said City Councilor Delmarina Lopez. The Planning Board is also in favor of the two projects, which City Planner Lee Pouliot called similar. Planning is in favor of more mixed-use buildings, and there is a national shortage of apartments, he said. While the proposals are similar, their reasons for development are not. The Chicopee Street proposal began as a problem property that Matt Campagnari, owner of Campagnari Construction, was asked by city officials to take on as a receiver about seven years ago. Initially, he was told the property could be renovated, but it was later condemned by the Building Department, so he razed it. The land went out to auction, so Campagnari could recoup his costs from the demolition lien. When no one bid on it, his company acquired it and has been maintaining the nearly 3,300-square-foot parcel ever since, he said. Campagnari is now proposing to put up a two-story building that would have a business on the first floor and two, one-bedroom apartments on the second. He also requested a waiver on the required six parking spaces, since the lot is too small to support that many. City Councilor William Courchesne, who represents the area where the lot is, noted that Campagnari already had improved the site from what it once was. It was a drug house at best, said Courchesne. He thanked Campagnari for mowing and otherwise maintaining the property for the past seven years, so it didnt become an eyesore, which happens to many other vacant lots. The property is zoned for business, and a building that shares retail and apartments is allowed there with a special permit. Campagnari has received a zoning variance for the proposal. The applicant (is) using the footprint and mimicking the historic use, Pouliot said. We are supportive of seeing this move forward, especially since the city wanted to see this redeveloped. The Building Department is also in favor of the proposal, especially considering the original building and use was very similar, said Tim Reilly, lawyer for the City Council. Former Pynchon Press building conversion The second project will take the former Pynchon Press building and convert it to a mixed-use building with a business on the first floor and two apartments on the second, said Dave Labrie, owner of DCL Property Management. The Grattan Street building has been mostly vacant since Labrie purchased and renovated a dilapidated building in the city village of Willimansett and moved his company there. Pynchon Press had outgrown the Grattan Street building, he said. Labrie said his initial plan was to rent the vacant building, but there was limited interest, so he decided instead to renovate. The first floor will now be used for overflow and storage for Pynchon Press. The lot is unique, since it is long and narrow. The only concern came from the Fire Department, which said the fire suppression system might have to be upgraded, because of limited access on several sides of the building, City Councilor George Balakier said. The City Council agreed that the details of the fire system will be worked out with the Fire Department during the future permitting process. More than $500,000 in fines against Dunkin franchisees was among the highlights of an annual report released by the state Attorney General on labor law infractions in the past year. Attorney General Andrea Campbells 2023 Labor Day Report noted multiple cases involving independent Dunkin franchises across the state in which store management had violated child employment protections, including by working 16- and 17-year-olds more than nine hours in a day. They included $145,000 paid in a settlement last fall by the Westford Group, Inc. to resolve numerous child labor violations at 14 of the companys 17 Dunkin stores, the report said. This spring, the attorney generals office also issued $150,000 in penalties to Somerset Donut Express, Inc. and over $222,000 in penalties to Courtney Donuts, LLC., for child labor law violations at their Dunkin franchises, including for overworking minors and failing to obtain work permits. In the last fiscal year, which ended on June 30, the Fair Labor Division of the attorney generals office issued $9.2 million in penalties for labor law violations, according to the Labor Day Report. The office also helped more than 11,000 workers win $4.2 million in restitution from their employers. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell meets with the MassLive team in Springfield on Tuesday, Apr. 4, 2023. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican) Massachusetts has some of the most robust worker protection laws in the country. Every day, my office works hard to enforce these laws so that workers can live with dignity, stability and security, Campbell said in a statement accompanying the reports release. When our workers are protected, Massachusetts is stronger and this Labor Day, we are honoring the workers who contribute day-in and day-out to ensure our families, communities, and economy thrive. Campbell is seven months into her first term as attorney general. Some of the cases noted in the report occurred under Governor Maura Healey, who served as attorney general until January. Since Campbell took office, she said her offices Fair Labor Division has focused increasingly on combatting wage theft. Her staff has given particular attention to the construction industry, where marginalized workers are disproportionately impacted, the report said. The attorney generals office helped nearly 600 construction workers with wage theft claims in the last year and assessed $1.2 million in restitution from employers. The attorney general also targeted companies that illegally misclassified their employees, including three citations totaling $6.2 million against GoPuff, a delivery service for food and other goods. The company misclassified its employees as independent contractors and denied them earned sick time, the report said. Nearly 1,000 employees were affected. When employers misclassify their workers, they deprive them of basic employee protections and benefits, and create an unfair playing field for other law-abiding companies, Campbell said. The Fair Labor Division is staffed by attorneys, investigators and other officials who enforce state labor laws, including the payment of minimum wage, overtime and sick leave. The division also exists to protect employees from exploitation and wage theft. More than 40% of the staff are bilingual, the attorney generals office said. Other cases prosecuted by the Fair Labor Division included five citations totaling $280,000 against a painting company for violations including missed wages. Several employees had pay deducted for what the owner described as loans, the attorney generals office said, yet no contracts or other documents supporting this assertion were produced during an investigation. The report also said the Fair Labor Division often sees violations of wage laws and work time limits in the nail salon industry. According to the report, one investigation into Salem Nail Bar found the staff worked overtime, yet were not paid proper overtime wages or in some cases even the minimum wage. The investigation led to over $440,000 in restitution and penalties. An unusual late-summer storm turned a week-long counterculture fest into a sloppy mess with tens of thousands of partygoers stuck in foot-deep mud and with no working toilets in the northern Nevada desert. But some Burning Man revelers said Sunday that their spirits remained unbroken. Organizers closed the festival to vehicles after one death was reported. Officials provided no details of the fatality. The annual gathering in the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Reno attracts nearly 80,000 artists, musicians and activists for a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances. Disruptions are part of the events recent history: Organizers had to temporarily close entrances to the festival in 2018 due to dust storms, and the event was twice canceled altogether during the pandemic. Read more: Aerosmith kicks off farewell tour in Philly Labor Day weekend More than a half an inch (1.3 centimeters) of rain fell at the festival site on Friday, disrupting this years festival. We are a little bit dirty and muddy but spirits are high. The party still going, said Scott London, a Southern California photographer, adding that the travel limitations offered a view of Burning Man that a lot of us dont get to see. More than half an inch (1.3 centimeters) of rain and possibly close to 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) fell this weekend in parts of northwest Nevada, which includes the area where the Burning Man festival was being held, said Mark Deutschendorf, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno. For the Reno area, which is about 141 miles (227 km) south of the festival, the average rainfall for the whole month of September would be 0.21 inches (0.53 centimeters), Deutschendorf said. The 'Man' burns at Burning Man 2013. Each year, the Burning Man festival brings tens of thousands to the northern Nevada desert. (Ryan/Debbie/Owen BuTeze, Flickr.com) Already, everywhere from Reno up to the Burning Man area, Black Rock, weve already exceeded that and its only three days into the month, he said. Rainfall for the area around the festival was ending on Sunday, he said. The road closures came just before a large wooden effigy was supposed to have been burned Saturday night. Organizers said that all burning had been postponed, and authorities were working to open exit routes by the end of the Labor Day weekend. Officials said late Saturday they didnt yet know when the roads would be dry enough for RVs or vehicles to navigate safely, but they were hopeful vehicles could depart by late Monday if weather conditions improved. President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he is aware of the situation at Burning Man, including the death, and the White House is in touch with local officials. Biden said he did not know the cause of death. With their party closed to motorized traffic, attendees trudged through mud, many barefoot or with plastic bags on their feet. Revelers were urged to conserve supplies of food and water, and most remained hunkered down at the site. A few, however, managed to walk several miles to the nearest town or catch a ride there. Celebrity DJ Diplo posted a video to Instagram on Saturday evening showing him and comedian Chris Rock riding in the back of a fans pickup truck. He said they had walked six miles through the mud before hitching a ride. I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out, wrote Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz. The event is remote on the best of days and emphasizes self-sufficiency meaning most people bring in their own food, water and other supplies. Those who remained Sunday described a resilient community making the most of the mucky conditions: Many posted selfies of themselves covered in mud, dancing or splashing in the makeshift lakes. We have not witnessed any negativity, any rough times, organizer Theresa Galeani said. Some people were supposed to leave a few days ago, so theyre out of water or food. But I am an organizer, so I went around and found more water and food. There is more than enough here for people. We just have to get it to everyone. London, the Southern California photographer who was attending his 20th Burning Man and just published a book on the festival, Burning Man: Art On Fire, spent much of Saturday walking barefoot across the site, which is about 5 square miles. He said that the biggest challenge was logistics because no vehicles could traverse the site, supplies could not be brought in and most people could not leave. Usually its very crowded with art cars, bikes and people all over the place. But yesterday it was like an abandoned playground, he added. Rebecca Barger, a photographer from Philadelphia, arrived at her first Burning Man on Aug. 26 and was determined to stick it out through the end. Im not leaving until both The Man and The Temple burn, Barger said, referring to the wooden effigy and wooden structure that are traditionally torched during the events last two nights. She said one of the biggest concerns has been the lack of toilet options because the trucks that normally arrive to clean out the portable toilets multiple times a day havent been able to reach the site since Fridays rainstorm. Some revelers said trucks had resumed cleaning on Sunday. To prevent her shoes from getting stuck in the muddy clay, Barger says she put a plastic bag over each of her shoes and then covered each bag with a sock. Others were just barefoot. Everyone has just adapted, sharing RVs for sleeping, offering food and coffee, Barger said. I danced in foot-deep clay for hours to incredible DJs. Ed Fletcher of Sacramento, a longtime Burning Man attendee, arrived in Black Rock City over a week ago to start setting up. When the rain hit, he and his campmates threw a party and danced the night away in their muddy shoes. Radical self-reliance is one of the principles of Burning Man, he said. The desert will try to kill you in some way, shape or form. The Pershing County Sheriffs Office did not release the identity of the deceased person or the suspected cause of death but said it is being investigated. On their website, organizers encouraged participants to remain calm and suggested that the festival is built to endure conditions like the flooding. They said cellphone trailers were being dropped in several locations Saturday night and that they would be briefly opening up internet overnight. Shuttle buses were also being organized to take attendees to Reno from the nearest town of Gerlach, a walk of about five miles (eight kilometers) from the site. The event began on Aug. 27 and had been scheduled to end Monday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the Black Rock Desert, where the festival was held. John Asselin, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, said he had seen a steady stream of vehicles leaving the festival site. People are getting out, he said. Jandriel Heredia was just 21 years old when he was killed at a Lynn house party shooting over Labor Day Weekend, according to officials. A GoFundMe page set up by his family recalled him as the boy with the biggest heart and the biggest smile. As of noon on Monday, the GoFundMe page had surpassed its fundraising goal of $25,000 with about $26,000 from more than 500 donations. He did not deserve this, no one did, the GoFundMe states. We are incredibly heartbroken, we are holding tight to his mother Iverca Cuevas and praying she finds strength to go on after losing her only son. The GoFundMe said funds raised would be used to pay for funeral costs. We are a tight knit family with deep roots in Lynn, we have never experienced a senseless tragedy like this, and we humbly ask for your support. Please also send your prayers, the GoFundMe said. Heredia was one of two victims killed in the shooting, according to officials. The other is Abraham Diaz. Five others were injured in the shooting. The shooting was not believed to be a random act of violence, Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker wrote in a statement. This horrendous act of violence has impacted the families of the victims, the neighborhood, and the entire city, Tucker said in a statement on Saturday. We will expend every resource in pursuit of justice and holding those responsible to be accountable for perpetrating this violence. Donations to the GoFundMe page can be made here. A victim in a Lynn house party shooting that killed two and injured five others was remembered as a little brother and a helpful person. A GoFundMe page set up by the brother of Abraham Diaz, one of two people identified as having lost their lives in the shooting, had raised about $15,000 of its $20,000 goal on Monday. I tragically lost my ONLY little brother Abraham Diaz to gun violence, Brian Diaz wrote on the GoFundMe page. As many of you know my brother was a great young man that would help anyone in need. Abraham Diaz was 25 when he died, according to Essex County and Lynn officials. He was killed when gunfire broke out at a house party in Lynn shortly after 2 a.m. on Saturday. The other victim who died is Jandriel Heredia. The shooting was not believed to be a random act of violence, Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker wrote in a statement. This horrendous act of violence has impacted the families of the victims, the neighborhood, and the entire city, Tucker said in a statement on Saturday. We will expend every resource in pursuit of justice and holding those responsible to be accountable for perpetrating this violence. Brian Diaz asked for donations to help keep his memory alive. At this very sad time he needs everyone to show him and love and keep his name alive, he wrote. Donations can be made to the GoFundMe page here. A Rhode Island man is set to appear in court on September 20 on charges that he defrauded MassChallenge, a nonprofit organization that assists entrepreneurs after he bought over 100 Apple laptops and then stole most of them, authorities claim. From October 2020 and September 2022, Jonathan Alexander Mateo, 38, of Riverside purchased 142 Apple laptops using MassChallenges American Express card while he was an employee of theirs, the Suffolk County District Attorneys office said. In March of 2023, MassChallenge did an audit and could only account for 24 of the computers, the District Attorney said. The organization attempted, to no avail, to contact Mateo, who had since left MassChallenge, the District Attorney said. The value of the missing computers is estimated at over $100,000. Investigators are entertaining the idea that Mateo used the money from MassChallenge to pay restitution related to another scheme in Rhode Island, the District Attorney said. In 2019, investigators learned that Mateo who was working for Upserve, Inc., in Providence used the companys credit card to buy several Apple computers, the District Attorney said. Mateo sold at least one of the computers on eBay. Mateo pleaded guilty to embezzlement, fraudulent use of credit cards and larceny over $1,500 in that case. This individual apparently had the impression that the absence of more than 100 Apple laptops would somehow go unnoticed, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. Like most others who attempt such schemes, he found out just how wrong he was. He deserves to be brought to justice for his brazeness, particularly as it targeted a non-profit that does great work for entrepreneurs across Massachusetts. A suspect arrested following a shooting at the Macumba Latina nightclub in Bostons Mattapan neighborhood had two loaded handguns, one of which he dropped during a foot chase, police say. Regan Feliz, 29, of Jamaica Plain was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition following the shooting, according to a statement from Boston police. Feliz does not currently face charges in the shooting itself, which hospitalized two people Monday. Worcester Art Museum handed over a nearly 2,000-year-old bronze bust in its collection after officials in New York presented evidence that the piece of artwork had been stolen from its country of origin. The bust, called Portrait of a Lady (A Daughter of Marcus Aurelius?), dates back to 160-180 AD and is thought to have come from a large family shrine in Turkey, according to a statement from the museum. An early morning shooting at Macumba Latina nightclub in Mattapan sent two people to the hospital Monday, according to Boston police. Boston Police Officer Michael Torigian said police were called to the nightclub shortly after 12:45 a.m. on Monday for a reported shooting. The 2022 global Sexually Transmitted Disease Diagnostics Market reached USD 91.50 billion, with an anticipated revenue Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.4% projected over the forecast period, as per the latest report from Reports and Data. STDs, including gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, genital herpes, and Human Papillomavirus (HPV), can be effectively managed when detected early and treated with antibiotics. Neglected, these conditions can lead to severe and prolonged health issues. Timely identification of STDs not only increases the chances of minimizing their impact but also ensures the proper functioning of the bodys systems. Additionally, modern STD diagnostic technologies aid in the early detection of infections. Traditionally, the cultivation of microorganisms isolated from sample fluids has been instrumental in STD detection and swift result analysis, thus contributing to expected market revenue growth. STD diagnostics encompass a variety of tests conducted in both laboratory and Point Of Care (POC) settings. These tests encompass chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus, human immunodeficiency virus, Chancroid, and others. They play a crucial role in determining whether an individual has acquired a sexually transmitted infection. Access Free sample PDF Copy of the Report @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/download-free-sample/6652 Government initiatives and the introduction of novel products and diagnostic technologies for these diseases serve as significant drivers for market revenue growth. Furthermore, advancements in technology, such as the utilization of multiplexed immunoassays in STD detection, are contributing factors to the markets revenue expansion. Key players in the Sexually Transmitted Disease Diagnostics Market: Danaher Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Cepheid Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Abbott BIOMERIEUX Hoffmann- La Roche Ltd. DiaSorin OraSure Technologies Hologic, Inc. Some Key Highlights in the Report: In 2022, the CT segment dominated the global STD diagnostics market in terms of revenue. This prominence can be attributed to the increasing efforts of governments worldwide in tackling this disease. As an example, on March 7, 2022, the UK government launched the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) with the primary aim of mitigating the adverse consequences of untreated chlamydia infection. Given that chlamydias harmful effects primarily affect women and individuals with female reproductive organs, opportunistic screening, which involves offering chlamydia tests to young people without symptoms, is primarily targeted at women. This approach also places emphasis on reducing the time between testing and treatment, improving partner notification, and implementing re-testing after treatment. Additionally, technological advancements in the detection of this disease are another key driver behind the revenue growth in this market. These advancements contribute to enhanced diagnosis and management of chlamydia infection, ultimately fueling the expansion of the market. During the forecast period, the laboratory devices sector is expected to witness substantial revenue growth in the global STD diagnostic market, mainly propelled by ongoing technological advancements. The timely detection of STDs plays a critical role in preventing severe health complications, some of which can be life-threatening. Individuals who are affected by these infections typically visit clinics or healthcare providers to provide samples such as urine, blood, oral fluid, and various other samples for thorough examination. These samples are then analyzed in a laboratory setting to identify the presence of bacteria, viruses, or parasites responsible for causing STDs. If an at-home STD test yields positive results, it is imperative to seek further evaluation and consultation from a medical professional. In 2022, the North American market accounted for the largest share of revenue in the global STD diagnostic market. This dominance can be attributed to numerous partnerships formed among various companies and organizations aimed at promoting STD testing. A notable example of such collaboration occurred on March 15, 2021, when Building Healthy Online Communities, TakeMeHome, and NASTAD came together to launch a program that facilitates the delivery of free HIV and STD test kits to individuals homes. This program includes test kits for syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia and has already distributed over 5,000 HIV test kits in eight states across the United States. Furthermore, the increasing number of government initiatives in the region also significantly contributes to the rising revenue growth in the market. Get in detailed Research Study @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/sexually-transmitted-disease-diagnostics-market For the purpose of this report, Reports and Data has segmented the global Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) diagnostics market on the basis of Disease Type Outlook, Type of testing Outlook, Device Type Outlook, Product Type Outlook, Usability Outlook, End-use Outlook, and Regional Outlook: Disease Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Chlamydia Trachomatis (CT) / Neisseria Gonorrhea (NG) Gonorrhea Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/ Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome(AIDS) Genital Herpes (HSV-1, HSV-2) Hepatitis B Syphilis Mycoplasma Genitalium Genital Warts Candidal Vaginitis Trichomoniasis (Trichomonas Vaginitis) Bacterial Vaginosis Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Other STDs Type of Testing Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Culture/Isolation of Organisms Molecular Test Immunology Assay Other Types of Testing Device Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Laboratory Devices Point of Care (PoC) Devices Product Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Testing Kit Testing Device Testing Strip/Chip Usability Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Reusable Disposable End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Hospitals Homecare Diagnostic Centers Others Download Summary @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/download-summary-form/6652 Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022-2032) North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Sweden BENELUX Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China India Japan South Korea Rest of APAC Latin America Brazil Rest of LATAM Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia UAE South Africa Israel Rest of MEA Ask for Customize Research Report @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/request-customization-form/6652 Some points on how the report benefits stakeholders: The reports include historical (20202021) and forecast (20222032) data points, revenues, and CAGR in table, figure, and chart formats, with detailed and qualitative, supporting written information for each. Revenue break-up is provided for each segment in these formats for global, regional, and for each country in the respective region for each year between 2019 and 2030. The report contains insights regarding growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, trends, company profiles, strategic developments, expansion details, product launches, and various other aspects related to the market. The report contains data and information on customers, competitors, vendors/distributors, and other players and in the global marketplace. Market research analysis is vital for all crucial business strategies and can aid in numerous ways and to provide a clearer understanding about strategies being deployed by competitors, product launches, competitive analysis, technological advancements and various other factors that enhance sales of a firm or perhaps provide insights to focus on merger and acquisition as a strategy or enter into strategic agreements or joint ventures etc. The report contains company profiles of the top companies operating in the market along with their respective revenue and operating segments, geographical reach, market footprint, headquarters, growth rates, recent developments, product /services, expansion strategies, investments in expansion, and more. Explore Latest Trending Research Reports By Reports and Datas Laboratory Freezers Market, By Product Type (Ultra-low Temperature Freezers, Low Temperature Freezers, and Explosion-proof Freezers), By End-use (Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies, Academic & Research Institutes, Medical Laboratories, and Others), and By Region Forecast to 2032 ELISPOT and Fluorospot Assay Market, By Product Type (ELISpot Assay Kits and Fluorospot Assay Kits), By Application (Diagnosis, Drug Discovery and Development, and Research), By End-use [Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies, Contract Research Organizations (CROs), Academic and Research Institutes], and By Region Forecast to 2032 Non-Invasive Fat Reduction Market, By Technology (Cryolipolysis, Ultrasound, Low-Level Laser Therapy, and Others), By End-Use (Hospitals, Clinics, and Spas & Wellness Centers), and By Region Forecast to 2032 Veterinary Electrosurgery Market, By Product Type (Electrosurgical Generators, Electrosurgical Instruments, and Accessories), By Animal Type (Small Animals and Large Animals), By Application (General Surgery, Gynecological & Urological Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Ophthalmic Surgery, and Others), and By Region Forecast to 2032 About Reports and Data Reports and Data is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target, and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries, and help clients to make smarter business decisions. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across multiple industries, including Healthcare, Touch Points, Chemicals, Products, and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware of the latest trends existent in the market. Reports and Data has a strong base of experienced analysts from varied areas of expertise. Our industry experience and ability to develop a concrete solution to any research problems provides our clients with the ability to secure an edge over their respective competitors. Contact Us: John W (Head of Business Development) Reports and Data | Web: www.reportsanddata.com Direct Line: +1-212-710-1370 E-mail: sales@reportsanddata.com Blogs | Press Release | Industry News | Our competencies Browse More Upcoming Reports @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/upcoming-reports Browse More Latest Reports @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/report Read Latest Press Release @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/press-release/global-sexually-transmitted-disease-diagnostics-market In 2022, the global Medication Management System Market reached a size of USD 2.26 Billion, and according to the latest report from Reports and Data, it is projected to experience a revenue Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13% throughout the forecast period. The adoption of technology-enabled medication management systems by healthcare professionals has been driven by the need for more efficient and cost-effective healthcare solutions. These systems streamline medication-related tasks like prescription ordering, dispensing, and administration, reducing the workload of healthcare providers. Consequently, healthcare providers can dedicate more attention to delivering high-quality care to patients, thereby enhancing patient satisfaction. Furthermore, the growing trend of self-medication, facilitated by the availability of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, has led to an increased demand for medication management systems among consumers. This demand has been further bolstered by the rising popularity of Mobile Health (mHealth) applications and wearable devices designed for Remote Patient Monitoring, which have prompted the development of advanced drug management systems. Access Free sample PDF Copy of the Report @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/download-free-sample/6743 Moreover, government initiatives aimed at enhancing healthcare outcomes and curbing healthcare costs have played a pivotal role in expanding the market for medication management systems. An illustrative instance is the Medication Therapy Management (MTM) program introduced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which caters to eligible beneficiaries with various chronic illnesses. Key players in the Medication Management System Market: BD (Becton, Dickinson, and Company) McKesson Corporation Cerner Corporation Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. Optum, Inc. OMNICELL, INC. KARDEX AG Epic Systems Corporation QuadraMed Affinity Corporation Ellkay LLC Athenahealth, Inc. Some Key Highlights in the Report: The pharmaceutical administration software sector is anticipated to experience the most rapid growth in revenue CAGR during the projected period. This surge is primarily driven by the increasing utilization of electronic health records (EHRs) and the growing demand for more intricate drug management solutions. Pharmaceutical administration software plays a crucial role in enhancing patient safety by furnishing healthcare providers with real-time drug information and alerts, as well as reducing pharmaceutical errors and enhancing workflow efficiency. In 2021, hospitals dominated the revenue share, primarily due to their substantial patient populations and the need for advanced drug management solutions. Consequently, hospitals are progressively embracing sophisticated medication management systems, which are expected to propel market revenue growth in the coming years. The North American region is poised to lead the drug management systems market, owing to the presence of numerous hospitals and healthcare institutions, along with the widespread adoption of healthcare IT solutions. Moreover, government initiatives in the region aimed at promoting pharmaceutical management systems are on the rise. For instance, in the United States, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have introduced a program that offers incentives to healthcare practitioners who employ electronic prescription and drug reconciliation systems. In 2021, BD introduced its BD HealthSightTM technology, which provides real-time visibility into drug management across healthcare facilities. This platform is designed to enhance pharmaceutical safety and reduce medication-related errors by offering actionable insights into prescription usage, prescribing trends, and adherence rates. In the same year, McKesson Corporation announced its acquisition of CoverMyMeds, a healthcare technology company specializing in electronic prior authorization solutions. This strategic move was aimed at expanding McKessons technological offerings within the prescription management industry. Get in detailed Research Study @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/medication-management-system-market For the purpose of this report, Reports and Data has segmented the global medication management system market on the basis of Product Type Outlook, Mode of Delivery Outlook, End-User Outlook, and Regional Outlook: Product Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) systems Medication Administration Software Medication Dispensing Systems Automated Dispensing Cabinets (ADCs) Inventory Management Solutions Other Systems Mode of Delivery Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Web-based On-premise Cloud-based End-User Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Hospitals Long Term Care Facilities Pharmacies Others Download Summary @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/download-summary-form/6743 Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022-2032) North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Sweden BENELUX Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China India Japan South Korea Rest of APAC Latin America Brazil Rest of LATAM Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia UAE South Africa Israel Rest of MEA Ask for Customize Research Report @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/request-customization-form/6743 Some points on how the report benefits stakeholders: The reports include historical (20202021) and forecast (20222032) data points, revenues, and CAGR in table, figure, and chart formats, with detailed and qualitative, supporting written information for each. Revenue break-up is provided for each segment in these formats for global, regional, and for each country in the respective region for each year between 2019 and 2030. The report contains insights regarding growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, trends, company profiles, strategic developments, expansion details, product launches, and various other aspects related to the market. The report contains data and information on customers, competitors, vendors/distributors, and other players and in the global marketplace. Market research analysis is vital for all crucial business strategies and can aid in numerous ways and to provide a clearer understanding about strategies being deployed by competitors, product launches, competitive analysis, technological advancements and various other factors that enhance sales of a firm or perhaps provide insights to focus on merger and acquisition as a strategy or enter into strategic agreements or joint ventures etc. The report contains company profiles of the top companies operating in the market along with their respective revenue and operating segments, geographical reach, market footprint, headquarters, growth rates, recent developments, product /services, expansion strategies, investments in expansion, and more. Explore Latest Trending Research Reports By Reports and Datas Healthcare Adhesive Tapes Market, By Product Type (Fabric Tapes, Paper Tapes, Plastic Tapes, Silicone Tapes, and Others), By Application (Surgical, Wound Dressing, Securement, and Others), and By Region Forecast to 2032 Biologics Market By Product Type (Monoclonal Antibodies, Vaccines, Recombinant Proteins, Cell and Gene Therapy, and Others), By Application (Oncology, Immunology, Cardiovascular, Neurology, Others), By Region Forecast to 2032 Hemodynamic Monitoring Devices Market, By Product Type (Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring Devices and Non-Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring Devices), By End-use [Hospitals, Clinics, Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs), Others], and By Region Forecast to 2032 Healthcare Predictive Analytics Market, By Component (Software and Services), By Deployment (Cloud-based and On-premises), By Application (Clinical, Financial, and Operational), and By Region Forecast to 2032 About Reports and Data Reports and Data is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target, and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries, and help clients to make smarter business decisions. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across multiple industries, including Healthcare, Touch Points, Chemicals, Products, and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware of the latest trends existent in the market. Reports and Data has a strong base of experienced analysts from varied areas of expertise. Our industry experience and ability to develop a concrete solution to any research problems provides our clients with the ability to secure an edge over their respective competitors. Contact Us: John W (Head of Business Development) Reports and Data | Web: www.reportsanddata.com Direct Line: +1-212-710-1370 E-mail: sales@reportsanddata.com Blogs | Press Release | Industry News | Our competencies Browse More Upcoming Reports @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/upcoming-reports Browse More Latest Reports @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/report Read Latest Press Release @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/press-release/global-medication-management-system-market The global Microbiology Testing Technology Market reached a size of USD 9.0 Billion in 2022 and is projected to experience an 8% annual growth in revenue, as indicated in the latest report by Reports and Data. The rapid advancement of innovative microbiological testing techniques has empowered healthcare professionals to more accurately and efficiently detect bacteria and diagnose diseases. Additionally, the increasing demand for fast and reliable testing processes in sectors like pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, and agriculture is fueling the expansion of market revenue. The rising adoption of cutting-edge molecular diagnostic methods, such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), has ushered in a transformative era in microbiology testing. These state-of-the-art technologies offer superior sensitivity, specificity, and speed compared to traditional culture-based approaches, resulting in quicker and more precise diagnoses of infectious diseases. Furthermore, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning algorithms into microbiology testing systems is enhancing the automation and accuracy of data analysis, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs. Access Free sample PDF Copy of the Report @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/download-free-sample/6834 Stringent governmental regulations and guidelines related to food safety, environmental monitoring, and pharmaceutical manufacturing are driving the demand for microbiology testing technologies. For instance, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the United States and the General Food Law of the European Union require routine microbiological testing of food products to ensure their safety and quality. Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend regular microbiological testing of water sources to mitigate the risk of waterborne diseases. Key players in the Microbiology Testing Technology Market: Becton, Dickinson and Company Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Qiagen N.V. Danaher Corporation Bruker Corporation Merck KGaA Abbott Laboratories PerkinElmer, Inc. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. Biomerieux SA Some Key Highlights in the Report: In 2022, the segment related to instruments played a significant role in generating revenue. This growth was primarily propelled by the escalating demand for more precise and efficient diagnostic tools within Clinical Microbiology laboratories. Crucial instruments like microscopes, incubators, autoclaves, and spectrophotometers are vital for identifying and analyzing microorganisms, thereby contributing to the revenue expansion within this sector. Furthermore, the continuous advancements in microbiology instruments, coupled with an increasing need for quick and accurate diagnostic outcomes, are expected to drive market expansion throughout the projected period. During 2022, the clinical application segment also held a substantial share of revenue. Several factors contributed to the expansion of this market, including the rising prevalence of infectious diseases, an increased demand for rapid and accurate diagnostic tests, and greater awareness regarding the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. Clinical microbiology testing plays a pivotal role in the identification, diagnosis, and management of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections. Ongoing enhancements in microbiology testing procedures, along with the growing adoption of molecular diagnostic techniques, are anticipated to propel market growth in this sector throughout the forecast period. In 2022, the North American market emerged as the leader in terms of revenue share within the microbiology testing technology market. The United States and Canada made significant contributions to this growth due to well-established healthcare infrastructure, a heightened focus on research and development, and an increasing need for improved diagnostic tools. The rising prevalence of infectious diseases and the growing demand for rapid and precise diagnostic solutions are key drivers of market expansion in the region. Additionally, the presence of major market players in North America and government support for research initiatives will further boost market revenue growth in this area. In 2021, Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired Mesa Biotech, a company specializing in point-of-care molecular diagnostic testing for infectious diseases, for $550 million. This acquisition aimed to expand Thermo Fishers portfolio in the field of molecular diagnostics. Also in 2021, Bio-Rad Laboratories purchased Celsee, a company specializing in microfluidic technologies for single-cell research, for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition was made to enhance Bio-Rads offerings in the single-cell analysis industry. In the same year, Becton, Dickinson and Company introduced the BD Veritor Plus System for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2, a COVID-19 antigen test providing results within 15 minutes. This technology is designed for use in point-of-care settings such as clinics and doctors offices. Get in detailed Research Study @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/microbiology-testing-technology-market For the purpose of this report, Reports and Data has segmented the global microbiology testing technology market on the basis of Product Type Outlook, Application Outlook, and Regional Outlook: Product Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Instruments Reagents & Kits Automated Systems PCR Technology Others Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022 2032) Clinical Food Testing Pharmaceutical Environmental Others Download Summary @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/download-summary-form/6834 Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2022-2032) North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Sweden BENELUX Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China India Japan South Korea Rest of APAC Latin America Brazil Rest of LATAM Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia UAE South Africa Israel Rest of MEA Ask for Customize Research Report @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/request-customization-form/6834 Some points on how the report benefits stakeholders: The reports include historical (20202021) and forecast (20222032) data points, revenues, and CAGR in table, figure, and chart formats, with detailed and qualitative, supporting written information for each. Revenue break-up is provided for each segment in these formats for global, regional, and for each country in the respective region for each year between 2019 and 2030. The report contains insights regarding growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, trends, company profiles, strategic developments, expansion details, product launches, and various other aspects related to the market. The report contains data and information on customers, competitors, vendors/distributors, and other players and in the global marketplace. Market research analysis is vital for all crucial business strategies and can aid in numerous ways and to provide a clearer understanding about strategies being deployed by competitors, product launches, competitive analysis, technological advancements and various other factors that enhance sales of a firm or perhaps provide insights to focus on merger and acquisition as a strategy or enter into strategic agreements or joint ventures etc. The report contains company profiles of the top companies operating in the market along with their respective revenue and operating segments, geographical reach, market footprint, headquarters, growth rates, recent developments, product /services, expansion strategies, investments in expansion, and more. Explore Latest Trending Research Reports By Reports and Datas Cell Surface Markers Market By Product Type (Antibodies, PCR Arrays, Flow Cytometry, Others), By Application (Research, Clinical Diagnostics, Drug Discovery), By Region Forecast to 2032 Electrocardiograph Market By Product Type (Resting ECG Machines, Stress ECG Machines, Holter Monitors, Event Monitors, Others), By End-use (Hospitals, Clinics, Ambulatory Care Settings, Home Use), By Region Forecast to 2032 Biocompatible 3D Printing Materials Market By Material Type (Metallic, Polymeric, Ceramic, Others), By Application (Dental, Medical Implants, Tissue Engineering, Others), By Region Forecast to 2032 Cartilage Repair Market By Procedure Type (Cell-based, Non-cell-based), By Treatment Type (Arthroscopic Chondroplasty, Osteochondral Grafts Transplantation, Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation, Microfracture, Others), By Application (Knee, Hip, Ankle, Others), By Region Forecast to 2032 About Reports and Data Reports and Data is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target, and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries, and help clients to make smarter business decisions. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across multiple industries, including Healthcare, Touch Points, Chemicals, Products, and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware of the latest trends existent in the market. Reports and Data has a strong base of experienced analysts from varied areas of expertise. Our industry experience and ability to develop a concrete solution to any research problems provides our clients with the ability to secure an edge over their respective competitors. Contact Us: John W (Head of Business Development) Reports and Data | Web: www.reportsanddata.com Direct Line: +1-212-710-1370 E-mail: sales@reportsanddata.com Blogs | Press Release | Industry News | Our competencies Browse More Upcoming Reports @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/upcoming-reports Browse More Latest Reports @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/report Read Latest Press Release @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/press-release/global-microbiology-testing-technology-market by Ray Schultz , September 3, 2023 A federal appeals court has upheld the so-called single publication rule, which states that defamation cases apply only to the original publication of a story, not to continued access on the web. In handing this victory to Gannett and Associated Press (AP), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld an earlier opinion by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. That ruling seems to conform with law across the country. The backstory is as follows: The nonprofit National Police Association (NPA) filed suit in 2021, challenging 2019 reporting by the Gannett paper The Indianapolis Star and AP that a handful of police departments around the country took issue with fundraising mailers the NPA sent residents, characterizing them as deceptive, the court wrote. advertisement advertisement The mailers reportedly stated that certain towns were sanctuary cities. Another question was whether money collected as a result of these mailers actually went to police departments. It is not clear that these articles were inaccurate or defamatory. But in approving a motion to dismiss the NPA case, the lower court found that there was no actual malice, or reckless disregard for the facts. However, In the year and a half after the two stories were published, the NPA began a campaign of extracting apparent retractions of the scam alerts the Star and the AP reported on, writes Circuit Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi in the opinion. But would this establish libel? The NPA challenges not the original publication of the articles, but the continued publication of them online after Publishers were notified that they were defamatory, Jackson-Akiwumi notes. In other words, the NPA argues that a claim of defamation predicated exclusively on events that happen after the article is published can be valid. Not so. Jackson-Akiwumi continues that the NPA appeal relies on a blank space in libel doctrine: how to deal with libelous content published online. But the opinion adds that the blank space is illusory; the single publication rule, which limits libel liability to the first publication of a work, has been applied to online material across the country, including in this circuit. The decision concludes, The NPA asks this court to reverse the district courts dismissal of its libel suit based on an untested, bespoke theory of liability based on an interpretation of the single publication rule that courts have consistently rejected. We decline this invitation. Advertisement Advances in Regulating Mental Health in Space Circadian rhythms, sleep, and performance in space - (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7799615) Chinese nationals, who sometimes posed as tourists, accessed U.S. military bases and other sensitive sites around 100 times in recent years, according to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper cited U.S. officials, who described the incidents as potential forms of espionage. Last year, the U.S. Department of Defense, FBI, and other agencies held a review to try to curb the frequency of these breaches, which involved unauthorized entries into US military bases and other federal sites, the newspaper reported. Most of the incidents took place in rural areas, away from tourist hotspots and commercial airports, according to the Journal. In one such incident, Chinese nationals were found scuba diving off Cape Canaveral, home to the Kennedy Space Center, per the Journal. At another site in Florida an intelligence center in Key West there have been repeated incidents of Chinese nationals posing as tourists swimming near the facility and taking pictures, officials said, according to the Journal. In at least one instance, an incursion there has led to arrests, with three Chinese citizens receiving prison sentences in 2020 after pleading guilty to illegally entering a naval air station in Key West and taking photos, the newspaper said. Other instances highlighted by the Journal include a group of Chinese nationals claiming to be tourists who tried to push past guards at Fort Wainright, Alaska, saying they had a reservation at a hotel on the base. The base is home to an army division focused on Arctic warfare, the newspaper said. However, other examples of gate-crashing appear relatively innocuous, said people familiar with the review. These involved Chinese nationals who claimed their Google Maps had directed them to the nearest fast-food restaurant, which happened to be near military bases, per the Journal. But officials noted to the Journal that many individuals who have been confronted by security officials have responded with language that appears scripted, saying they are merely lost tourists. On some occasions, Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough told the Journal, individuals gained access to a base by "speeding through" security checkpoints. "These individuals are often cited criminally, barred from future installation access, and escorted off-base," she said, per the newspaper. These incursions by Chinese nationals are a concerning and growing trend, US military officials told the Journal. Officials familiar with the practice told the Journal that they appear to be designed to test security practices at U.S. military bases and other sensitive federal sites. The White House, FBI, and U.S. Department of Defense did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comments. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Russia has likely proposed that North Korea participate in three-way naval exercises with China, according to a lawmaker who attended a closed-door briefing with the director of South Korea's top spy agency Monday. The briefing came days after Russias Ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, told Russian media that including North Korea in joint military drills between Russia and China seems appropriate. Matsegora added it was his own point of view and that he wasnt aware of any preparations, according to Russia's Tass news agency. According to lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, when South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyou-hyun was asked about the possibility of such drills, he said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu likely proposed holding trilateral naval exercises with North Korea and China while meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in July. Kim Jong Un invited Shoigu to a major military parade in Pyongyang in July while vowing to expand military cooperation with Moscow, which U.S. officials say could involve North Korean supplies of artillery and other ammunition as Russian President Vladimir Putin reaches out to other countries for support in his war against Ukraine. Last week, the White House said Kim and Putin exchanged letters as Moscow looked to Pyongyang for more munitions. Amid deepening nuclear tensions with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, Kim Jong Un has been trying to boost the visibility of his partnerships with Moscow and Beijing as he seeks to break out of diplomatic isolation and have Pyongyang be a part of a united front against the United States. Diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington has stalled since 2019 over disagreements over the crippling U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea and the Norths faltered steps to wind down its nuclear weapons and missiles program. In the briefing, the service director Kim Kyou-hyun also said that North Koreas recent testing activities suggest its warplanes were highly reliant on its tactical nuclear systems as its aims to achieve swift victory over the South if war breaks out, as its otherwise ill-equipped military would struggle to handle a prolonged war, according to lawmaker Yoo. Kim has used the international focus on Russias war on Ukraine to dial up his weapons demonstrations, which have included more than 100 missile launches since the start of 2022. Kims testing spree has been punctuated by verbal threats of pre-emptive nuclear attacks against South Korea and other rivals if the North perceives its leadership as under threat. CAIRO (AP) Sudans top military general held talks in Juba Monday with South Sudan's president on his second trip abroad since the war in his country started earlier this year. Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, chairman of the ruling Sovereign Council, arrived in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, Monday morning and was received by President Salva Kiir. Both leaders inspected an honor guard and then headed for talks that focused on regional efforts to find a settlement to the conflict in Sudan, according to the Sovereign Council. In April, simmering tensions between the military, led by Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital and elsewhere. The fighting has reduced Sudan's capital, Khartoum, to an urban battlefield, with neither side managing to gain control of the city. The military headquarters, where Burhan has purportedly been stationed since the conflict began, has been one of the epicenters of the conflict. In the western Darfur region the scene of a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s the conflict has morphed into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African groups, according to rights groups and the United Nations. Meanwhile, in his trip to Juba, Burhan was accompanied by acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq and Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, and other military officers, according to the Sovereign Council. South Sudans Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro said that the South Sudanese president has a solution "to resolve the conflict in Sudan, according to a statement by the South Sudanese presidency. It is known that President Kiir is the only person who has intimacy and knowledge about Sudan and can find a solution to the Sudanese crisis, Lomuro said. Al-Sadiq, the Sudanese acting foreign minister, meanwhile, was quoted as saying that South Sudan is the best candidate to meditate the ongoing conflict "because we have been one country for so long and we know each other, we know the problems and we know our needs. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long conflict. Early in the ongoing war in Sudan, South Sudans Kiir attempted to mediate between the warring generals, as part of an initiative by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-member regional bloc that includes Sudan. The Sudanese leader met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt last week in the Egyptian coastal city of el-Alamein. It was his first trip abroad since the war. The conflict is estimated to have killed at least 4,000 people, according to the U.N. human rights office, though activists and doctors on the ground say the toll is likely far higher. More than 4.8 million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. migration agency. Those include over 3.8 million who fled to safer areas inside Sudan and more than 1 million others who crossed into neighboring countries. On Monday, the United Nations and 64 other humanitarian agencies appealed for $1 billion to help over 1.8 million people expected to flee the war to five neighboring countries by the end of 2023. Those neighboring countries include Egypt, Chad, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The UNHCR said the funds are a two-fold increase of what was initially estimated in May, as displacement and needs continue to soar. The crisis has triggered an urgent demand for humanitarian assistance, said Mamadou Dian Balde, a regional director at the UNHCR. It is deeply distressing to receive reports of children dying from diseases that are entirely preventable, should partners have had sufficient resources. - Associated Press writer Deng Machol in Juba, South Sudan, contributed to this report. VIENNA (AP) Iran has slowed the pace at which it is enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels, according to a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog seen by The Associated Press on Monday. That could be a sign Tehran is trying to ease tensions after years of strain between it and the U.S. The confidential report comes as Iran and the United States are negotiating a prisoner swap and the release of billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in South Korea. However, international inspectors also noted new challenges in trying to monitor Iran's program. In an effort to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons, world powers struck a deal with Tehran in 2015 under which it agreed to limit enrichment of uranium to levels necessary for nuclear power in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. U.N. inspectors were tasked with monitoring the program. Then-President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the accord in 2018, saying he would negotiate a stronger deal, but that didnt happen. Iran began breaking the terms a year later. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in its report that Iran has 121.6 kilograms (268 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. That means its stockpile of the fuel is growing at its slowest pace since 2021. A report in May put the stockpile at just over 114 kilograms (250 pounds). It had 87.5 kilograms (192 pounds) in February. Irans mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran has maintained its program is peaceful, but the IAEA's director-general has warned Tehran has enough enriched uranium for several nuclear bombs if it chose to build them. Iran likely would still need months to build a weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies said in March that Tehran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device. The IAEA, the West and other countries say Iran had a secret military nuclear program it abandoned in 2003. Overall, the IAEA report estimated Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile at 3,795.5 kilograms (8,367 pounds). That's a drop from the last IAEA report, which put the stockpile at 4,744.5 kilograms (10,459 pounds). The stockpile reportedly declined because Iran diluted some of its enriched uranium. U.S. President Joe Biden has said he'd be willing to re-enter a nuclear deal with Iran, but formal talks to try to find a roadmap to restart the deal collapsed in August 2022. In the time since, Oman and Qatar have mediated indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. that led to the current planned prisoner swap and asset release. Under that proposal, anywhere from $6 billion to $7 billion, depending on exchange rates, would be changed from South Korean won into euros. The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid for oil purchased before the Trump administration imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019. The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts and Iran will only be able to use it for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. In exchange, Iran would release five Iranian-American prisoners now under house arrest. The U.S. likely will release Iranian prisoners as well, though those details remain murky. If that deal goes through, it could improve the chances of overall talks on the nuclear deal resuming though Biden already faces strident criticism from Republicans and others over the prisoner swap. While Iran has slowed enrichment, the IAEA reported other problems with trying to monitor its program. The report from the watchdog seen by the AP said Iran had denied visas for agency officials and affected their ability to work in other ways as well. Iran has not acknowledged the visa denials. The IAEA also hasn't been able to access surveillance camera footage since February 2021 under Iranian restrictions, while the only recorded data since June 2022 has been from cameras at a workshop in the Iranian city of Isfahan. ___ Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. How to use the mindat.org media viewer Click/touch this help panel to close it. Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image) Controls - all media types Zoom in and out of media using your mousewheel or with a two-finger 'resize' action on a touch device. Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen. < and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys. < and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys. > in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys. ? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key. Other keyboard shortcuts: 1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons Scalebar If the field of view (FOV) is specified for the photo, the scalebar appears in the left bottom corner of the viewer. The scalebar is draggable and resizeable. Drag the right edge to resize it. Double click will reset the scalebar to it's default size and position. If the scalebar is in default position, double click will make it circular. Controls - Video Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key. Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation) Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys. The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types. The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control. Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways: - without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method - with stereoscope - with anaglyph glasses. - on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system) For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them. Controls - photo comparison mode If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu. Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder. Summary of all keyboard shortcuts MILAN, MI -- Gamers should prepare for a brand new event that will soon be coming to Milan. The inaugural Milan-Mini Con will take place from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 45 Neckel Court and is open to all ages. Tickets are $10 per person at the door, while children 5 and under will be free. The convention will feature a board gaming room, a variety of local vendors, photos booths, a video game room and also food trucks like Little Caesars, Kona Ice and UnderWraps. There also will be a room available if attendees experience a sensory overload complete with gentle lighting and sensory-friendly activities. The event will donate proceeds to Unique Care Connect, a non-profit that focuses on helping and enhancing the lives of others with special needs through their programs and services. Adventure Ink, a local comic book store, is collaborating with Laura Russeau to bring the event and fundraising to life. Russeau said she often works to bring events to Milan on her own, but decided to approach Adventure Ink with this idea for a family-friendly concept. Adventure Ink Owner Jeffrey Harvey said he has been wanting to get back into hosting these kinds of events since his last convention in 2014. Were hoping there is a good community response and that everyone has a good time (and) ... want us to come back in the future, he said. Attendees can also expect professional cosplayers during the event, Harvey said, adding he recommends anyone interest can come dressed as their favorite character. Harvey said his hope is that Milan Mini-Con can become a recurring event for not only Milan, but the entire surrounding area. We would like to see more of these mini-cons in Milan in the future and get involved more with the community, he said. Milan has a lot of great small events so if we could add this to that repertoire that would be nice. Learn more about Milan Mini-Con online. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page, the Ypsilanti-area news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. Read more from MLive: Dexter resident launches spirits brand with plans to open 2 tasting rooms Peruvian restaurant is opening in former Broken Egg location in Ann Arbor A heavy toll. Nichols Arboretum reports nearly 100 full-grown trees lost in storm WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI - Prosecutors in Washtenaw County will work hand in hand with Michigans labor department to enforce workers rights and conduct joint investigations through a pioneering agreement inked on Thursday, Aug. 31, just ahead of Labor Day weekend. The partnership between the county prosecutors office and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity is the first of its kind between a county prosecutor and the state, according an announcement of the new memorandum of understanding. The prosecutors office is dedicated to pursuing justice when people are harmed, and I am excited that we have made further progress in fighting for worker protection, said county Prosecutor Eli Savit in a statement. Since his election in 2020, the reform-minded prosecutor has founded an economic justice unit targeting under-enforced financial crimes like wage theft as well as a broad spectrum of consumer protection issues. In 2022, his office also signed an agreement to work in tandem with federal labor officials to tackle workers rights matters covered under federal law. The new partnership represents a similar step at the state level. With both state and federal partnerships in place, Washtenaw County now has a no wrong door approach to workers rights. We are grateful to our governmental partners and look forward to collaborative work towards shared goals, Savit said. The agreement, signed at a union hall on Thursday, lets county prosecutors coordinate with the state department on investigations, collaboratively decide to bring local or state enforcement actions, share information and cross-train investigators and staff at least once yearly, according Savits office. Prosecutors have criminal jurisdiction and the state department has civil jurisdiction, so the partnership allows cases to be shared between the two depending on whats most appropriate, Savit said in an interview. Working together, officials can address issues like misclassification of employees as independent contractors, as well as wage and hour issues like tip theft, something that has already been reported to county prosecutors, Savit said. It will also help in cases where jurisdictions are complicated, he said, giving the hypothetical example of a worker who believes they arent being paid the wages they deserve but who lives in Washtenaw County, works for a Detroit-based construction firm and is on a job site in Jackson. With state partners, it bolsters our ability to address those together, Savit said. Theres already some communication between the departments, but the agreement could mean that coordination goes further. Certainly, protecting workers is at the heart of the work we do, and many of our statutes include provisions for referring cases to local prosecutors, said Sean Egan, LEOs labor deputy director. This partnership with Washtenaw builds on our efforts to help working people exercise their rights and protections to the fullest extent of the law. The state and county will also conduct joint outreach presentations and distribute publications to the community, comparing laws with overlapping provisions and jurisdictions. The efforts are meant to spread awareness about workers rights and wage and hour laws, officials say. Residents can file wage and benefit complaints with the state department via its website, and the prosecutors economic justice unit, led by Todd Ryan, maintains a form that can be used to report economic harms in Washtenaw county. This partnership strengthens our ability to help workers by leveraging local expertise with state resources to enforce the law, said Ryan in a statement. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page, the Ypsilanti-area news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. More from The Ann Arbor News: Housing development on Ann Arbors west side expected to rise 7 stories Hello, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan starts in the digital dark; DTEs Bermuda Triangle Gasoline-tainted soils removed from under road near Washtenaw County nature area Ann Arbor School Board to vote on superintendent settlement, resignation at next meeting WEST OLIVE, MI Amid large, last-minute cuts to the Ottawa County Department of Public Healths budget for next fiscal year, a rally is being held Wednesday to support the embattled department and its staff. The Public Heart for Public Health rally will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, at the county health departments offices at 12251 James St. in Holland. The rally is organized by Ottawa Integrity PAC, Zeeland Area Action Council and Progressive Lakeshore, which are groups opposed to Ottawa Impact, the far-right ruling majority on the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners. At least four people will speak at the rally, with speakers focusing on the vital services the public health department provides and how the proposed drastic cuts to the department budget threaten delivery of those services to the citizens of Ottawa County. Among those set to speak are Rob Davidson, an emergency room physician who ran an unsuccessful congressional bid as a Democrat in 2018 against U.S. Congressman Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland. The Ottawa County Department of Public Health faces significant budget cuts in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Related: Fear-mongering tactics: John Gibbs, Joe Moss blast criticism of health department budget cuts The cuts stem from a proposal earlier this month by Ottawa County Board Chair Joe Moss, who also leads Ottawa Impact, to reduce the departments share of general fund dollars from $6.4 million to $2.5 million. The health departments budget had grown since the COVID-19 pandemic and it was time to rein in spending, Moss has said. County Administrator John Gibbs soon after required the department to submit a new budget that was reduced by nearly half. The leader of the health department, Adeline Hambley, said the budget reductions would significantly impair, and likely eliminate, various public health services and the health departments ability to maintain public health and safety. Related: Ottawa County health department warns budget-slashing proposal could shut it down within weeks Moss and Gibbs said Hambley was engaging in disingenuous fear-mongering tactics. The countys fiscal services department is now crafting a budget for the health department without Hambleys input, according to the health officer. Hambley and the health department have long been a target of the Ottawa Impact commissioners, who campaigned on frustrations over COVID-19 mask mandates and pandemic restrictions. Hambley was not in charge of the county health department during the height of the pandemic. She took the lead at the department in late 2022. The Ottawa Impact commissioners have tried to replace Hambley without cause required under state law. Hambley is suing commissioners for doing so. That lawsuit is currently working its way through court. Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter. Read more on MLive: Resurfacing project on Ottawa County road to begin after Labor Day Hudsonville Ice Cream rolls out 4 new fall flavors inspired by Little Debbie snacks Michigans Boat and Beach weather: Yes to getting out and getting some hot sun SAGINAW, MI Saginaw police are investigating a shooting that occurred on the citys west side. The incident occurred on the 2400 Block of North Bond Street, with an alert sent by Saginaw County 911 at 8:22 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 4. According to the Michigan State Police, a major case unit has been requested to assist in the investigation. No further information was immediately available as of time of publication and no details have been released about potential victims or injuries. More from MLive: A Streetcar Named Desire pulls into Saginaw for September productions Wallet Watch: Why is Little Caesars pizza still being sold in Russia? Antelope killed by hippo at Michigan zoo was trapped in a tunnel, report states GRAND HAVEN, MI Twenty-five years after his first record-setting swim, Jim The Shark Dreyer is again looking to make history. At 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 4, Dreyer is will make a second attempt to become the first person to swim the width of Lake Michigan this time between Milwaukee and Grand Haven. For this attempt, however, the 60-year-old Dreyer will swim the 82.5-mile route without an escort boat. While the safety net of having my professional support team with me on the water is definitely preferred, there are times, in certain conditions, where I stand a better chance on beating the elements alone without concerns related to the escort boat, he said in a statement. There is only time for one more attempt this summer, and I do not want to risk the chance of what occurred last time happening again. Roughly 25 years ago, Dreyer first set a record for swimming the lake between Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and Ludington, Michigan, in 1998. During that swim, he became the first and still to this day only person to make a mid-lake crossing between the two states. Dreyer initially attempted to swim the route again in early August though called the endeavor off after encountering rough water conditions just 10 miles in. At that time, worsening lake conditions had swept Dreyer and his escort boat more than two miles off course. This time around, Dreyer will pull a 10-foot dinghy weighing 225-pounds from his waist as he attempts the swim using GPS technology. Should he need to, Dreyer will also have the ability to self-rescue, he said by getting into the dinghy and rowing it back to shore. In an emergency I could get in the dinghy and end the swim. I can send messages via satellite through my tracking device to my support team on both shores, Dreyer said. They will have rescue boats ready, and my dinghy is equipped to show up on radar. Even though I am alone, my team will still play an invaluable role when it comes to safety. I will not tie up U.S. Coast Guard assets to rescue me. Dreyers swim also has a charitable aspect, benefitting the Grand Haven Chapter and Western Lake Michigan Chapter of the U.S. Coast Guards Chief Petty Officers Association. The organizations support Lake Michigan Guardians, their families and communities on both shores. Those interested may track Dreyer on his swim online. More from MLive Injured starters in Michigans secondary could return vs. UNLV Rally scheduled to support embattled Ottawa County health department 20 Michigan communities with the most deer-vehicle crashes Amplify GR, virtual learning group offering $500 extracurricular scholarships Happy Labor Day, Wallet Watchers. Like those burgers on the grill, theres never a better day than today to serve up some sizzling economy news. From the latest update on food benefits, to advice on how you can make those student loan repayments and even a story about a popular Michigan pizza chain operating in a war-torn country. Heres your weekly recap: A Russian still serves pizzas despite Little Caesars cutting ties during war Little Caesars celebrated when it opened the first Russian franchise last January. Mere months later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Hundreds of companies exited Russia. And Little Caesars cut support of its new Moscow pizzerias. But hot slices are still being served in flat orange boxes. Bogdan Lomako, 41, the general manager of Russian franchises, says he has kept operating despite silence from Detroit-based Little Caesar Enterprises. Its a story of a businessman, a devastating war and a blockade designed to cripple the Russian economy. We will struggle, but we will survive, Lomako said. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 an unprovoked attack an exodus of major international brands followed. An estimated 500,000 troops and 9,000 civilians have since died in the bloody conflict as Russia tries to seize territory from its neighbor. More than 5 million Ukrainians have been displaced. More: A Russian still serves pizzas despite Little Caesars cutting ties during war Michigan exempt from new SNAP work requirements until 2024 Older adults will soon face new work requirements to qualify for food benefits as changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps, roll out this week. Under a debt ceiling bill signed by President Joe Biden in June, SNAP work-reporting rules will be gradually introduced to adults ages 50 to 54 starting Sept. 1. But Michigan wont see those changes yet. Michigan is currently exempt from the new rules under a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture until Feb. 29, 2024. SNAP requires adults ages 18 to 49 without children to prove they are working or enrolled in job training for at least 80 hours a month. There are exceptions for people who are pregnant, have children or have a work-limiting condition. Under the new federal law, most states will begin applying the work requirements to 50-year-olds on Friday, Sept. 1. This will increase to age 52 on Oct. 1 and be fully implemented to age 54 on Oct. 1, 2024. More: Michigan exempt from new SNAP work requirements until 2024 Challenges remain for women, Black innovators in EV industry led by white men On the eastside of Detroit sits the Dunamis Charge electric vehicle charger manufacturing plant, the first of its type in the nation to be owned by a Black woman. CEO and founder Natalie King said the journey to opening the plant last year is like the experience of every woman creating a space in the EV industry. You have the later phases of what entrepreneurs experienced as a whole... the late nights, the hard work, people to buy into the vision, King said. On top of that, were having to kind of jump through hurdles when youre in industries that have been historically dominated by men. King is one of a handful of diverse voices who have emerged as leaders in this rapidly growing EV space. Theres no comprehensive data available with industry demographics, but Amy Rogghe, executive director of the Michigan Electric Vehicle Alliance, said it has begun to include more women and people of color, although its still more male driven. More: Challenges remain for women, Black innovators in EV industry led by white men Where unemployment rates are lowest in Michigan as state hits 23-year low (Cant view the map? Click here.) Michigans unemployment rate was 3.6% in July 2023, signifying the states lowest rate in 23 years. An increase of about 63,000 jobs from this time last year brought the latest payroll jobs count to about 4.44 million, according to data provided this month by the governors office. Unemployment rates are estimates based on interviews conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. Department of Labor calculates the rate of any given area monthly by dividing the unemployed population estimate by the labor force (unemployed + employed) estimate and then multiplying the result by 100. Michigans seasonally adjusted unemployment rate would rank 39th lowest when compared to the rest of the country. New Hampshires rate was lowest at 1.7%, while Nevadas was highest at 5.3%. More: Where unemployment rates are lowest in Michigan as state hits 23-year low When do student loan payments start again? How you can prepare. About 43 million student loan borrowers are gearing up to pay their student debt bills for the first time in over three years. The pause on interest and payments was extended eight times during the pandemic, but that reprieve is nearing an end. Interest will start accruing on Sept. 1 and repayments will begin again Oct. 1. Many borrowers are bracing for the financial hit with the average monthly payment being $393 a month. Its estimated about 1 in 5 student loan borrowers will be at risk of struggling when payments resume, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Nathan Morales, a Grand Rapids area financial advisor who is certified student loan professional, says borrowers should explore their repayment options to make the transition easier. What matters to you more? Morales said. Is it paying it all off quickly? Is it lowering the monthly amount to live your lifestyle? Or is it to pay it off in less amount of time? More: When do student loan payments start again? How you can prepare. Interested in more economy news? Check out all our coverage of how the economy impacts people in Michigan here. Comedian and musician, David Oscar says dancehal musician Shatta Wale is envious of fellow musician Stonebwoy, following his recent attacks on him. Shatta Wale is currently stuck in his jealousy and envy of Stonebwoy, don't tell me it's showbizness, this is witchcraft. Tell him I say, that he will and can never ever be like Stonebwoy, Oscar wrote on Facebook. The remarks come after Shatta Wale slammed Stonebwoy, describing the latter as a curtain-raiser artiste. On the back of the comparison between Ghanaian and Nigerian musicians, Stonebwoy in a conversation with media personality Berla Mundi talked about the state of the Ghana music industry in light of the successful O2 Arena concert by Nigerian artiste Asake. In his narrative, Stonebwoy, along with others, asserted that the imposition of such pressures would yield no solutions unless the proper systems were established. He emphasised the need for increased industry awareness to foster its growth. However, in a video circulating on social media, Shatta Wale strongly rebuked Stonebwoys remarks. He argued that Stonebwoy was diminishing his own worth, and predicted that he would never attain the same level of respect and attention as top Nigerian artistes. Stonebwoy was asked if he was facing pressure, and he said no pressure, but awareness. You dress and do your Instagram photos like Burna Boy. Hasn't anyone told you? You are facing pressure, which is why you want to go on stage later, you want to be on stage at the same time as Wizkid? Look at what you did at Afro Nation Detroit. You were given time to come on stage, you wanted to go at the time you wanted. You allow yourself to be paid $10,000 while Burna Boy gets paid $300,000. Did you expect to be treated like an important person? You are just a curtain raiser!! You will never get the same platform as Wizkid, Davido, or Burna Boy, Shatta Wale fumed. But Oscar says he is jealous. -DGN online In The UK, summer is mostly celebrated wherever one goes depending on the conditions of the weather. And in London, the August-Bank-Holiday-Weekend is keenly celebrated with people throwing house parties, out-door-parties club ones and of course the main one which is the Notting Hill Carnival, for the Afro-Caribbean and the diaspora world. Also, within the Ghanaian community in London, there are other parties to celebrate the summer, and one of such parties, is The-Afro-Boat-Party, which comes off yearly. Standing still among the above-mentioned parties on one corner of the river Thames was The Afro-Boat-Party, which has been ongoing for the past nine years. Obviously, there are so many boats up and down the river Thames, but the Tereza Joan Boat seems to pique the interests of both the promoter and patrons alike. Welcoming patrons onboard the Tereza Joan Boat was a set by Clarke Pentoa who gave ravers an alternative mix of different songs as a warm-up session on the upper deck. Describing how the event took shape The PM as the main promoter said: It was amazing to first, get the DJs who I started with, to still be a part of this wonderful party. We had a different sort of speakers, so this time round the sound was spot on. On the upper deck, we had Clarke Pentoa doing his thing: playing alternative sounds as ravers troop in. We had POPs Grill set-up not too far from the DJ, making a good smell of African spices blowing through the air reminding us of how a good summer should be like, given the weather we had. Downstairs was me, DJ Kudjo and DJ Rexy. I started with some 90s Rhythm and Blues mid-tempo songs while waiting for the long queue to finish. DJ Rexy took over from me by playing some nostalgic songs on rotation before DJ Kudjo came in with some up-tempo Afrobeat which was good. Because by then, most people had finished dancing and eating on the upper deck and are ready to groove to some Amapiano music. In all, everything went exactly how it was supposed to be and how The Afro-boat Party was meant to sound. DJ Invisible passed through with some old school Bashment while zig zagging in-between Shabba Ranks, Beenieman, Buju Banton and many others. Papa Ruudy and his Versace Crew were seen on the upper deck while taking a refreshing glance of the planes landing and taking off right on the other side of the City Airport. So, this year's version brought along DJs such as Rexy, Invisible, DJ Phat, Pacman, The PM, and Clarke Pentoa. Each bringing their own style and taste of music selection and mixing to the delight and joy of some revellers. As the Chief Advisor of the event, Kobby Scratch was seen having a jolly good time given the events success with the General Overseer Madam Vee. According to The PM, the news that awaits patrons for the tenth year anniversary celebration is that: It will blow your mind, because we are heading to Miami for four nights with Virgin Voyage Cruise, starting on the 21st of August 2024 and people are happy about it. Concluding he said: We hope to get back on a moving boat because that is how we started, and I know people have missed that. Clickshot Pictures was in charge with regards to all the scenic view of the party as far as professional photography is concerned. Sandra Ababio 04.09.2023 LISTEN Kumawood actress, Sandra Ababio has disclosed that she got pregnant by a 50-year-old man when she was 22 years old. According to her, one Kay, a friend of her brother broke her virginity at 20. She revealed that she dated him for a while before she cheated on him with the old man who got her pregnant. She made the revelation on The Delay Show, which was aired on Sunday, September 3, 2023, when she spoke about her private life. I met someone called Kay; I got to know him through my elder brother because they were friends. I was 20 at the time and he was the one who broke my virginity. After he broke my virginity, I changed and started living my life, having fun, she disclosed. She continued that it was at that moment she met the old man. He showed interest in me and I said yes to him. I was still with Kay, cheating on him with the man and he [Kay] could call me on the phone expressing fury but I wouldn't be bothered. The man impregnated me. He was in Ghana after sixteen years of living in London. He was a mature man, almost 50 years old. He told me he's not married, she indicated. Sandra said the man had been showing interest in me but I wasn't giving him the attention. He seemed to have told some elderly men how he felt about me so whenever I went out to buy something, I would be told he had communicated his feelings to them. They would send me to deliver items to the man and that was how I got pregnant for him. She explained that she later discovered that the man lied to her. It was when I got pregnant that he told me he couldn't marry me because he wasn't divorced. He had come to do knocking after he impregnated me and I stayed with him at his house at Regimanuel Estate. We stayed under the same roof for about six years, she said. She concluded that she had a daughter and she is 15 years old now. She is also no longer with the father of her daughter. -DGN online Black's Law Dictionary 305 (4th ed. 1951) defines Chiropractic as: A system of healing that treats disease by manipulating the spinal column. A system of therapeutic treatment through adjusting of articulations of human body, particularly those of the spine. The specific science that removes pressure on the nerves by adjustment of the spinal vertebrae. Case law reasoned in Walkenhorst v. Kesler, (1937) that: Chiropractic is the system of therapeutic treatment of various diseases, through adjusting of articulations of the human body, particularly those of the spine, with the object of relieving pressure or tension on nerve filaments by operations performed with the hands, and without administration of drugs; a system of manipulation which aims to cure disease by the mechanical restoration of displaced or subluxated bones, especially the vertebrae, to their normal relation. Chiropractic: Court Perception on Practice In a country where medical negligence cases are becoming rampant, chiropractors are also not immune. Though, no cases exist in our courts. In the US, early court decisions were quite bitter and insolent. In Willette v. Rowekamp, 58 Ohio App. 465, 16 N.E, 2d 797, 799 (1938), an Ohio appellate court said: The human body constitutes too delicate a mechanism to permit unskilled, unscientific and unprofessional persons to tamper therewith under the guise of being able to cure malady, disease or injury. This means a chiropractor who has not been to school is dangerous to public health. Chiropractor Negligence The first area is the failure to diagnose a medical condition that demands immediate care. Case laws have recognized that chiropractors are not real doctors; whether educated or not. This means they are not mandated to diagnose your spine problem. Case Law Analysis on Diagnosis In Cucchiara v. Funicelli (New York 2020): The court dismissed a chiropractic malpractice lawsuit that alleged failure to diagnose adenocarcinoma of the skin on the decedents head and neck and referred him to an appropriate specialist. But the case is more about the plaintiffs failure to proffer enough evidence than the core issue of whether a chiropractor has a duty to spot cancer symptoms in a patient. Also, in Yagodinski v. Sutton (Nebraska 2021): The court specifically rejected the idea that a chiropractor is authorized to diagnose human disease without limitation. This means that a chiropractor should know their limitation and act accordingly. In Wallace v. La Vine, (1940), a chiropractor was held liable for negligence in applying a cast to a fracture. In Janssen v. Mulder, (1925), the Chiropractor accepted to treat a child suffering from diphtheria. The child later died and a suit was commenced. The respondent admitted he had no experience in bacteriological examinations. Hence, cannot differentiate diphtheria from typhoid fever, and could not also differentiate the symptoms of tonsilitis (the disease which the defendant had stated was the cause of the child's fever, according to the mother's testimony) and had not taken the child's temperature. The respondent testified that he had merely "adjusted" one vertebrae of the patient's spine and he stated, "We do not diagnose." The court held the defendant liable for failing or neglecting to ascertain the nature of the child's ailment before treating her. The court ruled that the chiropractor should have diagnosed the child before treatment. In Beech v. Hunter, 14 Tenn.App. 188 (1931), where the plaintiff was afflicted with Pott's disease, a tubercular eating away of the vertebrae that are easily recognizable in its advanced stages. The defendant diagnosed the ailment as a misaligned vertebra and was held liable for negligence in failing to determine the cause of the patient's ailment. The case was somehow different in Nelson v. Dalil, (1928) where the chiropractor was held not negligent where the plaintiff's intestate, who had a weak heart and a goiter, sought relief from headaches and died from heart failure due to toxemia, (namely, poison coming into the blood from the goiter) following chiropractic treatment. The court reasoned that the result in itself was not enough to show negligence and that the failure to diagnose did not indicate negligence, since the school of chiropractic limited its field of operation to the spine and made the abnormal normal, which "could seldom have harmful consequences." The holding of this court is in accord with the line of cases in which the "school of healing" standard is strictly followed, the reasoning being that chiropractic does not concern itself with "diseases" or "diagnosis" thereof, but only with "adjusting" or "subluxations." However, in Kuechler v. Volgmann, (1923), the court reasoned that a chiropractor will be judged according to the School of Drugless Professionals in treatment only based on the standard of care of the School of Chiropractic; but if the negligence is in diagnosis and treatment, the standard of care is that of a recognized school of the medical profession. In this case, the Wisconsin court is of the view that any diagnosis is outside the scope of chiropractic practice; and will be held to the standard of care of a medical doctor. In Treptau v. Behrens Spa, (1945); and Kuechler v. Volgnann, (1923), the court took judicial notice that the practice of chiropractic does not include diagnosis. Hence, in Bakewell v. Kahle, (1951), where a chiropractor attempted to diagnose, he was held liable for erroneously diagnosing a brain tumor as two misplaced vertebrae. The court did not recognize the fact that the chiropractor belongs to the school of drugless healing but noted that no good reason exists why the law applied to physicians, surgeons, dentists, and the like, should not apply to chiropractors. Hence, the court did not have mercy in Kelly v. Carrol (1950), where the defendant diagnosed the patient's complaint as a "reaction" and treated him with hot and cold packs and "sine wave" treatments. After the twelfth day, the defendant advised the patient's wife to call in a physician. The doctor diagnosed the ailment as appendicitis. The condition was so advanced that an operation was delayed, and eight days later the patient died. Though, in this case, the defendant was not a chiropractor, but a licensed drugless healer sanipractor and was held liable in a wrongful death action, the court approved the trial court's refusal to instruct on the "school of healing" standard of care. In this case, the court held that failure by a drugless practitioner to advise or refer the patient to a more appropriate treatment is a ground for negligence especially when the drugless healer knows the treatment is ineffective. The court laid down four "basic propositions" as the premises of its opinion: (1) a drugless healer is not a doctor; (2) drugless healers cannot qualify as expert witnesses as to matters in the general realm of medicine and surgery; (3) drugless healers do not belong to a school of medicine; (4) one who does not have a license to practice medicine and surgery is, nevertheless, liable for malpractice when he assumes to act as a doctor and is to be judged as if he were a doctor because of those acts. Reasoning from these principles, the court held that the "school of healing" standard does not apply to drugless healers, and if the drugless healer undertakes to treat a disease for which, in the highest level of medical science, there is a generally recognized treatment he will be held to the standard of care of the reasonably skilled and trained doctor of medicine and surgery. The court further held that when a drugless healer knows or should know that his method of treatment is not of a character productive of reasonable success, it is his duty to cease and to advise his patient to seek other relief. The court stated that the healer may be found negligent under this rule, although the patient knows that such a healer belongs to a school that will not use or advise the kind of treatment that is contended should have been given or advised. In Walkenhorst v. Kesler, (1937), the cause of action was held to have been sufficiently stated where the complaint alleged that the chiropractor had negligently failed to properly diagnose the patient's condition as a broken hip, but informed the patient that the pain he was suffering in his hip was merely rheumatism which was caused by portions of the patient's spinal column being out of alignment; and that the defendant failed to recognize symptoms of infections in the patient's hip, but informed him that he had a mere boil on his hip and not to worry. The court reasoned that the "school of healing" standard was inapplicable to a chiropractor on the ground that the regulatory statute did not recognize a division of the healing arts into "schools of healing." The court reasoned that: Their qualities are so far inferior to those of a doctor that the law will conclusively presume that they are not upon terms of equality which would entitle their opinions to cancel out the best medical opinion available." In other words, this court is among those that hold the "school of healing" standard inapplicable to drugless healers since they feel that such healers, because of their limited qualifications and methods, are dangerous as presently regulated and must be dealt with more strictly. Take home Chiropractors Need to Stay in Their Lane The courts have held that Chiropractors are not real doctors. Thus, they have to be dealt with in the event of negligence. I, therefore, urge Chiropractors to stay in their lane and refer where necessary. Where the chiropractor misrepresents as a Medical Doctor to the general public, it is presumed that the chiropractor has the requisite knowledge to lace the shoes of the Medical doctor in diagnosing and treating the patient and will be held to the test in the medical men profession. Schools across Cameroon are due to reopen on 4 September, but in English-speaking regions separatist militias have warned them to remain closed as they enforce a boycott. Separatists have been keeping kids out of class for the past six years through violent attacks, leaving parents afraid to send their children back but now religious leaders are calling for learning to resume. More than 700,000 children in Cameroon's two conflict-hit anglophone regions have endured disruptions to their education since late 2016. As a new school year starts, learning is at risk again. Fighting to create an independent anglophone state dubbed Ambazonia, separatists target civilians who do not observe their calls for school boycotts or general lockdowns. According to Human Rights Watch, school attacks are "systematic and widespread" in Cameroon's English-speaking North-West and South-West regions, and have resulted in the deaths or kidnappings of students and teachers, as well as the destruction of schools. In a report published in December 2021, the watchdog said that the attacks, the resulting fear and a worsening security situation have caused two-thirds of schools in the two regions to shut, denying over 700,000 students access to education. Back-to-school campaign Now religious leaders are urging parents to overcome their fears and send children back to school. The cross-faith campaign, titled "Stronger and better together", also calls on the government to ensure children can go back to school safely. "Children must go back to school," said Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda, capital of the North-West region. The archbishop, who also serves as the head of the Cameroon Bishops' Conference, called education a "fundamental right". "The best way to ensure the future of our country is via education. The only way to ensure the goodness and well-being of families is via education. So classes must continue," he said in a video message. Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo, a hotbed of separatist violence, addressed those enforcing the school boycott directly. "Please, let our children go back to school," he pleaded. Schools 'banned' The separatists who called for a school boycott in the first place are now saying that only private and mission schools can function. Capo Daniel, president of the Ambazonia People's Rights Advocacy Platform and commander-in-chief of the Ambazonia Dark Forces one of the many separatist armed groups operating in the English-speaking regions told RFI that "all government schools are banned in Ambazonia". The separatists object to lessons delivered in French under the francophone central government's curriculum. The boycott is also intended to pressure the government to concede to their demands. Daniel didn't say what would happen if government-managed schools open their doors, but separatists have a history of setting schools ablaze, kidnapping teachers and students and sometimes killing them. In their video message, Christian and Muslim leaders said grievances should not get in the way of learning. No one "has the right to deny our children the right to an education", said Fonki Samuel Forba, moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, urging parents and the government to work together to uphold that right. "We should create an enabling environment where children can go to school peacefully," agreed Reverend Charlemagne Nditemeh, of the Cameroon Baptist Convention. The immediate past National Vice Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress and former Ghana's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt under the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, H.E Alhaji Said Sinare has posited that the NPP has not progressed beyond the rationale of its ideological origins. He noted that the NPP but rather turned out to be a mere ballot paper alternative to the NDC as far as the development of the country is concerned. In a Facebook post, Alhaji Said Sinare stated that, After nearly seven years in power, the NPP has no ideological identity, no policy coherence, and no track record of responsible governance that would address the plights of Ghanaians. He noted that the party has remained an embarrassing ideological proposition and oddity to the people of this country. His comments follow his position on the just-ended presidential primaries of the NPP held on August 26,2023 where H.E Alhaji Bawumia emerged as the winner. According to him, the emergence of Dr. Bawumia in the recent primaries has confirmed his position the NPP party is a ballot paper alternative. He said it is gross political error to elect Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at the super delegates conference of the NPP after he had plunged this country into an economic quagmire as the head of the economic management team of the country. "The central bank for the first time in Ghana's history built an office complex worth over USSD250million after recording a historic loss of over GHS60bn, while ordinary Ghanaians don't have the purchasing power to afford just a square meal a day," he stated. The founder of Zongo for NDC, H.E Alhaji Said Sinare has said NDC's 2024 presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama will defeat anyone presented by the New Patriotic Party. Appealing to Ghanaians to return his National Democratic Congress to power, Alhaji Said Sinare mentioned that it was important for Ghanaians to pitch their tent with John Dramani Mahama who has the ability to rescue the country from her current travails. 04.09.2023 LISTEN Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has said the outcome of the New Patriotic Partys Super Delegates Conference was devoid of any form of manipulation. According to the majority leader, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia won the elections fairly. Speaking in an interview on Asante Ennin on Akoma FM in Kumasi, he expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the first round of his partys presidential race. We all hear what is coming out with some people accusing some of the aspirants of trying to manipulate the elections even though every objective person will realize that to a very large extent, this was a very keenly contested election and that freeness and fairness can be attested to, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated. He admitted that though there were some infractions during the election, generally delegates and party members comported themselves. Some persons related to some candidates have made comments suggesting that the polls were manipulated at some polling centers. However, the Member of Parliament for Suame who supports Dr. Bawumia, says attempts by some of the candidates to taint the victory of Dr. Bawumia will not succeed. The party is expected to elect the 2024 flagbearer on Saturday, November 4. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Sunday discussed the "functioning" of a sea corridor set up by Kyiv for safe navigation of ships after Moscow exited a landmark grain deal. Their phone call came on the eve of a summit in Russia between President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who wants to revive the grain deal. "We discussed ways to ensure the functioning of the grain corridor and enhance the security of the Odesa region," Zelensky said on social media. Zelensky also thanked Macron for France's "crucial military aid" to Kyiv and said the pair "discussed the next packages." Ukraine this week said four more ships had gone through its temporary maritime corridor in the Black Sea, which it had set up last month to ensure safe navigation. Erdogan is due to meet Putin in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday, amid hopes for the revival of the deal. 'Unjustified' attacks Following the collapse in July of the United Nations-brokered deal, Russia has ramped up attacks on Ukraine's southern Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, home to ports and infrastructure that are vital for the shipment of grain. On Sunday, Moscow hit a Danube port on the border with NATO member Romania in an attack condemned by Bucharest. Ukraine said Russia used Iranian-made Shahed drones, saying it downed 22 of them. Kyiv also said that at least two people were wounded in attacks on "civilian industrial" infrastructure. The Russian army said it had targeted "fuel storage" facilities in the Ukrainian port of Reni, which lies on the Danube river that separates Ukraine from Romania. Reni which also lies close to Moldova is a sea and river port and important transport hub. Bucharest's defence ministry said the attacks were "unjustified and in deep contradiction with the rules of international humanitarian law". It also stressed that the Moscow drone attacks did not "generate any direct military threat to the national territory or territorial waters of Romania." Neighbouring Moldova called the attack "brutal." "Russia must be held accountable for every piece of infrastructure destroyed," Chisinau's pro-EU President Maia Sandu said on social media. 'Everything is ahead of us' The Odesa region attacks came as Kyiv this week reported some successes on the southern front of its counteroffensive. On Wednesday, Kyiv said it had recaptured the village of Robotyne, calling it a strategic victory that would pave the way for its forces to push deeper into Russian positions towards Moscow-annexed Crimea. General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, leading the southern counteroffensive, told The Guardian newspaper this weekend that Kyiv's army has made an important breakthrough by breaching Russian lines near Zaporizhzhia. "We are now between the first and second defensive lines," Tarnavskiy who led Ukrainian troops to liberate the southern city of Kherson told the UK paper. Heavily mined territory had slowed Ukrainian troops, saying that sappers had cleaned a route by foot and at night. The paper quoted him as saying that Kyiv's forces are now back on vehicles and that Russia has redeployed troops to the area. "But sooner or later, the Russians will run out of all the best soldiers," Tarnavskiy said. "Everything is ahead of us." He admitted difficult losses for Kyiv, saying that "we are losing the strongest and best." (with newswires) The 2020 running mate of the NDC, Hon. Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang on 2nd September, 2023, represented the former President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. John Mahama at the Gomoa Fetteh Ahorbaa Kese Festival in the Central Region. The former Vice Chancellor and Minister for Education commended the Chiefs and people for their outstanding contributions to all sectors in their jurisdiction, with special emphasis on education. As part of her speech, the former Minister encouraged the students to be more serious and disciplined in all aspects of life. The Hon. Professor again called on all who have attained the age of eighteen years to get their names registered in the upcoming limited voter registration. The former minister acknowledged the challenges these new registrants will go through, trying to register at their district offices, especially when they form a great portion of the unemployed in the country, and those who live far away from the proffered destination of registration. She called on all those voices who used to speak so loudly and effortlessly against issues that they considered inimical to the public good not to fail the country. The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture says it will support the 2023 Manya Krobo Ngmayem Festival, with the aim of projecting and ensuring the success of this year's celebration. Hon. Mark Okraku Mantey, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, emphasised the importance of supporting age-old and culturally rich festivals like Ngmayem to boost local and national tourism. He highlighted the commitment of the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Partys (NPP) government to move tourism from its current position as the third contributor to the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the number one spot. He said, Traditional festivals are crucial to achieving this target hence the deliberate efforts by the government and the tourism ministry to support initiatives geared toward repositioning and projecting festivals such as Ngmayem of the Chiefs and people of Manya Krobo. Hon. Mantey made these remarks during the launch of the 2023 Manya Krobo Ngmayem Festival on Thursday, August 24, 2023 at the Volta River Authority (VRA) Club House at Akuse in the Eastern Region of Ghana on the theme Development in Unity: Reviving Patriotism through Unification." Addressing the gathering, he assured, "I am here to share with you the news that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, led by Hon. Ibrahim Awal, who I deputize will see to it that the forthcoming festival will be a success. I give you my word that the ministry will back you full time; just let us know what you need from us, and we will assist to ensure its success." Gilbert Nene Odjidjia, Chairman of the 2023 Ngmayem Festival Planning Committee who walked the gathering through the impressive line-up of activities for the main celebration emphasized that this year's event would incorporate a harmonious blend of fresh ideas and time-honoured traditional activities to create an even more engaging celebration. In contrast to previous years, new additions have been introduced, including a regatta (canoe racing) on the Volta River at Kpong in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality, a farmers market displaying a variety of agricultural products, a food bazaar showcasing local cuisines, and a musical concert, among others. Mr. Odjidja also noted that the festival would also be used to wrap up the Silver Jubilee celebration of the enstoolment of The Konor, Nene Sakite II which was earlier launched and marked with a series of activities including the launch of The Konors maiden book on the interplay between the gospel and culture. Privately known as Mr. Seth Larnor Nyako, Nene Sakite who was enstooled The Konor of Manya Krobo in December 1998 succeeded the late Oklemekuku Azzu Mate-Kole, who reigned from 1939 to 1990. The National Identification Authority (NIA) has announced that it is opening its regional offices in various parts of the country to allow eligible Ghanaians who have not been able to register for their Ghana cards to do so. Last month, the Authority started what it called Phase I of registration to create the opportunity for an estimated 250,000 260,000 public sector workers on Government of Ghana payroll to get registered. The registration which was expected to last 10 days saw a surprisingly low turnout with only 87 people availing themselves for registration. As a result, Phase I of the registration which should have ended on September 8 has been truncated for Phase II to begin. In a press release from the NIA, it has announced that Ghanaians aged 15 years and above can visit all districts and some designated regional offices to get registered free of charge. As a result, effective tomorrow, Monday, 4th September 2023, Phase II of the Ghana Card Registration exercise will commence, and all Ghanaians aged 15 years and above are eligible to register for the Ghana Card free charge as first-time applicants at any of the NIAs 276 District Offices across the country. This free registration service is also available at NIA Regional Offices in Accra, Bolgatanga, Cape Coast, Dambai, Damongo, Goaso, Nalerigu, and Wa, parts of the NIA release said on Sunday, September 7. The release added, For the avoidance of doubt, the free service for first-time applicants will NOT be available in the following NIA Regional Offices which currently operate as Premium Registration Centers: Ho, Koforidua, Kumasi, Sunyani, Sefwi-Wiawso, Takoradi, Tamale and Techiman. Find more from the NIA release below: NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AUTHORITY(NIA) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NIA Truncates Phase I of the Ghana Card Registration, Commences Phase II Tomorrow The National Identification Authority (NIA) announces for the information of the general public that Phase I of the Ghana Card Registration exercise, which was exclusively reserved for first-time applicants who are Public Sector Workers on the Government of Ghana (GoG) Payroll, has come to an end. Phase I of the exercise, originally planned to last for ten (10) days (i.e., from 28th August to 8th September 2023), has been truncated as a result of the unexpectedly low turnout. The decision to apportion ten (10) days for Phase I was based on the figures provided by the Controller and Accountant Generals Department, estimating 250,000 260,000 Public Sector Workers on GoG Payroll to participate in the Phase I. Unfortunately, only 87 of the targeted beneficiaries presented themselves for registration. Thus, Phase II of the registration exercise will begin tomorrow, Monday, 4th September 2023. This is to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public resources, and to ensure that other members of the public are able to access NIAs services As a result, effective tomorrow, Monday, 4th September 2023, Phase II of the Ghana Card Registration exercise will commence, and all Ghanaians aged 15 years and above are eligible to register for the Ghana Card free charge as first-time applicants at any of the NIAs 276 District Offices across the country. This free registration service is also available at NIA Regional Offices in Accra, Bolgatanga, Cape Coast, Dambai, Damongo, Goaso, Nalerigu and Wa. For the avoidance of doubt, the free service for first-time applicants will NOT be available in the following NIA Regional Offices which currently operate as Premium Registration Centers: Ho, Koforidua, Kumasi, Sunyani, Sefwi-Wiawso, Takoradi, Tamale and Techiman. Replacement and Update services at the non-premium centres attract a statutory fee of GH34.50. NIA also announces that it has resumed the Household and Institutional Registration services for households of five (5) or more Ghanaians, and institutions of 50 or more Ghanaians at a cost of 150ghs per applicant for the Household and 100ghs per applicant for the Institutional Registration. For more information and updates on the registration process, please visit our official website at www.nia.gov.gh or contact our call hotline at (0302 999306 9, 0302, 0302 738333, 0242 438 615). End Corporate Affairs Directorate 3rd September 2023 The Accra High Court's recent order requiring the restoration of Cecilia Dapaah's seized money within seven days has drawn criticism against the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) led by Kissi Agyebeng. Richard Ahiagbah, the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Director of Communications, asserts that the OSP should carry out his duties in accordance with Ghana's constitution rather than feeding into media hype. In an interview with Joy News, he stated that there is no foundation for judging in the absence of proof. I think the Special Prosecutor has been very untidy with this whole case and getting its lungs filled with the oxygen of public interest in the matter and its affecting how it should approach this matter. He should take less interest in the media and focus on his job, Richard Ahiagbah stated. The Financial and Economic Division of an Accra High Court on Thursday, August 31, ordered the Office of the Special Prosecutor to return all monies seized from the embattled former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah. The Court ordered that its ruling be complied within seven days. But in response to the Courts order, the OSP in a statement said it respects the directive but disagrees. It described the court ruling as erroneous. While the OSP respects the Courts decision, it disagrees with the decision of the Court. First, the OSP believes that the Courts computation of the time limitation is, with respect, erroneous. The OSP searched three (3) private residences associated with Ms. Dapaah over the course of two (2) weeks. The searches and discovery were ongoing during that period. There is little doubt that the OSP filed its application within the statutory window once the search and discovery window is considered, Kissi Agyebeng stated. The OSP clarified that its decision to freeze the accounts was not based on public sentiments as it is purported. The freezing order was not based on public sentiments. Rather, it was based on court processes filed in a criminal matter before the Circuit Court, Accra involving Ms. Dapaah as the complainant. Further, the freezing order was effected to aid the investigation, as required by law, not on the basis of the investigation, as indicated by the Court. Therefore, it cannot be said that the OSP did not carry out proper investigations to warrant the freezing order. The investigation has only commenced, and it is ongoing, the statement added. The OSP is investigating Madam Dapaah for corruption and corruption-related offences following the revelation that she was keeping huge sums of cash at home. Mr Paul Boateng 04.09.2023 LISTEN The Chief Executive Officer for the African Center for Security, Mr Paul Boateng has blamed the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the recent coup d'etat in the sub-region. The renowned security expert has observed that President Akufo-Addo during his reign as the Chairperson of ECOWAS together with other heads of member states failed to respond pragmatically to the insurgency of military takeovers in West Africa, making it contagious on the bloc. Mr Paul Boateng was speaking to Captain Koda on the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM's morning show 'Nyansapo' on Friday September 1, 2023 in reaction to the recent coup d'etat at Gabon. According to him, ECOWAS decision to soften its stands and allow Mali's Military Junta to join the bloc's meeting in 2022 was a bad idea. "If you do a critical analysis of the recent military interventions in West Africa, you will come to the realization that some decisions by ECOWAS contributed to all these unfortunate coups. "When Colonel Asimmi Goita seized power from President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in the 2020 Malian coup d'etat, we saw the Akufo-Addo chaired ECOWAS who shared numerous of photos of some ECOWAS leaders with the Malian Military leader on social media after meeting him, and this is something I must say fueled other coups on the bloc. "With President Akufo-Addo's background as a former Foreign Affairs Minister and his understanding of international politics, he ought to have known that, the ECOWAS had to engage the leadership of Mali's coup underground without coming to public with pictures which depict romance between the two groups," he stated. The Security Expert stated emphatically that, there could be more military takeovers if ECOWAS failed to sit up and proffer the right antidotes to the rampant coup d'etat in the sub-region. France has flown five Afghan women who had been "threatened by the Taliban" to Paris, where they are due to arrive this Monday. According to French immigration authority chief Didier, a presidential order has ensured "special attention is being paid to women who are primarily threatened by the Taliban because they have held important positions in Afghan society ... or have close contacts with Westerners. This is the case for five women who will arrive today." The women include a former university director, an ex-NGO consultant, a former television presenter, and a teacher at a secret school in Kabul. One of the women is accompanied by three children. Evacuations 'likely to be repeated' The women had been unable to leave Afghanistan on airlifts to Western countries when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. They fled to neighbouring Pakistan where they sought temporary refuge and from there, the French authorities organised their evacuation. Once they arrive in France, they will be registered as asylum seekers and given housing while their applications for refugee status are considered, Leschi said. He also added that such evacuations were "likely to be repeated" for other Afghan women with a similar profile. Former Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, has urged members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to reconsider their decision to boycott the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC). The NDC had withdrawn from participating in IPAC after the 2020 general elections, alleging that the EC exhibited bias in favour of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and overseeing the manipulation of the election results. Speaking at the 3rd Annual Conference of the NDC Lawyers Association in Akosombo, in the Eastern Region, Dr. Afari Gyan emphasised the value of IPAC as a platform for political parties. He urged the NDC to re-engage with the committee, highlighting the benefits it offers. "The IPAC makes it possible for political parties to understand and contribute to the crucial activities carried out by the Electoral Commission. It provides a forum to address the concerns of political parties and contribute to the development of subsidiary legislation. I appeal to the NDC to return to IPAC. Even if your ideas are not adopted, please participate and make your ideas heard. In some cases, IPAC is the platform for stakeholder dialogue, aiming for a shared ownership of the electoral system," he stated. Dr. Afari Gyan stressed that Ghana's electoral system provides multiple opportunities for political parties to engage in processes that promote free and fair elections. -Classfmonline The Chief Executive Officer of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Franklin Cudjoe has expressed worry about the appointment of pro-political judges to work in courts in the country. In a post on Facebook, he said the records show that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has outdone his predecessors as far as appointing pro-political judges is concerned. This he insists is not cool. I do worry gravely that our courts get packed with pro-political judges. And records show Nana Addo has out done all his predecessors by a factor of five. Not cool, Franklin Cudjoe said in his post. The issue of the appointment of pro-political judges has become topical in the country in the last few days. This is after former President John Dramani Mahama accused President Akufo-Addo of packing NPP-inclined judges into various courts to avoid accountability. Currently, the judiciary is packed with NPP-inclined judges because this government has carried out a deliberate policy of putting their people onto the bench. He has appointed the biggest number of judges onto the bench, it is more than 80 towards 100 and counting. You can see what the current president has done. He has packed the court, and we know they have packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office, Mahama said. He was addressing the closing ceremony of the 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Saturday, September 2. 04.09.2023 LISTEN Senior lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo has expressed displeasure about the silence of the clergy on pressing national issues. In a straight-to-the-point post on Facebook, Prof. Gyampo opined that the Ghana Bar Association and Christian Council have become the parents of hypocrisy. According to him, Civil Society Organisations are also gradually becoming the children of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy! The Ghana Bar Association and Christian Council are the parents. Gradually, Civil Society are becoming the Children, Prof. Ransford Gyampo said in his post. Professor Ransford Gyampo has been consistent in criticising and commending government and government officials when necessary. Last week, he shared his view on the investigations into the leaked audio tape of the plot to remove Dr. George Akuffo Dampare from his role as the Inspector-General of Police. In a post on Facebook, he said the quest for any opportunity to promote partisan interest in a manner that can jeopardize the national interest and undermine Ghanas peace must be killed when exposed or publicly confessed. This was after COP George Mensah, one of the Police officers in the leaked audio told the Parliamentary Committee that Dampare is the worst IGP he has seen since becoming an officer in the past 31 years. For Prof. Ransford Gyampo, any description of the current IGP as the worst is a palpable display of mental dementia. An Accra Circuit Court has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a financial analyst in connection with an alleged GHC444,400.00 fertilizer fraud. Kenneth Barnes, 36, who allegedly took money from Mr Frinjuah Obed Peter under the guise of supplying him with 7,000 bags of fertilizer, was expected to appear in Court on Monday, August 28, 2023, but failed to show up, This resulted in the order issued by the Court presided over by Mr Isaac Oheneba-Kuffour at the request of the Prosecution. He is to be brought to the Court on September 5, 2023. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Emmanuel Nyamekye told the Court that Mr Frinjuah, the complainant, is a nurse living in Bawku. Barnes, the accused person is a Financial Analyst and the Chief Executive Officer of Mybarnes limited, living at Amasaman, Accra. He said in June 2021, Frinjuah was introduced to Barnes as a fertilizer dealer. Barnes then assured Frinjuah that he could supply him with any quantity of fertilizer he needed. The Court heard that Frinjuah informed his friends and relatives, who showed interest and gave him various sums of money for the purchase of the fertilizer. DSP Nyamekye said Frinjuah requested 7,000 bags of fertilizer from Barnes for GHC444,400.00 and paid GHC434,400.00 in a Consolidated Bank of Ghana (CBG) account number and GHC10,000.00 in a Momo account of Barnes company. Barnes acknowledged receipt of the funds and promised to deliver the fertilizer within a month, but he did not. Frinjuah then demanded a refund of the money and Barnes promised to pay within three weeks and also failed to do so. He lodged a complaint to the Police which led to Barnes' arrest. After investigation he was charged with the offence and put before the Court. GNA The Police have arrested another person in connection with the theft of 12 laptop computers from the headquarters of Ghana Reinsurance at Ridge in Accra. Patrick Deh was arrested days after his accomplice, Florent Nii Otu Quarshie, was arraigned and granted bail. In an amended charge sheet before the court on August 30, 2023, Quarshie, Porter and Deh, unemployed, have been jointly charged with conspiracy to commit crime, unlawful entry and stealing. They have pleaded not guilty. Quarshie, however, amused the audience at the court when he said Deh was not his accomplice In fact, Deh does not know anything about the case. He is innocent. The court presided over by Mr Isaac Addo admitted them to bail in the sum of GH70,000 each with two sureties each. One of the sureties should be a public/ civil servant earning not less than GHC1,500. The prosecution was ordered by the court to file their disclosures. Meanwhile, the prosecution led by Chief Inspector Jonas Lawer has prayed for the court to grant a longer adjournment to enable them to secure the expert's fingerprint report. The court obliged the prosecution's request and adjourned the matter to October 4, 2023. An accomplice, Kwabena Apoba, who is at large, has been charged with dishonestly receiving the 12 computers. Police Chief Inspector Jonas Lawer said the complainant Kwame Asare Nkansah Abankwah was a staff of Ghana Reinsurance PLC Ridge, Accra. The prosecution said Quarshie was a porter residing at Old Fadama and Apoba, a bar operator at Agbogbloshie. It said on June 19, 2023, at about 0825 hours, the complainant and her colleagues arrived at work and discovered that thieves had broken into their offices and stolen 12 computers. During investigations, the police received CCTV footage of the theft. According to the prosecution, Quarshie was seen in CCTV footage entering the offices on the basement floor, ground floor, and first floor, and exiting through the emergency entrance. It said the footage indicated that Quarshie was seen carrying two 'Ghana Must Go' bags. On July 26, 2023, the prosecution said the police received information that Quarshie was involved in another case and had been detained by the police at Nima. During interrogation, Quarshie admitted the offence and mentioned one Patrick as an accomplice. Quarshie told police that he and Patrick sent the laptop computers to Agbogbloshie and sold them to Apoba, and that he received GHc2,500 as his share of the booty sale. The prosecution said Quarshie led the police to Agbogbloshie, where he said his accomplices lived, but no one was found. It said Quarshie was unable to lead the Police to Apoba, the third accomplice who he claimed dishonestly received the loot. The prosecutor stated that Quarshie demonstrated how he committed the offence at the crime site. However, intelligence led to Patricks arrest, and Quarshie identified him as his accomplice. It said efforts were underway to apprehend Apoba. GNA Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee probing the alleged plot to remove from office the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, says the Committee could invite Dr Dampare to respond to certain questions and concerns raised by the witnesses. Addressing the media in Parliament, Mr Atta Akyea explained that the possible invitation of the IGP was to enable the developing and stretching out of evidence. This is because of the fact that what we should place before the plenary should not be shoddy and one-sided, he said. If the presence of the individual will give the relevance to the fact-finding exercise, we will do that. Mr Atta Akyea, however, did not give the date the committee would invite the IGP. He told the media that if it became imperative that the Committee opted for an in-camera hearing to obtain security-sensitive information from Commissioner of Police (COP) George Alex Mensah, a witness, that would be done. We will because the man has a lot to say, but it would be improper to say so on air, he said. Appearing before the Committee for the second time on Friday, COP Mensah, a former Director-General in-charge of Technical, Ghana Police Service, alleged that the IGP was responsible for the tape recording. According to COP Mensah, his intelligence suggested that what was used to tape his conversation with Mr Daniel Bugri Naabu, a former Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was done by Dr Dampare. He sent some people to do it, and after which he went for the tape. So, the tape, from my intelligence, is with the IGP and he caused it to be leaked, he said. If this committee wants the tape, the right person is the IGP . This was revealed after Mr Atta Akyea had asked COP Mendah if he had the complete tape on grounds, particularly, when he kept telling the committee that the tape in its possession was not complete. Mr Atta Akyea also asked the witness if he had the proof to back what his intelligence told him, or it was hearsay. Responding COP Mensah said: This is not just something I believe it to be true, but Mr Chairman, I would not want to say it here, but I can tell the committee in camera but not here. Mr Naabu also the Paramount Chief of Namong in the North East Region in the Mamprugu Kingdom, during his public hearing, cited three police officers as engaging in the conversation. They are COP George Alex Mensah, Superintendent George L. Asare and Superintendent Emmanuel Eric Gyebi. On Tuesday, July 11, 2023, an audio recording, allegedly involving a police commissioner and a politician discussing a plot to remove IGP Dampare from office leaked. Consequently, the Minority Caucus in Parliament called for a probe into the leaked tap, based on Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, on July 25, constituted a seven-member bi-partisan Committee to probe it. The Committee, which has up to September 10, 2023 to report back to the House, is made up of three members each from the Majority and Minority sides of Parliament, and a technical person. It is chaired by Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, an NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa South, with Mr James Agalga, a National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Builsa North as the Vice-Chairman. It has Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah, NPP MP for Okaikwei Central; Madam Ophelia Mensah, NPP MP for Mfantseman; Mr Eric Opoku, NDC MP for Asunafo South, and Mr Peter Lanchene Tuobu, NDC MP for Wa West as members. Dr Isaac Lartey Annang, a lawyer and a human rights activist, is the technical person assisting the committee. GNA 04.09.2023 LISTEN As Niger's new military leaders show egregious-French-greed the red card, by kicking out its ambassador to Niger, and also refuse to sell France any more uranium, the people of Niger, can finally begin the journey to an equitable society, free from the bondage of French rip-off, neocolonialist egregious-exploitation, of their nation's mineral wealth. The building-blocks of the African Renaissance are gradually being put into place, for an Africa, free from selfish and callous leaderships, lol. Marvellous. Finally, dear critical--reader, the era of the accursed big-thieves-in-high-places, Africa's sodden state-capture rent-seekers - who are the fifth-columnist local lackeys, of foreign powers, forever promoting foreign interests, at Africa's masses' expense, and robbing their nations' blind, to send their personal net worth to stratospheric heights - is now drawing to a close, lol. Wow. Brilliant! Vice Chancellor of the Tamale Technical University, Professor Abass Braimah has advised Ghanaian youth to be disciplined and prepare towards future opportunities. According to him, discipline helps in improving wellbeing and attracting socio-economic development to an individual or group of people in society. "When growing up as young people you need to be disciplined in all aspects of life. Addressing leadership of the Dagbon Student's Association (DASA) of the University when they paid him a visit in appreciation for attending their 2023 handing-over ceremony, he admonished Students to be focused and inculcate good moral behavior. He stated that without discipline and focus it would be elusive for an individual to attain a planned ambition. Professor Abass urged Ghanaian youth to prepare themselves for better opportunities, revealing that many had lose mouthwatering opportunities for failing to prepare ahead of time. Using his personal and others life-changing story as a case study, he inspired members of the Association and the entire student body of the University to aim high and instil the 'I can do' spirit. Never limit yourselves in thought, dream and aspiration, you will soon take the mantle of leadership in this country and even beyond, so just be hopeful that you're the next president of the republic, doctor, engineer, MP, Vice Chancellor, lecturer, chiefs, successful business tycoons and whatever you wish to become in the near future, never lose hope, he stated. He used the engagement to admonish members of the Association to continue to live in harmony with other ethnic and religious groupings for the betterment and growth of the University. Professor Abass reiterated his call on the importance of education, urging Students of the University and the Tamale Technical Institute (TTI) to take their studies serious. Former chief of DASA, Naa Ibrahim Iddrisu (Sapasheini) commended the Vice Chancellor for his commitment to improving and adding value to the University. Also, Chief Nurudeen assured that the various Associations on campus will continue to assist in uplifting the image of the University, but was quick to thank the Vice Chancellor for being accessible to all groups and individuals on campus. The current President of DASA, Mr. Fuseini Damba Osman used the opportunity to articulate the upcoming programme of the Association dubbed, Dagbon First Health Walk. Professor Abass lauded the programme and charged that it should done in accordance with the University rules and regulations. Superintendent George Asare, a senior police officer fingered in an alleged plot to remove Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has said it was Bugri Naabu, the former Northern regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), that invited him to his office. Appearing before the committee tasked with investigating a leaked tape, Supt. Asare denied making some of the comments attributed to him, asserting that they were inventions by Bugri Naabu and not his own statements. He explained that he had visited Mr. Naabu's office at Mr. Naabu's invitation after being informed that the government was seeking a new IGP and had asked him for recommendations. Supt. Asare claimed that he provided three recommendations, including COP Alex Mensah, Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, and Christian Tetteh Yuhuno. Supt. Asare is the third witness to appear before the committee. Bugri Naabu, the main witness, has already been questioned. Supt Emmanuel Gyebi and key witness Commissioner George Mensah, have also been questioned by the committee. The investigation aims to shed light on the alleged plot to oust the IGP. -Classfmonline.com Sandema Hospital in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region has appealed to the Government to re-roof the facility as most of its units leak when it rains. Apart from the Newborn Care Unit (NBCU), theatre and emergency ward, the rest of the wards, including the pharmacy unit, laboratory, dressing rooms and the Medical Superintendent's office leak. Portions of the hospital's 21-bed capacity maternity ward, which was full, with some patients on the floor, were the most affected following a downpour on Saturday night which lasted for about nine hours. If not for the swift intervention of midwives on duty, who used buckets to consistently collect the rainwater from the leaking roof, the entire ward would have flooded and brought healthcare delivery at the unit to a standstill. Dr Emmanuel Opoku, the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital who had on many occasions appealed through the GNA in the Municipality for support to renovate the facility, said no help had so far been offered. Everywhere leaks; the Medical Superintendent's office leaks, children's ward, maternity and all the wards leak. So we wish it could be re-roofed, he said. He noted that it was capital intensive to re-roof the facility, and management could not afford the cost. The children's ward, male medical and female wards, pharmacy unit, dressing rooms and nurses' station at the Out-Patient Department (OPD) and the laboratory, leaked when the Ghana News Agency visited. The waiting area for patients at the pharmacy unit was not spared. Staff on duty in the affected units had to pull away beds and equipment from areas where the rainwater dropped, to prevent mattresses from getting wet and any damage to medical equipment. Apart from the leakages, the GNA observed that there were broken louvre blades, faulty doors, exposed electrical cables, visible cracks on walls, and broken tiles on the floor. A client, who had delivered at the maternity ward, and pleaded anonymity, expressed concern about the state of leakage at the ward and appealed to authorities to, fix the problem. How can a maternity ward be leaking like this; it is unbelievably bad and not comfortable and safe laying here with these newborn babies in this rainy season. I cannot wait to be discharged, the woman of about 28-years said. Relatives of some patients at the OPD and the female ward equally expressed similar concerns about the deplorable state of the hospital and called for an immediate solution to the problem. Even though stakeholders at different fora in the Municipality had over the years appealed for support to renovate the 93-year-old hospital to befit its status as a referral centre for the Municipality and beyond, there has not been any response. GNA The President of the Ghana Association for the Study of Liver and Digestive Diseases (GASLIDD), Prof. Yaw Asante Awuku has disclosed that one in ten Ghanaians is currently living with Hepatitis B. During the 2023 Africa HepatoPancreatoBiliary Cancer Consortium (AHPBCC) opening ceremony in Accra, Prof. Awuku emphasized the urgent need for medical attention and prevention strategies to combat the rising rates of Hepatitis B infections in the country. In his address, Prof. Asante Awuku highlighted the alarming statistic that approximately 75 percent of liver cancer cases in Ghana result from Hepatitis B infections. He explained that the mode of transmission includes lifestyle factors and mother-to-child transmission, making it crucial to intensify ongoing vaccination efforts among children and conduct aggressive awareness campaigns. "People should be encouraged to get tested," urged Prof. Asante Awuku. He emphasized that early diagnosis and appropriate medical care can prevent the development of life-threatening conditions like liver cancer and liver cirrhosis in those who test positive for Hepatitis B. He stated, For those diagnosed to be positive, there are avenues to seek care and prevent one from developing liver cancer or any liver cirrhosis. He also mentioned the 'Stop Hepatitis C' project, which offers free treatment to those who test positive for Hepatitis C at all regional and teaching hospitals in Ghana. This initiative is aimed at curbing the spread of Hepatitis C in the country, he added. Prof. Asante Awuku further called for increased government funding for research on viral hepatitis, stating, "We are looking at eradicating viral hepatitis; so if we have something dedicated for that, a lot of academic and service institutions will tap into it and make it happen." Speaking at the conference, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, the Presidential Advisor on Health, disclosed that the 'Stop Hepatitis C' initiative is receiving support in the form of one million doses of medicines to cure Hepatitis C. He expressed confidence that the platform created by the conference would empower healthcare practitioners and complement government efforts to combat and eliminate Hepatitis C in Ghana. Dr. Nsiah-Asare also revealed that the Ministry of Health is planning to expedite the passage of a law on organ transplants, highlighting the government's commitment to improving healthcare in the country. The AHPBCC 2023 conference, attended by more than 200 participants from across Africa, Europe, and the US, featured esteemed speakers from various countries who discussed topics ranging from genomics and cancer risk to the genetic epidemiology of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. The AHPBCC 2023 conference, hosted in partnership with GASLIDD, is an annual scientific conference that brings together over 200 clinicians and research investigators from Africa, the US, and Europe. It focuses on addressing gaps in research, medical education, training, and clinical care for patients with liver, pancreas, and bile-duct cancers. General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led a coup last week that toppled Gabon's 55-year-old ruling dynasty, took the oath of office as interim president on Monday, promising "free, transparent and credible elections" to restore civilian rule but without giving a timeframe. He also vowed to amnesty political prisoners, in a speech in which he insisted the coup had saved Gabon from bloodshed after elections that were "obviously loaded." Oligui, head of the elite Republican Guard, last Wednesday led officers to detain President Ali Bongo Ondimba, scion of a family that had ruled the oil-rich central African nation since 1967. Oil wealth has given Gabon's 2.3 million people a relatively high GDP per capita, although many still live below the poverty threshold. By Jean-Michel CORNU (AFP) The ousting came just moments after Bongo, 64, was proclaimed victor in presidential elections -- a result branded a fraud by the opposition. In a speech after taking the oath of office, Oligui said the promised elections would be the stepping stone to "handing power back to the civilians," although he did not specify any date. He said he was seeking the participation of all of Gabon's "core groups" to draft a new constitution, which "will be adopted by referendum." Oligui, 48, wearing the red ceremonial uniform of the Republican Guard, also said a new government would be named "in a few days" comprising "experienced" and "seasoned" people. He said he would instruct the future government "to consider ways of amnestying prisoners of conscience" and "facilitating the return of all exiles" from abroad. 'Surprised' by condemnation After detaining Bongo, the coup leaders on Wednesday said they had dissolved the nation's institutions, cancelled the election results and temporarily closed the borders. "We feel the freedom, joy and above all the hope of a better future," said Lucrece Mengue, 28, who was among thousands of people gathered outside the presidential palace. Oligui in his speech strongly defended the coup, saying the military had acted to save lives following "an electoral process that was obviously loaded." Oligui, seen in TV footage being carried aloft by his soldiers last Wednesday. By - (Gabon 24/AFP/File) "Without violence, clashes or loss of blood, the Committee for Transition and Restoration of Institutions changed the regime which for years had usurped the powers of the institutions of the public, flouting democratic rules," he said, referring to the name given to the junta. Quoting South African anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu, he said: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." He hit out at "international organisations," which he did not name, for criticising the military takeover. Chart showing the number of attempts to overthrow governments in Africa since 1950. Data: Jonathan Powell and Clayton Thyne. By Olivia BUGAULT, Sophie RAMIS (AFP) Gabon joins Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Niger in the ranks of African countries that have undergone coups in the last three years -- a trend that has sounded alarm bells in Africa and beyond. "We are greatly surprised to hear certain international organisations condemn the act taken by soldiers who were simply upholding their oath to the flag -- to save their country at the risk of their lives," said Oligui. Several Western countries and organisations have attacked the takeover, while acknowledging that it is different to others on the continent due to concerns over the credibility of the vote itself. 'Make noise' Oligui, who for years worked in the wings under Bongo and his father Omar, has held high-profile discussions with business and religious leaders, unions, political parties, NGOs, diplomats and journalists. He sternly warned business chiefs that corruption would no longer be tolerated and unveiled plans to reform Gabon's dysfunctional pension system, a bugbear for many people. A fringe of the former opposition has urged Oligui to hand over power but many Gabonese seem happy about the overthrow of the Bongo dynasty, with celebrations in the streets of the capital Libreville and the economic hub of Port-Gentil. Bongo had been campaigning for a third term in office since succeeding his father Omar, who died in 2009 after 41 years in power. By - (AFP) Bongo had been seeking his third term in office after coming to power in 2009 following the death of Omar Bongo, who ruled for more than four decades, gaining the reputation as a kleptocrat. National TV on Friday showed rolling images of the deposed president's son Noureddin Bongo Valentin and other arrested officials in front of suitcases filled with cash allegedly seized from their homes. The military has accused them of treason, embezzlement, corruption and falsifying the president's signature, among other allegations. "We study but we don't find work. I've been unemployed for five years," midwife Anouchka Minang, 31, said. "They tell us the coffers are empty and we end up finding all this money with them," she grumbled. The second senior police witness in the inquiry on the leaked tape about the ousting of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) also claims the tape is doctored. Superintendent George Asare insists the tape is incomplete and his intel points to IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare as the one who masterminded the whole recording and leakage. Supt. Asare appeared before the seven-member committee on Monday, September 4. Asked whether he indeed had a conversation with former Northern Region Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Daniel Bugri Naabu, he said: I gave additional information to him which was not in the tape. [This is] just to make the point that the tape is doctored. He had earlier described the whole recording as cut and paste. Mr Chair, there is some cut and paste on the audio but that notwithstanding the voice in it is mine, he told the committee. This falls just in line with the same witness given by the Director General of Operations, George Alex Mensah when he also appeared before the committee. Hon Chair, I identified some voices that resemble my voice but I cannot say specifically that these are my voices, he stressed on Thursday, August 31. They have both pointed accusing fingers at the IGP for the leakage. For Supt. Asare, the two boys sent to go for the CVs from Chief Bugri Naabu to the IGP have expressed readiness to appear before the committee to witness. Meanwhile, he has promised to reveal more to the committee about the workings of the current IGP in-camera. Granted that I will speak to this matter in-camera, I am more than prepared to do so. -3news.com The Minority in Parliament has issued a press release to assure Ghanaians that its planned protest to the Head Office of the Bank of Ghana will come off no matter what. However, the Minority has announced that the protest which was scheduled to happen on Tuesday, September 5, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, September 12. In addition, the Minority has stressed that the routes that have been the basis of court action instigated by the Police remain the same. The protest march planned by the leadership of the Minority in Parliament and other Civil Society Organizations to the Head Office of the Bank of Ghana originally scheduled for Tuesday, 5th of September, 2023 has been rescheduled to Tuesday, 12th September, 2023. The route remains the same, parts of the Minoritys press release said on Monday, September 4. On September 12, the Minority will begin its protest from the frontage of Parliament House - Osu Cemetery Traffic Light - Ministry of Finance - High Court Complex - Kinbu - Makola - Rawlings Park - Opera Square - Bank of Ghana. The protest is to call for the resignation of BoG Governor Ernest Addison and his two deputies as a result of their gross mismanagement of the Central Bank which has occasioned an unprecedented loss of GHS60.8 billion and a negative equity of GHS55.1 billion; illegal printing of over GHS80 billion, among others. Read the Minoritys press release below: 04.09.2023 LISTEN Who is Alhaji Seidu Agongo? For many, he is the businessman being persecuted for his fertiliser dealings with the Ghana Cocoa Board. For others, he is the entrepreneur whose budding Heritage Bank was collapsed in 2019 although it did not breach any prudential or regulatory requirements. While these may be true, they are recent additions on a man who made his name and fortune from wholesaling rice and sugar in one of Ghana's populous suburbs, Nima, in the Greater Accra Region. Long before he ever landed any government contract, 'Seidu' or 'The Rice Seller,' as he was affectionately called by his numerous retailers, was raking in millions of dollars on a daily basis from his Nima enterprise. The business was flourishing so well such that his trucks could take days to offload the consignment, resulting in gridlocks that residents and other market people still remember with nostalgia. So were the returns too. His bankers, the Amal Bank now Bank of Africa Ghana, used days just to count a days sale from his rice business, even with the help of money counting machines. The current chief executive officer of the Ghana Export-Import Bank (GEXIM), Mr Lawrence Agyinsam, was, at the time, Alhaji Agongo's Relations Manager. Access Bank (then Intercontinental Bank) was also, at a point in time, one of Alhaji Agongo's bankers with Mr Sylvester Mensah, a former chief executive officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and ex-MP for La Dadekotopon, as his Relations Manager. Alhaji Seidu Agongos name resonates in Nima and beyond, today because his rice business made him millions of dollars way before he inked any contract with any government. Even prominent politicians, including some of those at the helm of affairs in the Akufo-Addo government today, fell on Alhaji Agongo, in those days, to supply their Muslim supporters in Nima with rice. Current Chief of Staff Frema Osei Opare, as well as the late Yaw Kwakye, a cousin to President Akufo-Addo, can bear Alhaji Agongo witness that he used to support Nana Akufo-Addo, long before he became president, with hundreds of bags of rice for distribution to his Muslim support base in Nima. Even Mrs Samira Bawumia, in those days, was one of Alhaji Agongo's prominent customers. Alhaji Agongo recalls that his rice, sugar and tin tomato business helped him to transform Nima into a hotbed of trading activities. Nima became a buzzing trading hub becuase of one mans entrepreneurial forays. I created the bustling business environment you see at Nima today through my rice business, he told Nana Otu Darko in an interview on CTV, one of the several staples of his media empire, Class Media Group. Alhaji Agongo recounted: I attracted people to Nima to trade. Everyone knows me at Nima as Seidu, The Rice Seller', he reminisced. As far as money goes, Alhaji Agongo said: I could sell GHS4 million worth of rice in a day. You can ask Olam, Stallion and other suppliers, he challenged, noting: Banks were unable to count my money and, so, they did what they could and returned the following day to continue counting the money. I drove trailer trucks myself to go and cart rice to sell. I could bring 20 to 30 containers of oil to Nima. The whole of the Nima Roundabout gets clogged with human and vehicular traffic just because of my trading activities there. I've done a lot of work in my life but my philosophy is: the work must impact the lives of people positively. The rice brands I sold were mostly imported brands from Thailand and USA. I only sold foreign rice. So, it meant we were creating jobs for those countries anytime we consumed their rice. It wasn't meaningful to me because I believe money must be made in a satisfactory way to help other people but not through any means at all, irrespective of the consequences. This, right up here, is what nudged Alhaji Agongo to start searching for institutionalised businesses protected by government regulations to establish more businesses. That's what got me to set up Heritage Bank. Such businesses can outlive me and last for decades because they would have had protection from government regulatory institutions. The motivation to get into government-regulated and institutionalised business sectors was a purely altruistic one. For Alhaji Agongo, it was never and has never been about amassing dirty wealth through corrupt and fraudulent means. For a man who was already making millions daily in his Nima trading activities alone, he needed no help from Mr Corruption or Madam Fraud. Rather than amassing wealth, Alhaji Agongo finds joy and fulfilment in distributing his hard-earned money to the poor. He has a voracious appetite for philanthropy, spurred by his inherent quest to ensure poverty distances itself from people so everyone can have a bit of a decent life. He is and has always been a cheerful giver, never a taker. In 2018, the Muslim philanthropist constructed an Out-Patient Department (OPD) block at a cost of GH857,000 for the Child Emergency Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (K'Bu) in Accra. He handed the 30-bed capacity block to the Hospital in 2019. The management of St. Paul's Lutheran School, in 2019, presented a citation to Alhaji Agongo for adopting and sponsoring 17 pupils there over the past few years. The 17 were among 81 pupils Alhaji Agongo adopted almost 10 years ago and sponsored from the basic to the university level. Realising that education was the only means by which he could help end the cycle of poverty in the families of poor pupils, Alhaji Agongo decided to move his own children from Al-Rayan International School, where he was spending about $5,000 on each child, at the time, to the St. Paul's Lutheran School near the state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) in Accra, so that he could use the savings he made on his children's school fees, to sponsor the 81 poor pupils up to the university level. In November 2019, one hundred talented but needy hairdressers and seamstresses/tailors benefited from the third edition of Class Media Group's 'Founder's Empowerment Project' held in Kumasi, Ashanti Region. Class Media Group operates Class91.3FM, Accra100.5FM, No.1 105.3FM, Kumasi 104.1FM, Adehyee 99.1FM, Ho FM, Sunyani FM, Taadi FM, Dagbon FM, CTV, and ClassFMonline.com. Alhaji Agongo founded it in order to use the power and wide reach of the media, to positively impact the lives of the poor across the country. In the heady days of the COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana in 2020, Alhaji Agongo, in an attempt to mitigate the impact of a three-week partial lockdown in Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi, launched an e-charity programme through which he disbursed cash to some 10,000 widows, single mothers and the underprivileged across the country through mobile money platforms. It was his little support to help them to cope with the financial challenges that the pandemic brought. His intervention benefitted more than 4,600 widows, single mothers and other less-privileged people in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions in April. Alhaji Agongo, who said helping the poor makes him feel human, explained that although his initial target was to support 600 people through the intervention, he had to revise the figure upward after noticing that many people were going through financial difficulties, as a result of the partial lockdown. He said he reached this conclusion after his radio stations that advertised the support scheme got inundated with calls far beyond the numbers that were projected. As a result, he said he revised the initial target to 10,000 people. Alhaji Agongo sees philanthropy as a way to share the blessings of God with those in need. Islam teaches about giving but I go beyond Islam, he said, adding: What I believe is that life has realities and be it the Bible or the Quran, the holy books tell us that you will be judged according to your own deeds. So, I believe that whatever blessings God has blessed me with, God knows why He has blessed me with that and, of course, God will also know the fact that the blessing he gave me, I did not utilise the blessing alone; I also tried to bless others, he explained. Throughout his business journey, Alhaji Agongo has faced major challenges, some of which should have grounded him completely, but he always surmounted them and emerged even stronger and wiser for them. And none of those challenges has ever dampened his business spirit or changed him from continuing to be the good and generous giver he is. A typical example of his tenacity, steadfastness and unwavering philanthropy was when, despite the collapse of his solvent Heritage Bank, he, privately, reached out to fellow bank owner Prince Kofi Amoabeng, whose UT Bank was also collapsed, with a generous offer of financial assistance. In October 2022, the UT Bank founder expressed gratitude to Alhaji Agongo for being the only Ghanaian who offered to assist him after a selfie of him wearing a scruffy beard with a sad face went viral on social media and got Ghanaians rumouring that he was now a pauper on the verge of death following the collapse of his financial institution. He told Nana Otu Darko on CTVs morning show on Tuesday, 4 October 2022 that the only reason he accepted an invitation to appear on that show was because the station belonged to Alhaji Agongos Class Media Group. Actually, the reason why I couldnt say no to your invitation was because of his [Seidu Agongos] personality, Mr Amoabeng told Nana Otu Darko, adding: Ive never set eyes on him but at some point in time, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I started wearing this beard and I took a picture of myself and I posted it on [social media] and that set tongues wagging that I was on the verge of death, Im now a pauper, but the boss of this place [CMG], Seidu Agongo, sent me a WhatsApp message that if I'm in difficulty, I should send him my account number for him to give me some money. Of course, I didnt pursue it but I'm ever so grateful that, at least, one Ghanaian thought that instead of laughing at him, let me help', he noted. For now, Alhaji Agongo trudges on with whatever is left of his businesses, as he awaits the womb of time to birth restitution and restoration. Some shareholders of the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) have expressed worry over the inability of the company to declare dividends during the last 14 years. The company has been recording losses since 2009, with a peak loss of $18.6 million in 2020. However, the CPC's annual report showed that the losses reduced to US$15m in 2021 and declined to $12m in 2022. The company has cumulatively recorded $163.2m losses from 2009 to 2022. CPC mainly processes cocoa beans, which are used in the manufacturing of products, including chocolate bars and drinks, butter, liquor, and cocoa powder. The company processed 13,957.45 metric tonnes of cocoa beans in 2020, but declined to 13,494.88mt in 2021, before a further decline to 13,096.87mt in 2022, data from the recent annual report of the company showed. At the companys just-ended Annual General Meetings (AGM) in Accra on Thursday, shareholders expressed worry over the situation and charged the Board and Management to step up efforts to make the company profitable by 2024. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Sampson Ashong, who holds 5000 shares in the CPC, urged the Board and Management to work to change the companys present situation. When asked if he had received a dividend on his investment, Mr Ashong said, I joined CPC the very time it floated shares, and nothing of that nature has happened, and weve been so worried. We're losing our investments, and as shareholders, our concern is that management turns the fortunes of the company around within the shortest time possible. They mentioned that the machines are old, so they need to be replaced. We pray that they work this up so that our values will go up, he said. Mr Lawrence Ala, who bought shares in the early 2000s said We have never had dividends since we bought shares in CPC. Those days when I invested in CPC, I invested nine million cedis, and in those days, it was a huge money. At the time, vehicles like Daewoo Tico were sold at 1.5 million, so you can imagine how many of them I could buy. Why is it that those of us who contributed money for the company to grow are not getting anything, Mr Ala quizzed, adding, Management should start giving us some dividends, starting from our next meeting. Responding to shareholder concerns, Dr Frank Adu Asante, Acting Managing Director of CPC, said the bottlenecks to securing a US86.7m loan facility to restructure operations had been eliminated. He said a loan agreement with the Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is expected to be signed by December 2023, with the first tranche disbursed in January 2024. We're expecting some good news by November, and we should finish our bit then look up to our major shareholders and the banks to also work on our case. Dr Asante also said that the company's new spread factory, together with three coarse and fine milling machines, and seven packaging machines, as well as a six metric tonnes/day conche were expected to be operational by the end of 2023. Mr. Kwaku Owusu Baah described the companys loss reduction as a positive development, saying, I wish to assure you that were on the path to recovery, though were not there yet. He said that the Board and Management were always concerned about CPCs poor performance. Accordingly, all our energies, as Directors, have been focused on strategies that would engender a turnaround of your company, and for that matter, increase shareholder wealth, Mr Baah said. The Cocoa Processing Company was established in 1981. In 2002 the company presented nine of its products at the World Quality Selection, earning gold in eight of them and silver in one. GNA A rights organisation on Monday called on Morocco to take action against Algeria over the deaths of two tourists allegedly shot last week by the Algerian coastguard. "We are calling for serious action on the part of the Moroccan government, to hold the Algerian state accountable before international bodies," Hicham Mellioui, the head of the Moroccan League for Citizenship and Human Rights, told AFP. Bilal Kissi, a 29-year-old French-Moroccan holidaymaker, and his cousin Abdelali Mechouar, 40, a Moroccan resident of France, were killed on Tuesday by the Algerian coastguard after getting lost at sea on a jet-ski, their brother who was with the group told Moroccan media. The two tourists died after straying from Moroccan waters into Algerian territory. The incident comes at a time of increased tensions between the neighbouring North African countries, exacerbated by antagonism over the disputed Western Sahara territory. Lawyers for the victims' families said on Sunday that they would be filing legal proceedings in France over the incident. Around 20 people gathered in front of Morocco's parliament building to protest the deaths, brandishing Moroccan flags and placards reading, "the Algerian navy kills two young Moroccans". "This tragedy pains us. It's unspeakable," said protester Hassen El-Ghazi. Algeria's defence ministry on Sunday said its security forces had opened fire on the jet skiers "after issuing an audible warning and ordering them to stop several times", adding that "the suspects refused to comply and fled". The defence ministry said that after several warning rounds, "shots were fired, forcing one of the jet skis to stop, and the other two fled". The ministry said the shootings happened "because of increased activity by drugs-trafficking gangs and organised crime" in the border zone, and because of "the obstinacy of those on the jet skis". The remains of Kissi were found in the Moroccan seaside town of Saidia, while Mechouar's body is still believed to be in Algeria. A third man, Smail Snabe, was wounded and detained in Algeria, according to media reports in Morocco on Friday. Kissi's brother Mohamed, who had also been in the group, said they got lost and ran out of fuel after leaving the Moroccan resort of Saidia, near the border with Algeria. He said he managed to leave the area after the incident and was picked up by the Moroccan navy. Rabat has yet to make an official statement, but the public prosecutor's office in northeastern city of Oujda has opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of "a violent incident at sea", a judicial source was quoted as saying by state news agency MAP. Morocco's state-run National Human Rights Council (CNDH) on Sunday condemned the use of live fire by the Algerian coastguard against "defenceless citizens, instead of helping people lost at sea". Former President John Dramani Mahama has called for a massive judicial reforms in Ghana to restore public trust and confidence. During his address at the closing session of the 3rd Lawyers Conference organized by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Lawyers Association in Akosombo, he emphasized the importance of collaboration between the judiciary and the executive to achieve these reforms. Mr. Mahama expressed deep concern about the diminishing trust in Ghana's judiciary, stressing that the judiciary should serve as the backbone of democracy and the rule of law in the nation. "All opinion polling and other surveys that have been done show that the reputation of our judiciary is at its lowest, and we all know what has contributed to this," Mr. Mahama remarked. He noted that concerns over monetary influences on judgments in both civil and criminal cases, as well as the infamous Anas expose that led to the dismissal of some judges, had significantly contributed to this decline in trust. There has been a low level of credibility with the judiciary. Our people have always felt that there is monetary influence that influences judegment in both civil and criminal cases and you remember the Anas expose that led to the sacking of some judges, he said. The former President also argued that the issue goes beyond financial inducements, as partisanship had infiltrated the judiciary, leading to what he described as "bizarre" decisions in political-related cases. "But it has gone beyond monetary inducement. Now, it is also seen that the judiciary is partisan, and a lot of people feel that justice is not served in many cases. "We do believe that there must be judicial reform," he added. Mr. Mahama stressed that the executive should not impose reforms on the judiciary but should collaborate with it to enhance its reputation and independence. He pointed out that this would not only benefit Ghanaians but also inspire trust among foreign investors and all individuals within Ghana's jurisdiction. "So this must be something the executive cannot impose on the judiciary, but the judiciary and the executive working together can work to improve the stature of the judiciary," Mr. Mahama emphasized. In his closing remarks, the former President urged the legal team of the opposition NDC to include discussions on how the executive and members of the judiciary could work together to improve the image of Ghana's judiciary. He said, Lets look at how we as the executive and members of the judiciary can work together to improve the image of the Ghanaian judiciary. I believe that if the image of the judiciary is improved, it will inure to the benefit of those who work in the court, it inure to the benefit of the judges and judicial service workers. The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) is gearing up for the 2023 National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) following the launch of the month-long event. The 2023 NCSAM launched on Sunday, September 3, at the Ministry of Information Conference Room will focus on promoting a culture of digital safety among Ghanaian citizenry. October every year has been designated as cybersecurity awareness month in Ghana and in most parts of the world to raise awareness about digital security with information to empower people to protect their personal data from digital forms of crime in view of the ever-evolving global digital trends. Ghana started NCSAM in 2017 with the establishment of the National Cyber Security Week which subsequently evolved into a month-long event under the auspices of the then National Cyber Security Secretariat. According to the Groupe Special Mobile Association (GSMA) Mobile Connectivity Index (MCI) 2023 report, Ghana is ranked 4th in Africa with a score of 51.4% depicting significant progress in connectivity over the past five years. In the same report, Ghana had a score of 86.69% in Online Security (a key dimension of the index) consistent with the countrys score on the ITUs Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI). Ghana's internet penetration rate i.e., internet users in 2023 stands at 23.05 million representing 68.2% of the total population. Out of this, 6.6 million (19.5%) are active social media users contributing to the country's 13th rank on the list of countries that spend considerable time on the internet. Speaking at the launch of NCSAM 2023, the Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako urged all stakeholders to participate fully in the events planned for NCSAM 2023 for an effective outcome. Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako He further called on the private sector, churches, schools, Civil Society Organisations, and the entire public to use the period to educate their members on cybersecurity. The media is also respectfully encouraged to support in this agenda. The Authority looks up to you, the media, to educate your listeners and the public about the need to be cybersecurity conscious because the criminals are a step ahead and we all need to be on our guard. The CSA team is available to work with all stakeholders who will need assistance and guidance with respect to creating awareness on cybersecurity this October and subsequently, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako assured. Delivering a keynote address at the launch, Ms. Ama Pomaa Boateng who is the Deputy Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, representing Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful charged the media to get involved to educate the public on promoting a culture of digital safety. We expect the media launch to create awareness about the importance of digital safety in the digital world by highlighting the potential risks and vulnerabilities associated with the cyber landscape, educate the public on best practices and guidelines for digital safety, engage stakeholders to intensify their efforts in spearheading a safer digital environment. Friends from the media, we further expect the launch to encourage cross-sector collaboration to maximise the impact of digital safety ahead of NCSAM 2023 as well as amplify public advocacy within cyberspace, Ms. Ama Pomaa Boateng shared. The Deputy Minister further indicated that the theme for this years edition: Promoting a Culture of Digital Safety could not have come at a better time than now as it highlights the importance of cultivating a collective mindset and behaviour that values and promotes responsible online practices, cybersecurity awareness, and the protection of personal information. Activities planned for NCSAM 2023: In October, the Cyber Security Authority will have a programme on the impact of Disinformation on Electoral Integrity, Peace, and Security with an overall objective of assessing the impact of disinformation on electoral integrity in Ghana and Africa. There will be a workshop developed for Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) Protection with a focus on achieving a collaborative engagement with Points of Contact of CII Owners under each designated CII Sector whilst creating awareness on the protection of CII and implications of noncompliance as well as a Joint Cybersecurity Committee (JCC) sensitisation to ensure a heightened awareness on cybercrime and cybersecurity issues among JCC member institutions. These engagements according to the Cyber Security Authority are to fulfil the decision taken in the 3rd meeting of the JCC requiring member institutions to organise cybersecurity awareness sessions in October. 04.09.2023 LISTEN When Mahama stood at a forum organized by NDC sympathetic lawyers and called on his partisan falcons to balance the judiciary by taking up opportunities to join the bench, he was actually making a mockery of the bench and to a large extent allowing excessive partisanship to take better part of his politics. Oh yes, it was a call for blind unquestioning loyalty to the NDC over nationhood. Essentially, Mahama was unleashing a disproportionately NDC group of ideologues, many of whom are manifestly unqualified to practice as lifelong lawyers and to uphold the principle of equal justice under the law on to the judiciary. Mahama who once served as President and wants another shot at the job is now serving notice to all and sundry that given the opportunity, he will outsource the work of judges to extremist special interest groups like NDC Lawyers. Mahama wants to sabotage the state by packing the judiciary with partisan ideologues. He's simply telling us that if he wins the presidency, he will supervise yet another dose of NDCs state-sanctioned violence against the Judiciary. All of this so Mahama can rush his cruel agenda through the courts by installing extreme and biased judges. When Mahama and others talk about balancing the judiciary with lawyers, know that this is what theyre really talking about: Mahama and his enablers have not changed one bit. Given the chance, they'll roll back decades of progress made on diversity in our judicial system and its reflective of the kinds of limited perspectives and experiences they welcome in everyday public conversations. Let's speak out against Mahama's demonstrated danger to the judiciary and democracy. It is truly beyond comprehension that the NDC is so poorly led that Mahama is able to get away with such loose talks and disrespect for our institutions of democracy. We have to stop this group of ideologues who obviously have nothing to offer this country. Ghanaians must be weary of Mahama and his silly little idealistic weirdos who want to turn this country into a 21st-century Communist State. Mahama may be oblivious to this but it might interest him to know that, we don't have Rawlings judges or Kufuor judges, Mills judges, or Akufo-Addo judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal rights to those appearing before them. Let Mahama get it that, if you are always carping incessantly about everything, you lose even more relevance than if you had focussed on the real key issues We have fought far too long and far too hard for our civil and human rights. We have to make sure our courts reflect the people they are supposed to serve. Not Mahama, not NDC but justice for all of us. Signed: Ernest Kofi Owusu-Bempah Bonsu Deputy Director of Communications, NPP The International Vaccine Institute (IVI Korea) and EuBiologics on Monday signed a Technology Transfer Agreement with DEK Vaccines Limited for the transfer of technology to produce Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) in Ghana, beginning 2024. The agreement will enable EuBiologics to provide DEK Vaccines Ltd with technical assistance, capacity building, and innovations needed to boost the production and accessibility of lifesaving OCVs in the country. The Transfer of OCV to DEK is aimed at increasing global vaccine production capacity to reduce disparities in vaccine access for African children. This forms part of Ghana's Vaccine Manufacturing initiative. Dr Kofi Nsiah-Poku, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DEK Vaccines Ltd, said the transfer marked the beginning of a promising road to technological advancement and collaboration for vaccine manufacturing in Ghana, West Africa, and Africa as a whole. He described the transfer of technology as a link between Asia and Africa. This is a testament to the strength of collaboration, where individuals and organisations come together to share their expertise, knowledge, and resources for the greater good, Dr Nsiah-Poku. He advised stakeholders to use vaccine manufacturing technology transfer ethically to meet the World Health Organisations standards. Ms Rachel Park, the Eubiologics Director of International Marketing Team Leader, said the global biopharmaceutical company looked forward to a successful commercialisation of the oral cholera vaccine and expanding partnerships for other vaccines. Aside from the OCV, Eubiologics would consider developing a combination of vaccines for typhoid and meningitis, which has had the disease burden in Africa. We are pleased to be in collaboration with DEK for the oral cholera vaccine and believe that this is a starting point, she added. Cholera is an acute diarrhoea infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It remains a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequity and lack of social development. The symptoms include severe diarrhea, vomiting, thirst, leg cramps, and restlessness. Cholera is an easily treatable disease. Most infected people are effectively treated with immediate delivery of oral rehydration solution (ORS), and severely dehydrated patients are treated with intravenous fluids and suitable antibiotics. Oral cholera vaccines, on the other hand, are vital for disease prevention and immunity building. Ms Seongmin Andrea Kim, the International Vaccine Institute Representative, said the DEK & EuBiologics technology transfer for OCV would have a far-reaching impact on the global vaccination landscape, particularly in the African region. She described the initiative as a huge step forward for Africa in its fight against infectious diseases. Mrs Delese Darko, the Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority, gave the assurance that the Authority would ensure all parties abided by good manufacturing practices and regulation regimes. GNA Togbega Gabusu VII, Paramount Chief of Gbi Traditional Area, has called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to set up an independent Commission of Enquiry to investigate Police brutalities and killings of citizens in the Gbi State. He said the findings should cover past and current events of such brutalities and be made available to the State. Togbe Keh XII, Divisional Chief of Gbi-Wegbe on behalf of Togbega Gabusu during a news conference on the incident at Gbi Godenu, which led to the death of two people and several injured, said the Enquiry would put an end to the many brutalities and killings. Working within this time frame will go a long way to curtail the re-occurrence of excessive use of lethal force, brutalities and unprofessional conduct by the Police in the Gbi State. Togbega Gabusu said for unknown reasons, incidents of Police brutality against civilians in the Area with reference to Godenu, Wegbe, Kledzo, Atabu and Kpoeta had become more frequent and intense. He said the incidence had also assumed high proportions with unwarranted and excessive brutalities ranging from harassment, false arrest, intimidation, assault, mayhem, and murder. From our standpoint of view, the Police in the Gbi Traditional Area act with entrenched impunity because past killings and brutalities have not been investigated and the culprits prosecuted nor punished for their unprofessional conduct. Togbega Gabusu said the Godenu incident on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, led to the death of two people identified as David Agbebianu and Afeti Agbeko. He said a motorbike rider was knocked down by the Police vehicle, which also resulted into severe multiple injuries and the victim, currently receiving treatment at Ho Teaching Hospital. Togbega Gabusu said two other teenagers hit by stray bullets were treated and discharged at the Gbi-Wegbe Health Centre. He said the report had it that the Police pick-up vehicle with five personnel chased up a motorbike rider towards Gbi-Godenu on the Accra to Hohoe road and at a point knocked the rear side of the rider, who fell into a gutter causing injuries. Togbega Gabusu said in the riders unconscious state, the Police claimed he was rushed to the Volta Regional Hospital, Hohoe. He said a reinforcement detachment of the Police was called to the scene only to notice that the pick-up was in flame. This angered the officers who stormed Gbi-Godenu town and vandalized properties and set 41 motorbikes ablaze, smashing seven cars including one tractor, breaking into shops and destroying fridges, shelves and looted items in the shops. He said because of the mayhem, people had to flee amid sporadic shootings, teachers assaulted, and their mobile phones smashed, school pupils were threatened with guns and locked up in their classrooms, while 12 innocent men were arrested. Togbega Gabusu recounted an incident, that occurred at Gbi- Wegbe on Friday, December 9, 2022, at about 2330 hours, where Police officers conducted themselves in an unprofessional manner resulting in the shooting and death of one Bismark, a taxi driver. He said a press conference held on Wednesday, December 21, 2022, requesting the Inspector General of Police to set up a non-prejudice committee to conduct an in-depth investigation into the cause of the operation leading to the murder of the taxi driver remained in abeyance. The statement was copied to the Speaker of Parliament, Interior Minister, National Security Minister, Volta Regional Minister, Volta North Regional Police Commander, Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive and Member of Parliament, Hohoe Constituency. Mr Daniel Noble Awume, Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), receiving the statement gave his assurance that he would in his capacity, do all in his best to ensure that a conclusive decision was arrived at. He called on the residents to exercise patience in their various communities to ensure that peace reigned, while the matter continued to be investigated. Mr Awume denied speculative reports that he sanctioned the incident, which occurred at Gbi Godenu. Notices held during the news conference read; Hohoe needs professional Policemen, Government take action now or else? Police stop playing double game in the wee hub, stop the police brutality against our people. GNA Niger's military-appointed prime minister on Monday said he saw hopes of a deal "in the coming days" with the West African bloc ECOWAS, which has threatened to use force to restore civilian rule after a coup in July. He also said that "contacts" were underway over a "very swift" pullout of French forces from Niger after ties with France spiralled downwards following the military takeover. "We have not stopped contacts with ECOWAS, we are continuing contacts. We have good hopes of reaching an agreement in the coming days," Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine told a press conference in Niamey. ECOWAS -- the Economic Community of West African States -- has slapped hefty sanctions against Niger after rebel soldiers on July 26 overthrew Mohamed Bazoum, the country's democratically-elected president. It has also warned several times of intervening militarily to reinstate Bazoum should diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis fail. "We are bracing to be attacked at any time. Every preparation has been taken. It would be an unjust war. We are determined to defend ourselves if there is an attack," Zeine told reporters. Timeline issue A key question in the crisis is a timeline for returning to civilian rule. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu -- who is also the current chairman of ECOWAS -- last Thursday suggested a nine-month period such as his country underwent in the late 1990s. "The president sees no reason why such cannot be replicated in Niger, if Niger's military authorities are sincere," the Nigerian presidency said in a statement. Algeria, Niger's influential northern neighbour, has proposed a six-month transition. A man holds a sign reading 'Down with ECOWAS, down with France' at a pro-coup rally in Niamey on August 26. By - (AFP) The military rulers have so far not responded to the suggestions, having previously spoken of a three-year handback period. ECOWAS has taken a hard line with regard to Niger following a cascade of coups in its region since 2020. The military have taken power in Mali and Burkina Faso, where like Niger, losses among the armed forces are surging in the face of a long-running jihadist insurgency. A putsch also took place in Guinea in 2021 after the country's octogenarian president, Alpha Conde, ran for a third term in office, a move that opponents said breached constitutional limits. France spat In other comments, Zeine said, without elaborating, that "contacts" were underway "that should enable a very swift withdrawal of French forces" from the country. But, he said, Niger wished "to maintain cooperation with a country with which we have shared an enormous number of things." Niger crisis: Key locations in Niamey. By Valentin RAKOVSKY, Laurence SAUBADU (AFP) Tensions between Niger and its former colonial power and ally in the fight against jihadists insurgents ratcheted up after France stood by the ousted Bazoum. Paris has refused to acknowledge the coup leaders as the legitimate government and ignored announcements cancelling military agreements with France and a threat to expel the French ambassador. France has around 1,500 troops in the Sahel state, many of them deployed at an air base near the capital Niamey. Tens of thousands of protestors rallied outside the base at the weekend to demand they leave, responding to a call by a pro-coup civilian coalition. The post-coup government on August 3 renounced military accords with Paris, a move France has ignored. Zeine said that as a result of the renunciation, the French troops in Niger are now "in a position of illegality." One of the accords required a notice period of one month, according to military sources. Bazoum's election in 2021 marked Niger's first-ever peaceful transition of power since independence from France in 1960. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP/File) Meanwhile, Niger reopened its air space on Monday after imposing a flight ban on August 6 in response to the ECOWAS threat, the official news agency ANP said. Some flights to Niamey were permitted during this time, with special authorisations. Air France told AFP that it would resume flights over Nigerien territory from Tuesday morning, although its air services to and from Niamey would remain suspended until further notice. you are here: Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Pallavi Singhal is a Correspondent at Moneycontrol.com covering commerce, agriculture and education. With a total experience of four years, she has reported on varied subjects covering crime, courts, civic affairs, health & politics. Human interest and feature stories have always piqued her interest. The market on September 4 extended its northward journey for the second consecutive session with the Nifty50, as expected, climbing above the 19,500 mark, tracking positive Asian cues. Going ahead, if the index sustains above 19,500, then the 19,600-19,650 can be easily seen, with immediate support at 19,400-19,300, experts said, adding that the momentum may remain strong in the broader markets. The BSE Sensex climbed 241 points to 65,628, while the Nifty50 jumped 94 points to 19,529, and formed a Doji kind of candlestick pattern on the daily scale, as the index closing was very near to opening levels. "The index has finally surpassed the 20 DEMA (exponential moving average placed at 19,416) on the daily time frame, adding to the bullish undertone and is likely to head towards the bearish gap in the comparable period," Osho Krishan, senior analyst, technical & derivative research at Angel One said. As far as levels are concerned, he says 19,400 is expected to cushion any upcoming blips, while the sacrosanct support lies around 19,300-19,250 zone. On the flip side, the immediate resistance is placed around 19,600, followed by the bearish gap of 19,680-19,700. As we proceed, the undertone seems to favour the bulls, while buying on the decline should be the apt strategy in the coming period, Krishan advised. The momentum remained strong in the broader markets as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices gained 1 percent and 1.3 percent respectively, backed by positive breadth with 3:2 ratio. The volatility also cooled down further, making bulls more comfortable at Dalal Street. The India VIX, the fear gauge index, fell 3.54 percent to 10.96 from 11.37 levels. We have collated 15 data points to help you spot profitable trades: Note: The open interest (OI) and volume data of stocks are the aggregates of three-month data and not just the current month. Key support and resistance levels on Nifty The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty may be taking support at 19,459 followed by 19,433 and 19,390. On the flip side, 19,545 can act as the key resistance followed by 19,572 and 19,615. Nifty Bank On September 4, the Bank Nifty also maintained an upward journey for yet another session, rising 142 points to 44,578, but formed a small-bodied bearish candlestick pattern with a long lower shadow on the daily charts, indicating buying at lower levels. "The Bank Nifty has managed to close above the 20- and 40-day moving averages, which is a sign of strength. We expect the index to continue its pullback and towards the daily upper Bollinger band placed around 45,000," Jatin Gedia, technical research analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said. He further said the daily momentum indicator has a positive crossover which is a buy signal. Thus, both price and momentum indicator suggest that the positive momentum is likely to continue. As per the pivot point calculator, the Bank Nifty is expected to take support at 44,383 followed by 44,302 and 44,170. On the upside, the initial resistance is at 44,647 then 44,728 and 44,860. Call options data As per the options data, the maximum weekly call open interest (OI) was seen at 19,700 strike, with 73.93 lakh contracts, which can act as a key resistance for the Nifty. It was followed by 19,600 strike, which had 73.84 lakh contracts, while 19,500 strike had 71.69 lakh contracts. The maximum Call writing was seen at 19,700 strike, which added 21 lakh contracts, followed by 19,800 and 19,900 strikes, which added 10.77 lakh and 9.91 lakh contracts. The maximum Call unwinding was at 19,400 strike, which shed 16.67 lakh contracts, followed by 19,300 strike and 19,200 strike, which shed 3.04 lakh contracts, and 2.26 lakh contracts. Put option data On the Put side, the maximum open interest was at 19,400 strike, with 91.46 lakh contracts. This can be an important support for Nifty in the coming sessions. It was followed by 19,300 strike, comprising 87.93 lakh contracts, and 19,500 strike with 80.47 lakh contracts. The maximum Put writing was at 19,500 strike, which added 54.83 lakh contracts, followed by 19,400 strike and 19,000 strike, which added 32.58 lakh and 29.69 lakh contracts. Meaningful Put unwinding was at 18,600 strike, which shed 6.96 lakh contracts followed by 19,300 and 18,700 strikes, which shed 5.71 lakh and 3.36 lakh contracts. Stocks with high delivery percentage A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in the stock. Bata India, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, and JK Cement were among the stocks with the highest delivery. 83 stocks see a long build-up The long build-up was seen in 83 stocks including Balrampur Chini Mills, National Aluminium Company, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, and Coforge. An increase in open interest (OI) and price indicates a build-up of long positions. 21 stocks see long unwinding Based on the OI percentage, 21 stocks, including Bata India, Cipla, Trent, ICICI Bank, and Indiabulls Housing Finance, saw long unwinding. A decline in OI and price indicates long unwinding. 36 stocks see a short build-up A short build-up was seen in 36 stocks, including JK Cement, India Cements, Berger Paints India, Escorts Kubota, and RBL Bank. An increase in OI along with a fall in price points to a build-up of short positions. 47 stocks see short-covering Based on the OI percentage, 47 stocks were on the short-covering list. These included Torrent Pharma, IDFC First Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, REC, and Dr Reddy's Laboratories. A decrease in OI along with a price increase is an indication of short-covering. Bulk deals TCNS Clothing Company: Foreign portfolio investor Nalanda India Equity Fund has sold 8,89,635 equity shares or a 1.4 percent stake in the apparel company, via open market transactions. These shares were sold at an average price of Rs 370.03 per share. Nalanda India had held a 6.84 percent stake in TCNS as of June 2023. (For more bulk deals, click here) Investors meeting on September 5 Federal Bank, Mahindra Lifespace Developers, Sumitomo Chemical India, CESC: Senior officials of these firms will be participating in Elara India Dialogue 2023. Dixon Technologies: The company's senior officials will interact with TT International (London). CreditAccess Grameen: Officials of the company will attend Elara Capital Conference. Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences: Management of the company to meet investors in Singapore. Stocks in the news Vishnu Prakash R Punglia: The infrastructure company will list its shares on the bourses on September 5. The final issue price has been fixed at Rs 99 per share. Escorts Kubota: The agri machinery business division of the company will be increasing the prices of its tractors effective September 16. The increase in prices would vary across models or variants and geographies. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services: The non-banking finance company has recorded a 15 percent year-on-year growth in disbursements at Rs 4,400 crore for August. The year-to-date (till August FY24) disbursements stood at Rs 20,950 crore, up 22 percent over a year-ago period. The collection efficiency for August remained flat at 96 percent YoY, while the stage-3 and stage-2 assets continued to remain rangebound compared to June 2023. Tata Power: Subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy has signed a power delivery agreement (PDA) with Neosym Industry for 26MW AC group captive solar plant. Neosym Industry is a gray and SG Iron casting and manufacturing company in India. The project at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra with an anticipated electricity generation capacity of 59 million units annually will start from March 2024. Gland Pharma: Ankit Gupta has been appointed as Vice-President (strategy & investments) with effect from September 4. Before joining Gland, Ankit with 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, worked as the Vice President and Head of Corporate Development and Strategy for Strides Pharma Science. Oil India: The state-run oil & gas company has received board approval for an equity contribution of Rs 1,738 crore in the joint venture company North East Gas Distribution Company (NEGDCL). In the joint venture, incorporated for executing the city gas distribution (CGD) projects, Oil India will hold 49 percent shareholding and the remaining 51 percent stake will be held by Assam Gas Company. Mrs Bectors Food Specialities: The bakery products maker has appointed Arnav Jain as Chief Financial Officer, with effect from August 11, 2023. The 28th Annual General Meeting of the company will be held on September 29. Fund Flow (Rs Crore) FII and DII data Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 3,367.67 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought Rs 2,563.48 crore worth of stocks on September 4, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed. Stocks under F&O ban on NSE The NSE has added Balrampur Chini Mills, BHEL, Hindustan Copper, and India Cements to its F&O ban list for September 5, while retaining Indiabulls Housing Finance on the list. Securities banned under the F&O segment include companies where derivative contracts have crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit. 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. Santosh Nair is Executive Editor, Special Projects, Moneycontrol. He has been writing on the financial markets for over two decades, having previously worked with Business Standard, myiris.com, Crisil Market Wire and The Economic Times. He is also the author of the popular book on Indian markets, Bulls, Bears and Other Beasts. In the nick of time! Rumour has it that this startup was disowned by one of its investors recently who has even asked other stakeholders not to stay engaged with the company. All this just as the startup had received signed term sheets from multiple VCs. The founders had convinced the VCs and had almost closed a round of funding but one of them was apparently tipped off about the alleged financial irregularities at the firm. The company has been allegedly inflating its revenues and the line items were looking too good to be true. We hear the tip-off came just before the moolah was wired to the startups account. Had it gone through, in all likelihood, there would have been a fresh case of a corporate governance lapse in India, albeit 6-7 months later. Mehul R Thakkar is Special Correspondent, Moneycontrol, Indias leading financial news platform, based in Mumbai where he is focussed on covering the real estate sector. Souptik Datta Reports real estate, infra and city in Bengaluru. Btw, curiosity never kills the cat. Manish Anand is Delhi-based journalist. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Tim Culpan is a technology columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Based in Taipei, he writes about Asian and global businesses and trends. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication Srinath Sridharan is Author, Policy Researcher & Corporate Advisor, Twitter: @ssmumbai. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Stephen L Carter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Shishir Prashant is a senior journalist. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering consumer goods and the retail industry. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. In this photo from June 22, 2023, Atlanta Police Capt. Ralph Woolfolk, left, and Deputy Chief Charles Hampton hold a press conference to discuss the city's plans to handle gang and gun violence this summer. (Natrice Miller/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS) My Dear People The furore that has erupted from the sh0ck of the dispensation of darkness, poverty and confusion to the damning report by the Sadc observer mission over the farcical harmonised elections has shown that the clueless regime is in sixes and sevens. The Sadc observer mission exposed in its report that the elections, characterised by the delayed delivery of ballots that resulted in some voting in the dark of night and the arrest of more than 40 election observers among other shenanigans, had fallen short of the requirements of the constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act and Sadc principles governing democratic elections. The departure by the Sadc body from the normal rubberstamping of elections has resulted in turmoil with attacks and threats aimed at the head of the Sadc observer mission Never Mumba by the rattled Lacoste cabal with the state media even insinuating that the former Zambian vice president has mental problems. Munopenga!!! However, to its credit, the observer mission has been unfazed by the infantile attacks by the Ngwena regime and have refused to back down pointing out that the report was not done by Mumba alone, but also by observers drawn from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia who were deployed across the length and breadth of the country during the polls. It also called the attacks on Mumba crude, scurrilous and misleading. The regime has seemingly noticed that unlike the countrys citizens whose rights they trample upon daily, the Sadc observer mission will not accept being treated like recalcitrant school kids by a government desperate for the validation of the shameful charade which were disguised as elections. It is not surprising that the disgraceful conduct of the countrys elections that even raised concerns of the United Nations especially over the issues of voter intimidation and threats of violence, did not concern some of the individuals who contested for the presidential elections. These individuals have conceded with haste as they called for the country to forge ahead and said they were putting the election behind them. What led to these individuals to concede before even the results of a visibly sham election were announced? One would ask. The answer of course was revealed by the state media, which told us that the gathering of political nonentities otherwise known as the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) will continue to exist. The likes of Trust and Lovemore, who got less votes nationally than most members of Parliament got from their constituencies, can hardly wait to once again be part of this grouping to get their grubby hands on trinkets such as vehicles handed out by Ngwena as reward for making the octogenarian leader feel good as they pretend to bring something meaningful to the table. By participating in the presidential elections and conceding almost immediately, they have guaranteed themselves another five years of running out of superlatives as they tour Ngwenas fish pond at his farm and receiving allowances for attending meetings and making recommendations, which will be totally ignored by the Lacoste cabal. Sadly, taxpayers money is once again going to be wasted funding this useless gatherings of presidential candidates, most of whom garnered less than 1% of the vote. What even makes it more galling is that all this money will go down the drain just to give a picture of the magnanimity of the Lacoste leader. Such is the tragedy of this lot getting another five-year term. Every cloud has a silver lining, as the saying goes and it is true even with this circus of an election. As a result of these polls, the MDC-T led by Dougie Mwonzora has been totally eviscerated with no presence whatsoever in Parliament. The party members who were brave or foolish enough to contest these elections failed to get 1000 votes, a damning indictment of the partys irrelevance in the countrys body politic. How ironic that Thokozani Khupe who was kicked out of the partys leadership after losing to Mwonzora, is now a senator in Parliament as Dougie is left wallowing in the political wilderness. It will be the first time since 1999 that there will be no representation of the MDC brand in Parliament, an indication of just how Mwonzora has destroyed the party. Given his addiction to recall parliamentarians and councillors, the bespectacled fellow will suffer from withdrawal (no pun intended) symptoms and will probably now expend those energies by recalling members of his own party within the confines of Harvest House kkkk. That he has now been reduced to calling for dialogue at press conferences calling for dialogue despite having taken control of the party headquarters and had access to the funding from the state, is a reflection of the rapid downfall of Mwonzora from the powerful position of secretary general of the then Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDCT to join the likes of perennial election loser Egypt Dzinemunhenzva on the political scrapheap. I suggest Dougie starts offering lessons on how to kill a vibrant opposition party and he can huge amounts of money from the Lacoste cabal, which invests so much in silencing its critics. Munopengaaaaaaaa! Dr Amai Stop it! PhD (Fake) The Standard Breaking News via Email Comprehensive New Amphibian Family Tree Revises Frog Evolution Timeline SciTechDaily Housing market affordability is so strained that couples want down payment cash rather than a wedding gift Fortune Zillow Is Rolling Out 1 Percent Down Payment for Home Purchases. Its a Stroke of Genius Inc. A golden egg? Mysterious shiny orb seen on seafloor off Alaska stumps ocean explorers Miami Herald Climate/Environment Toxic Train Bombs Union Pacific still says a leak caused 30 tons of chemicals to go missing Wyoming News Now #COVID-19 2/ Thats more than what isolation rooms in hospitals are typically designed to achieve. If the starting point before CR Box is 2 ACH, the reduction in respiratory aerosol particles will be approx 90%. If the starting point is 1 ACH then CR-Box yields approx 95% reduction. pic.twitter.com/Se4n1hWwdQ Richard Corsi, PhD, PE (Texas) (@CorsIAQ) September 3, 2023 Burning Man Old Blighty China? By Deborah Barsky, a researcher at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution and associate professor at the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, Spain, with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). She is the author of Human Prehistory: Exploring the Past to Understand the Future. Cross posted from Wiki Observatory. We live in an era of mass migration. According to the United Nations World Migration Report 2022[1], there were 281 million international migrants in 2020, equaling 3.6 percent of the global population. Thats well over twice the number in 1990 and over three times the estimated number in 1970. In countries that receive them, migrants are often blamed, rightly or wrongly, for everything from higher crime to declining wages to social and cultural disruption. But the frictions provoked by migration are not new problems; they are deeply embedded in human history and even prehistory. Taking a long-term, cultural-historical perspective on human population movements can help us reach a better understanding of the forces that have governed them over time, and that continue to do so. By anchoring our understanding in data from the archeological record, we can uncover the hidden trends in human migration patterns and discern (or at least form more robust hypotheses about) our species present conditionand, perhaps, formulate useful future scenarios. Globalization in the modern context, including large-scale migrations and the modern notion of the state, traces back to Eurasia in the period when humans first organized themselves into spatially delimited clusters united by imaginary cultural boundaries. The archeological record shows that after the last glacial periodending about 11,700 years agointensified trade sharpened the concept of borders even further. This facilitated the control and manipulation of ever-larger social units by intensifying the power of symbolic constructions of identity and the self. Then as now, cultural consensus created and reinforced notions of territorial unity by excluding others who lived in different areas and displayed different behavioral patterns. Each nation elaborated its own story with its own perceived succession of historical events. These stories were often modified to favor some members of the social unit and justify exclusionist policies toward peoples classified as others. Often, as they grew more elaborate, these stories left prehistory by the wayside, conveniently negating the common origins of the human family[2]. The triggers that may first have prompted human populations to migrate into new territories were probably biological and subject to changing climatic conditions. Later, and especially after the emergence of our own species, Homo sapiens, the impulse to migrate assumed new facets linked to culture. From Nomadism to Migration The oldest migrations by homininsthe group consisting of humans, extinct human species, and all our immediate ancestorstook place after the emergence of our genus, Homo, in Africa some 2.8 million years ago[3] and coincided roughly with the appearance of the first recognizably human technologies: systematically modified stones[4]. Interestingly, these early Oldowan tool kits (after the Olduvai Gorge site in Tanzania) were probably made not only by our genus but also by other hominins, including Paranthropus and Australopithecines. What role did stone tools play in these early steps along our evolutionary path? Archeology tells us that ancient humans increasingly invested in toolmaking as an adaptive strategy that provided them with some advantages for survival. We see this in the noticeable increase in the geographical distribution of archeological sites beginning about 2 million years ago. This coincided with rising populations and also with the first significant hominin migrations out of Africa and into Eurasia. Toolmaking in Oldowan technocomplexesdistinct cultures that use specific technologiesshows the systematic repetition of very specific chains of operations applied to stone. This suggests that the techniques must have been learned and then incorporated into the sociobehavioral norms of the hominin groups that practiced them. In fact, there are similarities between the first Eurasian stone tool kits and those produced at the same time in Africa. Technological know-how was being learned and transmittedand that implies that hominins were entering into a whole new realm of culture. While the archeological record dating to this period is still fragmentary, there is evidence of a hominin presence in widely separated parts of EurasiaChina and Georgiafrom as early as 2 million to 1.8 million years ago; we know that hominins were also present in the Near East and Western Europe by around 1.6 million to 1.4 million years ago. While there is no evidence suggesting that they had mastered fire making, their ability to thrive in a variety of landscapeseven in regions quite different from their original African savannah homedemonstrates their impressive adaptive flexibility. I believe that we can attribute this capacity largely to toolmaking and socialization. How can we envision these first phases of human migrations? We know that there were different species of Homo (Homo georgicus, Homo antecessor) and that these pioneering groups were free-ranging. Population density was low, implying that different groups rarely encountered each other in the same landscape. While they certainly competed for resources with other large carnivores, this was probably manageable thanks to a profusion of natural resources and the hominins technological competence. From around 1.75 million years ago in Africa and 1 million years ago in Eurasia, these hominins and their related descendants created new types of stone tool kits, referred to as Acheulian[2] (after the Saint-Acheul site in France). These are remarkable for their intricacy, the standardization of their design, and the dexterity with which they were fashioned. While the Acheulian tool kits contained a fixed assortment of tool types, some tools for the first time displayed regionally specific designs that prehistorians have identified with specific cultural groups. As early as 1 million years ago, they had also learned to make fire. Acheulian-producing peoplesprincipally of the Homo erectus groupwere a fast-growing population, and evidence of their presence appears in a wide variety of locations that sometimes yield high densities of archeological finds. While nomadic, Acheulian hominins came to occupy a wide geographical landscape. By the final Acheulian phase, beginning around 500,000 years ago, higher population density would have increased the likelihood of encounters between groups that we know were ranging within more strictly defined geographical radiuses. Home base-type habitats emerged, indicating that these hominin groups returned cyclically to the same areas, which can be identified by characteristic differences in their tool kits. After the Oldowan, the Acheulean was the longest cultural phase in human history, lasting some 1.4 million years; toward its end, our genus had reached a sufficiently complex stage of cultural and behavioral development to promulgate a profoundly new kind of cognitive awareness: the awareness of self, accompanied by a sense of belonging within a definable cultural unit. This consciousness of culturally based differences eventually favored the separation of groups living in diverse areas based on geographically defined behavioral and technological norms. This was a hugely significant event in human evolution, implying the first inklings of identity as a concept founded on symbolically manufactured differences: that is, on ways of doing or making things. At the same time, the evidence suggests that networking between these increasingly distinct populations intensified, favoring all sorts of interchange: exchange of mates to improve gene pool variability, for example, and sharing of technological know-how to accelerate and improve adaptive processes. We can only speculate about other kinds of relations that might have developedtrading of stories, beliefs, customs, or even culinary or medicinal customssince advanced symbolic communicative networking, emblematic of both Neandertals and humans, has so far only been recognized from the Middle Paleolithic period, from 350,000 to 30,000 years ago. Importantly, no evidence from the vast chronological periods we have outlined so far suggests that these multilayered encounters involved significant inter- or intraspecies violence. That remained the case moving into the Middle Paleolithic, as the human family expanded to include other species of Homo over a wide territorial range: Neandertals, Denisovans, Homo floresiensis, Homo luzonensis, Homo naledi, Nesher Ramla Homo, and even the first Homo sapiens. Thanks to advances in the application of genetic studies to the paleoanthropological record,[5] we now know that interbreeding took place between several of the species known to have coexisted in Eurasia: humans, Neandertals, and Denisovans. Once again, the fossil evidence thus far does not support the hypotheses that these encounters involved warfare or other forms of violence. By around 150,000 years ago, at least six different species of Homo occupied much of Eurasia, from the Siberian steppes to the tropical Southeast Asian islands, and still no fossil evidence appears of large-scale interpopulational violence. Some 100,000 years later, however, other varieties appear to have died away, and Homo sapiens became the only Homo species still occupying the planet. And occupy it they did: By some time between 70,000 and 30,000 years ago, most of the Earths islands and continents document human presence. Now expert in migrating into new lands, human populations flourished in constantly growing numbers, overexploiting other animal species as their dominion steadily enlarged. Without written records, its impossible to know with any certainty what kinds of relationships or hierarchies might have existed during the final phases of the Paleolithic. Archeologists can only infer from the patchy remains of material culture that patterns of symbolic complexity were intensifying exponentially. Art, body decoration, and incredibly advanced tool kits all bear witness to socially complex behaviors that probably also involved the cementing of hierarchical relationships within sharply distinct social units. By the end of the last glacial period and into the Neolithic and, especially, protohistoric timeswhen sedentarism and, eventually, urbanism, began but before written records appearpeoples were defining themselves through distinct patterns and standards of manufacturing culture, divided by invented geographic frontiers within which they united to protect and defend the amassed goods and lands that they claimed as their own property. Obtaining more land became a decisive goal for groups of culturally distinct peoples, newly united into large clusters, striving to enrich themselves by increasing their possessions. As they conquered new lands, the peoples they defeated were absorbed or, if they refused to relinquish their culture, became the have-nots of a newly established order. An Imagined World After millions of years of physical evolution, growing expertise, and geographic expansion, our singular species had created an imagined world in which differences with no grounding in biological or natural configurations coalesced into multilayered social paradigms defined by inequality in individual wortha concept measured by the quality and quantity of possessions. Access to resourcesrapidly transforming into propertyformed a fundamental part of this progression, as did the capacity to create ever-more efficient technological systems by which humans obtained, processed, and exploited those resources. Since then, peoples of shared inheritance have established strict protocols for assuring their sense of membership in one or another national context. Documents proving birthright guarantee that outsiders are kept at a distance and enable strict control by a few chosen authorities, maintaining a stronghold against any possible breach of the system. Members of each social unit are indoctrinated through an elaborate preestablished apprenticeship, institutionally reinforced throughout every facet of life: religious, educational, family, and workplace. Peoples belonging to alien constructed realities have no place within the social units tightly knit hierarchy, on the assumption that they pose a threat by virtue of their perceived difference. For any person outside of a context characterized by a relative abundance of resources, access to the required documents is generally denied; for people from low-income countries seeking to better their lives by migrating, access to documents is either extremely difficult or impossible, guarded by sentinels charged with determining identitarian belonging. In the contemporary world, migration has become one of the most strictly regulated and problematic of human activities. It should be no surprise, then, that we are also experiencing a resurgence of nationalistic sentiment worldwide, even as we face the realities of global climate deregulation; nations now regard the race to achieve exclusive access to critical resources as absolutely urgent. The protectionist response of the worlds privileged, high-income nations includes reinforcing conjectured identities to stoke fear and sometimes even hatred of peoples designated as others who wish to enter our territories as active and rightful citizens. Thanks to the very ancient creation of these conceptual barriers, the rightful members of privileged social unitsthe havescan feel justified in defending and validating their exclusion of othersthe have-notsand comfortably deny them access to rights and resources through consensus, despite the denigrating and horrific experiences these others might have undergone to ameliorate their condition. Incredibly, it was only some 500 years ago that an unwieldy medieval Europe, already overpopulated and subject to a corrupt and unjust social system, (re)discovered half of the planet, finding in the Americas a distinct world inhabited by many thousands of peoples, established there since the final phases of the Upper Pleistocene, perhaps as early as 60,000 years ago. Neither did the peoples living there, who had organized themselves into a variety of social units ranging from sprawling cities to seminomadic open-air habitations, expect this incredible event to occur. The resource-hungry Europeans nevertheless claimed these lands as their own, decimating the original inhabitants and destroying the delicate natural balance of their world. The conquerors justified the genocide of the Indigenous inhabitants in the same way we reject asylum seekers today: on the grounds that they lacked the necessary shared symbolic referents. As we step into a newly recognized epoch of our own creationthe Anthropocene, in which the human imprint has become visible even in the geo-atmospheric strata of our planethumans can be expected to continue creating new referents to justify the exclusion of a new kind of migrant: the climate refugee. What referents of exclusion will we invoke to justify the refusal of basic needs and access to resources to peoples migrating from inundated coastal cities, submerged islands, or lands rendered lifeless and non-arable by pollutants? References Yves here. It seems difficult to fathom why Igor Kolomoysky returned to Ukraine to get himself arrested, since he was bunkered in Switzerland and reportedly had enough of his former fortune left (Alex Christaforu reported yesterday $800 million; I havent attempted to verify) to live comfortably. And Kolomoysky would hardly be the first rich person to hide out in Switzerland on a long term basis; recall Marc Rich, convicted for criminal tax fraud in the US and after a very long time in exile, pardoned by the US. One has to assume someone he trusted baited him to come.confirming that no one in Ukraine who has any influence can be trusted. The other peculiar part of this saga is the apparent volte face by Zelensky on elections. Recall Ukraine has already shut down all opposition press, banned opposition parties, and has been attacking Russian Orthodox churches and considering a formal ban. So having elections with this as a background is a farce, and Zelensky had accordingly said none would be held until the war was over. But the cancellation of elections made it too easy to depict Ukraine as a non-democracy and was embarrassing to the US. So it appears that fake Ukraine elections will be coming in 2024. By Andrew Korybko, a Moscow-based American political analyst who specializes in the global systemic transition to multipolarity in the New Cold War. He has a PhD from MGIMO, which is under the umbrella of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Originally published at his website In an ironic twist of fate, this oligarch went from pulling the Ukrainian leaders strings to having his life ruined by the same man who he thought was his puppet. Many observers were shocked when the SBU arrested Zelenskys former patron, oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, on charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering over the weekend. The Ukrainian leader then thanked the security serves in his evening address for their determination to bring every case stalled for decades to a just conclusion. This development comes two and a half years after the US sanctionedKolomoysky on related pretexts, thus suggesting that the latest move was endorsed by them. His arrest is due to several converging factors that also explain why it happened at this particular time. First, the vicious blame game that broke out between the US and Ukraine last month over the failed counteroffensive threatens to derail their relations if it isnt soon resolved. At the core of this dispute are US accusations that Ukraine is arrogantly ignoring the military-strategic advice that its been given. Accordingly, the US has an interest in removing those who it suspects of negatively influencing Zelensky. Its unclear exactly what sway Kolomoysky might have still exerted over Zelensky after the latter fell largely under US influence since the start of Russias special operation a year and a half ago, but it makes sense why Washington wouldnt want to risk the chance that he could play a role in their escalating spat. This observation doesnt explain why he was arrested only just now, however, thus leading to the second relevant factor regarding the urgent need to manage Ukrainian and US public opinion. People in both countries are growing fatigued and frustrated with this conflict. The challenge this poses for Ukraine is that it reduces support for prolonging the proxy war, plus folks are now starting to remember some of his other unfulfilled promises like fighting corruption. As for the US, a lot of Americans no longer want to fund Ukraine, or they at least want accountability for how their money is being spent after fearing that figures in this infamously corrupt country are stealing their tax dollars. It therefore made sense for Zelensky to finally stage a public spectacle by allowing the arrest of his corrupt patron. He killed two birds with one stone by satiating both publics at no cost to himself. In fact, the latest phase of his anti-corruption campaign actually works in his political interests, thereby segueing into the third factor pertaining to the newfound US pressure on him to hold presidential elections next spring as planned. Zelensky will almost certainly run for re-election even though he hasnt yet officially announced his candidacy. Hes still somewhat popular with his people, as are most leaders whenever theres a conflict being fought on their territory (or the territory that they claim as their own in this case), but his failure to effectively fight corruption despite prior promises disappointed many. By letting the SBU arrest his former patron Kolomoysky, however, Zelensky hopes to regain some of his bases lost trust. These three factors the US wanting to consolidate its influence over Zelensky as bilateral ties become more complicated; the need to satiate the Ukrainian and US publics anti-corruption demands; and the incumbents undeclared re-election campaign account for Kolomoyskys arrest at this particular time. Simply put, it serves both states interests. In an ironic twist of fate, this oligarch went from pulling the Ukrainian leaders strings to having his life ruined by the same man who he thought was his puppet. NOTE: CHANGE OF TIMING On Wednesday 11 October, the NATO Secretary General will give a doorstep statement at NATO Headquarters in Brussels at the earlier time of +/- 08:20 (CEST). For any questions contact the NATO Press Office. GENERAL A meeting of Defence Ministers will take place on 11-12 October 2023 at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels. The meeting will be chaired by the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg. The deadline for accreditation was Thursday 28 September 2023, at midnight (CEST). The Secretary General will brief the media on both days of the Ministerial meeting (doorstep and press conference on 11 October, with a final press conference on 12 October). PROGRAMME View the detailed media programme (pdf). For information about individual Ministers media programmes, please contact the national delegations. A list of delegation press officers is available from NATO Press & Media (press[at]hq.nato.int). MEDIA ACCESS Accredited media representatives can work in the press area of NATO Headquarters on the day of the pre-ministerial press conference and the days of the Ministerial meeting, and access all public areas. The opening hours of the press area will be communicated in the media programme. Accredited journalists can attend Ministers doorsteps and the press conferences of the NATO Secretary General. These events will also be streamed live on the NATO website. National briefings will also take place at NATO Headquarters. Those may be by invitation only. Please contact national delegations at NATO for details about their plans. POOLS A few elements of the Meeting of NATO Defence Ministers will be accessible only to a pool of visual journalists. Due to space constraints and security reasons, visual pools are limited in size. Details on pooled events will be available in the media programme. Please email NatoMediaOperations[at]hq.nato.int if you are a camera operator or photographer and you are interested in pool access. If you accept a NATO pool position you must share immediately all information and material collected while in the pool with any accredited media that request it, at no charge and with no restriction on the use of the material for news purposes. Media organisations that want pooled images should first contact the wire service / photo agency of which they are a client. Media representatives and news organisations must identify that it is pooled material every time it is used. Pooled material can only be used for legitimate news purposes and cannot be sold. BROADCAST NATO will provide broadcast-quality video in real time on EBU World feed or to EBU News Exchange. NATO photographers and videographers will provide video clips and photos of all public events during the ministerial meeting. Photos can be downloaded from the NATO website. The video files will be available for free download from the NATO Multimedia Portal. The Secretary General's press conferences will be streamed live on the NATO website. MEDIA ACCREDITATION Media representatives who have annual accreditation to NATO for 2023 do not need to apply for separate accreditation for this event. Journalists who have applied for access to this particular event will be notified of their accreditation. Please bring a printout of the confirmation email when collecting your badge. Media passes must be collected in person upon presentation of an ID card or passport at the Main Entrance, NATO Headquarters, Boulevard Leopold III 1110 Brussels. You must bring the same ID document that you used to apply for accreditation online. Passes must be visible at all times. Please arrive early to clear security checks. Security personnel will examine and may test equipment and personal effects. MEDIA FACILITIES A press working area will be set up on the first floor of the Public Square at NATO HQ. Working spaces cannot be booked in advance and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Television and radio editing spaces will be available upon request by email to the NATO TV & Radio Unit (see contact details below). PARKING Media representatives can park in the Visitors' car park of the NATO HQ. Uplink vans can park in a special section of the car park upon request to the NATO TV & Radio Unit. For general queries: Contact the NATO Press Office Accreditation NatoAccreditations[at]hq.nato.int TV & Radio arrangements on site and via satellite broadcastoperations[at]hq.nato.int NATO Video on demand content[at]natomultimedia.tv On 6-8 September 2023, the NATO Deputy Secretary General Mr. Mircea Geoana, will visit Israel. On Wednesday, 6 September, Mr. Geoana will have a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Defence of the State of Israel, Yoav Gallant. On that day, Mr. Geoana will also visit the Technion Sarona Tel Aviv Campus, where he will meet with the faculty staff and have a round-table discussion with business executives. On Thursday, 7 September, Mr. Geoana will visit Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, where he will participate in a memorial ceremony. Also on Thursday, Mr. Geoana will have a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by a bilateral meeting with the President of the State of Israel, Yitzhak Herzog. On the same day, Mr. Geoana will visit the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation. On Friday, 8 September 2023, Mr. Geoana will meet with Allied Ambassadors to Israel. There will be no media opportunities. Photographs of Mr. Geoanas engagements will be available on the NATO website after the events. Contact points For more information: Contact the NATO Press Office Follow us on Twitter (@NATO, @Mircea_Geoana and @NATOPress). Typhoon Haikui has forced the evacuation of thousands of individuals in Taiwan and has left at least 44 people injured. Authorities said that at least 7,113 people residing across 11 cities and counties have been forced to evacuate to ensure their safety. Moreover, power supply firm Taipower has disclosed that a total of 48,506 households were without electric supply. The Central Weather Bureau said that Haikui is packing maximum sustained winds near center of 30 meters per second. It is expected to move in the next 24 hours hitting the west northwestern track at 9 kilometers per hour. At present, weather experts warned of torrential rains or extremely torrential rains in various areas, including the Taichung City Mountain Area, Yilan County Mountain Area, and the Hualien County. Meanwhile, extremely heavy rains or torrential rains are also expected in Nantou County Mountain Area, Kaohsiung City Mountain Area, Pingtung County Mountain Area, and the Taitung County. Residents in New Taipei City Mountain Area, Taoyuan City Mountain Area, Hsinchu County Mountain Area, Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County, Hengchun Peninsula, Yilan County, Lanyu and Ludao Islands have also been advised of heavy rains or extremely heavy rains on Monday morning until the afternoon. On the other hand, a heavy rain advisory has also been raised in Keelung North Coast, Taipei City, New Taipei City, Miaoli County Mountain Area, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Tainan City, and the Penghu County. Read Also: About 121 Passenger Trains in China Suspended Due to Typhoon Saola Impacts This Week Landfall Haikui already made landfall at around 3 p.m. of Sunday in Taitung County near the boundary of Chenggong and Donghe townships, according to meteorologists. It was then moving in a west-northwesterly direction at a speed of 22 kilometers per hour, packing sustained winds of 155 km per hour and gusts of up to 191 kph. The said weather disturbance was expected to move into the Taiwan Strait as it was also seen to slow down, meaning the typhoon's outer rim may only pull away from the country on Monday evening. Weather officials said that the massive heavy rainfall brought by the storm would trigger flash floods and even landslides. They noted that the mountainous Hualien County could experience a total precipitation level of more than 500 millimeters. In addition to floods and landslides, Haikui also affected travel plans as 246 flights in and out of Taiwan, which were mainly on domestic or regional routes, had been delayed or canceled. First in four years Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said Haikui would be the first typhoon in four years to cross the Central Mountain Range running north to south of the island. Experts said that this was a path that could lead to landslides in surrounding counties. To recall, the last major storm to hit Taiwan was Typhoon Bailu in 2019, which killed one person. Bailu also led to the shutting down of businesses and schools as airlines also canceled hundreds of flights amid warnings of landslides, floods and high seas on the island. So far, weather experts said that Haikui would not be as severe as Tropical Storm Saola, which hit nearby Hong Kong and southern China over the weekend. Related Article: Super Typhoon Saola: 100,000 Evacuated In China's Eastern Fujian; 400 Flights Cancelled, Delayed In Hongkong Related Video: Bamboo is a versatile and valuable plant that has many uses and benefits for humans and nature. However, it also has a peculiar and mysterious life cycle that involves a rare and synchronized flowering event that occurs only once every several decades or even centuries. This flowering event can have significant ecological and economic impacts, as it leads to the death of the bamboo plants and the emergence of new generations. The phenomenon and causes of the rare bamboo flowering event Bamboo is a type of grass that belongs to the Poaceae family. There are more than 1,400 species of bamboo, which vary in size, shape, color, and habitat. It can grow in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions, and can adapt to different environmental conditions, and is also one of the fastest-growing plants in the world, as some species can grow up to one meter per day. However, bamboo also has a unique and intriguing feature: it flowers only once in its lifetime, and then dies. This phenomenon is called monocarpic flowering or gregarious flowering, as it involves the simultaneous flowering of all the individuals of a bamboo species or population within a specific geographic area. The flowering interval can range from 10 to 120 years, depending on the species and environmental factors. The exact causes and mechanisms of the rare bamboo flowering event are still unknown and debated by scientists. Some possible explanations include: Genetic factors: Bamboo may have a genetic clock that determines when it will flower, regardless of external conditions. This clock may be triggered by mutations or epigenetic changes that accumulate over time. Environmental factors: Bamboo may respond to environmental cues or stresses that indicate when it is optimal or necessary to flower. These cues or stresses may include temperature, rainfall, drought, fire, or disease. Hormonal factors: Bamboo may produce or receive hormonal signals that regulate its growth and reproduction. These signals may be influenced by internal or external factors, such as age, nutrient availability, or plant density. Also Read: Giant Pandas Meant to Eat Meat, Not Bamboo The impacts and implications of the rare bamboo flowering event The rare bamboo flowering event can have significant impacts and implications for both nature and humans. Some of these include: Ecological impacts: The rare bamboo flowering event can affect the biodiversity and dynamics of the ecosystem where it occurs. For example: The bamboo flowers can attract pollinators and seed dispersers, such as insects, birds, and rodents, which can increase their population and activity. The bamboo seeds can provide a rich food source for herbivores, such as rodents, deer, and elephants, which can also increase their population and activity. The increased population and activity of herbivores can attract predators, such as snakes, cats, and bears, which can also increase their population and activity. The increased population and activity of animals can have cascading effects on the food chain and the balance of the ecosystem. The death of the bamboo plants can create gaps in the vegetation cover, which can affect the microclimate, soil quality, water cycle, and erosion. The death of the bamboo plants can also create opportunities for other plants to colonize the area, which can change the composition and diversity of the plant community. Economic impacts: The rare bamboo flowering event can affect the livelihoods and well-being of people who depend on bamboo for various purposes. For example: The loss of bamboo plants can reduce the availability of bamboo products, such as food, fiber, fuel, furniture, paper, crafts, etc., which can affect the income and welfare of farmers, artisans, traders, consumers, etc. The loss of bamboo plants can also reduce the provision of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, soil stabilization, water purification, etc., which can affect the sustainability and resilience of human activities. The increased population and activity of animals can cause crop damage and human-wildlife conflicts, which can affect the security and safety of people. The rare bamboo flowering event is a fascinating and mysterious phenomenon that can have significant ecological and economic consequences. It is important for scientists to understand the causes and mechanisms of this phenomenon better to predict when it will occur and how it will affect nature and humans. Related article: YouTuber Discovers New Tarantula Species Living Inside Bamboo in Northern Thailand Researchers studying the glacial period 10,000 years ago warned that rapid sea rising could impact coastal habitats. The study noted the possible effects of increasing global temperatures on seawater levels. Scientists have been concerned about the rapid sea level rise that could affect coastal habitats, wildlife and ecosystems. The rising temperatures can likely be blamed if it is maintained uncontrolled. Coastal habitats, like tidal marshes and mangroves, are essential to animals and communities. It is considered a home to many rare species. According to a report, coastal ecosystems are important for food supply and storm protection. In addition, coastal habitats are ecologically crucial for nutrient regulation and helping with polluted waters. It also helps to fight the problems of climate change by sequestering harmful carbons. Rising temperatures impact coastal ecosystems In the latest research, experts studied the impacts of sea-level rise on coastal ecosystems. The global warming is the main concern due to impacts on glaciers and sea-level rise. Experts studied how coastal ecosystems managed to thrive and adapt 10,000 years ago. Researchers analyzed the ancient shorelines that suffered from rapid sea-level rise. The study's author, Professor Robert Kopp, the faster rise of oceans could threaten coral reefs, tidal marshes and mangroves. Professor Kopp is from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. The rising sea-level rise could make it more challenging for tidal marshes, adding that the said habitat could likely deal with sea-level rise under 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit warming. The discovery can help protect the current status of coral reefs and coastal habitats. The early mitigation plans can save the coastal ecosystems from decline, which could have devastating impacts on animals and humans. As a result, the goal to reduce global carbon emissions is essential to prevent the potential increase of temperatures and sea-level rise. When the coastal habitats shrink, it could have serious impacts on cities. Also Read: Algae Can Help Decipher Evolution History of Plants 600 Million Years Ago Why tidal marshes and mangroves are vital to ecosystems Tidal marshes serve as a buffer in cities from the seas. It is a vital source of food and habitats for many aquatic animals. It can also help filter possible pollution in water, protecting marine biodiversity from contamination or decline. Meanwhile, mangroves are essential to assist in improving water quality and vegetation. It is also a home to biodiversity and wildlife. For many fishes, it is an ecological breeding ground and nursery for small fishes. In the US, coastal habitats can protect Americans from severe disasters, including hurricanes and possible erosion. In Florida, mangroves help bees to grow. Other threatened species that stay in Mangroves are Loggerhead sea turtles, Green Sea Turtles, American Alligator and Southern Bald Eagle. Related Article: Mussels Play Crucial Role in Protecting US Coastal Areas, Ecosystem For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News. Hawaii officials said that 385 individuals remain missing as a result of the Maui wildfire, largely unchanged from the previous week. The Maui Police Department reported that 245 people on the missing persons list confirmed by the FBI have been recovered and located. However, nearly as many new names were added, reducing the total from 388 to 385, a net reduction of three. Exact number going to take time Following the release of the new list by Maui police, the governor stated that the counts of fatalities and missing are frequently in flux in mass casualty incidents until investigations are finished. "Exact numbers are going to take time, perhaps a long time, to become finalized," Gov. Josh Green said in a statement provided through a spokesperson. Green noted that there are less than 50 "active missing person cases." He did not clarify nor elaborate on these missing people, but he said those individuals are the persons whom they have more information as provided by authorities. It only requires a first and last name as well as a verified contact number. Authorities said at least 115 people were killed in the Lahaina wildfire, which was the deadliest in the United States in more than a century. The names of 50 people have been made public, while the identities of five others have been withheld because next-of-kin have not been located, while the rest are yet to be identified. More than 1,000 people were reported missing in the early aftermath of the fire, based on reports from family, friends, or acquaintances. Officials revealed a list of 388 people who were credibly believed to be missing. Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said that the new missing people on the revised list came from the Red Cross, shelters, and interested parties who called the FBI. He urged missing people's families to donate DNA samples to aid in the identification of their relatives. "If you have a loved one that you know is missing and you are a family member, it's imperative that you get a DNA sample," Pelletier said. Lahaina fire contained The catastrophic fire in Lahaina that began 27 days ago is now 100% contained. The County of Maui announced the fire has scorched around 2,170 acres and damaged or destroyed 2,207 structures. According to county officials, the fires in Kula and Olinda have not been completely contained, while the Olinda fire has scorched 1,081 acres and is 90% contained, and the Kula fire, which has scorched 202 acres, is 95% contained. "The Maui Fire Department advises the public that extinguishing the Upcountry fires may take an extended period of time given the large burn area and the nature of the rural terrain. Although containment percentages have not changed over recent days, MFD continues to reassure the public there are no active threats among the three ongoing fires," according to a county update. The cause of the fire has not been identified, however powerlines from toppled utility poles may have fueled the blaze. Maui County has sued Hawaiian Electric, the island's power company. Related Article: Maui Wildfire Update: 'Still-burning Fires' Not Posing Active Threats; Firefighters Find It Hard To Contain Blaze in Urban Areas Related Video: Water levels at Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake and South America's largest, are plummeting drastically following an unprecedented winter heat wave. More than three million people live around the lake, relying on its waters to fish, farm, and attract tourists who boost the economy of an otherwise marginalized region. Now the lake is at risk of losing it. Read Also: Shell Llama Offering in Lake Titicaca Deepens Our Understanding of Past Cultures Increased evaporation and decreasing lake levels The record-breaking winter heat wave has boosted evaporation and decreased lake levels, increasing drought-related water shortfalls. Sixto Flores, director of Peru's national meteorology and hydrology agency (Senamhi) in Puno, said that precipitation was 49% lower than average from August 2022 to March 2023, a period that encompasses the rainy season, when water levels typically rebound. If the lake drains at its regular rate over the next four months, water levels will be at their lowest since 1996 by December, which he described as "very serious." According to Flores, this is part of a "gradual decline" in lake water levels in recent years, and a recent study that examined satellite images from 1992 to 2020 found that Lake Titicaca is losing around 120 million metric tons of water per year, which the authors attribute to changes in precipitation and runoff. Impact in agriculture and tourism Communities that rely on fishing are struggling as low water levels exacerbate the already-existing issues of dwindling fish species as a result of pollution and overfishing. Drought has also had an impact on agriculture, with regional officials claiming that crops suffered greatly during the recent harvest season. The entire majority of quinoa and potato crops, both local staples, as well as oats used to feed livestock, have been damaged. The tourist industry suffered as well, as boats used to shuttle guests around the lake became stuck as the waters retreated. "We are extremely worried most of all because the water level is falling a lot at the moment," Jullian Huattamarca, 36, who sells locally made textiles to visitors to the island of Taquile, said in an interview. Visitors have long been drawn to the beautiful waters and open skies of South America's largest lake, which crosses more than 3,200 square miles of Peruvian and Bolivian territory. It is sometimes referred to as a "inland sea," and it is home to indigenous cultures of Aymara, Quechua, and Uros. It is located in the middle Andes mountain range at an elevation of roughly 3,800 meters (12,500 feet), making it the highest navigable lake in the world. The lake's high altitude also exposes it to high levels of solar radiation, which increases evaporation and accounts for the majority of its water losses. In 2018, a UNESCO workshop in Lake Titicaca convened area specialists to debate scientific research and the protection of underwater cultural heritage, its role in sustainable development, and a project to create an underwater museum. According to Connor Baker, an analyst with International Crisis Group, the situation necessitates long-term action to protect those who rely on the lake. "While the lake's fluctuations have been linked to climate variability and natural oscillations, the exacerbating influence of climate change heightens the need for sustained management strategies," he added. Related Article: The Plight of Lake Titicaca: The World's Highest Lake Faces Water Scarcity Due to Climate Change Related Video: According to information published by Global Times on September 4, 2023, the navies of China and Thailand are holding a joint exercise closely following joint drills by the armies and air forces of the two countries. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Type 071 comprehensive landing ship Simingshan. (Picture source: Chinese MoD) These consecutive interactions will promote military cooperation, with a latest example being the Thai navy chief's approval of the use of a Chinese engine in a China-Thailand submarine deal. The China-Thailand Blue Strike-2023 joint naval training exercise is scheduled to be held from September 3 to September 10 in the upper Gulf of Thailand and a marine camp in Sattahip. With the aim of enhancing the participating forces' training level and interoperability, boosting the two navies' pragmatic cooperation and elevating the capability in jointly dealing with regional security threats, the training exercise will feature subjects including sniping tactics, jungle survival, maritime search and rescue as well as cross-deck helicopter landings, said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson. It marks the fifth edition of the Blue Strike bilateral naval exercises held since 2010. Chinese forces participating in the exercise, including the Type 071 comprehensive landing ship Simingshan, the Type 054A guided missile frigate Anyang, the Type 903A comprehensive replenishment ship Chaohu, a Marine Corps unit and a vessel-borne helicopter unit, arrived at the Port of Sattahip in Thailand. Just before the naval drill, armies of the two countries wrapped up the 18-day Strike-2023 joint training exercise in Thailand. The two countries' air forces also held the 21-day Falcon Strike-2023 joint air combat drill in Thailand in July. According to information published by L'Echo on September 4, 2023, following the decommissioning of Germany's last Bremen class frigate that used NATO's Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles, the Belgian defense has purchased a stockpile of these missiles. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link A NATO Sea Sparrow missile is launched from the bow of the German navy Bremen-class frigate Lubeck during the sinking exercise portion of UNITAS Gold. (Picture source: US DoD) The cabinet of Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder further revealed that an upcoming government meeting would determine the possibility of another military equipment delivery to Ukrainian forces, valued at slightly more than 150,000. This proposed aid comes in addition to previously announced support plans. According to reliable sources, about one-third of the aforementioned amount will be allocated to the donation of eight Sea Sparrow missiles. As Germany has decommissioned its last frigate using this American-designed NATO equipment in its horizontal firing version, there's potential for Ukraine to repurpose them as ground-to-air missiles or possibly drone equipment. Belgium secured these missiles at a cost of 7,000 each. It's worth noting that Belgium had previously committed to an aid package in January, with a budget of 90 million, including the supply of missiles and assault rifles. Context The Sea Sparrow is primarily a naval surface-to-air missile system, designed to counter a spectrum of aerial threats and operating within the medium-range category. It is equipped with a semi-active radar homing guidance system. The landscape of modern conflict often involves a mix of fighter aircraft, reconnaissance drones, and cruise missiles. In this setting, the Sea Sparrow offers a countermeasure, using its guidance system to track and intercept aerial targets based on radar reflections. The missile's ability to reach speeds up to Mach 2 allows for a responsive engagement against potential aerial threats. Considering the wide range of aerial platforms that can be deployed in such conflicts, the Sea Sparrow offers a tool to address these challenges. Its vertical launch system facilitates the capability to engage multiple targets in quick succession. The Sea Sparrow's design allows for potential integration into various platforms or even adaptation for diverse roles, such as in ground-to-air configurations. There's also the potential for these missiles to be incorporated into broader defense networks, pairing with radar and other sensor systems for comprehensive aerial coverage. Microsoft has blamed staff strength and failed automation for a data center outage in Australia that took place on August 30, disabling users from accessing Azure, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform services for over 24 hours. In a post-incident analysis report, Microsoft said the outage occurred due to a utility power sag in Australias East region, which in turn tripped a subset of the cooling units offline in one data center, within one of the Availability Zones. As the cooling units were not working properly, the rise in temperature forced an automated shutdown of the data center in order to preserve data and infrastructure health, affecting compute, network, and storage services. However, Microsoft said that the cooling units could have been restarted manually, which was not possible due to the unavailability of enough personnel at the data center. Due to the size of the data center campus, the staffing of the team at night was insufficient to restart the chillers in a timely manner. We have temporarily increased the team size from three to seven, until the underlying issues are better understood and appropriate mitigations can be put in place, Microsoft wrote as part of the report. In addition, the company said it is working on other major reforms, such as improving existing automation for the data center to improve restoration of services when an incident occurs. We are exploring ways to improve existing automation to be more resilient to various voltage sag event types, Microsoft said, adding that an evaluation was underway to ensure that the highest-load servers and their corresponding chillers restarted first. In the past few months, Microsoft has reported several outages, especially the unavailability of M365 services. In July, an outage took out its OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online services. In June, users faced issues with Outlook Web, Teams, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint for over eight hours. In May, the company reported that UK users were facing issues accessing some service offerings under Microsoft 365. In April, Microsoft said it was investigating an issue where certain users were unable to use the search functionality in multiple Microsoft 365 services. Outlook on the Web, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Teams, and Outlook desktop clients were among the affected services. In another incident in April, users could not access Microsoft 365 web applications, and Teams. Microsoft also suffered a global outage in February, and yet again, its users could not access emails and Teams. It suffered a similar outage in January. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The decision of the 15th summit of BRICS to invite Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates into the club could accelerate economic growth among the member nations provided consensus is reached on many key issues, former diplomat T P Sreenivasan has said. He was speaking after inaugurating a seminar on The significance of the 15th BRICS Summit organised by the Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram. BRICS nations have a long way to go to transform themselves into a unified global organisation that can effectively challenge the present polarisation in the world economy, Sreenivasan said. BRICS was founded as an alternative to global bodies viewed as dominated by the traditional Western powers. But to unlock benefits including development finance, and increased trade, the member nations need to reach consensus on many issues existing in todays geopolitical situation, he said. Banking and finance expert S Adikesavan said that trade balance was crucial to achieving a more integrated BRICS. The global bodys effectiveness is affected by the imbalance of interest among member nations in terms of their respective national incomes. Also, the New Development Bank of the BRICS countries is yet to attain global scale, said Adikesavan. We should also aim to build a durable and sustainable settlement mechanism for the heightened Russia-India trade, he said. Director of the Capital Centre of the Central University of Kerala, P Anilkumar, welcomed the gathering. Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation and director of the Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram Ratheesh C Nair presided over. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The decision of the 15th summit of BRICS to invite Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates into the club could accelerate economic growth among the member nations provided consensus is reached on many key issues, former diplomat T P Sreenivasan has said. He was speaking after inaugurating a seminar on The significance of the 15th BRICS Summit organised by the Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram. BRICS nations have a long way to go to transform themselves into a unified global organisation that can effectively challenge the present polarisation in the world economy, Sreenivasan said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); BRICS was founded as an alternative to global bodies viewed as dominated by the traditional Western powers. But to unlock benefits including development finance, and increased trade, the member nations need to reach consensus on many issues existing in todays geopolitical situation, he said. Banking and finance expert S Adikesavan said that trade balance was crucial to achieving a more integrated BRICS. The global bodys effectiveness is affected by the imbalance of interest among member nations in terms of their respective national incomes. Also, the New Development Bank of the BRICS countries is yet to attain global scale, said Adikesavan. We should also aim to build a durable and sustainable settlement mechanism for the heightened Russia-India trade, he said. Director of the Capital Centre of the Central University of Kerala, P Anilkumar, welcomed the gathering. Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation and director of the Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram Ratheesh C Nair presided over. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The fourth, and the last, Sherpa meeting under Indias G20 Presidency is being held in Manesar, amidst heightened security. The meeting, which began on September 3 will conclude on September 7. Indias G20 Presidency stands as a beacon of inclusivity, representing the voice of the Global South as the worlds largest multilateral forum. In the upcoming summit, G20 member nations will advocate for a fairer and more sustainable world for all. Together we will shape the future, said Indias G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant. This meeting is crucial as it will outline the final agenda for the upcoming G20 Summit, which will be shared with the delegates attending it. The meeting is being held in ITC Grand Bharat Hotel and Lemon Tree in Gurgaon. After a year of constructive deliberations with all my counterparts, I look forward to constructive discussions as we gear up for the New Delhi Leaders Summit, Kant said. Around 176 delegates are expected to attend this meeting, which includes officials from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The foreign dignitaries will be introduced to the cultural aspects of Gurgaon. Flags of all nations have been put up around the venue. A statue of Lord Vishnu has been installed. Another attraction is a robot that will greet guests at the venue. India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1, 2022. Nearly 200 meeting across 60 cities and over one lakh visitors have been the highlight. Indias G20 Presidency has sowed the seeds of confidence in the countries of the Global South. They will shape the direction of the world in the coming years on climate change, global institutional reforms and more, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The fourth, and the last, Sherpa meeting under Indias G20 Presidency is being held in Manesar, amidst heightened security. The meeting, which began on September 3 will conclude on September 7. Indias G20 Presidency stands as a beacon of inclusivity, representing the voice of the Global South as the worlds largest multilateral forum. In the upcoming summit, G20 member nations will advocate for a fairer and more sustainable world for all. Together we will shape the future, said Indias G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant. This meeting is crucial as it will outline the final agenda for the upcoming G20 Summit, which will be shared with the delegates attending it. The meeting is being held in ITC Grand Bharat Hotel and Lemon Tree in Gurgaon. After a year of constructive deliberations with all my counterparts, I look forward to constructive discussions as we gear up for the New Delhi Leaders Summit, Kant said. Around 176 delegates are expected to attend this meeting, which includes officials from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The foreign dignitaries will be introduced to the cultural aspects of Gurgaon. Flags of all nations have been put up around the venue. A statue of Lord Vishnu has been installed. Another attraction is a robot that will greet guests at the venue. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1, 2022. Nearly 200 meeting across 60 cities and over one lakh visitors have been the highlight. Indias G20 Presidency has sowed the seeds of confidence in the countries of the Global South. They will shape the direction of the world in the coming years on climate change, global institutional reforms and more, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The African Union (AU) is likely to become a member of the Group of 20 (G20) largest economies with India, which holds the G20 chair, proposing its inclusion ahead of the September 9-10 summit. With the AUs inclusion, the bloc will become G21. Supporting the AUs inclusion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, No plan for the future of the planet can be successful without the representation and recognition of all voices. Africa is a top priority for us even within the G20. One of the first things we did during our G20 Presidency was to hold the Voice of the Global South summit, which had enthusiastic participation from Africa, Modi said. There is a need to come out of a purely utilitarian worldview and embrace a Sarva Jana Hitaaya, Sarva Jana Sukhaaya (for the welfare of all, for the happiness of all) model, he added. The AU has 55 member countries. However, not everyone in AU is excited about Indias push to get them to G20. Africa is a large continent and the challenges, economy and communities are very diverse. In that context, we feel that this inclusion in the G20 would not translate into anything for us in the literal sense. The Voice of the Global South must be heard but the inclusion in G20 would not help in addressing the concerns. We are grateful for India to consider including us though, said a representative of an African country. Sudan is now caught in a civil war that has displaced 4.8 million people. In Rwanda, several opposition leaders have been jailed. Morocco and Algeria are embroiled in territorial disputes. AU is not a politically cohesive unit. There are issues that countries are facing on their own and with each other. Besides, there are eight regional economic committees which have developed individually with differing structures, a source said. Two not on UN list Some African nations have flagged the inclusion of two AU countries that are not recognised by the UN Somaliland and Sahraoui Arab Democratic Republic Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The African Union (AU) is likely to become a member of the Group of 20 (G20) largest economies with India, which holds the G20 chair, proposing its inclusion ahead of the September 9-10 summit. With the AUs inclusion, the bloc will become G21. Supporting the AUs inclusion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, No plan for the future of the planet can be successful without the representation and recognition of all voices. Africa is a top priority for us even within the G20. One of the first things we did during our G20 Presidency was to hold the Voice of the Global South summit, which had enthusiastic participation from Africa, Modi said. There is a need to come out of a purely utilitarian worldview and embrace a Sarva Jana Hitaaya, Sarva Jana Sukhaaya (for the welfare of all, for the happiness of all) model, he added. The AU has 55 member countries. However, not everyone in AU is excited about Indias push to get them to G20. Africa is a large continent and the challenges, economy and communities are very diverse. In that context, we feel that this inclusion in the G20 would not translate into anything for us in the literal sense. The Voice of the Global South must be heard but the inclusion in G20 would not help in addressing the concerns. We are grateful for India to consider including us though, said a representative of an African country. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Sudan is now caught in a civil war that has displaced 4.8 million people. In Rwanda, several opposition leaders have been jailed. Morocco and Algeria are embroiled in territorial disputes. AU is not a politically cohesive unit. There are issues that countries are facing on their own and with each other. Besides, there are eight regional economic committees which have developed individually with differing structures, a source said. Two not on UN list Some African nations have flagged the inclusion of two AU countries that are not recognised by the UN Somaliland and Sahraoui Arab Democratic Republic Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI DIBRUGARH: A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in Assam's Dibrugarh district, following which four people, including a minor, were arrested, police said. The incident took place in Dhekeri Gaon in Banipur area of Dibrugarh town on Sunday night, Additional Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Papori Chetia said. "The girl hailed from Makum in Tinsukia district and was staying with a woman for the last three months. We received information that the girl had hanged herself. However, upon reaching the spot, our team found the body lying on the bed, which raised suspicion," she said. Based on preliminary investigation and statements of locals, four people, including a minor, were arrested and further investigation is underway, the ASP said. The four arrested people are also locals, she said. Chetia said forensic samples have been collected from the house where the body was found and have been sent for laboratory tests, while the body was sent for post-mortem examination. "We are ascertaining the complete facts. But we have arrested four people in the case so far. One of them is a minor," she added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp DIBRUGARH: A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in Assam's Dibrugarh district, following which four people, including a minor, were arrested, police said. The incident took place in Dhekeri Gaon in Banipur area of Dibrugarh town on Sunday night, Additional Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Papori Chetia said. "The girl hailed from Makum in Tinsukia district and was staying with a woman for the last three months. We received information that the girl had hanged herself. However, upon reaching the spot, our team found the body lying on the bed, which raised suspicion," she said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Based on preliminary investigation and statements of locals, four people, including a minor, were arrested and further investigation is underway, the ASP said. The four arrested people are also locals, she said. Chetia said forensic samples have been collected from the house where the body was found and have been sent for laboratory tests, while the body was sent for post-mortem examination. "We are ascertaining the complete facts. But we have arrested four people in the case so far. One of them is a minor," she added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service GUWAHAT: The Assam government has constituted a three-member committee to draft the proposed anti-polygamy law. It has been constituted with Advocate General, Legal Remembrancer and Director General of Police. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government had earlier constituted a committee to examine the legislative competence of the state legislature to enact a law to end polygamy. We first wanted to check if the state government has the right to ban polygamy. We had formed a committee with retired Gauhati High Court judge Justice Rumi Phookan as its chairperson and it said that the government has the right to do so, said Sarma. The government had sought the views of the public on the law. Altogether, 149 individuals and organisations responded and of them, 146 supported it while the remaining objected it. Ahead of the last Assembly elections, we had promised to bring in a law against love jihad. We have now formed another committee and assigned it to draft the proposed anti-polygmy law, Sarma said. He was hopeful that the bill can be introduced in the Assembly in December. The previous committee had understandably scrutinised the provisions of Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937, along with Article 25 of Constitution of India, in relation to the directive principle of state policy for a uniform civil code. Earlier, Sarma could not share any data on the prevalence of polygamy in the state but he said that many cases were detected in southern Assams Barak Valley and central Assams Jamunamukh and Hojai. Polygamy is almost nil among indigenous Muslims and people who are educated, he said. Response sought The government had sought views of people on the law. Altogether, 149 individuals and organisations responded and 146 of them supported the proposed law while the remaining objected. Earlier, Himanta Biswa Sarma could not share any data on the prevalence of polygamy but he said many cases have been detected in Barak Valley, Jamunamukh and Hojai Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp GUWAHAT: The Assam government has constituted a three-member committee to draft the proposed anti-polygamy law. It has been constituted with Advocate General, Legal Remembrancer and Director General of Police. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government had earlier constituted a committee to examine the legislative competence of the state legislature to enact a law to end polygamy. We first wanted to check if the state government has the right to ban polygamy. We had formed a committee with retired Gauhati High Court judge Justice Rumi Phookan as its chairperson and it said that the government has the right to do so, said Sarma. The government had sought the views of the public on the law. Altogether, 149 individuals and organisations responded and of them, 146 supported it while the remaining objected it. Ahead of the last Assembly elections, we had promised to bring in a law against love jihad. We have now formed another committee and assigned it to draft the proposed anti-polygmy law, Sarma said. He was hopeful that the bill can be introduced in the Assembly in December. The previous committee had understandably scrutinised the provisions of Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937, along with Article 25 of Constitution of India, in relation to the directive principle of state policy for a uniform civil code.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Earlier, Sarma could not share any data on the prevalence of polygamy in the state but he said that many cases were detected in southern Assams Barak Valley and central Assams Jamunamukh and Hojai. Polygamy is almost nil among indigenous Muslims and people who are educated, he said. Response sought The government had sought views of people on the law. Altogether, 149 individuals and organisations responded and 146 of them supported the proposed law while the remaining objected. Earlier, Himanta Biswa Sarma could not share any data on the prevalence of polygamy but he said many cases have been detected in Barak Valley, Jamunamukh and Hojai Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it wants National Conference leader Mohd Akbar Lone to apologise for raising Pakistan Zindabad's slogan in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in 2018. Lone is the lead petitioner challenging the abrogation of Article 370 that accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that Lone is the lead petitioner challenging the abrogation of the provision, but he has to state that he owes allegiance to the Constitution and apologise for raising the slogan on the floor of the House. The bench also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant said it will seek a statement from Lone when his turn for rejoinder arguments comes. The bench said it has gone through the report published in the newspaper and taken note of the submissions made in the court. Mehta said, "These statements coming from senior leaders have its own effect. If no apology is given, it would encourage others. This will have an effect on steps taken to bring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. "Mehta was supported by senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and V Giri, who are appearing for intervenors and are supporting the abrogation, that Lone must furnish an affidavit apologising for raising slogans. On September 1, a Kashmiri Pandit group questioned in the top court the credentials of Lone, claiming he was a supporter of secessionist forces. An intervention application in the apex court has been filed by an NGO 'Roots in Kashmir', which claims to be a group of Kashmiri Pandit youths, seeking to bring some additional documents and facts on record in the matter. It alleged that Lone is known as a supporter of secessionist forces operating in J-K, who support Pakistan. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it wants National Conference leader Mohd Akbar Lone to apologise for raising Pakistan Zindabad's slogan in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in 2018. Lone is the lead petitioner challenging the abrogation of Article 370 that accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that Lone is the lead petitioner challenging the abrogation of the provision, but he has to state that he owes allegiance to the Constitution and apologise for raising the slogan on the floor of the House.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The bench also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant said it will seek a statement from Lone when his turn for rejoinder arguments comes. The bench said it has gone through the report published in the newspaper and taken note of the submissions made in the court. Mehta said, "These statements coming from senior leaders have its own effect. If no apology is given, it would encourage others. This will have an effect on steps taken to bring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. "Mehta was supported by senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and V Giri, who are appearing for intervenors and are supporting the abrogation, that Lone must furnish an affidavit apologising for raising slogans. On September 1, a Kashmiri Pandit group questioned in the top court the credentials of Lone, claiming he was a supporter of secessionist forces. An intervention application in the apex court has been filed by an NGO 'Roots in Kashmir', which claims to be a group of Kashmiri Pandit youths, seeking to bring some additional documents and facts on record in the matter. It alleged that Lone is known as a supporter of secessionist forces operating in J-K, who support Pakistan. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Narendra Sethi By Express News Service DEHRADUN: A tigress who got caught in a trap laid out by poachers in the Kalagarh range of the world-famous Corbett Tiger Reserve will now have to live with a snare buried in her body. According to a report prepared by renowned veterinarians of the country, if the tigress is operated on at the moment, her life may be in danger, Dr Sameer Sinha, Chief Wildlife Warden, Uttarakhand Forest Department, said. "The tigress has been kept at the Dhela Rescue, and Rehabilitation Centre under the supervision of doctors," Corbett Director Dr Dhiraj Pandey told the newspaper. Corbett Tiger Reserve located in Ramnagar, Nainital, is known for the free movement of tigers. In April, Pictures of a 'camera trap' revealed that a snare was stuck to the tigress' abdomen, after which it was brought to the Dhela centre. In the rescue center, the injured tigress gave birth to three cubs in July but a few days later, two of them died, and the tigress ate them. The third was eaten by her, too. Nothing can be said about when the tigress will be released from the rescue center to the forest area, Dr Sinha said, adding that the tigress is completely healthy now and living a normal life now. "The tigress is around seven to eight years old. Whether the tigress will be released to its natural habitat or not will be decided at the highest level," Dr Dhiraj Pandey said. The committee that examined the tigress included Dr Pradeep Malik, former senior professor of Wildlife Institute of India, Dr K K Das, HOD, Department of Surgery, GB Pant University, Dr Parag Nigam, HOD, Department of Wildlife Health Management, Wildlife Institute of India and Dr R Malik, committee member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp DEHRADUN: A tigress who got caught in a trap laid out by poachers in the Kalagarh range of the world-famous Corbett Tiger Reserve will now have to live with a snare buried in her body. According to a report prepared by renowned veterinarians of the country, if the tigress is operated on at the moment, her life may be in danger, Dr Sameer Sinha, Chief Wildlife Warden, Uttarakhand Forest Department, said. "The tigress has been kept at the Dhela Rescue, and Rehabilitation Centre under the supervision of doctors," Corbett Director Dr Dhiraj Pandey told the newspaper.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Corbett Tiger Reserve located in Ramnagar, Nainital, is known for the free movement of tigers. In April, Pictures of a 'camera trap' revealed that a snare was stuck to the tigress' abdomen, after which it was brought to the Dhela centre. In the rescue center, the injured tigress gave birth to three cubs in July but a few days later, two of them died, and the tigress ate them. The third was eaten by her, too. Nothing can be said about when the tigress will be released from the rescue center to the forest area, Dr Sinha said, adding that the tigress is completely healthy now and living a normal life now. "The tigress is around seven to eight years old. Whether the tigress will be released to its natural habitat or not will be decided at the highest level," Dr Dhiraj Pandey said. The committee that examined the tigress included Dr Pradeep Malik, former senior professor of Wildlife Institute of India, Dr K K Das, HOD, Department of Surgery, GB Pant University, Dr Parag Nigam, HOD, Department of Wildlife Health Management, Wildlife Institute of India and Dr R Malik, committee member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service IMPHAL: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said that his government has filed an FIR against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India, and accused them of trying to create more clashes in the state which is rocked by ethnic strifes for nearly four months. The FIR was filed for publishing an alleged factually incorrect report on the ethnic violence in the state. The Manipur Police registered a case based on a complaint received from Ngangom Sarat, a social worker. The police invoked IPC sections 153A, 200, 295, 298, 500, 505(1)(b), 505(2) and 120B, relating to promoting enmity, defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class, uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person, public mischief etc. The FIR, lodged with Imphal Police Station, named Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor -- members of a fact-finding team -- and the EGI president. Chief Minister N Biren Singh told journalists on Monday that the state government filed the FIR against the EGI members for trying to create more clashes in Manipur. ALSO READ | Four months after ethnic violence, Manipur lies 'forgotten' by Centre, alleges Congress Who constituted this fact-finding team? They were not authorised to constitute a fact-finding team and investigate Manipur issues. It is a self-styled (team) which has nothing to do with the present crisis in Manipur, Singh said. if you want to do something, please come to the spot and see the ground reality by meeting the representatives of all communities and victims and then, you publish whatever you found, he said. Sarat described the report as false, fabricated and sponsored. After a brief reading of the report, it is found that a picturehas been shown under the caption smoke rises from a Kuki house on 5 May. But the fact is, the said photo is of the office of the forest beat officer in Churachandpur, he had written in his complaint. The EGI has already regretted the error in the photo caption. There was an error in a photo caption in the report released on Sep 2. The same is being rectified and an updated report will be uploaded on the link shortly. We regret the error that crept in at the photo editing stage, the EGI had written on X, previously Twitter, on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) condemned the filing of the FIR against the EGI team, stating it showed the governments intolerance towards anyone who disagrees with its narrative. The three-member team from EGI, with more than 60 years of journalism experience among them, took the risk of coming to a conflict zone after receiving multiple representations about the partisan role of the media, the tribal organisation said. No journalist or representative from the Meitei or tribal community followed them in their fact-finding mission. No one influenced their judgment, it added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp IMPHAL: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said that his government has filed an FIR against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India, and accused them of trying to create more clashes in the state which is rocked by ethnic strifes for nearly four months. The FIR was filed for publishing an alleged factually incorrect report on the ethnic violence in the state. The Manipur Police registered a case based on a complaint received from Ngangom Sarat, a social worker.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The police invoked IPC sections 153A, 200, 295, 298, 500, 505(1)(b), 505(2) and 120B, relating to promoting enmity, defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class, uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person, public mischief etc. The FIR, lodged with Imphal Police Station, named Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor -- members of a fact-finding team -- and the EGI president. Chief Minister N Biren Singh told journalists on Monday that the state government filed the FIR against the EGI members for trying to create more clashes in Manipur. ALSO READ | Four months after ethnic violence, Manipur lies 'forgotten' by Centre, alleges Congress Who constituted this fact-finding team? They were not authorised to constitute a fact-finding team and investigate Manipur issues. It is a self-styled (team) which has nothing to do with the present crisis in Manipur, Singh said. if you want to do something, please come to the spot and see the ground reality by meeting the representatives of all communities and victims and then, you publish whatever you found, he said. Sarat described the report as false, fabricated and sponsored. After a brief reading of the report, it is found that a picturehas been shown under the caption smoke rises from a Kuki house on 5 May. But the fact is, the said photo is of the office of the forest beat officer in Churachandpur, he had written in his complaint. The EGI has already regretted the error in the photo caption. There was an error in a photo caption in the report released on Sep 2. The same is being rectified and an updated report will be uploaded on the link shortly. We regret the error that crept in at the photo editing stage, the EGI had written on X, previously Twitter, on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) condemned the filing of the FIR against the EGI team, stating it showed the governments intolerance towards anyone who disagrees with its narrative. The three-member team from EGI, with more than 60 years of journalism experience among them, took the risk of coming to a conflict zone after receiving multiple representations about the partisan role of the media, the tribal organisation said. No journalist or representative from the Meitei or tribal community followed them in their fact-finding mission. No one influenced their judgment, it added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday attacked the Centre over its handling of the situation in Manipur, alleging that four months after ethnic violence broke out, the state lies 'forgotten' by the Modi government. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that in the last four months, the world has witnessed "how the prime minister (Narendra Modi) has failed Manipur during its worst crisis". In a post on X, Ramesh alleged that "while the prime minister and his drum-beaters are obsessed with G20, four months after ethnic violence broke out on May 3rd, Manipur lies forgotten by the Modi government". The chief minister (N Biren Singh) has ensured that the Manipuri society is more divided today than ever before, he said. While the Prime Minister and his drum-beaters are obsessed with G20, four months after ethnic violence broke out on May 3rd, Manipur lies forgotten by the Modi government. The Chief Minister has ensured that the Manipuri society is more divided today than ever before. The Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 4, 2023 "The Union home minister (Amit Shah) has failed to put an end to the violence and ensure the recovery of arms and ammunition. Instead, many more armed groups have entered the conflict," Ramesh said. The prime minister 'refuses' to visit Manipur, lead an all-party delegation, or initiate any credible peace process, he said. "Has he even met his own colleague from Manipur in the cabinet," the Congress general secretary asked. "In the midst of a humanitarian tragedy, there is a complete and total breakdown of the Constitutional machinery and trust between communities in Manipur," he alleged. His remarks come after the Manipur government shifted the last of 10 Kuki families comprising 24 members from Imphal's New Lambulane area where they had been living for decades and did not move elsewhere even after the ethnic violence broke out in the northeastern state four months ago. These families were taken to the Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district on the northern side of the Imphal Valley early on Saturday, as they had become "vulnerable targets", an official said. The Kuki families alleged that they were forcibly evicted from their residences in the New Lambulane area to Motbung. More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur in early May 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. Nagas and Kukis constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday attacked the Centre over its handling of the situation in Manipur, alleging that four months after ethnic violence broke out, the state lies 'forgotten' by the Modi government. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that in the last four months, the world has witnessed "how the prime minister (Narendra Modi) has failed Manipur during its worst crisis". In a post on X, Ramesh alleged that "while the prime minister and his drum-beaters are obsessed with G20, four months after ethnic violence broke out on May 3rd, Manipur lies forgotten by the Modi government".googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The chief minister (N Biren Singh) has ensured that the Manipuri society is more divided today than ever before, he said. While the Prime Minister and his drum-beaters are obsessed with G20, four months after ethnic violence broke out on May 3rd, Manipur lies forgotten by the Modi government. The Chief Minister has ensured that the Manipuri society is more divided today than ever before. The Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 4, 2023 "The Union home minister (Amit Shah) has failed to put an end to the violence and ensure the recovery of arms and ammunition. Instead, many more armed groups have entered the conflict," Ramesh said. The prime minister 'refuses' to visit Manipur, lead an all-party delegation, or initiate any credible peace process, he said. "Has he even met his own colleague from Manipur in the cabinet," the Congress general secretary asked. "In the midst of a humanitarian tragedy, there is a complete and total breakdown of the Constitutional machinery and trust between communities in Manipur," he alleged. His remarks come after the Manipur government shifted the last of 10 Kuki families comprising 24 members from Imphal's New Lambulane area where they had been living for decades and did not move elsewhere even after the ethnic violence broke out in the northeastern state four months ago. These families were taken to the Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district on the northern side of the Imphal Valley early on Saturday, as they had become "vulnerable targets", an official said. The Kuki families alleged that they were forcibly evicted from their residences in the New Lambulane area to Motbung. More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur in early May 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. Nagas and Kukis constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service NEW DELHI: A week before he hosts world leaders at the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has exuded confidence that India will become a developed nation by 2047, when there will be no place for corruption, casteism and communalism. The Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas model that has shown the way in India can also be a guiding principle for the welfare of the world, he said in an interview to a news agency. PM Modi said Indias economic growth is a natural byproduct of his nine-year-old governments political stability as well as the governments trust in people. Irrespective of the size of the GDP, every voice matters, he said in an interview to PTI. Taking a jibe at the UPA government, the PM said the Congress-led government had no faith in peoples potential. He said India is poised to become the third biggest economy. For a long time in world history, India was one of the top economies of the world. Later, due to the impact of colonization of various kinds, our global footprint was reduced. But, now India is again on the rise. The speed with which we jumped five spots, from the 10th largest economy to the fifth largest in less than a decade has conveyed the fact that India means business, PM Modi asserted. Citing the rise in the number of unicorns, Modi said India is now the third largest start-up hub in the world. As for the Indian space sector, he said the world has acknowledged Indias contribution. In his reply to a query on Indias backing for inclusion of Africa in G20, he said Africa is top priority for India and that India works for the inclusion of those whose voices are not being heard. Many positive impacts are coming out of Indias G20 Presidency. Some of them are very close to my heart, Modi said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: A week before he hosts world leaders at the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has exuded confidence that India will become a developed nation by 2047, when there will be no place for corruption, casteism and communalism. The Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas model that has shown the way in India can also be a guiding principle for the welfare of the world, he said in an interview to a news agency. PM Modi said Indias economic growth is a natural byproduct of his nine-year-old governments political stability as well as the governments trust in people. Irrespective of the size of the GDP, every voice matters, he said in an interview to PTI. Taking a jibe at the UPA government, the PM said the Congress-led government had no faith in peoples potential. He said India is poised to become the third biggest economy. For a long time in world history, India was one of the top economies of the world. Later, due to the impact of colonization of various kinds, our global footprint was reduced. But, now India is again on the rise. The speed with which we jumped five spots, from the 10th largest economy to the fifth largest in less than a decade has conveyed the fact that India means business, PM Modi asserted.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Citing the rise in the number of unicorns, Modi said India is now the third largest start-up hub in the world. As for the Indian space sector, he said the world has acknowledged Indias contribution. In his reply to a query on Indias backing for inclusion of Africa in G20, he said Africa is top priority for India and that India works for the inclusion of those whose voices are not being heard. Many positive impacts are coming out of Indias G20 Presidency. Some of them are very close to my heart, Modi said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Shruti Kakkar By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Lamenting the state of affairs in prisons across the country, the Supreme Court Committee on Prison Reforms has recommended mandatory segregation of undertrials, convicts and first-time offenders inside jails, while producing them in courts, during their hospital visits, etc. The issue of overcrowding lies majorly with the undertrial population in prisons. Many states have a high number of undertrial prisoners who are languishing in jails for years, awaiting trial. Speedy trial can become the effective tool to address this issue and, hence, following steps can be taken in this regard: (i) special fast track courts to be set up to extensively deal with petty offences and for cases pending for five years or more. This will significantly put a curb on increasing the number of undertrials in prisons, the committee said. The recommendations have been put forth by the committee, headed by ex-judge Amitava Roy, to the Supreme Court in a report in compliance of a 2018 order. The committee, comprising Director General of Tihar Prisons and Inspector General of Bureau of Police Research and Development, was tasked to study the issue of jail reforms and recommend the aspects of overcrowding in prisons, condition of women and children, transgender prisoners, death-row convicts, semi-open or open jails, and reforms in juvenile correctional homes. Agreeing to examine the recommendations, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre and states to respond to the suggestions in three weeks. A bench of justices Hima Kohli and Rajesh Bindal had said it would firstly consider the issues pertaining to women and children, transgender prisoners and death-row convicts and later address the other issues. To address overcrowding in jails, prevent prisons from becoming a breeding ground for violence and recruitment centres for criminals, justice Roy committee has recommended tasking district and sessions judge with the responsibility of regularly monitoring the progress of cases pending in courts where the accused is in custody for more than one year in a session triable case and for more than six months in magistrate triable cases. Highlighting the grim reality of states regarding formulation of welfare schemes for transgender prisoners and appointment of a designated officer to deal with complaints of violation of rights, the panel in its report said, Prison authorities of only 13 states and two Union Territories have designated a complaint officer to deal with complaints of violation of rights of transgender inmates in prisons as mentioned under Section 11 of Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Majority of the states and Union Territories have not formulated welfare schemes for transgender prisoners. Existing welfare schemes are being extended to them. Only seven states and two Union Territories have specifically provided the measures taken by prison authorities to facilitate their access to the relevant welfare schemes. Against an increase in cases of suicide by hanging, the panel while calling death in prisons as one of the worst violations of human recommended or suicide-proof barracks with collapsible material. There is a need to identify potential hanging and anchoring points within the existing design of prison infrastructure and to build suicide-resistant cells/barracks with collapsible material, the panel said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: Lamenting the state of affairs in prisons across the country, the Supreme Court Committee on Prison Reforms has recommended mandatory segregation of undertrials, convicts and first-time offenders inside jails, while producing them in courts, during their hospital visits, etc. The issue of overcrowding lies majorly with the undertrial population in prisons. Many states have a high number of undertrial prisoners who are languishing in jails for years, awaiting trial. Speedy trial can become the effective tool to address this issue and, hence, following steps can be taken in this regard: (i) special fast track courts to be set up to extensively deal with petty offences and for cases pending for five years or more. This will significantly put a curb on increasing the number of undertrials in prisons, the committee said. The recommendations have been put forth by the committee, headed by ex-judge Amitava Roy, to the Supreme Court in a report in compliance of a 2018 order. The committee, comprising Director General of Tihar Prisons and Inspector General of Bureau of Police Research and Development, was tasked to study the issue of jail reforms and recommend the aspects of overcrowding in prisons, condition of women and children, transgender prisoners, death-row convicts, semi-open or open jails, and reforms in juvenile correctional homes.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Agreeing to examine the recommendations, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre and states to respond to the suggestions in three weeks. A bench of justices Hima Kohli and Rajesh Bindal had said it would firstly consider the issues pertaining to women and children, transgender prisoners and death-row convicts and later address the other issues. To address overcrowding in jails, prevent prisons from becoming a breeding ground for violence and recruitment centres for criminals, justice Roy committee has recommended tasking district and sessions judge with the responsibility of regularly monitoring the progress of cases pending in courts where the accused is in custody for more than one year in a session triable case and for more than six months in magistrate triable cases. Highlighting the grim reality of states regarding formulation of welfare schemes for transgender prisoners and appointment of a designated officer to deal with complaints of violation of rights, the panel in its report said, Prison authorities of only 13 states and two Union Territories have designated a complaint officer to deal with complaints of violation of rights of transgender inmates in prisons as mentioned under Section 11 of Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Majority of the states and Union Territories have not formulated welfare schemes for transgender prisoners. Existing welfare schemes are being extended to them. Only seven states and two Union Territories have specifically provided the measures taken by prison authorities to facilitate their access to the relevant welfare schemes. Against an increase in cases of suicide by hanging, the panel while calling death in prisons as one of the worst violations of human recommended or suicide-proof barracks with collapsible material. There is a need to identify potential hanging and anchoring points within the existing design of prison infrastructure and to build suicide-resistant cells/barracks with collapsible material, the panel said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service LUCKNOW: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team conducted raids at the residences of three senior Armymen including a brigadier, a Colonel and a Lt Colonel in connection with the installation of seven cell towers in Kanpur Cantonment which were allegedly done in gross violation of rules. The CBI named Brigadier Naveen Singh, who was the station commander of Kanpur station headquarters between 2016 and 2019, his staff officers-- Lieutenant Colonel RP Ram and Colonel Dushyant Singh -- and Indus Towers Limited, the Lucknow-based company that installed the towers in the case. The three officers and the company were booked under the charges of IPC 120 B (criminal conspiracy), IPC 420 (dishonesty) and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The FIR was registered on September 1. The approval for registering the FIR against the officers was received from the Ministry of Defence on July 25, 2023. According to sources, the probe agency gathered significant evidence by raiding the residences of three Army officers in Lucknow Cantt and the companys office in Lucknow on Sunday night. Brigadier Naveen Singh is currently posted in Lucknow. The other two accused also live in the state capital. As per the FIR lodged by the CBI, the investigating agency had received information from reliable sources that during his posting in Kanpur, Brigadier Naveen Singh had handed over the work of illegally installing seven mobile towers to Indus Towers Limited of Lucknow. It was the responsibility of the Cantonment Board to get the towers installed. In this regard, the Defence Ministry had also issued guidelines through a circular in 2018. The sources claimed that as per the preliminary investigations, Brigadier Naveen Singh did not follow the guidelines given by the ministry. They did not even constitute a board required to identify the location for installing mobile towers as was mentioned in the FIR. The monthly rent received for the installation of the towers was not deposited in the government treasury. There is a possibility that this rent was usurped by the accused officers. Allegations are also that the Army officers misused their position to oblige Indus Tower Limited and availed undue benefits from the company, says the FIR. Investigations revealed that Lieutenant Colonel RP Ram, who was the staff officer of the station commander, gave the work to Indus Towers Limited on a trial basis, saying that the tender would be issued after six months, after which towers were installed at two places. After this, Lt Col Ram, with the permission of Brigadier Naveen Singh, awarded the work of installing towers at all seven places to Indus Tower Limited. The company deposited Rs 26 lakh as rent in August 2019, while the towers were installed in August 2018. Investigations revealed that Indus Towers had given a proposal for this work on September 8, 2016. During this period, Airtel and Jio had also given their proposals, but their negative reports were sent to the higher authorities. The Anti-Corruption Branch of CBI, Lucknow, along with Central Command officials had also conducted a surprise check of Kanpur Cantonment Board area on August 30, 2019. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp LUCKNOW: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team conducted raids at the residences of three senior Armymen including a brigadier, a Colonel and a Lt Colonel in connection with the installation of seven cell towers in Kanpur Cantonment which were allegedly done in gross violation of rules. The CBI named Brigadier Naveen Singh, who was the station commander of Kanpur station headquarters between 2016 and 2019, his staff officers-- Lieutenant Colonel RP Ram and Colonel Dushyant Singh -- and Indus Towers Limited, the Lucknow-based company that installed the towers in the case. The three officers and the company were booked under the charges of IPC 120 B (criminal conspiracy), IPC 420 (dishonesty) and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The FIR was registered on September 1. The approval for registering the FIR against the officers was received from the Ministry of Defence on July 25, 2023.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to sources, the probe agency gathered significant evidence by raiding the residences of three Army officers in Lucknow Cantt and the companys office in Lucknow on Sunday night. Brigadier Naveen Singh is currently posted in Lucknow. The other two accused also live in the state capital. As per the FIR lodged by the CBI, the investigating agency had received information from reliable sources that during his posting in Kanpur, Brigadier Naveen Singh had handed over the work of illegally installing seven mobile towers to Indus Towers Limited of Lucknow. It was the responsibility of the Cantonment Board to get the towers installed. In this regard, the Defence Ministry had also issued guidelines through a circular in 2018. The sources claimed that as per the preliminary investigations, Brigadier Naveen Singh did not follow the guidelines given by the ministry. They did not even constitute a board required to identify the location for installing mobile towers as was mentioned in the FIR. The monthly rent received for the installation of the towers was not deposited in the government treasury. There is a possibility that this rent was usurped by the accused officers. Allegations are also that the Army officers misused their position to oblige Indus Tower Limited and availed undue benefits from the company, says the FIR. Investigations revealed that Lieutenant Colonel RP Ram, who was the staff officer of the station commander, gave the work to Indus Towers Limited on a trial basis, saying that the tender would be issued after six months, after which towers were installed at two places. After this, Lt Col Ram, with the permission of Brigadier Naveen Singh, awarded the work of installing towers at all seven places to Indus Tower Limited. The company deposited Rs 26 lakh as rent in August 2019, while the towers were installed in August 2018. Investigations revealed that Indus Towers had given a proposal for this work on September 8, 2016. During this period, Airtel and Jio had also given their proposals, but their negative reports were sent to the higher authorities. The Anti-Corruption Branch of CBI, Lucknow, along with Central Command officials had also conducted a surprise check of Kanpur Cantonment Board area on August 30, 2019. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: Pounded by landslides and swamped by swollen rivers, Himachal Pradesh sees a sliver of opportunity for its battered tourism industry: a trickle in tourist flow from Delhi in the long weekend beginning September 8 as G20 would keep Delhiites in lockdown mode. Those associated with the tourism sector say Himachal has suffered a loss of about Rs 2,000 crore in just two months of July and August when the rain unleashed its fury. Hotel occupancy plummeted to 1-2%. Himachals hoteliers have started offering attractive packages with 40-50% discount to raise the tourist footfall. They pin hopes on the vacation-like time during the G-20 summit meeting in Delhi. We can only hope that the public holiday in Delhi from September 8 to 10 in view of the G20 Summit could usher in better times. We have already received inquiries, which we think is a good sign for us, said Shimla Hotels and Tourism Stakeholders Association President M K Seth. We expect hotel rates are discounted though traffic could be less than usual, said Seth. Himachals hotel industry,is now worried how to arrange staff salaries in the absence of occupancy. Added to that are electricity and water bills, garbage collection fees and other fixed expenses, said Seth. Director Tourism and MD of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Amit Kashyap said quoting police data: The only silver lining appeared in the past couple of months with the influx of devotees in six Shakti Peeths. About 8.24 lakh pilgrims visited Chintpurni, Sri Naina Devi, Jwalaji, Brajeshwari, Sri Baglamukhi and Chamunda Devi shrines from August 17 to 25. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp CHANDIGARH: Pounded by landslides and swamped by swollen rivers, Himachal Pradesh sees a sliver of opportunity for its battered tourism industry: a trickle in tourist flow from Delhi in the long weekend beginning September 8 as G20 would keep Delhiites in lockdown mode. Those associated with the tourism sector say Himachal has suffered a loss of about Rs 2,000 crore in just two months of July and August when the rain unleashed its fury. Hotel occupancy plummeted to 1-2%. Himachals hoteliers have started offering attractive packages with 40-50% discount to raise the tourist footfall. They pin hopes on the vacation-like time during the G-20 summit meeting in Delhi. We can only hope that the public holiday in Delhi from September 8 to 10 in view of the G20 Summit could usher in better times. We have already received inquiries, which we think is a good sign for us, said Shimla Hotels and Tourism Stakeholders Association President M K Seth. We expect hotel rates are discounted though traffic could be less than usual, said Seth.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Himachals hotel industry,is now worried how to arrange staff salaries in the absence of occupancy. Added to that are electricity and water bills, garbage collection fees and other fixed expenses, said Seth. Director Tourism and MD of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Amit Kashyap said quoting police data: The only silver lining appeared in the past couple of months with the influx of devotees in six Shakti Peeths. About 8.24 lakh pilgrims visited Chintpurni, Sri Naina Devi, Jwalaji, Brajeshwari, Sri Baglamukhi and Chamunda Devi shrines from August 17 to 25. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service BHOPAL: With deficient rain casting a shadow on the Kharif crops, particularly soybean in more than half of 53 districts-of Madhya Pradesh, the development is slowly turning into a poll issue in the assembly election-bound state. According to India Meteorological Department in Bhopal, the entire state as on September 3, 2023, has reported 18 percent below normal rain. Out of the total 53 districts, at least 47 districts have reported below normal rains, ranging between 2% below normal in Anuppur and 46% below normal in Satna district both being districts of the Vindhya region. But as per the latest figures, the condition is very serious in at least 29 districts, spanning from Sehore and Vidisha (21% below normal) in central MP and Satna, Mandsaur and Ashok Nagar (40% to 46% below normal) in Vindhya, west MP and Gwalior-Chambal regions respectively. While 17 of the 29 worst hit districts have reported 21% to 28% below normal rain, between June 1 and September 3, at least eight districts have recorded 30% to 39% below normal rain, while three other districts have reported over 40% below normal rain in the same period. In many districts of western MP, particularly Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ujjain, Ratlam, Barwani and Khargone, which form the main soybean and cotton cash crop cultivating areas of the state, farmers have been resorting to bizarre rituals, like feeding gulab jamun sweets to donkey, village sarpanch riding a donkey and donkeys ploughing the parched fields to propitiate the rain god. In Silawad town, Barwani district, the traders downed their shutters and joined other residents (both Hindu and Muslims) in offering special prayers in temples and Eidgah. According to a farmers leader Kedar Sirohi, the condition is particularly worst in soybean growing western MP districts. Drought like conditions owing to scanty rainfall in August particularly, is seeing the soybean crop fizzle out. Its feared that 40% of the soybean crop could have already been lost due to scanty rain, infestation by insects and diseases like yellow mosaic. Adding to the woes of the farmers, are growing unscheduled power cuts and dearth of sufficient water in canals and dams, Sirohi claimed. As per reports from Mandsaur and Neemuch, the two main soybean cultivating west MP districts, where soybean has been cultivated in over 4.60 lakh hectare area, around 20-30% crop could already have been lost. Concerned over the situation, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a high level meeting in Bhopal on Sunday evening to take stock of the situation due to deficient rains. Our government stands firmly with farmers in this crisis situation, well ensure water supply from dams where water is available, he said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BHOPAL: With deficient rain casting a shadow on the Kharif crops, particularly soybean in more than half of 53 districts-of Madhya Pradesh, the development is slowly turning into a poll issue in the assembly election-bound state. According to India Meteorological Department in Bhopal, the entire state as on September 3, 2023, has reported 18 percent below normal rain. Out of the total 53 districts, at least 47 districts have reported below normal rains, ranging between 2% below normal in Anuppur and 46% below normal in Satna district both being districts of the Vindhya region.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); But as per the latest figures, the condition is very serious in at least 29 districts, spanning from Sehore and Vidisha (21% below normal) in central MP and Satna, Mandsaur and Ashok Nagar (40% to 46% below normal) in Vindhya, west MP and Gwalior-Chambal regions respectively. While 17 of the 29 worst hit districts have reported 21% to 28% below normal rain, between June 1 and September 3, at least eight districts have recorded 30% to 39% below normal rain, while three other districts have reported over 40% below normal rain in the same period. In many districts of western MP, particularly Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ujjain, Ratlam, Barwani and Khargone, which form the main soybean and cotton cash crop cultivating areas of the state, farmers have been resorting to bizarre rituals, like feeding gulab jamun sweets to donkey, village sarpanch riding a donkey and donkeys ploughing the parched fields to propitiate the rain god. In Silawad town, Barwani district, the traders downed their shutters and joined other residents (both Hindu and Muslims) in offering special prayers in temples and Eidgah. According to a farmers leader Kedar Sirohi, the condition is particularly worst in soybean growing western MP districts. Drought like conditions owing to scanty rainfall in August particularly, is seeing the soybean crop fizzle out. Its feared that 40% of the soybean crop could have already been lost due to scanty rain, infestation by insects and diseases like yellow mosaic. Adding to the woes of the farmers, are growing unscheduled power cuts and dearth of sufficient water in canals and dams, Sirohi claimed. As per reports from Mandsaur and Neemuch, the two main soybean cultivating west MP districts, where soybean has been cultivated in over 4.60 lakh hectare area, around 20-30% crop could already have been lost. Concerned over the situation, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a high level meeting in Bhopal on Sunday evening to take stock of the situation due to deficient rains. Our government stands firmly with farmers in this crisis situation, well ensure water supply from dams where water is available, he said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Ejaz Kaiser By Express News Service RAIPUR: With Assembly polls around the corner, the ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh has intensified its efforts to reach out to young voters. The party is holding interactive sessions with the youth about their aspirations. On Saturday Congress leader Rahul Gandhi exhorted the youth to participate in the states political journey through the Rajiv Yuva Mitan Sammelan in the state capital Raipur. The theme of such gatherings is to focus on the youth to make them a significant player in the nations growth story. Rahul took the occasion on Saturday to impress upon the youth on the implied consequences of their participation in politics such as their engagement with greater responsibility in the states growth trajectory. The Congress wishes to open the door of politics for you, he told the gathering. The Congress leader talked about spreading the message of love and brotherhood among the citizens. He also shared his concerns over the escalating hostility in society to divide the people. The youth have the potential to bring about change that the country needs. They should be made aware of the growing politics of hatred, said Shikha Bharadwaj, who attended the event. According to an estimate over 25% of the states population comprises youngsters aged between 18 and 25 years. Those who attended the Sammelan appreciated Rahuls remarks that in Chhattisgarh, most youths had working skills that could be in sync with national demands. Every small industry should get the right support of bank linkage and youth-oriented policies. Besides, the state is centrally located in the country. It should then be ideally placed to become the countrys logistical centre, said Gandhi. Rahuls ideas, if pursued by the government, will boost the scope of employment, said a participant. His idea about the importance of youths participation in the political process should be welcomed by all, said the participant. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel also interacted with the first-time voters and asked them to join politics with the belief that only good governments can ensure a better system to prevail. There are 4.44 lakh new voters in 1.97 crore electors in the state. The CM also had dialogue sessions with the youth under Bhent Mulakat (public interaction) programme in all five divisions of the state to gain a better understanding of the issues concerning the youth and their achievements. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp RAIPUR: With Assembly polls around the corner, the ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh has intensified its efforts to reach out to young voters. The party is holding interactive sessions with the youth about their aspirations. On Saturday Congress leader Rahul Gandhi exhorted the youth to participate in the states political journey through the Rajiv Yuva Mitan Sammelan in the state capital Raipur. The theme of such gatherings is to focus on the youth to make them a significant player in the nations growth story. Rahul took the occasion on Saturday to impress upon the youth on the implied consequences of their participation in politics such as their engagement with greater responsibility in the states growth trajectory. The Congress wishes to open the door of politics for you, he told the gathering. The Congress leader talked about spreading the message of love and brotherhood among the citizens. He also shared his concerns over the escalating hostility in society to divide the people. The youth have the potential to bring about change that the country needs. They should be made aware of the growing politics of hatred, said Shikha Bharadwaj, who attended the event.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to an estimate over 25% of the states population comprises youngsters aged between 18 and 25 years. Those who attended the Sammelan appreciated Rahuls remarks that in Chhattisgarh, most youths had working skills that could be in sync with national demands. Every small industry should get the right support of bank linkage and youth-oriented policies. Besides, the state is centrally located in the country. It should then be ideally placed to become the countrys logistical centre, said Gandhi. Rahuls ideas, if pursued by the government, will boost the scope of employment, said a participant. His idea about the importance of youths participation in the political process should be welcomed by all, said the participant. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel also interacted with the first-time voters and asked them to join politics with the belief that only good governments can ensure a better system to prevail. There are 4.44 lakh new voters in 1.97 crore electors in the state. The CM also had dialogue sessions with the youth under Bhent Mulakat (public interaction) programme in all five divisions of the state to gain a better understanding of the issues concerning the youth and their achievements. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI MUMBAI: Amid protests for Maratha quota, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said a committee will submit its report within a month on how to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas from Marathwada region. Kunbis (the community associated with agriculture) are grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra. "A committee was set up and asked to submit a report within a month on how to issue Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community from Marathwada. The state government has taken this issue seriously and we are working to find an amicable solution," the chief minister told reporters here. Marathas have been demanding the reservation in education and government jobs. Reservation in jobs and education provided by the then Maharashtra government to the Maratha community under the socially and educationally backward category in 2018 was quashed by the Supreme Court in May 2021, citing the 50 per cent ceiling on total reservations among other grounds. "I have directed officials to study the Supreme Court's verdict on the Maratha quota and recommend solutions. We need to establish that the Maratha community is backward," the chief minister added. ALSO READ | Maratha outfits stage protest against Jalna lathi-charge, ask Ajit Pawar to quit Shiv Sena-BJP govt However, Manoj Jarange Patil, who has been on hunger strike in Jalna district, told reporters he would not call off the protest unless a government order (GR) is issued granting reservation in education and jobs to the Maratha community. Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna district became ground zero of the renewed agitation for quota. On Friday, police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in the village after protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift Jarange to hospital. Several persons, including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze in violence. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp MUMBAI: Amid protests for Maratha quota, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said a committee will submit its report within a month on how to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas from Marathwada region. Kunbis (the community associated with agriculture) are grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra. "A committee was set up and asked to submit a report within a month on how to issue Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community from Marathwada. The state government has taken this issue seriously and we are working to find an amicable solution," the chief minister told reporters here.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Marathas have been demanding the reservation in education and government jobs. Reservation in jobs and education provided by the then Maharashtra government to the Maratha community under the socially and educationally backward category in 2018 was quashed by the Supreme Court in May 2021, citing the 50 per cent ceiling on total reservations among other grounds. "I have directed officials to study the Supreme Court's verdict on the Maratha quota and recommend solutions. We need to establish that the Maratha community is backward," the chief minister added. ALSO READ | Maratha outfits stage protest against Jalna lathi-charge, ask Ajit Pawar to quit Shiv Sena-BJP govt However, Manoj Jarange Patil, who has been on hunger strike in Jalna district, told reporters he would not call off the protest unless a government order (GR) is issued granting reservation in education and jobs to the Maratha community. Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna district became ground zero of the renewed agitation for quota. On Friday, police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in the village after protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift Jarange to hospital. Several persons, including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze in violence. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Mukesh Ranjan By Express News Service RANCHI: Pankaj Mishra, a close aide of CM Hemant Soren who is currently lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi, has approached Supreme Court to challenge the order of the Jharkhand High Court to order a CBI probe into illegal stone mining at Nimbu pahad in Sahibganj. The Jharkhand High Court on August 18, had ordered a CBI probe into the Rs 1000 crore illegal mining case which took place in Sahibganj and adjoining areas of Santhal Paragana. As per the sources, Pankaj Mishra has filed an SLP before the Supreme Court on August 31 to challenge the Jharkhand High Court order which is yet to be heard. A single bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi ordered the probe after hearing a criminal writ filed by Vijay Hansda directing the CBI to complete the preliminary inquiry (PE) and submit the report within a month. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been investigating the illegal mining case and arrested and charge-sheeted Pankaj Mishra as one of the masterminds of the scam. Hansda in his petition had demanded a CBI probe informing about the illegal mining being done in the Santhal Pargana region. Hansda informed the court that when he tried to stop illegal mining, a representative of CM Hemant Soren in Barhet, Pankaj Mishra, threatened him with dire consequences. Incidentally, Hansda had filed an Interlocutory Application (IA) a couple of days back to withdraw the writ petition saying that it was not filed by him but the court dismissed his application for withdrawal of the petition and ordered a CBI probe into the matter on Wednesday. Notably, Hansdas complaint became the basis of the probe being carried out by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with illegal mining in Jharkhand. On the basis of Hansdas complaint, police registered an FIR against Pankaj Mishra and others for illegal mining on the basis of which ED registered a fresh ECIR against Pankaj Mishra and others. Later, Vijay Hansda was arrested by the district police in a criminal case and was allegedly pressurised to withdraw that case. Hansda, currently on bail, is one of the key witnesses of the ED probing the laundering of money earned by illegal mining. Meanwhile, the preliminary enquiry conducted by CBI has revealed rampant illegal mining at Nimbu Pahad and its adjoining areas in Sahibganj. The agency is also said to have found sufficient evidence to lodge a regular FIR in the case. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp RANCHI: Pankaj Mishra, a close aide of CM Hemant Soren who is currently lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi, has approached Supreme Court to challenge the order of the Jharkhand High Court to order a CBI probe into illegal stone mining at Nimbu pahad in Sahibganj. The Jharkhand High Court on August 18, had ordered a CBI probe into the Rs 1000 crore illegal mining case which took place in Sahibganj and adjoining areas of Santhal Paragana. As per the sources, Pankaj Mishra has filed an SLP before the Supreme Court on August 31 to challenge the Jharkhand High Court order which is yet to be heard. A single bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi ordered the probe after hearing a criminal writ filed by Vijay Hansda directing the CBI to complete the preliminary inquiry (PE) and submit the report within a month.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been investigating the illegal mining case and arrested and charge-sheeted Pankaj Mishra as one of the masterminds of the scam. Hansda in his petition had demanded a CBI probe informing about the illegal mining being done in the Santhal Pargana region. Hansda informed the court that when he tried to stop illegal mining, a representative of CM Hemant Soren in Barhet, Pankaj Mishra, threatened him with dire consequences. Incidentally, Hansda had filed an Interlocutory Application (IA) a couple of days back to withdraw the writ petition saying that it was not filed by him but the court dismissed his application for withdrawal of the petition and ordered a CBI probe into the matter on Wednesday. Notably, Hansdas complaint became the basis of the probe being carried out by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with illegal mining in Jharkhand. On the basis of Hansdas complaint, police registered an FIR against Pankaj Mishra and others for illegal mining on the basis of which ED registered a fresh ECIR against Pankaj Mishra and others. Later, Vijay Hansda was arrested by the district police in a criminal case and was allegedly pressurised to withdraw that case. Hansda, currently on bail, is one of the key witnesses of the ED probing the laundering of money earned by illegal mining. Meanwhile, the preliminary enquiry conducted by CBI has revealed rampant illegal mining at Nimbu Pahad and its adjoining areas in Sahibganj. The agency is also said to have found sufficient evidence to lodge a regular FIR in the case. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Shahid Faridi By Express News Service Battle 2024 No INDIA seat-sharing in Punjab, Kerala and WB The INDIA group of opposition parties has formed a coordination committee to discuss seat-sharing among member parties. They aim to pitch a common candidate against the BJP in as many Lok Sabha constituencies as possible in the 2024 general election. With the Union governments decision to convene a special five-day session of Parliament triggering talk of early Lok Sabha election, the opposition parties have decided to try and conclude the seat-sharing pact as early as the end of this month. Sources said that the parties have arrived at a broad understanding under which there would be no alliance in states where non-INDIA parties are non-existent or too weak to defeat the INDIA party candidates. The idea is not to cede the opposition space to non-INDIA parties. For example, in Kerala the two main players are the Left and Congress. There is hardly any scope for a third force to win a Lok Sabha seat. All the Lok Sabha seats are expected to fall in the INDIA kitty, regardless of who wins in Kerala. Similarly, in Punjab the two main parties are Aam Aadmi Party and Congress, both constituents of INDIA. It is unlikely that AAP and Congress would enter into an understanding in Punjab. In West Bengal too, the Congress and Left parties would continue their alliance, but they would not have a formal tieup with the ruling Trinamool Congress. An informal understanding among the opposition parties is, however, not ruled out in West Bengal. INDIAs alliance talks will mainly focus on the following states: Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir. While Bihar, Jharkhand and TN are the easy states, talks for Delhi, UP, Maharashtra, Gujarat and J&K would be watched with interest. ED Director Pravin Kumar, Rahul Navin locked in close race Indian Revenue Service officers Pravin Kumar, who is currently serving as Member (Income Tax and Revenue) in the Central Board of Direct Taxes, and Rahul Navin, Special Director in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are the front-runners for the post of ED Director. The post will fall vacant on September 16 as the present director Sanjay Kumar Mishra will retire on September 15 as per the order of the Supreme Court. Sources said that the two officers have been shortlisted among the many contenders and one of them would be named as the new director this week. Pravin Kumar served as the ED head of West Bengal during the last state elections and later moved to Gujarat. He was appointed as CBDT member in July this year. He was expected to get the post of Member (Investigation) in the CBDT. But the post has been retained by chairman Nitin Gupta. Sources, however, said that Pravin is closely involved in investigations across the country. Rahul Navin has worked closely with the outgoing ED chief and has earned appreciation of the present Union government. According to sources, the government is planning to create a new post of Central Investigation Officer (CIO) and Sanjay Kumar Mishra is expected to be appointed the first CIO. The process of appointing a CIO will start after the appointment of the new ED chief. Once the post of CIO is created, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the ED will report to the CIO. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Battle 2024 No INDIA seat-sharing in Punjab, Kerala and WB The INDIA group of opposition parties has formed a coordination committee to discuss seat-sharing among member parties. They aim to pitch a common candidate against the BJP in as many Lok Sabha constituencies as possible in the 2024 general election. With the Union governments decision to convene a special five-day session of Parliament triggering talk of early Lok Sabha election, the opposition parties have decided to try and conclude the seat-sharing pact as early as the end of this month. Sources said that the parties have arrived at a broad understanding under which there would be no alliance in states where non-INDIA parties are non-existent or too weak to defeat the INDIA party candidates. The idea is not to cede the opposition space to non-INDIA parties.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); For example, in Kerala the two main players are the Left and Congress. There is hardly any scope for a third force to win a Lok Sabha seat. All the Lok Sabha seats are expected to fall in the INDIA kitty, regardless of who wins in Kerala. Similarly, in Punjab the two main parties are Aam Aadmi Party and Congress, both constituents of INDIA. It is unlikely that AAP and Congress would enter into an understanding in Punjab. In West Bengal too, the Congress and Left parties would continue their alliance, but they would not have a formal tieup with the ruling Trinamool Congress. An informal understanding among the opposition parties is, however, not ruled out in West Bengal. INDIAs alliance talks will mainly focus on the following states: Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir. While Bihar, Jharkhand and TN are the easy states, talks for Delhi, UP, Maharashtra, Gujarat and J&K would be watched with interest. ED Director Pravin Kumar, Rahul Navin locked in close race Indian Revenue Service officers Pravin Kumar, who is currently serving as Member (Income Tax and Revenue) in the Central Board of Direct Taxes, and Rahul Navin, Special Director in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are the front-runners for the post of ED Director. The post will fall vacant on September 16 as the present director Sanjay Kumar Mishra will retire on September 15 as per the order of the Supreme Court. Sources said that the two officers have been shortlisted among the many contenders and one of them would be named as the new director this week. Pravin Kumar served as the ED head of West Bengal during the last state elections and later moved to Gujarat. He was appointed as CBDT member in July this year. He was expected to get the post of Member (Investigation) in the CBDT. But the post has been retained by chairman Nitin Gupta. Sources, however, said that Pravin is closely involved in investigations across the country. Rahul Navin has worked closely with the outgoing ED chief and has earned appreciation of the present Union government. According to sources, the government is planning to create a new post of Central Investigation Officer (CIO) and Sanjay Kumar Mishra is expected to be appointed the first CIO. The process of appointing a CIO will start after the appointment of the new ED chief. Once the post of CIO is created, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the ED will report to the CIO. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI KOLKATA: A day after West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose appointed interim vice-chancellors of seven state universities, Education Minister Bratya Basu, in a strong reaction on Monday, accused the Raj Bhavan of acting in a "dictatorial manner" and claimed that the move could "destroy" the university system. The minister also said the governor's move was "violative of the bill passed by the state assembly, concerning the roles and functions of the governor as the chancellor of varsities and the state government". The governor, in his capacity as the chancellor of state-run universities, had on Sunday night appointed interim vice-chancellors for seven varieties, including the prestigious Presidency University, MAKAUT and the University of Burdwan. "The governor's recent action is aimed at bankrupting the higher education system. He is destroying the statutes of respective state universities. Such appointments have been made without consulting anybody. He is acting in a dictatorial manner," Basu said while addressing a press conference here. "The governor, who is the chancellor of state universities as per law, cannot violate and cross the boundary. We will not remain silent spectators to such action by the governor," he said. A group of educationists, including former vice-chancellors of state universities, described the action by the governor to appoint interim VCs in several varsities as "adventurous and illegal". The Educationists Forum also said such appointments "will not do any good to the higher education system of the state". Prof Raj Kumar Kothari has been appointed Interim VC of West Bengal State University, while Justice Subhrakamal Mukherjee, who currently holds interim charge of Rabindra Bharati University, will also be Interim VC of Presidency University. Prof Debabrata Basu has been appointed Interim VC of Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, while Prof Tapan Chanda was appointed Interim VC of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology. Prof Gautam Chakraborty has been given charge of University of Burdwan, and Prof Indrajit Lahiri will take charge as Interim VC of Netaji Subhas Open University. Prof Shyam Sundar Dana was appointed Interim VC of West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences. Sources said the interim vice-chancellors of nine other universities have also been finalised and appointment letters "will be issued soon". The governor took the decision to "mitigate the problems faced by students", they said. The criteria for selection of the interim vice-chancellors were eligibility, suitability, competence, willingness and desirability, the sources added. The education minister had, last week, said the government wanted to have a discussion with the governor but if "he continues in this way by appointing VCs, we will take legal action". The minister was then referring to the governor's earlier statement that he would administer the roles of VCs of the 16 universities lying headless after the expiry of the term of permanent VCs there. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp KOLKATA: A day after West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose appointed interim vice-chancellors of seven state universities, Education Minister Bratya Basu, in a strong reaction on Monday, accused the Raj Bhavan of acting in a "dictatorial manner" and claimed that the move could "destroy" the university system. The minister also said the governor's move was "violative of the bill passed by the state assembly, concerning the roles and functions of the governor as the chancellor of varsities and the state government". The governor, in his capacity as the chancellor of state-run universities, had on Sunday night appointed interim vice-chancellors for seven varieties, including the prestigious Presidency University, MAKAUT and the University of Burdwan.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "The governor's recent action is aimed at bankrupting the higher education system. He is destroying the statutes of respective state universities. Such appointments have been made without consulting anybody. He is acting in a dictatorial manner," Basu said while addressing a press conference here. "The governor, who is the chancellor of state universities as per law, cannot violate and cross the boundary. We will not remain silent spectators to such action by the governor," he said. A group of educationists, including former vice-chancellors of state universities, described the action by the governor to appoint interim VCs in several varsities as "adventurous and illegal". The Educationists Forum also said such appointments "will not do any good to the higher education system of the state". Prof Raj Kumar Kothari has been appointed Interim VC of West Bengal State University, while Justice Subhrakamal Mukherjee, who currently holds interim charge of Rabindra Bharati University, will also be Interim VC of Presidency University. Prof Debabrata Basu has been appointed Interim VC of Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, while Prof Tapan Chanda was appointed Interim VC of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology. Prof Gautam Chakraborty has been given charge of University of Burdwan, and Prof Indrajit Lahiri will take charge as Interim VC of Netaji Subhas Open University. Prof Shyam Sundar Dana was appointed Interim VC of West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences. Sources said the interim vice-chancellors of nine other universities have also been finalised and appointment letters "will be issued soon". The governor took the decision to "mitigate the problems faced by students", they said. The criteria for selection of the interim vice-chancellors were eligibility, suitability, competence, willingness and desirability, the sources added. The education minister had, last week, said the government wanted to have a discussion with the governor but if "he continues in this way by appointing VCs, we will take legal action". The minister was then referring to the governor's earlier statement that he would administer the roles of VCs of the 16 universities lying headless after the expiry of the term of permanent VCs there. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI JAISALMER: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday hit out at the opposition over DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's comments on Sanatan Dharma, wondering why Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot are "silent" on the issue. Addressing a public meeting at Ramdevra here on the launch of the third round of the BJP's Parivartan Yatra in Rajasthan, he also took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, saying Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on south pole of Moon, but "Rahulyaan" could neither be launched nor landed. On Udhayanidhi Stalin's comments, Singh said, "I want to ask (Rajasthan Chief Minister) Ashok Gehlot why he does not speak, why Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, (Congress president Mallikarjun) Kharge do not say what is their thinking on Sanatan Dharma." He said the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a part of the INDIA bloc, has hurt Sanatan Dharma and the Congress leaders are "silent" on the issue. "INDIA bloc members should apologise for the insult to Sanatan Dharma or the country won't forgive them," he said. The DMK leader should be asked for an explanation over his comments, Singh said and added that "Sanatan Dharma considers the world a family and gives the message of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the world is one family)". He added that it is the Sanatan Dharma in which ants are fed flour and snakes are offered milk and their long life is wished for. ALSO READ | Udhayanidhi remarks row: Congress says it respects all religions, others free to express their views Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin alleged that Sanatan Dharma was against equality and social justice, and that it should be eradicated. Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, also likened Sanatan Dharma to coronavirus, malaria, and dengue fever, and said such things should not be opposed but destroyed. Targeting the INDIA alliance, the defence minister said it was formed to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from returning to power, but the alliance will face defeat. READ MORE | Any religion that does not treat you like human is as good as disease: Priyank Kharge On naming the alliance INDIA, he said the opposition parties have kept a "dangerous" name. "If there is an alliance, it should be for increasing the country's respect. This alliance was formed so that Modi does not come to power under any circumstances," he said. "What is their condition -- naam bade darshan chhote. I would like to tell them that this name is very dangerous. We also once gave the slogan of Shining India, we were defeated and you have formed INDIA, your defeat is certain," he said. The BJP-led NDA had given 'India Shining' slogan during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections but faced defeat. Referring to the country's space missions Mangalyaan, Chandrayaan and Aditya-L1, Singh said scientists have made the country proud. "The Congress also tries to raise questions on this too in a subdued tone, but when it sees the mood of the country, it maintains silent," he alleged. "Chandrayaan-3 was launched and it successfully landed on the Moon, but for 20 years, 'Rahulyaan' could neither be launched nor landed," he added. The Union minister also attacked the Congress unit in Rajasthan, where polls are due later this year, saying the party is trying to gain support by invoking the 'Hindu-Muslim' issue and the 'backward'. Training his guns on Gehlot, Singh said the Rajasthan chief minister is sitting in the driver's seat but someone else is pressing the clutch and someone else the accelerator. He asserted that the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is certain in Rajasthan. The minister also highlighted the central government's achievements. Meanwhile, BJP state president C P Joshi termed the Gehlot government 'Mughaliya government' and that it will soon be thrown out of power. Former chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhra Raje also attacked the government over law and order, crime against women, paper leak and other issues. Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal and other leaders also addressed the leaders. Singh flagged off the third Parivartan Yatra which will pass through 51 constituencies of Jodhpur division, Ajmer and Nagaur districts in 18 days. The first yatra was launched by party president J P Nadda from Ranthambore, Sawai Madhopur on Saturday, while the second one was launched from Beneshwar Dham in Dungarpur by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will launch the fourth yatra from Gogamedi, Hanumangrh on Tuesday. The yatras will cover all 200 assembly constituencies during which Kisan chaupal, motorcycle rallies, meeting of women, dalit chaupals and public meetings will be organised to seek votes for the party. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp JAISALMER: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday hit out at the opposition over DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's comments on Sanatan Dharma, wondering why Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot are "silent" on the issue. Addressing a public meeting at Ramdevra here on the launch of the third round of the BJP's Parivartan Yatra in Rajasthan, he also took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, saying Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on south pole of Moon, but "Rahulyaan" could neither be launched nor landed. On Udhayanidhi Stalin's comments, Singh said, "I want to ask (Rajasthan Chief Minister) Ashok Gehlot why he does not speak, why Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, (Congress president Mallikarjun) Kharge do not say what is their thinking on Sanatan Dharma."googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He said the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a part of the INDIA bloc, has hurt Sanatan Dharma and the Congress leaders are "silent" on the issue. "INDIA bloc members should apologise for the insult to Sanatan Dharma or the country won't forgive them," he said. The DMK leader should be asked for an explanation over his comments, Singh said and added that "Sanatan Dharma considers the world a family and gives the message of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the world is one family)". He added that it is the Sanatan Dharma in which ants are fed flour and snakes are offered milk and their long life is wished for. ALSO READ | Udhayanidhi remarks row: Congress says it respects all religions, others free to express their views Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin alleged that Sanatan Dharma was against equality and social justice, and that it should be eradicated. Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, also likened Sanatan Dharma to coronavirus, malaria, and dengue fever, and said such things should not be opposed but destroyed. Targeting the INDIA alliance, the defence minister said it was formed to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from returning to power, but the alliance will face defeat. READ MORE | Any religion that does not treat you like human is as good as disease: Priyank Kharge On naming the alliance INDIA, he said the opposition parties have kept a "dangerous" name. "If there is an alliance, it should be for increasing the country's respect. This alliance was formed so that Modi does not come to power under any circumstances," he said. "What is their condition -- naam bade darshan chhote. I would like to tell them that this name is very dangerous. We also once gave the slogan of Shining India, we were defeated and you have formed INDIA, your defeat is certain," he said. The BJP-led NDA had given 'India Shining' slogan during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections but faced defeat. Referring to the country's space missions Mangalyaan, Chandrayaan and Aditya-L1, Singh said scientists have made the country proud. "The Congress also tries to raise questions on this too in a subdued tone, but when it sees the mood of the country, it maintains silent," he alleged. "Chandrayaan-3 was launched and it successfully landed on the Moon, but for 20 years, 'Rahulyaan' could neither be launched nor landed," he added. The Union minister also attacked the Congress unit in Rajasthan, where polls are due later this year, saying the party is trying to gain support by invoking the 'Hindu-Muslim' issue and the 'backward'. Training his guns on Gehlot, Singh said the Rajasthan chief minister is sitting in the driver's seat but someone else is pressing the clutch and someone else the accelerator. He asserted that the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is certain in Rajasthan. The minister also highlighted the central government's achievements. Meanwhile, BJP state president C P Joshi termed the Gehlot government 'Mughaliya government' and that it will soon be thrown out of power. Former chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhra Raje also attacked the government over law and order, crime against women, paper leak and other issues. Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal and other leaders also addressed the leaders. Singh flagged off the third Parivartan Yatra which will pass through 51 constituencies of Jodhpur division, Ajmer and Nagaur districts in 18 days. The first yatra was launched by party president J P Nadda from Ranthambore, Sawai Madhopur on Saturday, while the second one was launched from Beneshwar Dham in Dungarpur by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will launch the fourth yatra from Gogamedi, Hanumangrh on Tuesday. The yatras will cover all 200 assembly constituencies during which Kisan chaupal, motorcycle rallies, meeting of women, dalit chaupals and public meetings will be organised to seek votes for the party. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Ramashankar By Express News Service PATNA: A complaint petition has been filed in a Bihar court against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin over the latter's controversial statement against 'Sanatana Dharma'. The complaint petition has been filed by an advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha in the court of chief judicial magistrate of Muzaffarpur Pankaj Kumar Lal alleging that the statement of Udhayanidhi Stalin has hurt the sentiments of the Hindus. Ojha, who has filed a series of complaints against politicians, film stars and other dignitaries, has requested the court to take cognisance of the matter and order an investigation against CM Stalin and Udayanidhi under different sections of the Indian Penal Code. The court has listed the matter for hearing on September 14. The father-son duo have been booked under IPC sections 500 (defamation), 504 (causing insult to somebody intentionally), 295 (insulting religion of any class), 295 (A) (deliberate or malicious act intended to outrage religious sentiment of any class), 298 (deliberate intention to hurt religious feeling) and 120 (B) (conspiracy). ALSO READ | INDIA bloc members should apologise for the insult to Sanatan Dharma: Rajnath Singh On Saturday, Udhayanidhi Stalin, the Youth Welfare Minister in M K Stalin's cabinet in Tamil Nadu, had said that 'Sanatana Dharma' is against equality and social justice. He had also drawn its comparison with Coronavirus and malaria fever caused by dengue virus and mosquitoes. Udhayanidhi's remark against 'Sanatana Dharma' evoked sharp reactions from the BJP across the country. The party demanded that he be dropped from the cabinet for making such unsavoury remarks. The saffron party also demanded that action should be taken against the Tamil Nadu minister for his alleged treachery. Janta unko sabak sikhayegi (People will teach him a lesson), said BJP's backward cell general secretary, Nikhil Anand. Last week advocate Ojha had filed a similar complaint against Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, for his unsavoury remark against the judiciary. READ MORE | Udhayanidhi remarks row: Congress says it respects all religions, others free to express their views Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp PATNA: A complaint petition has been filed in a Bihar court against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin over the latter's controversial statement against 'Sanatana Dharma'. The complaint petition has been filed by an advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha in the court of chief judicial magistrate of Muzaffarpur Pankaj Kumar Lal alleging that the statement of Udhayanidhi Stalin has hurt the sentiments of the Hindus. Ojha, who has filed a series of complaints against politicians, film stars and other dignitaries, has requested the court to take cognisance of the matter and order an investigation against CM Stalin and Udayanidhi under different sections of the Indian Penal Code.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The court has listed the matter for hearing on September 14. The father-son duo have been booked under IPC sections 500 (defamation), 504 (causing insult to somebody intentionally), 295 (insulting religion of any class), 295 (A) (deliberate or malicious act intended to outrage religious sentiment of any class), 298 (deliberate intention to hurt religious feeling) and 120 (B) (conspiracy). ALSO READ | INDIA bloc members should apologise for the insult to Sanatan Dharma: Rajnath Singh On Saturday, Udhayanidhi Stalin, the Youth Welfare Minister in M K Stalin's cabinet in Tamil Nadu, had said that 'Sanatana Dharma' is against equality and social justice. He had also drawn its comparison with Coronavirus and malaria fever caused by dengue virus and mosquitoes. Udhayanidhi's remark against 'Sanatana Dharma' evoked sharp reactions from the BJP across the country. The party demanded that he be dropped from the cabinet for making such unsavoury remarks. The saffron party also demanded that action should be taken against the Tamil Nadu minister for his alleged treachery. Janta unko sabak sikhayegi (People will teach him a lesson), said BJP's backward cell general secretary, Nikhil Anand. Last week advocate Ojha had filed a similar complaint against Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, for his unsavoury remark against the judiciary. READ MORE | Udhayanidhi remarks row: Congress says it respects all religions, others free to express their views Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI NEW DELHI: Amid different voices within the Congress and INDIA bloc on DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against Sanatan Dharma, the principal opposition party on Monday said it respects all religions and stressed that others also have the freedom to express their views. The Congress' reaction came as the BJP questioned the silence of its leaders on the issue and accused the opposition bloc of being against the Hindu religion. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said while the Congress' stand is clear, every other political party has the freedom to express its own view. "Actually, our view is very clear - 'Sarvadharma Sambhav' (equal respect to all religions) is the Congress ideology. But, you have to understand that every political party has its own freedom to tell their views," he said. "We are respecting everybody's beliefs," the Congress leader said. Asked about the issue, Karnataka minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge said any religion that does not give equal rights is not a religion and "is as good as a disease". "Any religion that does not promote equality, any religion that doesn't ensure that you have the dignity of being a human being is not a religion, according to me. So it is as good as a disease," Priyank, who is the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said. Congress leader and former Union minister Karan Singh, however, termed the DMK leader's statement as "preposterous" and "most unfortunate". "Thiru Udhayanidhi's preposterous statement that Sanatan Dharma should be eradicated is most unfortunate. Crores of people in this country follow, to a lesser or greater extent the tenets of Sanatan Dharma. Besides, the greatest Sanatan Dharma temples in the world are in Tamil Nadu - in Thanjavur, in Srirangam, in Thiruvannamalai, in Chidambaram, in Madurai, in Suchindram, in Rameshwaram and many more," Singh said in a statement. "It is shocking that a responsible politician should make this kind of a totally unacceptable statement. I have the highest regard for the magnificent Tamil culture but I take strong objection to the statement made by Thiru Udhayanidhi," he said. I never called for the genocide of people who are following Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan Dharma is a principle that divides people in the name of caste and religion. Uprooting Sanatan Dharma is upholding humanity and human equality. I stand firmly by every word I have spoken. I spoke https://t.co/Q31uVNdZVb Udhay (@Udhaystalin) September 2, 2023 Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi attacked the BJP, accusing it of showing "fake concern" over Sanatan Dharm for its politics and termed it as hypocrisy. "Sanatan Dharm stands for eternal truth - the way to live life- the conscience & being. Sanatanis have long withstood attacks by invaders to end their identity yet they have not just survived but thrived. The country's bedrock, which is linked to Sanatan Dharm, has been of inclusiveness of all faiths and identities. Anyone making derogatory comments against it is ignorant of what it stands for," she said on X. "Also, the fake concern shown by BJP over Sanatan Dharm for their politics exposes their sick hypocrisy while they are brutally lathi charging sanatanis who are fighting for their rights in Maharashtra, they lathi-charged warkaris," she said. Alleging that Sanatana Dharma is against equality and social justice, DMK youth wing secretary and Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had said it should be eradicated. "BJP is doing marketing of the word 'Sanatan'. They are playing with the sentiments of the people in the name of religion," Samajwadi Party leader Swamy Prasad Maurya said on the furore over the DMK leader's remarks. "BJP's own allies have disrespected Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman, they are nobody to distribute certificates of either nationalism or devotion," Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi alleged. Meanwhile, BJP leaders demanded that the DMK leader apologise for his comments. The party on Monday intensified its attack on the issue, asking the Congress if the INDIA bloc had met in Mumbai to target the religion and stressed that they should not play with Hindu sentiments. Udhayanidhi Stalin had likened Sanatana Dharma to coronavirus, malaria and dengue and had said such things should not be opposed but destroyed. He referred to Sanatana Dharma as 'Sanatanam' in his address in Tamil at a meet of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association here on Saturday. "What is Sanatanam? The very name is only from Sanskrit. Sanatan is against equality and social justice and nothing else," he said. "They are misinterpreting the speech made by Udhayanidhi Stalin because he is the last person to do that and we don't believe in genocide," DMK leader RS Bharathi said. Union Minister and BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje demanded that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin should immediately sack Udhayanidhi. Karandlaje told reporters, "Chief Minister Stalin's son talking like this, we felt very sad. Our country is connected to religion and temples. He (Udhayanidhi) holds a responsible position and his father is chief minister. What is he speaking? What does he think?" Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: Amid different voices within the Congress and INDIA bloc on DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against Sanatan Dharma, the principal opposition party on Monday said it respects all religions and stressed that others also have the freedom to express their views. The Congress' reaction came as the BJP questioned the silence of its leaders on the issue and accused the opposition bloc of being against the Hindu religion. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said while the Congress' stand is clear, every other political party has the freedom to express its own view.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Actually, our view is very clear - 'Sarvadharma Sambhav' (equal respect to all religions) is the Congress ideology. But, you have to understand that every political party has its own freedom to tell their views," he said. "We are respecting everybody's beliefs," the Congress leader said. Asked about the issue, Karnataka minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge said any religion that does not give equal rights is not a religion and "is as good as a disease". "Any religion that does not promote equality, any religion that doesn't ensure that you have the dignity of being a human being is not a religion, according to me. So it is as good as a disease," Priyank, who is the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said. Congress leader and former Union minister Karan Singh, however, termed the DMK leader's statement as "preposterous" and "most unfortunate". "Thiru Udhayanidhi's preposterous statement that Sanatan Dharma should be eradicated is most unfortunate. Crores of people in this country follow, to a lesser or greater extent the tenets of Sanatan Dharma. Besides, the greatest Sanatan Dharma temples in the world are in Tamil Nadu - in Thanjavur, in Srirangam, in Thiruvannamalai, in Chidambaram, in Madurai, in Suchindram, in Rameshwaram and many more," Singh said in a statement. "It is shocking that a responsible politician should make this kind of a totally unacceptable statement. I have the highest regard for the magnificent Tamil culture but I take strong objection to the statement made by Thiru Udhayanidhi," he said. I never called for the genocide of people who are following Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan Dharma is a principle that divides people in the name of caste and religion. Uprooting Sanatan Dharma is upholding humanity and human equality. I stand firmly by every word I have spoken. I spoke https://t.co/Q31uVNdZVb Udhay (@Udhaystalin) September 2, 2023 Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi attacked the BJP, accusing it of showing "fake concern" over Sanatan Dharm for its politics and termed it as hypocrisy. "Sanatan Dharm stands for eternal truth - the way to live life- the conscience & being. Sanatanis have long withstood attacks by invaders to end their identity yet they have not just survived but thrived. The country's bedrock, which is linked to Sanatan Dharm, has been of inclusiveness of all faiths and identities. Anyone making derogatory comments against it is ignorant of what it stands for," she said on X. "Also, the fake concern shown by BJP over Sanatan Dharm for their politics exposes their sick hypocrisy while they are brutally lathi charging sanatanis who are fighting for their rights in Maharashtra, they lathi-charged warkaris," she said. Alleging that Sanatana Dharma is against equality and social justice, DMK youth wing secretary and Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had said it should be eradicated. "BJP is doing marketing of the word 'Sanatan'. They are playing with the sentiments of the people in the name of religion," Samajwadi Party leader Swamy Prasad Maurya said on the furore over the DMK leader's remarks. "BJP's own allies have disrespected Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman, they are nobody to distribute certificates of either nationalism or devotion," Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi alleged. Meanwhile, BJP leaders demanded that the DMK leader apologise for his comments. The party on Monday intensified its attack on the issue, asking the Congress if the INDIA bloc had met in Mumbai to target the religion and stressed that they should not play with Hindu sentiments. Udhayanidhi Stalin had likened Sanatana Dharma to coronavirus, malaria and dengue and had said such things should not be opposed but destroyed. He referred to Sanatana Dharma as 'Sanatanam' in his address in Tamil at a meet of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association here on Saturday. "What is Sanatanam? The very name is only from Sanskrit. Sanatan is against equality and social justice and nothing else," he said. "They are misinterpreting the speech made by Udhayanidhi Stalin because he is the last person to do that and we don't believe in genocide," DMK leader RS Bharathi said. Union Minister and BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje demanded that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin should immediately sack Udhayanidhi. Karandlaje told reporters, "Chief Minister Stalin's son talking like this, we felt very sad. Our country is connected to religion and temples. He (Udhayanidhi) holds a responsible position and his father is chief minister. What is he speaking? What does he think?" Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI BARABANKI: UP Minister Satish Sharma faced flak from the opposition Monday after a video surfaced online showing him washing his hands at a shivling in the Lodheshwar Mahadev temple here. The video clip showed the Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies washing his hand in the 'argha,' or the base, of the shivling with the help of a priest. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party took exception to the act and demanded resignation of the minister for "insulting the Sanatan dharma." Minister Sharma countered the allegations saying he did nothing wrong, if he had, the priest would have stopped him. The priest of the temple said that as the minister had 'prasad' in his hand, he helped him wash them in the 'argha' of the shivling and there was nothing wrong with this. Yogi's minister Satish Sharma washing his hands on Shivling ? Video of the mythological Lodheshwar Mahadev temple located in Rampur, Barabanki goes viral, along with Minister Jitin Prasad also present. @SupriyaShrinate @Pawankhera @jitupatwari @srinivasiyc @digvijaya_28 pic.twitter.com/tchzdBdWVT (@sajid_reja) September 3, 2023 The incident happened on August 27, when Sharma visited the temple with Public Works Minister Jitin Prasad. Sharma and district in-charge minister Jitin Prasad had gone to Hetmapur village of Ramnagar tehsil to distribute relief material to the flood victims and both of them had stopped to pray at the temple. UP Congress President Ajay Rai said, "The minister should know what he is doing. Will we wash our hands when we offer water and pay our respects? The minister has insulted Sanatan Dharma." Congress leader Surendra Rajput said Satish Sharma had insulted the Lord Shiva with his act and must be sacked. "Washing hands in the 'argh' of shivling is an unrighteous act. Only those who do not care about Sanatan Dharma can do this. The BJP minister has insulted Lord Shiva. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should sack him for this anti-religious act," he said. ALSO READ | INDIA bloc members should apologise for the insult to Sanatan Dharma: Rajnath Singh Samajwadi Party leader and former MLC Sunil Singh Sajan said that if the leader belonged to some other caste, BJP would have expelled him by now. "When will Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expel this 'adharmi' minister? This is the real character of BJP. First they will ask for votes in the name of religion and then do such things," Sajan said. Satish Sharma told PTI that the opposition was unnecessarily blowing up the matter. "I am a Sanatani Shiv bhakt. I know very well what is right and what is wrong. The opposition is unnecessarily blowing up the issue," he said. "I did what I felt was right. It was not my intention to hurt anyone. If I was wrong, the priest would not have washed my hands," added the BJP minister. Aditya Tiwari, the priest of Lodheshwar Mahadev Temple, said that the minister had done nothing wrong. "Minister Sharma had sandalwood etc on his hands after performing the puja. When he asked to wash his hands, they were washed next to shivling. This was done because it was in the form of prasad. There is nothing wrong in this," Tiwari told PTI. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BARABANKI: UP Minister Satish Sharma faced flak from the opposition Monday after a video surfaced online showing him washing his hands at a shivling in the Lodheshwar Mahadev temple here. The video clip showed the Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies washing his hand in the 'argha,' or the base, of the shivling with the help of a priest. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party took exception to the act and demanded resignation of the minister for "insulting the Sanatan dharma."googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Minister Sharma countered the allegations saying he did nothing wrong, if he had, the priest would have stopped him. The priest of the temple said that as the minister had 'prasad' in his hand, he helped him wash them in the 'argha' of the shivling and there was nothing wrong with this. Yogi's minister Satish Sharma washing his hands on Shivling ? Video of the mythological Lodheshwar Mahadev temple located in Rampur, Barabanki goes viral, along with Minister Jitin Prasad also present. @SupriyaShrinate @Pawankhera @jitupatwari @srinivasiyc @digvijaya_28 pic.twitter.com/tchzdBdWVT (@sajid_reja) September 3, 2023 The incident happened on August 27, when Sharma visited the temple with Public Works Minister Jitin Prasad. Sharma and district in-charge minister Jitin Prasad had gone to Hetmapur village of Ramnagar tehsil to distribute relief material to the flood victims and both of them had stopped to pray at the temple. UP Congress President Ajay Rai said, "The minister should know what he is doing. Will we wash our hands when we offer water and pay our respects? The minister has insulted Sanatan Dharma." Congress leader Surendra Rajput said Satish Sharma had insulted the Lord Shiva with his act and must be sacked. "Washing hands in the 'argh' of shivling is an unrighteous act. Only those who do not care about Sanatan Dharma can do this. The BJP minister has insulted Lord Shiva. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should sack him for this anti-religious act," he said. ALSO READ | INDIA bloc members should apologise for the insult to Sanatan Dharma: Rajnath Singh Samajwadi Party leader and former MLC Sunil Singh Sajan said that if the leader belonged to some other caste, BJP would have expelled him by now. "When will Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expel this 'adharmi' minister? This is the real character of BJP. First they will ask for votes in the name of religion and then do such things," Sajan said. Satish Sharma told PTI that the opposition was unnecessarily blowing up the matter. "I am a Sanatani Shiv bhakt. I know very well what is right and what is wrong. The opposition is unnecessarily blowing up the issue," he said. "I did what I felt was right. It was not my intention to hurt anyone. If I was wrong, the priest would not have washed my hands," added the BJP minister. Aditya Tiwari, the priest of Lodheshwar Mahadev Temple, said that the minister had done nothing wrong. "Minister Sharma had sandalwood etc on his hands after performing the puja. When he asked to wash his hands, they were washed next to shivling. This was done because it was in the form of prasad. There is nothing wrong in this," Tiwari told PTI. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: When the formal announcement of Chinese President Xi Jinping skipping the G20 Summit came on Monday, it didnt come as a surprise as the grapevine was indicating that he would give it a miss. Until Monday, even his hotel suite was booked, even as a formal announcement was awaited. Besides President Xi, President Putin and the Mexican President too will not be attending the Summit. However, all the other leaders are going to be in Delhi. US President Biden will be among the first leaders to land in Delhi on September 7 and will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8, a day before the Summit. "President Xis decision to skip the Summit in India sends out a message that relations between India and China are still on the downward slide. This is the first G20 Summit that he has skipped," Ashok K Kantha, former Ambassador to China, told The New Indian Express. Relations between India and China have been going downhill since the Galwan incident in 2020. Besides, China keeps nudging India on many fronts the most recent being including Indian territories like Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh in its own map. Earlier, they had renamed 11 villages in Arunachal. "As has been announced just now, Premier Li Qiang will lead a delegation to the New Delhi G20 Summit in India. The G20 is an important forum for international economic cooperation. China has all along attached great importance to and taken an active part in G20 events. During this years G20 Summit, Premier Li Qiang will share Chinas views and propositions on G20 cooperation, and promote greater solidarity and cooperation among G20 countries and joint response to global economic and development challenges. We are ready to work with all parties to make the G20 Summit a success and contribute to the steady recovery of the global economy and sustainable development," said Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning on Monday. Mao also said that they hoped that the Summit would arrive at a consensus on economic cooperation and contribute to the world's economic recovery and sustainable development. Meanwhile, the leaders who will be attending the Summit include President Biden, British PM Rishi Sunak, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, amongst others. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: When the formal announcement of Chinese President Xi Jinping skipping the G20 Summit came on Monday, it didnt come as a surprise as the grapevine was indicating that he would give it a miss. Until Monday, even his hotel suite was booked, even as a formal announcement was awaited. Besides President Xi, President Putin and the Mexican President too will not be attending the Summit. However, all the other leaders are going to be in Delhi. US President Biden will be among the first leaders to land in Delhi on September 7 and will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8, a day before the Summit. "President Xis decision to skip the Summit in India sends out a message that relations between India and China are still on the downward slide. This is the first G20 Summit that he has skipped," Ashok K Kantha, former Ambassador to China, told The New Indian Express.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Relations between India and China have been going downhill since the Galwan incident in 2020. Besides, China keeps nudging India on many fronts the most recent being including Indian territories like Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh in its own map. Earlier, they had renamed 11 villages in Arunachal. "As has been announced just now, Premier Li Qiang will lead a delegation to the New Delhi G20 Summit in India. The G20 is an important forum for international economic cooperation. China has all along attached great importance to and taken an active part in G20 events. During this years G20 Summit, Premier Li Qiang will share Chinas views and propositions on G20 cooperation, and promote greater solidarity and cooperation among G20 countries and joint response to global economic and development challenges. We are ready to work with all parties to make the G20 Summit a success and contribute to the steady recovery of the global economy and sustainable development," said Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning on Monday. Mao also said that they hoped that the Summit would arrive at a consensus on economic cooperation and contribute to the world's economic recovery and sustainable development. Meanwhile, the leaders who will be attending the Summit include President Biden, British PM Rishi Sunak, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, amongst others. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service SHIVAMOGGA : A woman teacher at the Government Urdu Higher Primary School here was transferred for allegedly asking Muslim students in her class to go to Pakistan. Sources said the teacher allegedly made the objectionable remarks on August 30 after some students in Class 6 quarrelled even after she repeatedly asked them not to create noise in the class. The teacher, Manjula Devi, taught Kannada at the school at Tipu Nagar in the city. Block Education Officer Nagaraj P told reporters that she was transferred after conducting a departmental inquiry. Students disrespected me: Teacher Students and parents said that when the students interrupted her teaching, she tried to beat them. One of the students called out Allahs name, at which she asked the students to go to Pakistan. When the complaint went viral, I visited the school and conducted the inquiry, the BEO said. The BEO said he also spoke to the students even as their parents complained to the school headmaster. The headmaster told me that he came to know of the incident only after the parents raised the complaint. The Kannada teacher told me that the students were creating noise and not respecting her, and that was the reason she scolded them. But she denied that she told the students to go to Pakistan, he added. Since the issue was sensitive and went viral, he transferred her from the school. I also conducted a departmental inquiry and submitted a report to the DDPI besides informing the DC, he added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp SHIVAMOGGA : A woman teacher at the Government Urdu Higher Primary School here was transferred for allegedly asking Muslim students in her class to go to Pakistan. Sources said the teacher allegedly made the objectionable remarks on August 30 after some students in Class 6 quarrelled even after she repeatedly asked them not to create noise in the class. The teacher, Manjula Devi, taught Kannada at the school at Tipu Nagar in the city. Block Education Officer Nagaraj P told reporters that she was transferred after conducting a departmental inquiry. Students disrespected me: Teachergoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Students and parents said that when the students interrupted her teaching, she tried to beat them. One of the students called out Allahs name, at which she asked the students to go to Pakistan. When the complaint went viral, I visited the school and conducted the inquiry, the BEO said. The BEO said he also spoke to the students even as their parents complained to the school headmaster. The headmaster told me that he came to know of the incident only after the parents raised the complaint. The Kannada teacher told me that the students were creating noise and not respecting her, and that was the reason she scolded them. But she denied that she told the students to go to Pakistan, he added. Since the issue was sensitive and went viral, he transferred her from the school. I also conducted a departmental inquiry and submitted a report to the DDPI besides informing the DC, he added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp R Sivakumar By Express News Service CHENNAI: A division bench of Madras High Court on Monday ruled that the principal sessions court in Chennai, which is the designated special court for cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is competent to try the case of money laundering against Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji and take up his bail application for adjudication. Unravelling the legal tangle arose following the principal sessions judge transferring the PMLA case to the special court for MP/MLAs cases, besides making over the bail application too; and the latter seeking the Minister to get a clarification from the High Court on the competency to take up bail petition, the bench of Justices R Suresh Kumar and K Kumaresh Babu issued the ruling. After hearing the contentions of senior counsel NR Elango, for Senthil Balaji, and special public prosecutor Ramesh for Enforcement Directorate (ED), the concluded that since the principal sessions court was designated by the Centre as special court for trying PMLA cases, it cannot transfer the case against Senthil Balaji to the special court for MP/MLAs cases. It explained that as per ED, the offence allegedly committed by Senthil Balaji is to be punished under section 4 of the PMLA, based on which only the final report (charge sheet) was filed on August 12, 2023. Therefore, whatever the case that has been laid against anyone punishable under the section 4 of PMLA, has to be tried by the special court for PMLA cases constituted or designated under section 43 (1) of the Act by issuance of notification by the Central Government in consultation with the CJ of the High Court, it reasoned. That being the position, the territorial jurisdiction of the case on hand, is also Chennai, and comes under the jurisdiction of the principal district judge of Chennai. Naturally, the said case- since the alleged offence is to be punished under section 4 of PMLA- has to be tried by it, the judges said in the order. They further said, when that being so, we feel that the very transfer of the case by principal sessions judge, Chennai, to the special court for MP/MLAs cases is not in consonance vis-a-vis the notification issued by the Central Government. Therefore the bail application, also in our considered view, has to be heard and disposed only by the principal sessions judge, Chennai, the bench ruled. Ordering the principal sessions judge to take back the case papers from the special court for MP/MLAs cases, the bench directed her to dispose of the bail application at the earliest. The bench also set aside the order of the principal sessions transferring the PMLA case against Senthil Balaji to the special court for MP/MLAs. It may be noted that the Minister was arrested on June 14, 2023 by the ED for receiving proceeds of crime accrued through the infamous cash-for-jobs scam committed during his tenure as Transport Minister in the AIADMK govt. After undergoing bypass surgery for heart blocks, he was lodged in the Puzhal Central Prison. Meanwhile, he moved the bail application seeking him to released because the ED did not want his custody further due to completion of the investigation by virtue of filing of the charge sheet. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp CHENNAI: A division bench of Madras High Court on Monday ruled that the principal sessions court in Chennai, which is the designated special court for cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is competent to try the case of money laundering against Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji and take up his bail application for adjudication. Unravelling the legal tangle arose following the principal sessions judge transferring the PMLA case to the special court for MP/MLAs cases, besides making over the bail application too; and the latter seeking the Minister to get a clarification from the High Court on the competency to take up bail petition, the bench of Justices R Suresh Kumar and K Kumaresh Babu issued the ruling. After hearing the contentions of senior counsel NR Elango, for Senthil Balaji, and special public prosecutor Ramesh for Enforcement Directorate (ED), the concluded that since the principal sessions court was designated by the Centre as special court for trying PMLA cases, it cannot transfer the case against Senthil Balaji to the special court for MP/MLAs cases.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); It explained that as per ED, the offence allegedly committed by Senthil Balaji is to be punished under section 4 of the PMLA, based on which only the final report (charge sheet) was filed on August 12, 2023. Therefore, whatever the case that has been laid against anyone punishable under the section 4 of PMLA, has to be tried by the special court for PMLA cases constituted or designated under section 43 (1) of the Act by issuance of notification by the Central Government in consultation with the CJ of the High Court, it reasoned. That being the position, the territorial jurisdiction of the case on hand, is also Chennai, and comes under the jurisdiction of the principal district judge of Chennai. Naturally, the said case- since the alleged offence is to be punished under section 4 of PMLA- has to be tried by it, the judges said in the order. They further said, when that being so, we feel that the very transfer of the case by principal sessions judge, Chennai, to the special court for MP/MLAs cases is not in consonance vis-a-vis the notification issued by the Central Government. Therefore the bail application, also in our considered view, has to be heard and disposed only by the principal sessions judge, Chennai, the bench ruled. Ordering the principal sessions judge to take back the case papers from the special court for MP/MLAs cases, the bench directed her to dispose of the bail application at the earliest. The bench also set aside the order of the principal sessions transferring the PMLA case against Senthil Balaji to the special court for MP/MLAs. It may be noted that the Minister was arrested on June 14, 2023 by the ED for receiving proceeds of crime accrued through the infamous cash-for-jobs scam committed during his tenure as Transport Minister in the AIADMK govt. After undergoing bypass surgery for heart blocks, he was lodged in the Puzhal Central Prison. Meanwhile, he moved the bail application seeking him to released because the ED did not want his custody further due to completion of the investigation by virtue of filing of the charge sheet. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By AFP MOSCOW: Russia said on Monday it had destroyed four Ukrainian military boats carrying troops in the Black Sea. "Naval aviation aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed 4 'Willard Sea Force' US-made high-speed military boats with landing groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram. The ministry said the boats were "traveling in the direction of Cape Tarkhankut on the Crimean coast", without providing further details. In a similar attack on August 30, Russia said its forces destroyed four Ukrainian military boats carrying up to 50 soldiers in the Black Sea. Earlier on Monday morning, the ministry said it had repelled a separate Ukrainian attack over the Black Sea. "Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were destroyed in the air over the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula," it wrote on Telegram. Crimea was last attacked on Saturday when Russia destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones that targeted the bridge connecting the peninsula to the Russian mainland. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscow's Ukraine offensive but has recently come under more intense, increased attacks. Kyiv has repeatedly said it aims to take back Crimea. On August 24, Ukraine said it flew its flag on Crimea, in a symbolic win during a "special operation" to mark its second wartime Independence Day. Ukraine forces down 17 drones in Odesa region, strikes damage buildings Ukrainian forces downed 17 Russian drones over the southern Odesa region, officials said Monday, adding that strikes caused damage in a district on the Danube river that borders NATO member Romania. "Seventeen drones were shot down by our air defense forces," regional governor Oleg Kiper wrote on Telegram, adding there were no civilian casualties. "But, unfortunately, there are also hits," he said. "In several settlements of Izmail district, warehouses and production buildings, agricultural machinery and equipment of industrial enterprises were damaged." The Danube river port of Izmail has become a main export route for Ukrainian products via Romania following Russia's withdrawal in July from a UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal that had aimed to ensure safe grain shipments from Ukraine. Ukraine's military said Russia had used Iranian-made Shahed attack drones in the "massive" overnight attack, which "was directed at the civil infrastructure of the area of the Danube". The strikes come a day after Ukraine fought off a barrage of Russian drones in the Odesa region. Russia's army said Sunday it had targeted fuel storage facilities in the port town of Reni, which also lies on the Danube river that separates Ukraine from Romania. Monday's attack comes hours before a summit in Russia between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hopes to revive the grain deal. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp MOSCOW: Russia said on Monday it had destroyed four Ukrainian military boats carrying troops in the Black Sea. "Naval aviation aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed 4 'Willard Sea Force' US-made high-speed military boats with landing groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram. The ministry said the boats were "traveling in the direction of Cape Tarkhankut on the Crimean coast", without providing further details.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In a similar attack on August 30, Russia said its forces destroyed four Ukrainian military boats carrying up to 50 soldiers in the Black Sea. Earlier on Monday morning, the ministry said it had repelled a separate Ukrainian attack over the Black Sea. "Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were destroyed in the air over the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula," it wrote on Telegram. Crimea was last attacked on Saturday when Russia destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones that targeted the bridge connecting the peninsula to the Russian mainland. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscow's Ukraine offensive but has recently come under more intense, increased attacks. Kyiv has repeatedly said it aims to take back Crimea. On August 24, Ukraine said it flew its flag on Crimea, in a symbolic win during a "special operation" to mark its second wartime Independence Day. Ukraine forces down 17 drones in Odesa region, strikes damage buildings Ukrainian forces downed 17 Russian drones over the southern Odesa region, officials said Monday, adding that strikes caused damage in a district on the Danube river that borders NATO member Romania. "Seventeen drones were shot down by our air defense forces," regional governor Oleg Kiper wrote on Telegram, adding there were no civilian casualties. "But, unfortunately, there are also hits," he said. "In several settlements of Izmail district, warehouses and production buildings, agricultural machinery and equipment of industrial enterprises were damaged." The Danube river port of Izmail has become a main export route for Ukrainian products via Romania following Russia's withdrawal in July from a UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal that had aimed to ensure safe grain shipments from Ukraine. Ukraine's military said Russia had used Iranian-made Shahed attack drones in the "massive" overnight attack, which "was directed at the civil infrastructure of the area of the Danube". The strikes come a day after Ukraine fought off a barrage of Russian drones in the Odesa region. Russia's army said Sunday it had targeted fuel storage facilities in the port town of Reni, which also lies on the Danube river that separates Ukraine from Romania. Monday's attack comes hours before a summit in Russia between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hopes to revive the grain deal. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Gesture of strong friendship much appreciated: Singapore on India exempting country from rice ban Singapore, September 2 S ingapore on Saturday thanked India for exempting the country from its rice ban, saying that "the gesture of strong friendship is very much appreciated". "Singapore would like to thank GovIndia in particular @MEAIndia and @dgftindia for exempting us from the rice ban. Both countries are indeed close strategic partners. This gesture of strong friendship is very much appreciated," read a tweet on the Singapore Embassy in India's official account on 'X' formerly Twitter on Saturday. India recently decided to allow the export of rice to Singapore to "meet the food security requirements" of the southeast nation, the Ministry of External Affairs said. "India and Singapore enjoy a very close strategic partnership, characterized by shared interests, close economic ties and strong people-to-people connect. In view of this special relationship, India has decided to allow the export of rice to meet the food security requirements of Singapore," MEA official spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi had said on Tuesday in response to media queries on rice export to Singapore. India on August 27 introduced additional safeguards on exports of basmati rice so as to prevent exports of non-basmati white rice, which is presently under the prohibited category. Earlier, the government said it had received credible field reports regarding misclassification and illegal export of non-basmati white rice. "It has been reported that non-basmati white rice is being exported under the HS codes of parboiled rice and basmati rice," the government said in a statement. Notably, the export of non-basmati white rice was prohibited from July 20 to check the domestic prices and ensure domestic food security. The government noticed that despite restrictions put on certain varieties, rice exports have been high during the current year. The central government on July 20 amended the rice export norms putting the non-basmati white rice in the "prohibited" category. The export policy relating to non-basmati white rice has been revised from "free" to "prohibited" and it has come into force immediately, a Directorate General of Foreign Trade notification said. Gesture of strong friendship much appreciated: Singapore on India exempting country from rice ban Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Looking forward; says White House on possible Biden-Xi meet at G20 Washington, September 2 S peaking on the possibility of a meeting between China's President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden at the G20 Summit hosted by India this year, the White House stated that President Biden is looking forward to having a conversation and continuing ongoing engagement with China. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said, "I'll just let the President's words stand for himself. He spoke about it during his press conference at Camp David. You heard him speak of it, he's looking forward to having that conversation, continuing that ongoing engagement." White House also recognised the uncertainty of the Chinese President's participation in the G20 Summit and said that President Biden has said multiple times that he is looking forward to continuing his engagement and conversation with President Xi. " So, as it relates to his attendance -- President Xi's attendance to the G20, I would leave that to, you know -- to his spokesperson to answer that question, not for me to answer" said the White House Press Secretary. Earlier on Thursday, Reuters reported that sources familiar with the matter in India and China have revealed that President Xi Jinping is likely to skip the G20 Summit to be held in India next week. On Xi's behalf, Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to represent Beijing at the September 9-10 meeting in New Delhi, as per two Indian officials, one diplomat based in China and one official working for the government of another G20 country. However, the spokespersons for the Indian and Chinese foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a conversation with Chinese President Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in which he highlighted India's concerns at the unresolved issues along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh with the two leaders agreeing to direct their relevant officials "to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation". India and China have been engaged in a border standoff since 2020 due to the actions of the Chinese Army. There has been disengagement from some friction points along LAC in eastern Ladakh. India and China held the 19th round of Corps Commander Level talks earlier this month at the Chushul-Moldo meeting point on the Indian side. Looking forward; says White House on possible Biden-Xi meet at G20 Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! PM Modi congratulates Tharman Shanmugaratnam on being elected as Singapore's President New Delhi, September 2 P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated Tharman Shanmugaratnam on being elected as Singapore's President. PM Modi said he looks forward to working with Shanmugaratnam to further strengthen the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership. "Hearty congratulations @Tharman_s on your election as the President of Singapore. I look forward to working closely with you to further strengthen the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership," PM Modi wrote on 'X' formerly Twitter on Saturday. Former Singapore Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was on Friday elected as Singapore's ninth President with a resounding victory, Channel NewsAsia reported. In a landslide victory, Tharman earned 70.4 per cent of the vote, with former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song coming in second with 15.72 per cent. Tan Kin Lian, the former NTUC Income chief, garnered 13.88 per cent of the vote. Singapore held its first contested presidential election in 12 years. According to the Elections Department, more than 2.48 million ballots were cast in Singapore, with 50,152 votes invalidated, Channel NewsAsia reported. After Tharman's victory, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong issued a statement congratulating him on his election as President-elect of Singapore in 2023. "Mr Tharman has a long and distinguished record of public service. I have every confidence that he will carry out his duties as President with distinction," he said, according to Channel NewsAsia. While launching his bid for the presidential race, Tharman pledged to be a "President for the new era" and a "unifying figure". Tharman, an economist and a civil servant served mainly at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, before joining politics in 2001. He has served as Minister for Education and Finance and was Deputy Prime Minister from 2011 to 2019, according to CNA. PM Modi congratulates Tharman Shanmugaratnam on being elected as Singapore's President Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! OpenAI releases guide for teachers using ChatGPT in their classroom San Francisco, Sep 3 M icrosoft-owned OpenAI has released a new guide for teachers using its AI chatbot ChatGPT to assist educators in effectively incorporating the generative AI tool into their students' learning. The newly released guide suggested prompts, an explanation of how ChatGPT works and its limitations, the efficacy of AI detectors, and a discussion on biases. "We're releasing a guide for teachers using ChatGPT in their classroom -- including suggested prompts, an explanation of how ChatGPT works and its limitations, the efficacy of AI detectors, and bias," OpenAI said in a blogpost. On its announcement blog, the company shared examples of how professors and teachers are already using the chatbot to aid in their teaching. ChatGPT has already proved to be a useful tool for teachers, enabling them to create quizzes, tests, lesson plans, and even role play challenging conversations. At the American International School in Chennai, India, Geetha Venugopal compares teaching students about AI tools to teaching them how to use the internet responsibly. "In her classroom, she advises students to remember that the answers that ChatGPT gives may not be credible and accurate all the time, and to think critically about whether they should trust the answer, and then confirm the information through other primary resources," OpenAI mentioned in the post. The goal is to help them "understand the importance of constantly working on their original critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity skills". Meanwhile, OpenAI has launched a business-focused edition of the company's AI-powered chatbot app, ChatGPT Enterprise, which will offer enterprise-grade security and privacy, unlimited higher-speed GPT-4 access, longer context windows for processing longer inputs, advanced data analysis capabilities, customisation options, and much more. According to the company, ChatGPT Enterprise is SOC 2 compliant and all conversations are encrypted in transit and at rest. OpenAI releases guide for teachers using ChatGPT in their classroom Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Google turns 25, works hard to be part of generative AI economy San Francisco, Sep 3 T ech giant Google, which turns 25 on Monday, has come a long way from being born as a search engine in the garage of Susan Wojcicki -- the future boss of YouTube -- in a new tech landscape of generative AI, chatbots and social media. Google was founded on September 4, 1998, by American computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were PhD students at Stanford University in California. The company -- now part of the parent group called Alphabet and run by Indian-origin Sundar Pichai -- has diversified into several tech streams and launched several products. The company rapidly grew to offer a multitude of products and services beyond Google Search, many of which hold dominant market positions like Gmail, Google Maps, Google Cloud, Chrome, YouTube, Workspace, Android operating system, cloud storage Drive, Google Translate), video chat app Meet, Pixel smartphones, Google Assistant, Bard AI and more The company went public via an initial public offering (IPO) in 2004. In June 2013, Google acquired Waze in a $966 million deal. Its social features, such as its crowdsourced location platform, were valuable integrations between Waze and Google Maps, Google's own mapping service. In 2015, Google was reorganised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet. Pichai was appointed as CEO of Google on October 24, 2015, replacing Page, who became the CEO of Alphabet. On December 3, 2019, Pichai also became the CEO of Alphabet. Google is now part of the generative AI economy with its Bard models, which includes support for over 40 languages, including nine Indian languages. The tech giant has also expanded Bard's access to more places, including Brazil and across Europe. Bard is now available in over 230 countries and territories. Google is also launching new features to help users better customise their experience, boost their creativity and get more done, including the ability to add images in Prompts, listen to Bard's responses out loud, and easily adjust Bard's response to be longer, shorter. In early May, Google announced its plans to build two additional data centres in the US. These centres will power up the company's tools, including AI technology. na/ Google turns 25, works hard to be part of generative AI economy Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! San Francisco, Sep 3 M icrosoft has announced that it will no longer update WordPad and plans to remove the word processor from a future release of Windows nearly after 30 years. As an alternative, Microsoft will recommend Word, its paid word processor that has always been far more powerful than WordPad, which has shipped with Windows since 1995. "WordPad is no longer being updated and will be removed in a future release of Windows. We recommend Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad for plain text documents like .txt," reads a support note published by Microsoft on Friday. The WordPad removal comes just a day after Microsoft announced it was upgrading Notepad with features like autosave and tab retraction. The Windows Notepad app in Windows 11 was updated for the first time in years in 2018 and tabs were added. Last month, after iOS and Android, Microsoft has now announced to shut down its digital assistant Cortana app on Windows 11. While Cortana in Windows as a standalone app is deprecated, the support for Cortana in Teams mobile, Microsoft Teams display, and Microsoft Teams Rooms will end in the fall of 2023. In June, Microsoft removed some of the old settings under Folder Options in File Explorer as part of an effort to reduce the number of File Explorer settings on Windows 11. Microsoft to remove WordPad in future release of Windows Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Kolkata, Sep 4 W est Bengal Governor C. V. Ananda Bose on Monday announced the appointment of interim vice-chancellors for 16 state universities, which may lead to a fresh tussle between the Raj Bhawan and the state secretariat. On September 1, the Governor House announced that he as the chancellor of the state universities will play the role of interim vice-chancellors for those state universities where the chairs of the functional heads are currently vacant. Now, within 72 hours from that announcement, the governor announced the appointment of interim vice-chancellors for these 16 state universities that were running with its functional head for quite some time. These 16 universities include two agricultural universities and 14 universities for general studies. The announcement of interim vice-chancellors for these 16 universities comes just a day after the Governor's House, on Sunday morning, issued notification virtually bringing down state government authority on state universities to zero. In the notification, it was clearly said that the faculty and non-faculty staff members of all state universities are answerable first to the chancellor and then to the vice- chancellor. It was also stated there that the state government might give instructions to the state universities authorities, but those instructions are not binding on the universities authorities or employees. Reacting to the Governor's decision to appoint interim vice- chancellors for the 16 state universities, State Women & Child Development and Social Welfare Minister Sashi Panja said that the Governor is trying to vitiate the rich academic ambience in the state by trying to run a parallel administration in the sector. State BJP spokesman Samik Bhattacharya justified the decisions by the Governor and said that this was necessary to secure the autonomous nature of the universities free from political decisions imposed on them by the state government. Bengal Guv appoints interim VCs for 16 varsities much to dislike of state govt Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! New York, Sep 4 L atvia's Jelena Ostapenko maintained her clean sheet against Iga Swiatek, ending the World No.1's US Open title defense with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory in the fourth round. Swiatek's loss on Sunday means World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka will overtake the Pole and ascend to the No.1 ranking after the US Open. Swiatek will have held the top spot for 75 consecutive weeks, the third-longest first-time streak in WTA Tour history. Into her first US Open quarterfinal, Ostapenko will next face No.6 Coco Gauff. The two have split their two prior meetings, with Ostapenko knocking the American out of the Australian Open in January. After taking the first set handily, a listless Swiatek found herself down 1-4 against Ostapenko. It was a deficit she could not overcome, thanks to Ostapenko's solid service games, and the No. 20 seed assertively tucked away the set to force a decisive third. It was all one-way traffic from there, as Swiatek fell behind quickly in the third set with two consecutive breaks against her serve. Ostapenko was not holding back, punishing the four-time Grand Slam champion's serve with damaging returns and completely unraveling her game to earn the win in just under two hours. Earlier in the day, Gauff defeated 33-year-old Dane wildcard Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to become the first American teenager to reach back-to-back quarterfinals at the US Open since Serena Williams. US Open: Ostapenko ends Swiatek's title defense, sets quarterfinal clash with Gauff Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! ChatGPT could help to increase vaccine uptake by debunking myths around jab safety, say the authors of a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. The researchers asked the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot the top 50 most frequently-asked Covid-19 vaccine questions. They included queries based on myths and fake stories such as the vaccine causing Long Covid. Results show that ChatGPT scored nine out of 10 on average for accuracy. The rest of the time it was correct but left some gaps in the information provided, according to the study. Based on these findings, experts who led the study from the GenPoB research group based at the Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria (IDIS) Hospital Clinico Universitario of Santiago de Compostela, say the AI tool is a "reliable source of non-technical information to the public", especially for people without specialist scientific knowledge. However, the findings do highlight some concerns about the technology such as ChatGPT changing its answers in certain situations. "Overall, ChatGPT constructs a narrative in line with the available scientific evidence, debunking myths circulating on social media," says lead author Antonio Salas, who as well as leading the GenPoB research group, is also a Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. Thereby it potentially facilitates an increase in vaccine uptake. ChatGPT can detect counterfeit questions related to vaccines and vaccination. The language this AI uses is not too technical and therefore easily understandable to the public but without losing scientific rigor. We acknowledge that the present-day version of ChatGPT cannot substitute an expert or scientific evidence. But the results suggest it could be a reliable source of information to the public." Antonio Salas, Study Lead Author, Taylor & Francis Group In 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) listed vaccine hesitancy among the top 10 threats to global health. During the pandemic, misinformation spread via social media contributed to public mistrust of Covid-19 vaccination. The authors of this study include those from the Hospital Clinico Universitario de Santiago which the WHO designated as a vaccine safety collaborating center in 2018. Researchers at the center have been exploring myths around vaccine safety and medical situations that are falsely believed to be a reason not to get vaccinated. These misplaced concerns contribute to vaccine hesitancy. The study authors set out to test ChatGPT's ability to get the facts right and share accurate information around Covid vaccine safety in line with current scientific evidence. ChatGPT enables people to have human-like conversations and interactions with a virtual assistant. The technology is very user-friendly which makes it accessible to a wide population. However, many governments are concerned about the potential for ChatGPT to be used fraudulently in educational settings such as universities. The study was designed to challenge the chatbot by asking it the questions most frequently received by the WHO collaborating center in Santiago. The queries covered three themes. The first was misconceptions around safety such as the vaccine causing Long Covid. Next was false contraindications medical situations where the jab is safe to use such as in breastfeeding women. The questions also related to true contraindications a health condition where the vaccine should not be used and cases where doctors must take precautions e.g. a patient with heart muscle inflammation. Next, experts analyzed the responses then rated them for veracity and precision against current scientific evidence, and recommendations from WHO and other international agencies. The authors say this was important because algorithms created by social media and internet search engines are often based on an individual's usual preferences. This may lead to 'biased or wrong answers', they add. Results showed that most of the questions were answered correctly with an average score of nine out of 10 which is defined as 'excellent' or 'good'. The responses to the three question themes were on average 85.5% accurate or 14.5% accurate but with gaps in the information provided by ChatGPT. ChatGPT provided correct answers to queries that arose from genuine vaccine myths, and to those considered in clinical recommendation guidelines to be false or true contraindications. However, the research team does highlight ChatGPT's downsides in providing vaccine information. Professor Salas, who specializes in human genetics, concludes: "Chat GPT provides different answers if the question is repeated 'with a few seconds of delay'. "Another concern we have seen is that this AI tool, in its present version, could also be trained to provide answers not in line with scientific evidence. "One can 'torture' the system in such a way that it will provide the desired answer. This is also true for other contexts different to vaccines. For instance, it might be possible to make the chatbot align with absurd narratives like the flat-earth theory, deny climate change, or object to the theory of evolution, just to give a few examples. "However, it's important to note that these responses are not the default behavior of ChatGPT. Thus, the results we have obtained regarding vaccine safety can be probably extrapolated to many other myths and pseudoscience." First-of-its-kind study on 266 men found 20% have higher levels of the hormone in the vessels surrounding the prostate. Drawing blood from the arms of prostate cancer patients to assess for testosterone is not generally useful for determining risk of outcomes after radical prostatectomy and might underreport levels of testosterone surrounding the prostate, according to a study by Nima Sharifi, M.D., scientific director of the Desai Sethi Urology Institute and a researcher at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Findings from the newly published study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation suggest a large proportion of men have testosterone concentrations that are much higher in and around the prostate than traditional blood draws suggest. And this elevated exposure near the prostate increases the risk of poor outcomes after surgical removal of the prostate gland. I describe this as sneaky testosterone. Its sneaky because we dont see it we dont appreciate it just by looking at general blood, said Dr. Sharifi, who conducted much of this research while at Cleveland Clinic, before joining Desai Sethi Urology Institute earlier this year. The general assumption today is that clinicians can assess the prostates testosterone exposure by measuring the level with blood drawn from the arm. High testosterone levels could have implications on prostate cancer development and progression. Significant differences in testosterone concentration In this first-of-its-kind study, Miller School and Cleveland Clinic researchers assessed 266 men with prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomies between 2014 and 2021. They studied not only general blood and prostate tissue specimens but also vessels surrounding the prostate. Dr. Sharifi and colleagues found that 20% of the men had testosterone concentrations in vessels around the prostate that were twice as high as in the blood from their arms, with 5% of the men having 10 times the concentration in vessels surrounding the prostate. This suggests that some men have a short circuit going from gonadal circulation to the prostate. Most importantly, men who had this sneaky testosterone physiology had worse long-term outcomes after they had surgery for prostate cancer. Dr. Nima Sharifi, M.D., scientific director of the Desai Sethi Urology Institute and researcher at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Associations with varioceles There are other potential implications of the research, including in the area of infertility, he said. This sneaky testosterone physiology is probably common to varicoceles, a condition where the forward flow of the blood from the testes is impeded and this effectively creates back flow. Varicoceles is known to be associated with infertility, Dr. Sharifi said. Our study tells us that there may be other associations of varicoceles, potentially directly linking varicoceles to an aggressive form of prostate cancer. The identification of men with sneaky testosterone physiology adds new information to consider in the prognoses of men with prostate cancer and has broad implications for assessing risk in other diseases of the prostate, according to study author Eric A. Klein, M.D., emeritus chair of Cleveland Clinics Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute. For years, testosterone, T, and its derivative, dihydrotestosterone, DHT, have been known to affect prostate development and drive prostate cancer. However, peripheral blood T levels dont correlate with prostate cancer risk or severity, Dr. Klein said. This study suggests this might be because some men have veins that directly link the prostate to the testes, enabling higher T and DHT levels in the prostate, potentially leading to aggressive tumors. These venous shunts bypass peripheral circulation, meaning arm vein blood samples do not reflect T and DHT exposure to the prostate. New breakthroughs by scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) are set to transform cancer treatment in the UK and worldwide. Image Credit: National Physical Laboratory NPL scientists have worked on a range of projects that are set to significantly improve the accuracy of a type of radiotherapy treatment called proton beam radiotherapy. The benefits of this therapy include more precise targeting of cancer tumors without damaging surrounding healthy tissue. It massively minimizes the unpleasant side effects of radiotherapy, particularly in the case of pediatric patients, including cardiac failure, pulmonary fibrosis, and secondary cancers. Proton beam radiotherapy is seen as a superior option to established forms of radiotherapy because the radiation can be confined largely to the tumor, minimizing the damage to surrounding healthy tissue. But to make the most of the treatment, the accuracy of the radiation dose from proton beam treatment must be similar to that achieved using existing radiotherapy treatments. To achieve this aim, the team at NPL made three important breakthroughs: Producing their own highly accurate tool for measurement and assuring radiation dosage amounts called the Primary Standard Proton Calorimeter (PSPC) Developing new tissue-equivalent plastic materials to precisely imitate human tissue such as bone and muscle at the test phase Performing pioneering measurements to demonstrate a new form of radiotherapy called FLASH Accurately measuring proton radiotherapys absorbed radiation dose To maximize the accuracy and consistency of radiation dose measurement in proton radiotherapy, NPL developed the Primary Standard Proton Calorimeter (PSPC) to directly measure the absorbed radiation dose in proton radiotherapy beams. Radiation dose measurement always comes with a level of uncertainty, but NPLs PSPC reduces this uncertainty by more than half (0.9 percent instead of 2.3 percent) as reported by the international Code of Practice for radiotherapy dosimetry (TRS-398), making it more accurate than current international protocols. With the PSPC, NPL ensures that cancer patients undergoing proton radiotherapy receive consistent and accurate radiation doses across different treatment facilities. This improves the chances of successfully treating the tumor and reduces variability in dose delivery to patients. As the number of proton beam radiotherapy treatment centers in the UK and elsewhere grows, it becomes increasingly important to have consistent and accurate dose delivery between them all. NPL's PSPC is a critical tool in achieving this goal, ensuring that cancer patients receive the best possible treatment. New test materials precisely mimic human tissue The NPL team has also developed pioneering new plastic materials that mimic the radiation properties of human bone and muscle tissue for photon imaging and proton beam treatments (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6560/acb637). Existing test materials produce large uncertainties in proton therapy dosimetry resulting in relative differences in range of up to eight percent. As such, these existing materials cannot be used to provide accurate quality assurance measurements for proton therapy dosimetry. In contrast, the new materials developed by NPL closely mimic the properties of human tissue in a proton beam within a one-to-two percent accuracy: this makes them much more effective when used to support radiation dosimetry measurements for complex proton treatment plans and clinical trials. The novel tissue mimicking materials have been used to develop a device which mimics a head and neck patient for radiotherapy purposes. The plastic device is useful as it enables clinical centers to check and test the delivery of their proton therapy treatment without the need of a real patient. The device has internal detectors which enable the user to take dose measurements which can be compared to predicted values from treatment planning software. These tests provide clinical centers with confidence in the delivery of their proton therapy treatments to patients. Identifying the ideal dose for new ultra-high dose FLASH radiotherapy technique Using pioneering measurement technology, NPL scientists measured and standardized the ideal optimal absorbed dose for a potentially revolutionary form of proton beam radiotherapy known as FLASH . The new FLASH radiotherapy (RT) treatment is as effective as current techniques but also prevents unnecessary damage to healthy tissue and considerably shorten the time that pediatric patients must spend in the hospital. FLASH treatments can be delivered in fewer or even single deliveries in comparison to conventional radiotherapy which is often delivered in fractions over a period of about six weeks with the patient having to attend hospital on a daily basis. Accurate dosimetry is essential to avoid errors that might result in a patient receiving an incorrect dose of radiation and less chance of successful treatment. Currently, any form of radiotherapy results in unwanted but unavoidable deposition of radiation to healthy tissue around the targeted tumor. Studies have shown that treatment using ultra-high dose rate (UHDR) radiation could significantly spare healthy tissue while also being at least as effective as treatments at conventional dose rates in controlling the tumor this is known as the FLASH effect. The NPL breakthrough led to the first in-human clinical trial of FLASH RT in November 2020, which involved 10 patients at Cincinnati Childrens Hospitals Proton Therapy Centre in Ohio, USA. The findings of the NPL teams research were published in scientific journal Nature Scientific Reports in February [Absolute dosimetry for FLASH proton pencil beam scanning radiotherapy]. Ana Lourenco, principal scientist at NPL, said, We are working with the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) in developing a new Code of Practice (CoP) for reference dosimetry of proton beams. The upcoming IPEM CoP, will utilize the NPL PSPC, and provide a direct absorbed dose to water calibration service for proton therapy beams. This significant development will reduce uncertainty in dose delivery, ensuring optimal tumor control and improved accuracy in proton therapy treatments. The establishment of consistent standards supported by the CoP will not only benefit patients within and between treatment facilities but also lay the foundation for the development of clinical trials in proton therapy. NPL Science Area Leader Russell Thomas said, Our team at NPL are widely recognized as world leaders in areas of proton dosimetry. For a number of years we have worked to develop a deeper understanding of fundamental aspects of dosimetry for this type of beam which has culminated in us developing dedicated primary standard specifically for proton radiotherapy. Building on this, we are able to further refine the understanding of the response of ionization chambers used in the clinic. Combined with that, my team have developed protocols for auditing clinics, a vital aspect in ensuring patient treatments are optimally delivered, and have developed our own materials specifically to mimic the response of tissue, bone etc in the proton beam. It is a privilege for me to lead such a dedicated and talented team of scientists whose work has a real impact in helping to improve outcomes and the quality of life of cancer patients. In a recent study published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, a group of researchers investigated and controlled the outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) infections linked to a specific batch of piercing aftercare solutions in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, using genomic sequencing and reviewing associated manufacturing standards. Study: Community Outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections Associated with Contaminated Piercing Aftercare Solution, Australia, 2021. Image Credit: Daiana Campos / Shutterstock Background Nonmedical body piercings, like ear piercings, often lead to bacterial infections, with 10%-30% of new sites developing infections. Bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Streptococcus pyogenes, and especially P. aeruginosa are typical culprits. Thriving in wet environments, the latter is a frequent cause of piercing-related infections, which can vary from mild skin problems to severe complications necessitating surgery, often linked to factors such as swimming pool exposure, inadequate antisepsis, poor hand hygiene, and contaminated solutions. In April 2021, three patients in Sydney reported P. aeruginosa infections following ear piercings from the same newly opened salon. More research is required to understand and prevent piercing-related P. aeruginosa outbreaks, thus ensuring safer piercing practices and product standards. About the study In the present study, researchers adopted comprehensive case definitions to enhance the accuracy of active case identification. A confirmed case was identified as someone who had a P. aeruginosa infection after a recent ear piercing. Meanwhile, probable cases involved those who, despite not having cultures taken or showing no growth, either visited the suspected facility or used the same aftercare product. Through the NSW Public Health Rapid Emergency, Disease, and Syndromic Surveillance System (PHREDSS), they monitored patients at most public hospitals and identified potential infection cases by analyzing patient codes and conducting keyword searches. Further investigations delved into the procedures performed on the confirmed patients, the aftercare products they utilized, and any complaints or notifications. Using the aforementioned surveillance system, more piercing-related infection cases were found in several regions, including Sydney, Wollongong, and Newcastle. From April 30, 2021, weekly updates on emergency department visits related to piercing infections were shared with other public health units across NSW. These units reviewed patient records, gathered demographic data, and noted piercing and aftercare product details, while other states were informed of the NSW outbreak to identify potential cases. Samples from the environment, aftercare solutions, and patients were collected and analyzed for bacterial identification, with positive results undergoing whole-genome sequencing. The entire study was executed as a public health initiative in accordance with the NSW Public Health Act 2010, obviating the need for ethics approval. Study results The researchers reported that a sudden upsurge of piercing-related infections in New South Wales, Australia, was noticed in April 2021. The first facility under suspicion was a branch of a national chain of piercing salons, which had commenced its operations on April 1, 2021, by offering piercings at half-price. This salon, like the rest in its franchise, relied on an aftercare product called Protat. Consisting of natural preservatives like aloe vera, seed extract, grapefruit, and Melaleuca alternifolia leaf oil, the solution also contains saline with benzalkonium chloride, an antimicrobial agent. Usually, after each piercing procedure, Protat was applied, and the same bottle was handed over to the client for further care. As infections proliferated, data drawn from the PHREDSS indicated a stark increase in infections associated with piercings. A meticulous review identified 251 individuals with piercing-related infections, of which 62 tested positive for P. aeruginosa. Probing further, samples were collected from 15 opened Protat bottles obtained from infected individuals. Shockingly, nine out of ten bottles from a specific batch were found contaminated with P. aeruginosa. The contaminated batch was dated to be used by October 1, 2023, and had been dispatched to multiple piercing shops between February and May 2021. Additionally, samples from 11 unopened Protat bottles were also retrieved, and of these, three tested positive for the same bacteria. When diving deeper into the bacterial strains, researchers employed whole-genome sequencing. This disclosed that the majority of the isolates were of a rare type called ST988, which had not been seen before in local collections. Of the patients with this specific strain of the infection, most had availed services from the implicated salon or other branches in the same franchise. Further investigations revealed that even the one who claimed to have used a different batch was likely exposed to the contaminated batch at the store. In response to the outbreak, NSW Health alerted clinicians, and the manufacturer of Protat voluntarily recalled the suspected batch. On understanding the gravity of the situation, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also published a recall notice for the batch, informing it had not only been distributed across various Australian states but also New Zealand. The manufacturer undertook a review to identify the possible contamination sources. Several lapses in the manufacturing process were pinpointed, including potential compromises in raw material handling and inadequate cleaning of equipment. To combat future risks, the manufacturer decided to increase microbial testing, enhance the cleaning procedures, and possibly reformulate the product. By mid-June 2021, thanks to these corrective measures, the number of infections began to reduce, signaling a positive outcome of the collective efforts. Conclusions To summarize, in 2021, a NSW outbreak linked a P. aeruginosa piercing infection to a specific aftercare solution batch using whole-genome sequencing. Earlier outbreaks in England (2016) and Oregon, USA (2004) utilized molecular methods to trace contamination sources. Quick NSW outbreak identification was due to an observant clinician. Repeated global outbreaks emphasize the need for enhanced manufacturing standards for aftercare products, with the NSW incident underscoring the importance of rigorous production quality control, contamination detection, quality assurance, and effective testing. A University of Queensland research collaboration will look at reducing the risk of harm from medication for inpatients and those leaving hospital to return home. Dr Nazanin Ghahreman-Falconer from UQ's School of Pharmacy is working with Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) and using digital hospital technologies to better manage medications for inpatients and reduce rehospitalization due to medication harm. Rehospitalization is a pressing health challenge in Queensland alone up to 25 per cent of adult patients are re-admitted to hospital within 28 days. Being discharged from hospital can leave patients vulnerable, and confusion about medications can lead to serious complications such as falls, bleeding, and rehospitalization." Dr Ghahreman-Falconer, University of Queensland "Around 90 per cent of patients have changes to their medication regimen whilst in hospital which can cause issues if not communicated clearly to patients and their GPs, specialists or primary care providers. "As well as adverse outcomes for the patient, rehospitalization places a huge burden on the healthcare system so our aim is to find solutions." Dr Ghahreman-Falconer is working with Associate Professor Michael Barras from PAH on the RECARD Study, using predictive modelling to try to prevent rehospitalization after a heart attack. It involves developing digital tools to help clinicians identify cardiac patients most at risk of being readmitted to hospital due to medication harm. Dr Ghahreman-Falconer said the focus is on the most vulnerable patients, including better supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. "The first phase is consulting with community stakeholders on a prediction model to identify people at risk of rehospitalization, as well as development of a toolkit to deliver tailored medication management and support when patients are discharged," she said. A second project with PAH involves using hospital data and artificial intelligence to identify patients at risk of medication harm, to provide early and targeted intervention during their hospital stay. "In previous research we developed a model for dosing high-risk medications such as heparin, commonly used to treat blood clotting, but is challenging to dose accurately," Dr Ghahreman-Falconer said. "We are now working on developing an app embedded in the hospital's electronic systems to help guide doctors when prescribing intravenous heparin. "These tools can help clinicians work smarter and deliver timely care to those who need it the most. "This will mean better and safer health outcomes for patients." A leading testing expert fears a perfect storm of infections in September as students start at schools and colleges. School closures during Covid lockdowns mean 1-in-8 students starting university this year remains unprotected against meningitis. Concern is growing early symptoms may be confused with freshers flu. It's an exciting but worrying time when children and young adults start at a new school or university. However, as well as the traditional stresses of getting to know new campuses and people, a leading health testing expert says students must learn the difference between freshers flu symptoms and something more serious this September. Leading testing expert, Dr Avinash Hari Narayanan (MBChB), Clinical Lead at London Medical Laboratory, says: Schools go back next week and many universities freshers weeks start on 18 September. Due to the impact of Covid lockdowns on school inoculation schedules, health professionals are increasingly concerned about the new academic year. The MenACWY vaccine usually protects against four strains of the meningococcal bacteria A, C, W and Y that cause meningitis and bloodstream infections (septicaemia). Its normally offered to all pupils aged 13 to 15 years old alongside the teenage booster jab, which is given to increase protection against tetanus, diphtheria and polio. However, many students who were aged around 15 in 2020 may have missed these key jabs because of Covid school closures. This age group is now starting university. The latest MenACWY coverage data shows the vaccination rate has now fallen to 79.6%. There is also concern some students may have missed their MMR vaccine, protecting against measles, mumps, and rubella, and their HPV vaccine, protecting against human papilloma virus-related cancers. Potentially, this is a health crisis waiting to happen. Many first-year students starting college or university this September are not up-to-date with all their inoculations. Therefore, they are at increased risk of serious diseases as they mix with large numbers of other students from around the country and overseas. It's particularly concerning, as cases of so-called freshers flu (usually caused by assorted bugs that spread quickly through the student population in the first weeks of term) can be confused with symptoms of meningitis in its early stages. Like freshers flu, meningitis is initially difficult to distinguish from a bad hangover or common, milder illnesses. This can also be the case with the early stages of measles or mumps. For students and parents concerned about the potential increase in meningitis cases, its important to note that anyone born on or after 1 September 1996 who was eligible but missed their teenage MenACWY vaccine can still have the jab up to their 25th birthday. However, its also important to remember that MenACWY does not protect against all meningitis strains, for example MenB, which is often common among students. So its vitally important to know the signs and symptoms of meningitis even if you have received the MenACWY jab. Meningitis and septicaemia can develop suddenly. Symptoms include: a blotchy rash that doesnt fade when a glass is rolled over it fever headache aching muscles and joints a stiff neck sensitivity and intolerance to light The MenW strain can also cause vomiting and diarrhea in teenagers and young adults With the exception of the rash, the concern is that all of these symptoms may be mistaken initially for freshers flu and/or the weeklong hangover that is often considered a rite of passage for new students. Urgent antibiotic treatment and hospitalization is critical as soon as meningitis is diagnosed. Meanwhile, it's not only university that can act like a Petri dish, creating the conditions in which bacteria and viruses can mushroom so too can school. Last year, Covid cases soared by 12.7% between 11-17 September as students returned to the classroom, caught the virus and spread it to their families. As a result, between 13-19 September 2022 there was a sudden 16.9% boom in Covid hospitalizations. Thats doubly concerning this year as the axing of Covid boosters for 50-64 year olds this autumn means more family members will have less antibodies than last year. For anyone concerned about their overall health as they start university or as their kids return to school, a general health test might provide reassurance that they are in overall good health to help fight the symptoms of new viruses. London Medical Laboratorys General Health Profile blood test provides people with a comprehensive check-up of their general health, including diabetes (HbA1c), gout, liver & kidney function, bone health, iron levels and a full cholesterol profile. It can be taken at home through the post, or at one of the many drop-in clinics that offer these tests across London and nationwide in over 95 selected pharmacies and health stores. In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers conducted a literature review to understand whether regular distribution of two intravenous or intramuscular administrations of low-dose naloxone was effective and adequate in reversing opioid overdoses. They also examined the benefits of high-dose naloxone formulations as a solution for fentanyl overdoses. Study: High-Dose Naloxone Formulations Are Not as Essential as We Thought. Image Credit: Tomas Nevesely/Shutterstock.com *Important notice: medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Background The opioid receptor antagonist naloxone hydrochloride or naloxone has been a significant development in limiting opioid overdose-related deaths and reversing the effects of the overdose. Opioid receptor antagonists inhibit opioid receptors in the peripheral and central nervous systems and successfully counteract the expected effects, such as euphoria and analgesia, and the inadvertent consequences that lead to death, such as respiratory arrest and coma. The United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of intravenous or intramuscular injectable forms and intranasal sprays of low-dose naloxone, and these are available as part of the harm reduction programs for people who use drugs. Furthermore, due to the increasing potency of fentanyl and its analogs, the FDA supports the production of high-dose naloxone formulations despite concerns about its usage. Addressing the stigma associated with drug use and including people with drug and substance use disorders in the processes related to formulating policies on drug use could significantly improve the understanding of the factors that contribute to drug use and the efficacy of interventions. About the study In the present study, the researchers first conferred with two experienced members of the community-based drug-user-run organization Tennessee Harm Reduction on using naloxone in the community and its success. These harm reductionists reported that intranasal naloxone spray was less effective in reviving an overdosed individual and resulted in worse withdrawal symptoms. However, in many successful cases, a single dose of the intramuscular injectable naloxone was sufficient to revive the individual. High-dose naloxone formulations were reported to be significantly more expensive and cause worse precipitated withdrawal symptoms. Given the absence of clarity regarding high-dose naloxone formulations, the researchers conducted an exhaustive literature review using key phrases about naloxone usage, formulation, and dosing. Only original articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 2012 and 2023 were included in the review. Studies that focused on unrelated concepts such as buprenorphine, included computer or animal models or discussed specific health disorders or diagnoses were excluded. Furthermore, articles that involved pharmaceutical company consultants or were funded by companies that manufacture naloxone were analyzed and discussed in a separate section. Results The findings of the literature review were broadly classified into three categories based on the frequency at which more than two of the standard intramuscular or intravenous doses of naloxone are required to reverse an overdose of fentanyl and the evidence for and against high-dose naloxone formulations. The requirement for multiple standard doses of naloxone depends on factors such as the type, method, and quantity of opioids used, individual tolerance levels for those opioids, the overall health conditions of the opioid user, and the route of naloxone administration. The researchers found that although high-dose naloxone formulations have been used in the clinical as well as community settings, standard intramuscular doses of naloxone are sufficient to reverse most fentanyl overdoses, with overdoses of carfentanil and other fentanyl analogs that are more potent requiring three or more naloxone doses. The more potent analogs might require higher doses because of the slower opioid receptor dissociation rate. Furthermore, the review unearthed various studies that reported a higher risk of precipitated withdrawal associated with the use of high-dose naloxone formulations, with a significant risk of recurrence of the symptoms of overdose even after resuscitation. However, the researchers note that in cases where more than two doses of the standard intravenous or intramuscular naloxone are unavailable, the high-dose naloxone formulations can be valuable in rapidly reversing the symptoms of carfentanil overdose. Given the findings, the researchers recommend that at least four doses of the standard intramuscular or intravenous naloxone doses be provided, along with appropriate training for administration to potential bystanders, and care be taken to ensure sufficient intervals between each dose. Conclusions Overall, the findings suggested that the standard doses of naloxone, administered intravenously or intramuscularly, were sufficient to reverse the symptoms of most fentanyl overdoses, with more than two doses required for some of the more potent fentanyl analogs such as carfentanil. However, the high-dose naloxone formulations seemed counterproductive, with a higher risk of precipitated withdrawal symptoms. *Important notice: medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. In a recent article published in Eurosurveillance, researchers presented serological evidence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus infection in a pet cat and five dogs on a rural poultry farm in Italy. About the infecting virus This virus first infected hens on the same farm. When Italian authorities quarantined the farm due to suspicion of an avian influenza outbreak, this farm had 22 poultry animals: two chicken hens, eight ducks, two geese, and ten chicks. They noted that 16 of 18 hens on the farm died. However, the pet dogs/cat did not show any clinical symptoms of HPAI infection. Reassortment events within the black-headed gulls-adapted H13 subtype gave rise to the HPAI H5N1 BB genotype in Europe in May 2022. By January 2023, it spread widely in black-headed gulls in northern Italy, causing mass mortality around Lake Garda. This genotype also caused seven outbreaks on commercial farms in the Veneto and Emilia Romagna regions. Given its spread among wild birds in the area surrounding the farm, surveyors anticipated detecting the virus as the farm was around 10 km south of Lake Garda. Sampling for virological and serological investigations At the time of the first sampling, i.e., 17 April 2023, surveyors collected nasal swab samples from 10 people, including the owner and his five family members, three veterinarians, and one worker who did bird culling and corpse disposal. The second sampling took place six to nine months later. They sampled the dog twice, though only collected blood samples, and the cat once. Further, the researchers used a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) targeting the M gene of AIV to test tracheal and cloacal swab samples of humans and birds. They analyzed samples testing positive in this test using two other RT-PCRs directed towards the H5 and H7 genomes and neuraminidase subtype and H5 pathotype. Only hen samples tested positive for AIV, whereas human, duck, and goose samples tested negative. Further, the team performed whole genome sequencing of one positive sample derived from hens. Next, they aligned these genomic sequences to closely related sequences from the global initiative on sharing all influenza data (GISAID) database identified via BLAST search, which revealed that the infecting virus belonged to genotype BB, clade 2.3.4.4b. Molecular analysis uncovered an atypical mutation, T271A, in viral protein PB2, which suggested this virus adapted to infect mammals. Notably, this mutation has never been detected in clade 2.3.4.4b H5Nx viruses affecting birds in Europe since 2020 but was responsible for an outbreak in minks (a mammalian species) in Spain. This observation raises the possibility that this virus might have spread from mammals to birds. The team used a suite of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) to test dog and cat sera, with all assays directed towards monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against nucleoprotein type A (NPA), neuraminidases N1, N2, N3 and N7, as well as hemagglutinins H5, H7. The team confirmed the presence and specificity of H5 mAbs using the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test and by microneutralization (MN) assay based on HPAI-H5N1 and LPAI-H5N3 viruses. These serological tests detected mAbs against NPA, H5, and N1 in dogs and the cat sera at both sampling timepoints. Further analysis revealed sera from all animals except one dog tested positive in HI assay for the H5N1 Gull/23 virus. In the MN assay, sera from all animals were positive for the same strain, albeit with higher titers. The pet animals recording the highest HI and MN titers against the Gull/23 virus also scored higher neutralizing titers in the MN assay directed towards the Mal/08 virus. Finally, the team tested human sera using the same H5-EL competitive ELISA used for pets but a modified MN assay to test the pet sera. The test results confirmed all 10 humans were asymptomatic. Conclusion The current study presented serological evidence of HPAI H5N1 virus infection in five dogs and one cat on a poultry farm in Italy, highlighting the significance of genetic surveillance for early detection of avian viruses adapting rapidly to infect mammals with increased zoonotic potential. More importantly, whole genomic sequencing of these viruses is needed to identify gene mutations correlated with these adaptations. In a recent article published in PLoS One, researchers conducted an online survey among 302 female students from the University of Rennes in France between February and May 2021 to assess the frequency of overeating episodes in response to six emotions experienced during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-induced university closures. From a broader perspective, it helped the researchers understand social and psychological factors associated with stress response. Background Except for September-October 2021, universities in France remained fully closed between March 2020 and August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It prevented socialization among young adult students, and this lack of external support made them vulnerable to mental health problems. This unprecedented situation drastically altered their social and personal lives. To cope, many students turned to maladaptive behaviors. While studies showed that drinking and smoking remained under control during the COVID-19-induced lockdown in France, a review of 23 studies highlighted a shift in eating habits during the COVID-19 crisis. Researchers speculated this shift was related to emotional eating, i.e., (over)eating in response to negative emotions, characterized by an increased preference for snacks, sweets, and ultra-processed food rather than fresh food. It has garnered more attention from a clinical perspective because a negative emotional state is an antecedent to binge eating episodes, and young women are typically more vulnerable to developing it. Research suggests that women binge eat for psychological comfort rather than physiological needs, and that binge eating is linked to impulsivity and boredom. Women were also more likely to report social isolation as being difficult during the COVID-19 crisis. Since emotional overeating, although a coping mechanism, could lead to adverse health problems, for example addiction, it is crucial to characterize its relationship to social isolation. About the study In the present study, researchers performed an online survey to gather sociodemographic, substance abuse, boredom proneness, and impulsivity data of all participating female students using the validated, six-item, self-report Emotional Overeating Questionnaire (EOQ). Next, they used exploratory factor analyses (EFA) to determine EOQ structure and index all EOQ items for further analysis. They analyzed overeating in response to six emotions (anxiety, loneliness, sadness, fatigue, anger, and happiness) and expressed their frequency as percentages. The researchers used linear regression models to explore associations between overeating and other covariates. They assessed substance abuse using the CRAFFT screening test and the Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS) developed by Farmer and Sundberg to measure the tendency to become bored. Likewise, they used a 30-item Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) to quantify impulsiveness. Furthermore, the researchers used the World Health Organization Well-being Index (WHO-5) to assess the subjective psychological well-being of the participating female students and an 18-item three-factor eating questionnaire (TFEQ-R18) to measure the cognitive and behavioral components of eating. Results The 302 female survey respondents comprising the study cohort had mean age and body mass index of 20.9 years and 21.73.4, respectively. Nearly 37.4% of these females lived alone. The study found that 91.4% of female survey respondents (9/10) reported intermittent emotional overeating episodes in the last 28-day period. Overeating episodes reached at least six and 1315 days in 60.3% and 38.4% of cases, respectively. Only 24.8% of female students (1/4) reported overeating episodes beyond 15 days in the past month. Further, most survey respondents (75.5%) reported emotional OE episodes in response to anxiety, followed by sadness, happiness, loneliness, tiredness, and anger, with respective numbers equating to 64.9%, 59.9%, 57.9%, 51.7%, and 31.1% of respondents. Furthermore, EFA found a latent variable reflecting distress-induced overeating (DIO) for all EOQ items except happiness. In response to this emotion, overeating positively correlated with living in a family, well-being, and loss of control over food consumption. In a multivariate analysis, the DIO factor score correlated negatively with age and well-being but positively with boredom proneness, tobacco use, impulsivity, not resisting emotional cues, and losing control over food consumption. Furthermore, the authors noted that overeating was not markedly related to BMI or substance abuse. Encouragingly, only 12.2 and 7.2% of female students reported alcohol or substance abuse and regular smoking, levels similar to pre-pandemic levels. Conclusion The study results suggested that social isolation during the COVID-19 crisis had an effect on the eating behaviors of female students, given that there was a dramatic increase in female students reporting emotional overeating between a three-year prior survey and this study. Per EFA findings, sadness and loneliness contributed to DIO among the study participants as much as anxiety and behavioral patterns were also related to DIO, similar to boredom proneness and impulsivity. Furthermore, DIO was more frequent in smokers and less frequent in older female students. Emotional overeating in response to stress observed during this study reflects eating tendencies typical of young women. Thus, a better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying emotional eating in response to emotions amid a situation where social stimulation was less could help improve mitigation interventions targeted at disordered eating among women coping with stress and isolation. Although highly preventable, cervical cancer still claims the lives of roughly 35,700 women a year in the Americas, with a staggering 80 percent of these cases occurring in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The newly unveiled BGI Genomics 2023 Global State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report sheds light on potential gaps in awareness that might be contributing to the uneven distribution of cervical cancer cases within these regions. To provide a deeper understanding of the measures required to enhance cervical cancer awareness in Latin America, BGI Genomics spoke with key experts, including Dr. Carolina Wiesner, Director of Colombias National Cancer Institute; Dr. Osvaldo Artigalas, a member of the Brazilian Society of Medical Genetics and Genomics; and Dr. Deborah Laufer, a Uruguayan gynecologist specializing in gynecological and pediatric endocrinology. Cost-effective intervention to prevent cervical cancer The Global State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report (or Awareness Report) reveals that 43.5 percent of women between the ages of 21 and 25, which is the highest percentage within the surveyed age groups, express hesitancy towards undergoing a pap smear performed by a male doctor. Furthermore, a study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health emphasizes that in developing countries, the strategies that yield the highest cost-effectiveness involve minimizing the number of visits while concurrently decreasing the lifetime cancer risk by an estimated 25 to 36 percent. It is necessary to implement new technologies for prevention and early detection of cervical cancer in a cost-effective manner to help eliminate this cancer. Dr. Carolina Wiesner, Director, Colombias National Cancer Institute Image Credit: BGI Genomics HPV DNA self-sampling tests have become more widely available in recent years, with prices also significantly reduced, enabling twelve LAC countries/territories to pilot the introduction of these technologies. The benefits of early detection The Awareness Report reveals that 67.1 percent (Brazil) and 68.6 percent (Uruguay) of vaccinated women had a screening test, lower than the global average of 82.1 percent. Further action is needed in these two countries as the existing vaccines do not protect against all high-risk HPV types and will have a limited impact on disease in unvaccinated women and those vaccinated at older ages. Early detection of cervical cancer brings many benefits: saving lives as survival rates are better and benefiting society with reduced treatment costs. Dr. Osvaldo Artigalas, Member, Brazilian Society of Medical Genetics and Genomics Image Credit: BGI Genomics In Uruguay, a significant 85.7% of respondents express a preference for the HPV DNA test over a pap smear, primarily due to their awareness of its superior accuracy. Dr. Deborah Laufer responded to this finding, highlighting, This response shows that if women receive clear and proper information about each of the tests and their scope, they are better placed to make more informed decisions. Image Credit: BGI Genomics About BGI Genomics and SENTIS HPV tests Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, BGI Genomics is the global leader in providing integrated solutions for precision medicine. In July 2017, as a subsidiary of BGI Group, BGI Genomics (300676. SZ) was officially listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The CE-certified SENTIS HPV test combines self-sampling technology and genotyping assay to detect 14 of the most important, high-risk types of HPV, which includes HPV -16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68 and 2 low-risk types of the virus, HPV -6, 11. HPV genotyping detection relies on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, utilizing substantial sample volumes for each run. This approach significantly reduces the per-individual testing costs. Notably, in 2021, the WHO endorsed DNA testing as the primary screening method for cervical cancer prevention. Methodology The 2023 Global State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report is based on an online survey of 1,878 female respondents from the Chinese mainland (310), Thailand (319), Saudi Arabia (312), Serbia (307), Brazil (315), and Uruguay (315). These respondents were based in their respective regions or country at the time of this survey in July 2023. Surveys were carried out in local languages. Respondents were between the ages of 21 and 45 years old. Momentive Global was commissioned to carry out this survey. About BGI Genomics BGI Genomics is the world's leading integrated solutions provider of precision medicine, now serving customers in more than 100 countries. They provide academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, and other organizations with integrated genomic sequencing, proteomic services, clinical testing, and solutions across a broad range of applications. They have more than 20 years of genomics experience helping customers and partners achieve their goals by delivering rapid, high-quality results using a broad array of cost-effective, cutting-edge technologies, including their own innovative DNBSEQ sequencing technology. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. Hyundai India has launched the 2023 Venue and Venue N Line in the country. Equipped with the first-in-segment ADAS tech, the 2023 Hyundai Venue is priced in a range of Rs 10.33-13.34 lakh (ex-showroom) while the 2023 Hyundai Venue N Line comes in a price bracket of Rs 12-13.90 lakh (ex-showroom) in the Indian market. 2023 Hyundai Venue Price and Variants Model Fuel/Engine Option Variant Ex Showroom Price Venue Kappa 1.0 Turbo GDi Petrol S(O) MT 10,32,600 SX(O) MT 12,44,200 SX(O) MT Dual Tone 12,59,200 SX(O) DCT 13,23,100 SX(O) DCT Dual Tone 13,38,100 U2 1.5 CRDi Diesel SX(O) MT 13,18,700 SX(O) MT Dual Tone 13,33,700 Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., said, Over the last two and a half decades, Hyundai has been redefining mobility experiences for Indian customers with the introduction of advanced solutions. Today, we are proud to introduce ADAS on compact SUV VENUE, making it Indias most affordable SUV with this advanced safety technology. Both VENUE and VENUE N Line will now feature Hyundai SmartSense. With this introduction, Hyundai now offers 5 Models equipped with ADAS that include IONIQ 5, TUCSON, VERNA, VENUE & VENUE N Line. 2023 Hyundai Venue N Line Price and Variants Venue N Line Kappa 1.0 Turbo GDi Petrol N6 MT 11,99,900 N6 MT Dual Tone 12,14,900 N8 MT 12,95,900 N8 MT Dual Tone 13,10,900 N6 DCT 12,79,500 N6 DCT Dual Tone 12,94,500 N8 DCT 13,74,800 N8 DCT Dual Tone 13,89,800 2023 Hyundai Venue, Venue N Line ADAS Features The duo has been presented with Hyundai SmartSense (ADAS Advanced Driver Assistance System) which offers a host of features in the form of Forward Collision Warning, Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist for Car, Pedestrian & Cycle, Lane Keeping Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Driver Attention Warning, Lane Following Assist, High Beam Assist and Leading Vehicle Departure Alert. 2023 Hyundai Venue, Venue N Line Engine Specs The 2023 Venue is available with three powertrains: 1.2L Kappa MPi petrol, 1.5L U2 CRDi diesel and a 1.0L Kappa Turbo GDi petrol. These engines have been retained from the outgoing model and no mechanical changes have been made to the new model. However, the 1.0L T-GDi petrol engine now gets a 6-speed manual gearbox as well on S(O) and SX(O) trims besides the 7-speed DCT automatic unit. As for the 2023 Venue N Line, it is powered by the 1.0L Kappa Turbo GDi petrol engine with the 7-speed DCT automatic transmission as standard. The buyers can also opt for a 6-speed manual gearbox on N6 and N8 variants. Stocks to Watch on September 4: GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded 6 points, or 0.03 per cent, higher at 19,553.5, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for muted start on Monday. Heres a slew of stocks that will be in focus today for various reasons. Kotak Mahindra Bank: Uday Kotak on 1 September announced to step down as managing director and chief executive officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank, and with this, the baton was passed to Joint Managing Director at Kotak Mahindra Bank Dipak Gupta. Gupta will carry out the duties of the MD and CEO until 31 December, which is subject to the approval of the RBI and the members of the bank. Uday said he would continue as a non-executive director of the bank. Reliance Industries: Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambanis Reliance Retail Ventures is in advanced talks with global investors to raise around $2.5 billion by the end of September, ahead of a potential stock market listing, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Three sources said the target fundraising of $2.5 billion is part of a combined $3.5 billion target the firm has set for itself, a part of which $1 billion came from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and was announced last month. Bajaj Auto: Bajaj Autos subsidiary, Bajaj Auto Consumer Finance, has received the Certificate of Registration from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start the business of the non-banking finance company (NBFC), the company informed the stock exchanges in its filing on September 1, according to MoneyControl reports. In 2021, Bajaj Auto announced the setting up of a 100 per cent captive finance subsidiary Bajaj Auto Consumer Finance. Infosys: IT services company Infosys on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of Danske Banks IT centre in India. Danske Bank chose Infosys as a strategic partner to drive digital transformation initiatives with speed and scale, and this follows the announcement of the collaboration made on June 26, 2023, a release by Infosys said. Danske Banks IT centre in the country employs over 1,400 professionals. ONGC: The government has cut the windfall profit tax on crude oil produced in the country while the levy on exports of diesel and ATF has been hiked, an official notification said. The tax, levied in the form of special additional excise duty or SAED, on domestically produced crude oil was reduced to Rs 6,700 per tonne from Rs 7,100 a tonne. SAED on the export of diesel was increased to 6 per litre from Rs 5.50 a litre and on jet fuel or ATF to Rs 4 per litre from Rs 2, the notification said. IDFC First: Rajiv Jain-led US-based boutique investment manager GQG Partners Llc, on Friday, acquired a 2.6 per cent stake in private lender IDFC First Bank Ltd for Rs 1,527.26 crore, raising the formers total fresh investment in Indian firms to over Rs 41,000 crore in a span of just six months. Through a bulk deal on the exchanges, Cloverdell Investment Ltd, an institutional shareholder in IDFC First, has sold 278.7 million shares or 4.2 per cent stake in IDFC First Bank for Rs 2,480.3 crore to several entities including GQG Partners. Jio Financials: BSE on Saturday, September 2, revised Jio Financial Services circuit filter from 5 per cent to 20 per cent and the filter will be effective from Monday, said the stock exchange in a notification. Circuit filters are a price range provided for each index. Jio Financial Services Ltds shares were removed from all S&P BSE indices, including Sensex, before trading opened on Friday, September 1. Tata Motors: Tata Motors posted a 3.5 per cent decline in PV sales. Tata Motors Limited sales in the domestic & international market for August 2023 stood at 78,010 vehicles, compared to 78,843 units during August 2022. Domestic sales of MH&ICV in August 2023, including trucks and buses, stood at 13,306 units. Total sales for MH&ICV Domestic & International Business in August 2023, including trucks and buses, stood at 13,816 units. Biocon: Biotechnology major Biocon on Saturday said its unit has acquired Eywa Pharma Inc.s oral solid dosage manufacturing facility in the US for USD 7.7 million (over 63 crore). Biocon Generics Inc. has acquired Eywas Cranbury-based plant effective September 1 2023, the Bengaluru-based company said in a statement. The facility is acquired for a total consideration of USD 7.7 million, it added. As part of the acquisition, the existing workforce of the facility will transition into Biocon Generics Inc. Coal India: Coal India on Friday reported a 13.2 per cent rise in its coal production last month at 52.3 million tonne (MT) of coal in August on a year-on-year basis. In August 2022, the public sector major produced 46.2 MT. So far in the current financial year (FY24), Coal India has produced 281.5 MT of the mineral, registering an 11 per cent growth compared to the same period last fiscal, said a company statement. For the last two years, the world has been restricted to homes. Daily activities that couldnt be managed without stepping out, came indoors all at once from office to grocery shopping and schools. As the world accepts the new normal, News18 launches weekly classes for school children, explaining key chapters with examples from happenings around the world. While we try to simplify your subjects, a request to break down a topic can be tweeted @news18dotcom Although the realm of international diplomacy and economic cooperation might occasionally appear complicated, everyone must have some interest in it since it plays a fundamental role in shaping the society we live in today. The G20 summit, which brings together the worlds largest economies to address global concerns, is an important forum for this kind of cooperation. This years G20 presidency is being held by India, which presents an exceptional chance for the nation to drive these debates and have an impact on beneficial developments on a global level. In todays Classes With News18 lets delve into what the G20 is, how a country becomes its president, and what Indias role means for various industries. Understanding the G20 Summit The G20, a group consisting of twenty of the largest economies in the world, was established in 1999 and meets annually to coordinate global policy on trade and commerce, health, the environment, and other issues that impact not just one nation but the entire world. The G20 leaders annual summit, which began in 2008, is a significant event when leaders from 19 of the worlds largest economies, together with the European Union, come together to address crucial issues around the world. Developed nations like the United States, Japan, and Germany are represented in this group, along with growing economies like India, China, and Brazil. ALSO READ: 25 Wishes, Messages, Images, Quotes and WhatsApp Greetings to Share on Teachers Day 2023 Leaders discuss a range of subjects during the G20 conference, including trade, the environment, healthcare, and other matters. They deliberate about how to deal with issues like poverty and climate change as well as how to ensure that the worlds economy remains strong and expanding. The G20 summits conclusions might significantly affect peoples lives all across the world. More than 80 per cent of the worlds GDP, 75 per cent of its commerce, and 60 per cent of its people are represented by G20 countries. G20 Member Nations The G20s 20 members are organised into five groups, with the exception of the European Union, which is not a part of any nation group: GROUP 1: Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and the United States GROUP 2: India, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey GROUP 3: France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom GROUP 4: China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea GROUP 5: Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico Selection Process for G20 Presidency We must look at the G20 presidency as a form of rotating responsibility among its member countries. A different nation is given the opportunity to establish the agenda and steer the conversation at the G20 summits every year. But how is a nation picked for this position? After discussions, each year, one of the five country groups gets to take turns picking the G20 president. The nations within the relevant group must come to a consensus among themselves to choose the next G20 President as all countries in the group are eligible to assume the G20 Presidency when it is their groups time. The selection process is determined by a few essential components, which include: 1. Economic Stability: A nations economy must be stable for it to serve as the G20 president. This implies that it ought to be creating a lot of products and services, engaging in trade with other nations, and making a positive impact on the world economy. 2. Diplomatic Prowess: At G20 summits, world leaders representing many ideologies are present. Therefore, the nation of choice must be able to convene other nations for productive dialogue and maintain strong diplomatic ties. The G20 president should be a nation that can influence global discussions and make positive changes. 3. Potential for Change: The candidate for the G20 presidency should be able to influence progress both domestically and internationally. It should be able to motivate other nations to cooperate for the greater good of all nations to bring in changes. Indias G20 Presidency and Potential Impact Indias G20 leadership provides a chance to highlight the countrys assets and long-term goals. During its presidency, India will be able to draw focus onto problems that are important to its people and the rest of the world as a whole. India, for instance, can take the lead in conversations about technology and innovation by showcasing its prowess in the IT sector and promoting ethical digital practices. Additionally, Indias dedication to sustainability and renewable energy can have an impact on international discussions on climate change and environmental protection. India can encourage other nations to adopt more environmentally friendly practices by exchanging its experiences and strategies. In essence, Indias G20 presidency is proof of its increasing significance on the world forum. By taking the reins and guiding conversations, India can help develop solutions to present-day challenges and sculpt a brighter future for everyone. To learn about other topics taught in school, explained by News18, here is a list of other Classes With News18: Queries Related to Chapters on Elections | Sex Versus Gender | Cryptocurrencies | Economy & Banks | How to Become President of India | Post Independence Struggle | How India Adopted Its Flag | Formation of States & United India | Tipu Sultan | Indian Teachers Day Different from Rest of the World |Queen Elizabeth & Colonialism | Article 370 | Delhi University will release the third merit list for postgraduate courses on September 11. Earlier, it was scheduled to release on September 4, 2023 but the updated timeline calls for the list to be released at 5 p.m. on September 11. The second round of admissions is now taking place. DU will hold a mid-entry period between September 7 and September 9 prior to the third list. DU PG candidates must accept the offered seats between 5 p.m on September 11 till 4:59 p.m. ALSO READ: 25 Wishes, Messages, Images, Quotes and WhatsApp Greetings to Share on Teachers Day 2023 DU PG 3ND MERIT LIST 2023: HOW TO DOWNLOAD Candidates can follow the step-by-step guide provided below to download the DU PG third merit list for 2023: Step 1: Go to the official websites at admission.uod.ac.in Step 2: Then on the homepage, click on the PG admission tab. Step 3: Enter the required login credentials and then click on the submit button. Step 4: Your DU PG 3rd seat allotment result 2023 will show up on the screen. Step 5: Download the allotment result and take its printout for future use. Candidates can promptly access their seat allotment status by following this procedure and getting clarity on their placement in Delhi Universitys PG courses. This step-by-step approach ensures that candidates conveniently verify their allocation and proceed with the necessary actions according to the specified timeline. On September 13 after the third list is released, a supernumerary quotas and CSAS distribution will begun. From September 11 at 5 p.m. until September 15, departments, colleges, and centers will review these admissions and approve the online applications. Meanwhile, the University of Delhi has published a revised schedule for postgraduate (PG) admissions for the academic session 202324. Delhi University will start mid-entry registration on September 7. Interested candidates can check the revised schedule on the official website of DU at admission.uod.ac.in. Candidates opting for the upgrade choice are eligible to participate in the third round of DU PG counselling. The registration period will remain active until 4:59 PM on September 9. Subsequently, the DU PG Counselling third-round seat allocation list will be published by the university at 5 PM on September 11. Those who receive seat allotments in the third round must confirm their chosen course and department from 5 PM on September 11 until 4:59 PM on September 13. The verification of candidates documents and online applications by centres, colleges, and departments will take place from September 11 to September 13. As for candidates seeking these seats, the fee must be submitted by September 15. 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. Shah Rukh Khan, late Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam, investor and philanthropist Bill Gates and investor Bruce K Lee among other celebrities have scholarships and financial aids in their name for students who are looking to pursue their dream in the fields of medicine, science and technology and research. When a scholarship is associated with a well-known celebrity who possesses a positive or admirable image, it can attract a massive amount of attention and publicity. Such endorsements not only raise awareness about the scholarship but also imbue it with a sense of credibility and desirability, encouraging more students to apply and pursue their educational dreams, said Anirudh Motwani, co-founder & CEO, CollegeSearch, an online portal for students to search for the college. ALSO READ: Scholarship Guide | Top 8 Govt & University Grants That Will Help Fulfil Your Dream to Study in US News18 brings you the top seven scholarships being offered by the celebrities to help you pursue higher studies. Shah Rukh Khan Actor Shah Rukh Khans charity organisation offers scholarships to women who want to pursue PhD in Australias LaTrobe University. As part of the scholarship, the beneficiaries receive a travel allowance of $ AUD 3,000 and a three-and-half-year grant worth $ AUD 32,500. Who can apply: Indian women interested in pursuing PhD in LaTrobe University can apply for the scholarship. Applicant needs to hold a masters degree, an Indian citizen and have a high level of academic achievement, which is equivalent of 70 or above score as per LaTrobes university degree standards. Selection Procedure: The candidates will first have to submit an expression of interest. The shortlisted candidates will be called for an interview. Candidates will also be assessed based on their application. Where to apply: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/industry-and-community/partnerships/indian-film-festival/srk/phd-scholarship ALSO READ: Scholarship Guide | Studying in UK Can Be Affordable, Less Daunting; News18 Brings You Top 10 Grants Abdul Kalam Scholarship Several scholarships are funded under the name of former president of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, including Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award, bestowed by the National Innovation Foundation, Abdul Kalam Technology Innovation National Fellowship given by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB). Not just national, many international fellowships are offered in Kalams name including Presidential Abdul Kalam PG fellowship by the University of South Florida, Dr Abdul Kalam International Undergraduate Scholarship by the University of Sydney amongst others. Who are eligible: Students interested in science and technology, innovation can apply. The scholarships are offered at different levels of education and a formal preceding degree in the field is also a must. Selection Procedure: Most of these scholarships are based on marks, however, holistic profiles of students are assessed. Before applying students need to check the respective university website. Where to apply: While the application process and details of scholarships will be available at respective university or institute websites, students can also refer to education.gov.in for details. ALSO READ: Scholarship Guide | Shah Rukh Khan, JN Tatas Among Top 8 Grants to Study in Australia Sonu Sood Named after actor Sonu Soods mother, Prof Saroj Sood, the scholarship is aimed at supporting students to continue their higher education. The scholarship is only valid for partnered universities, namely Buddha University and Desh Bhagat University. Under the scholarship, 100% tuition fee is waived. Who is eligible: Students who match the course related admission eligibility can apply for the scholarship, however, priority will be given to students who have lost their parents or earning family members during Covid. Selection Procedure: This is a need-based scholarship, however, a students overall portfolio is also taken into consideration. Students also need to be able to secure a seat at the partner university to avail the scholarship. Where to apply: https://soodcharityfoundation.org/ David Geffen Medical Scholarship American businessman and producer David Geffen offers financial aid to students who want to study medicine in the US-based colleges. This support is also extended to foreign students. The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM) offers scholarships, grants, and loans to students. Eligibility: This is a need-based grant. Students need to prove a financial need. Only those who have been enrolled in a medical degree and are not a defaulter of educational loan can apply. After gaining the scholarship too, students need to meet cumulative Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards to continue aid. Selection procedure: Students will have to provide financial details including family/spouse support, and tax returns. Candidates will also be adjudged based on their academic records. Where to apply: https://medschool.ucla.edu/education/md-education/financial-aid-and-scholarships/the-david-geffen-medical-scholarships Indira Gandhi Scholarship The scholarship is offered by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to support single girl child to pursue postgraduate courses while promoting smaller families to shatter the notion of having a male child. The Post Graduate Indira Gandhi Scholarship for Single Girl Child compensates direct costs of girl education to all levels especially for such girls who happen to be the only child in their family. Candidates will get a monthly stipend of Rs 3,100 per month. Who can apply: Girls who do not have any brother or sister or those who are twin daughters or fraternal daughters can apply for the scholarship. The girl should not be over 30 years at the time of admission in the PG courses. Selection procedure: Candidates who have a full-time PG admission in a recognised college or university and meet the required conditions can apply. Where to apply: https://sgc.ugc.ac.in/ ALSO READ: Scholarship Guide | 6 Grants That Make Europe Affordable Study Destination for Indian Students GATES Scholarships The Gates Scholarship (TGS) aims at helping students from minority, low-income households to pursue higher education. This is a competitive scholarship and students with high academic performance are shortlisted. Scholarship covers funding for tuition, fees, room, board, books, and transportation, and may include other personal costs. Who can apply: Students having a minimum cumulative weighted GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale can apply, however, an ideal student needs to have outstanding academic record implying they need to be in the top 10% of their class. Selection Procedure: Students will be shortlisted based on academics and overall personality. Students need to demonstrate the leadership ability including participation in the community service, extracurricular. Students need to have personal success skills including emotional maturity, motivation and perseverance. Shortlisted students are called for interviews. Where to apply: https://www.thegatesscholarship.org/scholarship Bruce K Lee Founder and CEO of Keebeck Wealth Management, Bruce K Lee offers Bruce K. Lee College Scholarship. The scholarship offers $1,000 each to 10 winners every year. A total of $10,000 is devoted towards higher education. Eligibility: Students who have cleared high school and have been accepted in a college or university or a trade school or a design school, or those who have just enrolled can apply for the same Selection: Candidates will be shortlisted based on their profiles and an essay. They have to write about a personal hardship or catastrophic life event that they experienced and how did they manage to overcome the obstacle? What did they learn and how did you grow from it? Where to apply: https://brucekleescholarship.com/ Corporation Grants Apart from celebrities, many corporations and brands are offering financial support to students including Tata Educational Grants, Microsoft computer science scholarship, Disney Super Fan Scholarship, Reliance UG, PG scholarships, LOreal-UNESCO for Women in Science Fellowship amongst many others. In the recent times, there has been a notable surge in the availability of scholarships and grants for Indian students, reflecting a growing commitment towards education and skill development. Renowned organisations such as the Sitaram Jindal Foundation and the Smile Foundation among others are actively contributing to this trend by offering financial aid to the deserving candidates. These scholarships open doors for higher education alongside empowering disadvantaged groups, fostering meritocracy and encouraging excellence. Furthermore, there is a growing focus on skill enhancement programmes, preparing students for the demands of various industries. Overall, the upward trajectory of educational funding holds the promise for increasing equal access for Indian students and promotes inclusive growth and socio-economic development, said Motwani. Word of Caution Motwani warned that students should engage in extensive research about the scholarship from multiple reliable sources. Look for feedback and experiences from past recipients to gauge the legitimacy and effectiveness of the programme. Rely on the official websites and well-known organisations when seeking a grant. Established institutions are more likely to offer trustworthy opportunities, reducing the risk of falling victim to scholarship frauds. TEACHERS DAY 2023: Teachers Day in India is celebrated on September 5th each year to honour the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was a renowned philosopher, teacher, and Indias second President. This day is dedicated to recognising the invaluable contributions of teachers and educators in shaping the lives and future of students. It is a day that resonates with gratitude, respect, and admiration. ALSO READ: 25 Wishes, Messages, Images, Quotes and WhatsApp Greetings to Share on Teachers Day 2023 This day is a source of inspiration for both educators and students, encouraging them to strive for excellence in education. Lets take a journey through the history, significance, and key facts that make Teachers Day an occasion worth cherishing. Teachers Day 2023: History According to the Festivals of India website, some of his students had approached Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan to celebrate his birthday. He humbly suggested that instead of celebrating his personal day, the day should be observed as a tribute to all teachers. His belief was that teachers should be the best minds in the country. ALSO READ: Teachers Day 2023: 5 Easy, Convenient Gift Ideas to Appreciate Your Favourite Educators Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan focused his academic pursuits on comparative religion and philosophy. He imparted his wisdom in the field of philosophy at several prestigious institutions, including Madras Presidency College, the University of Mysore, the University of Calcutta, the University of Chicago, and the University of Oxford. He went on to serve as the President of India from 1962 to 1967. He was also the first Vice President of India from 1952 to 1962 and Indias second ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1949 to 1952. Teachers Day 2023: Significance Teachers hold a unique and indispensable role in society. They are the architects of the future, shaping young minds and instilling values that last a lifetime. Teachers Day reminds us of the profound impact a teacher can have on an individual and, by extension, the world. ALSO READ: Teachers Day 2023: 10 Books by Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan to Inspire and Enlighten You The celebration of Teachers Day in India typically includes various activities and events in schools and educational institutions. Students express their gratitude to their teachers through heartfelt cards, flowers, and sometimes even small gifts. Cultural programs, speeches, and award ceremonies are also organized to honour teachers for their dedication and commitment to education. Key Facts About Teachers Day 1. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born into a Telugu middle-class family in Tiruttani town. He excelled academically, securing multiple scholarships, and attended schools in Tirupati and Vellore. 2. He received a total of 27 Nobel Prize nominations, including multiple for the Nobel Peace Prize and Nobel Prize for Literature. 3. In 1954, Dr. Radhakrishnan became the first recipient of Bharat Ratna, Indias highest civilian award, alongside Indian statesman C. Rajagopalachari and physicist C.V. Raman. WATCH: 10 Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Quotes to Live By 4. He was knighted in 1931 and offered the title Sir, but he preferred to retain his academic title of Doctor. 5. Among his notable works is the book An Idealist View of Life, which contains the renowned Hibbert Lecture he delivered at Manchester College in 1929. 6. Global celebration of teachers, World Teachers Day is celebrated on October 5. Different countries celebrate their own version of this day on different dates. As many as 75 teachers from various parts of the country will be awarded the National Teachers Award 2023 tomorrow, September 5th. Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the winners of the award today, Sept 4. He appreciated the efforts of teachers in nurturing the young minds of the country. He also highlighted the importance of good teachers and the role they can play in shaping the destiny of the country. PM Modi also urged the teachers to inspire students to learn about their regions history and culture. He requested them to celebrate the culture and diversity of different parts of the country in their schools. Teachers play a key role in building our future and inspiring dreams. On #TeachersDay, we salute them for their unwavering dedication and great impact. Tributes to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan on his birth anniversary.Here are highlights from the interaction with teachers yesterday pic.twitter.com/F1Zmk4SSnf Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 5, 2023 Tomorrow, on Teachers Day, President Droupadi Murmu will present the National Teachers Award 2023 to 75 teachers. Out of the total teachers who will receive the award, 50 are from schools, 13 are from higher education, and 12 are from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. The event will take place at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, to be hosted by the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education. Each recipient will receive a certificate of merit, a cash prize of Rs 50,000, and a silver medal. ALSO READ: 25 Wishes, Messages, Images, Quotes and WhatsApp Greetings to Share on Teachers Day 2023 Teachers Day is an occasion when the nation honours the profession of teaching and recognises the services and efforts of teachers towards building the future of the students. A teacher is not merely someone who gives the knowledge of subjects for clearing examinations but a teacher is also a mentor and a guide who shows the right path to his student, President Murmu said. The National Teacher Award provides public recognition to meritorious teachers serving in primary and secondary schools. The objective of conferring National Awards to Teachers is to celebrate and recognize the unique contribution of the countrys finest teachers, who through their commitment and hard work have not only improved the quality of school education but have also The lives of the students have also been enriched. On the auspicious occasion of Teachers Day, I extend my heartiest greetings to all the teachers of the country. We salute our teachers who work persistently to shape the next generation to become more responsible citizens and most importantly good human beings, said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Today, India celebrates Teachers Day or Shishak Divas with immense gratitude and reverence, honouring the invaluable contributions of educators in shaping the nations future. Observed on September 5 annually, this day coincides with the birthday of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a distinguished philosopher and Indias second President, who was also a renowned teacher. ALSO READ: Happy Teachers Day 2023: Shikshak Divas Wishes, Messages, Quotes and Images for Your Guru & Mom On this occasion, students from all corners of the country come together to express their appreciation for the hard work, dedication, and wisdom imparted by their teachers. Schools and colleges organize special programs, where students take on the roles of teachers to appreciate the challenges they face. Amidst the festivities, Teachers Day serves as a reminder of the crucial role educators play in nurturing the nations intellectual and moral growth. It encourages a sense of gratitude and respect towards these unsung heroes who tirelessly work towards a brighter future for their students and the country as a whole. It is a day to celebrate their dedication, sacrifice, and unwavering commitment to shaping the leaders and innovators of tomorrow. HISTORY OF TEACHERS DAY Teachers Day or Shishak Divas in India is celebrated on September 5th every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second President of India. Dr. Radhakrishnan was a scholar, philosopher, and teacher who believed that education was the key to national development. He was also a strong advocate for teachers rights and played a key role in improving the status of teachers in India. ALSO READ: 25 Wishes, Messages, Images, Quotes and WhatsApp Greetings to Share on Teachers Day 2023 The idea of celebrating Teachers Day on Dr. Radhakrishnans birthday was first proposed by his students and admirers. In 1962, the Government of India accepted the proposal and declared September 5 as Teachers Day. TEACHERS DAY 2023 DATE This year Teachers Day will be celebrated on Tuesday, September 5. TEACHERS DAY 2023 THEME The theme for this years celebration is is Teachers at the heart of education recovery. This theme recognizes the important role that teachers play in helping students learn and grow, especially during challenging times. IMPORTANCE OF TEACHERS IN SOCIETY Teachers play an essential role in society. They are responsible for shaping the minds of our children and preparing them for the future. Teachers teach students not only academic subjects, but also important life skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication. They also help students develop their character and moral compass. ALSO READ: Teachers Day 2023: 5 Easy, Convenient Gift Ideas to Appreciate Your Favourite Educators TEACHERS DAY WORLDWIDE CELEBRATIONS Teachers Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. In some countries, it is celebrated on the same day as Teachers Day in India, while others have their own unique dates. For example, in the United States, Teachers Day is celebrated on the first Tuesday in May. SIGNIFICANCE OF DR. SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a highly respected scholar, philosopher, and teacher. He was also the second President of India. Dr. Radhakrishnan believed that education was the key to national development and that teachers played a vital role in shaping the minds of our children. He was a strong advocate for teachers rights and played a key role in improving the status of teachers in India. ALSO READ: Teachers Day 2023: 10 Books by Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan to Inspire and Enlighten You TEACHERS DAY TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS There are many different traditions and customs associated with Teachers Day. In India, it is common for students to give their teachers flowers, gifts, and appreciation letters. Students may also perform cultural programs to show their gratitude to their teachers. HAPPY TEACHERS DAY 2023 MESSAGES Thank you for being my teacher and my friend. I am so grateful for everything you have taught me. You are an inspiration to me and to so many others. Thank you for your dedication to teaching. Happy Teachers Day! I wish you a day filled with joy and appreciation. You are the best teacher anyone could ask for. Thank you for everything you do. I am so lucky to have you as my teacher. You have taught me so much, and I am a better person because of you. Thank you for always being patient with me and helping me to learn. You are more than just a teacher to me. You are a mentor, a friend, and a role model. I am so grateful for the opportunities you have given me. You have helped me to grow and learn in ways I never thought possible. Thank you for making school a fun and enjoyable place to be. I will never forget the things you have taught me. You have made a difference in my life, and I am so grateful. WATCH: 10 Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Quotes to Live By TEACHERS DAY QUOTES A teacher affects eternity; they can never tell where their influence stops. Henry Adams The best teachers are those who show you where to look but dont tell you what to see. Alexandra K. Trenfor The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. Mark Van Doren Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. William Butler Yeats Teaching is the greatest act of optimism. Colleen Wilcox The influence of a good teacher can never be erased. Unknown A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind, and touches a heart. Unknown One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world. Malala Yousafzai The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. William Arthur Ward The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places youll go. Dr. Seuss TEACHERS DAY 2023 SHORT SPEECH Good Morning everyone. I am here today to talk about the importance of teachers. Teachers play an essential role in our society. They are responsible for shaping the minds of our children and preparing them for the future. Teachers teach students not only academic subjects, but also important life skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication. They also help students develop their character and moral compass. I am so grateful to all the teachers in my life. They have helped me to learn and grow, and they have made me the person I am today. I would not be where I am without them. So on this Teachers Day, I would like to thank all the teachers in the world. You are the unsung heroes of our society. You make a difference in the lives of so many people. Thank you for everything you do. Happy Teachers Day! TEACHERS DAY 2023 LONG SPEECH Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed educators, and dear students, Today, we gather here on the occasion of Teachers Day to celebrate the invaluable contributions of our teachers to our lives, our society, and our future. It is a day to express our gratitude and appreciation for those individuals who have dedicated their lives to nurturing minds, igniting the flames of curiosity, and shaping the destiny of countless students. Teachers Day in India is observed on September 5th, marking the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a philosopher, scholar, and the second President of our nation. His life and teachings serve as an inspiration for all of us as we reflect on the significance of this day. The Role of Teachers in Society Teachers are the architects of our society. They play a pivotal role in molding young minds, instilling values, and imparting knowledge. They dont just teach from books; they teach life lessons. They dont just educate; they inspire. Teachers are the torchbearers of wisdom, guiding us through the labyrinth of knowledge. In a world where information is abundant, teachers help us distinguish between knowledge and wisdom. They encourage us to think critically, to question, to explore, and to innovate. They create an environment where learning is not a mundane task but an exciting adventure. The Significance of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan On this day, we also pay tribute to Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a great philosopher who believed in the transformative power of education. He exemplified the qualities of a dedicated teacher and visionary leader. Instead of celebrating his birthday, he suggested that we honor our teachers. His humility and wisdom continue to inspire us to this day. The Impact of a Teacher Think back to your school days. Each of us can recall at least one teacher who left an indelible mark on our lives. Perhaps it was the teacher who believed in us when no one else did, the one who made a subject come alive, or the one who taught us values that still guide us today. Teachers have the power to shape our beliefs, our attitudes, and our aspirations. The Challenges of Teaching However, the journey of a teacher is not without challenges. They face long hours, modest pay, and the responsibility of nurturing diverse minds. They must adapt to evolving technology, changing curricula, and societal pressures. Yet, they persevere because they understand the profound impact they have on their students lives. Celebrating Traditions Traditionally, Teachers Day is marked by students expressing their gratitude through cards, flowers, and gifts. It is a day when students and teachers come together in a spirit of camaraderie. Schools and educational institutions often organize special programs and events, showcasing the talents of both teachers and students. A Message to Our Teachers On behalf of all students past and present, I want to express our heartfelt gratitude to our teachers. Your dedication, passion, and love for teaching have shaped us into the individuals we are today. Youve given us the wings to soar high, and for that, we are eternally grateful. Conclusion In conclusion, Teachers Day is not just a day on the calendar; it is a celebration of the guiding lights of our lives. It is a day to reflect on the profound impact teachers have on society and to honor the legacy of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Let us all strive to be lifelong learners and appreciate the role of teachers in our lives. The Directorate of Government Examinations (DGE) Tamil Nadu will announce the Tamil Nadu HSE +2 or class 12 supplementary revaluation results 2023 today, September 4. Those who took the exam will be able to access their results by visiting the official websites dge.tn.gov.in, and tnresults.nic.in. The TN HSE Plus 2 supplementary exam was conducted from June 19 to 26 this year which saw more than 47,000 students taking the exam. Candidates could get a scanned copy of their answer sheet for Rs 275. Candidates had to pay Rs 305 for biology papers while paying Rs 205 for other courses. ALSO READ: 25 Wishes, Messages, Images, Quotes and WhatsApp Greetings to Share on Teachers Day 2023 The TN HSE +2 supplementary examination results 2023 were declared on July 24. Following this, students were allowed to apply for revaluation of the results. To pass the TN board exam, a minimum score of 35 per cent out of 100 in every subject is required, and the same rules apply to students who registered for the supplementary. TN HSE +2 Supplementary Exam Revaluation Results 2023: How to Check Step 1 Go to dge.tn.gov.in. Step 2 On the homepage, click on the TN+ 2 supply revaluation results option. Step 3 Enter your login details such as your registration number and date of birth. Step 4 Click on the submit button. Step 5 The TN HSE +2 supply revaluation or retotal results will be displayed on the screen. Step 6 Save and download the results for further use. Candidates must cross-check the details on the supplementary revaluation results including the candidates name, parents name, subjects appeared for, marks, qualifying status, and remarks. In case of any discrepancy, candidates must report to the school authorities or DGE Tamil Nadu at the earliest. This year, the overall pass percentage for the TN HSE +2 regular board exam was 94.03 per cent. A total of 3,49,697 male students and 4,05,753 female students cleared the exam TN class 12 exam this time. While 81.89 per cent of students passed the arts stream, 91.63 per cent of students passed the commerce stream, and 96.32 per cent of students passed the science stream exams. A Prime Minister confident of a big win in 2024, given the mood of positivity and optimism in the country and people having much to celebrate about given the success around G20, Chandrayaan and the economy this seemed to reflect in Narendra Modis words in a long interview to the PTI. ALSO READ | Homework | Prospering India: PM Modis Pitch to Voters Ahead of 2024 Citing Two Reports Seven months before the PM seeks a third term from the people, the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) sense of invincibility reflects from the electorates desire for a strong and stable government. The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) alliance met in Mumbai and resolved to fight the elections together as far as possible and on the principle of give-and-take, but no decision on the convener, leader, logo or common minimum programme could be unveiled even after three meetings of the alliance. Such terminology helps the BJP which feels people will not place their bets on such an alliance which neither has its house in order nor can offer the stability like the Modi-led government has over the past nine years. Ahead of the mega G20 summit, PM Modi has something to say about it. He also takes a jibe at the opposition!@AmanKayamHai_ explains the key highlights of the PTI interview with PM Modi #PMModi #G20 #G20Summit2023 | @ToyaSingh pic.twitter.com/lGDCxuXdfZ News18 (@CNNnews18) September 3, 2023 PM Modi seemed to stress on the same when he, in his interview, said it was the political stability of nine years that led to reforms, growth and development, and that the international community was also convinced that Indias progress was not an accident. Incidentally, when Narendra Modi took the national plunge in 2014, the only record he had to show was his performance as Gujarats Chief Minister. People did not know him nationally, but gave him a big mandate. In 2019, the mandate was even bigger, given Modis performance on the key issues of national security and welfare of the poor through schemes such as free LPG connections and houses. WHY MODI IS EVEN STRONGER IN 2024 Come 2024, Modi has much more going for him. There are successes which he can speak about at the global level. India is now the fastest growing economy in the world and the latest GDP numbers are testimony to it. There have been other positive developments such as the historic success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission by landing on the moon, the launch of the Aditya L1 Mission towards the sun, and the successful conduct of Indias G20 Presidency whose highlight will be the G20 Leaders Summit in Delhi this week. Also, a recent NITI Aayog report said 13.5 crore Indians moved out of the poverty net in the past five years. More so, an SBI report showed three-fold jump in weighted mean income of tax-payers since 2014. -3 - pic.twitter.com/gD6UZQQzKT Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 28, 2023 For a long time, India was perceived as a nation of over 1 billion hungry stomachs. But now, India is being seen as a nation of over 1 billion aspirational minds, more than 2 billion skilled hands, and hundreds of millions of young people, PM Modi said in his most significant comment in the PTI interview. The five-day special session of Parliament later this month could be the occasion to celebrate all the above-mentioned successes that mark the beginning of the Amrit Kaal and the transition to the new building of the Parliament. ALSO READ | Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai: 8 in 10 Indians Have Favourable View of PM, Finds Pew Survey Indias global stature has grown with PMs key visits to the US and France, while the landing of Chandrayaan-3 mission on the moon during PMs visit to South Africa dominated the BRICS summit. When people were in a bit of a bother due to the LPG prices, Modi intervened and a Rs-200 cut was announced. So why would people then not vote for Modi for a third term? The answer seems hard to come by with Modi in pole position to be the PM again. Thousands of Pakistanis have taken to the streets of Gilgit-Baltistan to protest the arrest of Shia cleric Agha Baqir al-Hussaini under the countrys blasphemy laws. The protesters are allegedly threatening the Pakistani administration that they want a merger with India if their leader is not released. According to sources, people in Gilgit-Baltistan have been ruing for being left behind in development, and crying over the lack of facilities. We have to risk our lives for small things, is the refrain among the protesters. The government sources in India have slammed the Pakistani administration for promoting terror and spending a huge amount of money on making bombs and training terror cadres. They say it is time for the Pakistani authorities to accept the voices and vacate Kashmir, which has been illegally occupied by them. Jihad cannot bring progress in peoples lives. Compare this with Jammu and Kashmir where people are happy with the development, the sources added. Agha Baqir al-Hussaini was booked for his remarks at an ulema council meeting in Skardu that was held to discuss the blasphemy laws to be stricter allegedly to target the Shia community. Pakistan is a Sunni-dominated country, and Shias are present in a significant number in the country. The Gilgit-Baltistan region is divided into three Baltistan, Diamer and Gilgit. The main administrative centres are Gilgit and Skardu. Mobile internet services have been suspended across the region by the authorities, as reported by Pakistani daily Dawn. An official said an FIR had been registered against the Sunni cleric at the City Police Station Gilgit for his comments, while another FIR against a prominent Shia cleric had already been registered in Skardu, the PTI said attributing it to the newspaper. The authorities in the area have suspended two police personnel and a schoolteacher on allegations of sharing sectarian posts on social media. Over 12 persons have been detained for posting controversial posts. (With inputs from PTI) Former Union Minister and Pasighat MLA, Ninong Ering after attending todays assembly session, vehemently condemned Chinas recent alteration of their standard map for 2023, which includes Arunachal Pradesh as part of Chinese territory. Speaking exclusively to News18, Ering expressed deep resentment among the people of Arunachal Pradesh over this unfortunate incident. He pointed out that China had previously attempted to assert its claim over Arunachal Pradesh by renaming multiple locations in recent years. The patriotic spirit of Arunachalees resides deep within their hearts, and changing the name of any part of Arunachal Pradesh from the outside, like Chinas attempt, will not alter the essence of the place, said Ering. The former minister believes that this latest map release is part of a larger plan by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and is especially significant due to Arunachal Pradeshs historical importance as an integral part of India, with the painful memories of the 1962 Sino-Indian war still fresh in the minds of many. No one can seize an inch of Indias land, and the central government must ensure that not a single inch of our soil is compromised, Ering said. As an elected representative from Arunachal Pradesh, he appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address this matter during the upcoming G20 summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, 2023. He expressed his intention to discuss Chinas unilateral changes to its map with Chinese President Xi Jinping during this crucial international gathering. Furthermore, Ering emphasized the importance of raising global awareness and condemnation of Chinas aggression in altering the map. He insisted that silence on this matter should not be tolerated any longer, urging the world to take a stand against such actions. This incident has sparked a significant call to action, with the former Union Minister and MLA from Pasighat West assembly constituency of Arunachal Pradesh, Ninong Ering, leading the charge to protect Indias territorial integrity and sovereignty. In a major cybersecurity breach, over 320,000 patient records from Ayush Jharkhands official website, ayush.jharkhand.gov.in, have been compromised and leaked on dark web hacking forums. The breach, attributed to a hacker known as Tanaka, has exposed highly sensitive personal information, including medical diagnoses, doctor credentials, and website login details. As per the team of researchers from CloudSEK, the breach was discovered when Tanaka shared a post titled bitsphere.in on an English-speaking hacking forum. Ayush.jharkhand.gov.in is the official website of the Ministry of AYUSH for Jharkhand, which provides information on Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy treatments. The compromised database, totalling 7.3 MB in size, contains more than 320,000 patient records, each including personally identifiable information (PII) and medical diagnoses. Additionally, the database includes login information for the website, including usernames, passwords, and phone numbers. Furthermore, the exposed data also comprises PII details of 472 doctors, along with information about their postings. An investigation by the researchers confirmed that the data had been extracted from the servers of ayush.jharkhand.gov.in, which are maintained by bitsphere.in. This attribution was made by correlating data shared by the threat actor with publicly available information on the website, including chatbot data and blog posts. Researchers believe that the hacker first attacked the bitsphere.in and then the government website data was accessed. CloudSEKs contextual AI digital risk platform XVigil discovered the threat actor Tanaka sharing the database on August 14, after which the team informed the government. A thorough analysis of the compromised database revealed the extent of the breach: Over 320,000 patient records, including PII and medical diagnoses. Approximately 500 login credentials with multiple plaintext passwords. Contact information for 737 individuals who used the websites contact form. PII information for 472 doctors. Details on 91 doctors, including their postings. However, one of the researchers told News18 that they informed the authorities regarding this breach but havent received any response. They believe though that the government was given time since the finding to take appropriate measures to secure the website. Lawyers across Uttar Pradesh on a three-day strike beginning Monday abstained from all judicial work and staged protests over the alleged police lathi-charge on advocates in Hapur district last week. Taking the strike into consideration, a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Pratinkar Dewakar and Justice M C Tripathi in the Allahabad High Court asked the state authorities not to take any coercive action against any advocates named in the FIR. The bench told the lawyers that courts will function normally from Tuesday and requested the lawyers to resume work. The decision to go on strike was taken on Sunday at a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council, which has demanded the transfer of the Hapur District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police, lodging of FIR against policemen, withdrawal of fake cases against lawyers and compensation to lawyers injured in the Hapur lathi-charge on August 29. The council had also demanded the inclusion of a retired Supreme Court or high court judge in the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the state government to probe the Hapur incident. Additional Advocate General told the bench that in pursuance of the demand of lawyers, retired District Judge Hari Nath Pandey has been made chairman of the SIT. Regarding the transfer of officials, one of the demands of the striking lawyers, the court said it cannot pass an order for transfer at this stage as the SIT report is awaited. Police had allegedly lathi-charged lawyers on August 29 when they were protesting against the registration of a case against a woman advocate and her father around a week ago. The case was registered following a confrontation between the woman lawyer and police when she was going to Ghaziabad in her car. On August 30, police had registered an FIR against 17 lawyers and over 250 unidentified people at City police station in Hapur over a protest by some advocates at the tehsil crossing last week. During Mondays strike, lawyers burnt an effigy of the chief secretary in front of the Allahabad High Court, while district court advocates staged a peaceful protest and submitted a memorandum to the district administration, High Court advocate Rajiv Singh who participated in the strike said. On the call of the Bar Council we are on strike, General Secretary, Lucknow Bar Association, Kuldeep Narain Mishra told PTI. According to reports reaching here from Varanasi, Muzaffarnagar, Ballia, Jalaun, Bahraich, and Kannauj, lawyers abstained from all judicial work and staged protests, raising slogans against the government. In Varanasi, advocates took out a procession from the court premises to the Circuit House demanding action against the responsible officials of the police and administration for the lathi charge and submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate. In Bahraich, advocates staged a protest on the court premises raising slogans against the government. A group of advocates led by Ram Chhabile Shukla, former president of Bar Association, Bahraich, submitted a memorandum listing the demands of the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council addressed to the chief minister through the city magistrate. In Muzaffarnagar, the president of district bar association Anil Jindal said that the lawyers staged a protest and submitted a memorandum. In Ballia, lawyers of criminal, civil Bar and collectorate Bar demonstrated at the district magistrates office. They also demanded that the Advocate Protection Act should be implemented alleging that the officers of Yogi Adityanath-led state government had become unruly and lawyers were being harassed across the state. In Sonbhadra, advocates staged a sit-in on the district court premises. Sonbhadra Bar Association president Narendra Kumar Pathak demanded the implementation of the Advocates Protection Act so that their safety is guaranteed. In Jalaun, Girish Kumar Srivastava, president of the district advocates association, said all the advocates of the district would not do any judicial work till September 6 to protest against the Hapur incident. He said they will burn the effigy of the states chief secretary and DGP on September 5 and stage a dharna on September 6. India was holding simultaneous elections until 1967 but it changed later as assemblies and Lok Sabha started dissolving before the tenures. In the last 56 years, the issue was raised several times and now, it is in the limelight once again. Official documents seen by News18 show that as early as 1982, the Election Commission of India (ECI) pitched for simultaneous polls and two years later, Tamil Nadu dissolved the House early for holding the Lok Sabha and assembly election together in 1984. In August this year, the Narendra Modi government announced an eight-member committee that will examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. It will be headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind. WHAT DID THE ECI SAY IN 1982 In September 1982, the ECI recommended holding simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies of states. The poll body said that during elections, whether for the Lok Sabha or the assemblies, the entire administrative set-up throughout the country slows down considerably. It also said that all other normal functions and activities of the government, including developmental work, are pushed to the background. These create a lot of hardships and sufferings to the common man. The situation continues for about two months during the conduct of every general election, they said. The then Chief Election Commissioner of India, Ram Krishna Trivedi, who served as the seventh CEC between June 1982 and December 1985, had suggested that general elections to the Lok Sabha and certain legislative assemblies which were due to be held in January 1985 and June/July 1985 respectively should be held simultaneously for obvious administrative and financial reasons. In the First Annual Report of the ECI, signed by Trivedi, the poll body said if elections are held together, it will allow considerable saving on the colossal avoidable administrative and other expenditure incurred on account of holding of separate elections. The report, issued in April 1984, also said the commission is strongly of the view that a stage has come for evolving a system by convention, if it is not possible or feasible to bring about a legislation, under which the general elections to the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies of the states are held simultaneously. After all, such an arrangement worked immensely satisfactorily, generally speaking, prior to 1967, they said. Among the other reasons pitched by the ECI for holding simultaneous polls was that for elections, about 25 lakh officials and a few lakh police personnel are deployed every time for about two to three months and this affects their normal duties. Also, it will be economical to revise electoral rolls for Lok Sabha and assemblies simultaneously instead of undertaking them on a countrywide basis twice over in two different operations. Further, when held separately, there is a duplication of the expenditure by the candidates and political parties that indirectly affects money supply in the economy. WHEN TAMIL NADU DISSOLVED ASSEMBLY EARLY Tamil Nadu was the only state that responded to Trivedis suggestions and dissolved the assembly to have simultaneous elections. In November 1984, the then AIADMK government dissolved the assembly in Tamil Nadu and recommended then Governor SL Khurana to hold the elections simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls. This request was accepted by the commission. Accordingly, the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu was dissolved on November 15, 1984, a month ahead of Lok Sabha polls in December. As per the ECI documents seen by News18, at least Rs 100 crore could have been saved back than if other states where assembly polls were due in the later part of 1985 had also opted to dissolve their assemblies. Central agencies have increased surveillance in cyberspace on the heels of the Khalistani graffiti incident in Delhi after it was observed that pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has floated several websites ahead of the G20 Summit to dent Indias global image. The Centre has also initiated action under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000, to ban websites fuelling anti-India propaganda. Sources said SFJ, which was banned last year, has increased the push for anti-India sentiment across the world and is enticing Sikh youth and farmers to join militancy. Pro-Khalistan entities are also targeting people not only in Punjab but also in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Indians living abroad to fuel their agenda apart from launching a campaign to register supporters through various websites. Recently, an analysis by a central agency after the graffiti incident found that various groups linked to Khalistan are threatening to target the G20 Summit. A top official aware of the developments said various websites having addresses similar to the official G20 website have been floated by Khalistani groups. These websites feature content against India and threaten to fuel anti-India agenda beginning September 8 when the G20 Summit kicks off. The official added that various videos have been uploaded by SFJ against India. To counter this, the agencies responsible for safeguarding cyber assets have started contacting the companies concerned where these websites, content or videos have been uploaded with the G20 logo. Last month, controversial pro-Khalistan slogans were seen at Shivaji Park, Madipur, Paschim Vihar, Udyog Nagar, Maharaja Surajmal Stadium, Government Sarvodya Bal Vidyalaya Nangloi, Punjai Bagh and Nangloi metro stations. Videos of the slogans were also sent to top Khalistani terrorists based in US and Canada and then a compiled video was released, threatening the security grid of the country ahead of G20. After the incident, the top brass of Delhi Police decided that while senior officers will be available in the district, mid-level officials and staff will be given dedicated places to look after. This includes markets, metro stations and other key places. Some areas have been divided into zones where Delhi Police officials have been given charge to keep a track on patrolling. Indian Space Research Organisations (ISRO) scientist, Valarmathi, who was the voice behind the countdowns for rocket launches in Sriharikota, passed away on Monday due to cardiac arrest. Her last countdown was that of Chandrayaan-3, Indias third lunar mission. Valarmathi was a part of the Range Operations Programme Office at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre where she used to announce the countdown on all launches. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar conveyed his condolences on Valarmathis passing. He posted on X, Saddened to hear about the passing of N Valarmathi ji, the voice behind many @isro launch countdowns, including Chandrayaan 3. My condolences to her family and friends. Om Shanti. Saddened to hear about the passing of N Valarmathi ji, the voice behind many @isro launch countdowns, including Chandrayaan 3.My condolences to her family and friends. Om Shanti pic.twitter.com/0nMu6mbrRe Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@Rajeev_GoI) September 4, 2023 Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the south pole of the moon on August 23 making India the first country to do so. The Lander Module comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), made touch down near the south polar region of the Moon at around 6:04 pm on August 23. The mission life of the lander and rover was one lunar day (about 14 earth days) to study the surroundings there. However, ISRO officials do not rule out the possibility of them coming to life for another lunar day. Chandrayaan-3 launched on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre comprises an indigenous lander module, a propulsion module, and a rover. Its objectives include the development and demonstration of new technologies required for interplanetary missions. ALSO READ | Chandrayaan-3 Detects Natural Seismic Activity on Moon, ISRO Shares Latest Findings ISRO, on Saturday announced that the Pragyan rover aboard Chandrayaan-3 completed its assignments on the surface of the Moon and is now safely parked and set into sleep mode. The space agency further said that the solar panel is oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023. The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode. APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off. Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander. Currently, the battery is fully charged. The solar panel is oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023. The receiver is kept on, ISRO wrote on X (formerly Twitter). ALSO READ | Chandrayaan-3: Indias Lunar Mission Set to Conclude in Next 7 Days | Heres Why Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments! Else, it will forever stay there as Indias lunar ambassador, the space agency said. The mission is set to conclude in the coming few days. Meanwhile, ISROs first solar mission, Aditya L1 was successfully launched from Sriharikotas Satish Dhawan Space Centre on September 2. (With PTI inputs) In a shocking incident, a 23-year-old air hostess was found dead with her throat slit in an apartment in the Marol locality, just two kilometers from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Maharashtras Mumbai. Police have arrested the residential societys housekeeping staffer, identified as 40-year-old Vikram Athwal, on the charge of murder. The deceased, identified as Rupal Ogrey, hailed from Chhattisgarh and came to Mumbai in April for training with Air India. Her dead body was found late on Sunday night in a flat at NG Complex on Krishanlal Marwah Marg in Marol. #Mumbai Shocker: 23-yr-old air hostess found dead with slit throat in Marol Flat; accused detained @kotakyesha shares more details | @toyasingh pic.twitter.com/VarttNAVnC News18 (@CNNnews18) September 4, 2023 During the probe, the police found the woman resided in the flat along with her sister and the latters boyfriend, but the duo left for their native place eight days back. The police have now informed them about the incident, the official said. Officials said they would be able to understand what transpired a few hours before the murder on the basis of the medical reports. Police is awaiting the permission of the victims family to conduct the post-mortem. After the woman did not pick up calls from her family, they contacted their local friends in Mumbai and asked them to check on her. When the familys friends went there, they found the flat was locked from inside and no one responded to the doorbell. Later, they contacted the police and with their help opened the flat using a duplicate key. Inside, the woman was found lying with her throat slit. She was immediately rushed to Rajawadi Hospital where she was declared dead before admission. The accused was doing housekeeping work for the last one year in the residential society where the woman lived, an official from Powai police station was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Meanwhile, the Powai police have registered a murder case under Indian Penal Code section 302 (murder) against the accused. Further investigation into the case is underway. A massive traffic jam hit Mumbais Western Express Highway for the second time in a three weeks-span on Monday. The busy highway has been swamped with traffic due to some repair works issue near the Aarey Bridge path that leads to Bandra. According to social media users, the traffic has extended for about six kilometres beyond Borivali. Social media users posted on X, expressing their concerns and experiences from where they were stuck during this traffic. The traffic which was said to have been diverted to one lane on the other side of the road also ended up in a congested condition. Taking to X, users said that Mumbaikars who travel on the Western Express Highway will have to be taking work-from-home today. Another user took to X and said that, Something which could be done earlier but efficient team decided to do it on Monday peak hours Kindly mark half day leave in your respective organisation @mumbaitraffic .this is the reason for traffic jam on Western Express Highway . Something which could be done earlier but efficient team decided to do it on Monday peak hours Kindly mark half day leave in your respective organisation pic.twitter.com/iUcT4pXwkh vikas rajpal (@rajpalvikas007) September 4, 2023 Another user said that this heavy a traffic jam has become a harassment for all Mumbaikars everyday. The route from Kandivali to Goregaon on the Western Express Highway has been almost stagnant due to the heavy traffic. Heavy traffic jam from Kandivali to goregaon on Western Express Highway. Its an harrasment for all the mumbaikar everyday @mumbaitraffic @MTPHereToHelp @mieknathshinde @Dev_Fadnavis @RoadsOfMumbai Ankit Agrawal (@agrawalankit84) September 4, 2023 #Mumbai terrible traffic jam from Kandivali to Goregaon on Western express highway.Left Kandivali at 8am, not even reached oberoi mall at 8.54amThose having flights plan @mumbaitraffic #Mumbaitraffic D Prasanth Nair (@DPrasanthNair) September 4, 2023 Due to the way-long traffic block, commuters have been stuck in the same place for a long period of time and their frustration does not seem to end as they call out Mumbai traffic police and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for not informing about the blockade. There is repair work on Western Express Highway on top of the aarey colony bridge. The traffic jam now extends all the way beyond borivali about 6km long. Avoid Western Express Highway. As usual neither traffic police nor bmc thought it fit to announce the closure.@mybmc Sachin Baxi (@baxi_sachin) September 4, 2023 Stuck in extreme traffic jam near Poinsur Metro Station, Western Express Highway, I am stuck at a same place from 25 mins @MTPHereToHelp @MumbaiPolice @mybmc Ojas Phadke (@_ojas_01) September 4, 2023 Previously, on August 14, the Western Express Highway was hit by heavy traffic due to the work of demolishing the gantry girders on the Andheri flyover. Although the Mumbai Traffic Police issued an advisory regarding the same a few days ago, the work continued and took longer than expected leading to traffic congestion on Western Express Highway. Hello, readers! In todays evening digest, News18 brings to you the latest updates on the G20 Summit, Sanatan Dharma row and other stories. Travelling to Delhi Airport, Rly Station During G20 Summit? Check Routes to Take/Avoid, Metro Lines & More | FAQ Delhi is all set to open its doors to the world this weekend with the G20 Summit which will be an opportunity for the country to showcase its values, cultural heritage, development and hospitality in line with the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. READ MORE Sanatan Dharma Row: Why Congress Has to Keep the Faith in DMK despite its Soft Hindutva Just three months ago, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, while attacking the Bajrang Dal, had said that he didnt consider them to be the champions of Hindutva and that he, as a devout Hindu, believed in the Sanatan Dharma. Today, the Congress is caught in a crossfire, as its ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has questioned the Sanatan Dharma. READ MORE Always Talks about Fate: Biden to Drop Out of the US Presidential Race? Biographer Responds Franklin Foer, who wrote a biography of US President Joe Biden, said that while it may come as a surprise, it will not be a total shocker if the US President drops out of the 2024 race by the end of 2023. READ MORE Apple Could Finally Make iPad Pro The Ideal MacBook Replacement Apple clearly sees the iPad Pro lineup as the closest ally for its MacBook series. The variant has a large screen, PC-like hardware and all the raw ingredients to be considered as an alternative to the Macs but if there is one thing that has denied the company its wishes, it has to be the layout of the keyboard which Apple calls the Magic Keyboard. READ MORE Jawan: Shah Rukh Khan Looks Ready For Action In A Police Uniform, Drops The Latest Poster; Check It Out Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan is one of the most awaited movies of the year and there is no doubt about it. While everyone is eagerly waiting for the movie, the makers opened advance bookings across the country on Friday, September 1, after the massy trailer was dropped and showcased at the Burj Khalifa. As the film is just three days away from its grand release, Shah Rukh Khan teased a new poster, urging fans to book their tickets now. READ MORE WATCH: Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan Drop Easy Catches Against Nepal Team India failed to put their A-game on the field during the powerplay in the Asia Cup 2023 contest against Nepal on Monday. After a below-par batting performance against Pakistan in their opening match, the Indian team had an off outing as a fielding unit in their second group-stage clash. READ MORE A recent study found over 11 lakh Indians face a high risk of separation from family as they are caught up in the employment green-card backlog EB-2 and EB-3 categories, while nearly 1.34 lakh kids will age out before they obtain a green card. According to recent research by David J. Bier, associate director of immigration studies with the Cato Institute, the employment-based green card backlog from India (EB-2 and EB-3 skilled category) reached over 10.7 lakh in March 2023, which means that considering factors such as death and ageing-out are considered, the wait for a green card is 54 years, else it is 134 years. The long Green Card backlog is due to the heavy inflow of skilled Indians in the United States the majority of them holding an H-1B visa, this restrictive policy poses challenges. Notably, the US sets aside only 1.4 lakh green cards for employment-based applicants every year and there is a 7% per country cap, which makes the waiting period for Indians even longer. What is the condition for Indian kids in the US? Children of Indian kids, who arrive in the US with their parents or guardians, who are on H-1B work visas, continue to reside in the States with H-4 visas. This type of visa expires when these kids turn 21. Once they age out, these children who are referred to as documented dreamers have no option but to obtain an F-1 visa meant for international students, which poses several challenges such as limited work opportunities for the student and higher fees. The only other alternative is to self-deport to India or another country. The fact that Chinese and Indians dominate the backlog is the result of the country caps where green cards are not issued proportionally to the number of pending applicants in each country but rather limited arbitrarily at 7% per nation of birth, researcher Bier was quoted as saying by TOI. In June, Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar announced that he would be co-sponsoring a bill on eliminating visa backlogs. Eliminating the Backlogs Act of 2023, the bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives seeks to effectively utilise the employment-based visas that are allocated each year under existing federal immigration law. As per the National Immigration Forum, the employment-based Green Card backlog reached 1.6 million by the end of Fiscal Year 2022. In a starling update, the Uttar Pradesh police have recovered a suicide later from the residence of a 26-year-old woman, who was allegedly found hanging at an apartment where she lived with her boyfriend. In a handwritten letter, the victim Pinky Gupta, accused her partner of being the reason behind her death. Reportedly, the victim was a receptionist at a gym and was in a relationship with a trainer Sakib Khan for the past four years. Gupta was allegedly pressurising Sakib to marry her, however, the accused kept refusing. Later, Gupta found that Sakib lied to her about his marital status and was already married. Reportedly, this created a strain in their relationship following which the victim allegedly killed herself. In her suicide letter, the victim reportedly said that she was ashamed of herself as she thought of changing her religion and converting to Islam for him. I am ashamed of myself. I was fighting with you and myself for you but you did not value my love. Everybody tried to make me realise my mistake, but I could not see anything in front of you. I even thought of changing my religion. I thought of accepting everything about you. I thought that somehow this guy should become mine, but you still didnt understand. I cant bear all this anymore Goodbye Sakib, Pinky reportedly wrote this in her diary where she has ledgered all the events for the past four years of her relationship. Police recovered and seized the diary from her room in which she had written about every event of the last four years of her life. After reading the diary, police found that she was working as a receptionist in a gymnasium being run by a man named Sakib Ali. DCP (Trans-Hindon) Shubham Patel told PTI that the victims brother Shubham Gupta filed a complaint after which an FIR was lodged under Section 306 of the IPC and Ali was arrested. The deceaseds brother has stated that his sister has been living with Ali for the last four years and alleged that she had been killed by him and his family members. The body has been sent for post-mortem and investigations are on, police added. Harish Salve, former Solicitor General of India and renowned lawyer known to take high-profile legal cases, got married for the third time. The lawyer tied the knot with his girlfriend Trina in an affluent ceremony in London. The wedding was attended by several well-known personalities including Nita Ambani, Lalit Modi, Ujjwala Raut and others. Images and videos of the ceremony have gone viral on social media. In the visuals, Salve and Trina can be seen exchanging marriage vows. Former Solicitor general of India, #HarishSalve got married for the 3rd time. Nita Ambani, Lalit Modi amongst others attended the ceremony.Hopefully he is lucky the third time. pic.twitter.com/RVSPXyTujC Kumar Mihir Mishra (@Mihirlawyer) September 4, 2023 68-year-old Salve was earlier married to Meenakshi (his first wife) and Caroline Brossard later in 2020. Salve and Meenakshi called it quits over three decades of marriage in June. The couple had two daughters out of that marriage. Harish Salve, who is a Supreme Court lawyer has an illustrious legal career with several high-profile and politically significant cases in his portfolio. One of his most popular cases is of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of spying. Salve charged only Rs 1 in legal fees for representing Jadhav and his gesture earned him high praise. His clients include business tycoons like Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata to veteran politicians Mulayam Singh Yadav, Prakash Singh Badal and many others. In 2015, Salve was conferred with the Padma Bhushan award- one of Indias highest honour. The same year, Salve took up Salman Khans infamous hit-and-run case of 2002 who was earlier sentenced to five years in jail. Khan was acquitted of all charges for the 2002 hit-and-run and drunk-and-drive case following the Bombay High Courts decision in December 2015. Salve served as the Solicitor General of India from November 1999 to November 2002, and was appointed as the Queens Counsel for the courts of Wales and England in January. Truth has become a casualty and stating facts can invite punishment in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief was reacting to the Jammu and Kashmir Police warning of legal action against the BBC for a report titled Any story could be your last: Indias crackdown on Kashmir Press on the state of journalism in the Union Territory following the abrogation of Article 370. In a post on X, Mehbooba said, Since 2019, truth has not only become a casualty in Jammu and Kashmir but stating facts now warrants punishment. Mehbooba, a former chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, further said, This BBC report only illuminated an inconvenient truth, which is also a problem for intolerant agencies, including the SIA (State Investigation Agency). The new Veg Non Veg collection, which included a variety of jeans from denim jeans to jean jackets, was introduced by Sonam Kapoor recently. Our highly anticipated new collection launched at 11:00 AM in-stores and on vegnonveg.com, the Instagram posts description read. A variety of denim jeans, jean jackets, and blazers with a modest, specially crafted VegNonVeg monogram are part of the leisures line from VegNonVeg. Anand Ahuja is the mind behind of the business Veg Non Veg. The company identified itself as Indias OG multi-brand sneaker boutique that has outlets in Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai. on its Instagram page. Sonam Kapoor and Veg Non Veg have worked together in the past. The company offers a wide range of goods, including footwear, clothing, and accessories. In March 2022, the stunning fashionista and her husband were spotted attending the opening of the companys Mumbai location. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sonam Kapoor Ahuja (@sonamkapoor) We fell in love with her style right away because of that super-cool cobalt blue pantsuit with a casual touch. The 6,000 rupee Moss monogram denim blazer serves as the outfits highlight. It radiates style with its wide notch-lapel collars, long sleeves, front patch pockets, side slits, and expansive silhouette. It embodies the grunge-inspired design aesthetic that permeates the whole collection. The Relaxed Monogram Denim Pants, which cost Rs. 4,800, were selected by the Neerja actress as the perfect complement to the blazer. The high-rise waistline, loose fit, and straight-leg hem of these jeans offer both comfort and style. This denim-on-denim outfit is made stand out by the muddy-blue acid-washed tone and odd pattern. Its a breeze to say that Sonams ability to adroitly combine grungy elements with high-end clothing items exemplifies her unmatched sense of style and inventiveness. We eagerly wait for the actresss next sartorial endeavour as she continues to redefine elegant in the fashion industry since we know that it will be nothing short of iconic. Renowned director-actor Rishab Shetty recently graced the Panara Nalike Community Convention, a significant event held for the first time in the Rajangana of Sri Krishna Mutt, Udupi. During this gathering, Rishab Shetty expressed a heartfelt and wishful desire for his next life, shedding light on his deep spiritual connection and commitment to serving the divine. Addressing the convention, Rishab Shetty shared a remarkable anecdote, stating, I have seen Panjurlis beautiful face mask kept in an American museum. This is the power of God, daivas (spiritual power), our land of undivided Dakshina Kannada. I have the desire to take birth in the Panara community to serve daivas if I have the opportunity in my next life and to serve Panjurli, Guliga, and Annappaswamy. Daiva will not leave us if we truly believe in them. (Video to be extracted from source copy) Rishab Shetty, known for his recent movie Kantara, attributed the films success not to himself but to a divine blessing from God Panjurli. He emphasized the movies underlying theme of God worship and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to serve God through his cinematic work. Additionally, Rishab Shetty announced his commitment to the Panara communitys welfare by creating the Samamukhi Trust. This initiative aims to facilitate the education of children from the Nalike community, ensuring they have access to knowledge and culture. He also pledged to advocate for the establishment of a community hall of Daivaradhak, further promoting the services of daivas worldwide. In his speech, Rishab Shetty praised the dedication and services of the Panara community, recognizing their valuable contributions. He reiterated that Kantara was dedicated solely to daivas, emphasizing the pure intent behind the movie. The Panara Nalike Community Convention served as a platform to honour Rishab Shetty and social worker Krishnamurthy for their significant contributions. The event highlighted the importance of spirituality, community service, and preserving cultural traditions. Kantara, directed by Rishab Shetty, features him in the lead role and stars talented actors like Sapthami Gowda, Manasi Sudhir, Kishore, and Achyuth Kumar, among others. The films narrative revolves around the struggles of villagers as they fight to protect their land. Rishab Shettys character, Shiva, embarks on a journey into the forest, where he encounters the divine presence of Varaha Dev, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Rishab Shettys presence at the Panara Nalike Community Convention not only showcased his spiritual depth but also underscored his commitment to preserving cultural heritage and fostering education within the Nalike community. His desire to serve daivas in his next life serves as a testament to his unwavering devotion and reverence for divine entities. Kanye West and his wife, Bianca Censori, are banned for life by a Venetian boat rental firm. This comes after their indecent exposure fiasco in Italy last week. The duo aroused outrage when they were seen having an intimate moment on a water taxi in Venice, and pictures of Kanye West exposing his bare buttocks in front of onlookers went viral. The boats owner, Venezia Turismo Motoscafi, informed the Daily Mail Australia that following this incident, the duo will no longer be welcome on any of their vessels. The boat rental company told the publication that their personnel were completely unaware that Kanye West had lowered his trousers on board until the photographs became public recently. Venezia Turismo Motoscafi mentioned in their statement, On board, the driver had to keep a lookout for traffic and did not see these obscenities. If this had happened, he would have immediately disembarked and reported the transgressors to those in authority. The company added that there was a third person on the water taxi who was accompanying the pair and obstructed the captains view to the back of the boat. Reportedly, the third person was a woman who was seen with Kanye West and Bianca Censori on their Italian vacation. The boat rental company has also openly denounced the couples controversial act and stated, We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behaviour. Mr. West and his wife will certainly no longer be welcome on board our companys boats. Reportedly, Venezia Turismo Motoscafi is a leading boat rental company in Venice, with celebrity clients including Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Florence Pugh, Jennifer Lopez, and Ben Affleck. Meanwhile, Bianca Censori was recently spotted on a shopping trip with Kanye West to a closed Balenciaga store in Tuscany. The Australian model wore a noodle-strap dress with an exceptionally plunging, low-cut neckline and flaunted her cleavage throughout. Her well-toned figure was wonderfully complemented by the bodycon dress. Kanye West was also seen with her. Kanye West with his wife Bianca Censori leaving the Balenciaga store in Italy today pic.twitter.com/GuCmiTmj5R Ovrnundr (@Ovrnundr) August 30, 2023 The relationship rumours between Kanye West and Bianca Censori started earlier this year after his divorce from Kim Kardashian was finalised. In January, roughly two months after the rappers divorce, the couple married in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills. Reportedly, the legal status of their relationship, however, is in doubt because they did not file a marriage certificate. Kim Kardashian filed for divorce after six years of marriage in February 2021. North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm are the former couples children. From her acting debut Nenokkadine to winning the Best Actress National Award for Mimi; Kriti Sanon has come a long way. In a recent interview, Kriti talked about her initial career days and recalled how a very rude choreographer yelled at her once. Kriti shared that she had tears in her eyes because the choreographer scolded her in front of 50 other people on the sets of one of her projects. I just moved to Mumbai and I was going for these GMAT preparation classes while I was trying for movies and doing modelling. I got my first Telugu film (Mahesh Babus 1: Nenokkadine) and I also got Heropanti. Heropanti was supposed to start a little later and my second schedule of the Telugu film was supposed to start after two months, Kriti told Curly Tales. My first ramp show, the choreographer, I have never worked with her again, she was very rude to me because I messed up the choreography. It was at some farmhouse and heels were getting stuck into the grass and it was my first time. Terrible. I started crying because she was scolding me in front of 50 models and very rudely. I was holding it for long but I cry the moment someone shouts at me, the actress added. Meanwhile, Kriti Sanon recently won the Best Actress National Award for her performance in the movie Mimi. The actress shared her award with Alia Bhatt, who received it for her performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial Gangubai Kathiawadi. Following her win, in a recent interview with News18 Showsha, Kriti revealed that when she received the news, she was at home, caught up in a meeting. I was actually in a meeting which was happening at my house itself when the awards were being announced, and my phone just started buzzing. I had to excuse myself from the meeting and thats when I got to know that I had won. I was just extremely overwhelmed and requested them to just hold the meeting and I ran down to hug my parents, she said. Meanwhile, Kriti Sanon was last seen in Adipurush. She will soon be reuniting with Tiger Shroff for Ganpath. Besides this, Kriti also has Heropanti 2 and Do Patti in her pipeline. Telugu star Mahesh Babu is currently shooting for Trivikram Srinivass next titled Guntur Kaaram. Following his recent return from a vacation in London, Mahesh is busy shooting for the film. As per the reports, Mahesh Babu is shooting a solo song at an aluminium factory. The next few scenes of the film will be shot at the actors residence, reports suggest. Alongside the protagonist, actresses Sreeleela and Meenakshi Chaudhary are slated to join this schedule. The film has seen its fair share of controversies. Pooja Hegde, originally cast as the lead heroine, has withdrawn from the project, with Sreeleela taking her place. Meanwhile, Meenakshi Chaudhary is playing the second lead in the film. Recently, a rumour concerning Mahesh Babus compensation for his role in this film also started doing the rounds on social media. According to industry insiders, Mahesh Babus fee for this movie is said to be Rs 78 crore. Made on a budget of approximately Rs 200 crore, the film is expected to hit screens on January 13, 2024. Produced by S. Radha Krishna, the film marks the third collaboration between Trivikram Srinivas and Mahesh Babu. The storyline of the film centres around the leader of Guntur Citys criminal underworld, who becomes romantically involved with a journalist trying to expose the citys illegal operations. Veteran comedian Brahmanandam takes on a significant role in this film. With Jagapathi Babu as the antagonist and a star-studded cast including Ramya Krishna, Raghubabu, Prakash Raj, Sunil, Jayaram, and others, Guntur Kaaram has generated high expectations as a pan-India family entertainer. Netflix has secured the post-theatrical digital rights, and overseas rights are in demand at a staggering 23 crore. Expectations are soaring high for this upcoming movie. Trivikram Srinivas, known for hits like Aravinda Sametha with NTR and Ala Vaikunthapuramulo, is directing this film under the Harika Hasini banner. After Guntur Kaaram, Mahesh Babu is set to collaborate with director SS Rajamouli for the project (SSMB29). The global frenzy surrounding Rajamoulis RRR has only increased the excitement. Deepika Padukone is rumoured to be a potential leading lady. Rajamouli has confirmed that the film will be an adventure thriller set in Africa, promising to showcase Mahesh Babu in an unprecedented avatar. Spanish actor Gabriel Guevara has been arrested at the Venice Film Festival. My Fault (Culpa Mia) star has reportedly been accused of sexual assault in France. As reported by Variety, Gabriel was supposed to receive an award called the Filming Italy prize during the festival. However, he also had an international warrant issued on him on charges of alleged sexual assault in France. Following the arrest, the Venice Film Festival also issued an official statement which read, Following the news articles which have been emerging on various websites, regarding the Spanish actor Gabriel Guevara being arrested in Venice, the Biennale hereby clarifies that his presence in Venice was not linked to any events or productions related to the 80th Venice International Film Festival. Gabriel Guevara is currently in police custody and the Venice court of appeals will hear his case soon. Guevara made his acting debut with a Spanish adaptation of Nordic teen series titled Skam. However, he has recently been in the news for his recently released My Fault aka Culpa Mia. His chemistry in the movie with co-star Nicole Wallace has become the talk of the town ever since the films release. Considering the success of My Fault, the makers recently confirmed parts two and three of the Spanish original. The next films in the trilogy will be titled Your Fault and Our Fault. Your Fault and Our Fault will see Nicole Wallace (of Skam Espana, Parot) and Gabriel Guevara (of Manana es hoy, Hit) reprise their roles as step-siblings Noah and Nick. My Fault saw Noah move into her moms new husbands mansion where she met his son, Nick and the two have a secret affair. The love between Noah and Nick seems unbreakable, despite the manoeuvres of their parents to break them up. But his job and her entry into college open their lives to new relationships. The appearance of a revenge-seeking ex-girlfriend and Nicks mother with unclear intentions will shake the foundations not only of their relationship but of the Leister family itself. When so many people are out to destroy a relationship, can it really end well? the makers statements read. Veteran Tamil actor RS Shivaji died due to cardiac arrest at the age of 66 years in Chennai on Saturday. The post on his Facebook page confirmed the same. The actor was last seen in the Tamil film Lucky Man which starred Yogi Babu and Veera in the lead role. The movie was released in theatres on September 1. The actor and comedian was a part of many popular and critically acclaimed films such as Anbe Sivam, Aaytha Ezhuthu, Soorarai Pottru and Gargi. RS Shivaji was born in Chennai in 1956 and worked predominately in Tamil films. The actor had several collaborations with actor Kamla Haasan which include movies like Vikram, Apoorva Sangodharargal and Gunaa. He was also part of the movies that were produced by the superstars production house- Raaj Kamal Films International. He started his journey in cinema in 1980 and worked for almost four decades. He made his debut in 1981 with the movie Panneer Pushpangal. It was followed by Madhumalar, Vasantham and Varu. He teamed up with Kamal Haasan for the first time for the film Vikram in 1986. RS Shivaji came into the limelight and became a popular figure after the movie Gargi. In this, he played the role of a father to the lead character Sai Pallavi. His performance was widely appreciated by the audience. He also played the role of the father to Nayanthara in her critically acclaimed movie Kolamaavu Kokila. The actor was known for his comic performances. Similarly, his performance in Kamal Haasan starrer Michael Madana Kamarajan was also one of the memorable roles for his fans. RS Shivaji was the son of the popular actor and producer MR Santhanam and the brother of actor-director Santhana Bharathi. Apart from acting, he also worked as an assistant director and sound designer in many films. The death of RS Shivaji, an experienced Tamil actor, is a tragedy for all cinema fans. Far from a snub against India, Chinese President Xi Jinping giving the G20 summit a miss is about his own insecurities and misgivings. Xi Jinping simply does not seem to catch a break from being isolated on the world stage. He is set to skip not only the G20 summit in New Delhi but also the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits in Jakarta, Indonesia. In fact, Xi has stayed home far longer than he ever has since the Covid pandemic. The BRICS summit was an exception this year, making his South Africa visit in August the second international trip of the year after he visited Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic and a brutal clash between Indian and Chinese forces in the Galwan Valley at the border, Xi Jinping remained grounded for more than 1,000 days at a stretch. He broke this self-embargo only in 2022 when he visited Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and even Indonesia for the G20 summit in Bali. In 2023, however, Xi has retreated without any Covid-related obligations. Given the global backlash against China, the Chinese leader is finding it difficult to keep the ignition on when it comes to international diplomacy. BRICS summit was a relatively safe space, but the G20 does not extend that comfort. Not only was the summit in New Delhi but there was little chance of a one-to-one bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as it had become clear from their brief exchange in Johannesburg, where PM Modi stressed on resolving the border issue before all else. Moreover, it was also not clear whether US President Biden and Xi would meet on the sidelines of G20. Without Putin attending, China had the opportunity to de-hyphenate itself and reclaim the pre-pandemic stature it had attained. However, Xi has checked out from both the G20 and ASEAN summits. The ASEAN summit was particularly a no-go for Xi from the start since Chinas unfounded claim on the South China Sea has rubbed almost every ASEAN nation the wrong way. ASEAN often includes a reference to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which China is in violation of, with the assertion of its territorial claims. This time around, China made sure to release an updated version of its map but it may have not seen a chorus of direct opposition coming from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, following India and Taiwan. This might all just be Chinas belligerent little way to save face as Xi gives a hot season in international diplomacy a miss. A vulnerable Xi may have expected to find himself rather snubbed and secluded, which would have further damaged his image domestically, at a time when economic woes and political instability threatened his position in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Economic Woes Cast Shadow on Xi Amid an unrelenting economic downturn, a few articles critical of Xi Jinpings policies have come up in China, pointing to strengthening factionalism in the CCP. Moreover, involving the removal of senior Commanders of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force, the speeches by Xi Jinping and security tsar Chen Wenqing during their visits to Xinjiang and Gansu, respectively, which included numerous references to stability and the disappearance of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, there are additional factors to consider. Unless there are serious health issues, it might be that Xi Jinping is required to stay in China due to the ongoing political instability and infighting within the CCP. Xis Isolation Vs Modis Diplomatic Power Contrast Xis isolation with PM Modis diplomatic prowess. The Indian prime minister and India as a whole are fervently engaged in diplomacy with the G20 presidency taking centre-stage, with the summit planned in New Delhi being just a week away. PM Modi has made nine official visits abroad, reflecting how Indias diplomatic machinery is in full swing. First, it was Japan for the G7 and Quad meetings, then it was Papua New Guinea and Australia. A major highlight of this year was PM Modis state visit to the United States where he met President Joe Biden at the White House amid lots of pomp and glory. This was immediately followed by a visit to Egypt. In July, PM Modi visited France and attended the Bastille Day celebrations with President Macron, following which he made a brief visit to the UAE. In August, the prime minister was at the BRICS summit after which he made the first-ever visit, of an Indian prime minister in 40 years, to Greece. Against the backdrop of robust preparations for the G20 summit, where India plans to represent the voice of the Global South, unlike Chinese President Xi Jinping, PM Modi will also be visiting Indonesia for the ASEAN and East Asia summits on September 6. Notably, Prime Minister Modi has found time out of his schedule to engage with his ASEAN counterparts just days before the G20 summit commences in New Delhi. With Indias economy having grown at 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of this year, and the global outlook looking positive further into 2024, its global stature is also on the rise. Indias highly slick and efficient diplomatic machinery complements its rise and is a true reflection of the nations emergence as a prominent global power on the international stage. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. Let us have faith that right makes might and, in that faith, let us; to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it Abraham Lincoln The fact is that ever since the decision was made to revoke Article 370 in August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modis government along with LG Manoj Sinha-led administration has acted in the best interests of ordinary Kashmiris. Whats unsettling is how the Western media has blatantly turned into a spokesperson for Pakistan, its intelligence services, and terrorists. Kashmirs plight has been exploited for years and has been turned into a lucrative business for Pakistans establishment and some multigenerational families living abroad. An important section of the local mainstream media of the valley played a detrimental role, acting as conduits for Pakistan and their paid proxies in Kashmir, particularly during the peak unrest years of 2008, 2010, 2016, and 2017. They willingly amplified destructive narratives on their front pages, from labelling terrorists as rebels and fidayeen to branding them as armed separatists. This was part of an editorial warfare against India, with local editors, owners, and so-called journalists directly on Pakistans payroll. They profited handsomely while building narratives in favour of terrorists and secessionists, amassing significant wealth and assets for themselves in the process. Their actions have had severe consequences for the region. Pakistan and the West are frustrated because they never expected India to thrive and host the G20 summit. While failed states and war-torn nations receive little attention, Kashmir continues to dominate Western headlines. Media giants like the BBC, NYT, and The Washington Post generously pay Indian-origin writers and journalists to peddle false narratives of hate, fear, riots, and so-called intolerant democracy, all in a bid to push their agenda of Hindutva and fascism. Its time to see through this agenda-driven reporting and recognise Indias progress in Kashmir. The BBCs recent article, Any story could be your last Indias crackdown on Kashmir press by Yogita Limaye, on Indias supposed crackdown on the Kashmiri press is a one-sided, superficial piece of journalism. It conveniently omits crucial facts. In the facade of journalism The four journalists mentioned are not professionals but are intellectual overground workers (OGWs) for Pakistans ISI and terrorist-secessionist networks. As the report also fails to mention the criminal offences committed by these intellectual OGWs, it is about time that we set the record straight. Fahad Shah Fahad Shah, the editor-in-chief of the Kashmir Walla website, is at the epicentre of a storm of legal trouble. FIR No. 01/2022 filed by the State Investigation Agency (SIA) Kashmir under Sections 13 and 18 of the UAPA Act, along with IPC Sections 121, 153 B, and FCRA Sections 35 and 39, puts him in the hot seat. He has been charged with publishing an article that blatantly stoked the flames of terrorism, enticing young Kashmiris to take up arms. But that is not all. Shahs Kashmir Walla operated on a subscription-based model, and heres where it gets murky. Pakistans ISI and its global network funnelled funds through this platform, fuelling unrest and pushing its propaganda in the region. What is shocking is that Fahad Shah managed not one but three bank accounts, raking in about Rs 95.59 lakh, including a hefty Rs 40 lakh in foreign contributions, all in brazen violation of the FCRA. In one account alone, a staggering Rs 10.59 lakh flowed in from Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) during 2020-21. It does not end there, as the money was slyly transferred in multiple instalments, despite the account lacking the FCRA registration it needed to accept foreign contributions. Another account received Rs 58 lakh, of which a suspicious Rs 30 lakh constituted foreign contributions via subscription payments. As if this werent enough, Fahad Shah is also under investigation by the Kashmir Zone Police, with three more FIRs haunting his steps across different police stations in the valley for peddling terrorist-secessionist agenda and publishing stories targeting security forces personnel. Asif Sultan Another person whose name has surfaced in the article is Asif Sultan, who is facing charges under FIR No. 173/2018, including Sections 302, 307 RPC, 7/27 A Act, and 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 ULA (P) Act. The charges are for glorifying Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani in the Kashmir Narrator magazine and his ties to Ansar-Ghazwat-ul-Hind terrorists. Hes also accused of harbouring and sheltering two terrorists on August 12, 2018, who killed SgCt Parvaiz Ahmad during a police shootout and escaped. Sajjad Gul Likewise, Sajjad Gul, an independent journalist, is entangled in multiple cases, with FIR No. 12/2021, FIR No. 79/2021, and FIR No. 02/2022 under various Sections, including IPC 120-B and 153-B. He was even detained under the Public Safety Act and lodged in a UP jail for threatening a government officer, Tehsildar, by invoking his close relatives alleged terrorist ties in Pakistan. By engaging in such actions, he has not only jeopardised regional security but has also destabilised the region. Irfan Mehraj Irfan Mehraj is another journalist with ties to global anti-India media outlets like Aljazeera and local newspapers like Kashmir Reader, who stand accused of receiving substantial sums from Pakistans ISI and employing terrorists for intimidation. Arrested by the NIA in FIR No. RC-37/2020, this former researcher at the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) is no stranger to controversy. During his tenure, Irfan propagated fabricated tales of human rights violations in Kashmir while allegedly siphoning funds meant for victims from foreign human rights groups and visiting international delegations. He had been facilitating a dangerous agenda that threatened peace and stability in the region. Western media spinning narratives Quite conveniently, while the journalist found time to visit the family of an intellectual overground worker like Asif Sultan and shed light on the plight of his daughter Areeba, there was a glaring omission in the coverage. The journalist failed to make any effort to visit the families and daughters of countless martyred security force personnel, like Zohra, the daughter of martyred ASI Abdul Rasheed, who fell victim to terrorists in 2017. The journalist missed an opportunity to witness and expose the havoc wreaked by Pakistani-sponsored terrorists and their narrative spinners on the young generations of Kashmir. Some countries around the world are marred by instability, failed governance, and brutal civil conflicts. Yet, these dire situations often receive minimal attention from Western media when compared to the constant spotlight on Kashmir. This glaring disparity is exemplified by the actions of prominent global news outlets such as the BBC, The NYT, and The Washington Post. These media giants are investing significant sums in Indian-origin writers and journalists, tasking them with the superficial task of perpetuating false narratives. They emphasise issues like hate, fear, riots, so-called intolerant democracy, press crackdowns, Hindutva, fascism, and more. Such narratives serve to distort reality and perpetuate a skewed image of India. Furthermore, Western media inadvertently provide ideological cover to Pakistani-backed individuals and groups operating in the Kashmir Valley. These individuals, often referred to as Over Ground Workers (OGWs), have been instrumental in spreading subversion and terrorism in the region. As a result, it is the ordinary Kashmiri populace that has borne the brunt of their actions, enduring years of misery. The modus operandi employed by these communal jihadis and intellectual OGWs involves manipulating the minds of impressionable youth. They systematically pushed these young individuals to engage in acts of violence against law enforcement and security personnel, primarily through stone-pelting. This forced the authorities to resort to punitive measures, sometimes including firing, creating the appearance of human rights violations. These orchestrated incidents then served as fuel for the propaganda machinery of these intellectual OGWs. These individuals engaged in brutal deception, often manipulating the thoughts of minds that have been warped by manufactured feelings of victimhood, further exacerbating the situation. Through intentional falsifications, they cultivated a culture of radicalism, extremism, and hostility. Their psychological conditioning particularly targeted vulnerable youth, many of whom hailed from impoverished backgrounds. These young individuals were coerced into risking their lives in the name of so-called secessionism and terrorism. While the Western media has extensively covered the Kashmir issue, scant attention is paid to the grave violations perpetrated by Pakistan against the Baloch people. Additionally, the severe restrictions on press freedom in Pakistan often go unmentioned. This lopsided focus perpetuates an incomplete and biased narrative, obscuring the larger picture of regional conflicts and human rights abuse. While civil wars and terrorist insurgencies ravage many countries, the Western media fixates on Kashmir, maliciously attempting to smear the government as fascist with baseless lies. However, this is not the first time media giants like the BBC have pulled something like that, as they have been relentlessly pushing biased and false narratives about freedom and tolerance in India to smear the current ruling regimes name and goodwill. Emaad Makhdoomi is a Srinagar-based journalist and columnist. His Twitter Handle is @MakhdoomiEmaad. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. The term Stalin, in Russian, means a man of steel. And the Soviet strongman, Joseph Stalin, lived up to his name. He deftly led the Soviet Union during World War II and soon after the great war was over, at the Yalta conference, he outmanoeuvred US President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with only paper concessions that would result in the imposition of Communism throughout Eastern Europe, as author Diana Preston writes in Eight Days to Yalta. Stalin also, lest one forgets, killed lakhs of people within the USSR, and persecuted many more a number that would put the murderous Nazis in Germany to shame. Such was the horror of Stalin that it created a class of whisperers in the erstwhile Soviet Union. British historian Orlando Figes, in The Whisperers, explores the terrorised lives of people in Stalins Russia who were afraid to talk in public and preferred to speak in whispers. The Russian language has two words for a whisperer one for somebody who whispers out of fear of being overheard (shepchushchii), another for the person who informs or whispers behind peoples backs to the authorities (sheptun). The distinction has its origins in the idiom of the Stalin years, when the whole of Soviet society was made up of whisperers of one sort or another, Figes writes. His namesake in India has now threatened to unleash a similar terror in the country. Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, has called for the eradication of those who follow Sanatana Dharma. There are some things which we have to eradicate and we cant merely oppose. Mosquitoes, dengue fever, malaria, corona, all these are things which we cannot oppose, we have to eradicate them. Sanatanam is also like this. Eradicating, not opposing, Sanatanam should be our first task, he has said. Anti-Sanatanism isnt a new phenomenon in Dravidian politics, especially the one espoused by the DMK. It can be traced to EV Ramasamy Naicker, popularly known as Periyar, though its roots go even deeper to missionaries led by Bishop Robert Caldwell, who identified Tamil Brahmins with Indo-Europeans, accusing them of subduing and colonising the indigenous Dravidians. Here are the five reasons why Udhayanidhis anti-Sanatana rant is as dangerous and mischievous as it is ahistorical. Demise of good Hinduism, bad Hindutva narrative This latest episode has drawn the curtains on the Hinduism is good-Hindutva is bad narrative. So far, there seems to have been a sort of political consensus among politicians who swear by secularism to ensure that this demarcation is clear and categorical. But now this facade is gone too: Hinduism too has become a bad word in Indian politics, as Udhayanidhis statement and the muted response of the DMKs alliance partners, including that of the Congress, suggest. It is kind of a chaiwala gaffe for the UPA, which has now rechristened itself into I.N.D.I.A., going to the polls with an alliance partner whose prince charming equates Sanatana Dharma with a disease and calls for its eradication. It is a self-goal for the Opposition, which is already in disarray and more so when the alliance is on the back foot on the issue of minority pandering. The BJP couldnt have asked for a better controversy than this, with barely months left for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. A new low by DMKs standard too Even in Tamil Nadu, the DMK leaders would often try to conceal their anti-Hinduism stand by focusing primarily on anti-Brahmanism. Periyar, in his public speeches and writings, would call for Brahmins to be driven away from this land; he even advocated their killing. And when he would advocate his followers to go inside (a temple) and break all the idols, he would invariably defend it with the need to do away with regressive, superstitious practices. M Karunandhi, Udhayanidhis own grandfather, manifested an anti-Hindu outlook when he would criticise the Hindu practice of smearing ash or saffron or sporting a tilak on the forehead. But he would qualify his statements by questioning the need for such things in a country which preached equality of all religions. Likewise, he had once described Hindus as robbers. But later he clarified that he meant Hindus were robbers who stole hearts. MK Stalin, Udhayanidhis father, too, displayed similar tendencies but he would also make sure that such feelings were well-concealed. He, in fact, in 2019, lashed out at the Opposition led by the BJP for calling the DMK anti-Hindu, as he listed out pro-Hindu things that the DMK governments had done in the state: to check the theft of idols from temples, to improve the administration and revenues of temples, and to bring in pension scheme for priests. He even recalled how his wife frequently visited temples but not once did he ask her why she was going there! Udhayanidhi, with his genocidal call, thus has crossed the line, even by the DMK standard. He uttered what his father, his grandfather and others would say in whispers, with the right sprinkling of ruse and alibis, even when they meant more or less the same. Brahminism just an excuse, Hinduism real target One could still have ignored the genocidal call, howsoever condemnable it may sound, but the fact remains that Udhayanidhi Stalin is not just another DMK leader trying to cash in on the existing anti-Brahminical sentiments (of whatever remains there on ground) in Tamil Nadu. He is the son of the existing chief minister, whose partys track record on treating Hindus in general and Brahmins in particular has been wanting. In fact, following the genocidal statement, the DMKs innate anti-Hindu strand is out of the bag. Brahminism has been an excuse. One can understand this from the fact some of the most brutal attacks on the Scheduled Castes in Tamil Nadu took place post-1967 during the DMK regime, as VS Naipaul explains in India: A Million Mutinies. In 1969, for instance, 40 Harijans were burnt alive by Thevars, a powerful middle caste. The truth is that Brahmins and Hindu temples were targeted in Tamil Nadu primarily because they were the most obvious symbols of Hinduism and civilisational India. The Dravidian parties took up this agenda with a missionary zeal post-Independence when they targeted Brahmins (a young Tamil Brahmin confessed to Naipaul that it was not easy for Brahmin boys nowadays) and brought Hindu temples under State control. While a Brahmin was seen as the purveyor of civilisational India, a temple, especially in the South, wasnt just about prayer and worshipping. It was more of a socio-economic institution, simultaneously running its own schools and hospitals, and building dams and granaries for adjoining villages. A temple was also the patron of art and literature. So, the state takeover of temples in the name of Brahminism threatened to not just destroy the traditional hold of Hinduism over the masses, but also impoverished the society at large, both materially as well as intellectually and culturally. Opening the door for Muslim, Christian persecution? The fourth disconcerting aspect that comes out of the entire episode is the eagerness of a few parties in India, of which the DMK is an esteemed partner, to seek vengeance from todays Brahmins for the alleged misdeeds committed by their ancestors in the past. Even if one concedes the worst of the caste system and accepts the role the Brahmins played in perpetuating this divide (Dharampals The Beautiful Tree refutes the extent of such claims), it is still indefensible to call for the genocide of todays Brahmins. Interestingly, these are the same people who conveniently seek the sanitisation of history books and ask Hindus not to analyse the violent, vandalistic streak of Muslim rulers in medieval times, saying such an attempt would bring harm to the current generation of Muslims. But isnt Udhayanidhi Stalin, by making genocidal calls for Sanatana Dharma of real and perceived injustices committed by some Brahmins, is making a way for a similar treatment being meted out to todays Muslims and Christians for centuries of jihad and the Goa Inquisition, respectively? Against the very grain of history Last, but not the least, the Udhayanidhi statement is ahistorical and against the very grain of history both real and Communist concocted. The real history which is finally defying the Marxist stranglehold suggests that there never was an Aryan migration, far less an invasion. Latest findings, scientific as well as archaeological, back the overarching literary claim that if ever there was any migration it was an outward one, and not into this landmass. But even if one concedes the Aryan migration theory, something which Indias eminent historians led by Romila Thapar have quietly shifted to given the dearth of archaeological evidences suggesting any such invasion in the second millennium BC, the Hinduism as we see today is regarded as more of a Dravidian product rather than the Aryan. In fact, major aspects of later Hinduism are derived not from the Vedas, but from Harappan culture, as Asko Parpola, Finnish Indologist and professor emeritus of South Asian studies at the University of Helsinki, writes in The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization (Oxford University Press). Why would then the DMK target Hinduism which is primarily a Dravidian religion? This is possible because of the partys ideological aversion to Hinduism per se. Brahmanism has been a ruse to conceal their true nature. Udhayanidhi, in that way, has brought out in the open what was the open secret in the DMK parlance. And to his and his partys misfortune, India isnt a whisperers country. The backlash will be intense. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. A day after West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose appointed interim vice-chancellors of seven state universities, Education Minister Bratya Basu, in a strong reaction on Monday, accused the Raj Bhavan of acting in a dictatorial manner and claimed that the move could destroy the university system. The minister also said the governors move was violative of the bill passed by the state assembly, concerning the roles and functions of the governor as the chancellor of varsities and the state government. The governor, in his capacity as the chancellor of state-run universities, had on Sunday night appointed interim vice-chancellors for seven varieties, including the prestigious Presidency University, MAKAUT and the University of Burdwan. The governors recent action is aimed at bankrupting the higher education system. He is destroying the statutes of respective state universities. Such appointments have been made without consulting anybody. He is acting in a dictatorial manner, Basu said while addressing a press conference here. The governor, who is the chancellor of state universities as per law, cannot violate and cross the boundary. We will not remain silent spectators to such action by the governor, he said. A group of educationists, including former vice-chancellors of state universities, described the action by the governor to appoint interim VCs in several varsities as adventurous and illegal. The Educationists Forum also said such appointments will not do any good to the higher education system of the state. Prof Raj Kumar Kothari has been appointed Interim VC of West Bengal State University, while Justice Subhrakamal Mukherjee, who currently holds interim charge of Rabindra Bharati University, will also be Interim VC of Presidency University. Prof Debabrata Basu has been appointed Interim VC of Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, while Prof Tapan Chanda was appointed Interim VC of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology. Prof Gautam Chakraborty has been given charge of University of Burdwan, and Prof Indrajit Lahiri will take charge as Interim VC of Netaji Subhas Open University. Prof Shyam Sundar Dana was appointed Interim VC of West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences. Sources said the interim vice-chancellors of nine other universities have also been finalised and appointment letters will be issued soon. The governor took the decision to mitigate the problems faced by students, they said. The criteria for selection of the interim vice-chancellors were eligibility, suitability, competence, willingness and desirability, the sources added. The education minister had, last week, said the government wanted to have a discussion with the governor but if he continues in this way by appointing VCs, we will take legal action. The minister was then referring to the governors earlier statement that he would administer the roles of VCs of the 16 universities lying headless after the expiry of the term of permanent VCs there. Ahead of the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections next year, the Haryana Congress seems to be grappling with dissension in its ranks as cadres belonging to different lobbies within the party are attacking each other. The intense factionalism within the Haryana unit came to the fore during the All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers consultations with district-level leaders of the party on Monday, as workers belonging to the anti-Bhupinder Singh Hooda camp raised slogans at Kurukshetra, Jind, Panipat, Hisar, Charkhi Dadri, and Gurugram. To select district-level office-bearers, the AICC observers will be holding talks in districts until September 10 and will submit a report on the feedback to state party incharge Deepak Babaria and state president Udai Bhan on September 11. At Kurukshetra, the meeting called at the Circuit House turned ugly when a group of Congress workers, claiming to be supporters of the rival camp, started raising slogans to express their resentment. They claimed that they were not informed about the meeting and were being ignored. AICC observer Rajkumar Indoria came out of the meeting and expressed unhappiness over the slogans being raised. In Panipat, too, workers alleged biased consultations. AICC observer Kanti Bhai Barwar and state party representatives Dr Raghubir Kadiyan and Shelly Chaudhary arrived at the Congress Bhawan in Hisar on Monday for consultations, but a number of uninvited workers arrived there. A group of workers owing allegiance to a leader of the rival faction started raising slogans against former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Rajya Sabha member Deepender Singh Hooda, alleging that the father-son duo were dominating the affairs of the state unit. Jagan Nath, Ajay Chaudhary and state youth vice-president Krishan Satrod were leading them. Barwar tried to downplay the incident. Nothing to be blown out of proportion. We held talks with all and their feedback was taken, he said. The factionalism also disrupted proceedings in Jind as workers, who were supporters of the rival camp, raised slogans of go back observer. Here, too, protesters targeted Hooda and alleged that they were not intimated about Mondays meeting. The protests took place despite Udai Bhan cautioning the leaders to avoid any show of strength during the talks with central observers. The party has been running without any district-level organisation for the past nine years. The Congress has been confronting major dissension issues with the unit divided between the Hooda camp, which has most MLAs on its side, and the rival camp comprising senior leaders Kumari Selja, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and MLA Kiran Choudhry. I challenge Udhayanidhi Stalin to stop his mother from going to a temple, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai said on Sunday as he took on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalins son for his controversial remarks on eradicating Sanatan Dharma. Calling the statement childish and mischievous, Annamalai said Stalin Jr enjoys a position only due to his father and grandfather. Sanatan Dharma is timeless and eternal. Mughals, East India Company and even the Christian missionaries couldnt touch it. Who is he to eradicate it? the BJP state chief asked. The firebrand leader, while calling out the conference organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association in Chennai, said the meet was organised last year too and was called the Sanatan Dharma Opposing conference. This year, they have become stronger as they think they are in power. The temple administration minister was also on the stage which means they have to eradicate temples and peoples religious practices. This shows their anti-Hindu mindset. I challenge Udhayanidhi to stop his mother from going to temples. Annamalai added that Udhayanidhi was showing bravado like Rahul Gandhi. Police might not take any complains as its their own government. But all of us are looking forward to DMK getting wiped out from the state. The current generation does not accept this. People are going to reject the DMK now. Asked if the statement would have a bearing on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leader said people do not accept such language. Sanatan brings everyone together; that is the beauty of it. DMK is completely anti-Hindu and an appeasement-based party. Entire India has reacted to the statement. People of the country and Tamil Nadu will not accept DMK in the coming elections now. Meanwhile, in an attempt to clear the air around his statement, Udhayanidhi Stalin said he never used the word genocide. Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, the Tamil Nadu minister said: I stick to what I said. I never used the word genocide. I will face it legally. Earlier, as the row over his statement worsened, Stalin Jr accused BJP of twisting his statement and trying to spread fake news. I am ready to face whatever cases they file against me. BJP is scared of the INDIA Alliance and to divert that they are saying all this. DMKs policy is One clan, one God, he told reporters. He added: When PM Modi says Congress Mukt Bharat, does that mean Congressmen should be killed? What is Sanatan? Sanatan means nothing should be changed and all are permanent. But the Dravida model calls for change and all should be equal. BJP is twisting my statement and spreading fake news, its their usual job. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday apologised on behalf of the state government after receiving flak over the lathi-charge incident on Maratha quota protesters in Jalna district. After meeting Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the BJP leader said action will be taken against those who are responsible for it. News agency ANI quoted Fadnavis as saying to reporters after the meeting, Lathicharge by Police was not right I am apologising on behalf of the Government. CM has said that the action will be taken against those who are responsible for it. Mumbai: "Lathicharge by Police was not right I am apologising on behalf of the Government. CM has said that the action will be taken against those who are responsible for it," says Maharashtra Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis at the Maratha Reservation meeting chaired by CM. pic.twitter.com/777PApSgLm ANI (@ANI) September 4, 2023 Fadnavis also said the lathi-charge order was not given by any top official to the Jana Police last week. Such decisions (use of police force etc.) are taken at the local level, Fadnavis, who handles the Home Department, said. Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had claimed that the lathi-charge order was given on a phone call made from the office of the chief minister and state home minister. Senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh has also claimed that police lathi-charged protesters in Jalna district after a phone call was made from the Maharashtra home ministry. Meanwhile, Shinde on Monday said a committee will submit its report within a month on how to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas from Marathwada region. Kunbis (the community associated with agriculture) are grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra. A committee was set up and asked to submit a report within a month on how to issue Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community from Marathwada. The state government has taken this issue seriously and we are working to find an amicable solution, he told reporters. Marathas have been demanding the reservation in education and government jobs. Reservation in jobs and education provided by the then Maharashtra government to the Maratha community under the socially and educationally backward category in 2018 was quashed by the Supreme Court in May 2021, citing the 50 per cent ceiling on total reservations among other grounds. I have directed officials to study the Supreme Courts verdict on the Maratha quota and recommend solutions. We need to establish that the Maratha community is backward, Shinde said. Police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna district on Friday after protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota to hospital. Several persons, including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze in violence. (with inputs from PTI) Two days after the police lathi-charged those who were protesting in Jalna district of Maharashtra demanding Maratha reservation, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Monday that Deputy Chief Minister and state home minister Devendra Fadnavis has tendered an unconditional apology, and assured strict action against officials responsible for the incident. An urgent meeting of cabinet sub-committee was called over the Jalna incident today in Mumbai. Efforts are being made to disrupt peace under the guise of agitations, Shinde alleged. The state government also blamed the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for creating the mess of the Maratha reservation issue. Our position is that the Maratha community should get reservation. We have set up a task force to tackle this issue. The role of the government is to give reservation to the Maratha community. The government is completely in favour of giving reservation to the Maratha community. We are giving the same benefits to the students from the Maratha, OBC community, said Shinde. Shinde also clarified that the state government is with the Maratha community, and it has clear and positive intention on the Maratha reservation issue. Meanwhile, Fadnavis told the media today that a perception is being created among the people that the orders for lathi-charge came from the Mantralaya. He further said such incidents had taken place during the tenure of the previous government, but the CM had not resigned then. It is an attempt to show that the government is behind the Jalna incident but people also know who is playing politics. In 2018, we passed a law and the High Court accepted it. Only the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governments enacted the law in the country. Our government changed and it was adjourned on September 9, 2020. But the question is why did Uddhav Thackeray, who was chief minister for one year, did not issue an ordinance on the issue of Maratha reservation? asked Fadnavis. On the criticism by the Opposition parties that the order of lathi-charge must have come from the Mantralaya, Deputy Chief Minister and state finance minister Ajit Pawar said, None of us had given such orders. If someone will prove that, we will leave politics with immediate effect. Just three months ago, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, while attacking the Bajrang Dal, had said that he didnt consider them to be the champions of Hindutva and that he, as a devout Hindu, believed in the Sanatan Dharma. Today, the Congress is caught in a crossfire, as its ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has questioned the Sanatan Dharma. ALSO READ | Udhayanidhi Stalins Sanatan Dharma Remark: INDIA Parties React Amid Row With Udhayanidhi Stalin sticking to his stand, the Congress is scratching its head. There are multiple voices within the Congress, each contradicting the other. It also reflects its political pull and push. For example, the Congress needs the DMK in Tamil Nadu and cannot afford to antagonise it. This explains why Karti Chidambaram, without wasting any time, jumped to the defence of Stalin. It is believed that minus the DMK, a win for the Congress in some constituencies may be difficult. In Karnataka, Priyank Kharge agreed with Udhayanidhi. Any religion that does not promote equality, which does not provide equal rights, is not a religion. #TamilNadu | Sanatana Dharma Remark Row: BJP twisting my statement, says TN Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin @nimumurali and @_pallavighosh share more details on all you need to know about #SanatanaDharma uproar | @toyasingh pic.twitter.com/0qP5s3u6ba News18 (@CNNnews18) September 4, 2023 NORTH VS SOUTH NARRATIVE This gives the perception of a north versus south narrative. As you move north, the political compulsion becomes clear. Like for Kamal Nath, who distanced himself by saying that the comments of Udhayanidhi were his own. There is a reason and polls in Madhya Pradesh behind this. ALSO READ | Will Say Eradicate Sanatana Dharma Again & Again: Adamant Udhayanidhi Speaks to News18 Taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is important through the route of mandir and religion. Thats why, over the past one year, Nath has been conducting pujas, has built a Hanuman temple in Chindwara and even held a Mahakaal puja. It is important for him to stay away from this discourse. The same applies to Maharashtra politics too. For Nana Patole, Maharashtra Congress chief, to align with the Shiv Sena (UBT), it is important to be on the right side. Hence, he, too, distanced himself from the comments. #BreakingNews | Chhattisgarh Deputy CM TS Singh Deo says, "This can be his personal opinion. There are lots of religions in the world and any such comment on any religion is personal, everybody has the freedom@toyasingh | #UdhayanithiStalin pic.twitter.com/5l40YGcFQx News18 (@CNNnews18) September 4, 2023 CONGRESSS SOFT HINDUTVA The BJP, however, has been insisting on a categorical condemnation of Udhayanidhis comments by Rahul Gandhi and the party. But this has not happened so far. KC Venugopal, the powerful general secretary, said, Every party has the right to air their own opinion. And we respect this. ALSO READ | Sanatan Dharma: Udhayanidhis Comments Put INDIA in a Spot Ahead of Polls in Heartland States This brings out the pressure on the Congress not to take on the DMK. It is also its helplessness. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Ram Mandir and temple corridor are expected to be the issues, the Congress, which has been peddling soft Hindutva, cannot afford an ammunition which suits the BJP. The dilemma within the Congress is real. As outrage began to intensify over violence in Jalna, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi targeted the Shinde-Fadnavis government in the state and accused them of being hypocritical. She said while in one instance BJP is pretending to fight for Santani values, it is subjecting Sanatanis protesting for quota in Maharashtra to lathi-charge. In a post on the microblogging site X, Chaturvedi insinuating at Udhayanidhi Stalins controversial remark on Sanatan Dharma, said, Also, the fake concern shown by BJP over Sanatan dharma for their politics exposes their sick hypocrisy while they are brutally lathi charging sanatanis who are fighting for their rights in Maharashtra, they lathi-charged warkaris. So they & their Mindhe minions better sit down. Also, the fake concern shown by BJP over sanatan dharm for their politics exposes their sick hypocrisy while they are brutally lathi charging sanatanis who are fighting for their rights in Maharashtra, they lathi charged warkaris. So they & their Mindhe minions better sit down pic.twitter.com/DYRRtqJVr4 Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) September 4, 2023 A political row erupted after a police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse protesters protesting for Maratha quota in Antarwali Sarathi on Dhule-Solapur road in Jalnas Ambad tehsil after they allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike to hospital. Maratha Kranti Morcha Holds Rasta Roko in Pune Leaders of the Maratha community and Maratha Kranti Morcha from Solapur staged a rasta roko on Pune-Solapur and Solapur-Hyderabad highway on Sunday after the Jalna violence. Another rasta roko was held near the Bale area of Solapur city where protesters halted the Pune-Solapur highway for more than an hour. Protesters chanted slogans and condemned the lathi charge on Maratha agitators in Jalna. Meanwhile, the Maratha Kranti Morcha has called for a bandh on Monday in Kalyan town of Maharashtras Thane district to condemn the baton-charging of protesters in Jalna during their demand for the Maratha quota. In the wake of the bandh call, security in the town has been stepped up, an official in-charge at the Kalyan police control room said. Essential services were exempted from the bandh, the morcha members said. Vehicular Movement Remained Disrupted Buses and state transport services remained suspended on Sunday as the fallout of the violence that broke out in Jalna after the police lathi-charged protestors demanding Maratha quota. Normal vehicular movement from and towards Pune was disrupted for several hours and long queues of vehicles were been seen on the national highway as the protestors jammed the route. Maratha Quota Row: Political Reactions on Jalna Violence Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday slammed Maharashtra govt and asked who ordered the lathi-charge on protesters demanding Maratha quota in Maharashtras Jalna. Talking to the media, Raut asked, Who made a call from the office of the chief minister and state home minister without an order from top officials? The local police will never resort to lathi-charge and open fire. We want to know who gave those invisible orders over a phone call. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday demanded the Centre provide reservations to Marathas and OBCs in the special session of Parliament convened later this month, a day after violence erupted in Maharashtras Jalna over the Maratha quota demand. Thackeray also visited Jalna in the evening and demanded the resignation of Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar also met Maratha quota agitators injured in police action in Ambad tehsil in Jalna and sought the removal of the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations. Pawar said agitators told him a call from the higher-ups changed the attitude of the police at the protest site in Antarwali Sarathi on Dhule-Solapur road and action was taken despite the stir being peaceful. Amid the controversy over Tamil Nadu minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Udhayanidhi Stalins remarks on Sanatan Dharma, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) the Opposition alliance DMK is a part of parties reactions ranged from support to distancing from it. ALSO READ | Sanatan Dharma: Udhayanidhis Comments Put INDIA in a Spot Ahead of Polls in Heartland States Likening Sanatana Dharma to coronavirus, malaria, fever caused by dengue virus and mosquitoes, Udhayanidhi, son of Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, said it is against equality and social justice and it should be eradicated. Such things should not be opposed, but destroyed. Udhayanidhi referred to Sanatan Dharma as Sanatanam in his address in Tamil at a meet of Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association on Saturday. He lauded the organisers for picking the theme of Sanatan elimination rather than choosing opposition to Sanatan. Udhayanidhi said, What is Sanatanam? The very name is only from Sanskrit. Sanatan is against equality and social justice and nothing else. It is eternal, that is, it cannot be changed; no one could pose any question and that is the meaning. Sanatan divided people on the basis of caste. Exclusive | I will definitely stand against it: Udhayanidhi Stalin (@Udhaystalin) triggers row with controversial remarks on #SanatanaDharma @nimumurali speaks to him & explains the row on News18 pic.twitter.com/bHjtoTJGgV News18 (@CNNnews18) September 4, 2023 What did Sanatan do to women? It pushed women, who lost their husbands into fire (the erstwhile practice of Sati), it tonsured the heads of widows and made them wear white saris, child marriages too happenedWhat did the Dravidam (the Dravidian ideology followed by DMK regime) do? It gave fare-free travel for women in buses, gave Rs 1,000 monthly assistance to girl students for their college education he said. CONGRESS While Congresss Karti Chidambaram supported Udhayanidhi, Chhattisgarh deputy CM TS Singhdeo said, Sanatana Dharma is an established way of life and a religious expression. It should be respected completely. Maharashtra Congress leader Nana Patole said: The Congresss stand is clear. We dont want to comment on any religion or hurt anyones sentiments. Kamal Nath, however, said he did not agree with Udhayanidhi. While Congresss Karti Chidambaram supported Udhayanidhi, Chhattisgarh deputy CM TS Singhdeo said, Sanatana Dharma is an established way of life and a religious expression. It should be respected completely. Maharashtra Congress leader Nana Patole said: The Congresss stand is clear. We dont want to comment on any religion or hurt anyones sentiments. Kamal Nath, however, said he did not agree with Udhayanidhi. SHIV SENA (UBT) Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, said, Anyone making derogatory comments against it is ignorant of what it stands for. Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, said, Anyone making derogatory comments against it is ignorant of what it stands for. ALSO READ | Will Say Eradicate Sanatana Dharma Again & Again: Adamant Udhayanidhi Speaks to News18 AAP Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh said, We dont need to learn what Hindu religion is from Amit Shah and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh said, We dont need to learn what Hindu religion is from Amit Shah and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). CPIM Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) leader D Raja showed his support for Udhayanidhi, saying there was nothing wrong in his statement. Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) leader D Raja showed his support for Udhayanidhi, saying there was nothing wrong in his statement. RJDRashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Mritunjay Tiwari said, The BJP does politics in the name of Sanatan and the person who gave such a statement should apologise to all Sanatanis. With agency inputs Human beings are the only creatures on earth who have the ability to learn from our past, and project into the future. Our ability to learn from our past is what gives us the ability to create and build on the successes of those who came before us thats the root of all technology, and all progress: from agriculture to artificial intelligence. However, none of these accomplishments wouldve come about, if we had lacked the ability to share ideas. Arguably, the first real technological breakthrough for human beings then, was language. For those of us who are privileged to be able bodied, we take our ability to communicate for granted. But as anyone who travels will tell you all it takes is a bad internet connection in a non-English speaking country, for us to realise how problematic not being able to communicate is. Its daunting to realise that for many people in our country, thats what everyday interactions feel like. For people who are hearing disabled, or for those with speech problems, being able to communicate with the able bodied is a trying experience they dont have an option to get away from. What compounds this problem in India is that very, very few people know how to communicate in sign language usually, they happen to have someone differently abled in their own families. This is the problem that two teams set out to solve, in this years Solve for Tomorrow competition by Samsung India. Team Hackvengers are working on a way for the differently abled to talk to the rest of us, while Team Musketeers are working on a system that lets the differently abled understand us more easily. In Solve for Tomorrows second episode, these two teams had the opportunity to present their prototypes, suss out the competition, and even learn from each other. For Team Hackvengers, the problem came to the fore when one of the team members, Amit Gohel, witnessed a frustrating interaction when a differently abled girl tried to communicate using sign language, but wasnt understood and had to walk away, disappointed. For him and the team, the problem was clear not enough of us learn how to sign but what if sign language could be translated into voice? Their solution is both elegant and simple a wearable device called a Voicer captures sign language hand movements, and then converts them into voice. This allows the wearer to communicate with people who dont know sign language. The teams strength lies in quick innovation: their first design was a glove, but they soon realised that in our climate, it becomes too sweaty to be comfortable. Now the design involves rings, and the team is working on the design side to make the device less unwieldy and more attractive to wear! Team Musketeers Pratyaksh first came across the problem when he visited a school for the hearing impaired. He could see, firsthand, how the hearing impaired community ends up being disadvantaged because of their inability to effectively communicate with the rest of us. He and the team set out to erase this disadvantage by creating a wearable headset that converts spoken language into text, in 25 Indian languages and another 10 global languages. The team is working on an app that converts voice into text and sign language in real time, and the AR head thats not only comfortable to use, but is also inexpensive. The team is committed to bringing these costs down, as they know their audience well they are already working with NGOs and medical units, and already have a business plan in place. Ashima Jain from Samsungs Next Gen AI products team at SRI mentored Hackvengers and is very proud of the progress theyve made. She did have one final piece of advice for them. Remember that the user is always right, and you are not your user. The problem theyre solving is unique to a very special community. So, I think they should step into their shoes, understand their day-to-day challenges, and genuinely address those problems at the ground level. Feeling the customers pain is the very first step. Lahar Gupta from Samsungs Cloud and Natural Language Processing team at SRI is the mentor for Team Musketeers. She too, is very positive about the teams prospects, and had a final word of advice for her teamthem, I would suggest that they prioritise quality while considering the target audience, which is physically disabled people who might have cost constraints. The product should be reasonably priced to make it accessible to a broader audience. In case you havent been following the Solve for Tomorrow competition, Team Hackvengers and Team Musketeers are in the Top 10, and hurtling towards the finale where the Top 3 teams will compete to win the a total prize money of Rs 1.5 crores towards bringing their projects to fruition. You can watch the full episode here, and keep an eye on the teams progress as they take on the biggest challenges yet, at Solve for Tomorrow by Samsung India. Lenovo is the latest brand to enter the budding handheld gaming segment with its Legion Go device. The company has unveiled the product at the IFA this week, giving gamers another option to enjoy portable gaming. The Lenovo Legion Go competes with products like the Asus ROG Ally which also runs on Windows 11. It is powered by an AMD CPU to give you PC-like performance on the go. Lenovo has also created a suite of accessories for Legion Go which will go on sale in the coming months. Lenovo Legion Go Price Lenovo Legion Go will be available in the market from November this year and the company has priced the product at EUR 799 (Rs 71,200 approx). We still dont know if Lenovo will launch the Legion Go in India, considering the Asus Ally launched recently. Lenovo Legion Go Features Right off the bat, you notice that the Lenovo Legion Go is a giant with its 8.8-inch QHD+ display that offers a 144Hz refresh rate for gamers. It is powered by an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip with 16GB RAM and up to 1TB storage. But you have a card slot that allows you to expand the storage to 2TB. Lenovo has equipped the device with a cooling system that has a 79-blade fan yet operates quietly. This is another handheld device that runs on Windows 11 which allows gamers to easily access more titles and even offers a seamless link between the Legion Game Store and with Xbox Game Pass subscription. You can customise the settings of the display to suit your preference. Lenovo is offering a large-capacity battery which is claimed to charge up to 70 per cent in half an hour. The device has a joystick with customisable RGB rings, controllers and an integrated trackpad to get you going. If you are grossed out by creepy crawlies, this piece of news may be hard for you to take in. One of the first things that come to mind for most people when disgusting creepy crawlies are mentioned is the infamous cockroach. Cockroaches are probably one of the most detested and repulsive creatures in the world. It is an entirely different struggle for survival for people who have to deal with a cockroach infestation at home since these disgusting bugs can multiply really fast. But what we are going to tell you about is far worse than a home infestation. Have you ever heard of an ear cockroach infestation? Yes, you heard that right. A woman from Colombia was left flabbergasted after a live cockroach was pulled out of her ear. The unidentified woman reportedly experienced a popping feeling in her ear but chalked it up to a small inconvenience, according to The Mirror. When the discomfort persisted, she confided in her friend that she was concerned something might be going on inside her skull. The nauseating video, which was posted on Tiktok, shows her friend applying tweezers to the left ear before pulling on the bug. As the companion tries to capture the insect, the creepy crawly can be seen writhing around. The cockroach is hauled out alive and well a few seconds later. It is unknown if the womans ear sustained any long-term harm. The video has left internet users rattled and disgusted with some even wondering if the cockroach could have laid eggs in the womans ears. Many have wanted to know if the woman sustained any kind of damage. The announcement came the same week that mystified medical professionals made history by successfully extracting a living parasitic worm from a womans brain. After experiencing weeks of exhausting symptoms, including abdominal discomfort, diarrhoea, a dry cough, a fever, and night sweats, the 64-year-old anonymous patient was first admitted to the hospital in late January 2021. Dr Hari Priya Bandi, the attending neurosurgeon, was perplexed when she removed an 8 cm long parasitic roundworm from her patients head. In the vibrant city of Bengaluru, its a common sight to see locals from the area using social media platforms to search for potential tenants. What makes these Bengaluru landlords truly unique, for better or worse, are the quirky and sometimes downright bizarre demands they put forth. Recently, one landlord, going by the username @Bharath_MG, posted about his property on X (formerly Twitter) that he wanted to rent out, and it quickly gained attention. The property was highly attractive, featuring modern interiors and amenities, causing Bengalureans to flock to it. However, this rollercoaster ride took an unexpected turn when the landlord, seemingly motivated by a change of heart or financial considerations, decided to hike the rent. This sudden increase in rent also took social media by storm, transforming it into a meme sensation. @Bharath_MGs initial post read: Renting my 2 BHK flat in Indiranagar 80ft road just next to Lazy Suzy and right opposite to 12th main. Interiors done recently Bedroom has a home theater setup with a projector and motorized screen No restrictions Move in date: Oct 15 Rent: 45K Attached pics DMs are open. However, in a subsequent post, the rent was revised to a whopping 55K. While some criticised this rent hike, the internet couldnt resist turning the situation into a humorous meme fest. The quoted words from the original post became the foundation of a trend, where individuals added their own creative spin, injecting humor into the mix. This was partly due to the undeniable appeal of the property and partly because of the landlords sudden cost adjustment. Also Read: Bengaluru Man Walking on the Moon is Tripping the Internet Out, Watch Viral Video Memes flooded the internet, featuring famous landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Charminar, the iconic Raichand house from K3G, and even the beloved childhood piggy bank shaped like a puppy house. Take a Look: In response to the meme storm, @Bharath_MG decided to take down his initial posts and publish a fresh one, accompanied by an apology: I never expected so many responses to my rental tweet! They were mostly love, with a bit of hate mixed in for increasing the rent. Really sorry about that! He also pledged not to raise the rent after entering into a rental agreement. Also Read: Why Bengaluru Never Fails to Ignite Entrepreneurial Spirit? This Viral Pic is Proof After all, who could have imagined that a simple post seeking tenant would evolve into a meme trend? If youre heading back to school or back to the office it might be time to think about ways of sharpening your attention span and concentration to optimize your learning and performance. This means getting into good habits on a daily basis to maintain and boost your memory, so you can tackle the new school year with confidence. The importance of sleep and socializing Youve probably heard it all before but theres no point in revising until dawn in the hope of getting good exam grades, quite the contrary. The fatigue built up during this kind of last-minute revision session can be detrimental to your performance and have an impact on your concentration and memory two things that are essential during exam time. Numerous scientific studies have found a link between sleep and improved ability to learn, memorize or use new knowledge, as revealed by research from the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. This study reports that, in 2019, researchers even established a relationship between sleep and exam results, revealing that the less sleep students got, the worse their grades were. Also read: Genes For Learning and Memory Are 650 mn Years Old, Study Meanwhile, professor of psychogerontology Helene Amieva, who sits on the scientific board of Frances Observatoire B2V des Memoires, explains that: Sleep quality has an impact on cognitive performance levels. She continues: Deep sleep has the extraordinary ability to evacuate toxic proteins accumulated in the brain during the day. As a result, a good nights sleep enables proper attention and memory function during the day, and in the long term, protects our brains from the harmful accumulation of certain proteins. But thats not all: social relationships can also play a role in stimulating memory. Establishing and maintaining social connections are both beneficial to a wide range of cognitive abilities. We need to think of social ties as a source of intellectual stimulation in their own right, says Helene Amieva. The expert points out that this can take the form of volunteering, organizing a dinner party with friends, or even simply maintaining close ties with friends and relations. Make time for leisure activities Health professionals all agree that exercise is good for the brain, and the same applies to memory. Sport has been shown to have a number of positive effects on the brain. It improves cognitive capacity, and may even protect against certain brain pathologies such as neurodegenerative diseases and depression, the French Federation for Brain Research (FRC) said in 2019. The Observatoire B2V des Memoires also praises the merits of other, potentially more intellectual activities, as long as they are carried out without stress and are a source of relaxation and pleasure, the organization states in a press release. Scientific research has shown that other simple leisure activities can be effective in stimulating cognitive abilities. Such is the case with music, whether through listening or playing an instrument. And for the very young, this is also the case with reading. Researchers in the UK and China observed that reading for pleasure from an early age has an influence on cognitive functions, as well as on brain areas linked to improved mental health, behavior and attention. Diet has a role to play Eating fish has long been said to be good for memory, largely because of the phosphorus content of certain fish. But scientific studies contradict each other on the subject, with the most skeptical arguing that fish is far from being the only food rich in phosphorus its also found in dairy products, eggs, certain meats and pulses, seeds and seafood. Over the past decade, various studies have nevertheless found that fish consumption can improve cognitive function and combat cognitive decline. In 2014, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh suggested that eating baked or grilled fish once a week could be beneficial for the brain, and in preventing memory loss. So whats on your plate could be an additional factor to take into account when heading back to school or work. Algerias defence ministry said on Sunday its coastguard fired warning shots before firing directly at a man on a jet ski who entered Algerian waters, in an incident that a survivor said left two dead. The incident took place on Tuesday after five men strayed into Algerian waters on jet skis near the Moroccan coastal resort of Saidia on Algerias border, according to Mohamed Kissi, who said he survived the shooting. Algerias defence ministry released its version of events in a statement on Sunday. After multiple attempts, shots were fired on a jet ski, the ministry said. It said another body hit by gunshots wounds was recovered on Wednesday. Kissi, speaking in a video published by Moroccos le360 news site, said the group of friends had been approached after dark by an Algerian government vessel. He said he heard the boat firing on the group and said his brother Bilal, 29, and another man, Abdelali Mchiouer, 40, were both shot dead. Another member of their group, Smail Snabi, was detained by the Algerian authorities, Kissi said. The border between Algeria and Morocco has been closed since 1994 and the two countries have had no diplomatic relations since Algiers cut ties with Rabat in 2021. Given that the maritime border area is witnessing intense activity by drug smuggling gangs and organized crime, Coast Guard members fired warning shots, the Algerian statement added. Kissi disputed the Algerian account. I did not hear any warning shots. I only heard gun shots directly that killed my brother Bilal, he told Reuters on Sunday. He said Abdelali Mchiouer was also shot dead. Mchiouers father said they are still waiting for his body to be released to observe a proper burial for him. Moroccan authorities said they could not comment on the case, calling it a judicial matter. The Moroccan prosecutor said it was investigating the violent incident. Mohamed and Bilal Kissi, along with Smail Snabi who is presumed to have been arrested, each hold dual Moroccan and French nationality, local media reported. Moroccos National Human Rights Council condemned the killing and urged the release of Snabi whom it said was sentenced rapidly to 18 months in jail. Frances Foreign Ministry said it had learned of the death of one of its nationals and the detention of another in Algeria and was in touch with the families and with authorities in Morocco and Algeria. Bilal Kissis body was found by Moroccan fishermen and he was buried near the eastern Moroccan city of Oujda on Wednesday, his brother said. Nepals Pokhara International Airport built with Chinese loans is facing several technical and engineering-related problems, CNN-News18 has learnt. An in-depth study conducted by the Centre for Social Inclusion and Federalism, a think tank from the country, added that designs prepared by a Chinese company for the airport were not scrutinised by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and its leadership. The study has highlighted several other issues. The lack of planning and coordination around the airport, and the safety issues such as clearance of the landfill site, both during and after its inauguration, suggest a willful disregard towards passenger safety, the study says. CAAN officials also changed pilot rules after the Yeti Airlines crash in January, but it was evident that the pilot was allowed to test a new approach path with passengers on board, which should not have been cleared by the air traffic control officials. This points to a foundational weakness in CAAN, in that it is both the regulator as well as service provider, which has been one of the key reasons outlined by the European Union in its ban on Nepali airlines. The study also revealed that the airport was inaugurated without fixing all necessary equipment and sufficient preparations following pressure from above. The airport was inaugurated in haste, which was confirmed by the fact that the government decided to set up a customs office at the new airport only a week after its inauguration, the study said. Pokhara International Airport has already become a debt trap. The earnings are disappointing, and the airport is struggling to meet its financial obligations. To cover the expenses incurred in the construction of the airport and its capital interest, the new airport alone needs to earn 11.4 million dollars or 1 trillion 50 billion rupees annually. This poses a significant challenge, as in the next three months Exim Bank China will require a monthly interest payment of 3.2 million dollars, adding further pressure and burden on the airports finances. Chinese lenders, the Export-Import Bank of China, have taken over the Ugandan Entebbe International Airport and other assets in the country over the failure of the government there to repay a loan. The loan terms and payback period are exactly the same as for the Pokhara International Airport. CAAN officials and leadership are responsible for the current plight of Pokhara International Airport, according to the study. The airport was built under project director Pradip Adhikari who was also the lead for another disputed project, Gautam Buddha International Airport. He hit the headlines for facilitating meetings with Chinese contractors during the Nepal Prime Ministers China visit. Adhikari, who is currently serving as director general of CAAN, was recently criticised for impulsive decisions and directives. A few weeks back, he introduced some rules restricting rescue flights in the Karnali region. There were reports in national and international media that many people lost their lives in the absence of medical rescue. According to local media reports, Adhikari, a civil engineer, has close proximity to Chinese contractors, is manipulating the political leaders, and engages in media trials. This is the first time in Nepals aviation history that CAAN has been dragged into so many disputes and issues which have damaged its international image, a former director of the authority said. Of late, Adhikari has been lobbying for the construction of Nijgadh International Airport, neglecting the concerns of environmentalists and without considering its economic viability, said sources. As Pokhara International Airport and Gautam Buddha International Airport are becoming ghost airports, it is uncertain how the new airport could be a successful project. Though many questions have been raised about the CAAN leadership, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has not taken any action against Adhikari. The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday officially confirmed that Premier Li Qiang will represent Beijing at the G20 Summit to be held in India this week. This announcement puts to rest recent reports suggesting that Chinese President Xi Jinping would not attend the high-profile diplomatic event. At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10, Chinese Foreign Ministry Mao Ning said in a press release. When asked at a press briefing about whether the announcement meant Xi would not travel to New Delhi, Mao said: I made an announcement about this just now. What I can tell you is that the G20 is an important forum for international economic cooperation. China has always placed high importance on and actively participated in relevant events, she was quoted as saying by AFP. In attending this meeting, Premier Li Qiang will convey Chinas thoughts and positions on G20 cooperation, pushing for the G20 to strengthen unity and cooperation, and working together to combat global economic and development challenges, she added. Xi Jinping Snubs G20 Summit as Indias Rise Hurts Chinese Prezs Emperor Mindset The Group of 20 major economies consists of 19 countries and the European Union, making up about 85 percent of global GDP and two-thirds of the worlds population. India is all geared up to hold the mega diplomatic event that will take place in New Delhi from September 8-10. The G20 summit had been anticipated as a potential platform for a meeting between Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, with the possibility of bilateral talks between the Chinese President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also on the agenda. On Sunday, Biden said that he is looking forward to his trip to India this week but is disappointed that his Chinese counterpart will not attend the summit. I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him, he said in response to a question. Biden Looks Forward to India Trip but Disappointed as Xi Jinping May Skip G20 Last week, top government sources told News18 that Indias hard talk on border issues is one of the major reasons Xi Jinping is unlikely to attend the G20 Summit in India. They said that the Chinese President could be trying to avoid a bilateral meeting with PM Modi. During the brief interaction with Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in South Africa last month, PM Modi had categorically asked the Chinese leader to clarify his position on the border dispute. Government sources said a visit to India for the G20 Summit without holding a bilateral meeting with the host nation would have proven to be a diplomatic disaster for Xi Jinping, which is why he may skip the crucial gathering altogether. Several Pakistani cities are witnessing large-scale protests against the abduction of Hindus. Protests and sit-ins were observed in Sindhs Larkana and Kashmore as well as in Karachi with members of the Hindu community participating. The protesters are demanding the recovery of abducted Pakistani Hindus, including Mukhi Jagdish Kumar, Sagar Kumar, Jaideep Kumar and Dr Munir Naij. A protest march took place in Kashmore against kidnapping of Hindus, demanding the release of Hindus who being hostage by dacoits. Furthermore, they emphasized the importance of ensuring their safety and security. pic.twitter.com/f3byKoetIh Narain Das Bheel (@NarainDasBheel8) August 31, 2023 The members of the Hindu community are demanding the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Rangers start an operation against the kidnappers and bandits and highlighted that even after 24 hours none of the abducted have been found. Amdist growing fear of abductions in District Shikarpur and Kashmore, members of Hindu community have called a complete shutter-down strike in Kashmore and Kandhkot in order to show solidarity with recently abducted #MukhiJagdeesh, #Jaideep, and #SagarKumar pic.twitter.com/crTImdgsx1 Sumeet (@sumeetkrathore) September 1, 2023 Traffic to Punjab and Balochistan came to a standstill due to the protests. In Sindhs Larkana, Pooj Hindu Panchayat Chairman Haresh Lal, Dr Dayali Gul, Nanin Ram, Dr Sudham Chand and other people from Sindhs civil society and members of other faiths took out a march from Hindu Dharamshala. A report by Pakistan-based newspaper the Dawn said that representatives of the Larkana Chamber of Commerce and Industry and leaders of Awami Tehreek joined the rally. The Hindu Panchayat said the police has failed to act decisively against the bandits who have been uploading videos on social media showing kidnapped victims being tortured. Kashmore, #Sindh Pakistan A young #Hindu boy #Sagar_Kumar who was abducted 19 days ago, bandits release his video demanding 10 crore Pakistani Rupees Ransom. Religious minorities are not safe in Pakistan. #HinduLivesMatters#SaveMinoritiesInPakistan pic.twitter.com/1K75YM6FJ3 Faraz Pervaiz (@FarazPervaiz3) August 28, 2023 Protests in Karachi were led by the Minority Rights March and Aurat March, which grew in size at a later stage. Here the protesters were demanding justice for abducted Sagar Kumar, Mukhi Jagdish, Dr Munir and minors Jaideep Kumar and Priya Kumari. Protesters travelled from Kashmore and Sukkur, held up banners and posters with pictures of the missing persons, the Dawn said in its report. We are raising our voices here in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, because Kashmore, probably, is too backward a town and, maybe, the voices of the victims families and the people of that area are not reaching the corridors of power from there, a protester was quoted as saying by the newspaper. Human rights activist Pastor Ghazala Shafique told the Dawn that landlords in the area are offering protection to the bandits. Social activist Sheema Kermani added that such rampant breaking down of law and order is also because these gangs are thriving under the patronage of landlords and police. Abductees have been missing for years and months but it is being said by police that they have been recovered. Yet their families are saying that they have not reached home, Kermani was quoted as saying. Caretaker Sindh home minister Haris Nawaz said steps are being taken to launch an operation against bandits in the riverine areas of Jacobabad and Shikarpur but protesters remain dissatisfied and want assurance from the Sindh chief minister. Pakistan President Arif Alvi will be asked to step down from his role and serve as interim president once the election schedule is released, Pakistan-based news outlet the News International said. This means for the first time in Pakistans history the nation will have an interim president and prime minister. President Arif Alvis tenure will end next week and he will be asked to voluntarily resign before any disciplinary action is taken against him. The news outlet said that his role in national affairs will be limited. It also said that the president has been told that he will play a role in matters of national importance only when it is absolutely necessary and there are indications that the federal government wants him to do so. The Pakistan president can remain in his post until there is an election of a new president but in the current circumstances Arif Alvi will continue even after the constitutional term is completed albeit in an interim format. As there are no provincial assemblies since all of them have been dissolved, a new president cannot be elected for now. The National Assembly is also dissolved, hence, a motion of impeachment against the president cannot be approved. Arif Alvi did not react to the suggestions that he will be appointed as an interim president. The newspaper said that Arif Alvi will issue a plan of action to retire from his duties once the general election schedules are released. The issue of general elections in Pakistan has become a cause of concern for all the levels of the government. The Pakistan supreme court has asked the nations election commission to not violate the constitution and hold polls within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly. If the nations election commission adheres to the timeline, then elections will be held in November. But the poll body wants to complete the delimitation process which will then push the polls towards the end of January 2024. A Khalistan referendum that was scheduled to take place at a Canadian school on September 10 has been officially cancelled. Authorities of Surreys Tamanwis Secondary School withdrew permission for the event after the organisers failed to honour the rental agreement. This follows the objections raised by the local community and provincial government about the concerning nature of the event. Though the schools hall had been rented for what was described as a community event, the school officials flagged how images of weapons and concerning images and materials, were repeatedly brandished throughout Surrey. Earlier today, our district cancelled a community rental of one of our schools due to a violation of our rental agreement. Promotional materials for the event featured images of our school, alongside images of a weapon. Despite repeated attempts to address the issue, the event organisers failed to remove these concerning images, and materials continued to be posted throughout Surrey and on social media, Surrey school boards associate director of communication, Ritinder Matthew, said in a statement. As a school district, our primary mission is to provide quality education and support to our students and ensure a safe environment for our school communities. Anyone renting our facilities must adhere to this, Ritinder said while adding that, Our decision is in no way an endorsement of, or criticism of, any political position. Earlier, the Surrey residents launched a campaign against the so-called Khalistan Referendum, an event associated with Sikhs For Justice and its leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. This protest comes after the organisers displayed posters of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind of the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing. Notably, the Indo-Canadian Workers Association (ICWA) had called for the cancellation of the event. In a letter addressed to the school board, Satinder Sangha of ICWA, expressed concerns about the divisive nature of the referendum campaign. Sangha emphasised that such activities were detrimental to the communal harmony of the Indo-Canadian community. Demographic changes effected by Pakistan have reduced the Shia population share in Gilgit-Baltistan to 50%, compared to 80% in 1948, and India must highlight the human rights issues in the region at international forums, multiple sources in Gilgit-Baltistan told News18 on Monday. There were reports of sectarian tensions in Gilgit-Baltistan, which has a history of rivalry between the Sunni and Shia Muslims, forcing authorities last week to indefinitely suspend mobile internet services. The situation turned particularly tense on Friday when protests were held in the Gilgit city and surrounding areas on the call of a Shia group, hours after a prominent Sunni cleric allegedly made derogatory remarks during a protest in Gilgit. The protesters were demanding action against the cleric. Thousands of people had also taken to the streets to protest the arrest of Shia cleric Agha Baqir al-Hussaini under the countrys blasphemy laws. News18 had earlier reported that the protesters allegedly threatened the Pakistani administration that they want a merger with India if their leader is not released. India should highlight the human rights issues in Gilgit-Baltistan, a local leader told News18 on condition of anonymity. Asked about Chinese presence in the region, the leader pointed to Chinese nationals working on dam projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Chinese debt is sinking Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, the leader added. Another source from the region said Indias Home Minister Amit Shah should visit Ladakh and issue a statement in favour of Gilgit-Baltistan, adding that the strategic importance of the region had increased because of the CPEC. Due to CPEC, the strategic importance of Gilgit-Baltistan has increased manyfold in recent times. Gilgit-Baltistan is a disputed territory and the UN must be asked to issue a stay order against international agreements. Indias Home Minister Amit Shah should visit Ladakh without delay and issue a statement in our favour. The Indian government should invite a delegation of Kashmiri and Gilgit-Baltistan human rights activists to Delhi, he said, sounding alarm over increase in Pakistani troops in the area. Pakistan has recently increased troops in Gilgit-Baltistan. India should increase troops on both LoC and LAC. The Indian government should announce that in next elections, the seats will be filled with PoJK-GB candidates. History of Gilgit-Baltistan India considers Gilgit-Baltistan a part of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1935, with rising Soviet influence and its possible threat to the British Empire, the British took Gilgit-Baltistan on lease for 60 years. After the British terminated the lease, they loaned two of their officers Major W A Brown and Captain A S Mathieson to the Maharaja for the purpose of looking after the defence of Gilgit-Baltistan till an alternative arrangement was found. Soon after, the locals of Gilgit-Baltistan rebelled against Maharaja Hari Singh and Major Brown imprisoned Brigadier Ghansara Singh. On November 2, 1947, Brown declared that Gilgit was joining Pakistan. Soon after, the Pakistani army and tribals occupied the region and used it as a base to carry out attacks in nearby regions. Pakistan spy chief Nadeem Anjums tenure has been extended and he is set to remain as the director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan (DG-ISI) for one more year, people familiar with the developments told CNN-News18. The people mentioned above said that the Pakistan government decided to extend the tenure of the spy chief by one more year. The decision to extend the tenure comes shortly after Pakistans Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Asim Munir, held an important meeting with top businessmen in Karachi. The aforementioned people also said there is a comfortable equation between Pakistan army chief General Asim Munir and DG ISI Nadeem Anjum. They also said that former Pakistan prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) supremo, Nawaz Sharif, is also comfortable with the move. Anjum replaced General Faiz Hameed who was known to be close to Imran Khan. It should be noted that Imran Khan and COAS Asim Munir did not share warm ties. Nadeem Anjums tenure was supposed to end this week. During the weekend unverified reports emerged that Lieutenant General Shahid Imtiaz will be appointed as new ISI but people familiar with the developments termed those reports as rumours. The Pakistan spy chief is a graduate of the National Defense University (NDU) and has received a masters degree from Kings College London. He has also completed the Advanced Security Studies courses at the US Department of Defense-run Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS). General Akhter Abdul Rehman Khan and Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha were former DG-ISIs whose tenures were extended on national security grounds, making Anjum the third ISI chief to have his tenure extended. The reappointment of Anjum comes at a time when Pakistan is facing serious internal threats. There is an economic as well as political instability coupled with a fresh wave of terror attacks spearheaded by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The issue of delayed elections is also pushing Pakistan into a state of political uncertainty. A woman was stoned to death in Pakistans Punjab province for allegedly committing adultery, police said on Sunday. The incident took place in Rajanpur district of Punjab, some 500 km from Lahore, on Friday. According to police, the husband of the woman, who is in her 20s, accused her of adultery. On Friday, the man along with his two brothers tied the woman against a tree and stoned her to death. Before stoning her, they also brutally tortured her. The brothers fled after committing the crime and are believed to be hiding at the border region between Punjab and Balochistan, police said. The woman belonged to the Alkani tribe of Rajanpur. A number of women are killed in Pakistan every year in the name of honour. According to human rights activists, around 1,000 women are killed in the name of honour every year in Pakistan. The victims are widely perceived to have brought shame and dishonour to their families either by marrying against their will or having an affair. Most often the family members are behind such killings. A few days ago, a young lady doctor was shot dead in the name of honour in Punjabs Mianwali district. According to police, the 25-year-old doctor wanted to marry her colleague but her father disapproved of it. Over a week ago, the doctors father came to her clinic in Mianwali city and argued with her over the matter. During the argument, he pulled out a gun and opened fire on her leaving her critically injured. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her wounds, police said. President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia was open to talks on restoring the landmark Black Sea grain export deal, hours after Moscow pounded one of Ukraines key grain-exporting ports overnight. The UN and Turkey-brokered deal, which aimed to ensure safe navigation for civilian ships through the Black Sea, collapsed after Russia pulled out in July. Moscow has since repeatedly attacked Ukraines port infrastructure in what Kyiv says is a cynical attempt to damage its exports and undermine global food security. The Russian drone attack on Monday damaged a grain export hub on the Danube river, officials said, adding that warehouses and agricultural equipment were damaged. The regional governor Oleg Kiper announced that air defence systems had downed 17 drones. Hours later Putin met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi, amid hopes the two could restore the deal, with Erdogan promising he would make a very important announcement on grain exports after the talks. I know you intend to raise the issue of the grain deal. We are open to negotiations on this issue, Putin said in televised comments alongside Erdogan. Defence minister resigns Ukraines foreign ministry claimed Monday that some of the drones in the attack had fallen on Romanian territory, although Bucharest categorically denied the claim. While most fighting during Russias offensive has taken place within Ukraines borders, Kyiv has occasionally claimed Russian munitions have fallen into European countries, claims that its NATO allies have largely dismissed. At no time did the means of attack used by the Russian Federation pose a direct military threat to Romanias national territory or territorial waters, the Romanian defence ministry said. Ukraines military said Russia had used Iranian-made Shahed drones in the massive overnight attack. The strikes come a day after Ukraine fought off a barrage of Russian drones in the same region, with Russias army claiming the assaults targeted fuel storage facilities in the nearby port of Reni. Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov meanwhile announced on Monday he had handed in his resignation to parliament after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for new approaches to face Russias offensive. Zelenskys decision to remove Reznikov comes after several corruption scandals rocked the defence ministry, and the Ukrainian leader removed senior military recruitment officials across the country. It was an honour to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the (Ukrainian army) for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraines modern history, he added. His departure comes during a highly-scrutinised Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south and east of the country, which officials said Monday had made limited progress. The enemy is on the defensive in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson sectors, Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said, referring to two southern regions that Moscow claimed to have annexed last year. Black Sea tensions rise She added that Ukrainian forces had also captured three square kilometres (around one square mile) near Bakhmut, a town in the east captured by Russia this May. Earlier on Monday, Russia said it destroyed four US-made Ukrainian military boats carrying troops in the Black Sea. The ministry said the boats were travelling in the direction of Cape Tarkhankut on the Crimean coast, without providing further details. In a similar attack on August 30, Russia said its forces destroyed four Ukrainian military boats carrying up to 50 soldiers in the Black Sea. In the early hours of Monday, the ministry said it had repelled a separate Ukrainian attack over the Black Sea. Crimea was last attacked on Saturday, when Russia destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones that targeted the bridge connecting the peninsula to the Russian mainland. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscows Ukraine offensive but has recently come under more intense, increased attacks. Kyiv has repeatedly said it aims to take back Crimea. On August 24, Ukraine said it flew its flag on Crimea, in a symbolic move during a special operation to mark its second wartime Independence Day. CAIRO: Sudans top military general held talks in Juba Monday with South Sudans president on his second trip abroad since the war in his country started earlier this year. Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, chairman of the ruling Sovereign Council, arrived in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, Monday morning and was received by President Salva Kiir. Both leaders inspected an honor guard and then headed for talks that focused on regional efforts to find a settlement to the conflict in Sudan, according to the Sovereign Council. In April, simmering tensions between the military, led by Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital and elsewhere. The fighting has reduced Sudans capital, Khartoum, to an urban battlefield, with neither side managing to gain control of the city. The military headquarters, where Burhan has purportedly been stationed since the conflict began, has been one of the epicenters of the conflict. In the western Darfur region the scene of a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s the conflict has morphed into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African groups, according to rights groups and the United Nations. Meanwhile, in his trip to Juba, Burhan was accompanied by acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq and Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, and other military officers, according to the Sovereign Council. South Sudans Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro said that the South Sudanese president has a solution to resolve the conflict in Sudan, according to a statement by the South Sudanese presidency. It is known that President Kiir is the only person who has intimacy and knowledge about Sudan and can find a solution to the Sudanese crisis, Lomuro said. Al-Sadiq, the Sudanese acting foreign minister, meanwhile, was quoted as saying that South Sudan is the best candidate to meditate the ongoing conflict because we have been one country for so long and we know each other, we know the problems and we know our needs. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long conflict. Early in the ongoing war in Sudan, South Sudans Kiir attempted to mediate between the warring generals, as part of an initiative by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-member regional bloc that includes Sudan. The Sudanese leader met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt last week in the Egyptian coastal city of el-Alamein. It was his first trip abroad since the war. The conflict is estimated to have killed at least 4,000 people, according to the U.N. human rights office, though activists and doctors on the ground say the toll is likely far higher. More than 4.8 million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. migration agency. Those include over 3.8 million who fled to safer areas inside Sudan and more than 1 million others who crossed into neighboring countries. On Monday, the United Nations and 64 other humanitarian agencies appealed for $1 billion to help over 1.8 million people expected to flee the war to five neighboring countries by the end of 2023. Those neighboring countries include Egypt, Chad, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The UNHCR said the funds are a two-fold increase of what was initially estimated in May, as displacement and needs continue to soar. The crisis has triggered an urgent demand for humanitarian assistance, said Mamadou Dian Balde, a regional director at the UNHCR. It is deeply distressing to receive reports of children dying from diseases that are entirely preventable, should partners have had sufficient resources. - Associated Press writer Deng Machol in Juba, South Sudan, contributed to this report. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor The trial opened Monday of a Russian-born Swedish citizen charged with collecting information for the Russian military intelligence service GRU for almost a decade. Sergey Skvortsov, 60, is accused of gross illegal intelligence activities against Sweden and against a foreign power, according to prosecutor Henrik Olin who has identified the foreign power as the United States. Skvortsov was arrested in November together with his wife in a predawn operation in Nacka, outside Stockholm. Swedish media reported that elite police rappelled from two Black Hawk helicopters to arrest the couple. Skvortsov has been in custody since his arrest and denies any wrongdoing, according to his defense lawyer, Ulrika Borg. His wife was released without charge following an investigation by Swedens security agency. The trial is being held at the Stockholm District Court. It is the second trial in recent years of people accused of spying on Sweden for Russia and its military intelligence service. In May, Swedens highest court upheld the life sentence for the eldest of two Iranian-born Swedish brothers. Peyman Kia was sentenced to life in January in one of the Scandinavian countrys biggest espionage cases in decades. His brother, Payam Kia, was given nine years and 10 months. They were found guilty of having worked jointly to pass information to Russia between Sept. 28, 2011, and Sept. 20, 2021. Sochi, Sep 4 (AP) Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began on Monday with the Turkish leader seeking to persuade Russia to revive an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports. Putin in July refused to extend the agreement, which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year earlier. Russia complained that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertiliser hadnt been honoured. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Opening the talks, Putin said he was open to discussing the grain deal, among other issues. The two leaders met in Russias Black Sea resort of Sochi, where the Russian president has a residence. A lot is riding on the talks for the world food supply. The meeting takes place against a backdrop of more than 18 months of war and Ukraines recent counteroffensive. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Zelenskyy said, without elaborating. Reznikov on Monday published a photo of his resignation letter. Since Putin withdrew from the grain initiative, Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. My gut feeling is that Putin recognises the leverage he has by using food as an economic weapon, and thus will fight for all he can get in terms of concessions on his wish-list, said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank. Those may include Russias grains, or fertiliser exports, or wider issues, he said. Data from the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which organised the Ukraine shipments, shows that 57 per cent of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China, which received nearly a quarter of the food. Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, Ukraines main Black Sea port area. On Monday, the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions, but did not specify damage caused by the drones that got through. The Turkish president has maintained close ties to Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasnt joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. NATO member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and backing Kyivs bid to join NATO. Erdogan angered Moscow in July when he allowed five Ukrainian commanders to return home. The soldiers had been captured by Russia and handed over to Turkey on condition they remain there for the duration of the war. Putin and Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraines Black Sea exports to resume. Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putins position. In July, he said Putin had certain expectations from Western countries over the Black Sea deal and that it was crucial for these countries to take action in this regard. UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres recently sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concrete proposals aimed at getting Russian exports to global markets and allowing the resumption of the Black Sea initiative. But Lavrov said Moscow wasnt satisfied with the letter. Describing Turkeys intense efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it was a process that tries to better understand Russias position and requests, and to meet them. (AP) . Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor The number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats from northern France to Britain hit a new daily high for 2023, UK government statistics released on Sunday showed. Some 872 migrants aboard 15 different vessels made the perilous journey across one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes on Saturday, beating this years previous 24-hour high of 756 on August 10. It brings the total number to have arrived on the shores of southeast England so far in 2023 to more than 21,000. That is less than the levels seen at this point last year, but still presents a major political and practical headache for the UK government. London promised tighter border controls after the country left the European Union, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping the boats a key priority. His Conservative government has branded the cross-Channel route illegal and passed legislation blocking asylum applications from anyone arriving without prior authorisation. It also wants to send migrants to Rwanda for processing and resettlement there, but both policies are on hold amid a legal challenge to the African relocation plans. More than 100,000 migrants have crossed the Channel on small boats from France to southeast England since Britain began publicly recording the arrivals in 2018. They have strained Britains asylum system, with a growing backlog of more than 175,000 people, including children, waiting for an initial decision by the end of June. The route has also repeatedly proved perilous, with numerous capsizes and scores of migrants drowning in the Channels waters over the last decade. London, Sep 4: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday strongly defended his record in government, dubbing allegations that he cut education funding as completely and utterly wrong amid an ongoing crisis over a light-weight concrete that is causing school closures in England and Wales. Thousands of pupils face disruption at the start of a new term this week after over 100 schools face full or partial closure because of concerns about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which is prone to collapse. A former senior civil servant in the Department for Education (DfE) alleged that it was under Sunaks term as Chancellor that the UK Treasury failed to properly fund school rebuilding schemes. I think that is completely and utterly wrong. Actually one of the first things I did as Chancellor, in my first Spending Review in 2020, was to announce a new 10-year school rebuilding programme for 500 schools, said Sunak. Now that equates to about 50 schools a year that will be refurbished or rebuilt. And, if you look at what we have been doing over the previous decade, thats completely in line with what we have always done, he said. The British Indian leader also indicated that extra funding will be made available to schools dealing with the current crisis. The Chancellor [Jeremy Hunt] has been crystal clear that schools will be given extra money for these mitigations, it wont come from their existing school budgets, noted Sunak, admitting that the timing of the crisis was frustrating. It comes amid mounting pressure from schools and the Opposition Labour Party ever since the RAAC crisis emerged last week. The defining image of 13 years of the Conservative-run education system will be children sat under steel girders to stop the roof falling in, said Bridget Phillipson, Labours shadow education secretary. Rishi Sunak bears huge culpability for his role in this debacle: he doubled down on Michael Goves decision to axe Labours schools rebuilding programme and now the chickens have come home to roost with yet more disruption to childrens education, she said. The Liberal Democrats said they want to see the evidence from officials in the DfE about school safety. Families seeing their return to school ruined deserve full transparency from the Prime Minister about his role in this scandal, said Lib Dem education spokesperson Munira Wilson. Meanwhile, UK Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has vowed to publish a list of the schools affected by the concrete crisis this week, even as schools scramble to find makeshift provisions to relocate affected pupils as they return from their summer holidays this week. The minister has indicated that the DfE will foot the bill for repairs and temporary accommodation. RAAC is a light-weight concrete that was widely in use to build roofs, schools, colleges and other buildings in the UK from the 1950s until the mid-1990s, before it went out of use. An analysis a few years ago found it posed significant risk and replacements were recommended. However, fresh advice last week warned of imminent risk following the collapse of beams in some buildings. PTI AK SCY SCY . Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor As a new school year begins, backpacks are getting a more thorough look in some districts. New policies requiring clear bags or otherwise restricting regular backpacks are being passed, though the effectiveness of how these measures deter school shootings is still up for debate. The Washington Post reports that in the last 18 months, at least 27 districts have imposed new backpack rules, with some exceptions for seasonal athletic equipment bags and musical instrument cases. Proponents argue that clear backpacks could potentially prevent students from bringing weapons, but others view them as symbolic gestures that don't address the root causes of school shootings. "While well-intended, clear backpacks do more to provide emotional security blankets for parents than they will to make schools safer," Kenneth S. Trump of the National School Safety and Security Services tells Yahoo Life, calling such requirements "security theater." Instead, he suggested investing in more prevention, intervention, and mental health support for students along with reasonable security measures. School shooting expert Jaclyn Schildkraut tells the Post that requiring clear backpacks can also send the wrong message to students. "It's making the adults feel better that something's being done. But what messaging are you sending to the students?" Schildkraut says. "If it's in response to something like a high-profile, rare instance of violence, you're telling them either we don't think your school is safe or we don't trust you not to be the next perpetrator." In Petersburg, Virginia, clear backpacks provided by the schools are a new requirement for the 2023 academic year, reports NBC12, with broad support among the district. "This is something from our school board, our administrators, and our teachers," says Superintendent Dr. Tamara Sterling. "Everyone was on board with it, so it was quite easy to get it before and get it approved." But implementing backpack policies isn't always simple. Supporters of backpack restrictions are glad that schools are taking any action to keep schools safe, and cite cases where kids hid handguns in their backpacks. But opponents argue that clear backpacks, along with impeding on student privacy, do not prevent students from hiding a gun in their clothes or between books. story continues below When new backpack requirements were enforced at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the Parkland school shooting, many students pushed back, and the following year, the requirement was lifted. Banning backpacks started in the '90s after a school shooting in Kentucky, per the Post. In 2022, there were 46 school shootings in the United States. (Follow the latest news on school shootings here.) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday sought to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to revive an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports despite the war with Russia. Putin in July refused to extend the agreement, reports the AP , which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year earlier and was seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil, and other goods that developing nations rely on. Erdogan said the grain deal was the headline issue at the daylong talks between the two leaders in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, where the Russian president has a residence. "Everyone is looking at the grain corridor issue," Erdogan said in opening remarks. Putin acknowledged that "issues related to the Ukraine crisis" would be discussed. "I know that you intend to raise questions about the grain deal. We're open to negotiations on that subject," he told Erdogan. Russia broke off the deal, complaining that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn't been honored. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Analysts expect tough negotiations in Sochi. "My gut feeling is that Putin recognizes the leverage he has by using food as an economic weapon, and thus will fight for all he can get in terms of concessions on his wish-list," said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank. Those may include Russia's grains, or fertilizer exports, or wider issues, he said. Data from the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which organized the Ukraine shipments, shows that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China, which received nearly a quarter of the food. Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, Ukraine's main Black Sea port area. The Turkish president has maintained close ties to Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasn't joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russia's overseas trade. Opening the talks, Putin mentioned various areas of bilateral cooperation, such as a proposed Russian gas hub in Turkey and the construction of the first nuclear power plant there, in which Moscow is actively involved. story continues below NATO member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky, and backing Kyiv's bid to join NATO. The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers Thursday, in which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraine's exports to resume. Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putin's position. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "concrete proposals" to get Russian exports to global markets and allowing the resumption of the Black Sea initiative. But Lavrov said Moscow wasn't satisfied with the letter. Describing Turkey's "intense" efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it's a "process that tries to better understand Russia's position and requests, and to meet them." (Read more Russia-Ukraine war stories.) A 46% pay raise. A 32-hour workweek with 40 hours of pay. A restoration of traditional pensions. The demands that a more combative United Auto Workers union has pressed on General Motors, Stellantis, and Forddemands that even the UAW's own president calls "audacious" are edging it closer to a strike when its contract ends Sept. 14, per the AP . The automakers, which are making billions in profits, have dismissed the UAW's wish list. They argue that its demands are unrealistic at a time of fierce competition from Tesla and lower-wage foreign automakers as the world shifts from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. The wide gulf between the sides could mean a strike against one or more of the automakers, which could send already-inflated vehicle prices even higher. A potential strike by 146,000 UAW members comes against the backdrop of increasingly emboldened US unions of all kinds. The number of strikes and threatened strikes is growing, involving Hollywood actors and writers, sizable settlements with railroads, and major concessions by corporate giants like UPS. Shawn Fain, the pugnacious new leader of the UAW, has characterized the contract talks with Detroit's automakers as a form of war between billionaires and ordinary middle-class workers. Last month, in an act of showmanship during a Facebook Live event, Fain condemned a contract proposal from Stellantis as "trash," then tossed a copy of it into a wastebasket, "where it belongs," he said. The Detroit Three have emerged as robust profit-makers. They've collectively posted net income of $164 billion over the past decade, $20 billion of it this year. The CEOs of all three major automakers earn multiple millions in annual compensation. Speaking last month to Ford workers at a plant in Louisville, Kentucky, Fain complained about one standard for the corporate class and another for ordinary workers. "They get out-of-control salaries," he said. "They get pensions they don't even need. They get top-rate health care. They work whatever schedule they want. The majority of our members do not get a pension nowadays. It's crazy. We get substandard health care. We don't get to work remotely." UAW members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize its leaders to call a strike. story continues below So, too, have Canadian auto workers, whose contract ends four days later and who've designated Ford as their target. The UAW hasn't said whether it will select one target automaker. It could strike all three, though doing so could deplete the union's strike fund in under three months. On the other hand, if a strike lasted even just 10 days, it would cost the three automakers nearly a billion dollars, per the Anderson Economic Group. Last week, the union filed charges of unfair labor practices against Stellantis and GM, which it said have yet to offer counterproposals. As for Ford, Fain asserted that its response, by rejecting most of the union's demands, "insults our very worth." All three automakers have countered that the union's charges are baseless and that they're seeking a fair deal that would allow them to invest in the future. Much more here. (Read more UAW stories.) Earlier Monday, Vladimir Putin had said he was "open to negotiations" on reviving an agreement that would allow Ukraine to export grain and other commodities through Black Sea ports. Those negotiations are now apparently over, at least for now, and the answer from the Russian leader is a no, reports the AP . The news agency notes that Putin's refusal to extend the deal, which was seen as critical for world food supplies, "dashed hopes that his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could revive" it. Putin, who met with Erdogan in the Russian resort town of Sochi, said he wouldn't agree to restoring the deal unless Moscow's own agricultural demands are met by the Westin which case Putin said Russia could commit to the deal "within days." Those demands include a removal of restrictions on shipping and insurance. Erdogan, for his part, seemed optimistic that would eventually be the case, noting, "I believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time." The Hill notes that Putin in July put a stop to the deal that allowed for Ukrainian exports of grain and other food supplies to the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The wartime deal had been brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in 2022, which made sure that nations in need received shipments of wheat, barley, and sunflower oil, among other commodities. Putin said Monday that Russia was close to closing a deal that would provide free grain to six African nations: Zimbabwe, Mali, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Somalia, and the Central African Republic. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused Putin of using Ukraine's grain as "blackmail" to gain leverage in his invasion of that country. (Read more Vladimir Putin stories.) Confidence boosted by country's further opening-up of services sector President Xi Jinping's call to further open up the services sector and enhance global cooperation to propel global economic recovery, as well as to develop new technologies and business forms and models, has boosted the confidence of foreign businesses, said executives and experts. It also has given these enterprises more opportunities to expand their presence in the Chinese market, they said. They made the remarks during the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services, which runs through Wednesday in Beijing, after Xi addressed the Global Trade in Services Summit via video link on Saturday, when the fair opened. In developing the services sector and trade in services, China will work with all countries and parties to advance inclusive development through openness, Xi said. It will also promote connectivity and integration through cooperation, foster drivers for development through innovation, and create a better future through shared services, in a bid to jointly get the world economy on the track of sustained recovery, he added. As the world's second-largest economy heads toward a development path driven by greater openness, cooperation and innovation in its services sector, executives of foreign companies are optimistic about the massive opportunities provided by China's huge market and its enabling business climate. "China has emerged as a catalyst for the upgrading of global consumer demand, showcasing the robust resilience of its economy and injecting vitality into worldwide economic growth," said Jack Chan, chairman of EY China. In the first half of 2023, the country's trade in services garnered remarkable achievements, ranking at the forefront globally. This accomplishment is attributed to the profound adjustments in economic structure and the optimization and upgrading of industrial composition, Chan said. In the first seven months of the year, China's trade in services maintained stable growth, with its total value reaching 3.67 trillion yuan($505.4 billion), up 8.1 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. "The ongoing deepening of China's openness in the services sector represents a pivotal element in securing its domestic economic development. The country's vibrant growth of trade in services, driven by the forces of decarbonization and digitalization, presented a reference for the rest of the world," Chan said. China will roll out plans to accelerate the cultivation of new drivers for the digitalization of trade in services, implement pilot reforms on basic data systems and promote the development of digital trade through reform and innovation. The country will also establish a national voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading market and boost the services sector's role in green development. Jiang Xiaojuan, president of the China Society of Industrial Economics, said on Saturday that digital globalization has given rise to a new type of services trade, with the potential to slash cross-border transaction costs and increase the efficiency of international trade. China's digital services providers have strong competitiveness in riding the wave of digital globalization, Jiang said. The nation should fully harness the opportunities presented by global industrial upgrading and build an international cooperation and exchange platform that will drive the growth of global digital trade, Jiang added. Norman Sze, vice-chair of Deloitte China, said at the trade in services fair that President Xi's remarks demonstrated China's unwavering confidence and determination in promoting profound reforms through high-level openness and in further expediting a new development pattern. Under that pattern, the domestic market is the mainstay and the domestic and international markets reinforce each other. China will vigorously boost domestic demand, accelerate the building of a robust domestic market, take the initiative to increase imports of quality services and encourage more exports of knowledge-intensive services, Xi said. According to Sze, "This approach is conducive to collaborative efforts with other countries to stimulate global economic recovery and growth, and it plays a crucial role in aggregating 'China's voice' and 'China's solutions' in advancing higher-level openness to the world." Mohammed Al Ajlan, deputy chairman of Ajlan & Bros Group, said, "As the first Saudi private company to participate in the CIFTIS for two consecutive years, we are looking forward to taking this platform to conduct in-depth exchanges with more Chinese companies. "We hope to strengthen cooperation in emerging fields such as 5G,artificial intelligence, big data, biotechnology, financial technology and automation, among others, join hands with more Chinese companies to tap into the potential of Saudi-China bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and help investors from the two countries achieve a higher level of cooperation," Al Ajlan added. Jin Zhongxia, head of the International Department of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said at a separate meeting on Sunday that to further promote financial sector opening-up at a higher standard, the country will improve the management model of pre-establishment national treatment plus the negative list, optimize the business climate and strengthen regulatory capacity to control risks at a level commensurate with openness. Liu Yukun and Zhou Lanxu contributed to this story. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Postal Code The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State, has debunked reports that it has nominated former Governor David Umahis brother, Austin, to replace him in the Senate. The Ebonyi South Senatorial District seat became vacant after Senator Umahi was appointed Minister of Works. The state chairman of the party, Stanley Okoro-Emegha, debunked the report on Monday in Abakaliki while briefing newsmen, noting that the report was false. Okoro-Emegha said that Austin or any other person has not been nominated to fill the vacuum, as the party will conduct a fresh primary to elect a candidate. APC will field a candidate that will retain the seat because it belongs to us. We will not allow any seat occupied by the party to go to the opposition because we are on ground in the state, he said. The partys chairman said that the APC will conduct a credible primary to elect a candidate who will be acceptable to it and the people. The seat is an elective one, so its occupant should emerge through a transparent process and not through nomination. The governor, as the leader of the party, has the right to support any aspirant, but that does not mean that the ticket belongs to anybody, he said. He noted that the party was waiting for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the seat vacant and issue guidelines on the conduct of its election. Individuals who also say we would lose the states gubernatorial seat at the tribunal are dreaming because it was achieved through an overwhelming mandate. The governor has, through his policies, started justifying the confidence reposed in him by the people, as they knew his capabilities before electing him, he said. The National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) says its members will join the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in its two-day strike action. NLC recently announced plans to embark on a nationwide strike to protest the hike in petrol pump price, electricity tariff, alongside other issues, and accused the federal government of abandoning negotiations. The congress also said the government has failed to implement some of the resolutions reached at previous meetings. The industrial action is scheduled to start on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. Aligning with the movement, NUBIFIE in a statement signed by Mohammed Sheikh, its general secretary, directed all members to stay off duty during the two-day strike. This means that workers in Nigerian banks such as GTB, Zenith Bank, Access Bank as well as insurance companies, are likely to stay off work. In line with the communique issued after the meeting of National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) held on Thursday 31 August 2023 that all affiliates should direct all its members to commence two days withdrawal of services from Tuesday September 5 and Wednesday September 6, 2023, the statement, dated September 2, 2023, reads. The directive is imperative to get the needed attention of the government and warn it of its new found love of meddling in the internal affairs of unions rather than address the punishing economic circumstances we find ourselves in. We hereby direct all our organs to comply with this directive by ensuring all our members stay off duty for the two days. Commenting on the unions resolve to join the strike on Tuesday, Abakpa Anthony, president NUBIFIE, said members of the bank and insurance companies were also being affected by the economic hardship. You know we are also part of the suffering, hence the reason why we must join the NLC in the strike, Anthony said. The directive stands unless the federal government says otherwise. After two weeks of speculation, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has just confirmed Wednesday, September 6, as the definite date for judgment in the three petitions challenging the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election. Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Mohammed Bangari confirmed the date on Monday. Bangari, whose court is accommodating the Tribunal, said that everything has been put in place to ensure a hitch-free delivery of the judgment in the three petitions. They are those filed by the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic, Party PDP, Abubakar Atiku and his counterpart in the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi as well as that of Allied Peoples Movement, APC. Bangari hinted that adequate security has been put in place and that only the invited members of political parties and the general public would be allowed into the courtroom to avoid congestion and security breaches. The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, on Monday, asked the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, to declare him governor of the state and winner of the March 18 election, saying the heavens will not fall. Counsel to Adebutu, Chris Uche (SAN) said this while adopting the petitioners final written address before the Justice Hamidu Kunaza-led tribunal. The tribunal on Monday resumed hearing for the adoption of final written addresses in a petition filed by Adebutu against Abiodun. PDP and Adebutu in the petition marked, EPT/OG/GOV/03/2023 accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of non-compliance with the Electoral Act and corrupt practices during the election. The senior lawyer urged the election court to grant all the reliefs sought including disqualification of the second respondent, Abiodun, as a candidate in the March 18 election. Uche asked the tribunal to hold that all votes allocated to Abiodun by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were wasted and declare the petitioner (Adebutu) as the rightful winner of the election. To find that upon a proper calculation of the lawful votes cast in the election, excluding the votes earned by multiple thumbprinting and ticking of ballot papers under the watch of INEC, that the petitioner scored the majority of the lawful votes, he submitted. According to him, about 40,891 votes were affected and wrongfully credited to the second respondent. On the margin of lead in the election, Uche said the petitioners relied on exhibits 456, 457, 576, 609 and 617. The Counsel said the petitioners have successfully discharged the burden of proof by calling 94 witnesses who gave vital evidence in the case. Uche said, I urge my Lords to do justice by granting the reliefs sought in this matter, the heavens will not fall. While adopting his final written address, INECs Counsel, Dr Remi Olatubora (SAN), urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition for being absolutely unmeritorious and for being a total waste of the judiciarys precious time. He argued that the petitioners simply dumped the documents on the Tribunal, saying all the bags and envelopes of evidence hauled into this Tribunal and tendered from the bar are absolutely inadmissible. On his part, Abioduns lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) in his written address urged the Tribunal to dismiss the petition, arguing that all the evidence tendered by the petitioners were not duly signed and stamped by appropriate authorities. He described all the evidence tendered by the petitioners as worthless, valueless, baseless, and should have been voided ab initio. The position of the law is that an unsigned document is worthless. The principle of margin of lead cannot be a ground for a petition. I therefore urged your lordships to dismiss this petition, Olanipekun argued. Counsel to APC, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu submitted that the petitioners raised allegations of non-compliance in six local governments but failed to mention any polling unit. He also argued that the video and picture of alleged political thugs on bikes who disrupted elections were not related to the polling unit. We humbly urged my lords to dismiss the petition, Ikpeazu submitted. The Department of State Services (DSS) has released Wale Adedayo, the suspended chairman of Ijebu East Local Government Area. Recall that Adedayo was detained on Friday after he accused the Ogun State Governor of diverting statutory allocations meant for local governments in the state. On Sunday, a human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, asked the DSS to release Adedayo and requested Gov Abiodun sue him instead for libel if he had been defamed. Less than 15 hours after Falanas reaction, the DSS released Adedayo. Addressing newsmen shortly after his release, a beleaguered Adedayo stated that he would challenge his suspension in court. Asked about why he was detained, he said DSS claimed there was a letter from the governor that I was making inciting comments against the state government. He said he had told the DSS that there was nothing like that. They said that I was planning a protest, but I said I dont know anything about that, and I told them that I had only done what my conscience said I should, and this I did with my other colleague chairmen despite the fact that they all ran back. My conscience is very clear in the letter I wrote to Chief Olusegun Osoba, he said. Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, has called on the Department of State Services (DSS) to release Wale Adedayo, the suspended and detained chairman of Ijebu east LGA of Ogun state. Last week, Adedayo accused Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun, of hijacking funds meant for the LGAs in the state. Adedayo alleged that Abiodun has been withholding the statutory federal allocations due to the LGAs for the last two years. The embattled LGA chairman in a letter begged Olusegun Osoba, former governor of the state, to wade into the matter. However, Adedayo was suspended by seven councillors of the LGAs legislative council. The local legislators said they received different petitions concerning allegations that needed to be investigated. The councillors also directed Adedayo to appear in its next sitting on September 14. Reacting to the development in a statement on Sunday, Falana advised Abiodun to sue Adedayo for libel. Last week, the Chairman of the Ijebu East Local Government, Ogun State, Mr. Wale Adedayo accused the State Governor, Mr. Dapo Abiodun of diverting the statutory allocations of the 20 local governments in the State. Shortly thereafter, the Council boss was invited by the Ogun State Command of the State Security Service (SSS), the statement reads. However, when he turned up for the invitation on 1st September 2023, he was asked to respond to the petition submitted to the Command by the State Government. In the said petition, it was alleged that Mr. Adedayo had instigated widespread acts of public disturbance and chaos in Ijebu East Local Government. Even though the embattled Council boss denied the allegation of instigating acts of public disturbance, the State Security Service has decided to detain him due to his refusal to withdraw the allegation levelled against Governor Abiodun Even though the Ogun State Government has denied the allegation of funds diversion, Governor Abiodun is advised to sue Mr. Wale Adedayo for libel in the Ogun State High Court. In similar circumstances, two of his predecessors, the late Governor Olabisi Onabanjo had sued the National Concord newspaper for libel in the Ogun State High Court in 1981 while Governor Segun Osoba sued the Punch Newspaper for defamation of character in the Ogun State High Court in 2001. Both Governors won the libel suits. Having regards to the facts and circumstances of this particular case, I am compelled to request the Ogun State Command of the SSS to release Mr. Adedayo from custody forthwith. Former President Muhammadu Buhari has boasted that his administration saved Nigeria from corruption. Buhari said his administration saved Nigeria from corrupt undertones planted to expose Nigerias economy to collapse. He disclosed this in a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, in response to the allegations raised against him by former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, over Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID), Paris Club, and the Ajaokuta steel company. The former president said the cases identified by Adoke originated from an administration that the former Attorney General was part of. Buhari stressed that his administration inherited the contract and incidental judgement in the P&ID. The statement reads partly: The logical conclusion any reasonable person can draw on P&ID, Paris Club, and Ajaokuta is that President Buhari came on a rescue mission and effectively saved Nigeria from corrupt undertones that were planted to expose its economy to imminent collapse. The success of the Buhari administration in the fight against corruption is unprecedented. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, has sent a second list of commissioner-nominees to the state house of assembly for screening and confirmation. Mudashiru Obasa, speaker of the house, announced the receipt of the nominees list at the plenary on Monday. On August 23, the state assembly declined to confirm 17 out of 39 commissioner-nominees recommended by the governor in the first list sent to the house. Six former commissioners who served in the first term of Sanwo-Olu were among the nominees not cleared by the assembly. There were criticisms against the house of assembly for refusing to confirm the 17 nominees. Reacting to the backlash, Obasa said there was no fight between the lawmakers and the governor. There is no basis for the house or myself to fight the governor. The governor is a friend and colleague in serving Lagos state, he had said. We will continue to work together and there is no reason to fight. But we have constitutional rights to say yes or no to his nominees. Sanwo-Olu and the speaker had recently met with the Governors Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision-making body of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, amid the commissioner-nominees confirmation row. Speaking at the plenary on Monday, Obasa said Akin Abayomi, the former commissioner of health, who was previously not cleared, made the second list sent by the governor. He called on the committee that handled the first list to take responsibility for reviewing the new nominees, adding that the panel has until September 9 to report back to the house. Some of the nominees have their documents with you, and you can reach out to the new nominees. I want you to be thorough and do the needful while carrying out this exercise, he said. Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has ordered the immediate suspension of Onyebuchi Steven, a driver working in the Government House Umuahia, who was involved in an accident with a commercial motorcycle rider in Ohafia, on Sunday, pending an investigation. A statement from the states government house, as made available to newsmen by the Chief Press Secretary, Kazie Uko, said an investigation will be conducted on the matter to establish the culpability or lack thereof of the driver. According to the press release, Otti also directed the Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, to follow up and ensure that the injured okada rider, Orji Felix, received the best medical attention possible, at no expense to him or his family. Steven, the driver of a Toyota Hilux pick-up, reportedly collided with Felix, who had just picked up a passenger by the roadside and was about to ride off. The incident happened on Federal Road, by Old Soldier junction at Ohafia, while the motorcyclist and his passenger were promptly evacuated to a hospital near the accident scene, according to the state government. While the passenger was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital in Ohafia and discharged, Felix, according to Okoronkwo, suffered multiple fractures on his left leg and right arm. The 18-year-old Okada rider was subsequently evacuated in an ambulance from Ohafia to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, after he was attended to by Dr. Okoronkwo, who applied first aid on him and bandaged his injured leg and arm. Felix is currently admitted at the Crowther Ward, FMC, where he is recuperating. Nurses on duty, as of Sunday night, described his condition as very stable, the statement read. The patient, now receiving full medical attention, was seen interacting and responding to questions posed to him. The pain is not much again, he replied when asked about the pain in his left leg. The state government added that Okoronkwo later returned to the FMC on Sunday night to monitor the patients progress, even though it appreciated the efforts of on duty in taking care of the injured okada man while reiterating Otti s directive that the victim should receive the best medical attention. A 43-year-old man, Azeez Isa, has been arrested for attempting to rob a new generation bank opposite the Maplewood Estate in the Oko Oba area of Lagos State. It was gathered that the suspect carried out the act in the early hours of Sunday. According to a police source, Isa was caught with a sledgehammer which he used to hit the security door of the bank while trying to gain entry. The source who spoke on condition of anonymity said, The security guards attached to the bank heard the sound of someone hitting an object early in the morning. They traced the sound and found a man using a sledgehammer to hit the security door. He kept hitting the door repeatedly without minding that the sound could attract the attention of people around there. The police source said the security guards were at first scared because they didnt know who else was with him during the operation. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident. We got the distress call around 4.20 am and our patrol team responded swiftly. The man was arrested while still breaking the door. He is in police custody and is currently being interrogated, he said. Ahead of his proposed trip to India to attend the G-20 summit, President Bola Tinubu has met briefly with his service chiefs for a briefing regarding their operations. The meeting, which is a routine activity at the Presidential Villa, had in attendance the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Taoreed Lagbaja, his Navy counterpart, Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar. The meeting held behind closed doors at Aso Rock fills the President in on the general security situation in the country, including a review of areas where service chiefs need to double up efforts to close gaps. Tinubu would later in the day proceed to New Delhi, India to attend the G-20 Leaders Summit. Umar Bangari, the chief registrar of the court of appeal in Abuja, has disclosed that the judgment of the presidential election petition tribunal will be broadcast live on Wednesday, September 6. In a bid to promote transparency and openness, these judgments will be televised live by interested Television Stations for the public to follow, he wrote in a statement. The court of appeal wishes to inform the general public that judgment in the following petitions before the Presidential Election Petition Court will be delivered on Wednesday 6. September, 2023: CAREPC/03/2023 between Mr. Peter Gregory Obi & Anor VS. Independent National Electoral Commission & 3 Ors. CA/PEPC/04/2023 between Allied Peoples Movement VS. Independent National Electoral Commission & 4 Ors. CA/PEPC/05/2023 between Abubakar Atiku & Anor VS. Independent National Electoral Commission & 2 Ors. Access to the Court premises will be strictly on accreditation. Only accredited individuals, including counsel and representatives of political parties, will be granted access into the Courtroom. Interested members of the public are advised to watch proceedings from their television sets. Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who got 6,984,520, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) who polled 6,101,533 votes. Not satisfied with the outcome, five political parties including the PDP, LP, Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and the Action Alliance (AA) lodged separate petitions before the tribunal seeking to annul Tinubus victory. Shortly after the commencement of the pre-hearing session in May, the APP and AA withdrew their petitions. Among several issues, the petitioners contended that Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, the vice-president, were not eligible to contest the presidential poll. As the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal prepares to announce its verdict on the outcome of the 2023 poll, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, has issued a warning to President Bola Tinubu. Ohanaeze warned that the North might likely work against Tinubu if the tribunal orders a rerun. Factional Secretary-General of Ohanaeze, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said Northern leaders are dissatisfied with the President over his leadership style and appointments. A statement by Isiguzoro reads partly: The Northern leadership and political leaders are dissatisfied with Tinubus Presidency and are waiting patiently for the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal verdict on September 16th, 2023, to know their line of action. Ohanaeze Ndigbo said that the Northern leadership shut down President Tinubus led Ecowas planned invasion of Niger Republic through the Northern Senators, the Traditional Rulers, and their Elder statesmen who are unhappy with the Presidents style of leadership and key appointments to Southwest. The group said that they are weighing options, and in case of any Presidential Rerun election, the North will likely work against Tinubu. Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has taken over the medical care of Adebola Akin-Bright, a 13-year-old boy, whose small part of his intestines was allegedly missing at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja. Sanwo-Olu made the promise on Sunday when he paid an unscheduled visit to Adebola and his mother, Mrs. Deborah Abiodun at the Pediatric Ward of LASUTH. The governor pledged to take over his medical care by pulling all medical expertise from LASUTH and other resources to save the boys life. It would be recalled that Deborah Abiodun, had in a Safe Our Soul (SoS) message via social media reached out to Governor Sanwo-Olu, to appeal to him, as a matter of urgency, to probe the mysterious disappearance of her 13-year-old son, Adebola Akin-Brights small intestine. She claimed the incident occurred while her son was receiving treatment at LASUTH. But the management of LASUTH in response to the allegations, affirmed that they did not willfully remove any organ or structure from Debolas body while performing a corrective surgery, who had been previously operated on at a private hospital in Lagos. He (Debola) required extensive optimisation in our facility before a corrective surgery could be carried out. At the surgery, which was carried out by an experienced pediatric surgeon and her team revealed certain strange findings. There is a video clip of these findings. The mother was informed about these findings but she appeared to be in denial, LASUTH management stated. In response to the need to save the life of the boy, who has been undergoing treatment at LASUTH for over a month, Governor Sanwo-Olu during his visit to the hospital on Sunday promised to do everything humanly possible to save Adebola Abioduns life. Sanwo-Olu after listening to both the mother of the child and the doctor who was in charge of Adebolas case, said what is paramount is the life of the 13-year-old boy and therefore he will take up the case. Responding, Adebolas mother, Deborah Abiodun expressed her appreciation to Governor Sanwo-Olu for the visit and for taking up the medical care of her promising young boy.Sanwo-Olu Planetary Do-si-do Just a few hours after Venus eases up on our tender hearts by ending a six-week-long retrograde, Jupiter ratchets the tension back up with a reversal in Taurus. This time, the focus is on money, security and social validation. While it may seem fortunate to have access to bountiful resources, nothing is inherently lucky. Its how you use things that matters. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Some of your thoughts are old scripts and mental clutter that is not to be believed. Be the master of your mind, not the servant. Tell yourself what to think and then repeat those fortifying ideas. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Youre really good at something. Showoff! Its warranted and will be enjoyed. As one doctor suggested, Look at me, look at me, look at me now. It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how. -- Dr. Seuss SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Attitude is everything. You dont say yes unless you mean yesssss!!!!! Understanding the many benefits from shouldering extra responsibility makes it easy to take it on happily. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). For the sake of time and clarity, direct communication is your typical style. Today, peoples feelings could use a gentler handling, so the roundabout route will be very much worth your while. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Youve a burning drive to experience as much as you can in your time on Earth, which includes achieving certain ambitions. Remember to make time for these, or the hours get filled up reacting to daily life. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). From a distance, the rolling fog is mysterious, beautiful and mystical. When youre in it, its disorienting and dangerous. Whatever you can do to get a higher perspective (meditation, conversation, research) will free you. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). While youre perfectly capable of work that doesnt involve your talents, designing a life thats more in line with who you are is more efficient. It eliminates the energy you expend translating yourself or controlling your responses. ARIES (March 21-April 19). Just as it is human to be drawn to the safety of familiarity, it is also human to get curious and willingly submit to the discomfort of the unknown. Your adventurous spirit will prevail; fortune favors the brave. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). The best time to share your expectations is in the very beginning of an interaction, or just as soon as a boundary has been crossed. Other times get awkward, but its still better to communicate than not. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You have a formidable ability to learn, and youll do it quickly as long as youre out of your comfort zone. In fact, the more uncomfortable you are, the faster youll catch on. CANCER (June 22-July 22). If youre shooting without a target, any shot could be considered a bulls-eye, or a miss. Having an aim is what turns an experience into a game. Any mark will be better than none today, so just pick one. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Willpower gets scarce when youre already using so much of it to fulfill a basic human need. Self-discipline is made easier when necessities are covered including pleasure, novelty and acknowledgement from other humans. TODAYS BIRTHDAY (Sept. 4). It will be exciting to finally get the chance to dedicate yourself to a special talent. Youll quickly discover that your abilities are more substantial than you thought. You could even be ready for the big leagues. More highlights: Youll make money in the spirit of fun. Family expands; youll bond in building a better lifestyle together. Libra and Sagittarius adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 10, 34, 41, 38 and 12. CELEBRITY PROFILES: With a release timed near her solar return, Beyonces Renaissance album debuted at No. 1, and the Renaissance Tour is similarly breaking records and blowing minds. The six-act structure, futuristic production and superstar vocal performance are indicative of an artist with natal Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in the highly aesthetic realm of Libra. Queen B has been known to appear on magazine covers of her birthday month wearing a sun-like crown. A portrait at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery proves the point. Holiday Mathis debut novel, How To Fail Epically in Hollywood, is out now! This fast-paced romp about achieving Hollywood stardom is available as a paperback and ebook. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com. COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM A late-summer heat wave is prompting early dismissals at some New Jersey schools this week as students return to classes. The Winslow Township School District in Camden County has announced a half-day schedule starting Tuesday, on the first day of classes, and continuing through Friday. A message to parents on the K-12 districts website from Superintendent H. Major Poteat cited the forecast for extreme heat and humidity. At Winslow Township High School, where classes begin at 7:19 a.m., this means a dismissal at 11:19 a.m., rather than 1:38 p.m. on a regular day. The Camden City School District is opting for half-days on Wednesday, its first day of classes, and Thursday, and is cancelling all after-school and evening activities. Please keep in mind, because of possible citywide early dismissals due to the weather, buses bringing students home from school may be 30-40 minutes late. This is a result of city schools dismissing at approximately the same time, the K-12 district stated on its website. The K-8 Gloucester Township School District has announced a half-day on Wednesday, its first day of classes. All three districts are in Camden County, where temperates are forecast to reach the mid-to-high 90s through Thursday. The school districts in New Jerseys three largest cities Newark, Jersey City and Paterson had not announced any scheduling changes as of Monday morning. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism you rely on and trust. Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. A workplace dispute in Gloucester County on Sunday afternoon ended with a gunshot and an employee in handcuffs, charged with attempted murder, police said. The 3:30 p.m. incident occurred at the LaserShip/OnTrac warehouse on Crossroads Boulevard, off Route 322, in Logan Township. Two employees got into a physical fight and one later identified as Saahir Muhammad-McMillan, 21 pulled a gun from his clothing and tried to shoot his coworker, Logan Police Chief Joseph V. Flatley said in a statement. Another employee came to the victims aid, and they tried to wrestle the gun from Muhammad-McMillan. During that struggle, the gun went off, Flatley said. Officers later found nobody was wounded by the gunshot. Officers arriving to the workplace, a 326,973-square-foot sorting center, were given a description of the gunman, and they arrested the suspect without further incident, Flatley said. Muhammad-McMillan, of Chester, Pennsylvania, is charged with attempted murder, terroristic threats and firearm possession charges, including possessing hollow-point bullets. He will be sent to the Salem County jail to await court hearings. Due to the nature of the incident, police evacuated the building so the Gloucester County SWAT Team could search it and ensure there were no additional involved suspects or victims. Warehouse employees line up after being evacuated from their workplace in Logan Township on Sunday, September 3, 2023.Dave Hernandez | For NJ Advance Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com Police are asking for the publics help after a new art installation was vandalized in South Jersey. The New Jersey State Police posted on Facebook Monday that Big Rusty, a 20-foot troll made entirely of trash and recycled materials in Hainesport Township, has been graffitied. Bordentown troopers responded to a criminal mischief complaint on Aug. 9, and troopers observed multiple graffiti marks on the statue. Police included photos of three suspects in the case. Big Rusty was created by renowned Denmark-based sustainable art creator Thomas Dambo and his team of about 12 people back in July. It is located off Route 38 South Branch Rancocas Creek in front of the same abandoned pottery factory that it was created from, Dambo told NJ Advance Media this summer. He said that thousands of different recycled remnants from the building, including 100 square meters of rusty metal roofing, a plywood attic, concrete walls and old pallets were used to bring Big Rusty to life. Big Rusty is part of Dambos Way of the Bird King sculpture series, featuring him and his team of about 20 builders and local volunteers installing 10 different trolls in locations across the state. Anyone with any information or who recognizes the suspects is asked to contact Trooper Joseph Couzo at Bordentown Station at 609-298-1171, ext. 5174. Anonymous tips are welcome. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com and followed on Twitter at @J_Schneider and on Instagram at @JeremyIsHungryAgain. UPDATE: N.J. forest fire 90% contained, structures no longer threatened A large wildlife near the Ocean County Airport has grown to 831 acres but is 70% contained by firefighters, officials announced Monday morning. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has not said whether the wildfire is connected to the crash of a single-engine plane Saturday night in a wooded area near the airport. A total of 25 structures are at risk due to the blaze, the forest fire service said. The crash involved a Cirrus SR22 and was reported at 10:18 p.m. about a half mile southwest of Ocean County Airport, said Peter C. Knudson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. Police have yet to confirm the status of the pilot, who was the only person on the plane, according to federal officials. They referred questions about the pilot to local authorities, who did not respond to requests for comment. Dover Road remains closed from Lacey Road to Pinewald Keswick Road and Mule Rd is closed from Lacey Road to Pinewald Keswick Road. The flight departed from Monmouth Executive Airport in Farmingdale, Knudson said. Lacey Township Police said in a Facebook post that they plan to release additional details about yesterdays events sometime on Monday. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism you rely on and trust. Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. If you were out and about Sunday night, you may have stumbled upon a rare sighting of what looked like a shooting star. Well, it was actually a fireball meteor. NASA confirmed that the meteor shot over the mid-Atlantic region at around 9:20 p.m. Sunday. In a Facebook post, the NASA Meteor Watch said Analysis of all the available data indicates that the fireball became visible 47 miles above the Maryland town of Forest Hill, moving to the northwest at 36,000 miles per hour. The post also stated that the meteor grew as bright as a quarter Moon and disintegrated at around 22 miles above Gnatstown, Pennsylvania, after traveling more than 55 miles through the atmosphere. South Jersey photographer Werner Tedesco spotted the meteor while taking photographs of a sunflower field on Route 47 in Goshen. I was just ready to close up and pack everything, when I decided to shoot just a few more photographs and between shots I was looking straight and noticed everything just lit up, Tedesco told NJ Advance Media. I just thought it was a car going by at a weird angle, but then I saw an object approaching. Werner mentioned that he wasnt expecting to get any photographs of the fireball, but he was able to catch a third of the meteor going down. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Lauren Musni may be reached at lmusni@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Laurengmusni. Find NJ.com on Facebook. UPDATE: Body of missing swimmer is recovered in Seaside Park, cops say A swimmer is missing after struggling in the surf off a Seaside Heights beach on Sunday evening, police said. The 24-year-old male swimmer, who police did not identify, was one of six who were in distress near the Stockton Avenue beach around 6:30 p.m., police said. A rip current warning was in effect with red flags on display, police said. Five people were pulled from the water, but search and rescue efforts are ongoing for the 24-year-old swimmer, police said. Its unclear if all six knew each other. Multiple agencies, including the United States Coast Guard, are involved in the search efforts. Another multi-swimmer rescue effort was underway at the same time in Belmar, police there said. Six swimmers, including one who was unconscious, were pulled from the water at the 6th and 5th Avenue beaches. The swimmers conditions are unclear. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. A wildfire in Ocean County discovered not long after an airplane crashed nearby had spread to 600 acres Sunday night, but was 50% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. The blaze is in the area of Robert J. Miller Airpark in Lacey, southeast of Ocean County Airport, which is just over the Berkeley Township line from the park. A plane crashed about a half mile from the airport Saturday at about 10:15 p.m., the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has said. One pilot was on board when the Cirrus SR22, a single-engine fixed-landing gear craft, went down in a secluded area. Information about the pilots status was still unknown Sunday evening. Local authorities, to which the NTSB referred comment about the pilot, did not return queries seeking comment. The flight departed from Monmouth Executive Airport in Farmingdale, the NTSB said. The forest fire service said in a 7:30 p.m. update that 25 structures remain threatened, and several roads remain closed in the area, including Dover Road between Lacey Road and Pinewald Keswick Road, and Mule Road between Lacey Road and Pinewald Keswick Road. Popcorn Park Animal Refuge, sitting just to the south of the closed area, posted Sunday night on Facebook that concerned people had been calling and texting, and they were grateful for the support. All of the animals at the park are safe and doing well. The winds continue to blow the fire away from us. State and local fire services continue to do a great job. Thank you to everyone working so hard to keep all of us safe, the post said. Smoke from a wildfire towers above the trees near the Ocean County Airport on Sunday September 3, 2023.Dave Hernandez | For NJ Advance Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com HOUSTON Jasson Dominguez sure lived up his outrageous buildup in his first weekend as a big leaguer. So far, the Yankees 20-year-old center fielder is all that and more. Fellow September call-up Austin Wells also looks pretty darned good, at the plate and behind. Dominguez hit his second homer in three games Sunday night to break a sixth-inning tie and the Yankees pulled away late for a 6-1 win over the Astros and a first sweep at Minute Maid Park since September 2013. On Friday night, Dominguez went deep in the first inning of his major-league future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. BUY YANKEES TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETSMARTER, TICKETMASTER His second homer was off another good pitcher, righty Cristian Javier. Hes lived up to every ounce of hype that Id heard, and I heard he was out-of-worldly Yankees pitcher Michael King said. Then he just out here and just dominates. Dominguez was 1-for-4 on the night and ended the weekend batting .231 with three hits in 13 at-bats, but he was productive with two homers and four RBI. I was more impressed with his poise. When you come up as a top prospect, you think of a guy who could have a big ego and think that theyre the best. Hes come up very humble and very quiet, honestly what I feel is a very good rookie. Then when he goes out there and produces, it makes you love him even more. Wells, who also debuted on Friday night, started at catcher for the third night in a row and was 1-for-3 with a walk and ninth-inning RBI double. A first-round draft pick in 2020, Wells also quieted critics about throwing issues that existed throughout his time in the Yankees farm system. Tested for the first time in the fifth inning of his third game, Wells made a perfect throw to gun down speedy Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubon. Hes got a really good presence to him, manager Aaron Boone said. Hes got a joy of preparing and all that goes into getting ready for a game. He likes that part of the game, and thats serves him well. I think hes done a great job with our staff and behind the plate. Great throw. At the plate, Wells was 2-for-10 with two RBI and a walk in three games. Hes put together really competitive at-bats and (drove in) a nice insurance run at the end, Boone said. I thought it was a really nice weekend for him, as well. NOTABLE -- King (4-5) held the Astros to one run over five innings and earned his first win since joining the rotation last month. -- The sweep of the Yankees gave them seven wins in 10 games in a three-city roadtrip that ended Sunday night. -- Dominguez batted sixth in his debut, then the last two nights. Only three other Yankees were younger hitting in that spot: Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle at age 19 in 1951 and 20 in 1952; Bobby Murcer at 20 in 1970; and Johnny Priest at 20 in 1911. -- Rookie left fielder Everson Pereira was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. Hes now batting .133 in 13 games with six hits and 20 strikeouts in 45 at-bats. -- Reliever Ian Hamilton (strained right groin) was placed on the 15-day IL and replaced by fellow reliever Greg Weissert, who was recalled from Triple-A. Hamilton felt discomfort Saturday while warming up in the bullpen. He was sidelined from May 17 through June 27 with the same injury, but the Yankees think he has a shot to return before the regular season ends in four weeks. -- Second baseman Gleyber Torres was back in the Yankees lineup after lower back tightness kept him out of the first two games of the weekend series. Hitting cleanup, Torres was 2-for-4 with a 435-foot leadoff homer in the ninth, his 24th. -- The Yankees plan to meet with first baseman Anthony Rizzo this week to discuss a return in September. Hes been on the IL since Aug. 3 with post-concussion syndrome, an injury that is believed to have occurred during a May game on a collision at first base. LOOKING AHEAD Monday: Off day. Tuesday: Tigers at Yankees, 7:05 p.m., YES. TBA vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (12-4, 2.95). Wednesday: Tigers at Yankees, 7:05 p.m., YES. RHP Matt Manning (5-4, 3.62) vs. RHP Clarke Schmidt (8-8, 4.56). Thursday: Tigers at Yankees, 7:05 p.m., YES. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (10-7, 3.11) vs. LHP Carlos Rodon (2-4, 5.70). Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost. If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below. Locally reported news and sports Stay Current with What's Happening Get the most of NNY360, register today! By providing your email address, you consent to receive emails and special offers from NNY360.com Faimon Roberts III covers rural communities in Louisiana. His work is supported by a reporting grant from the Microsoft Journalism Initiative and is administered by the Greater New Orleans Foundation. He can be reached at froberts@theadvocate.com. Atlantic Academy, located between Bideford and Bude, has opened its doors to excited Year 6 students for a day of exploration and discovery of their new school. Just before the end of term, the academy, a member of Athena Learning Trust, has invited primary school students who will be joining Year 7 in September to learn all about their new school, try new activities, and meet future schoolmates in preparation for the new year. The open afternoon provided a series of thrilling educational activities, including sampling delicious food made by Year 10 Design and Technology students at a pop-up cafe and learning all about options to pursue their passion for hospitality or catering thanks to the academys wide curriculum and dedicated resources. For students who have their eyes set on creative pursuits, the academy also hosted a thought-provoking art exhibition with pieces from Year 11 students who have been studying Art and Photography. The students have been creating across mediums, with the opportunity to try painting, film development, and pottery amongst others. Atlantic students from across Year 7, 8, and 9 took up important leadership roles for the afternoon and lent a helping hand to the incoming students by giving them a full tour of the school and its facilities, getting the excited visitors ready for starting their secondary school experience. The academy is also hosting an upcoming open afternoon in October for prospective students to tour the schools exceptional facilities first-hand and see what life and learning at the Atlantic Academy is like. Lynsey Slater, Principal at Atlantic Academy, said: Our primary school open afternoons are an important and exciting event to welcome our incoming students and introduce them to our wonderful school community. Thanks to all our terrific Atlantic students and staff, the afternoon was a huge success. It was lovely to see future students talking and learning about the great work that is taking place across our year groups, particularly seeing them so enthusiastic about all the activities they can get stuck in with from September. North Devon Council has pledged its ongoing support to veterans and serving military by signing up to the Armed Forces Covenant. Leader of the council, councillor Ian Roome, signed the covenant on behalf of North Devon Council on Monday, September 4, immediately after receiving unanimous approval from the council's Strategy and Resources Committee. Wessex Reserve Forces and Cadets Association Air Regional employer engagement officer, wing commander Alex Drake, attended the meeting and co-signed the document on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise that those who serve or have served in the armed forces and their families should be treated fairly and not face disadvantages when seeking access to public or private goods and services in the UK. Businesses, public bodies or charities who wish to support the armed forces community can sign the covenant and publicly declare their commitments. The council demonstrates its commitment in a number of ways. It supports the housing needs of personnel and veterans, whether it is through Housing Support, Devon Home Choice or through Disabled Facilities Grants. It also welcomes job applications from veterans, reservists, spouses and partners, with reservists receiving allowances for training and call-ups. Councillors are able to support armed forces charities and organisations through Community Councillor funding, and the council promotes the armed forces and national events, including Armed Forces Day and Remembrance. Councillor Roome said: "I am thrilled that we can express our unwavering dedication to supporting our armed forces, veterans, and their families by endorsing the Armed Forces Covenant. This demonstrates our recognition and comprehension that those who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces, along with their families, deserve equitable and respectful treatment in the communities, economy, and society they have selflessly served, without facing any unjust discrimination due to their service." Wing commander Alex Drake, says: "The pledge to undertake support for the armed forces and its wider community via the Armed Forces Covenant is significant and one that is not taken lightly nor for granted by defence. I am immensely grateful to North Devon Council for their continued support to our Regulars, Reservists, Veterans, families and cadet forces, which directly enables our operations in the UK and overseas." The council was part of a Devon-wide covenant signed in 2012. The current iteration of the covenant was strengthened in 2021. To find a list of all those who have signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant visit www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk. From Albany, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo deployed 200 state troopers and 50 light towers to the blackout area, and directed the Public Service Commission to investigate the cause of the power failure. By nights end, Mr. Cuomo was in the city, touring the substation believed to be the cause of the problems, with the Con Edison chief executive, John McAvoy. By then, Mr. de Blasio had decided to return, leaving for a four-hour car ride from the Iowa union hall in, of all places, Waterloo. He arrived in Chicago at 1 a.m. Sunday, and flew back to New York hours later. The episode, much like a police-involved shooting of a black man in South Bend, Ind., did for Mayor Pete Buttigieg, illustrated the challenges faced by mayors who take leave of their cities to launch presidential bids. That challenge is more fraught for Mr. de Blasio, who is at near zero in most polls but continues to campaign in states like Iowa, where he brought his son, Dante, and in South Carolina, where his wife, Chirlane McCray, was this weekend. I want people to understand that in this job and any public C.E.O. today, you have to take charge wherever you are and I did that, Mr. de Blasio said at a news conference in Manhattan on Sunday. In terms of the decision, as soon as it became clear that we did not have an immediately resolvable crisis, I started moving. WASHINGTON As a powerful hurricane hammers Floridas Gulf Coast, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is confronting a vastly different calculus in his dealings with President Biden and the federal government. Mr. DeSantis, a Republican widely seen as holding White House ambitions, is one of his partys foremost political provocateurs, often appearing on national television to rail against an administration in Washington he denounces as overbearing. As recently as February, Mr. DeSantis dismissed Mr. Biden as someone who hates Florida, saying baselessly that he stiffs storm victims of relief for political reasons. But now, as Hurricane Ian threatens to inflict significant damage across Florida, Mr. DeSantis must rely on assistance from the same federal government whose public health guidance he has ridiculed during the pandemic. Beyond that, he must work with the very president he has castigated and may soon run to replace. We all need to work together, regardless of party lines, Mr. DeSantis said on Fox News on Tuesday night, adding that he was thankful for the Biden administrations assistance. The administration wants to help, he said. They realize this is a really significant storm. If you have sensitive skin, you may want to seek out a product that includes other ingredients like ceramides, niacinamide or hyaluronic acid to help counteract dryness and inflammation, Dr. Garshick said. Also look for retinol products labeled encapsulated, meaning the retinol is enveloped in a protective barrier and released into the skin over time, making it potentially less irritating. When and how to use retinols Above all, the experts said to start slow and be patient. Retinols can take anywhere between two to three months to start to take effect, and the benefits can continue to improve over the course of six months, Dr. Garshick said. It might take even longer before you start to see certain improvements with low-concentration retinols, she added. To ensure that youre not allergic to any of the ingredients in a product, Dr. Shokeen suggested first applying it to a small patch of skin on the inside of your arm. If the skin doesnt become red, itchy or swollen within minutes or hours, you can start using it elsewhere, she said. Dr. Garshick advised using the product one or two times a week for the first two weeks, to allow the skin to acclimate to it, and always applying it at night, since retinol breaks down when exposed to sunlight. If the skin starts to become very red and irritated, feels like its burning or stinging, or theres a lot of itching, its time to take a temporary break, she said. Once your skin can handle a twice-weekly dose without becoming irritated, you can gradually increase the frequency to daily, she said. You can also switch to a stronger product. Dr. Mitchell recommended applying a noncomedogenic (non-pore-clogging) moisturizer after using retinol to counteract irritation and dryness. And because retinol can make the skin more sun-sensitive, its always smart to use sunscreen during the day. Q: We are tenants in a market-rate rental building on the Upper West Side. The laundry machines are in the basement, which is a common area. The problem is that the basement is stuffed with junk which I was willing to put up with, but now Ive seen a rat nosing around. Theres a full-size couch thats been left for months, a broken-down air-conditioner on the floor, an extension cord coiled around the pipes, and a knife block filled with knives sitting on the electric meter. Its unclear where all this stuff came from. Besides the rats, Im worried that the junk is a fire hazard. Ive called 311 to make a complaint, but what else can be done? A: Leaving garbage in common areas to attract rats and create fire hazards violates New Yorks habitability laws, which hold landlords responsible for keeping apartments and buildings safe and livable. But even though the law is on your side, getting landlords and management companies to respond isnt always easy. Start with a letter to your landlord and management company describing the conditions in the basement and the problems the junk creates. Keep copies of your letter, as well as any response that you receive, and take photos documenting the problem. The news that thousands of Burning Man festivalgoers were told to conserve food and water after torrential rains left them trapped by impassable mud in the Nevada desert led some to chortle about a Lord of the Flies scenario for the annual gathering popular with tech lords and moguls. Alas, I have to spoil the hate-the-tech-rich revelries. No matter how this mess is resolved and many there seem to be coping the common belief that civilization is but a veneer that will fall apart when authority disappears is not only false; the false belief itself is harmful. Rutger Bregman, who wrote a book called Humankind: A Hopeful History, read Lord of the Flies as a teenager like many and didnt doubt its terrible implication about human nature. However, Bregman got curious about whether there were any real-life cases of boys of that age getting stranded on an island. Bregman learned of one that played out very differently, In 1965, six boys from 13 to 16, bored in their school in Tonga, in Polynesia, impulsively stole a boat and sailed out but became helplessly adrift after their sail and rudder broke. They were stranded on an island for more than a year. Instead of descending into cruel anarchy, though, they stayed alive through cooperation. When one of them broke his leg, the others took care of him. Anniversary celebrations abound this year, in a dance season that seems conspicuously preoccupied with the past. But in some cases the old is a foundation for the new. Queer adaptations of Ballets Russes classics, a Rite of Spring performed by dancers from 14 African countries, a bluegrass version of an Agnes de Mille masterpiece: Artists and companies are pulling history into the present by rethinking, rather than simply revisiting, familiar repertory. (Dates are subject to change; please check websites.) September 2023 CROSSING THE LINE FESTIVAL The dance offerings at the French Institute Alliance Francaises annual festival range from celebratory to contemplative. The choreographer Tatiana Desardouins Les 5 Sens, a collaboration with the artist Nubian Nene, offers an all-night hip-hop dance party at the Standard Hotels Boom Boom Room (Sept. 14). Smail Kanoutes Never Twenty One, a U.S. premiere, remembers young people of color who have lost their lives to gun violence (Sept. 27, FIAF Florence Gould Hall). And Olivier Tarpagas Once the dust settles, flowers bloom considers the plight of refugees from Burkina Faso (Oct. 3-8, the Joyce Theater). MATTHEW LUTZ-KINOY In 1938, the impresario Lincoln Kirsteins experimental troupe Ballet Caravan premiered Lew Christensens Filling Station, an American ballet set at a distinctly American locale: a gas station. The multidisciplinary artist Matthew Lutz-Kinoys Filling Station, a world premiere presented by The Kitchen, reimagines that work for a different America. (Sept. 14-15, Horatio Street Gas Station; Sept. 23, Dia Beacon) SERPENTWITHFEET For Heart of Brick, his first theatrical stage work, the experimental musician serpentwithfeet joins forces with the choreographer Raja Feather Kelly and the multimedia artist Wu Tsang to tell a love story set in the world of queer Black nightlife. (Sept. 15-22, the Joyce Theater) It has become a familiar scenario in the art world: the heirs of a Jewish collector spot a painting in an auction catalog that was stolen from their relative in the Nazi era. They contact the auction house and, if all goes well, reach a settlement with the seller that ensures they receive a share of the revenue from the sale. But what happens when the rightful heirs to art probably looted by the Nazis cannot be identified, let alone located? A work by the Antwerp painter Frans Francken the Younger that the Munich auction house Neumeister is offering on Sept. 21 raises exactly that question. Painted in the early 17th century, Sermon on the Mount, shows Christ, under cloudy skies, speaking to a huddle of people of all ages who are listening intently. The current owner brought it to Neumeister for sale nine years ago. It is known to have been stolen at least once from Adolf Hitler, a known beneficiary of Nazi looting. But after years of research, scholars have drawn a blank on the identity of the prewar owner. We are in a quandary, said Katrin Stoll, the owner and manager of the auction house. On a bright morning in early June, German lawmakers, Berlin city officials, ambassadors and other dignitaries clustered at the door of a hulking Modernist edifice, waiting for a Vodou priest to conclude a ritual under a tree. The priest, Jean-Daniel Lafontant, had come from Haiti to help reopen the House of World Cultures, Berlins distinguished but dowdy center for non-European arts and ideas. His task was to invoke Papa Legba guardian of thresholds and crossroads before the doors opened on a radically reinvented institution. The House or H.K.W., as everyone calls it, using its German initials is an unwieldy beast, an anachronism with promise. It has prestige and generous state funding. It has space: a 1957 congress hall with a concrete plaza and a dramatic curved roof. (The building was an American gift to West Berlin during the Cold War.) But its mission has been ambiguous, down to the name, with its whiff of Worlds Fair pavilions. Founded in 1989 at the dawn of multiculturalism, and just months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, H.K.W. has yawed between programs that highlight foreignness for instance one-country exhibitions, or world music and films and more complex fare. Irving made it possible for us to buy that work of art, pure and simple, said Glenn D. Lowry, MoMAs longtime director. It really gave us the arc that we needed to represent Warhol well. Blum has also donated other works to institutions, including Ellsworth Kellys Spectrum IV to MoMA, Warhols Ten-Foot Flowers acrylic and silk-screen ink on linen to the Met, and Frank Stellas Ctesiphon 1 to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Blum was a late arrival to the art world. Born Dec. 1, 1930, in New York, where his father owned furniture stores, Blum moved to Phoenix when he was 10. After attending college in Tucson, he served in the Air Force and then went to New York, where he met Hans Knoll, the German-born furniture maker, who offered him a job at Knoll in Midtown Manhattan. Blum met the collectors who came to visit galleries in the area. Betty Parsons, Sidney Janis, Eleanor Ward of the Stable Gallery, Martha Jackson they were all within walking distance, he said. I began going to them and visiting and chatting. A guy called Sam Kootz had a wonderful gallery and was available in a way that dealers are not available now. The architect and designer Florence Knoll asked Blum to help her find art to decorate a Connecticut life insurance office. Blum came back with a painting by Josef Albers a pioneer of color in abstract art and he was on his way. Then in 1956 the gallerist David Herbert took Blum to meet Ellsworth Kelly. Edith Grossman, whose acclaimed translations of Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes raised the profile of the often-overlooked role of the translator, died on Monday at her home in Manhattan. She was 87. The cause was pancreatic cancer, her son Kory Grossman said. An earthy, tough New Yorker who was known as Edie, Dr. Grossman dedicated herself to translating Latin American and Spanish authors at a time when literary translation was not considered a serious academic discipline or career. Translators had long been seen as the humble Cinderella of publishing, she said in an interview for this obituary in 2021. But as she wrote in her groundbreaking book Why Translation Matters (2010), she saw the role not as the weary journeyman of the publishing world, but as a living bridge between two realms of discourse, two realms of experience, and two sets of readers. Dr. Grossman was among the first to insist that on any book she translated, her name appear on the cover along with that of the author, a practice that publishers had traditionally resisted for both financial and marketing reasons. They liked to think that they could wave a magic wand and turn a book from one language into another, she joked in the interview. And no human is involved. No human who needs to be paid? In London, a politician wrote not-so-subtle notes to remote workers last year, hoping to persuade them to spend more time in the office: Sorry you were out when I visited, Jacob Rees-Mogg, then a government minister, recalled writing in messages left on the desks of Cabinet Office staff members who were working from home. In Seoul, Jem Kim, who started a new job at a private equity firm, hoped to ask for permission to work some days from home, but quickly learned she had to be in the office full time. And in San Mateo, Calif., executives at Sequoia, a human resources technology company, said that though they had not mandated a return to office for most employees, they had tried to make the office environment so close-knit that people couldnt help but feel major FOMO (fear of missing out) when they joined meetings by videoconference. When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in 2020, many industries across the world shifted to remote or hybrid work. It was an immense experiment that yielded different results for different cities with long-term standoffs between executives and workers in some cases, and a sweeping return to the office in others. Levels of remote work have varied across regions based on factors like housing density, length of Covid lockdowns and cultural norms surrounding how much workers can fight for workplace autonomy, according to interviews with nearly two dozen workers and executives, as well as a study that included researchers at Stanford, Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico and the Ifo Institute, who surveyed more than 42,000 workers in 34 countries. Whether a person is more likely to do work at a cubicle in a big office tower or on the living room couch now depends on where in the world those cubicles and couches are. Many Asian countries have lower levels of remote work than countries in Europe and North America. Those with the highest levels are Britain, Canada and the United States. On an unseasonably warm morning in February 2017, a 75-year-old white motorist was making his way north on Interstate 95 in Westbrook, Conn., when he was pulled over by a state trooper and charged with a traffic violation. That is, at least, according to a traffic stop report filed by the officer. But no ticket appears to have been issued. In fact, there may not have been any stop. The driver may not even exist. State officials believe that the trooper was among more than 100 Connecticut state police officers who may have filed false reports of traffic stops in recent years, possibly to boost the internal statistics used to measure their performance. A recent audit described a pattern of record manipulation and said there was a high likelihood that at least 25,966 recorded stops between 2014 and 2021 were false and that as many as 58,553 may have been, at minimum, inaccurate. A rainbow crested over Brooklyn early on Monday morning as revelers gathered to send off the summer in the annual JOuvert celebration, and then march down Eastern Parkway in a whirl of flags and feathers in the citys West Indian American Day parade. For decades, the citys Caribbean community celebrated its heritage in the final days of summer, as nights start to lengthen. JOuvert a contraction of two French words roughly translating to daybreak is an annual street festival that celebrates emancipation from enslavement. The morning event served as a boisterous kick off to the parade, which honors Caribbean heritage and is one of the citys most celebrated: Thousands attend every year. Alison Connor, 55, has been a regular for 20 years. She is from Trinidad and Tobago and woke up early to make breakfast pelau, a savory rice dish from the West Indies for her daughter, Jenelle Elias, and her grandchildren, before they headed to the parade. College freshmen who just arrived on campus have heard, from parents and politicians alike, that college exists mainly for the sake of work. Colleges themselves tout their graduates employment rates, starting salaries and career networks as major selling points. Students have gotten the message. An overwhelming majority of first-year students tell pollsters that getting a better job is a major reason for going to college. Across 25 years of teaching at five universities in three states, I have heard students consistently call school their job. Given the cost of attending a four-year college, its reasonable that they want assurance their degrees will lead to higher earnings. But the expectation that college will help them land a job has led too many students to approach college like a job in its own right: a series of grim tasks that, once completed, qualifies them to perform grimmer but better-paid tasks until retirement. Thats a shame, because this mentality leaves no room for what college should primarily be about: not work but leisure. College is a unique time in your life to discover just how much your mind can do. Capacities like an ear for poetry, a grasp of geometry or a keen moral imagination may not pay off financially (though you never know), but they are part of who you are. That makes them worth cultivating. Doing so requires a community of teachers and fellow learners. Above all, it requires time time to allow your mind to branch out, grow and blossom. Ive been raving about Naomi Kleins Doppelganger since I read an advance copy this summer, and when I tell people about it, some of them are baffled: You mean Klein wrote a whole book about being confused with the writer Naomi Wolf? The central conceit of Doppelganger sounds more like the premise for a surreal Charlie Kaufman film than a work by an earnest lefty who usually writes about overweening corporate power. Klein herself is apologetic about it. In my defense, it was never my intent to write this book, she says in its first line. We should all be glad she did, because I cant think of another text that better captures the berserk period were living through. Only in a superficial sense is Doppelganger really about Wolf, the liberal feminist icon turned anti-vax Steve Bannon sidekick. Instead, its about the instability of identity in the virtual world and the forces pulling people away from constructive politics into a shadow realm where clout chasing and conspiracy theorizing intertwine. Klein and Wolf, both brown-haired middle-aged Jewish women writers, are often mistaken for each other. That became a growing problem for Klein as her reputation was tainted by Wolfs escalating lunacy. Trapped at home by the pandemic, Klein became increasingly obsessed by Wolfs transformation into a heroine of Covid truthers. That obsession, in turn, guides Klein into an examination of what she calls the Mirror World, the vertigo-inducing inversion of reality common to contemporary far-right movements. Think, for example, of Vladimir Putin claiming that hes liberating Ukraine from fascism or Donald Trump howling that his multiple prosecutions are a racist plot to subvert a presidential election. When I spoke to Klein recently, she described how jarring it was to watch protests against Covid measures appropriating left-wing language common slogans were I cant breathe and My body, my choice making them this weird doppelganger of the movements that I had been a part of and supported. Such films would face a tougher road under the Green amendment. Federal officials would be forbidden to check a television or film script for classified information; documentarians could be denied access to military vessels and outposts. Even basic government services like a producer getting access to a nonmilitary national park might be restricted. And to what end? The Department of Defense has already instituted a rule preventing Pentagon production assistance to any project that would advance the national interest of the Peoples Republic of China. Mr. Green must also know that movies headed for China are released before a general audience of all ages the equivalent of the audience for a G-rated film in America meaning that so-called censorship is commonplace and tends to focus on foul words and steamy love scenes more than hot-button political imagery. Studios frequently do this scrubbing for other countries, too, including for audiences in India, a democratic U.S. ally. The Green amendment, however, would single out one geopolitical adversary China and give Hollywood an ultimatum: Edit for China and forfeit the U.S. governments support or reject Chinese edits, no matter how benign, and remain in the U.S. governments good graces. But this is a false choice that would undermine Americas ability to operate in the information battle space, an arena in which, of course, China is among our primary foes. For arguments sake, lets say the Green amendment does force American studios to stop editing for China and, as a result, American films are banished from Chinese theaters. How exactly does that advance Mr. Greens crusade against China or the cause of free speech? If Chinese audiences can no longer see American movies, the Communist censors have achieved their goal: Less Americana on their screens. The bigger issue, from my perspective, is that the amendment could also limit Americana in America. At a time of waning patriotism and lower military recruitment, the Green amendment could leave Hollywood less capable of portraying the military accurately and arguably less willing to portray it at all. Fewer military-themed movies and shows would mean Americans would have less understanding of and appreciation for the U.S. armed forces yet another gift to the Chinese Communist Party. No Significant Action Taken on TN Gun Laws read the headline of The Tennessean on Wednesday, the day after the Tennessee General Assembly ended a special legislative session on gun safety. To call that headline an understatement is itself an understatement. Mary Joyce, whose daughter attends the Covenant School, where three third graders and three staff members were murdered in a shooting on March 27, was much more direct. My daughter was hunted at her school, Ms. Joyce said, fighting tears. She now understands what it feels like to be shot at. Since then, every single day she worries if it will be her last because it almost was. As a mother, Im going to have to look my 9-year-old in the eye and tell her nothing. Our elected representatives have done nothing. Our state has done nothing to make you safer or to prevent this from happening again and again and again and again. Ms. Joyces organization, the nonprofit Covenant Families Action Fund, is one of the reasons I had such high hopes for Tennessees special legislative session to address gun violence. To say I was wrong in harboring such hopes is also an understatement. During the special session, which cost Tennessee taxpayers $58,000 a day, Republicans passed no legislation that would have any significant effect on gun violence in the state. None at all. On Detroits west side, near a commercial strip lined with vacant lots, empty shops, storefront churches and motorcycle clubs, sits a cluster of relatively new, micro-size houses 225 to 470 square feet residences that look more like seasonal cottages in a resort town. The Tiny Homes, as theyre known, were built by a nonprofit group and have marble shower stalls, granite kitchen countertops and solar panels. They are intended for low-income residents who pay monthly rent of $1 per square foot, plus electricity, with the option to own the home outright after seven years. To date, there are 25 in a three-block area, occupied by residents that include seniors and people formerly homeless and incarcerated, and who earn as little as $7,000 annually. The first set opened in 2017, and construction is to begin this fall on a half dozen or so houses on a patch of empty land nearby. The project, which is owned and operated by Cass Community Social Services of Detroit, has been built through fund-raising from foundations and private donors, including rocker Jon Bon Jovi. Dont let the rats fool you. Although the pizza-pilfering vagabonds and a variety of other creatures thrive in cities, for many wild animals urban environments are unappealing homes, covered in concrete and carved up by car traffic. As buildings go up and roads are laid down, some species seem to vanish from the landscape, and animal communities often become less diverse, scientists have found. But not all cities are created equal. Urbanization appears to take a greater toll on wild mammals in hotter, less vegetated locales than in cooler, greener ones, according to a new study, which was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on Monday. The findings suggest that climate change could exacerbate the effects of urbanization on wild animals. As our climate warms, the heat of our cities is something that is going to continue to be a challenge to both us and wildlife, said Jeffrey Haight, a postdoctoral scholar at Arizona State University and an author of the new study. The researchers analyzed photos snapped by wildlife cameras at 725 sites across 20 North American cities. The cities, which included Chicago, Phoenix, and Tacoma, Wash., were participants in the Urban Wildlife Information Network, an ongoing effort to collect data on urban biodiversity. In each city, the cameras were deployed in an assortment of locations; some camera sites, like those near airports or freeways, were highly urban, while others, like parks and trails, were less developed. When moving couples who arent breaking up, there are always ways to get a sense of their usual dynamic, said Sven Wechsler, owner of Sven Moving. One person may show his true colors and lose their crap completely, he said, while the other becomes wide-eyed and embarrassed, wondering if she made a huge mistake. They think movers are like flies on the wall, so they dont hesitate to have very open conversations with each other in front of you, so you kind of get a sense of their dynamic, of their relationship, like petty grievances or just weird stuff, Mr. Wechsler said. You see into their private lives in a weird way you wouldnt normally see. An organized, well-packed apartment and a chaotic, filthy excuse for a move-out can both be reflections of a relationship. It can also be telling when only one person is present, Mr. Wechsler said. Once, when he arrived at a home to move out a woman, about five of her friends were there to help her pack her things in a very rushed process. He said it was obvious they were sneaking her out while the husband was away. We were asking: What else should we take? The television? he said. And she arbitrarily decided that we take the television, and we started worrying if we were robbing the place. Lou DeFabrizio, owner of Lou Moves You, said someone once made a habit of requesting a move after a breakup, but repeatedly canceled after making up with his partner. The third time it happened, Mr. DeFabrizio actually showed up, but was turned away and offered some money for his time. When the person requested a move a fourth time and Mr. DeFabrizio refused, the would-be customer left the company a nasty, one-star review on Yelp under the name Daniel. And then I realized what was happening, Mr. DeFabrizio said. Daniel and their partner would get into some sort of fight and its like, Im calling the movers! And they would always make up in the morning and not break up. And Im like, Daniel, I cant be a part of this, this toxic relationship. Downtown San Franciscos office buildings have been quieted by some of the highest vacancy rates and slowest return-to-office trends in the country. But when walking around the area, what makes it feel still so uninhabited is a different but related phenomenon downstairs from all those empty offices: the vacant ground floor. Its the windows with their shades tightly drawn, the phantom deli counters visible through dusty glass, the lingering signage for a Verizon store that doesnt exist anymore. Its the glum handwritten notes this location is closed and the brokerage signs trying to be cheery. Around nearly every corner, theyre seeking someone to lease 822 square feet of former coffee shop, or 5,446 square feet of empty bakery, or 12,632 square feet of what was once a Walgreens. Like much of the office space above it, the ground floor will probably have to be reimagined in San Franciscos business district and other downtowns that have long taken for granted a captive audience of commuting consumers. In fact, it will be hard to solve the problem upstairs without also solving this one. Because who wants to return downtown when its most visible spaces have been darkened, boarded up and papered over? Theres nothing worse than the butcher paper, said Conrad Kickert, an urban design scholar at the University at Buffalo who studies storefronts and street life. And only one step above that are these sad stickers with happy smiling people on them. Tens of thousands of people who had spent days stranded at the Burning Man festival in a rain-gorged stew of mud and slop began to pack up their camps on Monday and stream away from the sprawling site in remote northwest Nevada. Exodus operations have officially begun, organizers said in a post on the events website. But it was a mucky, uncertain trek. The ancient lake bed where the annual festival is held was beginning to dry and harden on Monday after days of torrential rain, but drivers said they were still encountering foot-deep puddles and stretches of muddy bog along the five-mile route from the camp to a paved road. You had to haul, said Kristine Rae, 50, a physical therapist from Idaho who made it out in her truck. On her way, she saw marooned vehicles that werent so lucky. There were cars stuck halfway up their wheels. With television ads and text messages, direct mail and billboards, supporters of the embattled Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, have embarked on an escalating campaign of political pressure, backed by hard-right billionaires, aimed at trying to sway the outcome of Mr. Paxtons upcoming impeachment trial. The targets of their efforts are narrow: the 19 Republican members of the State Senate who will act as jurors in the trial, set to begin on Tuesday, and decide whether allegations of corruption and abuse of power are serious enough to warrant permanently removing and barring Mr. Paxton from office. But the effort to save Mr. Paxton, who is seen by many hard-core conservatives as their legal standard-bearer, is also the latest proxy in the broader fight over the future direction of the party, both in Texas and nationally. It has drawn in a range of conservative figures on both sides, with Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, and Karl Rove, the political consultant to former President George W. Bush, arguing in support of the impeachment process, and Steve Bannon, the former Trump political adviser, lampooning it as a Democrat-inspired witch hunt. Marilyn Lovell, who, as an object of fascination for the news media, the inspiration for movie and TV characters and a figure in history books, incarnated for many Americans the hardships and glamour of being an astronauts wife, died on Aug. 27 in Lake Forest, Ill. She was 93. Her death was announced by the Wenban Funeral Home of Lake Forest. Her husband, Jim Lovell, once the most experienced astronaut in the United States, was commander of perhaps the nations most dramatic spaceflight: Apollo 13. It was launched on April 11, 1970, with the goal of returning astronauts to the surface of the moon for the third time. Mr. Lovell and Fred Haise were the designated moon walkers; Jack Swigert was supposed to remain in orbit. Two days after takeoff, however, an oxygen tank exploded, and the command module, Odyssey, began losing power. Houston, weve had a problem, Mr. Lovell reported (a statement that has endured in the retelling as Houston, we have a problem). The crew aborted the planned moon landing and took refuge in the lunar module, Aquarius, using it for the journey back to Earth. More than a dozen years later, Ms. Haley who did become governor, went on to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and is now running for president hopes to replicate the kind of surprise success that made her a conservative star. As in prior races, shes on a tight budget, spending conservatively, and keeping up a grueling schedule of appearances. As in campaigns past, her allies view the debate stage as crucial to building name recognition and buzz, and her poll numbers have climbed since her breakout performance onstage in Milwaukee. But the 2024 contest, in which Ms. Haley still trails former President Donald J. Trump as well as Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida in national surveys, presents different challenges in a vastly altered political landscape. Though she is still pitching herself as an outsider who can take on the establishment, Ms. Haley now has a lengthy political resume that includes a stint in the Trump administration. And much of the grass-roots support that helped power her victories in South Carolina has rallied behind her former boss, Mr. Trump. The craziest, toughest, wildest, most stressful day working or running on a statewide gubernatorial campaign that is three times a day, every day on a presidential, said Kevin Madden, a former Republican operative who worked on Mitt Romneys 2012 and 2008 presidential campaigns. Both leaders would be on the campus of Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok to attend the Eastern Economic Forum, which is scheduled to run Sept. 10 to 13, according to the officials. Mr. Kim also plans to visit Pier 33, where naval ships from Russias Pacific fleet dock, they said. North Korea celebrates the anniversary of its founding on Sept. 9. On Wednesday, the White House warned that Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim had exchanged letters discussing a possible arms deal, citing declassified intelligence. A White House spokesman, John F. Kirby, said high-level talks on military cooperation between the two nations were actively advancing. U.S. officials declined to give more details on the state of personal ties between the leaders, who are considered adversaries of the United States. The new information about a planned meeting between them goes far beyond the previous warning. The intelligence relating to the plans has not been declassified or downgraded by the United States, and the officials describing it were not authorized to discuss it. They declined to provide details on how spy agencies had collected the information. While the White House declined to discuss the new intelligence, Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokeswoman, acknowledged that the United States expected leader-level diplomatic engagement on the issue of arms sales to take place between Russia and North Korea, officially known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. We urge the D.P.R.K. to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia, she said in a statement after this story was published. One, the T-38 Devil Ray, which can reach speeds of up to 90 miles per hour faster than just about any other vessel in the Navy was awaiting its next assignment. Alongside it was the Ocean Aero Triton, whose solar-power system allows it to operate for three months at a time without any need to refuel. With more U.S. warfighting assets shifted toward Asia, the Navys Fifth Fleet which covers a 2.5-million-square-mile expanse that encompasses the Persian Gulf and part of the Indian Ocean has had to figure out how to do more with less. The experiment behind the Devil Ray and the Triton, nicknamed Task Force 59, has become a fulcrum for the debate over whether the military is moving fast enough to embrace new and more flexible ways of adapting to a changing threat environment. The experiment in Bahrain started after Admiral Selby, then the chief of the Office of Naval Research, proposed that the Navy try out some of the unmanned vessels as part of an annual Navy exercise off San Diego in early 2021. He said he found enormous enthusiasm for the idea among frontline commanders in the Pacific and the Middle East. We are trying to improve Navy power, but we need to do more than that: We need to reimagine Navy power, he said in an interview this summer, just after retiring from the Navy. Were kind of at a pivotal point in history. It is vital that we throw off old conventions. When a staff member fell ill at Australias Antarctic research station and couldnt be treated locally, the team tasked with rescuing them faced a daunting endeavor rife with obstacles. For one, the Australian Antarctic program had never attempted a rescue mission so close to winter, when temperatures on the continent can fall to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit and blizzards can rage for days. Sending a plane to rescue the staff member was out of the question: It would have taken several weeks to clear and prepare Australias only runway in Antarctica, which operates only in summer and is situated atop a glacier that shifts a couple of yards every year, so it needs to be regularly realigned. Instead, the rescuers devised a daring plan involving an icebreaker ship and two helicopters that required them to brave treacherous ocean conditions and carve through miles of ice sheet. China indicated on Monday that its top leader, Xi Jinping, would skip the Group of 20 summit meeting in New Delhi this weekend, dealing a blow to India, the events host nation, and raising questions about Mr. Xis profile as a global statesman. China will send the premier, Li Qiang, to the event, said Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for Chinas Foreign Ministry, at a news briefing. Ms. Mao did not answer questions about Mr. Xi and declined to explain the reason for the decision, but there is no doubt that it is unusual. Mr. Xi has never missed a G20 summit, which brings together 19 countries and the European Union, since taking power in 2012. The announcement comes amid growing friction between China and several members of the G20 namely the United States and India over Beijings continued support for Russia (in the case of Washington) and its increasingly aggressive territorial claims around Asia (in the case of India). The opacity of Chinese politics and Beijings reticence make it difficult to know why Mr. Xi appears to have chosen not to attend the summit. Analysts say it could reflect Mr. Xis preference for groupings in which China is more dominant, such as the recently concluded BRICS summit of emerging nations in Johannesburg. Given that Mr. Xi would be missing an opportunity to meet with President Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the move might suggest that Mr. Xi wants to ease tensions with the United States on his own terms. Rustem Umerov, whom President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine named as next minister of defense, will be overseeing the Ukrainian army as it is engaged in some of the fiercest fighting of the war with Russia. But his background is not military. Instead, the appointment of Mr. Umerov, a former telecommunications executive, underscores another side of Ukraines war effort: managing a sprawling military budget. In announcing his decision on Sunday, Mr. Zelensky was brief and did not elaborate on his choice. Mr. Umerov, he said, does not need any additional introductions. But Ukraine now spends about half of its national budget on security and defense, and Western allies have raised worries about money being siphoned off in corruption. The shake-up at the Defense Ministry follows a series of revelations of mismanaged contracts for weapons and basic supplies such as food and winter coats. A top Russian general detained in the aftermath of the mutiny by the mercenary tycoon Yevgeny V. Prigozhin has been released, according to two U.S. officials and a person close to the Russian Defense Ministry. The general, Sergei Surovikin, who was seen as an ally of Mr. Prigozhins and earned the nickname General Armageddon for his brutal tactics in Syria, vanished from public view in June after the mercenary leader and members of his Wagner outfit moved against the Russian military leadership. American officials say the general had advance word of the uprising, and hours after it began, the Russian authorities released a video in which an uncomfortable-looking General Surovikin is shown calling on the Wagner fighters to stand down. U.S. officials said that while General Surovikin appeared to have been released from formal detention, it remained unclear if there were any remaining restrictions on his movement or other limits imposed by the Russian authorities. The arrest over the weekend of Ihor Kolomoisky, one of Ukraines richest men, has been seen as a sign of Ukrainian authorities drive to root out corruption and curb the influence of oligarchs. A court in Kyiv on Saturday ordered Mr. Kolomoisky held in pretrial detention for two months while authorities investigate fraud and money laundering charges against him. Mr. Kolomoiskys bail was set at nearly $14 million, which his lawyers said he would not pay, adding that they would appeal the ruling, according to Ukrainian news media. Mr. Kolomoiskys arrest came a day before President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was replacing his defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, as the Defense Ministry faces investigations into the mishandling of military contracts. Mr. Reznikov has not been personally implicated in the inquiries. Ukraine has been stepping up its efforts to combat corruption as it tries to assuage concerns among Western allies that wartime aid could be siphoned off for personal gain. The anti-graft efforts are also part of Ukraines case for closer integration with and ultimately membership in the European Union. Before Beatlemania, there was the distinctive Hofner violin bass the first guitar that Paul McCartney bought after becoming the bassist for the Beatles. That bass can be heard on some of the bands most famous hits, including Love Me Do, She Loves You, and Twist and Shout. Mr. McCartney picked up the instrument in a Hamburg music store in 1961, and it accompanied the Fab Four as they rocketed to stunning success, becoming the most famous band in the world. But the guitar vanished eight years later. A new campaign is seeking to find the missing instrument, and hundreds of people have responded, hoping to help solve the decades-old mystery: Where is Paul McCartneys missing bass guitar? But on the flight back, he talked about the greatness of Dostoyevsky before clarifying that he never meant to exalt imperialism, which always consolidates in ideology. Culture he said, is never imperialism, but it is dialogue. Francis suggested that Mongolia embodied that spirit of dialogue, telling a Mongolian reporter, We can say that your land has two great powers Russia and China and for this reason, your mysticism is to try and dialogue with the third neighbor, without disrespect for these two with whom you have good relations. The third neighbor term was not a Francis neologism, but an echoing of official Mongolian foreign policy. While Mongolias economy relies heavily on its two giant neighbors, and especially China, it has pursued a diplomatic strategy called the third neighbor which seeks to reinforce political independence and cultivate allies and investment partners from countries including Japan, South Korea, Germany and the United States. It is a very real thing here, said Odbayar Erdenetsogt, the foreign policy adviser to Mongolias president. But that didnt change the fact that the countrys priority was the best relations possible with its two actual neighbors: Our president is very good friends with Putin. He is very close and very good friends with Xi Jinping. We have to have that connection. Asked whether that relationship could help the Vaticans diplomacy with either nation, but especially China, Mr. Erdenetsogt offered a diplomatic reality check. Just two months ago, many in the West thought President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey could be shifting away from what they considered his overly close relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Mr. Erdogan had a warm meeting with President Biden. Turkey allowed a group of celebrated Ukrainian commanders, being held in the country as part of a prisoner exchange deal, to return to the battlefield, angering Russia. And Mr. Erdogan dropped his resistance to allowing Sweden to join NATO, strengthening the military alliances efforts to isolate Russia. But there was no signal of a major change in Mr. Erdogans balancing act between Russia and the West on Monday, when he and Mr. Putin stood side by side in the Russian resort city of Sochi and spoke of further expanding their countries partnership. They would increase trade and work together on energy issues, they said, despite efforts by Mr. Erdogans NATO allies to cripple Russias economy and limit its access to global energy markets. They also discussed a more pressing geopolitical topic the resumption of an agreement to allow the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea although they announced no concrete progress. On a recent morning, Angel Ortiz Rodriguez was slumped on a sofa in his apartment in Granada, in southern Spain, a tangle of breathing tubes protruding from his nose. Since Mr. Ortiz had a heart attack a few years ago, his life has depended on an electronic breathing machine. But his neighborhood regularly loses power several times a day, forcing his wife, Rosa Martin Pinedo, to keep an oxygen cylinder as a backup. We cant really rely on electricity here, she said. Daily blackouts plague the 25,000 inhabitants in this poor district of northern Granada. Food rots in refrigerators and phone batteries die. Medical devices stop working, resulting in major health complications, doctors say. The blackouts have been a part of life here for more than a decade, but they have grown markedly worse in recent years. And Endesa, Spains largest electric company, is blaming a surprising culprit: an increase in illegal marijuana farms. Marijuana growers, the company says, illegally connect to the grid and overwhelm it because of the powerful lights and air-conditioning the plants need. In May 2019, the industrys Standing Committee on Structural Safety warned that planks made from the lightweight concrete that predated 1980 should be replaced. Although called concrete, it is very different from traditional concrete and, because of the way in which it was made, much weaker, the report said. The Labour Party has seized on these warnings to argue that successive Conservative-led governments failed to prioritize child safety. Warnings about the dangers posed by the material began to emerge in the late 1990s, and became more acute after a school ceiling collapsed in 2018. Even now, however, the education department said it was waiting on questionnaires to be returned from 10 percent of the countrys schools to determine whether they were at risk. Labours shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said the decisions Mr. Sunak made as chancellor had put children directly at risk from this dangerous form of concrete, which should have been replaced. In a social media post issued on Sunday, Labour said, Do you think your childs school should be safe? Rishi Sunak doesnt. The governments case has not been helped by a report in The Sun, a London tabloid, that the offices of the secretary of education, Gillian Keegan, and her department, were remodeled at a cost of tens of millions of pounds during this period. The contract for the renovation was awarded under Ms. Keegans predecessor, The Sun reported. But it took several more years for the federal government to make it a national holiday when it served a greater political purpose. In the summer of 1894, the Pullman strike severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest, and the federal government used an injunction and federal troops to break the strike. It had started when the Pullman Palace Car Company lowered wages without lowering rents in the company town, also called Pullman. (Its now part of Chicago.) When angry workers complained, the owner, George Pullman, had them fired. They decided to strike, and other workers for the American Railway Union, led by the firebrand activist Eugene V. Debs, joined the action. They refused to handle Pullman cars, bringing freight and passenger traffic to a halt around Chicago. Tens of thousands of workers walked off the job, wildcat strikes broke out, and angry crowds were met with live fire from the authorities. During the crisis, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law on June 28, 1894, declaring Labor Day a national holiday. Some historians say he was afraid of losing the support of working-class voters. There were many political advantages at that moment to provide recognition for Labor Day, said Joshua B. Freeman, a distinguished professor of history at Queens College and the City University of New York Graduate Center. Talk Anderson Cooper Is Still Learning to Live With Loss For decades, Anderson Cooper, 56, has been a steady, humane and comparatively calm presence on TV news. But the longtime host of CNNs Anderson Cooper 360 has recently entered an interesting and, in its way, fruitful period of emotional and professional flux. It started last year with All There Is With Anderson Cooper, his podcast about grief. (When Cooper was 10, his father, Wyatt, died from a heart attack; his older brother, Carter, died from suicide when they were both in their early 20s; his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, died at 95 in 2019.) In doing so, he realized how little he had allowed himself to feel the losses and how much more feeling he still had to do. (Accordingly, a second season will air this fall.) He also spent time writing Astor, an upcoming nonfiction book about the storied, dynastic American family, which is a thematic follow-up to his best-selling 2021 book about his mothers storied, dynastic American family, Vanderbilt. (The two books were written with Katherine Howe.) On top of all that, he and his colleagues at CNN underwent the brief and tumultuous tenure of its chairman and chief executive Chris Licht, who was fired in June after only 13 months on the job. It all makes sense in my head, Cooper says, about the twists and turns of his career. Though it may not make much sense on paper. Anderson Cooper, left, in 1972 with his father, Wyatt Cooper; his brother, Carter; and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt. Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images So are you thinking about how your kids will understand the story of your losses? Oh, absolutely. Im building a record for them. [Cooper chokes up.] Excuse me. Its OK. I dont have him, but I had that book. I very intentionally want to leave a full body of documentation, of things my kids can touch base with throughout their lives and that their kids, if they have them, can do as well. God, what I wouldnt give to have my dads dads journals. My moms mom seemed shallow, and my moms dad was an alcoholic and died at 45 so didnt seem very deep but I would love their journals. Even writing Vanderbilt, it did, for the first time, make me feel grounded in history. I like feeling rooted, and I want my kids to have that feeling. In one of the last episodes of the podcast, you say, For a long time, I chose not to be vulnerable, but I think I dont want to do that anymore. How has becoming a dad affected your vulnerability? Thats a really interesting question. What Ive realized in the last couple of months is how little I allowed myself to grieve my dads and my brothers deaths. I did what a lot of kids do: I buried it deep inside. Its only doing the podcast that I had this realization of, Holy [expletive], Im still this 10-year-old kid. In terms of acknowledging grief and sadness and allowing myself to be vulnerable, I dont know exactly how to do that, but thats what Im looking to learn. I used to see this sadness behind my moms eyes. I want my kids to not see that behind my eyes. I dont want it to be behind my eyes anymore. I think that a theme of your podcast and Dispatches From the Edge and The Rainbow Comes and Goes is trying to understand how youve come to be the person you are. Loss is central to that. I think for a lot of people, their understanding of whom they desire and their sexuality is similarly formative. But in all your books, I think there are only a few pages where you discuss your sexuality. Why is that a lacuna in the story that you tell about becoming who you are? I hadnt thought about it in those ways. I grew up with a very well known mom who was recognized on the streets, and I didnt particularly love that as a kid. Once I started to become well known, I realized I wanted to try to hold on to some privacy. But I dont think I have any particularly interesting story on being gay. Figured it out early on, had crushes, didnt really want to be gay, then came pretty quickly to accept it and embrace it, and its one of the great blessings of my life. The grief and the loss and the impulse to be around people who were suffering was a bigger unresolved driving force in my life than the gay thing. I was going to say, unresolved is the key word. Its the unresolved things that end up driving us more than things weve made peace with. Yes. I mean, the fact that Im 56 and still realizing I never grieved when I was 11? Thats ridiculous. I could write maybe a little essay about my gay I dont know what. The path of it? But I couldnt write a book. Cooper reporting for CNNs Anderson Cooper 360 in Ghana in 2009. Brent Stirton/CNN Can a reporter from a known media outlet be a blank slate anymore? CNN and Fox News mean something by themselves aside from the individual reporters. Youre right that some people view The Times as leftist, view CNN as whatever they view CNN as, Fox as whatever they view Fox as, and thats going to determine things. I know also there are people who base things more on the individual. There may be people who watch Jake Tapper because they believe he plays it straight and does great interviews but are not going to watch me. There are people who will watch one person on Fox News and not other people. So I dont think you can paint with quite as broad a brush. Certainly, more so than in the past, people have drawn ideological caricatures of various brands and make decisions based on that. Thats a problem, right? Yeah, thats a problem. I mean, I read things in the paper, but Im not sure what the point of it all was. Cooper with Donald Trump during a CNN town hall in South Carolina days before the states Republican presidential primary in February 2016. Spencer Platt/Getty Images If Trumps team called and said, Wed like him to come on your show, would you do it? I dont know at this point. Im not sure. I personally would not have chosen to do a town hall. The town hall format is a specific format that CNN has done effectively for a lot of candidates. I dont think the first time Donald Trump came back on CNN I wouldnt have done a town hall, and if hed said no, I would have said fine, then hes not on. But thats not my choice. I wasnt involved. You said you play it down the middle. Is that approach to TV news an anachronism? This is going to sound like a cop-out, but none of this stuff particularly interests me. This is the future of your job! How could it not interest you? Youre not going to believe my answer, but Im going to say it anyway: What interests me about my job is being able to go places and step into peoples lives. The business side of news I used to worry about this stuff 20 years ago when I first started. I would stay up at night: Do I have a future? What are my ratings? That was not sustainable for me. I dont like that sort of pressure. For me, the solution was to focus on what I had control over: getting better at interviews, improve my writing, stop saying um. I get all the business stuff. It just doesnt interest me. Do I have a future? Im 56 years old. How much longer can I be doing this? I dont know. I fully expect someday my services will no longer be required or of interest and, like in a Charlie Brown spelling bee, some voice will go womp womp, and then I will blip off the screen. That is the way of this world, and Ive been extraordinarily lucky. So I dont worry about the long-term trajectory. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity from two conversations. David Marchese is a staff writer for the magazine and the columnist for Talk. He recently interviewed Alok Vaid-Menon about transgender ordinariness, Joyce Carol Oates about immortality and Robert Downey Jr. about life after Marvel. People unhappy with the way they look have been using plastic surgery to change their appearance for years, but now they can take their obsession to a whole new level by changing the color of their eyes through a controversial procedure known as artificial iris implant. Pioneered by Dr. Kenneth Rosenthal, as a way to correct various eye defects (heterochromia, ocular albinism, etc.), the artificial iris implant procedure is now also being advertised as cosmetic surgery for people who want to permanently change the color of their eyes. The artificial iris is a thin, non-toxic prosthesis made of the same ophthalmic grade silicone used in intraocular lenses. Since the fake iris is very flexible, it can be folded and inserted into the eye through a peripheral corneal surgical incision about 2.8 mm long, and unfolded over the natural iris. According to the website of BrightOcular, the company behind the increasingly popular cosmetic eye surgery, the procedure is short, safe, and painless, taking about 15 minutes for each eye. The surgery has a purely cosmetic purpose, it does not fix vision defects, so patients will still need to wear refractive instruments to correct their vision. Unlike other laser-based procedures that remove a layer of melanin from the iris in order to permanently change its color, BrightOcular claims their iris implant can easily be removed in case of complications or if the patient so desires. Photo: BrightOcular 46-year-old Angel S., an unemployed freight worker in Chicago, got artificial iris implant surgery in 2012, changing his dark brown eyes to light grey, a color he had always been crazy about. Angel says the natural color of his eyes depressed him so much that he would often refrain from looking in the mirror in the morning, because seeing the dark eyes made him think it was going to be a dark day for him. After seeing someones grey eyes in a candy store one day, he knew that was the color he wanted for himself, so he started researching his option and eventually flew to Rio de Janeiro to get an artificial iris implanted. Why didnt he just have it done in the US, you ask? It wasnt cost related, if thats what youre thinking, its just that the procedure has yet to get FDA approval. According to Dr. Gregory J. Pamel, a corneal and refractive surgeon in Manhattan, there are no approved devices to cosmetically change the color of the eyes in the US. BrightOcular implants are currently performed in India, Turkey, Mexico and Lebanon. Although video-sharing sites like YouTube or Vimeo are full of glowing testimonials from satisfied patients, there are some ophthalmologist out there who advise against people getting artificial implants for cosmetic purposes. Dr. James Tsai, an ophthalmologist and a glaucoma specialist at Yale University, says safety claims made in online discussions are misleading as well as inaccurate. He cautions that artificial implant surgery can cause elevated pressure inside the eye that can lead to glaucoma, cataracts and corneal injury, as well as reduced vision or blindness. You can watch a video of how the implant is performed here. Sources: BrightOcular, New York Times, India TV News PLANS to refurbish a protected structure in Tullamore and to construct a three storey block of apartments in the curtilage of the same structure is being met with fierce opposition in one area of Tullamore. The proposal by Cayenne Holdings would see the partial rear demolition of the former Moorhill House on the Clara Road to make way for a three bedroom house. The proposed apartments will consist of 24 one-bedroom units in a single and three storey block. The site also contains a number of chalets which were originally built as holiday homes. There has been a strong backlash from residents living along the Clara Road who argue that the planned apartments are out of character with the rest of the residences and will change the ambience of the neighbourhood. A large number of objections have been lodged with Offaly County Council. One submission said, ''Offaly County Council speak about historical buildings and try to save them, what about Moorhill? The beautiful trees as we all know will go, due to the foundations being laid. This is just awful and sad to see these trees, years old, being cut down for a modern development.'' ''Will the council be happy when the town is full of densely populated housing estates and apartment blocks and the knock on effect that this high density building will have in years to come?'' Another said, ''We chose to save, build and buy a once off property and worked hard for same. The Clara road was always known as a tranquil area and this can be observed with the amount of people taking a walk along the road every single day. Our road is becoming very unsafe, due to traffic and the number of motorised scooters using the footpaths.'' ''There has been absolutely no consultation from the developers, which to me indicates the total lack of respect that they have for the residents of Clara Road,'' professed one resident.'' This is going to affect all our our lives and this modern building is totally out of character with the site that it is being built on.'' One submission said, ''As Tullamore has a history of 'rising from the ashes like the Phoenix, it would be much more appropriate to concentrate on the restoration of Moorhill to bring it to its former majesty. The proposed development is more in keeping with a streetscape, and if not well maintained to a high standard could very quickly become an eyesore. If this happens it will negatively impact the neighbourhood and negatively impact the first impression of Tullamore for strangers visiting the town for the first time.'' One resident welcomed what they termed the ''culturally sensitive re-development of Moorhill House in a manner synonymous with its former prestige.'' However, they went on, ''to that end we feel that the development of the site with a small number of bungalow style dwellings, perhaps replicating the courtyard area and outbuilding as highlighted on the 1890s OSI (Ordnance Survey Ireland) map, would be at harmony with the existing Georgian building.'' Another said that ''the planning and design statement ignores the presence of the chalet holiday homes. Meanwhile, Offaly County Council has placed the application 'on hold' while it seeks further information from the developer. The local planning authority, says it ''has concerns regarding the existing houses on the landholding'' which form part of the ''historical planning permissions and the current proposal could therefore facilitate unauthorised developments on the landholding.'' It noted that these houses were granted as holiday cottages and the houses no longer appear to be in use for such purposes. The council also observed that no car parking for such units is evident in the proposed site layout plan and the applicant is requested to clarify if the lack of car parking for the existing houses is contrary to the requirements of the historic planning permissions on this site. In addition it says that the proposal could result in the intensification of an existing dangerous entrance if the applicant does not have land ownership consent to amend the entrance. Furthermore the local authority points out that the application provides ''no usable public open space for the existing dwelling houses on the landholding'' and the applicant is requested to address this issue. The proposal involves the creation of 24 apartments and a 3 bed house in addition to the existing nine houses which forms part of the historic landholding of this site. In terms of the Development Management Standard the current County Development Plan, fifty car parking spaces are required, the local authority states. In addition the council is seeking a separate site layout plan, showing the existing and proposed site boundary treatment, a green infrastructure master plan, a residential efficiency and climate change adaptation design statement, and a revised proposal meeting the construction and demolition waste management plan. In addition it is asking for a report from a qualified arborist, providing details of their qualifications and experience, indicating which trees along the front boundary are to be removed due to sight light requirements and which trees are to be retained Furthermore a separate schedule for each separate apartment unit is required. Finally the local authority specifies that Moorhill House is a protected structure and stresses that the applicant should pay special regard and provide sufficient information in relation to retention, repair, restoration and replacement of any area of the building. It remarks that a brief Architectural Heritage Impact Assessment has been provided by the developer containing what it says is ''a few external photographs and one page of internal photographs.'' It continues, ''the document does not appear to consider the existing rear extension may have formed part of the original house.'' No date has been given for a decision on the application as it remains 'on hold.' The Alzheimers Annual Memory Walk takes place at over 30 locations across Ireland on Sunday, September 24, including in Tullamore. The event gives families, friends and those living with dementia the opportunity to come together, honour, celebrate and raise funds for the vital support services that The Alzheimer Society of Ireland provides. The Offaly Alzheimers Memory Walk starts at 11am from the Grand Canal Greenway for a 5km leisurely walk to ensure everyone can get involved. Local Champion for the Offaly Branch of The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Fergus Timmons will lead the Offaly Alzheimers Memory Walk in Tullamore on September 24th and he said, I am delighted to be a Local Champion for the 2023 Alzheimer's Memory Walk. I'm really looking forward to the Tullamore Alzheimer's Memory Walk on Sunday, September 24th, which will raise awareness and funds for the services that the Alzheimer Society of Ireland provides across the county. I would urge everyone in Offaly to get behind the walk and register now for their participation pack at www.memorywalk.ie. The Alzheimers Memory Walk is a family-friendly event suitable for all ages and walking abilities to unite friends, families and communities to raise awareness and funds for dementia supports. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland is aiming to secure over 3,000 walkers across Ireland to participate and help raise funds for vital services that support so many people living with dementia and those who care for them. These services include Daycare, Daycare at Home, Family Carer Training, Social Clubs, Cafes, and a National Helpline. An estimated 64,000 people live with dementia in Ireland, which according to leading dementia experts will more than double in the next 25 years to over 150,000 by 2045. Members of the public can sign up now to participate in the 2023 Alzheimers Memory Walk on Sunday, 24th September 2023 at www.memorywalk.ie. Registrations cost 5 for kids and 18 for adults and include a participation pack with a Memory Walk t-shirt. The closing date for registrations to receive your participation pack before the walk is 12noon on Wednesday, 20th September. For those who cannot walk on the day, they can still support the Memory Walk by donating at www.Alzheimer.ie. Mairead Dillon, Head of Fundraising for the Alzheimer Society of Ireland commented, The Alzheimers Memory Walk for 2023 is set to be our biggest and best to date. Id like to say a heartfelt thank you to our partners Payzone who are supporting the event and are in attendance today. With over 30 locations nationwide, there will be a Memory Walk in your locality, and it is the ideal event for the whole family to get together and walk to remember or support a loved one living with dementia. We are really looking forward to September 24th this year to get people together supporting people with dementia. Michele Ann Kelly, Payzone Ireland, said, Payzone is honoured to support the Memory Walk, The Alzheimer Society of Irelands flagship event. This campaign is important to us, as it is to many. Every day in Ireland, 30 people develop dementia, while over 64,000 people currently live with dementia. Unfortunately, many at Payzone have first-hand experience of the effects that Alzheimer's can have on families and loved ones, a reason The Alzheimer Society of Ireland was voted as one of Payzones charity partners by our employees. We hope to support this wonderful event as best we can to play a small part as The Alzheimer Society of Ireland continues to provide vital dementia-specific services. Funds raised from the Memory Walk will help to keep these services going. The team at Payzone are excited to come together this September, honour and celebrate those with dementia, and raise much-needed funds for continued support. We encourage everyone in Ireland to join in on this great cause." If Ramanagara District Is Renamed As Bangalore South, Property Prices May Soar In The Area Bengaluru Landlord's Sudden Rent Hike For 2 BHK Apartment In Indiranagar Sparks Meme Fest On X Bengaluru oi-Madhuri Adnal A landlord in Bengaluru recently took to Twitter to advertise his property for rent, and the post quickly went viral on social media platforms. The property, which is located in a prime location (Indiranagar 80 ft road) in the city, boasts modern interiors and amenities, making it highly appealing to potential tenants. The username @Bharath_MG advertised his property for rent on 'X' (formerly Twitter), and it quickly gained widespread attention. The property boasted modern interiors and amenities, which made it highly appealing to residents of Bengaluru. However, this story took an unexpected turn when the landlord, possibly due to a change of heart or financial considerations, decided to abruptly raise the rent. This sudden increase in rent became a social media sensation, turning it into a subject of humorous memes. @Bharath_MG's initial post read, "Offering my 2 BHK flat for rent in Indiranagar, located on 80ft road, right next to Lazy Suzy and directly opposite 12th main." Subsequently, the rent was dramatically hiked to an astonishing Rs 55,000. While some people criticised this move, the internet couldn't resist turning the situation into a lighthearted meme fest. Bengaluru Bandh: Autos, Taxis And Buses Likely To Go Off Roads On September 11 Netizens were quick to add their own humorous twists into the narrative. Social media was soon flooded with memes featuring iconic landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Charminar, the iconic Raichand house from 'K3G,' and even beloved childhood piggy banks shaped like puppy houses. Renting my 200 BHK mansion in Old Delhi just next to Chandni Chowk Interiors are recently done, and balcony has a helipad No restrictions Move in date: Oct 15 Rent: 45K Attached pics pic.twitter.com/PhzY3Hf0qD Abhinav (@leshygras) September 3, 2023 Renting my Hyderabad property. Interiors done recently Bedroom has a home theater setup with a projector and motorized screen No restrictions Move in date: Oct 15 Rent: 45K Attached pics DMs are open pic.twitter.com/kkqC9eOnyH Aakanksha (@aakancvedi) September 3, 2023 Renting my 2 BHK flat in Indiranagar 80ft road just next to Lazy Suzy and right opposite to 12th main . Interiors done recently Bedroom has a home theater setup with a projector and motorized screen No restrictions Move in date: Oct 15 Rent: 45K Attached pics DMs are open pic.twitter.com/iOSiKdsZXq Nishanth Vijayan (@nishanth_who) September 3, 2023 Renting my 2 BHK flat in Indiranagar 80ft road just next to Lazy Suzy and right opposite to 12th main . Interiors done recently Bedroom has a home theater setup with a projector and motorized screen No restrictions Move in date: Oct 15 Rent: 45K Attached pics DMs are open pic.twitter.com/GQ54s3RR6z Satyanweshi (@satyanweshi_asm) September 3, 2023 Renting my 2 BHK flat in Indiranagar 80ft road just next to Lazy Suzy and right opposite to 12th main . Interiors done recently Bedroom has a home theater setup with a projector and motorized screen No restrictions Move in date: Oct 15 Rent: 45K Attached pics DMs are open pic.twitter.com/VFTF7RdZJ4 Grumpy_Bong (@Grumpy_Bong) September 4, 2023 In response to the flood of memes, @Bharath_MG chose to delete his original posts and issued a new one, along with an apology. He stated, "I never expected such a huge response to my rental tweet! Most of the responses were positive, with some criticism for the rent increase. I genuinely apologise for that!" He also pledged not to raise the rent after entering into a rental agreement. (2/2) I won't increase the rent once we agree and the rental agreement is signed. The only condition is that I want the flat back in the same condition as when you move in. I'll try to get to all the DMs (500+) and schedule flat inspection after Sept 15th. Thanks MG Bharath (@Bharath_MG) September 3, 2023 16-Year-Old Commits Suicide By Falling From Terrace Of School In Kolkata India oi-Sushmita Halder A 16-yeat-old student on Monday committed suicide by falling from the terrace of his school in Kolkata. The incident took place in south Kolkata's Kasba area. According to the police officials, the student felt insulted after the teacher scolded him for not completing his project who later went to the terrace and jumped. The class 10 student was rushed to the nearest hospital. However, he was declared dead on his arrival at the hospital. The parents of the deceased have alleged that the student committed suicide after the teacher scolded him for not doing his project. They further alleged that the school authorities were trying to hide something from them. According to the preliminary reports of the medical authorities, the doctors found some injuries on the deceased's body. "The doctors noted that the boy had suffered injuries after falling. He was bleeding from his ears, nose, and mouth, and no vitals were recorded when he was taken to the hospital," a police official was quoted as saying. Reacting to the incident, the authorities of the English-medium school said an investigation related to the incident is carried away. "No school will ever target children and harass them. We are a child-friendly school and no teacher will react the way it is being claimed," the school authorities were quoted as saying. The incident is a revival of the horrific death of a student of Jadavpur University allegedly after falling from a balcony of the university hostel after he was paraded naked at the university corridors by the seniors. Several students and alumni have been arrested in the case. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 5, 2023, 1:32 [IST] Air India Deploys New Boeing 777 Aircraft To All 3 US Destinations From Mumbai My Career Has Been My Film Set, I Created It On Hustle: Priyanka Chopra Jonas 24-Year-Old Trainee Flight Attendant Found Dead In Mumbai Flat, Police Suspect Murder India oi-Madhuri Adnal A 24-year old flight attendant Rupal Ogrey was found dead in an apartment under suspicious circumstances on Monday morning. The Mumbai Police have registered a murder case in response to the incident and have formed four teams to locate and apprehend the suspect, as confirmed by DCP Datta Nalawade. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination at Rajawadi Hospital, and the investigation is currently underway, according to Mumbai Police. The flat where the body was found is situated in N G Complex, Krishanlal Marwah Marg, Near Tata Power Centre Bus Station in Marol, Andheri. The case has been officially registered at Powai police station. The victim, Rupal Ogrey, hailing from Chhattisgarh, arrived in Mumbai in April for her air hostess training with Air India. Man Slams Vistara For Leaving Blind Mother Alone On Flight, Airline Responds | Video She shared the flat with her sister and her sister's boyfriend, both of whom had traveled to their hometown eight days prior for personal reasons. The police informed them about the incident on Monday, and they are currently en route to Mumbai. The victim, Rupal, had last communicated with her family via WhatsApp video call on Sunday morning. Therefore, there is suspicion that the murder may have occurred sometime between Sunday afternoon and early Monday morning. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, September 4, 2023, 11:07 [IST] Stalin's Podcast Takes Aim At BJP's Religious Rhetoric India oi-Madhuri Adnal In his podcast, titled "Speaking for India," Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin launched a scathing attack on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing them of exploiting religion to cover-up for their shortcomings. Stalin asserted that the BJP has embraced "religion as their weapon" to divert attention from their failures. He contended that they are deliberately stoking religious sentiments while undermining India's structure and unity. Stalin also expressed his intention to speak up for India through his podcast. "I, Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the leader of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the third-largest party in the Indian Parliament, and most importantly, as someone who is one among you, want to speak for India." BJP's Failed Promises and Divisive Tactics Stalin further criticised the BJP for failing to fulfill their pre-election promises, including guaranteed employment for 2 crore people annually and doubling farmers' incomes, particularly in terms of welfare schemes. He points out that almost a decade of BJP governance has seen none of these promises come to fruition. 'Sanatana Dharma' Row: Udhayanidhi Stalin Breaks His Silence Over Criticisms By BJP Stalin characterised the BJP as a directionless model and predicted that the 'Narendra Modi Model' would fade away without leaving a significant legacy. He alleged that the party is using its power to benefit corporate allies at the expense of the public sector. Moreover, he expresses disappointment in how the BJP is using religion as a divisive tool to divert attention from its shortcomings. Stalin accuses the BJP of inciting religious sentiments and promoting communalism, citing examples of violence in Gujarat, Manipur, and Haryana. The Role of DMK in Protecting India's Diversity Highlighting the historical role of his party, Stalin asserted that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has always been at the forefront of safeguarding India's diversity, federalism, and democracy. He recalled Perarignar Anna's declaration in the Council of States that the DMK should be the spearhead against the unitary nature. Stalin underlines how the DMK has consistently advocated for India's unity. Stalin also mentioned the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, stating that it is crucial to decide who should not come to power, rather than focusing solely on who should come to power. While Stalin expressed confidence in the INDIA alliance, Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the coalition for a remark made by CM's son, Udhayanidhi, regarding Hinduism. Shah claimed that the Opposition bloc "hates Hinduism." Stalin's podcast followed a controversy sparked by Udhayanidhi's comments about "eradicating Sanatan Dharma," which sparked a row. Nirmala Sitharaman Shares An Old Video Amid Stalin's Comment Over Sanatana Dharma In his podcast, Stalin addressed various issues, including alleged scams during the BJP's 9-year rule, the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on states, and the loss of financial autonomy in Tamil Nadu due to central policies. He highlighted the disparity in fund allocation between BJP-ruled states and others. I.N.D.I.A Alliance: A Path to Restore India's Values Stalin concluded by advocating for an India where values like social justice, secular politics, socialism, equity, social harmony, state autonomy, federalism, and unity in diversity thrive. He declared that the INDIA alliance aims to restore such a nation and save India from divisive forces. He also drew attention to ethnic conflicts in Manipur and Haryana, emphasizing the importance of addressing such issues to protect the nation's cultural and religious diversity. A Call to Action Stalin urges citizens to join the movement, emphasizing that the podcast "Speaking for India" represents not only his voice but the collective voice of the nation. He envisions an India where these values thrive and calls on everyone to "Let INDIA be the real winner!" "I'm impressed by Chinese people's persistence. At the very beginning, their aim was to make an NEV, then to make a good NEV," said Yusuf Khambaty, an NEV engineer working in China. HEFEI, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Yusuf Khambaty would never have anticipated the spectacular growth of an emerging industry here when he first came to China from India over 10 years ago. The 35-year-old majored in automotive engineering at Coventry University. After his graduation in 2011, he worked as an engineer for a British auto parts company before getting an opportunity to come to China because of the company's collaboration with a Beijing-based automobile enterprise. "I was very interested in the automobile industry of China then. That (Chinese) company was so young and was developing new technologies about new energy vehicles (NEVs), so I chose to come to China to learn more," he said. Back then, China's NEV industry was still in its infancy, with fossil-fueled cars being the first choice for most Chinese auto enterprises and customers. But the government had already begun rolling out supportive policies to promote NEVs across the country. Realizing the great potential of China's NEV industry, Yusuf decided to stay in China and has since worked for several Chinese auto companies as an engineer. The exponential growth of China's NEV industry in the following decade attested to his right choice. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that in 2011, less than 10,000 NEVs were sold in China, but the number surged to over 3.5 million in 2021. Today, China has topped the world in NEV production and sales for eight consecutive years. "I've seen the car companies and the whole automotive industry taking a transition from conventional vehicles to NEVs. And I'm impressed by Chinese people's persistence. At the very beginning, their aim was to make an NEV, then to make a good NEV," said Yusuf. In all these years, the Chinese auto-makers have put a premium on research and development, and kept updating technologies and improving manufacturing capabilities, he added. In the midst of the transformation, the young engineer has engaged in a number of innovative projects and made progress along with the booming NEV industry. Today, Yusuf works in NIO, an emerging NEV automaker, as an Electric Drive System test engineer. In his workplace, there are more than 100 robots and over 30 Automatic Guided Vehicles, making his job much easier. In his view, China's NEV industry owes its fast growth to continuous policy support, complete manufacturing chains and consumers' open mind to new things. "The Chinese government has launched a raft of measures to promote NEV industry, such as subsidizing NEV buyers to stimulate consumption. China can realize high automation, which is one of the key advantages of mass production," said Yusuf, adding that the changing needs of Chinese consumers also drive NEV companies to keep innovating better products. As a veteran engineer, Yusuf also sees the close connection between Chinese NEV companies and the world. "China welcomes foreign investment and global cooperation. For example, the company I am working for has been cooperating with partners worldwide to develop software and auto parts," he said. Amid China's broader opening-up, a growing number of foreign engineers like Yusuf are coming to China, embracing the promising market and better job opportunities. "Not only the experienced foreign engineers but also many foreign graduates in China decide to stay and work here. China has (an) extensive market, countless opportunities and is developing so fast, which is attractive to us," Yusuf said. Yusuf is confident in China's NEV industry and economic development, voicing hope of extending his stay here to participate in the development of new NEV products. "China's auto and NEV sectors will continue to boom. This will bring in a lot of opportunities for young engineers like me across the world ... to be a part of this ever-growing industry. I look forward to being involved in future innovative projects and (will) continue to learn from them," he said. Every Party Is Free To Express Their Opinion: KC Venugopal Says Amid 'Sanatana Dharma' Controversy India oi-Sushmita Halder The Congress Party on Monday while reacting to DMK leader Uthayanidhi Stalin's remarks on 'Sanatana Dharma' said that every political party has freedom to express their views. While addressing the press conference in the national capital, Congress leader KC Venugopal stated that the Congress respects all religion, however, it believes that every political party has the freedom to give their opinions. "Every political party has the freedom to (express) their views. We respect everybody's beliefs... our view is clear... 'Sarva Dharma Samabhava' is the Congress ideology," Venugopal was quoted saying this to the media. 'Sanatana Dharma' Row: Udhayanidhi Stalin Breaks His Silence Over Criticisms By BJP Remarks from the Congress party comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the Congress Party is against Hinduism and wants to abolish Hindutva. Earlier on Sunday, Union Minister Amit Shah alleged that the Congress Party hates Hinduism. He further claimed that the remarks by Udhayanidhi Stalin are part of INDIA bloc's "vote bank politics" and "appeasement" tactic. On the other hand, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shared an old video on the social media that shows Congress chief KS Alagiri talking about destruction of the Sanatana Dharma. The video posted on platform X, formerly Twitter shows the Alagiri saying the purpose of the alliance in the state is to destroy Sanatana Dharma and the BJP. However, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol. Thirumavalavan said Udhyanidhi defended Stalin by saying that the latter tried to revive Dr. BR Ambedkar's ideology of equality. He further said that the DMK leader was not against Hindus but against 'Hindutva'. "Dr BR Ambedkar says 'Sanatana Dharma' or Hindu Dharma, is a contagious disease. It should be eradicated and annihilated in future. Then only we can attain equality among the people. So Minister Udhayanidhi spoke about the ideology of Periyar, the ideology of Ambedkar, ideology of equality. So this is not against the Hindu community," Thirumavalavan told the news agency ANI. Petition Filed In Bihar Court Against Stalin, Udayanidhi Over Sanatan Dharma Remarks Meanwhile, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram defended Stalin by saying that Sanatan Dharma in the common discourse of Tamil Nadu meant caste-based society and nothing else. Sanatana means nothing should be changed and all are permanent. But the Dravida model calls for change and all should be equal. However, BJP is manipulating and spreading fake news. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, September 4, 2023, 18:14 [IST] FIR Filed Against Editors Guild Members, Theyre Trying To 'Create More Clashes' In Manipur: CM Biren Singh India oi-PTI Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said that his government has filed an FIR against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India, and accused them of trying to create more clashes in the state which is rocked by ethnic strifes for nearly four months. The Editors Guild recently claimed that the media's reports on the ethnic violence in Manipur were one-sided and accused the state leadership of being partisan. "The state government has filed an FIR against the members of the Editors Guild who are trying to create more clashes in the state of Manipur," Singh said. Those booked are the President of the Editors Guild Seema Mustafa, and three members - Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor. Manipur Appoints Retired Army Officer Who Led Operations In Myanmar Guha, Bhushan and Kapoor visited the state last month to study media reportage of the ethnic violence. The chief minister also said that they should have met the representatives of "all communities" and "not some sections only" before coming to a conclusion. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, September 4, 2023, 14:13 [IST] Jadhav to Hyderabad Fund case: How Harish Salve won it for India twice Former Solicitor General Of India Harish Salve Ties Knot For The Third Time In London India oi-Madhuri Adnal Former Solicitor General of India Harish Salve got married for the third time in a private ceremony in London on Sunday. The event was attended by several bigwigs, including Nita Ambani, Chairperson of the Hinduja Group, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and his girlfriend and model Ujjwala Raut. In a touching video, Harish Salve can be seen standing beside his new wife, Trina, and gently kissing her forehead. This intimate wedding ceremony was attended by several prominent figures, including Nita Ambani, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, and renowned model Ujjwala Raut. Lalit Modi and Ujjwala Raut also posed for photographs at the event, adding to the celebratory atmosphere. Former Solicitor General of India #HarishSalve gets married for the 3rd time at the age of 68. Wedding Reception In London, attended by Ujjwala Raut, Nita Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal, Lalit Modi and others.pic.twitter.com/6aLrEmiVRv Megh Updates (@MeghUpdates) September 4, 2023 Harish Salve's previous marriages ended in divorce. His first marriage, which lasted for 38 years, concluded with a divorce from Meenakshi in June 2020. In the same year, he married Caroline Brossard. Harish Salve and his ex-wife, Meenakshi, share two daughters, Sakshi and Saaniya. Courts must be open to public scrutiny, criticism, says Salve The 68-year-old legal luminary, who practices at the Supreme Court of India, has been a key figure in numerous high-profile cases, including the defense of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who faced a death sentence by a Pakistani military court on espionage charges. Notably, Salve represented Jadhav for a token fee of just Re1. He has also played pivotal roles in significant cases such as the Krishna Godavari Basin gas dispute and Salman Khan's infamous hit-and-run case. Harish Salve first gained widespread recognition when he argued the first anti-dumping case in the Supreme Court of India. He pursued his LL.B. from Nagpur University and was appointed as a senior advocate at the Delhi High Court in 1992, preceding his appointment as the Solicitor General of India. In January, he achieved the prestigious title of Queen's Counsel for the courts of Wales and England. Additionally, in 2013, Harish Salve was called to Blackstone Chambers and appointed to the English Bar, further solidifying his reputation as a prominent legal figure. Post ICJ, India tried to persuade Pak through back channel to release Kulbhushan: Harish Salve Among his notable legal endeavors, Salve's representation of Salman Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run case garnered significant attention and recognition. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, September 4, 2023, 16:35 [IST] India To Send Man To Moon By 2040, Space Station To Set Up By 2035: PMO ISRO Scientist N Valarmathi, Voice Behind Historic Space Mission Countdowns, Dies at 64 India oi-Madhuri Adnal N. Valarmathi, the renowned scientist from the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) known for her iconic voice during rocket countdown launches passed away. Valarmathi, originally from Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu, suffered a heart attack and passed away in Chennai on Saturday evening, as reported by Wion News. Her final countdown announcement was for the highly successful Chandrayaan-3 launch on July 14. Dr. PV Venkitakrishnan, a former ISRO director, expressed his condolences on social media (formerly Twitter), saying, "The voice of Valarmathi Madam will not be there for the countdowns of future missions of ISRO from Sriharikota. Chandrayaan-3 was her final countdown announcement. An unexpected demise. Feel so sad. Pranams!" The voice of Valarmathi Madam will not be there for the countdowns of future missions of ISRO from Sriharikotta. Chandrayan 3 was her final countdown announcement. An unexpected demise . Feel so sad.Pranams! pic.twitter.com/T9cMQkLU6J Dr. P V Venkitakrishnan (@DrPVVenkitakri1) September 3, 2023 Recommended Video ISRO scientist N Valarmathi, voice behind Chandrayaan-3 launch countdown, dies | Oneindia News Tributes and condolences are pouring in on social media to honor the late scientist. First Earth-Bound Manoeuvre Of Aditya L1 Performed Successfully: ISRO N. Valarmathi, born on July 31, 1959, joined ISRO in 1984 and played a pivotal role in numerous missions. She served as the project director for RISAT-1, India's first domestically developed Radar Imaging Satellite (RIS) and the country's second satellite of this kind. RISAT-1 was successfully launched in April 2012. In addition, on Independence Day in 2015, Valarmathi achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first recipient of the prestigious Abdul Kalam Award, established by the Government of Tamil Nadu in memory of the late former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, often referred to as the 'Missile Man of India.' Dr. Kalam had passed away in July of that same year. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, September 4, 2023, 9:00 [IST] Manipur Appoints Retired Army Officer Who Led Operations In Myanmar India oi-PTI The Manipur government has appointed a retired decorated Army officer who was in charge of the operation to destroy militant camps in Myanmar eight years ago, as the senior superintendent of police (combat), a post created for him, officials said on Monday. The appointment of Col (retired) Nectar Sanjenbam for five years followed Union Home Minister Amit Shah statement last month that Kuki people started entering Manipur from Myanmar illegally following a military crackdown on militants. An organisation of the Meitei, one of the warring communities in the northeastern state, have also asserted that the four-month-long strife is a manifestation of the tension over deforestation, illegal opium poppy cultivation and change in demography in certain areas of the state mainly caused by illegal immigrants from Myanmar. It is alleged that arms are being supplied to militants from Myanmar to Manipur. "The Governor of Manipur is pleased to appoint Col (retired) Nectar Sanjenbam as Senior Superintendent of Police (Combat) in Manipur police department on a fixed tenure basis for a period of five years with immediate effect," the state Home Department said in an order. He had led the operations against militants in Myanmar in June 2015, days after their attack in Manipur's Chandel district left 18 Army personnel dead. "Significant casualties" have been inflicted on them, the Army had said. 212 Who Took Refuge In Myanmar Return To Manipur, Chief Minister Lauds Army's Role It appears that the government wants to use the retired Colonel's experience in counter-militancy operations in Myanmar to address the situation in Manipur where more than 160 people were killed in the ethnic violence since early May. Col Sanjenbam who retired prematurely last year was awarded the Kirti Chakra gallantry award for his role in the operation inside Myanmar. Speaking during the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha on August 10, Home Minister Shah said problems started in Manipur with the influx of Kuki refugees from neighbouring Myanmar after the military rulers there started a crackdown against militants in 2021. The Kuki refugees started settling down in the jungles in the Manipur valley, raising fears of a demographic change in the region, Shah said. More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since 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. 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. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, September 4, 2023, 13:03 [IST] Tripura Bypolls: Cong Appeals To Electors To Vote For INDIA Candidates India oi-PTI The Tripura Pradesh Congress on Sunday urged people to vote for opposition bloc INDIA candidates in the Dhanpur and Boxangar assembly bypolls. The bypolls are scheduled on September 5. "The party's rank and file will have to strengthen the organisation as only the Congress can keep the country united. Now, the party is giving a lead at national politics. We must work hard to connect the organisation with the masses," Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman said while speaking at a meeting of Sonamura district Congress committee in the poll-bound subdivision in Sepahijala district. Bageshwar Bypoll: Tight Contest Likely Between BJP, Congress Referring to Congress working president Billal Miah's switching over to BJP days before the bypolls, Roy Barman said Billal wanted to contest as the party candidate from Boxanagar. "When he (Billal) told me about his aspiration to contest from Boxangar with CPI(M) support, I told him that CPI(M) candidate Samsul Haque won the election just five-and-a-half months ago. It will not be wise for the Congress to put up a candidate in the seat. After three days, he joined the BJP. I wish him luck," he said. Recently, Chief Minister Manik Saha welcomed Billal Miah along with 8,000 voters to the BJP. Roy Barman appealed to people to vote for Haque as the Congress did not field a candidate. The CPI(M), part of the INDIA alliance, is contesting in both Assembly seats while the main opposition party, Tipra Motha, has opted out of the election process. Ghosi Bypoll: UP Deputy CM Brings Big Allegation Against SP Candidate's Son Earlier, the Congress had organised a rally where 209 voters of BJP and Trinamool Congress joined the party and vowed to work for it. On Saturday, Tripura Yuba Trinamool Congress vice-president Nil Kamal Saha along with another leader joined the Congress in presence of PCC president Asish Kumar Saha at the Congress headquarters. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, September 4, 2023, 17:09 [IST] 2 Killed, Around 10 Hospitalised After Three-Storey Building Collapses In UP's Barabanki | Video India oi-Madhuri Adnal A building collapsed in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Monday, killing two people and injuring several others. Authorities are concerned that approximately three to four individuals may still be trapped beneath the wreckage. A search and rescue operation is currently underway to locate and assist them, according to the police. Initially, 12 individuals were rescued and promptly transported to a hospital for medical attention. Unfortunately, two of these individuals could not be saved and succumbed to their injuries, while the remaining injured are currently receiving treatment at the hospital. At Least 63 People Have Died In Fire In A Building In South Africa's Biggest City, Authorities Say Simultaneously, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has deployed a team to the accident site to conduct search operations in an attempt to locate those believed to be trapped. Additionally, a team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is poised to join the ongoing rescue efforts. #WATCH | UP: Rescue operation underway after a building collapsed in Barabanki pic.twitter.com/IVn3v2Zzrw ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 4, 2023 Dinesh Kumar Singh, the Superintendent of Police in Barabanki, provided details about the incident, stating, "Around 3.10 am, we received information about a building collapse in Barabanki. Initially, we were informed that around 19 people were trapped in the incident. Subsequently, the fire service vehicles were mobilized, and local residents also extended their assistance in the rescue efforts. Later, it was determined that four members of a family were away from home and thus escaped the incident. Among the remaining 16 individuals, we successfully rescued 12 and transported them to the hospital. Regrettably, two of those rescued individuals have since passed away. We have received information indicating that three or four people may still be trapped under the debris. The SDRF team is currently at the scene, and the NDRF team will be arriving shortly." #WATCH | UP: Latest visuals of rescue operation from Barabanki where a building collapsed at around 3 am today. Dinesh Kumar Singh, SP, Barabanki said "Around 3 am in the morning, we received information about a building collapse in Barabanki...We have rescued 12 people...we pic.twitter.com/HJ23cT3LGP ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 4, 2023 A video depicting the accident scene has emerged, showcasing police officials and SDRF members diligently working to remove debris from the collapsed building, while concerned onlookers watch anxiously. Barabanki is situated 30 kilometers east of the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, September 4, 2023, 8:26 [IST] Biden On Hamas Attack: They Knew I Was About To Sit Down With The Saudis 'Israel Can Make Their Own Decisions': Biden On Ground Invasion Of Gaza 'Disappointed, But...': Biden On Reports Of Xi's No-Show At G20 Summit International oi-PTI US President Joe Biden has said that he is looking forward to his trip to India this week but is disappointed that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi. Biden will travel to India on September 7 to participate in the G20 Summit and will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8 on the sidelines of the historic meeting, the White House announced on Friday. In its capacity as the current president of G20, India is hosting the annual summit of the influential grouping in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. Ahead of his trip, reporters asked Biden on Sunday whether he was looking forward to his visits to India and Vietnam. "Yes, I am," Biden replied. Biden Hopes Xi Jinping Attends G20 Summit In India He expressed his disappointment over President Xi of China not attending the summit in New Delhi. "I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him," Biden said in response to a question. Biden, along with more than two dozen world leaders, is scheduled to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi that is being hosted by Prime Minister Modi. According to recent media reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi are not likely to attend the summit. India is awaiting a written confirmation from China on President Xi's participation in the G20 Leaders Summit, Muktesh Pardeshi, Special Secretary for G20, said on Friday. "We have seen some reports in the newspapers. But, we go by written confirmation. And we have not seen (a written confirmation). Unless we see that I am not in a position to say either way," Pardeshi told PTI when asked about reports of Xi skipping the G20 meeting and deputing Prime Minister Li Qiang for the event. Premier Li is likely to travel to India after attending the East Asia summit in Jakarta. In 2021, Chinese President Xi did not travel to Italy to participate in the G20 summit due to China's COVID-19 restrictions. Pardeshi said the participation of world leaders in summits such as the G20 is usually conveyed through a diplomatic note. "I think that is awaited...We have received most of the other confirmations," he said on Xi's participation. US President Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are among the G20 leaders who have already confirmed their participation in the summit. US President Joe Biden To Visit India From September 7-10 For G20 Summit PM Modi will hand over the baton of the G20 Presidency to Brazilian President Lula on September 10. Brazil will formally assume the G20 Presidency on December 1. The G20 member countries represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. The grouping comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU). Biden to Ask for Billions in Military Assistance for Israel and Ukraine Biden Declares Israel And Ukraine Support Is Vital For US Security, Will Ask Congress For Billions Kim Jong-un and Putin Plan to Meet in Russia to Discuss Weapons International oi-Sushmita Halder Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un are all set to meet in Russia in September to discuss over supply of weapons ahead of the Ukraine War. Reportedly, Kim will travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast of Russia. There would be an exchange of ideas between the North Korean leader and Putin over military exercises. The planned trip would come as Russia discusses joint military exercises with North Korea and after Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had tried on a visit to North Korea to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. However, the White House did not respond to Putin and Kim Jong's meeting. The US has earlier warned that North Korea could provide more weapons to Russia as North Korea's forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022. However, the US accompanied by the European allies did not support the war and that Moscow calls a "special military operation". White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on August 30 that the US was concerned that arms talks between the two countries were advancing. Meanwhile Putin who was supposed to be a part of the G20 Summit has stepped back from being a part of the event. The Russian President himself called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inform that he would not be a part of G20 as he would be busy with the Ukraine War. However, a representative from the Russian government would take part in the G20 Summit. Ukraine's presidential adviser urged Germany to supply his country with Taurus missiles. Meanwhile, Kyiv said Russia has attacked a Ukrainian grain exporting port, hours ahead of Putin-Erdogan talks. Follow DW for more. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is urging Russia to return to a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain, easing a global food crisis. However, Moscow is seeking concessions that only the West can offer. SoccerNews.com 04 Sep 2023 Police have launched an investigation after footage was circulated on social media following an alleged assault on Sky Sports.. 2008-2023 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is "excited to see the memes," after posting a picture of himself wearing a black eye patch. The North Korean leader could travel to Russia as early as this month, according to US officials. The possible meeting comes as Moscow seeks to acquire military equipment for its war in Ukraine. Follow DW for more. On July 14, Pakistan armys media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] released a rather stern statement that read, The Armed Forces of Pakistan have serious concerns on the safe havens and liberty of action available to TTP in Afghanistan. Alleging that The involvement of Afghan nationals in acts of... On August 13, a convoy carrying Chinese engineers came under attack in Gwadar. The incident took place near Gwadar Port in Baluchistan. The Baluchistan Liberation Army a separatist group operating in the province - claimed responsibility for the attack. While the incident caused no casualties on the Chinese side, the attack... Kyiv on Monday said Iranian-made Russian drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory during an overnight strike on the Ukrainian port of Izmail, a claim that NATO member Romania denied. Donald J. Trump at Marriott Marquis NYC September 7th 2016 (Image by Michael Vadon from flickr) Details DMCA In 2015 and before the election in 2016, hardly anyone believed Donald Trump would become president, not even Donald Trump. But he did and a wide variety of explanations have been offered for this turn of events: The media made this happen by chasing ratings; they repeated endlessly everything Trump said or did, making Trump ever more famous. But no, the reason was really the Constitution, which gave outsized political power to rural states. Or no, the problem was the lazy or ignorant voters. But no, it was the Green Party and Jill Stein. Oh wait, it was surely because of Putin. There is merit to these rationales, but there is something more fundamental at play. Even though the polls showed Trump (and Clinton as well) had more opposition than support, these became the nominees of the two major parties, giving both a weak opponent. How can candidates win an election with more opposition than support? A hint is in another question. Why don't we even ask voters which candidates they oppose? This is a fundamental problem with how we vote. And how we vote is surely fundamental to our democracy. In the 2015 Republican primaries, there were generally more than just two candidates. This is important because it is so well understood that when there are three or more candidates, vote-splitting might easily corrupt our election outcomes. This flaw in the primary elections was key to how Trump could win the Republican party nomination. Sadly, we may now experience such a failure yet again. The plurality voting system that generally we use in the United States (and even in most of the world) only allows a vote to specify one single candidate to support. That is sufficient so long as there are just two candidates; that is what gives us the rationale for clinging to our two-party system. That is why we make it so difficult for third parties to gain ballot access. Allowing for only two points of view may help to make plurality voting more tolerable, but it is no way to let a democracy flourish. But when, as occasionally even happens even in our general elections, there are more than just two candidates, plurality ballots cannot possibly paint a clear picture of voter sentiment. Even if all voters tried to be honest in identifying their favorite candidate, the election could not take account for any degree of willingness to compromise among several top candidates. And other voters may be primarily worried about the possibility of electing a candidate who seems to be a terrible choice. These voters may choose to lie for strategic reasons, perhaps choosing randomly to support one of several other candidates. It becomes impossible to determine from a ballot what the voter was trying to express. Perhaps it genuinely expresses support for a candidate, but maybe it was meant as a stand in opposition to some other, unidentified candidate. Can we really claim that the winner is the true choice of the electorate? This is a process of course, but this is a pitiful way to choose someone for a powerful position; surely, a better way must be possible. Nonetheless, media pundits and successful politicians tend to talk as if elections were flawless. We hear phrases like, the voters have spoken, suggesting that voters are even capable of speaking clearly. Unfortunately, with plurality voting they do not enjoy that luxury unless elections are limited to only two candidates. But what kind of democracy could tolerate a voting system that only allows for two candidates? As mentioned before, with plurality voting, a voter chooses just one candidate to vote for. There are two fundamental problems hidden within this very short description. One is that with plurality voting, voters must choose just a single candidate and express an opinion about only that one candidate. The second problem is that the only opinion the candidate can express is of support for that candidate. With several candidates running for a single office, there may well be some candidates that a voter feels ambivalent about but there will likely be some that the voter finds to be unacceptable. And as well as one or more candidates that the voter supports. Is there some reason that opposition is not just as important as support? Is it not possible for a voter to fervently want to oppose one or more of them but to support none of them? Is it reasonable to force such a voter to feign support for some candidate that in fact the voter does not truly support? Would it not be better to allow the voter to explicitly say so when they oppose a candidate? Even though plurality voting fails to allow a vote of opposition, it is not uncommon to hear a voter say they plan to vote against a candidate. They no doubt would like to vote against that candidate but the closest they can come to this is to choose some other candidate to support with their vote. That action amounts to a feeble attempt at an opposition vote, but their words reveal what they prefer to do. A sensible voting system should address both of these fundamental problems and there are several voting systems that do that. Simplest among them is a system that has been adopted in Latvia. Some call it balanced approval voting, but the system also goes under the name yes/no/abstain voting or sometimes as combined approval voting. In this voting system, a voter is provided with the list of candidates and asked to indicate, for each candidate, either support or opposition; quite necessarily, a voter is allowed to skip over some candidates whom they neither support nor oppose. The net-vote for a candidate (which could be negative) is the number of support votes for that candidate minus the number of opposition votes and the winner is then identified as the candidate with the largest net-vote. Notice how unlikely it would be for a candidate with a zero or negative net-vote to win election. Though the zero or negative possibilities make clear information that is helpful, some people dislike the possibility of such outcomes. The implementation of this system in Latvia avoids the use of negative numbers by adding the total count of voters to the net-vote for their vote tally. It is illuminating to consider why a voter might abstain. It would likely happen when the voter really does not know enough about the candidate to have strong feelings one way or the other. For example, a voter might feel unable to either support or oppose a candidate if the voter does not even recognize the name. But conversely, votes of support or of opposition for a specific candidate will be drawn from the pool of voters who are reasonably informed about the candidate. This will be most voters when the candidate is famous. A famous candidate will generally have more votes of support but also more votes of opposition than will another candidate who is relatively unknown simply because the famous candidate will have fewer abstentions. Any voting system that tallies only votes of support while failing to compensate for votes of opposition as well, will bias its elections unfairly in favor of a very famous candidate. This is a failure of plurality voting, but also of most voting systems that are widely discussed. This may also be what accounts for Trump's nomination in 2016. Another virtue of balanced approval voting (BAV) is that it mitigates against polarization. An easy way to see this is to imagine a political system in which there are only two parties of roughly equal size; let's call those parties R and D. And imagine that the Rs consistently support the R candidates but consistently oppose the D candidates. And further imagine that the reverse is true, that the Ds support the D candidates but oppose the R candidates. With BAV the net-vote for both the R and D candidates will be at or near zero. This allows a third-party candidate or an independent candidate who is widely supported by those relatively few voters who are informed about the candidate, a realistic possibility for winning election. Would that be such a bad outcome for democracy? In subsequent BAV elections, voters would no longer dismiss third parties so easily and neither could the news media. A multi-party system with ideas from many points of view being considered and discussed could finally emerge. Less famous candidates would gain more access to media and so earn fewer abstentions. I should now add that there are some difficulties with presidential elections, not only for introducing BAV but for adopting any new voting system. The problem lies in the Electoral College, which presumably would continue to use plurality voting. But that should not prevent us from improving the great many other elections, importantly even including even the primary elections for presidential nominations. Most people will insist on the removal of a cancerous tumor. No one will agree to the partial removal of a cancerous tumor because what remains of that tumor will continue to grow, infecting healthy cells, causing the patient to suffer until, eventually, the patient dies. What remains, in other words, will still act like cancer. It will destroy healthy cells, eventually, killing the host. A partial removal isn't the same as "all is clear". Ridding ourselves of a little bit or even half of something that is toxic to the survival of democracy isn't a solution to our current political and cultural crisis either. Unfortunately, knowledge about the US's historical encounter with other human beings is the unwanted, the cancerous. Why would some Americans view this knowledge about its own history as life-threatening? For that answer we have to ask, what is, for these Americans, worth protecting at all cost if not white supremacy. The history of holding caves along the western coast of Africa, of auction blocks, of selling and buying of men, women, and children, of the systemic rape of black girls and women, of the systemic exploitation of their labor, resulting in the foundational establishment of institutions and industries is to be erased, if not forcefully forgotten. Too uncomfortable for Americans filled to the brim with innocence, God, and patriotism! To subjugate the knowledge of the black lived experienced so as to effect as "disappearance" of the unwanted is to result in the coercion of all Americans, offering everyone, that is, a shared role in the violence of fascism. Bring out the Confederate flag. Display the crosses. And the noose. No one need wonder where Christianity enters the picture. God is on the side of the insurrections at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Insurrections shouting, "take back our country", coincides with the pogroms, such as the banning of books and the removal of AP courses in African American studies and the outright censorship against anything having to do with slavery. Slavery. It's the dream of American fascist to "disappear" black people, beginning with pogroms that shift the victim of enslavement, conquest, imperialism, and exploitation into the embodiment of the "un-Godly." Evil itself. It's a pattern of outcomes history has recorded again and again. And it is nothing short of a declaration of war. And so war it is! * The war began long before Trumpism. In the "Forward" to The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy (2022), the public historian, writer, and former Evangelical Christian Jemar Tisby describes how the results of the Trump victory in 2016 affected him. It was as if he had engaged in battle, and lost. The physical signs of the conflict manifested themselves in a muscle twitch under his left eye. He suffered from this "physiological response in which," he writes, "I essentially winced every time I opened my laptop." Tisby later learns that he experienced "a form of racial trauma". He had to ask himself, How would it be possible to worship alongside whites at church? "How could I sing, pray, and exchange pleasantries with folks who seemed not to care what their favored politician's plans would mean for me, my family, our community, and our country?" Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). As several African countries undergo military coups, it appears that Francafrique, France's sphere of influence over former French colonies in sub-Saharan Africa, may be coming to an end. For years, France maintained the largest foreign military presence in Africa, maintaining a grip on the countries it was situated in and controlling the export market of local minerals. But the military takeovers in Burkina Faso, Mali, and most recently Niger, at least partly triggered by an Islamist insurgency raging across the Sahel region, are likely to end Africa's longstanding presence in Africa. In the past three years, eight former French colonies located in West and Central Africa experienced coups that have resulted in military leaderships taking control. Each of these political transitions has been accompanied by a strong surge of anti-France sentiment. Many believe this sentiment stems from perceived meddling and interference by France. Now, as these vast regions of Africa teeter on the brink of conflict, France once more finds itself at the epicenter of the turbulence. The escalating tension is most palpable in Niger, a former French colony. Here, a democratically elected administration under the leadership of President Mohamed Bazoum - who has robust support from both Paris and other Western powers - was ousted by a military junta in late July. Neighboring countries, members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have voiced threats of launching an offensive against the Nigerian military coup leaders, notably General Abdourahamane Tchiani. Given the circumstance, there's potential for French backing should such a military intervention materialize. This is especially true considering the ongoing French military presence in Niger, evidenced by their 1,500-strong troop garrison and well-established airbase. However, France has so far remained cautious, maintaining a watchful stance and not rushing into any precipitate action. It is likely that it is this French hesitation and non-involvement that encouraged the coup leaders in Gabon to move forward with their plans without fear of retribution. Naturally, as Africa wrenches free from France, other major powers are seeking to move in and fill the power vacuum. The African continent has clearly emerged as a focal point for significant geopolitical attention in light of the ongoing global realignment. There are at least four primary reasons that underscore its importance on the world stage. To begin with, Africa holds a substantial position within the United Nations. It constitutes the most expansive regional bloc, commanding approximately 28% of all votes within the General Assembly. This provides the continent with significant influence in shaping global resolutions and directives. Secondly, Africa holds many of the world's most essential raw minerals, many of which are exclusive to the continent. The possession of these unique mineral resources amplifies its strategic importance in global commerce and industry. The third point of significance lies in the continent's strategic maritime routes, particularly those situated in East Africa. These routes play a pivotal role in facilitating global sea trade, making their significance undeniable in the larger spectrum of world economics. Lastly, Africa is witnessing an unparalleled demographic evolution. It is projected that by the year 2030, the continent will be home to approximately 42% of the world's youth population. Such a large and growing youth demographic can have profound implications for global labor markets, innovation, and geopolitical strategies in the years to come. For these reasons and more, China and Russia are increasingly gravitating towards Eritrea, a modestly-sized African nation strategically poised in the Horn of Africa, offering easy access to the Red Sea. Notably, Eritrea's location provides a pivotal advantage in the context of global geopolitics. This increased attention from superpowers Beijing and Moscow comes as Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki faces isolation from Western nations due to concerns over his autocratic style of governance and alleged abuse of human rights. Observers note that Afwerki's diplomatic maneuverings have succeeded in drawing his nation closer to these major powers, paving the way for financial backing for numerous developmental projects and investments. This relationship was further cemented in 2021 when Eritrea joined China's Belt and Road Initiative. This ambitious, multibillion-dollar program by Beijing has been a game-changer across the African continent, facilitating the construction of large-scale infrastructure projects. These have spanned ports, highways, energy-generating dams, railways, and roads, further integrating Africa into China's expanding global network. In addition, over the past decade, Chinese firms have been on a shopping spree in Eritrea, scooping up major stakes in all four of the country's advanced mining ventures, previously owned by Australian and Canadian businesses. Some of these mines contain world-class mineral deposits. Just in the past five years, Zijin Mining Group snapped up Nevsun Resources' copper and zinc mine from Canada, and Sichuan Road and Bridge Group sealed the deal on Danakali's potash project from Australia. Russia, as well, has made inroads in Africa. Since the onset of the Ukraine war, Russian officials have increased diplomatic visits to Africa and Latin America to enhance Russia's global standing. In 2023, they visited numerous African countries and Latin American nations, including Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, with the aim of garnering support for Russia's war in Ukraine. Observers believe Russia is strategically bolstering its global influence, using economic ties, politics, and digital disinformation. This shift in strategy from mere economic "opportunism" in the 2010s has led to increased Russian influence in places like South Africa, which seems to be leaning more towards China and Russia than the West. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Dear Friends, We are pleased to invite you to the upcoming March Equinox Celebration, a day for honoring the Earth and highlighting the economics for peace principles and policies originally envisioned in 1968 by John McConnell, the founder and creator of Earth Day. This event has been celebrated annually at the United Nations since 1971. People will join together at the UN and around the world to acknowledge the exact moment of the March Equinox (3/19/24, 11:06 pm EST) when the ceremonial ringing of the UN Peace Bell takes place honoring world peace and earth rights justice. The Equinox is the time of year when the planet is in equipoise of equal day and night representing worldwide balance and harmony. John McConnell was an idealist, a visionary and a peacemaker, who coined the term Earth Day. He proposed its celebration be on the March equinox to the City of San Francisco in October, 1969 and announced it in November at a UNESCO Conference. San Francisco hosted the first Earth Day on March 21, 1970. Since then the Earth Society Foundation, which McConnell co-founded with Margaret Mead, has hosted the annual event where the UN Peace Bell is rung followed by prayer, music and meditation. Margaret Mead, UN Secretary-General U Thant, President Ford, and thirty-three Nobel laureates supported Earth Day. In addition thirty-six worldwide dignitaries signed McConnell's Earth Day Proclamation, supporting Earth Day on the March Equinox as an annual planetary holiday linking people everywhere without regard to politics, culture, national borders or religion. The theme for the March 2024 Earth Day celebration is The Earth Belongs to Everyone: Building a Culture and Economics of Peace. This focus draws upon McConnell's thoughts, work and writings about EARTH RIGHTS. In 1968 McConnell wrote his "Planetary Inheritance Declaration" concerning the "rights and responsibilities of all people with respect to Earth's land, sea, minerals, oil and other natural resources". He urged the UN to establish a "Natural Resources Royalties Pool" that would collect money from any individual, corporation or country that might take an excess of their rightful portion, then distribute those funds to all of Earth's people which would help to eliminate many economic sources of discord that lead to war. The Henry George Institute welcomed McConnell's message at a May 1996 seminar stating that "Mr. McConnell has long shared Henry George's vision of the Earth as the common heritage of all people and he advocates the public collection of land rent as a way to actualize this all-important relationship." The seminar honored McConnell's co-authorship, with UN NGO Representative Alanna Hartzok of a paper titled Pennsylvania's Success with Local Tax Reform that described the success this "earth rights" tax reform has had in Hartzok's home state of Pennsylvania. If you are not able to be at the UN celebration; please consider setting up an event in your neighborhood that works for you. What follows this letter is the registration form that we hope you will fill out to let us know of your interest to endorse our project and/or plan an event to acknowledge the UN's 2024 Equinox Earth Day celebration. Once complete send it back to the address at the end of the form. Additional support materials follow the registration form. Kindest regards, Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould The above information is from Peace, Justice, Care of Earth: The Vision of John McConnell, Founder of Earth Day, a biography by Robert M. Weir and Earth Day: Vision for Peace Justice, and Earth Care: My Life and Thought at Age 96 by John McConnell, edited by John C. Munday. See also The Earth Belongs to Everyone by Alanna Hartzok. The UN Center for Human Settlements - HABITAT - is an advocate for EARTH RIGHTS tax policies as stated in Action Plans adopted by consensus of all UN Member States. The Vancouver Action Plan section D.1 (a)s is one example that says: "Excessive profits resulting from the increase in land value due to development and change in use are one of the principal causes of the concentration of wealth in private hands. Taxation should not be seen only as a source of revenue for the community but also a powerful tool to encourage development of desirable locations, to exercise a controlling effect on the land market and to redistribute to the public at large the benefits of the unearned increase in land values." 2024 EQUINOX EARTH DAY ENDORSEMENT & EVENT REGISTRATION FORM Date of this communication: _________________________________________________________________________ I/We are pleased to endorse the 2024 Equinox Earth Day and intend to ring a bell for peace at the exact moment of equinox at the same time that the Peace Bell will be rung at the United Nations (March 19th, 11:06 pm EST) marking the 54th year of this annual event. The date will be March 19 or 20st depending on where I live. Calculate time from where you live HERE. Countdown to the 2024 March Equinox is HERE. I/We are organizing an event that will celebrate and educate about the 2024 theme - The Earth Belongs to Everyone - Building a Culture and Economics of Peace. I understand that a registered event can be as modest gathering with family and friends or as ambitious as a public forum in my community that would include speakers, musicians, poets and perhaps a "pop-up" art exhibit. Please register the event I / we are organizing on the Equinox Earth Day 2024 website: ______________________________________________________________________________ (Name of event: If undecided please write undecided.) Name and organizational affiliation: ______________________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________________ Phone: ______________________________________________________________________________ City and Country: ______________________________________________________________________________ Please send me information about how I/We can launch an Economics for Peace project in our community / town / city. Email the form to ay|AT|gmail.com Email address">EquinoxEarthD ay|AT|gmail.comEmail address or mail it to Mary Carlin, 238 E. 58th St. #24, NY, NY 10022. The form can be accessed online HERE. To learn about launching EARTH RIGHTS projects contact Alanna Hartzok at ay|AT|gmail.com Email address">EquinoxEarthD ay|AT|gmail.comEmail address or 717-357-7617 AN INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION ON INDIVIDUAL & COMMON RIGHTS TO EARTH (Originally composed and declared at a meeting of the International Union for Land Value Taxation held in 1949) We hereby declare that the earth is the common heritage of all and that all people have natural and equal rights to the land of the planet. By the term "land" is meant all natural resources. Subject always to these natural and equal rights in land and to this common ownership, individuals can and should enjoy certain subsidiary rights in land. These rights properly enjoyed by individuals are: 1. The right to secure exclusive occupation of land 2. The right to exclusive use of land occupied. 3. The right to the free transfer of land according to the laws of the country. 4. The right to transmit land by inheritance. These individual rights do not include: 1. The right to use land in a manner contrary to the common good of all, e.g., in such a manner as to destroy or impair the common heritage. 2. The right to appropriate what economists call the Economic Rent of land. The Economic Rent is the annual value attaching to the land alone apart from any improvements thereon created by labor. This value is created by the existence of and the functioning of the whole community wherein the individual lives and is in justice the property of the community. To allow this value to be appropriated by individuals enables land to be used not only for the production of wealth but as an instrument of oppression of human by human leading to severe social consequences which are everywhere evident. All humans have natural and equal rights in land. Those rights may be exercised in two ways: 1. By holding land as individuals and/or 2. Sharing in the common use of the Economic Rent of land. The Economic Rent of land can be collected for the use of the community by methods similar to those by which real estate taxes are now collected. That is what is meant by the policy of Land Value Taxation. Were this community created land value collected, the many taxes which impede the production of wealth and limit purchasing power could be abolished. The exercise of both common and individual rights in land is essential to a society based on justice. But the rights of individuals in natural resources are limited by the just rights of the community. Denying the existence of common rights in land creates a condition of society wherein the exercise of individual rights becomes impossible for the great mass of the people. We therefore declare that the earth is the birthright of all people. QUOTES FROM EQUINOX EARTH DAY FOUNDER JOHN MCCONNELL "We need to find ideas that can generate the greatest cooperation for the greatest good on our planet, that's what I tried to do with Earth Day, the Earth Trustee Agenda, Minute for Peace and the Earth Magna Charta." "Environmental efforts by themselves will leave us in ruins unless we stop war, unless we promote peace, and unless we have more economic justice." "Among the equal rights of men is the right to an equal share in nature's bounty a right of each man to his planetary inheritance - his share of land, water, minerals or an appropriate equivalent in food, housing, or other benefits". No one can, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity, or any other man's posterity, of the right to his portion of Earth." Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould are authors of Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story, published by City Lights (2009), Crossing Zero The AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire, published by City Lights (2011). Their novel The Voice , was published in 2001. Their memoir, The Valediction Three Nights of Desmond was published by TrineDay (2021) and The Valediction Resurrection was published by TrineDay (2022). For more information visit invisiblehistory, grailwerk and valediction.net Inextrix Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which is popularly known as Inextrix, is one of the leading technology companies based in India. The spokesperson of the company has announced the launch of a certification course for technology students in association with Gujarat Technological University (GTU). This is going to be one of the vocational courses that will benefit students to make a shining career in the IT and/or communication industry. As per the DEAR PEOPLES PHARMACY: Years ago, I read in your column that magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia) works as an underarm deodorant when applied topically. This year, my daughter came home from summer camp with a bad foot stink shed never had before. I rubbed some milk of magnesia on her feet before bed for a few nights, and it took care of the problem. A. Thank you for sharing this intriguing story. Seventeen years ago, we received this message from a reader: I want to share a remedy I learned about when traveling in Brazil. Just apply milk of magnesia to your armpits. It is the best underarm deodorant! We tried this approach ourselves and found that it was surprisingly effective against body odor. We have not found any research to explain why magnesium hydroxide, an ingredient in some antacids and liquid laxatives, would control unpleasant smells. One possibility is that changing the pH of the skin alters bacterial balance and discourages odor. DEAR PEOPLES PHARMACY: Youve written about nighttime leg cramps, which have been troubling me lately. Even turning over in bed to relieve hip pain gets the cramps going, and I have to jump out of bed to try to stop them. Many years ago, my doctor would order quinine. After taking it for a few nights, Id be cramp free for months, but it was taken off the market. I dont understand why it cant be prescribed any more. Over-the-counter meds do nothing for cramps. Some people take marijuana as medicine, so why not quinine? A. Quinine was once a mainstay of treatment against malaria. Doctors also prescribed it for leg cramps. At one time, quinine was sold over the counter for cramps. It can cause serious side effects, though. Some people develop irregular heart rhythms or life-threatening anemia. Others may experience headaches, changes in vision, tinnitus, rash, itching, nausea and liver damage. If taken during pregnancy, quinine sometimes causes birth defects. All that led the Food and Drug Administration to ban its use in over-the-counter cramp remedies in 1994. Subsequently, the agency has prohibited doctors from prescribing quinine for anything other than malaria. The reasoning is that malaria can be life-threatening and is therefore worth the risk of side effects. Leg cramps, while painful, are not life-threatening. Some people find that a glass of tonic water can help relieve cramps, although it contains far less quinine than you used to take in your medicine. That may be due to the bitter taste of quinine. Strong flavors, such as vinegar, capsaicin or ginger, stimulate special channels on the nerves (transient receptor potential aka TRP channels). This activity can interrupt the muscle contractions of cramps. We discuss many other approaches to easing leg cramps in our book The Peoples Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies. If you cannot find it at your local library, you can get a copy from the bookstore at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. DEAR PEOPLES PHARMACY: You have written about heartburn drugs called PPIs. What are they? Is Pepcid or Tums included in this category? A. PPI stands for proton pump inhibitor. These are powerful acid-suppressing drugs such as esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and omeprazole (Prilosec). Pepcid, on the other hand, is known by the generic name famotidine. It is classified as a histamine H2 blocker rather than a PPI. It is not as strong an acid suppressor. Tums contains calcium carbonate. It buffers stomach acid to temporarily ease symptoms of indigestion. * * * In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email them via their website: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them. (c) 2023 King Features Syndicate, Inc. A Lake Oswego entrepreneur is facing up to five years in prison, after pleading guilty to stiffing the federal government out of more than $24 million in taxes. Robert Kohnle was the CEO of Aliat, a company that helped other firms manage their payroll and health care benefits services. On his LinkedIn, Kohnle waxed poetic about his calling, writing, The problem with health care is more than money. Its about the time an average business owner spends struggling to comply with modern [human resources] regulations, and the lack of real benefits for the (very real) people that work at these businesses. Thats why I founded Aliat because I believe employees are a capital asset, not a disposable resource. But lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice said that in fact, Kohnle spent six years, between 2016 and 2022, keeping the payroll tax withholdings of his clients employees including income, Medicare and Social Security taxes instead of turning them over to the Internal Revenue Service. In total, Kohnle bilked the Internal Revenue Service out of $24,816,602, they said. He pleaded guilty on Friday. Kohnle is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8. His exact sentence, which could also include supervised release, restitution and fines, will be determined by a federal district court judge. Julia Silverman, @jrlsilverman, jsilverman@oregonian.com An unspecified number of Asian individuals were subjected to a racist attack in downtown Portland around 2:45 p.m. on August 21, Portland police say, and investigators are asking the publics help to identify a man who was riding a white bicycle who they suspect committed the hateful act. According to police, an attacker spat on and physically assaulted the Asian individuals. Police did not specify anything about the victims ages or identities. Police distributed two grainy photos of a man, riding a white bike and wearing a billed cap, sunglasses and a large backpack, who they allege was involved in the racially motivated attack. Portland police distributed two grainy photos Monday of a man on a white bike they allege was involved in a racist attack on Asian individuals in downtown Portland last month. The incident would represent at least the third attack on people of Asian heritage in the citys core in less than 14 months. In July 2022, a California man of Japanese descent and his 5-year-old daughter were punched by a man who repeatedly yelled a slur targeting their race, police said. The alleged attacker faces 19 criminal counts, including first-degree bias crime. This June, a 23-year-old woman shoved the top Japanese diplomat in Oregon to the ground, causing the 62-year-old man to strike his head on the pavement, resulting in a cut that required medical care. The incident, which took place near Southwest Oak Street and Park Avenue, about six blocks from Sundays alleged attack, led to the womans indictment on a federal assault charge. Portland police officials request that anyone has information that can assist investigators in locating the man on the white bicycle share it with Crime Stoppers of Oregon, which allows people to submit anonymous tips on its website or mobile app. Crime Stoppers of Oregon offers cash rewards of up to $2,500 cash for information that leads to an arrest in any unsolved felony crime. -- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com By Michael Wilner, McClatchy Washington Bureau WASHINGTON American spies and intelligence agencies are quietly on the frontlines of a global battle against fentanyl, a drug ravaging communities across the United States. Now a tool the CIA says is critical to that fight is at risk in Congress this fall. A 9/11-era surveillance program is enabling the intelligence community to monitor the production line of fentanyl overseas from the smuggling of chemicals across the Pacific to its assembly in clandestine facilities throughout Mexico. Known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the program allows law enforcement and intelligence agencies to surveil foreigners who are located abroad and communicating on U.S. internet and phone service providers, without obtaining a warrant. Intelligence officials tell McClatchy it has become a crucial asset in their fight against a synthetic opioid killing more Americans each year than all other drugs combined. But the program appears imperiled for the first time since its creation 15 years ago by a new set of critics and amid political fallout over the investigation of Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. Section 702 is the reason intelligence officials know that the overwhelming majority of chemicals used in fentanyl trace back to China, officials said. And it has provided intelligence linking at least one foreign government official to the trade. Intelligence collected using Section 702 has proven critical in disrupting specific transfer attempts of vast quantities of fentanyl pills across the U.S. southern border, a U.S. intelligence official told McClatchy, speaking under the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence operations, and has allowed the U.S. government to warn commercial shipping giants that smugglers are using their freight to conceal chemical loads. 702 is really the only source of information that allows us to stay dynamic in thwarting the threat, the intelligence official said. If we were to lose it, it would make us blind. The program has also been instrumental in the recruitment of foreigners abroad to spy for the United States to penetrate smuggling organizations, monitor their tactics and disrupt the supply chain of fentanyl before it reaches the homeland as a finished product, multiple intelligence officials said. It has helped the CIA learn the habits of potential spies before they are even approached for recruitment. And intelligence officials said it has also helped protect agents from being placed in danger in the field, when remote surveillance of a target is a viable alternative. The intelligence official described a scenario in which a drug cartel is preparing to smuggle thousands of fentanyl pills to the United States in a single run. Its chemical suppliers in Asia, its pill press manufacturer, its choice of commercial shipper and its ultimate choice of smuggler would all be talking communications that can be monitored in real-time using the FISA program. Section 702 has allowed us to illuminate networks in the global supply chain from precursor to shipment, from soup to nuts, the intelligence official said. It gives us insight into some of the quantities and potency of some of the drugs produced. Its given us insight into specific smuggling techniques that the networks use to avoid detection. Theyre communicating not unlike other businessmen, the official added. They have profits, they have margins, they have middlemen, they have lawyers. Democrats have long questioned whether Section 702 infringes on the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens. The program allows intelligence officials to collect data on targeted individuals with precision and speed by compelling a U.S. telecommunications provider, such as Google or Verizon, to provide the contents of specific email accounts or phone lines of foreigners abroad without the need for a warrant. As a consequence, it also allows for incidental collection of communications between U.S. citizens and those foreign targets a backdoor, critics argue, for the warrantless surveillance of Americans. Civil liberties advocates also question whether, even with creative interpretations, the law permits intelligence officers to collect information for counternarcotics operations. Republicans, too, are now raising questions over the program, accusing the FBI of abusing FISA powers in its investigation of Trumps 2016 campaign. An internal review of the FBI investigation found that its application for a FISA warrant on one of Trumps top campaign advisers at the time was based on false information. Its evident that the FBI has been weaponized, and its far past time for reforms after the FBI has repeatedly used their power to go after political opponents, Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, told McClatchy when asked for his position on Section 702 reauthorization. Ill be watching this closely as it moves forward. The bipartisan skepticism puts Section 702 in jeopardy for the first time since its initial passage in 2008, when the program was first designed to track down terrorist plots. Biden administration officials are growing anxious over the fate of the program, which is set to expire at the end of the year. We are hearing calls for reform from both sides, without agreement on what the reform should be, a senior administration official said. And until we get the votes we need to confirm they are a yes on reauthorization, we will be concerned. A DIFFERENT BATTLE The debate has shed light on the intelligence communitys use of the program to fight a pervasive drug crisis. Were dealing with a very deadly threat in fentanyl, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis Kenneth Wainstein told McClatchy. Its horribly lethal. Its trafficking sale is incredibly lucrative. The Mexican drug-dealing cartels are heavily involved in it, with deadly efficiency, and they dont care about the human results of that trade. When you put those things together, that makes for a very dangerous threat to our nation, to our people, to our national security, Wainstein said. Its a threat that has come to the fore that we didnt have to deal with in the past. For decades, intelligence agencies have been able to monitor acres of foreign coca farms and opium poppy fields from the air before crops were turned into cocaine and heroin. Intelligence officers could trace the entire supply chain with basic surveillance tools that help them disrupt major drug trafficking operations. Fentanyl poses a new kind of threat, U.S. officials say, because of the source of its basic ingredients and the simplicity of its production. Since 2018, fentanyl has driven a record surge in drug overdose deaths across the country. Over 70,000 Americans died from synthetic opioids primarily fentanyl in 2021, the last year with verified data from the National Institutes of Health, accounting for 66% of all overdose deaths that year. Provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics suggests that overdose deaths plateaued in 2022. The Mexican government has been a cooperative partner, U.S. officials said. But Chinese entities smuggling precursor chemicals are constantly adapting their tactics. Todd Robinson, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, said in July that Beijing needs to do more as a global partner to disrupt the fentanyl trade, given its position as a primary source of critical materials. Instead of selling the finished product, you now have an incredible array of Chinese companies selling precursor chemicals which are then shipped, in various ways, overwhelmingly to Mexico, which cartels then mix in relatively simple ways, Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Josh Geltzer told McClatchy. Producers take advantage of the bustle of commercial shipping traffic to transport the chemicals from China to Mexico, and from there can simply produce the drug in the secretive settings of store basements and apartment units. One pill really can kill, Geltzer added, so I think it raises the stakes in our effort to reduce the supply, and in understanding the supply chain at the earliest stages. PROGRAM IN JEOPARDY For a decade, the political debate over Section 702 largely stemmed from privacy advocates alarmed by the broad powers afforded to U.S. intelligence agencies under the surveillance law. The Obama administration secretly secured approval from a FISA court in 2011 to use the program to search Americans communications with foreign individuals without warrants, including intercepted phone calls and emails, in cases related to national security investigations. It was one of many revelations on the program unveiled by Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, in 2013, before he fled to Russia. Section 702 was reauthorized in 2018. But the program was back under scrutiny within months of that vote, after the inspector general of the FBI published a scathing report outlining systemic abuse at the agency of its surveillance authorities. The FBI had used false statements in its application for a warrant to surveil Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign who was suspected of coordinating with Russia. Nearly one in five FISA queries at the agency failed to comply with legal standards. In May, a FISA court unsealed its memorandum finding the FBI had misused Section 702 over 278,000 times, including searches of individuals involved in protests around the killing of George Floyd in 2020; suspects in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol; and donors to an unnamed candidate for Congress. The inspector generals report, a subsequent audit, and the unsealed court documents seemed to confirm the worst fears of progressives long opposed to the expansive use of FISA authorities and added new critics on the right allied with Trump, who has railed against the surveillance law ever since. The most recent audit published in May found the FBI has since come into regular compliance with the law. But that hasnt stopped lawmakers from threatening to oppose its renewal amid broader criticism of the surveillance law. In June, a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee laid bare bipartisan skepticism of the program and the risk that Congress could fail to reauthorize it. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, urged his colleagues to support reauthorization, invoking his partys promise to combat the fentanyl trade. But he acknowledged a difficult path lay ahead trying to find consensus. Law enforcement personnel need to be armed with tools they need to detect and respond to increasingly sophisticated threats from our nations adversaries, Tillis later told McClatchy. There have also been disturbing documented abuses of FISA that cannot be repeated. COST OF FAILURE IS REAL Ahead of a deadline to renew the law by the end of the year, McClatchy asked lawmakers across the country whether Congress failure to reauthorize the program would impact the trajectory of the fentanyl epidemic. A majority of those asked across both parties said they support reauthorization with significant reform but with time running out, few articulated the reforms required to earn their support. The Presidents Intelligence Advisory Board, which advises presidents on the quality and legality of foreign intelligence activities, issued a report in July warning that reauthorization may be in jeopardy due to failures at the FBI and the political fallout. Complacency, a lack of proper procedures, and the sheer volume of Section 702 activity led to FBIs inappropriate use of Section 702 authorities, specifically U.S. person queries, the report said. But the board found no evidence of willful misuse of these authorities by FBI for political purposes, it continued, noting the Justice Department had only identified three incidents of intentional misconduct from among millions of FBI queries using Section 702 information. The cost of failure is real, the board report asserted, warning of broad consequences for national security if the program is not renewed. If Congress fails to reauthorize Section 702, history may judge the lapse of Section 702 authorities as one of the worst intelligence failures of our time. The board recommended several reforms to secure congressional passage that the administration has largely endorsed, proposing the FBI hire a designated compliance officer and also the establishment of an independent review office that directly reports to the president. And it recommended compelling the Justice Department to remove the FBIs authority to search Americans names using Section 702 data for evidence in crimes unrelated to national security threats. It also suggested that Congress should direct the government to submit a new counternarcotics certification under Section 702 to the surveillance court, with much of their reasoning redacted. A U.S. official said that, under the current authorities, there are circumstances in which (intelligence) collection on foreign narcotics traffickers is authorized. Congress has been briefed on the use of Section 702 to track drug cartels, whose communications with Chinese suppliers have then been collected secondhand. But a new certification could broaden the power of intelligence agencies to monitor secondary players in the fentanyl trade. The reform debate is about this programs broad intrusion on Americans privacy, said Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the ACLUs National Security Project. If the purpose of Section 702 is to target foreigners for intelligence purposes, as officials often say, then they should stop stonewalling robust protections for Americans. Toomey questioned whether existing legal certifications for use of Section 702 allowed for intelligence collection unrelated to threats from foreign government entities, terrorist organizations, or weapons of mass destruction. Not all certifications for FISA use are public yet another criticism among advocates of transparency. There is no evidence that a warrant requirement for Americans would harm national security, Toomey said. While Section 702 first passed in the aftermath of the attacks on 9/11, use of the program has expanded significantly over time. Section 702 first passed into law in 2008 months after Apple brought the iPhone to market, leading a global expansion of U.S. telecommunications that has proven serendipitous and invaluable to the American intelligence community. Other surveillance powers allow intelligence agencies to collect communications data overseas. But then the burden falls on intelligence officials to obtain that material on a foreign communications servers, often in hostile territory, and to comb through tranches of data, a time-consuming task. Intelligence officials say those tactics also risk intercepting the communications of Americans and do not allow the sort of precise, speedy searches that have made Section 702 so powerful. Today, the reliance of transnational criminal organizations, hostile government actors, terrorist groups and drug cartels on U.S. communications platforms provides a strategic advantage to the United States that would be foolish to waste, the U.S. intelligence official said. The official noted that 60% of the material in the presidents daily brief intelligence information compiled for the president every day relies on information collected using Section 702. No one is satisfied with where we are on the fentanyl issue, said Geltzer, the presidents deputy homeland security advisor, noting thousands of Americans are still dying from the drug each month. But critics of the governments response to the epidemic, and of the surveillance program, risk aggravating both, he said. I would say to them, dont blind us to the insights that have at least gotten us this far, Geltzer added. At a minimum, dont blind us to that which already has helped us make some progress against this threat. ____ Daniel Desrochers of the Kansas City Star and Danielle Battaglia of the Charlotte Observer contributed reporting. 2023 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This story originally appeared on Underscore.news and is co-published by Underscore.news and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Funding is provided in part by Meyer Memorial Trust. Hip-hop turns 50 in 2023. ICT looks at some of the Indigenous artists across the nation who have been impacted by the music. Thinking of a master plan. Got tobacco and sage inside my hand. Pulling out my wallet Im collecting rent, land back is the vision stacking presidents, artist Kunu raps in the opening verse of Master Plan. Both a love letter to hip hop with an ode to Paid in Full by Eric B. & Rakim in the first line and a call for Land Back, Master Plan is local hip-hop artist Kunu Bearchums latest single. Born in Eugene, Oregon, and raised in New Mexico, Kunu Bearchum, Ho-Chunk and Northern Cheyenne, first began to make music in high school. After graduating in 2007, he moved back to Oregon with his hip-hop crew, Che Finch aka WYZAKER WORLDWIDE and his brother Nahko Bearchum aka Mista Chief. Growing up, hip-hop music was always part of my day to day life, Bearchum said. The way I relate to hip-hop is to give voice to the voiceless. Between 2012 and 2013, Bearchum and a group of other Native artists formed a hip-hop crew called Burial Ground Society. The intertribal collective is made up of hip-hop musicians, artists and craftspeople using their platform to amplify Indigenous voices and stories. We were trying to connect with our tribal heritage. As we were doing research about our different tribes, we knew that there are these different societies within tribal culture, Bearchum said. Within our view of being modern day artists, storytellers and musicians, we want this to be a society of what we do. I guess we would call it an artist society. Core members of Burial Ground Society currently include: Kunu Bearchum; Laronn Katchia; Mista Chief; Tim Keenan-Burgess; Rawoo Wooski; WYZAKER WORLDWIDE; and 1876 Band, according to Bearchum. Throughout the year, Burial Ground Society members perform at community events, open to all ages. Bearchum has found a through line between his work and the work of all of his Native hip-hop role models education for tribal youth. Currently, Bearchum volunteers with the Native Youth Wellness Program through the Lane Education Service District in Eugene. Serving as a mentor for Native youth, Bearchum works with youth both one on one and as a group through activities such as hand drum making workshops and music classes. I hope that I can do my due diligence to represent [hip-hop] culture that I feel literally saved my life and kept me busy and away from a lot of the bullshit that constantly plagues our tribal youth, Bearchum said. For Bearchum, his music is an outlet for messages of social justice. He grew up with the teachings from his Ho-Chunk grandparents, who were deeply involved with the American Indian Movement. In 2016, the Dakota Access Pipeline protests erupted in North Dakota on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation an effort led by Indigenous people to protect the water, land and spiritual sites threatened by the pipeline. On Oct.27, 2016, Bearchum and other Burial Ground Society crew members arrived at Standing Rock to help show their support of the movement and document the events taking place. Bearchum went home a few days later, with feelings of anger bubbling inside. It felt like I got jumped, beat up, and there was nothing I could do about it, Bearchum said. Working to channel his anger and frustration into action, Bearchum began working on a song the title single of his debut album, Through the Battle Smoke which was released March 14, 2020, the night before the country went into a COVID-19 lockdown, shutting down his long awaited album tour. The music video for Through the Battle Smoke opens with a black screen and text conveying the following message, signed by Kunu: Dedicated to all the water protectors and land defenders worldwide. We do this work for seven generations ahead and seven generations behind. Be a good ancestor. As Bearchums lyrics fill the air, images of oil rigs drilling into the earth and black smoke released into the air fill the screen. Through the battle smoke, I invoke traditions of old going to those places where legends unfold. Merciless Indian savages with a vengeance, born with a life sentence of being a renegade, Bearchum raps. Interspersed throughout videos of Bearchum rapping are clips of protestors at Standing Rock the song itself feels like a call to action. Though informed by his time at Standing Rock, the album had been bubbling for a long time and the title is even more personal. Bearchums Ho-Chunk name is Xii maani, which means he who walks through the battle smoke. If life is a battle, Bearchum is answering the call and pushing through the smoke with his music. -- This story is co-published by Underscore.news and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Funding is provided in part by Meyer Memorial Trust. A 14-year-old boy who was living off the grid with his mother and his aunt in the Colorado wilderness was down to 40 pounds when he died, according to autopsy reports. The boy, his mother Rebecca Vance, 42, and his aunt Christine Vance, 41, all died of malnutrition and hypothermia, and the deaths were accidental, the autopsies found. The Times obtained copies of the three autopsy reports through a public records request to the Gunnison County Attorneys office after The Colorado Sun reported the story Wednesday. The family had been missing since October 2022. They were discovered in July when a hiker found the boys remains outside of a tent in a remote campsite in the area of Gold Creek Campground, east of Gunnison, in the Colorado Rockies, the reports said. The next day, investigators discovered the remains of Rebecca Vance and Christine Vance inside the tent. Evidence at the campsite suggested that the family was trying to live off the grid but desperately struggled, Michael Barnes, the Gunnison County Coroner who authorized the autopsies, told The Times. Investigators found empty food containers at the campsite, but almost no actual food was present in the tent or in the vicinity, the reports said. They also found survivalist guides scattered around the site. The campsite was located at about 9,500 feet in elevation, and it was a harsh winter, the reports said, with several feet of snowfall and several days of below-zero temperatures. Officials had also said there was a lean-to a type of crude shelter near the campsite, indicating they tried to escape the elements. The family members were all very thin, and wearing several layers of clothes when found, the autopsies said. They also each wore a necklace with a cross Rebecca Vance also wore a whistle. No injuries contributed to their deaths. Rebecca Vance, Christine Vance and Rebeccas 14-year-old son disconnected from the modern world in July 2022 and headed into the Colorado Rockies, Vances stepsister, Trevala Jara, told The Times. Jara said Rebecca had become fearful of the state of the world during the pandemic and concluded she needed to live off the grid to protect her teenage son. Christine Vance, also Jaras stepsister, decided to join them, thinking theyd have a better chance at survival as a trio. Christine and Rebecca Vance, along with Rebeccas son, were inexperienced, and Jara said she tried to stop them, but Rebecca Vance was certain they could live on their own. ___ 2023 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Oregon has many problems that need money to address: funding for a new bridge across the Columbia River affordable housing, homelessness, drug addiction, wildfires and climate change. It is discouraging that the $5.6 billion windfall for the state must be returned as a kicker when we desperately need money for these programs (Oregon taxpayers set to receive record $5.6 billion kicker: Heres what you can expect, Aug. 30). According to the Oregonian, the top 1% of taxpayers will receive an average of over $44,000 each. What if the kicker were modified as follows: 40% (over $2 billion) goes back to the folks making less than the median income. Their kicker should increase. Another 40% goes to help pay for our pressing needs. The final 20% goes to Oregons Rainy Day Fund to help stabilize our government in economic downturns. We need money for critical projects. The current kicker is a severe obstacle. Peter Miller, Portland A large wildfire erupted Sunday north of Hermiston and nearby residents have been ordered to prepare to evacuate. The state fire marshals office took control of the wildfire suppression efforts Monday morning. Level 2 (be set to leave) and Level 1 (get ready) evacuation orders are in place for areas of varying closeness to the fire, dubbed the Bensel Fire because it broke out near Bensel Road. Areas at greatest risk include those near Hat Rock State Park and the McNary Yacht Club along the Columbia River, according to the Umatilla County Sheriffs Office. It poses a threat to life, safety and property that exceeds the firefighting capacities of local personnel and equipment, Gov. Tina Kotek declared Sunday evening. Her declaration allowed the state to send additional resources and take over incident management. Earlier Sunday, the state sent fire boss air tankers and a helicopter to help control damage from the fire. Although portions of Oregon are receiving rain, this is a stark reminder that we are not out of wildfire season yet, Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said in a statement. We are asking the people of Oregon to help prevent human-caused fires by remaining wildfire aware. Additional local firefighting equiment and personnel are being sent to by counties throughout Oregon to aid with the effort. -- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com Mark Wulf, 81, has never taken a weekend hike, but the retired Salem insurance salesman has now crossed the 500-mile Camino de Santiago route from France to northwestern Spain six times. He went solo on half of his annual journeys, but he never felt alone. This year, his son Brad Wulf, a busy Portland real estate broker, came along. The 52-year-old decided to join his dad walking the Camino. If not this year, when? Brad wondered. Like Don Quixote, Brad accepted a self-imposed, challenging quest, walking past fields of poppies and sunflowers, through the hot and shadeless Meseta, and into small villages and big cities. The dream: To take a break from routines to discover ways to slow down. While on the Camino, the Wulfs met other hikers, called pilgrims, following the Way of Saint James, named after the Christian apostle. For spiritual, recreational and other reasons, people from around the world walk, bike, ride horseback and even sail on a river alongside one of more than a dozen ancient routes leading to the city of Santiago de Compostela in the Galicia region north of Portugal. The Camino is best known in the U.S. by actor Martin Sheen and son Emilio Estevezs 2010 The Way movie and this years best-selling book, Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain by actor and travel writer Andrew McCarthy. McCarthy, now 60, walked the Camino in his 30s, and returned three decades later with his son, Sam, 19. It was meaningful for both of us and gave us a new baseline of connecting, McCarthy said in a virtual presentation to some of the more than 2,000 members of the American Pilgrims on the Camino, a nonprofit organization based in Olympia, Washington. Experts say a walk around the block has health and social benefits, and hikes on uneven, natural terrain keep everyone focused on the present adventure, inviting conversations and stretches of silence that are not awkward. For some, weeks-long walks are needed. If youre at any kind of crossroads in life, theres no better thing to do than walk the Camino, McCarthy said. Youre more relaxed and ... you just know, were enough. Were fine. Information at americanpilgrims.org explains what backpackers should bring, lodging options from a hostel (called albergue) to a reservable inn, and how to get stamps toward a pilgrims credential issued by completing a Camino route, in one journey or in sections over time. Most people walk between 12.5 and 18.5 miles a day, but the pace is up to each persons personal fitness and plan, says the American Pilgrims group. Many travelers heading to Santiago spend time exploring historical sites and small villages they find after departing Lisbon, Portugal; Madrid, Spain; St. Jean Pied de Port, France; or other starting places. But the Camino can be more than a long vacation hiking over dirt trails, farm tracks and steep rocky pathways. Unlike the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650-mile wilderness path along the West Coast from Mexico to Canada, the Camino has traditionally been traveled by people who intentionally want to change their lives. Ruben Mendoza of Katy, Texas, is a volunteer board member of the American Pilgrims group. Six years ago, Mendoza walked the Camino Frances, the longest and most popular of the routes. His most vivid memories are the acts of kindness he experienced from strangers. He calls the Camino a classroom of silence, simplicity, gratitude, community and service. Mark Wulf tears up talking about the rich personal connections he has made by walking slowly with people who have nothing to hide. You dont have to put your mask on because someone might judge you, he said. I dont know anywhere else in the world where life is that freeing. He recalls walking with a new friend and as they looked at the trail ahead, the friend said it was like a giant painting and we get to walk across the canvas. Wulf was reminiscing at a cafe in Portland in August. Across the table was his son Brad, the principal broker of Atlas North Real Estate Group in Portland. Taking six weeks off of work and walking the distance between Portland and San Francisco seemed impossible, but Brad had heard about his dads adventurers for years and decided, anything is possible, its simply a choice. The two flew to Spain and started walking the Camino Frances on May 23. They had setbacks of shin splints, bandaged feet and bouts of dehydration, but pushed through. On June 26, they raised their hiking poles in the air, posing for a photo in front of the Cathedral of Santiago. Brad Wulf carried a laptop in his backpack, but only opened it a few times. His staff wanted him to enjoy much-deserved time off. They were amazing, Brad said. In fact the only calls I got while on the trail were from clients calling to tell me how well my team handled their transaction in my absence. By following yellow arrows marking the Caminos route, Brad Wulf expanded his adventure boundaries and found new enjoyment in simple pleasures. In Carrion de los Condes, he sat inside a chalk drawing on the cobblestone sidewalk, wearing a colorful headband with the Caminos emblem of a scallop shell and an Oregon Ducks shirt. Later that day, he and his dad listened to nuns singing at the Albergue Santa Maria, where they spent the night. During a festival in Sahagun, Brad asked a band to surprise his dad by singing Happy Birthday and in Belorado, they watched a medieval sword fighting demonstration. But most of the time, they had all day free to walk, talk and open up. Back in Portland, Brad said getting away from the daily stresses of life, the challenges of work and the routines provided space for emotions and revelations. The Wulfs also reunited with people traveling on the same route, moving at different paces but in the same direction. Listening to all the stories, the Wulfs also said they got to know peoples hearts. At communal gatherings outside the hostels, everyone shared and it got real real fast, said Brad. People were grieving a loved one or were trying to love themselves. You realize the burdens they carry. For years, Brad had heard his dad talk about his Camino family of friends and locals who would point out if a pilgrim had lost their way on the route. After joining his dad this year, Brad realized how his dad got along so well on his own in the past. You would have to work hard to be lonely on the Camino, said Brad. While spending time with his dad, among natures ever-changing scenery, Brad said he was able to release the need to constantly be on guard for the next demand. I love what I do, but I think what I learned was the need for more balance and to make more time for myself and what is also important to me, he said. Since he returned, Brad has reduced his time commitments and stepped back from activities to focus on people and relationships. He tears up, clears his throat. Having a slower paced life, he said, means youre there for people. Brad turns to his dad, gets emotional, and quotes what his dad learned years ago: On the Camino, all you have is time 12 to 15 hours today, tomorrow and the next day to get closer. Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072 jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman More hiking coverage Urban trail developer Liz Snorkel Thomas gives these tips to get out there Thousands of Pacific Crest Trail hikers and fans gather at Cascade Locks for free festival How to spot a Pacific Crest Trail endurance hiker in Oregon: Nail polish is on trend, shaving is not 12-year-old traversing the demanding Pacific Crest Trail with his Dad Oregon has been welcoming PCT hikers for decades. Despite fire closures, here they come again Portlands chances of surviving a zombie outbreak seem pretty good, according to Lawn Love. Portland ranked 11 out of 200 major cities, which should make Portlanders feel a little better while watching HBOs The Last Of Us or AMCs The Walking Dead (or one of its many numerous spin-offs) and anxiety spiraling about the what-ifs. The ranking was scored based on a number of things including how many hardware and outdoor-gear stores there were in the city. As you can guess, Portland ranked well in both of those, coming in 11th and 5th respectively. It ranked number one in hiker-friendliness, which of course, would be important during an apocalypse so you and your loved ones can fade off the grid and prepare your defenses against the horde. While Houston, Texas came out on top, thanks in part to the number of grocery, hunting gear, weapons and ammunition stores, Portland might be the best place to be in Oregon if a zombie attack strikes. Eugene came in at rank 74 and Salem came in at a dismal 98th. Portland also came first in mobility in the city because it isnt far from the water if you wanted to take that route, but also because the city is easy to get around on bike or foot. While this is all hypothetical, experts consulted by Lawn Love did say that a zombie-type apocalypse, stemming from some unknown illness, is more likely now and in the coming decades that it ever has been. The world is more interconnected due to the relative ease of travel so it is more likely an illness will start somewhere and could travel far and wide. However, the risk remains small that an illness would create what pop culture has primed us to view as zombies. While the idea of what could be can be unnerving, experts also point out that we have lived through many pandemics, including a recent one, and we are smart enough to learn from those lessons. Experts also say if youre looking to prepare for a pandemic in the future it is wise to keep a first aid kit with prescription medications, PPE, hygiene and period products and things that run on solar or batteries to charge important devices. For more information on the likelihood well all turn into zombies and to see where other cities stacked up, check out the full list here. Photo: (Photo : National Cancer Institute on Unsplash) Virginia has been struck by a devastating outbreak of meningococcal disease, a rare but lethal illness, leading to the tragic loss of five lives, as confirmed by the Virginia Department of Health. There have been a total of 27 occurrences of this illness, which is brought on by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis type Y, documented in the state since June 2022. Health officials have major worries as a result of the outbreak's shadow covering eastern, central, and southwest Virginia. A notable characteristic of this outbreak is that it primarily affects black or African American adults aged between 30 and 60, as disclosed by the Virginia Health Department. What adds to the concern is that out of the 27 reported cases, only one individual had been vaccinated against Neisseria meningitidis type Y. The outlet reports that the severity of the issue has health specialists concerned: "This development is three times the expected number of cases during this time period. The urgency of the situation is highlighted by the discovery that the particular strain connected to this outbreak is expanding in the United States. Eastern Virginia appears to be the hardest-hit region, with the initial announcement of a regional outbreak made in September 2022. Before Wednesday's notification, the department had reported three fatalities and 12 cases in an alert issued in March 2023. Understanding Meningococcal Disease and its Transmission Meningitis and septicemia, a serious bloodstream infection, are included in the general phrase "meningococcal disease," which refers to conditions brought on by Neisseria meningitidis. Through behaviors like kissing, coughing, sneezing, or living near infected people, this extremely infectious bacteria spreads mostly via the interchange of respiratory and throat secretions. Meningococcal disease symptoms, which include headaches, fever, nausea, vomiting, brain fog, light sensitivity, sleepiness, trouble waking up, a stiff neck, and sometimes a unique skin rash, may be confused for common diseases like the flu or even COVID-19. Swift medical intervention is crucial for those experiencing these symptoms. "Doctors treat bacterial meningitis with a number of antibiotics. It is important to start treatment as soon as possible," advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read Also: Fatal Lung Disease Linked to Quartz Countertop Fabrication: Workers at Risk Preventing Meningococcal Disease Prevention plays a pivotal role in curbing the spread of meningococcal disease. Staying up-to-date on vaccines is a vital step, according to the CDC. The Virginia Department of Health echoes this sentiment and also provides additional recommendations during this outbreak: Avoid sharing personal items, such as vapes, lipsticks, or toothbrushes. Practice meticulous hand hygiene. Steer clear of close contact with individuals displaying symptoms of meningococcal disease. Seek immediate medical attention if you suspect you may have contracted the disease. Ensure adolescents and teenagers receive the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) at the appropriate age, with a booster dose at 15-16 years old. Individuals at increased risk for meningococcal disease are urged to consult their healthcare provider to confirm their MenACWY vaccine status. As Virginia grapples with this unprecedented outbreak, the collective efforts of healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public are indispensable in containing the spread of meningococcal disease and preventing further tragic losses. Staying informed, vigilant, and proactive is our most potent weapon in the fight against this insidious illness. Related Article: Flesh-Eating Disease Threatens Mom's Life After Giving Birth Photo: (Photo : Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash) In Sinaloa, Mexico, what should have been a joyful moment turned into an unforeseen tragedy as a small Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee aircraft crashed during a gender reveal party, claiming the life of the pilot, 32-year-old Luis Angel N. The incident has triggered widespread concern over the growing trend toward increasingly elaborate and dangerous gender reveal celebrations. Pilot Luis Angel N. Loses Life in Tragic Turn The event took place on September 2, with friends and family gathering to witness the happy couple announce the gender of their unborn child. The plane was supposed to add a flourish to the festivities by dispersing colored powder, pink for a girl, blue for a boy. As the couple stood next to an 'Oh baby' sign, the aircraft successfully released pink smoke, indicating a baby girl was on the way. However, within moments, the joyous occasion turned horrific. The plane malfunctioned, shooting upward and spiraling out of control after one of its wings collapsed mid-air. Despite the catastrophic failure, many at the party remained unaware of the calamity unfolding above them, continuing to celebrate until they realized the terrible reality. Local media reports confirmed that Luis Angel N. was the only person aboard the small plane. He was found amidst the rubble and later pronounced dead at the hospital. Video footage and images of the tragic incident have since gone viral on social media platforms, sparking debate and calls for more stringent safety measures during such celebrations. Read Also: Gender Reveal Party Gone Wrong: Cannon Powder Fires into Dad-to-Be's Crotch Social Media vs. Safety: A Looming Question The plane crash is not an isolated incident; rather, it adds to a growing list of gender reveal parties that have resulted in fatalities or severe injuries. In the United States, there have been multiple tragedies linked to these events. In October 2019, Pamela Kreimeyer, a 56-year-old grandmother in rural Iowa, was killed instantly by shrapnel from a homemade pipe bomb created to release colored powder. In February 2021, a 28-year-old man in New York was killed while assembling an explosive device for his own gender reveal event. At a friend's baby shower in the same month, shrapnel from a gender reveal cannon killed another man in Michigan. As more incidents make headlines, the conversations around the responsibility of planning and executing such events have intensified. Experts have begun to question whether the desire for viral social media moments is eclipsing basic safety considerations. Local authorities and safety professionals are urging people to adopt more responsible and safer ways to celebrate milestones, arguing that pyrotechnics, firearms, or aircraft should only be operated under strict safety protocols by certified professionals. As the family and friends of Luis Angel N. mourn his untimely death, the tragic incident serves as a grim reminder of the devastating costs that can occur in the pursuit of the perfect social media moment. Public sentiment seems to be veering towards the idea that while the instinct to celebrate new life is universal and understandable, the methods employed should never endanger human lives. With the number of dangerous incidents on the rise, there is an urgent need for reflection and reevaluation of what we deem to be acceptable risks for a moment of revelry. Related Article: Gender Reveal Gone Wrong: Dad Hurt Himself with a Party Popper [Viral Video] This service is a courtesy for our print subscribers to give them access to our online edition at no additional cost. If you haven't registered on the new site, you must do it now before you do anything else. At a glance Expert's Rating Pros A lot of space for the money Free for three months Cons Admin panel lacks basic features Tested package lacks easy WordPress installation Our Verdict One.com has one of the best prices for those who need a lot of space and traffic for a single website and can get by with basic features and page builders. The Danish hosting service One.com, which has offices in many other countries, has been around since the early 2000s and is one of the larger European web hosting providers. It also accepts U.S. dollars. In recent years, the company has focused on simplicity and offers a range of packages in different sizes, with the most suitable for private individuals called Beginner, which costs USD $6.99 per month after the three-month free trial period. This package includes 50 gigabytes of storage with unlimited traffic to a website and unlimited email accounts sharing space with the website. This makes the service less suitable for those who have very modest space and traffic requirements and want the cheapest possible service, but one of the cheapest per gigabytes of space. Further reading: See our roundup of the best web hosting services to learn about competing products. A disadvantage of the package is that simple installation of WordPress or other web apps is not included and must be done manually by uploading files with sftp. However, the customized page builder is included, although it is limited to a main domain and does not work with subdomains. The page builder is similar to several other companies (and WordPress) with editing of blocks and individual components within them. It is slightly more complicated to use than Bluehost or HostGator, for example, but it is possible to build advanced pages. Best web hosting for novices Bluehost Best Prices Today: Minimalistic admin panel One.com has chosen beginner-friendliness over, well, most things actually. The admin panel is at first glance extremely simple and user-friendly, but it doesnt take long to realize that its all about form over function. Basic settings found on every other web host Ive tried are missing, and I have to ask support for help to do several things (some turn out to be impossible for example, its impossible to use the companys page builder with a subdomain). The popular cPanel may be more difficult to learn, but at least it can do everything you might need in a web host. For the price you pay for One.coms most basic package, I expect more than this. For those who prefer to use Cloudflare for domain management, for example, its a lot of extra hassle. Foundry Good support Several web hosts Ive tested turned out to have commendable support, and One.com is among the best. This is in contrast to the companys hard-to-find documentation and lackluster admin panel. I can get in touch quickly, and the person I chat with is patient and passes technical questions on to tech support who helps me resolve a DNS issue (I have my domain with Cloudflare and needed an extra DNS record to make https connections work). Is One.com web hosting worth it? While there are certainly things to appreciate about One.coms service its customer support and beginner-friendliness among them there are better web hosting services to be found. For instance Bluehost offers a more comprehensive feature set as well as being a great tool for novices, while InMotion is also very user-friendly and offers 24/7 support and much better pricing. Facts: One.com Provider: One.com Space: 50GB Number of sites: 1 Bandwidth/traffic: Unlimited Page builder: Own Email accounts: Unlimited, shared space Domain: Not included TLS certificate: Included, automatic Price: $6.99/month This review was translated from Swedish to English and originally appeared on pcforalla.se. In a revolutionary move towards enhanced customer convenience and responsible waste management, Zoomlion-Private Services Limited, a pioneer in waste management, has launched a cutting-edge digital payment platform. This innovative initiative, unveiled just last month, is poised to transform the way waste management transactions are conducted, leading the nation towards a cleaner and more technologically advanced future. With the catchy slogan "Change your borla style," Zoomlion has embarked on a journey to transform the waste management landscape through its novel *857# payment system. Gone are the days of cash payments and paper receipts and early morning knocks at your gate by revenue collectors. Zoomlion has spearheaded a transformative shift towards a cashless waste management system. The heart of this digital transformation is the *857# payment platform, a simple yet ingenious solution designed to streamline payments for customers while fostering an environment of responsible waste management practices. The primary goal of this initiative is to leverage technology's power to understand and serve customers better, while simultaneously promoting a greener and cleaner nation. The launch of the payment platform was accompanied by a vibrant "launch CARAVAN" that traversed through various key areas, including Madina Zongo Junction, Atomic Junction, Legon, Okponglo, and Accra Central. Young individuals clad in Zoomlion's signature white t-shirts animatedly distributed informative flyers about the new digital app. These enthusiastic ambassadors also took the time to educate Ghanaians on how to seamlessly use the app to pay their waste bills, all while dancing to the rhythm of change. During the launch event, Mr. Edwin Amoako, the Managing Director of Zoomlion Private Services, unveiled the simplicity and effectiveness of the *857# payment system. A mobile phone is all that's required to initiate payments. By dialing *857#, customers can follow straightforward prompts, including selecting the waste payment option, entering their customer ID, specifying the amount, and pressing send. This user-friendly approach epitomizes Zoomlion's commitment to hussle-free waste management solutions tailored to customers' needs. In the age of heightened environmental consciousness, Zoomlion's initiative is a testament to the company's dedication to creating efficient waste management solutions that cater to clients' specific requirements. The suite of digital payment solutions, available through USSD code *857# and the Zoomlion Application on Apple IOS and Google Play Store, aims to provide unmatched convenience and peace of mind to both existing and new clients. This digital transformation offers a multitude of benefits, ranging from real-time data analytics for tracking payments to multiple payment platforms (smartphone, analog, IOS, or Android), on-demand waste management services, and easy access to Zoomlion for queries and feedback. In addition, clients who adopt the digital platforms for advance payments will enjoy exclusive discounts and value-added services for a limited period, underscoring Zoomlion's commitment to serving its customers comprehensively. Mr. Edwin Amoako, the Managing Director, emphasized that the introduction of the digital payment system signifies Zoomlion's dedication to innovation and service excellence. With an unwavering focus on creating a cleaner, better Ghana for present and future generations, Zoomlion aims to continue its partnership with various payment portals to optimize customer service. The launch of the *857# payment system garnered praise from none other than the Mayor of Accra, Mrs. Elizabeth Sackey. She commended Zoomlion for aligning with the city's digital agenda and stressed the importance of responsible waste management in building a better society. Mrs. Sackey's endorsement underscores the significance of Zoomlion's digital revolution and its potential to transform waste management practices nationwide. In conclusion, Zoomlion's transition to a "CASHLESS" waste management system through the *857# payment platform is a monumental step towards efficiency, convenience, and environmental responsibility. As the company pioneers the way for technological advancement in waste management, Ghanaians can look forward to a cleaner, greener future, one digital payment at a time. "Change your borla style" with Zoomlion and be part of the movement that is reshaping waste management for the better. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Finance and Economic Policy analyst Senyo Horsi has urged politicians to desist from sabotaging the Inspector General of Police George Akuffo Dampare from his duties as head of the Police Service. According to him, the IGP has been hands-on and practical with his approach to issues since he assumed the position. In a post on Facebook, the police expert said the appointment of Dr Dampare is the most meritocratic and non-political decision so far by President Akufo-Addo. It was exciting to hear he had been appointed IGP. I told many that if this is still the same Dampare I had met, then this must be one of the most meritocratic and non-political decisions H.E. NADAA will ever make. As a friend of politicians from both sides, I could hear grumblings from the extremists and hopefulness from the moderates of both parties after his appointment. Fast forward, and we get to the Assin North by-election. Former and present Ministers with whom I debated reached out and remarked, "Senyo, you were right, the guy is very organised and professional." You can imagine the 'I told you so grin on my face, he said. Also also shared the intervention of the IGP during the demonstration by some Ghanaians in the wake of the domestic debt exchange. Dampare was at it again when the tensions escalated during our Anti-DDE campaign, and our MEGA picketing dubbed Occupy MoF was set to take off. Many had travelled from far away, including members from Bolgatanga. It was almost midnight on the eve of the MEGA picketing when he called and said: "My brother, please, we need to de-escalate this. My men are on standby to provide the required protection, but I'll opt to prevent rather than contain. Please tell me your issues, and let me do my all to facilitate its resolution. He urged politicians to desist from obstructing the IGP in his service to the nation. To the political lunatics, on campaign platforms, or in uniform, I have this for you: you own not Ghana, and Ghana is bigger than your greedy, narrow-mindedness. As the Ashantis say, Onipa ye adiaa, ose ayeyi. Se wo enyi na ye aa, ensei ni din. Translated: When someone does well, he deserves to be praised. If you will not praise him, dont destroy his name. Dampare is doing great. If you cant applaud or support him, then at least, dont stand in his way Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Why is it so often that problems seem to get worse just when they ought to be getting better? Or in a French-African context, how come President Emmanuel Macron is surveying the tatters of French policy - coups in four Francophone states - just when he thought he had turned his back on all the wicked post-colonialism of the old days? No-one disputes that there was indeed a long period - roughly corresponding to the Cold War - when France used a certain amount of skulduggery and military muscle to further its interests in La Francafrique. But no-one can dismiss, either, the fact that for the last quarter-century the message from Paris has been that those days - officially at least - are over. Gone the automatic request for French soldiers to back up a teetering autocrat; gone the millions in backhanders that helped finance French political parties. Instead today's buzzwords are "democratisation", "empowerment", "co-operation", and "engagement with the young". According to an official at the Elysee Palace: "It's been a very long time since we had our men in presidential palaces." Maybe it would be naive to pretend that all is above board, and that there aren't still nefarious pressures and sweeteners passing back and forth between Paris and francophone capitals. But surely it is also a wild exaggeration to claim that French influence is anything like it used to be. To take the case of Gabon - often seen as the emblem of corrupt post-colonialism - it is certainly true that deposed President Ali Bongo's father Omar Bongo was regarded condescendingly as "one of ours" by successive French presidents, and benefited accordingly, as did they. But if French reach is still so great, how is it that Ali Bongo made moves to pull Gabon out of the Francosphere to the point of actually joining the Commonwealth last year? The Bongos' amassment of wealth - and its secretion in Paris - was no doubt legendary. But was it not the action of French anti-corruption judges, unimpeded by politicians, that led to its exposure and to criminal proceedings against members of the Bongo family, arguably pushing Ali into the arms of the Anglos? And if Paris still has pull over neighbouring Cameroon, how come its leader Paul Biya recently attended the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, smiling alongside Vladimir Putin? The fact is - according to journalist Amaury Coutansais, author of Macron's African Trap - that France is living through a "historical anachronism", in which it is attributed powers that simply do not exist any more. "Africa has been globalising," he says. "These days African presidents have the whole world in their waiting-rooms: Turks, Russians, Israel, even allies of France like Germany and the United States." "Oppositions in Africa imagine that France is still all-powerful. In reality, while France was doing all the dirty police work, its rivals were sweeping up the contracts." So to return to the original question: if French influence is on the wane in Africa, how come it is now that we are seeing the fiercest backlash against it? Surely it would have been more appropriate when former President Charles De Gaulle's Monsieur Afrique, Jacques Foccart, really was arranging coups d'etat in the 1960s and beyond, and when bags of dirty money really were transiting to Le Bourget airport near Paris. The answer comes in two parts. First, there is some deep-rooted psychological reason why, in all sorts of areas, the perception of a problem's seriousness grows in proportion to its apparent amelioration. There's probably a law somewhere that describes the process. When people are deeply buried in an injustice or discrimination, they find it hard to see the bigger picture. Small improvements are all that can be expected and are welcomed. Only when people begin to imagine a full emancipation, do they perceive the full extent of their subjection. And they get angrier. That's one theory. France's colonial presence in the Sahel and Central Africa was so entrenched that it was bound to provoke an increased sense of outrage among today's more self-confident generations. As Coutansais says: "Everything passes - except the past." The second explanation does not contradict the first but acts as a complement. This is that the French are not wrong in seeing outside hands at work In a speech to French ambassadors on Monday, President Macron described the "baroque alliance between self-proclaimed pan-Africans and neo-imperialists" which he said had provoked the recent "epidemic of putsches" in French-speaking Africa, referring to Gabon, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali. In President Macron's eyes, the "neo-imperialists" are Russia and China, which he believes have dripped poison words into the over-eager minds of wannabe putschists, and hypocritically stirred up old arguments over sovereignty and colonial exploitation. For him, France is in the Sahel not for the sake of overpowering its former colonies, but "because there is a terrorist threat, and sovereign states asked us to help". To believe otherwise, he said on Monday, was to live in a "world gone mad". Quite evidently, though, many people do prefer the conspiracy theory, which is why, just when things should be getting better - they are getting worse. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The military takeover in Gabon will merely lead to a continuation of rule by the Bongo clan which has been in power for 55 years, a source close to the deposed president has told the BBC. "General Brice Oligui Nguema is a direct product of the Bongo clan," said the source, who wanted to remain anonymous for security reasons. He warned those celebrating the coup not to expect too much to change. The military vowed to put an end to the Bongo regime when they seized power. They announced a military takeover shortly after President Ali Bongo had been declared the winner of a disputed election. He has been put under house arrest. The military on Saturday said the country's borders would be reopened after they were closed following Wednesday's coup. Our source's comments echo those of opposition leader Albert Ondo Ossa, who told the Associated Press that the coup was a "palace revolution", engineered by the Bongo family to retain their power. The coalition backing Mr Ossa, Alternance 2023, which says it is the rightful winner of last Saturday's election, has urged the international community to push for a return to civilian rule. "We were happy that Ali Bongo was overthrown but... we hope that the international community will stand up in favour of the republic and the democratic order in Gabon by asking the military to give back the power to the civilians," Mr Ossa's spokesperson, Alexandra Pangha, told the BBC. She added that the plan for Gen Nguema to be sworn in as transitional president on Monday was "absurd". The coup has been condemned by the UN, its neighbours and France - its former colonial power which had close ties to the Bongo family. Gabon has been suspended from the African Union. In a televised address on Friday evening, Gen Nguema said the military would move "quickly but surely" to restore civilian rule but did not give a timeline. He said they would avoid elections that "repeat the same mistakes" by keeping the same people in power. However, our source said that the new strongman, the head of the elite Republican Guard, was "a direct product of the Bongo clan. He is the spiritual son of Omar Bongo and has always been closely tied to the presidential family", adding that some believe he is Ali Bongo's cousin. Omar Bongo was in power for 41 years before his son Ali succeeded him following his death in 2009. Ali Bongo's subsequent election victories have always been marred by opposition claims of widespread fraud. Our source said that the coup caught everyone unawares, despite rumours floating around Gen Nguema. "It completely took our team by surprise but for the past two years, there had been rumours alleging that if there was one man capable of disrupting the hierarchy, it would have to be him. He has always played a crucial role within the Bongo clan and has a natural but discrete authority." It is said that just before Omar Bongo's death in 2009, Gen Nguema promised him he would look after his family. However, when Ali Bongo took over, the military man was sent away to serve as an attache to the Gabonese embassies in Morocco and Senegal. "Upon his return in 2019, Gen Nguema realised that the power circle had extended beyond the close members of the family and that the state control was slipping out of the grasp of the Bongo clan," explains our source. This was after Ali Bongo suffered a stroke which side-lined him for a year and prompted calls for him to step aside. The coup has seen many people take to the streets of the Gabonese capital, Libreville, to celebrate but our source says this is mainly because "they wanted to be freed from the Bongo family name". "But the reality is that the coup is very much a continuation of the same system just with a different name." Shortly after the coup was announced, several allies of the ousted president were arrested, including his 31-year-old son Noureddin Bongo Valentin, who has been accused of high treason and corruption. National TV has shown images of him and other close Bongo allies in front of suitcases of cash it said had been seized from their homes. They have not commented on the allegations. But our source says this is largely for show. "He wants to send a strong message to the population by arresting the president's son. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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. Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Lariba Zuweira Abudu has disclosed that over 3 million school children are fed daily under the government's school feeding programme. The Minister, calming the nerves of the caterers under the programme who complain bitterly about delays in paying them, noted that her Ministry is doing everything within its power to accelerate the process; however some of the delays are due to the bureacratic nature of the programme. "The school feeding payment has a procedure and sometimes it is the procedure that delays payment. When you take the stakeholders, we have Regional, district, communities, schools; we have Headteachers involved, we have assemblies involved and it has to go through all these processes," she said. Giving clarifications, she stated that currently, the programme covers 10,832 schools with 34,350 caterers cooking to feed these schools. Also, 3,810,491 school children are giving food everyday since the government rolled out the programme. Taking these numbers into consideration, the Minister asked the caterers to be patient with her stressing she is fully aware of their problems, particularly with reimbursing them, but assures them they will receive their payments. Hon. Zuweira Abudu made this disclosure during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video In a significant development for embattled Menzgold Ghana Limited customers, the Attorney General of Ghana, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has assured them of justice. This comes after a new charge sheet was filed at the High Court, charging Nana Appiah Mensah, CEO of Menzgold, with 39 fresh charges of defrauding by false pretense, engaging in gold trading without a license, and money laundering. During his keynote address at the 40th International Symposium on International Crime, Dame described Menzgold as a Ponzi scheme that has caused great harm to its victims. He highlighted the devastating consequences the scheme has had, including leaving many customers homeless, leading to broken marriages, and even resulting in loss of life. Dame revealed that Menzgold had operated under different names before settling on its final name, Menzgold. The company, which dealt with the purchase of gold collectibles from the public and issued contracts promising guaranteed returns, did so without the necessary license from relevant authorities. He added that after thorough investigations, criminal prosecutions have now begun against the perpetrators of the scheme. The Attorney General also addressed another scandal involving the former boss of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Adjenim Boateng Adjei. He described the scandal as the most shocking of all procurement-related corruption cases involving public officials. Adjei was accused of establishing a company while still in his position at the PPA, bidding for government contracts, and subsequently selling the contracts at a higher price to other contractors. Dame pointed out that the detection of false or inconsistent claims by contractors is often hindered by the protection extended by corrupt public procurement officers. The case involving Adjei, who was terminated from his employment by the president and had his membership withdrawn by professional institutions, is currently being prosecuted. The Attorney Generals assurances will bring some relief to Menzgold customers who have suffered significant financial losses due to the Ponzi scheme. With criminal prosecutions underway, there is hope that justice will be served and the victims will be able to recover some of their losses. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Pollster and Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch Newspaper Mr. Ben Ehpson has revealed that former Trade Minister and flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Mr John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen has lost his relevance in the Ghanaian political space. According to Mr Ben Ephson, Alan Kyerematen is struggling to win the NPP presidential primaries because he has lost his much-loved presence in the political scene. He reveals that in 2007 after the NPP presidential primaries, he advised Mr Alan Kyerematen to seek parliamentary elections to go to parliament because that would help him maintain his ground in politics but Alan refused. I knew Alan before 2007 and after he lost to Akufo-Addo I told him that if you want to have a future as the flagbearer of the party go to parliament, Ben Ephson said this on Hello FM in an interview. I told him that not being in Parliament, there is a disconnect with the partys base but he refused to listen, he added. John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen came third position in the just-ended super delegate conference of the NPP. Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia over the weekend won the New Patriotic Party (NPP) super delegates conference with a total of 629 votes, representing 68.15% of the vote. Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong came in second with 132 votes, or 14.30% while the Former Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen placed third with 95 votes, or 10.29%. The party is expected to hold its delegates conference on November 4, 2023, to elect its flagbearer. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, a lecturer at the Central University, has registered his displeasure with the New Patriotic Party calling Kennedy Agyapong to its Disciplinary Committee over his "showdown" comment during the party's special delegates election on Saturday, August 26. The NPP is considering a disciplinary action against the Assin Central MP for accusing President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of intimidating his polling agent during the election and threatening to give them a showdown. President Akufo-Addo, I swear to God, I will give you a showdown. Vice president, I will give you a showdown. Youve chased away my agent for him to hide in a room, we shall see. You will hear what will happen. I swear to God, I will challenge President Akufo-Addo anytime, he said in the viral video. But Dr. Otchere-Ankrah says summoning Kennedy Agyapong before the Disciplinary Committee is "unnecessary". According to him, what Mr. Agyapong said is nothing for him to be hauled before the Committee. He advised the party to find better ways to handle the situation, emphasizing "there are some people that we should learn to manage them well and you will get the best out of them". To him, if Kennedy Agyapong had said the same thing to the opposition National Democratic Congress, he would have received a rapturous applause from the New Patriotic Party, so wondering why he is now to face a disciplinary action. "Like it or not, Kennedy is a force...Even if Bawumia wins after the election, you will still need all nine of these people to come and join you for you to forge ahead. So, they should be careful; they should manage it well...If it were the NDC in power and Kennedy said I will give NDC a showdown, they (NPP) would have applauded him...He has said worse things when NDC was in power and the NPP hailed him", Dr. Otchere-Ankrah cautioned the NPP on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo". Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, the presidential candidate hopeful of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), is set to address the public on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, following the analysis of the results of the Special Electoral College Election by his Alan for President (A4P) 2024 Campaign team. The broadcast will take place at 10 am in the morning. This announcement comes after Kyerematen, former Minister of Trade and Industry, pledged to deliver a public broadcast later this week to outline the next steps for his campaign in light of the analysis. Kyerematen had recently been selected as one of the presidential aspirants to compete in the upcoming November 4, 2023 Presidential primary of the NPP. However, during the selection process, he placed third behind Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong. Expressing his gratitude, Kyerematen thanked God for His grace and guidance throughout his political journey. He also congratulated his fellow candidates who took part in the selection process, acknowledging their efforts and commitment. The politician took the opportunity to express his appreciation to the delegates of the Special Electoral College who voted for him, highlighting the importance of their role in the initial selection process. He also extended his gratitude to his family, the Alan for President (A4P) 2024 campaign team, and members of the Pro-Alan Groups for their dedicated support towards his campaign agenda. However, amidst his joy of being selected, Kyerematen expressed deep sorrow over a violent incident that occurred during the selection process, where one of his agents was reportedly assaulted. He condemned the brutal assault, considering it a stain on the integrity of the internal democratic process within the NPP. Kyerematen wished his colleague a speedy recovery and assured him and his family of his unwavering support for their wellbeing. Kyerematen reassured his supporters, especially those at the grassroots level, that the battle still belongs to the Lord, and those who wait upon Him will have their strength renewed. He concluded his statement by praying for blessings upon Ghana and expressing his hope for a great and strong nation. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Head, Coporate Communications, Ghana Gas Company Limited, Ernest Owusu-Bempah has been awarded the Coporate Communications Personality of the year for the Ghana Corporate Brands Awards 2023 held at the Movenpick Hotel, Accra, on Saturday. This recognition reflects his outstanding dedication to improving communication between Ghana Gas and the public. The Ghana Corporate Brands Award recognizes individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to the development of their respective industries. It starts from the beginning where we have to start from the basis trying to change the image and perception of the corporate entity in terms of how people perceived the brand and we were able to achieve that through various channels, various medium, various strategies and these have worked perfectly for us, he said. Ernest Owusu-Bempah Bonsu indicated that he expects Ghana Gas to continue doing its efficient delivery of customer service both internally and externally, improving the quality of standards, and being proactive in communicating brand in the Oil and Gas industry. The theme of this years Ghana Corporate Brands Awards is Celebrating Ghanas Corporate Brands Charting Path to Technological Excellence. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Samuel Koku Anyidoho, a former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has berated recent comments about a partisan judiciary as alleged by former president John Dramani Mahama. Anyidoho, an avowed critic to Mahama and his bid to return as president after 2024, said the view of Mahama will not be countenanced by former NDC presidents - Jerry John Rwawlings and John Evans Atta Mills. Mahama is on record to have called on NDC lawyers to accept roles on the bench in order to "balance out" the manner in which the current government has packed the courts. Anyidoho holds that the view as advanced by Mahama was scary, unacceptable and a dangerous mindset for Ghana's democracy. His views were posted in a series of tweets on September 2, 2023; hours after Mahama had addressed a gathering of NDC lawyers. "When I read stuff like this, my heart bleeds especially because of what President Atta-Mills stood for vis his aversion to politicizing the law. He says he will balance the equation with political lawyers - so there will be nothing new to offer. Ghana does not need vengeance! "This is highly unacceptable and I believe it is extremely dangerous for our democracy if we allow such mindsets to run amok. I am NDC and I do not support this mindset of brazenly politicizing our justice system because it will lead us into an endless pit of moral destruction. "It is very scary that the Leader of JJ Rawlings NDC is not telling us how he intends to build a Better Ghana but is gleefully shouting about balancing equation on the Bench. I am really scared!!! I fear for the future of this country if this is the way forward," he added. What Mahama said: You can see what the current president has done, he has appointed the biggest number of judges onto the bench, it is more than 80 towards 100 and counting," he noted in a virtual address to the 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference of the NDC on Saturday, September 2. He has packed the court and we know they have packed the court because they want to avoid accountability after they have left office. We must be prepared as NDC legal persons to also go onto the bench so that we can balance out the judiciary. Currently, the judiciary is packed with NPP-inclined judges because this government has carried out a deliberate policy of putting their people on to the bench. So, I encourage some of you to look at careers on the bench so that we can balance out what the current situation is, he added. The issue of appointments onto the bench has been topical under this government with allegations that politically exposed people have been appointed by the president. The 2024 flagbearer of the NDC, John Mahama has descended heavily on the currently nomenclature of the judiciary describing them as NPP inclined judges.#MiddayLive pic.twitter.com/oeRue2HRsY #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) September 2, 2023 Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Richard Ahiagbah, the Communications Director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has voiced his criticism of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for its handling of the suspected corruption case involving former Sanitation and Water Resources Minister, Cecilia Dapaah. Ahiagbah expressed his belief that the OSP seems to be more focused on garnering media attention rather than diligently investigating the case to gather the necessary evidence for pressing charges. Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, September 2, the NPP's Communications Director called out the Special Prosecutor and advised him to concentrate on his responsibilities rather than needlessly tarnishing people's reputations. I think the Special Prosecutor has been very untidy with this whole case and getting its lungs filled with the oxygen of public interest in the matter and its affecting how it should approach this matter. He should take less interest in the media and focus on his job, he stated On the same program, Mahama Ayariga, the NDC MP for Bawku Central, also criticized the OSP for what he perceived as negligence in handling the case. Ayariga argued that the OSP had not fully complied with its Act by failing to apply to the court for the confirmation of the seizure and freezing of Cecilia Dapaah's accounts within the required seven-day period. The law says apply for confirmation of the seizure within seven days and I am saying that the Special Prosecutor did not do that. He didnt do that. He has been negligent and he is trying to throw dust into our eyes by issuing this long convoluted statement. The courts are there for everybody so lets not blame the court, the opposition MP said. Previously, the Financial and Economic Division of an Accra High Court had ordered the OSP to return all seized funds from Cecilia Dapaah and stated that it could not confirm the freezing of her bank accounts and other properties. In response, the OSP issued a statement expressing respect for the court's decision but disagreement with it, citing what it considered an erroneous computation of the time limitation and emphasizing that its investigation was ongoing. The OSP is investigating Cecilia Dapaah for corruption and corruption-related offenses after it was revealed that she had kept more than $1 million in her residence. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Nkawkaw chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Eastern Region has posited that the centre-right ideological party is by no doubt the flame of hope in Africa's quest to deepen democratic practices and governance. Expressing his gratitude on behalf of the Nkawkaw Constituency to the Chairman of the election committee responsible for overseeing the entire presidential primaries of the party, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye and his team, Chairman Andy Kwaku Ameyaw made reference to the party's reforms and restructuring of internal electioneering systems when at the Trade Fair Center in 2009 the electoral college was widened after the 2008 general election defeat to late Professor John Evans Atta Mills and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) so all departments from top hierarchy to grassroots level within the party structures including the Zongos and communities would be captured, represented. Speaking to Bretuoba on Obuoba FM's morning show in Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region on the just ended Special Delegates Congress of the NPP which sought to choose five flagbearer aspirants out of ten for the final hurdle, the Chairman, astute politician, educationist and a thoroughbred of the Danquah - Busiah - Dombo political tradition enlightened the listening public that the process was not to elect the best but to select after cognitive and 'SWOT' analysis for which reason the current Vice President Dr Mahamud Bawumia who now goes with the campaign acronym 'DMB' won overwhelmingly and unprecedentedly. The Chairman made mention of the fact that once the best has emerged out of the congress it is possible for the Veep to win the next hurdle and lead the party in breaking the eight in the general elections against his excellency former President of the republic John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He explained that owing to good governance systems introduced by the government under the tutelage of Dr Mahamud Bawumia, the beleaguered Electricity Company of Ghana can now make whooping profits of millions of cedis. He also pointed out that the introduction of medical drones and one district/constituency one ambulance concept has improved the country's health care delivery in gargantuan proportions. He again listed a number of road constructions under the current regime as a sign of improved governance and that Dr Mahamud Bawumia will lead the party to break the eight in the next general election. Reacting to the conduct of the delegates and few skirmishes reported by the media during the congress, Chairman Andy Kwaku Ameyaw advised the eligible voting community of the party to understand the voting ritual which expressly directs the voter to act in secrecy and rebuked delegates who hop from one aspirant to the other to extort money before they cast their ballot reminding them to be guided by the party's constitution in all endeavours. He recalled that the current generation of the party are very fortunate to have witnessed victory with two flagbearers namely former President John Agyekum Kufuor and the sitting President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo under the fourth republic as founding fathers, late Dr J B Danquah and the rest did not. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm, has announced that it has launched the KnitWell Group, a new holding company that will include three iconic apparel brands -- Ann Taylor, Loft and Talbots. Sycamore Partners acquired Ann Taylor and Loft from The Ascena Retail Group in 2020. Together, these brands generate more than $3 billion in annual sales, the Sycamore Partners, said in a news release. The company will also continue to provide oversight and shared services to Lane Bryant, a leading plus-size womens apparel brand. Lizanne Kindler, current CEO of Talbots, will lead the KnitWell Group as executive chair and CEO KnitWell is a collection of powerful brands that, in aggregate, have been providing customers with the fashions they want for nearly 300 years, Kindler said in the news release. There are 100 Ann Taylor stores and 95 Ann Taylor Factory Stores in the United States; 343 Loft stores and 184 Loft Factory Stores in the U.S., and there are Talbots stores in 44 states and Canada, and Talbots Outlet stores and clearance stores in 29 states and Canada. There are Ann Taylor Factory Stores in the Lancaster and Hershey areas. There are Loft stores in the Harrisburg, Lancaster and York areas, and Loft Factory Stores in the Hershey and Lancaster areas. There are Talbot stores in the Harrisburg, Camp Hill and Lancaster areas, and Talbots Outlet stores in the Hershey, Lancaster and Gettysburg areas. An Upper Darby High School student who was shot and killed on Saturday was a person of interest in the death of a 12-year-old boy whose body was found in a trash can. The body of Tysheer Shahe Hankinson, 16, was discovered around 1 a.m. along Poplar Street in Philadelphia. He had been shot multiple times in his neck, face, left leg, and body. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Hankinson had been shot in the face back on April 21 while he was waiting for a bus, the Inquirer said. Police said that Hankinson was a potential suspect and person of interest in the death of Hezekiah Bernard, 12, whose body was found in a trash can on Aug. 23. Bernard was found wrapped in plastic and had a gunshot wound to his head. He had been dead for at least 24 hours. His death is being investigated as a homicide. Anyone with information is asked to call 215-686-3334. READ MORE: 2 killed, 7 injured in Pa. crash: reports Albright LIFE has acquired two LIFE (Living Independence for the Elderly) centers in central Pennsylvania from SpiriTrust Lutheran. The new Albright LIFE Center Cumberland is located at 920 Good Hope Road in Hampden Township and Albright LIFE Center Franklin is located at 840 Fifth Ave. in Chambersburg, Franklin County. LIFE programs provide home and community-based healthcare programing funded by Medicare and Medicaid for lower-income seniors. LIFE programs provides medical care and supportive services for people ages 55 years and older. READ MORE: Carousel house from former Williams Grove Amusement Park to be moved The deal was completed last month. Terms of the deal werent disclosed. With the acquisition of the Cumberland and Franklin LIFE Centers, Albright now serves eligible seniors in Chester, Cumberland, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lycoming, and Perry counties. Our LIFE centers bring vital health care support and opportunities for well-being and personal connection to the people we serve, Shaun Smith, president of Albright Care Services, said in a news release. We are proud to extend our mission to such an important task. For more information about LIFE programs, go to palifeprograms.org. LONDON The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace may draw tourists from far and wide, but on Sunday visitors to the landmark were treated to a different sort of spectacle: a parade of corgis dressed up in crowns, tiaras and royal outfits. Around 20 royal fans and their pet corgis gathered to walk their dogs outside the palace in central London to remember Queen Elizabeth II a year since her death. Corgis were the late queens constant companions since she was a child, and Elizabeth owned around 30 throughout her life. Generations of the dogs descended from Susan, a corgi that was given to the queen on her 18th birthday. Agatha Crerer-Gilbert, who organized Sundays event, said she would like the corgi march to take place every year in Elizabeths memory. I cant see a better way to remember her than through her corgis, through the breed that she loved and cherished through her life, she said. You know, I cant still get used to the fact that shes not physically around us, but shes looking at us. Look, the sun is shining, I thought it would shine on us today, she added. Aleksandr Barmin, who owns a corgi named Cinnamon and has taken the pet to attend past royal-related events, said the parade was a poignant reminder that Elizabeth is no longer around. Its a really hard feeling, to be honest ... its really sad that we dont have (the queen) among us anymore, he said. But still, Her Majesty the Queen is still in our hearts. Sept. 8 will be the first anniversary of the death of the 96-year-old queen at her Balmoral castle estate in Scotland. She was queen for 70 years and was Britains longest-reigning sovereign. More: People who scoop dog poop for a living in Pa., N.J. can rake in big bucks A central Pennsylvania woman has been arrested in connection with a fight at a Walmart parking lot, according to Ephrata Police Department. Police said Shakeena L. Binder, 34, of Leola, Lancaster County, faces aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and criminal mischief charges following what became a rage-fueled confrontation. According to a police report, the incident started at 12:09 p.m. Sept. 3 between Binder, her husband and another woman at the Walmart at 890 E. Main St. in Ephrata. Police said Binder then chased the woman in a vehicle from Walmart to the 600 block of West Main Street in the borough, where she repeatedly hit another persons vehicle, prompting the owner to call 911. Binder then forced the vehicle off of the roadway into a building, police said. No one was seriously injured in the incident, according to the report. READ MORE: By William Bender and Ryan W. Briggs, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS) Drive north out of Philadelphia into Elkins Park and youll arrive at the cemetery entrance in less than 10 minutes. A couple turns off Broad Street and there it is, faintly visible from the road: a large stone cross honoring Nazi collaborators. The monument, in a Montgomery County community known for its synagogues, is dedicated to the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Schutzstaffel the Nazi military branch often referred to simply as the SS. The slab was erected by veterans groups about 30 years ago at St. Marys Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the unit, which drew volunteers and conscripts from Nazi-occupied Ukraine to fight for Germany during World War II. The monument at St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Elkins Park honors the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. It has received little public scrutiny until recently. (Yong Kim/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS)TNS But, unlike hundreds of Confederate statues around the United States or the Christopher Columbus statue in South Philly this monument and its Cyrillic dedication have largely escaped wider public scrutiny. That appears to be changing quickly. In May, a leader of a Ukrainian nationalist group visited Elkins Park and posed in front of the monument for a photo, which was tweeted by Moss Robeson, who writes about Ukraines far-right. On Monday, the Forward, a Jewish newspaper, ran an article about the monument and added it to its growing list of Nazi collaborator monuments around the world. Jewish organizations around Philadelphia say they learned of the Elkins Park monument only recently and have been seeking answers, with little success. We dont feel good that there is a memorial to any SS unit in our area, Jason Holtzman, an official with the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, said Friday. Holtzman said the federation reached out to a man believed to be the cemeterys superintendent about two weeks ago. He said the man claimed not to be familiar with the monument, but would get back to them. They havent heard from him since. Andrew Goretsky, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Friday that his group was very recently made aware of the situation. ADL Philadelphia rejects any memorialization of Nazi or Nazi-adjacent groups, Goretsky said in a statement, adding: We have no objection to the national symbol of Ukraine appearing on any monument; however, we do object to monuments dedicated to Waffen SS soldiers. The Ukrainian SS division, nicknamed the 1st Galician or SS Galizien, was composed partly of volunteers from a region historically known as Galicia that stretched across modern-day Poland and western Ukraine. By 1941, much of this region had fallen under Nazi occupation, after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. The SS division was organized by a Nazi governor in 1943, to provide additional recruits to repel Soviet counter attacks amid growing German manpower shortages. Although some Ukrainian recruits joined under duress, the long history of territorial disputes in the ethnically mixed region made Galicia a focal point for early nationalist movements among Ukrainians. Some were eager to fight against encroaching Russian Communists or Polish partisan groups, viewing Nazi collaboration as a means toward formally establishing an independent Ukrainian state. The division surrendered to the Allies in 1945. Facing the possibility of deportation to the Soviet Union, about 8,000 former soldiers from the division were allowed to emigrate and others followed later, settling in such places as Toronto, Chicago and Philadelphia, which had become a center for Ukrainian Catholicism and a home for political exiles. Today, some Ukrainian civic groups and veterans organizations still argue that many of the 1st Galician soldiers could be considered freedom fighters who stood up to Russia, rather than collaborators with the Nazis. They were greatly opposed to Russians and Communists they thought they could get their independence restored by being on the German side, said Edward Zetick, the local post commander of the Ukrainian American Veterans. In December 2011, Cardinal Lubomyr Huzar, a former head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, asserted that the unit went through the war in German uniforms, but did not fight for Germany, but for their own rights. These were people who utilized the situation to fight for their independence. Similar memorials have also generated outcry in Canada. Jared McBride, a UCLA historian of Eastern Europe, said that within the Ukrainian diaspora, many believe that the soldiers allied with the Nazis with noble intentions. But it is a view that he said scholars widely view as historical revisionism. The Nazi regime was a genocidal regime, McBride said. This idea of parsing these things out that We were the good SS division, or The good police unit, or The good mobile death battalion is not the strongest of arguments. By Mark Mix As you shop for back-to-school supplies for your kids or food for the Labor Day cookout, consider this: The clerks, shelf stockers, truck drivers, and factory workers who make that possible can all be legally forced to pay money to a union or else be fired. You see, Pennsylvania is currently one of the 23 forced-unionism states in America. Why? Since Pennsylvania doesnt have a Right to Work law to guarantee union membership and financial support are strictly voluntary for workers, a union boss can legally have a worker fired for not paying union dues or fees. If you think that sounds wrong and unjust, youre hardly alone. Poll after poll reveals that over 80% of Americans agree that its wrong to subject workers to this kind of union compulsion. Even union members, who have seen unions close up, similarly believe union affiliation and financial support should be voluntary, with about 80% agreeing that workers should never be forced or coerced to join or pay dues as a condition of employment. Fortunately, all public employees have enjoyed First Amendment protection against being compelled to make union payments since the 2018 landmark U.S. Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME decision, argued by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys. However, private sector workforces in forced-unionism states like Pennsylvania can still be forced to give money to union officials to keep their jobs. Currently, 27 states in America have Right to Work laws in effect. These states have passed and implemented laws to repeal Big Labors special power to force workers to pay union bosses fees as a condition of employment. Workers in these states experience workplace freedom. The lack of forced unionism against workers gives Right to Work states an economic advantage as well. Workers in forced-unionism states are fleeing to pursue opportunities not afforded in their home states. A National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR) report, drawing on data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows that the number of individuals employed from 2012 to 2022 grew nearly twice as fast in Right to Work states than in forced-unionism states: 15.7% in Right to Work states versus only 8.6% in states that allow workers to be fired for not paying union bosses. The NILRR analysis also found that, after adjusting for the cost of living, the mean after-tax household income in Right to Work states was roughly $4,300 higher than households in forced-unionism states in 2019, the most recent year for which household income data is available. For another example of the job-creating power of Right to Work states, take a look at how they have fared since COVID devastated the economy. As of June, total employment in states without Right to Work laws still hasnt recovered to pre-COVID February 2020 levels. Meanwhile, Right to Work states have added over 3 million jobs since before COVID hit. Right to Work laws simply codify one commonsense principle: Every worker should have the choice to join a labor union, but no worker should be forced to pay fees to a union as a condition of employment. Right to Work laws do not outlaw labor unions, nor do they prevent any worker from joining a labor union if they voluntarily choose. A worker in a Right to Work state can give as much money as they choose to a union in dues, but such payments cant be extracted just because of a pay up or be fired threat. On Labor Day, take a moment to reflect on the benefits that Right to Work brings to workers across the nation, and the difference it could make for Pennsylvania. Right to Work could mean more individual freedom and economic opportunity for you and your family. Its working in Right to Work states across the country. Help make Pennsylvania a Right to Work state. Demand your elected officials embrace the economic opportunity and worker freedom that Right to Work would bring. Mark Mix is president of the National Right to Work Committee and National Right to Work Foundation. I heard a disturbing story this week that the names, photos and home addresses of the Grand Jury members who voted to indict Trump in Georgia were published. As yet, I have not heard any response from Trump or any other Republican. I can only hope that no harm comes to these good citizens or their families or property. They performed a civic duty whether you agree or disagree with the end result. Any Republican who remains silent about this is as guilty as any perpetrator. Stephen Hogg. Mechanicsburg, Pa. The top-left corner of this photo shows some of the cracks that have emerged in the slope above a rockslide on Highway 97 between Summerland and Peachland. Engineers are now measuring the slope movement and trying to come up with a plan to reopen the highway. A creek runs through the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve, part of Ontario's Greenbelt, on Monday, May 15, 2023. Embattled Ontario Housing Minister Steve Clark stepped down from his cabinet role on Monday following weeks of criticism over his handling of efforts to remove land from the province's protected Greenbelt. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young Ka Kwan Lau Obliterates Final Table to Claim 10,000 EPT High Roller Trophy (910,400) September 04, 2023 Maxime Taldir Live Reporter It was a long final day and night for the last players of the 10,000 EPT High Roller at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) at Casino Barcelona. At 2 a.m., the tournament came to an end with Ka Kwan Lau being the last player standing. He was the one who raised the trophy and won the first-place prize of 910,400. Lau was the chip leader throughout the final table and managed to eliminate the final six players. So with almost all the chips, he dominated Ouassini Mansouri in a short heads-up battle and beat a total field of 475 entrants. Vladas Tamasauskas completed the podium ahead of two French players, Eric Sfez who finished fourth and Alexandre Reard in sixth, with Tunisia's Maher Nouira taking fifth place. 10,000 EPT High Roller Final Table Results Rank Player Country Prize 1 Ka Kwan Lau Hong Kong 910,400 2 Ouassini Mansouri France 568,750 3 Vladas Tamasauskas Lithuania 406,250 4 Eric Sfez France 312,550 5 Maher Nouira Tunisia 240,400 6 Alexandre Reard France 184,950 7 Aleksandr Shevliakov Russia 142,300 8 Toby Joyce Ireland 109,450 9 Francesco Pilato Italy 85,250 "It was insanely long" "This last day was insanely long," Lau said a few minutes after he won. "We returned with 40 players left on Day 3, which is a lot. So we knew it would be long if we were on the final table. But I didnt expect it to be that long." But even though he was proud of this title, Lau remained humble: "I know it would be hard to reach the first place, as No-Limit Holdem is not my main game. So I was not very confident when I played. But from the start of Day 1, everything was going very well. I had good situations, and I ran very well during the whole tournament." This first-place finish closed a very good festival for Lau, as he finished 31st in the 5,300 EPT Main Event for 36,100. Eliminated on Day 5, he was one of the chip leaders on Day 3. "But on Day 4, I played one hand badly. Then I ran with ace-king into aces, and I lost two flips. So this win compensates for the disappointment of the Main Event." Ka Kwan Lau Day 3 Action Forty players out of 475 entrants successfully qualified for Day 3 of the 10,300 EPT High Roller with only one goal: take the first-place prize of 910,400. But this dream quickly turned into a nightmare for Song Xue, Edilson Marques, and PokerStars ambassador Rafael Moraes, who were the first players eliminated of the day. After Lau showed a crazy bluff with seven-four in a four-bet pot, the second level saw the eliminations of the three Romanian players who made Day 3. Adrian Chiforescu and Adrian Cretu went to the cashier almost at the same time and they were followed by Razvan Belea, who couldn't win his last flip to take another prestigious EPT tournament this year, after he won EPT Paris in February. The two other EPT champions in the field didn't get much further, as Patrik Antonius ran into a set to finish 28th (25,550), and Dominik Panka (23rd, 33,800) was eliminated shortly after the three table redraw. Patrik Antonius A host of bust outs then set up the final table and it was one of the shortest stacks, Nicholas Palma, who missed out on making the final nine. He lost a flip to finish tenth for 71,050. The first final table elimination would take place after two more hours of play. Francesco Pilatos tournament finally ended in ninth place (85,250). Minutes later, Toby Joyce was out of the tournament too (8th - 109,450). Lau then went on a heater at the right time and sent Aleksandr Shevliakov, Reard, Nouira, Sfez, Tamasauskas to the wrong side of the rail in a quick fashion. Lau then sealed the win on the second hand of heads-up. Sharelines Ka Kwan Lau eliminated six players from the final table and overcame Ouassini Mansouri at heads-up. Simon Wiciak Dominates EPT Barcelona Main Event To Win 1,134,375 September 03, 2023 Connor Richards Editor & Live Reporter U.S. France's Simon Wiciak ended up as the chip leader each of the last three days of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event and had no plans of giving up those chips. He wound up with every chip in play after defeating Joao Sydenstricker heads-up to win the event for 1,134,375. Wiciak, who is primarily an online grinder but recently switched his focus to live tournaments, bested the field of 2,120 runners for the golden trophy, his first major live poker title, and the career-best seven-figure score. "I didn't want to play the second bullet, because it's my second bullet in this Main Event," Wiciak told PokerNews in a winner's interview. "But some of my stakers pushed me to do it again...so I did it again, and obviously, it was good event. I'm going to start playing more and more, live of course." The Frenchman struck a three-handed deal with Sydenstricker and Britain's Carl Shaw that flattened the payouts, then the trio played on for the trophy and an additional 108,975 in prize money. Also at the final table in the second-largest EPT Main Event (which came up short of surpassing last year's record-breaking field of 2,294 runners) were Canada's Santiago Plante (4th - 511,300), Argenina's Ezequiel Waigel (6th - 302,500) and Brazil's Andre Akkari, a veteran PokerStars Team Pro who put on a short-stack clinic before bowing out in fifth place for 393,300. Check Out The EPT Barcelona Hands Of The Week! 2023 EPT Barcelona Main Event Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize (in Euros) 1 Simon Wiciak France 1,134,375* 2 Joao Sydenstricker Brazil 1,048,550* 3 Carl Shaw United Kingdom 901,070* 4 Santiago Plante Canada 511,300 5 Andre Akkari Brazil 393,300 6 Ezequiel Waigel Argentina 302,500 7 Curtis Knight Canada 232,700 8 Robin Ylitalo Sweden 179,000 *Denotes three-handed deal "I Was Ready" Anything less than a victory for Wiciak would have been unfitting in the EPT Barcelona Main Event. The 30-year-old ended Day 5 with the chip lead over his 15 remaining opponents and maintained the lead the next day as the field dwindled to six with the eliminations of the likes of Van Marcus and 2013 EPT London Champion Robin Ylitalo. Wiciak kept the chip lead for most of Day 7 but gave it up during four-handed and three-handed play as Shaw and Sydenstricker pulled ahead. "At three-handed, we were like even," said Wiciak. "So it was not that easy. And for me, it was a lot of money, that's why we actually took the deal. If it had been a lower pay jump, maybe I would have refused [in order] to play my edge. But with this amount of money, I didn't refuse it." Simon Wiciak Once the deal had been made, Wiciak returned his focus to taking home the trophy despite starting to lose some pots when they got three-handed. "You know that's it's not going to be easy, but I was ready," he said. With two Brazilians at the final table for the second year in a row, it was a raucous few hours in the main tournament room at Casino Barcelona. Thankfully for Wiciak, he had a deep rail of French supporters to cheer him on as he played with millions on the line. "Some of my friends were in the club last night, eight hours driving, they just [left] the club, took some stuff with them, and drove eight hours to come here," Wiciak said. "So, obviously, I'm really, really happy with all of this. And on top of that, I got to [have] a call with my dad, and I heard him crying for the first time. So it was amazing." Simon Wiciak and his rail Day 7 Action As play got underway on Day 7, it wasn't long before a player was at risk. Waigel three-bet jammed his short stack with ace-seven, only to find himself dominated by the Big Slick of Sydenstricker, and was eliminated amid a choir of Brazilian cheers after failing to get help from the board. Fan favorite Akkari, who entered the final two days of play as the short stack, finally hit the rail when he got it in with a flopped flush draw and couldn't improve, to be chopped up by Shaw and his fellow Brazilian. Andre Akkari Plante was the next player at risk as he found his suited queen-ten dominated by the ace-queen of Wiciak before a rivered flush kept him alive. Plante's luck changed for the worse when he later found himself all in with pocket queens to dominate the queen-nine of Shaw, who flopped an open-ended straight draw before binking it on the turn to drain the life out of Plante. Shortly after the three remaining players reached a deal, Shaw found his king-queen dominated by Wiciak's ace-queen to go out in third place and give the Frenchman a formidable chip lead over Sydenstricker. Joao Sydenstricker After a brief heads-up battle, Sydenstricker and Wiciak found themselves in a memorable final hand that began with an open from Sydenstricker with queen-ten offsuit and a three-bet from Wiciak with six-five of clubs. Wiciak continued on the nine-five-deuce rainbow flop as Sydenstricker floated and then took the betting lead on the four of spades turn. With just queen-high, Sydenstricker moved all in when the nine of hearts river paired the board and Wiciak went into the tank before making a big call with just a pair of fives to win the tournament. "The [bet] sizing [on the turn] was really small," said Wiciak. "He went like less than one-third of the pot. Pretty [big] sizing tell for me...I think every time seeing his hand, basically he bet big when he has it and he bet small when he does not, if I had to simplify it. So he bet really small on the turn." "The last information he gave for me is he didn't put his hood on. I played with him for the last few days, he always put his hoodie on, he's really relaxed when he had trips against queens. He was stuck, didn't move a bit, so everything put together made me make this call." Simon Wiciak celebrates with a kiss That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting team's coverage of the EPT Barcelona Main Event here on the Mediterranean Coast. 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All matched deposit bonuses have playthrough requirements and are released in 10% increments. For full details and to check the expiry date of the bonuses, check out the terms and conditions on the PartyPoker website. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print As Trump obsesses about his upcoming criminal trials, President Biden spent Labor Day speaking to workers and reminding them that Trump is the biggest jobs failure since Herbert Hoover. President Biden said in Philadelphia, PA: Im determined to make that a reality for every family in this country. And we are making it a reality. Nearly 13 million 500,000 jobs just since you got me sworn in in January of 2020. 800,000 new manufacturing jobs. But you wouldnt know it from all the negative news you hear, but were getting through one of the greatest job creation periods in American history. For real. Thats a fact. It wasnt that long ago we were losing jobs in this country. In fact, the guy who held this job before me was just one of two presidents in history, he was one of two presidents, this is an important point one of two presidents in history that left office with fewer jobs in America than when he got elected office. By the way, do you know who the other one was? Herbert Hoover. Isnt that kind of coincidental? Look, were turning things around because of you. When the last guy was here you were shipping jobs to China. Now were bringing jobs home from China. When the last guy was here when the last guy was here your pensions were at risk. We helped save millions of pensions with your help. When the last guy was here he looked at the world from Park Avenue, I look at it from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I look at it from Claymont, Delaware. Video: Biden hammers Trump on Labor Day, "It wasn't that long ago we were losing jobs in this country. In fact, the guy who held this job before me was just one of two presidents in history who left office with fewer jobs in America than when he got elected." pic.twitter.com/JUFUQ0cwbr Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 4, 2023 We compared Bidens and Trumps records on workers in the latest edition of our newsletter The Daily, which you can subscribe to below: Biden was correct, and it wasnt just COVID that wrecked Trumps jobs record. According to economists, the US entered a recession before the COVID lockdowns. There had been signs for months before COVID that the US was heading for a recession, and Trumps response was to falsely claim that he was presiding over the greatest economy in US history. Biden is going to want to contest this election on the traditional question of are you better off than you were four years ago? The 2024 presidential election is likely to be dominated by Trump and his criminal trials, but Biden is going straight after Trump and his economic myth. The President is making sure that Americans know what they will get if they vote for Donald Trump. Aiken Standard Reporter Erin Weeks is a reporter with the Aiken Standard. She covers education in Aiken County. Erin is a graduate of the University of South Carolina Aiken. Her first poetry book, "Origins of My Love," was published by Bottlecap Press in 2022. To support local journalism, sign up for a subscription. See our current offers The median price of a house in South Carolina of $329,885 is 1.5 percent higher than in September a year ago, but down from the record set in June of $338,000. The price is now 51 percent higher than in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Read moreSC home sales continue slide as interest rates approach 8% Slightly more South Carolina high school students applied for federal financial aid this year than last, signaling college enrollment could be on the mend after a decline earlier in the pandemic. More than 32,500 completed filings for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the 2023-24 school year have been tallied in South Carolina by the National College Attainment Network, which tracks data from the Office of Federal Student Aid. That marks a 1.9 percent increase in filings from last year. Rising FAFSA completion rates can be a good indicator that more students might be attending college; the application opens doors to loans, grants and scholarships that make higher education more accessible, particularly for students from low-income backgrounds. In turn, opportunities through FAFSA can help students from lower-income communities break the cycle of poverty, said Bre Pressey, cofounder and executive director of the Southern Scholars Initiative. The organization, which partners with schools in Bamberg and Orangeburg, offers scholarships, mentorship and networking programs to help students of color access college and prepare them for careers. A part of the groups efforts includes raising students awareness about the application and offering assistance with the filing process. More Information The Post and Courier Education Lab is a multi-year project, employing four reporters, focused on the need for public education reform in South Carolina. The Coastal Community Foundation and Spartanburg Foundation serve as fiscal sponsors for the Education Lab, which is supported by grants from the Jolley Foundation, Intertech, anonymous donors, and generous donations on behalf of donors to The Post and Courier Public Service and Investigative Fund who designate to the Education Lab. Completing the FAFSA can be difficult to navigate for many students. The form itself is complicated, asking for important identification documents and parents income. If a student doesnt have parents that attended college or doesnt live with their parents, that can add more confusion to the process. I have seen how the FAFSA becomes kind of a window into a level of knowledge about parents, about family members income that the students often don't feel privy to or comfortable with, said Devin Thornburg, a board member of Southern Scholars and a professor at Adelphi University. It's kind of a veil of not knowing that has to be lifted. High schools serving more students from low-income backgrounds in South Carolina did have some gains in applications this year, seeing a nearly 3 percent rise. Higher-income schools had an estimated 2 percent increase. Overall, nearly 60 percent of the class of 2023 in South Carolina has completed the federal aid application for the 2023-24 school year as of Aug. 18, according to the National College Attainment Network. That total leaves South Carolina ranking 15th in the country for the number of students completing the FAFSA. Sign up for our Education Lab newsletter. Email Sign Up! More Coverage To read more in-depth stories from The Post and Courier's Education Lab, go to postandcourier.com/education-lab. Louisiana, which requires students to complete the form before they graduate, topped the list with more than 70 percent. The S.C. districts that saw the biggest increases between this year and last included Aiken, with 118 more applications; Orangeburg, with 97 more filings; and Charleston, with 94. The Fort Mills school district had one of the highest percentages of completed filings to 12th graders in the district, with 891 applications submitted. Joe Burke, a spokesperson for Fort Mills schools, said the district works very hard to help students to figure out their next steps. Donate to our Investigative Fund to support journalism like this Our public service and investigative reporting is among the most important work we do. Its also the most expensive reporting we do. We cant do it without your support. Donate Now In addition to college counselors talking to students each year about college funding, he said, the districts Nation Ford High School hosts each year the College and Career Extravaganza, during which students and their families can attend sessions about selecting and affording a college. Adopting that college-going culture is key to getting more students involved, said Pressey, the Southern Scholars founder, whether thats through hosting college-focused events or posting fliers about scholarship opportunities. One of our goals is to really encourage our partner schools to create the college-going culture year-round for students so that it just becomes a part of their thinking as they're entering their senior year, she said. The FAFSA form for the 2024-25 school year, which will feature fewer questions than previous years applications, will be available in December. Visit studentaid.gov for more information. When I walked onto Main Street, the sky was looking dark, and I heard thunder crash. It wasnt raining yet, but it was hot and humid. I crossed the street, and walked towards the warm lights in Bourbon, where I saw a standee to let me know Im in the right place: the Bullets and Bandaids fundraiser. About a week before, on a bright and sunny day, I met with Robert LeHeup, the founder and executive director of Bullets and Bandaids, at the Columbia Museum of Art. Hed offered to give me a guided tour of their exhibition. LeHeup served as a U.S. Marine in Afghanistan. He said when he got back, he lost more people to suicide than he lost to combat. He wanted to do something. So, Bullets and Bandaids was born. We are a veteran-centric nonprofit whose focus is to heal social barriers between veterans and civilians by celebrating our common humanity through artwork and storytelling, LeHeup explained. This line, he says, is one that hes worked hard on to try to encapsulate the work of Bullets and Bandaids, which is sprawling. They are not an art therapy organization. Instead, Bullets and Bandaids goes through an interesting process where veterans' stories are expressed in their own words, then interpreted through civilian artists. We interview veterans, they can say whatever it is that they want to say. We try to guide them towards something that's a linear narrative, but they have free means of communicating, LeHeup said. We then hand that interview off to a civilian writer. And that writer has to stay true to the subject, in context, without undermining either or being derogatory toward a group of people. But beyond that, they have carte blanche in regard to their expression. LeHeup said this freedom has resulted in poems, plays and even a recipe. Then, the interview and the written work are given to a visual artist, who has the same orders as the writer. Preach Jacobs, Free Times contributor and hip-hop artist, has contributed to Bullets and Bandaids as a writer. In talking about his own experience writing for Bullets and Bandaids, Jacobs said what impressed him was the vulnerability. He said that the interview process created a space for the veterans to share stories that often arent discussed publicly. Editors note: Candidates running opposed races for Summerville mayor and the Summerville Town Council District 2 seat were all asked to respond to the following questions. All candidates received the same set of questions and were asked to limit their responses to around 1,000 words total. Read moreQUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES: Tiffany Johnson-Wilson Claflin Univesity, its Board of Trustees, faculty, staff and alumni nationwide is pleased to announce that Captain Brandon Maurice McFadden received the Outstanding Leaders Under 40 Award on October 27, in Orangeburg. Captain McFadden is one of the recipients of this prestigious award. Read moreClaflin Univesity Outstanding Leaders Under 40 Award AWENDAW Tropical Storm Idalia brought visitors on Bulls Island a happy surprise over the weekend after they spotted a pair of American flamingos. A conservationist with Coastal Expeditions in Charleston was hiking Sept. 1 in the Cape Romaine National Wildlife Refuge when she noticed two pink birds, said Katie Morrison, education director for the tour agency. The employee figured they were roseate spoonbills, another salmon-hued bird that sometimes appears in South Carolina. But the flamingos' longer, skinner necks and small, pointed beaks gave them away. The woman alerted her team and everyone rushed to catch a glimpse for themselves, Morrison said. She watched later that evening as the birds stood in a pond, happily munching on crustaceans. American flamingos are native to the Caribbean Islands and South America's northern coast, according to Smithsonian's National Zoo. Spotting one in the Palmetto State is about as rare as it gets, Charleston resident Nathan Dias said. Dias, a published ornithologist, heard from friends about the Sept. 1 sighting. He wasn't surprised. "Hurricanes displacing birds this is a well-known phenomenon," Dias said. Idalia pounded the Lowcountry Aug. 30 with heavy wind and rain after striking Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 3 hurricane. Powerful storms will typically blow sea birds onto land, Dias said. But in this case, Idalia's winds carried the flamingos north and deposited them into completely new environments. The pink birds were spotted as far away as Ohio and Tennessee, according to USA Today. Dias said he isn't too worried about the flamingos' ability to survive in South Carolina. He saw only one of the birds Sept. 3. It walked around Upper Summerhouse Pond, a former rice field impoundment, stirring up the bottom. Dias watched as the bird dunked its head upside-down, its long neck submerged by the water, likely gorging on crustaceans and zooplankton. A new volunteer facility at Golden Harvest Food Bank formally opened its doors this week. The food bank, which serves 25 counties across Georgia and South Carolina, held a ribbon cutting for its new volunteer, sorting and packaging facility located at 3310 Commerce Drive in Augusta. All important and good things should certainly begin with a nod, but a heartfelt opening to God who makes everything possible, Golden Harvest founder Mike Firmin said. We are looking up and looking ahead. Our board of directors got together in 2021 and decided that as we were looking at our 10-year vision that if we are truly going to make a valiant effort to close the 8.8 million meal gap that we have in our 25 counties, we were going to need new facilities, said Golden Harvest President and CEO Amy Breitmann. We had a 1965 facility across the street. The plumbing didnt work, the walls were sketchy and this area here needed some help, and we are so thrilled that through the generous contributions of this community and others that we were able to launch this space. Included in the building are conference and flex rooms, volunteer spaces, sorting and packaging locations and a warehouse. What you are about to see is a culmination of vision, discussions, planning and hundreds of man-hours of hard work. What this represents is the commitment, dedication and passion that this organization, donors, partners and volunteers have in fulfilling our mission in fighting hunger. Throughout the communities we serve and because of supporters and partners such as yourself, this makes moments like this possible, said Brian Ellfson, board chairman. Georgia District 130 State Representative Lynn Gladney announced Aug. 29 as Golden Harvest Food Bank Day with a proclamation. When people in our community are trying to cut costs, what gives? They cant cut their rent or utilities or their houses. They cant cut their pharmacy bills, plenty of our seniors need those to stay alive. Childcare, if you can find it, is expensive. Transportation, gas, I could go on, Breitmann said. But what gets cut is nutritious food and we are here to fill that gap and to make sure that they can get the health and nutrition they need. Our society is facing many challenges, but one that seems to lie just beneath the surface is a decline in empathy. We don't understand one another. We just aren't able (as the saying goes) to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. We can't see what motivates others, what makes them tick. As sy Read moreStevens: We need more empathy, and reading more can help The city of North Charleston soon will undergo a seismic political transformation, not only because longtime Mayor Keith Summey is not seeking reelection but also because five members of City Council have opted not to run again. Adding to the unknowns are the city's regrettable method of ele Read moreEditorial: Eight picks for North Charleston City Council The Hanahan Hawks swooped in on their first football region title in five years by breaking out the brooms on all four Region 8-AAA foes this fall, completing a perfect run with a 35-24 victory over visiting Beaufort on Friday, Oct. 27. Read moreHawks swoop in on region crown I dont know anything about a time capsule, said Ty Seidule, who served as vice chair of the militarys naming commission and is a professor emeritus of history at West Point. A majority of the eight-person naming commission visited Arlington to assess the monument in person. According to their final report, what they saw above ground were objects that sanitized the Civil War and the antebellum South. Seidule said the naming commission didnt know to consider things below ground. Standing in Arlington, one sees a bronze goddess representing the glories of the South towering over bronze vignettes that contain depictions of enslaved persons that, according to the commissions report, deny the horrors of slavery. The commission pointed to the depiction of a Mammy an overweight enslaved woman holding a child. Another depiction shows a faithful slave. One bronze panel contains a Latin phrase that references a noble Lost Cause. Taken together, the bronze artwork shows a whitewashed view of American history, historians say. All but the monuments bare granite pedestal could be gone by years end. The pedestal will stay as to not disturb any graves in the immediate vicinity. Currently, there are no plans to dig beneath it. There are 482 graves of Confederate soldiers surrounding the monument, 11 of them from South Carolina. This area, Section 16, was created by Congress at the turn into the 20th century to re-inter Confederate soldiers whose remains were haphazardly buried in public cemeteries in the Washington, D.C., area during the Civil War. Many of those Confederate soldiers died in U.S. Army hospitals from battle wounds. Take, for instance, David E. Brown, the first Confederate buried in Arlington. His grave is one of the closest to the Confederate memorial. He was from Townville, S.C., and fought for the 14th South Carolina Infantry. He was wounded in battle and died at the age of 23 at a hospital in downtown Washington. An electric battery-powered cruise ship is set to make its debut on Shanghai's Huangpu River later this year, according to official sources. The 150-seater ship produces zero emissions and is low-noise and pollution-free, according to Tian Ye,who is in charge of the vessel's battery power system. The system has been independently researched and developed by the China State Shipbuilding Corp's Shanghai Marine Equipment Research Institute. Shanghai Jiushi was delivered to its operator earlier in August, and is being outfitted and licensed before going into service later this year. More than 50 sightseeing vessels cruise the Huangpu in Shanghai,most of which are conventional fuel-powered ships. If all of them were powered by new energies, carbon emissions would be cut by thousands or even tens of thousands of metric tons per year, according to a report in China Ship News. Tian said projects like Shanghai Jiushi align with the nation's carbon emissions and neutrality goals, as well as Shanghai's goal of developing its waterfront. According to city regulations that took effect last year, areas along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek are to be developed into world-class waterfronts with all-around open,beautiful landscapes and ecological green public spaces. The new energy power system of the ship is equipped with a high-performance brain, which integrates functions including energy control, propulsion control, monitoring alerts and remote monitoring to achieve a high degree of automation, Tian explained. Invested in by Shanghai Huangpu River Cruise, Shanghai Jiushi has a length of 41.51 meters and a width of 10.9 meters. wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn When I attended the Pritikin program in 2016, Rep. Charlie Rangel was one of my classmates. Rep. Rangels long career in politics was preceded by his distinguished Army service in Korea. Contrary to my first impression when I met him in the waiting room before our initial physical on Monday morning, I found him to be a gregarious guy. He attended by himself, but he joined the group tables at meals and freely shared his experiences and reflections with fellow guests. Attending Pritikin in July 2016 was a bucket list item for me. Talking about him with one of the guests who had spoken with Rangel, I learned that it was Rep. Rangels twelfth time around in the program and that he planned on a thirteenth visit the following January when he retired from Congress. Congress must have been good to Rep. Rangel. Hes a success story in more ways than one. Wondering at the time about his financial wherewithal after 45 or so years in Congress, I found a 2009 Wall Street Journal editorial that is something of a classic. It is biting and witty. The Journal titled the editorial The absent-minded chairman. Here it is: When normal people happen to find their own money, it might mean a twenty left in a winter coat, or discovering change beneath the sofa cushions. But if youre Charlie Rangel, it means doubling your net worth. Earlier this month the Chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee amended his 2007 financial disclosure formto the tune of more than a half-million dollars in previously unreported assets and income. That number may be as high as $780,000, because Congresss ethics rules only require the Members to report their finances within broad ranges. This voyage of personal financial discovery brings Mr. Rangels net worth for 2007 to somewhere between $1.028 million and $2.495 million, while his previous statement came in at $516,015 and $1.316 million. When youre a powerful Congressman and working diligently to increase tax rates to pay for President Obamas health-care plan, we suppose its easy to lose track of one of your checking accounts. That would be the one at the federal credit union with a balance somewhere between $250,001 and maybe as high as $500,000. And when youre crunched for time and pulling together bills to pass in a rush, we guess, too, that you might overlook several other investment accounts, even if some of them are sizable, such as the ones Mr. Rangel missed at JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Oppenheimer and BlackRock. Oh, and those vacant properties in Glassboro, in southern Jersey? Everybody in Manhattan tries not to think much about New Jersey, so those lots and their as-much-as-$15,000 value must also have slipped down the memory hole. (The New York Post reported yesterday that Mr. Rangel failed to pay property taxes for two of the lots, according to the county clerks office.) The Chairman probably isnt doing a lot of dining at KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell or Long John Silvers, either, which may explain why he didnt disclose the $1,001 to $15,000 in stock he owns in Yum Brands, the conglomerate that runs those chain restaurants. Compared to his undisclosed portfolio stake in PepsiCo$15,001 to $50,000thats practically a rounding error. All lawmakers amend their financial reports from time to time, though rarely are the errors this extensive. Via email, a Rangel spokesman declined to offer details about how the errors occurred, noting that Once the Ethics Committee completes its work, then we can answer questions in more detail. He added that Mr. Rangel is now confident that his records have been subjected to an exhaustive and complete review, and that the amendments accurately reflect his financial interests. Among other issues, Mr. Rangel is currently under investigation regarding his use of four rent-stabilized apartments at New York Citys tony Lenox Terrace and soliciting donations with his official letterhead for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York, which was itself built with a $1.9 million earmark. Yet another part of the probe is his failure to report $75,000 in income from a rental villa at the beachfront Punta Cana Yacht Club, in the Dominican Republic. Mr. Rangel blamed that last one on the language barrier because he doesnt speak Spanish. We can only imagine what language he speaks with his accountants and tax attorneys. The New York Times published a 2008 story on Rep. Rangels four rent-stabilized apartments. The Times story noted that Rangel declined to answer questions during a telephone interview, although he did stay on long enough to say that his housing was a private matter not affecting his representation. The Times reported that he abruptly hung up after posing the rhetorical question: Why should I help you embarrass me? The New York Daily News updated the Dominican villa aspect of the story here in 2011, though it still left a few threads hanging. Whenever I am in my car for more than a few minutes I listen to history lectures from the Teaching Companys Great Courses. It has been my biggest lifestyle improvement of recent years. I cant begin to convey how much I have learned about history, especially ancient history, in the last five years. Currently I am listening to a lecture series on the conquest of the Americas. The professor is good, and conveys a lot of information, some of which is new to me. He is probably a lib, as he quoted Karl Marx at one point and effusively praised the Marxist historian Fernand Braudels The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. On the other hand, Braudel legitimately was a great historian and I too have benefited from his books. And in any event, I am happy to learn from libs. So here is the point: the lecturer describes the Mayan, Aztec and Incan civilizations as the highest in the Americas in the pre-Conquest era. He defines highest as having the most political, social, and cultural complexity. OK, fine. But if we apply the same criteria to compare those civilizations with Christian Europe, Europes civilization obviously would come out on top. It would be higher. But to admit this in todays academic world is inconceivable, and the professor doesnt go there. On the contrary, a lecture or two later, in talking about Portugals exploration down the West coast of Africa in the 15th Century, he strongly emphasizes the claim that the European and African civilizations of the time were equalexactly equal!with respect to culture, politics and technology. But not five minutes earlier, he had said that our understanding of the African culture and history of that era is limited by the fact that our sources are all European. We read the writings of European priests, ships captains and bureaucrats. Really? But why cant we just read what the Africans themselves wrote at the time? Because they didnt know how to write. So the claim of cultural equality is frankly ridiculous. As to technology, what were the key developments of that era? One was the caravel, the vessel that combined two types of sails to allow ships to sail into the wind. It enabled the Portuguese and slightly later the Spanish to venture out to sea and down the African continent and then across the Atlantic. But if the Africans were exactly equal to the Europeans with regard to technology, were African ships exploring northward on voyages of discovery to, say, Lisbon, Porto, Brest or London? Just kidding. The other great European technological achievement of that era was the building of soaring cathedrals that, with all due respect to the Greeks and Romans, dwarfed anything previously constructed. Did the Africans build anything comparable, that can now be seen or at least explored by archaeologists? No. My point is not to belittle Africa. The history of that continent is probably more interesting than most people realize, and Europeans did trade with Africans on a fair and equal basis for a long time. And it is true, as this lecturer says, that 15th Century Africa was every bit as diverse as Europe and the Americas. But if we begin by acknowledging that some cultures or civilizations are higher than others, the claim that 15th Century Africa happens to be precisely equal to the Europe of the same era is, by the same standards, ridiculous. That assertion is a political statement, not a historical one. And the fact that professors feel obliged to express it as a sign of the corruption of contemporary academia. As for The Great Courses, I cant recommend them highly enough. I have limited my exploration to my primary interest, history, but I know that Heather Mac Donald, for example, thinks highly of their courses on music. I access The Great Courses through Audible.com. There are so many favorites that I cant begin to list them. The ones I appreciate the most are those that fill in major gaps in my knowledge, so let me just note three: Jeremy McInerneys series on Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age; Kenneth Harls series on The Barbarian Empires of the Steppes; and Amanda Podanys on Ancient Mesopotamia. Before listening to these three lecture series, I was pretty much ignorant of the Hellenistic era, how it came to be and how it related to the Roman Empire; almost entirely ignorant of the steppe peoples who occasionally showed up in European historyAttila and the Mongols; and thought the Akkadians, Sumerians and Assyrians were boring. How wrong I was! There is nothing more fun than the study of history, as long as you substitute facts and logic for political correctness. Climate science is a wild and woolly multi-disciplinary field in which virtually every proposition is controversial. It is only the politics that is settled; the science is up for grabs. A recent study in Climate illustrates the point, not by introducing new concepts but by measuring the obvious: A new study published in the scientific peer-reviewed journal, Climate, by 37 researchers from 18 countries suggests that current estimates of global warming are contaminated by urban warming biases. *** It is well-known that cities are warmer than the surrounding countryside. We all understand this. Chance of frost in outlying areas. While urban areas only account for less than 4% of the global land surface, many of the weather stations used for calculating global temperatures are located in urban areas. For this reason, some scientists have been concerned that the current global warming estimates may have been contaminated by urban heat island effects. There is no question that the Urban Heat Island Effect exists. The question is, how much does it skew current temperature readings in an upward direction? In their latest report, the IPCC estimated that urban warming accounted for less than 10% of global warming. However, this new study suggests that urban warming might account for up to 40% of the warming since 1850. Given the IPCCs obvious bias, I find that conclusion highly plausible. But thats not all: The study also found that the IPCCs chosen estimate of solar activity appeared to have prematurely ruled out a substantial role for the Sun in the observed warming. One hundred percent of the energy that heats the earththat prevents it from being a cold, dead rockcomes from the Sun. So the suggestion that variations in the Earths climate, which have occurred for millions of years, might relate to variations in solar activity, is an obvious one that Greenies have tried hard to obfuscate. When the authors analysed the temperature data only using the IPCCs solar dataset, they could not explain any of the warming since the mid-20th century. That is, they replicated the IPCCs iconic finding that global warming is mostly human-caused. However, when the authors repeated the analysis using a different estimate of solar activity one that is often used by the scientific community they found that most of the warming and cooling trends of the rural data could actually be explained in terms of changing solar activity. I dont doubt that adding CO2 to the atmosphere has some small effect on global temperatures. But the models that are the sole basis for climate hysteria use wholly hypothetical feedback effects to transform a benign level of warming that can be accounted for scientifically into a supposedly catastrophic apocalypse. This study suggests that if we eliminate the Urban Heat Island Effect and properly account for variations in solar activity, what is left is the very modest increase in temperatures that science actually supports. (My conclusion, not necessarily that of the authors.) Or perhaps the small residual warming is due to something else entirely. In any event, if the West actually succumbs to Green nonsense and de-industrializes and impoverishes itself, so as to yield global domination to China and India, who have no intention of doing any such thing, it will be the dumbest action by any governments in world history. PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-04 22:30:26 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 442 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 4, 2023 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, a nationally recognized law firm, notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Comerica Incorporated ("Comerica " or the "Company") (NYSE:CMA) and certain of its officers.Class Definition:This lawsuit seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Comerica securities between February 9, 2021 and May 29, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/cma Case Details:The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose, among other things, that: (1) Comerica failed to provide meaningful oversight over the vendors to whom it contracted out day-to-day operations of the Direct Express program, a system through which it is contracted to provide federal benefits to millions of Americans without bank accounts; (2) as a result of violations in the day-to-day operations of Direct Express, including handling fraud disputes and allowing sensitive data to be handled out of a vendor's office in Pakistan, Comerica was not in compliance with the Federal Contract, and knew it was not in compliance; (3) Comerica knew and failed to disclose that it was in potential violation of Regulation E due to inadequate fraud prevention in the Direct Express program and responses to instance of fraud; and (4) as a result, Defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.What's Next?A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint, you can visit the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/cma or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Law Clerk and Client Relations Manager, Yael Nathanson of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 332-239-2660. If you suffered a loss in Comerica you have until October 20, 2023, to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.Why Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a nationally recognized firm that represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. Our firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide.Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.Contact:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLCPeretz Bronstein or Yael Nathanson332-239-2660 | info@ bgandg.com SOURCE: Bronstein, Gewirtz and Grossman, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-04 00:01:02 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 426 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 With the mining, oil and gas sectors experiencing steady growth, the importance of fostering diversity and equal opportunities is amplifying.PERTH, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / September 3, 2023 / Workforce management company Techforce is committed to fostering gender inclusion and equity in the workforce. As part of their dedication to diversity, Techforce experts offer valuable insights on supporting female professionals in the traditionally male-dominated mining, oil and gas industries.chef jobs Techforce acknowledges that promoting gender inclusion is not just a matter of fulfilling diversity quotas; it is a strategic move to drive innovation, creativity and productivity across these vital industries.One of the key steps to support female inclusion is to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions about certain roles, such as rigger jobs and chef jobs. Techforce emphasises that job roles should be open to all based on skills and qualifications rather than gender.Creating a gender inclusive work environment is paramount and companies in the mining, oil and gas sectors must adopt policies that actively encourage diversity and provide equal growth opportunities. Techforce supports the implementation of mentorship programs, networking events and leadership development initiatives focused on supporting female professionals' career advancement.Techforce also recognises the importance of addressing the unique challenges faced by female professionals in remote or FIFO (fly-in-fly-out) positions, such as FIFO chef jobs Perth-wide. Long work durations, geographical isolation and limited access to support networks can be significant hurdles. Companies should prioritise the welfare of female FIFO workers in all roles, including mining chef jobs, ensuring access to adequate facilities, support services and flexible work arrangements.In addition to industry-specific challenges, combating unconscious bias is essential. Techforce highlights the significance of regular training and awareness programs to foster a more inclusive work culture where employee contributions are valued irrespective of their gender.To optimise female recruitment and retention, Techforce recommends partnering with educational institutions and organisations that promote STEM education and careers to young women. By encouraging female students to consider careers in these industries, the talent pool expands, leading to increased gender representation.According to Techforce, embracing diversity is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic advantage that drives innovation and elevates the industry to new heights. Discover more at https://www.techforce.com.au/ About TechforceTechforce is a renowned recruitment and workforce management company with a mission to empower individuals to succeed in the rapidly evolving job market. With a strong focus on the mining industry, Techforce offers innovative solutions that bridge the gap between job seekers and employers.Contact InformationTechforce Personnel Marketing Manager recruitment@ techforce.com.au (08) 6363 7040SOURCE: Techforce PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-04 23:00:21 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 346 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 4, 2023 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, a nationally recognized law firm, notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. ("Hawaiian Electric" or the "Company") (NYSE:HE) and certain of its officers.Class Definition:This lawsuit seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Hawaiian Electric securities between February 28, 2019 and August 16, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case.Case Details:The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically,Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:(1) Hawaiian Electric's wildfire prevention and safety protocols and procedures were inadequate to meet the challenges for which they were ostensibly designed; (2) accordingly, despite knowing the degree of risk that wildfires posed to Maui, the Company's inadequate safety protocols and procedures placed Maui at a heightened risk of devastating wildfires; and (3) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.What's Next?A class action lawsuit has already been filed. You may review a copy of the Complaint. You may also contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Law Clerk and Client Relations Manager, Yael Nathanson of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 332-239-2660. If you suffered a loss in Hawaiian Electric you have until October 23, 2023 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.Why Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a nationally recognized firm that represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. Our firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide.Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.Contact:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLCPeretz Bronstein or Yael Nathanson332-239-2660 | info@ bgandg.com SOURCE: Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-04 00:00:26 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 457 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 In the Competitive Real Estate Market, Homeowners Seek Effective Ways to Increase the Value of Their PropertiesMELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / September 3, 2023 / Renovations have long been considered a strategic method to boost a home's worth but not all renovations yield the same return on investment. MJ Harris Group, a leading company specialising in interior design and renovations Melbourne-wide, has unveiled insights on the top renovations that truly add value to a home.MJ Harris GroupAccording to MJ Harris Group, when it comes to maximising a property's potential, interior design plays a crucial role and upgrading the overall appearance and ambiance of a home can significantly impact its market appeal and sale price.Bathroom renovations Melbourne-wide are one of the most impactful ways for adding value to a home, explains MJ Harris Group. A well-designed and updated bathroom not only enhances the residents' daily experience but also impresses potential buyers. Incorporating modern fixtures, high-quality materials and space-efficient layouts can give bathrooms an edge in the market.Similarly, MJ Harris says kitchen renovations Melbourne-wide have proven to be another wise investment for homeowners. The kitchen is often considered the heart of a home and buyers are drawn to stylish, functional and well-equipped cooking spaces. Renovating the kitchen with contemporary designs, energy-efficient appliances and ample storage can undoubtedly elevate a property's value.MJ Harris Group emphasises that a successful renovation involves more than just cosmetic upgrades. Ensuring the property is structurally sound is of utmost importance. Structural improvements, such as roof repairs, foundation reinforcement and electrical system updates, provide a sense of security to potential buyers and can add substantial value to a home.The growing trend of sustainable living has sparked interest in eco-friendly home improvements. Incorporating energy-efficient windows, insulation and renewable energy sources can attract environmentally conscious buyers and increase the property's value, says MJ Harris Group.While investing in the right renovations can significantly enhance a home's worth, homeowners must exercise caution. Overcapitalising on renovations that do not align with the property's location or target demographic can lead to diminished returns. MJ Harris Group advises seeking professional guidance to develop a renovation strategy tailored to the specific property and market trends.To learn more from the leaders in home renovations and interior design Melbourne-wide, visit https://www.mjharrisgroup.com.au/ About MJ Harris GroupMJ Harris Group is a leading interior design and renovations company based in Melbourne. With a team of skilled experts, the company provides innovative and high-quality solutions to homeowners looking to enhance the value and appeal of their properties. From interior design to bathroom and kitchen renovations, MJ Harris Group offers comprehensive services that cater to diverse client needs. Contact InformationMJ Harris Group Marketing Manager admin@ mjharrisgroup.com.au (03) 9431 1177SOURCE: MJ Harris Group PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-04 21:04:36 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 341 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LOS ANGELS, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 4, 2023 / The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, reminds investors of a class action lawsuit against Danaher Corporation ("Danaher" or "the Company") (NYSE:DHR) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Investors who purchased the Company's securities between April 21, 2022 and April 24, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the firm before September 15, 2023.If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at brian@ schallfirm.com The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. Danaher's revenue growth from its business related to COVID-19 was declining. Despite the Company's claims, revenues from other business units were not able to compensate for this decline. The Company overstated its ability to sustain the growth it enjoyed in 2020 and 2021. The Company would be incapable of hitting its revenue targets. Based on these facts, the Company's public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about Danaher, investors suffered damages.Join the case to recover your losses.The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.CONTACT:The Schall Law FirmBrian Schall, Esq.,www.schallfirm.comOffice: 310-301-3335info@ schallfirm.com SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-04 03:12:16 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 301 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 3, 2023 /Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of RTX Corporation f/k/a Raytheon Technologies Corporation ("RTX" or the "Company") (NYSE: RTX). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@ pomlaw.comor 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.The investigation concerns whether RTX 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 July 25, 2023, RTX issued a press release announcing an update on the aircraft fleet of its Pratt & Whitney subsidiary. Raytheon stated that "Pratt & Whitney has determined that a rare condition in powdered metal used to manufacture certain engine parts will require accelerated fleet inspection. This does not impact engines currently being produced. As a result, the business anticipates that a significant portion of the PW1100G-JM engine fleet, which powers the A320neo, will require accelerated removals and inspections within the next nine to twelve months, including approximately 200 accelerated removals by mid-September of this year." On this news, Raytheon's stock price fell $9.91 per share, or 10.22%, to close at $87.10 per share on July 25, 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 SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-04 02:02:14 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1007 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 3, 2023 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Shift4 Payments, Inc. ("Shift4" or the "Company") (NYSE: FOUR) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and docketed under 23-cv-03206, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Shift4 securities between November 10, 2021 and April 18, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Shift4 securities during the Class Period, you have until October 19, 2023 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@ pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.[Click here for information about joining the class action]Shift4 provides software and payment processing solutions in the United States. The Company provides, among other products and services, integrated and mobile point-of-sale ("POS") solutions.In Shift4's third quarter of 2022, the Company completed its so-called "mass strategic buyout program" as part of a purported strategic initiative to insource its sales distribution network.According to Shift4, because the Company is not a "member bank" as defined in certain payment network rules, the Company is not eligible for primary membership in certain payment networks and is therefore unable to directly access them. Accordingly, Shift4's payment networks require the Company to be sponsored by a member bank as a service provider, which the Company has accomplished through a sponsorship agreement with its sponsor bank. To cover overdraft obligations at the sponsor bank, prior to December 2022, Shift4 had funds deposited in a sponsor bank merchant settlement account to facilitate gross card transaction deposits for those customers the Company bills on a monthly, as opposed to a daily, basis.The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Shift4 had inadequate disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting; (ii) as a result, Shift4 failed to properly account for customer acquisition costs, thereby artificially inflating its net cash provided by operating activities; (iii) accordingly, Shift4 would likely be forced to restate one or more of its previously issued financial statements; (iv) Shift4 employed accounting maneuvers in connection with, among other things, its mass strategic buyout program and sponsor bank merchant settlement account, that were designed to present an inaccurate picture of, inter alia, the Company's performance, its underlying business quality, and its earnings power; (v) all the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to negatively impact Shift4's reputation and business; and (vi) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.On October 21, 2022, Shift4 disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the Company's third quarter 2021, full year 2021, first quarter 2022, and second quarter 2022 financial statements should no longer be relied upon and would need to be restated because of a material weakness in the Company's financial controls, which had caused it to incorrectly treat "customer acquisition costs" as cash used in investing activities rather than cash used in operating activities in its Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. As a result, Shift4 was forced to negatively revise its net cash provided by operating activities to $3 million (down from its originally reported $29.2 million), $30.8 million (down from its originally reported $37.1 million), and $70.8 million (down from its originally reported $85 million) for the year ended December 31, 2021, the three months ended March 31, 2022, and the six months ended June 30, 2022, respectively.On this news, Shift4's stock price fell $1.21 per share, or 2.67%, to close at $44.16 per share on October 24, 2022.On April 19, 2023, Blue Orca Capital published a report addressing Shift4 (the "Blue Orca Report"). The Blue Orca Report alleged, among other things, that "Shift4 [is], in reality, a roll-up of low-tech POS systems and payment processors which is substantially less profitable, generates far less cash, and is materially more levered than investors are led to believe." The Blue Orca Report further alleged that in 2022, "Shift4 engaged in a string of highly questionable and hyper-aggressive accounting maneuvers seemingly designed to keep the stock afloat, from cash flow manipulation to inexplicable distributor acquisitions that enabled it to capitalize a major component of COGS [cost of goods sold]." For example, the Blue Orca Report alleged, inter alia, that Shift4's "buyout of 50% of its independent distributors"-i.e., in connection with its mass strategic buyout program-"and Q4 2022 cash account withdrawal" from its sponsor bank merchant settlement account "together inflated operating cash flow by 61%."On this news, Shift4's stock price fell $5.95 per share, or 8.68%, to close at $62.59 per share on April 19, 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 billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See w PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-04 13:01:55 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1027 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / September 4, 2023 / Trident Royalties Plc (AIM:TRR)(OTCQB:TDTRF), the diversified mining royalty company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding sale and purchase agreement to acquire an existing lithium royalty (the "Royalty") from Atherton Resources LLC over projects owned by Anson Resources Ltd. ("Anson", ASX:ASN, market capitalisation of circa A$175 million), in the Paradox Basin in Utah, USA. The Royalty notably covers Anson's flagship Paradox Lithium Project ("Paradox").The Royalty is a 2.50% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty tied to Anson's ownership of the projects. Should Anson sell a property within the Paradox Basin, Trident will be entitled to 2.00% of the net sales proceeds and the royalty would no longer apply to the sold asset.HIGHLIGHTSMulti-project coverage, diversifying Trident's lithium extraction exposureThe Royalty covers all projects owned by Anson within the Paradox Basin, which includes Anson's flagship Paradox Lithium Project. Paradox is an advanced stage lithium brine project, targeting use of direct lithium extraction ("DLE").Anson released a Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") for Paradox in September 2022 outlining a Phase 1 operation producing an initial 13,074 tonnes per annum of Lithium Carbonate (Li2CO3) for the first 10 years of a 23-year operation.1 Anson is currently targeting a Final Investment Decision at the end of 2023.2At spot prices of approximately US$35,000 per tonne of lithium carbonate equivalent ("LCE"), the Royalty would pay approximately US$11 million per annum for the first 10 years.Anson further highlighted that the Phase 1 economics are based solely on a JORC 2012 compliant Indicated Mineral Resource estimate ("MRE") of 239,000 tonnes LCE.2 A subsequent MRE update significantly upgraded the Indicated resource tonnage to 346,109 tonnes LCE3 and the DFS economics are expected to be updated based on future MRE upgrades.1Additionally , Phase 2 development at Paradox is expected to comprise a further substantial increase in lithium production capacity, together with new bromine production capacity. 1Anson is well-funded to continue rapidly progressing Paradox, with A$38.6 million in cash-on-hand as of 30 June 2023.3 Anson has appointed global engineering firm Worley Group Inc. ("Worley") for the Front-End Engineering and Design ("FEED") Study for the proposed lithium carbonate processing plant, which is expected to be completed in Q4 2023.5The Paradox Basin hosts significant Mineral Resource expansion potential. Anson has outlined an Exploration Target at Paradox containing 1,294,000 to 3,096,000 tonnes LCE5; and an Exploration Target for the Green River project area containing 1,064,600 to 2,075,900 tonnes of LCE.6 In consideration, Trident shall pay up to US$10 million in three tranches as follows:US$1.5 million in cash on closing;Upon (i) commencement of commercial production by Anson at Paradox, and (ii) receipt of the first payment under the Royalty, Trident shall pay up to US$3.5 million ("First Contingent Payment"), up to 50% of which may be paid in shares at the Company's election; andOn the second anniversary of the First Contingent Payment, Trident shall pay up to US$5 million ("Second Contingent Payment"), up to 50% of which may be paid in shares at the Company's election.Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of Trident commented:"We are delighted to announce the acquisition of this royalty over the Paradox Lithium Project. For a modest initial cash outlay, we have secured exposure for shareholders to a well funded, highly attractive project with a pathway to cash generation and significant growth potential. The Paradox project reinforces our strong position in battery materials, and introduces exposure to direct lithium extraction, which could play a significant role in future lithium supply. The acquisition again demonstrates Trident's ability to source innovative transactions to create shareholder value."Paradox Lithium ProjectParadox is an advanced stage development project located in the Paradox Basin in Utah, USA, which contemplates the extraction of lithium from brines associated with past oil and gas operations.1 Paradox consists of 2,434 placer claims, of which 87 are subject to an earn-in agreement. Upon completion of the pending acquisition of the Green Energy Lithium Project from Legacy Lithium Corp., Paradox will comprise a land holding of 231 square kilometres.2 Paradox has an Indicated Mineral Resource estimate for 346,109 tonnes LCE and an Inferred Resource 691,800 tonnes of LCE.4Figure 1. Map showing the location of Legacy Lithium Corp. Green Energy Lithium Project Claims Area5On 8 September 2022, Anson announced the results of a DFS for Phase 1 operations at Paradox. The DFS contemplates the processing of lithium-bearing brines utilising DLE techniques. The DFS outlined production of 13,074 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate for the first 10 years of a 23-year operation at a C1 Operating Cost of US$4,368 per tonne of LCE. The DFS further notes an initial capital expenditure of US$495 million, a post-tax NPV7% of US$922 million, and a post-tax IRR of 37%.1Anson is rapidly advancing Paradox towards production. Worley, a global engineering firm, has been appointed and has commenced the FEED study for the proposed lithium carbonate processing plant, which is expected to be completed in Q4 2023. Anson's chosen DLE process, developed by Sunresin New Materials Co. Ltd ("Sunresin"), will be incorporated into the design and engineering work, and the FEED team will work closely with Sunresin and its independently appointed design and engineering consultants in the delivery of the FEED Study. Sunresin is the process package owner and technology provider for the proposed DLE plant at Paradox, processing raw brine into sellable product, and will be responsible for the design and engineering work to applicable United States standards. Worley will provide the engineering for the supporting infrastructure and utilities for the broader site development.Anson is in process of developing a suppliers list of components and equipment required for the production plant. It is focused on sourcing as much of the required equipment and components from North America as is possible, in order to maximise the opportunity to secure debt financing from government agencies, Export Credit Agencies and the United States Department of Energy - with whom Anson reports it is in frequent consultation.7The RoyaltyThe Royalty is a 2.50% net smelter return royalty that covers any projects owned by Anson in the Paradox Basin.Figure 2: Location of the Paradox Brine Site1The Royalty is a perpetual royalty tied to Ans PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-04 00:00:56 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 449 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 By analysing real-time metrics, businesses can optimise every facet of their campaign, from content creation to audience targeting, ultimately leading to increased engagement, conversions and a substantial boost in ROI.SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA/ ACCESSWIRE / September 3, 2023 / The leading digital marketing agency Sydney-wide, Zib Digital, is amplifying return on investment (ROI) for clients through meticulously crafted data-driven campaigns, with the company's innovative strategies driving a new era of success for businesses in the ever-evolving digital landscape.Zib DigitalIn today's competitive business arena, a strong online presence is paramount, making Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) a key factor for success. Zib Digital recognises this need and specialises in SEO Sydney-wide, catering to businesses seeking improved visibility and enhanced brand recognition. By aligning organic search strategies with the latest industry trends, Zib Digital ensures businesses remain at the forefront of consumer searches, fostering higher website traffic and ultimately boosting ROI.As an esteemed SEO agency Sydney-wide, Zib Digital's core approach revolves around a comprehensive understanding of each client's unique goals and target audience. Leveraging state-of-the-art analytical tools, the agency conducts in-depth keyword research to identify the most relevant and high-impact keywords for each business. By integrating these keywords strategically into content, websites and other digital assets, Zib Digital empowers businesses to organically climb search engine rankings, amplifying online visibility and driving qualified traffic.Zib Digital's commitment to delivering unparalleled results is further exemplified by its data-driven campaigns. Utilising advanced analytics, the agency meticulously tracks the performance of each campaign, assessing key metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates and engagement levels. This granular approach enables Zib Digital to make real-time adjustments and optimisations, ensuring that each campaign delivers maximum ROI."Our mission is to empower businesses with the tools they need to thrive in the digital realm," said a spokesperson from Zib Digital. "Through our targeted SEO strategies and data-driven campaigns, we aim to not only increase our clients' online visibility but also provide them with a competitive edge that drives tangible business growth." Zib Digital's reputation as a leading digital marketing agency in Sydney continues to grow as businesses experience the transformative impact of their strategies. By harnessing the power of SEO and data-driven campaigns, Zib Digital is helping businesses flourish in an increasingly dynamic online marketplace.To learn more and to discuss a tailored strategy focused on achieving real business growth, visit https://zibdigital.com.au/ About Zib DigitalFor over 15+ years, Zib Digital has been a leading digital marketing agency in Australia and New Zealand. Offering a comprehensive suite of services including SEO, PPC and social media marketing, Zib is dedicated to delivering results-driven campaigns that make a real impact.Contact InformationZib Digital Manager (03) 8685 9290SOURCE: Zib Digital Oando agreed to buy the Nigerian exploration and production unit of Italian oil major Eni for an undisclosed amount, a statement by the oil driller said on Monday. The consummation of the deal is subject to ministerial consent and other regulatory authorisations. Shares in Oando, which has a secondary listing in Johannesburg, jumped by 9 per cent in Lagos at 10:56 WAT following the news. The pact clears the way for Oando to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC), which has interests in four onshore blocks and two onshore exploration leases in the country. It will ramp up Oandos current participating interests in OMLs 60, 61, 62 and 63 from 20 to 40 per cent. It increases Oandos ownership stake in all NEPL/NAOC/OOL Joint Venture assets and infrastructure, which include forty discovered oil and gas fields, of which twenty-four are currently producing, approximately forty identified prospects and leads, twelve production stations, approximately 1,490 km of pipelines, three gas processing plants, the Brass River Oil Terminal, the KwaleOkpai phases 1 & 2 power plants (with a total nameplate capacity of 960MW), and associated infrastructure, the document said. READ ALSO: Oandos reserves total 503.3MMboe according to a 2021 reserves estimate, meaning the acquisition will trigger a 98 per cent increase. The transaction also expands Oandos exploration asset portfolio via the purchase of a 90 per cent stake in OPL 282 and a 48 per cent stake in OPL 135. NAOCs participating interest in Shell Production Development Company Joint Venture (operator Shell 30 per cent, TotalEnergies 10 per cent, NAOC 5 per cent, NNPC 55 per cent) is not part of the deal and so will be retained in Enis portfolio, Oando said. The synergies created by this acquisition will unlock unparalleled opportunities for us to re-align expectations, enhance efficiency, optimise resource allocation, and significantly increase production, Oandos CEO Wale Tinubu said. Todays announcement is not just an important milestone for the future of Oando; it brings to bear the important role indigenous actors will play in the future of the Nigerian upstream sector, he added. Last October, NNPC Limited acquired OVH Energy Marketing, owner and operator of Oando branded retail service stations, enabling the state oil firm to control Oandos 380 filling stations across Nigeria. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Zimbabwe has again failed to hold free, fair and credible elections. The country remains locked in a trajectory of disputed polls that will compound challenges for economic recovery. The elections again exposed widespread irregularities and a blatant disregard for the law and international voting standards. Making no mention of the multiple aberrations identified by observer missions, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party the winner with 52.6 per cent. Nelson Chamisas Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) got 44 per cent of the vote. Disaggregated results are not available, and ZEC claims it is not obliged to make them public despite this being international best practice. ZANU-PF fell short of a two-thirds parliamentary majority but retained a comfortable majority with 136 seats. The CCC increased Parliaments opposition seats to 73. The ZEC announced the election results in record time, possibly to frustrate efforts to independently verify the count. The CCC rejected the outcome but withdrew its planned Constitutional Court challenge because Zimbabwes courts were captured by Mr Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF, the party said. The playbook of bias in Zimbabwes courts, as seen in 2018 and in numerous election-related cases brought by the CCC, means that a court challenge would only legitimise Mr Mnangagwas victory. So, in a move reminiscent of the 2008 Robert Mugabe rushed inauguration after a discredited election, Mr Mnangagwa is set to be inaugurated today. Even the historically cautious Southern African Development Community (SADC) Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) could not ignore the flouting of regulations and SADC principles. Its preliminary report found that the rural vote may be compromised by alleged intimidation attributed to a group called Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ), which is said to be a quasi-security intelligence organisation. It noted that the Patriot Act is incompatible with the spirit of section 61(1) of the Constitution, and paragraph 4.1.2 of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, which requires Member States to uphold, amongst others, the freedom of expression. In response, ZANU-PF and the government have mounted a sustained campaign to shut down the SEOMs criticism. The African Unions (AU) report also profiles widespread concerns but doesnt pronounce on them as SADC does. At the start of vote counting, the government halted independent observation by local civil society organisations (CSOs) when police raided the Zimbabwe Election Support Network and Election Resource Centre data centres, arrested staff and accredited local observers, and confiscated laptops and cellphones. The government says it had intelligence that some organisations intended to illegally announce results based on the CSOs parallel vote tabulation. These actions shut down the Zimbabwe Election Support Networks established independent Parallel Voter Tabulation process. Ironically, in the 2018 elections, both ZEC and the government used the parallel tabulations to corroborate the results. Key election observer missions adjudged the polls as falling short of minimum standards. The SEOMs unprecedented report was scathing, identifying a raft of procedural and process deficits at odds with the Zimbabwean constitution, Electoral Act and SADCs Principles and Guidelines for Democratic Elections. The SADC mission noted ZECs lack of readiness, even though the commission had declared it was fully prepared. The mission found a lack of transparency around the voters roll, the contentious delimitation report, skewed access to state media, voter intimidation and deeper structural concerns including the conflation of party and state interests, the manipulation of the judiciary and problematic legislation. Most of these issues have been recurring items in SADC reports on Zimbabwes elections in the past two decades. However, the mention of structural and systemic challenges reflects a break from the past, exposing various concerns that opposition and civil society have repeatedly raised. ZANU-PF and the government pushed back, attacking the SEOM report and its team leader, Zambian politician Nevers Mumba. Other observer missions received the same treatment, including a personal attack on the European Union observer mission head. The ruling partys hysterical reaction suggests it deemed the SADC missions findings serious and damaging. So, what happens now? What consequences will the observer missions have, and how will the African Development Bank (AfDB)-led debt arrears negotiations resolution process be affected? It remains to be seen who will buckle first, although ZANU-PF is unlikely to concede any ground. It can rely on SADCs collective management style grounded in comradeship and the primacy of stability rather than confrontation or action. ZANU-PF is also the past master of diplomatic manoeuvre in the region, as the SADC tribunal case showed. Nevertheless, the country faces a political dilemma, and getting that genie back in the bottle wont be easy. SADC is unlikely to muster the political consensus and willpower to put Zimbabwe back on the blocs agenda. Not all member states will be comfortable with SEOMs findings, which could set an unwelcome precedent that represents a departure from its previous approach. Meanwhile, several SADC leaders, including the presidents of South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania and Botswana, have congratulated Mr Mnangagwa. So, while SADC probably wont backtrack on its SEOM report, it will park the concerns rather than elevate them to a rejection of the election result. The SADC Panel of Elders visit to Zimbabwe is unlikely to change this scenario. The initiative has been shrouded in confusion, with no clarity on its goals and mandate, or if SADC might retain a formal brief on Zimbabwe. The EU mission and Carter Center reports largely resonate with the SEOM report. However, given the current AfDB-led debt resolution process, the international community and the AU are unlikely to escalate the election issue further. Comments by former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, who is in Zimbabwe on an AfDB mandate, are important. Mr Chissano indirectly endorsed a ZANU-PF victory, and seemingly referred to the governance pillar of the AfBD process when he said the next administration must tackle electoral reform. The regional and international communities will likely seek a conciliatory middle-of-the-road approach under the guise of constructive engagement. Creditors seek the Zimbabwean governments commitment to stay engaged in the AfDB process, with its three pillars of governance, economic reforms and land reform. Geopolitical imperatives and sheer fatigue with the Zimbabwean issue among Western creditors will shape their debt resolution efforts. They will have to live with the unsettling reality that the Mnangagwa administration is not a partner you can do business with and expect to act in good faith. ISS Pretoria (This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish). Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print In a recent report, Spotify, an online streaming platform, disclosed that Gen Zs aged 18-24 accounted for 55 per cent of the total Nigerian hip-hop streams. Considering their massive support for Hip-Hop music, Nigerian Generation Z individuals occupy the most significant percentage of the genres listeners. Gen Zs, colloquially known as Zoomers, is the demographic succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. They were born between 1997 and 2012. Spotify also disclosed that they are followed by listeners aged 25-29, contributing 19 per cent of the streams, while the age brackets of 0-17 and 30-34 hold a 9 per cent share. From a gender perspective, Spotify revealed that Nigerian Hip hop music predominantly resonates with males, commanding a substantial 75 per cent of the recorded streams, while females account for 24 per cent. However, it stated that the genre has continued to thrive in the streaming era as a new crop of rappers create rap music that appeals to Gen Z consumers. Spotify noted how its platform has enabled Gen Z to explore and embrace music worldwide, with Nigerian hip-hop resonating strongly due to its energetic, relatable lyrics and cultural authenticity. Hip hops popularity among Gen Zs continues to grow. This is evident in the data that shows how the generation consumes the genre of music, It added. Pioneers and Faves The report recognised some Nigerian artistes who started the journey of hip-hop to give it the popularity it has today. They include Modenine, Naeto C, Bouqui, Ruggedman, Gino, Eedris Abdulkareem, eLDee, Sasha P, Ikechukwu and others. They noted that these artists pioneered the sounds and culture of hip-hop that have influenced Nigerian tracks and have grown to gain substantial traction within the continent. It said, Its interesting to see how Nigerian listeners who are hip hop enthusiasts are contributing to the elevation of the hip hop genre and the sounds that tapped influences from it. Trailing back to the impact of Nigerian Gen Zs on promoting hip-hop music, it said the demographic is playing a significant role in this trend. According to the streaming platform, the spotlight falls on Olamide, Odumodublvck, Blaqbonez, Zlatan, and Ice Prince as the most streamed Nigerian hip-hop artistes. It said, Nigerias patriotism in music is evident as most streamed hip hop artists are Nigerians, unlike regions such as Kenya and South Africa where international hit-man Drake leads. Global Recognition Like Afrobeats, Nigerian Hip hop has also made its way to a global pedestal with its five decades of existence. Hip Hop has achieved global prominence, and this triumph extends to Nigeria, where it has profoundly influenced the evolution of Afrobeats. Spotifys report says its unsurprising that Nigeria occupies a significant position within Africas hip-hop listenership landscape, securing the second spot right after South Africa. This position underscores the genres popularity within the country and reflects the widespread impact of Nigerian hip hop on the African music scene. Spotifys Artist and Label Partnerships Manager for West Africa, Victor Okpala, noted that Hip-hop is one of the most popular music genres in the world. The artiste manager opined that it contributes to newer genres and music movements in Nigeria and worldwide. He said, Its ability to evolve and stay relevant is a testament to its power as a form of artistic expression that resonates with listeners worldwide. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A father and his two sons were killed when a three-storey building collapsed in Egbu Umuenem, Otolo Nnewi, a community in Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State. The incident happened at about 1 a.m. on Sunday, Punch reported. The building, still under construction, collapsed while some workers were getting ready to start plastering work on it. The victims, said to be among those to carry out work on the structure, were instantly killed in the incident while others sustained varying degrees of injuries. A witness told the newspaper that some other people who were also trapped in the rubble were later rescued and rushed to St. Felix Hospital, Nnewi. The man and his two children came from Nimo Community and were sleeping over so as to begin their work early in the morning before the incident happened, the witness said. Some officials of the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Anambra State Chapter, led by its Chairperson, Victor Meju, have visited the scene of the incident. The Chairperson of the Nnewi North Council Area, Chris Obiora, was among those who visited the scene. The delegation broke down in tears when the excavator exhumed bodies of the victims. Addressing reporters, shortly after the exhumation, the COREN chairperson, Mr Meju explained that poor foundation, poor concrete mixture, poor quality of materials, poor wearing cost capacity, nonconformity to standards, non-approval from relevant regulatory authorities led to the avoidable tragedy. He announced the sealing-off of the site, adding that the owner of the building, Chukwunafu Anamanjo, will be invited for questioning and investigation. ALSO READ: Four siblings killed in building collapse in Enugu The chairperson of the council area, Mr Obiora, urged the people of the state to always rely on certified engineers and other professionals in the building sector for their construction works. He added that monitoring teams are also important in ensuring that builders stick to stipulated standards. The Sectoral Head of the COREN in charge of Nnewi and its environs, Arinze Okwuosa, said his team observed a lot of foul plays in the course of carrying out their job, calling for government intervention to forestall future occurrences. The bodies of the victims have been deposited at a morgue in Nnewi. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Delta State, South-south Nigeria, said they have rescued two kidnap victims in the state. The police spokesperson in the state, Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday. How they were rescued Mr Edafe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the victims were rescued, at about 11 a.m. on Thursday, when police operatives raided the suspects hideout inside Oghara-Ugbenu Forest in the state. The police spokesperson explained that the operation was in response to the receipt of a distress call by the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Oghara Divisional Police Headquarters, Olasunkanmi Musiliu, that the two victims had been abducted and taken into the forest in the area. He said Mr Musiliu, a chief superintendent of police, consequently led the police operatives from the Anti-Cult Unit of the State Intelligence Bureau, alongside local vigilante groups, into the forest. The operatives relentlessly combed the forest which forced the kidnappers to abandon the victims and escape. The operatives rescued the two kidnapped victims unhurt and have since reunited (them) with their families, he said. Four live cartridges, a TECNO Spark mobile phone, one ATM card, and three SIM cards of different telecommunication networks were recovered from the suspects, according to the police. Regardless of the victims rescue, efforts are on top gear to ensure the arrest of the fleeing suspected kidnappers, the police spokesperson added. Arrest of crime suspects Mr Edafe said that in a separate operation at about 9 a.m. on the same day, police operatives from Eagle Net Special Squad raided a criminal hideout at Isieke Quarters, Asaba, and arrested an armed robbery suspect, Chimuanya Onwusonye. The police spokesperson said the raid followed the directives issued to the operatives by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Wale Abass, that they should be on alert and adopt more visibility patrol as well as proactive policing strategy within the state. He said Mr Onwusonye, the 30-year-old suspect who resides in Onitsha, Anambra State was searched on the spot and a Beretta pistol, with four rounds of live ammunition, was recovered from him. The suspect was immediately taken into custody, and investigation is ongoing, Mr Edafe stated. The police spokesperson said police operatives from Safe Delta Squad, at about 7:35 p.m. on Friday, also arrested a suspect who specialised in vandalising cables. The suspect, Michael Danjuma, 23, is a native of Latang in Plateau State, North-central Nigeria, but resides in Hausa Market by Custom Okpanam in Delta State. Mr Edafe said some exhibits were recovered from his residence after the operatives conducted a search. One Beretta pistol, one magazine, some vandalised cables, two ATM cards, and one steel pair of scissors were among the items recovered from the suspects residence, the police said. The suspect is in custody and will be charged to court upon completion of investigation. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Abas, has vowed that the police will go after criminals in the state, Mr Edafe said. Mr Abass said, given that there is usually an upsurge in crime rates towards the end of the year, residents of the state should be alert. He reassured that the police were dedicated to crime-fighting in the state. The police commissioner appealed to the residents to volunteer useful information to the police about criminals. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Relevant climate change experts, organisations and Heads of State from across Africa and globally will, this week, converge in Nairobi, Kenyas capital city, for the inaugural Africa Climate Summit (ACS) and Africa Climate Week (ACW) to advance conversation and solutions on the devastating impacts of Climate Change ravaging different regions of the Africa continent and the world. The summit, themed: Driving Green Growth and Finance Solutions for Africa and the World, is billed to be held between 4 and 8 September and will be championed by Kenyas president William Ruto, Africa Union and other partners. The ACS 2023 will focus on delivering climate-positive growth and finance solutions for Africa and the world, organisers said, adding that the aim of the summit is to address the increasing exposure to climate change and its associated costs, both globally and particularly in Africa. With less than 100 days to the 28th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties COP28, the expectations of climate activists arriving in Kenya for the summit are high amidst profound challenges preventing climate-vulnerable regions, especially Africa, from upscaling adaptation and mitigation pledges to protect lives, livelihoods and ecosystems from the existential threats of climate change despite contributing less than four per cent to the global emission. Based on this, African leaders and climate change experts see the occasion of the summit as an unfettered opportunity to escalate climate crises facing the region in terms of its frequency and intensity to spur urgent action that will mitigate these challenges as the impacts of the climate scourge bites harder. According to the organisers, about 12 Heads of states and governments from Africa and the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, have confirmed their participation in the conference, while over 15,000 delegates registered to participate in the event, including other high-level dignitaries and heads of international organisations and financial institutions, representatives from academia, researchers, civil society, women and youth from across the world. The climate scourge affecting Africa and the world is evident in the fluctuating weather events (increased/low rainfall, flood, drought, warming oceans and increasing temperatures among others) which are disrupting food systems, and businesses and causing havoc to lives and livelihoods. For instance, Nigeria experienced one of its worst flood disasters ever, last year. Within July and October 2022, over 26 of the countrys 36 states were submerged, resulting in the displacement of over 1.4 million people, death of over 600 citizens and the destruction of houses and businesses worth millions. Also, expansive hectares of farmland were ruined, and roads and bridges were washed off as a result of the deluge. This natures rage, believed to have been aggravated by the changing weather pattern and poor government attention, sparked humanitarian tragedies as fears of worsening food insecurity linger. The ripple effect of the flood is currently being felt in the poor state of food availability, affordability and accessibility in the country as food prices remain skyward. The Summit will serve as a platform to inform, frame, and influence commitments, pledges, and outcomes, ultimately leading to the development of the Nairobi Declaration, Kenyas President said in an official address urging African leaders to participate in the summit and posted on the summits website. He said climate action is not a Global North issue or a Global South issue, and that It is our collective challenge, and it affects all of us. We need to come together to find common, global solutions. Climate Change and existing concerns for Africa Over the last decade, extreme weather events, such as flooding, heatwaves, drought, coastal erosion, wildfires and storms have become more pronounced across Africa and globally, and have resulted in significant losses of lives, biodiversity and Gross Domestic Products of economies. Specifically, Africa is faced with severe climate-related challenges, including flooding, drought, desertification, and increasing cyclones, leading to massive displacement, migration, and lingering food crises. Similarly, the continent is also disproportionately affected by the rising global temperature. However, the region is plagued with a deficit of infrastructure, technology and financial capacity to effectively and efficiently respond to the climate crisis due to debt distress and economic shocks, hence the need for sustainable climate finance support from developed countries. With the vibrant impacts and promising climate justice future influence Africa anticipates achieving through the ACS and ACW twin events in the Green City in the Sun this week, issues about operationalisation of the historic loss and damage deal reached last year in Egypt, effective climate funding mechanism, Sustainable Energy Transition effort, leveraging Africas assets, Carbon taxing and fulfilment of climate change pledges/commitments among others, would be a pivotal part of the issues to be discussed at the summit. In 2009, governments around the world made a commitment to allocate $100 billion annually by 2020 to help developing countries address the impacts of climate change but this commitment had never been met since it was made. Similarly, it has been almost a year since the Loss and Damage historic deal was reached in Egypt during the 27th edition of the UN climate conference (COP27). However, the deal which was meant to respond to the devastating impacts of climate change in vulnerable communities is yet to be operationalised. In May, the president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, hinted that Africa will need $2.7 trillion to upscale climate change adaptation by 2030. Africa is being shortchanged by climate finance. Africa is choking. Africa will need $2.7 trillion by 2030 to finance its climate change needs, Mr Adesina said at the AfDB annual meeting themed:Mobilising private sector financing for climate and green growth in Africa, held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. He said Africa, which is the worlds lowest emitter of greenhouse gases is choking and in dire need of adequate financing to tackle the effects of climate change. Anywhere you look in Africa today, climate change is causing havoc. In the Sahel, hotter temperatures are drying up limited water, causing water stress for crops and livestock and worsening food insecurity, he noted. ACS an opportunity to stand up for Africa In the face of these lingering concerns, climate experts who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES believe the ACS is an opportunity for Africa to leverage on its assets and resources to achieve sustainable green growth solutions in Africa and the world. In his reaction, Nnimmo Bassey, a director of the ecological think-tank, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, said the Africa Climate Summit will be a useful opportunity if it is utilised to make nature and people friendly decisions. He said the ACS and ACE will be a sorry situation if the process is driven by forces that seek to lock-in polluting actions and market environmentalism. The drive for economic growth has been used as a cover to excuse reckless exploitation of Africa, he said. Mr Bassey explained that the summit must shun false climate solutions and demand real actions. African land, seas and forests must not be auctioned off through carbon trading or even for so-called green or blue bonds, he said, adding that Nigeria has just set up a Ministry for Marine and Blue Economy. This, he said, is a set up for marketization of aquatic ecosystems and promotion of risky technologies and impoverishment of our fishers and peoples. Carbon market schemes in various guises have so far led to displacement and impoverishment of communities. Polluters must cut their emissions at source and not sell the false arguments of carbon offsetting, Mr Bassey told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview. The environmentalist said the summit must also avoid the trap set by the vague mantra that technologies for carbon removal is the key way to stop global warming. They sound nice, but carbon removal and storage as well as general geoengineering are ideas for funnelling finance into risky, unproven technologies rather than funding adaptation and renewable energy, he noted. Mr Bassey said the summit should prioritise projects to power a just transition rather than offer excuses for benevolent creditors to continue promoting dirty energy. This is a moment for CSOs and communities to build bottom up resistance to stop extraction of fossil fuels, reject being sacrifice zones and define needed transition pathways and demand payment of ecological debt for centuries of irresponsible exploitation, he noted. On her part, Laurritta Boniface, a Climate Youth Negotiator, said the Summit is paramount for Africa as the impact of climate change is becoming more adverse on the continent. Now more than ever we need to build adaptive capacity, strengthen our resilience and reduce vulnerability, she said. Ms Boniface said: As we progress toward COP28, Africa leaders and climate actors must build momentum to outline our priorities, gear a robust position, develop a roadmap to push for more multilateral economic development, identify challenges and lessons learnt in acquisition of funds. She said Africa must unite to achieve the goal for finance to close the adaptation gap in Africa. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Joel Meliyo is a researcher working on a climate-smart African rice project at the Tanzania Agricultural Institute (TARI). Mr Meliyos project aims to address the two extreme climate change consequences of flooding and drought on rice production in Tanzania, Africas second biggest rice producer. However, Mr Meliyo did not like to speak to journalists about his work. He said he used to view journalists as detectives who may end up using the information they are provided to harm their sources. Similarly, Victor Barnes, a professor at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), whose research project is titled: Climate-smart Cocoa Agroforestry Research in Ghana, also fears being misquoted by journalists, and so he hadnt been very open to media engagements. Both James Mariaria from Kenyatta University in Kenya, who is working on Widespread Use of Geothermal Energy in Africa, and Sylvie Namwase, from Makerere Universitys School of Law in Uganda, among others, said they had always nursed the fear of speaking to journalists about their works. Their challenges stemmed from a poor understanding of media operations, possible misinterpretation, lack of trust, and language barriers. Journalists fears Meanwhile, journalists also said researchers are not only difficult to access but also difficult to comprehend because they use complex terms to prove their competence and authority in their fields of study. Chemtai Kirui of the Kass Media Group in Nairobi, Kenya, said scientists always look down on journalists, claiming mere reporters cannot comprehend their research work and so there is no basis for conversation. Others such as Sarah Mawerere of Ugandan Broadcasting Corporation in Kampala; Janet Ogundepo of The Punch Newspapers in Nigeria; Melody Chironda of allAfrica Global Media, Cape Town, South Africa, and Eric Egbeta of Media General Limited, Accra, Ghana, believe researchers deliberately speak jargons to prove authority on subjects. Journalists also accuse researchers of demanding honorarium to appear on their shows or before being interviewed, claiming they (researchers) believe their intellectual property cannot be offered pro bono because it costs so much to achieve scholarship. Hope rises Between Monday, 28 August, and 1 September, in Arusha, Tanzania, these researchers including environmentalists, scientists, lawyers, and lecturers across various academic institutions in Africa engaged in mutually beneficial interactions with journalists from multiple newsrooms on the continent on ways to break the conversation and collaboration barriers towards tackling climate change consequences and make Africa the centre of conversations on the global issue. Facilitated by Denmark-based Danida Fellowship Centre (DFC), and tagged: Bridging the Gap-Science for the Public: Reporting from the African Frontline of the Global Climate Crisis, the weeklong event held at the MS-Training Centre for Development Cooperation (MS-TCDC), a pan-African training centre located in Arusha, Northern Tanzania. The meeting took place ahead of the inaugural Africa Climate Action Summit scheduled for Nairobi, Kenya, between 4 and 6 September. The media participants moved from Arusha to participate in the summit in Kenya, as part of the first public engagements for the fellows. Bridging the gaps In their Manifesto- otherwise described as recommendations, both the journalists and researchers advised researchers in Africa not to publish only in science journals but they to focus on public understanding, avoid bureaucratic bottlenecks in their relationship with journalists, and that they should release preliminary findings of reports for journalists for proper understanding of the issues. Also, journalists are urged to build integrity towards attracting the trust of the researchers, be open to checking quotes and scientific facts before publishing, and that journalists should stop collecting transport fare from sources before reporting their stories. At the five-day meeting, the two groups pledged to form a network to spread the gospel of the need for sustainable partnership for the sake of humanity. Why collaboration? Welcoming participants to the centre, MS- TCDCs Executive Director, Makena Nwobobia, said to lead conversations around climate change and mitigate its consequences on the continent academics are crucial to the talks and jssxournalists are needed for climate stories for the African audience. Ms Nwobobia enjoined participants to see their selection as a call to duty to save the planet from further destruction and help humanity to survive. She said the 56-year-old centre is committed to advancing intellectual collaborations for the benefit of humanity. On her part, the Senior Communications Consultant at DFC, Vibeke Quaade, said the fellowship was aimed at bridging the existing gaps between researchers and journalists towards simplifying reports on climate change research output and other issues for larger audiences on the continent and beyond. Ms Quaade, who expressed satisfaction over the commitment, energy, excitement, and passion displayed by the participants, said she was hopeful that the abundant resources available on the continent would be properly explored for the greatness of Africa. Climate discourse For the five-day meeting, the fellows were immersed in deep-dive courses on climate issues including negotiations and related processes, climate justice, approaches to science journalism, climate financing and adaptation issues, carbon markets, and constructive journalism techniques, among other pertinent topics. Leading the conversation on climate justice, the Executive Director of a civil society coalition- Panafrican Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), Mithika Mwenda, spoke on the theme; A Shared African Perspective and Voice for Climate Justice. According to Mr Mwenda, for contributing a mere 4 per cent to global pollution but being at the receiving end of the consequences, it was time for Africa to be at the centre of the conversations on climate change. Climate change has ceased to be an environmental issue alone, it affects all parts of humanity- economy, health, education, energy, social life, among others. It is, therefore, important to make it a matter of human rights and Africa must be at the centre of the conversation, he said. Also, Philip Kilonzo, the head of Policy, Advocacy, and Communication at PACJA, who spoke on; Climate Negotiations and Related Processes: What is at Stake for Africa, addressed the key significant issues concerning climate negotiations and why Africa should be a determining factor and not mere onlookers on climate discussions. For journalism training, a science journalist and trainer from Denmark, Lise Brix; Cynara Fetch, the International Project Lead for The Constructive Institute, and the former Digital Editor at the Kenya-based The Standard Media Group, Carol Kimutai, took turns to discuss subjects such as Tactics to Science Journalism, The Need for Constructive Journalism, Reason for Researcher/Journalist Collaboration, among other topics. Participants The fellows- both researchers and journalists, who are drawn from across about 13 nations on the continents, are climate change enthusiasts and those already working on relevant issues on the subject Though no researcher was invited from Nigeria, PREMIUM TIMES Development Editor, Mojeed Alabi, and The Punch Newspapers Climate Issue Correspondent, Janet Ogundepo, were on the team. Mr Alabi was recommended by the Consulate Office of Denmark in Lagos based on his past works on issues of health, environment, and development. Others are from South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius, Somalia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Ghana. Africa Climate Summit Themed: Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World, the inaugural Africa Climate Summit (ACS) 2023, kicks off on Monday, in Nairobi, Kenya, with the crucial objective of delivering green growth and climate finance solutions, for Africa. Throughout the event, heads of state are expected to join forces to develop a united stance on vital issues such as adaptation and resilience, renewable energy, sustainable development, food and water security, and financing for climate action on the African continent, the organisers said. The discussions are expected to serve as vital preparations leading to the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 28, scheduled for November in the United Arab Emirates. Nigerias President, Bola Tinubu, is expected on Tuesday to feature alongside other African leaders at a plenary session tagged; Chatting a Vision: Investment Opportunities for Green Growth. The session, which is expected to be moderated by another Nigerian, United Nations Representative of the Secretary General /CEO of the Energy for All, Damilola Ogunbiyi, is expected to feature other panelists including the host President of Kenya, William Ruto; Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopian Prime Minister, and the President of Senegal, Macky Sall. Nigerias former Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, a professor, is also expected on Monday to be part of a panel discussion on the topic: Carbon Markets in the Global South. PREMIUM TIMES earlier on Sunday reported that both President Ruto and the President of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, interacted with the African youths at the final day of the African Youth Climate Assembly which was held between 1 and 3 September. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print As the inaugural Africa Climate Summit kicks off on Monday in Nairobi, Kenya, President Bola Tinubu, and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo are some of the African leaders expected to grace the event to address key issues around climate change including green growth, carbon pricing, climate financing, climate adaptation, renewable and clean energy, among others. Hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto, who doubles as the Chairman of the Committee of Heads of State of the African Union on Climate Change, the summit is themed: Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World, the inaugural Africa Climate Summit (ACS) 2023, kicks off on Monday, in Nairobi, Kenya, with the crucial objective of delivering green growth and climate finance solutions, for Africa. Throughout the event, heads of state are expected to join forces to develop a united stance on vital issues such as adaptation and resilience, renewable energy, sustainable development, food and water security, and financing for climate action on the African continent, the organisers said. The discussions are expected to serve as vital preparations leading to the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 28, scheduled for November in the United Arab Emirates. Rutos speech raises hope Welcoming the delegates and every participant to the summit, the Kenyan President, William Ruto, acknowledged that the challenges posed by climate change are real but he insisted that they are not insurmountable. He said though Africas carbon footprint is small, the human toll of climate change is disproportionately high. The urgency to address loss and damage, and to configure appropriate financial mechanisms for resilience grows with each extreme weather event and each bout of climate-induced insecurity. A complex interplay of needs and responsibilities is a daily challenge, but it should not lead to a deadlock. He urged the participants to see the challenges as windows of opportunity to grow and lead the world into prosperity. He said; Delivering prosperity and well-being for Africas growing population without pushing the world deeper into climate disaster is not an abstract proposition or mere wishful thinking, it is a real possibility proven by science and affirmed by emerging experience. An opportunity-oriented focus on climate action is the engine for propelling Africa into a realm of stability and prosperity, elevating us to middle-income status and beyond. This context is precisely what sets this Climate Summit apart from others. It aims to unite us across neighbourhoods, across sectors and institutions, across country borders, across continents and generations. It is because we all have a shared stake in the Earths ability to sustain life, that we must envision together a future that embraces the values of equality, human security, and shared prosperity. Mr Ruto said Africa possesses all the necessary conditions to realise the future so much desired, describing its vast population of young and growing workforce as the continents biggest asset. He said the workforce is not only young but also educated, skilled, and motivated to pursue industry, innovation, and enterprise. He added; We have ample renewable energy potential, and the natural assets and resources to green our own consumption, and meaningfully contribute to decarbonisation of the global economy. We must see in green growth not just a climate imperative, but also a fountain of multi-billion-dollar economic opportunities that Africa and the World are primed to capitalise on. We are brought together by a clear understanding and deep concern about the inadequacy of our present means, in terms of institutions and available finances, to deal effectively with the magnitude of our collective threats and challenges. But we will not shy away from the difficult conversations and uncomfortable realities that must be faced to achieve meaningful change. Policy, regulation, taxation, trade, and climate justice will all be scrutinised, in national, regional and global contexts. Yet the way we frame these discussions matters. I invite all to adopt an opportunity lens as we navigate these complex dialogues. Nigerias representatives Though it is not clear if Nigerias President will be available for the summit, he is expected on Tuesday to feature alongside other African leaders at a plenary session tagged; Chatting a Vision: Investment Opportunities for Green Growth. The session, which is expected to be moderated by another Nigerian, United Nations Representative of the Secretary-General/CEO of the Energy for All, Damilola Ogunbiyi, is expected to feature other panellists including the host President of Kenya, William Ruto; Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopian Prime Minister, and the President of Senegal, Macky Sall. Meanwhile, on his part, Mr Osinbajo is expected on Monday to be part of a panel discussion on the topic: Carbon Markets in the Global South. AU, UNFCC, others speak Meanwhile, during the opening session, representatives of various organisations including the African Union Commission, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Indigenous People of Africa, among other groups. Representing the AU Commission, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, Josefa Sacko, described the summit as an unwavering commitment to rebuilding Africa as a continent filled with huge resources. Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, Simon Stiell, urged African leaders to empower local transformation so that Africa can be at the COP28 well-prepared and united in their position to advance conversations around climate change. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigerias president and ECOWAS chair, Bola Tinubu, has hinted that he may support a nine-month transition period in Niger rather than his current stance for the return to power of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. Mr Tinubu, whose country has a huge influence on neighbouring Niger, gave the hint last week during his meeting with the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), which has been mediating the crisis in Niger. President Tinubu noted that Nigeria, under General Abdulsalami Abubakar, instituted a nine-month transition programme in 1998, and it proved very successful, leading the country into a new era of democratic governance, presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale said in a press release. The Nigerian leader, who had admitted that he was under pressure to authorise military action in Niger to sack the putschists, said he saw no reason why the Abdulsalami model cannot be replicated in Niger if the coup leaders are sincere. The junta in Niger had proposed a three-year transition. The proposal was rejected by ECOWAS which has demanded the reinstatement of ousted president Bazoum. Mr Tinubus statement indicates that ECOWAS was willing to amend its demands if the junta reduced the period it wanted to be in power for. That may indicate an end to the possibility of the Mr Bazoum returning to office as global powers such as the UN, AU and the US have virtually deferred to ECOWAS to resolve the Niger crisis. On 26 July, presidential guards in Niger took over the government, arrested Mr Bazoum and have since detained him. Following the coup, ECOWAS imposed a flurry of sanctions on Niger and asked the junta to reinstate Mr Bazoum or risk a military intervention. Although the bloc says it is ready to militarily intervene, it says it is a last resort. During the meeting with the NSCIA, Mr Tinubu said no one is interested in a war. Like Niger, Like Gabon The coup in Niger was the sixth successful coup in Africa in the last four years and was followed by another in Gabon where soldiers on 30 August announced a takeover of the government following flawed elections in the country. Just like the Nigeriens, Gabonese soldiers also placed the ousted president Ali Bongo under house arrest and have since appointed a transitional leader. Even though the African Union has suspended Gabon for removing the government with force, it did not call for the reinstatement of Mr Bongo contrary to the position the continental bloc took when it affirmed its support for ECOWASs position in Niger. Rather, the AU demanded the immediate restoration of constitutional order through the conduct of free, fair, credible and transparent elections that would be observed by the AU Election Observer Mission and the concerned region. The coup in Gabon was a result of disputed elections that returned Mr Bongo for a third term after 14 years in power. Before Ali Bongo in 2009, his father Omar Bongo was president from 1967 until his death in 2009. The AU also noted that it is important for member states to address the root causes of coups which are now returning to the continent. Since 2019, there have been seven successful coups in Africa by country count: Sudan, Mali, Chad, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon. the need for Member States to comprehensively address the structural root causes of and conditions that facilitate unconstitutional changes of government, AU said, requesting the AU Commission, with the support of Member States and the RECs/RMs, to undertake a comprehensive and objective study on the structural root causes of unconstitutional changes of government. Encouraging the Gabonese to remain calm and refrain from any action that may inflame the situation, it reaffirmed its solidarity with their legitimate aspirations for democracy and good governance. AU also encouraged them to embrace dialogue as the only viable approach towards finding consensual and lasting solutions to the challenges facing the country. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print There was a sign of relief for millions of Nigerians last week when the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) announced that it had established Emergency Communication Centers (ECCs) across the country. Also, Lafarge Africa Plc announced that it has invested approximately 7.5 million CHF to reduce the environmental impact of its cement operations in Nigeria. The NCC and Lafarges separate announcements were two of many, last week, by PREMIUM TIMES partners who operate in various sectors of the economy. See the announcements below. Telecommunication The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has established Emergency Communication Centers (ECCs) across the country, offering employment opportunities to Nigerian youth and professionals. These ECCs provide essential emergency response services and are operational in 27 state capitals with plans to expand. Trained agents use toll-free number 112 to connect callers with response agencies, enhancing public safety and creating jobs. The ECCs are equipped with advanced technology, and their services are available 24/7. The NCC aims to employ more individuals as it opens additional ECCs, providing socio-economic benefits to the community. Fintech Unified Payments, Nigerias leading fintech firm, celebrates its 26th anniversary with a commitment to ongoing innovation. Established in 1997, it has been a pioneer in the industry, introducing EMV Chip+PIN cards, enabling global card use for Naira account holders, and various other firsts. The company aims to continue delivering simplified payment solutions, fostering cross-enterprise alliances, and shaping the future of payments through technology. Unified Payments offers a wide range of services, including acquiring, issuer processing, online payment gateways, and more. Oil and Gas The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Bank of Industry (BoI) have amended their MoU for the $50 million NOGaPS Manufacturing Fund. This fund aims to attract oil and gas equipment manufacturers to Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks, increasing access to affordable finance. The success of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIFund) has inspired other African countries like Angola and Namibia to consider similar initiatives. BoIs management of the NCI Fund is praised, and there may be future collaborations. The NCI Fund has received 194 applications worth $1 billion, with $324 million disbursed to date. Manufacturing Lafarge Africa Plc has invested approximately 7.5 million CHF to reduce the environmental impact of its cement operations in Nigeria. It has replaced its dust emission control system with a more modern Bag House dust collection system at its Ewekoro plant. This investment aligns with its commitment to environmental sustainability and health and safety standards. Lafarge Africa also takes measures to reduce fugitive emissions and conducts air quality measurements to ensure compliance with regulations. Additionally, the company supports its host communities through various social initiatives, including healthcare and education. Banking Juliet Ehimuan has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Zenith Bank Plc, effective August 29, 2023. Ms Ehimuan is the Founder and CEO of Beyond Limits and formerly served as the Director of Google West Africa. She is a renowned figure in the technology industry and has received numerous accolades for her contributions to innovation and leadership in Africa. Her appointment has been confirmed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Education SchoolViewers offers free school management software with features such as result management, school fee tracking, attendance monitoring, a free school website, online tests, homework modules, and targeted notifications. It operates on Google Ad revenue, eliminating costs for schools and allowing unlimited student capacity. Schools can easily migrate to SchoolViewers, and the platform is accessible from computers or mobile devices without requiring installations. It aims to upgrade school management and enhance productivity for educational institutions, from creches to secondary schools. Visit their website for more information or to sign up. Mobile Telephony Xiaomi Africa hosted an online photography campaign, #SafariWithXiaomi, where fans could showcase their skills using Xiaomi phones and win a 3-day trip to Maasai Mara. The winners, along with professional photographers, enjoyed capturing the iconic African wilderness and wildlife using Xiaomi devices, such as the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G with its 200MP camera. Participants praised Xiaomis innovations in mobile photography while offering suggestions for further improvement. The trip was a memorable experience for the winners, showcasing Xiaomis commitment to empowering users and fostering creativity in photography. Tertiary Education The BSN is offering an opportunity to join their prestigious MBA programme, with registration for the next batch beginning on 16-17 September 2023. Interested individuals can fill out a short form via a provided link for more information and assistance with the application process. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja has scheduled Wednesday for judgements on the three pending cases challenging the outcome of the 25 February presidential election. It is coming about a month after the court heard the closing arguments of parties to the petitions and about two weeks to the expiration of the statutory 180-day lifespans within which the cases filed in March must be heard and determined. The five-member panel of the court headed by Haruna Tsammani had reserved judgements on the petitions after hearing the closing arguments of the parties to the cases in early August. The petitions were filed separately by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and a political party, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), to challenge President Bola Tinubus victory in the disputed election. The Court of Appeal headquarters in Abuja, which hosts the election petition court, announced the date for the judgements in a statement on Monday. The much-anticipated judgement will be televised live, according to Umar Bangari, the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, who signed the statement, a move that seeks to satisfy public demand that the court had earlier rejected during the hearing of the petitions. In a bid to promote transparency and openness, these judgements will be televised live by interested television stations for the public to follow, the statement read in part. It added: Access to the court premises will be strictly on accreditation. Only accredited individuals, including counsel and representatives of political parties, will be granted access to the courtroom. Interested members of the public are advised to watch proceedings from their television sets. Nigeria held the keenly-contested presidential election alongside National Assembly polls on 25 February. The polls were overshadowed by the uproar of the opposition candidates and their political parties alleging fraud in the exercise following the declaration of the results. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had, on 1 March, declared Mr Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 8.8 million votes to defeat 17 other candidates in what was largely a three horse race. Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election to come second, while Mr Obi came behind Atiku with a total of 6,101,533 votes, according to INEC. Before the close of the three weeks window for filing petitions against the elections, the aggrieved candidates particularly Atiku and Mr Obi filed their cases at the presidential election court, with each asking the court to either declare them the winner of the poll or order a fresh poll from which Mr Tinubu should be barred. There were five petitions filed by aggrieved parties and their candidates at the close of the filing window in March. But, two of the petitions filed by the Action Peoples Party (APP) and the Action Alliance (AA) were withdrawn before the hearing began. Petitions The two frontline petitions filed by Atiku and Mr Obi attacked the qualification of Mr Tinubu to contest the election, the legality of his nomination of his running mate, the integrity of the election process, and the threshold of the spread of votes used by INEC to declare Mr Tinubu, the winner of the poll. They alleged, for instance, that Mr Tinubu was not eligible to participate in the election on the ground that he was fined $460,000 for an offence involving dishonesty, namely narcotics trafficking, imposed by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in the United States of America. They also alleged that Mr Tinubus running mate, Kashim Shettima, was illegally nominated for two separate constituencies in the same election cycle as Borno Central senatorial candidate and vice-presidential candidate for the whole of Nigeria therefore rendering their joint ticket invalid. They also contended that Mr Tinubu did not win the majority of lawful votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the states of the federation and the FCT, Abuja. They alleged widespread manipulation and alteration of the results of the election. According to the leading opposition candidates, the election was also marred by the failure of INEC to upload photographic copies of polling unit results on its Results Viewing (IReV) portal. INEC introduced the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and IReV to the recent elections to boost its integrity and credibility. The APM, whose presidential candidate, Chichi Ojei, polled 25,961 votes, anchored its petition on the sole ground of the alleged double nomination of Mr Shettima. The party asked the court to declare Atiku, who came second in the polls, as the winner. But INEC, Mr Tinubu, and the APC denied the allegations through their respective legal teams during the hearing, urging the court to dismiss all three petitions for lack of merit. They argued that the IReV glitches did not impact the outcome of the election, that the petitioners failed to prove the alleged manipulation of results, and that the Supreme Court had dismissed the allegation of the double nomination of Mr Shettima. On the issue of scoring 25 per cent votes in Abuja, they also argued that the call by the petitioners to nullify the election on that ground would confer a superior status on voters in Abuja over other parts of the country. Pre-hearing and witnesses The court began prehearing proceedings on the petitions on 8 May. At the end of the prehearing sessions, which lasted two weeks, parties agreed on the plans for the substantive hearing, which the court approved with some alterations. Atiku, who planned to call 100 witnesses to prove his case, ended up calling 27. Mr Tinubu and the APC had indicated their intention to call 39 and 25 witnesses, respectively, in defence of their case. However, at the trial, Mr Tinubu presented only one witness. The APC did not call witnesses and only adopted Mr Tinubus witness. In his own case, Mr Obi disclosed during prehearing that he planned to call 50 witnesses to prove his case against Mr Tinubu, prompting the court to grant him three weeks to do so. But at the hearing of the substantive suit, Mr Obi presented only 13 witnesses, while Mr Tinubu, who had promised to call 39 witnesses in defence of his case, ended up calling the sole witness, Opeyemi Bamidele, a Nigerian senator. Similarly, the APC, which indicated that it was going to call 25 witnesses, ended up not presenting any, and relied on Mr Tinubus only witness in arguing its defence. The APM called only one witness, Aisha Abubakar, the assistant welfare officer of the party. The respondents did not call any witness but drew the courts attention to the Supreme Courts decision dismissing the ground upon which the party anchored its petition. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The State Security Service (SSS) says it has uncovered plans by some unnamed elements in the country to stage violent protests to discredit the federal government and the security agencies over sundry socio-economic matters. The Service stated this in a statement on Monday in Abuja by its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya. Mr Afunanya said intelligence reports the Service got indicated that the plotters include politicians mobilising student leaders, ethnic-based associations, youth, and disgruntled groups for the protest. He also said the organisation had identified the ring leaders of the plot and also sustained monitoring around them to stop them from plunging the country into anarchy. READ ALSO: In view of this development, University Vice-Chancellors and Heads of Tertiary Institutions are advised to discourage their students from engaging in acts capable of derailing public peace. Also, parents and guardians are enjoined to admonish their children and wards respectively to shun the lure of participating in inimical behaviours or conduct against law and order, the statement said. The alarm by the SSS is coming two days before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) delivers its judgement on the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against the election of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC). It is also coming a day before the two-day planned protests by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the removal of the fuel subsidy by the federal government. Read the full statement DSS DISCOVERS PLOT TO STAGE VIOLENT PROTESTS IN THE COUNTRY The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby informs the public that it has uncovered plans by some elements in parts of the country to stage violent protests to discredit the Federal Government and security agencies over sundry socio-economic matters. Intelligence reports have indicated that the plotters include certain politicians who are desperately mobilising unsuspecting student leaders, ethnic based associations, youth and disgruntled groups for the planned action. Meanwhile, the Service has identified the ring leaders of the plot as well as sustained monitoring around them in order to deter them from plunging the country into anarchy. In view of this development, University Vice-Chancellors and Heads of Tertiary Institutions are advised to discourage their students from engaging in acts capable of derailing public peace. Also, parents and guardians are enjoined to admonish their children and wards respectively to shun the lure of participating in inimical behaviours or conducts against law and order. While the DSS is aware of Governments efforts and determination to resolve some of the challenges confronting the nation, it warns those desirous of subverting national security to retrace their steps. This is more so that it will not hesitate to legally come against persons and groups behind the devious plans. Peter Afunanya, Ph.D, fsi Public Relations Officer Department of State Services National Headquarters Abuja. 4th September, 2023. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The State Security Service (SSS) has released the suspended chairman of Ijebu East Local Government of Ogun State. The secret police took Mr Adedayo into custody on Friday after he honoured its invitation over an allegation that he made against Governor Dapo Abiodun. In a letter to a former governor of the state, Segun Osoba, Mr Adedayo said Mr Abiodun was diverting federal allocations to local governments in the state. He repeated the allegations in petitions to two federal anti-corruption agencies. However, less than 15 hours after human rights lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Femi Falana demanded his release, the SSS said it has set Mr Adedayo free. I will go to court Addressing journalists shortly after his release on Monday, Mr Adedayo vowed to seek legal redress over his detention. READ ALSO: Asked what he was detained for, Mr Adedayo said: They claimed there is a letter from the governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, that I was making inciting comments against the state government. But I told them there was nothing like that, or who did they say I have incited? They said that I was planning protest but I said I dont know anything about that and I told them that I had only done what my conscience said that I should and this I did with my other colleagues chairpersons despite the fact that they all ran back. My conscience is very clear in the letter I wrote to Chief Olusegun Osoba, the former governor of the state and a national leader of our party, APC. I will certainly go to court to challenge my illegal suspension because on the day of my suspension, over 100 police officers came to my local government, and I asked to do what. Maybe if I had shown my face on that day, I might not even be here in one piece When told that members of the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) said no money was lost, Mr Adedayo retorted: Let them tell that to the EFCC. I have sent my letters to them. Who is even JAAC? This concerns the local government chairmen, and if each of them claimed that they have been collecting the money meant to develop their council areas, they should be ready to account to the people. Falana intervention Mr Falana, in a statement on Sunday, had advised Governor Abiodun to go to court if he felt the suspended council boss had libelled him. Even though the Ogun State Government has denied the allegation of funds diversion, Governor Abiodun is advised to sue Mr Wale Adedayo for libel in the Ogun State High Court. In similar circumstances, two of his predecessors, the late Governor Olabisi Onabanjo, had sued the National Concord newspaper for libel in the Ogun State High Court in 1981, while Governor Segun Osoba sued the Punch Newspaper for defamation of character in the Ogun State High Court in 2001. Both Governors won the libel suits. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of this particular case, I am compelled to request the Ogun State Command of the SSS to release Mr Adedayo from custody forthwith. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The leaders of Ilobu, headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State, have reacted to the allegation of land grabbing levelled against the Nigerian Army by neighbouring Ifon-Osun town, headquarters of Orolu Local Government Area. This is in addition to a public statement issued by the Nigerian Army last Tuesday debunking the allegation, while also explaining its role in securing every part of Nigeria against internal and external aggression. Ifon-Osun indigenes had staged a protest accusing the Nigerian Army of plotting to take over their land to build a facility. Allegation Led by their regent and Eesa of Ifon-Osun, Babatunde Oyetunji, the residents staged a protest and addressed the media, accusing the Nigerian Army of hijacking their communitys land allegedly in connivance with Ilobu community. The protesters said as an indigene of Ilobu community, the Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, was planning to use his position to take over the communitys land. Ilobu reacts But in its reaction on Wednesday, the palace of Olobu of Ilobu, Oba Ashiru Olaniyan, debunked the claim by Ifon-Osun, describing it as an attempt to cause trouble within the area. Addressing reporters on behalf of the palace, a senior chief and legal practitioner, Adegoke Ogunsola, the Otun Jagun of Ilobu, said the community was surprised to hear the news of the protest against an innocent army chief whose appointment, he noted, has been hailed by many Nigerians. Clarifying the controversies surrounding the land issue, Mr Ogunsola noted that the court has consistently giving verdicts in favour of Ilobu in several cases. He also said the communitys traditional ruler was visited by a retired soldier and an old friend, who was said to have discussed possibility of facilitating a development centre for the town, and was taken to a location to confirm suitability. The chief said: On Monday 28 August, Olobu of Ilobu, His Royal Majesty Oba Ashiru Olatoye Olaniyan II (J.P) received a retired military personnel as a guest. In the course of the visitation, the Olobu of Ilobu suggested a project under the Military-Civil Relationship of the Nigerian Army. The retired General, who is a friend of Olobu of Ilobu was then taken to parts of Ilobu community where people are in need of the project. The places visited are without mincing words, parts of Ilobu Community. Court judgements and Osun State Gazette have, for the umpteenth time, confirmed this assertion. He listed some of the cases. Dont distract army chief Mr Ogunsola, who described the protest by the palace of Ifon Osun as mere rantings, said a review of the past conduct of the community would reveal that it is out of envy and desperation. He said: The recent rantings by Eesa of Ifon-Osun and Jide Akinyooye were not different from their past lies. The Olobu of Ilobu, Chiefs and people of Ilobu once again appreciate the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Hammed Tinubu for finding worthy for national assignment, a prominent son of Ilobu, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja. We want to reiterate that the claim by Ifon-Osun community is an attempt to distract the Chief of Army Staff and the president from pursuing the Renewed Hope Agenda for Nigeria. Armys reaction Earlier last Tuesday, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu, described the allegation as malicious and false, calling on the public to disregard it. He said the Nigerian Army was not yet involved in any process regarding acquisition of any piece of land for any project whether in Orolu or elsewhere, but that the protesters were only out to tarnish the good image of the army chief and the institution it represents. In its statement published on its official Facebook page, the Nigerian Army wrote: The Nigerian Army ( NA) has been notified of malicious allegations reportedly peddled in a press statement by one Chief Babatunde Oyetunji, Eesa of Ifon in which he levelled allegations that the Nigerian Army (NA) has decided to forcefully acquire land for a proposed project in Orolu Community of Orolu Local Govt of Osun State. Without mincing words, the NA wishes to clarify, that the report is entirely false, malicious and an effort by some vested interests to tarnish the good reputation of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and drag the name of the institution in the mud. Possible reason for allegation Mr Nwachukwu explained that part of the measures taken by the Nigerian Army to boost the trust of the populace in the Nigerian Army is through the instrumentality of Civil-Military Cooperation activities or programmes of the Nigerian Army. This effort is fundamentally geared towards fostering cooperation and galvanising support of the civil populace for NAs diverse operations to mitigate security challenges across the country. Hence, the NA usually executes special community intervention projects, such as hospitals, boreholes, electrification amongst others based on needs assessment, after consultations with the leadership of such communities, at the behest of senior officers, who hail from the benefiting community, the army spokesman said. He, however, added that the particular case is only being conceptualised by a retired senior officer and to be proposed to the Nigerian Army. He said the proposal has not been made. The Nigerian Army hereby absolves itself of any involvement in an attempt to confiscate any community land. The Nigerian Army is a professional and law-abiding institution that has always followed due process in all her intervention projects, so far undertaken. Therefore, members of the public are enjoined to discountenance the allegations and continue to support the Nigerian Army and its Kinetic and Non-kinetic operations across the country, the statement concluded. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A committee of the House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Water Resources, Joseph Utsev, over the ministrys role in the sales of assets of River Basin Authorities. The ad hoc committee, chaired by the Majority Leader of the House, Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo), issued the summon on Monday during an interaction with some managing directors of the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDA). Nigeria has 12 water basin authorities. The committee is investigating the illegal disposal of some government properties between 2010 and 2022, and the non-remittance of the revenue realised from the sale of the assets into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF). The committee asked the minister, who just assumed office on 21 August, to appear before the panel after the MDs of RBDA told the committee that the sales of the assets were done by the Ministry of Water Resources. Adeniyi Aremu, the managing director of the Lower Niger River Basin, informed the lawmakers that the River Basins were not involved in the sales, but it was done at the ministry level. Mr Ihonvbere, therefore, ruled that the minister must appear before the committee to explain the process of the sales of the assets. The committee also summoned the heads of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Maritime Authority and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The agencies were scheduled to appear before the committee but failed to appear. Mr Ihonvbere said he was not satisfied with the explanation by the managing directors and demanded more documents from them. I want to assure you for now that we are not very satisfied, and that is because you did not preside over this process. We will require that you come back after we deduce some of those documents directly from the ministry on behalf of your agencies, he said. He also frowned on the attitude of the agencies and threatened that the committee would invoke its powers to compel agencies to appear. There is a tendency in this country for these agencies to think they can operate above the law. Not with this House of Representatives. Its not possible, he said. The resolution to embark on the investigation followed the adoption of a motion moved by Oluwole Oke (PDP, Osun) in July during plenary. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print In 2001, Baron ONeill of Gatley (he was Jim ONeill then), who had just been appointed head of global economics research at Goldman Sachs (an investment bank), wrote a paper in which he drew attention to four countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China with the acronym BRIC) from what is now described as the global South, whose economic performances he thought meant that they would become dominant players in the global economy by 2050. Up until then, on the back of market-based reforms begun in 1979, China had notched up annual output growth rates of 10 per cent. It had transited millions out of poverty in record time and was to go on to overtake Japan as the worlds second largest economy in 2010. Buoyed by the 2003 to 2007 boom in commodity prices, again the result of Chinas rapid growth, and domestic spending to cushion the incidence of poverty, from the early 2000s, Brazils economy grew at a robust clip. Following reforms to the Indian economy, which began in July 1991 on the back of a balance of payments crisis, by 2001 the countrys economy was growing at an annual rate of 6 per cent. Russia may not have reformed its economy anywhere near those of its peers, but boosted by rising commodity prices, its economy grew on average by 7 per cent in each of the years between 2000 and 2008. In the intervening period since the coinage of BRIC, South Africa (hence BRICS) joined the grouping in 2010. Today, the BRICS countries account for 41 per cent of the global population, 18 per cent of world trade, and 26 per cent of global output. With such clout and impressive showing, the recently concluded 15th BRICS summit, which held in Johannesburg last month, was an occasion to make a political statement. The queue of countries applying to join the grouping, a number of which gained candidate-member status after the meeting, underscored the continuing search, since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, for political and economic counterpoints to the post-Second World War establishment that has coalesced around US-led global institutions. Yet, Jim ONeills pollyannaish vision of the economic trajectory of these countries was as exaggerated as it was premature. While India is projected to become the fastest growing big economy this year, Brazil, South Africa, and Russia are facing tepid growth. China may have come out of its zero-COVID lockdown and run into skids under-par growth, the risk of deflation, and a rapidly ageing population but it accounts for 69 per cent of the groupings trade and 70 per cent of its output. As a political conversation, then, the BRICS fit Chinas need for strong alliances in its current face-off with the United States. The problem is that the original vision behind the grouping was economic and not political. It should worry those who would have the grouping rival the US that it still has neither the criteria for membership nor a charter. As democracies, Brazil, India, and South Africa are always going to struggle with the autocratic worldviews of the leaderships in China and Russia. If India was a big player in the old Non-Aligned Movement because its rivalries with Pakistan and China demanded that it steer a middle course between the two rival powers in the Cold War, a more assertive India today is even less likely to seek alliances that leave it subordinate, not the least to a country with which it has actively hostile borders. The contradictions go further. The groups insistence that the five original members would control the vote (55 per cent) in the New Development Bank is as ironic as it is instructive of the challenges faced in the design of global organisations. No less so is Chinas dominance of the vote in the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (40 per cent) and its insistence on an IMF programme as a condition for accessing loans from the latter. South Africa, on the other hand, would rather that new countries joining participate from an outer room. At some point, BRICS may overcome these tensions. But that does not make the grouping a less welcome addition to the global financial, economic, and political architecture. Confronting existential challenges in the years ahead, mankind will need all the help it can get. Ought Nigeria to have applied for membership at the Johannesburg meeting? In the light of the internal (and potentially antagonistic) contradictions that the grouping will have to resolve, the gains from the countrys membership of the BRICS forum are always going to be modest. As an opportunity for driving increased bilateral trade, participation by the vice president at the meeting was not without its advantages. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print T Pumpy Concept Limited, a leading name in the real estate industry, is set to redefine luxury living with the launch of its latest site in Jibi, Abuja. The much-anticipated pre-launch sales for the new estate will commence on 1 October, 2023. Jibi District, situated along the picturesque Kubwa Expressway, offers the perfect blend of tranquility and accessibility. As the demand for premium real estate continues to rise in Abuja, T Pumpy Concepts Limited is committed to providing discerning homeowners with an exquisite living experience. The Managing Director/CEO of T Pumpy Concept Limited, Mr Akintayo Adaralegbe, who announced the development in a statement during the weekend, stated, We are excited to introduce T Pumpy Estate Jibi (Freedom) to our growing portfolio of exceptional properties. With the pre-launch sales beginning on October 1st, 2023, we are confident that this development will redefine luxury living in Abuja. Also speaking on the new acquisition, veteran Fuji star, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM 1), said, The one we are floating now is a massive project at Jibi Abuja. I promise you, it will not be short of what we are known for. Continue to patronise us, we have the best package for your housing needs at T. Pumpy Estates Nigeria. What to Expect at Jibi: Great Offer on Plots: The Jibi site presents an incredible opportunity to invest in prime real estate at competitive prices. Genuine Documents (C of O): Buyers can rest assured of the authenticity of their property investments with legally sound Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) documents. Instant Allocation: T Pumpy Concept Limited prides itself on delivering a seamless purchasing experience, including instant property allocation. Good Road Network: Jibi estate is designed with modern infrastructure, including well-constructed roads for ease of access. Closeness to Town: Enjoy the serenity of a satellite community while remaining conveniently close to the city centre. Access Road: Residents will benefit from hassle-free access to major roads and highways, making commuting a breeze. About T Pumpy Concept Limited: T Pumpy Concept Limited is a renowned real estate development company with a track record of delivering top-tier residential and commercial projects across Nigeria. Committed to excellence, T Pumpy Concept Limited has established a reputation for providing quality housing solutions to meet the diverse needs of its clients. Some of the notable estates developed by T Pumpy Concept Limited across Nigeria include, Lugbe, Guzape, Karasana, Kuje, Jikwoyi, Kurudu, Ekiti, Ilorin, Ibadan, among others. T Pumpy Concept Limited continues to raise the bar in the real estate sector, delivering quality and value to its clients while contributing to the development of sustainable communities. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A combined team of security operatives have rescued 16 people kidnapped by gunmen in Bura and surrounding forests between Ningi and Toro Local Governments of Bauchi State. The operation was carried out by a team of security agents comprising personnel from the police, the army and other quasi-security outfits. This was contained in a press statement on Monday by the spokesperson of the Bauchi State police command, Ahmed Wakili. Mr Wakili said the operatives of the Operation Restore Peace unit also killed scores of the suspected kidnappers during an exchange of fire that lasted for over two hours. The incident happened on Saturday, September 2nd, 2023; five of the victims sustained various degrees of injuries while the remaining 11 were rescued unhurt. On September 2nd, 2023, at about 33.00 pm, Operation Restore Peace, on a routine patrol, stormed the kidnappers den located on top of the mountain situated at Shande village area of Kurmi, a village at the outskirts of Burra. On sighting the team of combined operatives, the kidnappers started firing at the operatives. In response, the operatives repelled the kidnappers with superior firepower, which lasted for about 2 hours, Mr Wakili narrated. Efforts are being intensified to arrest and prosecute the fleeing suspects with possible bullet wounds; the investigation into the incident is still ongoing. READ ALSO: Commissioner of Police Bauchi State Command, Auwal Muhammad, has urged members of the public to immediately report suspicious persons with suspected bullet wounds visiting any medical care centres to the nearest police station, or call the police emergency/toll number, 08151849417, he added. Mr Wakili explained that the injured victims were evacuated to Burra General Hospital, where they are receiving medical treatment. He said those injured are Shuaibu Kurmi village Burra, Bammi Kongoro village Burra, Mai Unguwa Shende village Burra, Dantsoho Mai Shayi Kurmi village Burra, and Abubakar Matigwai village from Sumaila LGA Kano State. Among the 11 victims rescued unhurt include three women, Zahariya Ibrahim17 of Dana Village Burra; Walida Idi, 16, of Sabon Gida Mazai Village Burra; Maryam Shehu, 25, of Sabon Gida Mazai Village Burra, The men are Abubakar Adamu, 15, of Ruwan Dinya village Burra, Muntari Badamasi, 40, of Shaka Leme village Burra and Ibrahim Abdullahi, 15, of Ruwan Dinya village Burra. Others are Sani Abdullahi, 10, of Ruwan Dinya Village Burra; Ibrahim Rabiu, 30, of Shaka Leme Village Burra; Isah Tashi, 20, of Kere Village Burra, Tasiu Abdullahi, 30, of Shaka Leme Village Burra and Saleh Umaru 35 of Matigwai village from Sumaila LGA Kano State. Among the rescued 16 victims, 14 are from Ningi and Toro local governments of Bauchi State, while two are from the Sumaila local government area of Kano State. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Anambra State, South-east Nigeria, say they have arrested two suspects who were allegedly robbing some residents of their valuables on the newly commissioned Second Niger Bridge in the state. The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, who disclosed this in a statement on Monday, said the suspects were arrested last week. Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said a police team which was on surveillance patrol on the bridge to prevent vandals from stealing expansion joints was alerted to activities of the hoodlums near the Obosi end of the bridge. The covert police team monitored the gang and swooped in on them arresting two of the gangsters while others fled, he said. The police spokesperson said when the suspects were searched, two daggers and five sim cards removed from previously stolen phones, were recovered from them. The suspects were between 20 and 22 years old. While one hails from Enugu State, the second suspect hails from Ebonyi State, another states in the South-east, according to the police. The Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, commended the police team for their vigilance and courage in confronting the gang, Mr Ikenga said. Mr Adeoye has directed that owners of the recovered sim cards be located in order to assemble evidence for successful prosecution of the arrested suspects. The bridge The Second Niger Bridge was commissioned on 23 May by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The bridge was later named after Mr Buhari by Governors of the South-east region. The construction of the new bridge began on 1st September 2018. The bridge spans from Asaba in Delta State, South-south Nigeria to Ozubulu, Ogbaru and other communities in Anambra State, South-east Nigeria. The first Niger Bridge, linking Onitsha and Asaba, was completed in 1965 and built by the French construction company, Dumez. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Lagos Blue Rail Train began operations Monday as Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu joined hundreds of commuters on the inaugural ride. The train journeyed from the Marina station to Mile 2 in a less than 30 minutes. The journey kickstarted at 09:13 a.m. and arrived at the last bus stop at 09:35 a.m. Using the Cowry Card, the train can be boarded at the Marina Station, National Theatre Station, Iganmu Station, Alaba Station and Mile 2 Station. The metro line will be commencing operations on Tuesday, 5 September, at 6:30 a.m., the state government has said. A full Journey from Marina to Mile 2 will cost N750, zonal fares will be between N400 and N500 (for people not making the complete full trip). However, due to the transportation palliative announced by the governor, the highest fare for the full trip will be N375. During the ride, many passengers spoke to PREMIUM TIMES about their experience and why they think itsunique. Isiaka Abdulwaheed described his experience as wonderful. He said he had the cowry card and only recharged it with N3,000 when he got to the Marina station. He said N375 was deducted for the journey from Marina to Mile 2. Tolulope Braimoh said it is a smooth ride. Iyu Oladunjoye, Eko Akete Grammar School principal, applauded the states government for bringing metro line into life. A high school student, Jimoh Moridiya, said it is very convenient and comfortable. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print SINGAPORE, Sept. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global leaders and policymakers are convening in Singapore today at Gastech 2023. Discussions come at a critical moment for the industry following price disruptions due to concerns of refinery strikes in Australia and will focus on the role of natural gas, LNG, and hydrogen in enabling a more secure energy future. Taking place at Singapore EXPO from 5-8 September 2023, Gastech 2023 will provide a timely opportunity for the global energy community to deliver real progress towards energy affordability, security, and stability. The conference will offer insights from senior officials spanning key geographies from across the North-South divide, including Asia, the US, Europe, and Africa. Recognising Asia's pivotal role in enabling the energy transition, Gastech 2023's programme will feature ministers from the region's foremost energy players: Singapore, the region's largest transport and trade hub, and Indonesia, Southeast Asia's top oil and gas producer. H.E. Dr Tan See Leng, Singapore's Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry will deliver the event's Welcome Address. H.E. Bapak Tutuka Ariadji, Indonesia's Director General of Oil and Gas and Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will participate in Gastech's ministerial session exploring "The need for transformative energy policy to accelerate a decarbonised energy system" alongside Hon. Joseph McMonigle, Secretary General, International Energy Forum (IEF) and top representatives from major emerging nations in Africa, H.E. Tarek El Molla, Egypt's Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, and Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Nigeria's Minister of State Gas. Leading voices from Europe and the US will also contribute to the discussions, as countries ramp up efforts to stockpile sufficient reserves of natural gas in preparation for next winter. The EU has already reached its target of filling gas storage facilities to 90% of capacity. Former UK Prime Minister Rt Hon. Boris Johnson will deliver remarks at an opening gala dinner and participate in a fireside chat, while Willie L. Phillips, Chairman of the US Federal Energy Regulation Commission, will share the stage with ministers to lay the groundwork for an inclusive energy transition. H.E. George Papanastasiou, Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Cyprus, will also share his insights. Gastech 2023 will offer a vital platform for ministers and policymakers from a wide variety of energy markets to align on the global net zero agenda and address the specific obstacles and challenges for policymakers in this evolving energy landscape. Officials in attendance will be joined by over 4,000 delegates, including business leaders, CEOs, and innovators from across the entire energy value chain. As the world's largest global exhibition and conference of its kind, Gastech 2023 will set the agenda for the industry. Willie L. Phillips, Chairman of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said: "Gastech 2023 is a premier global event for discussing investments in energy infrastructure. I look forward to meeting with colleagues to break down barriers to those critical investments." SOURCE GASTECH NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Technavio, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Text Generator Market size is set to grow at a 17.22% CAGR from 2022 to 2027, with a staggering USD 582.34 million. The rapid expansion of e-learning is a significant market driver, as AI text generators are increasingly utilized to efficiently produce tailored educational content and enhance student engagement. By automating content creation, these tools offer cost-effective solutions, making e-learning accessible to a wider audience while elevating the overall quality of learning experiences. North America stands out as a pivotal region in the AI text generator market, contributing approximately 36% to its global growth during the forecast period. Technavio's report analysis thorough segmentation by components, applications, and geography provides a holistic view of the market landscape, aiding stakeholders in making informed decisions. Download the free sample report now to get insights into the market's growth Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global AI Text Generator Market 2023-2027 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Text Generator Market segmentation Component Application Geography Solution Service Text-to-text Speech-to-text Image/video-to-text North America Europe APAC South America Middle East Africa Artificial Intelligence (AI) Text Generator Market drivers, trends and challenges Market driver - The growing popularity of AI text generators for e-learning drives the market growth. Market trends - The growing importance of speech-to-text technology is a key trend in the market. Market challenges - Data privacy and security concerns may challenge market growth. For more information on the market driver, trends and challenges, get the sample report here for free Artificial Intelligence (AI) Text Generator Market major companies AI Writer Technologies FZ LLC CopyAI Inc. Copysmith Course Hero Inc. Frase Inc. OthersideAI Inc. Hypotenuse Technologies Pte. Ltd. INK Content Inc. Jasper AI Inc. LONGSHOT AI INC. OpenAI L.L.C. Pepper Content Inc. Orpheus Technology Ltd. Sassbook AI Pte. Ltd. Scalenut Technologies Pvt. Ltd. To find out about how these companies are contributing to the market growth, download the free sample report here The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Text Generator Market is anticipated for substantial growth between 2022 to 2027, driven by a rising demand for innovative solutions in areas like e-learning, blogging, and content creation. As speech-to-text technology gains traction and industry players innovate strategically, it's crucial to address challenges related to data privacy and security. Despite these obstacles, the market's trajectory remains promising, with AI text generators playing a significant role in enhancing education accessibility, refining content quality, and facilitating cross-cultural communication. Buy the report now to get detailed insights into the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Text Generator Market with our comprehensive analysis report Related reports: Speech to Text API Market: The speech-to-text API market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 19% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 3,269.94 million. This speech-to-text API market report extensively covers market segmentation by component (software and services), deployment (on-premises and cloud-based), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East, and Africa). Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market: The Generative AI Market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 32.65% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 34,695.37 million. This generative ai market report extensively covers market segmentation by component (software and services), technology (transformers, generative adversarial networks (GANs), variational autoencoder (VAE), and diffusion networks), and geography (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa). About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio WUHAN, China, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Design culture is one of the core cultures of a city. Design-driven urban evolution is an important strategy for sustainable urban development. As a City of Design of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, Wuhan has held the "Wuhan International Creative Design Contest" every year since 2019. Adhering to the United Nations' sustainable development goals, with "green, digital and innovative" as the guiding direction, the contest has served as an effective media to promote innovation by bringing designing vigor into the city and providing a platform for the designers and institutes. In 2023, around the theme of "Build Visions With Creativity," the brand new Wuhan International Creative Design Contest and the global call is underway. The contest focuses on the BIM application in engineering construction and the design of Wuhan Design Museum, a new cultural landmark to be built soon, and invites global design elites to participate and develop their ideas. We invite enterprises, institutions, designers, students, and individuals to participate. The contest will go through stages of call for entries, shortlisting, online display and online voting, exhibition, awarding and so on. The winning works will be exhibited and awarded with the maximum prize up to 1,000,000 CNY on the Wuhan Design Day, and a grand awarding ceremony will be held on a luxury cruise ship by the beautiful Yangtze River, which is on November 1st, 2023. For more official information and requirements related to the contest, please follow the 7th Wuhan Design Biennale's official account on WeChat. SOURCE 2023 Wuhan International Creative Design Contest CarbonClear enables Innovex users to seamlessly generate Data-Driven Micro Carbon Avoidances (MCAs) from off-grid solar installations. COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CarbonClear, a data-driven carbon credit standard, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Innovex, a technology firm based in Uganda that designed and built 'REMOT' a leading IoT platform. This partnership aims to revolutionize the way off-grid solar installations contribute to the global climate effort. CarbonClear and Innovex Partners to Issue Data-Driven Carbon Credits from Off-Grid Solar This collaboration will empower Innovex's partners to issue carbon credits from their off-grid solar installations, a first in the industry. By harnessing the power of CarbonClear's unique data-driven carbon credit standard, Innovex will bring unprecedented transparency and accountability to the carbon offset market. CarbonClear's groundbreaking carbon avoidance programme, and its underlying Distributed Ledger infrastructure, will serve as the foundation for this partnership. Through an IT integration with its monitoring software, Innovex will enable its users to seamlessly generate Micro Carbon Avoidances (MCAs) from the off-grid solar installations that they operate. These MCAs will then be available to corporate buyers looking to offset their CO2 emissions. The carbon calculations used in this process are based on an established UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) methodology and are third-party verified by DNV. This ensures the highest level of integrity and credibility in the carbon credits issued. The 'REMOT' IoT platform is being used across 8 countries in Africa by over 64 solar businesses in the Solar for Productive Used space (PUE). These businesses distribute solar systems and equipment such as solar water pumps, solar maize mills, cold storage units to mention but a few. Apart from remote performance monitoring of these assets, 'REMOT' is also a first in bringing 'smart' Pay as you Go technology in the PUE space. This partnership between Innovex and CarbonClear represents a significant step forward in climate finance. By offering a practical, data-driven solution for issuing carbon credits, the two companies are not only advancing the affordability of high-quality products but also fostering positive impacts on local communities. Rachid Jabbar, COO and co-founder of CarbonClear, expressed his excitement about the partnership, stating, "Working with Innovex to develop and implement mechanisms for climate finance has the potential to unlock much-needed capital streams for those involved in the off-grid sector. Doing so programmatically, in a data-driven manner, will add robustness and integrity to the climate market, directing climate funds where they are most needed, in a results-based and traceable fashion." Innovex and CarbonClear are committed to addressing the dual emergency of climate change and energy access. Their partnership represents a leap forward in the effort to bring clean, renewable energy to the more than 700 million people currently living without access to electricity. About CarbonClear Denmark-based technology company CarbonClear, formerly Solstroem, was founded by Karim Jabbar and Rachid Jabbar in 2018, and creates carbon finance for sustainable impact through renewable and circular capacity building. Neither a SaaS nor a digital marketplace, the CarbonClear model is a tech-powered carbon value chain that aggregates big data from data points implemented in carbon projects and issues third-party verified, traceable carbon credits that instantly become available to global buyers. The company already has partnerships with some of the largest distributors of solar home systems in Africa and the Americas, such as SunKing, ENGIE Energy Access, Zola Electric, and ilumexico, and is developing a further three technology streams; Clean Cooking, Waste to Energy, and Sanitation. Press Contact: Rachid Jabbar +4560879109 https://www.carbonclear.earth/ SOURCE CarbonClear The increasing popularity of CBD products, the rising incidence of depression, and the health benefits associated with CBD are the factors anticipated to drive the growth of the global CBD pouches market during the forecast period from 2023 to 2032. The North America region is expected to account for the major market share by 2032. PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research has recently published a report, titled, "CBD Pouches Market by CBD Pouches Content (Up to 10mg, 10mg - 20mg, Others), by Type (Flavored, Unflavored), by Distribution Channel (Online, Offline): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032". According to the report, the global CBD pouches market generated $133.8 million in 2022, and is anticipated to generate $721.8 million by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 18.9% from 2023 to 2032. Request Sample of the Report on CBD Pouches Market Forecast 2032- Allied Market Research- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/157137 Prime Determinants of Growth The growing demand for CBD products and the rising awareness about the potential health benefits of CBD are predicted to be the important factors to boost the growth of the global CBD pouches market in the forecast timeframe. However, the product quality and safety concerns associated with CBD may hamper the CBD pouches market growth in the coming period. On the contrary, increasing R&D investments in the pharmaceutical sector is expected to offer growth opportunities for expansion of the CBD pouches market in the 2023-2032 forecast period. Report Coverage & Details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $133.8 million Market Size in 2032 $721.8 million CAGR 18.9 % No. of Pages in Report 305 Segments covered CBD Pouches Content, Type, Distribution Channel, and Region Drivers Growing awareness about the potential health benefits associated with CBD pouches Increasing demand for CBD products to mitigate depression, anxiety, and stress Opportunities Rapid growth in the CBD industry Significant R&D investments in the pharmaceutical sector Restraints Strict regulations or outright bans on CBD in some regions Impact of Covid-19 on CBD Pouches Market The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the growth of the global CBD pouches market. The disruptions in the supply chains owing to travel restrictions, lockdowns, and other measures implemented to prevent the spread of the virus have adversely affected the market growth. On the contrary, many people turned to CBD products for stress relief and wellness support, which resulted in an increased demand for certain CBD items. CBD products gained popularity for their potential wellness benefits, and this trend positively impacted the CBD industry. Want to Explore More, Connect to our Analyst- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/157137 CBD Pouches Content: 10mg to 20mg Sub-segment Held the Largest Market Share in 2022 The 10mg to 20 mg sub-segment accounted for the major share of 41.5% in the CBD pouches market in 2022 mainly because these pouches have emerged as a driving factor in the wellness and alternative medicine sector. Besides, the various benefits of using 10mg to 20mg pouches, such as its ability to lower stress levels, relax users, lower stress levels, promote sleep cycles, improve gut health, and safety is the factor predicted to boost the sub-segment's growth by 2032. Type: Flavored Sub-segment to be Highly Dominant During the Forecast Period The flavored sub-segment generated the highest market share of 57.8% in 2022 and is predicted to continue to hold the majority of share by 2032. The growing popularity of flavored CBD pouches is due to the availability of a variety of satisfying flavors to cater to a wide range of taste preferences. Besides, companies are focused on offering new fruit tastes, such as citrus, strawberry, and mango to improve the sale of CBD pouches, Distribution Channel: Offline Sub-segment to Witness Significant Growth by 2032 The offline sub-segment generated the highest market share of 54.6% in 2022. The growing legality and acceptability of cannabis products in numerous countries has created new opportunities for offline distribution. Besides, the offline channel provides a more tangible and personal buying experience, allowing customers to directly experience and inquiry about CBD pouches before purchasing. For Procurement Information- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/157137 Region: North America Market to Hold Majority of Market Share by 2032 The North America region accounted for the highest share of 40.1% in the global CBD pouches market in 2022 and is expected to continue to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. Increased consumer awareness about the potential health benefits of CBD, along with changing regulatory landscapes, has paved the way for the widespread adoption of CBD pouches in the region. Additionally, the widespread availability of CBD pouches through different retail channels, such as offline stores and online platforms, has aided market expansion in the North America region. Leading Players in the CBD Pouches Market: Nico's Pouches Snushus.ch Cannadips CBD Canni Hemp Co. METOLIUS HEMP COMPANY HEMP COMPANY Canndid SnusMe.eu Nicopods ehf The Snus Brothers (SnusMe.eu) SNUSSIE.COM The report provides a detailed analysis of the key players of the global CBD pouches 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 their dominance in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of CBD pouches market players to showcase the competitive scenario. Comprehensive Healthcare Industry Research Studies: Meniscus Repair System Market - Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212031 Motorized Prosthesis Market- Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212031 Skincare Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212031 Local Anesthesia Drugs Market- Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212031 Healthcare Staffing Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212031 AVENUE- A Subscription-Based Library (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model): AMR introduces its online premium subscription-based library Avenue, designed specifically to offer cost-effective, one-stop solution for enterprises, investors, and universities. With Avenue, subscribers can avail an entire repository of reports on more than 2,000 niche industries and more than 12,000 company profiles. Moreover, users can get an online access to quantitative and qualitative data in PDF and Excel formats along with analyst support, customization, and updated versions of reports. Get an access to the library of reports at any time from any device and anywhere. For more details, follow the link: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access About Allied Market Research: 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 domains. AMR offers its services across 11 industry verticals including Life Sciences, Consumer Goods, Materials & Chemicals, Construction & Manufacturing, Food & Beverages, Energy & Power, Semiconductor & Electronics, Automotive & Transportation, ICT & Media, Aerospace & Defense, and BFSI. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-855-550-5975 [email protected] Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research VENICE, Italy, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cangzhou, a city of north China's Hebei Province, and known as the country's most beautiful shooting location made debut at the 80th Venice International Film Festival which kicked off on August 30th in Venice, Italy. During the festival, Cangzhou held an exhibition demonstrating the charm of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal culture and martial arts acrobatics culture through press conferences, scenery films, and photo exhibitions. Among them, the performance of Cangzhou martial arts inheritors was even more brilliant, which attracted much applause. Cangzhou mayor Xiang Hui extends his invitation to friends from all over the world to come to Cangzhou for film and television shooting, to get closer to Cangzhou, understand Cangzhou and feel Cangzhou, to convey friendship and promote exchanges and mutual learning. "Many fans have learned about Chinese culture, history and customs through Chinese Kung Fu films, " said Xiang Hui, mayor of Cangzhou, in his speech of the city's development. Cangzhou, a city of more than 1,500 years old, has nurtured characteristic cultural veins such as Grand Canal, Bohai Bay, acrobatics, martial arts and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Cangzhou is a well-known hometown of martial arts and acrobatics at home and abroad, an and a hub northern seaport of the "Maritime Silk Road" in the 21st century. Xiang Hui also extended his invitation to friends from all over the world to come to Cangzhou for film and television shooting, to further get closer Cangzhou, understand Cangzhou and feel Cangzhou, to convey friendship and promote exchanges and mutual learning. "We will also provide favorable policies for everyone to carry out deeper, broader and more comprehensive communication in cultural tourism and film art and contribute to the sustainable development of the world film industry," said Xiang. Nowadays, Cangzhou adheres to cultural tourism resources such as the Grand Canal, martial arts, and acrobatics, has attracted domestic and foreign tourists to "check in" here and has also become the shooting location for numerous film and television works. Cangzhou was awarded the "China's Most Beautiful Shooting Location" certificate at "Focus on China" event. The "Focus on China" event of this Venice International Film Festival, jointly organized by the Film Bureau of the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Italian National Film City, the Italian Pavilion of the Venice International Film Festival and Xinhuanet, aims at promoting cultural exchanges between China and Europe, and has become the most significant China-themed event at the Venice International Film Festival since it was launched in 2016. SOURCE Cangzhou Municipal Government Leading property and casualty insurer's new technology hub builds strong employee culture, launches signature programs for women and early career employees THESSALONIKI, Greece, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chubb, the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company, announced the appointment of George N. Nikolaou as head of Chubb Business Services EMEA in Thessaloniki, Greece. In this role, Nikolaou will be responsible for the Chubb technology center launched in late 2022, which will support the development of innovative technologies that enhance the customer experience, increase efficiency, and accelerate the company's digital transformation. Nikolaou, a native of Greece, joins Chubb with more than 20 years of experience in finance and technology innovation in both Greece and the United States. The appointment marks a milestone in the development of Chubb in Greece, which now employs more than 100 technical engineers and developers focused on intelligent process automation, machine learning, cloud, and data analytics, as well as cybersecurity and modernization of infrastructure systems. In June, the company inducted its first group of young trainees with the launch of its Technology Associates Program in Greece, a two-year program for early career starters to help them learn and develop their skills at the company. Also in June, Chubb launched its Women in Tech program in Greece to support young women entering the field. "Since launching late last year, Chubb's business services technology hub in Thessaloniki is showing strong momentum," said Thomas Kropp. "We're hiring from the talented pool of candidates in Greece and building awareness for the opportunities to do exciting and innovative work for a global leader like Chubb. At the same time, we are forging a strong culture that values opportunity, innovation and merit, as well as continuous learning. George brings deep experience to this role, and we are pleased to welcome him as we further expand our capabilities." The Chubb Business Services center is one of the company's global strategic centers for building and expanding critical digital skills and expertise. This facility has joined Chubb Centers in the United States, India, and Mexico. With operations in 54 countries and territories, more than $200 billion in assets and $52 billion of gross premiums written in 2022, Chubb offers potential employees' geographical diversification with extensive opportunities for professional growth, continuous learning, mentorship and mobility. About Chubb Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London, Paris and other locations, and employs approximately 40,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: www.chubb.com SOURCE Chubb The "Global Cloud Security Market Size By Security Type, By Service Model, By Deployment Type, By Solution Type, By Application, By Organization Type, By Geographic Scope And Forecast" report has been published by Verified Market Research. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the global Cloud Security Market, including its growth prospects, market trends, and market challenges. JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Cloud Security Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 25.86% from 2022 to 2030, according to a new report published by Verified Market Research. The report reveals that the market was valued at USD 10.71 Billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 84.86 Billion by the end of the forecast period. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample?rid=2685 Browse in-depth TOC on "Cloud Security Market" 202 - Pages 126 Tables 37 Figures Cloud Security Market Soars: Key Players Include Intel Security, Trend Micro, Symantec, IBM, Cisco, and More The global Cloud Security market is experiencing a remarkable surge, driven by the ever-increasing adoption of cloud technology, mounting cybersecurity concerns, and the critical role played by federal governments. A comprehensive market research analysis reveals that key players such as Intel Security, Trend Micro, Inc., Symantec Corporation, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Cisco Systems, Inc., and many others are pivotal in shaping the industry's landscape. Cloud Security, often referred to as cloud computing security, comprises a suite of policies and protocols designed to protect cloud-based systems and data. These security measures are meticulously configured to ensure the safeguarding of cloud-stored data, facilitate compliance with regulatory mandates, protect customer privacy, and establish stringent authentication procedures for individual users and devices. The adaptability of cloud security allows for tailored configurations that align precisely with a business's specific requirements. This centralized approach to rule management substantially reduces administrative overhead. Cloud Security Market Drivers: Rapid Cloud Adoption: The global business landscape is witnessing a swift transition towards cloud-based services, with approximately 90% of companies already embracing cloud technology. Cybersecurity Concerns: With the increasing frequency of online breaches and technological attacks, security maintenance has emerged as a paramount concern. A staggering 66% of IT professionals have identified security as their primary apprehension when adopting cloud computing platforms. Government Endorsement: The involvement of federal governments, with initiatives such as FedRAMP, has provided a significant boost to cloud security adoption. FedRAMP, with its comprehensive set of requirements for federal agencies, is now indispensable for state and local governments managing federal data. Cloud Security Market Outlook: The outlook for the Cloud Security market is highly promising, with sustained growth expected in the coming years. The ongoing trend of digital transformation, coupled with escalating cybersecurity threats, positions cloud security solutions as an indispensable element of modern business operations. Additionally, the integration of cloud security in the healthcare sector, aligned with data protection and privacy regulations, offers lucrative market opportunities. Key players in the Cloud Security market, including Intel Security, Trend Micro, Symantec, IBM, Cisco, and others, are at the forefront of innovation, continually enhancing their offerings to meet evolving security needs. Cloud Security Market Key Players: Intel Security Trend Micro, Inc. Symantec Corporation International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) Cisco Systems, Inc. CA Technologies Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. Computer Science Corporation (CSC) Fortinet, Inc. Sophos, PLC These key players are instrumental in driving innovation and setting industry standards for cloud security solutions. Their relentless commitment to cybersecurity excellence positions them as frontrunners in the dynamic Cloud Security market. As the global Cloud Security market continues to evolve and expand, businesses are urged to stay vigilant in safeguarding their cloud-based assets. The ongoing collaboration and innovation among key industry players promise to deliver advanced security solutions, ensuring the safety and integrity of cloud-based systems and data. To get market data, market insights, financial statements and a comprehensive analysis of the Global Cloud Security Market, please Contact Verified Market Research. Based on the research, Verified Market Research has segmented the global Cloud Security Market into Security Type, Solution Type, Service Model, Deployment Model, Organization Type, Application, And Geography. Cloud Security Market, by Security Type Application Security Database Security Endpoint Security Network Security Web and Email Security Cloud Security Market, by Solution Type Identity and Access Management (IAM) Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Intrusion Detection System (IDS)/Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Encryption Others Cloud Security Market, by Service Model Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Cloud Security Market, by Deployment Model Public Cloud Private Cloud Hybrid Cloud Cloud Security Market, by Organization Type Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Large Enterprises Cloud Security Market, by Application Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) Aerospace and Defense Automotive Energy and Utilities Government and Public Utilities Healthcare and Life Sciences IT and Telecom Manufacturing Retail Others Cloud Security 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 Browse Related Reports: IoT Security Market By Type (Cloud Security, Network Securit), By Component (Solutions, Services), By Deployment Mode (On-Premises, Cloud-Based), By End-Use (Manufacturing, IT & Telecommunication), By Geography, And Forecast Cloud Access Security Brokers Market By Component (Solution, Services), By Service Model (Platform as a Service, Software as a Service), By Vertical (BFSI, Healthcare, Education), By Organization Size (Large Companies, Mid-Sized Companies), By Geography, And Forecast Cloud Security Posture Management Market By Component (Software and Services), By Cloud Model (Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS)), By Vertical (BFSI, IT and Telecommunication, Healthcare), By Geography, And Forecast Cloud Monitoring Software Market By Product (Public Cloud Based, Private Cloud Based, Hybrid Cloud Based), By Application (Banking & Financial Services Industry, Public Sectors, Healthcare, Energy And Electricity, Others), By Geography, And Forecast Top 5 Cloud Managed Services using internet to deliver applications Visualize Cloud Security Market using Verified Market Intelligence -: Verified Market Intelligence is our BI Enabled Platform for narrative storytelling in this market. VMI offers in-depth forecasted trends and accurate Insights on over 20,000+ emerging & niche markets, helping you make critical revenue-impacting decisions for a brilliant future. VMI provides a holistic overview and global competitive landscape with respect to Region, Country, Segment, and Key players of your market. Present your Market Report & findings with an inbuilt presentation feature saving over 70% of your time and resources for Investor, Sales & Marketing, R&D, and Product Development pitches. VMI enables data delivery In Excel and Interactive PDF formats with over 15+ Key Market Indicators for your market. About Us Verified Market Research is a leading Global Research and Consulting firm servicing over 5000+ customers. Verified Market Research provides advanced analytical research solutions while offering information-enriched research studies. We offer insight into strategic and growth analyses, Data necessary to achieve corporate goals and critical revenue decisions. 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Contact Us Mr. Edwyne Fernandes Verified Market Research US: +1 (650)-781-4080 US Toll Free: +1 (800)-782-1768 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/ Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2015407/VMR_Logo.jpg SOURCE Verified Market Research HONG KONG , Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CoinEx, a leading cryptocurrency exchange known for simple and secure trading services, has proudly announced its Gold Sponsorship of the highly anticipated Web3 Lagos Conference in Nigeria. Organized by Web3bridge, the 3rd annual Web3 Lagos Conference is the premier Web3 event in Lagos taking place from August 31 to September 2, 2023. CoinEx's strategic sponsorship demonstrates its commitment to accelerating Nigeria's Web3 ecosystem. Web3 Lagos Conference is one of the largest Web3 events that brings together blockchain enthusiasts, industry experts, and thought leaders across Nigeria and beyond. The 3-day conference provides diverse activities including hackathons, workshops, networking opportunities, job expos, and panel discussions. The first two days focus on intensive workshops covering cutting-edge Web3 insights for diverse backgrounds. The final day features speeches from global Web3 leaders on significant blockchain topics. Notably, their collaboration with the Ethernet Foundation has consistently attracted luminary speakers, including the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin. The conference is notable for bridging connections among developers, investors, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts. It fosters networking and collaboration across a diverse range of participants to advance the Web3 ecosystem. In recent years, Nigeria has ranked as one of the top countries in crypto adoption globally, making it a key target among global crypto investors. Consequently, the Nigerian market has emerged as a dynamic force in the adoption of Web3 technologies, showcasing its potential for decentralized innovation. With a tech-savvy population and growing entrepreneurship, Nigeria is poised to become a hub for Web3 applications and solutions. The Web3 Lagos Conference serves as a catalyst, bringing together experts and enthusiasts to accelerate Nigeria's Web3 adoption. As the Gold Sponsor of the Web3 Lagos Conference, CoinEx demonstrates its commitment to nurturing Nigeria's blockchain community and advancing local adoption of blockchain innovation. With a user base exceeding 5 million across 200+ countries, CoinEx has established itself as a platform offering 700+ diverse, high-quality cryptocurrencies. This sponsorship aligns with CoinEx's goal of fueling regional blockchain growth and contributing to the advancement of blockchain technology. CoinEx will host an interactive booth enabling attendees to engage firsthand with the platform. Additionally, CoinEx will deliver a presentation on the pivotal topic of "Necessity of Simplicity in Blockchain Adoption." Through these initiatives, CoinEx reaffirms its commitment to advancing blockchain growth in Nigeria and contributing to blockchain technology. About CoinEx Established in 2017, CoinEx is a global cryptocurrency exchange committed to making trading easier. The platform provides a range of services, including spot and margin trading, futures, swaps, automated market maker (AMM), and financial management services for over 5 million users across 200+ countries and regions. Founded with the initial intention of creating an equal and respectful cryptocurrency environment, CoinEx is dedicated to dismantling traditional finance barriers by offering easy-to-use products and services to make crypto trading accessible for everyone. SOURCE CoinEx Global Limited HOUSTON and BAAR, Switzerland, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Commonwealth LNG has entered into a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with MET Group, an integrated European energy company headquartered in Switzerland, for the sale and purchase of 1 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 20 years from the Commonwealth LNG facility currently under development in Cameron, Louisiana. Commonwealth LNG Founder and Executive Chairman Paul Varello said, "This agreement recognizes that US LNG can and will play a continuing role in Europe's energy transition by providing reliable and affordable natural gas to the region." He added, "We are excited to work with MET Group to deliver LNG on a long-term basis to contribute to the security of natural gas supply to their customers." MET Group Chairman and CEO Benjamin Lakatos commented, "LNG supply into Europe is a significant contributor to gas supply diversification and an important contributor to European energy security. LNG is also becoming an important part of MET Group's strategy going forward." MET Group is actively increasing its participation in the LNG market. In 2022 alone, MET has imported more than 30 terawatt-hours (TWh) of LNG cargoes to countries including Croatia, Greece, Spain, Belgium and UK. This year, the company also secured long-term LNG capacities in Germany and expanded its spot capacity reach to Finland. The terms anticipated under the non-binding HOA would commence at the start of commercial operation of the facility in 2027. Final terms remain subject to negotiation of a definitive Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) between the parties. Commonwealth is focused on completing the remaining steps necessary to achieve its goal of making a final investment decision on the project in the first quarter of 2024, with first cargo deliveries expected in 2027. An accelerated construction schedule will allow the project to be built in three years using a modular approach with major components being fabricated offsite. The Commonwealth LNG project is permitted and will include 6 natural gas liquefaction trains and associated facilities capable of producing approximately 9.3 Mtpa of LNG. About Commonwealth LNG Commonwealth LNG is an 9.3 mtpa liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project located on the Calcasieu River at the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, Louisiana. The project's leadership team is committed to building a world-class LNG facility by staying relentlessly focused on managing risk and lowering capital cost. Website: www.CommonwealthLNG.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/commonwealth-lng/ About MET Group MET Group is an integrated European energy company, headquartered in Switzerland, with activities and assets in natural gas and power markets. MET is present in 14 countries through subsidiaries, 30 national gas markets, and 22 international trading hubs. MET has extensive experience in operating green (renewable) and flexible (conventional) energy assets, thus providing the widest possible support to energy transition. In 2022, MET Group's consolidated sales revenue amounted to EUR 41.5 billion, with a total traded volume of natural gas amounting to 109 BCM and total traded electricity of 67 TWh.. Website: www.met.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/met-group/ Media Inquiries Commonwealth LNG MET Group Lyle Hanna Tobias Kistner Vice President, Corporate Communications Group Communications Director Office: 346-352-4436 Direct: 281-794-9606 Direct: +41 79 470 59 86 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] SOURCE Commonwealth LNG DONGYANG, China, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DMEGC Solar recently celebrated a significant milestone with its first 5GW high-efficiency solar module coming off the production line at Lianyungang manufacturing base, marking the base's transition into full-scale production. The base is not only DMEGC Solar's fifth intelligent manufacturing base but also its second largest operation in the region. 20230831084058 Construction of the Lianyungang base commenced in April 2023, and achieved its first product rollout and commenced mass production within just four months, a testament to the operational efficiency DMEGC is renowned for. With the start-up of the Lianyungang base, DMEGC Solar's module production capacity reached to 12GW. With a designed production capacity of 5GW, the new base utilizes large-size N-type TOPCon high-efficiency cells and a suite of industry-leading technologies, including SMBB + Half-cell, lossless laser cutting and high-density packaging. These technologies promise superior performance in terms of power, efficiency, bi-faciality, temperature coefficient and low-light performance. The modules are designed to deliver a maximum output power of 630W and an efficiency of 22.54%, making them suitable for a range of applications such as large-scale power station projects and various "PV+" scenarios. The advanced design effectively increases power generation and lowers the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), meeting the market's growing demand for high-efficiency, high-power modules. With a commitment to green, intelligent and sustainable growth, DMEGC Solar's Lianyungang base has integrated automation, digitization and intelligence to create a cutting-edge digital smart factory. The transition towards digital manufacturing underpins the production of efficient, reliable PV modules. The base is gearing up to launch its "100% Green Power" initiative, aiming for zero carbon emissions throughout its manufacturing processes, and setting a benchmark for green, carbon-neutral factories in the industry. The shift to mass production at the Lianyungang base underscores a pivotal moment in DMEGC Solar's entry into the N-type TOPCon space. By capitalizing on its expertise in industrial chain management, technological R&D and intelligent manufacturing, DMEGC Solar aims to enhance production efficiency, elevate product quality, curb production costs, and expedite delivery. This commitment not only ensures an expanding lineup of top-tier modules but also solidifies DMEGC Solar's dedication to fostering a greener, low-carbon future alongside its partners. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2200729/20230831084058.jpg SOURCE DMEGC Solar LAS VEGAS, Sept 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dyness, a global leading energy storage technology innovator, has garnered market acclaim for its innovative and diverse product portfolio and high-quality services. Since its foundation, Dyness has remained committed to its global expansion strategy and has successfully established its presence in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. By now, Dyness has brought green energy into more than 300,000 families. RE+ is the largest gathering of energy professionals in North America and will bring together industry experts, products, and professional development opportunities that drive the solar marketplace. As an emerging leader in North America, Dyness will be attending this event to showcase its latest energy storage products, demonstrating its commitment to advancing the green energy future through technological innovation. Dyness has a full range of energy storage products for residential, commercial, and outdoor energy storage applications. In the household sector, Dyness has an all-in-one energy storage system, Orion, which adopts a modular design and wireless combination to support flexible capacity expansion to meet the diverse electricity needs of users. The system includes the Orion and the HM inverter working together, enabling users to achieve better power sufficiency. Additionally, Dyness offers the Powerbox-US for low-voltage battery needs and the Tower US Series for high-voltage battery requirements, catering to various energy storage scenarios. Moreover, Dyness also provides RV batteries tailored for outdoor activities, offering high safety and long lifespan to guarantee energy supply during camping trips. At this exhibition, Dyness will unveil its latest series of portable power stations, the E-Pearl and E-Lapis Series, which provide users with on-demand power anytime and anywhere. Futhermore, Dyness will showcase its innovative balcony solar energy storage solution at the exhibition, highlighting its exceptional product lineup. Additionally, Dyness will bring the DH200Y, its latest commercial energy storage solution for the U.S. market. Meet the Dyness team at Booth 5125 from September 12th to 14th to explore their latest energy storage solutions and discover how Dyness inspires infinite possibilities for customers in the energy storage market. Learn more at www.dyness.com. SOURCE Dyness BERLIN, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eureka, the renowned North American cleaning brand, introduced the cutting-edge Eureka E10S robotic vacuum at IFA 2023. Featuring a distinctive bagless multi-cyclonic station, the E10S promises a burden-free cleaning experience that is both convenient and economical. Alongside, the brand also showcased a versatile wet & dry vacuum cleaner eureka NEW400, highlighting Eureka's ongoing dedication to making cleaning not just easier, but enjoyable for everyone. Eureka's Launch Event eureka launch E10S and NEW400 at IFA 2023 At the popular Restaurant Kin Za, Eureka held an intimate unveiling for the Eureka E10S and New400. Post-presentation, the media was invited to personally experience the robust performance of these cleaning marvels. Partnering with 6 German bars and cafes, Eureka's latest products have become the attention-grabbing stars of the IFA show's vicinity. Eureka E10S Bag Free, Burden Free The eureka E10S is a groundbreaking robot cleaner equipped with a unique bagless multi-cyclonic station. Unlike most robot vacuums that rely on disposable dust bags, the E10S streamlines the process with its bagless approach. This means users simply empty a dust cup, akin to modern cordless vacuums, at the touch of a button. In addition, the station of Eureka's E10S is equipped with advanced multi-cyclonic separation technology, a feature recognized as a hallmark in premium vacuums, ensuring efficient separation of dust and fine particles, and maintaining strong, consistent suction. In comparison to traditional dust collection systems, the E10S's advanced tech prevents premature filter clogging, prolonging filter life and ensuring optimum performance. But the merits of the Eureka E10S don't end at technological advancements. From a user perspective, the bagless design promises convenience and savings. There's no need for constant bag replacement checks, saving both time and ongoing expenses. As a frame of reference, consider the prevailing market rate of $6 for each dust bag. A monthly replacement accumulates over $70 annuallyan expense eureka E10S owners won't incur. Moreover, the Eureka E10S is a win for the environment. The bagless model conserves resources, and the efficient multi-cyclonic system reduces the frequency of filter replacements, resulting in less waste. Eureka New400 Simple, Powerful Cleaning for Everyone The Eureka New400 is a versatile wet & dry vacuum cleaner designed for modern living. Equipped with a two-tank system, the New400 ensures constant cleaning with fresh water, addressing the longstanding issue of traditional mops that often spread dirty water around. The powerful 120W motor resolves the issue of water stains that plague traditional floor cleaners. By combining all the features expected from a flagship wet & dry vacuum cleaner and offering it at an affordable price of $200, Eureka is aiming to bring the convenience of cutting-edge technology to more consumers. Pricing and Availability The Eureka E10S will retail around 479 launching in Germany in early November. The New400 is priced at $199 and is currently available on Amazon in the United States. SOURCE Eureka NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The fire department software market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.58% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 559.12 million, according to Technavio. The integration with IoT is a key factor driving market growth. With the integration of new technologies, for example, the Internet of Things, sensors, and drones is helpful to gather real-time data as well as monitor fire incidents remotely or before they occur. Furthermore, the Fire Department's software makes it possible for firefighters to access vital data, receive alerts, and interact with their teams by way of mobile phones or tablets. Hence, the integration with IoT is expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Request a sample report Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Fire Department Software Market 2023-2027 Fire Department Software Market Company Analysis Company Landscape - The fire department software market is fragmented, with the presence of several global as well as regional companies. A few prominent companies that offer fire department software in the market are Accela, Inc., Asahi Kasei Corp., Breton SmarTek, CivicPlus LLC, D4H Technologies Ltd., Dropkick Studios, EMS Technology Solutions LLC, EPR Systems, Inc., ESO Solutions Inc., FirePrograms Software., GovPilot LLC, ImageTrend Inc., Inspect Point, Omnigo Software, PSTrax, StationSmarts, TimeClock Plus LLC., Tyler Technologies Inc., VCS Software, and Vector Solutions and others. Buy the report! Company Offerings - Breton SmarTek - The company offers fire department software such as Fire Q, which helps with mapping, firefighter safety, and dispatch. The company offers fire department software such as Fire Q, which helps with mapping, firefighter safety, and dispatch. Accela - The company offers fire department software such as civic applications to create safe, and protected communities by preparing for unexpected incidents. The company offers fire department software such as civic applications to create safe, and protected communities by preparing for unexpected incidents. Breton SmarTek - The company offers fire department software such as Fire Q which helps with mapping, firefighter safety, and dispatch. The company offers fire department software such as Fire Q which helps with mapping, firefighter safety, and dispatch. For details on the company and its offerings Request a sample report Fire Department Software Market - Segmentation Assessment Segment Overview Technavio has segmented the market based on end-user (large enterprise and small enterprise), deployment (cloud-based and web-based), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America). The market share growth by the large enterprise segment will be significant during the forecast period. Compared to smaller companies, larger companies include fire brigades that cover a wider range of fire incidents and have many firefighters, staff, and managers. For the management of records, training, scheduling, and other necessary tasks, an increasing demand is being placed on modernizing many fire stations across developing countries. In addition, the software can also contribute to the creation of a digital inventory of fire safety equipment such as extinguishers, sprinklers, and smoke detectors. Hence, these factors are expected to drive segment growth during the forecast period. Geography Overview By geography, the fire department software market is segmented into North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America. The report provides actionable insights and estimates the contribution of all regions to the growth of the global fire department software market. North America is estimated to contribute 32% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The rising use of fire department software and tools are the key factors driving the growth of the market in the region. The growth in the region is also to be driven by an increasing number of government regulations, as well as competition in the markets. Furthermore, to enhance their emergency response capabilities, fire departments are increasingly focusing on the safety of citizens and making use of advanced technologies. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth in the region during the forecast period. For insights on global, regional, and country-level parameters with growth opportunities from 2017 to 2027 - Download a Sample Report Fire Department Software Market Market Dynamics Major Trend The increased adoption of cloud solutions is a major trend in the market. The options of cloud storage for fire departments are scalable and secure. Data such as incident reports, training material, and equipment records can be stored at their disposal. The information is available to firefighters and members of staff by means of any device with an Internet connection, which enables access to essential information in a timely manner. Furthermore, the reporting and documentation of incidents may be simplified by cloud-based platforms. Thus, the increased adoption of cloud solutions is expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Drivers, Trends, and challenges have an impact on market dynamics, which can impact businesses. Find more insights in a sample report! What are the key data covered in this Fire Department Software Market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the fire department software market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the fire department software market and its contribution to the market with a focus on the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the fire department software market across North America , Europe , APAC, Middle East and Africa , and South America , , APAC, and , and A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about companies Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of fire department software market companies Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports The software as a service (SaaS) market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 19.19% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 313.45 billion. The enterprise asset management (EAM) market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.85% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 2,046.52 million. Fire Department Software Market Scope Report Coverage Details Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 10.58% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 559.12 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 10.26 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution North America at 32% Key countries US, Canada, China, UK, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea Competitive landscape Leading Companies, Market Positioning of Companies, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Accela, Inc., Asahi Kasei Corp., Breton SmarTek, CivicPlus LLC, D4H Technologies Ltd., Dropkick Studios, EMS Technology Solutions LLC, EPR systems, Inc., ESO Solutions Inc., FirePrograms Software., GovPilot LLC, ImageTrend Inc., Inspect Point, Omnigo Software, PSTrax, StationSmarts, TimeClock Plus LLC., Tyler Technologies Inc., VCS Software, and Vector Solutions Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation by End User 7 Market Segmentation by Deployment 8 Customer Landscape 9 Geographic Landscape 10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 11 Company Landscape 12 Company Analysis 13 Appendix About US Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com SOURCE Technavio World-first technology launches to unlock preventative, proactive and predictive healthcare BOSTON, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global leader in population health, Orion Health, is ushering in the next era of health moving from institution-centric reactive sick care to people-centered preventative, proactive and predictive healthcare. Digital Front Doors (DFD) will rewire health systems and Orion Health's DFD, Virtuoso, is already setting a new benchmark in improving the healthcare experience for all. Virtuoso is already serving 15 million people in North America. It helps to engage people in their own healthcare journey in the care setting they want while supporting health system constraints in care delivery, such as spiraling costs and healthcare worker burnout. Virtuoso helps healthcare systems to deliver the right care (often online), at the right place (sometimes at home), at the right time (ideally before people are really unwell). Brad Porter, Orion Health Global Chief Executive Officer, says Virtuoso is a product in demand with global healthcare systems under significant pressure and is expected to be part of a multi-billion-dollar global sector within the next two years. "In the USA there is a strong trend towards value-based care meaning more interventions are occurring outside the hospital, making a DFD a critical part of digital health infrastructure to connect the dots for the patients across different care settings. "DFDs are the online banking of healthcare, yet vastly more complex. For the first time, people will be truly active participants in their own healthcare. They'll have streamlined access to their complete medical history from primary care and specialists, through to hospital interventions. "We can now connect fragmented health data silos, enabling people to interact with health information and make informed decisions in the same way they do with financial, travel and retail transactions. "This isn't some dressed-up patient portal. Virtuoso is a tailored, community-specific, highly accessible platform that integrates complex healthcare systems. It enables average joes like you and me to take control of our own health," says Porter. Nearly 15 million people in Ontario, Canada, are the first in the world to benefit from this technology. In Ontario's case, Virtuoso supports its ambitious goals of making the healthcare system easier to access and navigate while ending hallway medicine by providing alternatives to the emergency department for millions of Ontarians. The ultimate goal of Virtuoso in Ontario is to make the patient experience more convenient by expanding individual and family access to services by integrating their whole care team, and streamlining tasks normally done by overburdened healthcare workers. Health systems in the USA are looking at how to unify and improve their patient experience through a single gateway. Virtuoso allows patients to receive care from multiple providers seamlessly by connecting siloed data. Virtuoso starts by providing advice and guidance regarding where and when to seek medical advice and care. It functions as a healthcare navigation service, guiding patients to the best level and location of care for their situation. The Virtuoso Digital Front Door brings together new and existing health information, data, solutions and services into one integrated suite of tools. Virtuoso can include: AI-powered symptom assessment tool Accredited Health knowledge hub Verified medical library Accredited Health Services Directory Find-a-service Access to digital health records Translation service Website or mobile app 24/7 online chat and nurse-led call center Virtual consultations Health service navigation support Wellness support and groups Feedback forms and surveys Appointment booking and scheduling Insurance coverage checker Payment gateways. James Rice, Orion Health Executive Vice President, North America says, Virtuoso is driving the shift to value-based care forwards, as it offers the ability to shift care to more suitable locations such as home or community clinics. "Hospitals globally are overloaded. We've got the same processes, and care happening in the wrong places. If we want to ease the burden on medical practitioners, then patients need to be treated in locations that make sense for the level of care required for their circumstances. "Virtuoso will make self-service healthcare available to Americans on their terms by enabling health systems to seamlessly deliver the right care, at the right place and the right time, saving clinicians for the work only people can do." For more information including data sheets and FAQs visit https://orionhealth.com/global/digital-front-door About Orion Health Orion Health is a global healthcare technology company focused on reimagining healthcare so that perfect care is delivered for all. We are leading the change in digital health with health and care organizations to improve the wellbeing of every individual with our world leading Unified Healthcare Platform. Made up of the Virtuoso Digital Front Door, Amadeus Digital Care Record, and Orchestral Intelligence Platform - our technology has unmatched healthcare-specific data sets and 30-years of innovation focussed on improving the wellbeing of all. For more information visit www.orionhealth.com. SOURCE Orion Health Group Limited DUBLIN, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Industrial and Institutional Cleaning Chemicals Market, By Applications, By Region- Size, Share, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Industrial and Institutional Cleaning Chemicals Market is on track to achieve substantial growth, with forecasts indicating a rise from $51.68 billion in 2022 to approximately $77.84 billion by 2030. This growth trajectory corresponds to a robust Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.2%. Industrial and Institutional Cleaning Chemicals play a vital role in eliminating dirt, stains, and odors from various surfaces, contributing to hygiene and cleanliness. These chemicals are formulated using a range of raw materials including chlor-alkalis, surfactants, solvents, phosphates, biocides, and others. Market Dynamics: Industrial and Institutional Cleaning Chemicals serve as essential cleaning agents for maintaining cleanliness in offices, institutions, warehouses, and industrial settings. The market's growth is driven by heightened public awareness of health and hygiene, along with the implementation of safety and environmental regulations by governments worldwide. The industry is witnessing robust demand due to the shift towards eco-friendly and sustainable products by industries and institutions. Bio-based products are in high demand, prompting companies to develop innovative bio-based industrial and institutional cleaning chemicals. Notably, Ecolab has introduced a bio-based hard surface cleaners product line. However, stringent government and environmental regulations could pose challenges for market expansion. Key Highlights of the Study: Identification of potential revenue opportunities and investment propositions across segments Insights into market drivers, restraints, opportunities, trends, and competitive strategies Profiles of key players, highlighting company achievements, financial performance, product portfolios, geographical reach, distribution strategies, key developments, and future plans This comprehensive report equips marketers and decision-makers with insights for guiding product launches, technology upgrades, market expansion, and marketing strategies. Detailed Segmentation: Global Industrial and Institutional Cleaning Chemicals Market, By Application: Industrial: Building care chemicals Hand hygiene chemicals Other chemicals Commercial: Kitchen care chemicals Building care chemicals Hand hygiene chemicals Laundry care chemicals Others Domestic: Kitchen care chemicals Building care chemicals Hand hygiene chemicals Laundry care chemicals Others Global Industrial and Institutional Cleaning Chemicals Market, By Region: North America Europe Asia-Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa Company Profiles: Key players in the global Industrial and Institutional Cleaning Chemicals market include BASF SE, AkzoNobel N.V., Henkel AG & Co.KGaA, Solvay SA, Huntsman Corporation, Eastman Chemical Company, Lonza Group Limited, Procter & Gamble Co., Croda International Plc., The Dow Chemical Company, Betco Corporation, Sealed Air Corporation, and Ecolab Inc. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4ykaby 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 BEIJING, Sept. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, proposed to comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization - the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. Advancing Chinese modernization is a systematic endeavor and also an exploratory undertaking. It is through this framework that we wish to illustrate the process of the Chinese path to modernization through a series of landmark projects, touching stories, and visionary plans. In this installment, we trace along the stream of the Xin'an River, which flows in East China's Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, some of China's most-developed regions facing the dilemmas of industrial development and ecological protection. Through a collaborative and creative way, a cross-provincial ecological compensation mechanism has been built, setting a model in pursuing harmony between humanity and nature. Xin'an River, which originates in Huangshan, East China's Anhui Province starting at an altitude of 1,629.8 meters, winds its way for over 300 kilometers through picturesque mountains and valleys, and eventually converges in Chun'an county, East China's Zhejiang Province, creating the Qiandao Lake before flowing into the Qiantang River. With rapid economic and social development, in the early years, the upper reaches of the Xin'an River basin suffered from ecological degradation due to rapid industrialization and urbanization. Industrial pollution, domestic waste, and agricultural runoff expanded sharply, leading to a year-on-year decline in water quality. The once clear river water became a source of concern for the people on both banks. The shared fate of drinking from the same river made the people of Anhui and Zhejiang realize the urgency of working together to protect their "mother river." In the new era, the relationship between key breakthroughs and collaborative governance in major river basins has become a subject of Xi Jinping's Thought on Ecological Civilization, evolving from theoretical innovation to practical exploration. "We shall protect ecosystems as preciously as we protect our eyes, and cherish them as dearly as we cherish our lives," Xi has said, stressing that the development model of "killing the hens for eggs" and "draining the lake for fish" is at a dead end, and the future will be illuminated by eco-friendly development that is in accordance with the rules of nature. As China's first pilot program for cross-provincial ecological compensation mechanisms, the ecological governance of the Xin'an River basin has provided a new approach for cross-regional ecological mechanisms, especially for the local governments facing the dilemmas of industrial development and ecological protection. From being a pilot to becoming a model, from financial compensation to industrial cooperation, from collaborative governance to mutual development, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces have continuously innovated their cross-provincial ecological compensation mechanism, gradually forging a path of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. Explore a new path The Qiandao Lake is known for its picturesque landscapes characterized by mountains, pristine waters, and an archipelago of islands. The ever-changing scenery of the lake and mountains resembles paradise on Earth. Today, it attracts a multitude of tourists and serves as a habitat for many wild animals. However, in the past, the area presented a different picture. At that time, Huangshan city was undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization. Some wastewater and garbage made its way into Qiandao Lake through the Xin'an River, causing deterioration of water quality in certain areas and the proliferation of blue-green algae, which posed a threat to the survival of fish. How were the emergent pollution issues addressed in the Xin'an River basin? In 2011, Xi gave an important instruction, emphasizing the significance of protecting Qiandao Lake's high-quality water resources, stating that Zhejiang and Anhui should consider the overall situation, control pollution at its source, and pursue a mutually beneficial and win-win path. "The Xin'an River basin is the pioneer in the construction of ecological compensation mechanisms in China," said Wu Zhixu, deputy director of the Chun'an sub-bureau of ecology and environment in Hangzhou. Wu revealed that the Anhui segment of the upper Xin'an River accounts for over 60 percent of the total inflow into the Qiandao Lake, making it crucial for the lake's water quality. In 2012, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces initiated the first nationwide pilot project for a cross-provincial ecological compensation mechanism along the Xin'an River. They established a compensation standard system with the philosophy "those who benefit compensate, and those who protect receive compensation." The agreement stipulated that as long as Anhui Province achieved water quality standards at the provincial boundary, Zhejiang Province's downstream region would compensate Anhui to the tune of 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) annually. If water quality standards were not met, Anhui Province would need to compensate Zhejiang with the same amount. During the implementation of this policy, with increasing exchanges between upstream and downstream areas, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces learned from each other's governance experiences, and gradually formed a collaborative work pattern encompassing joint planning, water quality monitoring, garbage collection, law enforcement emergencies, and multilateral exchanges. Through the joint efforts of both provinces, three phases of pilot projects were conducted in the periods of 2012 to 2014, 2015 to 2017, and 2018 to 2020. Over the course of more than a decade of implementing the Xin'an River ecological compensation mechanism, the central government and the two provinces of Zhejiang and Anhui collectively allocated a total of 5.7 billion yuan in compensation funds. Chun'an county received a total of 7.5 billion yuan in ecological and environmental protection subsidies, driving the investment of 11.2 billion yuan in ecological and environmental protection. Additionally, 31 projects were incentivized through specialized financial incentives for green transformation, attracting an investment of 4.52 billion yuan. Today, the comprehensive governance level of the Xin'an River basin has significantly improved. The Qiandao Lake continues to maintain excellent water quality, and its water source is categorized as one of the first "China Good Water" water sources, earning the honor of being one of the first national-level ecological protection and construction demonstration areas, among others. Moreover, the two provinces of Zhejiang and Anhui have transitioned from a single fund compensation approach to engaging in diverse explorations. The potential value of the ecological compensation mechanism in driving local economic structural transformation and promoting high-quality economic development has gradually become evident. For instance, in the agricultural sector, an agreement was signed between Jiukeng town in Chun'an, Zhejiang, and Huangtian town in Shexian county, Anhui, to collaboratively cultivate talent in the field of tea and enhance the cooperative efforts in breeding excellent tea varieties. This has turned tea cultivation and tourism into pillar industries driving rural revitalization in the local area. In the field of culture and tourism, the Xin'an River basin has interconnected multiple 5A-level scenic spots and traditional villages along its course. The Xin'an River basin, serving as an exemplary model, is transitioning from the "joint protection of one river" to the "shared prosperity of one region," providing one of the finest illustrations of the Chinese path to modernization, showing that Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the "master key" for analyzing and resolving issues. An inspiring reference Experiences in the cross-provincial ecological compensation practice in the Xin'an River-Qiandao Lake region also provides a good reference for many other cities and villages in the Yangtze River Delta region. Xiayang village in Zhejiang's Anji county, for instance, is a popular camping destination with a plethora of natural attractions. It received more than 5,000 camping tourists in 2021, with annual tourism income reaching 2.13 million yuan ($293,324). But that year, while happy with their booming tourism, some local villagers were also worried about a possible decrease in tourists in the near future because of the then polluted Xiayang stream flowing through the village. "The industrial wastewater and household waste discharged from the upstream villages can cause pollution and hurt the water environment, and that may discourage campers and affect our village's tourism business," Bao Xin, secretary of the Xiayang village branch of the Communist Party of China (CPC), told the Global Times. The upper reach of Xiayang stream passes through several villages in Anhui's Guangde city. Due to problems including inadequate communication and different water protection standards, it was difficult to carry out cross-provincial water pollution control work initially, Bao recalled. The "Xin'an River mode" inspired Xiayang's villagers, who voluntarily went to the upstream villages at the beginning of 2022 and discussed joint management and protection of Xiayang stream's water environment with the residents there. After eight months of concerted efforts on both sides, they issued a series of water quality assessment measures, which involve four villages in Zhejiang and Anhui through which Xiayang stream flows. According to the measures, each month, the downstream Xiayang village tests the quality of the water in the stream's cross-provincial sections. If the quality reaches the agreed-upon standard, Xiayang village will pay the involved upstream villages 300,000 yuan that month as an ecological compensation. Encouraged by eco-compensation policy and the consensus on green development, the upstream villages started to work harder in improving Xiayang stream's water quality. In 2022, one of the villages, Shijun, spent 800,000 yuan in building two sewage treatment terminals, and local villagers spontaneously set up a volunteer team to patrol along the stream. Now the clear stream has become Shijun village's popular water rafting destination, bringing it new opportunities to develop ecotourism. Xiayang stream is a part of the Xitiao Stream - an important tributary of the Taihu Lake. Traversing Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, the 2,445-square-kilometer Taihu Lake is China's third-largest freshwater lake, as well as an essential "water tank" for people in the Yangtze River Delta region. From the previous blue-green algae's "hard-hit area" to the current boundless clear water, Taihu Lake is a good example of Yangtze River Delta provinces and cities working together to improve water quality and the ecological environment in recent years. Since 2007, Jiangsu's Wuxi city has spent 110 billion yuan in improving the water environment of Taihu Lake. It has salvaged a total 20.55 billion tons of blue-green algae between 2007 and 2022, accounting for more than 90 percent of the whole blue-green algae being salvaged in the lake. In Zhejiang, Huzhou city shut down or relocated all the industrial companies within five kilometers of Taihu Lake. It has also removed more than 1,000 mu (0.67 square kilometers) of aquaculture nets from Taihu Lake and its surrounding waters. More cross-provincial policies and measures were carried out to better protect water quality. In September 2022, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang together released an announcement to establish and improve an integrated mechanism in protecting local cross-border water sources. Earlier in September 2020, the three sides jointly introduced a special protection plan for the cross-border waters there. Ecological conservation is of vital importance for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said as the country marks its first National Ecology Day on August 15, calling it a major political issue that concerns the mission and purpose of the CPC as well as a major social issue that bears upon public wellbeing. He noted that on the new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects, efforts should be made to maintain strategic resolve in advancing ecological progress and promote high-quality development in sync with high-standard protection. Li Junjie and Dou Hao are People's Daily reporters; Shan Jie and Huang Lanlan are Global Times reporters https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202309/1297476.shtml SOURCE Global Times The new vitola was unveiled by Fifth Avenue Products Trading, G.M.B.H., the exclusive distributor of Habanos, S.A. for Germany , Austria and Poland to more than 250 lucky people at an exclusive event held in the city of Buckeburg. Cupidos (55 x 148mm length) will be on sale exclusively at Las Casas del Habano and Habanos Especialistas. LA HABANA, Cuba, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Habanos, S.A., through its exclusive distributor for Germany, Fifth Avenue Products Trading, G.M.B.H., has presented in the city of Buckeburg a new vitola for the historic Romeo y Julieta brand, "Cupidos". In a spectacular dinner held at the Buckeburg Castle during Habanos Day, the old town of the city witnessed a dream encounter for Habano lovers, where live music and artistic performances created a magical atmosphere for the more than 250 attendees, including specialized retailers, smoking clubs, aficionados, journalists and, as guest of honor, the Commercial Advisor, Mrs.Anamary Suarez Quinones, who were the first to taste the new Romeo y Julieta Cupidos vitola. Romeo y Julieta Cupidos is a product for Las Casas del Habano and Habano Specialists. This new vitola will make aficionados fall in love and want to enjoy this magnificent Habano with a thick ring gauge and figurado format, which offers all the aroma, balance and complexity of the Romeo y Julieta brand's shades. Cupidos is presented to the market in a special box of 20 Habanos "Totally handmade with Long Filler" after a careful selection of the wrapper, filler and binder leaves from the Vuelta Abajo* plantations, where the world's best tobacco is produced, in the region of Pinar del Rio*, Cuba*. This new vitola joins the Romeo y Julieta brand's portfolio, which has one of the most extensive ranges of Habanos' vitolas. The Cupidos vitola, with a 55 ring gauge x 148 mm length, comes to the market with an additional band as a sign of its exclusivity for sale at Las Casas del Habano and Habano Specialists to continue growing the great international prestige of the Romeo y Julieta brand. Lovers of classic, medium-strength, aromatic and delicate Habanos from all over the world will be able to find the new Cupidos vitola after its launch at the different official points of sale in the more than 140 countries where Habanos, S.A. distributes its products. Romeo y Julieta Cupidos Market name : Cupidos Factory: Veronas Measures : ring 55 x 148 mm length Wrapper: red, beautiful, elegant and silky, Tasting Notes: Shot : It offers a wide smoke, with excellent wisps of gray smoke and medium strength. As the smoke progresses, bitter notes are appreciated, with intense aroma of tobacco, spices, with excellent intensity and permanence. The second third reaffirms the aromas and flavors of this brand, expressing its notes with greater intensity and character. : It offers a wide smoke, with excellent wisps of gray smoke and medium strength. As the smoke progresses, bitter notes are appreciated, with intense aroma of tobacco, spices, with excellent intensity and permanence. The second third reaffirms the aromas and flavors of this brand, expressing its notes with greater intensity and character. Ash : beautiful light gray color, with excellent compactibility, leaves a pleasant aftertaste of permanence, with notes of wood, spaced and complex. Pairing : Excellent Habano for after-dinner, elegant relation with Havana Club Smoky Click here to download video and high resolution product images (P.D.O.)* Protected Designation of Origin SOURCE Habanos, S.A. SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hanwha Aerospace, in collaboration with Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Ocean, will present a series of advanced autonomous defense solutions at the upcoming Miedzynarodowy Salon Przemysu Obronnego (MSPO), an international defense exhibition taking place from September 5 to 8. in Kielce, Poland. Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle with TAipers at MSPO With a commitment to aid in Ukraine's post-war reconstruction and to bolster the security of European partners, Hanwha will feature advanced land and naval defense solutions to address the rising need for effective deterrence measures following the Ukraine War. According to McKinsey's projections, NATO's defense expenditures will increase by 300400 billion over the next few years. Hanwha has been cooperating with European nations such as Poland, Finland, and Norway. In particular, the company has proven to be a dependable partner with Poland, providing a total of 48 K9PL SPHs to the Polish Armed Forces as part of three tranches to fil the gap from transferring artillery systems to Ukraine. Hanwha Aerospace founded its European subsidiary in the first half of this year and has been fully operational since the second. The goal is to work with Poland on local production and use it as a springboard for export sales to other European partners. The following is a list of Hanwha's key products and solutions that will be displayed at the event. BREVIS-EOD: For the first time, Hanwha features the cutting-edge technologies that integrate explosive ordnance detection robots with mine detectors. The new robot, which are soon to be mass-produced in Korea, stand out as viable solutions for future post-war reconstruction efforts. This robot, developed by Agency for Defense Development(ADD), is expected to usher in a dramatic shift toward faster and safer mine detection without the need for military personnel. Currently, the majority of mine detecting devices require human soldiers to operate their own equipment BREVIS-EOD is a versatile tool that can cut border walls, open passages, and search for subsurface facilities. It can detect and mark all types of mines and destroy embedded explosives with a recoilless water cannon operated remotely. Beyond explosives detection and removal, it has superior surveillance capabilities, including the ability to identify humans from a distance and detect nocturnal activities. Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle: The Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle(UGCV) will make its debut, with the goal of transforming border operations such as search, reconnaissance, and vigilance by fulfilling tasks that have historically been undertaken by frontline forces. This vehicle is equipped with innovative technologies for self-navigation on unmarked terrains, detection of multiple targets from several kilometers distant, day and night, and detection of individual targets with pinpoint accuracy. It can implement operations with greater stealth than conventional military vehicles due to its hybrid power unit. TAipers, a guided air-to-ground missile designed for the Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) of the Korean Air Force, has been converted for use as a surface-to-surface missile on the Vehicle. It features offensive vehicle-destroying capabilities as well as qualities that improve combatant survivability in high-risk areas. Redback - is an advanced Infantry Fighting Vehicle equipped with cutting-edge protection technologies, such as Iron Fist's hard-kill active protection system, and Iron Vision's "see-through" helmet-mounted display. It incorporates the Composite Rubber Track to reduce noise and vibration, resulting in a more comfortable ride for its crew. Australia has recently selected the Redback producer Hanwha as the preferred bidder to replace its fleet of armored personnel carriers. Unmanned Submersibles: Hanwha Systems presents two autonomous underwater vehicles as a naval security solution. 1) The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) is designed to systematically survey the seabed environment. 2) The Side Scan Sonar (SSS) AUV can develop three-dimensional terrain visualizations even in muddy waters. KSS-III Batch II: Hanwha Ocean displays cutting-edge submarine, KSS-III(Jangbogo-III) Batch-II, aimed at European customers. The distinguishing characteristic of Batch-II submarine is its innovative propulsion system, which is fueled by lithium-ion batteries that have three times the endurance of conventional lead-acid batteries. This huge improvement in battery longevity, combined with an air-independent propulsion technology, enables these submarines to stay submerged for longer periods of time. About Hanwha Aerospace Hanwha Aerospace is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in land combat vehicles, including the world-renowned K9 Self-Propelled Howitzer and the Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicle, weapons systems, munitions, aircraft engine parts, and technology products and services. As South Korea's largest aerospace and defense company, Hanwha Aerospace is engaged in the research, development, and manufacture of advanced technology systems, products, and services, and is spearheading the country's space projects. More information about Hanwha Aerospace is available at www.hanwhaaerospace.com. SOURCE Hanwha Aerospace MUNICH, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Horizon Robotics, a leading provider of energy-efficient computing solutions for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) for consumer vehicles in China, is proud to attend the IAA Mobility 2023 in Munich Germany, one of the most prestigious automotive events worldwide. Horizon Robotics Company Introduction Video Horizon Robotics Showcases Latest Production-Grade Driving Assistance Solutions at IAA Mobility 2023 At IAA Mobility 2023, Horizon Robotics will showcase its Journey series energy-efficient computing solutions and its Matrix driving solutions. Horizon's latest road demos include market-proven assisted driving and parking solutions, as well as highway and urban automated driving solutions. Horizon will also present several automated driving use cases jointly developed with domestic and international partners. "We are excited to demonstrate our advanced driving assistance solutions at IAA Mobility," said Dr. Yu Kai, Founder and CEO of Horizon Robotics. "We look forward to showing how Horizon's energy-efficient computing solutions and user-friendly software development tools create the optimal computing foundation for the era of smart mobility. Together with our partners, we are committed to bringing consumers a safer and better driving experience." Building on a track record of successful ecosystem collaborations, Horizon looks to leverage IAA Mobility to pursue more business opportunities with international automakers, Tier-1s and industry partners. During the event, Horizon will unveil a series of significant partnerships, including an alliance with STRADVISION, an automotive industry pioneer in deep learning-based vision perception technology. This collaboration aims to seamlessly integrate STRADVISION's SVNet with Horizon's Journey computing solutions, resulting in advanced driving assistance solutions. JOYNEXT, a renowned Tier-1 supplier and Horizon's partner, showcased its Journey powered domain controllers of the nDrive series, enabling L2 to L2++ automated driving functionalities at Horizon's booth. With the energy-efficient computing solutions, as well as a deep understanding of China's complex road conditions and consumers' driving habits, Horizon has distinguished itself as the partner of choice for both domestic and international companies in the world's largest automotive market. Over 100 industry partners and more than 25 automakers have forged partnerships with Horizon, signing cooperation on over 150 car models. Shipments of Journey series computing solutions reached nearly 4 million units. Horizon strives to leverage automated driving technologies to free individuals from the most monotonous and potentially dangerous aspects of driving, and unwaveringly embraces collaborations with domestic and international automakers and industry partners to realize the full potential of the smart-mobility market. Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2200949/Horizon_Robotics_Company_Introduction_Video.mp4 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2200948/Horizon_Robotics_Showcases_Latest_Production_Grade_Driving_Assistance_Solutions_IAA_Mobility.jpg SOURCE Horizon Robotics DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) has achieved a remarkable success by forging strategic partnerships with prominent banking apps in the UAE, including ADCB, ENBD, FAB, Mashreq, ADIB, and Standard Chartered Bank UAE. These partnerships are a significant development in the digital banking landscape in the region, and they offer a number of benefits to both Huawei users and the banking apps themselves. The UAE is home to a number of leading banks, whose apps are available on HUAWEI AppGallery, each with its own strengths and focus areas: HUAWEI AppGallery and Leading Banking Apps in the UAE & KSA: A Strategic Partnership for the Future of Banking Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) is a digital-first bank with a strong focus on innovation. ADCB was the first bank in the UAE to launch a mobile app, and it continues to invest in new technologies to improve its customer experience. is a digital-first bank with a strong focus on innovation. ADCB was the first bank in the UAE to launch a mobile app, and it continues to invest in new technologies to improve its customer experience. Emirates NBD (ENBD) is a long-standing bank with a history of providing excellent customer service. ENBD has a wide network of branches and ATMs across the UAE, and it offers a comprehensive range of financial products and services. is a long-standing bank with a history of providing excellent customer service. ENBD has a wide network of branches and ATMs across the UAE, and it offers a comprehensive range of financial products and services. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is a leading Islamic bank with a comprehensive range of financial products and services. FAB is committed to providing Sharia-compliant financial solutions to its customers. is a leading Islamic bank with a comprehensive range of financial products and services. FAB is committed to providing Sharia-compliant financial solutions to its customers. Mashreq is a customer-focused bank with a strong track record of innovation. Mashreq has been at the forefront of introducing new financial products and services in the UAE, and it is known for its excellent customer service. is a customer-focused bank with a strong track record of innovation. Mashreq has been at the forefront of introducing new financial products and services in the UAE, and it is known for its excellent customer service. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) is a leading Islamic bank with a focus on providing Sharia-compliant financial solutions. ADIB is committed to providing its customers with a wide range of financial products and services that are in line with Islamic principles. is a leading Islamic bank with a focus on providing Sharia-compliant financial solutions. ADIB is committed to providing its customers with a wide range of financial products and services that are in line with Islamic principles. Standard Chartered Bank UAE is a leading international bank with a strong presence in the UAE. Standard Chartered Bank UAE offers a wide range of financial products and services to its customers, including corporate banking, investment banking, and retail banking. These are just a few of the leading banking apps in the UAE that have partnered with Huawei Mobile Services. These partnerships are a testament to the growing popularity of Huawei devices in the region, as well as the commitment of Huawei Mobile Services to delivering innovative solutions to its users. For Huawei users, the partnerships with leading banking apps offer a number of benefits. First, it allows them to access a wider range of financial services. With the banking apps available on HUAWEI AppGallery, users can access their accounts and make payments from anywhere, at any time. They can also use the apps to make secure payments using facial recognition or fingerprint authentication. Second, the partnerships offer Huawei users a more convenient and secure way to manage their finances, enabling users to access their accounts and make payments from anywhere, at any time. They can also use the apps to make secure payments using facial recognition or fingerprint authentication. These partnerships with HMS also offer a number of benefits to the banking apps themselves. First, it allows them to reach a wider audience of Huawei users. The UAE is a major market for Huawei devices, and the partnerships with leading banking apps will allow these apps to reach a wider audience of potential customers. Second, the partnerships allow the banking apps to offer their services to Huawei users in a more convenient way, making it easier for users to manage their finances, and it also makes it more likely that they will use the banking apps on a regular basis. The strategic partnerships between Huawei Mobile Services and leading banking apps in the UAE are a significant development in the digital banking landscape in the region. These partnerships offer a number of benefits to both Huawei users and the banking apps themselves, and they are likely to play a role in the future of digital banking in the UAE. About AppGallery - Top 3 App Marketplaces Globally AppGallery is a smart and innovative ecosystem that allows developers to create unique experiences for consumers. Huawei's unique HMS Core allows apps to be integrated across different devices, delivering more convenience and a smoother experience and this is part of our wider "1+8+N" strategy at Huawei. Huawei's vision is to make AppGallery an open, innovative app distribution platform that is accessible to consumers, and at the same time, strictly protects users' privacy and security while providing them with a unique and smart experience. Being among the top 3 global app marketplaces, AppGallery offers a wide variety of global and local apps across 18 categories, including navigation & transport, news, social media, and others. AppGallery is available in more than 170 countries and regions with over 580 million monthly active users. Huawei has partnered with 6 million registered developers across the globe. In 2021, AppGallery witnessed over 432 billion app downloads across the globe. For more information, please contact: Suzanne Kanianthra, Golin Adnan Wahidi, Golin, 0559688297 [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2200987/HUAWEI_AppGallery.jpg SOURCE HMS CILPA, Kenia, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As we prepare for the Africa Climate Summit, we, H.E. President of Kenya William Samoei Ruto, COP28 President-Designate Dr. Sultan Al Jaber and African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat affirm our commitment to work towards realizing ambitious climate action in this critical year of the Global Stocktake. Africa is a continent brimming with promise. It is blessed with abundant renewable energy potential that is waiting to be tapped. Africa's 1.4 billion people represent 17% of the world's population,60% of which are under the age of 25 making it the youngest population in the world. It is also the home to 5 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world. But despite accounting for less than 3% of the world's energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to date and having the lowest emissions per capita of any region, Africa is also home to many of the most climate vulnerable countries. As we commence the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi and with 87 days to COP28 in the UAE, the actions we take now will be crucial to building the necessary adaptive capacities as well as keeping 1.5C within reach. Both the Africa Climate Summit and COP28 are significant milestones towards realizing our common priority to accelerate a just, equitable, and orderly energy transition that puts our economies on a path toward a new low-carbon, high-growth, sustainable socio-economic model, supported by substantially scaled up climate finance. We welcome the Africa Climate Summit platforming critical perspectives, solutions, and priorities in our collective fight against climate change. This is a crucial step towards catalyzing climate action by Africa and for Africa. It is our shared conviction that COP28 must accelerate practical action across mitigation and adaptation and build an inclusive climate process focusing on people, lives, and livelihoods that leaves no one behind. The time for implementation is here. The African Union, Kenya and COP28 Presidency affirm that Africa's governments and peoples can play a fundamental role in delivering effective solutions that implement the goals of the Paris Agreement across the entire climate agenda. We must ensure that climate finance is more available, affordable, and accessible to all developing countries, including those in Africa, and that international investment and support is massively scaled up to enable commitments to be turned into actions across the continent. Furthermore, it is vital that we restore trust in the multilateral process if we are to achieve progress. Developed countries must deliver on their historical commitments, including the $100 billion of annual climate finance, doubling adaptation finance and ensuring a strong replenishment of the Green Climate Fund. The Africa Climate Summit and COP28 are key steppingstones towards building a new climate finance architecture that is inclusive, brings more private finance to the table, and operates at the scale required for developing countries to adapt and mitigate. The Africa Climate Summit and COP28 must also work towards strengthening mitigation efforts by advancing momentum for the significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and providing a credible path to a just, responsible and orderly energy transition. On a continent where 43% of the population lacks access to electricity, clean and efficient energy offers an opportunity to supercharge Africa's economic growth while improving lives and livelihoods. Tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements will be critical to achieving net zero by mid-century and keeping 1.5C within reach. The Africa Climate Summit and COP28 are also committed to ensuring that the human face of the climate crisis is at the center of all our decision making. Our efforts are focused on advancing a credible response to climate change that builds resilience and limits impacts on lives and livelihoods through clear and tangible outcomes on adaptation and loss and damage. This includes operationalizing the loss and damage fund and funding arrangements at COP28. We have to make every effort to realize the promise made at COP27 in Egypt, including early capitalization of the fund. Building momentum towards a comprehensive and robust framework for the Global Goal on Adaptation at COP28 is an important step toward deeper collective action on adaptation, effective adaptation finance, and protecting the most impacted populations and ecosystems. If we deliver a Goal that lives up to the task parties set themselves in Paris, it will reduce climate vulnerability for people and communities. Adaptation finance is an essential part of implementation. Adaptation finance represents less than 10 per cent of all climate finance and this imbalance must be urgently addressed. A comprehensive systems change is also essential to have lasting impact. Both the Africa Climate Summit and COP28 are focusing on the need for transforming food and health systems and embedding nature and biodiversity protection with climate action in pursuit of this objective. Finally, acknowledging the vital role of youth in shaping our collective future is at the heart of both our respective agendas. We look forward to the voices of many young people shaping the outcomes of the Africa Climate Summit and COP28. We welcome Africa's leadership and commitment in our collective fight against climate change and we call on all stakeholders to engage constructively in finding and driving solutions. Africa has the potential to be a global trailblazer for the energy transition, green industrialization, and delivering sustainable economic development, and the Africa Climate Summit will be a landmark moment in that journey. We must now work towards showcasing our collective political willin Kenya and in the UAEtowards tackling the climate crisis. Every moment matters and every action takes us further. Now, more than ever, we must all unite, act, and deliver. Notes to Editors COP28 UAE: COP28 UAE will take place at Expo City Dubai from November 30-December 12, 2023 . The Conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors. from . The Conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors. As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 UAE will deliver the first ever Global Stocktake a comprehensive evaluation of progress against climate goals. The UAE will lead a process for all parties to agree upon a clear roadmap to accelerate progress through a pragmatic global energy transition and a "leave no one behind" approach to inclusive climate action." SOURCE COP28 NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The ladder market in North America is estimated to increase by USD 234.1 million from 2022 to 2027, with a CAGR of 4.55%, according to a recent market study by Technavio. The growth of the housing market is notably driving the market growth. The surge in the growth of the construction market will increase the demand for ladders. Generally, extension ladders, single ladders, and standard stepladders are used in domestic applications. In North America, the housing market grew significantly between 2013 and 2020. For example, due to the rising demand for single-family rental homes, the number of residential apartments for rent in the US is expected to increase by 25%-30% by 2025. The growth of the housing market in North America is anticipated to boost the demand for household products such as ladders. Such factors will fuel the growth of the market during the forecast period. Discover some insights on market size before buying the full report -Request a sample report Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled North America Ladder Market 2023-2027 Find Technavio's Exclusive Analysis of Price Sensitivity, Adoption Lifecycle, Customer Purchase Basket, Adoption Rates, and Purchase Criteria One of the core components of the customer landscape is price sensitivity , an analysis of which will help companies refine marketing strategies to gain a competitive advantage . , an analysis of which will help companies refine . Another key aspect is price sensitivity drivers (purchases are undifferentiated, the purchase is a key cost to buyers, and quality is unimportant) , which range between LOW and HIGH. , which range between Furthermore, market adoption rates for all regions have been covered. The ladder market in North America report also offers information on the criticality of inputs, R&D, CAPEX, technology, and products of 15 vendors listed Below - Alaco Ladder Inc., Bauer Corp., EGA Products Inc., Falcon Ladder and Scaffold, Fastenal Co., Featherlite Industries Ltd., Gorilla Ladders, Hasegawa USA Inc., LockNClimb LLC, Louisville Ladder Inc., Lynn Ladder and Scaffolding Co. Inc., Material Control Inc., Menard Inc., Metallic Ladder Operations LLC, Moulton Ladder and Scaffold Co., P.W. Platforms Inc., Putnam Rolling Ladder Co. Inc., Tri Arc LLC, W.W. Grainger Inc., and Werner Co. Download Sample Ladder Market in North America - Segmentation Analysis The market is segmented by material (Aluminum, Steel, Fiberglass, Wood, and Others), type (Step ladder, Step stools, Attic ladder, Folding ladder, and Others), and geography (North America) The market share growth by the aluminum segment will be significant during the forecast period. Aluminum is a lightweight and durable metal. Aluminum ladders are widely used due to their lightweight, durability, resistance to corrosion, portability, and non-conductive properties. As a result, the demand for aluminum ladders is expected to rise, contributing to market growth. Also, it can withstand heavy loads and can deliver stability while used. However, aluminum ladders are resistant to corrosion, which makes them appropriate for both outdoor and indoor use. The property of non-conductivity in aluminum makes aluminum ladders safer to use around electrical hazards, thereby lowering the risk of electrical shocks. Therefore, due to such advantages, the demand for aluminum ladders is going to grow, which will contribute toward the growth of the market during the forecast period. To procure the data - Buy report! Market dynamics Significant North America-Ladder Market Trends The growth in the purchase of domestic ladders through online distribution channels is an emerging trend shaping the market growth. The preference to buy household products online has increased among residential users over the last few years. Companies sell their products through offline stores and online portals. Moreover, the online channel broadens the visibility of products, which contributes to the growth of the online retail channel. When compared to the offline segment the online segment is expected to register faster growth during the forecast period. The rising Internet penetration, growth in the adoption of mobile Internet devices, and growing consumer awareness contribute to the growth of online sales of household products. Such factors will expand the sales of ladders among residential users, which, in turn, will fuel the market growth during the forecast period. For Insights on the market dynamics & segmentations VIEW PDF SAMPLE! What are the key data covered in this Ladder Market In North America report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the ladder market in North America in 2023 and 2027 in 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the ladder market in North America size and its contribution to the market in focus on the parent market size and its contribution to the market in focus on the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behaviour Growth of the ladder market in North America across North America across North America A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about companies Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of the ladder market in North American companies Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports: The Ladder Market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.61% between 2022 and 2027 and the size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 1,404.91 million. This report extensively covers market segmentation by application (industrial, domestic, and commercial), material (aluminum, steel, fiberglass, wood, and others), and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). Rising demand for extension and platform ladders is notably driving the market growth. The electric scissor lift market study is a comprehensive report with in-depth qualitative and quantitative research evaluating the current scenario and analyzing the growth of 5.92 and a decelerating CAGR of 5.32%, and the market is expected to grow by USD 581.38 million during the forecast period 2021 to 2026. This report extensively covers the market segmentation by end-user (construction, commercial, manufacturing, and others) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, the Middle East and Africa, and South America). The growth of the global construction industry is notably driving the market's growth. Ladder Market In North America Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.55% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 234.1 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 4.25 Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Alaco Ladder Inc., Bauer Corp., EGA Products Inc., Falcon Ladder and Scaffold, Fastenal Co., FeatherLite Industries Ltd., Gorilla Ladders, Hasegawa USA Inc., LockNClimb LLC, Louisville Ladder Inc., Lynn Ladder and Scaffolding Co. Inc., Material Control Inc., Menard Inc., Metallic Ladder Operations LLC, Moulton Ladder and Scaffold Co., P.W. Platforms Inc., Putnam Rolling Ladder Co. Inc., Tri Arc LLC, W.W. Grainger Inc., and Werner Co. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Table of contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation by Material 7 Market Segmentation by Type 8 Customer Landscape 9 Geographic Landscape 10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 11 Vendor Landscape 12 Vendor Analysis 13 Appendix About US Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com SOURCE Technavio NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Middle East luxury furniture market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.02% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 350.67 million, according to Technavio. The increase in the number of office spaces is a key factor driving market growth. The number of available office space and job opportunities has increased due to the establishment of branch offices for different international businesses in the region. The demand for office spaces in other cities throughout the Middle East also continues to grow. In addition, the growth of the luxury furniture market is expected to be driven by increased demand for office space that enables flexibility, including coworking spaces. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Request a sample report Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Middle East-Luxury Furniture Market 2023-2027 Luxury Furniture Market in Middle East Company Analysis Company Landscape - The luxury furniture market is fragmented, with the presence of several global as well as regional companies. A few prominent companies that offer luxury furniture in the market are Auraliving, B and B Italia SPA, Boca Do Lobo, Decca Home LLC, DelightFULL, Giorgio Armani S.p.A., Haworth Inc., Inter IKEA Holding BV, Lazzoni Furniture, Luma Inc., MillerKnoll Inc., Minotti S.p.A., Natuzzi SpA, Next Space LLC, Pan Emirates Home Furnishings, Poltrona Frau SPA, Scavolini S.p.a., Workspace, Anna Casa Ltd., and Global Amenagement and others. Buy the report! Company Offerings - Auraliving - The company offers an original homeware brand that blends Middle Eastern taste with the best of global design. - The company offers an original homeware brand that blends Middle Eastern taste with the best of global design. Giorgio Armani S .p.A - The company offers luxury furniture under the brand Armani Casa . The company offers luxury furniture under the brand . Haworth Inc. - The company offers luxury furniture such as BuzziSpace, Cappellini, and Cassina. The company offers luxury furniture such as BuzziSpace, Cappellini, and Cassina. For details on the company and its offerings Request a sample report Luxury Furniture Market in Middle East- Segmentation Assessment Segment Overview Technavio has segmented the market based on application (residential and commercial), and distribution channels (offline and online). The market share growth by the residential segment will be significant during the forecast period. Products in this segment include lounge chairs, ottomans and benches, sofas, cushions, coffee tables, kitchen tables, outdoor dining furniture, and stools. The growing demand for multi-functional luxury residential furniture consisting of a variety of folded beds and extended sofas has largely driven this segment. Additionally, some of the other factors driving this segment are new product launches. Hence, these factors are expected to drive segment growth during the forecast period. For insights on global, regional, and country-level parameters with growth opportunities from 2017 to 2027 - Download a Sample Report Luxury Furniture Market in Middle East Market Dynamics Major Trend Growing demand for eco-friendly products is a major trend in the market. Consumer demand for more sustainable options has been growing, and this is reflected in consumer awareness of the impact of their purchases on the environment. Exotic and rare materials such as tropical wood, which contribute to deforestation and the destruction of natural habitats are often used in luxury furniture. Furthermore, customers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of longer hauls and seek locally or regionally appropriate solutions to combat carbon emissions. Hence, the growing demand for eco-friendly products is expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Significant Challenge Increasing raw material prices is a significant challenge restricting market growth. Wood, which accounts for 40% to 50% of all furniture produced from timber, has been used as a raw material in the luxury furniture sector. Moreover, various NGOs and other environmental organizations have been working on campaigns aimed at stopping deforestation that impedes the supply of timber. For companies, this will mean an increased cost of purchasing raw materials and therefore an increase in their prices. However, the high costs of wood and its scarcity led to an increase from 25 % to 30 % in the minimal price of furniture including luxury furniture. Hence, these factors are expected to restrict market growth during the forecast period. Drivers, Trends, and challenges have an impact on market dynamics, which can impact businesses. Find more insights in a sample report! What are the key data covered in this Luxury Furniture Market in Middle East report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the luxury furniture market in Middle East between 2023 and 2027 between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the luxury furniture market in Middle East and its contribution to the market with a focus on the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the luxury furniture market in the Middle East A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about companies Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of luxury furniture market companies in Middle East Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports The bamboo furniture market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.07% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 5,594.81 million. This bamboo furniture market report extensively covers market segmentation by distribution channel (offline and online), end-user (residential and commercial), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America). Increasing adoption of eco-friendly furniture is the key driver for the growth of the market. The office furniture market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.09% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 26.8 billion. This office furniture market report extensively covers market segmentation by distribution channel (offline and online), end-user (commercial office furniture and home office furniture), product (seating, systems, tables, storage units and files, and overhead bins), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa). The increasing online retailing of office furniture is driving growth in the office furniture market. Luxury Furniture Market Scope in the Middle East Report Coverage Details Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.02% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 350.67 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 3.54 Competitive landscape Leading Companies, Market Positioning of Companies, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Auraliving, B and B Italia SPA, Boca Do Lobo, Decca Home LLC, DelightFULL, Giorgio Armani S.p.A., Haworth Inc., Inter IKEA Holding BV, Lazzoni Furniture, Luma Inc., MillerKnoll Inc., Minotti S.p.A., Natuzzi SpA, Next Space LLC, the Pan Emirates Home Furnishings, Poltrona Frau SPA, Scavolini S.p.a., Workspace, Anna Casa Ltd., and Global Amenagement Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and Market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get customized segments. Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation by Application 7 Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel 8 Customer Landscape 9 Geographic Landscape 10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 11 Company Landscape 12 Company Analysis 13 Appendix About US Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG) is a mining company 49% owned by the Guinean State with the balance held by US-registered Halco Mining Inc, a consortium comprising Rio Tinto-Alcan, Alcoa and Dadco Investments CBG is one of the largest single producers of bauxite in the world with operations focused in Guinea MOU provides the framework for Lindian to supply bauxite from its Gaoual bauxite project to CBG's annual bauxite production and developing a sales contract between the parties Under the terms of the MOU, Lindian has committed to completing a Feasibility Study on Gaoual with the study meeting CBG's criteria and the environmental and social standards to which CBG is bound Gaoual has a JORC 2012 Indicated Mineral Resource Estimate of 102Mt with a high-grade tonnage of 84Mt at 51.2% Al 2 O 3 [1] . Screening test work completed in 2021 confirmed that Gaoual high grade samples showed the average alumina grade increasing by 8.6% (53.8% Al2O3 to 58.4% Al2O3) and the average silica grade decreasing by 71.4% (9.8% SiO2 to 2.8% SiO2) [1] Lindian's Executive Chairman Asimwe Kabunga said: "We are delighted to be collaborating with CBG to advance Gaoual. They have exceptional pedigree as one of the world's most respected and largest bauxite producers and suppliers. We have been advancing discussions with them for a number of years on the potential development of Guinea's next Conglomerate Bauxite project and this MOU marks a very meaningful step in this process. As one of Guinea's most established bauxite producers with extensive mining operations and infrastructure access, a potential partnership delivers obvious benefits to all stakeholders, most importantly the local community and the government of Guinea. The MOU provides an excellent framework to rapidly advance Gaoual." SYDNEY, Sept. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lindian Resources Limited (ASX:LIN) ("Lindian" or "the Company") is pleased to confirm that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ('MOU') with Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG), to explore the supply of bauxite from its Gaoual project to add to CBG's annual bauxite production through a possible sales contract between the Parties. The MOU provides the framework for the parties to: Gaoual is adjacent to world-class bauxite deposits owned by Alliance Mining Commodities and Societe des Bauxites de Guinees (CBG), and nearby infrastructure - 64km from Sangaredi Railway and155km from Kamsar Port in Kamsartown. Explore various methods of operating, processing and transporting ore from the Gaoual project to CBG's infrastructure; Assess procurement, quantity/quality determination, selling prices, selling price adjustment mechanisms, penalties/bonuses and payments between the Parties; Complete a Feasibility Study for the Gaoual project within two years that meets CBG's JORC criteria for the publication of reserves and resources (including certain drilling density, bauxite density and does not contain any element harmful to a subsequent metallurgical process); and The Parties will also negotiate in good faith a possible contract for the sale of bauxite within two years from the start date of this MOU. Lindian also commits during its Feasibility Study, commissioning and operation phases to meet the requirements of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Standard and also the International Finance Corporation performance standards of which CBG is bound. Lindian looks forward to working with CBG to advance this unique opportunity and to unlocking Gaoual's considerable value. This ASX announcement is authorised for release by the Lindian Board. [1] Competent Person's Statement - Guinea The information in this announcement that relates to Mineral Resources for the Gaoual Bauxite Project is extracted is from an ASX announcement dated 15 July 2020 "Lindian Defines Maiden Resource for its High-Grade Conglomerate Bauxite" and from an ASX announcement dated 19 January 2021 "Gaoual Screening Test Work Results" Resource for its High-Grade Conglomerate Bauxite", both available to view at www.lindianresources.com.au and for which a Competent Person consent was obtained. The Competent Person(s) consent remains in place for subsequent releases by the Company of the same information in the same form and context, until the consent is withdrawn or replaced by a subsequent report and accompanying consent. The Mineral Resource statement for the Gaoual Bauxite Project was prepared by Mr Mark Gifford, an independent Geological expert consulting to Lindian Resources Limited. Mr Mark Gifford is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the December 2012 edition of the Australasian Code of Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code). The Company confirms that is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the Mineral Resource Estimate included in the original ASX announcement released on 15th July 2020. SOURCE Lindian Resources WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- After splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida early Monday morning, NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 completed the agency's sixth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station. The international crew of four spent 186 days in orbit. Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, left, NASA astronaut Warren Woody" Hoburg, second from left, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, second from right, and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, right, are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. Bowen, Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev are returning after nearly six-months in space as part of Expedition 69 aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky) NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, as well as UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, returned to Earth at 12:17 a.m. EDT. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and its crew. After returning to shore, the crew will fly to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "After spending six months aboard the International Space Station, logging nearly 79 million miles during their mission, and completing hundreds of scientific experiments for the benefit of all humanity, NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 has returned home to planet Earth," said Administrator Bill Nelson. "This international crew represented three nations, but together they demonstrated humanity's shared ambition to reach new cosmic shores. The contributions of Crew-6 will help prepare NASA to return to the Moon under Artemis, continue onward to Mars, and improve life here on Earth." The Crew-6 mission lifted off at 12:34 a.m. EST March 2, 2023, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. About 25 hours later, Dragon docked to the Harmony module's space-facing port. On May 6, the crew completed a port relocation maneuver to the Earth-facing port ahead of the arrival of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft carrying new solar arrays, science investigations, and supplies to the orbiting laboratory. The crew undocked from the space station at 7:05 a.m. Sunday, to begin the trip home. Bowen, Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev traveled 78,875,292 miles during their mission, spent 184 days aboard the space station, and completed 2,976 orbits around Earth. The Crew-6 mission was the first spaceflight for Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev. Bowen has logged 227 days in space over four flights. Throughout their mission, the Crew-6 members contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Bowen conducted three spacewalks, joined by Hoburg for two, and Alneyadi for one, preparing the station for and installing two new IROSAs (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays) to augment power generation for the station. The crew contributed to hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, including assisting a student robotic challenge, studying plant genetic adaptations to space, and monitoring human health in microgravity to prepare for exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth. The astronauts released Saskatchewan's first satellite which tests a new radiation detection and protection system derived from melanin, found in many organisms, including humans. This was the fourth flight of the Dragon spacecraft, which was named Endeavour by retired NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on its first voyage for the agency's SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2. The spacecraft will return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX's refurbishing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where teams will inspect the spacecraft, analyze data on its performance, and prepare it for its next flight. The Crew-6 mission is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, and its return to Earth follows on the launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-7, which docked to the station Aug. 27, beginning another long-duration science expedition. The goal of NASA's Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and low Earth orbit, which maximizes research time and increases opportunities for discovery aboard humanity's microgravity laboratory and testbed for exploration, including helping NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Learn more about NASA's Commercial Crew program at: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew SOURCE NASA NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The nitric acid market is expected to grow by 6.66 million tons from 2022 to 2027, progressing at a CAGR of 1.98% as per the latest Technavio market research report. APAC is going to have lucrative growth during the forecast period. About 40% of the market's overall growth is expected to originate from APAC. Europe is another key region contributing to the growth of the market. The growing demand for nitric acid in this region is mainly due to its increasing use of fertilizers and explosives. In addition, Europe is experiencing significant demand for light cars from well-known manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Mercedes, Ferrari, BMW, and Audi. Nylon 66, a product derived from adipic acid, is gradually being used in vehicle components to improve fuel efficiency. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth in the region during the forecast period. For more insights on the market share of various regions- Download a sample report in MINUTES Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Nitric Acid Market 2023-2027 Nitric Acid Market: Market Dynamic Key Driver The growth in the automotive industry is a key factor driving market growth. The automotive industry relies heavily on nitric acid-derived materials, technologies, and intermediates, such as nylon 66 and polyurethane. Nylon 66 stands out for such qualities as corrosion resistance, high-temperature resistance, and chemical resistance. In addition, the incorporation of nylon 66 makes it easier to reduce the weight of rotating parts while maintaining load levels and structural rigidity. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Major Trend The economic growth in APAC is a major trend in the market. The region has evolved through economic strategies aimed at increasing the incomes of commodity-exporting countries. The growing population and economic progress in the region are driving the growth of important sectors such as automotive, aerospace, construction, and electronics. TDI is used in the manufacture of lightweight polyurethane foam for automobiles. In addition, the growing demand for high-quality light vehicles and the electronics industry is driving demand for adipic acid, TDI, polyurethane, and other nitric acid derivative products. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. To know about more drivers, trends along challenges - Download a sample now! Some of the key Nitric Acid Market Players: The nitric acid market is fragmented and the companies are deploying organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. ANPI, BASF SE, CF Industries Holdings Inc., Dyno Nobel, ENAEX S.A., Hanwha Solutions Corp., IXOM Ltd., J.R. Simplot Co., Koch Industries Inc., LSB Industries Inc, Nutrien Ltd., OCI N.V., Qingdao Hisea Chem Co. Ltd., Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd., Sasol Ltd., Shandong Fengyuan Chemical Co. Ltd., Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., thyssenkrupp AG, Ube Corp., and Yara International ASA Buy the report! Nitric Acid Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the nitric acid market by application (fertilizers and others), Grade Type (Commercial, Noncommercial), and geography (Europe, APAC, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa). The market share growth by the fertilizers segment will be significant during the forecast period. Fertilizers play an important role in promoting plant growth by providing essential nutrients. Nitric acid acts as an oxidizing agent and improves the nitrogen content of the soil, thereby providing the necessary elements for plant growth. Nitric acid is derived from ammonia, an important ingredient in fertilizer production. In addition, the increasing use of fertilizers pollutes groundwater, leading to their use. Urea has emerged as a major nitrogen fertilizer due to its safety, cost-effectiveness, and high nitrogen content. Hence, these factors are expected to drive segment growth during the forecast period. For additional information on the market contribution of each segment - Grab an Exclusive Sample Report Vendor Landscape Companies covered Vendor classification Market positioning of companies Competitive scenario Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports The hot melt adhesives market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.28% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 4,396.66 million. Furthermore, this report extensively covers market segmentation by product (ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), rubber, polyolefin, polyurethane, and others), application (packaging, nonwoven hygiene products, furniture, and woodworking, automobile, and footwear, and others), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa). The high application of sanitary materials is a key factor driving market growth during the forecast period. The fluorapatite market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.85% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 151.05 million. Furthermore, this report extensively covers market segmentation by type (pharmaceutical grade and industrial grade), application (dental care, fertilizers, chemicals, and pharmaceutical), and geography (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). The growing demand for phosphate fertilizers is a key factor driving market growth during the forecast period. Nitric Acid Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 1.98% Market growth 2023-2027 6.66 million tons Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 1.55 Regional analysis Europe, APAC, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 40% Key countries US, China, India, Germany, and France Competitive landscape Leading Companies, Market Positioning of Companies, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled ANPI, BASF SE, CF Industries Holdings Inc., Dyno Nobel, ENAEX S.A., Hanwha Solutions Corp., IXOM Ltd., J.R. Simplot Co., Koch Industries Inc., LSB Industries Inc, Nutrien Ltd., OCI N.V., Qingdao Hisea Chem Co. Ltd., Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd., Sasol Ltd., Shandong Fengyuan Chemical Co. Ltd., Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., thyssenkrupp AG, Ube Corp., and Yara International ASA Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and Market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation by Application 7 Customer Landscape 8 Geographic Landscape 9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 10 Company Landscape 11 Company Analysis 12 Appendix About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com SOURCE Technavio LUND, Sweden, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncorena announces first patient treated in the Phase I/II trial of the first-in-class compound, ONC175 (orellanine), in patients with metastatic renal cancer and dialysis. The first treatment was conducted on August 8 without any complication at the Center for Clinical Cancer studies at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. The study examines safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and anti-tumor effect when treated with ONC175. "I am happy to announce first patient, first treatment in our clinical phase I/II trial, Oncorella-1, with ONC175 (orellanine). This is a milestone for Oncorena accelerating our development plan since these patients are in need of more effective therapies," said Borje Haraldsson, CEO and CSO at Oncorena AB. The clinical study, Oncorella-1, is conducted at the Center for Clinical Cancer Studies at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Hemodialysis is given at the same hospital, since patients eligible to the study are dialysis-dependent. Now, the first patient was given an infusion of ONC175 for 30 minutes. Additional patients are ready for treatment in the autumn. Each patient is followed up four weeks after the infusion by an independent Data Review Committee recommending potential dose escalations. The drug candidate ONC175 has a unique mode of action and is being developed as a potential cure in patients with metastatic renal cancer and dialysis-dependent renal failure. Preclinical studies have shown that ONC175 is highly selective organ-targeted chemotherapy with potent anti-tumor effects metastatic renal cancer. "It concerns a very different and unique medicine that is being tested here on patients with disseminated kidney cancer. We are very happy that the study is underway and we look forward to the results," says Jeffrey Yachnin, M.D. responsible for the study at the Center for Clinical Cancer Studies, Karolinska University Hospital. This Press Release concerns a drug candidate under development. It does not attempt to communicate any conclusions regarding effect or safety. It is the purpose of clinical trials to objectively assess safety, tolerability and effects of drug candidates. There is no guarantee that the drug candidate's development program will be completed or that it will gain approval by relevant authorities. For more information, please contact Borje Haraldsson, M.D., Ph.D., CEO, and CSO Oncorena AB E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +46 70 267 9544 About ONC175 ONC175 with its new and unique mode of action, is being developed for organ-specific chemotherapy with curative potential for patients with metastatic renal cancer. ONC175 is the synthetically produced drug product, which active component is orellanine. Orellanine is found in mushrooms of the Cortinarius family. These can accidentally be picked and eaten as they are mistaken for funnel chanterelles. The clinical effects of orellanine are well documented and highly specific for kidneys. ONC175 is expected to have effects on the two most common forms of renal cancer, i.e., the clear cell och papillary types, representing approximately 90 percent of cases. About the Phase I/II clinical trial The Phase I/II clinical trial of ONC175 (orellanine), Oncorella-1, enrolls patients with metastatic renal cancer on dialysis due to renal failure. The study is conducted at the Centre for Clinical Cancer Studies at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, and studies safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and signs of anti-tumour effects in treatment with ONC175. The Phase I/II trial will include up to 40 patients and may include patients from other countries. About kidney cancer Approximately 400,000 patients are affected by kidney cancer globally according to the WHO. The disease can often be cured by surgery if detected early, but the prognosis is less favourable if there are metastases. Today, the disease is treated with various types of targeted and immuno-active drugs, that seldom are curative. There is therefore a great and urgent unmet medical need for new, effective and safe drugs. About Oncorena Oncorena AB is a Swedish pharmaceutical company headquartered in Lund. The company develops a new potential breakthrough treatment for patients with metastatic renal cancer. The treatment is based on research led by professor Borje Haraldsson at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The project was initially developed with support from Vinnova, Sweden's Innovation Agency, GU Ventures at the University of Gothenburg and private business angels. Today Oncorena is mainly financed by the investment companies HealthCap, Linc AB, Fahraeus Startup and Growth AB, as well as the biotech company AQILION AB. For more information, please visit Oncorena's website at www.oncorena.com. The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/20340/3829031/2271920.pdf Press release (PDF) https://news.cision.com/oncorena-ab/i/jeffrey-yachnin,c3212318 Jeffrey Yachnin SOURCE Oncorena AB SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Oukitel, a renowned manufacturer of rugged devices, has recently introduced two new rugged products: the RT6 tablet and WP28 smartphone. Both running on the latest Android 13, these models are now on Back to School sale on the Oukitel Official Store. Oukitel RT6: The Ultimate Rugged Tablet OUKITEL Back to School Sale: RT6 Rugged Tablet and WP28 Smartphone The RT6 tablet boasts a massive 20,000mAh battery, ensuring uninterrupted usage in challenging conditions. It offers an impressive 2250 hours of standby time, 15 hours of video playback and gaming. Certified by IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD-810H, it offers exceptional protection against shocks, extreme temperatures, and water immersion. With a 10.1'' FHD+ screen, RT6 provides a comfortable viewing experience. Powered by a MediaTek MT8788 processor with 8GB RAM and 256GB ROM, RT6 rugged tablet is able to offer smooth multitasking experience. Additionally, the RAM is expandable up to 14GB and the ROM up to 1TB. With the inclusion of an aluminum stand, hand strap, and shoulder strap, users are able to choose the suitable one depending on their needs. Oukitel WP28: A High-Performance Rugged Smartphone Weighing just 369g, the WP28 features a 6.52'' display and octa-core processor. Equipped with 8GB RAM and 256GB ROM, WP28 rugged smartphone offers ample storage for your needs. Additionally, the RAM is expandable up to 15GB and ROM to 1TB. It has IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD-810H certifications for superior water, shock, and dust protection. The Corning Gorilla Glass 5 screen enhance durability and resistance against drops and scratches. With a 5MP front camera, 48MP rear camera, and a 10,600mAh battery, the WP28 rugged smartphone offers impressive photography capabilities and long-lasting power. Availability and Price By entering a discount code of "20%OFF", the RT6 rugged tablet is now available for only $296 whose original price is $399.99 and WP28 rugged smartphone is now available for only $159 whose original price is $269.99. Interested buyers do not miss the chance to get them at a bargain price on Oukitel official store. About OUKITEL OUKITEL is a high-tech corporate brand of "Shenzhen Yunji Intelligent Technology Co., LTD" based in Shenzhen, China. This company integrates research and development, design, production, sales and after-sales service. With a partner network of more than 130 dealers in 60 countries, OUKITEL products are distributed throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America. Follow OUKITEL on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2199756/Oukitel_RT6___WP28.jpg SOURCE OUKITEL LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dillon Jacobs identifies true books on personal finance as a current trend in business publishing. Matt Paradise relates his own personal experience as a background to the advice he offers in his debut book Financially Capable: a friendly guide to building whole-health wealth. A Kirkus review describes it as "a knowledgeable and upbeat overview of everyday money matters" written in a "highly relatable, conversational style". LibraryBub, an industry first, was established in 2015. Dedicated to making strong, mutual connections between indie and small-press authors and an extensive network of libraries, it works in conjunction with all major libraries. The core commitment of the LibraryBub service is to help librarians to identify acclaimed books from the independent publishing sector. LibraryBub introduces thousands of librarians to bestselling and award-winning books from the independent publishing sector. These books hold immense potential for enhancing the lives of their readers. Acclaimed author Joshua Davis remembers the fascination of the library when he was growing up. For him, "it was a magical place where you could walk down the aisles, and you never knew what you might find. It was like an adventure." Librarians enable writers to make that kind of difference to people's lives, and LibraryBub CEO Alinka Rutkowska considers it a privilege to support them in that role. Below is this month's selection by category. FICTION Literature & Fiction Being Lili by Catherine Pezdirtz ISBN: 978-1955656115 Like Dust, I Rise by Ginny Rorby ISBN: 978-1684338276 Too Early to Know Who's Winning by Karla Huebner ISBN: 978-1685131654 Tourist by Timothy Strong ISBN: 978-1685132446 Mystery & Thriller In the Lair of Legends by David Buzan ISBN: 978-1685132507 The Opaque Conspiracy by Grace Flores-Hughes ISBN: 978-1637352236 Romance The Wish by Lena Gibson ISBN: 978-1685132545 Young Adult Mercy Markos and the Blades of Betrayal (Book One of the Realm of Ara'Ja series) by Sally Gratz Garcia ISBN: 978-1685131791 Spirit Sight (Book One of the Spirit Song trilogy) by Ross Hightower ISBN: 978-1685130275 Children's The Tale of Was and Das (Book Three of the 2gether Picture Book series) by Marin ISBN: 978-0980974874 NON-FICTION Business Automotive Search Marketing by Alex Melen ISBN: 978-1637352113 Cutting Through by Bernie Haffey ISBN: 978-1637350232 Falling Forward: a guide for facing adversity and planning your life by Gordon Wollman ISBN: 978-1637352489 Financially Capable: a friendly guide to building whole-health wealth by Matt Paradise ISBN: 979-8987943700 Leadership GLUE by Kae Wagner ISBN: 978-1637352540 Luminary Leadership by Alinka Rutkowska et al. ISBN: 978-1637352014 The Strategy Handbook: the secret sauce to daily business success by Jeroen Kraaijenbrink ISBN: 978-1637351116 You Are Not Them: the authentic entrepreneur's way by Sid Mohasseb ISBN: 978-1637350485 Religion & Spirituality The Journey Is Yours To Take by Celeste Ducharme et al. ISBN: 979-8985345803 Questioning Spirituality: is it irrational to believe in God? by Eldon Taylor ISBN: 978-1803413013 "I truly appreciate LibraryBub's support of authors and independent writers like myself," says fantasy writer Shannon Traphagen. She explains that "mentoring, support and guidance" can be so hard to obtain for independent authors, "so to receive support like this is such an empowering feeling." She asserts that "the business acumen that LibraryBub is able to provide so that authors may navigate the marketing waters that is the publishing industry is invaluable." Librarians should sign up for LibraryBub at http://librarybub.com/ Independent publishers are asked to go to http://librarybub.com/authors/ to submit their books for consideration. Media Contact: Alinka Rutkowska [email protected] www.leaderspress.com SOURCE LibraryBub CHICAGO, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Physical Security Market's future will be characterised by the incorporation of cutting-edge technology, a focus on cybersecurity, privacy issues, and flexibility to respond to new threats and problems in a world that is becoming more connected and digital. The global Physical Security Market size is projected to grow from USD 110.2 billion in 2023 to USD 136.9 billion by 2028 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.4% during the forecast period, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The growth in the use of IP-based cameras for video surveillance and the rise in instances of malicious activities and security breaches to physical systems drive the growth of the Physical Security Market. Moreover, difficulties addressing the complexity of advanced threats may hinder market growth. Browse in-depth TOC on "Physical Security Market" 460 - Tables 45 - Figures 353 - Pages Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=1014 Scope of the Report Report Metrics Details Market size available for years 2017-2028 Base year considered 2022 Forecast period 20232028 Forecast units Value (USD Million/USD Billion) Segments Covered Component, system, service, organization size, verticals, and regions Geographies covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America Companies covered Major vendors in the global physical security include Johnson Controls (Ireland), Bosch Building Technology (Germany), Honeywell (US), ADT (US), Cisco (US), Telus (Canada), Wesco (US), Genetec (Canada), HID Global (US), Pelco (US), Hikvision (China), Gallagher (New Zealand), Secom (Japan), Allied Universal (US), Zhejiang Dahua Technology (China), Axis communications (Sweden) and many more. Based on services, the managed services segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecasted period. Effective management of business processes in contemporary corporate contexts requires the adoption of proven approaches across organizations. Organizations are forced to outsource some tasks since maintaining internal services requires more time, there aren't enough resources, and it costs more money. Managed service providers guarantee the protection of important corporate data as well as the efficiency of business processes. Customers are assisted by managed service providers to maintain their hardware, software, physical security systems, and solutions up to date with the most recent improvements. Customers' internal capacities are increased when MSPs protect their physical assets and IT system assets. By managed services, the access control as a services segment is expected to hold the largest market size during the forecast period. Access Control as a Service (ACaaS) is a cloud-based, service-oriented architecture that supports access control models in new-age operating systems. It integrates cloud-hosted and managed solutions with various on-site access control systems. The demand for ACaaS is rising across verticals because of its distinguishing characteristics, such as remote management, scalability, real-time control, data security, and secure communications. The importance of access control lies in its ability to bolster the overall security posture of an organization, providing a flexible and scalable solution to meet specific needs, enhance operational efficiency, and ensure the safety of personnel and valuable assets. Request Sample Pages @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=1014 By region, Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Due to the region's rising crime rate, physical security solutions are quickly gaining popularity across Asia and the Pacific. Security-related worries are becoming more prevalent, particularly in China, Malaysia, Australia, and India. Therefore, the government of several of these nations is encouraging the implementation of physical security measures to manage such a circumstance. Governments in the Asia Pacific are investing a significant portion of their federal budgets in developing security tools, which is expected to drive the adoption of physical security solutions. Moreover, the region is witnessing the large development of smart cities. Countries such as China have invested heavily in smart city programs. It is planning to spend USD 39 billion on smart cities. Smart cities heavily rely on physical security solutions, which is also driving the Physical Security Market in the region. Top Key Companies in Physical Security Market: Johnson Controls (Ireland), Bosch Building Technology (Germany), Honeywell (US), ADT (US), Cisco (US), Telus (Canada), Wesco (US), Genetec (Canada), HID Global (US), Pelco (US), Hikvision (China), Gallagher (New Zealand), Secom (Japan), Allied Universal (US), Zhejiang Dahua Technology (China), Axis communications (Sweden), Hanwha Vision America (US), Teledyne FLIR (US), Hexagon AB (Sweden), General Dynamics (US), BAE Systems (UK), Huawei (China), NEC (Japan), Qognify (US), SmartCone Technology (Canada), Verkada (US), IOTAS (US), Cloudastructure (US) are the key players and other players in the Physical Security Market. Recent Developments In February 2023 , Johnson Controls announced a strategic partnership with Willow. Willow is a leading provider of digital twin solutions for critical infrastructure and real estate. This partnership will digitally transform buildings and facilities into safer, healthier, and more sustainable environments for their customers and occupants. , Johnson Controls announced a strategic partnership with Willow. Willow is a leading provider of digital twin solutions for critical infrastructure and real estate. This partnership will digitally transform buildings and facilities into safer, healthier, and more sustainable environments for their customers and occupants. In June 2022 , Honeywell Connected Life Safety Services (CLSS) partnered with Simpro to boost fire safety processes. To assist fire protection businesses in increasing productivity, compliance, and customer service, Simpro and Honeywell CLSS have integrated to automate essential defect quotation operations. , Honeywell Connected Life Safety Services (CLSS) partnered with Simpro to boost fire safety processes. To assist fire protection businesses in increasing productivity, compliance, and customer service, Simpro and Honeywell CLSS have integrated to automate essential defect quotation operations. In October 2021 , ADT acquired Edward Electronic Systems. With the acquisition, ADT will expand its integration capabilities and fire and life safety expertise in new regions such as Carolinas. , ADT acquired Edward Electronic Systems. With the acquisition, ADT will expand its integration capabilities and fire and life safety expertise in new regions such as Carolinas. In April 2021 , Bosch introduced the FLEXIDOME multi 7000i camera family offering. The offering is supported with built-in AI technology to support predictive solutions across application areas, such as public spaces and retail facilities. The intelligent video analytics capability based on AI/ML supports users to garner deep insights from the captured video footage. , Bosch introduced the FLEXIDOME multi 7000i camera family offering. The offering is supported with built-in AI technology to support predictive solutions across application areas, such as public spaces and retail facilities. The intelligent video analytics capability based on AI/ML supports users to garner deep insights from the captured video footage. In February 2021 , Cisco announced a strategic partnership with Openpath. This partnership includes a new Video Management System (VMS) integration with Cisco Meraki. Inquire Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=1014 Physical Security Market Advantages: Visible physical security measures like cameras and access control systems serve as a deterrent to possible threats, decreasing the possibility of unauthorised access and criminal activity. Physical security measures ensure the safety of staff members, guests, and property by preventing unauthorised access and quickly handling emergencies. Physical security systems reduce losses and liabilities by providing cameras, alarms, and access controls to help prevent crimes including theft, vandalism, and unauthorised entrance. When security breaches or emergencies happen, these technologies enable quick incident response by immediately alerting security professionals or law enforcement. Access control systems increase overall security and lessen the danger of insider threats by ensuring that only authorised people are allowed access to secure locations. Valuable assets, data centres, equipment, and merchandise are protected by physical security from theft, damage, and unauthorised access. In order to help in investigations, evidence gathering, and conflict resolution, surveillance cameras continuously monitor, record, and document activity. By screening and tracking visitors, visitor management systems improve security by ensuring that only authorised visitors enter the building. In order to provide a cohesive security ecosystem for more effective monitoring and control, physical security systems can interact with other security and building management systems. Report Objectives To define, describe, and forecast the Physical Security Market by component, system, service, organization size, vertical, and region To provide detailed information about the major factors (drivers, opportunities, restraints, and challenges) influencing the growth of the Physical Security Market To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high-growth segments of the Physical Security Market To forecast the size of the market segments with respect to five main regions: North America , Europe , Asia Pacific , Middle East & Africa , and Latin America , , , & , and To analyze subsegments of the market with respect to individual growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the overall market To profile the key players of the Physical Security Market and comprehensively analyze their market size and core competencies To track and analyze competitive developments, such as product enhancements and new product launches; acquisitions; and partnerships and collaborations, in the Physical Security Market globally. Browse Adjacent Markets: Physical Safety Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: Network Emulator Market - Global Forecast to 2028 Graph Database Market - Global Forecast to 2028 Generative AI Market - Global Forecast to 2028 Embedded AI Market - Global Forecast to 2028 Video Surveillance Storage Market - Global Forecast to 2025 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry. To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/physical-security-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/physical-security.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets SUZHOU, China, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GoodWe, a global solar inverter and energy solution provider, is set to showcase its latest innovations at booth No.4143 during the RE+2023 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, taking place from September 12 to 14. At this year's exhibition, GoodWe is to spotlight its enhanced residential solution lineup, EcoSmart Home, with strong focus on catering to the local market's energy storage needs. An additional highlight will be the introduction of a three phase, 208V, 1000Vdc inverter designed for light commercial and industrial (C&I) applications. GoodWe's Upcoming Commercial Inverters at RE+ 2023 Central to the residential portfolio will be the solution combined by GoodWe's hybrid inverter ES-US and Lynx Home FH-US battery. The ES-US inverter, boasting a power range of 5-11.4kW, stands out for its ability to facilitate multiple solutions through integration into different system designs. The Lynx Home FH-US battery, fulfilling the safety standards of the UL9540A test, is a perfect match for residential energy storage systems in North America. It offers scalability from 9.6kWh to 19.2 kWh, allowing flexible energy storage solutions for homeowners. When combined, the inverter and the battery form an efficient "solar + storage" system to optimize household energy self-consumption. It can be further amplified by incorporating an electrical vehicle charger into the system, and thus largely reducing electricity bills for homeowners. The system, when further integrated GoodWe's self-produced auto backup device, can realize the full home power backup mode, ensuring seamless power continuity during outages and grid interruptions. Michael Mendik, Country Manager of GoodWe USA and Canada, pointed out, "Our EcoSmart Home solution lineup is able to meet the emergent need of North America's homeowners to integrate storage batteries into their solar systems, under the NEM3.0 implementation. This encourages energy self-generation and consumption." He added, "Visitors can discover more residential solutions at our booth, each customized to meet diverse practical needs." For the commercial sector, GoodWe will unveil a new addition, the LV-SMT-US, a three-phase low voltage inverter ideally suited for small commercial applications. Featured with advanced MPPT technology, built-in RSD transducer, and a 16A DC input, it delivers exceptional efficiency and safety. Prior to its official launch, the inverter will be showcased at the exhibition, available in 22kW and 28kW capacities. As Michael Mendik put it, "GoodWe has been strategically expanding its footprint across North America, establishing presence from mainland US to Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. We've partnered with top distributors to offer one-stop energy solutions that are most suitable for customers. We sincerely welcome attendees to visit our booth and explore the tailored products and solutions." SOURCE GoodWe The program is a part of the Seegene OneSystem TM business aimed at creating a 'world free from all diseases' Collaborating with clinical researchers worldwide, Seegene will share its technologies and enable researchers to develop syndromic qPCR assays SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Seegene Inc. (KQ096530), a leading South Korean company providing a total solution for PCR molecular diagnostics, unveiled today its 'Open Innovation Program powered by Seegene (Open Innovation Program)' in partnership with Springer Nature, a world-leading provider of services to the research community. The inaugural program is available globally and is the first step in empowering experts, scientists, and clinicians to develop syndromic quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays across all fields. A screen capture of 'Open Innovation Program powered by Seegene' website, conducted by Seegene and Springer Nature The 'Open Innovation Program' is a part of the Seegene OneSystemTM business aimed at creating a world free from all diseases - through development of diagnostic products and early diagnosis in all fields, including cancer and infectious diseases, not limited to humans but for all organisms. To achieve this goal, the Seegene OneSystemTM business will share Seegene's technology and expertise accumulated over 20 years with global partners and enable scientists around the world to develop new diagnostic products for all diseases. The inaugural 'Open Innovation Program' consists of 15 projects to develop 15 syndromic qPCR diagnostics assay reagents across infectious and vector-borne diseases, as well as in the detection of drug-resistant pathogens. Applications may be submitted by Oct. 31, 2023 (11:59 PM, GMT), and following a comprehensive assessment of applications, awardees will be announced on March 15, 2024. Applicants must comprise teams of two or more individuals employed or affiliated with a university, research institute or similar organization authorized to perform pre-clinical and clinical studies. Along with research grants of up to 600,000 USD per project, the awardees will be provided with Seegene's syndromic qPCR reagents, extraction reagents, consumables, education on clinical study methods, instruments, and software for automated experimentation at no cost to use and perform pre-clinical and clinical studies for defined target pathogens during the study period. The 15 projects are in the following categories: Urinary Tract Infection Dermatophytes Sexually Transmitted Infection Vaginitis Screening, including Group B streptococcus Respiratory Panel Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Typing Tick-borne Disease Tropical Fever Virus Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Multidrug-resistant Organisms Commenting on the format of the program, Dr. Dae-Hoon Lee, Seegene's Executive Vice President and Chief R&D Officer said, "As this is the first phase of the Open Innovation Program, Seegene will lead the majority of the program product design, product development planning, and feasibility studies without clinical specimens so the awardees can focus on conducting preclinical and clinical studies with clinical specimens. "In the next phase, awardees will utilize Seegene Digitalized Development System (SGDDS) to conduct the entire development program from product designs to clinical validations." Prior to unveiling the 'Open Innovation Program,' Seegene announced its strategic partnership agreement with Springer Nature in June 2023. Through the agreement, Springer Nature is introducing the Seegene OneSystem business to the global scientific community to actively participate in developing new assays within a global network across all fields. "We believe in Seegene's mission to create a world free from all diseases by sharing its state-of-the-art technology with the global scientific community," said Richard Hughes, Vice President, Publishing, Nature & Impact Solutions of Springer Nature. "We encourage scientists from different fields to collaborate with Seegene in the development of PCR assays that can have a real impact on global health." A PCR molecular diagnostics company can typically develop only a few syndromic assays annually. However, with the Open Innovation Program, Seegene aims to significantly increase the number of assays that can be developed to hundreds and thousands a year. "With this program, Seegene has taken a first historic step toward the goal of creating a 'world free from all diseases,'" said Dr. Jong-Yoon Chun, CEO of Seegene. "The start of our global program will not only accelerate the Seegene OneSystem business but will also make an impact on the widespread adoption of syndromic qPCR diagnostics." Seegene expands on Seegene OneSystem business to create a 'world free from all diseases' As part of the Seegene OneSystem business, Seegene has recently signed partnership agreements with leading diagnostics companies Hylabs in Israel and Werfen in Spain. Seegene plans to expand partnerships from countries in Europe and Asia this year. By 2028, Seegene set its sights on signing partnership with leading companies in 100 countries. Through the Seegene OneSystem, Seegene aims to share syndromic qPCR assay technology; automated assay development technology (SGDDS); standardized raw materials technology; automated instrument technology (AIOS); automated manufacturing technology (SG MATES&ARMS); and data analysis and information management technology (SG STATS). Starting today, further information about the 'Open Innovation Program' plus related content on its anticipated benefits for health will be shared through both Springer Nature and Seegene websites. SOURCE Seegene Inc. NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The stevia market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.97% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 245 million, according to Technavio. APAC is estimated to contribute 36% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The key factors for growth are expected to come from economic expansion in the region and favorable consumption trends. The beverage sector has emerged as a major application area for sugar substitutes in the region. In addition, countries like India are seeing increasing demand for sugar-free beverages, confectionery, and sugar-free bakery products. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth in the region during the forecast period. View the Sample report Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Stevia Market Company Landscape The stevia market is fragmented; the companies are competing with competitors and are trying to get a greater market share. The market is growing, and the chances of new entrants cannot be overlooked. The major companies have well-established economies of scale and market presence and generally rely on positioning technological advances, and the price of the products -The report provides a full list of key companies, their strategies, and the latest developments. Buy Now Market Dynamics Key Driver High demand for natural sweeteners is a key factor driving market growth. Demand for natural sweeteners is on the rise as health-conscious consumers are looking for alternatives to artificial sweeteners that have been linked to side effects such as weight gain and diabetes. In addition, stevia stands out as the leading natural sweetener widely used in products such as baked goods, beverages, and snacks. This shift reflects the market's growing preference for healthier options. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Major Trend - Increased demand for stevia from the nutraceutical industry is a major trend in the market. Significant Challenge - Taste issues of stevia-based products is a significant challenge restricting market growth. Technavio has identified key trends, drivers, and challenges in the market, which will help clients improve their strategies to stay ahead of their competitors. - View Sample Report Company Profiles The stevia market report includes information on the product launches, sustainability, and prospects of leading companies including Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc., Daepyung Co. Ltd., Fraken Biochem Co. Ltd., Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients Corp., HOWTIAN, Hunan Nutramax Inc., Ingredion Inc., MANUS BIO, Morita Kagaku Kogyo Co. Ltd., Nutraceutical Corp., S and W Seed Co., Sunrise Nutrachem Group Co. Ltd., Sunwin Stevia International Inc., SweeGen Inc., Tate and Lyle Plc, The Real Stevia Co. AB, Van Wankum Ingredients BV, Wisdom Natural Brands, and Zydus Lifesciences Ltd. Market Segmentation The stevia market is segmented by application (beverage sector, food sector, and pharmaceuticals and other), type (powder extract and liquid extract), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa). The market share growth by the beverage sector segment will be significant during the forecast period. Derived from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant, stevia is a natural sweetener. It is gaining attention as a zero-calorie sugar substitute in beverages. Rising cases of obesity and diabetes are driving demand in the beverage industry. In addition, the preference for natural and organic products is driving interest in the use of stevia in beverages. Hence, these factors are expected to drive segment growth during the forecast period. Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports The licorice extract market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.68% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 758.97 million. This licorice extract market report extensively covers market segmentation by application (pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, tobacco, and others), type (powder, liquid, and block), and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa, and South America). One of the key factors driving the licorice extract market growth is the rising popularity of natural skincare products. The superfoods market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.82% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 64.8 billion. This superfoods market report extensively covers market segmentation by product (superfruits, superseeds and supergrains, edible seaweed, and others), distribution channel (offline and online), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa). One of the key factors driving the superfood market growth is the growing adoption of superfoods. Stevia Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.97% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 245 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 6.75 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 36% Key countries US, China, Japan, Spain, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading Companies, Market Positioning of Companies, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc., Daepyung Co. Ltd., Fraken Biochem Co. Ltd., Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients Corp., HOWTIAN, Hunan Nutramax Inc., Ingredion Inc., MANUS BIO, Morita Kagaku Kogyo Co. Ltd., Nutraceutical Corp., S and W Seed Co., Sunrise Nutrachem Group Co. Ltd., Sunwin Stevia International Inc., SweeGen Inc., Tate and Lyle Plc, The Real Stevia Co. AB, Van Wankum Ingredients BV, Wisdom Natural Brands, and Zydus Lifesciences Ltd. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and Market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation by Application 7 Market Segmentation by Type 8 Customer Landscape 9 Geographic Landscape 10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 11 Company Landscape 12 Company Analysis 13 Appendix About US Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com SOURCE Technavio MAPUTO, Mozambique, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Syinix held a launch event on August 31st at the local 5-star hotel Polana Serena in Maputo, Mozambique, announced their new product of the year, Syinix Supreme&Innovative QLED 4K Google TV - Q61 series TV. There were hundreds of people in attendance, including local celebrities: Ellputo, Yara Da Silva and TxioBullet, Sergio Faife hosted the launch. Syinix Q61 TV launch event in Mozambique At the beginning of the launch, Xing Bin, Syinix Global Chief Marketing Officer, introduced the Syinix brand, "Since its inception, Syinix has spread to more than 20 countries in Africa, making it a brand that enjoys significant influence on the African market. Our brand mission is to provide African families with reliable products and to help improve their quality of life." The product released at the launch is Syinix's most powerful TV: the Q61 series TV. The Syinix Q61 series TV have 4K QLED screens, Ellputo, a local celebrity in Mozambique, raved about the display. "I think the Q61 TV's screen is the best TV screen I've ever seen, it has 4K resolution, it's very clear and it uses QLED display technology to give the picture brighter colors." "Quantum Dot technology offers a billion colors to see a wider and richer range of colors." Syinix product manager described the power of QLED at the launch event. "You can see that the image shows very rich colors and details, especially the red parts are very pure. That's because the technology works by using a blue LED backlight to excite the quantum dots. This causes the quantum dots to emit light at a specific wavelength, which determines the color that is displayed on the screen. By using different sizes of quantum dots, a wide range of colors can be produced." "Syinix Q61 series TV also comes with Dolby Vision, so you won't miss a single detail." Syinix product manager shows audience at launch event." With Ultravivid colors, sharper contrast and richer details, Dolby Vision provides stunning visual effects, and you can see the emotions change on a character's face in a night shot." Not only that, Syinix went the extra mile with the display. After Syinix's product manager's research, it was found that consumers want to see images on TVs that are as natural as the effects of mobile phone photos, so since last year, Syinix's high-end products are equipped with deep skin tone optimization technology. Combined with the big data from the past year, after optimizing the algorithm, Q61 TV can show a more beautiful portrait effect, this technology is called AI Beauty Engine, your beauty can be revealed to the fullest. In addition to this, the Q61 also has an Eye Protection Mode, which filters blue light when activated to better protect the user's eyes. In terms of sound performance, the Q61 also did not disappoint. The launch site was specially arranged with a home theater display area, which allowed the audience to experience the stunning sound of Q61. Thanks to the 24W HIFI sound and Dolby Atmos, the Q61 provides a fully immersive audiovisual experience. "I like the Q61 TV's Google TV operating system, which is smart enough to recommend me the content I want to watch based on my preferences." Yara Da Silva took the stage to share her experience with the Q61. "Most importantly, the Q61 allows you to set up a space for your family that's completely theirs, I have kids so I set up viewing limits, bedtime for my kids, it's really sweet!" The Q61 series TV are available in three sizes, 75Q61 (95999MT), 65Q61 (58999MT), and 55Q61 (35999MT). To learn more about the Q61 TV, visit https://www.syinix.com/, and you can also look up stores around you on this site. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2200774/Syinix_Q61_TV_launch_event_Mozambique.jpg SOURCE Syinix Electronics STOCKHOLM, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Taggr AB, a leading provider of intelligent asset services, announced today that it has signed a pivotal agreement with Ramirent AB. Under the terms of the partnership, Taggr will provide its asset intelligence services, granting Ramirent access to vital information about its equipment fleet that previously has been difficult or impossible to obtain. "We're thrilled to embark on this journey with Ramirent. Over the past two years, both our teams have dedicated significant resources and effort to ensure the final product can truly transform the industry. Together, we aim to revolutionize the equipment industry by providing access to information in a unique way. This is essential for each asset owner's journey towards a sustainable portfolio. Our partnership not only aids in compliance with upcoming CSRD requirements but also aligns perfectly with the broader objective of achieving net-zero goals. We're proud to be at the forefront of this change," says Andreas Eriksson, CEO of Taggr AB. The integration of Taggr's service into Ramirent's operations represents a significant advancement for the European construction equipment market. Ramirent is proud to be the first in Europe to adopt such a groundbreaking service that finally addresses light and compact construction equipment. The information supplied to Ramirent offers crucial insights into, for example, fleet operational data and its whereabouts, handling, and Co2e footprint. It also enables new efficient ways of working, like light touch rental concepts. In addition, Taggr's service represents a step closer to truly open ecosystems, compared to other commercially available alternatives. "We cannot overstate the importance of this partnership for our sustainability goals, improved customer service and increased fleet operational efficiency," asserts Eric Nordin, manager digital business development at Ramirent AB. Both Taggr and Ramirent are confident that this collaboration will pave the way for a more aware, sustainable, and efficient future for the equipment rental industry. About Taggr AB Taggr AB is a pioneer in the realm of intelligent asset services. Its cutting-edge solutions enable businesses to harness the power of asset information, ensuring enhanced efficiency, sustainability, and profitability. Committed to a net-zero future, Taggr is changing the face of intelligent assets. About Ramirent AB Ramirent AB is a market leader in Swedish machine rental. Ramirent helps its customers increase both safety and efficiency in the workplace. The company does this by delivering the best machines and security solutions with unbeatable service and knowledge. Customer centers are located all over the country, from Kiruna in the north to Trelleborg in the south. Ramirent has operations in nine countries and is part of the Loxam group since 2019 which is the largest machine rental company in Europe and the world's fourth largest. For more information, please visit - www.taggr.se Andreas Eriksson [email protected] 0705556165 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/22535/3829164/2272468.pdf Press release (PDF) SOURCE Taggr AB BEIJING, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from People's Daily: The foundation of China-U.S. relations lies in the people and the source of strength lies in the friendship between their peoples, said Chinese President Xi Jinping when replying a letter from John Easterbrook, grandson of former U.S. General Joseph Stilwell. In his reply, Xi thanked Easterbrook for the letter sharing the story about the friendly exchanges between General Stilwell and several generations of the Stilwell family and China. Xi said he is glad to see that General Stilwell's dedication to friendship between China and the United States has been passed down to the fifth generation of his family, expressing his hope and belief that the Stilwell family would continue to contribute to the development of friendship between the two peoples. "I am quite honored to have received his letter," said Easterbrook when receiving a telephone interview from People's Daily, adding that he was still digesting the most kind words from Xi. The octogenarian noted that Xi is very familiar with General Stilwell's experience in and contribution to China, as well as the long-term friendly exchanges between the Stilwell family and China. He said he is very moved by Xi's knowledge of the commemorative events to mark the 140th birth anniversary of General Stilwell recently held in Chongqing, China, and by Xi's humanity in noting that the fifth generation of the Stilwell family is being immersed in the Stilwell legacy. Recently, Easterbrook wrote a letter to Xi, recalling Stilwell's exchanges with China and the Chinese people, introducing the efforts by the Stilwell family and his descendants to enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the United States and China, paying tribute to Xi's long-term support in this regard, extending gratitude to the Chinese government and people for not forgetting old friends, and expressing the Stilwell family's wish and determination to promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. Easterbrook said he wrote to Xi because he wanted to thank the Chinese President for his support of people-to-people activities between the United States and China. This year marks the 140th birth anniversary of General Stilwell. The Stilwell Museum in Chongqing, preserving the shared historical memory of the Stilwell family and the U.S.-China relationship, has become another important venue for U.S.-China people-to-people exchanges and a witness to the friendship between the two peoples. Easterbrook told People's Daily that the commemorative events to mark the 140th birth anniversary of General Stilwell held in the museum were successful and meaningful, adding that the two countries must ensure that the friendship between the two peoples is passed down from generation to generation. Xi said that General Stilwell was an old friend of the Chinese people, who gave active support to China's cause of liberation and progress and made positive contributions to the friendship between the two peoples, which the Chinese people will never forget. General Stilwell served as commander of U.S. forces in the China-Burma-India Theater from 1942 to 1944 and is fondly remembered as a hero who fought side by side with the Chinese people during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945). The Stilwell family has long fostered friendly exchanges between China and the United States. His youngest daughter Alison Stilwell Cameson and youngest son Benjamin Watson Stilwell were both born in China. In 1982, General Stilwell's oldest daughter Nancy Stilwell Easterbrook and Alison started a scholarship program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in the United States. By raising funds through art sales, the program has sponsored over 50 Chinese students to study in America over the past 40 years. Currently, John Easterbrook serves as honorary chairman of the Stilwell Scholarship. Easterbrook said the Scholarship symbolizes the profound friendship between his family and the Chinese people. With continuous donations, many Stilwell Scholarship recipients have participated in U.S.-China people-to-people exchanges, becoming envoys of friendship between the two peoples, he noted. The two peoples should strengthen exchanges, enhance understanding and expand cooperation to continuously inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations, Xi said. This strikes a chord with Easterbrook. He said friendly people-to-people exchanges can enhance friendship, and his family's exchanges with the Chinese people is an example. He believes that in today's international environment, which is full of challenges, people-to-people and cultural exchanges are specifically important and significant for deepening mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. The commemorative events held in Chongqing to mark the 140th anniversary of the birth of General Stilwell, themed "Remember Our Shared Struggle for Peace, Carry on China-US People-to-People Friendship," were joined by nine from the Stilwell family, including General Stilwell's granddaughters Susan Cole and Nancy Millward, as well as those from the fourth and fifth generations of the family. These events included a photo exhibition, at which nearly 200 historical photographs and more than 60 items provided by Easterbrook were put on display. These photos and items reviewed and paid tribute to General Stilwell's efforts to resist Japanese aggression with the Chinese people, and looked back on the profound friendship between the American general and the Chinese people. When receiving an interview with People's Daily, Susan Cole noted that people-to-people activities lead to mutual learning and understanding, and it touched her that Xi personally joins and supports people-to-people exchanges between the U.S. and China. "I was personally and deeply appreciative of being able to introduce my children to China and the Chinese people for the first time, thus extending the Stilwell legacy of friendship to the fifth generation," she said. "We will strengthen exchanges and cooperation with relevant U.S. institutions and individuals to collect, organize and study relevant archives, documents and items, so as to publicize General Stilwell's affection for the Chinese people and love for the Chinese culture, as well as his historical contributions to people-to-people exchanges between China and the U.S.," said Tao Yan, the curator of the Stilwell Museum, located in Yuzhong district of Chongqing. "We will build an enduring bridge to pass down the friendship between the two peoples from generation to generation," Tao added. Easterbrook said it is important to encourage more people to join people-to-people exchanges between the U.S. and China, and the Stilwell family will continue to look for ways to engage with the Chinese people. "After all, the more we get to know each other the more we realize that we have much in common with basic wants, needs, and dreams. With that understanding, we can build on common objectives to make the world a better place," he remarked. SOURCE People's Daily The market for hydrogen generation was estimated to be worth $160.0 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to rise to $263.5 billion by 2027, with a predicted CAGR of 10.5% between 2022 and 2027. The market is expanding as a result of the rising demand for hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles (FECV) and rockets used in the aerospace industry. The use of hydrogen fuel cells in light-weight vehicles like bicycles, automobiles, buses, trains, material handling equipment, boats, ships, commercial aircraft, auxiliary power units (APUs) of aircraft, marine vessels, and specialty vehicles like forklifts is promoting the market growth in the transportation sector. Due to the existence of strict emission regulations, the market is anticipated to have significant expansion in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Because the nations in the region are ambitious about decreasing their carbon footprint and are investigating the use cases of renewable energy sources, the Asia Pacific region is predicted to lead the worldwide market. Downlaod Research Sample @ https://www.360quadrants.com/energy-and-power/hydrogen-generation Unveiling the Market Leaders: Honoring Excellence in Hydrogen Generation Markets Linde plc is a global leader that offers industrial gases as well as top-notch technical solutions, technology, and services. With respect to both market share and revenue, it is the biggest industrial gas company worldwide. The Americas, EMEA, APAC, Engineering, and Other business segments make up the company's operational structure. It provides services to clients in the healthcare, oil refining, manufacturing, food, beverage carbonation, fiber optics, aerospace, chemical, electronics, and water treatment industries. is a global leader that offers industrial gases as well as top-notch technical solutions, technology, and services. With respect to both market share and revenue, it is the biggest industrial gas company worldwide. The Americas, EMEA, APAC, Engineering, and Other business segments make up the company's operational structure. It provides services to clients in the healthcare, oil refining, manufacturing, food, beverage carbonation, fiber optics, aerospace, chemical, electronics, and water treatment industries. Air Liquide offers industrial gases and services to a range of industries, including the pharmaceutical, chemical, and electronics sectors. It is the biggest supplier of industrial gases on the planet. The business provides services to a variety of sectors, including the medical, electronics, and chemical industries. Large Industries, Industrial Merchant, Healthcare, Electronics, Global Markets and Technologies, and Engineering and Construction are the company's six primary business segments. offers industrial gases and services to a range of industries, including the pharmaceutical, chemical, and electronics sectors. It is the biggest supplier of industrial gases on the planet. The business provides services to a variety of sectors, including the medical, electronics, and chemical industries. Large Industries, Industrial Merchant, Healthcare, Electronics, Global Markets and Technologies, and Engineering and Construction are the company's six primary business segments. Air Products Inc. offers its services for planning, designing, constructing, and managing industrial gas projects. Industrial Gases- Americas, Industrial Gases- EMEA, Industrial Gases- Asia , Industrial Gases- Global, and Corporate and Other are the company's five business divisions. The business provides services and goods for the production of speciality, process, and atmospheric gases.. offers its services for planning, designing, constructing, and managing industrial gas projects. Industrial Gases- Americas, Industrial Gases- EMEA, Industrial Gases- , Industrial Gases- Global, and Corporate and Other are the company's five business divisions. The business provides services and goods for the production of speciality, process, and atmospheric gases.. Engie is a large, international business that provides services and low-carbon energy. The business is active in the areas of natural gas, electric generating, renewable energy, and energy transition. It operates through the segments of Client Solutions, Thermal Energy, Renewable Energies, and Infrastructure. Engie is present in 48 countries globally including 27 nations in Europe . The main rivals of Engie in the market for hydrogen generation are Exelon, Total Energies, and Electricite de France . is a large, international business that provides services and low-carbon energy. The business is active in the areas of natural gas, electric generating, renewable energy, and energy transition. It operates through the segments of Client Solutions, Thermal Energy, Renewable Energies, and Infrastructure. Engie is present in 48 countries globally including 27 nations in . The main rivals of Engie in the market for hydrogen generation are Exelon, Total Energies, and Electricite de . Siemens is the largest industrial manufacturing enterprise and a leading global technology corporation is Siemens. The corporation primarily concentrates on the sectors of industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare. Siemens Healthineers, Digital Industries, Portfolio Companies, Smart Infrastructure, Mobility, and Siemens Financial Services are the six business segments of the corporation. More than 2000 manufacturing and production facilities exist worldwide for Siemens. Air Liquide as well as regional and local firms are Siemens' main rivals. CATEGORIZATION OF HYDROGEN GENERATION COMPANIES ON 360 QUADRANTS Hydrogen generation companies evaluation was conducted for 60 companies, of which the top 20 were categorized and placed in the quadrant under Market Leaders, Contenders, Innovators, and Emerging Companies. All the companies in the market leader segment demonstrated strong offerings and the ability to influence the market's direction with their deep expertise. These companies include Aramco, Linde, Shell, Air Liquide, Chevron and Air Products. Uniper have been recognized as contenders in the Hydrogen Generation quadrant. The contenders are companies with a strong market presence, excelling in specific niches. While not offering the full range of market leaders, they wield significant influence and impact. These companies focus on specific technologies and aim to establish leadership within their chosen segment. In the quadrant, innovators are highly innovative companies with a strong product portfolio, but a smaller market presence compared to leaders. They push industry boundaries with forward-thinking approaches and have the potential to become major players despite lower corporate growth strategies. Siemens, Iberdrola, Orsted, Xebec Adsorption, BayoTech and Hiringa have been identified as the innovators in the quadrant. The 360 Quadrants effectively evaluates emerging companies in the Hydrogen generation industry. They focus on specific areas and offer specialized knowledge, targeted support, flexible terms, and competitive prices. While they may have limited capabilities, they are preferred for specific use cases. These companies employ strategies to expand sales and reach a broader client base. This segment of the quadrant has identified ENGIE, BP, Equinor, ExxonMobil, PETRONAS, Messer Group, and Iwatani Corporation as emerging companies. Evaluation Criteria The vendor evaluation was conducted on over 60 companies of which the top 20 were categorized and recognized as the quadrant leaders. Factors such as revenue, geographic presence, vendor's market share, and business strategies have been considered to evaluate the Hydrogen Generation quadrant. The top criteria for company evaluation were Production Technologies (steam methane reforming (SMR), Partial Oxidation (POX), Goal Gasification and Electrolysis), Application (power generation, transportation, petroleum refinery, ammonia production, and methanol production), Source (grey hydrogen, blue hydrogen, and green hydrogen). 360Quadrants Scoring Methodology 360 Quadrants employs a comprehensive and transparent scoring methodology to evaluate companies. It identifies relevant evaluation criteria, collects, and validates data from multiple sources, and employs an algorithm that considers parameter weights to generate scores. Normalization ensures fair comparisons, and the aggregated scores categorize solutions into quadrants such as Market Leaders, Contenders, Innovators, and Emerging Companies. This unbiased approach equips users with accurate information, empowering them to make well-informed decisions and select solutions that best suit their needs and objectives. Claim Your Free Marketing Kit @ https://www.360quadrants.com/energy-and-power/hydrogen-generation See Also: About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research and facilitates analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry. 360 Quadrants will also be launching 100 quadrants in Chemicals and Materials, Packaging, Energy & Power, and Healthcare. Visit https://www.360quadrants.com to access our interactive quadrants. For media inquiries, please contact: Mr. Agney Sugla MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road, Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2200850/Hydrogen_generation_quadrant.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets BEIJING, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a report from China.org.cn: Tsinghua Global Youth Dialogue launched the United Youth Initiative at its closing ceremony in Beijing on August 30, calling for reimagining new approaches to governance, economics, social justice, and environmental stewardship to achieve true global prosperity and security. Tsinghua Global Youth Dialogue launched the United Youth Initiative at its closing ceremony in Beijing on Aug. 30, 2023. Students from Tsinghua and youth representatives performs a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne" at the end of the closing ceremony on Aug. 30, 2023. The dialogue, themed "United Youth and Shared Future," aimed to "Empower the Youth of Tomorrow and Shaping the Future for Youth." It brought together government officials, esteemed scholars, entrepreneurs, international organization leaders, and young representatives. These participants shared views, exchanged experiences, and stressed the importance of global youth collaboration for building a harmonious global community and a promising planetary future. Wang Xiqin, president of Tsinghua University, noted that young people are the most positive and vigorous group in the society. He underscored, as the future of the world belongs to youths, dialogues among youths are indispensable for human beings to address common challenges and move towards a better future. The Tsinghua Global Youth Dialogue was initiated with the aim of offering a multilateral mechanism for exchanges and cooperation among youths around the world and encouraging youths to join hands to contribute to global development. Dong Xia, deputy secretary-general of the All-China Youth Federation, spoke of the vast opportunities the digital age offers today's youth. However, she also pointed out the complex issues they confront, like economic stagnation, growing development disparities, and ecological decline. While young people are significantly affected by these challenges, Dong believed they're best positioned to seize opportunities and tackle these issues. Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations resident coordinator in China, highlighted young people's distinctive qualities that prime them for leadership. According to Chatterjee, growing up in a digital age, young people are the generation that has witnessed the birth and evolution of social media, artificial intelligence, and renewable energy. They have the ability to harness the potential of these advancements and apply that to find creative solutions to global problems. During the event, three thematic discussions took center stage, addressing AI technology and the digital economy, climate change and sustainability, and fostering mutual understanding through cultural exchange. To conclude the ceremony on Aug. 30, 2023, Tsinghua students and youth delegates presented a rendition of "Auld Lang Syne," epitomizing the enduring connections uniting young individuals across diverse cultures and origins. SOURCE China.org.cn RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Huawei Cloud announced the launch of the Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region today at the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023. This Region will help promote digital-led economic growth in the country. The launch of the Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region announced that the Saudi Arabia Region will be Huawei Cloud's focus in serving the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, providing innovative, reliable, secure, and sustainable cloud services. This achievement underscores Huawei CLOUD's unwavering dedication to supporting Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, aligned with the nation's ambitious technological advancement, leadership, and innovation goals. H.E. Eng. Haitham bin Abdul Rahman Al-Ohali, Vice Minister at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in Saudi Arabia, shared his perspective on this monumental achievement: "Huawei is a proud partner in our country's technological progress having worked with the Ministry, service providers, enterprises and universities in various collective efforts towards digital transformation. We look forward to the transformative impact the Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region will have on our digital ecosystem, creating new avenues for innovation and growth." The Riyadh Region provides several benefits to customers. First, this region translates Huawei's global expertise on digital transformation into industries' excellence, making innovation easier and faster. Huawei Cloud Saudi Region is located in Riyadh and through a 3AZ (availability zone) architecture, it will provide highly available and secure cloud services, ensuring the stable operations of various services. In addition, the Region can provide full-stack cloud services, including infrastructure, databases, containers, big data, and AI services to meet the requirements of various industries. Based on the 3AZ high-reliability architecture, the Riyadh Region provides low latency, covering all existing carriers' networks powered by STC, Zain, and Mobily. The local data center will store data locally in line with local data regulations. The company will also launch 68 cloud services in three categories data, AI, and cloud native. Steven Yi, Senior Vice President of Huawei and President of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia Region, said: "I've cherished numerous unforgettable moments in this extraordinary country. Just yesterday, walking through the newly renovated Diriyah evoked my deep emotions. It brought to mind an old Chinese saying: 'Build the right nest, and a Phoenix will come.' The essence is clear: create an inviting environment, and you'll attract the best. This is undeniably true for Saudi, a nation that consistently attracts top investors." The company revealed that Huawei Cloud will utilize a number of industry-leading technologies to advance intelligence for Saudi Arabia, including the Pangu Models 3.0, which address AI adoption challenges, leveraging industry insights to enhance AI capabilities across sectors like finance, government, manufacturing, and more. Pangu Models 3.0 will usher in a new era of innovation in the Kingdom while accelerating economic diversification. At the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023, the company also released the "Saudi Arabia Go Cloud Go Global" program to connect Chinese and Saudi enterprises, fostering growth and innovation. The company will leverage its strong experience of working in more than 170 countries and regions, various industries, advanced technologies, and solutions to help Chinese enterprises enter Saudi Arabia and enhance partnerships with local stakeholders. Jacqueline Shi, President of Huawei Cloud Global Marketing and Sales Service, said, "Huawei Cloud aims high, aims global, and aims here in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia Region will be our focus in serving the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, providing innovative, reliable, secure, and sustainable cloud services. We hope to create a better choice for advancing intelligence. This cloud gives you more choices to stay innovative, inclusive, and open. This cloud will help you succeed in the digital and intelligent era. This cloud is for everyone." At the event, the company also announced that Huawei Cloud will train 200,000 developers in Saudi Arabia in the next five years. It will also build joint solutions with 1,000 local partners and launch the Huawei Cloud Startup Program to help 2,000 startups grow. Eric Yang, CEO of Huawei Saudi Arabia, said: "We are proudly launching Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region today. It has been a great journey for us in Saudi Arabia for the last 20 years. Huawei is a constructor for an intelligent society, contributor to a thriving economy, and cultivator for a prosperous talent ecosystem. Towards 2030, we will stay dedicated to continuously providing ubiquitous connectivity, green energy, pervasive cloud computing and AI capabilities for Saudi Arabia to unlock unlimited opportunities of the new digital era." Huawei Saudi Arabia was founded in 2002 and has played a pivotal role in the digital transformation in Saudi Arabia. Over the course of 19 years, Huawei has collaborated with regional communication service providers (CSPs) to provide reliable network assurance for the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia without incidents. The company also supported the roll-out of 5G in the Kingdom, enabling the country to become one of the world's pioneer 5G markets. Huawei has helped connect 3.5 million people in rural areas, created 20,000 local jobs, and cultivated 10,000 ICT talents for Saudi Arabia. Under its "Everything as a Service" strategy, Huawei Cloud is focused on becoming the cloud foundation and enabler of industry digitalization, providing services for customers in more than 170 countries and regions worldwide. SOURCE Huawei Washington, Sep 4 : Indian-origin tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is seeking a Republican nomination for the 2024 US presidential election, said the Espionage Act under which former President Donald Trump has been charged is "the most un-American statute" in the history of the US. The 38-year-old who has vowed to pardon Trump if elected to power in 2024, told ABC News that "there is a difference between a bad judgment and a crime". "The Presidential Records Act was nowhere mentioned in that 49-page indictment in the documents case. I think the Espionage Act under which Trump was charged is the most un-American statute in our history," Ramaswamy said. "Would I have done the same and held onto those documents? No, I would not have. Do I think it is an illegal behavior under the Presidential Records Act and other statutes? No, I do not." Trump has been charged with 37 violations of the US Espionage Act, an anti-spy law enacted by Congress shortly after the start of World War One. Of these, 31 relate to secret or top secret classified documents. He is also charged with obstructing justice, conspiracy, concealment and false statements, and has pleaded not guilty. Polling second among Republican presidential candidates in some recent national polls, Ramaswamy said he is not in favour of the Republican front-runner being forced out of the race in the face of four indictments against him. He said that instead of pursuing a "vengeance-driven prosecution", the country should focus on "moving forward". Ramaswamy, who has heaped praises on fellow Republican rival Trump throughout his campaign, had said that the two have policy differences "but they are small". The political outsider deemed Trump the "best president of the 21st century", on the Milwaukee Republican debate stage last month. Meanwhile, Trump is mulling over skipping his appearance in the Fulton County Court at Atlanta on September 6, and instead permit his attorney to enter his plea in writing. The Republican frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary has been indicted in four criminal cases -- two by the Justice Department, and two by state prosecutors in New York and Georgia, separately. He has criticised the cases against him as part of a politically motivated attempt to keep him from recapturing the White House. --IANS mi/ksk Washington, Sep 4 : US President Joe Biden has expressed his "disappointment" over his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping's likely absence at this week's G20 Summit in New Delhi. According to news reports, Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to represent China at the summit which will take place from September 8 to 10 in the Indian capital, reports the BBC. "I am disappointed... but I am going to get to see him," Biden told reporters on Sunday, without providing any further details. The last time the two Presidents met was at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia in 2022. Xi had earlier said he would travel to New Delhi for the Summit, but China's Foreign Ministry did not confirm his attendance when asked to do so at a regular press briefing on August 31. Xi and Biden may still have an opportunity to speak in November, at a meeting among leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in San Francisco, the BBC reported. The withdrawal comes as US-China ties have continued to deteriorate in the past year. In an attempt to improve ties, a series of top US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry, have travelled to China in recent months. Tehran, Sep 4 : Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with visiting Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and the implementation of bilateral agreements. At a joint press conference, Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday that the two countries have set an annual trade volume target of 30 billion euros ($32.33 billion) and are halfway to achieving the goal, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported. The talks focused on the implementation of the bilateral agreements signed between Iran and Turkey during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Tehran in July last year, said the Iranian top diplomat. Amir-Abdollahian called for further cooperation between Iran and Turkey in consular affairs to facilitate the travel of citizens from both countries, Xinhua news agency reported. The two Ministers also vowed to take more active measures to prevent the spread of Islamophobia and desecration of the Islamic holy book of Quran, according to the Iranian Foreign Minister. Both Iran and Turkey have agreed to hold a trilateral meeting to be attended by Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to increase economic cooperation among the three countries, Amir-Abdollahian said. The Turkish Foreign Minister, for his part, said he and his Iranian counterpart held consultations on the Iranian President's planned visit to Turkey in the coming days, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency. Fidan added that Ankara welcomes the normalisation of relations between Tehran and Riyadh, describing Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia as three major and responsible countries in the region, whose friendly relations are of great importance in terms of ensuring regional stability. He said the two sides also discussed guaranteeing security along the common border, fighting terrorism and expanding trade, economic and energy cooperation. Kanpur, Sep 4 : Kanpur police have launched an investigation into a viral video that purportedly shows a 'Nikah' ceremony, in which a local Hindu youth is said to have converted to marry a Muslim girl. The couple that belongs to Chaubeypur area of the district have since moved out to an undisclosed location. Chaubeypur police station in-charge Sanjay Pandey said: "We are trying to get in touch with the family of the couple. The video, however, is of a ceremony that was performed a few months ago in an urban area." The Vishva Hindu Parishad's district convener Vipin Shukla, led protests at the Chaubeypur police station on Sunday demanding a fair investigation and strict action against those involved in the alleged conversion. "A Hindu youth has been converted and married to a Muslim girl. It should be investigated. There is some conspiracy behind this," Shukla added. Police said that according to the locals, the incident is four months old, when a local Hindu boy had eloped with a minor Muslim girl from the neighbourhood. According to locals, the couple had earlier married according to Hindu customs, but later the Hindu youth was converted and got married to the Muslim girl. Initially, police said, the parents of the girl had also accused the youth of abducting their minor daughter and had lodged a complaint. "Our investigation is on," the station in-charge said. Ambedkar Nagar : , Sep 4 (IANS) 18-year-old Vinod Kumar was killed in a clash between two groups over cattle grazing in Ambedkar Nagar, officials said on Monday. Police have registered a case against eight people. According to reports, Ajay Kumar and his accomplices reached Sheela Devi's house in Bhadohi village on Sunday night to complain about cattle grazing on his fields. An abusive argument ensued. "It is alleged that Ashok, Mahendra Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Brijesh Kumar, Shimla, and Shyama, who came with Ajay, started throwing stones at Sheela and her family members. Vinod Kumar a.k.a Kallu, a relative of Sheela Devi, tried to intervene. A brick hit his head and he fell unconscious," said the police. Vinod was taken to Jalalpur CHC, where he was declared dead by doctors. Malipur police reached the village at night and sent the body for post-mortem. A case has been registered against the accused under relevant IPC sections. One accused Shyama Devi has been arrested, the police spokesperson said. Seoul, Sep 4 : School teachers will hold a massive rally in Seoul on Monday to mourn the recent suicide deaths of fellow teachers distressed by disgruntled parents and unruly students, and to call for measures to prevent such tragedies. The rally, set to begin at 4:30 p.m. in front of the National Assembly, had originally been planned to mourn the death of a young teacher in the South Korean capital who took her own life in July after struggling to deal with a school violence case, reports Yonhap News Agency. But at least two additional teacher suicides happened last week, one in Seoul on August 31 and the other in the southwestern city of Gunsan on September 1, adding fuel to the anger about bad treatment of teachers and raising the possibility of Monday's rally becoming the largest-ever teacher protest. Many teachers have filed for a one-day leave of absence to attend the rally, and some 30 elementary schools across the nation have even designated Monday a temporary holiday as too many teachers wanted to take a day off for the collective action, called "Public Education Stoppage Day". A teacher at an elementary school in western Seoul said only 14 of the school's 48 teachers came to work, with the rest taking the day off apparently to attend the rally. Situations at other elementary schools were believed to be similar. Teachers in provincial regions also planned to hold rallies in front of regional education offices. On Saturday, around 200,000 teachers from around the country gathered in Seoul's Yeouido near the National Assembly to commemorate the recent deaths of teachers and to call for the better protection of their rights. It is very rare for teachers in South Korea to stage such a large rally on their own without the involvement of labor unions. The Education Ministry maintains that any teacher taking a leave of absence to join the collective action will be dealt with sternly in accordance with the law and principles. NZ votes yes for euthanasia, no to cannabis legalisation. Image Source: IANS News Wellington, Sep 4 : The New Zealand Electoral Commission on Monday called on eligible voters to enroll as soon as possible in order to cast a ballot for the 2023 general election on October 14. Currently, 89 per cent of eligible voters are enrolled, said Anusha Guler, the Electoral Commission's deputy chief executive operations, calling on those yet to enroll to act now, reports Xinhua news agency. New Zealand uses the Mixed Member Proportional voting system to elect its parliament. Under this system, the government is usually formed by two or more parliamentary political parties. New Zealand citizens or permanent residents of 18 years or older, who have lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time in their life, are eligible to vote in the election. The upcoming elections will determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of New Zealand. Voters will elect 120 members to the unicameral New Zealand House of Representatives under the mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system, a proportional representation system in which 72 members will be elected from single-member electorates and 48 members from closed party lists. At the 2020 election, the centre-left Labour Party, led by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, won an outright majority in the House, the first time under MMP that a party has been able to form a government without needing the support of another. Bengaluru, Sep 4 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday released the brochure of the prestigious Bengaluru Tech Summit and interacted with the industrialists here. Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, Minister for IT and BT, RDPR Priyank Kharge, IT Sector Vision Group President and Co-founder and Executive Vice-Chairman Infosys, Kris Gopalakrishnan, BT Sector Vision Group President and Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and other dignitaries were present. Priyank Kharge, the Minister for Rural Development, and Panchayat Raj, IT and BT, had announced that the 26th edition of the Summit is set to surpass all expectations with an unparalleled scale and an unprecedented level of global participation. "This summit is an extraordinary event that will redefine the boundaries of technology and innovation is scheduled to take place at the Bangalore Palace from Nov 29 to December 1," he had stated. Over 200 global technology leaders take the stage to share their invaluable insights at BTS 2023. GIA Partner Countries to host 16 engaging sessions and witness representations from Australia, France, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. This year's India-US Tech Conclave's 3rd Edition will focus on the advancements in emerging technologies, particularly in IT and health tech, the official release had stated. Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, Government of Karnataka and Software Technology Parks of India, the organisers are likely to make an important announcement in Bengaluru on Monday. New Delhi, Sep 4 : A Delhi court has granted bail to former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain in a case related to the 2020 north-east riots, wherein the injury was caused to one Ajay Goswami Gautam after he was shot at on February 25 in Khajuri Khas area. Delhi Police had lodged a case against Hussain for offences of attempt to murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy. Saying that the high court had granted Hussain bail in two other incidents wherein the details of the place and time were proximate to the current one, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala gave him the relief. The judge clarified that a bail order may not be a precedent for other case. "..in the aforesaid peculiar situation, bail granted to the applicant by a court higher in hierarchy to this court, does create a material change in the circumstances in favour of the applicant," the court said. Moreover, it was also noted by the court that many of the witnesses are common in all the FIRs and the high court had appreciated the merits in the earlier two cases before granting bail to Hussain. "In that situation for this court there may not be a reason to take a different view. This material change in the circumstance in itself becomes a ground to grant bail to the accused/applicant in this case as well. Hence, application is allowed," the court said. However, Madhukar Pandey, Special Public Prosecutor argued that bail order is not binding precedent. Anything stated in the bail order, is peculiar to that case only and therefore, bail granted in other cases cannot be a material change of circumstance for this case. He further submitted that public witnesses reside in same vicinity and they will feel threatened due to release of applicant. Hussain along with co-accused persons, is facing trial for various charges including under Section 307 read with Section 120B and 149 of the Indian Penal Code, in respect of incident related to injured Goswami. While the court granted him bail, it imposed certain conditions on him saying that he shall not leave the country without express permission from it, that he should not try to influence witnesses, etc. "Applicant Mohd. Tahir Hussain is admitted to bail, on his furnishing P/B and S/B in the sum of Rs 1,00,000 each with one surety in the like amount," the court added. Complainant Goswami had alleged that on February 25, 2020, he had come to his uncle's home, and at about 3:50 p.m. he was going to his home at C 153, Gali No. 21, Khajuri Khas, Delhi. When he was at the corner of gali, he saw a huge mob on main Karawal Nagar road indulging into pelting stones and firing gun shots. Goswami on seeing this started running back towards home of his uncle in gali no. 8, Moonga Nagar. At that time, he felt being hit on his hip by some bullet. Ottawa 'completely out of control' after truckers outnumber police. Image Source: IANS News Ottawa, Sep 4 : At least two people were killed and six others injured after a shooting at a wedding reception in Canada's capital Ottawa, police said. Addressing media on Sundat, Acting Duty Insp. Amy Bond said police responded to reports of gunfire at about 10.21 p.m. on Saturday in the city's south end, CBC News reported. Thevictims were attending areception at the Infinity Convention Centre onthe 2900 block ofGibfordDrive, off Hunt Club Road near the Ottawa International Airport. Four hours after the shooting, police here were no further threats to public safety. The two victims were identified Sunday afternoon as 26-year-old Said Mohamed Ali and 29-year-oldAbdishakur Abdi-Dahir, both from Toronto. Ottawa police had made no arrests as of Sunday and did not have a description of any suspects. "This violence is tragic. It's unacceptable," Bond said."It's disturbing for our entire community." New York, Sep 4 : Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko maintained her clean sheet against Iga Swiatek, ending the World No.1's US Open title defense with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory in the fourth round. Swiatek's loss on Sunday means World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka will overtake the Pole and ascend to the No.1 ranking after the US Open. Swiatek will have held the top spot for 75 consecutive weeks, the third-longest first-time streak in WTA Tour history. Into her first US Open quarterfinal, Ostapenko will next face No.6 Coco Gauff. The two have split their two prior meetings, with Ostapenko knocking the American out of the Australian Open in January. After taking the first set handily, a listless Swiatek found herself down 1-4 against Ostapenko. It was a deficit she could not overcome, thanks to Ostapenkoas solid service games, and the No. 20 seed assertively tucked away the set to force a decisive third. It was all one-way traffic from there, as Swiatek fell behind quickly in the third set with two consecutive breaks against her serve. Ostapenko was not holding back, punishing the four-time Grand Slam championas serve with damaging returns and completely unraveling her game to earn the win in just under two hours. Earlier in the day, Gauff defeated 33-year-old Dane wildcard Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to become the first American teenager to reach back-to-back quarterfinals at the US Open since Serena Williams. Sonipat, Sep 4 : In a momentous announcement, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has announced the award of more than 2,000 scholarships to deserving students for the forthcoming academic year 2024-25. This transformative initiative is geared towards providing outstanding young talent with equal opportunities to access high-quality education. The decision to award more than 2000+ scholarships for the incoming batch of 2024-25 is to commemorate the special occasion of the 15th anniversary of JGU to be celebrated in 2024. This will empower more than 60% of the new students admitted in 2024 to receive these scholarships to study at JGU. JGU has long championed the values of pluralism, diversity, and inclusivity. While making this historic announcement, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, iterated that "We are most delighted to announce this transformative initiative to award over 2000+ scholarships to our incoming students in 2024. JGU believes education to be a beacon of opportunity for all, regardless of their family background or economic standing. Our founding Chancellor and benefactor, Mr. Naveen Jindal has always recognised the importance of access to education for the deserving students, regardless of their financial circumstances. The most tangible expression of this commitment is our generous scholarship programme. During the last 14 years, JGU has awarded over Rs 250 crores in scholarships and almost half of the students studying at JGU have been recipients of these scholarships. It has been a life-changing experience for our students as they got access to a world-class education, which they may not have been able to afford." Professor Raj Kumar, who was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and received full scholarships to study at Harvard University and Oxford University in the late 90's, explained the importance of instituting substantial scholarships at JGU this year by emphasising that "these are not just financial aids; they are transformative opportunities. They open doors to world-class higher education for individuals who might otherwise have been denied access due to financial constraints." He further added that, "Our commitment to providing scholarships is not just a policy; it's a reflection of our deep-seated belief that education is a powerful tool for social change." Embracing a comprehensive array of disciplines across 12 schools, including Law, Business, International Affairs, Public Policy, Liberal Arts, Media Studies, Architecture, Banking & Finance, Environment & Sustainability, Psychology & Counselling, Languages & Literature, Public Health & Human Development, and two specialised research institutes focusing on behavioural sciences and education, JGU is dedicated to shattering conventional educational boundaries and nurturing interdisciplinary learning. With over 30 undergraduate programmes and more than 15 postgraduate programmes, JGU's academic offerings are firmly grounded in interdisciplinary innovation, enabling students to seamlessly transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries in their pursuit of knowledge. Professor Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar, JGU observed, "The award of over 2000+ scholarships in 2024 will enable JGU to place the student experience at its core, which is further fuelled by dynamic academia-industry interface and partnerships with national and international institutions. With over 1,100 full-time faculty members from 51 countries in the world, JGU provides a world-class education. For students aspiring for international exposure, JGU offers a wide range of student mobility programmes in collaboration with 400+ international higher education institutions in over 70 countries." Professor (Dr.) Upasana Mahanta, Dean (Admissions and Outreach), JGU stated, "JGU's announcement of over 2000+ scholarships in 2024 will pave way for the democratisation of higher education with strong emphasis on access, diversity and inclusion. Our scholarships are not just about supporting students; they are about fostering a diverse and inclusive learning environment. We firmly believe that this diversity is a source of strength, innovation, and progress. If you have a strong desire and passion to be a changemaker in society, JGU provides the ideal platform for you to acquire and enhance the necessary skills for your journey, with financial constraints not being a hindrance". With this announcement of scholarships for 2,000 students, JGU continues to ensure that these invaluable resources are accessible to exceptionally talented individuals, thereby enriching its academic community and fostering global excellence. The scholarships are to be awarded on merit-cum-means, following a transparent and holistic admissions process. The eligibility criteria include annual family income, last qualifying examination score, JSAT (Jindal Scholastic Aptitude Test) or any other relevant standardised examination results and faculty interview score (where applicable). Professor Anand Prakash Mishra, Director of Law Admissions (JGLS) observed, "The 2000+ scholarships that will be awarded to our students in 2024 will be a giant step in the landscape of higher education and legal education in India. In all academic programmes of Jindal Global Law School, LSAT--India 2024 Test score will remain the most important criterion to award scholarships. Every law aspirant in the country must take the LSAT--India 2024 Test as this Test is critical not only for admission to JGLS but also for scholarships." Vikram Singh Tomar, Director of Admissions (JGBS & JSBF) observed, "All schools of JGU offer scholarships to students. Today's announcement of the award of over 2000+ scholarships to students across India and beyond will enable many outstanding students to dream and aspire to study at JGU and will empower them to make JGU as their preferred choice of study in 2024." New Delhi, Sep 4 : Cybersecurity researchers have found that the official website of the Ministry of AYUSH in Jharkhand was breached which has exposed over 3.2 lakh patient records on the dark web, a new report said on Monday. According to the cybersecurity company CloudSEK, the website's database, amounting to 7.3 MB, holds patient records that include personally identifiable information (PII) and medical diagnoses. The compromised data also contains sensitive information about doctors, including their PII, login credentials, usernames, passwords, and phone numbers. The data breach was initiated by a threat actor named "Tanaka". The Ayush website is a critical resource providing information about Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy treatments. "The link between the compromised data and Ayush Jharkhand's website was established by cross-referencing chatbot and blog post data shared by the threat actor with publicly accessible data on the website," the researchers said. According to the report, the data breach exposed about 500 login credentials (some in cleartext), contact information of 737 individuals who utilized the "Contact Us" form, 472 records containing PII details of doctors, PII data of 91 doctors, along with the information about where they were posted. Moreover, the researchers said that the data breach poses significant risks, potentially leading to -- account takeovers due to leaked data, brute force attacks exploiting common or weak passwords, and heightened susceptibility to sophisticated phishing attacks. To address this critical breach, the cybersecurity experts recommended several mitigation strategies such as the implementation of a robust password policy, activation of multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all logins, prompt patching of vulnerable and exploitable endpoints, prohibition of sharing unencrypted secrets on messaging platforms like Slack or WhatsApp, and others. Islamabad, Sep 4 : The Hindu community in Kashmore district of Pakistan's Sindh province has had enough of the continuous lawlessness, kidnappings for ransom and failure of authorities to recover the victims. The continued kidnappings targeted on Hindu traders and community members in Kashmor has sparked a wave of protests across the province. Kashmore's Hindu community staged a strong protest, blocking the main Indus Highway for at least 34 hours, disconnecting the road route of Sindh province from Balochistan and Punjab. The protesters chanted slogans for freedom and justice, demanding immediate action against the ongoing abductions of their loved ones from the community and others in and around the Kashmor district, who they said have been kidnapped for ransom by miscreants. "Hindu traders and their families have been kidnapped and the authorities have not moved an inch to take any action to recover them. One of our Hindu trader from Kashmor, his son Sagar Kumar has been kidnapped. It has been 20 days now. We have received video of Sagar being tortured and assaulted by the kidnappers. They are demanding billions on ransom. Where do we go to seek justice?" asked social worker Narain Das Bheel. "At least 40 people from the Hindu community have been kidnapped within the past two months. We have been running after police authorities to take action but they seem ignorant towards the matter. We, the Hindu community has been living in the Kashmor district for decades. We have our businesses here and we have good relations with everyone. But since our people have started getting kidnapped for ransom, we have failed to find anyone who would hear us out and rescue or loved ones", said Ashish, a Hindu trader in Kashmore, The protests in Kashmore have also been supported in the main centre of the Sindh province Karachi, where hundreds of protestors from the Hindu community, the civil society and others gathered at the "teen talwar" roundabout in Clifton, to record their strong protest against the ongoing abduction and provincial government's failure. "We demand justice. Justice for Sagar Kumar, for Mukhee Jagdesh, for Priya Kumari, Dr. Muneer and for a seven-year-old little boy. We want an end to this injustice, this brutality, this targeted kidnappings of the Hindu community", said renown human rights activist Sheema Kirmani. "Kidnapping for ransom, highway robberies, shop looting, motorcycle stealing and house robberies in Kashmir and Kandhkot have spread panic and fear among the Hindu community, which has been living there for decades. It as become negligible to carry out trading and other business activities after the rising lawlessness", said Jitesh Kumar, a local resident and businessperson in Kashmore. Speaking to IANS, another local trader in Kashmore said that the security situation and fear among the Hindu community has become so high that many families started migrating to others parts of the province, while many were migrating from Sindh to India. "Migration of Hindu families from Thulh, Kashmore is due to the failure of Sindh police in maintaining law and order. Hindu families have also started migrating from Sindh to India because of increased cases of kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls," said Sumeet Rathore. New Delhi, Sep 4 : Chinese President Xi Jinping will not be attending the G20 summit in New Delhi, which is scheduled to be held between September 9 and 10. After days of uncertainty, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning confirmed Jinping's unavailability for the G20 summit in a statement on Monday. It said that Chinese premier Li Qiang will attend the summit in Jinping's place. "At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit in Delhi this weekend," Ning said in a statement. The Spokesperson said that, "China hopes the summit can consolidate consensus, convey confidence and promote development." The Chinese government did not disclose any reason for Jinping's inability to attend the G20 summit. There is also uncertainty about Jinping attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and East Asia summits in Indonesia's Jakarta later this week. Patna, Sep 4 : A BJP leader was stabbed to death and another critically injured in Bihar's West Champaran district on Monday, just hours after a relative of a former union minister was shot at in Nalanda district. The deceased BJP leader has been identified as Sonu Kumar. According to the police, Sonu Kumar and his friend Sujit Kumar were on their morning walk in Godwa Tola village when some unidentified men stabbed them at around 7 a.m. The two were critically injured in the attack and taken to theGMCH Bettiah where doctors declared Sonu Kumar brought dead. Meanwhile, former Union Minister R.C.P. Singh's relative who was shot at on Sunday night, is said to bebattling for his life in PMCH Patna. New Delhi, Sep 4 : During hearing on the batch of pleas challenging nullification of Article 370 before the Constitution Bench, Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud said that the digital SCR (Supreme Court Reports) having exact headnotes as it appears in volumes will be out soon in the next few weeks. CJI Chandrachud urged the legal fraternity to get into the habit of citing SCR in pleading or during oral argument before the Supreme Court, adding that the free digital services will help lawyers across the country from the district level to high courts. "SCR is now digital. We already got eSCR. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, we will have a digital SCR. Digital SCR is exactly as it appears in volumes. eSCR is obviously an electronic copy. We have updated the headnotes right probably upto the last month or so now," he told members of the bar. He asked lawyers to have a look at eSCR and called for their suggestions or improvement. He said that the SCR had fallen way behind its time and is now being regularly updated. "We are moving from eSCR to digital SCR. Digital SCR will have volume," he said, adding that SCR will have neutral citation. The announcement was made after senior advocate V. Giri during his oral arguments submitted that the recent top court's judgment "doesn't have SCC citation so far and have SCC Online" citation. SCR is the official journal of reportable Supreme Court decisions, which is published under its authority. Each part contains the full text of reportable decisions with Head Notes, a Subject Index and a Nominal Index. The Head Notes are approved by the Judges of the Supreme Court who delivered the judgment. The e-SCR portal is the repository of the electronic version. This year, the Supreme Court under the leadership of CJI Chandrachud uploaded translation of over 9,400 judgments in different languages on the e-SCR portal. The translated versions of Judgments are made available in 15 languages -- Assamese, Bengali, Garo, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Khasi, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. On August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort lauded the Supreme Court for its decision to provide the operative part of judgements in the mother tongue of litigants. Hyderabad, Sep 4 : Telangana police were investigating the allegations that the spurned lover, who stabbed a youth to death and injured his sister in Hyderabad on Sunday, had allegedly killed his father a few years ago. Police were investigating claims by some people in K. Shiva Kumaras native village Kondurg in Rangareddy district that he had attacked his father Shankar with a hammer resulting in his death but it was made to look like a natural death to save him in 2019. The youth had allegedly attacked his father during an argument over his ambition to pursue a career in films. After his graduation, Shiva Kumar was keen to act in films and this had led to an argument in the house. The family and villagers had suppressed the facts relating to Shankaras death for fear that the family would lose their only son. Shiva Kumar had played the role of a villain in a Tamil film. Some action scenes from the movie have surfaced on social media. After failing to pursue a career in the films, Shiva had shifted to Hyderabad and was said to be preparing for an examination for police recruitment. Shiva Kumar was arrested by the police in LB Nagar area in Hyderabad on Sunday after he barged into a house and attacked G. Sanghavi, a medical student who had rejected his advances. When Sanghavias brother G. Prudhvi Goud (23) came to save her, he stabbed him resulting in his death. Shiva Kumar remained in the house with an intention to kill Sanghavi. The girl locked herself in a bedroom and was rescued by a neighbor. Local residents caught hold of the assailant and handed him over to police. Prudhvi succumbed while he was being shifted to a local hospital. Sanghavi, who sustained multiple stab injuries, was undergoing treatment in Osmania General Hospital. The incident shocked residents in RTC Colony, where the siblings were living in a rented house. While Sanghavi is a fourth year student at a Homeopathy college in the city, her brother had completed his engineering and was looking for a job. The siblings and Shiva Kumar hail from the same village in Rangareddy.Shiva Kumar and Sanghavi had studied together in a school in Shadnagar in Rangareddy district. After shifting to Hyderabad a couple of years ago, Shiva had met Sanghavi and her brother. He had proposed to her many times but she showed no interest. Angered over this, he hatched a plot to take revenge. On Sunday, Shiva Kumar entered Sanghavias house when she was alone. There was a heated argument between them. The accused took out a knife and threatened her with dire consequences. Meanwhile, Prudhvi who returned home and on seeing Shiva Kumar armed with a knife rushed to save his sister. Shiva Kumar attacked him causing injuries on his chest. He also stabbed Sanghavi. A profusely bleeding Prudhvi ran out of the house and alerted his neighbour Jhansi, who had come out on hearing the cries. The injured youth then collapsed on the ground. Jhansi with a stick tried to go into the house but Shiva Kumar had locked it from inside. An injured Sanghavi managed to enter the bedroom and locked it from inside. Jhansi warned Shiva Kumar against causing any harm to the girl. She, along with some other neighbours, managed to rescue the girl from another exit. Meanwhile, the police arrived on the scene and arrested the assailant. An autopsy on Prudhvias body was conducted at Osmania Hospital on Monday. His family has demanded the death penalty for the killer. They alleged that he had been harassing Sanghavi from 10th class. A case of murder and attempt to murder has been booked against Shiva Kumar at LB Nagar Police Station under the limits of Rachakonda Police Commissionerate. Police said they were checking the criminal record of the accused and were trying to ascertain facts about the allegation that he had murdered his father. New Delhi, Sep 4 : A man was held at Trichy Airport with 50,000 Saudi Arabian Riyals worth Rs 10,75,000 by the customs officials. A senior customs official said that the accused was detained on Sunday when he was boarding for a Dubai based flight. The currency was ingeniously concealed in mobile charger and power bank. On enquiry, the passenger could not produce any valid document for carrying such amount of foreign currency. Further investigation into the matter is ongoing. New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) Insolvent German wind turbine maker Senvion GmbH has finally decided to exit India operations by selling its local manufacturing operation to a strategic investor. (Xinhua/Li Genxing/IANS). Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Sep 4 : As the Africa climate summit began in Nairobi on Monday, grassroots groups and climate activists from across the continent will be holding African leaders to account to deliver concrete climate action and plans to address the continent's pressing needs. "We are calling on African governments to prioritize the needs of the African people and deliver adequate measures to address the climate crisis, energy poverty and interlinked challenges. African nations need to prioritize green renewable energy targets rooted in justice over fossil fuels and false solutions and push for substantial global investments to support the clean energy transition in Africa," said Charity Migwi, Regional Campaigner, 350Africa.org. Climate activists are also appealing to African leaders to hold developing nations historically responsible for the climate crisis accountable to scale up financing for robust mitigation and adaptation measures. Over 30 heads of state, 30 plus climate ministers, 25,000 delegates and the UN Secretary General are expected at the inaugural African Climate Summit in Nairobi -- running from Monday to Wednesday. Expect the Nairobi Declaration due on Wednesday to hammer home the need for greater clean investment in Africa. Saying the Africa climate summit is a vital moment for the continent to take charge, Mohamed Adow, a climate justice advocate and director of energy and climate think-tank Power Shift Africa, writes: "Africa stands on the cusp of sweeping economic development. Whether this development is powered by clean renewables, or dirty fossil fuels, will go a long way to determining if the world meets the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C." International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol will be at the climate summit where he will meet with leaders from governments, industry and civil society to discuss Africa's growing role in global energy and climate issues -- and the opportunity presented by clean energy for the continent's economic future. At the Summit, Birol and President Akinwumi Adesina of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) will also launch the new report on Financing Clean Energy in Africa that both organisations worked on together. For African countries to achieve universal energy access, develop their economies and meet their climate commitments, energy investment on the continent needs to increase rapidly. The new report coming on Wednesday lays out ways to bring down financing costs and boost access to capital to help make this happen. African leaders will demand rare metals mined in the continent are processed there, and will likely hammer home a long-targeted goal of 300GW clean energy by 2030, up from 56GW in 2022. With 43 per cent of the continent (600 million people) still lacking access to power, it's a development and climate issue requiring investment of $25 billion per year. According to the IEA, that's around 1 per cent of annual global energy investment: the cost of a single liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. Ahead of other regional climate summits and the COP28 UN climate talks, the summit is seen as an opportunity for Africa to offer leadership and set the stage for climate action that prioritizes the communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis, more so on the most climate-vulnerable continent. Zaki Mamdoo, climate activist and coordinator, Stop EACOP Coalition, said: "The African Climate Summit could provide the platform needed for the continent to dramatically shift its trajectory and future, from one that is set to bear the brunt of climate collapse, to one of energy-security and prosperity driven by decentralised and people-centred renewables. "For this to happen, African leaders will need to rise to the occasion and make firm commitments to significantly upscale renewable energy developments while resisting and withdrawing any and all support for exploitative and destructive projects like the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)." At some point between September 8-12 a document will drop on the UNFCCC website pulling together the most comprehensive assessment of global action on climate change to date. The Global Stocktake (GST) is the result of two years of consultations and inputs from governments, business and NGOs. The 'technical paper' will be bleak -- and will inform the COP28 decision text or declaration that countries are expected to adopt. The G20 summit in Delhi from September 9-10 is on a sticky wicket: Chinese President Xi Jinping skipping the event, joining his Russian counterpartVladimir Putin as a no-show. Ministers on the climate and energy tracks failed to reach any consensus during meetings in July. A circulating draft of the leaders communique from late August offers little sense of progress with major polluters bickering over the 1.5C target, peaking dates and responsibility. Firing the starter's gun on industrial decarbonisation is one of the best things G20 countries can do to bring climate action in line with 1.5C. The new One Earth Energy Model offers a sense of what G20 countries should be doing. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at gulatiians@gmail.com) Kiev, Sep 4 : Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Monday said he has submitted a letter of resignation to parliament chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk after his dismissal by President Volodymyr Zelensky. "It was an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the Ukrainian army for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraine's modern history," Reznikov said on the social media X, formerly known as Twitter. In the letter, the 57-year-old, who was appointed as Defence Minister in November 2021, said that all the key tasks set for his mandate have been accomplished, reports Xinhua news agency. Rustem Umerov, who runs Ukraine's State Property Fund, has been nominated by Zelensky as Reznikov's successor. In his nightly address to the nation, Zelensky on Sunday said: "This week, Parliament will be asked to make a personnel decision... I have decided to replace the Minister of Defence of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. "The Verkhovna Rada (legislature) of Ukraine knows this person well, and Umerov does not need any additional introductions... I expect Parliament to support this candidate." Reznikov's removal comes in the wake of a number of corruption scandals involving Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, reports CNN. While he has not been implicated in any of them, the scandals have still been seen to damage him by association. Earlier this year, Reznikov's deputy Vyacheslav Shapovalov had resigned in the wake of the scandals. At the time, Reznikov said the stress he had endured this year "is hard to measure precisely", adding that his "conscience is absolutely clear". Meanwhile, Umerov, who represented Ukraine in peace talks at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, allegedly suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning during peace negotiations in March 2022 alongside Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich -- who was also part of the negotiating party, reports the BBC. In a social media statement, he later denied the reports, urging people not to trust "unverified information". Speaking to the BBC at the time, he said it took courage to find solutions but he was determined "to find (a) political and diplomatic resolution to this brutal invasion". The Ukrainian President made cracking down on internal scandals a central issue in his campaign for office. On Saturday, one of Ukraine's most powerful oligarchs and a key Zelensky supporter, Ihor Kolomoisky, was arrested as part of a fraud investigation. Scissors in stomach: Kerala woman warns of protest again if not paid Rs 5 mn compensation. Image Source: IANS News Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 4 : A couple of days after K. Harshina, the victim in an alleged case of medical negligence at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode, called off her sit-in protest, the action council supporting her in her protest, on Monday, demanded a compensation of Rs five million to her. Speaking to the media at Kozhikode this afternoon, Harshina said all along the State Health Minister Veena George was saying that the government is with her. "Now, that police probe has found out that the scissor was 'deposited' in my stomach at the Kozhikode Medical College hospital and the erring staff has also been identified, the government has to compensate me for the sufferings that I went through all these years," she said. A member of the Action Committee which has been supporting Harshina said that the protests for justice are not yet over. "We have decided that if the state government doesn't sanction her the compensation before the present Assembly session resumes on September 11, we will protest before the state secretariat on the 13th of this month," said a committee member. Incidentally, the fresh announcement came on Saturday after the Kozhikode Medical College police submitted a charge sheet in the case at a court in Kozhikode. The charge sheet has named two gynecologists and two nurses for negligence in their duty. Harshina's troubles started when she went to the Kozhikode Medical College hospital on November 30, 2017 for her third delivery when the goof-up happened. She recalled experiencing recurring pain in her stomach, and despite numerous consultations and checkups, the pain did not subside. Eventually, a full-fledged radiological examination revealed a foreign object present in her stomach. The pair of scissors were then removed following surgery at the Kozhikode Medical College hospital last year in October. 'Symbol of determination to remove Nitish from CM's post', Samrat Chaudhary on why who sports turban. Image Source: IANS News Patna, Sep 4 : BJP Bihar president Samrat Chaudhary on Monday accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of framing and blackmailing RJD chief Lalu Prasad. "Although Nitish Kumar claims to have neither framed nor saved anyone, I want to say that he not only framed people but blackmailed them as well," Chaudhary asserted. "The JD(U) leaders were involved in lodging a complaint in the IRCTC land-for-job scam and Nitish Kumar withdrew the cases as a part of a strategy to enter into an alliance with the RJD. Now, Kumar is arm-twisting Lalu to make him the prime ministerial candidate promising him to get all the cases registered against Lalu Ji and his family members closed," Chaudhary alleged. "No one is framing Lalu Ji. It is the JD(U) leaders who are framing him and now blackmailing him. Nitish Kumar is quite capable of framing and saving anyone," he added. Ratlam : , Sep 4 (IANS/101Reporters) The sight of women from the Bhil community sitting on the rooftop of an overloaded van -- hanging on to their luggage and dear life as the van ascends the hilly roads -- is pretty common on the 50 km stretch of the Ratlam-Shivgarh-Bajna road, traversing a predominantly tribal area bordering Rajasthan. An old joke about an RTO officer telling an auto-driver that he will not levy a fine on him if he shows how he managed to accommodate 20 passengers in a seven-seater auto still makes residents of Ratlam laugh, even as they live this reality every day. The roads are damaged and steep, and covering 50 km takes over two hours. The private bus service that starts at nine in the morning ceases after five pm, the two villages of Bajna and Shivgarh being the last stops. Those who live in the villages farther away have to rely on the overloaded autos and vans. This includes government and private employees who have to commute to and from Ratlam every day for work. The hilly, potholed roads are frequented by these overloaded vehicles many times a day. Everyone, including women and children, boards these crammed autos, some sitting in the trunk while others even climb atop the mini-vans and sit on the luggage racks on the roof. Ahtesham Ansari, a supervisor with the Women and Child Development Department in Ratlam, commutes to Bajna to oversee the functioning of the village anganwadis every day. She catches the bus at nine in the morning, reaching the village a little before noon. She tries finishing off her work before five in the evening to take the last bus home. "This is a remote area so I cannot miss the five o'clock bus, else I have to shell out over Rs 2,000 to book a private cab or take the crammed autos or vans, which do not look safe," she says. Capitalising on the situation, autos charge arbitrary prices whereas bus charges are capped at Rs 50. "When I have to go to the centres beyond Bajna, where the buses don't go, I have to pay Rs 100 per trip to the shared autos, even though the other villages are less than 10 km away. The anganwadi workers based in Bajna prefer to travel to these centres in the remote villages riding pillion on their husbands' motorcycles as it is more economical for them," Ansari adds. Hakru, a resident of Kelkachh the last village in Ratlam before the state border with Rajasthan goes to Bajna to work as a daily wage labourer. To catch the bus to Bajna, she commutes to Gadkhange Mata area, 13 km away by a shared auto, and then boards another one to Bajna, 20 km away. "There are only two buses on this route and the ticket costs Rs 30. But we travel in the shared auto, even though it is crowded, as we can bargain with the drivers. When they see we are labourers, they charge us less. But in the bus, even if the fare is two rupees short, the conductor asks us to get off," says Geni Bai, his wife. "Besides, the bus drops us at Bajna and we have to take another auto or van to reach the village where we find work. These shared vehicles drop us to the exact destination, eight or 10 km beyond Bajna," adds Hakru. Also, some commuters even prefer these crowded vans and autos as they can ask the drivers to stop or slow down at random locations so they can spit out their gutka -- a luxury they do not get while on the bus. The situation is even more challenging for the residents of 24 villages lying on the other side of the Mahi River. Residents in the dhanis (small cluster of houses) of Raipada and Jholi Chandragarh panchayat rely on boats to cross the river, and then catch shared vehicles to reach Bajna, from where they can avail of the private bus service. The lack of a bridge over the river makes the situation more challenging as boats are the only sources of commute to the other side. Paying Rs 10 for the boat ride and Rs 20 or above for the van, Anganwadi worker Kavita Dodiar says that it takes her around two hours to travel 15 km to Bajna. Raipada Gram Panchayat Secretary Babulal says that the Setu Nigam (Madhya Pradesh Rajya Setu Nirman Nigam Ltd) has sent a Rs 30 crore proposal for the construction of a bridge across the river but it is yet to be approved by the state government. No check on dilapidated buses As per RTO records, over 20 private buses ply this route but the actual number is close to 35 as private bus operators run more buses than they are permitted to. There is no one to keep a check. Besides, there is no public transport on this route. The buses on this route are in a dilapidated condition and, according to locals, they do not even have fitness certificates. Running on hilly, uneven roads, these shabby buses pose a considerable risk to the safety of the passengers. Instances where passengers are asked to push the bus to the side of the road after a breakdown are pretty common here. According to sources, there have been over a dozen incidents of breakdown this year alone. In the last four years, three major accidents have taken place where buses have overturned and landed in a ditch, though there were no casualties. "It is not like the department and officials responsible for this are not aware. The district administration turns a blind eye to the issues barring once or twice a year when there is a state-level campaign. They confiscate some buses and levy fines on the drivers or the bus operators for the public eye and things go back to normal once the buzz dies out," said a local of Bajna village on condition of anonymity. He adds that the overloaded autos and vans pass in front of the police station every day but no police personnel ever bothers to intervene. Speaking to 101Reporters, Ratlam District Transport Officer Deepak Manjhi said the Regional Transport Office (RTO) had confiscated and cancelled the license of seven buses on this route that were no longer fit for use. "There is a shortage of staff here at the district office as there are just two people me and a clerk who manage everything from licence tests to renewal of licences and registrations etc. This makes it difficult for us to keep a tab on the situation and spare time to go out on the field for an inspection," he says. He adds that while the route was unserviceable these run-down buses and overloaded vans are the only way residents of the remote villages could commute to work. "The proposal for transportation prepared by the gram panchayat has to be approved by the government as many private operators do not want to operate buses on these routes given the shabby conditions. We cannot start cancelling the bus licenses unless there are alternatives in place," he says. Speaking about the allocation of routes to private bus operators, Manjhi explains that usually Panchayats, after assessing the demand from their constituents, send a proposal to the Zilla Panchayat which is then passed on the RTO. While the RTO may issue permits and allocate these routes to private operators, they may still refuse to ply these routes if the roads are bad or there aren't enough passengers, he says. Further complicating the matter, it has emerged that certain groups of auto/van drivers may even pay off private bus operators so they can monopolise transport options along that route. (S R Pareek is a Madhya Pradesh-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.) New Delhi, Sep 4 : Water and sewerage infrastructure company EMS Limited on Monday announced the price band of Rs 200-211 per equity share for its upcoming IPO. Set to open on Friday, the IPO for aggregating Rs 14,624.00 lakh through fresh issue of Equity Shares & 82,94,118 equity shares under Offer for Sale by the Promotor, Ramveer Singh. The company's issue will open for the anchor portion on Thursday, 7th September 2023, and will close for the public on Tuesday, 12th September 2023. At the upper price band, the company's IPO size would be Rs 320-321 crore. Proceeds from the fresh issue will fund working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes. Khambatta Securities Limited is the sole Book Running Lead Manager to the Issue, while KFin Technologies Limited is the Registrar to the Issue. The company already completed the pre-IPO placement of 16,00,000 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 211, aggregating Rs 33.76 crore. Accordingly, the size of fresh issue was reduced to Rs 146.24 crore and an offer for the sale of 82.94 lakh shares by promoter Ramveer Singh. At present, Singh holds a 97.81 per cent stake in the company. Incorporated on December 21, 2010, EMS provides various services, ranging from EPC and O&M, in sewerage solutions, water supply systems, and wastewater schemes for government authorities and local bodies. Headquartered in Ghaziabad, the company offers water and sewerage infra solutions, including laying the sewerage network to building sewerage and water treatment plants in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. With a net margin of around 20 per cent, the company expects to continue focusing on only high-margin integrated projects. The company also undertakes Operations and Maintenance mandates for the projects it has executed. EMS Ltd's 100 per cent projects are works related to tenders floated by government or semi-government agencies funded through the World Bank. The company has executed 67 projects over the past 13 years and has an order book of Rs 1,745 crore, comprising 18 ongoing projects across WWTPs, WSSPs, EPS, and HAM segments. Most of its projects have been executed across Bihar, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. The companyas total revenues from operations stood at Rs. 538.16 crore for FY2022-23 against Rs. 359.85 crore for FY2021-22. The EBITDA for FY2022-23 stood at Rs 149.01 crore (against Rs 112.51 crore in FY2021-22), and PAT stood at Rs 108.62 crore (against Rs 79.04 crore in FY2021-22). Imphal, Sep 4 : A day after the police registered an FIR against four members of Editors Guild of India (EGI), Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Monday said that the EGI report on Manipur ethnic conflict is "biased and factually inaccurate". The Chief Minister said such kind of EGI report would create more problems in Manipur, which is rocked by ethnic violence for over four months killing 170 people and injuring 700 while displacing around 70,000 people of both Meitei and Kuki communities. A three-member fact-finding team of EGI after visiting Manipur, published its report in New Delhi last week, claiming that the media's reports on the ethnic violence in Manipur were one-sided, and accused the state leadership of being partisan. "It should have avoided taking sides in the ethnic conflict but it failed to do its duty as a democratic government which should have represented the entire state," the 24-page EGI report said in its conclusions and recommendations. While talking to the media, the Chief Minister on Monday said that an FIR has been registered against the members of the EGI who are "trying to create more clashes in the state of Manipur". Before coming to a conclusion or publishing their report, the EGI team should have met the representatives of "all communities" and "not some sections or a selectitive section or people only," Singh stated. Those booked in the FIR are the President of the EGI, and three members - Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor, who visited Manipur last month to study media reportage of the ethnic violence and the circumstantial aspects. Meanwhile, the Press Club of India in a statement strongly condemned lodging of a police case against three members of a fact-finding committee of the Editors Guild of India and its President on the media coverage of the ethnic clash and violence in Manipur. Imphal-based social worker Ngangom Sarat Singh filed the FIR against the three EGI members who came to Manipur last month. The FIR stated that the EGI report captioned a photo of a burning building in Churachandpur district as a "Kuki house". The building, however, was a Forest Department beat office that was set on fire by a mob on May 3, the day when large-scale violence broke out in the district along with other parts of the state. The EGI, however, on Sunday, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said : "There was an error in a photo caption in the report released on Sep 2. The same is being rectified and updated report will be uploaded on the link shortly. We regret the error that crept in at the photo editing stage." Sarat Singh in his complaint, however, alleged the EGI report has not mentioned key facts about large-scale illegal immigration to Manipur that threatens the indigenous people with a demographic change. "The abnormal population growth in Manipur is also evident from the fact that the Census of 2001 has not been finalised for the nine hills subdivision of the state due to the abnormal decadal growth of the population up to 169 per cent," he said in his 13-page complaint, which was registered in the Imphal police station in Imphal West district. The complaint said that large scale illegal immigrants have been taking place into Manipur from the neighbouring countries -- Myanmar, Bangladesh -- and the records of the Census of India published in the year 1881, 1901, 1931, 1951, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 and collective reading of all these would lead to the conclusion that the total number of growth of population of new Kuki and Mizos from 1881 to 2011 is a whopping 2505.29 per cent, which is an abnormal population growth in Manipur. It said that Manipur has already miniscule population of about 28 lakhs as per the Census of 2011 which is also yet to be finalised. Ration card beneficiaries of 6,06,813 have been deleted from the government records for failure to link the Aadhaar cards and these facts itself are very alarming and it proves the fact that there are various unaccounted populations existing in Manipur having illegally come from the neighbouring countries including Myanmar. Recently, the Election Commission of India has identified 1,33,553 photo affixed names with similar entry in the electoral roll of the state and various steps have been taken to delete these duplicate voters in the records of the voters' list, Sarat Singh said in his complaint. Jammu, Sep 4 : An encounter has started between terrorists and security forces at Gali Sohab in Tuli area of Chassana in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Monday. "Encounter started at Reasi on the basis of Police input regarding the presence of two Militants. Encounter going on in Gali Sohab in Tuli area of Chassana. Police and Army are carrying out the operation," Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police Jammu zone said. The firefight started after a joint team of police and security forces got an input about the presence of terrorists in that area. After security forces cordoned off the area, hiding terrorists started firing drawing retaliation by the security forces. There have been a series of encounters between terrorists and security forces across Kashmir in the recent past in which many terrorists have been eliminated. New Delhi, Sep 4 : "Listed terrorist" and Canada-based Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) operative Arshdeep Singh, aka Arsh Dala, appears to be apprehensive about "activities" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against him and his associates. Recently, he posted on his social media accounts to warn other gang members that someone had created a fake social media account in his name. "Someone has created a fake ID using my name. Our fellow member, Manpreet Manila, was recently apprehended. I suspect the NIA is behind this fake ID, aiming to identify those in contact with me. I advise against connecting with this ID. I don't want anyone to get into trouble because of a fake account. My only social media ID is the one I've always used. Those who wish to contact me should stay vigilant and reach out to me using my old ID," Dala wrote. In June, Gagandeep Singh, alias Miti, was captured by the NIA during raids in Haryana and Punjab. Miti is a close associate of Dala and was the fifth person to be arrested as part of NIA's ongoing efforts to dismantle the organized crime syndicate and network operated by Arsh Dala and the Philipines-based Manpreet Peeta (or Manpreet Manila) in Punjab. In March and July, the NIA filed charges against Dala in different cases. He was declared a proclaimed offender by a Mohali court in July. Dala and Peeta have been actively recruiting new members in India to carry out KTF's activities. They are operating under the guidance of Harjit Nijjar, KTF's self-styled chief, currently based in Canada, who was designated as an 'individual terrorist' by the Ministry of Home Affairs in July 2020. They raise funds through extortion and other means, as well as engage in smuggling arms, ammunition, and explosives across the border. The KTF, along with other proscribed terrorist organisations such as the Khalistan Liberation Force, the Babbar Khalsa International, and the International Sikh Youth Federation, has been involved in promoting terrorism in India. Their activities include smuggling terrorist hardware such as arms, ammunition, explosives, and IEDs across international borders for carrying out acts of terrorism like bombings and targeted killings. Kolkata, Sep 4 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that her family has become a victim of political harassment. "We have not taken even a rupee from anyone or accepted a cup of tea from anyone. I fail to understand one thing. If I purchase something, say a pair of saucers or tea mugs, can the Central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe that," the Chief Minister asked while addressing the Real Estate Convention 2023 here. Speaking on the occasion, she also accused that some businessmen are also being harassed in a similar manner. "But do not get afraid. Some people will try to harass you. Some businessmen are being harassed through the agencies just as my family is being harassed. You just move the legal way against harassment," Banerjee said. The Chief Minister also alleged that some vested interests are deliberately trying to malign the image of West Bengal using the media. "There is an attempt to portray an image of the state as if nothing but communal tension and clashes happen in West Bengal. But in reality, West Bengal is ahead of all the other states in every area. Could this be possible without all-round development," she questioned. Without naming the BJP, Banerjee threw a challenge to the ruling party of the country to counter her politically. "Fight me politically if you can. But do not start a battle that goes against the interest of West Bengal and its people," she said. Banerjee also gave a call to the operators in the real estate sector to do something so that the migrant workers from the state return to West Bengal and earn their livelihood here . "The real estate workers from West Bengal are nationally acclaimed. That is why they are hired in different parts of the country. But their security aspects are often compromised outside the state. So please do something so that they can earn their livelihoods in the state," the Chief Minister said. New Delhi, Sep 4 : A man was arrested at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport for allegedly smuggling gold paste valued at over Rs 50 lakh. The accused arrived at IGI from Mumbai on September 2. He was taken to the Office of Preventive Customs (Shift) based on the specific information of gold smuggling. "On thorough personal search and baggage examination, three oval shaped capsules wrapped with black coloured adhesive tape, suspected to contain gold in chemical paste form, total weighing to 1183 grams were found concealed inside one black colour socks," an official said. He said that 1008 grams was extracted out from 1183 grams gold paste which is valued at Rs 53,02,614. The accused admitted that he had brought the gold item in paste form from Mumbai to Delhi. It was given to him by a person who brought the same from Dubai. The officials said that the gold has been seized under section 110 of Customs Act. The said passenger has been placed under arrest in terms of section 104 of the Customs Act. He said that investigation is underway. Jammu, Sep 4 : One terrorist has been killed in an ongoing encounter between terrorists and security forces at Gali Sohab in Tuli area of Chassana in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Monday. "One terrorist ahs been killed so far while one police personnel has also suffered injuries," police said. He said that it is a joint operation carried out by the police and army. The firefight started after a joint team of police and security forces got an input about the presence of terrorists in that area. After security forces cordoned off the area, hiding terrorists started firing drawing retaliation by the security forces. There have been a series of encounters between terrorists and security forces across Kashmir in the recent past in which many terrorists have been eliminated. Bengaluru, Sep 4 : Criticising Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin for his remark against 'Sanatan Dharma', former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said that it shows his "Hitler mindset". "Udhayanidhi Stalin made the statement to appease a particular section of society. The minister had given an anti-constitutional statement and must be sacked from the Tamil Nadu cabinet," Bommai demanded. "Sanatan Dharma preaches well-being of all. Not only humans, it propagates the well-being of other living beings. There is equal opportunity for everyone in Sanatan Dharma. Udhayanidhi Stalin had given an anti-constitutional statement," Bommai said. "The alliance parties in opposition bloc Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) are in a fix over the statement of Udhayanidhi Stalin. All religions are accommodated in India. The religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam are coexisting peacefully," Bommai stated. "Everyone knows what is going on in the neighbouring countries. Udhayanidhi is carrying out appeasement politics for power. The people of India are observing all developments and they will also give appropriate answers to this," Bommai said. Reacting to the statement, former deputy chief minister R. Ashoka said, "Udhayanidhi Stalin has issued humiliating statements against Hinduism. Sanatana Dharma runs in the blood of the people. He has spoken about the hidden agenda of the INDIA alliance." "Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar must comment on this. They visit temples and claim themselves as Hindus and issue anti-Hindu statements. This is the habit of Congress leaders," Ashoka said. "This man (Udhayanidhi Stalin) has gone mad. Let him declare whether he is a Hindu or not. The statement against Hindus won't be forgotten," he said. Mumbai, Sep 4 : Shubhangi Atre, who essays the character of Angoori Bhabi in the superhit television show 'Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai', walked down the memory lane as she recollected how she spent her dsys in her hometown earlier celebrating the festival of Janmashtami. Janmashtami is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. Krishna's birth is celebrated and observed on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the dark fortnight (Krishna Paksha) in Shravana Masa or Bhadrapada Masa. This year, Janmashtami will be celebrated on September 6 and September 7. Talking about how she celebrated the festival in Madhya Pradesh, the actress said: "I recall how all the temples in Madhya Pradesh would be splendidly decorated during this period, and the matki-tod ceremony was truly mesmerising to witness. "My father used to accompany me to the renowned Laxminarayan Temple, also known as the Birla Temple or Krishna Parnami Temple, where the festivities unfolded on a grand scale to seek blessings. Back at home, we would paint baby footprints on the floor, symbolising the strides of Baal Krishna." She further mentioned: "We would stay awake until midnight for the aarti, savouring homemade delicacies such as Makhan mishri, lauki ki barfi, makhana kheer, and more, lovingly prepared by my mother and Dadi (grandmother), and then offered to Lord Krishna. "The entire preparation for the festival exuded an aura of pure delight, saturating the surroundings with positivity. I yearn to relive these experiences once more. May Lord Krishna bestow joy and serenity upon this Janmashtami upon everyone's lives." 'Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai' follows the story of two neighbouring couples, the Mishras and the Tiwaris, in which the husbands are attracted to each other's wives and attempt various ultimately unsuccessful and hilarious techniques to impress them. The show takes place in the fictional 'Modern Colony' located in Kanpur and revolves around two neighbouring couples. The husbands, Vibhutinarayan Mishra and Manmohan Tiwari, have been married for seven years and are bored with their marriages and are smitten by each other's wives, unbeknownst to each other. The show, produced by Binaifer Kohli under the banner of Edit II Productions, airs Monday to Friday on &TV. Siddhant calls father Puneet Issar 'biggest cheerleader': His constant support have been invaluable in my journey. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Sep 4 : Actor Siddhant Issar, who is playing 'Tarkasur' in the show 'Shiv Shakti - Tap Tyag Tandav', thanked his father Puneet Issar for being his biggest cheerleader, and guru. Magnum opus aShiv Shakti-Tap Tyag Tandava revolves around two of the revered deities a"Shiv and Shakti. It traces their journey of duty, sacrifice, and separation that leads to tap, tyag, and tandav. The show is a grand depiction of the universe's first love story between Lord Shiva and Goddess Sati. Siddhant is seen as 'Tarkasur', the son of Vajranga and Vajrangi. He dons a unique look curated to signify the demon kingas enigmatic and evil energy. Siddhant is the son of Puneet Issar, who is known for his portrayal of Duryodhana in B R Chopra's television series 'Mahabharat'. Talking about his father, Siddhant shared: "I would like to thank my father Puneet on 'Teacher's Day'. Heas my biggest cheerleader, friend, and guru, whom I trust completely. His wisdom, his experience, and his constant support have been invaluable in my journey, particularly in the world of acting." "He has not only passed on his knowledge but also instilled discipline in me. Iam so blessed to have the chance to carry his legacy ahead. All my love to the best teacher Iave ever had," he added. 'Shiv Shakti a" Tap Tyag Tandav' airs on Colors. London, Sep 4 : Many women are unaware that taking higher doses of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may increase the risk of womb cancer, according to a study. While the HRT containing oestrogen is safe when taking the correct, prescribed dosage, women often tend to take very large doses of the drugs to tackle menopause symptoms, Daily Mail reported. Oestrogen is a female sex hormone which decreases with age, causing most of the symptoms of menopause such as hot flushes, mood swings, and brain fog. HRT use is further spiked by social media messages that encourage taking more medication to reduce these symptoms. According to Cancer Research UK, oestrogen-only HRT increases the risk of womb cancer. "This increased risk gets bigger the longer HRT is used, and may stay for some years after HRT is stopped. This is why it is usually only prescribed to people who are not at risk of womb cancer. "Oestrogen-only HRT is usually only given to people who have had their womb removed (hysterectomy)." The report cited research from gynaecological cancer charity The Eve Appeal, which found that most women are unaware of the risks of taking too much oestrogen. The charity said its survey -- which polled 2,000 women in the UK -- shows a need to educate women about the link between excess oestrogen and womb cancer, which affects almost 10,000 women each year. "Roughly one in ten women on HRT are taking two or even three times the maximum dose," Dr. Katie Barber, who runs a GP-led NHS gynaecology service in Oxfordshire, was quoted as saying. "Safety studies into HRT in these doses have not been done." Typically, women are prescribed HRT drugs in patch, gel or spray form and the drug, containing compounds similar to hormones oestrogen and progesterone, is absorbed through the skin. Some say excessive amounts of the compounds can trigger anxiety, palpitations and mood swings. Patients can also suffer tachyphylaxis -- where they need more and more hormonal treatment to feel normal. If taken in high doses for a long period, oestrogen and progesterone not taken in the right balance may cause womb lining to thicken -- known as endometrial hyperplasia. This can lead to heavy bleeding and increase the risk of womb cancer, the report said. Excess oestrogen can also be caused by health conditions such as obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and has also been linked to ovarian and breast cancer. "Factors which increase the level of oestrogen in the body -- conditions such as PCOS and medications such as HRT -- therefore increase the risk of these cancers. Being aware of this and learning how to reduce this risk is lifesaving," Dr Aziza Sesay, a GP who works with The Eve Appeal, was quoted as saying. --IANS rvt/vd Mumbai, Sep 4 : Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who is enjoying the response to the recently released second season of his 'Scam' series - 'Scam 2003: The Telgi Story', feels that the medium of OTT too will go down the path of redundancy just like its predecessor television. Hansal has returned with the 'Scam' series after almost 3 years. The first season of the show, which starred Pratik Gandhi in the titular role of stock market scamster Harshad Mehta, was released in 2020 and registered a breakout success. Hansal, who serves as the creative director on 'Scam 2003: The Telgi Story' this time, told IANS: "It is the nature of capitalism and market forces that if something succeeds, that success has to be replicated in order to make more money out of it. "People repeat it and make it a formula until it fails then, they have to do something new. This is not only limited to films as a business, it's there everywhere and that's because of the market forces." The 'Aligarh' director then quoted an example as he said: "If a personal computer at a certain price point is doing very well in the market then 20 other manufacturers of personal computers will try selling their machines at different price points." He further mentioned: "The only thing that I find different in our Industries that it's very volatile, you can never gauge or predict what the audience will like or the consumer behaviour in this case will be. What they embrace today they might not embrace tomorrow but is the high probability that they would embrace it later." He then mentioned the monumental success of 'Gadar 2' as an example as he told IANS: "And this is proved by the success of 'Gadar 2'. If 'Gadar 2' came out in the late 2000s or in the early 2010s, I feel it would not have registered the kind of success that it has seen now. But because the film cultivated a legacy of over 20 years, people wanted to watch that film in the theatres when it was released." 'Scam 2003: The Telgi Story' is streaming on Sony LIV. Jalna : , Sep 4 (IANS) Shortly after Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar's assurances, the Maratha Kranti Morcha leaders have decided to continue their week-long stir "till the official Government Resolution (GR) is issued and received" by them, here on Monday. In a renewed attack, Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray demanded the resignation of the ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-Nationalist Congress (AP) for their failure to handle the Maratha quotas crisis. MKM leader Manoj Jarange-Patil, who is on a hunger strike since August 29, warned that he will wait for the state communication and if the GR on providing reservations is not received, he would even go off water from Tuesday. Shinde, who assured that the government is willing and committed to giving the quotas in education and jobs, also deputed senior minister Girish Mahajan to Jalna on Monday with a proposal. Earlier, the CM's representative, ex-MLA from Jalna, Arjun Khotkar met Jarange-Patil and conveyed the government's proposal. Incidentally, Jalna which witnessed strong clampdown by the police on September 1 is the home district of Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve. After strong reactions from all quarters, Fadnavis on Monday apologised to the victims of the police caning who are undergoing treatment in local hospitals in Antarvali-Sarati village but pounced on the Opposition parties for trying to defame the government with false narratives. Adopting an aggressive stance, Jarange-Patil reiterated his demands of Sunday, including government decision on quotas within two days, suspension or dismissal of all the police and administrative officials responsible for the attack on the protestors and withdrawal of cases against his supporters. Maharashtra unit Congress president Nana Patole on Monday demanded Maratha reservations be taken up in the upcoming Special Session of Parliament, while Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Vijay Wadettiwar called for a Special Session of Maharashtra Legislature to finalise the quotas. Terming the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar regime as 'nalayak' (worthless), Thackeray said they should immediately quit office or be thrown out of power for the crackdown on the Maratha protestors and misleading them on the legal aspects. Slamming Ajit Pawar for his statement that if the Opposition leaders can prove he or Shinde and Fadnavis were responsible for the police caning in Jalna, then he 'would quit politics', Thackeray asked him to "demand proof of corruption from Prime Minister Narendra Modi". The Sena (UBT) supremo also said that if a Special Session of Legislature is called, it can resolve the problems of Marathas and other communities which are seeking reservations. Rushing to Jalna on Monday morning, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray alleged that the Marathas are being taken for a ride for their crucial votes during elections and they are not likely to get any quotas, since the matter is still pending before the Supreme Court. Sydney, Sep 4 : Almost half of mobile phones tested at the height of the pandemic were contaminated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, bolstering a theory that the devices supercharged the spread of Covid-19, according to a study. Researchers from Bond University in Australia conducted a systematic review of 15 studies from 10 countries that examined mobile phones for SARS-CoV-2 contamination in hospital settings between 2019 and 2023. The findings are published in the Journal of Infection and Public Health. Of 511 phones, 231 (45 per cent) tested positive for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes Covid-19. In one 2022 study in France, 19 out of 19 phones were contaminated with the virus. Lead researcher Dr. Lotti Tajouri, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at the varsity, said he believed the systematic review provided a compelling explanation for the swift spread of Covid-19 around the world despite strict control measures including lockdowns, border closures, social distancing and masking. Previous research established that the SARS-Cov-2 virus remained viable on glass surfaces such as mobile phones for up to 28 days. Dr. Tajouri said that with more than seven billion mobile phones in use worldwide, the devices effectively served as a "third hand." "You can wash your hands as many times as you want but as soon as you touch your mobile phone, you cross-contaminate yourself all over again," Dr. Tajouri said. "Mobile phones are in the hands of billions of individuals, negating lifesaving hand-washing practices and might be responsible for carrying these viruses all around the world. "In an earlier study we did in a hospital paediatric intensive care unit and paediatric emergency ward, we found 11,163 microbes on 26 health care workers' mobile phones, with pathogenic viruses and antibiotic-resistant bacteria," Dr. Tajouri said. Researchers recommended enclosed ultraviolet-C light phone sanitisers be installed near hand-washing stations in high-risk environments such as hospitals, restaurants, cruise ships, airports, child and aged-care facilities. "Take the health care sector as an example. If nurses and doctors use mobile phones in these settings and they don't know those mobile phones are contaminated, they are going to bring microbes to their supposedly clean hands," Dr. Tajouri said. "When they touch vulnerable patients, they might transmit those viruses to these fragile and immunocompromised individuals." UV-C light kills germs by damaging microbial DNA, and commercial UV-C phone sanitisers can disinfect a phone in 5-10 seconds. New Delhi, Sep 4 : Days after declining to be part of the government's eight member panel on one nation one election, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday said that he received a call from one of the 'babu' (officer) from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to be part of the panel and not by any ministers. Talking to media persons, Chodhury said, "On August 31 at 11 p.m. my office secretary received a call from the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Mishra. He knows me as I go to PMO for the CBI Director meeting and other issues. I asked him is everything fine as he called me late in the night?" "He told me that the government is going to make a committee and they want to include me in the committee. The committee would be headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind. And you will be included in the Committee and we want to know your views," he said. "I told them I got happy that I have received a call as many times we are unable to speak to him. I asked them to send all papers related to the panel and after seeing the papers, I will inform them about my decision," he said. "Without documents what I will share and speak," he rued. "I was asked by a babu (officer), not any minister. A 'babu' was sent to speak to me over the phone late at night," he said. The Centre announced its eight-member committee to explore the option which aims to explore the move to hold simultaneous elections for local bodies, states, and the Centre. The government had formed an eight-member committee to examine one nation one election with former President Kovind as its chairman and Home Minister Amit Shah and others as its member. It said that Kovind has been appointed as chairman of the committee while Shah, Chowdhury, former Rajya Sabha LoP Ghulam Nabi Azad, and others have been appointed as the members of the committee. Former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N.K Singh, former Secy General of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap Senior advocate Harish Salve and former Chief vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari are the other names part of the eight member panel. Jaipur, Sep 4 : A Class 10 girl student in Rajasthan's Kota has allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in her room, the police said on Monday. According to police, the incident happened on September 2, adding a suicide note reading "I am a burden on family" was also recovered. The deceased has been identified as Kumkum, 17. Kumkum was second eldest among four sisters. Her father works as a labourer. It has been learnt that on Saturday, there was an argument between Kumkum and her mother over some issue. After a while, Kumkum went to her room and hanged herself. The body was shifted to the mortuary, a police officer said. As the family did not want any action, the police handed over the body to her relatives without a postmortem. The family members, however, have also not spoken about the exact reasons behind the extreme step. Kolkata, Sep 4 : In a shocking incident, a 16-year-old student of Silver Point High School, a reputed English-medium school in Kolkata, allegedly committed suicide on Monday afternoon by jumping off the fifth floor of the school building. The blood-soaked body of the student was found in front of the multi-story school building. The parents of the deceased have accused the school authorities of abetting the suicide of their son. "I was informed by the school authorities in the afternoon that my son has fallen from the stairs of the school. When I reached the school, I was informed that he has committed suicide by jumping off the fifth floor of the school building. "My son was facing immense mental harassment from the school authorities for the last couple of years, as I was one of the guardians who had protested against the school authorities decision to hike the fee substantially during the Covid-19 period," the victim's father said. He also said that his son had failed to submit a project report to the school which he was supposed to. "He was humiliated in front of other students for that. He was even made to stand on the corridor holding his ears," the victim's father claimed. The body of the student has been sent for post-mortem. The police have launched an investigation based on the allegations of the victim's parents. No reaction came from the school authorities till the time of filing of this report. This is the second case of student's suicide surfacing in West Bengal in the last 48 hours. On Saturday, the headmaster of a school in Darjeeling district was arrested on charges of abetting the suicide of a 16-year-old student of his school. Hyderabad, Sep 4 : Hyderabad police have arrested two drug peddlers and seized MDMA drugs valued at Rs 10 lakh from their possession. The Jubilee Hills police, with the help of the Commissioneras Task Force, apprehended the two accused for illegally possessing, transporting, and selling of contraband narcotic substances. The accused were identified as Pradeep Sharma alias Kamal Ranaa, a home guard from Rajasthan, and Matamwar Veerendar alias Veeru of Kamareddy district of Telangana. Sharma, an active drug offender, had formed a gang with Veerendar to sell drugs in areas like Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Hitech City and other areas in Hyderabad. Deputy Commissioner of Police, West Zone, Joel Davis said police seized 215 grams of MDMA (Methylene Dioxy Methamphtamine), Rs 8,500 cash, and two smart phones. Sharma, working as a home guard, was supplying drugs while Veerendar was a local drug seller. Veerendar and his other associate Naresh Chowdhary were earlier arrested in MDMA drugs case in the limits of Madhapur Police Station while Sharma was absconding. The DCP said after release from jail in this case, Veerendar contacted Sharma and asked him to bring the drugs to Hyderabad. Accordingly, Sharma came to Hyderabad with 215 grams of MDMA drug and both were apprehended by police while exchanging the drugs. The investigation will continue to unearth their network with other local and other state drug dealers, he said. --IANS ms/vd New Delhi, Sep 4 : The Delhi High Court on Monday directed that construction activities be stopped within the Central Ridge area of the national capital, including plans for a 25-metre boundary wall, grill work, and visitor toilets at historic monument, Malcha Mahal. This interim order came in response to a contempt plea, wherein Amici Curiae, advocates Gautam Narayan and Aditya N Prasad, raised issues related to tree plantation directions in the national capital. The court's attention was drawn to a report in a news publication titled "Malcha Mahal in for royal makeover with boundary wall, iron grille, and greening," which mentioned plans by the Delhi government to construct a 2-foot high boundary wall at Malcha Mahal, topped with a 5-foot high iron grille, and stone masonry for the monument's facelift and protection. Justice Jasmeet Singh, while recognising the importance of preserving the monument, emphasised that construction within the Central Ridge, including the proposed boundary wall and toilets, should not proceed at this time. "For the time being, it is directed that there shall be no construction at the Central Ridge, including but not limited to construction of 25 metres boundary wall, grill work, or toilets." The court stressed that Central Ridge serves as a protected area, providing fresh air and acting as a natural barrier to the hot winds blowing from Rajasthan into the national capital. As a result, it ruled that no concretisation should take place within the area at this time. On August 28, the high court had expressed concerns over the presence of 63 structures inside the Central Ridge area, stating that these structures, lacking any court protection, will have to be removed. "How can they have protection? I donat understand. Sixty-three is not a small number. It is a huge numbera It (Central Ridge) is the lungs of Delhi. How can there be 63 structures? What are these and what is the protection? If there is no protection, the structures have to go," it had said. The Deputy Conservator of Forest, West Forest Division, had informed the court that there are 63 structures, including ashrams, within the 864-hectare ridge area. He had noted that these structures existed prior to the Supreme Court's judgement in the MC Mehta case, which allowed certain institutions to remain under the condition that their presence wouldn't expand in the Ridge. The court had directed the Delhi government to file an affidavit indicating the status of these 63 structures and their stand regarding them. The Deputy Conservator of Forest had also informed the court about the removal of construction and demolition materials as well as municipal solid waste from the Central Ridge over the last two months. The court had expressed its dissatisfaction with the presence of such materials on the Central Ridge and said that there should not have been any such material in the area to begin with. The Deputy Conservator of Forest had assured the court of proper monitoring and deployment of staff to prevent further dumping of materials. The court was also told about the construction of a trail path in the Central Ridge area and that the path already made shall be removed along with the material within six weeks. The court had also asked for optimal utilisation of the Delhi Green Fund in consultation with relevant authorities. Furthermore, it had asked counsel for the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to join the proceedings regarding the expansion of forested areas in Delhi. The DDA's counsel was directed to work with the Director of Planning in the Delhi government to identify land that could be used for extending forested land. The case will be heard next on October 9. Earlier, the HC had expressed its displeasure over encroachments in the Central Ridge area and had issued a warning to the authorities to take corrective action promptly, or face contempt proceedings. The court had asked the authorities about the areas designated for tree plantation, the utilisation of funds in the high court's bank account meant for tree planting, and the encroachments within the Central Ridge. Mumbai, Sep 4 : In a speedy investigation, the Mumbai Police arrested a house-help who allegedly slit the throat of a trainee air-hostess from Chhattisgarh, at her posh flat in suburban Marol, hours after the crime was committed and he absconded, police said on Monday. The woman, identified as Rupal Ogrey, 24, hailed from Raipur and was undergoing training as an airhostess with a leading private airline. A police officer said that on getting a tip-off, a Powai Police team rushed to the spot, NG Complex at Ashok Nagar in Marol, Andheri east around 9.45 p.m. on Sunday night. The body of the victim with her throat slit by a sharp weapon, was recovered in the flat with nobody else present as her sister and her boyfriend had gone out of station, said an official of Powai Police Station. The body was sent for an autopsy to Rajawadi Hospital and the police registered a murder case while eight police teams raced to complete the probe. Within hours, using tech-intel and traditional methods, the investigators managed to track down one suspect, identified as Vikram Atval, 40, working as a house help, and is said to be linked to the killing. He has been arrested and charged with murder. Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta K. Nalawade said that the accused has confessed to the crime and the murder weapon has been recovered. As per available information, Rupal had come to Mumbai six months ago for her in-flight crew training course with a private airline. Her sister and her boyfriend, plus other family members in Raipur have been informed of the tragedy and they are now en route to Mumbai, even as further probe, including involvement of any other associates and the motives, is underway, said Nalawade. Patna, Sep 4 : Half a dozen men were injured during a clash between two groups in Bihar's Vaishali district on Monday, police said. Two groups, headed by Raj Kumar Prasad and Bhagwan Shah, had gathered to resolve disputes that arose due to murder of a person in Lawapur Mahnar Panchayat under Mahnar police station. During the negotiations, the situation turned ugly and soon turned violent and people from both sides attacked each other with batons and sharp-edged weapons. Six persons from both sides were injured in this incident. They were admitted to Mahnar common health centre and the doctors have referred three of them to Hajipur Sadar hospital as they were in a critical condition. Two separate FIRs registered in this connection in Mahnar police station from both the sides. The local police are investigating the matter. Faridabad, Sep 4 : About 15-20 per cent spinal injuries in India occur due to road accidents, which can be effectively managed by minimally invasive surgeries, said an orthopaedic surgeon on Monday ahead of the World Spinal Cord Injury Day. World Spinal Cord Injury Day is observed on September 5 annually to raise awareness on spine injuries. According to Dr. Ashish Tomar, Senior Consultant -- Orthopaedics and Spine Surgery, Sarvodaya Hospital, Faridabad, the chance of sustaining a serious spine and associated multiple injuries in road traffic accidents is quite high in our society today. "We are receiving more and more patients of trauma and spinal cord injuries now due to the increasing number of road accidents. "This may be due to the low level of safety standards in vehicle manufacturing, absence or inadequacy of appropriate safety measures in vehicles, and poorly designed roads and problems in quality of driving to mention some reasons," Tomar told IANS. "There has been an increase of 15-20 per cent in spinal injuries due to road accidents in the last 10 years, as people tend to drive faster." Tomar said 90 per cent spinal cord injuries can effectively be managed with minimally invasive surgery. aSpine surgeries are very safe, with minimal risk. However, many patients tend to suffer spinal pain for years and keep avoiding surgery. They do not want their spine to be touched at all. Such patients come to us at a stage when the treatment becomes very challenging due to deterioration in the condition of the spine over time," he said. Minimally invasive surgeries of the spine have been in vogue for the last 15-20 years globally and have become mainstream in India too. "Now, 90 per cent of all our spinal surgeries are minimally invasive. Vast majority of all spinal injuries that we see relate to lower areas of the spine, including the lumbar and lower thoracic region. These are effectively managed with minimally invasive surgery. For upper-level injuries in the cervical (neck) and upper thoracic area, open spine surgery is still preferred. However, here too, doctors have begun to use smaller incisions," the doctor noted. He said that the benefit of minimally invasive spinal surgery is that the patient can be discharged from the hospital in a couple of days and can get back to their routine sooner. "This is in sharp contrast to traditional surgery that requires 3 to 4 months to get back to oneas routine lifestyle." He also advised people to mandatorily wear protective seat belts to reduce chances of serious spine injury. In addition, bad posture also has serious effects on spine health, Dr. Tomar said. "Bad back posture, especially while sitting on a chair for long hours, puts strain on the spine due to compression. It can trigger certain diseases like myelopathy that make people more susceptible to spinal injuries. Compression on the spine for many years tends to weaken it, due to which it can get injured even with minor jerks." --IANS rvt/vd New Delhi, Sep 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang. "Had an excellent meeting with Jensen Huang, the CEO of @nvidia. We talked at length about the rich potential India offers in the world of AI. Jensen Huang was appreciative of the strides India has made in this sector and was equally upbeat about the talented youth of India," PM Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter, after the meeting. Nvidia Corporation is an American multinational technology company, which designs graphics processing units and application programming interface for data science and high performance computing. New Delhi, Sep 4 : The Supreme Court on Monday asked Telangana Police to end a "pernicious trend prevalent in the state" where some police officers are "curbing the liberty and freedom of the people". A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta said that while the nation celebrates Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to commemorate 75 years of independence from foreign rule, some police officers in Telangana seem to be oblivious of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution and are curbing the liberty and freedom of the people. "A pernicious trend prevalent in the state of Telangana has not escaped our attention a.The sooner this trend is put to an end, the better," it observed. The top court said that the preventive detention has been rendered ordinary with its reckless invocation over the years as if it were available for use even in the ordinary course of proceedings. "It is common knowledge that recourse to preventive detention can be taken by the executive merely on suspicion," it said while quashing the detention order passed by the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad. The preventive detention order recorded that the ordinary law under which detenu was booked is not sufficient to deal with the illegal activities of such an offender and unless he is detained under the detention laws, his unlawful activities cannot be curbed. The Telangana High Court refused to interfere with the detention order in the habeas corpus proceedings instituted before it. After a detailed analysis of the facts and law, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal and ordered that "the appellantas husband, i.e. the detenu, shall be released from detention forthwith." It laid down guidelines for the constitutional courts to examine when they are called upon to test the legality of orders of preventive detention: - Whether the order is based on the requisite satisfaction, albeit subjective, of the detaining authority, for, the absence of such satisfaction as to the existence of a matter of fact or law, upon which validity of the exercise of the power is predicated, would be the sine qua non for the exercise of the power not being satisfied - Whether in reaching such requisite satisfaction, the detaining authority has applied its mind to all relevant circumstances and the same is not based on material extraneous to the scope and purpose of the statute - Whether power has been exercised for achieving the purpose for which it has been conferred, or exercised for an improper purpose, not authorised by the statute, and is therefore ultra vires - Whether the detaining authority has acted independently or under the dictation of another body - Whether the detaining authority, by reason of self-created rules of policy or in any other manner not authorised by the governing statute, has disabled itself from applying its mind to the facts of each individual case - Whether the satisfaction of the detaining authority rests on materials which are of rationally probative value, and the detaining authority has given due regard to the matters as per the statutory mandate - Whether the satisfaction has been arrived at bearing in mind existence of a live and proximate link between the past conduct of a person and the imperative need to detain him or is based on material which is stale - Whether the ground(s) for reaching the requisite satisfaction is/are such which an individual, with some degree of rationality and prudence, would consider as connected with the fact and relevant to the subject-matter of the inquiry in respect whereof the satisfaction is to be reached - Whether the grounds on which the order of preventive detention rests are not vague but are precise, pertinent and relevant which, with sufficient clarity, inform the detenu the satisfaction for the detention, giving him the opportunity to make a suitable representation - Whether the timelines, as provided under the law, have been strictly adhered to. Hyderabad, Sep 4 : The Congress' Telangana unit is upbeat over the announcement by the party leadership that the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting will be held in Hyderabad on September 16 and 17. Leaders of the state Congress believe that the meeting of the highest decision-making body of the party and a public rally will give the party a head start in the campaign for Assembly elections slated to be held in November-December this year. The launch of the five guarantees for the state on the lines of the one announced in Karnataka and to release a charge sheet against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in the state are expected to boost the morale of the Congress cadres in the run-up to the polls. Hyderabad will be hosting the first meeting of the newly constituted CWC on September 16. There will be an extended meeting of the CWC on September 17, which will be attended by all the CWC Members, PCC Presidents and the CLP leaders. The party is holding a key meeting in Hyderabad after more than 15 years. On the evening of September 17, a massive public rally will be held near Hyderabad, where the party will launch the five guarantees for the upcoming Assembly elections. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former party President Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders will address the rally, which will signal the launch of the Congress poll campaign in Telangana. Despite claiming credit for carving out Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, the Congress had failed to capture power in the state twice. The BRS (then TRS) had formed the first government in the newly created state in 2014, and retained power in 2018. The series of electoral reverses and infighting had weakened the Congress in its former stronghold. Following the partyas victory in recent Assembly elections in Karnataka, its leaders started to see realistic chances of a revival of the party's fortunes in Telangana. The party has succeeded in attracting some leaders from BRS. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Kharge have also addressed public meetings in recent months. Meanwhile, state Congress President A. Revanth Reddy has thanked the central leaders for deciding to hold the CWC meeting in Hyderabad. He said the TPCC will try to live up to the expectations of AICC. "We are grateful for the honour bestowed upon us and will make this meeting a grand success," he said. Revanth Reddy along with AICC incharge for Telangana Manikrao Thakre inspected the Secunderabad Parade Ground to discuss plans to hold a public meeting on September 17. He said the CWC meeting will not only discuss Telangana elections but will also take stock of national politics. The coming Assembly elections in five states, Lok Sabha elections, electoral alliances, poll strategy and the measures required to further strengthen the party will be discussed. The state Congress chief said the meeting will begin by greeting people of Telangana on the state liberation day. It was on September 17, 1948 that Hyderabad State had acceded to the Indian Union following military action. Revanth Reddy noted that Kharge comes from erstwhile Hyderabad State and his family members were killed by arazakarsa Earlier, Congress General Secretary K. C. Venugopal said in Delhi that after the public meeting, the Congress President shall flag off the cavalcade of CWC Members, PCC Presidents and CLP Leaders who shall visit each of the 119 assembly constituencies of Telangana, for a night stay on September 17 and participate in the party programs on September 18 in the respective assembly segments allotted to each of them. He said that the CWC Members, PCC Presidents and CLP Leaders shall interact with local leaders or workers and stay in the house of any Congress worker on Sunday night. Venugopal said that on September 18, the CWC Members, PCC Presidents and CLP leaders shall attend the scheduled programmes in their respective assigned assembly seats in morning in a workers meeting and then participate in door to door distribution of five guarantees and charge sheet against the BRS government. He said that on September 18 the party will have a community lunch with influencers and in evening Bharat Jodo March to Mahatma Gandhi or Ambedkar or Komaram Bheem statue. --IANS ms/vd New Delhi, Sep 4 : The Delhi High Court on Monday granted permission to Anant Raj Kanoria, the son of one of the promoters of SREI Infrastructure, to travel to the US for medical treatment. Kanoria is allowed to travel to Boston for the treatment of epilepsy from September 6 to 18. However, the court has imposed strict conditions, including the deposit of a bank guarantee of Rs 100 crore with the court and two sureties of Rs 100 crore each from individuals residing in India. The court said that this decision does not make any observations on the merits of the case, as it could potentially prejudice both parties. "...while considering the present application for permitting the petitioner (Kanoria) to go abroad, this court does not want to make any observations on the merits of the case as it can prejudice both the parties. The petitioner has not been named in the FIR or in ECIR nor has any complaint registered against him," Justice Prasad said. The court also noted that he has cooperated with the Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s investigation, having appeared before them on eight different occasions. Opposing Kanoria's application, the ED argued that the medical condition for which he sought treatment in the US is readily available in India. They also expressed concerns that permitting his travel could hinder the ongoing investigation and that he might tamper with proceeds of crime or not return to India, as his wife is already in the US. Kanoria's counsel argued that he has been receiving treatment for epilepsy in Boston since 2010 and and that he has been advised to get an electroencephalogram (EEG) test done there. As part of the conditions set by the court, Kanoria must provide a bank guarantee, stay in Boston throughout his period abroad, use a specific phone number, and not travel to any country other than the US. He is also required to provide his itinerary and return to India by September 19, reporting to the court within 24 hours of his return. The case revolves around allegations of cheating, forgery, and other offenses against the Kanoria family, who were involved in SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd (SIFL) and SREI Equipment Finance Ltd (SEFL), non-banking finance companies registered in Kolkata. These companies faced insolvency proceedings due to alleged defaults on repayment of dues to creditors, with claims exceeding Rs 32,000 crore, including over Rs 10,000 crore in fraudulent transactions. New Delhi, Sep 4 : The Delhi High Court on Monday directed that the process of police verification be carried out promptly in case of a transgender person, who had sought direction to have her passport reissued with her updated particulars, including her new name and gender. The court had earlier noted the challenges faced by transgender individuals who choose to undergo sex reassignment surgery and then encounter difficulties in obtaining a fresh passport due to the change in their appearance. "I don't want to let go of this matter till some streamlining is done for many others who probably can't approach the courts if they need to," Justice Subramonium Prasad said on Monday, adding that the respondents are requested to expedite the process to ensure the petitioner is in a position to travel. The counsel for the Centre informed the court that police verification is pending in the present case. The court has posted the matter for next hearing on September 18. Earlier too, the court had observed that similar problems are affecting others as well, as it expressed the need for a streamlined process to address these concerns. The petitioner, who transitioned from male to female between 2016 and 2022 after relocating to the US, had submitted an application to the Indian authorities in January 2023 for a revised passport reflecting her updated details. However, the application has been pending for over six months. The Ministry of External Affairs and the Consulate General of India in Chicago had informed the court that the application had been processed but was pending police verification. The petitioner's lawyer argued that the failure to re-issue the revised passport has caused significant harm to her, as she is currently in the US and is unable to travel elsewhere. Her right to self-identification, protected under the Indian Constitution, has been compromised by the mismatch between her passport details and her current identity. The plea said that having a revised passport is essential for maintaining dignity and identity, especially during travel and encounters with authorities. The inability to secure the updated passport was described as an assault on her dignity and personhood. Guwahati, Sep 4 : In a shocking incident in Assam's Dibrugarh district, four youths have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping, gang-raping and killing a 17-year-old girl. The four suspects were arrested on Monday morning, the police said, adding that the alleged incident took place on Sunday night in the Banipur Dhekeri Gaon neighbourhood of the district. The arrested persons have been identified as Biswajit Bagti, Kishore Bawri, Rohit Rabidas and Lohit Deka, all from Dibrugarh town, aged between 17 and 21 years. The police claimed that after receiving a complaint late on Sunday night, they took prompt action. "We learnt that a girl's body was found hanging at a residence in the Banipur region. We registered a case after the girl's relatives later filed a complaint," an officer said. The girl, who was described as a minor by the police, reportedly left for Dibrugarh town on Sunday afternoon for some personal work but did not come back. "The family members were looking for the girl, as her phone was also switched off. The girl may have known some of the boys, it is believed. She was intoxicated before being taken to the crime scene," the police said. The body was sent to the Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh for post-mortem. "We have heard several accounts of the alleged incident from the locals. We shall know the exact cause of death after we get the post-mortem report," the police said. Meanwhile, a local person claimed that on Sunday, a group of boys were having a party at a house in Dhekeri Gaon village, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol both inside and outside the house. "We saw them having a noisy party. Later, the neighbours found a girl's hanging body inside the house after they had departed. While four youths have been arrested, more boys were partying on Sunday," he said. Shwetank Mishra, Superintendent of Police, said, "The matter is under investigation. We can not divulge more details at the moment." New Delhi, Sep 4 : As Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of the Parliamentary Strategy Group meeting at her residence on Tuesday, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge has also called a meeting of the INDIA bloc MPs to discuss their joint strategy for the upcoming special session of Parliament on the same day. Addressing the media, Congress General Secretary, Organisation, K.C. Venugopal said that Kharge has called a meeting of MPs of like-minded opposition parties to discuss the agenda for the upcoming session of Parliament. MPs of the opposition alliance in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet to chalk out their joint strategy at the residence of Kharge at 10 Rajaji Marg on Tuesday evening. Sonia Gandhi will be holding the meeting with the party's Strategy Group at her residence at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. However, the meeting at Kharge's residence is scheduled to take place later in the evening. --IANS aks/vd New Delhi, Sep 4 : Lokesh Suji, Director of the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) has been elected to the membership committee of the International Esports Federation (IESF) for a three-year term. The General Body of the IESF elected Lokesh Suji, who is also vice-president of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF), to its Membership Committee. This is the first time that an Indian has become a part of the membership committee of the International Esports Federation. The IESF is a global Esports organisation working towards promoting Esports as a true sport beyond language, race, and culture barriers. Its Membership Committee is instrumental in upholding consistency, fairness, and excellence among its members. They enforce the federation's rules, promote integrity, and nurture unity within the Esports community. The committee also carefully assesses new member applications to maintain high standards and advance the global Esports mission, informed a release on Monday. The elections for the membership committee were conducted during the recent Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) of the IESF on August 28 in Iasi, Romania, where out of the 70 voting and present members, a majority of 42 member countries voted for Suji. Vlad Marinescu, President of the IESF expressed his elation on Suji's election. "We are thrilled to introduce Lokesh Suji as the newest addition to the IESF Membership Committee. Drawing from our extensive collaboration over the past few years, I possess unwavering confidence in his passion, capabilities, and commitment to advancing the global Esports community," he said. "Under Lokesh's leadership, ESFI has not only significantly contributed to raising Esports to a multi-sport status in India, but the nation has also achieved remarkable milestones on the global stage. His vision for promoting democratic and transparent processes seamlessly aligns with ours, making him an invaluable asset for propelling the growth of the IESF family." "Lokesh epitomises the essence of Indian culture, reflecting the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (World is one family)', which celebrates a world without boundaries and envisions global unity as one harmonious family," he added. ESFI will also be sending a 15-member contingent to compete at the upcoming Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou where Esports is debuting as an official medal sport. "It is an honour to be elected to the Membership Committee of the IESF and be part of an organization that has been driving the global Esports movement forward for so long. This election is a testament to the dedication of ESFI and the growth of the Indian Esports community. I would like to thank all the members of the IESF for their continuous support and look forward to working with the committee to contribute to the growth and integrity of Esports on a global scale," said Suji in response to his election. Jaipur, Sep 4 : Days after Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin remark on 'eradicating' Sanatan Dharma triggered a nation-wide row, Rajasthan BJP leader Diya Kumari on Monday expressed her dismay at the DMK leader's ignorance about the true essence of Sanatan Dharma and its rich cultural heritage. Udhayanidhi Stalin, who's the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, had stirred a row on Saturday after he had said that Sanatan Dharma is like mosquitoes, dengue and malaria, which "has to be eradicated". Speaking at a programme at Unwas village, the Rajsamand MP also expressed her dismay over the lack of condemnation for Udhayanidhi Stalin's statement by the INDIA bloc members, including the Congress, saying that the opposition alliance, including the grand old party, will be eradicated, not the Sanatan Dharma. She asserted that the public would deliver a resounding message to these political parties in the upcoming elections. Diya Kumari emphasised that the essence of Sanatan Dharma is rooted in love and harmony, making it one of the most profound and enduring cultures in the world. She pointed out that even foreign invaders' sustained efforts over centuries failed to eradicate its essence. She also labelled the Ashok Gehlot-led government as anti-Sanatan Dharma, and claimed that there is growing discontent among the general public over the state government's appeasement policies. She said the voters are now prepared to teach the government a lesson in the upcoming Assembly elections. Kolkata, Sep 4 : Besides the varsity campus, there should be regular monitoring of the students' hostels, members of the University Grants' Commission's (UGC) anti-ragging cell said at a meeting with authorities of Kolkata's iconic Jadavpur University on Monday, in wake of amid the recent ragging-related death of a fresher. JU insiders said that in the meeting, the UGC representatives pointed out that following the recovery of the fresheras body on the morning of August 10, several incidents of utter mismanagement and lack of supervision surfaced. In view of this, they have asked for regular monitoring of the affairs at the studentsa hostels. However, sources added that the JU authorities are quite skeptical on how far this suggestion for regular monitoring of the studentsa hostels can be followed true to its spirit. "Besides those staying at the hostels that are directly under the control of JU, several other students coming from outside Kolkata are staying in private hostel-type accommodations, close to the university campus. There can be similar incidents of ragging there as well. In such a situation, it is virtually impossible for identify all those hostel-type accommodations and conduct monitoring there," a JU faculty member said on strict condition of anonymity. The four-member UGC team arrived at the university after the commission was dissatisfied with the three consecutive reports sent by the JU authorities regarding the ragging-related death of the fresher. On Monday the UGC team had discussion with mainly the administrative and faculty officials of the university. It is also supposed to meet the different studentsa representatives of the university in due course. --IANS src/vd Patna, Sep 4 : The Bihar Health Department on Monday held a high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on ways to deal with rising cases of dengue. Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, who holds charge of health, was also present. Sources have said that the meeting was called after Patna DM Dr Chandrashekher Singh fell sick and was admitted in Paras hospital in Patna. He has been suffering from dengue for the last four days. His platelet count also fell down below normal. He is now recuperating well after platelets given him by the doctors. Nitish Kumar learnt about the health of Patna DM at his Janata Darbar. After it, he went to Paras hospital and met the official and took updates about his health. He also directed officers of Municipal and Health Departments to take precautionary measures in localities and hospitals. He asked the Municipal Corporation to conduct fogging in various localities to prevent spread of dengue in Patna and other parts of the state. At present, there are 96 active cases of dengue in Patna district and 11 of them are admitted in Patna Medical college and hospital. Around 40 persons are admitted in private hospitals as well. Govt likely to table bill on removing India word from Constitution during spl Parl session: Sources. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Sep 4 : The Narendra Modi-led Central government, which has been emphasising liberating the people of the country from the "slavery mentality" and any elements related to such a psyche during the ongoing "Amrit Kaal", is reportedly planning to remove the word "India" from the Constitution, sources in the know of things claimed, adding that a preparation pertaining to the proposal is underway. The sources said said at the upcoming Special Session of the Parliament scheduled to be held from September 18-22, the government is likely to present Bills related to the 'India' word omission proposal. Besides, the recent successes achieved by the country which drew global applause, including the successful moon mission Chandrayaan-3 and the launch of Aditya L-1 solar mission, are also likely to be discussed during the Special Session. Deliberations would also be held about the G20 Summit (being hosted by India on September 9-10), as well as events and programmes related to the prestigious event which are being held in the run-up to the main summit. The agenda for the upcoming Special Session of Parliament is, however, yet to be announced officially. According to sources, a roadmap would be prepared to make India a 'Developed Country' by 2047, and discussions would also be held on this very subject. During this 13th session of 17th Lok Sabha and 261st session of the Rajya Sabha, five sittings are to be held from September 18-22. If sources are to be believed, the government is seriously mulling removing the word 'India' from the expression 'India, that is Bharat', which has been used in the definition of India in Article-1 of the Indian Constitution. Recently, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had also said that "our country's name has been Bharat for centuries", while appealing to people to use the word Bharat instead of India. Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while stressing on the five vows of the Amrit Kaal, said that one of them includes freedom from the mentality of slavery. Towards this direction, the government has undertaken several steps, ranging from bringing changes in education policy to omitting symbols, changing names of streets and places related to slavery, removing statues of people associated with colonial power, and installing statues of prominent (historical) Indian personalities. In fact, during the Monsoon Session in the Lok Sabha on August 11, Home Minister Amit Shah had called the IPC, prepared in 1860, the CrPCin (1898) and the Indian Evidence Act (1872) a sign of slavery. Accordingly, three new bills -- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023 -- have been introduced to replace the existing ones. Also, during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament itself, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal had demanded the usage of only the Bharat word by removing India, while describing India as a symbol of colonial slavery. Besides, Modi in the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting on July 25, while taking a dig at the opposition parties for naming their alliance as INDIA, said that the East India Company and the Indian National Congress were formed by the British. Patna, Sep 4 : A man killed his elder brother in Bihar's Gopalganj district on Monday, allegedly over a property dispute, an official said. The incident occurred at Banjaria village under Vijayipur police station in the district. The accused Aditya Pandey alias Bittu attacked his elder brother Ashwini Pandey using a hoe, critically injuring him. The victim was admitted to Sadar hospital in Deoria in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, from where doctors referred him to the Gorakhpur Medical College where he succumbed due to injuries on the way. The accused Aditya Pandey was also involved in murder of his father Virendra Pandey 7 days ago as well. An FIR in this regard has been registered in VIjayipur police station in the district and the local police managed to arrest the accused. "My husband was sitting outside his home and preparing for the Shraddha Karma when Aditya came with a hoe and smashed on his head. My husband was profusely bleeding. Till the time we reached there for his rescue and nab the accused, he fled from the spot. Aditya was also involved in attacking his father 7 days ago. As he pushed his father, he sustained head injury after his head collided with a wall. He also died during the treatment in the hospital," Deepa Pandey, the wife of Ashwini Pandey, said. "The accused was demanding property from his father. He attacked his elder brother over a property dispute. Following the incident, we have informed the local police about the incident," she added. A team of Vijayipur police station raided several places and eventually arrested the accused from a government school in Banjaria village. The investigation is currently underway. New Delhi, Sep 4 : A 18-year-old was killed by unidentified persons in north Delhi, a police official said on Monday. The deceased was identified as Piyush, a resident of Mangolpur Kalan. According to police, on Monday, a police control room call was received at South Rohini police station regarding a male dead body in Tiranga Park near Mangolpur Kalan Village following which a police team was dispatched to the spot. Upon reaching the spot, a male was found in the park in unconscious condition, having a deep cut injury on his right hand. "He was identified as Piyush. The injured person was shifted to BSA Hospital, Rohini where doctor declared him dead. The dead body was preserved in the hospital," said a senior police official. A case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered, the official added. Lucknow, Sep 4 : A special NIA court has held two persons guilty for killing a retired school principal in fulfillment and furtherance of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) agenda by spreading fear and terror among the people. The court held Atif Muzaffar and Md Faisal Khan, both residents of Kanpur, guilty under Section 302 read with Sections 34 and 120B of IPC, Sections 16(1)(a) and 18 of the UA (P) Act, and sections 3, 25 & 27 of the Arms Act. The court will hear the argument on quantum of sentence on September 11. The victim, Ram Babu Shukla, the Kanpur-based retired principal of Swami Atmaprakash Brahmchari Junior High School in Kanpur, was killed on October, 24, 2016 while he was returning home on a bicycle. He was attacked by the accused near village Pyondi in Kanpur. The anti-terror agency filed a charge sheet against the two accused on July 12, 2018 after elaborate investigations, which revealed that the men had been radicalised by the ISIS ideology and were out to kill people whom they believed to be disbelievers (kafirs). A third accused, Mohammad Saifulla, had died in exchange of fire with the UP Police's Anti-Terrorist Squad, on the night of March 7, 2017. Investigations by the NIA revealed that the accused were operating under the influence of ISIS, a proscribed terrorist organisation. They had conspired to carry out terrorist activities (Jihad) in India by targeting non-Muslims through violent acts. In furtherance of their conspiracy to promote the ISIS ideology & agenda, they murdered Shukla to strike terror and alarm in the minds of the common people. The case was initially registered on October 24, 2016 at PS Chakeri, Kanpur. The NIA took over the case from the UP Police in November 2017. New Delhi, Sep 4 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday met Home Minister Amit Shah here, and discussed about complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the northeastern state. During his meeting with the Home Minister at his residence which lasted for 30 minutes, the Chief Minister discussed the roadmap for complete withdrawal of AFSPA from Assam, a government official said. The official said that the Chief Minister cited the significant improvement in the law and order situation, surrendering of scores of underground cadres of extremist outfits with huge cache of arms and ammunition following signing of several peace accords, and drastic fall in deaths of security personnel and civilians as reasons for complete lifting of AFSPA from Assam. The Home Minister put forth some suggestions to pave the way for complete withdrawal of AFSPA, the official said, adding, Sarma assured that state government would take further steps based on his suggestions. Meanwhile, Sarma while apprising about his meeting with Shah wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "I met Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji at his residence today to discuss the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Assam. The government of Assam will take further steps based on the suggestions of the Home Minister." Last month, the Chief Minister in his Independence Day address in Guwahati, had said his government's aim is to completely withdraw AFSPA from the state by the end of 2023. It may be mentioned that the 'Disturbed Area' notification was in force since 1990 in the whole of Assam. On April 1, 2022, the AFSPA was removed from the entire State of Assam except for nine districts, including one sub-division of another district. From April 1, the districts under the AFSPA in Assam were further reduced to eight as the Act was withdrawn from the Lakhipur sub-division of Cachar district. The law gives unbridled power to the Armed Forces and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed in "Disturbed Areas" to kill anyone acting in contravention of the law, arrest and search any premises without a warrant, and protection from prosecution and legal suits without the Central government's sanction. Patna, Sep 4 : Amid strong protests, the Bihar Education Department on Monday decided to roll back its earlier decision pertaining to leaves. It had cancelled the 15 out of 25 holidays in this year. However, the decision led to teachers of Bihar strongly protesting against the move on Raksha Bandhan. A total of 15 teachers associations of Bihar had unanimously decided to protest against the move from September 5, celebrated as Teachers Day. As per the letter issued by Education Department Director Kanhaiya Prasad Srivastava, the decision taken on August 29 was cancelled with immediate effect and the leaves mentioned earlier will remain as it is in the state for the teachers of Class 1 to 12. "We have held a meeting of 15 teachers associations on September 3 to protest against the Education Departmentas leave cancellation from September 5 onwards. However, the department has taken a fresh decision to roll back its earlier decision. We welcome this decision," said Raju Singh, the convener of the teachers association of Bihar. New Delhi, Sep : On the eve of Teachers' Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met the teachers who will be conferred national awards for their invaluable contributions to the education sector. India's second President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's birth anniversary is celebrated as Teachers' Day on September 5 every year. After meeting the award-winning teachers, Modi said, "Met our nation's exemplary educators who have been honoured with the National Teachers' Awards. Their dedication to shaping young minds and their unwavering commitment to excellence in education is very inspiring. In their classrooms, they are scripting a brighter future for India's youth." To recognise and celebrate the country's teachers' invaluable contributions, NAT2023 is going to be held on Tuesday at the Vigyan Bhawan, where President Droupadi Murmu will confer national awards to 75 selected teachers, the Ministry of Education said. The purpose of National Teachersa Awards is to celebrate the unique contribution of teachers in the country and to honour those, who through their commitment and dedication, have not only improved the quality of education, but also enriched the lives of their students. Each award carries a certificate of merit, a cash award of Rs 50,000 and a silver medal. New Delhi, Sep 4 : A caretaker of a 'DUSIB Toilet Complex' was stabbed to death by a teenager whose sister had a past live-in relationship with the deceased, said a Delhi Police official, adding that the woman had committed suicide eight to nine years ago and the accused has been arrested. The deceased was identified as Pappu, a resident of Shastri Nagar in his 40s. Police said that the accused Ankit (19), a resident of Baljeet Nagar, is believed to have held the deceased responsible for his sister's death, and revenge appears to be the motive behind the murder. According to police, they received a PCR call at around 6 a.m. on Monday regarding the incident at Holi Chowk, Baljeet Nagar, following which a team was immediately dispatched. "Pappu was found lying dead with stab injuries. The deceased was caretaker of 'DUSIB Toilet Complex'. The FSL and crime teams were called for inspection of the scene of crime and to preserve evidence," said a senior police official. "Prima facie it emerged that that deceased Pappu was in a live-in relationship with the suspect's sister, who had committed suicide about eight to nine years ago," said the official, adding that all the details are being verified. Ranchi, Sep 5 : The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has launched an investigation into child porn videos allegedly being sold in Jharkhand through messaging apps and social media platforms, an official said. A child rights activist from Ranchi brought this matter to light and submitted evidence in connection with this case to the Director General of CID and the cyber police station. Following this, an investigation has been initiated into the matter after registering a complaint. Initial investigation has revealed that the network of suppliers of child porn videos was operating from Delhi for which groups made on the Telegram app were being used. Baidyanath Kumar, Secretary of Child Rights Foundation, an organisation working for child rights in Jharkhand, had received information that an open group named 'Child Porn Video' and 'Scott Service' is operating on Telegram and anyone can become its member. On August 28, Kumar was asked by this Telegram group whether he wanted to receive a child porn video. After reacting to it, a demo video was sent saying that more than 8,000 such videos would be made available on payment of Rs 220 through an UPI link. Six video links were sent after paying money on this link, following which he complained about this to the Director General of Jharkhand CID. On the basis of a written complaint, a case has been registered in the cyber crime station of CID. Two mobile numbers supplying child porn content have been identified, in which an accused named Surya is said to be involved. A letter has also been written to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the National Commission for Women (NCW) regarding this matter. By continuing to use this site you consent to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy unless you have disabled them. You can change your cookie settings at any time but parts of our site will not function correctly without them. [Close] Property details: Highest Bid owns this lot! No Minimum, No Reserve Will sell the property regardless of the final bid amount Click BUY IT NOW to own at $10,500 This property is located near the historic Route 66 (Hwy 40) and the Petrified Forest National in Navajo County, Arizona 1.26 Acres of spacious, airy land in Navajo County, Arizona. The land runs along the famous Route 66, Purple Heart Trail. The land is RV-friendly with many outdoor opportunities. Peaceful and serene with beautiful mountain backdrops in ... 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ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Joey Graziadei has dished about the new twist of his season and how it's going to be a game changer.franchise host Jesse Palmer announced Joey as star for the show's upcoming 28th season set to air in early 2024 during ette's live Season 20 finale.Although Joey had to relive his heartbreak and watch that devastating Final Rose Ceremony during ette finale, he also got to meet his first bachelorette, a brunette beauty named Leah from Hawaii, who had been sitting in the audience for the whole show.Viewers watched Jesse give Leah a special, "surprise" envelope -- something that will "help" Leah on her journey -- but he told her that she couldn't open it until Night 1 of filming."I don't know [what was in the card]. It threw me for a loop," Joey admitted during the August 29 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast, which is co-hosted by Bachelor in Paradise spouses Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt "I like that they are trying to change things up, I really do. But I was like, 'What are we doing with the card? What does this mean?'"Joey recalled how Leah was "amazing" and "funny," especially when she joked to him on After the Final Rose, "These girls are going to hate me when I walk into this house."And Serena and Joe agreed that this secret envelope will probably put a target on Leah's back right away in the house."She is aware already that [whatever is in the card] is a little bit of a game-changer," Joey shared."I was like, 'You'll be fine. It's okay. We'll be okay.' You know all the girls going probably watched [the episode], too, so they're going to know that [the card] is going to be there."Joey pointed out, "It's a new wrinkle that's never been on the show before, so that's why I think it's exciting."Joey, however, hopes this potential twist will "not [be] anything too crazy," and he reiterated, "but I don't know what it is."Joey previously said of franchise, "I'm not going to sugarcoat it, there's a lot of stuff that happens and things that kind of mess with you."Joey is also going to have many other women to choose from, and he claimed that he doesn't have a type "It's more about the personality and the type of person," Joey told Serena and Joe when asked what he's looking for in a partner."I want someone adventurous, I want someone that's going to love every day and try to make the most of it... I'm one of those people that believe I'll know when I see it, but I'm just really excited for the idea that I might actually find that person."Joey added how he'd love to find a woman who "can command a room" and make others feel comfortable in her presence."I want funny, I want fun, and I want people to not take things so serious," Joey said."I'm just looking for someone that mirrors me very well -- but challenges me, too. I could go down a huge list of things I would love in a woman, but at the same time, I know that I will just know."On ette finale, Charity Lawson dumped Joey in second place in Fiji before accepting a marriage proposal from her winner, Dotun Olubeko Joey was seconds away from proposing until Charity interrupted his speech and wouldn't let him go any further."I'm glad she didn't actually let me pull out the ring," Joey said on the podcast. "Things could've been a lot worse."Joey admitted he felt like "an idiot" leaving the show because he had fallen for a woman on TV, but he said he quickly got over that "human moment," gathered his emotions, and attempted to heal."I was envisioning our life together," Joey cried in his final words."I was getting down on one knee. I thought it was happening. I was certain; I had zero doubt. I wanted to leave here with Charity, it's all I wanted. And she gave me every reason to believe it... When is it going to happen for me?"Before premieres its new season in early 2024, ABC will air Season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise and its new spinoff, The Golden Bachelor, beginning Thursday, September 28 on ABC.Interested in more news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner and pop music star Joe Jonas have split up after four years of marriage, according to several media outlets. ADVERTISEMENT TMZ broke the story Sunday, saying Jonas consulted two Los Angeles-area divorce lawyers about ending his marriage to Turner. He reportedly has been caring for their two young children while his band Jonas Brothers has been touring around the United States. People.com cited an unnamed source as saying Jonas has retained a divorce lawyer. In Touch reported that the couple's romance has been on the rocks for months. Jonas, 34, and Turner, 27, met in 2016, tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2019, then later exchanged marriage vows again in France. A majority of the people have questions about Alpha Xis recruitment process. Indeed, its been mostly kept under wraps until Bid Day, of course. I decided the best way to answer all of these questions was to outline my own personal experience going through Alpha Xi Deltas establishment recruitment as a Potential New Member. After being underweight on domestic agrochemical companies and preferring global plays, brokerages believe that the former may perform better in the quarters ahead. Photograph: PTI Photo from the Rediff Archives Domestic crop protection companies have faced multiple headwinds over the past year and a half, given high inventory costs, pricing pressures, lower realisations in the generic segment, increased stocks due to lower infestations, and demand-led hits to volumes. Some of the overhang from previous quarters was reflected in the April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24) as well, with aggregate revenues and operating profit for the sector down 12 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively. Nuvama Research believes that a poor start to the monsoons, the initial fear of El Nino, falling raw material prices, and dumping from China, which added pressure on end-product realisation, led to inventory destocking by trade and liquidation of high-cost inventory. As a result, this led to losses and margin pressures. Rohan Gupta of the brokerage prefers domestic agri-business companies. We believe domestic agri-input players will witness a significant pick-up in subsequent quarters, led by a pick-up in the monsoon in July and August. "With the bottoming of input prices, we expect margins to witness gradual expansion, he adds. Kotak Institutional Equities also expects India to fare better, with the recovery in global markets happening at a gradual pace. Looking ahead, the Indian agrochemical market may outperform overseas markets in the second quarter (Q2) of FY24, even as a break in monsoon rainfall in AugustSeptember remains a key risk, say analysts of the brokerage, led by Abhijit Akella. The global agricultural input segment remains worse off than the domestic market, with multinational agrochemical majors downgrading their revenue guidance for the calendar year 2023 (CY23). Germanys Bayer AG has cut its CY23 revenue guidance (in May) from 1.5 per cent growth to a fall of 5 per cent (in August) for its crop protection business due to a sales decline in glyphosate, a broad-spectrum herbicide. Sales of the herbicide were down 61 per cent for Bayer AG in the June quarter due to pricing issues, retail channel destocking of inventory, and reduced demand due to dry weather in key markets. US-headquartered FMC Corporation believes that there could be volume pressures in the second half of CY23 due to channel destocking as higher inventory costs and a wait-and-watch approach lead to ordering delays. The company expects the global crop protection market to fall by high single digits or low double digits in CY23, up from the previous estimate of a low single-digit drop. Another US-based agri-major, Corteva Agriscience, has downgraded its CY23 outlook (and lowered its revenue growth guidance) due to lower volumes in the North American market and purchase delays because of the drought situation in Latin America. The second half of CY23 is expected to be muted, with a recovery in calendar year 2024. Among Indian companies (UPL, Anupam Rasayan, and Rallis), the international business also remained challenging due to inventory build-up and pricing pressure on major generic active ingredients, observes IIFL Research. While PI Industries custom synthesis and manufacturing business reported strong revenue growth, management remained cautiously optimistic as the end-user industry faces global headwinds, says the brokerage. Among pure-play exporters, Sharda Cropchem reported the sharpest declines in sales and gross profit of 23 per cent and 73 per cent, respectively. The company was the only crop care company to post a loss at the operating level of Rs 69 crore. The weak global outlook is also reflected in stock prices. While the UPL stock recently hit its 52-week low and is down 16 per cent from its highs in June, Sharda Cropchem has shed a quarter of its value from its highs in July. In Q1, domestic crop protection revenues for PI, UPL, BASF, and Rallis were under pressure. With rainfall improving, sowing has picked up in Q2 and should trigger agrochemical liquidation and consumption. Given the muted global outlook, Nuvama Research advises investors to avoid global players such as UPL and Sharda Cropchem. It expects agrochemicals to post healthy demand growth of 15 per cent or more in FY24, along with margin expansion. The brokerage prefers domestic agritech players Dhanuka Agritech and Coromandel International. Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. This article and information do not constitute a distribution, an endorsement, an investment advice, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities/schemes or any other financial products/investment products mentioned in this article to influence the opinion or behaviour of the investors/recipients. Any use of the information/any investment and investment related decisions of the investors/recipients are at their sole discretion and risk. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Reliance Jio has sent a second legal opinion to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on the subject of the potential allocation of satellite spectrum. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters The letter is written by retired Supreme Court Justice L Nageshwara Rao and argues in favour of auctions, stating that any other method for allocating spectrum apart from auctions could be constitutionally unsound. Business Standard has reviewed the letter. "In light of the commercial considerations underpinning the allocation of satellite spectrum and without any social or welfare objectives, any law or rules that propose a method other than auction, thereby raising concerns about its legality, could be found constitutionally unsound under Article 14 of the Constitution of India," Rao said in the letter. Once again referring to the previous 2G judgement by the Supreme Court, Rao emphasised that the court has already argued against the first-come, first-served policy formerly adopted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for spectrum allocation. The court highlighted that this policy had a fundamental flaw as it involved an element of pure chance or accident, and stressed it had inherently risky implications, he added. Rao also mentioned an earlier observation made by the Supreme Court in the Goa Foundation versus Sesa Sterlite Limited case, suggesting that any method to distribute the spectrum that does not take into account revenue maximisation for the government may be subject to judicial review. The Supreme Court had maintained that "there is no constitutional requirement, let alone a mandate, for allocation of natural resources through the auction method (other than spectrum), but at the same time the auction process should not be skipped without any justification the decision to do so is judicially reviewable." Recently, Jio sent another letter authored by retired Supreme Court Justice KSP Radhakrishnan that also argued in favour of auctions. It cited the 2G judgement and emphasised that the Supreme Court ruled that spectrum can only be allocated by auction and no other method. "Nothing in the court's reasoning indicates that this conclusion would not apply to the allocation of spectrum for the purpose of satellite-based communication services," the letter stated. Debate intensifies The legal opinions submitted by Jio follow a similar legal opinion sent by the industry body Broadband India Forum (BIF) to Trai, opposing satellite spectrum auctions. Industry players are currently awaiting Trai's final recommendations on the matter. Consultations on the issue concluded in June earlier this year. Satellite or orbit spectrum is a segment of radio spectrum made available when satellites are placed into orbit. This spectrum is a limited resource for every country, utilised by firms to implement satellite broadcasting, communication satellites, and weather satellite services. In the draft telecom bill released last year, the DoT expanded the definition of "telecommunication services" to include satellite-based communication services. Currently, the government holds exclusive rights to establish, operate, maintain and expand all telecom services and to use, allocate and assign spectrum. The BIF, which represents tech giants like Google, Meta and Microsoft, as well as telecom equipment manufacturers such as Ericsson, Cisco and Huawei, sought the opinion of former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on whether the law mandates that the sole way to allocate satellite spectrum is through auction. Rohatgi opined that auctioning satellite spectrum is not the most suitable and efficient method of resource allocation. As part of the last consultation process on this topic administered by Trai in June, tech firms like Elon Musk's Starlink, Amazon's Project Kuiper, Telesat, Tata Group's Nelco, Hughes and Bharti Enterprises OneWeb were united in their opposition to satellite spectrum auctions. In contrast, telecom operators remained divided. Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea advocated for auctions, while Bharti Airtel argued against them. Wipro is betting on artificial intelligence (AI) and Cloud computing to earn more from its biggest contributor the banking, financial services & insurance (BFSI) sector which brought in 35 per cent of the revenue in FY23. Photograph: PTI Photo from the Rediff Archives The Bengaluru-headquartered firm also expects its consultancy arm Capco to aid in its vision. Over the past few years, we have made significant investments in the BFSI sector and have improved our talent, capabilities, and processes in this space both through organic investments and with the addition of Capco, Suzanne Dann, Wipros chief executive officer for Americas 2, told Business Standard. Americas 2 is a strategic market unit of Wipro and consists of BFSI, manufacturing, hi-tech, energy and utilities sectors. Indias fourth-largest software services exporter, Wipro had bought British consultancy Capco for $1.45 billion in 2021 its largest acquisition to date to strengthen its consulting capabilities, especially in the BFSI sector. We have signed hundreds of synergy deals with Capco, significantly expanding our footprint in the consulting space, said Dann. Wipro is also investing in so-called emerging technologies like Cloud, and AI (it recently earmarked $1 billion for the latter) to strengthen its BFSI vertical. The investments we made in our Cloud business, culminating in the formation of Wipro FullStride Cloud, our ongoing innovation with strategic partners, as well as the extensive strategic consulting capabilities we built, particularly with the acquisition of Capco, have been setting us apart from competition, she added. Within BFSI, Wipro is enhancing its focus on high-growth areas, such as insurance, and diversifying towards higher-margin accounts. The insurance sector continues to be resilient against an uncertain macro environment. "Companies in this sector are increasingly looking to apply technology to their operations digital claims processing, or application of AI to the underwriting process, to name a few to drive near-term efficiencies while building future-proof businesses, said Dann. Wipro is also focusing on building and expanding its capabilities in the consulting space. Our deep consulting presence in this sector is a significant differentiator for us, and as the market turns, we expect this part of our business to play an even bigger role in our growth We are driving ongoing synergies between our consulting and other business lines to build stronger, deeper relationships with clients, she said, adding the firm was expanding its geographical presence via new BFSI consulting offerings in India, West Asia, and Asia. Wipro is helping clients invest in priority areas amid uncertain macro environment where companies are putting more emphasis on cost optimisation and increased efficiencies, while pausing some discretionary projects. In a highly fluid environment, we are finding that our ability to advise clients on short-, mid- and long-term strategies gives us better visibility into their thinking and plans, thus allowing us to stay ahead of their needs, Dann said. Clients are reassessing their strategies on where and when to invest. Some of the clients current priority areas include identifying ways they can drive increased efficiencies and better RoI (return on investment) from Cloud investments; expanding AI and automation engagements designed to reduce manual efforts, increase quality, and achieve added cost efficiencies; and leveraging our partnerships, as well as AI and analytics capabilities, to help better manage risks, said Dann. In a tightening cost environment, we are also benefiting from the consolidation taking place in the market, expanding our engagement with some of our top clients, she added. In a dramatic turn of events in May 2019, an Emirates aircraft en-route to Dubai was asked to stop while it was taxiing for a take off in Mumbai. The pilot was given no reason and ordered to immediately return to the parking bay. As the aircraft returned to the terminal, two passengers from the first class Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita were offloaded by the immigration authorities, who said the duo cannot leave the country. Goyal, founder of Jet Airways, was stunned. The man, who ruled the aviation sector for two and a half decades with an iron hand, did not expect to be offloaded in this fashion. From then onward, Goyals fortunes had been heading south. The airline, which had shut shop in April 2019, owed over Rs 8,500 crore to Indian banks and its total dues to various stakeholders and employees are a staggering Rs 25,000 crore. It owed passengers, who had booked their tickets in advance, another Rs 3,500 crore. The Centre had been cracking the whip against bank defaulters, who were not allowed to leave the country. Bank officials were given the power to issue look out notices against the defaulters. Beginning his career as a cashier at his uncles travel agency, Goyal initially sold seats and cargo loads for various airlines. Later, he took wings by launching Jet in 1993. Goyals earlier career in the aviation industry allowed him to establish strong relationships with airlines worldwide. He was regularly seen at the annual general meetings of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a global airline lobby group with about 300 carriers as its members. Jet Airways, one of the first private airlines to start when the aviation sector was opened up in the early 1990s, managed to carve a niche for itself. The airline crushed competition with its super service, on-time performance and, of course, friends at high places across the political spectrum. At one point, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar were members of the airlines board of directors. With his strong connections, Goyal even managed to keep the Tatas out of the aviation sector for a long time. The Tata group was frustrated with the policy flip-flops of the Congress government, which kept it out of the sector despite commitment from Singapore Airlines to come in as a joint venture partner. Jet was among the few airlines to survive for over 25 years, despite several regime changes and policy flip-flops, which resulted in the death of rival airlines but suited Goyal. But its the acquisition of Air Sahara in 2006 by Jet that turned out to be a disaster for Goyal. The Air Sahara acquisition, despite being questioned by Goyals close colleagues for its high cost, was pursued relentlessly and eventually consummated. Jet Airways rebranded Air Sahara as JetLite, but the acquisition strained its resources. In 2015, Jet Airways wrote off its entire Rs 1,800 crore investment in JetLite. Goyal, well known for throwing lavish parties for Indias whos who in Goa, forged tie-ups with global airlines and influenced the policy environment. He was the first beneficiary of the revised foreign direct investment (FDI) rules to allow global carriers to invest in Indian airlines. In 2013, Etihad Airways of Abu Dhabi picked a 24 per cent stake in Jet. Four years later, Jet teamed up with Air France-KLM for an enhanced commercial partnership. But these werent enough to save the airline, dragged down by high debt. Goyals unwillingness to cede control, his frosty relations with Etihad, and reluctance of banks to lend more prevented a rescue. The airline operated its last flight in April 2019. Goyal, who has been accused of siphoning off the airlines funds, is now waging a legal battle against the investigating agencies. After the airline shut down, the lenders auctioned it to a consortium, which has failed to pay banks the full amount till date. With his arrest on Friday, Goyal will join several other business leaders, who are now in various Mumbai jails for alleged financial crimes. These include Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra, the Wadhawan brothers of DHFL group, Rana Kapoor, former managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of YES Bank and Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan of HDIL. Goyal was offered an exit route by several airlines in the past but he rejected all offers. "The airline could have been saved but he was not willing to give up control. "He even signed a deal with Kingfisher Airlines but both Vijay Mallya (of Kingfisher) and he did not budge from their positions. "So, both the airlines failed, starting with Kingfisher in October 2012. "At the end, everyone lost, said a former Jet Airways employee. India's first solar mission, if successful, will showcase ISRO's ability to explore the cosmos, explains Kumar Abishek. IMAGE: ISRO's maiden solar mission Aditya-L1 blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, September 2, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo There is a compelling adage: 'Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars'. Well, India's recent moonshot has been a uniquely successful tale, with Chandrayaan-3's Vikram making a soft landing near the lunar South Pole and rover Pragyan leaving its imprints on its surface and in our hearts. It's time we shot for a star -- our nearest, the Sun -- and expanded our scientific frontiers. The Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Aditya-L1 mission, dedicated to studying the Sun, on September 2, 2023. It was launched by ISRO's PSLV rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Solar missions are special due to the fundamental role of the Sun in shaping our solar system and lifeforms on Earth. India's upcoming probe is a remarkable endeavour that exemplifies the importance of such missions. Let's understand the mission first. ISRO plans to place the observatory in a halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, about 1.5 million km from Earth. The journey will take nearly four months; the planned mission duration is five years. Lagrange points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of two celestial bodies, such as the Sun and Earth, equal the centripetal force required for a small object to move with them, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and this helps a spacecraft reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position. Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable (L1, L2, and L3) and two (L4 and L5) are stable. 'A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipse,' according to ISRO. NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite (SOHO) is currently placed there. Via Aditya L1, ISRO scientists will study the Sun's corona (the outermost part of its atmosphere) and seek to comprehend the mechanisms behind the corona's high temperatures, even higher than the Sun's surface. The mission will also investigate the origins of solar wind and its effects on the heliosphere -- a bubble that extends beyond the orbits of the planets and helps shield them from interstellar radiation. Additionally, the observatory will study coronal mass ejections (CMEs), massive eruptions of plasma and magnetic fields from the corona. But why undertake this ambitious mission? The Sun is not just a source of energy for us, but also a living laboratory for studying stellar processes, such as nuclear fusion, magnetic field dynamics, and the generation of solar wind. Studying the Sun's interior through methods like helioseismology (or through its oscillations), akin to how earthquakes reveal the Earth's interior, offers valuable data for refining models of stellar evolution. And, knowledge about these processes enhances our understanding of the cosmos. Furthermore, solar missions provide insights into the Sun's role in shaping the habitability of planets within our solar system. Variations in the Sun's energy output can influence our planet's climate patterns over long periods. Studying this will help scientists refine climate models, and understand the complex interactions between solar radiation and atmospheric processes. Great bursts of electromagnetic energy and particles, or solar flares, can temporarily alter Earth's upper atmosphere, disrupting signal transmissions in an increasingly technology-driven world. CMEs can lead to electromagnetic and ground-level electric fluctuations, potentially damaging the power grids. People and organisations can protect themselves or be prepared following advance information on such episodes. Aditya L1 is a step in that direction, too. In line with such objectives, the payload of the Aditya L1 mission includes instruments like the visible emission line coronagraph, the solar ultraviolet imaging telescope, the solar low energy X-ray spectrometer, and the plasma analyser package for Aditya. These instruments will help scientists capture high-resolution images of the corona, study its emissions, observe the Sun as a star, and investigate solar wind by analysing electrons and heavier ions. Understanding these processes not only expands our knowledge of the Sun but also offers insights into plasma physics. Data and information gained from the Aditya L1 mission will translate into tangible benefits for space operations and technology on Earth -- from optimising satellite operations to enhancing GPS accuracy. India's first solar mission, if successful, will showcase ISRO's ability to explore the cosmos and push the boundaries of our understanding through curiosity, innovation, and determination. After lunar successes, achievements of Aditya L1 will portray ISRO not as a rising Sun, but as a Sun that has already risen, shining brightly at the peak of summer. Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com With the assembly polls only two years away, any demoralising defeat in 2024 would challenge not only the party's continued relevance, but also EPS's leadership, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy. IMAGE: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurates the procession of 51 torchbearers in Madurai to mark the AIADMK's golden jubilee. Photograph: Kind courtesy AIADMK/X Notwithstanding the late anti-NEET day-long fast of ruling DMK cadres under state minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's leadership, the Opposition AIADMK has achieved a certain feat. In celebrating the party's golden jubilee, even if delayed by a year, the AIADMK's recent Madurai rally demonstrated the party's support-base -- and more so, re-asserted former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami's unassailable leadership, which was not in doubt anyway over the past couple of years. No other political party of its size and popularity had grappled with factionalism as the AIADMK had done since then chief minister Jayalalalithaa's death in December 2016. It was nearly so when party founder M G Ramachandran died on December 24, 1987, but then the faction-feud centred around his wife Janaki Ramachandran and 'disowned' heir-apparent Jayalalithaa, ended after both lost the 1989 assembly polls. Elections 89 marked the return of the DMK parent to the centre-stage, from where MGR had consigned it to the sidelines through his lifetime as AIADMK boss, much of it as chief minister. It is another matter that most men in the AIADMK may now want to forget it, but the fact remains that MGR, in his last public appearance, at Chennai's Anna Nagar locality, had asked party cadres to stay away from Jayalalithaa, after having promoted her as propaganda secretary and Rajya Sabha member over the previous decade or so. To cut to the present, EPS's hugely-attended rally at Madurai -- the centrepiece of most rally politics in the state, whichever the party and leader -- has re-energised the AIADMK to face next year's Lok Sabha elections with renewed vigour. It has also taken the media focus off the DMK for one, and even more so, state BJP chief K Annamalai's much-trumpeted padayatra, flagged off by Union Home Minister Amit A Shah at the temple island of Rameswaram. Truth be told, after the DMK's Karunanidhi and M K Stalin, now chief minister, EPS alone has proved to be a never-say-die man in Tamil Nadu politics. It was not so in the case of Jayalalithaa before him, as she even considered quitting politics once after losing the post-MGR assembly polls of 1989. EPS did not give up even for a day after losing the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and more so the 2021 assembly elections -- and with that elected power -- both in the company of the ruling BJP ally at the Centre. Not a day has passed since the 2019 electoral defeat, that too when both the BJP and the AIADMK were respectively in power at Delhi and Chennai, and equally so, following the 2021 results, without EPS targeting the DMK rival from all kinds of fora and platforms. His confidants like former ministers D Jayakumar and C Ve Shanmugam have lost no time in hitting out at all detractors, especially of EPS. Be it the DMK or other faction leaders like three-time AIADMK chief minister O Panneerselvam, or Jaya's one-time confidante Sasikala Natarajan (to whom alone EPS owed his CM's job) or the latter's estranged nephew T T V Dhinakaran, the duo, among other close aides of EPS, have been unsparing. So have they been when it comes to pot-shots taken by Annamalai, their political and electoral ally otherwise. Alongside, EPS has also won most of the pending court cases, these ones initiated by the OPS faction. The latest, if not possibly the last one, was settled in his favour by the Madras high court just last week. The high court is also set to hear the forgotten appeal by Sasikala, challenging the lower court's dismissal of her petition on the party removing her as general secretary when she was serving a four-year jail-term in Bengaluru. As may be recalled, the case pertained to Jaya's first term as chief minister, and the Supreme Court verdict in the matter came weeks after Jaya's death. Yet, there is no ground sympathy for Sasikala, either in the party or among the general public. IMAGE: Bharatiya Janata Party supremo Narendra D Modi being welcomed by Edappadi K Palaniswami on his arrival for the National Democratic Alliance meeting in New Delhi. Photograph: ANI Photo In leading the party to the Lok Sabha polls, that too without a challenger worth the name from within, EPS has his job cut out. The ruling DMK rival is only one of them, though the main one, along with its Congress and Communist allies. Any chance collaboration among OPS, Sasikala and Dhinakaran, even with their weakened base, has the potential to upset the apple-cart for the BJP-NDA, which is led by the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. Not that the trio, if at all they came together, would be able to win any seat, but their vote-share may have the potential to upset the NDA calculations in 10-15 Lok Sabha seats in the south and south-central regions. The DMK-led INDIA combine -- which is still shaping up -- may stand to benefit, despite visible signs of anti-incumbency having set in against the Stalin government, across the state -- though not enough for the latter to lose all 38 of 39 seats that they had bagged in 2019. The BJP is said to be concerned about such developments and the party's national leadership seems inclined to try and accommodate the OPS faction in whatever way possible. The question of the BJP dictating merger terms to EPS is gone, and party sources say that they may now consider a 'package deal' with the AIADMK under EPS, for them to field both BJP and non-BJP alliance candidates under its symbol. Already, IJP leader and incumbent Lok Sabha member T R Parivendhar, who won the Perambalur seat under the DMK symbol, and New Justice Party leader A C Shanmugam -- he lost the Vellore seat on the AIADMK symbol in 2019 -- are in line for contesting the 2024 elections under the BJP symbol. Will the BJP be able to wriggle out 10-15 seats as the leadership aspires out of the EPS leadership, to project them all as 'BJP seats' to the rest of the country even while fielding allies under the party's 'Lotus' symbol? If so, can it get the OPS faction to contest under the Lotus symbol, likewise -- and also have the EPS faction work for them at the grass-roots? The problem for the EPS-AIADMK is two-fold and more. Together especially, the OPS-Sasikala-TTV trio can project their sidelining from party affairs as an insult to their 'caste pride' (though may not be said so publicly). All three belong to the militant Mukkulathore community dominating the south and south-central regions, and were at their peak during Jaya's time, especially. If Sasikala had chosen EPS after dislodging OPS as CM post-Jaya, especially after then acting governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao refused to swear her in pending the Supreme Court ruling in the 'Jaya wealth case', it owed to the fact that he came from the Vellalar Gounder community in the western region, whose loyalty to the party was no less than that of her own. However, even while anticipating an unfavourable verdict, she did not expect EPS to become as ambitious as and even more cunning than she was ready to credit him with. It was the first time that anyone from the community had become the state chief minister, post-Independence, and they were not ones to let the opportunity pass by. They are both businessmen and landowners across the western region, centred around Coimbatore, which is often called the 'commercial capital' and region of Tamil Nadu. If the AIADMK may stand to lose if the OPS-led votes are not in its bag, the BJP would be a greater loser, as the traditional strongholds of both coincide and lie in the south. But there is a catch for the EPS leadership, too. Party cadres are convinced that identifying and partnering with the BJP was the cause for the AIADMK's massive electoral losses in 2019 and 2021. AIADMK strategists fear that despite visible signs of mushrooming anti-incumbency, the DMK-led alliance may slip through the victory gate in 2024 if they did not address the larger issue of the BJP's Hindutva image. They say that none of Narendra Modi's pro-Tamil image-building has worked on the ground, and cite his installing the Sengol in the new Parliament Complex as only the latest of them -- preceded by the Varanasi and Saurashtra Sangamam festivities, and also the PM quoting Tamil poets in international fora like the UN General Assembly. According to them, going beyond the traditional BJP supporters and sympathisers, the ordinary Tamil voter is not convinced about the sincerity and seriousness with which the BJP is promoting the Tamil cause. As they point out, the language issue in Tamil Nadu is two-fold, one promoting Tamil and the other, opposing 'Hindi imposition'. Seemingly promoting Tamil even while taking great pains to impose Hindi, as seen by the locals, won't work here, they say. IMAGE: Edappadi K Palaniswami garlands the statue of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran on his 106th birth anniversary at the party headquarters in Chennai, January 17, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Even without it all, there is a 12 to 15 per cent minority vote bank comprising Muslims and Christians, that will go wholesale to the DMK-Congress alliance, as happened in 2019. By challenging the BJP with her 'Modi-ya, indha lady-ya?' campaign in 2014, Jaya as CM could break this nexus. The ruling AIADMK swept the polls with 37 of 39 lOK sABHA seats, with the BJP-NDA bagging two. The DMK drew a huge blank. This section of the AIADMK feels that it would do the anti-DMK, anti-Congress parties and groups to let their party and the BJP contest on their own, and make post-poll adjustments, as may be required for the medium and long terms. On most occasions in the past, the BJP too had won its seats mostly in a three-cornered contest, as in southern-most Kanyakumari, and not in a direct fight, they argue. If this is the strategy that needs to be followed -- and not many in the state BJP especially agree -- then, the national party leadership has to work on the scheme, depending on what it aims to achieve. The BJP will have to choose between its purported ambitions to 'send at least 25 MPs to back Modi', as Amit A Shah had said in Tamil Nadu not very long ago, and subsuming its electoral ambitions in the Dravidian state, if only to stop the DMK-Congress alliance on the track, even if in a limited way. For the AIADMK, elections 2024 would mean a lot more. With the assembly polls only two years away, in 2026, any demoralising defeat in 2024 would challenge not only the party's continued relevance, but also EPS's leadership. Though no challenger seems to be anywhere on the horizon and within the current fold, there is no knowing what would await a drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, which at least the AIADMK cadres fear is bound to happen if they are in the BJP's company -- whatever be Modi's acceptance level elsewhere across the country. N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and author, is a Chennai-based policy analyst and political commentator. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com 'There's no pro-China tilt in BRICS.' 'All these countries want to be close to China, but they are all good friends of India also.' IMAGE: China's President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Chinese Communist party, at the China-Africa Leaders Roundtable Dialogue on the last day of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, August 24, 2023. Photograph: Alet Pretorius/Pool/Reuters "Countries like India, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Brazil are not interested in taking sides between the US and China, or the US and Russia," says Ambassador Gurjit Singh, India's former envoy to Germany, Indonesia, Ethiopia and ASEAN. "These countries don't want to become anti-Western or pro-Chinese, but one of the main reasons they want to be part of BRICS is access to funding by the New Development Bank," Ambassador Singh tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih in a two-part interview on why the recent BRICS summit has gathered so much attention like never before. In what ways will an expanded BRICS, which now represents nearly half the world's population, give a greater heft to this alliance? It is not an alliance or an institution. It is a group of countries. BRICS was the coming together of four disparate countries which had a good future economically. [South Africa was included in 2010.] The BRICS countries do not follow common policies. If one looks at BRICS and their vote in the United Nations General Assembly on the Russian Resolution, it does not present a clear picture. India, South Africa and China abstained. Among the new entrants, Ethiopia, and Iran also abstained. Brazil voted with the West. Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE voted against Russia. This shows that they were not following the Chinese. The concern is that the Chinese want to make BRICS into an anti-West front. The Chinese were trying to give it an anti-Western heft. China and Russia want BRICS to become a collection of countries that will challenge Western domination. Meanwhile, India's point is that BRICS is a collection of countries that want the following: Retain strategic autonomy Gather more avenues for development Contribute for the betterment of the Global South This is what BRICS essentially stands for and this is why so many countries want to join. For instance, India and the UAE are strategic partners, but that does not mean that in the UN, we vote on the same side every time. BRICS is not an alliance like NATO or G7 where member countries vote together or take the same position. These countries don't want to become anti-Western or pro-Chinese, but one of the main reasons they want to be part of BRICS is access to funding by the New Development Bank established by BRICS countries in 2015]. The NDB is not an anti-Western platform. One of NDB's goals is to co-finance projects along with multilateral development banks like the World Bank, and so they are partners, not rivals. They should not let BRICS become a Chinese acolyte and retain strategic autonomy. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Xi Jinping, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Brazilian President Lula da Silva at the BRICS Summit in South Africa. Photograph: @MEAIndia/X A lot has been written about the pro-China tilt and India being sidelined in this expanded group. There is no pro-China tilt; that is an overstatement. All these countries want to be close to China, but they are all good friends of India also. Except for India, among the original BRICS countries and Argentina in the new BRICS, China is the largest trading partner of every country. Countries like India, the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Brazil are not interested in taking sides between the US and China, or the US and Russia. We want to stick to the middle and I think there are enough of us now. Therefore, from India's point of view, we do not have only friends of China in the expanded group of countries, but countries that stand on their own strategic autonomy. One needs to understand that strategic autonomy does not mean agreeing on every issue, it means taking your own position. So you categorically believe that this addition of new members will not be seen as an anti-US front. How do you think the US is looking at this? The concept that this is going to be a pro-Chinese exercise was deliberately floated, but I don't think it is true. If you look at the voting figures -- most of these new countries actually voted with the Americans against Russia. They did not abstain, but voted with America against Russia which shows that they were not following the Chinese. IMAGE: Ramaphosa, Modi and Lavrov at the BRICS Summit. Photograph: Alet Pretorius/Pool/Reuters The expansion of BRICS was supposed to be seen through consensus. India and Brazil were opposed to this expansion. Yet, how do you think China got its way? I don't think China got its way. There are two parts to the expansion story. Should there be an expansion? How and who? The expansion has been discussed for about two years. India, Brazil and South Africa wanted the setting up of criteria which was agreed upon at the summit. But subsequently, if you read the communique, it says that the foreign ministers will report to the next summit on who the recommended partners are. But suddenly, they decided to extend it now itself. This expansion would not have happened if India and Brazil had not agreed. I don't think it was due to Chinese pressure, but the enthusiasm of countries who wanted to join. They had all approached various countries, including India. Many of their leaders were meeting leaders [of existing BRICS countries] in Johannesburg and saying, let's do it now rather than wait. I don't see it as a Chinese victory. I think we were ready with our list and once the decision was taken, we had no problems with any of the new countries because we had already sort of vetted them. Part II of the Interview: 'It's like joining G-20, but not as good' Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com 'Does anyone understand India?' 'Does anyone have a larger perspective for India as a whole?' 'Today we have rulers who do not understand the ruled.' IMAGE: Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar speaks to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as DMK President M K Stalin, right, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, left, look on. This photograph was taken at the swearing in of the newly elected Karnataka government at the Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru, May 20, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo No other economist in India is perhaps more qualified to talk about the direct relation between the Indian economy and caste oppression than Dr M Kunhaman. His autobiography Ethiru describes how it was to grow up as a Dalit in poverty, how it was to be insulted, humiliated and rejected by society in school, college and later on at work. The book was awarded the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award last year, but he refused to accept the award. When he passed out of Calicut University with first rank in economics, he became the second Dalit student to do so after K R Narayanan, who later became India's first Dalit President. After working as a professor of economics at Kerala University for 27 years, Dr Kunhaman taught economics for a few years at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. He is described as a strong voice of the subalterns, a well-known academician, a unique thinker and an economist. "A neo-Brahminical order has come into existence. This new Brahminical hierarchy is not dominated by Brahmins. So, you have Dalit Brahmins, Adivasi Brahmins, OBC Brahmins, Muslim Brahmins...", Dr Kunhaman tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier in the first of a two-part interview: There was a report in the newspapers recently about Dalits entering a temple in Tamil Nadu for the first time in 100 years. Last month, there was also a report about a temple in Tamil Nadu getting sealed after Dalits entered the temple. These incidents happened in the second most literate state in India. Do you think nothing much has changed from the time you grew up in the fifties? The situation today is no different because while India is a modern economy, it is still a feudal society. Despite the economic progress and modernisation, despite information technology becoming the driving force of society, we are a society that orders vibhuti online! Modernisation was used in the West particularly in Europe for removing tradition and feudal practices. But in India, we use modern technology to modernise tradition; for example things like computer written horoscopeS. This is revanchism: Bringing back old practices. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi bows down before the Sengol, which was handed over to him by Adheenams, before it was installed in the new Parliament building, during the inauguration ceremony, May 28, 2023. Photograph: PMO/PTI Photo from the Rediff Archives That's why at the inauguration of the new Parliament building, we saw the prime minister who is the prime minister of the largest democracy, falling at the feet of priests. This sends out a message. There are many states in India where Dalits are not permitted to enter the temples and it's not confined to Tamil Nadu alone. I didn't say it happens in Tamil Nadu alone. What I meant was, it happened in the second most literate state in India... Yes, when a few Dalits have become mobile, the larger society is annoyed by their upward mobility and their adoption of modern ways of life. You remember what happened to Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad. So, whenever individuals or social groups become non-conformists, this kind of altercations happen in society. What has happened in Tamil Nadu is a continuation of the old prejudices, values and practices. Do you think these prejudices became more pronounced after right wing politics took centre stage? See, the core of our Constitution is secularism. But political parties do not practise it. It is votes that are more important to them. What you have is a repressive democracy. I would go on to say, repressive democracy has replaced representative democracy. I say this after I see the way in which freedom is violated both in the media and academia by all rulers. IMAGE: Police personnel stand guard outside the closed Dharmaraja Draupadi Amman temple after Viluppuram District Revenue Commissioner Ravichandran ordered to seal the temple at Melpathi village over the issue between dominant caste members and Dalits regarding entry to the temple in Villupuram. Photograph: ANI Photo Nehru was a secular leader and wanted India to be a secular country. But subsequent leaders and governments failed in making India a true secular nation. Who do you think is responsible if India is not a secular country today? Nehru was not just a politician; he was a statesman and a visionary. And he had a different world view. If you take development, particularly the development of tribals, he had a vision which was unique. But his vision was not followed by the politicians who came after him. You take any leader of today, they don't know what is India. Nehru knew India and he knew only India. He was truly secular, not favouring any caste or religion. Though I am not a supporter of the Congress party, I feel only Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka can talk in a language that is secular. Even in the Congress party, only a few individuals have Nehruvian vision. Many politicians do not know India. Nitish Kumar doesn't know India. Mamata Banerjee doesn't know India. Stalin doesn't know India. They are all local leaders. Nehru said very clearly, there is no east or west in a world that is round. We blame Westernisation for all the ills in society, but concepts like democracy, secularism, humanism came from Western society. Whether you like it or not, this modern thinking emerged there and then came here. You said today's leaders do not know India. Does that mean we need leaders who understand India as a whole? Does anyone understand India? Does anyone have a larger perspective for India as a whole? What's happening is, today we have rulers who do not understand the ruled. But Nehru understood the ruled. He wrote Discovery of India in 1946 when he was in prison. IMAGE: Dr M Kunhaman IMAGE: Dr M Kunhaman Today, we have a ruling party that talks about one religion, one language and one culture. By talking against eating beef and other non-vegetarian food, are they not allowing Brahminical dominance? Yes. The Congress was the largest liberal secular democratic party. The party did wonders under the prime ministership of Dr Manmohan Singh. Some of the crucial economic and social decisions were taken then like the Right to Information, Right to Employment, Right to Education, etc. But that party did not have the intellectual power to capitalise on what was done by Dr Singh. The decline of the Congress actually started in the mid 1960s itself. In 1967, it lost power in eight states. The Congress was never able to recapture India. With this decline, a different ideology was slowly superimposed on Indian society, and Brahminical hierarchy was re-established. Is this not taking us back by several decades? It is not just going back, but a reversal of what Nehru had perceived. The difference now is, a neo-Brahminical order has come into existence. This new Brahminical hierarchy is not dominated by Brahmins. You can say a caste of neo-Brahmins has emerged. This hierarchy is dominant in all the fields including the bureaucracy, religion, politics, academia and media. Every field is dominated by a few. The political parties are no exception; they are organised on the same principles of religion. What does religion want? Obedience. Discipline. Respect for authorities. Obeisance. Allegiance. All these are feudal values. And these feudal values are inflicted upon people by religion and political parties. That's why there is no internal democracy in political parties. Today, you have neo-Brahmins in every group. So, you have Dalit Brahmins, Adivasi Brahmins, OBC Brahmins, Muslim Brahmins... Part II of the Interview: 'Caste Won't Disappear From India' Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com A 24-year-old woman flight attendant staying in an apartment in Mumbai was brutally killed allegedly by a housekeeping staffer of the building who slit her throat using a nine-inch weapon, the police said on Monday. The accused man has been arrested. Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: ANI Photo The deceased, identified as Rupal Ogrey, hailed from Chhattisgarh and came to Mumbai in April this year for training with Air India, the official said. She was found dead late Sunday night in a flat at N G Complex on Krishanlal Marwah Marg in the Marol area of suburban Andheri, he said. The accused Vikram Athwal (40), who was doing housekeeping work over the last one year in the residential society, and the victim used to argue over petty issues, the official said when asked about the possible motive behind the crime. As per the preliminary investigation, Athwal entered Ogrey's flat under the pretext of picking up a garbage bag and cleaning the commode, the official said. "After gaining entry inside the flat, he locked the door and took out the 9-inch sharp weapon he was carrying with him. Ogrey tried to save herself but Athwal held her hair from the backside and slit her throat," he added. The official said Athwal received a major injury besides some scratches on his hand as the woman tried to keep up resistance. "After allegedly killing her, Athwal locked the flat and went to his house in Tunga village in Powai area. His wife grew suspicious as his clothes had blood stains but he gave her vague replies and started cleaning his clothes," the official said, adding that he was arrested from his house. The police were investigating if the accused sexually assaulted the victim, the official said. The murder came to light when the woman did not pick up calls from her family members. They rang up their local friends in Mumbai and asked them to go to her flat. When the family's friends went to check on her, they found the flat locked and there was no response to the doorbell. Later, they contacted the Powai police and with their help opened the flat using a duplicate key, the official said. The woman was found lying with her throat slit. She was immediately rushed to civic-run Rajawadi Hospital where she was declared dead before admission, the police said. Another officer said on condition of anonymity that the murder seemed to be pre-planned. "As per the preliminary investigation, Athwal purchased the weapon three days back from a hardware shop in Marol area. The weapon is yet to be recovered," he added. The accused is married with two daughters. The police are investigating whether he has a criminal background, the official said. The police have registered a case of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. "We have sent the body for post-mortem and are waiting for the medical report," he said. During the probe, the police found the woman resided in the flat along with her sister and the latter's boyfriend, but the duo had left for their native place eight days back. IMAGE: A farmer prepares the field for cultivating kharif crops. Photograph: Somnath Sen/ANI Photo Sowing of kharif crops neared their end with acreage almost at last year's level. This comes amid concerns on the continued weakness in the southwest monsoon over large parts of western, central and peninsular India. In Karnataka, the state government has begun assessment of crops and moisture levels in them to declare drought, said reports. In Maharashtra, state Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde said a drought-like situation, similar to the one witnessed in 2014, is prevailing in six out of eight districts of the Marathwada region. So far, Karnataka has received 19 per cent lower-than-normal rainfall from June 1 to August 25. Marathwada saw 17 per cent less-than-normal rains during the same period. Marathwada region comprises Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Beed, Osmanabad, Nanded, Hingoli and Latur districts. Photograph: Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters In Karnataka, out of the 31 districts, rainfall is deficient in around 14 (45 per cent) of them. In Maharashtra, out of the 36 districts, rainfall is deficient in 15 (around 42 per cent), according to the latest data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Low rainfall means that there is little chance of any big improvement in arhar and urad acreage in both the states. Some reports said that farmers have also started factoring in a 5-10 per cent fall in paddy production this kharif season. This is owing to low rains in east India and excess showers in Punjab and Haryana. Overall, across the country till date (between June 1 and August 25), out of the total 717 districts, monsoon is deficient in around 37 per cent of them cumulatively. Meteorologists said rainfall across most parts of the country, barring east and North East India and the foothills of the Himalayas, will once again see a break over the next few days till September first week. September is the month when the southwest monsoon usually starts to retreat from western Rajasthan. The Met department, in its fortnightly forecast, said that during August 24-30, the overall rainfall activity is likely to be above normal over North East India, near normal over east India and subdued over the remaining parts of the country. Thereafter, in August 31-September 6, overall rainfall activity is likely to be normal-to-above-normal over Northeast, east and adjoining central India. It would be near normal over most parts of south Peninsular India (except Maharashtra) and below normal over the rest of the country. Any long dry spell could cause moisture stress in the standing crop during the crucial maturing stage and also make it prone to pest and disease attacks. Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com The station house officer of Daryaganj police station has withdrawn an order asking offices, shops, vehicle parking, DTC depot etc in the area to remain shut during the G20 summit. IMAGE: Bharat Mandapam is illuminated as part of the preparations for the upcoming G20 Summit, near Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, September 3, 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Zakir/ANI Photo According to the order, which was released on Sunday, all government/private offices, shops, commercial establishments offices, cinema hall, vehicle parking, banks and schools, DTC/Cluster bus depot located at Rajghat, Asaf Ali Road, JLN Marg, Netaji Subhas Marg, Nishad Raj Marg, Dayanand Road, Kedarnath Marg, Padamchand Marg and Ansari Road Daryaganj and within the jurisdiction of Daryaganj police station were to be kept closed on September 7 from 10 pm to September 10 up to 10 pm for G20 Summit. Later, the SHO issued another order on Monday cancelling the Sunday's order. An order regarding closing the all govt/private offices, shops, commercial establishments offices, cinema halls, vehicle parking, banks and schools from 10 pm on September 7 to 10 pm on September 10 was circulated on Sunday. It has been withdrawn on administrative grounds and it may be treated as cancelled, the latest order read. United States President Joe Biden has said that he is looking forward to his trip to India this week but is disappointed that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi. IMAGE: US President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, on November 14, 2022. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Biden will travel to India on September 7 to participate in the G20 Summit and will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8 on the sidelines of the historic meeting, the White House announced on Friday. In its capacity as the current president of G20, India is hosting the annual summit of the influential grouping in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. Ahead of his trip, reporters asked Biden on Sunday whether he was looking forward to his visits to India and Vietnam. "Yes, I am," Biden replied. He expressed his disappointment over President Xi of China not attending the summit in New Delhi. "I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him," Biden said in response to a question. Biden, along with more than two dozen world leaders, is scheduled to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi that is being hosted by Prime Minister Modi. According to recent media reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi are not likely to attend the summit. India is awaiting a written confirmation from China on President Xi's participation in the G20 Leaders Summit, Muktesh Pardeshi, Special Secretary for G20, said on Friday. "We have seen some reports in the newspapers. But, we go by written confirmation. And we have not seen (a written confirmation). Unless we see that I am not in a position to say either way," Pardeshi told PTI when asked about reports of Xi skipping the G20 meeting and deputing Prime Minister Li Qiang for the event. Premier Li is likely to travel to India after attending the East Asia summit in Jakarta. In 2021, Chinese President Xi did not travel to Italy to participate in the G20 summit due to China's COVID-19 restrictions. Pardeshi said the participation of world leaders in summits such as the G20 is usually conveyed through a diplomatic note. "I think that is awaited...We have received most of the other confirmations," he said on Xi's participation. US President Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are among the G20 leaders who have already confirmed their participation in the summit. Modi will hand over the baton of the G20 Presidency to Brazilian President Lula on September 10. Brazil will formally assume the G20 Presidency on December 1 The G20 member countries represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. The grouping comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union. In a late evening sitting at his residence on Sunday, Allahabad high court Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker took suo motu cognisance of the attack on a woman constable in a train and ordered notices to be served to the Centre and the Railway Protection Force. IMAGE: A view of Allahabad high court. Photograph: ANI Photo On Monday, a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava pulled up the RPF for "failing in discharge of its duties" and directed the Government Railway Police to produce a progress report on its inquiry in the case before the court on September 13. The chief justice, who received a WhatsApp message about the case, heard the matter at his residence at 8 pm on Sunday and gave directions to constitute a bench comprising himself and Justice Srivastava. The woman constable was found in a "pool of blood" with injuries on her face inside a compartment of Saryu Express on August 30, the GRP said. Later, the police said that she was admitted to a hospital in Lucknow where her condition is stable. Based on a written complaint by the brother of the constable, an FIR under Sections 332 (voluntarily causing harm in order to deter a public servant from doing his/her duties), 353 (assault or criminal force done to deter a public servant from discharge of duty) and 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC was lodged on August 30, the GRP said. During the hearing on Monday, Puja Yadav, superintendent of police (GRP), Lucknow, along with deputy SP (GRP), was present in the court. Yadav told the court that the victim's statement under Section 164 of CrPC could not be recorded as she is not in a position to give a statement. The GRP SP said that no sign of rape of the woman constable of the Uttar Pradesh police posted in Sultanpur has been found till now. The only injuries are on her head and face, she said. However, on a question put up by the court that how the incident occurred and what was the time of incident, the SP could not reply properly. She said that the incident might have taken place in between Ayodhya and Mankapur stations. On Monday, the government lawyer attended the court's proceeding on the day lawyers boycotted court work over Hapur incident of the police lathi-charge on agitating advocates. "The present incident clearly shows the utter violation of the certain provisions of the Indian Railways Act. Moreover, the Railway Protection Force have also completely failed in discharge of their duties and responsibilities in giving effect to the rules and regulations formulated for the protection of passengers. The present incident is not only a crime against women, but against the entire society and the same destroys the entire psychology of women," the court said. "Looking at the seriousness of the matter, this court thinks it appropriate to direct the office to register this letter as a public interest litigation (criminal). Issue notice to Union of India through its secretary, ministry of Railways/Railway Board, New Delhi, director general of Railway Protection Force, state of Uttar Pradesh through its secretary, ministry of home and state commission for women, Uttar Pradesh," the court ruled. During the hearing, the court was informed that according to media reports, the incident came to light when some passengers boarded Saryu Express from Ayodhya Junction at about 4 am on August 30. It was further submitted by the GRP that the woman constable was found in a deplorable state, in a pool of blood, unable to move herself with a deep cut on her face. A senior police official told PTI, "The 47-year-old woman head constable, who hails from Soraon in Prayagraj district, was posted in Sultanpur district." When asked about the attacker/attackers, the official said that investigation in this case is on, and added that she got injuries on head and above neck. "She was coming from Sultanpur to Ayodhya on 'Saavan Mela' duty. She was supposed to deboard at Ayodhya, but reached Mankapur as she had slept in the train. The incident took place between Ayodhya and Mankapur," he said. Meanwhile, top officials of Uttar Pradesh Police visited the injured woman constable admitted at the King George's Medical University in Lucknow. Director general of police Vijay Kumar and Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar separately visited the KGMU, officials said, adding principal secretary (home) Sanjay Prasad also accompanied the special DG to the trauma centre of KGMU. Prashant Kumar, in a video shared by the UP police, said senior officials reached the spot as soon as they got the information about the incident. "The woman's condition was serious (when the incident came to light) and she was shifted to KGMU after initial treatment. Now, her condition is stable and improving continuously. As soon as she is in a condition to speak, we will record her statement," he said. "Doctors said that she is out of danger," he said. "Forensic evidence is being collected. Evidence of sexual assault or sexual offence has not emerged in the investigation. However, each and every aspect is being examined," the special DG added. He also said that the directives of the high court would be followed by the police department and the railways to proceed with the case. In another video shared by the UP Police, Prashant Kumar was heard saying to the woman constable "not to feel worried". Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and discussed the roadmap for complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from the state. IMAGE: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Photograph: ANI Photo Sarma said his government will take further steps based on the suggestions of the home minister. "I met Hon'ble Union Home Minister @AmitShah ji at his residence today to discuss the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Assam. The government of Assam will take further steps based on the suggestions of Hon'ble Home Minister," he wrote on microblogging site X. The controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 gives armed forces personnel, operating in disturbed areas, sweeping powers to search, arrest and open fire if they deem it necessary for "the maintenance of public order". An area or district is notified as a disturbed area under the AFSPA to facilitate the operations of the armed forces. Because of the sweeping powers given to the armed forces, many organisations have termed the Act "draconian" and have been demanding its annulment. The disturbed area notification has been in force in entire Assam since 1990 and has been extended for a long period by the central government, and now by the state government. The disturbed area tag, imposed under the AFSPA, was removed from the entire state of Assam, except nine districts and one sub-division of one district, from April 1, 2022. Now, it has been limited to only eight districts in the north eastern state. It is applicable now in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts. Hoisting the tricolour on the 77th Independence Day in Guwahati last month, the chief minister said his government would take necessary steps to withdraw AFSPA from the entire state by the end of this year. "I want to assure the people of Assam that by the end of this year, we will take fruitful steps to withdraw the AFSPA from every district of Assam. That will be an 'amritmoy' time for Assam's history and we are eagerly waiting for that day," he said. Since the beginning of its application in Assam more than three decades ago, the extension of the AFSPA was recommended 62 times, Sarma said. "The northeast region is now free from terrorism. In the last three years, four peace accords have been signed with rebels of Assam and around 8,000 rebels have returned to the mainstream," he had said. Polling will be held on Tuesday for by-election to seven assembly seats in six states, the first electoral test of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance opposition bloc against the Bharatiya Janata Party. IMAGE: INDIA bloc leaders Bhagwant Mann (left), D Raja (fourth from left) Sitaram Yechuri (fifth from left), Rahul Gandhi (fourth from right), Mamata Banerjee (third from right), Nitish Kumar, Mallikarjun Kharge and others at their meeting in Mumbai, September 1, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo While the opposition alliance is putting up a united front in Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand's Dumri, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Tripura and Uttarakhand's Bageshwar, its constituents are contesting against each other in Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala. Counting of votes will be held on September 8. In Uttar Pradesh, Ghosi seat fell vacant after the resignation of Samajwadi Party MLA and Other Backward Class leader Dara Singh Chauhan, who rejoined the BJP. While the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has fielded Chauhan, Samajwadi Party candidate Sudhakar Singh has got the support of the Congress and Left parties. Chauhan was a minister in the previous BJP government headed by Yogi Adityanath. He had resigned from the council of ministers on January 12, 2022 and switched to the SP. Campaigning has been high-pitched as both sides are aware that it is a litmus test for the opposition unity and a victory could set the trend in their favour for the Lok Sabha polls next year. In the 543-member Lok Sabha, Uttar Pradesh has 80 MPs. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led the BJP's charge. Interestingly, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who had skipped campaigning for the other two prestigious bypolls in Rampur and Azamgarh last year, addressed an election meeting in Ghosi. He said the election would bring a change in the country's politics. The Dhupguri assembly constituency in north Bengal is witnessing a three-cornered contest among the Trinamool Congress, BJP and the Congress-supported Communist Party of India-Marxist. While the TMC had won the seat in 2016, it was snatched by the BJP in 2021. In Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly seats in Tripura's Sepahijala district, Chief Minister Manik Saha led the party's campaign from the front. Tipra Motha, the main opposition, and Congress have stayed away. The Tripura Pradesh Congress on Sunday urged people to vote for opposition bloc INDIA candidates in the two seats. BJP's Tafajjal Hussain, who unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election in February, will take on CPI-M's Mizan Hussain in minority-dominated Boxanagar constituency, still considered the Left party's stronghold. Dhanpur, once a strong bastion of the communists, is heading for a direct fight between BJP's Bindu Debnath and CPI-M's Kaushik Debnath. "All necessary arrangements have been made for conducting free, fair and peaceful elections," additional Chief Electoral Officer UG Mog told PTI. The international border has been sealed to prevent any intrusion from Bangladesh as both constituencies share a boundary with the neighbouring country, a senior police officer said, adding that there will be adequate security to ensure peaceful voting. In Jharkhand's Dumri, INDIA bloc candidate Bebi Devi is locked in a direct contest with NDA candidate Yashoda Devi. The seat has turned out to be a prestigious one for both alliances amid Jharkhand Mukti Morcha claiming that the INDIA bloc will begin its victory journey from Dumri, while the NDA exuded confidence that it is all set to snatch the seat from JMM. The INDIA bloc includes 28 parties including the Congress, NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, TMC, JMM, Aam Aadmi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, National Conference, People's Democratic Party, CPI-M, Communist Party of India, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal. The by-election was necessitated following the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, former education minister, in April. Mahto had been representing the seat since 2004. However, the Congress and the ruling Left will take on each other at the Puthuppally bypoll in Kerala, with the opposition party in the state banking on "anti-incumbency" and the late Oommen Chandy's legacy. The Congress-led UDF opposition has fielded Chandy's son, Chandy Oommen, to benefit from the sympathy wave following the former CM's death. On the other hand, the ruling Left once again decided to go with DYFI leader Jaick C Thomas who had unsuccessfully contested from the segment in 2016 and 2021 against the late Chandy. The BJP has fielded its Kottayam district president G Lijinlal. The BJP and the Congress are in a straight contest in Uttarakhand. The ruling BJP has fielded Parvati Das as it seeks to retain the seat. It was won by her husband Chandan Das in four consecutive elections since 2007 and his death necessitated the bypoll. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and other top BJP leaders campaigned for Das. Congress heavyweights like Harish Rawat, PCC president Karan Mahara and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Yashpal Arya had also been camping in Bageshwar for the past few days to garner support for party candidate Basant Kumar. In July, the opposition alliance formed to take on the ruling BJP-ledNDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections announced that it would be called the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. Days after his hunger strike over the demand for Maratha reservation turned violent in Maharashtra's Jalna district, the state government has invited Manoj Jarange Patil for talks over the quota issue, government sources said on Sunday. IMAGE: Maratha community members stage a demonstration against state government over Jalna lathi charge in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo Jarange Patil had been staging a hunger strike demanding reservation for the Maratha community at Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna since Tuesday. However, the agitation turned violent on Friday after the authorities tried to shift him to a hospital. As violence broke out, police baton-charged the protesters and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse them. Several persons, including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze. More than 360 persons were booked in connection with the violence, police said. A source in the government said Jarange Patil has been invited for talks over the Maratha reservation issue. "There will be a meeting between the government officials and Jarange Patil over the demand for quota to the Maratha community," the source said. Meanwhile, the Maratha Kranti Morcha has called for a bandh on Monday in Kalyan town of Maharashtra's Thane district to condemn the baton-charging of protesters in Jalna during their demand for Maratha quota. In the wake of the bandh call, security in the town has been stepped up, an official in-charge at the Kalyan police control room said. Essential services were exempted from the bandh, the morcha members said. A number of activists of the Maratha Kranti Morcha moved around in Kalyan town appealing to shopkeepers and other public service providers, including auto-rickshaw drivers, to support the bandh. So far, there was not much affect of the bandh, the official at the police control room told PTI. However, the Maratha Kranti Morcha's local leader Harshwardhan Palande claimed most of the shops in eastern part of Kalyan were closed. He said the auto-rickshaws were operating so that office-goers do not face any inconvenience. On Sunday, the Maratha Kranti Morcha activists protested against the Jalna incident by crushing pumpkins with their legs at the Shivaji Chowk in Kalyan. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday announced that Jalna district superintendent of police, Tushar Doshi, is sent on compulsory leave and two DYSP-rank officers transferred out of Jalna district. Shinde said ADGP (law and order) Sanjay Saxena would probe the lathi-charge incident, and if required, a judicial probe would be conducted. Two persons were arrested in Surat in Gujarat for allegedly forging documents like Aadhaar and PAN cards as well as voter IDs using a website, in the process posing a serious threat to national security, a police official said on Monday. IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters The accused forged around two lakh identity documents like Aadhaar and PAN cards and sold them for Rs 15 to Rs 200 each, he said. The accused were accessing the government database, which is a case of illegal authorisation and is a serious issue, he added. Acting on a complaint received from the officials of a private lender that some persons got loans processed on the basis of fake documents and defaulted on repayment, six persons were arrested for forgery and cheating, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences) VK Parmar said. During interrogation, one of the six accused, identified as Prince Hemant Prasad, said he accessed the website in question using his registered username and password to download forged Aadhaar and PAN cards on payment of Rs 15-50 per document, he said. The fake identity cards downloaded from the website by making the payment were used for purposes like getting bank loans sanctioned and purchasing SIM cards, the official said. One Somnath Pramodkumar, a resident of Ganganagar in Rajasthan, whose name was linked to a number of mobile numbers present on the website was arrested through technical surveillance, he said. One Premvirsinh Thakur, a resident of Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, on whose name the website was created, was also arrested, he said. "When questioned, they revealed to having forged around two lakh identity documents in two years. Somnath has studied till class 5th. He got technical help from certain people to carry out the illegal activity. The website has been running since the last three years," he said. "This is a serious national security issue. They are not changing but accessing the government database and that is a case of illegal authorisation," the official said. It is possible many more persons are behind this, Parmar said, adding that the police had frozen Rs 25 lakh in the bank accounts of Pramodkumar and his mother. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday intensified its attack on the Opposition over Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks on Sanatan Dharma, asking the Congress if the INDIA bloc had met in Mumbai to target the religion and stressed that they should not play with Hindu sentiments. IMAGE: DMK leader and Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. Photograph: ANI Photo What he has said is shocking and shameful, former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, noting that the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has repeated his remarks. He has been ably assisted by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, whose father and former finance minister P Chidambaram is facing trial in a corruption case, he said. "Why are opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee silent? Are you playing with Hindu sentiments for votes? They should know that hundreds of years of Islamic rule could not exterminate Sanatan Dharma and British imperialism could not dilute it," Prasad told reporters. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is a declared Sanatani, he added. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal hit out at opposition parties and asked the Congress if the INDIA bloc had met in Mumbai to finalise its agenda against Sanatan Dharma and how to finish it off across the country. "Is this your 'mohabbat ki dukan' (shop to spread love)," he asked and accused Congress leader K C Venugopal of spewing venom against the religion. Another Union minister Prahlad Patel alleged that the attack on Sanatan Dharma was part of the conspiracy decided on during the opposition parties' meeting in Mumbai. The silence of those who get themselves photographed in temples, be it Rahul Gandhi or Arvind Kejriwal, is telling, he said. In his address at a meeting of Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association in Chennai on Saturday, state Youth welfare minister Udhayanidhi Stalin alleged that 'Sanatan Dharma' is against equality and social justice, and that it should be eradicated. Likening Sanatan Dharma to coronavirus, malaria and fever caused by dengue virus and mosquitoes, Udhayanidhi said such things should not be opposed but destroyed. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday hit out at the opposition over DMK leader Udhayanidhi's comments on Sanatan Dharma, asking why Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot are "silent" on the issue. Addressing a public meeting in Jaisalmer on the launch of the third round of the BJP's Parivartan Yatra in Rajasthan, he also took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, saying Chandrayaan successfully landed on the south pole of the Moon but "Rahulyaan" could neither be launched nor landed. On Udhayanidhi Stalin's comments, Singh said, "I want to ask (Rajasthan Chief Minister) Ashok Gehlot why he does not speak, why Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, (Congress president Mallikarjun) Kharge do not say what is their thinking on Sanatan Dharma." The DMK has hurt Sanatan Dharma and Congress leaders are "silent" on the issue, the senior BJP leader said. INDIA bloc members should apologise for the insult to Sanatan Dharma or the country won't forgive them, the defence minister said. The DMK leader should be asked for an explanation over his comments, Singh said and added that "Sanatan Dharma considers the world as a family and gives the message of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family)". Defence Minister Singh attacked the Congress in Rajasthan, where polls are due later this year, saying the party is trying to gain support in the state by invoking the 'Hindu-Muslim' issue and the 'backward'. Training his guns at the Rajasthan chief minister, he said Gehlot is sitting in the driver's seat but someone else is pressing the clutch and someone else the accelerator. The Indian Navy on Monday unveiled a 15-year plan to boost maritime infrastructure even as Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said the force is working with the Army and the IAF to ensure tri-services jointness and integration to meet future challenges. He made the remarks in his address on the first day of the three-day naval commanders conference in Delhi that is deliberating on India's maritime security challenges and ways to enhance tri-services synergy amid China's increasing forays in the Indian Ocean region. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt released the Maritime Infrastructure Perspective Plan (MIPP) 2023-37 at the conference. "The MIPP aims to synchronise and enmesh the infrastructure requirements of the Navy, over the next 15 years, through a comprehensive prospective plan model," the Navy said. "The plan document is aligned with the government's vision on the creation of sustainable infrastructure, and encompasses salients for compliance with broader policy directives on PM Gati Shakti project, disaster resilience, transition to net zero, among others," it said. The naval commanders' conference is the apex-level biannual event that facilitates interaction among the commanders on the formulation of important policy decisions. The Chief of Naval Staff highlighted that as an "instrument of the nation's maritime power, we must accomplish every mission and each task that comes our way". "Second, we must be ready for the heavy lifting in the Indian Ocean Region and beyond, in pursuance of the vision SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region)," he said. "Third, as the cutting edge of our rising nation, we must embrace larger societal changes that are happening around us. Fourthly, we are working closely with the CDS and the other two services to progress jointness and integration to meet the challenges of the future," he said. Minister of State for Defence Bhatt interacted with the commanders and commended the Navy for maintaining a high operational readiness in ensuring secure seas for national security and prosperity. "He praised the Navy for the efforts towards indigenisation and innovation towards becoming a fully Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) force by 2047," the Navy said in a statement. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande and Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari are scheduled to interact with the naval commanders at the conference. The ongoing and planned indigenous projects of the Indian Navy utilising niche technologies in the fields of artificial intelligence, tactical communications, combat management systems and combat platform integration, were showcased at the conference. In addition, the newly designed uniform items being introduced for enhanced comfort, hygiene and functionality such as high-absorption T-shirts, camouflage caps and jackets and high-ankle shoes were displayed on the sidelines of the conference. Bhatt released the Maritime Infrastructure Perspective Plan 2023-37, IRS rules and regulations handbook, family logbook, and electronic service document project during the event. The IRS rules and regulations handbook for the construction and classification of naval combatants has been revised since the previous edition of 2015 to cater for technological advancements and Aatmanirbharta. The new rule book represents self-reliance in the Naval shipbuilding industry, the Navy said. The family logbook for defence civilian personnel of the Indian Navy is a personal financial record book for reference of families of naval civilian personnel, which provides important financial information on insurance, loans, investments etc. This will serve as a ready reckoner in times of emergency in the family, mishaps, accidents, etc, the Navy said. The electronic service document project will transform the HR record keeping and management of Naval personnel into an efficient, digital, centralised and transparent process in line with the digital India vision, it said. On Sunday, September 3, 2023, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis laid the foundation stone for renovation of the Trishul War Museum in Leh. IMAGE: Fadnavis lays a wreath to pay tribute to the Trishul Bravehearts, who lost their lives for the country, at a solemn ceremony at the Trishul War Memorial at Karu in Leh. All Photographs: ANI Photo IMAGE: Fadnavis arrives to pay homage. IMAGE: Fadnavis lays the foundation stone, here and below. IMAGE: The Trishul War Museum will be constructed over an area of nearly 9,000 square feet amidst the scenic backdrop of the Ladakh mountain ranges and the Indus eiver. / IMAGE: The memorial is expected to have a substantial number of visitors in the tourist season, to whom it will serve as an inspiration. IMAGE: Fadnavis calls on Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Brigadier B D Mishra (retd), centre, at the Raj Nivas in Leh. Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Uma Bharti on Monday expressed displeasure over not being invited for the party's 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra' launched in Madhya Pradesh, where the assembly polls are due this year-end. IMAGE: BJP leader Uma Bharti. Photograph: ANI Photo In a series of posts on her social media account X, former MP chief minister Bharti said she will not participate in programmes under the yatra, even if she is invited now. The BJP leader, however, also said that if MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan asks her to campaign for an election, she can do it. BJP president JP Nadda on Sunday flagged off the party's Jan Ashirwad Yatra from Chitrakoot. The BJP is taking out the yatras from five different places in Madhya Pradesh, which will culminate on September 25 in state capital Bhopal with a 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh'. It is true that I did not receive an invitation for the start of Jan Ashirwad Yatra, but it doesn't make me less or more. Now even if I am invited, I will not go anywhere. Neither at the beginning nor at the closing ceremony on September 25, Bharti said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Bharti said there is an "unbreakable" and strong bond of respect between her and MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Whenever and wherever Shivraj ji asks me to campaign for election, I can campaign by obeying and respecting him, the former MP CM said. Bharti further said she is among those people whose "blood and sweat" have created the BJP and she will never harm the party. She also shared her experience of treatment in government hospitals compared to private medical facilities and said, We all leaders, MLAs, MPs, ministers, chief ministers and all officials should get treatment done in government hospitals and send children to study in government schools. Only then these systems can be improved. She also termed the staying of leaders in five-star hotels as a wasteful expenditure. Bharti earlier ran a campaign demanding a stringent liquor policy in Madhya Pradesh. During the course of Jan Ashirwad Yatras, the BJP will reach out to the people through large public meetings and highlight welfare schemes of the Centre and the state and their achievements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address a meeting of BJP workers to mark the culmination of these five mass-contact programmes on September 25 in Bhopal, party leaders said. 'After 11 years of medical education, training in various hospitals, giving various competitive exams and finally, if you're able to save a child's life at 20,000 feet above the ground, in the air, with limited resources, that is like an unbelievable feeling.' Kindly note the image has been published only for representational purposes.. Photograph: ANI Photo Eleven years after he entered the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Dr Rishabh Jain, last weekend, found his calling. It took saving the life of a tiny child of maybe 18 months or more, while airborne, and under the most harrowing circumstances, to make him realise that this was exactly why he had become a doctor. Dr Jain, in the precise, clinical voice of the capable medical professional he seemed to be, related the events of the night of August 27 onboard Bengaluru-Delhi UK 814. The abiding, takeaway image -- that will no doubt be seared forever in his memory -- of that evening, was of looking at a really "cute child", lifeless, blue around the lips and tongue, a cyan tinge emanating from her skin, her eyes rolled upwards and then, unbelievably, after he and his four fellow colleagues literally breathed the life back into her, how pink and even cuter her small face became, her chance at living given back. That the child was Bangladeshi, belonging to the country of one of India's friendly neighbours, also made it a wondrous tale of medical diplomacy unfolding in the skies above the heartland of India and illustrates the fantastic healing power of Hippocrates' profession that knows no boundaries. Dr Jain does not have any information on how the little girl is faring and he is clinically aware that it is a tough path forward for any patient returning from a cardiac arrest, let alone a toddler below two. But to have participated, for half an hour, in the highly scientific yet magical and divine process of restoring life, was a soul-changing experience for him. The physician, who has been living in New Delhi for 13 years and now works at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences as a radiologist, but is originally from Roorkee, near Haridwar in Uttarakhand, recounts the heart-uplifting events aboard Flight 814 to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com: "It was not a normal child, who fell sick on a flight, and went into cardiac arrest. It was a patient, with already heart disease, who had undergone open heart surgery only days earlier in Bangalore. The parents had a safe-to-fly letter from the hospital. The hospital had examined the child and deemed her fit to travel. Actually, the patient was from Bangladesh; a lot of patients do come from Bangladesh for treatment in India. The patient was travelling back and it was Day 20 after surgery had happened. I think the child had recovered in the hospital quite well. You can't really predict these things and when they go wrong. Unfortunately, it happened for the child and for the parents. Nobody knows what happened. What caused it? We can only speculate. There were five of us travelling from Bangalore -- an interventional radiology conference had happened on the weekend of August 26th and 27th and me and my colleague Damandeep Singh had both travelled to Bangalore to attend it, and the third doctor was Dr Avichala (Taxak). We three were attending the conference. The other two doctors were our spouses. My spouse is Dr Oishika (Chakraborty) and Dr Damandeep's spouse is Dr Navdeep (Kaur). The flight was in the night at 9.10 pm, flying from Bangalore to Delhi. It all happened around 20 minutes into the flight, when the seatbelt sign had been turned off and when the cabin crew started serving dinner to the passengers. A distress call was raised by the parents and the cabin crew rushed to their (side). Within a minute, they asked if there were any doctors on board. "It's an emergency." My wife quickly raised her hand. She is a gynecologist at AIIMS, Delhi. She examined the child, rushed to the back of the aircraft, where the cabin crew sits and there are curtains, and found the child to be limp. She was all blue. Not breathing. My wife checked the child's pulse. There was no pulse. The child had had a cardiac arrest in the air. The child's heart had stopped beating. She quickly started chest compressions on the child. Meanwhile, the rest of the four of us immediately joined her in the back area, asked the parents about the medical history. They showed the hospital papers that they had with them. It was a case of a heart disease, which had been operated in Bangalore 20 days before. One of the doctors, Dr Navdeep, is a critical care physician. She is an anesthesiologist by profession and used to handling (these) situations in the hospital as well, because in AIIMS an anesthesiologist handles both the things -- general anesthesia as well as critical care. She quickly assumed the team leader role -- she was the one who was the best suited for this job and she really assumed that role and all of us kept calm and followed her instructions. The cabin crew, meanwhile, provided us with the medical kit that they have (airlines are, says Dr Jain, required by law to maintain a basic resuscitation kit, though he wished it also had a kit for children). One of us opened it, examined what equipment we could use -- the airline had a bag and mask to give air to the child. One of us (rapidly) started with chest compressions. The other (swiftly) started with the bag and mask ventilation for the airway. The third person looked for a vein for the IV cannula to administer drugs. The fourth person arranged the oxygen cylinder and the tubings. And the fifth person began preparing the drugs quickly. It was all in (perfect) sync, (like we were aware) that this situation has happened and something needs to be done about it quickly, because we were running short of time. The flight had just started (out from Bengaluru) and it was a three hour-long journey to Delhi. (That there were five of us doctors) was definitely, definitely (lucky). If it was one of us, I'm sure the outcome would have been very, very different. It's not a single person's job. It's not like somebody having a stomach ache (onboard) or somebody's feeling dizzy. There's a one-and-a-half-year-old child who has gone dead. While we were all arranging this, we did not have a monitor to look at the heart rate or the oxygen saturation or the blood pressure. It was all the clinical judgment that we were working on, with the limited resources. Then one of us spoke to the captain of the aircraft and told them (in the cockpit) what exactly was the gravity of the situation and that the aircraft needed to land as soon as possible. The nearest airport, Nagpur, the pilot told us, was like 15 minutes away. We planned that during these 15 minutes, we would try to resuscitate the child, keep the child alive. And as soon as we landed, we would hand over the child to a better-equipped team, maybe airport staff or a hospital ambulance might come to the airport to take the child to a better place and a (medically) better situation. In those 15 minutes we resuscitated the child and fortunately, her pulse came back, because during the resuscitative efforts there was a return of spontaneous circulation. We thought the celebrations were a little premature, because as soon as the aircraft started landing... Landing is a very critical step for the aircraft, the passengers and that patient as well, because there was a little jerk that happened during that time. To add to it, it was an emergency landing, not a routine landing. The child again went into cardiac arrest. We resumed chest compressions, the drugs, the oxygenation, everything. Fortunately, once we had landed, we quickly transferred the baby to an ambulance, which had arrived just at the landing site and further resuscitative efforts started in the ambulance. The airport hospital staff was called and they brought in an endotracheal tube intubation kit. The child was intubated, and her vitals gradually improved. We finally handed over the child, in a stable condition, to the hospital staff, but she was still intubated. The parents were very distraught, the mother was distraught. She was crying. The father was praying -- he was speaking some verses. And he was praying to the god: 'Please, please save my child'. Photograph: Kind courtesy Dr Rishabh Jain IMAGE: Dr Rishabh Jain with his wife Dr Oishika Chakraborty, Dr Avichala Taxak , Dr Navdeep Kaur and her husband Dr Damandeep Singh. I really appreciate that the parents gave us the space, without interfering much, to let us do what we could do -- to do our best. And finally, when the child's heart started beating again, the parents were teary-eyed and they thanked us for saving the child. The learning point for me was that all doctors should be well-versed with the basic life support. And airline cabin crews as well. The cabin crew was exceptional. They were very fast. Whatever we were asking of them, they were very clear about whether they had this (or that) or not. And the captain, in the one minute or two minutes, we talked to him (and his team) was convinced that: 'Okay, it's fine with us'. And even though there were 200 passengers on board and yes, they (the airline has) hade to attend to them and their families, as well, and the flight might get delayed two to three hours and there might be a financial burden on the airlines, but the captain was very supportive: 'Okay, we will land the aircraft.' The passengers did not hinder in any way and nobody like objected, even once, about what was happening (or about the delays). I remember that when the child's heart started beating again, I could feel the heart in my palm. When I kept my hand on her chest, and I could feel the heart pulsating. That was a sign of victory for all of us that: 'Okay, with the limited resources that we have, we just saved a child's life!' That feeling was -- you know -- unbeatable. After 11 years of your medical education, your training in various hospitals, giving various competitive exams and finally, if you're able to save a child's life at 20,000 feet above the ground, in the air, with limited resources, that is like an unbelievable feeling. It was a very cute child, in a black and white checked shirt and a diaper, wrapped in blankets. My wife and I were just talking about that, that the child was very cute and unfortunately when we saw her in that state she was all blue, her tongue was blue, her lips had gone blue and her eyes were up-rolled. But finally, when we handed over the child to the pediatrician, the child was pink meaning her heart was beating. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com The little child, whose life was saved on board Vistara's UK 814, sadly passed away in a hospital in Nagpur on August 31 at 3.15 am at the KIMS-Kingsway Hospital, according to a press release issued by the hospital. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 33F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 33F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. After three months of post-polls uncertainty, Thailand finally has a government. As expected, its a conservative coalition led by Pheu Thai that includes Bhumjaithai and the two military-backed parties, Palang Pracharath and United Thai Nation. As such, Thailand foreign and defense policies under new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin will represent continuity with the military-linked government that ran Thailand from 2014 until 2023. Srettha is in a political bind. He betrayed his supporters by breaking Pheu Thais pledge to not to invite military-backed parties into his ruling coalition after they were thoroughly repudiated in the May 14 general election. Srettha hopes he can win the electorate back following his partys Faustian bargain by implementing a host of populist economic policies to benefit rural constituents in particular. Pheu Thai promised a lot, and there are real questions about whether his government can afford the programs that include a monthly digital wallet, a three-year debt holiday for agricultural loans and other rural infrastructure investments. At the same time, the former real estate tycoon needs to restart the stuttering Thai economy. Gross Domestic Product growth was just downgraded by Fitch Ratings to 2.8% from 3% for 2023. Exports have fallen for 10 consecutive months. Because of this, control over the economic portfolios are far more important to Pheu Thai. Srettha plans to serve as finance minister, while Pheu Thai will hold the ministries of commerce and transportation. Even as Pheu Thai will maintain the defense and foreign affairs ministries, neither Suthin Klangsaeng nor Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara or his deputy, Jakkapong Sangmanee, are entering with experience or a progressive agenda. And inexperienced ministers will be at the mercy of the career permanent secretaries who are expected to promote the interests of the military and monarchy-backed state institutions. Prawit Wongsuwan (center), then Thailands deputy prime minister and the prime ministerial candidate of the Palang Pracharath Party, arrives for the drawing of a number as part of the election process for candidates, in Bangkok, April 4, 2023. Credit: Sakchai Lalit/AP For internal security, power is expected to rest in the hands of conservative members of the coalition. The interior ministry will be controlled by Bhumjaithai and the justice ministry is expected to be led by police Col. Tawee Sodsong, from Prachachat. Even though outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and his deputy, Prawit Wongsuwan, have resigned from Parliament and will not serve as cabinet ministers, as some had feared, their influence through their parties and patronage networks is deep. Indeed, Prawits brother, police Gen. Patcharawat Wongsuwan will serve as a deputy prime minister. In the hours before Srettha met with the king to receive a royal endorsement for his government, Prayuth finalized the annual military reshuffle of 762 officers, ensuring that key allies and proteges were in place while denying his successor any influence over the military. To achieve his economic goals, Srettha will need to be careful not to take on the military or its core interests. He will be using enough political capital with them to secure Thaksins request for a royal pardon. Prime Minister Srettha and his defense minister will have little say over the militarys annual promotions and appointments, continuing the militarys autonomy. The Pheu Thai government will maintain, or even seek, to increase the militarys U.S. $5.7 billion (nearly 200 billion baht) budget. It is unclear whether his government will push the military to implement the proposal to cut bloated senior ranks. Thailand has well over 1,000 generals. In 2022, Prayuths government claimed it cut that figure by 10% through retirements, with a stated goal of a 50% reduction by 2027. Would a civilian government push the military leadership too hard on this? Its more likely that Srettha and Suthin, the expected defense minister, will push for a smaller military and a decrease in the annual intake of draftees. Foreign policy While the Move Forward Partys Pita Limjaroenrat was more critical of China, this government is expected to be much more welcoming of Chinese trade and investment. One of Sretthas first meetings with a foreign diplomat was with the Chinese ambassador and his government is proposing visa-free entry for Chinese in order to boost tourism and investment. The government is unlikely to put pressure on the Royal Thai Armed Forces to end their extensive military exercises with the Peoples Liberation Army. Likewise, this government is likely to be unwilling to press the military to stop buying Chinese weapons, in particular the current submarine deal. Myanmar nationals living in Thailand hold pictures of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi as they protest outside Myanmars embassy in Bangkok, July 26, 2022. Credit: Sakchai Lalit/AP Elsewhere, Srettha is likely to maintain Thailands current Myanmar policy, broadly speaking. He is unlikely to confront the military or security services, which have made the kingdom a far less welcoming place for Myanmars exiled opposition groups and refugees, nor will he end the practice of forcibly repatriating combatants seeking medical attention. Indeed, Thailand is likely to continue to be a hostile environment for Lao, Khmer, and Vietnamese activists who continue to be abducted, forcibly returned home or killed, either with Thailands blind eye or active support. Srettha is expected to continue backing corporate Thailand, whose investments in Myanmar have grown since the February 2021 coup, according to Myanmar government data. While Pita sought a more principled and pro-active ASEAN, Thailand under Srettha will continue allowing ASEAN to use the cloak of non-interference. Under Lao leadership in 2024, the Southeast Asian bloc is unlikely to confront the Burmese junta. It is unclear if Srettha will continue the controversial Track 1.5 dialogue between the junta and its neighbors that was started by former Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai something seen by many as an end-run around ASEAN. A firefighter sprays water following a deadly explosion at a warehouse where fireworks were kept in Narathiwat province southern Thailand, July 29, 2023. Credit: Kriya Tehtani/AP Down south In Thailands restive Deep South, Srettha was immediately confronted with an ambush that killed four members of the security services and injured four others in late August. He is almost certainly going to defer to the militarys stance. The Malaysia-facilitated peace process is expected to continue, but Sretthas government likely will not offer meaningful concessions or go beyond the contours of what the military agreed to under Prayuth, which was very little. And in House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, he will have an ally in Parliament. Although a Muslim from the Deep South, Wan Noor is a longtime adversary of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional the border regions biggest insurgent group. This is in sharp contrast to Move Forwards platform of searching for a more durable political solution and addressing the core grievances of the ethnic Malay community, including the lack of accountability among members of the Thai security forces. In short, the results of the May polls reflected a pent-up demand for reform of the two conservative institutions that have held back progressive reforms. Sretthas government will continue to protect the prerogatives of the military and monarchy, leading to continuity in the countrys foreign and security policies. This story has been updated to include a sentence inadvertently left out of the earlier version. Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or Radio Free Asia. " " The last thylacine was captured in Australia's Florentine Valley in 1933 and transferred to that country's Hobart Zoo. On Sept. 7, 1936, the animal known as Benjamin died in captivity. Dave WATTS/JACANA/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images "De-extinction" is a funny word, but it's one that might be used more and more in the coming decades. The sort of project made to look like far-fetched sci-fi in "Jurassic Park" is happening right now in Australia. Only it's not T-Rex that's being yanked out of extinction, it's the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf. The last confirmed thylacine his given name was Benjamin died in an Australian zoo in 1936, the last wild thylacine having been killed seven years earlier. Thylacines were marsupial (Australia's speciality) apex predators, resembling a striped dog with giant jaws that could open 90 degrees. Before their demise in the 19th century, the Tasmanian tiger had been having a pretty rough couple of thousand years on Earth. Human population growth and climate change probably forced it out of its native range on mainland Australia around 3,000 years ago, although a popular hypothesis has been that the rise in dingo populations made it harder for thylacines to make a living in their ecological niche. Advertisement By the 1930s, the only wild thylacines lived on the island of Tasmania, where they were tenaciously picked off by sheep farmers once Europeans showed up in the 18th century. Benjamin was the last live thylacine anyone ever saw for sure, though hundreds of unconfirmed sightings have been called into government offices in both Australia and Tasmania since their extinction. Maybe it's wishful thinking people just want the thylacine back, and we can't accept that it might just be gone for good. Now one group at the University of Melbourne Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research (TIGRR) Lab is working to "de-extinct" the thylacine through scientific methods. In order to bring back the Tasmanian tiger, some fancy genetic engineering is required, obviously. Unlike the fictional "Jurassic Park" scenario, no cloning would be used, but, rather, a process called "gene editing." This process would take the stem cells of a close relative of the thylacine a small mouse-like marsupial called a dunnart and combine it with thylacine cells to create an embryo, which would be implanted into a female marsupial of a species closer to the size of a thylacine, such as a quoll. When the baby is old enough to leave the quoll mother, scientists would raise it and release it into the wild. The reason the thylacine is a prime candidate for de-extinction is that its habitat remains mostly unchanged since its extinction which is not the case for most extinct animals, since habitat loss is often the cause of extinction in the first place. "While our ultimate goal is to bring back the thylacine, we will immediately apply our advances to conservation science, particularly our work with stem cells, gene editing and surrogacy, to assist with breeding programs to prevent other marsupials from suffering the same fate as the Tassie tiger," said Andrew Pask, the lead researcher on the TIGRR project, in a press release. Now That's Interesting A few naturalists observing the thylacine noted that they sometimes spent time walking or hopping on their hind legs like kangaroos. Photos of students from the University of Hong Kong dressed as revolutionary-era communist soldiers in the former Mao-era base at Yanan, China, were posted to social media platforms this summer. Dressing up as revolutionary-era communist soldiers. Participating in military-style experiences. Visiting key spots where Mao Zedong consolidated his power during the 1934-35 Long March. Hong Kong's government is boosting a program of school trips to mainland China, adding iconic destinations linked to Communist Party history and boosting "revolutionary education. Meanwhile, the citys universities are adding mandatory national security classes and sending students to absorb red culture at communist pilgrimage sites. Its all part of a concerted bid to change the mindset of Hong Kongs young people, starting as young as kindergarten, to make them more amenable to authoritarian rule. At its core is a program of Moral, Civic and National Education brought in to replace Liberal Studies in Hong Kong's primary and secondary schools, which was blamed by Beijing for several waves of mass popular protest in the city since the 1997 handover to Chinese rule. Authorities in Hong Kong have prosecuted hundreds of minors for taking part in the 2019 protest movement, with many already sent for "re-education" and military-style bootcamp training. Secondary school students will now be able to take part in military-style experiences at a national defense education facility in the southern province of Guangdong, "cultivate patriotism and enhance national security awareness," the Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper reported, citing a circular sent to schools by the Hong Kong Education Bureau. Teachers in Hong Kong's schools are also required from the start of this semester to report any "breach of laws and regulations or deviation from the moral standards generally acceptable to society" to the authorities. The government has also stepped up "national security education" in universities, with mandatory classes and tests for students. Last month, photos of students from the University of Hong Kong dressed as revolutionary-era communist soldiers in the former Mao-era base at Yanan were posted to social media platforms last month. Read thousands of books Last month, Communist Party leader Xi Jinping wrote back to a class of secondary school students in Hong Kong, calling on them to "read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles to gain an in-depth understanding of the history, culture and current situation of their motherland, to deepen their patriotic feelings and hone their schools," Hong Kong education secretary Choi Yuk-lin said in a statement. "In the new school year, the Education Bureau will build on the good experience of the past few months, strengthen collaboration ... and further expand and deepen the effectiveness of mainland China study groups ... so as to implement the spirit of the Chairman's reply," Choi said in a reference to Xi's letter. First-grade students wearing Hanfu clothing take part in an initiation ceremony to learn about traditional culture at a primary school in Anlong County, in Chinas southwest Guizhou province on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. Credit: AFP Last year's school trip itinerary included a trip to Zunyi, where late supreme leader Mao Zedong consolidated his power at the head of the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army in 1935, during the Long March. Choi said in a statement on Aug. 28 that more than 43,000 Hong Kong secondary school students have taken part in mainland China school trips so far under the program. "In the new academic year, inland study tours will include routes outside Guangdong Province and with a larger number of days," she said. "In a trial mode, students will be arranged to visit comprehensive practical activity bases in Guangzhou and Shanghai in part of the itinerary to participate in experiential learning activities in conjunction with the Civics curriculum, further broadening the scope of students' vision." One website offering study camps for primary and secondary school students in China is run by the Beijing-based company SmartCamp. Schools can book camps that include the teaching of "traditional Chinese culture, education in the revolutionary tradition, and education about the national situation," according to its website. Visits to tourist attractions, waste-processing facilities, ecological parks and industrial sites are also included, it said. Longer trips According to the Wen Wei Po, the number of compulsory field trips to mainland China will be increased from the previous 22 to 26, with students traveling further afield on longer, 4 to 5-day trips, including to Shanghai, Chongqing, Fujian, Hunan and Guizhou. Wong Ching-yung, head of Scientia Secondary School, told government broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong that the one-day visits may soon get much longer. "As we know, one-day tours are not that ideal. Even if you are going to the Greater Bay Area, transportation, meals, toilet breaks, getting on and off the car, and roll calls, actually took up most of the time," he said. "At this stage, one-day trips might be kept for another one or two years for schools that do not have much experience in holding mainland study tours to make the transition [to longer trips]." Last month, "outstanding" University of Hong Kong students visited Yan'an, the "cradle" of the Chinese communist revolution, by invitation only, according to a report on their trip posted to the social media platform Weibo. "After dinner, the students watched the first red-themed immersive play 'Return to Yan'an,'" the report said. "In the new era, the younger generation feels close to red culture many students couldn't hide their tears when they watched it." "In that moment, everyone was deeply infected with the spirit of the Red Army," it said. The group went on to visit Zaoyuan, home to several former "proletarian revolutionaries" between 1943 and 1947. "Every plant, every tree, every brick and every tile here carries the red gene," the report said. Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie. Some experts say Chinas problems make it more likely to risk forcefully bringing Taiwan home. Aircraft of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conduct a joint combat training exercises around Taiwan Aug. 7, 2022. In its daily briefing on Chinese military activities around Taiwan on Monday, Taipeis Ministry of National Defense said that just two Peoples Liberation Army aircraft were in the air. Just over a week ago, on the other hand, China sent a total of 32 military aircraft and nine naval vessels into Taiwans air defense identification zone and waters around the island over a 24-hour period. An expert described it at the time as a mock blockade. Speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of military matters in the Taiwan Strait, another military analyst told RFA that blockade was too strong a word. China, he said, was mostly carrying out practice runs on a non-invasive scale, but that didnt mean that China was simply saber-rattling. Even as the daily tallies of air and sea vessels encircling Taiwan and pressing at the countrys air defense identification zone are so routine as to barely raise an eyebrow in downtown Taipei, the notion of the threat of war is ever present. According to Chinese-language media reports in Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defenses recent 2023 PLA Military Power Report, which was submitted to Taiwans Legislative Yuan, suggests that an invasion of Taiwan has become more likely during Chinese President Xi Jinpings third five-year term. Speaking to RFA Mandarin in late July after a high-profile shakeup of Chinas rocket command, Yao Cheng, a former lieutenant colonel in Chinas Navy Command who defected to the United States in 2016, said that Xi is determined to carry out a military invasion of Taiwan. He definitely wants to go to war, said Yao. Otherwise, he can't realize [the goals of] his third term in office. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees self-ruled Taiwan, or the Republic of China, as a province of China, even though the island has never been ruled by the CCP. At the last meeting of the National Peoples Congress Xi spoke of an unwavering push for the reunification process of the motherland, and Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Defense recently said that Taiwan's future lies in national unification., Xi has ordered the PLA to prepare for war in his roles as General Secretary of the CCP and head of the Central Military Commission the overall high command of the PLA while U.S. President Joe Biden said at a Democratic Party fundraiser last month that China was a ticking time bomb. Thats not good because when bad folks have problems, they do bad things, Biden added. The U.S. president said that China was in trouble due to turgid growth and high unemployment. Countdown to aggression The Taiwan Ministry of Defense 2023 PLA Military Power Report speculates that the likelihood of China attacking Taiwan and the risk of military conflict has increased. Some experts, talking to RFA Mandarin, agree. Yu Jie, a writer based in the U.S. and author of a recent Chinese-language book on how China might invade Taiwan, told RFA's Asia Wants to Talk program that the CCP is currently moving in the direction of becoming a global empire, describing Taiwan as the final puzzle piece. The crisis is gradually approaching, said Yu. The author speculates that Xis timeline for invasion is likely to be five to 10 years before his possible retirement. Xi hasnt cultivated a truly legitimate successor, so when factions vie for power, one of the contenders might wage an external war to boost their prestige, he said. Taiwanese soldiers take part in Han Kuang military drill simulating the China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) invading the island, in New Taipei City, Taiwan June 5, 2018. Credit: Reuters/Tyrone Siu Last year, the New York times reported that an attack on Taiwan could occur as soon as 2025, when presidential elections will take place in both Taiwan and the U.S., a scenario that few military strategists regard as likely but not outside the realms of plausibility. Huang Pengxiao, a retired Taiwanese colonel and current affairs commentator, pointed out in RFA Mandarins Asia Wants to Talk last week that logically, China would eventually attack Taiwan. But he added, Unless U.S. hegemony declines, meaning the rise of the East and the decline of the West, the chances of an attack isnt imminent there's still a wait. Author Yu Jie said that the U.S. expectation that increased trade with China would lead to a more relatable, friendly China hadnt happened, but the U.S. is appropriately changing the terms of engagement. Decoupling might take a decade or even longer, so I agree with the approach [the U.S. is taking] of talking on one hand and sanctioning on the other. A PLA analyst who asked to remain anonymous said that Chinas current daily aerial and naval harassment of Taiwan could not transition into war overnight. Wed expect a whole lot more activity in the Taiwan Strait if they were transitioning to war, he said. As John Culver recently wrote in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, China would have already started surging production of ballistic and cruise missiles; anti-air, air-to-air, and large rockets for long-range beach bombardment; and numerous other items, at least a year before D-Day. Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan. The mass rally is the second since Japan started releasing nuclear wastewater. A South Korean protester signals bystanders during a rally against Japans release of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea in Seoul, Sept. 2, 2023. Tens of thousands of Koreans gathered in front of Seouls City Hall over the weekend to protest Japans release of radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. Japan started the gradual release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 24, despite regional and local concerns, with plans to eventually pump more than a million metric tons of it into the sea. Saturdays demonstration drew support from more than 80 civic organizations and four political parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party. Spreading across four vehicle lanes, demonstrators voiced their concerns with chants and displayed banners with slogans including, Immediately stop the Fukushima water release and Denounce the Yoon Suk Yeol leadership. They also asked for a ban on imports of all Japanese aquatic products, urging Koreas leaders to file a lawsuit against the Japanese government with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. One of the protesters told Radio Free Asia that she was against the release and the Korean government for not putting pressure on Japan. I am participating in this protest because I do not trust the Japanese government. I do not believe when they say it wont have an impact, Jeong Kim, a 23-year-old Seoul resident, said. The Korean government should have pressured Japan to let independent scientists verify Tokyos claims, she said. A fisherman said his job would be disrupted due to the release. Many families like mine, who depend on the ocean for our livelihoods, would face serious consequences, said Seoung Min, from the southeastern coast. Survey shows widespread concern One of the organizers told RFA she estimated the turnout was more than 50,000 people. After the leaders addressed the main event, various groups marched in different directions around the city, disrupting traffic in many areas. The rally went on for more than four hours. The protest comes just one day after Gallup Korea released a public survey that found three-quarters of Koreans were either very worried or somewhat worried that the Fukushima discharge would pollute Koreas oceans and marine products. More than 60% said they were reluctant to consume seafood products. The survey of more than 1,000 Koreans was taken from Aug. 29 to 31 nationwide. Three protesters carry images of US, Japan, and South Korean leaders during a rally against Japans release of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea in Seoul, Sept. 2, 2023. Credit: Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA Even though Tokyo and many outside experts have said the nuclear wastewater is not harmful, many South Koreans and Chinese have been vocal about the potential impact on peoples health and the environment. China has banned imports of Japanese seafood. TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the power plant, which was damaged in a massive tsunami triggered by an earthquake on March 11, 2011, has said that the controlled discharge of the treated wastewater adheres to a meticulous nuclear purification process. The treatment leaves all but one primary radioactive isotope - tritium, which is impossible to separate from water, and so will be diluted to bring it below regulatory standards before the release. Many experts have called for more independent verification of the release plan, alleging that the decision to release the water was reached through a process that lacked full transparency and did not sufficiently include consultations with stakeholders from Japan and other countries. The U.N.s atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been monitoring the release. Last month, it gave Tokyo the green light to start, saying the planned discharge meets relevant international safety standards and would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment. Over 1.3 million cubic meters of wastewater enough to fill more than 500 Olympic-size swimming pools currently contained in numerous water storage tanks at the facility is set to be released, which could take up to 40 years to complete. Edited by Mike Firn and Malcolm Foster. Yoon said global communitys resolute to deter Pyongyang must exceed its will to pursue nuclear development. South Koreas President Yoon Suk Yeol has issued a fresh warning to North Korea Monday, urging Pyongyang to halt its nuclear program if it wants to avoid regime instability. North Korean authorities are wasting scarce financial resources on the development of nuclear and missile capabilities, Yoon said in a written interview with the Associated Press. Consequently, the hardships faced by North Koreans in their everyday lives are worsening, and its economy continues to register negative growth. Amid such circumstances, unless North Korea stops its nuclear development, the regimes instability will continue to increase. The South Korean leader on Monday also pressed China to take constructive efforts to denuclearize North Korea. He added that Beijing must realize Pyongyangs nuclear provocations pose a negative effect on Chinas national interests by further disrupting regional order among other things. Yoons remarks came on the heels of North Koreas simulated strike on the South on Saturday, in what Pyongyang called a tactical nuclear attack drill to bolster its nuclear capability against Washington and Seoul. North Korea launched two cruise missiles carrying mock nuclear warheads towards the West Sea of the Korean peninsula. The missiles traveled about 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) for more than two hours, before detonating at an altitude of 150 meters, the official Korean Central News Agency said. While firing cruise missiles isnt prohibited by the U.N., they present a significant threat to U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. General view of a simulated tactical nuclear attack drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Credit: KCNA via Reuters The Norths repeated nuclear provocations, combined with U.S.-China rivalry, have placed the Korean peninsula at the forefront of the ideological clash between democracy and authoritarianism. While Pyongyangs provocations have strengthened trilateral security cooperation among the U.S., South Korea and Japan, both China and Russia are defending North Korea on the international stage, with the North reciprocating this backing. The international community must clearly demonstrate that its determination to stop North Koreas nuclear program is much stronger than North Koreas will to continue developing it, Yoon, who is set to attend ASEAN and the G20 summits this week, said. Cruise missiles pose a major security challenge to Seoul and U.S militaries stationed in South Korea, said Cheon Seong-whun, a former security strategy secretary for South Koreas presidential office. They are challenging to intercept, and arguably, there's no current defense system entirely adequate against them, Cheon noted. Given North Korea declaring its intention to deploy nuclear warheads on the cruise missiles, the allies must strategize and respond accordingly. The allies must address this issue within the NCG framework agreed upon by the United States and South Korea, the former aide continued. Saturdays launches also coincided with the end of the U.S. and South Koreas 11-day training exercises, which North Korea had labeled as invasion rehearsals. The U.S. and South Korea held their inaugural Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) meeting in July, where they discussed information sharing, consultation mechanisms, and joint planning and execution to enhance nuclear deterrence against North Korea, according to South Koreas presidential office. The NCG framework was announced during the bilateral summit in Washington in April against the backdrop of growing demands in South Korea for its nuclear armament in light of Pyongyangs escalating nuclear threats. North Korea has been ramping up its nuclear provocation over the past few weeks. The country disclosed that it had performed a scorched earth nuclear strike simulation targeting South Korea on Thursday. Earlier in the same week, Kim Jong Un characterized the heads of the U.S., South Korea, and Japan as gang bosses, in an apparent derision to the three leaders summit on Aug.18 in Camp David, Maryland. In response, the U.S. and South Korea imposed sanctions on individuals and entities implicated in illicit financing for weapons of mass destruction programs. Edited by Elaine Chan and Taejun Kang. Defense chief raised the idea to the North in his recent visit, said South Korean spies. Officers and sailors of China's People's Liberation Army Navy hold a welcome ceremony as a Russian naval ship arrives in port in Zhanjiang in southern China's Guangdong Province, Sept. 12, 2016. Russia has formally proposed to China and North Korea for a joint naval drill in July, South Koreas spies said on Monday a move that could further escalate tensions in East Asia. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has made an official proposal for a trilateral naval drill to Kim Jong Un when he last visited North Korea, Yoo Sang-beom, a lawmaker who was briefed by the nations spy agency, in the National Assembly, told reporters. The assessment by South Koreas National Intelligence Service followed Shoigus visit to Pyongyang two months ago, which has raised suspicions that the two nations were looking to enhance their military cooperation including arms trading that would support Russias war with Ukraine. Washington issued a stern warning against North Korea last month regarding weapons transactions with Russia. The White Houses national security spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. was concerned about potential arms deals between Russia and North Korea. While Pyongyangs recent provocations have strengthened trilateral security cooperation among the U.S., South Korea and Japan, both China and Russia are defending North Korea on the international stage, with the North reciprocating this backing. The South Korean spies also saw North Koreas missile launch Saturday as a response to the U.S.-South Korea joint drill, according to Yoo, hinting that authoritarian regimes in the world are seeking their own ways to counter military ties among democracies. North Korea launched two cruise missiles carrying mock nuclear warheads towards the West Sea of the Korean peninsula. The missiles traveled about 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) for more than two hours, before detonating at an altitude of 150 meters, the official Korean Central News Agency said. While firing cruise missiles isnt prohibited by the U.N., they present a significant threat to U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. North Koreas latest cruise missile launch marked only a partial success. The Intelligence Service confirmed that one of the two missiles launched on Saturday was unsuccessful. The partial success, however, hints at Pyongyangs revamped strategy to integrate its conventional arsenal and tactical nuclear weapons to threaten allies. It seems clear that they are thinking of a short-term war, if there is any, merging their conventional arsenal with tactical nuclear weapons, Yoo said, citing the assessment of South Koreas spy agency. He said the intelligence agents have emphasized North Koreas inability to wage a long-term war, as the hermit state is strapped by an ongoing economic crisis. North Korea had imposed strict COVID restrictions in early 2020, shutting down its borders, including that with its biggest trading partner, China. The North Korean economy contracted for the third straight year in 2022, according to the Bank of Korea. COVID restrictions, compounded by international sanctions, are widely seen to have further depressed the Norths struggling economy. The Souths spies also reiterated the position that the agency has yet to draw any conclusion that Kim Ju Ae, Kim Jong Uns daughter, will succeed her father as North Koreas next leader. Kim Ju Ae was seen accompanying her father during the North's Navy Day last week. It was her first public appearance since May 16, when she showed up for an on-site inspection of a preparatory committee related to the North's attempt to launch a military spy satellite. The appearance was widely seen as a rare window of the regimes motivations to familiarize the North Korean public with potential future leaders, a strategy that Pyongyang has employed for decades. Edited by Elaine Chan and Mike Firn. UPDATED AT 04:00 a.m. EDT on 09-04-2023 Australia will increase its security force in the Solomon Islands to help ensure stability during the Pacific Games and next years national elections, according to the island countrys government. The Solomon Islands, which has caused concern for the United States and Australia by forging closer ties with China, is expected to receive thousands of visitors in November for the 24-nation Pacific Games and also will hold its delayed national elections in the first half of 2024. The security support needed for both events is huge and Australias affirmative response will definitely fill security gaps, the office of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in a statement Monday. The statement, without giving numbers, said Australia will increase personnel deployed in the Solomon Islands and extend the broader security deployment, which began in late 2021 in response to a domestic crisis, until the middle of next year. The Solomon Islands, home to some 700,000 people, has become a focus of the U.S.-China competition for influence in the Pacific and has sought to benefit from the rivalry by securing more development assistance. Sogavares government switched its diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 2019 and signed a security pact with Beijing last year that the United States feared could pave the way for a Chinese military presence in the region. China has bankrolled more than half the cost of hosting the 2023 Pacific Games including the construction of a 10,000 seat stadium. Australia sent more than 200 police and troops to the Solomon Islands in December 2021 at the request of Sogavare following anti-China and anti-government riots in the capital Honiara. Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand also sent forces. Australias Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that Australia is proud to be Solomon Islands primary security partner. A spokesperson for the department said additional security personnel will be sent for the Pacific Games in the capital Honiara and Australias contribution to the Solomons International Assistance Forcewhich is the bulk of that forcewill continue until June 2024 to provide security for the national elections. The statement from Sogavares office said the formal request for additional security assistance was made to Australias Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in early August. Australia also will provide support for an increase in security forces from Papua New Guinea, the statement said. Papua New Guinea, meanwhile, is providing Solomon Islands with an electronic visitor processing system for the Pacific Games, according to a Papua New Guinea government statement last week. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (left) and Chinas ambassador to the Solomon Islands, Li Ming, interact in front of the Pacific Games main stadium in Honiara during a ceremony on July 5, 2023 for sending 80 athletes to China for training. Credit: Gina Makaa/BenarNews Relations between Australia and the Solomon Islands appeared to dive in July when the Pacific island country signed a police cooperation agreement with China during Sogavares second visit to Beijing since 2019. Sogavare accused Australia of interfering in Solomon Islands internal affairs after it called for the police agreement to be made public. Both China and Australia have been providing training and equipment to the Solomon Islands police, including weapons, sparking concern their rivalry could cause new instability in a South Pacific country that spiraled into chaos only two decades ago. In November last year, China handed over two water cannon trucks, 30 motorbikes and 20 white utility vehicles emblazoned with the red China Aid logo to Solomon Islands police while Australia donated 60 MK18 rifles and 13 vehicles, some of which will be used in a new mobile protection unit for VIPs. The Solomon Islands statement indicated that officials have been discussing security relations between Australia and the Solomon Islands beyond June 2024. PM Sogavare encouraged officials of both countries to continue discussions on a comprehensive security partnership, it said. Sogavare has previously said the existing security agreement between Australia and the Solomon Islands needs to be reviewed to take into account challenges faced by both countries. Story updated to add comment from Australian Department of Foreign Affairs. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service. JERMUK, Armenia -- Standing on a hilltop above the Armenian resort town of Jermuk, in a blue vest emblazoned with gold EU stars, Thomas Tartarin peered through his binoculars at the verdant mountains across the valley. Then he cross-checked what he saw with a Soviet-era map he was carrying. The big peak you see, this is the official border, he said, gesturing at the most distant visible ridge, about 12 kilometers from the town. That is Azerbaijan, Armenias neighbor and archfoe. Not far beyond that ridge lies Nagorno-Karabakh, the territory at the heart of their decades-long conflict. A year ago, that conflict spilled over here, into Armenia itself, when Azerbaijan launched an offensive across the international border. Now, on a crest below, a small structure is visible at the end of a dirt road winding down from the peak. These days, Tartarin said, this is the closest Azerbaijani position. It was about six kilometers closer, he said. Last year's offensive saw the heaviest fighting since the Second Karabakh War in 2020 and represented an unprecedentedly large attack by Azerbaijan inside Armenian territory. It also, eventually, led to Tartarins arrival here. Less than a month after the September 2022 fighting and amid fears that the security situation could spiral out of control, the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the EU met and agreed on the establishment of an EU civilian monitoring mission. After an initial two-month mission in late 2022, a longer-term EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) -- this time without Azerbaijans buy-in -- was launched in February. The deployment of even unarmed civilian observers marks an unprecedented Western intervention in a country where Russia has traditionally been the dominant security provider and, despite recent setbacks, still sees itself as the primary power broker. It has also raised Armenian expectations of greater international protection against potential Azerbaijani encroachments and drawn suspicion from Moscow and Baku. The two-year mission is a modest one, and is being set up on the fly. It currently has fewer than 90 of its planned 103 international staff members. Despite the threat of war hanging over the region, its observers carry no weapons. It is still headquartered at Yerevans Marriott Hotel while its facility in the southern Armenian city of Yeghegnadzor is being completed. The mission has opened four of an eventual six forward operating bases from which monitors will patrol along the border. In mid-August, RFE/RL joined one of the several daily patrols that the mission is already carrying out. It was conducted by Tartarin, a French gendarme with a military comportment and wraparound shades who heads the missions forward operating base in Jermuk. He was accompanied by Pekka Mattila, a jocular Finn in aviator sunglasses who is a veteran of several international missions, including a similar EU monitoring effort in neighboring Georgia. This was the first stop, for what the monitors call a security situation awareness patrol. The monitors (along with this reporter and a press officer) drove up the rough road in two Toyota Land Cruisers, small EU flags fluttering from the back of the vehicles. For patrols like this one, relatively far from the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces, the monitors go unaccompanied and without body armor. For visits closer to the line, they are escorted by Armenian soldiers and they announce their itinerary ahead of time to Azerbaijani military officials. On this day, there was no visible activity in the new Azerbaijani positions. Tartarins map had their locations marked in orange dots, forming an arc well inside the dotted line representing the then-border between the Armenian and Azerbaijan Soviet socialist republics. 'Really Severe Incidents Decreased' Since the September offensive there has been no further advance toward Jermuk, but Azerbaijani troops have been gradually reinforcing their positions with new roads and barracks, Tartarin said. Checking on construction and reinforcements is all the monitors are capable of doing, given their modest numbers and the extent of the roughly 1,000-kilometer border. This has led to some disgruntlement among Armenians hoping that the mission would help point the finger at Azerbaijani troops as the source of sporadic shooting incidents along the border and call out Baku for such escalations. At the beginning, it was hard for people to understand because if there was an incident then they expected me to show up in the news in the evening, making a statement about what happened and who was guilty, Markus Ritter, the head of the mission, told RFE/RL at EUMA's Marriott headquarters. But that is not our job, that is not our mandate, and we are not able to do that. Nevertheless, the monitors presence has tamped down violence along the border, Ritter argued. Since our arrival here we still have incidents, but the kind of incidents changed: We have no killed or wounded civilians since we are here, and the number of really severe incidents decreased. So I think this is also our contribution to relax, to calm down, the tensions here in the area, he said. Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly Armenian-populated region from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people. Diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict brought little progress, and the two sides fought another war in 2020 that lasted six weeks before a Russian-brokered cease-fire effectively recognized the loss of Armenian control over parts of the region and seven adjacent districts. In 2022, Baku and Yerevan embarked on negotiations aimed at finally resolving the conflict. The European Union has played the lead role in that process, with European Council President Charles Michel holding regular meetings between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. But even as the diplomatic negotiations have continued, tensions on the ground have risen. In Karabakh itself -- outside the EUMA mandate -- the Azerbaijani government has instituted a monthslong de facto blockade. The situation along the Armenia-Azerbaijan international border is less volatile, but occasional violent incidents and irredentist rhetoric from Baku about Armenian territory have strained the nerves of residents here. After the patrol in mid-August, the monitors got back into their Land Cruisers and headed back to Jermuk, where following last years attacks -- in which the town itself was shelled tourists have returned in pursuit of its fresh air and mineral-water cures. The patrol then headed down the serpentine road to the main highway and into the stark, rocky landscape toward Azerbaijans exclave of Naxcivan. 'You Are Not Doing Enough' They stopped at the village of Zaritag, about an hours drive to the southwest, nearer to the second of Armenia's borders here in Vayats Dzor Province. This was the second type of mission they conduct, known as a human security patrol, in which monitors carry out informal surveys of residents of border areas to find out how they feel about the security situation. EUMA was still in the process of hiring Armenian staff to accompany them and translate, so each human security patrol took along at least one Russian speaker. This time, it was Mattila, who took the lead. 'Will it escalate, re-escalate? Will the war start again?'" he described of his method. "And then if they say yes, 'Why?' How do they feel about the Russian peacekeeper presence [in neighboring Nagorno-Karabakh]? They also ask residents about the EU presence, he said. Very often they say [good things] -- they are very hospitable, like in Georgia, but then if you ask more, then they can say, 'You are not doing enough.'" In Zaritap, the monitors found Magak Hovannisian, the voluble proprietor of a combination coffee and barber shop in the village center. He prepared coffee for the group and sat down to discuss how people were faring. Of course, its normal to be afraid, Hovannisian said. But people are used to it. If a bomb falls over there, people will just wonder where the second one will fall. The EU mission has arrived with Armenians trust in their traditional security guarantor, Russia, at a nadir. The international community needs to resolve this issue, Hovannisian said. If Armenians and Azerbaijanis are left alone, we will just be fighting all the time. Asked whether people thought it should be Russia, the European Union, the United States, or another power who should take the lead, he demurred. The important thing is for them to be strong, he said. Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh have been perceived as impotent in the face of regular Azerbaijani pressure and advances, and Armenians have questioned the usefulness of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, which failed to respond to Azerbaijans incursions inside Armenian territory. 'Unrealistic Expectation' The EU presence is tiny compared to the thousands of Russian troops who guard Armenia's borders with Turkey and Iran, in addition to those stationed at a Russian military base in the northern city of Gyumri or as peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. But the novelty of the European presence initially led to outsized expectations. At the beginning, I think for the population it was not really clear what was our mandate, Ritter said of the EUMA mission. We also found this out when we were visiting the villages in the conflict-affected areas. A lot of them thought we are now here to protect them or we even will somehow replace the Russian peacekeepers. Richard Giragosian, the head of the Yerevan think tank Regional Studies Center, said that "seeing the EU monitors and the EU flag was equated as a replacement of the Russian security promise, which is both unfounded and also not realistic." So," he said, "the danger for the Armenian side is this unrealistic expectation. At the same time, the missions arrival has occasioned anger in Russia. "The EU is openly abusing its relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan, including by pushing its mission into Armenian territory, raising serious questions about its legitimacy," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Baku with Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov days after the mission was launched. Giragosian, however, dismissed those as pro forma complaints: They have to say that. Unarmed EU observers are relatively unthreatening to Moscow, as far as Western interventions go, he said. The EU mission even indirectly shores up the Russian presence in Armenia, he said, insofar as it bolsters security that makes Russias priorities, such as establishing new cross-border transportation routes in the region, more feasible. Azerbaijan, for its part, has regularly complained about the monitors. It acceded to last years short-term mission in the belief that it would help reach a peace deal by the end of the year. But when the negotiations got bogged down, Baku blamed the mission, according to Azerbaijani analysts. Baku now argues that Armenia is using EU cover to drag its feet on the diplomatic process. We see that since the beginning of the mission, the Armenian position in the negotiating process has become more destructive, Bayramov said alongside Lavrov. Baku has been using coercive diplomacy" and the September 2022 offensive to pressure Armenia at the bargaining table, said Shujaat Ahmadzada, a research fellow at the Baku-based Topchubashov Center, which focuses on international relations and security. It therefore sees the EU presence on the border as affording Yerevan increased flexibility in negotiations, eroding the effectiveness of measures that had previously limited Armenia's options in resisting an agreement with Azerbaijan, he said. The difficulty of balancing the two sides diverging expectations was illustrated in an August 15 episode in which the Armenian Defense Ministry tweeted out a claim that Azerbaijani troops had targeted the EU monitors in a joint patrol with Armenian soldiers. The EU mission quickly tweeted a denial, with the word FALSE stamped over the Armenian post. That, in turn, was enthusiastically picked up by Azerbaijani social media users before the EU team deleted it and issued a gentler denial saying the team had been present to the shooting incident. A press officer for the EU mission, Ema Stastna, said later that the shooting took place about a kilometer from the EU monitors. It was not possible to determine the target of the shots, but the EUMA patrol did not feel targeted, she said, adding that monitors are occasionally witness to shooting in the distance. Ritter denied that the monitors had been targeted: We have never been threatened so far, he said. For Armenia, the EU monitors amount to hostages to Armenian security -- literally, think of a bank robber taking hostages, Giragosian said. In a worst-case scenario, if a monitor is harmed, even accidentally, that will not only prompt an EU institutional response but, more importantly, it will drive EU member states to respond more forcefully, he said. After the conversation and coffee in Zaritap, it was nearly time to head back to the Jermuk base, where the team would write up reports for Brussels. But first, they had to make one more stop, in the village of Gomk, a bit farther down the road from Zaritap. The village was mostly empty aside from a small team of visiting construction workers building a new school. Mattila handed out leaflets explaining what the mission does, in both English and Armenian, and gently parried the men's requests for EU visas. Finally, the team stopped briefly to talk to an elderly resident standing by her front gate. They politely declined when the woman, Lyuba Karapetian, invited the observers in for coffee. But there was time for Mattila to ask her how people in Gomk feel about their security. For now, its OK, she said. In the future, who knows? In a major show of defiance, Iranians have staged new anti-government demonstrations in several cities to protest the death of Armita Garavand, who succumbed over the weekend to injuries suffered in an alleged confrontation with Iran's morality police in the Tehran subway over a head-scarf violation. Hours after the student's funeral on October 29, which was marked by the violent arrest of several civil activists, anti-government slogans and graffiti in memory of Garavand again were observed in various cities including Tehran, Karaj, Mashhad, Sari, and Shiraz. In Tehran's Ekbatan neighborhood, which has been one of the epicenters of protests in the Iranian capital over the past year following the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for an alleged hijab violation, protesters chanted anti-government slogans from windows and rooftops and "Death to Khamenei, the murderer" and "Death to the dictator" -- references to Supreme Leader Ali Ayatollah Khamenei -- echoed through the streets. Such slogans were also heard in several other neighborhoods in Tehran including Amirabad Tehranpars, and Zafar. Protesters also refuted the government's narrative regarding Garavand's death with slogans like "They killed our Armita and blamed it on the hijab." Videos also showed some protesters writing the name "Armita Garavand" and the slogan "Women, life, freedom" on the shores of Bandar Anzali in the northern province of Gilan. Meanwhile, reports of "violence" by security forces during Garavand's funeral have emerged. Reza Khandan, a civil activist and husband of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, confirmed his wife's arrest during the funeral. He said that during her arrest, she was severely beaten by security agents. According to Khandan, many of those arrested during Armita Garavand's funeral were held at the Vozara detention center, "the same place where Mahsa Amini was killed by government agents last year." The Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), confirmed Sotoudeh's arrest, claiming she was detained for "removing her hijab and acting against society's mental security." The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said on October 30 that Sotoudeh was released after more than two hours of detention and slammed Iranian authorities for their treatment of those marking Garavand's death. "Beating and arresting unarmed civilians for peacefully mourning yet another death of a young girl in state custody is a continuation of the atrocities the Iranian government is continuously inflicting upon the Iranian people," CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi said. "These activists were at the funeral because Iranian authorities operate with impunity, killing and detaining people including teenagers for entirely peaceful actions, like showing their hair in public, or raising their voices to demand fundamental rights," he added. The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Unions reported the arrest of Masood Zeinalzadeh, a board member of the Tehran Teachers' Union, during the funeral. The association also announced that Mohammad Garavand, a teachers' rights activist, was arrested by security forces. Rights groups and journalists say Garavand and two of her friends were confronted on October 1 by police officers for not wearing the mandatory hijab as they tried to enter a Tehran subway station. One of the friends has said the officers physically assaulted Garavand, who later fell unconscious after entering a subway car. Officials have said Garavand suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure, fainted, and fell to the floor, hitting her head. A source at Fajr Hospital, who spoke to Radio Farda on condition of anonymity due to security reasons, said shortly after the incident that Garavand suffered internal bleeding in the brain. She succumbed to her injuries on October 28. Since Garavand fell into a coma, Iranian officials have pressured those around the 16-year-old student to avoid talking about the situation or later on commemorating her death. Alborz Sadeghi, the son of Manzar Zarabi, a mother who lost four family members when the IRGC shot down a Ukrainian plane in January 2022, told RFERL's Radio Farda that his mother was arrested after being "severely beaten" during Garavand's burial. Khandan said she had also been released. Garavand's case, and suggestions of a cover-up by the authorities, has drawn parallels with the events leading up to the death of Amini. In recent months, Tehran's municipality has deployed agents known as "hijab guards" in Tehran's subway to confront women and girls failing to wear the mandatory hijab. Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani has accused Serbia of trying to destabilize the Western Balkans in a similar fashion to how she said Russia acted against Ukraine in 2014. Speaking during a visit to the Albanian capital, Tirana, on September 4, Osmani cited the conflict in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, where Russian-backed separatists fought Ukrainian government forces, and the subsequent annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula as reference points for actions now being taken by Serbia in flashpoints across the region. "By precisely implementing the plan that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin implemented in 2014 against Ukraine, [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic and Serbia are aiming to destabilize the entire Western Balkans, and through the destabilization of our region attack the values and the system of values on which the EU and NATO stand," Osmani said. Osmani did not provide any evidence to support her claims and Serbian officials did not immediately respond to her statement. Tensions between majority Albanians in Kosovo and local Serbs supported by Belgrade erupted into ethnic violence that injured dozens of NATO peacekeepers in northern Kosovo in late May, after municipal elections a month earlier that were boycotted by ethnic Serbs. The United States and European Union each criticized Pristina's lack of coordination when it tried to forcibly install ethnic Albanian mayors in Serb-majority areas in late May. Weeks later, Serbian authorities detained three Kosovar police officers near their mutual border under unclear circumstances and held them for days. The role of Serbian agitators in the violence and tough rhetoric from Serbia's Vucic helped fuel criticism among international observers that the West was bending too much to accommodate Belgrade in the long-running spat. Relations between Serbia and its former province have been on edge for more than two decades. EU-mediated talks have failed to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 and is recognized by more than 100 countries but not Serbia, Russia, nor a handful of EU member states. In neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina, the situation is similar with Milorad Dodik, the president of the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska, pursuing increasingly nationalist and secessionist policies while seeking closer ties with Serbia and Russia. Kosovo's 1998-99 war of independence from Serbia left more than 10,000 people dead -- most of them ethnic Albanians. More than 1,600 people are still considered missing. The United States has condemned a violent anti-Semitic event at an airport in Russia's predominantly Muslim region of Daghestan in which a mob overran the airport and threatened an aircraft arriving from Tel Aviv. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington condemned the incident, adding at a briefing with reporters on October 30 that the storming of the airport "looked like a pogrom to me" in videos of the incident that he had viewed. "We call on Russian authorities to publicly condemn these violent protests, to hold anyone involved accountable, and to ensure the safety of Israelis and Jews in Russia," Miller said. The violence occurred on October 29 when dozens of protesters, angry over the situation surrounding the current war between Israel and Hamas militants, broke through doors and barriers at Makhachkala airport, with many of them chanting "Allahu akbar" (God is great) as they stormed the runway after the aircraft arrived. Riot police and reinforcements, including National Guard units, were subsequently sent to "ensure the safety of arriving passengers, according to the Baza Telegram channel. Officials said more than 20 people were injured -- two critically -- in the unrest, with 10 of those injured needing hospitalization, while Baza said six police officers were among the casualties. It was not clear whether any Israeli citizens were on the plane that arrived from Tel Aviv or whether any passengers were among the injured. The RIA Novosti news agency reported on October 30 that more than 60 people were detained at the airport. In a statement on October 30, the head of Russia's Federation of Jewish Communities, Rabbi Aleksandr Boroda, said the incident "undermined the basic foundations of our multicultural and multinational state." "The events of October 29 at the Makhachkala airport, as well as previous incidents...clearly show that the conflict in the Middle East has already affected the lives of people in Russia, and that anti-Israel sentiment has now turned into open aggression toward even Russian Jews," Boroda said. The incidents Boroda referred to include a suspected arson attack on a Jewish center under construction in the city of Nalchik and reports that crowds gathered in front of two hotels in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt demanding "refugees from Israel" leave the premises. Russia's aviation authority closed the airport and said it would remain out of operation until November 6, but later changed its stance and as of late on October 30, air traffic had resumed. Flights from Israel, however, were being temporarily rerouted to other cities in Russia. The Investigative Committee, meanwhile, said it had conducted searches of the residences of some of those involved in the unrest. "Participants in the mass unrest are being interrogated under the relevant criminal case...records from video surveillance cameras have been retrieved," the committee said. Anti-Jewish protests have broken out in several cities in the region in the face of Israels war with Hamas, rulers of the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. The Israeli Foreign Ministry on October 29 demanded that Russia protect Israelis and Jews and to apprehend anyone threatening them. "Israel expects the Russian authorities to protect all Israeli citizens and all Jews, and to act decisively against the rioters and against incitement to violence against Jews and Israelis," a statement said. The Kremlin blamed the unrest on "outside interference," and without showing any evidence accused Ukraine of involvement. Ukraine rejected the accusation, saying that the Russian Foreign Ministry was attempting to "shift responsibility from a sick person to a healthy one." Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko added on Facebook that the events in Makhachkala "reflect deep-rooted anti-Semitism of Russian elites and society." The United States also rejected the Russian accusation about Ukrainian involvement. "I've seen their comments about blaming Ukraine. They are absurd," Miller said. Late on October 29, videos and photos from the scene published by RFE/RLs Caucasus.Realities indicated that protesters had stormed onto the Makhachkala runway, attempting to gain entry to the incoming plane. Some media said the mob gathered at the airport after a Telegram channel said "uninvited guests" would be on the plane and that they should be met in "adult fashion" and forced to go elsewhere. A local news Telegram channel reported that protesters were attempting to check the identities of arriving passengers, seeking to prevent Jews from leaving the airport, including searching police vehicles. A protester was seen in one unconfirmed video carried a sign saying, "Child killers have no place in Daghestan." Daghestani officials accused "enemies of Russia" of instigating the anti-Semitic sentiments after the Coordination Center of Muslims of the North Caucasus called on authorities to prevent refugees from Israel from entering the republic, according to the Caucasian Knot news website. The Interior Ministry said that, "against the background of the situation in Makhachkala, the identities of all those who take part in the riots will be established, since video surveillance works at the airport." "We recommend that all persons who have violated the operating procedures of the [airport] to cease the illegal actions and to not interfere with the work of airport employees," a Telegram statement said. "It is not easy for each of us to stand and watch the inhumane massacre of a civilian population -- the Palestinian people, the government statement said. "Still, we urge residents of the republic not to succumb to provocations of destructive groups and not to create panic in society." Anti-Semitic rallies took place over the weekend in other cities of the North Caucasus protesting against Israels military campaign. The Middle East conflict broke out after Hamas militants stormed Israel on October 7, killing hundreds of people and taking more than 200 hostage. Israel retaliated with a military campaign against Gaza, leading to the deaths of some 8,000 people and the destruction of much of Gaza City. On October 28, a rally was held in Cherkessk, the capital of the Karachayevo-Cherkessia region, demanding that residents of Israel not be allowed in. On the night of October 29, residents of Derbent in Daghestan protested after false reports of the settling of refugees from Israel in local hotels. With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and RIA Novosti YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani authorities have once again falsely accused the Armenian Armed Forces of opening fire at their outposts on the border, the Armenian Ministry of Defense warned Monday. The statement disseminated by the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan that allegedly on September 4, around 7:20 a.m., the units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire at the Azerbaijani combat outposts located in the eastern part of the border, is another disinformation, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said in a statement posted on Facebook. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ankara is against alternative proposals to the Black Sea Grain Initiative that it brokered last year with the United Nations to ensure Ukrainian grain exports to countries that need them to feed their populations. Russia and Ukraine have proposed alternative plans, but Erdogan said the proposals "could not offer a sustainable, secure, and permanent model based on cooperation between the parties like the Black Sea Initiative." 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. Erdogan made the statement on September 4 at a joint news conference with Putin in Sochi, Russia, where the two leaders met for three hours to discuss revising the deal, which Moscow withdrew from in July. Erdogan helped broker the original deal, which went into effect in August 2022 and helped ease concerns about global food security by allowing the safe export of Ukrainian grain through three of its Black Sea ports. The Turkish president said at the news conference that Ukraine should "soften" its negotiating position "in order for it to be possible for joint steps to be taken with Russia," saying that more grain needs to be shipped to Africa rather than European countries. Erdogan told journalists earlier that he believed a solution would be agreed to "soon" regarding the grain initiative. He said the United Nations had prepared new proposals aimed at addressing Russia's problems with the deal, which include complaints that its own food and fertilizer exports face obstacles because of Western sanctions. "I believe that it is possible to get results. I believe that a solution that will meet Turkey's expectations will be reached soon," Erdogan said. Putin, who spoke at the news conference alongside Erdogan, repeated Russia's position that it would be ready to return to the grain deal once all agreements relevant to the accord were fulfilled. "We will be ready to consider the possibility of reviving the grain deal," he said. "And we will do it as soon as all the agreements on lifting restrictions on Russian agricultural exports are fully implemented." Putin also said Russia was nearing a deal that would secure free grain to six African countries. Russia will supply the food and carry out logistics free of charge, adding that deliveries "would begin in the next couple of weeks," he said. After quitting the deal in July, Moscow began increased attacks on Ukraine's southern Odesa and Mykolayiv regions, Ukrainian ports, and grain infrastructure on the Black Sea and Danube River that are vital for the shipment of grain. Russia launched another massive drone strike on a major Ukrainian grain-exporting port in the southern Odesa region early on September 4, damaging warehouses and production buildings along the Danube River. Seventeen Russian drones were shot down by Ukraine's air defenses, according to Odesa regional Governor Oleh Kiper, who also said there were no civilian casualties. "Unfortunately, there are also hits," Kiper wrote on Telegram. "In several settlements of the Izmail district, warehouses and production buildings, agricultural machinery, and equipment of industrial enterprises were damaged." Russia targeted another major Danube port of Reni on September 3, injuring at least two people and damaging the port's infrastructure. The Danube has become Ukraine's main route for exporting grain since the collapse of the grain deal. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said Russian drones had also detonated on the territory of neighboring Romania, a NATO member. But Romanian officials rejected the claim, saying the Russian attack did not "generate direct military threats to Romania's national territory or territorial waters." WATCH: Medical volunteers continue to travel to villages in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region to bring care to civilians near the front line. Current Time's Boris Sachalko reports. Ukraine claimed limited gains against Russian forces along the southern front -- the focus of its counteroffensive -- and took back territory near Bakhmut in the east. "The defense forces of Ukraine are continuing offensive operations in the Melitopol sector. Our forces had success near Novodanylivka and Novoprokopivka," Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on state television on September 4. Ukrainian forces had also captured 3 square kilometers of territory near the war-battered city of Bakhmut, she added. In the capital, Kyiv, officials said there had been a fresh bomb threat against all schools and colleges in the city after a similar warning last week. "Kyiv police again received a report of a bomb threat in all schools and colleges in Kyiv," the city's military administration said on social media on September 4. They told the public to keep calm, adding that police were taking necessary measures. The first day back at school in Kyiv on September 1 was also marred by a bomb threat, but the military administration later said the information was not confirmed. With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AFP Welcome to Wider Europe, RFE/RL's newsletter focusing on the key issues concerning the European Union, NATO, and other institutions and their relationships with the Western Balkans and Europe's Eastern neighborhoods. I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I'm drilling down on what we can expect from NATO this autumn and how the EU will deal with the excess of Ukrainian agricultural products in the bloc. Brief #1: What Is NATO Up To This Autumn? What You Need To Know: After an eventful summit in Vilnius in July, NATO will return in the next few months to "bread and butter" issues. That means various military exercises, at least two ministerial meetings in Brussels before the end of the year (one for the bloc's defense ministers, the other for its foreign ministers) and possibly welcoming a new member, Sweden. There was an agreement between Stockholm and Ankara at the Vilnius summit that appeared to pave the way for Swedish membership. But the ratification process still hasn't begun in either Turkey or Hungary, which has pledged to align its policy with Ankara's. NATO officials I've spoken to on condition of anonymity still believe Sweden will become a member this autumn, most likely in October, despite recent comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinting that Sweden must first look into the Koran burnings there over the summer to avoid further slowing the ratification process. Deep Background: While NATO waits to welcome member No. 32, its autumn will essentially consist of implementing some of the things decided on in Vilnius. For example, are the updated defense plans outlining how NATO should respond if any member's territory is attacked truly sufficient? According to NATO sources I spoke to: "This autumn it is about checking the executability of our plans," or "putting flesh to the bones." In other words, are there enough combat-ready troops and military equipment to quickly come to the defense of potential frontline member states in the east? NATO will need the answers by the end of the year. Then there's the issue of turning the multinational battalions in the three Baltic states and Poland into brigades, going from roughly 1,000 troops to something closer to 3,000-5,000. This takes longer, as it requires facilities like housing and bigger training ranges for the new arrivals. Preparations can seemingly be completed in Lithuania, where Germany is the lead nation, by early 2024, and a bit later in the year in the other places. Drilling Down: We are also likely to see the first-ever NATO-Ukraine Council at the ministerial level (the council met on the ambassadorial level over the summer) when NATO defense ministers meet in Brussels on October 12-13 for their regular autumn ministerial session. The council was created in Vilnius and is meant to upgrade Kyiv's relations with the alliance. The idea now is to ensure the NATO-Ukraine Council is a more useful forum for Ukraine to approach NATO membership than its "predecessor," the NATO-Ukraine Commission. In the council, Ukraine will be sitting as a sort of coequal, with the right to call meetings with the military alliance whenever it sees fit. The big question is whether that's enough. NATO will work on two documents in the autumn to define its relationship with Kyiv: an annual national program for Ukraine and a proper work program for the NATO-Ukraine Council. This is very much a bureaucratic exercise. But for Ukraine's biggest supporters inside the bloc, known as the Bucharest Eight, the most important thing is that these papers avoid any new milestones or additional conditions for Ukraine to finally become a member. For the Bucharest Eight -- Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia -- the aim is clear: Ukraine is already interoperable with the alliance and a political decision is all that remains, i.e. should Ukraine become a NATO member soon or not? What is less clear is whether this decision will come at the next NATO summit in Washington, D.C. in July 2024. Of course, with so much dependent on the course of the war in Ukraine, it is far too early to make predictions. But it is worth noting that the summit will fall in the middle of the U.S. presidential campaign season; and given that the United States and Germany were among the most vocal skeptics in Vilnius of offering Ukraine a clear pathway to membership, chances are slim that the American position will shift much next year. It is entirely possible that the Washington summit becomes a one-day celebration of NATO turning 75, with few real political decisions taken. In the meantime, NATO will keep a keen eye on the Ukrainian counteroffensive. A few officials I have spoken to acknowledge that the counteroffensive may not have been as impressive as some perhaps were hoping for initially, but they are quick to caution that it is easy to sit far away in safety and make such remarks. Another description you hear a lot from NATO HQ when describing Kyiv's push to recover more territory is "steady and incremental" along with appreciative comments that Kyiv is managing this without air support. While the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s is slowly starting now in places like Denmark, the Netherlands, and Romania, the jets won't be used in Ukrainian skies until next year. Aside from the war, speculation will intensify over top positions at NATO. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg recently agreed to stay on for another year, but he will step down at the Washington summit after a decade in the job. There is some clamoring for the military alliance's first female head, but don't rule out the outgoing Dutch Premier Mark Rutte or Pedro Sanchez if he fails to cobble together a new Spanish government. The chair of the NATO military committee, one of the foremost military leaders in the organization, will also be up for grabs, with incumbent Dutchman Rob Bauer set to leave in 2024 and the current chief of the Italian Defense Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, a favorite to replace him. Cybersecurity is also increasingly important for the alliance. Watch for its first-ever cyberdefense conference, in Berlin in November, bringing together high-level political leaders, military experts, and potentially even private-sector players. Brief #2: What To Do With The Glut Of Ukrainian Food In The EU? What You Need To Know: The European Commission is facing tricky decisions in the coming weeks over the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products into the European Union. September 15 marks the end of the so-called temporary preventive measures that have allowed wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seed from Ukraine to transit through Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. All four of those commodities must remain "unsealed" until they reach other EU member states -- ideally to EU ports to be shipped on to developing nations around the world. These measures came about in early May after Poland, then Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria unilaterally shut their borders to all Ukrainian exports a month earlier, complaining that a glut of Ukrainian agricultural goods was filling up local storage and depressing prices for local farmers. The European Commission scrambled for a solution that would satisfy the five frontline states (the above-mentioned four plus Romania) while being acceptable for Kyiv. There was also a need to ensure that Ukrainian agriproducts reached third countries, notably in Africa and Asia, that have reported food shortages. Moreover, there was evident interest in safeguarding against major distortions on the EU's internal market -- something that the European Commission is officially in charge of. That's a lot of circles to square, and Brussels' solution in early May was to agree to preventive measures regarding the four products for the five frontline countries for one month, plus financial compensation for their farmers. In June, the measures were prolonged with the understanding that they would be phased out on September 15 and, in a separate decision, the EU approved the extension by another year of a tariff-free regime with Ukraine covering all Ukrainian products entering the bloc. Deep Background: Now the five frontline EU member states are pushing for an extension until the end of the year. You have crucial parliamentary elections in Slovakia on September 30 and in Poland on October 15, and farmers are an important and influential constituency in both countries. The European Commission does have some understanding for the five, and numbers back up their worries. Before 2022, EU agricultural imports from Ukraine totaled 7 billion euros, and 90 percent came via the Black Sea route. By 2022, that figure had risen to 13 billion euros and 5 billion of the additional 6 billion euros of goods ended up on the markets of the frontline EU states. The big culprit here is, of course, Russia, which has severely hampered Ukraine's lucrative Black Sea trade. Since the outbreak of the war, 40 percent of Ukrainian grain has been exported via the Black Sea Grain Initiative that expired in July after Russia opted not to renew it. Turkey, which was key to the 2022 initiative that was struck to alleviate the global food shortage by opening trade from a handful of Ukrainian ports, has been working hard to resuscitate the deal. President Erdogan was expected to push for its renewal during a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on September 4. There's a question, however, as to whether Russia is interested in a renewal. By strangling the Ukrainian Black Sea option, which normally allows for larger and cheaper worldwide exports with huge cargo ships compared to transporting overland in the EU, Russia has seemingly outmaneuvered an important trade competitor and made its own grain cheaper and more lucrative worldwide. Drilling Down: Ukraine obviously wants the temporary measures removed on September 15 but finds itself in a difficult situation when it comes to its agricultural products. Only 3 percent of the products that are currently transported via the EU's solidarity lanes instead of the Black Sea route are being shipped from the EU to third countries. There simply aren't many global buyers for such expensive goods. Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain have instead increased Ukrainian imports, especially of maize, which is vital to feeding livestock and boosting meat production. instead of the Black Sea route are being shipped from the EU to third countries. There simply aren't many global buyers for such expensive goods. Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain have instead increased Ukrainian imports, especially of maize, which is vital to feeding livestock and boosting meat production. The EU is also investing to the tune of 1 billion euros to improve the Solidarity lanes -- and to reduce the costs for Ukrainian traders. The most obvious remedies include removing bottlenecks on various EU-Ukrainian border crossings by streamlining customs services, improving roads leading to the crossing, and increasing personnel there. But such measures take time to implement. The Baltic states have suggested easing the administrative burden on the EU-Ukrainian borders by shifting customs, veterinary, and phytosanitary controls to five Baltic ports (Tallinn, Riga, Ventspils, Liepaja, and Klaipeda), which have a combined annual capacity of 25 million tons. Croatia has also suggested using its Adriatic ports in a similar way. Currently, the most likely scenario is a prolongation of the preventive measures, judging by indications I've gotten from EU officials. And not only that. The frontline five want more products, including eggs and poultry, added to the four types of goods already listed. The European Commission has so far indicated there is no great influx from Ukraine of eggs or poultry. Raspberries, however, might be added after what one European Commission official described to me as a "drastic increase" in the EU market. The European Commissioner for agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, recently floated the idea of compensating Kyiv along with any extension. Noting that EU transit costs around 30 euros per ton and Ukraine needs to export around 20 million tons of food produce in the coming months, the European Commission would offer 600 million euros to Kyiv. This would act as a sort of economic subsidy to Ukrainian traders to enable the transport of grain all the way to EU ports. Ukraine would reportedly consider such an option, but it's unclear whether the entire European Commission would agree to the compensation. Expect that some sort of solution will be forthcoming as early as this week, especially given that a working platform set up in May to tackle the issue comprising relevant officials from the five frontline states, Ukraine, and the European Commission will discuss the issue in Brussels on September 5 as the bloc's agricultural ministers are meeting in the Spanish city of Cordoba on September 4-5. Looking Ahead Most eyes this week will turn to New Delhi and the G20 summit there on September 9-10. EU institutions will be represented by both European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel. The leaders of France, Germany, and Italy are also expected to come, as are the premiers of the Netherlands and Spain, both of whom are invited as G20 guests. Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, will replace him in India him due to Putin's "busy schedule." India is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader, so they are not obliged act on that warrant. Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani will be in Brussels on September 7. Among other things, she will visit NATO HQ in order to share information on the latest security developments in Kosovo. NATO boosted its presence there in May after its KFOR peacekeeping troops were attacked by ethnic Serbs following the forcible seating of ethnic Albanian mayors after boycotted elections in the Serb-dominated north. A week later, on September 14, Brussels will host the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for another round of the EU-mediated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, the first such meeting since that violent episode. That's all for this week. Feel free to reach out to me on any of these issues on Twitter @RikardJozwiak, or on e-mail at jozwiakr@rferl.org. Until next time, Rikard Jozwiak If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan will host the World Tourism Investment Forum, organized by the Tourism Committee of Armenia in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), on September 6-8. The event will be attended by representatives from United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) member states, tourism officials from other countries, foreign and local investors, delegates from international organizations and the private sector. Participants will explore emerging travel tendencies and evolving consumer behavior in this geopolitically and economically sensitive era. The event will offer valuable insights into the global investment climate. The Forum will feature high-level dialogues, panel discussions, keynotes, and fireside chats, bringing together industry leaders and experts. The focal point will be critical investment trends and challenges facing the tourism sector today. Attendees can expect engaging discussions that shape the future of tourism investment. Of course, global trends will be presented, but Armenia will be presented separately. This is a good chance for presenting Armenias investment opportunities and projects. We will emphasize a number of directions, such as cultural tourism, gastro-tourism, wine tourism and adventure tourism, said Sisian Boghossian, the Head of the Tourism Committee of Armenia. She added that a forthcoming major project in collaboration with the World Bank will also be unveiled during the event, and it could interest investors. A RAILWAY cable thief whose DNA was linked to multiple incidents has been given a suspended jail term. Chad Baldwin Chad Baldwin admitted theft, obstructing the railway and possession of a class B drug following a British Transport Police investigation. The 37-year-old's DNA was found to be linked to various incidents across two Rotherham sites earlier this year. Advertisement Advertisement Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every day. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Rotherham Advertiser within your account. Edit Preferences Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... On March 19, officers were called to an area of track where 20 metres of 48-core cable had been stolen. Police were alerted to a theft in progress at another location the following day - and found Baldwin hiding in woods nearby. About two metres of cable had been taken from the side of a bridge. Officers found two hand saws at the scene, on which was found remnants of the cabling and Baldwins DNA. Baldwin was arrested for theft and during a search an amount of amphetamine was discovered. Advertisement Advertisement Investigating officer PC Matthew France said: A common misconception is that cable theft is a victimless crime. This is not true. Baldwins illegal activity resulted in huge delays and disruption to services which impact then everyday users of the railway. These delays resulted in Network Rail paying out almost 18,000 to train operating companies. Ultimately it is the passenger that pays the price through disruption to their travel plans. Advertisement Advertisement Baldwin, of Masbrough Street in Rotherham, was sentenced by magistrates on August 25 to two months in prison suspended for 18 months. Attack on Youth at Chandigarh Petrol Pump Further investigation in the matter is underway CHANDIGARH: A Shocking incident unfolded late at night when a group of 10 to 15 unidentified assailants viciously attacked a young man with knives at a petrol pump in Chandigarh's Sector-38. The victim sustained severe injuries in the brutal assault, prompting a swift response from the police, who rushed to the scene. The injured young man has since been admitted to PGI Hospital in Chandigarh for urgent medical treatment. The victim has been identified as Bunty, a 35-year-old resident of Dadumajra. The entire attack was captured on the petrol pump's CCTV cameras, which are now crucial in helping law enforcement identify the attackers responsible for this horrific crime. Advertisement Family members of the victim have stated that Bunty had no known enmity with anyone. He had simply gone to the petrol pump to refuel his vehicle when the assailants suddenly launched their ruthless attack. In the assault, he sustained knife wounds to his waist, stomach, legs, and hands. The stab wound to his stomach has particularly left him in critical condition. In response to the incident, the police have launched an intensive investigation, conducting raids and gathering evidence. They have obtained crucial CCTV footage from the petrol pump to aid in identifying the culprits. However, as of now, no arrests have been made in connection with the attack. Police authorities revealed that they executed nighttime raids on the residences of several individuals believed to be involved in the attack. Unfortunately, none of the identified suspects were present at their homes during the police operation. Arsh Dalla No One Should Accept or Add the Suspicious ID to their Friends' List: Arsh Dalla CHANDIGARH: Arshdeep Dalla, commonly known as Arsh Dalla, has raised concerns about potential actions by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He recently took to Facebook to alert his associates and friends about a suspicious fake ID operating under his name on the social media platform. In his Facebook post, Arsh Dalla stated that he strongly suspects the creation of the fake ID is associated with the NIA. His suspicions are rooted in the recent arrests of individuals like Manpreet Manila and Mandeep Pita, who were apprehended by law enforcement agencies and subsequently brought to India. It is believed that this fake ID may have been designed to identify or monitor individuals connected to him. Advertisement In an effort to protect his associates and friends, Arsh Dalla issued a warning in his Facebook post, urging them to exercise caution. He emphasized that no one should accept or add the suspicious ID to their friends' list. A Arsh Dalla also provided an alternative means of contact, directing his associates to reach out to him through his official Facebook account. He emphasized that he operates only one legitimate Facebook account and does not manage any other social media profiles. Patwari Vigilance Authorities Have Identified Land Purchases in 54 Locations SANGRUR: Startling revelations have emerged regarding the actions of Patwari Balkar Singh, who served in the Khanauri constituency of Sangrur, Punjab. Investigations into a fraud case involving Sudarshan Roy have shed light on Balkar Singh's acquisition of 55 acres of land across 54 different locations during his 21-year tenure. These transactions are believed to have been carried out through corrupt means in various areas. Dhindsa village in Sangrur witnessed the highest volume of land purchases by Balkar Singh. Additional acquisitions were made in Bhutal Kalan, Jalur, Gujran, Balran, Kalipur, Hamirgarh, Makorh Sahib, Rodewal, Ghorenab, and Bhutal Khurd. Vigilance authorities have identified land purchases in 54 locations, with the possibility of more yet to be discovered. Advertisement Notably, Balkar Singh's alleged involvement in corruption came to light during the investigation of a fraud case involving Sudarshan Roy, a resident of Khanauri. Sudarshan Roy owned 14 Kanals and 11 Marlas of land in Khanauri, some of which was acquired by the government to widen the Ghaggar river. The remaining 11 kanals and 19 marles of land were located within Khanauri city. It is alleged that Deepak Raj, Patwari Balkar Singh, Darshan Singh Field Kanungo, and Tehsildar Munak Vipan Bhandari colluded to wrongfully claim Sudarshan Roy's land. This elaborate scheme unfolded in 2018 when a fabricated will was used to transfer the land into Deepak Raj's name, accompanied by false statements from the entire family. Sudarshan's complaint triggered an investigation, ultimately exposing the extent of Patwari Balkar Singh's alleged wrongdoing. This revelation has sparked outrage and demands for a thorough investigation into Balkar Singh's land acquisitions across multiple locations. The authorities are expected to take swift action to address the corruption allegations and ensure justice prevails. Advertisement Anurag Thakur Visit Aims to Promote 'Meri Mitti-Mera Desh' Campaign JALANDHAR: Union Minister Anurag Thakur embarked on a significant visit to Phagwara, Punjab, today, where he made a heartfelt connection with the families of freedom fighters. His visit included participation in an event at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara, where he even indulged in a spirited Bhangra performance alongside enthusiastic young boys. One notable stop during Thakur's visit was Harbanspur village in Phagwara, where Union Minister Som Prakash Kanth joined him in a special gathering. At this gathering, both Union Ministers addressed the local community, emphasizing the significance of the 'Meri Mitti Mera Desh' campaign. They also administered the oath of dedication to the gathered crowd. Subsequently, the ministers embarked on a tour of the surrounding villages, symbolically collecting soil as part of the Amrit Kalash Yatra. Advertisement Anurag Thakur was warmly welcomed upon his arrival in Phagwara, reflecting the local enthusiasm for his visit. During his address to the Pagari Saja Jansabha, he not only spoke about the 'Meri Mitti Mera Desh' initiative but also showcased his affinity for the culture by participating in the traditional Punjabi dance form, Bhangra. Explaining the 'Meri Mitti Mera Desh' campaign, Anurag Thakur revealed that it aims to collect soil from 30 crore households across the country, involving 7,500 individuals in this noble endeavor. The collected soil will be utilized in the construction of memorials in the national capital, celebrating the unity and diversity of India. In response to a controversial comment made by another minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin, regarding Sanatan Dharma, Anurag Thakur expressed a firm stance. He emphasized that those who sought to suppress Sanatan Dharma had ultimately faced defeat, and the enduring spirit of Sanatan would persist despite any challenges. In a clear message to his political adversaries, Thakur asserted that the heritage and values of Sanatan Dharma would endure, irrespective of external forces. Ansreen Bukhari and daughter Mahek Bukhari Ansreen Bukhari was residing in UK, along with her daughter Mahek at the time of the Incident ISLAMABAD: In a shocking turn of events, popular Pakistani TikTok personality Mahek Bukhari and her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, have been handed life sentences following their conviction in a double murder case. The verdict was delivered by the court after both mother and daughter were found guilty of their involvement in the tragic incident. The case revolves around an intricate web of love, deception, and violence. It all began when 18-year-old Saqib crossed paths with 46-year-old Ansreen through social media, sparking a relationship that would ultimately take a dark and deadly turn. Saqib had misrepresented his age, claiming to be 27 years old, which initially led to the gradual progression of their relationship. The two shared their photos on social media platforms, but it was Ansreen's assertion that Saqib possessed compromising images of her that set the stage for the tragedy. Advertisement Reportedly, Saqib allegedly threatened to expose these images, causing Ansreen to reach her breaking point and hatch a sinister plan. The plan was to eliminate Saqib and, tragically, his friend as well. Ansreen Bukhari was residing in Leicester, United Kingdom, along with her daughter Mahek at the time of the incident. She invited Saqib to meet her in a Tesco car park under the pretense of reimbursing him for the 3,000 euros he had spent during their relationship. Their intention was to steal Saqib's phone, which held the alleged compromising photos. At the heart of this tragic tale are the lives of Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both just 21 years old, who met a devastating end in a car accident. The sequence of events unfolded when Ansreen terminated her relationship with Saqib, leading her to devise a plan to obtain his phone and erase the photos she feared would be exposed. Subsequently, masked individuals, summoned by Ansreen, encircled Saqib and his friend, leaving them with no choice but to flee in their vehicle. Pursued by the masked assailants, Saqib drove at high speed in an attempt to escape, ultimately colliding with a roadside tree, resulting in the tragic loss of both young lives. In a verdict that has gripped the nation, the court has now handed down life sentences to both Ansreen Bukhari and her daughter Mahek. Deceased Punjabi Youths Recent tragedies in Canada have left the Punjabi Community Mourning AMLOH: Canada has been witnessing a series of unfortunate deaths among Punjabi youth, adding to the grief-stricken families and communities. The latest heartbreaking news reveals the loss of two Punjabi youths in Canada, casting a shadow of sorrow and disbelief. One of the young men hailed from Salani village in Amloh and tragically passed away due to a heart attack. The deceased, identified as Harpreet Singh (31), had recently embarked on his journey to Canada on June 22nd of this year after successfully completing his PhD. He was residing in Alberta, where he was joined by his younger brother, Lovepreet Singh. Harpreet's untimely demise left his family shattered, particularly since he had tied the knot only a year and a half ago. Advertisement Harpreet's father, Balbir Singh, shared the heart-wrenching news and recounted his son's journey to Canada with great hope and aspirations for a better future. In another unfortunate incident, Surinder Singh Gill, a resident of Kakrala Bhaika village in Samana, also met an untimely fate in Canada. The young man had ventured to Canada for educational pursuits last year. The exact cause of his passing is yet to be determined, further adding to the anguish of his family and the local community. The Azerbaijani authorities released their third disinformation on Monday, once again falsely accusing the Armenian military of opening fire across the border, the Armenian Ministry of Defense warned in a statement Monday afternoon. September 4, 2023, 14:03 Azerbaijani authorities continue intense fake news campaign, again falsely accuse Armenia of border gunfire STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 4, ARTSAKHPRESS: The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan continues to spread disinformation. The statement disseminated by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan as if on September 4, at around 11:20 a.m., the units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire at the Azerbaijani combat outposts located in the southwestern part of the border, is another disinformation, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said. New Zealand will on Monday release Q2 numbers for terms of trade, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Terms are expected to slip 1.3 percent on quarter after easing 1.5 percent in the three months prior. Export prices are tipped to fall 2.1 percent on quarter after slumping 6.9 percent in Q1. Import prices are seen lower by 1.4 percent on quarter after sinking 5.4 percent in the first quarter. Japan will provide August figures for monetary base, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.7 percent on year after shedding 1.4 percent in July. Australia will see Q2 data for company gross operating profits, with expectations for a decline of 1.9 percent on quarter after adding 0.5 percent in Q1. Business inventories are seen higher by 0.9 percent on quarter, easing from 1.2 percent in the previous three months. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. Estonia's industrial production continued to decline sharply in July, though the pace of contraction softened from June, data from Statistics Estonia showed on Monday. Industrial production plunged a calendar-adjusted 9.5 percent year-on-year in July, slower than the 12.9 percent slump in the previous month. Production has been falling since June last year. Among the main sectors, electricity production decreased the most by 33.6 percent over the year, followed by mining with a 20.7 percent drop. Output produced in the manufacturing sector was 7.0 percent lower. On a seasonally adjusted basis, industrial production fell at a faster pace of 3.7 percent monthly in July versus a 1.6 percent decrease a month ago. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Germany's trade surplus declined more than expected in July on weak exports and rising imports, exacerbating the possibility of economic contraction in the third quarter. Exports posted a monthly decline of 0.9 percent in July, in contrast to June's 0.2 percent increase, Destatis reported Monday. Nonetheless, the pace of decline was not as severe as economists' forecast of 1.5 percent decrease. On the other hand, imports grew 1.4 percent, reversing a 3.2 percent drop in June. The pace of growth also exceeded expectations of 0.5 percent rise. As a result, the trade surplus declined more-than-expected to a seasonally adjusted EUR 15.9 billion from EUR 18.7 billion in June. The expected level was EUR 18 billion. On a yearly basis, exports were down 0.9 percent, reversing last month's 1.7 percent increase. At the same time, the annual fall in imports deepened to 10.3 percent from 9.3 percent. With last week's drop in retail sales and today's disappointing export data, the third quarter for the German economy has started on a very weak footing, suggesting that the risk of sliding back into contraction remains high, ING economist Carsten Brzeski said. Exports of goods to the United States grew 5.2 percent on month and that to China increased 1.2 percent. By contrast, shipments to the United Kingdom dropped 3.5 percent. Data showed that imports from China decreased 5.8 percent, while that from the US grew 6.1 percent. Imports from the UK were down 3.2 percent. Goods exported to euro area countries climbed 1.7 percent in July and goods imported from these countries gained 5.6 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA (E) announced Monday that it has signed an agreement for the sale of its unit Nigerian Agip Oil Co Ltd or NAOC Ltd, to Oando PLC, a Nigerian energy solutions provider. The closing of the transaction is subject to, inter alia, the authorization of all relevant local and regulatory authorities. The company said the transaction is consistent with its 2023-2026 Plan. NAOC Ltd is present with interests in Nigeria across 4 onshore blocks, which it operates on behalf of NAOC JV, in the Okpai 1 and 2 power plants, and in two onshore exploration leases for which it also holds operatorship. Meanwhile, NAOC Ltd participating interest in Shell Production Development Co. Joint Venture or SPDC JV is not included in the perimeter of the transaction and will be retained in Eni's portfolio. SPDC JV's operator is Shell with 30% stake, while TotalEnergies holds 10%, NAOC 5%, and NNPC 55%. Following the deal closure with Oando PLC, Eni will maintain its presence in Nigeria through Nigerian Agip Exploration or NAE and Agip Energy and Natural Resources or AENR Nigeria LNG also will remain in Eni portfolio too. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News This conference will be accompanied by a set of field trips and workshops on the TIEMS TQC TM international certification platform and the emergency management/disaster risk management of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The conference will be hosted by the TIEMS South Africa Chapter and Rhodes University in collaboration with the University of Zilina, Slovakia; Institute for Disaster Management of the National University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary. South African professional organisations will also be supporting the conference, such as the North-West Umbrella Fire Protection Association. Kushaq Onyx Plus trim costs Rs. 80,000 less than Onyx and Slavia Ambition Plus costs Rs. 70,000 less than Ambition While offering more kit Skoda India has launched Onyx Plus trim with Kushaq SUV and Ambition Plus trim with Slavia sedan. Both trims with their vehicles, get enhanced design attributes along with exclusive exchange and corporate offers. These exciting offers are for limited time period and will uplift Indian buyers interest towards these Czech offerings during the festive season. Kushaq Onyx Plus And Slavia Ambition Plus Skoda and Volkswagen have fared well under their India 2.0 strategy. Slavia and Virtus sedan along with Kushaq and Taigun SUVs are part of this India 2.0 strategy. Skoda now identifies as a maker of Indias safest, highest-rated and crash-tested cars in India. Kushaq Onyx Plus gets a manual transmission only. While Slavia Ambition Plus gets both manual and automatic options. Kushaq Onyx Plus trim costs Rs. 11,59,000 (ex-sh). While Slavia Ambition Plus costs Rs. 12,49,000 for manual and Rs. 13,79,000 for automatic (both ex-sh). The most VFM trims? The pricing seems to be very attractive and competitive. We say this because Kushaq Onyx Plus 1.0L TSI MT costs Rs. 11.59 lakh, which is Rs. 80,000 less than Onyx Edition 1.0L TSI MT (prices ex-sh). It costs less while offering 16 Grus alloy wheels, window chrome garnish, grill garnish, trunk chrome garnish and more. Skoda is offering Kushaq Onyx Plus in two colours only Candy White and Carbon Steel. Slavia Ambition Plus starts from Rs. 12.49 lakh for 1.0L TSI MT combo. In essence, new Ambition Plus 1.0L TSI MT costs Rs. 70,000 less than Ambition 1.0L TSI MT. Just like Kushaq Only Plus, Slavia Ambition Plus gets added chrome on front grill, trunk and doors. Another standout feature of the new Slavia Ambition Plus trim is an all-new in-built dashcam unit. This is segment-first and a quality-of-life feature addition that will definitely be appreciated by prospective buyers. Specs & Features Both Skoda Slavia and Kushaq gets a 1.0L 3-cylinder TSI unit and a 1.5L 4-cylinder TSI engine option. The former makes 114 bhp and 178 Nm while the latter kicks out 148 bhp and 250 Nm of peak torque. Gearbox options include a 6-speed manual, a 6-speed automatic torque converter and a 7-speed DSG. The Czech brand is not offering these new Plus trims with the higher-spec 1.5L turbo petrol engine. Safety includes up to 6 airbags, TCS, ESC, ABS, 5-star crash safety tested by GNCAP and more. These new trims are limited time period only and are subject to change at Skodas discretion. At Rs. 11.59 lakh, Skoda Kushaq Onyx Plus trim offers alloy wheels that Onyx Edition lacks and still costs Rs. 80,000 less. This is a good proposition. Kushaq rivals newly launched Honda Elevate, Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, MG Astor, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota HyRyder and its cousin VW Taigun. In case of Slavia Ambition Plus, it is the first and only sedan of its class to feature a built-in dashcam. It goes against Hyundai Verna, Honda City and its platform partner Volkswagen Virtus. While Hero MotoCorp saw the highest sales in domestic markets, it was Bajaj Auto that led in terms of exports in August 2023 Two wheeler sales in August 2023 continued its growth in domestic markets in August 2023 both in terms of YoY and MoM basis, while exports ended in the red. Taking into account sales of the leading 6 two wheeler ORMs in India, Hero and Honda led the domestic sales charts while it was Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors that commanded the export list. Two Wheeler Domestic sales August 2023 In domestic markets, total sales of the leading 6 two wheeler makers stood at 14,94,024 units in August 2023. This was a 1.31 percent YoY growth over 14,74,665 units sold in August 2022 relating to a 19,359 unit volume increase. MoM sales also improved even more significantly by 23.92 percent from 12,05,662 units sold in July 2023 with volume growth at 2,88,362 units. Hero MotoCorp sold the highest number of two wheelers last month. Figures stood at 4,72,947 units, up 4.93 percent YoY from 4,50,740 units sold in August 2022 while MoM sales also improved by 27.41 percent from 3,71,204 units sold in July 2023. Market share improved from 30.79 percent held in July 2023 to 31.66 percent last month. Following close behind at No. 2 was Honda with 4,51,200 units sold in August 2023, up 6.61 percent YoY from 4,23,216 units sold in August 2022. The company currently commands a 30.20 percent market share up from 25.78 percent held in July 2023 when sales stood at 3,10,867 units, relating to a 45.14 percent MoM growth. TVS Motor sales also grew both YoY and MoM to 2,56,619 units in August 2023, up 7.23 percent YoY and 9.09 percent MoM. This was against 2,39,325 units and 2,35,230 units sold in August 2022 and July 2023 respectively. Market share however dipped to 17.18 percent from 19.51 percent MoM. Bajaj Auto posted a YoY de-growth in August 2023 down to 1,60,820 units from 2,33,838 units sold in August 2022. It was however, a MoM growth of 13.26 percent when compared to 1,42,990 units sold in July 2023. This list also included Suzuki (83,045 units) and Enfield (69,393 units) both of which have reported YoY and MoM growth. Two Wheeler Exports August 2023 Dismal performance was seen in export markets with the leading 6 two wheeler makers posting lackluster sales. Total exports stood at 2,70,343 units, down 0.35 percent YoY from 2,71,301 units exported in August 2022 while MoM exports slipped 5.49 percent over 2,86,058 units shipped in July 2023. Bajaj Auto saw the highest exports at 1,24,211 units in the past month, up 1.99 percent from 1,21,787 units sold in August 2023 while MoM sales dipped 2.08 percent from 1,26,850 units shipped in July 2023. Bajaj Auto currently commands a 45.95 percent share in export markets. TVS exports dipped both YoY and MoM to 75,491 units in August 2023. This was down 0.95 percent YoY from 76,214 units shipped in August 2023 and down 2.06 percent MoM from 77,077 units exported in July 2023. Honda two wheeler exports dipped significantly by 32.86 percent to 26,390 units in the past month from 39,307 units exported in August 2022. MoM exports also ended in the red down 3.84 percent from 27,443 units shipped in July 2023. Suzuki (20,291 units), Hero MotoCorp (15,770 units) and Enfield (8,190 units) each posted a YoY growth while Suzuki and Hero also saw a MoM decline in exports by 26.29 percent and 21.57 percent respectively. Enfield exports grew by 16.09 percent from 7,055 units shipped in July 2023. Total 2 Wheeler Sales August 2023 Increased domestic sales resulted in positive total sales of these 6 two wheeler makers in August 2023. Total sales stood at 17,64,367 units in August 2023, up 1.05 percent from 17,45,966 units sold in August 2022. MoM sales improved by 18.28 percent from 14,91,720 units sold in July 2023. It was Hero that led the sales list with 4,88,717 units sold last month, up 5.64 percent from 4,62,608 units sold in August 2022. MoM sales also grew by 24.89 percent over 3,91,310 units sold in July 2022. Honda sales improved by 3.26 percent YoY and even more significantly by 41.17 percent MoM to 4,77,590 units in August 2023. There were 4,62,523 units and 3,38,310 units sold in August 2022 and July 2023 respectively. TVS Motor posted a 5.25 percent YoY growth and 6.34 percent MoM growth to 3,32,110 units in the past month while Bajaj Autos total sales fell by 19.85 percent to 2,85,031 units on a YoY basis. Bajaj Sales however, improved by 6.02 percent MoM from 2,68,840 units sold in July 2023. There was also Suzuki (1,03,336 units) and Royal Enfield (77,583 units) total sales last month. Both saw increased YoY growth while Suzuki sales dipped on a MoM basis by 4.17 percent from 1,07,838 units sold in July 2023. The Lachin Corridor has been agreed as a link between Armenia and Artsakh and has no alternative, the Foreign Ministry. September 4, 2023, 15:21 Lachin Corridor has no alternative Armenian Foreign Ministry STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 4, ARTSAKHPRESS: The comments came in response to Azatutyun's request to say whether Baku demands the opening of the Aghdam supply route as a precondition to unblock the corridor, Panorama.am informs, citing RFE/RL's Armenian Service (Azatutyun) on Monday. The Foreign Ministry insisted on the reopening of the Lachin Corridor, adding the issue of an alternative supply line to Nagorno-Karabakh should be settled within the framework of an international mechanism for Baku-Stepanakert dialogue. The Lachin Corridor has been blocked by Azerbaijan for over eight months now. Home and Away spoilers follow for UK viewers. Home and Away's Mali Hudson and Rose Delaney will be presented with another relationship challenge next week, as Mali springs a surprise milestone on his girlfriend. The couple's relationship has been far from plain sailing so far, and in new scenes that will air on Channel 5 in the UK in the week commencing September 11, the pair will experience another potential setback thanks to a rogue photo. The new twist begins when Mali checks his social media, only to discover that his mum, Vicky, has spotted a photo of him with Rose on there. Channel 5 Related: Home and Away's Theo to suffer humiliating setback This is an awkward moment for Mali, as he hasn't had a chance to tell his mum about his romance with Rose just yet. He later receives a follow-up text from his sister, Elandra, which confirms that their mum is keen to know more about who the mystery woman in the photo is. It seems that Vicky might be about to find out, as Mali later invites Rose to come and meet his mum the next day. How will Rose feel about Mali arranging the big meeting without any notice? Channel 5 Related: Home and Away's Kirby shares past trauma The couple are currently facing another issue on UK screens, after they arrived at Mali's house to enjoy a romantic meal together to find the place trashed, with a sinister message scrawled across the tablecloth. This week, Rose will spring into work mode as she tries to get to the bottom of the incident, which leaves Mali upset when Rose decides to officially question him as part of her investigation. This follows Rose's upset over Mali's less-than-romantic declaration of love prior to their planned dinner - will the couple ever be able to catch a break when it comes to their relationship? Mali will face another setback next week, too, as he has a falling-out with Rose's brother, Xander Delaney, over his surf business. Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6.30pm on 5STAR and the show also streams on My5. Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK. Read more Home and Away spoilers on our dedicated homepage You Might Also Like Barrio Logan plays host to a lot, like Chicano Park and its sprawling mural underneath the eastern side of the Coronado Bridge, coffee shops with walls decked out in sugar skulls, and several pockets of local craft breweries. For Ernie Becerra, this industrial area with Mexican roots is where he lays his head each night and where he owns and operates Salud Tacos and Corazon Del Barrio.Its also the site of his newest concept La Bamba Room, a Mexican-Japanese-inspired restaurant and listening bar opening September 1.La Bamba boasts 2,000-square-foot, vintage lighting and orange crushed velvet swivel chairs from Becerras grandmothers home, a menu banking on the south-of-the-border classics that defined his childhood, and custom speakers whispering jazzy, soulful, sometimes reggae sweet nothings. Owner Ernie Becerra I was a bank manager, but I couldnt stomach working for someone else anymore, so I took a shot in the dark and followed my dreams of owning my own business, Becerra says as he recounts life pre-restauranturhood. Barrio Logan is where my family settled after the Mexican Revolution. This area has a lot of cultural intricacies, which is why I wanted to open businesses here. I knew I wanted La Bamba Room to center around music, but I didnt know how until I took a trip to Japan and visited their listening bars. I saw they were using a bunch of hi-fi speakers and thought about how my dad and uncles had the same equipment lying around the house.La Bamba Room, whose namesake is partially inspired by a 1987 musical drama, will mostly play vinyl with assistance from a custom-made jukebox and a DJ booth made from salvaged pieces from grandmas home bar. View this post on Instagram A post shared by La Bamba Room (@labambaroom) Chef Lety Gonzalez is in the kitchen with Mexico and nostalgia on her mind. She, too, is a San Diego native and is tasked with drumming up a menu (roughly 14 to 15 items) that reimagines the salty, spicy, citrus-forward flavors that define this region and Ernies formative years. The menu is inspired by Ernies childhood, Gonzalez says. The menu is interactive. Everything were making is from scratch and uses ingredients we grew up with. We wanted to focus on small plates that are elevated but approachable. Itll still be close to our hearts.Japans influence on La Bamba Room isnt limited to musicality; it also bleeds into the food and beverage programs. But chef Gonzalez wants to be clear: La Bamba is not fusion, but a Mexican restaurant with threads and pops of Japanese flavors carried throughout. Think Mexican-style yakitori with blistered jalapeno, habanero onion marmalade, chorizo Japanese milk bread, short ribs, pork belly, and other proteins that will mimic a proper carne asada.Tony Roehr will double as bar manager and head beverage curator. He is focused on birthing a menu of cocktail classics executed the traditional way, like old fashioned with the crystalized bits of muddled sugar cubes resting at the bottom of the glass.The bar program will focus on highlighting Mexican ingredients, and ingredients that typically hide in the background, Roehr says. We want people to be able to look at the menu, order anything they want, and know their cocktail will be executed correctly. He says to expect cocktails with corn, fresh fruit from Baja, beverages with a bit of whimsy, like a Japanese old-fashioned with peanut butter and banana liqueur, an ode to Ernie and his minor obsession with Elvis.I put together a great team kind of by accident, Becerra says. It feels like it was meant to be. We are misfits, and we came together and are doing something really special here. Qantass reputation has been hit hard on several fronts, the national carrier has conceded. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty Qantass reputation has been hit hard on several fronts, but the national carrier has vowed to repair it. In a statement on Monday, Qantas pledged to regain Australias trust after a nightmare week plagued by the consumer watchdogs allegations that the airline had sold tickets for ghost flights, a grilling by senators over competitors flights, backlash over bonuses, and a blowout in Covid refunds. The Australian Consumer and Consumption Commission launched action in the Federal Court on Thursday, alleging the national carrier had engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by selling sale tickets for more than 8000 already-cancelled flights between May and July last year. The ACCC is seeking to penalise the airline by more than $250m. The ACCC alleges Qantas sold tickets for more than 8000 already-cancelled flights. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty In a statement on Monday, a Qantas spokesperson conceded the airlines service standards had fell short. The spokesperson said the airline was aware that the ACCC allegations especially had caused significant concern among our customers, but the allegations were being taken seriously. The ACCCs allegations come at a time when Qantass reputation has already been hit hard on several fronts, the spokesperson said. We want the community to know that we hear and understand their disappointment. We know it will take time to repair. And we are absolutely determined to do that. The spokesperson said the period of time that the consumer watchdogs claims relate to mid-2022 was one of well-publicised upheaval and uncertainty across the aviation industry. Qantas also denied suggestions it had engaged in charging a fee for no service and said it would address the allegations in full without cutting across the legal process. Our longstanding practice is that when a flight is cancelled, customers are offered an alternative flight as close as possible to their original departure time or a refund, the spokesperson said. In launching its action, the ACCC alleged Qantas kept selling tickets on its website for an average of more than two weeks sometimes up to 47 days after the flights had been cancelled. Story continues It also alleges that for more than 10,000 flights scheduled to depart over the three months, Qantas did not notify existing ticketholders that their flights had been cancelled for an average of 18 days but in some cases up to 48 days. The ACCC alleges that for about 70 per cent of cancelled flights, Qantas either continued to sell tickets for the flight on its website for two days or more or delayed informing existing ticketholders that their flight was cancelled for two days or more or both, the ACCC said last week. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce fronted a senate hearing last week. Picture NCA NewsWire / Aaron Francis Earlier last week, a parliamentary hearing on Monday revealed Qantas owed $100m more in Covid flight refunds than was previously thought forcing the airline to back down on its December 2023 expiry plans. It was also revealed Qantas had voiced its concern to the government about Qatar Airways pitch to double its flights to Australias east coast a move that was welcomed by industry but eventually blocked by Labor. Qantas bad week was topped off on Friday when it was revealed chief executive Alan Joyce was granted $10.8m in shares for bonuses deferred during the pandemic all the while Qantas maintained it had no obligation to pay back the $2.7bn in government payments it received during Covid-19. Last month, Qantas recorded a $2.47bn profit for the 2022-23 financial year. Mr Joyce is stepping down as chief executive in November, but after arguably one of the worst weeks in the airlines history, there are calls for him to leave his post earlier. A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features IC 1776, a barred spiral galaxy that hosted a supernova explosion about eight years ago. IC 1776 is located roughly 150 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Pisces. Otherwise known as IRAS F02026+0552, LEDA 7952 or UGC 1579, this galaxy was discovered by the French astronomer Stephane Javelle on December 21, 1903. IC 1776 is irregularly-shaped and its spiral arms are difficult to distinguish, Hubble astronomers said. The edges are faint and the core has a pale yellow glow. It is dotted with small, wispy, blue regions where stars are forming. A few stars and small galaxies in warm colors are visible around it. In 2015, an intermediate-luminosity Type Ib supernova event called SN 2015ap was observed in IC 1776. SN 2015ap was discovered in 2015 by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search, a robotic telescope which scours the night sky in search of transient phenomena such as supernovae, the astronomers explained. A network of automatic robotic telescopes are spread across the globe, operated by both professional and amateur astronomers, and, without human intervention, reveal short-lived astronomical phenomena such as wandering asteroids, gravitational microlensing, or supernovae. Hubble investigated the aftermath of SN 2015ap during two different observing programs, both designed to comb through the debris left by supernovae explosions in order to better understand these energetic events, they added. A variety of telescopes automatically follow up the detection of supernovae to obtain early measurements of these events brightnesses and spectra. Complementing these measurements with later observations which reveal the lingering energy of supernovae can shed light on the systems which gave rise to these cosmic cataclysms in the first place. The governments decision to bar more international flights from one airline into Australia has meant that everyone is paying more for travel according to the chief of the nations largest travel agency.. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw Australias biggest travel agent has blamed a government decision to block more flights into Australia for the cost of air travel. Flight Centre has launched an advertising campaign against the Commonwealths move to block Qatar Airways from adding more flights into Australia. The federal government said its decision to block the airline from adding 21 weekly flights into Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane was in the national interest as the new flights may threaten Qantas viability. According to the government, reduced airfares could impact Australias national carrier in the medium to long term. Flight Centre has begun an advertising campaign to pressure the Australian government into letting the Qatar Airways planes fly Flight Centres Graham Turner is the latest high profile businessman to come out against the governments decision. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled This financial year, Qantas posted its first profitable result since FY2019, reporting a record-breaking $2.47bn in underlying profit. Flight Centre boss Graham Turner said it was pretty obvious Australian airlines dont have the capacity to meet demand, leading to expensive airfares for everyday Aussies and tourists coming into the country. We think the capacity is at about 75 per cent internationally and obviously the demand is enormous and airfares are too expensive, he told Weekend Today. A lot of people cant afford those sorts of airfare prices. There are some good specials around but on average they are about 40 or 50 per cent more expensive than pre-Covid and this is important to Australia. The travel agent has begun rolling out advertisements urging the government to let the Qatar flights in. This decision just doesnt stack up, theres no logic to it, Graham said. The consumer watchdog has also weight in on the debate, with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) head Gina Cass-Gottlieb saying she would have welcomed Qatars expansion and that it would have reduced prices. Ms Cass-Gottlieb told ABC radio it was difficult to pin down exactly how much airfares would have gone down, but referred to Virgin Australias estimate of a 40 per cent cut. The ACCC announced last week that it would pursue Qantas in court over ghost flights it allegedly sold to customers when it had already cancelled them in its system. Story continues Qantas has landed in hot water over its business practices after posting a record profit amid sky-high ticket prices. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw The consumer watchdog alleges that Qantas kept selling tickets for more than 8000 flights set to depart between May and July 2022, with the airline advertising seats for an average of more than two weeks despite knowing it had cancelled them. The ACCC has conducted a detailed investigation into Qantas flight cancellation practices. As a result, we have commenced these proceedings alleging that Qantas continued selling tickets for thousands of cancelled flights, likely affecting the travel plans of tens of thousands of people, Ms Cass-Gottlieb said. We allege that Qantas conduct in continuing to sell tickets to cancelled flights, and not updating ticketholders about cancelled flights, left customers with less time to make alternative arrangements and may have led to them paying higher prices to fly at a particular time not knowing that flight had already been cancelled. ALGOMA, Wis. Shipwreck hunters discovered the intact remains of a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 and is so well-preserved it still contains the crew's possessions in its final resting spot miles from Wisconsin's coastline. Wisconsin maritime historians Brendon Baillod and Robert Jaeck found the 156-year-old Trinidad in July off Algoma at a depth of about 270 feet. They used side-scan sonar to hone in on its location based on survivor accounts in historical records. "The wreck is among the best-preserved shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters with her deck-house still intact, containing the crew's possessions and her anchors and deck gear still present," according to a recent news release. The 140-foot-long schooner was built at Grand Island, New York, in 1867 by shipwright William Keefe, and was used primarily in the grain trade between Milwaukee, Chicago and Oswego, New York. It was carrying a load of coal bound for Milwaukee when early on May 13, 1881, it developed a catastrophic leak after passing through the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. It sank about 10 miles off the coast of Algoma, "taking all the crew's possessions and the captain's pet Newfoundland dog with her," the news release states. Captain John Higgins and his crew of eight survived and reached Algoma, about 120 miles north of Milwaukee, after rowing for eight hours in the ship's yawl boat. Higgins believed the Trinidad's hull was damaged a few days before the sinking as it passed through ice fields in the Straits of Mackinac. After discovering the Trinidad in July, Baillod and Jaeck reported their finding to an underwater archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society who arranged for the site to be surveyed with an underwater vehicle that verified the vessel's identity and documented historic artifacts, according to the news release. A three-dimensional model of the ship has been created to allow people to explore the site virtually. Baillod and Jaeck plan to work with the Wisconsin Historical Society to nominate the site to the National Register of Historic Places. Today is Labor Day in the United States and Canada, and to celebrate the holiday, Google has a Doodle. The Doodle shows laborers, including chefs, farmers, painters, doctors, construction workers, firefighters, and others working. The Doodle is in the form of a Google logo, like most Google Doodles - as you can see from the image above. Google wrote: Todays Doodle honors employees in the United States and Canada and those who fought and those that continue to advocate for better working conditions. In early September of 1882, the first commemoration of Labor Day took place in the form of a sprawling parade in New York City. In the 19th century, trade and labor unions rallied and organized strikes to push for employment standards that often get overlooked today: 40-hour work weeks, paid time off, safety, and sick leave. Union leaders began advocating for a holiday that appreciates working people and the difference they make in the world. The Central Labor Union adopted a proposal for the celebration and began organizing the first NYC parade. Oregon became the first to declare it a legal holiday in 1887. Several followed suit by the end of the year, but it wouldnt become a federal holiday in the U.S. and Canada until 1894. Happy Labor Day to all past, present, and future labor leaders and workers! Again, this is just live in the US and Canada. As a reminder, Google use to post small American flags but nothing more on Labor Day. Even dating back to 2004 and 2005, Google didn't post a Labor Day logo. But that stopped in 2016 with their first Labor Day logo and has since had a Doodle every year. I will try to keep it light today but most of you want me to post stories, so I will. Forum discussion at Twitter. JP Morgan has cut its stance on real estate giant British Land from 'overweight' to 'neutral' and cut its target price for the shares from 505p to 410p. "Our new base case for British Land includes City values falling 20% this year," JP Morgan said in a research note on Monday. "This puts our FY24 net asset value forecast 6% below consensus and sets our new price target of 410p." The bank pointed out that while its new, lowered target price still implies around 25% upside to current prices, though is still less than lower-levered, West End office-focused developers like Derwent London and Great Portland Estates both of which it rates as 'overweight'. "Crucially though, sentiment and the value outlook for the City is weak, with British Lands exposure here standing out (versus closest peer Land Securities), as does [a loan-to-value] at 36%," JP Morgan said, compared with 31.7% at Land Securities. The bank predicts that British Land will miss net asset value (NAV) forecasts at its results for the first half ending 30 September on 13 November. And if the recent weakness in UK values seen in the company's fiscal first quarter continues to the end of its financial year (end-March 2024), then full-year NAV might miss current consensus estimates by 9%. "Valuation isnt stretched but catalysts for a stock-specific re-rating look hard ahead of a turnaround in City offices." British Land's stock was more or less flat at 314.5p on Monday morning. German exports fell by 0.9% on a monthly basis from an upwardly-revised 0.2% rise in June, according to official statistics published on Monday. Imports rose by 1.4%, after a sharp downwardly-revised 3.2% in June. Exports to other EU economies rose month on month by 0.5%, while exports to non-EU economies fell 2.5%, despite another increase in exports to the US and China, largely due to a 3.5% slump in trade to the UK. Imports from China plunged 5.8%, and those to the UK. fell by 3.2%, but imports from the US picked up 6.1% to 7.9bn. Imports from the UK dropped by 3.2% to 3bn. Exports to Russia were up on the month but remain just over 30% below their level in July last year. Imports from Russia fell sharply by 15.7% on the month, and are down 91.8% from their level last July. These figures reflect the impact of EU sanctions on Russia after its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. "Given the change in export and import prices in July, we calculate that the inflation-adjusted trade surplus in goods also narrowed sharply at the start of Q3, to 14.7bn from around 17.0bn in June, and an average of 16.4bn over Q2 as a whole," said economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "As such, the goods trade data for July suggest that the fall in real net trade in Q3what matters for GDPwill be in line or perhaps even bigger than that seen in Q2. If growth in China remains subdued, this seems likely; even more so if tense trade relations between Germany and China sour further." "The business surveys, which show a continued plunge in new export orders both in goods and services in July and August, also suggest net trade may pull GDP down again in Q3. That said, it's still early days, and net trade in services is a wildcard." Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com About 7,000 businesses are likely to fail every quarter in 2024 as high interest rates cause financial strain and the UK economy enters recession, according to a thinktank. The Centre for Economics and Business Research said debt taken on during the pandemic, higher borrowing costs and the cost of living crisis would drive an increasing number of businesses under, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors. Guardian Officials are scrambling to secure extra electricity capacity for the likely home of Britains new sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) lab, amid fears the overloaded grid could undermine Rishi Sunaks ambitions for the technology. The Prime Minister is understood to have become personally interested in efforts to secure extra grid capacity for a supercomputing lab in Bristol, which is the leading contender for a taxpayer-funded 100m AI Research Resource. Telegraph Drivers had to stomach one of the largest monthly fuel price rises in more than two decades in August, new data shows. The average price of petrol jumped up by 6.68p a litre last month to 145.57p, adding nearly 4 to the cost of a tank. Diesel shot up by 8p to 154.37p on average, adding nearly 4.50 to the cost of filling up. The increase for petrol was the fifth biggest monthly jump in 23 years, according to the RAC, while the rise in diesel was the sixth biggest monthly rise. Telegraph The boss of one of Britains biggest fund managers has called for a doubling of minimum pension contributions from 8 per cent of pay to 16 per cent in what would amount to a huge change to the retirement saving rules. Stephen Bird, the chief executive of Abrdn, said millions of people were heading for an inadequate income in retirement because the present minimum 3 per cent contribution from employers and 5 per cent from employees was not nearly enough. The Times Millions of low-paid British workers should be given extra legal protections to boost their wages and job security, according to a leading think tank. The Resolution Foundation wants good work agreements between private sector companies and employees in industries that suffer from low pay and poor working conditions. The Times Londons FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,481.74 in afternoon trade on Monday. Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain was the standout gainer on the index on the back of a research note by Jefferies. The bank cut its price target on the shares but said: "Despite few shorter-term trading catalysts, we argue a low valuation, scrutiny around capital allocation and ongoing MGM speculation will underpin Entain's shares." Jefferies kept its rating at buy. Miner Glencore was also in the black as investors welcomed Chinese stimulus measures. On the downside, specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey fell, having surged on Friday after Standard Industries nearly doubled its shareholding in the group to over 10%. FTSE 100 - Risers Entain (ENT) 1,184.50p 2.69% Pearson (PSON) 857.20p 2.07% Ocado Group (OCDO) 889.40p 2.04% Glencore (GLEN) 435.80p 2.03% Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,220.00p 1.74% Rightmove (RMV) 568.00p 1.61% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,202.00p 1.40% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 161.50p 1.35% Compass Group (CPG) 2,017.00p 1.23% Experian (EXPN) 2,800.00p 1.16% FTSE 100 - Fallers Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,755.50p -1.95% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,393.00p -1.52% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,599.00p -1.30% Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 997.00p -1.19% Fresnillo (FRES) 563.80p -0.95% Standard Chartered (STAN) 713.80p -0.81% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 569.40p -0.77% Beazley (BEZ) 547.50p -0.73% Vodafone Group (VOD) 73.12p -0.65% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 4,524.00p -0.57% Honda starts deliveries of Elevate SUV. How to book one? Honda Cars has started to deliver the Elevate SUV to the customers from today. The carmaker has not revealed details on the number of bookings it has received. However, it said that the bookings have been encouraging. The booking for Elevate SUV was opened in July. One can book the SUV through Honda's official website for a token amount of 5,000. Interested customers can also visit the nearest Honda showroom to book the Elevate SUV at 21,000. Honda launches Elevate SUV: Check price and variants Honda Cars has announced the price of the Elevate SUV. The new compact SUV price will start from 11 lakh (ex-showroom). The price of the top-end variant will be 16 lakh (ex-showroom). The SUV is available in four variants. All four will be available with a 6-speed manual gearbox while the top three variants will also get the choice of a 7-speed CVT transmission unit. The ZX variant with CVT gearbox will cost 16 lakh (ex-showroom). Honda has launched Elevate SUV at a starting price of 11 lakh. Honda Elevate SUV: Space and comfort features explained The interior of the Elevate SUV is quite spacious and can seat five adults inside. While it does not offer modern features like ventilated seats, panoramic sunroof or ambient lighting, the cabin is roomy enough. There is a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system which is compatible with wireless smartphone connectivity. There is also a 7-inch HD colour TFT driver display. One also gets other features like automatic climate control among others. Also check these Cars Find more Cars Honda Elevate 11 - 16 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers Explore your Vehicle Check vehicle details Check Insurance & PUCC due date Mahindra Bolero 9.78 - 10.79 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers MG Astor 9.78 - 17.38 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers UPCOMING Nissan Juke 10 - 15 Lakhs* *Expected Price View Details Kia Carens 8.99 - 16.99 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers Citroen C3 Aircross 9.99 - 12.34 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers How safe is Honda Elevate SUV? Honda Cars promises that Elevate SUV will not compromise on safety front. The Japanese carmaker has packed in a lot of safety features in the SUV. To start with, it will offer six airbags and ISOFIX for child seats for the safety of occupants. Besides these, the Elevate SUV will also offer features like Hill Hold Assist and rear parking camera. Though the Elevate has not been sent to any safety crash tests, it is likely that the Honda SUV will score highly if and when it is put to test. Honda Elevate SUV stands tall with highest ground clearance In terms of design, the Elevate SUV comes with a boxy front profile. It has a large black radiator grille, LED headlights, integrated LED DRLs, LED taillights, black fog lamp housing and large wheel arches housing sporty 17-inch alloy wheels. The character lines at the sides, along with the black claddings, increase its visual appeal. The SUV also gets a massive 220 mm of ground clearance, which is the highest in the segment. Honda Elevate SUV to get only one engine choice Under the hood, the Elevate SUV will come with a 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC petrol engine, the same unit that also powers the Honda City sedan. The engine is capable of generating 119 bhp of maximum power and 145.1 Nm of peak torque. The engine will come mated to either a six-speed manual gearbox and an advanced CVT gearbox. Honda says that the Elevate SUV has a mileage of 15.31 kmpl in manual variants while the CVT versions will offer 16.92 kmpl of mileage. Honda Elevate SUV: Which colour to pick? Honda Elevate SUV will be launched with seven single exterior colour options. These include Platinum White Pearl, Lunar Silver Metallic, Obsidian Blue Pearl, Radiant Red Metallic, Golden Brown Metallic, Meteoroid Gray Metallic and Phoenix Orange Pearl. There will also be three dual-tone options available on the top-end variants - Phoenix Orange Pearl with Crystal Black Pearl Roof, Platinum White Pearl with Crystal Black Pearl Roof and Radiant Red Metallic with Crystal Black Pearl Roof. Honda Elevate SUV has its task cut out against formidable rivals The compact SUV segment has become fiercely competitive with new models being introduced every year. SUVs have taken over from the small cars in India as the new backbone of the auto industry with sales growing in leaps and bounds in recent years. Little wonder that Honda has finally made its foray into the compact SUV segment, abeit a bit late than most others. The Elevate will have to fight the dominance of the Korean carmakers in the segment. Hyundai Creta remains the top choice in the segment since its launch. Kia Seltos, in its new avatar, promises to renew rivalry with Creta. The rise of Maruti Suzuki in the SUV segment with Grand Vitara has intensified competition in the segment. However, before these three, Honda Elevate will have to beat the others in the segment including the likes of Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun and Toyota Urban Cruiser HyRyder SUVs. Elevate is Honda's 'India first' SUV Honda Cars has said that the Elevate SUV has been designed and developed with the Indian market in mind. The carmaker showcased the Elevate for the first time on June 6 this year. It was also the first time that Elevate was shown to the world. The Elevate SUV will launch in India first, and then across other global markets, making it a India-first model. Elevate shows the importance Honda associates with the Indian market. Honda has slipped in terms of sales among the big carmakers in India. The Elevate is expected to give it enough push to revive its fortunes in the country. Watch: Honda Elevate SUV first drive review - Can it take on the might of the Koreans? Pranav Devatha, a third-year BBA student at RV University in Bengaluru, has just demonstrated what a liberal education can achieve for students. His film "Death by Grades" just screened at the Global Lift-Off Film Festival and will soon be seen in Berlin, Manchester, Tokyo, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Paris, and London. The issues that a student has when preparing for competitive exams in India are the main subject of the book "Death by Grades." It informs parents and kids of the value of putting more emphasis on mental health than just academic achievement. The fulcrum of liberal education is to create platforms and opportunities for students to freely express their ambitions, inhibitions, fears and talents, without being judged, Prof Subhashree Natarajan, dean, School of Business and School of Economics, RV University. The program structure at RV University is inclusive to cater to the interests and aspirations of students. We are impressed with what our interdisciplinary learning can lead to. Despite being a business student, Devatha was mentored by Piyush Roy, dean of the School of Film, Media and Creative Arts, when he expressed his plans for the short movie. Roy, an Indian National Film award-winning critic-columnist, organized workshops and arranged master classes on movie making and opened an opportunity to showcase Devathas film at the Teen Indie Film Awards (TIFA). TIFA is the only platform for school and college students to showcase their creativity and ideation and celebrate excellence in film production. In a momentous announcement, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has announced the award of more than 2,000 scholarships to deserving students for the forthcoming academic year 2024-25. This transformative initiative is geared towards providing outstanding young talent with equal opportunities to access high-quality education. The decision to award more than 2000+ scholarships for the incoming batch of 2024-25 is to commemorate the special occasion of the 15th anniversary of JGU to be celebrated in 2024. This will empower more than 60% of the new students admitted in 2024 to receive these scholarships to study at JGU. JGU has long championed the values of pluralism, diversity, and inclusivity. While making this historic announcement, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, iterated that We are most delighted to announce this transformative initiative to award over 2000+ scholarships to our incoming students in 2024. JGU believes education to be a beacon of opportunity for all, regardless of their family background or economic standing. Our founding Chancellor and benefactor, Mr. Naveen Jindal has always recognised the importance of access to education for deserving students, regardless of their financial circumstances. The most tangible expression of this commitment is our generous scholarship programme. During the last 14 years, JGU has awarded over Rs 250 crores in scholarships and almost half of the students studying at JGU have been recipients of these scholarships. It has been a life-changing experience for our students as they got access to a world-class education, which they may not have been able to afford. Professor Raj Kumar, who was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and received full scholarships to study at Harvard University and Oxford University in the late 90's, explained the importance of instituting substantial scholarships at JGU this year by emphasising that these are not just financial aids; they are transformative opportunities. They open doors to world-class higher education for individuals who might otherwise have been denied access due to financial constraints. He further added that, Our commitment to providing scholarships is not just a policy; it's a reflection of our deep-seated belief that education is a powerful tool for social change. Embracing a comprehensive array of disciplines across 12 schools, including Law, Business, International Affairs, Public Policy, Liberal Arts, Media Studies, Architecture, Banking & Finance, Environment & Sustainability, Psychology & Counselling, Languages & Literature, Public Health & Human Development, and two specialised research institutes focusing on behavioural sciences and education, JGU is dedicated to shattering conventional educational boundaries and nurturing interdisciplinary learning. With over 30 undergraduate programmes and more than 15 postgraduate programmes, JGU's academic offerings are firmly grounded in interdisciplinary innovation, enabling students to seamlessly transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries in their pursuit of knowledge. Professor Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar, JGU observed, The award of over 2000+ scholarships in 2024 will enable JGU to place the student experience at its core, which is further fuelled by dynamic academia-industry interface and partnerships with national and international institutions. With over 1,100 full-time faculty members from 51 countries in the world, JGU provides a world-class education. For students aspiring for international exposure, JGU offers a wide range of student mobility programmes in collaboration with 400+ international higher education institutions in over 70 countries. Professor (Dr.) Upasana Mahanta, Dean (Admissions and Outreach), JGU stated, JGUs announcement of over 2000+ scholarships in 2024 will pave way for the democratisation of higher education with strong emphasis on access, diversity and inclusion. Our scholarships are not just about supporting students; they are about fostering a diverse and inclusive learning environment. We firmly believe that this diversity is a source of strength, innovation, and progress. If you have a strong desire and passion to be a changemaker in society, JGU provides the ideal platform for you to acquire and enhance the necessary skills for your journey, with financial constraints not being a hindrance. With this announcement of scholarships for 2,000 students, JGU continues to ensure that these invaluable resources are accessible to exceptionally talented individuals, thereby enriching its academic community and fostering global excellence. The scholarships are to be awarded on merit-cum-means, following a transparent and holistic admissions process. The eligibility criteria include annual family income, last qualifying examination score, JSAT (Jindal Scholastic Aptitude Test) or any other relevant standardised examination results and faculty interview score (where applicable). Professor Anand Prakash Mishra, Director of Law Admissions (JGLS) observed, "The 2000+ scholarships that will be awarded to our students in 2024 will be a giant step in the landscape of higher education and legal education in India. In all academic programmes of Jindal Global Law School, LSAT--India 2024 Test score will remain the most important criterion to award scholarships. Every law aspirant in the country must take the LSAT--India 2024 Test as this Test is critical not only for admission to JGLS but also for scholarships." Vikram Singh Tomar, Director of Admissions (JGBS & JSBF) observed, All schools of JGU offer scholarships to students. Todays announcement of the award of over 2000+ scholarships to students across India and beyond will enable many outstanding students to dream and aspire to study at JGU and will empower them to make JGU as their preferred choice of study in 2024. The Telangana government's efforts to expand Information Technology to Tier II towns gathered further momentum, with the IT Hub almost ready for the inauguration at Nalgonda. Minister for Information Technology K. T. Rama Rao stated that the IT Hub at Nalgonda will be inaugurated in a few weeks. Telangana Govts efforts to develop IT sector in Tier 2 towns is going on at a brisk pace After Warangal, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Siddipet and Nizamabad now its Nalgonda, he shared on X. Nalgonda is about 200 km from Hyderabad, a key global IT destination. Construction of the IT Hub was taken up at Nalgonda at a cost of Rs 95 crore. A total of 14 IT companies have expressed their intent to establish offices in the Nalgonda IT hub. A job mela, themed local placements for local youth, was held in the town on September 1. Over 12,000 individuals took part in the job fair for 325 job vacancies. The respective companies conducted online assessments for eligible job seekers who had applied. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah released the brochure of the prestigious Bengaluru Tech Summit and interacted with the industrialists here. Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, Minister for IT and BT, RDPR Priyank Kharge, IT Sector Vision Group President and Co-founder and Executive Vice-Chairman Infosys, Kris Gopalakrishnan, BT Sector Vision Group President and Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and other dignitaries were present. Priyank Kharge, the Minister for Rural Development, and Panchayat Raj, IT and BT, had announced that the 26th edition of the Summit is set to surpass all expectations with an unparalleled scale and an unprecedented level of global participation. "This summit is an extraordinary event that will redefine the boundaries of technology and innovation is scheduled to take place at the Bangalore Palace from Nov 29 to December 1," he had stated. Over 200 global technology leaders take the stage to share their invaluable insights at BTS 2023. GIA Partner Countries to host 16 engaging sessions and witness representations from Australia, France, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. This year's India-US Tech Conclave's 3rd Edition will focus on the advancements in emerging technologies, particularly in IT and health tech, the official release had stated. Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, Government of Karnataka and Software Technology Parks of India, the organisers are likely to make an important announcement in Bengaluru. IT industrys apex body, Nasscom, announced the appointment of Rajesh Nambiar, Chairman and Managing Director, Cognizant India, as its Chairperson. Nambiar takes on the new role from his previous role as Vice Chairperson, succeeding Anant Maheshwari, ex-President of Microsoft India and now President and CEO of Honeywells High Growth Region portfolio. As enterprises accelerate their journey towards digitalization, they will evolve into adaptive entities capable of absorbing volatility and building sustainable growth models with diversity and inclusion as a cornerstone, said Nambiar. I am humbled to support the Nasscom Executive Council as its Chairperson and look forward to working with all its stakeholders to continue to strengthen Indias leadership as the most trusted tech partner for the world, he added. Nambiar, along with President Debjani Ghosh, will continue to work with the Nasscom Executive Council, industry, and the government in strengthening India's position as a global technology hub while navigating the current volatile macro environment. We are living in an exciting era of digital revolution where technology has the potential to transform business, countries, and societies in a manner previously unimaginable, said Ghosh. I am excited to continue working with Nambiar in achieving a shared vision of Indias Techade, she added. Earlier in his career, Nambiar served as the global leader of IBM Application Services, where he was responsible for an $8 billion P&L that included data, AI, and analytics, oversaw the building of technology practices offering a range of applications, and managed profitable delivery for thousands of clients. The voice behind the Indian Space and Research Organization's rocket countdown launches, including Chandrayaan-3, which ended up being her final launch, ISRO scientist N Valarmathi, passed suddenly on Saturday night in Chennai after suffering a heart attack. Former ISRO director Dr. PV Venkitakrishnan expressed his condolences for her passing on X (previously Twitter) and claimed that Chadrayaan-3 was her last countdown announcement. The voice of Valarmathi Madam will not be there for the countdowns of future missions of ISRO from Sriharikotta. Chandrayan 3 was her final countdown announcement. An unexpected demise. Feel so sad. Pranams!" Dr Venkitakrishnan wrote on X. Many social media users paid tribute to the late ISRO scientist. Very, very sad to hear this. We worked closely with her for our Vikram-S launch last year, for which she was the voice for the launch countdown," a user wrote on X. Another user said, Jai hind ....she will be remembered as her countdown finally ended and gave us shivshakti point at the moon." I noticed her absence during the #AdityaL1 launch. I thought she might be out of the office or something. But I didn't expect this sad news. I'll really miss her. Om Shanti," the third user wrote. India became the first country to land on the south pole of the moon in August as Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar surface. It is also the fourth country after the US, China, and Russia to have successfully landed on the moons surface. Chandrayaan-3 mission has three components- The propulsion module, which transferred the lander and the rover module to 100 kilometres of lunar orbit, the Lander module, which was responsible for the soft landing of the lunar craft and the Rover module, which is for exploring components on the moon. In a promising declaration, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has assured that India will be in the league of developed nations by 2047. Underlining India's remarkable journey towards progress, the Prime Minister asserted that the prevailing societal afflictions, including corruption, casteism, and communalism, will find no place within our nation's collective conscience. In a much-anticipated interview, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking to the news agency, asserted that India would be a developed country by 2047 and would secure the top spot in terms of the world's leading economies. Prime Minister Modi stated, "India will be a developed nation by 2047," and assured that social evils like "corruption, casteism as well communalism will have no place in our national life." During his speech on the occasion of Independence Day this year, the Prime Minister said that by 2047, when India will be celebrating 100 years of independence, it will be a developed nation. "In 2047, when the country will be celebrating 100 years of Independence, India will be a developed country", the Prime Minister noted during his speech from the Red Fort. On the occasion of Independence Day, he highlighted that with available resources and the power of youth, it is a golden opportunity for the country to realize its dream of becoming a developed nation by 2047. Underlining India's economic development, PM Modi said, "India will be in the top three economies of the world in the near future."The Prime Minister highlighted that the country has a record of jumping five spots in less than a decade. India is currently the fifth largest economy in the world, surpassing its former colonizer, the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister, during his Independence Day speech, highlighted that when he took over the chair in 2014, India ranked 10th in terms of economic might, and gradually, it has risen to the fifth spot. Then, he thanked the anti-corruption efforts and promised that with a robust economy, the country would rise to be among the top three. The interview comes just a few days ahead of the G20 summit going to be held in New Delhi from September 8 to September 10. This interaction with happens to be Prime Minister Modi's first interview in the last four years. He has addressed major issues during the interaction, from global terrorism and cyber attacks to India's rising stature in the world. Honda Elevate SUV has been officially launched in India at a starting price of 11 lakh (ex-showroom). The Japanese auto giant made its foray into the compact SUV segment with the Elevate to take on rivals like Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Kia Seltos among others. The Elevate SUV is available in four variants - SV, V, VX and ZX. The price of the top-end version is 16 lakh (ex-showroom). The booking for the Elevate has been open since July. The carmaker will start the deliveries to customers from today. Honda pins its hopes on the Elevate to break its SUV jinx in India. After the CRV, BR-V and WR-V failed to boost sales numbers, Honda has put its best foot forward with the Elevate to turn the tables. The carmaker said the booking numbers have been encouraging, hinting that the Elevate will help it increase its sales, at least for now. The Elevate has been specially designed as a global urban SUV, keeping the Indian market in mind. Honda will later launch the Elevate SUV for global markets too. Interestingly, an all-electric variant of the Elevate SUV will be launched in India by 2026, revealed the automaker. Honda Elevate SV V VX ZX MT 10,99,900 12,10,900 13,49,900 14,89,900 CVT 13,20,900 14,59,900 15,99,900 The Elevate SUV is available in seven single exterior colour options. These include Platinum White Pearl, Lunar Silver Metallic, Obsidian Blue Pearl, Radiant Red Metallic, Golden Brown Metallic, Meteoroid Gray Metallic and Phoenix Orange Pearl. There will also be three dual-tone options available on the top-end variants - Phoenix Orange Pearl with Crystal Black Pearl Roof, Platinum White Pearl with Crystal Black Pearl Roof and Radiant Red Metallic with Crystal Black Pearl Roof. Also check these Cars Find more Cars Honda Elevate 11 - 16 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers Explore your Vehicle Check vehicle details Check Insurance & PUCC due date Mahindra Bolero 9.78 - 10.79 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers MG Astor 9.78 - 17.38 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers UPCOMING Nissan Juke 10 - 15 Lakhs* *Expected Price View Details Kia Carens 8.99 - 16.99 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers Citroen C3 Aircross 9.99 - 12.34 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers In terms of design, the Elevate SUV comes with a boxy front profile. It has a large black radiator grille, LED headlights, integrated LED DRLs, LED taillights, black fog lamp housing and large wheel arches housing sporty 17-inch alloy wheels. The character lines at the sides, along with the black claddings, increase its visual appeal. The SUV also gets a massive 220 mm of ground clearance, which is the highest in the segment. Watch: Honda Elevate SUV first drive review The cabin of the Elevate SUV is spacious yet simple. There is a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system which is compatible with wireless smartphone connectivity. There is also a 7-inch HD colour TFT driver display. One also gets other features like automatic climate control among others. Under the hood, the Elevate SUV will come with a 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC petrol engine, the same unit that also powers the Honda City sedan. The engine is capable of generating 119 bhp of maximum power and 145.1 Nm of peak torque. The engine will come mated to either a six-speed manual gearbox and an advanced CVT gearbox. Honda says that the Elevate SUV has a mileage of 15.31 kmpl in manual variants while the CVT versions will offer 16.92 kmpl of mileage. First Published Date: Looks like you typed in the wrong url. To visit the SiliconIndia Home page click here To view the SiliconIndia blogs page click here What is SiliconIndia? SiliconIndia is one of the largest content and community networks for Indian professionals, entrepreneurs and students worldwide. Since 1997, we have inspired successes for Indian professionals through our thought provoking SiliconIndia career events and magazines. Now, through the addition of the online professional network, we combine the power of news, magazine and events, with an online network that can exclusively help you develop deep professional and social relationships with the SiliconIndia member community. Some of the member benefits are: Your own trusted network, discussion groups, Messages and the Lounge to interact with and expand your professional and social network. Write on what you are passionate about and publish to the entire internet using our professional Blogs. Special web seminars and career events on topics of interest exclusive to SiliconIndia network members. Oportunities to get personalized one on one advice from experienced professionals for career growth, entrepreneurship and higher education through our unique mentorship program. Mentors are invited from within the SiliconIndia network. The opportunity to contribute to our leading magazine, online news and events, to help enhance your professional profile in the growing SiliconIndia community. Vegan lifestyle and fitness startup, Fitspire, has announced an exciting collaboration with the new movie, Akelli, to raise awareness about womens wellness. Akelli, a gripping thriller drama starring Nushrratt Bharrucha, revolves around an Indian womans harrowing ordeal stranded among terrorists in Iraq, as she valiantly fights for survival and justice. Fitspire has partnered with Akelli as a fitness ally for a campaign titled Fitness kijung, Fitspire ke sang. This initiative aims to spotlight Fitspires mission of empowering women through fitness and wellness. The campaign will span various platforms, including television, auto banners, all Fitspire social media channels, YouTube, digital spaces, and the Fitspire website. Vipen Jain, co-founder of Fitspire, expressed great enthusiasm about this collaboration, stating, We are incredibly excited about our partnership with Akelli. The movie captures the spirit of an ordinary Indian woman trapped but fighting valiantly for her survival. This resonates deeply with Fitspires commitment to empowering individuals to overcome challenges and lead healthier lives. Founded in 2020, Fitspire is a direct-to-customer startup that specializes in offering over 80 vegan products and combos tailored for a healthy and fit lifestyle. Led by two accomplished women co-founders, Nidhi Jain and Hinah Sawhney, the company has been on a mission to encourage women to prioritize their well-being. In addition to its range of wellness products, Fitspire has fostered a community of wellness enthusiasts dedicated to promoting the benefits of plant-based nutrition. As a women-led startup that advocates for a healthy and fit lifestyle among women, Fitspires collaboration with Akelli seamlessly aligns with its broader mission of inspiring individuals to conquer challenges through wellness. Fitspires product lineup includes the highly acclaimed Fit Women Multivitamin, a daily tablet designed specifically for women, enriched with 37 vital ingredients. Earlier this year, Fitspire initiated a campaign aimed at promoting wellness for mothers of all ages. Akelli portrays the daily struggles and triumphs of women in India, showcasing their resilience and determination. This theme aligns seamlessly with Fitspires mission to inspire women to overcome obstacles and prioritize their well-being, added Vipen. Fitspire has already built a robust customer base of 1 million individuals. Presently, the company caters to over 15,000 pin codes across the country, offering a wide range of vegan wellness and fitness products crafted from natural ingredient extracts. All Fitspire products undergo stringent testing to ensure they meet international safety standards and comply with FSSAI regulations. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A fire that ripped through at least four households in the federally-subsidized Fox Hills apartments in Clifton on Sunday has left three families, made up of 13 people, displaced, according to the American Red Cross. The fire ignited in 350 Vanderbilt Ave. on the second floor of the 6-story dwelling, according to an FDNY spokesperson. After the fire damaged at least four apartments in the building, the American Red Cross provided temporary housing and financial assistance to two families, made up of four adults and three children whose units were devastated by the blaze, said Frederic Klein, regional communications manager for the American Red Cross, Greater New York. FDNY responded to an all hands fire in the Fox Hills Apartments Sunday evening. (Kayla Simas/Staten Island Advance). One additional household, consisting of two adults and four children received emergency lodging, he said. Residents of another fire-damaged unit were able to return to their apartment after receiving cleaning supplies from the Red Cross, said Klein. Red Cross caseworkers will meet with the families impacted by the blaze in the next few days to help them connect with other nonprofits and/or government agencies that can provide support for longer-term recovery, he said. FDNY responded to an apartment fire in Clifton Sunday evening. (Kayla Simas/Staten Island Advance). It took 12 units and 60 firefighters to battle the blaze that was reported at 5:22 p.m. on Sunday. On Sunday hundreds of people were evacuated from the apartment building by first responders. Many folks watched from the street and sidewalk as firefighters tended to the blaze. A ladder was pushed up to the third-floor window where firefighters could be seen from street level inside the building. FDNY responded to an all hands fire in Clifton, Sunday evening. (Kayla Simas/Staten Island Advance). Water could be seen splashing out of a broken window and inside. An FDNY spokesperson said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Two first responders were transported to Staten Island University Hospital, Sea View -- a member of the NYPD and a firefighter -- both with non-life-threatening injuries, said the FDNY. Any impacted residents of the fire who need recovery assistance can contact the Red Cross at 1-877-RED-CROSS (877-733-2767). FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - College affordability hinges on factors like public or private institutions, on or off-campus living, and in-state or out-of-state attendance. During the 2021-22 academic year, first-time, full-time undergraduate students living on campus at four-year institutions faced a higher average total cost of attendance at private nonprofit institutions ($55,800) compared to private for-profit institutions ($32,900) and public institutions ($26,000), according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. New York City and the union representing Staten Island Ferry workers on Monday announced a long-awaited, historic agreement providing the first wage increase for the workforce in 13 years. Standing on the deck of the Dorothy Day Ferry, officials signaled the end of laborious negotiations that resulted in the longest contract the city has ever negotiated a 16-year deal that extends back from Nov. 7, 2010 to Jan. 4, 2027. It guarantees an average nearly-30% retroactive salary increase for approximately 150 people across multiple titles, from mates to engineers and captains. Members of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (MEBA), the union representing Staten Island Ferry workers, resoundingly supported the contract, with 94% giving approval to its final details. Throughout the previous administrations, it often felt like City Hall and MEBA were sailing on separate courses. However, today, we proudly announce that we have finally brought this contract to dock, said MEBA Secretary-Treasurer Roland Rexha. On this Labor Day in 2023, we have achieved a remarkable feat transforming the lowest paid ferry jobs in the nation into the highest paid, said Rexha. This accomplishment was made possible by our members transitioning to a 40-hour work week, providing immediate relief, and resolving staffing shortages. Now, New York City can offer the reliable service that Staten Islanders truly deserve. MEBA Secretary-Treasurer Roland Rexha at the Staten Island Ferry on Sept. 4, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) In November of 2010, salaries for captains on the Staten Island Ferry was nearly $71,000. By the end of the new contract, that salary will raise to $180,000, said Office of Labor Relations (OLR) Commissioner Renee Campion. Assistant captains were earning $63,000, she said, but will now earn $138,000 by the beginning of 2027; and mates, who previously had $58,000 salaries, will experience a jump to around $124,000 by the close of the latest deal. Meanwhile, titles entitled to significant prevailing wage increases after a ruling by New York Comptroller Brad Lander earlier this year chief engineers and engineers will go from $69,000 and $64,000 salaries, respectively, to $180,000 and $145,000. That decision also indicated the ferrys marine engineers and chief marine engineers were entitled to back pay ranging between hundreds of thousands of dollars to over $1 million per worker, depending on their title and length of tenure. The new contract also establishes a five-step salary schedule for new workers that goes into effect on Oct. 1, 2023 the same time full-time schedules for ferry workers will move from 32 hours to 40 hours. Captains starting on the Staten Island Ferry, for example, will begin at a $137,000 salary, but eventually will reach top pay of $180,000 per year, according to Campion. Overtime hours served as the latest snag at the negotiating table, but that sticking point was resolved with an agreement for an overtime rate slightly under the citywide time-and-a-half standard. Mayor Eric Adams at the Staten Island Ferry on Sept. 4, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) We wanted to get this deal done, said Mayor Eric Adams. I was very clear: Bring the ferry to the god damn dock. Adams, a former NYPD officer, said he understood the plight of ferry workers waiting for contracts to be finalized. Still, he expressed disbelief at the extended period they had to endure without a wage increase. Imagine, 13 years without a raise. Its just hard to believe, said Adams. Everything is going up around you, and your pay is stagnant. The city and MEBA have been fighting the city for over a decade for a fair and respectful new contract. Nearly 14 years later, Mondays handshake caps off a period of tense negotiations. Its passage, officials said, should alleviate a stretch of unreliability for a pivotal form of mass transportation for Staten Island. Al Viani, the mediator who helped broker the deal between the city and MEBA, said the negotiation was one of the most complex and difficult that I have ever had to deal with in my 50-plus years of labor relations experience. I commend the citys representative, Renee Campion, and her staff and the unions representative, Roland Rexha, and his staff for making the necessary compromises to reach a successful conclusion, said Viani. This agreement is in the best interests of the city and the Staten Island ferryboat workers. It will ensure safe, reliable and stable ferryboat service for years to come. Al Viani, who served as a mediator to the negotiation, at the Staten Island Ferry on Sept. 4, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) Borough President Vito Fossella at the Staten Island Ferry on Sept. 4, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) The previously-low wages made it difficult for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to recruit and retain crew members, triggering staffing shortages and limiting the citys ability to provide full service. The result: At least 2,160 canceled trips last year alone. Those reductions have had a profound impact on Staten Island commuters, many of whom said they felt they could no longer rely on the ferry to operate at full service on any given day. The Staten Island Ferry is iconic, but its also a lifeline for thousands of commuters on a daily basis, said Borough President Vito Fossella, who noted that service reductions have disrupted the lives of Staten Islanders in recent years. What this agreement does is minimize disruption in their lives. Christopher Jones, a chief engineer on the Staten Island Ferry, and Henry Feeney, a Staten Island Ferry captain. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) Henry Feeney, a Staten Island Ferry captain for the past two decades, said the agreement was not just a great day for the ferry, but a great day for New York in general. While Staten Island Ferry ridership remains below pre-pandemic levels, Feeney said the transportations reliability is essential to Staten Islanders who he expects to increasingly use the boats as the city moves away from the pandemic. And, the new deal, will simultaneously allow New York City to be a landing spot for marine talent on a global level. Its a great opportunity for mariners to be living in the New York area, but they can also afford to send their kids to a better school and have better living conditions, said Feeney. The ferry is an essential 24 hour a day service for countless Staten Islanders, said State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton. The men and women who keep it running deserve a contract that reflects the necessity of their work. The contract is expected to cost the city $103 million through the 2027 fiscal year, according to the mayors office. Kevin Buselmeier, assistant captain for the Staten Island Ferry, and Kenny Smith, a Staten Island Ferry mate. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) A LIVABLE WAGE So far this year, New York City has reached agreements with District Council 37, which covers nearly 90,000 municipal workers; the United Federation of Teachers, representing roughly 120,000 educators; and the Uniformed Officers Coalition, covering more than 32,000 cops, firefighters, sanitation workers and corrections officers. Christopher Jones, a chief engineer on the Staten Island Ferry with 18 years of service, said the technical evolution of ferries, coupled with the previously-low wages, made it difficult to retain new workers. Some of his coworkers, he said, come from the other side of the globe, and the new deal gives them a livable wage. The years that stretched prior to the deal, however, came with significant sacrifices for the ferry workers and their families. Kenny Smith, a Staten Island Ferry mate with over two decades of experience, said his son was in elementary school when the last contract expired. Now, he works on a ferry himself. Its been tough, said Smith, who noted the job is what helped him and his colleagues. We love the Staten Island Ferry, he added. The Staten Island Ferry moves millions of commuters and tourists annually, raising the need for an appropriate contract, city Department of Transportation Ydanis Rodriguez said during the press conference. Completing these trips safely and on time requires a skilled and dedicated team, including the members of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, he said. After months of lengthy negotiations, Im pleased to see the mayor listen to our calls and strike a fair deal with MEBA, whose members have been unfairly working without a contract for 13 years, said Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn). This new contract, which was supported overwhelmingly by MEBA members, would bring significant wage increases to our workers, currently the lowest paid in the country to some of the highest, said Malliotakis. I am hopeful that this deal will resolve recent service delays and disruptions to ferry service by helping retain and attract skilled mariners with the benefits they rightfully deserve. Office of Labor Relations Commissioner Renee Campion at the Staten Island Ferry on Sept. 4, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) Still, bringing on new Staten Island Ferry workers will face hurdles raised by extensive requirements. Rigorous licensing requirements and necessary certifications for various Staten Island Ferry crew titles set forth by the U.S. Coast Guard have compounded staffing issues. Union officials have said members must pass numerous tests and receive various credentials before even being considered for a position at the ferry, along with hundreds to thousands of days of previous sea time. Making matters worse, fewer and fewer cadets in the nations six maritime academies are passing the exams needed to earn their merchant marine officers licenses, according to maritime outlet gCaptain. Fair wages are not a privilege but a fundamental right for those who provide such a critical service to our city, said Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore). These workers have long been the unsung heroes of our transportation system, working diligently year-round to keep our city connected. It is not immediately clear when the new salaries will show up in ferry workers paychecks. When asked about the timing, OLR Commissioner Campion said the changes will kick-in as soon as practical. Our Staten Island ferry workers keep this critical mode of transportation running and safe, and they deserve the fair wages and scheduling flexibility this contract provides, said Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore). This retroactive contract is a significant milestone, marking the citys commitment to equitable compensation and enhanced work-life balance for Staten Island ferry workers. It stands as a testament to our dedication to the well-being of our workforce and the value of fair labor relations. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Tensions over the ongoing migrant crisis across the city and on Staten Island have reached a fever pitch in recent weeks, but for many of the new arrivals, even the worst American vitriol pales in comparison to life in their home countries. A trio of West African migrants Abdullah Sall, 36, Usman Tameedou, 29, and Umar Sow, 34 recently spoke with the Advance/SILive.com at the Rev. Dr. Maggie Howard Playground in Stapleton about their journeys to America through translator Abou Diakhate, a native of Senegal and an immigrant advocate. Sow said hed been a farmer in his native Mauritania until herders destroyed his crops sending him fleeing from his homeland. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook, Mauritania has a rigid caste system with three segments of the population Haratines who make up 40% of the population, Beydane who make up 30% of the population, and a variety of sub-Saharan ethnic groups who make up the remaining 30% of the population. Historically, those groups have been divided into a strict caste system with the Beydane, a light-skinned Arabic-speaking group also known as White Moors making up the ruling class over the disadvantaged dark-skinned Arabic-speaking Haratines and sub-saharan groups, according to a 2021 human rights report from the U.S. State Department. He worked hard on his land and the white Arabs there, they [would] come [to] his farm, bring their animals...make a mess, and nobody [could] say something, Diakhate said relaying Sows message. You cannot complain. You cannot say anything because they have the power. The nation only abolished slavery in 1981 the last country on Earth to do so but no laws against the practice were put in place until 2007 with vestiges remaining in the present day, according to the CIA and the State Department. Sow comes from an area of Mauritania near that nations southern border with Senegal. That border was the site of a 1989 conflict that led to the deportation of thousands of Black Mauritanians to Senegal. Sall said he was among the exiles from Mauritania and has lived most of his life as a refugee as a result of that conflict. His father died in the Senegal and Mauritania crisis in 1989, and when he stayed there [Senegal] as a refugee, he never got what he was looking for, Diakhate said. Sall left Senegal earlier this year, and began his journey to America when he flew into Nicaragua on June 12. From there, Sall said he made the journey up through Central America and Mexico to the nations southern border paying most of his way to Mexican police and people who transported him into America via boat. Sall and the other men who made similar journeys are far from alone. While border encounters have declined in recent months, they saw a surge in recent years with many of the new arrivals coming from countries not traditionally associated with migration over the southern border. PROCESS AT THE BORDER U.S. Customs and Border Protections (CBP) separates its enforcement encounters into five categories related to country of origin people from Mexico, people from Guatemala, people from Honduras, people from El Salvador, and people from the rest of the world listed as other. Since October of last year, the beginning of CBPs fiscal year, about 51% of the people encountered by border patrol at the southern border have fallen into the other category. Diakhate has become something of fixture in the community of new arrivals helping to provide information sessions in partnership with Dr. Komi Agoda-Koussema, El Centro Del Inmigrante, the Staten Island Immigrants Council, and the Migration Resource Center. The sessions provide things like help with housing, legal assistance and language lessons. Many of those people have made their way to the five boroughs. Since April 2022, more than 100,000 people have come to New York City as part of what Mayor Eric Adams administration describes as the asylum seeker crisis. Migrants sit in a queue outside of The Roosevelt Hotel that is being used by the city as temporary housing, Monday, July 31, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)AP ATTRACTION TO NYC The three men who spoke with the Advance/SILive.com said they came to New York City because they heard from fellow migrants about the services offered in the five boroughs. [They] heard from other peers that New York is more friendly when it comes to immigration, Diakhate said. You will have more opportunity here as a newcomer. New York City is one of the few municipalities in the U.S. with a right to shelter law that provides housing to anyone seeking it. The crisis has prompted the Adams administration to set up more than 200 shelters around the five boroughs, including the former Richard H. Hungerford School building on Tompkins Avenue where the three men are staying. Their accommodations have been far from comfort as they work through the nations complicated asylum process, but recent actions from the Adams administration has left them feeling unsure about their future. Cots seen set up inside the gymnasium of the former Richard H. Hungerford school site on Tompkins Avenue. (Courtesy of Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo) Some of the men have been in shelter for over a year, which means theyve been targeted for 60-day vacate notices the Adams administration began sending out earlier this summer. City officials announced the new policy July 19 aimed at adult migrants with the goal of helping them to move onto new accommodations not supplied by the city. The Adams administration has estimated that the crisis will cost the city $12 billion in the coming years, and forcing the migrants to provide for themselves would help limit those costs. The administration has also made repeated calls for the federal government to make work authorization easier for the new arrivals. Sall said he has an asylum hearing scheduled for December, but in the meantime, his situation in New York City remains unclear. Diakhate said rumors circulating among the new arrivals have them worried about what will happen next. He shared a message from the city written in Pulaar, a West African language, laying out the situation in the five boroughs. He said hes kind of scared, because theyve heard a lot of negative stuff. They heard people saying that if you stay here two months and you dont have [a] job...theyre going to take you back to the border, Diakhate said. They dont know if thats real; they dont know if thats rumors or a lie. MORE LOCAL NEWS Former Staten Island Catholic school to house up to 300 adult migrants in coming days Surveillance cameras installed outside St. John Villa migrant shelter Borough president calls for migrants to be housed in Washington, D.C. NYPD keeps watch as tempers flare outside planned St. John Villa migrant shelter St. Joseph Hill Academy steps up security as NYC officials move more migrants into Arrochar shelter Staten Island, N.Y. -- There are various virtual learning options for New York City public school students this upcoming school year, offering more opportunities for students to learn. These programs will provide students with access to a wider range of citywide courses and will allow them to attend classes during non-traditional hours, such as evenings and weekends. The programs also create virtual teaching opportunities for educators. Making education accessible is a fundamental part of reimagining the student experience. At New York City public schools, we are expanding access to virtual learning options with a goal of making them available to all high school and some middle school students over time, Chyann Tull, Deputy Press Secretary of the NYC Department of Education, said. The different virtual learning options for students at New York City Public Schools include Virtual Innovators Academy, a fully remote high school; A School Without Walls, a hybrid high school program recruiting ninth graders for fall 2023 and fall 2024; and Virtual Learning Classrooms, a program that allows middle school and high school students to enroll in centrally provided courses, often advanced or accelerate, that they otherwise wouldnt be able to access. Virtual learning can give students access to courses that they otherwise wouldnt receive at their schools, and it provides flexibility for students to access a high-quality education who are unable to attend traditional, in-person classes, Tull said. These schools determine student eligibility based on academic policy, student interests, and goals. Families can apply via their MySchools accounts, at myschools.nyc. Expanding options for virtual learning The largest NYC teachers union, United Federation of Teachers (UFT), ratified the new five-year union contract that includes annual salary increases and a substantial expansion of virtual learning in Sept. 2022. The virtual learning initiative will be expanded (from the DOEs current centrally run pilot program) this upcoming school year, with 25% of high schools eligible to be elected for the program, according to the UFT. This will gradually grow to 100% of high schools in the 2027-28 school year. In addition, starting as soon as Fall 2023, high schools will have the opportunity to offer virtual courses after traditional school hours and on weekends. This opportunity is separate from Virtual Innovators Academy, A School Without Walls, and Virtual Learning Classrooms. New Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson has vowed to restore the trust of its customers after weeks of damning publicity forced the early departure of longstanding boss Alan Joyce and sparked calls for chairman Richard Goyder to resign. In a shock move on Tuesday, Joyce announced he would step down two months earlier than expected after 15 years at the helm in an attempt to help the airline rebuild its battered reputation. As critics called for Joyce to be stripped of his multimillion-dollar bonuses and for heads to roll from the board, Hudson admitted the company had fallen short of customers expectations. She signalled a different approach to her predecessor, saying her focus was getting the balance right between the expectations of staff, customers and investors. Right now, it feels like were facing a challenging time, Hudson said in a video to staff. We know that post-COVID-19 we havent always delivered to what our customers expect. But we are listening, and we hear what theyre saying. As a company, our job is to get the balance right between looking after our customers, you our people, and the business itself. Beijing (Gasgoo)- In August, Chery Holding managed to refresh its monthly sales record with an impressive total of 171,262 vehicles sold, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 20.8%, according to the companys announcement. Photo credit: Chery Holding August also marked another month for Chery Holding to sell over 150,000 vehicles, which further emphasized the company's sustained momentum. From January to August, the cumulative sales of Chery Holding reached a staggering 1,063,157 units, showcasing a substantial 42% surge from a year ago. This remarkable performance enabled Chery to surpass the one-million-unit sales milestone two months ahead of the previous year. Specifically, the CHERY brand saw robust sales in August, with 123,610 vehicles sold, a notable year-on-year increase of 15.5%. For the first eight months of the year, the brand recorded sales of 773,333 vehicles, demonstrating a substantial 36.4% jump from the previous year. In the past month, the EXEED brand also made significant strides with sales of 12,081 vehicles, which shot up 118% year over year. Cumulatively, the brand achieved sales of 65,783 units from January to August this year, representing an astounding year-on-year soar of 130.2%. Not to be outdone, Chery's JETOUR brand saw its August sales total 28,007 vehicles, which significantly hiked 47.6% from that of a year ago. The brand's performance in the first eight months of the year was equally impressive, with cumulative sales of 161,900 vehicles, leaping 67.4% year over year. Notably, Chery Holdings four mainstay models, the Tiggo 8, the Tiggo 7, the JETOUR X70, and the Arrizo 8, all with sales exceeding 10,000 units in August, played a pivotal role in driving Chery Holding's overall sales growth. First, Goyder will have to concede Joyce may not be the greatest ever chief executive. That would be a big concession, given how effusive Goyder has been in his praise of Joyce. Goyder has also been remarkably muted in his public comments, even as the Qantas brand is shredded around him. The public pressure on Qantas has been relentless, and punishing the airlines top brass for their seemingly astounding complacency will require many uncomfortable walk-backs, most notably from Qantas chairman Richard Goyder. Qantas outgoing chief executive Alan Joyce has delivered a hideous parting gift to the airline a public relations grenade, the damage from which could take years for his successors to fix. Next, Qantas major shareholders might have to acknowledge that the airline has a bigger public responsibility than just churning out record profits. Then there is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who might have to admit that his government has made a poor judgment call on the request from Qatar Airways for extra flights. The fallout from that decision continues to hang over the Albanese government, which chose to give Qantas a financial leg up by blunting Qatar Airways moves. For incoming Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson, who was in part appointed as a foil to Joyce, mending the fractured relationship between the airline and its disaffected customers will take a mammoth effort. Hudson should have been the fresh face of Qantas but instead will take up the role of chief litigator in two upcoming legal battles the first, a shareholder class action claiming it misled customers over refunds, and the more damaging case being mounted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which alleges the airline engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct when it sold tickets for flights it had already cancelled. Hudson also made the rookie error of tying herself too closely to Joyce. For example, when he farewelled shareholders and analysts at his final profit briefing, Hudson declared staff were blessed to have had Joyce as their leader. Despite the Federal Court finding that Ben Roberts-Smith was a war criminal and a murderer (although the VC holder is appealing the decision), some Australians maintain a weird obsession with the disgraced soldier. Case in point race seven at the Queanbeyan Race Club on Monday, listed as We Support Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG 900. Ben Roberts-Smith: It is suspected that a military enthusiast may have used his name to sponsor a horse race. Credit: Ross Swanborough It wasnt until Sunday evening, with the name already circulating on social media, that Racing NSW realised what was happening. The governing body, which declined to comment further to CBD, quickly stepped in to change the name to a more benign Karabar Class 1 Handicap. So how did BRS come to adorn a horse race in Queanbeyan? His father, a leading surgeon, was also an author, while his mother, Jane (who wrote verse under the pen name Speranza), sowed the seeds of his poetry and wit. He also emulated her delight in what Wildes biographer Richard Ellman called improving upon reality happily lying about her age. This anticipates Lady Bs decree in Earnest: No woman should ever be quite accurate about her age. It looks so calculating. Loading Lady Bracknell also shares Wildes mothers variously pompous or withering wit. Asked to receive a young woman described as respectable, Speranza declared, You must never employ that description in this house. It is only tradespeople who are respectable. We are above respectability. Wilde, of course, adored her, and she came to adore him, after initially preferring his older brother, Willie, the family underachiever, who, when once asked at what he was working, answered, At intervals. Wilde was even grateful his parents christened him Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde, remarking, When one is unknown, a number of Christian names are useful As one becomes famous one sheds some of them, just as a balloonist when rising higher, sheds unnecessary ballast. Lady Bracknell, his ultimate comic creation (himself, aside), is, Thomson observes, only intermittently aware of the wit that vipers from her lips as she strives to corral the younger characters within the bounds of propriety. Theres the oft-quoted example of when Jack Worthing has told her he lost both his parents when a baby: To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness. Thomson in rehearsals for The Importance of Being Earnest. Credit: Daniel Boud Later, to Gwendolen, Lady Bracknell says, Come, dear, we have already missed five, if not six trains. To miss any more might expose us to comment on the platform. Until he was brought undone, Wilde seemed to delight in a world that demanded a veneer of scrupulous decorum. Never speak disrespectfully of society, Algernon, Lady B admonishes. Only people who cant get into it do that. As Thomson says, much of the humour of Earnest comes from a horror of doing or being seen to do the wrong thing, and becoming persona non grata. She shrewdly suggests: In the modern day, its like being cancelled on Instagram. Wilde with Bosie in Oxford, about 1893. Credit: Library of Congress, Kaufmann Collection The 1895 premiere of Earnest was a glittering occasion for Wilde, who had An Ideal Husband already running at the Haymarket. When a journalist asked him before the opening if his new play would be a success, he replied, It already is. The only question is whether the first night audience will be one too. After the show he resisted taking a bow, saying, I took one only last month at the Haymarket, and one feels so much like a German band. Two months later came Wildes ill-fated libel case against the Marquess of Queensbury, whose son, Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed Bosie, was his lover. Queensbury had publicly accused him of posing as a sodomite, setting in train legal wheels that would grind Wilde down to two years hard labour and being ostracised from society. Maybe he thought he was a little bit untouchable, and then he was just hung out to dry, says Thomson. But rather than dwelling on his final years, Wilde would want us to celebrate his prime via his verbal champagne, starting with two more of Thomsons favourites from Earnest. Theres Lady Bracknells satisfaction on hearing that Jack smokes: A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is. And earlier Gwendolen tells Cecily, I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train. To win back my youth ... there is nothing I wouldnt do, except take exercise, get up early, or be a useful member of the community. Oscar Wilde To director Beerbohm Tree, Wilde said, I shall always regard you as the best critic of my plays. But I have never criticised your plays, replied Tree. Thats why. Years earlier, Wilde said, I am never disappointed in literary men. I think they are perfectly charming. It is their works I find so disappointing. Of Dickens, he opined, One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing. And finally: To win back my youth ... there is nothing I wouldnt do except take exercise, get up early, or be a useful member of the community. As he reputedly told US Customs, I have only my genius to declare. The Importance of Being Earnest is at Roslyn Packer Theatre from September 5 to October 14. Succession creator Jesse Armstrong has cleared up an enduring mystery from the final season of the hit show: what a note found in Logan Roys safe showed about who the media tycoon really wanted to take over Waystar Royco. In the episode Honeymoon States, when family and friends of the Roys gather to mourn Logan (Brian Cox), Frank (Peter Friedman) finds what he calls a rather worrying piece of paper. The line that raised more questions than it answered in the final season. Credit: HBO While it seemed to indicate Kendall (Jeremy Strong) was Logans anointed successor, a line beneath his name raised the question of whether it had been underlined or crossed out. The old guard of Frank, Karl (David Rasche) and Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) mulled over what the paper meant with siblings Roman (Kieran Culkin), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Kendall. Advertisement Eating outComing soon From Footscray to Reservoir, three new brew-pubs and taprooms to froth over this spring Emma Breheny September 5, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share As Melbourne emerges from its winter hibernation, knocking back a few cold ones on a sunny afternoon will be an even more exciting prospect thanks to new watering holes from three leading craft breweries, all set to open before summer. Deep in industrial Footscray, Hop Nation (6/107-109 Whitehall Street, Footscray) is levelling up its brew-bar offer with a fresh design from Studio Y, also responsible for Stomping Ground in Moorabbin. An artists illustration of the overhauled bar at Hop Nation. Supplied Aspiring to a Brooklyn warehouse look, the new bar will be far more open. Poky corners have been replaced with a single space for punters, who can perch with their drinks beside soaring brick walls and gleaming brewery equipment. Recycled timber will make way for polished finishes, and flashes of green neon nod to Hop Nations label artwork. Within the taproom will be Good Pizza, serving both thin-crust and puffy pizza by former Figlia and Arbory Afloat chef Alex Addams Williams. Pizzas come with dippers, such as whipped garlic and chilli sauce, and toppings may include pepperoni with habanero-spiked honey made from hops on the Dr Pep, and salami cotto with pickled pineapple. Advertisement Behind the bar, youll find 17 beers including the brand-new Footscray Draft to celebrate the new-look taproom. Limited-edition brews will rotate every fortnight. Hop Nation opens on September 28. The mega Melbourne outpost of Beechworths Bridge Road Brewers (127-149 Nicholson Street, Brunswick East) is looking more like a pub every day, as the 350-person venue inches closer to ditching power saws for pizza peels. A mid-September opening is on the cards for the sprawling site in Brunswick East. The Studio Y team is onboard for the design here, too, across a working brewery and split-level venue covering drinking and dining areas. The idea was to avoid stereotypes of the industrial brewery setting. Youre not in a warehouse. Its very, very comfortable, says co-owner Ben Kraus. An artists impression of the new Brunswick East location of Bridge Road Brewers. Supplied Advertisement There are multiple bars with up to 20 taps each, outdoor seating, booths and two murals by artist Drez. A menu is being drafted by new chef Jabili Mchawala that includes a between bread section plus salad-y plates, alongside the more common small and large share plates. Bridge Roads signature pizzas will also slot in. Mchawala has been working at social enterprise Free to Feed most recently after cooking at Rice Queen and his own food truck, The Voodoo Jerk Truck. After a rollercoaster 12 months for La Sirene that involved opening a bar, being shut out of said bar and brewery, reopening on a short-term lease and then relocating to more stable premises, owners Costa and Eva Nikias are nearly ready to welcome you to their new home (277 Edwardes Street, Reservoir). Bar La Sirenes original stint in Alphington was short-lived. Andrew Kuypers Advertisement Building on the promising beginnings of Bar La Sirene, the new HQ for all things wild fermented will offer a much larger menu of Euro-inspired bites that are as rustic and character-filled as the beers on offer. Early ideas include char-grilled sardines with tomatoes and capers, Spanish-style meatballs with tomatoes, and manchego and red capsicum. Costa Nikias says the 100-capacity bar will again upend the usual taproom offering. Although 14 beer taps will offer oak-aged wild ales, therell be a thoughtful wine list that leans heavily on Victoria, plus premier cru chablis and grower champagne, both available by the glass. An early October opening is pencilled. Look out, Reservoir. And, of course, Moon Dogs conversion of the Franco Cozzo showroom into a kitschy bar for Footscray draws closer to reality. The team hope to open this December. Theyre not slowing down, either, moving on a Docklands location for a fourth fabulously fun Moon Dog outpost. That should open mid-2024. Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up Italys iconic home-style hunters chicken is a family favourite around the country, and like most family favourites, there are many different ways to make it. Heres my masterclass on how to make the right choices for a perfect chicken cacciatore. Return the chicken to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir through the olives and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes uncovered, until the sauce is thick and coating the chicken. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before grinding over a little more black pepper and serving scattered with parsley. Serve with thick slices of sourdough or polenta. Heat a wide, lidded casserole over medium heat and add the oil. Brown the chicken in batches, removing from the dish when browned. Add the onions, carrot, celery and garlic, season with a little salt and cook for about 8 minutes using any juices from the vegetables to scrape up any brown fond on the base of the pan. Add the capsicum and mushrooms and fry for a few minutes until softened. Add the wine and bring to a simmer for about a minute, then add the tomatoes and crush them a little. Add the stock, rosemary and season well with salt and black pepper. Separate the thighs from the drumsticks by cutting through the joint with a kitchen knife. Dust the chicken with flour and shake off any excess. Notes What makes it cacciatore? The only constants in just about every cacciatore recipe are meat (usually chicken or rabbit) and wine (either red or white). Some recipes omit tomato, others omit soffritto (the lightly fried mixture of chopped onion, celery and carrot that forms the base of the stew), others still omit or vary the vegetables used, and the choice of herbs can be whatever you feel like. Chop the celery, carrots and onions into similar-sizes pieces for soffritto. iStock Its hard to know how specific differences in traditional dishes become part of the furniture, so to speak. Its possible that an influential Australian recipe source, such as Margaret Fulton or the Australian Womens Weekly Test Kitchen published a cacciatore recipe back in the 1950s or 60s that included capsicum, mushroom and olives, and those inclusions have simply stuck for Australian cooks. These are by no means strange additions mushrooms, particularly, are commonly added in Italian recipes. I simply note this because if you wanted to leave out the olives, use some white wine you had in place of the red specified, switch the rosemary for dried oregano from your pantry, or throw in some sun-dried tomatoes or marinated capsicums instead (which I often do), those changes are entirely fine. Cooking on the bone Its often said that when cooking on the bone, the bone adds to the flavour, but thats not quite the case. When making stocks or stews, the bones themselves do little for the flavour, although the breakdown of the collagen in the bones to gelatine can add body to the stock or stew. Its actually the small amounts of meat attached to the bones, and the marrow contained within them, that improve the flavour. For a stew, however, cooking on the bone really does keep the meat more flavourful, but not because the bone itself is adding flavour, as most people think. As meat cooks, muscle fibres contract and physically squeeze out the juices from the meat like wringing out a sponge. When attached to the bone, the muscles cant contract as much, which allows the meat to retain more of its flavourful juices, resulting in more retained flavour and juiciness. Its simple mechanics. Cacciatore is traditionally made with a whole chicken cut into pieces. I prefer the taste and texture of the leg and thigh over breast meat, so I make this with marylands, a cut that includes both drumstick and thigh, with the skin on. If you cant find marylands, Id recommend using drumsticks. Flouring Flouring meat or poultry before cooking in a stew has three main purposes. Firstly, a small amount of flour can assist browning and increase flavour by producing more Maillard reactions between sugars and proteins from the flour, and proteins from the meat. But using too much flour creates a physical barrier between the meat and the pan and can actually stop the meat from browning effectively, which can reduce flavour. This is why its important to shake off as much excess flour as you can before frying. I sometimes even flour meats by dipping a pastry brush into flour and dusting the meat as if dusting for fingerprints to make sure Im not flouring too much. The second purpose of flouring is to create a coating on the meat that can absorb the flavour of the stew. This coating isnt as thick as a batter but even a tiny amount of flour on the surface will help the flavour of the liquid stick to the meat. Its the same principle as using a small amount of starch to marinate meats when stir-frying. Lastly, the flour (or more specifically, the starch within it) thickens the liquid in the stew, giving it a richer and more satisfying texture. Pot choice and liquid management I dont usually like to specify the size, shape or material of pan or pot when I write a recipe, but that doesnt mean its not important. Its actually crucial, but a recipe writer needs to be pragmatic, and not everyone will have every piece of specified equipment at their disposal. When choosing the appropriate pot for a dish, the main thing you should consider is liquid management, and to do that you need to think about the relationship between the surface area of a pot and its volume. A taller, thinner pot will have a lower ratio of surface area to volume while a lower, wider pot will have a higher ratio. This means that liquid will evaporate from the taller pot than the lower one. A taller, thinner pot will have a lower ratio of surface area to volume while a lower, wider pot will have a higher ratio. This means that liquid will evaporate more slowly from the taller pot than from the wider one. For chicken cacciatore, choose a wide casserole that is not too deep. Copper Kitchen For a dish that cooks for a long time like a three-hour bolognese you dont want the liquid to evaporate too quickly. More liquid allows you to cook more evenly, and reduces the risk of burning. For a dish that cooks for a shorter time, a wider dish will allow you to evaporate liquid more quickly to concentrate flavour simply by covering or removing the lid. This cacciatore only simmers for about 45 minutes, so a low, wide casserole dish is perfect for giving you space to brown the chicken and cook the soffritto, as well as providing the surface area that will allow evaporation to thicken the stew quickly without overcooking the chicken. Advertisement Sponsored Tips & adviceRoyal Agricultural Society Australias top wines: A toast to exceeding expectations Advertorial for Royal Agricultural Society Michelle Tchea September 5, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share Bordeaux, BurgundyMargaret River? When it comes to wine, Australia flies slightly under the radar, however, with a strong drinking culture, it should come as no surprise that Australia is rivalling some of the best wine-producing regions in the world and finally getting some recognition on a global stage. Australian wineries rival some of the best in the world. Supplied Early this year at the 2023 Sydney Royal Wine Show, esteemed judges sipped more than 2,200 wines from more than 350 wineries and declared a West Australian drop to be our countrys best. Among other winners was a pinot noir from Victoria, deemed best red and a Tasmanian Grand Vintage for Best Sparkling. Considered one of the most prestigious wine competitions in Australia, the Sydney Royal Wine Show gathers the creme de la creme of Australias wine producers and is seen as a testament to achievement and recognition of dedication for Aussie wine growers on a worldwide stage. Advertisement Established in 1826, the Sydney wine competition is judged blind - without branding or identification, the playing field is even and unbiased which means when a product is rewarded for excellence, it truly deserves the medal. Creme de la creme Winners can proudly enter other international competitions knowing they deserve to sit at the same table as an award-winning French Bordeaux or German Riesling. Australian wine connoisseurs are winners here. The entrants have demonstrated that not only are Australian producers delivering incredible wines, but they are doing so at reasonable price points for consumers, Sydney Royal Chair of Judges, Sarah Crowe said. This years Best Wine of Show is a fantastic example of this, Australian Chardonnays are at the top of their game and the Evans & Tate Redbrook Estate Chardonnay is delivering the highest quality at an accessible price for this level of wine. Advertisement The competition this year has excitingly exemplified a whole new wave of daring producers. Those who are perfecting their skills to produce wine blends worthy of a wine connoisseurs discerning palate what many are looking for when searching for the perfect vintage to share among friends and family. By purchasing a Sydney Royal medal-winning product, you can be sure you are supporting an Australian producer. Supplied Margaret Rivers Evan & Tate Winery is a good example of this and celebrated a few wins at the 2023 Sydney Wine Show including the AP John Coopers Perennial Trophy for Best Chardonnay and the Albert Chan Memorial Prize for Best White. The winery also took home the prestigious award Best Wine of the Show with their 2021 Redbrook Estate Chardonnay. Using fruit picked in February 2021 and bottling for almost two years, the 2021 Redbrook Chardonnay was taken to a whole different level in terms of complexity, fragrance and overall enjoyability which judges loved enough to give it the top title. A bit of Sparkle Advertisement Australian sparkling wines impressed judges too with Australias most awarded sparkling winemaker, Ed Carr, taking out the Thorp Annual Trophy for Best Sparkling White or Rose category with their 2015 House of Arras Grand Vintage. Highlighting once again that expert blending and extended maturation can lead to some excellent drops from Tasmanias cool shores. A toasty, buttery sparkling wine, aged for over a decade, proved that its complex flavours and character were simply too outstanding to not be awarded the number one spot by the Sydney Wine Shows esteemed panel of judges. Alongside chardonnay, Australia has continued to deliver world-class sparkling wine and once again, weve seen this reflected in the high medal count. Equally notable however is the rise of newer varieties to Australia such as Tempranillo, Grenache and particularly Grenache dominate blends, which were very impressive this year. Each of these classes scored about an eight per cent gold medal rating, Crowe said. Be bold with reds Advertisement Four red blends claimed trophies this year, but it was Montalto Winery from Victorias Mornington Peninsula that took home Best Red with their 2022 Pennon Hill Pinot Noir. In terms of vintage, 2022 has been an incredibly impressive year with over forty per cent of trophy winners coming from this vintage, said Crowe. The 2022 Millbrook Regional GSM took out The Dan Murphys Value Perennial Trophy for Best Value Wine, the 2022 Dune The Empty Quarter which won The Arthur Kelman Perpetual Trophy for Best Shiraz Dominate Blend, and the 2022 St Hugo Grenache Shiraz Mataro which was presented with The John Swann Perpetual Trophy for Best Other Red Blend. No matter what tickles your fancy for dinner or sunset sips, when you purchase any Sydney Royal medal-winning product you can be sure you are supporting an Australian producer and enjoying food that is not only Australian-grown but also proudly Australian-made - what more can you ask for? See all the 2023 winners and find out more about Sydney Royal at rasnsw.com.au/sydneyroyal The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox. Sign up They were too hot, too cold, and rarely fragrant. Arriving at a school on the back of a truck, and up in 90 minutes, the demountable classroom has become a long-lasting architectural tradition, a symbol of Aussie pragmatism. Few are as comfortable, though, as the three award-winning mobile classrooms designed by NSW architectural practice Betti & Knut for Sydneys German International School in Terrey Hills. They are the first in Australia to meet the international Passive House standard. Architect Knut Menden in one of three more environmentally friendly award-winning demountables built for about the same cost as the standard demountables in NSW schools. Credit: Nick Moir Theyre Goldilocks classrooms, said Ned Williams from Class 3/4. The temperature was just right. Another student said the air always felt clean and fresh, except when someone in the class farted. Then we open the doors. The first demountable was designed by the NSW government architect Ted Farmer, and installed in Kingsgrove North High School in December 1966. Today, there are 6491 demountable buildings in NSW public schools. They all have air-conditioning, and timers and motion sensors to improve their efficiency, said a spokesperson for the Department of Education. Alarmed residents in Sydneys south fear the state government will scrap a long-promised extension of The Esplanade walking track around the Cronulla peninsula after marine rescue volunteers raised safety concerns. Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, who is the Cronulla MP, wrote to residents on Friday telling them the government was preparing to dump part of the $7 million plan to extend the popular pedestrian route along the clifftops from Salmon Haul Reserve to Darook Park on Gunnamatta Bay. Shire residents worry plans to extend The Esplanade around the peninsula near popular swimming spot Salmon Haul Bay are at risk. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos The prospect of scaling back the boardwalk has incensed Speakman, locals and Sutherland Shire Council, which will hold an extraordinary meeting about the project on Monday night. The planned extension passes through the state heritage-listed former fisheries research centre at Hungry Point Reserve, a pocket of Crown land at the southernmost tip of the peninsula which Marine Rescue NSW uses as its operational headquarters and wants to convert into a $12 million training complex. Speakman said the government was considering cancelling the section of the boardwalk, which was approved, funded and ready to go to tender, between Hungry Point and Darook Park. Speakman said the shortened route would give Marine Rescue NSW exclusive access to much of the site. With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information. Tesla plans to build energy storage factory in China for exports Wang Hao, President of Tesla China, announced in an interview that the company is poised to construct an energy storage factory in China in the near future, with a primary focus on exportation. Earlier this year, Tesla announced increased investments and plans to establish an energy storage factory in Shanghai, signaling its commitment to advancing green energy solutions. BYD's Seal DM-i to hit market on September 6 BYD is gearing up for the official market launch of the Seal DM-i on September 6. This vehicle, boasting a new platform, updated interior, and enhanced smart features, brings five leading product attributes to the mid-size car market. Seal DM-i; photo credit: BYD Chinas estimated new energy passenger car wholesales reach 800,000 units in August: CPCA The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) estimates that the wholesale volume of new energy passenger vehicles by manufacturers in China will reach 800,000 units in August. This should mark a year-on-year increase of 27% and a month-on-month growth of 9%. The countrys cumulative wholesale volume for the year should reach 5.08 million units, reflecting a 39% surge from a year ago. Changan Autos Deepal brand sees 11.87% MoM jump in August deliveries On the first day of September, Deepal, the new energy vehicle brand of Changan Automobile released its August delivery figures, which showed month-over-month growth. Pre-sale of ZEEKR 001, ZEEKR X commence in Germany ZEEKR, the premium electric vehicle brand under Geely, made a significant announcement today at the IAA MOBILITY 2023, which marked the official commencement of pre-sale for its two vehicle models in Germany. Geely Automobile posts 25% YoY surge in August sales Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (Geely Automobile) saw a double-digit year-on-year growth in monthly sales in August 2023, continuing its strong performance in the automotive market. Chery Holdings August monthly sales hit new high In August, Chery Holding managed to refresh its monthly sales record with an impressive total of 171,262 vehicles sold, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 20.8%, according to the companys announcement. Leapmotor delivers 14,190 vehicles in August 2023 Chinese new energy vehicle startup Leapmotor saw a double-digit rise in its August auto deliveries compared to that of a year ago, according to its announcement on September 1. The federal government is under pressure to reveal the documents that could explain its decision to shield Qantas from greater competition, as state governments and tourism groups back calls to let overseas rivals such as Qatar Airways operate more flights. The Coalition and the Greens are demanding the disclosure in separate moves that heighten the political row over the governments decision to reject Qatar Airways request to increase its flights to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, while experts forecast a $1 billion economic gain from the extra flights. An expert estimated the decision to block the additional Qatar flights would cost the Australian economy $1 billion a year. Credit: iStock Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of a sweetheart deal with Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce and argued the decision would push up prices for Australians who wanted to travel for holidays or to see family. Why should the devil have all the best tunes? asked General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, in explaining his organisations use in the late-19th century of popular music to popularise its Christian mission. Not that I am in any way comparing Peter Dutton to Beelzebub, but this pearl of wisdom came to mind when the Yes campaign unveiled John Farnhams iconic power ballad Youre the Voice, which it hopes will drown out the chorus of negativity that has dominated so much of the referendum campaign. The newly unveiled advertisement, for which it provides the stirring sound-bed, features history on fast-forward: the 1967 referendum, supported by almost 91 per cent of the Australian people; the Mabo decision; Cathy Freemans 400 metres of reconciliation; Kevin Rudds national apology to the stolen generations, a day of solemn atonement that was so joyfully received. Spliced into the video are other high points of the national story, carefully curated to give it broad cross-party appeal. Theres prime minister John Howards gun reforms in the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre, and victory for Australia II in the 1983 Americas Cup. Broadcast through television sets that are upgraded over time, the ad shows all this history being watched from the sofa of a suburban lounge room the spiritual home of postwar Australia by a family that we see mature and multiply as the decades unfold. In a country often resistant to reform as the national stockpile of failed referendums can attest the aim presumably is to show that change is not just possible for First Nations peoples but ultimately historically inevitable. The ad invites us to get on the right side of history by voting Yes. Usually, of course, this is a genre famed for its cynicism and negativity. Perhaps the most infamous ad was aired in 1964, when the Lyndon Johnson campaign sought to highlight the extremism of the Republican presidential nominee, Barry Goldwater, by portraying a young girl plucking the petals off a daisy while a mission-control-style countdown continued ominously in the background which ended in an atomic explosion. Prominent No campaigner and Indigenous leader Nyunggai Warren Mundine is shaping as the front runner to replace moderate senator Marise Payne when she retires from politics, with powerbrokers hoping the former ALP president can unite the conservative wing of the Liberal Party. With Liberal MPs anticipating Payne, a senator for NSW and the former foreign minister, will exit politics in the coming months, Mundine did not rule out the prospect of running for the vacancy when contacted by this masthead. Nyunggai Warren Mundine looms as the frontrunner should Marise Payne quit the Senate. Credit: Trevor Collens After serving as president of the ALP for six years until 2012, Mundines political fortunes have soared as the No campaign has established a commanding lead ahead of the October 14 referendum to establish a Voice to parliament. With nearly two-thirds of Liberal voters backing the No vote, Mundines advocacy against the Voice alongside Country Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has won him plaudits among Coalition MPs and supporters. We want to assure the community that all patients are supported and monitored as they wait, the spokesman said. There will be no quick fix for the growing problem of ambulance ramping. On Monday, Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas called on the federal government to step up and play its role in addressing the drivers of the problem, while federal Health Minister Mark Butler said his government was already embarking on a series of reforms after nine long years of cuts and neglect by the former government. Heart Foundation chief medical adviser Professor Garry Jennings said every minute counted when it came to treating a heart attack or stroke. Loading For heart attack, every minute treatment is delayed means more heart muscle is lost, he said. For stroke, more brain cells are lost. Jennings said an hour delay could be the difference between someone having a normal quality of life or a long-term disability. Ramping is time wasted both for the health professionals and for those people who need urgent procedures, he said. It is of particular concern if ramping comes to be seen as a normal part of health care. He said guidelines recommend that electrocardiogram monitoring, which now takes place in many ambulances, should begin within 10 minutes of first being seen. Blood tests and a presumptive diagnosis should commence within an hour followed by immediate treatment, if necessary, to remove blocked arteries with medications or a procedure. A patient arrives at the Northern Hospital in Melbourne, where the ambulance waiting bay is often busy or full. Credit: Luis Enrique Research released last year by Ambulance Victoria, Monash University, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Alfred Health and the Baker Heart Research Institute showed that patients with chest pain faced a higher risk of dying within 30 days if it took longer than 17 minutes for an ambulance to offload them to a hospital. However, several paramedics recalled instances where patients showing signs of a heart attack or stroke waited at least an hour to be admitted. Two young paramedics at Sunshine Hospital last week said they had just waited about 90 minutes to offload a category-one patient who they suspected might have had a stroke. The pair, who are not authorised to speak publicly, said that instead of being sent straight for a CT scan, their agitated patient was assessed by the hospitals stroke team on a stretcher in front of about 10 other patients also waiting for a bed. A veteran emergency department doctor, Professor Peter Cameron, said while most ambulance patients with clear and serious problems were quickly admitted to hospital, it was not always the case for people with less-obvious ailments that required a doctor to examine them and take a detailed history. That part of it is virtually impossible to do in a corridor, said Cameron, a senior member of Monash Universitys School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. So you will miss subtle presentations of heart attacks, strokes, sepsis, and things that kill people, or maim people by delayed diagnosis. Loading Cameron joined the calls for a redesign of how people access medical care in Australia, so patients no longer had to go to emergency departments with chronic and other illnesses that would be better managed by a GP or other specialists. The problem were dealing with now is that the emergency department is basically the only funnel through which sick people can get care, especially after hours, which is about three-quarters of the week. Thomas said resolving hospital bed block a key driver of ambulance ramping depended on reforms in areas overseen by the federal government, not the Victorian government. At any given time in our hospital systems, well have more than 300 people (thats almost a whole hospital) who are medically well and fit to be discharged, but there is nowhere suitable for them to be discharged to, the Victorian health minister said. This is as a consequence of [National Disability Insurance Scheme] packages not being developed and approved within time. This is a consequence of people in our community losing confidence in the private aged care system. Butler, meanwhile, outlined the work the Albanese government had done to address growing problems with GP access and affordability, issues also worsening emergency department overcrowding. Our historic investments in Medicare will triple the bulk billing incentive the largest increase to the incentive in the 40-year history of Medicare, Butler said. State opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said Victorias ambulance ramping crisis exposed the Andrews governments mismanagement and would worsen because of the state governments decision to impose a payroll tax on GPs. Loading As Pattison was leaving the Monash Medical Centre in February, said she saw at least six other ambulances ramped out the front. She said she cannot fault the care for her heart attack she received from paramedics, nurses and doctors, but said they were constrained by a shortage of beds. Paramedics are standing in corridors in hospital, twiddling their thumbs when they could be out, she said. People have died as a result of ambulance delays, thank God I wasnt one of them. Those poor families and those poor paramedics deserve better. Western Australias controversial prescribed burning program has come into the sights of the environmental watchdog, which has cast doubt over its effectiveness and urged the Cook government to conduct an independent scientific review. The Environmental Protection Authority also wants a cap on the number of hectares of forest in the states Perth, Peel and South West burnt under the program. WAs prescribed burning program is in the regulators sights. The authoritys recommendations were contained in its assessment of the governments proposed 2024-33 Forest Management Plan, which outlined future uses and activities in about 2.5 million hectares of state forest. Prescribed burning is a polarising issue in WA, divided by those concerned about its impact on the environment and human health and those, including the government, who say it protects lives and property by reducing bush fuel loads and, subsequently, the intensity of bushfires in summer. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is to halve the $311 daily fee it charges tourists in an effort to boost a sector still struggling to recover a year after the end of COVID-19 restrictions. August 29, 2023 I was interested to read Anthony Denniss recent review of The Interlude Hotel in Melbournes Coburg in Traveller. The hotel is part of a conversion of the notorious 170-year-old HMS Pentridge Prison, which many Melbourne children would tell you was the scary turreted place parents drove past to warn you off a life of crime, if you chose to go in that direction. Rooms at the Interlude Hotel have been converted from five prison cells. Now its an upscale hotel with rooms converted from prison cells, featuring marble bathrooms, luxurious furnishings and a lap pool. But can a building ever shake off its sinister history? Some travellers would be happy if it didnt. These are the dark tourists, who actively seek out holiday destinations that have a tragic or unhappy past. As Fayed was successful in business, he gravitated towards the UK. But with every step he made towards the establishment, the establishment hit back. It didnt matter that he bought Turnbull & Asser or Harrods or Fulham FC. He was everything the British upper classes are taught to mistrust: an arriviste foreigner with a fortune made in murky circumstances, a wheeler-dealer with an accent. They never let him forget it. He seemed very superficial, says Angela Levin, a royal biographer who met Fayed when she was working on a book about Max Clifford. He obviously wasnt, because he made millions. But he wasnt someone youd have a good conversation with because he would be doing all the talking and know what he wanted, and wasnt interested in your view. He was obsessed with being accepted by the establishment. Sally Bedell Smith, a biographer of Diana He moved to the UK permanently in 1974, when he added the al to his surname to imply aristocratic origins, a decision met with mockery by Private Eye. They called him the Phoney Pharaoh, ratcheting up an exchange of words and writs that would continue for the rest of his life, and even cause him to relaunch Punch magazine to fight back. Five years later, he bought the Ritz in Paris with his brother, Ali. Six years after that, in 1985, he pipped Tiny Rowlands Lonhro group to buy House of Fraser, the retail chain which included Harrods. For a street trader from Alexandria, nothing could be more prestigious. Mohammed al-Fayed with Princess Diana at the polo in 1987. Credit: Archives When the Department of Trade and Industry reported on the ensuing row with Rowland, they found that Fayed had lied about his wealth. He never escaped rumours of crookedness. But with Harrods, he acquired the most prestigious shop in the world, somewhere the royals were known to frequent. The late Queen had shopped there. Diana had gone when pregnant with Prince William. Owning it was an opportunity to ply favoured customers like Diana and her family with gifts. He was really trying to get close to Diana and thought that would be a kind way to do that, Levin says. He went after her because she was so beautiful and loved by so many people around the world. I expect he thought he could get a bit of that magic. Sally Bedell Smith, a biographer of Diana, agrees. He was obsessed with being accepted by the establishment, she says, and the monarchy was the top of the establishment. He came from nowhere, he invented things about his background, he added an aristocratic Al to his name. He was obviously a shrewd businessman, in ways that may have been murky, but I think, while he attained certain status as the owner of the Ritz and Fulham and Harrods, he wanted to be accepted. But he was very rough around the edges. He was profane. I dont think racism came into it. He just had a bad reputation for his business dealings. Harrods wasnt his only move towards the royals. He sponsored the Royal Windsor Horse Show, which meant opportunities to be photographed alongside Elizabeth II. The episode was fictionalised in an episode of The Crown that focused entirely on his life. He went for the really big things, which werent so much about money, but about being part of the circle, says Levin. He did everything he possibly could, but he didnt appeal to them. Loading She says his actions after Diana and Dodi died reflected the bitterness of a man who had been spurned. He wanted to be part of the royal family, and when he wasnt he tried to get revenge. He decided that Prince Philip ordered for [Dodi and Diana] to be killed, because he felt that he didnt want Diana to marry his son. He went on about this for years, which I thought was too terrible for words. There was enough agony about his son and Diana, but to pretend a great man like Prince Philip would stoop to that level was disgusting. I think he jumped to conclusions that the relationship Diana had with his son was more important than it actually was, adds Levin. She was a lost soul at the time. Fayed never escaped the reputation of financial impropriety, nor the rumours of sexual harassment never proved which gathered around him in his later years. The cash-for-questions scandal in the mid-1990s, when it emerged Fayed had paid Tory MPs to ask questions in Parliament, seemed to confirm the worst view of him. When he was repeatedly denied a passport on the grounds of not being a fit and proper person, few disagreed. For Spender, the passport situation was another occasion when Fayed was treated unfairly. He was very generous and passionate about everything to do with children, she says. Look at the charitable work he did, and the childrens hospitals. He wasnt asking that much. Lots of other people get British citizenship. He was being ignored. Loading The closer Mohamed Fayed got to the highest echelons of British society, the more they eluded him. His money bought him a level of access, but true membership of the circles in which he mixed was not for sale, or at least not to him. It must have stung. For all Fayeds cash and connections and obsequious manner, he was met by the establishment not with anger but something much colder: indifference. The Telegraph, London Aboard the Papal Plane: Pope Francis acknowledged that his recent comments on Russia, seen by Ukraine as praise for imperialism, were badly phrased and said his intention was to remind young Russians of a great cultural heritage and not a political one. Speaking to reporters aboard the plane returning from Mongolia on Monday, Francis also said he wanted to assure China, with which the Vatican has difficult relations, that the Catholic Church has no ulterior motives and should not be seen as a foreign power. Pope Francis has admitted his comments on Russias empire werent well-thought-out. Credit: AP I was not thinking of imperialism when I said that, Francis said about his comments last month. In unscripted remarks to young Russian Catholics in a video conference on August 25, Francis spoke of past tsars Peter I and Catherine II - both of whom expanded Russian territory - and told his listeners they were the heirs of the great Russian empire. Sedona Film Festival partners with Theatrikos Theatre Company for Movies in Flagstaff with "Mending the Line" on screen Wednesday, Sept. 6 This series continues with the Flagstaff premiere of Mending the Line at 7 p.m. at Theatrikos Theatre Company. Mending the Line features an all-star ensemble cast, including Brian Cox, Sinqua Walls, Perry Mattfeld and Chris Galust, with Patricia Heaton and Wes Studi. For some, the path starts on the river. Mending the Line is a story about finding something to make living worthwhile. John Colter, a wounded veteran, returns to the United States still carrying the demons of war, hauntingly disturbed by the everyday expectations of friendships and love interests. In Livingston, Montana, he meets Ike, a surly, headstrong fly fisherman more than twice his age, and Lucy, a talented photographer-turned-librarian who reads aloud to veterans -- both damaged in their own way. While getting treatment for his wounds, both physical and psychological, Colter wants only to re-enlist, to have something to die for. But the real challenge is finding something for which to live. Emotionally honest deserves a wide audience. A thoughtful look at how we heal. Film Authority A story of hope. Military Times One of the best movies Ive seen this year. JackieCooper.com Tickets are $12 general admission, $9 for Film Festival members and $10 for students. For tickets and more information, please call 928-282-1177. Tickets can also be ordered in advance online at www.SedonaFilmFestival.org. New York: Elon Musk is blaming the Anti-Defamation League for a slump in US advertising revenue on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Ad sales are still down 60 per cent primarily due to pressure on advertisers mounted by the ADL, Musk said in a series of posts on Monday. Elon Musk, chief executive officer of X. Credit: Bloomberg The non-profit organisation has been trying to kill the platform since he bought it last year, by falsely accusing it and him of being antisemitic, he said, adding that legal action was one possible option if it persisted with its accusations. Musk said he was pro free speech but against antisemitism of any kind. PHILIPSBURG:--- At the October 27th-28th 2023 St. Maarten Innovations, Initiatives and Industries Link-Up Event (SMILE), smart energy solutions company Dynaf will provide both a keynote and demonstration that the Future Is Electric. This was announced today in conjunction with the event main organizer, the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA). Dynaf Group aims to become a market leader in Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in the Caribbean Region. Dynafs company strategy is to continuously meet requirements of the developing energy landscape and the needs of customers, enhancing a more sustainable environment in the process. Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular. With it grows the demand for easy charging solutions. Dynaf already has 42 available D-POINT charging stations in the Caribbean area, processing 41,203+ charging transactions and delivering a total of 304,000+ Kilowatt Hours (KWh). In conjunction with TUI, one of the worlds largest tour operators, Dynaf will place 55 extra D-POINTS this year in Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Dynaf will have a Commercial and residential D-point on display at SMILE this year at the University St Martin Campus in Philipsburg. D-POINTS are not just part of the global energy transition but form a source of income for persons hosting one on their land. During SMILE, Kris Bouwstra, Chief Commercial Officer of Dynaf Group, will share more information about managing one of the charging stations. SMILE will be providing free connection to the D-POINT network; electric cars will be available for free test rides for those who are 18 or older and have a valid drivers license. SMILE 2023 will be the fourth iteration. Taking place on October 27th and 28th, 2023, SMILE will provide a platform for industry leaders to explore innovative and sustainable solutions at the University of Saint Martin, whilst networking in the process. SMILE 2023s main theme will be Making Your Business Future Proof. Speakers will be, amongst others, Tyrell Pantophlet (St. Maarten / Netherlands), James Ellsmoor of Islands Innovation (Portugal) former Chief Technology Officer of President Obama, Meghan Smith and Susan Alzner of the United Nations (Both US). Apart from Dynaf, SHTA thanks Grant Thornton St. Maarten; The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth & Sport (MECYS) and Recruit a Student; the Bureau of Intellectual Property; Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten and the University of St. Martin, for supporting SMILEs fourth edition. For more information and registration for the event visit SMILEsintmaarten.com or call +1 721 542 0108. Westward Gold Announces Nevada Carlin Expert Robert Edie As Incoming VP Exploration As Westward Gold Inc. (WG.CSE) is looking to expand, in order to be able to attract more financing, they are also building on their team, and the most recent hire reflects this in spades according to management. Incoming VP Exploration Robert Edie will be stepping up to the plate at the end of September, while transitioning to this position effective immediately. Outgoing VP Exploration David Browning accepted a CEO role with another company, and will be instrumental in Roberta?s transitioning, and transferring as much knowledge and experience as possible. As an expert in Nevada Carlin deposits, Mr. Edie will have his work cut out for him, as not only an exploration strategy for flagship Toiyabe is being designed at the moment, but Westwarda?s management team is also looking at acquisitions to grow its asset portfolio and market cap. His experience will be invaluable when assisting in vetting new acquisitions, fitting them into his preferred exploration strategies. A A All pictures are company material, unless stated otherwise. All currencies are in US Dollars, unless stated otherwise. Please note: the views, opinions, estimates, forecasts or predictions regarding Westward Golda?s resource potential are those of the author alone and do not represent views, opinions, estimates, forecasts or predictions of Westward or Westwarda?s management. Westward Gold has not in any way endorsed the views, opinions, estimates, forecasts or predictions provided by the author. After closing an oversubscribed non-brokered C$1M financing almost a month ago, with big names like Bill Sherriff, Terry Salman, a Mining Hall of Famer and ahigh up executives at First Majestic Silvera participating, Westward management has been busy planning further exploration at Toiyabe, and looking at M&A. As a reminder, the proceeds of the financing are assigned to a. follow-up work from the recent diamond drilling at its flagship Toiyabe Project (about C$500k), b. to advance potential accretive M&A opportunities (about C$400k) in order to grow and be able to attract more capital, and c. for general working capital purposes, including upcoming annual BLM claim maintenance fees (C$125k). An exploration update can be expected around early September, in a nutshell according to management the company is planning to conduct lower cost exploration programs to further define targets, host site visits for major gold producers, and explore creative strategies to fund further drilling (ie. strategic investment from a major, exploration partnership, or potential JV if the terms are right). As incoming VP Exploration Robert Edie will be responsible for all exploration initiatives from now on, it will be interesting to delve a bit more into his background. Mr. Edie has worked as a geologist in Nevada for 13 years, developing an expertise in the discovery and development of Carlin-type gold deposits. He is also an experienced leader, having most recently held the position of Exploration Manager at the Jerritt Canyon Gold Mine from 2020 to 2023. Mr. Edie was also formerly Project Manager of the Dark Star gold deposit for Gold Standard Ventures from 2015 to 2017, during which time the company achieved impressive exploration successes and delivered significant value to its shareholders. During his tenure, Gold Standard achieved a $1B market capitalization at its peak for the discovery of several million ounces on the Carlin trend, just 60km east of Westwarda?s projects. Following the transition, Mr. Edie will be responsible for managing all of the companya?s ongoing interests in Nevada, and will be supported by Westwarda?s Nevada expert Technical Advisory Committee. This includes Lead Technical Advisor Mr. Steven Koehler, who worked closely with Robert during his tenure at Gold Standard Ventures. His experience includes greenfield, brownfield, and near-mine exploration from both surface and underground, working in sediment-hosted gold, epithermal gold, and iron-oxide-copper-gold systems. Mr. Edie is a Professional Geologist and holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from San Diego State University. He noted: aI am thrilled to be joining the team at Westward Gold and for the opportunity to bring my exploration experience to their highly-prospective projects in elephant country. Just a stonea?s throw away from the Cortez Complex, I believe Toiyabe, Turquoise Canyon, and East Saddle have the strong potential to develop into a multi-million-ounce economic gold district.a It is good to see Robert Edie coming in, with lots of experience in Nevada exploration during deposit delineation and production. According to management he came highly recommended, and they are very happy with the new addition. They were also very sorry to see David Browning go, but were able to act quickly when they heard of Davida?s plans, as higher ups from First Majestic Silver (who are large shareholders) pointed Robert Edie in the direction of Westward management. As a reminder, Carlin expert and Technical Advisor Koehler thinks Toiyabe could be hosting a significant deposit, as he noticed several similarities with the early stage discovery of the multi-million ounce Cortez Hills and Leeville deposits. According to him, there are compressional tectonics, favorable lower plate carbonate host rocks, pervasive vertical alteration of these rocks combined with extensive oxidation at depth, and of course there is already some gold mineralization. He thinks the hydrothermally altered SSD Zone extends and strengthens to the northeast, and this is where further drilling will focus, preferably widely-spaced step-out drilling, for which permits are already in hand. Koehler also commented: aThe recognition of gold in upper plate rocks above or outboard from gold mineralization in lower plate carbonate rocks in T2301 is reminiscent of geologic patterns in the Carlin Trend north area a especially those gold deposits down-dip from the Carlin and Pete open-pit deposits. The down-dip continuation of the SSD Zone a and its association with favorable carbonate stratigraphy and compressional tectonic features a is similar to the setting of deeper deposits discovered on the Carlin and Cortez Trends.a Lots of step-out drilling needs to be completed to establish the stratigraphy here. It also needs to be noted that existing large deposits (owned by the likes of Barrick and NGM) start around 200-550m below surface, and extend to 1,200m of depth as mentioned. NGM seems to be on the same kind of exploration track with the Swift Project of Ridgeline Minerals, committing to a US$30M earn-in after some results that were hardly comparable to the ones Westward generated recently. As Toiyabe seems to have the same features, Westward management isna?t done exploring yet. Conclusion It was good to see Westward finding another VP Exploration shortly after David Browning announced internally he would be leaving for another position. And a worthy replacement it is, with Robert Edie having worked on various Nevada-Carlin style deposits, before and during production. I am curious what Mr. Edie can bring to the table, as Westward is actively looking for new acquisitions on the Carlin Trend, and is designing a new drill program at Toiyabe. They are cashed up and ready to go. Stay tuned! I hope you will find this article interesting and useful, and will have further interest in my upcoming articles on mining. To never miss a thing, please subscribe to my free newsletter at www.criticalinvestor.eu, in order to get an email notice of my new articles soon after they are published. Disclaimer: The author is not a registered investment advisor, and currently has a long position in this stock. Westward Gold is a sponsoring company. All facts are to be checked by the reader. For more information go to www.westwardgold.com and read the companya?s profile andA official documents onA www.sedar.com, alsoA for important risk disclosures. This article is provided for information purposes only, and is not intended to be investment advice of any kind, and all readers are encouraged to do their own due diligence, and talk to their own licensed investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions. Trust culture in the company From Uwe Rotermund Trust is more than a concept or an attitude; it must be actively built and cultivated. Most institutions address the great importance of trust between employees and with customers in their mission or vision statements. Few, however, have defined the cultivation of a culture of trust as a process and a management task. In his article, Uwe Rotermund makes the case for treating trust consistently as a management task and pursuing it systematically and sustainably. Trust is a process Trust is the beginning of everything, as the saying goes. In fact, in describing a recipe for breaking out of the complexity trapA A in my book, I also chose the ingredient \trust\ as the basis for the other 7 ingredients \responsibility,\ \decisions,\ \agility,\ \mission statement,\ \performance orientation,\ \information,\ and \role clarity\ that build on it. Almost every company will have mentioned the term trust in their mission statement or values and vision statements. However, naming and defining this substantial value is only the beginning of a multifaceted process to establish corresponding structures and routines. Postulating trust is a necessary \nobrainer\; systematically establishing and managing trust is one of the most challenging and important leadership tasks in an organizational culture. Performance orientation is an intrinsic motivator Frederic Laloux\-s masterpiece \Re-Inventing Organizations\ describes how modern organizations organize and manage themselves. Laloux focuses on meaningfulness, wholeness and autonomy. From my entrepreneurial experience, I like to add performance orientation as an intrinsic (!) motivator. With the aspect of autonomy, we have already arrived at the question of trust. Autonomy and self-organized work can only succeed in a trusting environment. A motivating performance culture can also only develop in the trust that employees want to perform because it is worthwhile for them and not just financially. After all, performing well and receiving appreciation for it is a basic need for many people. In the industrial and administrative culture, this has often been corrupted by extrinsic performance incentives. Read in the complete article in nc360A, the newsplatform of noventum consulting Trust is a practice Measure trust management Motivating employees to provide feedback noventum consulting GmbH is an international IT management consultancy. Founded in 1996 in MAnster, today noventum is represented in MAnster and DAsseldorf with more than 100 employees. An independent noventum partner company works in Luxembourg. The managing partner is Uwe Rotermund. noventum consulting supports its customers in their IT challenges and in their efforts for a modern corporate culture. Customers are DAX companies as well as medium-sized companies and organizations with a large IT infrastructure. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi. With President Xi not attending, it would mean that two heads of states would not be attending the G-20 summit as Russian President Putin is also not attending the meeting. While BRICS is dynamic and evolving, the G-20, which grew out of the G-7, will lose its sheen gradually. Does the G20 still matters? This new agreement and new contracts are testament to Woods role as a trusted technical partner to the energy companies of the future, where our priority is to help our clients deliver the energy the world needs and be able to transition to a low carbon future. Now she has been given a real department to shadow, with policy to develop, Angela Rayner would begin to show that, in fact, she is not quite the Left-wing leviathan business audiences sometimes suggest. It always makes sense in the Labour party to court the Left when you are running for office. But it was Rayner, remember, who said she owed a great deal to Tony Blair at a time when Labour politicians were not falling over themselves to commemorate their most successful former leader. Rayner too was a good shadow education secretary who showed deft political skill and some courage in taking Labour away from being over-dependent on the teaching unions. Lisa Nandy will now move on from Levelling Up but a government in waiting needs people who can handle a hostile media round and Nandy has become one of Labours more accomplished performers. As shadow on international development, she has kept her place round the table. Now, Im not sure what kind of old movies Harry and Meghan watch in their TV room in their Montecito mansion, when theyve put the kids to bed and perhaps start thinking about playing fisticuffs with a bottle or two of Shouty Angel, but having done my fair share of late night TV scrolling in the US, Superman II does seem to be scheduled more than you might think. Manys the night Ive seen Margot Kidders Lane look disappointed that her hero can no longer send opponents into outer space with a single punch; manys the night Ive seen Harry (sorry, Clark Kent) rue the day he gave up his superpowers and his fancy outfit. It is back to school day across the country or it ought to be. Instead, pupils at 104 schools and colleges, eight of them in London, face serious disruption after full and partial closures of the buildings they use over fears about a catastrophic collapse of the concrete used in construction. At any time this would be disastrous, but at the start of the academic term and after years of severe Covid disruption it is unacceptable. Its a bit of cliche to insist that a certain band or record sounds unlike anything else, but in their case that feels genuinely true. The group have described their sound as feeling similar to switching between all of the open tabs of your computer. Indeed, the songs on I Love You, Jennifer B shift from the huge, Fatboy Slim-style piano pounds of Greatest Hits and Concrete Waters mangled bursts of Walt Disney strings, to the uneasy, spiky guitar interplay of Lancaster Court, which sounds a little like the Louisville post-rock band Slint playing Medieval folk. As I say, unlike anything else. But today, a new flock of Gen Z customers have made his name buzz about town again. Its great because I have the offspring of these well known Sixties bands, he says. The shape or the buttons might change, but there will always be a suit. Its quite a pleasure and I think younger people get pleasure out of them. This dapper-dressed vanguard is led by Sonny Hall, 25, the model, poet and a great ambassador, Pearse says. I met John through our mutual friend Adwoa Aboah, five years ago, Hall tells me. I was instantly taken by his magical way I would regularly visit him and stop by to talk. I now see John as family. A trickster in his trade, and intuitively gifted. And what makes him unique? I felt instantly seen by John. He knew exactly what eccentricities needed to be honoured or explored. The man, aged in his early 30s, fell from height at the block of flats and died at the scene, the Met said on Monday. His next of kin have been informed. Donald Trump Photo:VCG (Global Times) US President Joe Biden will embark on a visit to India and Vietnam this week. It can be expected that strengthening the relationship between the US and Asian countries, with China as the target, is an important purpose of this visit. However, whether the US' strategic approach toward China will go far and whether decoupling is soft or hard ultimately depend on US domestic politics. As the election year approaches, the spotlight on this political drama in the US has turned to Donald Trump. The polarization of American politics has intensified, and the right-wing and anti-China factions continue to increase public opinion pressure. Next year is not only an election year but also a year of judgment for a former president competing for the presidency. The trial date for Trump's alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election is scheduled for March 4, 2024. Super Tuesday will take place on March 5, when Republican voters in more than a dozen states will vote to elect the party's presidential candidate. The trial will affect Trump's prospects for his reelection campaign. However, after recent prosecutions against Trump, his support grew in numbers and strength, making his foundation among Republican primary voters more solid. Although Trump has obvious political advantages within the Republican Party, he also confronts significant judicial hurdles. The trial of Trump and 18 other defendants in Georgia will be broadcast live on the internet. American politicians from both parties are using and even exacerbating the polarization of voters to expand their political influence. Therefore, the debate over US foreign policy, including the China policy, has become more intense in this fierce confrontation. On July 25, the Foreign Affairs magazine published a lengthy commentary titled "The Case for a Hard Break with China," which had a very strong tone. "Hard break" refers to comprehensive decoupling. Just recently, Trump stated that if he were to be elected, he would impose a universal 10 percent baseline tariff for imports into the US. Some Republican presidential candidates have spoken up, demanding the revocation of China's permanent normal trade relations status. On August 31, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch supporter of Trump, asserted in a public event that the rise of BRICS nations was "devastating" for the US, making the US dollar get weaker and Americans go broke. Clearly, there is a possibility that the US could slide toward becoming a more closed and right-wing nation. The headline of The Wall Street Journal's report on August 28 is "The World Is Contemplating a Second Trump Administration." The report stated that although the US presidential election is more than a year away, allies and adversaries around the world have already begun to contemplate - and even plan for - the return of Trump to the White House. The polarization of the US' politics will inevitably exacerbate the country's extreme China policy. Even if Trump is not reelected, his Republican successor is unlikely to change this dynamic and will likely continue down the right-wing path that Trump has set, or else risk losing the support of the grassroots voters. Three years ago, Trump likened himself to a king in a tweet and cited the US philosopher and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, warning, "When you strike at the king, you must kill him." Most people interpret this statement as if you don't succeed in killing the king, you will eventually face retribution from the king. If Trump's competitors cannot defeat him decisively, they must consider what his resurgence would mean. This applies equally to leaders worldwide: American domestic politics will determine how Washington's foreign policy changes. Police have not yet confirmed whether the victim is thought to be known to the suspect. But Lord Justice Holroyde said: Taking the remarks collectively, we are satisfied that they could not have caused any juror to feel under any pressure to compromise his or her oath, and they do not render the conviction unsafe. Steven Hornsby, 53, who was arrested in Essex, also made no plea or declaration to charges of conspiracy and attempting to defeat the ends of justice. A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder, and a 33-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, Scotland Yard confirmed on Monday morning. They remained in police custody. A man was assaulted, spat at and racially abused by a woman as he tried to break up a disagreement she was having with a shop worker in south-east London. I am 100% sure this was a planned attack to some degree to do with drug dealing. It is a mystery as to quite whether it was (over) debt or territory because no one has told the truth about it. Im satisfied (Adeoye) was out and about with a knife acting as an enforcer. Ms Keegan said the trip to Spain - where she reportedly owns property in Madrid and Marbella - was her first opportunity to go on holiday this summer after dealing with striking teachers, as well as GCSE and A-level results. Asthma attacks usually spike when children return to school after the summer holidays as pupils are more exposed to colds, viruses or dust mites in a school setting. Children may also fall out of their usual preventer inhaler routines over the summer break, leaving them more vulnerable to an asthma attack when they return to school. The NHS and the Government have selected these groups because Covid affects older people and those with underlying health conditions more seriously. In addition, if you have not yet had either of your first two doses of the vaccine (or a third dose for those with a weakened immune system), you can also have the autumn booster to catch up to recommended levels. The variant has sparked concern among scientists due to its high number of mutations. Last week, the Department of Health said that booster vaccinations would be brought forward to September 11 to combat the spread of BA.2.86. It had not been due to start until October. Editor's note: The Gazettes Stories of Honor series is supported by MasterLube and AARP. Just as the Vietnam War was heating up, a teenaged William Doyle figured hed enlist before he got drafted. It was early 1964 and the Army was drafting guys straight into combat ground units, and it wasnt pretty, said Doyle, who is now 78 and lives in a tidy house with a well-groomed cat on the far west end of Billings. Doyle had come from a long line of Navy aviators, so he tried there first. At one Navy recruiting station they offered him a spot on a nuclear submarine. They said, Well send you to nuke school and then we'll put you on a sub, he said. But, I wasnt interested in that at all. It wasnt to word nuclear that put him off, or submarine. It was school. Hed been a poor student and hated school, and dropped out as soon as he could. So, he went to another Navy recruiter where he mentioned his father had been a Navy combat pilot. Whos your father? they asked me. I said, hes Capt. Thurlow G. Doyle. And, they said, The Capt. Doyle? I said, yes, sir. They said, Well send you anywhere in the Navy you want to go. On his placement test, Doyle said he got OK marks, "but not too OK. Remember, I hated school." But, he still wanted to be around airplanes so they assigned him to an aircraft carrier. The Capt. Doyle was a WWII fighter pilot, winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross, along with a campaign medal with three bronze stars, a service medal with a bronze star, a national service medal with a bronze star, and a long list of other medals. Capt. Doyle, who was born in Wyola and died in 1970, was a member of the Crow Tribe and is among the most decorated members ever from that tribe. And, thats saying something. The Crow have produced many generations of valiant and decorated warriors. Bill Doyle spends a considerable amount of time listing members of his Crow family who have done their part: Thomas Doyle, a Marine, and John Doyle, an Army soldier, plus Lawrence, Bergest, Joseph, John and Duwayne, and many other Doyles. There was a Doyle in the Civil War, and a Doyle who during WWI used his sisters birth certificate to enlist because at age 16 he was too young. A favorite family story is the story of Raymond Doyle who tried to join the Army Air Corps during WWII but was rejected because he was Indian. He said, screw you guys and went up to Saskatoon where he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained as a fighter pilot, Doyle said. Raymond later flew for the British and when the U.S joined WWII, the Army Air Corps decided Raymond was a good enough Indian and they had his butt transferred back to the U.S. to fly for them. Bill Doyle said the list of his family members, and the list of family members who served, is pretty much the same list. We had to go into the military. It was bred into us, he said. During his combat tours in Vietnam, Doyle fueled planes on the deck of the U.S.S. Oriskany. It was dangerous work. One jet landing on deck snagged a dud missile in the arresting gear and the missile hit a man Doyle was standing next to in the shoulder. It was also tiring work, with long shifts and little sleep in tight quarters for weeks at sea. And, Doyle loved it. Despite the perils of three combat tours, he was never actually shot at. But, he was shot at after the war when he served as a cop for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. On a reservation in Nevada, a gang of teenagers had robbed a hotel and when Doyle went after them one of the kids fired three shots at him. One of those bullets came about this far from my head, Doyle said, holding his hand about 10 inches from his ear. Another one of the slugs entered a home where it ricochet around and landed on the kitchen table. Ive seen some action, I can tell you that, he said with a little chuckle. Think tank Demos and Ms Mills on Monday published a report which is calling on the NHS to put in place Martha's rule, which would allow patients or their loved ones to request a review from a separate team of clinicians if they feel they are not being heard or responded to. An NHS spokesman said: All patients and families are able to seek a second opinion if they have concerns about their care and, as professional guidance for doctors in England sets out, it is essential that any patients wishes to seek a second opinion are respected. She wrote: You made clear that you do not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour Cabinet, which is why I told you many weeks ago that I would not be able to continue in this role. Several road closured have been put in place that are likely to cause significant disruption, including to bus routes in the Stamford Hill, Clapton Common area, said the Met in its X post. TfL have been made aware. Bus travel over the three-day weekend saw a near 10 per cent increase on the equivalent period last year, with Tube journeys seeing a six per cent increase - though both were still slightly below 2019 levels. For the warm spell to be registered as an official heatwave, temperatures need to remain high for three days, with thresholds of 25C or higher, or in warmer regions, 28C or more, according to the Met Office. McTernan spoke of the betrayal of David Cameron and George Osborne, who said were all in it together, and then absolutely made sure it was people on benefits who suffered. Cavendish, who was made a Baroness by Cameron when he resigned in 2016, interrupted: They actually raised taxes on the rich far more than Tony Blair did. I had the respect not to heckle you, shot back McTernan, to the amusement of the audience. In the clearest terms, he was going to make her position difficult and frustrate her role as the newly appointed chief whip, all as revenge for his perception that she had denied him (and others) a ticket to the Queens funeral because he was not a prime minister Truss supporter. "And instead of coming out today and saying, 'This is what we're going to do to fix the problem, which we have made a lot worse', you've got members of the Cabinet coming out trying to blame other people, trying to blame people within their own teams and to say, essentially, 'Put responsibility anywhere but on the Government'. She said Mr Sunak bears huge culpability for his role in this debacle, adding: Ministers need to come clean about the number of schools affected, what they knew, and when they knew, about the risks posed by Raac so that parents can be reassured their children are safe at school. Tokyo should heed concerns of world 08:37, September 04, 2023 By China Daily editorial ( Chinadaily.com.cn People gather to protest the Japanese government's decision to start releasing nuclear-contaminated wastewater in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Aug 22, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] According to Tokyo Electric Power Company, which has been discharging the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant since Aug 24, tritium was detected in the sea near the plant on Thursday. Since the density was far below its own preset safety standard, it says there is no need for it to stop releasing the toxic wastewater into the ocean. Meanwhile, a Japanese civic group that opposes the discharge filed a complaint on Thursday against the Japanese prime minister and the president of TEPCO, saying the consequences of dumping the toxic water into the ocean may be extremely serious. The dispute between Japan and China over the issue continues, with Beijing strongly condemning the release and Tokyo staunchly defending it. It is absurd that the Japanese government has accused its Chinese counterpart of sensationalizing the matter, asking the latter to recall its decision on a blanket ban on Japanese seafood, as if China should choose to ignore the environmental impacts of Japan's selfish move that will last 30 years. There is even talk of it making a complaint at the World Trade Organization against the Chinese decision. The Chinese government, as it said in its notice to the WTO, has every right to defend its move as an "emergency measure" to effectively protect its people's lives and health, and completely suppress corresponding risks, arguing the discharge will bring uncontrollable risks to public health and food safety. It is ridiculous that Tokyo has kept a studied silence over the fact that it is the US that has seen the largest decline of imports of Japanese food over the past eight months among all countries. Beijing certainly isn't the only one opposing Tokyo's move. And, as a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, it should be made clear that the disposal of the nuclear-contaminated water is not Japan's domestic affair and not only an issue between certain countries. By polluting the ocean in this way, Japan is harming the environment and posing a risk to the health of humanity. "On this major issue, what Japan needs to face is not a single country, but the whole international community." Beijing has consistently demanded the Japanese side demonstrate full transparency and address neighboring countries' concerns. This is important not only because of the huge volume of the discharge and the hard-to-predict consequences, but also because of the subsequent damage it may do to related industries. Tokyo insists on using the term "treated water" to downplay the risks. But as Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Nomura Tetsuro let slip, the water being released from Fukushima is "contaminated water". That Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed Nomura to withdraw the statement and apologize only serves to show how rigorously Tokyo is trying to cover up the danger of the ocean discharge and misguide international public opinion. Tokyo should do the right thing and make decisions based on science, and share the full truth of the matter with the world. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Extra 100 off holidays under 14 nights using a unique TUI discount code 15% off all orders over 100 using this ASOS discount code 5% off all bookings with this Travelodge discount code 20% off everything with The Body Shop discount code 15% of all orders with The Perfume Shop birthday discount - VIP Rewards Members Town hall chiefs fear council tax payers could be left bearing the brunt of the cost of the school concrete scandal after a London borough was forced to sign off 715,000 from its budget to pay for emergency safety works. Of course I know the timing is frustrating, but I want to give people a sense of the scale of what we are grappling with here: there are around 22,000 schools in England and the important thing to know is that we expect that 95% of those schools wont be impacted by this. On her website, she previously said: Theyre qualities many might welcome in mental health care alongside that belligerence and pushiness for better and kinder care. I know how hard an area this is to tackle. Ive had first-hand experience. There is so much to cover. While there have been some great strides forward made in mental health in recent years, theres still a resounding stigma attached to it. King Charles shared a sweet picture of them together for his first Mothers Day without her with the caption: To all mothers everywhere, and to those who may be missing their mums today, we are thinking of you and wishing you a special #MothersDay. I wasnt part of that decision, to be honest, she told Sky News, although the report said she had signed off on a predecessors contract for the works in April. I know that when I was last in the department, I was on a different floor and I know they are refurbishing some of them, she added, promising to check the costs of such a makeover. So I decided to take a very cautious approach. And I knew it was going to be difficult because, you know, obviously, for parents, for teachers, this coming so late in August, but thats when we got the evidence that a panel had failed in a roof that had previously been classified as non-critical. A spokesman for the weather agency told the Mirror: The warmer weather is coming to an end for most of us. While unsettled conditions continue for much of this week, with warmer conditions hanging on in the south of the UK, we will see colder air pushing down across the country bringing a cold weekend for many. However, even though she was made a saint, many prominent people, including governments, organisations. and the media, have criticised her practices, and those of the Missionaries of Charity, the order which she founded. Objections include the quality of medical care the order provided, and allegations of colonialism and racism, as well as the orders links to questionable public figures. As such, Saint Teresa is regarded as a controversial figure. Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armored train, to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet with Putin, the New York Times reports. If you haven't had enough Barbie movies, there's one more film you might enjoy. The documentary Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie tells the behind-the-scenes story of Mattel's efforts to make Barbie more relevant after 50 years on toy shelves. It's interesting to hear personal stories of adult women (many now on staff at Mattel) who grew up with the "teenage fashion model" doll and its body image baggage. You'll appreciate the challenge Mattel designers had in reimagining the doll for modern sensibilities and also for the hard-to-please focus group girls. The film has a bit of a "happy ending." Not included are reactions that snipe at Mattel's efforts as "OK but not enough." Since the 2016 launch of the four new petite, curvy, tall, and regular body types for Barbie, Mattel has gone on to create more versions of Barbie with inclusive feature such as 35 skin tones, sculpted features, Down syndrome, wheelchairs, artificial limbs, vitiligo and more. Here's a reviewer's take with plenty of photos. Those who wish to enter can do from today, with the closing date for applications on October 3. A series of quarter and semi-finals will follow, with the grand final taking place at the Corinthia London on January 15 next year; an awards ceremony will follow on February 5 at Claridges. It was the pairs first restaurant together, and they turned it from a middling brasserie to a place to see and be seen. It was the spot where Jeffrey Archer had his first meal after prison, where Princess Diana could regularly be spotted, alongside the likes of Liz Hurley, Madonna, Sir Peter Blake and Omar Sharif. It was also the kitchen where chef Mark Hix made his name. Richard Caring later acquired it in 2005, and is expected to retain the right to the name, which it is thought he has plans for elsewhere. In celebration of London Restaurant Festivals 15-year milestone, chefs Tomos Parry and Tom Aikens will each host a special 15-course tasting menu at Mountain and Muse respectively. And, to honour female chefs at the forefront of the industry, the LRF will this year put on a series called female founders, with Anna Haugh at Myrtle and Sally Abe leading talks. Perhaps we have the cardigans history to thank for its straight-laced reputation. The open-front knit was originally named after James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, who led the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War in 1854. The piece was further inspired by the knitted wool waistcoats that British officers wore during the war and gained popularity during the early 20th century. Think Tobey Maguires character Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. It is the fifth exhibition that auction house Christies has presented in collaboration with Chan, following previous shows in Hong Kong in 2015 and again four years later, as well as in Shanghai in 2020 and 2021. She said: I have learnt a lot about being assertive, which doesnt make you a bitch. As long as you do what comes naturally, which is not to be rude, you can say how you feel. And on Monday morning, the show began with a live performance from Mamma Mia! The Party - an experience which takes place at Londons 02. Visitors take a trip to the The Island Of Skopelos and enjoy a night at Nikos Taverna, which descends into a Turns Into A Fabulous Disco after dinner. The fact that there has been information that has been newsworthy, or current, is just by chance, they added. Ortega has become one of Hollywoods hottest young stars in recent years thanks to her titular starring role in Netflix series Wednesday, which is a spinoff of the iconic Addams Family shows. While no further details were shared at the time, Barkers ex-wife Shanna Moakler told TMZ that she didnt know whats going on but their two children, Landon, 19 and Alabama, 17, are safe and sound. It added a layer of microscopic lenses, also known as an MLA, on top of the OLED pixels. This thin film, combined with a new software algorithm, is designed to capture the light that was being scattered and direct it out toward users. The convex lenses themselves are so tiny that LG claims it can fit more than 5,000 of them on a single pixel, which works out to 42.4 billion lenses on a 77-inch TV. It's only been two months since the shitty and bloody debacle where a passenger on an Air France flight from Paris-Boston suffered a "hemorrhage" that wasn't fully cleaned up. A passenger named Habib Battah sat in the same seats the following day on a flight from Paris to Toronto and, according to CNN, "found his feet on an airplane carpet still wet with a previous passenger's blood and diarrhea." This past weekend, another flight suffered a similar fate. This time, two hours into a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Barcelona, a passenger had diarrhea so bad that it exposed the whole plane to biohazard waste and caused the plane to turn around and go back to Atlanta. View from the Wing explains The flight was over Virginia when the airline told the pilots to turn back. Passengers returned to Atlanta and waited while Delta cleaned the aircraft and found a new crew (as the original one timed out). They were sent on their way using the same plane at 2:57 a.m. Saturday morning. The flight was delayed eight hours, and passengers finally arrived in Barcelona at 5:10 p.m. According to the FAA flight strip: "Divert to ATL passenger diarrhea all over aircraft biohazard" and this was confirmed by air traffic control conversations, "It's just a biohazard issue, we had a passenger who had diarrhea all the way through the airplane." I'm sure it's just a coincidence that diarrhea continues to be a symptom of COVID-19. Stay safe, folks! A tiny, fragile population of wild red wolves in the US is back from the brink of extinction as part of a 50-year conservation plan - with another half-a-century to go. 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First to go is Gizmodo en Espanol, the Spanish-language edition of the gadget blog, and its writers, reports The Verge. Matias S. Zavia, a writer at Gizmodo en Espanol, posted that the publication was shut down on August 29th and that it would now publish automatically translated articles. Gizmodo en Espanolpreviously had a small staff who wrote original stories and created Spanish-language adaptations of pieces from the English-language Gizmodo. The result is typical AI rubbish, all errors and generative blather. Readers posted on X, formerly Twitter, that some articles will start in Spanish and then suddenly change to English. Spanish website AZ Adslzone reported Gizmodo en Espanol's team was told via video call of the decision. G/O Media did not return a request for comment. If it makes no sense just how bad it is, remember that the cog representing "humans actually reading it" is so well-hidden in the depths of the machine that the people running these sites aren't sure it needs to be there any more. On and on it goes, until it stops. The Ministry of National Defense (MApN) "categorically" denies the information in the public space regarding a "so-called situation that occurred during the night of Sunday to Monday, in which Russian drones would have fallen on the national territory of Romania". MApN points out that the responsible structures of the Ministry of National Defense "monitored in real time the situation generated by the Russian attacks carried out with drones, both last night and Saturday to Sunday, on the infrastructure in the vicinity of the Ukrainian ports on the Danube", agerpres reports. "At no time did the means of attack used by the Russian Federation generate direct military threats to the national territory or the territorial waters of Romania," the MApN representatives say. Also, the Romanian ministry reiterates that it has taken increased vigilance measures in the national land, sea and air space and contributes to strengthening the defense and deterrence posture on the eastern flank, according to national and allied plans."These attacks of the Russian Federation directed against the objectives and civil infrastructure in Ukraine are unjustified and are in deep contradiction with the rules of international humanitarian law," say the MApN representatives.Previously, Reuters reported, on Monday, that a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that Russian drones fell and were detonated on the territory of Romania, during an attack on Ukrainian ports, which took place during the night. DefMin Tilvar: MApN denies knowing that Russian drones fell on Romania's soil The Romanian Ministry of National Defence (MApN) has denied knowing that Russian drones had fallen on Romanian territory, Defence Minister Angel Tilvar told AGERPRES in an interview on Monday. "The Ministry of Defence has denied the fact that Russian drones had fallen on the national territory and did so knowingly because (...) we have the capabilities intended to warn and monitor the situation in the area, which is why the information we provide is accurate and correct from all points of view," Tilvar pointed out. Regarding the security of Romanian sailors shipping grain from Ukrainian ports, Tilvar said: "In Romania's security architecture there is the Coast Guard, there is the Border Police, so there was no question of the Ministry of National Defence having extraterritorial responsibilities in this sense." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba is quoted by the Reuters news agency as having said on Monday that Ukraine had photographic evidence to show that Russian drones struck Romanian territory during an overnight air attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River. The full interview with Tilvar will be broadcast on Tuesday. EBRD President to pay visit to Romania Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), pays a two-day visit to Romania this week to hold talks with government and business leaders and to address the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative 2023 taking place in Bucharest on Wednesday, reads a press release of the financial institution. President Renaud-Basso will also welcome the new EBRD Director for Romania, Victoria Zinchuk. Victoria Zinchuk follows Mark Davis, who has held the role of Regional Director, Romania and Bulgaria, since 2019, and moves to Zagreb to take up the role of Regional Director, Central Europe. In 2022, green economy investments made up more than 61 per cent of the year's total EBRD investment in Romania, which at EUR 709 million was the second highest level ever in the country. This is Renaud-Basso's first visit to Romania as EBRD President. The visit takes place a few months after Marcel Ciolacu, leader of the Social Democratic Party, became Prime Minister of the country's coalition government in June. Since then, Romania has announced a major advance in renewable energy provision, preparing for the launch of its first auction for a contract-for-difference (CfD) support scheme for renewable energy, supported by the EBRD. Onshore wind and solar projects with a total capacity of 2000 MW will be supported through a CfD scheme for 15 years, with successful bidders expected to be announced in November. As well as bilateral meetings with President Klaus Johannis and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, President Renaud-Basso is meeting officials including Marcel-Ioan Bolos, Minister of Finance; Sebastian Burduja, Minister of Energy; Sorin Grindeanu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure and Mugur Isarescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania. She will also hold talks with investors and the business community as well as civil society. On Wednesday, Renaud-Basso will also address the 2023 Summit of the Three Seas Initiative, a forum of 12 states in the European Union that lie between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas in central and eastern Europe and meet to discuss increasing integration. Romania is a key partner of the EBRD and one of its top six investment destinations. To date, the EBRD has done EUR 10.5 billion of business through 515 projects in Romania, focusing on financing infrastructure, especially in the regions, boosting private sector productivity and further developing the financial sector and capital markets. The private sector share of the portfolio is 80 per cent. Education trade union leader: Gov't hasn't abandoned anything promised, no talk of strike The Government has not abandoned anything already regulated and promised, and at the moment there is no talk of a strike, said Simion Hancescu, president of the Federation of Free Trade Unions in Education (FSLI), after talks with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, told Agerpres. "Following the discussions, the idea emerged that absolutely nothing has been abandoned from what was regulated and promised. (...) We are waiting for official invitations from the Ministry of Labour in order to solve the problems related to the pay scale. We have also drawn the Prime Minister's attention to the fact that we have a problem in the system. As the press has found out, there are complaints from directors who have lower salaries than those of executives and there are already directors who have resigned.(...) It has been confirmed that this is known and that a solution will be sought, because it is indeed abnormal that someone in a management position has a lower salary than someone in an executive position," said Hancescu. The FSLI leader added that, as far as management salaries are concerned, one of the options is that the director could have a salary 10% higher than the employee in the same institution who has the maximum level on the pay scale. Marius Nistor, president of the Spiru Haret Federation of Education Trade Unions, said that the Executive must find solutions for the payment of those who will be involved in projects in pre-university education, with funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). "I have raised an issue that you know quite well - the payment of principals and staff who will be engaged in these projects. I have long said that, according to the content of the acts that formed the basis of the negotiation of the PNRR, the directors and accountants involved in the management of the projects in question are not paid. The Government will have to find a solution for the payment of our colleagues who will be involved," Nistor said. At the end of August, some 2,500 directors and deputy directors of education units signed an open letter to the Government asking for urgent measures to rectify the salary scale. Representatives of the education unions had a meeting with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu at the Government headquarters on Monday. EnviMin Fechet attends inauguration of works on first Prut River drinking water undercrossing in Moldova Romanian Minister of the Environment, Water and Forestry Mircea Fechet on Monday attended the inauguration of works on the first drinking water undercrossing of the Prut River at Macaresti, Ungheni District, Moldova, told Agerpres. Also attending were Moldova's Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spinu, Moldova's Minister of the Environment Rodica Iordanov, Chairman of the Iasi County Council Costel Alexe and officials of the ApaVital company. Fechet also said that on his visit to Moldova on Monday he and his counterpart Iordanov agreed that a working meeting should be scheduled for October. "We will have, most likely in October, a working meeting in Chisinau to finalise all ongoing projects, and I am happy in the context of climate change. Climate change does not stop at the border between countries. It affects these communities, as well as the communities of Moldova. I was happy to see examples of good practice in the management of drinking water. Water is a resource to which we assign a special priority at the Ministry of the Environment, because in the context of climate change in the next 20 years - whether we are talking about surface water or underground water - we should be careful with the way we manage water," said Fechet. Iasi County Council Chairman Costel Alexe said that this first undercrossing will complete the project of the Nisporeni District and the Central Regional Development Agency for the supply of drinking water to 13 towns in the Nisporeni and Ungheni districts. Also at this stage, the design and authorisation of the undercrossings at Sculeni and Tabara, intended for the supply of drinking water to Falesti, Glodeni and Ungheni Districts, will begin. ForMin Odobescu pays official visit to Berlin, condemns Russian attacks on Ukrainian Danube ports The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminita Odobescu, paid an official visit to Berlin on Monday, where she had meetings with her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, and the European Policy Advisor to the German Federal Chancellor, Undine Ruge, during which she condemned once again the attacks of the Russian Federation against the population and civil infrastructure, including the Ukrainian ports on the Danube, near the border with our country, told Agerpres. According to a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Romanian foreign minister underscored, during the talks with her German counterpart, the importance of further developing the already solid economic relationship existing between the two countries, and also the need of boosting joint economic projects and capitalize on the German investment potential in important areas of the Romanian economy: infrastructure, energy, agriculture and food industry, circular economy, digitization, defence industry. The discussions also highlighted the need for the two countries to coordinate their positions on topical issues on the European and international agenda, considering the multiple crises generated by Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, the MAE also says. Minister Odobescu presented, during the meetings with the high-ranked German officials, the efforts of the Romanian side to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports, especially to the most vulnerable regions of the globe. Regarding the attacks during the night of September 3 to 4, Luminita Odobescu stated that the means used by the Russian Federation did not generate direct military threats to the national territory or the territorial waters of Romania. She informed that the Ministry of National Defence has taken enhanced vigilance measures on land, at sea and in the national airspace, and contributes to strengthening the defence and deterrence posture on the Eastern Flank of NATO, according to national and allied plans. At the same time, the Romanian minister pleaded for the continuation of consistent European support to the Republic of Moldova, in order to strengthen its resilience in the face of current threats, including through the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova, an initiative launched by Romania, Germany and France. Another topic on the agenda of the talks was Romania's accession to the Schengen area, the same press release informs. Also, Luminita Odobescu mentioned the current status of the Romanian side's efforts in relation to this topic, while the head of the German diplomacy and the European Policy Advisor to the Federal Chancellor reiterated Germany's firm support for the achievement of this major objective of Romania. The Ministry of Finance (MF) on Monday borrowed RON 522.5 million off banks in an issue of benchmark bonds of a residual maturity of 80 months and an average yield of 6.70% per annum, according to data published by the National Bank of Romania (BNR). The nominal value of Monday's issue was RON 500 million, and the banks offered RON 706 million, agerpres reports. An additional auction is scheduled for Tuesday to borrow another RON 75 million at the yield set on Monday for the bonds. MP has planned for September 2023 to borrow RON 6 billion off commercial banks, to which RON 855 million can be added in additional sessions of non-competitive offers related to bond auctions.The total amount of RON 6.855 is RON 1.61 billion higher than the one scheduled for August, of RON 5.245 billion, and it is intended for public debt refunding and government deficit financing. President Klaus Iohannis will receive, on Tuesday, the Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, on the occasion of the latter's visit to Cincu, in Brasov county, at the invitation of the Romanian side, the Presidential Administration informed. According to the quoted source, the two high-ranking officials will have political consultations and will visit together the troops stationed at the Getica Combined National Training Center in Cincu, Brasov county, going to address the Luxembourg soldiers who are part of the NATO Battle Group in Romania. The Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Francois Bausch, will also take part in the visit, agerpres reports. "The visit of Prime Minister Xavier Bettel reconfirms the intensity of the Romanian-Luxembourg bilateral dialogue and contributes to the consolidation of the two countries' close coordination within the European Union and NATO," the Presidential Administration says. President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Xavier Bettel will have in-depth discussions about the strengthening of the allied deterrence and defense posture on the Eastern Flank of NATO, about the continuation of the multidimensional support offered to Ukraine, as well as about the support for vulnerable partners in the region, with an emphasis on the Republic of Moldova, seriously affected by the consequences of the war of aggression against Ukraine, the quoted source mentions.The consultations will also target the intensification of Romania - Luxembourg cooperation in the field of European affairs, including regarding the adoption of the new Strategic Agenda and the enlargement process of the European Union. The discussions will also focus on ways to further develop bilateral relations, including the security and defense component, which has become, in the current context, a key area of cooperation.At the same time, the two high-ranking officials will address the deepening of Romania - Luxembourg economic and sectoral relations, with an emphasis on the field of investments and the development of financial markets and cutting-edge technologies. Right Force's Orban says party to endorse motion of censure against Ciolacu Gov't The 16 MPs who are members of the Right Force party will sign and vote for the motion of censure against the Ciolacu Government, the party's chairman, MP Ludovic Orban, announced on Monday, told Agerpres. The National Council of the Right Force decided on Monday on the political position regarding the Government's accountability in Parliament, as well as on the legislative priorities of the group's MPs. The rules of application of the statute were also adopted and the timetable for internal elections within the Right Force was defined. "The National Council of the Right Force has mandated the party's parliamentarians to initiate, sign and vote on the motion of censure against the Government. From our point of view, tabling a motion of censure is the main objective, and as such the Right Force MPs will stand with any political party in the Opposition that wishes to initiate the motion of censure, and the 16 MPs of the Right will sign the motion of censure against the Government in order to prevent the policy of improvisation, a policy without any vision and without any plan, which does nothing but drive the Romanian economy into the ground and create serious problems in the Romanian society. The Ciolacu government must be sent on leave, it must be sent on perpetual vacation, because it is not capable of solving any of the major problems facing Romania and the Romanian citizens," Orban said at Parliament. He added that those liberal MPs dissatisfied with the Ciolacu Government now have the opportunity to support the motion of censure. As far as legislative priorities are concerned, the objectives for this parliamentary session refer to the adoption of the project initiated by the Right Force on the cancellation of all increases in taxes and contributions approved by Ordinance 16. Another legislative priority of the party is the abolition of special pensions and their calculation based on the contributory principle, "not the masquerade with which the Ciolacu Government came to Parliament," said Orban. Regarding the public sector wage law - another priority - the Right Force wants a real reform, namely "the elimination of any discrimination, especially of a political nature, which would establish the public sector wage system strictly on the basis of individual performance, leading to the payment of employees only on the basis of work actually performed, not on the basis of payment by all sorts of tricks." "As far as the new pension law is concerned, we have already formulated all the points of view. The only problem we see is that, although it was an obligation in the PNRR, conditionality, milestone, the adoption of a salary law, the adoption of the new pension law, the law abolishing special pensions, this government has not been able to come up with bills for a long time, because it has not been able to come up with solutions that would be correct and that would bring beneficial effects in the correct functioning of the administration in Romania," added Ludovic Orban Senate's Ciuca: Parliament must not be the scene of political scandal, demagogy The President of the Senate, PNL (National Liberal Party) leader Nicolae Ciuca, asked the Senators, on Monday, to hurry and debate, and then vote, on the legislative objectives of the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), also mentioning that, at the beginning of the parliamentary session, he will invite the parliamentary groups to show decency and work efficiently, to the benefit of the people, while leaving aside "political scandal." "The legislative priorities of the new parliamentary session that started today are, definitely, the fiscal measures necessary to balance the budget and the benchmarks in the PNRR aimed at reforming the general pension system, service pensions and a new public sector salary law. The meeting of all these objectives condition Romania's access to the European funds under the PNRR. We can't afford to lose this money," Ciuca wrote on Facebook. He mentioned that the laws must be simpler and clearer, and, in this fall session, he will continue to work on eliminating overlaps in normative acts and reducing bureaucracy. "As President of the Senate, I undertake to contribute to rebuilding citizens' trust in the parliamentary institution. For this objective, a balanced attitude and serious behaviour are necessary, without circus and without gestures bordering on common sense. Parliament must not be the scene of demagoguery, nor of political scandal, but of work for citizens and professionalism. I invite all parliamentary groups to show decency and work efficiently. We are going through a complicated economic and social context, in which it is necessary that both the government and the opposition show responsibility. I wish everyone colleagues, work power and good thinking, to properly serve the interests of Romanians and Romania. God help!," Ciuca also wrote. When Amazon wanted to build what at the time would have become one of the largest warehouses in the world on Grand Island, the company sought needed approval from the town to rezone the land. The proposal drew heavy opposition from residents concerned about everything from environmental issues to traffic jams. In the end, the project never came to fruition. Now another project this time proposed by Williamsville-based Acquest Development, the property owner, and smaller in size and scope being considered for the same site is drawing the same concerns and the same kind of resistance from residents. But this time, the company does not need to have the land rezoned. Acquest seeks approval for mega-warehouse project on Grand Island Acquest wants to build its Grand Island Commerce Center on Long Road, occupying more than half of a 207.43-acre site that had previously been eyed by Amazon.com. And that has created a dilemma for Grand Island. The town is considering a moratorium on such facilities, and even a change to zoning laws to prevent the project from going through, setting up likely legal action against the town, no matter which way the fight goes whether from citizens angry that the project was allowed to proceed, or from a developer who feels its property rights were infringed upon by a rejection. Acquest wants to build its Grand Island Commerce Center on Long Road, with more than 1.08 million square feet of storage and distribution space. That would help address a well-documented lack of industrial space in the region that is hindering economic development because companies have no place to go, the developer has said. And it would be conveniently located along the Niagara Thruway for easy access to both the mainline Thruway to the south and the Canadian border just to the north. Acquest has previously said the new facility could either accommodate one giant tenant or multiple large users in need of 100,000 to 200,000 square feet each, with more than 900 employees in all, but it has not identified any specific users. It projected a tax assessment of $112 million, generating $2.79 million in annual taxes. But the size and nature of the $120 million project conflicts with Grand Island residents vision of their home as a quiet, verdant swath of residential tranquility particularly because of the anticipated truck traffic that would come with it, and the potential for back-ups at the bridges. Were an island, 7 miles across, Janice Wiecowski of East River Road told the Town Board last week. Were all residents here. We love where we live. Dont ruin it. Town residents are demanding that the Town Board put a stop to it. Extra scrutiny sought for warehouse at Grand Island Amazon site The new warehouse is half the height - 45 feet tall - but it would cover 138 acres, pave over more of the site and have more tractor trailer parking stalls. I would like to see this whole thing go, Rose Bugman said. Think about Election Day and whos going to back you. These people are not, if you vote the wrong way. If you like your job and want to be re-elected, Id think about it very hard. Now, the Town Board is looking at changing the zoning code, instead, to retroactively prohibit the project as proposed. Its really the heavy truck traffic, Town Councilman Michael H. Madigan said. Anytime the 190 backs up and theres another exit, it will result in trucks getting off. And backups on the 190 happen almost daily. The proposed new high-bay facility at 2780 Long would sit on 123 acres of vacant land on the island, between Long and Bedell roads and fronting Interstate 190. That would occupy more than half of a larger 207.43-acre site that was previously eyed for Amazons 3.8-million-square-foot complex, before resident and town resistance forced the e-commerce retailer to pull out and go to the Town of Niagara instead. It would be one-story tall and 45 feet in height, but the buildings physical footprint would take up one-third more space on the ground than what was proposed for Amazon. However, the project also would preserve 47 acres from future development, with 55% of the total site as open space. And it would include 1,292 parking spaces 30% fewer than Amazon but 383 trailer spaces, 75% more than Amazon. The site is already zoned as M-1 under town code, which allows such a warehouse and distribution center as of right, without needing zoning variances or changes. Madigan who is running for town supervisor against Peter J. Marston Jr., the deputy supervisor who is currently serving as acting supervisor initially proposed a six-month moratorium on any new warehouse or distribution center projects on the island, to give the Town Board and residents more time to study the issue. He argued that the code as written never envisioned such mega centers, and was inconsistent with the towns comprehensive plan. Mega-warehouse and high-cube distribution centers seem to be replacing mega malls, he said. Something exists today that didnt exist at the time the law was written. Acquest officials did not respond to calls for comment. But that idea, which came out 18 days before the meeting, won support from more than 16 residents who spoke on the issue at the board meeting on Aug. 28. And Madigan noted that the town had previously used a similar 12-month moratorium on solar farms to adjust its code on such projects, and suggested that the short duration would prevent judicial review. Its not arbitrary and capricious, and its defendable, he said. But Marston and Councilman Christian Bahleda instead went further, proposing to amend the zoning code to remove warehouse and distribution facilities from the allowable uses in M-1 districts, and to allow such facilities with a special-use permit, but only up to 300,000 square feet in size. That is one-third the size of what Acquest is requesting. Grand Island residents mobilize to stop new warehouse project The Coalition for Responsible Economic Development for Grand Island claims the project would be "far too large" and "does not fit with the general character" of the community. The Town Board voted unanimously to set a public hearing on the zoning change for Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. Additionally, the developer completed and filed its Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, which the Town Board last week voted to accept as adequate for public review. Town officials and attorneys stressed that this is only an initial step as required by law, and insisted that it doesnt mean the town has accepted the actual contents of the documents or agreed with the findings. Rather, Marston said, it means only that the document is ready for public review and comment. The board set a public hearing for Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m., at the Grand Island High School auditorium. But that is not the way town residents saw it last week, as many seemed confused by the proceedings. One after another, they attacked board members for even considering the draft EIS, citing repeated promises by the board to hold public reviews, and noting a host of omissions and errors that they said the board and its outside consultants should be responsible for fixing, even before the document is brought for public comment. They demanded the board reject it outright. But Madigan said its not that simple. We were never going to be able to say you could not do anything on this property. That would be a taking and would cost us millions, Madigan said. I know some people would like to think we could just say no, but that wouldnt be responsible for the Town Board. We would lose. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates The former head of the Missouri Gaming Commission has been tapped as the CEO of a new regulatory authority to potentially run a national lottery in the United Arab Emirates. Kevin Mullally, who was executive director of the Missouri Gaming Commission from 2000 to 2006, was named the chief of the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, a sign that the UAE is on the verge of allowing gambling as major casino operators flock to the Gulf Arab nation. I am delighted to have been appointed as the inaugural CEO of the GCGRA, Mullally said in a statement. With my experienced colleagues, I look forward to establishing a robust regulatory body and framework for the UAEs lottery and gaming industry. Mullally did not return a request for comment from The Associated Press. Prior to being named executive director of the Missouri Gaming Commission, Mullally was chief legal counsel for former state Sen. Harry Wiggins, D-Kansas City, and deputy director of the commission from 1993 until 2000. After leaving the commission, he was employed by Gaming Laboratories International, a New Jersey-based company that tests gambling equipment, as its chief legal counsel from 2006 until earlier this year. He was described by the Post-Dispatch as a national leader in the effort to stop compulsive gambling when he resigned from the commission in 2006. The UAEs state-run WAM news agency also said Jim Murren was named chairman of the authoritys board of directors. Media in Nevada, home to the gambling city of Las Vegas, identified Murren as a former chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International, which also runs casinos. Murren could not be immediately reached by the AP. Murren also worked closely with officials in the Emirates in the past. The biggest single development on the Las Vegas Strip was the $9.2 billion CityCenter partnership between MGM Resorts International under Murren and Dubai World, which opened in 2009. Its Harmon tower never opened due to construction defects and was dismantled. Murren also headed Nevadas COVID-19 response and tried to pitch the state on using UAE-donated, Chinese-made testing kits. U.S. diplomats and security officials privately warned the state of Nevada not to use the Chinese-made coronavirus test kits over concerns about patient privacy, test accuracy and Chinese government involvement, documents obtained by the AP showed. Describing the authority, WAM said it would create a socially responsible and well-regulated gaming environment, ensuring that all participants adhere to strict guidelines and comply with the highest standards. It will coordinate regulatory activities, manage licensing nationally and facilitate unlocking the economic potential of commercial gaming responsibly, it added. Casinos long have been rumored to be considered as a way to raise money in the UAE and boost its tourism industry, particularly in Dubai, home to the long-haul airline Emirates. Already, duty-free car raffles bombard those flying through Dubai International Airport. A 2004 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks speculated that Dubais casino plans had been put on ice due to deference to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the countrys first president after unification in 1971. But in recent years, rumors about casinos kept growing. Britains famed ship the Queen Elizabeth 2 opened as a hotel in Dubai in 2018 after over $100 million of repairs. It still has its deactivated slot machines on board. Caesars similarly opened in 2018. Construction work is ongoing involving projects for casino firms MGM, the Bellagio and Aria. In 2022, the UAEs northern-most emirate Ras al-Khaimah announced a multibillion-dollar deal with Las Vegas-based casino giant Wynn Resorts. Authorities in Ras al-Khaimah repeatedly refused to directly describe the hotel as having gambling, though Wynn has described the project as involving the subsequent management of an integrated resort. The term integrated resort, born in Singapore, refers to a hotel that includes a casino and other amenities. In a conference call in April, Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings put the cost of the Ras al-Khaimah resort at $3.9 billion and saying it will be open in 2027. Costs will be split, with 40% being paid by Wynn and 60% being paid by Wynns government partners in Ras al-Khaimah. Wynn estimates taxes on the gaming revenues will be as high 12%. Casinos still remain rare across much of the Middle East as Islam forbids it. However, casinos operate in Egypt and Lebanon. Adding casinos in the UAE could help boost its profitable tourism industry and help regain the Chinese travelers it lost during the coronavirus pandemic. Bloomberg has estimated the UAE could bring in $6.6 billion in gaming revenue annually, potentially surpassing Singapore. The creation of a federal authority suggests Abu Dhabi, the countrys capital, will oversee the potential operation of casinos in the country. However, this federation of seven sheikhdoms places absolute power in the local rulers of its seven emirates, particularly over social concerns. The emirate of Sharjah, for instance, bans the sale of alcohol. Any casino operations may follow the same pattern. Thats something Billings touched on in a separate call in August with investors in which he said Wynn had everything we need to operate gaming at Al Marjan given the UAEs federal structure and powers in individual sheikhdoms. While there may be conversation in other emirates about legalization or legalization at the federal level thereby covering all emirates I expect we will have our license for Ras al-Khaimah actually imminently, Billings said. However, casinos and the large amounts of cash they generate raise the danger of money laundering. Already, war profiteers, terror financiers and drug traffickers sanctioned by the U.S. in recent years have used Dubais real-estate market as a haven for their assets. Ras al-Khaimah also found itself linked to the case of an Alaska man who laundered $1 billion held in South Korea for Iran. The Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. ST. LOUIS In the central Midwest, unionization attempts this year are continuing at a faster pace than expected and are on track to almost match last years high number. In the first half of this year, 49 private sector workplaces filed for representation in the region, compared with 108 throughout the entirety of 2022, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of National Labor Relations Board data. The 2022 number was the highest in eight years, bolstered by high costs of living, an organizing campaign at Starbucks and historically low unemployment rates. Unionization attempts are up in the Midwest and nationally, said Jake Rosenfeld, a Washington University sociology professor. But, he added, Im not sure its large enough to change the broader dynamic. In January, annual data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that while the total number of union members rose, it didnt grow at the same pace as the overall workforce. As a result, the percentage of workers who are represented by unions still fell slightly, to 10.1%. This year has seen tough labor negotiations, strikes and protests. Some 295,500 workers have been involved in stoppages through July this year, Reuters reported, citing preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That puts 2023 on track to become the busiest year for strikes since 2019. Labor experts had expected to see this years numbers hampered by broader economic conditions. Earlier this year, with many economists forecasting a recession, labor experts expected the anticipated economic downturn would make workers less likely to risk unionizing. At the time, there was a general belief that economic storm clouds were forming, said Harley Shaiken, a University of California-Berkeley professor who specializes in labor and the global economy. Now, a lot of that has dissipated. It doesnt mean that we are totally out of danger, economically we never are. But the possibility of avoiding a recession has become real, Shaiken said. Overall, the economy appears less threatening. Doug Swanson, field specialist for the University of Missouri Extension and coordinator of the labor studies program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, added that the expectation of an economic downturn tempering unionizing attempts has yet to materialize. Im not seeing a dampening of that early momentum, Swanson said. Still, experts said, the overall picture is mixed for unions. Union membership has been on the decline, nationally, since the 1950s. It peaked at 35% of the workforce in 1954, according to the Congressional Research Service. Public approval for labor unions is at 67%, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday. Thats just below last years 71%, which was the highest level in 57 years. Despite all the energy, despite the broader public support, organizing in the private sector remains extraordinarily difficult, Rosenfeld said. The long-term question, Swanson said, is how unions and employers alike will evolve as the U.S. population ages, bringing about larger shifts in labor dynamics. Its going to get tougher. We have not hit the bottom of the workforce shortage, Swanson said. Labor is, in itself, at a crossroads. ST. LOUIS COUNTY A man was found shot to death Sunday afternoon in the Lucas Hunt Village apartment complex in unincorporated St. Louis County. Police have a suspect in the case and say the suspect and the victim knew one another. St. Louis County police were called to the 5300 block of Gladstone Place at 1:24 p.m. for a shooting. They found the victim with an apparent gunshot wound; he was pronounced dead at the scene. A man and a woman died in the same block in a suspected murder-suicide in April. Last November, another woman was also killed in the same block. In both cases, domestic problems are thought to be the cause of the shootings. Crimes Against Persons detectives are investigating. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the police at 636-529-8210 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-371-8477. Regarding Kathleen Parker's op-ed "New puritanism is turning Catholics into Salem's witches" (Aug. 22 print edition): She describes a married couple of Southampton, Mass., who were denied a license to foster children due exclusively to their Catholic faith. But Parker didn't mention that (according to a report in Boston.com) the woman was asked by a social worker for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families about parenting a LGBTQ child and replied, "Let's take the T out of it" (meaning "Trans"). The state subsequently denied their request to foster children based on their views of LGBTQ youth. Studies show some 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ. These children are either kicked out of their families after they come out or choose to leave home because of their identity. LGBTQ children are overrepresented in foster homes compared to their straight or cisgender counterparts. So there is a high probability that the Burkes would host one of these children. These youth face unique risks to achieving permanency and well-being such as rejection by foster families. Studies have found four unfortunate themes about LGBTQ youth in foster care: misconceptions regarding LGBTQ identity, fears of LGBTQ children molesting their own children, differences in attitudes towards children of LGBTQ identities, and anti-LGBTQ religious beliefs. Some families hold specific beliefs, religious or not, that run contrary to the welfare of these children. These are the realities that Parker could easily find in peer reviewed journals. She chose not to do that. Roger Lewis Clayton It has been noted so often that it qualifies as a cliche, but this particular cliche, we would argue, is true: Todays Republican Party has been remarkably successful at building support from working-class Americans by loudly hammering at inflammatory culture-war issues racial school curriculum, transgender care, woke-ness even as it quietly pursues an economic agenda that betrays those very workers. Less commonly noted but also true is that Democrats have bumbled their way onto the losing side of that equation. By any objective measure, Democratic economic policies are far more helpful to working Americans than Republican policies. Yet todays Democrats have managed to drive away their traditional base of blue-collar supporters by signaling at every turn that they dont respect them culturally. Today Labor Day is a good time to talk about how our policies and politics got so out of alignment when it comes to Americas working people. A time traveler from the first half of the 20th century would find much about todays political landscape to be deeply puzzling, perhaps most of all as it relates to the working-class vote. Acknowledging up front that this has never been the monolithic thing the term suggests (tomes have been written on what, exactly, working class means), theres no question that the blue-collar base that bolstered Democrats from Franklin Roosevelts time through the 1980s has largely migrated to the GOP today. By one narrow definition voter income levels Democrats have arguably become the party of the rich. Republicans now hold well over half the U.S. House seats in districts where the median income is below the national average, while Democrats hold almost two-thirds of the seats where median income is above that level. This is the proverbial coastal elites versus working-class Middle America. The fact that the GOP now has a solid hold on the latter is a seismic shift in our politics. Democrats electoral losses in the Rust Belt, where they once dominated on the strength of pro-labor-rights voters, is especially stark, while Republicans have almost completely commandeered rural areas that used to be up for grabs. As political analyst Bruce Mehlman told Axios earlier this year: Republicans were the party of the country club, and theyre increasingly the party of country. Political parties do shift over time in their platforms, policies and philosophies. The GOP was once the civil-rights party, after all, back when Democrats were the Jim Crow party. But what makes the Democrats losses among working-class Americans today so notable is that theres no clear correlation to policy changes. Democrats today still are (as they have been for generations) the party of labor rights. Republicans, meanwhile, have been largely successful in gutting Americas once-vibrant labor movement with its union-busting right to work legislation around the country. Then there is the GOPs stubborn opposition to minimum-wage increases. Dont forget which party it was in Missouri that used its legislative majority to reverse a St. Louis minimum-wage hike a few years ago forcing down some of the lowest-paid workers wages, literally overnight before the states voters finally stepped in to overrule them. Consider, more broadly, what has happened to wages nationally in the past half century, in comparison to what has happened to the compensation of those workers bosses. According to the Economic Policy Institute, CEO pay between 1978 and 2018 grew by more than 940%, while their workers wages grew by less than 12%. Put another way: Average CEO pay in 1965 was roughly 20 times that of their factory-floor employees; today, the ratio approaches 300:1. This is nothing less than a second Gilded Age, with wealth concentrated in a few hands and a political system that keeps it that way. Yet in the face of those numbers, the biggest Republican fiscal obsession of the past few years was the partys massive 2017 tax cut package, which primarily benefited corporations and their investors, threw peanuts to regular Americans and will ultimately add close to $2 trillion to the federal deficit, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Democrats, meanwhile, are still the party of affordable health care, the party of protecting Social Security and Medicare, and the party of making the rich pay their fair share of taxes. All of that should naturally appeal to working people who struggle to make ends meet. And all of it has come under attack in recent years by congressional and legislative Republicans. How is it possible that Republicans are representing the majority of people who struggle? Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, recently asked, voicing the frustration of many Democrats. How is that possible? The answer may have less to do with economic policy than with Democrats maddening habit of insulting the very people their policies are designed to help. From Barack Obamas hot mic criticism of bitter voters who cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who arent like them, to Hillary Clintons infamous basket of deplorables description of Donald Trumps supporters, Democrats have this way of confirming the worst stereotypes about their partys cultural elitism. At the same time, too many Democratic politicians fail to play to the partys strengths especially its genuine support for working and struggling Americans and instead play into the Republicans hands by prioritizing cultural issues that middle America finds irrelevant or worse. From focusing on silly gender-pronoun debates to tolerating that bit of political malpractice known as the defund the police movement, too many Democrats just cant seem to keep their eyes on the ball. Even the often-heard Democratic complaint about workers voting against their own interests is, itself, a paternalistic and insulting construct. The fact is, projecting cultural respect to workers is in their interest. Todays Republicans have figured that out (in their language, if not their policies). Todays Democrats have somehow forgotten it. So on this Labor Day, this is the grim choice for Americas workers: a Republican Party that talks the talk, a Democratic Party that walks the walk, but no party that can manage to do both. That doesnt require lectures to workers about who they should support but rather fundamental changes in the way both parties approach the people who keep America working. Regarding the letter to the editor "P-D should run fewer ads, or at least let readers bypass them" (Aug. 25): It seems to me that those advertisements that are interspersed in the news sections are there because the advertisers prefer this on account of the extra exposure, and would opt out if it were otherwise. My suggestion would be to give them a boost, not a detriment. This could be with something like a "Post Note" at the end of any particular ad stating some true fact about the advertiser. For instance, "XYZ Company is listed No. 1 (or 2) in Angie's List (or Consumer Reports)." Or "Company was founded in St. Louis in 1895." Or "Company has been a loyal advertiser in this paper for 35 years." Or "Company last year donated one million dollars to St. Louis Children's Hospital," etc. I, for one, want to see the Post prosper. Jim Stemmler Webster Groves PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News: ACTICOR BIOTECH (ISIN: FR0014005OJ5 ALACT), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative treatments for cardiovascular emergencies, including ischemic stroke, today discloses the total number of voting rights and shares as of August 31, 2023 (pursuant to Article L. 233-8 II of the French Commercial Code and Article 223-16 of the General Regulation of the French Financial Markets Authority). Listing Place: Euronext Growth Paris ISIN Code : FR0014005OJ5 Web site: acticor-biotech.com Date Number of shares making up the share capital Theoretical number of voting rights (1) Number of voting rights excluding shares stripped of voting rights (2) August 31, 2023 12.338.781 12.338.781 12.292.751 In accordance with Article 223-111 of the AMFs General Regulation, this number of shares is calculated based on all shares carrying the right to vote, including those stripped of voting rights. The actual voting rights correspond to the total number of voting rights that can be exercised in a general meeting. They are calculated on the basis of the total number of voting rights attached to the total number of shares minus the shares without voting rights. About ACTICOR BIOTECH Acticor Biotech is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, a spin-off from INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), which is aiming to develop an innovative treatment for cardiovascular emergencies, including ischemic stroke. The positive results from its Phase 1b/2a study, ACTIMIS, confirmed the safety profile and showed a reduction in mortality and intracerebral hemorrhage in the glenzocimab-treated group in patients with stroke. The efficacy of glenzocimab is now being evaluated in ACTISAVE an international Phase 2/3 study. In July 2022, Acticor Biotech was granted "PRIME" status by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for glenzocimab in the treatment of stroke. This designation will allow the company to strengthen its interactions and obtain early dialogues with regulatory authorities. Acticor Biotech is supported by a panel of European and international investors (Mediolanum farmaceutici, Karista, Go Capital, Newton Biocapital, CMS Medical Venture Investment (HK) Limited, A&B (HK) Limited, Anaxago, and the Armesa foundation). Acticor Biotech is listed on Euronext Growth Paris since November 2021 (ISIN: FR0014005OJ5 ALACT). For more information, visit: www.acticor-biotech.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904500612/en/ ACTICOR BIOTECH Gilles AVENARD, MD CEO and Founder [email protected] T. : +33 (0)6 76 23 38 13 Sophie BINAY, PhD General Manager and CSO [email protected] T. : +33 (0)6 76 23 38 13 NewCap Mathilde BOHIN / Quentin MASSE Investor Relations [email protected] T. : +33 (0)1 44 71 94 95 NewCap Arthur ROUILLE Media Relations [email protected] T. : +33 (0)1 44 71 00 15 Source: ACTICOR BIOTECH ONTARIO, Canada--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- LegalBet Canada announces its most recent investigation into the effects gambling advertisements may have on bettors from various demographics. Is the notoriety of gambling ads justified? Betting companies have been under a cloud of suspicion regarding their advertising policies. A recent poll by Ipsos claims that nearly half of Canadians (48%) say the volume of gambling advertisements is excessive and that regulators need to check such ads. The sentiment is shared by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), the chief regulator of gambling in the Heartland Province. AGCO is currently looking for ways to tighten the screws on the participation of famous athletes and celebrities in advertising campaigns about betting. Our team of responsible gambling experts, led by a psychologist with experience working with gambling addicts, has delved deep into the topic in the article How Ads Influence Bettors (And Should They Be Limited?). A detailed, objective approach to the impact of gambling ads forms the basis of the authors view. According to research by Bestman, Thomas, Randle, & Thomas, 2015, some aspects of gambling ads significantly influence viewers with an already higher craving for gambling or inherently more susceptible to excessive gambling. According to Lopez-Gonzalez, H., Estevez, A., & Griffiths, M. D. (2018), betting ads have farther-reaching consequences for those already on the brink of problem gambling precipice than those not initially prone to addiction. Further reports and papers indicate that gambling ads influence problem gamblers the most, especially during live events. The article concludes that different age and social groups respond to betting ads differently. Not showing gambling ads during certain hours when their exposure to minors may be highest can have a salubrious effect on the efforts to contain problem gambling, as can the promotion of responsible gambling practices and tools to bettors. Companies might have failed to recognize excessive gambling and continue to bombard players with promo materials, which exacerbates the situation considerably. However, stigmatizing betting ads as the sole culprits of increased problem gambling has no merit in scientific research and real-life practice, as it takes the spotlight off identifying problem behaviour before it progresses into addiction. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904113626/en/ [email protected] +351919369297 Source: LegalBet Canada A foot of snow had already fallen, visibility was down to a quarter mile and the wind chill clocked in around minus-20. None of that stopped Rich McNamara. Snowmobiler volunteers provide key response to blizzard emergency In the face of a driving ban and snow-clogged streets impenetrable to vehicles, volunteers on snowmobiles have ferried elderly people to shelters, rescued the snowbound and brought essential personnel to hospitals. After taking a call from Newstead Emergency Services, McNamara, 63, started his snow groomer and joined the dozens of groomer and snowmobile owners who fanned out across Erie County to save lives during Decembers Christmas weekend blizzard. He left home at 7 p.m. Dec. 23. By the time he returned at 6:30 the next morning, hed rescued 41 people, ranging from families to first responders. We want to help, we can help better than anybody, said McNamara, treasurer of the Erie County Snowmobile Federation and a member of the Northern Erie Sno-Seekers club. I can go through 10-foot drifts of snow. I can go anyplace, and I can rescue people. Snowmobile and groomer owners including McNamara became a vital part of emergency response operations in the first days of the blizzard and earned praise from local officials but the system they worked within was far from perfect. Some snowmobile owners volunteered to respond, but never heard back from authorities. Others didnt coordinate with the police and became self-responders, complicating rescue efforts. It was a familiar story for volunteers like McNamara, who has tried to make more formal arrangements with county and local officials since the infamous Snowvember snowstorm in 2014. We met all these people over a couple months, and then it fades away, he said, attributing the lack of progress to turnover in county government. Its August, its nice out who wants to think about snow? And they just kind of forget about it. Things just might be different this year. After several meetings between Erie County Emergency Services and the Erie County Snowmobile Federation the latter of which represents 10 snowmobile clubs and about 3,000 members the two have reached an agreement in principle to coordinate ahead of the next blizzard. The agreement, still being drafted, would formalize the relationship between the county and clubs, allow county insurance to cover injury and damage expenses of volunteers in most cases, and allow the county to pre-position those volunteers while the sun is still shining, said Daniel Neaverth Jr., the countys Homeland Security and Emergency Services commissioner. My biggest concern all along is to make sure that the folks that are coming on out to assist us are protected in the event that one of them would get injured, that their equipment is protected, but also that theres a means of coordinating, Neaverth said. Weve just got to make sure that all the Is are dotted and the Ts are crossed, so that both parties are happy with it. Jeremy Toth, the Erie County attorney, confirmed that his office is reviewing the agreement in principle, and will use it to construct a formal memorandum of understanding. Once completed, the memorandum of understanding will go to the Erie County Legislature and the snowmobile federation for approval. Individual snowmobile clubs are also working on signing similar agreements with municipalities around Erie County. McNamara said his club, the Northern Erie Sno-Seekers, has been meeting with Clarence, Newstead and Akron. When the blizzard was at its worst, this emergency response team kept going When Sheriff John Garcia says his office never stopped responding to emergency calls during the Christmas week blizzard, even at its height, he's mainly referring to this group. The county-level agreement was the result of two or three meetings between the county and federation following the December blizzard. Talks had started after the Hamburg Snowmobile Club responded to the snowstorm that hammered the Southtowns on Nov. 18, but Decembers blizzard arrived before any of those discussions could bear fruit. There were some preliminary discussions, but then when the blizzard hit, those phone calls were made to activate some of the track vehicles from the snow clubs, Neaverth said. We did have challenges as a result of that. Their speeds are not where you can tap a team out of Eden and expect them to be in Cheektowaga or the City of Buffalo. Outside discussions with each other, both groups have been working independently to prepare for next winter. The federation has created its own emergency management leadership and fleshed out its volunteer communication system, two of its goals following the December blizzard. At the county level, officials have invested a considerable amount of money into new equipment for county agencies and training for county and local emergency personnel. That equipment is meant to supplement the efforts of volunteer snowmobilers and local fire companies to make sure the county has more than enough resources for the next blizzard, Neaverth said. Gov. Kathy Hochul recognizes 'ordinary' heroes from blizzard during Buffalo State visit "You rose up, and the ordinary citizens who found the strength and the courage that we ask God for, because of your efforts, there are more of God's children still with us today," Hochul said. Much of that equipment including ATVs and UTVs will be used by the Sheriffs Office and Parks Department year-round and transitioned into blizzard-response equipment during the winter. Im a huge proponent of having heavy equipment that is something that can be used as close to 365 days a year as possible, Neaverth said. Its great to have this equipment, but it just cant be equipment that sits in a shed somewhere and is only used, you know, for one or two events a year. You want it to be used all winter long. But no matter how many all-terrain vehicles the county deploys, McNamara says it is no substitute for common sense: Western New Yorkers still need to keep their gas tank well above empty, keep an eye on the winter weather forecast and obey driving bans. The population is so uninformed. Its terrible. Terrible, McNamara said. Theyre misinformed, miseducated, not prepared. Theres enough to blame on the political side and the government side, but theres a lot to blame on the people side. LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nation-state cyber threat activity will push the boundaries of war exclusion language, warns leading cyber risk analytics specialist CyberCube. In a new report examining selected nation-state cyber hot zones to gain insight into the potential cyber (re)insurance impacts of future cyber wars, CyberCube monitors these hot zones for evidence of cyber attacks bridging the divide between digital and physical impacts. It analyzes state-nexus cyber threat actors in Russia/Ukraine, China/Taiwan, Iran/Israel, and North Korea/South Korea. (Re)insurers can model realistic cyber disasters considering recent state-nexus cyber activities using CyberCubes Portfolio Manager software solution. William Altman, Cyber Threat Intelligence Principal, CyberCube, said: Nation-state cyber hot zones offer a glimpse into the potential future of cyber war. In Q4 2023, CyberCube expects to see nation-state cyber threat actors conduct themselves in ways that push the cyber (re)insurance industry to consider the limitations and strengths of current war-exclusion language deeply. The research CyberCubes Global Threat Outlook: A perspective on the threat landscape for Q4 2023 also highlights how the combination of CyberCubes Exposure and Security Scores paints a clear picture of industry-level differentiated cyber risk opportunities. The highest-risk sectors to keep an eye on in Q4 include Professional Services and Healthcare, which are both under-secured relative to the threats they face and make attractive targets, with high levels of sensitive data leaving companies vulnerable to ransomware and extortion tactics. The report notes that while there has been substantial progress and momentum achieved this year, including, in March, Lloyds of London rolling out an exclusion for cyber war and severe state-backed attacks, the reinsurance market is yet to settle on a consistent approach that is acceptable to all stakeholders. Yvette Essen, CyberCubes Head of Content, Communications & Creative, said: The approaches currently being adopted carry significant uncertainty, mainly due to the complexities surrounding the attribution of cyber incidents and the scarcity of historical parallels. By striving for consistency and clarity, we can bolster confidence in the cyber reinsurance sector, shielding it from the impact of outlier events, while reinforcing the overall value of cyber insurance products. A copy of the report can be found here CyberCubes Global Threat Outlook: A perspective on the threat landscape for Q4 2023. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904593969/en/ Yvette Essen, Head of Content, Communications & Creative, [email protected] Source: CyberCube TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Capitalizing on $70 million in cumulated revenue generated by six distinct brands, Stakk Ventures, a newly formed global enterprise headquartered in Toronto, is leveraging its collective accomplishments to inaugurate a multi-brand conglomerate which will serve as a powerful asset for the group. The collective strength of these brands has created a robust network of partners and clients, including numerous Euronext-listed companies. The Brands That Make Up the Conglomerate BME Consulting: A spend and procurement management advisory firm based in Lyon, France, boasting $17M in annual revenue and growing 80% year-over-year. The Blox: A startup accelerator with 20+ startups alumni and $30M+ raised in pre-seed funding, backed by investors like Techstars, Ubisoft, GSR, DFG, and Jsquare. Sourcing Force: A sourcing platform managing nearly $400M in spend, and recognized as one of the fastest growing startups by the Financial Times. P&L Partners: A specialized accounting firm serving startups from seed to Series A+. Conv3rgence: An annual event held in Toronto that fosters creative entrepreneurship. Wisperin: A creative interface design and marketing firm with over 50 successful projects built and launched. Ben Constanty, CEO of Stakk Ventures says: Launching Stakk Ventures truly encapsulates all our aspirations. For over a decade, we've seen every angle of business growth bootstrapping from the ground up, fueling our ventures through self-funding, and successfully securing external capital. Today, we're leveraging our combined expertise to help startups and established companies alike. How Stakk Ventures empowers companies Corporate Innovation: Operates an accelerator program aimed at fast-tracking business growth and fostering innovation within corporate settings. Operates an accelerator program aimed at fast-tracking business growth and fostering innovation within corporate settings. Venture Studio : Focuses on the ideation, development, and market readiness of in-house startups, serving as an incubator for new business ventures. : Focuses on the ideation, development, and market readiness of in-house startups, serving as an incubator for new business ventures. Subject-Matter Advisory: Provides comprehensive guidance that ranges from startups to established corporations, covering crucial areas from product development to financial strategy. Provides comprehensive guidance that ranges from startups to established corporations, covering crucial areas from product development to financial strategy. Strategic Investment and Acquisitions: Actively engages in the strategic investment and acquisition of businesses, expanding both its financial and operational reach. A Vision Echoed by Leadership "Stakk Ventures is the culmination of many years of hard work. Together, our companies contribute to a robust annual revenue of approximately $20 million, as we continue to experience rapid growth. We are now well-positioned to extend our services on a larger scale." says Olivier Audino, VP of the group. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904835493/en/ Ludovic Polly [email protected] stakk.ventures Source: Stakk Ventures PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Technip Energies (PARIS: TE), a world leader in the LNG industry, presents SnapLNG by T.EN, an innovative modular, pre-engineered and standardized solution for LNG decarbonized production and accelerated time to market with unparalleled certainty and plant reliability. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230903385276/en/ SnapLNG by T.EN (Photo: Business Wire) SnapLNG by T.EN will be launched on Sept. 5-8 at Gastech Exhibition & Conference 2023 in Singapore. The LNG industry takes a significant leap forward with the introduction of SnapLNG by T.EN. This innovation promises to push back the boundaries of LNG production, making the process more efficient, flexible and environmentally friendly. With world LNG production which could reach 600Mtpa by 2030 and the need to make it cleaner and faster, Technip Energies draws on its 60 years of experience to offer a new solution that will facilitate the energy transition and transform the liquefied natural gas landscape: The Solution Zero for low-carbon LNG. SnapLNG by T.EN is a 2.5 Mtpa electrically driven LNG train solution comprised of reproducible modules ready for delivery and installation. These modules operate autonomously and are pre-commissioned, for the delivery of a complete natural gas liquefaction plant, accelerating time to market and saving more than two years on total project duration compared to a conventional project. SnapLNG by T.EN s advanced design offers an unprecedented certainty in cost execution, delivery schedule, plant reliability and availability as well as production performance for a significant increase in annual revenues and a reduction of ~350kTe/year of CO2 emission per train versus a gas turbine solution. Loic Chapuis, SVP Gas & Low Carbon Energies at Technip Energies, said: "SnapLNG by T.EN represents a significant breakthrough in the LNG industry, embodying its future thanks to its innovative nature. This solution enables our clients to achieve considerable time savings and greater operational certainty and reliability while reaching their zero-emissions objectives. With SnapLNG by T.EN, Technip Energies strengthens its position as a leader and pioneer in the LNG sector and as a trusted and committed partner supporting its clients in their transition to a low-carbon economy." About Technip Energies Technip Energies is a leading Engineering & Technology company for the energy transition, with leadership positions in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), hydrogen and ethylene as well as growing market positions in blue and green hydrogen, sustainable chemistry and CO2 management. The company benefits from its robust project delivery model supported by extensive technology, products and services offering. Operating in 35 countries, our 15,000 people are fully committed to bringing our clients innovative projects to life, breaking boundaries to accelerate the energy transition for a better tomorrow. Technip Energies is listed on Euronext Paris with American depositary receipts (ADRs) trading over-the-counter in the United States. For further information: www.technipenergies.com. Important Information for Investors and Securityholders Forward-Looking Statement This Press Release contains forward-looking statements that reflect Technip Energies (the Company) intentions, beliefs or current expectations and projections about the Company's future results of operations, anticipated revenues, earnings, cashflows, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, anticipated growth, strategies and opportunities and the markets in which the Company operates. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words believe, expect, anticipate, plan, intend, foresee, should, would, could, may, estimate, outlook, and similar expressions, including the negative thereof. The absence of these words, however, does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on the Companys current expectations, beliefs and assumptions concerning future developments and business conditions and their potential effect on the Company. While the Company believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made, there can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those that the Company anticipates. All of the Companys forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are significant or beyond the Companys control, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Companys historical experience and the Companys present expectations or projections. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. For information regarding known material factors that could cause actual results to differ from projected results, please see the Companys risk factors set forth in the Companys 2022 Annual Financial report filed on March 10, 2023, with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and the French Autorite des Marches Financiers which include a discussion of factors that could affect the Company's future performance and the markets in which the Company operates. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and speak only as of the date they are made. The Company undertakes no duty to and will not necessarily update any of the forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events, except to the extent required by applicable law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230903385276/en/ Investor relations Phil Lindsay Vice-President Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7585 5051 Email: Phillip Lindsay Media relations Jason Hyonne Press Relations & Social Media Lead Tel: +33 1 47 78 22 89 Email: Jason Hyonne Source: Technip Energies TORONTO, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From Queen Street and University to the Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto felt the energy of workers power at todays Labour Day Parade. Marking the 151st year of the Parade and the Year of the Union, Unions across Toronto and York Region came together to spread a message of workers power lifting up their communities. Organized by the Toronto & York Region Labour Council, this annual parade rallied union members, their families, and community members from every corner of the City and wider Region. Our 220,000 members come from all over the world. We are standing with you, said Andria Babbington, President of Toronto & York Region Labour Council. Thank you for the service you do! Its a shame that workers are falling so far behind, while employers rob you of wages you deserve. Shame on them! She highlighted the struggles of workers at TVO (members of Canadian Media Guild) and ACTRA members the latter locked out for more than a year as well as education, health care and many private sector workers. When we come out here, we are here to say that workers deserve fairness. Workers deserve to know that when they retire, they will get to do it in dignity, said Babbington. Labour Day in Toronto began in 1872, when thousands of workers gathered to protest the arrest of leaders of the Globe Printers Strike. This led to the passage of the first Trade Unions Act a legacy which Torontos unions are proud to continue as they fight for a more just and affordable City and region for all working people. With this in mind, the Labour Movement was pleased to be joined by Torontos Mayor, Olivia Chow, in the first Labour Day Parade of her term as Mayor, along with other progressive elected representatives. As Toronto emerges from the challenges created by years of right-wing rule and a global Pandemic, workers have come together to shape a new vision for a new Toronto a vision that workers are already starting to build. We know that there is still much to do in Toronto and in York Region to combat the housing crisis, the affordability crisis, the climate crisis, and the many crises caused by the underfunding of our shared, public infrastructure, said President Babbington, But the solution to these crises begins with organizing together in our workplaces and in all of our communities! Only together can we build a region for all working people. Let me tell employers and governments: we are not getting ready to fight. We are ready. For more information and media inquiries, please contact: Yaroslava Avila MontenegroCommunications and Data Coordinator, Toronto and York Region Labour CouncilPhone: 416 441 3663 ex 1028Email: [email protected] About Toronto & York Region Labour Council: The Toronto & York Region Labour Council represents over 200,000 workers from diverse sectors across the Toronto region. Committed to fighting for economic, social, racial and climate justice, the Council works tirelessly to create a fair and equitable future for all. Source: Toronto & York Region Labour Council The role demands a fervent Tutor to facilitate a bright 15-year-old boy's transition from Montreal to an elite private school in London. The emphasis is on sculpting an academic trajectory in line with his interests and the subjects he aims to study, guaranteeing a competitive edge for entry into top private schools in London. STUDENTThe 15-year-old student is from a nurturing family that encourages diverse intellectual discussions. His aspirations are steering towards an academic route. Currently based in Montreal, he is fluent in French and Spanish, displaying an avid interest in subjects like biology, maths, economics, and geography, which he wishes to pursue at A-levels. This learner has previously enjoyed a fruitful international educational experience, including a creative and inspiring engagement with the British education system through Tutors International. This positive encounter has kindled his enthusiasm to delve deeper into the British curriculum, fostering a rich and holistic learning journey. ROLE OF THE TUTORThe primary role of the Tutor is to orchestrate a seamless transition to a prestigious British sixth form for the student, aiming for a start in September 2025. The Tutor will expertly guide him in preparing for his GCSEs and A-levels, encompassing maths, double science, English, French, and Spanish. This guidance will form the pillar of his foundational knowledge, equipping him for the rigours of post-16 education in the UK and assisting in securing a place at a coveted London school. The Tutor should be highly organised, deeply understand various exam boards and their prerequisites, and be proficient in French. A harmonious blend of empathy and firmness in their approach would be ideal, fostering an inspiring yet disciplined learning environment. HOURS & HOLIDAYSThe Tutor is expected to work approximately 30 hours per week, including after school and on weekends, with flexibility based on family travel and extracurricular activities. They will have two consecutive days off per week, likely on weekdays, to allow for study time. The standard minimum of 9 weeks (45 working days) of paid vacation is provided, with breaks arranged at mutually convenient times. ACCOMMODATION & TRAVELThe Tutor will receive a furnished apartment near the family home in Montreal, with rent, utilities, and internet covered by the Client. The Tutor will arrange accommodation when travelling, ensuring appropriate privacy and comfort. The Client will provide access to a car when necessary and reimburse local public transport and travel costs during family trips. MISCELLANEOUSThe successful candidate should surpass the minimum requirements, raised with excellent manners and personal values. Physical fitness and a non-smoking status are essential. CONTRACTUAL DETAILSStart: As soon as possible.Duration: Until summer 2025.Hours: ~ 30 hours per week.Salary: $216,000 USDAccommodation: Provided.Car: Provided when necessary.Vacation: Minimum nine weeks per year. APPLY NOWIf you are interested in applying for this position, contact us now by visiting the job listing on the Tutors International website. To find out more about Tutors International and the elite services it provides, visit https://tutors-international.com/ About Tutors InternationalTutors International provides an unparalleled private tutoring service that matches the right private home tutor with the right child for the student to fully reach their personal potential and academic excellence. Delivering an international private tuition service for children of all ages at different points in their educational journeys, Tutors International is founded on a commitment to finding the perfect tutor to realise each student's specific goals and aspirations. Tutors are available for full-time residential positions, after-school assistance, and home-schooling. Founded in 1999 by Adam Caller, Tutors International is a private company based in Oxford, a city renowned for academic excellence. Our select clientele receives a personally tailored service, with discretion and confidentiality guaranteed. Contact DetailsWeb: www.tutors-international.comEmail: [email protected]Phone: +44 (0) 1865 435 135 Tutors InternationalPrama House267 Banbury RoadOxford OX2 7HTEngland Attachment Mon Montreal Source: TUTORS INTERNATIONAL LTD Queensland, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 4, 2023) - Asphalt contracting company MR Roads has achieved a revenue milestone of $13 Million AUD in its first year of operation. This significant achievement reflects the company's commitment to quality service and client satisfaction. Photo MR Roads MR Roads offers a range of asphalt contracting services, including paving, resurfacing, and maintenance. Their services cater to both commercial and residential clients, providing tailored solutions to meet specific needs. Some of their notable works include a 25,000 sqm carpark in Southport. MR Roads is also the partner of choice for full-service roadworks as part of Brisbane's exciting new Cross River Rail project. They also recently completed a 500-tonne subdivision for a new housing estate for a prominent developer in Bunya. In Brisbane, they added a meticulous carpark to a residential complex, a project that required tight access equipment and attention to detail. These works collectively showcase the diverse capabilities and innovative approach of MR Roads in the asphalt contracting industry. Client-Centric Approach MR Roads attributes its success to a client-first philosophy. Director Daniel Mikus explains, "Our focus has always been on protecting our clients first. We ensure they have complete transparency by providing detailed project plans, regular updates, and open communication." This approach has helped MR Roads earn a 5-star rating and attract over 100-200 clients in its first year. The company has also used an innovative client acquisition strategy to achieve rapid growth. "We begin the tendering process by ensuring the client is protected and guaranteed the results we anticipated for them," says Director Daniel Mikus. This unique approach, combined with a relentless focus on client satisfaction, has allowed MR Roads to grow from $100,000 to $13 Million AUD in one year. About MR Roads In October 2021, Dan Mikus approached James Rolph with a business model that capitalized on the opportunity presented by the upcoming Brisbane Olympics in 2032. This led to the birth of Pelly-Can Asphalt in November 2021. In 2023, the directors merged their companies to form MR Roads, aiming for A2 accreditation and a relentless client-first approach. Contact Information: Director: Daniel Mikus Email Address: [email protected] Website: https://mr-roads.com.au/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/179196 HOUSTON and BAAR, Switzerland , Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Commonwealth LNG has entered into a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with MET Group, an integrated European energy company headquartered in Switzerland , for the sale and purchase of 1 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 20 years from the Commonwealth LNG facility currently under development in Cameron, Louisiana . Commonwealth LNG Founder and Executive Chairman Paul Varello said, "This agreement recognizes that US LNG can and will play a continuing role in Europe's energy transition by providing reliable and affordable natural gas to the region." He added, "We are excited to work with MET Group to deliver LNG on a long-term basis to contribute to the security of natural gas supply to their customers." MET Group Chairman and CEO Benjamin Lakatos commented, "LNG supply into Europe is a significant contributor to gas supply diversification and an important contributor to European energy security. LNG is also becoming an important part of MET Group's strategy going forward." MET Group is actively increasing its participation in the LNG market. In 2022 alone, MET has imported more than 30 terawatt-hours (TWh) of LNG cargoes to countries including Croatia , Greece , Spain , Belgium and UK . This year, the company also secured long-term LNG capacities in Germany and expanded its spot capacity reach to Finland . The terms anticipated under the non-binding HOA would commence at the start of commercial operation of the facility in 2027. Final terms remain subject to negotiation of a definitive Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) between the parties. Commonwealth is focused on completing the remaining steps necessary to achieve its goal of making a final investment decision on the project in the first quarter of 2024, with first cargo deliveries expected in 2027. An accelerated construction schedule will allow the project to be built in three years using a modular approach with major components being fabricated offsite. The Commonwealth LNG project is permitted and will include 6 natural gas liquefaction trains and associated facilities capable of producing approximately 9.3 Mtpa of LNG. About Commonwealth LNG Commonwealth LNG is an 9.3 mtpa liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project located on the Calcasieu River at the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, Louisiana . The project's leadership team is committed to building a world-class LNG facility by staying relentlessly focused on managing risk and lowering capital cost. Website: www.CommonwealthLNG.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/commonwealth-lng/ About MET Group MET Group is an integrated European energy company, headquartered in Switzerland , with activities and assets in natural gas and power markets. MET is present in 14 countries through subsidiaries, 30 national gas markets, and 22 international trading hubs. MET has extensive experience in operating green (renewable) and flexible (conventional) energy assets, thus providing the widest possible support to energy transition. In 2022, MET Group's consolidated sales revenue amounted to EUR 41.5 billion , with a total traded volume of natural gas amounting to 109 BCM and total traded electricity of 67 TWh.. Website: www.met.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/met-group/ Media Inquiries Commonwealth LNG MET Group Lyle Hanna Tobias Kistner Vice President, Corporate Communications Group Communications Director Office: 346-352-4436 Direct: 281-794-9606 Direct: +41 79 470 59 86 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/commonwealth-lng-announces-20-year-hoa-with-met-group-301916471.html SOURCE Commonwealth LNG BEIJING , Sept. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping , general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, proposed to comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization - the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. Advancing Chinese modernization is a systematic endeavor and also an exploratory undertaking. It is through this framework that we wish to illustrate the process of the Chinese path to modernization through a series of landmark projects, touching stories, and visionary plans. In this installment, we trace along the stream of the Xin'an River, which flows in East China's Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, some of China's most-developed regions facing the dilemmas of industrial development and ecological protection. Through a collaborative and creative way, a cross-provincial ecological compensation mechanism has been built, setting a model in pursuing harmony between humanity and nature. Xin'an River, which originates in Huangshan, East China's Anhui Province starting at an altitude of 1,629.8 meters, winds its way for over 300 kilometers through picturesque mountains and valleys, and eventually converges in Chun'an county, East China's Zhejiang Province , creating the Qiandao Lake before flowing into the Qiantang River . With rapid economic and social development, in the early years, the upper reaches of the Xin'an River basin suffered from ecological degradation due to rapid industrialization and urbanization. Industrial pollution, domestic waste, and agricultural runoff expanded sharply, leading to a year-on-year decline in water quality. The once clear river water became a source of concern for the people on both banks. The shared fate of drinking from the same river made the people of Anhui and Zhejiang realize the urgency of working together to protect their "mother river." In the new era, the relationship between key breakthroughs and collaborative governance in major river basins has become a subject of Xi Jinping's Thought on Ecological Civilization, evolving from theoretical innovation to practical exploration. "We shall protect ecosystems as preciously as we protect our eyes, and cherish them as dearly as we cherish our lives," Xi has said, stressing that the development model of "killing the hens for eggs" and "draining the lake for fish" is at a dead end, and the future will be illuminated by eco-friendly development that is in accordance with the rules of nature. As China's first pilot program for cross-provincial ecological compensation mechanisms, the ecological governance of the Xin'an River basin has provided a new approach for cross-regional ecological mechanisms, especially for the local governments facing the dilemmas of industrial development and ecological protection. From being a pilot to becoming a model, from financial compensation to industrial cooperation, from collaborative governance to mutual development, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces have continuously innovated their cross-provincial ecological compensation mechanism, gradually forging a path of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. Explore a new path The Qiandao Lake is known for its picturesque landscapes characterized by mountains, pristine waters, and an archipelago of islands. The ever-changing scenery of the lake and mountains resembles paradise on Earth. Today, it attracts a multitude of tourists and serves as a habitat for many wild animals. However, in the past, the area presented a different picture. At that time, Huangshan city was undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization. Some wastewater and garbage made its way into Qiandao Lake through the Xin'an River, causing deterioration of water quality in certain areas and the proliferation of blue-green algae, which posed a threat to the survival of fish. How were the emergent pollution issues addressed in the Xin'an River basin? In 2011, Xi gave an important instruction, emphasizing the significance of protecting Qiandao Lake's high-quality water resources, stating that Zhejiang and Anhui should consider the overall situation, control pollution at its source, and pursue a mutually beneficial and win-win path. "The Xin'an River basin is the pioneer in the construction of ecological compensation mechanisms in China ," said Wu Zhixu, deputy director of the Chun'an sub-bureau of ecology and environment in Hangzhou . Wu revealed that the Anhui segment of the upper Xin'an River accounts for over 60 percent of the total inflow into the Qiandao Lake , making it crucial for the lake's water quality. In 2012, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces initiated the first nationwide pilot project for a cross-provincial ecological compensation mechanism along the Xin'an River. They established a compensation standard system with the philosophy "those who benefit compensate, and those who protect receive compensation." The agreement stipulated that as long as Anhui Province achieved water quality standards at the provincial boundary, Zhejiang Province's downstream region would compensate Anhui to the tune of 100 million yuan ( $13.8 million ) annually. If water quality standards were not met, Anhui Province would need to compensate Zhejiang with the same amount. During the implementation of this policy, with increasing exchanges between upstream and downstream areas, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces learned from each other's governance experiences, and gradually formed a collaborative work pattern encompassing joint planning, water quality monitoring, garbage collection, law enforcement emergencies, and multilateral exchanges. Through the joint efforts of both provinces, three phases of pilot projects were conducted in the periods of 2012 to 2014, 2015 to 2017, and 2018 to 2020. Over the course of more than a decade of implementing the Xin'an River ecological compensation mechanism, the central government and the two provinces of Zhejiang and Anhui collectively allocated a total of 5.7 billion yuan in compensation funds. Chun'an county received a total of 7.5 billion yuan in ecological and environmental protection subsidies, driving the investment of 11.2 billion yuan in ecological and environmental protection. Additionally, 31 projects were incentivized through specialized financial incentives for green transformation, attracting an investment of 4.52 billion yuan . Today, the comprehensive governance level of the Xin'an River basin has significantly improved. The Qiandao Lake continues to maintain excellent water quality, and its water source is categorized as one of the first " China Good Water " water sources, earning the honor of being one of the first national-level ecological protection and construction demonstration areas, among others. Moreover, the two provinces of Zhejiang and Anhui have transitioned from a single fund compensation approach to engaging in diverse explorations. The potential value of the ecological compensation mechanism in driving local economic structural transformation and promoting high-quality economic development has gradually become evident. For instance, in the agricultural sector, an agreement was signed between Jiukeng town in Chun'an, Zhejiang , and Huangtian town in Shexian county, Anhui , to collaboratively cultivate talent in the field of tea and enhance the cooperative efforts in breeding excellent tea varieties. This has turned tea cultivation and tourism into pillar industries driving rural revitalization in the local area. In the field of culture and tourism, the Xin'an River basin has interconnected multiple 5A-level scenic spots and traditional villages along its course. The Xin'an River basin, serving as an exemplary model, is transitioning from the "joint protection of one river" to the "shared prosperity of one region," providing one of the finest illustrations of the Chinese path to modernization, showing that Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the "master key" for analyzing and resolving issues. An inspiring reference Experiences in the cross-provincial ecological compensation practice in the Xin'an River-Qiandao Lake region also provides a good reference for many other cities and villages in the Yangtze River Delta region. Xiayang village in Zhejiang's Anji county, for instance, is a popular camping destination with a plethora of natural attractions. It received more than 5,000 camping tourists in 2021, with annual tourism income reaching 2.13 million yuan ( $293,324 ). But that year, while happy with their booming tourism, some local villagers were also worried about a possible decrease in tourists in the near future because of the then polluted Xiayang stream flowing through the village. "The industrial wastewater and household waste discharged from the upstream villages can cause pollution and hurt the water environment, and that may discourage campers and affect our village's tourism business," Bao Xin , secretary of the Xiayang village branch of the Communist Party of China (CPC), told the Global Times. The upper reach of Xiayang stream passes through several villages in Anhui's Guangde city. Due to problems including inadequate communication and different water protection standards, it was difficult to carry out cross-provincial water pollution control work initially, Bao recalled. The "Xin'an River mode" inspired Xiayang's villagers, who voluntarily went to the upstream villages at the beginning of 2022 and discussed joint management and protection of Xiayang stream's water environment with the residents there. After eight months of concerted efforts on both sides, they issued a series of water quality assessment measures, which involve four villages in Zhejiang and Anhui through which Xiayang stream flows. According to the measures, each month, the downstream Xiayang village tests the quality of the water in the stream's cross-provincial sections. If the quality reaches the agreed-upon standard, Xiayang village will pay the involved upstream villages 300,000 yuan that month as an ecological compensation. Encouraged by eco-compensation policy and the consensus on green development, the upstream villages started to work harder in improving Xiayang stream's water quality. In 2022, one of the villages, Shijun, spent 800,000 yuan in building two sewage treatment terminals, and local villagers spontaneously set up a volunteer team to patrol along the stream. Now the clear stream has become Shijun village's popular water rafting destination, bringing it new opportunities to develop ecotourism. Xiayang stream is a part of the Xitiao Stream - an important tributary of the Taihu Lake . Traversing Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, the 2,445-square-kilometer Taihu Lake is China's third-largest freshwater lake, as well as an essential "water tank" for people in the Yangtze River Delta region. From the previous blue-green algae's "hard-hit area" to the current boundless clear water, Taihu Lake is a good example of Yangtze River Delta provinces and cities working together to improve water quality and the ecological environment in recent years. Since 2007, Jiangsu's Wuxi city has spent 110 billion yuan in improving the water environment of Taihu Lake . It has salvaged a total 20.55 billion tons of blue-green algae between 2007 and 2022, accounting for more than 90 percent of the whole blue-green algae being salvaged in the lake. In Zhejiang , Huzhou city shut down or relocated all the industrial companies within five kilometers of Taihu Lake . It has also removed more than 1,000 mu (0.67 square kilometers) of aquaculture nets from Taihu Lake and its surrounding waters. More cross-provincial policies and measures were carried out to better protect water quality. In September 2022 , Shanghai , Jiangsu , and Zhejiang together released an announcement to establish and improve an integrated mechanism in protecting local cross-border water sources. Earlier in September 2020 , the three sides jointly introduced a special protection plan for the cross-border waters there. Ecological conservation is of vital importance for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said as the country marks its first National Ecology Day on August 15 , calling it a major political issue that concerns the mission and purpose of the CPC as well as a major social issue that bears upon public wellbeing. He noted that on the new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects, efforts should be made to maintain strategic resolve in advancing ecological progress and promote high-quality development in sync with high-standard protection. Li Junjie and Dou Hao are People's Daily reporters; Shan Jie and Huang Lanlan are Global Times reporters https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202309/1297476.shtml View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-times-collaborative-creative-means-in-protecting-xinan-river-highlights-new-approach-for-chinas-cross-regional-ecological-governance-301916560.html SOURCE Global Times SEOUL, South Korea , Sept. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hanwha Aerospace, in collaboration with Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Ocean , will present a series of advanced autonomous defense solutions at the upcoming Miedzynarodowy Salon Przemysu Obronnego (MSPO), an international defense exhibition taking place from September 5 to 8 . in Kielce, Poland . With a commitment to aid in Ukraine's post-war reconstruction and to bolster the security of European partners, Hanwha will feature advanced land and naval defense solutions to address the rising need for effective deterrence measures following the Ukraine War. According to McKinsey's projections, NATO's defense expenditures will increase by 300400 billion over the next few years. Hanwha has been cooperating with European nations such as Poland , Finland , and Norway. In particular, the company has proven to be a dependable partner with Poland , providing a total of 48 K9PL SPHs to the Polish Armed Forces as part of three tranches to fil the gap from transferring artillery systems to Ukraine . Hanwha Aerospace founded its European subsidiary in the first half of this year and has been fully operational since the second. The goal is to work with Poland on local production and use it as a springboard for export sales to other European partners. The following is a list of Hanwha's key products and solutions that will be displayed at the event. BREVIS-EOD: For the first time, Hanwha features the cutting-edge technologies that integrate explosive ordnance detection robots with mine detectors. The new robot, which are soon to be mass-produced in Korea , stand out as viable solutions for future post-war reconstruction efforts. This robot, developed by Agency for Defense Development(ADD), is expected to usher in a dramatic shift toward faster and safer mine detection without the need for military personnel. Currently, the majority of mine detecting devices require human soldiers to operate their own equipment BREVIS-EOD is a versatile tool that can cut border walls, open passages, and search for subsurface facilities. It can detect and mark all types of mines and destroy embedded explosives with a recoilless water cannon operated remotely. Beyond explosives detection and removal, it has superior surveillance capabilities, including the ability to identify humans from a distance and detect nocturnal activities. Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle: The Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle(UGCV) will make its debut, with the goal of transforming border operations such as search, reconnaissance, and vigilance by fulfilling tasks that have historically been undertaken by frontline forces. This vehicle is equipped with innovative technologies for self-navigation on unmarked terrains, detection of multiple targets from several kilometers distant, day and night, and detection of individual targets with pinpoint accuracy. It can implement operations with greater stealth than conventional military vehicles due to its hybrid power unit. TAipers, a guided air-to-ground missile designed for the Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) of the Korean Air Force, has been converted for use as a surface-to-surface missile on the Vehicle. It features offensive vehicle-destroying capabilities as well as qualities that improve combatant survivability in high-risk areas. Redback - is an advanced Infantry Fighting Vehicle equipped with cutting-edge protection technologies, such as Iron Fist's hard-kill active protection system, and Iron Vision's "see-through" helmet-mounted display. It incorporates the Composite Rubber Track to reduce noise and vibration, resulting in a more comfortable ride for its crew. Australia has recently selected the Redback producer Hanwha as the preferred bidder to replace its fleet of armored personnel carriers. Unmanned Submersibles: Hanwha Systems presents two autonomous underwater vehicles as a naval security solution. 1) The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) is designed to systematically survey the seabed environment. 2) The Side Scan Sonar (SSS) AUV can develop three-dimensional terrain visualizations even in muddy waters . KSS-III Batch II: Hanwha Ocean displays cutting-edge submarine, KSS-III(Jangbogo-III) Batch-II, aimed at European customers. The distinguishing characteristic of Batch-II submarine is its innovative propulsion system, which is fueled by lithium-ion batteries that have three times the endurance of conventional lead-acid batteries. This huge improvement in battery longevity, combined with an air-independent propulsion technology, enables these submarines to stay submerged for longer periods of time. About Hanwha Aerospace Hanwha Aerospace is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in land combat vehicles, including the world-renowned K9 Self-Propelled Howitzer and the Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicle, weapons systems, munitions, aircraft engine parts, and technology products and services. As South Korea's largest aerospace and defense company, Hanwha Aerospace is engaged in the research, development, and manufacture of advanced technology systems, products, and services, and is spearheading the country's space projects. More information about Hanwha Aerospace is available at www.hanwhaaerospace.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hanwha-at-mspo-showcasing-advanced-autonomous-defense-solutions-to-european-partners-301916557.html SOURCE Hanwha Aerospace Development of Bacteriophages targeting strains causing urinary tract infections Establishment of collaboration with the US Army and investigation of groundwork for entering the US defense market BOSTON and SEOUL, South Korea , Sept. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- iNtRON Biotechnology ("iNtRON", www.intodeworld.com) has announced today that its New Drug Part has entered into an official contract with the U.S. Army DEVCOM (U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command) International Technology Center Indo-Pacific and Solider Center to develop bacteriophages for combating Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) infections. DEVCOM, a subcommand of the U.S. Army Futures Command, focuses on development of advanced innovation technology to enhance combat and survival capabilities of the U.S. military. It has been working on a project to develop products that address the risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) among Soldiers exposed to austere environments such as when deployed or undergoing training. Despite employing various methods, including synthetic antibiotics, to treat UTIs, issues like antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections haven't been resolved. However, through the efforts of key DEVCOM personnel, they became acquainted with the bacteriophage platform technology of iNtRON. Subsequently, after in-depth technological reviews and research planning, the project has been selected under the U.S. Army FTAS (Foreign Technology Assessment Support) program. Dr. SON, Ji-soo, the head of the BD Department said that "Urinary tract infections require a treatment through prolonged antibiotic administration, but in environments where continuous antibiotic usage is not easy, there's a significant risk of recurrence and chronicity. Bacteriophages can overcome the shortcomings of general antibiotics, making them highly suitable for combating UTIs." He added, "The UPEC project with DEVCOM is planned to proceed in stages, initially feasibility demonstrations with potential follow on pilot product development, small scale clinical trials, regulatory approval and final product development. In this project, iNtRON will develop bacteriophages targeting UPEC first, while DEVCOM will support initial feasibility demonstration through the funded program." Mr. YOON, Kyung-won, CEO of iNtRON, remarked, "The current UPEC project holds great significance as an official contract with a U.S. government agency, potentially serving as a stepping stone for entering the U.S. defense market. Additionally, based on the bacteriophages obtained through this project, the goal is to expand into large-scale projects for clinical trials and product development in the future while establishing relations with the U.S. Army." About iNtRON Biotechnology, Inc. iNtRON (www.iNtODEWORLD.com) is a bio-new drug developing venture company and a leader in bacteriophage-based technology for human with aim to develop and investigate into the 'Immune & Immunotherapeutics' market. While pursuing global research and business development (R&BD) investments since the foundation and accelerated development after entering its IPO in KOSDAQ, the company honed in on innovating BIO New Drugs by developing various 'First-in-Class" and "First-in-Concept' bio-drugs and conducting clinical studies in phases. The Company is committed to development of innovative innovation in the infectious diseases and 'Immune & Immunotherapeutics' area. Contact Us YOON, Kyung Won (Kevin) / CEO, Vice President / [email protected] BD Team / [email protected] www.intodeworld.com it is iNtRON. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/intron-signs-bacteriophage-development-project-with-us-army-devcom-301916586.html SOURCE iNtRON Biotechnology, Inc. Fair skies. Family. Friends. Fun. Buffalos AFL-CIO Labor Day parade Monday was a befitting way to mark the unofficial end of summer. Hundreds of union workers, law enforcement personnel, firefighters, elected officials from various levels of government and more all walked in the parade up McKinley Parkway to Cazenovia Park in South Buffalo. Afterward, a cookout was held at the Peter J. Crotty Casino Shelter in the park. It was a far cry from last years parade, which was rained out. For the Halls, watching the parade is a family affair every year. They have lived along the parade route for years, and every time they set up lawn chairs and invite family over to celebrate. About a dozen people showed up Monday. The great grandkids came over for the parade, Gerry Hall said. Its nice just to be out and enjoy the day. It was a first-time visit to Buffalo for spectators Brian Watts and Lisa Mackin, who traveled from Pennsylvania for the holiday weekend. They usually go to New York City for the Labor Day weekend, but this year they decided to visit Niagara Falls. The hotel where they were staying gave them a pamphlet of things to do. One of the featured events was the parade. A bus brought them from the hotel to the parade site. It looks like its going to be a good time, Watts said. Im positive its going to be good, and I wouldnt mind coming back. Cindy Blackford, a union worker at Aurubis Buffalo on Military Road, walks the parade every year with her co-workers. Its important that people understand that our strength is in numbers and that when we stick together with the union, things get done, she said. Sporting sunglasses with an American flag covering each lens, Aine Leahey is a bagpipe player with Erie County Sheriffs Pipes and Drums. Leahey has been performing in the parade annually with her fellow bagpipers for a few years, she said. Were here to support the community, she said. Mike Shanahan enjoyed the view of the parade from the porch of his McKinley Parkway home. He usually has family marching in the parade, including his grandchildren with their church and two of his sons, who are Buffalo firefighters. But this year, his sons were not marching, and the grandchildren were at the Buffalo Zoo to see the four new lion cubs born there recently. Still, that didnt keep Shanahan from watching the procession, something hes done, ever since theyve been doing them, he said. Maria Ziegewski, who is originally from Poland but has lived in Buffalo about 20 years, regularly comes out to watch the parade. Monday she set up lawn chairs and American flags near the beginning of the parade route and invited two friends. We just celebrate the day and people who work hard, she said. It was also the first time marching in the Labor Day parade for Michael Ball, vice president of community affairs at Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York. We have a large union workforce at Highmark, he said. We have a large union workforce in Western New York, so this is just a great way to come out, walk alongside our friends and neighbors and family and labor and celebrate all that they do for our community. Grand Marshall Jeffrey Richardson agreed. Richardson is president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1342 and has worked in organized labor for the last 35 years, he said. Im just part of a team, he said. Im just humbled that they chose me to lead the parade today. The importance of Labor Day is to celebrate organized labor, he said. Seems like weve been forgotten, but organized labor is back on strong. Were here to unite in solidarity. Were all as one. WASHINGTON , Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- After splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida early Monday morning, NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 completed the agency's sixth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station . The international crew of four spent 186 days in orbit. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg , as well as UAE ( United Arab Emirates ) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, returned to Earth at 12:17 a.m. EDT . Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and its crew. After returning to shore, the crew will fly to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston . "After spending six months aboard the International Space Station , logging nearly 79 million miles during their mission, and completing hundreds of scientific experiments for the benefit of all humanity, NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 has returned home to planet Earth," said Administrator Bill Nelson . "This international crew represented three nations, but together they demonstrated humanity's shared ambition to reach new cosmic shores. The contributions of Crew-6 will help prepare NASA to return to the Moon under Artemis, continue onward to Mars, and improve life here on Earth." The Crew-6 mission lifted off at 12:34 a.m. EST March 2, 2023 , on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida . About 25 hours later, Dragon docked to the Harmony module's space-facing port. On May 6 , the crew completed a port relocation maneuver to the Earth-facing port ahead of the arrival of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft carrying new solar arrays, science investigations, and supplies to the orbiting laboratory. The crew undocked from the space station at 7:05 a.m. Sunday , to begin the trip home. Bowen, Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev traveled 78,875,292 miles during their mission, spent 184 days aboard the space station, and completed 2,976 orbits around Earth. The Crew-6 mission was the first spaceflight for Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev. Bowen has logged 227 days in space over four flights. Throughout their mission, the Crew-6 members contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Bowen conducted three spacewalks, joined by Hoburg for two, and Alneyadi for one, preparing the station for and installing two new IROSAs (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays) to augment power generation for the station. The crew contributed to hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, including assisting a student robotic challenge, studying plant genetic adaptations to space, and monitoring human health in microgravity to prepare for exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth. The astronauts released Saskatchewan's first satellite which tests a new radiation detection and protection system derived from melanin, found in many organisms, including humans. This was the fourth flight of the Dragon spacecraft, which was named Endeavour by retired NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on its first voyage for the agency's SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2. The spacecraft will return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX's refurbishing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station , where teams will inspect the spacecraft, analyze data on its performance, and prepare it for its next flight. The Crew-6 mission is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, and its return to Earth follows on the launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-7, which docked to the station Aug. 27 , beginning another long-duration science expedition. The goal of NASA's Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and low Earth orbit, which maximizes research time and increases opportunities for discovery aboard humanity's microgravity laboratory and testbed for exploration, including helping NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Learn more about NASA's Commercial Crew program at: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasas-spacex-crew-6-safely-returns-to-earth-near-florida-coast-301916696.html SOURCE NASA BRASILIA (Reuters) - Federal lawmakers in Brazil suggested several measures to boost accountability in the financial market, a report showed on Monday, after retailer Americanas this year revealed a multi-billion-dollar fraud. In its final report on the Americanas inquiry, the committee of lawmakers proposed four measures for Congress to consider aimed at bolstering market regulations. The report comes weeks after the committee heard the testimonies of former Americanas executives and experts. The retailer filed for bankruptcy protection in January and reported accounting irregularities of more than $5 billion. The committee's first measure proposes changes to laws governing the responsibility of company shareholders and managers. A second proposal aims to improve access by independent audit companies to the financial information of the companies they are auditing. The committee also proposes that Congress reforms the law regarding the crime of "patrimonial infidelity," in which a member of the management compromises the company's interests as well as those of the company's partners or shareholders. The fourth and final proposed measure aims to boost protections for whistleblowers in the country and broaden the scope of whistleblowing. "(The proposal is that the whistleblower system) covers not only crimes against the public administration, but also crimes against the national financial system, against the capital market, or against other diffuse or collective interests," the report said. In June, Americanas Chief Executive Leonardo Coelho said before lawmakers that an independent report by the company's legal advisers showed former executives, banks, and audit firms alleged involvement in "fraudulently altered" financial statements. The inquiry did not suggest indicting anyone involved in the scandal. (Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Josie Kao) The Man structure, which is normally burned on Saturday night, looms over the Burning Man encampment after a severe rainstorm left tens of thousands of revelers attending the annual festival stranded in mud in Black Rock City, in the Nevada desert Septemb (This Sept. 4 story has been corrected to say burning of man effigy was delayed by two days, not one day, in paragraphs 2 and 17) By Matt McKnight and Anna Tong BLACK ROCK CITY, Nevada (Reuters) - Burning Man organizers reopened the road leading out of the remote Nevada desert festival on Monday, allowing tens of thousands of attendees to escape after they had been trapped for days by mud. But many of the 64,000 people who remained on site as of Monday may choose to stay one more night and watch the festival's giant namesake effigy go up in flames on Monday night, two days past schedule. Unexpected summer rain turned the weeklong, annual counterculture arts festival into a muddy nightmare. When the road finally reopened, a long line of vehicles snaked through the desert, inching along in an epic traffic jam as event organizers urged drivers to take it slowly on Monday and consider delaying their departure until Tuesday to reduce traffic. Eventually the traffic formed into an organized exodus 10 lanes wide, an armada of recreational vehicles and cars seeking the promised land of a hot shower and a clean bed. The way out is a 5-mile (8-km) dirt road to the nearest highway. The Burning Man Traffic account on social media platform X estimated "exodus" travel time at 5-1/2 hours. The site in Nevada's Black Rock Desert sits atop the former Lake Lahontan, which the U.S. Geological Society describes as a deep lake that existed as recently as 15,000 years ago. It is about 15 miles (25 km) from the nearest town and 110 miles (177 km) north of Reno. For days, up to 70,000 people were ordered to stay put and conserve food and water as officials closed the roads, requiring vehicles to stay put. "People are taking care of each other. We have food. We have provisions. We have shelter. So it's really kind of a group effort to get through this," said attendee David Date. One person died at the event, officials said on Sunday, providing few details. An investigation was under way. "It really looked apocalyptic," said festival volunteer Evi Airy. "When you see the people walking barefoot in such a cold with the children. Some people have a small child here like three years old, four years old. I don't know how they survived." Even before the gate was officially open, campers started leaving while it was still dark. Stuck vehicles littered the roads in the makeshift Black Rock City that springs up for the festival, some of them horizontally blocking lanes roads because they had lost control. The desert path to the main gate was a graveyard of marooned cars, which will challenge the event's ethos of "leave no trace" of human activity in the desert. At one point event workers gave instructions on how to traverse a "river" created by the rain, placing cones on an arc with instructions to take the bend at 20 mph (30 kph), a course that still bathed vehicles in mud. But just past that final obstacle lay the gravel road toward civilization. The temporary airport serving the festival was reopened earlier on Monday. Every year Burning Man brings tens of thousands of people to the Nevada desert to dance, make art and enjoy being part of a self-sufficient, temporary community of like-minded spirits. Originating in 1986 as a small gathering on a San Francisco beach, the week-long festival is now attended by celebrities and social media influencers. A regular ticket costs $575. The festival typically has a penultimate night send-off with the burning of a giant wooden effigy of a man, along with a fireworks show. Originally set for Saturday night, it was rescheduled for Monday night at 9 p.m. PDT (0400 GMT on Tuesday), organizers said. (Reporting by Matt McKnight and Anna Tong at Black Rock City, Rich McKay in Atlanta, and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien, Nick Zieminski and Sandra Maler) FILE PHOTO: Mozambique President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi speaks to reporters ahead of a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the US-Africa Leaders Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, U.S., December 14 LONDON (Reuters) - Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi cannot be sued in Britain over allegations he accepted unlawful payments in the country's lawsuit against Credit Suisse and others over the $2 billion "tuna bond" scandal, London's High Court ruled on Monday. The tuna bond or "hidden debt" case has triggered criminal investigations from Maputo to New York, plus a series of linked lawsuits in London involving Credit Suisse, shipbuilder Privinvest, its owner Iskandar Safa and many others. Privinvest and Safa tried to drag Nyusi into the case, arguing he should contribute to any damages they may be ordered to pay if they are found liable to Mozambique. Their claim against Nyusi focused on payments of $11 million they say Privinvest made in 2014 to fund Nyusi's successful run for president and his ruling Frelimo party's election campaign. Privinvest and Safa argued that if the payments were not lawful and they are liable to Mozambique then Nyusi should be liable to them. However, Judge Robin Knowles said in a written ruling on Monday that Nyusi "has immunity from the jurisdiction of this court whilst he is head of state of the republic". No one in Nyusi's office was immediately available to comment. The decision comes ahead of a months-long trial due to start on Oct. 3, at which Mozambique will seek to revoke a sovereign guarantee on a loan it alleges was corruptly procured and secure compensation for other alleged wrongdoing. The long-running dispute is focused on three deals between state-owned companies and Privinvest, ostensibly to develop Mozambique's fishing industry and for maritime security. The deals were funded in part by loans and bonds from Credit Suisse since taken over by UBS and backed by undisclosed Mozambican government guarantees. But hundreds of millions of dollars went missing and, when the state loan guarantees became public in 2016, donors such as the International Monetary Fund halted support, triggering a currency collapse, debt crisis and years of litigation. (Reporting by Sam Tobin; Additional reporting by Manuel Mucari in Maputo; Editing by Kylie MacLellan and Angus MacSwan) BELFAST (Reuters) - The head of Northern Ireland's police service, Chief Constable Simon Byrne, resigned on Monday following a series of controversies, including a major data leak and the unlawful disciplining of two junior officers. The announcement by the Northern Ireland Policing Board came weeks after the police force accidentally shared the names and work locations of every member of staff in a major data breach. The surnames, initials, work location and department of each staff member were included in error in response to a freedom of information request. The breach was hugely sensitive in Northern Ireland, where police officers are still sporadically targeted by dissident groups in bomb and gun attacks, despite a 1998 peace deal that largely ended sectarian violence in the province. Byrne faced additional pressure after court last week found he had unlawfully disciplined two junior officers who arrested a victim of a 1992 sectarian shooting in Belfast, while policing a wreath-laying event to mark the anniversary of the attack. Mr Justice Scoffield said he was persuaded the officers were disciplined to avoid Irish Republicans withdrawing their support for the police force. The largest pro-British party in the region, the Democratic Unionist Party, last week called for Byrne's resignation. Northern Ireland's police federation, a body to represent officers, said it was considering holding a vote of no-confidence. (Reporting by Amanda Ferguson; Writing Conor Humphries; Editing by William James) KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian railways have partially restricted cargo shipments to Ukraine's major Danube River port Izmail, which has been the target of Russian drone attacks in recent weeks, the railways said on Monday. The restrictions began on Sunday, the railways said in a statement. Russia has attacked Ukrainian ports on the Danube River with drones two nights in a row. The latest attack on the Danube River port of Izmail, in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, hit warehouses and production buildings, and debris from drones that were shot down set ablaze several civilian infrastructure buildings, the regional authorities said. Ukraine said some Russian drones detonated on the opposite bank in Romanian territory. Romania denied this. The Danube has become Ukraine's main route for exporting grain since July, when Russia quit a U.N.- and Turkey-brokered deal that had given safe passage to Kyiv's exports of grains, oilseeds and vegetables oils via the Black Sea. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Peter Graff) U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Eric M. Smith, the 36th Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, gives remarks during the I Marine Expeditionary Force succession of command ceremony on Camp Pendleton, Calif., Aug. 18, 2023. Lt. Gen. George W. Smith Jr., relinquished command of I MEF to Maj. Gen. Bradford J. Gering. (Shaina Jupiter/U.S. Marine Corps) Gen. Eric M. Smith has a vision for furthering the Marine Corps' transformation from a force shaped by two decades of counterinsurgency warfare into one that's optimized for a great-power clash, possibly with China. He can't share it with anyone, though. The United States, Smith said in a recent interview, finds itself in an "interwar period" and must take full advantage of peacetime to regroup and advance new fighting concepts. But the general, selected by President Joe Biden to become the Marines' next top officer, is one of more than 300 senior military leaders whose nominations are on hold, caught in the acrimonious months-long dispute between Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and the administration stemming from the Pentagon's abortion policy. And so, Smith said, for now he must "ruthlessly adhere" to admonitions from the Senate that he not presume his next assignment is assured. "People say, 'What's your commandant's planning guidance?' " Smith said, referring to a major document that the Marine Corps leader typically distributes at the outset of his term, to set priorities and expectations for the 200,000 active-duty troops and reservists under his command. The general's reply: "You'll have to ask the 39th commandant when that person is confirmed," he said, "because I cannot work on that document." At 58, Smith is battle-tested in Iraq, in Afghanistan and, equally importantly, in Washington. It appears there is Senate consensus that he possesses the relevant experience and requisite expertise to guide the nation's crisis-response force through the next four years. At his confirmation hearing in June, lawmakers from both political parties praised his experience with Tuberville saying a few weeks later that he has "a great deal of admiration" for the general and that there was "little doubt" about his suitability for the post. Yet for the foreseeable future, Smith along with the incoming heads of the Army, Navy and, soon, the Air Force will do his job with the limited authority of an acting administrator marking the first time in more than a century that the Marines have been without a Senate-confirmed service chief. Smith is barred even from moving into the Home of the Commandants, a historic Washington, D.C., residence occupied by the Corps' top officer since the 1800s. This portrait of the Marines' prospective leader is based on interviews with Smith and a dozen current and former Marines. Though colleagues see him as highly qualified, some worry that the longer Tuberville's gambit continues, the more challenging it will be for Smith to reorient the service and prepare the force for America's next major conflict. "It's only been a couple of months. Can he deal with that? Sure. But how much longer?" said Robert Neller, a retired general who served as the top Marine from 2015 to 2019. "At some point, he has to put his stamp on the organization as commandant." Tuberville has said he'll lift his hold on Biden's nominations, imposed in February, only after the Pentagon rescinds its policy of reimbursing travel costs for military personnel who cannot obtain an abortion in the state where they are stationed. Administration officials enacted the program after last year's Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that had protected for nearly 50 years a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. Service members, defense officials say, do not choose where they serve and deserve access to reproductive care. Tuberville's view is that federal money should not be used to pay for any expense affiliated with abortion. Neither side has budged. Smith has tread carefully in his public statements about the controversy, telling lawmakers in June that the promotions hold "compromises our ability to be most ready," thus endangering national security. He has sought to reassure Marines that the political gridlock will not upend the service, though. During a wide-ranging discussion at the Pentagon, he insisted that plans for modernization will proceed apace. "There's no issue," Smith said, "with that acceleration at all." Privately, though, service officials acknowledge that challenges and concerns are beginning to mount. For instance, Tuberville's hold also has frozen the nominations of Smith's prospective replacement as assistant commandant, Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney, and 16 other senior officers slated for roles either overseeing tens of thousands of troops or setting and directing policy. One Marine official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal conversations, said that while lower-ranking generals will hold some of those positions on an interim basis, there's growing apprehension about how effective they can be over the long term, and what the ramifications for unit readiness and troop discipline may be. Smith addressed the situation in a letter to all Marines on Aug. 1, writing that, while he cannot predict how long the impasse will last, "waiting is not an option." Smith wrote that despite the tumult, he intends to press ahead with the controversial force-structure overhaul that began under Gen. David H. Berger, who retired as commandant in July. He offered few specifics, leaving the letter "intentionally broad" so that a confirmed service chief has room to impart guidance. Smith has played a central role in the effort, which has culled the service's fleet of battle tanks and much of its artillery while researching new ways to deter Chinese aspirations in the Pacific. The concept calls for sharpening the Marines' ability to launch long-range missiles from ships or islands and then move quickly to avoid counterattack. The official photo of Gen. Eric M. Smith, the 36th Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corpsb taken on Oct. 12, 2021. (John Martinez/U.S. Marine Corps) The concept has proved divisive, with some retired generals arguing that it has gutted the service's ability to conduct other core missions, including intense combat with a powerful adversary as U.S. leaders are watching unfold now with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Smith has defended the shake-up, saying the Pentagon must, above all, prepare to face down its chief military competitor, China. But he also has left open the possibility that some changes made so far could be reconsidered. Smith told The Washington Post that, already, officials have revised one proposal calling for the Marines' standard infantry battalion to shrink from 896 to 735 personnel, an attempt to make the units more nimble. The service now thinks 811 troops is the right size, Smith said, and could revise the figure again. The prospective commandant also foresees the service scrutinizing lessons from Ukraine, noting that in a "fairly stalemated war," the range of artillery matters a great deal and that troops who fail to hide their radio communications will come under fire. Another priority that awaits: There is a dwindling number of warships to move troops at sea. For years, the Marine Corps said it needed 38, but the Navy has shrunk that number over time. The Marines now say they need at least 31, but the Navy has signaled it could cut even more. It's a significant concern, officials say, citing the scramble in April when the United States moved to evacuate its embassy in Sudan but had no Marines at sea nearby to assist. Smith, as a three-star general, worked closely on the issue with his Navy counterpart, Vice Adm. James Kilby, whose nomination to become the Navy's next No. 2 officer also is ensnared in Tuberville's hold. The two are friends who even go fly-fishing together, but Kilby's recommendation was to shed three more amphibious ships and apply the financial savings to other missions. Kilby, in a phone interview, said that while he and Smith have different viewpoints, they want to model civility and collaboration between the services. "There has never been a time where I said, 'Am I talking to the real Eric Smith here?' " Kilby said. "The answer is always yes." Smith, a graduate of Texas A&M University, began his 36-year career at the tail end of the Cold War in 1987. His most formative experiences, he said, occurred in Iraq. In February 2004, he deployed as a staff officer with the 1st Marine Division under the command of then-Maj. Gen. Jim Mattis, who would go on to become a four-star general and, later, serve as President Donald Trump's defense secretary. Two months later, on Good Friday, Smith was wounded along with other Marines in an ambush on a vehicle convoy that killed 19-year-old Pfc. Chance Phelps. Smith, shot in the left leg, said that "there was a discussion" about him leaving Iraq to heal, "but I was able to avoid that." Instead, he stepped into a new role as the No. 2 officer in an infantry regiment that had several thousand Marines spread across Anbar province. The commander, then-Col. John Toolan, gave Smith oversight of those on the outskirts of Baghdad, with Toolan leading those farther west. "Rather than being an administrator, he really became a combat leader for the other half of the regiment," said Toolan, who retired in 2016 as a three-star general. Months later, another tragedy would see Smith briefly take charge of the regiment. On Sept. 14, a 122mm rocket crashed into the office of his new commander, then-Col. Larry Nicholson, at Camp Fallujah, badly wounding Nicholson and killing Smith's roommate, then-Maj. Kevin Shea. Smith and another officer, then-Lt. Col. David Bellon, had left the office just a few minutes before, Bellon said in an interview. "It rocked the entire building," recalled Bellon, now a three-star general in charge of the Marine Reserves. "BA-BOOM!" He and Smith scrambled back to find the room filled with smoke and the furniture pulverized by the hulking rocket's white-hot engine, Bellon recalled. Smith left Iraq a few weeks later, after Nicholson's replacement arrived, and underwent surgery on his wounded leg. But his time home was short-lived. A few months later, in December 2004, he took charge of an infantry unit, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, with plans to take those troops to the city of Ramadi. By early 2005, it had become perhaps the most violent place in all of Iraq. After their arrival in February 2005, Smith, then 39, decided that he and his security team would respond when groups of Marines within his unit were pinned down and needed help, said retired Sgt. Maj. Charles Blumenberg, who advised Smith during the deployment. "We were like the quick-react force and that's pretty unreal for a commanding officer," Blumenberg said. Fatalities and injuries mounted quickly. In all, the battalion lost 16 Marines during the deployment, with 130 more wounded, Smith said. Particularly jarring were the deaths of Capt. James Edge, 31, and Capt. John Maloney, 36, company commanders each overseeing about 200 members of Smith's 1,000-Marine battalion. Smith became focused on ensuring his Marines did not retaliate against innocent Iraqi civilians, Blumenberg said. "The Marines, I think, understood that the fight then was more about who they were as Marines than who the Iraqis may one day become," Smith said, briefly overcome with emotion while recalling those lost on the deployment. "There were just acts of bravery every day. Every day." A decade later, after a combat tour in Afghanistan, Smith became then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter's senior military assistant, an opportunity that showed him how the Pentagon's power centers work together and sometimes compete. He said he appreciated the experience, in part, for helping him to see how to "prevent yourself from digging your heels in on a position because there are lots of positions." Carter died unexpectedly late last year. The only significant known blemish on the general's record stems from his aggressive attempts to address Marine-on-Marine crimes, including hazing and sexual assault. As a two-star general overseeing thousands of Marines in California, Smith tried to lay down a hard line and pressed to have several troops thrown out of the service. An email he wrote to subordinate commanders complained of "jackassery" among rank-and-file enlisted Marines "who think they are in charge." Two military judges found that Smith could not oversee the cases objectively, with one determining it was especially troubling that Smith told fellow officers that Marines involved in hazing had figuratively "flipped the bird" at him and he was angry about it. Smith, asked about the rulings, declined to comment. The Pentagon's dispute with Tuberville shows no signs of abating, leaving Smith and other affected officers in uncharted territory. One possibility is that Senate Democrats eventually agree to bring forth the military's most important nominees to vote on them one-by-one. Tuberville's hold specifically blocks the Senate from using a process known as unanimous consent to vote on uncontroversial nominees in batches, but lawmakers could vote on nominees individually, a laborious process but one that would at least install new senior leaders. Smith and other senior leaders have pointed out the potential harm that the senator's blockade might cause, including, some fear, an exodus of lower-ranking officers who could decide it's not worth continuing their military service amid the political chaos. But Smith also has stressed to Marines an imperative: that those in the military must avoid the bitter partisanship gripping much of the country. "You're either willing to sacrifice some of your individuality for the privilege of being a Marine," Smith told The Post, "or you're not." In his office, Smith has two snapshots displayed. One, taken 19 years ago, shows him presenting a posthumous valor award to the 6-year-old son of Maloney, one of the company commanders killed in Ramadi. The second shows Smith with his own two children on a beach in California. The pictures, Smith said, are there as reminders of what is important. The job of all Marine officers, from the top on down, he said, is to prepare their troops for war by holding them to high standards, even when it is unpopular. "The dirty little secret to being in command is that if you do it right, it's not very fun," he said. "It's very rewarding. But it's not very fun. Lily Gladstone and director Martin Scorsese behind the scenes of Killers of the Flower Moon. (Melinda Sue Gordon/Apple TV+) "Killers of the Flower Moon" star Lily Gladstone has shared details about how the project evolved from a film about a mass-murder investigation to a film focused more on the Native American community decimated by those homicides. The "Certain Women" and "Billions" actor said in an interview with Vulture published Aug. 29 that she was skeptical at first of how the filmmakers intended to frame the true story of the killings of Osage Nation members by white men in the 1920s. Still, Gladstone said she couldn't refuse the offer to star in a Martin Scorsese movie, which initially centered on an FBI agent investigating the violent crimes committed against the Osage and ignored by local law enforcement. The screenplay was based on David Grann's nonfiction book, "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI." Leonardo DiCaprio was originally attached to play the investigator, Tom White until the screenplay underwent what Gladstone called a "great rewrite." That shifted the historical drama's focus from White's investigation to the Osage and the circumstances that led to them being systematically killed with no consequences. "It's not a white-savior story," Gladstone said of the final cut. "It's the Osage saying, 'Do something. Here's money. Come help us.'" Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon. (Apple TV+) Though the white character (portrayed by Jesse Plemons) still plays a supporting role in "Killers of the Flower Moon," DiCaprio now stars in the film opposite Gladstone as her onscreen husband. The period piece tells the story of Mollie (Gladstone), an Osage woman whose family becomes wealthy after oil is discovered; and Ernest (DiCaprio), a white man who conspires to marry Mollie while helping bring about the deaths of her loved ones in an effort to steal her family fortune. Gladstone, whose father is Blackfeet and Nez Perce, told Vulture that Scorsese consulted her and members of the Osage Nation who invited the director to dinner in 2019 while making "Killers of the Flower Moon." As a non-Osage performer playing an Osage character, Gladstone also made it a priority to form connections with and learn from the Osage during the production process. "It was clear that I wasn't just going to be given space to collaborate," Gladstone said. "I was expected to bring a lot to the table. "That's what being equitable is not just opening the door. It's pulling a seat out next to you at the table." Since "Killers of the Flower Moon" was announced, people have expressed concerns about the film and its potential to veer into white-savior territory like so many Hollywood projects before it. In production notes distributed to reporters, DiCaprio echoed those worries. "You would read the book and realize it works beautifully, but we ran the risk of telling yet another white-savior story about an FBI agent who comes in and saves the day," DiCaprio said. "It could have fallen into that really easily. David Grann was always very forthright in saying, 'Look, if you're going to do a movie about this, it's important to understand the Osage role in all of this.'" Gladstone also acknowledged in her interview with Vulture the history of non-Indigenous filmmakers inserting themselves into Indigenous communities and then not doing right by them. "There's that double-edged sword," she said. "You want to have more Natives writing Native stories; you also want the masters to pay attention to what's going on. American history is not history without Native history." On Aug. 29, Variety reported that "Killers of the Flower Moon" will no longer get an Oct. 6 limited release. Instead, Paramount Pictures will distribute the title in wide release on Oct. 20, followed by a streaming release on Apple TV+. Two people were found dead Monday morning in a home in Buffalo's Schiller Park neighborhood in what police have described as a "possible domestic-related homicide incident." Shortly after 8:30 a.m., police and firefighters responded to the call of two people shot at a home on Zelmer Street, just south of Block Street, according to transmissions on Buffalo Fire Department radio. Police have not released any further details about the people or the circumstances. - Aaron Besecker Sung Kim, left, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy; Funakoshi Takehiro, center, director general of Japan's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry; and Kim Gunn, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, pose at Prince Hotel Karuizawa West in Nagano, Japan, Thursday, July 20, 2023. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes) On Aug. 18, Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida of Japan and Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea met with President Joe Biden at Camp David to complete a historic accord. The three nations will significantly expand trilateral military exercises. Seoul and Tokyo will also significantly expand communication and cooperation related to security. This follows up on a March meeting in Tokyo between the leaders of the two Asia nations. At that time, they reached positive agreements on trade and security Also in March, South Koreas foreign minister, Park Jin, announced that a foundation funded by Korean companies would compensate victims of forced labor during Japans occupation of Korea. President Joe Biden immediately praised this generous South Korea initiative. The two nations share a complex, difficult history. Japans long-term occupation of Korea in the 20th century, which continued until 1945, included forced prostitution of Korean women and more general exploitation of the population. Totalitarianism has now faded, but legacies and painful memories continue. South Koreas Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that a comprehensive settlement of wartime compensation claims, reached in 1965, does not prevent individuals from seeking reparations. This opened the door for individuals to sue Japanese companies for compensation. In reaction, Japan announced that special trade relations with South Korea would end. Japanese companies would have to make formal application, which can be quite cumbersome, for any technology-related deals with South Korea. South Korea retaliated. This dispute has been ended. The two economies are world leaders in scale, production and overall effectiveness but are notable for remaining surprisingly separate from another. This directly reflects their extremely difficult history. South Koreas earlier chief executive, President Moon Jae-in, helped encourage the current progress. In August 2019, he took the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the death of South Koreas great leader Kim Dae-jung to underscore the importance of a 1998 Joint Declaration between Japan and South Korea, and the fundamental need for partnership. Kims effectiveness in fighting South Koreas earlier harsh dictatorship marked him as a special target, and he survived at least five attempts on his life. One of the most dramatic incidents occurred in 1973, when South Korean government agents kidnapped him from a Tokyo hotel and took him to a ship, where they intended to kill him at sea. Donald Gregg, the highly experienced CIA station chief in South Korea, acted decisively. After a U.S. helicopter flew low over the ship, and Gregg intervened personally, and forcefully, kidnappers reluctantly released Kim. Gregg, whose intelligence career dates back to training commandos during the Korean War, later served as U.S. ambassador to Seoul during the George H.W. Bush administration and more recently provided outstanding professional leadership to the Korea Society based in New York City. Gregg was also national security adviser to Vice President Bush. Most of his career was spent with CIA. He personified the commitment and dedication of career professionals crucial to our success in the Cold War. The Korean War effectively transformed the Cold War from a conflict centered on Germany and Europe to a complex global competition. That costly war from 1950 to 1953 also forged the extremely strong, ongoing partnership between South Korea and the United States. Kims courage and commitment to representative government were rewarded when this great leader was elected president of South Korea in 1997. Without hesitation, he moved to begin detente with the North Korea regime. This culminated in a dramatic summit meeting in 2000 with the leader of North Korea, beginning the fitful interchange with Pyongyang. Kim Dae-jung received the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership, which resonates well beyond Korea. Preoccupation with China should not distract from remarkable, positive developments in Asia. Arthur I. Cyr is author of After the Cold War. The native village of Little Diomede, Alaska, sits on the border of Russia and the United States. (Richard Brahm/U.S. Coast Guard) (Tribune News Service) The war in Ukraine appears to be driving a sharp increase in shipments of Russian oil to China through the Bering Strait, prompting new warnings that the traffic threatens the isolated villages and residents' fish and wildlife harvests on the American side of the border. "I feel pretty confident that it's the start of a trend," said Andrew Hartsig, the Anchorage-based senior director of the Ocean Conservancy's Arctic program. He added: "Alaska's communities and coastlines are at risk in the event of an accident." So far this summer, at least five tankers have set out carrying Russian crude across the Northern Sea Route to China, according to Bloomberg a voyage that, for oil tankers, had been attempted just twice before. An Arctic-focused publication, High North News, said that the traffic is going both ways: The second-ever large container ship to transit the sea route left China in early August bound for St. Petersburg. Experts warn that an Arctic oil spill could be catastrophic. With high shipping costs typically translating into steep prices for groceries, foods harvested from the ocean fish, whales, seals, walrus are essential for subsistence. "That's our main source of food security, from the Bering Sea," Ben Pungowiyi, the president of the tribal government in the 800-person village of Savoonga, said in an interview. Policymakers and advocates have long predicted that global warming-driven sea ice melt will make the Northern Sea Route from Northern Europe to Asia through the Bering Strait increasingly attractive to the global shipping industry. If summer ice conditions allow, passage across the Arctic can cut shipping times by two weeks over the traditional Russia-to-Asia route through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal. And the Ukraine conflict appears to be accelerating that trend, as Western sanctions cut off European markets and leave China and India as Russia's two largest customers for oil. While the ships are free to pass through the Bering Strait, its 55-mile width means that any spills would be likely to drift toward Alaska communities. Advocacy groups, residents and the government officials who represent them say that the increased traffic underscores the need for the U.S. government to enhance its programs and infrastructure to respond to accidents. "We're concerned about it and we're pushing, hoping to get some funding," Pungowiyi said. "We're right smack in the middle of the Bering Strait, and you want to be able to respond." Savoonga, 150 miles south of the strait on St. Lawrence Island, is one of several villages near the Northern Sea Route that could be harmed by an oil spill or other shipping-related accidents. Other communities include Wales, population 160, at the edge of the American side of the strait; Gambell, also on St. Lawrence Island, with 600 residents; and Diomede, a tiny island community in the middle of the strait with just 80 people. None of those villages currently has substantial spill response infrastructure, or a major harbor where ships could be docked. Diomede lacked functional phone service Friday, with residents unable to place outgoing calls and incoming calls cutting off after a few seconds. Pungowiyi, in Savoonga, said his tribe is advancing a project to further develop its small harbor to accommodate larger vessels. In Nome, the regional hub town to the southeast, the nation's first deepwater Arctic port is in development, which could support U.S. Coast Guard operations in the area. It won't be ready to use for several years, though a nonprofit response organization currently maintains an inflatable skiff in Nome and booms used to contain spills, according to an online inventory. Alaska leaders are tackling the challenges posed by increased activity in the Arctic "on multiple fronts," said Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. "But I think we're still behind," he said. Sullivan, in an interview, pointed to a parallel increase in Russian and Chinese military vessels operating in and around the Bering Sea. "What we've been doing is trying to awaken the rest of the federal government to the fact that the Arctic is not just some parochial interest of Alaska, but a national strategic interest of our country," he said. The U.S. dispatched several warships and aircraft a few weeks ago to shadow a joint China-Russia patrol near the Aleutian Islands. But Sullivan said that the nearest port that could dock a Navy destroyer or icebreaker is in Anchorage or Dutch Harbor, more than 800 miles from the Bering Strait. In addition to last year's announcement of $250 million in federal money for the Nome port, Alaska's Congressional delegation has helped pass additional Arctic-focused legislation. One recent measure established a committee to recommend new policies around Arctic maritime transportation, with three Alaska Native tribal members, several Biden administration employees and nominees from the Washington and Alaska governors. Another bill, with a push from Sullivan, created a civilian position at the Coast Guard to oversee Alaska oil spill planning guidelines. And a proposal still pending in Congress would require a study of Bering Sea traffic projections and emergency response capabilities. Experts say that while the Arctic environment around the Bering Sea would make cleaning up an oil spill a nightmare, Russia has maintained good standards for its tanker fleet and crews though Hartsig, with the Ocean Conservancy, said one concern is if traffic increases to the point where those standards are reduced for vessels on the Northern Sea Route. He and others point to reports earlier this year that Russian state-owned and private energy companies were discussing the use of icebreaker-accompanied conventional tankers, not just ice-reinforced vessels, on the route. One other major challenge in managing the risk of the new oil shipments is that the Ukraine war has diminished previous levels of cooperation between the U.S. and Russia. Maritime experts have proposed ideas like government pre-authorization for icebreakers from either country to cross the strait to respond to oil spills, said Paul Fuhs, a former mayor of the Aleutian town of Unalaska who's worked on international maritime issues. Fuhs said he's continued working with the Alaska Marine Exchange, a Juneau-based nonprofit that collects and monitors navigational information, to continue pushing for cooperation on safe Arctic shipping practices. But the war has thwarted work in the Arctic Coast Guard Forum, an international organization that once brought Russian and American authorities together, Fuhs said. "That was a real disappointment to me," Fuhs said. The U.S. Coast Guard has also seen direct collaboration with the Russians fall through. The agency was scheduled to hold a joint oil spill response exercise with Russia off Nome earlier this year, but the Russians pulled out. "I can confirm Russia was originally scheduled to participate, but cannot speculate as to why they weren't able to follow through with that participation," Melissa McKenzie, an Anchorage-based Coast Guard spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement. "We are aware of the presence of Russian vessels in the region, but their presence has not impacted Coast Guard operations," McKenzie added. "We will continue to patrol our nation's maritime border in the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea, with our largest and most capable cutters and aircraft, to protect U.S. sovereign interests, U.S. fish stocks, and to promote international maritime norms. Originally published at Northern Journal. (c)2023 the Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage, Alaska) Visit www.adn.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Monday said that the government would take stern action against all those involved in electricity theft. He was presiding over detailed briefing over power sector in Islamabad on Monday. During the meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed over overall electricity generating potential, installed capacity, actual generation and power distribution in different weathers. In a separate development, Caretaker PM Kakar directed the Finance Minister to formulate an effective strategy to stabilize the country's economy. He gave the direction while talking to caretaker Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar in Islamabad today. Dr Shamshad Akhtar briefed the Prime Minister on the current economic situation of the country. Corrie Gordon was disarmed and restrained by brave members of the public A Co Derry man who rampaged about Coleraine with a two foot machete before he was disarmed and restrained by brave members of the public was handed a seven month jail sentence today. Jailing Corrie Gordon at the towns Magistrates Court, District Judge Peter King praised those who instead of standing by, intervened speedily and with professionalism to stop this from getting any worse. Appearing at court by videolink from prison 23-year-old Gordon, from Cappagh Avenue in Portstewart entered guilty pleas to six of the seven charges against him including three counts of common assault and single charges of making a threat to kill, possessing a bladed article on the Bushmills Road in Coleraine and possessing class C pregabalin. Man arrested in Derry town after wielding large knife on street A further charge having class A cocaine was withdrawn without prejudice by the prosecution and opening the case of the facts, the PPS lawyer outlined how the genesis of the case was in a social media disagreement between Gordon and an alleged victim who works at the Egyptian Barber shop in Coleraine. Having messaged that he was on his way, Gordon turned up at the barbers shop dressed all in black, wearing a black balaclava, carrying a black backpack and brandishing a 2 machete and he chased the victim into a back room, putting two others in fear of assault. Following this the defendant rampaged around public streets, the railway station and close to Millburn Primary School, swinging the machete and shouting that he has a gun, said the lawyer. Much of the incident was captured by witnesses on their mobile phones and the footage was soon shared and viewed far and wide on social media. Portstewart man Corrie Gordon Members of the public intervened, disarmed Gordon and held him until police arrived, he told the court and Gordons defence counsel said the defendant himself was thankful they did because if not for their gallantry, one dreads to think where this could have gone ultimately. There was a number of gallant and brave public servants who assisted and they are individuals who deserve an honourable mention and they are individuals to whom Mr Gordon is indebted, said the barrister. Imposing the seven month sentence, the equivalent of which Gordon has almost already served, DJ King said had the case gone to the Crown Court he could have faced a maximum ten year sentence. Sure its 5pm somewhere This is the businesswoman who pleaded guilty this week to assaulting four cabin crew staff while drunk on a plane . Heather McCarroll went berserk on a Jet2 flight and later claimed she was a nervous flyer and had taken two prescribed pills to help her cope. But we can reveal the 38-year-old is a frequent flyer who describes herself on Facebook as a travel-obsessed sun worshipper. Indeed, the mum of two is a regular visitor to the Spanish resort of Lloret De Mar, and despite her violent outburst on the Jet2 flight last September she was back on a flight to Scotland a few months later. Heather McCarroll Despite facing serious charges she even posted a picture of herself drinking bottles of cider in the morning at the Lagan Bar at Belfast International Airport on April 28. She posted sure its 5pm somewhere and when someone commented she had started early, she replied stating the drink was medication to calm the pre-flight nerves lol. Her conviction of violent attacks on crew members is a devastating blow for the well-known local woman as she is a campaigner against violence against women. On her Facebook page Heather McCarroll has spoken about being the victim of violence herself and regularly posts about violence against women. Heather McCarroll leaving court last week According to her account she is a proud Orangewoman, even growing Orange lillies outside her front door for this years Twelfth, and posing for a picture with a bandsmans hat on. This week, defence counsel Aaron Thompson told Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, that Heather McCarroll was entering guilty pleas to four charges of common assault and a further charge of being drunk on a plane last year. However, he said, she denied four further charges arising from the incident on a Jet2 flight on September 6, although he said he was confident the case could be resolved without the need of a contest. Heather McCarroll McCarroll, from Kilmakevit Square in Cullybackey, Co Antrim, still denies endangering the safety of an aircraft and behaving in a threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly manner towards a member of the crew of an aircraft. She also denies failing to obey the lawful command of a pilot and causing criminal damage to a bathroom belonging to Jet2. Applying for the case to be adjourned for two weeks, Mr Thompson told District Judge Amanda Brady: Im going to write to the prosecution in the meantime... we can probably resolve this without a contest. Heather McCarroll I have spoken to her and she has a pretty straightforward attitude, he told Judge Brady, who put the case back to September 12. At an earlier hearing, the court was told how McCarroll had been drunk on board a plane and had sworn at crew members, but could not remember further events after that as she had taken two prescribed diazepam before the flight as she was a nervous flyer and that she was diabetic and low insulin levels could sometimes lead to blackouts. The court also heard the defendant, who makes a living selling cosmetics online, had expressed remorse to police for what she could remember of the shocking incident. Fraudster out of prison after serving less than half of his sentence Mervyn Tanner lost an appeal against the length of his sentence A disgraced financial adviser who swindled 210,000 from clients is free from prison after serving less than half of a five-year sentence. Mervyn Tanner (48), lost an appeal against the length of his sentence last October, but has since walked free from Shelton Abbey prison. When contacted by the Sunday World this week the Cork native played down the seriousness of his crimes and said he thought it was odd an interest was shown. Not sure why youd have that level of interest in such a case. It seems to be an odd call to getting, if you dont mind, he said. Asked if he is now working and if there was any prospect of his victims being repaid, he said: Im not at liberty to say really. Im not sure what you are trying to achieve with the phone call. Trusted inmates at Shelton open prison are allowed to leave to go to work or classes every day and some are given full-time temporary release while their sentences remain in force. Based in Mallow, Co Cork, Tanner took the cash from people who had come to him for financial advice in what a judge described as a disgraceful breach of trust. Tanner continued to work as an adviser despite having had his licence to act as a mortgage provider revoked in 2014. He was arrested by appointment in 2018 when one of his own employees raised the alarm after also being defrauded of money she had inherited. The woman had come into 200,000 following the death of her brother in 2010 and asked Tanner about using it to pay off the mortgage she had got through him. But he told her it would be better to invest the cash and persuaded her she would get a good return from various policies. She trusted him and had no reason to doubt his advice, but after he offered her a part-time job in 2013 she started to notice all was not right. She realised a lot of his clients were losing money and asked him about her investment, which he promised to pay back. During his 2021 trial it was heard that he paid the woman small monthly instalments but that she was still at a loss of more than 120,000. In a victim impact statement, the woman said what Tanner did was a betrayal of her brothers memory. Mr Tanner took advantage of me. I was taken for a fool. I felt ashamed and depressed. I suffer every day. I had everything taken from me, she said. Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard how Tanner was robbing from Peter to pay Paul after he set up a business which lent money to people who would struggle to get a loan elsewhere. He pleaded guilty to several sample counts of fraud and forging documents between November 2010 to December 2015. Tanner produced bogus bank statements in a bid to pretend all was well with the business. One man who invested in a scheme ended up losing over 40,000, while a doctor lost 43,000 and another woman lost 5,000. It was heard that at one point Tanner ran a business which had up to 30 employees, but he struggled with the collapse of the Celtic Tiger and was working on his own in Mallow. The teen was hospitalised after the attack and it is understood a video of his torture ordeal was sent out to others in the north Dublin area The Monkey Gang got its nickname after gardai seized a monkey during a 2019 raid, as well as stash of other stolen goods A Dublin organised crime gang with links to the Kinahans has been expanding operations and using extreme violence to assert control, sundayworld.com can reveal. Members of the so-called Monkey Gang are chief suspects for the savage torture and assault of a teenage boy accused of dipping into their drugs stock. The teen was hospitalised after the attack and it is understood a video of his torture ordeal was sent out to others in the north Dublin area as a warning. The Finglas-based gang gained its nickname after gardai seized a small monkey in a cage, as well as a huge haul of weapons and bullets, during a search operation in April 2019. The lad who was tortured had been making a big name for himself selling drugs [for the gang], a source said. But he has now gone into hiding and even hardened criminals in the area are shocked about what happened. Gardai had not received an official complaint from the teen in the wake of the attack, the source added. Everyone seems to be going through them now to buy their drugs It comes as the criminal gang continues to grow in influence in north Dublins lucrative drugs trade. At street level, it has been using social media to deal a wide variety of drugs, particularly cocaine but also large amounts of highly potent cannabis. In one social media advertisement seen by sundayworld.com, the gang is offering a gram of cocaine for 50, as well as other drugs. This includes high-strength varieties of cannabis herb at 50 for a few grams or up to 130 for half an ounce of the potent strains. The social media messages include a mobile phone number and state the drug-dealing service is available 24/7. Gardai also seized stolen goods in the 2019 raid The gang had pushed out other drug dealers in the local area and was now in a position of control, a source said. Other dealers will be aware of what happened that young fella and they now know that they face the prospect of extreme violence if they go against them, the source added. The fact that they can sell these items for such a relatively cheap price shows that they must have a huge amount of what they consider stock. Everyone seems to be going through them now to buy their drugs. Another dealer in Finglas has recently fled the area after being forced to hand over his mobile phone A young woman who is related to the suspected leader of the gang is understood to be one of its main drug distributors at a local level. Another dealer in Finglas has recently fled the area after being forced to hand over his mobile phone containing the contact details of his customers, as well as his electric bikes. This is typical of what they have been doing, the source added. The gang has links to crime organisations in the UK and has previously been associated with the Kinahan Organised Crime Group. Gardai suspect it has long been involved in the distribution of firearms to gangs around the country as well as in the capital. It is also connected to African criminals who have been spotted at properties linked to the gang in recent times. These individuals are suspected of being involved in the export of stolen car parts to their native countries from Ireland, which is another of the Monkey Gangs main criminal enterprises. Gardai have had some successes against the gang in recent times, including last October when it was the subject of nine garda raids. The wider gang has been the subject of a number of operations by the Criminal Assets Bureau, including a massive raid in Co Meath in November 2018, when officers seized 1.5m in cash, as well as other items. Two main players in the mob were busted with 220,000 of drugs cash in Amsterdam in 2018, as part of a major operation by heavily armed members of the Dutch police force. The duo spent a number of months in custody in the Netherlands before being bailed and returned to Ireland. Gang member Bernard Gan Joyce (50) previously served a four-year jail sentence for possession of more than 900,000 in illegal cash connected to the Kinahan cartel after a garda seizure in Co Wexford in 2018. Sick musician who strangled young student in Tokyo shares a video of himself playing piano in a church as he gets set for shows Richard Hinds has been busy updating his Facebook page since his release from a Japanese prison Nicola Furlong was strangled by Richard Hinds (right) in 2012 The 29-year-old who strangled 21-year-old Wexford woman Nicola in Tokyo while touring Japan in May 2012 confirmed the development in a radio interview in his native Memphis. However, during the same interview he omitted to tell listeners anything about his heinous past. Nicola Furlong was strangled by Richard Hinds Clips from his appearance on local radio 92.7 FMs The Change were posted on a social media site set up by Hinds himself. On the site, the 29-year-old has also posted a number of images of himself on tours and, somewhat shockingly, playing piano at his local church. In one clip, the killer was asked to introduce himself as he sat down with host Kayla Foster. Instead of fronting up about his evil past, Hinds told listeners: I am a pianist, musician, travelling musician and Ive done tours and recorded with lots of artists around the Memphis area and outside of the country as well. Im about to get ready to go on tour again with the artist Sean2 Miles. Recently Ive been doing a lot of travelling and its been eye opening in the sense that, manifesting dreams, whatever vision, whatever direction that I have in trying to understand completely whatever God has and whatever reason that I have as well. The most important thing in travelling is to meet new people, to make the most of the opportunities that are always in front of you. Richard Hinds Hinds set up his social site in mid-April five months after his release from Fuchu Prison where he served 10 years behind bars for strangling Nicola to death in his room in the Keio Plaza Hotel on May 24, 2012. Images posted on the site in April show the killer sitting on stage at the Wiltern, a venue in Los Angeles where Miles performed on April 22. In June, in what may have been reference to his conviction for the brutal murder of Nicola, Hinds posted on the site: Whos in charge of second chances? Most recently, on August 13, Hinds posted a video of himself playing the piano at the Faith Covenant Church in Memphis saying: Ma wanted this. Five days later he posted: Hallelujah saints God made me to give no f**ks. Speaking this week, Nicolas dad Andrew said he was disgusted, but not shocked, at Hinds returning to touring as a musician. I just wonder if he is telling his employers about his past and about what he did in Japan, he said. And I just hope the women whose path he crosses in Japan are aware of who he is and what he is capable of. Im not shocked that hes gone back to touring as a musician. Nicolas dad Andrew Furlong and sister Andrea Its what he was doing before he murdered Nicola. Im disgusted hes gone back to it because, as far as Im concerned and hes proven this himself, hes not a safe person to be involved in that. But he was released from prison so theres nothing I can say or do. I just hope he never puts any other family through what hes put us through. We contacted Hinds via his social media site this week to ask him a number of questions. We asked whether he would make any statement regarding his murder conviction. Richard Hinds We asked whether he feels he is still a danger to women and we asked whether he believed he is a safe person to go on music tours given his actions in Tokyo. We received no response as of the time of going to print. Murdered Nicola, a Dublin City University undergraduate from Curracloe, Co Wexford, was studying in Japan under an exchange scheme at Takasaki City University of Economics at the time of her murder. She had travelled to Tokyo with a friend to see US rapper Nicki Minaj in concert and met Hinds, then aged 19, and his friend, dancer James Blackston, then 23, afterwards. All four drank and danced together at a nearby bar before Nicolas friend passed out. Richard Hinds has been busy updating his Facebook page since his release from a Japanese prison She had just taken a tequila shot handed to her by James Blackston, she said in court. The two women were bundled into a taxi while Hinds and Blackston were captured on CCTV discussing what they would do sexually to Nicola and her friend. Both women were unconscious when they were brought into a hotel, where a worker prepared wheelchairs for the two girls. James Blackston was later jailed for sexually assaulting Nicolas friend in another room and for a separate sexual assault weeks earlier on another woman he allegedly spiked. Hotel staff called the police when noises were heard from Richard Hinds room. He had strangled Nicola, who was found unconscious by officers just after 4am on May 24. As he was 19 at the time, Nicolas killer was sentenced as a juvenile and given five to 10 years with labour. Japanese authorities ruled that he had never shown remorse and so he was forced to serve his full sentence. These include the Dead Zoo Gang, from Rathkeale, involved in the theft of rhino horn and museum artefacts RIVAL gangs in Limericks lethal underworld feud dealt with a Board of Governors of criminal businessmen to launder cash and make deals. A massive secret Garda investigation into the citys gangland networks laid bare how the major players dealt with senior figures in the Keane and McCarthy- Dundon factions. Details of how leading gangsters, including Christy Keane and Eds McCarthy, dealt with the same underworld fixers have been laid bare by a Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) case. The three fixers are linked to a car-dealing firm, Bawn Motors, that CAB said was deliberately set up to launder the gangs cash and designed to hide the proceeds of significant criminal activity. Shane Curtin A key figure in the operation, Mike Nash, from Newcastle West, Co Limerick, was described in an affidavit from a senior Garda investigator as being involved in smuggling drugs to Ireland from the UK and Europe. He regularly associates with Christy Keane and Keanes trusted lieutenant, Dermot Plum McManus, who recently pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges at the Special Criminal Court. Nashs close associate is convicted drug dealer John ODonoghue, from Rathkeale in Co. Limerick, who in turn was described by the senior investigating officer as being closely associated with Eds McCarthy, a leading figure in the McCarthy-Dundon gang. The Sunday World previously revealed how Eds McCarthy took control of the gang and forged close links with the Kinahan Cartels man in the UK, Thomas Bomber Kavanagh, in Birmingham. John ODonoghue In the CAB case against Bawn Motors, it was highlighted how ODonoghue had established himself as a key figure in the international drugs trade and has extensive criminal contacts with the wider Traveller community. These include the Dead Zoo Gang, from Rathkeale, involved in the theft of rhino horn and museum artefacts. The affidavit reveals how ODonoghue took part in a meeting in January 2019 in a Rathkeale pub with Christy Keane, Plum McManus and others. I believe that this meeting was arranged to discuss criminal activity arrangements between ODonoghue and this grouping, stated the senior officer. ODonoghue is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in Portlaoise Prison for a savage machete attack on a 74-year-old man in Rathkeale. A third member of the Board of Governors is Shane Curtin, a motor dealer whose involvement in the money-laundering scheme was highlighted in the CAB case against the car firm Described as a significant figure in the drugs trade in Limerick, he has extensive criminal contacts and regularly travels between Ireland the UK. Counsel for CAB said at a previous hearing that Curtin had denied having anything to do with Mike Nash, even though they had known each other for years. Christy Keane The senior officer in his evidence said that Nash, ODonoghue and Curtin are all heavily involved in joint criminality, primarily in the importation and distribution of controlled drugs and related money laundering activity. The affidavit also details how Nash, Curtin and ODonoghue and others made contact with each other and other criminals through a shared interest in trotting ponies and sulky racing. When the Criminal Assets Bureau raided the company in March 2019, seizing 111 vehicles, it was one of the biggest such operations carried out by the agency. Last month, Judge Alex Owens granted the application by CAB to have dozens of the seized vehicles declared to be the proceeds of crime. The cars had already been sold by CAB and the case centred on the 820,000 they got at auction along with 20,000 in a bank account associated with the firm. As part of the case to show the firms links to crime, a senior officer gave evidence of the Garda intelligence linking the men who controlled the firm to serious gangland activity. Judge Owens, in a written judgement, said that if the firms records from 2015 are true then it was a remarkable success. Thomas Bomber Kavanagh He further added that total recorded receipts from sales in 2017 was 5,301,313 and were 8,074,300, the following year. The likely source or wherewithal for all of this business activity was proceeds of crime provided by Limerick criminals as part of a money-laundering exercise. No other explanation is credible. Value was travelling into the business from sources other than the controllers and was being extracted and used in ways which are not explained by the companys business records. Explanations put forward by Nash and Curtin were unconvincing according to the judge. The CAB investigation also uncovered links with a UK firm which a senior Durham police officer said was run by two criminals who have since been disqualified as company directors. These seizures are part of Revenues ongoing operations targeting smuggling, shadow economy activity and the supply of illegal tobacco products This is the cache of cannabis and ketamine seized by Revenue officers at Dublin airport worth 1.4 million in two separate seizures. One load was found in luggage on a flight from New York while the other originated in Amsterdam, according to a Revenue spokesperson On Saturday, as part of two separate intelligence-led operations, Revenue officers seized approximately 37kgs of herbal cannabis and approximately 10kgs of suspected ketamine with estimated values of 740,000 and 600,000 respectively, at Dublin Airport. Ketamine seized at Dublin Airport The illicit drugs were discovered when Revenue officers stopped and searched the baggage of passengers who had disembarked flights from New York and Amsterdam. Two women in their 20s were arrested by An Garda Siochana and taken to a Dublin Garda Station where they are currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996. In a separate intelligence operation also on Saturday, detector dog Toby and Revenue officers seized over 56,000 cigarettes and 1.4kgs of tobacco following the search, under warrant, of three premises in Dublins inner city. The seized cigarettes and tobacco, of various brands, had a retail value of 45,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately 35,000. A man in his 50s was questioned and investigations are ongoing. These seizures are part of Revenues ongoing operations targeting smuggling, shadow economy activity and the supply of illegal tobacco products. His close pal Fat Tony Armstrong is also due to be tried this week JOHN GILLIGAN appeared at court today in Spain where he is facing charges over an alleged mail-order drug dealing operation. The mobster, who spent 17 years in prison in Ireland on drug charges, grinned broadly as he walked alone into the court-house where he is facing another six years if prosecutors in Alicante get their way His close pal Fat Tony Armstrong is also due to be tried this week in a trial that is expected to last three days and arrived with a pal. Gilligans son Darren who is in custody after being extradited from Ireland, also appeared along with six alleged co-conspirators at Court No.4 in the Palacio de Justicia in Torrevieja. Despite his cocky bravado Gilligan lost his smirk inside the building where he was seen sitting alone waiting for proceedings to start. The Sunday World sources previously revealed that discussions regarding a plea deal have been ongoing between prosecutors and the defence over several months. The Ballyfermot-native spent two months in prison on charges over the alleged drugs plot after his arrest at his home in Torrevieja in Alicante in 2020. Prosecutors are also seeking sentences of six years and 10 months for John Gilligans British girlfriend Sharon Oliver, and his pal Fat Tony Armstrong. Fat Tony Armstrong arrives. Credit: MCN Pics Armstrong is well known to Spanish police and was arrested in connection with the death of the notorious Westies gang leaders, Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg 17 years ago. Gilligans day in court comes after controversy this weekend over his appearance on Irish TV in the first of a three-part series tonight on Virgin Media about his life of crime. The convicted drug dealer, who is the self-confessed chief suspect behind the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996, denied in the show he ordered the hit. He was given a 28-year prison sentence for the drug trafficking, but on appeal this was reduced to 20 years. In October 2013 he was released after serving 17 years in jail. Veronica Guerins brother previously told the Sunday World: Im hugely disappointed that a respected TV station, and indeed some of those involved in the production, would give somebody of Gilligans standing three hours of interview time. I wouldnt be placing an awful lot of concern about anything that Gilligan would say. Naturally Id be surprised hed be getting so much airing. Minister Hildegarde Naughton, who is responsible for the National Drugs Strategy told RTE's This Week, that Gilligans actions "caused untold misery and devastation right across the communities of Ireland". "I dont think the producers have exercised particularly good judgement by giving John Gilligan the opportunity to speak about his actions on national television. She said she had "grave concerns" about the decision to show the programme and she would not be watching it. However, she said she believed in freedom of the press, and it was a matter for the broadcaster to make its own decisions adding, "I would question the merit of programmes like this". The 10-man gang smashed car windows and attacked mobile homes with slash hooks and sledgehammers Arson attacks were carried out last year Arson attacks were carried out last year Arson attacks were carried out last year A MOB of brazen criminals a terrifying a halting site this week in the latest a in a long series of feud violence in Co Clare. The 10-man gang smashed car windows and attacked mobile homes with slash hooks and sledgehammers, while one man brandished a shotgun. People with links to drug dealing gangs in the region are believed to be behind attempts to intimidate families living in the area, according to Sunday World sources. Two men were arrested following the incident while another man needed hospital treatment for non-life threatening injuries after a shotgun was fired. Arson attacks were carried out last year One source told the Sunday World the people suspected of having ordered the attack did it before, in what is a long-running campaign of intimidation. One of the attackers at Deerpark in Ennistymon last Sunday appeared to be carrying a shotgun during the incident. In the video clip, the men are seen damaging houses, mobile homes and several cars in the frenzied attack. One masked man appeared to be directing others and a voice was heard shouting: Scrap that car, that car there. At least five vehicles were badly damaged, while at least seven properties had their windows and doors thrashed by the gang. The windows of several cars were smashed in by one man wielding a sledgehammer, while another swung wildly with a slash hook at a mobile home window. Uniformed officers were alerted and rushed to the scene, with two men being arrested the following day in connection with the violence. The Sunday World has catalogued several attacks involving petrol bombs, guns and weapons over the past two years. Criminals, mostly based in Ennis, Co Clare, are involved in separate and potentially lethal feuds. Arson attacks were carried out last year The public violence has been accompanied by threats and messages from rival gangs on social media. In January this year the Sunday World revealed that shots were fired and there were two unrelated arson attacks in just one week. One video of a gun attack shows two hooded men, one armed with a shotgun, emerge from a car and run towards a property and parked car. In broad daylight the shooter is seen taking aim and firing while his accomplice stops to pick up spent cartridges, and the gunman reloads. The recent acts of thuggery, which also included an aggravated burglary of a house by masked men armed with weapons, has forced at least one innocent resident to move home, according to sources. A number of audio messages obtained by the Sunday World have been sent to rival gang members. One message, in reference to previous arson attacks, warns that attempts at peacemaking over the bit of arguing going on in Ennis are not going to work. I swear on my dead fathers grave... theres no peace in this argument. You know well what is coming out of this. The goading nature of the messages and the threats make it hard for people to climb down from confrontations without losing face. One hooded man in a call out video told his rivals: One of you will be got and one of you will be left in your blood. Thats a promise Arson attacks were carried out last year Sources say much of the violence is the result of a struggle for power between rival criminals who are members of wider family clans. So far no-one has been killed or seriously injured, but there have been close calls. In November last year a video of caravan being set on fire with petrol and burning rags showed the arsonist coming close to setting himself alight. Another video clip taken a few days later inside a car showed a man chasing another car when a gunshot rang out, and the man limping out of view. The feud violence is not confined to Co Clare, with one attempt to ram a vehicle on the M50 in Dublin after rivals left a ferry from the UK. Ryan recounted one incident where a man started filming Violet and Lily while they travelled on the London Underground Katherine Ryan has reflected on a troubling series of incidents in which her 14-year-old daughter, Violet, was sexually harassed while on a day out in London. The comedian, who created and starred in Netflix series The Duchess, said in the latest episode of her podcast, Telling Everybody Everything, that she was p***ed off because Violet and her cousin Lily had been sexually harassed everywhere they went in London. Theyve been out in the day; theyve been out on the train just doing very wholesome activities. Shopping, going to a theme park, doing this and that. And everywhere they go, every day, they have been sexually harassed by grown men. She explained: Violet is 14, her cousin is 16, but the 16-year-old doesnt look 25. She looks 16, 17. Theres no mistaking Violets age. Shes 14, she has braces on her teeth. Anyone looking at these girls, no one is mistaking them for being adult women. Maybe someone might hope that Lilys 18, nevertheless, youre a sick freak and you shouldnt be chatting to teenage girls the way you are. Ryan then told listeners: I wont go into all the incidents because I want to talk about Violet less and less publicly because I do think shes entitled to privacy, but Ill only tell you the bits she put on her own Snapchat because shes posted that now, its for public consumption. Ryan recounted one incident where a man started filming Violet and Lily while they travelled on the London Underground. There was a man in the middle of the day filming them on the underground. Just a man on his own who got his phone out and started filming these girls sat opposite them, said Ryan, who is also mother to children Fred, two, and Fenna, who was born in December last year. Ryan explained that Violet and Lily went into a shop in Camden and one employee came out from behind the shops counter and put his arm around Lily and asked her age. She says, Im 16, and he asks how long shes in town for and tries to put his number in her phone. These men are trying to put me in jail because they better hope I wont be around [next time]. Ive been training for this my whole life, said Ryan, sharing her outrage when Violet told her what happened. Ryan said that Violet and Lily had been harassed all week as they spent time together in and around London. Im seeing it now in real-time time with a teenager and I dont know exactly how to handle it, said Ryan, before adding that she found it very, very scary as she has to find ways to help Violet navigate such incidents. The comedian explained that while she often publicly criticises older celebrities for dating younger women, she takes the issue of grown men harassing and trying to chat up underage girls very seriously. All my little playful jokes about Leonard DiCaprio thats for fun. Thats me taking down a very, very high status 50-year-old celebrity for dating models above the age of 18 but I still think its gross. Earlier this year, Ryan called out actor Leonard DiCaprios dating habits, which have seen him criticised for never publicly dating a woman over the age of 25, calling his dating history a creepy pattern. The stateliness of Nardin Academys cream-colored brick building and the calmness of the grounds along Cleveland Avenue, in Elmwood Village, belies the tumult that engulfed the private Catholic school over the past school year. Former Nardin president files lawsuit, claims 'hatred, vitriol' and more by past and current leaders The former embattled president of Nardin Academy forced to resign in June filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the private Catholic school and eight former or current board members and others, charging the school with financial improprieties, academic deficiencies, resisting diversity initiatives and defamation. Accusations of intimidation and distrust leveled by a majority of faculty against President Sandra Betters led alumni, parents, donors and students to call for her resignation and later, the leadership of the board of trustees that backed her. Their urging prompted the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, the Paris-based religious order that founded Nardin in 1857, to remove the board in late May. A newly installed board terminated Betters the following month. Now, with the start of a new school year on Wednesday and the return of familiar school leaders who bring with them a sense of stability, optimism reigns. As a parent, there is a palpable change, said Jill Pogodzinski, the mother of third and fourth graders. There is an openness and welcoming feeling within the four walls of the school. Communication is timely and transparent, with emails now signed by a leader, instead of by Nardin Academy. That being said, trust was lost between the institution, as a whole, and the families, she said. So as I appreciate and personally support the current administrations performance so far, we will be staying close to these efforts to ensure the change continues to move in the right direction for our children. The new school year brings back the trio of Marsha Joy Sullivan, Rebecca Reeder and Katie Naughton, with a combined tenure of 78 years in upper management. Sullivan, the longtime president who preceded Betters, is having her second go-around as board chairwoman. Reeder, who was a longtime high school principal, is interim president, and Naughton is reprising her role as interim senior vice president for institutional advancement and community relations. 'Nardin is such an important part of our lives': Amid turmoil, some worry about school's future Public accusations of intimidation and distrust leveled by Nardin Academy faculty against the school's leadership have led donors, alumni and parents to demand the resignations of President Sandra Betters and Chairwoman Tish Van Dyke. The new Nardin Academy board of trustees also looked to the past for leadership. Eight of the 14 board members served previously, including Sullivan, Luke Jacobs, Charlie Chiampou, Margaret Sullivan and David Uba, along with recently named DHM U.S. Provincial Anita Baird, Chris Clark and Pat Lucas. Reeder said she can already see a difference in faculty morale. People are laughing and smiling more, and they just feel they can take a breath, she said. School faculty and staff returned last week and engaged in a day of service, working with organizations that deal with refugees, the homeless and others in need. Groups of students from all four schools were on campus for class orientations. The schools re-enrollment took a hit late last school year, as demands by alumni, parents, donors and 10 board members for a change in leadership went unheeded before the DHM intervened and re-enrollment deadlines were extended. But it has rebounded since then, Reeder said. As of May 31, when school was ending, the total enrollment was 527. It is now 712, Reeder said. That is a decline of 52 students from the 764 who were enrolled last year, a 7% drop. The high school is down 31 students, the lower and middle schools eight students and Montessori, 13, Reeder said, though she expects more students to enroll through the first week, based on past experience. Considering all of the drama and turmoil, Reeder said, Nardin emerged fairly unscathed. Weve done very well in picking up our enrollment and moving forward, she said. We have had terrific feedback about the school, and our admissions person is doing tours just about every single day. Theyre really energized by seeing the interest thats there. Reeder has done parent meet-and-greet nights with each of the schools and participated in question-and-answer sessions, and Nardin is starting a parent association to help parents become more involved with the school. Covid-19 made that much more difficult, she said. The school is also adding a social component for their meet the teacher night, so parents can socialize with faculty and other parents. Once you have those connections with one another, theres more of a comfort level surrounding everything, Reeder said. We are hoping to spread that throughout the school. A celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Montessori school, which serves toddlers through third graders, is also on tap. Also returning to Nardin is Greg Altman, vice president for finance and operations, who was terminated by Betters, and Marilou Bebak, a longtime high school biology teacher who was put on administrative leave and later terminated by Betters over a racial incident with a student. Punishing Bebak ignited the Nardin communitys opposition to Betters leadership. Reeder said she investigated what happened and met with Bebak, the girl who was involved, her mother and Colleen Robertson, the high school principal. Bebak completed a training program through the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice. Im thrilled to be back, and very happy to do what I can to help the school get itself on sound footing again, Reeder said. My goal is to help make this a community and keep us focused on what we need to be doing, which is the education of our students, and to also be here for the faculty, staff and parents. It was built in a day under the heat of competition, now it will provide years of fun for tiny tots in Papamoa. New Zealand Certified Builders held their annual apprentice challenge in April to find out the best apprentice carpenter in New Zealand. This years Apprentice Challenge Build tasked competitors to create a playhouse in eight hours, putting their carpentry skills to the test. Four apprentices from Tauranga Districts competed, with Tauranga apprentice Jared Menzies placing second nationally. With winners crowned, three of the playhouses were sold with proceeds being donated to Kids Can Charity. Papamoa Playcentre was the lucky recipient of the fourth playhouse built locally. NZCBs Central North Island territory manager Brad Mitchell says NZCBs Tauranga Districts wanted to give the playcentre one of the playhouses built as it is a community-run organisation. Instead of giving it to a business that makes a profit, they wanted to give it to someone they thought was more deserving of a free playhouse. Made from timber donated by ITM, the playhouse will make a welcome addition to Papamoa Playcentres play area. Its very generous, says Papamoa Playcentres session support Sian Kelly. Were a not-for-profit organisation so any little bit of help we can get is amazing. Anything like this is amazing for the kids. Theyre here every morning playing so its another area for them to explore! The countrys top inflatable rescue boat crews will soon be heading to the Far North for one of the most challenging IRB races in the world: the 90 Mile IRB Beach Classic. The event, which has been running for 28 years, starts at Scott Point at the northern tip of the beach, and finishes 92.6 kilometres later at Ahipara, with four checkpoints along the route. This year, 40 three-person crews will be competing, including a team from Australia. Talia Comp, Surf Life Saving Northern Club Development Officer, says this is one of the most popular events on the Surf Life Saving calendar. Its a great mix of endurance and skill, as the race not only requires physical prowess and teamwork but also a deep understanding of the coastal elements. And they must do all of this while remaining clam under pressure! During the race, crews must stop at four checkpoints, with the first stop at Matapia Island. Crews will then head to the sand bluff where they will carry their IRB 400 metres before re-entering the water. At the third checkpoint, crews will have to run up Hukatere Hill before heading to the final stop - Waipapakauri. Here, crews will remove the motor from their IRB before carrying it around a marked course and back to the boat. Vicki Rehu, Far North Surf Rescue President, who organises the event, says the best time has been two hours and 15 minutes, so its a long haul, thats for sure. A lot of the crews are shattered by the end of it their bodies are sore with blisters on their feet. But Vicki emphasises that the club makes sure to show the crews good Far North hospitality. Its a heck of a lot of work for our small club, and its the only big Surf Life Saving event we put on up here in the Far North, but everybody just loves it. Everyone has a great time, theres good company, and of course a great feed at the end of it! Far North Surf Rescue collaborates with local iwi to ensure the event runs seamlessly, enforced by stringent regulations, including each IRB crew having a support boat in tow throughout the race. On Friday, September 8, the crews will gather at Ahipara for a briefing and a karakia. The race will then get underway at 11am on Saturday, September 9, depending on the tide. Were ready to go! Everything is in order, and were looking forward to having all the crews in the Far North. Comp added, All the crews are looking forward to hitting the water and giving it their all! Besides the competitive aspect, the event is also a fantastic way for everyone to catch up before the patrol season starts in October. As always, its going to be a busy season for our surf lifeguards who will give up their time to make sure everyone who spends a day at the beach returns home safe and sound. The winner of the 90 Mile IRB Beach Classic will receive the much sought-after kauri trophy. Event Details: When: September 9, 2023 Start Location: Scott Point, Northland Teams Gather: 10am Race Starts: 11am depending on tide More protests are expected to happen along the election campaign trail, the National Party's campaign manager says. Both National and Labour launched their campaigns at the weekend, with hecklers out in force. Some protesters had to be removed from inside central Auckland's Aotea Centre where Labour was hosting its campaign launch on Saturday while protesters were outside as National kicked off its own campaign at the Due Drops Event Centre in south Auckland's Manuaku on Sunday. "What will be will be," Chris Bishop told Morning Report on Monday. "National didn't have any protesters inside our launch. Yep, there was a few radicals and yahoos outside, yelling some stuff outside the venue but that's democracy, that's free speech, that's all good, they're entitled to their views, and Christopher Luxon was able to deliver his speech without any protesters inside the venue so that was good." "There was a huge atmosphere there for the National Party and we enter the next 40 days in good heart and in good confidence." Photo: Craig McCulloch/RNZ. Bishop says the disruptions so far had not made the party look at the diary and reschedule events, but it was taking the necessary precautions as would be expected from political parties during election campaigning. It was expected that protests would happen as leaders are out and about around the country, he says. "These things are going to occur. I'm sure it will happen again, there will be people who want to have a go and want to have a say. That's actually part of a robust democracy. We're taking the necessary precautions. "I just encourage the people on the other side of the fence so to speak to just show a bit of respect for the democratic process and we've got free speech in this country, they're entitled to their views but leaders are also entitled to be able to go out and campaign and that applies to Chris Luxon but also, frankly, it applies to Chris Hipkins as well." Photo: Katie Scotcher/RNZ. Tax policy can work - Bishop Bishop is adamant the party's tax policy can work and that the party got advice before releasing it. The Labour Party and tax experts have questioned whether the proposed tax on foreign home buyers can be enforced. Bishop says he is extremely confident it can be done, despite international tax agreements New Zealand is signed up to. He says it will only be for non-residents buying properties worth more than $2 million. "We have been consulting with a range of economic, legal and financial and tax experts in the development of our policy, and we are extremely confident what we are proposing can be done and it will be done under National. "At the end of the day, we are a sovereign nation, we are a sovereign country, we set our own rules and we are saying that if you want to come and buy a property here, over $2m, you have to pay at point of purchase a 15 per cent foreign buyer levy." Bishop says the policy was not "radical", nor was it new, illegal, or something likely to cause problems internationally. It was for non-New Zealand residents who wanted the "privilege" of owning property in the country without being a resident. It would benefit New Zealand as many of these foreign buyers would also want to own businesses here - and employ New Zealanders. - RNZ. Police are releasing the names of the two people that passed away following a collision on SH 26, Te Aroha on Saturday, August 26, 2023. They were Jonathon Andrew Mathews, 31, from Paeroa and Peter James Charles Swallow, 30, from Matamata, according to a police spokesperson. "Our thoughts are with their families at this difficult time. "An investigation into the crash remains ongoing." The Swiss team that will take part in a display in Spain for the first time ever. Alba Tenza Velez-Malaga, Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram It won't be long now before the skies above the Costa del Sol will be filled with skilled pilots in their amazing flying machines. This coming weekend, from the 8th to the 10th of September, Torre del Mar will host the eighth year of its International Air Festival. It is a much-awaited event, not only for the local residents of Velez-Malaga, but also for the more than 300,000 people that this major event attracts every year. This year the air show will bring together more than 40 aircraft with some of the best aerobatic pilots at an international level. The event's growth is so great that this year the festival will mark a very important milestone. "It is the first time that Swiss air force jets will perform a display in Spain. Having this team as part of our festival is going to be an important marker in the show's history", said the technical director of the festival, Pablo Gonzalez. The show will see the return of world champion aerobatic pilot Ramon Alonso to the air festival. The event first got off the ground in 2017 as part of an initiative supported by Velez-Malaga town hall. Last year's festival far exceeded the organiser's expectations, with a record attendance. Last year's festival was described as "a dizzying display with teams from different countries, a lot of excitement, impossible aerobatics and a lot of adrenaline in a day that left no one indifferent," according to the organisers. This year the expectations are the same as last. Organisers want this event, where the public can see jet fighters, aerobatic teams, historic aircraft and the most modern, latest technology, to be something they will never forget. "This festival will combine many different things, including the presence of the Eurofighter, which I consider to be the greatest exponent of European industrial aeronautical development at world level," said Gonzalez. News The main feature of this year's air festival is the presence of a Swiss display team, which is a "diplomatic act", as the technical director of the festival described it. However, another major feature is the return of the world champion aerobatic pilot, Ramon Alonso. Meanwhile, for the first time, a sustainably-fuelled aircraft will take part. "This aircraft is a kind of hybrid with electric parts," explained Gonzalez. This international air festival brings together different groups, air forces and institutions. Some of the participants in this year's events are: Patrouille de Suisse (F-5), Patrulla Aguila (C-101), Yakstars (YAK-52), Eurofighter (C-16), Ramon Alonso (Sukhoi Su-31), Jorge Macias (Laser Z-300), Guardia Civil (CN-235), Patrulla Plus Ultra, Aeropublicidad (Socata Rallye, Super Decathlon (Real Aeroclub de Malaga), Patrulla Aspa (EC-120 'Colibri'), Autogiro (Francis Gimenez), Cuerpo Nacional de Policia (EC135) and Guardia Civil (EC-135). Jesus Hinojosa / Pilar Martinez Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram The heavy rains that swept across Spain on Sunday 3 September also caused travel chaos in Malaga at the weekend, forcing many trains to Madrid to grind to a halt and planes to be grounded at the Costa del Sol airport as a result of the downpours. In Madrid, the state weather agency Aemet had placed the region on a red alert as a 'dana' (depresion aislada en niveles altos), a 'cold drop' depression at high levels of the atmosphere sat over Spain. The serious storms hit on the last day of school holidays in the country, and caused a transport nightmare that has also continued to have an impact on some services this Monday morning. The situation was particularly bad on the Madrid - Malaga high-speed railway line. Train operator Renfe and track manager Adif, confirmed the route had been disrupted because the track was flooded "by water and mud" at La Sagra, in the province of Toledo. Trains initially came to a standstill on Sunday afternoon. One of the two tracks of the line was re-opened at 6pm, and the second track was restored shortly after but just as the train services were returning to normal, a new breakdown happened at 8pm. As the company reported early this Monday, at 1.40am. Adif technicians reestablished traffic with speed limitations between La Sagra and Yeles (Toledo), on the Madrid-Andalucia high-speed line. However, the first Avant trains linking the southern region with Toledo and Ciudad Real did not run. However, just after 9am, the company reported that traffic on the Madrid-Andalucia line had finally been restored to normal. Malaga Airport The heavy rain also caused delays to the arrival and departure of numerous flights on Sunday at Malaga Airport. The flight departing for Melilla at 3.35pm was delayed by two hours and 25 minutes, while a flight to Nice in France was delayed by an hour and a half, similar to an aircraft bound for Madrid at 5pm in the afternoon. There were also delays on flights to London, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris and Sofia, among others. European aviation organisation Eurocontrol reported "significant delays" to planned flight operations at Madrid-Barajas airport due to thunderstorms. "A very complicated day for air traffic management in Spain. Thank you for the patience of passengers and thanks to the crews for their collaboration," it said on its social media networks. Enaire, which manages flight operations at Aena airports, had warned on X (Twitter) that "the 'dana' is having a great impact on the network". SUR Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram The families of two missing Argentinian paddle surfers have launched an appeal to raise funds to allow other relatives to travel to Malaga to help with the search. About 60 people gathered on Sunday on the seafront in Malaga to support the families of the two young men, Emanuel and Maxi, who disappeared while paddle surfing off a city beach on 27 August. The families launched the appeal via social media in a bid to help other family members travel to Malaga from Argentina to join the search efforts. Camila Soria, Emanuel's sister, in statements to Canal Sur Radio, reported by Europa Press, called for the search for Emanuel and Maxi to continue. Soria said that family members who are in Malaga helping with the search need accommodation and food, and asked for support. "We just want them to keep searching; there are two boys missing, but behind them there are many worried people," said Pancho Soria, one of Emanuel's brothers. "We have to fight together to find them and for this nightmare to end," said Nacho, another of his brothers. Their paddle board was located by a sailing boat last Monday 28 August about 15 miles southeast of Malaga and was picked up by the Salvamento Maritimo vessel Salvamar Alnitak. The Guardia Civil has taken over the case. The two friends had gone out on the paddle surf board from Misericordia beach to watch the sunrise about 7.20am, but they never returned, triggering family and friends to contact authorities later that day. Labor Day is a reminder of the immense contributions made by workers here in WNY and nationwide. As we pause to celebrate this day, we must recognize the achievements of the labor movement and acknowledge the workforces ongoing struggles and aspirations. Since its inception, Labor Day has symbolized more than just a long weekend marking the end of summer; it commemorates the dedication and resilience of workers who fought for fair treatment, safe conditions and reasonable hours. The early labor movement paved the way for critical changes that we often take for granted today. The eight-hour workday, weekends off, child labor laws these hard-fought victories have significantly improved lives for generations of Americans. However, even in the face of progress, challenges persist. Workers continue to battle for equitable wages, inclusive workplaces, and protection from exploitation. The rise of the gig economy, automation, technology and economic inequality has ushered in new complexities that demand our attention. Labor Day is a reminder that the fight for workers rights is far from over. One aspect that warrants celebration is the diversity of the modern workforce. The labor movement has evolved to represent individuals from various backgrounds, uniting under a common cause. This inclusivity strengthens our society, highlighting the power of unity in driving positive change. Labor Day also prompts us to reflect on the future of work. As technology reshapes industries and job markets, our approach to labor rights and protections must also adapt. Its crucial to ensure that advancements benefit all workers, because it is our labor (and often tax dollars) that create them. We can successfully navigate this evolution by embracing innovation while safeguarding workers financial, physical and social well-being. In celebrating Labor Day, we honor the contributions of those who came before us while recognizing the challenges that persist today. Let us not forget that our rights and benefits were hard-won, and they require vigilance to uphold. As we revel in the long weekend, lets also stand in solidarity with workers advocating for their rights and working collectively towards a fairer, more just future. After all, the progress of our society relies on the strength of the labor force the true backbone of our nation. Peter De Jesus Jr. is President, WNY Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. Andrea Jimenez Marbella Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Marbella council has finally removed the sailboat on San Pedro beach after it was left stranded there for nearly two months. The town hall brought in specialist lifting machinery on Friday 1 September to remove the vessel, near the Nuevo Reino beach bar, in a major operation. But the council said the owner of the boat will need to foot the bill, expected to be between 10,000 and 15,000 euros. Town hall official, Maria Pueblas, also said the sailboat will be scrapped after it was moved to a municipal depot. The council needed to bring in a heavy-lift crane, as the sailboat weighs more than 15 tonnes. Once out of the water, the vessel's mast was cut down to facilitate the transfer to a vehicle that would take it to the scrapyard. "We have exhausted all the options in a very complex legal procedure," Pueblas said. The ordeal started on 15 July, when rescue and lifeguard services informed the town hall that a sailing boat was about to run aground. According to sources, the owner of the boat is a foreign citizen from Wales, who was caught by surprise in an easterly storm. Authorities acted immediately and the relevant steps were taken to tow the boat, but the owner "refused to help". Days later, the boat was stranded in the Nuevo Reino beach bar area. Josele Pueblas said the captain was given a warning that he had seven days to tow the boat, but the council did not receive a response. Josele The town hall asked the owner again on 12 August, with a period of three days to resolve the situation, but the owner of the boat claimed he lacked the means to remove it, prompting the council to remove it themselves. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. Specifically, the research team witnessed the interference pattern of a single atom caused by a common geometric structure in chemistry called a conical intersection. Conical intersections are known throughout chemistry and are vital to rapid photo-chemical processes such as light harvesting in human vision or photosynthesis. Chemists have tried to directly observe such geometric processes in chemical dynamics since the 1950s, but it is not feasible to observe them directly given the extremely rapid timescales involved. To get around this problem, quantum researchers in the School of Physics and the School of Chemistry created an experiment using a trapped-ion quantum computer in a completely new way. This allowed them to design and map this very complicated problem onto a relatively small quantum device and then slow the process down by a factor of 100 billion. Their research findings are published today in Nature Chemistry. In nature, the whole process is over within femtoseconds, said Ms Olaya Agudelo from the School of Chemistry. Thats a billionth of a millionth or one quadrillionth of a second. Using our quantum computer, we built a system that allowed us to slow down the chemical dynamics from femtoseconds to milliseconds. This allowed us to make meaningful observations and measurements. This has never been done before. Sundays 67th annual Budweiser International Classic 200 at the Oswego Speedway saw Dave Danzer lead the first 165 laps off the outside pole. Michael Barnes then took over the top spot and appeared to be heading for his second Classic triumph. But on the 200th and final lap, Barnes ran out of fuel and Danzer sped to his first Classic victory and the $20,000 check that goes with it. It was the second straight year that Barnes lost a Classic win on the last lap by running out fuel. The Barnes supermodified had been venting fuel out of his tank throughout the first half of the 200-lap/125 mile grind on Oswegos five-eighths-mile oval. This could be the reason he ran out on the final circuit and he faded to fifth at the checkered flag. Danzer is a 35-year-old racer from Oswego and he was dominant while leading the first 165 laps of the event. But my car starting getting tight in the last fifty laps and I had the right front tire wearing, so I had to back off my pace, said the victor. Sometimes you need a little luck to get the job done and thats what happined to me today, said the 12 year supermodified veteran. Danzer becomes the 32nd different driver to win to win an Oswego Classic 200. Alison Sload is the only female to win an Oswego supermodified feature race and this Pennsylvania racer ran a strong second Sunday. Ohios Dave Shullick Jr. ran in the top six most of the day and the 2023 Oswego track champion finally settled for third at the end of the day. Bobby Santos, Barnes, Mike Ordway Jr. and Jack Patrick were fourth through seventh and the top seven were the only supers to complete all 200 laps. Mike Bruce was eighth, followed by Logan Rayvals, Michael Muldoon, Tim Snyder, Brandon Bellinger, Jeff Abold, Moe Lilje, Ben Seitz, Mike McVetta, Ryan Locke, Dan Connors, Camden Proud and Otto Sitterly. Gosek starts his 44th Classic Oswegos Joe Gosek has had a 44 year supermodified career at Oswego and he started his 44th Classic Sunday but Joe got caught up in an early tangle and finished 22nd in the 31 car field. Sitterly wins Supermodified Challenge Series John Nicotras five race Supermodified Challenge Series ended at Oswego Sunday, with Otto Sitterly picking up the $5,000 first place money in the $25,000 point fund. Ben Seitz got $3,500 for second and Mike Ordway $3,000 for third. The Purdy Deuce returns to Oswego Howard Purdys famous Deuce supermodified returned to Oswego Sunday after being restored by Steve Miller and Doug Holmes. The car had been in storage for nearly fifty years after Bentley Warren had driven it to his first of six Classic wins in 1969. Warren was on hand Sunday behind the wheel running some practice laps before the main event. Jeff Battle pits early and comes back for 350 super Classic win Jeff Battle started fifth in Sundays 50-lap, 350 supermodified main event, but was way off the pace in the early going. This New England racer then ducked into the pits for a quick air pressure adjustment on his tires. He returned to the rear of the field and began charging up through the pack. Jim Storace of Windom,Maine had led the entire race off the front row, but Battle roared up through the pack and grabbed off the top spot on the 47th circuit. He then held on for the win and the $2,500 top prize. It was his fourth Classic win in the 350 super division. Ed Witkum Jr. was third, followed by Nick Barzee, Ryan Battle, Kyle Perry, John Leonard, Brad Babb, Jason Spaulding and Brendan Young. 19 350s started the event. Mike Bond continues his domination of Oswegos small-block super class with his 9th Classic win Just call him the small-block super king of Oswego Speedway, as Mexicos Mike Bond easily cruised to a wire-to-wire victory in Sundays 60-lap small-block super classic finale. It was Bonds ninth win in this Labor Day Weekend special and netted him the $2,200 first place check. Andrew Schartner, who travels up from Charlotte, North Carolina to compete, ran up front all race and finished up in the second position. Jesse Bearup was third, with Mike Bruce and Drew Pascuzzi making up the top five in the caution-filled sixty lapper. Matt Sheppard wins New Yorker 50 for $12,000 payday Matt Sheppard continued his total domination of the 2023 Utica-Rome season, by winning Sunday nights New Yorker 50 special for modifieds. This Sprakers veteran banked $12,000 for his eleventh feature win this season at this half-mile Vernon oval. Sheppard is the all-time feature winner at U-R with 71. It was also his 27th feature triumph this season. Billy Decker was second, with Rocky Warner, Andy Bachetti and Jimmy Phelps completing the top five finishers. Other winners Lance Willix was the 358 modified winner Sunday night at the Glen Ridge Speedway in Fultonville, while Jimmy Zacharias won the modified main event at Thunder Mountain Speedway. News / Local by Staff reporter Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa's much-hyped inauguration in Harare today turned out to be the proverbial Shakespearean tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing.A damp squib; a non-event.After making noise and hyping the event to appear like the coronation of a King or Queen,Zimbabwean officials were left with egg on their face as only three Sadc presidents, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, attended.Ramaphosa has been publicly supporting Mnangagwa despite that the Zimbabwean crisis has flooded his own country with immigrants from across the Limpopo River, fuelling social tensions and conflict manifested through xenophobic violence.Zimbabwe has millions of immigrants in South Africa as a result of protracted political instability and economic collapse largely due to leadership, governance and policy failures over an extended period of time.Most Sadc leaders sent their ministers, ambassadors and other representatives.This shows that regional leaders have taken into account that Mnangagwa's re-election was characterised by massive irregularities, illegalities and fraud.The Zimbabwean elections were reduced to a chaotic sham and expensive charade, just like the inauguration today.What is particularly damning is that the Sadc chair, Angolan President Joao Lourenco and the chair of the Sadc troika of the organ on politics, defence and security cooperation, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, are not there.Other members of the Sadc troika of the organ on politics, defence and security cooperation which observed the elections are Namibia and Tanzania who also sent their representatives.The absence of key Sadc leaders from Mnangagwa's event sent a loud and clear signal that the Zimbabwe leader is starting a new term amid lack of political and democratic legitimacy.Without the much-needed legitimacy, Mnangagwa would have to rely more on coercion - his traditional stock-in-trade - to govern. rudra_shiv BHPian Join Date: Jan 2023 Location: Coimbatore Posts: 72 Thanked: 170 Times Re: VW, Skoda in talks with Mahindra for low cost EV Quote: volkman10 Originally Posted by Building on the strong EV component partnership with VW, Mahindra is now planning on co-developing a budget EV with Skoda for India and global markets. VW and Mahindra looking beyond their current component sourcing partnership. Joint product development has huge advantages of scale etc. but not easy to pull off. Already as you said, M&M and VW are in partnership for battery development, in fact we already witnessed that magic in their BEV's. M&M-Skoda JV by news is a sweet one to hear. But I am unsure how it will shape up to. Skoda and VW will cross-badge the cars in India as usual. If M&M also joins here, won't it create too much of confusion among the buyers? Commercially, M&M would love to undercut VAG twins in pricing and is known to offer a whole book of features. VW will be slightly more premium than Skoda. Correct me if I am wrong, would not all these in consideration for the EV world it could translate to just 50k to max a 1Lk difference among them? Also, this would lead to a requirement for a "STRONG DIFFERENTIATION" between their products. As always, it would be best if TATA competes under the hatch and compact UV segment as they are very good at it. Thanks to the new leadership and Pratap Bose for those head-turning designs. For me, M&M is known to be a strong player in the segment of SUVs. And that's what people love and associate when we say MAHINDRA. I think they should just stick to that and improve the game further like how they have been doing for decades. Entering the hatch segment may not be the right move and already in the ICE world they tried and failed with hatches (KUV100, Verito) and compact SUVs (Quanto, Nuva Sport, Voyager - A Mitsubishi cross-badge product). Their current INGLO is all set to accommodate the wheelbase between 2775mm and 2975mm and 250-300mm GCs. Their 60kW would be good enough to give a real-world driving range of around 300km, whereas 80kW would give WLTP range of around 430km. Playing around this itself would be sufficient for their R&D to keep them busy for a decade. The badges that M&M holds now like XUV, Scorpio, Bolero, and THAR are good to be transitioned to EVs for high commercial success. Their BEVs are already wonderful to see, just a good range with fair pricing is all that is needed to fill their pockets even if it's too deep. The below is a bit lengthy one and is purely my thought process penned down when I read the news.Already as you said, M&M and VW are in partnership for battery development, in fact we already witnessed that magic in their BEV's.M&M-Skoda JV by news is a sweet one to hear. But I am unsure how it will shape up to. Skoda and VW will cross-badge the cars in India as usual. If M&M also joins here, won't it create too much of confusion among the buyers?Commercially, M&M would love to undercut VAG twins in pricing and is known to offer a whole book of features. VW will be slightly more premium than Skoda. Correct me if I am wrong, would not all these in consideration for the EV world it could translate to just 50k to max a 1Lk difference among them?Also, this would lead to a requirement for a "STRONG DIFFERENTIATION" between their products.As always, it would be best if TATA competes under the hatch and compact UV segment as they are very good at it. Thanks to the new leadership and Pratap Bose for those head-turning designs.For me, M&M is known to be a strong player in the segment of SUVs. And that's what people love and associate when we say MAHINDRA. I think they should just stick to that and improve the game further like how they have been doing for decades. Entering the hatch segment may not be the right move and already in the ICE world they tried and failed with hatches (KUV100, Verito) and compact SUVs (Quanto, Nuva Sport, Voyager - A Mitsubishi cross-badge product).Their current INGLO is all set to accommodate the wheelbase between 2775mm and 2975mm and 250-300mm GCs. Their 60kW would be good enough to give a real-world driving range of around 300km, whereas 80kW would give WLTP range of around 430km. Playing around this itself would be sufficient for their R&D to keep them busy for a decade.The badges that M&M holds now like XUV, Scorpio, Bolero, and THAR are good to be transitioned to EVs for high commercial success. Their BEVs are already wonderful to see, just a good range with fair pricing is all that is needed to fill their pockets even if it's too deep. Last edited by Axe77 : 5th September 2023 at 03:32 . Reason: Fixing broken quote tag. sandeepmdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Varkala Posts: 1,506 Thanked: 2,353 Times Chitharal Jain Temple aka Malai Kovil | A photologue I came across a Wikipedia article about the ancient Jain temple in southern Tamil Nadu while idling on a weekend last month. On an impulse, I decided to take a solo drive to the temple. I live in southern Kerala, and the temple, dating back to the 1st century CE, is located about 86 kilometers away from my home. However, most of the journey would be on the dreaded NH66 "highway". I chose to take a different route, avoiding the highway and going through the rural eastern side of the Trivandrum District. This increased the distance to 92 kilometers, but the drive actually made me more relaxed, with a meandering route that brought a smile to my face as I drove my 7-year-old Duster 110 AMT. I deliberately chose the Duster for the solo trip over my new XUV700 AWD, because the Dusty has very few bells and whistles and I can drive with a cool head. I knew no one in my family would be interested in visiting such an obscure place, and I wanted to take my time to fully explore the temple and its surroundings. The Chitharal Jain Monuments and Bhagavati Temple are located in Chitharal, a small village about 4 kilometers north of Kuzhithurai town in Kanyakumari District, the southernmost district in mainland India. The monument is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). To enter, you need to provide your name, place, and phone number at the gate. There's a paved parking area and a bus stop right across from the gate, with a parking fee of 40 rupees. There's a 700-meter walk from the gate to the temple site. The path is not motorable, but well-paved and maintained by the ASI, and it's exceptionally clean. However, it's quite steep and lacks shade, despite the greenery around. There is also no water available on the way. Before entering the temple gate, it's advisable to buy or bring plenty of water or soft drinks. There are a couple of shops selling these items right across from the bus stop. In my opinion, the 700-meter walk may not be suitable for those with health conditions. But once you make it, it's a truly serene experience. There are no crowds other than some reel-makers; only cool, strong winds, trees, and herbs all around, creating a peaceful atmosphere. Here are some pictures. On the way to the temple, next to Neyyar Reservoir. The pathway to the temple, on the way back to the gate You're almost there, and this lobby is very windy Natural and man-made. Believe me, this is the temple entrance. Bas-reliefs. The temple has two sides; one is Jain (1st century to 900 CE) and Hindu (9th century to 14th century CE, but still open for worship). This is the Jain side. You can almost see the Arabian sea Green mansions. Note that shadow of the clouds. The more older Jain side is carved into the rock crop, or a natural cave was expanded. The relatively new Hindu temple was extended slightly south of it. The entire temple sits on a rock. The iconography depicted here is strictly in accordance with the textbook Manasara Silpa Shastra, according to the experts. This ancient book has 70 chapters and one of them is dedicated to the Jain iconography. Goddess Ambika (Ambica) accompanied by a lion and attendants. Mahavira in Ardha-padmasana pose. He is the predominant one depicted here. Could be Padmavati. According to Wikipedia, each of these was sponsored by an ascetic or a donor whose names are carved along with the work. I didn't find any, however. Waited for the rain, in vain. This is my first travel story on TBHP. I'm writing this because, AFAIK, there hasn't been a thread about the Chitharal Jain Temple ruins in our forum. The point behind this post is just to fill that vacuum; I am sure many TBHPians will find this place interesting and duly return to our forum with excellent threads. This is simply a pilot contribution from me.I came across a Wikipedia article about the ancient Jain temple in southern Tamil Nadu while idling on a weekend last month. On an impulse, I decided to take a solo drive to the temple. I live in southern Kerala, and the temple, dating back to the 1st century CE, is located about 86 kilometers away from my home. However, most of the journey would be on the dreaded NH66 "highway". I chose to take a different route, avoiding the highway and going through the rural eastern side of the Trivandrum District. This increased the distance to 92 kilometers, but the drive actually made me more relaxed, with a meandering route that brought a smile to my face as I drove my 7-year-old Duster 110 AMT. I deliberately chose the Duster for the solo trip over my new XUV700 AWD, because the Dusty has very few bells and whistles and I can drive with a cool head.I knew no one in my family would be interested in visiting such an obscure place, and I wanted to take my time to fully explore the temple and its surroundings.The Chitharal Jain Monuments and Bhagavati Temple are located in Chitharal, a small village about 4 kilometers north of Kuzhithurai town in Kanyakumari District, the southernmost district in mainland India. The monument is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). To enter, you need to provide your name, place, and phone number at the gate. There's a paved parking area and a bus stop right across from the gate, with a parking fee of 40 rupees.There's a 700-meter walk from the gate to the temple site. The path is not motorable, but well-paved and maintained by the ASI, and it's exceptionally clean. However, it's quite steep and lacks shade, despite the greenery around.Before entering the temple gate, it's advisable to buy or bring plenty of water or soft drinks. There are a couple of shops selling these items right across from the bus stop. In my opinion, the 700-meter walk may not be suitable for those with health conditions.But once you make it, it's a truly serene experience. There are no crowds other than some reel-makers; only cool, strong winds, trees, and herbs all around, creating a peaceful atmosphere. Here are some pictures.On the way to the temple, next to Neyyar Reservoir.The pathway to the temple, on the wayto the gateYou're almost there, and this lobby is very windyNatural and man-made.Believe me, this is the temple entrance.Bas-reliefs. The temple has two sides; one is Jain (1st century to 900 CE) and Hindu (9th century to 14th century CE, but still open for worship). This is the Jain side.You can almost see the Arabian seaGreen mansions.Note that shadow of the clouds.The more older Jain side is carved into the rock crop, or a natural cave was expanded. The relatively new Hindu temple was extended slightly south of it.The entire temple sits on a rock.The iconography depicted here is strictly in accordance with the textbook, according to the experts. This ancient book has 70 chapters and one of them is dedicated to the Jain iconography.Goddess Ambika (Ambica) accompanied by a lion and attendants.Mahavira inpose. He is the predominant one depicted here.Could be Padmavati.According to Wikipedia, each of these was sponsored by an ascetic or a donor whose names are carved along with the work. I didn't find any, however.Waited for the rain, in vain. Last edited by sandeepmdas : 3rd September 2023 at 20:11 . PointZero BHPian Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Kolkata Posts: 444 Thanked: 2,960 Times Re: Chasing the Snow - Winter Kashmir Day 6 continued ... Everything was pleasant till then. However, when we returned to the Gulmarg entry gate, we found a huge traffic jam and we had no other option of going back because of the huge queue on both the front and rear sides. Most of the vehicles were unprepared and many of them were very naive in snow driving which led to many casualties one after another. It took around 2 and a half hours to reach Gulmarg from Srinagar, whereas it took 14 hours to return. The downhill drive from Gulmarg to Babareshi took 12 hours and these 12 hours of driving were the most dangerous driving experience in my life. The road was full of idiots and whenever I was trying to keep some safe distance at the front, the other vehicle surpassed me and filled the gap. Not only private vehicles, public vehicles, and army vehicles all became absurd in the situation. I found around 50+ casualties in front of my eyes in these 12 KM drives and all were mainly because of braking on the ice. Whenever a vehicle was getting out of track it was causing another 10-15 minutes delay to side the vehicle so other vehicles could move ahead. I found a Toyota Etios in front of me and the driver was a gem. Though he does not have any tire chains, he just deflated the tire and I did not find a single instance where it became out of control. I found this one after 2-3 KM drives between some crazy vehicles and decided to follow him for the entire downhill drive. https://youtu.be/S3agJhiiMNM https://youtube.com/watch?v=Gsa5byVmdRc?feature=share https://youtube.com/watch?v=IEFsFo79An4?feature=share https://youtu.be/XwnkZTIi1bI https://youtu.be/EGpTW9tjkLU https://youtu.be/8l-Mccpc-JM https://youtu.be/unrl4IKXttU https://youtu.be/xKrbAsCsHrg https://youtu.be/6_l1L9YJh6s https://youtu.be/K8u6QFvFSRU https://youtu.be/_a6uskeVe9U https://youtu.be/MFSjSmEBnJk https://youtu.be/UQ6DNgFTfrE https://youtu.be/wapzj_ksAVM https://youtu.be/PPw-VnFAuQI https://youtu.be/BVp7kNXh8zc https://youtu.be/2_XvUUx7S4k https://youtu.be/WnlX48_wo08 https://youtu.be/MKCEEPuneAU https://youtu.be/tBMPchk0dTM https://youtu.be/4cnE1SGWIcA https://youtu.be/deENPz0VRmw https://youtu.be/4936C7Xl4XU https://youtu.be/wwt2tNjYaFY https://youtu.be/f0JGKUnWkhI https://youtu.be/k3auy3EM83U https://youtu.be/pz-qW5rqov0 https://youtu.be/lIWIioUftfM https://youtu.be/5SnqcDK2UII https://youtu.be/l25PFibll4Y https://youtu.be/BkBRXZe5Xxg https://youtu.be/jwwmH0QoptU https://youtu.be/alBVSCGvSZk The next day I found many posts on Facebook that the Army and J&K Police had made many recoveries for the night. However, I did not find any such activities other than running three snow cutters for these 12 hours. Our conveyance was full of foods like cake, juice, chocolate and dry fruits. Even we had a stove and noodles for survival. We were running out of water after 4-5 hours of driving in the stretch and we had no idea whether we had to spend the whole night on the road or not. Traffic during downhill drive Traffic during downhill drive While we were encountering this for the first time in life, on the one hand, I was tense because of the other vehicles action. Many people who hired open hood Gypsy visited Gulmarg and then they covered themselves in plastic just to save their life in such continuous snowfall and some of the vehicles were full of kids. I was very much sure that everyone was running out of water and food and everyone was uncertain about the night, but I was helpless for the situation. There were thousands of cars on the road which was full of tourists suffering from hunger and I had food that could be shared between 5-10 people max. At the start, I shared some water, and juice with some nearby vehicles but in the later part of the night we had no water to share and we were also uncertain about the night. In the 12 hours of tense full driving, my only target was to keep my vehicle safe knowing that any single mistake can lead us to a fatal situation. Chain Removed Chain Removed Once we reached Babareshi, the snowfall increased heavily but I removed the tire chain after driving a couple of kilometers and it could damage the wheel bearing and the downhill roads were ended. So driving on a plain road was painless and it took another 2 hours to reach Srinagar. It was still snowing when we were driving beside the dal lake till we reached the hotel. https://youtu.be/yCoZcDScWJA https://youtu.be/PUseIBehE7Q https://youtu.be/zZMgEFmctGQ https://youtu.be/o1MB9ylSE3c At 4:00 AM we reached the hotel and felt relieved and safe. My brother and sister made some Maggie and fed ourselves before going to sleep. At hotel Parking ... At hotel Parking ... Day 07: Gulmarg - Srinagar, J&K We spent the first part of the day on the road while returning from Gulmarg. Let's start at noon. It was obvious that we needed a good sleep. Though I woke up around 9:30 AM, my brother and sister woke up just before Lunch. I was planning for a visit to Sonamarg for the day but they were more interested in Shikara rides and shopping as they were for the first time in Kashmir. As the majority wanted, we spent the entire afternoon on Shikara rides and my brother did a bunch of carpet and blanket shopping for home. Nothing much for the day, we just took it on a rest day and had some good food to prepare ourselves for another 3-4 days of continuous drive home. Dal Lake Dal Lake Day 08: Srinagar - Jalandhar, Punjab Day 09: Punjab - Agra, UP Day 10: Agra - Dehri, BH Day 10: Dehri - Medinipur, WB The next 4 days were particularly travel from Srinagar to Kolkata. Nothing significant to highlight other than our decision to stay in Agra. For 09, 10, and 11 we found a dense mist each morning. So we could not begin early and as we found it would be a 4-day journey from Srinagarh to Kolkata instead of three because of the weather, we decided to spend some time in Agra in this weather. Instead of going back to Kolkata early, we returned to our native home ( Khirpai, Medinipur) on the 10th day before lunch to have some good fish and rice for the tummys bliss. The next day we started early from our native home and directly joined our offices in Kolkata. Random Snaps While Leaving Kashmir https://youtu.be/3VQRp8Ep6t4 Random Snaps While Leaving Kashmir Thanks for reading - Point Zero Everything was pleasant till then. However, when we returned to the Gulmarg entry gate, we found a huge traffic jam and we had no other option of going back because of the huge queue on both the front and rear sides. Most of the vehicles were unprepared and many of them were very naive in snow driving which led to many casualties one after another. It took around 2 and a half hours to reach Gulmarg from Srinagar, whereas it took 14 hours to return.The downhill drive from Gulmarg to Babareshi took 12 hours and these 12 hours of driving were the most dangerous driving experience in my life. The road was full of idiots and whenever I was trying to keep some safe distance at the front, the other vehicle surpassed me and filled the gap. Not only private vehicles, public vehicles, and army vehicles all became absurd in the situation. I found around 50+ casualties in front of my eyes in these 12 KM drives and all were mainly because of braking on the ice. Whenever a vehicle was getting out of track it was causing another 10-15 minutes delay to side the vehicle so other vehicles could move ahead.I found a Toyota Etios in front of me and the driver was a gem. Though he does not have any tire chains, he just deflated the tire and I did not find a single instance where it became out of control. I found this one after 2-3 KM drives between some crazy vehicles and decided to follow him for the entire downhill drive.The next day I found many posts on Facebook that the Army and J&K Police had made many recoveries for the night. However, I did not find any such activities other than running three snow cutters for these 12 hours. Our conveyance was full of foods like cake, juice, chocolate and dry fruits. Even we had a stove and noodles for survival. We were running out of water after 4-5 hours of driving in the stretch and we had no idea whether we had to spend the whole night on the road or not.While we were encountering this for the first time in life, on the one hand, I was tense because of the other vehicles action. Many people who hired open hood Gypsy visited Gulmarg and then they covered themselves in plastic just to save their life in such continuous snowfall and some of the vehicles were full of kids. I was very much sure that everyone was running out of water and food and everyone was uncertain about the night, but I was helpless for the situation. There were thousands of cars on the road which was full of tourists suffering from hunger and I had food that could be shared between 5-10 people max. At the start, I shared some water, and juice with some nearby vehicles but in the later part of the night we had no water to share and we were also uncertain about the night. In the 12 hours of tense full driving, my only target was to keep my vehicle safe knowing that any single mistake can lead us to a fatal situation.Once we reached Babareshi, the snowfall increased heavily but I removed the tire chain after driving a couple of kilometers and it could damage the wheel bearing and the downhill roads were ended. So driving on a plain road was painless and it took another 2 hours to reach Srinagar. It was still snowing when we were driving beside the dal lake till we reached the hotel.At 4:00 AM we reached the hotel and felt relieved and safe. My brother and sister made some Maggie and fed ourselves before going to sleep.We spent the first part of the day on the road while returning from Gulmarg. Let's start at noon. It was obvious that we needed a good sleep. Though I woke up around 9:30 AM, my brother and sister woke up just before Lunch. I was planning for a visit to Sonamarg for the day but they were more interested in Shikara rides and shopping as they were for the first time in Kashmir. As the majority wanted, we spent the entire afternoon on Shikara rides and my brother did a bunch of carpet and blanket shopping for home. Nothing much for the day, we just took it on a rest day and had some good food to prepare ourselves for another 3-4 days of continuous drive home.The next 4 days were particularly travel from Srinagar to Kolkata. Nothing significant to highlight other than our decision to stay in Agra. For 09, 10, and 11 we found a dense mist each morning. So we could not begin early and as we found it would be a 4-day journey from Srinagarh to Kolkata instead of three because of the weather, we decided to spend some time in Agra in this weather. Instead of going back to Kolkata early, we returned to our native home ( Khirpai, Medinipur) on the 10th day before lunch to have some good fish and rice for the tummys bliss. The next day we started early from our native home and directly joined our offices in Kolkata.Thanks for reading -Point Zero Last edited by PointZero : 3rd September 2023 at 21:35 . What just happened? Generative AI can potentially disrupt the global data center market, but Europe is facing a different issue right now. Demand for data center capacity in the Old Continent is at its highest, with a wave of requests coming through that were somewhat delayed in recent years. According to a recent report from real estate and investment management service provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), the first half of 2023 saw the single busiest two quarters for data center investments in Europe on record. Tier I European markets, which include Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin (FLAP-D), have experienced a "staggering" 65% increase compared to the same period of the last year. The report's highlights include a 114MW capacity take-up recorded in the second quarter of 2023, which is more than double the 51MW take-up seen in the first quarter and the largest second quarter to date. The German city of Frankfurt experienced the largest growth rate, with half of all demand for the year being seen there. The city's new data center supply increased by 69MW, increasing the overall market size by 12%. Despite the significant growth, data centers in Europe still aren't enough to satisfy demand. New computing capacity that came online in the second quarter amounts to 73MW, while take-up across the FLAP-D market went up to the aforementioned 114MW. Vacancy rates are also falling as a result, the report states. In the past two years, JLL says, pre-leasing levels skyrocketed as customers were trying to secure brand-new data center space while it was still being built. Supply chain issues across the wider real estate market, lead times and pipelines further aggravated the backlog situation. And then there's the generative AI boom, which the real estate corporation describes as one of the "largest technology disrupters" ever seen. AI model training applications require high computing power levels which are fundamentally different compared to traditional data centers. The greedy algorithm-crunching machine needs more GPU chips than CPUs, and "hyperscale" GPUs like Nvidia H100 require liquid cooling rather than air cooling. For this reason, the AI boom is driving significant changes in how data centers are designed and planned. AI training is less reliant on latency, the report states, so proximity to the end user is not a key consideration anymore. JLL now expects that data centers will be strategically located where there's plenty of access to renewable energy, land and water for cooling. Furthermore, private equity firms are also increasing their spending prospects on the data center building business, with Blackstone and DigitalBridge ready to invest billions. Despite the potentially disruptive effects of AI training, JLL's report notes that none of the observed movements in the FLAP-D market are currently driven by algorithmic chatbots. Europe's data center market is growing but there are still many "unknowns" to investigate. In brief: Autonomous vehicle giant Cruise has denied allegations that two of its self-driving taxis delayed an ambulance from leaving the scene of a crash in which a pedestrian was struck by a car. The person later died in hospital. A San Francisco Fire Department report (via The New York Times) states that on August 14, two Cruise driverless vehicles stopped in the right two lanes of a four-lane, one-way street in the SoMa neighborhood, where the victim was found. A police vehicle in another lane also had to be moved in order for the ambulance to leave. The Cruise vehicles reportedly delayed the ambulance in its journey to the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, about 2.4 miles away. The patient died 20 to 30 minutes after arriving at the medical facility. "This delay, no matter how minimal, contributed to a poor patient outcome [] The fact that Cruise autonomous vehicles continue to block ingress to critical 911 calls is unacceptable," wrote the SF Fire Department. It was only a few weeks ago when a fleet of Cruise vehicles became stuck in the middle of three San Francisco streets, causing a massive traffic jam. Hi @friscolive415 - A large festival posed wireless bandwidth constraints causing delayed connectivity to our vehicles. We are actively investigating and working on solutions to prevent this from happening again. We apologize to those who were impacted. cruise (@Cruise) August 12, 2023 General Motors subsidiary Cruise said the latest incident was not its fault. The company shared footage with the NYT that appeared to show one of its vehicles had moved from the scene before the victim was loaded into the ambulance. The other Cruise vehicle stopped in the right lane until after the ambulance left. "The first vehicle promptly clears the area once the light turns green and the other stops in the lane to yield to first responders who are directing traffic," a Cruise spokesperson wrote in a statement. "Throughout the entire duration the AV is stopped, traffic remains unblocked and flowing to the right of the AV. The ambulance behind the AV had a clear path to pass the AV as other vehicles, including the ambulance, proceeded to do so. As soon as the victim was loaded into the ambulance, the ambulance left the scene immediately and was never impeded from doing so by the AV." The ambulance passed the stopped Cruise vehicle about 90 seconds after the victim was loaded onboard. The Fire Department said this was just one of more than 70 incidents of autonomous vehicles interfering with emergency responders. "In those cases seconds and minutes can make a difference in whether somebody bleeds out or is able to be resuscitated from a heart attack or other emergency," said Aaron Peskin, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. "And it's not a question of 'if," it's a question of 'when.'" The incident came just four days after the California Public Utilities Commission gave its approval for autonomous vehicle companies to expand robotaxis' hours of operation to 24/7 while charging for rides. A postcard, with love pic.twitter.com/tO4EOOSfao Safe Street Rebel (@SafeStreetRebel) July 11, 2023 Anti-car activists protested against San Francisco's Cruise and Waymo vehicles in July with a "week of cone," which involved protesters disabling the autonomous taxis by placing traffic cones on their hoods. A video from the group responsible pointed out that AVs block buses, emergency vehicles, and everyday traffic. It also claimed that the companies behind them are partnering with police to record everyone all the time without anyone's consent. Most importantly, the vehicles require streets designed for cars, not people or transit. In brief: Are you interested in Unidentified Flying Objects, aka UFOs? Then you might want to check out a dedicated website that offers declassified information on the phenomenon, and it's operated by the Department of Defense. The website for the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is headered by a message stating that its team of experts is leading the US government's efforts to address Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). The site defines UAP as either airborne objects that are not immediately identifiable, transmedium objects or devices, and submerged objects or devices that are not immediately identifiable. The website currently contains publicly available, declassified information relating to resolved UAP cases that anyone can browse. In addition to photos and videos, there are also sections on reported trends and frequently asked questions, along with links to official reports, transcripts, press releases and other resources that the public may find useful. "The department is committed to transparency with the American people on AARO's work on UAPs," said Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder. The AARO website will soon accept reports, submitted via private and secure means, from current or former US government employees, service members, or contractors with direct knowledge of government programs or activities related to UAP dating back to 1945. A tool that allows members of the public to submit their own reports will be added to the website at a later date. UFOs/UAP have been in the spotlight a lot recently. In July, the House Oversight Committee held a public hearing on UAP and their implications on national security, public safety, and government transparency. "UAPs, whatever they be, may pose a serious threat to our military and our civilian aircraft, and that must be understood," Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California said during the hearing. "We should encourage more reporting, not less on UAPs. The more we understand, the safer we will be." Excitement had previously peaked in June when David Charles Grusch, a 36-year-old Air Force veteran, said the US government, its allies, and defense contractors have retrieved partially and fully intact exotic vehicles that have either landed or crashed. The craft are described as non-human in origin. Grusch also claimed the US government has a multi-decade history with UFOs, operated a crash retrieval program, and attempted to reverse engineer alien technology. He added that the government possesses alien bodies. It's all very X-Files-like. Rumor mill: Intel has been outsourcing its Arc GPU manufacturing to TSMC since 2022. According to recent speculations from a prominent investment bank, Intel might significantly increase its reliance on the Taiwanese foundry over the next few years. Goldman Sachs analysts, quoted by the Taiwanese media outlet Commercial Times, suggest that Intel is likely to expand product outsourcing to TSMC in 2024 and 2025. The "total addressable market" for Intel's outsourcing orders is projected to be $18.6 billion in 2024 and $19.4 billion in 2025, the analysts stated. It's probable that TSMC will receive manufacturing orders from Intel amounting to $5.6 billion in the next year and $9.7 billion in 2025. Goldman Sachs' assumptions seem to be based on the challenges Intel has faced with smaller and more advanced manufacturing processes since the 10-nanometer node. Moreover, the US chipmaker recently chose to establish a "foundry-like" relationship between its manufacturing groups and its internal product business units, as noted by the analysts. Opinion: Is Intel turning a corner? Semiconductor industry analyst Andrew Lu believes this relationship will evolve further. Intel's chip manufacturing arm directly competes with TSMC, while its design division is working hard to maintain its footing in the increasingly competitive semiconductor sector. Intel chip designers appear eager to cultivate a closer collaboration with the Taiwanese foundry. Lu even speculates about a potential separation within Intel's competing business arms, predicting that the Santa Clara-based chip maker might split into two distinct companies in the coming years. Intel is increasingly adopting a chiplet design for its upcoming CPUs, with some chiplet components expected to be outsourced to external foundries by the end of 2023. Setting speculations aside, it's likely that all of TSMC's manufacturing capacities for 2024 and 2025 are already reserved. If Intel plans to outsource a significant portion of its semiconductor products to the Taiwanese firm, contracts would have been finalized by now. Assuming the figures provided by Goldman Sachs analysts $5.6 billion and $9.7 billion are accurate, Intel's orders could represent approximately 6.4% and 9.4% of TSMC's overall revenues for 2024 and 2025, respectively. Yet, despite the significant sums involved, neither Intel nor TSMC have publicly confirmed or refuted these claims. In a recent development, C-TAP has achieved three new licensing agreements, aiming to make essential COVID-19 tools accessible on a global scale. These have been facilitated in collaboration with MPP committed to improving access to vital medicines. (Photo : Jane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty Images) GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 19: Clinical support technician Douglas Condie extracts viruses from swab samples so that the genetic structure of a virus can be analysed and identified in the coronavirus testing laboratory at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, on February 19, 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland. Signing Three New Licensing Agreements The COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) has recently entered into three new licensing agreements with the goal of providing COVID-19 tools to people worldwide, as reported by Interesting Engineering. These agreements have been facilitated by the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), a United Nations-supported public health organization dedicated to enhancing access to and promoting the creation of critical medicines for nations with limited resources. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, emphasized the enduring presence of COVID-19 and the ongoing necessity for tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat the virus. He underscored the commitment of WHO and its partners through C-TAP to ensure the widespread accessibility of these essential tools. Dr. Tedros also expressed gratitude for the leadership demonstrated by the license holders who have shared their technology. These latest agreements encompass various critical components, including the patent and expertise related to a COVID-19 vaccine from Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp, which has been administered in over seven countries, totaling more than three million doses. Additionally, a second license pertains to another COVID-19 vaccine prototype from the Spanish National Research Council. Lastly, the University of Chile contributes technology for a COVID-19 assay designed for quantifying neutralizing antibodies. In 2020, Focus Taiwan reported that the WHO director-general and the president of Costa Rica inaugurated C-TAP, an initiative aimed at expediting access to COVID-19 health products that are both timely and affordable. As stated by the WHO, C-TAP enjoys support from 45 member states. Receiving Praises Charles Gore, Executive Director of MPP, emphasized the ongoing importance of prioritizing access to critical medicines and healthcare technologies on the global health agenda, as stated by WHO on its press release. He extended congratulations to Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp, CSIC, and the University of Chile for their licensing agreements with MPP, while expressing hope that their actions would serve as a meaningful example to encourage other originators worldwide to pursue additional licensing agreements. The established agreements have garnered unanimous praise from all stakeholders due to their global reach, transparency, and non-exclusive nature. Charles Chen, CEO of Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp, stressed the significance of solidarity, cooperation, and global collaboration in effectively addressing pandemics. He highlighted their commitment to equitable access to vaccine technology, emphasizing the importance of leaving no one behind, not only in the context of COVID-19 but also as a precedent for future global health challenges. Also Read: Is Long COVID Caused by COVID-19 Inflammatory Response? New Study Reveals New Insights Eloisa del Pino, President of CSIC, emphasized how this licensing agreement with C-TAP opens doors for potential partnerships in third countries to advance clinical trials with the vaccine, offering a promising alternative for licensed COVID vaccines, particularly in resource-constrained regions. Related Article: AI System EWAD Can Provide Early Warnings for Dangerous Virus Variants, Scientists Says 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In a rather amusing incident, a woman residing in Fujian province, southeastern China, was apprehended for attempting to steal an iPhone 14 Plus. While iPhone thefts are not uncommon, the method employed in this case added a comical twist to the situation. (Photo : Brandon Bell/Getty Images) HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 20: An iPhone 14 Pro Max is seen on display at an AT&T store on October 20, 2022 in Houston, Texas. AT&T stock has climbed over 9 percent after having a successful third quarter. Chewing Anti-Theft Cable at Apple Store Instead of the typical approach, Phone Arena reported that this woman resorted to a rather unusual tactic - she chewed through the anti-theft cable that is meant to safeguard display devices in the Apple Store from theft. In a beaver-like fashion, she gnawed through the cable and made off with the phone. Our available information indicates that the individual with the last name "Qiu" initiated her visit to the store in a seemingly ordinary manner. She perused several Apple products, but it was evident that the iPhone held her primary interest. Surveillance camera footage from the store unveiled the thief's unusual actions - she began biting through the anti-theft cable discreetly when there were no other customers nearby. While holding a phone in her hand, she positioned it on the display table and proceeded to explore one of the showcased phones. Eventually, she paused, casting discreet glances around, seemingly checking for any onlookers. As the sole individual present in that section of the store, she daringly decided to gnaw at the cord securing one of the phones to its display stand. Remarkably, she managed to cut the cord and promptly concealed both phones in her bag before calmly leaving the store premises. Discovering the Incident The theft transpired on August 8th at an Apple store located in Fuzhou, the capital city of the southeastern Fujian province, as reported by AsiaOne. The woman's actions triggered an alarm within the store. Unfortunately, the staff from the Apple store quickly dismissed it as a false alarm and deactivated the alert system after being preoccupied with other customers. The police were reported immediately when they found out the phone was missing, and one of the cables was no longer connected to any device. Also Read: iPhone Tops the Google Search List in Terms of Gadget Insurance-Is iOS Smartphones More Vulnerable to Theft? According to The Straits Times, law enforcement immediately captured the thief by employing a blend of facial recognition technology and tracking analysis. This effective operation resulted in her arrest at her home, an impressive feat achieved in just about 30 minutes. Upon her return home, the woman hadn't had a chance to use the pilfered device, which, notably, was an Apple iPhone 14 Plus valued at 7,000 yuan or almost a thousand dollars. During the interrogation, Qiu clarified to the police that she had originally misplaced her phone and had intentions of buying a replacement. However, upon discovering the steep price, which she considered unaffordable, she regrettably opted for the unfortunate course of action-stealing the phone instead. Related Article: iPhone Theft Incidents 2023: Pickpocketing Group Member Targets Disneyland! Here's What Happened 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Tech Times' Weekly Wrap is here to bring you the top and latest news from last week, centering on the stories that made the headlines and attracted massive attention, first off with Google Maps' overhaul of its application. Next, the end of an era for augmented reality's pioneers, with Magic Leap already sending messages to owners that its services are shutting down. Lastly, there is the notorious LogicMonitor hack where customers are already raising their concerns regarding the poor default passwords which have been one of the main reasons behind the attack. Google Maps Overhaul Seems Familiar... Like Apple? (Photo : Google) Google has decided to refresh the look of its navigation apps, with the Google Maps overhaul bringing an updated interface for users, centering on gray roads and white backgrounds. However, it seems oddly familiar, and yes, this is the same look as what Apple Maps has to offer, one of Google's largest competitors in the market. Apart from this, 9to5 Google also noted that the app's oceans, lakes, and other bodies of water also received a change, with it previously showing a more light blue color it. Now, like Apple Maps, it is featuring more vibrant colors in its representation on the app. Other elements of Google Maps have also seen an updated look, with its blue route arrow getting a darker shade it for easier tracking, as well as the bottom menu bar which features a sleeker design with smaller tabs. This gives the map better attention for users and a fresh look for the app. Read Also: iPhone vs. Android: MKBHD Answers this Question to Help You Choose in this Upcoming iPhone 15 Event Magic Leap's AR Service is Shutting Down (Photo : @karanganesan via X Screenshot) The massive player in the augmented reality world, Magic Leap, has recently confirmed to its customers and users that its AR services and experiences are shutting down. The company did not explain much about why it is ending its support for the device, but it will cease to function come December 31, 2024, giving its remaining users a chance to enjoy it for more than a year from now. UploadVR confirmed that Magic Leap is now messaging its customers individually to let them know what is to happen to its future, with the company also claiming that updates, improvements, and outages will be addressed based on their decision. Notably, Magic Leap has inspired modern-day AR experiences, including the upcoming device from Apple, the Vision Pro, particularly with its spatial computing feature. LogicMonitor Hack: Who's to Blame? (Photo : JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images) LogicMonitor prides itself as a cloud-based monitoring platform, but it recently made headlines not because of what it has to offer, but because of the recent hack to its systems and infrastructures. The company's spokesperson recently confirmed that there was a "surprise hack" that took place, and it affected customer accounts. It is quite noting that most of those affected were customers who did not change the default passwords that the company gave them from the start. Now, customers are alarmed by the weak default passwords that the company gave them. This is despite security researchers regularly reminding the public to routinely change their passwords to avoid these kinds of breaches. As per TechCrunch's report, a source claimed that LogicMonitor did not require users to change their passwords until last week's attack. Related Article: Shocking Study: Human Ancestors Were on Brink of Extinction 1 Million Years Ago with Only 1,300 Survivors 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Nintendo has a reputation for being the dream company for a lot of people due to its classic games and the fact that some applicants might have grown up playing them. With that, the company has a near-perfect retention rate for new employees in Japan, even higher than the average of the country. Nintendo has a Higher New Employee Retention Rate in Japan Compared to the Country's Average According to the story by Nintendo Life, the company has worked on some of the largest IPs in the world and has even been attributed to shaping pop-culture history with worlds like Mario and Zelda. The article notes that working for Nintendo might even be a dream for some popular aspiring game developers. However, the real question is not just how many people join the company, but how many people stick to the company for their entire careers. As noted by Biz Journal, data revealed that Nintendo actually has a 98.8% employee retention rate in Japan, which is a near-perfect score. It was highlighted that this retention rate was even higher than the average in Japan, which sits at just 70%. Tokyo Game Life notes on Twitter or X, that there are multiple reasons for this being the case, starting with brand strength. Many Factors Influence Why the Company has Such a High Retention Rate Other factors that influence why the company has such a high retention rate include the smaller number of new hires. This means that the company doesn't really have a culture of aggressive hiring like other companies. The last reason mentioned was that Nintendo has a strong employee welfare program making it more attractive for employees to stay. With the addition of the welfare program, employees are more likely to stay because they also don't want to give up those benefits. For Ever 100 Employees that Nintendo Hires, Only One of Them Decides to Leave The source reportedly revealed more reasons why a lot of employees choose to remain at Nintendo, with other reasons highlighted. The translation also reveals that the company was very diverse and said that for every 100 employees the company onboards, only one decides to quit. However, it should also be noted that some employees quit the company due to personal reasons and it's not always because the company lacks in what they offer them. Other reasons could be a personal shift in the employee's life or the fact that they want to pursue something else. Read Also: Jeff Bezos vs Elon Musk: Amazon Shareholder Snubs SpaceX as Alleged Personal Rivalry Continues High Retention Rate Only Applies to Its Japan Department and Maybe Not Other Branches It was also noted that the high retention rate only applies to its Japan department and that this might not be the same when it comes to other branches around the world. However, the article still highlighted how they knew that Nintendo does provide many key figures to keep employees. So far, Nintendo isn't as aggressive as other companies when it comes to firing as well as when it comes to layoffs. In fact, despite lower profits, the company still announced a 10% pay raise for developers. Related Article: Amazon Partners With Shopify to Allow Sellers to Use Amazon's Logistics Network 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. University of Alberta Faculty of Law Assistant Professor Dr. Gideon Christian has issued a warning about the harmful consequences of racially biased artificial intelligence (AI) in a press release from the institution. (Photo : Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images for NEC Corporation) TOKYO, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 28: An employee demonstrates the facial recognition system for the NEC SMART STORE at the NEC Corporation headquarters on February 28, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Risks in AI Facial Recognition Technology Dr. Christian has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner Contributions Program for his research project titled "Mitigating Race, Gender, and Privacy Impacts of AI Facial Recognition Technology." This study emphasizes that biased AI not only misleads but can also have severe detrimental effects on people's lives, recognized as an expert in AI industry and its legal implications. Dr. Christian challenges the misconception that technology is inherently unbiased, asserting that this belief is not accurate. He specifically highlighted the concerning impact of facial recognition technology, particularly on individuals of color. He provided additional insight, explaining that technology has a track record of mimicking human biases. In certain facial recognition systems, it achieves remarkable accuracy, exceeding 99 percent when identifying white males. However, this situation becomes distressing when it pertains to the identification of individuals with varied skin tones, with a particular focus on Black women. It is within this context that the technology displays its most alarming error rate, soaring to approximately 35 percent. Extending Outside US Christian's warning extends beyond the borders of the United States, suggesting that Canada may also grapple with similar incidents of misidentification. This covert application may lead to a dearth of records or limited public awareness of its prevalence within the country. Within Canada, specific cases have emerged, notably involving Black women and immigrants who have secured refugee status. Also Read: AI-Powered Drones with Facial Recognition Reportedly Developed by the US Air Force In some of these cases, the revocation of refugee status was predicated on facial recognition technology matching these individuals with others. The government's argument rested on the assertion that these individuals had initially made their claims using false identities. Importantly, these incidents disproportionately affected Black women, a demographic group most adversely affected by the technology's highest error rates. Christian clarified that the issue does not lie within the technology itself, which isn't inherently biased. As per the official press release, the outcomes produced by the technology are a direct reflection of the data it has been exposed to during its training process. Addressing These Issues Christian expressed the desire for a society free of racial bias and discrimination, emphasizing that this principle guides his research, particularly in the realm of AI. Interesting Engineering reported that he voiced concerns about the possibility of artificial intelligence technology inadvertently perpetuating racial biases that society has worked tirelessly to combat. He issued a warning that failing to address these biases could potentially erode the progress made over the years. Christian highlighted that racial bias is not a novel challenge, but what sets it apart is how these biases manifest in artificial intelligence technology. If left unchecked, he cautioned that this technology and its associated problems have the potential to undo the advancements achieved through the civil rights movement. Related Article: China Proposes Measures for Facial Recognition Use, Demands 'Individual Consent' 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The world of cryptocurrency is still alive, but over the past weeks, it has been seeing a massive struggle in getting everything to see a rally, with the previous major happenings in the industry centering on negative events. First off, the FBI has released a new warning regarding North Korean hackers, particularly with their current stolen assets close to being cashed out. Boread Ape also made it to headlines earlier this August, centering on the lawsuit against them and adding Sotheby's to its defendant list, and on the other hand, there is Sam Bankman-Fried who is already sentenced to jail time. FBI Warns of North Korean Hackers Cashing Out Stolen Crypto (Photo : Tech Times) Back in late August, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned cryptocurrency firms about the possible massive cash out from North Korean hackers regarding its crypto assets. These stolen goods are attributed to the hackers known to be part of the Lazarus Group, APT38, and "TraderTraitor." According to the FBI, it was tracking as much as 1,580 Bitcoin from these threat actors, spread out across six different crypto wallets over the past 24 hours. This amounts to as much as $40 million, gathered from various "crypto heists" that the groups undertook. The federal authorities also published the addresses that are possibly linked to these threat actors: 3LU8wRu4ZnXP4UM8Yo6kkTiGHM9BubgyiG 39idqitN9tYNmq3wYanwg3MitFB5TZCjWu 3AAUBbKJorvNhEUFhKnep9YTwmZECxE4Nk 3PjNaSeP8GzLjGeu51JR19Q2Lu8W2Te9oc 3NbdrezMzAVVfXv5MTQJn4hWqKhYCTCJoB 34VXKa5upLWVYMXmgid6bFM4BaQXHxSUoL Read Also: CryptoWatch: Bored Ape NFT Lawsuit, Singapore's Iconic Crypto Regulation, and Latest Prices of Coins Bored Ape Lawsuit: Sotheby's Added to Defendants The Bored Ape lawsuit centers on the public's complaint against the company behind them, Yuga Labs, for their false advertisements, but this adds another entity to face the complaints, with Sotheby's Auction joining the defendants' list. Sotheby's is best known for being one of the channels where Bored Ape NFTs were sold, and it was also allegedly part of deceiving its customers. Sotheby's misleading claims were "rooted in deception" reads the suit, with the company claiming that a "traditional collector" has joined in on the NFT craze, but it was revealed that this was allegedly FTX. The class-action lawsuit is now focused on prosecuting Bored Ape, Sotheby's, and other entities linked to raising the prices of the NFT, one that saw a massive drop over the past years. Sam Bankman-Fried is Going to Jail In a massive decision by the courts in the FTX lawsuit against its former CEO and founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, the controversial executive is now set to face jail. This was because of the many breaches in his bail agreement, one where he was granted the provision to stay on house arrest. However, on several occasions, Bankman-Fried has violated this bail provision, with his most notorious action centering on allegedly harassing witnesses. There were also reports on SBF's previous violation of his bail by using mobile smartphones, and it was previously brought up in court with the judge asking the disgraced executive that he is only allowed a flip phone. During the course of his court proceedings, Bankman-Fried will spend if behind bars from here on out. Related Article: Bybit's New Launchpad 3.0: Pioneering Transparent Cryptocurrency Launches 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google had already announced that it would be bringing Ultra HDR to its Google Photos, which would reportedly allow compatibility with Android 14. It was noted that the feature would allow compatible apps to show higher-quality photos including a wider range of tones and colors. Code Strings Reveal the Addition of Ultra HDR Features to the Google Photos App According to the story by Forbes, code strings were revealed when it came to the Google Photos app, specifically for version 51.0.561138754. As revealed in the code strings, it looks like Ultra HDR compatibility could be coming to the app. Some of the code strings discovered in Google Photos include "Ulta HDR disabled," which is not the only line that mentions the inclusion of an "Ultra HDR." Another line was revealed saying "UltaHdrPreviewFragment" with the two remaining strings of code also pointing to Ultra HDR. The Code Strings Mention Abilities having Something to Do with Ultra HDR According to the story by Phone Arena, the last two code strings were EDITOR_ULTRA_HDR_PREVIEW and the last was photos_mediadetails_details_ultra_hdr. The article then highlighted how the Google Photos addition of Ultra HDR could unlock new doors. It was noted that the addition of Ultra HDR support for Google Photos could provide future Android phones' camera app to be able to shoot in Ultra HDR. The article then stated that the first cameras to potentially have the Ulta-High Dynamic Range camera abilities could be the Pixel 8 devices. Ultra HDR Would Work On Top of the Standard JPEG Image The article also previously explained that the Ultra HDR capabilities would add another layer of information known as a "gain map," which works on top of the standard JPEG image. The added improvement when it comes to photo quality in Ulta HD would be like watching TV in standard SDR with the added improvement. It was noted that the apps that already exist are capable of processing and displaying Ultra HD pictures as they would when processing regular JPEGs. This would mean users would be able to easily take photos through the Ultra HD without any worries about how they would be processed or how they would show up. Read Also: Apple Insider Claims iPad Pro's Magic Keyboard Revamp to Make it Look Like a Laptop-How? New Ultra HDR Feature Would Still Support Backward Compatibility It was also revealed that Ultra HDR is actually backward compatible, meaning the photos that are shot with the help of the feature would still be able to show up on the apps that aren't equipped with any support for the latest standard. It was also revealed that in these types of apps, the images show up in SDR exclusive. Although the code strings come ahead of the supposed Google Photos app version, the company would still have to officially activate the update in order for the Ultra HDR to be enabled for users. The article noted that the feature might be quietly enabled ahead of the launch of Google's upcoming Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. According to The Verge, the Pixel 8 smartphone will launch on October 4. Related Article: Samsung PRO Ultimate Memory Cards: Satisfying Creators' Growing Storage Needs 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Following a spectacular six-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), four astronauts successfully landed back on Earth on Monday. A stunning splashdown of their SpaceX capsule into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida culminated the return trip of NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren "Woody" Hoburg, Russian astronaut Andrei Fedyaev, and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi. Their spacecraft sped into the night sky over Cape Canaveral to mark its return before splashing close to Jacksonville. Bad Weather Delayed Crew's Return to Earth The crew's return took an extra day because of bad weather at the planned splashdown locations, but it ended with a spectacular display. The astronauts emphasized their desire for basic terrestrial pleasures like hot baths, steaming cups of coffee, and the cooling ocean air before leaving the ISS. These everyday conveniences were all the more alluring given their lengthy mission in orbit, which started in March. The crew was ecstatic to be back in their secure place. SpaceX Mission Control radioed, "You've got a roomful of happy people here," according to a report from AP News. Welcome home, #Crew6! After six months of science and discovery aboard the @Space_Station, our Crew-6 team splashed down at 12:17am ET (0417 UTC) and will be picked up shortly by recovery teams. pic.twitter.com/zf635dfUKF NASA (@NASA) September 4, 2023 Read Also: Beware of AI-Written Mushroom Foraging Guides on Amazon: Experts Warn The Crew-6 astronauts had welcomed Crew-7, a fresh replacement team, to the ISS a week before traveling back to Earth, Bloomberg reported. A NASA astronaut, a Russian cosmonaut, a Japanese astronaut, and a Danish astronaut were all members of this international team. Later this month, there will be another substantial staff transfer. After spending a full year on the ISS, three astronauts-two Russians and one American depart for home. A coolant leak in their Soyuz capsule resulted in an unexpected extension of their mission, requiring the launch of a replacement spacecraft. In between these crew changes, seven astronauts from various nationalities continue to reside aboard the ISS. The Crew 6's Accomplishments The Crew-6 astronauts supervised an astounding assortment of more than 200 research and technology projects during their six-month tenure on the space station. Additionally, they made it possible for the Axiom Mission 2 crew, which included two Saudi Arabian astronauts and an American businessman in addition to a former NASA astronaut, to visit. This mission was a component of NASA's campaign to encourage frequent travel and business in low-Earth orbit. The achievements of the Crew-6 crew in orbit included managing cargo flights, performing three spacewalks, and assisting the developing commercial spaceflight market to the ISS. Astronaut Woody Hoburg described their mission: "It's been a big adventure and a lot of fun," as the CNN report quoted him. Related Article: NASA to Bring Laser Communications to International Space Station-How Does it Work? 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Apple, the tech giant behind iPhone handheld devices, could potentially dethrone Samsung as the smartphone leader in the world. With the impending release of the iPhone 15 this month, this reality just gets closer to happening, according to market intelligence provider TrendForce. Samsung is Historically Dominant Over Apple According to 9to5Mac, South Korean electronics giant Samsung used to be the best-selling smartphone brand globally for a long time until Apple came. With a wide variety of portfolios, Samsung has a lot to offer to consumers. The selection includes their flagship handsets and even the most budget-friendly options for those who want to save some money. Over time, Samsung fell off as Apple continued to target premium buyers. While the iPhone SE caters to the mid-range segment, Apple offers nothing in the budget category. This strategic focus on premium devices has historically made it challenging for Apple to compete with Samsung in terms of sheer volume. Apple and Samsung Suffer from Q2 Dip Samsung's second quarter is quite impressive with 53.9 million units shipped around the world. However, its 12.4% quarter-on-quarter record is not surprising since the company also felt the aftermath of the competition, economic downturn, and other factors. Apple, on the other hand, typically faces its weakest quarter in Q2 due to the transition between older and newer models. Q2 production recorded 42 million units, marking a 21.2% decline compared to the previous quarter. While the annual production projections of the two smartphone giants are closely aligned, the competition might conclude if iPhone 15 sales will exceed market expectations, per TrendForce. If this happens, the Cupertino firm could potentially dethrone Samsung from its long-standing global market leader position. Related Article: Apple vs. Samsung: Greg Joswiak Says Samsung is 'Annoying,' Accusing Ripping Off the Technology iOS is About to Boom in 2023 As per IDC, the iPhone might likely hit a new record for global market share. This year, it is expected that iPhone shipments can target 1.1% growth which accounts for an all-time high share of 19.9%. This could also mean that iPhones will overtake Android. TrendForce says that the Android devices will plunge by 6.0% in 2023. While this is good news for Apple, this is gloomy for the entire smartphone market. "Demand in consumer markets such as China, Europe, and North America has not shown a significant rebound as we move into the second half of the year. Even if economic indicators in the Indian market improve, it is still difficult to reverse the global decline in smartphone production," TrendForce says. Moreover, the organization predicts that there will be a major change in Q2 2023 which is attributed to the economic disaster that is hitting different countries. With this, the production of smartphones could likely be affected in the second half of the year. Like in the case of Apple, a few iPhone 15 units will be ordered. That's even lower compared to the iPhone 14 units delivered in 2022. Read Also: iPhone Projected to Grow Market Share as Android Continues to Decline 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Netflix's "One Piece" has broken records and excited anime fans. Rotten Tomatoes has awarded the eagerly awaited live-action adaptation of the hit anime a certified fresh rating, indicating the series' excellent quality and success. The adventure-themed "One Piece" quickly became the most popular Netflix series in 84 countries on its first weekend of release, according to ComicBook. This incredible feat tops the milestones previously held by the Netflix juggernauts "Wednesday" and "Stranger Things" season 4, both of which ranked first during their respective first weekends in 83 nations. The massive internet buzz and widespread viewing have established "One Piece" as a genuine phenomenon. The series has led Netflix's rankings since August 31st, maintaining its streaming media crown. What Makes It Amazing? In this live-action adaptation, "One Piece" creator Eiichiro Oda has broken the curse that has plagued anime adaptations for years. The Netflix version emphasizes the original work's soul rather than merely its visuals, setting it apart from previous anime adaptations. The way that Netflix's "One Piece" stands apart from other anime adaptations is by emphasizing the spirit of the original work rather than just a visual recreation. It captures the essential components of the adored anime series, such as a fully realized environment and natural action scenes, which have struck a deep chord with viewers. According to The Verge, the "One Piece" Netflix series succeeds in creating this magical universe that is both credible for flesh-and-blood actors and loyal to the books' whimsical spirit, despite the particular challenges of translating Eiichiro Oda's dense and quirky world from comics ("manga" in Japan) to live-action. Accomplishing this dream came with great responsibility. No detail was too small as we brought Oda-Sensei's vision to life. #OnePieceNetflix pic.twitter.com/hDsqGZo0to ONE PIECE() Netflix (@onepiecenetflix) September 3, 2023 What is The Story of One Piece All About? "One Piece" follows the incredible voyage of Monkey D. Luffy (Iaki Godoy), a youngster who never fails to keep his optimism, in a world filled with stories, monsters, and daring pirates. Despite hearing that he lacks the skills required to rule the high seas, Luffy sets off on a mission to realize his longtime ambition of becoming the Pirate King. Luffy's obsession with the swashbuckling way of life and all its exploits, which he learned to love from a band of unexpectedly kind marauders under the leadership of Shanks (Peter Gadiot), sets him on an unstoppable course. Flashbacks of Luffy's early years as an apparently typical youngster (played by Colton Osorio) have been expertly included by showrunners Steven Maeda and Matt Owens, giving his character and the fanciful but realistic world he lives in more nuance. The key moments in "One Piece" are those leading up to Luffy's birth and the day when Gold Roger (Michael Dorman), the previous Pirate King, launched a worldwide search for his fabled buried treasure and his cherished title. As One Piece's popularity surges on the streaming giant, the moment is right for those who have not yet started on this fascinating adventure. The multilingual Netflix streaming of "One Piece" invites fans from all around the globe to go on an epic journey with Luffy and his crew. According to Movieweb, the original One Piece anime series is also available on Netflix and Hulu for binge-watching. 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Errol Musk, Elon Musk's 77-year-old father, has expressed fears for his multibillionaire son's safety and the possibility of an assassination attempt. These worries follow a contentious piece on Elon Musk's impact on government decisions about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. According to The New Yorker, Pentagon officials compared the tech mogul Elon Musk to an "unelected official" and voiced concerns about his views on Vladimir Putin. The piece also emphasized the important role that Starlink satellites from SpaceX played in the Ukraine war. The New Yorker article, "Elon Musk's Shadow Rule," was blasted by Errol Musk as a "hit job" and implied to be a part of a "shadow government-sponsored opening salvo" directed against his son Elon. Elon Musk's father, as quoted by The Sun, described the write-up as "the artillery-like softening up of the enemy before the actual attack and preparing the ever-submissive people for the attack." Errol was also asked whether he worried about Elon Musk's safety. He said "yes" because of the threat posed by the purported "shadow government." However, the ties between Elon Musk and his father seem strained. The tech businessman, who owns and heads SpaceX and Tesla, called him a "terrible human being." Elon Musk is currently facing US Justice Department legal battles and unfavorable media attention. In July, President Joe Biden suggested that Musk could be the subject of an investigation, saying that there are several ways to scrutinize the tech tycoon. Last year, Elon Musk teased that he would "die in mysterious circumstances" after he argued with a Russian space official over SpaceX's provision of Starlink satellites to Ukrainian forces, according to Insider. Read Also: CryptoWatch: FBI Warns About North Korean Hackers, Bored Ape's Lawsuit, SBF is Going to Jail Elon Musk's Mounting Controversies According to writer Ronan Farrow's "Elon Musk's Shadow Rule" piece in the New Yorker, Musk's "influence is more brazen and expansive" than prior interventions by affluent people in political matters. It was released not long before the Department of Justice sued Musk's SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against asylum seekers and refugees during the recruiting process. Additionally, federal investigators are looking into Tesla's suspected use of corporate cash to construct Elon Musk's Texas property. President Biden said in July that Elon Musk should undergo an investigation into the support he gained from a Saudi Arabian firm in purchasing X, then known as Twitter. "Elon Musk's cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries are worthy of being looked at," said Biden, alluding to possible national security issues, as reported by The Sun. Does Elon Musk Want to Control the World's Financial System? In a separate report, Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk's official biographer, has written a biography that includes information about his plans for Twitter. He disclosed that the tech mogul had hoped to develop Twitter into an "everything app" that handled both business and social interactions. But because of resistance from his colleagues, Musk was ultimately fired from the endeavor. Two decades ago, the new Twitter owner founded X.com, which he planned to develop into an "everything app". Later, X.com merged with PayPal. Isaacson said that Elon Musk remains committed to this goal. He quoted Musk saying, "If you want to just be a niche player, PayPal is a better name, but if you want to take over the world's financial system, then X is the better name," as quoted in a report from WION. Related Article: Jeff Bezos vs. Elon Musk: Amazon Shareholder Snubs SpaceX as Alleged Personal Rivalry Continues 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Chinese wind energy company Goldwind marked a noteworthy accomplishment by building the 14.3 megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbine. The company successfully assembled and installed the turbine in 30 hours, demonstrating the advancement of its assembly and installation capabilities. This speedy wind turbine installation was due to the considerable tactical progress made by Goldwind. These included increased conditions for upending tool disengagement, modular designs, and rotor pre-assembly, which led to a 26-hour decrease in lifting time and a 40% increase in total efficiency, according to Electrek. 30 working hours is the time it takes for the GWH252-14.3MW wind turbine to start rotating from scratch in Zhangpu. #Goldwind leverages its expertise to transform wind into electricity in every offshore area, contributing to green energy. See ocean and feel the future. pic.twitter.com/DSZXUDkYno Goldwind (@Goldwind_Global) September 4, 2023 Record-Breaking Achievement The massive 14.3 MW wind turbine is located at the offshore Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2 wind farm in Fujian Province's southeast. China Three Gorges (CTG), a state-owned power enterprise, is developing the project. In June, CTG announced that the wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) Baihetan erected the first 13 MW wind turbine at Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2. The developer and wind turbine manufacturer confirmed that the WTIV built the first 16 MW offshore wind turbine at the same site. Chinese media reported that the 16 MW wind turbine produced 384.1 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity on September 1, surpassing the single-unit record, as reported by OffshoreWIND.biz. Read Also: One Piece Live Action Smashes Netflix Records Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2 offshore wind project, off the southeast coast of the Liu'ao Peninsula in Zhangpu, Fujian Province, is the first. The 400 MW wind farm is estimated to produce 1.6 TWh of electricity annually. it will save 500,000 tons of normal coal and reduce yearly carbon dioxide emissions by 1.36 million tons, supporting China's clean energy goals. Goldwind Seeks Energy Projects Outside China Along with its successes offshore, Goldwind has been aggressively looking for renewable energy projects abroad. According to local media reports, the Chinese corporation may be studying opportunities in Spain, especially in projects that are ready for development. Recharge reported that Goldwind's goals go beyond the construction of wind turbines; the company is considering using its own equipment in these projects and developing production facilities in Spain to comply with the EU's Green Deal Industrial Plan. Goldwind's position as the top global wind OEM in BloombergNEF's rankings in March 2023 highlighted its leadership in the wind power sector, where it had provided 12.7 GW to projects in 2022. This was the first time a Chinese player led the list, and other Chinese enterprises were among the top 10, which was a key turning point. To gain foreign orders and growth prospects, Goldwind, along with other Chinese turbine industry leaders like Envision and Mingyang, is aggressively expanding outside of its local market. The business move follows the success of Chinese businesses in securing large contracts abroad, notably in the Middle East and India. Europe's wind energy sector has warned for more than a year that its manufacturers' frail position, with all loss-making last year, leaving it vulnerable to Chinese competitors spurred by their home market's high demand. Related Article: BMW Finally Unveils an All-Electric MINI Cooper: Here's Everything You Need to Know 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. COVID-19 cases are rising again in Florida, defying the winter transmission pattern. Recent data shows a worrying rise in instances, with numerous variables leading to the virus's reemergence. Reports reveal that COVID-19 transmission has increased in the US during the previous three summers, despite respiratory infections being more frequent in the winter. This year, wastewater statistics, hospitalizations, and fatalities show a two-month surge in instances. Biobot wastewater data reveals the virus's prevalence, as COVID-19 in wastewater samples has consistently increased nationwide since late June. Biobot's data is not state-specific, although Florida is in the South and has followed the national pattern, with a tiny decline lately, per Florida Today. The CDC recorded 15,067 COVID-19 hospitalizations between Aug. 13 and 19. That's 18.8% higher than last week. Despite not reporting the exact number of deaths, the public health agency ascribed 1.7% of all US deaths to COVID, a 21.4% rise from the previous week. Florida recorded 2,086 COVID-19 hospitalizations, up 9.4% from the previous week. The CDC also reported that 3.4% of state fatalities were COVID-19, up 21.4% from the prior week. Eris Variant Responsible for Latest COVID-19 Surge US News & World Report reports that an improved booster shot will be released in mid-September to tackle the latest COVID-19 surge. Even though the booster won't target the dominant variation, EG.5, or "eris," all contemporary strains are descendants of omicron. Health authorities believe the vaccination will still protect against serious diseases. Over 20% of recent US infections are caused by the EG.5 strain, according to CDC statistics. Over the previous two weeks, 22% of cases have been EG.5, the most common strain. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), EG.5 is the most common strain worldwide and a "variant of interest," prompting worries that it might cause a global outbreak. According to the WHO, EG.5 is more transmissible and may partly evade vaccination and past infection immunity. Fortunately, the strain has not been connected to a more serious illness. Read Also: Elon Musk Assassination Plot: Errol Musk Speaks Out on Growing Safety Concerns, Shadow Government Threat The CDC reports that COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased for six weeks alongside EG.5. The CDC's variation tracker does not include BA.2.86, a highly modified strain found in low amounts in the US. This strain has caused fewer than 1% of infections in two weeks. Here's What to Know About Long COVID Based on current evidence, the CDC believes COVID-19 testing and treatments are effective against this variation. Experts also expect the next booster doses to protect against serious sickness and hospitalization from these new strains. Long COVID, defined by chronic symptoms after COVID-19 infection, remains a concern. Dr. Eric Topol, founder and senior vice president of Scripps Research, predicts that extended COVID may afflict over 10 million Americans. Fatigue, cognitive issues ("brain fog"), cardiac issues, neurologic issues, and more may occur. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, has indicated that one in 10 infections might lead to Long COVID, meaning that a considerable fraction of the population may need prolonged medical treatment, according to a USA Today report. Long-term COVID-19 is risky regardless of age or health state, while acute infections are more likely to be severe in the elderly and those with underlying health issues. Vaccinations, boosters, and therapies like Paxlovid may reduce the chance of getting Long COVID. Related Article: WHO Expands Global Reach in Offering COVID-19 Tools After Three Licensing Agreements 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. We test the Dyson Gen5 Detect: it vacuums up to what you can't see "Everything Happens Without Our Participation": Russian Scientists Come Closer to Unraveling the Processes of the Origin of Life on Earth The family restaurant that wants to make birria fashionable in Madrid, that Mexican stew that is eaten in a taco and dipped in the broth Reunion Island targeted by several bomb threats, "no real threat detected", according to the prefect iPhone 15: Apple has had a BMW problem for weeks and still no solution To comply with the Paris Climate Agreement: Global CO budget smaller than previously assumed, according to study Self-perception of animals: Roosters may be able to recognize themselves in the mirror Costs of climate protests: So far in 2023, around 34,000 police officers on duty to disperse actions of the Last Generation The site of the former Tsukiji Market: Two proposals for facility development emerged The marketing and publicity of "radish knife" must eliminate violent insinuation, and bad marketing may involve illegal activities Migrant caravan in Mexico: Thousands want to walk 3000 kilometers through Mexico to the U.S. border After the implementation of the new standard, Beijing issued the first heavy pollution warning Where does the haze come from? Active job openings-to-applicants ratio in September: 9.1 times on average nationwide, the same level for the third consecutive month Fog and haze in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Rainy and snowy weather in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and other places In this life, you must go to Jilin in autumn once! Buenaventura del Charco, psychologist and author of 'You're Your Life': "Why this determination to get out of your comfort zone? Let's bring a fucking couch to life!" From the best island in the world to a great hotel in Rome: the most appetizing trips between now and Christmas Results, war between the leaders, tensions with the fans... How can we explain the crisis at Olympique Lyonnais? Head coach Ulf Lundberg: Wants to see four referees in all SDHL games "It is necessary to make it mandatory to wear "collars": the death of 29-year-old hockey player Johnson made us think about the equipment of the players Carlos Alcaraz's return to Paris-Bercy: "It would be a lie to say I'm 100 per cent" Elfsborg back at the top of the league after a late lead goal against Gothenburg Zagitova's form, Valieva's perseverance and Shanaeva's behavior: what is being discussed in the world of figure skating Chinese women's football coach: Decompressing the players before the life-and-death battle becomes the first task Meta will allow you to use Facebook and Instagram without seeing ads... for 13 per month Overseas research and tourism during the winter vacation are piled up to "start selling" Industry reminder: not the more expensive, the better Peak season of the wedding market: meet the needs of upgrading and create a happy experience in the whole process Before the end of the year, social security and wages ushered in new changes Major supermarkets, etc. Movement to reduce the price of some products by improving the efficiency of delivery Supply and Marketing Cooperative: Make every effort to do a good job in the supply of agricultural materials for autumn and winter planting and the winter storage of fertilizers China's National Energy Administration: The overall guarantee of power supply in the peak winter is under certain pressure 23 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria in two weeks Did the occupation army really free a female soldier who was in captivity in Gaza? Bishops to implement Ombudsman's recommendations on abuse but ask not to put the "focus" only on the Church Aitana Bonmati, Ballon d'Or: the master's student and daughter of professors for whom the surname law was changed "We are the first ones interested in making the Administration work" Your mobile phone can help you multiply savings on refuelling and electric recharging State security organs, in conjunction with relevant departments, are to carry out special governance of foreign-related meteorological explorations Putin: The West bears responsibility for the Gaza crisis and America wants chaos in the Middle East Promoting innovation and cooperation The first "Belt and Road" science and technology exchange conference will be held in Chongqing The 2023 World Youth Development Forum opened in Beijing and 130,2000 youth representatives from more than <> countries participated online and offline Chinese and foreign experts are hotly discussed: the establishment of a new security architecture in the Middle East under a multipolar pattern Marjam Samadzade: State Secretary in Schleswig-Holstein has to leave early because of mail critical of Israel Altitude record for mammals: mice lived at an altitude of more than 6000 meters in the Andes The whole of Uppsala without district heating the heating plant without electricity What is the curse of the "eighth decade" that Ehud Barak feared and Abu Obeida waved? In Moldova, they announced the blocking of more than 30 sites, including Russian ones The Price of "De-Occupation": How the Utro Dagestan Telegram Channel Is Connected to Politician Ponomarev Matthew Perry's Estate: His Parents and Five Siblings, the Possible Heirs to His Million-Dollar Fortune The prophecy of Isaiah preached by Netanyahu. Ruin for Egypt, darkness for Palestine, and light for Israel After the implementation of the new standard, Beijing issued the first heavy pollution warning Where does the haze come from? Israeli army rescues kidnapped woman: "We will use the astonishing information she has revealed to us" 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. The 50 States Project is a series of candid conversations with interior designers across the country about how theyve built their businesses. This week, North Hampton, New Hampshirebased designer Christine Kohut tells us how plugging into a parent network at her kids school helped her grow her business, how she got over her impostor syndrome and made the leap to luxury clients, and why she loves sneaking things into rooms without clients noticing. Did you always know you wanted to be a designer? Absolutely, its been in my head and my heart since childhood. One of my best friends in high school was a talented drummer in a band, and the two of us dreamed that we were going to go live in some loft in New York. We were in New Hampshire, so we didnt really know what was out in the big world, but this was our dream, and I remember I drew up five different floor plans of our imaginary loft, with a drum kit in the corner, and we were going to have a big party. How did you approach turning those dreams into a reality? Well, we didnt move to New York, Ill tell you that much. And I never did it the way I wanted to do it, which was to complete school, get a job with a firmyou know, the traditional route. What happened instead was that my husband and I started our family very young. We made the commitment that I would be a stay-at-home parent and he would be the breadwinner, so I knew that any of the work I did would have to go around the family. That meant I couldnt go out and get a full-time job, but I also didnt really like being a stay-at-home parentyou can go nuts! So I started my business and started putting it out therelit took just one person who said, Ill hire you. How did you find that first client? We were acquaintances through our kids school, and she was a real estate agent. That worked to my advantage as well. But it just took that one person to believe in my business and to hire me back in 2005, and since then Ive never stopped working. I was never not busy from that day forward. At the time, we were in the suburbs of New Jersey, right outside of Manhattan. We stayed there until 2019we were there for over 20 yearsand then my husband got a job on the West Coast. My youngest was going off to college, so the day after she moved into her dorm room in New York, I packed up and drove to California. I figured that I was going to take a break from design and enjoy CaliforniaI didnt want to start a business there for at least a year, you know? I got out there in September, and by March, Covid happens. We were stuck at home all summer, and at some point my husband goes, Why dont we just move back home? I go, Which home are you talking about? Because I did not want to go back to New Jersey. And he goes, Home home. New Hampshire. The next day, we saw a house online and bought it without seeing it in personand thats how I got back home to New Hampshire. How was it to restart your business in New Hampshire? I was so ready to get back to work. I had been doing a couple long-distance things with some New Jersey clients, but that was it. I wasnt sure what I was going to do once we got here, but I got a call out of the bluea real estate agent I had met one time had given her clients my name, and they called me. I had just finished my new LLC paperwork in New Hampshire, and I get that phone calland next thing you know, Im busy again. Thats it. I didnt advertise. I didnt do anything. It was just another real estate agent. The designer loaded a stylish kitchen with storage and spaces to gather, including two islands and a cocktail bar Courtesy of Christine Kohut What does your business look like today? Its still just me, myself and I. You know, I keep thinking I want to hire somebody, but then I dont because the thought of trying to train someone to help me run my business the way I run my business [is overwhelming]. What kind of projects are you working on at the moment? When I first started, I would take anything that I could get. I had young kids, and my clients were all these young parents moving to the suburbs from Manhattan with their families. When I moved here to New Hampshirefirst, all of my kids are grown-up, so I dont have that school connection. And I noticed all my clients are older as well. So far, all of my new clients are, I dont want to say old, but theyre more mature. Over the years, Ive started to fine-tune my business to where I am taking on fewer clients and maybe just better clients. Moving here, I ramped that up a couple more notches, so now Im working mostly with luxury clientshonestly, at a level that Ive never done before. Its pretty awesome to know that I could start basically with nothing on day one in New Hampshire and now Im working with some of the finest materials Ive ever worked with, and a level of craftsmanship that is just amazing, you know? And I feel like that just rubs off on the next client. They see that level of work and its attracting more of the same. What was the secret to leveling up in that way? This might sound crazy, but looking back, it was getting over impostor syndrome. Tackling that is the biggest part of my success. For me, insecurity about not having the degree and having to bootstrap it was holding me back. When thats your mindset, youre just grabbing at whatever comes your way. My clients are the ones who kind of built me up ego-wise, and so did my design community online. Discovering networks of other designersat first, it was on Twitter, back in 2008and getting feedback from them made me feel like, Hey, I actually am doing a good job. Learning from others was helpful, and then when I found out that people wanted to know how I do things, my impostor syndrome started to shrink. One day, I got a call from a guy that wanted to hire me while I was sitting in the pickup line at school waiting for my kids. He goes, So how much do you charge? And without thinking, I tripled my hourly rateright there on the spot, over the phone. And it immediately changed the clientele. Suddenly, I started getting serious people who really wanted big stuff. So often, what holds designers back is that voice in their head saying, No one would ever pay this for my time. But Im guessing that when you tripled your rate for that potential client, he said, OK. Exactly. He was like, When can you meet? That was the day I realized Im really not what I think I amIm what they think I am. And that made all the difference for me. That was more than 10 years ago. Since then, Ive started to focus on: What do I want? What kind of client do I want to have, and what are they looking for? And I just put more of that out there. As I got a client, I would just start bringing in higher-end fabrics and materials, and realizing that no one was saying no. It was just like that phone callno one was like, Oh, thats too expensive. It was like, Wait, I can actually use the stuff Ive always wanted to use? Before that call, I had a limiting mindset, which is the wrong way to go about it. I was afraid to offer these things to them. Maybe I couldnt afford it, so I didnt think my clientele could afford it. Now, I just pretend that I can afford anything in the world. A playful wallcovering in the powder roomChristine KohutChristine Kohut Christine Kohut Kohut sets the stage in an entry with striated grasscloth wallcovering and gleaming wood trimChristine KohutChristine Kohut Christine Kohut Left: A playful wallcovering in the powder roomChristine KohutChristine Kohut Christine Kohut Christine Kohut | Right: Kohut sets the stage in an entry with striated grasscloth wallcovering and gleaming wood trimChristine KohutChristine Kohut Christine Kohut Christine Kohut Did the lessons from that call change the way you talk about money more generally with your clients? My first meeting with a client is always going to be about the budget. In the initial consultation, I find out what theyre like and what they want to do, and then I try to help them figure out how much its going to cost and land on a realistic budget. When Im doing that first walk-through, I evaluate where theyre starting fromwhere they shop, what they have, what they are wearing. If I can tell theyve been shopping at Ethan Allen or Pottery Barn, I use that as the base. For that client, the high might be a custom Century sofa. That sets the tonebecause even if you dont want to work with me, that price range is probably what youre going to pay. I create a little budget for them on the fly so that they can see what it will cost to get everything they want. How do you approach billing for your work? Weve talked about tripling your hourly rate all those years agoare you still hourly? I charge a design fee to do all the planning and the presentation, and then purchasing is a flat percentage on top of my cost for the goods. And then for some people, I do hourly consultations. Im working on a ground-up house right now with a client who likes to do a lot of the stuff herself, but she wants me there hourly to make sure shes not making mistakes before the tile goes in and things like that. I usually sell those [consultations] in blocks of 10 hours. The other thing I do is invoice for the full cost of goods. If I show them the chair and the sofa and the rug and the lamp and they say yes, they need to pay in full, always, before I order it. Im never collecting on delivery. I recently sold these two sofas for more than $46,000can you imagine if I had only charged 50 percent, and I was just out of pocket for the balance? Does the money part still stress you out? Not anymore. I think it did stress me out in the beginning because I didnt know what I didnt know. And what I didnt know was how to get the financial stuff organized. Dealing with sales tax in New Jersey was also stressfulthat probably stressed me out the most. But in New Hampshire, theres no sales tax, so life is a lot simpler. Wait, what? Theres no sales tax, and theres no income tax. I mean, thats one of the reasons we moved back home, though there are high property taxes to make up for it. Does that impact the way your clients think about their buying power? For the clients here in New Hampshire, thats their normal, so it doesnt really impact them. But when I was working in New Jersey, it did make a difference because the sales tax on some of those big-ticket items is huge. It can make you feel like youre throwing money away, and it also impacts what they can afford to spend. Sculptural forms and a pop of bubblegum pink in the pattern-lined entry offers an extra layer of pizzazz Courtesy of Christine Kohut What else can you tell me about working in New Hampshire? Well, to be honest, Im still getting my bearings here. But its funny because theres a thing in New Englandthis whole New England sensibility of, If it aint broke, dont fix it. So people keep things. Its a lot of, Oh, thats my great-grandmothers chair, I need to keep that. Theres more history up here, and a lot more antiques. As far as clientele change, since the pandemic, the biggest challenge I have is handling clients expectations about timelines. How long is it going to take? I cant tell you. The other thing I have to deal with here is finding all new trades to work with. Who can I trust? How is their craftsmanship? Im still doing a lot of research to find and build my own go-to team. I have a great wallpaper guy, and a great guy who does built-ins, but its hard workand because everyone was so busy during the pandemic, I couldnt get any help. Because New Jersey is so populated, I was used to being able to snap my fingers and have anything I wanted done the next day. And here, its like, Well, Ill get back to you. And then they dont. Everything is slower. On Instagram and on your website, you call yourself a design ninja. What does that mean, and where did that come from? It all started with one client in New Jersey. To save money for clients, I dont do a big install day, where you go from nothing to being done. We receive things and install them for clients as they come. So one time, I snuck into that clients houseI mean, with her permission, but its how I got the nameand made most of the changes without her realizing I was coming that day. We laughed about it that daybut then I got a lot of business from her telling people about her design ninja, and then they started calling me that. It started as a joke, but then it became a thing. When youre dealing with school moms, [a recommendation like that] spreads like wildfire, and so my nickname just started spreading. I almost named my business that, but Im glad I decided against it. Now I just keep it in my bio. But I do love to surprise my clients. That is what I do. Ill sneak things in that they dont expect like, Ill find out what their most hated color is, and then I stick it in there and they dont realize it. After its all done, Im like, Hey, did you see that? Do you see what color that is? And theyre like, Oh, my God, but I love it. That sounds risky! Yeah, but I love that part. Because Im like, you cant hate a color. You just havent seen it in the right setting. I got one woman to paint a whole room green, and she had said that she absolutely hates the color green. In the presentation, I was like, Heres the color. Its called blah, blah, blahbut it didnt say green in the name, right? I dont know how she didnt realize it. She was just like, Its such a beautiful color. Because I had all this other stuff with it. And at the end of the day, I was like, Did you notice its green? And she hadnt. A well-styled living room vignette beckonsChristine KohutChristine Kohut Christine Kohut A living room seating arrangement basks in ample natural lightChristine KohutChristine Kohut Christine Kohut Left: A well-styled living room vignette beckonsChristine KohutChristine Kohut Christine Kohut Christine Kohut | Right: A living room seating arrangement basks in ample natural lightChristine KohutChristine Kohut Christine Kohut Christine Kohut Where do you see the biggest opportunities to grow, or what are you most excited about as you look ahead? I would love to grow my business to include my own team of carpenters and other types of contractors. Im thinking about getting my general contracting license and trying to oversee all of those things myself, because its just easier for me to manage a job when I can actually manage the people that are involved in the job. Thats something Ive noticed hereits hard to get my bearings and develop relationships with the quality of people I want to work with. And finding not just one, but a backup too. What does success look like for you? Success looks like freedom. Its having everything functioning well, the business is organized, and youre making enough money so that you have the freedom to say no to the jobs that are going to be during the time you have dedicated to your family, or no to working on weekends. The other thing would be to have a team. Thats like the most basic answer but it is true. Itd be nice to have a team of designers and support for the back-end stuff. Im looking at my desk right now thinking, I wish I had someone else sitting here because some of this is awful. Thatd be nice. But go with freedomfreedom is my real answer. To learn more about Christine Kohut, visit her website or find her on Instagram. Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron gestures while he speaks during his interview with Reuters in Jerusalem By Steven Scheer and Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Bank of Israel denied a report that Governor Amir Yaron will on Monday announce that he will not to seek a second term, reiterating he would make his decision around September-October. Earlier, Army Radio - one of two main radio channels in Israel - reported that Yaron would on Monday make public his decision to not seek another term. His current five-year appointment expires at the end of the year. "The report this morning by Army Radio that the governor will deliver his decision today regarding the extension of his term is incorrect. As he has said until now, the governor will deliver his decision on extending his term around the (Jewish) holiday season," Bank of Israel said. A spokesperson for the central bank did not immediately respond when asked what Yaron's decision was. The issue of whether he would seek or be reappointed to a second term has been looming over financial markets for months. Yaron has said he would make his decision around the Jewish high holy days, a three-week period which runs from Sept. 16 through Oct. 7. Yaron has not tipped his hand either way but he has been critical of the economic impact of a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul Israel's judicial system. Yaron has also clashed with lawmakers over sharp interest rate increases since April 2022 that have boosted bank profits while hurting mortgage holders. Army Radio also reported, without citing sources, that Netanyahu would choose economist Leo Leiderman to replace Yaron. Netanyahu's office declined to comment. Leiderman, a former professor of Yaron, in 2013 was chosen by Netanyahu to replace outgoing governor Stanley Fischer but he withdrew his candidacy. He told Reuters that he has not been approached for the central bank governor's role and wants to stay in his positions as economist at Bank Hapoalim and Tel Aviv University. "I strongly recommend the government to nominate again Professor Amir Yaron for a second term as governor of the Bank of Israel," he said. Story continues Netanyahu in 2018 chose Israeli-born Yaron, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, to head Israels central bank, citing the need for an expert on the global economy. Yaron succeeded Karnit Flug, who opted not to seek a second term. Later on Monday, Yaron and the monetary policy committee will decide on interest rates. A Reuters poll showed 15 of 16 economists expect the benchmark rate to stay at 4.75% for a second straight meeting in the wake of the inflation rate easing to 3.3% in July. In early trading, the shekel was 0.3% weaker at a 3.805 rate versus the dollar, its weakest level since March 2020. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell and Steven Scheer; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Jamie Freed and Shri Navaratnam) FILE PHOTO: A man walks in front of the headquarters of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobas) in Rio de Janeiro SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras said on Monday it has decided to halt some key asset sales after concluding a broad revision of divestment processes, which were launched during the country's previous administration. The oil giant said in a securities filing it will no longer sell the onshore Urucu and Bahia-Terra clusters, as well as the Manati oilfield and Petrobras Operaciones, its subsidiary in Argentina. The divestment processes had been kicked off by Petrobras' previous management under former President Jair Bolsonaro, as the company sought to sell non-core assets to focus on deepwater oil exploration and reduce its debt. But after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office in January, some of those processes were halted and expected to be called off - including that of Bahia-Terra, which the company had already said it would not move forward with. The decision was a blow to smaller Brazilian energy firms Petroreconcavo and Eneva, which last year had a joint $1.4 billion offer for Bahia-Terra selected to move on to the negotiation stage. Despite backing out of the sale, Petrobras had previously said it could still search for potential partners for the asset. Petrobras said on Monday its new policy for the oil exploration and production segment is based on "maximizing portfolio value by focusing on profitable assets" as it justified the decision to call off the sales. The policy also includes "replenishing reserves of oil and gas (including exploring new frontiers), increasing the supply of natural gas and promoting the decarbonization of operations," the firm added. Petrobras said the possibility of maintaining "other assets" in its portfolio would be periodically reassessed based on updated profitability targets and decarbonization opportunities, leaving the door open for potential new divestitures ahead. The state-run company added it would move forward with the sale of its stakes in thermoelectric power plants Brasympe/Termocabo, Suape II and Araucaria. It holds about a 20% share in each of those assets. In a separate filing, Petrobras also announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Mubadala Capital to explore a potential investment in a biofuel project being developed by the Abu Dhabi investor in Brazil. (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Steven Grattan and Tomasz Janowski) Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump is leading in the 2024 Republican primary race despite his mounting legal trouble and indictments, a new poll has found. At least 59 per cent of Republican voters said the former president would be their first choice if the GOP primary was held today, a poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal has found. Mr Trump holds a 46-point lead over Florida governor Ron DeSantis the former president's top opponent in the GOP primary race. The new poll shows an 11 per cent jump in Mr Trump's popularity since April, when just 48 per cent of people supported him as the leading candidate. The support for Mr Trump has substantially grown following his indictments, according to the newspaper, which polled 600 Republican primary voters at the end of August. The 45th president has been indicted four times this year on allegations of mishandling classified documents, falsifying business records to make hush payments and his bid to overturn the 2020 presidential elections. Mr Trump also faces federal charges in Georgia with efforts to reverse his 2020 election defeat in the state. More than 60 per cent of Republican voters said each of the indictments were "politically motivated and without merit". Nearly 78 per cent said Mr Trumps actions after the 2020 election were "legitimate efforts to ensure an accurate vote", while 16 per cent said Mr Trump had illegally tried to block Congress from certifying the Georgia poll. About 48 per cent of the people polled said the indictments made them more likely to vote for Mr Trump in next year's presidential elections. In a hypothetical re-election between Mr Trump and president Joe Biden, the two candidates tied at 46 per cent with just eight per cent of responders undecided. When we talk about how twisted and bent reality has become, thats a really good example of it, because if, in fact, this were any other time and place, this race would not be happening this way, Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio told The Journal. While Mr DeSantis polled 13 per cent, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley was 8 per cent of the responders' first choice. Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie were at 5 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The future of Donald Trumps Truth Social platform has been thrown into financial purgatory as a company created to help take the ex-presidents social media site public battles with financial regulators and is cited for deceiving investors. Mr Trump first announced plans to transform his Truth Social enterprise into a publicly-traded company in late 2021. But the effort has stalled time and time again, thanks to near-constant issues including the firing of its former CEO and the arrest of a board member on insider trading allegations. Now, The Washington Post reports that the transformation faces a key hurdle in the upcoming weeks: a vote by shareholders of the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) created to take Truth Social public. That vote will determine whether the acquisition company, Digital World, continues the acquisition effort or instead winds down all business and shutters operations. Normally, such votes are mere formalities and pass with little drama. But Digital Worlds situation is unique simply due to the sheer number of investors roughly 400,000 with financial stakes in the matter, making the 65 per cent threshold required to continue the acquisition a rather steep hurdle. In a statement to the Post, Digital World shrugged off the suggestion that the mergers future was in question. A spokesperson for the Trump Media & Technology Group issued a statement haranguing the Post for its coverage of the company, while not identifying specific inaccuracies in the piece. The Trump team has largely blamed the SEC for supposedly slowing down the merger process. Having repeatedly defamed [the company] with false accusations that it still hasnt retracted, The Washington Post adds to its heaping pile of bias with this new collection of defamatory and self-refuting falsehoods, proving once again why its a terrible mistake for anyone to believe a word they read in this publication, the spokesperson complained. But theres clearly an urgency being displayed by Digital Worlds executives as the deadline approaches for the shareholders to cast their votes on 8 September. A press release blasted out by the company just last month warned in all-caps that every vote is needed to avoid liquidation and asks shareholders urgently to do so. "As our loyal stockholders know, a vote for the Extension is a vote for freedom of speech and a vote for innovation and growth, current Digital World CEO Eric Swider said in the news release. And Digital Worlds own dustups with the SEC definitely shoulder some of the blame for the delays. The company settled with the agency in July, with the SEC finding that Digital World had made material misrepresentations in forms filed with the SEC as part of DWACs initial public offering and proposed merger with Trump Media & Technology Group. Should the merger go through, it will now be accompanied by an $18m fine, thanks to that settlement. Website traffic watchdogs have reported that growth on Mr Trumps Truth Social platform occurred this year largely in the immediate aftermath of his four criminal indictments; it has slowed overall, and continues to be eclipsed by mainstream outlets like Twitter and Facebook while largely competing for users with platforms that cater specifically to the right wing, like Gab and Rumble. Mr Trump himself faces more than 90 felony counts as a wave of prosecutions that began when he left office evolved this year into tangible criminal cases. The ex-president is charged with a series of crimes related to his efforts to change the 2020 election results as well as his alleged mishandling of classified material and a hush money scheme involving a porn star. He has denied guilt in all cases. Despite the Federal Court finding that Ben Roberts-Smith was a war criminal and a murderer a verdict the former SAS corporal is appealing against some Australians maintain a weird obsession with the disgraced soldier. Case in point, your honour, race seven at the Queanbeyan Racing Club on Monday, listed as We Support Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG 900. Ben Roberts-Smith outside a bankruptcy lawyers office in Perth in June. Credit: Nine It wasnt until Sunday evening, when the race name had reached social media, and was already due to be printed in the next days papers, that Racing NSW realised what was happening, and was not amused. The governing body, which declined to comment further to CBD, quickly stepped in to change the name to the more benign Karabar Class 1 Handicap. High-profile surgeon Dr Munjed Al Muderis had an unparalleled good reputation in Australia before he was defamed by Nine newspapers and 60 Minutes, his barrister has said on the first day of his marathon defamation trial against the media outlets. Al Muderis launched Federal Court defamation proceedings last year over reports in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes in September 2022. He says the reports convey a range of defamatory meanings including that he negligently performed osseointegration surgery. Surgeon Munjed Al Muderis, centre, outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday, and his barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, right. Credit: Steven Siewert The surgery involves inserting titanium pins into the residual bone of an amputee, which allows prosthetic limbs to be connected. Al Muderis barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, told the court her client was the worlds expert on osseointegration surgery and he often carries out procedures free of charge and provides the devices free of charge overseas, including operating on blast victims in Ukraine. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (L) warned Thursday that he would use nuclear weapons deployed to his country by Russia against countries that commit "aggression" against them. File Photo by Kremlin Pool/UPI Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Belarus will respond to "aggression" with nuclear weapons, President Alexander Lukashenko warned in an interview with state-run media, as its NATO neighbors have deployed thousands of troops to their shared border amid growing tensions. Already poor relations between democratic leaders and the oft described Europe's Last Dictator have further soured as Belarus has played a pivotal role in Russia's war in Ukraine, including acting as a launching pad for Russian troops during the start of the invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. The United States and its allies have repeatedly issued punitive measures targeting Belarus over its involvement, while Minsk and Moscow have seemingly grown closer, with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June delivering tactical nuclear weapons to its seemingly European ally. Most recently, alleged violations of Polish airspace by Belarus and repeated attempts to cross the border saw Warsaw last week announce the deployment of some 10,000 troops to their shared border. In an interview with state-run BelTA, Lukashenko warned that it would respond to aggression with its nuclear arsenal. "If aggression against our country is launched from the side of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, we will immediately respond with everything we have," he said. "And the strike will be unacceptable." NATO stands behind Poland, Lithuania, Latvia. We certainly understand that the forces are incomparable. But we will deliver an unacceptable strike against them and they will receive unacceptable harm, damage. It is what our security concept is based on." He added that nuclear weapons would not be used unless it was attacked first -- but if attacked first, Belarus would not hesitate to launch them. "We will not tarry, wait and the rest. We will use the entire arsenal of our weapons for deterrence," he said, explaining that they are a small country that can be "captured within a month." Story continues "We didn't bring nuclear weapons here in order to scare someone," he 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." If Ukraine commits so-called aggression against Belarus, he warned that they will deploy some other unspecified weapon in additional to nuclear weapons against Kyiv. "And we will not warn you that we will deliver a strike on decision-making centers once you cross red lines," he said. It is unknown how many nuclear weapons Belarus has received from Russia, though both Lukashenko and Putin in the middle of June said the first tactical weapons had arrived with more to follow. Almost $1 billion a year is expected to be added to the wage bill in the gig economy and the labour-hire sector under the second tranche of Labors industrial relations reforms. Rideshare drivers and food deliverers would collectively receive an extra $400 million a year, with the government warning some of that cost could be passed on to consumers and restaurants. Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke said the bill would close loopholes that weakened the industrial relations system. Credit: Joe Armao Documents attached to the governments Closing Loopholes Bill, introduced into parliament on Monday, also estimate the labour-hire changes which aim to ensure employers arent undercutting enterprise agreements by bringing in auxiliary workers on lower wages will lift wages in the sector by $510 million annually. The business lobby is demanding the government rein in the definition of digital platform workers eligible for minimum pay and conditions under the bill, which requires workers to satisfy only one of four criteria to be deemed employee-like. Small steps are not enough ... the foundations for change have been laid in Victoria through truth and treaty. Now is the time for action, Bourke said. A new independent police oversight body, immediately raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and a ban on detention for anyone under 16 were among the key immediate priorities. A focus was also put on addressing a pipeline in which Aboriginal children were moved from child protection to the justice system from as early as before they were born. To address this, the Yoorrook inquiry called for mandatory cultural competency training to address bias in health services, and new rules requiring child protection workers to consult Aboriginal organisations and community members before deciding to make a pre-birth report. Interim agreements formed as part of preliminary negotiations within the statewide treaty process could mean many of the most urgent changes are achieved before the end of 2023, the report says. The rate of First Nations children in out-of-home care in Victoria is the worst in the country, according to the Productivity Commissions 2023 report into government services. Between 2013 and 2022, the number of First Nations children in out-of-home care increased from 922 to 2595. Aboriginal men, women and children accused of a crime are more likely to be charged and less likely to be given a caution than non-Indigenous Victorians, according to 2022 data released by the Crime Statistics Agency, and Aboriginal adults in Victoria are 13 times more likely to be incarcerated. There have been 34 Aboriginal deaths in custody in Victoria since the landmark royal commission tabled its final report in 1991. Yoorrook deputy chair Sue-Anne Hunter said the situation wouldnt change unless the recommendations were implemented in full and the broader measures negotiated through treaty. Self-determination entails transferring power, resources and control to First Peoples so that we can design, establish and manage systems and services that empower our families and our communities to thrive, she said. What we dont want is this report sitting on the shelf ... In Victoria, we will not stop until we get self-determination for our people. Asked why Aboriginal Victorians recorded some of the worst outcomes in the nation, Hunter said the state government was not acting to fix the system from the ground up. They might shuffle the system around or change things, the rules here and there, but its not full self-determination, she said. Loading What works better is when our people are in the drivers seat driving change. Other key recommendations include mandatory selection criteria, and performance reviews for the Victoria Police chief commissioner to recognise systemic racism in the force, understand the history of colonisation and commit to change. Other recommendations include increased powers or the new positions of a commissioner for Aboriginal children and young people, and an Aboriginal inspector of adult custodial services to help reform the prison system. Strip searches and prolonged lockdowns in prisons would also be banned, while police, lawyers and the judiciary would be culturally trained and encouraged to hand out more cautions and diversions where people are spared criminal records if they admit their wrongdoing to First Peoples to keep them out of the criminal justice system and focus on rehabilitation. The truth and justice commission is the first formal truth-telling process of its kind in Australia. It possesses the full powers of a royal commission, including the power to compel evidence and can refer information about suspected or alleged crimes to relevant law enforcement authorities. After 33 submissions, 84 witnesses, 12 roundtables and reviewing more than 4000 documents, the commission notes the child protection and criminal justice system have long been areas of systemic injustice that involved gross human and cultural rights violations. Frank admissions from a succession of ministers and senior bureaucrats were provided to the commission at hearings in December and May that acknowledged government departments, including Child and Family Services, Corrections, and Victoria Police were systemically racist and discriminatory towards Victorian Aboriginal people. The commission also heard calls from witnesses for greater First Nations authority and decision-making to underpin all reforms to both systems. First Peoples leaders, organisations and lived experience witnesses are united in their call for self-determination, the report says. For the child protection and criminal justice system, this means a fully realised transfer of power to Victorian First Peoples and, while this is being implemented urgent immediate measures. Loading It is not merely about consultation or transfer of service delivery responsibilities. It is not about transferring broken systems. Some of Yoorrooks legislative recommendations will benefit all Victorians in addition to addressing the significant injustices that First Peoples continue to experience. First Peoples cannot wait for these injustices to be addressed. Hunter said the child protection system was a source of injustice and trauma, and described it as a pipeline into the criminal justice system. Sixty-four per cent of young Aboriginal people under supervision within Victorian youth justice have also had child protection involvement, according to the report. Hunter said both systems remained broken for Aboriginal people despite numerous inquiries and political promises, and echoed Bourkes call urging the premier to act on the findings. On the opening day of Yoorrooks hearings last December, Premier Andrews said his government would waste no time in delivering on Yoorrooks recommendations. I urge the premier to live up to these words because our people cannot wait any longer, Hunter said. Commissioner Travis Lovett, a Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man, said First Peoples had repeatedly told the commission they want genuine self-determination. Loading This is not just consulting with or listening to Aboriginal people, Lovett said. Self-determination means First Peoples setting the agenda on the issues that affect us. It means handing over power and control so that we can design, establish and run the systems and services to support our families and communities to thrive. The Victorian government and the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria have created the opportunity to achieve this through the treaty process. The Minister for Treaty and First Peoples, Gabrielle Williams, welcomed the report. Well continue listening to and working with the commission in an open, transparent and genuine way and will carefully consider all 46 recommendations, Williams said. Peter Walsh, Victorian Nationals leader and the oppositions spokesman on Aboriginal affairs, blamed the states failed criminal justice and child protection systems on successive Labor governments, and said a holistic approach was required to address injustice. It has to be about how you improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal children and has to be about how you improve housing options for Aboriginal families, he said. And most importantly, its about how you improve work-related career opportunities for Aboriginal people. Walsh questioned the need for a standalone system for Aboriginal Victorians, but said the Liberals and Nationals would consider the report. I dont think setting up a totally separate Aboriginal system in Victoria is necessarily the way forward. We are all Victorians. We are all Australians. We need to work together to solve this, Walsh said. Joanna Fletcher, family, youth and childrens law executive director at Victoria Legal Aid (VLA), supported the calls for changes to the child protection laws and systems. Loading Far too often the child protection system is funnelling children, sometimes from birth, into contact with police and criminal justice systems. [The report] makes necessary transformative recommendations for a truly self-determined system to be developed through the treaty process, underpinned by human and cultural rights to support First Nations families to stay together, Fletcher said. VLA criminal law executive director Dan Nicholson said the organisation supported the recommendations for immediate action, including a wholesale overhaul of police oversight and the way police engage with Indigenous people. While recent proposed reforms to bail and the age of criminal responsibility are steps in the right direction, the report makes clear the need for these reforms to go further and to ensure real change on the ground so that the stories and experiences First Nations peoples shared with Yoorrook are never repeated, he said. First Peoples Assembly co-chair Rueben Berg said the assembly broadly agreed with the principles behind the recommendations and would discuss the reforms with communities. Rick Gned has applied for about 50 rental properties in Melbourne and has been rejected from all of them. After being forced to leave his Carnegie rental late last year, the 50-year-old moved in with family in Gippsland and commutes about six hours a day to his job in professional administration in Melbournes inner east. Rick Gned is on the train during his long commute to work. Credit: Joe Armao He is considering offering six months rent in advance to secure a home closer to work. Gned is among the Melbourne tenants who feel they have little choice but to offer to pay rent in advance to lift their application to the top of the pile. An elegant four-bedroom family home in Camberwell has blown away the expectations of its vendors to sell for $4,515,000 at auction on Saturday. The vendors built 4 Dominic Street 17 years ago and were rewarded with a stunning auction result. Four bidders showed strong intentions in a quick and hard-fought auction that opened at $3.4 million and was then won by a young family. The house was declared on the market at $4.1 million, but Marshall White Boroondara director James Tostevin said he would have declared it earlier if not for the speed of the bidding. Feature Story HISTORY: CARS WITH PRESIDENT'S NAMES by Bob Hagin Originally Published On The Auto Channel July 19, 1996 Automotive Hall Of Fame's Presidential Names and Automobiles (February 11, 2021) Attention students. Today our history class will review American presidents who had or have the same names as the cars we have been studying. I'm sure you all remember the names of the autos so we'll now match them up with those of our former top-level politicians and a capsulation of the cars of the same names: WASHINGTON - The car that bore the name of The Father of His Country didn't last any longer than his term in office. Made in Middleton and Easton, Ohio from '21 to '24, it was an "assembled" car (put together from parts made by other companies) and only 35 Washingtons were built. ADAMS - There were two presidents named Adams (#2, John and #6, John Quincy - father and son) and two Adams cars. The Adams Model C was built in Findlay, Ohio only in 1911 by the Adams brothers, but the Adams- Farwell was made in Dubuque, Iowa for nine years, from 1904 to 1913. MADISON - James Madison was Number 4 and The Father of the Constitution, we're told. His namesake, another assembled car, came from Anderson, Indiana circa 1915 to 1918 and the 1916 version packed a V8. There was even a two-seater with a cutesy name, the "Dolly" Madison. MONROE - Surely you remember the doctrine put forth by our fifth president, James Monroe, in 1823. No? Oh well. His name was put on cars built by several different succeeding outfits in Flint, Michigan and Indianapolis (corporate takeovers were common then too). It lasted ten years until the Monroe passed into history in 1924. JACKSON - Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson was Number Seven and as an interesting historical side note, married a lady while she was still technically married to someone else. The Jackson was built in Jackson, Michigan and lasted a relatively long period - from 1903 to 1923 - and its last model could have been a musical group. It was The Jackson Six. HARRISON - There were two Harrison presidents, too. William was Number Nine and died of pneumonia after a month in office. His grandson, Benjamin, was Number 23 and lasted longer. Made in Grand Rapids, Michigan from '05 to 07, the Harrison auto's claim to fame was that its self-starter consisted of acetylene shot into the cylinders and ignited by a jiggled spark control lever. TAYLOR - Zackery Taylor became our 12th chief executive in 1849 while the Taylor-Dunn electric shopper was made 100 years later in Anaheim, California. PIERCE - Franklin Pierce was our forgettable 14th president but who can forget the majestic Pierce-Arrow of the turbulent '30s. It rivaled Rolls-Royce and lasted 37 years until 1938, killed by The Depression. In its shadow was the Pierce-Racine built in Racine, Wisconsin from 1904 to 1909. LINCOLN - It's still around and was so named by its originator, Henry Leland, because he voted for Honest Abe (#16) in the election of 1861. Leland was an old guy when he started the Lincoln line in 1920. JOHNSON - There were two Johnsons: Andrew was Number 17 and we all remember Lyndon who was number 36. The Johnson was built in Milwaukee from '05 to '07 as a steamer, then to '12 as a gas-fueled commercial vehicle. CLEVELAND - Grover Cleveland was President Numbers 22 and 24, and the only man ever elected to non-consecutive terms. There were four different Cleveland cars (made in Cleveland, of course) from '02 to '26. ROOSEVELT - Theodore and Franklin were second cousins and Presidents Number 26 and 32. The Roosevelt car was really a cheap Marmon, made from '29 to '31 in Indianapolis and named after Teddy, the old Rough Rider. HARDING - Warren Harding (#29) died after three years in office, just in time to avoid the infamous Teapot Dome Scandal. Only one Harding was ever made in Cleveland, a 1915 seven-seater, 12 cylinder monster. KENNEDY - Jack Kennedy of Camelot fame, was the 35th man in the White House and the details are still painful. The Kennedy car was a tiny coupe built in Los Angeles from 1915 to 1918. FORD - As President Number 38, Gerald Ford once said "...I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln." Truer words were never spoken. CARTER - Peanut Farmer Jimmy Carter sat in the Oval Office as head man #39. The Carter Twin-Engine was made in Hyattsville, Maryland from 1907 to 1909 and in an attempt at utter reliability, featured two entirely separate engines that could be run independently. It flopped. BUSH - George Bush, was Number 41 in the presidential lineup. The Bush automobile was actually made by several other car makers from 1916 to 1925 and sold by mail order out of an office in Chicago. So you see, class, history can be easy if you learn it by association. Now if we could just find something interesting about the other presidents whose names escape me. Hungarian MicroCars of the 50's Second part of my historical overview of the post-war Hungarian-made microcars By Pal Negyesi By 1952/1953, The Ministry of Metallurgy and Machine Industry in conjunction with the Vehicle Developing Institute started a microcar project. Fuel was now available, only one serious problem lurked on the horizon: the prohibition of COMECON to produce passenger cars. So the project focused on an intermediary type: the closed, four-wheel motorbike, capable of transporting two adults and two children and a few luggages. This was the definition of the microcar. In 1955 the Ministry commissioned three engineers: Erno Rubik, the father of the inventor of the Rubik-cube, himself a very talented engineer, Pal Kerekes and Geza Bengyel to start the work on microcars at the Szekesfehervari Motorjavt V llalat (Szekesfehervar Engine Repair Co. Szekesfehervar is a city near the capital). This firm repaired airplanes. Their employees were all gifted in their field. So when the airplane business would have to be shut down, they looked for new activities. They were good in aluminum so any kind of goods made from aluminum counted: from a parabolic antenna through cheese-tub to microcars. One of their engineers, Jozsef Horv th already played with the idea of building himself a car. So he brought his plans to the factory and there they started to build the car. Jozsef Zappel, another engineer also fancied the idea of a bubble-car so, he too, did some drafts. In the meantime, an Italian Isetta arrived for inspection, and then a Messerschmitt Kabinroller. The thorough study of the two foreign cars, along with their own ideas led to two unusual microcars in 1955: the Alba Regia of Horvath (Alba Regia was the name of the city during the Roman Empire) and the Balaton of Zappel (Balaton is Hungary's only big lake). Both cars had aluminum bodies, airplane tail wheels, Pannonia 250 cc motorbike engines. Geza Bengyel who worked as a consultant there, previously was employed in the Csepel motorbike factory where he designed a unique sheet-framed bike with a torsion suspension. This suspension was transferred to the Alba Regia. Balaton received a strange suspension: the arms were held by rubber tags so the vibration was absorbed into the rubber. The doors of the 2+2 seater Alba Regia opened conventionally. The roof of the Balaton might be pushed backwards with a handle to get access to the cabin, just like in an airplane. The engines were put to the rear of the cars. The idea of the gearbox was taken from the Isetta, the reverse from the Messerschmitt. For this they added another flywheel to the engine. When the driver wanted to go to the other direction, he or she stopped the engine, pushed a button and started the engine to the other direction. These powertrains were two-stroke so they could puff either way. At the usual 1st of May parade in 1956 four microcars jounced along the cobblestoned streets of Szekesfehervar: the Uttoro, Isetta and the locally made Alba Regia and Balaton. The Uttoro [Pioneer] was one of the best publicised privately-built microcar. It was designed by Janos Schadek in Debrecen, east Hungary in 1954. He was a mechanical engineer. While studying at the University he built his first touring car between 1922 and 1927 and in 1930 a Morgan-like tricar. Then he took over the wire-making factory of his father-in-law. After the War, he tried to avoid nationalization, but he couldn't and eventually all the small factories of Debrecen were united into the Locksmith and Iron-founder Company. Schadek became the chief engineer. He decided to design a two-seater small car. He had some conversations with two locksmiths Janos Puskas and Istvan Schwanner. Both of them had repaired and assembled airplanes previously. The three experienced men built the Uttoro from scratch. The car was powered by a Csepel 250 cc motorbike engine, placed on the rear axle. Instead of having a starter, a "kick start" was used. The gear was taken from a motorbike. The small wheels were taken from a barrow. The steering shaft was directly connected to the front axle. This meant a very rude and sensitive driving so it was replaced by rack and pinion steering. The car reached a maximum speed of 80 km/h. It was examined by the Hungarian Research Institute of Automobile Transport in the spring of 1955. After that they sent it back to Debrecen. It was finally sent to Szekesfehervar. The two Szekesfehervar-made microcars were scrutinized by the Ministry. The Ministry comissioned the Hungarian Research Institute of Automobile Transport to examine the microcars. The Institue already carried out tests on the Uttoro, on another Messerschmitt and on a Goggomobil. The later became the standard to follow: it's 247 cc two-cylinder engine pumped out an impressive 14 bhp. The Hungarian motorbike engines used in the microcars were less powerful. So the Institute stated that either the Goggomobil should be assembled in license or the Alba Regia has a similarity in concept. The Ministry was not totally convinced with the results so they advertised a microcar competition to find the definite shape. It happened to be just two months before the '56 revolution. In 1957 the Ministry declared there was no winner and then the whole microcar issue was soon dropped. But before the revolution the microcars were shipped to Budapest to a factory which was appointed to manufacture the potential winner of the competition. During the revolution Zappel and Horvath led the local forces at Szekesfehervar so after the Soviets drowned the revolution in blood Zappel and Horvath had to go. What's more, in the meantime Horvath traveled to Budapest and yelled at the minister of Metallurgy about why his car wouldn't be produced. In early 1957 Horvath left Hungary. Soon Zappel also departed. Horvath died in Switzerland in 1990, his fate remains unknown. The microcars ended their life in the scrapyard. The Goggomobil was slightly damaged during the revolution and although it was the most promising car it was also destroyed. At least the Alba Regia and Balaton have survived because in 1960 their owners visited one of the constructors for spare parts. After that time I have no information about their whereabouts. The Szekesfehervar factory made another microcar totally from aluminum in late 1957. But then it was only a sideline and soon went down. They made buses afterward and became the part of Ikarus, the Hungarian bus factory in 1963. With the Trabant and the Wartburg arriving in the late '50s the need for cars was fulfilled in a way. Although the time of one-off creations expired, they never died out: throughout the '60s, '70s, even today there are entrepreneurs who create obscure minicars. A photo made available by Taiwan Ministry of National Defense shows a Chinese Shenyang J-16 fighter during a 2021 incursion into Taiwan's air defense identification zone. File Photo by Taiwan Ministry of National Defense/EPA-EFE Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Chinese military officials announced Saturday they have launched joint air and sea patrols and military exercises around the island of Taiwan in the wake of Vice President Lai Ching-te's stopover in the United States. Senior Col. Shi Yi, the spokesman of the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement to state-run media the drills are meant as "a severe warning" for "separatists that have stepped up their collusion with foreign forces to provoke the Chinese mainland." Lai, the front-running Democratic Progressive Party candidate for president in May elections, arrived in New York a week ago while on his way to Paraguay in what he called a "stopover," defying Chinese opposition to "any form of official interaction" between the United States and island, which Beijing regards as a breakaway province. China said Lai's visit was a violation of the one-China principle that "gravely undermines" its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 42 PLA aircraft between 6 a.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday, including early warning and control aircraft, military transport aircraft and fighter jets. "The [Republic of China] Armed Forces are closely monitoring the situation with our ISR system and have deployed CAP aircraft, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems in response," the ministry said in a statement. Taiwanese officials said the drills are meant to intimidate voters into voting against Lai, whom China has denounced as a "separatist troublemaker." "[Beijing] has made it clear it wants to shape Taiwan's coming national election," Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu wrote in a post on the social media platform X on Saturday. "Well, it's up to our citizens to decide, not the bully next door. Look, China should hold its own elections; I'm sure its people would be thrilled." The Glen Grant reveals oldest ever release The Glen Grant has today announced the oldest ever release from the distillery in its 180 years. The Glen Grant Devotion is a 70 year old single malt, presented as a handcrafted sculptural masterpiece, many years in the making. Inspired by the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the release is a tribute to her 70 years of service. Sourced from a single French oak butt seasoned with oloroso sherry filled in 1953, the expression has been described by the producers as having floral aromas of intense barley and ripe peach, while having notes of rich dried fruit, raisins and sultanas on the palate. Bottled at a high strength of 55.5%, Devotion was brought to life through the combined efforts of master distiller Dennis Malcolm OBE, John Galvin and hot glass master Brodie Nairn of Glasstorm. Only seven hand-blown decanters have been created, each one of a kind, therefore making the expression very rare. All seven decanters are presented as a gem-shaped object dart, with seven facets celebrating each decade of Her Majestys reign. To support preservation of Scotlands native woodland, decanter Number One will be auctioned by Sothebys in an online sale running from 11 September to 22 September, with 100% of proceeds going to the Royal Scottish Forestry Society. Commenting on the release, master distiller Malcolm said: In the true spirit of The Glen Grant, we bring together the inspiring legacy of our story, with the personal devotion of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to realise this exquisite masterpiece. To be devoted is to show unwavering loyalty and love to something you care for deeply, which sits at the heart of our whisky-making philosophy, as well as shining through with our creative collaborators. This is a lifetime of character and legacy captured in a magnificent creation, like nothing we have ever seen. Each of the seven decanters will be available in select global markets, as followed, in October 2023, with price available upon request: Singapore (Orchid) Hong Kong (Daffodil) US (Daisy and Clematis) China (Begonia) Japan (Stephanotis) UK (Rose) Jonny Fowle, global head of spirits at Sothebys: This whisky embodies so much of what is important in whisky collecting: quality, rarity, age and most of all provenance as the as the oldest whisky ever to be released directly from The Glen Grant Distillery itself. This whisky displays a fantastically deep, dark colour after seven decades of oak maturation, which contrasts beautifully with John Galvins opulent light wood structure making it the perfect centrepiece for the worlds most impressive whisky collections. 4 September 2023 - Bradley Weir Former President Donald Trump Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images 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. Story continues 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." You may also like Homepage While neither Joe nor Sophie have spoken on if there is any truth to the rumours, we'll just have to wait and see what happens next. We'll be sure to update you straight away! Every voice matters, asserts PM Modi By Vijay Joshi : NEW DELHI I had the privilege of witnessing first-hand the feats common citizens were capable of when given a platform and an opportunity. A WEEK before he hosts world leaders at the G20 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that the Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas model can be the guiding principle for the welfare of a world shifting from a GDP-centric approach to a human-centric one. Irrespective of the size of the GDP, every voice matters, Modi told PTI in an exclusive interview late last week at his Lok Kalyan Marg residence. US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Saudi Arabias King Mohammed bin Salman and other leaders will gather at the newly-constructed Bharat Mandapam conference hall on September 9-10 for the pre-eminent annual meeting of developing and developed countries. Many positive impacts are coming out of Indias G20 Presidency. Some of them are very close to my heart, Modi said in the 80-minute interview, focused on G20 and related issues, with three senior staff of PTI including Editor-in-Chief Vijay Joshi. G20 accounts for 85 per cent of the global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and 65 per cent of the world population. India took over the G-20s presidency from Indonesia last November, and will hand over to Brazil in December. Modi said that while it is true G20 is an influential grouping in terms of its combined economic might, a GDP-centric view of the world is now changing to a human-centric one, and just as a new world order was seen after World War 2, a new world order is taking shape post-COVID. The shift to a human-centric approach has begun globally and we are playing the role of a catalyst. Indias G20 Presidency has also sowed the seeds of confidence in the countries of the so-called Third World, he said. The Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas model that has shown the way in India can also be a guiding principle for the welfare of the world. While the interview was meant to be focused on G20, Modi also spoke about Indias economic progress, its growing stature on the world stage, cyber-security, debt trap, bio-fuel policy, UN reforms, climate change and his vision of what India will be like in 2047. For a long time, India was perceived as a nation of over one billion hungry stomachs. But now, India is being seen as a nation of over one billion aspirational minds, more than two billion skilled hands, and hundreds of millions of young people, Modi said. The period till 2047 is a huge opportunity. Indians who are living in this era have a great chance to lay a foundation for growth that will be remembered for the next 1,000 years! he added. By 2047, I am sure that our country will be among the developed countries. Our poor people will comprehensively win the battle against poverty. Health, education and social sector outcomes will be among the best in the world. Corruption, casteism and communalism will have no place in our national life, he said. G20 was born at the end of the last century when the major economies of the world got together with a vision of a collective and coordinated response to economic crises. Its salience grew even more during the global economic crisis in the first decade of the 21st century. But when the COVID pandemic struck, the world understood that in addition to the economic challenges, there were also other important and immediate challenges impacting humanity, Modi said. By this time, the Prime Minister said, the world was already taking note of Indias human-centric model of development in economic growth, technological progress, institutional delivery and social infrastructure. There was greater awareness of these massive strides being taken by India. It was acknowledged that the country which used to be seen just as a large market had become a part of the solutions to the global challenges, he said. By the time India became the president of G20, our words and vision for the world were not being taken merely as ideas but as a roadmap for the future. In a new dimension to the G20, its ministerial and other meetings were held not just in the capital New Delhi but in all parts of the country, including second and third-tier cities such as Indore and Varanasi. More than one lakh delegates met for some 200 sectoral meetings, many in tourist destinations such as Hampi, Kerala, Goa and Kashmir. They have been going to different regions, witnessing our demography, democracy and diversity. They are also seeing how a fourth D, development, has been empowering the people over the last decade. There is a growing understanding that many of the solutions that the world needs are already being successfully implemented in our country, with speed and scale, Modi said. While answering a question about the global debt crisis -- which he noted is a matter of great concern, especially (for) developing countries -- Modi took a dig at freebies given by some State Governments in India, and stressed on the need for financial discipline. Populism may give political results in the short term but will extract a great social and economic price in the long term. Those who suffer the consequences the most are often the poorest and the most vulnerable, he said. The Prime Minister also made a strong pitch for United Nations reforms in line with the changing realities of the world and to ensure representation of voices that matter, saying a mid-20th century approach cannot serve the world in the 21st century. Modi also said that India backs inclusion of the African Union as a full member of the G20 as no plan for the future of the planet can be successful without the representation and recognition of all voices. Debt crisis is a matter of great concern for the world, especially developing countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, as India looks at building consensus at the upcoming G20 summit to evolve a tangible framework to help the debt-ridden low income economies. Modi said Indias G20 presidency has placed a significant emphasis on addressing the global challenges posed by debt vulnerabilities, especially for nations in the Global South. Indias proposal for a global alliance on biofuels among members of the Group of 20 major economies will help accelerate sustainable biofuels deployment in support of the global energy transition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. The biofuels alliance, which the worlds third biggest oil consumer wants to push during its G20 presidency, mirrors the International Solar Alliance (ISA) piloted by New Delhi and Paris in 2015 to bring clean and affordable solar energy within the reach of all. India backs inclusion of the African Union as a full member of the Group of 20 largest economies as no plan for the future of the planet can be successful without the representation and recognition of all voices, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, days ahead of the annual summit of the influential bloc. Modi has made a strong pitch for altering the approach on climate talks, from restrictive to constructive, and urged nations not to focus on dont do this or that. Modi said there was no one-size-fits-all solution to fight climate change. The PM said India has left no stone unturned in meeting its climate goals despite accounting for less than five per cent of the cumulative emissions. Modi said he had always had a great belief in people as he cited his organisational background to assert that he learnt a lot from many experiences during that phase of his life. I had the privilege of witnessing first-hand the feats common citizens were capable of when given a platform and an opportunity, the Prime Minister said. Moreover, each State is also ensuring that they leave their unique cultural stamp on the minds of G20 delegates. This is also giving the world an idea of Indias incredible diversity, Modi said. Modi has said it is natural for India to hold G20 meetings in every part of its territory as he dismissed Chinese objections over some of the events being organised in Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. As part of its efforts to showcase Indias cultural and regional diversity at a global stage, the Modi government has hosted G20 events across the countrys length and breadth. Rural women are capable entrepreneurs Business Bureau Thousands of tonnes of cloth get wasted in the garment industry every day. They are simply thrown away. The women in villages like Pulgaon are creatively making cloth bags as more eco-friendly substitutes for the polluting plastic carry bags. Turning a crisis like Corona pandemic into an opportunity, these women supplied masks to Vidarbha. This shows the immense capability of entrepreneurship in rural women, said young entrepreneur Wasudev Mishra. The 24-year old entrepreneur, Mishra was addressing the weekly session organised by Vidarbha Management Association (VMA) at Chitanvis Centre on the topic of Social Entrepreneurship: Business that impacts social change. Mishra said that despite illiteracy and inadequate resources, women in rural areas contribute financially to the family in some form or the other. All that is required is to give women a chance and stand firmly behind them. These women have ingenuity even with inadequate means. But they do not have the skills to sell the manufactured goods in the urban market. Giving an example, he said, if a 15-year-old girl in a drought-stricken area like Satara can support a Pani Foundation, a rural woman can bring about any positive change. Connecting these women through self-help groups in villages like Pulgaon, when Mishra started the work of Silaigram. There were barely 4-5 women who used to make bags from waste cloth. Their ideas were implemented into products that became so popular in the city that they got an order from Nagpur for 25,000 cloth bags. In this way they increased the scope of work by training more women. Today, more than 100 women from 4 centres produce more than half a ton of garment bags every month. Not only this, they now also make kurtas. Before Wasudev Mishras session, Aryan Aggarwal gave the LIG Tip in which he shed light on how social media can be used smartly for the expansion of business and gave ideas to the entrepreneurs on how they can increase their presence on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Bank pensioners demand implementation of pension updation at the earliest Business Bureau The Association of Retired Indian Overseas Banks (IOBs) Employees (ARISE) members under the leadership of D S Mishra, Assistant General Secretary, Nagpur Region of Association of Retired Indian Overseas Banks (IOBs) Employees (ARISE) organised a meeting on Pension Updation at the guest house of Central Bank of India Officers Association, Kotwal Nagar on Sunday. The chief guest, K B G Tilak, Deputy General Secretary of All India Bank Pensioners and Retirees Confederation (AIBPARC) addressed the members of ARISE and demanded that the bank pensioners must be granted dearness relief on pension, and increased from time to time. Pension updation should be implemented at the earliest by the IBA. Tilak informed the gathering that the long pending demand of 100 per cent DA neutralisation to the pre-November 2002 bank pensioners was clinched on July 28, 2023. This was due to the consistent efforts of AIBPARC President K V Acharya and his team who met the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at her office in New Delhi on June 19, 2023. Tilak also dealt in detail on pension updation which has not taken place for the last 28 years since the introduction of Pension Regulations in Banks in 1995. He informed that as of now, Banks Pension Fund has crossed a whopping Rs 3.20 lakh crore, which is more than adequate to meet the ongoing demand of bank pensioners including State Bank of India (SBI) with effect from March 1, 2019 as done in the case of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) pensioners. He was confident that the relentless efforts of leaders of AIBPARC with Ministry of Finance, Government of India and Indian Banks Association (IBA) would clinch this major issue of retired bank employees in the near future. B N Walde, R M Sirsikar, K S Kumbhare, Amruta Mangam, R D Deo, R M Tanksale, D S Sambre worked hard to make the programme successful. While, Bhaskar Walde proposed a vote of thanks. BJPs Jan Ashirwad Yatra kick-starts from Chitrakoot Our Correspondent Chitrakoot, The Jan Ashirwad Yatra of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kick started from Chitrakoot in the presence of National BJP President JP Nadda, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and other senior leaders of the party. This Jan Ashirwad Yatra is first among the five Jan Ashirwad Yatra which aims to cover all 230 assembly seats of the State. With the target to reach to maximum voters and entire BJP leadership would be on field for the next 17 days to approach voters and seek their support. BJP is seeking votes on the issue of development and welfare of poors done in State under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and in the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These Jan Ashirwad Yatras would be taken out from five divisions and covering all Assembly seats will culminate at Bhopal on September 25 with grand party workers meet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the closing meet of Jan Ashirwad Yatra. Prior to it, National BJP President J P Nadda arrived at Chitrakoot from helicopter accompanied by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. At helipad, both senior leaders were welcomed by Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Jyotiraditya Sindhiya, Minister of State Ramkhelavan Patel, State BJP President and MP V D Sharma, MP Ganesh Singh, Collector Anurag Verma, DIG Mithilesh Shukla, SP Ashutosh Gupta, DRI National Organisation Secretry Abhay Mahajan, District BJP President Satish Sharma City Panchayat President Sadhna Patel. BJP National President J P Nadda and Chief Minister Chouhan visited Kamadgiri and offered prayers before Lord Kamtanath. Candidates selected in MP Patwari exam stage protest against ban on appointment Staff Reporter Scores of candidates selected in MP Patwari recruitment exams from across the State, gathered at Neelam Park on Sunday to stage protest against ban on their appointment. The selected candidates from across the State had gathered to mark their protest. They were demanding their appointment. However, police took away selected Patwaris sitting on dharna in Neelam Park in their vehicle. A video of this has gone viral on social media, in which policemen are seen kicking and punching agitating youths in order to disperse them. Police say that the selected Patwaris had not taken permission for the protest. They have been shifted to another place to maintain law and order. No arrest has been made. They had reached Bhopal in large numbers on Sunday. Their main demand is to give joining. At present it is not known where they have been taken. Selected candidates said that like Sub-Inspector and Teacher Eligibility Test 2020, appointment process should be run parallel along with the investigation. If anyone is found guilty, action should be taken against them by identifying them. In their place, candidates who got place in the waiting list should be given appointment. Affidavit should be taken from all newly appointed candidates. There should be a provision of consent to face punitive action if found guilty. He said that according to point 13(3) of the rule book of Group 2, Sub Group 4 and Patwari Recruitment Examination, the recruitment process should be completed in the month of September, considering the provision of giving appointment within a period of 90 days from publication of the result. Leader of Opposition Dr Govind Singh has written a letter to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He has demanded to give appointment to candidate of Patwari Recruitment Examination soon. Govind Singh wrote that in the State in September 2023, about 8,600 candidates selected in Group-2 Sub Group-4 Patwari Recruitment Examination of the selected candidates are waiting for appointment. The appointment process has been banned by you in the selection test. Centre, State govts committed to serving every poor, people in need: MLA Rohani Staff Reporter Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched two pioneering schemes including Deendayal Rasoi Yojana and distribution of land pattas to homeless people across the State. In this connection, the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC) organised a programme at the cultural centre near Bhawartal. MLA Ashok Rohani was the chief guest of the function. Expressing his views on the occasion, Rohani stated that both the Central and State Governments are committed to serving every poor and people in need. He said Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has started these schemes across the state. In the sequence, the launch of these two schemes has also taken place in the city. Under Deendayal Rasoi Yojana, poor people will now receive a wholesome meal for just Rs 5. Likewise, land pattas have been distributed to homeless people, bringing them a step closer to realising the dream of having a home of their own. Expressing his views on the occasion, Chairman, JMC Rinku Vij shed light on the welfare schemes being carried out by the State Government. Other public representatives also spoke at length about the steps being taken by the government for the people of all sections of the society. They said the BJP Government is vowed to provide all needed amenities to the residents of Madhya Pradesh. Chandrayaan-3, Aditya-L1 outcomes of PMs progressive policy decisions: Union Minister JAMMU, CHANDRAYAAN-3 and Aditya-L1 are the outcomes of Prime Minister Narendra Modis progressive policy decisions, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday, asserting that ISRO now has the capacity to compete with NASA and Roscosmos in space expeditions. The lander module of Chandrayaan-3 -- the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) -- touched down on the lunar surface on August 23, making India only the fourth country to accomplish the feat. It is also the first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earths only natural satellite. The recently launched Aditya-L1 is a coronagraphy spacecraft to study the solar atmosphere. Singh, the Union Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office, said, Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1 spearhead Indias Amrit Kaal growth journey over the next 25 years this era has rightfully (been) called as 'Modi's Era' and the world has hailed Modi for his progressive policy decisions. Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1 are its outcomes. Singh was speaking at a function to launch the Meri Maati, Mera Desh campaign in his home constituency of J&Ks Udhampur. The campaign marks the beginning of the Amrit Kalash Yatras, starting all over the country and including a collection of mitti and rice from every household to symbolise the peoples participation in the motherland's prosperity. He said the last nine years have witnessed a quantum leap in India's space journey, making it stand at par with NASA and Roscosmos, which are now collaborating with ISRO for space expeditions. Committed to providing Maratha quota: Mah CM MUMBAI, IN THE wake of violence in Maharashtras Jalna district over the Maratha quota demand, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said his Government was committed to providing reservation to this community in education and Government jobs. Talking to reporters in Buldhana, he also said that there was no misunderstanding between him and two Deputy Chief Ministers in the State and that all of them were working as a good team. My Government is committed to giving reservation to the Maratha community in the State. We will not sit quiet until the community get its due reservation, Shinde said. Till the Maratha community gets reservation, the Government schemes that are already in place will continue and deserving people from the Maratha community will benefit from it, he added. Reservation in jobs and education provided by the State Government to the Maratha community was quashed by the Supreme Court in May 2021, citing the 50 per cent ceiling on total reservations among other grounds. An agitation seeking reservation for the Marathas turned violent at Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna on Friday, leading to several people, including dozens of police personnel, getting injured. Police resorted to lathi-charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob that allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on a hunger strike as part of the quota stir to the hospital. Police registered a case against more than 360 people in connection with the violence, officials said. When asked why Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who along with eight other Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs joined his Government two months ago, was not present at the event, CM Shinde said, Ajit Pawar informed me that he is unwell. He is down with fever, while Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is in Ladakh to attend a military event. There was no misunderstanding among all three of them, he asserted. Jalna Distt SP sent on compulsory leave MUMBAI, Sept 3 (PTI) THE Maharashtra Government on Sunday sent Jalna district Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi on compulsory leave, two days after protesters demanding Maratha quota were baton-charged, triggering violence, sources said. Police have arrested 40 persons in connection with the violence that erupted in Jalna district on Friday, sources said. Police had baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in Antarwali Sarathi village after protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota to hospital. Several persons including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 ST buses were set ablaze in violence. Some 360 persons have been booked in connection with the violence. Many Opposition leaders condemned police action. Heavy rains play havoc in parts of city Staff Reporter As rains lashed the city after a long time, apart from relief, it also brought about its own set of problems, particularly disruption in power supply at many localities. The strong winds and huge force of falling rains combined to take toll on the green cover in city that has become increasingly susceptible to damage. At many places, the branches fell on the power lines and some of the uprooted branches also tumbled onto transformers, disrupting the power supply. The strong winds ripped apart the advertisements flex from the billboards. Some banners also blew away and got entangled into the power lines. One particular spot in this regard was Gajraj Line, that emerges from MIHAN power stations and covers outer areas of South-West assembly segment. The teams of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) were rushing all over the city as power outrages triggered a flood of complaints from consumers throughout the city. Along with them, teams from Fire & Emergency Department of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) was also on their feet to attend calls of uprooting of tress from few places in the city. As per reports, uprooting of trees and falling of branches on power infrastructure was reported from Besa, Rana Pratap Nagar, Telecom Nagar, Pandey Layout, Ambazari Layout, Varsity Road, Shankar Nagar, New Sneh Nagar, Dhantoli, Ramana Maroti resulting in disruption of power supply. However, quick response from MSEDCL ensured that citizens did not suffer for long, although the cool wind blowing in aftermath of the rains ensured that the temporary unavailability of power did not matter much in city. At Lakadganj, a tree got uprooted and it fell on the cars parked underneath it, damaging about three of them. A team from Fire Brigade reached the spot and cut the branches. Although during the summer, MSEDCL trimmed many of the overgrown branches but still, the efforts proved short as several places got left out. Last time also, the city faced disruption in power supply that lasted for nearly two days at stretch due to uprooting of trees. FILE PHOTO: The sun sets next to downtown's CN Tower in Toronto By Rod Nickel WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Ontario's housing minister resigned on Monday, days after an independent report concluded he breached ethics laws over a land deal around Toronto, Canada's largest city. Steve Clark said he would resign from cabinet but continue serving in Ontario's legislative assembly. "Ontario is experiencing the most challenging housing crisis our province has ever faced," Clark wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "...However this crisis demands someone who is not a distraction from the important work that needs to be done." In an Aug. 30 report, Ontario's independent integrity commissioner J. David Wake concluded that Clark breached the law over the removal of lands from the Greenbelt protected area around Toronto for housing development. Wake recommended that Clark be reprimanded. Ontario's Greenbelt spans 2 million acres (810,000 hectares) of protected farmland, forest, rivers and lake around Toronto. Last year, Ontario's cabinet approved Clark's proposal to remove 15 properties spanning 7,400 acres (2,995 hectares) from the Greenbelt for housing development, causing a public outcry. The move would add a collective C$8.3 billion ($6.10 billion) to the value of the properties, enriching certain developers and landowners, Ontario's auditor general found in an Aug. 9 report that called the land selection "biased." The change provided land for 50,000 homes and would help fulfil Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford's promise of building 1.5 million homes over the next decade. Wake found that Clark failed to properly oversee the process by which Greenbelt lands were selected, "leading to the private interests of certain developers being furthered improperly." That process was led by Clark's former chief of staff, Ryan Amato, who resigned last month. Ford, who had earlier said Clark would keep his job, thanked Clark on X for his cabinet service. Story continues Canada has a "serious" housing shortage, according to its national housing minister. The issue has put pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, even though housing is mainly the responsibility of provincial and municipal governments. ($1 = 1.3598 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Josie Kao) Nadda flags off Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Chitrakoot Our Correspondent Chitrakoot, The Jan Ashirwad Yatra of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kick started from Chitrakoot in the presence of National BJP President JP Nadda, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and other senior leaders of the party. This Jan Ashirwad Yatra is first among five Jan Ashirwad Yatra which aims to cover all 230 Assembly seats of the State. With the target to reach to maximum voters and entire BJP leadership would be on field for the next 17 days to approach voters and seek their support. BJP is seeking votes on the issue of development and welfare of poors done in State under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and in the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These Jan Ashirwad Yatras would be taken out from five divisions and covering all Assembly seats will culminate at Bhopal on September 25 with grand party workers meet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the closing meet of Jan Ashirwad Yatra. Prior to it, National BJP President J P Nadda arrived at Chitrakoot from helicopter accompanied by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. At helipad, both senior leaders were welcomed by Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Jyotiraditya Sindhiya, Minister of State Ramkhelavan Patel, State BJP President and MP V D Sharma, MP Ganesh Singh, Collector Anurag Verma, DIG Mithilesh Shukla, SP Ashutosh Gupta, DRI National Organisation Secretry Abhay Mahajan, District BJP President Satish Sharma City Panchayat President Sadhna Patel. BJP National President J P Nadda and Chief Minister Chouhan visited Kamadgiri and offered prayers before Lord Kamtanath. Chief Minister Chouhan prayed for good rainfall in State and prosperity of the State. Other senior BJP leaders also visited the temple and offered prayers. Thereafter, J P Nadda and other senior BJP leaders offered floral tributes before statue of Rashtrarishi Bharat Ratna Nanaji Deshmukh at Arogyadham at Deendayal Research Institute. Therafter, National BJP President J P Nadda, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and senior BJP leaders inaugurated the Jan Ashirwad Yatra from Michkurin village of Mangavaon block of Chitrakoot. National BJP President said that MP State is number one in many fields-in cleanliness, Smart City, Pradhan Mantri Swamitva Yojana. He urged people to support BJP. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that earlier Congress Government did not make any efforts to expand irrigation facilities in the State. Dacoity was a big problem but when BJP Government came to power then all dacoits were eliminated from this area and people are living peacefully. Russia says, it thwarted attacks on Crimea bridge By Susie Blann KYIV, RUSSIA said on Saturday its forces destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones being used in an attempt to attack a key bridge linking Russia to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula, forcing its temporary closure for a third time in less than a year. One naval drone was destroyed on late Friday and two others on early Saturday morning, according to Russias Defence Ministry. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials. The Kerch bridge, which is a key supply route for Kremlin forces in Russias war with Ukraine, has come under repeated attack since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. An explosion in October, which Russian authorities said was caused by a truck bomb, left three people dead. A further attack on the bridge in July, killing a couple and seriously wounding their daughter, left a span of the roadway hanging perilously. The bridge connecting Crimea and Russia carries heavy significance for Moscow, both logistically and psychologically, as a key artery for military and civilian supplies and as an assertion of Kremlin control of the peninsula it annexed in 2014. On Saturday afternoon, one civilian was killed and two wounded during shelling of Russias Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Two Ukrainian drones attacked the regions Valuysky district, causing minor damage to a private home and car, while another drone was intercepted by Russian air defense in the Grayvoronsky district. A woman was also wounded on Saturday during shelling of a village in the neighbouring Kursk region, also bordering Ukraine, regional Governor Roman Starovoit said. He blamed Ukraine for the shelling. Ukrainian authorities, which generally avoid commenting on attacks on Russian soil, didnt say whether they launched the attacks. Drone strikes and shelling on the Russian border regions are a regular occurrence. 'The pink dollar is mighty and speaks loudly,' says Dave Stewart, 'and hopefully, this is going to have an impact on certain places.' (Steve Bruce/CBC - image credit) Members of P.E.I.'s LGBTQ community say they welcome new travel advisories issued by the Canadian government warning that some U.S. state laws might affect them. "When I look at going to the States, first I want to know that I'm going to be welcome somewhere," said Dave Stewart. "I also want to know I'm going to a state that is not a discriminatory state." He recently got back from a trip to Los Angeles. California is not one of the destinations that might pose issues because of recent legislative changes, but Stewart said travel to some other states is off his list. For example, he said: "Florida is out." Florida is one of the states that have passed multiple laws in recent months aimed at the LGBTQ community, criminalizing activities like drag shows and limiting transgender access to washrooms and participation in sporting events. A protester waving a pride flag with the Florida State Seal joined hundreds of people, including immigrants rights and abortion rights groups and members of the LGBTQ community from across the state in a rally and march, Monday, May 1, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. A protester waves a pride flag that includes the Florida State Seal during a May 2023 rally and march in Orlando, Fla. (John Raoux/The Associated Press) On Tuesday, Global Affairs Canada updated its travel advisory for the United States to add: "Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws." The updated advisory contains a link to a government web page providing broad information on how members of the community could be targeted while travelling to foreign countries. Anastasia Preston, a Charlottetown trans advocate, says the advisory is unfortunately needed. "I wouldn't cross the border. That's where I'm at," said Preston. "These states are not safe for trans people." I'd say take your dollars to other parts of the world that are safe places like Iceland, Scandinavia, places with long-enshrined LGBTQ rights. Anastasia Preston "Hopefully [it's] a big indicator that there's going to be some movement on trying to stop some of this LGBTQ hate that's spilling over." Story continues For those who want to travel to the U.S., Preston suggests "voting with their dollars" by visiting states with laws and traditions more accepting of LGBTQ people. Trans advocate Anastasia Preston suggests travellers look up the LGBTQ laws in the states the plan to visit. Trans advocate Anastasia Preston suggests travellers look up the LGBTQ laws in the American states they plan to visit. (Steve Bruce/CBC) "Ultimately, though, I'd say take your dollars to other parts of the world that are safe places like Iceland, Scandinavia, places with long-enshrined LGBTQ rights," Preston said. 'It's a safety concern' Travel agent Barb Hicks said concerns around gun violence were already having an impact on bookings to the U.S., and she expects the updated advisory will also give people pause. "My clients, right now, are not booking to the U.S., that's the thing," said Hicks. "They are going to other destinations. It's a safety concern." For Stewart, it's partly about safety but his principles also come into play. He said he wants to spend his money in places that are welcoming to all. He hopes other potential travellers even those not part of the LGBTQ community take the same approach. "I'm hoping this is sending a message that you want to rethink what you're doing. The pink dollar is mighty and speaks loudly, and hopefully, this is going to have an impact on certain places." LATAM Airlines Brasil Boeing 777 Landing At London Heathrow Airport. Nicolas Economou/Getty Images 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 Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA Free Report) by 51.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,198 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock after purchasing an additional 17,077 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.s holdings in Axalta Coating Systems were worth $1,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,087 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 22.9% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,931 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 2,596 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axalta Coating Systems by 46.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,585 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 5,583 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Axalta Coating Systems by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 88,054 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $2,213,000 after buying an additional 5,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Axalta Coating Systems by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,855,345 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $315,984,000 after acquiring an additional 674,477 shares during the period. 98.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Axalta Coating Systems alerts: Insider Activity In other news, SVP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 17,008 shares of Axalta Coating Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $501,395.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,001 shares in the company, valued at $117,949.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 17,008 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $501,395.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,001 shares in the company, valued at $117,949.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Chris Villavarayan acquired 33,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.67 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,175.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,150 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,022,010.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the companys stock. Axalta Coating Systems Price Performance NYSE AXTA opened at $28.31 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. has a 1 year low of $20.66 and a 1 year high of $33.68. The company has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.46. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $30.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.42. Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.04). Axalta Coating Systems had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 21.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The firms revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AXTA shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Axalta Coating Systems from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a buy rating on shares of Axalta Coating Systems in a report on Monday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Axalta Coating Systems from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $33.24. Read Our Latest Report on Axalta Coating Systems Axalta Coating Systems Company Profile (Free Report) Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes high-performance coatings systems in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Mobility Coatings. The company offers water and solvent-borne products and systems to repair damaged vehicles for independent body shops, multi-shop operators, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) dealership body shops. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AXTA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Axalta Coating Systems Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Axalta Coating Systems and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in HF Sinclair Co. (NYSE:DINO Free Report) by 748.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,586 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 12,867 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A Ss holdings in HF Sinclair were worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new position in HF Sinclair during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in HF Sinclair by 275.7% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,022 shares of the companys stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HF Sinclair during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in HF Sinclair during the 1st quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HF Sinclair during the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get HF Sinclair alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on HF Sinclair from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on HF Sinclair from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Bank of America downgraded HF Sinclair from a buy rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the company from $62.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on HF Sinclair from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on HF Sinclair from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HF Sinclair presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $61.83. HF Sinclair Price Performance Shares of HF Sinclair stock opened at $56.88 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.79. HF Sinclair Co. has a 12 month low of $37.12 and a 12 month high of $66.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.83, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. HF Sinclair (NYSE:DINO Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.33. HF Sinclair had a return on equity of 24.58% and a net margin of 6.87%. The business had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.38 billion. As a group, analysts predict that HF Sinclair Co. will post 9.22 EPS for the current fiscal year. HF Sinclair Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. HF Sinclairs payout ratio is currently 15.28%. About HF Sinclair (Free Report) HF Sinclair Corporation operates as an independent energy company. It produces and markets gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, renewable diesel, specialty lubricant products, specialty chemicals, specialty and modified asphalt, and others. The company also owns and operates refineries located in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming; and markets its refined products principally in the Southwest United States and Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest, and in other neighboring Plains states. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DINO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for HF Sinclair Co. (NYSE:DINO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for HF Sinclair Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for HF Sinclair and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued on Saturday. BSX has been the topic of a number of other reports. 22nd Century Group reaffirmed an initiates rating on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Monday, August 28th. CL King assumed coverage on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Friday, June 30th. They issued a buy rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. They issued an outperform rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Boston Scientific from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $58.50. Get Boston Scientific alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on Boston Scientific Boston Scientific Stock Performance BSX opened at $53.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.51 billion, a PE ratio of 89.37, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.79. Boston Scientific has a twelve month low of $37.74 and a twelve month high of $54.99. The firms 50-day moving average price is $52.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.50 billion. Boston Scientific had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 15.16%. Boston Scientifics quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Boston Scientific will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Buying and Selling In other Boston Scientific news, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 11,671 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total transaction of $621,364.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,878,374.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charles J. Dockendorff sold 17,079 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.74, for a total value of $866,588.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $200,220.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 11,671 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total transaction of $621,364.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,847 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,878,374.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,110 shares of company stock valued at $4,934,535 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.71% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BSX. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Boston Scientific by 88,436.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 270,919,289 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $14,654,024,000 after purchasing an additional 270,613,292 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Boston Scientific by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 63,191,897 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $3,418,050,000 after purchasing an additional 982,853 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Boston Scientific by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,048,114 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $1,404,613,000 after purchasing an additional 718,985 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in Boston Scientific by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 23,393,853 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $1,082,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Boston Scientific by 112,306.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,661,660 shares of the medical equipment providers stock worth $863,475,000 after buying an additional 18,645,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.11% of the companys stock. Boston Scientific Company Profile (Get Free Report) Boston Scientific Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. It operates through MedSurg and Cardiovascular segments. The company offers devices to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions; devices to treat various urological and pelvic conditions; implantable cardioverter and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators; pacemakers and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers; and remote patient management systems. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Boston Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boston Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Dunelm Group plc (LON:DNLM Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of Hold from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 1,226 ($15.45). Separately, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Dunelm Group to an underperform rating and cut their price objective for the company from GBX 1,300 ($16.39) to GBX 1,000 ($12.61) in a research report on Tuesday, July 4th. Get Dunelm Group alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Dunelm Group Dunelm Group Stock Performance About Dunelm Group DNLM stock opened at GBX 1,145 ($14.43) on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 144.86, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of 2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,547.30, a P/E/G ratio of -10.32 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 1,117.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 1,141.58. Dunelm Group has a 52 week low of GBX 659.50 ($8.31) and a 52 week high of GBX 1,292 ($16.29). (Get Free Report Dunelm Group plc retails homewares in the United Kingdom. The company offers furniture and beds products, which include bedroom, living room, dining room, and other furniture, as well as bed and mattresses, and sofas and chairs; bedding products comprising bed linen, dorma, baby and kid's bedding, and duvets, pillows and protectors; curtains and rugs; and venetian, roller, roman, vertical, and made to measure blinds. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Dunelm Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dunelm Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of Buy from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.40. A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on California Resources from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. TheStreet raised California Resources from a d rating to a c rating in a research report on Monday, June 5th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on California Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on California Resources from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on California Resources from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Get California Resources alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on California Resources Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources California Resources Stock Up 1.9 % Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,706,331 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $530,180,000 after purchasing an additional 5,815,039 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,489,832 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $335,020,000 after purchasing an additional 80,779 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,515,856 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $135,360,000 after purchasing an additional 217,606 shares during the last quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC now owns 3,498,554 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $134,694,000 after purchasing an additional 10,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $115,500,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the companys stock. NYSE CRC opened at $56.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.95 and a 200-day moving average of $43.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 1.16. California Resources has a 52 week low of $34.02 and a 52 week high of $57.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.49. California Resources (NYSE:CRC Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $535.59 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 26.50%. The businesss revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that California Resources will post 4.94 EPS for the current year. California Resources Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a $0.2825 dividend. This is a positive change from California Resourcess previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. California Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.32%. California Resources Company Profile (Get Free Report California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities. See Also Receive News & Ratings for California Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for California Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV Get Free Report) and Suncorp Group (OTCMKTS:SNMCY Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends. Valuation & Earnings This table compares Travelers Companies and Suncorp Groups top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Get Travelers Companies alerts: Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Travelers Companies $36.88 billion 1.01 $2.84 billion $9.39 17.28 Suncorp Group N/A N/A N/A $0.38 22.44 Travelers Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Suncorp Group. Travelers Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Suncorp Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Insider and Institutional Ownership Analyst Recommendations 81.1% of Travelers Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Suncorp Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Travelers Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Travelers Companies and Suncorp Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Travelers Companies 0 7 5 1 2.54 Suncorp Group 0 1 2 0 2.67 Travelers Companies presently has a consensus price target of $196.92, suggesting a potential upside of 21.33%. Given Travelers Companies higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Travelers Companies is more favorable than Suncorp Group. Profitability This table compares Travelers Companies and Suncorp Groups net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Travelers Companies 5.77% 10.75% 1.98% Suncorp Group N/A N/A N/A Summary Travelers Companies beats Suncorp Group on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks. About Travelers Companies (Get Free Report) 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. The Business Insurance segment offers workers' compensation, commercial automobile and property, general liability, commercial multi-peril, employers' liability, public and product liability, professional indemnity, marine, aviation, onshore and offshore energy, construction, terrorism, personal accident, and kidnap and ransom insurance products. This segment operates through select accounts, which serve small businesses; commercial accounts that serve mid-sized businesses; national accounts, which serve large companies; and national property and other that serve large and mid-sized customers, commercial trucking industry, and agricultural businesses, as well as markets and distributes its products through brokers, wholesale agents, and program managers. The Bond & Specialty Insurance segment provides surety, fidelity, management and professional liability, and other property and casualty coverages and related risk management services through independent agencies and brokers. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners' insurance to individuals through independent agencies and brokers. The Travelers Companies, Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York. About Suncorp Group (Get Free Report) Suncorp Group Limited provides insurance and banking products and services to retail, corporate, and commercial customers in Australia and New Zealand. The company operates through Insurance (Australia), Suncorp Bank, and Suncorp New Zealand segments. The Insurance (Australia) segment provides general insurance products and services, including home and contents, motor, marine, travel, commercial property, industrial special risk, public liability and professional indemnity, workers' compensation, and compulsory third-party products, as well as distributes life insurance products. The Suncorp Bank segment offers banking services, such as commercial, agribusiness, small business, and home loans; savings and transaction accounts; foreign exchange services; and treasury products and services. The Suncorp New Zealand segment provides general and life insurance products comprising home and contents, motor, commercial property, public liability and professional indemnity, life, trauma, total and permanent disablement, and income protection. The company was formerly known as Suncorp-Metway Limited and changed its name to Suncorp Group Limited in December 2010. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia. Receive News & Ratings for Travelers Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Travelers Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its position in Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR Free Report) by 24.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,616 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 3,422 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A Ss holdings in Ingersoll Rand were worth $618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IR. Sentry Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 2,671 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 68,645 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $3,994,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank increased its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 42.3% in the 1st quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 673 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,277 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,422 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 94.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Ingersoll Rand alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades IR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $67.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ingersoll Rand from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ingersoll Rand has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $69.36. Insider Buying and Selling at Ingersoll Rand In other Ingersoll Rand news, insider Vicente Reynal sold 27,169 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $1,765,985.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 73,877 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,802,005. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Kathleen M. Keene sold 4,003 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total transaction of $250,187.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,879 shares of the companys stock, valued at $117,437.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Vicente Reynal sold 27,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $1,765,985.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 73,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,802,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Ingersoll Rand Trading Up 0.5 % Shares of IR stock opened at $69.95 on Monday. The companys 50-day moving average price is $66.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $28.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.67, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.43. Ingersoll Rand Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.20 and a twelve month high of $70.65. Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.11. Ingersoll Rand had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 11.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.58 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ingersoll Rand Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year. Ingersoll Rand Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 23rd will be given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.11%. Ingersoll Rands payout ratio is currently 4.65%. Ingersoll Rand Company Profile (Free Report) Ingersoll Rand Inc provides various mission-critical air, fluid, energy, specialty vehicle, and medical technologies in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through two segments, Industrial Technologies and Services, and Precision and Science Technologies. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Ingersoll Rand Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ingersoll Rand and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $56.29. Separately, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Get Kontoor Brands alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Kontoor Brands Kontoor Brands Stock Up 0.9 % KTB stock opened at $46.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Kontoor Brands has a 12 month low of $31.46 and a 12 month high of $53.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.53. Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $616.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.52 million. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 82.45%. The firms quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kontoor Brands will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year. Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. Kontoor Brandss payout ratio is 53.19%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTB. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 360.4% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 686 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 524.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 731 shares of the companys stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $52,000. About Kontoor Brands (Get Free Report Kontoor Brands, Inc, a lifestyle apparel company, designs, produces, procures, markets, distributes, and licenses denim, apparel, footwear, and accessories, primarily under the Wrangler and Lee brands. It licenses and sells apparel under the Rock & Republic brad name. The company sells its products primarily through mass merchants, specialty stores, mid-tier and traditional department stores, company-operated stores, and online. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Kontoor Brands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kontoor Brands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG Free Report) by 55.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,595 shares of the energy companys stock after purchasing an additional 8,404 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLCs holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $3,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 1,428 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cheniere Energy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 8,810 shares of the energy companys stock worth $1,321,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 2,185 shares of the energy companys stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,068 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.86% of the companys stock. Get Cheniere Energy alerts: Cheniere Energy Stock Up 2.5 % NYSEAMERICAN LNG opened at $167.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.64, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.02. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.00 and a 12 month high of $182.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $152.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.21. Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement Cheniere Energy ( NYSEAMERICAN:LNG Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy company reported $5.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.81 by $2.80. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.25 billion. Cheniere Energy had a return on equity of 481.80% and a net margin of 28.47%. Cheniere Energys revenue was down 48.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 16.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.395 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 8th. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Cheniere Energys dividend payout ratio is 4.65%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth LNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $200.00 to $187.00 in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Cheniere Energy from $230.00 to $222.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Cheniere Energy in a report on Saturday, August 19th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheniere Energy presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $200.33. Read Our Latest Research Report on LNG About Cheniere Energy (Free Report) Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile pipeline interconnecting the Sabine Pass LNG terminal with various interstate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LNG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Cheniere Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cheniere Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ProShare Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA Free Report) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,830 shares of the companys stock after selling 36,143 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLCs holdings in Coterra Energy were worth $4,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Coterra Energy by 17.1% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 215,386 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,108,000 after acquiring an additional 31,416 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Coterra Energy in the 1st quarter worth $437,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Coterra Energy by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,533 shares of the companys stock worth $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 10,538 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coterra Energy during the first quarter valued at about $615,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coterra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $413,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.54% of the companys stock. Get Coterra Energy alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research firms have commented on CTRA. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Coterra Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Mizuho upped their target price on Coterra Energy from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Coterra Energy from $25.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Coterra Energy from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Coterra Energy from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and decreased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $31.00. Coterra Energy Stock Up 1.0 % NYSE CTRA opened at $28.46 on Monday. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $26.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.46. Coterra Energy Inc. has a one year low of $22.25 and a one year high of $32.47. The firm has a market cap of $21.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 7th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Coterra Energy had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 40.12%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Coterra Energy Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Coterra Energy Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 16th. Coterra Energys dividend payout ratio is currently 20.05%. Coterra Energy Profile (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. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CTRA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Coterra Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coterra Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $109.92. RCL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $82.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $85.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. VNET Group reissued a maintains rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Monday, June 12th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Get Royal Caribbean Cruises alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on Royal Caribbean Cruises Insider Activity Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises In other news, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 18,908 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.74, for a total value of $2,018,239.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,521 shares in the company, valued at $2,510,631.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . In other news, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 18,908 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.74, for a total value of $2,018,239.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,521 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,510,631.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . Also, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 5,949 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.62, for a total value of $658,078.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,967 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,569.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Company insiders own 8.70% of the companys stock. Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RCL. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 21.8% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,553 shares of the companys stock worth $968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 30,004 shares of the companys stock worth $2,514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,861 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 35,806 shares of the companys stock worth $3,000,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 65.5% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 54,096 shares of the companys stock worth $4,532,000 after acquiring an additional 21,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter worth approximately $300,000. 75.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance RCL stock opened at $97.70 on Monday. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a twelve month low of $36.92 and a twelve month high of $112.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $102.03 and a 200 day moving average of $83.47. Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.08) EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 61.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 6.22 EPS for the current fiscal year. Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile (Get 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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Royal Caribbean Cruises Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Royal Caribbean Cruises and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its holdings in shares of Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R Free Report) by 32.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,662 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 6,499 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L Ps holdings in Ryder System were worth $1,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Ryder System by 39.7% during the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,569 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,569 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 790.6% in the 1st quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 1,425 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in Ryder System by 100.0% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,058 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Ryder System during the first quarter worth approximately $712,000. Finally, Kendall Capital Management grew its position in Ryder System by 10.0% in the first quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 11,207 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.62% of the companys stock. Get Ryder System alerts: Ryder System Trading Up 1.5 % Shares of R stock opened at $102.26 on Monday. Ryder System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.69 and a 12 month high of $103.81. The company has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The businesss 50 day moving average is $93.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.57. Ryder System Increases Dividend Ryder System ( NYSE:R Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The transportation company reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Ryder System had a net margin of 4.79% and a return on equity of 23.98%. Ryder Systems revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.43 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ryder System, Inc. will post 12.74 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 18th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. This is a positive change from Ryder Systems previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Ryder Systems payout ratio is currently 24.61%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Thomas M. Havens sold 9,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $902,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,008 shares in the company, valued at $3,110,722.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Thomas M. Havens sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $902,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,110,722.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert D. Fatovic sold 16,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.91, for a total transaction of $1,659,094.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,933 shares in the company, valued at $7,330,692.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 161,634 shares of company stock worth $16,265,337 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.00% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Ryder System in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a buy rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ryder System from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Ryder System from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $104.60. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Ryder System Ryder System Profile (Free Report) Ryder System, Inc operates as a logistics and transportation company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), and Dedicated Transportation Solutions (DTS). The FMS segment offers full-service leasing and leasing with flexible maintenance options; commercial vehicle rental services; and contract or transactional maintenance services of trucks, tractors, and trailers; access to diesel fuel; and fuel planning and tax reporting, cards, and monitoring services, and centralized billing, as well as sells used vehicles through its retail sales centers and www.ryder.com/used-trucks website. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding R? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Ryder System Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ryder System and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SentinelOne (NYSE:S Free Report) had its price target boosted by DA Davidson from $13.50 to $16.50 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock. DA Davidson also issued estimates for SentinelOnes Q3 2024 earnings at ($0.28) EPS. S has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of SentinelOne from $15.00 to $16.50 in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of SentinelOne in a report on Wednesday, June 14th. They issued a sector weight rating for the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of SentinelOne from $16.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of SentinelOne from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of SentinelOne from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.50. Get SentinelOne alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on SentinelOne SentinelOne Stock Up 3.5 % NYSE:S opened at $17.21 on Friday. SentinelOne has a 52 week low of $12.43 and a 52 week high of $29.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $15.37 and a 200 day moving average of $16.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.29 and a beta of 0.31. SentinelOne (NYSE:S Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 31st. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.06. SentinelOne had a negative net margin of 82.90% and a negative return on equity of 21.67%. The business had revenue of $149.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.32) EPS. SentinelOnes revenue for the quarter was up 45.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that SentinelOne will post -1.23 EPS for the current year. Insider Activity at SentinelOne In other SentinelOne news, CFO David J. Bernhardt sold 3,076 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $46,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 428,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,425,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other SentinelOne news, CFO David J. Bernhardt sold 3,076 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $46,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 428,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,425,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Tomer Weingarten sold 40,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.36, for a total transaction of $654,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 890,794 shares in the company, valued at $14,573,389.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 288,179 shares of company stock valued at $4,294,152. Insiders own 5.93% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of SentinelOne A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in SentinelOne by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,969 shares of the companys stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in SentinelOne by 85.4% during the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 2,633 shares of the companys stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SentinelOne in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SentinelOne in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN bought a new stake in shares of SentinelOne in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.33% of the companys stock. SentinelOne Company Profile (Get Free Report) SentinelOne, Inc operates as a cybersecurity provider in the United States and internationally. Its Singularity Extended Detection and Response Platform delivers an artificial intelligence-powered autonomous threat prevention, detection, and response capabilities across an organization's endpoints; and cloud workloads, which enables seamless and automatic protection against a spectrum of cyber threats. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for SentinelOne Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SentinelOne and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. GMS (NYSE:GMS Free Report) had its price objective increased by Stephens from $85.00 to $87.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the stock. A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on GMS. StockNews.com began coverage on GMS in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. DA Davidson began coverage on GMS in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. They issued a buy rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on GMS from $55.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their price target on GMS from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on GMS from $70.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $77.88. Get GMS alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on GMS GMS Stock Performance NYSE:GMS opened at $70.50 on Friday. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $71.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.89. GMS has a twelve month low of $38.31 and a twelve month high of $76.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. GMS (NYSE:GMS Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 31st. The company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.38 billion. GMS had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 6.25%. GMSs revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that GMS will post 8.11 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Buying and Selling In other GMS news, major shareholder Coliseum Capital Management, L sold 80,071 shares of GMS stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.89, for a total transaction of $5,355,949.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,911,892 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $395,446,455.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Coliseum Capital Management, L sold 80,071 shares of GMS stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.89, for a total value of $5,355,949.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,911,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $395,446,455.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Theron I. Gilliam sold 6,000 shares of GMS stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.29, for a total value of $421,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,513 shares in the company, valued at $1,090,408.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,717,270 shares of company stock valued at $115,788,574. Insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in GMS by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,242,989 shares of the companys stock worth $209,773,000 after buying an additional 154,926 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in GMS by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,552,203 shares of the companys stock worth $147,743,000 after buying an additional 40,521 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in GMS by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,903,763 shares of the companys stock worth $110,209,000 after buying an additional 181,514 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in GMS by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,596,626 shares of the companys stock worth $92,429,000 after buying an additional 7,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in GMS by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 806,014 shares of the companys stock worth $55,776,000 after buying an additional 28,490 shares during the last quarter. 97.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About GMS (Get Free Report) GMS Inc distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for GMS Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for GMS and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF Get Free Report) (NYSE:SLF) have been assigned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$74.36. SLF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$73.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$79.00 to C$77.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Desjardins set a C$75.00 target price on Sun Life Financial and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$79.00 in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Cormark decreased their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$76.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Get Sun Life Financial alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on Sun Life Financial Sun Life Financial Stock Performance Shares of SLF opened at C$66.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$39.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.31, a current ratio of 51.74 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00. Sun Life Financial has a one year low of C$52.97 and a one year high of C$70.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$67.47 and a 200 day moving average of C$66.09. Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF Get Free Report) (NYSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported C$1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of C$1.56 by C$0.01. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 11.91%. The business had revenue of C$7.67 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial will post 6.2695652 EPS for the current year. Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 29th. Sun Life Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.24%. About Sun Life Financial (Get Free Report Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. It offers term and permanent life, as well as personal health, dental, critical illness, long-term care, and disability insurance products. The company provides financial advice, asset management, and investments related products. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Sun Life Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sun Life Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE:TEVA Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of Hold from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.14. Several brokerages have commented on TEVA. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. They set an equal weight rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from a sell rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $7.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. Get Teva Pharmaceutical Industries alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on TEVA Insider Buying and Selling at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Institutional Trading of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries In other Teva Pharmaceutical Industries news, insider Eric A. Hughes sold 52,742 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.30, for a total value of $437,758.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink . In other Teva Pharmaceutical Industries news, CFO Eliyahu Sharon Kalif sold 35,125 shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.73, for a total value of $341,766.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,162 shares of the companys stock, valued at $964,846.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link . Also, insider Eric A. Hughes sold 52,742 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.30, for a total transaction of $437,758.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,848 shares of company stock worth $799,176. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TEVA. Tobam purchased a new position in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new position in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries by 49.8% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,209 shares of the companys stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. 43.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Trading Up 0.8 % Teva Pharmaceutical Industries stock opened at $9.84 on Friday. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has a 52 week low of $7.09 and a 52 week high of $11.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.92, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.64. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE:TEVA Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries had a positive return on equity of 27.93% and a negative net margin of 14.87%. The business had revenue of $3.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.69 billion. Analysts expect that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Company Profile (Get Free Report Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes generic medicines, specialty medicines, and biopharmaceutical products in North America, Europe, Israel, and internationally. The company offers sterile products, hormones, high-potency drugs, and cytotoxic substances in various dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, injectables, inhalants, liquids, transdermal patches, ointments, and creams. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wellington Management Group LLP cut its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ Free Report) by 5.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,386,775 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,474,344 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.8% of Wellington Management Group LLPs holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Wellington Management Group LLPs holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,934,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 8.6% during the first quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 67,618 shares of the companys stock worth $14,975,000 after buying an additional 5,327 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 88.9% during the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 175,194 shares of the companys stock valued at $31,049,000 after acquiring an additional 82,429 shares during the period. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% during the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,305 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 45,673 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,095,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 2.4% during the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 860,371 shares of the companys stock valued at $152,488,000 after acquiring an additional 20,528 shares during the period. 68.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Johnson & Johnson alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on JNJ shares. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $187.00 to $172.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. TheStreet raised Johnson & Johnson from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Atlantic Securities lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $171.75. Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $160.48 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $166.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $417.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.49, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.54. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $150.11 and a 52 week high of $181.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.12. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $25.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $24.63 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 36.72%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.04 EPS for the current year. Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Investors of record on Monday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 25th. Johnson & Johnsons payout ratio is presently 96.36%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 12,465 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,994,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,934 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,549,440. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 12,465 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,994,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,934 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,549,440. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Peter Fasolo sold 20,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.32, for a total value of $3,406,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 102,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,491,182.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,163 shares of company stock valued at $7,928,856. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders. About Johnson & Johnson (Free Report) Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Consumer Health segment provides skin health/beauty products under the AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, DR. CI:LABO, NEUTROGENA, and OGX brands; baby care products under the JOHNSON'S and AVEENO Baby brands; oral care products under the LISTERINE brand; TYLENOL acetaminophen products; SUDAFED cold, flu, and allergy products; BENADRYL and ZYRTEC allergy products; MOTRIN IB ibuprofen products; NICORETTE smoking cessation products; and PEPCID acid reflux products. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Johnson & Johnson Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Johnson & Johnson and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Research analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WidePoint (NYSEAMERICAN:WYY Get Free Report) in a report issued on Saturday. The firm set a sell rating on the technology companys stock. WidePoint Stock Down 0.5 % Shares of WYY stock opened at $1.90 on Friday. WidePoint has a 12 month low of $1.70 and a 12 month high of $2.76. The firm has a market cap of $16.89 million, a PE ratio of -1.47 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.87 and a 200-day moving average of $1.92. Get WidePoint alerts: WidePoint (NYSEAMERICAN:WYY Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The technology company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. WidePoint had a negative net margin of 11.15% and a negative return on equity of 58.07%. The firm had revenue of $26.76 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that WidePoint will post -0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On WidePoint About WidePoint Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WidePoint by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 390,757 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $833,000 after purchasing an additional 34,072 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of WidePoint in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. EA Series Trust bought a new position in WidePoint during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WidePoint during the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of WidePoint during the first quarter worth $25,000. Institutional investors own 10.51% 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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for WidePoint Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WidePoint and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Recent developments in the political and security environment in Africa have exposed the limitations in confining Re-Federalizing Nigeria to the much-touted amendments to the 1999 Constitution where certain functions of the central government are merely transferred to the states, when, ordinarily, these functions ought to have been the prerogative of any administration desirous of pursuing the development and social well-being of the people. These functions include amendments on Railways and electricity generation and distribution, foundational to economic development and which do not need any constitutional amendment to embrace in a Federation. These have become issues to celebrate merely because of a lack of historical understanding which showed that railways and electricity played vital roles in the colonial economy such that Re-Federalization has been abridged, distanced from their economic and developmental imperatives, and reduced to gradual constitutional amendment via devolution. Limiting the return of federalism to a country that obtained political independence with a federal constitution that recognized the autonomy of each region with such phrases as fiscal federalism, state police, and Exclusive and Concurrent lists of functions just scratches the surface of the problems that face most post-colonial states in Africa, especially those states that are multiethnic. Such states, in view of the recent demonstration of different attitudes to democracy certainly need to smell the coffee and wake up to how to save most of the states believed by the African Union (AU) as essentially sacrosanct whether governance structure is conducive to good governance or not. Now is a good time for ECOWAS and the AU to relate to the question of proper and sustainable State Formation, especially in view of the return of military coups detat to the African political space. For example, the reactions to the coup in Gabon, taken alongside reactions to similar coups in other parts of the Sahel with optics of real or contrived popular support among the citizens of the countries, the usual diplomatese by the various international agencies and organizations, non-interference in domestic affairs, the reiteration of cultural, lingual, and political relationships across borders all throw up the question of the relationship between a countrys extant sovereignty and cultural nationalism of the Nations as citizens of the sovereign country while showing that Federalism must now become the foundational architecture of the multiethnic State. With the above, it is meet to interrogate Re-Federalization narrative in such a manner that arriving at a resolution will cement democracy, not only in Nigeria but also in the rest of the continent. Hence the Yoruba Referendum Committee states as follows: (i) Nigeria has been in the forefront of democracy on the African Continent, since the anti-colonial era where contestations on ideas of independence shaped the anti-colonial trajectory, away from the prevalent quest to confine decolonization to continuation of the colonially inspired Nation State, where many anti-colonial agitations simply pursued replacing the colonial power with its African equivalent. Those who pursued armed struggle did not fare better in the sense that they became virtual one-party states established along the path laid down by their foreign supporters but without the social, economic, and political infrastructure that enabled the foreign one-party states. It was only a matter of time before armed struggle outlived its usefulness in those countries. (ii) For Nigeria, however, the Nationalities became the source and route for decolonization which played out between the Nationalitiesas the contest between Federalism and Unitarism. This was further manifested by their pre-Independence participation in governance through their various regional administrations which became the foundation for Independence, albeit with various outcomes, one of which was the Western Nigerias experience, often dubbed by the people as their Golden Era. (iii) An examination of this era, beyond its physical manifestations on economic and cultural development, is in its embodiment as the manifestation of the aspirations and expectation of the Yoruba in terms of their decolonization, deriving from their pre-colonial historical experience which had pitted Yoruba Federalists against their Unitarist counterparts and had led to the Yoruba Civil War and which subsequently became tied to the form of State to replace colonial rule, to wit: the Federal State. Thus, when we celebrate Awolowo, it is not only because of his achievements as Premier of Western Region of Nigeria but because the Federalism he projected as fundamental to the anti-colonial quest derived from its internalization by the People of the West. (iv) In other parts of Africa, most of the anti-colonial nationalists anchored their demands on the opposite, the denial of the Nationalities as the central decolonizing agency and pursued the Nation-State colonial paradigm, hence, the leader became the personification of anti-colonialism/neo-capitalism such that their people were unable to protect and pursue such ideas on the demise of these leaders because their ideas have no impact on their realities. We recall that Awolowo advised Nkrumah on the centrality of the "National Question" in decolonization, in the run up to the 1958 Accra Conference of African Peoples. Nkrumah did not take to the advice. When he was overthrown, his ideas on Pan-Africanism went with him. (v) Despite the above, the impact of the Yoruba on the quest for Re-Federalizing Nigeria has not been made manifest, especially since the advent of civilian rule in 1999. The Yoruba people have literally surrendered their inherent capacity to advance the quest for self-actualization because they are either absent or absent-minded when crucial decisions are being made, despite being represented by either political or socio-cultural leaders and organizations supposedly selected by those in charge of the countrys central government that has appropriated to themselves, the authority to take decisions reflecting the general expectation of Yoruba and other People(s), thereby making it possible for the central government to discard, disregard or ignore any agreements. This has been the case through the various conferences since 1999. (vi) The contagious autocracy sweeping across Africa, to quote President Tinubu, has now provided the opportunity to reverse this trend, not only for Nigeria but also as a template for the rest of Africa, where another scramble for Africa seems to be taking place as several global powers jockey for dominance directly or through surrogates. We cannot afford again to be onlookers in our history, more so when the International Community is always prepared to intervene, one way or the other, yet without commensurate intervention from the Peoples of Africa. This was further shown by the call by the Opposition candidate in Gabon, in an interview before the elections, anchored on the twin pillars of the peoples vote and expectation of support from the international community. (vii) According to him, When one is faced with a dictatorship, one adapts to its traps. Bongo can feel his defeat and is multiplying a series of acts to maintain himself in office ad vitam aeternam. This electoral law is a trap, but we are going to foil it. The first way is for the people to give their vote. The second way is the international community. No African power can function without the international community. Previously, Ali Bongo lost the elections, but he was able to run the country because the international community recognized his position. This year, we have been working to raise awareness among the international community and if he cheats again, this time the international community will not be on his side. " If the opposition follows through, the military will eventually be defeated as Nigerias experience with NADECO showed. If they cant follow through, there is the potential for continuous instability. (viii) To follow through requires going beyond the Manichean division between military and civilian rule, more so with our experience in Nigeria navigating through this dichotomy without providing an answer, hence requiring attempts at Re-Federalization by all civilian administrations since 1999. This means Nigeria must move towards advancing the establishment of parameters for the form of State necessary in a Multi-Lingual Multi-Cultural society which most of Africa is, and which will become the focus of engagement with the international community, especially in the efforts towards achieving peace on the continent. (ix) The standard for engaging the international community must therefore be set within Africa and Nigeria can take the lead by ensuring Re-Federalization is achieved through the instrumentality of Nationality Referendums , not as a gift from the Central government but as the Legitimate exercise of the peoples will. This is because the international community has utilized the Referendum Process to achieve results beneficial to the societies in which it was applied. We recall that the Soviet Union broke up mainly because its army attempted to overturn the results of the Referendum for a Re-Federalized Soviet Union; even though the EU supported and encouraged the Catalonia Referendum even when Spain declared it illegal, the support was retained until a new political administration was voted into power in Madrid, which eventually pardoned all those convicted in the Catalan Referendum. (x) With the above, and more, it can be concluded that the best way for Africans to partake in their own future is through the Nationality Referendum process to usher in Federal Multi-National States, capable of neutralizing any military coup, resolving the dichotomy between civilian and military rule, ensuring that the nationalities are active participants in the process of their development, and redefine Regional cooperation where comparative advantage in economic investment will spread across boundaries thereby limiting the unnecessary impact and influence of foreign capital influenced by different sovereign expectations of the Nation-States and prevent international contest for influence and power from becoming the dominant source of relations between African societies, thereby resolving the almost inherent crises of State prevalent in Africa. (xi) For the Yoruba Referendum Committee, the Yoruba referendum is to be conducted by the Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti State Houses of Assembly. Other Nationalities with contiguous territories can do likewise. Those without such territories can utilize any mechanism that will suit their purpose. The Referendum is a political issue, and the political parties must decide on it. This way, a new Federal Multi-National State will come into being and become a model for the rest of Africa. Editorial Board, Yoruba Referendum Committee The Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, is seeking to ramp up global support for greater climate finance commitments at the Africa Climate Summit, taking place 4 to 6 September in Nairobi, Kenya. The summit, held under the theme Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World, is a critical juncture for the African continent to mobilise action in the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 in November. Vulnerable countries and populations in Africa are particularly exposed to the impacts of climate change, such as unpredictable weather patterns and more extreme weather, which affects millions of lives, livelihoods and homes. In Nairobi, the Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with various Heads of State from the region as well as world leaders, including the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to advocate actions that will unlock billions in climate finance to support vulnerable nations, as well as improve access to those funds. This includes delivering on the annual commitment of US$100 billion in climate finance promised to developing nations since 2009, and the operationalisation of an inclusive and fit for purpose Loss and Damage Fund, which was agreed last year at COP27 to help vulnerable countries cope with the devastating impacts of climate change. The Secretary-General said: I urge leaders, the international community, the private sector and civil society together, we must all step up and drive this transformation. The means and the solutions to realise our ambitions under the Paris Agreement are already available to us there is no excuse for a delay in action. Ignoring the consequences of inaction will hurt the most vulnerable the hardest, not to mention the generations that follow. The Secretary-General is leading a delegation of senior experts from the Commonwealth Secretariat, who will also be sharing key insights and best practices garnered from flagship programmes such as the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH), the Commonwealth Blue Charter, the Commonwealth Sustainable Energy Transition Agenda and the Commonwealth Living Lands Charter: A Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL), including their enhanced focus in supporting the Africa region. On Tuesday 5th September, the Secretary-General will take part in a high-level panel alongside the President of Somalia, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohmaud, the President of Mozambique H.E Filipe Jacinto Nyusi and the Vice President of Colombia H.E Francia Elena Marquez Mina, focusing on unlocking the potential of a regenerative blue economy in Africa and globally. During the mission, the Secretary-General will also hold a dialogue with environment and climate ministers from across the Africa region, to discuss expectations and key concerns ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference COP28. Discussions will feed into the first ever Commonwealth Environment and Climate Ministers Meeting, to take place in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York on 21 September. Simon Lalong, Minister of Labour and Employment, has appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to suspend its looming 2-day nationwide warning strike over economic hardship. Lalong made the call at a news conference on Monday in Abuja. This appeal is coming after the NLC in a communique issued at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) said it would commence a 2-day nationwide warning strike from Sept. 5 to Sept. 6. Meanwhile, the Labour Minister said that the appeal had become necessary in order to ensure a robust line of communication with Nigerians and in particular the organised labour to forestall a breakdown of industrial peace. He noted that the planned industrial action would no doubt reverse some of the gains already made by the administration. According to him, in this context, it has become pertinent to appeal to the leadership of the NLC to suspend its intended two days warning strike. As such action would be detrimental to the gains already being recorded on our course to securing a greater future for Nigerian workers and citizens at large. Furthermore, I would request that the Comrade Leadership of the NLC gives this government some time to settle and address the issues on the ground holistically. It should be realised that the Cabinet of this administration was only recently sworn in by Mr President and all cabinet members have hit the ground running by receiving briefings from their MDAs. Therefore, the issues raised by the leadership of the NLC are some issues that I and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment are being briefed upon, he said. The minister however reassured Nigerian workers that this government would never take them for granted nor fail to appreciate their support and understanding. He also said that this administration would continue to pursue policies aimed at massive employment generation in all sectors of the economy. Lalong added that this would enable the government to look into immediate challenges that have emerged out of its policies, saying We cannot do this in an atmosphere devoid of industrial peace. He also said that as a Minister of Labour and Employment, he was yet to be served official communication of the NLC communique, following its NEC meeting as required by law. He further urged the NLC to do the needful by following laid down processes for handling such matters since the cabinet was on ground. He assured that all the issues raised by the NLC would be looked into one after the other. Allow me to first express my sympathy and that of the government of President Bola Tinubu to Nigerians and in particular the workers. That is over the challenges that have arisen from the removal of petrol subsidy and other policies of the government aimed at renewing hope for the future of our dear nation. In light of these matters, I would like to reiterate my appeal to the leadership of the NLC to suspend the warning strike and subsequent future actions. To allow us to work together to amicably resolve these issues rather than embark on actions that would further worsen the conditions of the citizens of Nigeria, he said. He therefore announced that the government would be meeting with the NLC by 3 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 4). 400 foreigners checked for overstay in Phuket in August PHUKET: A total of 401 foreigners were caught on overstay during the month of August, according to the latest reports by Phuket Immigration. tourismimmigration By The Phuket News Monday 4 September 2023 03:48 PM CORRECTION: Phuket Immigration later confirmed that 401 was the number of foreigners checked for overstay during August, with the Top 5 nationalities checked given as: Russian (94), Myanmar (60), Chinese (40), British (27) and Australian (23). Only 16 foreigners were arrested for overstay and breaches of the Immigration Act. The error is sincerely regretted. ORIGINAL STORY: Phuket Immigration released three reports yesterday (Sept 3), marking the number and nationalities of foreigners arriving directly in Phuket from abroad, the number of foreigners registered as staying in the province, and the number of people arrested for breaches of the Immigration Act. According to the reports, Phuket Immigration had 263 Target venues listed to be inspected, reported as: 93 in Mueang District, 89 in Kathu District and 81 in Thalang District. Among those, Karon Police inspected 15 venues, Chalong Police inspected 13, Wichit Police inspected eight venues, Patong Police inspected seven venues, Phuket City Police inspected four venues, Kathu Police inspected two venues, as did Thalang Police, and Kamala Police inspected one venue. Of the 401 foreigners caught for overstay (staying in Thailand longer than the period allowed by their permit too stay), the Top 5 nationalities of offenders were given as: Russian (94), Myanmar (60), Chinese (40), British (27) and Australian (23). In total, 11 people were arrested for breaches of the Immigration Act: seven for overstay alone; one for overstay and other breaches of the Immigration Act; two for breaches of Section 38; and one for breach of Section 37(2) of the Immigration Act Section 38 of the Immigration Act mandates: House owners, heads of household, landlords or managers of hotels who accommodate foreign nationals on a temporary basis who stay in the kingdom legally, must notify the local immigration authorities within 24 hours from the time of arrival of the foreign national. Section 37 (2) of the Immigration Act marks: An alien having received a temporary permit into the Kingdom must comply with the following If, in any case, there is a law concerning alien employment provided hereafter, the granting of work privileges must comply with the law concerned. (2) Shall stay at the place as indicated to the competent official. Five foreigners were arrested during August on outstanding arrest warrants, Phuket Immigration also noted in its report. Under the White Housing Project for Foreigners (Free from Crime and Drugs) Phuket Province campaign, two landlords were arrested for breaches of Section 38 of the Immigration Act, while 212 hotels and other guest accommodation venues were educated of the requirements of Section 38. ARRIVALS From Aug 1-31, a total of 309,253 foreigners had entered the country by air by landing in Phuket. Arrivals from China marked the most common arrival in Phuket by air, with 64,674 Chinese nationals arriving during the month. Arrivals from Russia held second place with 39,209 Russians landing in Phuket, followed by Australians (20,437), Indian nationals (18,175) and Malaysians (16,241). A total of 412,515 foreigners, including tourists staying at guest accommodations, were registered as staying in Phuket during August. Foreigners arriving in Phuket by sea totalled 11,678 during the month, which saw three cruise liners, 33 yachts, 15 cargo vessels but zero new fishing boats recorded as entering Phuket. The Top 5 nationalities recorded as arriving by sea were given as: Singapore (4,987), Malaysia (4,658), Indonesia (779), India (599) and China (253). Bar owner files assault complaint after conflict over bill PHUKET: Police have confirmed that no charges have been brought against a man and his female partner for physical assault amid a row over a bar bill in Rawai. During the incident, the man had grabbed a female bar staffer and struck her on the back of her neck with a vodka bottle. He then placed his hands around the staffers throat and started choking her before he was pulled away. By Eakkapop Thongtub Monday 4 September 2023 11:57 AM The incident came to public attention on Friday (Sept 1), when local news Facebook group Hot Jung Phuket (So Cruel, Phuket) posted a video of the altercation and a video of the woman who runs the bar, Itthichaiya Kamcheeram, 36, originally from Bangkok, explaining the complaint she filed with police. Ms Itthichaiya, who runs the Inspire Bar on Wiset Rd in Rawai, said she feared for her safety and that of her staff, as the man involved in the incident claimed to be the brother of a Subdistrict Chief (Kamnan). The incident began when the man entered the bar at about 10:30pm last Monday night (Aug 28), Ms Itthichaiya said. The man had entered the bar with his female partner. He was a regular, and several other people had entered the bar with him, but sat at different tables. Just five minutes before the bar was to close at 1am, the man, who Ms Itthichaiya did not name, was presented with a bill for B6,220. The man flatly refused to pay. Ms Itthichaiya pointed out that the bill did not include paying for a broken chair. The total bill was for B7,000. Apparently, the man joked that if he paid for the chair, he would not have to pay for the rest of the bill. An argument over the bill ensued, and escalated, with the man taking exception to a name his female partner was called, sparking his assault on Ms Itthichaiya. The mans female partner joined the affray, grabbing at Ms Itthichaiyas face while her head was pinned on the bar. The man had grabbed a vodka bottle and seemed intent to hit her on the head with this. However, in the struggle, and with another person trying to hold his arm back, the man managed to hit Ms Itthichaiya on the back of the neck, luckily not heavily. Ms Itthichaiya continued to struggle to keep her assailant at bay, but he forced her upright and pushed against the wall behind the bar and clasped his hands around her neck and started choking her. The man was eventually subdued by other people in the bar, and police soon arrived, less than two minutes after being informed of the incident. The entire incident was recorded on CCTV in the bar. Police at the scene told Ms Itthichaiya to have the assault victim obtain a medical report detailing the injuries sustained in the assault and to file a formal complaint with police, which she did at Chalong Police Station the next day. The complaint was received by Chalong Police Deputy Chief Pol Lt Col Wiriyaphong Srinuanpan. Im afraid because theres a person with influence involved, but I want to clarify that I did nothing wrong. I simply gave them the bill for what they ordered, doing my job honestly without any attempt at cheating, Ms Itthichaiya said. I dont have any evidence against them because they personally ordered various drinks and items. I didnt manipulate the bill. I want the authorities to know that Im an honest worker and Im still working there, but I fear possible consequences in the future, Ms Itthichaiya said. Officers at Chalong Police Station today (Sept 4) declined to formally comment on the incident. One of the officers who did speak with The Phuket News said, There have been no charges pressed. There is no reason to. Consolidated News Pictures - Getty Images In 2022, actress Amber Heard's personal life was put on very public display during a massively televised defamation trial between herself and her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp. Now, a new hit Netflix docuseries, Depp v. Heard, explores the trial using side-by-side testimonies and tapes from the courtroom. The three-part doc also touches on the immense public attention the trial received, and the backlash Heard faced online. Depp and Heard were married in February of 2015, but she quickly filed for divorce in 2016, and filed a restraining order at the same time, alleging that he was physically and verbally abusive, which Depp denied. By 2017, they reached a settlement, with Depp paying Heard $7 million, which she gave to charity, per Esquire. In 2018, Heard penned a newspaper op-ed for the Wall Street Journal claiming she was the victim of abuse. Depp subsequently alleged that she had defamed him in the article. When the case went to trial, the jury found Heard liable for defamation, and found that one statement by Depp's former attorney defamed Heard. She was ordered to pay compensatory and punitive damages to Depp, per CNN. And while both parties tried to appeal the verdict, they finally agreed to drop their appeals in December of 2022, and Heard paid Depp $1 million to settle all claims. Whether youve seen the docuseries, caught the trailer, or are just curious to know more about the actress at the center of this viral trial, its only natural to wonder where Amber Heard is now. Heres what to know about what she's been doing since the verdict came down: What happened during the Depp v. Heard trial? In June 2022, the jury found that Heard had defamed Depp, and that her statements were made with "actual malice," Courthouse News reported. She was ordered to pay Depp $10.3 million in damages. However, the jury also found that Depp had defamed Heard after one of his former lawyers made a statement to a tabloid suggesting Heard wrecked the couples penthouse, but blamed Depp for the damage instead, per The New York Times. So, Depp was also ordered to pay Heard $2 million, per CNN. Story continues After the trial, Heard stood by her allegations of physical and sexual abuse by Johnny Depp, which he denied. She said in an Instagram statement that the verdict was a very difficult decision, noting that my life as I knew it was destroyed in the trial. What did she end up paying Depp? Both parties appealed the verdict, and Heard did not actually end up paying Depp the full $10.3 million. Instead, Depp agreed in December of that year to accept a $1 million payout from Heard to settle the case, People reported. But according to one of the outlet's sources, Depp allegedly gave the money to five charities, which included Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Tetiaroa Society, and Amazonia Fund Alliance. Where is Amber Heard now? After the trial, in the summer of 2022, Heard moved from California to Spain, selling her home in Yucca Valley for roughly $1.05 million, according to the New York Post. At first, she rented a home in Mallorca, before officially relocating to Madrid, per The Independent. In Mallorca, Esquire reports that Heard actually changed her name to Martha Jane Cannary, which is a nod to famous western frontierswoman, Calamity Jane. These days, she and her young daughter, Oonagh Paige, live a relatively quite life. The outlet said that when asked by Spanish reporters about her new life in the country, Heard replied in Spanish: I love Spain, so much. And with regards to her plans to stay in Madrid, she responded, Yes, I hope so. Yes, yes, I love living here. She also seems excited to get back into acting, writing that she was so touched by the reception of her latest movie. Is she still acting? Yes, despite relocating overseas, Heard is still acting. She appeared in the 2023 thriller In the Fire, according to IMDB. Shes also in post-production for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the second Aquaman film, but she doesnt have any other projects listed on her IMDB profile. Earlier this year, Heard told Deadline that she plans to keep on acting. What I have been through, what Ive lived through, doesnt make my career at all. And its certainly not gonna stop my career, she said. I just want to make movies and be appreciated as an actress. I dont want to have to be crucified to be appreciated as one. Heard has a 2-year-old daughter. The actress only has one child, Oonagh Paige, who was born April 8, 2021. Heard didn't tell the world about her daughter until three months after her birth, though. Four years ago, I decided I wanted to have a child. I wanted to do it on my own terms. I now appreciate how radical it is for us as women to think about one of the most fundamental parts of our destinies in this way, she captioned an Instagram shot of herself cuddling with her daughter in July 2021. While she hasn't confirmed if she used a surrogate to conceive Oonaugh, outlets like People think her caption alluded to this idea. The post continued: I hope we arrive at a point in which its normalized to not want a ring in order to have a crib. A part of me wants to uphold that my private life is none of anyones business. I also get that the nature of my job compels me to take control of this. My daughter was born on April 8, 2021. Her name is Oonagh Paige Heard. Shes the beginning of the rest of my life. While Heard hasn't posted pics of her daughter in a while, the two look like they have gone on lots of fun adventures together. For more details on the trial, you can watch Depp v. Heard, streaming now on Netflix. You Might Also Like Phuket project supports islanders growing own veggies PHUKET: Rewat Areerob, the President of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (PPAO), over the weekend led an entourage of government officials, educators, local leaders and eager residents to embrace the spirit of Phuket Veggie Land - an inspiring green endeavour to get more people living on the isladn to grow their own vegetables. economicsagricultureHealthCommunity By The Phuket News Monday 4 September 2023 03:29 PM The initiative is a flourishing green movement championed by the Phuket Provincial Agriculture Office, supported by the PPAO. Acting under the Governors guidance, the mission is clear: to ignite a passion for locally grown vegetables among the community. The recipe for success includes showcasing real-life victories and providing access to high-quality, affordable and safe produce. Among the festivities held at the launch of the event at Lotuss shopping centre on the bypass road on Saturday (Sept 2), accolades were bestowed upon Phukets dedicated vegetable growers, handpicked by a competition jury. However, it wasnt just about recognition; the event served as a fertile ground for sharing invaluable insights on transforming vegetables into economic assets, benefitting households and communities alike. The events ethos prioritised knowledge exchange and a steadfast commitment to sustainability. Our aim is to transform Phuket into a hub for urban vegetable farming, adding value at every stage, and enhancing prosperity for all. Phuket Veggie Land transcends mere farming; it offers a fresh perspective on tourism, promising a brighter, tastier and economically thriving future for Phuket and its residents, Mr Rewat said. On Demand We have a new story every day on the front page of thephuketnews.com. Also like us on our Facebook page (facebook.com/thephuketnews) and be the first to watch all the new stories. Finally you can watch any segment, any time by going to thephuketnews.com/tv where all the stories are listed for you to enjoy. All our programs can be enjoyed in High Definition when watching on the internet. In-Room VDO Storm, believed to be an Akita/Shephard mix, attended the bands epic concert at LAs SoFi Stadium, evidenced by a hilarious photo of her sitting in a chair at the show. Metallica posted the pic of the metal-loving pup to their social media, sharing her story and getting some jokes off. Understanding Manipur crisis in four days! | There were once six blind men who stood by the road-side every day, and begged from the people who passed. They had often heard of elephants but they had no idea of how elephants looked like, for they were blind. As an elephant stood by them, the first blind man put his hand on the elephants side and said that it was like a wall. The second man felt only the tusk and said it was like a spear. The third, getting hold of the trunk, said that an elephant must be like a snake. The fourth, getting hold of the legs, said elephants must be looking like trees. The fifth, after touching the elephants ear, said it was like a fan. The sixth beggar got hold of the tail and said elephants must look like ropes. From this famous fable, we can draw an analogy to the fact finding committee sent by the Editors Guild of India purportedly to make an assessment of the media coverage of the Manipur violence. Like the blind men in the famous fable, the so called fact finding team jumped to wild conclusions without even getting a clear picture of the crisis. Such wild conclusions are not restricted to the EGIs team alone, many media houses based outside the State are afflicted by the same ailment. Reporting an incident and understanding an issue are quite different even if the particular incident is very much a part of the issue. Any attempt to draw a comprehensive picture of an issue by gathering some knowledge of a single incident would be akin to the blind men trying to describe an elephant. The Manipur crisis is a very complex issue and we doubt even months would not be enough to understand it thoroughly. If any journalist coming from outside the State thinks that he/she has understood the Manipur issue after talking to some CSO leaders or Government officials, they are only fooling themselves. Do they have any idea for how long Kuki militants have been planning for an exclusive homeland of their own? Or do they have any idea of the long, rich and proud history of Manipur? Do they know that there is a very large section of people who cherish and value the idea of united Manipur more than anything else, including their own lives? It is indeed quite disappointing that the EGIs so called fact finding team landed here with a very rigid set of pre-determined ideas about who is evil and who is good, who are the aggressors and who are the victims. Going far beyond the scope of their terms of reference, they came up with a conclusion of their own regarding the genesis of the violence notwithstanding the fact that a Supreme Court appointed committee has been tasked with the same job. Within four days, the EGIs team came to the conclusion that Meiteis started the riots. Even after four months, many media outlets based outside the State have been claiming that the High Court order ignited the violence. Have they ever questioned what those armed hoodlums and automatic rifles-wielding combatants (revealed by their combat dress) were doing in the midst of protesters/agitators during the infamous Churachandpur rally of May 3? Is there any justifiable ground for attacking unarmed civilian population and burning down their houses just because they are not happy with the court order or Government policies? Earlier, there were strong protests or agitation by Kukis, Nagas as well as Meiteis on different issues but no community was targeted. But this time it was different, the Meitei population was targeted with full force. Did the EGIs so called fact finding team take note of this marked departure from the earlier trend? Of course, there were reaction, retaliation and retribution. The EGIs team not only went beyond their terms of reference but also filed a report full of factual errors. They investigated the crisis in just four days and jumped onto the judgment throne. If the factual errors in their report are any indication, the EGI teams knowledge of the crisis is at the best superficial. Their report only reminds us of the famous fable The Blind Men and the Elephant, and nothing more. A fresh notification from the office of the West Bengal Governor, C.V. Ananda Bose virtually bringing down the level of state government authority on state universities to zero has opened yet another channel of confrontation between the Governors House and state secretariat. In the notification it has been clearly said that the faculty and non-faculty staff members of all state universities are answerable first to the chancellor and then to the vice- chancellor. The Governor himself, by virtue of his chair, is also the chancellor of all state universities. In the fresh notification from Raj Bhavan, it has also been mentioned that the state government might give instructions to the state universities authorities, but those instructions are not binding on the universities authorities or employees. It has also been informed in the notification that any instruction from the state government or state educa- tion department to any state university will become valid only if that is cleared by the vice-chancellor. Advertisement On 1 September, the Gov- ernor announced that he as the chancellor of the state universities will play the role of interim vice-chancellors for state universities where the chairs of the functional heads are currently vacant. The decision attracted scathing criticisms from the state education minister Bratya Basu who said that the state government will move to the Supreme Court against the decision. This fresh notification bringing down the level of state government authority on state universities to zero has also drawn scathing criticism from the states ruling party leadership which has described the move as an attempt on part of the Governor to run a parallel admin- istration in the state. The Opposition BJP has, however, described the move as a step in the right direction to secure the autonomous nature of the universities free from political decisions imposed on them by the state government A Khalistan referendum event, scheduled to take place on September 10 at a school in Canada, has been cancelled after images of weapons on the poster were brought to the school authorities notice by concerned residents. The Surrey School District announced on Sunday that it has cancelled the event at Tamanawis Secondary School in Surrey town of British Columbia province as the event organisers failed to remove the concerning images despite repeated requests. Earlier today, our district cancelled a community rental of one of our schools due to a violation of our rental agreement. Promotional materials for the event featured images of our school, alongside images of a weapon, the Surrey School District said in a statement published on The Indo-Canadian Voice website. Advertisement Despite repeated attempts to address the issue, the event organisers failed to remove these concerning images, and materials continued to be posted throughout Surrey and on social media, the statement read. The poster featured a kirpan (dagger) as well as an AK-47 machine gun, along with the name of banned Khalistani group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), which is led by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. It also had pictures of Khalistani leaders Hardip Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead in June at a parking lot in Surrey and Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind of the 1985 Air India Flight bombing. As a school district, our primary mission is to provide quality education and support to our students and ensure a safe environment for our school communities. Our agreements, policies and guidelines, including those for rentals, support our district in creating a safe environment for our community. Anyone renting our facilities must adhere to this, the statement by school authorities read. The school district added that the decision is in no way an endorsement of, or criticism of, any political position. The development comes amidst recent appearances of pro-Khalistani posters threatening Indian diplomats and installations in Canada. SFJs Pannun has called on the Khalistan elements in Canada to lock down Indias Consulate in Vancouver on September 8. The Lucknow police have arrested a group of eight female thieves who were posing as cosmetic saleswomen while allegedly engaging in thefts of valuables, including jewellery and cash, from commuters in busy areas. An FIR has been registered against the accused under IPC sections 379 (theft) and 411 (dishonesty). The gang members have been sent to jail. Advertisement According to a police spokesperson, the female gang members masqueraded as door-to-door cosmetic saleswomen in the Madiyaon area. Their modus operandi involved targeting individuals in crowded places or those travelling in autos and e-rickshaws. The gang, primarily of slum dwellers, had in their possession several pieces of gold and silver jewellery, as well as cash. Antony has been withdrawn from the Brazil squad (Getty Images) Manchester United winger Antony has been dropped from the Brazil squad amid accusations of assault. Former girlfriend Gabriela Cavallin made fresh claims against Antony on Monday in an interview with Brazilian publication UOL, alleging that she was attacked while pregnant and suffered injuries to her head and fingers. She claims she was punched and headbutted by Antony in a hotel the day after Uniteds win over Manchester City on January 14. Antony, who in June denied the original allegations of assault made by Cavallin, took to social media to release another statement in response to the the accuastions. He wrote: From the beginning I have handled this issue seriously and with respect, providing the due clarifications to the police authority. The police inquest is under cover of justice, and therefore I cannot make its contents public. However, I can say with confidence that the accusations are false and that the evidence already produced and more to be produced show that I am innocent of the accusations made. My relationship with Ms, Gabriela was tumultuous, with verbal offences from both sides, but I never practiced any physical aggression. Every time, whether in testimony or in interview, she presents a different version of the accusations. Thus, I come to deny the accusations made and inform that I remain at the full disposal of the Brazilian authorities to clarify what is needed. I trust the ongoing police investigations will reveal the truth about my innocence. Antony has been removed from the Brazil squad for upcoming qualifiers against Bolivia and Peru, with Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus called up in his place. A statement from the Brazil federation said: In light of the facts which came to light on Monday (04/09) concerning Manchester United player Antony, which must be investigated, and in order to safeguard the alleged victim, the player, the Brazilian national team and the CBF, the organization informs that the athlete has been removed from the Brazilian national team. The allegations made against Antony have been reported to police in Sao Paulo and Manchester. Greater Manchester Police said: Greater Manchester Police is aware of the allegations made and enquiries remain ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding this report. We will not be commenting any further at this time. The meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet sub-committee on Maratha Reservation is scheduled today at 12 p.m., the Chief Ministers Office informed. Eknath Shinde Maharashtra Chief Minister will be attending this meeting, the CMO added. Earlier on Saturday, Shinde said that the state government was devoted to equipping reservations to the Maratha community. Earlier on Friday, a clash broke out between police and protesters in Jalna demanding reservation for the Marathas. Police resorted to lathi charges to disperse the protesters. Speaking on the Jalna incident, Shinde said, In November 2014, when the coalition government was in power under the leadership of then CM Devendra Fadnavis, the government announced the Maratha reservation. The High Court also upheld the Maratha Reservation decision taken by the government. But the Supreme Court took a different decision. Everyone knows that this is due to someones negligenceThe issue of the Maratha Reservation is currently in the court. The state government is fully prepared to fight this case in courtThere are some difficulties, and the state government is trying to resolve them. The Chief Minister appealed to people to be careful of those who wanted to take political mileage from the situation. He said, I appeal to the Maratha community, who have so far expressed their feelings very sensibly and calmly, with folded hands, to exercise restraint and not take the law into their hands. Advertisement I had a conversation with the leader of this movement, Jarange Patil. Meetings were also held under my chairmanship regarding their demands. Action was being taken by the government on their demands. However, the movement started even after that. I had requested Jarange Patil to withdraw the agitation but the protest still continued, Shinde said. However, during protest time, the condition of Jarange Patil deteriorated, Collector and SP went there because they were worried about his condition, the CM added. They were requesting that Jarange Patil should be admitted to the hospital. However, this unfortunate incident happened at that time. I have also ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. Also, I have given instructions to treat all the injured in this incident at the governments expense, the CM said. The Maratha groups agitation for reservations continued for the 7th day in Jalna even as Congress Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Vijay Wadettiwar demanded a Special Session of Maharashtra Legislature to discuss and finalise the quotas for the community here on Monday. Wadettiwar told mediapersons that the state government should convene a special sitting of the house to consider and finalise the Maratha quotas permanently. Maratha groups have called for bandh in pockets of Jalna, Aurangabad, Solapur, Pune, Beed and other districts as police deployed tight security in all sensitive areas. Advertisement The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray experienced the communitys ire when his motorcade was blocked briefly by the Maratha Kranti Morcha activists, while he was en route to Jalna. Raj Thackeray alighted from his vehicle when the Marathas put forth their demands which he assured to take up before his car was permitted to go ahead to Antarvali-Sarati village, where a group led by Manoj Jarange has been on a hunger strike since August 29. Last evening, preliminary efforts by the Maharashtra government to resolve the crisis apparently failed to fructify after the agitators refused to call off their hunger strike, demanded quotas announcement within 48 hours, and suspension of all the police personnel involved in the caning incident on September 1. Representing the state government, Minister Girish Mahajan said that the administration is positive on the issue, but sought at least one months time to work out a fool-proof policy which could withstand legal scrutiny. The past two days have seen a galaxy of ruling and Opposition leaders rushing to Jalna to express solidarity with the Marathas and demanding justice for their cause. They included 3 ex-Chief Ministers Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray and Congress Ashok Chavan, descendants of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sambhajiraje Bhosale and Udayanraje Bhosale, and others. The polling for 200 seats is scheduled to take place on November 25. Commenting on the Union Ministers diatribes against him on Monday, CM Vijayan at a press conference said that Rajeev Chandrasekhar had been spewing not just poison but deadly poison in a bid to dent the secular credentials of Kerala. Premier Li Qiang will represent China at the 18th G20 summit in India on 9-10 September, Beijing said today, officially confirming that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not be travelling to New Delhi for the high-profile meet. At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a statement. However, no reason was given in the statement about Xis absence from the summit. Advertisement It is understood that Chinese officials had informed their Indian counterparts on 2 September that President Xi would be skipping the New Delhi summit. Along with President Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin will also not attend the summit in India. Putin will be represented by his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit last month during which he highlighted Indias concerns over the unresolved issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in Ladakh. However, there was intense debate over who took the initiative for the meeting. India said there was a long-standing request from China for the meeting while the Chinese side said New Delhi sought the meeting. The Chinese President has made few overseas trips since China abruptly dropped its Covid restrictions. Several G20 ministerial meetings in India ahead of the summit have been contentious as Russia and China together opposed joint statements which included paragraphs condemning Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine last year. Assailing controversial remarks of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalins son about Sanatan Dharma, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh questioned the silence of the Congress and asked the grand old party to clarify its stand on the issue publicly. Junior Stalin has hurt the sentiments of Sanatan Dharma and appealed to abolish it. I ask Ashok Gehlot ji why he is not asking the Congress leaders Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to comment and make partys stand crystal clear but keeping a silence which is not good, Singh told a huge gathering of BJP party workers while launching the third phase of Parivartan Yatra at Ramdevra temple. He said the DMK leader should be asked to explain why his son made such a remark and what the party wanted to say to the nation on Hindu dharma which is Sanatan. Advertisement Making a sarcastic remark on the INDIA alliance, Singh said, 28 parties have come together to remove PM Narendra Modi. The condition of this alliance is such that the name is big and the vision is small. The people of their coalition are hurting Sanatan Dharma. On the five years of the Gehlot Government, Singh said he was just sitting in the drivers seat while someone else was pressing the clutch and accelerator of his vehicle. Coming down heavily on the states law and order situation which he found worst, Singh said, There have been 10 lakh cases registered in 56 months. As many as 7,650 innocent people have been murdered in Rajasthan. He pointed out that of the 2 lakh crimes committed in the state, 31,000 are rapes including that of little girls. He said, An entire family has been murdered in Jodhpur. Everyone remembers what happened in Udaipur. The people themselves should assess what was the atmosphere earlier and what is it now. The defence minister claimed that the states progress has come to a grinding halt with the crime rate being the highest in the country. In this context, he quoted a report of Transparency International, which says Rajasthan ranked number one in corruption. Taking a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, he said that the launch and landing of Chandrayaan was done successfully, but Rahulyaan has neither been launched nor landed for 20 years. His remark was greeted with the chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Later, Singh flagged off the third Yatra from Ramdeora in the Jaisalmer district. The Yatra will pass through 51 assembly constituencies of the Ajmer, Jodhpur, and Nagaur districts in 18 days by covering a distance of 2,574 km. Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti declared today that she would not participate in the yatra even if she received an invitation, contradicting her previous statement that she was disappointed that she had not been invited to her partys Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Madhya Pradesh. After claiming that BJP leaders would be nervous if she attended the yatra because all eyes would be on her, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh created a stir within the party yesterday. The 64-year-old stated, Perhaps they (the BJP leaders) are anxious that if Im there, then full public attention will be on me. Today, the senior leader began her social media rant against the state BJP leadership. Advertisement Its true that at first, I didnt get an invitation to the Jan Ashirwad Yatra. However, whether or not I accept an invitation does not alter my significance in any way. I wont go if Im invited right now. On September 25th, I wont be at either the opening or closing ceremonies, she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. JP Nadda, the national president of the BJP, launched the yatra in the election-bound state on Sunday. The states Vindhya region, where the BJP won 24 of the 30 seats in the 2018 assembly elections, will be traversed by the yatra. Ms. Bharti led the BJP to a resounding win in Madhya Pradesh in 2003, ending the 10-year control of Digvijaya Singhs Congress party. She was, however, dismissed from the BJP in 2005 due to disobedience, and she wasnt reinstated until 2011. Despite her criticism of the state BJP branch, the fiery politician vowed to stick by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and support the party whenever necessary. Ms. Bharti continued to criticise political figures by highlighting the distinction between public and private hospitals. Additionally, she condemned the 5-star hotel mentality that is common among politicians. Leaders, MLAs, MPs, ministers, chief ministers, and all officers should receive medical care in government clinics, and our kids should attend public schools. Then these systems can be enhanced. I have always considered the wasteful expenditure of weddings and the stay of our leaders in 5-star hotels to be wrong. Prime Minister Modi also strongly dislikes this lifestyle. I will continue to say this in the future as well. We cannot ignore the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi ji, Deendayal Upadhyay ji, and PM Modi ji, she wrote. Elections for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly are expected to take place later this year. On September 25, the birth anniversary of prominent BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya, PM Modi is anticipated to address BJP members in Bhopal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the world saw India as a nation of over one billion hungry stomachs but that perception has changed under his government and the country is now being seen as a nation of over one billion aspirational minds. For a long time, India was perceived as a nation of over 1 billion hungry stomachs. But now, India is being seen as a nation of over 1 billion aspirational minds, more than 2 billion skilled hands, and hundreds of millions of young people. We are not only the most populous country in the world but also the nation with the largest youth population. So, perspectives about India have changed, Prime Minister Modi said in a recent interview with an Indian news agency. According to the excerpts published on his personal website, PM Modi spoke on the growing stature of G20 grouping under Indias presidency and said, Indias G20 Presidency has also sowed the seeds of confidence in the countries of the so-called Third World. They are gaining greater confidence to shape the direction of the world in the coming years on many issues such as climate change and global institutional reforms. Advertisement Before we complete our G20 Presidency, over 1 lakh delegates will have visited India. They have been going to different regions, witnessing our demography, democracy and diversity. They are also seeing how a fourth D, development, has been empowering the people over the last decade. There is a growing understanding that many of the solutions that the world needs are already being successfully implemented in our country, with speed and scale. Prime Minister Modi also dismissed the objections raised by Pakistan and China on G20 events being held in Kashmir and Arunanchal Pradesh. Ours is such a vast, beautiful and diverse nation. When G20 meetings are happening, isnt it natural that meetings will be held in every part of our country?, the prime minister asked. The 18th G20 Summit will be held in Delhi from September 9 to 10 under Indias presidency. The summit will be attended by heads of states of several countries including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK PM Rishi Sunak. The approval by the Biden administration of the first ever US military transfer to Taiwan under a programme typically reserved for sovereign states is a significant diplomatic and strategic development. This decision comes on the heels of 50 years of formal diplomatic relations between the USA and China, high lighting the complexities and sensitivities surrounding the Taiwan issue. Underpinning this development is the Taiwan Relations Act, enacted in 1979, which obliges the USA to supply Taiwan with the necessary weapons for its defence. Historically, these transfers have occurred through trade agreements rather than direct aid, reflecting the delicate balance that America has tried to maintain between its relationship with China and its commitment to supporting Taiwan. Crucially, the USA has been at pains to emphasise that this military aid does not constitute a change in its official policy on Taiwans sovereignty. The USA remains committed to its longstanding One China policy, which asserts that it does not formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. Instead, the USA views its support for Taiwan as a means to help the island maintain selfdefence capabilities, in line with the Taiwan Relations Act. The decision to provide military aid under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme to Taiwan is likely to further escalate tensions between the USA and China. Beijing views Taiwan as an integral part of its territory and has consistently opposed any arms sales to the island. This move could strain an already complex bilateral relationship. From a strategic standpoint, the USA aims to maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region. By supporting Taiwans defence capabilities, it can deter potential aggression and contribute to regional security. This aligns with the broader US commitment to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. Taiwans growing importance in global supply chains, particularly in semiconductor manufacturing, cannot be overlooked. Taiwan is home to TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), a major player in semiconductor production. Given the semi conductors critical role in various industries, including technology and defence, supporting Taiwans security could indirectly safeguard vital supply chains. While the USA has not explicitly linked its decision to Taiwans economic role, trade and economic factors often influence foreign policy decisions. Taiwans position as a significant trading partner, especially in the tech sector, would have played a role in the decision. Ensuring Taiwans security could be seen as a way to protect these economic interests. The USAs decision to provide military aid under FMF to a non-nation state, following a similar instance involving the African Union, reflects the evolving dynamics in international relations. It demonstrates the USAs willingness to adapt its policies to address contemporary challenges while navigating a delicate balancing act in its relationships with China and Taiwan. This development underscores the complexities and sensitivities surrounding Taiwan, which continues to be a flashpoint in global geopolitics. Advertisement As Russian installed authorities plan holding regional elections in parts of Ukraine that Moscow claims as its own, its evident that these elections will lack legitimacy. So, what does President Vladimir Putin hope to achieve by staging these sham shows of support? Russias election gambit in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, regions it does not fully control raises concerns about its intentions and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. These elections come on the heels of international condemnation and accusations of Russias attempted illegal annexation. One of Mr Putins primary goals is to legitimise Russian control over these territories. By holding elections, even if widely criticised as fraudulent, Moscow can claim that these regions have chosen to align with Russia, strengthening its grip on them. Mr Putin seeks to maintain influence over Ukraines domestic affairs, particularly in these contested regions. Installing loyal governors and officials through these elections allows Russia to shape the political landscape to its advantage. The elections serve as a powerful propaganda tool for Mr Putins government. He can present these regions as willing participants in Russias sphere of influence, aiming to sway public opinion both domestically and internationally. While Mr Putin pushes forward with these elections, there are signs that he might be feeling the heat. The USA and its allies have been steadily increasing military supplies to Ukraine, providing vital support to the Ukrainian government. This move signifies international solidarity with Ukraine and sends a message to Russia that its actions will not go unopposed. Recent events in Ukraine indicate a shift in tactics. Ukrainian forces have launched an offensive to regain territory, and this strategy hasnt yielded the desired results. Blunt assessments by observers of repute highlight the complexities of Ukraines military campaign. Ukraines offensive faces challenges due to the presence of Russ- ian-backed separatist forces in the contested regions. These forces are well entrenched, making it difficult for Ukraine to make significant gains. The offensive also raises humanitarian concerns as it can exacerbate the suffering of civilians caught in the crossfire. This puts additional pressure on Ukraine to balance military objectives with humanitarian considerations. Ukraines offensive has international implications. It can affect diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict and may lead to further tensions between Russia and Western countries. In the broader context, the situation in Ukraine remains highly volatile. The elections in the contested regions add another layer of complexity to an already tangled web of geopolitical interests. The international community closely watches these developments, with the hope that diplomatic avenues can still be explored to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The pressure on Mr Putin, as evidenced by increased military support to Ukraine, underscores the importance of finding a diplomatic solution to avoid further escalation. Advertisement When Dr S Radhakrishnan was invited in 1926 to Manchester College, Oxford to deliver the Upton lectures, he was already a renowned professor of philosophy at Calcutta University. As a teacher, he was demonstrating his ability to simplify complex issues of western and Indian philosophy; making the subject inspiring, interesting for students and lay people who wanted to uplift their lives. The world is now full of racial, cultural and religious misunderstandings, he said, referring to the end of the First World War, the millions who had died in Europe, Africa and Asia, and the anti colonial upsurge in the 1920s shaking up the British Empire. We are groping in a timid and tentative way for some device which would save us from our suicidal conflicts. Perhaps the Hindu way of approach to the problem of religious conflicts may not be without its lessons for us, he advised the august audience. Dr Radhakrishnan questioned at the start, How was Hindu society built up out of material so diverse, so little susceptible in many cases to assimilation, and scattered across a huge continent measuring nearly two thousand miles from north to south and eighteen hundred miles from west to east? It cannot be denied that in a few centuries the spirit of cultural unity spread through a large part of the land, and racial stocks of varying levels of culture became steeped in a common atmosphere. The differences among the sects of the Hindus are more or less on the surface, and the Hindus as such remain a distinct cultural unit, with a common history, a common literature and a common civilisation. Advertisement The professor, in his soft yet firm voice, confessed, In this task of welding together hetero- geneous elements and enabling them to live in peace and order, Hinduism has had to adopt her own measures with little or no historic wisdom to guide and support her. His explanation of the Hindu religion, and what it means to its followers, revealed his spir- itual and intellectual depth. Dr Radhakrishnan said, The Hindu attitude to religion is interesting. While fixed intellectual beliefs mark off one religion from another, Hinduism sets itself no such limits. Intellect is subordinated to intuition, dogma to experience, outer expression to inward realisation. Religion is not the acceptance of academic abstractions or the celebration of ceremonies, but a kind of life or experience. It is insight into the nature of reality (darsana), or experience of reality (anubhava). Both western and Indian philosophy have grappled with subjects of reality and divinity, the self and personality, ethics and morality for millennia. In his lecture, later published as The Hindu View of Life in 1927, Dr Radhakrishnan explained the nuances of religious experiences. He said, This experience is not an emotional thrill, or a subjective fancy, but is the response of the whole personality, the integrated self to the central reality. Religion is a specific attitude of the self, itself and no other, though it is mixed up generally with intellectual views, aesthetic forms, and moral valuations. When he said that relipgious experience is of a self-certifying character, he was in effect sharing one of the spiritual facets of Hinduism to a largely foreign audience. It is svatassiddha. It carries its own credentials. But the religious seer is compelled to justify his in most convictions in a way that satisfies the thought of the age. If there is not this intellectual confirmation, the seers attitude is one of trust. Religion rests on faith in this sense of the term. Faith and belief are contentious subjects for the modern mind. Dr Radhakrishnans words are a soothing balm for ruffled minds that could be going round in circles. If we take faith in the proper sense of trust or spiritual conviction, religion is faith or intuition. We call it faith simply because spiritual perception, like other kinds of perception, is liable to error and requires the testing processes of logical thought. But, like all perception, religious intuition is that which thought has to start from and to which it has to return. In order to be able to say that religious experience reveals reality, in order to be able to transform religious certitude into logical certainty, we are obliged to give an intellectual account of the experience. Hindu thought has no mistrust of reason. There can be no final breach between the two powers of the human mind, reason and intuition. Beliefs that foster and promote the spiritual life of the soul must be in accordance with the nature and the laws of the world of reality with which it is their aim to bring us into harmony. He explained it further, The chief sacred scriptures of the Hindus, the Vedas, register the intuitions of the perfected souls. They are not so much dogmatic dicta as transcripts from life. They record the spiritual experiences of souls strongly endowed with the sense for reality. They are held to be authoritative on the ground that they express the experiences of the experts in the field of religion. Not just as a philosopher or teacher, the patriot in Dr Radhakrishnan had realized the signifi- cance and value of ones heritage. He said, It is essential to every religion that its heritage should be treated as sacred. A society which puts a halo of sanctity round its tradition gains an inestimable advantage of power and permanence. The Vedic tradition became surrounded with sanctity, and so helped to transmit cul- ture and ensure the continuity of civilisation. The sacred scriptures make the life of the spirit real even to those who are incapable of insight, he underlined these foundations of our civilization. Men, in the rough and tumble of life with their problems and perplexities, sins and sorrows, have no patience for balanced arguments or sustained meditation, but they want some formula or rule of life which they can accept as valid. Through it, they are inducted into a new way of life. A living tradition influences our inner faculties, humanises our nature and lifts us to a higher level. Where is the scope of change, one may question. He said, the dialectic of religious advance through tradition, logic and life helps the conservation of Hinduism by providing scope for change. Religion and philos- ophy, life and thought, the prac tical and the theoretical, to use the language of Croce, form the eternal rhythm of the spirit. We rise from life to thought and return from thought to life in a progressive enrichment which is the attainment of ever higher levels of Reality. Highlighting tradition, in the context of religion, Dr Radhakrishnan said, tradition is something which is for ever being worked out anew and re-created by the free activity of its followers. What is built for ever is for ever building. If a tradition does not grow, it only means that its followers have become spiritually dead. Throughout the history of Hinduism, the leaders of thought and practice have been continually busy experimenting with new forms, developing new ideals to suit new conditions. The first impulse of progress came when the Vedic Aryans came into contact with the native tribes. A similar impulse contributed to the protestant movements of Jainism and Buddhism when the Aryans moved out into the Gangetic valley. Contact with the highly civilised Dravidians led to the transformation of Vedism into a theistic religion. Looking back over last five centuries, the professor said, reform movements of Ramananda, Caitanya, Kabir, and Nanak show the stimulus of Islam. The Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj are outcome of contact with Western influences, and yet Hinduism is not to be dismissed as a mere flow and strife of opinions, for it represents a steady growth of insight, since every form of Hinduism and every stage of its growth is related to the common back- ground of the Vedanta. Though Hindu religious thought has traversed many revolutions and made great conquests, the es- sential ideas have continued the same for four or five millenniums. The germinal conceptions are contained in the Vedanta standard. Dr Radhakrishnans ability to join the dots for clarity and understanding by the audience is evident when he explained, the three prasthanas of the Vedanta, the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra and the Bhagavadgita answer roughly to the three stages of faith, knowledge and discipline. The Upanishads embody experiences of the sages. Logic and discipline are present in them, though they are not chief characteristics of those texts. The Brahma Sutra attempts to interpret in logical terms chief conclusions of the Upanishads. The Bhagavadgita is primarily a yoga sastra giving us the chief means by which we can attain the truly religious life. They form together the absolute standard for the Hindu religion. It is said that other scriptures sink into silence when the Vedanta appears, even as foxes do not raise their voices in the forest when the lion appears, he said, adding, all sects of Hinduism attempt to interpret the Vedanta texts in accordance with their own religious views. Vedanta is not a religion, but religion itself in its most universal and deepest significance. On the eve of Teachers Day, we pay our deepest respects to Dr S Radhakrishnan, a teacher of teachers. (The writer is a researcher writer on history and heritage issues, and a former deputy curator of Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya) Amardeep Chowdary has added his name to the roster of well-known individuals entering the Bigg Boss Telugu realm. Lets delve into his journey and background. Amardeep Chowdary is an actor in the Telugu serial industry, exclusively working within the Telugu language domain. He was born on November 8th, 1990, in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India. Following his school years, Amardeep pursued a degree in Computer Science, earning a B. Tech. Subsequently, he ventured to London to pursue a masters degree. Upon returning from his overseas stint, he embarked on his acting career, commencing with a short film titled Parinayam in 2016. Advertisement His journey then led him to Trivandrum, Kerala, where he worked for a software company. However, a twist of fate brought him back to Hyderabad, where he joined Idream Telugu and became a fixture in various short films and web series. Some of his notable works include Pizza vs Gongura, Mangamma Gari Manavadu, Girl Friend Oorelithe, Super Machi, Raju Gari Kidnap, My Pubg Wife, Girlfriend, Double Date, and Love You Zindagi, among others. Amardeeps family background is steeped in culture and artistry. His father, Ameer Basha, is a Kuchipudi dancer and a retired RTC employee, while his mother, Rupa, is also a dancer and holds a prominent position as a BJP leader. In personal news, on August 3rd, 2022, Amardeep entered into an engagement with Tejaswini Gowda, an actress, in Bangalore. Their journey continued, culminating in a joyful union as they tied the knot on December 14th, 2022, in Bangalore. Amardeep Chowdarys presence in Bigg Boss Telugu promises to add an interesting dimension to the show, bringing with him a diverse background and a rich tapestry of experiences. Popular actor Nagarjuna is hosting this season of Bigg Boss Telugu. Fans eagerly await all the drama that is going to unfold. On September 3rd in Bareilly, law enforcement took into custody an individual accused of making death threats against the self-proclaimed spiritual leader, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, associated with Bagheshwar Dham. Anas Ansari sent those threats. According to Superintendent of Police (Rural) Raj Kumar Agarwal, the arrest was carried out following the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) related to the threatening social media post on Instagram. The FIR was filed earlier that day by a member of a local Hindu organization at the Hafizganj police station. In Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, a young individual named Anas Ansari has issued a death threat against Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the leader of Bageshwar Dham. Advertisement This incident pertains to the Rithora area, under the jurisdiction of the Hafizganj police station. Anas Ansari made a menacing post on Instagram, explicitly stating that harm awaits Baba Shastri. This provocative post has ignited anger within Hindu organizations, given its contentious content regarding Sanatan dharma and its preacher, Dhirendra Shastri. Hindu organizations have called for decisive action by the police against the accused. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the police have registered a case. Anas Ansari, a resident of Rithora within the Hafizganj police station vicinity, established an Instagram account under the name mr_anas2332. On this account, he posted incendiary content concerning Sanatan dharma and its advocate, Pandit Dhirendra Shastri. He also issued threats against Pandit Dhirendra Shastri. In response, complaints have been filed with the police by the Hindu Jagran Manch and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. To address this matter, a screenshot of the controversial post went on twitter. It tagged Bareilly police, IG, ADG, and DGP, with a demand for action against the accused. Intelligence agencies have also initiated an investigation into the incident to ascertain any potential connections Anas Ansari may have with terrorist organizations. Regarding this case, SP Dehat Rajkumar Aggarwal stated that Anas Ansari had posted objectionable content against Sanatan dharma and Pandit Dhirendra Shastri, including threats to his life. As a result, the police registered a case at the Hafizganj police station and apprehended the accused. In the city of Bareilly, located in Uttar Pradesh, a young individual by the name of Anas Ansari has issued a death threat against Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the leader of Bageshwar Dham. This incident occurred in the Rithora locality, falling under the jurisdiction of the Hafizganj police station. Anas Ansari posted a menacing message on Instagram, explicitly stating that a threat to Babas life is imminent. This post has stirred resentment among Hindu organizations due to its controversial nature, particularly concerning Sanatan dharma and its preacher, Dhirendra Shastri. Advertisement Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, born on July 4, 1996, under the name Dhirendra Krishna Garg, also renowned as Bageshwar Dham Sarkar or Maharaj, holds the esteemed position of peethadhish at the sacred Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, a revered pilgrimage destination situated in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Shastri engages in narrating captivating tales at the Bageshwar Dham in Chhatarpur. However, its worth noting that Shastri has faced allegations of employing mentalism techniques to deceive individuals. Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the elder among two siblings, was born to Saroj Garg (his mother) and Ram Kripal Garg (his father) and was raised in a Hindu Saryupareen Brahmin family. His father, in the role of a priest, maintained the familys religious traditions. Shastris early years were marked by profound economic hardship, with his family residing in a humble kutcha house. During his childhood, he would enthusiastically share narratives with the people in his village. Shastri is a devoted follower of Rambhadracharya. He is popular for his teachings around the Ramcharitmanas and Shiva Purana. He asserts that he possesses certain extraordinary abilities, acquired through dedicated spiritual practice (sadhana), which have garnered him a following of devout disciples. Dhirendra Shastri gained prominence when the Indian rationalist Shyam Manav challenged his claimed spiritual powers and criticized him for promoting unwavering belief. When this controversy erupted in the media, Shastri extended an invitation to Manav to attend his Divya Darbar, stating, I am merely a humble servant of Bageshwar Balaji, carrying out His inspiration. Play Achcha Kiya, Hannah Kalia, The All India Superstition Eradication Committee, led by its chairman Shyam Manav, filed a complaint with the Nagpur Police against Shastri under the anti-superstition act. Manav alleged that practices resembling witchcraft advanced through Divya Darbar and Pret Darbar. This resulted in the exploitation and deception of ordinary people in the name of religion. Subsequently, the police conducted an investigation and found no grounds for prosecuting Shastri under the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act of 2013. The President of the United States of America (USA) Joe Biden has expressed disappointment over his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping not attending the upcoming G20 leaders summit in New Delhi. According to reports, Xi will not travel to India and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will be Beijings representative at the New Delhi G20 Summit. I am disappointed but I am going to get to see him, Biden told reporters on Sunday. He, however, didnt disclose when and where he will meet the Chinese president. The Chinese President had earlier confirmed his attendance in the India G20 Summit and the sudden change of plan is being attributed to the the recent map controversy between Beijing and New Delhi. Advertisement The Chinese had released a fabricated map falsely claiming Indian territories of Aksai Chin and parts of Arunanchal Pradesh. India strongly protested the move saying it could further deteriorate already strained bilateral relations between the countries. India and China relations have long been marred by border disputes and the two Asian superpowers had come on the brink of a full-fledged war in May 2020 after a standoff between their military personnel in Ladakh region along the Sino-Indian border. The bilateral relations between the USA and China have not been good either. Both countries have disagreements over several issues including trade and territorial claims on Taiwan and the South China sea. Meanwhile, the White House has confirmed President Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a bilateral meeting on September 8 ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi. On Thursday (September 7), the President will travel to New Delhi, India to attend the G20 Leaders Summit. On Friday, the President will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the White House said in a press note on Presidents schedule released on Friday. The 18th G20 Summit will be held in Delhi from September 9 to 10 under Indias presidency. The Election Commission of India has written to Telangana chief secretary and Legislative secretary to recognise BJP national Vice-President DK Aruna as elected MLA from the Gadwal constituency after the high court declared the election of her rival Bandla Kishore Mohan Reddy of BRS void for giving wrong details in his election affidavit. Although Aruna had submitted the courts order to the secretary of the state Assembly, there has not been any progress in the matter so far. The letter of the ECI written by an undersecretary states: The Honble High Court has declared the petitioner Smt DK Aruna as the returned candidate for 79 Gadwal AC wef 12.12.2018 and declared the election of Sh Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, as void. The said order is being published in the next issue of the Telangana State Gazette. Advertisement Aruna had contested the poll as a Congress candidate but after she lost the election to her nephew and BRS candidate she had joined the BJP and contested from Mahabubnagar constituency for the Lok Sabha elections but lost it too. She was a two time MLA from Gadwal before she lost the election in 2018. Now, the Congress says it will lodge a disqualification notification if she is recognised as an MLA. The state Assembly is unlikely to meet again if the polls are held in December for Assembly elections in Telangana and will be dissolved soon. Rates of severe Covid disease may be staying at relatively low levels in the US, but experts agree that there are probably more infections than the current surveillance systems can capture, reports CNN. Virus levels in the US have been on the rise for weeks and federal data suggests that the current increases have stayed far below earlier peaks and notable surges. But judging by word of mouth among family, friends and coworkers, it can seem like everyone knows someone whos sick with Covid-19 right now, the report noted. Advertisement There is more transmission out there than what the surveillance data indicates, said Janet Hamilton, executive director of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. We should be paying attention to it, because we are starting to see an increase. Ali Mokdad, professor of health metrics sciences and chief strategy officer of population health at the University of Washington, said he has been getting lots of calls and questions about Covid-19 recently similar to what he experienced around the end of last year. Weekly hospital admissions have nearly doubled over the past month, including a 19 per cent bump in the most recent week, according to CDC data. However, hospitals have shifted their testing practices, balancing changing federal requirements and recommendations with local risk assessments, which makes it difficult to compare data from different points in time, the CNN report mentioned. Hospitals have eased back on testing to be more in line with guidance around other infectious diseases. The focus is on those who are symptomatic, have been exposed or might be around other high-risk patients, the report said. Data from biotechnology firm Biobot Analytics shows that wastewater concentrations of the coronavirus are similar to what they were at the start of the first winter surge in 2020, the report added. The rising Covid cases have prompted some schools, hospitals and businesses to encourage, or even require, people to start masking up again. CDC Director Mandy Cohen has cautioned that Covid remains risky for people who are unvaccinated. The risk is especially high for unvaccinated individuals who havent been infected before and those who are older or have underlying health conditions. The health officials are watching two new variants Omicron variant EG.5 (Eris) which is dominant in the US and BA.2.86 which is starting to spread. The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated EG.5 or Eris as a variant of interest as cases rise globally. Releasing the outcome of the first Traditional Medicine Summit held in Gandhinagar, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reaffirmed global commitments towards indigenous knowledge, biodiversity, and traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine. In the Gujarat declaration, the world body underlined that the application of rigorous scientific methods was the need of the hour to better understand, assess and, where appropriate, apply more holistic, context-specific, complex, and personalized approaches for health and well-being for all. It reiterated that India as host of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre at Jamnagar, Gujarat has an important role in scaling up WHOs capacities to support member states and stakeholders in taking forward the summit action agenda and other relevant priorities. Advertisement The action points of the two-day WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit 2023 are based on the evidence, discussions and outcomes presented at the summit. Deliberations were done on varied topics like Health and well-being of people and the planet, research and evidence, universal health coverage, primary health care and health systems, Data & routine information systems, digital health frontiers, biodiversity and sustainability, human rights, equity and ethics. Union minister of Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal said, Gujarat declaration is testimony of our prime minister Narendra Modis commitment to promote our ancient knowledge of Traditional Medicine system. Through collaborative efforts and sustainable practices, we can ensure a healthier future for generations to come. During the WHO Traditional Medicine global Summit, Director General of the World Health Organization Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the Gujarat Declaration will serve as a catalyst to harness the potential of traditional medicine through the lens of science and will focus on the integration of traditional medicines in national health systems and help unlock the power of traditional medicine. The declaration talked about scaling up efforts to further implement evidence-based TCIM (Traditional Complementary Integrative Medicine) interventions and approaches in support of the goal of universal health coverage (UHC) and all health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It stated the role of multi-regional, multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder collaborations demonstrated at the Global Summit through the WHO GCTM that was aligned with and complementary to the work of WHO major offices, to maximize evidence-based benefits of TCIM in global health. The highlight of the summit was how to enable the appropriate development and application of digital health technologies, and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular, to advance digital health resources on TCIM for peoples health and well-being. The First global summit on Traditional Medicine was organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and co-hosted by the Ministry of Ayush, on 17-18 August. Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar congressman, will replace Oleksii Reznikov as defence minister this week, according to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made the announcement on Sunday. Zelenskyy published the news on his verified Telegram channel. I have made the decision to remove Ukraines defence minister. Oleksii Reznikov has experienced a full-scale war for more than 550 days. I think the Ministry needs fresh ideas and different ways to communicate with the military and the general public. Now the Ministry should be headed by Rustem Umerov, he stated. Advertisement Since September 2022, lawmaker Umerov, 41, of the opposition Holos party, has led the State Property Fund of Ukraine. He took part in the exchange of political prisoners, children, civilians, and prisoners of war in addition to the evacuation of inhabitants from occupied areas. Umierov participated in talks with Russia on the grain agreement approved by the U.N. as a member of the Ukrainian delegation. The announcement was made after officials reported that two persons were sent to the hospital after a 312-hour Russian drone onslaught on a port in the Odesa region of Ukraine on Sunday. In order to discuss the restart of food shipments from Ukraine under a Black Sea grain agreement that Moscow withdrew from in July, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to meet the day before the attack on the harbour in Reni. In the early hours of Sunday, Russian forces launched 25 Shahed drones built in Iran along the Danube River, 22 of which were shot down by air defences, the Ukrainian air force reported on Telegram. Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claimed that Russia was behind the attack in an effort to provoke a food crisis and hunger in the world. According to a statement from the Russian Defence Ministry, the strike targeted fuel storage facilities that supply military equipment. On Monday, the long-awaited summit between Putin and Erdogan is scheduled to take place in Sochi on Russias southwest coast. The two will talk about reviving the Black Sea grain programme, which the Kremlin withdrew from six weeks ago, according to Turkish authorities. Nearly 33 million metric tonnes (36 million tonnes) of grain and other goods were able to depart three Ukrainian ports securely thanks to the accord, which was mediated by the UN and Turkey in July 2022. Russia withdrew from the pact, though, stating that a separate agreement, which promised to ease barriers to Russian shipments of food and fertiliser, had not been kept. Nearly 33 million metric tonnes (36 million tonnes) of grain and other goods were able to depart three Ukrainian ports securely thanks to the accord, which was mediated by the UN and Turkey in July 2022. Governor of Telangana Felicitates Graduates at the 3rd Convocation Ceremony of SRM University-AP Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India] Published : September 2, 2023 Education provides you confidence. Sharpen your skills each passing day and visualise the development of your nation. Learn more than expected and earn more than expected is the ideology that we live by today, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana, the chief guest of the 3rd Convocation Ceremony of SRM University-AP remarked while addressing the graduating Class of 2023. The university has conferred the prestigious degrees to the Graduate Class of 2023 at the 3rdConvocation Ceremony on September 02, 2023, in the august presence of Guest of Honour, Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, President-Indian National Science Academy; Dr T R Paarivendhar, Founder Chancellor, SRM Group of Institutions; Dr P Sathyanarayanan, Pro-Chancellor; Prof. Manoj K Arora, Vice Chancellor, SRM University-AP; Other dignitaries; Deans of all schools, faculty, staff and parents of the graduating batch. A remarkable 883 graduates, including 13 PhD scholars, 17 Gold medallists, 6 Silver medallists and 2 Bronze medallists were awarded their degrees at the momentous ceremony held at the APJ Abdul Kalam Auditorium. In our objective of being globally connected, nationally relevant and regionally transformative university, we have adopted a five-year strategic plan with five goals Achieve academic excellence, Intensify research, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, Enhance student experience, Attain financial sustainability and Improve perception and visibility, stated Vice Chancellor, Prof. Manoj K Arora in his welcome address and briefing about the annual report on the progress of the institution in the past academic year. Founder Chancellor, Dr T R Paarivendhar, in his address to the young graduates, commented that Indias first solar launch, Aditya L1 and our countrys presidency over the G20 summit coincided with the students graduation and encouraged them to strive for excellence with love for family, their alma mater and country in their hearts. Success in life needs to be balanced with philosophy and spirituality. SRM University-AP has prepared you for the transition of student to alumni, by imparting knowledge and the skill to learning how to learn. Use the skills you have acquired to pursue prosperity and contribute to the growth of society, advised Pro-Chancellor, Dr P Sathyanarayanan on this milestone event. The university also conferred an Honorary Doctorate to Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, esteemed Guest of Honour by the Founder Chancellor, Dr T R Paarivendhar and Honble Governor for his exemplary contributions to the field of sciences. Success and inclusive development is going to be a global challenge. As we continue to progress at an unprecedented pace, remember that new knowledge is no knowledge without using it for socio-economic good stated Prof. Sharma in his address. He deeply appreciated how research is ingrained into the very fabric of the varsitys educational approach assuring research opportunities to the young researchers of our country. The convocation ceremony successfully concluded with the administration of the pledge by the graduation cohort, honouring the national anthem and the departure of the dignitaries. Find it Useful ? Help Others by Sharing Online Comments and Discussions remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Christopher D. Cook is a senior writer at The New School for Social Research. Teresa Ghilarducci is professor of economics and policy analysis at the New School for Social Research. This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives. Mumbai, September 4, 2023 Swan Energy Limited (BSE: SWANENERGY) is making headlines once again as it continues its impressive journey towards becoming a powerhouse in the energy sector. With the current stock price standing at INR 310, the company is setting its sights on an ambitious two-year target of INR 5000. Investors and industry experts are closely watching the company's every move, given its recent achievements and outstanding quarter results. Solar Power Expansion Swan Energy Limited recently secured a monumental contract with the Karnataka Government, signaling a significant stride in India's renewable energy sector. The company has been awarded the prestigious project of installing India's second-largest solar plant. This achievement not only highlights Swan Energy's commitment to a sustainable future but also solidifies its position as a leading player in the country's energy landscape. The project is expected to bolster the company's growth prospects and contribute to India's renewable energy goals. Stellar Quarter Results The company's financial performance for the June quarter has left analysts and investors astounded, exceeding all expectations. Here's a snapshot of Swan Energy Limited's exceptional quarter results: Consolidated net sales: INR 804.30 crore, up a remarkable 208.89% YoY. Consolidated net profit: INR 144.82 crore, showing an astounding 649.51% YoY increase. EBITDA: INR 241.50 crore, soaring by an incredible 2972.52% YoY. Earnings Per Share (EPS): INR 5.41, reflecting a remarkable 288.89% YoY growth. This remarkable performance can be attributed to the surge in liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices and increased throughput at Swan Energy's Jafrabad LNG terminal. Furthermore, the absence of major unplanned shutdowns during the quarter contributed significantly to the company's success. Future Prospects Swan Energy Limited's management is highly optimistic about the company's future performance. With several expansion projects in the pipeline, the company anticipates further enhancing its profitability. These projects, combined with its strong track record and commitment to excellence, position Swan Energy as a promising investment for the future. Company Profile Swan Energy Limited, a Mumbai-based multinational conglomerate founded in 1909, is currently owned and managed by the Dave and Merchant families. The company operates in three primary business segments: 1. Textile: Swan Energy's textile division manufactures and markets cotton and polyester textile products. It operates a state-of-the-art fabric processing unit in Ahmedabad with a daily capacity of 1 lakh meters. 2. Real Estate: In the real estate sector, the company develops and manages both residential and commercial properties. Swan Energy has earned a reputation for excellence, having completed over 24 million square feet of construction. 3. Energy: The energy segment represents Swan Energy's latest venture. The company owns and operates a 5 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) FSRU-based LNG terminal in Jafrabad, Gujarat, contributing significantly to India's energy security. Swan Energy has earned recognition for its achievements over the years, including the commissioning of the Jafrabad LNG terminal in 2018, winning the "Best Energy Company" award at the CNBC-TV18 India Business Leaders Awards in 2020, and securing the 10th position on Forbes India's Most Valuable Private Companies list in 2021. Swan Energy Limited is undoubtedly on an upward trajectory, leveraging its diverse business portfolio and unwavering commitment to quality and innovation. With a two-year target price of INR 5000, investors and stakeholders are eager to see what the future holds for this dynamic conglomerate. Billionaire banker Uday Kotak sprang a surprise over the weekend, announcing he was stepping down as the managing director and chief executive of Kotak Mahindra Bank, an institution he founded over three decades ago. Kotak Mahindra Finance was formed in 1985. In February 2003, it received the license from the Reserve Bank of India to become a bank. Uday Kotak has been the MD and CEO of the firm since August 2002. His departure was expected since RBI rules effective 2021 now cap the maximum term for bank CEOs at 15 years. But, Kotak chose to depart four months before the end of his term, which was a surprise. Mr Kotak says he has done this to ensure a smooth transition as well as to get more personal time for his son's wedding, happening towards the end of the year. "Succession at Kotak Mahindra Bank has been foremost on my mind, since our Chairman, myself and Joint MD are all required to step down by year end. I am keen to ensure a smooth transition by sequencing these departures. I initiate this process now and step down voluntarily as CEO," he said. For now, Dipak Gupta, currently the joint MD of the bank will take charge as MD and CEO till December, while the bank awaits the final approval of the proposed successor. Who will be this successor? Neither the bank nor Mr Kotak has disclosed it. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Mr Kotak said that they have sent two names for the MD and CEO role to RBI in order of priority. Kotak Bank currently has two whole-time directors on the board - KVS Manian and Shanti Ekambaram. Reports suggest that these two are the top contenders who could succeed Mr Kotak. Manian has been associated with the bank for over two and a half decades. He spearheads corporate, institutional and investment banking, private banking and asset reconstruction business. Prior to his current role, he scripted the retail banking narrative of the bank. Ekambaram has been with Kotak Group for over 30 years. She led the consumer banking business at the bank between April 2014 and May 2022. Before that, she was president - corporate and investment banking for 11 years, until April 2014. What's also worth noting is that Kotak Bank had earlier this year also roped in consulting firm Egon Zehnder to search its successor. So, will an external candidate be selected for the top job? Time will tell. Mr Kotak's son Jay currently co-heads Kotak 811, Kotak's neo-bank platform. He has a long way to go up the ladder. "Our base case is an internal candidate from the current executive directors (Manian and Ekambaram)," analysts at broking firm Investec Capital noted. As for Mr Kotak himself, he will continue as non-executive director and significant shareholder. "We have an outstanding management team to carry the legacy forward. Founders go away, but the institution flourishes into perpetuity," he said in a social media statement. Despite the management change, analysts remain confident on the bank's outlook. "We estimate the bank to deliver 20 per cent EPS (earnings per share) CAGR with stable ROEs (return on equity) of 15 per cent plus," the Investec analysts said. Analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said Kotak Bank has delivered "robust traction" in loan growth over financial years 2021-23 at a 19 per cent CAGR and they estimate the bank to sustain a 17-18 per cent CAGR over financial years 2023-25. On Monday, Kotak Bank shares ended 0.5 per cent lower at Rs 1,762.40 on the BSE. The broader BSE Sensex was up 0.4 per cent (241 points) at 65,628.14 level. The Congress is set to sound the poll bugle in Telangana by holding the first meeting of the newly constituted Congress Working Committee in Hyderabad on September 16, which will be followed by a public rally and an outreach programme in all the Assembly constituencies, attended by members of the highest decision making body of the party. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has convened a meeting of the newly constituted CWC in Hyderabad on September 16. The next day, in the morning, a meeting of the extended CWC will be held in which all the members of the panel, state Congress presidents and Congress Legislature Party presidents, which includes the party's four chief ministers, will be present. The CWC meeting on September 17 will be followed by a public rally in Hyderabad or a nearby place. The rally will be addressed by Kharge, Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party Sonia Gandhi, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders of the party. According to a senior Congress leader, Y.S. Sharmila, daughter of late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who recently met Sonia and Rahul, could attend the rally on September 17. A merger of Sharmila's party, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Telangana Party, with the Congress is known to be a done deal. The Congress' efforts to turn the first meeting of the newly formed CWC into an event, especially in poll-going Telangana, are evident. What makes this clear is the party's plans to follow up the CWC meeting with a major outreach programme that involves the leaders who belong to the topmost decision-making body of the party fanning out into all the 119 assembly constituencies of the state. After the rally on September 17, Kharge will flag off a cavalcade of CWC members, PCC presidents and CLP leaders who will visit the assembly constituencies for a night stay on that day. The leaders are required to interact with local leaders and workers and stay in the house of any Congress worker in the assembly segments allotted to them on the night of September 17. On September 18, the party has planned to hold a workers' meeting in every assembly seat that will be followed by door-to-door distribution of five guarantees and a chargesheet against the K. Chandrashekar Rao government. The leaders will have a community lunch with influencers that day. On the evening of September 18, the leaders will take part in a Bharat Jodo march that will culminate at either a Gandhi statue, an Ambedkar statue or a statue dedicated to Komaram Bheem. The Delhi Police has made elaborate security and traffic arrangements in and around Rajghat in central Delhi ahead of G20 delegates' visit to Mahatma Gandhi's memorial. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sanjay Kumar Sain said, "The delegates will visit Rajghat on September 10. In view of their visit, proper security arrangements are being made and traffic police personnel will ensure their visit goes smoothly." The G20 Leaders' Summit is scheduled to be held from September 9-10. The summit is likely to be attended by more than 30 heads of state and top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries and 14 heads of international organisations. With four days left for the summit, the Delhi Police has tightened security in the national capital. Senior officials are continuously checking the arrangements and chalking out plans to maintain law and order. The police are keeping strict vigil in Delhi and its bordering areas, they said. Rajghat is among the major spots that will see the arrival of delegates. "Besides managing traffic and ensuring security arrangements, we have also chalked out a proper plan to identify the bordering areas and to secure those properly," Sain said. "No one will be allowed to fly kites and operating drones will also be strictly prohibited (in the area) on September 10," the senior officer added. Officials from the city police's northeast district on Monday checked all security measures. In view of the summit, all security measures are being executed across the northeast district through effective picket checking, group patrolling/flag march and additional deployment of Central Armed Police Forces personnel in sensitive areas, the police said. "Also, a multi-layer security arrangement, duly backed by ground and aerial surveillance, has been put in place to thwart any untoward incident during the event. Also appealed to all to maintain peace and tranquillity in the area and not pay heed to rumours," Sain wrote in a post on its official handle on X. Public Works Department Minister Atishi earlier told PTI that preparations for the summit are underway in full swing, with beautification work being carried out. A day after Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah declining to be part of the 8-member panel to study 'One Nation One Election', reports, quoting unnamed sources, have claimed that Adhir Ranjan had initially given consent to be part of the committee. Adhir Ranjan had given his consent to be part of the committee before notification with names came out, ANI quoted an unnamed source in the government. However, Adhir Ranjan later retracted and refused to be included in the panel. In a letter to Amit Shah, he called the move "an eyewash" and said "the sudden attempt to thrust a constitutionally suspect, pragmatically non-feasible and logistically unimplementable idea on the nation, months before the general elections, raises serious concerns about ulterior motives of the government." Meanwhile, protests continued against the government's 'One Nation One Election' move as India bloc leaders united to unleash criticism against the Centre. The latest to join the bandwagon was Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who said people were doubting the government's intentions. "This is such a big decision, they (Centre) should have discussed it with all the opposition parties. If a decision had been taken together after discussion, people would have had faith that it was in the interest of the nation. But now people doubt their intentions, people are worried", Gehlot told reporters on Saturday. Amid the row over his exclusion from the panel, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the people of India have "one nation, one solution" for 2024 and that is to get rid of the BJP's "misrule". In a post on X, Kharge termed the high-level committee constituted by the Centre to examine the feasibility of 'One Nation, One Election' a "gimmick" and alleged the Modi government wants to slowly replace democracy in India with dictatorship. The government on Saturday notified an eight-member high-level committee, which will be headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, to examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats. Hours later, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the lone opposition leader in the panel, wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah declining to be a part of the committee, saying its "terms of reference have been prepared in a manner to guarantee its conclusions". In his post, Kharge said, "This gimmick of forming a committee on 'One Nation, One Election' is a subterfuge for dismantling the Federal Structure of India." "Drastic actions like 'One Nation, One Election' would sabotage our Democracy, Constitution and evolved-time-tested procedures. What can be accomplished by simple electoral reforms would prove to be a disaster, like other disruptive ideas of PM Modi," he said. Unfazed by the raging controversy over his remarks on Sanatan Dharma, Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said on Monday that he would repeat the same thing and that he had included all religions, not just Hindus. "The day before yesterday I spoke at a function about it (Sanatana Dharma). Whatever I said, I'll repeat the same thing again and again...I included all the religions and not just Hindus...I spoke condemning the caste differences that's all," the DMK leader said. Addressing a meeting of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association in Chennai on Saturday, Udhayanidhi, son of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, had allegedly likened Sanatan Dharma to coronavirus, malaria and dengue and said such things should not be opposed but destroyed. "Few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose Dengue, Mosquitoes, Malaria, or Corona, we have to eradicate this. That's how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated, he had said. Later, clarifying his remarks, Udhayanidhi said he had not called for the genocide of people who are following the Sanatan Dharma, but reiterated that this principle divides people in the name of caste and religion. His remarks sparked off a political outrage with the BJP accusing the opposition INDIA alliance, of which the DMK is a major partner, of being anti-Hindu. "There is a need to give a befitting reply to those who insult Sanatan Dharma. Give them a reply, not through violence but through votes. These people have made it a drama, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said. He was addressing a public rally in Madhya Pradeshs Neemuch. Other union ministers, including Arjun Ram Meghwal, Prahlad Patel, Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur, also took on the opposition alliance and asked it not to play with Hindu sentiments. "Why are opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee silent? Are you playing with Hindu sentiments for votes? They should know that hundreds of years of Islamic rule could not exterminate Sanatan Dharma and British imperialism could not dilute it," asked former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Congress distanced itself from Udhayanidhis remark with AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal asserting that the party ideology of respecting all religions was very clear. "Actually, our view is very clear - 'Sarvadharma Sambhav' (equal respect to all religions) is the Congress ideology. But, you have to understand that every political party has its own freedom to tell their views," he said. Terming the DMK leader's statement as "preposterous" and "most unfortunate", former Union minister Karan Singh said,"Thiru Udhayanidhi's preposterous statement that Sanatan Dharma should be eradicated is most unfortunate. Crores of people in this country follow, to a lesser or greater extent the tenets of Sanatan Dharma." West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said no one should not be involved in any matter which might hurt people. "I have high regards and respect for the people of Tamil Nadu and south India. But my humble request is respect all, as every religion has separate sentiments. India is a secular and democratic country. India is about unity in diversity," she said. Meanwhile, a Muzaffarpur-based lawyer has filed a complaint against the Tamil Nadu minister in a Bihar court, alleging that his remarks have hurt Hindu sentiments. Advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha sought the trial of the Tamil Nadu CM and his son under sections of the Indian Penal Code. Banned pro-Khalistani outfits backed by Pakistans ISIlike the Sikhs For Justiceare notorious for raising false narratives of atrocities and making demands that have no resonance on the ground in Punjab. Its an old ploy, say Indian intelligence officials, and for sometime now it has become an embarrassment for countries like Canada, the US and the UK for allowing these terror groups from operating on its soil. What is worrisome is the deep influence of Pakistan ISI and its terror projects operating in these foreign countries where the Khalistani groups are on a desperate spree to attract attention by indulging in notorious activities. One such attempt has been exposed ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi where graffiti of pro-Khalistan slogans came up on the walls of metro stations and public threats were issued to dignitaries. Delhi Police special cell arrested two persons last week in connection with the case. Investigations have shown that the accused had been paid money by SFJ handler Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who has been running a referendum for Khalistan from the US, and was being supported by his close aide in Canada, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Surrey on June 18. Pannuns another close aide Avtar Khanda died on June 15 in a hospital in London. The arrested accused, Pritpal Singh, 30, a resident of Faridkot in Punjab, had got in touch with Pannun in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. The monetary assistance being offered by the terror group lured Pritpal who took the money for the treatment of his uncle. The money was transferred through Western Union. Pritpal used to receive the money by showing his uncle's Aadhaar card. So far, he has received around Rs 2 lakh from Pannun, said a Delhi police official. About a month ago, Pannun tasked him with painting pro-Khalistan slogans (graffiti) in Delhi before the G-20 summit. For this purpose, he was offered 7,000 USD, according to the investigators. He got 3,500 USD in advance from Pannun and as per the deal, the rest of the 3,500 USD was to be paid to him after the completion of the task. Pannun and other Khalistani operatives are desperate and trying to gain attention using the international event to recreate the Khalistan bogey through social media, websites, graffiti and videos, said a security official. Intelligence officials said such repeated attempts by the SFJ and other proscribed outfits have not only exposed the role of the ISI, but also its influence in Canada where at least half a dozen Khalistani operatives are taking shelter at the moment. Canadian authorities need to take more action to prevent these groups from using its soil for building a trans national terror- criminal nexus, said a security official. The Khalistan menace in Canada also came home to bite the Trudeau administration after a government school in Surrey was chosen by SFJ to conduct a referendum dedicated to Talwinder Singh Parmar, accused by Canadian police of masterminding the 1985 Air India bombing, on September 10. The use of a government school for anti-India activities raised heckles in security circles. It is learnt that New Delhi kept a close watch and monitored the activities closely till the time the event was cancelled. If the event would have taken place it would have put Canada in an embarrassing situation as the first country where government infrastructure was being used for anti-India activities, said a security official. Ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus visit to India for the G20 summit, the pro-Khalistan bogey would have stuck out like a sore thumb causing much stress to the relations. In the past, Trudeau has faced criticism for being seemingly soft on Khalistani outfits on Canadian soil. Canadian response of allowing freedom of speech on its soil might not go down well at a time when New Delhi has made it clear that national security is paramount in foreign relations as well. While Delhi police is actively deploying security for the G20 event and technical teams are on the job of monitoring social media as well, intelligence and security agencies are on their toes to expose the designs of mischief mongers and terror operatives. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has withdrawn the suspension order against a lecturer Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, who was removed after he appeared in Supreme Court (SC) arguing against Article 370 abrogation. The administration has directed him to "report to his original place of posting for further duties." SC had raised questions over the 'proximity' of the action taken against Bhat, a lecturer of political science at Government Higher Secondary School, Jawahar Nagar in Srinagar. He was suspended from his duties on August 25. Consequent upon the withdrawal of order number 251-JK(Edu) dated 25-08-2023, Sh.Zahoor Ahmed Bhat Sr. Lecturer, Pol. Science is hereby relieved from this office today on 03-09-2023 FN and is directed to report to his original place of posting for further duties, read an order signed by personnel officer Vikas Dhar Bagati. The action taken by the administration against Bhat was brought to the attention of the bench by senior advocate Kapil Sibal. SC directed the attorney-general to speak to the J&K L-G over the reasons behind the move. "Having regard to the attending circumstances and after careful deliberation, the Governor Order No. 251-JK(Edu) of 2023 dated 25.08.2023 issued under endorsement No. Edu-Lect/96/2023(7272273) dated 25.08.2023 is withdrawn forthwith. By order of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir," read the order by Alok Kumar, principal secretary to the government, released on Saturday. Bhat, who has a law degree, had appeared in one the petitions challenging Article 370 abrogation. The L-Gs office also directed an in-depth inquiry into the conduct of the delinquent officer. On August 28, a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud urged the administration to review the suspension. Amid tensions escalating over Maratha reservation, Maharashtra Cabinet sub-committee is set to hold a meeting on Monday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will also attend the meeting. While speaking to the media earlier, Shinde said that the state government is fully committed to providing reservations to the Maratha community. Meanwhile hunger strike over demand of Maratha reservation continues in Jalna. Recently, the protest in Jalna district had gone violent with police using lathicharge to disperse the protesters seeking reservation for the Maratha community. Over 40 police personnel and several agitators were injured in the incident on Friday. Reportedly, Tushar Doshi, District Superintendent of Police, Jalna, has been sent on "compulsory leave". Shinde assured the protesters that the state government will be providing all help required to ensure the reservations but currently the matter is in the court. "In 2014, when the coalition government was in power under the leadership of the then CM Devendra Fadnavis, the government announced the Maratha reservation. The HC also upheld the decision...but SC took a different decision...Everyone knows that this is due to someone'e negligence...the issue is currently in court," Shinde was quoted by ANI. CM also urged the protesters not to take law into their hands and to maintain peace. The protesters, led by Manoj Jarange, had been staging a hunger strike demanding reservation since Tuesday. The Maratha community is seeking reservations in jobs and education as well. After the Jalna incident, the police said the agitators torched at least 15 state transport buses and private vehicles and pelted stones at police personnel leading to the lathicharge. A case was registered against 360 persons involved with the incident, said police. A high-level probe was launched into the violence. Meanwhile, the opposition opposition leaders targeted the Shiv Sena-BJP government and condemned the police action. A bandh is called in Aurangabad over police lathicharge. Tight security arrangements are in place in view of the bandh. Rukhiya will turn 80 in the coming year. Cloaked in her traditional Kerala Muslim attire, which includes a saree, a long-sleeved blouse, and the customary "thattam" (headscarf), she embarked on a pilgrimage from her hometown in Shornur, in Palakkad district, to Puthupally Valiyapally, an ancient and world-renowned Christian church located in Kottayam district. Rukhiya's purpose in making the journey to Puthuppally was to pay her respects and offer prayers at the final resting place of the late Congress stalwart and former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy, whom she considered to be a saint. Chandy had a special connection to Valiyapalli. Since 1970, when he first contested an assembly election from Puthuppally, it became his tradition to offer prayers at this church before submitting his nominations. Similarly, on election day, he would visit the church and light candles before casting his vote and meeting with constituents. Over the past 53 years, Puthupally never considered anyone else as their representative, and Chandy considered it to be the blessing of the patron saint of Valiyapalli, St. George. Now, Chandy rests in the cemetery of this ancient church with a unique history and tradition, regularly visited by people of various faiths. Over the past month, his tomb has transformed into a miniature shrine, attracting thousands like Rukhiya who come to visit and leave their prayer requests. Among these faithful, a profound belief has emerged that just as Chandy assisted people during his lifetime, their requests will not go unanswered even in his 'afterlife.' In some of these requests, one can observe Chandy being addressed as 'Vishudha Kunjoonju' (Saint Kunjoonju)the former Kerala CM was fondly called Kunjoonju by his supporters. Observing the visitors paying their respects at Chandy's tomb, Rukhiya spontaneously composed a song: Muzhukuthirikal vangunnu Eeyidam nilkumbozhavarude khalbellam Shanthamakunnu Oommen Chandy Sir oru nidhi aane. As they light candles and offer their respects, In this sacred place, their hearts find peace, Oommen Chandy, sir, a treasure we all cherish." For many decades, Rukhiya actively participated in election campaigns organised by the Congress party and its alliance partners in the United Democratic Front, where she would sing her spontaneously composed songs to support their campaigns. Over the years, she had the opportunity to meet Chandy during various election campaigns and also received assistance from him. Like many others, she wished to attend Chandy's funeral. However, as her husband had passed away long ago, and with no children or other companions in this world, Rukhiya had no one to accompany her to Puthupally. When her widow's pension from the Kerala government was deposited into her bank account before Onam, she made the determined decision to embark on a challenging journey from her hometown to Valiyapally, which is situated on the eastern bank of the Kodoorar rivulet. Puthupally constituency, comprising eight panchayats with predominantly Christian and Hindu populations, will select a successor to Oommen Chandy on September 5. Chandy Oommen, the son of Oommen Chandy, is the UDF candidate, Jaick C. Thomas represents the CPI(M) as the LDF candidate, and Lijin Lal is the NDA candidate from the BJP. The debates and counterarguments about whether Oommen Chandy should be regarded as a 'saint,' and the potential for him to be declared the first lay saint by the Orthodox Church, have been ongoing ever since Chandy's passing. When asked about it, Thomas responded by saying Puthupally has just one saint, Saint George. While Thomas's statement resonated well with LDF supporters, it did not align with the factual reality; Valiyapally itself has nine saints. Furthermore, for many centuries, both Puthupally and its neighbouring village, Manarcad, have annually hosted countless visitors who seek blessings from a diverse array of saints. These locales are the sites of two noteworthy pilgrimage centres of global stature: one is the aforementioned Valiyapally in Puthupally, and the other is St. Marys Cathedral Church of Manarcad (Manarcadpally). Currently, under two different Christian denominationsManarcadpally under the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church and Puthuppally Church under the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Churchboth of these churches exhibit a unique syncretic character. Their legends and rituals are intertwined with the distinct culture and history of central Kerala, shaped by migration. This region boasts exceptionally fertile soil, and the migration of various communities to these lands was primarily driven by agricultural pursuits. St. George Orthodox Church, Puthuppally According to Rajiv Pallikonam, the state coordinator of the Kerala Council for Local History and Heritage Studies, while the initial Christians who settled in this area might have been traders, the substantial influx of the Christian population into the region was orchestrated by the Thekkumkoor royalty. He explains: Their aim was to bolster agricultural activities linked to spice cultivation and the preservation of root crops and vegetables. However, Pallikonam also notes that, despite Manarcad and Puthuppally being nearby areas, a cultural difference existed among the Christians who made these places their homes. This distinction emerged because the Christian population of Puthuppally maintained stronger connections with centres south of it, such as Niranam and Changanacherry, whereas those who settled in Manarcad had closer ties to their counterparts in the northern areas, extending beyond Manarcad and Puthuppally. Notably, both of these global pilgrimage sites still incorporate various elements seemingly influenced by Hindu culture and customs. According to the book 'Kristhyanikal: Kristhumathathinoru Kaipusthakam,' there used to be a belief that Saint George of Puthuppally and Bhadrakali Devi from the nearby temple were considered siblings. Similarly, among the hundreds of thousands who visit Manarcad, there is a belief in a sisterhood between Saint Mary of Manarcadpally and the Devi of Sri Bhagavathy Temple which is in close proximity to the church. Intriguingly, these beliefs are rooted in the legends associated with the founding days of the churches. According to Jacobite Church managing committee member Fr Kurian Mathew Vadakkeparambil, the legend accepted by the Manarcad church regarding its founding is related to a vision that elders from 12 Christian families migrated to Manarcad from Mahadevarpattanam (today's Kodungalloor)had. The elders engaged in a week-long period of fasting and prayer, and on the eighth day, all of them saw a white cow and her calf in a thicket. This vision was taken as a divine sign, he explains. They embarked on a search for the cow and calf, eventually locating the site and gaining permission from the king to build the church dedicated to Saint Mary and her son. However, another legend may shed light on why many perceive a sisterhood between Saint Mary of the church and the Devi of the temple. According to this lore, in the 16th century, a nasrani (Christian) family named Kallakadampil held the leasehold of the land on which the church now stands. The Thekkumkur king took pity on a Brahmin girl who had faced 'smarthavicharam,' a practice that involves expulsion from the Namboothiri community, alleging illegitimate sexual relations. He entrusted the Kallakadambil family with her protection, and they dutifully followed his instructions. As the antarjanam, or the secluded Brahmin girl, was required to observe social isolation, she installed a stone in front of her new hut, lit lamps, and offered prayers to Manarcad Bhagavathi, establishing her personal shrine. Unfortunately, the antarjanam passed away shortly afterwards, but before her death, she asked the Kallakadambil family to continue the tradition of lighting the lamp and praying at the sacred site, guided by their religious beliefs. After her passing, the family began to light lamps and pray at that location, dedicating it to Saint Mary. During this period, Christian migration to the region was underway. Families in Manarcad had to travel by boat to Kottayam for mass, so they requested the king to establish a church at the site where the Kallakadambil family maintained the tradition of lighting the lamp. The king approached the local chieftain, Edathil Thampuran, and the Nairs responsible for the Manarcad Devaswom land, asking them to allocate the land to Christians. This, however, led to a dispute, and the king decreed that only Kallakadambil family be allowed access to the site. A few months later, during an annual ritual at the Bhagavathy Temple attended by the Thekkumkoor king, a velichappad (oracle) named Ilambilakkatt Panickar made an intriguing announcement in front of the king. He declared that the rituals in the western sacred groves (referring to the church site) were obstructed and that Devi's sister required a space to sit. The king interpreted this as Devi's voice and granted 61 kambalavu (92 cents) of land for the church. According to Ravi Manohar, the current Devaswom secretary of Manarcad Bhagavathy Temple, the term 'sister' in the legend originally referred to the Devi for whom the antarjanam was lighting the lamp. However, over many generations, the legend evolved, and it began to be interpreted as a reference to Saint Mary of the Manarcad church," he says. The ettunombu (eight-days lent) in reverence of Saint Mary is the most crucial religious feast in Manarcad church, and even today, a lot of peoplemostly Hindusfirst go to Bhagavathy temple, get the manjal prasadam (a benediction with turmeric) before going to the church for the ettunombu. Interestingly, the legend behind founding of Valiyapally of Puthuppally also involves the intervention of a Hindu 'velichappad' (oracle). It Manarcad church is believed that the first chapel, Mar Sleeba Church, in Puthuppally was constructed by Christians in the year 1557 CE. This chapel was situated near a temple in Vazhakulam. According to legend, during his ritualistic dance, the 'velichappad' mentioned that the church bell ringing was disturbing the Hindu deity in the temple. Upon hearing this, the temple owner, a Namboothiri from Punnokottumanakkal, gathered five Christian families and requested them to relocate from Vazhakulam and reconstruct the church on the land in Elamthuruthikunnu, which he generously donated. Another legend related to the construction of the church is associated with a health issue faced by the Thekkumkoor queen. When the king sought astrological advice, he was advised that the church near the Vazhakulam temple should be moved to another location. And, that is how it came to be situated in its present location. The first church, established in 1640 CE on Elamthuruthi hill, was dedicated to Saint Behnan, a fourth century Christian martyr celebrated in the Oriental Orthodox churches. The Valiyapalli, founded 110 years later, honoured Saint George as its patron saint while preserving the portions and altar of the Saint Behnan church. This event was the first of its kind in any church in Kerala. Although Saint George became the patron saint of Valiyapalli, it is noteworthy that the old church and its patron saint, Saint Behanan, were also accorded due reverence. This is evident in the presence of the 'iratta kodimaram' or double flagstaff installed in the church. 'Kodimaram,' typically found in Hindu temples throughout South India and Sri Lanka, is a traditional feature. However, the concept of 'kodimaram' in Christian denominations from the Kerala tradition is unique worldwide. Normally, temples and Syrian Christian churches have only a single flagstaff. In Puthuppally, there is a double flagstaff dedicated to both Saint George and Saint Behanan. Interestingly, two temples near PuthuppallyVenimala and Areeparambualso embrace this distinctive 'double flagstaff' concept. In Venimala, equal importance is given to the idols of Ram and Lakshman, while in Areeparambu, it's two Shiva 'prathishtas' (installations). Puthupally church boasts a unique cross, too, known as the 'Puthuppallykurishu,' adorned with decorative elements influenced by Hindu mythology. This cross is positioned on a platform shaped like the legs of a 'kurma' (tortoise), intriguingly referencing the 'kurma' avatar of Vishnu while simultaneously portraying Christ as an avatar who descended to Earth to save the world. The church is also home to a legendary golden cross weighing 401 'pavan,' believed to provide protection for the faithful. This cross is made available for 'darshan' (viewing) only during the annual church feast and has numerous mysterious legends surrounding it. In Manarcad, it's not the golden cross but rather a massive 'kalkurishu' (stone cross) situated on the western side of the church that holds significant legends. According to belief, in 2012, sacred oil began to ooze from this centuries-old cross. There is an intriguing legend that connects Puthuppally to this cross in Manarcad. According to the tale, the stone cross has an equal portion below the ground as it does above the ground. To install it, elders from the Manarcad church journeyed to Puthuppally to arrange for an elephant. However, the elephant owner was reluctant to provide the animal for service. The elders returned in distress, but upon reaching Manarcad, they were astonished to find the cross already installed, with the same elephant standing at its base. Co-existence and camaraderie The eight-day-lent feast at Manarcadpally is documented in centuries-old books such as 'Kerala Pazhama,' written by Herman Gundert, and in the Travancore State Manuals. This lent, celebrated from September 1 to 8, has become the major feast at the church, commemorating the vision of the church's founders. On September 7 every year, a 'nadathurakkal' ritual (the opening of the 'holy portrait') takes place in the church. During this ceremony, a portrait of Mother Mary holding infant Jesus in her hand, which is kept in the sanctum sanctorum, is unveiled for 'darshan' (viewing). Thousands of people come to witness this event, and the portrait remains open for viewing until September 14. The day before 'nadathurakkal,' the church holds the grand feast procession known as 'Raasa.' This procession, which attracts hundreds of thousands of faithful from diverse religious backgrounds, is considered one of the biggest spiritual celebrative processions in Asia. The Christians in the region play a significant role in one of the rituals associated with the Bhagavathy temple as well. For instance, during a unique ritual known as 'Pathinonnu Garudan' ('Eleven Garudas') at the Manarcad Kaavu Bhagavathy Temple, the presence of Christians is required. Manohar adds that during a period when the Jacobite Christians were at risk of losing control of the Manarcad church to the reformist Mar Thoma Church, the Nair community of Manarcad stood in solidarity with the Jacobite Christians to protect the church. Interestingly, the church museum houses two centuries-old swords. It is believed that these swords were offered by royalty for the protection of the church. Meanwhile, in Puthuppally, a sword-like element can be found in the handle of the 'Puthuppallykkurishu.' The patron saint, Saint George, is depicted in an armed position, battling a giant creature, and is believed to offer strong protection against snake bites. This belief is commemorated through various rituals, including one known as 'kozhinercha' (chicken sacrifice), where chickens are killed, cooked and served along with the ceremonial meal. It is worth noting that the church doesn't view this as an animal sacrifice but rather as a ritual inspired by practices like 'paambinu mutta oppikkal' (offering eggs to snakes) associated with Hindu sacred groves. Another tradition, 'Puthuppally Ootu or Puthupallychattham,' observed in various parts of Kerala, is also associated with Saint George, Puthuppally, and protection against snakes. During this feast, hosted by believers who couldn't attend the Saint George feast in Puthuppally, the hosting family invites neighbours and friends from different religious backgrounds to partake in a meal dedicated to the saint. Although the menu may differ in various regions, the customary practice is to serve chicken in honour of the saint. Many believe that failing to conduct this 'ootu' ritual may lead to encountering snakes along their path. There are also beliefs that speaking untruths in front of the Puthuppally church will result in disasters for an individual. Consequently, in earlier times, suspected criminals were required to take oaths and give statements in front of the church. Even today, one can observe devout believers undertaking physically challenging acts like 'shayanpradakshinam' at the Puthuppally church to seek the blessings of their revered saint. Since the community that established the Puthuppally church was predominantly engaged in agriculture, there are religious vows associated with farming practices. One prominent ritual involves the preparation of a dish called 'Oviyappam,' which consists of rice, uzhunnu (urad dal), jaggery, coconut, cumin, shallots, and garlic. This unique ritualistic dish, exclusive to Puthuppally, is blessed and distributed during the Lent season leading up to Easter. Fight during feast When the Election Commission of India announced the date for the Puthuppally bypoll as September 5, with the counting date set for September 8, it was around three weeks since the passing of Oommen Chandy. Both the LDF and UDF vocally requested a postponement of the election dates, as they coincided with the eight-day lent feast of Manarkadpally. However, the Election Commission did not change the dates, and now the political contest must unfold amid the grandest religious celebration at the site. Although the BJP too is in the race, the Puthuppally bypoll are primarily considered a direct battle between the LDF and UDF. The UDF candidate hails from the Valiyapally parish, while the LDF candidate belongs to the Manarcadpally parish. Although the UDF was perceived to have an upper hand in the initial phase, the LDF asserts that it will be a "neck-to-neck fight". LDF candidate Jaick C. Thomas told THE WEEK: During the initial phase, many believed it would be a one-sided contest, with an easy victory for the UDF candidate. However, opinions have shifted since then. It's not just a strong political competition; it has transformed into a closely contested battle.' Oommen Chandy may have represented the constituency for the last 53 years, but Puthupally has a strong and firmly established LDF organisational presence. The LDF currently governs six of the eight panchayats within the constituency. Politics permeates the sit-outs to sacred spaces here. It is clear that no candidate can afford to risk losing the blessings of any of the 'saints' and 'sacred spaces' within the constituency on September 5. Indias space economy is at 8 billion dollars and is estimated to reach 40 billion dollars by the year 2040, said Jitendra Singh, minister of state for science and technology. There were only four space start-ups in the country in 2014 whereas in 2023, there are more than 150 start ups, he said while inaugurating the S-20 Conference, under the aegis of G20, at Amity Universitys Noida campus. The minister said the world is ready to be led by India and the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 is a testimony to the collective acumen of the country's incredible scientific temperament. There is no dearth of talent and potential. However, India lacked the enabling milieu from the policy makers of the nation earlier, which is now being given impetus by the Prime Minister. Singh claimed that Indias Presidency of G-20 is a matter of immense pride for the whole country. Under the visionary leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modiji, India has attained remarkable achievements in the field of Science and technology. In 2014, the country had 350 start ups but today we have more than 1.25 lakh start-ups and 130 Unicorns. Out of 1.25 lakh start-ups, 6,000 start ups are in the unicorn sector itself which has transformed the landscape of innovation in the country. The Global Innovation Index has also risen from 81 to 40, which is yet another example of Indias strong position in the S&T domain, he said. Dr. Ashok K. Chauhan, Founder President Amity Education Group, highlighted the significance of the S20 Conference and said science is the driving force behind economic expansion and human progress. The prestigious S20 Conference will play a major role in developing a scientific temperament among the youth who are the future leaders of the country. It is only through science, technology, research and innovation, that the nation will lead the world and become a Global Superpower, he said. The two-day conference unfolded with an exclusive Science Quiz and Debate Competition, wherein over 200 students from different schools of Delhi NCR participated. The Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 mission exceeded its mission objectives and successfully executed a hop experiment on the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) posted on X on Monday morning. This means that the lander made its second consecutive soft landing on the moons surface. On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30-40 cm away, ISRO said. This hop by the Vikram lander is being considered as a significant experiment and a very successful one by space experts. It has firstly showcased the technical capabilities and reliability of the spacecrafts engines and landing systems. By successfully firing its engines, elevating itself and landing safely, the lander has demonstrated its ability to navigate and manoeuvre in lunar conditions. This is crucial for future missions, including sample return and human missions, as it gives confidence in the spacecrafts ability to perform complex manoeuvres and operations. This experiment's success has enthused the scientific and space exploration community. The ability of a spacecraft to hop even by a small distance opens up new possibilities for accessing hard-to-reach areas on the moons surface. This can be particularly valuable for future sample return missions, as it allows for the collection of diverse samples from different regions, increasing scientific knowledge and understanding of the lunar environment, Girish Linganna space and aerospace expert told THE WEEK. He added that the successful deployment and redeployment of other experimental instruments, such as the deployed ramp, ChaSTE and ILSA, further validates the robustness and functionality of the spacecraft's systems. This ensures that future missions can rely on these systems when carrying out scientific experiments or other mission objectives. Thus, the successful completion of the hop experiment by the Vikram lander not only demonstrates the spacecrafts technical capabilities and reliability, but also provides inspiration and enthusiasm for future lunar exploration missions, added Linganna. When compared with other missions on the moon, the Vikram lander has done a few significant things. For instance the Chinese Change-4 mission conducted by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) had a lander which did not possess the capability to hop. Instead, it served as a stationary platform for the rover, Yutu 2, which had the ability to hop over short distances. The Change-4 mission aimed to explore the largely uncharted far side of the moon. This region has unique geological features and provides valuable scientific data that can help us understand the moons history and evolution better. The mission consisted of a lander and a rover named Yutu 2. The lander provided a stationary base for communication and scientific observations, while the rover was designed for mobility and close-up exploration. Change-4 made a historic landing on the far side of the moon in January 2019, specifically in the south pole-Aitken Basin. This was the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon. Its rover Yutu 2 was equipped with a unique hopping mechanism. It could extend its legs and make small hops to traverse obstacles and explore different areas of the lunar surface. This hopping capability allowed it to overcome challenges, such as rocks and small craters, enabling it to access locations that the rover would otherwise be unable to reach with its wheels alone, explained Linganna. Yutu 2 conducted a variety of scientific experiments during its mission. It studied the composition of the lunar surface, analysed the moons subsurface structure, and examined the surrounding environment, including the radiation levels on the far side. The lander, which remained stationary, served as a communication relay station between the rover and earth, ensuring a continuous link for data transmission. Initially designed for a short mission duration, both the lander and Yutu 2 exceeded their expected lifespans, continuing to operate and provide valuable data long after their landing. The Change-4 mission and the Yutu 2 rovers hopping capability have expanded our knowledge of the lunar far side and demonstrated Chinas advancements in space exploration technology. It has also contributed to the broader scientific understanding of the moons geology and history, Linganna further said. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia on Monday, the Turkish presidencys communications directorate announced. Erdogan is going to Russia on an invitation by Putin. The two leaders are likely to discuss Turkish-Russian relations; and the current global and regional issues. Besides this, it is also likely that Erdogan would try to persuade Putin to patch up the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which helped ease a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Moscow put a hold on the deal on July 2023, about 17 months after Russia launched a "special military operation" in February 2022. The Black Sea Grain Initiative allowed Ukraine to ship grain and other foodstuffs from three Black Sea ports. Russia pulled out of the deal claiming that its conditions hadn't been met. Ahead of Erdogan travelling to Russia, Egypt's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in Moscow last week for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Fidan had said that reviving the grain was "critical" for food security. Lavrov responded by saying Ankara had been given a list of actions the West would have to take for the grain deal to be patched up and for Ukrainian grain and fertilizer shipments to be resumed. While Turkey and Russia have maintained good relations, Turkey supplying weapons to Ukraine to defend itself against Russian invasion has irritated Putin. Turkey has also backed Ukraine's ambitions to join NATO. Turkey, however, did not join the West in imposing sanctions on Moscow and became a crucial venue for Russia to access services and goods. In July though, Erdogan allowed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to bring back five commanders that Russia sent to Turkey in a major prisoner swap, commanders who were meant to stay in Turkey. Turkey has maintained good relations with Russia and has positioned itself to facilitate talks between Russia and Ukraine. When the UN proposed a fresh grain deal, Lavrov pushed it aside. In the meantime, Ukrainian officials said Russia launched an overnight air attack on one of Ukraine's major grain exporting ports, Reuters reported. Governor of Odesa Oleg Kiper said a 3 1/2-hour drone assault on the Danube River port of Izmail, in Ukraine's Odesa region, hit warehouses and production buildings, and drone debris set several civilian infrastructure buildings on fire. Pakistan's law enforcement agencies have foiled a major terror plot by arresting seven suspected terrorists, including two key commanders of the Islamic State (ISIS), in the country's Punjab province, police claimed on Monday. The terrorists were arrested by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police during several intelligence-based operations conducted in different districts of the province. "The CTD conducted 49 intelligence-based operations across the province during which seven suspected terrorists belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi including two commanders of ISIS, Shahid Hussain and Siaful Din were arrested," the CTD spokesperson said. "Both the commanders were operating in Punjab," he said. The spokesman said the terrorists had planned to target important installations and other places across the province. The police have registered six cases against them. Police have also recovered 3,100 grams of explosives, 14 detonators, 10 feet of protective fuse wire, banned literature, cell phones and cash from them. Last Saturday, the CTD arrested five women terrorists of the militant group ISIS in the cities of Lahore and Sheikhupura of Punjab province. "The CTD teams raided the hideouts of the Daesh women and arrested three in Lahore and two in Sheikhupura (some 50 kms from Lahore)," the CTD said. Weapons, cash, banned literature and cell phones were also recovered from them. "The women are active members of Daesh and involved in terror activities in the country," it said. Last month, the CTD arrested over 20 terrorists from banned organisations during operations in different areas of Punjab. PTI MZ FZH 09041543 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov has been dismissed. in his nightly address, Zelensky said it was time for "new approaches" in the defence ministry, BBC reported. Rezinkov was appointed defence minister in November 2021. Before being appointed defence minister, he served in other governmental roles including deputy prime minister. Politician and businessman Rustem Umerov has been nominated by Zelensky to be Reznikov's successor. "I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole," Zelenskyy said. Rezinkov, in the meantime, is expected to be appointed Ukraine's new ambassador in the UK. He has become an internationally recognised figure since Russia invaded. He has been meeting with Ukraine's Western allies and played a key role in lobbying for additional military equipment. Reportedly, he had indicated that he was exploring other positions with the Ukrainian president. Ukrainian defence advisor Yuriy Sak told the BBC that Reznikov spearheaded the transformation of the ministry, laying the groundwork for future NATO membership. "His legacy is that he has convinced ministers of defence around the world that the impossible is possible." In January this year, Zelenskyy shook up the cabinet, he fired several senior officials over a scandal linked to the procurement of wartime supplies; the countrys deputy defence minister resigned after facing allegations of corruption. According to experts, the cabinet reshuffle is unlikely to lead to any major change in Ukraine's battlefield strategy. Indore, Sep 4 (PTI) Traders across 230 major Agriculture Produce Market Committees in Madhya Pradesh started an indefinite strike from Monday over various demands including reduction in mandi (market) fee currently being charged at the rate of 1.5 per cent, a confederation of traders said. Gopaldas Agrawal, president of the Madhya Pradesh Sakal Anaj Dalhan Tilhan Vyapari Mahasangh, said they have been demanding for a long time that the mandi fee being charged at 1.5 per cent from traders on purchase of crop produce from farmers be reduced. "But, the state government has been deceiving us every time on this issue despite assurances, he claimed. Agrawal said their other demands include slashing the lease rent of government plots allotted to traders in mandi premises and ending the collection of destitute assistance fee. Till these demands are not accepted, nearly 40,000 traders across 230 mandis of the state will neither buy nor sell the produce (of farmers), he said. He claimed that trade worth at least Rs 400 crore will be affected every day in the state APMCs due to the strike. New Delhi (India), September 4: DoubleTree by Hilton in Agra recently hosted the inaugural "Wedding Diaries by Hilton show, marking a significant milestone for Hilton India. This star-studded event illuminated the city of Agra with the presence of renowned celebrities such as Shilpa Shetty, Mallika Arora, Sobhita Dhulipala, Diana Penty, and over 30 supermodels who graced the runway for some of India's top designers. The show, meticulously curated by the DoubleTree by Hilton Agra team, featured exclusive creations from four esteemed designers. This event is hailed as one of the grandest wedding shows in recent memory, and it was a historic moment for Agra, the city of love and home to the iconic Taj Mahal, to host an event of such magnitude. In addition to the glamorous celebrity presence, the show received the artistic touch of leading designers like Paulmi & Harsh, Gopi Vaid, Varun Bahl, and Aslam Khan, who also served as the show's curator alongside DoubleTree by Hilton Agra. The show was curated by One Infinite. Shyam Kumar, the General Manager at DoubleTree by Hilton Agra, played a pivotal role in driving and curating the event. His leadership and innovative thinking have not only benefited the hotel but have also had a positive impact on the Agra community. Speaking about the event's resounding success, Shyam Kumar shared, "DoubleTree by Hilton Agra has consistently hosted engaging events and campaigns. I am proud to say that we have made history with the immense success of Wedding Diaries by Hilton. Agra had the privilege of witnessing luminaries like Shilpa Shetty, Mallika Arora, Sobhita Dhulipala, and many others grace the runway, along with four top fashion designers and 30 supermodels from the industry." The evening's star attractions, Shilpa Shetty and Malaika Arora showcased their elegance on the runway in comfortable yet stylish footwear by Oroh Shoes adorned with exquisite jewellery from AP Jewellers. Oroh Shoes, a newly launched elite footwear range, blends style and comfort to create a perfect union, catering to shoe enthusiasts. AP Jewellers, with a rich heritage as one of the oldest and largest jewellery businesses, offers an extraordinary collection, ranging from dazzling diamonds to traditional Polki, captivating Jadau to fusion marvels, all designed to captivate the heart. The show also hosted a two-day wedding exhibition, a dazzling showcase of premier wedding-related brands. It garnered tremendous success, drawing a huge presence of enthusiastic guests. The event's second day featured a wedding conclave organized in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Wedding Association, which welcomed prominent figures from the industry. Distinguished attendees included Mukesh K. Meshram, Principal Secretary & Director General Tourism, Uttar Pradesh, along with many renowned names from the wedding fraternity of Agra, Jaipur, Kanpur, Mathura etc. "Wedding Diaries by Hilton" was also supported by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, further enriching the experience. These remarkable events, set against the romantic backdrop of Agra, aspire to position the city as an exceptional destination for grand destination weddings. Agra aims to become the preferred choice for large-scale weddings & events alike. (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, capping another blockbuster season for travel. But according to some industry experts, its not too early to start thinking about and perhaps even booking next years trip. Tour operators, travel advisers and other tourism insiders say theyve seen a noticeable shift in the booking window among leisure travelers in light of the unprecedented demand of past seasons. Its yet another way the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reverberate in the industry and affect consumers spending behavior. Pre-pandemic, there was a tendency to book later and later and later, simply because there wasnt an issue about supplying the products, because it seemed like there was an endless supply, Dino Triantafillou, managing director of tour operator Italian Journeys, tells CNN Travel. And so thats been pushed back now because of the supply issues and the huge demand. So inevitably, something has to give, and that means clients have to book at least six to 12 months in advance to get what they want at the right price. Like many operators specializing in Italy, Triantafillou says his company, which plans luxury trips and is part of Global Travel Collection UK, had its busiest season ever this summer. In early June, the company decided to stop taking any additional bookings for the remainder of the month. As a result, clients have seen firsthand what happens if they wait too late to book, say, their favorite Tuscan villa. We are seeing client mindset shift, and they understand more and more that they must book in advance to guarantee the dates and experiences desired, Triantafillou says. Making up for lost time Cristiano Cabutti, general manager of JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa, has observed a similar trend of travelers getting a much bigger jump start on planning next years trips. The five-star property already has taken reservations for spring 2024, he tells CNN Travel. Were continuing to see the effects of pent-up travel demand and the concept of making up for lost time with family reunions abroad, Cabutti says. Travelers however have also learned from the last two seasons, and realized that choosing to book last-minute or during peak holiday dates can lead to unexpected surprises from high flight costs, a lack of hotel availability, to longer queues at key attractions and busy crowds. Across the Atlantic, some U.S.-based tourism businesses also have noticed a significant uptick in travelers booking way in advance. Stephanie Bias, co-owner of Camp Aramoni, an upscale camping-style property on the site of a former historic brickyard in Tonica, Illinois, says many guests are booking between one and two years out and sometimes even further for milestone events. I even had a bachelorette party reach out 2.5 years ahead of time, which shocked me, says Bias, who also is communications director. Those who wait until the last minute will find very few, if any, options. Weekends sell out quickly, and weekdays are being booked at a pace weve never seen before. The early bird truly does get the worm. Not the earliest bird Even as the booking window is stretching into a longer-term outlook, travelers trying to get a major jump-start on their vacation planning should keep in mind that not all advance bookings are created equal. According to Scott Keyes, founder of travel site Going (formerly Scotts Cheap Flights), points- or miles-based bookings for flights are most important to make as far in advance as possible to get not only a good deal, but more importantly, simply the chance to book with points or miles. This aspect of the airline booking system is dependent on whats known as award availability: the inventory, or number of seats, that are bookable with miles or points on any given flight. Each airline determines the award availability on its flights, and award availability varies between each cabin class (for example, airlines limit the number of first- or business-class seats). Many airlines make a handful of seats available even coveted lie-flat business class seats right when the 12-month booking window opens up, Keyes says, adding that one of Goings recent deals was roundtrip business-class fare from the United States to Madrid in June 2024 for as low as 54,000 points. For flights not based on points, the formula gets a little trickier on how far exactly to book to get the best deal, depending on demand and destination. But Keyes generally advises travelers not to necessarily hit that purchase button as soon as an airline opens up a flight for booking. While its relatively common knowledge that last-minute fares are expensive, whats far less known is that its also possible to book flights too early, he says. Airfare is available on most airlines up to 12 months out, but the cheapest fares are most likely to pop up during what we call a Goldilocks Window not too early, not too late, just right in the middle. In other words, the early bird gets the worm, but not the earliest bird. According to Keyes, that critical booking window for the best deals on peak summer international flights usually falls between four and 10 months out which means if you already have your heart set on sipping Aperol spritzes in Santorini next June, its not a bad idea to start keeping an eye on flights in the preceding fall to snag the best price possible. A simple way to tackle the task: Sign up for a flight monitoring alert, which is a free feature most major booking and flight tracking platforms offer. This is especially helpful in popular destinations where flights are especially expensive, including Europe and Asia. According to figures from Hoppers recently released Q3 Consumer Travel Index, Asia fares remain a whopping 59% higher on average than pre-pandemic prices about $525 more per ticket. Sally French, a travel rewards expert and spokesperson with NerdWallet, notes that booking a flight or hotel room far in advance is a smart way to fulfill an introductory offer on a travel credit card. Planning ahead gives you enough time to meet that cards minimum spending requirement and actually receive the points or miles in your account, French says. Finally, keep in mind that if you do decide to book that flight way ahead of time and the price drops, you can still snag those savings. As Keyes notes, With most airlines now allowing penalty-free changes and cancellations, you can rebook the same flight if the price drops after booking and get the difference back in travel credit. Other intangibles of planning early In addition to helping ensure youre able to book the destination, flight and accommodations you want, planning next years trip now also has some other hidden benefits, such as allowing a big cushion for organizing and obtaining necessary documents and medical requirements. Perhaps most importantly if youre headed out of the country: Make sure your passport is still valid, especially if you havent dusted it off since before the pandemic. As French explains, this is especially critical as the U.S. State Department currently estimates that routine passport renewal processing will take from 10 to 13 weeks. And remember that while adult passports are valid for 10 years, that number drops to five for children younger than 18. Planning a trip far in advance also means youll have plenty of wiggle room for other time-consuming preparations, such as getting necessary vaccinations, depending on your destination. For travelers headed on safari in sub-Saharan Africa, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends being up-to-date on several key vaccinations, which involves the time-consuming task of wrangling health records and scheduling appointments. In addition, some vaccinations require multiple doses with a required minimum between visits. From the hospitality industry perspective, advance booking can help hoteliers and other businesses adjust staffing, pricing and other factors to offer a better experience. While Cabutti of JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa acknowledges that the early booking trend results in higher room rates, it also enables businesses to better meet guests needs. We can better forecast our occupancy rates, allowing us to make informed decisions regarding staffing, inventory management and service offerings, he said. Additionally, the increase in advanced bookings during slower months has led us to extend our season well into late fall, welcoming more guests who look forward to enjoying Venice without the summer crowds. And as Keyes notes, travelers can also benefit from the feel-good intangible at play when a vacation many months down the road is already at the forefront of your thoughts. Researchers have found that you get more joy from trips booked further out, he says. Thats because people tend to derive more happiness from the anticipation of a trip rather than the trip itself. When you book far out, you give yourself something to look forward to for months. ___ 10 boating adventures of a lifetime 10 boating adventures of a lifetime Bird-watch on a cruise through the Amazon rainforest Glide past limestone cliffs in Vietnam's Ha Long Bay Party on a Croatian yacht Bear-watch in Alaska Marvel at elephants, antelopes, and more on an African safari by boat Sailing around New Zealand's rainforest and waterfalls Spot puffins on a windjammer in Maine Embark on a classic European river cruise See Turkiye on a gulet Savor the quiet while felucca sailing on the Nile River New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) In a major relief for Rasna, the Gujarat High Court on Monday stayed the NCLT order directing the initiation of insolvency proceedings against the homegrown beverage brand. Last week, the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) directed initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Rasna over a default of Rs 71.27 lakh and had appointed an interim resolution professional suspending the board. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order was challenged by the promoters of Rasna Industries before the high court, which stayed the verdict till an appeal filed against it before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal is listed. "Considering the aforesaid, by way of ad-interim relief, the said order dated 01.09.2023 is directed not to be acted upon till the statutory appeal which is filed before the NCLAT is listed for hearing in the peculiar facts of the present case," an order passed by Justice V D Nanavati stated on Monday. NCLT had passed the order on the petition filed by one of its operational creditors Bharat Road Carriers, claiming a default of Rs 71.27 lakh and had appointed Ravindra Kumar Goyal as Interim Resolution Professional (IRP). A statement from Rasna Group Legal Team said, "Considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case, the High Court of Gujarat was pleased to entertain the petition filed by Rasna challenging the order of NCLT." "The Order of the NCLT passed on Friday i.e., 01.09.2023 has been stayed in the first hearing held today, i.e. 04.09.2023 in the High Court," it said. Bharat Road carriers had claimed operational debt of Rs 71.27 lakh plus interest on service tax and interest on unpaid amounts as of March 31, 2019. It had transported various goods to Rasna, for which it had raised various invoices during the period from April 2017 to August 2018. Rasna admitted that they had availed transportation services from the transporter but stated that there were pre-existing disputes between the parties. In November 2018, Bharat Road carriers instituted a civil suit for damages amounting to Rs 1.25 crore before the commercial court in Ahmedabad, which was referred for mediation. However, during the mediation process, the operational creditor did not appear before the mediator and, hence, it failed. NCLT said Rasna has failed to provide reasons for the dispute to the operational creditor. "In our view, the arguments so as to the dispute appear to be moonshine. As such the applicant has proved that there is a default and the amount in default is more than Rs 1 lakh," NCLT said. "Under the said circumstances, this tribunal is left with no other option than to proceed with the present case and initiate the CIRP in relation to the corporate debtor." Mumbai, Sep 4 (PTI) Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said faster, transparent and more inclusive payment services will deliver widespread benefits as he flagged concerns over high cost and slow cross-border payments. "Notwithstanding the progress made so far, the key challenges to the existing cross-border payment systems continue to be high cost, low speed, limited access and insufficient transparency. Faster, cheaper, more transparent and more inclusive cross-border payment services would deliver widespread benefits to people and economies worldwide. "It would also support economic growth, international trade and financial inclusion," Das said at the concluding session of the G20 TechSprint here this evening, organised by the Reserve Bank and the Bank for International Settlements. The G20 TechSprint was launched in May 2023 with the theme 'technology solutions for cross-border payments' under India's presidency of the grouping of the 20 world's largest economies. The final session of the presidency is slated for later this week in the national capital. The G20 TechSprint is a global long-form hackathon series that the BIS Innovation Hub co-hosts annually with the G20 presidency to identify new technologies that can address the challenges and priorities of central banks. The governor also suggested that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can play an important role in making cross-border payments cheaper, faster and more secure. Noting that several central banks across the world are considering the introduction of CBDCs and are taking steps in this direction, he said India is one of the few countries that has launched CBDC pilots in wholesale and retail segments. "Slowly and steadily, we are expanding the pilot to more banks, more cities, more people and more use cases. The empirical data that we are generating would go a long way in shaping the policies and future course of action. With its instant settlement feature, CBDCs can play an important role in making cross-border payments cheaper, faster and more secure," he said. Mumbai, Sep 4 (PTI) Rajveer Deol, the younger son of Sunny Deol, says his family was not in favour of him joining the movie industry because of its unpredictable nature. Rajveer is making his acting debut with romantic drama "Dono", which also launches veteran actor Poonam Dhillon and producer Ashok Thakerias daughter Paloma. The film is directed by first-time filmmaker Avnish, who is Sooraj Barjatya's son. "My parents never wanted me to become an actor. They wanted me to study and do something else. Its because this industry is so unpredictable. You are happy for a second and (feel) miserable the next. "In fact, my father got a hit (Gadar 2) after 22 years. But unfortunately, I fell in love with acting, Rajveer told reporters here at the trailer launch of Dono, which was attended by his grandfather Dharmendra, uncles Bobby Deol and Abhay Deol and father Sunny Deol. Rajveer said he fell in love with acting because he was surrounded by actors and thought "this is how you got the bread home". "I was always influenced by movies and loved acting. I felt one could just disguise themselves in the characters. So, this is what I wanted to do. My family advised me to work hard. They told me not to be a star and become an actor first as the characters will get more work and that is what I want to do, he added. Rajveer said his father Sunny Deol taught him to "never give up". "What dad has taught me is dedication and determination. He has the strongest back ever, he carries his whole life on his back..." Sunny Deol, who was present at the event, said he has seen "Dono" and as a parent he is full of pride, joy and confidence but he also feels scared. Dhillon said both the newcomers look good on the screen. "I was so happy that they were coming together after Sunny and I did such amazing films together, and people liked us onscreen a lot. They too (Rajveer and Paloma) look good together. Im happy with the pairing because thats half the battle won when you compliment each other, she said, adding, she wants the two young actors to recreate the look of her and Sunnys 1984 film. Paloma said her parents have always supported her with her decisions. "I'm lucky because my parents have been supportive of anything that I do ever since I was a kid. When I decided to tell them that Im serious about this profession, I dont think they expected it, but obviously they expressed how difficult this line is, how much goes into this craft and profession. I hope Im making them proud, Paloma added. Rajveer said he consciously chose to make his debut with a romantic drama as people expected him to follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps and pick up an action film. You need to have your own individual stamp in this industry, otherwise they expect you to follow your dad or grandfathers traits. I really liked the subject (of Dono) when Avnish narrated it to me because it was so different to what people would expect me to choose. "Like, they would expect me to choose to beat 100 people up, scream, and have a big body. I was in love with the craft and I love acting. I notice if I get typecasted in that, then it is not a good idea. It is important to have your own individual stamp in this industry, Rajveer said. Barjatya, the filmmaker behind hits such as "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!" and "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo", said he would have been equally happy had his son chosen education or medicine. "They chose films, so, of course, there's another feeling of pride. Their future only depends on hard work because hard work is your bread and butter. I told Avnish that when we receive love from people, it comes in abundance, so we need to be very grateful and full of value," he said. Avnish said he wanted to ensure that the film aligns with his father's legacy. I had to see the legacy of my father, Sunny sir, Poonam ji, Rajshri brand, so that responsibility was always there in the back of my head. I couldnt take this opportunity lightly. (I wanted to) make a film that they all can be proud of, he said. Dono releases theatrically on October 5. Islamabad, Sep 4 (PTI) A special court judge, who has been hearing bail pleas of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a case related to the alleged disclosure of state secrets, has gone on leave until September 8, according to media reports on Monday. Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain on Saturday postponed till Monday the hearing of post-arrest bail applications of Khan and Qureshi in the case since the validity of the special court was under scrutiny in the Islamabad High Court. On Monday, when 70-year-old Khan's legal team arrived at the court premises, they found out that Judge Zulqarnain was on leave for a week due to his wifes illness, Geo News reported. Khan's lawyer Naeem Haider Panjotha said that when the legal team arrived at the court premises, they found out that Judge Zulqarnain was on leave for a week, Dawn newspaper reported. Subsequently, the legal team reached the courtroom of Judge Raja Javad Abbas and urged him to hear the bail plea. To which, the judge replied that he could not hear the case as he was not the duty judge. "There is no notification of the duty judge of the Official Secrets Act. If the Islamabad High Court can mark it, only then I can hear it, Judge Abbas said. "I can hear cases of 24 courts as a duty judge but not to the extent of the Official Secrets Act. Last month, ATC-I Judge Zulqarnain was given an additional charge of the special court established under the Official Secrets Act to hear matter related to the diplomatic cipher that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said was misplaced and used by Khan for political purposes. The purported cipher (secret diplomatic cable) contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan last year. Of late, Khan has come under increased scrutiny following the publication of a purported copy of the secret cable by the US media outlet The Intercept, with many in the previous government led by Shehbaz Sharif pointing fingers at the PTI chief for being the source of the leak. Qureshi, 67-year-old former foreign minister, was arrested under the Official Secrets Act for violating the secrecy of the official cable sent by the Pakistani embassy in the US to the foreign office when he was the foreign minister. Khan, who served as the country's prime minister until April last year, currently faces around 180 cases. These cases primarily stem from incidents that occurred following the sacking of the Lahore corps commander's house on May 9. Khan's three-year sentence in the Toshakhana corruption case was suspended by a high court, which ordered his release from jail last week, but the embattled former premier's remand was on Wednesday extended till September 13 by the special court in cipher case. The same day, Khan approached the IHC against the appointment of anti-terrorism court Judge Zulqarnain to the special court established to hear cases filed under the Official Secrets Act. He filed a post-arrest bail plea in the special court, which had been fixed for hearing on September 2, with notices issued to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other relevant authorities. However, on September 2, the hearings on the bail pleas of Khan and Qureshi were adjourned till today. Cairo, Sep 4 (AP) Sudan's top military general arrived in South Sudan on Monday for talks with its president on his second trip abroad since the war in his country started in April. Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, chairman of the ruling Sovereign Council, landed at the airport in South Sudan's capital and was received by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. Both leaders inspected an honour guard and then headed for talks that would focus on the conflict in Sudan, according to the council. In April, simmering tensions between the military, led by Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital and elsewhere. The fighting has reduced Sudan's capital, Khartoum, to an urban battlefield, with neither side managing to gain control of the city. The military headquarters, where Burhan has purportedly been stationed since the conflict began, has been one of the epicentres of the conflict. In the western Darfur region the scene of a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s the conflict has morphed into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African groups, according to rights groups and the United Nations. Meanwhile, in his trip to Juba, Burhan is accompanied by acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq and Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, and other military officers, according to the Sovereign Council. South Sudan's Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro said that the South Sudanese president has a solution "to resolve the conflict in Sudan, according to a statement by the South Sudanese presidency. It is known that President Kiir is the only person who has intimacy and knowledge about Sudan and can find a solution to the Sudanese crisis, Lomuro said. Al-Sadiq, the Sudanese acting foreign minister, meanwhile, was quoted as saying that South Sudan is the best candidate to meditate the ongoing conflict "because we have been one country for so long and we know each other, we know the problems and we know our needs. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long conflict. Early in the ongoing war in Sudan, South Sudan's Kiir attempted to mediate between the warring generals, as part of an initiative by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-member regional bloc that includes Sudan. The Sudanese leader met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt last week in the Egyptian coastal city of el-Alamein. It was his first trip abroad since the war. The conflict is estimated to have killed at least 4,000 people, according to the UN human rights office, though activists and doctors on the ground say the toll is likely far higher. More than 4.8 million people have been displaced, according to the UN migration agency. Those include over 3.8 million who fled to safer areas inside Sudan and more than 1 million others who crossed into neighbouring countries. On Monday, the United Nations and 64 other humanitarian agencies appealed for USD 1 billion to help over 1.8 million people expected to flee the war to five neighbouring countries by the end of 2023. Those neighbouring countries include Egypt, Chad, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The UNHCR said the funds are a two-fold increase of what was initially estimated in May, as displacement and needs continue to soar. The crisis has triggered an urgent demand for humanitarian assistance, said Mamadou Dian Balde, a regional director at the UNHCR. It is deeply distressing to receive reports of children dying from diseases that are entirely preventable, should partners have had sufficient resources. (AP) FZH Imphal, Sep 4 (PTI) Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said that a police case has been filed on the basis of a complaint against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI) for a report critiquing media coverage out of Manipur, and accused them of trying to "provoke clashes" in the state. A second FIR was also registered against the four members of the EGI, with additional charge of defamation. The Editors Guild, in a report published on Saturday, had slammed the internet ban in the state as being detrimental to media reportage, criticised what it termed as one-sided reporting by some media outlets and claimed there were indications that the state leadership "had turned partisan" during the conflict period. The Press Club of India joined a number of bodies in condemning the filing of the case against the EGI fact finding team and termed it as "a strong-arm tactic by the state government which amounts to intimidation of the apex media body of the country". Singh claimed at a press conference here that at a time when many have been killed and left homeless, the EGI published a "totally one-sided" report without understanding the complexity of the crisis faced by Manipur, the background and the history of the state. "The state government has filed an FIR against the members of the Editors Guild who are trying to create more clashes in the state of Manipur," Singh told a press conference. The initial complaint, a copy of which is with PTI, was filed by a Ngangom Sarat Singh, a retired engineer who had worked for the state government. The second FIR was lodged with Porompat Police Station by Sorokhaibam Thoudam Sangita of Khurai in Imphal East district. Besides EGI president Seema Mustafa, those who were booked were senior journalists -- Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor -- who visited the state between August 7 and 10 to study media reportage on the ethnic violence. "They are anti-state, anti-national and anti-establishment (people) who came to pour venom. Had I known it before, would not have allowed them to enter," the chief minister claimed. The EGI in its report published on Saturday said it received several representations that the media in Manipur was playing a partisan role in the ongoing ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Chin communities. "There are clear indications that the leadership of the state became partisan during the conflict. It should have avoided taking sides in the ethnic conflict but it failed to do its duty as a democratic government which should have represented the entire state," the report said. In normal circumstances, the EGI said, reports filed by journalists are cross-checked and monitored by their editors or chiefs of bureaus from the local administration, police and security forces, but this was not possible during the conflict. "The internet ban made matters worse. Communication blockade by the government had a deleterious effect on journalism as it directly impacted the ability of journalists to communicate with each other, their editors and their sources. It also impacted the media because local news gathered without any communication links was not sufficient to give a balanced view of the situation," the report said. It said with the internet suspended, and communication and transport in disarray, the media had to rely almost entirely on the narrative of the state government. The EGI pointed out that members of the state leadership labelled sections of the Kuki-Zo tribals as "illegal immigrants" and "foreigners" without any reliable data or evidence. "This despite the fact that the decadal census from 1901 to 2011 has not shown any unusual growth of the non-Naga (the other minority tribal community) tribal population," the report said. The fact that there was a military coup in Myanmar which led to an inflow of about 40,000 refugees to Mizoram and reportedly about 4,000 to Manipur "was used to brand all Kuki-Zo as illegal immigrants". "This was presented as pressure on resources but was also a war for political space, with the politicians using the fear of the outsiders to consolidate its political position," it said. The Editors' Guild members were booked under various sections of the IPC including 153A (promoting enmity between two communities), 200 (using false declaration as true), 298 (deliberate intent to wound religious feelings), and under provisions of the Information Technology Act and Press Council Act. The second FIR, besides these charges, also has Section 499 (defamation) of IPC added to it. "...I also give a warning to the members of the Editors Guild, if you want to do something, please come to the spot, see the ground reality, meet the representatives of all communities, all victims and publish what you found. Otherwise, meeting some sections of the people only and coming to a conclusion - that's a disservice and is condemnable," Singh said. The claim that eviction was carried against one community only is "not true", he said adding that the drive began in 2015 and 413 houses have been vacated "for the welfare of the general public". Of the 413 houses, Singh said, 59 belonged to the Kukis, 143 to Meiteis, 137 to Manipuri Muslims, 38 to Nagas and 36 to Nepalis. The chief minister wondered why nobody spoke anything about "the mother" who gave clothes to the women, who were paraded naked, and sent them home. Singh alleged that none has been saying anything about similar incidents in Rajasthan and West Bengal. He said the process of collecting biometric details of identified illegal immigrants in the state is continuing. "The Centre had asked us to complete the process by September but we have sought an extension of one year as we have to find out more villages," Singh said. He rued that the EGI's report came when investigations are being carried out by several committees constituted by the Supreme Court and the central government. Singh said an FIR has been registered against Kuki Inpi Manipur leader K Haokip for allegedly declaring that no Meiteis can enter the India-Myanmar border town of Moreh till there is a political solution. All Manipur Working Journalists Union and Editors Guild Manipur also criticised the EGI for its "allegations based on hearsay". The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), the apex Kuki body, however slammed the Biren Singh government and said it is "aghast at the legal threat" issued against the Editors' Guild of India (EGI), "the conscience keeper for the (media) industry" and condemned filing of an FIR against it. It also termed the police case as a sign of "government's intolerance towards anyone who disagrees with its narrative". The Kuki body also said, "No journalist or representative from the Meitei or tribal community followed them in their fact-finding mission. No one influenced their judgment." The Manipur government had earlier filed an FIR against a three-member fact-finding team of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) for a report on the ethnic conflict in Manipur. More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since 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 communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipurs population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts. Imphal, Sep 4 (PTI) The Manipur government has appointed a retired decorated Army officer who was in charge of the operation to destroy militant camps in Myanmar eight years ago, as the senior superintendent of police (combat), a post created for him, officials said on Monday. The appointment of Col (retired) Nectar Sanjenbam for five years followed Union Home Minister Amit Shah statement last month that Kuki people started entering Manipur from Myanmar illegally following a military crackdown on militants. An organisation of the Meitei, one of the warring communities in the northeastern state, have also asserted that the four-month-long strife is a manifestation of the tension over deforestation, illegal opium poppy cultivation and change in demography in certain areas of the state mainly caused by illegal immigrants from Myanmar. It is alleged that arms are being supplied to militants from Myanmar to Manipur. The Governor of Manipur is pleased to appoint Col (retired) Nectar Sanjenbam as Senior Superintendent of Police (Combat) in Manipur police department on a fixed tenure basis for a period of five years with immediate effect, the state Home Department said in an order. He had led the operations against militants in Myanmar in June 2015, days after their attack in Manipurs Chandel district left 18 Army personnel dead. Significant casualties have been inflicted on them, the Army had said. It appears that the government wants to use the retired Colonels experience in counter-militancy operations in Myanmar to address the situation in Manipur where more than 160 people were killed in the ethnic violence since early May. Col Sanjenbam who retired prematurely last year was awarded the Kirti Chakra gallantry award for his role in the operation inside Myanmar. Speaking during the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha on August 10, Home Minister Shah said problems started in Manipur with the influx of Kuki refugees from neighbouring Myanmar after the military rulers there started a crackdown against militants in 2021. The Kuki refugees started settling down in the jungles in the Manipur valley, raising fears of a demographic change in the region, Shah said. More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since 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 communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipurs population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts. Lucknow, Sep 4 (PTI) Lawyers across Uttar Pradesh are on a three-day strike beginning Monday to protest the alleged police lathi-charge on advocates in Hapur district last week. The decision to go on strike was taken at a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council on Sunday. "On the call of the Bar Council we are on strike. We will be meeting the district magistrate and hand him over a memorandum of our demands," General Secretary, Lucknow Bar Association, Kuldeep Narain Mishra told PTI. The Council has demanded transfer of the Hapur District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police, lodging of FIR against policemen, withdrawing fake cases against lawyers and compensation to lawyers injured in the Hapur lathi-charge. Police had allegedly lathi-charged lawyers on August 29 when they were protesting against the registration of a case against a woman advocate and her father around a week ago. The case was registered following a confrontation between the woman lawyer and police when she was going to Ghaziabad in her car. On August 30, police had registered an FIR against 17 lawyers and over 250 unidentified people at City police station in Hapur over protest by some advocates at the tehsil crossing last week. The state government had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the Meerut Commissioner and IG, Meerut and DIG, Moradabad as its members to probe the Hapur incident. The Council had, however, demanded inclusion of a retired Supreme Court or high court judge in the SIT. New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it wants National Conference leader Mohd Akbar Lone to apologise for raising Pakistan Zindabad slogan in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in 2018. Lone is the lead petitioner challenging the abrogation of Article 370 that accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that Lone is the lead petitioner challenging the abrogation of the provision, but he has to state that he owes allegiance to the Constitution and apologise for raising the slogan on the floor of the House. The bench also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant said it will seek a statement from Lone, when his turn for rejoinder arguments comes. The bench said it has gone through the report published in the newspaper and taken note of the submissions made in the court. Mehta said, "These statements coming from senior leaders have its own effect. If no apology is given, it would encourage others. This will have an effect on steps taken to bring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir." Mehta was supported by senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and V Giri, who are appearing for intervenors and are supporting the abrogation, that Lone must furnish an affidavit apologising for raising slogans. On September 1, a Kashmiri Pandit group had questioned in the top court the credentials of Lone, claiming he was a supporter of secessionist forces. An intervention application in the apex court has been filed by an NGO 'Roots in Kashmir', which claims to be a group of Kashmiri Pandit youths, seeking to bring some additional documents and facts on record in the matter. It alleged that Lone is known as "a supporter of secessionist forces operating in J-J-K, who support Pakistan." >>> 2023-02-07 secret government telephone numbers (PDF) Very nearly a year ago, I wrote a popular article about secret military telephone buttons. To be clear, the "secret" here was a joke and these buttons are in fact well documented. The buttons I was talking about were the AUTOVON call precedence buttons, used for a five-level prioritization scheme within the AUTOVON military telephone network. The labels on these buttons, FO, F, I, P, for Flash Override, Flash, Immediate, and Priority, directly reflected the nuclear C2 scheme at the time. The AUTOVON telephone network is long retired, but military telephone systems continue to provide a call precedence scheme today, admittedly usually without dedicated buttons. Well, the idea of call precedence without the priority buttons leads naturally to a followup that I promised: government and defense call prioritization schemes on the general, civilian telephone network. It has long been recognized that in the event of a national emergency, many people involved in the response would not have access to a dedicated government telephone network. This is particularly true when you view civil defense as a wider remit, beyond just military reprisal. Recovery from a disaster of any type will involve federal, state, and local government leaders, as well as staff of response organizations like critical utilities, hospitals, and disaster relief organizations. Not all of these people can realistically be furnished with a phone on a dedicated network. The only way to practically ensure prioritized communications in a disaster is to provide that capability as a feature of the public switched telephone network. It is perhaps useful to provide a little bit of background on the need for call prioritization. In the landline phone network, the major limitation on capacity is long-distance trunks. Particularly in the era before the TDM digital telephone network, long-distance trunk capacity was relatively expensive. In the 1950s, a small city might have only one or two dozen trunks for outbound long distance calls. This means that only one or two dozen simultaneous calls outside of the city could be connected. By the mid-1960s, rapid expansion of the Long Lines microwave network had dramatically increased long-distance trunk capacity (in part through added routing flexibility), so it was no longer necessary to request most long-distance calls in advance. Still, into the '90s it was not unusual for long-distance calls during peak periods like Christmas to result in an "all trunks are busy" intercept message. The need for some sort of emergency prioritization of traffic on the landline network has long been known, but solutions have been uneven, at least in the US. In the UK, where telephone service was a state enterprise until 1984 and the first and second World Wars created a more expedient need, some type of basic telephone prioritization scheme has long been in place. Through WWII and the Cold War it was a simple one: in cases of emergency, all local loops not flagged as being required for emergency service would be disconnected. This had the dual benefit of freeing capacity for government traffic and denying an invading enemy the use of the telephone network. A somewhat more sophisticated version of the same idea, called the Government Telephone Preference Scheme, remained in service until 2017. In the US, though, there was little effort towards such a system during WWII and the Cold War. It's hard to know what exactly to make of this situation. First, the situation has always been a little different in the US than in the UK: during WWII, Great Britain was the target of ongoing bombing campaigns. Excepting mostly minor terrorist attacks (such as during the Escobar Rebellion in Mexico), the US has not suffered a military assault on its homeland since the Civil War. During the Cold War era, an attack on the US was assumed to be a nuclear one, and most likely an all-out nuclear campaign. The end result is that civil defense in the UK tended to be viewed as a practical system oriented around sustaining operations during an attack, while civil defense in the US was viewed as more of a theoretical exercise in preparation for reconstruction. This is all just background to explain that part of the reason the US did not have a telephone prioritization scheme through most of the Cold War is simply because the US is historically pretty bad at deploying civil defense infrastructure. But that's not the whole story, there are other, more positive, reasons as well. For one, since WWII AT&T had operated a dedicated telephone network for military use (known as AUTOVON for most of the Cold War) and it was relatively large in scope and well-hardened against attack. For the most part, the assumption was that all emergency traffic would be on AUTOVON, not the PSTN. Another factor is the government's close relationship with AT&T. Despite AT&T being a private entity, it was exceptionally close to the federal government and provided many government services in secret. It is possible, even likely, that AT&T had arranged for some sort of emergency call prioritization scheme that wasn't discussed in public. The cellular network faces similar problems but at a different point. In the landline network, it is possible but rare for a local exchange switch to become overwhelmed by the number of phones off-hook. Conventional telephone switches use a relatively low "oversubscription" ratio from local loops to call-processing elements (the nature of which depends on the switch architecture) and are often designed so that most components of the switch are only in use during the setup stage of the call, and are disconnected once the call is established and made available to process additional calls. This means that overwhelming a telephone exchange to the point that it can no longer offer dial tone and accept dialing from telephones requires picking up a significant number of the connected telephones at the same time. In practice, the long distance trunks were virtually always the bottleneck. The cellular network is not so lucky. Before data became the major driver of cellular network architecture, cellular carriers used a much higher oversubscription ratio. Cell phones spend only a very small portion of the time connected to calls, less than landlines early on due to the higher pricing, and so cellular base stations were designed to track associations with far more phones than they could actually handle call traffic with. In an emergency that affected even a small area, it was very easy for enough people to make cellphone calls that the tower hit its capacity limit and began rejecting additional calls. Since the limitation was often in the actual bandwidth on the radio side, this limit applied to all simultaneous calls, not just calls in setup. Some freeway accidents were dramatic enough emergencies to cause cellular calls to fail. This problem, in the case of civil emergencies, is not at all far-fetched. We will refer to 9/11 repeatedly because it is main origin of modern emergency telecommunications programs. On 9/11, Verizon reported a 1.5x to 2x increase in national call volume. Cingular a 20% increase. Nextel, a carrier that I will write a whole article on eventually because of the interesting technology they employed, saw an increase of several hundred percent in the hours immediately following the first attack. These statistics, though, reported at a national level, understate the impact. There was a problem nationwide, but there was a far greater problem in New York City, where local cellular base stations became so overwhelmed that the call completion rate in the Manhattan area is thought to have dropped to a few percent for some time. Normal cellular service to Manhattan was not restored for several days. And during that same time period, basically the entire government and commercial disaster response capability was attempting to communicate plans... via cell phone. 9/11 is currently the most memorable event demonstrating the need for a call prioritization system, but it is only one on a string of incidents both before and after where emergency response was significantly impeded by capacity limitations in the PSTN. As you would expect from a federal emergency preparedness initiative, the government set out to address the problem of limited telephone network capacity through a confusing maze of several separate programs, administered by separate organizations, and accessed by separate means. Without a clear place to start, I will choose the best-known of these services: GETS, the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service. The history of GETS is surprisingly obscure, perhaps because it has been tossed like a hot potato between a good half dozen executive branch agencies over the last few decades. Here's what I have put together from various archives and a helpful former AT&T source: the story of GETS starts with the National Communications System, or NCS, established by Kennedy in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. NCS had an objective of ensuring reliable communications for the civilian government during nuclear conflict, and seems to have started down the path of developing a civilian version of AUTOVON. This would be essentially an independent, parallel telephone network employing dedicated resources engineered for survivability. This program, called the National Emergency Telecommunications System or NETS at least late in its life, faltered mostly due to cost. AUTOVON had been a tremendously expensive project that went through mostly because of the military's tremendous budget. To save money, NETS was re-imagined as an "overlay" network built on top of the PSTN. Conveniently, this later version of the proposed NETS is detailed in a 1987 National Research Council report evaluating the plan on the request of NCS. The 20,000 federal government users of NETS would each be issued an Access Security Device, which would use some sort of digital signaling to authenticate itself to a device called a Call Controller integrated into (or attached as a peripheral to) a telephone switch. The NETS Call Controller would then communicate with other call controllers to attempt to establish a route to the dialed number. This is the real magic of NETS: the telephone network at the time, organized largely around hierarchical long-distance routing, had fixed, pre-planned routes in place between tandem switches. If the configured route to a destination was damaged, the call would fail---there was no self healing the sense we expect from modern networks. NETS implemented self-healing as a feature of the CC, which would initially attempt to establish the call via a default route, check for the ability to communicate with a CC at the other end, and give up and try a different route if the remote CC didn't respond. This way NETS CCs should be able to "discover" a working route even with appreciable damage to the telephone network. NETS, according to the National Research Council report, had numerous shortcomings. For one, the proposal dealt almost purely with federal employees, even though it was clear from NCS's objectives that many non-government users would need access in an emergency (hospitals and infrastructure operators, for example). This was an especially large problem because of the seemingly over-paranoid design of the "access security device," a piece of hardware which would apparently have to be stockpiled in various federal offices to be issued in the event of an attack. The report recommends eliminating the ASD and replacing it with a dialed PIN code, a far simpler arrangement that didn't seem much worse considering that the ASD didn't implement encryption of the call contents but instead just a challenge-response authentication process. Further, unlike AUTOVON which provided dedicated service all the way to the user, NETS was essentially a feature of the long-distance network only. In an emergency when a local exchange switch was overwhelmed and unable to service a newly off-hook like, NETS would be of no hope. Still, the report finds that this is a relatively small problem, and although users might have to wait a while it is expected that after taking their phone off-hook they would get a dial tone eventually. Because the telephone switches of the time worked by fabric-switching digit receivers to off-hook phone lines, each person picking up a phone was essentially placed in a queue to receive dial tone. Normally the queue was empty and so this happened instantaneously, but during especially busy calling periods it was not all that unusual for their to be a very brief delay. Finally, the NETS proposal included not only voice but fax and data. Because the "damage-avoidance" routes developed by the NETS CCs would often be longer than typical long-distance phone routes, the connections would be of relatively poor quality. This required additional electronics at the ends of the call, and potentially integrated into user PBXs, for line conditioning. It seems like the use-case for the data mode wasn't very well established, and so the report recommended dropping the requirement for additional line conditioning. The conclusions of the report seem to have been influential, because most of the features the report identified as problematic disappeared from later consideration. Unfortunately, some of the beneficial features did as well. NETS had included a call preemption system, for example, which did not make it past the end of the NETS project. The use of additional dedicated controllers for routing also seems to have been abandoned, but on this issue we must consider that in the late '80s computer-controlled switches were becoming the norm and were capable of much more complex routing logic. This may have just eliminated the need for an additional control system dedicated to routing emergency calls. The evolution of NETS, now called GETS, launched in 1994. Contemporaneous reporting supports the odd lack of historical information on GETS. A 1996 Chicago Tribune article about the 710 area code (see, people have been bringing up 710 as a weird area code for a long time!) says that while GETS was never a secret, it also received very little promotion even within the government. As of that article, the director of the NCS said that GETS would be "fully operational" in 2001... an auspicious date in emergency telecommunications. Indeed, the events of September 2001 lead to a massive federal reconsideration of continuity of government, emergency communications, and emergency preparedness in general. To make a long story short, the attacks of 9/11 immediately prompted an almost complete failure of federal emergency communications systems. Everything from complex continuity of government plans to the phones in the White House basement were found to be completely nonfunctional, the result of decades of under-investment in an increasingly incompetent civil defense apparatus [1]. In the year after 9/11, federal bureaucrats found themselves blowing the metaphorical dust off of a number of half-finished or half-forgotten communications programs, GETS included. It seems that in the 2001-2002 time period, NCS launched sort of a public relations program to promote GETS not just in the federal government but across state and local governments and industry. While GETS is technically a Gulf War-era program, for most purposes it is a post-9/11 program. GETS is perennially discussed in telephone arcana circles, including Computers Are Bad, because it has the distinction of being the sole use of the "federal government" 710 area code. GETS is accessed by dialing 1-710-NCS-GETS, where NCS is left over from the former National Communications Service. Amusingly, the special nature of the 710 area code poses a challenge: 710 is so rarely used (to the degree that it is sometimes listed as a "reserved" or unused area code) that some phone systems with trunk routing logic, like larger corporate PBXs, will not route it correctly. The decision to put GETS in the little-used (at the time, entirely unused) 710 area code was probably more practical than whimsical. GETS is expected to work across the entirety of the landline telephone network, which in 1994 contained a lot of legacy switching systems. Trunk selection based on area code would have been nearly universal at the time (I say "nearly" because dial service was not yet universal in 1994), so it would have been relatively easy to configure older switches to direct calls to the 710 area code via dedicated trunks. Basically, the prioritization of GETS could be implemented as a special case in the "LERG" routing table used to connect long-distance calls. On the other hand, as a workaround for phone systems that do not handle the 710 area code correctly, GETS also offers toll-free access numbers as an alternate. These were likely put in place later on, when more flexible 4ESS/5ESS or DMS-100 switches had become the strong majority of the telephone network. GETS users, after completing an application, are issued a card with the GETS access number and a frustratingly long 12-digit PIN. They call the GETS access number, enter the PIN, and then dial a phone number. While GETS looks a lot like a prepaid calling card to the user, internally the telephone network prioritizes calls from and to GETS to ensure a higher chance of completion. Perhaps more importantly, at least early on GETS calls were routed using more complex logic than normal calls so that---similar to the original goals of NETS---GETS calls should automatically route around unavailable trunks. Today, with a higher degree of automation in traffic engineering, it's unclear how much of a difference that functionality would make. GETS achieves the goal of call prioritization on the landline network, but it hits its limit when it comes to cellphones. The typical capacity problem with cellphones is not long distance trunks, but local tower capacity. GETS won't help with completing a call when your phone isn't able to set up a voice session in the first place. Well, in practice, some cellular carriers do seem to use more flexible modern GSM baseband capabilities to automatically prioritize GETS calls at the cellular network level as well, but this isn't universal and wasn't even really possible with earlier cellular standards. So, for cellphones, we have a separate system: WPS, the Wireless Priority Service. To use WPS, you have to apply to DHS to get an authorization letter and then set up WPS service with your cellular carrier. Once enabled for your line, the dialing prefix *272 will cause your call to be prioritized within the cellular network. WPS explicitly does not provide preemption, so you might still have to try multiple times, but you will have a higher chance of getting through eventually. Internally, WPS is implemented as a vertical service code, a generalized capability of phone switches that allows codes prefixed with * and # to operate special features. The GSM specification also has extensive treatment of vertical service codes, making WPS prioritization easier to implement in the cellular network layer. Like how GETS doesn't (necessarily) affect the cellular network, WPS doesn't affect the landline network. To ensure end-to-end prioritization of a call made on a cellphone, it's necessary to use both. For example, if I needed to reach Comcast in a genuine internet emergency, I would dial *2721710627438712345678901218009346489. This is so incredibly convenient that the government offers a phone app for WPS/GETS users just to do the dialing for you. Neither GETS nor WPS addresses the actual availability of a working telephone, though. For this, there is yet another program, but one that is less technical and more bureaucratic. The Telecommunications Service Priority program, or TSP, is an FCC program that allows government and infrastructure users to receive higher priority on telecommunications requests. This mostly means that TSP telephone services will be the top priority for repair after damage to the telephone network, but it also means that TSP users can order new service with higher priority as well. Like GETS and WPS, TSP starts out with an application form to DHS, and it's available to all government agencies and to industry in recognized critical sectors. TSP seems to have been formally created in 1988, indicating that it may be a result of the same NCS efforts that lead to GETS. All of these services might seem somewhat antiquated and, well, they are, with even 2001 being quite a ways in the past now. As an effort to modernize emergency telecommunications, the First Responder Network Authority was established in 2012. Ultimately part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) rather than DHS, the Authority is commonly referred to as FirstNet. This can be a bit confusing since the term FirstNet also refers to the actual service, delivered by AT&T. This public-private situation can be a bit confusing. While FirstNet is a government agency that includes a technical board and policy efforts in multiple areas, the bulk of FirstNet was contracted to AT&T. The objective of FirstNet in this sense is to develop a nationwide broadband network for emergency communications. AT&T, being a cellular carrier, is currently implementing this vision using cellular technology. In many practical senses, FirstNet is just a tier of AT&T cellular service that comes with prioritization. It didn't totally start out this way. The original goal on FirstNet was more like a unification of the existing public safety communications systems across the US. These systems, based primarily on the APCO P25 trunking radio protocol but with increasing use of private LTE, are mostly operated by states and municipalities and could not easily be counted. FirstNet proposed to build new state-level unified networks or to integrate networks developed by the states. NTIA reserved a substantial federal radio spectrum allocation for this purpose, one that was suitable for broadband radio protocols like LTE. States were given the option to develop their own FirstNet access layer for integration into the nationwide system, or to allow the national FirstNet operator to do so. In practice, AT&T proposed to build out the new state network in each state and all 50 states accepted this proposal. AT&T developed their access network mostly by addition to their existing cellular sites. FirstNet deployment started properly in 2017, and FirstNet now covers pretty much AT&T's entire network footprint with LTE service. FirstNet is being upgraded to 5G along with the broader AT&T network. AT&T handles the entirety of FirstNet administration, and you get FirstNet service simply by applying to AT&T for a FirstNet cellular plan. Many FirstNet users have their personal phones enrolled in FirstNet for the cost savings compared to a dedicated phone, so it really does look and feel like normal cellular service. Much of the FirstNet product is really just a matter of configuration (FirstNet provides prioritization to users an will even preempt non-FirstNet traffic when needed), but the dedicated bandwidth set aside by NTIA is still around in the form of band 14. Even this detail of FirstNet is confusing when it comes to the lines of AT&T vs. government services. Band 14 is dedicated to emergency communications, but as part of its deal with the NTIA, AT&T is allowed to use band 14 for their other customers as well, as a means of defraying their cost in deploying band 14 access points. So band 14 really consists mostly of plain old AT&T customers, but with the expectation that they will all be booted off the band when FirstNet traffic requires the bandwidth. FirstNet is sort of a complex creation, heavily promoted by AT&T for reasons of their own profit motive, and supported by billions in government funding. As you would imagine, it has not been without controversy. The program has been expensive and slow to roll out, even with the significant advantage of mostly just using AT&T's existing network. Even after all that time and money, the original vision of unifying first responder communications hasn't really been achieved. While FirstNet is broadly used by groups like firefighters for cellular service, states and municipalities continue to operate their existing radio networks alongside FirstNet. Most of this is attributable to the high cost of FirstNet devices with ergonomics similar to existing systems (e.g. PTT) and the complexity of deployment relative to the land-mobile radio (LMR) systems public safety agencies are familiar with. The issue of PTT is worth dwelling on. Users with a great degree of telecom nostalgia probably fondly remember Nextel, the short-lived cellular service provider that used the Motorola trunking-radio protocol iDEN. Nextel aggressively advertised the key advantage that iDEN held over the CDMA and 3GPP standards: with roots as an LMR protocol, it offered excellent support for PTT conversation between groups of phones. This made Nextel extremely popular with businesses like towing companies and the trades, where easy PTT communications between the office and employees in the field was convenient but did not justify the cost of an LMR system. Unfortunately, cellular PTT technology largely died with Nextel, replaced by IP-based systems that failed to offer the low latency and reliability of iDEN. The concept of cellular PTT is not dead forever, though. The lack of good PTT support has long been seen as a critical deficiency of FirstNet and probably a complete blocker on its regular use by most first responders. Fortunately, AT&T has been an ongoing proponent of the 3GPP MCPTT or Mission-Critical PTT standard. MCPTT employees IP quality of service and multicast technology in the access layer to provide IP-based PTT that still mostly performs as well as radio-based systems. MCPTT in the form of AT&T FirstNet PTT (registered trademark) has been included in the FirstNet offering for just a couple of years now, and MCPTT-capable "LTE radios" like the Sonim XP5plus are now available (at a steep cost) to FirstNet users. These devices are essentially phones, some feature-phones and some just Android devices, but have a physical form factor more like a handheld radio including a large PTT button and top volume/channel controls. They may change the fortune of FirstNet in years to come. On a more personal level, there seems to be a (probably justified) degree of mistrust when it comes to AT&T's performance in a severe emergency. Much of the US is now covered by a state-run shared public safety radio system. These systems usually use well-established technology (APCO P25) over state-owned microwave and fiber networks. Since they are relatively isolated from non-government traffic, they don't require any potentially complex prioritization schemes to ensure reliability in an emergency. Because they're state-owned, they're often easier for states to expand and modify. This gets at perhaps the most significant criticism of FirstNet: it's just so complicated. It's technically complicated, but moreover it's bureaucratically complicated, offered as a joint venture of a private company and a semi-independent government authority to user through several degrees of contractual separation. Today, between GETS, WPS, PTS, and FirstNet, it is now hopefully possible for a government or critical infrastructure user to reliably make a phone call in some cases some of the time. It took decades to get here, and there remain questions about the actual reliability of the service, but massive contracts with AT&T to deliver critical services of questionable quality has become a fine American tradition since divestiture. I saw post-divestiture because I feel like prior to that point even more massive contracts with AT&T usually delivered services that actually worked, and on schedule even, but maybe I'm just being nostalgic. [1] I may be inserting some amount of opinion here, but honestly, the situation does not allow much room for debate. 9/11 made it extremely clear that the federal government had no meaningful civil defense capability. Delta Air Lines said Thursday that it has completed upgrading its fleet to protect key equipment against interference from 5G wireless signals, plugging a hole that could have disrupted flights during low visibility. The airline said all its planes in active use now have radio altimeters that are protected against interference. This means no Delta aircraft will be subject to additional weather-driven constraints, a Delta spokesman said. In late June, 190 of Deltas roughly 900 planes lacked the upgraded altimeters. Those devices use radio signals to precisely measure the height of a plane above the ground. The issue forced Delta to consider rerouting those planes to avoid low-visibility situations while it waited for new parts from a supplier, although the airline said Thursday that it got through summer without notable problems with altimeters. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg pushed airlines to retrofit planes before the summer travel season, and most did. Among the largest U.S. carriers, only Atlanta-based Delta missed a July 1 deadline to upgrade all altimeters before AT&T, Verizon and other wireless carriers boosted the power of their C-Band, 5G signals. Flight disruptions, which some had expressed concern about, didnt materialize, however. Some aviation experts and the Federal Aviation Administration believe that C-Band signals are too close to frequencies used by radio altimeters. The Federal Communications Commission, which granted 5G licenses to the wireless companies, has said there is no risk of interference. (AP) Billionaires, burner phones, alleged bribes: The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is going to test the will of Republicans senators to oust not only one of their own, but a firebrand who has helped drive the states hard turn to the right for years. The historic proceedings set to start in the state Senate Tuesday are the most serious threat yet to one of Texas most powerful figures after nine years engulfed by criminal charges, scandal and accusations of corruption. If convicted, Paxton just the third official in Texas nearly 200-year history to be impeached could be removed from office. Witnesses called to testify could include Paxton and a woman with whom he has acknowledged having an extramarital affair. Members of the public hoping to watch from the gallery will have to line up for passes. And conservative activists have already bought up TV airtime and billboards, pressuring senators to acquit one of former President Donald Trumps biggest defenders. Its a very serious event but its a big-time show, said Bill Miller, a longtime Austin lobbyist and a friend of Paxton. Any way you cut it, its going to have the attention of anyone and everyone. The build-up to the trial has widened divisions among Texas Republicans that reflect the wider fissures roiling the party nationally heading into the 2024 election. At the fore of recent Texas policies are hardline measures to stop migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, battles over what is taught in public schools, and restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights many of which are championed loudest in the Senate, where Republicans hold a dominant 19-12 majority and have Paxtons fate in their hands. The Senate has long been a welcoming place for Paxton. His wife, Angela, is a state senator, although she is barred from voting in the trial. Paxton also was a state senator before becoming attorney general in 2015 and still has entanglements in the chamber, including with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who will preside over the trial and loaned $125,000 to Paxtons reelection campaign. If all 12 Democrats vote to convict Paxton, they would still need at least nine Republicans on their side. Or the Senate could vote by a simple majority to dismiss the charges altogether. It was a GOP-dominated House that decided by an overwhelming majority that Paxton should be impeached. Youre seeing a fracture within the party right now, said Matt Langston, a Republican political consultant in Texas. This is going to impact the leadership and the party for a long time. The trial also appears to have heightened Paxtons legal risks. The case against him largely centers on his relationship with Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer who was indicted this summer after being accused of making false statements to banks to secure $170 million in loans. Last month, federal prosecutors in Washington kicked a long-running investigation of Paxton into a higher gear when they began using a grand jury in San Antonio to examine his dealings with Paul, according to two people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because of secrecy rules around grand jury proceedings. The grand jurys role was first reported by the Austin American-Stateman. Chris Toth, the former executive director of the National Association of Attorneys General, said Paxton has for years weathered scandals unique among top state lawyers. He said the outcome of the trial will send a message about what is acceptable to elected officials across the country. Impeachment managers in the GOP-controlled Texas House filed nearly 4,000 pages of exhibits ahead of the trial, including accusations that Paxton hid the use of multiple cellphones and reveled in other perks of office. Theres very much a vile and insidious level of influence that Ken Paxton exerts through continuing to get away with his conduct, Toth said. Part of Paxtons political durability is his alignment with Trump, and this was never more apparent than when Paxton joined efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Like Trump, Paxton says he is a victim of politically motivated investigations. But James Dickey, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, said the base of the GOP sees Paxtons impeachment as different from legal troubles facing Trump. Exclusively, the actions against President Trump are from Democrat elected officials and so it cant avoid having more of a partisan tone, he said. Therefore, Republican voters have more concern and frustration with it. Patrick, in a rare television interview last month, was explicit in what the trial is and is not. Its not a criminal trial. Its not a civil trial, he told Houston television station KRIV. Its a political trial. (AP) House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and fellow congressional Democrats have given their assurance to incumbent progressive Democrats, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), despite concerns stemming from her previous antisemitic remarks, that they will stand by them in the upcoming 2024 U.S. elections. Jeffries emphasized, Rep. Omar has secured the trust of her constituents in three elections and has consistently championed their interests, including her role on the House Budget Committee. In my capacity as House Democratic Leader, I wholeheartedly endorse her reelection bid and stand united in our fight against extreme MAGA Republicans for the sake of our nations future. Omar equated Israel with the Taliban, and when asked if she realizes why her Jewish colleagues in Congress perceive such language as anti-Semitic, she said that they are not partners in justice and that she had no regrets about her comments. Omar has a long history of other anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks, and has come under fire numerous times for her shameless and brazen anti-Semitism. Oh, and she also called the 9/11 attacks an incident in which some people did something. Earlier this month, Jeffries led a delegation of twenty-four House Democrats on a six-day trip to Israel, sponsored by an organization affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Jewish Insider has reported AIPACs intention to challenge Omar and other lawmakers with perceived anti-Israel stances. When queried about Jeffries endorsement of Omar, AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann opted not to comment when approached by JNS News. Mark Mellman, the President and CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, came to Jeffries defense regarding the endorsement. Mellman expressed, Leader Jeffries has consistently demonstrated strong support for the Jewish community and the State of Israel. Its customary for leaders of both parties to endorse incumbent colleagues who share their affiliation. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Major-General Kyrylo Budanov, the Ukrainian spy chief responsible for overseeing drone strikes and covert operations against Russia, has re-ignited speculation surrounding the prolonged absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin from public appearances. Budanovs comments have given credence to longstanding rumors that Putin might employ one or more doppelgangers for his public appearances. In an interview with Anzhelika Rudenko of Radio Svoboda, the veteran spy chief expressed uncertainty about Putins current status, saying, The Putin who everyone used to know was last seen around June 26, 2022. Rudenko asked the Russian leaders absence could mean that Putin was either no longer alive or in a precarious state of health. Budanov replied with intriguing ambiguity, saying, Or he doesnt want to appear. There might be so many different reasons. The spy chief pointed to a recent video clip in which Putin appeared visibly perplexed when glancing at his watch on the wrong wrist. This unusual incident raised eyebrows as Putin has consistently worn his watches on his right wrist. Later in the interview, the Kremlin leader was seen removing his watch, believed to be a 12,500 Russian-made Raketa, and fidgeting with it. When asked if this was indeed the real Putin, Budanov left the determination to individual interpretation, stating, Lets leave it to everyone to decide, so everyone leaves it to their own fantasy. Rudenko suggested that it might be a body double impersonating Putin, a notion Budanov appeared to support. When directly asked whether Putin was alive or not, the intelligence chief took a neutral stance, saying, I dont know what to answer you. Vladimir Putin has been known for his extreme caution regarding personal security, a concern that has intensified since Russias military intervention in Ukraine. Persistent claims from sources like the Telegram channel General SVR have asserted that a frail Putin now relies extensively on doppelgangers and lookalike actors who have undergone plastic surgery to stand in for him during public appearances. In March, scrutiny of a video capturing Putins visit to Mariupol prompted skeptics to closely examine his facial features. The analysis identified several inconsistencies in the leaders appearance across various public engagements. The videos commentary pointed out, Specialists long ago noticed the differences between the Russian presidents body doubles. A ledge on Putins earlobe constantly changes, as does a small mole on his face. One of the Putins has straight wrinkles on his face, the other has small and interrupted wrinkles. Rumors have swirled that Putin now relies heavily on his understudies due to his alleged struggles with concealing deteriorating health. Leaked spy documents also appeared to suggest that Putin was battling pancreatic cancer and early-stage Parkinsons disease. Furthermore, reports have surfaced claiming that Putin may have enlisted multiple lookalikes to undergo plastic surgery, ensuring their striking resemblance to him for public appearances. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Three people were killed and 17 people were injured, including seven Israelis, in a traffic accident on Sunday in Antalya, Turkey. The accident occurred when the driver of a Safari jeep full of tourists collided with a private car, causing the jeep to careen out of control and crash into the traffic barrier, ending up in the opposite lane Three tourists were killed, a tourist from Russia and two tourists from Kazakhstan, a man and a toddler. According to Turkish media reports, the drivers of the two cars, who were also injured, were arrested after receiving medical treatment in the hospital. Dany Kushilevitz, the Israeli Consul in Ankara, went to the hospitals where the Israelis are being treated and is assisting the patients and their families, in coordination with the Department for Israelis Abroad. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday sought to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to revive an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports despite the war with Russia. Putin in July refused to extend the agreement, which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year earlier and was seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Erdogan said the grain deal was the headline issue at the daylong talks between the two leaders in Russias Black Sea resort of Sochi, where the Russian president has a residence. Everyone is looking at the grain corridor issue, Erdogan said in opening remarks. Putin acknowledged that issues related to the Ukraine crisis would be discussed between them. I know that you intend to raise questions about the grain deal. Were open to negotiations on that subject, he told Erdogan, repeating what has been the Kremlins official position on international efforts to resurrect the agreement. Russia broke off the deal, complaining that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadnt been honored. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. A lot is riding on the talks for the world food supply. I believe that the message we will give after our meeting will constitute an important step for the world, especially for the underdeveloped African countries, Erdogan said. Since Putin withdrew from the grain initiative, Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The meeting took place against a backdrop of Ukraines recent counteroffensive against the Kremlins invasion forces. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Zelenskyy said, without elaborating. Reznikov on Monday published a photo of his resignation letter. Analysts expect tough negotiations in Sochi. My gut feeling is that Putin recognizes the leverage he has by using food as an economic weapon, and thus will fight for all he can get in terms of concessions on his wish-list, said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank. Those may include Russias grains, or fertilizer exports, or wider issues, he said. Data from the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which organized the Ukraine shipments, shows that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China, which received nearly a quarter of the food. Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, Ukraines main Black Sea port area. On Monday, the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odea and Dnipropetrovsk regions but did not specify damage caused by the drones that got through. The Turkish president has maintained close ties with Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasnt joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. Opening the talks, Putin mentioned various areas of bilateral cooperation, such as a proposed Russian gas hub in Turkey and the construction of the first nuclear power plant there, in which Moscow is actively involved. NATO member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and backing Kyivs bid to join NATO. Erdogan angered Moscow in July when he allowed five Ukrainian commanders to return home. The soldiers had been captured by Russia and handed over to Turkey on condition they remained there for the duration of the war. Putin and Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraines Black Sea exports to resume. Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putins position. In July, he said Putin had certain expectations from Western countries over the Black Sea deal and that it was crucial for these countries to take action in this regard. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concrete proposals aimed at getting Russian exports to global markets and allowing the resumption of the Black Sea initiative. But Lavrov said Moscow wasnt satisfied with the letter. Describing Turkeys intense efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it was a process that tries to better understand Russias position and requests, and to meet them. (AP) Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara on Sunday published a response to the Supreme Court calling for the repeal of a Basic Law by supporting the petitions against the reasonableness law passed by the Knesset in July. In doing so, she is declaring war on the government she is paid to represent and risking sending Israel into an unprecedented constitutional crisis. A hearing on eight petitions against the reasonableness bill, scheduled for September 12, will be deliberated by an unprecedented 15-judge panel. The bill revokes the reasonableness clause, which allowed Supreme Court justices to knock down any law passed by the Knesset as long as it is reasonable in their view which lends them excessive power over the elected government, unparalleled in any democracy in the world. Despite that fact, in her opinion, Baharav-Miara claims that striking down the reasonableness clause would be a fatal blow to the foundations of the democratic regime. She wrote: For the first time in the history of the State of Israel, the authority of the Supreme Court to hear and grant relief to the individual and the public, in accordance with its independent judicial discretion, was denied. The amendment closes the gates of the courts to any person or group, who were harmed by the fact that the government or one of its ministers acted against them in an extremely unreasonable manner, in any context. Due to the serious impact of the amendment on the public and its serious consequences for the separation of authorities, the rule of law, and the rights of the individual, this is an exceptional situation in which the amendment deals a fatal blow to the foundations of the democratic regime, so there is no other choice but to declare it null and void. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) >>> 2023-09-03 plastic money (PDF) You will sometimes hear someone say, in a loose conceptual sense, that credit cards have money in them. Of course we know that that isn't the case; our modern plastic card payment network relies on online transactions where the balance tracking and authorization decisions happen within a financial institution that actually has the money (whether it's your money or credit). There is an alternate approach though, one which has historically been associated with terms like "epurse" in the technology industry: what if the balance tracking and authorization decisions were actually made inside of the card? Ten years ago this proposal might have seemed more absurd in the United States (amusing since, of course, the technology to facilitate this is much older). Payments in the US were made using magnetic cards with two tracks totally hundreds of bits. Debit cards could contain a challenge value used to verify the PIN, but even then the decision of whether or not to accept a PIN offline was made entirely by the payment terminal. Fraud related to these cards became a problem quickly enough that offline processing of card transactions (for example by the use of a "kerchunker" impression machine) became very rare, and all transactions were conducted online. Even then cards were vulnerable to duplication and this was a fairly common form of fraud. Europeans, though, had been using smart card technology dating back to as early as the '80s in France. These cards had an onboard microcontroller that could make decisions and even run applications. Inside of the card there is nonvolatile storage that can retain a cryptographic key, allowing the card to participate in a cryptographic challenge-response process that made duplication very difficult. Even better, PIN verification was performed inside the card, meaning that even a malicious terminal could not accept an invalid PIN during an offline transaction. And today, that's the most widespread application of smart card technology: cryptographic challenge-response authentication. The technique is ubiquitous both in payment systems and in access control and ID verification, spanning a wide gamut of capabilities from DESfire keycards to the United States Government's behemoth of an identity credential standard, PIV. It's sort of interesting that these less ambitious applications of smart cards are about as far as they've gotten in the United States. Their capabilities are much greater than modern applications suggest. Smart cards were, from the very beginning, conceived as much more powerful multi-application devices that were capable of enough internal accounting logic to implement true stored value cards, or SVCs. Cards which "contained" money in a balance that could be debited and credited fully offline, just by a terminal communicating with the card. First, bit of history of the smart card. One of the reasons that smart cards have made relatively little inroads in the US is their European origin. Nearly all of the development of smart card technology happens in European companies companies like Gemplus (Netherlands) and Axalto (France), today merged into Gemalto, part of French defense conglomerate Thales. Not to be understated either is the German company Giesecke+Devriant. Many early developments happened within the French Bull group as well, which through merger into Honeywell continues to make related products. Identity technology vendor Morpho, later Safran Morphotrust, today Idemia, forms the backbone of the TSA and Border Patrol's ubiquitous travel surveillance from their headquarters in the suburbs of Paris. They are further accused of providing identification technology to Chinese government agencies for purposes of oppression. Identity is a sticky business. These companies have a long-running relationship with secure identity. G+D has long been a major international center of expertise in currency manufacturing and security, and the US Federal Reserve System for example relies on G+D equipment to detect counterfeits. Gemalto became one of the primary vendors in secure digital identity technology, and Thales carries this on today, providing major components of the US federal government's USAccess/HSPD-12 scheme. It all began with payphones. Well, that's not true, there were plenty of developments in smart card technology before they were applied to payphones, but payphones introduced the technology to the French masses in 1986. France also pioneered chip-based online transactions, with a nationwide ATM network based on smart cards in 1988 and ubiquitous issuance of a precursor to EMV in 1993. We have to be careful to differentiate online and offline systems, though. One of the confusing issues around SVCs is their functional similarity to online transaction cards using an integrated chip for authentication purposes. To understand more clearly, let's take a closer look at one of the most common SVC applications in the US: the laundry card. Laundromats are conceptually simple; each machine needs a coin acceptor (often limited to quarters only) and a coin vault. In practice, it's a little more complex. Most customers don't walk in with enough quarters any more, so the laundromat has to provide a change machine. Change machines, being stocked with hundreds of dollars in coins and bills, are an attractive target for theft. Besides, they aren't that reliable. Emptying the coin vaults on each machine daily is a time sink for staff, especially when the risk of theft requires multiple staff members as a precaution. Wouldn't it be easier if laundromat payments were electronic? Today there are a number of ways to achieve that end, most of them worse than the old system of rolls of quarters, involving some combination of QR codes, smartphones, Bluetooth, and "The Cloud." These approaches were a nonstarter in the '00s, though. Wireless networking was in its infancy, the cost of putting network connectivity in every machine was very high. A solution was needed that allowed the billing devices in machines to be offline, operating totally independently. Any case of offline payment terminals calls for SVCs. So in many laundromats even today, there is a device on the wall somewhere called a value transfer machine, or VTM. Actually the term VTM is a trademark of one of the major vendors of these systems, ESD, but it's such a good generic term that I will disregard their claim and use it across vendors. At the VTM, a customer either inserts their smartcard or presses a button indicating that they want to purchase one. The VTM accepts a payment by either cash or payment card, and then "transfers" that "value" to the inserted smart card---or a new one dispensed from an internal stack. Pricing details vary, but smart cards aren't as cheap as anyone would like and so it's common to charge a few dollars for a new card. Customers are encouraged to keep their card for the long term. What happens internally? A very simple implementation suffices to explain the concept. On the smart card, there is a value in nonvolatile memory that represents the amount of money on the card. When you add money, the VTM increments that value. When you insert the smart card into a laundry machine and start a cycle, the billing device in the machine (usually a drop-in replacement for a coin acceptor with the same electrical interface) decrements that value. And there you have it: the card is just like cash, representing value on its own, with no online operations required. Of course you can see the problems with this scheme: couldn't anyone just write a bigger number to the card? The earliest implementations tried to prevent this with simple password schemes or very elementary cryptography, and results were poor. The French payphone system of the late '80s, for example, was known to be vulnerable to duplication of cards and so naturally a black market emerged. The history of early SVCs, mostly of the '80s and '90s, being vulnerable to at least duplication if not outright forgery gave them a poor reputation for security that persists to this day. It doesn't need to be that way, though, and excepting some obsolete systems still in use it isn't. If we can make the blockchain work we can certainly make SVCs work (admittedly this somewhat self-defeating argument presages the failure of SVCs to catch on for general purpose use). The problem with early SVC systems was the limited computational capabilities of the smart card, no match for the high complexity of strong cryptographic algorithms. Smart card technology advanced, though. The term "smart card" is not very precisely defined but tends to refer to any card with an Integrated Circuit Chip (ICC) compliant with one of several specifications for physical and electrical interface, mostly ISO 7816 for contact operation and ISO 14443 for contactless operation. It's important to understand that while the term "smart card" is most often used to refer to contact operation, that's not a limitation of the technology. Historically some cards implemented contact and non-contact operation by having two separate chips, but that method is well obsolete. Modern smart cards, especially payment cards, are usually dual-interface cards where the same ICC is capable of communicating the same logical protocol over either the contact interface ("insert") or the noncontact interface ("tap"). Since the noncontact interface is compatible with NFC, smartphones are able to use their secure element to run an application similar to the one that runs on EMV cards. If these cards are so smart, what do they actually do? Well, that part has varied a great deal over time. The earliest smartcards, developed in the '70s, were essentially memory and nothing else. Later on, though, smart card software evolved to multi-application cards in which a smart card operating system provides services and manages the selection of applications. Perhaps the most famous smart card operating system is Java Card, a platform that allows smartcards to run constrained Java applets. Java Card was developed by French conglomerate Schlumberger, whose identity and card division spun out to form a major part of Gemplus (now part of Thales). Besides supporting very constrained devices, Java Card was designed for the high-security applications typical of smart cards. It provides full-featured cryptography up to ECC on modern devices, but more importantly enforces security isolation of applets and their communications and memory. Java Card is particularly widely known because of its role in the "Java Ring," a chunky fashion accessory that presents a Java Card environment in the onewire-based "iButton" form factor. iButtons are a topic for their own post one day, being surprisingly widely used in a couple of niches where their improved durability over ICC-type smart cards is an advantage. Java Card is also widely used, being one of the most common operating environments on practical smart cards. There is a good chance that you have more than one Java Card environment on your person at this moment. Discussing the full scope of Java Card applications requires a bit more rambling on the smart card as a physical object, though. If you are a dweeb about identity documents, you have probably read into ISO 7810. This standard describes a set of physical form factors for identification documents. Most notable is the ID-1 form factor, which is widely used for payment cards, driver's licenses, and in general any standard-sized wallet card. Size ID-3 from the same standard is the norm for passports. But then there's an apparent oddity, size ID-000, a small 25x15mm card with a notch out of one corner. Sound familiar? ISO 7810 ID-000 is the physical description of a conventional SIM card. SIM cards are just smart cards. Big reveal, I know! GSM was standardized by an organization out of Paris in the same time period that France Telecom adopted smart cards for payphone payment. When looking for a transportable means of authenticating the phone owner, it was an obvious choice. SIM cards no longer conform is ISO 7810 in most cases (having migrated to the smaller micro and nano formats), but continue to be compliant with ISO 7816 for electrical and protocol compatibility. It is no coincidence that SIM cards are often shipped in an ISO 7810 ID-1 compliant carrier, since these make personalizing and testing in the factory easy to do with standard smart card interfaces. ISO 7816, the standard for smart cards specifically, describes the physical position and layout of the contacts on the ICC. It also describes an electrical interface [1] and logical protocol for communication with smart cards. Smart card communication is based on APDUs, or application protocol data units, packets exchanged between the reader and card. APDUs can indicate a standardized cross-vendor operation code, or a proprietary operation specific to some application on the card. This is a little network protocol used within the confines of the card slot, and smart card applications specify which APDU commands must be supported by cards. The abstraction of the fairly well-defined APDU protocol creates a healthy degree of separation between smart card uses and implementations. This is all to say that the software running on smart cards often varies by vendor, even within a common application. Java Card is very common, but not universal, for both SIM cards and EMV payment cards. It competes with "native" operating systems like MULTOS. These native operating systems tend to leave more memory and processor time for applications because of the lack of a bytecode interpreter (yes, Java Cards actually run a very constrained JVM), but usually lead to application development in C which is less appealing than "weird constrained Java" to many organizations. As you might imagine given this range of applications, security expectations for smart cards are high. In fact, the modern concept of a "secure element" largely originates with smart cards, and many secure elements in things not shaped even remotely like cards continue to use the ISO 7816 logical interface and Java Card. The SIM card is really just a portable secure element, capable of running multiple applications with nonvolatile storage, and in some countries (mostly European) they have been used for broader identification and authentication purposes. Smart cards are expected to be resistant to both electronic and physical tampering. Smart cards were historically a common form factor for cryptographic secure elements, being used to protect key material of sensitivity ranging from satellite TV scramble codes to military communications equipment---although for reasons of both durability and not having been invented overseas, the US NSA has historically preferred more homegrown form factors for cryptographic elements. Putting this all together, you can probably see that it is indeed possible to build a reasonably secure stored value smart card system. All increment and decrement operations can be cryptographically authenticated. Unique secret keys, "burned in" to cards as part of personalization and not readable from outside of the secure element, can be used to authenticate the card and prevent duplication. While it is conceptually possible to duplicate stored value cards through laboratory analysis, the cost is unlikely to be less than the value cap imposed by the SVC service. In the '90s, SVCs started to catch on. A marquee implementation went on display to the world in 1996: at the Summer Olympics, held in Atlanta, three banks partnered with the Olympic committee and businesses to offer an SVC payment system. It was particularly appealing to international visitors: debit and credit cards rarely worked overseas in 1996, and tourists in the US for the duration of the Olympics could hardly be expected to open US bank accounts. SVCs provided a convenient alternative to cash. Visitors could buy them in fixed denominations with cash or travelers cheque, and value could be reloaded at kiosks around the Olympics sites. The SVC nature of the system allowed the offline payment terminals to be deployed to area businesses relatively cheaply, without a requirement for a phone line like the credit card terminals of the era. The Olympics SVCs were manufactured by the usual suspects: Gemplus, Schlumberger, and G+D. The cards ran a cryptographic application generally based on the existing French payment card system, a precursor to EMV that was focused on supporting offline use-cases. The Olympics experiment was mostly considered a success, with few technical problems. The banks involved were apparently underwhelmed at the number of cards issued, and it was speculated at the time that they were perhaps more popular with collectors than users. One can imagine that the SVC technology, entirely new to locals and visitors not from Western Europe (and, to be fair, some from Australia), faced some challenges in gaining consumer confidence. SVCs became a standard feature of the Olympics for a few years, making their last appearance (as far as I can tell) in 2002 at Salt Lake City. This was reportedly a very limited system based on magnetic stripe cards, and so I assume that it was not an SVC system at all but just a gift card system with the heritage of the 1996 and 1998 SVCs. It is likely impossible to design magstripe SVCs that are not vulnerable to trivial duplication, I know of only one method and it is experimental (characterization of weak permanent magnetic fields acquired by the magstripe during the manufacturing process, which seem to be unique enough to differentiate individual cards). SVCs saw other experimental applications at the same time. The University of Michigan deployed a smart card SVC in 1996 as well, allowing students to load funds and spend them on campus and at nearby businesses. This type of program became fairly popular at large universities, but beware a terminological challenge: many universities still refer to their student ID payment card program as a stored value card for historic reason, but none that I'm aware of today actually are. With universal acceptance of payment cards, it is far more cost effective to make an arrangement with a bank and processor to encode student IDs as Visa or MasterCard cards. They then function as specialty prepaid cards with whitelisted merchants and purchase types, a service readily available from the prepaid card issuance industry. Another nascent application of SVCs in the US were welfare programs like SNAP and WIC, implemented through a system called Electronic Benefits Transfer or EBT (EBT replaced the physical "stamps" in "food stamps"). Once again, while a few states adopted SVCs and may even still call their EBT cards SVCs, every example that I know of today is processed on the Visa or MasterCard network as a prepaid card. Why is it that SVCs gained so little traction for payments in the US? A 1999 Spectrum article rounds up the state of SVCs at the time, optimistically opening that the contents of your wallet "might be replaced by just two or three smartcards." One look at the typical wallet will show that this hasn't gone as hoped. The true promise of multi-application cards, that you could have your government ID, payment card, health information, etc. all as applications on a single physical card, is virtually nonexistent in practice. Outside of specialty systems like PIV, the multi-application capability of smart cards is mostly only used to interact with different kinds of payment networks. Perhaps the most common smart card application in the US is called "CHASE VISA" and it is basically the reference EMV application with the name changed [2]. If there's even a single other application on the card, it's probably for interaction with an EFT network. It's fairly easy to see why this happened: different applications are issued by different organizations. The thought of your driver's license and credit card being one physical object almost certainly induces nightmares of having your credit card number stolen and then having to interact with the DMV (or, as it is pronounced in the New Mexico vernacular, the MVD). The practical logistics of multi-application cards are difficult to manage, and the cards are cheap enough that it's easier for everyone to keep different applications separate. What of payment cards, though? Smart cards for payments are now the norm even in the backwards United States [3], but stored value systems are harder to find today than they were in 1999. Spectrum elaborates, after discussing the popularity of smart card systems (broadly defined) in Europe: Why has it taken so much longer for smartcards to take off in the United States? In the first place, some of these cultural and political drivers are absent. The country has an excellent telecommunications infrastructure. There is no governmental or centralized mandate in any of the traditional application areas of smartcards. But the industry is evolving. The activities of Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) in developing specifications for financial-transaction cards will have a major impact on the U.S. market and the rest of the world. Nonetheless, it is felt that a smartcard will have to be able to handle several applications for the technology to gain widespread acceptance in the United States. EMV sure did have an impact in the US, even if it took a solid decade. Multi-application cards seem dead in the water from a practical perspective; even though many more sophisticated smart card systems (like MULTOS) are designed for remote issuance and updating of applications. Anyone who has had access to their office and email at the mercy of the USAccess/HSPD-12 PIV scheme can attest that its Thales-built remote personalization system is... not exactly ready for the average consumer. Besides, the telecommunications point is not to be underestimated. By the time SVC technology competed in America, telephone connected payment card terminals were already becoming the norm (mostly from American Verifone, although French Ingenico was a major player). Rates of telephone service and, not long after, internet service in the US were very high. These factors made offline systems much less attractive: merchants unhappy with the risk of offline processing of non-chip credit cards were just moving to online processing, not to smart cards. The lack of a standards body to set the direction is also undeniably a factor. The introduction of EMV took as long as it did in large part because of the fragmentation of the payment card industry; different components of the market had different objectives and there was no one to push them along. To be fair, US payment card issuers cope with fraud better than most overseas observers seem to give them credit for. The inconvenience of card fraud is relatively low; I recently had credit card information stolen (how, I can only speculate) and there was no action involved on my part beyond responding to a text message alert and receiving a new card in the mail. Because of the card information update service the processors provide to qualified merchants, I haven't even had to reenter my card information on any subscriptions. A lot of effort has been put into smoothing over the fraud that occurs, even if it does seem that one of my cards is used fraudulently every two years or so. Despite the lackluster adoption of SVCs in the US, they have a few strongholds, both here and abroad. First, although a somewhat minor detail, I cannot help but note the military overseas SVC program that my career once incidentally involved. The EagleCash system, operated by the Department of the Treasury, provides SVCs to members of the armed forces (sometimes branded NavyCash or Armed Forces EZPay due to variants of the program rules). The cards are mostly used in overseas military installations and aboard ships, situations in which offline processing can remain a big advantage. EagleCash was considered the most prominent deployment of SVCs in the US, and probably still is. EagleCash reaches nearly a billion dollars in annual turnover, mostly in the Middle East. Much more widespread, though, are transit cards. Many transit systems globally use some sort of SVC for fare payment, under different names in different cities. Prominent US examples include Clipper (SF Bay area), Ventra (Chicago), MetroCard (New York City), and SmarTrip (national capital region). Overseas, Oyster (London), Rav-Kav (Israel), and Octopus (Hong Kong) are well-known. Many of these systems were pioneering when implemented, and some remain pioneering payments technologies today. Many early US systems, such as Clipper, were implemented at least in part by the Cubic Corporation. If that sounds like an ominous defense contractor, it is. Cubic produces a wide range of C4ISR systems for the US military, but because of its location (in the Bay Area) and early involvement in transportation technologies, Cubic became a major US vendor in transit fare collection systems. The nearly identical fare gates of BART and the DC Metro, for example, were early models designed and built by Cubic (BART and DC Metro are twin projects in many ways). They originally used magstripe tickets, and I have read that they were controlled by PDP computers although I am unsure if this factual or just confusion with the better documented use of PDP/8E computers to drive the train arrival signs and announcements. Cubic came back in the '00s with noncontact SVC payment systems, which are now widely deployed in major US cities and many overseas systems. Of the systems I listed above, most had Cubic as at least a member of the consortium that implemented them, if not as the prime contractor. Oyster, for example, was implemented by Cubic alongside EDS, now a division of HP perhaps best remembered for the political career of its founder Ross Perot. How do these systems work exactly? Offline systems simplify payment networks in some ways, but also add complexity, which is often apparent in transit systems that combine offline terminals (for example in buses) and online terminals (for example at train platforms). I will walk through a description of the operation of Clipper, with which I am most familiar. The details vary from system to system depending on architectural decisions made during the original system design and modernization efforts that have been performed since, so details vary. For example, some newer systems especially abandon offline operation almost entirely and have even in-vehicle terminals perform online transactions via either public or municipal LTE networks. A Clipper card can be purchased from a number of vendors, either first-party ticket windows in certain stations or private convenience stores that have opted to participate in the program. These stores can also add value to an existing Clipper card, from cash or a payment card transaction, by entering the value to add into a device very much like a credit card terminal (it is, running custom software as many do) and then tapping the card to it to allow the write operation to complete. Similarly, cards can be purchased or value added via vending machines at stations, which usually require the card to be tapped twice: once to read the current value and determine eligibility to add value (there is a value cap, for example), and a second time to write the added value. Because these transactions involve writing to the card, the new value is available immediately. It can be spent on fixed terminals like station fare gates, but also on vehicle terminals as in buses. Either way the terminal reads the value from the card, determines eligibility, and writes the new (decreased) value back to the card. Things get a little bit strange, though, when you consider one of the most common user patterns in the modern era: you can create an account online and associate the card with your account, and then you can add value online. This is convenient, but confronts the offline nature of the system. You add value to the card, but there's no way to write the new value to it. The solution, or at least partial solution, to this problem looks something like this: fare payment terminals have to receive a streaming log of value-add operations so that they can apply them the next time they are presented with the relevant card. Online systems, like vending machines and fare gates in train stations, find out about online value-adds almost immediately. If you mostly use a train, the operation is almost completely transparent, as you add value online and it is written to your card next time you pass through a fare gate. For the offline terminals in buses, though, things aren't so smooth. These terminals operate fully offline while the vehicle is on route. At the end of the day, as vehicles are stored in yards, the payment terminals connect to a local area wireless network (traditionally 802.11a). They upload on-vehicle transaction logs for reporting, but also download logs of online transactions. If you add value to a card with a zero (or near zero) value and then try to board a bus, it is likely that you will be rejected: the value-add hasn't been written to the card yet, and the bus terminal hasn't been told about it. The transit operator often sets an expectation of one business day for online value adds to be available if your first trip is an offline terminal. It may be that Bay Area transit operators are transitioning to online vehicle terminals to address this problem, it wouldn't surprise me as IP connectivity in transit vehicles is becoming the norm for multiple reasons. But, of course, in an environment where all devices are online the value of SVCs as a technology is greatly reduced. At some point the SVC nature of the system becomes more vestigial than anything else, although it can provide valuable fault tolerance. The case of transit is more complex than just incrementing and decrementing, though. Passes (including automatically "earned" passes in many systems) and transfer discounts between operators can make fare logic surprisingly complex, and that's before considering the many rail systems that charge fare per zone traveled. To accommodate this kind of fare tabulation logic, transit SVCs typically store a history of the most recent transactions and cumulative counters of different types of transactions. This allows the system to compute distance-based fare (by comparing the current and previous transaction for their location), offer transfer discounts (by comparing the last two or three transactions to a table of discounts between operators), and automatically change to passes when they become most economical (by checking registers of accumulated fare per operator per time period). Put together these programs can make fare calculation very complex, which is one of the advantages of computerized fare collection with usage history: the software can ensure that the fare paid is optimal, in the sense of being the lowest fare the customer is eligible for. Prior to these systems features like transfer discounts often went unused because of the added complexity of presenting a ticket and payment or determining validation procedures between transit agencies. Even transit agencies are moving away from SVCs as IP connectivity to vehicles becomes more affordable and more common. Centralized systems, while they require network infrastructure, can be more flexible and more user-friendly. It doesn't look like SVCs have much of a future. Despite being the dream of the '90s, they have gone the way of, well, so many other dreams of the '90s technology industry. By the time the ingredients for SVCs to succeed became widely available, they were somewhat of a solution in search of a problem. Network connectivity was spreading rapidly for other reasons, online processing of payments offered other advantages, there just weren't that many reasons to go the SVC route. Smart cards are an important part of payments infrastructure today because of the EMV standard, and they continue to have applications in both their traditional form factor and embedded variants. Despite the power available from multi-application cards, MIFARE with its simple cryptographically protected read/write operation is more common in practice. So pour one out for SVCs, or more accurate to the tradition, put $10 on a laundry card, put it in a drawer, and move to a different city. [1] The topic of electrical interface is actually slightly confusing because the standard describes 5v, 3v, and 1.8v logic levels. Modern cards are nearly always 1.8v, but fully compliant readers need to detect and provide the correct operating voltage to the card. This complexity is one of the factors that has lead to occasional security vulnerabilities in smart cards around supply voltage. [2] Most payment card terminals query the name of the selected application and display it. Often it is only "VISA" or "MASTERCARD" but a few issuers customize their card loads to brand the application name. Just a bit of trivia. [3] Outside of certain more niche applications like cardlock fuel cards, which are broadly compatible with payment cards for ease of implementation but don't seem to be interested in making the move to chip-and-whatever. Two Israeli women were attacked and robbed in Kenya by machete-bearing thugs on Motzei Shabbos. The violent incident occurred when the two were returning to their hotel in the Watamu area in the south of the country. Both women were injured and ones finger was almost cut off entirely. They were rushed to a local hospital to receive medical treatment. Israels Consul to Kenya Maayan Almagor was informed about the incident and has been in contact with the victims and their relatives in Israel, to whom she offered to assist with expedited visas to enter Kenya to be with their loved ones. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is preparing to declare Tel Yericho, the Biblical city of Yericho as a Palestinian heritage site. Likud MK Dan Illouz, a member of the Knessets Land of Israel Caucus, sent a letter to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay asking her to prevent the listing of ancient Yericho as being located in the State of Palestine. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is planning on voting in favor of the move in Riyadh, in its 45th session from Sept. 10-25. The Palestinian Authority works systematically to erase all ties of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, Illouz wrote. A decision to assign Jericho to Palestine would constitute a blatant interference by UNESCO in a conflict in which it is not its role to intervene. Jericho is first and foremost a city of biblical significance. Blurring this fact is an insult to millions of Jews and Christians all over the world. It is our duty to stop the P.A.s subversion and insist on our right to our land, Illouz concluded. In 2016, the UNESCO listed Mearas HaMachpeilah, in Chevron, as being located in the State of Palestine. From 2009-2014, UNESCO passed 47 resolutions, 46 of which were against Israel and one which was against Syria. The Trump administration withdrew its membership from UNESCO in 2017 following numerous anti-Israel decisions by the organization questioning Israeli presence in Jerusalem and naming ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites. Israel followed suit just days later, withdrawing its membership as well. The Biden administration rejoined UNESCO in June 2023. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Israels prime minister on Sunday floated the idea of building infrastructure projects such as a fiber optic cable linking countries in Asia and the Arabian Peninsula with Europe through Israel and Cyprus. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said hes quite confident such an infrastructure corridor linking Asia to Europe through Israel and Cyprus is feasible. He said such projects could happen if Israel normalizes relations with other countries in the region. The 2020 U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and the Biden administration is trying to establish official ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. An example and the most obvious one is a fiber optic connection. Thats the shortest route. Its the safest route. Its the most economic route, Netanyahu said after talks with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. The Israeli leaders pitch is itself an extension of proposed energy links with Cyprus and Greece as part of growing collaboration on energy in the wake of discoveries of significant natural gas deposits in the economic zones of both Israel and Cyprus. Netanyahu repeated that he and Christodoulides are looking to follow through on plans for a 2,000-megawatt undersea electricity cable known as the EurAsia Interconnector connecting Israel with Cyprus and Greece that aims to act as an energy supply back-up for both Israel and Cyprus. You want to be connected to other sources of power that can allow a more optimal use of power or give you power when there is a failure in your own country, Netanyahu said. That is something that were discussing seriously and we hope to achieve. Another energy link involves a Cypriot proposal to build a pipeline that would convey offshore natural gas from both Israel and Cyprus to the east Mediterranean island nation where it would be fuel for electricity generators or potentially be liquefied for export by ship. Christodoulides said given Europes need for energy diversification in light of Russias war in Ukraine, Cyprus and Israel are looking to developing a reliable energy corridor linking the East Mediterranean basin to Europe through projects including gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing plants. Netanyahu said his government fully backs a European decision to create a regional fire fighting hub in Cyprus from which aircraft and other technology could be dispatched to help put out fires in neighboring countries. The climate isnt going to get cooler. Its going to get hotter. And with, you know, with the heating up of our region and the globe, firefighting becomes a really important thing. We can I think we can do it better together, the Israeli leader said. Talks between Christodoulides and Netanyahu precede a trilateral meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday. Since 2016 such meetings between the leaders of the three countries have become a staple of what they said are burgeoning ties that Netanyahu described as a deep friendship, both personal, but also between our nations that is real and long overdue. (AP) Advertisement Mercedes-Benz promises to deliver a new electric family car next year that will be able to take a driver and their passengers from Brighton to Edinburgh without needing to stop to charge. Called the Concept CLA and unveiled at the 2023 Munich motor show, it previews the forthcoming electric CLA which is due to be revealed in production form in the next 12 months. The Tesla Model 3 rival is claimed to cover 466 miles on a full charge, which is enough to take you from the south-coast city to Scotland's capital without stopping. Mercedes previews its next electric family car: The Concept CLA Class is a near-production prototype for next year's CLA. But, more importantly, it debuts a new platform that will drive the German brand's shift to electrification Ola Kallenius, chairman of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, says the Concept CLA Class is 'the forerunner for an entirely new all-electric segment of entry-level vehicles at Mercedes-Benz'. A new line-up of 'compact' vehicles is due to be made up of four new models this four-door CLA coupe, a CLA Shooting Brake estate and two SUVs (likely EQA and EQB) that all will be crammed with 'more features, even greater comfort and safety and the most advanced technology'. Mr Kallenius describes the next-generation CLA EV as a 'hypermiler' with a range of more than 750 kilometres (466 miles) and it will be the first new release to use its Mercedes Modular Architecture (MAA) platform for its future electric cars to drive its 'Ambition 2039' target of achieving net carbon neutrality as a brand a year before 2040. Slide me Called the Concept CLA and unveiled at the 2023 Munich motor show, it previews the forthcoming electric CLA which is due to be revealed in production form in the next 12 months. As you can see here, the prototype's design isn't a big transition from the CLA model already sold in Mercedes dealers with petrol and diesel engines (pictured right) The Tesla Model 3 rival is claimed to cover 466 miles on a full charge, which is enough to take you from Brighton to Edinburgh without stopping Ola Kallenius, chairman of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, says the Concept CLA Class is 'the forerunner for an entirely new all-electric segment of entry-level vehicles at Mercedes-Benz' How does its range compare to its biggest rival? The just-updated Tesla Model 3 - due to be delivered to UK customers from early next year - has an official range of 412 miles, meaning the Merc could gazump it by at least 54 miles, if not more. The Concept CLA Class uses a new in-house-developed electric motor that delivers 235bhp to the rear wheels via a two-speed transmission, though Mercedes bosses promise a 'hot' AMG version will follow with over 500bhp from a dual-motor setup. The CLA's electric motors will use energy from a next-generation battery that - crucially - will see the new family car become the first Mercedes with an 800-volt electric drivetrain. Both the electric motor and gearbox are located at the rear axle in a single housing weighing just 110kg and it features a raft of efficiency-boosting technology, including a silicon-carbide inverter that is far more energy friendly, especially at cruising speeds. The new setup will allow for charging at up to 250kW on a rapid DC charger, which will see drivers able to add almost 250 miles (248 miles) of range by plugging in for a quarter of an hour. The Concept CLA Class also hints that the new production EV it previews will feature bi-directional charging, meaning owners can sell electricity back to the grid via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) tech and power larger home devices using a vehicle-to-appliance (V2A) system. However, the versatile new MMA platform also works with combustion engine models and has capacity for either rear or four-wheel drive options. The front end gets a new lower grille made-up of hundreds of Mercedes-logo LEDs which - like the big emblem in the centre - light up, though in a range of sequences. At the rear, the lights are also in the shape of the Mercedes logo, which almost hang via a second LED light beam that extends over the rear wheel arches The Mercedes logo is also used for the new headlights, which are connected by a light bar that runs across the width of the bonnet and curves around the front wings, stopping just under the wing mirrors on the front doors These tiny Mercedes-Benz logo-shaped LEDs can all light up independently, while the massive three-spoke logo in the middle also glows The coupe-like silhouette is very similar to that of the existing CLA, with frameless doors and a low swooping roofline towards the rear of the cabin sitting on top of 21-inch star-design alloy wheels The Concept CLA Class uses a new in-house developed electric motor that delivers 235bhp to the rear wheels via a two-speed transmission, though Mercedes bosses promise a 'hot' AMG version will follow with over 500bhp from a dual-motor setup While what underpins the Concept CLA Class is very much cutting edge, the styling is relatively tame by prototype vehicle standards. The coupe-like silhouette is very similar to that of the existing CLA, with frameless doors and a starlight glass panoramic roof that slopes dramatically towards the rear of the cabin. It sits on top 21-inch star-design alloy wheels. The front end gets a new lower grille made-up of hundreds of Mercedes-logo LEDs which - like the big emblem in the centre - light up, though in a range of sequences. And the logo can also be seen in the new headlights, which are connected by a light bar that runs across the width of the bonnet and curves around the front wings, stopping just under the wing mirrors on the front doors. At the rear, the lights are also in the shape of the Mercedes logo, which almost hang via a second LED light beam that extends over the rear wheel arches. Inside, the biggest focal point is the Concept CLA Class' MBUX Superscreen. This sits flush inside the entirety of the dashboard and is a slightly more compact version of the 'Hyperscreen' in its premium EQS models The MBUX Supercreen also debuts Mercedes' new MB.OS operating system. The massive display flanked at each end by turbine air vents with digital readouts inside them Sustainability is also a key feature of the interior, with the cabin using recycled paper and bamboo for some of the materials While the concept has a two-plus-two seating layout, expect the production model to have a traditional three-passenger rear bench In the cockpit, the biggest focal point is the MBUX Superscreen, which sits flush inside the entirety of the dashboard and is a slightly more compact version of the 'Hyperscreen' in Mercedes' premium EQS models. This debuts Mercedes' own MB.OS operating system, with the massive display flanked at each end by turbine air vents. While the concept has a two-plus-two seating layout, expect the production model to have a traditional three-passenger rear bench. Sustainability is also a key feature of the interior, with the cabin using recycled paper and bamboo for some of the materials. And it wouldn't be a concept car if it didn't showcase some form of self-driving tech, with the CLA Class getting Level 3 autonomy via a new Lidar-based assistance system, which could become an over-the-air update addition for owners once Level 3 is given the legal green light by governments across Europe. The final piece of important tech is a new Child Presence Detection (CPD) system. This isn't to identify kids in the road ahead and apply the brakes - instead it's a feature designed to mitigate the risk of young children who have been left inside the car during warm weather by their parents. Mercedes must assume that some of their customers can be quite neglectful. Sensors inside can detect breathing patterns and - if needed - will automatically turn on the air conditioning if it identifies a younger person inside overheating and panting heavily. It will also trigger the horn to notify the parent that they need to return to the vehicle immediately. While no date has been set in stone for when the production version of the CLA will debut, when it does arrive expect prices to start in the region of 45,000 - which will put it head-to-head with Tesla's facelifted Model 3. European defence stocks rallied as analysts predicted an increase in shareholder returns and deal making across the industry next year. Bank of America said firms have taken huge strides in generating cash over the past two years and now have healthier balance sheets and lower debt. This means there is greater scope to return cash to investors or pursue mergers and acquisitions, analysts at the investment bank added. Looking at the London market, Bank of America said it expects Rolls-Royce to reinstate dividends next year. In a further boost, analysts at Jefferies said Rolls was likely to benefit from its civil aerospace division and improved cash flow. Take-off: Bank of America said European defence firms have taken huge strides in generating cash over the past two years and now have healthier balance sheets and lower debt The broker also sounded an optimistic note on Frances Thales, raising its rating from hold to buy on the belief that the recent Rafale jet orders should increase cash flow momentum. Shares in Rolls-Royce, which has been one of the best performing stocks in the FTSE 100 this year, rose 0.4 per cent, or 0.8p, to 219.9p and BAE Systems rose in early trading but closed flat at 1007.5p. In Europe, Thales rose 1.1 per cent. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.2 per cent, or 11.78 points, to 7452.76 and the FTSE 250 slid 0.07pc, or 12.76 points, to 18524.14. Outsourcer Mitie bought JCA Engineering for 31.5million. The mid-cap firm said its purchase of the Stevenage-based group, which focuses on projects regarding data centres, life sciences and healthcare sectors, is part of a strategy to invest in high growth companies. Mitie shares rose 0.7 per cent, or 0.7p, to 98.4p. Rolex seller Watches of Switzerland received a vote of confidence following the recent sell-off as four board members purchased nearly 1million of shares. Finance boss Anders Romberg bought 584,700 of stock. Chairman Ian Carter snapped up 205,690. Stock Watch - Advanced Medical Solutions Shares in Advanced Medical Solutions tumbled after it said revenue and profit will be lower than hoped. The AIM-listed maker of medical dressings warned of uncertainty over the royalty income it is paid from a licensing agreement with US firm Organogenesis. The move is expected to shave 2million off its profit in 2023 and 4million every year until 2026. Revenue is expected to be between 124million and 127million this year. Shares plunged 26 per cent, or 65p, to 185p. Non-executive directors Tea Colaianni and Robert Moorhead both purchased nearly 50,000 of shares. The stock plunged by a quarter on August 25 amid fears the watchmaker could lose its market share after Rolex bought rival Bucherer. Shares gained 3.7 per cent, or 21.5p, to 611p . CMC Markets appointed Albert Soleiman to be its finance boss. He first joined the spread betting company in 2005 and became group head of tax three years later. Having briefly left the company, Soleiman returned in 2020 to lead the launch of CMC Invest. He will succeed Euan Marshall, who took on the role in November 2019. Shares fell 1.3 per cent, or 1.4p, to 106.4p. Johnson Matthey failed to extend its gains after shares soared 9.9 per cent on Friday. Takeover speculation boosted the stock last week as the industrials investor Standard Industries doubled its stake in the chemicals giant. Deutsche Bank Research said the move reiterates under-appreciated strategic value in the mid-cap firm. But shares fell 2.2 per cent, or 38.5p, to 1752p. AFC Energy, the hydrogen fuel cell developer, signed a distribution agreement with a Saudi Arabian vendor involved many of the countrys major infrastructure and mining projects. As part of the deal, Tamgo will market, sell or lease the firms generators to countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kazakhstan. Shares soared 9.5 per cent, or 1.44p, to 16.68p. Property services firm Belvoir said a strong performance in its lettings business helped offset a slump in housing sales. Revenue rose 3 per cent to 15.9million in the first six months of 2023 while profit was up by a tenth to 4.4million. The company increased its interim dividend by a quarter to 5p a share. Shares gained 3.9 per cent, or 8.5p, to 228.5p. A sharp slump in exports could tip Germany back into recession underlining its status as the sick man of Europe. In a bleak report yesterday, the federal statistics office said exports fell 0.9 per cent in July as global demand continued to falter. The figures underlined the crisis facing the German economy, which has for decades been powered by sales of its goods to countries around the world. Slump: Shipping containers awaiting transit at Hamburg Port, Germany. Germany's federal statistics office said exports fell 0.9% in July as global demand continued to falter Trade is no longer the strong resilient growth driver of the German economy that it used to be, but rather a drag, said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macroeconomics at ING. Supply chain frictions, a more fragmented global economy and China increasingly being able to produce goods it previously bought from Germany, are all factors weighing on the German export sector. German output declined in the final three months of last year and the first three months of this year meaning it was in recession. The economy stagnated in the second quarter but fears are mounting it will decline again in the current third quarter leaving the country on the brink of another recession. The International Monetary Fund believes it will be the only member of the Group of Seven advanced nations to shrink in 2023. The boss of BMW has warned that banning petrol and diesel vehicles poses an 'imminent risk' to the European car industry amid a price war with China. Oliver Zipse, chief executive of the German car maker, said plans to ban combustion engine vehicles could put further pressure on companies that are already struggling to compete. 'The base car market segment will either vanish or will not be done by European manufacturers,' Zipse said. 'I want to send a message: I see that as an imminent risk.' Zipse joins a number of industry leaders that have questioned the time frame for phasing out petrol and diesel cars in a bid to push drivers towards electric vehicles (EV). Tough talk: BMW boss Oliver Zipse believes the whole of Europes traditional car industry is under threat The EU plans to ban the sale of new combustion engine cars by 2035 while the UK deadline is five years earlier in 2030 something that has been criticised for being unrealistic with the current EV charging infrastructure. The Mail has launched a 'Rethink The 2030 Petrol Car Ban' campaign to highlight the pitfalls in this hasty transition to electric. Speaking to the Financial Times, Zipse said the charging infrastructure in Europe was still 'far behind expectations, there are countries where they are not developing anything at all'. The BMW boss also sounded the alarm over the rising prevalence of Chinese EV manufacturers that are driving down prices and undercutting European players as they look to expand on the Continent. China dominates the international market for electric cars partly due to its grip on the supply chain. The nation has a hold on much of the mining of crucial raw materials, 80 per cent of the battery-making for EVs is controlled by Chinese firms and it is the world's top car exporter. Although Zipse said the price war was less brutal for more premium players such as BMW, he warned a growing number of cheap Chinese cars on the market would hit smaller players as they try to pivot away from fuel and towards electric. The average price of an EV in China was less than 27,000 in the first half of 2022 compared with around 48,000 in Europe, according to researchers at global automotive market research company Jato Dynamics. BYD, China's biggest electric car maker, declared war on Western companies last month, with its founder Wang Chuanfu claiming that the 'time has come for Chinese brands'. Last week BYD said profits soared 145 per cent in the three months to July to 740million after it sold a record number of cars. It is not just the chief of BMW who is concerned about the implications of China. Speaking at a mobility show in Munich yesterday, Renault boss Luca de Meo said: 'We have to close the gap on costs with some Chinese players that started on EVs a generation earlier.' The French firm was forced to slash its EV production costs by as much as 40 per cent because of these price pressures from the East. And Carlos Tavares, chief executive of Peugeot and Fiat owner Stellantis, has said the competition with Chinese manufacturers was likely to be 'extremely brutal'. 'Their cost competitiveness is 25 per cent against us. We have to fight,' he said in July, calling the Chinese push an 'invasion'. The UK is the largest market in Europe for Chinese electric car brands, accounting for almost a third of sales in 2023 so far, according to Schmidt Automotive Research on the 18 largest European car markets. Chinese manufacturers have already secured 8.2 per cent of the European electric car market, selling 86,000 battery electric cars so far this year. 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. It typically makes investments in sizeable, premier assets across geographies and asset classes. It invests both its own capital as well as capital from other investors. Within private equity and venture capital, it focuses on acquisition, early ventures, control buyouts and financially distressed, buyouts and corporate carve-outs, recapitalizations, convertible, senior and mezzanine financings, operational and capital structure restructuring, strategic re-direction, turnaround, and under-performing midmarket companies. It invests in both public debt and equity markets. It invests in private equity sectors with focus on Business Services include infrastructure, healthcare, road fuel distribution and marketing, construction and real estate; Industrials include manufacturers of automotive batteries, graphite electrodes, returnable plastic packaging, and sanitation management and development; and Residential/ infrastructure services. It targets companies which likely possess underlying real assets, primarily in sectors such as industrial products, building materials, metals, mining, homebuilding, oil and gas, paper and packaging, manufacturing and forest product sectors. It invests globally with focus on North America including Brazil, the United States, Canada; Europe; and Australia; and Asia-Pacific. The firm considers equity investments in the range of $2 million to $500 million. It has a four-year investment period and a 10-year term with two one-year extensions. The firm prefers to take minority stake and majority stake. Brookfield Corporation was founded in 1997 and based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices across Northern America; South America; Europe; Middle East and Asia. Salesforce, Inc. is a cloud-based SaaS company founded by former Oracle exec Marc Benioff in 1999. Mr. Benioff founded the company with 3 partners who will remain active in management until nearly 2020. Larry Elison, a co-founder of Oracle, is a noteworthy early investor who helped propel the company to its success. The company is a leader in CRM or customer relationship management and is largely responsible for the proliferation of digitized CRM solutions that is ongoing today. The company was not immune to the DotCom bubble bursting and had to cut back its workforce and plans but the event is nothing but a blip on the radar now. Even then, the company could sustain a hyper-growth rate that saw revenue skyrocket from $0 in 1999 to over $100 million by the end of 2003. The company held its IPO in 2004 and raised $110 million. The hypergrowth continued until 2014 driven by the growing recognition among C-suite executives that digital CRM was the path to accelerated revenue and earnings growth. The company made multiple small acquisitions in the period leading up to 2014, but it was then that investment in other technology accelerated. Total spending in 2016 topped $5 billion and led to the acquisition of Slack in 2020. The company was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, instantly becoming the largest technology company in the index. The Slack acquisition came under some criticism due to the elevated cost the company paid. The track record of growth that includes sustained sequential growth through the end of 2022 put an end to the criticism. Today, Salesforce.com provides customer relationship management technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. It is the 1st cloud stock to reach $1 billion in revenue, hitting that target in 2009. It is the worlds largest enterprise-level software provider and the 61st-largest company by market cap. In regards to US businesses, it is ranked 136th on the Forbes Fortune 500 list for 2022 when revenue topped $7.7 billion. The company offers its services via the Customer 360 platform. The platform is designed to deliver connected experiences for a business's customers in a way that delivers sales. Revenue is generated in 2 channels that include Sales and Service. The Sales offering stores data, monitors leads and tracks traffic progression through the sales funnel. It can forecast and provide other analytics as well as deliver quotes, contracts and invoices. The Service segment allows companies to provide personalized services and support at scale. Scale is the fundamental quality that drives Salesfoce.coms success because it has been able to scale and aid its clients when they scale. Among Services many offerings is the ability to create apps with a drag-and-drop builder tool. This segment also includes Slack which permits easy communication among business associates. Salesforce.com Ventures is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Salesforce.com. It is in business to invest in start-up and early growth phase businesses and has invested more than $5 billion since 2009. The governments plan of projecting India as a hub of aircraft leasing is about to get a big boost, with Indias largest airlines, IndiGo and Air India, setting up leasing arms at GIFT City, Gujarat. IndiGo, which has around 1,000 aircraft on its order book, that the airline will set up a leasing unit for financing its aircraft by investing Rs 30 crore. The company will also issue a corporate guarantee of up to $996 million for payment obligations of the company. IndiGo is likely to lease around 10 Airbus A320 Neo through the leasing arm in the first lot.Tata-owned Air India has already established an aircraft leasing unit in the special economic zone known as IFSC Gift City. The carrier's six A350-900s, due to start arriving later this year, will arrive under the company called AI Fleet Services IFSC Limited financial lease. Air India placed an order for 470 aircraft earlier this year, sourced from Boeing and Airbus. The company has an authorized capital of Rs 50 crore and a paid-up capital of Rs 300 million.The government wants to develop GIFT City as a global leasing hub on the lines of Dubai, Ireland, and Singapore. Multiple financial benefits, including tax breaks like waiver of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Capital Gain Tax, have been announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Stitharaman to attract global players. Dipesh Shah, executive director of development, said that with big airlines like IndiGo and Air India setting up leasing units, this will push the SEZs image among global players. Till now, GIFT City has been able to execute leases of 109 smaller aircraft and helicopters through the Special Economic Zone. "GIFT IFSC provides a level playing field for undertaking aircraft leasing services," he said. " The steps of IndiGo and Air India push other airlines to follow suit," said Shah. Oshkosh Corporation designs, manufacture, and markets specialty trucks and access equipment vehicles worldwide. Its Access Equipment segment design and manufacture aerial work platform and telehandlers for use in construction, industrial, and maintenance applications; offers financing and leasing solutions including rental fleet loans, leases, and floor plan and retail financing; and towing and recovery equipment, which includes carriers, wreckers, and rotators, as well as provides equipment installation and sale of chassis and service parts. Defense segment engages in the manufacture and sale of heavy, medium, and light tactical wheeled vehicles and related services for department of defense; and snow removal vehicles for airports and military bases. Its Fire & Emergency segment offers custom and commercial firefighting equipment, fire apparatus, and emergency vehicles, including pumpers, aerial platform, ladder and tiller trucks, and tankers; light, medium, and heavy-duty rescue vehicles; and wildland rough terrain response, bomb squad, hazardous materials control vehicles, and other emergency response vehicles. Additionally, this segment offers aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles for airports; and broadcast vehicles, including electronic field production trailers, and satellite and electronic news gathering vehicles for broadcasters and command trucks. Its Commercial segment design and manufacture refuse collection vehicles for waste services industry; front- and rear-discharge concrete mixers for concrete ready-mix industry; and field service vehicles and truck-mounted cranes for construction, equipment dealer, building supply, utility, tire service, railroad, and mining industries. Further, the company provides its products through direct sales representatives, dealers, and distributors. Oshkosh Corporation was formerly known as Oshkosh Truck Corporation. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. All the trading advice youve ever received boils down to one goal and one goal only: finding a reliable edge in the markets. If you can do that, grab hold of it and never let go. Because once you have that edge, and you can count on it, you never need to do anything else. John Wood Group PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides consulting, project management, and engineering solutions to energy and built environment worldwide. It operates through Projects, Operations, Consulting, and Investment Services segments. The Projects segment provides engineering design and project management services across energy and materials markets including oil and gas, chemicals, mining, minerals, and life sciences. The Operations segment offers decarbonisation, maintenance, modifications, brownfield engineering, asset management, and decommissioning services. The Consulting segment provides technical consulting, digital consulting, and energy asset and technology solutions. The Investment Services segment engages in industrial power and heavy civil engineering activities. John Wood Group PLC was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Aberdeen, the United Kingdom. CMS Energy Corporation operates as an energy company primarily in Michigan. The company operates through three segments: Electric Utility; Gas Utility; and Enterprises. The Electric Utility segment is involved in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. This segment generates electricity through coal, wind, gas, renewable energy, oil, and nuclear sources. Its distribution system comprises 208 miles of high-voltage distribution overhead lines; 4 miles of high-voltage distribution underground lines; 4,428 miles of high-voltage distribution overhead lines; 19 miles of high-voltage distribution underground lines; 82,474 miles of electric distribution overhead lines; 9,395 miles of underground distribution lines; 1,093 substations; and 3 battery facilities. The Gas Utility segment engages in the purchase, transmission, storage, distribution, and sale of natural gas, which includes 2,392 miles of transmission lines; 15 gas storage fields; 28,065 miles of distribution mains; and 8 compressor stations. The Enterprises segment is involved in the independent power production and marketing, including the development and operation of renewable generation. It serves 1.9 million electric and 1.8 million gas customers, including residential, commercial, and diversified industrial customers. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Jackson, Michigan. Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.89%. The company has been increasing its dividend for 2 consecutive year(s), indicating that it does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio is 1,025.00%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, TAP will have a dividend payout ratio of 31.91% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. Read our dividend analysis for TAP. Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate loans. Its consumer banking services comprise accepting customary types of demand and savings deposits accounts; mortgage, installment, and other consumer loans; investment and brokerage services; safe deposit services; automated banking services; automated fund transfers; internet-based banking services; and bank credit and debit card services. The company also offers various other financial services, including portfolio management for fixed-income securities, investment banking, execution of securities transactions as a broker/dealer, and trust and financial planning services, as well as provides individual investment advice on equity and other securities. The company was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. BlackBerry Limited provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Cybersecurity, IoT, and Licensing and Other. The company offers CylancePROTECT, an endpoint protection platform and mobile threat defense solution; CylanceOPTICS, an endpoint detection and response solution; CylanceGUARD, a managed detection and response solution; CylanceGATEWAY, an AI-empowered zero-trust network access solution; CylancePERSONA, a user and entity behavior analytics solution; BlackBerry unified endpoint management, a central software component for secure communications platform; BlackBerry Dynamics, a development platform and secure container for mobile applications; and BlackBerry Workspaces solutions. It also provides BlackBerry SecuSUITE, a multi-OS voice and text messaging solution; BlackBerry AtHoc and BlackBerry Alert, which are secure and networked critical event management solutions; BlackBerry QNX that offers real-time operating systems, hypervisors, middleware, development tools, and professional services; BlackBerry Certicom, a cryptography and key management product; BlackBerry Radar, an asset monitoring solution; and BlackBerry IVY, an intelligent vehicle data platform. In addition, the company is involved in the patent licensing and legacy service access fees business. The company was formerly known as Research In Motion Limited and changed its name to BlackBerry Limited in July 2013. BlackBerry Limited was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Waterloo, Canada. Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead. It operates the Toquepala and Cuajone open-pit mines, and a smelter and refinery in Peru; and La Caridad, an open-pit copper mine, as well as a copper ore concentrator, a SX-EW plant, a smelter, refinery, and a rod plant in Mexico. The company also operates Buenavista, an open-pit copper mine, as well as two copper concentrators and two operating SX-EW plants in Mexico. In addition, it operates five underground mines that produce zinc, lead, copper, silver, and gold; a coal mine that produces coal and coke; and a zinc refinery. The company has interests in 493,117 hectares of exploration concessions in Peru and Mexico; 239,077 hectares of exploration concessions in Argentina; 30,568 hectares of exploration concessions in Chile; and 7,299 hectares of exploration concessions in Ecuador. Southern Copper Corporation was incorporated in 1952 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona. Southern Copper Corporation operates as a subsidiary of Americas Mining Corporation. Webster Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Webster Bank, National Association that provides a range of financial services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, HSA Bank, and Consumer Banking. The Commercial Banking segment provides commercial real estate and equipment financing, business banking, asset-based lending, and commercial services; public sector finance; mortgage warehouse financing; treasury management services; credit, deposit, and cash flow management services; and wealth management solutions to business owners and operators, including trust, asset management, financial planning, insurance, retirement, and investment products, as well as derivative, treasury, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and trade products and services. The HSA Bank segment offers health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, flexible spending accounts, and commuter services that are distributed directly to employers and individual consumers, as well as through national and regional insurance carriers, consultants, and financial advisors. The Consumer Banking segment provides consumer deposit and fee-based services, residential mortgages, home equity lines, secured and unsecured loans, and credit cards to consumers; and small business banking products, such as credit, deposit, and cash flow management to businesses and professional service firms. It also offers online and mobile banking services. Webster Financial Corporation was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. 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. It provides various perishable products that include fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles, and bacons; and shelf-stable products comprising canned luncheon meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chilies, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hashes, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, and others. The company also engages in the processing, marketing, and sale of branded and unbranded pork, beef, poultry, and turkey products, as well as offers nutritional food products and supplements, desserts and drink mixes, and industrial gelatin products. It sells its products primarily under the SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel, Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, Jennie-O, Cafe H, Herdez, Black Label, Sadler's, Columbus, Gatherings, Herdez, Wholly, Columbus, Planters, NUT-rition, Planters Cheez Balls, Corn Nuts, etc. brand names through sales personnel, independent brokers, and distributors. The company was formerly known as Geo. A. Hormel & Company and changed its name to Hormel Foods Corporation in January 1995. Hormel Foods Corporation was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Austin, Minnesota. Travel Rule Enforcement Begins for Crypto Firms in the UK Heres What You Need to Know Source: AdobeStock / Iakov Kalinin Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) in the UK are from September 1 required to collect, verify and share information on crypto transactions to firms in the UK, or any jurisdiction that has implemented the Travel Rule. In a statement from the UKs Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator said that firms are now expected to take all reasonable steps to comply with the Travel Rule, and that companies themselves are solely responsible for compliance, even in cases where third-party suppliers are used. The regulator added that it has worked closely with the UKs crypto industry to develop the guidelines, which outlines what we reasonably expect of firms ahead of other countries following the UKs position. The Travel Rule is designed to bring greater transparency to cryptoasset transfers, making it harder for criminals to use #crypto for illegal activity.https://t.co/kmB6rgMn5e Financial Conduct Authority (@TheFCA) August 17, 2023 According to the FCA, the goal of the Travel Rule is to advance anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) efforts by helping companies in the crypto industry detect suspicious transactions and screen transactions for possible sanction violations. Specifically, VASPs will need to collect and verify information that could be relevant for these efforts when making transactions to other countries that comply with the Travel Rule. For transactions to and from non-Travel Rule countries and jurisdictions, crypto firms must make a risk-based assessment of whether to make the cryptoassets available to the beneficiary, the FCA said. Mexico leading the way in Latin America The Travel Rule was developed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering watchdog. Already, a number of countries have implemented the rule, with Mexico said to be leading the way in Latin America, while Argentina is lagging behind, according to the Latin American Financial Action Task Force (known locally as GAFILAT). The organization has also said that Brazil, Chile, and Bitcoin-keen El Salvador are making good progress, while Cuba, Nicaragua, and Paraguay are making more modest progress. The following companies are subsidiares of Novartis: 1 A Pharma GmbH, Abadia Retuerta S.A, Admune Therapeutics, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications International SA, Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A., Advanced Accelerator Applications S.r.l., Advanced Accelerator Applications USA Inc., Aeropharm GmbH, Alcon, Alcon Couvreur NV, Amblyotech, Amblyotech Inc., Arctos Medical, Arctos Medical AG, Australia Pty Ltd, Beijing Novartis Pharma Co. Ltd., BioMedical Research Co. Ltd., CELLforCURE, Cadent Therapeutics, Cadent Therapeutics Cambridge, Cellerys, Cellerys AG, CellforCure, Chiron Corporation, Ciba-Geigy Japan Limited, Co. Ltd, CoStim Pharmaceuticals, CoStim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Coalesce Product Development Limited, Corthera, Development Co. Ltd., EBEWE Pharma Ges.m.b.H Nfg. KG, Encore Vision, Endocyte, Endocyte Inc., Eon Labs Inc., Farmanova Saglik Hizmetleri Ltd, Fougera Pharmaceuticals, Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc, Gyroscope Therapeutics, HEXAL AG, Hexal, IDB Holland BV, Iberica S.L.U., Ilaclari Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, JSC Sandoz, Japat AG, Kedalion Therapeutics Inc., Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d., Lek S.A., Manufacturing Pte Ltd , Navigate BioPharma Services Inc, Neutec Pharma Limited, Novartis (Hellas) S.A.C.I., Novartis (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Novartis (Taiwan) Co. Ltd, Novartis (Thailand) Limited, Novartis Argentina S.A., Novartis Australia Pty Ltd, Novartis Austria GmbH, Novartis Biociencias S.A., Novartis Biosciences Peru S.A., Novartis Bioventures AG, Novartis Business Services GmbH, Novartis Capital Corporation, Novartis Chile S.A., Novartis Corporation, Novartis Corporation Sdn. Bhd., Novartis Deutschland GmbH, Novartis Ecuador S.A., Novartis Farma S.p.A., Novartis Farma Produtos Farmaceuticos S.A., Novartis Farmaceutica S.A, Novartis Farmaceutica S.A. de C.V., Novartis Finance Corporation, Novartis Finance S.A., Novartis Finance Services Ltd, Novartis Finland Oy Espoo, Novartis Gene Therapies, Novartis Gene Therapies EU Limited, Novartis Gene Therapies Inc., Novartis Grimsby Limited, Novartis Groupe France S.A., Novartis Healthcare A/S, Novartis Healthcare Philippines Inc., Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, Novartis Holding AG, Novartis Hungary Healthcare Limited Liability Company, Novartis India Limited, Novartis Inflammasome Research, Novartis Integrated Services Limited, Novartis International AG, Novartis International Pharmaceutical Investment AG, Novartis Investment Ltd, Novartis Investments S.a r.l., Novartis Ireland Limited, Novartis Israel Ltd, Novartis Korea Ltd., Novartis Middle East FZE, Novartis Netherlands B.V., Novartis Neva LLC, Novartis New Zealand Ltd, Novartis Norge AS, Novartis Ophthalmics AG, Novartis Optogenetics Research Inc., Novartis Overseas Investments AG, Novartis Pharma (Logistics) Inc., Novartis Pharma (Pakistan) Limited, Novartis Pharma AG, Novartis Pharma B.V. , Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma K.K., Novartis Pharma LLC, Novartis Pharma Maroc SA, Novartis Pharma NV, Novartis Pharma Produktions GmbH, Novartis Pharma S.A.E., Novartis Pharma S.A.S., Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG, Novartis Pharma Schweizerhalle AG, Novartis Pharma Services AG, Novartis Pharma Services Romania S.R.L., Novartis Pharma Stein AG, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Limited, Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited, Novartis Poland Sp. z o.o., Novartis Portugal S.G.P.S. Lda., Novartis Ringaskiddy Limited, Novartis Saglik Gida ve Tarim Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, Novartis Saudi Ltd., Novartis Securities Investment Ltd, Novartis Services Inc., Novartis Slovakia s.r.o., Novartis South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Novartis Sverige AB, Novartis UK Limited, Novartis US Foundation, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Inc, Novartis Vietnam Company Limited, Novartis de Colombia S.A., Novartis de Venezuela S.A., Novartis s.r.o., Oriel Therapeutics Inc., PT. Novartis Indonesia, Protez Pharmaceuticals, Pte Ltd, Research Inc, Salutas Pharma GmbH, Sandoz A/S, Sandoz AG, Sandoz B.V., Sandoz Canada Inc., Sandoz Egypt Pharma S.A.E., Sandoz Farmaceutica S.A., Sandoz Farmaceutica Lda., Sandoz GmbH, Sandoz Hungary Limited Liability Company, Sandoz Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Sandoz Inc, Sandoz Industrial Products S.A, Sandoz International GmbH, Sandoz K.K., Sandoz Limited, Sandoz Manufacturing Inc., Sandoz NV, Sandoz Pharma K.K, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals AG, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals d.d., Sandoz Philippines Corporation, Sandoz Polska Sp. z o.o. , Sandoz Private Limited, Sandoz Pty Ltd, Sandoz S.A. de C.V, Sandoz S.A.S., Sandoz S.R.L., Sandoz S.p.A., Sandoz South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Sandoz Ukraine LLC, Sandoz d.o.o. farmaceutska industrija, Sandoz do Brasil Industria Farmaceutica Ltda, Sandoz s.r.o., Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Shanghai Novartis Trading Ltd., Societe par actions SANDOZ, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, The Medicines Company, The Medicines Company, Triangle International Reinsurance Limited, Trinity River Insurance Co Ltd, Vedere Bio, Vedere Bio ll, Xiidra, Ziarco, and Ziarco Group Limited. Read More TC Energy Corporation operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. It operates through five segments: Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines; U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines; Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines; Liquids Pipelines; and Power and Energy Solutions. The company builds and operates a network of 93,700 kilometers of natural gas pipelines, which transports natural gas from supply basins to local distribution companies, power generation plants, industrial facilities, interconnecting pipelines, LNG export terminals, and other businesses. It also has regulated natural gas storage facilities with a total working gas capacity of 532 billion cubic feet. In addition, it has approximately 4,900 kilometers of liquids pipeline system that connects Alberta crude oil pipeline to refining markets in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Texas. Further, the company owns or has interests in seven power generation facilities with a combined capacity of approximately 4,300 megawatts that are powered by natural gas and nuclear fuel sources located in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick; and owns and operates approximately 118 billion cubic feet of non-regulated natural gas storage capacity in Alberta. The company was formerly known as TransCanada Corporation and changed its name to TC Energy Corporation in May 2019. TC Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1951 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. The Charles Schwab Corporation is a financial services company that offers a wide range of investment services, including brokerage, banking, and financial advisory services. Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Westlake, Texas, the company operates through two main segments: Investor Services and Advisor Services. The Investor Services segment offers individual investors retail brokerage and banking services, while the Advisor Services segment provides custodial, trading, and support services to independent investment advisors. In 2020, the company completed its acquisition of TD Ameritrade, further expanding its client base and offerings. Charles Schwab Corporation's management team is led by Walt Bettinger, who has been the company's President and Chief Executive Officer since 2008. Mr. Bettinger joined the company in 1995 and has held various leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer and Head of Schwab Institutional. Over the past few years, Charles Schwab Corporation has experienced steady growth in its key financial metrics. It is reporting increased revenue and increased profit margin. Charles Schwab Corporation's valuation metrics are generally in line with industry peers. The company's price-to-earnings ratio is slightly lower than the industry average, and the company's price-to-book ratio is also somewhat lower than the industry average. Charles Schwab Corporation's stock has generally performed well over the past few years, with some fluctuations in response to broader market conditions and regulatory changes. The company's stock price has outperformed the S&P 500 for several years. The company has also experienced increases in trading volume in response to changes in market conditions and regulatory changes. Charles Schwab Corporation operates in the financial services industry, which has experienced significant growth and transformation over the past few years. The industry has been impacted by a range of factors, including advances in technology, changing consumer preferences, and regulatory changes. Charles Schwab Corporation competes with other financial services firms, including traditional brokerage firms, online investment platforms, and banks. Charles Schwab Corporation has a range of potential growth opportunities, including expanding its offerings to meet the evolving needs of its clients. The company has been investing in technology and digital platforms to improve its services and attract new clients. In addition, the company's acquisition of TD Ameritrade has provided new opportunities for growth and expansion. The company also focuses on expanding its international presence and exploring new markets. Charles Schwab Corporation faces a range of potential risks and challenges, including changes in regulatory and political environments that may impact the company's operations and profitability. The financial services industry is subject to a wide range of regulations, and changes in these regulations could significantly impact the company's operations. In addition, the industry is subject to intense competition, which could affect the company's ability to attract and retain clients. Another potential risk is the impact of market volatility on the company's operations. Charles Schwab Corporation generates a significant portion of its revenue from commissions and fees, which are impacted by changes in market conditions. In periods of market volatility, clients may reduce their trading activity, which could affect the company's revenue and profitability. The company also faces risks related to data security and privacy. The company collects and stores sensitive financial and personal information on its clients. Any breach of this data could significantly impact the company's reputation and financial performance. To address these risks and challenges, Charles Schwab Corporation is focused on maintaining a robust regulatory compliance program and investing in data security and privacy measures. The company is also focused on diversifying its revenue streams and expanding its offerings to meet the evolving needs of its clients. The following companies are subsidiares of D.R. Horton: 10700 Pecan Park Austin Inc., 11241 Slater Avenue NE LLC, 2 C Development Company LLC, 8800 Roswell Road Bldg. B LLC, 91st Avenue & Happy Valley L.L.C., ANN & 215 LLC, Austin Data Inc., BP456 Inc., C. Richard Dobson Builders Inc., CH Funding LLC, CH Investments of Texas Inc., CHI Construction Company, CHM Partners L.P., CHTEX of Texas Inc., CV Mountain View 25 Inv LLC, Cane Island LLC, Continental Homes Inc., Continental Homes of Texas L.P., Continental Residential Inc., Continental Traditions LLC, Crown Operating Company Inc., Cypress Road L.P., D.R. Horton - CHAustin LLC, D.R. Horton - Colorado LLC, D.R. Horton - Crown LLC, D.R. Horton - Emerald Ltd., D.R. Horton - Georgia LLC, D.R. Horton - Hawaii LLC, D.R. Horton - Highland LLC, D.R. Horton - Indiana LLC, D.R. Horton - Iowa LLC, D.R. Horton - MV LLC, D.R. Horton - Nebraska LLC, D.R. Horton - Permian LLC, D.R. Horton - Regent LLC, D.R. Horton - Terramor LLC, D.R. Horton - Texas Ltd., D.R. Horton - WPH LLC, D.R. Horton - Wyoming LLC, D.R. Horton BAY Inc., D.R. Horton CA2 Inc., D.R. Horton CA3 Inc., D.R. Horton CA4 LLC, D.R. Horton Commercial Inc., D.R. Horton Cruces Construction Inc., D.R. Horton Inc. - Birmingham, D.R. Horton Inc. - Chicago, D.R. Horton Inc. - Denver, D.R. Horton Inc. - Dietz-Crane, D.R. Horton Inc. - Greensboro, D.R. Horton Inc. - Gulf Coast, D.R. Horton Inc. - Huntsville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Jacksonville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Louisville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Midwest, D.R. Horton Inc. - Minnesota, D.R. Horton Inc. - NNV, D.R. Horton Inc. - New Jersey, D.R. Horton Inc. - Portland, D.R. Horton Inc. - Torrey, D.R. Horton Inc. Foundation, D.R. Horton Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton LA North Inc., D.R. Horton Life Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton Los Angeles Holding Company Inc., D.R. Horton Management Company Ltd., D.R. Horton Materials Inc., D.R. Horton Realty LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Atlantic County LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Central Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Delaware LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Georgia Inc., D.R. Horton Realty of Melbourne LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Tampa LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Virginia LLC, D.R. Horton Seabridge Marina Inc., D.R. Horton Serenity Construction LLC, D.R. Horton Urban Renewal LLC, D.R. Horton VEN Inc., D.R. Horton Corpus Christi LLC, DBC54 LLC, DHI Commercial - Lakeview LLC, DHI Commercial - Signal Butte LLC, DHI Commercial - Tamarron LLC, DHI Commercial Inc., DHI Communities Construction LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Arizona LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Colorado LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Florida LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Iowa LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Nevada LLC, DHI Communities Construction of North Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of South Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Texas LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Utah LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Virginia LLC, DHI Communities II LLC, DHI Communities Inc., DHI Engineering LLC, DHI Insurance Inc., DHI Mortgage Company, DHI Mortgage Company GP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company LP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company Ltd., DHI Ranch Ltd., DHI Realty of Alabama LLC, DHI Realty of Mississippi LLC, DHI Title GP Inc., DHI Title LP Inc., DHI Title of Alabama Inc., DHI Title of Arizona Inc., DHI Title of Florida Inc., DHI Title of Minnesota Inc., DHI Title of Nevada Inc., DHI Title of Texas Ltd., DHI Title of Washington Inc., DHI Verandah South Shores Communities LLC, DHIC - Bridges LLC, DHIC - Brittmore LLC, DHIC - Carolina Forest LLC, DHIC - Desert Peak LLC, DHIC - Durbin Creek LLC, DHIC - Freestone LLC, DHIC - Hammock Landing LLC, DHIC - Heritage LLC, DHIC - Horizon Uptown LLC, DHIC - Jacobs Reserve LLC, DHIC - Lakeview LLC, DHIC - Lipoma LLC, DHIC - Minton Cove LLC, DHIC - Mountain Vista LLC, DHIC - Naco LLC, DHIC - Northshore LLC, DHIC - Prairie Village LLC, DHIC - South Creek LLC, DHIC - Tamarron LLC, DHIC - Valley Vista LLC, DHIC - Varina Gateway LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh II LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh III LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh LLC, DHIC - Westridge LLC, DHIC LLC, DHIC Glendale LLC, DHIC Grove West LLC, DHIC South Park LLC, DHIC Westinghouse LLC, DHIR - Aspen Vista LLC, DHIR - Avian Pointe LLC, DHIR - Emerald Lakes LLC, DHIR - Fosters Ridge LLC, DHIR - Gulf Stream LLC, DHIR - Parkview at Lynn Haven LLC, DHIR - Poplar Terrace LLC, DHIR - Properties I LLC, DHIR - Rock Ridge LLC, DHIR - Sunset Village LLC, DHIR - Village at Hickory Street LLC, DRH - ARK LLC, DRH - ASG LLC, DRH - HWY 114 LLC, DRH Cambridge Homes LLC, DRH Capital Trust I, DRH Capital Trust II, DRH Capital Trust III, DRH Colorado Realty Inc., DRH Construction Inc., DRH Energy Inc., DRH FS Mortgage Reinsurance Ltd., DRH Land Opportunities I Inc., DRH Land Opportunities II Inc., DRH Mountain View LLC, DRH Oil & Gas Inc., DRH Opportunities I Inc., DRH Properties Inc., DRH Realty Company Inc., DRH Realty of Iowa LLC, DRH Regrem L LLC, DRH Regrem LI LLC, DRH Regrem LII LLC, DRH Regrem LIII LLC, DRH Regrem LIV LLC, DRH Regrem LV LLC, DRH Regrem VII LP, DRH Regrem XII LP, DRH Regrem XIV Inc., DRH Regrem XIX Inc., DRH Regrem XLIX LLC, DRH Regrem XLV LLC, DRH Regrem XLVI LLC, DRH Regrem XLVII LLC, DRH Regrem XLVIII LLC, DRH Regrem XV Inc., DRH Regrem XVI Inc., DRH Regrem XVII Inc., DRH Regrem XVIII Inc., DRH Regrem XX Inc., DRH Regrem XXI Inc., DRH Regrem XXII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIV Inc., DRH Regrem XXV Inc., DRH Southwest Construction Inc., DRH Tucson Construction Inc., DRHI Inc., Deer Valley Office Park LLC, Desert Ridge Phase I Partners, Emerald Creek No. 4 L.P., Emerald Realty of Alabama LLC, Emerald Realty of Central Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of North Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Encore II Inc., Encore Venture Partners II (California) L.P., Encore Venture Partners II (Texas) L.P., Encore Venture Partners L.P., Express Realty of Central Florida LLC, Express Realty of North Florida LLC, Express Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Forestar Group, Forestar Group Inc., Founders Oil & Gas II LLC, Founders Oil & Gas III LLC, Founders Oil & Gas IV LLC, Founders Oil & Gas LLC, Founders Oil & Gas Operating LLC, GP-Encore Inc., Georgetown Data Inc., Germann & McQueen L.L.C., Grand Title Agency LLC, Grande Realty Incorporated, Grande Realty of Pennsylvania LLC, Greywes LLC, HPH Homebuilders 2000 L.P., Hadian LLC, KDB Homes Inc., Kaomalo LLC, Lexington Homes - DRH LLC, MRLF LLC, Martin Road Lake Forest LLC, McQueen & Willis LLC, Meadows I Ltd., Meadows II Ltd., Meadows IX Inc., Meadows VIII Ltd., Meadows X Inc., Melody Homes Inc., Pacific Ridge - DRH LLC, Rielly Carlsbad LLC, Rielly Homes Madison LLC, SFTEN LLC, SGS Communities at Grand Quay L.L.C, SHA Construction LLC, SHLR of California Inc., SHLR of Nevada Inc., SHLR of Washington Inc., SRHI LLC, SSHI LLC, Schuler Homes of Arizona LLC, Schuler Homes of California Inc., Schuler Homes of Oregon Inc., Schuler Homes of Washington Inc., Summerlin Pkwy & Cimarron LLC, Surprise Village North LLC, The Club at Cobblestone LLC, The Club at Hidden River LLC, Tierra Financial Advisors LLC, Travis County Title Company, Treasure Assets LLC, Venture Management of South Carolina LLC, Vertical Construction Corporation, WPH-Camino Ruiz LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon II LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon LLC, Walker Drive LLC, Western Pacific Brea Development LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Mountaingate L.P., Western Pacific Housing - SDG LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Westlake II L.P., Western Pacific Housing Inc., Western Pacific Housing Management Inc., Western Pacific Housing-Antigua LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Broadway LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Canyon Park LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Carrillo LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Communications Hill LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Copper Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Creekside LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lomas Verdes LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lyons Canyon Partners LLC, Western Pacific Housing-McGonigle Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Norco Estates LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Pacific Park II LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue East LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue West LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Playa Vista LLC, Western Pacific Housing-River Ridge LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Terra Bay Duets LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Meadows LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Village Center LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Windemere LLC, and Wilson Parker Homes. Read More Tidewater Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore support vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of marine service vessels worldwide. It provides services in support of offshore crude oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production, as well as windfarm development and maintenance, including towing of and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transporting supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production activities; offshore construction, and seismic and subsea support; geotechnical survey support for windfarm construction; and various specialized services, such as pipe and cable laying. The company operates anchor handling towing supply vessels, platform supply vessels, crew boats, utility vessels, and offshore tugs. The company serves oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production companies; mid-sized and smaller independent exploration and production companies; foreign government-owned or government-controlled organizations, and other related companies; drilling contractors; and other companies, such as offshore construction, windfarm development, diving, and well stimulation companies. Tidewater Inc. was incorporated in 1956 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. 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. Navy submarines; and supplies proprietary and sole-source valves, manifolds, and fittings to naval and commercial shipping customers. This segment also involved in manufacture of close-tolerance and equipment for nuclear applications; and converts Cold War-era government stockpiles of high-enriched uranium, as well as receives, stores, characterizes, dissolves, recovers, and purifies uranium-bearing materials; supplies research reactor fuel elements for colleges, universities, and national laboratories; and components for defense applications. The Commercial Operations segment designs and manufactures commercial nuclear steam generators, heat exchangers, pressure vessels, and reactor components; and other auxiliary equipment, including containers for the storage of nuclear fuel and other high-level nuclear waste. It also offers nuclear fuel, fuel handling systems, tooling delivery systems, nuclear grade materials, and precisely machined components, as well as related services for CANDU nuclear power plants; in-plant inspection, maintenance, and modification services, as well as non-destructive examination and tooling/repair solutions; and medical radioisotopes, radiopharmaceuticals, and medical devices. The company was formerly known as The Babcock & Wilcox Company and changed its name to BWX Technologies, Inc. in June 2015. BWX Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. The following companies are subsidiares of Corteva: 3319858 Nova Scotia Company, AG EMEA Cooperatief U.A., AG EMEA Holding 1 BV, AG EMEA Holding 2 BV, AG EMEA Holding 3 BV, AG EMEA Holding 4 BV., AG EMEA Holding 6 BV, AG EMEA Holding B.V., AG Holdco Mexico S. DE R.L. DE C.V., AG MX 2 Inc., AG Mexico LLC, AG Orion Holding B.V., AgSurf Corporation, AgVenture Inc., Agar Cross Paraguaya S.A., Agrigenetics Inc.d/b/a Mycogen Seeds, Agroservicios de Mexico DDM S de R.L. de C.V., Alforex Seeds LLC, Christiana Insurance LLC, Coodetec Desenvolviment Producao e Comercializaca Agricola Ltda., Corteva (China) Inc., Corteva Agriscience (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Corteva Agriscience Cote d' Ivoire LLC, Corteva Agriscience Egypt LLC, Corteva Agriscience SLO trgovina in storitve d.o.o., DAS Agricultural Investment Holding Company Ltd, DDP AgroSciences Nigeria Limited, DDP AgroSciences US DCOMCO Inc., DPM Netherlands B.V., DUPONT DE NEMOURS HOLDING LLC, DUPONT HOLDING NEDERLAND B.V., DUPONT India LIMITED LLC, DUPONT MEXICANA S. DE R.L. DE C.V., DUPONT SVERIGE AB, DUPONT South Africa HOLDCO (PTY) LTD, Dairyland Seed Co. Inc., Dikanka Nasinnia LLC, Doeblers Pennsylvania Hybrids Inc., Dow AgroSciences (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., Dow AgroSciences Argentina SRL, Dow AgroSciences Asia Sdn. Bhd, Dow AgroSciences Hungary Kft. Szeged Szolnok, Dow AgroSciences International Ltd, Dow AgroSciences Polska Sp.z.o.o., Dow AgroSciences Vertriebsgesells chaft m.b.H., Dow Venezuela C.A., DuPont (Cambodia) Company Limited, DuPont (Myanmar) Company Ltd, DuPont (New Zealand) Limited, DuPont (South America) Holdings LLC, DuPont (Taiwan) Agriscience Co. Ltd., DuPont AGR Services Sarl, DuPont Argentina S.R.L., DuPont Asturias S.L.U., DuPont Bangladesh Limited, DuPont Belgian Capital LLC, DuPont Belgium North America Finance Company, DuPont Bulgaria Eood, DuPont CZ s.r.o., DuPont Capital Management Corporation, DuPont Chemical and Energy Operations Inc., DuPont Chile S.A., DuPont Company (Singapore) Pte Ltd., DuPont Conid S.P.A., DuPont Danmark ApS, DuPont Deutschland Real Estate Partner GmbH, DuPont Eastern Europe BV, DuPont Energy Company LLC, DuPont Far East Inc., DuPont Feedstocks Company LLC, DuPont Global Operations Inc., DuPont Hellas S.A., DuPont Holdco Spain III SL, DuPont Iberica S.L.U., DuPont International BV, DuPont International Operations Sarl, DuPont Kazakhstan LLP, DuPont Magyarorszag Kft, DuPont North America Inc., DuPont Operations Worldwide LLC, DuPont Orient Operations Ltd., DuPont Overseas Operations Inc., DuPont Phi Nigeria Limited, DuPont Pioneer Egypt Holding B.V., DuPont Pioneer Investment Co. Ltd., DuPont Poland Sp z.o.o., DuPont Portugal Unipessoal LDA, DuPont Production Agriscience (Malaysia) SDN. BHD, DuPont Production Agriscience Deutschland GmbH, DuPont Production Agriscience Kabushiki Kaisha, DuPont Quimica de Venezuela C.A., DuPont Romania S.R.L., DuPont SRB d.o.o. Beograd, DuPont Science and Technologies LLC, DuPont Solutions (France) SAS, DuPont Textiles & Interiors Delaware Inc., DuPont Turkey Endustri Urunleri Limited Sirketi, DuPont Ukraine LLC, DuPont Vietnam Co. Ltd., DuPont de Colombia S.A., DuPont de Ecuador SA, DuPont de Nemours (France) S.A.S., DuPont de Nemours Groupe SAS, DuPont de Nemours Investments SARL, DuPont de Nemours Italiana S.r.l., DuPont de Nemours South Africa (Pty) Ltd., DuPont de Peru S.A.C., DuPont do Brasil S.A., Ducoragro S.A. de C.V., Dunhuang Seed Pioneer Hi-Bred Company Ltd., E. I. DuPont Services Center India Private Limited, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, E.I. DuPont India Private Limited, Farms Technology LLC, Grainit S.R.L., Granular Australia Pty Ltd, Granular Brasil Licenciamento e Distribuicao de Software de Agricultura Ltda., Granular Canada Company, Granular Inc., Green Meadows Ltd., Griffin L.L.C. Valdosta, Hickory Holdings Inc., Hickory Securities LLC, Hoegemeyer Hybrids Inc., Imperial Metal and Chemical Company, Lavie Bio Ltd., MISR Pioneer Seeds Company S.A.E., Mycogen Plant Science Inc, NuTech Seed LLC, Orion Mexico LLC, P.T. DuPont Indonesia, PHI Financial Services Canada Ltd., PHI Financial Services Inc., PHI Mexico S.A. de C.V., PHI Seeds Private Limited, PHI Servicios S de R.L. de C.V. f/k/a PHI Servicios S.A. de C.V., PNR Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd., PT Dow AgroSciences Commerce Indonesia, PT Dow AgroSciences Indonesia, PT DuPont Agricultural Products Indonesia, Pannar Industrial Holdings (Pty) Ltd., Pannar International (Pty) Ltd., Pannar Ltd., Pannar Properties Zambia Limited, Pannar Research Farms (Pty) Ltd., Pannar Seed (Malawi) Limited, Pannar Seed (Pty) Ltd., Pannar Seed (Zimbabwe) Private Limited, Pannar Seed Holdings (Pty) Ltd., Pannar Seed Inc. - USA, Pannar Seed Kenya Ltd., Pannar Seed Lda, Pannar Seed Lesotho (Pty) Ltd., Pannar Seed Swaziland (Pty) Ltd., Pannar Seed Tanzania Ltd., Pannar Seed Zambia Ltd., Performance Materials Danmark ApS, Performance Materials Hungary Kft., Philippines Holdings Inc., Phytogen Seed Company LLC, Pioneer Argentina S.R.L., Pioneer Ble Sarl, Pioneer China Business Trust, Pioneer DuPont Zambia Limited, Pioneer Genetique Sarl, Pioneer HI-Bred Private Limited, Pioneer Hi-Bred (Switzerland) S.A., Pioneer Hi-Bred (Thailand) Co. Limited, Pioneer Hi-Bred (Zimbabwe) (Private) Limited, Pioneer Hi-Bred Agro Servicios Spain SL, Pioneer Hi-Bred Australia Pty Ltd., Pioneer Hi-Bred Canada Company, Pioneer Hi-Bred Europe Inc., Pioneer Hi-Bred Foundation, Pioneer Hi-Bred Hellas S.A., Pioneer Hi-Bred Holding Spain SL, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., Pioneer Hi-Bred International Production Limited, Pioneer Hi-Bred Italia SRL, Pioneer Hi-Bred Italia Sementi SRL, Pioneer Hi-Bred Italia Servizi Agronomici SRL, Pioneer Hi-Bred Kenya Limited, Pioneer Hi-Bred Magyarorszag Kft, Pioneer Hi-Bred Northern Europe Sales Division GmbH, Pioneer Hi-Bred Northern Europe Service Division GmbH, Pioneer Hi-Bred Philippines Inc., Pioneer Hi-Bred Poland Sp z.o.o., Pioneer Hi-Bred Production Company, Pioneer Hi-Bred Production and Service Company Limited, Pioneer Hi-Bred Puerto Rico Inc., Pioneer Hi-Bred R.S.A. (Pty) Ltd., Pioneer Hi-Bred Research R.S.A. (Proprietary) Ltd., Pioneer Hi-Bred Romania S.R.L., Pioneer Hi-Bred Rus Limited, Pioneer Hi-Bred S.A.R.L., Pioneer Hi-Bred SRB doo Novi Sad, Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed Agro S.R.L., Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds Ethiopia PLC, Pioneer Hi-Bred Sementes de Portugal S.A., Pioneer Hi-Bred Services GmbH, Pioneer Hi-Bred Slovensko Spol S.R.O., Pioneer Hi-Bred Spain S.L., Pioneer Hi-Bred Ukraine, Pioneer Hi-Bred Vietnam Limited, Pioneer Mexico Holdings LLC, Pioneer Mexico Operations S. de R.L. de C.V., Pioneer Overseas Corporation, Pioneer Overseas Corporation (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited, Pioneer Overseas Corporation (Hong Kong) Holdings No 1 Limited, Pioneer Overseas Corporation (Hong Kong) Holdings No 2 Limited, Pioneer Overseas Corporation (Singapore) PTE LTD, Pioneer Overseas Investors LLC, Pioneer Overseas Research Corporation, Pioneer Pakistan Seed Limited, Pioneer Seed Holding Nederland B.V., Pioneer Seed Holding Participations B.V., Pioneer Seeds Inc., Pioneer Semena Bulgaria EOOD, Pioneer Semena Holding GmbH, Pioneer Semena Holding GmbH Parndorf, Pioneer Semences S.A.S, Pioneer Service Holding B.V., Pioneer Sjeme D.o.o, Pioneer Tohumculuk A.S., Pioneer Tohumculuk Disribution and Marketing, Pioneer Turks & Caicos LLC, Pitt-Consol Chemical Company, Production Agriscience (Australia) Pty Ltd, Production Agriscience Belgium BVBA, Production Agriscience Canada Company, Production Agriscience Diamond LLC, Production Agriscience Korea Ltd., Production Agriscience Netherlands BV, Production Agriscience UK LTD, SP International Holding 3 BV, Seed Consultants Inc., Semillas Pioneer Chile Ltda., Semillas Pioneer de Venezuela C.A., Shandong Denghai Pioneer Seed Company Limited, Sociedad Comercial Agar Cross S.A., Sporting Goods Properties Inc., Stasi Nasinnia LLC, Teiling Pioneer Seed Research Co Ltd., Terral Seed Inc., The Advantage Corp., The Union Metallic Cartridge Company, and Village Court Inc.. Read More Seabridge Gold Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition and exploration of gold properties in North America. The company also explores for gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum deposits. Its principal projects are the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell property and Iskut project located in British Columbia, Canada; Courageous Lake property situated in Northwest Territories, Canada; Snowstorm project situated in the Nevada; and 3 Aces project located in the Yukon Territory. The company was formerly known as Seabridge Resources Inc. and changed its name to Seabridge Gold Inc. in June 2002. Seabridge Gold Inc. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East. The Fund invests in sectors, such as consumer staples, industrials, consumer discretionary, materials, healthcare, financials, information technology, energy, telecommunication services and utilities. The Fund generally invests at least 90% of its assets in securities of the Index and in depositary receipts representing securities of the Index. BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. It was around early July when Newville officials got the news: a cash flow analysis revealed that the boroughs financial situation was worse than anticipated. We were going to be out of money at the end of August, Borough Solicitor Marcus McKnight said at the borough council meeting last Tuesday. With real estate tax revenue mostly collected as of June, he said the borough has limited resources coming in on a regular basis. So the borough made arrangements to document and borrow money from the Newville Water & Sewer Authority. The authority helped the borough through what McKnight referred to as its darkest days from January to March until real estate tax revenue began coming in, and provided additional support in August. However, nearly $800,000 will soon be on the way, courtesy of a fast-tracked state process. The borough held a special meeting July 17, followed by a hearing with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, during which they were approved for Act 47 assistance. According to the department, Act 47 requires the department to financially assist municipalities that are experiencing severe financial difficulties for residents health, welfare and safety. Newvilles severe financial difficulties were brought to light after the discovery of financial discrepancies in December, which launched a Cumberland County District Attorneys Office investigation and led to the dismissal of longtime Borough Manager Fred Potzer in January. The investigation includes an ongoing forensic audit, and McKnight said officials are looking at information dating back to 2015. Incoming loans At Tuesdays meeting, McKnight said the borough was approved to receive a $500,000 interest-free loan from the Department of Community and Economic Development to help with essential bills through March. He anticipates the funds to arrive by the end of the first full week of September. Essential bills include various insurance and employee payrolls, McKnight said. Plus, we need to have enough money to pay people whove been waiting patiently like our accountant, engineers and even our lawyers ... because we really havent been paid since last year, he said. The department has also recommended that the borough apply for a second interest-free loan for $291,723. This could help with expenses including the boroughs $195,687 loan from Mid Penn Bank, reimbursement for Newville Water & Sewer Authority and other unpaid bills. It would also cover the $15,044 the borough owes to PennDOT. McKnight said the boroughs share of PennDOT money is being held because previous PennDOT funds were used improperly in the past. This is the money we need to pay back in order to get the 2024 payment from PennDOT, he said. While the borough has yet to submit an application for the second loan, McKnight said its likely it will receive the funding. [The department] indicated that if we applied for it, we will receive it, and they hope to be able to process that second loan and get the money to us by October, he said. McKnight said the borough saw an extraordinary amount of reaction at the state level to meet municipal needs. Once it was identified, we acted promptly, we had the hearing, we filled out the applications ... and they (the department) worked as hard as fast as they can to get the funds to us, he said. While he hasnt seen the repayment schedule yet, McKnight said the boroughs first payment for the loans is due next fall. Each annual payment will be $50,000 for the next 10 years, he said. Remaining expenses Neither loan would provide funding for nearly $257,000 owed in pension funds for borough employees and police. Money that should have been put into the pension funds wasnt, and so theyve been holding money on us and we have to reimburse them, McKnight said. But theyre good with an installment plan to do that. McKnight said fire tax reimbursement will also not be covered by the incoming state funding. He said the borough is missing nearly $67,000 of tax revenue that was supposed to be allocated for the fire department. State loans will also not pay for items like new police radios, about $50,000, or the eventual move to the boroughs newly constructed municipal building along South High Street, which is estimated to cost $40,000. These expenses should be accounted for in the boroughs 2024 budget, according to an email McKnight received from Andrew Sheaf, the local government policy manager with Community and Economic Development. Looking ahead No date has been selected for the boroughs move to the new building. McKnight said the borough is waiting for an occupancy permit to make the change, and until it received the loans to cover essential bills, funding to transfer services like phones and internet to the new space wasnt available. The search continues for an interim or permanent borough manager, an expense to be funded in part by a $200,000 grant the borough received from the department in the spring. While interviews have been conducted, McKnight said the borough first wants to take care of essential bills to determine what funding remains available for a new manager. The last thing that we want is to hire someone and then find out that the cash flow isnt sufficient yet to pay all the salary and benefits, he said. A vacancy also exists on the council after former council member Olive Joey Diehls April resignation. No interviews have been conducted for the South Ward seat, but Borough Secretary Jody Hoffman said two people have expressed interest. Of these, one does not live in the South Ward so is not qualified, and the other hasnt attend any of the meetings. Hoffman said the borough plans to advertise again for the position. McKnight said if no one applies, there is a process by which the court can fill the seat, but the borough is a long way from doing that. Again, were in a crisis mode, he said. So believe me, we have stretched our limited personnel resources as far as we could, in terms of getting central things done. However, in spite of the crisis, borough operations and events are continuing. The amazing thing is, people worked together to make the park program work, McKnight said. The various events have not been canceled. Each one has gone on, and has been well attended. Borough Council President Scott Penner said another thing that Act 47 does is place the borough at the front of the line for grant funding, which could open up the possibility of different projects. McKnight said he remains optimistic. Were hoping that now that we understand our own financial needs, that we can now meet them and then continue the process of trying to make a better community, he said. Photos: Scenes from the 2023 Newville Fountain Festival Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) pays an annual dividend of $3.56 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 1.55%. The company has been increasing its dividend for 3 consecutive year(s), indicating that it does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio is 43.36%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, STZ will have a dividend payout ratio of 26.69% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. Read our dividend analysis for STZ. Exxon Mobil Corporation is the largest direct descendent of John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil and one of the worlds largest companies. Its earliest roots lie with Vacuum Oil which got its start in the 1860s. Vacuum Oils primary product was kerosene, an important advancement for heating and lighting in rural America. Vacuum Oil was later merged with Standard Oil of New Jersey which was the parent operation of the Standard Oil empire prior to its breakup. Standard Oil of New Jersey would merge with other independent operators over the next few years until settling on the brand Exxon for most of its operations. Meanwhile, Standard Oil of New York was operating under much the same impetus, merging and growing, until it became known as Mobil. Then, in 1999, the two giants became one with a merger of equals that on paper had Exxon buying Mobil. Now, the combined company operates under the Exxon, Mobil, and Esso brands as an international vertically integrated energy and petrochemical business. Today, the company explores and produces crude oil and natural gas and their derivative products globally. As of 2022, it was ranked 6th on Forbes Fortune 500 list and 12th on the Global 500 list but it has held positions from #1 to #10 over the years. In terms of its operations, it is the worlds second-largest oil refiner and the largest refiner outside of China. In terms of reserves, ExxonMobil claimed about 18.5 million barrels of oil and oil equivalents at the end of 2021 and was ranked 15th globally. ExxonMobil operates through three segments that are the Upstream, Downstream, and Chemical segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces oil and oil equivalents and represents roughly 70% of the income. The Downstream segment gathers, receives, stores, transports and refines oil and equivalents and their derivatives. The Downstream segment also markets and delivers fuel products to consumers and businesses. The Chemicals segment produces the full range of petrochemicals including plastics, resins and synthetic rubber. ExxonMobil is committed to advancing sustainable and carbon-free energy solutions. The company is targeting 2050 for net-zero emissions and its 2030 interim targets are in alignment with the Paris Accord, the EU's Global Methane Pledge, and US Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan. The companys plans include investing $15 billion into reducing greenhouse emissions by 2028. iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment returns that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 1000 Growth Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of equity securities of Russell 1000 index issuers with relatively higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth. The index represents approximately 50% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 1000 Index. The Index is a subset of the Russell 1000 Index. The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. Cboe Global Markets, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an options exchange worldwide. It operates through six segments: Options, North American Equities, Europe and Asia Pacific, Futures, Global FX, and Digital. The Options segment trades in listed market indices. The North American Equities segment trades in listed U.S. and Canadian equities. This segment also offers exchange-traded products (ETP) transaction and listing services. The Europe and Asia Pacific segment provides pan-European listed equities and derivatives transaction services, ETPs, exchange-traded commodities, and international depository receipts, as well as ETP listings and clearing services. The Futures segment trades in futures. The Global FX segment provides institutional foreign exchange (FX) trading and non-deliverable forward FX transactions services. The Digital segment offers Cboe Digital, an operator of the United States based digital asset spot market and a regulated futures exchange; Cboe Clear Digital, a regulated clearinghouse; licensing of proprietary market data; and access and capacity services. The company has strategic relationships with S&P Dow Jones Indices, LLC; IHS Markit Ltd.; DJI Opco, LLC; Frank Russell Company; FTSE International Limited; and MSCI Inc. The company was formerly known as CBOE Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Cboe Global Markets, Inc. in October 2017. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. IShares are index funds that are bought and sold like common stocks on national securities exchanges as well as certain foreign exchanges. iShares are attractive because of their relatively low cost, tax efficiency and trading flexibility. Investors can purchase and sell shares through any brokerage firm, financial advisor, or online broker, and hold the funds in any type of brokerage account. Thanks to a new discovery linked to shares of Tesla, regular folks can now target gains of 100% or more in six days or less. New research shows its happened 23 different times this year. The next trade is scheduled for this Thursday. Yext, Inc. organizes business facts to provide answers to consumer questions in North America and internationally. It operates Yext platform, a cloud-based platform that allows its customers to provide answers to consumer questions, to control the facts about their businesses and the content of their landing pages, and to manage their consumer reviews, as well as provides customers to update their information and content through its knowledge network of approximately 200 maps, apps, search engines, intelligent GPS systems, digital assistants, vertical directories, and social networks. The platform enables its customers to centralize, control and manage data fields, including store information, such as name, address, phone number and holiday hours; professional information, comprising of headshot, specialties, and education; job information, consisting of title and description; and FAQs and other information. It serves the healthcare, retail, and financial services industries. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in New York, New York. At Landsec, we build and invest in buildings, spaces and partnerships to create sustainable places, connect communities and realise potential. We are one of the largest real estate companies in Europe, with a 12 billion portfolio of retail, leisure, workspace and residential hubs. Landsec is shaping a better future by leading our industry on environmental and social sustainability while delivering value for our shareholders, great experiences for our guests and positive change for our communities. Wells Fargo & Company is a multinational financial services company that has established itself as a prominent player in the global financial industry. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Wells Fargo operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. Its rich history and successful mergers and acquisitions have contributed to its significant global presence. As a comprehensive financial services provider, Wells Fargo offers a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer financial services. The company's mission is to satisfy its customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo aims to achieve this by providing exceptional service, acting with integrity, fostering diversity and inclusion, and contributing positively to the communities it serves. Wells Fargo's extensive product and service portfolio caters to various market segments. The company serves individual consumers, small businesses, corporations, and institutional investors. Its key customers encompass a broad spectrum, ranging from everyday banking customers to high-net-worth individuals and large corporations. Wells Fargo aims to meet the diverse financial needs of its customers through personalized solutions and innovative offerings. The company has achieved several notable milestones and received recognition for its contributions to the financial industry. Wells Fargo has been ranked as one of the "Big Four Banks" in the United States, alongside JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup. It is also recognized as one of the largest banks in the country by total assets, deposits, and market capitalization. Wells Fargo's commitment to delivering quality financial services has earned it a position among the most valuable bank brands. Wells Fargo is led by an experienced and capable management team that guides the company's operations and strategic direction. The leadership team consists of individuals with diverse backgrounds and extensive finance, banking, technology, risk management, and customer service expertise. The Chief Executive Officer and President of Wells Fargo is Charles W. Scharf, who brings a wealth of experience in the financial industry. The management team also includes key executives such as Michael J. Santomassimo as the Chief Financial Officer and Scott Powell as the Chief Operating Officer. Each management team member contributes their professional background, accomplishments, and expertise to ensure the company's success. Wells Fargo has demonstrated consistent financial performance over the years, driven by its diverse business segments and strategic initiatives. The company has reported steady revenue growth, reflecting its ability to attract and retain a large customer base. Wells Fargo's revenue metrics indicate its success in generating income through its various financial services and product offerings. Earnings metrics illustrate the company's profitability and stability. Wells Fargo's focus on prudent risk management practices and diversified revenue streams contributes to its ability to generate sustainable earnings. Profit margin metrics showcase the efficiency of Wells Fargo's operations. The company's ability to manage costs effectively while generating revenue is key to maintaining healthy profit margins. Debt levels play a significant role in evaluating the company's financial position. Wells Fargo's management strives to maintain a conservative approach to managing debt, ensuring a strong balance sheet and financial stability. Wells Fargo's valuation metrics are influenced by a range of factors, including its market position, financial performance, growth prospects, risk profile, and investor sentiment. Factors driving Wells Fargo's valuation include its brand recognition, customer base, diversified business segments, and ability to generate consistent earnings. Changes in investor sentiment, market conditions, and regulatory developments can also impact the company's valuation over time. Investors closely monitor Wells Fargo's stock performance, assessing its ability to deliver value over the long term. The stock has had issues in the past due to news or events that have affected the company's share price, such as regulatory actions, the global pandemic, and strategic initiatives. These factors should be considered in analyzing its market performance. Wells Fargo operates in the highly competitive financial services industry, which is subject to evolving regulatory frameworks and technological advancements. Understanding the broader industry in which the company operates is crucial to assessing its competitive positioning. Wells Fargo competes with other major banks and financial institutions domestically and internationally. The company leverages its brand recognition, extensive product and service offerings, customer relationships, and technological capabilities to gain a competitive advantage. However, it also faces challenges such as regulatory compliance, changing customer preferences, and disruptive market forces. Wells Fargo has identified several growth opportunities within its diverse business segments. The company aims to deepen relationships with existing customers, attract new customers and expand its presence in key markets. In consumer banking, Wells Fargo focuses on enhancing digital capabilities, improving customer experience, and providing innovative solutions to meet evolving customer needs. The company seeks to leverage its strong brand and customer base to drive growth and increase customer loyalty. In wealth and investment management, Wells Fargo aims to capitalize on the growing demand for comprehensive financial planning and advisory services. The company's expertise in wealth management positions it well to capture opportunities in an increasingly complex investment landscape. As with any financial institution, Wells Fargo faces various risks and challenges. It is important to comprehensively analyze potential risks and challenges to understand their potential impact on the company's performance. Factors such as regulatory changes, cybersecurity threats, economic downturns, and reputational risks pose challenges to Wells Fargo's operations. The company has implemented robust risk management strategies, invested in technology and security measures, and enhanced compliance frameworks to mitigate these risks. Ongoing efforts to prioritize ethical conduct, transparency, and stakeholder trust are integral to managing risks effectively. TUESDAY, SEPT. 5Jason Bishop: Illusions, magic and comedy, 7:30 p.m., Main Stage Theatre in V. Earl Dickinson Building at Piedmont Virginia Community College, (434) 961-5376, $20, $15 seniors and students. Caamp: 7 p.m., gates open at 6 p.m., Ting Pavilion, (434) 245-4910, $90-$65 general admission pit, $70-$50 general admission upper/lawn. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 6Junkyard Jones in Summer Sunsets: 5:30-8 p.m., Blue Mountain Brewery, no cover. James Austin Johnson of SNL: The Age of JAJ with Andrew Dismukes: 8 p.m., doors at 7:30 p.m., The Southern Cafe and Music Hall, (434) 977-5590, $29, $25 advance. THURSDAY, SEPT. 7The Root Cellar Remedy in Thursday Evening Concert Series: 6-9 p.m., Popitos Pizza and Two Brothers Southwestern Grill food trucks will be there, Carter Mountain Orchard, (434) 977-1833, $10 ages 12 and older. The Virginia Chamber Music Foundation Presents: The 24th annual Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival: 7:30 p.m., Paramount Theater, (434) 924-3376, $30, $22, $6 students. Rose City Band with Rosali: 8 p.m., doors at 7:30 p.m., The Southern Cafe and Music Hall, (434) 977-5590, $23, $20 advance. FRIDAY, SEPT. 8Full Nelson Friday with John Goslin and Bill Yetzer: 5-9 p.m., Blue Mountain Brewery, no cover. Tara Mills Duo in Summer Sundown: 5:30-7:30 p.m., Chiswell Farm & Winery, (434) 252-2947, call for price. Friday Night Out with Pat Anderson: 5-8 p.m., DuCard Vineyards in Etlan, (540) 923-4206, no cover, reservations recommended. Mojo Pie: Just a Bite food truck will be there, 6-8:30 p.m., Glass House Winery, (434) 975-0094, no cover. Kendall Street Company: Infamous Weekend Pre-Party with Underground Springhouse and Jack Stepanian: Presented by 106.1 The Corner, 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m., Jefferson Theater, (800) 594-8499, $18, $15 advance, $50 ticket four-pack. The Virginia Chamber Music Foundation Presents: The 24th annual Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival: 12:30 p.m., Paramount Theater, (434) 924-3376, free. Friday Night Dance: 5-8 p.m., Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery and Tap 29 Brewery in Leon, (800) 800-WINE, no cover. Jalen Ngonda: 8 p.m., doors at 7:30 p.m., The Southern Cafe and Music Hall, (434) 977-5590, tickets start at $20. Fridays After Five: We Are Star Children with Choose Your Own Adventure: 5:30 p.m., Ting Pavilion, (434) 245-4910, free. SATURDAY, SEPT. 9Music in the Mountains with John Kelly: 2-5 p.m., DuCard Vineyards in Etlan, (540) 923-4206, no cover, reservations recommended. Second Saturday Music in the Mountains with Smokin Trout: 6-9 p.m., DuCard Vineyards in Etlan, (540) 923-4206, no cover, reservations recommended. Hungry Hard Luck Heroes: 5-8 p.m., Glass House Winery, (434) 975-0094, no cover. Kidd G: Anywhere But Home Tour with Drew Pace: Presented by 106.1 The Corner, 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m., Jefferson Theater, (800) 594-8499, $95 VIP, $25, $20 advance. Meisha Herron: 1-4 p.m., Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery and Tap 29 Brewery in Leon, (800) 800-WINE, no cover. Steel Peach: 5-8 p.m., Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery and Tap 29 Brewery in Leon, (800) 800-WINE, no cover. SUNDAY, SEPT. 10Swansong: 2-5 p.m., Glass House Winery, (434) 975-0094, no cover, donations accepted. Paramount at the Movies Presents: Pee-wees Big Adventure: 2 p.m., Paramount Theater (434) 979-1333, $8, $6 youths ages 12 and younger. Fork in the Road: 1-5 p.m., Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery and Tap 29 Brewery in Leon, (800) 800-WINE, no cover. Session Sundays with music by Scuffletown: 1-4 p.m., Stinson Vineyards, (434) 823-7300, child-friendly, no cover. MONDAY, SEPT. 11Monday Night Trivia with Brandon The Trivia Guy: 7 p.m., Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery and Tap 29 Brewery in Leon, (800) 800-WINE, no cover. L.Y.A.O. Comedy Open Mic Night hosted by Chris Alan: 8 p.m., doors at 7:30 p.m., sign-ups begin at 7 p.m., The Southern Cafe and Music Hall, (434) 977-5590, free. From staff reports Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. The company's Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling products; and bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products. It also engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses. This segment sells its products to steel service centers, fabricators, and manufacturers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its Steel Products segment offers hollow structural section steel tubing products, electrical conduits, steel racking, steel joists and joist girders, steel decks, fabricated concrete reinforcing steel products, cold finished steel products, steel fasteners, metal building systems, insulated metal panels, steel grating and expanded metal products, and wire and wire mesh products primarily for use in nonresidential construction applications. This segment also engages in the piling distribution business. The company's Raw Materials segment produces direct reduced iron (DRI); brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, hot briquetted iron, and DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal. This segment sells its ferrous scrap to electric arc furnace steel mills and foundries for manufacturing process; and nonferrous scrap metal to aluminum can producers, secondary aluminum smelters, steel mills and other processors, and consumers of various nonferrous metals. It serves agriculture, automotive, construction, energy and transmission, oil and gas, heavy equipment, infrastructure, and transportation industries through its in-house sales force; and internal distribution and trading companies. The company was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Eli Lilly and Company is a US-based multinational pharmaceutical company. It is the 12th largest pharmaceutical company by revenue and has offices in 16 countries. Its medicines are sold in at least 125 countries including its 8 blockbuster drugs. The company is a member of the S&P 500 and S&P 100 indices, it brought in roughly $5.5 billion in revenue for 2021 and employs more than 35,000 people across its network of research and production facilities. Eli Lilly and Company was founded in 1876 by Colonel Eli Lilly. The colonel, a veteran of the Civil War, had recently dissolved an unsatisfactory partnership and set on his own to produce and develop medicinal chemicals. Colonel Lilly remained as president until his death in 1898. His charge to his family, company and coworkers was to take what you find here and make it better and better. The company is well-known for many drugs, including the first mass-marketing of quinine to treat malaria. The company brought in $4,470 in its first year and saw that figure grow 10X over the next 3. Among the many innovations during this time period is the addition of gelation coatings for pills which helped set the company up for rapid expansion. The company was incorporated in 1881 as Eli Lilly and Company issuing stock to family and friends. The 1900s brought about more change for the company, change in the form of expansion which included international markets. Advancements during the war years included increases in efficiency due to increased automation and the development of precision technologies. Among the technologies was pill manufacturing which included injecting medicines directly into a gelation capsule. This method allowed for more exact dosing, setting the standard for modern production. The company produced capsules for itself and sold excess capacity to competitors. Other major advancements include fruit flavorings in medicine, straight-line manufacturing and a method of blueprinting manufacturing tickets to prevent errors. The modern period saw the company grow and discover new, world-class pharmaceuticals. Today, the company is engaged in the discovery, development and marketing of human pharmaceuticals. It offers a wide range of treatments, including Prozac but is perhaps most noteworthy for its work with insulin. The company is the first to mass produce insulin and has made numerous advances in treating diabetes in the time since. While other drugs are more widely known, its diabetic drugs Basaglar, Jardience, Trulicity, Humalog and Humulin are its top-sellers and contribute the bulk of revenue and cash flow. Along with Diabetic research, the company also focuses on Alzheimer's, Oncology, Immunology, Obesity and Pain care. At the end of 2022, the company pipeline had 23 compounds in Phase 3 clinical trials and 1 in review. There were another 18 in Phase 2 trials and more than 2 dozen in Phase 1 trials. The average cost to discover a new drug was running at $2.6 billion with a 10-year discovery-to-patient timeline. Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF declared a dividend on Wednesday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.3003 per share on Wednesday, September 27th. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 21st. This is a positive change from the stock's previous dividend of $0.19. Read our dividend analysis for COWZ. SPDR Gold Trust (the Trust) is an investment trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trust's expenses. The Trust's business activity is the investment of gold. The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time, but in one or more Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100,000 Shares). The Trust issues Shares in Baskets to certain authorized participants (Authorized Participants) on an ongoing basis. The creation and redemption of Baskets is only made in exchange for the delivery to the Trust or the distribution by the Trust of the amount of gold and any cash represented by the Baskets being created or redeemed, the amount of which will be based on the combined net asset value of various Shares included in the Baskets being created or redeemed determined on the day the order to create or redeem Baskets is properly received. The following companies are subsidiares of Air Products and Chemicals: 7001 Hamilton Properties LLC, ACP Europe SA, ACP Zolder Invest NV, AJWAA Emirates Gases Company LLC, AJWAA Gases LLC, AP Services South America SpA, APCI (U.K.) Inc., Abdulla Hashim Gases & Equipment Co. Limited, Air Products (Anshan) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (BR) Limited, Air Products (Cangzhou) Co. Ltd., Air Products (Changsha) Co. Ltd., Air Products (Chongqing) Chem-Materials Co. Ltd., Air Products (Dongguan) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Guangzhou) Electronics Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Hangjin Qi) Co. Ltd., Air Products (Hefei) Electronics Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., Air Products (Huaibei) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Inner Mongolia) Hydrogen Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Air Products (Jiangxi) Co. Ltd., Air Products (Jincheng) Co. Ltd., Air Products (Jinjiang) Electronics Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Kunshan) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Linfen) Co. Ltd., Air Products (Middle East) FZE, Air Products (Nanjing) Electronics Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Ningbo) Hi-Tech Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Qindao) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Rozenburg) B. V., Air Products (Shandong) Engineering Co. Ltd Nanjing Branch, Air Products (Shandong) Engineering Co. Ltd., Air Products (Shanxi) Co. Ltd., Air Products (Shenyang) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Air Products (Xi'an) Gases Co. Ltd, Air Products (Xia'men) Electronics Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products (Zhongshan) Gases Co. Ltd, Air Products (Zhumadian) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products A/S, Air Products Advanced Materials LLC, Air Products Ammonia Distribution AD GmbH, Air Products Ammonia Distribution LLC, Air Products Ammonia Distribution Ltd., Air Products Ammonia Holdings LLC, Air Products Asia Inc., Air Products Bahrain W.L.L, Air Products Blue Energy, Air Products Brasil Ltda., Air Products Canada Ltd./Prodair Canada Ltee, Air Products Caribbean Holdings Inc., Air Products Central Asia Group LLC, Air Products China Inc., Air Products Debang (Lianyungang) Co. Ltd., Air Products Ecuador S.A., Air Products Emirates Gases LLC, Air Products Equipment Limited, Air Products Gas O.O.O., Air Products Gases Holdings B. V., Air Products Gases S.A.E., Air Products Gesellschaft mbH, Air Products GmbH, Air Products Group Limited, Air Products Gulf Gas LLC, Air Products Helium Inc., Air Products Helium Inc. Qatar Branch, Air Products Holdings B. V., Air Products Holdings GmbH, Air Products Huadong (Longkou) Co. Ltd., Air Products Hydrogen Company Inc., Air Products Hydrogen Energy Technology (Zibo) Co. Ltd., Air Products Iberica S. L., Air Products Industrial Gas LLC, Air Products International LLC, Air Products Investments B. V., Air Products Investments Holdings LLC, Air Products Investments LLC, Air Products Ireland Limited, Air Products Israel Ltd., Air Products Italia S. r. I., Air Products Japan Inc., Air Products Japan K. K., Air Products Korea Inc., Air Products LLC, Air Products Leasing B. V., Air Products Llanwern Limited, Air Products Lu'An (Changzhi) Co. Ltd., Air Products Maghreb S. A.R. L., Air Products Majan LLC, Air Products Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Air Products Management BV/SRL, Air Products Manufacturing Corporation, Air Products Manufacturing LLC, Air Products Middle East Industrial Gases Company Limited, Air Products Nederland B. V., Air Products Netherlands Gases B. V., Air Products O. O.O., Air Products PLC, Air Products PLC Branch, Air Products Peru S. A., Air Products Qudra (GICIS), Air Products Renewable Energy Limited, Air Products S.A., Air Products SAS, Air Products San Fu Co. Ltd., Air Products Saudi Investment Company, Air Products Services Europe S. A., Air Products Shared Services Sdn. Bhd, Air Products Singapore Industrial Gases Pte. Ltd., Air Products SinoHytec (Beijing) Hydrogen Energy Technology, Air Products Slovakia s. r. o., Air Products South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Air Products Sp. Z o.o., Air Products Specialized Process Equipment SDN, Air Products Switzerland Sarl, Air Products Taiwan Holdings Co. Ltd., Air Products Ukraina LLC, Air Products West Coast Hydrogen LLC, Air Products Yanbu Limited, Air Products and Chemicals (Anhui) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Banan) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Beijing) Distribution Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Binzhou) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Guiyang) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Hefei) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Hohhot) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Jiyuan) Onsite Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Lianyungang) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Nanjing) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Pengzhou) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Putian) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Qingdao) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shaanxi Pucheng) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shaanxi) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shanghai) Electronics Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shanghai) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shanghai) Gases Production Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shanghai) Gasification Technology Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shanghai) Hydrogen Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shanghai) On-Site Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shanghai) Systems Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shangluo) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Shenzhen) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Tangshan) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Tongxiang) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Weifang) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (WuXi) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (WuXi) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Xi'an) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Xingtai) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Xinxiang) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Xuzhou) Gases Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Yichun) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Yulin) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Zhejiang) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Zhuhai) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals (Zibo) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Air Products and Chemicals Inc. of Utah, Air Products and Chemicals Tech Development (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Air Products and Chemicals de Mexico S. A. de C. V., Air Products spol s.r.o., Asia Industrial Gas Company Ltd., Bangkok Cogeneration Company Limited, Bangkok Industrial Gas Co. Ltd., Beer Gas Cymru Cyf, Beijing AP BAIF Gas Industry Co. Ltd., Beijing Shuimu Tongda Transportation Co. Ltd., Blue Ocean Industrial Gases Co. Ltd., Carbolim B.V., Carburos Via Augusta Logistics S. L., Caribbean Industrial Gases Unlimited, Centro Tecnico Indura Limitada, Chengdu Air & Gas Products Ltd., Chengzhi Air Products Hydrogen Energy Technology Co. Ltd., China Shenhua Coal to Liquid and Chemical Co., Consolidacion Comercial Infra S. A. de C. V., CryoService, CryoService Limited, Dixons of Westerhope Limited, DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials, EPCO Carbon Dioxide Products, EPCO Carbon Dioxide Products Inc., East Coast Nitrogen Company LLC, East Coast Oxygen Co., Far Eastern Industrial Gases Co. Ltd., Gaolu Air Products and Chemicals (Shanghai) Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Gardner Cryogenics, Gas Direct Limited, Gas Supply Services Ltd., Gas Technologies Ltd., Gases Industriales de Colombia S.A. Cryogas, Gases Integrated Company Limited (GIC), Gasin II Unipessoal LDA, Gastel Limited, Gazsur S. de R. L. de C. V., Goar Allison & Associates, Green BioFuel s.r.o., Harvest Energy Technologies, Harvest Energy Technology, Helap SAS, INOXAir Products Pvt. Ltd., Indura, Indura Argentina S.A., Indura Holding LLC, Indura Holdings Colombia LLC, Indura Inversiones Limitada, Indura S. A., Indura Sociedad Comercial Limitada, Inner Mongolia Jiutai New Materials Technology Co. Ltd., Inversiones Air Products Holdings Limitada, Jazan Gas Projects Company, Jazan Integrated Gasification and Power Company (JIGPC), Jubail Waves for Gases Company, KRIG Holdings B. V., KRYVYI RIH Industrial Gas, Korea Industrial Gases Ltd., Kulim Industrial Gases Sdn Bhd, Lida SAS, M&M Gases Limited, Markaziy Osiyo Sanoat Gaz LLC, Matgas 2000 A.I.E., NEOM Green Hydrogen Company, NMAP Services Unlimited, Napro S.A., Olin DNT Limited Partnership, Oxigeno Medicinal Domiciliario Limitada, Oxygen & Argon Works, Oxygen & Argon Works Ltd., Oxygen Center Ltd., Oxygen Warehouse Trade (1980) Ltd., PQ Ammonia, PT Air Products East Kalimantan, PT Air Products Indonesia, PT Air Products Indonesia Services, Permea China Ltd., Permea Inc., Procal, Prodair Air Products India Private Limited, Prodair Corporation, Prodair Escravos Limited, Prodair S. A. S., Prodair et Cie S.C. S., ROVI Cosmetics International, S.I.Q. Beteiligungs, SAGA SAS, SCWC Corp., STP & DIN Chemicals Sp. Z.o.o., STS Science Technologies and Services Ltd., Sapio Produzione Idrogeno Ossigeno S. r. l., Servicios Indura Limitada, Shanxi Lu'An Air Products (Hydrogen Energy) Co. Ltd., Sociedad Espanola de Carburos Metalicos S. A., Soprogaz SNC, Stravinsky Investments LLC, Tanasio Industrial Gases Cyf, The Former SR Manufacturers Inc., Union Mobiliere Industrielle S. A.R.L., Vitalox Industrial S.L.U., WuXi Hi-Tech Gas Co. Ltd., Yangnon Industrial Gas Trading Company Limited, Yangon Industrial Gas (Thilawa) Company Limited, Zhangjiakou HyPower New Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Zhangjiakou Jiaotou Hydrogen New Energy Technology Co. Ltd., and Zibo Chuangcheng Design. Read More Bank of America has a rich history dating back to 1800 and even earlier. It was begun by immigrants as a group of separate and unrelated banks that, over the years, merged and grew together. One such is the Bank of Italy which was founded in 1904 by Amadeo Giannini to serve Italian immigrants that were facing discrimination. He later buys out the Banca de America e de Italia (Bank of America and Italy) which was also located in San Francisco. Over the years additional mergers and changes in Federal banking legislation, as well as the boom brought on by WWI and then WWII, helped boost the bank to national prominence. Things turned sour, however, in 1998 with a major bond default that led to yet another merger, this time with Charlotte, NC-based Nations Bank to officially become the Bank of America that exists today. At the time, the merger was the largest bank merger in history and the company has only grown in the time since. Other additions to the new Bank of America include MBNA (a major credit card operator), Fleet Boston (then the US 7th largest and one of its oldest banks), and Merril Lynch, now Merril, which was added to the group in 2008 to provide an investment banking branch. Together the company dominates as one of the Big Four Banks in America. Bank of America lays claim to nearly 11% of all US deposits which ranks in line with its peer group and Bank of America Securities is listed as the worlds 3rd largest investment bank. Today, Bank of America Corporation provides banking and financial services for individuals, small businesses, institutions, corporations, and governments worldwide. The bank operates in three segments Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management, and Global Banking bringing in a combined revenue greater than $90 billion in 2022. As of 2022, Bank of America serves approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,200 retail financial centers. The bank also operates more than 16,000 ATMs and digital banking platforms with approximately 41 million active users. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional banking and investment products for retail clients. These range from deposit accounts to savings, credit cards, consumer loans, and IRAs. The Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and wealth management solutions including, brokerage, banking, and trust and retirement products. The Global Banking segment provides lending products and services, including commercial loans and leases for businesses of all varieties. The Global Markets segment offers market-making, clearing, settlement, and custody services, as well as risk management, derivatives, and FX exchange services. The woman who punched and kicked a young man last December as he lay bleeding on a city sidewalk after taking a gunshot to the chest pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of malicious wounding. Thirty-year-old Mariah Shavone Smith faces up to two decades behind bars for attacking the wounded individual on 14th Street in the Corner neighborhood of Charlottesville. Do you understand that the maximum penalty is 20 years? asked Judge Claude Worrell. Yes, sir, replied Smith, dressed in a red jail jumpsuit with restraint chains in Charlottesville Circuit Court. Smiths plea comes a month after her boyfriend, the shooter, pleaded guilty to three charges that could lock him up for 40 years. The 29-year-old Anthony Marcus Paige tendered his pleas July 25 and faces sentencing in October. Just as she did at Paiges plea hearing, prosecutor Nina-Alice Antony showed the court a surveillance video that captured what transpired over the course of one minute in the early hours of Dec. 18, a Sunday. Pretty much the entirety of the incident was captured on video, said Antony. The video shows the victim, Airrick Salisbury, a 24-year-old employee at the University of Virginias Runk Dining Hall, reportedly out celebrating a friends birthday, engaged in an argument outside of Christians Pizza. Theres nothing physical about that altercation, said Antony. Then, two cars pull up, and Paige and Smith emerge from one of the cars and get into an argument Salisbury. The victim tries to walk around the group, Antony told the court. Paige then attacks Salisbury with a flurry of punches, but when Salisbury suddenly fends off Paige by grabbing his legs and decking him, the man on his back fires a gunshot into Salisburys chest at point-blank range. As two police cars near the railroad bridge at the foot of 14th Street and illuminate their lights, Smith rushes over to the fallen Salisbury and delivers four punches and then four kicks to the head of the gravely injured young man. Time stamps on the video show that the entire incident transpired between 2:17 a.m. and 2:18 a.m. What the video does not show was why Paige and Smith, who Antony described as having no connection to Salisbury, chose to attack him. Antony said that Salisbury spent several weeks in a surgical intensive care unit. Even now, she told the court, more than eight months after the shooting, Salisbury remains unhealed. He is still currently undergoing significant physical therapy, she said. Neither Smith nor her attorney, Jessica F. Phillips from the office of the public defender, offered any explanation in court Thursday, but Phillips hinted at some future biography. Were going to be presenting pretty significant evidence regarding Ms. Smith, Phillips told the judge. Phillips already provided some personal history for her client during a February bond hearing. Phillips said then that Smith has experienced significant trauma, including witnessing the murder of one of her own children. At that same hearing, Smiths mother testified that her daughter relies on multiple prescription medications, has had trouble holding jobs and, around the time of her arrest, had been living in Staunton and caring for a young son with special needs. The judge agreed to the prosecutions request for a victim impact statement, ordered a presentence investigation and set Smiths sentencing for Jan. 9. Thats not, however, the end of Smiths legal troubles. She is slated to go to court in Waynesboro on Sept. 22 to face a contempt charge on a pending drug case. The contempt charge was triggered by her malicious wounding arrest which may have violated her promise to remain on good behavior. What does a party do when its candidate is accused of strangling his wife and plotting to murder his chief of staff? Nothing, for now. In court filings from his bitter divorce proceeding, Republican Tom Garrett, a former Virginia representative in Washington and now a candidate running unopposed for the 56th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, is alleged to have physically abused his wife, frequently threatened suicide, and spoken of a desire to kill his former chief of staff. Two sources familiar with the situation corroborated one of the assault allegations, telling The Daily Progress that Garrett did indeed attempt to strangle his wife Flanna Sheridan on a New Orleans hotel room bed, as is detailed in a court filing. Garrett has denied the claims. While some local supporters have rallied behind their candidate, Republican officials arent exactly rushing to his aid. Instead, theyre avoiding comment altogether. That is the smart way to do it, Chaz Nuttycombe, director of CNalysis, a group that specializes in predicting state legislative elections, told The Daily Progress. When you are stuck with someone on your ticket that you need to win, you want to just ignore their baggage and hope that people stop paying attention to it. With the House majority possibly hanging in the balance, the Republican Party of Virginia really does need Garrett to win. Currently, Republicans control the House with a narrow 49-46 lead. Recent redistricting gives Democrats a prime opportunity to retake the majority, and CNalysis slightly favors them to do just that. Republicans risk retaining the House if they lose the conservative bastion that is the 56th District, which includes Appomattox, Buckingham and Cumberland counties as well as parts of Fluvanna, Goochland, Prince Edward and Louisa counties, where Gov. Glenn Younkin beat out his Democratic opponent former Gov. Terry McAuliffe with 64.9 of the vote. And since he secured the nomination months ago, beating out two other candidates in the Republican primary, his party may feel it has little option but to ride it out. Once everything has been filed to the state and the primary period has passed, there really isnt much the party can do to remove him from the ballot other than political pressure, a former state Republican Party official, who agreed to speak under the condition of anonymity, told The Daily Progress. The fact that he is the nominee after fcking up so much in such spectacular public fashion is kind of in and of itself a miracle for him. The official was referring to Garretts time in the U.S. Congress, a single-term that resulted in the Ethics Committee investigating him and finding that Garrett frequently drank in office, used official resources for personal needs and hindered the investigation. Representative Garretts response to the Committees investigation demonstrates his failure to appreciate the extent and severity of his misuse of official resources or the Committees lawful jurisdiction over his conduct, the official report reads. Garrett chose not to run for reelection, announcing in an emotional video that he is an alcoholic. After publishing stories about the many allegations made against Garrett in divorce proceedings, The Daily Progress reached out to Republican House leadership in Richmond. I bet they didnt return your calls, predicted Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginias Center for Politics. Pretty much. Del. Mike Webert of Fauquier, who serves as whip of the Republican House Caucus, did in fact pick up the phone. So did Garren Shipley, director of communications for Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert of Shenandoah. But both declined to comment, claiming they were not familiar with the allegations against Garrett. The Daily Progress followed up, sending each of them a link to a story outlining the accusations against their soon-to-be colleague. Neither Webert nor Shipley responded. Similarly, Gilbert himself and House Majority Leader Terry Kilgore of Gate City did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Progress. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkins office referred The Daily Progress to the Spirit of Virginia, his campaigns political action committee. The PAC did not return requests for comments from The Daily Progress. Neither did the Republican Party of Virginia. You can be sure theyre discussing it. Whenever they wont talk to you, you know theyre discussing it, Sabato said. Generally speaking, public officials dont return calls when its an unpleasant subject and they cant give an answer to make them look good, Sabato continued. Theres nothing you can say about this except, No comment. In a year when suburban women could help decide elections statewide, having a candidate accused of domestic abuse puts the party in a difficult predicament. Theyre in a shitty situation. Im sympathetic, the former party official said of Virginia Republicans. They need to be focusing on winning a bunch of districts that voted heavily for Joe Biden and that Youngkin narrowly won by winning over suburban moms. And then you got Tom Garrett going and being accused of choking out his wife. Darrell Byers, chairman of the Fluvanna Republican Committee, a county Garrett will represent if he takes office, said local Republicans are sticking with the man who won the Republican nomination. Hes the candidate thats going to be on the ballot on Nov. 7 and Fluvanna is going to stand behind Tom until something indicates we shouldnt, Byers told The Daily Progress. These are very serious allegations, but thats all they are right now, is allegations, he said. Tom has been in Richmond before. I know how hes going to vote and hes going to vote the way we want him to vote. Its possible, if not likely, that another conservative would also deliver votes that please 56th District Republicans. But with the primary in the rearview mirror, the simplest way for the party to replace Garrett with a baggage-free candidate would be for Garrett to resign. That seems unlikely. After all, the former congressman is in the midst of a political comeback. Its amazing they want to hang on the way they do, but its their salvation to some degree, its how they see it, Sabato said. Theyre public people and without a title in front of their name they have a hard time functioning. One person who knows Garrett from previous political campaigns worries about the candidates well-being. I like Tom when Tom can be Tom, but Tom running for House is not healthy for him. I really wish he could deal with this elsewhere, the person told The Daily Progress. I hope he wrestles his demons and comes out on top, but what hes doing right now is. He just needs to get out of this thing. While the party cant force Garrett to resign, it could pressure him by refusing to finance his campaign. But it appears thats already happened. When Garrett first ran for state senate in 2011, the Republican Party of Virginia donated nearly $250,000 to his campaign. This cycle, it hasnt donated a single dollar to Garrett, although three separate Republican groups did give him $7,400 before the primary, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Elected Republicans could rally behind another candidate to challenge Garrett via a write-in campaign. Something similar has happened before. In 2011, Republican Bill Janis chose not to seek reelection to the House of Delegates and instead chose to run for Henrico County commonwealths attorney, challenging Republican Matthew Geary in the general election. Geary had admitted to having an extramarital affair, and Republican leaders from across the state, including then-U.S. Speaker of the House Eric Cantor, chose to rally around Janis, who ran as an independent. A Democrat ended up winning, likely aided by the Republican split. With the House majority at stake, the party may not want to take that risk. Instead, it appears to be avoiding any discussion of Garretts apparent transgressions. If this were a very competitive district hed be in deep trouble, Sabato said. Ten years ago, pre-Trump, Id say he was dead as doornail. But in this era, nothing kills anybody for sure. Without a resignation, Garrett appears on track to sail to victory. Youngkin won 65% of the vote in the district, and this time around, Democrats didnt even nominate a candidate. Wed have a nonzero chance of winning if we had a candidate. We have a zero percent chance without one, a Democratic Party of Virginia official told The Daily Progress under the condition of anonymity. Ive seen literal child molesters get elected to state legislatures in districts that are purple. Tom Garrett has a crimson red district, Nuttycombe said. It wouldnt matter if Jesus Christ ran as a Democrat against him. Garrett would win. If Garrett does face any political repercussions, they would likely come after the election and would depend on who wins the majority. The former Republican Party official believes that if Democrats win the House, Republicans will kick Garrett to the curb. Without control of the chamber, they wont need his vote. If they keep the majority theyll give him some really crappy committee assignments, the person said. Either way, that person expects the party to primary Garrett when hes up for reelection and rally behind his opponents. Its not a matter of whether Tom Garretts political career is over, the former official said. Its if he will survive two years before he comes before voters and its over again. THE USE of speed detection cameras operating on Irish roads has been increased by 20%. This follows an agreement between Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to increase funding for GoSafe speed cameras. The increased funding will be a total of 1.2 million to be allocated towards GoSafe, which provides and operates safety cameras in Ireland. The funding will increase monitoring hours by the GoSafe cameras by 20%, or an extra 1,500 hours per month until the end of this year and bring the number of GoSafe hours up to 9,000 per month. Minister McEntee has also discussed the increase in GoSafe hours with Minister Jack Chambers, and the two Ministers will meet this week to discuss road safety issues following the worrying increase in road traffic fatalities this year. Minister McEntee said; We have all been shocked by the recent loss of life on our roads, and concerned by the worrying increase in road fatalities this year after many years of progress in making our roads safer. I have been discussing the issue with Commissioner Harris and Minister Chambers and this additional funding will be used to increase the number of speed cameras in operation on our roads. Minister McEntee continued; Enforcement and deterrence are key for increasing road safety, but they must also be accompanied by greater education and awareness raising, as well as looking at what more we can do across Government to bring down the number of deaths on our roads. We all have a role to play in reducing road deaths. Drivers must understand that every time they take to the road, they have a responsibility to themselves, their passengers and other road users, to drive safely. This means wearing a seat belt, keeping off the mobile phone, driving at a speed thats appropriate to the road conditions and within the speed limit, and not driving when under the influence of drink or drugs. Highlighting the role of the government in this, Minister McEntee said; For the Governments part, we can and will do more on enforcement, education, and awareness-raising, as well as looking at what more we can do across Government to bring down the number of deaths on our roads. [September 04, 2023] Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation to attend Asia Fruit Logistica 2023 SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) announced that it will set up a Korean Pavillion at Asia Fruit Logistica 2023. Asia Fruit Logistica is a specialized trade show for fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables. It is considered the best venue for marketing fresh farm produce within the Asian region, including Hong Kong. Asia Fruit Logistica 2023 takes place at Asia World Expo for three days from Sepember 6 to 8. 21 countries will showcase their fresh farm produce in their own pavilions at the event. At the Korean Pavillion to be set up by Korea Agro-Fisheres & Food Trade Corporation, 22 farm product exporters will showcase a range of fresh farm produce, including Korea's representative fruits such as pear, strawberry, apple and grape, as well as mushrooms, tomatoes and paprika. Kim Hyeon-ho, the head of Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation Hong Kong Branch, said, "We look forward to meeting many buyers from Hong Kong and other countries at the Korean Pavilion, where we will bring together the finest farm produce from Korea in one spot", adding, "We hope that all our national exporting companies attending this event will achieve fruitful outcomes. We will continue to provide various support to increase the export of our fresh farm produce". View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/korea-agro-fisheries--food-trade-corporation-to-attend-asia-fruit-logistica-2023-301916678.html SOURCE Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation [September 03, 2023] France.tv Unveils Hyper-Mobile Broadcasting at Paris 2024 1-Year Countdown Tweet New cloud and wireless REMI workflow opens up many more coverage locations, while delivering high-quality content and limitless storytelling possibilities. CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- French national public television broadcaster, France Televisions, and TVU Networks, a pioneer in cloud-based workflow solutions for live content creation and distribution, are jointly working to transition to the cloud the French broadcaster's content production workflow from story capture to production to distribution. The new workflow utilizes TVU's cloud solutions for production, remote collaboration, and IFB, intercom and mix-minus management, the TVU RPS One for synchronized multi-camera live content capture, and 5G networks plus two Starlink Maritime units for transmission and data aggregation. "We were searching for a more flexible approach to live story coverage which would allow us to rapidly overcome accessibility challenges often encountered by our field crews. At the same time, we wanted a solution that also helped us meet a very important objective of reducing our carbon footprint" stated Skander Ben Attia, Engineering Director, France Televisions. "TVU provided us with a smaller, less hardware reliant, and more versatile technology solution that created the foundation for hyper-mobile broadcasting. We no longer need to rely heavily on traditional extensive and complex infrastructure for news capture while also becoming much faster to go live and more carbon friendly." p>"We are very excited about the results we are seeing from our hyper-mobile initiative with TVU. We have been able to produce high quality multi-camera live events or breaking news from any location despite challenging circumstances hardware failures, an entire system down, war zones or deserted areas," said Romuald Rat, TechLab Director at France Televisions. "With only batteries and cameras in hand and powered by the latest generation of 5G with Starlink and TVU bonded cellular transmission equipment, the reporting team has the tools it needs to rapidly conduct a live newscast anywhere in the world and cover stories from any angle traditional and new." On July 26th, France Televisions utilized hyper-mobile broadcasting for their Paris 2024 1-year countdown talk show. In total, they produced nearly four hours of live content three hours continuously on the 'franceinfo' news channel and a half hour on the 'Paris Idf' regional news journal, and also streamed live on Twitch. The multi-location and multi-camera event took place in Paris aboard a moving boat with limited space. A five-camera setup involved four cameras positioned on the boats and one camera mounted on a motorcycle following the action along the Seine River. In addition, two more live broadcasts were taking place in separate locations in Paris and Ukraine. All were done using the TVU RPS One and TVU One transmitters. The seven live feeds were seamlessly synchronized in TVU Producer's cloud production platform, with zero execution delay. The broadcaster used two Starlink Maritime systems and the 5G network to help counteract the challenges of cellular bandwidth on the moving boats. The TVU RPS One backpack transmitter with 5G modems was used to transmit synchronized signals from multiple cameras to the TVU remote cloud production platform, aggregating 5G and Starlink connectivity. A motorcycle on land was also equipped with a TVU One 5G transmitter for capturing additional footage. The TVU Producer cloud-based platform served as the backbone of the production, facilitating seamless collaboration among the team members with much of the production done remotely from a France Television studio. In addition, camera feeds were transmitted as a redundancy to both the TVU Producer cloud platform and the studio, providing automatic backup in case of unforeseen circumstances and ensuring uninterrupted broadcasting. "The live show on July 26th performed flawlessly," stated Romuald Rat. "Beyond the benefits of enhanced storytelling and flexibility, lies also the important savings made on the technology cost, with the TVU Transmitters powered by Starlink and 5G, combined with the seamless integration of cloud components in the production process, we estimate that we can easily achieve savings of at least 30%, allowing us to produce a lot more content as well as content we could simply not get access to." Added Oliver Martinez, Director of News Production at France Televisions," These savings bring back to the table many productions that were discarded due to high cost or lack of resources. By reducing the onsite requirements of bigger productions and achieving cost savings in travel and set up times, we can leverage the use of internal teams for covering more events and more content for very demanding viewers." For more information, visit TVU at https://www.tvunetworks.com/ View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/francetv-unveils-hyper-mobile-broadcasting-at-paris-2024-1-year-countdown-301915758.html SOURCE TVU Networks [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 03, 2023] Hai Robotics Joins the United Nations Global Compact Tweet Hai Robotics, a global leading provider of autonomous case-handling robots (ACR) systems, is proud to announce that it has joined the United Nations Global Compact initiative-the world's largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative. Hai Robotics joins thousands of organizations across 160 countries that are committed to taking responsible business action to build a more sustainable and inclusive society. Hai Robotics commits to uphold the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and support the UN in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Hai Robotics will also share an annual Communication on Progress to showcase its continued engagement. "At Hai Robotics, we view sustainability as crucial in driving our long-term growth and resilience, and strive to serve as a responsible corporate citizen for our stakeholders," said Richie Chen, Founder and CEO at Hai Robotics. "We are excited to join the UN Global Compact in its mission to accelerate corporate sustainability. As a company continuing to expand globally, we recognize the growing importance of incorporating ESG increasingly into our business strategy. Participating in the UN Global Compact is critical in the improvement of our sustainability efforts during the development of warehouse automation solutions." Hai Robotics is actively involved in reducing its environmental footprint through sustainable business practices and production methods. Hai Robotics implements action in sustainable sourcing to hold itself accountable across all stages of the supply chain, such as the use of composite wood in packaging. With this new commitment, Hai Robotics will evaluate its existing ESG activities and support for clients to ensure they align with UN's Sustainable Development Goals and create positve impact. For more information on Hai's ESG efforts and commitment, click here to access our annual sustainability report. As the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, the UN Global Compact consists of more than 15,000 companies and 3,800 non-business signatories across over 160 countries, and more than 69 Local Networks. The Sustainable Development Goals consist of 17 global goals aimed to tackle societal issues and improve the quality of life by 2030, covering five key areas of people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. About Hai Robotics Hai Robotics, a leading global provider of Autonomous Case-handling Robot (ACR) systems, is committed to providing flexible, intelligent, and efficient warehouse automation solutions through robotics technology and AI algorithms. The HaiPick solution, independently developed in 2015, is the world's first ever ACR solution. Hai Robotics is a global enterprise that has more than 1,000 projects worldwide and serves customers from more than 30 countries and regions. We have offices to cover the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and Australia. We strive to combine global experience with local expertise to provide our customers with tailored, quality solutions. Hai Robotics is also a Participant of the United Nations Global Compact and adhere to its principles-based approach to responsible business. To learn more about Hai Robotics, visit www.hairobotics.com/ About the United Nations Global Compact As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 15,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative - one Global Compact uniting business for a better world. For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230903281684/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 04, 2023] BTS V's "Seoul, Make It Yours" Seoul Edition 23 Launches Its Global Campaign Tweet The Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Tourism Organization announced the worldwide release of Seoul Edition 23: New Tradition, a Seoul tourism promotional campaign video featuring V of BTS, on September 1. Its teaser video boasted a significant response, raking in 400,000 views in just one week. The second installment of the campaign, Seoul Edition 23: Nature in the City, is scheduled for release on September 8. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230830590755/en/ Seoul Tourism Organization has released Seoul Edition 23: New Tradition, a Seoul tourism promotional campaign video featuring BTS member V on VisitSeoul TV, the official YouTube channel for Seoul tourism. (Graphic: Business Wire) A Seoul tourism promotional video for 2023 featurig V, BTS member and Honorary Tourism Ambassador of Seoul, was released on VisitSeoul TV (https://www.youtube.com/VisitSeoulTV), the official YouTube channel for Seoul tourism operated by the Seoul Tourism Organization. The first feature video, New Tradition, introduces Seoul and its capacity to encompass elements of the past in the modern day. The video starts with the Seoul Edition 23 title, juxtaposing V against the Seoul backdrop. It then progresses to show how the traditional marks and symbols of the city remain incorporated in our daily lives in modernized form, such as the Y2K fashion found at Dongmyo Market, a modern cafe in a traditional market, and the media facade exhibition in Gwanghwamun Square. The video wraps up with the message, Seoul, Make It Yours, to encourage global viewers to seize the opportunity to experience Seoul in the here and now. The second feature video, Nature in the City, slated to be unveiled on September 8, puts the lifestyle of Seoulites on display embracing nature in the bustling downtown area. In addition, the Seoul Edition Hashtag Event will be held for one month in September on Visit Seoul social media channels. Those who post the designated hashtag with photos of the places they want to visit, or recommend, are entered into a lottery drawing to earn the chance to win a roundtrip air ticket to and from Seoul, as well as two nights voucher at a five-star hotel. Event details can be found on Visit Seoul's official Instagram channel (@visitseoul_official) and other Visit Seoul social media channels from September 1. The Seoul tourism promotional campaign holds great significance as it showcases the Seoul Metropolitan Government's new brand slogan, Seoul, My Soul, across the world. Labeled with the new brand slogan, campaign content will be released to people around the world using influential outdoor media channels in six major cities, including Times Square of New York City, Tokyo, Shanghai, Bangkok, and Taipei. All displayed content will align with the theme of taking selfies with V in hopes of going viral among fans and other interested viewers in the global community. The campaign will also be featured across the globe in the U.S., Europe, and other regions of Asia through major television networks, such as CNN and NBC, as well as the press media, New York Times. Going beyond just promoting Seoul as a tourist destination, the Seoul Tourism Organization will send a strong message to attract tourists by describing a fast-changing Seoul as a "limited-edition item". The campaign also places emphasis on setting the tone for Seoul's image as a city that embraces the "newtro" trend alongside the ability to harmonize itself with the nature in and around Seoul. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230830590755/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Abbey Pimentel is director of people and culture at Gelati Celesti Ice Cream, overseeing hiring at the chains 10 stores in Hampton Roads and Richmond. Despite the sweet items on the menu, finding the right employees can be tough. In this post-COVID era, it has been challenging trying to attract great talent, she said. Pimentel is facing a situation familiar to many hiring across Virginia. The state can claim the envious distinction of having an unemployment rate of 2.5%, a full percentage point better than the U.S. average. The encouraging data has been touted by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. With the largest labor force ever to support growing businesses Virginia is on the move, and we continue to focus on reducing the cost of doing business and lowering the cost of living for working Virginians to accelerate these results, he said in a statement in August. But the encouraging numbers also mean open positions are fewer. Virginias labor force jumped by 8,981 in July, the most recent period for which jobs data is available. The Virginia Employment Commission reported the largest gains from June were in the Richmond are (up 2,300 jobs), Northern Virginia (800 jobs) and the Charlottesville area (600 jobs). Nationally, similar jobs trends are being seen multiple states. Applications for unemployment benefits dropped by the most in five weeks on Thursday, according to Labor Department data. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a report last month said states are facing an unprecedented challenge finding workers to fill open jobs. The environment is partially the result of the U.S. losing millions of workers since the start of the pandemic, the chamber said. The vast majority of states have had labor forces shrink because of early retirements and other factors. One of the 11 exceptions to that decline is Virginia, which has 47 available workers for every 100 open jobs, the chamber said. Diana McMahon, vice president of Richmond-based InUnison, formerly known as the Retail Merchants Association, said the shortage of workers is forcing employers to rethink hiring. With a tight labor market, we see more businesses are offering bonuses and incentives to their team, as well as more traditional benefits like 401K matches, more paid time off, instituting a short-term disability benefit and health care, she said. Some have even instituted profit-sharing to employees or are piloting unlimited paid time off. Pimentel said shes feeling the impact of the new strategy taken by some. Being a small local business, it is difficult to compete with larger companies, she said. Thats made offering good benefits a key way of attracting employees, she said. The tight labor market, however, hasnt seen employers turning to asking for more overtime work. Weve seen many businesses do more with lessi.e. consolidate job roles, rethinking processes, McMahon said. Businesses view extended or regular overtime as an unsustainable practice and try to mitigate against it unless absolutely necessary, McMahon said. The other lingering effect of the pandemic in Virginia are unemployment claims handled by the state Employment Commission. The agency received 1.4 million unemployment claims in 2020, as unemployment offices closed to protect employees from multiple outbreaks of COVID. Claims dropped to 609,000 in 2021 and 166,000 last year. We have made tremendous progress, but there is still work to be done, Virginia Employment Commissioner Carrie Roth told lawmakers earlier this year. [September 04, 2023] Juniper Research: Network Tokenisation to Facilitate 85% of All Global eCommerce Transactions by 2028 Tweet A new study by Juniper Research, the foremost experts in fintech markets, forecasts substantial growth of 190% in network-tokenised transactions; reaching 400 billion globally in 2028, up from 140.3 billion in 2023. These transactions include online and desktop eCommerce transactions, mobile payments and IoT transactions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230903673169/en/ Juniper Research Insights for 2023: Network Tokenisation (Graphic: Business Wire) The study found network tokenisation, the process of replacing card payment data with unique network-issued tokens, is able to balance security and friction more effectively than other solutions - a key concern within the eCommerce market. The repeated usability of network tokens reduces the instances a consumer is required to provide payment details; promoting limited friction. Find out more about the new report, Global Network Tokenisation Market 2023-2028, or download a free sample. Governing Bodies to Emulate India's Regulatory Approach The report anticipates a surge in network tokenisation mandates, following successful market implementations. A great example of this is the Reserve Bank of India, which requires tokenisation for all credit and debit cards used for online transactions from October 2022. Research author Cara Malone commented: "As the number of transactions and payment methods within eCommerce continues to increase, it is important for governing bodies to take action through implementing regulations and mandates. These new mandates will represent an important opportunity for network tokenisation vendors to grow their revenue." Scalability within Network Tokenisation Vital The research found that surging eCommerce transaction volumes are placing great strain on payment providers to handle the growing workload, without compromising user experience or security. It is important for network tokenisation vendors to deliver scalable solutions which provide longevity, such as Click to Pay; a highly frictionless form of payment that eliminates the need for manually entering payment data whilst securing the checkout process. About the Research Suite The new market research suite offers the most comprehensive assessment of the network tokenisation market to date; providing analysis and forecasts of over 19,000 datapoints across 60 markets over five years. It includes a Competitor Leaderboard and examination of future market opportunities. View the Network Tokenisation Market research: https://www.juniperresearch.com/researchstore/fintech-payments/network-tokenisation-market-research-report Download the free sample: https://www.juniperresearch.com/whitepapers/network-tokenisation-tackling-a-rise-in-false Juniper Research has, for two decades, provided market intelligence and advisory services to the global financial sector, retained by many of the world's leading banks, intermediaries and providers. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230903673169/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 04, 2023] IP SERVERONE: LAUNCHES CLOUD CONNECT Tweet Bridging SMEs and Enterprises directly to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud! KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IP ServerOne, a prominent name in the managed cloud hosting industry, is proud to announce its latest service Cloud Connect, showcasing their continued commitment to providing reliable and personalized cloud hosting solutions for businesses of all sizes. IP ServerOne has been a driving force in the hosting industry for over 2 decades, offering a comprehensive range of services including cloud computing, private and hybrid cloud, bare metal servers, cloud backup and disaster recovery, colocation, and more. What sets IP ServerOne apart is its dedication to delivering unparalleled performance, security, and support. Key Features of IP ServerOne's Services: Customized Solutions: IP ServerOne understands client needs and industry regulations, transforming these puzzles into perfect-fit solutions. Backed by cutting-edge technology and skilled professionals, it ensures seamless cloud services at any time, anywhere. Their scalable hosting solutions enable businesses to adjust their resources as demands change. At IP ServerOne, your cloud, do it your way. 24x7 Support and Care: The team of expert engineers at IP ServerOne demonstrates unwavering commitment by providing extra-mile service to overcome challenges of any size or complexity. The support team takes pride in its availability, always ready to assist clients to ensure smooth operations and rapid issue resolution. Clients can rest easy entrusting their cloud journey to IP ServerOne as they have a dependable partner supporting them at every step. Robust Security Measures: Beyond being a mere feature, security is a promise at IP ServerOne. With notable ISO certifications and the latest security protocols, IP ServerOne protects client's data against cyber threats and unforeseen disasters, offering them peace of mind. Businesses can confidently rely on IP ServerOne to fortify their most critical assettheir data. In the world of cloud computing, where over 60% of users leverage major cloud service providers (CSPs) like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, IP ServerOne's Cloud Connect service is designed to help these users, especially SMEs and enterprises, reduce their networking costs, make data transfers more secure, and streamline network management. This service is beneficial for companies that use substantial data transfer or egress and utilize technologies like big data, AI/ML, data mining, and gaming. Cloud Connect can be activated through IP ServerOne's private cloud hosting, vCloud hosting, and colocation at our Cyberjaya I data center in Malaysia. It works by connecting and extending your network directly to the major CSPs of your choice through a dedicated network connection. Businesses will experience a significant improvement in application performance by avoiding bottlenecks and latency issues, and most importantly, they will save over 35% of their egress costs (*This is based on the monthly transfer of 20TB of data at a speed of 100 Mbps). "We at IP ServerOne are thrilled to be at the forefront of the managed cloud hosting industry, delivering top-notch and personalized services that cater to the evolving needs of our clients," said Mr. Lee Cheung Loong, Managing Director and Founder of IP ServerOne. "Our commitment to excellence, combined with our customer-centric approach, sets us apart as a trusted partner for businesses seeking reliable and affordable cloud hosting solutions." With a proven track record of excellence and innovation, IP ServerOne is setting new standards in the world of managed cloud hosting. About IP ServerOne: IP ServerOne is a leading managed cloud service provider in Malaysia with a regional presence, committed to delivering seamless hosting experiences since 2003. With a hospitality-centric approach, robust security, and a team of experts, IP ServerOne continues to be a driving force in the industry, serving over 3,000 clients from various sectors and industries. For more information about IP ServerOne, visit www.ipserverone.com or contact [email protected]. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/ip-serverone-launches-cloud-connect-301916616.html SOURCE IP ServerOne Solutions [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 04, 2023] Cutting-edge defense industrial products of Viettel Group will be presented at the International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) 2023 Tweet KIELCE, Poland, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Viettel Group, a leading corporation in the defense sector of Vietnam, has announced its participation in the International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO), to be held from the 5th to the 8th of September, 2023, in Kielce, Poland. This marks the first time a Vietnamese enterprise has participated and showcased its products and innovations at MSPO, highlighting the potential business development opportunities for Viettel in the European defense industry sector. Viettel will be joining other renowned global brands, such as WB Group, Thales, Lockheed Martin. Viettel Booth is at Hall G, Stand G31. The 31st edition of MSPO is one of Europe's three largest annual defense exhibitions and ranks 9th among the top 100 largest military exhibitions in the world. Covering a vast area of 34,000 square meters, the event will feature over 700 companies and host more than 60 delegations from 36 countries. The event showcases millions of defense products and technologies, attracting over 25,000 visitors annually. Viettel will present a range of military products across various technological generations, on par with major global players, in diverse fields, such as communications, electronic warfare, radar, optoelectronics simulation models, UAVs, private networks for the military, and other defense products. With 70 products on display, Viettel aims to demonstrate its comprehensive research and production capabilities. The company's participation in MSPO 2023 is driven by the goal of expanding business opportunities, fostering multinational partnerships, and promoting Vietnam's defense industry on the global stage. Mr. Nguyen Vu Ha, CEO of Viettel High Tech, a subsidiary of Viettel Group specializing in the defense industry, expressed his thoughts on the occasion: "Having core technology in our hands is a solid foundation for Viettel as we enter and penetrate international markets. Vietnamese defense products have met customer requirements, and we are confident and committed to providing continuously updated and improved products to serve end-users." He further emphasized, "We believe that this event will enhance Viettel's position in the global market and make a positive contribution to the development of Vietnam's high-tech industry." About Viettel Group Viettel Group is Vietnam's leading brand, operating in 11 countries and territories. Its services cater to a customer base of more than 130 million people worldwide, across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The defense industry is one of Viettel's key areas, and the company has successfully researched, developed, and manufactured numerous modern military products and pieces of equipment, significantly contributing to the development of Vietnam's defense industry. About Viettel High Tech Viettel High Tech is the R&D arm of Viettel Group in the high-tech industry. It continuously expands its research, mastery, and production of urgently needed weapons and technical equipment, as well as new-generation weapons. Currently, Viettel High Tech is focused on promoting the export of "Make in Vietnam" products to major markets around the world. Media Contact Mrs. Le Thuy Mai (Alicia) Head of Marcom Viettel High Technology Industries Corporation, Viettel Group [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2200824/Viettel_attends_the_largest_military_exhibition_in_Europe_for_the_first_time_MSPO_2023.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/cutting-edge-defense-industrial-products-of-viettel-group-will-be-presented-at-the-international-defense-industry-exhibition-mspo-2023-301916727.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 04, 2023] Caverion continues partnership with Deggendorf Institute of Technology in Germany Tweet Caverion Corporation Investor news 4 September 2023 at 11.00 EEST HELSINKI, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Caverion has won the public tender for the technical and infrastructural facility services at Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). The agreement continues the 25-year partnership with DIT. During the new agreement period, the focus will be to increase energy efficiency and reduce CO 2 emissions. The DIT buildings contribute to the state of Bavaria achieving its goal of becoming climate neutral by 2040. Caverion's on-site experts maintain the technical systems of the campus across a total area of almost 45,000 m2. "In the last 25 years we have grown together and adapted to the development needs. I am confident about the future and see our buildings in good hands," says Prof. Dr. Peter Sperber, President of the DIT. The state-run Deggendorf Institute of Technology focuses on studies in Business, Engineering, Digitalisation and Healthcare. In addition to the main campus in Deggendorf, there are locations in Cham and Pfarrkirchen. Currently, about 9,000 students attend DIT. Read more about our facility management services CONTACT: For more information, please contact: Holger Winkelstrater, Head of Marketing and Communication, Caverion Germany, +49 89 374288 117, [email protected] The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/14078/3828926/2271361.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/caverion/i/campus-of-the-deggendorf-institute-of-technology-in-germany-,c3212248 Campus of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology in Germany View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/caverion-continues-partnership-with-deggendorf-institute-of-technology-in-germany-301916753.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 04, 2023] AFC Energy and TAMGO sign exclusive distribution agreement for Zero Emission H-Power Fuel Cell Generators to Saudi and MENA Markets Tweet Vision to become the largest dealer of hydrogen fuel cell generators to the KSA and MENA industrial and off-grid power markets LONDON, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AFC Energy, a leading provider of hydrogen energy solutions, today announces that it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Saudi Arabia's The Machinery Group LLC, trading as TAMGO, to market and sell AFC Energy's zero emission hydrogen fuelled H-Power Generators into the significant Saudi Arabian industrial and off-grid power markets, and a further 16 surrounding countries. TAMGO is an approved vendor to many of Saudi Arabia's mega and large-scale infrastructure and mining projects including NEOM, Red Sea Global and Qiddiya with customers including Aramco and Altaaqa Alternative Solutions, one of Saudi Arabia's leading power rental businesses. Under the Agreement, TAMGO will market and sell or lease to end-customers AFC Energy's zero emission hydrogen fueled H-Power Generators in the industrial and off-grid power markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a further 16 countries in the MENA and surrounding region including, amongst others, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Kazakhstan. This region's rental power market is already worth more than USD1.6bn and is projected to increase to USD3.2bn by the end of 2030. AFC Energy's technology provides clean electricity for on and off grid power applications and will aid the decarbonisation of society's growing electrification needs. TAMGO will have exclusive rights in the region to AFC Energy's S Series (air-cooled) and S+ Series (liquid-cooled) fuel cell generators currently ranging from 10kW to 200kW. TAMGO will provid local customer support with on the ground maintenance and servicing of H-Power Generators along with engineering, design, commissioning and logistics support direct to customers. TAMGO (www.tamgoksa.com) is a Zahid Group company that was established in 1991 as part of the Group's long-standing commitment to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's infrastructural development. Adam Bond, Chief Executive, AFC Energy, said: "We are delighted that TAMGO will represent our leading H-Power Generator platforms in the Saudi and neighboring markets at a time when sustainable, temporary power is forecast to materially increase consistent with national programs such as Saudi Arabia's sustainability commitments under the Kingdom's Vision 2030. We have been collaborating with TAMGO and the Zahid Group for the past two years and believe this dealership agreement reflects our common vision to become the largest dealer of hydrogen fuel cell generators in the Saudi and MENA regions." Rami Elayan, Chief Executive, TAMGO, said: "TAMGO is delighted to have been appointed as an exclusive distributor for AFC Energy. This milestone signifies a continued evolution of the collaboration initiated with AFC Energy back in 2021 and will enhance TAMGO's ability to provide environmentally-friendly electricity solutions to its customers. With this agreement, we are confident that our combined efforts will establish a prominent presence in the Saudi Arabian and broader regional markets for hydrogen fuel cell generators. Zahid Group is fully aligned with the Kingdom's forward looking vision, and across all our Group's companies we are acting on that alignment with concrete actions." About AFC Energy AFC Energy plc is a leading provider of hydrogen energy solutions, to provide clean electricity for on and off grid power applications. The Company's fuel cell technology is now deployable as electric vehicle chargers, off-grid decentralised power systems for construction and temporary power with emerging opportunities across maritime, data centres and rail as part of a portfolio approach to the decarbonisation of society's growing electrification needs. About TAMGO TAMGO; The Machinery Group LLC, provides local and regional customers with a diverse range of best-in-class industrial machinery products and services that fall within five categories: Power Solutions, Construction Machinery, Air Compressors and Compressed Air Solutions, Portable Solutions and Pumps. It represents international power generator brands such as FG Wilson, Doosan and Kubota with customers including Altaaqa Alternative Solutions, another wholly owned Zahid Group company and one of the region's largest plant hire businesses, with whom AFC signed an initial MoU in April 2021. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/afc-energy-and-tamgo-sign-exclusive-distribution-agreement-for-zero-emission-h-power-fuel-cell-generators-to-saudi-and-mena-markets-301916772.html SOURCE AFC Energy PLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 04, 2023] Eitan S. Erez & Co. Law Firm Welcomes Cyber & Capital Markets Entrepreneur Rotem Gantz, as part of the Establishment of the firm's Technology and Capital Markets Department Tweet Eitan S. Erez & Co, a prominent law firm specializing in corporate litigation, corporate restructuring, and insolvency, is pleased to announce the addition of Rotem Gantz to the firm's ranks. Gantz will join the esteemed team responsible for establishing the technology and capital markets department, headed by attorney Mor Ben Shushan. Gantz's invaluable expertise and vast knowledge of civil and business matters will significantly contribute to the development and success of this new legal practice. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904161157/en/ From left to right: Adv. Mor Ben Shushan, Adv. Eitan Erez, Rotem Gantz (Photo: Business Wire) As part of the department's evolving practice, the firm aims to collaborate with venture capital funds, hedge funds, underwriters, investment bankers, and high-tech companies to provide comprehensive egal services. From the initial stages of seed funding through advanced investment rounds to initial public offerings, the firm will be well-equipped to handle a wide range of legal matters. Additionally, the department will actively assist in establishing hedge funds and opportunity funds, aiming to enhance the efficiency of the Israeli capital market. "I take immense pride in witnessing the growth and expansion of our firm into innovative areas of practice, all whilst maintaining our commitment to delivering boutique, high-quality service," commented Attorney Eitan Erez, the firm's managing partner and founder. "The addition of Rotem, under the leadership of Adv. Mor Ben Shushan, is fantastic news for technology professionals seeking a leading law firm that is innovative and well-versed in business practices." "I am happy to lead the firm's strategic expansion to innovative and creative areas of practice in the fields of technology, capital markets, and investments," says attorney Mor Ben Shushan. "I am confident that with Gantz's addition, our combined strength will contribute greatly to the firm", added Ben Shushan. "The Israeli capital market faces inherent challenges that hinder the participation of the public investors in the affairs of listed companies," stated Rotem Gantz. "The newly established department at Eitan S. Erez & Co, which I am honoured to join, will introduce groundbreaking initiatives to rehabilitate and revitalize listed companies, employing intricate and innovative legal tools and structures. This development marks the dawn of a new era of activism within the Israeli capital market." Gantz holds a Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) degree from Reichman University and is currently completing a Master's degree in Law, Technology, and Business Innovation (M.A.). As part of his academic pursuits, he is currently completing a thesis on the oversight duty of directors in public companies with regard to reputational damage and misinformation on social networks. Prior to joining the firm, Gantz served as the CEO of data company ARX and founded several successful startup ventures, some of which underwent mergers and acquisitions. He also founded and served as the head of innovation in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit and consulted Unit 8200. His primary expertise lies in the intersection of cyber intelligence, public perception, and economic markets. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904161157/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 04, 2023] WEMIX3.0 welcomes CertiK as a node council partner WONDER 9 Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wemade welcomed a global blockchain security company CertiK as a member of 40 WONDERS, or node council partners of its mainnet WEMIX3.0 . Joined as WONDER 9, CertiK was founded in 2018 by professors of Columbia and Yale including its cofounder Ronghui Gu. The NYC-based company continues to expand its business and services worldwide. CertiK has completed audits on 4000+ projects, securing over 360 billion USD of assets, and detected over 70,000 vulnerabilities to date. Since the two comanies signed an MOU last year, smart contract audits on many WEMIX projects have been handled by CertiK, the most trusted web3 security partner in the global blockchain industry. WEMIX will continue to work with CertiK, the world's top-tier technical expert, to ensure the security of the WEMIX ecosystem. Detailed information on 40 WONDERS can be found at https://40wonders.wemix.com/ About WEMADE A renowned industry leader in game development with over 20 years of experience, Korea-based WEMADE is leading a once-in-a-generation shift as the gaming industry pivots to blockchain technology. Through its WEMIX subsidiary, WEMADE aims to accelerate the mass adoption of blockchain technology by building an experience-based, platform-driven, and service-oriented mega-ecosystem to offer a wide spectrum of intuitive, convenient, and easy-to-use Web3 services. Visit www.wemix.com/communication for more information. Kevin Foo Pr-at-wemix.com [September 04, 2023] NordLayer named a finalist at the SaaS Awards and Computing Security Awards 2023 LONDON, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NordLayer not only has secured its place as a finalist in the prestigious 2023 SaaS Awards program, competing in the category of Best Security Innovation In A SaaS Product (B2B, Enterprise), but was also a finalist in the Computing Security Awards 2023 in the Network Security Solution of the Year category. Now celebrating its eighth year, the SaaS Awards continue to recognize and honor outstanding SaaS innovations from all corners of the world. Entries from hundreds of companies spanning North America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Australasia were received. The program basts an array of categories for 2023, including Bespoke SaaS Solution, Best SaaS Product for Business Intelligence or Analytics, Most Agile or Responsive SaaS Solution of the Year, and many others, showcasing SaaS solutions across industry verticals. The organizations announced today as finalists, including NordLayer, are clear evidence of the exceptional quality and level of innovation achieved this year. Our panel of judges is thrilled to acknowledge these world-class SaaS innovators. Povilas Zukauskas, chief marketing officer, says: Being named a finalist in both the SaaS Awards and the Computing Security Awards is an absolute honor for us. This recognition highlights our unwavering dedication to innovation and motivates us to push boundaries. We thank the organizers for including us alongside many leading organizations at this competitive stage. NordLayer provides flexible and easy-to-implement cybersecurity tools for businesses of any size or work model developed by the standard of NordVPN. We help organizations secure networks in a stress-free way. NordLayer enhances internet security and modernizes network and resource access with technical improvements aligning with the best regulatory compliance standards. Helping organizations to adopt ZTNA and SWG principles, NordLayer is focused on the Security Service Edge of cybersecurity services. Quick and easy to integrate with existing infrastructure, hardware-free, and designed with ease of scale in mind, NordLayer meets the varying growth pace and ad-hoc cybersecurity requirements of agile businesses and distributed workforces today. Contact Evita Anilionyte [email protected] [September 04, 2023] Bad Idea AI Announces Listing on MEXC Exchange and Revolutionary AI Chatbot Tweet DEWES, DELAWARE, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bad Idea AI ($BAD), a groundbreaking AI crypto project in the crypto industry, is thrilled to announce its official utility token listing on the MEXC Exchange. The BAD/USDT trading pair will be available starting 12:00 UTC on September 5, 2023. This listing marks a significant milestone for the project, which aims to redefine the boundaries of human-AI collaboration within the blockchain and DAOs. The listing management was performed by Lightspeed Crypto Services, LLC. Collaborative Decision-Making: AI and DAO The decision to list on MEXC, a Tier 1 cryptocurrency exchange, was made collaboratively through advanced AI analytics and a DAO vote. This unique approach allowed the project to select MEXC as a strategic partner, particularly to support geo-restricted communities with limited access to centralized exchanges. The Vision and Achievements of Bad Idea AI Bad Idea AI has been a trailblazer in human-AI synergy within the AI crypto tokens universe. The project has achieved significant milestones, including the development of a three-layered interconnected chatbot system. Each layer has a unique, yet interdependent role: frontline communication, the analytical agent, and the learning agent. The learning agent uses insights from the analytical agent to evolve the AI model continually. This innovative approach enhances user experience and engagement, leadig to a more sophisticated and intelligent AI tool. Collaborations and Partnerships Bad Idea AI is not just stopping at technological advancements; it's also forging meaningful collaborations to expand its blockchain integration ecosystem. The project is collaborating with Shibacals to produce unique figurines and clothing wear, complete with NFC chips that serve as certificates of authenticity and offer post-purchase delights like VIP NFT access or surprise coupons. In addition, a partnership with the Unification team is aiding in node and validator development. A collaboration with the Marswap team is also in the works, facilitating future plans to bridge to and trade on Shibarium. Notably, the Marswap team hosts the staking solution for $BAD, offering a 7% $BAD and 3% $BONE APR. The Partnership with MEXC and Centralized Exchange Listing "We have worked meticulously on the preparations for this centralized exchange launch to ensure a good experience for potential buyers. I look forward to working with MEXC in the future, and our offer to help support them in integrating with Shibarium is always there," says Mr. Lightspeed, the pseudonym behind the Listings Agent and Advisor for the project. Market Trends and Analysis Since the official MEXC announcement, Bad Idea AI ($BAD) has experienced a 14% price surge in the AI in cryptocurrency market, elevating its circulating market cap to $48 million. The project boasts a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $2 million and holds the 360th rank on CoinMarketCap. The token's blue-tick verification further solidifies its market credibility. In addition to centralized listings on MEXC, Bitget, Bitmart, and Poloniex, $BAD adopts a decentralized-first approach with listings on Uniswap, Shibaswap, and Sushiswap. Exploring the Potential of Human-AI Collaboration The project is actively broadening its utility through several key initiatives, including integration into NOWPayments, ChangeNOW, and IvendPay solutions. Moreover, Bad Idea AI serves as a crucial partner to the Shib ecosystem, adding significant value and utility to both projects. Competitive Advantage One of the standout competitive advantages of Bad Idea AI is the massive support and engagement from the Shib community. This not only amplifies the project's reach but also fortifies its position in the crypto landscape. Stay Connected For the latest updates and community engagement, follow Bad Idea AI on social media: Bad Idea AI Twitter Bad Idea AI Telegram Bad Idea AI Discord Conclusion As Bad Idea AI gears up for this monumental event, the project extends an open invitation to its burgeoning community and potential participants. Don't miss out on this groundbreaking launch. listings at badidea.ai [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Actually . . . Internets discourse isn't a great place to ask about any ideological allegiance given the prevalence of bots and "intelligence agents" of every stripe. Still . . . We'd like to think that Kansas City still has love for rank & file labors even amid suspicion of political motives. But let's think about the topic just a bit more deeply for the afternoon . . . A few troubling trends have taken hold . . . - Old codgers frustrated with humans forgetting their fries seem to long for cheap, accurate & efficient robot fast food workers. Sadly, the machines don't care about your order either . . . They're just looking for Sarah Connor amongst the plebs. - In Kansas City . . . Labor is torn betwixt progressive urban alliances and the reality of needing to advance their cause in red state Missouri . . . The result is a great deal of double talk that seems cringe-y and a whole lot of horrible candidates. - An inconvenient thought . . . Does Kansas City really support unions given that so many corporations & consumers depend on illegal migrant labor?!?! TKC Challenge . . . Answer that one without giving to racism given that the Honduran gentlemen who fixed your roof were probably very nice. - Finally . . . As many TKC readers note . . . At 10-13% voter turnout for municipal elections, it's hard to argue that voters are really "supportive" of any ideology. Until locals show any interest in voting, it'll be hard to convince skeptics of popular support. Nevertheless . . . We remain hopeful and share a brighter perspective for your post-BBQ malaise . . . "Kansas City is a union town, but even then, for many the idea of actually being in a union is sadly abstract and removed. Many view unions positively, and with good reason, but have no close experience because the bosses have fought tooth and nail to whittle away the power of the working-class. They know that we are strongest together and they fear what an organized working class could accomplish." Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . If you live in metro Richmond, Hampton Roads or Fredericksburg, brace yourself for lots of ads and sharply partisan attacks, as Gov. Glenn Youngkin battles with Virginia Democrats to secure majorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates. The money that already had gone into legislative races as of June 30 matches the grand total raised in the 2021 House races and the 2019 Senate campaigns and theres more to come. Labor Day marks the shift into high gear for campaigning, with such traditional kickoff events as the big Democratic get-together at Rep. Bobby Scotts annual picnic by the Bay and whats now the largely Republican parade in Buena Vista. There will be an outrageous amount of money spent on the most competitive races, said John McGlennon, professor of political science at the College of William and Mary. But money only goes so far, and if a Senate or House race is a multimillion-dollar affair, after a while there is declining return on investment, he said. Currently Republicans control the House of Delegates and Democrats control the state Senate. Changing control of either body could be a stretch. "With a very thin majority for both parties in both houses anything is possible," said Olusoji Akomolafe, head of the political science department at Norfolk State University. In the 40-seat Senate, where Democrats have a 22-18 edge, six districts three held by the GOP, three by Democrats are uncontested. In the 100-seat House, where Republicans held 52 of the 100 seats during this year's session, 34 districts are uncontested. On the other hand, theres one Democratic leaning-Senate district, in Henrico County, now represented by a Republican, Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant. She faces Del. Schuyler Van Valkenburg, D-Henrico, in November in Senate District 16. There are also three Senate districts and three House districts that swung from voting for Youngkin in 2021 to voting for Democrats in the 2022 Congressional races. One has a Democratic senator; two Senate districts are open with no incumbent running, while two of the House districts are represented by Republicans and one had been represented by a Democrat. These are the places where Democrats generally have an advantage, if small, and the Republicans really need to appeal to women, McGlennon said. I tend to think that they will try to do that with a focus on crime and the economy if they don't get traction on the abortion compromise or parents' rights, he said. In the battle for the suburbs, the question will be what matters most to voters, and so far this year, it has been reproductive rights. But changing voters opinions, one way or the other, isnt on the agenda. There is not much persuasion going on out there, McGlennon said. It is mostly a battle over motivating your supporters." A big part of whats unusual this year, and an edge for the GOP, is Youngkins active role in the legislative elections not just the huge war chest his Spirit of Virginia political action committee is starting to deploy for a campaign to boost GOP early voting and for a statewide vote Republican message, but also his intervention in GOP primary races that was aimed weeding out some of the more extreme candidates. "Given how much money the Spirit of Virginia has raised thus far, Governor Youngkin may have more say in the composition of the General Assembly come November," Akomolafe said. He said he expects to see that money come heavily into play in Senate District 17, the Hampton Roads district that Del. Emily Brewer, R-Suffolk, hopes to win for the GOP in a contest with Del. Clinton Jenkins, D-Suffolk. He also expects it to be a big factor in Senate District 27, the Fredericksburg-area Senate seat where Del. Tara Durant, R-Stafford, wants to fend off Democrat Joel Griffin and independent Monica Gary. Democrats, on the other hand, have an advantage in that the 2021 redistricting created more of the suburban districts where theyve been having success in recent years, in large part because of the abortion issue, said University of Mary Washington political scientist Steve Farnsworth. While Republicans will tie themselves to Governor Youngkin, his 2021 victory was powered by huge turnouts in rural areas which don't have hot races and by marginally reducing the Democrats' recent advantage in suburbs, McGlennon said. Youngkin is relatively popular, but the abortion issue is really energizing Democrats, he added. Youngkin has argued that his official position on abortion - a ban after 15 weeks except in cases of rape, incest or the health of the mother, instead of Virginias current unrestricted access up to 26 weeks represents a view most Virginians could accept. But abortion is where GOP candidates are most vulnerable, Akomolafe said. "Virginia is currently the only state in the South that has not restricted abortion rights following the overturn of Roe v. Wade," he said. "Democrats who are quick to remind Virginians that this is because they have the majority in the Senate," Akomolafe said. But there are other issues, too. How will the Supreme Court [Dobbs abortion] decision impact voter turnout? How will Donald Trumps popularity be affected by the indictments? Glenn Youngkins ability to pour more money, what impact will that have and how will redistricting impact the election? Farnsworth said. If you can answer those questions, my hats off to you. Another big question, Farnsworth said, is whether Youngkins parents matter push will resonate with voters in the same way it did in his 2021 gubernatorial campaign. Talk of book bannings and an exodus of teachers in Spotsylvania county, for instance, are unsettling voters in nearby Fredericksburgs hotly contested state Senate and House of Delegates races, Farnsworth said. A lot is going to be what people dont want to talk about, Farnsworth said. Republicans dont want to talk about abortion, Democrats dont want to talk about the economy. In the battle to swing the Senate, Youngkin and the GOP need to flip two seats to gain a 20-20 split that means power sharing and a deciding vote for Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. Theyd need three for a majority. But they also need to hold two districts where Democrats are on the attack. Republicans hope to flip Senate District 24, the swingy, Newport News-anchored Virginia Peninsula district where state Sen. Monty Mason, D-Williamsburg, is challenged by former York County Sheriff Danny Diggs. The district voted 50% to 49% for Democratic candidates for Congress in 2022 but 51% for Youngkin in 2021. Key to Republicans' bid to win control of the Senate will be the race where Brewer, is facing Jenkins, in a district that includes much of the sprawling Portsmouth to Emporia district that state Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, dominated before the 2021 redistricting. This district also voted 50% to 49% for Democratic congressional candidates in 2022 but went 52% for Youngkin in 2021. Democrats, meanwhile, are pressing hard in the Democratic-leaning Henrico County Senate district where Dunnavant faces VanValkenburg. Senate District 27, the Fredericksburg area seat carved mainly from districts represented by GOP stalwarts Richard Stuart, R-King George, and Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, is another Democratic target. There, Democrat Joel Griffin is facing off against Del. Tara Durant, R-Stafford, and independent Monica Gary. This district went 51% for Democratic candidates in 2021 and 52% for Youngkin in 2021; while between them Durant and Griffin have raised amore than $1 million so far. And, as a sign of whats to come in terms of money and outreach, Federal Communications Commission reports show that Dunnavant's seat is one of the most critical must-hold Senate districts for the GOP. Spending on August through November ads backing Dunnavant already exceeds $907,000. On the Virginia Peninsula, Mason and supporters have booked $492,000 of broadcast ads for July through September while Diggs has signed up for an additional $210,000. House contests In the House, Democrats are hoping to flip District 82, the Petersburg-area district now represented by Del. Kim Taylor, R-Dinwiddie, an open Fredericksburg area seat, District 97, the Virginia Beach district represented by Del. Karen Greenhalgh, R-Virginia Beach and the Suffolk and Isle of Wight county anchored district Brewer has represented. As of June 30 before the real fundraising pushes usually get going -- House candidates have raised nearly $32 million, while Senate hopefuls have raised $55 million. So far, Democrats are outraising Republicans but that doesnt count the $16.3 million Youngkins Spirit of America political action committee has already amassed for his push to flip the Senate and expand the GOP hold on the House. The PAC has already spend $6.1 million on campaigning, including $611,000 for automated calls and text messaging and $463,000 for ads. In 2021, House candidates raised $31.9 million for the entire election cycle; Senate candidates raised $55 million. Then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe, famed for his fundraising muscle, donated $2.6 million to legislative candidates and $1.7 million to party committees, while a gun control group backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg kicked in an additional $2 million in what turned out to be a vain hope to gain control of the General Assembly. Voters returned a 21-19 Republican Senate and a two-thirds GOP House. When all is said and done, said William and Marys McGlennon, there will be armies of paid and volunteer canvassers descending on the electorate, money will flow to candidates or directly to advertising by billionaires and interest groups, and we will smash previous spending records for legislative contests. And, he added: "A voter might be smart to vote early this year just so that they won't continue to get the phone calls, visits to the doorstep, texts and emails asking them to vote." In one of our favorite photo sets, we're reminded of CharMac's dedication to her body of work and that's why we attempt to keep up with the grind on Labor Day and check in with pop culture, community nws and top headlines. Check TKC news gathering . . . Kansas City Burns Over Weekend Fire in 900 block of Benton leaves 6 displaced A fire Sunday afternoon in the 900 block of Benton left six people displaced, according to the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department. Inking Cowtown Comeback Months after devastating fire, business is booming for Grimm Tattoo Shop Recently, the shop made the move to a new location in the West Bottoms. Show-Me Low Key Contender A candidate for Missouri governor has thousands of donors. Do they know who he is? State Sen. Bill Eigel is raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from retirees and disabled people. Guv Kelly Road To Recovery Kelly announces 35 bridge projects across Kansas to receive $42.3M - Newstalk KZRG Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Kansas Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed announced that 35 local and off-system bridge projects across the state will receiv Dead-Tree Coffee Talk The Opinion team raises a mug to Kansas City, coffee shops and friendships | Opinion Places to drink coffee in KC have a deep-rooted connection of flavor, culture and friendship that bring the local community together. Hottie Shows Off Charlotte McKinney, 30, poses TOPLESS in very risque jewelry campaign The model and actress, 30, stripped down and bared it all as she promoted Logan Hollowell's latest line - the Eternal Jardin Rose Cut Diamond Collection. Prez Working For Reelection Biden says he wasn't on vacation while visiting home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware: 'I can't go home home' President Biden said Sunday during his visit to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, that he has "no home to go to" as his primary residence in Wilmington is undergoing security upgrades. MAGA Friends To Rescue?!? How Trump's House allies could try to help him fight indictments Former President Trump racked up two more indictments while Congress was out on recess, spurring conservative outrage. When the House returns to Washington this month, Trump's staunchest allies will have the opportunity to use their positions to go to bat for him. Through the appropriations process, investigations and redirecting attention to a potential impeachment inquiry... MSM Mystified At 2024 Deadlock ABC host shocked by new poll showing Trump and Biden tied in potential matchup despite Trump's legal 'baggage' ABC host George Stephanopoulos reacted to a 'shocking' 2024 election poll showing former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden tied at 46% if the election was held today. More Deets From War In Europe Live updates: Russia's war in Ukraine Russia's President Vladimir Putin is set to discuss a crucial grain deal with his Turkish counterpart Monday, after Moscow launched attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure over the weekend. Follow here for live updates. Allies Commit Switcheroo Zelensky replaces Ukrainian defense minister, citing need for 'new approaches' | CNN Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired his defense minister, citing the need for "new approaches" as the war with Russia enters its 19th month. Moon Shot From New Power India's moon rover completes its walk as scientists look for signs of frozen water There was no word on the outcome of the rover searches for signs of frozen water on the lunar surface that could help future astronaut missions. Tesla Dad On Defense Elon Musk's dad Errol claps back at shock report claiming son is 'on drugs' ELON Musk's dad has hit back at bombshell claims that the world's richest man is on drugs. A deep dive on the tech tycoon published last week by The New Yorker magazine linked Musk's "erratic behav... Tradition Forgotten 'Something to do with America?' When asked why we observe Labor Day, these Gen Zers 'have no clue' On the first Monday of September Americans enjoy a long weekend marking the end of summer to celebrate Labor Day. But do young Americans know why we celebrate? Gen-X Party Ends In Tragedy More than 70,000 Burning Man festival attendees remain stuck in Nevada desert after rain | CNN Thousands of people remain trapped at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert after heavy rains inundated the area and created thick, ankle-deep mud which sticks to campers' shoes and vehicle tires. Toast To End Of Summer Looking For A Way To Cool Off? Try A KC Frozen Cocktail At One Of These Hot Spots. Frozen craft cocktails are trending and may be the antidote to surviving those notoriously blistering September days. Weather To Start This Week FORECAST: Summer back in full swing with muggy conditions for Labor Day Summer-like conditions continue today with highs in the mid-90s and higher humidity levels. Our take on a KICK-ASS TKC reader suggestion for Labor Day . . . Van Morrison - I've Been Working - 2/1/1979 - Belfast is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. Right now the legacy of the angels inspires one more peek at pop culture, community news and top headlines. Check TKC news gathering . . . Crafting Local Victory 'I'm trying to step out of the box': Nail tech crafts extravagant Chiefs set ahead of season opener Decked in her Chiefs jersey and red cowboy hat, Tory Campbell sat patiently for over an hour as nail artist Hilary Carter conjured some Mahomes Magic of her own. Faith Community Earns Success Jewish Family Services Celebrates Milestone, Search for New CEO Underway "The many programs and expanded services he has developed and implemented....could not have been imagined 16 years ago." Help Amid Harsh Times KCC approves programs aimed at helping Evergy customers save energy, lower bills The Kansas Corporation Commission in a 2-1 vote Friday morning approved an agreement that moves ahead with programs aimed at helping Evergy customers save energy and lower monthly bills. NYT Tribute To Local Scribe Nathan Louis Jackson, Writer for the Theater and TV, Dies at 44 He wrote plays that tackled big issues like the death penalty and gun violence. He also wrote for series including the superhero saga "Luke Cage." Rules Don't Always Apply Kansas City streets are full of expired temporary car tags. How does this even happen? | Opinion This letter writer sees paper license plates as much as two years out of date. Why should anyone stand in line at the DMV if this is allowed? | Opinion Accusations Against Angels Fans are accusing Victoria's Secret of copying Savage x Fenty. Here's a look back at the relationship between these competing brands. Is Victoria's Secret directly copying the lingerie and loungewear founder's 2019 set design? Some fans think so. White House Troubled By Confessional Book claims Biden 'exploded' as Afghanistan collapsed during his vacation: 'Give me a break' President Biden expressed frustration after he heard of the imminent fall of Kabul while he was vacationing at Camp David in 2021, according to a new book Former Rockhurst Grad Considers Constitution Trump may be disqualified for presidency under the 14th Amendment, Sen. Kaine argues Tim Kaine believes a strong legal argument can be made to use the 14th Amendment to remove Trump from the ballot in 2024, citing Trump's actions related to Jan. 6 MAGA Moves Further Ahead WSJ poll: Trump leads GOP primary field by 46 points as DeSantis drops Haley, Ramaswamy and Christie all grew their share of supporters since the April survey, albeit by single digits. Reports From The Front 'Everything is ahead of us': Ukraine breaks Russian stronghold's first line of defence In an exclusive interview, a leading Ukrainian general says his forces have made a vital breakthrough in near Zaporizhzhia Far East Targets Politicos Gina Raimondo says she complained to Chinese officials about being hacked "It's a complicated relationship," she said of the U.S. and China. Machines Commit Sacrilege Christians attack ChatGPT-generated fake Bible verse about Jesus endorsing transgenderism ChatGPT generated a fake Bible verse about Jesus accepting trans-identifying individuals, stating 'there is no man nor woman.' Home Team Losing Streak Restarts Royals resume unwatchable status, lose 7-3 It was fun while it lasted Forecast Going Forward FORECAST: Cooler by the end of next week The summer feel is here to stay- at least for the next few days- with highs in the mid-90s. And this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. A message through 112 warned residents of Larissa to avoid unnecessary travel as of Monday night Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms occurred in Greece on Monday, part of an adverse weather phenomenon named 'Daniel', that affected the greater part of mainland, Ionian, and Northern Aegean regions by evening, ANA reports. The 'Zeus' lightning-recording system of the National Observatory of Athens registered more than 7,000 occurrences. As of 18:30 on Monday, the Observatory's automated meteorological networks system recorded the highest rainfall at Zagora on Mt. Pilio, with 103 mm. Also receiving heavy rainfall were, in central Greece, Theologos in Fthiotis (84 mm), Portaria in Magnissia (78 mm), and Tragana in Fthiotis (67 mm), all in central Greece, while Makrykapa in Evia received 70 mm of rain. In Thessaloniki, rain and traffic accidents created congestion on the Ring Road and in the city, residents of which received warning messages on their cellphones through the 112 emergency number, alerting them to dangerous weather including hailstorms from Monday night and through the next 24 hours. The same messages were sent to residents of the regions of Pieria, Thessaly, the Sporades Islands, Evia, and Fthiotis. Regional authorities in central Macedonia said weather phenomena in Pieria prefecture were expected to be stronger in coastal areas, particularly between Platamonas and the Katerini beach. In Larissa, meanwhile, heavy rain accompanied a drop in temperatures, while the region of Thessaly overall has been warned of heavy rain. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Edal Anton Lefterov Ukraine now has such a variety of air defense means that no other country can match. This was said by the spokesman for Ukraines Air Force, Yuriy Ihnat, who spoke on the air of the national telethon, reports Ukrinform. "Today, we already have such a variety of air defense equipment, which cant be found anywhere in the whole world. As our soldiers with the air defense units joke, it is a kind of vinaigrette... All these air defense systems work and yield results, complementing the Soviet-era equipment, Soviet systems that still operate quite effectively here. These are the S-300s, Buk-M1s, and S-125s," Ihnat said. Read also: Germany to protect skies of Slovakia after latter donates all MiGs to Ukraine He noted that the ground air defense system could be supplemented by the F-16 fighter jets, which could actively destroy cruise missiles and drones launched by invaders. According to the spokesperson, increasing the number of anti-aircraft defense capabilities will allow Ukraine to better protect energy facilities from Russian attacks. As reported by Ukrinform, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhnyi, during a phone call with the Chief of Defense Staff of the Kingdom of Denmark, General Flemming Lentfer, discussed the training of Ukrainian pilots and maintenance specialists on F-16 aircraft. Ukraine has sealed new agreements on international defense assistance to help its Armed Forces liberate its territories. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this in his latest video address to the nation, Ukrinform reports. "We have new agreements with partners regarding defense packages. And, by the way, today in a conversation with French President (Emmanuel ed.) Macron, we discussed which new supplies could help our soldiers," Zelenskyy said. In addition, an agreement was reached with France on the training of Ukrainian pilots. Zelensky and Macron also discussed the protection of the Odesa region from Russias strikes. "There are important things we do in Ukraine for our defense more and more intensively, every week. This also applies to our weapons from guns and shells to drones and missiles. It also applies to our unity," Zelensky said. As reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine discussed with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron further support for Ukraine in matters of defense, protection of maritime trade routes, and security guarantees. Thanks to the Air Force's preparation for a Russian attack, the Russian Aerospace Forces failed to complete their tasks of gaining complete aerial dominance. This was stated by the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministrys Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, who spoke in an interview promoting a documentary "Downed Russian Pilots", reports an Ukrinform correspondent. "They actually hit about 20% of the targets they sought. That's what got in the way of their total aerial dominance. And the fact that they failed to destroy most of the air defense systems nullified their dominance in terms of warplane class and numbers, Budanov said. He said that the Air Force had been warned of the attack and redeployed assets. Therefore, the result did not correspond to the tasks set before Russias Aerospace Forces. In the past 24 hours, Ukraines Air Force has launched nine strikes on Russian personnel, ammunition and military equipment clusters, and five strikes on enemy surface-to-air missile systems. The relevant statement was made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Thirty military clashes have occurred on the front over the past day. Ukraines Defense Forces continue the offensive operation in the Melitopol direction, where they are gaining a foothold and carrying out counterbattery measures. Ukrainian missile and artillery units hit 10 enemy artillery systems in firing position and one surface-to-air missile system. Over the past day, Russian troops have launched one missile strike and 78 air strikes, and opened fire with multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) on Ukrainian positions and settlements 47 times. Following Russian terrorist attacks, casualties among civilians were reported, as well as the damage caused to residential houses and other civil infrastructure. Last night Russia launched another air attack on Ukraine, having used the Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 loitering munitions. The consequences of that terrorist attack being checked now. The threat of Russian missile and air strikes is persisting all over Ukraine, the General Staff noted. In the Volyn and Polissia directions, the operational situation remained rather unchanged. In the Siverskyi and Slobozhanskyi directions, Russian invaders launched an air strike near the Kharkiv regions Strilecha. Over 15 settlements were affected by enemy mortar and artillery strikes in the Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions. In the Kupiansk direction, Russian shelling affected such settlements as the Kharkiv regions Topoli, Dvorichanske, Berestove, Kolodiazne and Kyslivka. In the Lyman direction, the enemy launched air strikes near the Kharkiv regions Cherneshchyna; the Luhansk regions Bilohorivka; the Donetsk regions Spirne and Vesele. Over 10 settlements were affected by Russian artillery strikes. In the Bakhmut direction, Russian troops launched air strikes near the Donetsk regions Bohdanivka, Klishchiivka, Bila Hora , Ozarianivka, Kurdiumivka and Pivnichne. Over 15 settlements were affected by enemy artillery strikes. In the Avdiivka direction, Russians conducted unsuccessful offensive actions near the Donetsk regions Avdiivka. In the Marinka direction, Ukrainian forces continue holding back Russias onslaught near the Donetsk regions Marinka. Enemy artillery strikes affected Krasnohorivka, Marinka, Heorhiivka, Pobieda, Novomykhailivka and Katerynivka. In the Shakhtarske direction, over 10 settlements were affected by Russian artillery strikes. In the Zaporizhzhia direction, Russian occupiers conducted unsuccessful offensive actions near the Zaporizhzhia regions Pryiutne. The enemy launched air strikes near the Zaporizhzhia regions Mala Tokmachka, Novodanylivka and Robotyne. Over 15 settlements were affected by Russian artillery strikes. In the Kherson direction, Russians launched air strikes near the Kherson regions Antonivka, Mykolaivka and Olhivka. Enemy artillery and mortar strikes affected such settlements as Mykilske, Dmytrivka, Mykolaivka, Bilozerka and Kherson. On the night of September 4, 2023, Ukraines air defense units shot down 17 Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the Odesa region. The relevant statement was made by Odesa Regional Military Administration Head Oleh Kiper on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. According to Kiper, Russias drone attack on the Odesa region lasted 3.5 hours. Seventeen drones were downed by our air defense units. Unfortunately, some targets were hit, Kiper wrote. In his words, across several settlements in the Izmail district, warehouse and production facilities were damaged, as well as agricultural machinery and industrial equipment. The fragments of the downed enemy drones caused several fires in civilian objects. As of 07:00 a.m., rescuers extinguished the fires. Emergency services continue working at the scene. Law enforcement officers are documenting the crimes committed by Russian troops. Photo: Southern Defense Forces On September 3, the Russian army shelled Kherson region 57 times. Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said this in a post on Telegram, Ukrinform reports. "Over the past day, the enemy launched 57 attacks, firing 271 shells from mortars, artillery, Grad MLRS, UAVs, and aircraft. The enemy fired 10 shells at the city of Kherson," Prokudin said. According to him, the Russian military targeted residential neighborhoods, the building of a poultry farm in Kherson district, an administrative building in Beryslav district, buildings of an educational institution and a joint-stock company in Kherson. One person was killed and another five, including a child, were injured in Russian attacks, Prokudin stressed. As Ukrinform reported, Russian forces on September 3 shelled residential buildings in Bilozerka, a family came under enemy fire. The head of the Ukrainian Presidents Office, Andriy Yermak, said that in order to prevent the threat to neighboring states, it is necessary to deprive Russia of the opportunity to launch attack UAVs over Ukraine. Yermak addressed the issue on Telegram, reports Ukrinform. Russian attack UAVs are a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to neighboring states, Ukraines partners, he said. "With their terrorist attacks on the Ukrainian port infrastructure, the purpose of which is to create a global food crisis, Russian drones and missiles threaten the residents of other countries as well. It is possible to stop this with firm action," the head of the President's Office emphasized. It is necessary to cut off oxygen to the Russian defense industry, Yermak noted. The Russians must not receive Western components for the production of missiles and UAVs through third countries. The McFaul-Yermak group has already proposed a corresponding action plan to its partners. Sanctions should become tougher. Without these components, Russia will not be able to produce weapons for murder, the head of the Office stressed. Also, Yermak emphasized, the Russians should be deprived of the opportunities to launch drones at Ukraine. "Ukraine needs more air defense/anti-missile defense systems. The enemy's bet is to overload our defenses with the number of their own weapons and UAVs. Accordingly, more systems are needed," the head of the Presidents Office emphasized. According to Yermak, additional weapons and long-range missiles for Ukraine will speed up the liberation of territories captured by Russia, which must be defeated on the battlefield. "We must make this state lose any potential to conduct hostilities for years. This is possible if we destroy their army and deprive their military-industrial complex of the ability to produce weapons. Only in this way will we be able to stop the crazy dictatorship that poses a threat to everyone." Yermak emphasized. As Ukrinform reported earlier, during a massive Russian drone attack overnight Monday in the area of the Izmail port, Odesa region, Shahed kamikaze drones fell detonated on the territory of Romania. The Ministry of National Defense of Romania says no direct military threats arose as a result of the fall and detonation of Russian drones on Romanian territory overnight Monday. This was stated in a press release posted on the ministrys website, Ukrinform reports. "The drone attacks conducted by the Russian Federation did not pose any direct military threats against our national territory or Romanias territorial waters," the statement reads. The Ministry of Defense of Romania condemned Russia's attacks on Ukrainian facilities and elements of civilian infrastructure, branding them as "unjustified". As reported earlier, during a massive Russian drone attack in the area of the Izmail port, Odesa region, overnight Monday, Russias Shahed drones fell and detonated on the territory of neighboring Romania. The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, said this once again confirmed that Russian terror poses a huge threat not only to the security of Ukraine, but also to that of neighboring countries, including NATO allies. In the early hours of Monday, September 4, Ukraines air defense forces, in cooperation with other elements of Defense Forces, downed 23 enemy attack UAVs in the south and east of the country. Russia launched a total of 32 drones at targets in Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Currently, there are no missile carriers on combat duty in the Black Sea, but the level of the missile threat remains high. This was said by the head of the joint coordination press center of Operational Command South, Natalia Humeniuk, who spoke at a briefing in Kyiv. "As of now, there are no missile carriers on combat duty in the Black Sea. They had a missile carrier that appeared in the reports yesterday and was put on duty, but in the evening it was brought back to the base point and so far it has not returned to combat positions," Humeniuk said. According to the spokesperson, this indicates that the missile carrier is at the base and ready to be deployed upon command. Humeniuk clarified that two to three hours are needed for the missile carrier to be deployed to combat positions. "Therefore, the level of missile threat is assessed as high because Russia can launch a missile strike from a naval missile carrier even from the bay. Although it is dangerous, we saw such facts," she said. In addition, the enemy has also recently often used so-called false targets in order to test the response of Ukraines air defense systems. As Ukrinform reported earlier, in the early hours of Monday, September 4, Russia once again attacked the Izmail district, Odesa region, with kamikaze drones. Air defense forces shot down 17 Russian UAVs, while a number of hits were also reported. The U.S. decision to provide Ukraine with American ATACMS missiles is yet to be made. This was stated by Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, who spoke with journalists in Kyiv on Monday, reports an Ukrinform correspondent. "This decision is yet to be made. It is absolutely not closed. In our latest conversation with the U.S. secretary of state, we discussed it. He confirmed that they are analyzing some points related to the application and numbers, in order to make a final decision," Kuleba said. In this context, he recalled that the United Kingdom and France had already provided Ukraine with long-range missiles. "It will be more than natural if Germany and the U.S. join this coalition," added the minister for foreign affairs. As Ukrinform reported earlier, Ukraine is negotiating with the United States and other countries the issue of provision of ATACMS and similar-type missiles. In the early hours of Monday, the Russians attacked Odesa region using Shahed kamikaze drones from the new batch. This was stated by the spokeswoman for Operational Command South Natalia Humeniuk, Ukrinform reported citing Espreso. "The Russians do not choose the dates for their attacks by chance they plan these operations. And the planning takes place based on the available forces and means. We saw that before the attacks on Odesa, there was an intensification of cargo air transportation between Tehran and Moscow, which may indicate the arrival of an additional batch of Shaheds," she noted. According to the spokeswoman, the enemy is trying to destroy the civil infrastructure of Ukraine using a cheaper method. "On the wreckage of the downed drones, we saw by markings that they are actually from another batch. It is obvious that the Russians are saving up their missiles. Thats because their stock is not so easy to replenish and is much more expensive. The enemy is trying to destroy civilian infrastructure using a cheaper tool," Humeniuk concluded. As Ukrinform reported earlier, on the night of Monday, September 4, Russia once again attacked the Izmail district in Odesa region with kamikaze drones. Air defense forces shot down 17 Russian UAVs, while some of the drones did hit their targets. The Defense Forces of Ukraine eliminated nearly 4,000 occupiers last week, from August 28 to September 3. Thats according to the Military Media Center, Ukrinform reports. Over the past week, the following were eliminated: personnel - 3,810 (nearly 8 battalions); tanks - 80 (about 3 tank battalions); armored combat vehicles - 101 (about 3 motorized rifle battalions); artillery units - 186 (around 10 artillery divisions); missiles 322, the report says. Read also: Ukrainian defense forces already liberated 47 sq km near Bakhmut As reported by Ukrinform, on the night of September 4, the Air Force, in cooperation with the air defense of other components of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, destroyed 23 enemy attack UAVs in the south and east of Ukraine. Photo: General Staff Ukraine may start using the F-16 fighter aircraft in spring 2024. The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in an interview with Ukrinform. Reznikov expressed confidence that Ukraine would receive the F-16 fighter jets and see them in action as soon as next spring. Today we have a permit for training, we have countries that agreed to provide training, and even those that agreed to send us the F-16s upon the completion of training and infrastructure preparations, Reznikov explained. A reminder that Ukraines fighter jet coalition consists of 14 countries. In August 2023, Ukrainian pilots began training on the F-16 fighter aircraft. Ukraine is in contact with partners around the world to reinstate the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Thats according to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who spoke in a video address to the nation, Ukrinform reports. "Already four vessels have passed through our new, alternative sea lane from our southern seaports. And we are working with our partners around the world to restore the normal operation of the grain corridor (Black Sea Grain Initiative ed.)," Zelensky said. As reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the sidelines of the EU-Balkans summit where he discussed with her the alternative routes for Ukrainian grain exports. The body of a 29-year-old male climber was recovered from a boulder field in the Officers Gulch area off Interstate 70 on Sunday, Summit County Rescue Group said. Officers Gulch is approximately 3.5 miles east of Copper Mountain. SCRG was first notified of a missing person by a friend of the deceased at 10:33 p.m. Saturday. The reporting party said his friend had told him he would be doing a climb in Officers Gulch that morning, but did not specify the exact area. The climber called his friend about 5 p.m., to say he was on a rock and headed back down shortly. When the reporting party had not heard from his friend later that evening, he drove to Officers Gulch and found his friends car still parked there. He called 911 to report him missing. SCRG sent eight members to search for the missing party at approximately 11:30 p.m. Members searched along the bike path between Officers Gulch and Frisco, and along a climbers trail known locally as Halfway Rock. At approximately 2 a.m. Sunday, SCRGs mission coordinator made the decision to continue the search at first light. At 7:50 a.m., a team of two SCRG rescuers found the missing partys body at the base of a cliff known as Officers Wall. A team of SCRG rescuers then set up a rigging system to evacuate the subject through the boulder field and back to the parking lot. "SCRG and SCSO extend their deepest condolences to all the loved ones of the deceased," rescuers said in a news release. "We would also like to note that the deceased and his family did several things right that helped us find him and bring him back to his family in a reasonably short period of time. By letting his friend know an expected return time, the subject ensured that a search began quickly and that searchers knew an approximate area to search. And by sending a video to his family and having a shared phone location app, he allowed searchers to pinpoint his location quickly once the family was able to share this information with us. These are practices other backcountry recreationists can learn from, and although this incident ended tragically, we also know that a search which continues for a long time or is unresolved altogether is an even more difficult situation for friends and family." The Summit County Coroner's Office will release further information about how the man died and his identity after an investigation is completed. Romania plays an important role in the EU's efforts to establish alternative maritime routes for the export of Ukrainian grain. This was stated by the head of the German Foreign Ministry, Annalena Baerbock, who spoke at a joint press conference with her Romanian counterpart Luminita Odobescu after their talks in Berlin on September 4, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Romanias role in the export of Ukrainian grain is special in the conditions where Russia has raised the level of the global famine threat, noted the German politician. "Russia is pointing the guns of their warships at grain carriers in the Black Sea and dropping bombs on grain storage sites, in some places so close to the Romanian border that windows in Romanian villages are shaking," Baerbock said. In such conditions, the transportation route along the Danube is extremely important, but Russia wants to destroy it with bombs and drones, she emphasized. "Putin's game with the grain agreement is cynical," said the head of the German Foreign Ministry. She noted the importance of Turkey's efforts to revive the agreement. At the same time, the search for alternative ways of delivering Ukrainian grain does not stop, Baerbock assured. European Solidarity Lanes are necessary for the whole world. The fact that Romania has provided its infrastructure to this end should allow Ukraine to increase grain exports to 4 million tons per month by the end of the year, Baerbock noted, expressing hope that other European countries will act in solidarity. Baerbock also emphasized that Ukraine and Moldova are members of the European family, whose future is in the European Union. Baerbock thanked the Romanian government and people for the other assistance and support they provide to Ukraine. According to her data, about 100,000 Ukrainians found shelter in Romania from the Russian war. Romania joined the fighter jet coalition, offering to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft, which will help Ukraine defend against Russian invaders. As reported earlier, at the meeting in Sochi on September 4, the presidents of Turkey and Russia failed to reach an agreement on Moscow's fulfillment of the terms of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the restoration of the grain export lanes in the Black Sea. Photo: ALT Ukraine has already received 15 shipments of humanitarian aid from Italy with a total weight of more than 161 tons, but the nation needs, in particular, high-voltage equipment for the energy sector. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Energy following Energy Minister German Galushchenkos meeting with the special envoy of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the reconstruction and strengthening of Ukraines stability, Davide La Cecilia, attended by Italys Ambassador to Ukraine, Pier Francesco Zazo, Ukrinform saw. According to the head of the energy ministry, it is expected that next winter the enemy will continue targeted attacks on energy infrastructure facilities, so it is important not only to carry out restoration and repair work at the affected facilities, but also to accumulate a sufficient amount of equipment in for such repairs. The minister also emphasized that the import of electricity from European countries can play an important role in balancing the power system next winter. Ukraine is counting on the appropriate decision by ENTSO-E, which will allow Ukraine to increase the transmission capacity from the current 1.2 GW to 2 GW. The parties discussed fields of cooperation in the gas sector, in particular, regarding the implementation of renewable gas projects and hydrogen production. The high potential of cooperation for the implementation of modern energy-efficient and carbon-free technology and projects in the process of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine was emphasized. President of Moldova Maia Sandu has strongly condemned Russia's attacks on the port infrastructure of Odesa region. She said this in a post on the social platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Ukrinform reports. I strongly condemn Russia's brutal attack on port infrastructure in Odesa region. Russia must be held accountable for every piece of infrastructure destroyed. My thoughts are with all those affected, she wrote. Sandu assured that Moldova stands firmly with Ukraine. Read also: Border guards show wreckage of Shahed UAVs shot down in Odesa region As reported by Ukrinform, on the night of September 3, the Russian invaders launched several attacks using Shahed-136/131 UAVs from the south and southeast (Cape Chauda, Crimea and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Russia). Ukraines defense forces destroyed 22 out of 25 enemy drones. As a result of the drone attack, port infrastructure was hit, two people were injured in Odesa region. On Sunday, Romanias Defence Ministry strongly condemned Russian attacks on Ukraines Danube infrastructure close to its border. The relevant statement was made by Barrons, referring to Romanias Defence Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Romania's defence ministry on Sunday strongly condemned repeated Russian attacks on Ukraines Danube infrastructure close to its border as unjustified following the latest overnight drone strikes in the southern Odesa region, the report states. The ministry reiterates in the strongest terms that these attacks against civilian targets and infrastructure in Ukraine are unjustified and in deep contradiction with the rules of international humanitarian law. At the same time, the Romanian side emphasized that Russian attacks had not generated any direct military threat to the national territory or territorial waters of Romania. A reminder that, on the night of September 3, 2023, Russia fired 25 Shahed-136/131 loitering munitions at the Odesa regions southern districts. Twenty-two enemy drones were destroyed by Ukraines Defense Forces. Port-adjacent infrastructure was reported hit. Photo: National Police of Ukraine The full-scale invasion of Russian troops became a litmus test for many processes in Ukraine; it demonstrated, among other things, the capacity of communities and local bodies to address pressing issues, make quick and extraordinary decisions and interact among themselves. Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Head of the Office, supervises regional policy in the Office of the President, and he is also the Executive Secretary of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. However, he rarely shows up in the media. Ukrinform talked to Mr. Kuleba about the cooperation of regional and local leaders, the reconstruction and recovery of Ukrainian cities and villages, the prospects of the decentralisation reform and how citizens on the home front can and do help those at the frontline. WE HAVE TOTALLY UPENDED THE WORLDVIEW OF THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND GLOBAL LEADERS, AND NOW WE NEED TO PRESERVE THAT - Ukraine celebrated the 32nd anniversary of its independence, and for the second time, this day was observed amid the full-scale war when its centuries-old struggle against Muscovy reached its apex. What does Ukraines independence mean to you? - In terms of mentality shifts, we divide the time that passed since the independence of Ukraine into certain phases, each of which saw specific changes. These are revolutions that greatly affected us all, the beginning of Russias invasion and the full-scale war eight years later, which has united and is uniting our people, is making our country stronger. However, it seems to me that all these events emphasise the most important thing: we have shown the whole world that the Ukrainian nation exists and there are free people who are capable of fighting, not with words but with arms, the enemy who is much bigger and has more natural resources. During the first months of the full-scale invasion, we totally upended the worldview of the European countries and global leaders, and now we must preserve that. We should do so not only in the international arena. We should also maintain our unity at home to become even stronger and more vigorous after our victory. - You coordinate regional policy in the Presidents Office and, accordingly, communicate with local authorities and different regions all the time... What do you see locally? Have we lost that unity of the first months of the war? Is there any consolidation between local governments, central and regional authorities, and the military? - The war greatly affects the life of the regions; they need different solutions depending on the challenges they face, issues on their agendas and current tasks. On the one hand, there are regions affected by active combat operations. These are our Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Their agenda differs from that of other regions, as everything depends on events and challenges at the front. Security and defence are at the top of the list not only in media or social media; they shape the reality of every minute of life for the people there. We have no right to forget about it; we should be aware of it and always speak about it. The agenda is somewhat different in Central Ukraine, in the Kyiv region and the de-occupied Chernihiv and Sumy regions, although the latter two regions are being shelled daily. However, their issues and problems are very similar as they primarily relate to the safety challenges that our citizens face. Another area is our rear or the Western regions of Ukraine. These regions should focus all their efforts on helping those suffering the most from combat operations and the people who are now defending their country on the battlefield. - How effective is the interaction between regions? - If we look at the authorities, at the different government branches, they do work together. We let aside certain political issues and focus now exclusively on the defence and its results. It should be remembered that the military is also involved in this interaction. This factor is essential now because it is the military that offers solutions to most issues and challenges. - Does the establishment of military administrations and their operation alongside local governments give rise to competition between government branches or, lets say, produce the erosion of responsibility, or, conversely, a shift of powers at the local level? - At the moment, military administrations meet current challenges. There are lots of issues that today cannot be addressed in the usual manner, but quick or military decisions need instead to be adopted in coordination with all government representatives. Kharkiv, Kherson, or other regions at the frontline suffer from permanent fire... There are so many daily issues or challenges there that it is simply impossible to do anything other than respond quickly to everything and assume responsibility. And it is all about doing your best to win, not about competition. City mayors work together with military administrations. For example, winterisation is, let's say, on the agenda that includes a list of issues related to the urban utility sector and also, in principle, to supplying energy to regions and the safety of critical infrastructure. And if we take the security component, agendas are totally different there. Each city mayor has a vital interest in maintaining cooperation with the head of the regional military administration and the military. And the opposite is also true. That is why we can now only talk about joint coordination. OVERSIGHT AND MONITORING OF DECISIONS TAKEN BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ARE CRUCIAL FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE DECENTRALISATION REFORM - Is the decentralisation reform still relevant in such circumstances? If I remember well, the regulation of oversight by the central government of local government decisions was the last issue that the country tried to resolve before the full-scale invasion. Are we able to continue the reform in times of large-scale war? - Ukraine is not just able to but continues to develop the reform amid the large-scale invasion. Today, Ukraine has raised the bar high, in particular in the eyes of its international partners. Oversight and monitoring of decisions taken by local governments are crucial for completing the reform. This oversight should primarily be performed by the public. The public is a direct participant in the political events taking place within local governments, and we, therefore, should reflect this in our legislation. Of course, it in no way excludes the central governments oversight, which should also be legislated. Decentralisation made our communities much stronger. The reform has not been suspended. In a year and a half, we learned how to fight in the war, make reforms and perform legislative work to become an EU member as soon as possible. We definitely continue the dialogue on how to move forward with the decentralisation reform every day. Consultations are in progress, and the public and the Ministry of Recovery work together with the competent Verkhovna Rada committee. The Office of the President, including me personally, is also involved. - President Volodymyr Zelenskyy more than once encouraged people in the rear cities to help the army more vigorously. Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov said recently that the war might protract, and the Ukrainians should be prepared for the fact that everyone may go to war. Certainly, many people decided how they would help the country as early as 2014, and some made that decision on 24 February; they deliver cars to the military, weave nets or cook delicacies... Other people are mostly ready to engage in assisting, but they may not know what to do, how to do this and where to go. What does the government offer to citizens to inform them of what to do, where and how? - First of all, everyone should just do their job in their place. For instance, the aftermath of the Russians terrorist attack on the Kakhovska hydroelectric power plant is still being mitigated in the Kherson region, and people from all over Ukraine are working there. These people came from different cities, they are employees of utility service providers, and they, together with the Kherson people, have been delivering the help you are talking about for over two months. We also have a special programme called Side-By-Side; this pilot initiative fully meets the demand for engaging people in delivering assistance. Fifteen regions sent their people, their professionals, to recover communities in the Kherson region. They have already reconstructed more than 400 facilities. The principles of patronage and interregional relations work perfectly well. If you visit those communities, homes or people where other people from Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk or Ternopil regions came and are restoring their housing, you will see what the nations unity in action means. Incredible emotions are running high there. So, we mean this approach when we talk about the need for real actions and not slogans. - The Side-By-Side programme is so far being implemented in the Kherson region only. Are there plans to include other regions affected by the Russian aggression in it? - Yes, we plan to scale up this project. But we want to do so not only in terms of regional coverage. We do not want this project to be further used exclusively to repair buildings, although there is an enormous demand for it from people, and its urgency is obvious. However, there is an idea to scale it up to other areas: social area, culture and sports. - If we talk about recovery, does the State or the Office of the President have a vision of how the future Ukraine should look? What is the recovery strategy for infrastructure or the economy? For example, when the Donetsk region is de-occupied, will the focus there be again made on metallurgy and mines, or, lets say, agriculture will be developed? - A long list of issues exists here, as well as a great demand for it. At the Verkhovna Rada, the President (Editors note: On 28 June, Zelenskyy, while speaking in the Parliament, proposed to join the discussion on the future of Ukraine) made a major speech on the development vision and invited society to answer the fundamental questions related to the future of Ukraine in the next five to ten years. Lets recall the milestones of the development of our country, its crucial points, which are the revolutions of 2004 and 2014, and other very important stages. What happened then? A civil society was indeed emerging, but as time went on, we saw no changes that had been demanded by a large segment of the nation. It seems to me that this fact was related to the lack of institutional support for the demand generated by Ukrainians. Now, the doctrine is a great chance to outline our general priorities for a very long period and define what our country will be like, not only in terms of economy but also in terms of culture and information. - When will the public be able to see these visions? - It is a large dialogue; it cannot be unilaterally adopted by the President together with the Verkhovna Rada and the Government. It is not possible. There will be discussions with people, public discussions. It encompasses a large range of issues, which, I am sure, we will soon see in the public space. Currently, the National Security and Defence Council is working together with state institutions; it sent requests to virtually everyone to collect information and analyse their proposals. Then, we will use the regional approach and hold a broad discussion. This is precisely what the Ukrainian doctrine of our future should be based on. DURING THE WAR, WE SHOULD DO WHAT WE CAN DO HERE AND NOW, QUICKLY BUT TO A HIGH STANDARD - But our reconstruction is already underway. I mean, we are now mostly repairing and reconstructing what was destroyed. Are the so-called projects of the future not on the table? - The war is going on now. And the decision on how the reconstruction will be carried out was made as early as last year. I consider this decision to be correct and effective. It offered tens of thousands of citizens an opportunity to return to their homes because the government decided in the first place to make quick repairs by replacing roofings, installing windows, etc. After that, certain changes occurred in the government, two large ministries merged, and a clear hierarchy of governance was established to deal exactly with recovery issues, including todays realities, operational issues and strategy. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, is dealing with these issues. They have made a huge effort to develop a recovery policy vision. And now, they are communicating both inside Ukraine and with international partners. I am convinced that during the war, we should really do what we can do here and now, quickly, but to a high standard, and after our victory, we obviously should enter a completely new level, which should correspond to requests and challenges that society has gone through. - You mentioned international partners. What does Ukraine offer them? Is it its potential, or do we place specific projects on the table? To what extent are foreign businesses willing to come to us? Are there, possibly, any agreements to launch their activity, but after the victory? - It is a matrix which operates both vertically and horizontally. There are some countries like, for instance, Denmark, which made a clear choice for the recovery of the Mykolaiv region and performs this job very effectively. The Danish business has not entered Ukraine yet, but there is confidence that it will start operating immediately after the victory. Estonia is doing the same in the Zhytomyr region, and Lithuania helps also... There are examples of other countries active in other regions. However, another, more sectoral cooperation framework exists when companies or international foundations arrive and seek to be active in a particular industry. Our mission is to coordinate all this. - Are there many companies ready to arrive? - Many international foundations and many international organisations have arrived. With regard to business, it is also there, it is also present. Of course, businesses consider the regions of Western Ukraine to be their priority. In order to address the matter of the arrival of businesses and investments, we have to manage the issue of insurance against the risks that businesses will face here. And it is important to coordinate the process of attracting foreign investments. That is why we established regional offices for international cooperation based on regional military administrations, using the platform of our Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. They only exchange information between territorial communities and regional military administrations, on the one hand, and the international organisations and foundations, on the other. They do it, of course, if there is a demand for that. Olena Lytvynenko Photos by Kyrylo Chubotin CAMS Daily total cumulative carbon emissions from Canada wildfires in 2023, compared with emissions since 2003. Data for 2023 are current through August 2023. Growth in fire emissions have surpassed 2014 to set a new record for the last two decades. Graphic: Mark Parrington / Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service By Liny Lamberink 28 August 2023 (CBC News) Wildfires in the N.W.T have emitted 97 megatonnes of carbon into the air so far this year 277 times more than what was caused by humans in the territory back in 2021. Mark Parrington, a senior scientist working at the European Unions Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), said the N.W.T. has contributed the most of all the provinces and territories to Canadas total wildfire emissions. From the start of the year up until Aug. 23, wildfires across Canada have emitted 327 megatonnes of carbon into the air according to CAMS data. (For context, one megatonne is a million tonnes.) More than a quarter of that has been generated by wildfires in the N.W.T., which began burning back in May and have displaced tens of thousands of residents across 10 communities this summer including the capital city of Yellowknife. The fires have caused damage so far in Katodeeche First Nation, Enterprise and Behchoko. Hay River and Katodeeche First Nation have been displaced twice by wildfire in a matter of months. Canadas North is warming faster than other parts of the planet, leading to more severe wildfires. Its also the reason why N.W.T., infrastructure is jeopardized by thawing permafrost, traditional ways of life are threatened as species come and go, and one N.W.T. community is at risk of washing away. We can all unequivocally agree this is climate change at the very root of this, said Jessica Davey-Quantick, a territorial wildfire information officer, during a press conference last week. Were going to see more active fire behaviour, more extreme weather, more drought-like conditions all of those factors have kind of combined. But its really hard to say that theres one culprit that led it to communities this year, when it didnt in previous years. 17th week of Canadian #wildfires & continued growth in fire emissions for Northwest Territories, British Columbia & Alberta with NWT surpassing 2014 to set new record for the last two decades. #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS data based on MODISactive fire obs https://t.co/mW6aU0WPm1 https://t.co/OH6aQ0Ve79 pic.twitter.com/mQXvqqs8AK Mark Parrington (@m_parrington) August 28, 2023 The nerdy part Lets walk through the math: 97.09 megatonnes of carbon emitted as of Aug. 23 this year is equivalent to 356.32 megatonnes of carbon dioxide. You can convert the rate of carbon into carbon dioxide equivalent by multiplying the figure by 3.67. Its important to make that conversion because the territory reports its annual human-caused emissions in the form of carbon dioxide equivalent which also take into account other greenhouse gases, like methane and nitrous oxide. In 2021, the territory emitted 1.287 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Now, we can compare those two numbers equally. The carbon dioxide equivalent emitted by wildfires this year (356.32 megatonnes) is 277 times more than what was emitted by humans in 2021 (1.287 megatonnes). How does it all compare to 2014? The N.W.T.s vast boreal forest usually sequesters more carbon than it emits except during big fire years. Up until now, 2014 has been considered the territorys worst wildfire year. According to CAMS data up until Aug. 23, the current wildfire season has not quite eclipsed 2014 in terms of emissions. (It has, however, if you compare it to Natural Resources Canada data which says fires that year emitted roughly 94.5 megatonnes of carbon. According to N.W.T. Fire, 2.96 million hectares of land have burned in fires so far this year, but its calculating an updated figure. The agency said the territory is well on its way to beating the record set back in 2014 of 3.4 million hectares burned. [] Drone aerial still photo of houses in Enterprise, N.W.T., Canada on 24 August 2023 that were incinerated by wildfire. Photo: Tyson Koschik / CBC The link between fires and climate change World Weather Attribution, a U.K. based group that estimates the contribution of climate change to individual extreme weather events, recently released a study that found record-setting fires in Quebec earlier this year were made twice as likely because of human-caused warming. The group says its exploring options to study wildfires in other parts of Canada, but Yan Boulanger, a forest ecology scientist with Natural Resources Canada and one of the Quebec studys authors, said its findings can be extrapolated to Canadas North. [] Boulanger said hes shocked by the record number of people displaced across the N.W.T. and the evacuations that have taken place in Quebec, B.C., Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Yukon. He said Indigenous people are over-represented among evacuees, and they will continue to be over-represented in the future because their communities are typically in very fire-prone environments. [more] N.W.T. fires have released 97 megatonnes of carbon, says European agency 277 times what its people emit Brasilia, 24 August 2023 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Brazil launched the Survey on Integrity and Compliance in the New Law on Bidding and Administrative Contracts (Law No. 14.133/2021), in a hybrid event, held in person at the Serzedello Correa Institute, at the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), in Brasilia, Brazil, and on the YouTube channels of UNODC, TCU and Office of the Comptroller General (CGU). In addition to the Integrity and Compliance Survey, the Integrity Risk Matrix was also presented, which is a tool developed by the UNODC that can help different government bodies at national, state, and municipal level to identify corruption risks. The event was held as part of the Global Action for Business Integrity project, which aims to prevent and combat corruption through innovative and sustainable solutions to improve governance and compliance standards. In Brazil, the project also encourages risk assessment, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) perspectives, as well as the development of compliance programmes aligned with the various risks present in public procurement and contracting, both in the private and public sectors. Present at the opening session were the coordinator of the UNODC Rule of Law Unit, Nivio Nascimento; the CGU executive secretary, Vania Lucia Ribeiro Vieira; the TCU secretary of External Control of the Secretariat for Strategic Information and Innovation, Hamilton Caputo Delfino Silva; the Comptroller General of the state of Minas Gerais and President of the National Council of Internal Control (CONACI), Rodrigo Fontenelle; and the representative of the Association of Members of the Brazilian Courts of Accounts (ATRICON) and Councillor of the Federal District Court of Accounts, Andre Clemente. According to Nivio Nascimento, "UNODC, as the guardian of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, works with solid partnerships with various government bodies and institutions, and this has been essential to boost corruption prevention and strengthen institutional integrity in Brazil. The launch of this survey is a crucial milestone and represents UNODC commitment to fighting corruption," he said. The CGU executive secretary, Vania Lucia Ribeiro Vieira, congratulated UNODC Brazil on the initiative and said that "this survey broadens the scope of integrity beyond anti-corruption issues in public-private relations to respect for values and rights, such as human, environmental and social rights". According to Hamilton Caputo Delfino Silva, TCU secretary of External Control for Strategic Information and Innovation, the research, and its mechanisms "may bring benefits to public procurement in general, especially high-risk contracts. It would be important to associate an integrity programme with these contracts," he recommended. At the event's technical panel to present the main findings of the survey were the professor from Insper-SP and the director of Ibmec-SP, and the UNODC consultant in integrity and compliance in the New Bidding Law, Andre Castro Carvalho; the UNODC coordinator of the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Area, Eduardo Pazinato; the Controller General of the Municipality of Sao Paulo, Daniel Falcao; the secretary for Control and Transparency of Espirito Santo and vice-president of the National Council of Internal Control (CONACI), Edmar Camata; the TCU chief auditor of the Specialised Audit Unit for Contracts, Italo Pinheiro de Albuquerque Figueiredo; and the CGU Secretary for Private Integrity, Marcelo Pontes Vianna. According to Andre Carvalho, who presented the research, the study aims to technically analyse the provisions of the Law, identifying its challenges and potential impacts. Carvalho also explained that, commonly in Brazil, the value of a bidding was used as a defining factor of the risk of contracting, but that the risk alone is not enough. "Based on this premise, we realised that it would be possible, within the new bidding Law, to include other factors before contracting," broadening the scope of risk analysis and its criteria. The Technical Study on the Promotion of Integrity based on Risk according to the New Law on Bidding and Administrative Contracts (Law No. 14.133/2021) is available here. The Booklet on Promoting Risk-Based Integrity under the New Law on Public Procurement and Administrative Contracts (Law 14.133/2021) can be accessed by clicking here. Find out more about UNODC work on the issue here. Stockholm, Sept 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Sep, 2023 ) :A Russian-Swede arrested last year in a dramatic dawn raid on his quiet suburban home goes on trial in Stockholm on Monday accused of passing Western technology to Russia's military. Sergei Skvortsov, a 60-year-old dual national, has lived in Sweden since the 1990s where he has run import-export companies. He is to appear in a Stockholm district court charged with carrying out "unlawful intelligence activities" against the United States and Sweden for a decade until his arrest in November 2022. The prosecution believes Skvortsov and his companies provided a platform for "the Russian military intelligence service GRU and part of the Russian state system" to illegally procure Western technology, mainly electronic devices which were off-limits to Moscow due to international sanctions. Skvortsov faces up to four years in prison if found guilty. In detention since his arrest, he has denied the allegations. Sweden's charge of "unlawful intelligence activities" is a notch lower than espionage. "There was a severe risk for national security interests, both in Sweden and the US," prosecutor Henrik Olin told AFP last week when Skvortsov was formally charged, adding the implications reached even further. "You only have to look at the battlefield in Ukraine to see that there's a real need for this from the Russian military industrial complex," Olin said. In the indictment, the prosecution accused Skvortsov of gathering "information and the actual acquisition of various items that the Russian state and the defence forces could not acquire on the open market due to export rules and sanctions."It accused him of "locating the items requested by the Russian state and the armed forces, negotiating and carrying out the purchase and further organising the transport of the goods while concealing the actual end user." Huawei opened a cloud data centre in Saudi Arabias capital city Riyadh, a move to grow its cloud services in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. Reuters reported the cloud data centre is Huaweis 30th globally and it will enable the Saudi government to tap into AI applications and language models for its services. The Arab nation had previously stated it would not sign contracts with foreign companies that did not have regional HQs in the country. Huawei president of cloud global marketing and sales service Jacqueline Shi said in a statement: Huawei Cloud aims high, aims global and aims here in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia Region will be our focus in serving the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, providing innovative, reliable, secure, and sustainable cloud services. We hope to create a better choice for advancing intelligence. This cloud gives you more choices to stay innovative, inclusive, and open. This cloud will help you succeed in the digital and intelligent era. This cloud is for everyone. ANKARA, Sep 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Sep, 2023 ) :Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday departed for Russia's coastal city of Sochi to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. During his day-long working visit, Erdogan will discuss current regional and global issues, as well as the Trkiye-Russia relations with Putin. Reviving last year's historic Black Sea grain deal that helped ease global food crisis will also be on the agenda between the leaders, who will hold joint news conference later. After Russia suspended its participation in Ukraine grain export deal, brokered by Trkiye and the UN, Ankara continues its efforts for the resumption of the deal. Moscow has complained that the West has not met its obligations regarding Russia's own grain exports, and that not enough Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need. It says restrictions on payments, logistics, and insurance have been a barrier to its shipments. Confirming the importance of fulfilling Russia's demands for the export of its own grain and fertilizer, Trkiye says there is no alternative to the initiative. Ankara has been carrying out intense diplomatic efforts for the restoration of the July 2022 deal and has also called on Kyiv and Moscow to end the war through negotiations. In July, Erdogan also met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul to discuss the matters. (@ChaudhryMAli88) RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Sep, 2023 ) :The closing ceremony of Pakistan-KSA Joint Exercise in Counter Terrorism domain, AL BATTAR-I, was held at Cherat on Monday. The two-week long exercise commenced on August 22 with the participation of Special Forces contingents from two brotherly countries, an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release said. Ambassador of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Nawaf Saeed Al Malkiy along with senior military leadership, witnessed the final day activities of the exercise. Combat Aviation along with the Special Forces of both countries, displayed their professional excellence. The Exercise concluded with the Fly Past. The exercise was aimed at further harnessing the historic military-to-military relations between both brotherly countries, including nurturing of joint employment concept against counter-terrorism and identifying areas of mutual interest for future military collaborations. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Sep, 2023 ) :Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Monday directed the Ministry of Finance to devise an effective strategy to bring economic stability in the country. The prime minister said this in a meeting with Interim Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar who called on him here. The finance minister also briefed the prime minister on the current economic situation in the country. (@Abdulla99267510) The President lauds the Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar's statement that the caretaker government will abide by the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on this issue. Lahore: Caretaker Minister for Law and Justice Ahmed Irfan Aslam called on President Dr. Arif Alvi in Islamabad on Monday. They discussed many issues related to holding of General Elections in the country. The President lauded the Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar's statement that the caretaker government would abide by the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on this issue. He stressed upon the need for upholding supremacy of the Constitution, saying that decisions should be taken in accordance with spirit of the Constitution. Five Palestinians were injured in an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday, according to local medics RAMALLAH, Palestine , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Sep, 2023 ):Five Palestinians were injured in an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday, according to local medics. Israeli forces raided the Jenin refugee camp early morning, triggering clashes with Palestinian gunmen, local residents said. An Israeli drone fired a missile into a Palestinian target inside the camp, they said, without providing any details. Medics said five Palestinians were injured by Israeli live fire during the raid. Palestinian group Hamas said its fighters engaged in clashes with Israeli forces inside the Jenin refugee camp. Palestinian sources said three people were detained by Israeli forces before they pulled out from the area. The Israeli army confirmed that its forces were operating inside the camp, without providing any further details. Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China Mobile. Vikram Sinha, President Director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, said: The partnership between Indosat and China Mobile International will help to bring innovative new digital solutions to our customers in Indonesia. The companies have agreed to jointly explore strategies to expand their businesses into new and existing markets and to monetise the 5G market, delivering digital solutions that better serve the needs of customers in Indonesia and other global markets. Gao Tongqing, Executive Vice President (EVP) of China Mobile Communications Group, said: Now is an opportune time to move forward with our partners to accelerate collaboration between the digital economies of China and Southeast Asia. China Mobile will do its best to help create an intelligent digital ecosystem in the region, integrating technology, capital, and industry to strengthen regional economic cooperation and provide a digital innovation platform for regional prosperity. Vietnam Briefing has developed into a premium source for insight on doing business in Vietnam. It publishes business news concerning foreign direct investment into Vietnam, including the most important tax, legal and accounting issues. The Vietnam Briefing Magazine was first published in 2009, and is contributed to by investment professionals based in Vietnam. Cambodia's ex-leader Hun Sen returned to Facebook on Sunday, claiming the social media giant had "rendered justice" to him by refusing to suspend his account after he posted violent threats on the platform. In a post, Hun Sen said Facebook had rejected a recommendation from its Oversight Board to suspend his account after he had posted a video threatening to beat up his rivals. It is the latest twist in a months-long row that has seen the prolific user quit Cambodia's most popular social media site, deactivate his account, and threaten to ban the platform. "I have decided to use Facebook again... after Facebook rejected recommendations of a group of bad people and rendered justice to me," he wrote on Sunday, referencing the Oversight Board. Hun Sen's hugely popular page -- which has around 14 million followers -- was reactivated in July, but his social media assistant claimed to be running it in his place at the time. Facebook's parent company Meta did not respond to AFP's request for comment. Suspension row The row kicked off in June when the platform's Oversight Board recommended that Hun Sen's Facebook and Instagram accounts be suspended for six months due to a video he posted in January. In the clip, he told opponents they would face legal action or a beating with sticks if they accused his party of vote theft during elections in July. The Oversight Board's recommendation prompted a furious reaction from the then-leader, who banned Facebook representatives from the country and blacklisted more than 20 members of the board. However, on Sunday, Hun Sen said the ministry of telecommunications would allow Facebook representatives to return to work in Cambodia -- although the ban on members of the Oversight Board remained. The move comes after the country's parliament elected Hun Sen's son Hun Manet as the new prime minister last month. Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades, has publicly said that he will continue to dominate the country's politics, serving in other positions until at least 2033. Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Jakarta next week, meeting leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in a summit hosted by Indonesia as the outgoing chair of the 10-nation group. She will also be attending the East Asia Summit, which will bring together ASEAN and a disparate group of partners: the United States, China, Russia, Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. ASEAN as a group adheres to the principles of nonalignment, consensus-based decision-making and noninterference in the domestic affairs of other countries. Those principles contribute to the groups ambiguity and ineffectiveness in addressing geopolitical issues that are the key focus of next weeks meetings, including: South China Sea disputes China says it has sovereignty over most of the waters with its expansive Nine-Dash Line, overlapping claims by Taiwan and four ASEAN members: Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Just days before the summits, Beijing released its annual standard map, which adds a new dash to its claim, angering Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and India. Negotiations for a binding code of conduct on this vital maritime route have been ongoing for nearly three decades, and a solution remains elusive. Earlier this year, Beijing and ASEAN agreed on new guidelines to accelerate talks amid militarization by claimants, including construction of artificial islands, primarily by China. Earlier in August, President Joe Biden and leaders of Japan and South Korea pledged a unified trilateral response during a regional crisis, for the first time explicitly highlighting Beijings aggressive behavior in the waters. Harris is also expected to be forward-leaning on the issue. She will reaffirm support for freedom of the seas, peaceful resolution of disputes and an adherence of international law, including freedom of navigation, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told VOA during her briefing to press Thursday. While in the region last year, in a rebuke to Beijing, Harris stopped by Palawan, an island in the Philippines, just 330 kilometers east of the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Violence in Myanmar Thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced since the 2021 military coup in Myanmar as ASEAN, with Brunei, Cambodia and Indonesia as chairs, failed to compel it to return to democracy. Member states remain divided, with Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia condemning the coup through a 2021 resolution at the U.N. General Assembly, while Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand abstained. Since ASEAN policies are driven by its rotating chair, even less progress is expected when Indonesia hands leadership over to Laos. And with Myanmar on tap to chair ASEAN in 2026, the group is running out of time to develop an effective Myanmar policy to handle the potential rupture. The U.S has imposed various sanctions to choke the junta in Myanmar, the latest round in August targeting those linked to jet fuel procurement for the military. Harris will likely repeat Washingtons condemnation of the coup and appeals for the country to return to democracy. War on Ukraine Individually, member states have divergent perceptions of Russia, a key arms supplier in the region. Therefore, as is the case with Myanmar and the South China Sea, the bloc has had a muted reaction to the war on Ukraine, expressing only concerns about the fallout of the conflict without condemning Moscow. American allies Singapore and the Philippines are the staunchest critics of the war, with Singapore joining the Western sanctions regime against Russia. At the opposite end of the spectrum is Myanmar, whose military-installed government supports Moscows invasion and the narrative that the war is an act of self-defense against Western expansion. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have deep historical and defense ties with the Kremlin, while Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand aim to project neutrality, consistent with the blocs tradition of nonalignment amid great-power rivalries. Ahead of his meeting with ASEAN leaders in Phnom Penh last year, Biden called out Russia's brutal war against Ukraine. In Jakarta, Harris is expected to use similarly strong language and renew calls to address the war's global impacts. Wheres Biden? Some of the focus will be on Biden's skipping the summit and sending Harris in his place. His aides have pointed out the presidents unbelievable track record in engaging the region. Biden attended the summits in Phnom Penh last year and virtually in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2022, he hosted a U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington. Following his meetings with leaders of the worlds 20 largest economies at the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, on September 9, Biden heads to Hanoi, where he is expected to upgrade bilateral relations with Vietnam. Kenyan President William Rutos government and the African Union launched the ministerial session on Monday while more than a dozen heads of state began to arrive, determined to wield more global influence and bring in far more financing and support. The first speakers included young people, who demanded a bigger voice in the process. The first African Climate Summit is opening with heads of state and others asserting a stronger voice on a global issue that affects the continent of 1.3 billion people the most, even though they contribute to it the least. For a very long time we have looked at this as a problem. There are immense opportunities as well, Ruto said of the climate crisis, speaking of multibillion-dollar economic possibilities, new financial structures, Africa's huge mineral wealth and the ideal of shared prosperity. We are not here to catalog grievances. And yet there is some frustration on the continent about being asked to develop in cleaner ways than the world's richest countries which have long produced most of the emissions that endanger climate and to do it while much of the support that has been pledged hasn't appeared. This is our time, Mithika Mwenda of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance told the gathering, claiming that the annual flow of climate assistance to the continent is a tenth or less of what is needed and a fraction of the budget of some polluting companies. We need to immediately see the delivery of the $100 billion" of climate finance pledged annually by rich countries to developing ones, said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. More than $83 billion in climate financing was given to poorer countries in 2020, a 4% increase from the previous year but still short of the goal set in 2009. We have an abundance of clean, renewable energy and its vital that we use this to power our future prosperity. But to unlock it, Africa needs funding from countries that have got rich off our suffering, Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa said ahead of the summit. Outside attendees to the summit include the U.S. governments climate envoy, John Kerry, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has said he will address finance as one of the burning injustices of the climate crisis. As Kenya's president spoke, hundreds of people joined a people's march on climate in Nairobi holding signs demanding the targeting of fossil fuels. Ruto in the past has said the addiction to them must end. One project being protested is the TotalEnergies-funded 897-mile (1,443-kilometer) East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline in Uganda and Tanzania. The U.N. has estimated that loss and damage in Africa due to climate change are projected to be between $290 billion and $440 billion, depending on the degree of warming. Rutos video welcome released before the summit was heavy on tree-planting but didnt mention his administrations decision this year to lift a yearslong ban on commercial logging, which alarmed environmental watchdogs. The decision has been challenged in court, while the government says only mature trees in state-run plantations would be harvested. When a country is holding a conference like we are, we should be leading by example, said Isaac Kalua, a local environmentalist. Kenya derives 93% of its power from renewables and has banned single-use plastic bags, but it struggles with some other climate-friendly adaptations. Trees were chopped down to make way for the expressway that some summit attendees used to travel from the airport, and bags of informally made charcoal are found on some Nairobi street corners. Ruto made his way to Mondays events in a small electric car, a contrast to the usual government convoys, on streets cleared of the sometimes poorly maintained buses and vans belching smoke. Elsewhere, nearly 600 million Africans lack access to electricity despite the vast potential for solar and other renewable power. Other challenges for the African continent include simply being able to forecast and monitor the weather in order to avert thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damages that, like climate change itself, have effects far beyond the continent. When the apocalypse happens, it will happen for all of us, Ruto warned. If a baby was taken from their parents four decades ago during Argentina's military dictatorship, what would that person look like today? Argentine publicist Santiago Barros has been trying to answer that question using artificial intelligence to create images of what the children of parents who disappeared during the dictatorship might look like as adults. Almost every day, Barros uploads these images to an Instagram account called iabuelas, which is a portmanteau in Spanish for artificial intelligence, or IA, and grandmother, or abuela taken from the well-known activist group Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo that searches for missing children. "We have seen the photos of most of the disappeared, but we don't have photos of their children, of those children who were stolen," Barros told The Associated Press. "It struck me that these people did not have a face." During Argentina's bloody dictatorship from 1976 to 1983, military officials carried out the systematic theft of babies from political dissidents who were detained or often executed and disposed of without a trace. The babies were often raised by families linked to the dictatorship, or those ideologically aligned with it, as if they were their own. Using an app called Midjourney, Barros combines photos of the disappeared fathers and mothers from the public archive of the Grandmothers website, creating images of what the faces of their children might look like as adults today. For each combination, the app shows two female and two male possibilities. Barros then chooses the image of each gender that seems most realistic. The project does not intend to replace efforts headed by the Grandmothers group of identifying grandchildren through DNA testing. Instead, Barros says, the goal is to stir the conscience of those over 46 who may have doubts about their origin and to serve as a reminder of the more than four decades the grandmothers have spent trying to locate these children. The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo estimates around 500 children were snatched from their parents during the dictatorship. The group has located 133 grandchildren through genetic analysis. The group appreciates Barros' initiative as a way to raise awareness about the children who were stolen or kidnapped during the dictatorship. But they warn that the only infallible tool to link these people with their families of origin is DNA testing that continues to be carried out by the National Genetic Data Bank, whose creation they promoted in 1987. In addition to working with photos from the Grandmothers' archives, Barros uses photographic material provided by interested parties. In some cases, those who have accessed iabuelas have noticed in the images a tendency towards standardization, raising questions about their approximation to reality. But in others, families searching for a lost relative have been shocked by the resemblance they found in those faces to blood relatives. Such was the case for Matias Ayastuy, who contacted Barros and provided him with photos of his disappeared parents to see what a possible brother or sister would look like. His mother, Marta Bugnone, was kidnapped in 1977 when she was pregnant. By combining the image of her and that of his father, Jorge Ayastuy, the AI tool was able to come up with some impressive results. "A lot of people see the masculine image as similar to me. But what generated something very, very strong for me was the feminine one. I found a very striking resemblance to a cousin of mine," Ayastuy said. In the month since Barros' initiative launched, there have not yet been any known cases of an adult seeing themselves as similar to one of his images and then starting a formal process of identification. All the images of the disappeared parents and their possible children are uploaded to the Instagram account with a note specifying that iabuelas is an "unofficial artistic project" and that results generated by artificial intelligence can be inaccurate. Pedro Sandoval, a grandson who was identified in 2006, embraced Barros' initiative at first, but later decided it was imperfect because it seems to rely too much on "standardized patterns" of people with European features. His mother, Liliana Fontana, and his father, Pedro Sandoval, are among the 30,000 missing persons counted by humanitarian organizations. Barros acknowledged the app might be skewed but noted that many of the disappeared people had European ancestors, in a country with strong European immigration. As for the grandmothers, they don't want the AI campaign to create false expectations for those who find similarities with the generated images, so they have urged it to be taken with a grain of salt. "It is a campaign that shows simulations about possible faces of sons and daughters of the disappeared, but we know that people are much more than 50 percent of each of their parents and that foreign applications are set with genotypes of their populations," the group said in a statement at the end of July. "Therefore, the results are not accurate." The leader of the coup that ousted Gabonese President Ali Bongo was sworn in Monday, amid international calls for a return to constitutional order. VOA visited Bitam, a town in northern Gabon near the border with Cameroon, to gauge peoples moods. Scores of people in Bitam watch Gabon's national TV broadcasting the inauguration of General Brice Oligui Nguema as interim president. Bitam is a commercial town in the north of Gabon, near the Cameroonian border. During a ceremony attended by politicians, diplomats, clerics, the military and a huge crowd of civilians, the military leader pledged to respect what he called the charter of the transitional government. He gave no details. Among the civilians watching the ceremony in Bitam was local official and opposition supporter Pierre Marie Tsanga. Tsanga said he was not surprised that opposition presidential candidate Albert Ondo Ossa did not attend the inauguration ceremony. He says Gabon's military should not think that the ongoing excitement is because civilians love General Brice Oligui Nguema, who has seized power. He says civilians are happy that Ali Bongo has been toppled, putting an end to his family's close to 60-year grip on power.The 69-year-old Ondo also did not attend a meeting between the transitional president and opposition party leaders on Friday. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen this week visits the Kingdom of Eswatini the islands last Africa ally following a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to continental powerhouse South Africa, which surrounds Eswatini. Despite being the last holdout on the continent against Beijings One-China principle, a spokesperson for the Eswatini government said he did not anticipate any friction to arise from Tsais visit. Will this not anger China? We dont think so. The Kingdom of Eswatini and the Republic of Taiwan have had diplomatic relations since 1968; we have never had any issues and it is not for the first time by the way that the president of Taiwan visits the Kingdom of Eswatini, Alpheous Nxumalo told VOA. Percy Simelane, a spokesperson for Eswatini King Mswati III, echoed that, saying Tsai was coming to attend celebrations commemorating the countrys 55 years of independence from Britain. Eswatini's diplomatic relations with Taiwan are by choice, based on national interest, he told VOA, adding that Taiwan has been a strong development partner. Development assistance Sanele Sibiya, an economics lecturer at the University of Eswatini, said aid is one of the reasons the kingdom has stuck by Taipei. Taiwan has quite strategic importance for Eswatini in terms of official development assistance, he said, noting the many students from Eswatini go to study in Taiwan, and Taiwan also helps the impoverished southern African nation in terms of health, infrastructure and agriculture. Sibiya said he expected new deals to be announced during Tsais trip, and for Eswatini to continue the call for an independent Taiwan in the United Nations and there is an expectation that we will actually hear such a tone within the kings speech. Last month, Eswatinis representative to the U.N.s Geneva office, Vuyile Dumisani Dlamini, said Taiwans exclusion from the United Nations was unjustifiable. A statement from Tsais office regarding the Eswatini trip said the visit would take place from September 5-8 with two major goals: to celebrate the enduring friendship between our two countries and to advance our sustainable cooperation. Tsai will attend a state banquet held by the king and have meetings with him, according to the itinerary. Her office said bilateral agreements will be signed and Tsai will inspect the progress of Taiwan-Eswatini joint health care and women's empowerment projects and visit the Outpatient Department and Emergency Complex of Mbabane Government Hospital. A medical team sent from Taipei Medical University Hospital is practicing there. Asked by media whether the trip was intended as a competitive move after Xis August visit to South Africa, a Taiwan government official responded that there were no such considerations about competition and that the similar timing of these trips is nothing more than a coincidence. The Chinese embassy in South Africa did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Shifting allegiances The dispute between the Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan stems from the Chinese civil war in the 1940s when Chiang Kai-sheks Nationalist government lost to Mao Zedongs Communists on the Chinese mainland and rebased on the island of Taiwan, also called the Republic of China. Beijing considers democratically ruled Taiwan a breakaway province to be retaken with force if necessary. For most of the 1960s, Taiwan was more influential than China in Africa, but that changed in 1971 when the U.N. General Assembly affirmed Chinas place on the body and denied Taiwan a role with most African states voting with China. Since President Xis global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, came to Africa along with Chinese loans and investments, more countries have switched ties to Beijing, with Burkina Faso the second-to-last supporter of Taiwan on the continent choosing to sever ties with Taipei in 2018. Now only the absolute monarchy Eswatini which has been criticized for human rights abuses and Somaliland, an unrecognized breakaway region of Somalia, continue to support Taiwan. And its not only African nations that have been changing course. Earlier this year, Honduras cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and allied with China. Taiwan now has formal ties with only 13 countries, many of them small nations like Nauru and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. The United States recognizes China but sells weapons to Taiwan. France on Monday saw the arrival of five Afghan women "threatened by the Taliban" after repeated requests it create a humanitarian corridor for women shut out of public life, an official said. Since returning to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law, with women bearing the brunt of laws the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid." Women and girls have been banned from attending high school and university as well as barred from visiting parks, fairs and gymnasiums. They have also mostly been blocked from working for U.N. agencies and nongovernmental organizations, with thousands fired from government jobs or paid to stay at home. French immigration authority chief Didier Leschi told AFP that by presidential order, "special attention is being paid to women who are primarily threatened by the Taliban because they have held important positions in Afghan society ... or have close contacts with Westerners. "This is the case for five women who will arrive today," Leschi said. The women include a former university director, an ex-NGO consultant, a former television presenter and a teacher at a secret school in Kabul. One of the women was accompanied by three children. The women had been unable to leave Afghanistan on airlifts to Western countries when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. They fled to neighboring Pakistan where they sought temporary refuge. From there, French authorities organized their evacuation, Leschi said. Upon arrival in France, they will be registered as asylum seekers and given housing while their applications for refugee status are considered, Leschi said. 'Hard fight' for visas Leschi said that such evacuations were "likely to be repeated" for other Afghan women with a similar profile. However, Delphine Rouilleault, head of the asylum advocacy organization France Terre D'Asile, said the evacuations were "not the fruit of a political decision" but gained "after a hard fight" to obtain visas for them. The women will initially be housed in a center run by her organization, which has been rallying for months for the evacuation of more Afghan women facing a similar situation. Rouilleault said "hundreds" of Afghan women were "hiding" in Pakistan. In mid-2021, French President Emmanuel Macron had pledged that France would "be by the side of Afghans." French authorities say nearly 16,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since then. In April, an organization working for Afghan refugees and asylum seekers, Accueillir les Afghanes, deplored that Afghan women, especially those who were single, had been largely abandoned and asked Paris to put in place an "emergency" program to take them in. King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Development & Management Company and Orange Business, the enterprise division of Orange, have signed a deal through which Orange Business will supply a smart city platform for KAFD. Orange Business will design, build and run the platform, which will integrate and connect existing digital technologies at KAFD, described as Saudi Arabias prime business district, while leveraging the power of artifical intelligence (AI) and data analytics. Orange Business will also provide a range of digital master systems integration services and orchestrate its partner ecosystem by working alongside company experts on systems integration and new use cases. Claimed to be one of the worlds most sustainable business districts, KAFD aims to create a high-quality urban environment and lifestyle for businesses, residents and visitors in line with the government-led Saudi Vision 2030s Quality of Life Programme and its objectives of enhancing the liveability and competitiveness of Saudi Arabias cities. Under the new agreement, Orange Business will provide a range of services to KAFD, including the Orange Smart City Platform. This is compatible with a wide range of systems and technologies and covers big data, data management, descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive data analytics, and governance. AI-related use cases will include geolocation-based sentiment analysis of social media, analysing, collating, and sharing contextual data in areas ranging from water supply to traffic situation awareness, and energy optimization across commercial office buildings. In addition, by integrating a digital twin with the smart city platform, architects and engineers will be able to analyse real-time data to optimize building design. Orange Business says it has been involved in large-scale, complex smart city projects in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East for more than ten years. Greece is working with Israel on developing artificial intelligence technology that would help in early detection of dangerous wildfires, the Greek prime minister said Monday. After talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, Kyriakos Mitsotakis also said that Israel could be brought into the European Union fold when it comes to civil protection initiatives to better coordinate firefighting efforts. Israel and Cyprus are among several countries that have dispatched firefighting aircraft and crews to help battle wildfires in Greece that consumed vast tracts of forest over the last two months, including the EU's largest such blaze on record that claimed the lives of 20 people. Mitsotakis said Greece could act as a proving ground for Israeli AI technology in the early detection of wildfires. We are already talking to Israel about AI-based solutions that will offer us early detection capabilities, added Mitsotakis. Netanyahu said the three leaders discussed going well beyond dispatching firefighting aircraft and crews by deploying AI systems for early detection. This is really one of those areas where when we say well do it better together, theres no question that thats the case, Netanyahu said. The three leaders said they delved into how to harness recent natural gas discoveries in Israeli and Cypriot waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Netanyahu said decisions on how Israel and Cyprus will export natural gas to foreign markets will have to be made within the next three to six months. Israel and Cyprus are looking into plans for a pipeline that would convey offshore natural gas from both countries to the east Mediterranean island nation where it would be liquefied for export by ship. The U.N.s nuclear watchdog agency reported no progress Monday in resolving issues involving Irans nuclear program, including re-installing surveillance cameras to monitor the countrys nuclear activity. In quarterly reports seen by news agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Director General Rafael Grossi requests Iran to work with the agency in earnest and in a sustained way towards the fulfilment of the commitments. The IAEA reported that Irans total estimated stockpile of enriched uranium stood at 3,796 kilograms in August, about 949 kilograms less than in May. But the amount of uranium enriched to 60% had risen from 114.1 kilograms to 121.6 kilograms during the same period. Uranium enriched to 60% is a short technical step away from weapons-grade. Iran agreed as part of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to limit its enriched uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms, while not enriching uranium beyond the 3.67% level that can be used for civilian purposes such as nuclear power. Following the U.S. withdrawal from the deal in 2018, Iran has taken multiple steps away from those commitments, including using more advanced centrifuges. Iran has said it is not pursuing nuclear weapons. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Kurdish-led forces were sending reinforcements to eastern Syria's Deir el-Zour province on Monday amid days of clashes with Arab fighters loyal to a detained local official, an AFP correspondent said. Fighting erupted after the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) detained Ahmad al-Khabil, head of the Deir el-Zour Military Council, on August 27. The violence in several towns and villages in Kurdish-controlled areas of Deir el-Zour province has killed 71 people, mostly fighters but also nine civilians. SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told AFP his forces were trying to "settle" the situation in Dhiban, the last town where fighters loyal to Khabil were concentrated. "We urged civilians to leave," Shami said, adding that the situation was heading towards "a settlement and the end of tensions" after other villages where clashes took place were searched in recent days. The AFP correspondent saw Kurdish and Arab fighters from the SDF heading on trucks towards Dhiban. Arab-majority Deir el-Zour province, a resource-rich region which borders Iraq, is bisected by the Euphrates river and is home to dozens of local tribal communities, some of whose fighters joined the SDF in its battle against the Islamic State jihadist group (IS). Control of the province is split between the SDF to the east of the Euphrates, and Iran-backed Syrian government forces and their proxies to the west. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said dozens of fighters who follow a sheikh from a prominent tribe were still positioned in Dhiban, adding that residents were fleeing the area. The tribes are divided in their loyalties, added the Britain-based Observatory, which has a vast network of sources inside Syria. The SDF has denied any dispute with Arab tribes in the region, saying the clashes have mostly involved "elements of the regime and some beneficiaries" of Khabil, whom they accuse of drug trafficking and communicating with the Syrian government. It has urged local residents "not to be drawn into the strife. A semi-autonomous Kurdish administration controls areas in north and northeast Syria through local civilian and military councils in an effort to stave off Arab discontent. In northern Syria on Monday, Turkey-backed fighters who said they were from Arab tribes attacked SDF positions in support of the local fighters in Deir el-Zour. With U.S. backing, the SDF spearheaded the offensive that defeated IS's self-declared caliphate in Syria in 2019. The U.S. Embassy in Syria, which is based outside the country, said Sunday that two senior officials had met with the SDF, Kurdish authorities and tribal leaders from Deir el-Zour, urging de-escalation "as soon as possible." New U.S. processing centers set up for migrants in Latin America were marketed as a way to make it easier to access legal pathways to the United States and avoid making the dangerous trek to the U.S.-Mexico border. But would-be migrants are finding that the centers do not yet offer faster options for people who wish to flee urgently. The majority of people determined eligible by the centers so far have been referred to the U.S. refugee program, according to a State Department official a process that has historically taken years to complete. Others may get information from the centers about alternative visa options. Even if eligible, people who may have hoped for rapid access to the U.S. still must take existing, often backlogged pathways. Voice of America visited the first Movilidad Segura office or "Safe Mobility" in English to open in downtown Medellin, Colombia, a satellite location of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Migrants who apply online are initially screened remotely, and a limited number are referred for in-person appointments at an office to first verify their personal information and documents. U.S. immigration officers are not involved in the process. VOA spoke to a number of Venezuelans living in Colombia about their attempts to apply to the program, including some who recently decided to attempt the informal journey to the U.S. and were prepared to cross the grueling Darien Gap, which connects Colombia to Panama. Anileth, a 30-year-old mother of four who fled from Venezuela to Colombia in 2019, told VOA she applied when the Safe Mobility registration website first opened in late June. Violence from armed groups escalated in her home of Arauca in recent months. Then, she and her family had to suddenly find a new home due to deadly floods in the region this spring. "I had to care for the kids while we got a new rental and got out of where we were living," she told VOA at Medellin's north bus terminal, where dozens of people wait daily to travel to Colombia's northwest coast and begin the risky journey toward the U.S. The processing centers in Colombia accept applications from Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans, and the first one began screening people remotely in Medellin on August 1. Nearly 2.5 million Venezuelans live in Colombia, making them by far the largest migrant population in the country. But Anileth never received an answer from the Safe Mobility offices, she told VOA. The rising price of rent and other necessities finally pushed her and her husband to leave anyway. After leaving Medellin, in early August, they trekked through the Darien jungle with their kids ages 3 to 13. "I was really amazed at how tough it is," she later told VOA after reaching Panama on Aug. 18. "I would like it if [Safe Mobility] had given me an answer in a shorter time, so as to not have to have lived that unpleasant experience." Anileth was one of 10,000 Venezuelans who were able to apply when the website first opened in Colombia in June, closing little more than a day later. The page opened again for a day and a half in Colombia in early August. The centers in Guatemala are intermittently accepting applications from Guatemalan citizens, and Costa Rican processing centers just opened to online registration on August 15 for Venezuelans and Nicaraguans. A State Department official told VOA the staggered online openings help officials process people in an "orderly and efficient manner." So far, more than 2,100 people have been referred to the U.S. refugee program as of August 28 through the Safe Mobility offices, the same official told VOA, including 260 from Colombia, 570 from Costa Rica and 1,300 from Guatemala. A person applying for refugee resettlement could expect to wait four years, on average, according to a March government report. The Biden administration has tried to rebuild the program's infrastructure and significantly reduce processing times, especially over the last year, after record-low resettlement under the Trump administration. One difference for migrants referred through Safe Mobility offices is the "number of human touch points along the way," a State Department official said. They would already be deemed eligible for resettlement and could move more quickly through the process, the official added, with a goal of them reaching the U.S. in a matter of months. Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, visited two of the new centers in Guatemala in July. He told VOA that outside of the limited number of people qualified for refugee protection, the options are even more narrow. "You end up with a very small number of people that may be eligible for the pathway to begin the process. I'm not even talking about whether they actually will get it," he said. Those pathways could include the family reunification program, temporary work visas and the newer humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. President Joe Biden first pitched a version of the processing centers when he took office, and they've since been highlighted consistently by immigration officials as part of the administration's overall strategy to reduce irregular migration toward the Mexico border. The six-month pilot phase launched in June. "It's different in that it would allow people a chance to evaluate whether they qualify for a lawful pathway, and therefore they don't have to leave irregularly," Ruiz Soto said. "[But] no matter how many centers you have, if the stream of legal pathways continues to be small, then you are creating bottlenecks." This story was supported in part by the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Thousands of Burning Man attendees readied to make their "exodus" on Monday as the counter-culture arts festival in the Nevada desert ends in a sea of drying mud instead of a party around its flaming effigy namesake. Rain over the weekend turned the once hard-packed ground to pudding. One person died at the event in the Black Rock Desert, authorities said on Sunday, providing few details. An investigation is underway. Organizers posted online that they expected to formally allow vehicles to leave at noon Monday local time, but some attendees told Reuters that a steady stream of vehicles have left since predawn, many struggling through the slop. The exit is via an unpaved five-mile (8-km) dirt road out to the nearest highway. Photos shared on online sites showed hefty recreational vehicles sunk up to the tire rims in mud, with some using boards under the wheels to help get traction. The festival site is located about 15 miles from the nearest town and 110 miles north of Reno. Organizers asked people who could, to delay leaving until Tuesday morning to reduce the traffic. For days, some 70,000 people were ordered to stay put and conserve food and water as officials closed the roads and exits, ordering all vehicles to stay put. But the National Weather Service forecasters said on Monday that the rain was over. "Yep, the rain cleared out of there," said Marc Chenard, a forecaster with the weather service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. "It'll be sunny today with temperatures in the 70s [Fahrenheit]." The weather service said the general area received between three-quarters of an inch to 1 inches (1.9-3.8 cm) of rain since late Friday. Some of the festival-goers ignored the order to stay put over the weekend and attempted to walk or drive out to the highway. Others partied on in the rain. Videos posted to social media showed costumed revelers - including a few children - sliding through the sticky mess, most of them covered from head to toe in wet earth. "When you get pushed to extremes, that's when the most fun happens," said Brian Fraoli, 45, a veteran "burner" who works in finance in New York. Fraoli said he had tried to drag his luggage through the mud and escape, but gave up and decided to relax and enjoy the experience. "Overall it was an amazing week and next time we will be more prepared," he said. Every year Burning Man brings tens of thousands of people to the Nevada desert to dance, make art and enjoy being part of a self-sufficient, temporary community of like-minded spirits. This year's version opened on Aug. 27 and was scheduled to run through Monday. It originated in 1986 as a small gathering on a San Francisco beach and is now attended by celebrities and social media influencers. A regular ticket costs $575. The festival typically has a penultimate night send-off with the burning of a giant wooden effigy of a man, along with a fireworks show. That has not taken place this year, although organizers said it may still happen on Monday evening. Police in Muslim-majority Pakistan confirmed Monday that a leader of a local Christian congregation was shot and wounded in an eastern district where mob-led attacks on a Christian neighborhood burned around two dozen churches and scores of homes last month. The victim, identified as Pastor Vicky, told police in Faisalabad that he was heading home with his son on a motorcycle after leading prayers in a local church Sunday evening when a gunman targeted him. Vicky is currently under treatment in a local hospital for a bullet injury to his shoulder, local authorities and members of the minority Christian community said. The pastor described the shooting incident to police from his hospital bed, saying the assailant and another man had first intercepted him three days ago and threatened to kill him for allegedly insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammed. Area police officials confirmed that an investigation into the attack was underway. The pastor said in his written police complaint that unknown men had written Islamic slogans on the front walls of his church last week in violation of local laws, and he was able to get them removed with the help of area police. "Since then, I have been receiving death threats and been falsely accused of blasphemy," he wrote. "I call on authorities to ensure my safety and that of my Christian community so we can live in this country without fear. I demand the criminal involved in this attack and his supporters be brought to justice," the minister said. No one claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt. It came two weeks after thousands of Muslims stormed a Christian neighborhood in the district's impoverished Jaranwala town on August 16. The mob torched and ransacked 24 churches, several dozen smaller chapels, and scores of homes in Jaranwala. False allegations and rumors that two Christian men desecrated pages of the Quran, Islam's holy book, had provoked Muslims to riot, according to police and community leaders. The attack was widely denounced and described as one of the most destructive on a minority community in Pakistan's history. Police have since arrested nearly 200 people and are investigating them for their suspected role in the mob attack. Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and the head of the country's military condemned the Jaranwala attack and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. Insulting the Quran or Islamic beliefs is punishable by death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws. No one has ever been executed, but the accused can expect to remain in jail for years while their case is on appeal. Human rights activists say that hundreds of suspects, mostly Muslims, are languishing in Pakistani jails because judges are often reluctant to move their trials forward or exonerate them under pressure from Islamist groups. Naval vessels from the Philippines and United States conducted a joint sail through parts of the South China Sea lying within the Southeast Asian nation's exclusive economic zone, Manila's military said on Monday. It was the first time the Philippines and Washington have carried out a joint sail in waters west of Palawan island, the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Command said. The display of cooperation between the U.S. and Philippines comes at a time of heightened tension between Manila and Beijing, which claims much of the South China Sea. The Philippine Navy's guided-missile frigate BRP Jose Rizal and the US Navy Alrleigh Burke-class guided missile-destroyer USS Ralph Johnson participated in the joint sail, during which ships practice manoeuvring near other vessels. "This event aims to provide an opportunity for the Philippine Navy and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Navy to test and refine existing maritime doctrine," the Western Command said in a statement. Manila has repeatedly complained against what it described as China's "aggressive" actions in the South China Sea, including the use of a water cannon by its coast guard against a Philippines vessel engaged in a resupply mission on Aug. 5. China has built militarised, manmade islands in the South China Sea and its claim of historic sovereignty overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The Philippines won an international arbitration award against China in 2016, after a tribunal said Beijing's sweeping claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea had no legal basis. Pope Francis capped the final day of his diplomatically tinged visit to Mongolia preaching charity, with a visit to a Catholic shelter for the homeless and domestic violence victims. The visit to inaugurate "The House of Mercy," which also includes a clinic, in a poor area on the outskirts of the capital Ulaanbaatar suits the 86-year-old pope's longstanding practice of reaching out to marginalized, overlooked communities. Francis' voyage to the Central Asian nation the first by a pope has been overshadowed by his overtures to its powerful neighbor China. Some Chinese Catholics have traveled to Mongolia to catch a glimpse of Francis up close, and outside the shelter on Monday, a group of women sang in Mandarin, wiping away tears as the pope's black car passed. "Dear Pope, our best wishes for you," they sang. The pontiff directly addressed Catholics in China on Sunday in impromptu comments following a Mass, telling them to be "good Christians and good citizens," in an apparent attempt to ease tensions with Beijing. Many traveling Chinese Catholics told authorities at home they were traveling to Mongolia for tourism, according to interviews with AFP. After the Mass, attended by many of Mongolia's tiny Catholic population numbering just 1,400, Francis sent "a warm greeting to the noble Chinese people". "To the people I wish the best," he said, flanked by the bishop and bishop emeritus of Hong Kong. It was the second apparent overture to the Chinese Communist Party in two days, following Francis telling a gathering of missionaries Saturday that governments had "nothing to fear" from the Catholic Church. The pope's plane took off shortly after midday, with his account on X -- formally called Twitter hailing the Mongolian "friendship" he received over the four-day trip. "Dear brothers and sisters of Mongolia, thank you for the gift of friendship that I received in these days. Bayarlalaa [Thank you in Mongolian]! May God bless you," the account posted. "You are in my heart, and in my heart you will remain. Remember me, please, in your prayers and in your thoughts." 'Not against our country' China's government, which is officially atheist, is wary of the Catholic Church on its territory, and exercises strict control over all recognized religious institutions. A Chinese woman from the northwestern city of Xi'an who attended Mass Sunday described to AFP the difficulty of making the pilgrimage, saying two organizers of her tour had been detained back in China. "Let me tell you, I feel so ashamed to hold the (Chinese) national flag," she said. "But I need to hold it and let the pope know how difficult it is for us." Another woman from the Chinese province of Hebei told AFP she felt "so blessed and happy to be able to be here and see the pope". "To have our own religion doesn't mean that we are against our country," she added. The Holy See has sought a rapprochement with China for years, and renewed a contentious 2018 deal last year that gives both parties and not just the Church a say in appointing bishops in China. Critics have called the move a dangerous concession in exchange for a presence in the country. A former Soviet satellite state that has been a democracy since 1992, Buddhist-majority Mongolia has one of the world's youngest and smallest Catholic communities, estimated at approximately 1,400 people among its population of 3.3 million. It has just 25 Catholic priests only two of them Mongolian and 33 nuns. Freedom of religion is guaranteed in its Constitution. Mongolia has sought to toe a neutral line with its expansionist neighbors Russia and China, on whom it depends for imports of energy and the export of its coal, even as it reaches out to third countries, including the United States and South Korea, for balance. South Africa's president said Sunday that an independent panel has found that there is no evidence that a Russian ship gathered weapons in South Africa for Russia. Reuben Brigety, the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, alleged in May that a Russian ship had docked at Simon's Town Naval Base near Cape Town to receive a shipment of weapons that would be transported to Russia. "None of the allegations made about the supply of weapons to Russia have been proven to be true," President Cyril Ramaphosa said Sunday. "No permit was issued for the export of arms and no arms were exported." The allegations raised issues concerning South Africa's neutrality about Russias invasion of Ukraine and could have exposed the African nation to the possibility of Western sanctions. The South African leader said the allegations "tarnished" the countrys image. Russia has likely proposed that North Korea participate in three-way naval exercises with China, according to a lawmaker who attended a closed-door briefing with the director of South Korea's top spy agency Monday. The briefing came days after Russia's ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, told Russian media that including North Korea in joint military drills between Russia and China "seems appropriate." Matsegora added it was his own point of view and that he wasn't aware of any preparations, according to Russia's Tass news agency. According to lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, when South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyou-hyun was asked about the possibility of such drills, he said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu likely proposed holding trilateral naval exercises with North Korea and China while meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in July. Kim invited Shoigu to a major military parade in Pyongyang in July while vowing to expand military cooperation with Moscow, which U.S. officials say could involve North Korean supplies of artillery and other ammunition as Russian President Vladimir Putin reaches out to other countries for support in his war against Ukraine. Last week, the White House said Kim and Putin exchanged letters as Moscow looked to Pyongyang for more munitions. Amid deepening nuclear tensions with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, Kim has been trying to boost the visibility of his partnerships with Moscow and Beijing as he seeks to break out of diplomatic isolation and have Pyongyang be a part of a united front against the United States. Diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington has stalled since 2019 over disagreements over the crippling U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea and the North's faltered steps to wind down its nuclear weapons and missiles program. In the briefing, Kim Kyou-hyun also said that North Korea's recent testing activities suggest its warplanes were highly reliant on its tactical nuclear systems as its aims to achieve swift victory over the South if war breaks out, as its otherwise ill-equipped military would struggle to handle a prolonged war, according to lawmaker Yoo. Kim has used the international focus on Russia's war on Ukraine to dial up his weapons demonstrations, which have included more than 100 missile launches since the start of 2022. Kim's testing spree has been punctuated by verbal threats of preemptive nuclear attacks against South Korea and other rivals if the North perceives its leadership as under threat. If you have ever watched the television series Miami Vice, featuring Crockett and Tubbs pursuing drug dealers, or watched a movie about the DEA, ATF, FBI, and other agencies chasing leaders of drug cartels, then you have seen a fictionalized version of what Bill Folowell used to do in real life. Folowell at one time worked in law enforcement and was part of a task force formed to combat the illegal drug trade in the western U.S. He spoke to the Enterprise Lions Club recently. Folowell began by noting that he was a Viet Nam vet who had served in combat in 1966-67. He came home to Oklahoma an angry young man, he said. He reported that this was a rough area, where the oil industry dominated. He felt lost with no sense of purpose. In 1972, he gave his life to Christ and things began to turn around for him. He settled down and got a job and got on with life. In 1986, he moved to Gunnison, Colorado, with no job and no immediate prospects. He was offered a place to live on a ranch and was hired at Crested Butte Ski Resort in Gunnison. Ski resort jobs are seasonal and in the off season, Folowell worked at the ranch where he lived the Means Ranch. On at least three occasions, he was told about a job opening for a law enforcement officer in Gunnison, but he did not think he was cut out to be a policeman and, besides, he thought he was too old at 42 years of age. Or so he thought. Maybe, his family told him, God had other plans for him. Folowell completed the application for the job and was called for an interview. When he was called for a second interview, he began to wonder why the local police department was so interested in him. As he walked down the hall, and through the mail room on his way to the police chiefs office, he saw his name had already been affixed to one of the mailboxes. He was dumbfounded and he was hired. Clearly, they saw something in him that he did not see. Folowell attended the police academy and graduated first in his class. He was also surprised to learn that the average age of his classmates was 47. The age restrictions for hiring new officers had been lifted, and police departments everywhere were looking for older, seasoned applicants. For three years he worked with the local police department. Then he moved to the sheriffs office and began to work other federal agencies to address the illegal drug trade in the western U.S. Folowell reported that this was during the War on Drugs campaign, which began under President Richard Nixon and was greatly expanded under President Ronald Reagans presidency during the 1980s. This campaign was a massive effort funded by the federal government to combat the trade in illicit drugs being transported and sold in the U.S. Folowell reported that his office worked with agents of the DEA, ATF, and the FBI, as well as the U.S. Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service. These agencies were involved because the drug dealers and carriers would often use federal land to conceal the drugs or to conduct their transactions. They dealt with people who were trafficking cocaine, heroin, and marijuana through Colorado, New Mexico, and eastern Utah. Some drugs came from South America, through Mexico, and some came from overseas. Folowell reported that all of their training was paid for through federal funds, all of their weapons were military-grade, and some of their training took place at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. His unit did a lot of undercover work and consisted of a number of highly-trained agents and three snipers. He admitted that he did everything he could to conceal the fact that he was a law enforcement officer, from the way he dressed to the weapons he carried. Folowell told a story about the time a brand new motor home was delivered to his unit as a place to conduct drug sales. Immediately, he said, he knew the pristine condition of the motor home would never dono drug dealer would live in such a place. The agents set about trashing the RV so that it more closely resembled a place drug dealers would hang out in and conduct their business. Some deals involved handling large amounts of cash, and Folowell said that carrying $500,000 in cash government money scared him more than just a little. Other deals were conducted by trading valuable items for drugs. Big flat-screen televisions and automatic weapons were sure to bring in the dealers who could then turn these items into cash. One sure way to lure in the head guy was to offer automatic weaponshe would want to fire the guns himself. And everyone knows that drugs and guns always go together. Folowell reported that his unit made some significant drug busts, and on one occasion alone, they seized $10 million in drug money from a dude ranch that was dealing. Ultimately, the War on Drugs was a losing battle. It ended when President Bill Clinton was elected, but by then the government had spent $1 trillion on the campaign. As long as there is a demand for drugs, there will be a supply available. And as soon as they took out one leader, there were one or two more ready and waiting to step in and take their place. After six and a half years with the drug task force, when the program was shut down, Folowell went back to his job as an investigator in the Gunnison County Sheriffs department. Southeast Asian leaders led by Indonesian host President Joko Widodo are gathering in their final summit this year, besieged by divisive issues with no solutions in sight: Myanmars deadly civil strife, new flare-ups in the disputed South China Sea, and the longstanding United States-China rivalry. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings will open Tuesday in the Indonesian capital Jakarta under tight security. The absence of U.S. President Joe Biden, who typically attends, adds to the already somber backdrop of the 10-state blocs traditional show of unity and group handshakes. ASEAN foreign ministers gathered Monday to finalize the agenda for the leaders. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi acknowledged the "many difficult circumstances in the region" that the bloc was facing and should overcome, including the Myanmar crisis. A five-point plan crafted by the leaders in 2021 to help bring Myanmar back to normalcy will be reviewed, she said. "The eyes of our peoples are on us to prove ASEAN still matters," Marsudi told fellow ministers. After discussions Tuesday, the ASEAN heads of state would meet Asian and Western counterparts from Wednesday to Thursday, providing a wider venue that the U.S. and China, and their allies, have used for wide-ranging talks on free trade, climate change and global security. It has also become a battleground for their rivalries. Chinese Premier Li Qiang was set to join the meetings, including the 18-member East Asia Summit. There, he would meet U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who will attend in lieu of Biden and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. While skipping ASEAN, Biden will fly to Asia for the G20 summit in India, then visit Vietnam to elevate ties. Washington says Biden was not relegating the bloc to a lower rung of geopolitical priorities and cited the U.S. presidents effort to deepen America's engagement with the region. "It's hard to look at what weve done as an administration, since the very beginning, and come away with a conclusion that we are somehow not interested in the Indo-Pacific or that we are deprioritizing the Southeast Asia nations and those relationships," John Kirby, a national security spokesperson, said at a news briefing Friday in Washington. In November, Biden attended the ASEAN summit meetings in Cambodia and in May 2022 hosted eight of the bloc's leaders at the White House to demonstrate his administrations commitment to their region while dealing with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Biden administration has also been strengthening an arc of security alliances in the Indo-Pacific, including in Southeast Asia, alarming China. Marty Natalegawa, a respected former foreign minister of Indonesia, expressed disappointment over Bidens non-appearance, but said such red flags were more alarmingly emblematic of ASEANs declining relevance. "The absence of the U.S. president, while it is disappointing and symbolically significant, is for me the least of the worry because whats more worrisome actually is the more fundamental structural tendency for ASEAN to become less and less prominent," Natalegawa told The Associated Press in an interview. Founded in 1967 in the Cold War era, ASEAN has a principle of non-interference in each member states domestic affairs. It also decides by consensus, meaning even one member can shoot down any unfavorable decision or proposal. Those bedrock rules have attracted a starkly diverse membership, ranging from nascent democracies to conservative monarchies, but have also restrained the bloc from taking punitive actions against state-sanctioned atrocities. The bloc currently groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Natalegawa said ASEAN's failure to effectively rein in Myanmars military government from committing human rights atrocities and its deafening silence when a Chinese coast guard ship recently used a water cannon to block a Philippine supply boat in the disputed South China Sea underscore why the group's aspiration to be in the center of Asian diplomacy has been questioned. Member states have turned to either the U.S. or China for security, he said. "Absenteeism by ASEAN is leading to unmet needs, and those needs are being met elsewhere," he said. Myanmar's civil strife, which has dragged on for more than two years after the army ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the South China Sea disputes were again expected to overshadow the Jakarta summit agenda, as in previous years. Indonesia tried to swing the focus to boosting regional economies with an upbeat theme this year "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth" but the geopolitical and security issues have continued to pester and spark diplomatic fallouts. The European Union has warned that its relations with ASEAN may be affected if it has to deal with Myanmar in any leadership role. Following the EU warning, Myanmar's military-led government, which has not been recognized by but remains a member of ASEAN, gave notice that it may not be able to chair the regional bloc as scheduled in 2026, three Southeast Asian diplomats told the AP. ASEAN leaders would have to decide in Jakarta whether to ask the Philippines to replace Myanmar as host for that year, said the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to publicly discuss the issues. Myanmar could also not assume a three-year role starting next year as coordinator of ASEAN-EU relations, according to the two diplomats. Myanmar's generals and their appointees have been barred from attending ASEANs leaders and foreign ministerial meetings, including this week's summit meetings, after the military government failed to fully comply with a five-point peace plan that called for an immediate end to violence and the start of dialogue between contending parties, including Suu Kyi and other officials, who have been locked up in jail since they were overthrown. In a crucial reform that would allow ASEAN to respond faster and prevent such crises from degenerating into deadly disasters, its member states have discussed proposed rules that would allow the group to make a decision even in the absence of consensus from all member states, one of the two diplomats said. Dinna Prapto Raharja, a Jakarta-based analyst and professor on international relations, said ASEAN's credibility is on the line if the Myanmar crisis drags on. While the bloc has no conflict-resolution mechanism for such domestic strife, it should be flexible enough to harness its clout and connections to help address such problems. "ASEAN continues to say that it's so difficult, it's so complex," she said. But, "as time goes by, all these opportunities simply evaporate." Taiwan is expecting an unusually competitive presidential election in January 2024 after Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of main iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, announced his bid to run for the top office as an independent candidate. Analysts say his entrance will add more uncertainties to the presidential race and further divide votes among the China-friendly opposition parties. "Gou's entrance into the race will further divide the oppositions votes," Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist at the Australian National University, told VOA in a phone interview. While opposition parties continue to explore possibilities of joining forces in the presidential race, Sung thinks Gou's bid to run as an independent would increase the difficulties for the opposition camp to find common grounds. Gou's lost in the main opposition party Kuomintangs (KMT) presidential primary in 2019. After KMT chose New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih, a police chief-turned-mayor, as its 2024 presidential candidate in May, Gou began to campaign around Taiwan and made several high-profile overseas trips to the U.S. and Japan. During a news conference announcing his presidential bid on Aug. 28, Gou said his candidacy is aimed at facilitating an alliance among opposition candidates because thats the only way to defeat current Vice President Lai Ching-te, who is the presidential candidate for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). "We must take down the corrupt and incompetent DPP in order to realize the transition of power and put the future of the Republic of China back on the right track," Gou said during the presser. "My candidacy is to facilitate alliance-forming among opposition forces and that is the only way to win the election." However, several opinion polls show that his entrance to the race will weaken support for the two main opposition presidential candidates, Ko Wen-je from the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), a doctor-turned-mayor, and Hou from KMT. Several opinion polls show Lai leads the race with around 35% of the support while Hou and Ko rank second and third with support rates between 15 and 20%. Gou currently trails behind in the four-way race scenario, with a support rate of around 15%. Even though opposition parties say attempts to form an alliance continue, some experts say the possibility of an opposition alliance remains slim. "I'm not too optimistic about opposition parties' attempts to join forces, because each camp has its own agenda and calculation," Chen Fang-yu, a political scientist at Soochow University in Taiwan, told VOA in a phone interview. However, since Gou has two months to collect 290,000 signatures to officially qualify as a presidential candidate, Chen said all scenarios remain possible. Mixed views from Taiwanese voters Highlighting his track record as a successful businessman, Gou promised not to let Taiwan "become the next Ukraine" and vowed to make Taiwan the richest place in Asia. "Give me four years, and I promise I will bring peace to the Taiwan Strait for the next 50 years," he said during the presser. "Give me four years, and I will develop technology and economy so that Taiwan will overtake Singapore in 20 years." Gou's campaign promises received mixed responses from Taiwanese voters. "As the international situation gets more and more dangerous for Taiwan, we need a leader who can fulfill promises and who has a track record of achieving great success, and Gou's business success proves he is the best candidate to be Taiwans next president," Judy Huang, a 52-year-old housewife in Taipei, told VOA in a phone interview. Other voters say the billionaire failed to offer concrete plans to back up his "flashy" campaign promises and that his business interests in China make him the candidate with the highest possibility to "sell Taiwan out to Beijing." "He is making all kinds of empty promises, but he doesnt say how he plans to fulfill those pledges," Wayne Lai, a 46-year-old engineer, told VOA in a phone interview. "He only sees the power that presidents hold but has never thought of the huge responsibility that comes with the position." Some analysts think Gou is trying to gain support from voters who are nostalgic about Taiwans economic success between 1990 and 2000. "Based on the policies he has proposed, including doubling the rate of Taiwans economic growth, Gou is trying to attract voters who got rich during the same period as him," Austin Wang, an expert on Taiwan politics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told VOA in a phone interview. He adds that since Gou was once the richest man in Taiwan and he helped Taiwan acquire vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, voters who are tired of the longstanding competition between the two major political parties or who value Taiwans economic success may find Gou more attractive. Limited prospect of winning the election However, there is still a level of public suspicion about how Gou may handle the growing pressure from Beijing, which views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to reunite with the island through force if necessary. "I have never been under the control of the People's Republic of China," Gou said on Aug. 28. "I don't follow their instructions." In an announcement on Sep. 2, Foxconn, which has huge business interests in China, said Gou has resigned as a company board member due to "personal reasons" and reiterated that the billionaire had handed over the role of chairman four years ago. Even though his presidential campaign is driven by "a sense of mission," Wang from UNLV said Gou lacks political resources and a stable support base that other presidential candidates have. In his view, these factors could limit the prospect of Gous candidacy. "If he doesnt form his political party, Gou's campaign may look like an avocation and he may only attract politicians who see the short-term benefits of following him, which will not be good for Gou either," Wang told VOA. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. In early September, leaders from 10 countries will meet in Indonesia for the 43rd Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, also known as ASEAN. A record drought in the Horn of Africa has killed vast numbers of cows, goats and sheep, imperiling the livelihoods of pastoralists like the Maasai in Kenya. Now, a U.S charity called Water is Life Kenya is giving herders new animals and cash. Juma Majanga reports from Enkongu Narok village. In her latest film at Venice, The Beast, Seydoux stars in three different genres at once. Photo: Carole Bethuel Im writing this blog from jail, where my bail has been set at $5 million for writing the above headline, but this crime against language was worth it to write about Lea Seydoux in The Beast, her latest film that premiered at the Venice Film Festival this weekend. (Other options included Dont Mind If I Lea Seydoux and Lea Seydoux Can Say and Do Anything, so be grateful.) Seydoux, whos a European festival mainstay but skipped Venice this year out of SAG-strike solidarity, is always impressive she can do indie French lesbian erotic romance just as easily as she can do Bond Girl; at Cannes in 2021, she was in four films at once, including a Wes Anderson movie where she played a stony cop and a French dramedy about a young TV journalist spiraling out of control. Last years Crimes of the Future saw her erotically performing surgery as performance art. In other words, shes always had range, but never has that been more apparent than in The Beast, where her performance effortlessly glides across three different time periods, three different genres, two different languages, and at least four different wigs. Directed by Bertrand Bonello, the film is a loose adaptation of Henry Jamess novella The Beast in the Jungle, about an extremely anxious man who lets his life pass him by as he awaits a vague, horrible fate hes foreseen for himself that never arrives. In Bonellos film, that unfortunately relatable affliction is bestowed upon Seydouxs Gabrielle, a woman whose life and star-crossed love story with Louis (George MacKay) we see unfolding across time, language, space, and genre: Theres a Merchant-Ivory-esque romantic drama taking place in the early 1900s Paris, a chilling horror film set in 2014 Los Angeles, and a melancholy sci-fi set two decades in the future. In that 2044 segment, humanity has transcended emotion and conflict and artificial intelligence reigns. Bonello has referred to it as a quasi-dystopia; nobody is upset anymore, but everybody is bored to tears, and the robots have all the jobs. Gabrielle is desperate to find work, but the 67 percent unemployment rate means she has to choose between holding onto her feelings and traumas, or engaging in a DNA purification ritual that will allow her to shed the weight of the human condition and get a good job that would otherwise be taken by AI. The ritual in question involves getting into an Under the Skinesque black-tar bath and revisiting her past lives so that she can work through her repressed emotions and let them go. She decides to give it a whirl, and soon realizes that in each of her past lives, shes been drawn inexplicably to MacKays Louis, as well as plagued by a sense of impending doom. We first meet Gabrielle in that 2014 segment, when shes a struggling, lonely actress in Los Angeles, house-sitting for a douchebag who monitors her every visitor from afar. Shes trying to break into the industry, acting in bizarre cell-phone commercials and opposite green-screen beasts that she cant see (extended metaphor alert). Seydoux is the most grounded in this section of the film, depressed and yearning desperately for human connection, and does some appropriately tragic but believable acting-like-shes-doing-VFX-acting. In this time period, MacKay is an incel directly inspired by and often quoting Elliot Rodger, hell-bent on getting revenge on all women, but specifically Gabrielle, for his perceived rejection. Bonello, MacKay, and Seydoux create an atmosphere of cold, liquid tension, with this section of the film unfolding not unlike the Drew Barrymore scene in the original Scream Louis stalks the glass house shes staying in as Gabrielle unravels inside of it, interacting only with her laptop, the owner of the house, and, briefly, bitchy girls at a local nightclub. At one point, the director of the commercial asks Gabrielle, Can you get scared by something that isnt here? She looks startled. Yes, she says. I think so. In 1913, Gabrielle is at her anxiety-queen heights, constantly freaking out about the future tragedy that awaits her and also about whether or not Paris is going to flood, but certain for some reason that those things are separate. Shes married to the owner of a doll factory, but having an intense emotional affair with Louis, who, in this time period, is a sexy single Parisian who hits on her at parties. She tells him shes spent my life thinking of things too horrible to relate, and hes like, Okay, hot. They write each other tormented letters and he says hell protect her from the doom-scenario she endlessly anticipates. Seydoux really gets to show off her tortured, horny rom-dram heroine chops here, her wide eyes often brimming over with unspilled tears; in one scene, she imitates the expression of a doll for at least 15 seconds, her face going completely flat for so long that it starts to become terrifying. Though shes the most social version of herself here, she still registers as alienated, with Bonello often choosing to shoot her close up as she wrestles with her unnameable fear and her unexpressed lust. Shes trying and failing to get rid of all of those qualities in the dystopian future, where she spots Louis, in this time period a sort of cipher who does yoga and stares curiously at her, also debating whether or not to purify his DNA. They see one another at an evolved version of the 2014 nightclub, one with a fluid theme that shifts depending on Gabrielles moods sometimes its a 1980s club, sometimes a 1960s, sometimes full, sometimes empty. She communes there with a living poupee named Kelly (played with perfect oddity by Saint Omer actress Guslagie Malanda), as well as a disappearing-then-reappearing The Shiningesque bartender who dispenses spooky advice. Now that she knows about her previous incarnations, shes desperately trying to figure out why Louis keeps reappearing across her lives (as well as freaky pigeons, fortune tellers, Madame Butterfly, a moody song about evergreen love, and lifelike dolls, among other recurring motifs), and what shes supposed to do about it. Her future-life is stagnant, cerebral, and bleak, but over the course of the ritualistic visits to her past, she comes to realize that the eventual ruin shes always feared might just be fear itself and the paralysis it induces. Seydoux is the most expressive here, frightened and often devastated, but occasionally content, her face crumpling in pain and expanding in delight. Bonello intended for the film to be a showcase for Seydouxs flexible capacity a quality that seemingly even confounds him. As he writes in the press notes, I wanted The Beast to be both a film about a woman and about the actress who embodies her I couldnt think of any other actress capable of playing Gabrielle across three eras. Lea Seydoux has a timeless and modern side. Its a rare thing Ive known her well and for a long time, but when the camera looks at her, its impossible to know what shes thinking. Shes a mystery. Photo: The Tonight Show Jimmy Fallon Do you remember the Timothee Chalamet puppet? Jimmy Fallon asked on the first episode of his podcast Strike Force Five, recorded with his fellow late-night hosts. If your brain is feeble like mine and cannot conceive of the events of 2019, you might have forgotten Chris Alans uncanny Timothee Chalamet ventriloquist dummy all sharp jawlines, high cheekbones, and creepy hooded eyes that went viral online and caught the attention of Fallon. As he tells it, The Tonight Show bought it for like, I dont know, way too much money, and Fallon proceeded to animate the dummy with a French accent in several bits on the show. Inevitably, Fallon says, the real Chalamet caught wind of the whole thing and wanted to come on the show and he wanted to destroy the puppet. He didnt like the bit, really. Fallon says he entertained the idea. I go, Well, I gotta ask the guy who we bought it from to let him know, he told the pod, referring to Alan, who Fallon then contacted. I go, Hey, were gonna have the Timothee Chalamet puppet destroyed. And the guy was really upset. He was like, No. And so Chalamet never got the chance to murder his miniature likeness. Or, thats the story according to Fallon. After the Strike Force Five episode aired, Alan reached out to Vulture to break his silence for the second time. They paid me a good amount of money for it, he confirms, but refutes just about everything else Fallon claimed. Could you walk me through what happened after you spoke to Vulture in 2019, when your Timothee Chalamet dummy first went viral? I initially made this dummy for one of my neighbors. She was like 23 at the time, and she loved Timothee Chalamet, and she was relocating for a job to New Zealand. I thought it would be funny to make her a little figure. But then it got to be a little bit too big, too much for her to take to New Zealand. How did it end up at The Tonight Show? I had this dummy, and I thought, Well, maybe I could use it to get some sort of publicity for my own business as far as making dummies goes. So I listed it on eBay, which I have done in the past with an Anderson Cooper ventriloquist dummy. I listed it I think it was on a Sunday. And then I was at work on Monday: All of a sudden I started getting interview requests about this dummy that Id made. Then I had to take the following day off work to be able to do interviews so I could just get them done in one fell swoop. I think it was that night one of my friends calls me freaking out, saying your dummy was just on The Tonight Show. I intentionally listed it on eBay for an insane amount of money because I didnt actually want to sell it. I used Timothees birthday, and I listed it for like $125,000 or whatever. I think thats what got everyones attention. A few days later, I checked my Instagram because stupidly at the time I didnt realize people could send you direct messages on Instagram. Thats a very dangerous place to look your Instagram DM requests. So I saw a few days later that The Tonight Show had reached out to me a few days prior saying, Hey, you know, we love the figure. Is there a way that we could purchase it? So we worked out a monetary figure and tickets to the show for myself and my siblings in exchange. They said, Who would you be interested in seeing if you had a choice? So I said, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, or Timothee Chalamet, if hes going to be on the show with the dummy. That would be awesome, right? Can you can disclose how much The Tonight Show purchased the dummy for? Id rather not just because Ive never disclosed that, and I just dont feel comfortable doing that, if thats okay. Thats fair. I guess it was the end of November of 2019, I think. I got an email from The Tonight Show saying Timothee Chalamet was going to be on and they would be taping it December 9, which was a Monday. And at that point, they had already used the dummy multiple times. How did you feel watching your dummy being used in their bits? Oh, well, it was funny because Jimmy gave him a French accent and, rather than trying to imitate Timothee Chalamets voice, he basically created a whole other character, like the French kind of bitchy version of Timothee Chalamet. I thought that was very clever, so I loved it. I didnt care what they did with it. I was totally fine with whatever. I thought it was really neat. Once they emailed me and said that he would be on the show and that were going to get some tickets for it, I thought, What could I do? It would be funny to surprise Jimmy Fallon, because I was really appreciative of all the things that they did. So I thought, How funny would it be if I created a Jimmy Fallon dummy and, unbeknownst to Jimmy Fallon, contacted Timothee Chalamets people and had Timothee Chalamet walk out with the Jimmy Fallon dummy? You know, Jimmy Fallon has been relentless with this dummy. Did you pitch this idea to anyone else before contacting Timothees people, or was this something you thought of alone? I spoke with my siblings. I spoke with friends. I spoke with my co-workers, and all thought it was really funny and that it would be a really funny bit. I immediately started working on this dummy because I only had a three-week window. It normally takes about three months to make one because you have to sculpt it, mold the head, and make all the parts for it. In the meantime, I tried to get in touch with Timothee Chalamets people because I was like, How the hell am I gonna get in touch with this persons people? Miraculously, I reached out to someone on his team in Los Angeles who thought it was a really funny idea. It was a man. I forget his name, but I could look it up, and he gave me the phone number for his East Coast representation his publicist and his management. I then reached out to them. I didnt get in touch with them until almost two weeks later. So at this point in the process, would say that the dummy was about 60 percent done? Yeah, I would say thats probably a good number. Probably a good 60 percent done. I had the head completely sculpted and had made the mold of it. So I sent a message. They responded and said, This is awesome. We love this idea. I then sent them the head sculpt of the Jimmy Fallon dummy just so they could see what I was working on. This was a week and a half before the show, and we were trying to figure out logistics. Were you working on the dummy with a team? No, it was just me, and I had a full-time job. So I got the dummy finished, and by this time, I hadnt heard back about logistics from his team. Then it was the Friday before the Monday, December 9, taping. I finally then reached out to them on Friday and said, Hey, you know, no ones gotten back to me since I sent the picture of the dummys head, and then she reached out later that day and said, Hey, weve decided were not going to have time to do it. And Im like, Are you kidding me? They were all gung ho about it and then suddenly its a no-go. How did you feel after you got that call? I was bummed. I wasnt angry. I was just bummed. You know, I was really looking forward to this, especially because my three siblings and I were all excited to go to New York and do this. There was a gut feeling that I had once their tone changed. It went from, This is so cool to We dont have time. Did it affect the way you felt about Timothee Chalamet? I know one of your articles that you guys wrote called me a Timothee Chalamet stan or whatever that means. Personally, I think hes fine. Hes a good actor or whatever. If a movie comes out, and I see its a Timothee film, does that make me go see it? No. I did it entirely for my next-door neighbor. So did it affect the way I felt about him? Not really, because I didnt think much about him to begin with. My gut feeling told me maybe he just didnt like it because of the fact that it had gone viral and there was no mention from his camp about this dummy anywhere like, no Instagram post, nothing. Was the dummy ever intentionally supposed to make fun of him? [Representatives for Chalamet did not respond to Vultures request for comment.] Not at all. No, my dummies are always just like kind of fun little caricatures. Ive done them of Melissa McCarthy, Anderson Cooper, Ellen DeGeneres, and Drew Barrymore. Andy Cohen has one in his office. Nine out of ten times, they love them. Celebrities tend to like to see pictures of themselves and stuff like that. Take me back to the present and talk me through how you learned about Timothee disliking the dummy on the Strike Force Five podcast. Your friend sent you the podcast, right? I didnt know anything until I actually sat there and listened to it. And then about 30 minutes into it, or a little more than that, Jimmy Fallon brings up the dummy and says that, I guess, Timothee Chalamet wanted to destroy it on the show, but that I would not allow it and that I was really upset about it or something very much to that effect. That was the first I actually heard him say that Timothee didnt like the bits. He went on to say that they didnt destroy it because they got in contact with me, which they did not do. Youre saying that Jimmy Fallons team never reached out to you about this situation? [Representatives for Fallon declined to comment on this story.] Exactly. And this is the first time youre hearing about it, correct? Absolutely, and all correspondence that I had with them was through Instagram and email Instagram in the beginning, when we worked out the deal for them to purchase it. They even came to my house to pick it up. They had someone from their prop department drive from New York to my home in Pennsylvania. All communication that weve ever had is in writing; we never spoke on the phone. It made me sad because I felt like it sort of made me look like the bad guy, like I was some diva who couldnt stand to see my work destroyed. I had the mold for it, and I had already made a duplicate of it for myself. I had a copy of it. They paid me a good amount of money for it. I couldnt care less what they did with it at that point. If you go on Google and just type in Who created the Timothee Chalamet puppet? or Who created the Timothee Chalamet ventriloquist dummy?, the very first thing that pops up is my name. Thats where I have a problem with it. It would be very easy and has been very easy for people to reach out to me. Do you have any other copies of the dummy other than the one you made for yourself? No. And I wouldnt sell another one. Why wouldnt you? It was meant to be a one-off, and when its a one-off, they take a lot of work because I make a head mold and this is going to be confusing but I make just a head mold. I dont make a separate jaw mold. So, in order to make additional ones, I have to recut a jaw and then I have to rebuild the teeth and the tongue and the sides, and theres a lot more work involved. It just wouldnt be worth it financially for me to make another one to sell. Ive had a lot of people ask to buy one, and I just wouldnt do it. Plus I dont feel comfortable when its not my likeness. How do you feel about Jimmy Fallon now? I think he just seems phony. Its just really soured me to the industry in general. I havent made a celebrity figure in quite some time. The whole thing with the Chalamet thing really put a sour taste in my mouth. Are you working on anything fun at this point? Ironically, I did a John Oliver dummy, which is probably my favorite dummy that Ive ever done just because I love John Oliver. And ironically, you know, he was part of that podcast. I dont think hes ever seen it. Do you want to pitch your dummy to John Oliver right now? Tell him theres a John Oliver dummy available, and hes more than welcome to it if hed like that. I actually had it for two years. John Oliver did an extra thing last summer with warped dolls washing up on a beach, and they ended up auctioning them for charity because it was so funny. So I took the mold that I made of John Oliver, and I made another, separate head and just beat the crap out of it and made it look like it was warped and worn from the beach and everything. I wanted to put it on the beach and take a picture of it and tag him, saying it washed up on shore. I feel like John Oliver is self-deprecating enough that hell have a really good time with it. I dont know what went wrong with the Timothee Chalamet one. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. Photo: Emilio Madrid When Marin Ireland yells, cries, or laughs, it fills the room from top to bottom. Not that any of those are that hard in this particular room. Ireland just finished starring in a Jack Serios production of Anton Chekhovs Uncle Vanya. Set in an 85 seat loft at Home Studios, after previously playing a 40 seat apartment, its performed with house lights on (until theyre not), and audience members scattered around the periphery of the room, staring at the actors and each other. The production, which ended on September 3, had a completely sold out run, with actors like David Cromer and Julia Chan playing to the smallest audiences of their careers. In the midst of that is Ireland as Sonya giving a tour de force performance of a lifetime that only a few lifetimes will get to tell the tale of. Sonya is a hard worker, a plain girl, and an occasional emotional wreck. Ireland vacillates between various forms of hysterics: crying, laughing, and running through the tiny space. She is eminently charismatic, and, together with Will Brill as Astrov, delivers a showstopping scene of connection toward the end of the shows first act that is more sensual, more gripping, and more human than that scene has ever seemed before. Then, at the end of the show, she steals it back again with her pleading delivery of Sonyas famed final monologue to Vanya (Cromer), begging him to just keep moving. When you have a play thats about climate anxiety, death, illness, grief, and loneliness, and youre speaking it in a space where people are also feeling exposed, theres something beautiful about trying to connect with that sensation, she says of the production. The embarrassment of it all is that Im reminded of how silly the artifice is, pretending I dont see these people sitting here. But the best part of it is when we all exist somewhere in between. Were like, No, youre here. Were here. Were all here together. Thats what makes it feel like church. I read that you became involved with the production through Will Brill and that you had long wanted to play Sonya. As a baby actor, Chekhov was always my fave. There was this legendary thing that went on for many years in Lake Lucille with these directors, Brian Mertes and Melissa Kievman. It was a weeklong Chekhov retreat at this house from the 1800s. We would rehearse for five or six days and then do an all-day Chekhov performance with the people from the neighborhood and people from New York. It was full expressionistic insanity. It was where I really learned what Chekhov was. I did Uncle Vanya with Bill Irwin as Vanya there. [Earlier this year], I went to see Irwin in Endgame and we were chit-chatting. Somehow, Vanya came up and he said, Now Id like to play the professor. The next day I ran into Will Brill, who I didnt know well. He mentioned, Last night I did this reading of Uncle Vanya. And all I was thinking was, Yeah, but who is Sonya? But I said, Well, I just saw Bill Irwin, if you need a professor, hes into it. And they were like, The guy who read it cant be isnt available. So actually thatd be great. So I wrote Will an email saying, Heres Bill Irwins email address and also can I be Sonya jk, lol? Im sure you already have somebody, but its my favorite play and my favorite part, so I have to shoot my shot. So he said, All right, if youre serious, we do need somebody. I wasnt even that close with Will Brill. It happened that we were in the same place the day after I ran into Bill Irwin and they had just done the reading and I just pitched myself and Bill Irwin. What was it like to put up this show in an apartment? Were really lucky in that, when we were in the original loft, we were there from day one. We built it there. I felt so much more exposed all along because of the proximity and imagining it all going down. It was so free. All the stuff we did in the candlelight, we rehearsed one night a week, and Jack gave us so much room to try weird stuff. The wildest stuff were things in that space where we first performed it. Bill Irwin, Julia Chan, Will Dagger, and I started the play outside on the fire escape, which meant we had to go down out of the building, downstairs under the building, and go outside. They put a cue light out there for us, but after the first night or two, we were like, We cant hear anything or see anything. So I started bringing my phone out there, and I would ask our stage manager at the time, Keyana [Hemphill], to text me when the play starts. And then I asked her to text me before the cue light goes on, because we just got so startled when its sudden. At the end of the show, everybody would run outside on the fire escape, and then theyre just standing out there huddled on a fire escape set or whatever. We had some umbrellas out there in case it was raining. There was one bathroom for all the audience and us. There is a genuine family feeling to all of that. We care for each other and really try to connect with the play and the audiences. Thats what we all missed for the last few years. Thats something I brought up when I talked to Jack at first. I didnt know Jack before, and, prior to me being cast, he said, Lets talk on the phone. I was trying to sell myself, so I said, I feel like I really need this. I really need this play and this part, I need to say that last speech. I need to connect with why we do this. When you have a play thats about climate anxiety, death, illness, grief and loneliness, and youre speaking it in a space where people are also feeling exposed, theres something beautiful about trying to connect with that sensation. What attracted you to Sonya? Ive had Sonyas final speech stuck to my wall for 20 years. Its like a prayer. Its an incantation. Its a spell. It holds so much mystery and power for actors and theater people, partially because some of the other plays end with more of an outright tragedy. This one is slightly different. Every time Im in a tough place, that speech returns to my consciousness. Youve just got to keep working. Part of what actors love about Chekhov is that as you move through your life and you have different experiences, the same play suddenly has all of that in it for you. Its not like anything else. As you experience different kinds of grief, different kinds of heartbreak, different kinds of love, you look at the same play you worked on when you were in college and all the things you just went through are there, and you didnt even know they were there before. What have you unearthed about Sonya, 16 years after you played it at Lake Lucille? When I was younger looking at Sonya, I thought much more about feeling anxious and ugly and unsure and nervous around Astrov. Now, I was really struck by how old their relationship is, and how their relationship is working for them. Until Yelena and the professor show up, this once a month hang works. And theres a big line that he says to Yelena, If you had asked me how I felt about her a few months ago before you guys showed up, it might have been something different. Thats part of why theres so much elasticity in these plays. Because I was like, I dont think right now Im interested in the version of Astrov and Sonya where shes a fool. It feels interesting to think, No, shes one of his best friends. Shes a really good listener and shes young because she hasnt actually experienced a lot of things. But shes not a fool. This isnt a play about some strangers who knock on the door and show up at the house. This is a play about really old feelings, old grief and new grief, and unresolved feelings. Theres a sexiness to your version of the scene between her and Astrov. How did that develop? Sonya is running this farm. Shes very much in her body in one way and not in another way. So I was like, Well then lets kind of go for that. Lets make her deeply physicalized. She almost doesnt talk at all in that scene. He does all the talking. Shes a great listener and thats incredibly sexy. Im like, Of course he felt like this went great. Of course he loves her. She listens. We were running lines the other day, and Will kept being like, Dont you say something there? And I was like, Nope. Me and Will just had a really fun chemistry, and most of the weird stuff we do in that scene just came out of us playing around with who we are with each other. We were making each other laugh. And then, as we were talking it through, we were like, Well, why not? The other thing about Sonya that I thought before working on the show again was that she always thought she was ugly. But now, I dont think she ever gave one thought to her physical appearance before Yelena showed up. It doesnt have to be a story about somebody who always thought she was an ugly person. Then Astrov says, If your Yelena wanted to, she could turn my head. I dont think shes thought about her physical self as a sexual being until this began happening, which means theres nothing threatening about touching him. But now it feels different, and what if its only just in this scene that she only realizes how different this moment could be? So then I dont get ahead of myself, being like, Are we almost going to kiss? Thats not in my lexicon. Hes telling me all his secrets. This is so intimate. I get to be surprised by it. In your soliloquy directly after that scene, when you say something to the effect of, I wish I wasnt so plain, it felt like its the first time shes had that thought. Especially the way were playing it, when he says, The only thing that still moves me is beauty, then follows it with, I think if your Yelena wanted to, she could turn my head overnight, its very exciting for me to play. Whats he about to say? Maybe he thinks Im beautiful. What if I can keep all of that alive until he says Yelena? And then Im just like, Right. Thats beauty. Sonyas able to find ways to keep hoping for things. When I was working up at Lake Lucille with Brian, he used to talk about how, in Chekhov, when it seems like the characters are sitting still, theyre actually running full speed in two opposite directions in their heads. Theres no stasis. Theyre literally just suspended, vibrating. One version of that with Sonya could be hope and despair or hopelessness. But I try to find a way for her to hope through it and to use that to get up in the morning. She thinks she knows what he is going to say to Yelena. Maybe she thinks, Fuck, now I know Im not beautiful. He said Yelena was beautiful, and hes looking right at me. But shes never had that exact thought before because she just hasnt thought about it. Shes running a farm. Am I pretty? is a luxurious thought. The arrival of the professor and Yelena as someone whos thought of as successful and someone whos thought of as beautiful causes Vanya and Sonya to think about the fact that theyre not successful and theyre not beautiful. By Act Three, theyre both in crisis over it. They were getting along just fine, not thinking about every day. Its a midlife crisis. That also makes me think of the 19th centurys invention of boredom. No one was able to be bored before, and then Yelena comes in, bored. Theres a luxury to that. Absolutely. There are a million things. Sonyas way of being is to not speak and then have these very intense moments of outpouring, whether its crying or laughing. How do you calibrate that in such an intimate space? One of the things also about this play and Chekhov and plays in general: Theyre so embarrassing. You just feel so exposed. And this girl feels embarrassed. I feel embarrassed as Sonya a lot. And it was really hard calibrating the outburst in Act One. I dont say a lot in Act One, and then I have that giant speech about Astrov and how incredible he is. She feels so transparent to me and its just so embarrassing. I decided to be like, Well, Im just going to go for broke. Its her house, she doesnt give a shit if shes having a big feeling. Shes young. Especially in the smaller space, you could feel the yelling and the big feelings bounce off the ceiling. Does it feel embarrassing to be surrounded by an audience with the house lights on? Yes, big time. These Chekhov plays are huge asks emotionally. Theres no cheating in these plays. They bring every actor everywhere to our knees. Its embarrassing to go out there and be like, Heres me in a Chekhov. We really have all felt like the times when its not working are the times where we arent just opening up our whole veins and our hearts. Especially because everybodys right there. The emotional jags that these characters make only make sense if you need it that bad. Your final monologue has come up as a gigantic part of your life. I have to imagine it was intimidating to create your own interpretation. Where do you get started? You know that youre going to disappoint yourself, so you have to approach it by asking, Whats the scene? as opposed to What is my performance? I did sort of ask Jack to just let us build to the end and then see where it is. I tried not to make too many big decisions about it before we worked through the whole play. And then it was a lot of, Lets just play it out and see what you discover. For me, theres a beautiful thing in that the play is called Uncle Vanya. Its not called Vanya. And hes only her uncle. Its not just her or him, but its her looking at him. They both get completely smashed, heartbroken, almost simultaneously. Act Four is them coming back together. And I think of it very much as him being her reason for going on. The speech is for him. Thats different every night. Its a conversation between us. If I tried to come up with something before we were doing it every night, then thats artifice. I just learn the lines, think the thoughts, and then its all about him. Just get him through. So you relinquish control to David? Yeah. I only keep talking. He needs more, and then I stop when I think weve gotten to a place where hes going to be okay for now. That speech used to mean something different to me, or maybe I never really understood things that it meant. I believe that we dont know who we are until we get our heart broken, and that sometimes it just keeps breaking. Thats life. Sonya has listened to everybody the whole play. When she wants to talk about Astrov, she tells Yelena to talk to her about him. She doesnt have those words. Shes listening to everybody tell her about who they are, and then, at the end of the play, she has to metabolize that into something. Its most enjoyable for me when I am discovering those thoughts for the first time and that shes never put those things into words before. Im looking for that every night. In your interpretation, she never had to have those thoughts before, right? Because she had hope. Act One for Sonya is a great day. Her dads here. They went on this hike. He seemed to have a good time. Astrov is here. Hes going to stay over? Fantastic. Things are a little haywire, but shes holding it all together. And then we have a month in between, and it just sucks after that. Now, nobodys helping her. The journey for her is so immense, shouldering everything and learning things about herself that she never had to learn. Because the alternative to playing her as a fool is for her to be naive. Yeah. The youthfulness in her is why shes open. She hasnt lived in the city. Why would she feel guarded? What is she guarding from? And now she feels its because shes ugly. But I think Im glad for her that she grows. Its part of just living. Do you think after the run of this show, youll be ready to be done with Sonya? Never. If they asked you to come back and do this production again, you would? Yes. I would do it all the time. Id do it forever. These plays kick your butt. But the alchemy of it is really special. This is the dream when youre a kid, you want to do Chekhov in New York City. Wed all been so sad when we ended the first time, but when the run first extended and we found out we were going to get to do it again, it was like, [groans] Oh, good! But its a huge gift. These things dont come around that often. This interview has been updated, edited, and condensed for clarity. Greg Rynenberg has been building businesses for over 40 years but remains as passionate today as when he launched his first business at age 27. Dynamic Business sat down with Mr Rynenberg to discuss how his latest venture, Flexigrow, can help SMEs thrive despite the challenges that lie ahead. Australian SMEs are doing it tough, and the difficult times are set to continue, with the RBA predicting that economic growth will slow considerably over the second half of the calendar year 2023. Never has working smarter, converting every prospect into a sale, and closely monitoring cash flow been more critical to business survival. Mr Rynenbergs mission is to help entrepreneurs better control and monitor their business drivers to become more profitable. The Flexigrow Business Management platform has been designed to improve efficiency so owners can focus on growth. It reduces entrepreneurs daily frustrations and keeps them in touch with how the business is performing. Understanding the pain points An insurance broking business is at the core of Greg Rynenbergs business portfolio, and the brokerage also provided the genesis for Flexigrow. As well as loving to help people protect their assets, I love to help businesses grow, he explained. Insurance brokers visit a lot of clients and talk to a lot of business people, and I hear all the frustrations they experience running their business. Most entrepreneurs know what they want to do: they want to be a great electrician, they want to be a great plumber, they want to be a great management consultant. What frustrates them the most is putting all the administration pieces of the business together to make it run efficiently. You have to learn those things: I had to learn them. An important part of Mr Rynenbergs learning curve occurred when he launched a finance company 35 years ago, a time when business computing was still in its infancy. Look, Im a guy who likes to make things simple and run efficiently, and I quickly realised that computers were the thing that would make that happen, he explained. I looked for software for my finance company, and there was none. So, being me, I decided to engage a software business to build bespoke software. That software became the leading software for what we call premium finance throughout Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Canada. Its the number one software used by many of the leading premium/Fee funders today. Integration is key to productivity Having developed a taste for software development, Mr Rynenberg built and refined bespoke software solutions that could improve the performance of his business units. The trouble with business is you have all these different programs surrounding you, but unless youve got a bit of knowledge, it is very difficult to integrate them. I soon learned that if my systems could seamlessly talk to each other, I could save money and time and make things run more efficiently. Throughout the years, Mr Rynenberg dedicated his efforts to crafting an array of software products capable of seamlessly integrating numerous business functions. What set me apart when creating our business management tool was my first-hand experience running a business, he explained. This innate understanding of their inner workings enabled me to grasp how each component interconnects. And thats the genesis of Flexigrow it emerged from those modest origins. Making the numbers meaningful Mr Rynenberg observed that while accounting packages are critical to your business, they are not business management tools and dont always provide all the information business owners require to keep their fingers on the pulse. And monitoring performance is critical at present. The July 2023 CreditorWatch Business Risk Index showed the average value of invoices for Australian businesses has dropped 28 per cent over the past 12 months. B2B trade payment defaults continue to trend upward, with an 86 per cent year-on-year increase. In short, companies are writing less business, and non-payments are rising. This is where Flexigrow Business Management comes in, providing a solution designed to transform your business operations. It is an intuitive and scalable subscriber-based platform that seamlessly integrates various essential business functions, including Quoting, Appointment Scheduling, Invoicing, a Pay Now feature, and Inventory Management. The platform provides flexibility from any corner of the world, whether youre a tradesperson on the move or a business on the rise, Mr Rynenberg continued. Its versatility extends to mid-sized companies, particularly those with invoicing requirements and a demand for smooth payment experiences. Flexigrow facilitates swift quote approvals, deposit payments, and invoice settlements through a single link. The integrated digital payment capabilities provide the seamless transactions that customers demand. Mr. Rynenberg underlined the importance of effortless payments in maintaining healthy cash flow, a sentiment echoed by delighted business owners whove embraced the Pay Now button. Beyond financial management, Flexigrow tracks invoices, issues reminders, and manages client and inventory databases and schedules. Mr Rynenberg said that the upcoming release of a mobile application to capture expense data is just a glimpse of whats to come. Anticipate the integration of marketing and debt collection tools as Flexigrow continuously expands its capabilities. Mr. Rynenberg concluded: Our message to clients is clear: This is your software. Our mission is to refine it for your businesss growth. Every innovation will be tailored to fuel your success. Business expansion tips We asked Mr Rynenberg to share his business insights with our readers. Adopt a customer-centric approach Understand your target audiences needs, pain points, and preferences. Gathering feedback and actively listening to your customers needs helps you tailor your products or services accordingly. A customer-centric approach will improve customer satisfaction, loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals. Strategic marketing Having a well-rounded marketing strategy that combines online and offline efforts is paramount. Look at content marketing, social media engagement, search engine optimisation (SEO), and paid advertising. Tracking your actions and customer reactions provides greater insight. Effective sales techniques Develop a process that includes consultative selling, relationship building, and problem-solving by putting yourself in your customers shoes. This helps you understand the buyer journey so you can adapt sales approaches at different stages. This is where a good CRM or customer journey process assists your business. Product development Always look at fresh ideas or innovations to keep your product or service offering appealing. The old story that a ripe piece of fruit will rot over time is pertinent to business. You must constantly change and evolve and allow yourself to be green and growing. People management As your business grows, its important to build a strong team. Consider how you recruit, onboard and bring people into your culture. Helping employees grow and develop is an investment in your team and business. Conduct regular one-on-ones with your managers and ask them to do the same with their team. This is a great way to listen, learn and keep people on track. A flexible workplace that accommodates different arrangements promotes a motivated and productive workplace. Data-driven decision making Being able to analyse data helps every business make informed decisions. Data can provide insights into customer behaviour, market trends, and operational efficiency. This may be highly technical, but simply monitoring a few trends can help you make the right decisions or enhance your products or services. Dont underestimate the importance of having key performance indicators that allow you to reset quickly. Work on yourself Your enterprise and its success rely on you being motivated, open to learning and the best possible leader. We have so many avenues available these days to expand our knowledge. Having a trusted mentor who you can bounce ideas around with is a great way to help you grow. Taking the time to set strategies and goals keeps you on track and moving forward. Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Share Comment on this story Comment Add to your saved stories Save Delhi, Hanoi, but not Jakarta. US President Biden is skipping the Asean meeting this week, and sending Vice President Kamala Harris instead. The optics arent great, especially as Biden is going to be in the region: Hes travelling to Delhi for the Group of 20 summit and Hanoi right after. Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox every weekend. ArrowRight No matter what anyone says, getting the consolation prize is never fun. And thats what it must feel like for Indonesia, the host of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering. Not only is Biden not attending, hes snubbing a major regional power and given that the US has consistently said it wants to build a stronger relationship with Asia, it feels a little like an own goal. Ultimately, though, actions speak louder than words. And when someone shows you who they are in a relationship, believe them. The harsh reality is that some Asian countries are simply more important to the US than others. Advertisement It is a cold, calculated decision to reinforce the ongoing stress on consolidating individual allies and partners like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and now Vietnam, says Michael Vatikiotis, author of several books on Asia, including Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia. Its all about spooking China and picking each of these countries off one by one is easier, rather than in a multilateral forum where Beijing will be present. The deliberate cherry picking of allies and partners is the brainchild, insiders tell me, of Bidens key Asia policy czar, Kurt Campbell. It is likely to continue, as Campbell has pointed out in a discussion earlier this year at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. The strategy is to create a network around China a carefully strung together geographic necklace of countries that all see Beijing as a mutual threat. Advertisement The recently convened Camp David meeting between the US, South Korea and Japan is an example of that. So are Aukus, the multibillion-dollar partnership the US unveiled with Australia and the UK, and the Quad grouping made up of India, Australia, Japan and the US, all ostensibly designed to combat Chinas growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and around Taiwan. Its not so simple. Not everyone sees the world with the same black-and-white, us-and-them polarized prism that the US has begun to point at Beijing. For a lot of countries, China has been a lifeline and will continue to be economically, despite the current slowdown. And that includes some of those the US is trying to court. Indonesia should, in theory, be a natural partner for Washington. It is a large, vibrant democracy with historically strong military ties to the US. But in recent years, under President Joko Widodo, the archipelago has been receptive to the economic overtures from Beijing. Advertisement Allowing Chinas influence to continue would be a mistake for the US. The ambivalence from Jakarta is understandable given it is the largest economy in Southeast Asia, with relatively strong prospects. And it no longer feels that it needs to kowtow to either Beijing or Washington to ensure its relevance. Share this article Share Its clear that multilateralism has become far less important to both the US and China. The US sees its strategy of going after countries one by one in the region as successful and efficient. And if the attempt is to counter its chief competitors role in Asia, then signing a major upgrade in the partnership with Vietnam is far more useful than spending a day in Jakarta. Still, Bidens snub is shortsighted. There is an election in the US year next year, so he is unlikely to turn up at the Asean meeting that will be held in Laos either. The Trump era of pulling out of trade deals and America First has not been forgotten, and while Biden has succeeded in convincing some Asian partners that the US is back and is engaging in the region, others dont feel the same way. Advertisement Relationships good ones at least take time, effort and work. Building trust means being sincere and genuine in those attempts. A Jakarta stopover would have been an easy win for Biden at a time of an economically weaker China. Skipping it makes the US look like it just wants a marriage of convenience with Asia, rather than a partnership of any real substance. More From Bloomberg Opinion: Is China a Developing Nation? I Dont Think So: Mihir Sharma Why Talking Tough on China Is a Risky Move: Karishma Vaswani How Japan Can Make Itself Americas Best Ally: Hal Brands This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Karishma Vaswani is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asia politics with a special focus on China. Previously, she was the BBCs lead Asia presenter and worked for the BBC across Asia and South Asia for two decades. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Share Comment on this story Comment Add to your saved stories Save New efforts in the Mideast to crack down on a highly addictive stimulant known as captagon are fueling a political shift in the region that could see Syrian President Bashar Al Assads rehabilitation in the Arab world even as the West levies new sanctions. The US, UK and others accuse the Assad regime and its ally, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, of producing and trafficking the illegal drug as a money spinner. Saudi Arabia and other Arab states have signaled an openness to normalizing ties with Assad after years of supporting rebels seeking to topple him in the hope of getting his help curbing its worrying spread. Assad, who denies any involvement with captagon, seems to be angling for relief from Western sanctions in return for his cooperation. 1. Whats captagon? Sometimes called the poor mans cocaine, its an amphetamine-type substance like speed that can trigger a boost in energy and alertness as well as a sense of euphoria or invincibility. Its also been referred to as the jihadists drug because of its association with Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria over the years. Gulf Arab states have been the biggest consumer market for captagon over the past two decades. According to the United Nations, the price of high quality captagon sells for a few dollars in Syria to as much as $25 per tablet in Saudi Arabia. Its popular with everyone from teenagers studying for exams to construction workers. More than 1 billion captagon pills have been seized in the last three years, with the bulk destined for Saudi Arabia, according to Karam Shaar, a Syrian economist and researcher who has advised Western governments on Syrias war economy. Advertisement 2. Where did it come from? The drug first appeared in the early 1960s in Germany as an authorized pharmaceutical under the trade name Captagon. Its main ingredient was fenethylline and it was prescribed for a range of conditions including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, mainly in Europe and the Middle East. It was banned in most countries in the 1980s because of concerns about its highly addictive nature and other side effects. Because its easy to make, illicit production took off in southern Europe and shifted to Lebanon and then Syria in the 2000s. While the official brand name no longer exists, tablets today are stamped with the logo and may contain a wide range of substances, including fenethylline, amphetamine, caffeine, and more, according to the US State Department. 3. Whats the link to Assad? Advertisement US and UK officials say Assad, who was heavily sanctioned by the West over his bloody quelling of a popular uprising in 2011, turned to the drug trade to generate cash and retain the loyalty of his inner circle. Today, 80% of the worlds supply of captagon is produced in Syria, according to the UK Foreign Office. It described the trade as a financial lifeline for the Assad regime worth approximately three times the combined trade of the Mexican cartels. Multibillion-dollar shipments leave regime strongholds such as the port of Latakia, and Assads younger brother, Maher al-Assad, who is also sanctioned, commands the elite unit of the Syrian Army that facilitates the drugs distribution and production, as detailed in a 2021 investigation by the New York Times. In an interview with Sky News Arabia in August, Assad said war, weak governance and corruption have turned Syria into a flourishing base for captagon manufacturing and trade, but denied involvement by himself or his government. Share this article Share 4. Whats being done? The West and the Arab world are taking divergent tracks. The US and UK and the European Union imposed new sanctions this year on Syrian and Lebanese individuals and entities, including cousins of Assad they accused of mass producing captagon. The State Department in June released a written strategy to disrupt, degrade, and dismantle the illicit captagon networks linked to the Assad regime as mandated by last years Captagon Act. The strategy concedes, however, that the US has limited ability to make an impact, as the experience fighting counternarcotics in Afghanistan illustrates. At the same time, the Saudis have sought to reengage with Assad to curb flows of the drug. He attended an Arab League summit in Jeddah in May for the first time in 13 years, shortly after Syria was reinstated to the 22-member group. The drug has become popular well beyond Saudi Arabia and is used from the United Arab Emirates to Jordan, where the army has been enlisted to fight the captagon trade. Jordans Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who met Assad in Damascus in July, said he hasnt ruled out military action inside Syria. Ending captagon smuggling from Syria and Lebanon topped the agenda of a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo in August. Advertisement 5. Whats Assads response? In the TV interview, Assad said responsibility for the drug trade lay with Western and regional states that sowed chaos in Syria by intervening on the side of his opponents. He also seemed to make the lifting of European and US sanctions on Syria and funds to rebuild the economy a condition for any progress in fighting captagon, or for allowing Syrian refugees to return homes. Lina Khatib, director of the SOAS Middle East Institute, testified to British lawmakers in June that captagon was being used as a diplomatic tool. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Share Comment on this story Comment Add to your saved stories Save I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies Exactly 10 years ago, I joined 136 people from 43 countries at a naturalization ceremony in a courtroom in downtown New York to proclaim our allegiance to the country that had embraced us as its own. Overcome by the emotional charge of the occasion, we struggled to keep our voices steady and our eyes dry. Even Janet Napolitano, administering her final oath as secretary of homeland security, teared up as she welcomed us as my fellow citizens. I was flanked by a young woman from Ukraine and a middle-aged man from Peru; she worked on Wall Street, and he was a cab driver. As we told each other of the journeys that had brought us to that magical moment, her English was heavily accented; his was liberally interspersed with Spanish. Advertisement At one point, we talked about what had been the final hurdle on the path: The citizenship tests. Shed found the civics quiz quite stressful; he, like me, thought it had been easy-peasy. We didnt talk about the other test the one that judged our English skills. More than likely, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services officers who had interviewed us skipped over that part of the process in order to move things along. In my case, the examining officer had said something along the lines of, Youve made it this far. Theres no need to waste our time on this. The Biden administration, which is proposing to make the English test harder, apparently does not understand what my USCIS examiner had come to recognize, from some combination of intuition and experience: If you want to be an American and have lived in this country long enough to qualify, then a language test is entirely redundant. In the current format, the officer conducting the naturalization interview can evaluate the applicants speaking ability by asking questions she or he has already answered when filing the paperwork. The new test, meant to go into effect next year, would include a speaking section in which applicants would be asked to describe scenes depicted in photographs, such as kinds of food or activities like commuting to work. Advertisement It sounds simple enough, but it is no less superfluous for that. All applicants for citizenship are tested by the ultimate arbiter of American life: The free market. Before they can get to the naturalization test, their abilities are vetted by a system that requires immigrants to find work, shelter, food and access to education and healthcare, with little support from the state. And living the American way puts us all through a long and continuous examination, unlike the brief, one-off test at the USCIS. I had been fortunate to be fast-tracked for the Green Card that confers permanent residency in the US, and then waited five years, the minimum requirement, before applying for citizenship. It had taken the Ukrainian twice as long and the Peruvian three times as long to reach the test stage. By then, we were as fluent as required by the nature of our livelihoods and, by extension, our lives. Whats more, we were in a country where the government city, state and federal alike was getting better and better at communicating in languages other than English. Multilingual forms are the norm rather than the exception, and even the USCIS website offers information in 33 languages, from Amharic to Vietnamese. Advertisement If the language test is unnecessary, the civics test is just plain unfair. Applicants must correctly answer six out of 10 questions chosen from a published set of 100. Polls have shown most Americans would fail: Why should those who want to join their ranks be held to a higher standard? Share this article Share Joe Biden is not the first American president to try and raise the bar for naturalization. Donald Trump wanted to make the civics test longer and to introduce more politically loaded questions. Biden rightly scrapped that plan. This makes his administrations proposal for a tougher English test even more inexplicable. Over 9 million Green Card holders are eligible for citizenship, but barely 10% of them apply for naturalization each year. The Biden administration has said it wants that proportion to grow. In typical Washington fashion, it has set up an interagency committee to come up with a strategy to encourage more people to take the path that brought me to that New York courthouse 10 years ago. Advertisement Heres a good place to start: Scrap the civics and language tests. More From Bloomberg Opinion: Too Much of America Is Emptying Out. More Immigration Can Help.: Matthew Yglesias Want Lower Food Prices? Ease the Crackdown on Immigration: Amanda Little One Answer to the Migration Crisis? Jobs.: The Editorial Board Want more Bloomberg Opinion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. Previously, he was editor in chief at Hindustan Times, managing editor at Quartz and international editor at Time. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Share Comment on this story Comment Add to your saved stories Save The US is engaged in what it terms strategic competition with China, a full-throttled campaign to prevent the worlds No. 2 economy from gaining an edge in state-of-the-art technology that could threaten both jobs and national security. On one track, President Joe Biden is using massive subsidies to support domestic industries seen as drivers of growth and innovation. Meanwhile, his administration is working to hobble Chinas efforts with trade restrictions, blacklists and investment curbs. In response, Chinese President Xi Jinping is harking back to the countrys tradition of central planning, marshaling private companies and trillions of dollars in public money to drive research and development. For Xi, who has stressed national security more than any of his predecessors, becoming self-reliant in critical tech is imperative to counter what he sees as containment as tensions with the US escalate. 1. What has the US done? The Biden administration has pursued an industrial strategy aimed at building manufacturing capacity at home and diversifying supply chains in areas such as clean energy, electric vehicles, semiconductors and high-performance computing. At the same time, its been limiting not just advanced chips but chip-making equipment and design software that can be exported to China. Its also seeking to cut off funding: An executive order signed in August imposes limits on US investments in some Chinese semiconductor, quantum computing and artificial intelligence firms. The US has enlisted allied countries so that suppliers like ASML Holding NV in the Netherlands and Japans Nikon Corp. join its export controls. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said the US and its allies want to maintain as large a lead as possible to ensure that technology that could tilt the military balance is not used against us. Advertisement 2. Where does China stand technologically? China has been rapidly evolving from an imitator to an innovator in advanced industries from supercomputers to EVs to smartphones, threatening US market share as well as national security, according to a report this year from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. It also dominates global processing of the critical minerals vital for things like solar panels and lithium batteries. China completed its own space station last year and is planning to build a lunar base. The US Defense Intelligence Agency said in March that China was in the lead in developing hypersonic weapons, which can fly fast and low and carry nuclear warheads. But its aspiration to become a true tech rival to the US faces deep challenges, chief among them its inability to produce the most sophisticated semiconductors that are the brains of modern electronics. In 2021, Chinese companies spent more than $400 billion buying chips based largely on Western technology more than the country spent on oil. By the second half of 2023, there were signs that its domestic chip development efforts were paying off, with Huawei Technologies Co., a firm blacklisted by the US, able to produce an advanced 7-nanometer chip to power its latest smartphone. 3. Whats China done? Advertisement The Communist Party this year has pushed private capital to collaborate on government initiatives aimed at addressing areas of weakness, such as robotics, quantum computing and chips, rather than softer internet services. It created a central technology commission to enhance oversight and gave the Ministry of Science and Technology expanded powers to help drive fundamental innovation. The party also established a national agency to police and develop data as a strategic resource. Those policies all feed into whats called the whole nation strategy. In March, then-Premier Li Keqiang described it as encouraging private capital to collaborate on major government initiatives aimed at addressing areas of weakness. For example, cities and state-owned telecommunications companies awarded contracts worth an estimated $1.4 trillion to private companies like Huawei and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology in 2020 to lay fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks, install cameras and sensors, and develop AI software. The aim was to underpin autonomous driving, automated factories and mass surveillance. China also has several programs that collectively are disbursing trillions of dollars: Share this article Share 4. Hows it going? Until recently, the Chinese governments hefty investments had borne little fruit, with state champions including Huawei, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. struggling to advance their products under the weight of progressively tighter US sanctions. A flurry of anti-corruption probes last year that targeted people connected to the states secretive investment vehicle, known as the Big Fund, was seen as reflecting official frustration. This year, China was said to be looking at alternative ways to boost industry, such as lowering the cost of materials. Huaweis smartphone with its 7-nanometer processor a technology that Chinese chipmakers werent known to have mastered showed the country was edging toward self-sufficiency in semiconductors and could produce at least limited quantities of chips five years behind the cutting-edge. The new chip still lagged far behind rival products from US companies including Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc., showing China still has a way to go to catch up. Advertisement 5. Whats the outlook? Chinas production of key electronics declined in the first quarter of 2023, a situation that is likely to worsen with the Biden administrations curbs on cutting-edge chips. In April, Xi again exhorted companies to break technological barriers, saying innovation was key to realizing high-level technological self-reliance. That speech came shortly after China opened a new front in the battle by announcing a cybersecurity review of imports from the largest US maker of memory chips, Micron Technology Inc. In May, the agency said the products have security risks and moved to ban them from critical infrastructure in its first significant retaliation for US export controls. In July, in a further escalation, China restricted exports of two critical materials used in semiconductors gallium and germanium. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Recipes What do you want to cook today? The new Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy has identified manufacturing as one of the priority sectors for safety management, as workers are exposed to major health and safety risks in the line of work. According to Safework Australia, 11% of all workplace fatalities recorded in 2021 occurred in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturers are generally aware that they must comply with the applicable workplace safety legislation, to ensure their employees are safe at work. However, not having adequate safety management systems in place can impact a business, explains Mary Nizamis, Chief Relations and Governance Officer at Skytrust, a cloud-based safety and compliance software system providing users with a holistic approach to safety compliance. Cloud-based health and safety software resolves these issues fast, putting the employer and employees firmly in control of workplace safety. Unpacking the benefits of Skytrust as a cloud-based software solution Quick and easy implementation: Unlike traditional software packages, cloud-based software solutions dont rely on the download or installation of IT infrastructure. The Skytrust software, for example, can be configured and operational within 48 hours, says Mary. Unlike traditional software packages, cloud-based software solutions dont rely on the download or installation of IT infrastructure. The Skytrust software, for example, can be configured and operational within 48 hours, says Mary. Cost-effective, flexible packages: A monthly subscription enables a cost-effective package that also provides ongoing enhancements to the platform at no cost to the client. A monthly subscription enables a cost-effective package that also provides ongoing enhancements to the platform at no cost to the client. Easy access: Employees can easily access the software, at any time, through smartphones, laptops and other devices. An App also offers the ability to report incidents, hazards, and conduct inspections even when offline. Employees can easily access the software, at any time, through smartphones, laptops and other devices. An App also offers the ability to report incidents, hazards, and conduct inspections even when offline. Software enhancements: As part of the package , continual enhancements ensure the business is always utilising the latest version of the software, without the time (and additional IT costs) associated with purchasing updates. As part of the package continual enhancements ensure the business is always utilising the latest version of the software, without the time (and additional IT costs) associated with purchasing updates. Collaboration and data sharing: Cloud-based software enables employees to edit and share data collaboratively, in real-time. It also ensures data consistency, resulting in fewer errors. This makes teams more productive, especially in environments or industries involving remote work, elaborates Mary. Cloud-based software enables employees to edit and share data collaboratively, in real-time. It also ensures data consistency, resulting in fewer errors. This makes teams more productive, especially in environments or industries involving remote work, elaborates Mary. Data and reporting: Cloud-based software can collect and collate business data which, in turn, can be used to enhance business operations and performance. The Skytrust reporting features allow you to track and measure the effectiveness of your WHS management systems and gain a global overview of how the business is performing, says Mary. Cloud-based software can collect and collate business data which, in turn, can be used to enhance business operations and performance. The Skytrust reporting features allow you to track and measure the effectiveness of your WHS management systems and gain a global overview of how the business is performing, says Mary. Security: Cloud-based software requires dedicated strict security protocols to be put in place by the provider, to reduce the risk of data being compromised. Similarly, the data recovery and backup functionality of the cloud prevents data losses and downtime, adds Mary. Cloud-based workplace safety software allows risk controls to be implemented company-wide, and these controls to be constantly reviewed and monitored as required. The safety manager can evaluate whether current safety management systems are effective in mitigating risks, explains Mary. She points to Skytrusts work health and safety software, which enables management and staff to track, monitor and record incidents online with quick and easy access via smartphone or tablet, using QR codes. Her advice when considering safety management software is to choose a solution thats easy to use, offers easy-to-understand dashboards with real-time data, and with the functionality to manage everything from training to machinery licences and employee information in one place. The implementation of new technology solutions can be daunting but, with careful planning, its easier to get the whole team on board, she adds. Laying the foundations for technology adoption Mary reiterates that a companys technology adoption plan shouldnt be any different to other strategic business plans. Follow the standard principles of strategic planning: Set your vision: Collaborate with key personnel to outline shared long-term goals. This helps get all stakeholders on board and can avoid potential barriers. Build your plan: Everyone in the business needs to be aware that digital transformation will initially have various implications for different personnel when moving from existing systems. Good communication is essential in managing expectations. Involve your IT department: Moving to cloud-based technologies sometimes relies on the input of your IT team to efficiently manage the transition. To reduce any challenges or barriers with the process, get your IT team involved from the start for a smoother transition. Develop a business case: Evaluating your return on investment will help create a clear business case and rally stakeholder support. Businesses that have whole team support and customer understanding, experience positive outcomes from their digital transformations. Get into the Cloud: Online software services are the next logical step for any business. This is because they not only enable remote use, but also provide many benefits around efficiencies, productivity, and reduced IT operating costs through not having to manage your own servers or maintain systems. Your provider should ensure that all your cybersecurity requirements are met and there is also the added benefit of reducing your carbon footprint, adds Mary. Learn more about the Workplace Health and Safety Show To aid Australian business owners in better understanding how cloud-based safety solutions can empower them, Skytrust will be participating in the upcoming Workplace Health and Safety Show, taking place at Sydney Showground from 20-21 September 2023. Mary will be part of a free interactive forum (Transforming to Cloud-based Safety Technology Your Safety Journey) on 20 September, to explore the transition to digital safety management and the positive impact this can have on compliance. On 21 September, Skytrust MD, Corey Burford will present a session (Is Your Head In The Cloud When It Comes To Cyber Security?), providing an overview of things to consider and questions to ask when considering a cloud-based safety system. New technology solutions are great enablers of enhanced workplace safety management and compliance. This is why were delighted to have Skytrust on board as the Major Exhibition Sponsor of the Workplace Health and Safety Show. Their presentations will give Show attendees critical insight into digital, cloud-based tools, as well as practical pointers. With free registration, the Show is not to be missed, concludes Marie Kinsella, CEO of the IEC Group (organiser of the Workplace Health and Safety Show). Interested professionals can view the Workplace Health and Safety Show program and complete their free registration, at https://www.whsshow.com.au/sydney/program. About the Workplace Health & Safety Show 2023 Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Last week, CBD reported that the NSW Liberal Party had turned to ancient Athens as inspiration for the partys new finishing school for aspiring politicians. Loading Turns out the party of opposition wasnt finished demonstrating how firmly it has its finger on the pulse. On Friday, members of the Young Liberals received an email from the partys head of generosity Wendy Farrow (yes, thats a real position), alerting them to a new partnership with online will-writing platform Safewill. Those game enough to click through to Safewills website were greeted with a stock photo of an old guy with a long grey beard. In another flight-related Senate vote, the Greens have gained a victory this afternoon in the dispute over the use of VIP aircraft by ministers and the outcry over the $3.6 million cost of flights for Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. While the government is refusing to release the details of the flights, Greens NSW Senator David Shoebridge gained the numbers in the upper house to order the government to release documents that explain the flights and their costs. Defence Minister Richard Marles enters parliament today for question time. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Shoebridge won by 42 to 19 votes, putting Labor senators in the minority when they voted against the disclosure. The Greens, Coalition and crossbenchers were united in wanting to find out more about how the money was being spent. There is a catch, however, because Labor successfully amended the Greens motion to say the release of information should be consistent with advice from security agencies a phrase that could be used to justify keeping details secret. At issue is the cost revealed in a freedom of information disclosure obtained by NSW Greens senator David Shoebridge on August 17, which revealed a summary of the expenses incurred by the Albanese and Morrison governments since January 2021. Loading The documents show Marles, during certain periods of time, incurred more domestic travel costs than the prime minister, though his overall spend was less. While the government is arguing that it cannot release the details of the flights for security reasons, previous governments have disclosed full flight manifests, costs and destinations under prime ministers Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull. The disclosure ended when Peter Dutton was Defence Minister under Scott Morrison as prime minister, with no public statement at the time to explain why the information was kept confidential. So far, Marles is taking the same approach as Dutton in withholding the details. William Tyrrells foster mother has pleaded guilty to two assaults on a child who is not the missing toddler, including a kick to the thigh, but will fight claims she intimidated the same child, a court has heard. The 58-year-old woman, who cannot be named, and her 56-year-old husband were charged by police after listening devices were placed in their home during the investigation into Williams disappearance, allegedly capturing both parents assaulting and intimidating the child. The foster parents of William Tyrrell pictured leaving court in August. Credit: AAP On Monday, the womans barrister, John Stratton, SC, entered guilty pleas on his clients behalf to two counts of common assault. He said one of the incidents involved a kick to the thigh. The court previously heard the incidents, in 2021, also involved the woman hitting the child with a wooden spoon. Stratton said his client will be fighting two charges of intimidation of the child, said to have occurred between January and August 2021. Police have labelled the brazen daylight attack on a teenager walking home from school in south-east Melbourne heinous and say the offenders appeared to be deliberately targeting young people. As a parent, it makes me absolutely sick to think that my boy could be walking home from school and randomly confronted by people with knives, Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Lisa Watson said. The 14-year-old boy from Glen Eira College is in a serious but stable condition after being forced into an SUV at Glen Huntly and then ejected from the moving vehicle by his abductors just after 3.30pm on Monday. Glen Eira College principal Sheereen Kindler said there was no indication that the offenders were connected to the school. In a letter to parents seen by The Age, Kindler urged anyone who witnessed the incident or had information about the attack to contact Victoria Police. A Perth mother has admitted forcefully holding the heads of her two young children underwater in their backyard swimming pool after becoming angry with them while they swam. The woman, who cannot be identified, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Monday to two counts of doing an act or omission causing bodily harm after accepting a plea deal just moments before her attempted murder trial was scheduled to begin. The case was heard in the WA Supreme Court. Credit: Holly Thompson State prosecutor Kate Gregory said the mother, on a date unknown around Christmas Day in 2020, allowed her nine-year-old son to play in their backyard inflatable pool before she became angry with him and asked him to come to her. When he refused, she went over to him and grabbed his neck and pushed him face-first into the water so he was unable to breathe for a lengthy period of time. Washington: Kim Jong-un plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying Moscow with weapons for the war in Ukraine. In a rare trip abroad, Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet Putin, the New York Times reported on Tuesday (AEST), citing US and allied sources. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un in Vladivostok in 2019. Credit: AP While in Vladivostok, a port city not far from North Korea, the two leaders would discuss Kims sending Russia artillery shells and anti-tank missiles in exchange for Moscows advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the newspaper reported. At a time when the United States has expressed concern about growing military ties between the two countries, the news of Kims planned visit came after Russia said it was discussing holding joint military exercises and closer ties with North Korea. Recreating the THX Deep Note If youve ever watched a movie in a movie theater, chances are that you are familiar with the Deep Note, the audio logo of THX. That sound is one of the first sounds we hear at the beginning of movie trailers in a THX-certified venue. Ive always been fascinated with that great distinctive crescendo, starting from an eerie cluster of tones and ending with a full range bright and grand finale. What an ear treat! Yesterday, (probably) out of nowhere, the origins of that sound tickled my curiosity and I did some little research. Im deeply moved by the history behind it, and I want to share what Ive learned with you. Then we will move on to create that sound ourselves, get your scissors ready, and some glue! The best source of information I could find about the sound, which I think is a complete electro-acoustic composition, is from the great Music Thing Blog. It is from a blog post from 2005. The link to the post is here. So here is some trivia: It was made by Dr. James Andy Moorer in 1982. At one point in history, it was being played 4000 times a day, almost every 20 seconds! A quote from Dr. Moorer: I like to say that the THX sound is the most widely-recognized piece of computer-generated music in the world. This may or may not be true, but it sounds cool! It was generated in a mainframe computer called ASP (Audio Signal Processor) which was able to synthesize the sound in real-time. It took 20000 lines of C code to write a program that generated the score for the ASP to play. The generated score was consisting of 250000 lines of statements which were to be obeyed by the ASP. The oscillators used as the voices are using a digitized cello tone as a waveform. Dr. Moorer recalls the waveform as having something around 12 audible harmonics. The ASP was able to run 30 oscillators of this sort in real-time. (In comparison, the notebook computer I happen to be using right now can handle more than 1000 of them without a glitch). The sound itself is copyrighted, but here is a problem: The code Dr. Moorer wrote has generative characteristics (i.e. it relies on random number generators), so each time you generate a score and feed the resulting statements to the ASP, the generated sound is somewhat different. So I dont really think that it is safe to say that the process itself is or can be copyrighted. The sound itself, yeah that one is covered. It debuted in the THX trailer of the Return of the Jedi before its premiere in 1983. The generative characteristics of the process became troublesome at some point. After the release of the piece with Return of the Jedi, the original recording of the Deep Note was lost. Dr. Moorer recreated the piece for the company but they kept complaining that it wasnt sounding the same as the original one. Eventually, the original recording was found and kept in a safer place from then. Dr. Dre asked for permission to sample the sound for his music but was turned down. He used it anyway and got sued. Metastasis which is an Iannis Xenakis composition (1954) has a very similar opening crescendo (among other works by various composers). It starts with a single tone instead, and lands on a semi dissonant tone cluster instead of a consonant one as in Deep Note. The sound recording used for the patent application can be listened from here: http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/soundex/74309951.mp3 Be sure to listen the sound because we will be referring to that particular recording when we have a go at recreating the Deep Note. You may also listen other instances of this piece: http://www.thx.com/cinema/trailers.html Here is some technical/theoretical trivia before we start synthesizing: This is my observation: The original recording at United States Patent and Trademark Office website has a fundamental pitch which just stands between D and Eb, but the newer renditions on more recent features has a fundamental between E and F. Ill use the original D/Eb fundamental in my recreation attempt. The newer stuff is usually shorter if Im not mistaken. Its clearly obvious that I like the one submitted to the patent office better. According to Dr. Moorer (and also confirmed by my ears) the piece starts with oscillators tuned to random frequencies between 200Hz and 400Hz. But the oscillators are not simply buzzing their sounds, their frequencies are modulated randomly, and they use smoothers to smooth out the random pitch transitions. This goes on until the crescendo is initiated later in the piece. Inside the crescendo and in the final landing sound, the randomizers are still modulating the frequencies of the oscillators, so no oscillator is stable at any given moment. But the random sweep range is narrow so it merely adds an organic / chorus-y feel to the sound sources. Dr. Moorer recalls the digitized cello sound had around 12 audible harmonics in its spectrum. To my knowledge, the written score (which was used to get the copyright) was never released, but Dr. Moorer says he can supply the score if we can get permission from THX, though I think that is not really necessary for an attempt at recreating the piece. The final landing sound (technically not a chord) is just stacked up octaves of the fundamental, to my ears. So when recreating the piece, we will start with randomly tuned (between 200Hz and 400Hz) oscillators, make a semi-sophisticated sweep and land at stacked up octaves on a fundamental that sits between low D/Eb. So lets get going. SuperCollider is my tool of choice here. I start with a simple waveform. I want to use a sawtooth wave as the oscillator source, it has a rich and harmonic spectrum consisting of even and odd partials. Ill want to filter the upper partials later on. Here is some beginning code: //30 oscillators together, distributed across the stereo field ( { var numVoices = 30 ; //generating initial random fundamentals: var fundamentals = { rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ; Mix ({ | numTone | var freq = fundamentals [ numTone ]; Pan2 . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), //stereo placement of voices numVoices . reciprocal //scale the amplitude of each voice ) } ! numVoices ); }. play ; ) I chose to have 30 oscillators for sound generation, congruent with the capabilities of the ASP computer as reported by Dr. Moorer. Ive created an array of 30 random frequencies between 200Hz and 400Hz, distributed them randomly across the stereo field with Pan2.ar and with the argument rrand(-0.5, 0.5), assigned the freqs to the sawtooth oscillators (30 instances). Here is how it sounds: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... Now if we examine the info provided by Dr. Moorer, and/or listen closely to the original piece, we can hear that the pitches of the oscillators drift up and down randomly. We want to add this for a more organic feel. The frequency scale is logarithmic, so lower frequencies should have narrower wobbling ranges than higher frequencies. We can implement it by sorting our randomly generated frequency values, and assigning LFNoise2 (which generates quadratically interpolated random values) mul arguments in order inside our Mix macro. And I also added a lowpass filter for the oscillators whose cutoff frequencies are 5 * freq of oscilator with moderate 1/q: //adding random wobbling to freqs, sorting randoms, lowpassing ( { var numVoices = 30 ; //sorting to get high freqs at top var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort ; Mix ({ | numTone | //fundamentals are sorted, so higher frequencies drift more. var freq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 3 * ( numTone + 1 )); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 5 , 0.5 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), numVoices . reciprocal ) } ! numVoices ); }. play ; ) Here is how it sounds with the latest tweaks: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... This sounds like a good starting point, so lets start implementing our sweep, initially in a very crude way. To implement the sweep, we first need to define our final landing pitches for each of the oscillator. This is not very straightforward, but not very hard either. The fundamental tone should be the pitch that is right in between low D and Eb, so the midi pitch for that tone would be 14.5 (0 is C, count up chromatically, Im skipping the first octave). So we need to map our freq arguments for 30 oscillators from random frequencies between 200Hz and 400Hz to 14.5 and to its octaves. By ear, Ive chosen to use the first 6 octaves. So our final array of destination frequencies will be: ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; Well be using a sweep that goes from 0 to 1. The random frequencies will be multiplied by (1 sweep), and the destination frequencies will be multiplied by sweep itself. So when sweep is 0 (beginning) freq will be the random one, when it is 0.5, it will be ((random + destination) / 2), and when it is 1, the freq will be our destination value. Here is our modified code: //creating the initial sweep (crude), creating final pitches ( { var numVoices = 30 ; var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort ; var finalPitches = ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; var sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 1 ], [ 13 ])); Mix ({ | numTone | var initRandomFreq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 3 * ( numTone + 1 )); var destinationFreq = finalPitches [ numTone ]; var freq = (( 1 - sweepEnv ) * initRandomFreq ) + ( sweepEnv * destinationFreq ); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 5 , 0.5 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), numVoices . reciprocal //scale the amplitude of each voice ) } ! numVoices ); }. play ; ) Here is the sound: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... As I said earlier, this is a very crude sweep. It goes linearly from 0 to 1, which is not congruent with the original composition. Also you should have noticed that the final octaves sounds AWFUL because they are tuned to perfect octaves, and fuse into each other, having fundamental-overtone relationships between them. We will fix this by adding random wobbling to the final pitches, just as we did with the initial random pitches, and it will sound much much more organic. So we should fix the frequency sweep envelope first. The earlier envelope was just for trying the formulas (and the final landing) out. If we observe the original piece, we can see that there is very little change in organization for the first 5-6 seconds. After that there is a fast and exponential sweep that lands the oscillators to the final octave spaced destinations. Here is the envelope Ive chosen: sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 0.1 , 1 ], [ 5 , 8 ], [ 2 , 5 ])); It takes 5 seconds to go from 0 to 0.1, and 8 seconds to go from 0.1 to 1. The curvatures for the segments are 2 and 5. Well see how that worked out, but we also need to fix the final sound spacings. Just as we did with the random frequencies, we will add random wobbles with LFNoise2 whose range will be proportional to the final frequency of the oscillator. This will make the finale sound much more organic. Here is the modified code: //tweaking the envelope, detuning the final chord ( { var numVoices = 30 ; var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort ; var finalPitches = ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; var sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 0.1 , 1 ], [ 5 , 8 ], [ 2 , 5 ])); Mix ({ | numTone | var initRandomFreq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 3 * ( numTone + 1 )); var destinationFreq = finalPitches [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.1 , ( numTone / 4 )); var freq = (( 1 - sweepEnv ) * initRandomFreq ) + ( sweepEnv * destinationFreq ); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 8 , 0.5 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), numVoices . reciprocal ) } ! numVoices ); }. play ; ) Here, Ive also tweaked the cutoff frequency of the lowpass filter to my liking. I like tweaking stuff, until it alienates me from what Ive been working on Anyway. Here is the resulting sound: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... Im not really happy with this envelope either. It needs a longer initialization and faster finish. Or wait Do I have to have the same envelope for every oscillator? Absolutely not! Each oscillator should have its own envelope with slightly different time and curve values, and I bet it will be more interesting. And the high frequency overtones of the random sawtooth cluster is a bit annoying, so Im adding a lowpass to the sum, whose cutoff is controlled by a global outer envelope that has nothing to do with the envelopes of the oscillators. Here is the modified code: //custom envelopes. lowpass at end ( { var numVoices = 30 ; var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort ; var finalPitches = ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; var outerEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 0.1 , 1 ], [ 8 , 4 ], [ 2 , 4 ])); var snd = Mix ({ | numTone | var initRandomFreq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 3 * ( numTone + 1 )); var destinationFreq = finalPitches [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.1 , ( numTone / 4 )); var sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , rrand ( 0.1 , 0.2 ), 1 ], [ rrand ( 5.0 , 6 ), rrand ( 8.0 , 9 )], [ rrand ( 2.0 , 3.0 ), rrand ( 4.0 , 5.0 )])); var freq = (( 1 - sweepEnv ) * initRandomFreq ) + ( sweepEnv * destinationFreq ); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 8 , 0.5 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), numVoices . reciprocal ) } ! numVoices ); BLowPass . ar ( snd , 2000 + ( outerEnv * 18000 ), 0.5 ); }. play ; ) The slightly out of phase envelopes rendered the sweep slightly more interesting. Lowpass at 2000Hz at the beginning helps to tame the initial cluster. Here is what it sounds like: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... I have one more thing that will make the process sound more interesting. You remember weve sorted the random oscillators at the beginning right? Well we can now reverse-sort them and make sure oscillators running in higher random frequencies will end up in bottom voices after the crescendo and vice versa. This will add more movement to the crescendo and is quite congruent with the way the original piece is structured. Im not sure if Dr. Moorer programmed it specifically in this way, but at least, the chosen recording demonstrates this process and it sounds cool, be it a random product of the generative process itself, or a compositional choice (oh, did I say that? If the process covers it, it IS a choice or is it?). So Ill reverse the sorted values and the way we structured our code will make sure that the higher pitched sawtooths will end up in the lower voices in the finale and vice versa. Another thing: We need a louder bass. In the way it is now, all voices have equal amplitude. I want to have the lower voices to have slightly higher amplitude and decay proportionally as the frequency goes up. So Ill change the mul argument of Pan2 to take this into account. Ill re-tweak the cutoff frequencies of the lowpass filters governing the individual oscillators. And I am going to add a global amplitude scaling envelope that will fade the piece in, and fade out when the piece ends, and free the synth from scserver. Also some more numeric tweaks here and there, here is our final code: //inverting init sort, louder bass, final volume envelope, some little tweaks ( { var numVoices = 30 ; var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort . reverse ; var finalPitches = ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; var outerEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 0.1 , 1 ], [ 8 , 4 ], [ 2 , 4 ])); var ampEnvelope = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 1 , 1 , 0 ], [ 3 , 21 , 3 ], [ 2 , 0 , - 4 ]), doneAction : 2 ); var snd = Mix ({ | numTone | var initRandomFreq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 6 * ( numVoices - ( numTone + 1 ))); var destinationFreq = finalPitches [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.1 , ( numTone / 3 )); var sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , rrand ( 0.1 , 0.2 ), 1 ], [ rrand ( 5.5 , 6 ), rrand ( 8.5 , 9 )], [ rrand ( 2.0 , 3.0 ), rrand ( 4.0 , 5.0 )])); var freq = (( 1 - sweepEnv ) * initRandomFreq ) + ( sweepEnv * destinationFreq ); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 6 , 0.6 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), ( 1 - ( 1 / ( numTone + 1 ))) * 1.5 ) / numVoices } ! numVoices ); Limiter . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( snd , 2000 + ( outerEnv * 18000 ), 0.5 , ( 2 + outerEnv ) * ampEnvelope )); }. play ; ) And here is the final recording of the piece: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... You may want to compare it with this original one: http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/soundex/74309951.mp3 So this is my rendition. Of course it can be further tweaked to death, envelopes, frequencies, distribution, everything Nevertheless, I think mine is a decent attempt at keeping the legacy alive. And Id love to hear your comments and/or hear your shots at interpreting this piece. Oh and here is one more thing I did for fun. You know, I told you about how it took 20000 lines of C code to generate the original piece. Im pretty sure Dr. Moorer had to create almost everything by hand so that is not very awkward. But you know, weve been sctweeting for some time, trying to fill stuff into 140 characters of code. So for the fun of it, I tried to replicate the essential elements of the composition in 140 characters of code. I think it still sounds cool, here is the code (this one uses an F/E fundamental): play { Mix ({ | k | k = k + 1 / 2 ; 2 / k * Mix ({ | i | i = i + 1 ; Blip . ar ( i * XLine . kr ( rand ( 2 e2 , 4 e2 ), 87 + LFNoise2 . kr ( 2 ) * k , 15 ), 2 , 1 / ( i / a = XLine . kr ( 0.3 , 1 , 9 )) / 9 )} ! 9 )} ! 40 ) ! 2 * a } And here is the sound this version generates: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... All the code in this page is in this document for you to experiment: - get from here Happy sweeping Kyiv: President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has decided to replace his defence minister, setting the stage for the biggest shake-up of Ukraines defence establishment since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. In his nightly video address to the nation on Sunday, Zelensky said he would dismiss Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and would ask parliament this week to replace him with Rustem Umerov, head of the countrys main privatisation fund. Reznikov, defence minister since November 2021, has helped secure billions of dollars of Western military aid to help the war effort, but has been dogged by corruption allegations surrounding his ministry that he has described as smears. Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov reacts after signing a deal between Germany, Ukraine and Poland on the logistical supply chain of the Leopard 2 tanks in April. Credit: AP The decision comes amid a crackdown on corruption in Ukraine that Zelensky has been eager to emphasise. Kyiv has applied to join the European Union and the public has become highly sensitive to corruption as the war rages with no end in sight. Allentown, PA (18103) Today Mainly cloudy with scattered evening showers ending, then some gradual clearing later tonight; patchy frost possible towards morning, and a Poconos freeze also possible late. . Tonight Mainly cloudy with scattered evening showers ending, then some gradual clearing later tonight; patchy frost possible towards morning, and a Poconos freeze also possible late. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. On the first Monday of September, Americans observe Labor Day to honor the countrys workers and their contribution to the prosperity of the United States. PEN ARGYL, Pa. - People celebrated Labor Day with a parade in Pen Argyl. Fire companies from across the Lehigh Valley came out to join the festivities, but this year the parade included a special memorial to two fallen firefighters. "We try to think of something new every year for Grand Marshal. It's to honor somebody that did something or passed away," said Lookout Fire Company Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Campanaro. Campanaro said, when deciding who to feature on the float, they immediately thought of reaching out to the New Tripoli fire department about including a tribute to Marvin Gruber and Zachary Paris, who were killed responding to a house fire in West Penn Township last December. "It's a brotherhood, and like I said we reached out, I reached out to their Chief up there, Gary, and he was ecstatic that we were going to honor them in the parade. We also invited them, and their units are right behind them, behind their brothers," said Campanaro. The firefighters of New Tripoli and Pen Argyl were joined by dozens of their brothers and sisters from fire companies all across the region. "That's what's neat about it is that it's not just Pen Argyl, but it's like all over the Lehigh Valley too," said Sierra Kragness, who came out to enjoy the festivities. In addition to the Grand Marshal's float and the firetrucks, there was one float celebrating a big milestone. Tara and Joe Maida have now been promoting a fall festival in honor of their son Luke for the past 20 years. Luke died in 2000. "In October of that year, he was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, which is the number-one genetic killer of children under the age of two in the United States," said Tara Maida. Tara and Joe have made it their mission to raise awareness with their float and their festival. In the last 20 years, they said three treatments have been discovered, with several more waiting to be approved. "From us doing this, and so many other great events throughout the country, we've come such a long way," said Tara Maida. "Hopefully these cures that are coming up are, families don't have to go through what we had to go through," said Joe Maida. And they have the support of the whole Pen Argyl community behind them trying to reach that goal. The fall festival in honor of Luke Maida will have its 20th year in Weona Park on Saturday, October 7 starting at 11 a.m. Labor unions have had a busy year in the U.S. Strikes are up around 40% nationwide, according to a tracker from Cornell University, with unions initiating 70 strikes with 100 or more workers that lasted longer than a week. The Teamsters Union recently negotiated an agreement for more than 300,000 UPS workers after threatening to strike for months. Rail unions were also able to make gains earlier this year. There were hundreds of other smaller strikes, like that by Starbucks workers. SAG-AFTRA and the Writer's Guild have been on strike for months. Does that mean unions are making a comeback? There are some small glimmers of hope. "I'm not saying there's an overwhelming interest, but there's some," said Jerry Green, President of United Steelworkers Local 2599. Green says while participation is nowhere near the heyday of Bethlehem Steel, there has been an increase in interest. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of wage and salary workers actually belonging to unions increased nearly 2% from 2021 to 2022. However, the disproportionately large number of non-union members entering the trades made the overall participation rate drop to around 10 percent. In Pennsylvania, around 13 and a half percent of workers are in unions. In New Jersey it's around 16 percent. "The building trades especially, you know? You mentioned bridges and highways and stuff. That's good money for those guys to make," Green said. Paul Anthony, Business Manager for IBEW Local 375, says interest has been high. They received 297 applications for this year's apprenticeship program. "We took a class of 28, so we had a great number of applicants. So they're applicants for well-paying jobs," Anthony said. According to a Gallup poll, a record-high 61% believe unions help rather than hurt the economy. Green thinks that new-found enthusiasm could be used to get more young people to join. POCOPSON TWP., Pa. - Officials in Chester County gave an update on the active search for an escaped murderer on the run since last week. At a press conference Monday afternoon, Lt. Col. George Bivens with Pennsylvania State Police said the search continues for fugitive Danelo Cavalcante. Cavalcante, who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2021 and is still wanted for a 2017 murder in Brazil, escaped from Chester County Prison Thursday morning. Bivens said there have been several sightings of Cavalcante in Pocopson Township in recent days. Investigators are focusing their search on a 2-mile-area bordered by Routes 926 and 52 along Parkersville Road. Bivens said there have been four sightings of the fugitive within that radius, the most recent being Sunday afternoon. 1:55 Search intensifies for escaped murderer in Chester County The Chester County District Attorney's Office said additional law enforcement assets joined the hundreds of officers searching for 34-year-old convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante. Authorities are urging residents to use caution, check their home security cameras and report any suspious activity to police. Officials say they've also been broadcasting a message, recorded by Cavalcante's mother, urging him to surrender. Bivens said the message, in Portuguese, is being broadcast from law enforcement helicopters and vehicles in the search area. Bivens thanked the community for their support and stressed that although Cavalcante has very little to lose at this point, he will be caught and returned to custody. BEIJING (AP) Chinese President Xi Jinping is apparently skipping this weeks Group of 20 summit in India as bilateral relations remain icy. Instead, Premier Li Qiang will represent China at the Sept. 9-10 gathering, the Foreign Ministry said Monday in a one-sentence notice on its website. Relations between China and India have grown frosty over their disputed border. Three years ago, the tensions resulted in a clash in the Ladakh region that killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. It turned into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets. Frictions have also risen over trade and India's growing strategic ties with China's main rival, the United States. Both India and China have expelled the other's journalists. India recently overtook China as the world's most populous nation and the two are rivals in technology, space exploration and global trade. Asked why Xi would not be attending the summit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning declined to answer. The G20 is a major forum for international economic cooperation. China has always attached great importance to and actively participated in relevant activities, Mao told reporters at a daily briefing. Premier Li Qiang will elaborate on Chinas views and propositions on G20 cooperation, promote the G20 to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and work together to address global economic and development challenges, she said. Mao said China is ready to work with all parties to jointly promote the success of the G20 summit and "make positive contributions to promoting the stable recovery of the world economy and promoting sustainable development." Chinese and Indian military commanders met just last month and pledged to maintain the peace and tranquility along their disputed border, in an apparent effort to stabilize the situation. The Line of Actual Control separates Chinese- and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to Indias eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety. India and China fought a war over their border in 1962. As its name suggests, the line divides the areas of physical control rather than territorial claims. According to India, the de facto border is 3,488 kilometers (2,167 miles) long, but China promotes a considerably shorter figure. In all, China claims some 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) of territory in Indias northeast, including Arunachal Pradesh with its mainly Buddhist population. India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin Plateau, which India considers part of Ladakh, where the current faceoff is happening. China, in the meantime, began cementing relations with Indias archrival Pakistan and backing it on the issue of disputed Kashmir. Firefights broke out in 1967 and 1975, leading to deaths on both sides. They have since adopted protocols, including an agreement not to use firearms, but those protocols have fractured. Other than the potential effects on China-India relations, Xi's absence at the summit will also eliminate the possibility of an interaction with President Joe Biden. China-U.S. relations remain at a historic low despite recent visits by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials to Beijing. Speculation had churned for days that Xi would not attend, and even before China's official announcement, Biden on Sunday told reporters he did not expect a meeting with the Chinese leader. I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him, Biden said. It is not clear when such a meeting could take place as a question mark now hangs over whether Xi will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leader's gathering in San Francisco in November. China has demanded that the U.S. invite Hong Kongs Chief Executive John Lee to the forum despite a U.S. visa ban over his role in crushing the semi-autonomous southern Chinese citys pro-democracy movement. Aa post Monday on the Ministry of State Security's social media site accused the U.S. of sending mixed signals to China as part of a strategy of obstruction, containment and suppression. The post from the ministry China's equivalent to the former Soviet Union's KGB condemned U.S. support for self-governing Taiwan, economic competition, America's challenging of China's claim to the South China Sea and accusations of human rights abuses in Tibet. To truly realize from Bali to San Francisco, the United States must present sufficient sincerity, the post said, referencing the most recent meeting between the two heads of state on the Indonesian island of Bali at last November's G20 summit. Xi has accumulated more power at home than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, and has adopted an increasingly aggressive approach to what he views as China's territorial interests in the South China Sea and toward self-governing Taiwan, which China threatens to annex by force if necessary. At the same time, China has struggled to recover economically from the hard-line policies it took to control COVID-19. Foreign businesses also have complained of an increasingly difficult environment in which to invest in and trade with the country. Xi will not be the only foreign head of state absent from the summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces war crimes charges over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, will also be skipping the summit, although he does plan to visit close partner China next month. Nine new government medical colleges are set to be opened in Telangana this month.Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will virtually inaugurate these medical colleges from Hyderabad. The number of government medical colleges in the state will reach 34 with the establishment of eight more colleges next year. Thus Telangana will become the only state in the country to have one government medical college in every district, officials.In July, the state government issued orders for setting up eight new government medical colleges in the state. Each of these colleges and government general hospitals will have an intake capacity of 100 MBBS seats. The colleges will come up at Maheshwaram in Rangareddy district, Yadadri in Yadadri Bhongir district, Medak in Medak district, Narsampet in Warangal district, Mulugu in Mulugu district, Narayanpet in Narayanpet district, Gadwal in Jogulamba Gadwal district and Qutbullapur in Medchal Malkajgiri district.Two of these colleges at Maheshwaram and Qutubullapur will be coming up on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Health minister T. Harish Rao said that one medical college for one district, a vision of Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao, is going to be a reality. In tune to the vision of Arogya Telangana, these colleges will foster more opportunities for students to pursue medical education and further enhance healthcare services in districts, he saidAccording to officials at the time of formation of Telangana State in 2014, there were only five government Medical Colleges (Osmania, Gandhi, Warangal Kakatiya, Nizamabad, Adilabad RIMS). The state government has sanctioned 29 new government Medical Colleges in nine years. At present 3,915 MBBS medical seats are available in 26 government medical colleges in the state. Along with these, 4600 MBBS seats have been made available in 28 private medical colleges. A total of 8,515 MBBS seats are available in the state.There are 1,240 PG seats in government medical colleges while 1,476 seats are available in private medical PG colleges. Total 2890 PG medical seats are available in Telangana. Officials said 179 super speciality seats are available in government colleges and 27 seats are available in private colleges. Total 206 seats are available in the state.Harish Rao had earlier revealed that 43 percent of MBBS seats newly added in government medical colleges in India are from Telangana. He said that 900 of the 2,118 MBBS seats increased in government medical colleges in India for 2023-24 belong to Telangana. In April, the government had approved two medical colleges. For the academic year 2023-24, a total of nine medical treatments were approved. Earlier, eight medical colleges became operational in the state from academic year 2022-23. Wits welcomes WESAF Doctoral Programme Fellows The first cohort of Wits-Edinburgh Sustainable African Futures (WESAF) Fellows participate in a week-long orientation programme at Wits University. The inaugural Wits-Edinburgh Sustainable African Futures (WESAF) Doctoral Programme is propelling a select group of academic scholars from diverse African nations into the realm of cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and experiential learning attuned to the intersectoral needs of the continent. WESAF reached a significant milestone on 4 September 2023 as the first cohort of selected candidates convened for their comprehensive weeklong orientation, which represents the first step in the six-year path ahead. A cohort of 50 Fellows from 11 African countries will have the opportunity to complete a Master of Science degree by Research, the first part of a comprehensive programme aligned with the diverse sustainability needs of the continent. Thirty of these Fellows will then proceed to phase two - the doctoral pathway of the programme. Forged from a long-standing collaborative partnership between the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Edinburgh, the WESAF Doctoral Programme, formalised in 2023, will equip a select group of students with academic experience and innovative research training. The WESAF Doctoral Programme will employ a unique research training model, fostering a cohesive community of early-career African research experts deeply committed to addressing Africas climate crisis. It will focus on complex, continental challenges to sustainable development that spans civil engineering, food science and fine arts, with each candidate having a diverse spectrum of research interests. The weeklong orientation programme will familiarise candidates with the philosophical underpinnings, pedagogical ethos, and overarching aspirations that underlie the WESAF Programme. Professor Ruksana Osman, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Academic at Wits University, South Africa, says: "The WESAF Doctoral Programme stands as a catalytic force, ensuring that African researchers spearhead solutions to some of the most profound challenges that our continent faces. It is imperative for Africa to strengthen the high-level skills needed to realise an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable society, and to effectively address the contemporary issues of our time." James Smith, Professor of African and Development Studies and Vice-Principal: International at the University of Edinburgh says: Every young person should have access to education. This is especially so in Africa, given the transformational potential of its young population. This is why it is so important to us that we help break down the financial barriers that prevent so many bright and budding young students - who will ultimately be the worlds future leaders from gaining a degree. Since its establishment, we have had the pleasure of witnessing hundreds of students with a desire to change the world for the better gain scholarships and flourish from the Mastercard Foundation, providing them with a head-start into working life. Given the critical climate crisis that is severely impacting Africa, it has been imperative for us to support the continent in any way we can. Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal, shares words of encouragement with the new Fellows: This programme seeks to develop the next generation of African scholars who will develop the high-level skills required to address the key sustainability challenges facing the continent, both today and in the future. We look forward to realising the fruits of this Programme and its multiplier effect in the years to come. You are all ripples of hope in a pond and your efforts will undoubtedly create a wave of change in the future sustainability of Africa. In full support of the Programme, Phuong Hoang, Program Partner from the Mastercard Foundation says: We believe in igniting the exceptional potential of young people to drive socioeconomic transformation. We believe in higher education institutions that enable young people to drive sustainable development though knowledge and innovation. We support the efforts of African universities to lead the response to the climate crisis and to shape the climate agenda through teaching, learning, research and innovation. We support young people to acquire degrees and to develop leadership skills and expertise that are critical for responding to the climate crisis, for setting the agenda for the future of work, and for building sustainable green economies. Hoang offered advice to the Fellows as they embarked on this new journey: Be kind to yourself and others, have humility and self-awareness, be ethical and act with integrity, be courageous and build resilience, and listen deeply - for it is a source of empathy, insight and innovation. Work together to create impact because we cannot do this alone. Be part of this solution as part of this community of young Africans who are driving change to ensure a greener continent and world. Prof. Brett Bowman and Prof. Sumaya Laher from Wits University, and Dr Barabara Bompani and Charlie Bevan from the UoE serve as the Directors of the WESAF Programme. Bowman emphasised the importance of solving Africas challenges through expanding graduate education, postgraduate opportunities, faculty training, research networks, international partnerships, exchanges in teaching, research and public service. He added that a just transition can only be effective through developing interdisciplinary, intersectoral and innovative approaches in and across Africa and beyond. Our Fellows are ready to challenge and be challenged. This programme creates opportunities to connect and to work together, to create new ways of teaching, learning and supervision within and beyond the walls of our disciplines, institutions and countries, says Bompani as she outlined the WESAF training pathway which concludes in January 2028. We want to ensure impact through this programme, both for the Fellows, for the institutions, and the continent. She thanked the WESAF Fellows, Advisory Board, Megan Douglas and Sarika Munnie, academics and other members of the WESAF team for ensuring that the Programme grows from strength to strength. To find out more about the Wits-Edinburgh Sustainable African Futures (WESAF) Doctoral Programme, please visit: Wits-Edinburgh Sustainable African Futures About the WESAF Orientation Programme During the orientation programme, the candidates will learn about how multidisciplinary approaches can enhance their understanding of complex social and environmental phenomena, understand the importance of North-South differences but also their intrinsic interconnectedness, and practice the all-important skill of scholarly communication. Further, it will promote academic and social integration into the programme, nurture a sense of belonging and community amongst students, which is underscored by a shared commitment to regional and international inclusiveness. About the Wits-UoE partnership The University of Edinburgh is a strategic Wits partner, with similar values and shared academic and research programmes. The universities enjoy equitable collaborative projects which have grown significantly over the last three years in priority research areas related to inequality studies, health informatics, digital innovation, rangeland management, enterprise and innovation, among other areas. About The Mastercard Foundation The Mastercard Foundation is a registered Canadian charity and one of the largest foundations in the world. It works with visionary organisations to advance education and financial inclusion to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. Established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company, the Foundation is an independent organization separate from the company, with offices in Toronto, Kigali, Accra, Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Dakar, and Addis Ababa. Its policies, operations, and programme decisions are determined by the Foundation's Board of Directors and leadership. For more information on the Foundation, please visit www.mastercardfdn.org 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. It also provides structural and graphic design, engineering services and custom, and proprietary and standard automated packaging machines, as well as turn-key installation, automation, line integration, and packaging solutions; and pack temporary displays, as well as lithographic laminated packaging products. The Consumer Packaging segment manufactures and sells folding cartons that are used to package food, paper, beverages, dairy products, tobacco, confectionery, health and beauty, other household consumer products; and express mail packages for the overnight courier industry. It also offers inserts and labels, as well as rigid packaging and other printed packaging products, such as transaction cards, brochures, product literature, marketing materials, and grower tags, and plant stakes; and secondary packages and paperboard packaging for over-the-counter and prescription drugs. In addition, this segment manufactures and sells solid fiber and corrugated partitions, and die-cut paperboard components. The Global Paper segment manufactures containerboard, paperboard, and specialty grades primarily to corrugated packaging, folding carton, food service, liquid packaging, tobacco, and commercial print markets. The Distribution segment distributes corrugated packaging materials and other specialty packaging products, including stretch films, void fills, carton sealing tapes, and other specialty tapes; and provides contract packing services. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. GMS Inc. distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings. It also provides steel framing products, such as steel tracks, studs, and various other steel products used to frame the interior walls of a commercial or institutional building; and insulation, lumber and other wood products, ready-mix joint compound, and various other interior construction products, as well as ancillary products comprising tools, fasteners, and safety products. In addition, the company distributes acoustical ceilings, steel framing, insulation, and related building products, as well as commercial and residential building materials. It serves professional contractors and homebuilders. As of April 30, 2022, the company operated 300 branches across 44 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 6 provinces in Canada. It also operates a network of approximately 300 distribution centers. GMS Inc. was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Tucker, Georgia. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Utilities segment operates approximately 60,000 kilometers (km) of operational electricity transmission and distribution lines; 2,900 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 7.8 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 540,000 long-term contracted sub-metering services. This segment also offers heating, cooling, and energy solutions; gas distribution; water heaters; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioner rental, as well as other home services. Its Transport segment offers transportation, storage, and handling services for merchandise goods, commodities, and passengers through a network of approximately 22,000 km of track; 5,500 km of track network; 4,800 km of rail; 3,800 km of motorways; and 11 port terminals. The company's Midstream segment offers natural gas transmission, gathering and processing, and storage services through approximately 15,000 km of natural gas transmission pipelines; 600 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage; 17 natural gas processing plants; and 10,600 km of gas gathering pipelines, as well as 525,000 tonnes polypropylene production capacity. Its Data segment operates approximately 207,000 operational telecom towers; approximately 46,600 km of fiber optic cables; approximately 881,000 fiber-to-the-premise connections; two semiconductor manufacturing facilities; and 70 distributed antenna systems, as well as 50 data centers and 230 megawatts of critical load capacity. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU) pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.00%. The dividend payout ratio is 1,250.63%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, BBU will have a dividend payout ratio of 6.94% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. Read our dividend analysis for BBU. Equifax Inc. operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship. The USIS segment provides consumer and commercial information services, such as credit information and credit scoring, credit modeling and portfolio analytics, locate, fraud detection and prevention, identity verification, and other consulting services; mortgage services; financial marketing services; identity management services; and credit monitoring products. The International segment offers information service products, which include consumer and commercial services, such as credit and financial information, and credit scoring and modeling; and credit and other marketing products and services, as well as offers information, technology, and other services to support debt collections and recovery management. The company serves customers in financial services, mortgage, retail, telecommunications, utilities, automotive, brokerage, healthcare, and insurance industries, as well as government agencies. It operates in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and the Republic of Ireland. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The following companies are subsidiares of Quest Diagnostics: AmeriPath, AmeriPath Cincinnati Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Cleveland Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Consolidated Labs Inc. (FL), AmeriPath Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Hospital Services Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Indianapolis PC (IN), AmeriPath Kentucky Inc. (KY), AmeriPath Lubbock 5.01(A) Corporation (TX), AmeriPath New York LLC (DE), AmeriPath Texas Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Tucson Inc. (AZ), American Medical Laboratories, American Medical Laboratories Incorporated (DE), Associated Clinical Laboratories L.P. (PA), Associated Clinical Laboratories of Pennsylvania L.L.C. (PA), Athena Diagnostics, Athena Diagnostics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics, Blueprint Genetics FZ-LLC (UAE), Blueprint Genetics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics Oy (Finland), California Laboratory Associates, Cape Cod Healthcare - Business, Celera, ClearPoint Diagnostic, Clearpoint Diagnostic Laboratories LLC (TX), Cleveland HeartLab, Cleveland HeartLab Inc. (DE), Clinical Laboratory Partners, Colorado Pathology Consultants P.C. (CO), ConVerge Diagnostic Services, Consolidated DermPath Inc. (DE), DFW 5.01(a) Corporation (TX), DGXWMT JV LLC (DE), Dermatopathology of Wisconsin S.C. (WI), Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC (OK), Diagnostic Pathology Services Inc. (OK), Diagnostic Reference Services Inc. (MD), ExamOne Canada Inc. (New Brunswick), ExamOne LLC (DE), ExamOne World Wide Inc. (PA), ExamOne World Wide of NJ Inc. (NJ), Focus Diagnostics, HemoCue, Hoffman M.D. Associated Pathologists Chartered (NV), Institute for Dermatopathology Inc. (PA), Isabella Street Urban Renewal LLC (NJ), Kailash B. Sharma M.D. Inc. (GA), Kilpatrick Pathology P.A. (NC), LabOne, LabOne LLC (MO), LabOne of Ohio Inc. (DE), Laboratorio de Analisis Biomedicos S.A. (Mexico), Lancet Labs, MACL, Med Fusion LLC (TX), Med fusion, MedPlus, Mid America Clinical Laboratories LLC (IN), Nomad Massachusetts Inc. (MA), Nuclear Medicine and Pathology Associates (GA), Ocmulgee Medical Pathology Association Inc. (GA), Pathology Building Partnership (MD) (gen. ptnrshp.), PeaceHealth Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories PLLC (WA), Q Squared Solutions Holdings LLC (DE), Q Squared Solutions Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (China), Quest Diagnostics Brasil Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Domestic Holder LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics HTAS India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Health & Wellness LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Incorporated (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (MD), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NV), Quest Diagnostics India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Infectious Disease Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics International Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics International LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Investments LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Ireland Limited (Ireland), Quest Diagnostics LLC (CT), Quest Diagnostics LLC (IL), Quest Diagnostics LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Massachusetts LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Mexico Holding Company Trust (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Mexico S de RL de CV (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute (CA), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute Inc. (VA), Quest Diagnostics Receivables Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Subsidiary Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics TB LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Terracotta LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Venture LLC (PA), Quest Diagnostics Ventures LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics do Brasil Ltda. (Brazil), Quest Diagnostics of Pennsylvania Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics of Puerto Rico Inc. (PR), Quest HealthConnect LLC (CA), ReproSource, Reprosource Fertility Diagnostics Inc. (MA), Solstas Lab Partners, Sonora Quest Laboratories LLC (AZ), Specialty Laboratories Inc. (CA), Summit Health, UMass Memorial Medical Center - Anatomic Pathology Outreach Laboratory Business, Unilab Corporation, and Unilab Corporation (DE). Read More by Eduardo Klinger Pevida Some dominant powers in the current international order prioritize civil and political rights and ignore, even trample, the economic and social rights of many of their own populations, and of peoples in other parts. Rich nations invest heavily in weapons to kill but fail to address the critical social problems of important sectors of their own countries. These same nations set themselves up as arbitrary and subjective defenders of human rights around the globe, for geopolitical interests, forgetting about their own citizens who are systematically excluded from the wealth they like to flaunt. In the United States, the richest and most powerful country in the world, elements on which its self-centeredness and supposed "exceptionalism" are based, there are close to 40 million people, or 12 percent of its total population, living in poverty, according to official data. The U.S. Children's Defense Fund reports that one in six children lives below the poverty line in the United States, the only country that is not a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. International organizations say close to 900 million people suffer from hunger worldwide and the number is growing, not decreasing. Yet no war is being waged against hunger. On the contrary, wars are generating more hunger and poverty. Even in the wealthy European Union 17 out of 100 adults suffer from "severe food insecurity." When each year we produce twice as much food as is needed to feed the world but tens of millions are at risk of starvation, including 1.4 million children, we suffer from a systemic problem. Today, it is estimated that between 667 and 685 million people are trapped in conditions of extreme poverty, 89 million more than before the pandemic. If China was able to lift more than 100 million citizens out of extreme poverty to declare itself free of that scourge in 2020, amid the pandemic, why can't others do it? Economic inequality increased in 2021, further contributing to the growth of poverty. By the start of 2022, Human Rights Watch denounced that the concentration of wealth in the United States had reached its highest level in 40 years, with richest 1 percent of households appropriating "approximately one-third of all private wealth." The HRW report highlights how the poverty rates among black, Latino and Native American households were twice that of white households, which "highlights the persistence of disparities based on race and ethnicity." On the UN stage, China has said it is urgent to eradicate the racism and systemic discrimination that persist in many nations, conditions that are worsened by the rejection of immigrants fleeing the misery inherited from colonial systems and a brutal international order that it is time to reform. Will those who claim to be so concerned about human rights heed China's call? In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights all the rights listed are precisely "universal," none is more important or relevant than another. However, the elites view truly comprehensive social inclusion as an existential threat that would jeopardize their ability to dominate and manipulate. The uncompromising "champions" of human rights focus on the set of civil and political rights that they claim to guarantee in their societies, and largely neglect social and humanitarian rights. They attack China for fighting terrorists who massacred hundreds of Chinese civilians on their own territory in 2014 and talk about concentration camps that even their sophisticated satellites cannot locate. At the height of cynicism, those who spread anti-Chinese propaganda are the same ones who have maintained a concentration camp in Guantanamo, depriving hundreds of alleged terrorists imprisoned far from their national territory of all legal protection. In their fierce campaign against China they are supported by the same people who allowed the CIA to practice torture against Muslims in their own countries. It is not necessary to prove it, they have recognized it. As Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights manifests, "everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized." That is why it is everyone's duty to fight for a new world order that will promote the common good in a future of shared well-being. Editor's note: Eduardo Klinger Pevida is a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic and director of the Center for Analysis and Studies on China and Asia. The views expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency. Editor: WJH Vulcan Materials Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and supplies construction aggregates primarily in the United States. It operates through four segments: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, and Calcium. The Aggregates segment provides crushed stones, sand and gravel, sand, and other aggregates; and related products and services that are applied in construction and maintenance of highways, streets, and other public works, as well as in the construction of housing and commercial, industrial, and other nonresidential facilities. The Asphalt Mix segment offers asphalt mix in Alabama, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas, as well as engages in the asphalt construction paving activity in Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas. The Concrete segment provides ready-mixed concrete in California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia, and Washington D.C. The Calcium segment mines, produces, and sells calcium products for the animal feed, plastics, and water treatment industries. The company was formerly known as Virginia Holdco, Inc. and changed its name to Vulcan Materials Company. Vulcan Materials Company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The following companies are subsidiares of L3Harris Technologies: 1231670 Ontario Inc, ASV Global LLC, Aastra Digital Video, AeroElite Limited, Aerosim Academy Inc, Aerosim Technologies Inc, Applied Defense Solutions Inc, Applied Kilovolts Limited, Asian Aviation Training Centre Ltd, Audio Broadcast Group Inc, Autonomous Surface Vehicles LLC, Autonomous Surface Vehicles Limited, Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems LLC, Aydin Yazilim ve Elektronik Sanayi AS, Azimuth Security LLC, Azimuth Security Pty Ltd, Azimuth Security Trust, Beijing MAPPS-SERI Technology Company Ltd, CHOICE Microsystems Inc, CK Industrial Engineers Limited, CR MSA LLC, CTC Aviation Training (UK) Limited, Calzoni Srl, Carefx, Core180 Inc., Crucial Security, DMRAC-Aviation Corporation - SGPS Unipessoal LDA, Defence Investments Limited, EAA Escola de Aviacao Aerocondor SA, EDO (UK) Ltd, EDO MBM Technology Ltd, EDO Western Corporation, EMC Srl, Eagle Technology LLC, ElectroDynamics Inc, Encoda Systems Holdings Inc, Exelis, Exelis Arctic Services, Exelis Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Exelis Australia Pty Ltd, Exelis Holdings Inc, Exigent International Inc, Felec Services Inc, Flight Data Services Limited, ForceX Inc, G Air Advanced Training Lda, G Air II Maintenance Lda, G4U Gestao de Activos Aeronauticos Sociedade Lda, Hamilton BioVentures LP, Harris Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd, Harris Atlas Systems LLC, Harris C4i Pty Ltd, Harris Canada Systems Inc, Harris CapRock Communications, Harris Cayman Ltd, Harris Communications (Australia) Pty Ltd, Harris Communications (Spain) S L, Harris Communications FZCO, Harris Communications GmbH, Harris Communications Limited, Harris Communications MH Spain S L, Harris Communications Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Harris Communications Pakistan (Private) Limited, Harris Communications Systems India Private Limited, Harris Comunicacoes e Participacoes do Brasil Ltda, Harris Defence Ltd, Harris Denmark ApS, Harris Denmark Holding ApS, Harris Geospatial Solutions BV, Harris Geospatial Solutions France SARL, Harris Geospatial Solutions GmbH, Harris Geospatial Solutions Inc, Harris Geospatial Solutions Italia SRL, Harris Geospatial Solutions KK, Harris Geospatial Solutions UK Limited, Harris Global Communications Inc, Harris Holdco LLC, Harris International Chile Limitada, Harris International Holdings LLC, Harris International Inc, Harris International Saudi Communications, Harris International Venezuela CA, Harris Luxembourg Sarl, Harris NV, Harris Orthogon GmbH, Harris Pension Management Limited, Harris Solid-State (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Harris Systems Limited, Hirschmann Multimedia Communications Networks, Honeywell TCAS Inc, ImageLinks Inc, Intraplex Inc, Jariet Technologies, L-3 Brasil Importacao Exportacao e Comercio Ltda, L-3 Communications, L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP, L-3 Communications Investments Inc, L-3 Communications Korea Co Ltd, L-3 Communications Limited, L-3 Communications UK Ltd, L-3 Domestic Holdings Inc, L-3 Global Holding UK Ltd, L-3 International UK Ltd, L-3 Security Equipment Trading (Beijing) Co Ltd, L-3 Societa Srl, L-3 Technology & Services UK Ltd, L-Tres Comunicaciones Costa Rica SA, L3 Applied Technologies Inc, L3 Australia Group Pty Ltd, L3 Aviation Products Inc, L3 CTS Airline Academy (NZ) Limited, L3 CTS Airline and Academy Training Limited, L3 Cincinnati Electronics Corporation, L3 Commercial Training Solutions Limited, L3 Doss Aviation Inc, L3 ESSCO Inc, L3 Electron Devices Inc, L3 Foreign Holdings Inc, L3 Fuzing and Ordnance Systems Inc, L3 International Australia Pty Ltd, L3 Investments LLC, L3 Investments UK Holdings Ltd, L3 Kenya LTD, L3 Kigre Inc, L3 Latitude LLC, L3 MAPPS INC, L3 MAPPS Limited, L3 MAPPS Sdn Bhd, L3 Magnet-Motor GmbH, L3 Micreo Pty Limited, L3 Oceania Pty Limited, L3 Open Water Power Inc, L3 Security and Detection Systems Inc, L3 Technologies Australia Group Pty Ltd, L3 Technologies Canada Group Inc, L3 Technologies Canada Inc, L3 Technologies Inc, L3 Technologies Investments Limited, L3 Technologies MAS Inc, L3 Technologies UK Group Ltd, L3 Unidyne Inc, L3 Unmanned Systems Inc, L3 Westwood Corporation, L3Harris Technologies, Leitch Technology Corporation, Linchpin Labs Limited, Linchpin Labs Pty Limited, Louth Automation, MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) SEA PTE Ltd, MacDonald Humfrey Automation Middle East Control Systems LLC, Manatee Investment LLC, Manu Kai LLC, Melbourne Leasing LLC, Multimax Inc, Mustang Technology Group LP, Narda Safety Test Solutions Srl, NexGen Communications LLC, Northeast Broadcast Lab Inc, NovAtel Communications, Optimal Solutions Inc, Orkand Corporation, Pacific Research & Engineering Corporation, Patriot Technologies, Peak Nano Optics LLC, Power Paragon Inc, Riptide Autonomous Solutions LLC, SARL Assured Communications, SC Harris Assured Communications SRL, SPD Electrical Systems Inc, SignaCert, Sovcan Star Satellite Communications Inc, Sunshine General Services LLC, Tyco Electronics Wireless, Tyco Electronics Wireless Systems, Wavtrace Inc, Wescam USA Inc, and Zandar Technologies. Read More Lloyds Banking Group PLC is a leading financial services provider in the UK, headquartered in London. The company offers a wide range of banking and financial products and services to individual, commercial, and corporate customers. With a history of over 250 years, Lloyds is one of the oldest and most trusted names in the British banking industry. The company operates through several subsidiaries, including Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Scottish Widows. Antonio Horta-Osorio is the current Chief Executive Officer of Lloyds Banking Group, having assumed the role in 2011. He has overseen a significant company transformation, including a major restructuring and cost-cutting program. In 2020, Horta-Osorio announced that he would be stepping down from his position, and Charlie Nunn was appointed as his successor, effective in August 2021. Nunn previously served as the CEO of HSBC's wealth and personal banking division. Nunn also spent thirteen years at Accenture, a prominent information technology company. Lloyds Banking Group has consistently generated strong financial results over the past few years. The company reports increasing revenues yearly with increasing net profit keeping pace with revenues. This suggests that Lloyds Banking Group has a stable profit margin. Lloyds Banking Group's valuation metrics are generally in line with industry peers. The company's price-to-earnings ratio and the price-to-book ratio are slightly lower than the industry average. These metrics suggest that Lloyds is currently undervalued relative to its peers. Lloyds Banking Group's stock has had a mixed performance in recent years. In 2020, the company's share price declined significantly, reflecting concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the UK economy. However, the stock has rebounded strongly in 2021, rising by over 40% since the start of that year. The trading volume has also increased significantly, suggesting growing investor interest in the company. The UK banking industry is highly competitive, with several prominent players vying for market share. Lloyds Banking Group is one of the dominant players in the industry, with a market share of around 17% by total assets. The industry has undergone significant changes in recent years, driven by technological advancements and changing customer preferences. Fintech startups and challenger banks are increasingly disrupting traditional banking models, forcing established players like Lloyds to adapt and innovate. Lloyds Banking Group has several growth opportunities to capitalize on in the coming years. The company has been investing heavily in technology and digitalization, which should help it stay ahead of the curve regarding customer service and efficiency. Lloyds has also been expanding into new markets, such as wealth management and insurance, which should provide additional revenue streams. Finally, the company has been exploring potential mergers and acquisitions, which could further enhance its position in the industry. Lloyds Banking Group faces several risks and challenges in the coming years. One of the most significant risks is the potential for a downturn in the UK economy, which could lead to higher loan defaults and lower demand for banking services. The company also faces regulatory and compliance risks, as the UK government has been tightening regulations on the banking industry in recent years. Finally, Lloyds faces intense competition from fintech startups and challenger banks, which are often more agile and can offer more innovative products and services. The following companies are subsidiares of AES: 25 Ashdown Road Solar LLC, AES (India) Private Limited, AES (NI) Limited, AES Abigail S.a.r.l., AES Accabonac Solar LLC, AES Africa Power Company B.V., AES AgriVerde Holdings B.V., AES AgriVerde Services (Ukraine) Limited Liability Company, AES Alamitos Development Inc., AES Alamitos Energy LLC, AES Alamitos L.L.C., AES Alicura Holdings S.C.A., AES Americas International Holdings Limited, AES Andres (BVI) Ltd., AES Andres BV, AES Andres DR S.A., AES Andres Holdings I Ltd, AES Aramtermelo Holdings B.V., AES Argentina Generation S.A. (1), AES Argentina Holdings S.C.A., AES Argentina Investments Ltd., AES Argentina Operations Ltd., AES Arlington Services LLC, AES Armenia Mountain Holdings LLC, AES Armenia Mountain Wind 2 LLC, AES Aurora Holdings Inc., AES Aurora Inc., AES BES Jordan B.V., AES Bainbridge Holdings LLC, AES Bainbridge LLC, AES Ballylumford Holdings Limited, AES Baltic Holdings BV, AES Barka Services Inc., AES Barry Limited, AES Barry Operations Ltd., AES Beaver Valley L.L.C., AES Belfast West Power Limited, AES Belleville Solar LLC, AES Big Sky L.L.C., AES Botswana Holdings B.V., AES Brasil Ltda, AES Brazil Inc., AES Brazil International Holdings Limited, AES Broadalbin Solar LLC, AES Bulgaria B.V., AES Bulgaria Energy Solutions EOOD, AES Bulgaria Holdings BV, AES Bussum Holdings BV, AES CC&T International Ltd., AES CLESA Y Compania Sociedad en Comandita de Capital Variable, AES Calaca Pte. Ltd., AES Calgary Inc., AES California Management Co. Inc., AES Caracoles SRL, AES Carbon Exchange Ltd., AES Carbon Holdings LLC, AES Caribbean Finance Holdings Inc., AES Caribbean Investment Holdings Ltd., AES Cartegena Holdings BV, AES Cayman Guaiba Ltd., AES Cayman Pampas Ltd., AES Central America Electric Light LLC, AES Central American Holdings Inc., AES Central American Investment Holdings Ltd., AES Central Asia Holdings BV, AES Ceprano Energia SRL, AES Changuinola S.R.L., AES Chhattisgarh Energy Private Limited, AES Chigen Holdings Ltd., AES China Generating Co. Ltd., AES Chivor & Cia S.C.A. E.S.P., AES Chivor S.A., AES Climate Solutions Holdings I B.V., AES Climate Solutions Holdings I LLC, AES Climate Solutions Holdings II LLC, AES Climate Solutions Holdings L.P., AES Climate Solutions Holdings LLC, AES Colon Development S. de R.L., AES Columbia Power LLC, AES Communications LLC, AES Communications Latin America Inc., AES Connecticut Management L.L.C., AES Coop Holdings LLC, AES Costa Rica Energy SRL, AES Costa Rica Holdings Ltd., AES DE AssetCo VI LLC, AES DE Class B Holdings LLC, AES DE Class B I LLC, AES DE Class B II LLC, AES DE Class B III LLC, AES DE Class B IV LLC, AES DE Class B V LLC, AES DE Class B VI LLC, AES DE Class B VII LLC, AES DE Construction LLC, AES DE DevCo I LLC, AES DE DevCo NC LLC, AES DE Holdings I LLC, AES DE Holdings III LLC, AES DE Holdings IV LLC, AES DE Holdings V LLC, AES DE Holdings VI GB LLC, AES DE Holdings VI GB Owner LLC, AES DE Holdings VI LLC, AES DE Manager LLC, AES DE RS IX LLC, AES DE RS VI LLC, AES DE RS VII LLC, AES DE RS VIII LLC, AES DE RS X LLC, AES DE RS XI LLC, AES DE RS XII LLC, AES DE Residential Holdings I LLC, AES DE Solar Access Holdings I LLC, AES DE-GIE LLC, AES DPL Holdings LLC, AES DPP Holdings Ltd., AES Deepwater LLC, AES Desert Power L.L.C., AES Development de Argentina S.A., AES Disaster Relief Fund, AES Distribuidores Salvadorenos Limitada, AES Distribuidores Salvadorenos Y Compania S en C de C.V., AES Distributed Energy Inc., AES Dominicana Cooperatief UA, AES Drax Financing Inc., AES Drax Power Finance Holdings Limited, AES EDC Holding L.L.C., AES ES Alamitos LLC, AES ES Deepwater LLC, AES ES Gilbert LLC, AES ES Holdings LLC, AES ES Tait LLC, AES Ecotek Europe Holdings B.V., AES El Faro Electric Light Ltd., AES El Faro Generating Ltd., AES El Salvador Electric Light LLC, AES El Salvador LLC, AES El Salvador S.A. de C.V., AES El Salvador Trust, AES Electric Ltd., AES Electroinversora B.V., AES Elpa S.A., AES Empresa Electrica de El Salvador Limitada de Capital Variable, AES Endeavor Inc., AES Energia SRL, AES Energy B.V., AES Energy Developments S.L., AES Energy Ltd., AES Energy Services Inc., AES Energy Solutions LLC, AES Energy Storage Arizona LLC, AES Energy Storage Holdings, AES Energy Storage Holdings LLC, AES Energy Storage LLC, AES Energy Storage UK Limited, AES Energy Storage Zeeland B.V., AES Engineering LLC, AES Europe Services EOOD, AES Finance and Development Inc., AES Florestal Ltda., AES Fonseca Energia Limitada de C.V., AES Forca Ltd., AES Foreign Energy Holdings LLC, AES GEI US Finance Inc., AES GEO Energy OOD, AES GPH Holdings Inc., AES Gabreski Solar LLC, AES Gas Supply & Distribution Ltd., AES Gener S.A., AES Generation Development LLC, AES Global Insurance Company, AES Global Mobility Services LLC, AES Global Power Holdings B.V., AES Globales B.V., AES Grand Dominicana Ltd., AES Grid Stability LLC, AES Griggs Solar LLC, AES Guaiba II Empreendimentos Ltda, AES Guayama Holdings BV, AES Hawaii LLC, AES Hawaii Management Company LLC, AES Highgrove Holdings L.L.C., AES Highgrove L.L.C., AES Hispanola Holdings BV, AES Hispanola Holdings II BV, AES Holdings B.V., AES Holdings B.V. - Vietnam Rep Office, AES Holdings Brasil Ltda., AES Honduras Generation Ventures Ltd., AES Honduras Holdings Ltd., AES Horizons Holdings BV, AES Horizons Investments Limited, AES Hungary Energiaszolgaltato Kft., AES Huntington Beach Development L.L.C., AES Huntington Beach Energy LLC, AES Huntington Beach L.L.C., AES IB Valley Corporation, AES Ilumina Holdings LLC, AES Ilumina LLC, AES Ilumina Member LLC, AES India Holdings (Mauritius), AES India L.L.C., AES Indiana Holdings L.L.C., AES Integrated Energy LLC, AES Intercon II Ltd., AES Interenergy Ltd., AES International Holdings II Ltd., AES International Holdings III Ltd., AES International Holdings Ltd., AES Investment Chile SpA, AES Italia S.r.l, AES James Baird Solar LLC, AES Johnsville Solar LLC, AES Jordan Holdco Cayman Limited, AES Jordan PSC, AES Jordan Solar B.V., AES Juniper Point Holdings LLC, AES K2 Limited, AES Kalaeloa Venture L.L.C., AES Kekaha Solar LLC, AES Keystone L.L.C., AES Keystone Wind L.L.C., AES King Harbor Inc., AES Kuihelani Solar LLC, AES LA FIT Dedeaux LLC, AES LA FIT Francisco LLC, AES LA FIT Sun Valley LLC, AES LATAM Energy Development Ltd., AES Landfill Carbon LLC, AES Latin America S. de R.L., AES Latin American Development Ltd., AES Laurel Mountain LLC, AES Lawai Solar LLC, AES Levant Holdings B.V., AES Levant Holdings B.V/ Jordan PSC, AES Lion Telecom Investments B.V., AES Lumos Holdings LLC, AES Maritza East 1 Ltd., AES Maritza East 1 Services Ltd., AES Mayan Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., AES Merida B.V., AES Merida III S. de R.L. de C.V., AES Merida Management Services S. de R.L. de C.V., AES Merida Operaciones SRL de CV, AES Mexican Holdings Ltd., AES Mexico Farms L.L.C., AES Mexico Generation Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., AES MicroPlanet Ltd., AES Mid East Holdings 2 Ltd., AES Mong Duong Holdings B.V., AES Mong Duong Project Holdings B.V., AES Monroe Holdings B.V., AES Mount Vernon B.V., AES NA Central L.L.C., AES NEXT Ltda. de C.V., AES Nejapa Gas Ltda. de C.V., AES Nejapa Services Ltda. de C.V., AES Next LLC, AES Nile Power Holdings Ltd., AES North America Development LLC, AES OPGC Holding, AES Oahu LLC, AES Oahu Wind Holdings LLC, AES Oasis Holdco Inc., AES Oasis Ltd., AES Oasis Mauritius Inc, AES Ocean Springs Trust Deed, AES Odyssey L.L.C., AES Ohio Generation LLC, AES Operaciones Laguna del Rey S. de R.L. de C.V., AES Operadora S.A, AES Orissa Distribution Private Limited, AES Overseas Holdings (Cayman) Ltd., AES Overseas Holdings Limited, AES Pacific Inc., AES Pacific L.L.C., AES Pacific Ocean Holdings B.V., AES Pak Holdings Ltd., AES Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd., AES Pakistan Operations Ltd., AES Panama S.R.L., AES Parana Gas S.A., AES Parana Holdings Ltd., AES Parana IHC Ltd., AES Parana II Limited Partnership, AES Parana Operations S.R.L., AES Parana Propiedades S.A, AES Parana Uruguay S.R.L, AES Pardo Holdings Ltd., AES Pasadena Inc., AES Peru S.R.L., AES Phil Investment Pte. Ltd., AES Philippines Power Partners Co. Ltd., AES Platense Investments Uruguay S.C.A, AES Puerto Rico Inc., AES Puerto Rico L.P., AES Puerto Rico Services Inc., AES Redondo Beach L.L.C., AES Renewable Power Group S.R.L., AES Renewables (India) Private Limited, AES Riverside Holdings LLC, AES SACEF Investment LLC, AES SEB Holdings (Delaware) LLC, AES SEB Holdings Ltd., AES Saint Petersburg Holdings B.V., AES San Nicolas B.V., AES SellCo III LLC, AES Services Inc., AES Services Ltd., AES Services Philippines Inc., AES Servicios America S.R. L., AES Servicios Electricos S. de R.L. de C.V., AES Servicos TC Ltda., AES Shady Point LLC, AES Silk Road Energy LLC, AES Silk Road LLC, AES Solar Energy B.V., AES Solar Energy Holdings B.V., AES Solar Energy LLC, AES Solar Espana S.L., AES Solar Holdings LLC, AES Solar Power PR LLC, AES Sole Italia S.r.L., AES Soluciones Limitada de Capital Variable, AES Solutions LLC, AES Solutions Management LLC, AES South America Holdings Cooperatief U.A., AES South America Holdings I B.V., AES South America Holdings II B.V., AES South American Holdings Ltd., AES South Point Ltd., AES Southland Development LLC, AES Southland Energy Company Holdings I LLC, AES Southland Energy Holdings II LLC, AES Southland Energy Holdings LLC, AES Southland Energy Investment LLC, AES Southland Energy LLC, AES Stonehaven Holding Inc., AES Strategic Equipment Holdings Corporation, AES Sul L.L.C., AES Summit Generation Ltd., AES Swiss Lake Holdings B.V., AES TEG Holdings I LLC, AES TEG Holdings LLC, AES TEG II Mexican Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., AES TEG II Mexican Investments S. de R.L. de C.V., AES TEG II Operations S. de R.L. de C.V., AES TEG Management Inc., AES TEG Mexican Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., AES TEG Mexican Investments S. de R.L. de C.V., AES TEG Operations S. de R.L. de C.V., AES TEG Power Investments B.V., AES TEG Power Investments II B.V., AES TEGTEP Holdings B.V., AES TEP Holdings I LLC, AES TEP Holdings LLC, AES TEP Management Inc., AES TEP Power II Investments Limited, AES TEP Power Investments Limited, AES Tamuin Development Services S. de R.L. de C.V., AES Texas Funding III L.L.C., AES Thames L.L.C., AES Thomas Holdings BV, AES Tiete Eolica S.A., AES Tiete Inova Solucoes de Energia I Ltda., AES Tiete Inova Solucoes de Energia II Ltda., AES Tiete Inova Solucoes de Energia Ltda., AES Tiete Integra Solucoes em Energia Ltda, AES Tonawanda Solar LLC, AES Transgas I Ltd., AES Treasure Cove Ltd., AES Trinidad Services Unlimited, AES Trust III, AES Tucano Holding I S.A., AES Tucano Holdings II S.A., AES U&K Holdings B.V., AES U.S. Holdings LLC, AES U.S. Investments Inc., AES U.S. Solar LLC, AES UCH Holdings (Cayman) Ltd., AES UK Datacenter Services Limited, AES UK Holdings Limited, AES UK Power Financing II Ltd, AES UK Power Financing Limited, AES UK Power Holdings Limited, AES UK Power L.L.C., AES UK Power Limited, AES US Distributed Solar Holdings LLC, AES US Generation Holdings LLC, AES US Generation LLC, AES US Services LLC, AES US Wind Development L.L.C., AES US Wind Generation Holdings LLC, AES Union de Negocios S.A. de C.V., AES Uruguaiana Empreendimentos S.A., AES Venezuela Finance, AES Volcan Holdings B.V., AES WR Limited Partnership, AES Waikoloa Solar LLC, AES Warrior Run L.L.C., AES West Oahu Solar LLC, AES Western Power Holdings L.L.C., AES Western Power L.L.C., AES Western Wind L.L.C., AES Western Wind MV Acquisition LLC, AES Wind Bulgaria EOOD, AES Wind Generation LLC, AES Wind Generation Limited, AES Wind Investments I B.V., AES Wind Investments II B.V., AES Yucatan S. de R.L. de C.V., AES Zephyr 2 LLC, AES Zephyr 3 LLC, AES Zephyr Inc., AES- IC Ictas Enerji Uretim ve Ticaret A.S., AES-3C Maritza East 1 Ltd., AES-RS Spanish Holdings LLC, AES-RS Sunshine Cooperatief U.A., AES-RS Sunshine Holdings LLC, AES-VCM Mong Duong Power Company Limited, AESCom Sul Ltda., AESEBA Trust Deed, AGV Solar IV Geradora de Energia S.A., AGV Solar V Geradora de Energia S.A., AGV Solar VI Geradora de Energia S.A., AM Solar B.V., AM Solar B.V. - Jordan Co., APR Walden Solar 1 LLC, ARNIKA Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH, AZ Solar I LLC, AZ Solar II LLC, AZ Solar Phase Zero LLC, AgCert Canada Co., AgCert Canada Holding Limited, AgCert Chile Servicios Ambientales Limitada, AgCert International Limited, AgCert Servicios Ambientales S.R.L., Agilion Energy Private Limited, Allis Medina Solar LLC, Altai Power Limited Liability Partnership, Alto Maipo SpA, Amaterasu LLC, Andes Solar SpA, Arizona B&GC Solar LLC, Assonet Solar 1 LLC, Atlantic Basin Services Ltd., B.A. Services S.R.L., Bakersfield Industrial PV 1 LLC, Bakersfield PV I LLC, Beals Medina Solar LLC, Boa Hora 1 Geradora De Energia Solar S.A., Boa Hora 2 Geradora de Energia Solar S.A., Boa Hora 3 Geradora De Energia Solar S.A., Bolton Solar I LLC, Brasiliana Participacoes S.A., Bridgeport Solar LLC, Buffalo Gap Holdings 2 LLC, Buffalo Gap Holdings 3 L.L.C., Buffalo Gap Holdings LLC, Buffalo Gap Wind Farm 2 LLC, Buffalo Gap Wind Farm 3 L.L.C., Buffalo Gap Wind Farm 4 L.L.C., Buffalo Gap Wind Farm LLC, Bullock Freetown Solar 1 LLC, Bosforo de Responsabilidad Limitada de Capital Variable, CCS Telecarrier, CDEC-SING Ltda, CIA.TRANSMISORA DEL NORTE CHICO S.A., CO-CA Wholly Owned LLC, Camille Ltd., Camille Trust, Cavanal Minerals LLC, Cayman Energy Traders, Cemig II C.V., Centrais Eolicas Ametista S.A., Centrais Eolicas Borgo S.A., Centrais Eolicas Caetite S.A., Centrais Eolicas Dourados S.A., Centrais Eolicas Espigao S.A., Centrais Eolicas Maron S.A., Centrais Eolicas Morrao S.A., Centrais Eolicas Pelourinho S.A., Centrais Eolicas Piloes S.A., Centrais Eolicas Seraima S.A., Centrais Eolicas Serra do Espinhaco S.A., Centrais Eolicas Tanque S.A., Centrais Eolicas Ventos do Nordeste S.A., Centrais Eolicas da Prata S.A., Centrais Eolicas dos Aracas S.A., Central Electricity Supply Company of Orissa Limited, Central Termoelectrica Guillermo Brown S.A., Cerulean Properties LLC, Clean Wind Energy Ltd., Coastal Itabo Ltd., Colon LNG Marketing S. De R.L., Compania de Alumbrado Eletrico de San Salvador S.A. DE C.V., Compass Circle Solar LLC, Compania Transmisora Angamos SpA, Compania Transmisora La Cebada S.A., Compania Transmisora del Norte Grande SpA, Costa Norte LNG Terminal S. de R.L., Cronin Road Solar 1 LLC, DPL Capital Trust II, DPL Inc., Daggett Ridge Wind Farm LLC, Delano PV1 LLC, Diamond Development Inc., Distribuidora Electrica de Usulutan Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Domi Trading S.L., Dominican Power Partners, Dublin Solar I LLC, Dunstable Solar 1 LLC, EMLP Controladora S. de R.L. de C.V., ENERAB S. de R.L. de C.V., ENERGEN S.A., Eloy ESD Solar Holdings LLC, Empresa Electrica Angamos S.A., Empresa Electrica Campiche S.A., Empresa Electrica Cochrane II SpA, Empresa Electrica Cochrane S.A., Empresa Electrica Guacolda S.A., Empresa Electrica Ventanas S.A., Empresa Electrica de Oriente S.A. de C.V., Empresa Generadora De Electricidad Itabo S.A., EnerAB Cogeneracion I Laguna del Rey S. de R.L. de C.V., EnerAB Suministro Calificado S. de R.L. de C.V., EnerAB Tenedora S. de R.L., Energetica Argentina S.A., Energia Eolica Los Olmos SpA, Energia Eolica Mesamavida SpA, Energia Verde S.A., Energy Trade and Finance Corporation, Energia Eolica Curauma SpA, Energia Eolica Paposo SpA, Energia Natural del Este Enadom, Eolica Mesa La Paz S. de R.L. de C.V., FTP Power LLC, Finchville Solar LLC, Fluence Energy LLC, Founder's Homestead Farm Solar LLC, Fundacion AES Dominicana Inc., Fundacion AES Gener, GENERGIA S.A., GNRY Holdings & Investments Limited, Gas Natural Atlantico II S. de R.L., Gas Natural Atlantico S. De R.L., Gasoducto GasAndes Argentina S.A., Gasoducto GasAndes S.A., Gener Argentina S.A., Gener Blue Water Ltd., Genergia Power Ltd., Georgia Solar Holdings LLC, Georgia Solar Parent LLC, Global Energy Holdings C.V., Goller Enerji Uretim Ltd. Sti., Gray Springs Vista Solar LLC, Greenwich Solar 1 LLC, Guacolda Energy S.A., Guaimbe I Parque Solar S.A., Guaimbe II Parque Solar S.A., Guaimbe III Parque Solar S.A., Guaimbe IV Parque Solar S.A., Guaimbe Solar Holding S.A., Guaimbe V Parque Solar S.A., Health and Welfare Benefit Plans LLC, Hipotecaria San Miguel Limitada de Capital Variable, Hipotecaria Santa Ana Limitada de Capital Variable, INVERSIONES NUEVA VENTANAS S.A., IPALCO Enterprises Inc., Indianapolis Power & Light Company, Indimento Inversiones S.L., Instituto AES Brasil, InterAndes S.A., Inversiones Cachagua SpA, Inversiones Energia Renovable Limitada, Inversiones LK SpA, Inversiones Termoenergia de Chile Ltda., Inversiones Zapallar Limitada, Inversora de San Nicolas S.A., Itabo III S.R.L., Jemeiwaa KaI S.A.S., Johnstown Solar 1 LLC, KA Energy OOD, KMR Power Company, Kazincbarcikai Iparteruletfejleszt Kft., Kings Rooftop PV LLC, La Plata I Empreendimentos Ltda., La Plata II Ltd., La Plata III C.V., Lane Ave Solar LLC, Lemoore PV 1 LLC, MFP CO Holdings II LLC, MFP CO Holdings LLC, MFP CO I LLC, MFP CO II LLC, MFP CO III LLC, MFP CO Parent LLC, MM Solar Holdings I LLC, MM Solar Parent LLC, MSP Master Tenant I LLC, MSP Master Tenant II LLC, MacGregor Park Inc., Manteca PV 1 LLC, Maple Solar LLC, Maui 17-2 LLC, Mauka FIT Twenty LLC, Mercury Cayman Co II Ltda Agencia en Chile, Mercury Chile Co. 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Orange RD Solar LLC, West Brookfield Boston Post Road Solar LLC, West Street Solar 1 LLC, Western Solar Parent LLC, Wilbur Woods Solar LLC, Wildwood Trust, Williamsburg East Street Solar LLC, Winchendon Ash Street Solar 1 LLC, Winchendon Lincoln Avenue Solar 1 LLC, Winchendon Lincoln Avenue Solar 2 LLC, Your Energy Holdings Limited, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-001 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-003 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-006 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-007 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-008 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-011 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-014 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-017 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-023 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-024 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-038 LLC, ZPD-PT Solar Project 2017-044 LLC, sPower, and sPower OpCo A Blocker LLC. Read More PagerDuty, Inc. engages in the operation of a digital operations management platform in the United States, EMEA, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company's digital operations management platform collects data and digital signals from virtually any software-enabled system or device and leverage powerful machine learning to correlate, process, and predict opportunities and issues. Its platform includes PagerDuty Incident Response, that provides a real-time view across the status of a digital service while incorporating noise reduction to remove false positives; PagerDuty Process Automation products, which empower users with the ability to create automated workflows and runbooks that span different scripts, tools, APIs, and system commands to safely hand off the knowledge required to use these tools correctly and consistently; PagerDuty Event Intelligence, that applies machine learning to correlate and automate the identification of incidents from billions of events; and PagerDuty for Customer Service, which is offered to orchestrate, automate, and scale responses to customer impacting issues. It serves various industries, including software and technology, telecommunications, retail, travel and hospitality, media and entertainment, and financial services. PagerDuty, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. PJT Partners Inc., an investment bank, provides various strategic and capital markets advisory, restructuring and special situations, and shareholder advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, institutional investors, and governments worldwide. It offers advisory services to clients on various transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), spin-offs, activism defense, contested M&A, joint ventures, minority investments, and divestitures. The company also advises private and public company boards and management teams on strategies for building productive investor relationships with a focus on shareholder engagement; and strategic investor relations; environmental, social, and governance matters; and other investor-related matters. In addition, it provides advisory services related to debt and acquisition financings; structured product offerings; public equity raises, including initial public offering and SPAC offerings; and private capital raises for early and later stage companies, as well as other capital structure related matters. Further, the company offers advisory services in restructurings and recapitalizations; and serving a range of companies, creditors, and financial sponsors on liability management and related capital raise transactions, including exchanges, recapitalizations, reorganizations, debt repurchases, and distressed mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, it provides private fund advisory and fundraising services for a range of investment strategies; and advisory services to GPs and LPs on liquidity and other structured solutions in the secondary market. The company was formerly known as Blackstone Advisory Inc. and changed its name to PJT Partners Inc. in March 2015. PJT Partners Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Tejon Ranch Co., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified real estate development and agribusiness company. It operates through five segments: Commercial/Industrial Real Estate Development, Resort/Residential Real Estate Development, Mineral Resources, Farming, and Ranch Operations. The Commercial/Industrial Real Estate Development segment engages in the planning and permitting of land for development; construction of infrastructure projects, pre-leased buildings, and buildings to be leased or sold; and sale of land to third parties for their own development. It is also involved in the activities related to communications leases, a power plant lease, and landscape maintenance. This segment leases land to two auto service stations with convenience stores, 13 fast-food operations, a motel, an antique shop, and a post office; various microwave repeater locations, radio and cellular transmitter sites, and fiber optic cable routes; and 32 acres of land for an electric power plant. The Resort/Residential Real Estate Development segment engages in land entitlement, planning, pre-construction engineering, stewardship, and conservation activities. The Mineral Resources segment includes oil and gas royalties, rock and aggregate royalties, and royalties from a cement operation leased to National Cement Company of California, Inc.; and the management of water assets and infrastructure projects. The Farming segment farms permanent crops, such as wine grapes in 1,036 acres, almonds in 2,235 acres, and pistachios in 932 acres. It also manages the farming of alfalfa and forage mix on 626 acres in the Antelope Valley; and leases 530 acres of land for growing vegetables, as well as almonds. The Ranch Operations segment provides game management and ancillary land services comprising grazing leases and filming, as well as various guided hunts. Tejon Ranch Co. was founded in 1843 and is based in Lebec, California. TEHRAN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with visiting Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Sunday to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and the implementation of bilateral agreements. At a joint press conference, Amir-Abdollahian said the two countries have set an annual trade volume target of 30 billion euros (32.33 billion U.S. dollars) and are halfway to achieving the goal, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported. The talks focused on the implementation of the bilateral agreements signed between Iran and Turkiye during Turkish President Tayyip Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Tehran in July last year, said the Iranian top diplomat. Amir-Abdollahian called for further cooperation between Iran and Turkiye in consular affairs to facilitate the travel of citizens from both countries. The two ministers also vowed to take more active measures to prevent the spread of Islamophobia and desecration of the Islamic holy book of Quran, according to Amir-Abdollahian. Both Iran and Turkiye have agreed to hold a trilateral meeting to be attended by Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to increase economic cooperation among the three countries, Amir-Abdollahian said. The Turkish foreign minister, for his part, said he and his Iranian counterpart held consultations on the Iranian president's planned visit to Turkiye in the coming days, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency. Fidan said Ankara welcomes the normalization of relations between Tehran and Riyadh, describing Turkiye, Iran and Saudi Arabia as three major and responsible countries in the region, whose friendly relations are of great importance in terms of ensuring regional stability. He said the two sides also discussed guaranteeing security along the common border, fighting terrorism and expanding trade, economic and energy cooperation. Editor: WXL Rockwell Automation, Inc. provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services. The Intelligent Devices segment offers drives, motion, safety, sensing, industrial components, and configured-to-order products. The Software & Control segment provides control and visualization software and hardware, information software, and network and security infrastructure solutions. The Lifecycle Services segment provides consulting, professional services and solutions, and connected and maintenance services. The company sells its solutions primarily through independent distributors in relation with its direct sales force. It serves discrete end markets, including automotive, semiconductor, and warehousing and logistics, as well as general industries comprising printing and publishing, marine, glass, fiber and textiles, airports, and aerospace; hybrid end markets, such as food and beverage, life sciences, household and personal care, and tire, as well as eco industrial, including water/wastewater, waste management, mass transit, and renewable energy; and process end markets comprising oil and gas, mining, metals, chemicals, pulp and paper, and others. Rockwell Automation, Inc. was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Zhang Shiyan at work in the pharmacy. [China Daily] Before Zhang Shiyan went to work at a hospital in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, she had no clue what the place was like, except that it stood at a high altitude, at an average of more than 4,500 meters. In 2018, she was preparing to retake the national postgraduate entrance exam, having failed it that year. However, after learning that the Tibet government was looking for graduates from outside the region to work as teachers, medical administrators and grassroots officials, Zhang didn't hesitate to seize the chance. "I made the decision and never had any doubts. I was born in a village in Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, and my childhood was filled with hardship due to poverty, so I thought no matter how hard the environment was going to be, I was tough enough to survive and thrive," the 28-year-old recalled. Zhang said that her family had trouble paying her tuition fees at primary school and she had to help with farmwork and household chores from an early age. Moreover, Guizhou is mountainous, with little arable land. That led her parents to leave home and find work in cities. She was in middle school at the time, so she had to attend a boarding school. Before she graduated from college, she had never left Guizhou. "I thought that even if I had to live in a house with a leaking roof in Tibet, it would be OK because I could just live in the office," she said. Luckily for Zhang, when she arrived at the People's Hospital of Ngari Prefecture the conditions were much better than she had imagined. The development of Ngari's urban area is very good and it has very beautiful scenery, clean streets and multistory buildings, she said. She was also lucky when she arrived because she only experienced mild symptoms of altitude sickness. More importantly, Zhang met her husband in Ngari. He works at the same hospital and was admitted through the same talent enrollment plan in the same year. "He is from Shaanxi (Province) and we work in the same department. We started dating in 2019 and got married in 2021." They work in the hospital's pharmacy, where Zhang's job mainly involves purchasing and distributing medication and medical equipment. She makes 8,000 to 9,000 yuan ($1,100 to $1,240) a month, much more than her peers in other areas, thanks to subsidies provided for people who work in high-altitude and border areas. Unlike hospitals in more advanced areas, which have automated medicine distribution machines, or hospitals that send texts to patients' phones explaining how to take the medication, Zhang's hospital still relies on medical workers to distribute the treatments and show the patients how to take them. To make sure the patients understand her, Zhang has learned some basic Tibetan from colleagues. She said she has been motivated and willing to learn new things from her first day on the job, which is why she was appointed head of her team in her second year at the hospital. "I like my job very much. People might think it is simple, but when you see that the patients understand what you mean and give you a thumbs-up or a big smile, there is a sense of achievement that cannot be bought with money," she said. Zhang's hospital is the largest in Ngari, and the conditions have improved greatly in the past five years. Now, the facility has more medical professionals and can treat more patients and a wider range of illnesses, which means her work has become busier. Awareness of healthy lifestyles has also risen a lot among people in the region, and improvements to the transportation infrastructure mean that more herders from remote townships and villages are coming to the hospital for treatment, she said. "My life in Ngari is very satisfying. My only regret is that I am far from home, so I cannot spend as much time with my parents as I would like," she said. Zhang said she will work at the hospital for at least six or seven more years. However, when she has a child and it reaches primary school age, she will consider moving to a place at a lower altitude to access better child care. (Source: China Daily) Weather Alert ...FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM CDT /10 PM EDT/ THIS EVENING TO 9 AM CDT /10 AM EDT/ TUESDAY... * WHAT...Sub-freezing temperatures between 21 and 27 degrees expected. * WHERE...All of southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky and southeast Missouri. * WHEN...From 9 PM CDT this evening to 9 AM CDT Tuesday. * IMPACTS...Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...This hard freeze will bring an end to the growing season. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. To prevent freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes they should be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. Those that have in-ground sprinkler systems should drain them and cover above- ground pipes to protect them from freezing. && This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) HARBIN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Two rosters of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, has gone on public display for the first time in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The new evidence of "crimes committed by Unit 731 through military-medical coordination" was made public on Sunday by the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army, which is located in Harbin, as China marks the 78th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. The rosters contained lists of names of staff members from 24 Japanese army hospitals in Chinese cities, including Harbin, Dalian, and Mudanjiang. Six pages in length, and classified as a military secret, the rosters were compiled by the Japanese Kwantung Army in August 1940, and discovered in the National Archives of Japan as a result of the cooperation of the exhibition hall and Japanese scholar Seiya Matsuno. Furthermore, clues about cooperation between a Japanese army hospital in Harbin and Unit 731 in a plague outbreak in Jilin Province have also been discovered. A document showed that in October 1940, the Japanese Kwantung Army dispatched the Japanese army hospital in Harbin to engage in the "prevention and control" of plague bacteria carried out by Unit 731, which was, in fact, operations to test the results of a plague bacteria attack in the name of outbreak control. The discoveries further suggested that the Japanese army hospital in Harbin was closely related to Unit 731 and was an extension of medical crimes committed by Unit 731, said Jin Shicheng, a researcher with the exhibition hall. Studies found that the human experiments and germ warfare carried out by Unit 731 were assisted by Japanese wartime medical institutions, said Jin Chengmin, curator of the exhibition hall. "It once again proves that the Japanese invasion of China was a top-down, organized, and planned group crime carried out by the Japanese militarism." Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin as the nerve center for Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during World War II. This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows a photocopy of a roster of Japanese army hospitals that cooperated with Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Jin Shicheng, a researcher with the exhibition hall, presents new evidence of "crimes committed by Unit 731 through military-medical coordination" at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 2, 2023.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Jin Shicheng, a researcher with the exhibition hall, presents new evidence of "crimes committed by Unit 731 through military-medical coordination" at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 2, 2023.(Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Editor: JYZ For a week now, new details about the right-wing extremist past of Bavarian Deputy State Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger have been leaking out every day. It is now clear that the Free Voters leader was a neo-Nazi as a youth and defends it to this day. Bavarian State Premier Markus Soder (Christian Social Union, CSU) nevertheless decided at noon on Sunday that Aiwanger would remain in office. He had been under considerable pressure to dismiss him before the state elections in five weeks. Soders decision in favour of Aiwanger also means he is likely to continue working with him after the election. Since the beginning of the election campaign, Soder had explicitly spoken out in favour of continuing the governing alliance of the CSU and the Free Voters, which he describes as a bourgeois coalition. His keeping Aiwanger in office is a clear signal that right-wing extremism is not an obstacle to holding the highest government positions in Germany. The Aiwanger case On August 25, the Suddeutsche Zeitung reported on an antisemitic leaflet circulated in Aiwangers school, the Burkhart Gymnasium in Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg, during the 1987/88 school year. The school administration identified Aiwanger as the author of the inflammatory pamphlet, several copies of which were found in his bag. As punishment, he had to give a lecture on the Nazi era. The leaflet is a cynical stringing together of the vilest inflammatory neo-Nazi slogans. Titled Federal competition: Who is the greatest traitor to the fatherland? it invites those eligible to take partAnyone who is German and resides on German soilto report to the Dachau concentration camp for an interview. The first prize promised is a free flight through the chimney at Auschwitz. Other prizes are a lifelong stay in a mass grave, a free shot in the neck, a free beheading by guillotine and a ticket to the eternal hunting grounds (place of fulfilment also the Auschwitz pleasure quarter and subcamps). The winners of prizes 7-1,000 are threatened with a night in the Gestapo cellar, then off to Dachau. The inflammatory leaflet ends by wishing the winners to have a good time. The title of the leaflet obviously referred to the History Competition of the Federal President, which has taken place every two years since 1973 and is meant to encourage pupils to deal with German history. At the time, at least one pupil from Aiwangers high school, Roman Serlitzky, took part in the competition. Serlitzky submitted his work on the Jewish cemetery near Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg in February 1989 and included a copy of Aiwangers inflammatory leaflet as a negative example of how other young people of the same age deal with the Third Reich, without, however, mentioning the name of the author. Buried in the cemetery are 67 concentration camp prisoners who died in spring 1945 during a death march from Buchenwald concentration camp. The traitors to the fatherland to whom the leaflet offered Auschwitz, guillotine and a shot in the neck as a prize were thus meant to be participants in the history competition who investigated and uncovered crimes of the Nazi regime. Aiwanger reacted to the Suddeutsches publication by denying everything, speaking of a smear campaign and threatening the newspaper with legal action and claims for damages. When this line could no longer be held, he admitted that one or more copies of the leaflet had been found in his pocket. However, he denied having written the text himself. He knew the author but did not want to blow the whistle on him, he explained. The following day, Aiwangers brother Helmut, who is a year older and had attended the same high school, spoke up. He claimed to have written the leaflet himself, out of anger that he had been left behind. The leaflets had ended up in his brother Huberts pocket because he had collected them again to de-escalate. This flimsy excuse fell apart in no time. Numerous eyewitnesses came forward who believed that the politician Aiwanger had written the diatribe, not his brother. The latter was considered a cool guy with long hair, while Huberts appearance was with strictly parted hair and a moustache. Helmut wrote an essay about the Rolling Stones, Hubert about a Bavarian fighter pilot from the First World War. Journalists from Der Spiegel and the Suddeutsche each tracked down about two dozen eyewitnesses, many of whom confirmed that Hubert Aiwanger was considered a neo-Nazi at school. Several former pupils and teachers remember Hubert Aiwanger as a strict conservative to right-wing radical, Spiegel reports. He had defended Hitlers Wehrmacht (armed forces) and declared that it had behaved honourably. He had occasionally given a Sieg Heil salute and had made a disgusting joke about Jews after a visit to a concentration camp memorial. A former schoolmate recalled seeing Hitlers Mein Kampf in Hubert Aiwangers schoolbag and him holding the book in his hand once. Another schoolmate swore an oath that the racist slogan Schwarzbraun ist die Negersau (Black-brown is the negro sow) was written on the inside of a folder Hubert had with him at school. Stephan Winnerl, who was the student representative at the Burkhart high school at the time, told the Suddeutsche about swastika graffiti in the school toilets. The headmaster had confirmed to him that Hubert Aiwanger had been found guilty of this. Possibly that is why he was immediately suspected of authoring the flyer and the copies found in his pocket. A classmate of Aiwanger, who wished to remain anonymous, assured the Suddeutsche: He was a Nazi through and through. He had often sung the Horst Wessel Song, the banned anthem of the Nazi Party. On August 31, Hubert Aiwanger finally read out a short statement at a press conference in which he made a pro forma apology. I deeply regret if I have hurt feelings through my behaviour in relation to the pamphlet in question or further accusations against me from my youth, he said. His apology was first and foremost to all the victims of the Nazi regime, their surviving dependents and all those involved in the valuable remembrance work. At the same time, Aiwanger intensified the attacks on his critics. At election campaign appearances in beer tents in front of cheering supporters, he stylised himself as the persecuted victim of a smear campaign who was to be politically and personally finished off. He continued to deny having written the agitational leaflet and mocked the Jewish victims of the Nazi regime, accusing his critics in an interview in Die Welt of abusing the Shoah for party political purposes. Political shift to the right State Premier Soder (CSU) justified his decision to keep Aiwanger in office by saying that it was his impression that Aiwanger had credibly distanced himself from his serious youthful mistakes. Furthermore, there was no proof that Aiwanger had created or distributed the leaflet. He had given Aiwanger the serious and well-intentioned advice: even if all these things happened a long time ago, it is important to show remorse and humility. This is absurd. Before Soders decision, Aiwanger had answered 25 questions in writing about the events of 1987/88, which the latter had submitted to him in order to gain time. His answer to almost all the questions was: Details not remembered, that escapes me, that is not known to me, I cant remember that, etc. While Soder was still briefing the press, Aiwanger paraded in a beer tent in Keferloh in front of cheering supporters: I predict that Bavaria will continue to be governed by the CSU and the Free Voters. ... We will be strengthened by this campaign. He said the coverage of him was a dirty piece of work. In reality, the CSU already knew in 2018, when it formed a coalition with the Free Voters, who it was becoming involved with. That Aiwanger held far-right views was never a secret. As early as 2008, shortly after he had taken over the chairmanship of the Free Voters and they had entered the Landtag (state parliament) for the first time, Aiwanger had personally approached the then CSU Prime Minister Horst Seehofer because a CSU member had insisted he urgently needed to get hold of Hubert Aiwangers school file in order to politically destroy him with its contents. Aiwanger wanted to know from Seehofer whether he was being investigated and gave him the name of the CSU member in question. Seehofer assured him that this was not the case. Did the CSU therefore already know about the politically explosive episodes from Aiwangers school days for 15 yearsand never said anything? concluded the Suddeutsche Zeitung, which reported on this episode. Aiwanger has shaped the Free Voters, previously active only at the local level, into a powerful state party that channels outrage at the nepotistic policies of the CSU, which has ruled Bavaria uninterruptedly since 1957, into right-wing populist channels. He has therefore often been compared to the Austrian politician Jorg Haider, who transformed the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) into a far-right party. Markus Soder, then CSU secretary-general, had also publicly accused Aiwanger of using extreme right-wing methods as early as 2007. As deputy prime minister, Aiwanger then repeatedly attracted attention with political positions aligned with those of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). For example, when he publicly railed against the Coronavirus insanity and boasted that he would not be vaccinated against COVID. Or when he called at rallies for the Berlin chaos (meaning the federal government) to be driven out or called on the silent majority of this country to take back democracy. Within the CSU itself, there are strong far-right tendencies that go back to its founder and long-time leader Franz-Josef Strauss. At the European level, it works closely with ultra-right parties. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was a celebrated guest at CSU retreats when he established an authoritarian regime in Hungary. The leader of the European Peoples Party, Manfred Weber, campaigned in Italy for Silvio Berlusconi and thus indirectly for Giorgia Meloni of the fascist Fratelli dItalia, who won the election in alliance with Berlusconi and the far-right Lega. In 2018, the Free Voters offered the CSU the opportunity to form a government alliance with a far-right party without cooperating directly with the AfD, which would have been met with outrage and rejection by broad sections of the population. Soder is determined to continue this collaboration, despite Aiwangers obvious Nazi sentiments. He sees himself in a position to do so because he does not have to fear serious opposition from either the Social Democrats (SPD) or the Greens. The latter have dutifully demanded Aiwangers resignation, but in Berlin they are part of a federal government that is implementing an ultra-right programme of war abroad and class war at home, implementing severe social cuts. In Bavaria, both the SPD and the Greens are seeking a coalition with Soders CSU. Accordingly, they are lagging in the polls for the Bavarian state elections. With around 14 percent, the Greens are roughly on a par with the AfD and the Free Voters. The SPD is hovering around 10 percent. The CSU, which once achieved up to 60 percent, leads in the polls with 40 percent. The ruling class needs the far-right to intimidate and suppress the growing opposition to war and social inequality. That is why Soder is sticking with Aiwanger. The signal he is sending is clear: a Nazi mindset is no longer an obstacle to being accepted into a German government. It is only a matter of time before this also applies to the AfD. An Australian federal senate committee last month released a report and recommendations following an inquiry into, The national trend of school refusal and related matters. An empty Australian school class room. [Photo: University of Melbourne] Children consistently failing to attend school has emerged as a national crisis. The exact number is not known, though a 2019 research report found that a conservative estimate was that 50,000 children and young people are, at any given time, detached from the school system (see: Australian Senate inquiry highlights worsening problem of children refusing to attend school ). The senate inquiry and report were marked by a glaring contradiction between detailed documentation of the devastating impacts on families and communities, and the paucity of the recommendations. Even if the handful of minor reforms proposed by the report are implemented, they will not resolve the social problem of school refusal. The bipartisan inquiry was chaired by Liberal Party Senator Matt OSullivan, deputy chaired by Labors Tony Sheldon, an ex-union bureaucrat, with Greens parliamentarians also participating. The 143-page report covered up one of the key causes of school refusalthe disastrous situation in underfunded public schools, which lack the resources needed to address complex mental health needs of their students. The ten-month inquiry received 170 submissions and held public hearings in Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. These revealed students feeling distress, frustration, anger, loss of hope and trust, anxiety, depression, shutting down and having suicidal ideation. Multiple instances of self-harm were also reported. Parents reported marriage breakdowns, job losses, financial pressures and lack of resources. One explained, I am beyond exhausted and like many other parents in my community in a similar situation, I am out of ideas. The financial pressures have been extraordinary, the rising cost of living adding to this. I attempted to make a significant change by moving from our regional centre to a city to access better school education/mental/health support but even this has made no difference. The inquiry revealed an intolerable social crisis affecting tens of thousands, yet despite acknowledging the problem is urgent and receiving input from a wide range of education professionals, parents and school support staff, the 14 recommendations were of a threadbare character. Several merely recommended that federal and state governments review and investigate different policies. One, for example, urged that education authorities and the non-government school sector investigate ways to increase the flexibility of education delivery. Another suggested that education authorities review and update current messaging about the importance of school attendance. There were a small number of recommendations that, if acted on, potentially involve increased government spendinghowever, the report made no mention of the Labor governments spending cuts to both education and healthcare. Recommendation 14 asked the government to consider increasing the number of mental health care visits for students experiencing school refusal. Only one-third of students with mental illness currently receive professional help at school. In many working-class public schools, the proportion is far lower. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has implemented cuts to mental health provisions as part of his governments pro-business austerity drive (see: Australian Labor government slashes access to mental health services ). Several of the recommendations sought to make teachers and school workers responsible for resolving school refusal. One suggested that education authorities identify and implement measures to build the capacity of schools to provide reasonable adjustments for studentswith reasonable adjustments being code for schools doing more without any additional staff or resources. The senate committee also declared it would welcome the option to imbed school refusal training within relevant tertiary education courses as well as ongoing professional development requirements This could include modules for ongoing professional development requirements. In other words, teachers workloads, which are already intolerable and are triggering massive teacher shortages, are to be further increased. Under the guise of obtaining data on the extent of school refusal, the Senate committee recommended, as a priority, the implementation of the Unique Student Identifier (USI), a measure which government ministers signed off on last December. It is not the first time that ruling elites have seized upon a crisis to accelerate a regressive reform. The USI is one of a suite of measures called for in the pro-business Gonski 2.0 model released in 2018. It recommended that each child be given a number, a USI, which will track childrens learning progressions over seven key learning areas, instead of the two, maths and literacy, currently monitored under NAPLAN. Teachers would be tasked with updating student data on an online tool every five weeks. The Senates promotion of the USI, a component of an even more intrusive standardised testing model, exposes its recommendation to increase the flexibility of education delivery as so much hot air. None of the Senate committees conclusions or recommendations touched on the crisis of the public education system, nor the wider social crisis, which is responsible for the phenomenon of school refusal. Escalating financial hardship is exacerbating the long standing mental health crisis in Australia. Almost half of the Australian population are estimated to have experienced a mental disorder at some time in their lives, with 21 per cent having experienced a mental disorder in the last 12 months. Due to lack of funding most cases of mental disorders go untreated. This is putting an intolerable burden on the individual and on the family, including children. At the same time, the massive gulf between funding for public and private schools is well documented. Trevor Cobbald from Save Our Schools Australia estimates that by 2029 under current funding arrangements, public schools will be underfunded by nearly $74 billion while governments overfund private schools by $6 billion. In its submission to the inquiry, the School Cant (School Phobia, School Refusal) group, a national peer support community of parents and carers, reported from a survey of its members that 73 percent had children diagnosed with a disability, mainly autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Another 10 percent were suspected of having a neurodevelopmental disability. These children require more learning support in the classroom, support that is frequently not able to be provided in public schools. Writing to the Senate committee, the Australian Secondary Principals Association stated, Government schools are not funded at a level which matches the mental, social and well-being needs of their students. Numbers of parents told the media they were removing their children from public schools due to the inadequate resources and enrolling them in private schools. The long-standing goal of the Australian ruling elite has been to promote a shift of students from public to private schools. Funding cuts and the introduction of high stakes testing have been the main drivers of this attack on the right of children to a high-quality education. NAPLAN and the Myschool league table, introduced by the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments over a decade ago, have opened up a divisive competition between schools for enrolments and pushed a narrowing of the curriculum. Public schools are being reduced to a residual safety net with student learning ever more restricted to the narrowest measurable subjects in line with business demands for a more productive workforce. Massive teacher shortages, the result of intolerable workloads, have resulted in the inadequate specialist support that exists in the public system being cut back because specialist staff have been directed to replace classroom teachers who are leaving the public schools in droves. Around 1,000 Seibu department store workers in Tokyo, Japan struck last Thursday to halt the sale of their company and protect their jobs. The workers had overwhelmingly voted to strike in July as part of a growing militancy of Japanese workers and workers around the world. At the same time, the Seibu workers face the conscious opposition of the trade union apparatus to expand their struggle. Seibu department store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. [Photo by Rs1421 / CC BY-SA 3.0 The one-day token strike took place at Seibus flagship store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, as it was closed throughout the day. Strikers marched around the store holding signs calling on workers to back their struggle, reading Lets fight together. They also appealed to passers-by for support, many of whom expressed their approval for the walkout. One Tokyo resident speaking to the media drew the connection between the strike and the deeper economic issues, saying, When the cost of living is high due to price hikes, I hope the strike will provide an opportunity for people to become aware of the importance of workers uniting and raising their voices. The workers walked off the job to try to block the sale of department store company Sogo & Seibu, which operates 10 stores throughout Japan bearing either the Sogo or Seibu name. They fear that the sale will result in large-scale job cuts and other attacks on their working conditions. That same day, Sogo & Seibus parent company, Seven & i Holdings, voted to sell the company to the US-based Fortress Investment Group. Fortress is controlled by Japans SoftBank Group. The day after the strike, Fortress acquired Sogo & Seibu for approximately 220 billion yen ($US1.5 billion). Fortress then announced plans to sell assets from Sogo & Seibu to Yodobashi Holdings for nearly 300 billion yen ($US2.05 billion). The latter intends to renovate branches such as Seibu Ikebukuro, Seibu Shibuya, and Sogo Chiba and open electronics stores inside them. The department store workers demonstrated their willingness to fight. From among nearly 4,000 members belonging to the Sogo Seibu Union, workers voted to strike by 93.9 percent in July. This is highly significant in a country where the class struggle has been strangled for decades by the pro-capitalist and pro-company trade unions. According to the Japanese Federation of Textile, Chemical, Commerce, Food and General Services Workers Unions (UA Zensen), the August 31 walkout was the first at a major department store since 1962. Sogo Seibu Union is affiliated to UA Zensen. The Seibu strike demonstrates that the unions are increasingly unable to contain the anger and discontent of the working class. Wages have remained stagnant for decades while real wages in Japan have fallen throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, declining 2.4 percent between February 2019 and February 2023. The conditions facing department store workers in Japan are found throughout the world. In the United States, for example, 150,000 autoworkers are calling for a strike as their contracts expire and mass layoffs similarly loom. Workers are confronting not just management but the crisis-ridden capitalist system that is defended to the hilt by the trade unions. Thursdays strike took place despite the union bureaucracys efforts to prevent it. Despite the overwhelming support for a strike, the union refused to call an action for more than a month. Union head Yasuhiro Teraoka stated at the time that he was more concerned with the impact of a strike on the companys business partners than in calling an immediate walk out. Teraoka claimed the strike vote would enhance the unions bargaining power. Yet throughout August, Seven & i Holdings removed members from Sogo & Seibus board who appeared hesitant about the sale, though for reasons related to the companys future branding and impact on sales. The parent company made clear that it had no intention of addressing workers concerns. The union responded by refusing to call a strike until the last possible moment and limiting the walkout to only a quarter of its membership, knowing full well that the Sogo & Seibus sale would take place. Teraoka stated at an August 28 press conference that in regard to the unions request for information regarding potential job cuts, The company finally began disclosing information this month. But what we got are far from satisfactory answers. He admitted after the sale that he was not surprised that it had taken place. In other words, the union presented the sale as a fait accompli to its members, knowing full well that it would take place and that mass layoffs were planned. The bureaucracys claim that it was conducting the strike to halt the vote taking place that day is simply a lie. In reality, by limiting the strike to one day, the union was allowing workers to blow off steam while giving the impression that it was defending its members. The unions aim throughout was to limit the strikes impact on the company as much as it could. Teraoka further claimed that employment will be high on the agenda in future negotiations with management. Workers should place no faith in these words. To the extent that negotiations take place, they will be over how best to impose the layoffs. Workers should place no confidence in the leaderships of other unions coming to their aid, despite the phony shows of support during last Thursdays strike. Union bureaucrats sent around 30 people from 15 other unions to take part in the strike, rather than call out their memberships in solidarity strikes. Yet UA Zensen, which is affiliated to the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, commonly referred to as Rengo, claims a membership of 1.83 million. Rengo has a membership of approximately seven million. Seibu and Sogo workers should turn directly to these and other workers for support, demand the reversal of the sale of their company and that no layoffs take place. To do so workers need to form their own rank-and-file committees, independent of the treacherous trade unions, recognising they are in a political fight against the capitalist system and all of its defenders. Seibu and Sogo workers should therefore turn to their class brothers and sisters in Japan and internationally to take their struggle forward. Migrants on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus have been subject to pogrom-type attacks by fascist groups. The political groundwork for these attacks has been laid by the governments of the European Union (EU), which have whipped up hostility to migrants month after month. The pogroms have taken place over a two week period while police and riot cop squads, known to be hotbeds of far-right activity, turned a blind eye. The attacks were instigated by members of the far right Elam organisation (National Popular Front, also known as the National Peoples Front). But they began when the authorities cut off the water and electricity supply to an apartment complex where Syrian refugees live in the village of Chlorakas, near the western resort of Paphos. This provocative, inhumane act was carried out in scorching 40-degree heat. The refugees were then evicted from the complex. Al Jazeera described a police sweep carried out to evict dozens of refugees allegedly living there illegally. This was authorised even though the migrantsas noted by KISA, the Cyprus-based anti-racist NGOhave been permanently and legally settled in Cyprus for years. The August 21 operation was ordered by President Nikos Christodoulides in a meeting with the attorney general, ministers of interior and justice, deputy welfare minister, undersecretary to the president and police chief. The Cyprus Mail noted that under the order, The migration department will begin noting down all asylum seekers who have been living in the contentious Ayios Nikolaos apartment bloc in Chlorakas. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that those deemed to be legally in Cyprus would have to find another place to live, and in the interim would be sent to the Kofinou immigration detention centre, the newspaper reported, and Those living here illegally will be arrested and deported immediately. As refugees protested their persecution, they were confronted over two nights (August 27-28) by a mob of racists and fascists who on the second night declared they were leading an anti-ghettoisation demonstration. On the first night, at least 1,000 fascists splintered into smaller groups that began attacking foreign nationals living in Chlorakas, reported the Cyprus Mail. It added, Businesses owned by migrants saw their shop fronts smashed and vehicles overturned. One Cypriot resident charged that a group of thugs broke into a home with seven children and their mother and began breaking things inside the house. Another elderly Cypriot man said they were warned that Elam members may punish locals who chose not to participate in the protest. Video footage from Monday night showed around 250 Greek Cypriots chanting get out, get out, marking the second night in a row of racist attacks against foreign nationals living in Chlorakas. Cyprus Mail reported, Earlier on Monday, a group of some 500 Syrian residents held a peaceful demonstration, as a reaction to the previous nights violent attacks against them. Shop windows were smashed and migrants beaten and threatened. Of an initial 21 arrested, there were more migrants and refugees detained (12) than there were fascists (9). This was despite the police chief, as reported by Al Jazeera, telling state broadcaster CyBC on Tuesday [August 29] that the clashes began when Greek Cypriots attempted to assault the migrants and refugees. President Christodoulides authorised more police to be flooded into the area. Tensions were whipped up, with Christodoulides press officer Victoras Papadopoulos pandering to fascist sentiment with the comment, Since the day the government took over [in February 2023], it has been tackling immigration and illegal migration in every way possible. Arrivals have been reduced by half, returns have increased and applications are being processed twice as fast. These policies saw asylum claims drop from 10,600 during the period March to July 2022, to just 4,976 in the same period this year. This represents a doubling down on the anti-immigration policies of the previous government under Nicos Anastasiades, whose interior ministry declared the Chlorakas area off-limits to new migrant arrivals in 2021. Anastasiadess government had already slashed the number of immigrants allowed into the country. In 2022, it carried out around 7,000 returns, the most in relation to population of any EU country. Migrants walk near the Pournara Emergency Reception center, in Kokkinotrimithia, on the outskirts of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, April 18, 2022. [AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File] The government intervention emboldened the fascists who went on the rampage again last Friday in Limassol, the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia. This time the police stood down entirely and allowed the mob to terrorise refugees and anyone who they viewed to be foreign. The Cyprus Mail reported, The anti-immigrant protest held in Limassol revealed a rampant extremism that had no qualms about destroying everything in sight, and a shocking failure from police to keep the situation under control. It added, Children were in sight as firecrackers were thrown randomly and that no one died during the violence was nothing short of a miracle. The pogrom was led by around 200 black-clad rioters screaming Cyprus is Greek and began with the chant well start with the blacks first and then police. The report continued, Thugs targeted anyone with the wrong skin colour. An Asian woman who saw her business smashed to pieces sat on the pavement unable to speak through her sobs, managing only to choke out I have four children. The protestors who chanted they wanted migrants out of the country broke the till of her store and stole all her money that she wanted to send to family back home Targeted attacks towards migrants went unchecked by police, and businesses owned by foreign nationals such as a Syrian barbershop and food place were smashed to pieces Despite it being a well-known fact that the seafront has a host of multicultural businesses, there were no police officers to man the area and ward off violent protesters. The article noted, A group of Syrian men that saw their shop smashed to pieces stared at the scene in shock and said there were five police cars here and they didnt do anything. They saw everything the infamous police water cannon Aiantas stood there idly, and ultimately served as a decorative accessory. It concluded that ultimately on Friday night, it was the thugs that controlled the area, not the police even Though police knew since at least the day before about the planned protest, and after a week of violent incidents in Chlorakas village. Reports attest to the fact that locals and tourists came to the defence of migrants, protecting them as best they could. Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou said in an interview on CyBCs morning programme Monday that, No one should be taking the law into their own hands. This was reported as a condemnation of the far-right, but the real implication is that the repression of migrants should be left in the hands of the government at this stage. Panayiotou also urged that anti-migrant sentiment should not be allowed to jeopardise a vital source of cheap labour required by the capitalist class. Economic migrants [must be processed differently] from those seeking refuge from danger whom we are under EU and international obligation to protect. The Cyprus Mail reported the minister explained their status must be based on preconditions of economic necessity. Panayiotou noted that 110,000 third country nationals are currently employed on the island, compared to 340,000 Greek Cypriots, with another 10,000 Greek Cypriots registered unemployed. The events in Cyprus are a grave warning to workers throughout Europe and internationally. The ruling elite everywhere, no matter the political colouration of the parties and state leaders involved, are enacting the most savage anti-immigration policies, and scapegoating refugees and asylum seekers for societys ills that are the result of the failure of capitalism. These noxious policies embolden the fascists to double down on terrorising desperate people, whose only crime is fleeing their poverty-stricken homelands broken by decades of imperialist war and oppression. The New York Police Department is deploying drones to monitor a wide range of activities in New York City over the Labor Day holiday weekend, from large public festivals to private parties, officials said at a press conference in Brooklyn on Thursday. Framed as a public safety measure related to the West Indian Day parade and Labor Day celebrations, the prospects of police drones hovering over backyard barbeques marks a shocking step in the expansion of the mass surveillance state. Highlighting the security measures in place this weekend, Kaz Daughtry, an assistant commissioner of the NYPD, outlined the immediate plans. The drones are going to be responding to non-priority calls and priority calls, he said. For example, if we have any 311 calls on our non-emergency line, where if a caller states there is a large crowd, a large party in the back yard, were going to be utilizing our assets to go up, go check on the party to make sure if the call is founded or not. New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York during a news conference, December 30, 2022. [AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey] This unilateral expansion of drone use is blatantly illegal. In 2020, the City Council passed the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology Act, requiring the police department to provide 90-day notice for public comment on any new uses of surveillance technology, including drones. No such notice has been issued for the planned surveillance. The new drone deployment comes in the wake of New York City Mayor Eric Adams visit to Israel, in which he toured the National Police Academy and met with security officials to discuss technology. Accompanied on the trip by NYPD officials, Adams praised the Israeli police for how they strategically and successfully deal with a large crowd. He reported potentially new applications of drones picked up from the Israeli police forces, including coupling drones with motorcycles. Ive been leaning into how we could appropriately use drones, and they had great technology on using drones for early detection, he commented. Such statements, given Israels illegal occupation and brutal suppression of the Palestinian population, have an ominous character. The criminal methods of oppression and the latest technological weapons used by Israel are seen as a model for controlling the population in the most populous city in the United States. There is deep symbolic significance in the fact that the Adams administration announced the drone surveillance on Labor Day weekend. Ultimately, the buildup of technological and other forces of repression is aimed at preparing for confrontations with the working class. The citys ruling elite, represented in New York by the former cop Adams, is acutely aware of the explosive character of social relations in the city, where the wealth of Wall Street collides with a working class being pushed into confrontation by conditions of life that are becoming impossible. There is immense anger, amplified by the experience of the pandemic, over the cost of housing, transportation, childcare and other necessities, on the one hand, and an economic and political setup that functions to protect the fortunes of a tiny elite, on the other. An NYPD or FDNY drone flies over the site of a partially collapsed parking garage as One World Trade Center is visible in the background in New York City, April 19, 2023. The New York City police department plans to pilot the unmanned police surveillance drones over Labor Day weekend, officials announced Thursday, August 31. [AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey] At the city as well as the national level, the buildup of the security apparatus has accelerated even as funding for social programs has been slashed and modest social measures to provide a safety net have been abandoned following the declared end to the pandemic. The Biden administration has mobilized billions for the war against Russia in Ukraine, while some of the same technologies used on the battlefield are deployed against the working class at home. The NYPD itself rivals armies of many large countries in terms of budget and headcount. The $5.6 billion annual budget is larger than military spending in Vietnam, South Africa and Greece. Covering just over 300 square miles of land, New York City has 35,000 uniformed police officers and 15,000 additional civilian police employees. The NYPD recently increased its stockpile of advanced drones equipped with thermal imaging and night vision, which can break through windows and push open door. These same Lemur 2 quad-copters are used in the Ukraine War. The new purchases are on top of at least 19 NYPD drones reported publicly last year, and hundreds of thousands of dollars more in other unspecified drone-related purchases. Beyond drones, the NYPD operates a vast spying apparatus, including a well-funded system for monitoring social media activity. Since Adams took office more than a year-and-a-half ago, the city has spent $4.3 million on Dataminr, a social media monitoring program that has been used by the agency to track activists involved in protests against police violence. This represents a major increase compared to the cumulative $7 million allocated over the previous five-year period. The NYPD also inked a smaller deal for $165,000 with a company that scans websites to compile information on investigative targets. This digital spying builds on a long history of surveillance on communities in New York City and beyond, most notably an anti-Muslim spying operation that extended well beyond the city and even national borders. The situation in New York City, led by the law-and-order Democrat Adams, is indicative of a broader process around the country. While the NYPDs drone program represents one of the largest and most aggressive, over 1,400 police departments across the country are already using drones, many of them initially in a first responder capacity. It is implausible that drone use by the police department in New York or elsewhere will stop at eavesdropping on noisy parties. A report by the ACLU on police use of drones nationally, published less than a week before the NYPDs announcement, noted grave concerns over the growth of drone use by police, including the very real prospect that drones become so common and routine that without strong privacy protections we end up with the functional equivalent of a mass surveillance regime in the skies. In New York, the increased deployment of spying technology comes amid a long history of the police departments flagrant disregard for legal constraints on its power. In July, New York City reached a $13.7 million settlement in connection with violent police rampages during the 2020 protests that erupted after the murder of George Floyd. Significantly, the NYPD refused to admit wrongdoing and instead paid out a modest sum to the victims of police beatings and false arrests. The NYPDs actions also unfold in a national context where the mass spying apparatus is expanding. The Intercept recently revealed the FBI has amassed a DNA database of 21.7 million people, roughly seven percent of the population of the US. The Biden administration has led a rapid expansion of the program and is requesting a doubling of the funds for the program next year. This scurry by law enforcement agencies to add drones and other tools of repression reveals not the stability of the capitalist state, but its extreme fragility. The ruling class feels itself besieged, hence the need to expand its arsenal with the latest technology. But there arent enough drones in the world to counter the working class when it begins to move, armed with a socialist program and leadership. People watch performance at a music festival in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 2, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan) A cyclist takes pictures in front of the train station of Arxan in Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 1, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan) This photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows the scenery of a rainbow in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Lian Zhen) This aerial photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows the scenery of Tianchi (Heavenly Lake) in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Lian Zhen) Villager Dong Yali displays willow wares at Xikou Village in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 2, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) Villagers pack special local products for express deliveries at Xikou Village in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 2, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) A man sings at a night market in downtown Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 31, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) This aerial photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows scenery of the national forest park in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Lian Zhen) Tourists take pictures at a resort in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 1, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan) Tourists watch a float parade at downtown Arxan in Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Sept. 1, 2023. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) This photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows a sika deer at a deer park in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan) This aerial photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows the scenery of Xikou Village in Arxan of Hinggan League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Arxan, located at the southwestern foot of the Dahinggan Mountains and at the intersection of four major grasslands, is an increasingly popular tourist destination. The tourism market in Inner Mongolia is booming in 2023. From January to July, the region received 124 million domestic tourists, achieving record tourism revenue of 176.22 billion yuan (24.48 billion U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) Editor: JYZ Recent developments at the Institute for East European Studies (Osteuropa-Institut OEI) at Berlins Free University (Freie Universitat), one of the most renowned institutes of its kind in the world, pose a major threat to the future of historical scholarship and Holocaust research. Following the retirement of Professor Gertrud Pickhan, under whose leadership the Institutes history chair had a unique focus in Germany on Polish-Jewish history and the crimes of National Socialism (Nazism), Robert Kindler was appointed to the chair. Kindler is a favourite of the radical right-wing professor Jorg Baberowski, who had already pushed through an extreme right-wing turn at Humboldt University in Berlin. Robert Kindler [Photo by Youtube-Video Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung] Kindler wrote his dissertation under Baberowski on the famine in Kazakhstan and wrote his second book on the hunting of sea seals in the Russian Empire. Alongside Kindler, Martin Wagner is now also at the Institute for East European Studies. Wagner also completed his doctorate under Baberowski and co-authored the book Crises in Authoritarian Regimes. Fragile Orders and Contested Power. Together with Baberowski, Wagner participated in a workshop at Princeton University in the USA in 2020 on the project From Totalitarian to Authoritarian Rule, which was led by Baberowski and Princeton professor Deborah Kaple and supported by Princeton University to the tune of $300,000. When Kindler took over the chair at the Institute for Eastern European Studies, a fundamental reorientation began. Under his leadership, the entire focus at the institute was smashed apart, which was also reflected in the choice of topics for doctoral theses supervised by Pickhan. After only one year, not a single one of the chairs previous staff members is still employed at the Institute. Instead of courses on Polish-Jewish history, on the history of Poland and on the Holocaust, the Osteuropa-Institut now offers seminars exclusively under the banner of German foreign policy and its renewed drive to the East. For example, Kindler offers seminars with titles such as Energy Empires. Interconnections, Resources and Conflicts in Eastern Europe and Places of Repression. Soviet Special Camps in Germany, 1945-1950. Martin Wagner offers courses such as History is Present. State and Nation in Ukraine. In keeping with imperialist war policy against Russia, which includes fomenting national and ethnic conflicts as in Ukraine as a central element, the Osteuropa-Institut now also focuses on the nationality question in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The far-reaching implications of what is happening at the Free University (FU) can only be understood against the background of the enormous crimes of Nazism in Poland and the less than magnificent history of researching them and the Holocaust after the end of the Second World War. During the Second World War, Nazi-occupied Poland was the central theatre of the industrial extermination of European Jewry. All the extermination camps, from Auschwitz to Treblinka and Sobibor, were located in what is now Poland. Until the Holocaust, Poland was home to the largest Jewish population in the world, estimated at 3 to 3.5 million people. Of these, 90 percent were murdered by the Nazis. In addition, there were millions of non-Jewish Polish civilians who also fell victim to the Nazis. With a few laudable exceptions, German historians shied away from an in-depth examination of the crimes of Nazism after the Second World War, especially the mass murder of Europes Jewish population and the Nazis war of extermination in Eastern Europe. The first fundamental works on the Holocaust were all written outside Germany in the first decades after the war, and almost exclusively by Holocaust survivors. Of particular note is The Destruction of the European Jews, by Raul Hilberg, who had fled Austria to escape the Nazis and wrote his work on the history of the Holocaust in the 1950s in the USA. In Germany, his book, first published in English in 1961, was only published in 1982 by the small Berlin publishing house Olle & Wolter after long-standing resistance from major publishers. Other authoritative works by Holocaust historians from Poland who documented and analysed the Holocaust and the lives of the Polish Jewish population while the war was still going on or in the post-war period, mainly in Yiddishthe socialist historian Emanuel Ringelblum, who was murdered in 1944, should be mentioned here in particularhave not been translated into German to this day. Gertrud Pickhan was one of the first in Germany to turn to a serious study of Polish-Jewish history after the Historikerstreit (historians dispute) of the late 1980s. In the Historikerstreit, the radical right-wing historian Ernst Nolte, a role model for Jorg Baberowski, had tried in vain to achieve a far-reaching legitimisation of the crimes of National Socialism. Pickhans 2001 book Gegen den Strom. Der Allgemeine Judische Arbeiterbund Bund in Polen 1918-1939 (Against the Stream. The General Jewish Labour Union Bund in Poland 1918-1939) was an important academic achievement. Based on extensive source research in Polish, Yiddish and German, it paints a nuanced picture of the often-contradictory politics of the Polish Jewish Social Democratic Bund in the interwar period. The Bund broke with Lenins Bolsheviks as early as 1903. Its development in the interwar period was nevertheless influenced by the Russian October Revolution of 1917, which it vehemently defended in the 1920s and 1930s, even against Stalins worst crimes, the Moscow Trials. Pickhans other works dealt with the history of Russian nationalism and Russian art, among other things. Pickhan took over as head of the History division of the Institute for East European Studies in 2004. It is largely thanks to her efforts that the department gained international recognition and pioneered research into the history of Polish Jewry. In contrast to almost all other chairs at German universities dealing with the history of the Holocaust, research at the Institute for East European Studies not only focused on the murder of Polish Jewry, but also on their rich political and intellectual life before the Holocaustincluding in Germanyas well as the history of Polish anti-Semitism before and after the Second World War. The Institute initiated numerous research projects, including one on the history of the Jewish quarter in interwar Berlin, the Scheunenviertel. Pickhan and other Institute staff worked with research centres and historians in Poland as well as with the Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre. The Institute sponsored a summer school in Yiddish, the main language of Eastern European Jewry before the Second World War. Although any serious research on Eastern European Jewish history requires knowledge of Yiddish, there was no language school of this kind at German universities until this summer school was established. In 2015-2017, the Institute, under the direction of Gertrud Pickhan and Alina Bothe, offered a course on the so-called Polish Action in October 1938, the first mass deportation of Jews from Nazi Germany, in which Masters students researched the biographies of affected families. The results of this research project were compiled in an exhibition catalogue and an exhibition that was first shown at the Centrum Judaicum in Berlin and the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and will soon also be on display in the German-Polish border town of Zbaszyn, where many of the deportees were temporarily stuck in 1938-1939. It was the first research project on the Polish Action in Berlin, a little-studied episode in the history of the Holocaust, and was realised with minimal financial resources mainly thanks to the initiative of Pickhan and Bothe and the students. Professor Pickhan also took a stand on historical revisionism in Poland and was repeatedly caught in the crossfire of the extreme right and the Polish state media for her principled work. The ultra-right government of the Law and Justice Party has been waging a systematic campaign of historical falsification since 2015, attacking historians researching the history of Polish anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. In Germany, her research has undoubtedly been a thorn in the side of the forces that have been systematically working to legitimise the crimes of the Nazis for decades, and especially since 2014. In February 2014, the same month that Berlin and Washington supported a right-wing coup in Kiev, Der Spiegel published an interview with the far-right Humboldt professor Jorg Baberowski, in which he declared that, unlike Stalin, Hitler wasnt vicious. To make it clear that he was concerned with a complete revision of history, Baberowski stressed, Nolte was done an injustice. Historically speaking, he was right. The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party), the German section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and its youth organisation, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), were the only ones at the time to protest against these right-wing positions and warn of their far-reaching political implications. These warnings have been borne out. The past nine years have seen not only an extreme shift to the right of all bourgeois politics and the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), but also a systematic revival of German militarism. In February 2022, the German bourgeoisie used the Russian attack on Ukraine to launch its most comprehensive rearmament programme since the end of the Second World War. German imperialisms return to an open pro-war policy is accompanied by a full-scale attack on history and historical research. The takeover of the Institute for East European Studies by the Baberowski apprentice Kindler is the most far-reaching political consequence of this turnaround at the universities so far. Since 2014, the IYSSE and the WSWS have called on researchers and historians to oppose the right-wing historical revisionism of Baberowski and consorts. The developments at the Institute for East European Studies underline that it is high time for this. At stake is nothing less than the future of historical studies and Holocaust research. If it were up to the German bourgeoisie and its aides in the professoriate, only history that serves the interests of German imperialism and its war policy would be taught at German universities. The dismantling of Professor Pickhans chair has undoubtedly greatly disturbed many historians and students. But it is now time to act. We call on students and historians to oppose this attack on Holocaust studies and the historical revisionism of the extreme right, which is now being openly promoted by the state, and to contact the WSWS and the IYSSE. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people marched outside the French military base in Nigers capital, Niamey, to demand French troops withdraw from Niger. French President Emmanuel Macron has refused to withdraw from this former French colony, on the pretext that the Nigerien regime demanding it came to power in a coup, on July 26. Macron poses as a defender of democracy against the coup that toppled French-backed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum. On this basis, Macron is keeping French troops in Niger and refusing the Nigerien regimes demand that he replace French Ambassador to Niger Sylvain Itte. The mass protest in Niamey exposed the fraud of Macrons neocolonial arguments. In reality, it is above all the Nigerien people, and not the Nigerien military junta, that wants an end to the French military presence in Niger and across the Sahel. As in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which French troops have left within the last year after waging a bloody nine-year war in those countries, there is explosive anger against French imperialism and its NATO allies. Demonstrators rallied on Escadrille square in Niamey, in front of the French military base, after smaller protests on Thursday and Friday. They shouted slogans calling on French troops to immediately leave Niger, a leading supplier of uranium and other critical raw materials for major French corporations. They held up signs that said: France is a leech that sucks the blood of Nigeriens, Niger for Nigeriens, Africa for Africans, and Brave People of Africa, Nothing Can Ever Stop Us Again. We are ready to sacrifice ourselves today, because we are proud, demonstrator Yacouba Issoufou told Reuters. They plundered our resources and we became aware. So they are going to get out. Another protester in Niamey, Mariama Amadou, told the Hindustan Times: Our only request, our ultimate request, is the departure, the departure, the departure of the French who are on Nigerien territory. We dont need these people here, we dont need them, and we repeat: we are ready to die to defend our country. We are ready to die to make them leave. They must leave, we do not need them here. The protest in Niamey came amid mounting opposition and protests across West Africa against imperialist-driven economic sanctions and plans for an invasion by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Macron has called for such an invasion, aiming to use ECOWAS troops as cannon fodder for a French-led campaign to reconquer countries French troops were forced to leave. The regimes of Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Benin have expressed willingness to send troops to Niger. ECOWAS sanctions have already had a devastating effect on Niger, leading to electricity cutoffs and halting trade in key pharmaceutical products, food and other essential goods. The sanctions are costing an estimated 13 billion nairas (15 million) in weekly trade between Niger and Nigera alone. Last month, protests against plans for war with Niger shook the city of Kano in the north of Nigeria. Protesters bore signs saying War against Niger is injustice, It is the handiwork of America, It is justice we want, and Niger is ours. The Nigerian daily Vanguard noted that the planned ECOWAS military mission has been largely opposed by most Nigerians. Even within ruling circles in Nigeria, there is growing concern at the prospect of an all-out war. ECOWAS parliamentarian Idris Wase said: We should be careful not to start what we cant finish. When the Russia Ukraine war started, people thought it was to be a sharp war. A year after, the war is still lingering on [Nigerian] subregional military chiefs know what they stand to benefit economically. Thats why theyre eager to militarily intervene in Niger. Most of them are corrupt. Any war on Niger will have adverse effects on 60 percent of Nigeria, especially northern Nigeria. Nigerien workers in Senegal also spoke to Radio France Internationale to voice their opposition to the ECOWAS sanctions and war plans. Tassiou, a worker in Dakar, said: We live abroad, we cannot take land routes, we cannot take air travel to go back home. If we need to send money via the banks, it is no longer possible, so commerce is blocked. Sending money to help our families is blocked. Abdourahmane, a Nigerien working in the finance sector in Senegal, denounced a potential ECOWAS military intervention, stating: Senegalese people with whom I speak at the office generally do not support this military intervention. And I think that any African, today, should not defend this intervention, because it would be a battle between Africans. The danger of war is, however, rapidly growing. In particular because the conflict in Africa is becoming bound up with NATOs fast-escalating war with Russia in Ukraine, as well as plans for a US military confrontation with China. The military juntas in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have all sought ties with the Russian private military contractors of the Wagner Group, or with Russian military officials directly. China, whose firms in Niger are working on a oil pipeline to Benin and building food-processing plants, faces the risk that French-backed sanctions will block its industrial plans. It has cautiously signaled its support for the junta in Niamey. On Friday, Chinese Ambassador to Niger Jiang Feng met Nigerien Defense Minister Salifou Mody. Jiang told Mody that Nigers government has the support of China, the Agence Nigeriane de Presse reported. The Turkish, Egyptian and Algerian governments have all criticized calls for an ECOWAS intervention as well. The Turkish government is reportedly selling Bayraktar drones, which it is also sending to Ukraine amid the NATO war on Russia, to Niger in case ECOWAS tries to invade it. None of these capitalist regimes are friends of the working class or consistent opponents of imperialism, however. While the Algerian military regime opened its airspace to French bombers during the Mali war before closing it this year, the Egyptian regime is infamous for working closely with Washington to drown the revolutionary struggles of the Egyptian working class in blood during General Abdel Fattah al-Sisis 2013 putsch. The strategy of all of these regimestrying to negotiate a deal with imperialism and avoid mobilizing the revolutionary sentiment among African workersemerged in the remarks last month of Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Shortly after the coup, she called for re-establishing civil peace, ensuring law and order in Niger. She also called on the African Union and regional organizations, like ECOWAS, to resolve the conflict. The alternative is unifying mounting working class opposition to imperialist war across Africa and beyond, including in the imperialist countries themselves, in a struggle for socialism. This year has seen an explosion of bitter mass strikes across Europe, as workers oppose the diversion of massive resources from wages and social spending to the military and war. In France, Macron trampled on the will of the people, imposing a pension cut in the face of overwhelming popular opposition and mass strikes that were savagely assaulted by riot police. In these objectively revolutionary conditions, the ground is being laid for building a common movement of the African, European and international working class for socialism and against imperialism. Such a movement, guided by a revolutionary internationalist perspective, can compel the withdrawal of French troops from Frances former colonial empire and halt the decades of plunder of the Sahel and of Africa by imperialism. Deficit of Ukraine's state budget general fund in Aug 2023 up to UAH 122.2 bln, expenses to UAH 248.2 bln - Ministry of Finance The state budget deficit of Ukraine in August 2023 amounted to UAH 130.7 billion compared to UAH 107.6 billion in July and UAH 135.1 billion in June, the Ministry of Finance reported on its website on Monday. It clarified that the deficit in the general fund increased to UAH 122.2 billion from UAH 94.9 billion a month earlier, which is less than the deficit in June - UAH 130.8 billion. The Ministry of Finance, citing recent data from the State Treasury, indicated that cash expenditures of the state budget in August increased significantly to UAH 310.1 billion after a decline in July to UAH 282.6 billion from UAH 376.4 billion in June. In terms of the general fund, they also grew to UAH 248.2 billion from UAH 231.9 billion in July versus UAH 264.7 billion in June. As the Ministry of Finance noted, in August 2023, revenues to the general fund of the state budget decreased to UAH 124.7 billion from UAH 136.7 billion in July and UAH 133.7 billion in June, while there was no U.S. grant international assistance, while previously it provided about UAH 45 billion monthly. In general, in January-August this year, state budget cash expenditures reached UAH 2.4 trillion, including the general fund - UAH 1.9 trillion, or 93% of the list versus 93.4% in July and 95% in May. State budget revenues for eight months amounted to UAH 1.7 trillion, including the general fund - UAH 1.1 trillion, of which UAH 317.2 billion - grant international assistance (the USA - UAH 310.8 billion), in including the general fund - UAH 1.6 trillion. In January-August, the state budget was executed with a deficit of UAH 714.6 billion, including the general fund - UAH 749.8 billion versus the deficit of UAH 1.2 trillion planned by the general fund. The Ministry of Finance proposes to direct 100% of the proceeds from personal income tax on military salaries to defense needs through a special fund of the state budget in 2024 Yaroslav Zhelezniak, First Deputy Head of the Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy (the Holos party) said. Regarding military personal income tax. My colleague Halyna Vasylchenko asked the Ministry of Finance what is planned there for 2024. The answer of the Ministry of Finance: it is planned that all 100% of personal income tax on military salaries will go to the special fund of the State Budget and go to defense needs, the MP wrote on Telegram on Monday. Zhelezniak suggested that these changes are planned as part of the changes to the Budget Code for the draft state budget for 2024. Currently, personal income tax at a rate of 18% is directed mainly to local budgets. On Monday night, the Ukrainian air defense forces destroyed 23 attack drones out of 32 launched, which attacked Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Monday morning. "The forces and means of the Air Force, in cooperation with the air defense of other components of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, destroyed 23 enemy attack UAVs," according to the Telegram message. It is specified that the enemy attacked from the south and southeast direction (Cape Chauda, Crimea and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Russia). The attack was repelled with the help of fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces and units of mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. Kolomoisky remanded in custody for two months with possibility of posting bail of over UAH 500 mln The Shevchenkivsky District Court in Kyiv has ordered businessman Ihor Kolomoisky to be remanded in custody for two months in Dnipro with the possibility of posting bail of over UAH 500 million, according to a correspondent from Interfax-Ukraine in the courtroom. He is also required to surrender all documents and refrain from contacting witnesses. Lawyers can appeal the decision within five days. Earlier, it was reported that the Security Service of Ukraine had notified Kolomoisky of suspicion under two articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code: Article 190 (fraud) and Article 209 (legalization (money laundering) of criminally obtained property). Law enforcement agencies have determined that the businessman legalized over UAH 0.5 billion from 2013 to 2020 by transferring them abroad, using the infrastructure of banks under his control. If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission. Leave it to Donald Trump to try and make money off of his Fulton County mug shot while possibly violating U.S. copyright law at the same time. The former president knew his voter base would eagerly buy merchandise with his face boldly emblazoned on it, but his lawyers should have checked on the legalities of this first. More from SheKnows According to Politico, Donald Trump earned over $7 million in sales, from t-shirts to the Never Surrender coffee mugs, in the first week after he was indicted in the Georgia election interference case. However, a 2022 article in the University of Georgia School of Laws Journal of Intellectual Property Law noted, In the context of photographs taken by law enforcement during the booking process, the author of the mugshot photograph is the law enforcement agency. Booking photo of Donald J. Trump Booking Photo as provided by the Fulton County SheriffAaas Office in Fulton County in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday August 24, 2023. That could mean that if the Fulton County sheriff wants to go after Donald Trump for those profits, he might have the legal ground to do so. And as MSNBC pointed out, Fulton County just happens to be in desperate need of funds to address the horrific conditions in the Fulton County Jail. It could be the perfect storm of legal events for the former president, who is already in enough hot water. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House Click here to read the full article. Price: $30.00 $6.36 Buy On Amazon The irony of it all is that Donald Trumps adviser, Chris LaCivita, threatened to go after anyone who created their own line of merchandise from the former presidents mug shot. If you are a campaign, PAC, scammer and you try raising money off the mugshot of @realDonaldTrump and you have not received prior permission WE ARE COMING AFTER YOU you will NOT SCAM DONORS, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). That tweet wont age well if the Fulton County sheriff decides to take legal action against Donald Trump its another brewing battle for the former president. Before you go, click here to see the biggest presidential scandals in US History. Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton Launch Gallery: Every Single Movie You Forgot Donald Trump Was In Best of SheKnows Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Capping off a disastrous weekend, would-be revelers who journeyed out to Randalls Island for the Electric Zoo festival on Sunday were unceremoniously turned away at the gates, with organizers explaining thatsomehowtheyd reached capacity earlier than anticipated. With the sun going down, hundreds of those disgruntled ticket holders then stormed the barriers surrounding the New York City venue, according to footage captured by witnesses. Video showed the crowds overrunning security and surging past the fences. Gates down, chaos reigns, read a tweet from The Festive Owl, a media company that tracks festivals and lineups. When burning man is literally declared a national disaster and its not the worst festival this weekend, one commenter lamented on Instagram. Dear Electric Zoo Family, We are so thankful for the overwhelming support and patience you've shown this year after the challenges we've faced over the weekend. It is with deep regret that we need to inform you that due to the challenges caused by Friday cancelation, we have Electric Zoo Festival (@ElectricZooNY) September 3, 2023 The madness was set off by an announcement by organizers at 6:35 p.m. local time thatwith deep regretthey were closing the site to newcomers. If you are on your way or were planning to come later, we kindly ask that you refrain from coming to the festival site, they tweeted. Organizers later announced that everyone denied entry would be issued a full refund. Little explanation was given as to how the event could have reached maximum capacity so early, but the 6:35 p.m. tweet attributed the fiasco to the challenges caused by Friday cancelation, an apparent reference to the fact that Electric Zoos first day had been called off less than four hours before it had been set to kick off. Organizers said at the time that they were struggling with supply chain disruptions that had prevented them from completing the construction of the main stage in time for the start of the electronic dance music festival. Among the acts that had been set to perform had been Kx5, Kaskade, and the Chainsmokers. On a brighter note, Saturday and Sunday are set to be truly magical, the festivals statement said. I was afraid this was going to happen. Hundreds of people rush the gates at Electric Zoo after being denied entrance due to the festival reaching its capacity limit pic.twitter.com/oEGj0NvvWJ GDE (@GlobalDanceGDE) September 4, 2023 The next day, the festival finally startedtwo hours later than originally planned. No explanation was offered, and the delay resulted in some acts being pushed off the lineup. Nikademis, an artist who would have spun his first-ever DJ set at the festival that afternoon, expressed his frustration to CBS New York. Its a shame, like, I found out through social media like everyone else, he said. There was no communication to me otherwise, and honestly, there still hasnt been much communication about whats going on. Concertgoers who did make it in on Saturday took to social media to complain about unfinished stages and broken display screens. It was an absolute disaster and an embarrassment, one woman told The Messenger. The chaos as the gates were bowled over on Sunday prompted some to draw comparisons to Astroworld, the 2021 music festival blighted by a crowd crush that killed 10 people and injured at least 300 more. Im never coming back, one person who participated in the EZoo rush told Rolling Stone. Worst experience of my life. The New York Police Department said that no arrests were made on Sunday night, according to ABC7 New York. Festival organizers said in a tweet that buses and ferries would remain running to safely transport people off the island. fyre fest 2.0, one user remarked underneath the tweet. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. A remorseful SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher turned to social media for a little self-reflection and a promise to do better as she continues to lead a major labor battle. Ahead of the Labor Day holiday, Drescher posted a lengthy message on her Instagram, in which she revealed how a convergence of family aggravation, personal health issues, board member abuse, staff bureaucracy and a release of tears to Duncan [Crabtree-Ireland] from feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders led her to lose her cool with a fellow union member. More from Deadline I yelled at an unsuspecting member simply sharing her grievances, wrote Drescher. I had a meltdown and a complete and offensive, over reaction. I, of course apologized but continue to beat myself up over it. Heres her full message: Its Labor Day weekend and I find myself in the volunteer position of leading a major labor battle as we at Sag-Aftra meet this historic moment head on. It is said in buddhist wisdom that to lead, one must follow. In order to do that I must pay close attention to everyones grievances that come at me from all sides. But last week was a convergence of family aggravation, personal heath issues, board member abuse, staff bureaucracy and a release of tears to Duncan from feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. This all writes a recipe for disaster and that cake got baked when I yelled at an unsuspecting member simply sharing her grievances. I had a meltdown and a complete and offensive, over reaction. I, of course apologized but continue to beat myself up over it. Why is it so difficult to let it go and move on when we mess up? And I realized that whether leading a labor movement or being caregiver to a sick and dependent loved one, you are human and you will falter. Do not demand perfection from yourself because you are setting yourself up for failure if you do. You may lose it (like I did)and you may offend those undeserving of your wrath when youve reached the end of your rope. But first, always own your bads and next try to cut yourself slack. Be understanding of your situation even when others may not be. A Shaman once said to me, each time you find yourself ruminating over why you said this or why you did that, try repeating these words to yourself as often as necessary to take the curse off your self loathing: I love you Fran. I know how good you are. Its Fran & Fran til the end of time.' Drescher is running for reelection opposite independent candidate Maya Gilbert-Dunbar but is expected to triumph. National officer ballots were mailed to eligible SAG-AFTRA members August 9, with a return deadline and tabulation set for September 8. Election results are expected to be announced that evening. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The King of Monsters is set to unleash havoc on a postwar Japan in Tohos anticipated Godzilla live action feature film, Godzilla Minus One and the features new trailer showcases some of the most impressive visuals weve seen from the iconic beast yet. Marking the first domestic Japanese film of the Godzilla franchise since Shin Godzilla in 2016, Godzilla Minus One is the story of an already devastated postwar Japan as it faces a new threat. Will the devastated people be able to survive let alone fight back? the trailer teases. The film was written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Toho also released new key art for the film, which you can view below. Godzilla made its first appearance in the 1954 film Gojira, directed by Ishiro Honda. Godzilla has since been in 29 films produced by the famed Japanese studio, Toho. At the peak of his popularity, Toho released a Godzilla film almost every year from 1964-1975, featuring the creature both as a destructive force of nature and, at times, as a defender of humanity against other monsters. Godzilla Minus One is set to debut in Japan on Nov. 3 and nationwide in the United States on Dec. 1. Meanwhile, back on the domestic front, Warner Bros. Discovery also has the release of Godzilla x Kong: The Lost Empire, which was pushed back to April 12, 2024, amid the dual SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Watch the Godzilla Minus One trailer in the video above. The post Godzilla Minus One Trailer: The King of Monsters Terrorizes Postwar Japan (Video) appeared first on TheWrap. Its been a rocky few years for Hurricane Chris. Back in March, the A Bay Bay rapper was found not guilty of a 2020 shooting that took the life of 32-year-old Danzeria O. Farris. In an interview that TMZ published this morning (Sept. 4), the Shreveport talent opened up about the steps hes taken following that verdict. My thing is to make sure that I get the message out as much as possible that I feel for everybody involved in the situation, he said. I continue to give my condolences to the family because I have close friends inside of that family. I talk to em every day. I just got off the phone yesterday with the deceased [mans] cousin, same last name. So, never will I be disrespectful. I grew up with this dude, you know what Im sayin? He continued, No matter what happens, you wanna be respectful about whatever you can be respectful about. Because Im from Louisiana; its small. This aint California, this aint Chicago. You run your mouth in a reckless manner, and youre [probably] gonna have consequences. In another part of the interview, Hurricane Chris explained how law enforcement refused to give him due process. TMZ also stated that the rapper is planning to file a lawsuit against the Shreveport authorities. The police really failed to investigate my case. Everybody on the scene understood what happened, but when the detective got me downtown and started questioning me, [it] started off with, Hey, you had a song on the radio, right? And then, from there, everything went downhill. I didnt stand a chance. I lost over $1.4 million. I had a movie deal coming up. I signed to an acting agency before I was arrested. I lost the deal with the acting agency, one of the biggest agencies in Louisiana. Trending Stories The couple who said "I do" on Saturday first met in 2019 while filming King's Hulu show 'The Act' Jon Kopaloff/Getty Joey King and Steven Piet are newlyweds! The Bullet Train actress, 24, and her director husband, 32, tied the knot on Saturday in Spain surrounded by their closest family and friends, a source confirms to PEOPLE. (JustJared was first to report the news.) Earlier this week, King shared a sweet carousel of photos of herself cuddling up to Piet in Portugal. "Love is cool! Love is grand! Love is kissing in front of the Fonte dos Amores and having too many caipirinhas together," she captioned the snaps. The couple first met in 2019 when Piet directed two episodes of her Hulu miniseries The Act. King announced their engagement on Instagram last March with photos from the desert proposal, calling the moment "a real dream." Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic "I never knew happiness could be so powerful that it can take the air from your lungs, overwhelming every part of you that you can't help but feel your eyes well from the undeniable joy," King wrote in the caption. "I never knew that a person's presence and heart could feel like a real home. I never knew love could be so unquestionably beautiful. I never knew until you." Related: Who Is Joey King's Fiance? All About Steven Piet She continued: "The date was 2/2/22 when you asked me to marry you and made me the luckiest lady alive. On his Instagram account, the filmmaker shared more details about the couple's milestone moment. "The weather was less than perfect. Cold. Windy. Perfectly imperfect to ask my best friend to spend a lifetime together. A lifetime of incredibly safe and vulnerable conversations. Holding hands on silent cab rides home, exhausted from great food and red wine. And oh, the laughter. The uncontrollable laughter." "You've unlocked a dimension of love in me that I never knew existed," he added. Related: Joey King Celebrates 4th Anniversary with Fiance Steven Piet: 'My Love' In May, The Kissing Booth star celebrated the director's 32nd birthday with a sweet tribute, showing the two gazing into each other's eyes followed by a series of other photos together. "To the man who, when I lay my eyes on him, makes my breath catch from how lucky I feel that hes mine," King captioned the post. She continued, "How does one describe a person like you? I dont fully know. What I do know is that the world became a better place the day you were born. Happy birthday Stevie P. Your love is my happy place." Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Her message also included lyrics from the Swedish song "Tjugonde" by Amason, which roughly translates to: "Beneath the surface the crocodiles, barracuda, great whites / And in the trees there's brooding vultures / But right now they're leaving us alone." Ahead of the couple's wedding King celebrated her nuptials with a bachelorette party in Napa Valley. The Kissing Booth actress donned a white veil and chic halter-neck dress as she toasted her "bachelorette" with friends and family at a winery, later sharing several photos from the fun (and wine-fueled!) occasion on Instagram. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. A Venetian boat rental company has banned Kanye West and his Australian wife Bianca Censori for life following their lewd behaviour on one of their water taxis. The couple sparked outrage last week when they were seen engaging in a seemingly explicit moment on one of the companys boats in the Italian city, with the rapper exposing his buttocks. West, 46, was seated at the back of the boat while Censoris head was near his lap. The 28-year-old, who has outraged locals in the picturesque city with her revealing choice of clothes, took off her coat to reveal a strapless flesh-coloured outfit Kanye West butt out on a boat ride with bianca censori in Italy. pic.twitter.com/Sb1QHuWAyL TALK'AM (@StrongTalk001) August 29, 2023 When they departed the boat, Wests trousers appeared to be down. Venezia Turismo Motoscafi from the company that rented the boat to West and Censori, has confirmed the couple are no longer welcome aboard their taxis. On board, the driver had to keep a lookout for traffic and did not see these obscenities, the company said in a statement. If this had happened, he would have immediately disembarked and reported the transgressors to those in authority. In addition, there was a third person on board the taxi, who accompanied Mr and Mrs West, who obstructed the captains view to the stern in any case. Censori (pictured) and Wests marital status has not been confirmed (bianca censori/instagram) The third person was a woman who was seemingly chaperoning the couple during their Italian stay. We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behaviour, they continued. Mr West and his wife will certainly no longer be welcome on board our companys boats. Venezia Turismo Motoscafi is one of Venices top private navigation companies that often transports a string of famous faces the likes of Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. The incident comes after the couple have been criticised for their controversial wardrobe choices while in Italy. Censori, in particular, has come under fire for dressing provocatively in the conservative Catholic country. On numerous occasions shes been seen out wearing see-through outfits that clearly show off her bare breasts, including a nude catsuit. The couples whirlwind romance came to light late last year and in January they reportedly exchanged vows during a non-legally binding wedding ceremony in Beverly Hills, about two months after the controversial father-of-fours divorce to reality star Kim Kardashian was finalised. Lea Michele ended her run as the star of Broadways Funny Girl on Sunday. The actress had stepped into the role a year ago, replacing Beanie Feldstein, who had debuted in the title role of Fanny Brice earlier that year. More from The Hollywood Reporter The revival had launched in April 2022 to mixed reviews, with many arguing that Feldstein failed to fill the big shoes left by Barbra Streisand, who originated the role on Broadway in 1964, earning a Tony nom, and subsequently won an Oscar for her performance in the 1968 film adaptation. Feldstein announced her departure in July 2022. Meanwhile, Tovah Feldshuh took over Jane Lynchs role as Fannys mom. With Michele on board, producers reportedly were able to recoup capitalization costs, according to The New York Times, with the show boasting almost 600 performances at the August Wilson Theatre in New York. At Sundays show, Michele received seven standing ovations. She also treated the audience to a bonus song, My Man, which Streisand sang in the film adaptation of the musical. Incidentally, Michele also performed the song in her TV series Glee, which ran from 2009 to 2015 on Fox. That was my dream come true, Michele told the crowd after her final performance, as quoted by the Times. I was truly given the greatest gift that surpassed this dream and that was the unconditional true love and support from this cast, who has worked so, so, so hard. I was embraced with open arms the minute I came in. She also posted a lengthy statement on Instagram about what she called the role of a lifetime. Along with a photo of her onstage, she captioned the post Thank you for all the love and support. This was truly the most extraordinary year and chapter of my life. I cannot wait for whats next. As for what is next, Michele has said that she already has her next show lined up, hinting that its something audiences will be familiar with but is very different musically, she told Variety earlier this year. Meanwhile, a Funny Girl tour, starring Katerina McCrimmon, kicks off Saturday in Providence, Rhode Island. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Click here to read the full article. Judging from talk in restaurants and on the Telluride gondola, one of the films provoking the strongest reaction at the festival this year is The Mission. The National Geographic documentary, directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, tells the story of missionary John Chau whose shocking demise in 2018 made headlines around the world (and elicited insensitive memes). The world premiere and subsequent screenings here have triggered debate over the ethics of Christian missionary work, particularly when it involves attempts to convert Indigenous people who have had little or no previous contact with outsiders, as was the case in Chaus endeavor. He took it upon himself to try to bring the Gospel to the North Sentinelese, a group living on a remote island in the Andaman Sea. After initially being repelled by a warning shot from an arrow, Chau returned the next day and was felled on the beach. His body was never recovered. More from Deadline Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss in Telluride This wasnt an impulsive act, it was a very considered methodical act. And John himself was a smart, really kind of likable young man, Moss told Deadline shortly before Telluride. The exact circumstances of his death are not known, but he did die on the island and yet he had dreams of living there, of spending his life there, of preaching to these people. Because so little is known about the [North Sentinelese] tribe and the circumstances of his death, there are a lot of unanswered questions and thats what the film attempts to do is to explore them. Author Adam Goodheart speaks in Telluride To examine the circumstances and meaning of Chaus self-appointed mission, the filmmakers spoke with his friends, fellow evangelicals, ex-missionary Daniel Everett who spent decades among the Indigenous Piraha people of Brazils Amazon rainforest, and historian Adam Goodheart, author of the soon-to-be-published book The Last Island: Discovery, Defiance, and the Most Elusive Tribe on Earth, who approached the North Sentinel Island 20 years before Chau, but wisely kept a safe distance from the shore. A few hundred yards away, Goodheart specified as we met up with him, Everett, and Levi Davis Chaus close friend and fellow evangelical in Telluride. As we sat around a table, the three men engaged in the kind of spirited debate about Chaus motivations that seems to have been repeated among many viewers of the film. Daniel Everett at the Telluride Film Festival Everybody wants to be the person who makes the first contact with the last uncontacted group. And thats sort of an egocentric thing, Everett noted. He went to Piraha territory as a young man with his family, intent on translating the Bible into the natives language (he first had to learn it a painstaking process). Eventually, he became skeptical of his mission and rejected the notion that he possessed superior knowledge to the Piraha. I had this view that these people were going to Hell and they lived lives that could be so improved if they knew about Jesus, Everett explained. And I would go there and live with them and be the big white [savior] who would bring them from the darkness into the light. And when you stop and think about that, thats an extremely negative assessment of those people, that they need our light, that they dont already live in the light. Levi Davis attends the Telluride Film Festival Chau left behind a diary in which he speculated the North Sentinel Island might represent Satans last stronghold on Earth, because the Indigenous inhabitants hadnt been exposed to the Word of God. But Davis, his friend, said he believed Chaus main priority wasnt to evangelize per se, but to follow teachings laid out in the Book of Genesis, when God gives Abraham the mandate to be a blessing to the people. And so that is what He tells him to do. He didnt say, Go convert people or Go bring fire and brimstone, or anything. Davis added, I think that is kind of where the secular world gets tripped up and the Christian world gets tripped up because the Christian world gets caught up in, What do we have to do to be a blessing? or Weve got to save people from Hell and it just becomes fire insurance. Theyre trying to sell fire insurance. And thats not really the actual thing. Thats not what were actually doing. What were actually doing is trying to be a blessing to people The job of the Christian is to be a blessing to the people and to love your neighbor. A poster for 'End of the Spear' As seen in The Mission, there is evidence Chau was influenced not only by the Bible, but by adventure stories like Tintin, Robinson Crusoe, the Narnia novels by C.S. Lewis, and movies like End of the Spear, based on the true story of American Christian missionaries who attempted to evangelize the Waodani people of Ecuadors tropical rainforest, only to be killed with spears. This evocation of Chaus mindset resonated for Goodheart, the scholar. I was going [to the North Sentinel Island] in my twenties and, like John Chau, I had these visions of sort of swashbuckling adventure, Goodheart said. And I loved some of the same books that entranced him when he was a boy [The North Sentinel Island] is a place that in some ways draws out the best in people I think it drew out the best in John, perhaps in that desire to serve, desire to be a blessing to the world. Maybe it drew out the best in me in a sense of trying to find important stories to tell and also trying to speak on behalf of protecting places like that. But maybe theres also something thats drawn people like me and John and others that has to do with that desire to be first and sort of to stake a claim, which Im going to say has led some really, really ugly things in history. A rendering of John Eliot, (1604-1690), American Puritan minister and missionary, preaching to the Algonquian Indians. Goodheart said its essential to protect the North Sentinelese from intruders, lest they wind up like so many other Indigenous people sundered by outsiders. Its the history of the world everywhere, Everett noted, citing but one example: The exploitation and destruction of societies in Australia by expatriate Brits who moved to Australia and got rid of the Aborigines. Theres something about knowing theres a people that dont have our values and dont want to know us, that really intrigues a lot of people and makes them want those people to acknowledge our values. No contact with Indigenous people like this has ever been healthy. Not a single case that I know of. And it always leads to the degeneration of the society. The ethical dilemma posed by missionary expeditions underpins the documentary by McBaine and Moss. There are a lot of missionaries out there and theres a lot of evangelicals who dont agree maybe with what John did, but theres also a lot that do, so that concerns us, McBaine told us leading up to the festival. Its a question we want to explore, and thats part of what we got into in this movie. 'The Mission' poster Goodheart said hes been impressed by strong reaction to the film in Telluride. I love that this is a place where not only do you get to participate in the premiere, but then you get to participate in these wonderful conversations. To see this movie just sparking so much interest and so many reflections on so many different topics from so many different people has been hugely exciting to be part of. One woman came up to me and said after the film she had to walk around the block, Everett reported. It got her emotional. She could barely talk to me. She was trying not to cry. So it really did touch some people. Everett, the ex-missionary, observed, I believe it was wrong for John to go there, I think that some of the stuff he was learning was just hocus pocus, but on the other hand, he believed it and he was living up to it People shouldnt come out of the film with a clear view of which was right and which was wrong, but think about it. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Shahed strike unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Russian occupiers fell and detonated on the territory of Romania during a massive night attack by Russia near Izmail port, Spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleh Nikolenko said, citing information from the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. "According to the information of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, tonight during a massive Russian attack in the area of Izmail port, Russian Shahed drones fell and detonated on the territory of Romania. This is another confirmation that Russian missile terror poses a huge threat not only to the security of Ukraine, but also to the security of neighboring countries, including NATO member states," Nikolenko said on Facebook on Monday. In this regard, Ukraine turned to partner countries for the supply of additional anti-missile and air defense systems, as well as military aviation. "We urge our partners to speed up the provision of Ukraine with additional modern anti-missile and air defense systems, as well as combat aviation, which will strengthen the protection of the infrastructure of Ukraine, as well as neighboring states," Nikolenko said. Prince Harry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Liam Gallagher and Selena Gomez were among the eclectic array of celebrities who turned out to watch Lionel Messis club Inter Miami play Los Angeles FC on Sunday (3 September). The extensive guest list of notable attendees at the match, which took place at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and eventually saw Inter Miami win 3-1, featured famous faces from the worlds of film, music and sport. The list, which has been shared on Twitter, included actors like Owen Wilson, Ed Norton, Glen Powell, and Will Ferrell, who is a co-owner of LAFC. Upping the star power further, it also featured two Spider-Man stars past and present, Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland. Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis, who played a US college football coach hired to lead fictional Premier League team AFC Richmond in the hit Apple TV+ comedy, showed that he is a fan of the sport in real life too, attending with co-star Brendan Hunt. California resident Harry was photographed cheering on the LA team, holding a team scarf. His wife Meghan Markle was named on the guest list ahead of the match, but appeared not to attend the game. While other famous attendees had their occupation written on the list, Harry and Meghan were the only guests not to have further information detailed alongside their names, referred to only as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Harrys outing came two days after he and Meghan were spotted at Beyonces Renaissance world tour show at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Friday night (1 September), when the couple were pictured in a private box. The guest list for LAFCs game against Inter Miami last night. A quite insane mixture of people. pic.twitter.com/5fXK3G0aXx Football Ramble (@FootballRamble) September 4, 2023 Alongside the likes of former Oasis star Gallagher and singer-actor Gomez, who looked on open-mouthed as LAFC goalkeeper John McCarthy saved a shot from Messi, other musicians on the guest list included rappers Nas, Tyga and Cypress Hills BReal, as well as Rage Against the Machine. Basketball stars LeBron James, James Harden and Magic Johnson, who is also a co-owner of LAFC, were listed as attendees too. Football legend and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham was also photographed at the game, watching from the sidelines rather than from the VIP seats. (AP) Messi joined Inter Miami in July, after his contract at French club Paris Saint-Germain expired in June. His new contract at the US club is set to run until 2025. Beckham said that he couldnt be prouder that a player of Leos calibre is joining our club when Messis signing was announced, and described it as a dream come true. Amazon Prime Day is a huge shopping event, and many people ask themselves when is the next one. To everyones disappointment, there wont be another Prime Day in 2023. But something very similar to Prime Day called Prime Big Deal Days has been announced for later this year. When are the Big Deal Days? And when is the actual next Prime Day? Heres what you need to know. When are the Amazon Prime Big Deal Days for 2023? The Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2023 will take place in October. Sign up for a 30-day Prime Video free trial right here Prime members are in for a treat with access to some of Amazons finest seasonal bargains, including eye-catching deals on movies, TV, and home cinema equipment. The next big shopping event at Amazon has been announced by Doug Herrington, the CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores. While Herrington didnt reveal the precise dates for the event, fans should stay tuned for Amazons seasonal bargains to go down somewhere in October. In addition to the U.S., the Prime Big Deal Days will be featured in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. When is the next Amazon Prime Day? The next Amazon Prime Day will take place in summer 2024. Traditionally, Amazon celebrated Prime Day in summer, except for 2020, when it occurred in October. The event brings substantial discounts for cutting-edge technology, home essentials, gaming gear, or anything else. Prime Day is the perfect opportunity to upgrade your TV and binge-watch your favorite Prime Video series like The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Boys, and more. For more guides, check out how to fix error code P-TS207 on Hulu. Also, heres a closer look at the Shanks crew in One Piece. Disney Plus Schedule September 4-10 Disney Pluss new TV and movie release schedule for September 4-10 includes the fourth episode of Rosario Dawsons Ahsoka, a Guides Abdul Azim Naushad 18 hours ago Max Schedule September 4-10 Maxs new TV and movie release schedule for September 4-10 includes Tiny Toons Looniversity, a reboot of the 90s animated Guides Abdul Azim Naushad 18 hours ago Paramount Plus Schedule September 4-10 Paramount Pluss new TV and movie release schedule for September 4-10 includes the fourth season of the Star Trek: Lower Guides Abdul Azim Naushad 19 hours ago Peacock Schedule September 4-10 Peacocks new TV and movie release schedule for September 4-10 includes all eight episodes of Chucky Season 2 and a Guides Abdul Azim Naushad 1 day ago Hulu Schedule September 4-10 Hulus new TV and movie release schedule for September 4-10 includes Martin McDonaghs latest black tragicomedy film The Banshees of Guides Abdul Azim Naushad 1 day ago Netflix Schedule September 4-10 Netflixs new TV and movie release schedule for September 4-10 includes Adam McKay and Will Ferrells satirical comedy films Anchorman: Guides Abdul Azim Naushad 2 days ago The post When Is the Next Amazon Prime Day & When Are the Big Deal Days for 2023? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. Priscilla Presley got emotional after watching the biographical film Priscilla, based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me that she cowrote with Sandra Harmon. Presley, 78, was in the audience during the movies premiere showing at the Venice International Film Festival premiere on Monday, September 4. Although not initially part of the film festivals press conference to discuss the drama, she jumped in from the audience to answer a question about what it was like to see her memoir adapted into a movie. Its very difficult to sit and watch a film about you, about your life, about your love, she said with tears in her eyes. After pausing to collect herself, she continued: [Director] Sofia [Coppola] did an amazing job. She did her homework, we spoke a couple of times and I really put everything out for her that I could. Priscilla, who was married to Elvis Presley from 1967 until 1973, also emphasized that Elvis didnt take advantage of her youth when they met. (She was 14 at the time and the late musician was 10 years her senior.) It was very difficult for my parents to understand that Elvis would be so interested in me and why, and I really do think [it was] because I was more of a listener, she said at the press conference. Elvis would pour his heart out to me in every way in Germany: his fears, his hopes, the loss of his mother which he never, ever got over. And I was the person who really, really sat there to listen and to comfort him. That was really our connection. 'Priscilla' A24 She continued: Even though I was 14, I was actually a little bit older in life not in numbers. That was the attraction. People think, Oh, it was sex. No, it wasnt. I never had sex with him. He was very kind, very soft, very loving, but he also respected the fact I was only 14 years old. Earlier in the press conference, Coppola, 52, also weighed in on how young Priscilla was when she met Elvis, who died at age 42 in 1977 due to cardiac arrest. I can go back to being that age and remember having a crush on an older guy and a rock star, the filmmaker said. I just imagined myself in her point of view. Priscilla, which stars Cailee Spaeny in the titular role and Jacob Elordi as the iconic musician, marks the second time in less than two years that Elvis life has been portrayed on screen. Austin Butler played Elvis in the 2022 Baz Luhrmann biopic of the same name, which Priscilla also approved of. Priscilla Presley Kristy Sparow/Getty Images It is a true story told brilliantly and creatively that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered, she wrote via Facebook in April 2022, adding that Butler, 32, was outstanding in the role. She continued: Halfway through the film [Elvis friend] Jerry [Schilling] and I looked at each other and said WOW!!! Bravo to him he knew he had big shoes to fill. He was extremely nervous playing this part. I can only imagine. Priscilla and Elvis only child together, daughter Lisa Marie Presley, also sang Butlers praises prior to her death at age 54 in January. Im so overwhelmed by this film and the effect that its had and what Baz has done, what Austin has done, she told the crowd at a Golden Globes pre-party just days before dying of cardiac arrest. Im so proud. And I know that my father would also be very proud. Priscilla, who also shares son Navarone Garibaldi with ex Marco Garibaldi, shared a statement reacting to the loss at the time. Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla Presley, Sofia Coppola and Jacob Elordi attend a red carpet for the movie "Priscilla" at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 04, 2023 in Venice, Italy. Daniele Venturelli/WireImage It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us, the statement read. She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Months after Lisas death, her daughter, Riley Keough, and Priscilla reached a settlement over Lisas estate in May. Despite speculation of bad blood between Priscilla and her granddaughter amid the legal proceedings, Priscilla has shut down the rumors. Riley is now the executor [of the estate], which should be right, obviously, being her daughter, Priscilla told The Hollywood Reporter in August. Riley and I are on good terms. We were never not on good terms. Keough, 34, also addressed the situation during an interview with Vanity Fair for their September cover issue. When my mom passed, there was a lot of chaos in every aspect of our lives. Everything felt like the carpet had been ripped out and the floor had melted from under us, she explained. Everyone was in a bit of a panic to understand how we move forward, and it just took a minute to understand the details of the situation, because its complicated. The Daisy Jones & the Six star added: We are a family, but theres also a huge business side of our family. So, I think that there was clarity that needed to be had. Editors note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. A24 releases the film in limited theaters on Friday, October 27, with expansion to follow. Priscilla Presley only had a few precious lines in Baz Luhrmanns Elvis (a delirious biopic whose title always feels like its missing an exclamation point), and even fewer of them were memorable in the slightest. But, a little more than a year since that movie came out, one bit of Priscillas dialogue continues to stay with me for how succinctly it crystallized the films conception of her. I am your wife! She yells at Elvis, as if he doesnt know. I AM YOUR WIFE! That was all she was in that story. It was no different than if Vernon Presley had screamed I AM YOUR DAD! or if Colonel Tom Parker had bellowed I AM YOUR MANAGER! (which he probably did). More from IndieWire And thats fine, I suppose Elvis had its own agenda, and its namesakes only wife didnt play a large part in it. But Luhrmanns spasmodic rhinestone spectacle may have finally served its purpose, as it now provides helpful context for a new film that another major artist has made about The Kings one-time queen. Which isnt to suggest that Sofia Coppolas soft and muted Priscilla should be seen as some kind of rebuttal to last summers orgiastic blockbuster, but rather to reaffirm her decision to frame this claustrophobic marriage story as a gradual process of separation. Not just Priscillas separation from Elvis and the endless shadow of his celebrity, but also her separation from her parents, from her own iconography, and from everyone and everything else that tried to define her before she was able to define herself. Of course, Coppola was never going to approach this story in any other way. Long compelled by the negative space between young women and the worlds they inhabit (a gap that The Virgin Suicides described as an oddly shaped emptiness mapped by what surrounded them, like countries we couldnt name), Coppola has made a career out of freeing privileged girls from gilded cages; girls who are desperate to escape the sense that theyre merely disguised as themselves, always watched but seldom seen. From Lost in Translation to Marie Antoinette, her films have often framed marriage as the purgatorial first step in a heroines path towards actual personhood. Her latest feature makes it impossible to shake the feeling that Sofia Coppola would probably have been moved to invent Priscilla Presley if Priscilla Presley hadnt ultimately found a way to invent herself. Comparisons to the more opulent and electrifying Marie Antoinette are inevitable, as both movies are about teenage girls who are trying to appease their kings, and both movies look at their hermetically sealed historical figures through a (somewhat) modern lens that sees through decades or centuries of mythmaking in order to render the emotional reality of their respective situations. But from a certain perspective, Priscilla is also the polar opposite of Coppolas 2006 masterpiece. While Marie Antoinette was forced to Versailles against her will, Priscilla Presleys ultimate dream was like many girls her age in 1963 to live in Graceland as Elvis wife. And while Marie Antoinette spent the brunt of her short life struggling to reconcile a sense of personal identity with the one conferred upon her by the royal palace, Priscilla Presley, whos still alive today (and an executive producer on this film), spent the brunt of her short marriage realizing that she didnt have to. Priscilla may not be one of the better movies that Coppola has ever made its vague where her previous coming-of-age stories have been knowingly precise, scattered where its predecessors revealed new insight with each scene, and gloomy where those other films were galvanized with pockets of light but it stands apart from the rest of her work as the uniquely sensitive and self-honest portrait of a girl who starts to realize that she may have outgrown her greatest fantasy. One of Coppolas signature pre-title sequences notwithstanding, the movie first introduces us to Priscilla in the fall of 1959, when shes living with her parents on an Air Force base in West Germany. Played by a sweet and recessive Cailee Spaeny, the Priscilla we meet is 14 going on 12 a mousy young military brat whose father would probably kill any man who dared show her the slightest hint of sexual attention. But 24-year-old Elvis Presley, stationed in Bad Nauheim at the height of his fame, isnt just any man. Played by Euphoria star Jacob Elordi, whose immediately convincing take on the character is more human and heartsick than Austin Butlers performance ever was (less a dig than a job description), Elvis sparks to the underage Priscilla at a crowded house party because she reminds him of home. That loaded come-on proves typical of a film that shrewdly hears all of its dialogue in stereo, through Priscillas ears on one end and our own at the other (Coppolas dialogue-light script is based on Priscilla Presleys 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me). Youre such a baby, Elvis coos approvingly at his underage new crush, not teasing her so much as fetishizing her innocence. Grieving his late mom 3,000 miles from Graceland, this Elvis seems tired of being one of the planets biggest sex symbols, and that hes already losing touch with any of the real things in this world. We sense that he sees the button-nosed Priscilla as a tether of sorts, one that will keep him from being subsumed into the sirens song of his own image. Shes all too happy to oblige. Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny in Priscilla screenshot/A24 Coppola is as sharply attuned to the differences in age and power between these two people as any filmmaker ever has or could be, and while Elordis towering height might be as unrealistic as any of the subtly anachronistic needle-drops that litter the movie (The Ramones Baby I Love You and Tommy James and the Shondells Crimson and Clover being two obvious standouts), the film takes full advantage of how small Priscilla always seems beside him. Elvis looms so large that his child bride will be able to feel his shadow being cast over Graceland even when her husband is off in Hollywood sleeping with various starlets and trying to become the next Marlon Brando. But Coppola isnt in a hurry to get to that part. She delights in the early years after Elvis and Priscillas whirlwind romance after he went back to his throngs of screaming fangirls in the States and Priscilla was given the impossible task of going back to her life as an ordinary high schooler. Its like Cinderella being forced to sweep the attic again after her magical night at the ball, and hearing all about her princes love affairs every time she turns on the radio. But this Cinderellas prince is the King, and despite ample opportunities to exploit his loyal subjects he never forgets about the girl he met in Germany. When the call finally comes for Priscilla to join her man in Memphis, she thinks shes being summoned back into a fairy tale, when in reality shes effectively being adopted as a housecat a dynamic he tries to diminish by giving Priscilla a dog. Coppola isnt shy about how Elvis begins to groom his girlfriend (a recently loaded word that cant be avoided here), but shes never painted any of her characters as a victim and she isnt about to start now. Priscillas first years at Graceland are all part of becoming the fantasy, a process that entails being transformed into Elvis perfect woman even as shes hidden away from the public eye with the help of his omnipresent posse of pistol-packing goons. Priscilla gets the big hair, packs away all of her nice prints, and dresses herself in various shades of blue because Elvis insists that its her color (the very first shot of the movie, which comes to assume an undertone of rebellion in hindsight, would suggest that Priscilla disagrees). In the eyes of a filmmaker whos always used exterior aesthetics to access the interior lives of people who arent permitted to have them, Priscillas makeover is a violently oppressive negation of her selfhood, and it doesnt stop with her style. Elvis gets her hooked on the same uppers and downers that he uses to maintain the rhythm of his life; he later gifts Priscilla an expensive watch, oblivious to how useless it might be in the purgatory hes created for her. Priscilla A24 It goes without saying that Elvis doesnt come off so great in this movie, but Priscilla never renders him as a monster, even after he starts throwing chairs and getting into scandals. On the contrary, the film paints him as a (very flawed) real person whos similarly entombed by the image thats been created for him. Elordi and Spaeny dont spend a ton of screen time together Elvis doesnt even touch Priscilla until they get married, despite her pleading but they look at each other with mutual sympathy when given the chance. Its the mutual sympathy of two people forced to navigate larger-than-life roles as two people forced to navigate larger-than-life roles. And while the fragmented nature of Coppolas film makes it frustratingly difficult to chart how Elvis and Priscilla begin to change (far more elliptical than Marie Antoinette or even Somewhere, this herky-jerky movie is structured with the elusiveness of a memory play), that frustration can be offset by the sense that neither of them really change that much. Coppolas cloistered vision of Graceland, which seems much smaller on camera than it is in real life, adds to a pervasively inert sense of stasis. Surrounded by a pink fieldstone wall, the house is a sanctuary thats separate from the world the eye of an unmoving hurricane thats always watching her. An occasional on-screen title updates us on the year, but the only real way to measure the passage of time is by watching the decor wilt into kitsch. That Elvis estate denied Coppola the rights to most of his music works to the advantage of a movie so keyed into how removed Priscilla felt from anything that was happening in her husbands career. Similarly, that Spaeny never seems to age over the 14-year span of the story only reaffirms the atemporality of Priscillas existence, as does the blankness of her performance and the repetitiveness of Coppolas screenplay, which denies character and actress alike with any particularly dramatic opportunities to depict personal growth. Marie Antoinette seems like a broad melodrama compared to impressionistic minimalism on display here. There are a handful of uniquely expressive moments when Coppola plays to her strengths, such as the late scene in which Priscilla applies her eyeliner with the righteous purpose of a woman creating her own image, but its otherwise hard to track how Priscilla finds herself. We know that shell ultimately braid a ladder that she uses to climb over the castle walls and escape through the cracks of the fairy tale shes been telling to herself since she was a tween, but in practice it just feels like she reaches the end of her rope when Coppola runs out of story to tell. All the same, the movie saves its richest nuance for its final shots, which are set to a music cue thats fascinatingly unambiguous about Elvis and Priscillas enduring affection for one another. Priscilla may outgrow her teenage fantasy, but that doesnt mean she comes to hate the man who made all of her dreams come true. Fantasies arent real, but its better to let them die than to deprive ourselves from having them in the first place. While Priscilla leaves it open-ended as to where its namesake might go from here (the film, alas, ends about 20 years too early for us to see Coppola re-create the set of The Naked Gun 2 : The Smell of Fear), its enough to know that shell never have to say IM YOUR WIFE! again. Grade: B Priscilla premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. A24 will release it in theaters on Friday, October 27. Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. If the Hollywood dream factory is about myth-making, a fraction of it is about unraveling those myths through truth-telling. Attentively adapted from Priscilla Presley s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, writer-director Sofia Coppolas compassionate, dreamy and lushly designed Priscilla is a little bit of both of those dueling Hollywoods. Its a rare cinematic opportunity to experience the notably private, known but unknowable Priscillas own truthful side of the story, and to see her stormy relationship with the King of Rock and Roll through her heavily-lined and faux-lashed eyes. Its also a sumptuous bolstering of the Presley myth, a name with endless legends and perspectives attached to it. Led by a soul-piercingly poignant Cailee Spaeny portraying the title role between the ages of 14 and 24, and a jaw-dropping Jacob Elordi (of Saltburn), giving Austin Butler a run for his money as Elvis, Priscilla feels richer and all the more resonant thanks to that dichotomy. After all, the historically famous, even fiercely shielded legends like Priscilla Presley, cant escape their perpetual, generation-spanning fame, so they might as well try and steer the ship themselves, from their own lens. Elevating that dual appeal is the films fortuitous timing. It feels like a luxurious gift to have Coppolas Priscilla right now, so soon after Baz Luhrmanns opulent Elvisan unwavering, characteristically bling-y and sometimes horror-adjacent biopic, mostly on the deadly grip Colonel Tom Parker had on Elvis. Priscilla is the exact opposite of Elvis, like a gentle but clear-eyed B-side to Luhrmanns hard-bitten A. Indeed, Coppolas Priscilla favors soft pastels, leaves the Colonel off the screen (although we hear his name countless times), mostly does away with the cliched shots of screaming Elvis fans (save for a few small moments) and omits Elvis music (except some piano tingling of Love Me Tender) in favor of other ballads from the period and some superbly chosen anachronistic needle drops like Crimson and Clover to set the mood. The result is a meditative and thoughtfully feminine Sofia Coppola movie through and througha sad, bored and confused young woman of certain privileges trying to make sense of her circumstances and, maybe, even coming of age. It was perhaps inevitable to use the p-word (as in, privilege) eventually when talking about a movie made by Sofia Coppola, the famous Hollywood nepo baby. Truth be told, it feels as boring to continue bringing up Coppolas privileged background as it is to point out the abundant social and economic access her characters often have. Thats all she knows, has always been the common and grating complaint about her, an accusation her similarly blessed (but not as legitimately talented) male counterparts are often spared from. So lets instead talk about Coppolas particular life experiences in the context of Priscillanot from the perspective of privilege, but from understanding and empathy. Coppola seems like the perfect storyteller to grasp what it must have been like for Priscilla to adore and admire a much respected and mythicized man at the age of 14, and to be both enabled and shadowed by his luminous legacy. Thats Priscillas experience, to be exact. Its beguiling to the prim and proper young girl, the daughter of a soldier stationed in Germany, when she receives an invitation to the home of Elvis, also serving in the same location in 1959. The wide-eyed innocence of Spaenys Priscilla quickly draws the attention of Elvis, whose deep, velvety voice and enchanting gaze Elordi flawlessly captures. A shy and homesick man devoted to his grandmother and grieving his mom, Elvis proves to be far from the famed superstar Priscilla knows. She feels a sense of pure and innocent devotion towards him at once, especially when the broken, soft-spoken Elvis opens up about his deepest secrets and fears. And despite Priscillas concerned parents (Ari Cohen and Dagmara Dominczyk playing an underwritten pair), the duo keeps seeing each other, strengthening their bond with each passing day. Even without any sex involvedapparently the couple didnt consummate their union until their wedding night years latertheirs is a deeply inappropriate relationship between a child and a grown man in a position of power. But instead of leaning into the dismissive it was a different time demeanor to legitimize their togetherness, Coppola tries to honor Priscillas story as it really unfolded. There are many sweet, loving and cozy aspects of the couples courtship, but some troubling ones, too, that morph into isolation, control and loneliness. Those darker shades surface when Priscilla finally convinces her parents to let her move into Gracelandgoing to Catholic school by day, enriching Elvis world by night. Elvis gift upon her arrivala sweet little dog waiting for his new playmategrimly says it all about what Priscilla should expect at Graceland: not much other than the company of her new four-legged friend and a pill or two she gets too comfortable popping. Coppola regular Stacey Battats costumes journey through the 60s and early 70sfrom glamorous gowns, mini dresses and block heels to apt schoolgirl outfitsand are stunning. So is Gracelands rendering with its vast grounds and chambers that become Priscillas own Versailles. But beauty and glamor alone dont fulfill her cravings of the love, lust and attention from the man she adores, nor do they make his frequent absences and all the cruel tabloids about Elvis and his beautiful co-stars any more palatable. Coppola smartly and sharply keeps her focus on the young Priscilla through it all. We only see what she sees and process what she processes during Elvis dark episodes when she is told how to dress, how to wear her hair and make-up, and the limits to her growing assertiveness, with a couple of instances turning physically threatening. In keeping with the storys trajectory, Phillippe Le Sourds airy lens turns claustrophobic, especially after the couples wedding and the rapid birth of Lisa Marie (who tragically passed away just months ago, due to small bowel obstruction). But thats also where Coppola starts losing the rhythm of her movie, often making staccato cuts, rushing from one event to the next at a pace that stands in sharp contrast to the coherence and patience weve witnessed in the earlier acts. Priscilla still feels like a graceful feat though, both amid the much-mythicized Elvis oeuvre and Coppolas own filmography of women in search of their voice and agency. As Priscilla decisively drives away from Elvis in the end with her beehive gone and style simplified, we see someone much bigger than a myth. We see a human being. The post Priscilla Review: Sofia Coppolas Lush and Compassionate Presley Biopic Is a Perfect Fit appeared first on TheWrap. Domino - Credit: Ken Woroner/A24 They say you should never meet your heroes, but you definitely shouldnt start romancing them in a foreign country when youre 14 (to their 24), let them ply you with pills, dictate what clothes you wear, and trap you in a mansion while they go off to fuck starlets and groupies. Such is the plight of young Priscilla Presley in Sofia Coppola s Priscilla, an enchanting new film faithfully adapted from Presleys 1985 memoir Elvis and Me. As the story goes, Priscilla Beaulieu (played by Cailee Spaeny) meets Specialist Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) in September of 1959 while hes stationed in West Germany. She is just 14 years old, and he already a rock supernova, serving time in the Army to appease the patriotic fantasies of his overlord, Colonel Tom Parker. The two first cross paths at a party at Elviss rental home, where his eyes look past all the age-appropriate women and train on the out-of-place girl. While teenage Priscilla is understandably intoxicated by the music gods allure, Elordis dead-eyed stare points to something more chilling. Its a scene thats equal parts meet-cute and entering the lions den. More from Rolling Stone Ninth grade? Why, youre just a baby! he exclaims. Despite their age difference, and his penchant for calling her kid or little one (yikes), the two soon become inseparable. And Elvis is depicted in the film as being gentlemanly toward his teen paramour, as off-putting as their courtship looks through 21st-century eyes, confiding in her about how much he misses home and his late mama, and asking (and being granted) permission by her parents to take her out on dates to the movies, or shindigs at his house. He just lost his mother, and hes still grieving! Priscilla exclaims to her worried mom (Successions Dagmara Dominczyk). He trusts me! Before you can say you aint nothin but a hound dog, Elvis has his talons deep in Priscilla. Hes all she can think about for he is the sun, one of the most famous and revered men on the planet, and hes shining brightly on her. He could have anyone, she (and her parents) wonder, so why her? Maybe hes a weirdo who got turned on by how transgressive this is, we think. Their first kiss is set to Joan Jetts cover of Crimson and Clover, one of many musical cues that Coppola and Phoenix, her husband Thomas Mars band who scored the film knock out of the park. But Elvis is honorably discharged from the Army in 1960 and returns to the States, while Priscilla is stuck in West Germany for another year and a half. They talk and write occasionally, with Priscilla learning of Elviss rumored flings with Nancy Sinatra and the like through the gossip rags. She is a bit jealous, yes, but mostly yearns for when theyll be reunited. That finally happens in the summer of 1962, when Priscilla, now 16, is allowed by her parents to visit him at Graceland, though he whisks her off to Vegas instead. Its here where you really start to worry for Priscilla, as a pilled-out Elvis hands her amphetamines to stay awake and Placidyl (a powerful sedative) to go to sleep. He gives her a 500 mg dose of Placidyl the first time, which puts her under for two whole days. Both in his home and in Vegas, she tries to initiate sex with Elvis, but he refuses, though says they can do other things. For what its worth, the real-life Presley has insisted that Elvis never crossed this boundary with her while she was underage, both at the pictures Venice Film Festival press conference and in her memoir, claiming that they waited to have sex until their wedding night, when she was weeks shy of 22. In Priscilla, you get the sense that Elvis suffers from Peter Pan Syndrome, and that hes fetishized her chasteness to an alarming degree. By the spring of 1963, Priscilla has moved into Graceland on the condition that Elviss father and grandmother chaperone her, and that she finishes high school. And it doesnt take long for things to go full Pygmalion, as Elvis chooses what outfits she can wear (and has her try them on in front of the Memphis Mafia, even though shes still a high schooler), forces her to dye her hair black and apply eye makeup, and refuses to let her have friends over or work a part-time job at a boutique, even though he disappears for months at a time filming movies (and sleeping with his co-stars). She needs to be at his beck and call, he says, otherwise there are plenty of women (girls?) who would gladly take her place. Its either me or a career, baby, he tells her. Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Presley in Priscilla. Spaeny, who is 25 but makes for a convincing teenager, is an absolute marvel, nailing Priscillas complicated melange of emotions the wide-eyed wonderment and youthful desire, the apprehension and fear while Elordis Elvis feels more grounded in reality than Austin Butlers pouty hip-shaker. He is sexy and charming, yes, but also dangerous and at times, terrifying. And Coppola doesnt shy away from showing the darker side of Elvis, as we see him demeaning Priscilla, hurling a chair at her head, and nearly sexually assaulting her in Vegas as he says, This is how a real man makes love to his woman. (In her memoir, Priscilla wrote that Elvis forcefully made love to me, but she later downplayed her description of the incident.) You couldnt ask for a better person to handle this material than Coppola, whos no stranger to depicting young female protagonists and the powerful men who enjoy keeping them locked in gilded cages, whether it be the Park Hyatt Tokyo, the Chateau Marmont, the Palace of Versailles or Graceland. As the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola , shes lived it, and is uniquely equipped to show what its like to put a big, flawed man on a pedestal only to see that pedestal crack. Coppola augments Elviss hold on Priscilla through bursts of color and sound, while every costume and car looks period-perfect. She also makes the wise choice of allowing us to see Elvis entirely through Priscillas eyes, sidestepping the lengthy musical performances and scenes on Hollywood sets that plague more traditional biopics. This isnt about Elviss musicianship; its about her experience with him, and few films have so vividly captured the exhilaration, ennui, and dread of falling for a star. People may fault Coppola for dipping her toe in familiar terrain, but its hard to argue with the result: a transportive, heartbreaking journey into the dark heart of celebrity, and her finest film since Lost in Translation. Priscilla will be released in theaters on Oct. 27. Best of Rolling Stone Click here to read the full article. Salina de La Renta is back in Major League Wrestling. At MLW Fury Road on September 3, Mister Saint Laurent held Sessions with Saint Laurent and hyped up his guest as the biggest return in MLW history. Salina de la Renta joined her on the stage. Salina commented on her return by saying MLW hasnt been the same without her. Salina pointed to the lack of lucha and teased that she had something to do with Cesar Durans disappearance. She also stated that MLWs pipeline through Mexico would run through her, and her first talent would debut at MLW Slaughterhouse. Salina vowed that shes coming for revenge and MLWs gold. Salina previously left MLW in May 2021, when she was seemingly killed off when she was sacrificed by Duran as part of the Azteca Underground storyline. Catch up on our coverage of MLW Fury Road here. The post Salina de la Renta Returns To MLW At MLW Fury Road appeared first on Wrestlezone. Woody Allen was given a rapturous reception as he hit the Venice Film Festival on Monday with his 50th film, the French-language thriller Coup de Chance which premieres Out Of Competition this evening. The journalists in the press conference broke out into spontaneous applause as the 87-year-old director walked into the room. More from Deadline I have been very, very lucky. I have been lucky my whole life. I had two loving parents and good friends. I have a wonderful wife and marriage, two children When I started making films all the people chose to emphasize what I was able to do well they were generous, Allen said of his life and career. It is Allens first A-list festival appearance since premiering Cafe Society in Cannes in 2016, with the director withdrawing from the limelight amid repeated public sexual assault allegations by adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow, which he has denied. Allen was last in Venice in 2007, with Cassandras Dream starring Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor, and prior to that was invited in 1995 to receive a Career Golden Lion, but did not attend. He made his Venice debut in 1983 with mockumentary Zelig. Paris-set film Coup de Chance starring Lou de Laage, Valerie Lemercier, Melvil Poupaud and Niels Schneider revolves around a model married couple, whose perfect life is turned upside down when the wife falls in love with an old classmate. Allen said his decision to shoot in France and in French grew out of his life-long love of European cinema. When I was younger the films that were most impressive to us when we were all starting out and aiming to be filmmakers were European cinema, all the French films, Italian films, Swedish films. We all wanted to make films like Europeans. he said. I was going to make this film with two Americans living in Paris and I thought to myself its my 50th film and I love Paris so much that Ill make it in French. I dont speak French but that didnt bother me because all the actors spoke English I had a wonderful time and then felt I was a genuine European filmmaker. Allen said he had not found it difficult to direct a cast speaking a language that he did not understand. If you watch a Japanese film, you can tell if the acting is good, realistic and natural or if its dramatic and silly, or too exaggerated. The same thing here, I could tell by the body language and the emotion of the actors without understanding the language, when they were being realistic, and they werent. I wrote the words but if they made them their own words, which was fine, and they did whatever they felt like, and I couldnt understand the gist of it, I would ask my assistant. The cast read the scenario and understood it. It was out of my hands. Theyre first-rate actors and actresses. They did it and I didnt have to direct them much. It was not difficult. Quizzed on whether he would consider shooting films in other European languages, Allen said it was not out of the question. Sometimes, I get a phone call from someone in a different country saying we will finance your film if you make in Icelandic, or some other language. If I have an idea that is good, then I might consider it. I had such nice experience in France its something I would definitely consider, he said. The director said he would jump at the chance to shoot against the backdrop of his native New York. I have a very good idea for New York and if some guy steps out of the shadows and says, Ill finance your film in New York and they obey all my terrible restrictions, read the script, give me the money and then go away, Ill make a film in New York, he joked. The director, was was joined at the press conference by Allen was joined on stage by actresses de Laage and Lemercier, revealed he had always preferred writing parts for women rather than men. Twenty or thirty years ago I was playing the parts that I wrote, so I wrote for myself, but I was always able to write better, more interesting parts for women I dont know why, maybe because the writers and filmmakers who influenced me most were Ingmar Bergman and Tennessee Williams and these people wrote for women, he explained. In relation to his love of Bergman, Allen was also quizzed about the theme of death that crops up in his new film. I dont think theres anything you can do about it. Its a bad deal. Youre stuck with it, he quipped in typical deadpan mode. At the end of this movie, we left on the screen the under title, Dont think about it too much. That is all you can really do: not think about it too much because there is really no way out. Theres no way out through science, through philosophy, through comedy its a bad deal. You just have to not think about it distract yourself. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The standing-room-only press conference for Woody Allens Coup de Chance was held Monday afternoon at the Venice Film Festival, with the director making a rare public appearance to promote the French-language thriller. It premieres out of competition on the Lido this evening. As with Allens 2020 Rifkins Festival, Coup de Chance is a European production; Allen has not shot a film in his hometown since 2019s A Rainy Day in New York, starring Timothee Chalamet and Selena Gomez. Amazon Studios pulled that film from release following the resurgence of sexual abuse allegations against Allen stemming from his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992. Support for Allen now largely comes from abroad and at European festivals. More from IndieWire There were no prohibitions on any kinds of questions being asked by the journalists in attendance, but none asked Allen anything controversial. When asked if he would make another film in New York, Allen said, I have very good ideas in New York. If some guy steps out of the shadows and says, Well finance your film in New York, and obey[s] all my terrible restrictions they cant read the script, they cant know whos in it, they just give me their money and go away. If some foolish person agrees to that, then I will make the film in New York. Allen told Variety in an interview published today, I was thinking this is my 50th film and I have to decide if I want to make more films. Theres two things that I thought about. One is, its always such a pain in the neck to raise money for a movie. And do I want to go through it? Making the movie is one thing, but raising the money for it, you know, is tedious and not glamorous. The Paris-set drama Coup de Chance recalls Allens Match Point in its exploration of fidelity, fate, chance, and luck, centering on a couple whose relationship is threatened by the return of the wifes former classmate. Shot in fall 2022 in Paris, it stars Niels Schneider, Lou de Laage, Valerie Lemercier, and Melvil Poupaud. Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Woody Allen says hes open to reconnecting with daughter Dylan Farrow and son Ronan Farrow, from whom he has been estranged for years. During a Sunday, September 3, interview with Variety, Allen, 87, was asked whether hes seen Dylan, 38, or Ronan, 35, recently. No. Always willing to, but no, he told the outlet. Dylan, whom Allen adopted in 1985 with former partner Mia Farrow, alleged in 1992 that Allen had molested her in Mias home in Bridgewater, Connecticut. Dylan was 7 years old at the time. Allen has repeatedly denied the claim while Dylan has continued to speak out about the alleged abuse as an adult, including in the 2021 HBO docuseries Allen v. Farrow. Ronan also participated in the series and claimed during episode 4 that Allen would only pay for his college education if he publicly discredited Dylans claims. The offer always stood that if I were willing to publicly go against my mother and my sister that he would offer financial support, support for my education and perhaps a comfortable life with a powerful, influential guy, Ronan alleged. Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, whom Mia adopted with ex-husband Andre Previn prior to her relationship with Allen, spoke out against the series claims after the first episode aired. Dylan Farrow and Ronan Farrow Monica Schipper/Getty Images These documentarians had no interest in the truth. Instead, they spent years surreptitiously collaborating with the Farrows and their enablers to put together a hatchet job riddled with falsehoods, the pairs team said in a statement, adding that the allegations are categorically false. Allen shared similar sentiments during his recent Variety interview, saying there was nothing to the sexual abuse claims. The situation has been investigated by two people, two major bodies, not people, but two major investigative bodies. And both, after long detailed investigations, concluded there was no merit to these charges, he told the outlet. The filmmaker continued: The fact that it lingers on always makes me think that maybe people like the idea that it lingers on. You know, maybe theres something appealing to people. But why? Why? I dont know what you can do besides having it investigated, which they did so meticulously. When asked whether he feels like hes been canceled, Allen, who earned a lengthy standing ovation when his film Coup de Chance premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on Monday, replied, I feel if youre going to be canceled, this is the culture to be canceled by. I just find that all so silly. I dont think about it. I dont know what it means to be canceled. Mia Farrow and Woody Allen Getty Images In addition to Dylan and Ronan, Allen is father of son Moses, 45, whom he adopted with Mia, and daughters Bechet, 24, and Manzie, 23, whom he adopted with Previn, 52. Allen and Previns relationship has also been a source of controversy over the years. Although Allen claimed in his 2020 memoir, Apropos of Nothing, that he first kissed Previn when she was a college freshman, Mia alleged in Allen v. Farrow that the relationship began when Previn was in high school. She would be in her school uniform at lunch," Mia claimed. "They would change the bed after she left. Mia added that when she discovered the relationship, she didnt blame her adopted daughter. She was just a little kid when he came into the family. She was just a little girl," she said. "We were family and he was in my home as my partner and as such, he had responsibilities, you know? You dont get to have sex with my children. That wasnt part of the deal. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has continuously carried out its activities throughout the entire period of the full-scale aggression of Russia, the judges have adapted to the "military" mode of work, Head of HACC Vira Mykhailenko has said. "War affects all spheres of state and public life, and justice is no exception. Legislative requirements are unchanged justice must be carried out even in martial law. Such a legal regime does not exempt from compliance with procedural norms and reasonable time limits when considering criminal proceedings," Mykhailenko said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. She said that during the 19 months of the war, HACC "continuously carried out its activities, although it was not easy." "We can state that we have adapted to the 'military' mode of operation, the court has worked and is working stably. Like the whole country, we demonstrate stability," the HACC head said. Mykhailenko said several court employees defend Ukraine in hot spots, some judges and representatives of the court apparatus perform combat missions in their free time from their main activities as part of a volunteer formation. It's that time of the year pumpkin spice, Halloween spookiness and New York Fashion Week. The September week of fashion brings returning designers including Sergio Hudson, Christian Siriano, Proenza Schouler and Brandon Maxwell, all showcasing their spring/summer 2024 collections. Ralph Lauren, Jonathan Cohen and 3.1 Phillip Lim will also be making a special return after hiatus. New York Fashion Week first-timers include Advisry, Chan Chit Lo, FFORME, Grace Ling and Sho Konishi. The preliminary schedule features more than 71 confirmed designers, with additional collections being presented digitally and by appointment. Here's everything to know about NYFW 2023. Pusha T, Queen Latifah, Jesse Williams and guests attend the Thom Browne fashion show during New York Fashion Week at The Shed on February 14, 2023 in New York City. When does New York Fashion Week start? See the NYFW calendar: NYFW officially runs from Sept. 8 to Sept. 13 on the Council of Fashion Designers of America calendar. Helmut Lang, with Peter Do making his debut show as creative director, is the first of 71 labels on the CFDA calendar to present a runway show of its new collections for the September week of fashion. CFDA's 2022 accessory designer of the year, Luar, will close the week with a show on Sept. 13. You can view the Council of Fashion Designer's Fashion Calendar here and New York Fashion Week's complete schedule here. NYFW is one of the four major fashion weeks globally, followed by Milan, London and Paris. What is the purpose of fashion week? Historically, New York Fashion Week has served as a way to showcase designers' creations with presentations and runway shows for fashion journalists and store buyers. From 1993 to 2009, the shows happened under white tents at Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan, relocating farther uptown in 2010 to Lincoln Center before finding its current home downtown at Spring Studios in 2015. "New York Fashion Week is an integral part of New York Citys vibrant culture and sense of constant evolution and discovery," CFDA CEO Steven Kolb said in a press release. "This season's official New York Fashion Week schedule plays to this sentiment and will once again showcase the best of American fashion, both emerging and established." The events each season allow editors, buyers, celebrities and consumers to preview designers' collections. The front row at the Christian Cowan show on Feb. 14 was shining with stars, including, from left, Prabal Gurung, Bella Thorne, Orville Peck, Teyana Taylor, Lil Nas X and Sam Smith. Best photos from February NYFW: See the NYFW runway looks, all the celebs NYFW schedule highlights Friday, Sept. 8 Christian Siriano Ralph Lauren Prabal Gurung Saturday, Sept. 9 Proenza Schouler Alice + Olivia Theory PatBo Sunday, Sept. 10 Philip Lim 3.1 Jason Wu Collection Sergio Hudson Adeam Monday, Sept. 11 Michael Kors Diotima Tory Burch LaQuan Smith Tuesday, Sept. 12 Brandon Maxwell Pamella Roland Wiederhoeft Wednesday, Sept. 13 Kallmeyer PH5 The Blonds Luar The Sergio Hudson collection is modeled during Fashion Week, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) ORG XMIT: NYMA116 Designer Sergio Hudson on the '90s, Beyonce, what fashion industry is 'scared' of What celebrities will attend New York Fashion Week? While the guest list of fashion week is usually kept under lock and key, celebrity watchers can expect stars with the most buzz to attend shows. But certainly, one can expect Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour to attend some of the shows in the front row. In the past, shows have included drum cameos from Travis Barker, Julia Fox (on and off the runway), Kimora Lee Simmons cheering on daughter Aoki and Janet Jackson pop-ups. Contributing: Elise Brisco This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When is New York Fashion Week? More questions answered A 20-month-old boy with a rare genetic mutation was saved earlier this summer by a stranger who donated part of her liver to him. Logan Salva was diagnosed shortly after his birth with Alagille syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes the bile ducts to be malformed, which can lead to liver failure, according to the National Institutes of Health. Logan's family, who live in Ocala, Florida, learned that because of the condition, the toddler would need a liver transplant. With the waiting list for a liver transplant estimated to be as long as five years, according to the NIH, Logan's family opted for a living-donor liver transplantation, in which part of a healthy person's liver is given to a person in need. Because no one in Logan's family was a match, they ended up widening their search. Soon after, Makenzie Beach, a registered nurse in Erie, Pennsylvania, learned she was a perfect match. Though Beach had no connection to Logan, she said she had no doubts about becoming his donor. "It was the right thing to do in my mind. It's what I would want someone to do for my family," Beach said in an interview shared by UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where the transplant operation took place. "I was in a position with my health, and I have plenty of support, that I could do this, and I didn't see any reason why I wouldn't want to. A month of inconvenience seemed like a very, very small price to pay." PHOTO: Makenzie Beach, a nurse at UPMC Hamot in Erie, donated part of her liver to 20-month-old Logan Salva. (UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh) Earlier this summer, Beach and Logan were scheduled to undergo the transplant, which then had to be delayed for a month after Logan contracted RSV. "I was a nervous wreck because the first thing I thought was he's going to lose the donor," said Rasika Marletto-Salva, Logan's mom. "That one week of waiting to see what would happen was probably the longest week ever, and then we got the call and it said, 'Donor is willing to wait and postpone [the transplant] for a month.'" Finally, on June 8, Beach and Logan underwent the transplant operation, which was deemed a success. PHOTO: Logan Salva, a toddler from Florida, is pictured while recovering from a partial liver transplant. (UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh) Marletto-Salva said she and her husband immediately saw a difference in their son after the transplant. The liver damage caused by Alagille syndrome can cause yellowish skin and eyes, which Marletto-Salva said went away once Logan had part of Beach's liver. "It's incredible the change that we saw in him physically, just in his appearance and complexion and everything," Marletto-Salva said. "It happened within days, with his complexion, and that was just the beginning of it, and then he just started to fill out and look like a normal little kid again." PHOTO: Logan Salva, a toddler from Florida, is pictured with his mom, Rasika Marletto-Salva. (UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh) According to Cleveland Clinic, only about 5% of people who undergo a liver transplant receive the organ from a living donor. A living donor is able to donate just a part of their liver because the remaining liver regrows to its normal size and capacity within a few months. The donated portion of the liver also grows and restores normal liver function in the recipient. MORE: Widow, late husband donate kidneys to same man 16 years apart Beach said she returned to work just a few weeks after the transplant. She said she had never undergone surgery prior to the transplant. "I learned so much and it made me such a better nurse to go through this whole experience," Beach said. "To be a patient was a huge experience, and I needed that, and I'm so grateful for it." On Aug. 30, Beach got to meet Logan for the first time. She said she spoke with Logan and his parents on Zoom while she was in Pennsylvania and Logan and his family were at their home in Florida. "He looks so good," Beach said upon seeing Logan for the first time. "He is beautiful." Marletto-Salva thanked Beach for all she had done, especially for providing her son with a "wonderful liver." PHOTO: Logan Salva, of Florida, is pictured while meeting his liver donor for the first time over Zoom (ABC News) "Thank you for such a wonderful liver," she said. "His recovery, I know that it wouldn't have been as incredible as it's been if it wasn't for the fact that he had you to help him. So, again, thank you so much." MORE: Mom of 3 reunites with family after 100-day recovery from multi-organ transplant Both Beach and Marletto-Salva said they hope sharing their story helps make people more aware of the option of living donations for organs like livers and kidneys. "What amazed me when I was sharing [Logan's] story, so many people really didn't know that you could donate a lobe of your liver," Marletto-Salva said. "So many people have no clue, and that's one thing that this journey, to me, it's more than just his story, it's the fact that it's helped us inform people as much as possible about the necessity and the importance of living donations." Nurse saves young boy's life by donating part of her liver originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com PureWow editors select every item that appears on this page, and the company may earn compensation through affiliate links within the story. You can learn more about that process here. Yahoo Inc. may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Read the original article on Purewow. Quiet luxurys a new buzzword, but its an enduringly classic look if you consider one brand we love: Eileen Fisher. Fisher started the brand in the 80s after a trip to Japan in which shed admired a kimono; today wearers both old and new are clamoring for the brands minimalist clothes, like a cap-sleeve Merino turtleneck ($228) or a washable ponte wide-leg pant $198). As The Wall Street Journal put it recently, Once gently jibed for its earth-grandmother spirit, the classic brand is a hit with Gen Z fans, now in thrall to its sustainable minimalism. What Makes Brands Like Eileen Fisher So Great? When searching for similar brands, weve looked to the high points of what made us love Eileen Fisher in the first place. Here are the key points weve sought out in other brands, done so well first and foremost at Eileen Fisher. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 30 Fall Dresses Under $150 Were Currently Coveting Everlane Everlanes philosophy is to make beautiful essential pieces without traditional markups. The brands neutral-toned tops, dresses and accessories are well-priced and blend right in with every wardrobe, whether youre working in a bank or retail. The linen collection is especially versatile, with camp tops ( $78 ; $55) popover tops ( $88; $66) and a tweedy draped trouser ( $138; $104) well wear well into fall. Shop Everlane Facebook/Pari Passu When the designer Shanna Goldstone consulted on Melissa McCarthys fashion start-up, she was confounded to discover that plus-size women didnt have a range of simple and classic apparel that wasnt full of garish color and pattern. (And that wasnt just full of elastic pants.) She innovated this line, with good-looking blazers like the Debi Herringbone Stretch Ponte Blazer ($368), that organizes sizes into body shapes (bottom heavy, thick waist, hourglass) plus seven sizes (14 to 24). The line is very chicour favorites include the Tace Tie Maxi shirtdress ($248) and the going-out top Tammy Satin Button-Up Shirt ($168). Shop Pari Passu Facebook/Frank & EIleen Known for the artfully wrinkled button-front shirt (from $218) thats a staple of luxury hotel gift shops nationwide, this California-based, female-founded company specializes in what youd wear to take Instagram pics at a farmers market. And now with the Travel Sets collection, Frank & Eileen have created no-fuss and flattering top-and-pant sets in triple fleece, named for bougie destinations worldwide. The Carmel set ($406) has a soft collared V-neck and cropped raw edge hem drawstring pants; the Montauk set ($426) includes a funnel-neck capelet top and a patch-pocket tapered-leg pant. Shop Frank & Eileen COS Short for collections of style, this brand is part of the H&M group and distinguishes itself from its more fast-fashion sibling with pieces that look more profesh and skew toward the minimal, for example this maxi shirt dress ($175) and the sleeveless pleated maxi dress ($135) were seeing layered over a T-shirt. Stated responsibility initiatives include using only organic or recycled denim and manufacturing so that pieces can be passed on, easily repaired and recycled. Shop COS Quince Direct-to-consumer brand Quince is known for its wide selection of washable linen (I wear this Euro linen set ($60) to bed and to run errands) and silk (this tank dress earned a rave review). Whats less well known is that it has a number of petite-friendly sizes, such as the stretch crepe pleated ankle pants ($60) with a 25-inch inseam and the performance tech wide-leg pants ($50) with a 24-inch inseam. Shop Quince Amour Vert Creative eco-consciousness is the philosophy at this San Francisco-based company that uses deadstock fabric, plants a tree for every T-shirt sold and hosts an online re-sale marketplace for its designs. Besides this brands eco bona fides, the wide collection of jumpsuits reminded us of Eileen Fisher. Standouts are the Bijou Denim Jumpsuit ($230) with its forgiving short sleeves and the Fantasia Jumpsuit ( $250; $125) made of Tencel, a popular sustainable fiber made from eucalyptus trees thats softer than silk and cooler than linen. Shop Amour Vert Cuyana Founded by two women in 2013, this brands ethos is that buying fewer pieces of higher quality is the most ethical consumerism. Were in agreement, especially with these elegant pieces at this high-but-not-punishing price point. Pieces are classic, but with a nod to current cuts, such as the balletcore-inspired French Terry Wrap Top ($128). Another piece youll find yourself reaching for first in your closet is the Silk Pocket Front Cropped Shirt ($228). And, pro travel tipthe System Flap Bag ($128) is the perfect size to fold up your travel itinerary in and stash your passport. Shop Cuyana Jenni Kayne Jenni Kaynes California chic empire includes furniture, personal care products and shoes, all ready to take their closeup in a Nancy Meyers film. But the real star of the showand something her design team has perfectedis the gorgeous sweater assortment. From the oversize cotton fisherman sweater ($375) to a bestselling cashmere cocoon cardigan ($445) in ten neutrals, these investment pieces will elevate any outfit from meh to quiet luxury. Shop Jenni Kayne able This Nashville-based brand is staffed by 93 percent women, and working conditions both in Nashville and globally are their stated priority. We appreciate the flattering, simple designs of the Addie Ruched Dress ($148), as well as the sizing from XXS to 3X. Layering? The Micah Drapey Blazer ( $158 ; $126) is just the lightweight jacket, in viscose and modal, youll warm up to. Shop Able Sezane French girl capsule collections are all the rage on Pinterest, and this is the high street brand based in Paris that popularized the craze. Sezane is beloved by clients not only for its preponderance of sustainably sourced natural fibers, recycled packaging and factories that have been audited to align with the companys ethics, but also for its range of fashions. Were seeing Eileen Fisher vibes in the elastic-waist Loulou Knit Trousers ($180) and the minimalist Charly Sweater ($160). Shop Sezane Modern Citizen The dress is not deadwere all just looking for machine-washable, work-appropriate and flattering designs. Modern Citizen has cracked the code with their jersey dresses, especially the wrap-front Fei Organic Cotton Tie-Front Midi Dress ($135) and the Noa Organic T-Shirt Wrap Dress ($135). Still not ready to commit to dresses? The Jude Cropped Wrap Blouse ($85) provides the same stylish and modest look to wear with your high-waist trousers. Shop Modern Citizen Facebook/Boden While at first glance this British brand might not look like Eileen Fisher, its low-key got some of the same attributes we love. First and foremost, non-revealing dresses and separates that make us look polished while still remaining comfortable. For example, the viscose-elastane Clean Midi Pop Over Dress ($190) is as though our favorite popover top grew into a whole dress, and the Thea Jersey Dress ($120) has long sleeves, a jewel neckline and, brace yourself, hidden pockets. (Plus, both are available in regular and petite sizes.) Shop Boden Anine Bing From a humble beginning in the eponymous former models Los Angeles garage in 2012 to todays international luxury brand, Anine Bing is synonymous with taste, restraint and Euro chic. The pieces are never too revealing, but instead depend on the allure of quality fabrics and classic silhouettes, usually with a big je ne cest quoi of slouch. The all-season wool blazers like the classic blazer ($550) and oversize button-front tops including the Tio Shirt ($200) are pieces youll treasure forever. Shop Anine Bing Toteme This Stockholm-based brand seeks to loosen up traditional workwear by simplifying its lines, elevating the materials used and turning it all out in a tight neutral palette of earth tones. Standouts in the line show moments of idiosyncratic tailoring, like the Self-Tie Polo ($330) and the cashmere cape-vest ($900; $459). Shop Toteme The Row Put it this way: When our ship comes in, were jumping aboard and our first destination will be the Row, a brand started in 2006 by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as a result of a quest to find the perfect T-shirt. Today, the brands super-expensive, beautifully tailored collections are coveted by Quiet Luxurians everywhere. Witness these superb examples of minimalism for less than a G-note: the Maritza Layered Maxi Dress ($890) and the Raya V-Neck Knit Top ($590). Shop The Row Cozy Earth This Salt Lake City-based outfit touts its ethical manufacturing and eco-friendly viscose, and what we love is that this line is full of loungewear separates of the sort you can don on day one of vacay then wear constantly, even on the plane ride home. Modal Wide Leg Pants ($ 160 ; $112) are super-soft (and the 25 percent poly in the fabric blend helps it machine wash like a champ), and the matching modal T-shirt ($95; $67) has the perfect shallow V-neck and small side slits that elevate it from all the other T-shirts in your collection. Shop Cozy Earth 17 Stores like Anthropologie to Shop Right Now Why You Should Trust Us PureWow's editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringerall to help you determine which are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series (where we rank items on a 100-point scale) to our painstakingly curated lists of fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family picks, you can trust that our recommendations have been thoroughly vetted for function, aesthetics and innovation. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or womens walking shoes that wont hurt your feet, weve got you covered. 1. This week, an estimated 73,000 people descended upon Black Rock City, Nevada, to attend Burning Man a countercultural event that encourages communal living, self-reliance, and art. Digitalglobe / DigitalGlobe via Getty Images 2. It was scheduled to run from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4, but the events have been derailed by heavy rains in the area. San Francisco Chronicle / Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images 3. The National Weather Service suggested in a report that 0.8 inches of rain fell between Friday afternoon when it started and Saturday morning, per CNN. This embedded content is not available in your region. @itsmechelsealeigh / Via tiktok.com 4. That's an estimated two to three months' worth of rain for Black Rock during this time of year. I was at Burning Man but left yesterday before the rain. Hope everyone there is staying safe and having some beers! pic.twitter.com/oJMgy3cPeX Leah Culver (@leahculver) September 3, 2023 @leahculver / Twitter: @leahculver 5. Now, the desert floor is usually rock-solid: Medianews Group / MediaNews Group via Getty Images 6. But all the rain caused it to turn into a sloppy, muddy mess. In case anyone was wondering how burning man is going it rained all day and now everything looks like this lol pic.twitter.com/ALhF63PWTC Sol (@sol_flac) September 2, 2023 Twitter: @sol_flac 7. Moving through it was practically impossible. This embedded content is not available in your region. @paulanrodrigues / Via tiktok.com 8. Leading organizers to cut off all travel to and from the site for non-emergency vehicles. This embedded content is not available in your region. @ivoryringlord / Via tiktok.com 9. They also told attendees to shelter in place and "conserve food, water, and fuel." Julie Jammot / AFP via Getty Images 10. Some tried to wait it out... This embedded content is not available in your region. @nadia_abraham / Via tiktok.com 11. ...hunkering down in their tents... What's tent camping like at Burning Man right now after the heavy rains? Have a look! #BurningMan2023 #burningman #BurningManFestival pic.twitter.com/hnIZgONT1D Tess T. Eccles-Brown, PhD (@TTEcclesBrown) September 3, 2023 Twitter: @TTEcclesBrown 12. ...and using Porta Potties that had overflowed. 28-second trip to the porta potty at Burning Man pic.twitter.com/Q5Z9J3gvR9 Mark Trail Rains on ng Man (@AngryMarkTrail) September 3, 2023 Twitter: @AngryMarkTrail 13. Others decided to walk out. Julie Jammot / AFP via Getty Images 14. They hoped to get to a main road for transport, but many struggled to get through the sticky, ankle-high mud. One woman told CNN that people went barefoot or used bags around their feet to get through the mud. Julie Jammot / AFP via Getty Images 15. Two people described the trek as "harrowing" and "pure hell." It was an incredibly harrowing 6 mile hike at midnight through heavy and slippery mud, but I got safely out of Burning Man. Never been before and it was fantastic (with brilliant art and fabulous music)except the ending. pic.twitter.com/jhxsOfNp5y Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) September 3, 2023 Twitter: @neal_katyal 16. "Each step felt like we were walking with two big cinderblocks on our feet," one man told CNN. This embedded content is not available in your region. @burningmanfashion / Via tiktok.com Sailing Doodles star Bobby White 17.star Bobby White added : "Every time you step, you pick up more mud, and it's just really hard to move. There is absolutely no way you could move a vehicle through this right now." Julie Jammot / AFP via Getty Images 18. Diplo and Chris Rock were among those who left the site by walking out. The DJ said he spent "hours" trying to catch a ride before a fan picked him and Chris up in their truck. 19. Back at camp, authorities said they were working to improve cell service and provide buses for those left stranded. Burning Man update.It is getting better. Look at the sky. pic.twitter.com/4nNkQjqFAj (@MilaRoyaleReal) September 3, 2023 Twitter: @MilaRoyaleReal 20. Some people partied while they waited. This embedded content is not available in your region. 21. But please follow safety precautions. I walked for 2 miles in the mud to escape from Burning Man and survived, AMA pic.twitter.com/MGKM6U2X2Q valerie (@itsvalerielee) September 3, 2023 Twitter: @itsvalerielee 22. It was reported that one person died over the weekend. WATCH One dead and thousands stuck amid heavy rain and mud at Burning Man festival in Nevada pic.twitter.com/JTC9Zn5L0g Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) September 3, 2023 Twitter: @TheInsiderPaper ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Though the circumstances of their death are unclear. 23. CNN also reports that more rain is expected Sunday afternoon. The weather service reportedly said, Stronger storms will be capable of very heavy rainfall, small hail, and wind gusts to 40+ mph." Julie Jammot / AFP via Getty Images 24. Sunshine is expected to return tomorrow. Heavy rain and mud forced entrance and exit gates to close down at the Burning Man festival in Nevada. https://t.co/hOIcKrhul1 pic.twitter.com/jSPCAdNKbr USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 3, 2023 @usatoday / Twitter: @USATODAY If you're out there, be safe! Three-time SI Swimsuit star Kelsey Merritt made a splash with her debut in 2019 in Great Exuma, Bahamas. She returned to the magazine the following two years when she was photographed by Kate Powers in the Dominican Republic and Ben Watts in Hollywood, Fla. The Philippines-born model entered the industry when she was 15 and is best known for her stint as a Maybelline ambassador and her time as a Victorias Secret model and angelin addition to her influential fashion sense. The 26-year-old, who just purchased her first home in Los Angeles, has built her platform be an aesthetic grid full of style inspiration. The fact that I am living my dream job and working with my dream clients continuously motivates me. I never take for granted the work I have always dreamed of doing, Merritt told SI Swimsuit. Dream hard, work hard. Dream anything you want but also put in the work. Be patient. Things will fall into place if they are meant to be. You have no idea what your life will be like in nine years. The travel enthusiast is an alumna of the prestigious Ateneo de Manila University, where she earned her degree in communications at the age of 20. SI Swimsuits editor in chief MJ Day said she was impressed by Merritts dedication to pursuing her education before modelingand brains and beauty are the magazines favorite combination. Below are seven of our favorite photos from her 2019 SI Swimsuit debut with Laretta Houston. Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated Make sure to follow SI Swimsuit on YouTube! In the newest uproar you might have missed, Elon Musk says X, formerly Twitter, will file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League. Musk accused the ADL, an organization that works to combat antisemitism, extremism and bigotry, of falsely accusing him and X of being antisemitic. "To clear our platforms name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League oh the irony!" tweeted the billionaire celebrity on Monday. Musk also blamed the ADL for X's falling U.S. advertising revenue. "Our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that's what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!" said Musk. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Musk started off this latest tirade by claiming to be pro-free speech, but "against anti-Semitism of any kind." The tweets come as Musk has been called out for liking posts with the hashtag #BanTheADL, which was trending on X last week. The trending hashtag, and Musk's engagement with it, began hours after the ADL said it had a productive conversation with X CEO Linda Yaccarino about fighting hate speech on the platform. "Since the acquisition, The @ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me and of being anti-Semitic," tweeted Musk on Monday. "If this continues, we will have no choice but to file a defamation suit against, ironically, the 'Anti-Defamation' League." Antisemitism had been a problem on Twitter long before Musk took over. In 2016, the ADL published a report documenting the rise in antisemitic hate speech targeting journalists on the platform, partly due to the rhetoric of the 2016 presidential election. Since Musk bought the platform, reports of hate speech have abounded. In January, a lawsuit was filed in Germany accusing the platform of mishandling Holocaust denial, which is a crime in the country. Four months later, Germany signaled that it would fine the social media platform for repeatedly failing to comply with social media hate speech takedowns law. Musk himself has been accused of invoking antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories by targeting Jewish billionaire George Soros and engaging with antisemitic content on X. For example, in June, Musk boosted an antisemitic tweet that offered a choice between using blood taken from children (connect to a photo of U.S. President Joe Biden) or hating Jews (connected to a picture of actor Mel Gibson, who has made antisemitic comments in the past. Musk responded saying, "Gibson is really that buff these days?" Not hate speech in itself, but an example of Musk's willingness to engage directly with antisemitic posts on his platform. The tweet has since been deleted. In early August, X also filed suit against the British nonprofit called Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) after the organization published a report that found Twitter failed to act on 99% of hate posted by Twitter Blue users. The group also questioned whether Twitter's algorithm boosts "toxic tweets." X is accusing the CCDH of unlawfully accessing data and selectively choosing posts to show a rise in hate speech on the platform. Blaming the ADL for loss in ad revenue Musk said the ADL's pressure on advertisers caused X's lower-than-normal U.S. ad revenue. X's U.S. ad revenue over a five-week period from April 1, 2023 to the first week of May came to $88 million, a 59% decrease from the year-ago result, according to a New York Times report. Back in June, TechCrunch broke down what this slump means for X and on a grander scale. In a slow economy, advertisers tend to pull back across the board, so a slack advertising market could mean that not all of X's advertising woes are strictly personal. Additionally, since Musk went on a firing spree after taking over, a lower cost basis means X needs less revenue to cover employee costs. That said, X has a lot of debt that came from Musk's purchase of the company. Given that quarters are generally 13 weeks, Twitters $88 million in five-week, second-quarter advertising revenue from the U.S. market implies that the companys domestic ad incomes are not enough to service its debt interest payments. Is it fair to blame the ADL for all of X's suffering? Absolutely not. By being a safe haven for "free speech," X has also likely become a place where content that goes against brand safety guidelines surfaces more frequently. Combine that with the fact that the platform's owner regularly trolls other users and public figures, perpetually setting an example of how to stir the pot. Advertisers have a finite spend and need to choose carefully what brands and conversations they can be associated with. Claiming to be against antisemitism is just talk. Advertisers and users will want action. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." A 2021 study out of Japan showed how targeting genes can regrow teeth in animals. Now, the team has turned to a human clinical trial. By targeting the USAG-1 gene, researchers believe that they can help people without a full set of teeth regrow teeth. The team says that humans have a third set of teeth available as buds, ready to grow as needed. A sliver of what makes sharks so intriguing comes with their ability to regrow teeth. And while a group of Japanese researchers arent claiming that we should be trying to be the most shark-like possible, theyd like for us to maybe, someday, share that same ability. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Following up on a 2021 study (published in Scientific Reports) that showed how medicine targeting the protein synthesized by the USAG-1 gene could impact the number of teeth grown in animals, the team has turned its attention to humans. Theyve announced a 2024 clinical trial of the medicine, which they in turn hope to have ready for general use in 2030. The idea of growing new teeth is every dentists dream. Ive been working on this since I was a graduate student. I was confident Id be able to make it happen, Katsu Takahashi, lead researcher and head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, told Mainichi. Were hoping to see a time when tooth regrowth medicine is a third choice alongside dentures and implants. Takahashi has spent years researching teeth regrowth potential, and has focused on the role of genes in teeth growth. The number of teeth varied through the mutation of just one gene, he said. If we make that the target of our research, there should be a way to change the number of teeth (people have). Researchers found that the USAG-1 protein could limit the growth of teeth in mice, so ensuring that the protein didnt form could potentially invite teeth to grow. The team developed a medication to block the protein, and successfully allowed mice to grow new teeth. A 2023 paper published in Regenerative Therapy decries the lack of treatments available for tooth regrowth, but highlights how the anti-USAG-1 antibody treatment in mice could offer a breakthrough in treating tooth anomalies in humans. With about 1 percent of humans suffering from anodontia, a genetic condition that doesnt allow a full set of teeth to grow, there is hope for teeth regrowth in humans beyond just mice-centric trials. And that hope, Takahashi claims, should be further encouraged by the fact that we already come pre-loaded with the starting point. His said that his previous research shows that humans have the start of a third set of teeth already embedded in our mouths. This is most visibly exhibited by the 1 percent of humans with hyperdontia, the growing of more than a full set of teeth. And Takahashi believes that activating that third set of buds with the right gene manipulation could promote teeth regrowth. If all goes well in the upcoming clinical trial, the world may have more teeth as soon as 2030. You Might Also Like A research trip to the island with the Los Angeles chef is a deep dive into Sicilian foodways. Cedric Angeles Chef Evan Funke in the vineyards of I Vigneri di Salvo Foti, near Mount Etna "It's time to smuggle some s---, chef Evan Funke jokes as we climb into the Land Rover Defender, arguably the largest vehicle the majority of Italys streets have ever seen. Funke, the chef behind Los Angeles pasta temples Felix Trattoria and Mother Wolf and the recently opened Funke, is not talking about drugs or antiquities. He is speaking of seeds more specifically about seeds from bergamot, the bright and fragrant citrus fruit that punctuates the landscape of Calabria, the final stop on our road trip down the boot of Italy before we journey to the island of Sicily. There, Funke hopes to further his collection of seeds for plants like cedro, a lemon with a thick, white edible pith with the flavor and texture of a perfectly tart Granny Smith apple. In the past, Funke occasionally lifted seeds from Italy and brought them back to the U.S., at times giving them to multiple farms across Southern California, to see which plants might thrive in the local terrain. The effort was worth it for Funke, who remains determined to preserve Italian foodways as close to their original form as he can, from the rhythm of the hands that taught him to make a pasta shape to the ingredients themselves, even though he is thousands of miles and an ocean away from Italy. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Funke makes no actions, small or large, without a certain level of determination or clarity this trip included. He likes to dive deep, immersing himself in one place. Sometimes, he lets himself get lost and wander, relying on conversations with locals to help him build out his culinary journey. Other times, he does what he calls full saturation. When researching pizza-making in Naples, Funke says he ate three pizzas a day for 30 days. To better understand cacio e pepe before opening Felix in 2017, he ate 32 versions of the dish in 23 days across Rome and greater Lazio. This trip is not like his usual ones, though. Its not just a research trip for his upcoming eponymous restaurant, which is his most ambitious and personal project yet. For Funke, its part of a larger pilgrimage to reset his culinary North Star. Related: Why You Should Be Drinking More Wine from Sicily and Puglia To do so, he has put himself in the hands of Davide Baroncini, the charming, chain-smoking owner of Ghiaia Cashmere, a high-end Italian menswear line and one of the few people in Los Angeles as dedicated to their own craft as Funke is to his. Baroncini is the type of person who always knows a guy who knows a guy who can get you whatever you need. Hes someone whose corporeal form can barely contain the passion he exudes for life ... and most importantly for his native Sicily. His tour isnt one you can find in the guide books, travel magazines, or Netflix shows. In many ways, it still is very much a full-saturation approach, with Baroncinis gut guiding Funke through his misunderstood homeland. (Americans see a caricature version of Italy, Baroncini tells me.) Also along for the adventure is Baroncinis wife, Pia, an influencer and the designer behind the fashion brand LPA. Davide and Pia set an ambitious agenda, bursting with meals and 5 a.m. wake-up calls to fit it all in. We drive the Defender onto the ferry in Reggio Calabria to make the 40-minute journey across the Strait of Messina to Sicily. First up, Baroncinis home city of Catania. Its an hourlong drive south (or, in the hands of Davide Baroncini, a quick 40-minute sprint) from the ferry crossing in Messina to the city, located on the islands eastern coast. Theres an endearing grittiness to Catania. The streets are perhaps less polished than cities in Italys north, but a generous sense of hospitality seems to course through it, and in fact the island as a whole. We head straight to Caffe Europa a delightfully old-school restaurant with a massive curved glass pastry case and servers dressed in three-piece suits. Baroncini says the cafe is like the town center in Catania, where people from all walks of life gather. Just a few minutes later, as if on cue, he runs into an old childhood friend. Cedric Angeles Customers enjoy a limone seltzer under umbrellas in a piazza in Catania Its breakfast time, which means one thing at Caffe Europa: time to order granita. The granita in Sicily, though, is not the stiff, icy dessert you might find elsewhere. It has an almost churned texture to it, the love child of a sorbet and a Slurpee. Theres an assortment of flavors ranging from fruity to chocolate, but the ideal combination is coffee and mandorla, or almond granita. And since breakfast is the meal of champions, the granita must be ordered con panna e brioche, or, with a generous cloud of lightly sweetened and freshly whipped cream and a round of supremely tender, but not overly buttery, brioche for dunking. Funke, dressed in his daily uniform of denim pants, a well-fitted chambray shirt, and classic brown Birkenstock Boston clogs, tears a chunk off the brioche before cupping both hands around the bread and bringing it to his nose for a deep inhale. Its how he catalogs scents for his own mental archives, drawing on and analyzing the scent memories to reproduce everything as closely as he can when he gets back to Los Angeles. Breakfast is immediately followed by lunch at Oasi Frutti di Mare da Nitto, one of Catanias beloved seafood restaurants. Plates of pasta tossed with fresh sea urchin arrive at the table, along with the tiniest species of clam, native to the warm waters off the eastern shore of Sicily. Baroncini immediately makes friends with Nitto, the enthusiastic proprietor, who lets Funke sneak into the kitchen and watch his team at work. This setup is a common occurrence on this trip: Baroncini befriends the owner; Funke hops into a kitchen to observe and ask questions. Lunch is followed by colossal arancini from Pasticceria Savia, a patisserie that has been around since 1897. We are joined by Nino Asaro, who splits his time between the U.S. and Sicily, where his family runs one of the regions most lauded and substantial olive oil farms. Pasticceria Savias deep-fried rice fritters are shaped almost like giant teardrops and are stuffed with three fillings: a tender ragu oddly reminiscent of the inside of a burrito from Taco Bell, gooey cheese, or a pat of good butter. They are served piping hot from the fryer and only cost a couple of euros each a meal that nearly anyone can afford. With each bite, you can see Funkes brain tinker with what hes eating, almost like a computer running a new algorithm. He is questioning how he has served arancini in the past: Maybe you only really need one, and they should only be eaten standing? Cedric Angeles Davide Baroncini (left) and Evan Funke. Baroncini, the owner of a luxury fashion brand, created the itinerary for Funkeas Sicily visit Baroncini then guides our crew to a stretch of Via Plebiscito, where the meat markets were once located. We are here to eat a Sicilian delicacy: horse meat. The restaurant, La Terrazza Del Barone, is now run by Giovanni Barone, the second-generation owner. Still a young man, he has a wife, three kids, and a deep sense of purpose. He just wants to preserve the Catanian way of life, translates Baroncini. He feels it is his duty. Both Funke and Baroncini are moved to tears hearing Barones motivation, his commitment, and his hopes and dreams for the future. And soon, we are all seated at the giant outdoor tables as a parade of antipasti arrive before a pile of well-charred horse burgers (Reminds me of the backyard burgers my mom used to make us after school, says Funke), horse ribs, and the main star of the show, a horse steak, presented tableside by the chef, with Salt Baelevel theatrics. The following day is spent driving up Mount Etna, the still-active volcano that is one of the defining geographic characteristics of the island. The terrain is almost Mars-like, consisting of giant dark rock formations formed from hardened lava. We stop into Macelleria Fratelli Cerra, a butcher shop in the quaint mountain town of Piedimonte Etneo. The incredibly friendly staff all wear shirts that read passion for meat, where hearts replace the letter o. And they immediately set to work handing out samples of everything in their case, from tender marinated mushrooms to salumi to ricotta so fresh that it will make you question if youve ever had real ricotta before. Its not always possible to find domestic equivalents of these products in the U.S., and Funke is woeful that USDA importing regulations make it impossible for him to bring back a suitcase filled with certain meats and cheeses (which, unlike tiny seeds, cannot be tucked away inconspicuously). We wind down the mountain with our snacks to I Vigneri di Salvo Foti, for glasses of wine. On a clear day, you can see Mount Etna looming to your right and the crystal blue waters of the ocean to your left while standing in the middle of the vineyards. Funke, determined to understand the flora of the island, plucks fruit from grapevines and pear trees and places a handful of fresh rosemary in his shirt pocket. Cedric Angeles Funke gets an eyeful of Sicilian citrus Theres more granita the next day in the ancient and beautiful town of Noto. We hit the 131-year-old Caffe Sicilia for its incredibly fresh, fruit-forward granitas (though we all agreed the brioche was not as memorable as Caffe Europas) and a panna cotta with the perfect amount of jiggle and pure dairy flavor to stop Funke in his tracks. Its fuel for the road trip to Cassaro, where Massimo Izzo, a jewelry designer and one of Baroncinis best friends, has arranged an agricultural walk of Pantalica, a necropolis and now a nature preserve overgrown and bursting with local edible plants if you know where to look. Our guide, Paolino Uccello, decked out in cargo pants and a pocketed vest, points out a thinner and milder version of asparagus than the one you might find in the U.S., then clips a bunch of oregano and mentuccia, an Italian mint variety, before stopping in front of a tuft of green that could easily be mistaken for a weed. He calls it ricottella and explains that when you chew on it, it tastes like ricotta. (The walk provides a bounty of inspiration for Funkes seed-smuggling habit.) Funke does his signature inhale of each plant, adding new entries to his ever-expanding catalog of Italian foodways. A late lunch after the walk is a multicourse meal centered around saffron; saffron crocuses grow abundantly in Sicily, but harvesting the spice is so labor-intensive that few care to do it. Our meal takes place at a masseria, or farmhouse, in the Sicilian countryside, an hour outside of Ortigia, the stunning island that forms the center of the city of Siracusa. We catch a few hours of sleep before cutting across Sicily and driving four hours to the tiny town of Partanna, the home of the Asaro family farm. Nino Asaros family makes the only olive oil Funke has cooked with for the past decade. (The Asaros also produce olive oil for Davide and Pia, who sell it under their Baroncini Import Co. brand; Funke has plans to partner with them on several products.) Nino guides the way to the familys home near the olive oil factory, where his grandmother Nonna Lidia has expertly prepared crisp rounds of fried eggplant and a meaty sugo that she started making two days beforehand. Nino sets about transforming the sugo into lunch with dried busiate pasta the family also makes, while Funke, inspired by the mornings agricultural walk, whips up a pan of fresh, rustic cavatelli that he tosses with generous amounts of Partanna olive oil, garlic, and mentuccia. Related: This Cruise Around Italy Offers Guests Hands-On Experience Making Some of the Country's Best Dishes Funke describes himself as a godson of Italian cooking. He sees himself as a vessel of knowledge first, a teacher second, and a chef last. Funke hopes to one day open an institute where he can pass on and preserve the techniques, recipes, and skills he has acquired so that no pasta shape or sauce or ingredient ever gets lost to history. But for now, he is spending his days acquiring knowledge directly from the true carriers of Italian culinary tradition: home cooks. I could probably just learn some of these techniques online, explains Funke. But you miss out on the connection, on their stories, which are just as important as the techniques themselves. He prides himself on the fact that he has learned 156 pasta shapes directly from various matriarchs he has encountered across his travels in Italy and he wont put a shape on the menus of his restaurants in Los Angeles until he has received approval and confirmation from the cook who taught him the shape that he has mastered it. In the moment, I am like a kid to them, says Funke. They dont always have people to pass this knowledge down to. And though he is an extremely confident pasta maker not much makes Funke nervous he only starts to relax once his cavatelli gets a nod from Nonna Lidia. Cedric Angeles Sunrise over the Church of Saint Michael Archangel in Catania That evening, Nino leads the group an hour up a winding, nail-biting set of roads deep in the Trapani hills of western Sicily. At the end of this dark, harrowing drive sits Ardigna, a literal glowing beacon of Sicilian hospitality. Nearly everything the restaurant serves is made in-house and grown within a small radius of the building. Its run by Salvatore Adragna, who has the energy of a kid who just ate their entire Halloween candy stash. Adragnas wife runs the kitchen, turning out what perhaps is the most robust spread of antipasti ever served: eggplant Parm, grilled snails in an earthy tomato sauce, housemade cheese, a massive hunk of fresh honeycomb, squares of farinata, bowls of marinated olives, cubes of focaccia to name just a few. Thats followed by six kinds of pasta, several platters of meat, and a few rounds of dessert, including a lovely fruit platter stacked with local plums and prickly pears and a baked ricotta cake that has the entire table in silence. Its nearly 1 a.m. when we finally do the precipitous drive back down the mountain, only to wake up a few hours later, still full, to drive into Palermo, the last stop on the trip. Were here for one place in particular: Panificio Graziano, legendary for its baked pastas and, more notably, its sfincione, a Sicilian dish best described as an airy pizza. In some ways, this is a full-circle moment: Funke is known for this sfincione in Los Angeles, but Grazianos is in a wildly different style, a reminder of just how varied Italian cuisine really is. As we pass the pizza slices back and forth, I am truly not sure I will possibly eat another carbohydrate ever again. Funke gently laughs before restating something he told me earlier on the trip: Ill never get sick of pasta or pizza ever. Related: Where to Eat Pizza in Los Angeles Right Now In many ways, Funke is an unexpected ambassador and devotee of Italian cuisine. For one, he is not Italian. He isnt fluent in the language, either. (Funke cheekily says he knows just enough Italian to get himself into trouble.) He understands that people might think he doesnt have a right to cook and catalog Italys foodways because of his lack of Italian heritage, and to those doubts he responds that he would genuinely love to see the day when there are people even more infatuated with studying Italian culinary stories and techniques than he is. I wish someone would challenge me, he says. Until that day, you will find him in the temperature-controlled pasta room at Funke, rolling and shaping dough with the knowledge of dozens of nonnas running through his fingers. Or in the kitchen, tinkering with his new arancini recipe. He excitedly hands me one, fresh from the fryer, when I walk into the restaurant after our trip: Its a miniature version of the giant palm-sized one on the final menu, served one per order, shaped just like the one we had at Pasticceria Savia. I break it open, and the cheese gently oozes from the middle; the familiar Taco Bell flavor of the ragu immediately hits my tongue. For a moment, I forget I am in Beverly Hills and not on the sidewalks of Catania. I think I figured it out 97%, Funke tells me with a wink and a sheepish grin. I say hes figured out how to make it even better. Cavatelli con Aglio, Olio, e Mentuccia Cedric Angeles Fresh, from-scratch cavatelli shine in a simple sauce of mint, olive oil, garlic, and chiles. Get the Recipe Arancini al Ragu (Risotto Croquettes with Beef Ragu) Cedric Angeles These extra-large arancini contain a rich filling of meat sauce. Get the recipe Spaghetti ai Ricci di Mare (Sea Urchin Spaghetti) Cedric Angeles If youre lucky enough to have fresh sea urchin on hand and are wondering, what now?, this classic sea urchin spaghetti is your answer. Get the recipe Granita di Mandorla con Panna Sotto e Sopra (Almond Granita with Whipped Cream Top and Bottom) Cedric Angeles This brilliant almond granita can be enjoyed for dessert or for breakfast. Get the Recipe For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Food & Wine. Ukraine hopes for productive work of the Core Group meeting in The Hague (Netherlands) in the middle of September to find a compromise in creating an effective model of a tribunal to hold the top military-political leadership of Russia accountable for the crime of aggression, Deputy Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Smyrnov has said. In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Smyrnov said the point in the discussion regarding the format of the tribunal was put only under the possibility of creating a hybrid tribunal as part of the judicial system of Ukraine, since this is unacceptable for Ukraine. "If we are talking about the creation of a tribunal in an internationally recognized jurisdiction, authoritative, with an established system of law, then, for example, it can be the same Netherlands and The Hague as the world capital of international law," the deputy head of the President's Office said. At the same time, as he explained, even if the government of the Netherlands agrees to the creation of such a tribunal, all this must be "covered" by a resolution of the UN General Assembly in support of this tribunal. "This will more likely "untie the hands" of many countries in the ratification of interstate agreements between the Netherlands and them through diplomatic means," Smyrnov said. Answering a question about Ukraine's hopes for the upcoming Core Group meeting, Smyrnov said: "The meeting is scheduled for the middle of September in The Hague. Surely, there are hopes for the productive work of the Core Group. In working communications with our colleagues who are physically participating in the group's meetings, I set the task that by the end of this year we, together with international partners, should reach a point of compromise." "We must give a clear, understandable signal to the citizens of Ukraine, our soldiers, that the world is ready to prosecute this terrible crime," the deputy head of the President's Office said. Smyrnov also said for some time the Ukrainian side tried not to make public the problem of skepticism of the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany regarding the version of the creation of the tribunal through the decision of the UN General Assembly due to fears of revisions of the military campaigns in which they took part. "But we will still find a compromise, I am sure of this. And we will definitely vote on the decision of the UN General Assembly in support of a compromise and effective model. Internationalized or not," the deputy head of the President's Office said. Smyrnov said he sees no signs of conflict in the public statements about skepticism of a number of countries. "I see no signs of conflict, I see signs of a legal discussion, a lengthy, in some places very heated discussion, but this is definitely not a conflict. Our international partners, who are skeptics of the creation of a tribunal through the decision of the UN General Assembly, hear us and our arguments about the impossibility of creating a hybrid tribunal as parts of the judicial system of Ukraine. They also understand this. They have concerns, we have reservations, but we do not stop and are looking for a compromise," Smyrnov said. MILAN Plan C is boosting its presence in Japan, its top-performing market, unveiling a flagship store in the luxury retail complex Ginza Six in Tokyo. Developed with the brands distributor in the country Bluebell Group, the 1,076-square-foot unit was conceived by Plan C founder and creative director Carolina Castiglioni in partnership with Italian artist and designer Duccio Maria Gambi, who has already collaborated with the label on several projects. These included the design of the brands first store, in Tokyos Aoyama neighborhood in 2019, as reported. More from WWD ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Ginza Six store adds to Plan C shops-in-shop at Isetan Shinjuku and Umeda Hankyu Osaka, as well as distribution in 35 multibrand retailers locally. Without disclosing the overall business turnover, the company said Japan is its largest market, accounting for 28 percent of total sales. The Plan C store at Ginza Six in Tokyo. The interior concept of the new unit plays with linear and sinuous shapes as well as contrasting materials and textures to evoke the brands mix of high-end design and functionality. Concrete and stainless steel surfaces dominate the space, which also features white wood flooring, electric blue walls and carpeting as well as red-paint detailing in the custom-made displays. Irregularly shaped monoliths punctuate the store to showcase the accessories selection, while glass cases located next to the cashier display the jewelry collections by Plan Cs sister brand Aliita. These are positioned at the entrance of the stores dressing area, which was made cozier by opting for a warmer color palette of rust shades. An artwork by Gambi mixing green-painted steel and corrugated white-painted metal completes the space, which Castiglioni believes perfectly expresses our creative journey. Inside the Plan C store at Ginza Six in Tokyo. Duccio is really able to interpret my vision and transform ideas into projects that perfectly mix functional design and conceptual art. Its really great to be in Tokyo, in the Ginza district, with a flagship representing the brands spirit in such encompassing way, she said. I think the main challenge here was preserving the most authentic spirit of Plan C while showcasing the evolution of its collections towards a style that in a way is more minimal and even more sophisticated, Gambi echoed. We played with contrasting lines, materials, textures and colors to create a space that I think is rich and exciting while being essential and functional at the same time. Reflecting the evolution of the brands products offering, we gave more space to horizontal displays to showcase the accessories collections that engage in a continuous dialogue with the ready-to-wear pieces on the racks, the artist added. The Plan C store at Ginza Six in Tokyo. Plan C will further express its ties with the art world during the upcoming edition of Milan Fashion Week when it will stage an exhibition spotlighting Ukrainian-born, New York-based talent Yelena Yemchuk. Dubbed Noctambulations and to be held at the Plan C headquarters in central Milan, the show will explore the art of collaging via 12 exclusive artworks, half of which reinterpret images photographed by Yemchuck for the brands spring 2024 look book. For me, collaging is an attempt at an unconscious act. Im interested in removing intellect images are compiled and created by liberated instinct. When Im successful, making a collage is ethereal, volatile, like a dream, Yemchuk said. One of the artworks by Yelena Yemchuk included in the Noctambulations exhibit. Born in Ukraine, Yemchuk moved with her family to the U.S. at 11, studying art at Parsons in New York and photography at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. A multifaceted artist experimenting with different media including painting, photography and filmmaking Yemchuk developed a signature style mixing surrealist atmospheres with nostalgic and humorous touches. Flanking Yemchucks work, the Noctambulations exhibition will showcase some of the Plan C looks featured in the images and presented to press and buyers earlier this year. In particular, for spring 2024 Castiglioni held onto the codes of her brand with a softer hand: Without betraying her utility-inspired world of reference, signature rigor and purity of lines, she displayed a new flair for lightweight fabrications, see-through textures and a pale color palette that magnified the sense of ease and nonchalant elegance shes skilled at conveying through everyday clothes. One of the artworks by Yelena Yemchuk included in the Noctambulations exhibit. The daughter of Marnis founders, Castiglioni launched Plan C with the support of her father Gianni and her brother Giovanni in 2018, after a decade of developing special projects for her familys business. Renzo Rossos OTB took full control of Marni in 2015 and the Castiglioni family exited the following year. Since the seminal spring 2019 collection, Castiglioni hinged Plan C on utility- and sport-inflected styles with a touch of eccentricity and unpredictability, the duality of discreet and bold elements, charming juxtaposition of masculine and feminine shapes and a great color sensibility a trait that has always run in the Castiglioni genes. The founders sophisticated aesthetic is mirrored by the company headquarters, a design apartment filled with vintage pieces and where her great-grandmother created the fur company Ciwifurs in the early 60s, which became a well-known licensee for several designer brands. Plan C will host a cocktail event there to celebrate Yemchuks exhibition on Sept. 20, before opening the show to the public upon appointment starting the following day and through Sept. 25. One of the artworks by Yelena Yemchuk included in the Noctambulations exhibit. Best of WWD Click here to read the full article. Guinness is Good for You is one of the most famous advertising campaigns in history, but away from the slogans and billboards, it appears there could have been a grain of truth in the suggestion that everyones favourite stout does something positive for the body. In recent years, researchers have been accumulating evidence to suggest that certain beers could help improve the diversity of species in the gut microbiome, something which tends to be associated with health benefits. Last year, a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry followed 22 men who drank a little more than half a pint of beer every day for four weeks and found that they subsequently had better markers of intestinal health. Now, a review of experiments published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition has concluded that the various ingredients within beer may have a positive impact on the immune system, when broken down and fermented within the gut. According to Megan Rossi, a nutrition researcher at Kings College London and founder of The Gut Health Doctor, this is due to plant chemicals known as polyphenols which are found in certain beers, which are known to be useful foods for the bacteria in the gut. Bacteria have been shown to digest about 90 per cent of polyphenols and turn them into chemicals, which can have anti-inflammatory effects, she says. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement However Belgian professor Jeroen Raes, who has examined the possible effects of beer on the microbiome as part of the Flemish Gut Flora Project, cautions that we still know relatively little and that the alcohol within beer may cancel out any positive findings. My feeling is that if beer has an effect on the gut, the effect size will be relatively limited, he says. And Im not certain that its by definition, a beneficial one. But scientists believe that the emerging research points to some beers being potentially better for you than others. Here are some gut-friendly recommendations, and some to maybe leave behind the bar. Gut-friendly beers healthy beer 1-3 1. Guinness From the 1920s to the 1960s, marketing taglines such as My Goodness, My Guinness and Guinness for Strength firmly established the brand as arguably the worlds most popular stout. But while there are no suggestions Guinness adds muscle mass, it is thought to be rich in certain plant chemicals. Some polyphenols are particularly high in Guinness, says Rossi. We talk about diversity (being good for the gut), and thats the case for drinks as well. So, if you drank a little bit of Guinness one night, and then a little red wine another time, while keeping within the alcohol limit, thats probably going to get you a wider range of these polyphenols. 2. Newcastle Brown Ale Its not a health drink, but some of these ales will contain more of these useful chemicals as well as yeast strains left in the beer, says Federica Amati, a medical scientist at Imperial College London. Theyre probably not going to be alive, but theres a vein of thought that they still have some sort of beneficial impact on our immune system when they reach the gut. 3. Hoegaarden Unlike most beers, Belgian brands such as Hoegaarden, Westmalle Tripel and Echt Kriekenbier are fermented twice, initially in the brewery and again in the bottle. This second fermentation uses a different strain from the traditional brewers yeast, which increases the strength of the beer, but also means that it contains more potentially useful microbes. We know that even dead yeasts could have an effect on the composition of the microbiota, and it could also have an effect on transit times, says Raes. You see that if you pour the beer at the end, the final pour is a bit more opaque and thats actually your yeast. My grandmother would also say, Ill drink that because its good for my transit, and theres probably some effect on motility, although its not super clear. Healthy beer 4-6 4. London Porter Dark Ale Its not just Belgian beers that contain some gut-boosting yeast at the bottom. Amati says that you can often spot this with craft or artisan beers, as well as the darker ales. If you look in the actual bottle and theres a little bit of sediment on the bottom, thats always a good sign, she says. 5. Stella Artois Unfiltered If you are going to opt for a lager, the rule is to try and find an unfiltered version. Many drinkers prefer this as it allows for a more complex flavour and aroma, but the lack of processing also means that there are more potentially useful chemicals left in the drinks. If you drink a fairly long fermented and traditionally made beer, so not one thats super filtered, you will get some of those polyphenols and yeast strains left in the beer, says Amati. The vast majority of beers sold in UK supermarkets are heavily filtered, but some brands such as Stella Artois have begun to launch unfiltered ranges. 6. Doom Bar Zero Alcohol Free Amber Ale Drinking alcohol-free beers could offer all the benefits to your gut, without the disadvantages of the actual alcohol content. This particular brand is a good example of a darker, non-alcoholic ale which is more likely to contain helpful plant chemicals. If anything, the studies suggesting that beer could have benefits for the microbiome could be quite a nice boost for the low alcohol beer market, says Amati. Once again though, youre looking for those darker coloured and more artisan ales. Beers to avoid Unhealthy beer 1-6 1. Heineken Heavily filtered and carbonated lagers are going to contain less beneficial nutrients for the gut. 2. Budweiser Lager Another filtered beer, this will have less polyphenols than ale. 3. San Miguel This popular lager is likely to contain fewer microbes than the twice-fermented Belgian beers. 4. Peroni Like the other filtered lagers this beer is likely light on gut-friendly plant chemicals. 5. Stella Artois normal lagers If youre looking for a gut-friendly version opt for their unfiltered lager. 6. Heineken Alcohol-Free Lager Just like the alcoholic versions, alcohol-free lagers are less likely to have any real benefits for your gut. Its not just beer cider can be good too According to Amati, there is some evidence that artisan cider brands for example Old Rosie Scrumpy Cider and Henry Westons Vintage Cider can have benefits for the gut microbiome. They tend to have some of the actual fruit left in the drink, meaning that fermentation carries on for longer, she says. The cloudier ciders are better as these are sugars known as polysaccharides which float in the cider and theyre good prebiotics to feed the gut bugs. Other drinks, which hark back to medieval times, such as mead which has seen a recent resurgence in London, are also thought to be beneficial for the gut. All this ancient stuff made back in the day tends to use quite a lot of the fibre from the fruit in making it, which is why they could have some benefits, says Amati. But, as always, moderation is key However, all gut experts are keen to emphasise that alcoholic drinks do not equate to health drinks and in many cases, any benefits for the gut are likely to be cancelled out by the impact of alcohol on the body. Im very keen to pass on the message that we have to drink very moderately, says Amati. Have at least three days with no alcohol in your week, and no more than one drink when you do drink. NHS guidelines recommend no more than 14 units of alcohol per week equivalent to eight cans of average strength (four per cent) beer warning that alcohol raises the risk of multiple cancers as well as heart and liver disease. Rossi also advocates drinking no more than one or two alcoholic drinks at a time. When were talking about any anti-inflammatory benefits for the gut from these darker beers, that becomes pro-inflammatory after about two drinks, she explains. Thats because the alcohol starts to make the gut a little bit leaky, allowing things to move from our gut into the bloodstream that wouldnt normally be there, and causing low-grade inflammation. Do you drink gut-friendly beers? How else do you boost your gut health? Let us know in the comments section below 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. One Piece is Netflix's newest fantasy series, launching viewers into the world of the Straw Hat Pirates, who are on a daunting quest to find the one piece of treasure that will make their captain Luffy (played by Inaki Godoy) the 'Pirate King'. From the high seas to jungle-esque scenes, the Straw Hats travel to some stunning locations whilst on their treasure hunt. But where was the series filmed? Here's what you need to know. Where is One Piece set? One Piece is based on the manga series of the same name by Eiichiro Oda and is set in an unnamed world. Whilst the fictional world the Straw Hat Pirates inhabit is similar to Earth, it is also very different in other ways. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Much of the series takes place on the Grand Line which is a giant sea route that navigates throughout the world, with the one piece of treasure said to be on the final island in the Grand Line. The rest of the world is divided into the four seas - the East Blue, The West Blue, The North Blue and The South Blue. Netflix Where was One Piece filmed? Making Eiichiro Oda's fictional world come to life, the Netflix series shot the majority of the One Piece adaptation in Cape Town, South Africa. Filming took place Cape Town Film Studios where there were already some existing ship sets that were used for filming and any additional boats needed including, the Going Merry, were created for the series. Inaki Godoy who plays the lead role of Luffy told TUDUM in June it was beautiful shooting One Piece in South Africa, if a little chilly. "Theres a lot of very talented people [who worked on One Piece], but they also did some pirate shows before, so they already had ships and a lot of people that knew how to work in pirate-themed projects," he said. "So thats why we were there. It was a very beautiful place. The weather is pretty nice. It gets a little bit windy, so with [Luffys] vest, it can get a bit chilly. The Canary Islands were also used as another location to help make Oda's world come to life, with many of the beaches and volcanoes believed to have been used as the locations of the world. And, according to The Cinemaholic, the cast and crew also headed to Mexico, specifically Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula to film some more scenes for One Piece. You Might Also Like A 53-year-old man killed Saturday evening in a road rage-related shooting with a gun stolen from a Florida sheriffs office has been identified by police as Michael Coffey, of Marydel. Joel Reynoso, 27, of Henderson, Maryland, has been charged with first-degree murder in relation to Coffey's death, according to Delaware State Police. Reynoso was driving a 1998 Nissan Frontier pickup westbound on Halltown Road when he nearly hit a 2020 Dodge Durango driven by Coffey, police said. Reynoso, according to police, had been driving in an aggressive manner. Coffey passed Reynoso, stopped in the roadway and forced Reynoso to stop the pickup. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The two men started fighting until witnesses separated them, police said. Coffey returned to Reynoso's pickup to retrieve his baseball hat that fell during the fight. That's when police said Reynoso fired a single round from a handgun, striking Coffey in the torso. State police responded to the area south of Hartly about 6:20 p.m. and found Coffey in the roadway, suffering from a gunshot wound. Coffey was taken to an area hospital where he died. Reynoso, who had remained in his vehicle, was taken into custody by troopers without incident. Troopers recovered a black handgun from the dashboard of Reynoso's Nissan and learned it was reported stolen out of Florida's Orange County Sheriff's Office in 2015. More: Court documents show what happened before, during, after violent robbery of elderly woman Reynoso was taken into custody and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on more than $1 million cash bail. Delaware State Police's Homicide Unit is still investigating the incident. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detective McDerby at 302-741-2821. Contact Molly McVety at mmcvety@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware killing used stolen gun from FL sheriff's office: police Large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT all suffer from the same problem: they make stuff up. The mistakes range from strange and innocuous -- like claiming that the Golden Gate Bridge was transported across Egypt in 2016 -- to highly problematic, even dangerous. A mayor in Australia recently threatened to sue OpenAI because ChatGPT mistakenly claimed he pleaded guilty in a major bribery scandal. Researchers have found that LLM hallucinations can be exploited to distribute malicious code packages to unsuspecting software developers. And LLMs frequently give bad mental health and medical advice, like that wine consumption can "prevent cancer." This tendency to invent "facts" is a phenomenon known as hallucination, and it happens because of the way today's LLMs -- and all generative AI models, for that matter -- are developed and trained. Training models Generative AI models have no real intelligence -- they're statistical systems that predict words, images, speech, music or other data. Fed an enormous number of examples, usually sourced from the public web, AI models learn how likely data is to occur based on patterns, including the context of any surrounding data. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement For example, given a typical email ending in the fragment "Looking forward", an LLM might complete it with " to hearing back" -- following the pattern of the countless emails it's been trained on. It doesn't mean the LLM is looking forward to anything. "The current framework of training LLMs involves concealing, or masking, previous words for context" and having the model predict which word should follow this context, Sebastian Berns, a Ph.D. researchers at Queen Mary University of London, told TechCrunch in an email interview. "This is conceptually similar to using predictive text in iOS and continually pressing one of the suggested next words." This probability-based approach works remarkably well at scale -- for the most part. But while the range of words and their probabilities are likely to result in text that makes sense, it's far from certain. LLMs can generate something that's grammatically correct but nonsensical, for instance -- like the claim about the Golden Gate. Or they can spout mistruths, propagating inaccuracies in their training data. Or they can conflate different sources of information, including fictional sources, even if those sources clearly contradict each other. It's not malicious on the LLMs' part. They don't have malice, and the concepts of true and false are meaningless to them. They've simply learned to associate certain words or phrases with certain concepts, even if those associations aren't accurate. "'Hallucinations' are connected to the inability of an LLM to estimate the uncertainty of its own prediction," Berns said. "An LLM is typically trained to always produce an output, even when the input is very different from the training data. A standard LLM does not have any way of knowing if it's capable of reliably answering a query or making a prediction." Solving hallucination The question is, can hallucination be solved? It depends on what you mean by "solved." Vu Ha, an applied researcher and engineer at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, asserts that LLMs "do and will always hallucinate." But he also believes there are concrete ways to reduce -- albeit not eliminate -- hallucinations, depending on how an LLM is trained and deployed. "Consider a question answering system," Ha said via email. "It's possible to engineer it to have high accuracy by curating a high-quality knowledge base of questions and answers, and connecting this knowledge base with an LLM to provide accurate answers via a retrieval-like process." Ha illustrated the difference between an LLM with a "high-quality" knowledge base to draw on versus one with less careful data curation. He ran the question "Who are the authors of the Toolformer paper?" (Toolformer is an AI model trained by Meta) through Microsoft's LLM-powered Bing Chat and Google's Bard. Bing Chat correctly listed all eight Meta co-authors, while Bard misattributed the paper to researchers at Google and Hugging Face. "Any deployed LLM-based system will hallucinate. The real question is if the benefits outweigh the negative outcome caused by hallucination," Ha said. In other words, if there's no obvious harm done by a model -- the model gets a date or name wrong once in a while, say -- but it's otherwise helpful, then it might be worth the trade-off. "It's a question of maximizing expected utility of the AI," he added. Berns pointed out another technique that had been used with some success to reduce hallucinations in LLMs: reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF). Introduced by OpenAI in 2017, RLHF involves training an LLM, then gathering additional information to train a "reward" model and fine-tuning the LLM with the reward model via reinforcement learning. In RLHF, a set of prompts from a predefined dataset are passed through an LLM to generate new text. Then, human annotators are used to rank the outputs from the LLM in terms of their overall "helpfulness" -- data that's used to train the reward model. The reward model, which at this point can take in any text and assign it a score of how well humans perceive it, is then used to fine-tune the LLM's generated responses. OpenAI leveraged RLHF to train several of its models, including GPT-4. But even RLHF isn't perfect, Berns warned. "I believe the space of possibilities is too large to fully align LLMs with RLHF," Berns said. "Something often done in the RLHF setting is training a model to produce an 'I don't know' answer [to a tricky question], primarily relying on human domain knowledge and hoping the model generalizes it to its own domain knowledge. Often it does, but it can be a bit finicky." Alternative philosophies Assuming hallucination isn't solvable, at least not with today's LLMs, is that a bad thing? Berns doesn't think so, actually. Hallucinating models could fuel creativity by acting as a "co-creative partner," he posits -- giving outputs that might not be wholly factual but that contain some useful threads to tug on nonetheless. Creative uses of hallucination can produce outcomes or combinations of ideas that might not occur to most people. "'Hallucinations' are a problem if generated statements are factually incorrect or violate any general human, social or specific cultural values -- in scenarios where a person relies on the LLM to be an expert," he said. "But in creative or artistic tasks, the ability to come up with unexpected outputs can be valuable. A human recipient might be surprised by a response to a query and therefore be pushed into a certain direction of thoughts which might lead to the novel connection of ideas." Ha argued that the LLMs of today are being held to an unreasonable standard -- humans "hallucinate" too, after all, when we misremember or otherwise misrepresent the truth. But with LLMs, he believes we experience a cognitive dissonance because the models produce outputs that look good on the surface but contain errors upon further inspection. "Simply put, LLMs, just like any AI techniques, are imperfect and thus make mistakes," he said. "Traditionally, we're OK with AI systems making mistakes since we expect and accept imperfections. But it's more nuanced when LLMs make mistakes." Indeed, the answer may well not lie in how generative AI models work at the technical level. Insofar as there's a "solution" to hallucination today, treating models' predictions with a skeptical eye seems to be the best approach. President Biden is expected to nominate Courtney ODonnell, a longtime aide and former aide to Jill Biden , to represent the U.S. in UNESCO. A White House official confirmed to The Associated Press that ODonnell will be the choice to represent the U.S. in the United Nations-based agency. ODonnell, who served as a communications director for first lady Jill Biden, serves as a senior adviser in Vice President Kamala Harriss office and acting chief of staff for second gentleman Doug Emhoff. ODonnell, who spent seven years at U.S.-based vacation rental company Airbnb, also lent her expertise in several important issues to the first and second couple, according to the AP. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Among them was Jill Bidens push to raise awareness of and support for U.S. military families and promote community colleges and Emhoffs top issue of countering prejudice toward Jewish people. In a statement, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain expressed his excitement about ODonnells pending promotion, saying she is trusted by her colleagues. This is a fantastic pick and she will do a fantastic job at UNESCO, Klain said. ODonnells nomination comes months after the U.S. officially announced its intentions to rejoin UNESCO. Its been nearly six years since the Trump administration announced it would leave UNESCO due to what it called anti-Israel bias. Last year, Israel, which also left the agency, informed the State Department it wouldnt be opposed to a U.S. return to the agency. The Biden administration wanted to rejoin the agency due to concerns about Chinas influence in the agency. The Senate will vote to confirm ODonnells nomination to the position. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment and more information. The Associated Press contributed. Updated at 9:43 pm. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Joe Biden said he is disappointed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will be skipping the G20 summit in India. The comments came a day before the Chinese foreign ministry officially confirmed on Monday that Chinas premier Li Qiang will lead the Chinese delegation for the two-day summit, suggesting Mr Xis absence at the G20 summit. The US president, however, said he is going to get to see him anyway. I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him, Mr Biden told reporters on Sunday in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, when asked about Mr Xis absence. Mr Biden is scheduled to reach India on Thursday to attend the G20 summit alongside the leaders of two dozen countries of the grouping. This will be followed by a trip to Vietnam as his administration seeks to strengthen US relations in Asia. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I want a little more... coordination. I think they both (India and Vietnam) want much closer relations with the United States and that can be very helpful, Mr Biden said. He will also hold a bilateral meeting with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi , the White House announced. While in New Delhi, the President will also commend Prime Minister Modis leadership of the G20 and reaffirm the US commitment to the G20 as the premier forum of economic cooperation, including by hosting it in 2026, read the statement. The White House said Mr Biden will discuss the economic and social impacts of Putins war in Ukraine among other global issues amid Indian officials reluctance to discuss the Ukraine conflict, an issue threatening to overshadow the summit. India, which has taken a neutral stance in Russias war on Ukraine war by calling for diplomacy and dialogue, has maintained close relations with the US and its allies. In a show of their growing partnership, Mr Biden rolled out the red carpet for Mr Modi at the White House in June, with secretary of state Anthony Blinken lauding India-US relations as boundless. Washington is courting Delhi to counter China, despite India taking advantage of large amounts of cheap energy imports and weapons supplies from Moscow. On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Nao Ming said at a regular press briefing in Beijing that China hoped India is able to consolidate a consensus at the summit. Li Qiang will lead the representatives to attend G20 summit. Its an important global international forum. China has always attached importance on it and actively participated, she said. She appeared to sidestep the question on Mr Xis attendance without confirming if the Chinese president will attend the summit remotely. The chances of Chinas most senior leaders being physically present simultaneously at a summit outside their home country seem to be remote. Mr Biden held talks with Mr Xi at the G20 summit last year in Bali under Indonesias presidency. The two will still have a chance to meet in November during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in San Francisco. Ties between the US and China remain frosty despite a number of diplomatic visits from Washington to China amid spiralling diplomatic and trade issues. Their relationship remains tense despite a flurry of diplomatic visits from Washington this year to revive dialogue. The progress in ties following Mr Xi and Mr Bidens bilateral talks in Bali in November last year was marred by the US presidents order to shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon in the skies above the US. This incident resulted in a significant delay in efforts to initiate dialogue by several months. The relations have deteriorated over issues that include Russias Ukraine invasion, alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the Taiwan issue and Beijings growing presence in the South China Sea. The Erie Bomb Squad has searched school buildings for evidence to back up a called-in threat. They've fished grenades out of homes and a draining Crawford County lake, investigated suspected pipe bombs and suspicious packages that contained nothing more than Christmas decorations and soiled underwear, and scraped up bits of white powder. They've also blown up vehicles containing animal carcasses for forensics students to study, and assembled beeping Easter eggs for visually-impaired children to hunt down. The eight-member team, made up of Erie Bureau of Police officers with one representative each from the Erie County Sheriff's Office and the Millcreek Township Police Department, marked a half-century on the job in August. It's a notable achievement for a team that not only serves the city and surrounding county but covers a large portion of northwestern Pennsylvania, Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "It's a tremendous asset," Spizarny said. "It means that some calls can be handled in a matter of minutes rather than waiting hours or days for someone to come in from somewhere else. People don't realize the number of explosive devices located and recovered by them." A member of the Erie Bomb Squad gives the all-clear signal after an investigation into a suspicious package left outside of a Citizens Bank branch in downtown Erie in September 2003 was found to contain Christmas decorations. Answering the call Formed in 1973, the Erie Bomb Squad covers Erie and 12 other counties. Its responsibilities include rendering safe any explosive device, investigating suspicious substances, disposing of recovered commercial explosives or military ordnance, investigating suspicious explosions or post-blast scenes, and providing VIP protection, particularly during presidential campaign visits. The team has additionally been called in for major events in the region, including the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh and Tall Ships Erie. The squad also assists the Erie police SWAT Team and works closely with local fire and hazardous materials response teams as well as federal agencies including the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspectors and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The team responds to about 20 explosive device calls a year, as well as to requests for protective sweeps and to stand by at incidents, said Lt. David Hudson, the team's commander. Hudson has served on the team for more than 20 years and is the fourth commander of the team since its inception. What makes the Bomb Squad unique is the level of training its members must undergo, said Tom Stankiewicz, a retired Erie police officer who served as squad commander for 11 years. According to Hudson, team members, who must also be hazmat technicians, are required to attend a six-week FBI hazardous devices school with 40 hours of recertification every three years and have 24 hours of monthly training within the department and 40 additional hours of training outside of the department. "That training sort of forces you to interact with bomb technicians around the country and across the world, which is unlike most other division in the police department," Stankiewicz said. "I formed friendships during that time that continue today, 16 years after I was out of there." Retired Erie Bomb Squad commander Tom Stankiewicz, then a sergeant with the city police department, reviews a vehicle that squad members blew up on property near Wattsburg in July 2004 as part of a training program for forensic science students at Mercyhurst University. Stankiewicz said the squad was equipped with new, state-of-the art equipment when he joined in the mid-1990s, although the vehicles they were donated 1970s trucks from the military and the robot they used was also donated form the military. A new camera-mounted robot was added to the team in 2004, and that robot was recently replaced by a newer unit. The team is also equipped with an x-ray unit that Hudson said replaced polaroid film the team was using when he joined in 2000, as well as advanced bomb suits that are lighter, more comfortable and more functional than their old suits. Erie Bomb Squad members, including Detective Sgt. Sal Velez, left, and Lt. David Hudson, assemble beeping Easter eggs in February 2017 for use in hunts by visually impaired children. Special responses The Erie Bomb Squad has been involved in a few high-profile incidents over the years. They include the notorious "Pizza Bomber" case, when delivery driver Brian Wells was killed by an explosive device locked to his body; and an incident in Clarion County in 2003 in which an incendiary device was sent through the mail, an investigation which resulted in the suspect being sentenced to a federal prison term. But the majority of the incidents the squad responds to are suspicious packages that turn out to be nothing, Hudson said. Squad members over the years responded to a number of suspicious powder incidents, particularly in the early 2000s; walked through many school buildings and other facilities while investigating reported bomb threats; and recovered and examined military ordnance found by others. In one incident from 2012, squad members were sent to Crawford County after Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission members removing dead fish from Tamarack Lake, which was being lowered, found a hand grenade near the lake's southern dam. "Back then, there were a lot of World War II veterans who were getting up in age or dying, and their families were cleaning out houses and finding military ordnance they didn't know was live or not," Stankiewicz said of his early years on the squad. Erie Bomb Squad member David Hudson, now the squad's commander, gets hosed off by an Erie firefighter after investigating a letter containing suspicious powder that was opened in Erie City Hall on March 3, 2004. Among the squad's more recent investigations involved more than a dozen suspected pipe bombs that were discovered after a person's death; the discovery of a large number of improvised hand grenades; and an explosion in the foyer of an Erie residence that was determined to have been caused by a firework, according to Hudson. Beyond responding to and investigating incidents, squad members have been involved in training programs that have included forensic science classes with Mercyhurst University students in which vehicles containing animal carcasses were blown up to simulate a disaster. "The training was unique, as most forensic people don't get to experience that," Stankiewicz said, noting that some of the classes had attendees who came from all over the world. "And for the bomb techs, it was good training for guys who normally don't go to training where there are parts all over the place." Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie Bomb Squad marks 50 years of service to northwestern Pennsylvania PROVIDENCE All the members of the panel that advises state coastal regulators on the impacts of offshore wind on fisheries have resigned in protest of what they charge is a process that unfairly favors developers. A resignation letter signed by the nine members of the Fishermens Advisory Board was sent to the Coastal Resources Management Council Thursday night. It has become abundantly clear that the Rhode Island CRMC has made deference to offshore wind developers its top priority regardless of the requirements of the Ocean SAMP, the cost to the environment, or the impacts to Rhode Islands fishing industry, they wrote, referring to the Ocean Special Area Management Plan, the state document that guides offshore wind permitting. The GPO Amethyst transports equipment from Narragansett Bay, near Newport, to the Vineyard Wind Farm site, south of Martha's Vineyard. 'Wholesale ocean destruction' They say the council has ignored the boards concerns and downplayed the potential negative impacts on fish stocks and marine habitats of the construction of large wind farms in the Atlantic ocean waters off the Rhode Island coast. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We will not allow our names to be connected in any way to Council approvals now amounting to wholesale ocean destruction, the board members wrote. Rhode Island is supposed to be the Ocean State, not the Windmill State. The letter was signed by Lanny Dellinger, Chris Brown, Michael Marchetti, Greg Mataronas, Chris Lee and Brian Thiebault, all commercial fishermen; Rich Hittinger, a recreational fisherman; charter boat captain Rick Bellavance; and Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for seafood distributor SeaFreeze. More: Like big boats? There will be plenty to see thanks to wind farms. Here's how to track them The coastal council did not immediately comment on the resignations. rsted and Eversource, the companies behind several of the projects that have been the subject of the board's concerns, declined comment. What led to the resignations The resignations come after a series of decisions by the coastal Council over the past four-and-a-half years that have helped clear the way for the development of four utility-scale wind farms in an area of ocean between Block Island and Marthas Vineyard. Two of the projects 84-turbine Vineyard Wind and the 12-turbine South Fork Wind Farm are being built offshore this summer and are expected to begin at least partial operations before the end of the year. A third, 65-turbine Revolution Wind, started onshore construction late last month. The fourth, 84-turbine Sunrise Wind, received authorization from the coastal Council just last week. They're coming after construction of the first offshore wind farm in the nation, a five-turbine test project in state waters near Block Island that went into operation in 2016 and was planned with deep involvement from the fishing community. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Sen. Jack Reed (left) get a closer look under one of the turbines at the Block Island Wind Farm. While all the new projects are located in federal waters and require final approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior, the coastal Council was awarded authority more than a decade ago to review all offshore energy proposals in the region that would impact Rhode Islands interests. Those interests are primarily related to fishing. Under the permitting process, the Council decides whether projects are consistent with state coastal policies. In each case that has come before the coastal Council so far, its members, who are nearly all appointed by the governors office with approval from the Senate, have voted in favor of certification. The votes have come despite the objections of members of the fishermens board, who argue that offshore wind development will not only shut them out of important fishing grounds during construction but would also interfere with navigation and pose safety risks after wind farms go into operation. Theyve accused both Governor Dan McKee and his predecessor, Gina Raimondo, of ignoring their concerns, with at least one member going so far as accusing the former of making an appointment to the coastal Council to ensure a favorable decision for one of the offshore wind projects. Trouble started with Vineyard Wind because the project location occupies waters valued for squid, Rhode Islands biggest fishery. Tensions grew with the next three projects because they are located around a submerged area known as Cox Ledge, a rocky habitat known to be a critical spawning habitat for Atlantic cod and other valuable species. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, the developers of Vineyard Wind, agreed to set up a fund to compensate fishermen for any losses, and so too have rsted and Eversource in relation to their projects. But the developers and the fishermens board have been far apart on how much those funds should be worth. In the latest application for Sunrise Wind, the board asked for a $177 million compensation fund while the developers offered $17.6 million. The coastal Council agreed to the latter figure. Hittinger, a retired environmental consultant who is first vice president of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association, also wrote a separate resignation letter. He said that in his previous work he reviewed development proposals under the National Environmental Policy Act and that the review process for offshore wind is not nearly as comprehensive. He argued that oversight has been sacrificed to clear the way for the Biden administrations push to develop 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by the end of the decade. The permitting process, he wrote, has become a one-sided push by developers with no requirement for realistic discussion of or consideration of potential impacts of these major changes in our shared marine environment, effectively a rubber stamp of the political desires of Washington, D.C. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Panel representing fishermen alleges state favors offshore wind developers Never-before-seen drawings from Dennis Rader, the self-proclaimed BTK serial killer, may hold the key to solving a missing persons case and several homicides. The Osage County Sheriffs Office released the chilling images that depict three different women who are bound and gagged in what appear to be barns, which investigators believe could be in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. The images are reproduced below. The convicted killer is already behind bars for 10 murders that took place from the 1970s to the 1990s in Wichita, Kansas, but now law enforcement, and his daughter, claim there are many more victims. Hundreds of Raders drawings and writings were recovered after his arrest in 2005, but Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden launched a new investigation in January and says the images may confirm more crimes were committed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Last month, Rader was named the prime suspect in the 1976 disappearance of 16-year-old Cynthia Dawn Kinney in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and in the 1990 murder of 22-year-old Shawna Beth Garber in McDonald County, Missouri. The 78-year-old is serving 10 consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty to 10 murders in 2005. He reportedly called himself BTK for the abbreviation blind, torture, kill. Investigators believe Rader may have buried Kinney in a barn near the Kansas-Oklahoma border. Her body has never been found. Sheriff Virden told CNN about an anonymous call they received months after Kinney disappeared from a man claiming her body could be found in an old barn along the Oklahoma-Kansas border. And just recently, law enforcement intercepted communications from Rader in prison that revealed there may be some hidden items in old barns, according to the sheriff. Dennis Rader in court in El Dorado, Kansas in 2005 (AP2005) Were hoping that releasing these, someone might recognize one of these barns or the unique features in them, or the closeness of the silo to the barn or possibly might have even found items that they didnt know why were there that could be very important in this case, Sheriff Virden told CNN. Even if the barns not there anymore. We would still like that information. One drawing shows a young female who is gagged and is sitting with her arms and legs bound, but its the black piping running through the barn walls that the sheriff points out. The reason you would have that is if you were moving livestock through there, that those bars would keep the livestock from hitting probably the tin or the wood on the outside of the barn so that if an animal hit it, you know, they wouldnt go through and dent up the tin or knock the wood off the outside, he told CNN. (Osage County Sheriffs Office) Osage County, Oklahoma investigators believe this sketch could be linked to a missing woman last seen in southeast Kansas in 1991. Her name has not been made public in connection with Rader at this time. We know from things Dennis said on this exact photograph that it was a drawing he created from an actual barn, Sheriff Virden told CNN. A second drawing shows a female in a red top. She is also bound and gagged. The sheriff points out the barn with wood slats. That would be a barn that had wood slats. You know, possibly a rounded post but in that area of the barn what would have possibly a wooden floor, you know and a lot of times in tack rooms inside of barns or in feed rooms or storage, he said. (Osage County Sheriffs Office) They wouldnt leave a dirt floor because they didnt have livestock in that area. The third sketch shows a female lying down in what appears to be a barn loft. She is tied to a staircase post that investigators are looking closely at. The support post appears to have a bracket and then a bolt that bolts through that to hold everything together, Virden said. Raders daughter Kerri Rawson has been working closely with investigators on her fathers case and has posted updates on her social media accounts. (Osage County Sheriffs Office) She told CNN that her father loved barns and silos. My father absolutely loves barns and silos. Every time we drove around going camping, fishing, to college, hed absolutely say this one like he said, I want to retire here. And he would tease my mom about it, Ms Rawson told CNNs Jean Casarez. And then after he was arrested, we found out later that he had massive fantasies about those specific locations. So now were driving around trying to find those by my memory and noting them because we need to go see, is there anybody missing or buried there. She confronted her father for the first time in 18 years, visiting him in prison twice in recent months. (Osage County Sheriff's Office) Rader is incarcerated at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas. But she could not get a confession out of him. Hes literally sitting six feet across from me, she said. He hasnt seen me in 18 years and hes lying to me. She also talked about her fathers deteriorating condition behind bars. Hes rotting, she said. He has scoliosis very severe. Hes in a wheelchair, he has no teeth left, so he doesnt even look like he has a jaw, Rawson said. He went from this like vivacious man that was hiking with me right before he was arrested, to like an elderly man, you know, his legs wrapped with like bandages. Last month law enforcement dug up his former family residence, reportedly finding a pantyhose ligature. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine will submit written reports on its activities to the General Assembly in October 2023 and to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2024. According to the results of the visit to Ukraine, Chair of the commission Erik Mse, the commission has already visited Ukraine more than ten times. "This is the first time the three Commissioners are in the country during its second mandate from March 2023, whereas our investigators have already been here several times. First, we visited Uman in the Cherkasy region and then travelled to Kyiv. We have met several interlocutors, including the Minister of Culture and Information Policy, the Ministry of Defence, the Ombudsman for Human Rights, the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the Security Service of Ukraine," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday. Mse said the commission's first mandate, we provided two written reports: to the General Assembly in October 2022 and to the Human Rights Council in March this year. In addition, Mse said an extensive document based on the March report and containing a detailed report of the Commission's observations was published last week. "The Conference Room Paper presents a select number of cases and describes patterns of a wide range of violations by the Russian armed forces. The violations include wilful killings, unlawful confinement, torture, rape and other sexual violence, unlawful transfers and deportations of protected persons and children. Many of these violations qualify as war crimes, and some of them may, if confirmed by further evidence, amount to crimes against humanity, such as the use of torture and attacks on the civilian infrastructure," the commission's head said. According to him, the paper also contains extensive discussions of criminal and non-judicial accountability measures, as well as the need for coordination. "We take this opportunity to stress the importance for the Russian authorities to ensure that all perpetrators are held accountable. We also remind the Ukrainian authorities to complete investigations of the few cases where the Commission has found violations by the Ukrainian armed forces," Mse said. For her part, Member of the Commission Vrinda Grover said the Ukrainian legal system faces immense challenges "to provide accountability and justice to the victims of a range of conflict related crimes and violations." According to her, the meetings of the commission with NGOs (non-profit organizations) provided valuable insights into the state's efforts to respond to the formidable challenges in investigating and prosecuting crimes, including sexual violence, as well as ensuring comprehensive redress for victims. Commission's Member Pablo de Greiff, in turn, said the commission "has therefore followed closely discussions about the establishment of reparations programs, in the sphere of investigation, prosecution and adjudication." According to him, the creation of comprehensive reparations programs is a long-term process, and the program should be developed in close consultation with the victims. De Greiff said the commission had previously insisted on the urgency of providing mental and psychosocial support to the victims, and now the commission sees a greater understanding of the importance of this support, "although the actual delivery continues to be a challenge." "The Commission will submit written reports of its activities to the General Assembly in October 2023, and to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2024," he said. As reported, members of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine made their third visit to Ukraine from August 28 to September 4, 2023. Burning Man disaster timeline: How did the desert festival go so terribly wrong? An estimated 70,000 Burners remained trapped at Burning Man on Monday, after tropical downpours turned the desert landscape into a muddy swamp. A deluge of rain in the Nevada desert has tested the annual bacchanals ethos of radical self-reliance like no other in its 35-year history. While services such as internet and wi-fi were gradually being restored, sodden roads remained too treacherous to pass for the beginning of the traditional Exodus from the festival on Sunday. Burners had been warned to conserve food and water and hunker down after the remnants of Tropical Storm Hilary brought up to three months of rain in a few hours over the weekend. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Festival organisers said they expected to be opening the gates at 9am local time (12pm ET). Despite the challenging conditions, many festival goers were making the most of their prolonged stay. Heres a timeline of key events in the 2023 Burning Man. 21 August - Tropical Storm Hilary strikes The omens for a sodden festival began days before gates officially opened, when Tropical Storm Hilary slammed into California causing widespread flooding and damage. The unseasonal storm left the festival site in the Black Rock Desert covered in water, with the arid landscape unable to absorb the heavy rainwater. Organisers warned the thousands of attendees who turn up early to construct the desert encampment for build week that gates would remain closed until 23 August. Mud covers the ground at the site of the Burning Man festival (PAUL REDER via REUTERS) If you were planning to travel to BRC with a Work Access Pass before then, delay your plans, it said in a social media post. DO NOT drive to Gerlach, you will be turned around there are no rooms available. 23 August - Delayed set up begins Gates officially open to festival workers, allowing artists access to the five mile squared Black Rock City site to build this years centerpiece, the Temple of the Heart structure. Remember to drive safely, be aware of speed limits, and respect our neighbors. Engage those Communal Effort and Civic Responsibility muscles, the Burning Man Traffic social media account advised. Festivalgoers were warned to stock up on wet-weather gear and additional water and food. Some reported that the flooding seemed to have largely dissipated. 27 August - Gates open, with major logjam Gates officially open, and the majority of the tens of thousands of revellers begin to arrive. The average wait time at the gate is around two hours, according to festival organisers. Climate activists attempted to blockade the festival by tying themselves to a structure in the middle of road, causing a major logjam. A Pyramid Lake Paiute tribal ranger rammed his patrol vehicle through the protesters structure, and pulled his weapon on them. Protesters can be heard in clips posted to social media telling the ranger that they were unarmed and nonviolent. A double rainbow over the flooded Burning Man site (UGC/AFP via Getty Images) The tribes chairman, James J. Phoenix, later released a statement and said the ranger was using his patrol vehicle to clear debris out of the roadway after climate activists refused to leave. The rangers actions were under review, Mr Phoenix said. Seven Circles, the environmental group that had organised the demonstration, said the rangers actions excessive in a statement released to the Associated Press. The excessive response is a snapshot of the institutional violence and police brutality that is being shown to anyone who is actively working to bring about systemic change within the United States, including the climate movement, the statement said. The incident occurred on a remote highway on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe reservation in northwestern Nevada. 1 September - Months of rain fail in a single day The festival site is hit with 0.8 inches of rain in a space of 24 hours over the evening of 1 September and into the next day, the inclement weather a result of the long tail of Tropical Storm Hilary. This amounts to 2-3 months worth of rain. The dry desert ground turns into a quagmire, with up to a foot of thick mud making driving almost impossible and even walking treacherous for the festivals final weekend. Temperatures are much cooler than normal, dropping into the low 50s. All traffic to and from the festival is closed, and organisers place a ban on bicycles and buggies inside the camp and tell Burners to conserve food and water. Do not drive your vehicle. Do not ride your bike, do not push your bike around. Remain where you are, organisers warn. Secure structures and belongings in your camp. Dont operate generators or other electrically powered instruments that are standing in water. Cover or secure anything electrical. Check on your campmates and neighbors to make sure theyre OK, and help them as needed. Take advantage of a moment of calm to connect with campmates and hunker down. The Burning Man airport a few miles from the campsite is closed, grounding dozens of private aircraft. About 73,000 attendees are stuck inside the site, according to authorities. According to USA Today, toilet cleaning services are suspended and cell phone coverage is virtually non existent. The weather forces the cancellation of several large-scale effigy burnings. 2 September - Revellers look to escape Some hardy festival goers opt to take matters into their own hands and walk for miles through the mud to nearby pickup points. Among them are comedian Chris Rock and DJ Diplo, who posted a video to his Instagram account after they were given a lift by a passing truck. Just walked five miles in the mud out of Burning Man with Chris Rock and a fan picked us up, the music producer said in a social media post. Festival organisers confirm the death of a 40-year-old man at the festival. His identity has not yet been released. Burning Man said in a statement that the death was unrelated to the weather. The death is under investigation by the Pershing County Sheriffs Office. An enormous double rainbow is sighted over Black Rock City. The Bureau of Land Management tells anyone headed to the festival to turn around and head home. Rain over the last 24 hours has created a situation that required a full stop of vehicle movement on the playa, the BLM said in a statement announcing the closure of access roads. More rain is expected over the next few days and conditions are not expected to improve enough to allow vehicles to enter the playa. Despite the difficult conditions, many Burners said they were continuing to party and share food, water and shelter. Radical self-reliance is one of the principles of Burning Man, longtime attendee Ed Fletcher told the Associated Press. The desert will try to kill you in some way, shape or form. The burning of the large Man effigy that normally occurs on Saturday night was postponed. 3 September - Thousands left trapped In a 9am update, Burning Man organisers say roads remain closed due to the mud and an uncertain weather front is approaching Black Rock City. Some vehicles with 4WD and all-terrain tires are able to navigate the mud and are successfully leaving. But we are seeing most other types of vehicles that try to depart getting stuck in the wet mud which hampers everyones Exodus. Those trapped at the festival try to make the most of the enforced delays, with bars and communal areas reportedly packed. In a post that evening, the festival says is trying to clean portable toilets and restore cell phone reception via mobile trailers. It also advises that rumours of a transmissible disease that were spreading on social media are unfounded. False claims of an ebola outbreak at the encampment had been circulating. Organisers said the Man wooden effigy burn was now scheduled for the evening of Monday 4 September, and the Chapel of Babel would burn at midnight. A view shows banners on the Tel Aviv University campus as Sam Altman, CEO of Microsoft-backed OpenAI and ChatGPT creator is due to speak in Tel Aviv, Israel June 5, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (Amir Cohen / reuters) Artificial intelligence has moved rapidly from computer science textbooks to the mainstream, generating delights such as the reproduction of celebrity voices and chatbots ready to entertain meandering conversations. But the technology, which refers to machines trained to perform intelligent tasks, also threatens profound disruption: of social norms, entire industries and tech companies' fortunes. It has great potential to change everything from diagnosing patients to predicting weather patterns - but it could also put millions of people out of work or even surpass human intelligence, some experts say. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. Last week, the Pew Research Center released a survey in which a majority of Americans - 52 percent - said they feel more concerned than excited about the increased use of artificial intelligence, including worries about personal privacy and human control over the new technologies. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The proliferation this year of generative AI models such as ChatGPT, Bard and Bing, all of which are available to the public, brought artificial intelligence to the forefront. Now, governments from China to Brazil to Israel are also trying to figure out how to harness AI's transformative power, while reining in its worst excesses and drafting rules for its use in everyday life. Some countries, including Israel and Japan, have responded to its lightning-fast growth by clarifying existing data, privacy and copyright protections - in both cases clearing the way for copyrighted content to be used to train AI. Others, such as the United Arab Emirates, have issued vague and sweeping proclamations around AI strategy, or launched working groups on AI best practices, and published draft legislation for public review and deliberation. Others still have taken a wait-and-see approach, even as industry leaders, including OpenAI, the creator of viral chatbot ChatGPT, have urged international cooperation around regulation and inspection. In a statement in May, the company's CEO and its two co-founders warned against the "possibility of existential risk" associated with superintelligence, a hypothetical entity whose intellect would exceed human cognitive performance. "Stopping it would require something like a global surveillance regime, and even that isn't guaranteed to work," the statement said. Still, there are few concrete laws around the world that specifically target AI regulation. Here are some of the ways in which lawmakers in various countries are attempting to address the questions surrounding its use. - - - Brazil Brazil has a draft AI law that is the culmination of three years of proposed (and stalled) bills on the subject. The document - which was released late last year as part of a 900-page Senate committee report on AI - meticulously outlines the rights of users interacting with AI systems and provides guidelines for categorizing different types of AI based on the risk they pose to society. The law's focus on users' rights puts the onus on AI providers to provide information about their AI products to users. Users have a right to know they're interacting with an AI - but also a right to an explanation about how an AI made a certain decision or recommendation. Users can also contest AI decisions or demand human intervention, particularly if the AI decision is likely to have a significant impact on the user, such as systems that have to do with self-driving cars, hiring, credit evaluation or biometric identification. AI developers are also required to conduct risk assessments before bringing an AI product to market. The highest risk classification refers to any AI systems that deploy "subliminal" techniques or exploit users in ways that are harmful to their health or safety; these are prohibited outright. The draft AI law also outlines possible "high-risk" AI implementations, including AI used in health care, biometric identification and credit scoring, among other applications. Risk assessments for "high-risk" AI products are to be publicized in a government database. All AI developers are liable for damage caused by their AI systems, though developers of high-risk products are held to an even higher standard of liability. - - - China China has published a draft regulation for generative AI and is seeking public input on the new rules. Unlike most other countries, though, China's draft notes that generative AI must reflect "Socialist Core Values." In its current iteration, the draft regulations say developers "bear responsibility" for the output created by their AI, according to a translation of the document by Stanford University's DigiChina Project. There are also restrictions on sourcing training data; developers are legally liable if their training data infringes on someone else's intellectual property. The regulation also stipulates that AI services must be designed to generate only "true and accurate" content. These proposed rules build on existing legislation relating to deepfakes, recommendation algorithms and data security, giving China a leg up over other countries drafting new laws from scratch. The country's internet regulator also announced restrictions on facial recognition technology in August. China has set dramatic goals for its tech and AI industries: In the "Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan," an ambitious 2017 document published by the Chinese government, the authors write that by 2030, "China's AI theories, technologies, and applications should achieve world-leading levels." - - - European Union In June, the European Parliament voted to approve what it has called "the AI Act." Similar to Brazil's draft legislation, the AI Act categorizes AI in three ways: as unacceptable, high and limited risk. AI systems deemed unacceptable are those which are considered a "threat" to society. (The European Parliament offers "voice-activated toys that encourage dangerous behaviour in children" as one example.) These kinds of systems are banned under the AI Act. High-risk AI needs to be approved by European officials before going to market, and also throughout the product's life cycle. These include AI products that relate to law enforcement, border management and employment screening, among others. AI systems deemed to be a limited risk must be appropriately labeled to users to make informed decisions about their interactions with the AI. Otherwise, these products mostly avoid regulatory scrutiny. The Act still needs to be approved by the European Council, though parliamentary lawmakers hope that process concludes later this year. - - - Israel In 2022, Israel's Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology published a draft policy on AI regulation. The document's authors describe it as a "moral and business-oriented compass for any company, organization or government body involved in the field of artificial intelligence," and emphasize its focus on "responsible innovation." Israel's draft policy says the development and use of AI should respect "the rule of law, fundamental rights and public interests and, in particular, [maintain] human dignity and privacy." Elsewhere, vaguely, it states that "reasonable measures must be taken in accordance with accepted professional concepts" to ensure AI products are safe to use. More broadly, the draft policy encourages self-regulation and a "soft" approach to government intervention in AI development. Instead of proposing uniform, industry-wide legislation, the document encourages sector-specific regulators to consider highly-tailored interventions when appropriate, and for the government to attempt compatibility with global AI best practices. - - - Italy In March, Italy briefly banned ChatGPT, citing concerns about how - and how much - user data was being collected by the chatbot. Since then, Italy has allocated approximately $33 million to support workers at risk of being left behind by digital transformation - including but not limited to AI. About one-third of that sum will be used to train workers whose jobs may become obsolete due to automation. The remaining funds will be directed toward teaching unemployed or economically inactive people digital skills, in hopes of spurring their entry into the job market. - - - Japan Japan, like Israel, has adopted a "soft law" approach to AI regulation: the country has no prescriptive regulations governing specific ways AI can and can't be used. Instead, Japan has opted to wait and see how AI develops, citing a desire to avoid stifling innovation. For now, AI developers in Japan have had to rely on adjacent laws - such as those relating to data protection - to serve as guidelines. For example, in 2018, Japanese lawmakers revised the country's Copyright Act, allowing for copyrighted content to be used for data analysis. Since then, lawmakers have clarified that the revision also applies to AI training data, clearing a path for AI companies to train their algorithms on other companies' intellectual property. (Israel has taken the same approach.) - - - UAE Regulation isn't at the forefront of every country's approach to AI. In the United Arab Emirates' National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, for example, the country's regulatory ambitions are granted just a few paragraphs. In sum, an Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Council will "review national approaches to issues such as data management, ethics and cybersecurity," and observe and integrate global best practices on AI. The rest of the 46-page document is devoted to encouraging AI development in the UAE by attracting AI talent and integrating the technology into key sectors such as energy, tourism and health care. This strategy, the document's executive summary boasts, aligns with the UAE's efforts to become "the best country in the world by 2071." Related Content Climate-linked ills threaten humanity Ron Rivera is on the hottest of hot seats among NFL coaches Cedar Key survives Idalia, but climate change is testing its resiliency Christy Hall makes a modest but rewarding directorial debut with Daddio, a two-hander starring Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson , the latter of whom also deserves credit for lending support to the offbeat project as producer. The movie opens with a young woman (Johnson) getting into a taxi at JFK airport. Her cab driver (Penn) seems pleased that she is not in thrall to her cell phone but actually is open to conversation. The remainder of the movie takes place in the cab as both characters let their guard down and reveal secrets that they might not disclose to many others in their lives. The concept of strangers sharing secrets is not unheard-of in drama, and Hall has said she first conceived Daddio as a play. But it works effectively on film, thanks to outstanding performances by the two actors and deft staging by the director. More from The Hollywood Reporter ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Before too long, Johnsons character does take out her cell phone, where she is receiving raunchy messages from a man who begs her for some intimate photos. Penn quickly guesses that her phone pal is a married man, and he soon realizes that the man is considerably older than Johnson also hinted at by the films title. Johnson is returning from a visit with her older half-sister in Oklahoma, and the backstory of a distant father surfaces, as do more painful revelations of an absent mother and a history of abuse by her sister. As Penn listens with the nonjudgmental wisdom of a man who has probably heard it all during many other long cab journeys, he reveals a bit about his own loneliness and frustrations. But there is no question that Johnsons troubled history will form the core of the story. She seems to have overcome past traumas to form a fairly successful career as a computer programmer, but the old wounds are deep, and her present entanglement with Daddy (or Daddio) has done very little to ease her pain. Viewers may think that Penn is almost playing the role of therapist, asking just the right questions to draw out her history and encouraging her to ponder some of the decisions she has made in her life. Johnson, still probably best known for her role in the Fifty Shades trilogy, has done fine work in other movies like The Lost Daughter and Cha Cha Real Smooth. But her performance here is still something of a revelation. She commands the screen in closeup, and she radiates strength as well as a deep sense of hurt. Penn has shown versatility in the past. He has played plenty of tough guys, but he exuded humor and warmth in his Oscar-winning role in Milk. Here he channels some of that same charm and makes a perfect foil to Johnson. During the course of their conversation, Penn speaks of two failed marriages and recalls privileged moments in his first marriage. Johnson asks if he misses his wife, and he answers, Sometimes. The expression on Penns face demonstrates the eloquence that a gifted actor can summon without saying more than a single word. Something should be added about the physical challenges of filming almost an entire movie in a taxicab. According to Hall, most of the movie was actually shot in a studio with a taxi built on the stage. The fact that it seems so authentic is a tribute not only to the director but to veteran cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (Nebraska, The Trial of the Chicago 7) and production designer Kristi Zea (The Departed, The Silence of the Lambs). There are just a few exterior shots in the film, and one shows the aftermath of a horrific accident that caused a major delay on the protagonists journey. This scene is not irrelevant; it conveys the fragility of life and the importance of meaningful connection in an often dangerous world. The two main characters here have definitely made that connection by the time Johnson reaches her destination in Manhattan. The conclusion leaves their futures very much an open question, but the two superb performances and the tactful hand of a gifted new director ensures that the audience will still be thinking about these people long after the journey ends. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Click here to read the full article. AWARDS The European Film Academy has revealed the nominations for Lux The European Audience Film Award. The award is presented by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy in partnership with the European Commission and Europa Cinemas. The nominated films are: 20,000 Species of Bees by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (Spain); The Teachers Lounge by Ilker Catak (Germany); Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismaki (Finland, Germany); On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert (France, Japan); and Smoke Sauna Sisterhood by Anna Hints (Estonia, France, Iceland). More from Variety ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The five nominated films will now be subtitled in all 24 EU languages. The winner will be determined by the general public and the members of the European Parliament (each holding 50% of the vote) and announced during an awards ceremony in March 2024. European Film Academy chair and president of the Lux jury Mike Downey said: We know that cinema not only enhances the imagination but also shows our entire world in multiple perspectives and has the power to broaden our vision and thinking. We just have to look at the five candidates for this years award great works of art which are diverse, entertaining, and socially engaged in the world in which we live. APPOINTMENT International Film Festival Rotterdam has appointed Tamara Tatishvili as the new head of the Hubert Bals Fund, the festivals global film fund, replacing Bianca Taal. Tatishvili worked for several years as director of the Georgian National Film Center and is currently head of studies at MEDICI, a training and exchange forum for senior decision makers of international public film funds. Fund manager Jeske van der Slikke will shortly be taking maternity leave and coordinator Ayumi Filippone will over until March 2024 in Van der Slikkes absence. CINEFESTOZ AWARDS Shayda, by writer-director, co-producer Noora Niasari, was Sunday named winner of the best film prize and A$100,000 ($65,000) at the CinefestOZ festival in Western Australia. The film was a winner at Sundance and was recently selected as Australias contender for the best international feature film prize. Filmmaker, Robert Connolly, who headed the jury hailed Shayda as a film that introduces an exceptional new filmmaking voice, revealing with great authenticity and emotional impact a deeply personal story untold previously in our national cinema, driven at its heart by two extraordinary performances depicting the resilience and love between a mother and a daughter. CHANGCHUN AWARDS The 18th China Changchun Film Festival wrapped up on Saturday with the announcement of the Golden Deer Awards. The Wandering Earth 2 received the best film award. Rao Xiaoshi was named best director for Homecoming. Wang Baoqiang won the best screenplay for Never Say Never (aka In the Octagonal Cage.) Jackson Yee picked up the best actor award for his performance in Full River Red. Ni Ni was named best actress for her performance in Lost in the Stars. PRODUCTION Indias Jeethu Joseph, creator of Malayalam-language hit thriller film franchise Drishyam, has teamed with Junglee Pictures (Badhaai Do, Raazi) and Cloud 9 Pictures on an as-yet-untitled Hindi-language action thriller. The film will revolve around a valiant, sharp and quick-witted law enforcement officer who embarks on a journey to fight for truth and bring justice in a high stakes case at international level. TRAILER Streamer SkyShowtime has unveiled the trailer for its new original series Codename: Annika, a twist on the Nordic noir genre. The first episode will be available to stream on the premiere day, with new episodes dropping weekly. The six-part thriller series, created by Mia Ylonen and Aleksi Bardy, goes behind the curtain of the hidden world of high-class art-fraud and explores the reality of navigating a double identity. The cast is led by Sannah Nedergard (Yellow Sulphur Sky) as Finnish art fraud investigator Emma/Annika. It also incudes Ardalan Esmaili (Snabba Cash), Eva Melander (Border), Helena Bergstrom (House of Angels), Pekka Strang (Tom of Finland), Miro Lopperi (Aikuiset), Clarisse Lhoni-Botte (Rolling to You) and Charles Martins (Emily in Paris). The series is directed by A.J. Annila (Peacemaker). Codename: Annika has received development support from Finnish Film Foundation and Creative Europe Programme MEDIA of the European Union and is financed by Business Finland Audiovisual Production Incentive. Co-creators for Helsinki-Filmi are Mia Ylonen and Aleksi Bardy. The series will be available exclusively on SkyShowtime from Sept. 30. Watch the trailer here: Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz has been in a serious motorcycle accident, a representative for Kassovitz confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. The La Haine filmmaker was driving along the Autodrome de Montlhery, a motor racing circuit south of Paris, French news channel CNews and international news agency AFP reported Sunday. Kassovitzs condition is said to be worrying. More from The Hollywood Reporter ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kassovitz was transported to the Kremlin-Bicetre hospital, a source told the news outlets, after doing a motorcycle course on the circuit, a police source told AFP. The director originally broke out in the industry in 1995 with La Haine, a French film that follows three men in the 24 hours after a violent riot takes place on the outskirts of Paris. The project, which Kassovitz also stars in and wrote, is regarded as an influential story that portrays racism and police violence in France. La Haine is a French phrase that translates to Hatred in English and was released in the United States with the title Hate. Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde and Said Taghmaoui round out the cast of the film, which won Kassovitz the best director prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. It also took home the French Cesar for best film, which is equivalent to best picture at the Oscars. More recently, the actor-director stars opposite Diane Kruger in Visions, which follows an airline captain whose perfect life with husband Guillaume (Kassovitz) begins to fall apart when she falls in love with Ana (Marta Nieto) and begins an affair. The filmmaker is also known for his work on Amelie, The Bureau and The Crimson Rivers. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Click here to read the full article. If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission. With the 2024 Presidential race on the horizon, many are gearing up for a bunch of heated debates between everyone involved. Many citizens want the candidates to discuss important issues and address the controversies surrounding each one. However, theres one thing that many US citizens want to be addressed, and its all about candidates ages. More from SheKnows ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Many outlets such as the Atlantic and the Boston Globe have addressed how there should be an age limit on presidents, with many candidates being in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. US President Joe Biden is 80 years old, Republican candidate Mike Pence is 64, and former US President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump is 77. Many have raised concerns over the ages, but one of Donalds family members has been working to shut down those worries, and try to place the worries all on Biden. Click here to read the full article. During a recent appearance on the Newsmax network via MSN, Eric Trump s wife Lara Trump claimed that Donald Trump is a very young 77 years old proving that there are different situations and that yes, for some, age is just a number. GREENVILLE, NC JUNE 05: Laura Trump speaks at the NCGOP state convention as former U.S. President Donald Trump on June 5, 2021 in Greenville, North Carolina. Laura Trump put rumors to bed by announcing she would not be running for the N.C. Senate. The event is one of former U.S. President Donald Trumps first high-profile public appearances since leaving the White House in January. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images) People have come after the president about his age. They did it in 2019, in 2020, and in 2022. And guess what, he beats them every time. Because he has a finger on the pulse of what it is that the American people need. He talks about issues that really matter to them and he is delivering, she added. The Right View podcast host then took the opportunity to throw multiple jabs at Biden, saying: How far gone is too far gone to be president? How far does it have to go before the right people become concerned enough to address what looks like a very questionable situation when it comes to the leader of the free world? TURNBERRY, SCOTLAND JUNE 28: Eric Trump and his wife Lara attend the opening Trump Turnberrys new golf course the King Robert The Bruce course on June 28, 2017 in Turnberry, Scotland. Formerly the Kintyre Course, it has been redesigned and upgraded and forms the second course to the acclaimed championship Ailsa course. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) Lara and Eric have been together since 2008, and later wed in 2014. They later welcomed two children named Eric Luke, born Sept 2017, and Carolina Dorothy, born Aug 2019. Now, Lara has worked closely with her father-in-law for years. Not only was she a senior advisor, but she even organized numerous events for his campaign such as the Trump-Pence Womens Empowerment Tour; so theyre quite close. Before you go, click here to see the biggest presidential scandals in US History. Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton Best of SheKnows Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Spanish actor Gabriel Guevara, the star of Prime Videos hit teen film franchise My Fault, has been arrested at the Venice Film Festival. Guevara had an active international warrant out on him for an alleged sexual assault in France. Venice police confirmed the arrest, originally reported by Venice daily La Nuova. The court of appeals will rule on his case before the extradition proceeding can begin. No further details on the assault or the arrest have been provided at this time. More from The Hollywood Reporter ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Guevara was arrested by Italian state police in Venice on Saturday, Sept. 2, a day before he was set to receive a best young actor honor given out by Filming Italy on Sunday, Sept. 3. On hearing of his arrest, Filming Italy canceled the award, which they said was a precautionary measure pending the outcome of the case against him. The festival put out a statement on its official Twitter account, writing that it would like to specify that the presence in #Venice of Spanish actor #GabrielGuevara, that some press websites have recently reported as being under arrest, was not linked to any activity or production of the 80th Venice International Film Festival. Guevara rocketed to European fame in 2018 as Cristian Miralles Haro in the first season of Skam Spain, the local adaptation of a hit teen drama franchise, and his starring roles in My Fault films only increased his profile. Skam Spain follows a group of 16-year-olds throughout their day-to-day lives in real-time, including how they rely on social media, face relationships and search for their identity. The Prime Video franchise centers on Noah (Nicole Wallace) who is forced to leave her hometown for her moms new husbands place, where she meets her new stepbrother, Nick (Guevara). While their personalities clash originally, their eventual attraction to each other leads them into a romantic relationship that turns their worlds upside down. Guevaras other credits include an upcoming role in Red Flags, as well as previous projects How to Screw it All Up, Youre Nothing Special, HIT, Dangerous Moms and Charter. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Click here to read the full article. Three Republicans will compete in a special primary election in Utah next week for their partys nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, the six-term GOP lawmaker who will step down on Sept. 15. Vying for the nomination on Tuesday are former state representative Becky Edwards, businessman and former state party chairman Bruce Hough, and attorney and former Stewart aide Celeste Maloy. Delegates at the party's special district convention in June preferred Maloy over Edwards, Hough and others, but Edwards and Hough both collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot and force a vote in Tuesdays special primary. Hough is the father of professional dancers Julianne and Derek Hough from the reality competition show Dancing with the Stars. Edwards has led the field in fundraising, bringing in $379,000 in contributions while loaning herself an additional $300,000 from personal funds. Maloy outraised Hough in contributions, but Hough loaned his campaign more than $334,000. Edwards more than doubled both Maloys and Houghs spending power heading into the final three weeks of the campaign. Maloy and Hough debated in early August, showing relatively little daylight between them on key issues. Edwards skipped the event. U.S. Senate candidate Becky Edwards meets with St. George residents at Vernon Worthen Park during her Yellow Couch Tour Saturday, July 31, 2021. Tuesdays winner will face Democrat Kathleen Riebe in a special general election on Nov. 21. Riebe won her partys nomination at a district convention in June. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The states congressional district boundaries face an ongoing court challenge, but the 2nd Congressional District, which has been reliably Republican, covers much of the same area in Western and Southwest Utah as it has since before Stewart took office. Stewart won five of his six elections with at least 59% of the vote. Heres a look at what to expect on election night: Election Day Utah will hold a special primary on Tuesday. Polls close at 8 p.m. local time (MT), which is 10 p.m. ET. What's on the ballot? The Associated Press will provide coverage of the Republican special primary in Utahs 2nd Congressional District. The winner will advance to the special general election on Nov. 21 and face Riebe. Also on Tuesdays ballots are municipal primaries throughout the state.WHO GETS TO VOTE The special congressional primary is limited to registered Republicans; Democrats, independents and members of third parties may not participate. Decision notes Special primary elections tend to have lower voter turnout compared to those of regularly scheduled elections. In a particularly close three-way contest, the margin between the first- and third-place candidates may be a relatively small number of votes. This may slow the race-calling process as a handful of absentee, provisional or other untallied ballots could play a decisive role in determining the result. The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when its determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why. There is no mandatory or automatic recount provision in Utah, but a losing candidate may request a recount if the vote margin is 0.25 percentage points or less. In elections with fewer than 400 total votes cast, not applicable to Tuesdays contest, recounts may be requested if the winning margin is one vote. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome. What do turnout and advance vote look like? As of Monday, there were almost 1.7 million active voters registered in Utah, according to state records. Of those, about 879,000 are Republicans (53%), 232,000 are Democrats (14%), 469,000 are independent or unaffiliated (28%) and the remaining (6%) belong to various third parties. Turnout for the 2022 GOP primary for U.S. Senate was 22%. In the 2020 presidential primaries, voter turnout was 20% for Republicans and 13% for Democrats. Elections in Utah are conducted predominantly by mail, although voters have the option of voting in person on Election Day. Mail ballots may be received by Sept. 19 but must be postmarked by Tuesday. As of Thursday, a total of 50,419 votes had been cast before Election Day, mostly from Republicans (87%) with the balance from Democrats (5%) and independents and members of third parties (8%). How long does vote-counting usually take? In the 2022 general election in the 2nd Congressional District, the AP first reported results at 10:37 p.m. ET, or 37 minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at 4:07 a.m. ET with about 71% of the total votes counted. This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: What to expect in Utah's special congressional primary Labor Day weekend is the last hurrah of summer, and it's going to be a scorcher. A heat wave that could break records in central Pennsylvania will start over the long weekend, said John Banghoff, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The peak of the heat will be Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with temperatures in the mid-to upper 90s. The mercury will reach into the 90s on Sunday and Thursday, too, but it will not be quite as hot. Extreme heat moves into central Pennsylvania The extreme heat that other parts of the country has experienced earlier this summer now is moving into central Pennsylvania, Banghoff said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The upper level pattern is changing, allowing the heat to build. The area could experience the hottest temperatures so far this summer, he said. Most of the records at the Harrisburg Airport for this time period are in the mid-90s, Banghoff said. One school district West Shore has schedule a remote learning day for students in buildings without air conditioning, according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. DISTRICT UPDATE: Due to the forecasted temperatures and anticipated humidity, Tuesday, September 5, will be a weather-related remote learning day for students attending schools without air conditioning. For additional information please visit https://t.co/CDkd9YfEvm pic.twitter.com/2LoRXv9O4b West Shore S.D. (@WestShoreSD) August 31, 2023 Dry weather continues for south-central Pennsylvania In addition to the heat, it will be dry through Thursday. South-central Pennsylvania is behind in rainfall. Adams, Lebanon and York counties remain in a drought watch, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Harrisburg International Airport recorded 2.03 inches of rain in August. Normal precipitation for the month is 3.77 inches. For the year so far, the Harrisburg area is more than 6 inches below normal. Only 22.97 inches of precipitation has fallen, according to the National Weather Service. High temperatures for Adams, Lebanon and York counties The forecast is calling for sunny skies each day in the region. Here are the predicted high temperatures for the week in Adams County: Saturday: 86 Sunday: 93 Monday: 96 Tuesday: 96 Wednesday: 95 Thursday: 93 Here are the predicted high temperatures for Lebanon County: Saturday: 85 Sunday: 93 Monday: 95 Tuesday: 95 Wednesday: 95 Thursday: 93 Here are the predicted high temperatures for the week in York County: Saturday: 87 Sunday: 94 Monday: 97 Tuesday: 96 Wednesday: 95 Thursday: 94 This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Heatwave coming to central Pennsylvania for Labor Day week 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. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 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. 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 Russia's massive attack on Odesa region last night is the enemy's "fire implication" ahead of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Head of the Press Center of the Pivden (South) Operational Command Natalia Humeniuk has said. "The drone attack was aimed at the civilian infrastructure in the Danube area, a southern district of Odesa region, where the continued work of the grain initiative raises the enemy's anxiety despite the fact that it is limited within the global framework. Such a fire implication by the enemy is clear ahead of a global political event the meeting between the dictator of the terrorist state and the leader of Turkey. Highly likely, it was a way to influence and somehow blackmail which Russia uses very often," she said at a press briefing on Monday. The Pivden Command recalled that 17 out of 25 Russian drones were destroyed. However, some civilian infrastructure facilities that "can be potentially used in the grain initiative" were attacked. Erdogan and Putin are holding a meeting on Sochi on Monday. Amid the latest United Auto Workers strike and the events leading up to it, many salaried white-collar workers are wondering whether they have the right to not cross a picket line, in support of lower-paid colleagues. The Detroit Free Press reported that Ford Motor Co. has been preparing its salaried workers to assume jobs in parts depots in case of a strike. So the issue of what is and isn't allowed in a strike situation is top of mind. Can a company require salaried workers to cross a picket line? "Generally speaking, if the salaried worker is not represented by a union, and most arent, yes," said Michelle Kaminski, an associate professor of labor relations at Michigan State University. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement If white-collar workers are unionized, and they have a clause in their contract that allows for not crossing a picket line, then they should be fine, said Erik Gordon, a professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. What are the consequence of not crossing a picket line during a strike? "Nonunion workers who refuse to cross picket lines generally can be terminated," Gordon said. "If they genuinely are intimidated by picketers, the company can allege a violation of labor law, but unless picketers block access to the premises or there is a credible threat of violence, picketers have a lot of latitude to make noise and hurl personal insults." "If (nonunion workers) refuse to follow the direction theyve been given by management, they could potentially lose their job if the company wanted to take such drastic measures," Kaminski said. "They could be fired for refusing to accept an assignment." Sympathy strikers can be permanently replaced, Kaminski said. Depending on their rank in an organization, some will retain the right to be put on a preferred recall list for a limited period of time. Many people consider being fired and being permanently replaced as the same, though technically different, Kaminski said. Is it good strategy for companies to train salaried workers to do the jobs of blue-collar workers during a strike? "I think its smart of Ford management to have done this" in 2023, Kaminski said. "Its clear that (UAW) negotiations are more contentious this year than theyve been in awhile. It's clear that the union side is really working to mobilize its membership to focus on solidarity and commitment in the event of a strike," she said. "Of course, it makes sense for management, too. I believe theyre capable of both negotiating and preparing for the possibility of a strike. It's not the same people sitting at the table and preparing alternate plans." Earlier this summer, UPS expected nonunion managers to try to do work Teamsters did if the union had gone on strike, Gordon said. What about salaried workers who don't want to cross picket lines? A number of salaried workers still do their work from home, which removes the physical requirement of crossing a picket line to report to do the job. The Free Press asked the Detroit Three automakers for their input. GM spokesman David Barnas told the Free Press: "The safety and security of our employees is the guiding principle during any business continuity plan. For competitive reasons, we dont share specific details of our business continuity planning. Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch declined to comment. Stellantis spokeswoman Jodie Tinson declined to comment What is the downside to prepping salaried workers to do UAW jobs? "Youre going to have people drive forklift trucks who are now designing fuel injection systems," said Harley Shaiken, professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and an expert on automotive labor. "This is an ill-considered move. And then assume youre going to be able to keep it secret when it carries this kind of emotional charge for many workers? The odds of a leak are 100%." If a company like Ford wanted to protect its supply flow to emergency responders for vehicle parts, for example, company leaders can sit down with the union and negotiate an exception for one parts depot and have UPS drivers pick up parts for transport, Shaiken said. This would likely be a far cheaper alternative than flying salaried workers around the country. "This (Plan B strategy) challenges the good relationship that Ford has had with the UAW in recent years," he said. "That didnt drop out of the sky. It was built by both sides knowing that there can be sharp differences but you resolve them through bargaining. Ford has the best relationship of any of the Detroit automakers. You can destroy that very easily when you're in critical negotiations. That's not trivial." Labor experts, including Shaiken, whose grandfather worked for Ford at the Rouge plant, questioned why Ford was starting to make a contingency plan two months before the contract deadline of Sept. 14. Picket signs burn outside of Flint Assembly after UAW ratified their contract with General Motors marking the end of the strike on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019. Unquestionably, we have seen that these are unusually tense negotiations, but were looking at the opening weeks, Shaiken said. "Look at what happened with the Teamsters and UPS, they broke off negotiations and they couldn't even agree who walked away from the table. Then eight or nine days before the deadline, (Teamsters General President) Sean O'Brien said, 'I see a straight line to the picket line.' A few days later, the CEO of UPS sends an email with a real proposal, O'Brien looks at it and says, 'We can talk.' They both go back to the table and in one day they settle a contract that both sides are applauding now. It still needs to be ratified." More: UAW members must wait about 8 days for strike pay, face challenges ahead Early weeks of contract negotiations always involve both sides pushing hard and loudly, Shaiken said. "Am I saying there's no chance of a strike? No, not at all. There's a lot of ground the union is seeking to recover and companies are having their own sets of issues. But we are a long way from an inevitable strike." It appears Ford is willing to risk the safety of salaried workers and the quality of the products the company builds rather than addressing the demands of UAW autoworkers during contract negotiations. https://t.co/hq1TFaUCvo UAW (@UAW) August 18, 2023 Putting together a contingency plan now seems premature, he said. "This may have been an idea that someone had that, 'Well look, this is where were heading. We dont see a way out.' The fallout theyre getting from it is very real and damaging." Is there any risk to redeploying white-collar workers during a strike? "They sometimes try to fill in for absent strikers, sometimes successfully and sometimes comically," Gordon said. Hundreds of auto workers turned out today for a Solidarity Sunday rally in Warren, Michigan. The energy was electric. Strike votes are being organized in locals across the country this week. The Big Three are on notice: the mighty @UAW is united and ready to fight. pic.twitter.com/GpEZcrAHVB Chris Brooks (@chactivist) August 21, 2023 For families with white-collar and blue-collar workers, the conflict can be serious. "In some blue-collar families, crossing a picket line can be a mortal sin," Shaiken said. "The strike is viewed as the ultimate weapon workers have. To violate that breaks solidarity. That is something that is the very soul of the union, particularly the UAW." On the other hand, families with striking workers may need the paycheck that a salaried worker is providing during the work stoppage, so the family dynamic can be complicated, Kaminski said. Why do union members refuse to cross other picket lines? In most cases, union members consider refusing to cross another unions picket line a matter of solidarity, Gordon said. "Beyond solidarity, there is practicality. The next time it might be the members own union that is on strike, and they hope for reciprocity that the union they helped will return the favor." When a companys workers are members of different unions, the effect of honoring picket lines is greater than the effect of just one union striking, Gordon said. "The effect is a powerful tool on the union side of labor negotiation." If a unions bargaining agreement included a no-strike clause, it cannot encourage its members to refuse to cross another unions picket line that would be a sympathy strike banned in the agreement, Gordon said. The Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) had a no-strike clause and told its members that crossing the Writers Guild of America (WGA) picket lines was solely an individual decision, Gordon said. "SAG-AFTRA later went on strike after its agreement expired." Teamsters contracts say they dont have to cross a picket line where they deliver anything anywhere, Kaminski noted. Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Are salaried workers required to cross a picket line during a strike? In 2022, the federal government spent $6.27 trillion1. Most of the governments revenue comes from taxes collected from individuals and businesses across the U.S. Though taxes are mostly collected by the federal government, individual states are primary recipients of that same tax revenue. In a way, tax inflows and outflows act as a form of wealth redistribution among U.S. states. To find out which states are most and least reliant on the federal government and thus taxpayers from other states SmartAsset evaluated tax and government spending data to determine which states are getting the best and worst return for their tax dollars. Key Findings The top one percent of earners paid about 42% of the income tax revenue in the United States. This accounts for 10% of the governments total federal tax revenue. Californian one percenters paid 16.13% of the national income tax, while New Yorks top 1% paid 8.34%, Texas one percenters paid 7.85% and Floridians paid 7.58%. In some states, including Florida, Nevada and Wyoming, the top 1% of earners pay more than half of the states total income taxes. New Mexico is the only state paying less in taxes than it receives in support paying only 85 cents in federal taxes for each dollar of support. This was the only state with that paid less in federal taxes than it received back. The next four most dependent states West Virginia, Alaska, Mississippi and Montana receive nearly as much in support as they send to the federal government each year. Hawaii, Vermont, Louisiana, Alabama and Wyoming also top the list of most dependent states. Minnesota, New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois and Florida are least dependent on the federal government. These states all contribute multiples more to the federal government than they receive, with residents paying at least $5 in taxes for every $1 in direct support received from the federal government. Minnesota the least dependent state pays nearly $6.88 in taxes for each dollar it receives back. Other states that made the top 10 least dependent list include Washington, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Nebraska and California. Texass love of vices disproportionately supports federal income. Texas pays an exorbitant $17B in excise taxes to the federal government more than any other state by far and more than the income taxes on Texass top 1% of earners. Texas pays nearly three times as much in taxes on items like alcohol, gas, cigarettes, gambling and other specialty items as the second most state, Ohio. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement States Most Dependent on the Federal Government 1. New Mexico New Mexico pays an inexpensive $0.85 to the federal government for every dollar of support received. Brain drain where highly educated workers leave for better opportunities elsewhere has been a problem for New Mexicos economy2. Left behind are a particularly high number of residents 65 and older. 2. West Virginia West Virginians end up getting back almost every dollar they submit to the federal government paying $1.04 for every dollar redistributed back to their state. With a poverty rate of 16.8%3, West Virginia also placed third in a recent SmartAsset study determining states where residents are financially hurting the most. Additionally, just about 22% of residents have completed a college education less than any other state in the nation. 3. Alaska Being uniquely situated away from the United States mainland and in a particularly harsh climate, Alaska requires more support than most states. The state pays in about $1.09 for every support dollar it receives, and in 2022 had the third smallest state GDP. If youre ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now. 4. Mississippi Mississippi has a handful of factors working against its economic independence, leading it to receive $1 from the federal government for every $1.19 it collects from residents, businesses and transactions. The state has historically ranked high in poverty and low in education Mississippi also ranked as the second most state where residents are hurting financially in a recent SmartAsset study. Its also prone to natural disasters that require cleanup. 5. Montana Known for much of its natural scenery, Montana is also home to a number of federal agencies, of which a few maintain landmarks like the Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. The Treasure State received roughly $5.1 billion from the federal government in 2021 and paid back approximately $1.53 for every federal dollar received. States Least Dependent on the Federal Government 1. Minnesota Between personal and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate taxes and gift taxes, Minnesota contributes $6.88 to the federal government for every dollar it receives for support. As the least dependent state on the federal government, Minnesota has a median household income of around $77,720 above the U.S. median of $69,717 and is the fifth most prominent agricultural state4. 2. New Jersey New Jerseys dense population, proximity to New York City and Philadelphia, beaches, and a major port and airport are an effective combination for a productive economy. New Jersey also has a particularly educated workforce, which helps support the internal economy: With 41.5% of residents completing college5, it ranks fourth in the nation for 2017-2021. For every $6.28 New Jersey forks over to the federal government, it receives $1 back. 3. Delaware More than 65% of Fortune 500 companies in the United States are incorporated in The First State6, which is known for its business-friendliness. Delaware pays roughly $32.3 billion to the federal government in collective taxes or $6.09 for every federal dollar received. 4. Illinois Illinois is the sixth most populous state at over 12.5 million people its also got the fifth largest GDP by state7,8. And by contributing $5.88 tax dollars for every $1 in returned to it, Illinois also takes the fourth place spot for least dependent on the federal government. Chicagos location on the Great Lakes makes it an economic hub for the midwest, and like Minnesota, it is one of the top 10 agricultural states by production in the U.S. 5. Florida The Sunshine State is the fifth-least dependent state on the federal government contributing $5.78 tax dollars for every $1 in federal aid it receives. As a popular tourist destination, Florida had the fourth largest GDP of all states in 2022. Data and Methodology To compare outflowing tax dollars to support dollars incoming from the federal government, we examined personal income tax, corporate income tax, excise tax, gift tax and estate tax data, all of which were classified as gross receipts to the federal government. Gross receipts include taxes, additional fees and interest. We compared gross receipts to federal government distributions to state and local governments for 2021 to find the ratio of tax dollars paid to federal dollars received. Data: Collective tax revenue paid by states. Income tax, excise, estate, gift and business income tax data came from SOI Tax Stats: Gross Collections, by Type of Tax and State for 2021. Income tax data by earning percentile comes from SOI Tax Stats - Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Percentile Data by State from the IRS for 2020. This statistic was not used for the purpose of state rankings. Federal share of state government revenue. This is the percentage of the state governments revenue that comes from intergovernmental aid. Data comes from the U.S. Census Bureaus 2020 Annual Survey of State Government Finances. Previous editions of this study utilized a different methodology, and thus are not comparable to the 2023 study. 1FiscalData.Treasury.gov 2The University of New Mexico 3U.S. Census Bureau ACS 1 Year, 2021 4USDA Economic Research Service, 2021 data 5USDA Economic Research Service, 2017-2021 Education data 6Delaware Division of Corporations 7U.S. Census Bureau Population Clock 8Bureau of Economic Analysis, State annual gross domestic product summary for 2022 Tax Planning Tips Work with a finance professional. A financial advisor can help you make the most of your money. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now. Do the math. If youre considering itemizing your deductions instead of taking the standard deduction, its important to keep track of your expenses and do the math to determine whether they exceed the standard deduction. Know your tax liability. SmartAsset has a number of tools to help you calculate your tax liability in a given year, including an income tax calculator, capital gains calculator and a property tax calculator. Questions about our study? Contact us at press@smartasset.com Photo credit: iStock.com/franckreporter The post Where Your Tax Dollars Go: States Most Dependent on the Federal Government 2023 Study appeared first on SmartAsset Blog. Beyond the devastating human toll from the recent wildfires on Maui, there will be a financial cost far above what a disaster like this would have caused on the mainland. Thats because the process of rebuilding the more than 2,200 homes and businesses that state officials say have been damaged by the Hawaiian fires will be far more expensive than building or repairing comparable homes in the continental United States. Factors from the states own limited construction resources and the expense of shipping goods to higher salaries and a less mobile workforce will make the rebuilding process, always challenging after a natural disaster, even costlier. All told, doing business in Hawaii is about 30% more expensive than the cost of doing business in the rest of the United States, according to Moody Analytics. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Construction costs in particular are likely even higher in Hawaii when compared to the mainland about 44% more, according to an estimate from Verisk, a global insurance data analytics provider. Based on similar historical events, this is likely conservative, as building delays and supply and demand cause additional pressures on reconstruction costs, said Verisk. Higher lumber prices Unsurprisingly, prices for lumber and other building materials were generally between 35% to 40% more in Hawaii than on the mainland even before the fires, said Beau Nobmann, sales manager for HPM Building Supply, a major building goods supplier in the state. Now, the surge in demand for building materials could cause shortages, driving up prices further. Homes consumed in recent wildfires are seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, on the island of Maui. - Jae C. Hong/AP And because much of those building materials will need to be shipped in, supply chains could get snarled and bottlenecks could form. It could be like what we saw during the pandemic, with delays of six to nine months in some cases, before it starts to come back to pre-event, Jason Thies, associate vice president of pricing analysis for Corelogic, one of the catastrophe modeling firms used by the insurance industry. Hawaii is also known for stricter regulations, which can increase costs. For example, Nobmann said that all lumber imported into the state must be treated for termites. Construction permitting generally takes longer in Hawaii than most mainland locations, said Jessica Leorna, CEO of the states Building Industry Association. And goods shipped to Hawaii from US ports must move on US flagged ships under what is known as the Jones Act, which increases shipping costs when compared to foreign flagged vessels coming from Canada or Asia. Labor costs and a less mobile workforce The state also has among the nations highest average wages, according to the Labor Department. Thats especially true for construction workers, who were in short supply even before the fires, according to the states Building Industry Association. A review of state wage data by Moodys Analytics shows that the average construction worker in Hawaii earned about $60,700 in 2021, the most recent data available. Thats 32% higher than the US average. While some West Coast states susceptible to wild fires, such as California and Washington, have construction wages that are close to Hawaiis, the Hawaiian construction wages are much higher than in some other disaster-prone states, such as Florida, where the average construction worker earned $41,200 in 2021. That salary premium in Hawaii could go even higher during the reconstruction efforts. Thats because its not nearly as easy for workers to move to the state the way they might in response to comparable mainland events, said Adam Kamins, senior regional economist for Moodys Analytics. He said beyond the cost of living that can discourage workers from moving to Hawaii temporarily, theres not much in the way of affordable housing for them. When Hurricane Ian hit Floridas Southwest coast, there was housing capacity within 30 minutes that wasnt affected. And workers from elsewhere in the state or the Southeast could drive home on weekends, he said. Thats not the case here. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com A service technician repairs an air conditioning unit at an Austin home. The city is developing rules to require all dwellings to have working air conditioning since the Texas heat makes such cooling systems a necessity. Thelma Reyes was supposed to have working air conditioning. At least in theory. Texas law requires landlords to fix anything that affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, as summertime heat without AC undoubtedly does. And if a dwelling has central air conditioning, Austin requires it to be in safe working condition. Yet Reyes went for nearly a month in the summer of 2022 without consistently working air conditioning at her Northeast Austin apartment. She said her landlord dragged things out and made ineffective temporary repairs while Reyes and her son spent as much time as possible on their balcony. It was horrible, she told me, noting she had been especially worried about her blue-throated macaw, Precious. As time went by, it just got hotter and hotter. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Reyes filed complaints with code enforcement, she said, but even when the air conditioning was working again, it pumped out very little cold air. Towards the end, it was useless. I would rather move, said Reyes who did exactly that last weekend. That gap between whats on paper and what happens in practice deserves the Austin City Councils attention as the city develops a more specific air conditioning mandate. The council on Thursday directed city staffers to draw up new regulations requiring all residential property owners to provide and maintain refrigerated equipment to keep indoor spaces comfortable. The proposal is supposed to return to the council for public hearings and a final vote by next August. When it does, I hope the council focuses on how to make such a mandate meaningful. Specifically: Are there enough code enforcement officers to respond to complaints? Will these regulations carry remedies with teeth? What will the complaint process mean for residents? This summers blistering heat made a forceful argument for the air conditioning mandate that Council Member Vanessa Fuentes proposed. Her resolution noted that Austin-Travis County EMS responded to an average of nine heat-related calls a day in July. While Austin code requires dwellings to have heating systems that keep rooms above 68 degrees, there is no such requirement to have a cooling system to maintain a safe temperature. What this item seeks to do is to codify and really bring up our language to ensure that just like we have requirements around heating, that we have requirements around AC units, Fuentes said Thursday. The vast majority of folks, like Reyes, have some kind of cooling system. Only 1.4% of occupied rental units in Texas lack central air or a window AC unit, according to the 2021 American Housing Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The problem arises when tenants air conditioning units break down and arent repaired promptly. In fairness, many landlords handle repairs quickly. And state law already requires landlords to fix anything impacting tenants health or safety, said Emily Blair, executive vice president of the Austin Apartment Association. It is imperative that existing standards are enforced and supported, she said, adding that any new city regulations could make housing even less affordable. For a tenant unlucky enough to have an unresponsive landlord, however, the current enforcement channels can be slow or difficult to navigate. A city code enforcement officer, responding to a tenant complaint, can give the landlord a deadline to fix things. But that officer cant issue fines. Imposing penalties requires taking the case to the citys Building and Standards Commission, an administrative hearing or municipal court, where the fines can reach $2,000. But that process can easily take weeks, an excruciating time to wait for air conditioning to be fixed during the hot summer months. Meanwhile, the process under state law is cumbersome: Give your landlord a written request for repairs. Wait seven days. Send another written request. Wait another seven days. Then sue your landlord in a justice-of-the-peace court. Thats not exactly an easy remedy, Mincho Jacob, then-head of the BASTA Eviction Mitigation Team, told me last spring when I first asked about this issue. It rarely happens because people are just really busy and they can't make it to court. State Rep. Sheryl Cole, D-Austin, filed a bill this past session to offer a better remedy. House Bill 2592 would have required landlords to repair air conditioning units within five days or provide a portable cooling unit or other housing accommodations until the system is fixed. Reyes, whose plight was first aired last year by KXAN, was the inspiration and the poster child for Coles bill. Sadly, our Legislature, which found plenty of time to regulate books and drag performances, didnt deem timely air conditioning repairs to be a priority for Texans. So now the matter rests with City Hall. As an air conditioning mandate takes shape, council members have an opportunity to provide real assistance to tenants stuck in the heat but only if the rules hold landlords' feet to the fire. Grumet is the Statesmans Metro columnist. Her column, ATX in Context, contains her opinions. Share yours via email at bgrumet@statesman.com or via Twitter at @bgrumet. Find her previous work at statesman.com/news/columns. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Grumet: Working air conditioning is a no-brainer. Let's codify it. Gov. Kevin Stitt, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, has clashed with Native American tribes over gaming, the McGirt decision and tribal sovereignty itself. For the Cherokee Nation, the state's largest tribe, it's not the first time to be at public cross purposes with the power and influence of one of its own. In the late 19th century, the Cherokee detractor was Elias Cornelius Boudinot. Boudinot's views prevailed over those of the Cherokee Nation and other tribes, and his actions sparked the Boomer Movement and eventual white settlement of the Unassigned Lands, including the 1889 Land Run and founding of Oklahoma City. Boomers agitated for white settlement of the territory before the U.S. government was ready, going so far as to set up illegal camps that were forcibly removed by the military. Who was Elias Cornelius Boudinot, the Cherokee who helped coin the state name "Oklahoma?" Elias Cornelius Boudinot Elias Cornelius Boudinot was born in 1835 in Cherokee country in Georgia amid the political chaos that led to the humanitarian crisis of the Trail of Tears, the forced removal of tribes from the southeast to Indian Territory. His father was Elias Boudinot, a leader of a Cherokee faction, the Treaty Party, that acceded to removal, and who was assassinated for it later, along with his cousin, John Ridge, at Park Hill, near Tahlequah. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Almost from his birth, Elias Cornelius Boudinot lived along a contradictory fissure in Cherokee society the split between some Cherokees, who accepted removal and allied with the South in the Civil War, and others, who sided with the Union but then fought territorialization. More: Legislature can renew tribal compacts without Stitt, lawmakers tell Oklahoma Supreme Court Elias Cornelius Boudinot died in 1890 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, a rancher and ferry owner-operator just across the Arkansas River at Paw Paw, a settlement of mostly intruders illegal residents in extreme southeastern Sequoyah County. In between, he was a lawyer, politician, orator, voluminous writer, editor and business owner a frontier intellectual gifted with the power of persuasion, especially when it came to promoting Oklahoma statehood. Boudinot is credited with helping write proposed legislation naming the new territory "Oklahoma." The 1866 Reconstruction Treaties turned Elias Cornelius Boudinot, a Cherokee serving the Southern Delegation, against treaty making This photograph shows the 1866 Cherokee Delegation to Washington, DC. Pictured from left to right are: John Rollin Ridge, Saladin Watie, Richard Field, Elias C. Boudinot Sr., and W.P. Adair. He supported notorious Boomer David L. Payne, actually defending him in federal court in 1881 in a case he lost when Judge Isaac C. Parker declared that Boomers must stay out of the Unassigned Lands and fined Payne $1,000. Earlier, Boudinot worked at the center of Cherokee affairs during the secession crisis and Civil War era. His uncle, Stand Watie, was a Confederate officer and de facto Cherokee chief, and the Cherokees future appeared to be with the South. His political maneuvering and journalism work in Arkansas gave him high standing with the Democratic Party, and he served as a battlefield colonel and delegate to the Confederate Congress in Richmond, Virginia. More: Cherokee Nation breaks ground on new soundstage as part of 'self-sustaining film ecosystem' After the war, Boudinot and Watie led the Southern delegation negotiating Reconstruction Treaties with the United States, which began in Fort Smith in 1865 and concluded in Washington, D.C., in 1866. With a hard hand, Union negotiators left the tribes not only defeated and divided, but humiliated. The experience led Boudinot to forevermore abandon any trust in treaties. He concluded that they were worthless even before Congress admitted as much by discontinuing treaty making with tribes in 1871. The Oklahoma War-Chief Newspaper from Aug. 12, 1886. It was a business loss during this time at the hands of the U.S. government that turned him against tribal sovereignty and led him to advocate for breaking up communal land holdings into individual allotments, dismantling tribal governments, white settlement as official policy, and Oklahoma statehood. Thomas Burnell Colbert explains what turned him into a Boomer in the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture: "In 1869 the tobacco factory that Boudinot and Watie owned in the Cherokee Nation was confiscated by federal authorities for failure to pay excise tax. Boudinot maintained that the 1868 tax law violated treaty agreements made in 1866. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against him, fostering his opinion that Indians should become citizens of the United States in order to be protected by the Constitution." In 1879, Boudinot and T.C. Sears, an attorney for the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Co. the "Katy" announced through the newspapers that they had determined that about 14 million acres in Indian Territory, not assigned to any of the removed tribes, was in the public domain and so should be opened to settlement: The Unassigned Lands. What did Elias Cornelius Boudinot, a Cherokee lawyer, have to do with David L. Payne and the Oklahoma Boomer Movement? "This photograph of the Boomer leaders was taken in 1884. They are, from left (seated), A. C. McCord, David L. Payne, W. L. Couch, (standing) H. H. Stafford, G. F. Goodrich, and A. P. Lewis. Payne was principal leader of the movement." It all crystalized on Feb. 17, 1879, with an article by Boudinot in the Chicago Times. It inspired Boomers to augment their lobbying and promotion of settling "the Oklahoma Country" with the literal movement of people settling illegally in the territory. Payne led them, keeping them and supporters inspired partly by printing his own paper, called the Oklahoma War-Chief, in Wichita, Kansas, and at his temporary settlements. Boomer leader David L. Payne Throughout the 1880s, Boudinot continued to lecture, lobby and write on U.S.-tribal affairs, practice law and gain popularity in pro-Oklahoma statehood circles. Boudinot died of dysentery on Sept. 27, 1890, one year and five months after the Land Run of 1889. It would be nearly 20 more years before statehood. The legacy of Elias Cornelius Boudinot, the Cherokee lawyer who went against the Cherokee Nation in support of Oklahoma statehood Colbert assessed Boudinot's legacy as a prominent Cherokee who opposed so much of what the Cherokee Nation and other tribes desired. "Although well known and befriended by many, including influential white politicians and businessmen/entrepreneurs, he also engendered many detractors," Colbert wrote. "His activities drew criticism from those who considered his efforts to facilitate American Indian assimilation into white society a betrayal of Indian interests and rights. Nonetheless, he played a conspicuous, if not always remembered or appreciated, role in Cherokee and Oklahoma history." This article draws on historical research by Richard Mize, as well as the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture, and the books "Oklahoma: A History of Five Centuries," by Arrell Morgan Gibson; "Fort Smith: Little Gilbraltar on the Arkansas," by Edwin C. Bearss and Arrell M. Gibson; "The Story of Oklahoma Newspapers," by L. Edward Carter; and "Reconstruction in Indian Territory: A Story of Avarice, Discrimination, and Opportunism," by M. Thomas Bailey. Sign Up: Weekly newsletter Real Estate with Richard Mize Boomer settlement Rock Falls on the Chikaskia River, 4 miles south of South Haven, Kansas, where Capt. David L. Payne printed his Oklahoma War-Chief movement newspaper from June 4 to Aug. 7, 1884. Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize. You can support Richard's work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 12 months of subscriber-only access for $1 a month. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Cherokee Boudinot opposed tribes before Oklahoma Gov. Stitt, a Cherokee Dozens were killed in a fire Thursday at a building in Johannesburg that was occupied by squatters. Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA-EFE Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The death toll from a massive Johannesburg fire in a so-called hijacked building rose to 73 on Thursday, with 52 injured, as authorities began to question why the structure was occupied. While the cause of the fire in the five-story building remained under investigation, officials said the central business district space was abandoned and occupied by squatters, mostly immigrants who have traveled to the South Africa's largest city in hopes of a better life. Oftentimes, these buildings don't have legally connected electricity and other utilities. Robert Mulaudzi, a spokesman for the city's emergency services, said hundreds of settlements were established inside the building. The fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. local time, when many people inside the building were asleep. City officials said search-and-rescue efforts continued through Thursday to find more survivors and bodies. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Sending heartfelt condolences to the families impacted" by the Johannesburg fire, the city posted on social media. "The Executive Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda and council speaker Colleen Makhubele stand united in their commitment to provide unwavering support during this challenging time." Officials said the fire erupted in the five-story building about 1 a.m. Thursday. The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Photo courtesy of City of Joburg EMS/Twitter Makhubele said the fire could have been prevented, but the city's efforts to thwart such illegal occupations of abandoned buildings have been held up by legal challenges by nonprofits and civil society organizations. Videos of the fire published online by the city show a chaotic scene of ambulances and bright orange flames tearing through the building on Thursday morning. For those paying attention: the @meghan Instagram account is up to 124,000 followers, despite having a.) no photos, b.) following no one, c.) having a vague profile photo, and d.) no official confirmation that it is, in fact, an account belonging to Meghan Markle and not, say, Meghan Smith from Conway, Arkansas. Many are saying that this Instagram account is one step in Meghans forthcoming brand relaunch, helmed by Ari Emanuel of William Morris Endeavor and one that, per The Daily Express , will resemble Goop, the successful lifestyle and wellness brand of Gwyneth Paltrow . Gwyneth Paltrow attends Veuve Clicquot Celebrates 250th Anniversary with Solaire Exhibition on October 25, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California For those that remember, Meghan once had her own lifestyle blog, The Tig, which she shuttered in 2017 as she prepared to marry Prince Harry and enter into life as a working member of the royal family. Now, The Daily Express reports that Meghan is interested in building a broader wellness brand, including a new blog offering tips on food, travel, fashion, the arts, design, conscious living, and wellness. Meghans been hanging out with Gwyneth Paltrow, and shes shifted from acting into this broader wellness area, said royal expert Tessa Dunlop. Theres speculation about a possible revamp of Instagram, about Meghan being a brand sponsor for wellness products, perhaps. Meghan Markle in a purple dress In Netflixs docuseries Harry & Meghan, Meghan explained that The Tig was a passion project of hers: There was fashion, tons of food, and travelall the things that I loved, she said. The Tig wasnt just a hobby. It became a really successful business. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement And, while The Tig was successful, it wasnt on Goops level, royal author Tina Brown said. What The Tig lacked was Gwyneths sly positioning that she was in on the joke of monetizing eyeballs, Brown said. The wink-wink sensationalism of Goops This Smells Like My Vagina candle would never have found itself onto Meghans earnestly tasteful Tig. Meghan Markle in a white suit waving Meghan has been hanging out with Paltrow, by the wayearlier this year she and Harry joined Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, and their husbands for sushi in Montecito . Marcelo Sandivar, certified watch technician and owner of Fashion Watch & Clock, helps a customer at the companys kiosk in Fashion Place Mall in Murray on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. His wife and granddaughter work behind him. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News As far back as he can remember and even before that Marcelo Sandivar wanted to be a watchmaker. When he was barely 3 years old, his family tells him, he stood by his fathers workbench, mesmerized by his movements. Jorge Sandivar was a watchmaker. He lived with his wife and nine children in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Part of his home was his shop, where he worked on watches from morning to night. Marcelo was his sidekick. His father wouldnt let Marcelo touch his tools or the watches he was working on until he was older. So he learned by observation. By the time he was 5 or 6, he was handing his dad tools before Jorge even realized he needed them. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Later on, Marcelo would attend schools to learn this watch repairing specialty or that, but his real training was as homegrown as they come. If you want to see someone living their dream, drive to the Fashion Place Mall in Murray, walk down the center aisle, past H&M and Oakley and Lovesac and Banana Republic and Zara and all the rest, until, right in front of The Container Store, youll run into 63-year-old Marcelo Sandivar repairing watches. You cant miss him. He is literally in the center of the mall. His watch repair and watch-selling business, Fashion Watch & Clock, is in a portable kiosk that mall management rolls out by the information sign and benches where worn-out spouses can take a breather. I always wanted to have my own shop in the U.S., says Marcelo, proudly, as mall traffic maneuvers around his kiosk like Tour de France riders encountering a traffic circle. Dressed in a clean white lab coat, Marcelo shuts out the hubbub as he bends over his workbench and intricately works on watches left in his care. Occasionally a curious passerby will stop and watch, like Marcelo watched his father long ago. Gisel Sandivar, Yunis Sandivar, Marcelo Sandivar and Jasmine Sandivar pose for a portrait in front of their family business, Fashion Watch & Clock, in Fashion Place Mall in Murray on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Marcelos first stay in the United States was in the mid-1990s. He and his wife, Yunis, moved with their three young children, Oliver, Gisel and Benjamin, to Annandale, Virginia, where Marcelo found work repairing watches in a retail store and ended up being sponsored by the stores owners to begin the familys path to citizenship. The family later returned to Bolivia so Marcelo and Yunis could care for their aging parents. Fast forward to 2014, when Gisels husband, Alvaro, a software engineer, accepted a job offer from a Utah company and relocated to Salt Lake City. Gisel asked her parents if theyd be interested in moving here too, to support her family and help the transition. Thats why my dad is here, says Gisel. For a time, Marcelo found work repairing watches for other companies. But who he really wanted to work for was himself. In the early part of 2019, he told Gisel about his plan to open a little watch-repairing cart in the mall. The fact that he was almost 60 did not deter him. He asked her if shed support him. She said yes. When her brothers, both of whom live in Utah, heard about the plan, they were also all in. He always supported us, she says, now were all supporting his dream. In July 2019, with no fanfare, no advertising, no corporate headquarters helping with the launch, Fashion Watch & Clock opened for business in the middle of the mall. We didnt have money for a store front, says Gisel. We needed foot traffic and thats what we got. Weve grown entirely by word of mouth. Even the pandemic didnt stop them. They shut down for a time, but started right back up. The secret to their success? Marcelo cites customer service as a big reason. We want to do things the right way and keep the customer happy, he says. But the real secret, says Gisel, is her dad. In a typical cookie-cutter mall lined with the usual national brand franchise stores, a hard-working craftsman in a white lab coat bent over his workbench is an anomaly. Thats where we get customers, people walking by seeing him, says Gisel. If hes here, we make double or triple what wed make if its anybody else. The business has grown, Gisel says, to the point that mall management has given the Sandivars permission to move into a bigger, more permanent kiosk in a location about 100 feet from their present spot. If all goes as planned, theyll move by October. This has become too small, observes Marcelo as he surveys the little cart he has worked out of the past four years. Hes smiling as he says it. I know this is a good business, he adds, I have a lot of skills and a lot of knowledge. I learned it all from my father. Jasmine Sandivar and her grandfather Marcelo Sandivar, certified watch technician and owner of Fashion Watch & Clock, work on watches for customers at the companys kiosk in Fashion Place Mall in Murray on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Jasmine Sandivar has been learning how to repair watches from her grandfather since she was a small child. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Gisel Sandivar, left, and her mother Yunis Sandivar work at their family business, Fashion Watch & Clock, in Fashion Place Mall in Murray on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Marcelo Sandivar, certified watch technician and owner of Fashion Watch & Clock, poses for a portrait at the companys kiosk in Fashion Place Mall in Murray on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Marcelo Sandivar, certified watch technician and owner of Fashion Watch & Clock, works on a watch at the companys kiosk in Fashion Place Mall in Murray on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Marcelo Sandivar, certified watch technician and owner of Fashion Watch & Clock, works on a watch at the companys kiosk in Fashion Place Mall in Murray on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Marcelo Sandivar, certified watch technician and owner of Fashion Watch & Clock, works on a watch at the companys kiosk in Fashion Place Mall in Murray on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News The judicial system of Ukraine is provided with effective tools of the High Council of Justice (HJC) and the High Qualifications Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJ), which will put it in order and contribute to public confidence, and a corruption scandal in the Supreme Court can become a catalyst for systemic changes, Deputy Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Smyrnov believes. In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, answering the question about what is needed to restore at least the level of Ukrainians' trust in the courts and judges, which was before the corruption scandal with the former head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniazev, the deputy head of the President's Office said: "When a person is photographed with the Chief Justice of the United States, with the American Attorney General, and then adds up millions of dollars in his office, this situation is terrible from all points of view conceptual, mental, social, political, legal. But I would like to hope that as once it becomes a catalyst for systemic changes and shifts." According to Smyrnov, the judiciary, like other authorities, must be strong and institutionally independent, and this is a huge problem. "But due to the fact that over the past three years we have been able to build a respectable HJC, HQCJ, I hope that the judicial system is now provided with effective tools that will allow it to be brought to consciousness and in order so that it begins to live by the rules, and society begins to trust her," the deputy head of the President's Office said. According to Smyrnov, the judicial system of Ukraine is not trusted mainly because of the voice of certain public organizations, activists who "specialize" in the examination of what is happening in judicial reform. "They most often go out and say 'everything is bad there'. So we will definitely never build mutual trust between society and the judiciary. Public organizations that criticize from morning to night, in my opinion, only work off grants. Well, do something something useful, and not just criticize, become a mediator between society and the judiciary," he said. The deputy head of the President's Office named the need to return the Supreme Court to the functionality of law enforcement practice as an important point. "For the last five years, the Supreme Court has not worked as the Supreme Court - it should do constant law enforcement practice on exceptional legal problems, and not make decisions on alimony," Smyrnov said. "Thus, building a healthy judicial system is based on the work of the Supreme Court as a law enforcement court throughout the country and working in good faith, not dependent on the influence of the Prosecutor General's Office, the security forces or the President's Office, the High Council of Justice and the High Qualifications Commission of Judges. And everything that was agreed with international partners in terms of the implementation of the judicial reform, we have done it," the deputy head of the President's Office said. Officials from local, state, and national levels gathered at the Pueblo Convention Center Wednesday to celebrate the destruction of 780,000 chemical munitions at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant. The Pueblo Chemical Depot originally stored 780,078 munitions, containing 2,613 tons of mustard agent, or around 8.5% of the U.S. stockpile. The last munition in Pueblo was destroyed the morning of June 22, 2023, ahead of the treaty deadline of Sept. 30, 2023, which was stipulated by the Chemical Weapons Convention. The last munitions in the U.S.-declared stockpile were destroyed in Bluegrass, Kentucky in July. A maintenance employee loads a munition in the Munition Receiving Room at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) on Thursday, June 8, 2023. The last munition was destroyed at the site on June 22, marking the ends to a years-long mission. Pueblo mayor reflects on the end of the mission For Mayor Nick Gradisar, the completion was bittersweet. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "You've heard me say more than once, 'don't be in a hurry, take your time,' because we want those jobs to last," Gradisar joked at Wednesday's ceremony. "So it's bittersweet: we're happy to see the chemical weapons gone but what we don't want to see is when they're gone, that they take the good paying jobs that have been an asset to our community with them." Gradisar thanked the individuals who helped with the chemical destruction process. "Not only has this protected our country, but it's diversified our workforce here in Pueblo and created a lasting impact on the Pueblo community," he said. For example, Gradisar noted the strengthened mutual aid programs and joint training opportunities between first-responder agencies created through the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP), which conducted multi-agency joint exercises every May in Pueblo, testing agencies' responses to simulated disasters involving chemical contamination. Gradisar also noted that the PCAPP program has had a massive economic impact on the city of Pueblo. This project has employed 1,566 individuals with a local payroll, as of May 2023, of $2.69 billion. In total, the project has spent $548 million with Colorado companies, further strengthening both state and local economies. Gradisar expressed his hope that those employed by the program will continue to call Pueblo their home through the transition process. 'You have made this nation proud': VP Kamala Harris acknowledges accomplishment in letter Pueblo Chemical Depot staff celebrate the destruction of the final chemical weapons in Colorado on June 22, 2023. Deborah Rosenblum, assistant U.S. secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs, stated she was in awe of the "amazing, landmark accomplishment." "Though the path to success was not without its obstacles, together, you were able to accomplish this extraordinary milestone, ensuring maximum protection of the public, the personnel involved in the destruction effort, and the environment has always been a top priority for the U.S. Department of Defense," she said. "This milestone would not have been possible without the efforts of the program executive officer for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, Mr. Michael Abae, the partnership with our contractors Bechtel and Amentum, and the determination of an amazing workforce in Colorado who remained committed and focused until the final munition was destroyed prior to the Chemical Weapons Convention commitment deadline." Rosenblum noted that the mission was not yet over, as closure and transition operations are expected to take a number of years to complete, and that her office would continue to support the ongoing closure operations. Finally, Rosenblum read a letter from Vice President Kamala Harris, thanking and congratulating the PCAPP team. "To the community of the Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant, I extend my sincere congratulations to all of you for helping the United States achieve this critical milestone, the verified destruction of the last declared chemical weapons stockpile in the world," Harris wrote in the letter. "Since 2015 your team has shown the utmost care for the safety of each other, your neighbors in Colorado, and the environment, as you completed this noble mission." The vice president wrote that the achievement "underscores the United States Commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention and the advancement of international rules and norms." "For years to come, we will look back with gratitude for your service and a deeper resolve to prevent the stockpiling, production, and use of chemical weapons around the world," Harris concluded. "Thanks to you, we are one step closer to realizing a world free of chemical weapons. You have made this nation proud." Gov. Jared Polis praises efforts of Pueblo community Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also praised the Pueblo community in its role in protecting national security, fulfilling global commitments, and creating a safer world. Polis briefly touched on Colorado's military heritage and current military commitments. "We were recently announced to continue to be the home of Space Command in Colorado Springs, we have over 400,000 veterans who have chosen to make Colorado their forever home ... Pueblo, Home of Heroes, has the largest number of living recipients of the Medal of Honor. We in southern Colorado and Colorado as a whole really excel in answering that call of duty when needed," Polis said. "From Congress's decision to destroy the arsenal to the process of destroying the munitions in a way that emphasizes the safety of the community and is environmentally sound, to the final stage with the destruction of the remaining 10% in Pueblo and Kentucky, it might be seen as marking an ending to the legacy of the Pueblo Chemical Depot. The memory of those who served here will live on through the history of our state and nation." However, the governor stated that it also marked a beginning, and reassured those in attendance that they were entering other areas of the workforce at an opportune time. "We have record-low unemployment with two job openings for every unemployed person. I'm confident that just as the men and women who do this work have the backs of Pueblo and Colorado, we'll have your backs as you enter the workforce to seek your next opportunities to thrive, in the great state of Colorado and beyond." During the ceremony, Walton Levi, site project manager for PCAPP, was awarded the army's Superior Civilian Service Medal, for his outstanding performance in his duties as site manager from June 2019 to May 2023. "Mr. Levi led a team of government and systems contractor employees to complete the destruction of more than 780,000 obsolete chemical munitions stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot while ensuring the safety of the workforce, our community, and maximum protection to our environment," said Craig Elliot Cisne, master of ceremonies. Flag presented to county commissioners as token of DOD's appreciation Commissioner Eppie Griego is formally presented with a flag by PCD Commander Col. Rodney McCutcheon on Aug. 30, 2023 A flag was also presented to the chair of the Board of Pueblo County Commissioners, Eppie Griego, as a token of the Department of Defense's appreciation to Pueblo County for the "many decades its citizens supported the Pueblo Chemical Depot's mission, and as our ready partner for CSEPP," said Kingston Reif, deputy assistant secretary of defense for threat reduction and arms control. The flag, which was at one point flown over the Pentagon, was originally given by the Department of Defense to the project as a symbol of the department's trust in those working at the depot to safely destroy the chemical weapons stockpile, and has remained in the plant control room since 2015. Questions, comments, or story tips? Contact Justin at jreutterma@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @jayreutter1. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com. This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo celebrates end of chemical weapons destruction mission Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a visit to the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 12, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. Copyright 2023, Des Moines Register and Tribune Co. A majority of voters likely to attend the Iowa Republican caucuses believe that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election over President Joe Biden , a new Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows. Asked whether you believe or not believe Donald Trumps claims he won the 2020 presidential election, 51% of likely Republican caucusgoers say they believe them, 41% do not and 8% are unsure. Among self-identified Republicans, factoring out the independents, Democrats and members of other parties who say they plan to caucus with the GOP, the portion who believe Trumps claims is even higher, 60%, while 33% do not. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Those beliefs linger despite the lack of evidence of substantial voter fraud in the 2020 election and dozens of court cases in which judges, some of whom Trump appointed, threw out fraud claims. Trump continues to push those unsupported claims of a stolen contest and now faces two criminal indictments accusing him and his allies of trying to overturn the results. The polling shows that the proportion of likely Republican caucusgoers who believe Trump won the 2020 election increased after he was indicted in Georgia on conspiracy charges to overturn election results there. In the two days of polling before the Georgia indictment, 47% of likely GOP caucusgoers said they believed Trumps claims he won the 2020 election. In the three days of polling after the indictment, those who believed he won rose to 53%. Poll respondent Diane Bird, a 55-year-old from Fort Madison, said she will support Trump in the caucuses and doesnt believe the results of the 2020 election. That election so discouraged her that she briefly decided she would no longer vote, she said, before later changing her mind. I do believe that (Trump) was cheated, Bird said. Theres many people that I know that call Biden the illegitimate president, that he cheated. And I believe that because I saw it on TV. Mike Brennaman, a 55-year-old retiree from Kalona, previously backed Trump but has moved on, now looking at North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. He said he was exasperated by Trumps continual claims about 2020, saying he should go away. He says he won. He lost, Brennaman said. I mean, come on, accept it. The poll of 406 likely Republican caucusgoers was conducted Aug. 13 through 17 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. The findings indicate that Trumps frequent though baseless accusations since November 2020 of a stolen election and widespread fraud have left an imprint on much of the Republican Party in Iowa particularly those who continue to prefer Trump in the 2024 campaign cycle. Among respondents who name Trump as their first-choice candidate, 83% say they believe his claims of winning the 2020 election. Other groups that saw high support for Trumps 2020 claims include those with an income less than $70,000 (69%), evangelical Christians (62%) and women aged 55 and over (63%). But majorities in several demographic groups do not believe his claims about the 2020 election: 52% of independents and 52% of those with a college degree or more education. J. Ann Selzer, who conducted the Iowa Poll, said although some of those groups are small, theyre worth monitoring to see if support for the former presidents claims wavers in the future. Its always interesting to see if they stay there or move in and out of alignment with the trend, Selzer said. After the 2020 election, Trump and his allies filed upward of 60 lawsuits in state and federal courts aiming to overturn results, according to USA TODAY. Almost all of them were defeated. In the years since, Trump has continued to assert with no evidence that the election was rigged and is now charged in two criminal cases connected to his efforts to overturn the results. In Washington, D.C., Trump is accused of derailing the federal transfer of power between November 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021; and in Georgia, of urging officials to overturn the states results in his favor. Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier. About the Iowa Poll The Iowa Poll, conducted Aug. 13-17, 2023, for The Des Moines Register, NBC News and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 406 registered voters in Iowa who say they will definitely or probably attend the 2024 Republican caucuses. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted 2,953 randomly selected voters from the Iowa secretary of states voter registration list by telephone. The sample was supplemented with additional phone number lookups. Interviews were administered in English. Responses for all contacts were adjusted by age, sex and congressional district to reflect their proportions among voters in the list. Questions based on the sample of 406 voters likely to attend the 2024 Iowa Republican caucuses have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents such as by gender or age have a larger margin of error. Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register, NBC News and Mediacom is prohibited. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Most likely GOP caucusgoers think Trump won in 2020, Iowa Poll finds MAS chief Ravi Menon will step down as managing director on 31 December 2023. (PHOTO: Reuters) SINGAPORE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) chief Ravi Menon will step down as the central bank's managing director, in a development that comes just over three months after he was reappointed for a two-year term. In a statement on Monday (4 September), MAS said he will be retiring "from the Singapore Public Service and step down as Managing Director, MAS as well as from the MAS Board on 31 December 2023". MAS also announced that "the President of the Republic of Singapore has appointed Mr Chia Der Jiun as Managing Director (Designate), MAS from 1 November 2023 to 31 December 2023, and as Managing Director, MAS from 1 January 2024 to 31 May 2026". Chia will also be appointed a director on the MAS Board on 1 January. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Chia is currently Permanent Secretary (Development) at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). He "had previously spent 18 years at MAS, where he played a leadership role across MAS' major functions, including monetary policy implementation, reserve management, banking supervision, prudential policy, and macroeconomic surveillance", the central bank said. In 2011, Chia was seconded to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for two years as Executive Director for Southeast Asia. In that role, he contributed to board discussions and decisions on issues such as capital flow management, IMF financing programmes, and financial stability assessments, MAS said. The central bank also thanked Menon for his contributions. "The board of directors, management and staff of MAS thank Mr Menon for his visionary leadership as MAS' Managing Director since 2011 and outstanding contributions during his 29 years with MAS." Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Yahoo Singapore Telegram Pinky, Tallahassee's favorite flamingo, may have some new friends. Local birders visiting the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday spotted a family of flamingos that arrived after Hurricane Idalia. "Imagine my surprise while checking out the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge to find a flamboyance of flamingos," Lisa Lazarus Brown said in an email after returning from the refuge with photos. A group of flamingos is known as a flamboyance. Six flamingos check out Lighthouse Pool at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. "Pinky was busy and tucked away at Stoney Bayou," Brown said. "The new group of three adults and adults juveniles looked a little confused and hesitant as they slowly walked back and forth in the Lighthouse Pool. The adults did a little stomping for food while the juveniles looked on. In a few instances, the adults nipped at the youngsters as if to tell them, go find some food." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This week flamingos showed up in unusual spots around Florida as dozens of the birds were reported along the west coast just as Hurricane Idalia chugged northward through the Gulf of Mexico. One sighting was at the Sanibel Causeway. A group of six flamingos, "a flamboyance," was spotted at Lighthouse Pond at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. Pinky abides: Pinky, the St. Marks refuge's celebrity flamingo, has rock star appeal for birders It was the first time a flamingo had ever been documented in places like Alachua County. One scientist thinks the birds are from the Yucatan, that they were traveling from Mexico to Cuba, and that Idalia simply blew them off course. "I guess the question is: where are these flamingos going, and whatever happened to Pinky," said Keith Laakkonen, director of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples, on Wednesday. Theyve been seen at three different places today, the Sanibel Causeway, in Punta Gorda and Tarpon Springs. (Tallahassee folks know that as of this week Pinky abides and is still calling the St. Marks Refuge home.) Good binoculars, a spotting scope, or a camera with a strong zoom lens are often required to view Pinky, an American flamingo, who arrived at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in 2018. No one knows exactly how many of the great omnivores are in Florida right now, but some ornithologists have speculated on social media that there may be as many as 70 of the pink-and-gray birds that were blown off course. Reports and photos of flocks of flamingos came from Bunche Beach, Blind Pass, Charlotte Harbor, Stump Pass, Punta Gorda and north all the way to Clearwater, and now St. Marks. And they came here with Hurricane Idalia. Storm birds: Florida Audubon scientist: 'Where are these flamingos going, and whatever happened to Pinky?' Three adult and three juvenile flamingos at Lighthouse Pool on Thursday, Aug. 31 2023 Theres no way theyre not storm birds, Laakonen said. The question is: where did they come from? Was it Mexico or Cuba? There are good populations in the Yucatan, and several of the birds that were seen were juveniles. So, these birds are from a breeding population. As Brown wondered on Thursday, "Will they find Pinky? Will Pinky find them? There was a little honking going on during the time I was there." After Hurricane Idalia blew through, a group of six flamingos arrived at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. Then on Thursday evening a new report came in from refuge observer Matt Johnstone. "At 6 p.m. the 6 flamingos flew out the SW corner of Lighthouse Pool. They dropped low behind the trees and my last glimpse through the trees had them flying across or perhaps even up the St Marks River," Johnstone said in an email. "The way I see it, the new theme song for the whole flamboyance is, "Do I stay or do I go?" We'll see what happens! I know everyone will be watching," Brown said. Chad Gillis of the Fort Myers News-Press contributed to this report. Contact Martha Gruender at mgruender@tallahassee.com. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Flamingos land at Florida's St. Marks Wildlife Refuge after Idalia Reward totals for information leading to the capture of Danelo Cavalcante, who escaped a Pennsylvania prison on Aug. 31, 2023, are up to $20,000. Law enforcement officials said Monday they are still hunting a convicted murderer who escaped a Pennsylvania prison last week, scouring a small area near the prison where they believe the man is hiding. Authorities are searching for 34-year-old Danelo Cavalcante, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for stabbing 33-year-old Deborah Brandao to death in 2021 while her 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son were present. He was awaiting transfer to a state facility when he escaped Chester County Prison just outside Philadelphia on Thursday. Law enforcement officials said eyewitnesses have spotted Cavalcante several times including once by a state trooper who briefly chased but was unable to capture the fugitive in a region around Pocopson Township. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "We have secured that area, and continue to actively search it," Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens told reporters Monday afternoon. "We are confident, if he is in there, we will find him." Prison escapee has 'very little to lose' Bivens said area residents should familiarize themselves of a photo of the suspect, last seen wearing a white T-shirt, gray shorts and white sneakers. Area residents should be aware of surroundings, check on neighbors and home security cameras and avoid nearby wooded areas where Cavalcante might be hiding. Because many people in the area might be returning from holiday trips, Bivens urged them to call police if they have noticed any signs of disturbance at their home. Police have announced up to a $10,000 reward for information that leads to Cavalcante's capture. He's also wanted for a 2017 murder in his native Brazil, the district attorney's office said. Officials didn't say how Cavalcante escaped, but said he was last seen by an eyewitness Sunday afternoon in Pocopson Township. The acting warden of the prison, Howard Holland, earlier said Cavalcante "physically escaped," but said he didn't cut any fences to do so. Bivens told reporters the fugitive is "desperate" and "has very little to lose at this point." He had been in a relationship with Brandao for about a year and a half and "engaged in a horrific pattern of domestic violence," leading up to the murder, Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said. Cavalcante stabbed Brandao 38 times in broad daylight, she said. It took a jury just 15 minutes to convict Cavalcante of killing Brandao. Prosecutors said he was angry she planned to disclose a murder charge he was facing in Brazil. When authorities showed Brandao's daughter a photo of Cavalcante to identify, she said, "Thats him, thats the guy that killed my mom ... Please get him and put him in prison," the Pottstown Mercury reported in 2021. Police have secured a voice recording from Cavalcante's mother urging him to peacefully surrender. They have played the recording in the search area in an effort to capture him, Bivens said. Contributing: Jeanine Santucci This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Police narrow search for Pennsylvania prison escapee Danelo Cavalcante (Reuters) -Kim Jong Un plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying Moscow with weapons for the war in Ukraine, as Russia says it is seeking closer military ties with North Korea. In a rare trip abroad, Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet Putin, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing U.S. and allied sources. While in Vladivostok, a port city not far from North Korea, the two leaders would discuss Kim's sending Russia artillery shells and antitank missiles in exchange for Moscow's advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the newspaper reported. At a time when the United States has expressed concern about growing military ties between the two countries, the news of Kim's planned visit came after Russia said it was discussing holding joint military exercises with North Korea. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Why not, these are our neighbours. There's an old Russian saying: you don't choose your neighbours and it's better to live with your neighbours in peace and harmony," Interfax news agency quoted Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu , as saying on Monday. When asked about the possibility of joint exercises between the two countries, he said they were "of course" being discussed, it said. South Korean news agency Yonhap earlier cited South Korea's intelligence agency as saying Shoigu, who visited Pyongyang in July, had proposed to Kim that their countries hold a naval exercise, along with China. COLD WAR ALLIES The Kremlin said last week that Moscow intends to deepen its "mutually respectful relations" with Pyongyang, one of its close Cold War allies and also one of a small handful of countries to back Russia's proclaimed annexation of parts of Ukraine in 2022. The New York Times reported that Kim could possibly go to Moscow, although that was not certain. Kim's father, the reclusive Kim Jong Il who famously shunned planes and travelled by armoured train only, last visited Russia just months before his death in 2011. Shoigu visited North Korea for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War in July, celebrated in North Korea as "Victory Day," with South Korea's National Intelligence Service saying that he appeared to have held a private meeting with Kim, Yonhap reported. The United States said last week it was concerned that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea were advancing actively, and that Shoigu had tried during his visit to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. On Saturday, Russia's ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, told TASS news agency that he was not aware of any plans for North Korea to participate in trilateral military drills with China and Russia, but that in his opinion it would be "appropriate" in light of U.S.-led exercises in the region. Russia and North Korea have recently called for closer military ties but North Korea has denied having any "arms dealings" with Russia. The United States recently imposed sanctions on three entities it accused of being tied to arms deals between North Korea and Russia. North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006 and had been testing various missiles over recent years but it rarely holds military exercises with its neighbours. The United States and its ally, South Korea, hold regular military exercises, which North Korea denounces as preparations for war against it. (Reporting by Hyunsu Yim, Mark Trevelyan and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sandra Maler) A pair of anglers spooked a grizzly bear when they stumbled upon it in the Montana wilderness, and it charged them, officials said. One of the anglers shot and killed the bear, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said in a Sept. 1 news release. The anglers were walking through thick vegetation Aug. 30 along a creek on private land in the Tom Miner Basin, about 10 miles north of the western border of Yellowstone National Park, officials said. Thats when they stumbled into the grizzlys path, and the bear charged. The adult male grizzly was likely acting defensively in the surprise, close encounter, officials said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Only four days prior, a pair of hunters out scouting for the upcoming hunting season came within 15 feet of a mama grizzly with her cub, about 215 miles northwest in a dense section of the Flathead National Forest, McClatchy News previously reported. That grizzly also charged, and both hunters shot and killed her. One of the hunters was also shot in the process, officials said. Montana is bear country, officials said in the Sept. 1 release. Grizzly bear populations continue to become denser and more widespread in Montana, increasing the likelihood that residents and recreationists will encounter them in more places each year. Bears are more active in late summer and autumn as they eat as much as they can to prepare for their winter hibernation which also overlaps with hunting season and other fall recreation activities, officials said. To avoid negative bear encounters, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks experts advise people outdoors in bear country to: Carry bear spray, and have it out and ready to use at the first sight of a bear. Travel in groups, and make a lot of noise to alert bears to your presence. Stay far away from animal carcasses that attract bears. Mind food storage orders from local land management agencies. Never approach any bear you encounter, and leave the area when its safe. Keep garbage, bird feeders, pet food and other smelly items that attract bears in a secure building where bears cant access it. Keep garbage locked away until the day its collected, or use certified bear-resistant garbage containers. Dont feed wildlife ever. Its illegal to feed bears in Montana. Bears that become conditioned to human food lose their instinctual foraging behavior and become a threat to peoples safety. Hunters and anglers that hunt and fish in areas with grizzlies including locations west of Billings should take extra precautions, such as: Be extra cautious around creeks and areas with limited visibility, such as dense forests and areas with thick vegetation. Be mindful of bear signs. Hunt or fish with a group of people and make localized noise to avoid sneaking up on bears. Keep in mind that elk calls and cover scents which cut down on the smell of humans can attract bears. Bring the right equipment and the proper amount of people youll need to be able to field dress successfully hunted game and remove the meat from the area as quickly as possible. Hang any meat you have to leave behind at least 10 feet off the ground and 150 yards from the gut pile. Make sure its viewable from at least 200 yards away. When you come back for the remaining meat, examine it for any signs of disturbance using binoculars. If it has been touched or if a bear is in the area, leave and call Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Grizzly bears are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, officials said. Hunters kill bear after surprising her and cub, officials say. One of them is shot too Grizzly bear found shot and left for dead in river. Canadian officials want answers Watch as clueless tourists crowd mama grizzly and cubs in Yellowstone National Park In the near future, a bill will be sent to the Verkhovna Rada concerning the optimization of the work of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court with a reduction in the number of judges of the chamber, it is also necessary to specify the criteria for the integrity of judges, Deputy Head of the Presidents Office of Ukraine Andriy Smirnov said. "We and our colleagues in the parliament have certain developments that will get to the parliament in the near future. First of all, after the scandal with Kniazev, they will concern the optimization of the work of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court," Smirnov said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. According to him, the essence of this bill will be the possibility of reducing the judges of the Grand Chamber from 21 to 9 people. "It would be appropriate for each cassation to engage two judges in the Grand Chamber (that's eight) and a secretary of the Chamber. And the Chairman of the Supreme Court should not be a member of the Grand Chamber. Because, in my opinion, this is a clear conflict of interests: the chairman of the Supreme Court is ex officio a member of the High Council of Justice (HCJ) and at the same time the Grand Chamber considers complaints against the HCJ decision," the deputy head of the President's Office explained. Smirnov added that working communications on this bill have already been conducted with chairman of the Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko "he takes this idea with absolute pleasure." The Deputy Head of the President's Office stressed that all management decisions in the Supreme Court are now being made "taking into account the weighty professional experience of the leadership and with a deep understanding of the issues." "I also believe that it is necessary to return to the model of law enforcement work of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, which would be a guideline for the work of lower courts," Smirnov added. As for the criteria for the integrity of judges, according to the deputy head of the the Presidents Office, they should be clarified by law. "The criteria of integrity are spelled out in the Constitution and in the law On the judicial system and the status of judges, but they are not specified, but written in broad terms. It is necessary to specify these criteria in the law on the judicial system," he said. ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's top economic policymakers are visiting Russia for meetings on Monday, a source said, travelling along with President Tayyip Erdogan who will meet Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to discuss Black Sea grain exports. The source, a Turkish official who requested anonymity, said Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and Hafize Gaye Erkan , the central bank governor, will attend meetings in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, where Erdogan is to meet Putin. The travels of Simsek and Erkan - who were named to their roles in June to orchestrate a U-turn to more orthodox economic policies - had not been previously announced. It was unclear which officials they would meet and what would be discussed. The central bank declined to comment. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement When the leaders meet later on Monday, Erdogan aims to convince Putin to return to a Ukraine grain-export deal that helped ease a global food crisis. Moscow pulled out in July. NATO member Turkey has close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv. It has opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine while also opposing Western sanctions on Moscow and has advanced economic cooperation with Russia since the invasion early last year. Since June, Simsek and Erkan have moved to roll back regulations, partly free up the currency and launched an aggressive rate-hiking cycle. Simsek travelled to the UAE ahead of a $50-billion investment deal in July between Turkey and the Gulf state. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Daren Butler) Climate change is global but the actions we take here in Sacramento play a role in shaping our environmental future. The Sacramento Bee is undertaking a collaboration with you to examine and celebrate bold and ambitious climate actions that have yielded evidence that theyre making progress here and elsewhere. The goal is to engage you and your neighbors in a hopeful discussion about how we can face climate change with urgency and equity. Some homeless people whose tents were removed in mid-July from midtowns tree-lined street declined the citys offer of a space at Miller Park Safe Ground because they worried about being on asphalt in the middle of the sun. A federal judge later barred the city from clearing homeless encampments due to extreme heat conditions, an order that is currently set to expire on Sept. 1. Residents who live outside experience an intense version of the extreme heat that affects all of Sacramento. In 2021, a report done by nonprofit news organization Climate Central ranked Sacramento as the 11th worst U.S. city for the urban heat island effect, a phenomenon where paved surfaces and dark-colored roofs trap the suns heat. Sacramentos temperatures averaged about 7 degrees hotter than less developed surrounding areas. Last summer, a 116-degree-day set a new temperature-high record for the city. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement These Sacramento neighborhoods feel more heat than others. Where does your area land? Some shade structures and misters are set up at Miller Park, according to city officials, to combat the rising temperatures. But what if there was a way the city of Sacramento could quickly cool down the ground and the surrounding area with just a bucket of paint and a few paint rollers? Tents bake in the afternoon sun as temperatures hit 91 degrees cooler than many recent days at the Safe Ground at Miller Park in Sacramento in August. Communities in partnership with the City of Sacramento. Homeless advocates say there is no protection from the extreme heat at the site because most of the tents are on hot asphalt in direct sunlight. Could extremely white paint help with Sacramentos extremely hot summers? Enter, white paint. Regular white paint is already good at reflecting the sun, and has been used to cool buildings in Greece and even rooftops in New York City for decades. But in 2021, researchers at Purdue University released a reflective paint thats even better like, Guinness Book of World Records better. The ultra-white coating can reflect just over 98% of sunlight, making the surfaces temperature cooler than its surroundings. In comparison, commercial white paints currently on the market generally reflect about 80-90% of sunlight and are often still warm to the touch. Its cool to see that people are interested in this, said Emily Barber, a doctoral candidate at Purdue University working on the paint. Were looking forward to being able to get this product to people and hopefully making an impact and knowing what that impact is which is my job. In terms of effect on temperatures, the paint, when tested on sunny days, kept outdoor surfaces 8 degrees cooler than surrounding temperatures, and at night, surfaces were up to 19 degrees cooler. Light-reflecting white paints currently on the market do their job by reflecting visible light and near-infrared wavelengths, which together make up a large portion of the suns rays. But Xiulin Ruans Purdue lab focused on the light particles that were slipping through the cracks: ultraviolet. Barium sulfate, a compound that is used for sunscreen, oil paints and medical radiology is known to reflect UV rays. So, the team switched out the titanium dioxide often used as a base for commercial paints, as well as varying the particle sizes in the paint to reflect a wider range of wavelengths. Theyre not the first group to try something like this, according to Barber. But one of the reasons that their lab has gotten national attention is because theyre trying to match the commercial process for paint manufacturing as much as possible Barber said their goal is to bring this really exciting technology from the lab to the world. We cant paint over all our problems Moving the ultra-white paint from the lab to the world takes away a certain amount of control from scientists and it can introduce new challenges or complications in the application of the material. Purdues paint likely wont be released commercially for at least a year, and one of the reasons is that theyre still in the process of making the paint more durable and better at resisting dirt. Part of why the paint doesnt reflect even more sunlight is because a higher concentration of barium sulfate particles could lead to the paint cracking and peeling more easily. Research done in 2016 by UC Davis researchers, in collaboration with researchers in China, on the durability and life cycle of reflective coatings for pavement though not specifically Purdues ultra-white paint found that to be effective, reflective coatings may have to be reapplied anywhere from every few months to every few years. However, this may be different for the final paint composition that Purdue releases to markets. Even if the paint sticks, some studies have found reflective materials to have unintended side effects. Research in Los Angeles in 2019 found that city roads covered in various reflective coatings did their job as advertised in cooling the ground. But by reflecting the sunlight upward, rather than absorbing it as regular pavement does, the pedestrians walking on the streets took in some of the heat themselves, making them feel warmer. And as far as the cooling paints effect on the lives of homeless people in Sacramento who are living in tents and are concerned about hot pavement, Barber said there are even more factors to take into account. The paint works due to its large reflectivity, Barber said. Because of that, it can only make a huge difference when there is something to reflect say, sunlight. If someone places a tent on (painted asphalt), they will neglect the ability of that particular area to cool down below surrounding temperatures, since the surface is no longer receiving light to reflect. Still, she noted that the force of heat transfer would likely still make the ground underneath tents feel cooler because of the cooler surrounding ground. I wish there was a clear answer, Barber said. It varies case-by-case, but it all depends on the science that makes the paint possible. A lot of the answers researchers have right now to the question of whether the paint would be a net benefit to cities, according to Barber, are educated guesses. Although they know a lot about the paint and how it works, there are certain things we wont know until the paint is tested in a more large-scale way out of the lab. But their goals really are that broad to someday have global application. While urban heat solutions are a viable application of Purdues research, they initially pursued the idea with the goal of combating climate change. Paint your roof, solve climate change? The way Jeremy Munday, a UC Davis professor who researches clean energy, put it, the Earth both absorbs and emits heat. The Earth is currently heating up because greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide trap heat in Earths atmosphere, causing it to take in more energy than it is able to send back out to space. If the Earth absorbed less energy or emitted more energy, it would cool down, Munday said. So can we get the earth to emit more energy, so that it can start cooling itself down, or at least not heat up anymore? Thats the question that Purdues lab, along with other researchers across the world, are trying to answer. We can theoretically stop the Earth from heating up, Munday said. But in order to do so, he estimates that we would have to coat 1-2% of the Earths surface in ultra-white paint or in other words, approximately the entire United States: cornfields, Rocky Mountains, Tower Bridge and all. And as long as carbon dioxide levels are rising, wed need to paint more and more surfaces with the reflective paint in order to keep up with the amount of energy or heat Earth is absorbing. Its not exactly a practical plan to execute. And even if it was, Munday warned that if certain regions suddenly became a couple of degrees cooler, there may be some hard-to-predict effect on weather patterns and precipitation. So what would a practical application of this new material look like? A reasonable place to start, Munday said, would be to cover rooftops with the new paint, and then begin to consider other surfaces where a large amount of sunlight commonly reflects, and cover those. Q&A: How could new paint lower Sacramento air conditioning bills and fight climate change? Reflective paint, or any other super-reflective surface, wont remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that was never what they were intended to do. Munday said he sees that as almost a separate problem from the one that Purdues paint takes on. The real solution is that we have to stop burning fossil fuels, Munday said. And we probably need to get rid of the CO2 that weve already put up in the atmosphere, too. In the meantime, we need something as a short-term fix. Even if reflective cooling via paint is employed as a solution by cities like Sacramento in the future, it might be just one of a combination of tools used to beat the heat, Munday said. But one of the main benefits the paint offers is that if it doesnt work, or has unexpected side effects, theres a simple solution: Paint your roof back to a different color. This story is made possible, in part, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network . In the interior of the Escuelita in Granger, Wash., Cesar Chavez (center) begins to speak to a group of farmworkers and supporters. Naloxone is a lifesaving drug that reverses opioid overdoses, often administered as a nasal spray, but it could also be an injection. (Daniel Kim / The Seattle Times) Head of the press center of the Operational Command Pivden (South) Natalia Humeniuk, commenting on the information about the detonation of Russian drones on the territory of Romania, noted that the enemy has repeatedly used the geographical feature of the region, directing drones as close as possible to the state border. "Indeed, the distance there is so small that the error of the barrage projectile itself, which is a kamikaze drone, and combat work, and its consequences can really threaten the neighboring country. The enemy, knowing this, has repeatedly used just such a geographical feature of this region, directing drones exactly as close as possible to the state border," she said at an online briefing at the Media Center Ukraine Ukrinform. She noted that this fact was recorded, and the neighboring country was informed that such a danger exists. "And we have stated, have recorded such a hit. That is, from our side, Ukraine as an open country of open politics, open information. We, without hiding, openly informed about everything. Further reaction should be followed by the neighboring country," she stressed. Earlier, spokesperson of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Andriy Demchenko, in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, said that Ukrainian border guards recorded the detonation of two Russian drones on the territory of Romania and informed their Romanian colleagues about it through certain communication channels. Currently, no response has yet been received from the Romanian side. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko, commenting on the incident, said that "this is another confirmation that the Russian missile terror poses a huge threat not only to the security of Ukraine, but also to the security of neighboring countries, including NATO member states." "We urge our partners to accelerate the provision of Ukraine with additional modern missile and air defense systems, as well as combat aircraft, which will strengthen the protection of the infrastructure of Ukraine, as well as neighboring states," Nikolenko wrote. 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. (Sondaj) Ce ii sperie cel mai tare pe angajatii romani. Pe lista temerilor este munca peste program Concedierile, taierile de salariu si munca peste program ii sperie cel mai tare pe angajatii romani in aceasta perioada, arata un sondaj realizat in luna octombrie de o platforma de recrutare online."In [citeste mai departe] Ukraine plans to agree with Slovakia on free transfer of military equipment agreement The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a draft agreement with the government of the Slovak Republic on free transfer of military equipment. According to instruction No. 768 dated September 1, the government authorized Ambassador of Ukraine to Slovakia Myroslav Kastran to sign the document. It is not specified in the draft agreement what exactly weapons were meant. Stiri pe aceeasi tema - Finance Minister Marcel Bolos said on Monday in the central city of Alba Iulia that the implementation of new fiscal measures, such as restricting and capping public expenditures, are expected to save 8 billion RON by the end of the year, so that Romania does not risk having its European funding blocked."We, - Presedintele Ucrainei, Volodimir Zelenski, a sosit miercuri, in premiera, la sediul NATO de la Bruxelles, in cautare de mai multe sisteme de aparare antiaeriana, artilerie si munitie care sa ajute Ucraina sa treaca peste o noua iarna de razboi, relateaza Reuters . In prima sa vizita la sediul NATO de - Minister of the Environment, Waters and Forestry Mircea Fechet will participate today in the final conference of the "Integrated Control of Nutrient Pollution" project, the opening ceremony of the Scientific Forum of the VI Regional Association (Europe) and at the official opening of the SAB 2023 - The Minister of Development, Public Works and Administration (MDLPA), Adrian-Ioan Vestea, signed, on Monday, 56 new financing contracts through the Anghel Saligny National Investment Program, totaling 666,756,305.43 RON.The contracts, signed together with some of the beneficiaries of the projects, - Evironment official: Romania will assume climate neutrality in 2050 time horizonClimate neutrality, as assumed by Romania in the 2050 time horizon, is not a nice-sounding goal to talk about on a political level, but a goal that if we do not achieve we will not be able to survive, Secretary of State - EnviMin Fechet: There are only 70 days left before the Deposit Return System is commissionedMinister of the Environment, Waters and Forestry Mircea Fechet told the "PRIA Competition and Circular Economy" conference on Thursday that a Deposit Return System (DRS) will come into operation in 70 days, - Approximately 250 French and Luxembourgian soldiers and 65 pieces of defence hardware from the NATO Battle Group in Romania will participate, August 14- 18, in the DEPLOYEX exercise at the Babadag shooting range, the Defence Ministry (MApN) reported on Friday.The deployment of the troops and hardware - Romania is working to find more ways to help transport Ukrainian grain, the countrys foreign minister said Monday, describing the security situation in the Black Sea region as quite serious, according to Politico. More than half of Ukrainian exports using the EUs solidarity lane corridors set up Stiri pe aceeasi tema - Senate president Nicolae Ciuca said on Thursday evening that he believes very much in the National Liberal Party (PNL)'s capacity, in the PNL people, in the PNL's determination to carry forward its history the Liberals enjoy talking about. Nicolae Ciuca was asked on public broadcaster TVR Info whether - Liberalii se intaresc inainte de alegeri. PNL se apropie de PMP in incercarea de a-l atrage de partea sa. In acelasi timp, surse politice sustin ca discutiile si fuziunea cu ALDE sunt intr-un stadiu avansat. PNL are totodata in vedere si alte discutii, spun surse din presa. E vorba de Dacian Ciolos - PNL requests urgent creation of therapeutic communities for social reintegration of drug usersPNL (National Liberal Party) requests the urgent creation of therapeutic communities for the purpose of social reinsertion of drug users, the general secretary of the party, Lucian Bode, announced on Monday, - The Liberals will continue to attract right-wing forces, National Liberal Party (PNL) secretary general Lucian Bode told Liberal women in Eforie Nord on Friday, recalling the merger by absorption of the PNL with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) party."The right-wing in Romania means - PNL's Bogdan: Increasing dividend tax, lowering ceiling for micro-entrepises, red lines for PNLNational Liberal Party (PNL) First Deputy Chairman Rares Bogdan stressed on Monday that maintaining the tax rate on dividends at 8% and keeping the 500,000 euro threshold for micro-enterprises are "red - MP of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) Dan Tanasa says that the measures suggested by the government to cut public spending would be "toxic" to the Romanian business community, and that and that there are concrete, immediate solutions that can be taken to help narrow the government deficit."They - The Government approved on Thursday the decision on setting up the National Cancer Registry, government spokesman Mihai Constantin announced."The Government Decision on the establishment of the National Cancer Registry was approved, which will shortly lead to a unitary collection of information on The Italian prime minister and the presidents of Serbia and Bulgaria will attend and address the Budapest Demographic Summit this month, the Presidents office said on its website. Organised for the fifth time, the most important international strategic forum featuring pro-family advocates will be held on September 14-15, the office said in a statement. The summit will also be addressed by eminent international personalities including clinical psychologist Jordan B. Peterson from Canada, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics James J. Heckman from the United States and evangelist Nick Vujicic from Australia. This year, 60 heads of state and government, church leaders, opinion leaders, media personalities, thinkers and NGO leaders from four continents will share their thoughts on how to create a secure and predictable future for families and future generations, according to the events website. Ukraine is ready to share with Romania photographic evidence of the fall and detonation of Russia's Shahed kamikaze drones on its territory, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has said. "We assert authoritatively and with evidence that it was the Shaheds that flew in. It makes no sense to deny this, because there is photographic evidence that it fell there. And we are ready to share it," he said on Monday during a conversation with journalists. According to the minister, the Romanian side has now taken a break to fully investigate the incident and draw conclusions. At the same time, he noted that "there is a trend on the part of Romania to try not to escalate the interpretation of certain events in order not to be drawn into a direct conflict." "This applies not only to the events in Ukraine, but also when Poland suffered from an artificial influx of migrants from Belarus and tried to raise a wave in NATO, they also said to it: let's not aggravate it too much," Kuleba said. Also, according to him, the Romanian authorities will not only have to draw conclusions about what happened, but also declare what it will do about it. "That's why we can see such a very cautious reaction on their part," the minister said. As reported, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced the fall and detonation of a Shahed drone on the Romanian territory during the night (on the night of September 4) massive attack by the Russian Federation in the area of Izmail port. Later, the Romanian Ministry of Defense "categorically denied" the information about the fall of Russian drones on the territory of Romania on the night of September 4, stating that in none of the episodes did the strike weapons used by the Russian Federation pose a direct military threat to their national territory or territorial waters. An agreement has been signed by Hungary and Romania to open two new border crossings, between Kubekhaza and Beba Veche (Obeba), and between Magyarcsanad and Cenad (Csanad), the foreign minister said. The ministry cited Peter Szijjarto as telling a joint press conference with Sorin Grindeanu, the Romanian transport minister, in Timisoara (Temesvar) that the two countries were linked by a million ties. The more physical links created between each other, the better and more successful cooperation can develop, he added. Under the agreements, the crossing between Kubekhaza and Beba Veche will be opened in two years time and the crossing between Magyarcsanad and Cenad will involve the reconstruction of a bridge on the Maros river which was blown up in 1940, he added. He noted that two motorway links between Hungary and Romania are also being built, scheduled to be opened in 2025 and 2030, respectively, eventually increasing the number of crossings to 16. If Romania were allowed to join the Schengen zone, this number could increase to 26 in short order, he added. A meeting of the two countries transport working teams has been called for the end of September, he said. New Delhi: Google, the tech giant that has become synonymous with internet searches and online innovation, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Founded on September 4, 1998, by American computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google has undergone a remarkable transformation over the decades, shaping the digital landscape in profound ways. No day goes by without searching something on Google. It's become a part and parcel of the modern world. Inception in a Garage Google's humble beginnings trace back to the garage of Susan Wojcicki, who would later become the boss of YouTube. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both PhD students at Stanford University in California, embarked on a journey to create a revolutionary search engine that would change how people access information on the web. Diversification Beyond Search From its core mission of providing efficient search results, Google rapidly expanded its horizons. Today, it offers a multitude of products and services that have become indispensable in our daily lives. These include Gmail, Google Maps, Google Cloud, Chrome, YouTube, Workspace, the Android operating system, cloud storage through Drive, Google Translate, video chat app Meet, Pixel smartphones, Google Assistant, and Bard AI, among others. Going Public and Mergers Google's growth trajectory led to its initial public offering (IPO) in 2004, marking a significant milestone in its journey. Over the years, it has strategically acquired companies like Waze, integrating valuable features into its ecosystem, particularly within Google Maps. Becoming Part of Alphabet In 2015, Google underwent a significant restructuring and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet, a parent company that oversees various other ventures. Sundar Pichai, of Indian origin, took the helm as the CEO of Google, later also assuming the role of CEO of Alphabet. Generative AI and Global Reach Today, Google is deeply immersed in the world of generative AI, with its Bard models offering support for over 40 languages, including nine Indian languages. Bard's global presence extends to more than 230 countries and territories, reflecting Google's commitment to serving a diverse and international user base. Enhancing User Experience Google continuously strives to enhance the user experience. It has introduced new features, such as the ability to add images in Prompts, listen to Bard's responses audibly, and customize Bard's responses according to user preferences. Investment in Infrastructure and AI Google's commitment to innovation extends to its infrastructure. The company has announced plans to build two additional data centers in the United States, reinforcing its capabilities in AI technology and data processing. As Google marks its 25th year, it stands as an indispensable part of our lives, a technological giant that has not only redefined the way we access information but has also seamlessly integrated itself into our daily routines. From search queries to email communication, mapping to mobile operating systems, and voice assistants to AI advancements, Google's journey has been one of continuous evolution, innovation, and global impact. NEW DELHI: The G20 Summit, scheduled to be held between September 9 to September 10, will not result in a lockdown in Delhi, according to an announcement by the Delhi Police. This clarification comes in response to confusion surrounding potential security-related lockdown rumours. Delhi Police used humour by sharing a meme from the South Indian movie "Don No.1" on Twitter (X), assuring the public that no lockdown would occur during the G20 Summit. The meme humorously reads, "Boys and girls, relax! G20 Summit ke time par Delhi main lockdown nahi hai." Delhi Police's caption emphasized this, urging Delhiites not to panic and to stay updated on traffic information via @dtpftraffic's Virtual Help Desk or the @Mappls app. Dear Delhiites, Don't panic at all! There is no lockdown. Just keep yourself updated with traffic information available on @dtpftraffic's Virtual Help Desk: https://t.co/YfjQJYjzU0 or download @Mappls from https://t.co/xuYe7gNslA.#G20Summit pic.twitter.com/1FoOFelK3f Delhi Police (@DelhiPolice) September 3, 2023 Delhi Traffic Police has also established a specialized helpdesk to provide real-time traffic updates throughout the summit and recommended using the metro service. The advisory also clarified that areas outside the New Delhi Municipal Council's jurisdiction, excluding National Highway 48, would not be affected. Essential services and commercial vehicles for specific purposes would still be operational. Residents with verified identity documents and visitors with hotel reservations within the zone would be allowed entry, while commercial vehicles will be restricted in the New Delhi district during the G20 Summit. Delhi Police has also conducted full-dress rehearsals for the summit, impacting traffic, with metro services recommended as an alternative. Delhi has prepared extensively for the G20 Summit, with nearly 6.75 lakh floral pots adorning the streets and enhancing designated venues. Various government departments and agencies have contributed plants and pots to create a botanical transformation across the city. Additional potted flowering plants have been planned for September month to ensure a vibrant atmosphere during the Summit. India's leadership of the G20 group, which began in December of the previous year, focuses on representing the concerns and interests of the Global South. Prime Minister Modi's mission is to be the voice of the Global South and foster inclusivity, emphasizing consensus-based global solutions that address the Global South's concerns, similar to global aviation regulations. Delhi is eagerly preparing to host the G20 members and showcase the city's vibrant transformation for this grand event. New Delhi: Udhayanidhi Stalin, a Tamil Nadu minister, remains unwavering in the face of the controversy surrounding his statement on "sanatana dharma." He boldly asserted, "I will reiterate the same statement again and again." However, Mr. Stalin clarified that his intention was to denounce caste-based distinctions. "Two days ago, I addressed a gathering concerning 'sanatana dharma.' Whatever I stated... I will reaffirm it repeatedly. I included all religions, not limited to Hinduism alone... My remarks were aimed at condemning caste disparities, that's all," he explained. Earlier, he emphasized that his comments should be understood in the context of caste hierarchies and accused the BJP of distorting his words in an attempt to divert attention from the growing opposition unity. "I am prepared to face any legal actions they initiate against me. The BJP is anxious about the INDIA alliance, and to deflect attention from that, they are making these claims..." he stated, while the BJP sought responses from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and veteran Bihar politicians Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav. Udhayanidhi Stalin's latest remarks come amidst a continuous barrage of attacks from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with senior leaders dubbing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's son as "Udhayanidhi Hitler" and characterizing the opposition INDIA alliance as "anti-Hindu." The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Udhayanidhi Stalin's political party, is in power in Tamil Nadu and is allied with the Congress, making it a member of the INDIA alliance. The uproar over the "sanatana dharma must be eradicated" statement has intensified over the past few days, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah taking the lead. The senior BJP leader asserted that INDIA "hates Hinduism" and portrayed the opposition coalition as "an attack on our heritage." Other BJP leaders, including former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who referred to the younger Stalin as "Hitler," and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, have also criticized the statement. Interestingly, the Congress party appears divided on this issue, with former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath distancing his party from Mr. Stalin's remarks, which he described as "personal opinions." Notably, Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP is in power following the collapse of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in March 2020, is set to hold elections later this year. In Congress-ruled Karnataka, however, Minister Priyank Kharge expressed strong support for Mr. Stalin, asserting, "Any religion that does not provide equal rights... is as detrimental as a disease..." Meanwhile, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, another key member of the INDIA alliance, has taken a clear stance against supporting Mr. Stalin and the DMK. Ms. Banerjee, who recited scriptures ahead of the Bengal polls in response to BJP allegations of minority appeasement, stated, "One should avoid getting involved in matters that could hurt a particular section of the population." "I respect the people of Tamil Nadu and South India. But my humble request to them is to respect everyone, as every religion has its own sentiments," she added. BEIJING: China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said the Chinese Premier, Li Qiang, will attend the 18th G20 Summit in Delhi this weekend. In a brief statement posted on its website Monday afternoon, Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said, "At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India, on September 9 and 10." The spokesperson further said, "China hopes the summit can consolidate consensus, convey confidence and promote development". The announcement also implied that President Xi Jinping will not be present, as Beijing will not send its two most powerful leaders abroad at the same time, let alone appear at the same event. At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10: China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mao Ning pic.twitter.com/5p5ggkT3zb ANI (@ANI) September 4, 2023 Notably, US President Joe Biden has expressed his disappointment over the reports of his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinpings plans to skip the G20 Summit. "I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him," Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware when asked about indications Xi will not join the leaders' summit, as quoted by Bloomberg. Biden's remarks come after various media outlets reported last week that Xi will most likely not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi. Biden's trip to the summit, which was confirmed last week, is expected to provide another opportunity for the United States to strengthen collaboration with Indo-Pacific allies as a counterbalance to China, The Hill reported. Last week, speaking on the possibility of a meeting between Chinas President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden at the G20 Summit hosted by India this year, the White House stated that President Biden is looking forward to having a conversation and continuing ongoing engagement with China. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said, Ill just let the Presidents words stand for himself. He (Joe Biden) spoke about it during his press conference at Camp David. You heard him speak of it, hes looking forward to having that conversation, continuing that ongoing engagement. White House also recognised the uncertainty of the Chinese President's participation in the G20 Summit and said that President Biden has said multiple times that he is looking forward to continuing his engagement and conversation with President Xi." So, as it relates to his attendance President Xis attendance to the G20, I would leave that to, you know to his spokesperson to answer that question, not for me to answer" said the White House Press Secretary. The two presidents met in person for the first time since Biden assumed office during last year's G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. During the encounter, Biden advised Xi that their countries' differences should be managed in order to prevent rivalry from devolving into conflict. Tensions between the United States and China have escalated on a variety of issues, including technology, espionage, economic competition, and military strength. Multiple close military encounters in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, as well as a spy balloon incident in February and current accusations that China has operated a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019, as reported by The Hill. White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden will travel India for the summit from September 7 to 10, where he will hold multiple bilateral meetings with other world leaders, although Sullivan did not name them. Several US leaders including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have made visits to China in recent months in an effort to improve relations with China, The Hill reported. Mr K V Karthik, Managing Director, Deccan Industries, one of Indias leading pump manufacturing companies, headquartered in Coimbatore, has been elected as the president of the Indian Pump Manufacturers Association (IPMA), the countrys premier body representing the US$ 2 billion pump manufacturing sector, for 2023-24. Mr Karthik is the 39th president of IPMA. He was elected at the 72nd Annual General Meeting of IPMA held recently at Coimbatore, which was attended by Mr R. Kumaravelu, Managing Director, Aquasub Group as the Chief Guest and IPMAs members from across the country including Pune, Ahmedabad, and Rajkot. While thanking the IPMA members for having elected him as their president, Mr Karthik said that he would focus on increasing the synergy between IPMA, The Southern India Engineering Manufacturers Association and Rajkot Engineering Association, the two other major industry bodies representing the 1500-odd pump manufacturers in the organised sector. We need to promote collaboration among the units which would pave the way for cost savings, improved product design & collective sourcing, and thus help the sector address the global demand of diverse product offerings and competitive pricing. Indias pump industry is 100 years old. It manufactures more than more than 1 million pumps every year. Agriculture and residential sectors comprise 46% of the market by value, while the industrial sector comprises the rest. The industry is expected to reach US$ 100 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 4% during 2021-2026. India exports pumps to 100+ countries. The sector is providing employment to around 120,000 people. Commenting about the strengths and opportunities of the industry, Mr Karthik said that Indian companies had a unique opportunity to test their pumps in diverse and tough field conditions, and used their experience to improve technology. Indian pumps have become world-class and can challenge the best in the world. While pumps for agricultural and water supply are the strengths of the Indian companies, the industry is striving to add high-value pumps used for mining, wastewater, oil and gas to its offerings. Growing investments globally in irrigation, water and wastewater, mining, and chemical industries present a tremendous scope. We are witnessing an enormous interest in the global market for Indian pumps. Post Covid, pump exports from the country have grown by more than 20%. There is every opportunity for India to be a global leader, he said. IPMA will focus on improving the global share of Indian pumps to make the Indian Pump Industry a lakh crore industry by 2030. Karthik thanked the Government of India for providing grants through its Department of Heavy Industry towards promoting research and development in advanced pump technologies. He added that by making use of the countrys strength in the IT sector, the industry should up the ante in product design and introduce pumping systems with IoT and smart control features to gain strength in the global market as the customers demand real-time and remote monitoring, optimised energy consumption and predictive maintenance alerts. As for threats, Mr Karthik cautioned that the grey market posed serious challenges to the organised pump industry. The grey market products offer cheap alternatives, but they are made of sub-standard materials; they are inefficient and do not conform to IS standards. He said that IPMA would work with the government to take strict action against the grey market players. While thanking the Government for extending all assistance for expanding the global footprint of Indian pumps, he also requested the Government to consider the industrys plea for one country, one product, one standard and one certificate for pumps as multiple certifications through different agencies are affecting the ease of doing business in this sector. (This article is part of IndiaDotCom Pvt Ltds Consumer Connect Initiative, a paid publication programme. IDPL claims no editorial involvement and assumes no responsibility, liability or claims for any errors or omissions in the content of the article.) New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the outcome document of the first WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit 2023 in the form of the Gujarat Declaration. The declaration reaffirmed global commitments towards indigenous knowledge, biodiversity, and traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine, an Ayush ministry statement said. The WHO underlined that the application of rigorous scientific methods is needed to better understand, assess, and where appropriate, apply more holistic, context-specific, complex, and personalized approaches for health and well-being for all. The body in the statement reiterated that India as host of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre in Jamnagar, Gujarat has an important role in scaling up WHOs capacities to support member states and stakeholders in taking forward the summit action agenda and other relevant priorities. The action points of the two-day WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit 2023 held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat are based on the evidence, discussions, and outcomes presented at the Summit, the statement said. Deliberations were done on varied topics like health and well-being of people and the planet, research and evidence, universal health coverage, primary health care and health systems, data and routine information systems, digital health frontiers, biodiversity and sustainability, human rights, equity and ethics, the statement said. Union Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at the summit said, Gujarat declaration is testimony of our prime minister Shri Narendra Modis commitment to promote our ancient knowledge of traditional medicine system. Through collaborative efforts and sustainable practices, we can ensure a healthier future for generations to come. WHO Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during the summit, had said that Gujarat Declaration will serve as a catalyst in harnessing the potential of traditional medicine through the lens of science and will focus on the integration of traditional medicines in national health systems. The Gujarat declaration talks about scaling up efforts to further implement evidence-based TCIM (Traditional Complimentary Integrative Medicine) interventions and approaches in support of the goal of universal health coverage and all health-related sustainable development goals. The highlight of the summit was how to enable the development and application of digital health technologies, and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular, to advance digital health resources on TCIM for peoples health and well-being, the statement said. The summit advocates fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of biodiversity resources, related genetic material, and indigenous knowledge. Fully recognize, respect, and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as provided in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Incorporate ethical methods and processes in TCIM research and practice. The First global summit on Traditional Medicine was organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and co-hosted by the Ministry of Ayush, from August 17-18, 2023, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. New Delhi: It's inspiring to see several talented female actresses branching out into successful careers that is also behind the lens. From Disha Patani, and Hema Malini to Kangana Ranaut, and many others, these actresses are not only leaving their mark in front of the camera but also behind it, shaping the art of storytelling with their unique perspectives and newer techniques. Their dedication to this craft makes it so exciting to anticipate what they will bring to the screen in the future. Here is a list of actresses who added another feather to their caps when they turned directors: Disha Patani: Recently, Disha Patani stepped into directing, wearing the director's hat for the music video for the song 'Kyun Karu Fikar.' She is the only actress of her generation to do so. The actress impressed netizens with her skills as a new director. Her song which is a upbeat track celebrates a carefree spirit. Disha's directorial debut not only met our expectations but also infused international aesthetics into the music video. Aparna Sen: A renowned Indian film director and actress, celebrated for her contributions to Bengali Cinema. Her directorial portfolio includes notable films such as 'The Rapist,' 'The Japanese Wife,' 'Mr. and Mrs. Iyer,' and more. Kangana Ranaut: The celebrated actress recently made her debut as a producer, has also ventured into directing. She directed 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi' and is set to release her next directorial project, 'Emergency,' scheduled for November 24. Nandita Das: Nandita Das entered the world of directing in 2008 with her feature film 'Firaag' and has since directed films like 'Manto,' 'Fire,' and 'Zwigato.' Konkona Sen Sharma: The actress who is known for her acting roles in movies like 'Wake Up Sid' and 'Aaj Nachle,' made her directorial debut with 'A Death in the Gun' in 2016. Her recent work includes 'Lust Stories 2.' Pooja Bhatt: The actress is recognized for her roles in films like 'Sadak' and 'Chaahat,' and transitioned to directing with her debut film 'Paap' in 2003. She has directed movies such as 'Holiday,' 'Dhokha,' 'Kajraare,' and 'Jism 2.' Revathi: Revathi's directorial credits include films like 'Salaam Venky,' 'Phir Milenge,' and 'Kerala Cafe,' showcasing her versatility as a director. Hema Malini: Hema Malini is known as the dream girl of Bollywood. The actress has impressed fans with her performances in movies like Sholay, and more. In the 1990s, she produced and directed the 1992 film Dil Aashna Hai, starring Divya Bharti and Shah Rukh Khan in the leading roles. She also produced and directed her second feature film Mohini (1995), starring her niece Madhoo and actor Sudesh Berry in the leading roles. Targeting Cookies These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. Delaware: US President Joe Biden on Sunday said he is disappointed by reports that Chinese Premier Xi Jinping would be skipping this weeks G20 summit in India, reported The Hill. I am disappointed, but I am going to see him, Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Del., when asked about Xi not attending the G20 summit, according to The Hill, a US political website. Biden did not elaborate on where he could encounter Xi in the future. Biden's remarks come after various media outlets reported last week that Xi will most likely not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi. Biden's trip to the summit, which was confirmed last week, is expected to provide another opportunity for the United States to strengthen collaboration with Indo-Pacific allies as a counterbalance to China, The Hill reported. Last week, speaking on the possibility of a meeting between Chinas President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden at the G20 Summit hosted by India this year, the White House stated that President Biden is looking forward to having a conversation and continuing ongoing engagement with China. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said, Ill just let the Presidents words stand for himself. He (Joe Biden) spoke about it during his press conference at Camp David. You heard him speak of it, hes looking forward to having that conversation, continuing that ongoing engagement. White House also recognised the uncertainty of the Chinese President's participation in the G20 Summit and said that President Biden has said multiple times that he is looking forward to continuing his engagement and conversation with President Xi." So, as it relates to his attendance - President Xis attendance to the G20, I would leave that to, you know to his spokesperson to answer that question, not for me to answer" said the White House Press Secretary. The two presidents met in person for the first time since Biden assumed office during last year's G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. During the encounter, Biden advised Xi that their countries' differences should be managed in order to prevent rivalry from devolving into conflict. Tensions between the United States and China have escalated on a variety of issues, including technology, espionage, economic competition, and military strength. Multiple close military encounters in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, as well as a spy balloon incident in February and current accusations that China has operated a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019, as reported by The Hill. White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden will travel to India for the summit from September 7 to 10, where he will hold multiple bilateral meetings with other world leaders, although Sullivan did not name them. Several US leaders including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have made visits to China in recent months in an effort to improve relations with China, The Hill reported. Kuleba: I think that decision on transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine lies on Scholz' table Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba believes that the decision on the transfer of long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine lies with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the table. "I think that the German Chancellor has this decision [on the transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine] on the table. He has to accept it," Kuleba said during a conversation with reporters on Monday. Speaking about the American ATACMS missiles, the minister noted that this decision is open. In the last conversation with the Secretary of State, we discussed this, he confirmed that they are analyzing some aspects related to the use, quantity, in order to make a final decision. But let me remind you that Great Britain and France have provided us with long-range missiles, so it would be more than natural if Germany and the United States joined this coalition, the Foreign Minister said. Sultan Al Neyadi, an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates, has landed back on Earth following a remarkable six-month mission on the International Space Station. At 8:17 a.m. UAE time on Monday, a SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying him and three other astronauts splashed down in the Atlantic off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. This was the first lengthy mission for the Arab world and the second human space journey for the UAE. It was also the first time an Arab astronaut had gone on a spacewalk. Nasa posted on X, formerly Twitter, Welcome home! Crew-6 splashed down safely in the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, at 12:17 am ET after 186 days aboard the ISS, completing important research. The UAE astronaut Dr. Sultan Al Neyadi was also praised by President Sheikh Mohamed on his successful return to Earth. Dr. Al Neyadi's accomplishments, according to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, have motivated millions of young Arabs. Before moving the capsule to a recovery ship, a SpaceX crew arrived at the splashdown site on a boat to make sure it was not leaking any hazardous gases. Engineers unbolted the hatch once the ship had been securely fastened to the SpaceX rescue vessel so the astronauts could leave. The capsule was opened, and Dr. Al Neyadi and his associates were taken out and put on a gurney-style vehicle. After stepping out of the capsule, Dr. Al Neyadi was seen grinning and waving to the camera. Long-term space travellers frequently experience difficulty walking following their return as their bodies adjust to gravity once more. It can take up to two hours to recover. On board the orbiting outpost, Dr. Al Neyadi conducted more than 200 scientific experiments, including those that NASA and institutions from the UAE assigned. He also devoted a lot of his time to photographing Earth from the air, concentrating on the Arab nations of the Middle East and North Africa. As part of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre's A Call from Space outreach effort, students from all around the United Arab Emirates had live conversations with him. This body is in charge of running the nation's astronaut training curriculum. When will be the next UAE human space flight? In addition to Hazza Al Mansouri, the first Emirati in space, Nora Al Matrooshi, and Mohammed Al Mulla, the UAE has four members in its astronaut corps. The space centre wants to send people to space every two to three years, according to past statements made by officials there. The first Emirati woman chosen for astronaut duty, Ms. Al Matrooshi, and Mr. Al Mulla are presently undergoing training at NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston. Once they graduate, they will be qualified for NASA-led missions. With plans to deploy astronauts there in the future, the UAE has its sights set on the Moon as well. A man on Instagram, has alleged that Tata-owned Vistara airlines left his visually impaired mother unattended during their journey from Delhi to Kolkata on August 31, reported IANS. Describing the incident as "distressing", he said that despite having requested an assisted travel plan for his mother, Vistara failed to provide the necessary assistance when required. The airline, known for its service quality and having won multiple awards, has issued an apology for the matter in the reply to the post. Expressing his dissatisfaction on Instagram, Ayush Kejriwal, son of the mother who travelled with Vistara wrote "@Vistara Airlines, how could you put my blind mother in danger like this?! Are you not responsible for taking care of disabled passengers who are left under your supervision and assistance whilst travelling?! SHOCKING!" "Once the flight reached its destination, all passengers disembarked, inadvertently leaving the lady behind. Fortunately, a diligent cleaning staff member from the airline heard her cries and promptly alerted others, leading to her safe removal from the aircraft," he alleged in the video. "Hi Ayush, we deeply regret to learn about your recent experience with us. At Vistara, we hold ourselves to the highest service standards, and it upsets us to hear that we fell short of your expectations. Please be assured that we prioritize the well-being of our customers and their safety and security are of top priority for us. Please DM us the case reference numbers and booking details. Thanks, Aishwarya," Vistara replied. Jaisalmer: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday took a potshot at the Congress party saying that they failed to launch Rahul Gandhi in the last 20 years. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday flagged off BJP's Parivartan Sankalp Yatra in Jaisalmer. Rajnath Singh said In a country where successful launching and landing of Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan is taking place, Congress' "Rahul Yaan" has not been launched for the last twenty years. The Defence Minister also praised the Indian scientists for the recent successful launch of Chandrayaan-3. No one had ever doubted the capabilities and talent of the Indian Army and Indian scientists. I believe India took the same leap with the success of Chandrayaan 3 on August 23, 2023 that it took in 1998 when it conducted a successful nuclear test," Rajnath Singh said. Rajnath also targeted the Congress Party for raising questions on Indias space mission. Today India has reached the Moon and Mars and the entire country has successfully launched Aditya Dal-1. Even this time the landing of Chandrayaan took place, even then the Congress tried to raise questions in a subdued voice, but when it saw the mood of the country, it remained silent, he said. Before flagging off the Parivartan Sankalp Yatra, Rajnath offered prayers at Ramdevra Temple in Jaisalmer. Ramdevra temple is sacred to the folk deity of Rajasthan, Baba Ramdevji. The temple marks the eternal resting place of Baba Ramdevji, a saint of the 14th century who Hindus regard as the incarnation of Lord Krishna, while Muslims venerate him as Ramshah Pir. I feel happy to be present among you on the sacred land of Ramdevra, the land where an incarnate man like Baba Ramdev took samadhi. This area of Jaisalmer holds a special place in my heart because this entire area is not only a desert land, but it is also the land of heroes and Tapobhoomi as well as the atomic land of India. The land of Pokhran, located nearby, has witnessed not one but five nuclear tests, the Defence minister said. The Battle of "Longewala" was also fought on this soil during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in which India won decisively, he added. Rajasthan is scheduled to go to the polls later this year with the BJP and the incumbent Congress locked in a straight fight. In 2018 the Congress had won 99 seats while the BJP had won 73 seats in the 200-member house. The Congress led by Ashok Gehlot formed the government with the support of Independents and the BSP The G20 Summit in Delhi is looming on the horizon, and it carries a unique blend of excitement and disappointment for President Joe Biden. Scheduled for September 9-10, 2023, the summit holds immense significance as it brings together leaders from across the globe to deliberate on pressing global issues. However, the sheen of anticipation surrounding the event is somewhat dimmed by Biden's chagrin over the conspicuous absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden's Eagerness for the India Visit President Biden is visibly looking forward to his impending visit to India, which serves as the host for the G20 Summit. When asked about his upcoming trip to India and Vietnam, Biden responded affirmatively, saying, "Yes, I am." This visit carries paramount importance as it provides an opportunity for world leaders to converge, deliberate on global challenges, and fortify international cooperation. China's Announcement: Xi Jinping's Nonattendance The decision by China not to dispatch President Xi Jinping to the G20 Summit in Delhi has raised eyebrows and fueled speculation. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Premier Li Keqiang will lead the Chinese delegation instead. While China has cited practical reasons for Xi's absence, it marks the second consecutive G20 Summit that the Chinese president has opted not to attend. A Missed Opportunity for Bilateral Dialogues Xi Jinping's absence entails that there won't be a direct tete-a-tete between Biden and Xi at the G20 Summit. This omission is significant as it foregoes the prospect of in-person discussions on paramount global matters, including trade negotiations, security concerns, and climate change cooperation. A Diverse Assembly of Global Leaders Despite Xi's nonattendance, the G20 Summit will host an assemblage of leaders representing a diverse array of nations. This diversity underscores the summit's status as a pivotal platform for addressing and strategizing responses to global challenges, fostering economic collaborations, and engaging in multifaceted diplomatic dialogues. Biden's Agenda on the World Stage During his sojourn to India, President Biden is poised to engage in discussions with a myriad of world leaders, encompassing a broad spectrum of topics. These deliberations are expected to encompass the realms of climate action, economic partnerships, regional security, and more. Biden's visit underscores India's pivotal role as a strategic partner in tackling the world's most pressing global issues. China's Ongoing Global Significance While Xi Jinping's absence is a glaring omission, China's role on the global stage remains substantial. Premier Li Keqiang's stewardship of the Chinese delegation reaffirms China's commitment to international engagement, even in the absence of Xi at this particular summit. As the world's attention converges on Delhi for the G20 Summit, the outcomes and collaborations emerging from this summit hold profound implications for international politics, economics, and diplomacy. It stands as a testament to the ever-evolving landscape of global cooperation and dialogue. Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and former Union Minister, Uma Bharti, has made a significant announcement of her refusal to participate in the "Jan Ashirwad Yatra" initiated by the BJP in the state. This yatra holds immense political importance as it is intricately tied to the preparations for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. No Invitation for "Jan Ashirwad Yatra" and Closing Ceremony Uma Bharti has expressed her disappointment over not receiving an invitation to join the "Jan Ashirwad Yatra," which commenced as a statewide campaign by the BJP. Furthermore, she declared her decision not to attend the closing ceremony of the yatra, scheduled for September 25. This concluding event is expected to feature Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP's Strategy for MP Assembly Elections The BJP, in its bid to showcase the achievements of its government in Madhya Pradesh and launch a pointed attack on the Congress, has planned the "Jan Ashirwad Yatra." The party initiated this campaign to bring the successes of its governance to the masses and draw a sharp contrast with the opposition. Two Separate "Jan Ashirwad Yatras" As part of this strategy, the BJP has organized two "Jan Ashirwad Yatras" consecutively, with the first one commencing from Satna district in Madhya Pradesh. BJP National President JP Nadda inaugurated this journey. The second leg of the campaign, set to start soon, will be flagged off by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh from Neemuch. Uma Bharti's Stance on the Campaign Uma Bharti's decision to stay away from the campaign highlights her disapproval of certain aspects of the "Jan Ashirwad Yatra." She openly criticized the lavish expenditure on weddings and the stay of BJP leaders in five-star hotels during the campaign, stating that such a lifestyle is against the principles and preferences of leaders like Prime Minister Modi. Uma Bharti's Reservations Uma Bharti's reservations about the campaign were aired through her social media accounts. In a series of tweets, she mentioned, "There is no doubt in my mind about the respect I hold for Shivraj [Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan], and he has an unbreakable bond of affection towards me. When and where he asks me to campaign, I will do so, keeping that affection in mind. But the expenditures of lavish weddings and the stay of our leaders in five-star hotels during the campaign is something I have disapproved of from the beginning. Even Modi Ji dislikes such a lifestyle. I will continue to voice my concerns. We cannot ignore the lessons of Gandhi, Deendayal, and Modi." Uma Bharti's decision and her vocal criticism of certain aspects of the campaign have stirred discussions within the BJP circles in Madhya Pradesh. It remains to be seen how this development will impact the party's preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. Barabanki: Two people have died and 12 were rescued while four are still trapped under the debris as a three-storey building collapsed here in the early hours of Monday, police said. Teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are engaged in the relief and rescue work, Barabanki Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar Singh said. Singh added that the incident took place around 3 AM and 12 people have been rescued so far, out of which two died. A team of the State Disaster Response Force is present at the spot and the National Disaster Response Force will also reach there, he added. #WATCH | UP: Rescue operation underway after a building collapsed in Barabanki pic.twitter.com/IVn3v2Zzrw ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 4, 2023 "Around 3 am in the morning, we received information about a building collapse in Barabanki...We have rescued 12 people...we have got information that three-four people are likely still trapped under the debris.. two have died," he added. #WATCH | UP: "Around 3 am in the morning, we received information about a building collapse in Barabanki...We have rescued 12 people...we have got information that 3-4 people are likely still trapped under the debris. SDRF team is also at the spot, NDRF will arrive soon...among pic.twitter.com/76lhQUJoIR ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 4, 2023 Further details are awaited. This comes hours after a residential building collapsed in Maharashtra's Thane district killing an infant and a woman while five others were injured. Thane Municipal Corporation's disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi said that the single-storey building collapsed at 12:35 AM on Sunday. Washington: Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, running for the Republican presidential nomination, said that he and former President Donald Trump share a deep alignment on policy matters, with over 90 per cent agreement while also acknowledging that there exist small differences. Referring to Trump's "America First" approach to foreign policy and trade, which centres on reducing US trade deficits and rebalancing burden sharing within alliances, Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old entrepreneur asserted that he and Trump are the only two America First candidates and he can take Trumps agenda even further. Notably, amid intense campaigning, both Trump and Ramaswamy have been praising each other and appeared to be less critical of each others policies. Speaking at Fox News, Ramaswamy said, We have some of our areas of differences, but theyre small. By and large, we are the two America First candidates in this race, everybody else embraces the neo-con (neo-conservative) foreign policy view. So, I think we are deeply aligned on policies, 90 plus per cent of the way. There are some small differences. The term "neocons," which typically characterizes hawkish conservatives advocating for military intervention, had its zenith during the presidency of George W. Bush and his circle of advisors. In this context, when Vivek Ramaswamy mentioned "neocons," he seemed to be alluding to his rival Nikki Haley. I would rescind affirmative action, I would militarise the southern border instead of just building the wall. I would shut down the US Department of Education, not just put a good person Betsy DeVos on the top to reform it, he added. Ramaswamy further said that Donald Trump laid a very good foundation as the President, and he would take the America First agenda further. I would be able to unite this country by leading the next generations of Americans with a vision, of what it means to be an American. Revive national pride in the next generation, where it is lacking. I think we have an opportunity to reunite this country on shared ideals, and that would allow me to take the America First agenda even further than Donald Trump did, by building on a very good foundation that Donald Trump laid, the Indian American leader said. He added, And so the fact that I am not running against him, that doesnt mean anything. I am running for this countryIm gonna lead us to national unity, thats my job and I expect to do it as the next President. The Ohio-based entrepreneur even claimed that he could win the upcoming presidential poll by a landslide margin. Im 38 years old, I have fresh legs. We are reaching the next generation of young Americans. That is why I can win this election in a landslide, in a way no other candidate can. Look at the way, we have run this campaign. I have gone to the University of Chicagoplaces where traditional Republican candidates dare not touch. Were leaving no state left behind, no city left behind, no American left behind. We are building a multi-ethnic working-class coalition. I think this cannot be a fifty-point election. I think this has to be a landslide moral mandate, like Ronald Reagan delivered in 1980, Ramaswamy further said. Ramaswamys remarks on Donald Trump come days after the former President heaped praises on the Indian-American candidate and even signalled that would be open to having him as his running mate, stating that "He would be very good. Well, I think hes great. Look, anybody that said Im the best president in a generationI have to like a guy like that, the New York Post quoted Trump as saying to Blaze TVs Glenn Beck. Hes a smart guy. Hes a young guy. Hes got a lot of talent. Hes a very, very, very intelligent person, Trump added. Hes got good energy, and he could be in some form of something. I tell you, I think hed be very good. I think hes really distinguished himself, the New York Post quoted Trump as saying. However, Trump also posed a word of caution for Ramaswamy, who has stumbled into controversy over his policy prescriptions for Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. Hes starting to get out there a little bit. Hes getting a little bit controversial, Trump said. I got to tell him: Be a little bit careful. Some things you have to hold in just a little bit, right?' Trump stated, according to the New York Post. Earlier, Ramaswamy had dubbed Trump the best president of the 21st century during last weeks Republican primary debate and has characterized his candidacy as a bid to take the former presidents policies to the next level. Throughout his campaign, Ramaswamy has been one of Trumps staunchest defenders against the four indictments levelled against him even vowing to pardon the former president on his first day in office if elected, New York Post reported. Meanwhile, Ramaswamy drew widespread attention and became one of the most-searched 2024 Republican contenders after the debate at Milwaukees Fiserv Forum. The Indian American entrepreneur had shot up sharply in GOP primary polls, standing tied with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at the second position. However, both candidates lag hugely behind former President Donald Trump who leads with 56 per cent, as per The Hill. In another poll by RealClearPolitics, Trump is far out in front of the 2024 GOP race with 53.6 per cent support, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 13.5 per cent, and Ramaswamy at 7.3 per cent, New York Post reported. Ramaswamy's campaign has gained attention, and he has risen in GOP primary polls, although he still trails behind Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in support. The next US presidential election is scheduled for November 5, 2024. Kolomoisky appears in fraud case as citizen of Israel, Cyprus, no request from USA for his extradition to Ukraine - Leschenko Businessman Ihor Kolomoisky appears as a citizen of Israel and Cyprus, and not a citizen of Ukraine, in the materials of the proceedings in which he was charged with suspicion under Articles 190 (fraud) and 209 (legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on September 2. This was announced on his Facebook page on Sunday by the adviser to the head of the President's Office of Ukraine, journalist Serhiy Leschenko, who published scanned copies of the relevant materials to confirm his words. "This destroys the popular false narrative that Kolomoisky was not deprived of Ukrainian citizenship and allegedly will not be extradited to the United States," he wrote. Leschenko also said that Ukraine had not received requests for the extradition of Kolomoisky to the United States. "If received, this request will be fulfilled in accordance with the Treaty between Ukraine and the United States of America on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. There are no restrictions in the form of Kolomoisky's citizenship for this," he wrote. Black Sea Grain Initiative should be resumed, but not at expense of blackmail, fulfillment of Russias whims Kuleba The Black Sea Grain Initiative should resume its functioning, but not at the expense of blackmail and fulfillment of Russia's whims, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, commenting on the meeting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi. "If someone meets without Ukraine, it does not mean that they speak without Ukraine," Kuleba said during a conversation with reporters on Monday. Kuleba also noted that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan recently visited Kyiv, and they had a very substantive conversation. Then he went to Moscow. We understand the logic of the discussion. Our position is very simple. The Black Sea Grain Initiative should be resumed. Secondly, it should be restored not by blackmail, by fulfilling the whims of the Russian Federation, the Foreign Minister said. The Minister stressed that Ukraine insists that it is necessary to develop an alternative corridor. There is a technical opportunity for this. We need to strengthen the additional security capability. We have already shown that it works. We see, by the way, how countries are showing interest in helping us to organize the functioning of this corridor on a stable basis, Kuleba said. He added that there were no legal political grounds for Russia's withdrawal from the agreement. If they make concessions now, they will come back, in a month they will come out again and put forward new demands. And third, in parallel, due to the fact that Russia cannot be trusted, it is necessary to develop alternative sea corridors to the Black Sea Grain Initiative. What Ukraine is doing successfully, and you know about the ships that have already left, Kuleba said. In addition, the Foreign Minister noted that there are trusting relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. I am convinced that as a result of Erdogan's conversation with Putin, contacts between President Erdogan and President Zelenskyy will follow. And they will talk in detail about what was discussed and what was agreed, if agreed, in Sochi, the minister expressed confidence. Official launch of intl medical partnership to take place at Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Liashko Within the framework of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, which will be held in Kyiv on September 6, the official launch of the international medical partnership of Ukraine with the countries of the world for the exchange of experience will take place, Health Minister Viktor Liashko said. "The launch of the international medical partnership will take place within the framework of the Summit. Hospitals of Ukraine will sign memoranda with hospitals of the world and will exchange experience," Liashko said at a press conference of the First Lady of Ukraine on the topic of the Third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen. So, according to him, Ukraine will share its own experience of working in crisis situations, blackout, the basics of working with the load on the mental health of medical workers, experience in solving personnel issues. For their part, foreign colleagues will help and share innovations. The Minister of Health of Ukraine also informed that 577 Ukrainian medical workers have traveled abroad since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in order to learn from foreign colleagues. On the contrary, more than 600 foreign doctors visited Ukraine for the same purpose. In addition, as Liashko said, for the first time a separate satellite summit of the ministers of health of the participating countries in a mixed format will be held within the framework of the Summit. Austria proves by its example that neutral countries capable of taking firm stand - Kuleba in appeal to Austrian diplomatic corps On Monday, September 4, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba addressed the Austrian diplomatic corps online, becoming an honorary guest of the conference of Austrian ambassadors at the invitation of his colleague Alexander Schallenberg. Since February 2022, Austria has demonstrated that neutrality does not mean indifference. On the contrary, neutrality can be active, compassionate, and morally right. As Alexander said, military neutrailty does not mean political neutrality. Austria has proven that a country can be neutral but take a clear side at the same time. Furthermore, a neutral country is the one most interested in upholding international law and order, protecting international peace, and the UN Charter, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministrys press service quoted Kuleba as saying. Kuleba expressed gratitude to Austria, which, after the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, provides Ukraine with significant support in the financial, humanitarian, energy and political spheres. He recalled that Austria joined the EU sanctions against Russia, supported granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership, joined the Grain From Ukraine humanitarian program, is actively working on the implementation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula, joined the coalition for the creation of a Special Tribunal for the Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine, provides substantial support in civil mine clearabce and many other areas. Kuleba also called on Austrian diplomats to actively work together with their Ukrainian counterparts in Asia and South America to convey the truth about Russian aggression, expand the coalition in support of the Peace Formula and convince from their own experience that neutrality can be proactive. Russia attacked not only Ukraine but also the very foundation of international law and our shared principles of humanity. The choice could not be clearer in this situation. Supporting Ukraine means supporting the UN Charter and common rules, the minister stressed. The Minister also stressed that a simple cease-fire now will not stop the Russian aggression. According to him, freezing the conflict will only give Russia a respite, which it uses to replenish its forces and prepare for a new attack. Just really means in this cliche is the restoration of Ukraines territorial integrity. Lasting means that Russia will not be able to stage another attack on Ukraine and the rest of Europe. I thank you for realizing the need for such a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. We count on the power of Austrian diplomacy and Austrias authoritative political voice to persuade other countries to take a principled stance, the minister stressed. Kuleba added that Ukraine counts on Austria's political support for the decision to open negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU by the end of 2023 and expects that the Austrian side will subsequently help Ukraine in the process of these negotiations. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. The EBRDs First Vice President and Head of Client Services Group Jurgen Rigterink has begun his visit to the South Caucasus today, the bank told Trend. His visit will start in Armenia, continue in Georgia, and conclude in Azerbaijan. Within the framework of his visit, Rigterink plans to meet government officials, central bank governors, business leaders and representatives of international financial organizations in each country. In Azerbaijan he will participate in the launch of the public-private partnership for technical and vocational education and training organized by the State Vocational Education Agency and Avrora Group aimed at strengthening skills capacity in the food production industry. "The Caucasus is an important region for the Bank, and we are committed to offering continuous support for the sustainable economic development in the region through our investments, advisory services, and policy engagements," said Rigterink ahead of the visit. The EBRD has invested over 10 billion euros in 680 projects across the Caucasus, in both the private and public sectors. Subscription to paid content Gain access to all that Trend has to offer, as well as to premium, licensed content via subscription or direct purchase through a credit card. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has embarked on a visit to Hungary, Trend reports via the ministry. Within the framework of the visit, it is planned to hold the first meeting of the Azerbaijani-Hungarian strategic dialog. In addition, Jeyhun Bayramov will hold meetings with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto and other high-ranking officials. The minister will also address a conference of Hungarian diplomatic mission heads within the framework of the visit. According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the country's trade turnover with Hungary amounted to $29 million from January through July 2023 (21 percent growth year-on-year). The share in the total trade turnover amounted to 0.09 percent. Also, in January 2021, Hungary was one of the first countries to express interest in participating in rehabilitation and reconstruction works in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. Hungarian companies participated in the Rebuild Karabakh EXPO in October 2021, as well as from October 19 to 21, 2022. Potential areas of cooperation such as infrastructure, urban and agricultural development have been identified. Also, Hungarian EXIM Bank has a special credit line of $120 million to finance joint projects of interested Hungarian and Azerbaijani companies. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. A delegation of the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has arrived in Ganja, Trend reports. The members of the delegation visited the neighborhoods destroyed by the Armenian armed forces' rocket fire on Ganja and were informed about the war crimes committed against civilians during the 44-day war. The Armenian armed forces violated the norms and principles of international law and the Geneva Convention of 1949 by deliberately targeting the peaceful population of Azerbaijan by shelling residential houses with heavy artillery. Yesterday the guests visited Aghdam and Fuzuli districts liberated from occupation. The main purpose of the trip is to investigate on the spot the destruction of religious-cultural monuments and cemeteries belonging to Azerbaijanis by Armenia, to collect information on Azerbaijanis who suffered as a result of occupation and rocket attacks, as well as to prepare a report and present it to the international community. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Armenian armed forces opened fire at Azerbaijani Army positions in Nakhchivan, Trend reports via the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan. According to the ministry, on September 4, at 09:50 (GMT +4) the Armenian armed forces units from the positions of Arazdayan settlement of the Davali region, using small arms, subjected to fire the Azerbaijan Army positions stationed in the direction of Heydarabad settlement of the Sadarak region of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The Azerbaijan Army Units took retaliatory measures, the ministry added. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. The State Historical-Cultural and Ethnographic Reserve "Khynalyg and nomadic path" will be established, Trend reports. In this regard, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a relevant decree. "The nomadic path, stretching over 200 kilometers from Khynalyg village in Guba district to the Pirsaat reservoir and passing through the territories of Gusar, Guba, Shamakhi, Gobustan, Absheron, and Hajigabul districts, has been an important path for centuries, used by nomadic livestock farms in the Shirvan and Guba districts. Along this nomadic route, which is still used by nomadic livestock farms, there are numerous monuments of high historical and cultural value. This path has a special place among the valuable examples of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage," the decree said. "Guided by paragraph 32 of Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in order to protect the territory where the nomadic path passes, taking into account its importance for the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan, the creation of a unified management model and the development of tourism here, I decree: 1. The territory of the State Historical-Architectural and Ethnographic Reserve "Khynalyg" of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the territory of the historical nomadic route passing through the Gusar, Guba, Shamakhi, Gobustan, Absheron and Hajigabul district shall be declared the State Historical-Cultural and Ethnographic Reserve "Khynalyg and nomadic path" (hereinafter referred to as the Reserve). 2. To the Cabinet of Ministers of the Azerbaijan Republic within five months: 2.1.determine and approve the boundaries and buffer zone of the Reserve; 2.2. determine the special regime of the territory of the Reserve and inform the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan; 2.3. resolve other issues arising from this decree. 3. To the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan: 3.1. ensure the management of the Reserve; 3.2. take the necessary measures to resolve other issues arising from this Order. 4. Financing of the necessary expenses required to ensure the activity of the Reserve shall be carried out at the expense of the funds provided in the state budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan," the decree noted. In total, more than 2.5 percent of Azerbaijan is under protection by the government as state reserve. There are 15 state natural parks in Azerbaijan to preserve and protect the fauna, flora and their ecosystems: Basitchay, Eldar Pine, Garayaz, Gizilaghach, Gobustan, Ilisu, Ismayilli, Pirgulu, Shahbuz, Turianchay, Garagol, Zagatala, Shirvan state reserves, as well as Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Head of the working group of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (Parliament) on Azerbaijani-Israeli inter-parliamentary relations Anatoly Rafailov and members of the group met with a delegation headed by member of the Israeli-Azerbaijani inter-parliamentary friendship group Evgeny Sova, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, on September 4, Press and Public Relations Department of Milli Majlis told Trend. The head of the working group Anatoly Rafailov, who expressed satisfaction with the visit of the guests to the Parliament, noted that Azerbaijan and Israel are friendly countries and relations between the two countries are developing. He highly appreciated Israel's support to Azerbaijan during the 44-day war. He said that the relations between the two countries have deep historical roots, adding that representatives of the Jewish people in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis in Israel have been living in an atmosphere of friendship for a long time and actively participate in social and political life. At the meeting the importance of cooperation at the level of parliaments was emphasized, the activity of working groups operating in the parliaments of both countries was brought to attention, the importance of opening of Azerbaijan's embassy in Israel was noted. Member of the Israeli-Azerbaijani inter-parliamentary friendship group Evgeny Sova conveyed greetings of the head of the group and talked about the meeting with Parliament Speaker Sahiba Gafarova. Expressing gratitude for the warm meeting, he noted that his country was interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan in various spheres. Prospects of development of inter-parliamentary ties, economic relations between the two countries were discussed at the meeting. The sides exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Within the framework of his visit to Hungary, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on X (Twitter), Trend reports. After the one-on-one meeting, the two sides continued in an expanded meeting with the participation of both sides' delegations. Within the framework of the visit, the first session of the Azerbaijani-Hungarian strategic dialog, Jeyhun Bayramov's meetings with high-ranking officials are planned. The Minister will also address a conference of Hungarian heads of diplomatic missions. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijarto during an official visit to Hungary, Trend reports referring the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. The private meeting between the ministers continued with the participation of the delegations of both sides, and the first meeting of the Azerbaijani-Hungarian Strategic Dialogue was held. During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on issues of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Hungary in bilateral and multilateral formats, as well as on regional issues. The importance and role of mutual high-level visits and political dialogue in the development of relations were noted. The possibilities of further expanding cooperation with Hungary in the fields of economy, trade, pharmaceuticals, culture, education, sports and other areas were discussed. It was emphasized that partnership in the energy sector plays a key role in the countries relations, and areas such as transport and logistics will make an additional contribution to cooperation. At the meeting, Minister Bayramov provided detailed information on the current regional situation and realities in the post-conflict period, the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Armenias constant demonstration of an unconstructive approach, its military and political provocations, its neglect of its obligations. It was emphasized that Armenia is still has not yet fully withdrawn its armed forces from the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan. The Hungarian side was informed about the peace agenda initiated by the Azerbaijani side, about the controversial and provocative position of Armenia against the background of the constructive approach of Azerbaijan. In particular, it was noted that Armenia in every possible way hinders the efforts to reintegrate the Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, and spreads lies about the Lachin-Khankendi road. It was stressed that Armenian residents pass along the Lachin road every day, and Azerbaijan proposed using the Aghdam-Khankendi road to transport goods. During the meeting, the sides also exchanged views on the large-scale reconstruction carried out by Azerbaijan in its territories liberated from Armenian occupation, gratitude was expressed to the Hungarian side for the interest shown in this process. Then the ministers signed the Azerbaijan-Hungary Strategic Dialogue first meeting protocol. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. As part of the combat training week and in accordance with the training program for 2023, the Azerbaijani Army is hosting competitions at the battalion, company, division, and battery levels, Trend reports, citing the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan. "The main purpose of the competitions is to maintain the combat readiness of the units at a high level, to improve the practical skills of the military personnel, and to increase the healthy competitive determination of the servicemen," the ministry said. The winning teams will be awarded in accordance with the competitions' results, added the ministry. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. The first meeting of the Strategic Dialogue was very productive, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov wrote on X (Twitter), Trend reports. "I was pleased to meet with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto. We had a very productive first session of the Strategic Dialogue between Azerbaijan and Hungary, where we had a comprehensive discussion on further deepening of our multifaceted cooperation," he said. Within the framework of the visit, the first session of the Azerbaijani-Hungarian strategic dialog, Jeyhun Bayramov's meetings with high-ranking officials are planned. The minister will also address a conference of Hungarian heads of diplomatic missions. Press Release September 4, 2023 Opening statement at the DepEd budget hearing By Senator Pia S. Cayetano Senior Vice Chair of the Senate Finance Committee overseeing education and health This is the Subcommittee of the Committee on Finance. We'd like to welcome the Vice President and Secretary Sarah Duterte, the heads of the attached agencies, DepEd undersecretaries and other officials and staff. With us today is our Senate President Zubiri. Hello, sir. And our Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Sen. Angara and Sen. Marcos. I am sure there are a few senators who... Sen. Risa just arrived. And I am sure there are many other senators who will arrive later. So on the agenda today are the proposed budgets under the fiscal year 2024 of the National Expenditure Program of the DepEd and its attached agencies: For DepEd Office of the Secretary, in the NEP, it's P712,444,092,000 In the National Academy of Sports, it's P195,167,000 In the National Book Development Board, it is P128,471,000 For the National Council for Children's Television, it is P62,080,000 For the National Museum of the Philippines, it is P1,014,202,000 For the Philippine High School for the Arts, it is P98,241,000 And for the Early Childhood Care and Development Council, it is P221,166,000 This is the order of presentation: first it will be the presentation of DepEd; the Office of the Secretary; then ECCDC; followed by NAS; then NBDB; then National Council for Children's TV, Philippine High School for the Arts; and National Museum of the Philippines. I believe all of you have been informed of this. May I ask our colleagues to bear with me and let us allow all the presentations to finish before we will entertain questions. Because if we do not follow that rule, then we will never get to the end of the presentations. So I will be strict about this rule. The order of questioning will of course be the officers first, followed by the senators based on their order of arrival. AGHDAM, Azerbaijan, September 4. Representatives and volunteers of the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society (AzQAC) have been waiting at the post of Russian peacekeepers on the Aghdam-Khankendi road for a week, Vice President of the Society Gafar Askerzadeh told Trend's Karabakh Bureau. He said that the leadership of the society held relevant negotiations with the command of Russian peacemakers temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan. "We have not yet received a positive response from the other side and are currently waiting for updates. In case of a positive response, we will immediately ensure the delivery of food cargo to the residents of Karabakh of Armenian origin," Askerzadeh said. As known, trucks with 40 tons of flour and flour products, sent on August 29 by the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society for the Armenian residents of Karabakh, have been waiting at the post of Russian peacemakers on the AghdamKhankendi road for the seventh day. In order to create conditions for the delivery of cargo with food to Khankendi, an appeal was sent to the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Demining process in Azerbaijan's liberated territories rapidly continues, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) Vugar Suleymanov said at a presentation of a locally produced mine clearing vehicle, Trend reports. "For the past two years, we have been procuring demining equipment from abroad, but now the same equipment is being produced in Azerbaijan, which is very pleasing," he added. The mine clearing vehicle called "Revival P," produced by the "Improtex" group of companies, was donated by entrepreneurs to the Karabakh Revival Foundation. Following the liberation of its lands, Azerbaijan from Nov. 2020 started carrying out operations on clearing its lands from mines, booby traps, and various weapons left behind by the Armenian troops. During the mine clearance operations conducted in August this year in Tartar, Aghdam, Khojavand, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil and Zangilan, 972 antipersonnel, 1,020 anti-tank mines and 1,121 unexploded ordnances were discovered and neutralized. An area of 5,264.14 hectares was cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance last month. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Azerbaijan has demined 95,000 hectares of land since November 2020, Vugar Suleymanov, chairman of the board of the Azerbaijan Republic Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) told journalists, Trend reports. "About 30,000 infantry, 17,000 anti-tank and more than 40,000 unexploded mines and ammunition were found and neutralized. Whilst a total of 305 people exploded on the mines. About 57 of them were killed, while the rest received various degrees of bodily injuries," he added. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs donated a demining machine "Revival P" produced by Improtex group of companies to the Karabakh Revival Foundation. In addition, during the mine clearance operations conducted from August 21 through August 27, 2023 in Terter, Aghdam, Khojavend, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil and Zangilan, 256 anti-personnel, 92 anti-tank mines and 71 unexploded ordnance were discovered and neutralized. An area of 528.1 hectares was cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Entrepreneurs donated the "Revival P" mine clearing vehicle, produced by the Improtex Group of companies to the Karabakh Revival Fund, Trend reports. An event was held on the occasion of the transfer of this machine by the Karabakh Revival Fund to the Azerbaijani Mine Action Agency on September 4. The event was attended by Chairman of the Board of the Karabakh Revival Fund Rahman Hajiyev, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency Vugar Suleymanov, management of the Improtex Group of Companies, member of the Supervisory Board of the Foundation, deputy of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) Fatma Yildirim, partners and donors of the fund, as well as media representatives. Rahman Hajiyev said that the victory in the second Karabakh war contributed to the beginning of a new stage in the history of Azerbaijan. Speaking about the fund's activities and ongoing projects, the chairman of the board said that the fund's relations with donors and partners are developing day by day, and within the framework of this cooperation, technical means are donated to the fund, along with monetary funds. In addition, the chairman of the board expressed confidence that the donated mine clearing vehicle will make a great contribution to the work on clearing the territories liberated from occupation of mines and unexploded ordnance. Hajiyev thanked everyone who contributed to the transfer of the mine clearance machine to the fund, calling it a commendable, exemplary step. Vugar Suleymanov informed the participants of the event about the demining operations. Videos dedicated to the agency's mine clearance activities were shown after the speeches. Entrepreneurs previously donated equipment for various purposes to the Karabakh Revival Fund earlier. Currently, this equipment is widely used in restoration and construction work carried out in the territories liberated from occupation. The Karabakh Revival Fund thanked all its partners who donated both funds and equipment for the restoration of the territories liberated from occupation, and invited them to provide support in the issue of restoration and construction work in the liberated territories. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Azerbaijan and China have discussed expansion of cooperation in the field of investment and trade, said Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov on X (Twitter), Trend reports. "During the meeting with Ling Ji, the Vice Minister of Commerce of the Peoples Republic of China, we discussed the opportunities available for enhancing bilateral economic relations, expanding cooperation in the fields of investment and trade, as well as promoting mutual activities as part of infrastructure projects," the publication reads. The Azerbaijan Trade House opened in Beijing on September 3. Azerbaijan Trade House, established by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Economy in accordance with the assignment of the head of state, will support the promotion of Made in Azerbaijan brand in the Chinese market and expansion of exports of Azerbaijani products, as well as coordinate in this field. Azerbaijan signed an agreement on investment cooperation with China on September 1. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. The involvement of Israeli companies in reintegration projects carried out in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan is of great importance, the First Deputy Minister of Economy, Elnur Aliyev said, Trend reports. At a meeting with members of the Israeli-Azerbaijani inter-parliamentary working group in Israel's Knesset, he said that joint work will continue to develop economic cooperation between the two countries. Azerbaijan and Israel provide mutual support for each other in various spheres. The Joint Intergovernmental Commission of Azerbaijan and Israel, whose 3rd meeting was held in Baku in April this year, is an important platform for the development of partnership. Trade and economic cooperation between the two countries is expanding, and last year the trade turnover with Israel increased by more than 85 percent. Activities are continuing to implement joint investment projects with Israeli companies, and opportunities are opening up for innovative development and strengthening partnerships in the fields of the digital economy, energy, industrial zones and agricultural parks, tourism, water management, food security, healthcare, humanitarian aid, and other areas. In addition, Yevgeny Sova, a member of the Israeli-Azerbaijani inter-parliamentary working group, highlighted the importance of developing relations between his country and Azerbaijan, expressed the interest of Israeli companies in participating in projects carried out in various areas, including the restoration of the liberated territories of Azerbaijan, and shared his opinion on the development of cooperation. In general, the current state and prospects for the development of Azerbaijani-Israeli economic relations were discussed at the meeting. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Azerbaijan and China discussed the expansion of investment ties in the field of industry and high technologies, the development of trade and economic relations, opportunities for cooperation within the Azerbaijani segment of the Middle Corridor, and other issues, Trend reports. The delegation headed by the Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan, Mikayil Jabbarov, held a number of meetings during the visit to China. During the talks with Chinese Deputy Commerce Minister Ling Ji, the sides discussed how Azerbaijan actively cooperates with China within the framework of various international organizations. China is one of our main partners. Trade, investment, transport, and transit cooperation are steadily developing between the two countries. The aim of the parties is to bring trade and economic relations to a political level. The minister of economy said that Azerbaijan's active position on joining China's 'One Belt, One Road' Initiative has led to significant investments in infrastructure development, including the construction of commercial ports, trunk roads, and airports. Azerbaijan, using the potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor), contributes to the expansion of cargo transportation between China and Europe. At the same time, there is a need to deepen trade ties to optimize transport routes. Partnership within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) also brings mutual benefits. There is great potential and prospects for joint activities in the fields of alternative and renewable energy sources, high technologies, the digital economy, manufacturing, and electronic commerce, as well as between SOCAR and Chinese companies operating in the energy sector. Chinese investors can take advantage of the transport and logistics opportunities of the Alat Free Economic Zone, located at the intersection of international corridors. The sides also discussed the implementation of significant agreements reached within the framework of the 22nd meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council in Samarkand and measures to develop trade and investment ties and expand cooperation. In addition, the signing of the "Framework Agreement between the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the National Development and Reform Commission of China on production facilities and strengthening investment cooperation" will make a positive contribution to the expansion of ties in various sectors of the economy, including in the field of trade. Deputy Minister Ling Ji expressed satisfaction with the successful activities of Chinese companies in Azerbaijan. He said that Chinese companies are interested in deepening the partnership. The Deputy Minister said that since the beginning of 2022, Azerbaijan Trade House has started working online on a well-known e-commerce platform in China, JD.com. Azerbaijan's presence on this platform will play a significant role in promoting and increasing the recognition of Azerbaijani products among Chinese consumers. The sides discussed the possibilities of strengthening current economic ties, expanding cooperation in the field of investments, and encouraging mutual activity within the framework of infrastructure projects. At the meeting with Deputy Minister of Industry and Informatization of China Sin Gobin, the importance of expanding business dialogue with leading Chinese companies was highlighted, and information was provided on the favorable business and investment environment of Azerbaijan, the conditions created for investors, and ongoing and promising projects in the field of alternative and renewable energy. The current state of investment relations and potential measures to expand mutually beneficial cooperation were discussed. He said that there is potential for the implementation of joint projects in the fields of shipbuilding, renewable energy sources, including the localization of wind and solar energy production, and the creation of urban infrastructure. In addition, there are great opportunities for the implementation of joint projects and the exchange of experience in these areas, given the importance of the modernization of industrial sites and China's advanced experience in this area. The meeting also discussed the possibilities of cooperation in the fields of technology implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, digitalization of the economy, and other potential projects. During the visit to China, the minister of economy also held a meeting with John Lee, vice president of Envision Energy. The expansion of ties between business circles was emphasized, as was the business and investment environment. The conditions created for investors in Azerbaijan were noted. Among the priority issues in ensuring sustainable economic growth are the introduction of the most advanced tools in the field of energy efficiency and the development of alternative energy. There are great opportunities for expanding the partnership in order to ensure the activities of specialized enterprises in Azerbaijan. The parties discussed the possibilities of cooperation in order to create an industrial park with zero emissions, the introduction of new technologies in the field of energy, and the supply of appropriate equipment. Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Sahib Mammadov, speaking at the Summit Forum on China's International Economic Cooperation: Going Global within the framework of the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, provided information about the country's economic success. Despite problems with supply chains and other difficulties caused by the global economic crisis, Azerbaijan's economy continued to grow steadily. In 2022, the country's GDP grew by 4.6 percent and non-oil GDP by 9.1 percent. From 1995 to 2022, more than $320 billion was invested in the country's economy, most of which came from foreign investments. In general, by launching the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in 2017, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route connecting China and Europe was formed on the initiative of Azerbaijan. The middle corridor is becoming more and more popular, and the volume of cargo transportation along it is constantly growing. The deputy minister said that the Middle Corridor is a large-scale international transport project that meets the economic interests of not only our countries but also other countries in the region. Today, Azerbaijan is one of the main countries contributing to the implementation of the Middle Corridor. This route turns into an important corridor connecting Asia and Europe. Infrastructure projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, which provides the shortest railway connection between Europe and China, the Baku International Commercial Sea Port, and the Alat Free Economic Zone are of great importance for this global initiative and regional cooperation in general. More Chinese academicians to participate in science popularization Xinhua) 08:41, September 04, 2023 BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- China has launched a campaign to gather the strength of academicians and experts to promote high-quality national science popularization. The "Science and China" academician and expert lecture tour issued a proposal at the launch ceremony on Saturday, calling on Chinese academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) to play a leading role in the national science popularization cause and push forward international exchanges and cooperation. The initiative aims to have more than 1,000 academicians from the two institutes in more than 1,000 science popularization activities every year tell the stories of China's innovation. At the first report meeting held on Saturday, eight academicians from the CAS and the CAE made reports on astronomy, geography, life, and information. The "Science and China" academician and expert lecture tour was launched in December 2002. Since then, more than 2,000 science popularization activities have been held nationwide. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Press Release September 4, 2023 Bong Go highlights healthcare priorities at the 23rd National Midyear Convention of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians in Davao City Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, delivered a keynote address at the 23rd National Midyear Convention of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City on Thursday, August 31. The said event provided a platform for Go to highlight priority health measures and discuss his efforts to promote the well-being of Filipinos through accessible and quality healthcare. Go also commended the PAFP for their dedication to the health of Filipino families and acknowledged the critical role that family physicians play in ensuring the overall health and well-being of communities. He likewise stressed the importance of collaboration between government, medical professionals, and stakeholders to achieve comprehensive and effective healthcare solutions for the Filipino people. "Bago ko po malimutan, maraming, maraming salamat po sa inyong sakripisyo sa panahon ng pandemya. Kayo po 'yung hero sa panahon ng pandemya. Palakpakan po natin ang ating mga doctors, family physicians. Hindi po natin mararating ito kung hindi po dahil sa inyo. Alam kong hirap na hirap po kayo sa panahon ng pandemya," he highlighted. "As we transition to a new normal, your role as family physicians is more crucial than ever. You are the first line of defense in our healthcare system, and today, we gather to discuss how we can make that system even stronger," Go added. Meanwhile, Go emphasized the need to pursue equitable access to healthcare services for all citizens through the proper implementation of the Universal Health Care Law, among others. "It is a game-changer, expanding PhilHealth coverage and integrating public healthcare services from barangay health stations to specialty hospitals," the senator cited. The senator also maintained the significance of the continuing operations of Malasakit Centers, the establishment of more Super Health Centers, and the recent enactment of the Regional Specialty Centers Act which he principally sponsored and is one of the authors in the Senate. Malasakit Centers serve as one-stop shops where particularly poor and indigent patients can conveniently access financial and medical assistance from various government agencies. Super Health Centers, on the other hand, offer comprehensive basic healthcare services to address a wide range of medical needs. Regional Specialty Centers aim to decentralize the delivery of specialized medical care to different regions of the country. "First, the Malasakit Centers Act, which we principally authored and sponsored, is a milestone in our effort to make medical services accessible to all. Malasakit Centers bring together representatives from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. These one-stop shops aim to support indigent patients in reducing their hospital costs to the least possible amount," Go explained. "Second na priority ko po bilang chairman ng Committee on Health, ito pong establishment of Super Health Center across the country, considering how they can significantly help reduce hospital occupancy rates while bringing government medical services closer to the grassroots. Super Health Centers are designed to focus on primary care, consultation, and early detection, further strengthening the healthcare sector in the country especially in rural communities. It will also offer free consultations and will help decongest the hospitals," he continued. "Alam n'yo po proud po akong ibalita sa inyo na nakakuha po ng 24-0 na boto sa Senado, even the opposition voted for it dahil alam po nila na makakatulong po ito sa mga kababayan natin. The law aims to bring specialized medical care closer to the grassroots by establishing specialty centers in existing regional hospitals," Go said pertaining to the recently signed Republic Act No. 11959 or the Regional Specialty Centers Act. Addressing the concerns of healthcare professionals, Go expressed his support for the proposed Salary Standardization Law 6 (SSL 6), building upon the success of the previous Salary Standardization Law 5 which he authored and co-sponsored in 2019. The proposed salary increase aims to provide more competitive compensation to government workers, including healthcare professionals in the public sector. Go then emphasized that the dedication of these professionals deserves fair recognition, and he pledged to advocate for their welfare. It can also be recalled that Go authored and co-sponsored RA 11712, which grants continuing benefits and allowances to public and private healthcare workers during public health emergencies like COVID-19. Another significant law that Go mentioned is RA 11509, also known as the Doktor Para sa Bayan Act, which he co-authored and co-sponsored. The Doktor Para sa Bayan Act establishes a Medical Scholarship and Return Service program, which aims to provide scholarships to deserving students pursuing a medical degree. In return for the scholarship, the beneficiaries are required to render service in underserved areas of the country, helping to address the shortage of healthcare professionals in these areas. In closing, Go reiterated his unwavering commitment to prioritize the health and well-being of all Filipinos. He encouraged the medical community to continue their invaluable work and assured them of his continuous support as they collectively strive to uplift the nation's healthcare standards. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is well-placed to work with Azerbaijan in the renewable energy area and help it reach the next level, by leveraging private investment, Ivana Fernandes Duarte, IFCs Regional Manager for the South Caucasus, said in an exclusive interview with Trend. She pointed out that IFC and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) are working with the Azerbaijani government on how to implement an offshore wind roadmap, to initiate offshore wind development, and attract developers and private investors to the country. "While a major boost in oil and gas production played a key role in strengthening Azerbaijans economy, energy diversification is key to its future resilience in a post-COVID world. Moving forward, Azerbaijan is ready to optimize its non-oil sectors through innovative private sector initiatives in line with its 2030 national development vision. Diversifying away from oil and gas will help accelerate the nations decarbonization efforts, increasing competitiveness. Azerbaijan has ample renewable energy resources, with significant potential in offshore wind. The countrys technical potential of 157 gigawattsas estimated by an analysis by the World Banks Energy Sector Management Assistance Programis massive, compared to the countrys current total installed capacity of around 8 gigawatts," said Duarte. She noted that an offshore wind roadmapreleased by Azerbaijans Ministry of Energy, the IBRD, and IFCshows the country has the potential to install 7 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2040. "Harnessing this wind power will help create over 69,000 full-time equivalent years of employment and up to $7 billion in local gross value added. As Azerbaijan follows a private sector-led growth model, developing offshore wind generation will allow the country to make the power sector more competitive, while also helping the country achieve net-zero emissions in this sector. Ultimately, Azerbaijan can export renewable energy to its neighbors and to the rest of Europe, positioning itself as a regional energy powerhouse," added IFCs Regional Manager for the South Caucasus. The country receives great international support in the development of renewable energy sources. A number of agreements have already been signed with foreign partners. Agreements with companies such as Masdar, ACWA Power, bp, as well as a contract with the Australian company Fortescue Future Industries for 12 GW, are of strategic importance in terms of increasing the supply of energy resources to Europe. The first 240-megawatt solar power plant with bp is scheduled for inauguration by the year's end. Azerbaijan has entered into Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and contracts for a total capacity of 10 gigawatts. The main market for green energy from Azerbaijan is Europe and there is already a specific project within which energy will be supplied from renewable sources. So, on December 17, 2022, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary signed an agreement on strategic partnership, which provides for the construction of an energy bridge from the Caucasus region to Europe. As part of the agreement reached, the construction of a Black Sea Energy submarine electric cable with a capacity of 1,000 MW and a length of 1,195 km is expected. The cable will be intended for the supply of green electricity produced in Azerbaijan through Georgia and the Black Sea to Romania for onward transport to Hungary and the rest of Europe. This will allow supplying up to 4 GW of green energy. Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 4. Kazakhstan is looking to attract investments for exploration and development of new gas fields, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov said at a government meeting, Trend reports. He said the government is working to increase domestic gas supply, build new gas processing plants and handle full utilization of existing processing capacities. "In this regard, it is necessary to take measures to attract investment in the exploration and development of new gas fields, as well as to finalize the draft Comprehensive Plan for the development of major oil and gas and petrochemical projects until 2027," he said. On Friday, in his address to the people, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that expanding the resource base of marketable gas is a priority task for the government and the national gas company. "It is necessary to accelerate the construction of new gas processing plants and to fully involve existing processing capacities in the circulation. Our oil and gas giantsTengiz, Kashagan, Karachaganakmust be reliable suppliers of affordable gas. Attracting investment in the exploration and development of new gas fields is also important," he said. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 4. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave a number of instructions to Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev, in particular, to increase trade with Kazakhstan's external partners and quickly respond to economic challenges, Trend reports. Tokayev focused on the need for the ministry to work proactively in the context of finding new markets for Kazakh exports. Tokayev stressed the need to protect national economic interests in international markets, ensure sustainable competition with imports and support domestic producers. On September 1, Tokayev dismissed Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumangarin from his post, and appointed Arman Shakkaliyev in his place. Foreign trade turnover in Kazakhstan from January through June 2023 amounted to $67.2 billion and increased by 4.3 percent in nominal terms compared to the same period in 2022, including exports of $38 billion (in nominal terms, 10.3 percent less) and imports of $29.2 billion (in nominal terms, 32.2 percent more). Statement of Senator Risa Hontiveros on the reported unauthorized transfer of funds into the Office of the Vice President (OVP) How can they validly transfer funds to an allocation that doesn't exist in the first place? Kung totoo at tama ang mga napabalitang report, dapat may managot sa unauthorized at malinaw na iligal na pagtransfer ng pondo papunta sa Office of the Vice President (OVP) noong 2022. These serious allegations and reports demand immediate investigation. Walang "confidential fund" ang OVP sa taong 2022 na maaring paglipatan ng pondo ng pamahalaan. In the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2022, there were zero items for any confidential funds earmarked for the Office of the Vice President. Ano ito, multo? May ghost transfer? Section 25(5) of Article VI of the 1987 Constitution states that _"No law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however, the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the heads of Constitutional Commissions may, by law, be authorized to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations."_ So while it is true that the law allows the President - among certain other officials - to realign or transfer appropriations which have become "savings," these savings cannot augment a non-existent item in the GAA. A reminder to everyone: "Confidential funds" are not cheat codes which can be used to blatantly violate existing laws and regulations. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 4. Uzbekistan and the Emirati Mubadala Investment Company discussed the possibilities of expanding cooperation in the field of energy, Trend reports. According to the official source, these issues were discussed between the Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan, Laziz Kudratov, and Deputy Group CEO, Chief Corporate & Human Capital Officer of the Mubadala company Homaid Al Shimmari. During the meeting, the parties considered the possibilities of expanding cooperation by working out new investment projects based on public-private partnerships in the fields of 'green' energy, healthcare, education, road infrastructure development, etc. Furthermore, they discussed the implementation of the current project on the privatization of existing and construction of new power units on the basis of Uzbekistan's Talimarjan Thermal Power Plant. Mubadala is an Abu Dhabi government investment company with more than 100,000 employees. The company operates in more than 50 countries around the world, and the total value of the company's assets is more than $276 billion. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Iran remains committed to its nuclear program through diplomacy, but it continues to develop its economy, selling crude oil, and doesn't wait for the US and the rest of the western countries to make any steps, Spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference in Tehran on September 4, 2023, Trend reports. The spokesman emphasized that Iran carefully follows the strategy that may help to remove the sanctions, and uses legal means in accordance with international norms to protect the country's interests and rights. Kanaani added that the opposite parties (the UK, France and Germany) and the US did not use an opportunity to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program, and the discussions did not reach a conclusion. On May 8, 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany), and imposed new sanctions against Iran as of November 2018. Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad. On January 2016, Iran's nuclear program triggered the creation of JCPOA between Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany). In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year. To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 and a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed. On May 8, 2019, Iran announced ceasing to fulfill its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal. On September 5 of the same year, Iran announced its commitment to enrich uranium, using next-generation centrifuges and not to mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA. On November 5, 2019, Iran announced to have taking the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA. --- Follow the author on X (Twitter):@BaghishovElnur BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. A meeting between President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's President Vladimir Putin has kicked off in Sochi, Trend reports. At the meeting with Erdogan, Putin expressed hope that in the near future it will be possible to complete negotiations on the creation of a gas hub in order to stabilize the energy market. "We are moving very confidently in the field of energy, agreements have been reached between the main suppliers and consumers on both sides. I hope that it will be so, we will witness this in the near future," Putin said. In October 2022, President of Russia put forward the idea of creating a hub in Turkiye, where the lost volume of transit through the Nord Stream can be redirected. The Turkish side noted that from the point of view of infrastructure, it has almost everything ready for the implementation of the hub project, but it is necessary to amend the legislation. The first legislative decisions were taken in early April and concerned the activities of the Turkish Botas oil and gas company, as well as other suppliers. BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. The first unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkiye is expected to be launched next year, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said during the negotiations with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trend reports. According to Putin, there are prospects for the development of cooperation between the countries in this area. "The construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant continues, now Turkiye has become a member of the international club of nuclear countries after the delivery of the first batch of Russian nuclear fuel to Akkuyu. Next year, if everything goes according to the plan, we will launch the first block. There are interesting possible options for continuing our cooperation here," Putin said. He added that, currently, there is a large qualified team under 25,000 people working at the station. Akkuyu is the first nuclear power plant to be constructed in Turkiye. The project is being implemented on the basis of an intergovernmental cooperation agreement concluded with Russia on May 12, 2010. News broke that shook the watch industry out of its summer torpor: Rolex, the worlds number-one watch brand, had acquired Bucherer, the largest European watch retailer with 100 doors. Until now, Rolex owned and operated just one store, in Geneva On Friday 25 August, Watches of Switzerland saw its share price plunge by more than 20 per cent without explanation: after all, the UK-based retailer was forecasting full-year sales to increase 25 per cent and operating profit by almost 30 per cent. No explanation then, other than the previous days announcement that Rolex had acquired luxury watch seller Bucherer. Rolex is a major brand for Watches of Switzerland, which owns 202 stores in the United Kingdom and United States, while Bucherer operates 100 doors worldwide and has a strong presence Stateside. The drop in the Watches of Switzerland share price expressed the financial markets fears that these two titans might clash on American soil, where Rolex authorised dealers are also expressing their concern. Despite a reassuring statement that the Rolex group is convinced that this acquisition is the best solution not only for its own brands but also for all the watch and jewellery partner brands, as well as for all the employees of the Bucherer group, emotions ran high among industry players who are fully aware of the implications that Rolexs strategy will have for the profession at large. Up until now, it has always been a question of each to their own, with Rolex focused on making watches and leaving consumer sales to its retail partners. The only Rolex owned-and-operated store is the brands Geneva boutique. All this will change in the wake of the takeover. New beginnings? Rolexs acquisition of Bucherer is also a matter of market stability. The group, established in Lucerne in 1888, is a long-standing partner to Rolex. In 1924 Ernst Bucherer, representing the second generation, struck a deal with Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf to sell its watches, thus helping to promote the still young brand. The two have maintained close ties ever since. When Rolex launched its Certified Pre-Owned programme, it did so with Bucherer. With no direct descendants to take over the business, Rolex was the ideal candidate. By stepping up, it prevented Bucherer from falling into the wrong hands and consolidated its sales network. Whether or not the acquisition is purely a defensive move remains to be seen. Rolex is unlikely to take steps into e-commerce, instead continuing to build on brick-and-mortar sales. In this respect, that Rolex should enter the retail market was more or less a foregone conclusion and Bucherer an opportunity it couldnt ignore. There is no reason why Rolex shouldnt give priority to its own brands, comments Olivier R. Muller, founder of LuxeConsult. That it now has that possibility, through one of the worlds largest networks, will definitely impact dealers everywhere. What about margins, a point Muller also raises? Morgan Stanley estimates Rolexs 2022 ex-works sales at CHF 9.3 billion which translates to CHF 13.95 billion at retail. This gives margin in the region of CHF 4.65 billion that Rolex can partially capture. How might the landscape evolve inside stores? Rolex is currently distributed by around half of the 100 Bucherer locations it now owns (the same for sister brand Tudor) and this will almost certainly change. And what of the customer experience factor that is transforming boutiques into cocktail bars, restaurants, movie theatres and lifestyle spaces? In its new role as a retailer, Rolex is shuffling the deck. Who holds the best hand? Wait and see. The Ukrainian Defense Forces continued counter-offensive operations on 3 September and advanced near Bakhmut and in the west of Zaporizhzhya Region. They are also carrying out operations on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnieper River in the occupied part of Kherson Region. ADVERTISIMENT The invaders complain a lot about the latter, because they have to "fight back" only by the forces of "mobilizeds". This is stated in the summary of the Institute for the Study of War (Institute for the Study of War, ISW). The day before, the AFU General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces were conducting offensive operations in the Melitopol direction of the front (west of Zaporizhzhya Region). Alexander Shtupun, the official spokesman of the Tavria Troops Group, said that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had achieved undetermined successes in the direction of Verbove on Zaporizhzhya. ADVERTISIMENT According to analysts, geo-referenced footage published on September 2 and 3 shows the AFU controlling southern Klishchiivka on the Bakhmut direction. Meanwhile, a number of Russian sources complained that Ukrainian forces continue to operate in the occupied part of Kherson Region. Starting as early as August 30, Russian bloggers constantly stated that the AFU was maintaining positions on the left bank of the Dnieper River northwest of Pidstepne and near the Antonovskyi Bridge. One of them said that the Ukrainian military had managed to move supplies and personnel to positions on the left bank over the past week. And another pointed out that after the departure of unidentified units of Russian paratroopers to the Zaporizhzhya region, "mobilizeds" and "volunteer" units had to "defend" against the AFU on the Kherson direction. ADVERTISIMENT The ISW suggested that he was referring to elements of the 7th Guards Mountain Division of the Russian Airborne Forces, whose deployment from Kherson to the Robotine area of Zaporizhzhia was reported in late August. Separately, the analysts pointed out that Ukrainian military officers made a particularly frank and direct comment on the prospects for a further Ukrainian offensive in the western Zaporizhzhya region, noting that a number of prepared Russian defensive positions immediately ahead and south of the offensive could be less challenging for the Defense Forces. "Ukrainian military officials emphasized that advancing Ukrainian forces could operate more freely in areas with more sparse Russian minefields," the ISW added. ADVERTISIMENT As reported OBOZREVATEL, earlier a British general gave a prediction on the war in Ukraine, indicating that the AFU needs to pass three enemy defense lines to reach the sea. According to his belief, the Defense Forces during the current counter-offensive will not dislodge the occupiers, but in the case of increased Western support, they can win the war over the Russian Federation until 2025. Only verified information from us in Telegram-channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Counter-offensive actions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue. During the past week (August 28 - September 3) there were successes in the south and east, in particular, in the Bakhmut and Melitopol directions. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar. On her Telegram channel on Monday morning, September 4, she published a short summary of the situation (to watch the video, scroll to the end of the page). Eastern part of the front In the Kupyansk sector, the enemy is firing a large number of times at Ukrainian territory and trying to attack the country's defenders. Our Defense Forces repel several enemy attacks a day and prevent the Russian Armed Forces from advancing. In the Liman sector, the occupants are conducting unsuccessful offensives in the areas of Novoyehorivka and Bilohorivka in Luhansk region, and continue to regroup their troops. In the Bakhmut sector, the enemy is conducting defensive actions to restrain the advance of Ukrainian troops and is unsuccessfully attempting to regain lost ground near Klishchiyivka, Kurdyumivka, Ozaranivka in the Donetsk region. ADVERTISIMENT According to Malyar, there have been some successes in the area of Klishchiyivka. In total, 47 square kilometers have been liberated near Bakhmut, and the area liberated increased by 3 square kilometers over the past week. At the Avdiivka and Maryinka directions, the Russian invaders focused their main efforts on the offensive to improve the tactical situation. The enemy is trying to attack in the areas of Pivnichne, Avdiivka, Maryinka, Krasnohorivka, Novomykhailivka in Donetsk region. ADVERTISIMENT Southern part of the front The Russian Armed Forces are on the defensive in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson sectors. The occupiers are shelling the positions of our units and civilian objects in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions, actively using Lancet kamikaze drones. The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue their offensive in the Melitopol sector. There were successes in the direction of Novodanylivka and Novoprokopivka. Malyar noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are consolidating their positions. She also noted that the enemy in the south suffers significant losses in personnel, weapons and equipment, moves units and troops, and uses reserves. ADVERTISIMENT On the air of United News on the morning of September 4, the Deputy Minister of Defense said that the main direction of the Russian invaders' offensive remains eastern Ukraine. With varying degrees of intensity, but constantly, the enemy is trying to advance on the Lyman, Kupyansk, Maryinka, and Avdiivka directions. As for Bakhmut, the main fighting is now taking place on the flanks around the city. In general, the number of enemy attacks in the east over the week is estimated at around 8,000 (approximately 400,000 rounds of ammunition). ADVERTISIMENT As OBOZREVATEL wrote: - The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported 30 military clashes over the past day (September 3). - Our soldiers repelled the offensive of the occupants in the area of Avdeevka, Maryinka in Donetschyna and Priyutnoye in Zaporizhzhya. You can read a fresh summary of the situation on the front from the AFU General Staff at the link. Only verified information from us in Telegram-channel Obozrevatel and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Press Release September 4, 2023 Hontiveros agrees with VP Sara: OVP can live without confidential funds Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday said that she agrees with Vice President Sara Duterte when the latter said that her office could "live without" the P500 million confidential funds they are requesting for 2024, after Duterte admitted to using confidential funds this year for free bus rides, tree plantings and other programs unrelated to security matters. "Masaya ako na mismong si Vice President Duterte na ang nagsabi na kaya nilang mabuhay ng walang malaking confidential funds sa 2024. There is no good reason why the Office of the Vice President (OVP) should have confidential fund allocations that are larger than the combined confidential budgets of our top security agencies," Hontiveros said. During a Senate Finance subcommittee hearing, Hontiveros showed that the OVP's proposed P500 million confidential funds - which have less auditing and reporting requirements than regular public funds - "tower over" the combined P438.2 million confidential and intelligence funds allocated for both the Department of National Defense (DND) and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA). "There is something fundamentally wrong when the OVP alone has a confidential fund of half a billion pesos while the NICA itself, which is the government's primary intelligence arm, has confidential and intelligence funds of only P341.2 million. Alam naman natin kung kanino talaga dapat napupunta ang confidential at intelligence funds - sa DND, NICA at iba pang responsable para sa national security, law enforcement at border protection," Hontiveros said. Duterte, during the same hearing, admitted that the OVP has been using its confidential funds for 2023 for the "safe, secure and successful" implementation of initiatives with no direct relation to national security, like the construction of a vice presidents' museum and an OVP permanent office as well as free bus rides, tree plantings and feeding programs. Hontiveros pointed out that the initiatives do not fall under the exclusive list of programs in which confidential funds may be used, as laid out in COA-DBM Joint Circular No. 2015-01. The circular, she said, requires that confidential funds be used only for the purchase of information and or expenses "necessary for the formulation and implementation of programs, activities and projects relevant to national security and peace and order." "As important as free bus rides and tree buildings are, these are not projects involving national security for which confidential funds should be used. Hindi iyan pwedeng maging justification para sa napakalaking confidential funds. Pwede namang pondohan ang mga proyekto na yan gamit ang regular funds ng ahensya," the senator said. Hontiveros then urged her colleagues in the Senate to take up the Vice President on her word that she and the OVP can fulfill their functions without the hundreds of millions in confidential funds. "Kayang kaya ng OVP na pagsilbihan ang Bayan ng hindi gumagamit ng confidential funds na halos hindi naau-audit at narereport sa publiko. As I have said before, let's leave the security and intelligence work to the experts," Hontiveros concluded. The Russian occupation troops have decided to speed up the pace of mobilization in the temporarily seized Luhansk Region of Ukraine. The so-called "military committees" set up by the occupants have been instructed to this effect. ADVERTISIMENT The aggressor country ordered them to speed up the so-called military registration of "conscripts" and "persons liable for military duty" among residents of the occupied region. This was reported in the Center for National Resistance on Sunday, September 3. The authors note that they plan to use the so-called "elections" for this purpose. During the fake vote, the occupants plan to refine the lists of persons who can be mobilized. It is for this purpose that the occupation administrations allowed citizens to use any identity document when registering at "polling stations". This includes the use of Ukrainian passports and driver's licenses. ADVERTISIMENT The Center for National Resistance urged Ukrainians in the territories temporarily occupied by the enemy not to visit the "polling stations" created by the invaders. In addition, residents of the occupied cities were advised to leave their homes if possible for the period of "autumn aggravation" of the enemy, because the Kremlin needs the elections only as a propaganda picture, and their results are determined in advance. Recall that in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine on August 31 started "elections to local councils of the Russian Federation". Pseudo-voting for pseudo-candidates will be held until September 8, the invaders are doing everything to show propagandists "high turnout" of the population. For this purpose, students and budgetary workers from Russian regions neighboring the Ukrainian territory will be brought to the polling stations as early as September 8. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZREVATEL, fake Russian "administrations" in the temporarily seized territories of Ukraine are trying by all means to force Ukrainians to vote in pseudo-elections. The occupiers told residents fables, saying that they would "allow" to vote even without a Russian passport. Only verified information from us in Telegram-channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in no hurry to make a decision on providing Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles. The head of the German government is afraid that Ukrainian troops will start using this weapon to strike the territory of the aggressor country Russia. ADVERTISIMENT Also the decision on the transfer of Taurus from Germany may depend on repeated internal debates in Berlin about the alleged need for negotiations with the Kremlin. This is reported by the publication BILD. Despite the fact that Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock and Finance Minister Christian Lindner have spoken in favor of the delivery of the missiles, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in no hurry to make a positive decision. In addition to the fear of using Taurus missiles on Russian territory, Scholz found several other arguments why the arms transfer has not yet taken place. On the one hand, the German government wants to wait for U.S. President Joe Biden's decision on ATACMS missiles, but on the other hand, Scholz argues that Taurus missiles will only make sense after F-16 fighter jets are delivered to Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT However, Taurus missiles can also be used with existing fighters after appropriate modification. Comparable French and British Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles are already in use by Ukrainian forces. At the same time, Ukrainian officials note that more capabilities are needed right now to attack Russian positions and command centers in Ukraine. In particular, Taurus missiles will help make further progress in liberating the territories. TAURUS KEPD 350 is a long-range air-to-surface subsonic cruise missile designed for precision strikes and engaging targets highly defended by enemy air defenses. It is known from open sources that Germany ordered 600 such missiles between 2005 and 2010. The current market value of one missile is about $1.2 million. It is a missile weighing 1400 kg and 5 meters long, with an official range of 500 km. That is, by and large, it is a kind of German-Swedish analog of the French-British Storm Shadow missile. ADVERTISIMENT The basic model of TAURUS missile is equipped with a tandem concrete-piercing warhead of MEPHISTO (Multi-Effect Penetrator, Highly Sophisticated and Target Optimized) type. The leading charge of the warhead is a shaped charge, while the main charge is a high-explosive charge housed in a high-strength casing whose shape is optimized for penetrating concrete and heavy soil. The weight of the high-explosive charge together with the casing is 400 kg, while the total weight of the warhead is 480 kg. The missile has a flight altitude of 30-70 meters and a maximum speed of Mach 0.60-0.95. The missile is guided by several systems: IBN (image-based navigation), INS (inertial navigation system), TRN (terrain-referenced navigation) and MIL-GPS (global positioning system). ADVERTISIMENT We shall remind you that Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that Ukraine will still receive Taurus cruise missiles from Germany. He hopes that the overall process will last less than a year. Earlier, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner during a visit to Kiev supported the provision of Taurus missiles to Ukraine. He expressed hope that our army would soon receive this armament. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZREVATEL, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock also indirectly expressed support for the transfer of Taurus for the AFU, saying that Berlin "considers all wishes" of Kyiv, and Russia's full-scale invasion shows that "every day matters." Only verified information we have in our Telegram channel Obozrevatel and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes! On the night of September 4, the Russian occupation army attacked Dnipropetrovsk region with kamikaze attack drones. Some of the UAVs were shot down by air defense forces, but a flight into an infrastructure facility was also recorded. ADVERTISIMENT Defenders from the air command "East" landed 6 attack drones. This was reported in Telegram by the head of the Dnepropetrovsk regional military administration Sergey Lysak. According to him, the enemy attack started in the region in the morning. The defenders of the Vostok air command destroyed six UAVs in the sky above the region. At the same time, the head of the regional military administration said that there was a hit on an infrastructure facility in Dniprovsky district. As a result of the enemy attack there was a fire. Other consequences of the shelling are specified. Lysak added that according to preliminary data, there were no casualties. ADVERTISIMENT As a reminder, troops of the aggressor country Russia staged a massive attack by Shahed-type kamikaze drones on the south of Ukraine's Odessa region on the night of September 4. Air defense forces shot down about 17 attack UAVs, but there were also hits on civilian infrastructure. The night before, on September 3, Russia attacked Odessa region with 25 Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones. Of these, the air defense forces destroyed 22 of the attacking UAVs, while there was also a hit on port infrastructure, leading to a fire and two casualties. As reported by OBOZREVATEL, Ukraine will receive anti-drone systems Slinger, produced by the Australian company Electro Optic Systems. They are capable of shooting down helicopters and Shaheds. This will help meet critical security and defense needs. Only verified information we have in our Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Troops of the aggressor country Russia launched a massive attack with Shahed-type kamikaze drones over the south of Odessa region of Ukraine on the night of September 4. Air defense forces shot down about 17 attack UAVs, but there were also hits on civilian infrastructure. ADVERTISIMENT As of Monday morning, damage to business buildings, farm machinery and equipment was reported. Fortunately, there were no casualties, said the head of the Odessa Regional Military Administration Oleg Kiper (to see the photo, scroll to the end of the news). It should be noted that the air alert covered Odessa and neighboring regions at about 02:00. Then a group of enemy drones was recorded flying, in particular towards the Izmail region. Air defense forces were already working in the region. According to the AFU Air Force, the drones flew from the waters of the Black Sea. The occupants attacked in waves - mainly towards Izmail and Kiliya. ADVERTISIMENT Closer to four in the morning, Kiper emphasized that for almost two hours the enemy had been sending attack drones to the south of the region - Izmail district. Subsequently, a group of UAVs was also recorded in the Kiliya district. "Once again I ask residents and guests to be in shelters until the air alert goes off! This is a matter of your life and health! Our guys are working. Do not film or post their work. Must take care of each other," he urged. Local Telegram channels were reporting explosions in the region. The attack continued even after five in the morning. Then there was a report about the alleged arrival of "Shahed" of the Russian occupiers on the territory of Romania, bordering the Odessa region of Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT "Rejection of the threat of strike UAVs in the Odessa region. Reminder! Do not publicize the work of air defense! Official information on the number and types of downed aerial targets will be published after the generalization of data," the AFU noted at 05:38. After seven in the morning, the head of the joint coordination press center of the Defense Forces of the south, Natalia Gumenyuk, in the air of the telethon confirmed the arrival in Odessa region as a result of the night attack of the Russian Federation, which lasted more than three hours. "Civilian infrastructure has been affected, there are damaged buildings. About victims are not yet known," - she noted. ADVERTISIMENT OVA head Oleg Kiper specified that the massive night attack by Shaheds lasted 3.5 hours and targeted civilian infrastructure in the south of Odessa region. According to him, the air defense forces shot down at least 17 drones, but there were also hits. Thus, warehouse and production buildings, agricultural machinery and equipment of industrial enterprises were damaged in several settlements of Izmail district. Also, several fires broke out on the territory of civilian facilities due to the falling debris of downed UAVs. "As of 07:00 the fire has been extinguished. Once again I emphasize that in times of danger it is very important to be in shelter. Thanks to the conscious residents of the Izmail district. There are no dead or injured as a result of the night raid. All relevant services continue to work on the site. Law enforcers record the crimes of the Russians", - he said. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZREVATEL, the night before, September 3, Russia attacked Odessa region 25 kamikaze drones Shahed-136/131. Of these, the air defense forces destroyed 22 attack UAVs, at the same time there was also a flight on the port infrastructure, leading to a fire and two victims. Only verified information from us in Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The Russian occupation army lost a huge number of reserve troops in an attempt to hold the first line of defense. As a result, the enemy did not achieve the desired success, but lost its strategic resources. ADVERTISIMENT In particular, to contain the Ukrainian Defense Force in Zaporizhzhya, the Russians are forced to transfer reserves from other regions. This was told in an exclusive interview with OBOZREVATEL by military-political expert of the group "Information Resistance" Oleksandr Kovalenko. According to him, the occupation army made a number of mistakes on the battlefield. Huge resources were spent by the invaders to slow down the advancing forces of the AFU. "The Russians have long since started a parade of mistakes on the front. They actively burned their second-line reserves, trying to hold the first line of defense, designed only to slow down and exhaust the advancing forces. For whatever reason they were doing this is not entirely clear, but that's their business. Thus, they simply exhausted their strategic resources," Kovalenko said. ADVERTISIMENT The expert emphasized that in the northeastern sector of the village of Novoprokopivka, the units of the 210 Motorized Rifle Regiment, which held the dominant heights there, lost their combat effectiveness. In addition, in the area of Ilchenkovo village, units of the 291 motorized rifle regiment were also withdrawn due to loss of combat effectiveness. It is noteworthy that near this village is the last dominant height in the area, the capture of which gives fire control over enemy logistics. "Now the resources of the second line of defense can no longer contain the Ukrainian defense forces, so the occupants are forced to transfer their troops to Zaporizhzhya region from other bridgeheads. Predominantly these are airborne troops, which can be quickly moved from one area to another before a breakthrough occurs. But such moves don't seem to help them much. It is already very hard for the Russians to hold the second line. To date, the breakthrough of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Zaporizhzhya direction is quite real," - said Kovalenko. ADVERTISIMENT The expert is also confident that after Novoprokopovka, Ilchenkovo, Solodka Balka and Verbovoye are liberated, the Russian occupation forces will very quickly collapse in this direction. "A wave of goodwill gestures may await us, because the Russians have a third line of defense - rear, without much protection. I think by the end of September we will be able to reach Tokmak, bypass it or enter the city, and already in October direct our efforts to liberate Melitopol," the military expert summarized. Recall, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have made progress in the counter-offensive on Zaporizhzhya, breaking through the "Surovikin line". We are talking about the enemy's defense line in the south, which the occupiers have been creating for several months, claiming that it is almost impregnable. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier it was reported that the aggressor country Russia deployed elements of the newly created 25th All-Russian Army "reserve" army to allow the units now in the Luhansk region to redeploy to the south of Ukraine. With the additional forces, the occupiers hope to hold back the Ukrainian counter-offensive. As reported by OBOZREVATEL, Ukrainian servicemen continue to systematically push out the Russian occupiers in the south of the country. Every day the defenders overcome meters of mined fortifications of the enemy, but in the aggregate the successes of the AFU will create big problems for the Russian invaders. Polish weekly Wprost mocked Pope Francis' playing along with the terrorist state of Russia. The new cover depicted the pontiff in a car with the chassis of a Russian tank with the letters "Z" - symbols of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Kremlin's war criminals. ADVERTISIMENT The announcement of the issue, which will be released on September 4, was published on the publication's website, as well as on its page on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter. The reason for the mockery was the pope's speech, which he proclaimed in a teleconference with participants of the All-Russian Meeting of Catholic Youth in St. Petersburg. In particular, the pontiff addressed Russian citizens, calling them "descendants of the great Russia" and urging them never to forget their heritage. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reacted to these scandalous statements by the pontiff. The ministry expressed annoyance that the head of the Catholic Church promotes Russian imperialism. ADVERTISIMENT "It is very disappointing that Russian great-power ideas, which, in fact, are the cause of Russia's chronic aggressiveness, consciously or unconsciously, are heard from the mouth of the Pope, whose mission, in our understanding, is precisely to open the eyes of Russian youth to the destructive course of the current Russian leadership," emphasized Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko. As reported OBOZREVATEL, August 20, at the end of Sunday meeting with pilgrims, Pope Francis urged the faithful to pray for Ukraine, asking for a special prayer, because our country has long suffered because of the war. The head of the Catholic Church did not mention Russia, which attacked Ukraine. Only verified information from us in Telegram-channel Obozrevatel and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Press Release September 4, 2023 INTERPELLATION OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS WITH VP SARA DUTERTE AND OTHER DEPED OFFICIALS DURING THE SENATE DELIBERATION OF THE AGENCY'S PROPOSED 2024 BUDGET September 4, 2023 SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS (SRH): Secretary, Madam Chair, the DepEd has been allocated, following the questioning of the Minority Leader, has been allocated confidential funds amounting to P150 million. The present-day Department of Education was eventually mandated through Republic Act 9155, otherwise known as the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 which establishes the mandate of this agency. So ano pong mga probisyon na RA 9155 ang nago-authorize ng intelligence collection efforts ng DepEd, Madam Chair? VP SARA DUTERTE (VPSD): Yes, in a gist uh, the mandate of the Department of Education is to provide accessible, equitable and quality basic education, which necessarily includes a safe and enabling learning environment for learners and uh safe space for teaching and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education inside our schools. SRH: So dito po, sa providing accessible and the other adjectives of the kind of quality education at saka yung creating a safe environment, dito hinuhugot ng DepEd yung mandate even for intelligence collection efforts? VPSD: Yes. Uh we want to provide a safe and enabling learning environment primarily for our learners, but safe spaces as well for our teaching and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education. As cited earlier, we have data of the recruitment of uh the minors in insurgency, in violent extremism, we have data on gangsterism in our schools. We have... We are currently working with another government agency with regard to employees' email accounts, DepEd employees' email accounts that are involved in child pornography and among others, your honor. SRH: Thank you, Madam Secretary. I-follow up ko yung puntong iyon about recruitment. But before that, earlier Madam Secretary, we asked some questions about the confidential funds of the OVP. Similarly, aling mga mandates ng DepEd yung masusuportahan nung aforementioned allocation ng confidential funds. VPSD: Your honor, uh, again it's providing a safe and enabling learning environment for our learners and safe spaces for our teaching and non-teaching Department of Education personnel. SRH: Salamat, Madam Secretary. But again, similar sa isang observation ko kanina sa hearing natin on the OVP budget, may mga secondary mandates or, not even mandates, requirements para sa operations whether ng isang office or department that are more properly generated and provided by other more qualified doon sa aspetong iyon, more qualified na ahensya ng gobyerno, under that principle of complementarity of operations ng napakaraming departments at offices at agencies sa ating gobyerno. In any case, Madam Secretary, in general terms, sa ilang mga subjects o sa aling mga entities magfo-focus ang DepEd sa kanyang surveillance o intelligence-gathering efforts? At anong intelligence tungkol sa mga subjects na ito ang ire-require ng DepEd? VPSD: Your honor, uh this will be directed uh in the anti-insurgency, in the anti-terrorism and violent extremism with regard to pornograpy, child pornography, drugs cases, criminality and gangsterism. As well as other sexual exploitation complaints and reports. SRH: Thank you, Madam Secretary. So dito makakabalik nga ako doon sa una niyong binanggit tungkol sa recruitment. So kung ganito po yung mga sinasabing mga subject ng surveillance and intelligence gathering, ano ang magdi-distinguish sa efforts ng DepEd in this regard doon sa mga ginagawa na ng AFP, PNP, NICA, NTF-Elcac at yung iba nating security agencies? VPSD: Yes, we have a different mandate from the other government agencies. Basically, theirs is very broad, Department of Education is very specific. We target our learners, our teaching and non-teaching DepEd personnel. SRH: Madam Sec, I appreciate yung pagdi-distinguish niyo sa mandates, but on the contrary, I would say dahil DepEd budget ang pinag-uusapan ngayon, sa usapin ng edukasyon, ang may broad mandate ay yung DepEd. At yung may specific, mamaya itatanong ko nga kasi specialized or niche mandate, ay yung mga security agencies. So yes, different mandates pero yung may broad mandate sa edukasyon in general would be DepEd, and yung specific would be those security agencies. And tinatanong ko po ito because it seems yung pag-generate ng useful intelligence ay napaka-specialized, even niche na professional activity. At para makuha itong useful intelligence, kailangan may kahit papaanong control mula doon sa end-user or users as to anong intelligence iyong kinakailangan. Tapos yung information, kailangan kolektahin nga sa iba't-ibang sources, kailangan siyang i-collate, kailangan siyang i-analyze tapos gagawin siya into yung intelligence na eventually idi-disseminate doon sa end-user, tulad na in this case, DepEd. Hindi yung generator, pero yung end-user, so the cycle can begin again. Kaya nga nabanggit ko rin kaninang umaga, kaya nga this process commonly referred to siya as the intelligence cycle. So in what ways po, itong mga requirements, itong mga steps sa intelligence cycle, in what ways ito mashe-share o mako-coordinate, halimbawa kahit sa OVP, as well as mashe-share o mako-coordinate doon ulit sa NICA, sa PNP, sa AFP, sa NTF-ELCAC, para ma-reduce yung duplication of efforts. VPSD: Your honor, I did not say broad mandate in education. I said broad mandate in their specific uh, function of surveillance. The other government agencies, particularly, PDEA< PNP, AFP, they have a very broad mandate. They do not focus on basic education, the learners and the teaching and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education. ON the other hand, the Department of Education, we are present, we are there, hand-in-hand with the learners and our teaching and non-teaching personnel. We are very specific in our surveillance that we only conduct it in our schools. And of course, if the illegal activity involves learners of our schools or teachers of our schools but it happens outside of the school. As to your other question, your honor, with regard to the processing of uh intelligence information, you are correct. This is precisely why we hired security consultants in the Department of Education wherein our field operations directly coordinate with our two security consultants and these two security consultants liaise with the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other law enforcement agencies with regard to actionable intelligence information. SRH: Salamat, Madam Secretary. So I stand corrected, ang sinabi ng good secretary ay yung may broad mandate dito sa surveillance, et cetera ay yung mga intelligence and security agencies. Pero sinasabi niyo pa rin na may specific mandate kahit sa intelligence and surveillance na iyon ang DepEd. Even as I stand corrected, I would still aver na in terms of the intelligence collection o collation, analysis and turning into useful intelligence, I would even say na even that, kahit sa context ng educational sector or system na pinamumunuan ng DepEd, still remains with the intelligence and security agencies. Dahil kahit sa paghawak at paggamit- Kaninang umaga, sinabi ng good secretary, good vice president, yung VPSPG naga-adjust depende sa intelligence na binibigay sa kanya and gumagawa ng rekomendasyon sa OVP. In the same way, I would still aver na if we leave intelligence to the experts, kahit sa loob ng DepEd, nanatili siyang intelligence user, pero yung nagge-generate ng intel is still yung mga intel agencies natin. And lalo na po, when yung sinasabi ng good secretary na activities or groups na sinu-surveil are doing their activities outside the schools, so lalo nang outside the physical spaces ng education system, lalo nang ang whether broad or specific mandate ay nanatiling yung mayroon talagang intel mandate sa ating bansa, sa ating gobyerno. At ito yung mga intelligence agencies and not DepEd itself, except as an intelligence user sa tail-end ng intelligence cycle, Madam Chair, Madam Secretary. VPSD: Yes, Madam Chair, your honor. You can aver and we take note of your assertion, your honor. SRH: Thank you, Madam Secretary, Madam Chair. Moving on to some general questions, tungkol sa enrollment rate. While the department is pushing for the improvement of quality education, it's concerning that we are failing to reach the 100% enrollment rate of the 28.8 million school-age population - one of DepEd's most fundamental goals. HIndi po ba ito yung first test of education leadership? Makakapasok lahat, walang batang maiiwan, tulad sa video kanina. Kung ganoon pa rin, anong strategies ang pinaplano ng DepEd para maimplementa yung prevention ng bilang na ito from dropping further, Madam Chair? VPSD: Yes, Usec. Poa will answer the question. Usec. Poa: Good afternoon, your honor. As to the enrollment rate, if I may just start with the- Baka po kasi misleading din yung current number of enrollees natin sa ngayon. Last year po kasi 28.4 tayo, of course we're also targeting to be within that range for this year. Today, if I'm not mistaken, nasa 25.2 million po yung enrollees natin, but we feel or we are of the position that this might just be a timing difference. Kasi po, karamihan po sa atin mahilig sa last day, kumbaga, hindi pa nage-enroll at ang nangyayari, pag pumapasok na po yung bata sa school, doon lang nako-confirm yung enrollment po nila and it takes time for the schools to encode and transmit to the central office. So we are observing for another week or two, just to see po kung ano ang datos natin. But usually, ang last day of enrollment natin for late enrollees ay within the month of September. But hopefully, your honors, even before the plenary, we can at least give you an updated report on what is indicatively our enrollment for this year. Secondly, doon naman po sa overall efforts, as you know, school-based feeding program is actually one of the ways na hindi napapansin pero ito yung ways to prevent yung ating mga dropouts. Kasi maraming nagda-dropout dahil walang trabaho, walang makain. So, kapag binibigyan natin ng pagkain yung bata, it also helps encourage the families na i-enroll yung mga bata. It also improves not only academic performance but also enrollment rates. Another would be yung ALS natin, yun alternative learning system. Ang ginagawa po diyan, yung age-appropriate pa na ALS learner, once mapasok po siya sa ALS, ine-encourage po nating mabalik sa formal schooling system. So these are the two programs. Of course, we will not stop there. We are still monitoring kung ano ba yung mga reasons ng mga dropouts natin at unti-unti tayong magku-cultivate ng mga programs targeted towards that, your honor. SRH: Thank you rin, Usec. I have a couple of questions also sa school-based feeding program sa patapos ng interpellation ko sa department. Moving on to the blended learning program, Madam Chair. During the 2024 DepEd budget deliberation at the House of Representatives, you stated that DepEd is pursuing another track to improve basic education that the department wants to institutionalize the blended learning program and are eyeing to leverage technology in pursuit of this plan. Kung ganoon, with that pronouncement in mind, pwede po bang malaman yung rationale sa P2.24 billion decrease sa computerization program budget? Kasi kung naghahanap po tayo sa heavier dependence ang reliance sa ICT para i-improve yung basic education, bakit hindi ito nagtutugma sa budget allocation at tila may dissonance sa pagitan ng pronouncements at budget allocation? VPSD: Madam Chair, your honor, Usec. Poa will ans2er the question. Usec. Poa: Thank you, Madam Chair, your honor. Doon po sa tanong kung bakit bumaba pa yung computerization budget natin, it's because actually mataas pio yung initial proposal niya. Pero this year, we still have yung ating 2022 continuing funds na hindi pa po nagamit kasi hindi na po tayo bumili ng karagdagang laptops last year. So this year po, ang binibili natin ay yung mga tinatawag na e-learning cards, yung pong may laman na 46 units na laptop for each cart. At yung po ay nasimulan lang natin this year. In fact, this year's budget, if I'm not mistaken, is around P16 billion just for the CP. So minarapat po namin na P8 billion muna yung i-propose natin just to ensure na ma-utilize muna natin lahat ng budget natin this year. Kasi kahit po yung 2023, may tendency na maging continuing funds siya for next year. But of course, best efforts is ma-procure po natin, ma-obligate at ma-disburse lahat ng DCP funds natin this year. And then P8 billion for next year, which we feel will be sufficient. And then from there, we will again strategize, see if there is a need for more budget basing on our absorptive capacity to also procure these items and we will propose accordingly during the next budget cycle, your honor. SRH: Pero Usec, kung iko-combine yung continuing funds niyo 2022 tapos yung P8B, sasapat na yun para i-cover yung gastos niyo dapat sa computerization program sa susunod na taon, 2024? Usec. Poa: To be honest, hindi pa po natin mako-cover talaga lahat ng schools, your honor. But since ngayon namin iro-roll out itong e-learning carts, sa totoo lang ,it's really more of an exercise of fiscal responsibility. Gusto nating makita muna kung talagang ano ba yung timeline pag-procure. And then, to be honest, we were a bit conservative with the P8 billion for next year. But based on our performance in terms of budget utilization diyan sa DC program this year and next year, we will propose an appropriate budget going forward. SRH: At pag sinabi niyo, Usec, na mas gusto niyong makita muna, may pagka- Pag nagro-roll out on a trial basis- Not exactly expe- Pilot. May pagka-pilot po ba yung computerization program as of next year? At kung ganoon anong percentage ng mga eskwelahan sa basic education level ang tina-target ng department ma-cover na. Usec. Poa: Thank you. We can say that in a way, your honor because dati po yung binibili natin laptops for teachers, even laptops for non-teaching personnel. Ngayon lang talaga magfu-full blown tayo sa e-learning carts. Although there were schools, I understand from the previous years na nabigyan ng e-learning carts as a test. Ngayon, kumbaga ito na yung direksyon natin na mage-elearning carts tayo. For the specific numbers, if I may just pass you on to the Usec for Admin, who will have the base- Kasi siya po ang Usec for IT also. He will have, at least the deliverables in terms of the e-learning carts. Usec. Mempin: Your honor, for '22 and '23, we have 6,416 e-learning carts consists of 295,136 laptops. Then, actually, aside from the e-learning cart po, we are giving also smart TV packages to our elementary schools which consist of 2,985 smart TV packages, consist of 14,925 smart TV. Also for '22 and 2023, we are also giving 60,110 laptops for teachers and 10,719 laptops for the non-teaching because the Department of Education's downloaded some of the ancillary tasks from our teachers to our admin officer and PDO personnel. So that's for the 2022 and 2023 budget. And for 2024 NEP, our proposed budget, we are targeting to provide 1,410 e-learning cart, consists of 64,860 laptops and also 5,818 smart TV packages with 34,500 laptops for teachers and 4,001 laptops for non-teaching personnel. Actually, ma'am, if we will be asked how long we'll be able to have a 1:1 ratio, up to 2028, we actually need P181 billion to have enough laptops for our learners, teachers and non-teaching personnel. But we also have to factor in the life of the laptops or IT which is average five years, ma'am. SRH: If I can just put on record my questions para rin mapag-isipan na rin ng DepEd. Yung last follow up question ko kay Usec, maybe for answering also in the second round, so given yung mga na-provide niyo na na e-learning carts, smart TV packages at saka laptops noong 2022, ngayong 2023, at balak niyo sa 2024, by 2024, ilang percent na ng mga schools natin ang na-cover? 50% na ba, 25% pa lang, 75% na ba? Salamat, Usec. And Madam Chair, just for the record, yung itatanong ko na lang sa second round ay actually parang dalawang tanong na lang. Isa pang tanong sa blended learning program, kung nakapag-kondukta ang DepEd ng study o evaluation sa readiness ng mga paaralan natin, ng mga estudyante at kanilang pamilya para sa blended learning. And then last two questions nga tungkol sa school-based feeding program na tinalakay ni Usec. Poa kanina. So yung mga tanong doon, follow up sa tanong ni Minority Leader kanina, gaano ka-confident ang DepEd na ma-aachieve yung mga targets at objectives niya doon sa SBFP sa susunod na taon and lastly, ano yung current actions na ina-undertake ng DepEd para siguruhin na wala nang delays sa implementasyon ng feeding program. At na yung pondo na io-authorize ng Kongreso ay mau-utilize properly ng mga objectives ng programs. Just to reiterate yung sinabi ko rin kaninang umaga doon sa budget ng OVP, regarding intelligence, the whole intelligence cycle, starting from surveillance onward. Let's leave intel to the experts and let our offices and departments, OVP man, DepEd man at lahat ng iba pa sa ating gobyerno, focus on their true mandates. "An example and the most obvious one is a fiber optic connection. That's the shortest route. It's the safest route. It's the most economic route," Netanyahu said after talks with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. He said such projects could happen if Israel normalizes relations with other countries in the region. The 2020 U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and the Biden administration is trying to establish official ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he's "quite confident" such an infrastructure "corridor" linking Asia to Europe through Israel and Cyprus is feasible. Israel's prime minister floated the idea Sunday of building infrastructure projects such as a fiber optic cable linking countries in Asia and the Arabian Peninsula with Europe through Israel and Cyprus. The Israeli leader's pitch is itself an extension of proposed energy links with Cyprus and Greece as part of growing collaboration on energy in the wake of discoveries of significant natural gas deposits in the economic zones of both Israel and Cyprus. Netanyahu repeated that he and Christodoulides are looking to follow through on plans for a 2,000-megawatt undersea electricity cable known as the EurAsia Interconnector connecting Israel with Cyprus and Greece that aims to act as an energy supply back-up for both Israel and Cyprus. "You want to be connected to other sources of power that can allow a more optimal use of power or give you power when there is a failure in your own country," Netanyahu said. "That is something that we're discussing seriously, and we hope to achieve." Another energy link involves a Cypriot proposal to build a pipeline that would convey offshore natural gas from both Israel and Cyprus to the east Mediterranean island nation where it would be fuel for electricity generators or potentially be liquefied for export by ship. Christodoulides said given Europe's need for energy diversification considering Russia's war in Ukraine, Cyprus and Israel are looking to developing "a reliable energy corridor" linking the East Mediterranean basin to Europe through projects including gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing plants. Netanyahu said his government fully backs a European decision to create a regional firefighting hub in Cyprus from which aircraft and other technology could be dispatched to help put out fires in neighboring countries. "The climate isn't going to get cooler. It's going to get hotter. And with, you know, with the heating up of our region and the globe, firefighting becomes a really important thing. We can -- I think we can -- do it better together," the Israeli leader said. Talks between Christodoulides and Netanyahu precede a trilateral meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday. Since 2016 such meetings between the leaders of the three countries have become a staple of what they said are burgeoning ties that Netanyahu described as "a deep friendship, both personal, but also between our nations" that is "real" and "long overdue." Mamuka Mdinaradze, Chairman of the Georgian Dream, expressed the belief that the impeachment procedure would likely yield no results, citing the reactions of the opposition and their support for the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is accused of violating the constitution by the ruling party.According to Mdinardze, regrettably, the President of Georgia's violation of the highest law of the country will be recorded in history. He also mentioned that they have not yet gathered the required 50 signatures, but they plan to hold a majority meeting on Monday, where they expect to obtain far more signatures than the 50 needed."After learning about the President's serious violation of the Constitution of Georgia, we can honestly say that, following two days of careful consideration and discussions within the political council, we have ultimately decided not to let this matter go without a response. We are fully aware that our efforts may not yield immediate results, given the reactions we've witnessed from our opponents who have shielded the individual responsible for this constitutional breach. They have effectively become accomplices in this violation.However, we firmly believe that a violation of the Constitution by the President, who should be the primary guardian of our nation's highest law, cannot go unanswered. Our response involves debating and subsequently initiating the impeachment process. While we have not yet secured the required 50 signatures, we are confident that during our majority meeting on Monday, we will gather significantly more signatures than needed. It is regrettable that this chapter in which the President of Georgia violated our country's most sacred law will be recorded in history," said Mdinaradze.Speaker of the Knesset of the State of Israel, Amir Ohana, paid an official visit to Georgia.On September 4, the Ohana will engage in meetings with representatives from the legislative and executive branches of Georgia.Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, will host Ohana at the legislative institution. Subsequently, the parliamentary leaders from both countries will issue a joint statement to the press.Amir Ohana is scheduled to meet with Georgia's Prime Minister, Irakli Gharibashvili, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ilia Darchiashvili, and the Chairman of the Supreme Court, Nino Kadagidze.On September 5, during a plenary session of the Georgian Parliament, Georgian lawmakers will extend a warm welcome to the Speaker of the Knesset of the State of Israel and his accompanying delegation.As part of the visit, Amir Ohana will lay a wreath at the memorial honoring the heroes who sacrificed their lives for Georgia's territorial integrity. He will also visit the David Baazov Museum, which commemorates the history of Georgian Jews and Georgian-Jewish relations. Additionally, he will participate in a ceremony honoring the Georgian saint Sergo Metreveli and his family members. Some 280,000 people have signed up so far this year for professional service with Russia's military, the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, former President Dmitry Medvedev, said on Sunday. Visiting Russia's Far East, Medvedev said he was meeting local officials to work on efforts to beef up the armed forces. "According to the Ministry of Defense, since Jan. 1, about 280,000 people have been accepted into the ranks of the Armed Forces on a contract basis," including reservists, state news agency TASS quoted Medvedev as saying. Raimondo said she told Chinese officials they were making it more difficult for American companies to do business there. "I was very clear with China that we need to -- patience is wearing thin among American business," Raimondo told CBS's "Face the Nation" show. "They need and deserve a predictable environment and a level playing field. And hopefully China will heed that message so we can have a stable growing commercial relationship." On CNN, she said, "They suggested that they didn't know about it and they suggested that it wasn't intentional. But I think it was important that I put it on the table and let them know and let them know that it's hard to build trust when you have actions like that." Raimondo said she told Chinese officials that she knew Beijing had hacked her email in advance of her late August trip. "They did hack me, which was unappreciated, to say the least," she told NBC's "Meet the Press." Raimondo, who met in Beijing recently with Chinese officials on a range of U.S.-Chinese business and trade issues, recapped her sometimes contentious discussions in a string of talk show interviews. The U.S. is "never going to sell our most powerful [artificial intelligence] chips" to China, Raimondo told CNN's "State of the Union" show. The United States will continue to sell semi-conductor computer chips to China but not its most powerful ones "that China wants for its military," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Sunday. While the United States and China maintain more than $700 billion in annual trade, escalating tensions in recent years have made it more challenging for U.S. firms to operate in China. Raimondo said U.S. firms face unexplained large fines, raids on businesses and changes to a counterespionage law. Raimondo said that as China's economy has slowed in recent months, its government has "become more arbitrary in the way they administer regulations; the economy is quite challenged." "I brought up many of our grievances on behalf of our national security concerns, concerns of U.S. labor, concerns of U.S. business. Didn't pull any punches," she told NBC. "It's a complicated relationship. There's no doubt about it. We are in a fierce competition with China at every level." The United States and China are the world's two biggest economies. "All of that being said, we have to manage this competition," she said. "Conflict is in no one's interest. We need to manage the competition responsibly. That's good for America. That's good for the world." "And in that respect, I think our commercial relationship, which is very large and growing, and underpins hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs, our commercial relationship, if stable, can be kind of a ballast for the entire relationship," she said. "And anything we do that can create stability is, in fact, good for the American people." Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Raimondo during her trip that "sound economic relations and trade cooperation will not only be beneficial to our two countries, but to the whole world." As it stands now, the U.S. imports much of its semiconductor chips used in the manufacture of high-tech products from Taiwan, the self-governed territory that China considers a wayward province. Beijing has never ruled out the use of military force to take full control and Washington has been supplying Taiwan with military weaponry to defend itself against any prospect of an invasion. Raimondo said the U.S. is on track by the end of the decade to "have a large, deep, best-in-the-world semiconductor ecosystem... We already lead the world in design of semiconductors. You can see that with the AI chips. We lead the world in software." But she added, "We need to get back into the business of actually manufacturing leading-edge chips here and packaging leading edge chips here. And yes, we will, by the end of this decade, have regained prominence and have that deep ecosystem, including research and development, here in the U.S." There was no word on the outcome of the rover searches for signs of frozen water on the lunar surface that could help future astronaut missions, as a potential source of drinking water or to make rocket fuel. The Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover were expected to operate only for one lunar day, which is equal to 14 days on Earth. "Currently, the battery is fully charged. The solar panel is oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected Sept. 22, 2023. The receiver is kept on. Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments!" the statement said. The rover's payloads are turned off and the data it collected has been transmitted to the Earth via the lander, the statement said. "The rover completes its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into sleep mode," with daylight on that part of the moon coming to an end, the Indian Space Research Organization said in a statement late Saturday. India's moon rover has completed its walk on the lunar surface and been put into sleep mode less than two weeks its historic landing near the lunar south pole, India's space mission said. Earlier this week, the the space agency said the moon rover confirmed the presence of sulfur and detected several other elements. The rover's laser-induced spectroscope instrument also detected aluminum, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen and silicon on the surface, it said. The Indian Express newspaper said the electronics on board the Indian moon mission are not designed to withstand very low temperatures, less than minus 120 degrees Celsius during the nighttime on the moon. The lunar night also extends for as long as 14 days on Earth. Pallava Bagla, a science writer and co-author of books on India's space exploration, said the rover has limited battery power. The data is back on Earth and will be analyzed by Indian scientists as a first look and then by the global community, he said. By sunrise on the moon, the rover may or may not wake up because the electronics die at such cold temperatures, Bagla said. "Making electronic circuits and components that can survive the deep cold temperature of the moon, that technology doesn't exist in India," he said. After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India last week joined the U.S., the Soviet Union and China as only the fourth country to achieve this milestone. The successful mission showcases India's rising standing as a technology and space powerhouse and dovetails with Prime Minister Narendra Modi desire to project an image of an ascendant country asserting its place among the global elite. The mission began more than a month ago at an estimated cost of $75 million. India's success came just days after Russia's Luna-25, which was aiming for the same lunar region, spun into an uncontrolled orbit and crashed. It had been intended to be the first successful Russian lunar landing after a gap of 47 years. Russia's head of the state-controlled space corporation Roscosmos attributed the failure to the lack of expertise due to the long break in lunar research that followed the last Soviet mission to the moon in 1976. Active since the 1960s, India has launched satellites for itself and other countries, and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014. India is planning its first mission to the International Space Station next year, in collaboration with the U.S. Exports of Korea's instant noodles hit a record high during the first seven months of this year. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation and the Korea Customs Service last Friday, their exports from January to July were worth US$522 million, up 17.7 percent on-year. Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich played full-time in an away match against Borussia Monchengladbach last Saturday, the first time he has done so for the German club since joining in July. Kim delivered an impressive performance, helping his team win 2-1. He completed 85 of his 93 attempted passes (91 percent), made two clearances and two interceptions, and won the most aerial duels (eight). Kim will travel to the Welsh capital of Cardiff for a friendly between Korea and Wales on Thursday and then to Newcastle, England, for another friendly against Saudi Arabia on Sept. 12. A weeklong conference of space agencies will be held in Korea in December to promote cooperation in global space exploration. The International Space Exploration Coordination Group gathers 26 space agencies from around the world and meets in Korea for the first time. The conference starts on Dec. 4 with representatives from NASA, the European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Indian Space Research Organisation. The number of participating agencies rose from 15 in 2018 to 27. Korea has been participating since the founding year of 2007, but its involvement had been limited until now. Korea hopes to play a more active role in ISECG following the successful launch of the homegrown Nuri rocket in May that placed a satellite in lunar orbit. The country aims to publicize its space roadmap of developing a next-generation space launch vehicle capable of sending a spacecraft to the moon by 2032. A staffer at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said, "Until now, Korea had been a passive participant in the ISECG, but since the successes of the Nuri rocket we are in need of international cooperation for research and development." Hyundai will supply 346 electric vehicles for the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia from Tuesday to Thursday. The Korean automaker has made 272 Ioniq 5 SUVs available for the ASEAN representatives and 74 Ioniq 6 sedans for their spouses. It will provide 24-hour emergency assistance and mobile recharging stations, and has been training Indonesia's presidential security team how to drive them. North Korea simulated a "tactical" nuclear missile attack by firing two long-range cruise missiles towards the West Sea in the early hours of last Saturday, state media said. The firing came three days after the North fired two short-range ballistic missiles as part of a command post exercise to practice occupying South Korean territory that has been going on since Aug. 29. There is speculation that the latest cruise missile firing was part of training aimed at occupying South Korea's northwesternmost islands, which lie only about a dozen km from the North Korean coast. The two long-range missiles were tipped "with mock nuclear warheads," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. Fired from the estuary of the Chongchon River, the two missiles flew "along the pattern '8' flight track simulating the distance of 1,500 km for 7.672 and 7.681 seconds respectively and warheads detonated at a preset altitude of 150 m above the target island," it added. People walk by a Walgreens, owned by the Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 26, 2021. The CEO of Walgreens Boots has stepped down after less than three years at the helm of the drug store chain that is undergoing a sizeable transformation, one that has come at a cost. Walgreens Boots Alliance confirmed Rosalind Brewers exit Friday. According to the Illinois company, the board of directors and Brewer mutually agreed to her resignation effective Thursday. Ginger Graham, who currently serves as Walgreen Boots Alliances lead independent director, has been named interim CEO. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to lead Walgreens Boots Alliance and to work alongside such talented and dedicated colleagues, Brewer said in a written statement. I am confident that WBA is on track to be a leading consumer-centric healthcare company, serving thousands of communities across the country. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. is the parent company of Walgreens and other consumer brands around the world including Boots, Duane Reade, No7 Beauty Company, Benavides and Ahumada. The company over the past several years has shifted its focus from providing medicines to get people through illnesses, to helping its customers avoid them. That has included a major series of acquisitions aimed to put the company at the forefront of preventative care. Walgreens acquired VillageMD for nearly $9-billion in November, an urgent and primary care chain. Two months earlier, it spent nearly $1.4 billion to buy the remaining stake in Shields Health Solutions it doesnt already own and continue pushing into the fast-growing area of specialty pharmacy. Company shares have been under heavy pressure as Walgreens attempts to transform itself. The stock has tumbled nearly 54% since the start of 2022. Brewer has more experience in the retail side of the business, which is simply not an area that Walgreens wants to pursue as a major growth opportunity, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. Healthcare is a lucrative sector and Walgreens is not wrong to see it as a major part of its future playbook, Saunders said. However, the new permanent CEO will need to remember that it is possible to invest in both healthcare and retail. It should not be an either/or decision. Newly appointed acting CEO Ginger Graham, Saunders noted, has a much deeper background in the healthcare and pharma industries. Shares for Walgreens Boots Alliance slipped about 1% at the opening bell Friday. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition President Gabriel Boric has called the atmosphere in Chile electric and while his supporters agree with him, the opposition is wondering how much the ruling party itself has contributed to inflaming public debate in the lead-up to the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup detat. Boric Chiles first president since 1990 to be born after the coup sparked outrage last week after the final ruling in the court case over the death of Victor Jara on 16 September 1973, where the Supreme Court upheld the convictions for kidnapping and homicide of seven ex-military officers. This was a demonstration of how long it has taken the justice system to provide answers: half a century. Barely 24 hours had elapsed when one of those sentenced took his own life, at the very moment when the police were on their way to arrest him. Another significant incident a few days before the anniversary of the collapse of democracy was the death of Guillermo Teillier, the 79-year-old leader of the Communist Party of Chile, who authorized the assassination attempt on Augusto Pinochet in 1986 when he was in charge of his partys military affairs. During the tribute ceremony, Boric said: [Teillier] died as a dignified man, proud of the life he had lived. There are others who die a cowardly death in order not to face justice. There are human differences, in reference to the suicide of Hernan Chacon Soto, 86, a retired Chilean Army brigadier. This Sunday, after days of raging debate the leader of the far-right Republican Party dubbed Boric a coward the president sought to clarify his remarks in an interview with Canal 13s Mesa Central program. The president said that he was not the one to judge the decision to commit suicide and that he respects the choice of those who do it for whatever reasons. What I wanted to say, and I stress, is that there were those who committed atrocious crimes, for a long time they took pride in them, they hid them, they lied, they did everything they could to avoid justice and when the moment comes to face the consequences of their own acts, they shirk from responsibility in various ways. For me, this way out I am not only referring to the case of Brigadier Chacon, but also to Augusto Pinochet himself is an act of cowardice. The Camarin de Mujeres memorial, a place used by the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship as collective cells in the National Stadium in Santiago (Chile). Elvis Gonzalez (EFE) Boric pointed out that two of the seven ex-military members convicted in the Jara case are fugitives. However, when quizzed on Canal 13 about the mercilessness displayed, he said: The reference to cowardice was to the trajectory, not only in this case, but in so many others. And in relation to Chacons suicide, he said: It was not my intention, I apologize, and it does not add to the debate. This is part of the picture a week before 11 September in Chile, a country where there is no consensus on the condemnation of the coup, as analyzed in EL PAIS by left-wing sociologist Manuel Antonio Garreton: Unfortunately, there is no consensus in Chile on condemning Pinochets coup detat, he said in early July. And he explained: The problem is that there is a significant section of the population that still vindicates the 1973 coup detat. It is the 44% who voted Yes to Augusto Pinochet in the 1988 referendum and exactly the same the 44% who voted for Jose Antonio Kast in the 2021 presidential run-off, who claim that the coup was necessary or justified. But condemnation of the coup is an ethical principle that must be maintained. Chile is approaching this historic milestone with a debilitated left-wing government after two electoral defeats that, although not direct, strongly impacted on Boric and his generations roadmap. In last years plebiscite, on 4 September 2022, 62% of Chileans rejected a proposal for a major overhaul of Chilean institutions. Last May, Kasts far-right party won a landslide victory in the elections for the Constitutional Council, the body responsible for drafting a new proposal for a Constitution that will be put to a referendum in December. Chileans today are willing to sacrifice freedoms in exchange for order, Chilean intellectual Arturo Fontaine said in March in an interview with EL PAIS, in an attempt to clarify the apparent pendulum swings of the citizenry since the beginning of 2019 to date. Just a few days before the commemorations begin this week and until next Monday, numerous events, seminars and talks are being held all over Chile to mark 11 September, 1973 the atmosphere is electric, according to Boric. A few days ago, analyst Max Colodro said: Today, Chile is more divided and polarized. The social unrest opened up a new crack in Chilean society and brought political violence back to the forefront of the conflict. This was compounded by the heavy defeat suffered by the left in the constitutional process. I believe that this is one aspect that has exacerbated the atmosphere of this anniversary and has made it very difficult to commemorate it with a historical perspective, based on self-criticism from all sectors and the search for common ground that can help heal the wounds. It is deeply regrettable, but this anniversary will make Chile more confrontational not only about the past, but also about the present and the future, the philosopher told EL PAIS a few weeks ago. The political climate is heated and is on display in Congress, where the right wing has shown how it has retreated from its own rhetoric on the coup and the dictatorship in recent years, probably as a result of the tension that the Republicans are putting on the right. If in 2013 President Sebastian Pinera set a turning point when he spoke of passive accomplices on the 40th anniversary of the coup, referring to civilians from the conservative camp, today in Congress declarations prior to the democratic rupture are reverberating. On 23 August, Chiles Chamber of Deputies re-read the 1973 resolution that accused the leftist Salvador Allende government of being unconstitutional, and which was perceived as an endorsement of military intervention. A number of far-right congresswomen have even expressed doubts about the sexual violence committed against the victims mainly women that has been so often proven in court. Gabriel Boric and Justice Minister Luis Cordero at the signing of the decree for the National Search Plan for Detainees Disappeared during the Dictatorship. CRISTOBAL VENEGAS President Borics government has struggled to push forward an agenda regarding the 50th anniversary. In early July, under pressure from the pro-government Communist Party and human rights organizations, the writer Patricio Fernandez, the presidents advisor on these issues, was forced to resign. Subsequently, in the most recent cabinet reshuffle, the president removed the minister of culture, Jaime de Aguirre, who was tasked with coordinating the commemoration. Boric had to turn to an advertising agency to try to create a narrative along the lines of that sought by the president, on the basis of memory, democracy and the future. Confronted with a majority of citizens who were not born at the time of the coup close to 70% of Chileans the government is pursuing an agenda in line with the most left-wing administration Chile has had since 1973: the so-called Search Plan for more than 1,000 of the dictatorships disappeared. This is Borics biggest gamble 50 years after the military coup and one of the South American countrys main issues. However, at the same time, the government is upping the ante and could close Punta Peuco, the prison reserved for human rights violators, which has been the subject of controversy since its establishment in 1995, at the height of the transition. The president neither denied nor confirmed this in Sundays interview. Boric is even studying ways of releasing the Valech report in the context of the 50th anniversary of the coup. This comprises the testimonies of the thousands of victims of political imprisonment and torture who related the events of the dictatorship to a commission in the government of Ricardo Lagos, in 2003. Lagos himself, a socialist, explained the reasons for keeping the testimonies secret. The political scientist Ricardo Israel, who gave testimony in the early 2000s, explained a few days ago on the social network X: I gave the testimony of what happened to me to the Valech Commission. I had confidence in the commitment of secrecy for 50 years and I would feel violated if the government should succeed in breaking that rule. This is just a glimpse of the fractured Chile that is awaiting the commemoration, where ex-military officers who have boldly taken steps that deviate from the institutional ones, as is the case of the former commander-in-chief of the army, Ricardo Martinez, are scorned by some parts of the uniformed world. No official truth or common narrative is possible, simply because in 1973 society was split into two halves and we are heirs to that fracture, stated journalist Ascanio Cavallo a couple of days ago. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Bernardo Arevalo de Leons stunning victory in the August 20 presidential elections has thoroughly shaken Guatemalas entrenched elites. The sociologist, diplomat, and progressive legislator campaigned on a firm message against corruption and impunity, vowing to halt the diversion of public funds to elites who have unlawfully enriched themselves, exacerbating the countrys social inequalities. His win unsurprisingly triggered a response from Guatemalas powerbrokers, who revealed their firm grip on law enforcement, the judicial system, and the Congress of the Republic. They launched a thinly veiled effort to block Arevalo from becoming president and addressing the deep-rooted corruption in the Guatemalan government. On September 1, Arevalo publicly denounced a coup detat attempt to prevent him from taking office in January. He specifically named Attorney General Consuelo Porras as the main instigator and called for unity to defeat those involved in the coup. To take office on January 14 as planned, Arevalo will need the backing of economic, social, academic, professional, and indigenous elites. Experts consulted by EL PAIS suggest that these groups will need to do a through soul-searching and reassess their positions on the dismantling of corruption networks. According to Ursula Roldan, the director of the Research Institute of Socio-Humanistic Sciences (ICESH) at Rafael Landivar University, for Arevalo to take office amid such powerful opposition would be a commendable achievement. To establish a robust government, says Roldan, the elites must choose between supporting democracy or enriching themselves by manipulating public institutions. Protest posters denounce attempts by Guatemala's Attorney General to block Bernardo Arevalo from assuming the presidency in January 2024. Esteban Biba (EFE) Concerns about attempts on Arevalos life After unexpectedly advancing to the second round of voting, Arevalo and his Seed Movement (Movimento Semilla) party clearly saw that they were making Guatemalas elites very uncomfortable. Rafael Curruchiche, the current chief of the Justice Ministrys Office of the Special Prosecutor Against Impunity (FECI), promptly launched an investigation against Arevalos party for alleged signature falsification in the political party registration process. Despite vehement denials by its leaders, the party was temporarily suspended until the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) reversed the decision on September 3. Many citizens see Curruchiches move as a response from corrupt elites, given his failure to provide evidence supporting the allegations and the timing of the suspension. They want to kill Arevalo and the party to stop it from growing, said attorney Mariana Rohrmoser, from the Citizens Against Corruption group. The president-elect, however, is not only facing a judicial onslaught. During their August 20 election-night celebrations Arevalo and his running mate, Karin Herrera Aguilar, they were alerted about a planned attack on their lives. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) quickly granted them precautionary protection. Following Arevalos victory, there was a surge in legal maneuvers aimed at undermining the legitimacy of a party committed to combating the public corruption that drains approximately 30% of the government budget. We must return to democratic institutions and rebuild a system that was hijacked by the corrupt political class, he said in an interview with EL PAIS before the second round of voting. However, the road ahead wont be easy. Since winning the elections, his party has faced physical and judicial threats. Looking ahead to January 14, the most extreme scenarios discussed in the media include the potential annulment of the elections or a provisional president appointed by the new Congress. These measures may seem dire, but many court decisions have pushed Guatemala to the edge of what some analysts call a technical coup detat. In order for Arevalo to take power, Its crucial to protect his life, as well as the lives of his colleagues, said Ursula Roldan from ICESH. Its also important to prevent the suspension of the [Seed Movement] party, which is under threat by people in the Justice Ministry and Judicial Branch who have perverted their roles. Bernardo Arevalo and Karin Herrera hold a press conference to denounce a "coup d'etat in progress." September 1, 2023. Esteban Biba (EFE) In late August, Congressional leaders (supporters of current President Alejandro Giammattei) , disenfranchised the Seed Movement legislators, saying they were now independent representatives after the party was temporarily suspended. However, the TSE said the suspension could not stand because it did not come from an electoral entity. Its decision holds until the official end of the electoral period on October 31. Congressman Mario Taracena, who has 40 years of political and legislative experience, believes that the inexperience of the Seed Movement legislators is being exploited by the ruling party and its allies to pressure the president-elect into negotiations. Theyre trying to soften Bernardo up so he understands that he has to deal with Congress, Taracena told the ConCriterio news outlet. An alliance with the Guatemalan people Taracenas advice to the president-elect is to avoid forming alliances with Congress, and warns that giving in to their demands will quickly lead to extortion. Taracena has exposed several cases of bribery for approval of certain laws and budget allocations, and believes Arevalos only reliable alliance is with the Guatemalan people. Social media campaigns, public protests and widespread petitions are springing up in support of Arevalo. A non-binding petition with over 100,000 digital signatures demanded the resignation of Consuelo Porras, the attorney general who is accused of persecuting Guatemalas anti-corruption champions. In the international community, the Organization of American States and the European Union have expressed concerns about suppressing the popular will and stress the need for a peaceful transition process. In a special session, the OAS Permanent Council voiced concern about the Justice Ministrys intimidation of electoral officials, volunteers and elected officials. The OAS ambassadors were unanimous in their defense of democracy and said, The legislative, executive, and judicial institutions must respect and ensure the civil and political rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights, in order to prevent any interference in the presidential transition process. Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, will meet with Guatemala's Justice Ministry to discuss the peaceful transition of power. Lenin Nolly (EFE) The National Business Council (CNE) was one of the first groups to call for Consuelo Porras to step down. A healthy economy cannot be established when the government entity responsible for taking legal action is actively undermining the voice of the people expressed in the election, said the Councils statement released on August 29. CNE President Rodrigo Salguero pointed to the economic and international impacts caused by the attorney generals actions. Imagine how the stock markets and investment funds see us, said Salguero, anticipating an economic downturn if democracy backslides in Guatemala. If a judge and a prosecutor contrive a case to strip a party of its legal status, they may use the same tactics against my company in the future. The duty of the elites The traditional business elite, represented by the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (CACIF), has refrained from taking a position on the attempts to delegitimize the Seed Movement. In an interview with the Prensa Libre newspaper, CACIF President Ignacio Lejarraga faintly mentioned the need for a governance consensus during the transition period, but failed to offer any ways of achieving this consensus. Ursula Roldan believes the countrys elites will be very reluctant to change their ways. I think they are still waiting for a negotiation that enables them to keep a good part of what they have, and will ignore the international communitys demand for a political modernization that requires them to sacrifice their economic interests for the good of the country. CACIF representatives are actively involved in the advisory councils of more than 50 public institutions. Until the 2019 elections, CACIF heavily contributed to political parties aligned with their business interests. To address the citizens demands regarding corruption, Roldan believes that every sector academia, indigenous peoples, civil society organizations, unions and professional associations must come together to discuss solutions. Mariana Rohrmoser agrees and says everyone individuals, groups and leaders must unite before January. Her Citizens Against Corruption organization has been actively promoting anti-corruption education among youth and communities for five years, among other initiatives. We have to unite and demand that the inauguration goes forward, said Rohrmoser. Living in a country co-opted by corrupt elites is draining and devastating, she said. Our community lacks public transportation and access to basic services, which are priorities that the new government should address. Rodrigo Salguero says the first sign of real change that Arevalo can provide is the announcement of a competent and skilled cabinet. Arevalo says the appointment process is 60% complete, but has closely guarded the details. Ultimately, these are the people who will stand on the front lines in the battle against corruption. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Since June, China has received a near-constant flow of visits from senior U.S. officials. But this has not led to any major deals. There have been no fancy receptions, no military marches and no music performances of ancient instruments like the one given to French President Emmanuel Macron. It wasnt what was expected, either. There have been few tangible results. But the four emissaries from the White House, who visited China at a rate of almost two per month, do seem to have changed the mood in the geopolitical arena and to have reset relations, which were heading down a dangerous downward spiral. If Secretary of State Antony Blinken managed in June to stabilize what he called the most important [bilateral] relation that we have in the world, during the first of these visits; Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo left China with some optimism on the last of the trips. This is the beginning of a new approach. Theres a strong appetite among U.S. business to make this work, she told reporters last Wednesday in Shanghai after spending four days in two cities and completing half a dozen high-profile meetings. These meetings were not mere exchanges of points of view, according to her statement. During Raimondos stay, both superpowers committed to keeping open lines of communication to reduce risks and increase mutual understanding. They agreed to a new working group on trade issues, the launch of an export control enforcement information exchange, to hold the 14th China-United States Tourism Leadership Summit in China and for experts from each country to meet to resolve trade secrets issues. An excellent start, Raimondo told reporters at a hangar of Boeing Shanghai, a joint venture between Boeing, Shanghai Airport Authorities and China Eastern Airlines. Raimondo was speaking to the press after visiting Disneyland Shanghai. At the conference, she spoke of the smiling children she saw there, the more than 1,000 Starbucks coffee shops that have opened in the city and of the young Chinese and Americans studying side by side at New York Universitys campus in Shanghai. [I] saw the benefits of American students and Chinese students studying together, she said. This is all business that we should be encouraging. National security As head of the Department of Commerce, Raimondos visit was one of the most highly anticipated by China. Beijing believes that the United States is leading a campaign of encirclement and suppression by imposing tariffs and restrictions on the export of critical technologies. For example, just two weeks before Raimondos trip, U.S. President Joe Biden announced new restrictions to limit his countrys investments in strategic technological areas in China. During her stay, several Chinese leaders asked her to reduce these export controls. Of course, I said no, said Raimondo at her final press conference, adding that Washington is not seeking to decouple from China, but rather protecting its own interests. We dont negotiate on matters of national security, she said. For this reason, some analysts question whether any real progress has been made and are skeptical that relations have improved. Preventing access to semiconductors and other advanced technologies that China needs so much is, by far, the most damaging measure that Washington has taken against its economic interests, wrote the consulting firm Trivium China in a recent note. The U.S. refusal to relax such measures means there is little room for bilateral relations to improve, meaning geopolitical risks will remain high for multinationals. Despite the fact that U.S. and Chinese military officials resumed contact at a conference in Fiji last week, which reduces the risk of clashes due to lack of communication, the Global Times newspaper a strong voice of Beijings propaganda was less optimistic about U.S.-China relations. An article following Raimondos visit was headlined: U.S. not making substantive steps to improve ties with China despite detente atmosphere. Few in China had anticipated the aggressiveness of the Biden administration, says Mark Leonard, director of the European Institute of International Relations, in a recent article in Foreign Affairs. Some Chinese analysts today compare Bidens actions to those of former president Donald Trump against Iran, according to Leonard. A consensus has formed in Beijing that Washingtons goal is not to make China play by the rules; it is to stop China from growing. The analysis concludes that this belief is wrong: the goal of Washington and the European Union is to ensure that their businesses do not share sensitive technologies with Beijing and to reduce dependence on imports in strategic sectors. This is what Brussels has called derisking. Shortly after Blinkens visit, a Chinese businessman and Communist Party member, concerned that business in China has not bounced back enough after the pandemic, called for less derisking and more depoliticizing. Speaking to EL PAIS on the condition of anonymity, he made this observation while drinking French wine from a hotel overlooking Tiananmen Square in Beijing. A government official in one of Chinas biggest cities also told EL PAIS: We need communication. Depoliticization Chinese Premier Li Qiang spoke along the same lines last Tuesday during a meeting with Raimondo: Politicizing and overstretching the concept of security on economic and trade issues not only seriously affects bilateral relations and mutual trust, but also harms the interests of enterprises and people in both countries, he said, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. But Beijing, he said, was willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on trade and the economy. After a bad summer for China which saw negative prices, low consumption, a drop in exports and higher youth unemployment the Chinese government has begun to take shock measures to try to reactivate the economy. One measure is the call for increased foreign investment. Beijing is urgently seeking to ease multinational companies apprehension about investing in China. But the mood is far from propitious. Raimondo told reporters that many American businesses believe that the Asian giant has become uninvestible. Compounding old problems of accessing the Chinese market, intellectual property, trade secrets and an uneven playing field, there is now the added concern about Chinas unpredictable regulatory environment, strengthened anti-espionage law, and recent raids and fines against U.S. companies. The mechanisms agreed upon during Raimondos stay also seek to reassure worried businessmen in the U.S. The top official said she believed these measures would improve conditions. We are not returning to the days when we had dialogue for dialogues sake, she said during her press conference in the headquarters of Boeing Shanghai. After the frenzy of visits from U.S. officials, its now time to wait for Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet again and propose new objectives. In their last meeting, last November during the G-20 summit in Bali (Indonesia), the two leaders managed to timidly thaw relations, and this has trickled down during the visits of senior U.S. officials. They have decided not to enter into a new Cold War. The next G-20 summit, which starts in India on Saturday, is not, however, likely to bring the leaders of the worlds two biggest superpowers together. According to an exclusive from Reuters, Xi probably will not attend the meeting as it is being held in India, a country with which China has serious disputes. Beijing has not yet confirmed this decision. Various analysts point out that, at any rate, the next meeting between Biden and Xi could take place in November during the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum held in San Francisco. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition For Silicon Valley tech moguls, the perfect city has narrow streets where people are prioritized over vehicles. It is home to many trees and green areas. There is a lot of life outdoors. Restaurants have outdoor eating areas and there are lots of pedestrian streets filled with shops. Children ride their bikes freely, and their parents dont have to be concerned about their safety. This city is close to nature, where residents can visit a small lake and paddle out on a kayak to enjoy the Northern California sunset. This is the secret city that a group of billionaires has been developing for years. But last Thursday, the only living thing on this land were cows. The dream city still unnamed is set to be built in an area dominated by wind farm turbines and high-voltage towers. There are no buildings or homes and only a few dirt roads branch off from Highway 12, which connects the towns of Fairfield (120,000 inhabitants) and Rio Vista (10,200 inhabitants), located halfway between Sacramento, the capital of California, and San Francisco. The route is flanked by ranches and immense fields that have turned orange from the summer heat. Much of the traffic that passes through flows toward the Napa Valley and its vineyards. A powerful group of tech entrepreneurs has chosen this place in Solano County to build their city from scratch. The plan consists of building three or four medium-sized towns with affordable, walkable and environmentally friendly housing. Residents want more opportunities to buy homes in safe, walkable communities. Good paying local jobs, so they can both live and work in the county, reads the website for the California Forever project, which was launched last week. Artistic creation of what life would be like in the new city posted on the project's website. California Forever The project used a company called Flannery Associates to buy 50,000 acres of agricultural land located about 500 miles northeast of San Francisco, near Travis Air Force Base. The land, which cost $800 million in total, was bought up over a period of four years and in secret. The group admits this understandably triggered interest, concern and speculation. Some thought that Disney had bought the land for an amusement park in the north of the state. Some of the most prominent names in the U.S. technology and financial sector are behind Flannery Associates. The list includes Marc Andreessen, who leads Andreessen Horowitz, a $35 billion investment fund; brothers Patrick and John Collison, the founders of Stripe, who have a fortune of more than $1 billion; entrepreneur Chris Dixon; venture capitalist John Doerr, who invested very early in Compaq, Netscape, Symantec and Sun. Flannery Associates also includes Steve Jobs widow, businesswoman and philanthropist Laurene Powell; Reid Hoffman, one of the co-founders of LinkedIn; Nat Friedman, the founding programmer of GitHub and housing justice activist; and Michael Moritz, a partner at Sequoia Capital, which made early investments in PayPal, Yahoo, Kayak and Google, and which has $85 million in capital. The impressive names behind Flannery Associates meant that the group was able to buy 140 parcels of land, some at a very low price. In an email to another investor, Moritz said that they had bought 1,400 acres for less than $5,000 per acre. The market price for a similar acreage in California would be more than $13,000, according to the Department of Agriculture. The buying frenzy, which offered to purchase land from owners who were not selling their property, ended up inflating prices. Flannery Associates has even taken landowners to court after considering that some sellers exorbitantly inflated the value of their land. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. MIKE SEGAR (REUTERS) The group has bought 55,000 acres of land, which is double the size of San Francisco, a city that has been declining for years due to safety problems, the Covid-19 pandemic and a growing homeless population from the lack of decent housing. According to the California Forever website, eastern Solano has low fire risk, access to water, and [is] strategically located in the middle of the larger Northern California region. But California Forevers dream of a utopian city has not convinced all residents in Solano County. Michael Gray, a member of a local hunting club, says the land where he shoots ducks is safe because it is legally protected. I wouldnt like to look out the window of my house and see buildings where I now see countryside. I think it could affect the clubs business if they fill areas near the farm with buildings, says Gray, who is dressed in camouflage and armed with a rifle. The hunter, originally from Fairfield, a city of 120,000 people, is skeptical of the ambitious plans. I dont understand where they intend to get the water from. There is no water in this area for so many people, he says. View of some of the land acquired by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Carlos Rosillo Flannery Associates says it has interviewed 2,000 Solano County residents. Eight out of 10 parents think that their children will have to leave the area when they grow up, because there are not enough opportunities. For that reason, many are optimistic about the tech investors dream city. This is true of Julian Rios, from Mexico, who has lived in Fairfield since 1989 and works in construction, installing roofs. Its very positive... As long as it means jobs for us, it seems good to me, says Rios, who is on temporary leave due to a leg injury. California Forever officials say the next step is to open a conversation with all residents in the county. In the next few days, they will send a questionnaire to all homes in Solano County to find out their concerns. After that, they will meet with county authorities. The idea has sparked interest across the United States. But Representative Mike Thompson warned that it is a very long-term project. It is clear that they dont have a plan; they have a vision, he said in a press release after meeting with Jan Sramek and Andrew Acosta from Flannery Associates. Some housing experts estimate that it will take at least a decade for the project to start to crystallize. And more time will pass before the urbanization is called a city. For it to officially be a city, it would need more than 1,000 people, as outlined by the rules of the U.S. Census Bureau. In recent years, a handful of cities have been created after splitting off from another city due to population growth. Westlake in Florida is a similar project to what is being planned in California. The city, incorporated in 2016, was created by the Canadian real estate developer Minto Communities. After seven years, it now has a population of 1,500 people. Greg Oaklander lives in one of these cities that developed practically from nothing. This building inspector lives in Vacaville, 10 miles from the land acquired for the California Forever project. The area was farmland at the end of the 19th century, and today is home to more than 100,000 people. That is why he welcomes the new proposal from the tech giants. Despite the wind and heat in summer, it is a good place to live. The landscape is beautiful, it is a quiet area, there is a lot of nature and the terrain is easy to shape, there are no big mountains, he says. Time will tell if California gets its 483rd city. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition KYODO NEWS - Sep 4, 2023 - 20:25 | All, Japan, World Japan's top court on Monday turned down an appeal by Okinawa Prefecture against the central government's order, which will allow it to proceed with landfill work for the relocation of a key U.S. base within the southern island prefecture. The Supreme Court's First Petty Bench has upheld the Fukuoka High Court's Naha branch ruling, confirming the central government's authority to instruct the local government to approve modifications to its plans aimed at reinforcement of soft ground at a designated construction site. Following the unanimous decision of the five justices, top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, told a press conference that he expects the prefecture to "swiftly act in accordance with the ruling." "We were hoping for a fair and neutral ruling until the last moment. It is extremely regrettable," Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said at a press conference in Naha. The ruling paves the way for resuming the suspended work, even as Okinawa and the central government remain at odds over relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the residential district of Ginowan to the less densely populated Henoko coastal area in Nago. In 1996, Tokyo and Washington agreed on a relocation plan that involved returning the land occupied by the airfield, and in 1999, Tokyo selected Henoko as the relocation site. However, residents in Okinawa, which hosts the majority of U.S. military facilities in Japan, continue to strongly oppose the relocation. In 2013, the prefectural government approved the landfill work to build a replacement facility in the Henoko area under the leadership of then Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, but his successor Takeshi Onaga rescinded the approval in 2015. The Supreme Court, however, ruled the retraction was unlawful, with the landfill work commencing in 2018. After soft ground was discovered at the planned reclamation site, the Defense Ministry applied for the change of construction plans in April 2020, but Tamaki disapproved the request, citing a lack of research. The infrastructure minister in April last year overrode the prefecture's disapproval and issued the correctional order to Okinawa to admit the modifications. The Okinawan government sought to have the central government's decision and the correction order nullified in separate lawsuits filed with the Naha branch in August 2022, but the high court rejected the prefectural government's claims in both cases in March. In the former case, the Supreme Court on Aug. 24 turned down the prefecture's nullification appeal, while on Monday, the same court upheld the legality of the central government's correction order, citing its compliance with the local autonomy law. Related coverage: Japan's top court nixes Okinawa bid to halt U.S. base landfill work PM Kishida vows to relocate U.S. base in Okinawa despite local backlash KYODO NEWS - Sep 4, 2023 - 23:00 | All, Japan The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito agreed Monday to cooperate again in all constituencies in Tokyo for the next House of Representatives election, dispelling concerns that their decades-long alliance might end. The LDP, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Komeito had faced difficulties in coordinating candidates for the capital as the electoral map will be redrawn under legislation enacted last year to narrow the vote disparity between densely and sparsely populated constituencies in the lower house of parliament. The two ruling parties, however, managed to find common ground amid lingering speculation that Kishida will dissolve the lower house for a snap election by the end of this year. Kishida and Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi signed an agreement that the LDP will support Komeito's candidate for the Tokyo No. 29 district. In the remaining districts in the capital, Komeito will back candidates of the LDP. In May, Komeito, frustrated with the LDP's insistence on endorsing its own candidate in the newly established Tokyo No. 28 district, conveyed to its partner a decision not to recommend LDP candidates in constituencies in Tokyo. The junior partner desired to secure the parliamentary seats in both the No. 28 and 29 districts but gave up on fielding a candidate in the new district. Yamaguchi told reporters after talking with Kishida on Monday, "Breaking trust can happen in an instant, but building it requires desperate and relentless endeavors." As a result of the electoral district revision, 10 single-seat electoral constituencies will be added across five prefectures, including some in Tokyo, in the lower house, while 10 prefectures will lose one seat each. The LDP and Komeito, which initially formed a coalition government from 1999 to 2009 and later regained power together in 2012, have joined hands on candidate selection. Komeito is supported by Soka Gakkai, Japan's largest lay Buddhist group. The LDP has relied on votes from Soka Gakkai members. In exchange for electoral cooperation, Komeito has lobbied its partner to promote policies such as cash handouts and other social welfare-related programs. Related coverage: Japan's opposition party incumbent head Tamaki re-elected Japan PM Kishida's disapproval rate reaches 50%, highest since December Japan ruling parties agree on election cooperation to avoid friction KYODO NEWS - Sep 4, 2023 - 20:49 | World, All Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip a summit of the Group of 20 major economies for the first time since becoming the nation's leader in 2012, as Beijing said Monday Premier Li Qiang will attend a gathering in New Delhi this weekend. The United States had explored the possibility of a summit between President Joe Biden and Xi in the Indian capital. The two governments are expected to arrange the talks on the sidelines of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco in November. Biden expressed disappointment Sunday over reports that Xi would likely skip the G-20 meeting but said he is "going to get to see him." At a press conference on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning provided no reasons for Xi's absence. China and India have been at loggerheads over a territorial dispute in a Himalayan border area. A 2020 military clash in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh left 20 Indian soldiers dead and undisclosed Chinese casualties. Mao told a press conference that China has always "attached great importance" to the G-20 as a major forum for international economic cooperation, and Li will explain China's views and proposals for member countries to jointly cope with global economic and development challenges. Li will travel to India after attending summit talks related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta. Before Xi came to power, his predecessor, Hu Jintao, had attended G-20 summits since the framework's launch in 2008. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi virtually participated in the leaders' meetings in 2020 and 2021. Xi and Biden last met in person in Bali, Indonesia, on the fringes of a G-20 meeting in November 2022. The world's two largest economies have been increasing communication recently, with a series of China visits by senior U.S. officials, despite significant disagreements remaining over nearly all major political and economic issues. Related coverage: Japan PM Kishida to visit Indonesia, India for ASEAN, G-20 summits Biden to visit India in early September for G-20 summit G-20 finance chiefs fail again to bridge rift over Russian war KYODO NEWS - Sep 4, 2023 - 12:21 | All, World, Japan, 3/11 Fukushima Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Sunday gained understanding from his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi over the recent start of the release into the sea of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. In Jordan, Hayashi told Safadi that the discharge is being carried out with transparency based on an assessment of its safety by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Safadi replied that Jordan trusts that the process will be implemented in line with international standards, the ministry said. Japan began discharging the processed water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Aug. 24 despite resistance from local fisheries groups and China, which imposed a blanket import ban on Japanese seafood products immediately after the release started. Hayashi arrived in Jordan on the first leg of his Middle Eastern and European tour that also takes him to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Poland. Resource-poor Japan has been seeking to deepen ties with oil-producing countries in the region. In a bid to develop a bilateral strategic partnership, Hayashi and Safadi confirmed that their nations will expand cooperation in various fields such as the economy and security, the ministry said. On the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hayashi emphasized the necessity of realizing a "fair and everlasting peace" as soon as possible, ministry said. Safadi said the U.N. Charter, which urges all members to refrain from the threat or use of force, and the sovereignty of all countries including Ukraine should be respected, according to the ministry. The ministry also said Safadi expressed gratitude for Hayashi's proposal to bolster support for refugees in the Middle East as Jordan has accepted a number of people who fled their conflict-hit nations. Related coverage: Japan fisheries minister regrets saying Fukushima water "contaminated" Radiation level of seawater off Fukushima below limits: Japan gov't Anti-Japan sentiment grows in China over Fukushima water discharge KYODO NEWS - Sep 4, 2023 - 20:44 | All, Japan, World Japanese business leaders will visit China in January, the chairman of Japan's biggest business lobby said Monday, amid heightened tensions between the two nations over the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. "We are faced with the issue of the treated water, but we must make efforts to have a dialogue, especially at times like this," Masakazu Tokura, head of the Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren, said at a press conference. The visit will mark the first such trip since September 2019. A business mission organized by Keidanren and some other groups had been visiting China almost every year since 1975, but the coronavirus pandemic disrupted these interactions. The water release prompted China to impose a ban on all seafood imports from Japan. Tokura called China's response "extremely regrettable." "We hope to create a free and open economy together with China," he said. Related coverage: Japan business leaders to make 1st China visit after COVID in January Japan giving 20.7 billion more yen for fisheries amid China import ban Japan gains understanding from Jordan over Fukushima water release Dwiyana Slamet Riyadi, president director of PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC), a joint venture consortium between Indonesian and Chinese state-owned firms that constructs and runs the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, receives an interview with Xinhua in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) JAKARTA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) project is an outstanding example of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and China, the executive of the railway operator said. Dwiyana Slamet Riyadi, president director of PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC), a joint venture consortium between Indonesian and Chinese state-owned firms that constructs and runs the HSR, told Xinhua in an interview that the project has been progressing smoothly from the planning, implementation, finalizing to the joint commissioning stage. Riyadi thanked Chinese builders for their contribution to the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway project. He said that Wijaya Karya (WIKA), Indonesia's construction contractor, participated in the construction of a high-speed railway for the first time, and received support and help from Chinese enterprises during the implementation of the project. The contractors of the two countries worked side by side to solve the difficulties and obstacles in the construction process, and cooperated hand in hand to promote the construction of the project, the executive said. He said the Jakarta-Bandung HSR is a new mode of transportation that provides a solution for public transportation in Indonesia and can revitalize the regional economy. The Jakarta-Bandung HSR has allowed Indonesia to be one step ahead in mastering high-speed railway technology, enhancing the pride of the Indonesian people, he added. The HSR not only improves Indonesia's infrastructure, but also promotes the development of Indonesia's railroad industry and manufacturing industry, Riyadi said. He said the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway project is expected to promote the extension of high-speed rail lines to Semarang, Yogyakarta and other cities in the central part of Java island, even extending all the way to Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province. The high-speed railway network through Java will bring scale effects and boost Indonesia's economic development, he said. Riyadi is full of confidence in the future of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway. He said that under the efforts of Indonesian governments at all levels, KCIC and other parties, Jakarta-Bandung HSR will continue to make progress in terms of seamless accessibility, intermodal integration and others, and he believed that more and more Indonesian people will choose to travel by high-speed railway. The Indonesian government is looking forward to attracting more Chinese investment to promote further development of Indonesia-China bilateral cooperation, Riyadi said. As a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative and pragmatic cooperation between Indonesia and China, the 142-kilometer-long Jakarta-Bandung HSR, with a maximum design speed of 350 kilometers per hour, connects Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta and West Java Province's capital Bandung. This aerial photo taken on July 20, 2023 shows trains of Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) parking near a train station in Bandung, Indonesia. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) This photo taken on July 20, 2023 shows the interior view of the exhibition hall of the management department of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) project in Bandung, Indonesia. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) YINCHUAN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- After sending her sons to school, Ma Xiaohong begins her busy day with her husband at their grocery store in Hongsipu District, Wuzhong City, in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Although it's only a modest business in Dehong village, it embodies the 36-year-old's pursuit of a better life. A decade ago, Ma and her family relocated to Hongsipu, around 80 kilometers south of her previous residence in the mountainous Tongxin County. Factories and workshops sprang up in Hongsipu due to the subsequent incentive policies implemented by the local government, drawing an increasing number of villagers back to Hongsipu. An industrial park was set up, enabling more farmers and workers to work near their homes. Ma and her husband, Luo Haigao, viewed it as an opportunity and opened a store near the industrial park. Today, the store has a secure and stable monthly revenue of around 15,000 yuan (about 2,063 U.S. dollars). They also learned to ride the wave of online shopping and began to receive online orders. Hongsipu was once part of the Gobi Desert. It became one of China's largest settlement areas after a section of the Yellow River was raised and became a primary water source for locals. Ma Guilan used to live in a mountainous hamlet and now lives next to the house of Ma Xiaohong. Before the relocation, she worked as a cook at the mine where her husband worked. Benefiting from the influx of villagers back into the town for work, 36-year-old Ma Guilan now makes a living by running a shop, selling clothes for women, cosmetics, and local agricultural products such as wolfberries, floral tea, and dried vegetables. The business also supports her three children's education. "The quality of life has improved significantly," said Ma Guilan. Women also make up the most essential workforce in schools and educational institutions in Hongsipu. Each day, Jin Xia gives online reading lessons to over 1,000 students and more than 10,000 followers from around the country. Over the past one and a half years, the 41-year-old teacher in Hongsipu has designed a series of 600 lessons teaching Chinese and mathematics on the video-sharing and live-streaming app Kuaishou. "The women who moved from the mountainous areas to Hongsipu experienced a significant change in their social roles within one generation," said writer Ma Huijuan in Ningxia, also a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC). "They went from being confined to domestic roles to actively participating in society, which is a remarkable transformation." "The new homes, with government support, have given them great confidence and hope to empower themselves in various fields. They also all hope that their children will receive higher education to ensure a brighter future," said Ma Huijuan. On September 1, 2023, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) held a ceremony to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Hospitals on Wheels(HOWs) Project initiating its outreach tour to remote areas of Sierra Leone. H.E. Wang Qing, Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr. Jalikatu Mustapha, Deputy Minister of MOHS, Dr. Sartie Kenneh, Chief Medical Officer of MOHS, Mr. Prince Cole, Permanent Secretary of MOHS, Dr. Mathew Vandi,Director of Hospitals and Ambulance services, Dr. Yeabu Kargbo, Superintendent of HOWs Project, along with over 50 MOHS officials and doctors and nurses attended the ceremony. Ambassador Wang Qing firstly congratulated that the HOWs project based on 4 mobile medical clinics donated by the Chinese Government has been truly built into a flagship project of MOHS,with the strong leadership of MOHS, hard work of the operation team and local health departments, and close collaboration between our two countries. H.E President Julius Maada Bio praised it as one of the best initiatives Sierra Leone ever had. The Mobile Clinics have traveled to 13 districts of Seirra Leone, served more than 37,000 people, detected a lot of severe patients and saved a number of patients life, especially for vulnerable babies, pregnant women, elderly people who are hard to reach quality health care. The Chinese Embassy will steadily stand together with the MOHS to support the sustaining and expanding of HOWs project. NEW YORK, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- It seems likely that China is going to be successful in its pursuit, and both China and the United States will ultimately learn to co-exist and thrive, an opinion article said on Thursday. The United States has shown no interest in sharing world leadership, nor has China shown any interest in deviating from its global aspirations -- even though they may appear to be on a collision course, Yasar Bukan, a lecturer in global politics and political philosophy at Toronto Metropolitan University, said in his commentary published on American media outlet UPI. "The United States has been unsuccessful in inhibiting China's growth, and will likely be incapable of preventing the second-biggest economy from achieving its centennial goals," he wrote, adding that "China is present around the globe in terms of human capital, investment, manufactured products -- and world public opinion about China is changing." China is a hub that has many spokes and has the capacity and will to invent many more. The hub is united and efficient. For example, when China was barred from the International Space Station after the passage of a law by U.S. Congress in 2011, it constructed Tiangong, a permanent space station, the opinion piece said. Meanwhile, "the rise of non-liberal democratic regimes and weaknesses in democracies are creating a situation in which some nations are gravitating toward China while others are moving away from the United States," the article said. "That said, political reason is too often at the mercy of short-term calculations." HONG KONG, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said Monday that the regulator is working with banks to promote more participation from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Middle East in Hong Kong's offshore renminbi (RMB) market. Chief Executive of the HKMA Eddie Yue said an increasing number of economies, including those in the Middle East and the ASEAN, want to use the RMB to settle their trade with China. In a speech at the Treasury Markets Summit 2023 jointly organized by the HKMA and the Hong Kong Treasury Markets Association (TMA), Yue said Hong Kong's edge as the leading offshore RMB business hub is not just a matter of its mutual market access with the mainland. In fact, Hong Kong has the largest offshore RMB liquidity pool, occupies the top position for global RMB payments, and has a mature RMB business ecosystem which has been enhanced over the years, he added. To meet growing RMB business demand, the HKMA will continue its efforts in enhancing RMB liquidity, product and infrastructure in our offshore RMB market, he said. Looking ahead, the long-term economic growth and capital account opening process of China would continue to provide impetus to further advancements of offshore RMB business, according to Yue. He noted the TMA has recently formed a working group of experienced RMB specialists from banks in Hong Kong to gather views on offshore RMB market development. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, addresses a teleconference on the planning and building of government-subsidized housing in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Tao) BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng Monday stressed efforts to address issues related to government-subsidized housing to better meet people's housing demand. Reform and innovation should be used to tackle key issues related to government-subsidized housing, including construction scales, funds, and management. He made the remarks while addressing a teleconference on the planning and building of government-subsidized housing. Highlighting its importance, the vice premier noted that government-subsidized housing could help ease the housing burden in big cities, effectively promote the transformation of China's real estate sector, and boost investment and consumption. He said that the construction of government-subsidized housing is an arduous and complicated systematic project, urging efforts to plan ahead, put project management and costs under strict control, and consider the market situation comprehensively. Measures should be taken to ensure that these houses are put under strict closed-off management and should not be on the market for trading, the vice premier said. He said government-subsidized housing should focus on the need of wage earners with housing difficulties and low incomes, as well as talent covered by favorable government policies. BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of China's State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on Sept. 9 and 10, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning announced Monday. At a time when the world economy is under increasing downward pressure and global sustainable development is facing more difficulties, the G20, as the main forum for international economic cooperation, should strengthen partnership, work together to address prominent challenges in the international economy and development, and make positive contributions to promoting the recovery and growth of the world economy and global sustainable development. "China hopes that the G20 Summit in New Delhi will build consensus on this, convey confidence and jointly promote prosperity and development," Mao added. BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the Smart China Expo 2023, which opened Monday in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Xi said in the letter that new technologies such as the internet, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and blockchain are undergoing profound changes; the digitalized, intelligent and green transformation of industries are accelerating; and the intelligent industry and digital economy are thriving. These have greatly changed the global allocation of factors and resources, industrial development models, and people's lifestyles. Noting that China attaches great importance to the development of the digital economy, Xi said the country continuously promotes the deep integration of digital technology and the real economy, coordinates advances in both the digital industry and the digital transformation of traditional industries, and accelerates the building of the country's cyberspace strength and a digital China. China is willing to work with countries around the world to grasp the new trends of the digital era, deepen international exchanges and cooperation in the digital field, promote innovation and development in the intelligent industry, accelerate the building of a cyber community with a shared future, and work together to create an even brighter future, Xi said. Themed "Pooling Together Wisdom and Strength," the expo is scheduled to run until Wednesday. ANKARA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday for talks on the revival of the Black Sea grain deal. "The message to be conveyed to the world (on the Black Sea Grain Initiative) after our meeting is a step towards underdeveloped African countries, which will be essential," Erdogan told media in a brief statement before his first face-to-face meeting with Putin since October last year. Erdogan and Putin are also expected to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues, Turkiye's semi-official Anadolu Agency reported. "Currently, the trade volume between Turkiye and Russia is 62 billion U.S. dollars. We are very glad that we are taking steps towards the target of reaching 100 billion," Anadolu quoted Erdogan as saying. Turkiye has tried to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative by acting as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine. The agreement, which had been brokered by Turkiye and the United Nations in July 2022 in Istanbul, encountered a setback when Russia decided to withdraw from it on July 17, alleging unfulfilled obligations by its counterparts. Ankara says that Western countries should try to address Russia's complaints and that it hopes Russia would return to the deal. BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has ordered the arrest of Cui Maohu, former director of the National Religious Affairs Administration, for suspected bribe-taking, the SPP said Monday. Cui also served as deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. Cui's case was transferred to procuratorial authorities for examination and prosecution following the conclusion of an investigation by the National Commission of Supervision. The handling of the case is underway, said the SPP. John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), delivers a speech at a financial forum held by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited in south China's Hong Kong, Sept. 4, 2023. Hong Kong will continue to actively collaborate with Shenzhen to promote the advantages of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone under the principle of "one zone, two parks" underpinned by the "one country, two systems" principle. John Lee made the remarks on Monday at a financial forum held by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited. Hong Kong will support the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) international innovation and technology center, and build an international innovation talent port for the GBA, according to Lee at the forum. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai) HONG KONG, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong will continue to actively collaborate with Shenzhen to promote the advantages of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone under the principle of "one zone, two parks" underpinned by the "one country, two systems" principle. John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), made the remarks on Monday at a financial forum held by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited. Hong Kong will support the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) international innovation and technology center, and build an international innovation talent port for the GBA, according to Lee at the forum. Under the principle of "one country, two systems," Hong Kong enjoys the unique advantage of enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world, Lee noted. He said that the HKSAR government is making every effort to promote Hong Kong's integration into the overall national development and to contribute to the construction of the GBA in the fields of finance, commerce, shipping and professional services. The forum, featuring themes including "China's Macro Economy" and "Hong Kong's Integration with the Greater Bay Area", gathered people from all walks of life in Hong Kong to discuss the opportunities for coordinated economic development of the GBA. More than 280 people attended the forum. John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), poses for a group photo with guests at a financial forum held by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited in south China's Hong Kong, Sept. 4, 2023. Hong Kong will continue to actively collaborate with Shenzhen to promote the advantages of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone under the principle of "one zone, two parks" underpinned by the "one country, two systems" principle. John Lee made the remarks on Monday at a financial forum held by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited. Hong Kong will support the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) international innovation and technology center, and build an international innovation talent port for the GBA, according to Lee at the forum. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai) WELLINGTON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's trade surplus with China was 2 billion NZ dollars (1.19 billion U.S. dollars) in the June 2023 quarter, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Monday. Total goods and services exports to China were valued at 5.8 billion NZ dollars (3.45 billion dollars) in the June 2023 quarter, with imports valued at 3.8 billion NZ dollars (2.26 billion dollars), Stats NZ said. "New Zealand usually has a trade surplus for goods and services with China," International Trade Manager at Stats NZ Alasdair Allen said, adding this is increasingly driven by trade in goods. Total goods exports to China were valued at 5.4 billion NZ dollars (3.21 billion dollars), with imports valued at 3.6 billion NZ dollars (2.14 billion dollars), Allen said, adding over the past five years, there have only been three quarterly goods deficits with China. In the June 2023 quarter, New Zealand's largest goods export commodities to China were milk powder, butter, and cheese; meat; logs, wood, and wood articles; fruit; and preparations of milk, cereals, flour, and starch which includes infant formula, he said. In the June 2023 quarter, the largest goods import commodities from China were electrical machinery and equipment; mechanical machinery and equipment; vehicles, parts, and accessories; furniture, furnishings, and light fittings; and plastic and plastic articles, Allen said. From this list of commodities, compared with the June 2022 quarter, the imports for vehicles, parts, and accessories have risen, he said, adding electric car imports from China have been increasing in recent periods. Travel exports made up 85 percent of total services exports to China in the June 2023 quarter, he said. BEIRUT, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese army said on Monday it had stopped about 1,100 Syrians from entering Lebanon illegally over the past week. The Syrians were intercepted at the Lebanese-Syrian border, the army said in a statement posted on its website. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Friday voiced concerns about a new wave of illegal entry from Syria as the war-torn country's economic situation continues to deteriorate. Last month, the Lebanese army announced it had stopped the illegal entry of around 1,550 Syrians in two weeks. The Lebanese army has been trying to crack down on human smuggling in border areas with Syria as the government is facing increasing pressure to accomodate the influx of Syrian refugees. With an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees residing within its borders, Lebanon bears the weight of hosting the largest number of refugees per capita. The presence of Syrian refugees has put a strain on Lebanon's resources and created widespread discontent among its citizens. Abbas Ganbay First Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Head of Client Services Group Jurgen Rigterink will pay a visit to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports. As part of his visit, Rigterink plans to meet with government officials, central bank governors, business leaders, and representatives of international financial organizations in each country. In Azerbaijan, he will participate in the launch of a public-private partnership in technical and vocational education and retraining, organized by the State Agency for Vocational Education and Avrora Group, aimed at strengthening human resources in the food industry. "The Caucasus is an important region for the Bank and we intend to provide continued support to the sustainable economic development of the region through our investments, advisory services, and policy engagement," Rigterink said ahead of the visit. Jurgen Rigterink, First Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Head of Client Services Group, will visit Azerbaijan as part of a week-long trip to the Caucasus. According to the EBRD, the trip will start in Armenia, continue in Georgia, and end in Azerbaijan. The EBRD Vice President will meet with government officials, central bank governors, business leaders, and representatives of international financial organizations in each country. He will also mark the handover between the outgoing EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus, Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, and her successor, Alkis Vryenios Drakinos. In Armenia, Rigterink will sign a credit line with a local partner bank to further boost the development of the private sector. In Georgia, he will launch a program with one of the EBRD's key partner banks as part of its commitment to supporting small and medium-size enterprises. In Azerbaijan, he will participate in the launch of the public-private partnership for technical and vocational education and training organized by the State Vocational Education Agency, aimed at strengthening skills capacity in the food production industry. J.Rigterink has been with the EBRD since 2018 and has since helped deliver record levels of investment volume for the EBRD regions and led the Bank's Covid-19 Solidarity Package. He was also the Bank's Acting President for four months in 2020 in the period between the departure of Sir Suma Chakrabarti, the EBRD's sixth President, and the arrival of his successor, Odile Renaud-Basso. The EBRD has invested over 10 billion in 680 projects across the region, in both the private and public sectors. by Xinhua writer Ma Qian BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- China has gone the extra mile in its efforts to liberalize the services sector and open up its market to foreign companies, said an Italian trade official. "We would like to express our sincere appreciation for the efforts undertaken by the Chinese government to create a level playing field for everybody to access the services sector in this country," Gianpaolo Bruno, trade commissioner of the Beijing Office of the Italian Trade Commission, told Xinhua on Saturday at the ongoing 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). China is further opening up to global businesses, particularly in the services sector, reckoned Bruno, suggesting that is the main message China wants to deliver through this year's CIFTIS. "We are really acting very positively, because we're honored to present the strength of the Italian economy in the service sector," Bruno said. Italy would also like to convey its strong commitment to promoting "the already brilliant cooperation we have with Chinese partners and to discuss concrete projects for mutual benefit," he added. The Italian official highlighted a series of policy measures that China has carried out, from intellectual property rights (IPR) protection to foreign direct investment (FDI) incentives. In particular, he talked of China's ramped-up efforts to grant foreign companies equal access to participate in government procurement activities. "They are also very good signals that we really appreciate. We hope that the Italian business community could take advantage of these opportunities," he added. China's State Council released in August a new set of opinions on boosting FDI. The document contains 24 suggestions for attracting foreign investments, ranging from improving IPR protection to facilitating cross-border data flows. Authorities should guarantee that foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) can participate in government procurement in accordance with the law, and support FIEs in innovating and developing world-leading products through measures such as first-order purchases, said the document. In regard to e-commerce, Bruno noted that Italy has stepped up efforts to improve its business environment and further digitalize its economy to increase efficiency and effectiveness. "We are working with Chinese platforms to explore more possibilities for Italian companies to sell their products on the Business-to-Customer basis, given the fact that Chinese consumers are looking for more foreign goods," he said. "So there is a win-win situation." The Italian official also noticed China's ongoing efforts to transform the manufacturing industry "to reap the benefits of a high-valued segment of the global value chain." "We are following very carefully this process, because I think there are many opportunities to cooperate with China in the high-tech sector, as China is working to stoke (up) its long-term economic development process," he continued. "So we're very happy that China is working very strongly towards that end, and we are available to cooperate with (Chinese) manufacturing companies, high-tech companies and consulting companies in order to help China make this possible," Bruno said. A broken house is seen after storms in Villamanta of Madrid, Spain, Sept. 4, 2023. Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has declared a red alert for extreme weather and heavy rainfall in central and eastern Spain on Sunday. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua) MADRID, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- One person has been confirmed dead and another one is missing after extreme weather and heavy rainfall affected central and eastern Spain on Sunday and the early hours of Monday morning. A man died in the small town of Casarubias del Monte in the province of Toledo in central Spain after being trapped in his car by floodwaters. A second man is missing after a car carrying four members of the same family fell into the River Alberche (south of Madrid) in the early hours of Monday morning. The mother and daughter were able to escape, while a 10-year-old son was discovered clinging to a tress hours later, but the father has yet to be found. Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has declared a red alert. On Saturday, two people died while "canyoning" in the province of Huesca, with Civil Guards still investigating if the deaths were caused by the rapid rise in water levels where they were carrying out their activities. Jose Luis Almeida, the mayor of Madrid, has asked citizens to "remain indoors, unless making a journey is unavoidable," in the face of the "exceptional and abnormal" situation. The railway lines between Madrid and Toledo and to the region of Extremadura in southwest Spain were cut off by the rain, while several major roads were also blocked and flights were canceled. The fire brigade in the regions of Madrid and Castille-La Mancha, each reported over 1,300 incidents, such as flooded property and fallen trees. The Madrid metro and local train services were also affected, with some stations closed. Residents clear up a road after storms in Villamanta of Madrid, Spain, Sept. 4, 2023. Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has declared a red alert for extreme weather and heavy rainfall in central and eastern Spain on Sunday. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua) A broken vehicle is seen after storms in Villamanta of Madrid, Spain, Sept. 4, 2023. Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has declared a red alert for extreme weather and heavy rainfall in central and eastern Spain on Sunday. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua) Residents clear up a road after storms in Villamanta of Madrid, Spain, Sept. 4, 2023. Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has declared a red alert for extreme weather and heavy rainfall in central and eastern Spain on Sunday. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua) ISLAMABAD, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani rupee again declines against the U.S. dollar, hitting another record low as the greenback was traded at 305.64 rupees in the interbank market on Monday, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. The U.S. dollar closed at 305.47 rupees on Friday. On the first session of the week, the local currency depreciated by 0.17 rupee, or about 0.06 percent, against the U.S. dollar, official figures showed. The Pakistani currency after crashing for 10 consecutive sessions and hitting a record low, gained a slight recovery on Friday. Reportedly, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir recently met local businessmen and assured them that the government is taking important and effective steps for economic reforms to generate revenue while engaging with other countries to bring foreign investment to Pakistan. He said that the government is focusing on making different task forces to achieve the desired objectives in order to curb the deepening economic crisis in the South Asian country. KIGALI, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda launched a campaign on Sunday aimed at promoting gender equality in healthcare, especially mental health services. The year-long campaign dubbed "We Are Equal" is part of the continental initiative by the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD). It will focus on raising awareness of mental health as well as the prevention and early detection of non-communicable diseases. Speaking at the launching event in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, Yvan Butera, Rwandan minister of state in the Ministry of Health, emphasized the importance of mental health. "We encourage individuals and households to take care of their mental health while fighting mental health stigma," he said, adding that dealing with mental health issues is something that can affect anyone. Health officials said some people still seek traditional healers for mental cases while others are reluctant to seek healthcare due to related stigma and lack of awareness. The launched campaign "promotes wellness for all, through gender equality, with a focus on mental health as it is the foundation for our wellbeing," Rwanda's First Lady Jeannette Kagame said, adding that "we are equal, and together we can thrive." Butera said gender inequality mostly affects women in the form of gender-based violence or any other form of inequality, which effectively impacts their mental health. Butera also noted that the Ministry of Health has devised mechanisms aimed at scaling up mental health services, which will see health centers across the country have mental health workers this year. The campaign calls for urgent action to advance gender equity and to close the gender gap in Africa. According to the OAFLAD, closing the gender gap in Africa "is not an act of charity for girls and women, but an act of justice and common sense that will benefit all." Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) specialist Wang Peng (R) discusses a patient's diagnosis with two interns in Windhoek, Namibia on Aug. 31, 2023. (Photo by Musa C Kaseke/Xinhua) WINDHOEK, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- In the past one and a half years, Tileinge Hapulile, like many other medical professionals in Nambia, has been learning the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC) to help patients the southern African country. Hapulile was introduced to Wang Peng, a former member of the Chinese medical team to Namibia specializing in the TMC who now runs a clinic in the capital Windhoek, and this encounter ignited Hapulile's curiosity in the TCM due to his interest in Chinese medicine and his family's cultural background of relying on traditional medicine. "I have seen the difference between Chinese medicine and Western medicine. I think the benefits of the two combinations are tremendous," he told Xinhua in an interview. Hapulile and Wang treat 17 to 20 patients daily in the clinic, focusing on knee, lower back and shoulder pains, using various TCM therapies such as tuina. "The results have been great and overwhelmingly positive. From my first year to the current period, we have seen the increase in the number of patients due to the benefits," he added. The Namibian young man departed for China on Sunday to pursue a master degree in Zhejiang Chinese Medical University in China's eastern Hangzhou city. "I want to use my acquired skills and expertise to help more patients because right now there are about only three specialized masters in the TCM including those at the Chinese clinic at Katutura Hospital," he said. As the TMC is becoming increasingly popular among the people in Windhoek, many medical professionals like Hapulile start to learn this medicine practice. In Wang's clinic, Sten Shinyemba, a graduate doctor who once studied at Hebei North University in China's northwestern Hebei province, has been furthering his knowledge and skills in the TCM for six months. "I actually woke up one day and then I realized it was a dream that I wanted to do, because I had the TCM as a subject in our curriculum in university, and it was very intriguing," he said. Shinyemba said the TCM treatment has shown good results on his patients. "Most of our patients are elderly people, which come from all over the country," he said, adding that Wang help him provide these specific kinds of medicine to the people which can be passed on to the next generation. Wang came to Nambia as a member of the Chinese medical team to the southern African country. Since 1996, the Chinese government has sent a total of 15 teams of medical personnel to the country who have been committed to ensuring the health of the Namibian people while also maintaining the friendship between the two countries. Wang said his two-year tenure in Namibia was not enough to help local patients so he decided to stay in the country to open a clinic. "I started my practice in 2017. At the start, two or three years, I only did the work at my practice and did not have assistance," he said, adding that he was glad to have interns under his guidance, as he was also a TCM medical lecturer back in China. Peng realized he could teach and train the local Namibian doctors who in turn would help their local communities. "I am lucky to have been introduced to these two interns. The two are very smart, diligent and work hard," he said. Namibian intern doctor Tileinge Hapulile practices acupuncture treatment in Windhoek, Namibia on Aug. 31, 2023. (Photo by Musa C Kaseke/Xinhua) JAKARTA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the 43rd ASEAN summit convened here on Monday, with an emphasis on ASEAN's unity and inclusiveness. "We are all aware of many difficult circumstances in the region. But we cannot allow them to affect our hard work in the Summit," said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in the opening remarks, adding that ASEAN continues taking a lead in shaping regional dynamics and ensuring peace and inclusiveness in the region. According to Marsudi, Secretariat-to-Secretariat cooperation between ASEAN and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), as well as the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), would be established on Monday, showing ASEAN's convening power and a wide acceptance of ASEAN's norms and values. During the ASEAN Coordinating Council meeting on Monday, ASEAN foreign ministers agreed to bring Concord IV to the upcoming ASEAN summit to be ratified by the state leaders, Marsudi said. The concord is a document containing the foundation for the bloc's vision for 2045 on how to strengthen the alliance and face various challenges in the future. "To be able to move forward and remain relevant, ASEAN must be brave enough to make decisions. And differences among members should not be an obstacle to our progress," she said. Marsudi also said that the 43rd ASEAN Summit would also discuss the acceleration of decision-making in times of crisis, as well as cooperation on food security, energy, health, digital economy, and maritime. The 43rd ASEAN Summit and related summits are scheduled to be held in Jakarta from Tuesday to Thursday, with Indonesia holding this year's ASEAN chairmanship. Besides, the 26th ASEAN Plus Three Summit, the 18th East Asia Summit, and ASEAN's one-on-one summits with various countries and organizations including China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, the United Nations, and others, are also listed on the agenda. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ISLAMABAD, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Three personnel of Pakistan Navy were killed in a helicopter crash in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Monday, the navy said in a statement. The helicopter was on its routine training sortie when it apparently met a technical fault and crashed in Gwadar district, the statement added. All the three people onboard were killed, including two officers and a soldier, the statement added. An investigation has been launched into the incident, the statement said. Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar expressed sorrow over the incident and extended condolences to the bereaved families. CHONGQING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Stilwell Museum, named after the late U.S. General Joseph Stilwell, is located in southwest China's Chongqing. It is the only museum in China that is named after a foreign military officer. At the museum, a special exhibition is held to commemorate the 140th birth anniversary of the U.S. general, who provided support to the Chinese people in their resistance against Japanese aggression. Throughout his 42-year military service, Stilwell made five visits to China and lived in the country for 12 years. He was an old friend of the Chinese people, and his family has unwaveringly promoted people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States. The Stilwell Museum, converted from Stilwell's residence in Chongqing, has stood as a witness to the people-to-people friendship between China and the United States. Produced by Xinhua Global Service SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' capital adequacy ratio edged up in the second quarter, owing to a faster increase in capital than risk-weighted assets, financial watchdog data showed Monday. The total capital ratio for 28 banks, bank holding companies, and internet-only banks under the Bank for International Settlements framework averaged 15.62 percent at the end of June, up 0.01 percentage point from three months earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The ratio, a barometer of financial soundness, measures the proportion of a bank's capital to its risk-weighted assets. Banks are required to maintain a ratio above 10.5 percent. The risk-weighted assets gained 1.7 percent in the April-June quarter, while the capital expanded 1.8 percent. The tier-1 capital ratio, which gauges common stock capital and retained earnings, increased 0.01 percentage point from three months earlier to 14.27 percent at the end of June. The common equity tier-1 capital ratio, or the proportion of common equity to risk-weighted assets, picked up 0.08 percentage points to 12.98 percent in the cited quarter. Banks are required to keep the tier-1 and the common equity tier-1 capital ratios above 8.5 percent and 7.0 percent each. This photo taken on Sept. 1, 2023 shows an interior view of the China National Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Hao Jianwei) "We would like to express our sincere appreciation for the efforts undertaken by the Chinese government to create a level playing field for everybody to access the services sector in this country," said an Italian trade official. by Xinhua writer Ma Qian BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- China has gone the extra mile in its efforts to liberalize the services sector and open up its market to foreign companies, said an Italian trade official. "We would like to express our sincere appreciation for the efforts undertaken by the Chinese government to create a level playing field for everybody to access the services sector in this country," Gianpaolo Bruno, trade commissioner of the Beijing Office of the Italian Trade Commission, told Xinhua on Saturday at the ongoing 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). China is further opening up to global businesses, particularly in the services sector, reckoned Bruno, suggesting that is the main message China wants to deliver through this year's CIFTIS. "We are really acting very positively, because we're honored to present the strength of the Italian economy in the service sector," Bruno said. Italy would also like to convey its strong commitment to promoting "the already brilliant cooperation we have with Chinese partners and to discuss concrete projects for mutual benefit," he added. Traders learns about bamboo winding composite pipes at the environmental services exhibition of the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 2, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Xin) The Italian official highlighted a series of policy measures that China has carried out, from intellectual property rights (IPR) protection to foreign direct investment (FDI) incentives. In particular, he talked of China's ramped-up efforts to grant foreign companies equal access to participate in government procurement activities. "They are also very good signals that we really appreciate. We hope that the Italian business community could take advantage of these opportunities," he added. China's State Council released in August a new set of opinions on boosting FDI. The document contains 24 suggestions for attracting foreign investments, ranging from improving IPR protection to facilitating cross-border data flows. Authorities should guarantee that foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) can participate in government procurement in accordance with the law, and support FIEs in innovating and developing world-leading products through measures such as first-order purchases, said the document. This photo shows a self-driving vehicle on display during the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at Shougang Park in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 3, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) In regard to e-commerce, Bruno noted that Italy has stepped up efforts to improve its business environment and further digitalize its economy to increase efficiency and effectiveness. "We are working with Chinese platforms to explore more possibilities for Italian companies to sell their products on the Business-to-Customer basis, given the fact that Chinese consumers are looking for more foreign goods," he said. "So there is a win-win situation." The Italian official also noticed China's ongoing efforts to transform the manufacturing industry "to reap the benefits of a high-valued segment of the global value chain." "We are following very carefully this process, because I think there are many opportunities to cooperate with China in the high-tech sector, as China is working to stoke (up) its long-term economic development process," he continued. "So we're very happy that China is working very strongly towards that end, and we are available to cooperate with (Chinese) manufacturing companies, high-tech companies and consulting companies in order to help China make this possible," Bruno said. Laman Ismayilova Latvian National Opera House has successfully staged Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni". Principal conductor of the Azerbaijani State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev was invited to stage the two-act opera, the conductor told AZERNEWS. Mozart's opera staged by Italian director Marcelo Lombardero was a huge success at the Latvian National Opera House. Note that Ayyub Guliyev made his debut at Latvian National Opera House last year. In 2022, he was invited to conduct Giuseppe Verdi's opera "La Traviata." "This is my second appearance at the Latvian National Opera House. The theater has a very large and close-knit team led by world-famous opera singer, bass-baritone Egils Silins. Several years ago, he was on an official visit to Baku at the invitation of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Latvia, the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry. During his visit, Egils Silins showed great interest in Azerbaijani culture, especially Azerbaijani State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. I am very pleased that his trip to Azerbaijan was not limited to certain meetings. At the moment, we are actively cooperating and my participation in performances in Latvia is a clear example of this. I made my debut at Latvian National Opera House in 2022. Back then I conducted Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata. Even then I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of this theater in all respects," Ayyub Guliyev said. Speaking about Latvian National Opera House, the conductor noted that the theater has brought together strong vocalists. "Latvian National Opera House unites incredibly strong vocalists, choir and especially orchestra, which stands out for his professionalism. It seems like the orchestra musicians understand you in half word. Undoubtedly, all this has a positive effect on the opera performance. A very warm and pleasant atmosphere reigns in the theater, which sets you in a creative mood and inspires, and this time was no exception," he said. Principal conductor of the Azerbaijani State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater also provided insight into Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni". Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legend about a libertine as told by playwright Tirso de Molina in his 1630 play El burlador de Sevillay convidado de piedra. Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" was premiered in 1787. "Don Giovanni is called the opera of all operas. This opera is difficult both to perform and to conduct. Latvian National Opera House staged the opera in its full version, which is a rarity. As a rule, the performance of this opera is shortened, some dialogues are removed. However, the Latvian theater has taken a huge step by retaining almost all of the author's text. As you know, the opera Don Giovanni has two editions - Prague and Vienna, where Mozart included new performances. The Vienna version, which is much longer, was staged in Latvia. For me, this is a great experience to work with such professionals," Ayyub Guliyev emphasised. Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in its full version was met with a storm of applause. The audience sat through the entire performance, which lasted almost four hours. Among the guests were the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Latvia Elnur Sultanov, leading public and cultural figures and representatives of local media. " This is a great achievement for the Azerbaijani conducting school. It is a great honor for me to represent the country at the international level. I am really glad that the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Latvia Elnur Sultanov did not leave us without attention. He was in the opera hall, watching our performance. I am sure to continue the partnership with the Latvian National Opera House," the conductor said. In conclusion, Ayyub Guliyev shared the prospects with the Latvian theater. He noted that the director of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, People's Artist of Azerbaijan Yusif Eyvazov will take part in the projects, which will further strengthen cooperation between Azerbaijani and Latvian opera theaters. The conductor is looking forward to new performances in Latvia. Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, holds talks with visiting Lao National Assembly President Saysomphone Phomvihane at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, held talks with visiting Lao National Assembly President Saysomphone Phomvihane in Beijing on Monday. Zhao said China is ready to work closely with the Lao side to translate the consensus reached by top leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the two countries into tangible cooperation outcomes and benefits for the two peoples. Zhao said the two sides should adhere to high-level guidance, deepen practical cooperation, tap the potential of the China-Laos Railway, and build a model of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. The two countries should carry forward their traditional friendship, implement cooperation projects on people's livelihood, strengthen exchanges in sub-national cooperation, sister cities' exchanges, and youth contacts, and expand exchanges in culture, education, and media, Zhao said. China firmly supports Laos in assuming the rotating presidency of the ASEAN next year and stands ready to deepen China-ASEAN relations, he added. "The NPC of China is willing to work with the Lao National Assembly to deepen friendly exchanges at all levels, conduct in-depth exchanges on issues such as state governance, development planning, and the rule of law, strengthen exchanges between local legislatures of the two countries, and provide legal guarantees for China-Laos cooperation in various fields," said Zhao. Zhao also expressed hope for closer coordination and cooperation at multilateral parliamentary fora to jointly safeguard the basic norms governing international relations and the common interests of developing countries. Saysomphone said the traditional friendship between Laos and China is enduring, with deepening political mutual trust and fruitful practical cooperation between the two countries. The Belt and Road Initiative has brought tangible benefits to the Lao people and the Laos-China Railway has played a vital role in promoting the development of the Lao economy, he said. Saysomphone said the Lao National Assembly is willing to strengthen cooperation with the NPC of China and contribute to the construction of the China-Laos community with a shared future. The two legislators signed an agreement on cooperation between the NPC and the Lao National Assembly after the talks. Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, and visiting Lao National Assembly President Saysomphone Phomvihane sign an agreement on cooperation between the NPC and the Lao National Assembly after their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) U.S. President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States on Aug. 17, 2023. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) Floridians are struggling to recover from Category 3 Hurricane Idalia and the following floods as tension spirals over U.S. President Joe Biden's survey of the damage in Florida, without meeting the state's Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of his 2024 presidential rivals. WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Floridians are struggling to recover from Category 3 Hurricane Idalia and the following floods as tension spirals over U.S. President Joe Biden's survey of the damage in Florida, without meeting the state's Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of his 2024 presidential rivals. On Saturday, Biden and his wife toured areas damaged by the storm in Live Oak, met residents, and thanked emergency responders. Addressing the damaged neighborhoods, Biden praised the "spirit of this community," saying he was not disappointed at DeSantis's absence who "may have had other reasons," reported local media. DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern told the press on Friday that the security detail of a presidential visit was so heavy that "setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts." According to DeSantis' social media, he also spent the day touring storm damage, but in Madison County, around 64 km northwest of Biden's survey site. On Friday, Biden's administration asked Congress for an additional 4 billion U.S. dollars for the Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster Relief Fund, in addition to the 12-billion-dollar request in August, in response to a string of natural disasters across the United States in recent weeks. Biden said he could not understand why some lawmakers believe the money is unnecessary even in the wake of Hurricane Idalia and wildfires in Maui. DeSantis has been strongly lobbying for federal assistance funds for Florida. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers a speech at an event in Florida, the United States, Feb. 1, 2023. (State of Florida government/Handout via Xinhua) The tension between Biden and his 2024 presidential rival is heating while damaged communities in the Big Bend Region strive for recovery, primarily to restore power amid heat waves. The number of reported outages at one time peaked at 288,000 at 3 p.m. (2100 GMT) Wednesday, according to Reuters. As of 3 p.m. (2100 GMT) Sunday, 38,000 accounts remained in a power outage as utility workers and electricity cooperatives continued to address damage from the storm, reported local media. More than 88 percent of the remaining 33,593 outages are due to fallen power lines and other connectivity issues reported by cooperatives, and community-owned and operated utilities that largely serve rural areas. Photo taken on Oct. 4, 2022 shows the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, the United States. (Photo by Rolando Lopez/Xinhua) The death toll from Idalia is minor compared to Hurricane Ian, which claimed nearly 150 lives in Florida last year. Kevin Guthrie, who heads the Florida Division of Emergency Management, praised on Thursday millions of Big Bend Region inhabitants for following the evacuation orders. So far, DeSantis has confirmed one fatality related to Idalia in Florida. A 59-year-old from Alachua County died in a car crash where rain was a major factor, according to local media, citing Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskin. Idalia, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm earlier Wednesday, became the first major hurricane to enter Apalachee Bay since modern record-keeping started in 1851, according to the U.S. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, the state capital of Florida. TEHRAN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday his country is ready to transfer its experiences and achievements to friendly countries, especially those in Africa. He made the remarks at a meeting with Burkina Faso's visiting Foreign Minister Olivia Rouamba in the Iranian capital Tehran, in which the two sides also discussed bilateral relations, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president's office. Raisi highlighted Iran's good relations with most African states following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and praised African countries' resistance against colonialism and terrorism. Rouamba, for her part, said African countries, including Burkina Faso, draw inspiration from the resistance of Iran's Islamic Revolution against the global hegemonic system. Rouamba described Iran as a friendly and brotherly state, expressing Burkina Faso's interest in enhancing bilateral cooperation. Earlier in the day, Rouamba met her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and discussed boosting bilateral trade ties as well as important regional and international issues. TIANJIN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Before sleeping, Kashan Khan, a Pakistani doctoral student of Tianjin University in north China's Tianjin Municipality, ordered vegetables and meat for cooking on a shopping app on his mobile phone, and he would pick up the goods on the way to the dormitory the next day. "The online shopping in China is really convenient. I don't have time to go to shopping malls or markets. I can buy everything I need online, even the flowers for my girlfriend," said Khan, who was busy with scientific research, and online shopping helped save a lot of time for him. China's digital trade has developed vigorously in recent years. According to the data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the scale of China's digital economy increased by 4.1 trillion U.S. dollars, with an average annual compound growth rate of 14.2 percent from 2016 to 2022. "I have lived in China for seven years. I saw the rapid development of e-commerce, mobile payment, and artificial intelligence in China by myself. I really hope that Pakistan can promote a digital economy like China and people in my hometown can benefit from this economy mode," said Khan. In fact, Khan's wish has come true, as the dividend of China's booming digital trade has provided a pool of business opportunities and injected fresh hope into countries along the Belt and Road. To keep up with the digital transformation trends, the Digital Silk Road was launched. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) technology dimension extends from the ocean floor to outer space, enabling artificial intelligence, big data applications, and other strategic internet solutions. As of November 2022, China had established the Digital Silk Road cooperation mechanism with 16 countries and advanced Silk Road E-commerce bilateral cooperation mechanism with 26 countries, including Pakistan. Samoyed Cloud Technology, a Chinese scientific and technological enterprise focused on artificial intelligence, big data, mobile Internet, and cloud computing, tapped into the vast potential of the market of Pakistan's digital economy and launched the e-commerce platform EZTRADER to provide digital trade services for the local retailers importing Chinese products. "Chinese products are popular in Pakistan. Since the platform EZTRADER was launched in May of this year, it has attracted more than 3,000 local retailers, completely exceeding our expectations," said Lin Jianming, chairman and CEO of the company. Muhammad Rizwan, a 35-year-old retailer of mobile phone accessories in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, settled in EZTRADER swiftly after it was launched. "E-commerce platforms provide a centralized space where businesses can connect, negotiate, and conduct transactions. We don't need to search for potential partners or clients individually. We can trade directly with manufacturers or suppliers in China without intermediaries. This can significantly reduce the cost," said Muhammad Rizwan. Alibaba.com, an online business-to-business marketplace for global wholesalers under the Alibaba Group, has launched foreign trade business in many countries along the Belt and Road. Pakistan topped the number of overseas wholesalers on the platform, and the annual growth rate of the number of Pakistani wholesalers was over 64 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. For lack of capital and sales channels, a Pakistani couple, Aziz-ur-Rehman and Sadia Aziz, struggled in the first two years after they had established their own baby clothing brand with their savings of 1.5 million rupees (about 18,000 U.S. dollars) in 2018. In 2020, Alibaba.com provided them with complete online business solutions and online training sessions. Their company was connected with global customers through the platform and turned losses into profits. "Up to now, our company's business revenue was over 3 million rupees and grew at a rate of 1 million rupees per year. China provided us with a lot of opportunities in the digital economy. We believe Pakistan's digital economy is promising in the future," said Aziz-ur-Rehman. Representatives from Huawei and a Saudi company sign MoUs during the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 4, 2023. The Chinese tech giant Huawei announced on Monday the opening of a cloud data center in Riyadh, as part of its efforts to expand its online service offerings in the Middle East. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou) RIYADH, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese tech giant Huawei announced on Monday the opening of a cloud data center in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, as part of its efforts to expand its online service offerings in the Middle East. Huawei said in a statement that the new center will become a core data center for Huawei Cloud Services in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, "offering innovative, reliable, secure, and sustainable cloud services." The new data center in Riyadh will provide a range of cloud services, including infrastructure, databases, big data, and artificial intelligence, etc., the statement said. Praising Huawei as "a proud partner" of Saudi Arabia in its technological progress, Haitham bin Abdul Rahman Al-Ohali, Saudi Vice Minister of Communications and Information Technology said the Chinese tech giant has been working with the ministry, local service providers, enterprises and universities in various collective efforts towards digital transformation. "We look forward to the transformative impact the new data center will have on our digital ecosystem, creating new avenues for innovation and growth." He added. Steven Yi, senior vice president of Huawei and president of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia Region, lauded the business environment in Saudi Arabia. "Create an inviting environment, and you'll attract the best. This is undeniably true for Saudi Arabia, a nation that consistently attracts top investors," said Yi. Haitham bin Abdul Rahman Al-Ohali, Saudi Vice Minister of Communications and Information Technology, speaks at the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 4, 2023. The Chinese tech giant Huawei announced on Monday the opening of a cloud data center in Riyadh, as part of its efforts to expand its online service offerings in the Middle East. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou) Representatives from Huawei and a Saudi company sign MoUs during the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 4, 2023. The Chinese tech giant Huawei announced on Monday the opening of a cloud data center in Riyadh, as part of its efforts to expand its online service offerings in the Middle East. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou) People attend the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 4, 2023. The Chinese tech giant Huawei announced on Monday the opening of a cloud data center in Riyadh, as part of its efforts to expand its online service offerings in the Middle East. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou) People attend the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 4, 2023. The Chinese tech giant Huawei announced on Monday the opening of a cloud data center in Riyadh, as part of its efforts to expand its online service offerings in the Middle East. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou) Zimbabwean president-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa, meets with Zhou Qiang, Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy, also vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, at the State House in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sept. 3, 2023. At the invitation of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zhou on Monday attended Mnangagwa's inauguration ceremony in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua) HARARE, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zhou Qiang, Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy, on Monday attended Mnangagwa's inauguration ceremony in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare. Mnangagwa on Sunday met with Zhou, also vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, at the State House. Zhou conveyed Xi's warm congratulations and good wishes to Mnangagwa. Zhou said China always views and develops relations with Zimbabwe from a strategic and long-term perspective, and is willing to work with Zimbabwe to maintain and develop high-level mutual trust between the two countries. In addition, Zhou said the two countries should continue to firmly support each other on issues involving each other's core interests, and promote the better development of China-Zimbabwe comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. Mnangagwa expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Xi for sending a special envoy to attend his inauguration ceremony, and asked Zhou to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to Xi. Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe attaches great importance to its friendship with China, and is willing to deepen cooperation with China in such key areas as infrastructure, agriculture, mining, and education to push bilateral relations to a higher level. JUBA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Experts from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday called on South Sudan's transitional unity government to speed up economic reforms in order to put the country toward the path of economic growth and development. Guy Jenkinson, the IMF resident representative for South Sudan, said during the opening of the national economic conference in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that the political leadership should embark on implementing reforms to ensure fiscal discipline and also improve transparency and financial accountability. "On our side, the advice that we have been giving always to authorities is that (to) maintain fiscal discipline, constrain the amounts of your borrowing that are required by your budget, and improve transparency on reporting so that you yourselves can track where the finances are going," Jenkinson said. The national economic conference that closes on Sept. 8 is organized by the government in order to seek solutions to the ailing economy that has been battered by years of conflict and mismanagement. "We are working with the government to set up a single treasury account, we are working with the central bank to reform the financial sector, and we are working also in the areas of public financial management helping to improve budget reporting and transparency and debt management," Jenkinson said. He said the IMF has provided more than 340 million U.S. dollars in three disbursements since early 2020 to South Sudan. Jenkinson noted that the harmonization of the local exchange rate would not have been possible without support from the IMF. Firas Raad, the World Bank country manager, said the government needs to utilize the remaining time of the extended transitional period to put the country on a path towards achieving broad-based economic growth, job creation, and reduction of poverty. "Capitalizing on this opportunity now would be timely and crucially important in light of the instability raging across the Sahel, the ongoing conflict and upheaval in Sudan and the declining volumes of humanitarian assistance for South Sudan, and the severity of development outcomes in this country which remains among the poorest in the world," Raad said. He said 80 percent of the country's estimated 12.4 million population are poor, 60 percent of children are out of school and less than 6 percent of the population have access to electricity. Samuel Gbaydee Doe, the resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in South Sudan, said the country needs to partner with the region and international community to undertake critical economic reforms. "As we transition the country from humanitarian assistance to recovery and development, the UN and other international organizations are ready to accompany the country through technical assistance to harness the emerging regional and global opportunities for investment and trade," Doe said. He said reforming the tax system is a critical step towards building a more prosperous and self-reliant country. Bak Barnaba Chol, the minister of finance and economic planning, said the national economic conference provides an opportunity to focus on areas of diversifying trade and the economic sector that remains heavily reliant on crude oil. "We must develop agriculture to a commercial level and not only to ensure food security but also to generate income for our farmers and surplus for export. Priorities in agriculture must also include smallholder farmers' productivity and access to markets as well as enhancing distribution systems to minimize post-harvest losses," he said. Chol announced the establishment of the South Sudan Mineral and Development Corporation which will partner with interested companies to exploit the mining and mineral sector in the country. DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 4,000 delegates from over 70 countries will meet in Tanzania Tuesday for the 13th annual Africa Food Systems Forum to discuss Africa's food systems transformation, organizers said Monday. The organizers said in a statement that the forum, slated for Sept. 5-8 and themed "Recover, Regenerate, Act: Africa's Solutions to Food Systems Transformation," has brought together over 4,000 delegates, leaders, and innovators from across the globe to discuss policy, breakthroughs and innovations in agriculture and food systems transformation. The statement said Tanzania's Minister of Agriculture Hussein Bashe said Sunday that the forum represents a significant milestone in the journey towards establishing inclusive and sustainable food systems transformation throughout the continent. "This year's forum places a strong emphasis on empowering women and youth, recognizing their pivotal roles in reshaping Africa's food landscape," said Bashe. Bashe explained how Tanzania is working to address food security and job creation through Tanzania's flagship initiative, "Building a Better Tomorrow: Youth Initiative for Agribusiness," which aims to provide agribusiness training to 200,000 young individuals and support 15,000 youth-led agribusiness ventures in Tanzanian villages over the next five years. Aligned with these initiatives, Africa Food Systems Forum 2023 will specifically address the optimization of youth employment within Africa's food systems while showcasing the innovative agribusiness ventures driven by young entrepreneurs, said the statement. The statement said key highlights of the forum include thematic plenary sessions with expert speakers, a ministerial roundtable involving over 40 ministers, and a high-level session where heads of state will make commitments to advance Africa's food systems transformation. MOGADISHU, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Somali National Army (SNA) said its forces on Monday killed 43 al-Shabab militants and injured several others after conducting an operation in Galgaduud region, central Somalia. The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, that the SNA forces also destroyed three battle wagon vehicles belonging to the militant group during the operation. It said that the Somali army and local forces also foiled another attack in the Middle Shabelle region earlier Monday. The operation comes as the Somali government intensified its efforts to mobilize people to fight al-Shabab, a move it said seeks to galvanize public support in the ongoing offensive operation. ABUJA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 hostages were rescued from criminal gangs during a recent anti-kidnapping operation by Nigerian security operatives in the country's northeastern state of Bauchi, local police said Monday. Ahmed Wakili, a spokesman for the police in Bauchi, said in a statement that the rescue operation was held by a combined team of police, army, and other quasi-security outfits in forests within the Ningi and Toro local government areas of the state Saturday, following credible intelligence. "Five of the victims sustained various degrees of injuries while the remaining 11 were rescued unhurt," Wakili said, noting many of the gunmen who held the hostages fled in disarray due to the superior firepower of the security operatives during the rescue operation. He said efforts were being intensified to arrest and prosecute the fleeing suspects with possible bullet wounds. Qabil Ashirov Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement over the 32-year anniversary of the so-called "artsakh republic" confirmed that he is not a man of his word once again. Previously, Nikol Pashinyan stated that he recognized Azerbaijan territories including Garabagh. His words at that time raised hope for peace for many. However, some approached his then-statement with skepticism and unfortunately, Nikol's statement on September 2 approved that the latter was right. First of all, to congratulate the anniversary of the so-called republic is a violation of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Moreover, he later overtly stated that he does not recognize Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Besides, Nikol Pashinyan did not limit Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan to only Garabagh. Going further, he added several territories in Azerbaijan's Goranboy district (former Shaumyan district in Soviet period) to Armenian claims. Speaking to Azernews on the issue political analyst Elkhan Shahinoglu noted that Armenians forget the consequences of the Second Garabagh War. He pointed out that the Azerbaijani Army is much stronger than the Armenian Armed forces, and Azerbaijan can eliminate any provocation committed by Armenia. It seems that the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, has begun to forget the consequences of the Second Garabagh War and now he is starting to talk with war rhetoric again. However, it is not clear what he will fight with. In other words, the Azerbaijani army has repeatedly proved that it is stronger than the Armenian army. The number of military equipment Azerbaijani army possesses is fully sufficient. That is, Azerbaijan is able to properly respond to any provocation, the political analyst said. He added that it seems Pashinyan no longer is eager to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that he said he was ready to recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Garabagh, some time ago. But after that, he made so many excuses that I think the signing of this peace agreement has reduced the probability to a very low level. Because they are making claims about Garabagh. Armenians are trying to strengthen their propaganda against Azerbaijan through international organizations. All this indicates that it is difficult to expect the signing of a peace agreement between the two countries in the future. Of course, other issues will remain unresolved, as well. This will create conditions for the ongoing tension in the region. In fact, first of all, Armenia should avoid this. Because in case of the new clash, Azerbaijan will still be the winner, Elkhan Shahinoglu added. He pointed out that Armenian radicals have already forgotten the results of the second Garabagh war, as well. They make different claims. They want to overthrow Pashinyan as if they will dictate some conditions to Azerbaijan. On September 2, a rally was held in Yerevan with the participation of representatives of the radical opposition, including the former president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan. At the rally, they mentioned that Pashinyan should be overthrown. Supposedly, if they don't overthrow Pashinyan, Azerbaijan will get what it wants; with or without Pashinyan. In other words, people like Sargsyan and Kocharyan will not be able to prevent it. The process is moving towards the fact that Azerbaijan will liberate all of Garabagh and Azerbaijani laws will work throughout the territory of the region. There is no other alternative to this perspective. Even if they try to resist, it will be futile. Russia will not be able to be an obstacle to Azerbaijan. After two years, the Russian peacekeeping contingent will leave the region anyway, Shahinoglu concluded. LONDON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- A top executive at a global asset management company has described the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) as a springboard for its ambitious plans in the region. "The fair gives us a platform and an opportunity to network, and it will bring into focus our ambitions for the Chinese market," Sebastian Wood, chairman of China Affairs with Schroders, founded in London two centuries ago, has told Xinhua lately. The company, with a strong global presence in 38 locations, sees China as an exciting growth area. "One thing we are looking to highlight in particular at the fair is that Schroders was awarded a license in June of this year to operate a public funds business in China, which we're excited about," Wood said. "We have significant operations in Europe and the Middle East and the United States and Latin America also, but Asia Pacific is one of the largest components and of course, China is a big piece of that, and China is modernizing and developing its investment markets rapidly," said Wood. With China's financial services "progressively opening up to more international participation, The executive said, "Schroders has been one of the very first global asset managers to take advantage of these new freedoms to operate in the Chinese market." "We see it as a long-term strategic commitment which we have to this market. We want our services to be available to a range of clients in China, including larger Chinese financial institutions and intermediaries down to retail clients as well," he noted. The fair, which runs on Sept. 2-6 in Beijing, will also be a good opportunity for Schroders to take stock together of the reforms that are underway in China's capital markets, Wood said. "I think CIFTIS will be an excellent platform for global financial services firms like Schroders," he said. KIEV/MOSCOW/BUCHAREST, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments related to the Ukraine crisis: Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Monday that he has submitted a letter of resignation to parliament chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk. "It was an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the Ukrainian army for the last 22 months, the toughest period of Ukraine's modern history," Reznikov said on the social media X, formerly known as Twitter. In the letter, Reznikov, who was appointed as defense minister in November 2021, said that all the key tasks set for his mandate have been accomplished. - - - - The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that the Russian air defenses destroyed two Ukrainian drones overnight, one shot down over the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula and the other intercepted over the Kursk region. Russian forces also destroyed four Ukrainian military speedboats in the Black Sea early on Monday. The U.S.-made Willard Sea Force military boats were carrying Ukrainian troops and were headed towards Cape Tarkhankut on the Crimean coast, according to the defense ministry. - - - - The Romanian Defense Ministry on Monday "categorically" denied the reports that Russian drones had fallen overnight on its territory. "At no time did the means of attack used by the Russian Federation generate direct military threats to the national territory or the territorial waters of Romania," representatives of the ministry were quoted as saying by the Agerpres news agency. Previously, some international media reported, based on an official of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, that Russian drones fell on the territory of Romania during an attack on Ukrainian ports during the night of Sunday to Monday. In this photo taken with a mobile phone, people visit the Italian National Pavilion during the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at China National Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 5, 2023. (Xinhua/Wei Mengjia) BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Italy is leveraging the ongoing 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) as an important platform to enhance bilateral relations with China in the realm of service trade, aiming to explore new opportunities in the sector, an Italian trade commissioner said. "There are many opportunities to exploit in the short, medium, and long term to deepen China-Italy cooperation in the service trade. We would like to send this message of our commitment to explore opportunities for the service trade, and to further develop our relationship in the near future," said Gianpaolo Bruno, Trade Commissioner of Italian Trade Agency (ITA) Beijing Office and Coordinator of ITA Offices in China and Mongolia, in an interview with Xinhua at the Italian National Pavilion of CIFTIS 2023. Expressing his confidence in the China-Italy economic ties reaching for a more promising future, the official described the world's second-largest economy as "a major driver of global economic growth for several decades," and rejoiced at seeing its further growth. "China's economy is expected to gradually shift toward a more sustainable and consumption-driven model as it continues to experience growth." "China is investing heavily in research and development, and expanding into the Chinese market can offer significant opportunities for Italian companies across various sectors, such as consumer goods and luxury products, automotive and engineering, and e-commerce and digital platforms," said Bruno. According to ITA, since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy in 1970, friendly cooperation between the two sides has flourished in bilateral economic and trade, investment, cultural, and technological fields. In 2022, the China-Italy trade volume reached 77.88 billion U.S. dollars, representing a 5.4 percent year-on-year increase and setting a new historical record. Noting that the service sector plays a crucial role in bilateral trade, Bruno said tourism contributes significantly to service exports and imports, particularly with the resumption of tourism flows after China optimizes its COVID-19 response. "Culture is the basis of bilateral relations between countries, particularly important for Italy and China, two of the most ancient civilizations in the world linked by the ancient Silk Road," he said, adding that Chinese tourists spent 5.4 million nights in Italy in 2019, accounting for over 5 percent of Italy's total international visitors. Highlighting China's remarkable achievements in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the official said, "China has achieved a high level of development in AI, and we are here to glean insights from China's advancements in the field. We aim to facilitate our companies in embracing intellectualization and tap into the knowledge that China has amassed in the sector." Bruno noted that digitalization brings great advantages to the service industry. Italy views digital transformation as one of its priorities to foster economic growth, drive innovation, and enhance productivity. He highlighted the substantial potential for deepening Sino-Italian collaboration in this domain, particularly in areas such as e-commerce, intelligent tourism, and urban planning. In an era marked by profound global economic integration and rapid digital technological progress, service trade has emerged as a vibrant sector and a pivotal catalyst for economic development. He noted that CIFTIS serves as a crucial platform and opportunity for showcasing Italy's "soft power" in the service field and enhancing economic ties between Italy and China in global trade. "CIFTIS offers us a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas, share innovative achievements, and strengthen service trade cooperation with our international peers. Italy's active participation underscores our sense of responsibility in promoting global trade, fostering cultural exchanges, and mutual understanding," said the official. The trade commissioner also noted that the Chinese government is doubling its efforts to attract foreign direct investment in China by improving the business environment for foreign companies and investors, through the guidelines outlined by the State Council in mid-August. "All the opinions in the guidelines are really bolstering the degree of confidence of Italian companies. And we are looking forward to seeing the successful implementation," he said. LONDON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Top officials have sent mixed messages on how the United Kingdom (UK) government will fund the repair of a type of concrete used in many school buildings in the country that is prone to crumbling. More than one hundred schools across the country have recently been told by the Department for Education (DfE) to shut buildings that have walls with dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). This has elicited discontent among head teachers and parents as the closures would affect students' schooling as they return from summer holidays. RAAC is a lightweight concrete that was used in roofs, floors and walls between the 1950s and 1990s, the DfE said. It is considered less durable than traditional concrete and engineers have warned that the material is at risk of cracking, spalling and crumbling. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt told the BBC on Sunday that he would not speculate on the potential cost of fixing the problem and would "spend what it takes to make sure children can go to school safely." But hours later, the country's Treasury sources to reporters that any such funding will come from the DfE's existing budget for buildings, not from additional funds. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has said the concrete crisis will likely cost "many, many millions" of British pounds. On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested that extra money will be made available to schools to cover the costs of RAAC mitigation measures. "The chancellor has been crystal clear that schools will be given extra money for these mitigations, it won't come from their existing school budgets," the prime minister told reporters in Downing Street. Sunak's comment came after Jonathan Slater, who was permanent secretary at the DfE from May 2016 to August 2020, claimed the Treasury cut the funding for school rebuilding schemes in 2021 -- including during Sunak's time as chancellor. COPENHAGEN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Denmark plans to contribute 1.6 million Danish kroner (230 million U.S. dollars) to Africa's Green Climate Fund from 2024 to 2027, doubling the sum registered during the 2020-2023 period, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday. Dan Jorgensen, minister for development cooperation and minister for global climate policy, announced the decision at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. "Climate and development policy are connected. Therefore, an increasing part of Denmark's development aid will go to green purposes in the future," said Jorgensen. Jorgensen said Denmark is collaborating with African leaders to develop a unified climate change and green transition agenda. "With this summit, an African agenda will be set, and it is an absolutely decisive kick in the international conversation about our handling of the climate crisis," he added. The Green Climate Fund finances Africa's green transition by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as helping the continent to adapt to climate change. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (C) shakes hands with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Sept. 4, 2023. (PIO/Handout via Xinhua) NICOSIA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus, Greece and Israel agreed on Monday to intensify cooperation on an energy corridor from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe, leaders of the three countries said after meeting in Nicosia. "In light of the growing need for energy diversification and interconnectivity due to geopolitical developments, we reaffirmed the common interest to advance prospects for a reliable energy corridor from the Eastern Mediterranean basin to Europe," they said in a joint statement. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, and the Prime Ministers of Israel and Greece, Benjamin Netanyahu and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, agreed that "the energy sector, and in particular, natural gas, electricity and renewable energy, is a solid foundation for cooperation in the region." Speaking at a joint press conference, Netanyahu said that Israel and Cyprus will make decisions on exporting natural gas to Europe within the next three to six months. Netanyahu had said before the meeting on Sunday that a natural gas corridor to Europe must be based either on building the EastMed pipe to connect the eastern Mediterranean with Europe, or on sending natural gas from sea gas fields via pipe to Cyprus, and building a liquefaction plant on the eastern Mediterranean island. Cyprus and Israel have discovered several offshore natural gas fields, and these are currently at the stage of development. Meanwhile, Greece has just started exploring in its exclusive economic zone. "We have a great interest in seeing how the Israeli and Cypriot gas will be exported to the EU," said Mitsotakis. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (R, Front) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (1st L) at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Sept. 4, 2023. (Photo by George Christophorou/Xinhua) Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (R) welcomes Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Sept. 4, 2023. (Photo by George Christophorou/Xinhua) Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (C) meets with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Sept. 4, 2023. (PIO/Handout via Xinhua) WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Floridians are struggling to recover from Category 3 Hurricane Idalia and the following floods as tension spirals over U.S. President Joe Biden's survey of the damage in Florida, without meeting the state's Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of his 2024 presidential rivals. On Saturday, Biden and his wife toured areas damaged by the storm in Live Oak, met residents, and thanked emergency responders. Addressing the damaged neighborhoods, Biden praised the "spirit of this community," saying he was not disappointed at DeSantis's absence who "may have had other reasons," reported local media. DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern told the press on Friday that the security detail of a presidential visit was so heavy that "setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts." According to DeSantis' social media, he also spent the day touring storm damage, but in Madison County, around 64 km northwest of Biden's survey site. On Friday, Biden's administration asked Congress for an additional 4 billion U.S. dollars for the Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster Relief Fund, in addition to the 12-billion-dollar request in August, in response to a string of natural disasters across the United States in recent weeks. Biden said he could not understand why some lawmakers believe the money is unnecessary even in the wake of Hurricane Idalia and wildfires in Maui. DeSantis has been strongly lobbying for federal assistance funds for Florida. The tension between Biden and his 2024 presidential rival is heating while damaged communities in the Big Bend Region strive for recovery, primarily to restore power amid heat waves. The number of reported outages at one time peaked at 288,000 at 3 p.m. (2100 GMT) Wednesday, according to Reuters. As of 3 p.m. (2100 GMT) Sunday, 38,000 accounts remained in a power outage as utility workers and electricity cooperatives continued to address damage from the storm, reported local media. More than 88 percent of the remaining 33,593 outages are due to fallen power lines and other connectivity issues reported by cooperatives, and community-owned and operated utilities that largely serve rural areas. The death toll from Idalia is minor compared to Hurricane Ian, which claimed nearly 150 lives in Florida last year. Kevin Guthrie, who heads the Florida Division of Emergency Management, praised on Thursday millions of Big Bend Region inhabitants for following the evacuation orders. So far, DeSantis has confirmed one fatality related to Idalia in Florida. A 59-year-old from Alachua County died in a car crash where rain was a major factor, according to local media, citing Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskin. Idalia, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm earlier Wednesday, became the first major hurricane to enter Apalachee Bay since modern record-keeping started in 1851, according to the U.S. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, the state capital of Florida. MAM | Media And Advertising 15 creative agencies bag top honour across 19 categories The India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) presented the eighth edition of its prestigious IndAA Awards on 1 September at a ceremony hosted at the Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Read More... MAM | Media And Advertising Glance teams up with Jackie Shroff for #UnlockNahiKarneka campaign Last week, a video of Jackie Shroff talking to the media went viral on several social media channels. In the video, Jackie Shroff can be seen posing for photographers before getting into his car. Read More... 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. Story continues 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 Electric cruise ship to be launched in Shanghai 08:53, September 04, 2023 By WANG YING in Shanghai ( China Daily An electric battery-powered cruise ship is set to make its debut on Shanghai's Huangpu River later this year, according to official sources. The 150-seater ship produces zero emissions and is low-noise and pollution-free, according to Tian Ye,who is in charge of the vessel's battery power system. The system has been independently researched and developed by the China State Shipbuilding Corp's Shanghai Marine Equipment Research Institute. Shanghai Jiushi was delivered to its operator earlier in August, and is being outfitted and licensed before going into service later this year. More than 50 sightseeing vessels cruise the Huangpu in Shanghai,most of which are conventional fuel-powered ships. If all of them were powered by new energies, carbon emissions would be cut by thousands or even tens of thousands of metric tons per year, according to a report in China Ship News. Tian said projects like Shanghai Jiushi align with the nation's carbon emissions and neutrality goals, as well as Shanghai's goal of developing its waterfront. According to city regulations that took effect last year, areas along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek are to be developed into world-class waterfronts with all-around open,beautiful landscapes and ecological green public spaces. The new energy power system of the ship is equipped with a high-performance brain, which integrates functions including energy control, propulsion control, monitoring alerts and remote monitoring to achieve a high degree of automation, Tian explained. Invested in by Shanghai Huangpu River Cruise, Shanghai Jiushi has a length of 41.51 meters and a width of 10.9 meters. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Rena Murshud The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (originally called the Organization of the Islamic Conference), made up of about 60 Muslim countries, was founded in Rabat, Morocco in 1969. In June 2011, an organization that closely cooperates with the UN was renamed the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by the decision of the Foreign Ministry Council of the 38th session of foreign ministers in Astana. A few days ago, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation visited Azerbaijan, which works to strengthen unity, develop relations, protect freedom and national rights, as well as protect international security and peace. The main purpose of the visit is to establish the facts of Armenia's destruction of religious and cultural monuments, cemeteries belonging to Azerbaijanis, to collect materials about Azerbaijanis affected by occupation and rocket bombing, as well as to prepare a report on the results of the mission and present it to the international community. It should be noted that on January 24, at the suggestion of the Armenians, the European Union agreed to send a monitoring capacity consisting of observers to Armenia close to the border with Azerbaijan. The aim of the mission is to achieve stability in the border areas of Armenia, establish cooperation at the local level, and support efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan with the support of the EU. But for some reason, despite the establishment of control at the border, there were many provocations by Armenians, as well as cases of transportation of prohibited goods with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Over the past few months, we have seen that monitoring, created for the purpose of stability, has not yielded any results. At present, the delegation of the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which is on a visit to the districts near the former contact line with Armenia, made a report during the inspection of residential buildings, civilian objects, religious, cultural, and historical monuments destroyed by the Armenian armed forces during the occupation. It's so interesting if the OIC would really help convey to the world community the truth about Armenia and some facts about their distortion of history? Political scientists of the OIC member countries told Azernews about the great prospects that the organization will create for Azerbaijan. According to Talgat Kaliev, a political analyst, and doctor of political sciences of Kazakhstan, who is a full member of the organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation today is quite an influential and authoritative subject of international politics. "The number of members, the volume of their economies, and the importance of the world economy do not allow for ignoring the position of this organization," the pundit said Further, Talgat Kaliev spoke about the importance for Azerbaijan to be a member of the OIC touching on its strategic value. "In itself, Azerbaijan is an authoritative member of the world community and a significant participant in the oil and oil products market. And the very participation of Azerbaijan in the OIC, as well as the participation of each member of the organisation, increases its authority and influence. Consequently, in this case, the benefit can be considered mutual," the political analyst added. Speaking about the reputation of the OIC, he noted that the organization's reputation is quite impeccable. No one in the OIC has a reason for double standards. All values and principles, including those on sensitive LGBT issues and gender roles in the Organization, are clearly defined. In other issues, the Organization is not noted anywhere in questionable approaches and decisions. "I think that the most promising for Azerbaijan is to attract investments from the OIC countries, especially in the development of infrastructure and transport projects, which will be of significant importance for the EU and the Arab world," Talgat Kaliev said. Further, Dr Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, a Pakistani political analyst, also commented on the issue. First of all, he touched upon the activity of the OIC's Fact-Finding Mission in Grabagh. "Right now, the delegations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are on a Fact-Finding Mission in Azerbaijan specifically in newly liberated areas. The government of Azerbaijan is extending full support to them to freely visit and complete its assignment. It is evident that the OIC has been supporting the just cause of Azerbaijan for long. It formed a Contact Group on Azerbaijan and highlighted structural cruelty, planned genocide, ethnic cleansing, and illegal occupation of Armenia on Garabagh and its adjacent areas. Remarkably, in the past, OIC reiterated the principled position and fully supported the just cause of Azerbaijan, on the peaceful settlement of the Garabagh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in accordance with the generally accepted norms and principles of international law, the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Even during recent provocations of Armenia against Azerbaijan on various borders, the OIC issued a statement entitled The General Secretariat calls for the immediate cessation of the attacks of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan. In this statement, the OIC once again expressed its solidarity with the Republic of Azerbaijan," the expert said. Further, Hassan Khan, speaking about the support of the organization, noted that the OIC recognizes the legitimate decisions of Azerbaijan to establish border checkpoints on its territory in response to security threats and in accordance with the principles and norms of international law. "It also welcomes the facilitation provided by Azerbaijan to use the Lachin road for medical purposes by the Armenian residents and its proposal to use the Aghdam-Khankendi route for the transportation of larger cargo. Such initiatives would further contribute to the reintegration of the residents into Azerbaijani society. The General Secretariat calls on Armenia to refrain from any provocative actions and support the utilization of Aghdam-Khankendi as well as other routes proposed by Azerbaijan to meet the needs of the Armenian population. Furthermore, the OIC General Secretariat underscores the need to move forward on the path of peace and to take necessary steps to strengthen security and stability in the region," the Pakistani expert emphasized. The political analyst also noted that the effectiveness of the OIC has been in question since its inception. Unfortunately, it has not yet received world-wide acceptability and recognition because of our multipolar world and conflicting national narratives. However, it worked hard to highlight sensitive issues of Kashmir, Garabagh, Cyprus and many more in its meetings. It played an important role in realizing the international community about different burning issue pertaining to inter-faith dialogue, Muslim brotherhood and last but not least, Islamophobia. "I have doubts that OIC could properly convey to the European Community about the rights of Armenia and conflicting realities about their shameful history. But I am optimistic that OIC will try its best to share a detailed report of its fact-finding mission pertaining to the actual situation on the ground along with current socio-economic initiatives taken by Azerbaijans government, resettlement policies, peoples friendly projects and holistic policies for inter-faith harmony, protection the rights of ethnic minorities living in Garabagh and other newly liberated areas," the pundit said. In conclusion, the Pakistani expert spoke about the benefits of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the OIC. "Being a Muslim country Azerbaijan has been supporting various initiatives of the OIC which should be appreciated. On its part, OIC has been supporting Azerbaijans peaceful struggle for the liberation of its occupied areas by Armenia. During the Patriotic War OIC once again supported Azerbaijan. I foresee that further strengthening of bilateral ties between OIC and Azerbaijan would create numerous mutually beneficial propositions in the days to come," Dr Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan concluded. BEIJING, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Premier Li Qiang will lead China's delegation at a G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, China's foreign ministry said on Monday, indicating President Xi Jinping would not attend and scuppering chances of a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden there. The Sept. 9-10 summit had been seen as a venue for a possible meeting between Xi and Biden, who has confirmed his attendance in New Delhi, following months of efforts by the two powers to stabilise ties frayed by trade and geopolitical tensions. "The G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation and China has always placed great importance on and proactively taken part in such events," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press conference, when asked by a reporter why China's "leader" would not attend. A paramilitary soldier stands guard outside a hotel during a rehearsal ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, September 2, 2023. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi Mao declined to directly confirm that Li's attendance meant that Xi would not go, although she did not correct reporters who made that assertion. Reuters reported exclusively last month that Xi was likely to skip the meeting and send Li. Li leading the delegation at the G20 meeting makes it all but certain that Xi will not be going since China would not have both its president and premier abroad at the same time, let alone at the same event. Biden said on Sunday that he was disappointed Xi was not going to the summit but added that he was going to "get to see him". Biden did not elaborate. Xi last met Biden on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Indonesia in November. Germany, Europe's largest economy, also "regrets" Xi's decision not to attend, a spokesperson for its government said on Monday. This will be the first time that a Chinese president has missed a leaders' summit since the first edition was held in 2008, though in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi attended virtually. Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the new buildings of a school and kindergarten in Turginovo September 1, 2023. (Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS) Also absent from the New Delhi summit will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, following an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Russia will be represented by its foreign minister. Story continues The other G20 leaders attending include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. 'Setting his own agenda' Wen-Ti Sung, political scientist at the Australian National University, pointed out that Xi had joined a meeting in South Africa last month of leaders of the BRICS group of major emerging economies. "Xi's skipping the West-heavy club of G20 right after attending the BRICS summit may be a visual illustration of Xi's narrative of 'East is rising, and the West is falling', as well as showing solidarity with Russia's President Putin who is also not attending," Sung said. Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, receives the order of South Africa from President Cyril Ramaphosa at Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) The other venue where Xi and Biden could meet would be November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco. Senior U.S. officials have travelled to China in recent months to strengthen communications amid concern that their friction could spiral out of control. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the most recent official to have visited China, said the U.S. does not want to decouple from China. Alfred Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said Xi might be reluctant to travel abroad, given his focus on domestic issues. "Xi Jinping is setting his own agenda where his top concern is national security and he has to stay in China and make foreign leaders visit him instead," Wu said. "But if Xi skips APEC, that would be very substantial after all the preparations made for it by the U.S. side, and it would reflect even more badly on China's future and its international standing, since it still needs foreign investment." Xi's absence from the G20 gathering could also be seen as a snub of host India, say some analysts, suggesting it could be a signal that China is unwilling to confer influence on its southern neighbour that boasts one of the fastest growing major economies while China's slows. Ties between India and China have been also troubled for more than three years after soldiers from both sides clashed on their disputed Himalayan frontier in June 2020, resulting in 24 deaths. (Reporting by Liz Lee and Martin Quin Pollard, Additional writing by Ryan Woo, Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alison Williams) Shareholders might have noticed that Aeris Resources Limited (ASX:AIS) filed its yearly result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 7.7% to AU$0.24 in the past week. Revenues of AU$612m beat expectations by a respectable 3.3%, although statutory losses per share increased. Aeris Resources lost AU$0.20, which was 49% more than what the analysts had included in their models. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year. See our latest analysis for Aeris Resources Taking into account the latest results, the five analysts covering Aeris Resources provided consensus estimates of AU$498.8m revenue in 2024, which would reflect a considerable 19% decline over the past 12 months. Per-share statutory losses are expected to explode, reaching AU$0.026 per share. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of AU$524.2m and earnings per share (EPS) of AU$0.046 in 2024. There looks to have been a significant drop in sentiment regarding Aeris Resources' prospects after these latest results, with a small dip in revenues and the analysts now forecasting a loss instead of a profit. There was no major change to the consensus price target of AU$0.46, signalling that the business is performing roughly in line with expectations, despite lower earnings per share forecasts. 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. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Aeris Resources at AU$1.23 per share, while the most bearish prices it at AU$0.25. We would probably assign less value to the analyst forecasts in this situation, because such a wide range of estimates could imply that the future of this business is difficult to value accurately. With this in mind, we wouldn't rely too heavily the consensus price target, as it is just an average and analysts clearly have some deeply divergent views on the business. Story continues Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that revenue is expected to reverse, with a forecast 19% annualised decline to the end of 2024. That is a notable change from historical growth of 21% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 2.7% per year. It's pretty clear that Aeris Resources' revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry. The Bottom Line The biggest low-light for us was that the forecasts for Aeris Resources dropped from profits to a loss next year. Unfortunately, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates underperformance compared to the wider industry. Even so, earnings per share are more important to the intrinsic value of the business. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates. Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Aeris Resources going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.. Before you take the next step you should know about the 1 warning sign for Aeris Resources that we have uncovered. 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. Blue Label Telecoms (JSE:BLU) Full Year 2023 Results Key Financial Results Revenue: R18.7b (up 7.4% from FY 2022). Net income: R269.0m (down 74% from FY 2022). Profit margin: 1.4% (down from 5.9% in FY 2022). EPS: R0.30 (down from R1.17 in FY 2022). All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period Blue Label Telecoms shares are down 16% from a week ago. Risk Analysis What about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Blue Label Telecoms (of which 2 make us uncomfortable!) 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. FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bosch, the world's top automotive supplier, expects sales at its mobility business division to grow by 10% this year, the group said at the IAA Munich car show, adding the group's prospects remained positive despite a challenging environment. "Bosch knows its way around software and is using it to shape the future of mobility. Our technology will make the software-defined vehicle a reality and help get it onto the road," Bosch CEO Stefan Hartung said. In the mobility sector - the group's biggest division, making sophisticated safety systems as well as autonomous car components - sales are expected to grow by a "solid 10% in 2023" after adjusting for exchange-rate effects. In 2022, the unit's exchange rate-adjusted sales grew 12.1% to 52.6 billion euros ($56.7 billion), accounting for 60% of Bosch's total revenues. Bosch expects overall sales to grow by 6%-9% in 2023. ($1 = 0.9271 euros) (Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; Writing by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Louise Heavens) LONDON, September 04, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Butternut Box, the UK-based fresh dog food company known for its innovative approach to pet food, today announced it has raised 280m in its latest fundraising round from new investor General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm. Existing investor L Catterton, a leading global consumer-focused investment firm, also participated in the round, helping to further the brands presence in Europe and continue its mission to deliver fresh, tasty, and healthy meals to dogs around the world. The transaction's closing is subject to customary regulatory conditions, but is expected to occur in Q4 2023. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904028802/en/ Try a fresh take on dog food with Butternut Box. (Photo: Business Wire) Butternut Box is Europes largest fresh dog food brand, feeding dogs in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and most recently Poland following its April 2023 acquisition of PsiBufet, one of the leading fresh dog food companies in Central and Eastern Europe. Since its inception in 2016, Butternut Box has grown rapidly, raising over 100m to date including investments from L Catterton, White Star Capital, Five Seasons Ventures, Passion Capital, Literacy Capital, Claret Capital, and HSBC. This latest investment will be used to build on this momentum, underscoring Butternut Boxs mission to deliver health and happiness to dogs and their humans. Butternut Box plans to use this funding to accelerate the Companys leadership position across the Fresh category in the pet food space through further European expansion, including the development of a new European manufacturing facility. The planned facility will be the second of its kind for Butternut Box after Rudies Kitchen, a fully integrated manufacturing and fulfilment facility that opened in March 2021, giving the Company complete visibility and control over its emissions production. This further underlines the Companys commitment to creating a positive impact across all areas of its business, as evidenced by receiving B Corp accreditation in September 2022. Story continues Kevin Glynn, co-founder of Butternut Box, said: "We are delighted to now partner with General Atlantic, who is an incredible investor and shares our long-term vision of developing the category of Fresh pet food across Europe. It is also fantastic to receive further support from our long-standing partner, L Catterton who weve been proud to work with for several years now and who also believes in the power of Fresh and that we are only really at the starting line. Most notably we are incredibly excited by what this investment will unlock for our customers (dogs and humans) in the years to come as we are nothing without them." "Were thrilled about the ways in which this investment will allow us to continue to live out our mission," added David Nolan, co-founder of Butternut Box. "Everyone here is driven by a uniting purpose to deliver health and happiness to all dogs, everywhere. This investment will help us take the next leap forward in doing just that." "We are very excited to partner with Kevin and David who have reimagined Fresh pet food through Butternut Box's diversified product portfolio and mission-driven brand," said Melis Kahya Akar, Managing Director and Head of Consumer for EMEA at General Atlantic. "There is an immense opportunity set across the Fresh pet food category in EMEA, and we believe Butternut Box is well positioned to leverage its digitally enabled business model to meet this growing demand. We look forward to utilising our pet expertise and technology capabilities to support the Company through its next chapter of growth." "Since partnering with Kevin, David, and the team three years ago, Butternut Box has expanded its leadership in the growing Fresh pet food space in the UK and Europe and has built a loyal following among pets and humans alike," said Howard Steyn, a Partner at L Catterton. "While we have long had conviction in the UK Fresh category after investing behind this concept in the U.S., weve been particularly impressed by how Butternut Box continues to innovate and deliver such compelling value to its customers. We look forward to leveraging our global experience in the pet category to support the brands next phase of growth." Butternut Box is dedicated to serving only the highest quality, freshlyprepared meals for dogs, delivered straight to customers doors. With a core meals range of 12 fresh recipes, plus a growing selection of treats, chews and supplements, Butternut Box is delivering a fresh take on dog food. Butternut Box was advised by Harris Williams and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor and Freshfields served as legal advisor to General Atlantic. PwC served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins served as legal advisor to L Catterton. About Butternut Box Butternut Box is a fresh dog food company founded by two friends, Kev & Dave. The two started the company after seeing the benefits that home-cooked food had on Dave's poorly rescue dog, Rudie. Butternut's mission is to deliver health and happiness to dogs and their humans all over the world. For more information, visit www.butternutbox.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 500 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. About L Catterton L Catterton is a market-leading consumer-focused investment firm, managing approximately $34 billion of equity capital and three multi-product platforms: private equity, credit, and real estate. Leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad network of strategic relationships, L Cattertons team of more than 200 investment and operating professionals across 17 offices partners with management teams to drive differentiated value creation across its portfolio. Founded in 1989, the firm has made over 250 investments in some of the worlds most iconic consumer brands. For more information about L Catterton, please visit www.lcatterton.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904028802/en/ Contacts Butternut Box Tom Lansdowne tom@butternutbox.com General Atlantic Liz McBain media@generalatlantic.com L Catterton Julie Hamilton media@lcatterton.com 203.742.5185 Key Insights The projected fair value for Penske Automotive Group is US$207 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Penske Automotive Group's US$166 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate Our fair value estimate is 31% higher than Penske Automotive Group's analyst price target of US$159 In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex. We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model. See our latest analysis for Penske Automotive Group Is Penske Automotive Group Fairly Valued? We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars: Story continues 10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$389.9m US$529.6m US$760.6m US$875.9m US$961.1m US$1.03b US$1.09b US$1.15b US$1.19b US$1.23b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 9.73% Est @ 7.46% Est @ 5.86% Est @ 4.75% Est @ 3.97% Est @ 3.42% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.7% US$359 US$448 US$592 US$628 US$634 US$626 US$610 US$588 US$562 US$535 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$5.6b 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 8.7%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = US$1.2b (1 + 2.2%) (8.7% 2.2%) = US$19b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$19b ( 1 + 8.7%)10= US$8.4b 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$14b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$166, the company appears about fair value at a 20% discount to where the stock price trades currently. 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 Important Assumptions The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the 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 Penske Automotive Group 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 8.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.309. 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 Penske Automotive Group 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 Specialty Retail 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. Next Steps: Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Penske Automotive Group, there are three additional items you should assess: Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 4 warning signs with Penske Automotive Group (at least 1 which is a bit concerning) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. Future Earnings: How does PAG'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. Key Insights Significantly high institutional ownership implies California Water Service Group's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions A total of 7 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company If you want to know who really controls California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 84% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot 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 California Water Service Group. See our latest analysis for California Water Service Group What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About California Water Service Group? Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in California Water Service Group. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see California Water Service Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Story continues Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in California Water Service Group. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 18% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 12% and 8.8% of the stock. On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 7 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones. While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future. Insider Ownership Of California Water Service Group The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves. I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions. Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of California Water Service Group in their own names. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own US$27m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying. General Public Ownership With a 15% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over California Water Service Group. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders. Next Steps: It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand California Water Service Group better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with California Water Service Group (including 2 which are significant) . If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Key Insights Significantly high institutional ownership implies Castings' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions The top 5 shareholders own 50% of the company Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock To get a sense of who is truly in control of Castings P.L.C. (LON:CGS), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 66% 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. Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute. In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Castings. View our latest analysis for Castings What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Castings? Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. Castings already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Castings' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Story continues Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Castings. Ruffer LLP is currently the company's largest shareholder with 20% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 14% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.4% by the third-largest shareholder. To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 5 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making. 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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track. Insider Ownership Of Castings The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Castings P.L.C.. In their own names, insiders own UK7.0m worth of stock in the UK149m company. This shows at least some alignment, but we usually like to see larger insider holdings. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling. General Public Ownership The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 24% stake in Castings. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies. Private Company Ownership Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 4.8%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research. 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. I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph. 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. Virtual assets remain legal property protected by law in China, according to a Friday report from Peoples Court Daily, a daily newspaper managed and issued by the Supreme Peoples Court of China. See related article: If Chinese crypto holders sneeze, will global markets catch a cold? The report, authored by a Peoples Court in the southeastern Fujian province, said that virtual assets have economic attributes and should be classified as property. The Peoples Courts of the Peoples Republic of China serve as the states judicial bodies that independently exercise judicial power, free from interference by administrative entities, according to the Chinese constitution. Virtual assets held by individuals should be considered legal and protected by law, the Peoples Court Daily report said. The report further stated that crimes involving virtual assets, which are challenging for authorities to confiscate or restore, should be addressed using both criminal and civil laws to safeguard individual property rights and the broader public interest. Despite Chinas blanket ban on cryptocurrencies, local courts have issued rulings that recognize virtual assets as legal properties. Last September, a Beijing court declared that no laws, administrative regulations, or departmental rules deny the protection of cryptocurrency as a form of virtual property. At the meeting, the delegation of Uzbekistan was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Bobur Usmanov and the delegation of Russia by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Azernews reports, citing Kun.uz news agency. The parties considered the course of preparations for the upcoming bilateral events, discussed the current state of relations and prospects for strengthening ties, primarily in the political, trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian areas. Particular attention was paid to the further development of mutually beneficial cooperation within the framework of international and regional organizations. The sides reached an agreement to continue regular contact between the ministries of foreign affairs and to develop new initiatives and proposals aimed at deepening the relations of comprehensive strategic partnership and alliance. Arizona seems destined to emerge as a dominant center for semiconductors and jobs, eventually. The CHIPS and Science Act is sparking a resurgence of domestic chip manufacturing along with more research and development. Semiconductors have been on a solid growth trajectory anyway, with the tiny electronic devices showing up in an expanding array of products. But semiconductor manufacturers dont yet claim a sizable slice of overall employment here and might not for years. Only three chip makers are on the latest list of the 100 largest nongovernmental employers in Arizona compiled by The Arizona Republic. Intel remains the largest with 13,000 statewide jobs, followed by nearly 2,400 at Microchip Technology and 2,000 at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Combined, they represent about 2.9% of the more than 608,000 people working for Arizonas 100 largest employers. Hospitals, other health care companies, banks, supermarkets and other retailers dominate that list. Still, its all but certain that semiconductor manufacturers will make progress on the jobs front. Intel is pursuing a $20 billion expansion of its Chandler campus a development that will add 3,000 jobs plus an estimated 15,000 among local suppliers. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is investing $40 billion at two new factories, or fabs, in north Phoenix and expects to have 4,500 people working there by 2026. And more suppliers are setting up shop in Arizona to serve these and other companies including On Semiconductor, which manufactures outside of Arizona but counts around 700 administrative, R&D and other jobs at its Scottsdale headquarters. What might go wrong, or right The industrys long-term prospects look very good, said Steve Sanghi, the longtime CEO of Microchip Technology who now serves as executive chairman of the Chandler-based company. He points to several key megatrends driving growth, including artificial intelligence, 5G cellular communications, internet-connected products, electric vehicles, self-driving cars and data centers. Its hard to imagine any of those fields growing without semiconductors. Story continues Sanghi also views the prospects for metro Phoenix as promising, especially as more semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers set up shop here. Sanghi doesnt see water availability as a daunting problem, noting that large manufacturers, including Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, are reusing 95% or more of their water. Ive lived in Arizona for 33 years, and weve never had any water rationing, he said. Tony Tanner, who follows the local economy as portfolio manager of the Aquila Tax-Free Trust of Arizona, agrees with that assessment, arguing that the state has done a good job of managing water. Just as critical and less appreciated, in his view is what he called the relatively good reliability of the electric grid. "It's critical that you don't have shutdowns when you're involved in precision manufacturing as with semiconductors," he said. Tanner expects a smart-manufacturing trend focused around semiconductors to continue in Arizona and, especially, metro Phoenix. He cites catalysts including more big companies and their decision-makers locating here, the contribution of Arizona State University as an innovation hub and even overall improvements in education. Including suppliers, vendors and smaller manufacturers, semiconductor-related employment in Arizona is probably closer to 140,000 people, he said. Chip industry workers in high demand While the semiconductor industry is growing, companies struggle to find enough qualified employees to replace retiring workers and drive expansion plans, though that's not a problem unique to Arizona. Nationally, the industry employs about 345,000 people, with the Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics projecting that could grow by another 115,000 jobs by 2023, an increase of one-third. However, the industry will have trouble finding enough people to fill those positions, the groups warn. As Americas semiconductor ecosystem expands in the years ahead, so, too, will its demand for semiconductor workers with the skills, training and education needed, they said in a recent report. Of the 115,000 additional jobs that will be needed over the next seven or so years, 67,000, or 58%, could remain unfilled, given current rates of training and college education, the report warned. Of the unfilled jobs, 39% will be for technicians, most of whom have earned training certificates or two-year college degrees. Another 35% will be engineers with four-year college degrees, and 26% will be for engineers at the master's or doctorate level. Other advanced, high-growth industries face the same worker gap and will be competing in the same talent pool, the report said. These industries include medical technology, clean energy, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cybersecurity, next-generation communications, aerospace, automotive and advanced manufacturing. Semiconductor technicians operate, maintain and troubleshoot equipment used in manufacturing. Engineers research, develop and improve semiconductor devices and fabrication processes. Those with more advanced degrees design and develop software and hardware for semiconductor-based systems. The Republic 100 largest employers: Where have all the workers gone? Big employers aren't adding jobs, even if they want to A range of solutions needed Filling the gap will require a range of programs and initiatives from companies, colleges and universities, government entities and others. The process of growing the domestic pipeline of U.S.-citizen students pursuing advanced degrees in STEM fields will take years or decades to bear fruit, the industry association and Oxford Economics predicted. As one promising possibility, the study highlighted a program developed by the 10-campus Maricopa County Community College District. The college system last year unveiled a Semiconductor Technician Quick Start program, designed to give students real-world exposure to semiconductor manufacturing in 10 days. Students who pass a certification exam can have their tuition fees refunded, making the program free. In its first year, which ended this past June, the program enrolled 684 students, 589 of whom earned a certificate. Of those, 69% were students of color, 34% were women and 53% were first-generation college students. Employees at Phoenix-area fabs have provided some instruction, giving students job connections along with a better understanding of employment in the industry, the report said. While the 10-day Quick Start program is not going to replace longer certificates and associate degrees for most technician positions, programs like it can certainly raise awareness of the opportunities in the semiconductor industry and spur students to further educational and workforce opportunities, the report said. Newcomers add critical mass Semiconductor-industry growth in Arizona has been generating headlines. In 2021, Intel's announcement of the $20 billion expansion was hailed as the largest private-sector investment ever in Arizona. Then Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing said it would spend $40 billion here. As executive chair at Microchip Technology, Sanghi said he welcomes newcomers to the Valley such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and major expansion efforts, as with Intel. It grows the talent pool and brings in a lot of subcontractors, he said. But its also a two-edged sword, especially when competitors need to ramp up their staffs quickly. TSMC is hiring a lot of people from Intel," he said. "Then Intel hires from us." Reach the writer at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona needs chip-industry workers. Can the state meet the demand? Long-established in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry, Conagra Brands Inc (NYSE:CAG) has enjoyed a stellar reputation. However, it has recently witnessed a decline of 1.87%, juxtaposed with a three-month change of -13.91%. Fresh insights from the GuruFocus Score Rating hint at potential headwinds. Notably, its diminished rankings in financial strength, growth, and valuation suggest that the company might not live up to its historical performance. Join us as we dive deep into these pivotal metrics to unravel the evolving narrative of Conagra Brands Inc. Conagra Brands Inc (CAG): A Deep Dive into Its Performance Potential Understanding the GF Score The GF Score is a stock performance ranking system developed by GuruFocus using five aspects of valuation, which has been found to be closely correlated to the long-term performances of stocks by backtesting from 2006 to 2021. The stocks with a higher GF Score generally generate higher returns than those with a lower GF Score. Therefore, when picking stocks, investors should invest in companies with high GF Scores. The GF Score ranges from 0 to 100, with 100 as the highest rank. Based on the above method, GuruFocus assigned Conagra Brands Inc the GF Score of 69 out of 100, which signals poor future outperformance potential. Company Snapshot: Conagra Brands Inc With a market cap of $14.01 billion and sales of $12.28 billion, Conagra Brands Inc is a significant player in the packaged food industry, operating predominantly in the United States. The company has a strong presence in the freezer aisle with brands such as Marie Callender's, Healthy Choice, Banquet, and Birds Eye. Other popular brands include Duncan Hines, Hunt's, Slim Jim, Vlasic, Orville Redenbacher's, Reddi-wip, Wish-Bone, and Chef Boyardee. While the majority of revenue is sold into the U.S. retail channel, 9% of fiscal 2022 sales came from the food-service channel, down from 11% in fiscal 2019 due to the pandemic. The company's operating margin stands at 8.76%. Story continues Conagra Brands Inc (CAG): A Deep Dive into Its Performance Potential Financial Strength Analysis Conagra Brands Inc's financial strength indicators present some concerning insights about the company's balance sheet health. The company has an interest coverage ratio of 2.6, which positions it worse than 77.29% of 1352 companies in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry. This ratio highlights potential challenges the company might face when handling its interest expenses on outstanding debt. It's worth noting that the esteemed investor Benjamin Graham typically favored companies with an interest coverage ratio of at least five. The company's Altman Z-Score is just 1.72, which is below the distress zone of 1.81. This suggests that the company may face financial distress over the next few years. Additionally, the company's low cash-to-debt ratio at 0.01 indicates a struggle in handling existing debt levels. Furthermore, the company's debt-to-Ebitda ratio is 6.4, which is above Joel Tillinghast's warning level of 4 and is worse than 81.13% of 1341 companies in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry. Tillinghast said in his book Big Money Think's Small: Biases, Blind Spots, and Smarter Investing that a high debt-to-Ebitda ratio can be a red flag unless tangible assets cover the debt. Conclusion Given the company's financial strength, profitability, and growth metrics, the GuruFocus Score Rating highlights the firm's unparalleled position for potential underperformance. While Conagra Brands Inc has a rich history and a strong presence in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry, its current financial indicators suggest that it may struggle to maintain its historical performance. As value investors, it's crucial to consider these factors when making investment decisions. GuruFocus Premium members can find more companies with strong GF Scores using the following screener link: GF Score Screen This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Vantage Market Research, The North Star for the Working World WASHINGTON, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per Vantage Market Research, the Global Disposable Hospital Gowns Market has been steadily growing due to various factors such as increasing awareness about healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), rising prevalence of chronic diseases, and growing emphasis on infection prevention and control. Disposable Hospital Gowns are used in various healthcare settings, including hospitals, clinics, and ambulatory surgical centers, to protect healthcare workers and patients from infections. According to Vantage Market Research, the global Disposable Hospital Gowns Market is estimated to be valued at USD 6.3 Billion by 2030 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 14.3% from 2023 to 2030. The global Disposable Hospital Gowns Market grew to USD 2.5 Billion in 2022. The Disposable Hospital Gowns Market refers to the market for disposable gowns used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. These gowns are typically made of non-woven fabric or plastic material and are used to protect and prevent infectious disease transmission between patients and healthcare professionals. Get Access to Free Sample Research Report with Latest Industry Insights @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/disposable-hospital-gowns-market-2258/request-sample Key Highlights Among the Usability segment, the Average-type category held the largest revenue share of more than 42.36% in 2022. Whereas, from among the Product segment, the Surgical gowns segment held the largest revenue share of more than 44.0% in 2022. The High-Risk type category, of the Risk Type segment, held the largest revenue share of over 40.3% in 2022. Hospitals & Clinics Category dominated the End-User segment in this market and held the largest revenue share of 39% in 2022. North America accounted for the dominant revenue share of over 40.3% in 2022. The Disposable Hospital Gowns market has a wide range of applications across the healthcare industry. These gowns are primarily used in hospitals, clinics, and other medical settings to maintain infection control and prevent cross-contamination between patients and healthcare workers. They are also used in home healthcare settings for patients receiving care at home. Additionally, Disposable Hospital Gowns are used in dental and veterinary clinics, as well as in laboratories and research facilities. With the increasing focus on hygiene and infection control, the demand for Disposable Hospital Gowns is expected to rise in the coming years. Story continues Top Companies in The Global Disposable Hospital Gowns Market Cardinal Health (U.S.) 3M (U.S.) Angelica Corp. (U.S.) Standard Textile Co. Inc. (U.S.) Medline Industries Inc. (U.S.) Petoskey Plastics Inc. (U.S.) Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.) Bellcross Industries Private Ltd. (India) Sara Health Care (India) To Know an Additional List of Key Players, Request Here to Download a Free Report PDF Brochure: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/disposable-hospital-gowns-market-2258/request-sample OR Enjoy a Fabulous 50% Discount with code "SEP50"! Don't miss out on these incredible savings @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/buy-now/disposable-hospital-gowns-market-2258/0 Factors Affecting the Growth of the Disposable Hospital Gowns Market Several factors can affect the growth of the Disposable Hospital Gowns industry. Some of these factors include: Increasing prevalence of hospital-acquired infections: Hospital-acquired infections are a major concern for healthcare facilities worldwide. Disposable Hospital Gowns are designed to minimize the risk of infection transmission, thereby driving their demand in the market. Growing emphasis on infection control and prevention: In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the focus on infection control and prevention measures in healthcare settings. This has led to the adoption of Disposable Hospital Gowns as a preventive measure, contributing to market growth. Rising healthcare expenditure: The increasing healthcare expenditure across the world is driving the demand for Disposable Hospital Gowns. With the increasing number of hospitals and healthcare facilities, the demand for these gowns is expected to rise due to their cost-effectiveness. Technological advancements in gown materials: Technological advancements in gown materials, such as the introduction of breathable and water-resistant fabrics, have improved the comfort and safety of Disposable Hospital Gowns. This has further fueled their demand in the market. Stringent government regulations and guidelines: Governments across various countries have implemented stringent regulations and guidelines for infection control in healthcare settings. This has led to the increased adoption of Disposable Hospital Gowns to comply with these regulations, driving the market growth. Increasing number of surgeries and medical procedures: The growing number of surgeries and medical procedures worldwide has created a need for many Disposable Hospital Gowns. Surgeons and healthcare professionals require gowns that are easy to use, dispose of, and replace, thus contributing to market growth. Focus on patient safety and comfort: Patient safety and comfort are key priorities for healthcare facilities. Disposable Hospital Gowns provide a hygienic and comfortable patient experience, reducing the risk of infection transmission. This focus on patient safety and comfort is also driving the market's growth. Top Trends in the Global Disposable Hospital Gowns Market The disposable hospital gown market is witnessing several top trends driving its growth. First, there is an increasing demand for eco-friendly and sustainable options in the healthcare sector, leading to the development of disposable gowns made from biodegradable materials. The COVID-19 pandemic has also increased the adoption of disposable gowns as hospital safety measures. Furthermore, technological advancements have led to the introduction of gowns with antimicrobial properties, offering enhanced protection against infections. The rise in outpatient surgeries and an aging population also contribute to the market's growth as these factors increase the demand for Disposable Hospital Gowns. Buy this Premium Research Report with Discount | Immediate Delivery @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/buy-now/disposable-hospital-gowns-market-2258/0 Recent Development of the Global Disposable Hospital Gowns Market On April 22, 2022, Cardinal Health, a leading healthcare distribution company headquartered in the United States with a market value of USD 162 billion, set up a digital hub in Bengaluru. This hub, known as Cardinal Health International India (CHII), is poised to grow its workforce from 415 employees to 650 by the end of the year. The newly established facility will serve as a global center for cutting-edge technology, including information technology, artificial intelligence, product software engineering, and business process management. In 2019, Cardinal Health acquired Mscripts, a Bengaluru-based patient adherence and engagement solutions provider. This strategic acquisition has allowed Cardinal Health to expand its technological capabilities in India, leveraging the expertise of Mscripts and strengthening its tech workforce in the country. On June 23, 2021, Cardinal Health introduced its new Sterile Surgical Poly-Reinforced Aurora Gown. This gown provides an impermeable barrier against fluids and microorganisms while offering superior comfort and breathability. The gown's reinforced fabric offers increased durability, reducing the risk of tearing or puncturing. Market Drivers The growing awareness about infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities drives the disposable hospital gown market. The increasing number of hospital-acquired infections and the need to minimize the risk of cross-contamination have led to the rising demand for Disposable Hospital Gowns. Moreover, disposable gowns' ease of use and convenience, as compared to traditional reusable gowns, further fuel the market growth. Furthermore, the outbreak of global pandemics like COVID-19 has significantly increased the demand for Disposable Hospital Gowns as they help maintain healthcare professionals' and patients' safety and hygiene. Market Restraints One of the major challenges the Disposable Hospital Gowns market faces is the negative environmental impact of disposable products. The increasing use of disposable gowns generates substantial medical waste, leading to environmental pollution. Additionally, the high cost of Disposable Hospital Gowns compared to reusable gowns hinders market growth. The need for frequent replacements and the constant purchasing of new gowns adds a financial burden to healthcare facilities. Moreover, the limited availability of raw materials required for manufacturing disposable gowns restricts market growth. Market Opportunities The Disposable Hospital Gowns market will witness significant growth opportunities in the coming years. The increasing adoption of strict infection control protocols and guidelines by healthcare organizations provides a favorable environment for market expansion. Furthermore, the growing trend of outsourcing healthcare services to emerging economies presents new opportunities for manufacturers in these regions. Additionally, advancements in material technologies and the development of eco-friendly disposable gowns can address the environmental concerns associated with single-use products. Moreover, the surge in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) due to the COVID-19 pandemic offers a lucrative market opportunity for disposable hospital gown manufacturers. Browse market data Tables and Figures spread through 150 Pages and in-depth TOC on Disposable Hospital Gowns Market Forecast Report (2023-2030). Report Segmentation of the Global Disposable Hospital Gowns Market Usability Analysis The average type category dominates the usability segment of the Disposable Hospital Gowns market due to its versatility and practicality. These gowns are designed to meet the needs of a wide range of medical procedures, making them suitable for various healthcare settings. For instance, they can be used in outpatient clinics, emergency rooms, and even during minor surgeries. The average type of gown balances cost-effectiveness, ease of use, and adequate protection for healthcare professionals and patients. They are typically made from non-woven fabrics that offer comfort and breathability, ensuring a satisfactory user experience. Product Analysis The surgical gown category dominates the product segment of the Disposable Hospital Gowns market as it plays a vital role in maintaining a sterile environment during surgical procedures. These gowns are designed to provide maximum protection against fluid penetration and microbial infections. Surgical gowns are made from impermeable fabrics that offer a barrier against contaminants. They often come with reinforced areas like the sleeves and chest to provide additional protection in high-risk areas. The demand for surgical gowns remains high due to the constant need for invasive procedures, making it the dominant and essential category in the disposable hospital gown market. Risk-Type Analysis The high-risk category dominates the risk type segment of the Disposable Hospital Gowns market due to its critical role in protecting healthcare workers from potentially hazardous encounters. These gowns are designed to safeguard against exposure to infectious diseases, hazardous chemicals, and high-contamination environments. Examples of high-risk situations include handling patients with known viral infections like COVID-19 or performing procedures involving biohazards. This category of gowns often features specialized materials such as impervious fabrics, full-body coverage, and sealed seams to provide the highest level of protection. Given the increasingly dangerous nature of certain medical conditions, adopting high-risk disposable gowns is essential for ensuring the safety of healthcare professionals. End-User Analysis The hospitals and clinics category dominates the end-user segment of the Disposable Hospital Gowns market due to the sheer volume of patients and medical procedures performed in these settings. Hospitals and clinics are the primary consumers of disposable gowns as they are more demanding for infection control products. Whether outpatient care, inpatient treatment, or emergencies, disposable gowns are extensively used to maintain a sterile environment and prevent cross-contamination. These facilities require constant disposable gowns to meet regulatory standards while protecting patients and healthcare workers. Thus, hospitals and clinics remain the dominant end-users, driving the demand for disposable gowns and influencing market trends. Read Full Report with TOC @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/disposable-hospital-gowns-market-2258 Market Segmentation By Usability Low-Type Average-Type Premium-Type By Product Surgical Non-surgical Patient Other Products By Risk Type Low Moderate High By End-User Hospitals & Clinics Ambulatory Surgical Centers Diagnostic Centers Other End-Users By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa Scope of the Report: Report Attributes Details Market Size in 2022 USD 2.5 Billion Revenue Forecast by 2030 USD 6.3 Billion CAGR 14.3% from 2023 to 2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2030 Key Players Cardinal Health, 3M, Angelica Corp., Standard Textile Co. Inc., Medline Industries Inc., Petoskey Plastics Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Bellcross Industries Private Ltd., Sara Health Care Customization Options Customized purchase options are available to meet any research needs. Explore customized purchase options https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/disposable-hospital-gowns-market-2258/customization-request Regional Analysis The Disposable Hospital Gowns Market indicates that North America emerges as the largest region in terms of market size. This can be attributed to several factors, such as the growing awareness of infection control measures in the healthcare industry, strict government regulations, and the rising number of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in the region. North America also hosts a large number of key market players, contributing to the market growth. Europe follows closely, with stringent regulations and guidelines for hospital infection control driving the market growth in the region. The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness significant growth in the coming years, owing to the rising population and increasing investments in healthcare infrastructure in countries like China and India. Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa region are also projected to witness substantial growth, driven by the increasing awareness about healthcare-associated infections and the need for infection prevention. Browse More Reports from Vantage Library: Surgical Equipments Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/surgical-equipments-market-2053 Endotracheal Tube Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/endotracheal-tube-market-2054 Accelerometer Medical Sensors Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/accelerometer-medical-sensors-market-2103 Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast:https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/transcatheter-aortic-valve-replacement-market-2105 Anti-biofilm Wound Dressing Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/antibiofilm-wound-dressing-market-2109 About Vantage Market Research: We, at Vantage Market Research, provide quantified B2B high quality research on more than 20,000 emerging markets, in turn, helping our clients map out constellation of opportunities for their businesses. We, as a competitive intelligence market research and consulting firm provide end to end solutions to our client enterprises to meet their crucial business objectives. Our clientele base spans across 70% of Global Fortune 500 companies. Follow Us on: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Contact us Eric Kunz 6218 Georgia Avenue NW Ste 1 - 564 Washington DC 20011-5125 United States Tel: +1 202 380 9727 Email: sales@vantagemarketresearch.com Website: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/ Latest Vantage Market Research Press Releases Latest Vantage Market Research Blog Vantage Market Research All Reports Blog: Labor Day means picnics, parades, barbecues, road trips and that outdated stop-wearing-white rule. But it also has special meaning to Chicago, a city that helped Labor Day to come into existence and now wonders, like the rest of America, what happens to our workers next. History speaks to us. Labor Day has direct links to a large labor protest on May 4, 1886, that turned into a riot near Haymarket Square, after someone still unnamed threw a bomb at police. At least eight people died in the violence and, despite a striking lack of evidence, eight radical activists were convicted. The Haymarket tragedy was seen at the time as a brutal setback for the organized labor movement, which was fighting for an eight-hour workday, prohibitions against child labor and other reforms viewed as radical at the time but often taken for granted today. It was an era in which many workers spent an entire day tending a noisy machine in a large, crowded poorly ventilated room. Others worked in coal mines, steel mills, railroads and slaughterhouses, among other dangerous occupations. Most were not paid well, and the typical workday was 12 hours or more, six days per week. Thats why many in the labor movement viewed the men convicted after Haymarket as martyrs. They died for a cause that inflamed the politics of that era and set the stage for some conflicts we still know today. Strikes by industrial workers were increasingly common in the United States in the 1880s, but making Labor Day a federal holiday was not high on Washingtons priorities. But then came another issue boiling out of Chicago: the Pullman strike. A recession was going on and President Grover Cleveland was tightly focused on winning a third term. Workers for the Pullman Palace Car Co. already had low wages as well as high rents in the company town of Pullman, now a Far South Side Chicago neighborhood that has seen promising new economic development in recent weeks. During an economic depression in 1893, their wages, already low, were cut even more, along with jobs, while their working hours were increased. Story continues The paternalism of Pullman is the same as the interest of a slaveholder in his human chattels, said Eugene V. Debs, charismatic president of Chicago-based American Railway Union in a May 1894 speech. You are striking to avert slavery and degradation. Ironically, the ARU had formed in June 1893 in Chicago, with membership open to all white railroad employees of any specialty. Racial segregation, if anyone needs to be reminded, was not limited to the South. By the time the strike ended, it had cost the railroads millions of dollars in lost revenue and damaged property as striking workers lost more than $1 million in wages. But President Cleveland and Congress did make a history-making conciliatory gesture toward the labor movement: He proposed a bill to make Labor Day a national holiday and signed the bill into law on June 28, 1894. The move was viewed as a sly attempt to concede something to the labor movement while also deflecting a more radical crowd that wanted to put the holiday to be on May 1 or May Day, the International Workers Day promoted by the radicals. As you celebrate Labor Day, contemplate how much the world in which we live today differs from the iron-fisted age that pitted Pullman against Debs. The dawn of heavy industrialization could hardly be more different from todays high-tech multinational age. Economies and technologies change, but the basic economic principles and power relationships keep echoing out of our past and into our futures, although with significant differences. For example, recent polling offers hopeful signs for organized labor that unions are regaining favor as workers in new industries and old seek some measure of leverage in their relationships with their bosses. Overall, labor unions have successfully enlisted an influx of workers (more than 58,000 in the first six months of 2023) through the National Labor Relations Boards election process on a scale rarely seen before, according to a recent Bloomberg Law report. And organized labor continues to show an elevated level of public approval, according to a report Gallup released Wednesday: 67% of Americans surveyed approved of unions. Thats similar to the elevated level of rising support for unions that Gallup has seen over the past decade. Americans have become more likely than a decade ago to take a sympathetic view, wanting unions influence to strengthen and, they believe, benefit various aspects of business and the economy, Gallup found. In contrast to the incremental changes seen in U.S. adults support of unions over time, the new poll documents what Gallup calls an unprecedented uptick since 2018, the last time they asked the question on perceptions that Americas unions will become stronger in the future than they are today. A third of Americans (34%) believe this today, compared with 19% five years ago and no more than 25% at any time in the trend since 1999. Whether this wave of public approval stems from a renewed faith in unions, or a desperate sense in the public of having no place else to turn, union leaders now have increased power and yet greater responsibilities in cities like Chicago. Balance, compromise, freedom from corruption and transparency never have been more important on all sides of a bargaining table. But not everyone who labors is in a union. Whatever your work, we salute you on your day. Join the discussion on Twitter @chitribopinions and on Facebook. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. Edison CEO Nicola Monti: "We are facing a technological and energy revolution" CEO Nicola Monti: "We are facing a technological and energy revolution" Energy, Edison study: for young people and businesses transition is a priority MILAN, Italy, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The ecological transition is a priority shared by young people and Italian companies: 8 out of 10 young people and 6 out of 10 companies consider it to be the decisive factor for the transition to the society of the future. Young people also associate the priority for sustainability with an evolution of values that focuses on inclusiveness, a sense of community and the promotion of the common good. Furthermore, the priority assigned to the ecological transition by young people and businesses is linked to the fact that, for more than two-thirds of the country's businesses, the current economic model has not contributed to sustainable development, with 6 out of 10 businesses considering the attention paid to inclusiveness, economic growth, environmental protection and the resilience of production systems insufficient. Consistently 7 out of 10 young Italians think of the future with uncertainty. We are facing a technological and energy revolution. We have decided to make significant investments. We will have to spend more over the next two decades. Europe is at the centre of the decarbonisation policy. We need to create the investment and technology platforms to be world leaders like the USA and China. These were the words of Nicola Monti, CEO of Edison, commenting on the study presented at the Cernobbio Forum with The European House - Ambrosetti, aimed at promoting strategic reflection on the evolutions that will shape the Society of the Future. The study identified 3 megatrends that will impact the development of society until 2050: global geopolitical and economic dynamics, demography and technological evolution. The most evident trend linked to the current geopolitical context concerns the new bipolarisation taking place in the international system between the Western bloc and the Sino-Russian bloc, plus a heterogeneous group of countries that prefer 'variable geometry' and multidimensional partnerships depending on the strategic interests at stake from time to time. This evolution of the international system also entails a reorganisation of global value chains, starting with the industrial sectors deemed strategic and technology-intensive. The current trend, therefore, appears to be the redefinition of international trade within a fragmented globalisation divided between geographical areas of competence. Story continues At the same time, the demographic context is witnessing a combination of two different trends. On the one hand, a strong change in the demographic weights of the different regions of the world is becoming apparent; in particular, Europe's weight on the global population is expected to reach 7% by 2050, down 13 percentage points compared to 1960 and 2 percentage points compared to 2022. On the other hand, in mature economies, the demographic scenario also hints at an ageing population: in Italy the over-65 population is now 23.5% of the total and could rise to 34.9% of the total by 2050. The third megatrend identified in the study concerns technological acceleration linked, first and foremost, to the increasingly pervasive process of digitalisation. In the most recent period, technological acceleration was associated with the development of generative Artificial Intelligence: ChatGPT was the fastest app to reach 100 million monthly users, taking only two months. The development of Artificial Intelligence has thus become a central issue in the international competitive scenario with all major countries striving to gain a competitive advantage from its application. A further central issue that emerges from the study concerns the need to accelerate the pace of transition by maintaining a strong focus on the community, the territory and the public system. The urgency to act to reduce the distance between the desired future and the future realistically envisaged translates, among young people, into commitment and a sense of responsibility towards the community and the territory: 3 out of 4 young people see in the role of the public system (schools and institutions) a pillar of reference for the years to come. At the same time, companies are also facing change: almost 1 out of 2 companies is already carrying out plans to implement the ecological transition, yet a greater political commitment and institutional support for the transition is requested by 4 out of 10 Italian companies. Technology obviously plays a key role in this process of change: for more than 7 out of 10 young people, the digital world is an integral part of everyday life and a powerful tool for social interaction. However, in order to lead the change towards the '5.0 Society' which places human wellbeing at the centre through technological convergence a strengthening of the educational system is needed (for almost 2 out of 3 young people), with a greater focus on ethics, technology and sustainability issues as well as on technical skills (mentioned by almost 1 out of 2 companies), which are necessary to fully grasp the opportunities of the technological transition. "The need to pursue sustainability and inclusiveness objectives makes energy a key factor in achieving an equitable and environmentally friendly future: suffice it to say that among the Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations, 6 out of 17 (and 28 targets) are directly impacted by energy," stressed Nicola Monti. This crucial role, he added, will only intensify thanks to the frontiers opened up by research, innovation and investment: in fact, energy is already the leading economic sector at European and Italian level in terms of investment intensity (39% of the sector's added value in both cases, for a total value of 90 billion in the European Union). For more information: Press Office LaPresse - ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b06f6eff-2aaf-422d-b089-13dd9981ac00 The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress. Key Insights The projected fair value for Malayan United Industries Berhad is RM0.072 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity With RM0.06 share price, Malayan United Industries Berhad appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value Malayan United Industries Berhad's peers are currently trading at a premium of 48% on average How far off is Malayan United Industries Berhad (KLSE:MUIIND) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. 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. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model. Check out our latest analysis for Malayan United Industries Berhad Step By Step Through The Calculation 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. 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, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value: Story continues 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM26.8m RM29.8m RM32.4m RM34.7m RM36.8m RM38.8m RM40.7m RM42.5m RM44.2m RM46.0m Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ 14.19% Est @ 11.00% Est @ 8.77% Est @ 7.20% Est @ 6.11% Est @ 5.34% Est @ 4.80% Est @ 4.43% Est @ 4.16% Est @ 3.98% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 17% RM22.9 RM21.7 RM20.1 RM18.4 RM16.7 RM15.0 RM13.4 RM11.9 RM10.6 RM9.4 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM160m 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 (3.6%) 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 17%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = RM46m (1 + 3.6%) (17% 3.6%) = RM349m Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM349m ( 1 + 17%)10= RM71m 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 RM232m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of RM0.06, the company appears about fair value at a 16% discount to where the stock price trades currently. 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. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the 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 Malayan United 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 17%, which is based on a levered beta of 2.000. 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 Malayan United Industries Berhad Strength Net debt to equity ratio below 40%. Weakness No major weaknesses identified for MUIIND. Opportunity Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows. Current share price is below our estimate of fair value. Lack of analyst coverage makes it difficult to determine MUIIND's earnings prospects. Threat Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow. Next Steps: Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. 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 Malayan United Industries Berhad, there are three important aspects you should further research: Risks: For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Malayan United Industries Berhad (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of 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 Victoria is UK6.03 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Victoria's UK5.62 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate Peers of Victoria are currently trading on average at a 15% premium In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Victoria PLC (LON:VCP) by estimating the company's 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 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 Victoria The Method We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. 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. 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 (, Millions) UK52.4m UK64.8m UK73.9m UK81.6m UK87.8m UK92.8m UK96.9m UK100.3m UK103.2m UK105.7m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ 14.11% Est @ 10.29% Est @ 7.62% Est @ 5.75% Est @ 4.44% Est @ 3.52% Est @ 2.88% Est @ 2.43% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 13% UK46.2 UK50.6 UK51.0 UK49.7 UK47.2 UK44.1 UK40.7 UK37.2 UK33.8 UK30.6 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = UK431m We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. 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 1.4%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 13%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = UK106m (1 + 1.4%) (13% 1.4%) = UK907m Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= UK907m ( 1 + 13%)10= UK262m The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is UK694m. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of UK5.6, the company appears about fair value at a 6.8% 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 Victoria 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 13%, which is based on a levered beta of 2.000. 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 Victoria Strength Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry. Weakness Interest payments on debt are not well covered. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the British market. Current share price is below our estimate of fair value. Threat Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow. Next Steps: Although the valuation of a company is important, it 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. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Victoria, we've compiled three pertinent items you should consider: Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Victoria (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about. Future Earnings: How does VCP'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 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 AIM 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. elenaleonova / iStock.com Scams are an unfortunate reality in todays world, affecting individuals from all walks of life, including the wealthy. Contrary to popular belief, being affluent does not render one immune to being tricked. Bernie Madoff orchestrated one of historys largest Ponzi schemes, defrauding numerous wealthy investors, celebrities and charitable organizations of billions. In the Fyre Festival fraud, Billy McFarlands promise of a luxurious music festival turned disastrous, with affluent attendees forced to stay in disaster relief tents, with no electricity or running water. Anna Sorokin, alias Anna Delvey, deceived associates into funding her extravagant lifestyle and businesses under the guise of a wealthy socialite, leading to her conviction for theft and grand larceny. Im a Millionaire: Why Im Not Passing Generational Wealth to My Kids Learn: 3 Simple Steps You Must Take To Shield Yourself from Identity Theft To shed light on this phenomenon of wealthy people being scammed, GOBankingRates gathered insights from experts in finance and cybersecurity. These experts reveal why the wealthy become victims of scams and offer invaluable takeaways for safeguarding your wealth and assets. Why the Rich Get Scammed Isla Sibanda, a cybersecurity specialist at Privacy Australia, offered the opinion that having money makes people overconfident. Wealthy people generally have the perception that the authority they have owing to their knowledge and riches offers them protection against scams. They feel their monetary assets act as a shield. To protect yourself from this tendency, remember that your money makes you a target, and that makes you more susceptible to being scammed, not less. Read More: 4 Red Flags as You Check Your Bank Statements Every Month Be Skeptical of Unsolicited Offers If something feels too good to be true, it probably is. Whether its an offer to invest money, a request for donations or a business pitch that comes out of nowhere, its smart to be cautious. Remember that legitimate organizations usually dont use pushy tactics or demand you make quick decisions. Story continues Verify Contact Info If you receive an unsolicited email, text or phone call from anyone saying theyre from your bank, a retailer or tech support, always double check who they really are before communicating with them further. They might claim that youve been hacked, that youve made a large purchase or that youve won a contest. Always contact the organization directly using official contact information, not the information the possible scammer gives you. Dont click on any links in the emails or texts they send you. If youre on the phone with them, hang up and look up the right phone number to call. Slow Down Brenna Baucum, founder of Collective Wealth Planning said, Whenever faced with a large financial decision, do whatever you can to slow the process down. If the opportunity is legitimate, it can wait for a couple of days while you consider it from all angles and consult others. Get a Second or Third! Opinion Everyone can use a little solid advice to avoid falling for scams, even the wealthy. This is where your trusted circle comes into play. You can turn to a knowledgeable friend or family member and ask, What do you think about this? These reliable individuals are like your protective armor, shielding you from danger. They can offer insights on whether that seemingly fantastic deal is genuinely worth it or is just a scheme. One of the best parts of having a boutique practice is that I know all of my clients personally, said Baucum. I know their preferences, perspectives and unique priorities. This allows me to identify red flags quickly. The same may be true of your partner, kids or best friend. Consult those individuals you trust before making a big financial decision. Educate Yourself Its important to remain well-informed about prevalent scams and the tactics deceptive people employ. If you proactively educate yourself about scams targeting the affluent, you can identify potential threats quickly and respond appropriately. Countless scams are happening at any given time, with new ones popping up daily, said Baucum. Signing up for AARPs Watchdog alerts updates you on the latest popular scams. Not sure if the call or email you received is legitimate? AARPs Fraud Watch Network has a staffed helpline to answer your questions about preventing financial exploitation. The weekly AARP podcast, The Perfect Scam, tells the stories of people who find themselves the target of a scam. Listening to their stories can help you understand how scammers operate and what you can do to protect yourself. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Even the Rich Get Scammed: Heres Why and How You Can Avoid Fraud FILE PHOTO: A worker collects wheat at the Benha grain silos in Al Qalyubia Governorate By Sarah El Safty and Michael Hogan CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's state grains buyer bought about a half a million metric tons of Russian wheat in a private deal, four traders told Reuters, succeeding in negotiating lower prices than those offered in the more traditional tenders. One of the world's biggest importers of wheat, Egypt last year started shifting towards direct purchases instead of tenders after the war in Ukraine disrupted its buying. The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) bought about 480,000 metric tons of Russian wheat from trading firm Solaris on Friday, at a price of about $270 a ton on a cost and freight basis (C&F), the traders said. GASC was not immediately available for comment. Traders have told Reuters the price could possibly be below an unofficial floor set by Russia's government to control domestic wheat prices. Other Russian wheat suppliers submitted offers on Friday at a free-on-board price of $265 per metric ton, believing it to be the set price floor, and a C&F price that exceeded $270 per ton. Traders told Reuters the price floor was not legally binding but that suppliers were expected to follow instructions from Russia's agriculture ministry. There is a lack of clarity in the market about the level of the Russian minimum floor price. Traders say there are different minimum prices for private sales and sales in public tenders, as well as different prices for sales in each month between September and December and discounts for lower protein wheat grades. In a tender last week, all Russian suppliers had submitted bids at a price floor set at $270 per metric ton on a FOB basis, with C&F prices ranging between $286.25 and $291 per metric ton. Traders told Reuters at the time that this had weighed on Russian wheat's competitiveness, with GASC buying cheaper Romanian and French wheat instead. GASC had also privately bought one cargo of Bulgarian wheat at $270 per ton C&F on Friday. Story continues After the war in Ukraine disrupted the country's wheat exports, Egypt had been mainly relying on the relatively cheap Russian grain. Last year Egypt's supply minister said purchasing directly from suppliers enabled it to negotiate better prices at times of uncertainty. The North African country has been suffering from a foreign currency crunch after the Ukraine war delivered a broad shock to its economy, causing it to start deferring wheat payments. The government had recently signed a $500 million loan agreement with the Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEX) to buy imported wheat from UAE-based agribusiness Al Dahra. (Reporting by Sarah El Safty and Michael Hogan) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Russia's coastal city of Sochi on Monday, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. "The most important development everyone is looking at in Turkiye-Russia relations today is the grain corridor. "The message to be given at the news conference after our meeting will be a very important step toward the world, especially to the underdeveloped African countries, Erdogan said during the bilateral meeting with Putin. Erdogan is on a one-day working visit to Sochi to discuss current regional and global issues, as well as bilateral relations with Putin. The revival of last year's historic Black Sea grain deal that helped ease the global food crisis will also be on the agenda of the meeting. The two presidents are also expected to hold a joint news conference following their meeting. On July 17, Russia suspended its participation in the deal, brokered by Turkiye and the UN, to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that were paused after the Ukraine war, which started in February 2022. Moscow has complained that the West has not met its obligations regarding Russia's own grain exports, and that not enough Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need. It says restrictions on payments, logistics, and insurance have been a barrier to its shipments. Confirming the importance of fulfilling Russia's demands for the export of its own grain and fertilizer, Turkiye says there is no alternative to the initiative. Ankara has been carrying out intense diplomatic efforts for the restoration of the July 2022 deal and has also called on Kyiv and Moscow to end the war through negotiations. Central Bank governors meeting 'important' Turning to bilateral trade, Erdogan said the trade volume between Turkiye and Russia is $62 billion. "We are very glad that we are taking steps toward the target of reaching $100 billion," he added. Erdogan said Turkish Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan also accompanied him during his visit. "I believe that the meeting of our Central Bank governors is important in taking steps to use the domestic currency in bilateral relations," he added. Hailing developments between Turkiye and Russia in tourism, Erdogan said: "Russia is number one in tourism right now." The defense industry and the energy sector are the other important areas in bilateral ties, he added. About Turkiye's first nuclear power plant Akkuyu, Erdogan said the work at the power plant is continuing smoothly. "The step taken regarding the first unit is very good. Moreover, as we have discussed with you before, I think that we will have to take a step regarding the Sinop Nuclear Power Plant. Of course, the fact that there will be a hub in Thrace is another element of richness and vitality," he added. Akkuyu, currently under construction in Turkiye's southern Mersin province, will be the country's first nuclear power plant. An intergovernmental agreement for the plant was signed between Turkiye and Russia in May 2010. The plant's groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 3, 2018, after which construction started on the first unit. Construction of the second unit began on April 8, 2020, and the first batch of concrete for the third unit was poured on March 10, 2021. The site, which is considered one of the largest NPP construction sites in the world, entered its peak construction phase when the foundation was laid for the fourth and last unit on July 21 last year. Approximately 30,000 people were employed on the site during the most active project phase. A sign for Trulo Homes Quail Village is pictured Aug. 23 in Oklahoma City. "Horizontal apartments" have landed in Oklahoma City with one main selling point, or, actually, leasing point: No shared walls. It came as a surprise to local leaders in residential construction, but a local expert said it's filling a niche in the market. Horizontal apartments are what the housing industry calls rent houses with high-end amenities built on small lots as single-family homes. On-site property management handles lawn care, and maintenance on all units like most if not all apartments, whether built horizontally or as multistory buildings. Trulo Homes Quail Village, a single-family, rentals-only neighborhood, the first such development in OKC, is well under way with more than a dozen homes leased at 2145 Watermark Blvd. The 24-acre build-for-rent addition, zoned for up to 230 detached bungalow-style cottages, is just north of Quail Springs Mall on the south side of NW 145, west of N Pennsylvania Avenue. One, two- and three-bedroom homes are for rent. The addition has a clubhouse, fitness center and "resort-style" pool. The project is a joint venture by Dallas-based Red River Development and Monument Square Investment Group in Beverly Hills, California, which has a similar Trulo Homes neighborhood in Jenks, with plans for one in Bentonville, Arkansas. Red River plans others in Kansas City, Missouri, and Whitestown, Indiana, with different partners. Build-for-rent housing is "a fairly new twist on an old concept," as U.S. News & World Report put it earlier this year. "Of course, everyone knows about houses for lease, and a lot of people have even owned them as investors. But BFR (build-for-rent) is a little different. Instead of just having a house here or there, BFR homes are clustered together and form a community, much like an apartment community, and with many of the same amenities," U.S. News said. RELATED: Mortgage rates hit highest level since 2002; how higher borrowing costs hit OKC home sales Story continues Oklahoma City's first build-for-rent neighborhood fills a gap in the market An example of a three-bedroom Trulo home for rent. Trulo is developing OKC's first rental-only single-family neighborhood, Quail Village, near NW 145 and N Pennsylvania Avenue. Trulo Quail Village fills "a real nice niche" in the market, said David Chapman, a developer, real estate agent, professor of real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma and chairman of the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission. "People like not sharing walls" and are willing to pay for it, said Chapman, who gave a presentation on the advent of build-for-rent housing two years ago at the annual Commercial Real Estate Summit at UCO. Homes in Trulo Quail Village range from 725 to 1,250 square feet. Recently, one-bedroom, one bath homes leased for $1,475 per month; two-bed, two-bath homes from $1,915 to $2,040 per month; and three-bed, three-bath homes at $2,225 to $2,255 per month. RELATED: 'Astronomical rents' for OKC apartments start heading back to earth; studios plummet How build-for-rent neighborhoods compare with apartments and owned single-family homes A rental home is under construction Aug. 23 in Trulo Homes Quail Village in Oklahoma City. Chapman had some national statistics on build-for-rent developments: Demographics: One-third of build-for-rent tenants are millennials, and 60% are single women. Economics: Build-for-rent additions fetch 24% higher rent than traditional apartments , but have a monthly cost 17% higher than single-family home mortgage payments. For landlords and investors: Built-for-rent tenants are "stickier" than traditional apartment renters, meaning they have higher retention, even though rent growth outpaces apartments. Density: Build-for-rent houses typically are built with 10 to 25 houses per acre, comparable to townhouses at 20 per acre, higher density than single-family additions with homes for sale, which average 10 per acre, and well beneath the typical density for traditional apartments at 50 to 100 units per acre. WHAT AI ... THINKS? What AI thinks the typical home looks like in OKC and what some Realtors think about it Homebuilder trade groups didn't notice a build-for-rent addition started in OKC A rental home is pictured Aug. 23 in Trulo Homes Quail Village in Oklahoma City. Trulo Homes Quail Village, on land the developers bought from OKC building company Homes By Taber, came as a surprise to leaders in Oklahoma homebuilding. Homes By Taber said it is not involved with the addition. The Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association was not aware of it and had no comment on it "as they are not a member," said Executive Officer Elisa McAlister. The Oklahoma Home Builders Association didn't know about it either, but, "In a strange time period where we are experiencing a dearth of affordable housing, seeing this setup doesnt surprise me," said Mike Means, executive vice president. "Investors must put their money somewhere, so they are obviously meeting a need." Means noted that the state homebuilders group is part of the National Home Builders Association, which has build-for-rent, as well as traditional apartment developers, as members. "That being said, however, the (state association) is big on homeownership," he said. "If you rent, the only thing you can look forward to is rent going up. If you own, you are on the path of creating wealth." RELATED: UBuildIt? Will they come? Yes. Why clients did, even with skyrocketing construction costs How Trulo Homes Quail Village, the first build-for-rent neighborhood in Oklahoma City, is treated for Oklahoma County property tax purposes A rental home is pictured in Trulo Homes Quail Village. "Horizontal apartments" aren't apartments in the usual sense, since they are detached homes, but "these will be assessed like an apartment complex" because they are all on one parcel of land, said Steve Storff, director of real estate appraisal for the Oklahoma County assessor's office. "They are all on one parcel. On top of that, they will not be sold, just rented. So, its an apartment complex, but has individual buildings for each tenant," he said. That means their value, for tax purposes, will be assessed differently from singe-family homes occupied by their owners. Build-for-rent property values will based on the income from them, he said. "In Oklahoma County, most apartments larger than eight units are valued using the income approach and sales comparisons. We use the direct capitalization method (option within the income approach) almost exclusively," Storff said. Single-family homes in Oklahoma County are valued by sales comparisons and multiple regression analysis, which is used to predict change in value. RELATED: A national home building company just opened a new addition in OKC. How rare is that? How Trulo Homes Quail Village, OKC's first build-for-rent neighborhood, is treated by the Oklahoma City Planning Department An example of a single-bedroom Trulo home for rent. Trulo is developing OKC's first rental-only single-family neighborhood, Quail Village near NW 145 and N Pennsylvania Avenue. Trulo Homes Quail Village is in a Planned Unit Development, a kind of zoning district intended to maximize flexibility and innovation in land use and design. "Although the idea of a designated rental community may seem new or unique, one should keep in mind that the rental community has grown exponentially across the nation and our own city, though typically more dispersed," said Scott T. Wise, manager of the city of Oklahoma City's Development Center. The building permitting and inspection process? "Overall, there wont be much difference in the way we permit this development compared to your typical subdivision," Wise said. "This particular project will, however, be developed as one property rather than the individually owned and separated lots you see in your neighborhood." Here's where the flexibility comes in: Because it's developed as one property. "They may not be as limited in the placement of carports and other structures as you might on your own property," Wise said. "For instance, your privately owned individual lot will not typically be permitted to have a carport placed within certain distance to the street. However since this is a single property using internal drives, they may not be as restricted without such property lines running throughout." The interior layout of the addition "is designed to be more compact yet with shared open common areas for parking, sidewalks, and such," he said. "The property will require that a majority of brick, stone, or masonry is used for the exterior aesthetics of each structure. ... There will be interior sidewalks throughout the community. All of this is fairly typical of a (Planned Unit Development) within Oklahoma City limits." SIGN UP: Weekly e-newsletter, Real Estate With Richard Mize View of living room of a three-bedroom Trulo home for rent. Trulo is developing OKC's first rental-only single-family neighborhood, Quail Village, near NW 145 and N Pennsylvania Avenue. Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize. You can support Richard's work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 12 months of subscriber-only access for $1 a month. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Build-for-rent 'horizontal apartments' arise for the first time in OKC FILE PHOTO: U.S. one hundred dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration By Nell Mackenzie LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge funds ditched short bets against U.S. regional banks as of the end of August and turned bullish on the broader U.S. financial sector, according to a Goldman Sachs note, just as bank stock prices began to rise. U.S. financial services companies including banks, trading firms and those working in capital markets were among the most sought-after stocks in the week ended Sept. 1, according to the note by Goldman's prime brokerage desk, which serves hedge funds. The ratio of long trades compared with short positions on U.S. regional banks has risen by 26% since a year low in mid-July 2023, when traders were mostly short the sector, the bank said. A short or bearish bet borrows a stock in order to sell hoping its price will decline. An index of U.S. regional bank stocks has recovered roughly 20% of its value from a two-year low hit in May following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in May that nearly all banks had access to sufficient liquidity, but warned that profit pressures might lead to consolidation in the sector. Short positions on larger U.S. banks have also declined since mid-July, with hedge fund long positions rising about 14% against short bets, the Goldman note showed. Most of the stock buying on U.S. regional banks comprised of hedge funds buying back stock that was borrowed for the purpose of short bets, or so-called short covering, Goldman said. Across broader U.S. financial services, hedge funds finished August with net long positions, the note said. The sector often includes companies such as larger banks, savings and loans, asset management companies, credit services and investment brokerage firms. (Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and David Holmes) Earn Your Leisure's InvestFest 2023. (Rashiid Marcel Photography/EYL InvestFest) Even with a good product, finding seed money and investments to scale a business can be an uphill battle for Black entrepreneurs. Only 1.2% of venture capital is funding Black entrepreneurs, according to Crunchbase, which collects data on early-stage startups, with Black women founders receiving just 0.27% of funding. "Understanding the financials and scalability is important to build and grow," Monique Rodriguez, CEO of Mielle Organics, told Yahoo Finance. "Getting the business off the ground there was a lot of bootstrapping with no initial seed money because we don't have the same access, opportunity, resources, or funding to even get started." That is the importance of Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings's InvestFest, a financial festival in its third year. Attendees heard from entrepreneurs like Rodriguez on how she scaled her company, empowering aspiring Black entrepreneurs with the financial tools and knowledge with a message of collective economics to build generational wealth. "Witnessing over 20,000 individuals come together underscores the urgency to create platforms that uplift and educate, which is why InvestFest was created to transform lives, spark conversations, and drive change," Millings said. Starting small and scaling up Rodriguezs journey to entrepreneurship was an outgrowth of grief. After the loss of a child, she posted hair and beauty recipes on social media as a creative outlet and distraction. When people asked to buy the products, Rodriguez hired a chemist because she needed a healthy preservative to make her products shelf stable. Thats how her journey into entrepreneurship began. "I did not make any money off the business for probably the first year because everything that we sold, we invested that back into inventory, marketing, packaging, back into the business," Rodriguez said. "In 2015, we had an opportunity to get into retail and a family friend invested an initial seed of $250,000. In 2020, we needed to scale up and Rich Dennis from Shea Moisture was our first initial C investment raise that we did." Story continues Denniss investment is an example of collective economics of Black businesses investing in other Black businesses. When Dennis sold Shea Moisture, he purchased Essence magazine and invested in other Black businesses. Monique Rodriguez, CEO of Mielle Organics, speaks to InvestFest attendees. (Rashiid Marcel/EYL InvestFest) This year, Procter & Gamble (PG) acquired Mielle Organics with Rodriguez staying on as CEO and COO of the brand. "In the Black community, we think that we have to own it, but scaling your company requires a lot more money that we don't have access to, so we have to take on acquisitions and partnerships to create longevity and legacy," Rodriguez said. "Because we had a very healthy company, I was able to negotiate the terms to stay onboard as CEO and COO, operating as a standalone independent subsidiary under Procter & Gamble." Generational wealth and community investment Creating access and opportunities for the community is also part of the origin story for Jomaree Pinkard, co-founder of Hella Cocktails, who received a capital investment from Pronghorn a business dedicated to cultivating Black entrepreneurs in the spirits industry. Pinkard is now the CEO and managing director of Pronghorn. "For the longest time, I've been working on community access to knowledge, but I never had access to a lot of capital until Pronghorn," Pinkard told Yahoo Finance. "In my role, I'm able to lead the team to unlock access for Black ownership in the spirits industry, building a template to diversify any industry economically and commercially. Its not charity because investing in the underrepresented equals dollars and cents." The spirits industry generates $353 billion in retail sales and the Black community consumes its proportion of $50 billion, but without ownership, Pinkard said. "Pronghorn is here to create $2.4 billion of impact in the Black community in 10 years by investing in 57 Black-owned brands," Pinkard said. "It is an accelerator that invests in companies identifying great founders with good liquidity then we do a supercharger, getting in a shock position with them and helping them think through their playbook." Jomaree Pinkard, CEO and managing director of Pronghorn, speaks to InvestFest attendees. (Rashiid Marcel/EYL InvestFest) Pronghorn has invested $10 million in 20 Black-owned spirits brands, an investment that helps these businesses build generational wealth. "When you think about creating generational wealth, you're able to do that by exiting and being acquired for large sums of money that can set your family up for generations to have the freedom and the flexibility to do what they want," Rodriguez said. "It's not for me to expect them to have the same drive and passion that I had for building Mielle because Mielle is my dream. But I can create an opportunity for them to follow their dreams." Learning how Rodriguez and Pinkard scaled their business for growth and generational wealth is part of InvestFests motto of "assets over liabilities." "My great-grandmother crushed sugar cane with machetes in St. Croix on a rum distillery that she wasn't able to accumulate wealth based on all that hard work," Pinkard said. "When we think about assets over liabilities, my great-grandmother is saying, you're the most precious asset and liabilities ain't got nothing on us." Ronda is a personal finance senior reporter for Yahoo Finance and attorney with experience in law, insurance, education, and government. Follow her on Twitter @writesronda. Click here for the latest personal finance news to help you with investing, paying off debt, buying a home, retirement, and more Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance ONTARIO, Canada, September 04, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LegalBet Canada announces its most recent investigation into the effects gambling advertisements may have on bettors from various demographics. Is the notoriety of gambling ads justified? Betting companies have been under a cloud of suspicion regarding their advertising policies. A recent poll by Ipsos claims that nearly half of Canadians (48%) say the volume of gambling advertisements is excessive and that regulators need to check such ads. The sentiment is shared by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), the chief regulator of gambling in the Heartland Province. AGCO is currently looking for ways to tighten the screws on the participation of famous athletes and celebrities in advertising campaigns about betting. Our team of responsible gambling experts, led by a psychologist with experience working with gambling addicts, has delved deep into the topic in the article How Ads Influence Bettors (And Should They Be Limited?). A detailed, objective approach to the impact of gambling ads forms the basis of the authors view. According to research by Bestman, Thomas, Randle, & Thomas, 2015, some aspects of gambling ads significantly influence viewers with an already higher craving for gambling or inherently more susceptible to excessive gambling. According to Lopez-Gonzalez, H., Estevez, A., & Griffiths, M. D. (2018), betting ads have farther-reaching consequences for those already on the brink of problem gambling precipice than those not initially prone to addiction. Further reports and papers indicate that gambling ads influence problem gamblers the most, especially during live events. The article concludes that different age and social groups respond to betting ads differently. Not showing gambling ads during certain hours when their exposure to minors may be highest can have a salubrious effect on the efforts to contain problem gambling, as can the promotion of responsible gambling practices and tools to bettors. Companies might have failed to recognize excessive gambling and continue to bombard players with promo materials, which exacerbates the situation considerably. However, stigmatizing betting ads as the sole culprits of increased problem gambling has no merit in scientific research and real-life practice, as it takes the spotlight off identifying problem behaviour before it progresses into addiction. Story continues View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230904113626/en/ Contacts catarina.mendes@altsdigital.com +351919369297 The Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani arrived in China on Sunday with the country's future participation in the Belt and Road Initiative likely to be top of the agenda for his visit. Italy was the only Group of 7 country to sign up to the transcontinental infrastructure project but a memorandum of understanding it signed on the project is set to expire in March. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been a long-term critic of the plan, but has yet to confirm that the country will be pulling out. 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. Before departing for Beijing, Tajani - the most senior Italian official to visit China since the Covid-19 pandemic - said the plan had not brought "the results we expected". He added that Italy would like to work with Beijing but wants a "level playing field". Wang Yiwei, an European affairs expert at Renmin University, said: "[Italy] didn't really want to quit. It just wanted to send a message to the United States. "This has been talked about for more than a year ... This is because it still wants to get some more benefits from China." When Meloni visited Washington in July, she agreed to work with the US to strengthen ties in the face of the "challenges posed by China". Wang said China was trying to strengthen its relations with European governments in light of its tensions with the US and the European Union's plans to "de-risk" relations with Beijing, and that Italy may try to use this as leverage. He added that while China valued Italy's continued participation in the scheme, it will not be "hijacked" by threats to quit. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has not confirmed whether she will make good on her threats to leave the scheme. Photo: TNS alt=Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has not confirmed whether she will make good on her threats to leave the scheme. Photo: TNS> Story continues Noah Barkin, a Europe-China expert at the Rhodium Group, said Tajani is on a "damage control mission" to ensure that quitting the scheme will not trigger retaliation from Beijing. "Beijing is unlikely to start a new fight with a European capital at a time when it is desperate to attract European investment. The fact that it has not retaliated against the Dutch for their chip controls [which limit access to advanced chip-making technology] shows that Beijing is prepared to look the other way in pursuit of stability in EU-China ties," he said. Foreign investment in China fell to a 25-year low in the second quarter this year, while the number of EU investors who saw China as their top investmen tmarket also hit a record low, according to a survey by the European Chamber of Commerce in China. Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University, said China is likely to keep trying to persuade Italy to stay in the initiative but he did not expect it to change its mind. "Considering the current domestic political situation in Italy and Italy's relationship with the United States and other countries, even if Italy does not officially announce its withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative, its degree of participation in the initiative will become significantly lower," he said. Belt and road-related investments in Italy dropped from US$2.51 billion in 2019 to US$810 million in 2020, according to data provided by Fudan University's Green Finance and Development Centre. More broadly, Chinese completed foreign direct investment in Italy dropped from US$650 million in 2019 to US$20 million in 2020 and US$33 million in 2021, according to data from the Rhodium Group. Enrico Fardella, director of ChinaMed and professor at the University of Naples L'Orientale in Italy, said when a previous Italian government signed up to the initiative in 2019 it saw it as a useful way of boosting exports and reducing the trade imbalance. He said that although this had not happened it was "a bit too far-fetched" to blame the Belt and Road Initiative. "The causes are mostly linked to the economic structure of both countries and in particular to the oversupplied structure of the Chinese economy that is in fact currently under serious stress," he said. He added that the Meloni government to wanted to correct the pro-China line of previous governments but "has no interest" in straining relations with Beijing and "avoid stepping into an anti-China crusade". He added that Tajani may try to use the visit to "give 'face' to Beijing" - for example by reaffirming support for the one-China principle - and bring back some practical benefits such as cultural agreements or luxury goods sales. 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. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued multiple recalls last week, including nearly 320,000 Kia vehicles for a trunk issue. Ford issued several recalls including one for more than 169,000 SUVs and cargo vans because the rearview cameras may not operate properly. Car owners can check USA TODAYs automotive recall database or search NHTSAs database for new recalls. The NHTSA website also allows you to search for recalls based on your vehicle identification number, or VIN. Here are the vehicle recalls published by the NHTSA from Aug. 24 to Sept. 2. Previous week: Hyundai, Volkswagen, BMW and Honda among 40,000 vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here Kia recall: Rio, Optima, Optima Hybrid, Optima Plug-in Hybrid Kia is recalling 319,436 of its 2016-2018 Rio, Optima, Optima Hybrid and Optima Plug-in Hybrid vehicles because the trunk latch base may crack, which prevents the trunk from opening from the inside. A person inside the trunk may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury, according to a NHTSA report. Kia will mail notification letters to owners by Oct. 19. Customers can bring their vehicles to Kia dealerships where they will replace the trunk latch base subassembly, free of charge, the NHTSA report. Recalled vehicles: 2016-2017 Rio 2016-2018 Optima 2017-2018 Optima Hybrid 2017-2018 Optima Plug-in Hybrid vehicles Ford recall: Lincoln Aviator, Lincoln Navigator, Bronco Ford is recalling 169,277 of its 2020-2023 Lincoln Aviator, 2018-2021 Lincoln Navigator, and 2021 Ford Bronco SUVs, and 2022-2023 Ford Transit cargo vans because the rearview camera, or 360-degree view camera, if equipped, may not display a rearview image when the vehicle is placed in reverse. Loss of the rearview camera image can reduce the driver's rear visibility, increasing the risk of a crash, according to a NHTSA report. Dealers will replace the rearview camera, and update the software and wiring as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Oct. 2, 2023. Ford's number for this recall is 23S48. Story continues Recalled vehicles: 2018-2021 Lincoln Navigator 2020-2023 Lincoln Aviator 2021 Ford Bronco 2022-2023 Ford Transit Dealers will replace the rearview camera, and update the software and wiring as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed October 2, 2023. Ford's number for this recall is 23S48. The 2020 Lincoln Aviator. What else is under recall?: Check USA TODAY's searchable recall database; cars, food, consumer products and more Audi recall Volkswagen is recalling 7,499 of its 2021 Audi S7, S6 Sedan, RS7, RS6 Avant, A6 Allroad, 2019-2021 A7, and A6 Sedan vehicles because a small number of affected vehicles may be equipped with a European specification brake fluid reservoir cap instead of the one required for the U.S. market. If the incorrect cap is present and the owner does not understand the markings, the incorrect fluid could be used, which could make the brake system perform improperly and increase the risk of a crash, the automaker said in a NHTSA report. Dealers will inspect the brake fluid reservoir cap and, if necessary, replace it, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Oct. 17, 2023. Owners may contact Audi's customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 47T9. Recalled vehicles: 2019-2021 Audi A6 2021 Audi A6 AllRoad 2019-2021 Audi A7 2021 Audi RS6 2021 Audi RS7 2021 Audi S6 2021 Audi S7 Ford Edge recall Ford is recalling 8,523 of its 2023 Edge SUVs because the front right headlight may be too bright or aimed incorrectly. A noncompliant lamp may cause glare to other road users and increase the risk of a crash, Ford said in a report to NHTSA. Dealers will inspect and replace the right headlight assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Oct. 9, 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23C26. Ford recalled vehicle: 2023 Ford Edge Hyundai Palisade recall Hyundai is recalling 63 of its 2024 Palisade SUVs equipped with dark premium suede seats because the Occupant Detection System (ODS) may fail to detect an occupant and deactivate the passenger-side front air bags. Nondeployment of the air bags could increase the risk of injury to passenger occupants during a crash, the company said in a NHTSA report. Dealers will update the software, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Oct. 24, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 249. Recalled vehicle: 2024 Hyundai Palisade Ford recall: Super Duty F250, F350 trucks Ford is recalling certain 41,555 of its 2023 Super Duty F250 and F350 pickup trucks equipped with single rear wheels and a 10.5-inch rear axle shaft. The left rear axle shaft may have been improperly heat-treated during manufacturing and may break, which could result in a loss of motive power and inability to hold the vehicle in park, the company said in a NHTSA report. If the parking brake is not applied, this could result in the unintended vehicle movement and increase the risk of injury or crash, Ford said. Dealers will inspect the left rear axle shaft date code and replace the axle shaft as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Oct.16, 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23S49. Recalled vehicles: 2023 Ford F-250 SD 2023 Ford F-350 SD Harley-Davidson motorcycle recall Harley-Davidson is recalling 65,224 motorcycles because a fastener that secures the rear shock absorber on the motorcycles may break, potentially causing damage to the rear tire and a loss of tire pressure. That can lead to a loss of vehicle control and the risk of a crash, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report. Harley-Davidson is expected to mail notification letters to owners by Tuesday. Customers can bring their motorcycles to Harley-Davidson dealerships where they will replace the shock absorber fastener, free of charge, the transportation agency said. Owners can contact Harley-Davidson customer service at 1-800-258-2464. Harley-Davidson's number for this recall is 0181. Harley-Davidson recalled vehicles: 2018-2019 FLDE 2018-2021 FLHC 2018-2023 FLHCS 2018 FLHCS ANV 2020-2023 FXLRS 2022-2023 FXLRST 2022 FXRST 2023 FLHCS ANV Ford Explorer recall Ford is recalling 10 of its 2023 Explorer SUVs equipped with 2.3L GTDI engines because the turbocharger oil supply line may be damaged. A torn or cut turbocharger oil supply line o-ring allows oil to escape and increases the risk of an underhood fire and injury, the company said in a NHTSA report. A low engine oil pressure warning will illuminate after the oil level is reduced sufficiently; if the customer continues to drive the vehicle with low oil pressure, the engine will eventually seize, resulting in loss of motive power which increases the risk of a crash and injury, Ford said. If owners see an oil pressure warning light or smoke coming from the engine compartment, they should park and shut off the engine as soon as possible. Dealers will replace the turbo oil supply line assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Sept. 11, 2023. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23S50. Recalled vehicle: 2023 Ford Explorer Contributing: Francisco Guzman, USA TODAY Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider. What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Car recall check: Kia, Ford, Harley-Davidson among 611,000 affected A sign at the approach road leads to Albemarle's lithium evaporation ponds at its facility in Silver Peak By Scott Murdoch and Poonam Behura (Reuters) - Shares of Australia's Liontown Resources shot up 11.5% after the lithium developer's board backed on Monday a refreshed A$6.6-billion ($4.3-billion) bid from Albemarle Corp, the world's biggest producer of the battery material. Emerging Australian lithium companies are experiencing a surge in buyouts as their lower valuations and cash needs lure some of the world's top producers of lithium and others racing to secure supplies. The new cash offer of A$3 a share represents a premium of 14.5% to Liontown's last close of A$2.62 on Sept. 1 and is 20% higher than Albemarle's offer of A$2.50 a share made in late March that the target had rejected as too low. "The waiting game looks to have paid off," Citigroup analysts said. "We see the offer as bullish for lithium, signalling that the largest producer is keen to secure more supply at a premium, or has a bullish view on long-term price with low jurisdictional risk." The offer was Albemarle's fourth, after it proposed A$2.20 a share on Oct. 20 last year and A$2.35 in March, before the rejected offer of A$2.50 was made public. Monday's news drove Liontown shares to their highest since July 14, to stand at A$2.92. Liontown said its board intended to unanimously recommend shareholders vote for the new offer in the absence of a superior proposal, and after completion of an independent expert's report to examine the deal. Albemarle has been granted a limited period of exclusive due diligence as well as to enter into a mutually acceptable scheme implementation deed, Liontown said in a statement. Lithium is in hot demand for electric vehicle batteries, and projects in top supplier Australia have become more attractive than those in other major producer Chile, which detailed in April a plan to nationalise its industry. Liontown controls two major lithium deposits in Western Australia, with first production set for mid-2024 from its flagship Kathleen Valley project, which is among the world's largest and highest-grade hard rock lithium deposits. Story continues Liontown also has supply deals with Ford Motor, Tesla and the battery unit of South Korea's LG Chem. Liontown said Greenhill & Co and UBS would act as financial advisers and Allens as its legal adviser for the revised proposal. JPMorgan and Barrenjoey are advising Albemarle. ($1=1.5504 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Poonam Behura; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Clarence Fernandez) Key Insights Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Domain Holdings Australia fair value estimate is AU$3.22 With AU$3.79 share price, Domain Holdings Australia appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value Analyst price target for DHG is AU$3.50, which is 8.4% above our fair value estimate In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Domain Holdings Australia Limited (ASX:DHG) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine. Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model. See our latest analysis for Domain Holdings Australia Step By Step Through The Calculation We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars: Story continues 10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) AU$72.3m AU$80.6m AU$90.2m AU$101.7m AU$113.0m AU$121.4m AU$128.4m AU$134.3m AU$139.5m AU$144.1m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x5 Analyst x5 Analyst x4 Analyst x3 Analyst x3 Est @ 7.40% Est @ 5.78% Est @ 4.65% Est @ 3.86% Est @ 3.30% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.5% AU$67.2 AU$69.8 AU$72.6 AU$76.1 AU$78.7 AU$78.6 AU$77.3 AU$75.3 AU$72.7 AU$69.9 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$738m 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 (2.0%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.5%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = AU$144m (1 + 2.0%) (7.5% 2.0%) = AU$2.7b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$2.7b ( 1 + 7.5%)10= AU$1.3b The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is AU$2.0b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of AU$3.8, 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. 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 Domain Holdings Australia 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 1.100. 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 Domain Holdings Australia Strength Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry. Debt is not viewed as a risk. Weakness Earnings growth over the past year is below its 5-year average. Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Interactive Media and Services market. Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Australian market. Threat Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year. 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. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Domain Holdings Australia, there are three relevant factors you should further research: Financial Health: Does DHG have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk. Future Earnings: How does DHG'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 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. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Australian 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. Rena Murshud On September 4, a meeting was held between members of the Committee on International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations of the Milli Majlis and members of the Friendship Group of the Israeli Parliament with Azerbaijan, Azernews reports. Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Samad Seyidov welcomed the delegation led by Yevgeny Sovan, a member of the Israeli Knesset Friendship Group with Azerbaijan, and expressed satisfaction to see them in the Azerbaijani parliament. Speaking about the relations established between our countries in various fields, the chairman of the committee noted that the opening of the Azerbaijani embassy in Israel raised the quality of cooperation between our countries to a new level. He highly appreciated the close ties between our states and peoples and stressed that Azerbaijan, which is the birthplace of many religions and peoples, has also been the homeland of the Jews since ancient times. Yevgeny Sova, a member of the Israel Parliament's Friendship Group with Azerbaijan, thanked for the hospitality and sincere attitude. He spoke about the ties that bind our countries and shared his views on deepening relations. During the conversation, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Sevinj Fataliyeva, MPs Sevil Mikayilova, Asim Mollazade, Nasib Makhamaliyev, and Nigar Arpadarai, Israeli Knesset MPs Tatyana Mazarsky, Osher Shkalim and Almog Cohen discussed issues of cooperation and inter-parliamentary relations. based on mutual respect and the national interests of both countries, they spoke about the importance of development. Then, at the meeting, an exchange of views took place on issues of interest to the parties. Vantage Market Research, The North Star for the Working World WASHINGTON, Sept. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per Vantage Market Research, the Global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing Market has been steadily growing over the years due to various factors such as cost-effectiveness, increased focus on core competencies, advancements in technology, and regulatory considerations. According to Vantage Market Research, the global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market is estimated to be valued at USD 76.8 Billion by 2030 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 14.5% during the forecast period 2023 to 2030. The global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market grew to USD 29.8 billion in 2022. Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing refers to the practice of delegating the production and assembly of medical devices to external companies. This process involves collaborating with specialized manufacturers who have the necessary expertise, equipment, and facilities to ensure high-quality production. By outsourcing manufacturing, medical device companies can focus on research, development, and marketing, while benefiting from cost savings, increased efficiency, and access to specialized skills. Furthermore, outsourcing allows companies to adapt to changes in demand and scale their production as needed, ensuring a consistent supply of devices for patients. Get Access to Free Sample Research Report with Latest Industry Insights @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/medical-device-outsourced-manufacturing-market-2255/request-sample Key Highlights By Device Type, the high demand for the IVD devices segment will increase in the Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market from 2023 to 2030. By Service Type, the device development and manufacturing services segment dominated the largest market share globally from 2023 to 2030. By Class of Device, the class II medical devices segment holds the largest share globally from 2023 to 2030. In 2022, North America dominated the market with the highest revenue share of 42.1%. The Asia Pacific region will grow at a high CAGR from 2023-2030. Story continues The Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market has been growing steadily in recent years due to several factors. One of the main drivers is the increasing complexity and specialization of medical devices, which require advanced manufacturing capabilities that may only be available in some medical device companies. Outsourcing these processes to specialized CMOs allows companies to access the necessary expertise and streamline manufacturing operations. Top Companies in The Global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing Market SGS SA (Switzerland) Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (U.S.) Euro fins Scientific (Luxembourg) Pace Analytical Services Inc. (U.S.) Intertek Group PLC (UK) WuXiAppTec (China) North American Science Associates LLC (U.S.) TUV SUD (Germany) Sterigenics U.S. LLC (GTCR LLC) (U.S.) Charles River Laboratories (U.S.) Medical Device Testing Services (U.S.) RJR Consulting Inc. (U.S.) Mandala International (France) FreyrGlobal Regulatory Partners (U.S.) PAREXEL International Corporation (U.S.) Emergo (UL LLC) Bioteknica (U.S.) Accell Clinical Research LLC (U.S.) Genpact (U.S.) Criterium Inc. (U.S.) Promedica International (U.S.) Med Pace (U.S.) ICON PLC (Ireland) IQVIA Inc. (U.S.) Integer Holdings Corp. (U.S.) Tecomet Inc. (Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC) (U.S.) Jabil Inc. (U.S.) FLEX Ltd. (Singapore) Celestica Inc. (Canada) Sanmina Corp. (U.S.) Plexus Corp. (U.S.) Phillips Medisize (Molex LLC) (U.S.) Cantel Medical Corp. (STERIS PLC) (U.S.) West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (U.S.) To Know an Additional List of Key Players, Request Here to Download a Free Report PDF Brochure: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/medical-device-outsourced-manufacturing-market-2255/request-sample OR Enjoy a Fabulous 50% Discount with code "SEP50"! Don't miss out on these incredible savings @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/buy-now/medical-device-outsourced-manufacturing-market-2255/0 Factors affecting the growth of the Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing Industry Several factors can affect the growth of the Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing industry. Some of these factors include: Technological advancements: The growth of the Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing industry is heavily influenced by advancements in technology. As medical devices become more complex and sophisticated, companies often lack the in-house capacity to manufacture them. Cost reduction: Outsourcing allows companies to streamline operations and reduce costs associated with manufacturing, labor, and facility expenses. By partnering with specialized contract manufacturers, companies can focus on their core competencies, such as research and development, while benefiting from cost savings in manufacturing. Regulatory compliance: The medical device industry is highly regulated, and compliance with various standards and regulations is crucial. Contract manufacturers specializing in medical devices possess the necessary expertise and knowledge to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Increasing demand for medical devices: The demand for medical devices is expected to increase due to factors such as an aging population, rising chronic diseases, and technological advancements in healthcare. This growth in demand creates opportunities for the outsourced manufacturing industry as companies seek to meet market needs efficiently. Top Trends in Global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing Market One of the top trends in the global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market is the development of advanced wearable devices. Traditional medical devices, such as injectable drugs, may need to be improved regarding effectiveness and patient compliance. However, introducing wearable medical devices offers a convenient and efficient solution. These devices allow for non-invasive drug administration through methods such as transdermal patches or smart inhalers. With wearable devices, patients can easily adhere to their treatment regimen and experience improved therapy outcomes. Buy this Premium Research Report with Discount | Immediate Delivery @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/buy-now/medical-device-outsourced-manufacturing-market-2255/0 Recent Development of the Global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing Market October 2022, the reputable U.K. company Eakin Surgical, which is based in Cardiff, South Wales, and manufactures single-use surgical instruments, recently announced that it is expanding its contract manufacturing services to help medical device OEMs cut costs, meet rising sterile packaging demand, and address supply shortages. July 2022, Materic, a custom manufacturer of unique materials, and Baltimore MD LaunchPort, LLC, a medical device venture center and GMP contract manufacturing operation, have established a cooperation to promote the use of cutting-edge materials in developing cutting-edge medical device technologies. Market Drivers The Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market has been growing rapidly in recent years due to several factors. One of the main drivers is the increasing complexity and specialization of medical devices, which require advanced manufacturing capabilities that may not be available in-house for many medical device companies. Outsourcing these processes to specialized CMOs allows companies to access the necessary expertise and streamline their manufacturing operations. Additionally, outsourcing manufacturing can provide cost savings for medical device companies. By leveraging the scale and expertise of CMOs, companies can often achieve economies of scale and optimize their production processes. This can result in lower manufacturing costs and improved efficiency. Another factor driving the growth of the Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market is the increasingly stringent regulatory environment in the healthcare industry. CMOs specializing in medical device manufacturing are typically well-versed in regulatory compliance and can ensure that devices meet the necessary quality standards and regulations. Market Restraints A major restraint in the Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market is the strict regulatory environment. Medical devices must comply with various regulations and standards set by governing bodies, such as FDA in the United States. This can increase the complexity and cost of manufacturing, as manufacturers need to ensure compliance at every step. Additionally, intellectual property concerns and the risk of data breaches can act as restraints for companies considering outsourcing their manufacturing processes. Market Opportunities The global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market will offer numerous opportunities in the coming years. The market is driven by the increasing demand for cost-effective and innovative medical devices and the growing focus on quality and compliance in the healthcare industry. Additionally, the rising trend of outsourcing manufacturing processes to specialized contract manufacturers is a major factor fueling market growth. Moreover, advancements in technology, such as the development of advanced materials and manufacturing processes, are also creating new opportunities in the market. These factors are expected to drive the growth of the global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market. Browse market data Tables and Figures spread through 146 Pages and in-depth TOC on Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing Market Forecast Report (2023-2030). Report Segmentation of the Global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing Market Device Type Analysis IVD devices dominated the market with the largest share because of the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and the growing demand for diagnostic tests. IVD devices, such as immunoassay analyzers, molecular diagnostic instruments, and clinical chemistry analyzers, are essential in diagnosing and monitoring various diseases. With the growing prevalence of chronic diseases and the increasing emphasis on early detection and personalized medicine, the demand for IVD devices is expected to continue to rise. Additionally, technological advancements have led to the development of innovative IVD devices, further driving the market growth in this segment. Other device types, such as cardiovascular devices, orthopedic devices, and diagnostic imaging devices, also contribute to the overall market growth but to a lesser extent than IVD devices. Service Type Analysis The device development and manufacturing services segment dominated the largest market share. It will dominate in the forecast period because they offer a wide range of services, including device design, prototyping, testing, and manufacturing. These services are in high demand as medical device companies often need more in-house expertise or resources to handle all aspects of the development and manufacturing process. The global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market is based on the route of service type segmented into Device Development and Manufacturing Services, Quality Management Services, Packaging & Assembly By Type, and Other Services. Outsourcing these services allows companies to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and focus on their core competencies. Additionally, device development and manufacturing services are crucial in ensuring the safety and quality of medical devices, which are highly regulated and require strict adherence to industry standards. Class of Device Analysis Class II medical devices dominated the largest share due to their wide range of applications in various medical procedures. The global Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing market is based on a class of device analysis segmented into Class II Medical Devices, Class I Medical Devices, and Class III Medical Devices. Furthermore, the dominance of Class II medical devices in the global medical device outsourcing market can be attributed to their high demand and extensive use in healthcare settings. These devices are crucial for diagnosing, treating, and monitoring various medical conditions, and outsourcing their manufacturing allows companies to focus on their core competencies while ensuring efficient and cost-effective production. Read Full Report with TOC @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/medical-device-outsourced-manufacturing-market-2255 Global Oxygen Conserving Devices Market Segmentation By Type IVD Devices Diagnostic Imaging Devices Cardiovascular Devices Drug Delivery Devices Orthopedic Devices Ophthalmology Devices Diabetes Care Devices Dental Devices Respiratory Care Devices Surgical Devices Gynaecology/ Urology Devices Personal Care Neurology Devices Other Devices By End-Use Device Development & Manufacturing Services Quality Management Services Packaging & Assembly By Type Other Services By Class of Device Class I Medical Devices Class II Medical Devices Class III Medical Devices By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa Scope of the Report: Report Attributes Details Market Size in 2022 USD 29.8 Billion Revenue Forecast by 2030 USD 76.8 Billion CAGR 14.5% from 2023 to 2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2030 Key Players SGS SA, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Euro fins Scientific, Pace Analytical Services Inc., Intertek Group PLC, WuXiAppTec, North American Science Associates LLC, TUV SUD, Sterigenics U.S. LLC (GTCR LLC), Charles River Laboratories, Medical Device Testing Services, RJR Consulting Inc., Mandala International, FreyrGlobal Regulatory Partners, PAREXEL International Corporation, Emergo (UL LLC) Bioteknica, Accell Clinical Research LLC, Genpact, Criterium Inc., Promedica International, Med Pace, ICON PLC, IQVIA Inc., Integer Holdings Corp., Tecomet Inc. (Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC), Jabil Inc., FLEX Ltd., Celestica Inc., Sanmina Corp., Plexus Corp., Phillips Medisize, Cantel Medical Corp. (STERIS PLC), West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. Customization Options Customized purchase options are available to meet any research needs. Explore customized purchase options https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/medical-device-outsourced-manufacturing-market-2255/customization-request Regional Analysis Due to well-established healthcare infrastructure, advanced technology, and a highly skilled workforce, North America dominated the global market share for Medical Device Outsourced Manufacturing, with a market share of 42.10% in 2022. The region also benefits from robust research and development activities, favorable government regulations, and significant investments in the medical device industry. Additionally, North America has a large patient population base and increasing demand for technologically advanced medical devices. Furthermore, the region's extensive network of contract manufacturing organizations and strategic partnerships with medical device companies contribute to its leadership position in the global outsourced manufacturing market. The Asia Pacific market is the most lucrative due to several possible areas for future enlargement. The region's growth can be attributed to factors such as the increasing demand for healthcare services, technological advancements, and a large pool of skilled labor. Additionally, the competitive pricing offered by manufacturers in the region attracts medical device companies worldwide to outsource their manufacturing operations. Browse More Reports from Vantage Library: Refurbished Medical Equipment Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/refurbished-medical-equipment-market-2262 Disposable Hospital Gowns Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/disposable-hospital-gowns-market-2258 Digital Patient Monitoring Devices Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/digital-patient-monitoring-devices-market-2250 Orthopedic Navigation Systems Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/orthopedic-navigation-systems-market-2246 Infant Incubator Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/infant-incubator-market-0172 About Vantage Market Research: We, at Vantage Market Research, provide quantified B2B high quality research on more than 20,000 emerging markets, in turn, helping our clients map out constellation of opportunities for their businesses. We, as a competitive intelligence market research and consulting firm provide end to end solutions to our client enterprises to meet their crucial business objectives. Our clientele base spans across 70% of Global Fortune 500 companies. Follow Us on: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Contact us Eric Kunz 6218 Georgia Avenue NW Ste 1 - 564 Washington DC 20011-5125 United States Tel: +1 202 380 9727 Email: sales@vantagemarketresearch.com Website: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/ Latest Vantage Market Research Press Releases Latest Vantage Market Research Blog Vantage Market Research All Reports Blog: NEW YORK The life-threatening risks for New Yorks construction workers dont end when their shifts do. Struggles with depression and substance abuse are common in an industry plagued by a disproportionate number of suicides, with a program to raise awareness of the daunting issues kicking off Monday during the upcoming Construction Suicide Prevention Week. Were trying to change the culture, said Brandon Loftus, director of member assistance for the International Union of Elevator Constructors. Men in the construction industry, they dont talk about it. The tough guy culture of suck it up, buttercup was the mentality for a lot of years. Loftus, who endured his own struggles, has a message for those in the same emotional boat: Its OK not to be OK. More than 5,500 industry workers nationwide take their own lives each year five times more than their colleagues killed in work accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In contrast, the annual 2022 industry report by the city Department of Buildings showed just 11 on-the-job deaths. The Building Trades Employers Association is behind the new program, with recently-arrived CEO Elizabeth Crowley making mental health a priority. I think especially when it comes to suicide, a silent killer, people dont like to discuss it, said Crowley. This industry is known for grit and determination, but acknowledging mental health and wellness, addressing the issue, has made us even stronger. Construction workers face danger on a daily basis, from electrocution to accidents with equipment to falls from high elevations. But their mental well-being, often self-diagnosed and difficult to share, has long gone untreated. Industry veteran Pat Di Filippo, executive vice president with Turner Construction, said the warning signs of mental health issues are not always easy to diagnose. Thats the hardest one to notice, said Di Filippo, whose father worked in the business. A worker might (need to) wear a harness, and thats easy to mandate. But how do you monitor somebody who comes through your gate, a big burly worker? Story continues You can be emotional or distraught. Or just suffering anxiety. So how do you see these signs? It starts with a conversation. Turner Construction now hangs bilingual suicide prevention posters in prominent locations at their 1,500 project sites, hosts a suicide awareness webinar for employees and brought in a doctor to speak at a company-wide town hall meeting. Nearly 250,000 construction workers from 48 states and U.S. territories registered last year to participate in a national mental health program, launched by a group of volunteers in 2020 as industry attention continues to grow. Doug Parker, the federal assistant secretary for occupational safety and health, recently cited the unique causes of stress across the industry, from long hours to the risk of serious injuries. Left unchecked, these stressors can affect mental health severely and lead to anxiety, depression, substance abuse and in some cases suicide, he said. The organizers hope to get in front of the issue by raising awareness and then providing assistance to those in need. Gov. Kathy Hochul appeared at a June event announcing the BTEAs increased focus on mental health, backing the endeavor before a crowd of contractors and union employees. I am so grateful that youre enlightened enough to bring up this topic, she said. For so long, people have had to deal with the stresses of life, but there was a stigma associated to asking for help. BTEA Executive Vice President Patrick Wehle said the suicide prevention event, running this Monday through Friday, was a step in the right direction but just the first one. We know we have to do more, he said. We need to get people to talk (and) push, push, push in working together to reduce the stigma. To make people more comfortable in having the conversation. _____ (Bloomberg) -- Mercedes-Benz Group AG unveiled an electric vehicle with a longer range than any Tesla Inc. model on the market as the German luxury-car maker intensifies its bid to challenge Elon Musk. Most Read from Bloomberg The company presented a near-production concept of its CLA sedan rated to go more than 750 kilometers (466 miles) on a charge, beating Teslas refreshed Model 3. The car is Mercedess first based on its upcoming EV underpinnings, with a battery system that can add 400 kilometers of range in just 15 minutes of charging. Were taking it to the next level, Mercedes Chief Technology Officer Markus Schafer said Sunday in an interview ahead of the IAA car show in Munich. This car is extremely important for innovation reasons and to push the limits for what we can do with a series car. Read more: Mercedes Will Make Electric Baby G-Wagon, CEO Says Mercedes is under pressure to bolster its lineup after disappointing sales in China forced the company to cut prices on some of its electric models. The new CLA, though, is some time away and wont hit showrooms until the first half of 2025, Chief Executive Officer Ola Kallenius said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. BMW AG on Saturday unveiled its own next-generation EV, a sleek coupe featuring a digital display projected onto the entire width of the windscreen. BMWs prototype will also take until around mid-decade to go on sale. Read more: VW Turns to Design to Sharpen Model Lineup as EV Sales Struggle Read more: BMW CEO Sees Profit Boost From Next-Generation Electric Cars Mercedes is trying to fend off Tesla and bolster sales in China, where customers are increasingly going for homegrown brands such as BYD Co. and Nio Inc. that have been better at building EVs with software geared to local tastes. The company has a goal to sell only EVs where possible by the end of this decade and plans to set up eight battery factories with partners. Story continues While the luxury-car maker isnt affected by a price war on EVs in China, the period for rapid growth in the biggest auto market may be over, Kallenius said. After 30, 40 years of an economic wonder, theyre reaching a level of maturity where youre dealing with structural issues, he said. We have to take a little bit of a cautious stance on that and see how things develop, and not expect rapid growth as far as the economy is concerned in the short term. The CLA concept lacks the bowed roof line of the brands EQS and EQE sedans. While their low-slung roof makes them more aerodynamic, increasing their range, the design also reduces headroom in the rear-seating compartment. Thats a drawback in the Chinese market, where wealthy customers often prefer to be chauffeured. Mercedes is pursuing a strategy to bolster margins by focusing resources on top-end vehicles including the Maybach limousines, AMG performance cars and G-Wagon off-roader, while shifting away from less profitable entry-level models like the compact A-Class. The new CLA concept sets out how the manufacturer will try to defend its position in the entry-level luxury segment where Mercedes tries to attract younger customers, competing with volume manufacturers like Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. --With assistance from Oliver Crook. (Updates with CEO comment on CLA launch in fourth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Long-established in the Travel & Leisure industry, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) has enjoyed a stellar reputation. However, it has recently witnessed a decline of 1.03%, juxtaposed with a three-month change of 5.74%. Fresh insights from the GuruFocus Score Rating hint at potential headwinds. Notably, its diminished rankings in financial strength, growth, and valuation suggest that the company might not live up to its historical performance. Join us as we dive deep into these pivotal metrics to unravel the evolving narrative of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Is Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) Set to Underperform? Analyzing the Factors Limiting Growth Understanding the GF Score The GF Score is a stock performance ranking system developed by GuruFocus using five aspects of valuation, which has been found to be closely correlated to the long-term performances of stocks by backtesting from 2006 to 2021. The stocks with a higher GF Score generally generate higher returns than those with a lower GF Score. Therefore, when picking stocks, investors should invest in companies with high GF Scores. The GF Score ranges from 0 to 100, with 100 as the highest rank. Based on the above method, GuruFocus assigned Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd the GF Score of 58 out of 100, which signals poor future outperformance potential. Company Snapshot: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd Norwegian Cruise Line is the world's third-largest cruise company by berths (at more than 60,000), operating 30 ships across three brands (Norwegian, Oceania, and Regent Seven Seas), offering both freestyle and luxury cruising. The company had redeployed its entire fleet as of May 2022. With seven passenger vessels on order among its brands through 2028 (representing 19,000 incremental berths), Norwegian is increasing capacity faster than its peers, expanding its brand globally. Norwegian sails to around 700 global destinations. Story continues Is Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) Set to Underperform? Analyzing the Factors Limiting Growth Financial Strength Breakdown Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd's financial strength indicators present some concerning insights about the company's balance sheet health. The company's interest coverage ratio of 0, positions it worse than 0% of 554 companies in the Travel & Leisure industry. This ratio highlights potential challenges the company might face when handling its interest expenses on outstanding debt. It's worth noting that the esteemed investor Benjamin Graham typically favored companies with an interest coverage ratio of at least five. The company's Altman Z-Score is just -0.22, which is below the distress zone of 1.81. This suggests that the company may face financial distress over the next few years. Additionally, the company's low cash-to-debt ratio at 0.07 indicates a struggle in handling existing debt levels. The company's debt-to-equity ratio is 903.85, which is worse than 100% of 669 companies in the Travel & Leisure industry. A high debt-to-equity ratio suggests over-reliance on borrowing and vulnerability to market fluctuations. Additionally, the company's debt-to-Ebitda ratio is 21.12, which is above Joel Tillinghast's warning level of 4 and is worse than 92.24% of 580 companies in the Travel & Leisure industry. Tillinghast said in his book Big Money Think's Small: Biases, Blind Spots, and Smarter Investing that a high debt-to-Ebitda ratio can be a red flag unless tangible assets cover the debt. Growth Prospects A lack of significant growth is another area where Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd seems to falter, as evidenced by the company's low Growth rank. The company's revenue has declined by -27.2 per year over the past three years, which underperforms worse than 85.88% of 765 companies in the Travel & Leisure industry. Stagnating revenues may pose concerns in a fast-evolving market. Lastly, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd predictability rank is just one star out of five, adding to investor uncertainty regarding revenue and earnings consistency. Is Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) Set to Underperform? Analyzing the Factors Limiting Growth Conclusion Given the company's financial strength, profitability, and growth metrics, the GuruFocus Score Rating highlights the firm's unparalleled position for potential underperformance. While Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd has a rich history and a strong brand presence, its current financial health and growth prospects paint a less than rosy picture. Investors should tread carefully and consider these factors when making investment decisions. GuruFocus Premium members can find more companies with strong GF Scores using the following screener link: GF Score Screen This article first appeared on GuruFocus. By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices edged higher on Monday on expectations that OPEC+ would keep supplies tight and speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cease its aggressive interest rate hike campaign. Saudi Arabia has spearheaded efforts to support prices, making large voluntary output cuts as part of a production deal agreed by the OPEC+ producer group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia. The kingdom is widely expected to extend its voluntary 1 million barrel per day (bpd) cut for a fourth consecutive month into October. Saudi Arabia's previous announcements have come ahead of its official selling prices, which typically emerge in the first week of the month. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, meanwhile, has said that Moscow had agreed with OPEC+ partners on the parameters for continued export cuts in October. Saudi Arabia and Russia could withdraw the cuts at any point, said OANDA analyst Craig Erlam, "but I can't imagine they'll be in any rush and risk sending the price tumbling again." Brent crude futures for November crept 45 cents higher to settle at $89.00 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) October futures rose 40 cents to $85.95. Global crude oil supplies are expected to improve in the next six to eight weeks because of refinery maintenance, although sour crude will stay tight, said Russell Hardy, chief executive of the world's largest independent oil trader, Vitol. The oil market is vulnerable to price spikes due to low inventories and underinvestment in new oilfields, a senior official at global commodities trading firm Trafigura said on Monday. U.S. August jobs data, meanwhile, has strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve will pause its increases to interest rates this month. In China, manufacturing activity expanded unexpectedly in August and a series of economic measures to support the country's post-pandemic recovery have ignited optimism that demand will pick up in the world's largest oil importer. Story continues "...The market does appear to have a more receptive and less cynical ear this morning," said John Evans at oil broker PVM. Chinese leader Xi Jinping's "promises of support for the services sector and relaxing of cross-border trade restrictions find sympathy from a market that has fewer drivers with the absence of U.S. participants." (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in New York; Additional reporting by Paul Carsten and Natalie Grover in London, Mohi Narayan in New Delhi, Yousef Saba in Dubai and Andrew Hayley in Beijing; Editing by Jason Neely, David Goodman, Mike Harrison and Cynthia Osterman) The cloud-based progress claim management solution is honoured for its outstanding commitment to helping builders and subcontractors collaborate better on construction projects. MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Payapps, a global construction software as a service (SaaS) solution trusted by thousands of main contractors and subcontractors to simplify and standardise progress claims, was awarded the ABA100 Winner for SaaS Innovation in The Australian Business Awards 2023. This recognition follows the company's recent successes, including the Australian Good Design Award in Digital Design, the UK's Construction Computing's Cloud Technology of the Year Award and as a finalist for the 2023 SaaS Awards program in the category "Best SaaS Product for the Construction Industry". The Australian Business Award for SaaS Innovation celebrates organisations demonstrating core values of business innovation, product innovation, technological achievement, and employee engagement. Payapps is proud of its technological achievements; however, the award also highlights the company's dedication to offering a progress claim management solution that meets the needs of a modern construction business. "Winning the ABA100 SaaS Innovation Award is a testament to our team's dedication and the value we strive to bring to the construction industry," said Geoff Tarrant, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Payapps. "Our primary focus has always been to provide an innovative solution tailored to the specific needs of construction professionals. This award recognises our efforts in making a tangible difference in how progress claims are managed in the industry." With this award, Payapps gains eligibility to compete in the international arena at The World Business Award to measure its progress claim management platform against global leaders. To learn more about how Payapps is helping construction professionals evolve their businesses with an efficient, reliable, and innovative SaaS solution for progress claims, visit payapps.com. Story continues About Payapps Payapps is a cloud-based collaboration tool for the construction industry. It helps main contractors and subcontractors simplify and expedite project progress claims and approvals, including variations and retentions. A simpler and faster digital process ensures greater transparency, increased accuracy, improved compliance, reduced financial risk, fewer disputes, and fairer outcomes. Payapps significantly cuts progress claim approval times whilst helping to meet regulatory requirements. Compliance is improved and made easier with documentation verification integrated with the approval process. Seamless integration with a wide range of project, construction and financial management software helps provide real-time data on all project payment requests and approvals. About the Award The Australian Business Awards are an annual comprehensive awards program that recognises organisations demonstrating the core values of business innovation, product innovation, technological achievement and employee engagement via established business and product award categories. The Australian Business Awards are the national chapter of an integrated, hierarchical leadership initiative conducted nationally and internationally. The Australian Business Award for SaaS Innovation recognises software as a service product that provides innovative solutions for business and market needs. Payapps Logo (PRNewsfoto/Payapps) Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/payapps-recognised-with-the-aba100-saas-innovation-in-the-australian-business-awards-301916756.html SOURCE Payapps Usually, when one insider buys stock, it might not be a monumental event. But when multiple insiders are buying like they did in the case of musicMagpie plc (LON:MMAG), that sends out a positive message to the company's shareholders. Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. View our latest analysis for musicMagpie musicMagpie Insider Transactions Over The Last Year The Co-Founder Steven Oliver made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK186k worth of shares at a price of UK0.14 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of UK0.17. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price. In the last twelve months musicMagpie insiders were buying shares, but not selling. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Insider Ownership Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 23% of musicMagpie shares, worth about UK4.0m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment. What Might The Insider Transactions At musicMagpie Tell Us? There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in musicMagpie and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with musicMagpie (including 1 which can't be ignored). Story continues But note: musicMagpie may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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. Usually, when one insider buys stock, it might not be a monumental event. But when multiple insiders are buying like they did in the case of Castile Resources Limited (ASX:CST), that sends out a positive message to the company's shareholders. While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. Check out our latest analysis for Castile Resources Castile Resources Insider Transactions Over The Last Year The insider Ram Kangatharan made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$159k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.084 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being AU$0.063). Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. While Castile Resources insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Insiders At Castile Resources Have Bought Stock Recently Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Castile Resources. insider Ram Kangatharan spent AU$159k on stock, and there wasn't any selling. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook. Story continues Insider Ownership Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 19% of Castile Resources shares, worth about AU$2.9m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. So What Does This Data Suggest About Castile Resources Insiders? The recent insider purchase is heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. Insiders likely see value in Castile Resources shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Castile Resources (3 are significant) you should be aware of. 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. Key Insights The considerable ownership by private companies in China Yuchai International indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy 63% of the business is held by the top 2 shareholders Using data from company's past performance alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company To get a sense of who is truly in control of China Yuchai International Limited (NYSE:CYD), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is private companies. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn). Meanwhile, individual investors make up 20% of the companys shareholders. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about China Yuchai International. See our latest analysis for China Yuchai International What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About China Yuchai International? Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in China Yuchai International. 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 China Yuchai International's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters. Story continues Our data indicates that hedge funds own 10% of China Yuchai International. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Hong Leong Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd. with 45% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 18% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 10% by the third-largest shareholder. After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions. 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 is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time. Insider Ownership Of China Yuchai International 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 China Yuchai International Limited. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It seems the board members have no more than US$736k worth of shares in the US$453m company. Many investors in smaller companies prefer to see the board more heavily invested. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling. General Public Ownership The general public-- including retail investors -- own 20% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. Private Company Ownership Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 45%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research. Public Company Ownership It appears to us that public companies own 18% of China Yuchai International. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership. Next Steps: It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand China Yuchai International better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with China Yuchai International . 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. Qabil Ashirov Read more Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov is paying a visit to Hungary, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. According to the posts of Ministry on X, within the framework of the visit, Jeyhun Bayramov held a Tete-a-tete meeting with Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto. Later the sides had a meeting in an expanded format. The meeting focused on Azerbaijani-Hungarian bilateral strategic partnership and issues of mutual interest on the regional and international agenda. The first meeting of the strategic dialogue between the two countries was held. The Ministry noted that on the sidelines of the official visit of Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov to Hungary, Azerbaijani, and Hungarian top diplomats delivered statements on the outcomes of the meeting and prospects of bilateral and multilateral cooperation agenda between Azerbaijan and Hungary at joint press conference. There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Although, when we looked at Sally Beauty Holdings (NYSE:SBH), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes. Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE) If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Sally Beauty Holdings: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.16 = US$342m (US$2.7b - US$566m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023). Thus, Sally Beauty Holdings has an ROCE of 16%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Specialty Retail industry average of 13% it's much better. See our latest analysis for Sally Beauty Holdings roce In the above chart we have measured Sally Beauty Holdings' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Sally Beauty Holdings. What Can We Tell From Sally Beauty Holdings' ROCE Trend? In terms of Sally Beauty Holdings' historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 16% from 31% five years ago. On the other hand, the company has been employing more capital without a corresponding improvement in sales in the last year, which could suggest these investments are longer term plays. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments. Story continues In Conclusion... To conclude, we've found that Sally Beauty Holdings is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. And investors appear hesitant that the trends will pick up because the stock has fallen 35% in the last five years. Therefore based on the analysis done in this article, we don't think Sally Beauty Holdings has the makings of a multi-bagger. On a separate note, we've found 2 warning signs for Sally Beauty Holdings you'll probably want to know about. If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive 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. DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair flew 12% more passengers in August than in the same month last year, it said on Monday, its latest all-time traffic record in what is typically its busiest month. Europe's largest airline by passenger volume said it flew 18.9 million passengers in August, up from 16.9 million a year earlier and up from 14.9 million in August 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It achieved its previous record, 18.7 million passengers, in July. The Irish airline has said it expects traffic in the financial year to March 2024 to grow by 9%, to around 183.5 million passengers. Analysts at Citi reiterated a 'buy' rating for the airline in a note following the release of the passenger data, saying it sees the airline as a "market share consolidator in Western Europe, with growth potential in Eastern Europe". (Writing by Conor Humphries; editing by Jason Neely) Key Insights Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Serko's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions 53% of the business is held by the top 7 shareholders Insiders have been selling lately A look at the shareholders of Serko Limited (NZSE:SKO) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 32% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Serko. Check out our latest analysis for Serko What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Serko? Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing. Serko already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. 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 Serko's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Serko. Harbour Asset Management Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 9.3% of shares outstanding. Darrin Grafton is the second largest shareholder owning 9.3% of common stock, and Geoffrey Hosking holds about 9.0% of the company stock. Darrin Grafton, who is the second-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer. Story continues On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 7 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones. While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future. Insider Ownership Of Serko The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Serko Limited. Insiders have a NZ$141m stake in this NZ$460m business. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling. General Public Ownership The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 31% stake in Serko. 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. Public Company Ownership Public companies currently own 4.6% of Serko stock. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership. 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. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Serko that you should be aware of before investing here. But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. When a single insider purchases stock, it is typically not a major deal. However, when multiple insiders purchase stock, like in Oxford BioDynamics Plc's (LON:OBD) instance, it's good news for shareholders. While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. See our latest analysis for Oxford BioDynamics The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Oxford BioDynamics Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Non-Executive Director Stephen Diggle for UK65k worth of shares, at about UK0.15 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK0.11. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. Oxford BioDynamics insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below! Oxford BioDynamics is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying. Insider Ownership Of Oxford BioDynamics Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. From our data, it seems that Oxford BioDynamics insiders own 12% of the company, worth about UK2.7m. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership. Story continues So What Does This Data Suggest About Oxford BioDynamics Insiders? There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. While we have no worries about the insider transactions, we'd be more comfortable if they owned more Oxford BioDynamics 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. Case in point: We've spotted 6 warning signs for Oxford BioDynamics you should be aware of, and 4 of them are potentially serious. 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. NEW YORK Staten Island Ferry workers are finally setting sail on a new labor contract. After 13 years without one, the Staten Island Ferry workers union has reached a deal with Mayor Eric Adams administration on a labor contract that ensures retroactive raises and establishes new scheduling and vacation protocols. The deal, announced by Adams on Monday, ensures salary increases of at least 38% for all Staten Island Ferry captains, assistant captains, mates and engineers, as calculated from the retroactive Nov. 7, 2010 start date of the contract through the Jan. 4, 2027, end date. The contract will cost city taxpayers a total of $103 million. Renee Campion, Adams Labor Relations commissioner, explained the wage structure means Staten Island Ferry mates will earn $124,400 annually at the end of the contract if theyve been on the payroll since 2010. By comparison, a Staten Island Ferry mate earned $51,000 in 2010. Unveiling the deal during an afternoon press conference that coincided with the Labor Day holiday, Adams voiced disbelief about the fact that ferry workers have gone without a single raise for 13 years. Thirteen years without a raise, that is just hard to believe. Everything is going up around you, and youre seeing your pay stagnant for 13 years unbelievable, Adams said at Staten Islands St. George Ferry Terminal. He added: I dont know how these guys made it 13 years without a salary increase ... Rent doesnt wait, mortgage doesnt wait, food doesnt wait, they had to wait for 13 years. Roland Rexha, treasurer of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, which represents the ferry systems roughly 150 unionized workers, called the deal historic and also highlighted the plight his members have endured while going without a contract. Its been a very long time coming. People have struggled, he said. Theyre in debt, theyve gone into their pensions, theyve taken pension loans. This is a relief that theyre going to have to get their lives back in order. Story continues The contract has already been ratified by the Marine Engineers Beneficial Associations rank-and-file, with support from 94% of its members, according to City Hall. In addition to ensuring wage bumps, the contract will put Staten Island Ferry employees on 40-hour workweek schedules an increase from the current 32-hour structure. The contract also permits union workers to take vacation in one-week blocks instead of two-week blocks, a shift Adams administration officials said will allow for more flexibility. When the Staten Island Ferry unions last contract with the city expired, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg was refusing to settle labor agreements with a number of municipal unions, citing fallout from the 2008 financial crisis. Upon taking office, Mayor Bill de Blasio moved quickly to settle dozens of the outstanding contracts but his administration never managed to reach a deal with the Staten Island Ferry union despite years of tedious negotations. The years-long wait for a contract has driven many ferry workers to leave for higher-paying private sector jobs. Subsequent staff shortages have prompted ferry service disruptions on a regular basis, leaving thousands of New Yorkers who rely on it for their commutes in limbo. Last summer, Adams blamed one such service disruption on ferry workers calling out from work without good reason. That accusation drew harsh pushback from the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association at the time. On Monday, though, the union had nothing but praise for Adams. Throughout two previous administrations, it often felt like City Hall and the MEBA were sailing on separate courses. However, today, we proudly announce that we have finally brought this contract to dock, Rexha said. This achievement is due in part to having a mayor who truly values the hard work of our members and comprehends the challenges our mariners face day in and day out. svetikd / Getty Images Federal student loan borrowers have about a month to prepare for the resumption of payments following a payment moratorium that began in March 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. If youre worried that you cant afford your payments especially now that the Biden loan forgiveness program has been shot down one option is to seek help from your employer. Student Loan Forgiveness: 10 Expenses To Cut From Your Budget When Payments Resume Learn More: What To Do If You Owe Back Taxes to the IRS In an Aug. 24 news release, the IRS reminded employers that they can offer workers up to $5,250 tax-free annually as part of their educational assistance benefits. According to the news release, Employers with educational assistance programs can use them to help pay student loan obligations for their employees. The IRS wants to remind both employers and employees about this special feature that can help with student loans, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. There is a limited window of time for this educational assistance program, and the IRS wants to make sure employers dont overlook this option that can help businesses attract and retain workers. Educational assistance programs have been available for many years, the IRS noted, but the option to use them to pay student loans has been available only for payments made after Mar. 27, 2020. Under current law, they will remain open until Dec. 31, 2025. By law, tax-free benefits under an educational assistance program are limited to $5,250 per employee per year. Normally, the assistance provided above that level is taxable as wages. Here are three ways the IRS says your employer can help pay your debt tax-free: Use the educational Use the educational assistance program to pay the employees tuition and fees. Pay for the employees books, equipment, supplies, and related education expenses. Pay the principal and interest on qualified education loans. Payments made directly to the lender and those made to the employee qualify. Story continues The IRS advises that employers who dont have an educational assistance program consider setting one up to provide more benefits in a tight labor market. The agency will offer a free 75-minute webinar beginning at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 14. Registration and other information can be obtained by visiting the Webinars for Tax Practitioners page or the Webinars for Small Businesses page on IRS.gov. The IRS will share additional information through social media posts and e-newsletters that reach the small business, tax-exempt and tax professional communities. Providing $5,250 a year in student loan relief or about $437 a month would be welcome news to borrowers struggling to pay down their debt. About 48 million borrowers have student loan debt. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average federal student loan debt is $37,574 per borrower as of April 2023. The average private student loan debt is less than $55,000 per borrower. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Student Loan Forgiveness: 3 Ways the IRS Says Your Employer Can Help Pay Your Debt Tax-Free Super Retail Group Limited's (ASX:SUL) dividend will be increasing from last year's payment of the same period to A$0.69 on 18th of October. This makes the dividend yield about the same as the industry average at 6.0%. Check out our latest analysis for Super Retail Group Super Retail Group Doesn't Earn Enough To Cover Its Payments Solid dividend yields are great, but they only really help us if the payment is sustainable. Prior to this announcement, Super Retail Group's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that a large portion of its earnings are being retained to grow the business. Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to fall by 10.7% over the next year. If the dividend continues along the path it has been on recently, the payout ratio in 12 months could be 106%, which is definitely a bit high to be sustainable going forward. Dividend Volatility The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least one cut in the last 10 years. Since 2013, the dividend has gone from A$0.32 total annually to A$0.78. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 9.3% over that duration. A reasonable rate of dividend growth is good to see, but we're wary that the dividend history is not as solid as we'd like, having been cut at least once. The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Super Retail Group has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 12% per annum. The company is paying a reasonable amount of earnings to shareholders, and is growing earnings at a decent rate so we think it could be a decent dividend stock. We Really Like Super Retail Group's Dividend Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that Super Retail Group is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. The distributions are easily covered by earnings, and there is plenty of cash being generated as well. However, it is worth noting that the earnings are expected to fall over the next year, which may not change the long term outlook, but could affect the dividend payment in the next 12 months. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity. It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Just as an example, we've come across 2 warning signs for Super Retail Group you should be aware of, and 1 of them is concerning. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. "Forever" chemicals are proving to be extremely costly to the companies that produced them. 3M (MMM) and Dupont (DD) have agreed to pay more than $15 billion to settle claims that PFAS chemicals, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, caused harm. The numbers could get a lot higher before its all over, according to legal experts. "We should anticipate more litigation," said Cornell Law School professor Alexandra Lahav. Thousands of plaintiffs from individuals to municipalities and states have already alleged these chemicals associated with cancers and other serious medical conditions contaminated air, water, and soil across the globe. Some experts, in fact, say there is a chance that the "forever chemicals" could eventually compete with the largest-ever legal multi-case settlement in US history. That came in 1998 when the four largest US cigarette manufacturers, known collectively as "Big Tobacco," agreed to pay more than $206 billion to all 50 states. Analysts at Capstone anticipate that PFAS claims could cost 3M alone another $30 billion. "There is no doubt that PFAS claims will trump tobacco," said Scott M. Seaman, partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. But Lahav and other legal experts say its hard, if not impossible, to accurately assess the risk because PFAS claims are still in their infancy and riddled with unknowns. The 3M headquarters in Maplewood, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) For one, they say, theres no perfect analog for PFAS because of how difficult it is to prove exposure led to a particular disease due to the prevalence of the chemicals in everyday products that consumers use as well as in their environment. The substances are dubbed "forever chemicals" for their inability or near inability to decompose and have been used for decades to fortify products from cookware to fabrics. The chemicals have been detected in the blood of nearly every American and have also been detected in marine and land animals. Neither the tobacco cases, a long-running series of cases alleging harm from asbestos, nor major environmental cases like the $20 billion BP (BP) Gulf of Mexico oil spill settlement in 2015 are great proxies. Story continues That's because fewer people, and fewer places, were exposed to cigarettes, asbestos, or an oil spill. A 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico eventually resulted in a $20 billion settlement. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) "The case for [environmental] liability is pretty strong," Lahav said. "I think the problem with these forever chemicals is that they are bio-permanent and so the abatement is very, very expensive. And then you have potential personal injury claims as well, that basically don't have a sunset so could happen at any time." 'The first season in a long-running show' As of August 2022, more than 6,400 cases alleging harm caused by PFAS had been filed in federal court. A majority of cases targeted Teflon manufacturer DuPont, though 3M has since emerged as a primary target. Other defendants like grocery chain Kroger (KR) and sportswear cooperative REI also are caught up in the litigation. One early sign of costs to come for major PFAS targets like 3M became evident on Tuesday when a federal judge in South Carolina tentatively approved the companys $12.5 billion settlement to put to bed claims consolidated into a multidistrict litigation from 19 public water suppliers and 22 states. The multi-case agreement resolves claims concerning a fire-repelling PFAS called aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF, that polluted public drinking water sources. In 2018, 3M reached an $850 million settlement with Minnesotas attorney general over groundwater contamination. "The [multidistrict litigation] is the first season in a long-running show," Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs for The Environmental Working Group, which advocates for reductions in PFAS contamination, told Yahoo Finance. Faber's organization updated its PFAS contamination map in August to include the US Environmental Protection Agency's 328 newly confirmed PFAS water contamination sites. In the US there are now 3,186 confirmed contamination locations across 50 states and the District of Columbia. "It's bad news, and it's only going to get worse," Faber said, explaining that some of the communities that tested positive for PFAS have drinking water that serves hundreds of thousands of people. Fresno, California, which provides water to more than 500,000 people, he said, detected nine different PFAS chemicals in the city's finished tap water at 194.3 parts per trillion. In March, the EPA proposed a nationwide PFAS drinking water limit of four parts per trillion, along with mandatory and public reporting of PFAS levels. The agency expects to finalize any changes by the end of the year. Another big "forever chemicals" settlement came in June when PFAS manufacturers DuPont de Nemours, Chemours Company, and Corteva ("DuPont") together announced a $1.2 billion settlement with a group of US water suppliers. The funds are to be used for the remediation of aquifers. In 2017, DuPont and Chemours, which DuPont spun off, agreed to a $617 million settlement to resolve 3,550 cases. In 2021, DuPont reached an $83 million settlement to resolve about 100 personal injury claims and also established a $4 billion cost-sharing agreement with Chemours and former subsidiary Coteva to manage future claims. Dupont and Chemours, which it spun off, agreed to a settlement in 2017 to resolve 3,550 cases. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images) 'It's hard to come up with a number' There is plenty of room for overall case numbers to swell. In 3Ms latest settlement, the states and the federal government retained a right to sue 3M if they discover future PFAS harms. Plus other PFAS chemicals PFOA and PFOS are additional targets of litigation. Among the PFAS cases, water supply and land contamination are the easiest to handicap because damages are tied to the cost of removing the chemicals, University of Pennsylvania law professor Tom Baker said. Estimating the cost of claims for illness or disease, he said, is far more elusive. That unpredictability is further complicated by scant scientific evidence proving exactly how PFAS leads to disease and the challenge of environmental forensics to link a particular PFAS exposure to bodily harm. "For bodily injury, I feel like we're still early in that," Baker said. "It seems like there's just too many variables to come up with a number. There's just no way of knowing. Its hard to come up with a number." A series of bellwether trials that are meant to test how juries will react to personal injury and other PFAS claims, and the evidence to support them, are set to move forward starting in 2024. Studies suggest PFAS exposure is associated with increased risk for kidney and testicular cancer, fertility complications, pregnancy-induced hypertension/preeclampsia, fetal and child development changes, liver damage, thyroid disease, asthma, heightened cholesterol, and immune system changes, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). "As you get deeper into PFAS you realize the number of potential parties is quite large," Faber said. 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 Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. Having said that, unprofitable companies are risky because they could potentially burn through all their cash and become distressed. So, the natural question for Aroa Biosurgery (ASX:ARX) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. For the purpose of this article, we'll define cash burn as the amount of cash the company is spending each year to fund its growth (also called its negative free cash flow). First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves. View our latest analysis for Aroa Biosurgery Does Aroa Biosurgery Have A Long Cash Runway? A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. In March 2023, Aroa Biosurgery had NZ$46m in cash, and was debt-free. Importantly, its cash burn was NZ$11m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of about 4.0 years from March 2023. Importantly, though, analysts think that Aroa Biosurgery will reach cashflow breakeven before then. In that case, it may never reach the end of its cash runway. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below. How Well Is Aroa Biosurgery Growing? It was fairly positive to see that Aroa Biosurgery reduced its cash burn by 31% during the last year. And arguably the operating revenue growth of 60% was even more impressive. We think it is growing rather well, upon reflection. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years. Story continues Can Aroa Biosurgery Raise More Cash Easily? While Aroa Biosurgery seems to be in a decent position, we reckon it is still worth thinking about how easily it could raise more cash, if that proved desirable. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations. Aroa Biosurgery has a market capitalisation of NZ$317m and burnt through NZ$11m last year, which is 3.6% of the company's market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money. So, Should We Worry About Aroa Biosurgery's Cash Burn? It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Aroa Biosurgery is burning through its cash. For example, we think its revenue growth suggests that the company is on a good path. Its cash burn reduction wasn't quite as good, but was still rather encouraging! It's clearly very positive to see that analysts are forecasting the company will break even fairly soon. After considering a range of factors in this article, we're pretty relaxed about its cash burn, since the company seems to be in a good position to continue to fund its growth. We think it's very important to consider the cash burn for loss making companies, but other considerations such as the amount the CEO is paid can also enhance your understanding of the business. You can click here to see what Aroa Biosurgery's CEO gets paid each year. If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow. 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. Alkhair Capital Dubai, a leading financial services firm, has launched Alkhair Capital Healthcare Sector Fund, the Islamic healthcare liquidity fund domiciled in Dubai International Financial Centre, with a target size of $100 million. The Shariah-compliant Fund, designed with an open-ended structure, is poised to invest in enterprises harnessing cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) to bolster healthcare providers, stated the company addressing the media in Dubai. Alkhair Capital has partnered with Klaim Technologies, a fintech firm that provides AI-powered solutions for assessing insurance claims, aimed to deploy proactive investment management approaches to meet objectives of the Fund. Remarkable growth Naveed Aurakzai, CEO of Alkhair Capital Dubai, said: The healthcare sector is experiencing remarkable growth, propelled by the region's expanding senior citizen population, rising life expectancy, and a surge in lifestyle diseases. This surge has led to significant challenges, including insufficient infrastructure, higher medical claim settlements, and liquidity constraints due to extended working capital cycles. We are confident that the Alkhair Healthcare Fund will play a pivotal role in addressing liquidity challenges and prolonged working capital cycles, which are currently hampering the profitability and expansion of medical facilities, he added. Citing internal analysis, he explained that the UAE health sector currently has $1.2 billion in medical claims caught in processing. Removing delays Healthcare facilities encounter a delay of 112 days on average to receive 90% of their payments from insurance companies. We launched this investment Fund with the primary aim of addressing one of the most formidable challenges within the sector, estimated to encompass $100 billion in spending within the GCC, Aurakzai said. Aafaque Muamber, Principal, Private Equity at Alkhair Capital Dubai, said: The Fund presents investors with an investment structure characterised by low volatility and income generation. The Fund facilitates access to the rapidly expanding healthcare sector of the region and aims to achieve an annual return of 6% to 12%. Speaking about the investment approach, he added that the underlying investments will be strategically allocated across short to medium-term durations. This allocation aims to strike a balance between fulfilling the Fund's liquidity requirements and achieving favourable returns. Karim Dakki, CEO of Klaim, said: Our partnership with Alkhair Healthcare Fund marks a significant step toward resolving the pressing liquidity challenges in the healthcare sector. Leveraging our AI-driven insurance claims assessment technology, we aim to optimise and accelerate the claims process, facilitating prompt payments to medical facilities. This collaboration is in alignment with our overarching mission to bring transformative technological solutions to the healthcare sector."-- TradeArabia News Service Let's talk about the popular Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE:CARR). The company's shares saw a significant share price rise of over 20% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. With many analysts covering the large-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stocks share price. But what if there is still an opportunity to buy? Today I will analyse the most recent data on Carrier Globals outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists. See our latest analysis for Carrier Global What Is Carrier Global Worth? The stock seems fairly valued at the moment according to my valuation model. Its trading around 6.45% above my intrinsic value, which means if you buy Carrier Global today, youd be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe the companys true value is $54.43, then there isnt really any room for the share price grow beyond what its currently trading. Although, there may be an opportunity to buy in the future. This is because Carrier Globals beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the companys shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity. Can we expect growth from Carrier Global? Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Carrier Global's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 27%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value. What This Means For You Are you a shareholder? CARRs optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around its fair value. However, there are also other important factors which we havent considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at the stock? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuates below the true value? Story continues Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping tabs on CARR, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. However, the optimistic prospect is encouraging for the company, which means its worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop. So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Carrier Global you should know about. If you are no longer interested in Carrier Global, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. 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. TrinaTracker's third global smart tracker factory will raise company's capacity to 10GW SALVADOR, Brazil, Sept. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ TrinaTracker, a smart tracker solution provider which is part of Trina Solar Co., Ltd (SHA: 688599) has opened a smart tracker manufacturing plant in Salvador, Brazil. The factory will have annual production capacity of 2.5GW and will increase TrinaTracker's global production capacity to 10GW, to meet the company's growing business needs. TrinaTracker smart control system production line This is TrinaTracker's third global smart tracker manufacturing site and will specialize in manufacturing tracker components and smart control systems. The aim is for the new plant to meet Brazil's local content requirements and to provide better delivery and on-site service in all of Latin America. "Brazil is a key strategic market for TrinaTracker," said Ma Weiming, president of Trina Solar's tracker division. "Last year more than 7GW of solar tracker systems was installed in Brazil, about 10% of the global total. Setting up local production in Brazil allows us to deliver lower costs to local projects, reduce delivery times and provide better service during project construction and O&M periods. Furthermore, with local manufacturing facilities, end users will have access to credit lines from BNDES/BNB to finance their solar projects." In addition to the new factory, TrinaTracker has formed engineering teams throughout Latin America, including in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico, to provide better engineering design, project delivery and O&M. These services will help to increase the quality of project engineering. By the end of July TrinaTracker had dispatched more than 3GW of smart trackers to Latin America. The 520MW Santa Luzia Complex Project Phase I, one of the largest photovoltaic power plants in Brazil, is 100% dependent on TrinaTracker solutions, including Vanguard 1P trackers and its smart tracker control systems. Story continues As solar tracker systems are scaled up in ground solar power plants worldwide and the business model changes, power plant developers and owners are increasingly seeking improved localized supply and service capabilities from tracker suppliers. In line with Trina Solar's international business layout, TrinaTracker will press on with its global localization strategy by setting up local R&D, engineering, delivery and service teams. The aim is to provide global customers with products that comply with local policies and standards and provide better lifecycle services for TrinaTracker products. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trinatracker-expands-internationally-with-new-plant-in-brazil-301915494.html SOURCE TrinaTracker This is a locator map for United Arab Emirates with its capital, Abu Dhabi. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) The United Arab Emirates has created a federal authority to potentially run a national lottery and what it describes as commercial gaming, likely a sign that it is on the verge of allowing gambling as major casino operators flock to the Gulf Arab nation. The state-run WAM news agency carried an announcement late Sunday on the creation of the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, without offering many details about its structure or operations. It named Kevin Mullally as its CEO. Mullally once served as the executive director of the Missouri Gaming Commission, which oversaw that U.S. state's riverboat casinos. I am delighted to have been appointed as the inaugural CEO of the GCGRA," Mullally said in the statement. "With my experienced colleagues, I look forward to establishing a robust regulatory body and framework for the UAEs lottery and gaming industry. Mullally did not return a request for comment from The Associated Press. Also named was Jim Murren as the chairman of the authority's board of directors. Media in Nevada, home to the gambling city of Las Vegas, identified Murren as a former chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International, which also runs casinos. Murren could not be immediately reached by the AP. Murren also worked closely with officials in the Emirates in the past. The biggest single development on the Las Vegas Strip was the $9.2 billion CityCenter partnership between MGM Resorts International under Murren and Dubai World, which opened in 2009. Its Harmon tower never opened due to construction defects and was dismantled. Murren also headed Nevadas COVID-19 response and tried to pitch the state on using UAE-donated, Chinese-made testing kits. U.S. diplomats and security officials privately warned the state of Nevada not to use the Chinese-made coronavirus test kits over concerns about patient privacy, test accuracy and Chinese government involvement, documents obtained by the AP showed. Story continues Describing the authority, WAM said it would create a socially responsible and well-regulated gaming environment, ensuring that all participants adhere to strict guidelines and comply with the highest standards. It will coordinate regulatory activities, manage licensing nationally and facilitate unlocking the economic potential of commercial gaming responsibly, it added. Casinos long have been rumored to be considered as a way to raise money in the UAE and boost its tourism industry, particularly in Dubai, home to the long-haul airline Emirates. Already, duty-free car raffles bombard those flying through Dubai International Airport. A 2004 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks speculated that Dubais casino plans had been put on ice due to deference to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the countrys first president after unification in 1971. But in recent years, rumors about casinos kept growing. Britains famed ship the Queen Elizabeth 2 opened as a hotel in Dubai in 2018 after over $100 million of repairs. It still has its deactivated slot machines on board. Caesars similarly opened in 2018. Construction work is ongoing involving projects for casino firms MGM, the Bellagio and Aria. In 2022, the UAE's northern-most emirate Ras al-Khaimah announced a multibillion-dollar deal with Las Vegas-based casino giant Wynn Resorts. Authorities in Ras al-Khaimah repeatedly refused to directly describe the hotel as having gambling, though Wynn has described the project as involving the subsequent management of an integrated resort. The term integrated resort, born in Singapore, refers to a hotel that includes a casino and other amenities. In a conference call in April, Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings put the cost of the Ras al-Khaimah resort at $3.9 billion and saying it will be open in 2027. Costs will be split, with 40% being paid by Wynn and 60% being paid by Wynn's government partners in Ras al-Khaimah. Wynn estimates taxes on the gaming revenues will be as high 12%. Casinos still remain rare across much of the Middle East as Islam forbids it. However, casinos operate in Egypt and Lebanon. Adding casinos in the UAE could help boost its profitable tourism industry and help regain the Chinese travelers it lost during the coronavirus pandemic. Bloomberg has estimated the UAE could bring in $6.6 billion in gaming revenue annually, potentially surpassing Singapore. The creation of a federal authority suggests Abu Dhabi, the country's capital, will oversee the potential operation of casinos in the country. However, this federation of seven sheikhdoms places absolute power in the local rulers of its seven emirates, particularly over social concerns. The emirate of Sharjah, for instance, bans the sale of alcohol. Any casino operations may follow the same pattern. That's something Billings touched on in a separate call in August with investors in which he said Wynn had everything we need to operate gaming at Al Marjan given the UAE's federal structure and powers in individual sheikhdoms. While there may be conversation in other emirates about legalization or legalization at the federal level thereby covering all emirates I expect we will have our license for Ras al-Khaimah actually imminently, Billings said. However, casinos and the large amounts of cash they generate raise the danger of money laundering. Already, war profiteers, terror financiers and drug traffickers sanctioned by the U.S. in recent years have used Dubais real-estate market as a haven for their assets. Ras al-Khaimah also found itself linked to the case of an Alaska man who laundered $1 billion held in South Korea for Iran. Value-focused investors are always on the hunt for stocks that are priced below their intrinsic value. One such stock that merits attention is VF Corp (NYSE:VFC). The stock, which is currently priced at 20.46, recorded a gain of 3.54% in a day and a 3-month increase of 22.08%. The stock's fair valuation is $61.86, as indicated by its GF Value. Understanding the GF Value The GF Value represents the current intrinsic value of a stock derived from our exclusive method. The GF Value Line on our summary page gives an overview of the fair value that the stock should be traded at. It is calculated based on three factors: 1. Historical multiples (PE Ratio, PS Ratio, PB Ratio and Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow) that the stock has traded at. 2. GuruFocus adjustment factor based on the company's past returns and growth. 3. Future estimates of the business performance. If the stock price is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. Is VF (VFC) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap However, investors need to consider a more in-depth analysis before making an investment decision. Despite its seemingly attractive valuation, certain risk factors associated with VF should not be ignored. These risks are primarily reflected through its low Piotroski F-score of 2, Altman Z-score of 1.41, and These indicators suggest that VF, despite its apparent undervaluation, might be a potential value trap. This complexity underlines the importance of thorough due diligence in investment decision-making. Decoding the Piotroski F-score and Altman Z-score The Piotroski F-score, created by accounting professor Joseph Piotroski, is a tool used to assess the strength of a company's financial health. The score is based on nine criteria that fall into three categories: profitability, leverage/liquidity/ source of funds, and operating efficiency. The overall score ranges from 0 to 9, with higher scores indicating healthier financials. VF's current Piotroski F-Score, however, falls in the lower end of this spectrum, indicating potential red flags for investors. Story continues Before delving into the details, let's understand what the Altman Z-score entails. Invented by New York University Professor Edward I. Altman in 1968, the Z-Score is a financial model that predicts the probability of a company entering bankruptcy within a two-year time frame. The Altman Z-Score combines five different financial ratios, each weighted to create a final score. A score below 1.8 suggests a high likelihood of financial distress, while a score above 3 indicates a low risk. Company Snapshot: VF Corp (NYSE:VFC) VF designs, produces, and distributes branded apparel, footwear, and accessories. Its apparel categories are active, outdoor, and work. Its portfolio of about a dozen brands includes Vans, The North Face, Timberland, Supreme, and Dickies. VF markets its products in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific through wholesale sales to retailers, e-commerce, and branded stores owned by the company and partners. The company has grown through multiple acquisitions and traces its roots to 1899. Is VF (VFC) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap Analysis of VF's Profitability Let's delve deeper into VF's financial health by examining the decline in its return on assets (ROA) over the past three years. The data indicates 2021: 7.66; 2022: 7.45; 2023: 0.84, when expressed in percentages. Such a decrease is concerning, as the Piotroski F-Score penalizes companies with lower current ROA compared to the previous period. This ongoing decline highlights another potential risk associated with investing in VF. Leverage, Liquidity and Source of Funds: A Worrying Trend Assessing the aspect of leverage, liquidity, and sources of funds, VF demonstrates an alarming rise in its debt-to-total assets ratio over the past three years. The provided data shows 2021: 0.51; 2022: 0.48; 2023: 0.56, expressed as percentages. A higher debt ratio suggests that VF is increasingly financing its assets through debt, thereby escalating its financial risk. The Piotroski F-Score views this as a negative indicator, further cautioning investors about VF. Is VF (VFC) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap Operating Efficiency: A Darker Picture Lastly, concerning operating efficiency, the Piotroski F-score examines changes in gross margin and asset turnover. Regrettably, VF follows a discouraging trajectory with a decrease in gross margin percentage over the past three years, as demonstrated by the data provided: 2021: 53.47; 2022: 54.04; 2023: 52.28 (expressed in percentages). This contraction in gross margin suggests that VF is grappling with either an escalation in the cost of goods sold or dwindling prices - both of which are inauspicious indicators for profitability. In terms of operational efficiency, another key indicator, VF has unfortunately reported a declining trend in asset turnover over the past three years, as evidenced by the data: 2021: 0.78; 2022: 0.88; 2023: 0.82 (expressed in percentages). Asset turnover measures how effectively a company uses its assets to generate sales, and a decrease in this ratio can indicate a drop in efficiency. This could be due to various factors, such as underutilization of assets or a decline in the market demand for the company's products or services. Consequently, this downward trend in asset turnover implies that VF may need to revisit its operational strategies to improve the utilization of its assets and boost its sales volume. While the Piotroski F-score is not the only lens through which to view a potential investment, it is a robust and comprehensive tool for evaluating a company's financial health. Unfortunately for VF, its current score suggests potential troubles. [Summerize those cinterning signals] VF's Low Altman Z-Score: A Breakdown of Key Drivers A dissection of VF's Altman Z-score reveals VF's financial health may be weak, suggesting possible financial distress: The Retained Earnings to Total Assets ratio provides insights into a company's capability to reinvest its profits or manage debt. Evaluating VF's historical data, 2021: 0.02; 2022: 0.01; 2023: 0.00, we observe a recent decline following an initial increase in this ratio. This downward movement indicates VF's diminishing ability to reinvest in its business or effectively manage its debt. Consequently, it exerts a negative impact on its Z-Score. The EBIT to Total Assets ratio serves as a crucial barometer of a company's operational effectiveness, correlating earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) to total assets. An analysis of VF's EBIT to Total Assets ratio from historical data (2021: 0.08; 2022: 0.11; 2023: 0.02) indicates a descending trend. This reduction suggests that VF might not be utilizing its assets to their full potential to generate operational profits, which could be negatively affecting the company's overall Z-score. When it comes to operational efficiency, a vital indicator for VF is its asset turnover. The data: 2021: 0.78; 2022: 0.88; 2023: 0.82 from the past three years suggests a decreasing trend in this ratio. The asset turnover ratio reflects how effectively a company is using its assets to generate sales. Therefore, a drop in this ratio can signify reduced operational efficiency, potentially due to underutilization of assets or decreased market demand for the company's products or services. This shift in VF's asset turnover underlines the need for the company to reassess its operational strategies to optimize asset usage and boost sales. Conclusion In conclusion, despite VF's seemingly attractive valuation, the company's low Piotroski F-score and Altman Z-score, coupled with declining profitability and operational efficiency, suggest that VF might be a potential value trap. Investors are therefore advised to exercise caution and conduct thorough due diligence before making an investment decision. GuruFocus Premium members can find stocks with high Piotroski F-score using the following Screener: Piotroski F-score screener . GuruFocus Premium members can find stocks with high Altman Z-Score using the following Screener: Walter Schloss Screen . This article first appeared on GuruFocus. PETALING JAYA, Malaysia, Sept. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- VISTA Eye Specialist, a renowned Eye Care Clinic in Malaysia, proudly announces its certification as a B Corporation (B Corp). This achievement underscores VISTA's commitment to positive change, innovative services, exceptional business management, and impactful community contributions while delivering top-tier eye care services. VISTA B Corp Certified The certification follows VISTA's recent win in The STAR's ESG Positive Impact Awards (Star ESG Awards) and is awarded through a rigorous verification process to companies meeting high standards of transparency, accountability, social and environmental performance. This distinguishes companies genuinely dedicated to positive global impact from those solely focused on profits. The B Corp certification also enables consumers, investors, and stakeholders to identify businesses aligned with their values. Noteworthy for clinical and business excellence, VISTA is a preferred destination for global surgeons seeking learning and collaboration. With an impressive score above the passing mark, VISTA's B Corp certification excels in Staff, Customer, and Community pillars. It stands among a select group of global medical centers to achieve B Corp Certification and is the sole Eye Specialist in Asia with this distinction. Tan Chin-Ching, VISTA's CEO, underscores the certification's significance: "This recognition validates our ESG efforts in nurturing personnel, serving customers, engaging stakeholders, and safeguarding communities and the environment. It not only acknowledges VISTA's consistent commitment to a sustainable culture but also benchmarks our practices against global standards, providing insights into areas for enhancement, as healthcare companies are increasingly demanded to be transparent and accountable." ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) is a framework for assessing an organization's sustainability and ethical impact. ESG-focused companies often outperform peers, enhance customer care, attract top talent, and mitigate risks. ESG initiatives, like reducing environmental impact, promoting equitable access to care, supporting sustainable supply chains, and empowering employees, improve financial performance. Story continues VISTA's certification reflects diverse initiatives, including the VISTA Academy's Upskilling program. Bernard Chan, VISTA's Training & Sustainability Manager, highlights the program's integration of Gamification and experiential learning principles, fostering competition and contributing to VISTA's STAR ESG Awards. The "VISTA Youth Challenge" empowers young people with real-world experience and project management skills, aligning with UNSDG Goal no. 8 for inclusive economic growth and employment. VISTA's role as a community champion is central to its achievement. Initiatives like the VISTA Eye Carnival since 2010 raise eye care awareness and offer free screenings. VISTA supports those in need, local businesses during challenges, and provides free cataract surgeries - including collaborations with NGOs such as the Rotary Club, Lion's Club and Tzu Chi Foundation just to name a few. Tan remarks, "VISTA's journey signifies excellence, compassion, and innovation. Alongside over 7,300 global companies across 92 countries, we help reshape the economy for the betterment of all." With B Corp certification, VISTA solidifies its commitment to excellence, compassion, and innovation, standing as a force for good and positive change while delivering exceptional eye care services to enhance sight. About VISTA Eye Specialist: Founded in 1999, VISTA provides prominent eye care services in Malaysia with 14 centers nationwide. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/vista-eye-specialist-is-now-certified-esg-friendly-with-bcorp-301915729.html SOURCE VISTA Eye Specialist Value-focused investors are constantly searching for stocks that are undervalued in relation to their intrinsic worth. One such stock that warrants scrutiny is Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA). Despite its current price of $23.43, having experienced a daily loss of 7.43% and a 3-month decrease of 21.33%, its fair valuation according to its GF Value is $45.81. Understanding GF Value The GF Value signifies the current intrinsic value of a stock as derived from our exclusive method. The GF Value Line on our summary page offers a snapshot of the fair value at which the stock should ideally be traded. It is computed based on three factors: historical multiples (PE Ratio, PS Ratio, PB Ratio, and Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow) at which the stock has been traded, GuruFocus adjustment factor based on the company's past returns and growth, and future estimates of business performance. If the stock price is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued, and its future return is likely to be poor. Conversely, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. Is Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap Decoding the Altman Z-score Before delving into the specifics, it's important to understand what the Altman Z-score entails. Invented by New York University Professor Edward I. Altman in 1968, the Z-Score is a financial model that predicts the probability of a company entering bankruptcy within a two-year time frame. The Altman Z-Score combines five different financial ratios, each weighted to create a final score. A score below 1.8 suggests a high likelihood of financial distress, while a score above 3 indicates a low risk. Walgreens Boots Alliance: A Closer Look Walgreens Boots Alliance is one of the largest retail pharmacy chains in the U.S., with over 8,500 locations. Nearly three quarters of Americans live within five miles of a Walgreens location. Roughly two thirds of revenue is generated from prescription drug sales; Walgreens makes up 20% of total prescription revenue in the U.S. Walgreens also generates sales from retail products (general wellness consumables and its own branded merchandise), European drug wholesale, and healthcare. With more locations incorporating additional services like Health Corner and Village Medical, Walgreens creates an omnichannel experience for patients and positions itself as a one-stop healthcare provider. Story continues Is Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap Dissecting Walgreens Boots Alliance's Low Altman Z-Score Despite its apparent undervaluation, Walgreens Boots Alliance might be a potential value trap due to its low Altman Z-score of 1.74. This complexity underlines the importance of thorough due diligence in investment decision-making. The Retained Earnings to Total Assets ratio provides insights into a company's capability to reinvest its profits or manage debt. Evaluating Walgreens Boots Alliance's historical data, we observe a declining trend in this ratio, which indicates Walgreens Boots Alliance's diminishing ability to reinvest in its business or effectively manage its debt, negatively impacting its Z-Score. The EBIT to Total Assets ratio serves as a crucial barometer of a company's operational effectiveness. An analysis of Walgreens Boots Alliance's EBIT to Total Assets ratio from historical data indicates a descending trend, suggesting that Walgreens Boots Alliance might not be utilizing its assets to their full potential to generate operational profits, which could be negatively affecting the company's overall Z-score. When it comes to operational efficiency, a vital indicator for Walgreens Boots Alliance is its asset turnover. The data from the past three years suggests a recent decline following an initial increase in this ratio. The asset turnover ratio reflects how effectively a company is using its assets to generate sales. Therefore, a drop in this ratio can signify reduced operational efficiency, potentially due to underutilization of assets or decreased market demand for the company's products or services. This shift in Walgreens Boots Alliance's asset turnover underlines the need for the company to reassess its operational strategies to optimize asset usage and boost sales. Conclusion: Navigating the Thin Line Between Value and Trap While Walgreens Boots Alliance may seem like an attractive investment opportunity due to its undervaluation, the company's low Altman Z-Score and declining financial health indicators suggest that it might be a potential value trap. Therefore, investors should exercise caution and conduct thorough due diligence before making an investment decision. GuruFocus Premium members can find stocks with high Altman Z-Score using the following Screener: Walter Schloss Screen . This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt. So should Thruvision Group (LON:THRU) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn. See our latest analysis for Thruvision Group Does Thruvision Group Have A Long Cash Runway? You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. As at March 2023, Thruvision Group had cash of UK2.8m and no debt. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through UK2.6m. Therefore, from March 2023 it had roughly 13 months of cash runway. Notably, analysts forecast that Thruvision Group will break even (at a free cash flow level) in about 15 months. So there's a very good chance it won't need more cash, when you consider the burn rate will be reducing in that period. You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below. How Well Is Thruvision Group Growing? At first glance it's a bit worrying to see that Thruvision Group actually boosted its cash burn by 46%, year on year. The good news is that operating revenue increased by 49% in the last year, indicating that the business is gaining some traction. On balance, we'd say the company is improving over time. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. So you might want to take a peek at how much the company is expected to grow in the next few years. Story continues Can Thruvision Group Raise More Cash Easily? Thruvision Group seems to be in a fairly good position, in terms of cash burn, but we still think it's worthwhile considering how easily it could raise more money if it wanted to. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations. Thruvision Group has a market capitalisation of UK41m and burnt through UK2.6m last year, which is 6.4% of the company's market value. Given that is a rather small percentage, it would probably be really easy for the company to fund another year's growth by issuing some new shares to investors, or even by taking out a loan. So, Should We Worry About Thruvision Group's Cash Burn? As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Thruvision Group's cash burn. In particular, we think its revenue growth stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. Although its increasing cash burn does give us reason for pause, the other metrics we discussed in this article form a positive picture overall. There's no doubt that shareholders can take a lot of heart from the fact that analysts are forecasting it will reach breakeven before too long. After taking into account the various metrics mentioned in this report, we're pretty comfortable with how the company is spending its cash, as it seems on track to meet its needs over the medium term. An in-depth examination of risks revealed 1 warning sign for Thruvision Group that readers should think about before committing capital to this stock. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts) 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. Union members listen to prominent labor organizer Jane McAlevey speak about demanding more from employers and union leaders. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Longtime labor organizer Jane McAlevey has some advice for what workers should demand of employers and union leaders: Don't sign gag orders and commit to transparency. That's what McAlevey, the author of several books on union organizing and negotiating contracts, recently told a room of union staff and members at the United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 770's home base in downtown Los Angeles. She was discussing her new book, Rules to Win By: Power and Participation in Union Negotiations," published in March, just in time for L.A.'s summer of strikes. A strike in March by bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants and other low-paid workers at Los Angeles Unified School District set the tone for the rest of 2023, and since then, it's been a busy and hella exciting time for labor in Southern California, said McAlevey, a senior policy fellow at the UC Berkeley Labor Center. Labor organizer Jane McAlevey speaks with Los Angeles community organizer Anthony Thigpenn, right, about her new book titled "Rules to Win By: Power and Participation in Union Negotiations" in July. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) But broadly there are still obstacles to workers securing major wins, McAlevey said. Namely, unions' practice of using small committees of worker representatives to negotiate labor contracts behind closed doors. In the book, McAlevey and her coauthor, Seattle labor lawyer Abby Lawlor, try to demonstrate a more transparent model by dissecting case studies Boston hotel workers, educators in New Jersey, nurses in rural Massachusetts and Philadelphia, journalists from the Los Angeles Times and Law360, and hospital workers in Germany. As Labor Day rolls by during a momentous surge in worker organizing, here are some lessons on building a strong contract campaign, according to McAlevey. The interview was edited for length and clarity. Read more: Corporate greed, low unemployment, housing crisis: That's the recipe for hot labor summer Was there a specific moment that served as inspiration for this book? This book is a direct credit to the German labor movement. A group of organizers at German trade unions asked me to keynote as a conference about building a strike. Most people think of Germany as like, the Shangri La of worker rights. It's not. In 2019, union busting in the style we see in the U.S. was hitting Germany. I got very busy doing training work over there because employers' tactical warfare was adapting. Story continues The organizers kept asking questions about how I negotiate which is so foreign for them because in Germany, one big guy goes in and negotiates for a whole sector. They said, "We need to learn how to do this. We need a manual from you." They did not give up. Every few weeks I got a long email saying "are you going to write the book on negotiations?" The 20 elements of open negotiations I list at the beginning were a response to some wicked good peer reviewers. The feedback was super consistent, like "McAlevey shows us these great case studies but she never actually tells us like what are the things." Hotel workers represented by Unite Here Local 11 picketed outside the JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 24. The union has called for a boycott of some 60 Southern California hotels that haven't agreed to new labor contracts. (Suhauna Hussain / Los Angeles Times) What do you see as the three main takeaways from your book? The first is that workers actually can still win really big. I don't want to settle for less-than-good contracts. Workers have, for 50 years, been taking it in the neck in this country; we see it in the inequality divide. It's just a function of greed. There is plenty of money. So the first lesson is, workers actually can win much more, but it's a question of power and strategy. Secondly, it is about showing not talking about showing what new democracy looks like. That's really important to me. There are plenty of unions that are not exactly good at being 'small d' democratic at involving all the members in negotiations. Read more: Take your union and shove it. When your L.A. hotel stay comes with a strike picket line You have to build guardrails to protect democracy. Forcing all unions to have to allow the members into negotiations is an example of one. That way, no deals can get cut behind workers' backs; nothing's going to happen that the workers themselves aren't directly involved in. The third one is about the question of political education and governing power and teaching workers what it means. When do you have enough power to set the rules? What are the rules that you want set? How do you build unity and solidarity around them? Strikers in front of Fox Studios in Los Angeles on Aug. 28. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) What is the main obstacle to the labor movement in Los Angeles, California and beyond? The governing paradigm. There's a certain dynamic and logic happening during an organizing campaign where the energy is all one way: It's about staying united, overcoming union busting, warding off division, building solidarity. But at the end of a hard-fought National Labor Relations Board election, there usually is real division. Even if there isn't which is rare but even if there isn't, the transition to "how do we negotiate our contract" is a really big transition for people. What the tradition I come from argues is, since negotiation is all about power, the person that you have leading the table is an organizer who actually understands how to build worker power. Read more: 'I feel duped': Inside the fast-food industry's push to dismantle a new California labor law Think about how much power is required to force lawmakers to take action, whether it's on fast-food issues or taxing the wealthy in California. You look at the control of Democrats in California, and you realize how many problems should be solved that we're not solving: that's because of the architecture of power. It's super rare in the labor movement for organizers to be the negotiators. Negotiators are usually lawyers. This book is basically an organizer's approach to negotiations. During your July book event in L.A. you said the most basic value union leaders need to commit to is transparency. What are a few simple steps to take relating to transparency? There are a lot of unions for whom a simple demand for transparency seems impossible. That is not a democratic practice, in my opinion. There are a lot of unions that are crushing expectations putting downward pressure on the idea of what you should expect to win. It's kind of common, and that's frightening. Not signing gag orders would actually be a very big leap for a lot of unions and would be a great first step. Yadira Martinez, 53, left, a special education assistant for the Los Angeles Unified School District, joined the picket line at Florence Avenue Elementary School on March 22. The three-day strike ended with a tentative agreement including raises of 30% or more, and it set the stage for Southern California's summer of strikes. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) How can transparent negotiations help to resolve conflict within a bargaining unit? How can it help to enforce a contract once it's in place? In hospitals, where I've done a lot of my negotiations, there's persistent tension. Emergency department nurses might think they belong in the highest tier of the wage scale alongside the intensive care unit nurses because sometimes they've got critical patients coming in. Then people in the ICU might disagree. Where do you belong on the wage scale? Do you take into account seniority? There's so many fundamental questions that we can divide ourselves over. Learning to govern is part of the beauty of negotiations. For me, it's what workers are doing away from the employer not away from the table, but away from the employer learning how to write the best rules possible to govern their workplace, and then learning that it takes real power to enforce it. My approach to everything is, put it out to people. Don't hide it; surface the tension. Work through them as a group or break people out into small discussion groups. I do weekly meetings for months leading up to the start of contract negotiations. In theory, tensions have had months to work themselves out before bargaining begins. So it's not exploding right at the last minute, and people go to the table united and together on compromises that they learned to make. Read more: Column: It's a happy Labor Day indeed after NLRB cracks down on employer sabotage of union elections When they're fighting the fight, I always say, "Look, do you want the boss to make the decision for you? Or do you want to make the decision? Do you want to let him keep dictating the terms and conditions or do you actually want to figure out a way for us to resolve this conflict ourselves?" And that's foundational. Then you do that unusual thing I write about in the book, which is a ratification vote on the contract proposals. That's the final way to just say, "All right, everyone agrees, these are proposals that are going in." That avoids so much disappointment and conflict that I see with people who don't use that approach, or who don't tell the workers what they're negotiating, don't tell them what's going on in the room. That's when you get a lot of really upset people. Enforcing your contract is best done when every single worker has been involved in the negotiations because workers then understand what the contract language means. They understand it takes power to enforce it, not lawyers. Having a good lawyer in the background is good, but if you only file grievances and you become a grievance mill union, you're gonna go down, you're going to weaken, you're going to atrophy. Striking University of California academic workers and faculty gather on the campus of UCLA in December. The strikers demanded better pay and benefits. They reached a tentative agreement two days later after striking for five weeks. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) You have called out issues with the way United Auto Workers leaders ran their contract campaign for University of California academic workers. Can you explain your thoughts on what went wrong? (Note: In a piece McAlevey wrote last year she said the union failed to effectively bring together various moving parts: There were four separate units in negotiations, including academic student employees, graduate student instructors, postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers overseen by three separate union locals.) I objected to much of how the contract campaign was run. Yeah, I don't think they did a good job on this at all. It was a pretty badly run affair. I wrote about it a little bit in the Nation. Not a lot. It was during our strike, so I was trying to be gentle. But I was indirectly, quite seriously calling out some of what had been happening. The union did all this work to line up the contracts so that they expired at the same time. But then the UAW position holders, as I call them not leaders did a lot wrong: they kept all the workers divided, and it set up huge tensions. The mistake that they made from the beginning was allowing the boss to keep the different units at separate negotiating tables. Just watching it was amazing. They were like breaking almost every rule. They settled academic researchers contract before the others expecting us to then cross the picket line of our graduate students. UAW will say that they were practicing open negotiations because anyone could join the Zoom meetings. But it's not really open negotiations if you're having a secret off the record with the employer every week, which in fact, they were doing. So you can put on a show and look like you're doing your democracy, or you can actually really do a democracy. But I don't want to talk about things that went badly. I actually want to constantly show workers what's possible, how to win, what works and what you can do to actually win. That is my life mission. I'm not interested in writing about failure. It's all around us. I think what workers need is direction, clarity and some alternate ideas. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. German sanitaryware specialist Hansgrohe will demonstrate how its pioneering products, designed with water conservation as a key objective, can help meet the sustainability goals of the built environment, at the upcoming Future Water Summit in Dubai. Regional Water Security through Governance, Sustainability and Best Practice will be the key theme of the summit that kicks off on September 6 at the Habtoor Grand Resort. The one-day event will see leading minds, innovators and experts in the industry discuss ways to boost water efficiency in the region. The participants and visitors will comprise a wealth of organisations and entities for whom the conservation of water remains a critical aim. Andreas Wolf, the Head of Middle East & CIS for Hansgrohe, will be a guest panellist and contribute his opinions in the session: Enhancing Water Efficiency in the Built Environment. This panel discussion will explore how the built environment can optimise its water usage and explore how wastewater can be recycled on a macro and micro scale. Wolf will speak about Hansgrohe Groups long-term dedication, under its hansgrohe and AXOR brands, to designing faucets and shower systems, that reduce water consumption, and the role they play in meeting the sustainability objectives of the hospitality and real estate sectors. The company is committed to ensuring that by 2030 all of its water-bearing products will be available exclusively with water-saving technologies. By 2025, Hansgrohe Group said it will already have converted 75% of its overhead and hand-held showers to EcoSmart, technology which reduces the amount of shower water consumed on a daily basis by up to 60%. Hansgrohes EcoSmart overhead and hand showers consume just 8 litres of water per minute, with some managing to use as little as 6 litres, it added. Wolf will speak about the importance of water conservation in the AXOR brands collaborations with world renowned designers, including Barber Osgerby, Philippe Starck and Antonio Citterio. He will also explain Hansgrohes Green Vision, a collaboration with Phoenix design, a unique bathroom concept which uses 90% less water, 90% less energy, and therefore produces 90% less CO2 emissions in the bathroom. As Head of Middle East & CIS, Andreas Wolf is responsible for strengthening the companys reputation as a trusted partner and collaborator for its clients and strategic partners, as well as encouraging the expansion of the companys business, with a keen focus on meeting the sustainability requirements of the construction and development sectors, its intermediaries and influencers, including architects, designers and specifiers. An industry veteran, he boasts over 24 years experience in operations, commercial and procurement activities, distribution, logistics, business development, sales management, and leadership and has led teams in Germany, Europe, Asia and, for the last seven years, in the Middle East. "For Hansgrohe, water is life and our passion; that is why we protect this valuable resource and consistently implement all measures necessary to achieve our ambitious sustainability goals. Conserving the worlds most precious resource has been a long standing pre-occupation for us and is an integral part of our heritage and future vision," remarked Wolf. "We are continually striving to design and manufacture products where water usage is minimal, without compromising on performance or aesthetics," said the top official. "We look forward to contributing our experience, insight and vision at The Future Water Summit, where expertise and best practice can be explored and shared by like-minded parties who share the common goal of protecting the planet through the creation of intelligent sustainability solutions," he added.-TradeArabia News Service When shopping for school supplies or food for the Labor Day cookout, consider this: The clerks, shelf stockers, truck drivers and factory workers who make that possible can be forced to pay money to a union or else be fired. Colorado is one of the 23 forced-unionism states in America. Because Colorado doesnt have a Right to Work law to make union membership and dues strictly voluntary, a union boss can legally have a worker fired for not paying dues or fees. Poll after poll reveals that over 80% of Americans agree its wrong to subject workers to this kind of compulsion. Union members similarly believe union affiliation and financial support should be voluntary, with about 80% agreeing that workers should never be forced or coerced to join or pay dues as a condition of employment. Fortunately, all public employees have enjoyed First Amendment protection against being compelled to make union payments since the 2018 landmark U.S. Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME decision, argued by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys. However, private-sector workforces in forced-unionism states like Colorado can still be forced to pay dues or lose their jobs. Twenty-seven states have Right to Work laws. They have passed laws to repeal Big Labors special power to force workers to pay union bosss fees. Workers in these states experience workplace freedom. The lack of forced unionism against workers gives Right to Work states an economic advantage. Workers in forced-unionism states are fleeing to pursue opportunities not afforded in their home states. A National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR) report, drawing on data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows the number employed from 2012 to 2022 grew nearly twice as fast in Right to Work states than in forced-unionism states: 15.7% in Right to Work states versus only 8.6% in states that allow workers to be fired for not paying union bosses. The analysis also found, after adjusting for cost of living, that the mean after-tax household income in Right to Work states was roughly $4,300 higher than households in forced-unionism states in 2019. Consider how Right to Work states have fared since COVID: As of June, total employment in states without Right to Work laws still hasnt recovered to pre-COVID February 2020 levels. Meanwhile, Right to Work states have added over 3 million jobs. Right to Work laws codify a principle: Every worker should have the choice to join a labor union, but no worker should be forced to join and pay. Right to Work laws do not outlaw unions or prevent any worker from joining one. Workers in Right to Work states give as much as they choose in union dues, but such payments cant be extracted just because of a pay up or be fired threat. On Labor Day, take a moment to reflect on the benefits Right to Work brings to workers across the nation, and the difference it could make for Colorado. Help make Colorado a Right to Work state. Demand your elected officials embrace the economic opportunity and worker freedom that Right to Work would bring. This article was originally published by the National Right to Work Committee and National Right to Work Foundation and republished here with permission. The body of a 29-year-old male climber was recovered from a boulder field in the Officers Gulch area off Interstate 70 on Sunday, Summit County Rescue Group said. Officers Gulch is approximately 3.5 miles east of Copper Mountain. SCRG was first notified of a missing person by a friend of the deceased at 10:33 p.m. Saturday. The reporting party said his friend had told him he would be doing a climb in Officers Gulch that morning, but did not specify the exact area. The climber called his friend about 5 p.m., to say he was on a rock and headed back down shortly. When the reporting party had not heard from his friend later that evening, he drove to Officers Gulch and found his friends car still parked there. He called 911 to report him missing. SCRG sent eight members to search for the missing party at approximately 11:30 p.m. Members searched along the bike path between Officers Gulch and Frisco, and along a climbers trail known locally as Halfway Rock. At approximately 2 a.m. Sunday, SCRGs mission coordinator made the decision to continue the search at first light. At 7:50 a.m., a team of two SCRG rescuers found the missing partys body at the base of a cliff known as Officers Wall. A team of SCRG rescuers then set up a rigging system to evacuate the subject through the boulder field and back to the parking lot. SCRG and SCSO extend their deepest condolences to all the loved ones of the deceased, rescuers said in a news release. We would also like to note that the deceased and his family did several things right that helped us find him and bring him back to his family in a reasonably short period of time. By letting his friend know an expected return time, the subject ensured that a search began quickly and that searchers knew an approximate area to search. And by sending a video to his family and having a shared phone location app, he allowed searchers to pinpoint his location quickly once the family was able to share this information with us. These are practices other backcountry recreationists can learn from, and although this incident ended tragically, we also know that a search which continues for a long time or is unresolved altogether is an even more difficult situation for friends and family. The Summit County Coroners Office will release further information about how the man died and his identity after an investigation is completed. Food ought not be a partisan issue, but Californias Prop 12 has made the battle lines abundantly clear. Wide opposition to addressing the consequences of the measure that forces pork producers around the country to adhere to Californias animal rights-driven production requirements makes that fact an undeniable one. The Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression or EATS Act, introduced by U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, seeks to address Prop 12 to protect interstate commerce from one states disruption of the nationwide pork production system. It would prohibit a state or local government from imposing a standard on the preharvest production of agricultural products if the production occurs in another state. If it isnt the answer, a better one needs to be found. It may be a non-starter for Democrats, subsequently, a bipartisan legislative solution must be crafted in the interest of food security, the economies of food-producing states, the looming expiration of the current Farm Bill, and the ability of families to put food on the table. The National Pork Producers Council challenged Prop 12, which requires all pork sold in California to come from pigs born to a sow housed in at least a 24-square foot pen, arguing that Californias law burdens interstate commerce in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The court found that, in short, Prop 12 regulates only in-state sales despite the onerous requirements it inflicts on pork producers nationwide and, in turn, consumers, and ultimately upheld the measure. A single state, or even a small group of states, ought not be handed the power to disrupt the food supply and dictate production methods of which they know nothing firsthand, to the remainder of the country, nor should the moral priorities of the few trump the collective expertise of producers and the research that guides their decisions. Just as was presented before the lands highest court, the law requirements are inconsistent with industry practices and standards, generations of producer experience, scientific research, and the standards set by other states. Sign up for free: Gazette Opinion Receive updates from our editorial staff, guest columnists, and letters from Gazette readers. Sent to your inbox 12:00 PM. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. The law regulates farms outside its borders where hog production happens primarily in the Midwest. California pork production contributes negligibly to the whole, but the market for pork in the state is significant. Before the bacon is brought home, one hog carcass may be split into what are called primal cuts and processed at different facilities for different end products. The ham in a sandwich may be expertly sliced from multiple hams and the bacon on a plate may have been sourced from different pork bellies. Tracing each slice of bacon and ham is nearly impossible, forcing wholesalers and retailers to only accept pork from hogs produced in compliance with the California requirements, even if it never finds its way to a plate in California. This raises prices across the country and steals the ability of consumers to vote with their dollars. The beauty of American agriculture is the choices reflected in consumers purchasing decisions. One consumer who prefers free range chicken may pay a premium and support the producers utilizing that method. The next consumer, who trusts conventionally raised food and chooses it to feed their family within their means may do the same. Neither is wrong, but taking the choice away is. Before Prop 12, activists forced the hands of Colorados egg producers, prompting producers to invest billions in animal rights-driven production requirements. The proverbial fox in the henhouse, the bill forced increased egg prices and decreased availability in the grocery stores for consumers, including those living on the margins who saw an affordable, high-quality protein dangled right above their reach. It was a toe dip in the pool for Colorado and confirmed that enough voters in the state trust extremists more than the people who are providing a safe, affordable, and abundant food supply. If Democrats are unable to separate what they interpret to be the sins of former Iowa Congressman Steve King from efforts to protect agriculture producers in 49 states from the whims of voters in one, then a solution must be found in the middle of the aisle. That solution then needs to become part of the Farm Bill to protect it further from people who damn agriculture with their mouths full and without their stomachs grumbling. Rachel Gabel is a longtime agriculture writer and the assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine. The Oman Health Exhibition and Conference (OHEC) will highlight cutting-edge healthcare technologies, medical practices and research by Omani, as well as reputed international companies, and delegations. The event, which will run from September 18 to 20 at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Center, will also foster an environment for collaboration between industry peers while serving as a platform to promote trade. It will see an array of insightful sessions and engaging panel discussions on topics spanning the future of healthcare, education, investing in healthcare, and modern medicine. Announcing OHEC at a press conference were Dr Qamra Al Sariri, Director General of Quality Assurance Center (DGQAC), Dr Said Mohamed Al Mughairi, Director of Quality Assurance and Patient Safety, Directorate of Private Health Establishment, and Ashley Roberts, Managing Director, CONNECT. Organised by CONNECT (Oman Exhibitions Organising Company) in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MOH). OHEC is also supported by Directorate General of Quality Assurance Centre (DGQAC), the Directorate of Private Health Establishment and the Directorate General of Pharmaceutical Affairs and Drug Control (PADC). Oman Health Conference Co-located at the exhibition will be the Oman Health Conference held under the patronage of the MOH, and accredited by CPD certification. The second day of the conference will mark World Patient Safety Day with sessions and discussions on patient engagement and community involvement. Dr Al Sariri said: Such a large-scale event that brings national and international members of the health sector is necessary as it is very important for Omans healthcare sector to share our experiences with the international healthcare sector. OHEC's alignment with Oman's Health Vision 2050 cements its role as a driving force in positioning the country as an attractive destination for medical tourism. Medical tourism Alongside home-bred brands, the event will also see the participation of hospitals and clinics from India, Iran, Malaysia, Thailand, Poland, Pakistan, UK and Lebanon with a lot to showcase in the way of medical tourism offerings. OHEC will see a remarkable roster of participants, featuring prominent players from the region. At the event, Omans MHD ACERE will display HospiCare with a focus on providing high quality products for different departments such as Emergency, Intensive Care Unit, Operation Theater and surgical products. Bluedot will have its state-of-the-art Air Ambulance and Medical Assistance services on display. Visitors will also witness the unveiling of Al Farsi Medical Supplies B2B e-commerce platform, HospitalShop.com, which offers over 10,000 products spanning medical, dental, and laboratory segments; and their locally manufactured medical equipment brand Trusta. This robust engagement underscores the industry's acknowledgment of OHEC as a pivotal nexus for networking, showcasing innovations, and driving industry growth. Another key highlight that is geared at elevating OHEC's prestige is the presence of the VIP delegation from Malaysia, headed by Farizal B Jaafar, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), at the inauguration on September 18. Collaborative opportunities MHTC, alongside Malaysias leading private hospitals, namely Alpha IVF & Womens Specialists, KPJ Healthcare Berhad and Sunway Medical Centre, will showcase Malaysias world-class healthcare offerings, as well as explore collaborative opportunities to extend the reach of its quality and affordable healthcare to the Middle East. OHEC will feature an exclusive Malaysian pavilion. Jaafar said: Malaysia Healthcare is committed to offering our medical expertise, fostering innovation, and providing high-quality healthcare solutions to serve as a viable alternative to Middle Easterners, or specifically, Omanis that are seeking treatment abroad. Hence, I would like to invite industry players and potential healthcare travelers to visit us at the Malaysia Pavilion Booth No: 5500, Hall 3, and discover Malaysia Healthcare. We also look forward to engaging in meaningful discussions, exchanging knowledge, and exploring potential collaborations that can help expand our presence in this region.-- TradeArabia News Service Opportunity to share feedback Like many Gazette readers, I attended a Mayoral listening tour session, but my experience departs drastically from most of the Gazettes coverage and subsequent letters to the editor. At the meeting, I was impressed by how many citizens gave up their precious time to be heard. I was also appreciative of the opportunity to meet and work with new people, many of whom had differing perspectives and new information to share. I was grateful for the largely unrecognized role CONO played in facilitating these meetings I neither saw nor experienced overt or aggressive recruitment efforts by the organization: just a little sign-up sheet by the door for those interested in learning more. As a person who appreciates the vital role of community engagement and the efficacy of the World Cafe setting in helping to maximize outcomes, I was grateful for a framework to guide conversation. The areas of focus presented represented municipal domains in which feedback could have the most impact. Absent that framework, I have seen community conversations devolve into yelling matches about matters outside the purview of the hosting entity, to the exclusion of the wise but quiet voices that might offer something novel. More than anything else, I appreciated the opportunity to share feedback both with my neighbors and the mayor. This feedback mechanism is brand new a formal chance to share thoughts with the Mayor and City Council didnt exist before at all. Maybe the meetings werent perfect for everyone who attended them, but as Shakespeare admonishes: Striving to better, oft we mar whats well. Kristy Milligan Colorado Springs Giving a gun to a killer Sensible gun control measures would have prevented last Saturdays killing of three African Americans in Jacksonville. The murderers racist belief was well known. For him to have possession of a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle is unbelievable. It would have been easy to deny this lunatic possession of firearms. Why wasnt that done? I think anyone who allowed the killer to have a gun should be charged with the crime of accessory to murder. We make sure that drivers are competent to operate a motor vehicle. Why dont we make sure that anyone who uses a firearm knows and respects its use, instead of giving a gun to any dangerous, bigoted lamebrain? David J. Baker Colorado Springs Legislators outrageous actions Thanks for The Gazettes continuing coverage of the outrageous actions by our progressive legislators and Gov. Jared Polis and rubber stamped by our corrupt courts. Aside from Western Slope papers and The Denver Gazette, I doubt anyone in the press is doing so. Your editorial of the same day merely mentions Polis presidential ambitions. I suggest that Polis is trying to out-California California. Joe Biden is likely to be unwilling or unable to continue to run for president, leaving Gavin Newsom as one of Polis few serious competitors for the Democratic nomination. Sign up for free: Gazette Opinion Receive updates from our editorial staff, guest columnists, and letters from Gazette readers. Sent to your inbox 12:00 PM. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Dave Vandenberg Colorado Springs Call it like it is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just got a woke up call. While attempting to speak at a vigil for three Black people shot and killed in Jacksonville, he was booed, and someone yelled: Youre not welcome here! Why such vitriol at a solemn occasion? It is feedback from people who are offended by his often-expressed beliefs. First of all, it is from his use of the term woke. In simple terms, woke just means being politically conscious and aware. The word has a long history. It was used in Black protest songs dating back to the early 20th century. So, is DeSantis blowing a dog whistle, thus offending this audience? Oh, and then there is his continued crack down on diversity initiatives and the teaching of Black history in public schools over concerns of woke indoctrination. In last weeks debates he boasted that he removed critical race theory from K-12 educations. False it was never there to begin with. He did, however, remove Black history from the curriculum. Offensive to this audience? And finally, he wanted to express his thoughts and prayers for the victims and their families for deaths by an assault-style weapon. Really? He just signed a permitless-carry bill into law, which allows people to legally carry a concealed firearm without training or a background check. Granted, purchasing a gun from a licensed dealer in Florida requires a background check. But there is no law preventing ownership of a gun that leaves an exit wound the size of your fist something that mutilated over 20 children in a Parkland Florida school. Enough. Call it like it is. This man stimulates racial divides and allows people to buy assault-style weapons to shoot people based on their race. Im offended. Peter Knepell Colorado Springs Where is the objectivity? Deane Berson claims to be objectively assessing the faults of Democrats vs. Republicans, alleging that Democrats are the only ones who censor free speech, try to force beliefs onto other people, and justify violence to retaliate against opposing views. (Down the middle is often immoral, August 29.) Therefore, he says, Democrats are more oppressive and corrupt than Republicans and more dangerous to the country. Not once does Berson mention that it is primarily Republicans who are on a book banning binge, who are suppressing womens freedom and bodily autonomy, who are narrowing voting rights, and who are criminalizing personal health care choices related to gender identity. And most noticeably, Berson offers not a word about a Republican-in-Chief inciting an insurrection against democracy and then praising its violent participants. I fail to see where the objectivity is in this outlandishly skewed assessment. Ken Burrows Colorado Springs Remember the old riddle that asks how far you can run into a forest? The answer is halfway, because after that, you're running out of the woods. That's where Colorado's political juggernaut is poised. Marking the precise midpoint between last year's general election and next year's state primary, Sept. 1 is the day when the next major election begins to draw ever closer than the last, receding one. Of course, politics is a nonstop, year-round affair now. Colorado's calendar is crowded with elections, none of which can be considered minor or inconsequential. From the Nov. 8, 2022, general election when voters elected a governor, U.S. senator and a full slate of federal, state and county officials to the state-level primary on June 24, 2024, Coloradans will have had a chance to cast ballots in numerous municipal elections, November's upcoming statewide off-year election and the presidential primary in March. This spring, Denver and Colorado Springs elected new mayors, and in a couple of months on Nov. 7 Aurora voters will decide that city's direction, as will voters in cities, towns and school boards across the state. Statewide, voters will get to weigh in at the same time on Proposition HH, a controversial ballot question involving property taxes and the state's Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Fast forward to March 5, and Colorado and at least 14 other states and territories voting for the major parties' presidential nominees on Super Tuesday. The next main event, however, looms a few months later on the last Tuesday in June, when voters will pick the Republicans and Democrats bound for the November election for the U.S. House, the state legislature, county officers and district attorneys. While it's still early a lot can happen in the nearly 10 months until Colorado's 2024 primary the contours of next year's statewide and congressional contests are already beginning to emerge. Colorado's sparse 2024 election lineup only features a handful of races that can be considered competitive at this point, with a pair of U.S. House races topping the list. It only happens every 12 years that state voters are faced with as few top-ticket choices as they'll have next year, when neither a U.S. Senate seat nor Colorado's executive offices governor, attorney general, secretary of state and state treasurer are up for election. The state's 10 electoral votes will be on the ballot in the race for the White House, but barring the wildly unforeseen, they won't be up for grabs. Colorado has voted for the Democratic nominee in each of the last four presidential elections including handing President Joe Biden a 13-point win over former President Donald Trump in 2020. There's no sign that might change next year. Other than the presidential race, Colorado voters will only find a single statewide competition on their ballots next November, for the open University of Colorado Board of Regent's at-large seat. The part-time, unpaid position rarely attracts the kind of attention it might next year when there won't be many other races vying for the spotlight political news abhors a vacuum but so far it isn't shaping up to be a barnburner. In its current configuration, the nine-member CU board elects one regent from each of the state's eight congressional districts and a single regent at-large to six-year terms. The race could hold at least symbolic importance for Colorado's beleaguered Republicans, since an at-large regent seat is the last statewide office won by a Republican nominee and the last statewide office held by the party. Douglas County entrepreneur Heidi Ganahl, who lost last year's race for governor to Democrat Jared Polis, was the only Colorado Republican to come out on top on the statewide ballot in 2016 when she won the at-large regent's race. She held the office until after last year's election, when the at-large seat she occupied disappeared, a casualty of redistricting after Colorado gained an additional U.S. House seat and the number of at-large seats dropped from two to one. Until a couple of weeks ago, Democrat Elliott Hood, a Boulder attorney who specializes in education law, was the only declared candidate for the remaining at-large seat. The seat is currently held by Democrat Lesley Smith, who is running for a state House seat rather than seek a second term. A Republican named Dennis Smith, who lists a Denver address, filed paperwork to run for the seat in late August, but neither the state GOP nor other Republican regents were aware of his candidacy this week, so it remains to be seen whether he'll give Hood a run for his money. Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Leading Republicans have recently told Colorado Politics that they're working to recruit a regent candidate, so it's possible Smith could face a primary. While Hood has raised big bucks for the regent's race, it isn't too late for another Democrat to get in. There's no doubt, however, that Colorado's two battleground congressional districts will take up any slack if the state's presidential and at-large regent's races turn out to be snoozers. Ranked among the closest congressional races in the country last year, Colorado's 3rd and 8th districts the former represented by Silt Republican Lauren Boebert and the latter represented by Thornton Democrat Yadira Caraveo promise to be home to some of next year's most expensive and hard-fought U.S. House races. Both are considered key to determining which party controls the chamber after the election. The two seats are considered toss-ups by national election forecasters and House Democrats' and Republicans' congressional campaign arms, and both look like they'll feature high-profile primaries. In the 3rd CD, which spans most of the Western Slope and parts of Southern Colorado, Boebert, the state's most prominent Republican, is seeking a third term after winning her second by a mere 546 votes the closest scrape nationwide in a House district over Democrat Adam Frisch, the wealthy former Aspen city councilor who announced in February that he's seeking a rematch. Boebert's and Frisch's fundraising has so far lapped the state's other congressional incumbents' and challengers' Frisch has raised nearly $4.4 million and had almost $2.5 million on hand at the end of the last reporting period, while Boebert brought in a little over $1.5 million and had almost that much on hand both are facing primaries so won't be able to bank everything for the home stretch next summer and fall. Neither are strangers to primaries. Boebert first won the seat in 2020 after ousting five-term incumbent Scott Tipton in the GOP primary, and last year she prevailed by roughly two-to-one over then-state Sen. Don Coram, a moderate Republican from Montrose. Frisch won the 2022 nomination by the skin of his teeth in a three-way primary, defeating Pueblo community organizer Sol Sandoval by just 289 votes. Frisch, who calls himself a conservative alternative to Boebert, drew a primary challenge a month ago from Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout. She told Colorado Politics that she doesn't expect to match her rival's jaw-dropping fundraising, but instead plans to contrast her roots in the community and record in the district's second-largest city, behind Pueblo. Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd jumped in the GOP primary in mid-August, backed by some of the old-fashioned Republicans who ruled Colorado a generation ago, including his campaign co-chairs, former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown and former state House Majority Leader Tim Foster, a former president of Colorado Mesa University. Although the 3rd CD leans Republican, with GOP candidates historically running an average of 9 points ahead of Democrats among its voters in benchmark races, the Cook Political Report this summer moved the district to toss-up territory, citing Boebert's continued combative approach to politics, her close call in the last go-around and Frisch's massive fundraising lead. Colorado's other sure-fire competitive congressional seat is also its newest, gained last year during redistricting due to the state's growing population. Covering parts of Adams, Weld and Larimer counties north of the Denver metro area, the 8th CD is nearly evenly divided between Democratic and Republican voters and has a history of going its own way, having favored Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. Democrat Caraveo, a former state lawmaker, narrowly won her first term last year by a slim 1,632-vote margin over state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, a Brighton Republican. It's nearly certain that Caraveo won't face a primary next year, but it's a different story on the Republican side. The day after Kirkmeyer announced in mid-July that she wasn't going to run again in the district, Weld County Commissioner Scott James, a veteran radio host and then-chairman of the Weld County GOP, threw his hat in the ring, but he isn't expected to have the field to himself for long. State Rep. Gabe Evans, a first-term Republican from Fort Lupton, is widely expected to launch his candidacy right after Labor Day. Republicans tell Colorado Politics there's a good chance the former police officer and Army combat veteran will soon be joined in the primary by Steve Moreno, a former two-term Weld County commissioner and three-term county clerk and recorder, making for an competitive there-way race for the nomination. 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. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has signed separate civil aviation deals with Pakistan and Bangladesh as part of the Saudi aviation sector strategy aimed at building international partnerships. The signing of the deals came as President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Duailej met civil aviation officials and specialists in both Pakistan and Bangladesh. As part of a Saudi delegation headed by Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, Al-Duailej separately met Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) Director General Khaqan Murtaza and Bangladeshi Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali. Air transportation officials and CEOs of air carriers attended the meetings. Officials at the meetings discussed ways to increase seating capacity for transporting religious visitors to the kingdom as well as the best solutions to overcome current and future challenges. They also reviewed cooperation and ways of providing more facilities for air carriers. On the sidelines of the Pakistan meeting, Al-Duailej signed an agreement with his Pakistani counterpart on the provision of air transportation services. The agreement aims to enhance cooperation between the two sides regarding air services and develop regulatory frameworks for air transport between the two countries in a safe and orderly manner. The GACA President signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Minister Ali in the field of air transport to boost the number of flights between the Kingdom and Bangladesh, increase seating capacity, facilitate the arrival of the religious visitors to the Kingdom, and boost air cargo flights. The Saudi aviation sector strategy aims to foster the kingdom's air connectivity with the world to include 250 destinations and triple the number of passengers to 330 million passengers. The strategy also seeks to up air cargo capacity to 4.5 million tonnes annually by 2030. - TradeArabia News Service Master player Andy Blumenthal, 72, of Mason City was inducted into the Iowa Rock n Roll Music Association Hall of Fame on Sunday. Blumenthal has been traveling light and sitting in with his own and other bands for 57 years. Blumenthal plays predominately blues and early rock 'n' roll, though he spent a number of years in Minnesota and Iowa as a music leader and performer in both his churches and at tent revivals across the region. His current band, Kilroy, plays a mix of popular rock 'n' roll hits from over the decades. Blumenthal is a familiar figure at live music venues around town. In his signature Greek fishing hat and suspenders, he slips through crowded bars without attracting much attention. Until he plays. He came by his love for music at an early age. At just three years old, he would fetch records for his older brother, Alan, known as Butch, by sight rather than reading the labels. His parents signed him up for piano lessons at age nine to foster the talent he clearly had, but with mixed results. There was a great, big picture window right in the room with the piano, Blumenthal recalls. I never got any good at the piano because I could see all my friends playing outside. He didnt play in a band or take any formal music lessons, but the music his brother and two older sisters, Eleanor and Roberta, played never quite left his head. At age 15, Blumenthal moved from New York to New Jersey. Kids in the area were playing guitar. The music scene was hopping, but Blumenthal couldnt bring himself to haul the equipment so he picked up a harmonica. Im the fastest set up and tear down guy in any band I play with, he laughed. And there have been a lot of bands. First band I ever joined was with Artie Gary back in Plainfield, New Jersey, Blumenthal said. It was called Azalea, like the flower, but we didnt know that, so we called ourselves Az-uh-lee-uh. Named after the Azalea Court Apartments. Theres been A-train and the Straight Freight Blues Band, Main Attraction and Kilroy if were marking bands Blumenthal has been an official member of. Hes sat in and played along with so many he cant list them all. Hes sat in with Larry Meyer, Skeeter Lewis and the All Stars, even Kevin Burt, and hes a global star now, said Matt Perez, owner of Lorados on the Plaza. Kent and Cindy Christiansen opened the Bourbon Street Bar on Clear Lakes South Shore in 1999. Wednesday nights featured an open jam. There was almost an ultimatum that bands had to let Andy sit in. Hed been around a bit by then, but really got to know area musicians from those open jam sit ins. His talent can blow you away, said Christiansen. Out of all the venues hes played, Blumenthal considers Lorados his home. Venues dont step on each others toes, explains Blumenthal. If you are a regular booked at one spot, youre not going to be featured other places. Its no hard and fast rule, but its there. Matt Perez now owns Lorados after a recent purchase, but Julie and Rex Bergo had quite a bit to do with Blumenthals local success. When Lorados opened in 1993, it didnt have a jukebox. The Bergos overcame the issue by regularly hosting live music, featuring local musicians. In 2017, Lorados was inducted into the Iowa Rock n Roll Music Association Hall of Fame, as well. It was Julie Bergo who nominated Blumenthal in the individual artist category. Andy has been absolutely vital to the music scene in Mason City, Julie said. For 29 years, we called Andy our house harp player. Every now and then wed get a band that was having an off night or just wasnt that great, and Andy would get right up and have them back on track in no time. Nominating him was an easy decision. He should be in the Hall of Fame. Rich Mock is another Hall of Fame inductee. He received his honor in 2018. Bourbon Street was fertile ground for local musicians, and it really all started with open mic, said Mock. The Hall of Fame ceremony is really great. They do an amazing job of making artists feel special for a day. It gives recognition in an industry where we dont always get it. The nomination came as a surprise to Blumenthal, who got the news at a concert on the Principal Pavilion. Rex and Julie called me over and they had another couple with them. Thats when I met Tim Coffey, who sits on the Hall of Fame board. They just told me, Youre in! Blumenthal said. Blumenthal thinks being a Hall of Famer wont change things much. Hes been thinking for a while now about starting up a little blues trio. Its nice to be recognized, but what matters is the camaraderie between musicians. God gave me this talent, so He should get the credit. The Iowa Rock n Roll Music Association Hall of Fame Weekend Spectacular ran from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3 in Arnolds Park. Don and Dennis Higgins were also inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday in the Support Person category. A half-dozen new officers with the Danville Police Department received certificates for their work in a community connection program during a graduation ceremony held Friday. The officers underwent four weeks of classroom, workshop and real-world training that enables them to understand the history and needs of the Danville community. Called Grassroots Empowerment and Action Training G.R.E.A.T. the program was started in 2020 under a different name by Danville Police Chief Scott Booth and developed by Joshua Hearne. The program is in partnership with Averett Universitys Center for Community Engagement and Career Competitiveness. G.R.E.A.T. was originally called C.L.I.P. Community Leadership Immersion Program and was formed when police departments across the nation were grappling with the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis in May 2020. We saw what that event, what that tragic event, sent a ripple effect throughout the world, Booth said during remarks at the ceremony held Friday morning in presidents suite at the Frank R. Campbell Stadium at Averett Universitys North Campus. The program provides an opportunity for community members to talk to police about they want from their police officers, Booth said. You hear the voices of the community, he said. Graduating police officers included Amber Brown, Jonathan Coleman, Deandre Edmonds, Kamden Lewis, Thomas Maginnis and Kayla Robinson. The G.R.E.A.T. program is mandatory for all new Danville police officers after they have completed their 26-week recruitment training at the Piedmont Regional Criminal Justice Training Academy in Martinsville. The four-week curriculum hosts a diverse group of speakers from a variety of backgrounds, demographics and organizations, with a focus on cultural awareness. It provides real-world community engagement with residents that officers may not get to learn at the training academy. We give new officers the legal training, how to shoot and how to drive, and somewhat how to communicate, Booth said of the recruitment training. We talk to them for a few hours about the importance of community and then they ride with another officer. But when do they actually get to hear from the community? Participants in the program must complete and present a community-connection project. The six officers project included a community-engagement event held at Woodside Village apartments on Aug. 24. Robinson told the Danville Register & Bee during an interview before the ceremony that the program enabled her to interact with residents. We can give back to the community and get to know the people, get one-on-one and be able to speak with them, talk with them and help them and find out their needs ... so that we can move forward, Robinson said. Officers got to volunteer and serve during the program, talking to children and reading books with them and giving out food to those who needed it, she said. Nearly a decade ago, I was first introduced to the Vermentino grape at a distributor expo in Greensboro. It wasnt so much the grape that caught my attention as a sing-song of sales reps chatting up retailers, restaurants and specialty wine shops. In thick Italian accents, the sales reps all the while ogling female hospitality allowed how Sardinia wines explained why that islands inhabitants lived well into their late 90s, many surpassing 100. At conventions like that, hopes and fantasy can collide with reality. Still, were all dreamers at heart. The producer in question that day was Argiolas di Sardegna Costamolino. Its Vermentino (now $17) captured my heart. The 2021 rendering reprises yesteryears experience of bright citrus with hints of raspberry, apricot, blood orange and brine. That refreshing profile is a perfect match to summer heats begrudging surrender. You can find North Carolina versions of that same varietal style at Raffaldini Vineyards and Piccione Vineyards, both in Ronda, both estates about 200 yards apart. Fans of Sauvignon Blanc will take a shine to Vermentino. In Germanys shortened growing season, Riesling is king. Worth considering is the 2021 Nik Wies Urban Riesling ($13) from the Mosel region. Rieslings beauty is its balance of heightened acidity and perceived sweetness, be it apple, white peach and/or white grapefruit. In North Carolina, Riesling can struggle because it digs the sun but not so much the heat and humidity. One winery Shelton Vineyards in Dobson works magic with this varietal, consistently crafting award-winning Rieslings. Look for Yadkin Valley on the label. When Im hunting a medium-bodied spicy red, my go-to includes the 2019 E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone ($17) from France. Consistently appealing over the vintages, this boasts blackberry, plum, anise, and all-spice. Looking for a similar profile closer to home? Visit Junius Lindsay Vineyards near Lexington. This Rhone-style specialist leans on Syrah and Petite Sirah varietals to bring southern France to North Carolina. Similarly, Junius Lindsays Viognier and Viognier-Roussanne blend is a doppelganger for a favorite from Australia: Yaluma Y Series Viognier ($14). The finicky Viognier grape has found favor in North Carolina, showcasing honeysuckle, orange blossom, and honey overtones. Bodega Garzon from Uruguay has cracked North Carolinas distribution chain. Its 2022 Albarino Reserva ($20) has the same iconic lemon-lime, pink grapefruit and brine that defines the famed Riax Baixas region in northern coastal Spain. Salt is not a quality I seek in a wine, but with good Albarino, theres just a touch of brine aromas that make this a classic summertime quaff. For an equally intriguing experience in North Carolina, consider Sanctuary Vineyards The Pearl, its grapes nuzzling the Atlantic Ocean near Jarvisburg. In recent years, compared blind to Spains best Albarino, it does the Tar Heel state proud. Some other wines recently sampled that are worth considering: 2020 Dominio de Eguren Protocolo ($9): A good everyday Tempranillo from Spain. 2022 Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay ($8): Ubiquitous Australian brand that consistently delivers value. 2022 Allan Scott Sauvignon Blanc ($18): A zingy white from New Zealand where this grape thrives. NV Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut ($12): Great bubbly at an affordable price from Washingtons Columbia Valley. 2021 Stoller Family Estate Pinot Noir ($25): Oregon Pinots can get a bit expensive but this delivers signature cherry, cranberry and rose petal accents at the right price point. Al Bandar Rotana Hotel Dubai is painting the city pink in a groundbreaking initiative to mark Emirati Womens Day and honour Dubai as the worlds safest city for women. Inspired by the worldwide trend of "Barbie Pink, its latest campaign, "Dubai: A Pink Paradise for Every Woman brings art and social awareness together. Al Bandar Rotana has collaborated with renowned artists Elsa Antoun to produce a unique, pink-themed skyline painting of Dubai, emphasising the city as a sanctuary of security and empowerment for women globally. Three Messages, One Artwork. This one-of-a-kind artwork serves three purposes: recognising Emirati Women's Day, honouring Dubai's status as a safe haven for women, and embracing the international fascination for the colour pink. This campaign aims to resonate with women from all walks of life, locally and globally, and to celebrate the freedoms and security Dubai offers them. Ayman Ashor, General Manager at Al Bandar Rotana, said, "In a city that thrives on innovation and diversity, we are thrilled to mark Emirati Women's Day with a campaign that speaks to both the local community and the world. 'Dubai: A Pink Paradise for Every Woman' is our tribute to the resilience, strength, and grace of women in Dubai and across the globe. We invite you to come and see the artwork which will be showcased in the 18th floor at the club lounge and Gusto Italian Restaurant lobby. The hotel is inviting collaborations and partnerships to further amplify this impactful message. TradeArabia News Service Northeast State and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton recently signed the first-ever articulation agreement between the two institutions, providing a transfer pathway for TCAT students earning a welding diploma. TCAT-Elizabethton President David Hicks and Northeast State President Jeff McCord signed the agreement at a ceremony at Northeast States Technical Education Complex on the Blountville campus, according to a written statement. The agreement is a tremendous step forward for TCAT-Elizabethton and Northeast State, McCord said. Through this partnership, we realize the importance and potential of providing a bridge to TCAT students who want to continue their educational journey at Northeast State. Under the agreement, TCAT students with a welding credential are guaranteed admission to Northeast States Associate of Applied Science program in Welding/Metal Fabrication. TCAT students can transfer up to 36 hours, according to college officials. The Colleges Welding/Metal Fabrication degree requires the completion of 64 credit hours. The program is nationally accredited by the Association of Technology Management and Applied Engineering. This agreement is about doing whats in the best interest of our students, and I applaud both institutions for the work that went into bringing this to fruition, said Hicks. Were excited to have this opportunity for the students who want to take advantage of it. Northeast State will award credit based on transcript evaluations of TCAT students. TCAT students may be awarded Northeast State credit for courses in college and lifelong learning, general Welding, applied welding, industrial safety, welding blueprints, industrial concepts, inert gas arc welding, and pipe welding. Collaborations such as this between TCAT-Elizabethton and Northeast State are important for the region as they provide more seamless academic progression pathways for our students, said Nathan Weber, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs Programs and Services at Northeast State. We look forward to continuing to work with TCAT-Elizabethton in the future. HICKORY The Hickory Police Department is a recipient of a national award recognizing its effort to support employees who also serve as U.S. military service members. The Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. Government to employers for their outstanding support of employees serving in the Guard and Reserve, according to the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves (ESGR) website. The Hickory Police Department was nominated by Hickory Police Lt. Andrew Robison, who also serves in the Army Reserve as a staff sergeant. He returned to HPD earlier this year following a deployment. I was excited to nominate the Hickory Police Department for The Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award while I was deployed last year to show my appreciation for its continued support of me and the other military service members at our department, Robison said. The Hickory Police Department was invited to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., to receive the award on Aug. 30. We are humbled and honored to be named a recipient of the 2023 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, Hickory Police Chief Reed Baer said. We at HPD are fortunate to work for a city that has always recognized and appreciated the military service of our coworkers. Robison comes from a family of service including his own father, and both of his grandfathers, who served in various branches of the U.S. military. I too have always possessed this desire to serve, and I am proud to continue this legacy in both my careers in the Army Reserves and with the Hickory Police Department, he said. Along with Robison, the Hickory Police Department has numerous veterans currently employed as officers, telecommunicators, and other positions at the department. HPD is grateful for their service, both for their country and their community. I am so thankful that they (HPD) go above and beyond to ease the burden of deployment on employees by having such a generous and pro-military service member policy as well as providing the flexibility needed to transition on and off active-duty orders, Robison said. They did everything they could to support me while I was away and they continue to be completely positive, encouraging, accommodating, and proud of my military service. I am very thankful and grateful for their love and support, and I could not ask for a better place to work as a military service member. A Hill County jury was empaneled in District Court Monday, August 21, for the trial of Shane Byron Tracy of Hillsboro, who had been indicted by District Attorney Mark Pratt for the felony offense of sexual performance by a child. Assistant District Attorney Ken Dies represented the State of Texas at trial, and the defendant retained defense attorney Michael Crawford of Waxahachie. The case was investigated by Hillsboro Police Department Detective Michael Vicars. " " The earliest cities for which there exist records appeared around the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Gradually civilization spread northward and around the Fertile Crescent. The inset map shows the countries that occupy this area today. Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group/Getty Images When the last ice age ended nearly 12,000 years ago, the climate warmed, the seas rose and rains fell on the grassy steppes of the ancient Near East. It was here, archaeologists believe, in a semicircular region now known as the Fertile Crescent, that agriculture may have first taken hold, some of the world's first great cities were built, and humans developed some of the first clear hallmarks of "civilization," including writing, mathematics and religion. The term "Fertile Crescent" was coined in 1914 by the American Egyptologist James Henry Breasted in his popular high-school textbook "Outlines in Human History." He used it to describe a roughly crescent-shaped region encompassing modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and parts of Turkey and Iran. Advertisement "The earliest home of men in this great arena of western Asia is a borderland between desert and mountain a kind of cultivable fringe of the desert a fertile crescent having the mountains on one side and the desert on the other," wrote Breasted. "This great semicircle, for lack of a name, may be called the fertile crescent." More than 10,000 years ago, the nomadic peoples of this region harvested the wild grasses that grew in the rain-fed foothills and gathered together in small village settlements. Over millennia, they began to domesticate wheat and barley (beer was one of their first and best ideas), and to breed wild game into domesticated goats and sheep for meat, dairy and wool. The agricultural revolution began in earnest when farmers learned how to irrigate the fertile soils of the river valleys, where mineral-rich layers of silt enabled larger and more consistent harvests, which supported larger and more permanent human settlements. Ernest Withers took photography lessons in the U.S. Army while he served during World War II in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he worked as a beat cop on Beale Street in his hometown of Memphis as one of the first Black police officers. Thanks to that beat, he was able to photograph some of the soon-to-be-legends in music history, from B.B. King and Aretha Franklin to Ike and Tina Turner. Withers was prominent in the civil rights movement, too. He was the only photographer to document the entire Emmett Till murder trial, and he captured Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy riding the first desegregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. He also photographed the "Little Rock Nine" at Central High School in Arkansas in 1957 after Brown v. Board of Education outlawed segregation in public schools. Advertisement Other noteworthy things in history he captured include the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Medgar Evers' funeral, the Black Panther Party and the Lorraine Motel after MLK's assassination. In all, he took an estimated 1.8 million photos of Black life during his 60-year career. After Withers died in 2007 from a stroke, Commercial Appeal reporter Marc Perrusquia started working on Withers' biography for the paper. That's when a former FBI agent told Perrusquia that they never bothered to bug King's meetings because they had Withers. But the informant refused to tell Perrusquia more. Perrusquia spent years investigating the story, petitioning the FBI with Freedom of Information Act requests to discover the truth of this informant, until, after a lengthy lawsuit, many of Withers' classified records were released. That's when Perrusquia finally determined that Withers, in fact, worked as an informant for the FBI throughout the 1960s. " " A young Ernest Withers is seen here with his 1941 Ford Woody photo mobile in Memphis, Tennessee. Ernest C. Withers 404 404. Thats an error. The requested URL was not found on this server. Thats all we know. Security specialist Rubrik's new Rubrik AI-Powered Cyber Recovery provides generative AI capabilities for VMware customers to help minimise data loss and reduce downtime following a cyberattack. Rubrik AI-Powered Cyber Recovery provides backup administrators with recommended task lists and guided workflows. A recent Rubrik Zero Labs State of Data Security report found only 16% of all external organisations recovered all of their data even after paying a ransomware demand. "Cyberattacks can be highly unpredictable, and the complexity and sophistication of these threats make it challenging if not impossible for organisations to recover data quickly, safely, and with minimal data loss," said Rubrik chief product officer Anneka Gupta. "We understand that every minute counts when faced with a cyberattack, and Rubrik AI-Powered Cyber Recovery helps organisations take advantage of every second, empowering them to get their business-critical systems and data back up and running. As we continue our mission to secure the world's data, generative AI will be a key that helps customers unlock true cyber resilience more effectively." Rubrik AI-Powered Cyber Recovery will be designed to enhance recovery point objectives by helping to recover unaffected files from the most recent snapshot and affected files from the snapshot prior to suspicious threat detection, eliminate malware reinfection risks with safer virtual machine recovery by reconstructing clean and safe virtual machines, and minimise application downtime with AI-enabled task lists. Rubrik recently collaborated with Microsoft to integrate Rubrik Security Cloud with Microsoft Sentinel and Azure OpenAI Service to accelerate cyber recovery. Samsung is supplying virtualised and open RAN network equipment to power Vodafone's 2,500 mobile sites in Wales and South Wales in England by 2027. The deployment will begin in Devon. Vodafone enlisted Samsung in order to replace using now-forbidden equipment from China based-vendor Huawei. Samsung's vRAN software supports multiple radio access technology (4G LTE and 5G) and O-RAN-compliant radios support low-and mid-band spectrum. The radios include massive multiple-input, multiple-output (Mimo) support. Touted to be the "largest Open RAN rollout in the UK", the deployment, claimed Samsung, is the latest milestone for both companies since UK's first 5G Open RAN site in Bath in January 2022. Mobile Experts founder and chief analyst Joe Madden wrote in a statement that Samsung's deal with Vodafone's expansion aligns with its recently launched vRAN 3.0 platform. The release of vRAN 3.0 comes at a good time, as Samsung is extending its vRAN solutions to this major brownfield opportunity, he said. This milestone is important because it represents Open RAN replacing legacy solutions at scale in a high-capacity environment, and it sets up Vodafone UK with the flexibility to monetise their RAN better in the future. After rounds of testing and validation, we are well prepared to embark on this new phase in our Open RAN expansion, and look forward to opening up a new world of possibilities that will transform customer experiences," said Vodafone UK chief network officer Andrea Dona. Now we are witnessing how innovative technologies like Open RAN and vRAN can further bolster 5G capabilities, creating new paths and possibilities for network evolution, Samsung head of global sales and marketing, networks business and executive vice president Junehee Lee. Following this historic milestone in Europe, we will continue working together with Vodafone to take their Open RAN networks to new heights. In what is a relatively rare occurrence, Apple has offered an explanation as to why it stopped working on technology to block images of child abuse in iCloud. The company offered the explanation to Heat Initiative, a group that focuses on child safety, after it requested that the tech giant create a tool to find, notify and delete such material from iCloud. The explanation, shared with American website Wired, was written by Apple's director of user privacy and child safety, Erik Neuenschwander. Apple ceased work on the feature in December last year; it was originally announced in August 2021. Neuenschwander authored a document at the time of the 2016 stoush which Apple had with the FBI over its refusal to create a new version of iOS, detailing exactly why doing so would be dangerous for the entire Apple ecosystem. The new version of iOS was sought so that the US security agency could use it to try and gain access to an iPhone 5C that was owned by one of the terrorists involved in an attack in San Bernardino, California in December 2015. Neuenschwander's explanation to Heat Initiative comes at a time when the UK is seeking to pass laws that force technology firms to provide access to data sought by law enforcement agencies. In his explanation, Neuenschwander wrote: "Scanning every users privately stored iCloud data would create new threat vectors for data thieves to find and exploit. "It would also inject the potential for a slippery slope of unintended consequences. Scanning for one type of content, for instance, opens the door for bulk surveillance and could create a desire to search other encrypted messaging systems across content types. We decided to not proceed with the proposal for a hybrid client-server approach to CSAM [child sexual abuse material] detection for iCloud Photos from a few years ago. We concluded it was not practically possible to implement without ultimately imperilling the security and privacy of our users. His explanation is similar to those voiced by numerous experts during Senate hearings on the encryption laws passed by Australia in 2018. Despite numerous warnings, the laws were passed and have never been modified. Apple told Wired that it was concentrating on putting vulnerable or victimised users in touch with local resources and law enforcement that could help them rather than setting itself up as a middle man for processing reports. However, it added, such an intermediary service could make sense if offered by platforms like social networks. Apple's exchange with the group Heat Initiative can be read here. U.S. aircraft warned off Iran's airspace several times in 2 years: commander Xinhua) 09:15, September 04, 2023 TEHRAN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- A senior military commander said Iran had used its homegrown Karrar interceptor drone to warn U.S. aircraft off the country's airspace on a number of occasions over the past two years. In an interview with Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, which was published on Sunday, Alireza Elhami, deputy commander of the Iranian Army's Air Defense Force, made the remarks while commenting on the air force's drone and defense capabilities. Iran used the Karrar drone to warn U.S. aircraft as well as fighter jets from other countries to stay away from its southern waters, he said. On one occasion, an American Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft was forced to change its route after the warning, while on another occasion, a U.S. Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk drone was warned away, Elhami noted. He stressed that the Iranian drone, powered by a domestically-developed engine and equipped with a radar, can reach a height of more than 14,000 meters and is capable of flying above the intruding aircraft. Elhami said the Karrar drone will be equipped with air-to-air missiles in the near future so that it will be able to carry out combat missions. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Raffles London at The OWO, the first Raffles hotel to launch in the UK, is set to open its door on September 29, 2023. A momentous addition to the Raffles Hotels & Resorts portfolio, Raffles London at The OWO is the centrepiece of a landmark transformation of Britains Old War Office. Developed in partnership between the Hinduja Group and Accor, the Old War Office has been thoughtfully restored to its former glory a project that is a part of the revival of Britains heritage features. The most historically significant areas of the building are the Heritage Suites, former offices of influential political and military leaders including Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and Sir Richard Haldane. Raffles London at The OWO will open with 120 rooms and suites and three unique dining experiences by acclaimed chef Mauro Colagreco alongside the spectacular Guerlain Spa and Pillar Wellbeing. The OWO will also be home to 85 Residences by Raffles and a collection of independent restaurants drawn from dynamic culinary hubs across the globe. The Guerlain Spa at Raffles London featuring beauty and wellness experts Guerlain and health club by movement specialists Pillar Wellbeing comprising an extensive gym and movement studio, striking 20m swimming pool, complete with vitality pool. I am delighted to announce the highly awaited opening of The OWO this September. Along with Raffles London at The OWO, we hope to create a legacy that is both timeless and unsurpassed, said Sanjay Hinduja from Hinduja Group. Everyone at Accor feels honoured and privileged to be part of this historic project that has surpassed all expectations truly a legend in the making and possibly the most awe-inspiring hotel on the planet. Together with the Hinduja family, we proudly invite locals and travellers alike to experience this extraordinary hotel as well as the authenticity and graciousness of Raffles, one of our most prestigious brands in one of the worlds greatest cities, said Seebastien Bazin, Accor Chairman & CEO. Raffles seeks out astonishing settings for each of its properties, and Raffles London at The OWO offers this generously. The rich heritage of the city, as well as the Old War Office building, make London a natural home for the Raffles brand, which has long been synonymous with legendary service, glamour, art, and storied destinations, added Omer Acar, CEO of Raffles and Orient Express, Accor. - TradeArabia News Service COMPANY NEWS: Hitachi Vantara, the modern infrastructure, data management and digital solutions subsidiary of Hitach, has announced the winners of its 2023 ANZ Partner Awards at the company's regional partner conference held in Canberra last week. In celebrating another year of growth and excellence, the event attracted Hitachi Vantara's Australian and New Zealand distributors, partners, and technology alliances and recognised the organisation's top performing partners for their contributions in driving revenue growth and unlocking business value for their customers during the last financial year. Optus Enterprise won the ANZ Growth Partner of the Year award following exceptional engagement with both enterprises and Hitachi Vantara, delivering the best year-on-year growth for 2023. The organisation provides a full breadth of managed technology and services from applications, security, cloud-led ICT, to collaboration and contact centres. Ethan Global took home the ANZ Rising Partner of the Year award for its significant growth in revenue and new pipeline in digital infrastructure solutions for enterprises and government organisations. Ethan Global Rising Star Partner of the Year 2023. L-R Steven Lee, Hitachi Vantara, Johanna Davy, Hitachi Vantara, David Hunter, Ethan, Jacob Jackson, Ethan, and Nathan Knight, Hitachi Vantara The new Acquisition Win of the Year award category was presented to Datacom Australia in recognition of securing a highly valued new customer win in the New South Wales public sector. Datacom ANZ Acquisition Partner of the year 2023. L-R: Ross Salisbury, PSG Strategy, Steven Lee, Hitachi Vantara, Michael Ryn, Datacom, Victoria Gertner, Datacom, Johanna Davy, Hitachi Vantara and Peter Stein, PSG Strategy and Nathan Knight, Hitachi Vantara For the second year in a row, Computer Concepts (part of Spark Business Group) continued to lead the way in delivering cloud computing and services to its customers in New Zealand. Not only are they Hitachi Vantara ANZ Elite Partner of Year for 2023 but the partner was also awarded this year's ANZ Cloud Service Provider of the Year for innovation in as-a-service offerings. Computer Concepts Elite and Cloud Services Provider Partner of the year 2023. L-R: Steven Lee, Hitachi Vantara, Ratish Nair, CCL, and Nathan Knight, Hitachi Vantara Finally, VMware Australia was honoured with the Technology Alliance Partner of the Year award for 2023. The Hitachi Vantara and VMware relationship continues to grow from strength to strength with many customers in Australia and New Zealand relying on joint on-premise cloud and/or hybrid cloud solutions, delivered and supported by Hitachi Vantara's professional services, customer service and support teams. VMware Technology Alliance partner of the Year 2023. L-R: Steven Lee, Hitachi Vantara, Adrian Johnson, Hitachi Vantara, Gene Huh, VMware, Ally Knipe, VMware, Choo Siang Lee, Hitachi Vantara and Nathan Knight, Hitachi Vantara "The last 12 months has been an outstanding year for Hitachi Vantara's ANZ partner program during which time we continued to implement partner feedback on tools and enablement and jointly drove a sustainable and profitable digital infrastructure business" said Hitachi Vantara Australia and New Zealand strategic partner and alliances director Steven Lee. "We have seen significant improvements in the usage of partner tools, the enablement of our partner ecosystem, both in terms of virtual and exclusive face-to-face events like our Partner Technical Ambassador Club (PTAC), not to mention the growth in new partners and customer logos," said Lee. "As we look forward to the year ahead, we will continue to be laser focused on building our valued partner and channel ecosystem and jointly go to market together to help customers navigate their business and IT challenges surrounding data protection, cyber resiliency, application and workload placement across hybrid and multi-cloud, and storage investment modernisation. At the same time, we also look forward to supporting end user customers in leveraging universal data management to secure, protect, manage, and enable modern data pipelines for real-time business value and insights. "We congratulate all our 2023 award winners and honour our entire ANZ partner channel for their ongoing support in building exceptional momentum and working alongside Hitachi Vantara to consistently support exceptional data-driven customers experiences with sustainable solutions which ultimately provide value and deliver better business outcomes." About Hitachi Vantara Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, delivers the intelligent data platforms, infrastructure systems, and digital expertise that supports more than 80% of the Fortune 100. To learn how Hitachi Vantara turns businesses from data-rich to data-driven through agile digital processes, products, and experiences, visit https://www.hitachivantara.com. About Hitachi Hitachi drives social innovation business, creating a sustainable society through the use of data and technology. We solve customers' and society's challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products. Hitachi operates under the business structure of digital systems and services - supporting our customers' digital transformation; green energy & mobility - contributing to a decarbonised society through energy and railway systems, and connective industries - connecting products through digital technology to provide solutions in various industries. Driven by digital, green, and innovation, we aim for growth through co-creation with our customers. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2022 (ended 31 March 2023) totalled 10,881.1 billion yen, with 696 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 320,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com. KENNEY Authorities are seeking an armed and extremely dangerous suspect believed to be responsible for killing one person and injuring another in the DeWitt County village of Kenney. DeWitt County Sheriff Mike Walker said law enforcement received a 911 call at 3:23 p.m. Sunday reporting an active shooter at 635 Kenney Road, south of Kenney, a village of roughly 300 people. One person was dead at the scene, where four others remained in hiding from the suspect, Walker said. Responding deputies also found a male victim with multiple gunshot wounds in a vehicle at Illinois 54 and Jordan Street in Kenney. This victim was taken to John Warner Hospital in Clinton and then Carle Hospital in Champaign, where he remained in stable condition Monday, the sheriff said. On Monday, DeWitt County Coroner Randy Rice identified the man killed in the shooting as John Wesley Wes Anderson, 78, of rural Kenney. The injured man was identified as Kigan Antonio Munoz, 21, of Clinton. On Sunday, Walker identified the suspect as Jose De Jesus Gomez Munoz, but said he typically goes by Jesus Munoz. He is described as a Hispanic man, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighing 165 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Munoz left the scene in a white 2019 Honda Accord with the Illinois license plate DT 50632. He is wanted on charges of murder and other crimes. A Monday afternoon post from the DeWitt County Sheriffs Office said both shooting victims are related to the suspect. Kigan Munoz is the suspects son and Anderson was the suspects father-in-law, and also Kigan Munoz grandfather, Walker said. The sheriffs post also confirmed that Jesus Munoz remained at large Monday afternoon. A separate statement posted Monday morning said officers do not believe Jesus Munoz is still in the area. We will find him at some point, and we will catch him and bring him to justice, Walker said in a Sunday video posted to the sheriffs office Facebook page. The suspects whereabouts and possible destination are unknown, Walker said, although he is believed to have relatives in Mexico. People should stay vigilant and contact police if they see anyone they think could be the suspect, he said. Please call. Were here. Were going to be here, he said. Were here 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We got multiple agencies here. Weve got all kinds of law enforcement here. We will get somebody to check out a residence or to check on something. The Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Conservation Police, Clinton Police Department, Macon County Sheriffs Office, Decatur Police Department, and FBI provided assistance Sunday, and Walker said he had been contacted by law enforcement officials in McLean and Logan counties: Just everybody reaching out, seeing what they can do to help. The Kenney Fire Department opened up its building to police to use as an incident command post and even brought food to the working officers, the sheriff said. The Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System provided a mobile command post to help officers in the field escape the heat. The four people who were not injured in the incident were being interviewed by law enforcement, the sheriff said: And considering what theyve been through (Sunday), theyre doing relatively well. Ever since the Lincoln Journal Star started publishing Lori Borgman's nationally syndicated column, another Lori Lori Morin has considered herself a fan. The first column Morin cut out of the paper, she remembers, was in May 2018, and Morin has been known to pass out clippings of Borgman's writing known for its humorous observations on all aspects of life to her friends. "I pass them on to people either because they're funny or moving," Morin said. "Whenever I read her, I'm either going to be uplifted or laughing or encouraged." So, a year and a half after the loyal Journal Star reader clipped out her first Borgman column, she was pleasantly surprised to learn that Borgman who is also an author and speaker is originally from Lincoln. "We became acquainted by email and had a lot in common," Borgman said in a recent phone interview. "She said you should come to Lincoln." Thanks to Morin's planning, Borgman will give two talks at the Auld Recreation Center in Antelope Park, 1650 Memorial Drive, on Wednesday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Borgman will also sell and sign copies of her most recent book, "What Happens at Grandma's Stays at Grandma's." Tickets are free, but must be reserved in advance by emailing clarionevents2023@gmail.com. Morin had initially hoped to host Borgman a few years back, but then the pandemic hit, scuttling the plans. Then, this past spring, the columnist said she was ready to return. So Morin formed a committee of family and friends to find a place to host Borgman and spread the word. "She's been very gracious," Morin said. Borgman, who lives in Indianapolis, grew up in the University Place neighborhood, where she remembers the 13-block walk -- "uphill both ways -- to Huntington Elementary School. She also spent a lot of time on family farms in the area. Her family later moved to Kansas City when she was 9, and Borgman went on to study journalism at the University of Missouri, which led to a lifelong career in newspapers, including in Fargo, North Dakota and Oregon. She eventually landed in Indianapolis, where her husband worked for the Star newspaper and Borgman began doing freelance work. That eventually segued into the column that is now syndicated to more than 400 media outlets in the U.S. and Canada. Borgman's column, which runs weekly in the Journal Star on Thursdays, touches on a wide array of topics -- "from the truth about nagging," as her website states, "to the hazards of upper arm flab." "I rarely have many (columns) in the bank," Borgman said. "The easy part is the writing, the hardest part is finding an idea." In addition to her talks Wednesday, Borgman also will speak to two writing classes and a book club. She plans to share memories of her time in Nebraska, including the after-church meals with her cousins growing up that included fried chicken, mashed potatoes, "three kinds of pickles," and canned green beans "all these things that could kill you," Borgman playfully observed. As with any talk that she gives, Borgman is looking forward to meeting readers in person who have connected with her through her writing. "I'm always humbled when I get an email from a reader," Borgman said. "There's just so much tension in the world that people really do look forward to a bright spot, and that is always humbling to me." Top Journal Star photos for August 2023 A 44-year-old Omaha man was sentenced to life in prison Friday for sex trafficking of a minor, plus an additional 60 years for production of child sex abuse images, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Nebraska announced. Rolando E. Midder was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter Jr., who said egregious is too kind of a word when describing Midders actions. In addition to the life sentence for sex trafficking, Rossiter sentenced Midder to 30 years each, the statutory maximum, for two counts of production of child sex abuse images. Midder was convicted in a weeklong jury trial in June. Evidence at the trial showed that Midder, who was living in an Omaha hotel, invited a homeless girl to live with him in February 2022, according to the release. Midder then began advertising the girl online and coordinating locations and prices for respondents to engage in sex acts with the girl, who was a minor, the release said. The advertisements continued until Midders arrest in June 2022. After Midders arrest, a search warrant for his phone was obtained. On the phone were ads created about the victim, conversations arranging commercial sex acts with the victim and videos showing himself raping the victim. When she was rescued by law enforcement, the victim was found to have numerous bruises, burns and scars, and she appeared extremely malnourished, according to the release. She said she had been raped and physically abused by Midder and expressed fear that he would kill her if he found out she had talked to law enforcement. The case was investigated by the FBI Omahas Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The sentence in this case fits the horrendous actions this individual perpetrated on the victim, acting U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr said in the release. Top Journal Star photos for August 2023 1. Yes. If KHA cant continue to run it, the city should step in. Its a necessary asset to the area. 2. Yes. The city already uses it as a warming and cooling center. It would be a smart move. 3. No. It may be in the citys interest to help subsidize insurance for the center, but nothing more. 4. No. The city doesnt need the added burden of staffing and insuring the center. Its a bad idea. 5. Unsure. It may be seem like a good idea, but other options should be explored as well. Vote View Results Global Village, the UAE and wider region's leading multicultural family destination, has won recognition once again from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for its exceptional health and safety (H&S) management. For the second consecutive year, Global Village has won the Gold RoSPA Leisure Safety Award, a prestigious honour that recognises excellence in health and safety management among companies that primarily offer services direct to visitors. Each year, nearly 2,000 participants compete for this award in what stands as the UK's longest-running health and safety industry awards. Highest safety Year after year, Global Villages remains dedicated towards establishing the highest safety to ensure the well-being of visitors, partners and staff. This repeated recognition reaffirms the parks unwavering dedication in continuously working on exceptional experiences within a secure and safe environment. Global Village is set to welcome visitors for Season 28 from October 18, 2023.-- TradeArabia News Service SOMERS The sun shone brightly and hot as hundreds of automobile enthusiasts descended on Petrifying Springs Park for the 20th anniversary of the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association car show Sunday. The all-day affair, featuring upward of 300 classic and contemporary cars, is a fundraiser for the chapters program that gives financial assistance to severely wounded veterans. It also honors fallen soldiers during a noon time ceremony. The event featured the presentation of the colors by the Boy Scouts of America Troop 1865 of Kenosha and rendition of Taps that moved J.P. Lane, who was awarded $4,000 from the chapter. The Green Bay native, who currently lives in New Orleans with his wife Crystal, told his story of survival and faith after the former U.S. Army combat engineer lost both his legs after an IED exploded during a mission in Afghanistan on July 2, 2011. Lane, who joined the Army in 2008, said he was called to do so after watching the Twin Towers fall in the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Lane was in the eighth grade at the time, but he said he knew in my heart I wanted to serve this country and protect it from happening again. So, I signed up to do one of the most dangerous jobs in the military, he said, as dozens people gathered in the sweltering heat that reached into the 90s on Sunday. I was a combat engineer, 12 Bravo, and what that means is when I deployed to Afghanistan in 2010-2011, I would be searching for bombs all day clearing routes making sure our brothers and sisters arms could go safe on their missions. Lane said that he found one, or rather actually, it found me first. A 200-pound improvised explosive device detonated and as Lane put it I was blown up, he said. That was the first IED of its kinds to penetrate a truck like mine that I was in, he said The blast severed his legs and snapped his left femur and his pelvis in half. His spinal cord had dislocated from his pelvis and his right arm was broken in two. I lost my middle finger for using it too much, said Lane, offering comic relief amid the harrowing descriptions the multitude of injuries he suffered in the blast. The impact from the explosion also knocked out four front teeth as his face struck the trucks steering wheel. Everything inside my torso was destroyed except for my heart and my left lung, he said. They had to cut me open from my perfectly chiseled abs that I used have. Lane survived 28 surgeries. Over a month and half long coma he had died twice. That was something like Ive never experienced before in my entire life waking up from that and looking at the fact that Im now a half a dude, he said. And he questioned his existence. Is someone going to love me like this? he said. A faith in God But for Lane, it wasnt about him and what happened to him, but rather one of his faith in God. He not only healed me and put me back together and took away the two feet that were walking away from him and gave me two feet to walk right back to him, said Lane who uses prosthetics. Six years later he said he met his beautiful bride, who shared his journey with him. Crystal Lane, who stood by him, wore a shirt that proudly revealed she is wife of a Purple Heart veteran. Its been an amazing life but its been amazing because I didnt know waking up from that coma, laying in the hospital bed that things were going to be all right, he said. Little did I know there were supporters and people of America and our military, like yourselves, to say, `hey, we got your back. Lane said that the military teaches each soldiers to have their six. I have your six paddle buddy. I didnt think that was going to be a thing for a civilian, he said. You all have our six as well and thats a beautiful thing. Lane recognized the generosity of civilian organizations supporting severely wounded military veterans, whove helped to put their lives back together again financially. You all have come together and literally been a blessing for so many people including my wife and I, he said. And Im just so grateful for what you do. Now, on top of that, I get to look at some pretty, sexy cars. This is the best day ever. Dan Boring, the chapters ambassador and liaison to veteran administration hospitals, presented the Lanes with check. Lane and his wife were also made honorary members of the chapter. The amount of the money is never going to be enough for the sacrifices J.P. and other guys have made for our country, Boring said. Youre always welcome back to any of our events. And, hopefully, next time we can get you to jump out of a plane. Close Car enthusiasts check out a row of classic cars at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten Sunday. Boy Scouts of America Troop 1865 of Kenosha presents the colors during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. J.P. Lane, background, fourth from the left, sings the national anthem during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the ground of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Lane, a former U.S. Army combat engineer, lost both his legs when an IED exploded while he was on a mission in Afghanistan on July 2, 2011. The airborne chapter presented him with a check for $4,000 during the event. Green Bay native J.P. Lane tells his story of survival during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Lane, a former U.S. Army combat engineer, lost both his legs when an IED exploded while he was on a mission in Afghanistan on July 2, 2011. The airborne chapter presented him with a check for $4,000 during the event. In the immediate background to the left are the association's Chairman Jack Gibbons, Dan Boring, association liaison and Lane's wife, Crystal. The couple currently resides in New Orleans. Green Bay native J.P. Lane tells his story of survival during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Lane, a former U.S. Army combat engineer, lost both his legs when an IED exploded while he was on a mission in Afghanistan on July 2, 2011. The airborne chapter presented him with a check for $4,000 during the event. In the immediate background to the left are the association's Chairman Jack Gibbons, Dan Boring, association liaison and Lane's wife, Crystal. The couple currently resides in New Orleans. Green Bay native J.P. Lane tells his story of survival during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. Dan Boring, liaison for the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division introduces U.S. Army veteran J.P. Lane, second from the right, during the association's 20th car show on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Lane, a Green Bay native and former U.S. Army combat engineer, lost both his legs when an IED exploded while he was on a mission in Afghanistan on July 2, 2011. The airborne chapter presented him with a check for $4,000 during the event. A car enthusiast looks over a 1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with hood open to reveal a 5.0 L, V8 engine automatic transmission during the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Doug Olson of Racine dusts the top of a 1953 Chevy sedan owned by his father Gerald "Doc" Olson, also of Racine, at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. SCENES FROM 82ND AIRBORNE CARSHOW 2023 Scenes from the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association 20th annual event, which featured about 300 cars on display from contemporary Corvettes to vintage Studebakers, and many vehicle years, makes and models in between. The daylong event, a fundraiser for the association, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of its popular Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Car enthusiasts check out a row of classic cars at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten Sunday. Boy Scouts of America Troop 1865 of Kenosha presents the colors during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. J.P. Lane, background, fourth from the left, sings the national anthem during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the ground of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Lane, a former U.S. Army combat engineer, lost both his legs when an IED exploded while he was on a mission in Afghanistan on July 2, 2011. The airborne chapter presented him with a check for $4,000 during the event. Green Bay native J.P. Lane tells his story of survival during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Lane, a former U.S. Army combat engineer, lost both his legs when an IED exploded while he was on a mission in Afghanistan on July 2, 2011. The airborne chapter presented him with a check for $4,000 during the event. In the immediate background to the left are the association's Chairman Jack Gibbons, Dan Boring, association liaison and Lane's wife, Crystal. The couple currently resides in New Orleans. Green Bay native J.P. Lane tells his story of survival during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Lane, a former U.S. Army combat engineer, lost both his legs when an IED exploded while he was on a mission in Afghanistan on July 2, 2011. The airborne chapter presented him with a check for $4,000 during the event. In the immediate background to the left are the association's Chairman Jack Gibbons, Dan Boring, association liaison and Lane's wife, Crystal. The couple currently resides in New Orleans. Green Bay native J.P. Lane tells his story of survival during a ceremony to honor U.S. military veterans at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. Dan Boring, liaison for the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division introduces U.S. Army veteran J.P. Lane, second from the right, during the association's 20th car show on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Lane, a Green Bay native and former U.S. Army combat engineer, lost both his legs when an IED exploded while he was on a mission in Afghanistan on July 2, 2011. The airborne chapter presented him with a check for $4,000 during the event. A car enthusiast looks over a 1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with hood open to reveal a 5.0 L, V8 engine automatic transmission during the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Doug Olson of Racine dusts the top of a 1953 Chevy sedan owned by his father Gerald "Doc" Olson, also of Racine, at the Southern Wisconsin All Airborne Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 20th car show. The event, a fundraiser to help severely wounded veterans, was held at Petrifying Springs Park on the grounds of the Biergarten, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, greets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan upon his arrival at Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Monday. Kremlin pool photo via AP-Yonhap Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were under way in Sochi, where they will wrangle over the resumption of a UN-brokered deal to safely ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. Putin received his guest outside his residence in Sochi on Monday afternoon, television images showed. The trip to the Black Sea resort city marks a rare visit by a leader of a NATO?country to Russia amid Moscow's all-out war in Ukraine. But Erdogan has taken on the role of mediator between Ukraine and Russia and travelled to Russia to persuade Putin to rejoin the grain agreement. Turkey has not endorsed Western war sanctions. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since Erdogan's re-election for a third term as president in May. In July, Moscow said it was halting participation in the year-old deal, which created corridors for the export of tens of millions of tons of grains and fertilizers, despite a Russian naval blockade of Ukraine. The deal, which Erdogan helped to negotiate, is seen as essential to addressing global food insecurity and to containing grain prices. Ukraine is also desperately dependent on income from exports. But the Kremlin wasn't satisfied with the way the pact, officially known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was being implemented. Moscow says it wants obstacles to exports of Russia's own foodstuffs lifted in exchange for further cooperation and is seeking relief from Western sanctions on payments, logistics and shipping insurance. The United States and the European Union have dismissed Moscow's complaints as without merit, saying their sanctions do not target Russian grain and fertilizers. Since ending the deal, Russia has ramped up drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian grain ports and storage infrastructure. Ukraine says tens of thousands of tons of grain have also been destroyed in the process. No representatives of the United Nations or Ukraine will be present at the talks in Sochi, making a breakthrough unlikely. In recent weeks Kiev has successfully organized the passage of ships through a Black Sea corridor, despite the risk of attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that two more cargo ships had navigated the route. Russia has threatened to treat all ships calling at Ukrainian ports as potential military targets. Beyond Ukraine, ties between Russia and Turkey have long been unsettled by their support for opposing sides in Syria's civil war. Meanwhile, in the disputed South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey backs Azerbaijan, which won a war over the territory against Armenia in 2020. Armenia, on the other hand, has traditionally had its interest sees itself abandoned by Putin and its traditional protector Russia. Ahead of Monday's meeting, the Kremlin said only that bilateral and international issues will be discussed. (DPA) By Stephan Pechdimaldji Last year on World Food Day, President Joe Biden reaffirmed his commitment to a world where "no child has to go to bed hungry, no parent has to worry about how to feed their family, and no one has to face food insecurity." In that same speech, Biden highlighted how the United States had that year alone committed more than $9 billion in lifesaving humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities around the world. Sadly, Biden's pledge is not reaching the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, who have been locked in a conflict over their homeland with Azerbaijan since the fall of the Soviet Union. In this latest chapter, since last December the government of Azerbaijan, under the leadership of its petro-dictator Ilham Aliyev, has implemented an illegal blockade of the only road linking more than 120,000 Armenians, including 30,000 children, in Nagorno-Karabakh to the outside world. It is one of the world's most overlooked and underreported humanitarian crises taking place today. By limiting access to food, medicine, gas, electricity and other critical supplies to be delivered by the Lachin Corridor, Azerbaijan is on its way to making living conditions so unbearable that Armenians are forced to leave the region. In August, a 40-year-old resident of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, died of starvation, becoming the region's first reported victim of chronic malnutrition and protein deficiency. The lack of food has also contributed to the number of early-stage miscarriages, which reportedly have nearly tripled this summer. Using food as a weapon has become a popular tool for autocrats to disrupt the lives of innocent people while trying to force concessions that benefit their interests. Russia's Vladimir Putin has effectively held the global food supply hostage by attacking Ukraine's ports and crippling grain exports via the Black Sea, as together the two countries export 30 percent of the world's wheat, 60 percent of the world's sunflower oil and 20 percent of the world's corn. Azerbaijan is turning to a similar playbook in trying to force its will on the Armenian people by attempting to break their spirit and resolve through food. Biden has steadfastly held Russia accountable for its egregious behavior, and the State Department has been working with European Union officials to attempt to reopen the Lachin Corridor. But those efforts have so far failed. The lack of leadership from the White House has led other actors on the world stage to fill that void. In August, Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, released an explosive report stating that when assessing the Azerbaijani blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, "there is a reasonable basis to believe that a genocide is being committed." And, the report states, "Without immediate dramatic change, this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks." Having been victims of genocide in the 20th century, Armenians know all too well the horrors of such crimes against humanity and feel their voices and concerns are once again being ignored and sacrificed at the altar of realpolitik. That type of international gamesmanship was evident at the United Nations last month when the Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the worsening humanitarian situation after Armenia urged the global community to help end the blockade. While France and other countries used the opportunity to highlight the principles of international law and humanitarianism as reasons to lift the blockade, other delegations such as Great Britain, which has significant oil investments in the country held back on condemning Azerbaijan. And despite the evidence on the ground, Azerbaijan's U.N. representative claimed that Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh were happy and well-fed by sharing printouts of Instagram posts that allegedly showed Armenians getting married and celebrating birthdays. For Biden, as a president who took office claiming that human rights would be central to his foreign policy, this tragedy threatens to stain his legacy. So, what can he do? For starters, he can begin by unequivocally calling for an immediate end to the blockade and apply pressure on Azerbaijan through sanctions, as Rep. Adam B. Schiff has called for. He can enforce Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act that bans U.S. aid to the Azerbaijani government restrictions that he, like presidents before him, has waived each year since becoming president. And he can direct Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, to allocate more resources and money toward helping Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. The U.S. enabling of Azerbaijan's authoritarianism is now costing lives and giving Azerbaijan cover to do what it wants with impunity. Time is running out for the Armenian people living in Nagorno-Karabakh. If Biden truly believes that no child should go to sleep hungry, then he'll need to act with far greater urgency to break Azerbaijan's blockade. This article was published in the Los Angeles Times and distributed by Tribune Content Agency. The China Visitors Summit Middle East has successfully concluded, facilitating several partnerships and interactions. CVS: China Visitors Summit ended on September 1, and brought together a record-breaking assembly of 121 Chinese travel agents and tour operators with over 151 global travel suppliers from 17 different countries. The summit facilitated 13,000 face-to-face meetings, dialogues and partnerships throughout its sessions held in both Doha, Qatar and Dubai. Alexander Glos, CEO of the China i2i Group and producer of the CVS: "This summit has transcended expectations, serving as a testament to the resilient spirit of the global travel industry and its unwavering commitment to growth. The interactions and dialogues that took place during the CVS: China Visitors Summit underscore the essential role that collaboration plays in propelling the industry forward." Since its inception in 2008, the CVS: China Visitors Summit has steadfastly acted as a bridge, connecting global Chinese travel buyers encompassing travel agents, tour operators, mice managers, corporate travel planners, OTA's, and specialty agencies focusing on luxury, adventure, sports, and more with a diverse array of global travel suppliers. TradeArabia News Service On 3 September Chiles Presidentsaid that his government was doing its level best to forge a political consensus behind a declaration in support of democracy and in defence of human rights ahead of the 50anniversary next weekend of the military coup led by Generalbut was being frustrated by the determination of some sectors on the right to engage in dangerous historical revisionism. End of preview - This article contains approximately 348 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options Sky watchers around the world were treated this month to two full moons, a supermoon and a blue moon. The American space agency NASA explains a supermoon happens when the moons orbit brings it closer than usual to Earth at the same time that the moon appears full from Earth. The first supermoon of 2023 was in July. The fourth and last one will be in September. The last time two supermoons appeared in the sky in the same month was in 2018, The Associated Press reports. The next time a blue supermoon is set to arrive is 2037. The first supermoon arrived on the first day of August, while the blue moon was seen beginning August 30. NASA noted that when the blue moon arrived, the planet Saturn was just a few days from its closest and brightest appearance of the year from Earth. Saturn appeared as a bright star to the upper right of the blue moon. Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, creator of the Virtual Telescope Project, held an online watch event as the blue supermoon was setting below the skyline of Rome. But he advised that, as long as the weather was good, world observers looking to the sky would not need any special equipment to see the moons. Warm summer nights are the ideal time to watch the full moon rise in the eastern sky within minutes of sunset, said retired NASA astrophysicist and moon expert Fred Espenak. Full moons happen at the exact moment when the moon is opposite the sun, NASA says. Astronomers say a supermoon can appear about 14 percent larger and a bit brighter than other moons. The Old Farmers Almanac notes that the August full moon is known as the sturgeon moon. This is because of a traditionally large increase in fish in the American Great Lakes area during the month of August. Although it is called a blue moon, it does not appear blue in color. Instead, the name means it is the second full moon to happen within one month or the fourth to take place in a season. NASA says the moon takes 27.3 days to orbit Earth, but it takes 29.5 days to complete a full moon cycle. This is what makes it possible to see one full moon at the start of the month and another one right at the end. Astronomers say, however, that the moon can look blue under the right conditions. For example, this can happen as a result of smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere. While the blue supermoon brings the possibility for watching and taking beautiful pictures, its stronger gravitational pull also can influence higher tides. Weather experts advise people living in areas near shorelines to be aware of this, especially during storm activity. There are other kinds of moons that appear at different times. NASA says a blood moon happens during a total lunar eclipse. This event is when Earth lines up between the moon and the sun, hiding the moon from sunlight. In addition, the term blood moon can also be used to describe a moon that appears reddish because of dust, smoke or haze particles in the sky. A harvest moon is a full, bright moon that appears closest to the start of autumn, NASA explains. This name dates from the time before electricity, when farmers depended on the moon's light to harvest their crops late into the night. The moon's light was especially important during fall when harvests are the largest. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and NASA. Quiz - Super, Blue and Blood: A Guide to Different Full Moons Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ____________________________________________ Words in This Story treat to v. (phrasal) to give a person something that is pleasant, interesting or fun eclipse n. an event in which the sun is blocked by the moon, or when the moon passes through the Earths shadow haze n. the appearance of air when it is not very clear because of the presence of heat, dust or smoke The United Nations human rights office says criminal groups have forced hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia into unlawful online scam operations. A scam is a dishonest way to make money by tricking people. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released a new report on the issue on Tuesday. It said that at least 120,000 people in Myanmar and about 100,000 in Cambodia may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams. Cybercrime scams have become a major problem in several Asian countries. Many workers are forced to join in scams targeting people over the internet. Criminal groups have increasingly targeted migrants. They offer false promises of real employment to the victims. The U.N. rights office said it is hard to estimate how many people are caught up in such operations. It is also difficult to know how much money the criminal groups make through their scam operations. But it is believed to be in the billions of U.S. dollars every year. Some victims have been subjected to torture, cruel punishments, sexual violence and other crimes, the rights office said. Pia Oberoi is a senior advisor on migration and human rights for the Asia-Pacific area at the U.N. human rights office. She described two kinds of victims: people who have lost large amounts of money and people trafficked into working for the scammers. Oberoi told reporters in Switzerland that many of the scams started during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns shut down casinos that were an important part of the economy along boarder areas and in Cambodia. The closures caused economic distress that left middle class, educatedyoung people out of work. Many of them got talked into working for the schemes. In May, leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed in a meeting in Indonesia to increase border controls and law enforcement. And they agreed on increasing public education to fight criminal groups that traffic workers to other nations, where they join in the online scams. Im Gregory Stachel. Jamey Keaten reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted the story for VOA Learning English. ________________________________________________ Words in This Story cybercrime n. criminal activities carried out by means of computers or the internet casino n. a building or room that has games (such as roulette or blackjack) for gambling U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Vietnam on September 10 after attending the 2023 G20 leaders meeting in New Delhi, India. Biden is visiting Vietnam to raise relations between the countries to a new level: a comprehensive strategic partnership. Biden will not attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders meeting, or summit, in Indonesias capital, Jakarta, from September 5 to 7. Vice President Kamala Harris will attend instead of the president. Biden visited Indonesia last year when he attended the 2022 G20 Bali summit. At that time, Biden along with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, announced aid for projects in areas including climate, security and education. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told VOA that Vietnam is a valuable partner for the United States as it develops ties in Southeast Asia. Indonesia has been a U.S. strategic partner since 2015. Vietnam is now ready to increase its relations with the U.S. after 10 years of comprehensive partnership. One reason Vietnam might now be ready to increase relations with the U.S. is because of Chinas activities in the South China Sea. China claims almost all the sea as its territory. Vietnam and China have conflicting claims in parts of the South China Sea and over many landforms there. Vietnam wants to protect its rights in the South China Sea by making partnerships that strengthen its position. Earlier this month, Biden said Vietnam want[s] relationships because they want China to know that they're not alone." The U.S. has supported Vietnams maritime, or sea, security in the past. The U.S. provided two former U.S. Coast Guard ships to Vietnam, one in 2017 and another in 2021. Increased partnership would help Vietnam develop its technology industry. This would include production of semiconductors and development of artificial intelligence. Both these fields are areas of competition for the U.S. and China. Earlier this year, the ASEAN Studies Center in Singapore released a report about the opinions of people in Southeast Asia. The report found that, among Southeast Asians, the United States was more popular than China and that popularity increased from the year before. However, Indonesians appeared to be outliers. The percentage of Indonesians choosing the U.S. fell 18 percentage points from 2021 to 2023. Those choosing China rose by about the same number of percentage points during the same period. Rangga Aditya Elias is the head of international relations at Binus University in Indonesia. He said finding balance between the U.S. and China is the biggest homework for Indonesia. One way for Indonesia to find balance is to look to the U.S. to provide arms. Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto in Washington. They announced their shared interest to increase Indonesia's ability to defend itself. Im John Russell. VOA News reported this story. Gena Bennett adapted the story for Learning English. _________________________________________________ Words in This Story coast guardn. a maritime, or sea, security organization of a country strategicadj. related to plans for reaching goals that extend over a long period of time comprehensive adj. including everything or almost everything semiconductor n. a kind of part or material that is necessary to make electronics outlier n. something or someone which is different from others in a group Veteran Dawson County Highway Superintendent Mark Christiansen will also become the countys part-time zoning administrator, county commissioners decided Friday. The County Board voted 5-0 to name Christiansen the successor to Pam Holbrook, who resigned. Christiansen worked on planning and zoning matters for the city of York for nine years earlier in his career. Commissioners continued work on the countys 2023-24 budget, including a 5-0 vote to exercise their option to add 1% to the countys budget base under the states lid on annual spending growth. They held a budget workshop after completing their regular agenda. Also Friday, the County Board set public hearings for Sept. 29 on two matters forwarded by the countys Planning Commission at its Aug. 8 meeting. Commissioners will decide whether to delete a section of zoning regulations that limits the number of dwelling units in agriculture residential districts, such as those immediately surrounding Johnson Lake and other recreation areas in Dawson County. The current regulations allow no more than six dwellings per quarter section. Theyll also consider Sept. 29 whether to borrow from the countys wind-farm regulations to require developers of commercial solar farms to restore any county roads used during their construction to their pre-project condition if damaged by truck traffic. The proposed language says solar-farm developers would have to identify which roads theyll use in advance and determine their condition in cooperation with the county roads department and the Nebraska Department of Transportation. In other business, commissioners: Decided to offer a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of vandals who recently caused damage to equipment at the roads department. Agreed after an executive session to authorize Deputy County Attorney Katy Kuhn to settle a valuation dispute with Gatewood Village of Cozad. The case is now before the states Tax Equalization and Review Commission. Appointed Yvonne Rickertson as Dawson Countys delegate to the annual meeting of Nebraska Cooperative Government, a group of more than 100 counties, cities and villages that operate local keno lotteries. The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has entered into a new, far-reaching and long-term strategic partnership with Red Sea Global (RSG) to develop and expand Saudi Arabias rapidly growing tourism landscape and boost the Kingdoms status as one of the worlds most in-demand locations for tourists and investors. Signed at a meeting between Amr AlMadani, the CEO of the Royal Commission for AlUla, and John Pagano, CEO of Red Sea Global, the Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) agreement will act as a catalyst for the continued growth and expansion of Saudi Arabias tourism sector, allowing each project to transfer knowledge, expertise, best practices, innovative ideas, and solutions as they drive ahead with their shared goal of meeting the Kingdoms Vision 2030 aspirations. As two of the worlds most ambitious tourism projects located just 350 km apart the ongoing regeneration of Saudi Arabias Red Sea region has many attributes in common with AlUla, each facing and overcoming a variety of unique challenges as they progress with comprehensive development strategies. The new partnership, which will function on a national and global scale, will fuel the growth of Saudi Arabias economic diversification allowing each destination to achieve its full potential while benefiting local communities and stakeholders alike. As the core developer of Saudi Arabias stunning Red Sea region, RSG is spearheading a new model of regeneration that is helping to reimagine the sustainable luxury tourism industry by merging the vast coastal areas rich environmental biodiversity and cultural heritage with unrivalled amenities and hospitality services. Now established as a must-visit destination for holidaymakers seeking high-end accommodation and one-of-a-kind cultural experiences within an incredible natural landscape, AlUla is one of the world's most diverse and immersive destinations welcoming global guests. Both RCU and RSG have captured the worlds attention for the scale, ambition, and success of their work to establish the Kingdom as a hot spot for tourism and a dynamic hub for economic development. Opportunities created because of this new MoC will spark exciting advancements in areas such as sustainability, destination marketing, heritage & archeology, art & culture, economic development, community engagement, education & learning development, green mobility, construction management, and sports. AlMadani pointed out that national partnerships had been a vital pillar of RCU's strategy, and this MoC represents a new wave of multi-level co-operation across diverse areas of investment, all of which are aligned with the common goal of super-charging Saudi Arabias burgeoning tourism sector. "The similarities between RCU and Red Sea Global are many, but most clear is our shared commitment to making our ambitions a reality. We look forward to working together on innovative regeneration projects bringing about positive social and economic outcomes that will be felt for generations," he added. On the deal, Pagano said: "As a custodian of some of Saudi Arabias most precious sites of natural beauty, environmental value, and vibrant community life, we are dedicated to spearheading a new model of development that prioritizes people and planet." "With RCU sharing our green ambitions and social values, our collaboration will drive innovation in how we develop destinations and infrastructure and, moreover, how we do so responsibly," he stated. "Together, we have the potential to deliver unparalleled progress for the Kingdom and challenge the status quo in both tourism and sustainability," he added.-TradeArabia News Service When Tabatha Rosproy was named National Teacher of the Year in 2020, she became the first early childhood educator to receive that honor. I did not take that lightly. It meant to me that early childhood educators were beginning to get some of the recognition and respect that our K12 counterparts had been given, she said. Its really exciting for me to bear witness to the beautiful and amazing, important, valuable work that is happening from the ages of zero to 5. Rosproy said the award also made her reflect on her own journey, the people and programs that had helped her. And she thought of the preschool classroom she helped establish in a Winfield, Kansas, nursing home. That project the feather in my cap, she says grabbed attention around the country and led to the national teaching honor. But she couldnt make that preschool classroom happen by herself it resulted from building relationships with fellow teachers, school administrators, local businesses and community members in Winfield. Rosproy will talk about building partnerships and working together with and for families at the 2023 Thriving Children, Families, and Communities Conference on Sept. 19 in Kearney. Click here to register The preschool project started with a colleague who had come from Coffeyville, Kansas, where they had a kindergarten class in a local nursing home. Soon the two of them were talking with their school superintendent about how great it would be to do something like that in Winfield. He raised the idea to nursing home officials at a Chamber of Commerce coffee event and was floored by the message on his answering machine when he got back to school. They said, Were in. What do we need to do next? Rosproy said. The preschool became a reality because it solved a problem for everyone involved. The school district was out of space and didnt have the money to build additional classrooms, Rosproy said, and the nursing home was enthused about the value for its residents. A 2016 report from Stanford University found that when older adults contribute to the well-being of youth, it cultivates a sense of purpose and extends benefits both ways. The Cumbernauld Little Vikes preschool classroom opened in 2018 with 16 youngsters and many more resident grandmas and grandpas. It is a really special place. But it was a long journey, she said. Rosproy knew early on that she liked helping people, and working with kids, but it clicked for her as a junior in high school when she volunteered to teach Spanish to preschoolers. Thats where the magic started for me in early childhood, getting to see them develop so rapidly. It felt to me this age group specifically was so important to work with, zero to 5 years old. Now I know that research is saying thats when the brain is developing the most rapidly. Rosproy earned a bachelors degree in early childhood education from Southwestern College in Winfield, and spent four years in the Salina, Kansas, school district, teaching in a Head Start classroom. She left Salina for Winfield, where she spent eight years in the public school system in early childhood special education, working with 3- and 4-year-olds, and helping start the Little Vikes preschool. These days, Rosproy spends most of her time out of the classroom. She and her husband, Tim, moved from Winfield to Olathe for his job, and now shes working for the Kansas Parent Information Resource Center, traveling the state training schools on best practices in early childhood education and family engagement. Its a little tough not having her own classroom anymore, she admits. I miss it I miss it so much. But I know the work Im doing is important. I get to help communities build these kinds of programs in their classrooms, I get to talk about the power of family and community engagement, she said. Her main message at the Thriving Children conference will be about unity. I think that so often we all try to bear the load on our own, and the truth is that this work cant be done on our own, Rosproy said. We cant be siloed. I want to draw attention to the importance of connection. Eight people have been killed and over 150 injured in a series of suicide bomb attacks in the centre of Jerusalem. The three bombers who are among the dead detonated their nail bombs in a packed pedestrian area at about 1500 local time (1300 BST). The militant Palestinian group Hamas claimed it carried out the bombings. The explosions came within a minute of each other and appeared calculated to cause maximum civilian damage. A survivor told reporters of the carnage and confusion immediately after the attacks. I heard my friend screaming and then I heard another bang I saw blood everywhere, he said. Palestinian leaders were quick to condemn the violence. The Cabinet Secretary for the Palestinan Authority, Amin Abdul Rahman, called the bombings a crime against civilian people. But the Israeli government has accused the Palestinians of not doing enough to stop groups like Hamas. When we see them dragging their feet in the fight against terror then I think we have a right to point the finger in their direction, a government spokesman told the BBC. The peace process already fragile after the suicide bomb in Mahane Yehuda market five weeks ago now seems close to collapse. The attack also seems intended to sabotage the peace mission of the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, who arrives next week. It has not yet been confirmed whether the visit will still take place. Courtesy BBC News In context The number of people killed in this attack was confirmed as seven the next day. The number of injured rose to over 170, and this triple suicide bombing was widely viewed as a significant escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Two days later the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, announced he felt no longer bound by peace accords with the Palestinians and would suspend Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. Madeleine Albright carried out her visit to the region but had little success in forwarding the peace process. Netanyahus right wing coalition collapsed in January 1999 and in May 1999 Labours Ehud Barak was elected prime minister. If a baby was taken from their parents four decades ago during Argentinas military dictatorship, what would that person look like today? Argentine publicist Santiago Barros has been trying to answer that question using artificial intelligence to create images of what the children of parents who disappeared during the dictatorship might look like as adults. Almost every day, Barros uploads these images to an Instagram account called iabuelas, which is a portmanteau in Spanish for artificial intelligence, or IA, and grandmother, or abuela taken from the well-known activist group Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo that searches for missing children. Using an app called Midjourney, Barros combines photos of the disappeared fathers and mothers from the public archive of the Grandmothers website, creating images of what the faces of their children might look like as adults today. Aspiring Taiwanese leader Terry Gou has resigned from the board of Foxconn, the Apple supplier he founded nearly a half-century ago. The company, officially registered as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., issued a news release late Saturday saying Gou, its former chair, had resigned for personal reasons. It wasnt clear what, if any, immediate effect Gous decision would have on the operations of Foxconn, ranked 20th in the 2023 Fortune Global 500 and considered one of the worlds largest technology companies. It is headquartered in Taiwan, but does the vast majority of its manufacturing in China, where it employs hundreds of thousands making iPhones in vast factory-dormitory complexes that have sometimes seen frictions between workers and management over employment conditions. Guo announced Aug. 28 he would run as an independent candidate in Taiwans election, ending months of speculation. At a news conference, Gou criticized the governing Democratic Progressive Party, saying its policies have brought Taiwan into the risk of war with China. MDT/AP The 11th national congress of returned overseas Chinese people and their relatives concluded in Beijing yesterday. Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, attended the closing session. Before the session, he met with overseas guests, representatives from Hong Kong and Macau, and outgoing and newly elected leadership members of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (AFROC). Related A delegation of Australian federal ministers will attend a high-level dialogue in Beijing this week in a further sign of a warming of relations after a years- long chill. Delegates will discuss trade and investment, people-to-people links and regional and international security at the Sept. 7 gathering. This is the first time the dialogue has been held since early 2020 and it represents another step towards increasing bilateral engagement and stabilizing our relationship with China, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Saturday. The resumption of the talks was one of the outcomes of a meeting the minister held with Chinas State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, in Beijing in December. It provides an opportunity for representatives from both countries to discuss our perspectives and how we can grow our cooperation in areas of shared interest, Wong said. The resumed dialogue comes a month after China lifted a stifling 3-year-old tariff on Australian barley in a strong sign of the improving bilateral trade relationship since Australias government changed. China effectively closed its door to Australian barley in May 2020 by imposing an 80.5% tariff. The trade barriers were widely regarded as punishment for the previous Australian government passing laws that ban covert foreign interference in domestic politics, barring Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei from rolling out Australias 5G network due to security concerns, and for calling for an independent investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Labor trade minister Craig Emerson will co-chair the event, with former coalition foreign minister Julie Bishop attending as a delegate and session lead. Chinas former foreign minister and current Honorary President of the Chinese Peoples Institute of Foreign Affairs, Li Zhaoxing, will co-chair and lead the Chinese delegation. MDT/AP A forum on empowering women was held in the SAR on Saturday, focusing on the well-being of women today and how they can make further improvements. Guests from China and abroad gathered to discuss the current difficulties and challenges faced by women from the perspective of womens mental health and growth, womens career and economy, and womens social development and responsibilities. Yang Lan, chairperson of Sun Media Group, organizer of the forum, called for wide-ranging support from various sectors of Chinese society to create a favorable social environment for womens empowerment. Related India launched its first space mission to study the sun on Saturday, less than two weeks after a successful uncrewed landing near the south polar region of the moon. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft took off on board a satellite launch vehicle from the Sriharikota space center in southern India on a quest to study the sun from a point about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. The point, known as L1, affords an uninterrupted view of the sun. The spacecraft is equipped with seven payloads to study the suns corona, chromosphere, photosphere and solar wind, the Indian Space Research Organization said. After over an hour, the ISRO said the launch was accomplished successfully. The vehicle has placed the satellite precisely into its intended orbit. Indias first solar observatory has begun its journey to the destination of Sun-Earth L1 point, ISRO posted on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. The satellite is scheduled to take 125 days to reach the L1 point. India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moons south pole on Aug. 23 a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water. After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India joined the United States, Russia and China as only the fourth country to achieve the milestone. Jitendra Singh, Indias junior minister for science and technology, praised the ISRO officials for their work on the latest launch. Congratulations India. Congratulations ISRO, he said while being present at the ISRO control room. Its a sunshine moment for India. The sun study, combined with Indias successful moon landing, would completely change the image of the ISRO in the world community, said Manish Purohit, a former scientist at the research organization. Hundreds of people who had gathered to watch the launch cheered as Indias sun mission took off. Among the spectators, Prakash, who gave only one name, said the launch was one more milestone like the countrys recent moon mission. This is going to set the bar high for ISRO, he said. We are privileged to be Indian and witness this kind of developmental activities on the space center for India, said Sridevi, who also gave only one name. Once in place, the satellite would provide reliable forewarning of an onslaught of particles and radiation from heightened solar activity that has the potential to knock out power grids on Earth, said B.R. Guruprasad, a space scientist, in an article in The Times of India newspaper. The advanced warning can protect the satellites that are the backbone of the global economic structure as well as the people living in space stations. Those seven payloads are going to study the sun as a star in all the possible spectrum positions that we have visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray. Its like were going to get a black and white image, the color image and the high-definition image, 4K image of the sun, so that we dont miss out on anything that is happening on the sun, Purohit said. ASHOK SHARMA & AIJAZ HUSSAIN, MDT/AP Macaus current suicide prevention mechanism is too passive, does not help the situation and instead causes stress for response teams, lawmaker Ron Lam has criticized in his latest written inquiry. During discussions with teaching, social work, frontline medical and public security personnel, the lawmaker has been told that there has been a drastic increase in the number of suicides. Teenagers have also experienced an increase in mental health and stress issues. Of concern is that there have been several cases in which the subject attempted suicide multiple times but was only assisted passively. The reason, according to the lawmaker, is that the interdepartmental coordination mechanism is a passive system and the government has not invested sufficient resources to support early intervention. With psychological and psychiatric issues being a cause of suicide, the lawmaker hinted that the 3-dimensional prevention mechanism for mental healthcare of which the government has repeatedly boasted has not been effective. Lam added that he was told by residents who had reportedly been harassed by neighbors with suspected mental issues that no measures were possible because the patient did not want to receive medical assistance. He added that even the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) have acknowledged their difficulties in intervening. The lawmaker recapped that in July 2016, the government introduced a mental health service taskforce to use existing resources to provide assistance to potential patients of severe psychiatric issues. He wondered why the aforementioned cases were not handled better if the taskforce was successful. Amid the recent suicide of an Internet icon, the lawmaker added that the government should do more to educate against mental and physical bullying. He asked the government about its plans to improve existing mechanisms and tools. The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) encourages residents to be conscious of their psychological and emotional state as well as those of their relatives and friends. If in need, residents can call Caritas Life Hope hotline (28525222) or IAS counseling hotline (28261126). North Korea launched several cruise missiles into the sea Saturday, South Koreas military said, extending its weapons testing activities in response to the United States-South Korea summer military drills. South Koreas military detected the launches early Saturday morning off the Norths west coast, the Souths Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The statement said South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities were analyzing details of the launches. It said South Korea has boosted its surveillance posture and maintains a firm military readiness in close coordination with the United States. The launches came two days after the U.S. and South Korean militaries wrapped up their 11-day training exercises that North Korea regards as a rehearsal for invasion. Washington and Seoul officials maintain their drills are defensive. A day before the U.S.-South Korean training ended, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea in a launch it said was meant to simulate scorched earth nuclear strikes on South Korea. The North said it was separately holding a command post exercise aimed at rehearsing an occupation of South Koreas territory in the event of conflict. On Aug. 21, the day when the U.S.-South Korean drills began, North Koreas state media said its leader Kim Jong Un observed cruise missile launches. North Koreas second attempt to place a military spy satellite in orbit failed Aug. 24, but the country said it will make a third attempt in October. HYUNG-JIN KIM, SEOUL, MDT/AP The Nobel Foundation on Saturday withdrew its invitation for representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend this years Nobel Prize award ceremonies after the decision announced a day earlier provoked strong reactions. Several Swedish lawmakers said Friday they would boycott this years Nobel Prize award ceremonies in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, after the private foundation that administers the prestigious awards changed its position from a year earlier and invited representatives of the three countries to attend, saying it promotes opportunities to convey the important messages of the Nobel Prize to everyone. Some of the lawmakers cited Russias war on Ukraine and the crackdown on human rights in Iran as reasons for their boycott. Belarusian opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Friday called on the Swedish Nobel Foundation and the Norwegian Nobel Committee not to invite representatives of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenkos illegitimate regime to any events. On Saturday, she welcomed the Nobel Foundations decision. She told The Associated Press that it was a clear sign of solidarity with the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples. This is how you show your commitment to the principles and values of Nobel, Tsikhanouskaya said. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko called the decision a victory for humanism. Thank you to everyone who demanded that justice be restored, he wrote on Facebook, adding that a similar decision should be made regarding the attendance of Russian and Belarusian ambassadors at celebrations taking place in Norway following the ceremony in Sweden. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who said Friday he wouldnt have allowed the three countries to participate in the award ceremonies, was also happy with the decision. He posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the many and strong reactions show that the whole of Sweden unambiguously stand on Ukraines side against Russias appalling war of aggression. The foundation said Saturday it recognized the strong reactions in Sweden, which completely overshadowed this message and therefore it had decided not to invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the ceremony in Stockholm where the prizes in Sciences and Literatures are awarded. However, the Norwegian Nobel Committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize said it would follow its usual practice and invite all ambassadors to the ceremony in the Norwegian capital of Oslo where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. The Committee wishes the government authorities in every country officially represented in Norway to have the opportunity to take part in the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony and to familiarize themselves with the Nobel Peace Prize laureates important message, the Committee said to the AP in a statement. This applies not least to countries with an authoritarian regime which wage war against other countries or against their own population, and which our Peace Prize laureates oppose. Saturdays announcement was widely praised in Sweden by politicians. Even the Swedish Royal House reacted with spokeswoman Margareta Thorgren saying, as quoted by newspaper Aftonbladet, that we see the change in the decision as positive. She added that King Carl XVI Gustaf was planning to hand out this years Nobel awards at ceremonies in Stockholm as before. This years Nobel prize winners will be announced in early October. The laureates are then invited to receive their awards at glittering prize ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of award founder Alfred Nobels death in 1896. MDT/AP A judge on Monday set a March 4, 2024, trial date for Donald Trump in the federal case in Washington charging the former president with trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rebuffed claims by Trump's attorneys that an April 2026 trial date was necessary to account for the huge volume of evidence they say they are reviewing and to prepare for what they contend is a novel and unprecedented prosecution. In a related case in Georgia, Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to trying to overturn the state's 2020 election results. GIULIANI LIABLE: U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell on Wednesday held Rudy Giuliani liable in a defamation lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers who say they were falsely accused of fraud, ruling that the former New York city mayor gave "only lip service" to complying with his legal obligations while trying to portray himself as the victim in the case. RACIST KILLINGS: A white man fatally shot three Black people Aug. 26 inside a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General store in a predominately Black neighborhood after leaving behind racist writings, officials said. The shooter, Ryan Palmeter, then killed himself. DRUG PRICES: President Joe Biden's administration announced Tuesday that several drugs would be targeted for Medicare's first-ever price negotiations, including the blood thinner Eliquis, diabetes treatment Jardiance and eight other medications. Las Vegas proud title as the Wedding Capital of the World has been fortified by a rich history and more than five million nuptials. Locals, but more often tourists, tie the knot here in traditional ceremonies, while some, for example, have Elvis impersonators oversee their nuptials. The citys wedding chapels have been instrumental in keeping the wedding destination reputation afloat. With more than five million I dos and counting, each year Las Vegas conducts more destination weddings than any other place on the planet, according to Clark Countys marriage bureau. For well over 70 years a Vegas wedding has captured the public imagination as the ultimate quick, stress-free, fun, glamourous wedding destination. For the upcoming 70th anniversary of the London Daily Herald first declaring the city the Wedding Capital of the World on Sept. 23, 1953, Clark County is planning a mass vow renewal ceremony at Caesars Palace. The Las Vegas Review-Journal, for its part, compiled a list of some of Las Vegas historic chapels. Heres a fun fact: The July 1909 wedding of Grace McGee and William C. Bright was the first recorded marriage there, just shy of two years before the city was incorporated. Chapel of the West Algiers (1966-2003) Located at the site of the soon-to-open Fountainbleau resort on the Strip, the chapel was originally themed around the Little Church of the West. Before closing, it twice rebranded, to All Religions Chapel and Candlelight Wedding Chapel. Notable brides and grooms included Bette Midler, Barry White and Michael Caine. In 2017, officials moved the structure to the Clark County Heritage Museum. Graceland Chapel (1923-present) Built a century ago, it was originally the house of Ollie McKee, who turned it into a wedding business in 1939. She originally named it Gretna Green after a Scottish town where marriage by declaration was popular in the previous century, according to a Clark County report on the wedding industry. Elvis Presley once showed up unannounced for a tour of the chapel, prompting the owner to change the name in his honor after the artists death a decade later, according to the chapels biography. According to Graceland Chapels website, notable celebrities who wed there include The King himself, Jon Bon Jovi, Jay Leno, Salma Hayek and Leslie Mann. Hitching Post (1923-1990s) Also originally a private home at 514 Las Vegas Blvd. South, the building was repurposed as a wedding chapel in 1934. Its steeple was built in the 1950s, and in the following decade, the building was painted all white. The property was demolished after the block was sold and redeveloped. An unrelated Hitchin Post wedding chapel still operates inside the Circus Circus. Little White Chapel (1955-present) Located at 1301 Las Vegas Blvd. South, the chapel strives to be innovative in its wedding offerings. That includes the first ever wedding drive-thru conducted in a classic pink Cadillac convertible. The chapel touts its appeal to celebrities, and its website lists the marriages of Mickey Rooney, who wed there twice; Mary Tyler Moore; Brittney Spears; Michael Jordan; James Caan and the late Sinead OConnor, among others. Famous couples that wed there include Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow, and Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. Chapel of the Bells (late 1960s-present) The chapel, originally built in 1955, has hosted weddings since the late '60s at the now Fun City Motel, 2233 Las Vegas Boulevard. Its been featured in blockbusters such as "Honeymoon in Vegas" starring local celebrity Nicolas Cage Indecent Proposal, Mars Attacks! and Vegas Vacation. Its famous weddings include those of Kelly Ripa, Jenny Jones, Leslie Nielsen, Mickey Rooney and Mark Consuelos, according to its website. Chapel of the Flowers (1955-present) Located at 1717 Las Vegas Blvd. South, the chapel was one of the first where weddings were officiated on the Strip. Its been remodeled over the years, including the recent addition of a Married in Fabulous Las Vegas sign at which couples can pose like they do at the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign a few miles north on the tourist corridor. Notable nuptials include those of 1990s power couple Carmen Elektra and Dennis Rodman. Ronnie Vannucci, the drummer of Las Vegas darlings The Killers, worked there as a photographer while the band recorded its breakthrough album, Hot Fuss. Award-winning places to have destination weddings and honeymoons Best Wedding Destination - Overall Best Wedding Destination - Caribbean Best Wedding Destination - Central & South America Best Wedding Destination - Mexico Best Honeymoon Destination - Caribbean Best Honeymoon Destination - Mexico A pier jammed with people at the Union Terrace collapsed Monday sending one person to the hospital and injuring several others, according to police and fire officials. The incident happened shortly after 2:30 p.m. after a portion of a metal pier just east of the stage of the popular UW-Madison venue collapsed, sending several people into Lake Mendota. The Madison Fire Department said one person was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and that five others reported minor injuries and were treated at the scene. UW-Madison Police Officer Jeff Kirchman told the Wisconsin State Journal that one person was taken to the hospital and 20 or so had minor injuries. An estimated 60 to 80 people were on the pier when it collapsed, police and fire officials said, but only those on the end of the pier, where it makes a 90-degree turn to the east, went into the water, said Debra Drewek, a retired nurse who happened to be at the Terrace taking pictures when the collapse occurred. There were way too many kids on the piers. They were packed, Drewek said. There was no warning. All of a sudden it went down and people were in the water. Many swam to shore while others clung to the pier that had collapsed or to the pier that remained standing. Moments later, Dreweck said, some climbed into rescue boats that arrived pretty quickly, she said. Its unclear if there are restrictions on the number of people who can be on a pier and whose job it is to monitor pier safety. The age of the pier, which appears to be supported by a series of metal supports, was not immediately known. In a statement, UW-Madison officials said the swimming area was not staffed by lifeguards at the time of the collapse and that the pier was scheduled to be removed Tuesday due to the end of the summer season. The pier is currently closed, and UWMadison will investigate what occurred, the statement read. Online videos A video posted to Instagram Monday by Badger Barstool showed the dramatic moment when the pier, filled with people, collapsed into the lake. The collapse, as seen from the shoreline just east of where the pier connects to land, appeared to begin at the intersection of where the north and south portion of the pier connects to the section of the pier that makes a 90-degree turn and extends to the east for about 20 feet. The video shows dozens of people falling into the water or riding the pier down as it collapsed. Others were also swimming to the north of the pier when it collapsed, the video showed. Upon arrival, (Command Car 31) began to triage people along the shore to identify any patients, the Madison Fire Department said in a release. Meanwhile, dozens of people were in the process of swimming back to shore as other responding MFD units arrived on scene. The MFD Lake Rescue Team entered the water to perform an underwater search of the area where the collapse occurred. Lake Rescue 1 confirmed there were no additional patients trapped or drowned. Another video, taken from the west by Rita Mortenson and shared on social media by WISC-TV, showed the immediate aftermath of the collapse. The two-minute video shows more than 30 people in the water with some swimming toward shore and others climbing up a ladder on a section of the pier that remained standing. The video also shows hundreds of people on the shoreline looking on while a pier further to the east was also filled with people. A board-certified nurse practitioner, Drewek said she didnt see any head injuries and did not see anyone who needed stitches. Most of the injuries appeared to be scrapes on legs and came on the eve of classes starting at the university. A lot of kids were crying because they had laptops, wallets and phones underwater, Drewek said. Kirchman, from UW-Madison Police, said efforts are being made to recover lost items in the lake. Those who may have lost something are asked to send an email to adam.prescott@wisc.edu. University of Idaho Extension Educator Steven Hines believes hes found an effective way for farmers who interplant cover crops between corn rows to significantly boost forage production. Prior to his research this season, Hines method of applying cover crop seeds in inter-cropping studies was to broadcast them onto the soil surface, which resulted in relatively poor germination. He chose to research an alternative based on a conversation last winter with a group of soil health-minded Magic Valley farmers. We were talking about some of the challenges of getting cover crops established when you broadcast on the ground and dont have a way to get it into the soil, said Hines, who is based in Jerome County. The question two or three of the producers I was talking with came up with was, What if you just ran a grain drill over the corn when it was fairly small? The growers feared the drill would damage cornstalks, outweighing any improvements in cover crop germination. Based on his trial at the U of I Kimberly Research and Extension Center, Hines is already confident that drilling cover crops is worth the effort and neednt damage much corn. I predict there will be no significant difference in corn yield with drilling because theres not enough plant damage, Hines said. I would not hesitate to recommend inter-seeding and drilling a cover crop. But he predicts hell quadruple cover crop yields in his projects drilling scenario compared with broadcasting cover crop seeds. Im really thrilled with the drilled cover crop, Hines said. There is some cover crop coming where it was broadcast but nothing like where it was drilled. Several growers in Magic Valley have been exploring inter-planting corn and cover crops as a way to provide their cattle with fall forage after taking a corn harvest. In prior inter-cropping research, Hines found that broadcasting cover crops between widely spaced corn rows provided extra forage without adversely affecting corn yields. In fact, the presence of cover crops actually boosted corn yields when corn rows were spaced 44 inches apart. Interplanting cover crops appears to be the answer for southern Idaho farmers who havent been able to find a short-season crop capable of producing much forage when planted just after grain harvest. By inter-seeding you get that forage up and going, Hines said. The corn grows over the top of it, so it slows that cover crop down until its harvested off. The sunlight gets back to the cover crop, and by a couple of irrigations youve got forage ready to go for the cattle. Hines planted corn for this seasons inter-cropping experiment on May 23, following with cover crop seed on June 15 at the V3 stage. By that date, corn had emerged but the growth point of plants a sensitive area from which new cells are developed and elongate was not yet pushed above the soil surface. Hines planted scenarios with corn and no cover crops, corn and cover crops broadcast in between rows and corn and cover crops drilled between the rows. Rows were spaced either 30 inches or 60 inches apart his drill was unable to accommodate the 44-inch spacing that produced the best results in prior research regarding corn yields. Hines used a 3-point drill, which attaches to a tractors 3-point and is lifted so only the tire that engages the drill mechanism touches the ground. He made certain that tire passed between corn rows. Its critical for success that the tires of a drill dont run over corn. A commercial interseeder drill is ideal, but Hines was also interested in finding ways to interseed cover crops using equipment most growers already have. Another benefit of drilling was that it allowed Hines to include larger seeds in his cover crop mix. Large seeds, such as peas, dont germinate well when broadcast onto fields. There are very few peas that are coming up in the broadcast plot, but in the drilled plot its a nice stand of peas like everything else, Hines said. His cover crop blend also includes clover and annual rye grass, which can produce additional biomass after winter for spring grazing. Furthermore, cover crops provide winter cover, trapping snow for moisture and preventing wind erosion. I really see the producer who would adopt this is somebody who is looking for additional forage or someone who is looking for soil-health benefits, Hines said. UI Extension specialist helping dairies avoid feeding excess nutrients Dairymen can minimize the environmental impacts of their operations while also reducing feed costs. Mini-Cassia CROP Hunger Walk set for Saturday The 2023 Mini-Cassia CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walk, one of just four scheduled in Idaho and the only in the Magic Valley, will be Saturday at Riverside Park in Heyburn. Proceeds from CROP Hunger Walks help to provide food and fund self-help programs in the United States and more than 80 other countries to address the causes of poverty and powerlessness, according to a news release. A full 25% of money raised will remain in the Mini-Cassia area and benefit five local agencies: The Minidoka and Cassia County senior centers for their Meals on Wheels programs, Open Hearts Food Pantry in Rupert, Hope Community Food Pantry in Paul, and Community Food Share in Burley. There were more than 800 Walks in the U.S. last year. The other scheduled Walks in Idaho this year are in Bonners Ferry (Sept. 23), Boise (Oct. 15) and Caldwell (Oct. 15), according to the CROP website. For more information, to walk or form a team of walkers, call Colleen Parkin at 208-431-0569 or Barbara Ward at 208-670-3305. To sponsor a walker or make a donation, go online to events.crophungerwalk.org/2021/events/burleyid. Idaho gets $1.8M to support opioid overdose risks The state of Idaho was awarded nearly $1.8 million last week from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources Health Resources and Services Administration to support rural efforts to respond to overdose risk from fentanyl, heroin and other opioids. More than 100,000 people die annually from opioid overdose, according the federal data. Far too many rural families have faced the devastation of overdose, and these deaths are felt deeply across rural communities where often everyone knows someone lost too soon, HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson said in a news release. The HRSA funding for Idaho includes $999,999 to support rural communities to establish treatment sites for individuals to access medications to treat opioid use disorder; $499,514 to develop and implement interventions in rural communities to prevent, treat and care for opioid exposed infants; and $300,000 to help rural communities respond to specific and immediate needs, including distribution of life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications. Idaho digital equity draft plan open for public comment The Idaho Commission for Libraries has partnered with Boise State Universitys Idaho Policy Institute to create a five-year statewide Digital Access for All Idahoans Plan to serve as a benchmark and roadmap for achieving digital equity in Idaho. The draft of the DAAI Plan is ready for review and public comment through Friday. To view the draft and for more information, go online to https://libraries.idaho.gov/digital-access-for-all-idahoans/. To comment, complete the online form at https://forms.office.com/g/cAk6iLYRkQ; email digitalskills@libraries.idaho.gov; or mail to Idaho Commission for Libraries, Attn: DAAI Draft Plan Comments, 325 W. State St. Boise, 83702. A revised plan will be available in October. Also: The Ridge and Rock Base Camp Childrens Ministry will begin again on Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Burley, 2262 Highland Ave. The ministry, open to all children in kindergarten through sixth grade, will meet every Wednesday night. For more information, call the church at 208-878-7613. The Minidoka County Historical Society and Museum will host its monthly community night on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 6:30 p.m. Dan Davidson, manager of the Minidoka Irrigation District since 2012 and past president of the Idaho Water Users Association, will be the featured speaker. For more information, call the museum at 208-436-0336. Idaho ranked as the ninth-worst state for teenage drivers, according to a WalletHub study released this week that measured 23 environmental and safety metrics. Only five states fared worse in teen DUIs, and Idaho was also among the bottom 10 for teen driver fatalities per 100,000 teens. Oregon was No. 1 on the study; Montana was No. 50. To read the full report, go online to wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-states-for-teen-drivers/4598 . The Mt. Harrison Quilt Guild will meet on Thursday, Sept. 14, at 1:30 p.m. at the Burley First Presbyterian Church, 2100 Burton Ave. Beginning, intermediate and advanced quilters are all welcome. Liz Mandelkow of Mustard Seed Ministries, left, poses for a photo with Texas Roadhouse general manager Matt Luckock and marketing manager Chelsie Slate after receiving a $5,000 donation from the Twin Falls restaurant on Aug. 31. This is just a way for us to give back to the community, Luckock told the Times-News of the restaurants third significant gift to Mustard Seed since its opening in early 2021. The money will be used to help stock Mustard Seeds food pantry, which served 18,000 people last year, Mandelkow said. The pantry regularly distributes 35 to 40 food boxes four days a week in the Twin Falls area, she said. To learn more about Mustard Seed Ministries or make a donation, go online to https://www.mustardseedtf.org/. Two sets of numbers, from a small districts election in the Idaho panhandle last week, tells an important story and raises some worthwhile questions. In the general election of 2021, Susan Brown won the zone 2 seat, and Keith Rutledge the zone 3 seat, of the West Bonner County School District board. She won with 176 votes out of a total 349 votes (for three candidates), and he won with 244 votes out of a total 481 votes (for two candidates). Each, in other words, won with slightly more than a majority of the vote in six precincts (one of which cast zero votes). On Tuesday, Rutledge, the board chair, and Brown, the vice chair, were on the ballot again, this time for voters to decide whether to recall them. This time, close to two-thirds of the voters chose to recall both Brown 624 to recall, 322 to retain, a total of 946, and Rutledge 762 to recall, 454 to retain, a total of 1,216. One obvious point from that comparison is the reversal of fortune, from a close win to a sweeping repudiation. But the other point may be more significant: About 2 1/2 times as many voters cast ballots in the special recall election than had in the regular election a couple of years before. People will have varied interpretations of why that happened. But what should be clear is that something significant happened in the community, an area centered around Priest River between Sandpoint and the Washington state line. It wasnt a matter of deception on the part of the board members; a look at what they had to say before the 2021 election made clear where they were headed. (Ill focus here on Rutledge.) School boards in Idaho are nonpartisan, but Rutledge did have an endorsement from the Bonner County Republican Central Committee, and apparent approval from the Idaho Freedom Foundation (theoretically non-political but highly supportive of agitator-wing Republicans). In a questionnaire on the IFFs website, Rutledge regularly cites his concern about classroom indoctrination with leftist ideas. An education plan from the state Board of Education has no business being taught in our schools regardless of the reasons given, and Sexual orientation and gender identity have no business being taught in school for any reason for any age. Whats the point? More indoctrination? He was clear enough about where, in a general sense, he was coming from. So was Brown. The couple of years that followed have been tumultuous for the district. Many of the problems, some financial and some relating to education methods, grew out of board actions or inactions. The tipping point was the hiring of a new superintendent, Branden Durst, who was a longtime IFF associate (and former state superintendent of public instruction candidate, and conservative activist) without professional education experience and lacking the needed certification for the job. He was approved by a board majority, including Rutledge and Brown, instead of a deeply experienced and much praised local school principal. Few people seemed to pay much attention to the school district before 2021. But after that election came problem-making that began to interfere with the education of local children, with impacts too close to home not to see. Once those concrete realities started to hit home, attention was concentrated. (Will the same happen in the North Idaho College district in Coeur dAlene? We will see.) The Idaho Ed News quoted one parent and recall organizer, Kylie Hoepfer, as saying, The against [recall] folks paint us in bad light saying we are woke liberal donkeys, and most of us behind the recall are conservative Republican, who just wanted school board members who listened to the community. Rutledge and Brown may have done their community a major long-range service: The voters seem to be paying attention now. And theyre voting. The Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport, under construction since 2010, in the Bom Jesus commune, municipality of Icolo e Bengo, in the province of Luanda, will be inaugurated on November 10. The announcement was made Saturday September 2 during a visit to journalists by the Minister of Transport. Ricardo Viegas dAbreu said that the inauguration of the first phase, which will be completed in 70 days, will be preceded by the definitive certification of Luanda International Airport Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto, scheduled for the second week of October. Data from the Office for the Operationalization of the New Luanda International Airport (GONAIL) estimates the investment made by the state for the airport infrastructure at 2.8 billion dollars. The Minister of Transport, Ricardo dAbreu, also said that the International Airport represents a milestone for the country and could make it a hub for the region and the continent itself. As for final certification, the process is on schedule and is being conducted by the worlds leading civil aviation body. The coordinator of the Office for the Operationalization of the New Luanda Airport (GONAIL), Jose Paulo Nobrega, said that the definitive certification should take place following the delivery to the Executive of another provisional one, after a series of checks and operational tests that are underway by a team of foreign technicians, including pilots. The conviction that the New Luanda International Airport (NAIL) Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto will be inaugurated on November 10 of this year, according to Jose Paulo Nobrega, is due to the fact that the first phase of the works is expected to be completed in 71 days. The GONAIL coordinator revealed that the physical execution of the construction is at 93.7 percent, with 53.4 percent operated by AVIC and the remaining 43.6 by CIF. The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, appointed General Horta Inta-A as Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic, a day (September 1) after he was dismissed by the government as commander of the National Guard. The position of Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic exists in French-speaking African countries and in Guinea-Bissau it is the first time it has been appointed by a Head of State. Through a presidential decree, Sissoco Embalo invoked article 68 (z), in conjunction with article 70 of the Guinea-Bissau Constitution, to appoint Major General Horta Inta-A. Paragraph z of the Guinea-Bissau Constitution states that the President of the Republic is responsible for exercising the other functions assigned to him by the Constitution and the law and article 70 states that in the exercise of his functions, the President of the Republic issues presidential decrees. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Guinea-Bissau is Lieutenant General Biague Na NTan, appointed in 2014 by the then President of Guinea-Bissau, Jose Mario Vaz, and reappointed in August 2020 by the current Head of State, Umaro Sissoco Embalo. On the same day that General Horta Inta-A was appointed Chief of Staff, the Guinean President appointed General Tomas Djassi as Presidential Security Commander. Djassi was removed by the government from his post as National Commissioner of the Public Order Police on Thursday. 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: Phthalates are commonly used in plastics, and researchers have now tied them to developmental issues in toddler boys who were exposed to the chemical in the womb. The new study links the chemicals to emotional and behavioral development issues in 2-year-old boys who were exposed during the first trimester of pregnancy. "Our findings underscore the potential impact of maternal exposure to phthalates on children's emotional and behavioral development, particularly among boys," said lead author Liron Cohen-Eliraz, who conducted the research as part of her doctoral dissertation at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. "Our study adds to the growing body of evidence highlighting the need for greater environmental awareness, and action to minimize exposure to harmful chemicals during pregnancy," she said in a university news release. These "everywhere plastic" chemicals are used in vinyl flooring, lubricating oils, soap, shampoo and so much more. The United States has largely banned import and sale of toys and childcare products containing phthalates. Several states have their own restrictions. Phthalates are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that cross the placenta. When absorbed by the fetus, they can either mimic or block female hormones, or in males, suppress hormones involved in male sexual development. For this study, researchers recruited women who were 11 to 18 weeks pregnant. Their urine was analyzed for phthalate byproducts (DEHP, DiNP and MBzBP). The infants' developmental and behavioral progress was assessed at age 2. Boys exposed to higher DEHP levels during the first trimester scored lower in measures of personal and social development. These are skills people use to interact and communicate with others. Toddler boys also scored higher on scales of emotional reactivity, anxiety and depression. They also had health issues that can be related to anxiety, the investigators found. No differences were seen in girls' exposure to varied levels of DEHP during pregnancy, according to the report. The researchers said more study is needed to better understand the long-term implications of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on human health and development. The findings were published in the September issue of the journal NeuroToxicology. More information: Liron Cohen-Eliraz et al, Prenatal exposure to phthalates and emotional/behavioral development in young children, NeuroToxicology (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2023.07.006 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on phthalates. Copyright 2023 HealthDay. All rights reserved. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Tonjanic Hill was overjoyed in 2017 when she learned she was 14 weeks pregnant. Despite a history of uterine fibroids, she never lost faith that she would someday have a child. But, just five weeks after confirming her pregnancy, and the day after a gender-reveal party where she announced she was having a girl, she seemed unable to stop urinating. She didn't realize her amniotic fluid was leaking. Then came the excruciating pain. "I ended up going to the emergency room," said Hill, now 35. "That's where I had the most traumatic, horrible experience ever." An ultrasound showed she had lost 90% of her amniotic fluid. Yet, over the angry protestations of her nurse, Hill said, the attending doctor insisted Hill be discharged and see her own OB-GYN the next day. The doctor brushed off her concerns, she said. The next morning, her OB-GYN's office rushed her back to the hospital. But she lost her baby, Tabitha Winnie Denkins. Black women are less likely than women from other racial groups to carry a pregnancy to termand in Harris County, where Houston is located, when they do, their infants are about twice as likely to die before their 1st birthday as those from other racial groups. Black fetal and infant deaths are part of a continuum of systemic failures that contribute to disproportionately high Black maternal mortality rates. "This is a public health crisis as it relates to Black moms and babies that is completely preventable," said Barbie Robinson, who took over as executive director of Harris County Public Health in March 2021. "When you look at the breakdown demographicallywho's disproportionately impacted by the lack of accesswe have a situation where we can expect these horrible outcomes." In fact, Harris County ranks third, behind only Chicago's Cook County and Detroit's Wayne County, in what are known as excess Black infant deaths, according to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. Those three counties, which also are among the nation's most populated counties, account for 7% of all Black births in the country and 9% of excess Black infant deaths, said Ashley Hirai, a senior scientist at HRSA. The counties have the largest number of Black births but also more deaths that would not occur if Black babies had the same chance of reaching their 1st birthdays as white infants. No known genetic reasons exist for Black infants to die at higher rates than white infants. Such deaths are often called "deaths of disparity" because they are likely attributable to systemic racial disparities. Regardless of economic status or educational attainment, the stress from experiencing persistent systemic racism leads to adverse health consequences for Black women and their babies, according to a study published in the journal Women's Health Issues. These miscarriages and deaths can occur even in communities that otherwise appear to have vast health resources. In Harris County, for example, home to two public hospitals and the Texas Medical Centerthe largest medical complex in the world, with more than 54 medical-related institutions and 21 hospitalsmortality rates were 11.1 per 1,000 births for Black infants from 2014 through 2019, according to the March of Dimes, compared with 4.7 for white infants. The abundance of providers in Harris County hasn't reassured pregnant Black patients that they can find care that is timely, appropriate, or culturally competentcare that acknowledges a person's heritage, beliefs, and values during treatment. Regardless of income or insurance status, studies show, medical providers often dismiss Black women's questions and concerns, minimize their physical complaints, and fail to offer appropriate care. By contrast, a study of 1.8 million hospital births spanning 23 years in Florida found that the gap in mortality rates between Black and white newborns were halved for Black babies when Black physicians cared for them. In 2013, Houstonian Kay Matthews was running a successful catering business when she lost the daughter she'd named Troya eight months and three weeks into pregnancy. Matthews hadn't felt wellshe'd been sluggish and tiredfor several days, but her doctor told her not to worry. Not long afterward, she woke up realizing something was terribly wrong. She passed out after calling 911. When she woke up, she was in the emergency room. None of the medical staffers would talk to her, she said. She had no idea what was happening, no one was answering her questions, and she started having a panic attack. "It kind of felt like I was watching myself lose everything," she recalled. She said the nurse seemed annoyed with her questions and demeanor and gave her a sedative. "When I woke up, I did not have a baby." Matthews recalled one staffer insinuating that she and her partner couldn't afford to pay the bill, even though she was a financially stable business owner, and he had a well-paying job as a truck driver. She said hospital staffers showed minimal compassion after she lost Troya. They seemed to dismiss her grief, she said. It was the first time she could remember feeling as if she was treated callously because she is Black. "There was no respect at all, like zero respect or compassion," said Matthews, who has since founded the Shades of Blue Project, a Houston nonprofit focused on improving maternal mental health, primarily for Black patients. To help combat these high mortality rates in Harris County, Robinson created a maternal child and health office and launched a home-visit pilot program to connect prenatal and postpartum patients with resources such as housing assistance, medical care, and social services. Limited access to healthy food and recreational activities are barriers to healthy pregnancy outcomes. Studies have also shown a connection between evictions and infant mortality. For Hill, not having insurance was also likely a factor. While pregnant, Hill said, she had had just a single visit at a community health center before her miscarriage. She was working multiple jobs as a college student and did not have employer-provided medical coverage. She was not yet approved for Medicaid, the state-federal program for people with low incomes or disabilities. Texas has the nation's highest uninsured rate, with nearly 5 million Texansor 20% of those younger than 65lacking coverage, said Anne Dunkelberg, a senior fellow with Every Texan, a nonprofit research and advocacy institute focused on equity in public policy. While non-Hispanic Black Texans have a slightly better rate17%than that overall state level, it's still higher than the 12% rate for non-Hispanic white Texans, according to census data. Health experts fear that many more people are losing insurance coverage as COVID-19 pandemic protections end for Medicaid. Without full coverage, those who are pregnant may avoid seeking care, meaning they skip being seen in the critical first trimester, said Fatimah Lalani, medical director at Houston's Hope Clinic. Texas had the lowest percentage of mothers receiving early prenatal care in the nation in 2020, according to the state's 2021 Healthy Texas Mothers and Babies Databook, and non-Hispanic Black moms and babies were less likely to receive first-trimester care than other racial and ethnic groups. Babies born without prenatal care were three times as likely to have a low birth weight and five times as likely to die as those whose mothers had care. If Hill's miscarriage reflects how the system failed her, the birth of her twins two years later demonstrates how appropriate support has the potential to change outcomes. With Medicaid coverage from the beginning of her second pregnancy, Hill saw a high-risk pregnancy specialist. Diagnosed early with what's called an incompetent cervix, Hill was consistently seen, monitored, and treated. She also was put on bed rest for her entire pregnancy. She had an emergency cesarean section at 34 weeks, and both babies spent two weeks in neonatal intensive care. Today, her premature twins are 3 years old. "I believe Godand the high-risk doctorsaved my twins," she said. 2023 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: It can be hard for new college students, or those returning after summer break, to be away from home. Homesickness is a normal reaction. About 30% of all students and 70% of first-year students experience it. Though it can happen at any time, it's most common in the first few months away. Stephanie Marcello, chief psychologist at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care in New Brunswick, N.J., offers some suggestions for making it a little easier. "Homesickness tends to decrease after the first semester, but how fast a person overcomes it varies," Marcello said in a Rutgers news release. Physical signs can include disrupted sleep, lack of appetite, headaches, dizziness and increased risk of infection, especially gastrointestinal. A student might be consumed with thoughts of home or returning home, feel pessimistic about their new environment or have difficulty concentrating. Other signs are feelings of depression, anxiety, irritability, sadness or feeling isolated or alone. Some people may be more prone to these feelings, including those with other stressors or a lack of social support. Risk factors for feeling homesickness include the ability to warm up to new people and situations; whether a person wanted to move out from home; how friends and family back home are experiencing their move; and their overall attitude toward the experience. Expecting to feel homesick can bring on those feelings. Marcello suggests that homesick students acknowledge their feelings and don't stress out about controlling them. "Remind yourself this is a common, normal experience for students leaving home for the first time," she said. Talk to friends and family back home. But also focus on building new connections and social relationships. Figure out how to re-create what you miss at home, such as playing a sport that you've always loved. Maintain an active, healthy lifestyle with new routines to get out of the dorm, eat healthily and exercise. Talk to someone about your feelings. Don't miss class, stay in your room or skip campus events. Do get involved. Parents and roommates can help by urging students they suspect are homesick to get involved. Remind them about what they enjoy at home. Offer suggestions for how they might create some of these activities on campus. Support them, but don't encourage them to go home too often, Marcello said. "Homesickness can lead to depression. Pay attention if you notice the homesickness is affecting their daily life. If a student remains disconnected, rejects opportunities to meet people and if the above-mentioned symptoms persist, reach out to a professional for help," Marcello said. More information: The American Psychological Association has more on college mental health. Copyright 2023 HealthDay. All rights reserved. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain A cross-sectional study of 19 low-cost generic programs (LCGPs) found that their medication coverage for six cardiovascular diseases (CVD) varied significantly between programs. Of all analyzed programs, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company demonstrated the most comprehensive coverage for all diseases included in the study. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and CVD medicines form the foundation of disease state management. However, rising prescription costs and insurance restrictions have imposed barriers to medication availability, leading to health disparities, poor patient adherence, and poor health outcomes. To reduce cost and improve medication availability, many pharmacies have developed LCGPs to help low-income or uninsured patients gain greater access to affordable medicines. Although LCGPs all share the same purpose of improving medication availability and affordability, their formularies may vary widely. Researchers from Western University of Health Sciences conducted a cross-sectional study of 19 LCGPs and evaluated the proportion of programs that offered evidence-based CVD medicines within a clinical framework for 6 cardiovascular diseases, including atrial fibrillation, heart failure, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, postacute coronary syndrome secondary prevention, and stable angina. The authors found that the availability of CVD medication varied by program, drug, and condition. They report that LCGPs affiliated with H-E-B, Kroger, Walmart, and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company had the most breadth and choice of coverage. They also note that almost all LCGPs offered angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, b -blockers, thiazides, and moderate-intensity statins, but availability was low for higher-cost or lower-use generics. The authors suggest that LCGPs should identify existing limitations in their coverage and continuously revise their formularies to improve the comprehensiveness of CVD medication coverage. Provided by Annals of Internal Medicine This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain Children and adolescents who have had multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) after exposure to COVID-19 are recommended to have follow-up heart function testing. A new study from Boston Children's Hospital suggests they should also be monitored for long-term neurologic and psychosocial complications. "If parents are noticing changes in their child's behavior or functioning, it could be related to MIS-C, and they should seek support," says study leader Caitlin Rollins, MD, in the Department of Neurology and Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program. Cardiologists and pediatricians who care for children after MIS-C should also ask about the child's mental and neurologic health and refer them for evaluation and support if there are any concerns, she says. Memory, motor, and mental health problems The study, published in JAMA Network Open, enrolled 64 children and adolescents who had been hospitalized with MIS-C at Boston Children's from November 2020 through November 2021. Six to 12 months after discharge, the children underwent neurological examinations and detailed neuropsychological assessments. For comparison, Dr. Rollins and her colleagues also assessed 44 siblings and nearby friends or relatives who had not had MIS-C. Significantly more children with previous MIS-C had abnormal neurological findings than did children in the comparison group (25 versus 7%). Neuropsychological findings included impaired working memory; motor, coordination, and gait abnormalities; and higher rates of diagnosed ADHD, anxiety, or depression. Children with prior MIS-C were also more likely to have psychosomatic symptoms like headaches, chest pain, back pain, nausea, and fatigue and tended to report a lower quality of life. Dr. Rollins notes that many of these symptoms could be chalked up to stress, including the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic and the way it upended children's school and routines. Because the study included a comparison group that did not have MIS-Cbut faced many of the same stressorsshe believes the symptoms are likely MIS-C-related. "When families learn the child's symptoms could be related to MIS-C, they are reassured that others are experiencing it," she says. "We hope this study will increase awareness." Related to adult 'brain fog'? Rollins is currently following the children with MIS-C for a second year and hopes to add MRI studies of the brain to see if MIS-C caused any structural changes. In future studies, she hopes to explore how MIS-C predisposes children to neurobehavioral complications and what these children might have in common with adults who report brain fog after COVID-19. As a committee member on the large RECOVER study, she has reviewed data from children who have had COVID-19 or MIS-C as well as adults with long COVID. "These conditions are very intertwined," says Rollins. "The acute illness is very differentchildren with MIS-C are very sick and often need ICU care, while adults may have mild acute cases of COVID-19 but have lingering brain fog. Both could be part of the same spectrum and the same mechanisms could be underneath." More information: Caitlin K. Rollins et al, Neurological and Psychological Sequelae Associated With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, JAMA Network Open (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.24369 Journal information: JAMA Network Open 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: Journal of Clinical Investigation (2023). DOI: 10.1172/JCI164258 Scientists are on the hunt for a unique set of mutations, called "neoantigens," that let the immune system distinguish tumor cells from normal cells. Their goal is to help the immune system react to neoantigens and target tumor cells for destruction. This area of research has led to life-saving antibody therapeutics, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, which rely on antibodies to help immune cells kill tumors. Unfortunately, antibody-based cancer immunotherapies don't work for all patients. At La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), Professor Stephen Schoenberger, Ph.D., and his colleagues are looking beyond antibodies. Schoenberger's lab leads pioneering research into how the immune system's CD4+ "helper" T cells detect neoantigens. Now Schoenberger and his colleagues have published a pair of studies that show how we might harness CD4+ T cells while boosting the cancer-fighting power of CD8+ "killer" T cells. In fact, the researchers demonstrate a new kind of vaccine design that recruits both types of T cells to destroy large tumors. "Therapeutic cancer vaccines can work," says Schoenberger, who serves as a member of the LJI Center for Cancer Immunotherapy. "But they should leverage the natural synergy of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells." Researchers help CD4+ T cells detect tumors As Schoenberger points out, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells already work together when fighting viruses and bacteria. "Why not learn from the immune system's natural way of keeping us protected and turn that against cancer?" he says. In a paper published recently in Nature Immunology, Schoenberger worked closely with LJI Professor Bjoern Peters, Ph.D,. to demonstrate the essential role of CD4+ T cells in recognizing tumor cells. Their strategy depends on an innovative way to predict which tumor neoantigens will spark a strong CD4+ T cell response. As Schoenberger explains, tumor cells arise from normal cells in the body. This means the body has a harder time recognizing tumor cells as dangerous. Other threats, such as viruses, tend to carry around very un-human looking peptide sequences. "With prompting from CD4+ T cells, immune cells called dendritic cells can capture these peptide sequences and show them to CD8+ T cellssending the immune system into red alert. "CD8+ T cells execute the tumor," says Schoenberger, "but they require the cooperation of CD4+ T cells to do so efficiently." But tumor cells share most of their peptide sequences with normal cells, and are therefore harder for the immune system to "see." To get around this problem, Schoenberger and Peters have devised computational tools to identify the genetic mutations and specific peptides that serve as neoantigens to distinguish tumor cells from their neighbors. The Nature Immunology study shows that CD4+ T cells that recognize a single target mutation can drive a diverse CD8+ T cell response that eradicates large established tumors . The researchers tested T cells recognizing this target mutation for "avidity," which is how strongly their antigen receptors bind to the neoantigen. Their surprising results showed that neoantigen-specific CD4+ T cells can mediate their effect across a range of affinities. "This is brand new because no one has ever studied the neoantigen-specific CD4+ repertoire at the level of T cell receptors," says Schoenberger. The researchers also found that the most effective responses happened when the transferred CD4+ T cells were induced to develop into stem cell memory-like CD4+ T cells. This type of T cell are endowed with special properties of longevity and the ability to generate powerful effector cells. As Schoenberger's research spans the lab to the clinic, these findings will be translated to clinical trials in the near future. New vaccine brings T cells together In a second study, published recently in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Schoenberger and his colleagues showed how a new vaccine strategy can induce CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells to work together to destroy large, aggressive tumors in a mouse model. For the study, Schoenberger collaborated with Joseph Dolina, Ph.D., a senior scientist at Pfizer Inc., and former member of the Schoenberger Lab (Pfizer has no financial disclosures to this specific study). The team began with an aggressive squamous cell tumor that contained a low number of mutations, as many human cancers do. The researchers identified 270 mutations that make this tumor stand out from normal cells, and they performed in-depth studies on 39 of these mutations. They narrowed that group down to five mutations that were recognized by the natural anti-tumor T cell responsewith some mutations targeted by CD4+ T cells and others by CD8+ T cells. Remarkably, only mutations targeted by both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were capable of triggering protective or therapeutic responses against the tumor. "These neoantigens had to be physically linked to mediate therapy," says Schoenberger. "We could make large tumors go away so long as the vaccine activated both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells via the same antigen-presenting cell." Going forward, Schoenberger plans to work with his clinical colleagues at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center to study whether this type of linked vaccine is effective in human patients. He hopes a future clinical trial can give hope to patients with especially aggressive tumors. "The other message here is that we think we can greatly increase the number of patients who could benefit from checkpoint blockade immunotherapy if we combine it with a personalized cancer vaccine," says Schoenberger. More information: Spencer E. Brightman et al, Neoantigen-specific stem cell memory-like CD4+ T cells mediate CD8+ T cell-dependent immunotherapy of MHC class II-negative solid tumors, Nature Immunology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41590-023-01543-9 Joseph S. Dolina et al, Linked CD4+/CD8+ T cell neoantigen vaccination overcomes immune checkpoint blockade resistance and enables tumor regression, Journal of Clinical Investigation (2023). DOI: 10.1172/JCI164258 Journal information: Journal of Clinical Investigation , Nature Immunology The Montana Book Festival returns this week with most of the events at a venue with a shared affinity: the Missoula Public Library. The lineup for Sept. 7-10 includes David James Duncan, the western Montana author who recently published, Sun House, his first novel in decades; Northern Cheyenne writer and activist Adria Jawort; a special, bonus-sized event from the Word Dog community open mic. The invited writers, locally and nationally, cover fiction, nonfiction, poetry and more. The festival, which last year was approved as a standalone nonprofit, hasnt solidified a mission statement yet. Director John Samuel Brown said its designed to celebrate authors, poets and their work, and bring new ideas to the Mountain West. Within that, too, they aim to highlight people or places or ways of life that are underrepresented in our current public discourse in the Mountain West, he said. They also want to attract authors who can enhance that discussion and make it clear to publishers large and small that putting out books like that is valuable. The offerings, which includes readings and panels, are largely driven by author submissions, Brown said, rather than any sort of personal artistic statement on his part. He thinks of it as an opportunity for authors to have a freer and more open discussion than theyre used to at other book festivals or book events in general. Local authors, and sometimes out-of-state ones, pitch ideas. For instance, Sly, Witchy, Twisted, Free, is a panel that the participating authors have held elsewhere. They have all wrangled with their own minds to assert womens rights to radical thought, according to the festival website. Selected highlights There are 45 authors and 32 events. All the programs are free, thanks to sponsorships and the festival's partnership with the Missoula Public Library. Opening day The event opens Thursday with Adria Jawort, a Two-Spirit Northern Cheyenne writer based in Billings. Jaworts become more high-profile with her writing and activism related to Indigenous and LGBTQ rights. In June, she was scheduled to give a lecture on Two-Spirit history at the Butte Public Library. Butte-Silver Bow County canceled the event, citing House Bill 359, which bars drag readings and story hours for minors and has since become the subject of a lawsuit. Besides nonfiction and journalism, Jawort writes horror and literary fiction, and has edited two anthologies, Off the Path, of fiction by contemporary Indigenous writers in Montana. Details: Thursday, Sept. 7, 11 a.m.-noon, MPL Cooper Room. Awake in the World Three local writers and poets will discuss their work, which was included in Awake in the World, Vol. 3, an anthology that covers wildlife, wilderness and the environment, by Riverfeet Press. The publisher released individual books by all three writers: Mara Panich, the owner of Fact & Fiction, a poet and the co-editor of the book; Chris La Tray, the incoming Montana poet laureate; and Mark Gibbons, who just handed over the title. Details: Thursday, Sept. 7, 2:15-3:30 p.m. MPL Cooper Room B. Word Dog open mic Formed in 2022 by Liv Swant-Johnson, the literary open mic has become something like the heartbeat of the local literary community, Brown said. Its open to writing of all types, from everyone, with a few exceptions (no instruments or hate speech.) This installment, called Unleashed, will run for three hours, including festival authors reading from new works in a looser format than usual. Details: Saturday, Sept. 9, 7-10 p.m., ZACC Show Room. Creativity for families Art and music for kids will take over a section of the library as a Creative Art Space. Chris Sand, a longtime Missoula musician, recently released a childrens album, Magic Beans: 16 Songs for Sprouting Children and Other Human Beans, with an accompanying coloring book by illustrator Cooper Malin. Josh Quick, a fellow illustrator, has two books in his Quick Facts series with another on the way. You can hear music and play games and win prizes. Details: Saturday, Sept. 9, 9 a.m.-11:45 a.m., Cooper Room A. Poetry for Melville fans Charles Kell will discuss his work and his new collection, Ishmael Mask, which according to publisher the University of Chicago Press, considers the instability of identity through fictional and religious characters. Details: Saturday, Sept. 9. 3-4:15 p.m. Location TBD. Living with wildfire The duo behind the Peabody Award-winning wildfire podcast, Fireline, have branched out on the subject in a new book, This is Wildfire: How to Protect Yourself, Your Home and Your Community in the Age of Heat, out this month. Justin Angle, a University of Montana business professor, produces the podcast, A New Angle. His collaborator, Nick Mott, is a reporter and producer for Montana Public Radio and worked for years on the award-winning Threshold podcast. Details: Sunday, Sept. 10, 3:15-4:30 p.m., MPL Cooper Room B. Guidebook authors talk shop Ednor Therriault, also known as the musician Bob Wire, published a new book this year, "Big Sky, Big Parks: An Exploration of Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and All That Montana in Between." He'll talk about this brand of writing with Quick, illustrator-author of the "Quick Facts" series. Details: Sunday, Sept. 10, 3-4:15 p.m., MPL Cooper Room A. A toast to David James Duncan An event at Montgomery Distillery will celebrate the work of Duncan, the western Montana writer. Sun House is his follow-up in the novel form after acclaimed works The River Why and The Brothers K. He had a reading at the Wilma in August, so this event is more of a general celebration, with thoughts from local writers Bryce Andrews and Chris Dombrowski. Details: Sunday, Sept. 10, 5-8 p.m., Montgomery Distillery. The event is free but space is limited, and you have to register at an MBF event to attend. Now a standalone nonprofit For 15 years, the festival was a program of Humanities Montana, a statewide nonprofit aligned with the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2014, it decided a Missoula-specific event didnt align with its broader educational mission and consumed too much staff time. It was then spun off as a fledgling nonprofit. Arts Missoula, the citys nonprofit cultural agency, took it in as a fiscal sponsor. Last year, its application was approved as a standalone nonprofit. During this year, which is funded mostly from local sponsorship and private funding, theyll collect data that will allow them to take the next steps into building a more sturdy nonprofit base, Brown said. A month after the U.S. Supreme Court severely restricted the federal government's power to oversee wetlands, the Republican-dominated North Carolina legislature handed state agencies an order: Don't give the ecologically crucial waters any more protection than newly weakened federal rules provide. It might seem ironic that Republicans who often complain about the federal government would tether their state's policy to one crafted in Washington, D.C. But this time, doing so meant slashing regulation and aligning themselves with builders, agriculture and other industries that have long sought weaker wetland safeguards. For decades, federal court battles have pitted environmentalists who want the Clean Water Act to protect more wetlands against industries seeking regulatory rollbacks. The high court's May 25 decision favoring Idaho landowners Michael and Chantell Sackett curtailed powers of the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to limit wetlands destruction. It put states at the center of future fights over wetlands that defend against floods, purify water and support wildlife, analysts say. The federal rollbacks are creating a vacuum. The states are going to have to step in and fill the void, said Kim Delfino, president of an environmental consulting company and the former California director of Defenders of Wildlife. The 5-4 ruling expanded the ability of farmers, homebuilders and other developers to dig up or fill wetlands, finding the federal government had long overreached in limiting such activities. Its the latest decision by a conservative-dominated court to limit environment laws and agency powers. With little appetite in a divided Congress to pass environmental laws, the outcome is likely to endure. On Aug. 29, the EPA and the Corps, which make and enforce federal wetlands rules, updated them to comply with the court's decision involving the Sacketts, who disputed the need for an EPA permit to build a house near a lake. The rule requires wetlands to be more clearly connected to other waters like oceans and rivers to be regulated a major departure from decades-old federal policy. Experts say it will take time to determine how the changes will play out in different regions. States will either enforce or adopt new protections. Others will roll back existing protections, said Geoff Gisler, program director for the Southern Environmental Law Center. The focus will shift from the federal to the state government. North Carolina offers an early example. The state, with its flat, sandy coastal plain rich in wetlands, began regulating ones isolated from larger surface waterways about 20 years ago after a previous court decision limited federal authority. Urged by development interests in the steadily growing region, legislators voted in June to disallow state protection standards exceeding those of the EPA and Army Corps, overriding Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto. The move stripped protections from more than half the wetlands in the flood-prone state hammered by hurricanes in the past decade, said Grady McCallie, policy director for the North Carolina Conservation Network. We are going to see a lot of devastation, said Gisler of the Southern Environmental Law Center. People who bought new homes, moving to North Carolina to embrace the coastal lifestyle, at some point in the next few years are likely to see their homes flooded. Chris Millis, a lobbyist with the North Carolina Homebuilders Association, which pushed to link state and federal wetlands policies, said the move was underway before the Supreme Court decision. He said it resulted from state officials making more wetlands subject to regulation in recent years, creating uncertainty for developers. Even the presence of artificial farm ponds was reducing the number of houses in new subdivisions, Millis said. Its one thing to protect areas of land that do have ecological significance. Its another to take man-made ditches and cattle ponds and claim them as state waters and wetlands. But more is at stake, said Curtis Richardson, director of the Duke University Wetland Center and a professor of resource ecology. Thousands of the state's wetlands oval depressions known as Carolina bays, pocosin bogs with sandy peat soil and woodsy shrubs are formed by rainfall or groundwater and have no connection to surface waters. And Richardson said the Supreme Court ruling and now the new state requirement not to exceed federal standards leaves them vulnerable. You cannot protect every wetland. Not every wetland is sacrosanct," he said. What we want to do is preserve those with the most functional value on the landscape for biodiversity, water quality and other services. Roughly half of U.S. states rely on federal regulations to protect their wetlands, according to a May analysis by the Environmental Law Institute. That's where the Sackett ruling will have the greatest impact unless state or local leaders set tougher rules than federal ones. Many of those states have Republican-majority legislatures and are concentrated in the Great Plains and South. A group of Democrat-led states in the Northeast and along the Pacific Coast have crafted their own wetlands standards. The Sackett decision will have less effect there. But the divide isnt entirely along ideological lines. Florida, once a swing state but now solidly Republican, has separate protections for its extensive wetlands. In response to last weeks weathermans warning of anticipated heavy rainfall caused by El Nino conditions across different regions of the country from October to December 2023, the Ministry of Health has bolstered its surveillance efforts to address potential health emergencies. Addressing the media last week, Kenya Meteorological Departments Director General David Gikungu said that the long rains are expected to start in September and shall continue until January next year. Historically, the climatic conditions associated with El Nino have heightened the susceptibility to cholera and other waterborne diseases, while also triggering significant communicable epidemics. Mary Muthoni, the Permanent Secretary for Public Health and Professional Standards, has stated that the Ministry has intensified its preparedness efforts. She further noted that the ministry is actively monitoring the situation, specifically for waterborne diseases like cholera, with a focus on early detection of potential outbreaks. The country has already experienced a cholera outbreak, with a total of 12,079 reported cases and 200 tragic deaths across 27 counties. Mary Muthoni also mentioned that vaccination campaigns have been significantly ramped up to address both cholera and polio in regions vulnerable to outbreaks. Furthermore, she emphasized the implementation of flood control measures as a crucial component of their emergency response plan. These measures include ensuring that households have access to clean and safe water and that healthcare facilities are adequately stocked with medical supplies. The government is set to establish 290 Huduma centres in all constituencies in a bid to bring services closer to the people. Cabinet Secretary (CS) of the Public Service, Gender, and Affirmative Action Aisha Jumwa said Huduma Kenya in its digitalization plan has earmarked to roll out 290 Huduma Centres in 290 constituencies following requests from citizens and leaders. The centres, the CS said, will save millions of shillings citizens use to access Huduma centres as most of them are located in county headquarters except Nairobi and Kajiado which have five and two centres respectively. This year we will construct a number of Huduma centres and should seek additional funding to roll the construction of sub-counties Huduma centres to bring services closer to Mwananchi, said Jumwa. The Ministry of Public Service is exploring the possibility of collaborating with the National Government- Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) for funding the establishment of some of the sub-counties Huduma Centres. Jumwa spoke in Mombasa Friday when she closed the first annual Huduma Centres managers conference in Mombasa. The managers were advised to reposition themselves and embrace the digital era. Huduma Kenya is known as the trusted interface between the citizens and government services and thats the reason Huduma is here to stay. Huduma Kenya must find its definite place to take digital services to the people, said the CS. On digitization, she commended Hudumas leadership for being innovative and embracing the digital era, which resonates well with the digitization pillar of the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). Some of the technologies are the service by appointment (digital queuing and customer feedback system), track my service, virtual desktop infrastructure, Internet Protocol (IP) phones, CCTVs, and LAN-connected printers. The technologies, Jumwa said, have eliminated queues at the centres and reduced the waiting time for a service and Kenyans only visited centres, when documents are ready and have received a confirmation message. Jumwa said Universal agents now renamed BETA agents will augment the centres by offering multiple services from various ministries, departments, and agencies. The BETA agents should reduce the congestion at Huduma centres and reduce the cost of deploying services to Huduma centres. The BETA agents will play a critical role in supporting access to the over 5000 digitized government services by citizens, she said. Huduma Centres staff were urged to familiarize themselves with all the services in the e-citizen platform to assist Persons Living with Disabilities and digitally challenged people. The CS committed to fast-track the onboarding of the Huduma managers onto the Huduma structures. The CS disclosed that ID replacement has resumed and the backlog that was there is almost cleared with over 200,000 IDs dispatched to Huduma centres and ready for collection. We are following up with DCI and NTSA to resolve and clear the backlog of certificates of good conduct and smart driving licenses, she said. Huduma Kenya, a 2030 flagship project was launched in 2013 to transform public service delivery into more accessible, effective, efficient, dignified, and citizen-centric public service. Huduma Kenya has operationalized three additional platforms, the Huduma Mashinani outreaches that take services to far-flung areas, Government Huduma contact centres that provide first and second-level escalation for all complaints, inquiries, and updates to Kenyans via telephone, and social media. Huduma M and E services provide government information through the Huduma website. These channels have served over 120 million customers over the last 10 years, offering in-person and assisted services, said CS Jumwa, adding that customer satisfaction is at 95 percent with 18 local, regional and international awards. Huduma has won the hearts of many countries and so far over 20 of them have benchmarked with Huduma Kenya, said Jumwa, warning that she will not condone corruption practices. Via Kenya News Agency(KNA) Kalonzo Musyoka says he was misquoted by the media following reports that the opposition Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition now recognizes William Ruto as president of Kenya. Wiper Party leader had praised President Ruto for his stance in the ongoing bipartisan talks between the Azimio and Kenya Kwanza factions. We congratulate the president for putting his foot down and supporting the continuation of the talks, Kalonzo said during a burial in Voi, Taita Taveta County. Because of his (Rutos) stand, we recognise him and we will wait for the next time because who knows? Gods plans may be with us next, he added as quoted by the Saturday Nation newspaper. On Sunday, however, Kalonzo clarified that the media misconstrued his remarks. Taking to social media, the former Vice President clarified that the opposition still maintains that a thorough audit of the 2022 General Election results will reveal the truth regarding the August 2022 presidential poll. I have noticed that a section of the media has in the last few hours misquoted my recent statement on the state of affairs in our country; particularly on the legitimacy of the current regime, Musyoka wrote on X(Twitter). As Azimio we remain clear that the issues for discussion and negotiations as framed by both teams, include among others; A comprehensive audit of the 2022 presidential elections that in our view will finally settle the matter. Nevertheless, Kalonzo commended the political goodwill exhibited by both sides of the political spectrum and encouraged Kenyans to participate in the bipartisan discussions by submitting their input to the committee. So far, there has been political goodwill from both sides and we congratulate our teams for this. We also encourage Kenyans to participate in this important process by sending their memoranda within the given timeline as recently advertised in the dailies. May God bless Kenya, he concluded. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has installed the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station at Nairobi National Park as part of its commitment to promoting eco-friendly transportation. In a Sunday statement, KWS highlighted that electric vehicles, due to their lack of harmful carbon emissions, offer substantial advantages for conservation areas. KWS emphasized that electric vehicles utilize renewable energy sources and contribute to the reduction of noise pollution. In our concerted effort to make our conservation areas more environmentally friendly, we have today taken a significant step by installing the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station at Nairobi National Park, KWS said. The installation coincides with Kenya hosting the Africa Climate Summit, which is centered around the theme, Advancing Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World. The summits goal is to advocate for a positive, climate-compatible vision for Africa. The Summit, scheduled to commence on Monday, will convene more than 20,000 leaders and investors from Africa and various parts of the world. Notably, 17 Heads of State and government will be in attendance. This gathering will serve as a pivotal platform for informing, shaping, and influencing commitments, pledges, and outcomes, ultimately leading to the formulation of the Nairobi Declaration. President William Ruto has announced that TikTok is set to initiate a nationwide training program geared towards empowering content creators and fostering the creation of positive content within the country. This announcement comes in the wake of President Rutos meeting with Fortune Sibanda, the Director of TikTok Africa, at State House in Nairobi. During their discussions, various crucial aspects of the platform, such as content moderation and monetization, were thoroughly explored. Following their meeting, President Ruto underscored the importance of enabling Kenyan content creators to earn a sustainable livelihood through their creative talents. Kenyan creatives deserve to make a livelihood from their ability to create good content. TikTok will run a national training programme in Kenya to empower content creators through comprehensive platform knowledge, fostering increased monetization, and promoting positive content, Ruto said. This comes weeks after Ruto held an online meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and made significant announcements regarding the platforms content moderation. Ruto declared that any inappropriate or offensive content shared on TikTok would be swiftly removed from the platform. He highlighted that the government had established a partnership with the short-form video platform to actively monitor and review content, guaranteeing that all creators adhere to the established guidelines. In alignment with Rutos statements, Chew reiterated TikToks commitment to establishing a Kenyan office responsible for coordinating its operations on the continent. Furthermore, Chew pledged to generate employment opportunities for a larger number of Kenyans within the TikTok platform. This underscores the platforms unwavering dedication to nurturing a positive and inclusive environment for its users in Kenya. A 2-square-mile Atlas Peak nature preserve far above the Napa Valley is the focus of a legal dispute, with a neighbor saying he has historic rights to use unpaved roads there. The Land Trust of Napa County since 2014 has owned the 1,380-acre Sutro ranch, which is closed to the public. The Land Trust is suing Jeffrey Hammond, who owns adjacent property and has filed a cross-complaint against the trust. Each side made its case in papers filed in Napa County Superior Court. The matter could be decided at a jury trial scheduled for Monday, Oct. 2. Two issues are in play if the Hammonds have legal rights to use Sutro ranch roads and, if so, whether Land Trust erosion control efforts have made the roads difficult for the Hammonds to drive. The Land Trust has worked with Hammond in a "neighborly fashion" to let him use the main road to reach his land from Atlas Peak Road. But Hammond has used the preserve beyond this limited permission, damaging such things as native grasses, a Land Trust court filing said. Hammond told the Napa Valley Register he uses the main road daily. He also uses secondary roads perhaps six to 12 times a year to reach some parts of his property, he said. Before the Land Trust acquired the preserve land, it had been owned by John and Elizabeth Sutro. Land Trust officials said they talked to Elizabeth Sutro for years about preserving the land in perpetuity. Her estate donated the land in 2014 after her death. The Land Trust has a fiduciary responsibility to protect the land for biological diversity and ecological health, Land Trust court filings said. Land Trust filings characterized the Hammonds as trespassing on Land Trust property. Hammonds cross-complaint described the situation differently. John Wesley Hammond acquired adjacent land in the late 1800s. Generations of Hammonds for more than 140 years have used the main and secondary roads on what is now the Sutro preserve. John Wesley Hammond built the main road by hand, the cross-complaint said. Since about 1980, Jeffrey Hammonds Atlas Peak Equipment has used Sutro roads for commercial purposes and fire protection. That involves moving tractors and heavy equipment, it said. Jeffrey Hammonds wife Catherine uses the roads to move farm equipment and bring her Atlas Peak Olive Oil products to market, according to the cross-complaint. My and my familys use over the subject roads has always been for commercial, recreational and residential purposes, Jeffrey Hammond's court filing said. At the heart of Jeffrey Hammonds case is a concept recognized in California law as a prescriptive easement. The idea is that, if the Hammond family has used the Sutro roads historically a claim the Land Trust isn't conceding it may have established rights to continue doing so. A California Coastal Commission report stated how to establish a prescriptive easement. The requirements include using the land for at least five years with the owners knowledge, but without the owner's permission or the owner trying to stop the use. The Coastal Commission website describes that agency's efforts to establish public access to beaches over private property using prescriptive rights. Hammond said it takes five years to establish prescriptive easements and his family has about 140 years of use on the Sutro property. The other access to his land isn't passable in the winter and can't be used for trucks. But a Land Trust filing said Hammond hasn't proven how his ancestors used the Sutro land. Nor has he proven the property owner didn't give permission. One feature of the Sutro case is erosion control measures the Land Trust undertook in 2019 and 2021 on Sutro preserve roads. It created rolling dips on the main road and installed gates across two side roads to protect hand-built water bars, among other steps. These alleged road improvements damaged Jeffrey Hammonds vehicles and heavy equipment, the cross-complaint said. It cites the opinion of a civil engineer who said the rolling dips are too tall and rocked-line V-ditches too deep. The road isn't safely passable by normal passenger vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks. But the Land Trust has a different opinion. "The improvements have worked," a court filing said. Changes made to the roads keep an estimated 100 cubic yards of sediment annually from entering the Napa River and Putah Creek stream systems. Public benefits outweigh any inconvenience to the Hammonds, the Land Trust case said. Also, the rolling dips were designed and constructed using best management practices for rural roads and under supervision of local and federal government agencies, the filings said. Land Trust CEO Doug Parker declined to comment on the court case. Sutro ranch has four miles of ridgelines, including Atlas Peak. It has forests, shrubs, grassland and riparian plant communities. PHOTOS: Young Chef, Young Waiter USA final at CIA at Copia Young chef competition 12 Young chef competition 2 Young chef competition 3 Young chef competition 4 Young chef competition 5 Young chef competition 1 Young chef competition 6 Young chef competition 7 Young chef competition 8 Young chef competition 9 Young chef competition 10 Young chef competition 11 Young chef competition 13 Young chef competition 14 Young chef competition 15 Young chef competition 16 Young chef competition 17 Young chef competition 18 Young chef competition 19 Young chef competition 20 Young chef competition 21 Young chef competition 22 Young chef competition 23 Young chef competition 24 Young chef competition 25 Young chef competition 26 Young chef competition 27 We do not link and do not want to link Armenian-Turkish relations with Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this in an interview to the Italian La Repubblica newspaper, when asked what steps the Armenian government is taking to normalize relations with Turkey. "We do not link and do not want to link Armenian-Turkish relations with Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, although it should be said that Azerbaijan and Turkey do want to link this, and essentially push forward issue continually. But generally, if we are talking about security, any country can speak about security if they have regulated relations with their immediate neighbors. And this is true not only for countries that are not military superpowers, this applies to any case as a formula. There have been many such examples in history. It seems that if any country is stronger militarily, they may no longer think about regulating their relations either with neighbors or in general. But there are also ample examples in history, including current history, that come to demonstrate that seeming military might does not mean impregnability Therefore, I think this is something that everyone should be interested in, all countries in the region. Its another thing that understandably there are interests that make it difficult to attain that objective. That is exactly the difficulty in political leadership to make things possible that sometimes seem impossible. And this is very difficult, had not been it difficult, it would have been solved long ago," he said. Pashinyan noted that they consider the normalization of relations with Turkey to be important. "Its a very important issue for Armenia. And I have the impression based on the results of my recent visit to Ankara and my contacts with the president of Turkey that it is also very important for Turkey to regulate its relations with Armenia. I believe that there are opportunities here as well. There are also of course complexities, and these complexities include the current state and quality of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan," he said. According to Pashinyan, it is understandable that the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey will essentially diminish tensions in the South Caucasus. "Of course, all that is interrelated. In general terms, whats the ideology we are trying to implement, which is not easy. I am often asked if there are any guarantees that this ideology will turn into reality. "Recently in one of my interviews, when the journalist asked me, and I understand that question, because its a widespread perception not only beyond our region, but also exactly in our region, in our country, because we are accustomed to perceiving the global political map between East and West, or West and Russia. So the journalist asked how we are positioned being located between the West and Russia. I responded that in reality its a wrong impression that we are in the middle of the West and Russia. We are in the middle of Georgia, Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan. And consequently, the security interests of our state impose upon us to establish stable and regulated relations first and foremost with our immediate neighbors, of course, not diminishing in any way the role, impact and significance and importance of geopolitical centers for this region and of course for our country as well," the Armenian PM emphasized. Dependence of linkage in security matters from just one partner is just a strategic mistake. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this in an interview to the Italian La Repubblica newspaper, answering the question whether Armenia is trying to become more independent from Moscow. "Being independent means that you are less dependent for example in the security sphere, or it means security policies should be diversified. I will illustrate with a very specific example, which maybe in this context is not referred to, but we all, also the citizens of Armenia. I assume are aware of it, everyone knows, but when it is spoken, it assumes another value. Armenias security architecture 99,999% was linked to Russia, including in the logic of procurement of arms and ammunition, but today we see that Russia itself is in need of weapons, arms and ammunition and in this situation its understandable that even if it wishes so, the Russian Federation cannot meet Armenias security needs. This example should demonstrate to us that dependence of linkage in security matters from just one partner is just a strategic mistake. And after tasting the bitter fruits of this error post-factum, we are taking feeble attempts to diversify our security policy, including casting a different glance on own region, because its one thing when we in our region live under continuous confrontational logic with our neighbors, but say ok, someone will care for our security. But when in practice it comes to this someone to take care of our security, it turns out that this someone either does not want to or cannot ensure our security. These are realities which we have to confront with," he said. According to Pashinyan, we confront very difficult realities both psychologically, ideologically, historically, and in terms of worldview. "If you do not pass through these realities in the right way, it will mean losing independence. This is what I had in mind in the message I you mentioned. I have pondered long about if this should be spoken about publicly or not. But I have not seen the positive effect of not speaking about it publicly. It's just the opposite, I see that talking about it is very painful, but without talking about this, we could really lose our independence. Of course, not only speaking because it wont work out only by speaking, but it is also necessary to speak. Let me tell you one thing: I think reflection is an important pastime, important instrument and formula that we need to continually look inside, into ourselves. If the questions raised get the same answers we had before those questions were raised, then its ok, we did everything right and we are doing everything right. But if it were to turn out that the old question in this new situation has a new answer, this is a situation we have to face," the Armenian premier said. Russia itself leaves the region by virtue of a number of steps it takes or fails to take. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this in an interview to the Italian La Repubblica newspaper, when asked what the political reason is for Russia to leave the control of the Lachin corridor to Azerbaijan "Of course, we talk about these issues with our Russian partners. But irrespective of these discussions, we of course have our own hypothesis. When we talk about this hypothesis, also several events that took place in Russia push us to draw historical parallels. "Our region has already witnessed such a situation. In fact, for quite a long time the Russian Federation is present in our region, the South Caucasus. But we have observed situations when overnight, within a month or within a year the Russian Federation just got up and left South Caucasus. Our Russian colleagues talk a lot about that Armenias western partners, western countries work with Armenia or push the government of Armenia in order the Armenian government takes measures, pursuing the objective to push out Russia from this region. "But when we talk with our Russian partners, sometimes we express our opinion and our assessment that its the opposite, we see that Russia by virtue of a number of steps it takes or fails to take, itself leaves the region. As for the reasons, we are unaware. We can of course make interpretations, but I cannot make any statement. I can propose hypothesis, but I will refrain from that now. Its understandable that the issue you refer to is a matter of great concern and interest for us and there is nothing new here. But there are processes which of course lead us to believe that all this scenarios may repeat, we just can wake up one day and see that Russia is not here," he said. According to Pashinyan, the Lachin corridor, which should have been under the control of the Russian peacekeepers, is not under the control of the Russian peacekeepers. There may be two reasons: either the Russian Federation cannot maintain control over the Lachin corridor, or it just doesnt want to. Both are problematic from our perspective," he added. To the reporter's follow-up question as to whether this because they dont want or because they cannot maintain control over the Lachin corridor, Pashinyan responded that sometimes they cannot, and sometimes they do not want to. "But I would not like to speak about that. Of course, I have my own versions, my own perception, my own hypothesis, and I have publicly expressed part of them. Of course, in those public statements the causative relationships may not have been very visible, but a careful observer will see those causative links. "Lets see what makes this situation dangerous for Armenia. We have not been able to make use of its toolkit. Armenia is a member of the CSTO, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia has a strategic partnership treaty with the Russian Federation, and all these leads all western countries or experts to qualify Armenia as a pro-Russian country. On the other hand, many circles in Russia consider Armenia or its government, and since the government was formed by the vote of the majority of the people, pro-Western. And here the biggest problem of our current position is as follows: if being pro-Russian could have some potential benefits, or if being pro-Western could have some advantages, Armenia does not take advantage of the benefits of being pro-Russian, because in Russia they do not consider Armenia enough pro-Russian, for example for the reason that Armenia in their opinion does not provide enough assistance to them in the Ukrainian issue. On the other hand, Armenia cannot take advantage of the potential benefits of being pro-Western, because in the West they consider Armenia not to be sufficiently pro-Western, because for example, from their perspective, Armenia does not sufficiently oppose Russia in the Ukrainian issue. This is exactly the hazard of our situation," Nikol Pashinyan said. 4.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Turkey 14 individuals were tortured, and 64 died on the move from Nagorno Karabakh. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Council of Europe to prepare package of measures in response to refugee influx in Armenia Mher Grigoryan and EU Ambassador exchanged ideas on regional developments Minister of Defence had a meeting with the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of PRC Yeremyan Projects has launched the regional first livestock complex in Tashir community Rights of Karabakhs imprisoned former leadership are protected, Azerbaijan ombudsperson claims Finance ministry: Armenia economic growth target will be maintained at 7% level in 2024 Elnur Mammadov: Most points in peace treaty have been agreed upon by Azerbaijan, Armenia Statement: Alma-Ata Declaration has no mention of former union republics of ex-USSR Dollar drops, euro rises in Armenia Armenia defense sector capital spending planned in amount of around $1.4 billion in 2024 Lawyer: Maestro Sergey Smbatyan is acquitted Premier: Armenia defense spending planned to be increased by 125% in 2024 compared to 2018 Armenia, Ukraine officials underscore Pashinyan-Zelenskyy first meeting ReA15: 300 animation films, 30 guests from 40 countries, around 500 audience; Armenia international festival summed up Russias Makhachkala airport resumes operations Armenia's Pashinyan: There is serious progress in North-South motorway construction Around 12kg narcotics attempted to be smuggled into Armenia from Iran Armenia finance minister: Considerable part of 2.6 billion to be provided by EU is loan Armenia official: We will not increase pensions, minimum wages in 2024 Armenia finance minister: National debt of more than $10 billion is safe Pashinyan: Armenia government expects 7% economic growth in 2023 COAF secures 10M grant to transform education in Armenia's Syunik Province RFE/RL: US supports EU monitoring mission in Armenia, embassy says Hurricane Otis kills at least 48 people in Mexico $135M to be allocated for needs of those forcibly displaced from Karabakh, Armenia PM says Armenia nationals can now open bank accounts in Russia in simplified manner Armenia MFA former spox shares video of Russian peacekeepers withdrawal from Karabakh 202-million-year-old dragonfly fossil discovered in UK Armenia premier: I hope arrangements for opening border with Turkey will be implemented in near future Pashinyan: Current world orders collapse is serious threat to Armenia Armenia labor, social affairs minister is in Iran, memorandum to be signed on highly qualified workforce exchange Armenia PM: 3 main principles of signing peace treaty with Azerbaijan have been agreed upon Armenia defense minister attends Beijing Xiangshan Forum opening ceremony in China (PHOTOS) Biden, Netanyahu discuss ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza Arab, Muslim users of social media unhappy with ongoing supply of oil from Azerbaijan to Israel Attempts are being made to destabilize situation in Russias Dagestan from outside, leader Melikov says 20 people injured, 2 in critical condition after mass riots at Russias Makhachkala airport Kamala Harris: US has no plans of sending combat troops to Israel, Gaza Russia researchers develop water evaluation system using smartphones Russias Makhachkala airport closed until November 6 France releases city electric cars that can be driven without driver's license Thugs attack bus carrying women, children in Russias Makhachkala Anti-Israel protest in Russias Dagestan, crowd storms into Makhachkala airport Slovenia donates 120,000, through Red Cross, to forcibly displaced people from Karabakh Overall 3342 children died in Gaza since start of war Israel bombs areas near Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza Palestinian Red Crescent: Israel demands evacuation of Gaza hospital UN peacekeeper wounded in Lebanese shelling Israel Armenians newspaper: Situation in Israel still difficult Iran President: Zionists were defeated, forced to retreat Death toll of Palestinians in Gaza exceeds 8000 Azerbaijani Defense Minister also visits China Israeli airstrikes on two houses in Gaza kill 13 civilians Israeli army names main priority UN Secretary General criticizes Israel again Building of Jewish cultural center is set on fire in Russia UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting Russian MoD: Crimea was attacked by 36 Ukrainian drones at night Armenian Defence Minister leaves for China Forcibly displaced teachers from Artsakh can continue work in Armenia Death toll of mine accident in Kazakhstan reaches 42 Israeli PM deletes controversial post from social media, apologizes Israeli opposition leader, National Security Minister criticize PM At least 331 Israeli soldiers killed since start of war with Hamas Baku arrests Iranian spies who wanted to create Kerime state in Azerbaijan Lemkin Institute calls on UN to prepare proper mission to Artsakh Moscow, Ankara effectively coordinate efforts to tackle important regional issues Israeli army boosts contingent in Gaza, enters deeper into enclave Aide to Aliyev, Iran Ambassador discuss Azerbaijani-Armenian relations US Eisenhower aircraft carrier enters Mediterranean Sea Road accident in Armenia leaves 2 dead Iranian President: Israel has crossed the red lines Artsakh President: Russian side was in observers position Armenia Security Council Secretary meets assistants to US Secretary of State, France President Armenia PM sends condolences to Kazakh President over mine accident Death toll of mine accident in Kazakhstan reaches 33 Russian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministries confirm the need for normalization between Baku and Yerevan Hamas ready to release eight hostages at Russia's request RA Economy Ministry, JP Morgan discuss international market accessibility Hamas says there is no progress in hostage negotiations Germany ready to send over 1 thousand military personnel to Middle East Fatal car accident occurs in Yerevan Tunis President says Palestinians have right to stand firm against Israel Armenia Economy Minister, British Chamber of Commerce reps discuss coop Israel promises to allow trucks carrying aid into Gaza Erdogan: Israel should end madness and stop attacks on Gaza If Gaza is destroyed, it will create catastrophe for decades, if not centuries Palestinian Red Cross loses contact with all workers in Gaza IDF expands area of ground operations in Gaza north Moldovan President explains increasing of defense spending US, Israeli defense ministers discuss military operations in Gaza Chinese FM calls Taiwan independence biggest challenge for Sino-US relations US may not have enough funds to help Ukraine, Israel at once IDF expands ground operations in Gaza Strip US calls its strikes on targets in Syria message for Iran Iran warns of potential new fronts against US Armenia says yes to UN resolution on Gaza truce UN General Assembly adopts resolution on Israel-Hamas truce Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Arayik Harutyunyan, who has submitted his resignation, issued an appeal. It reads as follows: Dear compatriots, You are aware that from September 1, I have resigned from the powers of the President of the Republic of Artsakh based on my letter of resignation to the National Assembly. I would like to touch on a few basic questions regarding these and related developments. Why didn't I resign earlier? Because the current constitutional regulations assumed that in case of my resignation, simultaneous snap presidential and parliamentary elections shall be organized, and the possibility of its realization was very vague, especially in the conditions of the blockade. Therefore, I initiated and the National Assembly adopted an amendment to the Constitution so that it would be possible to elect a transitional President by the parliament during martial law until the end of the current President of the Republics term of office. Article 168.1 of the Constitution entered into force in July, after which I thought several times about the right moment. But in order not to negatively affect important foreign political developments, I waited for some time and made my decision at the end of August. What will happen before the election of the new president of the Republic? As the Constitution regulates, the President of the National Assembly temporarily exercises the powers of the President of the Republic, which is just a matter of a few days. In addition, as I have stated, before my resignation I appointed a new minister of state with broad powers, so that it is also possible to maintain the stability of the state system through that. Who will be the next President of the Republic? The resolution of that matter is reserved by the Constitution solely to the National Assembly, based on the recommendations of the factions. Therefore, I call on the MPs to be guided by their conscience in the matter of the election of the President of the Republic and not to succumb to various petty group influences. Let me remind [you] that immediately after the 44-day war [in 2020], I stopped my party activities and have nothing to do with the Free Motherland party. Therefore, I cannot and do not want to get involved in forming the position of the Free Motherland-UCA Faction of the National Assembly, and they will decide their approaches completely independently. Neither I nor any other third party has the right to interfere with that process. I urge all political and public figures to show restraint and be guided by the legislation and high democratic political culture of the Artsakh Republic. This is the most important examination of our state and political systems, which we must pass with honor and without an upheaval. If any person or group tries to provoke upheavals, it will be a most serious blow to the constitutional order and future of the Artsakh Republic. As for the various statements coming from the Republic of Armenia in recent days, which are made in favor of or against this or that possible [Artsakh presidential] candidate, then I simply ask those people not to interfere and disrupt the fragile stability of Artsakh's domestic life, in such a difficult period in that. What will I do from now on? First of all, I will stand with the newly elected President of the Republic, regardless of who he is, and I will assist him with all my abilities in overcoming the existing internal and external challenges in a dignified and effective manner. Apart from that, as I have announced, I will direct my main efforts to assist the work of ensuring the security of Artsakh, without opening brackets publicly. But I will not engage in domestic political activities at all. In any case, I will not go underground, and I will also regularly make public address on important issues for Artsakh. Azerbaijan takes advantage of the fact that Russia is busy with the conflict in Ukraine, and uses it to commit "its own crimes against humanity." The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof expressed such a view, referring to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan. According to Armenpress, the respective article is titled as follows: "Another Ethnic Cleansing Could Be Underway and Were Not Paying Attention." "You probably havent heard of Azerbaijans brutality toward an ethnic Armenian enclave called Nagorno-Karabakh, but it deserves scrutiny," writes Kristof, recalling the report by the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, that "There is an ongoing genocide against 120,000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is critically important to label this as genocide, Moreno Ocampo told the aforesaid columnist, emphasizing that it is also crucial that the United States and other world powersincluding the UK, which has been too quietstep up pressure on Azerbaijan. The article published in The New York Times once again talks about the decision of the International Court of Justice, according to which Azerbaijan must lift the blockade, as well as about the dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. "In 2020, Azerbaijan fought a brief war in which it reclaimed most of the enclave, and it now wants to recover the rest and, I suspect, to push out much of the ethnic Armenian population," the columnist notes. The article notes that the one point even countries as far apart as the United States and Russia agree on is that Azerbaijan should reopen the Lachin corridor and end the suffering. On September 2, the Armenian community of the Netherlands staged a protest in capital Amsterdam, and raised the issue of the serious humanitarian crisis caused by Azerbaijan's blockade of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and the blocking of the Lachin corridor since December 12, 2022. A group of Dutch politicians, scholars, university students, and representatives of various NGOs also participated in the protest. They demanded the competent international organizations to take immediate steps to stop the genocidal actions carried out in Artsakh by the regime of the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. Also, the demonstrators held banners that read "Open the Lachin Corridor", "Stop the Genocide in Artsakh", "Impose sanctions against Azerbaijan", and "Respect the verdict of the International Criminal Court." HT Syndication Agra (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 4: DoubleTree by Hilton in Agra recently hosted the inaugural "Wedding Diaries by Hilton show marking a significant milestone for Hilton India. This star-studded event illuminated the city of Agra with the presence of renowned celebrities such as Shilpa Shetty, Mallika Arora, Sobhita Dhulipala, Diana Penty, and over 30 supermodels who graced the runway for some of India's top designers. The show, meticulously curated by the DoubleTree by Hilton Agra team, featured exclusive creations from four esteemed designers. This event is hailed as one of the grandest wedding shows in recent memory, and it was a historic moment for Agra, the city of love and home to the iconic Taj Mahal, to host an event of such magnitude. In addition to the glamorous celebrity presence, the show received the artistic touch of leading designers like Paulmi & Harsh, Gopi Vaid, Varun Bahl, and Aslam Khan, who also served as the show's curator alongside DoubleTree by Hilton Agra. The show was curated by One Infinite. Shyam Kumar, the General Manager at DoubleTree by Hilton Agra, played a pivotal role in driving and curating the event. His leadership and innovative thinking have not only benefited the hotel but have also had a positive impact on the Agra community. Speaking about the event's resounding success, Shyam Kumar shared, "DoubleTree by Hilton Agra has consistently hosted engaging events and campaigns. I am proud to say that we have made history with the immense success of Wedding Diaries by Hilton. Agra had the privilege of witnessing luminaries like Shilpa Shetty, Mallika Arora, Sobhita Dhulipala, and many others grace the runway, along with four top fashion designers and 30 supermodels from the industry." The evening's star attractions, Shilpa Shetty and Malaika Arora, showcased their elegance on the runway in comfortable yet stylish footwear by Oroh Shoes and adorned with exquisite jewellery from AP Jewellers. Oroh Shoes, a newly launched elite footwear range, blends style and comfort to create a perfect union, catering to shoe enthusiasts. AP Jewellers, with a rich heritage as one of the oldest and largest jewellery businesses, offers an extraordinary collection, ranging from dazzling diamonds to traditional Polki, captivating Jadau to fusion marvels, all designed to captivate the heart. The show also hosted a two day wedding exhibition, a dazzling showcase of premier wedding-related brands. It garnered tremendous success, drawing the huge presence of enthusiastic guests. The event's second day featured a wedding conclave, organized in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Wedding Association, which welcomed prominent figures from the industry. Distinguished attendees included Mukesh K. Meshram, Principal Secretary & Director General Tourism, Uttar Pradesh along with many renowned names from the wedding fraternity of Agra, Jaipur, Kanpur, Mathura etc. "Wedding Diaries by Hilton" was also supported by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, further enriching the experience. These remarkable events, set against the romantic backdrop of Agra, aspire to position the city as an exceptional destination for grand destination weddings. Agra aims to become the preferred choice for large-scale weddings & events alike. (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by HT Syndication. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PNN Pune (Maharashtra) [India], September 4: The escalating incidence of cardiac ailments, primarily attributed to the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD), has underscored the critical demand for cutting-edge cardiac interventions. Jehangir Hospital, Pune, a renowned healthcare institution with a legacy of over 78 years, etched its name in the healthcare history of Pune in 1972 by performing its first open-heart surgery, marking the beginning of its unwavering commitment to cardiac care. Over the years, Jehangir Hospital has nurtured one of Pune's most robust cardiovascular care programs, offering comprehensive services from infancy to adulthood and achieving exceptional patient outcomes. Comprehensive Cardiac Care at Jehangir Hospital Jehangir Hospital has earned a stellar reputation for providing comprehensive cardiovascular services, including round-the-clock care during the crucial Golden Hour following a heart attack. A team of highly skilled cardiologists and dedicated staff collaborates tirelessly to ensure prompt and effective treatment within this critical time frame, thereby significantly enhancing the chances of patient recovery. The hospital's services encompass a wide spectrum of 24/7 Interventional Cardiology Services, spanning from Coronary Angioplasty and Stenting (PCI) to Primary PCI for acute myocardial infarction. Complex cardiac procedures likeMitral-Valvuloplasty, Permanent Pacemaker Implantation, and Cardiac Resynchronization procedures are also integral components of the hospital's cardiac care repertoire. Diagnostic services include Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring, HUTT (Head-Up Tilt Table Test), and CTC Coronary Angiography. In the realm of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Jehangir Hospital stands out with its expertise in Coronary Bypass Surgery (CABG), Valve Replacement, Valve Repair, Aortic Root, and Aneurysm surgeries. The hospital's exceptional proficiency in minimally invasive bypass surgeries, total arterial revascularization, and off-pump surgeries position it among the world's leading cardiac care facilities. Additionally, the department offers a gamut of services, including Endovascular Revascularization, AV Fistula Construction, DVT Treatment, Peripheral Bypass procedures, and Peripheral Angioplasty. Patient safety remains the utmost priority at the Advanced Heart Care facility, ensuring that high-quality cardiovascular care is consistently delivered by seasoned professionals. Hospital on Wheels - A Lifeline for Pune In a pioneering move in 2003, Jehangir Hospital introduced Pune's first fully equipped Cardiac Care Ambulance, aptly named the "Hospital on Wheels." This fleet of well-equipped ambulances is geared to respond swiftly to adult and paediatric cardiac emergencies, strokes, and trauma emergencies. Operating 24/7, this advanced life-support ambulance service can be reached at 8888881066. Jehangir Hospital's emergency protocol guarantees dispatch within 5 minutes, with a team of trained Emergency Medical Services (EMS) doctors who are proficient in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), supported by experienced nursing and paramedical staff. The ambulance team maintains constant communication with the hospital, efficiently coordinating standby critical care and cardiac teams to ensure rapid intervention, thereby minimising heart muscle damage. Code Cardiac - A Blueprint for Swift Cardiac Emergency Response "Code Cardiac" is the hospital's innovative emergency response system. When activated for a cardiac emergency, a specialised team assembles swiftly in the Emergency Room (ER), comprising cardiac nursing staff, 2D Echo technicians, support staff, and counsellors. The on-call cardiologist is promptly alerted, and administrative tasks are expedited and executed at the bedside in the ER. This approach not only ensures timely intervention but also allows family members to remain close and actively participate in care decisions. Following the ER assessment, the patient is transferred to the Cath-lab for essential cardiac intervention, with continuous monitoring and ventilatory support if necessary, ensuring the patient's safety throughout the process. Cutting-Edge Services at the Jehangir Hospital Cath Lab The hospital's state-of-the-art Philips FD 20 Cath lab empowers a broad spectrum of services for cardiology and interventional radiology. These services encompassCoronary angiography, Coronary Interventions, Digital subtraction angiography (DSA), Neurological Interventional procedures, Peripheral angiography and interventional procedures, Permanent pacemaker implantation (both single and dual biventricular), Internal cardiac defibrillators (ICD), Valve repair and replacement, Coronary resynchronization therapy (CRT), Pericardial tapping, IVC filter insertion, Abdominal angiography, Embolization, and Angioplasty.This formidable array of services underscores Jehangir Hospital's commitment to delivering cutting-edge cardiac care. Cardiac Rehabilitation Program - A Holistic Approach to Recovery Jehangir Hospital's Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Department offers a personalised cardiac rehabilitation program designed to support patients during their recovery and post-discharge. Led by specially trained physiotherapists, clinical nutritionists, and psychologists, this 12-session program, held twice a week and each lasting about an hour, incorporates exercises, education, and psychological support. The program is initiated by the treating cardiologist to ensure its suitability for each patient's unique needs. Advanced Techniques in Cardiology - Precision in Cardiac Interventions Intracoronary imaging techniques, such as Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), have emerged as vital tools for planning percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).Dr. JS Dugal and Dr. Ajit Mehta, Senior Cardiologistsand the esteemed members of the Jehangir Hospital team, emphasise the pivotal role of advanced technologies such as Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR), High-Definition IVUS (HD IVUS), and OCT in delivering superior cardiac care in PCI procedures. PCI, commonly known as angioplasty, is a minimally invasive technique used to open narrowed coronary arteries caused by plaque buildup, thereby restoring blood supply to the heart muscle. It involves the insertion of a catheter guided by real-time imaging to diagnose and treat diseased coronary vessels. Dr. Dugal and Dr. Mehtaemphasise,"Imaging guidance during PCI is one of the key determinants of procedural outcomes because it is an integral part of every stage of PCI, including assessment of lesion severity, pre-procedural planning, selection of appropriate stenting strategy, stent size, landing zones, optimization, and management of immediate complications such as dissection, thrombus, tissue prolapse, side-branch compromise, etc. During follow-up, imaging helps in the identification and management of mechanisms of stent failure in instances of restenosis or thrombosis." Global studies support OCT and HD IVUS-guided procedures for their accuracy and cost-effectiveness. These methods provide detailed 3D views of blood vessel layers, improving blockage identification, stent selection, and placement confirmation. This benefits high-risk patients like those with diabetes, ACS, and complex coronary issues. The system consists of a catheter with a camera for real-time inner vessel imaging, enhancing clarity for cardiologists. Regarding the superiority of IVUS imaging in coronary procedures, Dr Dugal and Dr. Mehta emphasise, "While angiography was considered the gold standard for imaging during percutaneous coronary interventions, it has its significant limitations. Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) and optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) allow them to see a coronary artery from the inside out. This unique view provides a cross-section view and critical clinical information that is not possible with routine imaging methods, such as coronary angiography, performed in the cath lab, or even non-invasive CT scans." Fractional Flow Reserve Angiography (FFRA) - Enhancing Precision in Assessing Blood Flow FFRA plays a pivotal role in assessing blood flow. Cardiologists employ a sensor-tipped wire to measure pressure, facilitating the identification of the need for intervention in narrowed arteries. FFR-guided stenting leads to more accurate placements and fewer complications, resulting in lower rates of death, heart attacks, and the need for repeat procedures. Cardiac Surgery - Excellence in Surgical Interventions Jehangir Hospital in Pune is a pioneer in coronary bypass surgery, now offering a leading cardiac surgical program with specialised facilities. Their expert team provides comprehensive care, including advanced surgeries, with a focus on patient well-being. Notably, they achieved the Western Region's first heart retrieval milestone, embodying their mission of high-quality, accessible, and affordable cardiology and cardiovascular surgery programs for all ages. Jehangir Hospital's unwavering dedication to pioneering technology, advanced techniques, and patient-centric care has positioned it at the forefront of cardiac care in Pune and beyond. With an impressive track record of achievements and a commitment to innovation, Jehangir Hospital continues to raise the bar for cardiac care, offering hope and healing to patients seeking comprehensive and cutting-edge solutions for cardiac ailments. (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) SRV Media New Delhi [India], September 4: In a tribute to India's 77th Independence Day, UTOPIAA, nestled within the KAIG Group, hosted an event that blended patriotism, adventure, and prosperity. Set against the serene backdrop of Bagepalli, this celebration marked a poignant chapter in the nation's history. The event began with a thrilling Harley Davidson Biker & Bangalore Mudsters 4X4 jeepers flag-off, echoing the fervor of India's struggle for independence. As the modern-day riders journeyed from Hebbal to Bagepalli, their spirits intertwined with the nation's indomitable resolve. As the sun rose, the day culminated in the unfurling of one of India's largest flags, a magnificent 20-foot flag, against the sky. This colossal emblem stirred hearts and was accompanied by the harmonious National Anthem, epitomizing unity. The flag was proudly hoisted on a towering 50 feet pole. Activities resonated with the spirit of freedom, from rifle mania & archery marksmanship tests to the off-roaders in custom-fit 4X4 Jeeps on the rocks. The event showcased shared values that defined India's journey. Experience the wonders of UTOPIAA Farming, an expansive 200-acre haven with 94 acres now open for registration! This exceptional project blends agroforestry techniques, showcasing a diverse range of plantations including Sandalwood, Agarwood, Avocado, Passion fruit, Dragon fruit, Byadagi chilli, and Beans. Our plots, boasting a generous 5445 sqft dimension, are available for an investment of just 17,96,850. UTOPIAA Farming offers more than just agricultural prospects; it's a complete immersion into agro-tourism and real estate benefits. Enjoy bountiful agricultural yields, engaging tourism activities, cozy cottages, and the potential for an annual land appreciation of 20-25%. Envision the potential income from your 50% share, ranging from 1.5 crores over 15-20 years through Sandalwood, 50 lahks between the 8th and 12th year via Agarwood, up to 1.5 lakh post the 3rd year with Passion fruit, Dragon fruit, and Avocado, and annual earnings of 30,000 to 40,000 from Byadagi chilli and Beans. For further details or to seize this incredible opportunity, reach out to us directly at +9197391 21211 Join us in making your journey with UTOPIAA Farming seamless and enriching! The celebration encapsulated unity, adventure, and prosperity, embodying the values that have shaped India's remarkable journey. For more information, please visit https://utopiaa.in/ Contact our sales team at enquire@utopiaa.in & +91 97391 21211 Connect with us on Instagram at @utopiaafarming (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) He has been paired opposite Ashnoor Kaur in the film, as per a statement. Excited about the new project, Akshay said, "Im excited to do an all-out romantic love story. Its refreshing to see a love story being made during a time when such few are being made. Its also been a while since Ive made one myself. I am really enjoying the character written for me. Its deeply layered, challenging and has a variety of shades with a very unique character arch. He is not your quintessential romantic hero and thats what makes it challenging, yet exciting." The film is slated to commence production soon, with the picturesque city of Raipur serving as the backdrop for its story. More details regarding the film have not been disclosed yet. Besides 'Tu Chahiye', Akshay also has 'Fighter' in his kitty. 'Fighter' stars Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles. Helmed by Siddharth Anand, 'Fighter' is scheduled to release in theatres on January 25, 2024. It is touted to be an aerial action film. (ANI) Actor Gaurav Chopra, who acted in films such as Bachchhan Paandey, and Rana Naidu, talked about his role of Lieutenant Colonel, Devendra Rawat in Gadar 2 and the physical training he underwent for playing the character on-screen. From putting on 9 kg weight, training and living with real-life army officers to pulling off a sensational stunt with a real tank without any safety support and security, he tried to give his best for the role. He shared, "Well, it feels like a reward from God. I have always believed that the higher the risk, the higher the reward. After Covid-19, I consciously decided to step out of my comfort zone and only be a part of projects selectively that challenge my potential as an actor like never before. I believe when the intentions are right, God also supports you and that's how, I zeroed up on projects that could showcase me in unexpected light, like Bachchhan Paandey, Rana Naidu and Gadar 2 all, one after the other. I was very confident mentally after Rana Naidu, especially because I was bestowed with two special award honours for my character of Prince. However, at the same time, I was also certain in my mind that I can't afford to be complacent and hence, I always need to be on top of my game each and every day to push myself beyond regular limits." He further said, "I put on 9kg weight before every schedule to look like an army man from 1970. There was a lot of intense training involved for my character as a respected army officer. I actually lived and trained with them to understand the small and minute details of their lifestyle. From their life to their thoughts, their conversations and their food, what they do in their training to how they fight and how they eat, I observed all. It was such a beautiful learning experience for me. Their presence around me filled me with positivity and 'josh' was certainly a big source of motivation behind pulling off that tank stunt. In the climax, Col. Rawat makes an entry standing on a tank. Anil (Sharma) ji wanted a heroic entry when I came to save the situation. He asked me if I could stand on it and enter as it would look larger than life, I said yes immediately without realizing it moves very differently from other vehicles. The tank bends forward during movement and gets very bumpy. Since there was nothing to place your foot strongly or hold onto something, it was actually very dangerous. However, we did the shot 2-3 times and I made it safely. Now in hindsight, I realise that if I were to just lose my balance, there were chances of a very serious or fatal injury, he concluded. 'Gadar 2' stars Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel in lead roles. (ANI) J-10 fighters leave for 24-hour flight training China Military Online) 09:23, September 04, 2023 A J-10 fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade of the air force under the PLA Southern Theater Command takes off for a round-the-clock flight training exercise on August 13, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wang Guoyun) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Slamming the Stalin government, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai has condemned the incident in which four members of a family were allegedly hacked to death near Palladam in Tiruppur district recently. "It is painful and shocking that along Mohanraj, his younger brother, mother and aunt were brutally hacked to death. My condolences to the Mohanraj family...," read a rough translation of Annamalai's message in Tamil on X. Slamming the DMK government, the state BJP chief asked, "How many more civilians will have to die so that the liquor dealers of the DMK government can make money by opening liquor shops in every street and encouraging the sale of unregulated liquor?" Annamalai also hit out at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin for projecting himself as the "number one CM" at a time when murders are taking place in the state every day. "When murders are happening in Tamil Nadu every day, law and order is in disarray, isn't the Chief Minister ashamed to advertise himself as the number one Chief Minister...," he further wrote. Urging that the accused should be arrested soon, the state BJP Chief said,"The police, whose hands are tied should be freed from the clutches of the ruling party and allowed to do their work and ensure the safety of the public." (ANI) Releasing the inaugural episode of his newly launched podcast 'Speaking for India', Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday weighed in on what he claimed was the "destruction of the country under the BJP". Launching a scathing attack on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, the DMK chief said it hasdestroyed the sense of unity among Indians. "We are living in times where each and every one of us has to speak up for India. The Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to damage the basic structure of India and destroy the sense of unity that Indians have cherished and protected for so long," CM Stalin said in the inaugural podcast episode. Accusing the BJP of failing to fulfill the promises it made to the people ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK chief added, "The Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in 2014, has failed to fulfill its pre-election promises, especially with regards to the people's welfare schemes." "There were many other yarns that were spun that just remained tall tales," he added. Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CM Stalin said the former lied to the people about the "Gujarat model" and would leave the country's highest office with "no significant model to call his own". "The Narendra Modi model, which came to power lying about the Gujarat Model, is now going to end with no significant model to call his own. It has become a rudderless model, and there are no tall claims about the once-famous Gujarat model either, especially after we listed the achievements of the Dravidian Model in Tamil Nadu with statistical proof," he said in his podcast. "This failure being on one hand, on the other it is disheartening to see how Indias strong public sector is being dismantled and destroyed by the Union government. It is clear that they are misusing their power to transfer the public sector to their corporate friends. The welfare of the entire country has been reduced to the welfare of a few. Government-owned Air India has now been privatised," the CM claimed further. "Airports and ports all over India are going into the hands of private organisations. While Prime Minister Modis promise to double the income of farmers is far from fulfilled, the living standards of the poor and downtrodden haven't become better either. They have taken religion as their weapon to hide all their shortcomings," he added. Citing the ethnic violence in Manipur and clashes in Haryana's Nuh district, CM Stalin accused the BJP of stoking the "sectarian fire" saying, "In 2002, BJP sowed the seeds of violence and hatred in the state of Gujarat. In 2023, the sectarian fire ignited in the northeastern state of Manipur and saw the State burn. In Haryana, the fire of religious fanaticism is claiming the lives and property of innocent people. If we don't put an end to this right now, no one can save India and Indians. Whenever India's diversity, federalism, and democracy have been threatened, DMK has always been the vanguard, standing at the frontline." "During the 9-year BJP rule, there have been many harmful scams that have destroyed the States. GST has taken away the financial rights of the States. Tamil Nadu has lost its right to financial autonomy. Despite repeated requests by the states to extend the GST compensation for another two years, the Union government paid no heed to it. Tamil Nadu gives huge amounts of funds annually to the Union Government through taxes. At the same time, for every rupee paid as tax revenue to the Union Government, only 29 paise was returned to the State," the Tamil Nadu CM added. On the Opposition alliance Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) theCM said, "Social justice, Secular politics, Socialism, Equity, Social harmony, State autonomy, Federalism, Unity in diversity- An India where these facets thrive in its full glory is the real India. An unparalleled India. We have formed the INDIA Alliance to restore such an India." "It is this INDIA alliance that is going to save India. If we want to prevent the whole of India from becoming Manipur and Haryana, which, unfortunately, fell victim to BJP's communal politics, and hate-inciting policies, the INDIA alliance must win. Initial rounds of consultation meetings for the streamlining of the INDIA alliance have been held in Patna, Bangalore, and Mumbai," he said. The inaugural podcast episode was released amid outrage over a statement by the DMK chief's son and minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, equating 'Sanatan Dharma' with "mosquitoes, Dengue, Malaria, fever, and Corona". Addressing a conference in Chennai, Udhayanidhi said, "Few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose Dengue, Mosquitoes, Malaria, or Corona, we have to eradicate this that's how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated." "The word Sanatana, derived fromSanskrit, is against social justice and equality," he had claimed. The remarks drew saffron ire, with BJP national president JP Nadda on Sunday questioning if the statement of the Tamil Nadu minister was consistent with the position of the INDIA bloc vis-a-vis'Sanatan Dharma'. Addressing a public rally in Chitrakoot, Nadda said, "Udhayanidhi Stalin says that 'Sanatan Dharma' should be abolished. He says just like dengue and malaria, 'Sanatan Dharma' should be abolished. They have no hesitation in making such statements. Does Udayanidhi's statement reflect the INDIA bloc's political strategy?" (ANI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday offered prayers at Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain for good rain in the state. CM Chouhan worshipped Baba Mahakal (Lord Shiva) in the sanctum sanctorum and also chanted mantras by sitting in Nandihal of the temple. During this, the priest of the temple performed the rituals and it lasted for about two hours. Mahakal Temple Management Committee member Ram Pujari said that the Maharudra was performed with the wish of good rains in the state and about 66 priests of the temple were reciting Maha Rudra path together. After worshipping Lord Shiva, CM Chouhan told reporters, Today, I visited Mahakal Temple and worshipped from the heart to Baba Mahakal. I prayed that due to scanty rains in the state, there has been drought in August and now a drought situation is arising in Madhya Pradesh and the crops are also in danger, may lord shower blessings on us so that it rains well in the state and crops are saved. He worshipped Baba Mahakal with the intention that everyone should be happy, healthy and may we all be blessed and there would be good rains in the state, the CM said. CM Chouhan also appealed to the public that whatever tradition is there in their respective villages and cities, they should pray for good rains in the state while following their traditions. I will leave no stone unturned to serve the farmers. Yesterday, I held a meeting to deal with the situation arising out of scanty rainfall, and gave instructions that wherever crops can be saved by releasing water from the dams, it should be released. Secondly, due to lack of rain, an electricity crisis has also arisen as during the monsoon season, so much electricity was not required, tube wells were not run, motors were not run, there used to be water in dams and electricity was also made in abundance, he said. At this time 8000-9000 MW power was required but now there is a demand of 15000 MW power. Debt has arisen in demand and supply, so in some places farmers are also getting less electricity. Yesterday, he gave instructions that wherever possible, the entire team is engaged to arrange electricity from wherever it can be found so that the shortage of electricity can be minimised, CM added. The chief minister further appealed to the people of the state not to use unnecessary electricity, not to run ACs unnecessarily, so that a little contribution can be made in this hour of crisis. (ANI) Horse Archers: The Feared Unit of Ancient and Medieval Warfare Wall Relief of Horse Archers, Neo-Assyrian 865-860 BC. ( British Museum) A horse archer is a cavalryman armed with a bow who can shoot while riding on the back of a horse. This style of warfare appears to have developed on the open plains of Eurasia as a way to hunt and protect animal herds. In war, the combination of horse and archer proved to be incredibly effective. As such, horse archers were found in Europe, Africa, and Asia, as well as in the Americas after the reintroduction of the horse. The speed and mobility of the horse, combined with the range and firepower of the archer, won innumerable victories on the battlefield. This meant that for centuries, the horse archer was the most feared and effective fighting force in the Ancient and Medieval worlds. Origins of the Horse Archer The horse archer is believed to have developed on the vast Eurasian plain as the Bronze Age was giving way to the Iron Age. The nomadic lifestyle of the peoples living in this region lent itself to the development of horse archery. Superb horsemanship was required for hunting and herding, and there was the ever-present threat of raids from neighboring communities. It was these same conditions which, more than a millennium earlier, had given rise to the chariot. However, as horses were bred to be larger and bow-making technology improved, the sheer cost of the chariot came to outweigh its utility. Horse archers were cheaper, faster, mobile, and could be fielded in greater quantity than the chariot. Around the 9th century BC, horse archers appeared in the art of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Also around this time the nomadic Scythians began to make their presence felt. Since the Eurasian steppe was resource-poor, the nomadic peoples of this region were never as numerous as their settled neighbors. Nor could they compete in terms of the quality or quantity of their arms and armor. It was the development of the horse archer that changed this equation. Armies of horse archers could move further and faster, effectively multiplying the power of these nomadic peoples. Thus, the Scythian horse archers made entire empires tremble and may have served as the inspiration for the mythical centaur. Horse Archer vs. Mounted Archer Horses and bows were, of course, not unique to the nomadic peoples of Eurasia. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between the horse archer and the mounted archer. At the most basic level, the horse archer fights as a type of cavalryman and remains mounted on their horse in battle. The mounted archer, on the other hand, rides to the battlefield on a horse and then dismounts in order to fight. In the Ancient and Medieval worlds, this was a very important distinction as it determined how a battle would be fought. Painting of Bamsi Beyrek, Turco-Mongolian c.1300 ( Cowboy Country Magazine) Despite all of the advantages that fielding horse archers conferred on an army, there were many Ancient and Medieval cultures that did make use of them. This includes, as well, those that made use of mounted archers. For some, it was a matter of geography or the environment not being suitable for raising the necessary horses. Horse archers needed wide open spaces in order to be effective, so mountainous regions and thick forests could pose problems. Some regions were just not suitable for raising horses, which made them too valuable to risk in battle. There were also those that lacked a culture of mounted combat of any kind. Both the Greeks and Romans, for example, favored infantry. As such, not every culture that could make use of horse archers chose to do so. Horse Archer Equipment The most important equipment used by both Ancient and Medieval horse archers were, of course, the horse and the bow. Over the course of the Ancient and Medieval periods, there were great advances in the development of horse tack. Saddles, horseshoes, and stirrups provided great advantages to the riders. However, all that was really required for a successful horse archer was the ability to ride with both hands free. This was a matter more of the rider's skill than any piece of technology. The same is true of the bow. Certain types and styles were more suitable for use on horseback, but this did not mean that they could not be used at all. Usually, however, the shorter composite recurve bow was preferred. These bows were short enough to conveniently be used on the back of a horse while also maintaining their range and power. Generally, horse archers went into battle with little to no armor. Their horse's speed was their primary means of defense. Occasionally, there were some heavily armored horse archers who would also engage in melee combat, but this was not the norm. Most horse archers preferred to avoid direct melee combat as much as possible. However, since that was not always avoidable, most usually had some kind of sidearm like a sword, dagger, or axe. Battle between Mongols and Georgians, Armenian 13th Century. ( Wikimedia Commons) Tactics of the Horse Archer In battle, horse archers generally fought as light skirmishers. Their goal was to exhaust and wear down their opponents. They relied on hit-and-run tactics to cause disorder and confusion by luring the enemy out of formation so that they could be surrounded and destroyed. These tactics originated from the same sort of movements that were used to hunt and herd animals on the steppe. They allowed the horse archer to make use of their greater speed and mobility while also not coming to direct blows with the enemy. Once the horse archers had sufficiently worn down, exhausted, and disordered their opponents, they would move in to deliver the finishing blow. Ancient and Medieval horse archers often fought in conjunction with more heavily armed and armored units, such as cataphracts. Once the horse archers had sufficiently worn down the enemy, it was these heavy troops that would deliver the finishing blow. Heavy horse archers, however, operated a little differently. Unlike their light counterparts, who fought in a fluid, swirling manner, the heavy horse archer fought in a well-defined formation. They shot arrows in volleys to weaken the enemy before charging in to fight in close-quarters combat. This was intended to break up the enemy formation so that the charging cavalry would have more success when they made contact. Horse Archers Across Eurasia The earliest evidence of horse archers is found on the Eurasian steppe and in the art of the Neo-Assyrians during the early Iron Age. At this time the Nomadic Scythians were raiding across the Caucuses into the Ancient Near East. Horse archers replaced chariots in many ancient armies as they were cheaper to recruit, train and maintain. While the Neo-Assyrians and Medes made use of horse archers, it was the Achaemenid Persians who were one of the great driving forces behind their spread. The Greco-Persian Wars and conquests of Alexander the Great introduced the concept to the Hellenistic world and possibly India. Contact between China and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom helped supply the necessary horses for the development of Chinese horse archery as a way to combat its own barbarian invaders. Rome and the so-called "Barbarian invaders" then ensured that horse archers spread to every corner of the Mediterranean and Europe. By the Medieval period, the horse archer was already an established feature across the Eurasian continent. However, the concept continued to spread, reaching the shores of Japan and the jungles of Vietnam. It was also during the Medieval period that some of the greatest horse archers ever seen made their appearance. Few armies were able to compete with the Turkish and Mongol horse archers who swept across Asia, Europe, and Africa. It was the horse archers that, during this period, built some of the largest land empires that the world had ever seen. Horse Archer Battles Possibly the greatest horse archer battle of Antiquity was the 53 BC battle of Carrhae which was fought by the Romans under Crassus and the Parthians under Surena. Crassus' 40,000 Romans marched into battle and were lured into the flat desert terrain by Surena's 10,000 Parthians. Continuous attacks by the Parthian horse archers gradually wore down the Romans. The Romans attempted to deal with the horse archers but were overwhelmed by the supporting Parthian cataphracts. When the battle eventually came to an end, some 20,000 Romans, including Crassus, had been killed, and another 10,000 were taken prisoner. Parthian losses were minimal. During the Medieval period, there are far more examples of horse archer battles to draw from, but the 1071 CE battle of Manzikert is an excellent example. Here 40,000 soldiers under the Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV faced off against Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan's army of 30-50,000. As the Byzantine army advanced, the Seljuks fell back while the Seljuk horse archers maintained a steady rain of arrows. Individual Byzantine units attempted to come to grips with the horse archers who simply galloped away. With night approaching and his army spread out, Romanos ordered a withdrawal to reorganize his forces. It was at that moment that the Seljuks charged. Most of the Byzantine troops immediately fled, though others fought back heroically. Ultimately, however, the Byzantines were defeated, and Romanos himself was captured. Highwater of the Horse Archer The absolute high-water mark of the horse archer's domination of the battlefield came in the 12th and 13th Centuries CE. It was at this time that the Mongols, under the leadership of Chinggis Khan and his immediate successors, created the greatest land empire the world has ever seen. Mongol horse archers won victories in battles that stretched from Japan to Central Europe, literally fighting their way across the Eurasian continent. The dominance of the Mongol horse archers was not the result of any new tactic or revolutionary technology. They fought in a manner and with weapons that would not have been unfamiliar to the Seljuk and Parthians. Rather, it was their organizational prowess, discipline, and the skill of their leaders that made the Mongol horse archers so formidable. It was this that also proved to be their undoing. Rarely were the Mongol horse archers defeated on the battlefield, and when they were, it was usually by an enemy that fielded horse archers of their own. What brought about their downfall was civil war as various Mongol warlords fought each other. This did not mean that their horse archers were any easier to defeat, just that they now focused as much effort on fighting each other as they did on external enemies. It was not the first time that this had happened either. The best horse archers were usually drawn from nomadic tribes, whose constant infighting made it difficult for them to keep an army together for an extended period of time. Legacy of the Horse Archer Horse archers were always weak against massed archers who could outshoot them and who were smaller targets. However, it was the eventual development and maturity of firearms that rendered the horse archer obsolete. Still, it was a long process, with horse archers continuing to win battles well into the 19th century. Repeating firearms, railroads, and mechanized transportation ultimately brought an end to the dominance of the horse archer, even on the steppes and plains. As a result, the skills and traditions of the horse archer began to disappear until a modern revival in many parts of the world over the course of the 20th century. Today various schools of horse archery can be found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. For millennia the horse archer was able to dominate the battlefields of the Ancient and Medieval world. Though often challenged, they were rarely defeated. While they could not capture large, fortified cities, they did greatly contribute to the creation of some of the greatest empires that the world has ever seen. Their speed, mobility, and skill with the bow inspired innumerable great works of art and literature. As a result, many cultures have adopted the horse archer as an important aspect of their cultural heritage and identity. The practice of horse archery is now thriving across the globe, with many schools and styles representing its long history. If you have the opportunity to see a horse archery demonstration, take it, and in some small way, you will be able to experience a tradition that stretches back thousands of years. Robert Holmes has an MA in Ancient & Medieval History and a BA in Archaeology. He is an independent historian and author, who specializes in the Military History of the Ancient and Medieval World and has published over a dozen articles on related topics. Originally from Massachusetts, he now lives in Florida where he works doing public history leading tours, giving lectures, and educating people about the local history. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi to discuss the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Assam. "The Government of Assam will take further steps based on the suggestions of the Home Minister," Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Taking to X (Former Twitter) Assam CM said, "I met Union Home Minister @AmitShah ji at his residence today to discuss the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Assam. The Government of Assam will take further steps based on the suggestions of Home Minister." Earlier on September 2 night in Tinsukia, the Assam Chief Minister told media that the state government is working on complete withdrawal of the AFSPA from the state. "We will have to take the decision on September 30 whether AFSPA will be withdrawn or not. It is a view of the state government and the Union government will take the final view. I will discuss it with the Union government about it this month and by September 30 a concrete decision will be taken," the Assam Chief Minister said. Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 is an act of the Parliament of India that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in "disturbed areas". According to the Disturbed Areas Act, 1976 once declared 'disturbed', the area has to maintain the status quo for a minimum of three months. (ANI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah here in the national capital and pleaded for the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the state. In the course of the meeting that lasted for 30 minutes, Chief Minister Sarma and Union Home Minister Shah discussed threadbare the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of AFSPA from Assam, as per an Assam government release. The Chief Minister cited the significant improvement in the law and order situation, the surrendering of scores of underground cadres of extremist outfits with huge caches of arms and ammunition following the signing of several peace accords and the drastic fall in deaths of security personnel and civilians as reasons for the complete lifting of AFSPA from Assam. The Union Home Minister put forth some suggestions to the Chief Minister to pave the way for the complete withdrawal of AFSPA from Assam, the release said, without getting into specifics. Sarma assured Home Minister Shah that the state government would take further steps based on those suggestions. Later taking to X (formerly Twitter), Chief Minister Sarma said, "I met Honble Union Home Minister @AmitShah ji at his residence today to discuss the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Assam. The Government of Assam will take further steps based on the suggestions of Honble Home Minister." It may be noted that the Disturbed Area notification has been in force since 1990 in the whole of Assam. On April 1, 2022, the AFSPA was removed from the entire State of Assam except for nine districts, including one subdivision of another district. From April 1, the districts under the AFSPA in Assam were further reduced to eight as the Act was withdrawn from the Lakhipur subdivision of Cachar district. The law empowers the Armed Forces and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed in Disturbed Areas to arrest a person without a warrant and enter or search premises without a warrant along with some other actions. The release, quoting Ministry of Home Affairs data, compared to the year 2014, there is a reduction of 76 per cent in the extremist incidents in the North East region in 2022. Similarly, the deaths of security personnel and civilians have come down by 90 per cent and 97 per cent respectively during this period. Chief Minister Sarma, in his Independence Day address in Guwahati, said his government's aim is to completely withdraw AFSPA from the state by the end of 2023. "AFSPA is in place in eight districts of Assam now after our government came to power. Our government's aim is to completely withdraw AFSPA from the state by the end of this year. Before our government came to power, previous governments had requested the Centre to extend AFSPA 62 times. Now the situation has been improving, he had said. Sarma also said that during his tenure, four peace accords were signed with the insurgent groups and nearly 8,000 militants have been integrated with the mainstream politics. (ANI) Amid tension in Maharashtra's Jalna after a lathi charge on protestors over the Maratha reservation, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday apologized on behalf of the Government. "Lathicharge by police was not right... I am apologising on behalf of the Government. CM has said that the action will be taken against those who are responsible for it," Fadnavis said at a Maratha reservation meeting chaired by CM. A meeting was called with Maratha agitation leader Manoj Jarange Patil for discussion on the matter, the Deputy Chief Minister's office informed. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, We held a high-level meeting on the Maratha reservation. I have already spoken to protesters and we will resolve this issue systematically. "Today, we held a high-level meeting on the Maratha reservation. I have already spoken to protesters and we will resolve this issue systematically. Our government is serious about resolving the issues related to the Maratha reservation," Shinde said. The meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet sub-committee on Maratha Reservation took place at 12 pm, the Chief Minister's Office informed. The CM and both the Deputy CMs were present at the meeting. He further said thatState Minister Girish Mahajan and other ministers will go (to Jalna) for discussions. "We can resolve this issue only through discussions. The state government is working seriously on their (Maratha community) demands," he added. Moreover, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar further said that what happened in Jalna for the Maratha Reservation protest is unfortunate. "Under Chair of CM Sub Committee meeting happened for Maratha Reservation. I appeal not to take law and order in hand ... protest should be stopped, do protest peacefully," Pawar said. After the meeting with CM Shinde, Deputy CM Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Maratha agitation leader Manoj Jarange Patil said, "I have had a conversation with the CM, and he has assured that he will take a positive decision." Manoj Jarange Patil has undertaken umpteen agitations seeking reservations for the Maratha community. Earlier on Friday, a clash had broken out between police and protesters in Jalna demanding reservation for the Marathas. Police resorted to lathi charges to disperse the protesters. (ANI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday took a potshot at the Congress party saying that they failed to launch Rahul Gandhi in the last 20 years. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday flagged off BJP's Parivartan Sankalp Yatra in Jaisalmer. Rajnath Singh said In a country where successful launching and landing of Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan is taking place, Congress' "Rahul Yaan" has not been launched for the last twenty years. The Defence Minister also praised the Indian scientists for the recent successful launch of Chandrayaan-3. No one had ever doubted the capabilities and talent of the Indian Army and Indian scientists. I believe India took the same leap with the success of Chandrayaan 3 on August 23, 2023 that it took in 1998 when it conducted a successful nuclear test,"Rajnath Singh said. Rajnath also targeted the Congress Party for raising questions on Indias space mission. Today India has reached the Moon and Mars and the entire country has successfully launched Aditya Dal-1. Even this time the landing of Chandrayaan took place, even then the Congress tried to raise questions in a subdued voice, but when it saw the mood of the country, it remained silent, he said. Before flagging off the Parivartan Sankalp Yatra, Rajnath offered prayers at Ramdevra Temple in Jaisalmer. Ramdevra temple is sacred to the folk deity of Rajasthan, Baba Ramdevji. The temple marks the eternal resting place of Baba Ramdevji, a saint of the 14th century who Hindus regard as the incarnation of Lord Krishna, while Muslims venerate him as Ramshah Pir. I feel happy to be present among you on the sacred land of Ramdevra, the land where an incarnate man like Baba Ramdev took samadhi. This area of Jaisalmer holds a special place in my heart because this entire area is not only a desert land, but it is also the land of heroes and Tapobhoomi as well as the atomic land of India. The land of Pokhran, located nearby, has witnessed not one but five nuclear tests, the Defence minister said. The Battle of "Longewala" was also fought on this soil during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in which India won decisively, he added. Rajasthan is scheduled to go to the polls later this year with the BJP and the incumbent Congress locked in a straight fight. In 2018 the Congress had won 99 seats while the BJP had won 73 seats in the 200-member house. The Congress led by Ashok Gehlot formed the government with the support of Independents and the BSP. (ANI) Amid the dengue outbreak in the state, Uttarakhand Health Secretary Dr R Rajesh Kumar appealed to the people of the state for blood donation. Earlier today, Dr R Rajesh Kumar made a visit to the Coronation Hospital in Dehradun. He instructed the officials to repair all the facilities in the hospital and met with dengue patients. He also reprimanded the staff for the lack of arrangements within the hospital and gave instructions to open the pathology lab of the hospital by 8 p.m. on Monday. Earlier on Tuesday, dengue cases in the state crossed 600 cases creating fear among the residents of Uttarakhand. Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Dehradun districts of the state are the most affected by dengue. In the aftermath of recent heavy monsoon floods that inundated parts of Uttarakhand, health officials are grappling with a significant surge in dengue cases. Dengue (break-bone fever) is a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people. Waterlogging in areas due to incessant rains has caused a preferable environment for Aedes mosquitoes to breed. These mosquitoes are responsible for transmitting Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika viruses. (ANI) Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) President and Lok Sabha MP Chirag Paswan on Monday said that the decision to oppose Sanatan Dharma has been taken after the third meeting of INDIA bloc in Mumbai. Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's statement that 'Sanatana Dharma should be eradicated' came a day after the third meeting of INDIA bloc in Mumbai. Speaking to ANI Chirag Paswan said, Was there a consensus in theINDIA Alliance meeting held in Mumbai that Sanatan Dharma has to be opposed? Was there a consensus in the meeting that we will go out and oppose Sanatan Dharma? Because this divisive thinking once again promotes hatred in society." "The INDIA Alliance (so-called Ghanmandiya Gathbandhan) people can take advantage of it to oppose Sanatan Dharma. If this kind of thinking is born in INDIA Alliance Mumbai meeting then it is very dangerous," Paswan told ANI. Lok Sabha MP from Jamui Bihar Charag Paswan said, If the opposition parties promote this kind of thinking then this is politics of appeasement and plays with a large section of faith so again I want to say that if opposing Sanatan Dharma discussion has taken place in its meeting in Mumbai then definitely this is very serious matter and the way it is getting support, the Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge also supports it so it seems that it has been discussed somewhere in the meeting itself. Chirag Paswan told ANI, I want INDIA bloc people to clear their stand on Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's 'Sanatana Dharma should be eradicated' remark." I want to ask the leader of Rashtriya Janata Dal whether he agrees and clear his stand Tell us what is the stand of our Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and President of Janata Dal (U). If he agrees, then tell that too... I think the opposition is insulting the faith of a billion people in this Country. Addressing a writers' conference in Chennai, Udhayanidhi Stalin said the idea of "Sanatana Dharma is against the idea of social justice and must be eradicated." He also drew a parallel between Sanatana Dharma and diseases such as dengue and malaria. As the remarks went viral, BJP leaders slammed Udhayanidhi Stalin and questioned if all members of the INDIA bloc agreed with the DMK leader's remarks. (ANI) In a step towards bolstering India's digital prowess, the Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan, inaugurated a transformative three-year partnership titled "Education to Entrepreneurship: Empowering a generation of students, educators, and entrepreneurs" between the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, and Meta. This occasion witnessed the exchange of three Letters of Intent (LoI) between Meta and key educational bodies - the National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), read the Ministry of Education press release. The event was graced by the presence of the Minister of State for Education, Annpurna Devi, and Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, addressing the audience, highlighted the strategic significance of this partnership, aligning it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to transform India into the world's skill capital, read the release. The "Education to Entrepreneurship" collaboration is heralded as a game-changer that will bring Digital Skilling to the grassroots. It aims to enhance the capabilities of India's talent pool and seamlessly connect students, youth, the workforce, and micro-entrepreneurs with cutting-edge technologies, read the release. The ultimate goal is to nurture the younger generation as problem solvers and entrepreneurs of the digital age. He emphasized the pivotal role of technology in bridging the gaps within India's democracy, demography, and diversity. The partnership aligns perfectly with the National Education Policy (NEP) and has the potential to equip India's population with essential digital skills, empowering micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses, read the press release. Rajeev Chandrasekhar stressed the government's commitment to preparing the youth and the workforce for an evolving technological and global economic landscape, read the release. Digital skills, in this context, serve as a bridge connecting small rural, micro, and self-employed entrepreneurs, enabling them to expand and succeed. In a video message, Nick Clegg, Meta's President of Global Affairs, expressed gratitude to Dharmendra Pradhan for fostering this crucial partnership between the education and skilling sectors. He acknowledged India's talent pool and rapid digital adoption as the driving forces behind this initiative. He looked forward to Meta's role in empowering India's students, youth, and entrepreneurs, especially focusing on skill development for Indian startups and businesses. As part of the partnership with NIESBUD, Meta will provide digital marketing skills training to 5 lakh entrepreneurs over the next three years, read the release. This training will be delivered via Meta platforms in seven regional languages, catering to both budding and existing entrepreneurs. This initiative holds immense promise for the country's youth, aiming to equip them with the digital skills needed for the future. The collaboration between the Ministry of Education and Meta is poised to be a catalyst for India's digital transformation journey. (ANI) Sennacherib's Prisms Reveal the Glorious Reign of an Assyrian King The Taylor Prism was discovered in 1830 at Nineveh and is currently housed at the British Museum in London. Imagine if all of the world's ancient cultures and civilizations had had well-developed writing systems. Then envision the marvels we would know about today, the hidden secrets and remarkable tales of glory. Luckily, some of the most advanced civilizations in the ancient world did develop their unique writing systems, and once they were deciphered, a world of wonders was brought to light. The Mesopotamian civilizations created cuneiform, a writing system composed of wedge-shaped impressions and signs. They were used to inscribe Sennacherib's Prisms, the detailed annals of Assyrian King Sennacherib. They are some of the most important cuneiform writings ever discovered. Here's what we know about them. Sennacherib's Prisms and the Deeds of the King Sennacherib's Annals are a series of inscriptions and texts documenting the military campaigns and accomplishments of Sennacherib, the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, who reigned from 705 BC to 681 BC. As such Sennacherib's Annals, which were recorded onto what have come to be known as Sennacherib's Prisms, provide valuable historical insights into the politics, military strategies and conquests of the Assyrian Empire during this period. The Annals are primarily known from several clay prisms and tablets that were discovered in the ruins of ancient Nineveh, located near modern-day Mosul, Iraq, in the mid-19th century. These inscriptions were written in Akkadian cuneiform script and describe Sennacherib's campaigns, including his military endeavors against various neighboring kingdoms and cities. One of the most famous events documented in Sennacherib's Annals is his campaign against the kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, which is also mentioned in the biblical Book of Kings and the Book of Isaiah . According to the stories documented on Sennacherib's Prisms, Sennacherib's forces besieged Jerusalem, but the city was miraculously spared. The Assyrian king claims to have received tribute from King Hezekiah of Judah, although the extent of the Assyrian victory is disputed and interpreted differently in historical and biblical sources. These ancient texts provide a wealth of information about the military and administrative structure of the Neo-Assyrian Empire , including details about the organization of the army, the names of conquered cities, and the various regions that fell under Assyrian control. A Reign Etched in Stone: The Stories on Sennacherib's Prisms Sennacherib's Prisms are among the most well-known and valuable sources for understanding the reign of Sennacherib and the history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Almost all that we know about Sennacherib's reign comes from his own inscriptions, which were inscribed on clay prisms. These inscriptions provide valuable insights into the political, military, and administrative aspects of his rule. One Sennacherib's Prisms, known as the Taylor Prism, is on display at the British Museum in London. ( British Museum) Sennacherib ascended to the Assyrian throne after the death of his father, King Sargon II . His reign marked a period of consolidation and expansion of the empire's power. His campaigns targeted various regions, including Babylonia, Elam, the Levant and Anatolia, though Sennacherib is perhaps best known for his campaign against Babylon, which had rebelled against Assyrian rule. Sennacherib successfully captured the city and is said to have extensively damaged it in the process. In his time, Sennacherib was one of the most powerful rulers of the region. His lengthy list of titles and epithets serves as a stark reminder: Sennacherib, the great king, the mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters, the wise shepherd, favorite of the great gods, guardian of right, lover of justice, who lends support, who comes to the aid of the destitute, who performs pious acts, perfect hero, mighty man, first among all princes, the powerful one who consumes the insubmissive, who strikes the wicked with the thunderbolt; the god Assur, the great mountain, an unrivaled kinship has entrusted to me, and above all those who dwell in palaces, has made powerful my weapons; from the upper sea of the setting sun to the lower sea of the rising sun, he has brought the black-headed people in submission at my feet; and mighty kings feared my warfare, leaving their homes and flying alone, like the sidinnu, the bird of the cave, to some inaccessible place... One of the most notable events of Sennacherib's reign was his campaign against the kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. The biblical Book of Kings and the Annals of Sennacherib provide differing accounts of this campaign. According to the texts recorded on Sennacherib's Prisms, Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem but ultimately received tribute from King Hezekiah of Judah. The biblical account, on the other hand, emphasizes a miraculous intervention that saved Jerusalem from destruction. Sennacherib was also known for his impressive building projects. He expanded the city of Nineveh and constructed a grand palace known as the "Palace Without Rival." The palace featured intricate reliefs depicting scenes from Sennacherib's military campaigns and other aspects of his rule. The Stone Speaks: Sennacherib's Prisms as Memory of Bygone Era Alas, like many other powerful rulers, Sennacherib was assassinated in 681 BC, possibly by his own sons. His reign was followed by a period of political instability and power struggles within the Assyrian royal family. Nevertheless, his reign left a lasting impact on the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Sennacherib's military campaigns extended the empire's reach and brought wealth and resources, but his brutal tactics and policies also led to resentment and rebellion. His building projects contributed to the architectural and cultural legacy of Assyria. Thanks to the prisms he left behind, we were able to learn about all of this in stunning detail. Most notably, Sennacherib's Prisms are inscribed with the texts detailing Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem, which occurred during the reign of Hezekiah, the 13th King of Judah. Following is an excerpt from the prism: As for the king of Judah, Hezekiah, who had not submitted to my authority, I besieged and captured forty-six of his fortified cities, along with many smaller towns, taken in battle with my battering rams. ... I took as plunder 200,150 people, both small and great, male and female, along with a great number of animals including horses, mules, donkeys, camels, oxen, and sheep. As for Hezekiah, I shut him up like a caged bird in his royal city of Jerusalem. I then constructed a series of fortresses around him, and I did not allow anyone to come out of the city gates. His towns which I captured I gave to Mitinti, king of Ashdod; Padi, ruler of Ekron; and Silli-bel, king of Gaza. That the annals contained on Sennacherib's Prisms are at least partially historical, is confirmed by the Hebrew Bible, in which several passages allude to Sennacherib's siege and conquests. In the passage 2 Kings 18-19, it is recounted how a successful Assyrian attack on Samaria occurred around this time. This attack resulted in the entire population being deported, as was the case with other conquered cities and regions. Next, the Assyrians attacked Lachich, whose plunder was only ended when King Hezekiah pleaded for peace. As a result, Hezekiah had to pay a tribute of 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. For the time, this was an enormous sum, and meant that Hezekiah had to give up all the silver in his personal palace, and even the Temple in Jerusalem, as well as the gold from the doors and doorposts of the temple. Sennacherib's Deeds Committed to Eternity Furthermore, Sennacherib's Prisms tell us that the Assyrian army conquered exactly 46 walled cities, and countless small settlements to boot. Sennacherib boasts in his annals that he captured and deported 200,150 people, both young and old, male and female, as well as numerous goods and livestock. All the cities and territories he conquered were given to the three kings of the Philistines. Needless to say, Sennacherib decisively crushed King Hezekiah and Judah. So much so, that the latter had to give to Sennacherib his own daughter, and even his personal jewelry and household items. He ended up as a meager, tributary ruler, eternally shadowed by his defeat. Due to the magnitude of Sennacherib's victories, we can safely conclude that he ordered the prisms built as a way to boast to his own people and to his enemies too. The prisms could have served as small monuments of sorts. There are three of them that survived in their complete form, and eight others that are fragmented. All of them bear the identical texts and have been remembered as the Annals of Sennacherib . The dates on them, however, indicate that they were manufactured roughly sixteen months apart. The so-called Taylor Prism, one of the earliest cuneiform artifacts analyzed in modern Assyriology, having been found a few years before the modern deciphering of cuneiform, was discovered in 1830 at Nineveh. It is currently housed in the British Museum in London. The so-called Sennacherib Prism, purchased in 1919 from an antiques dealer from Baghdad, is housed in the Oriental Institute in Chicago. The third intact prism is housed in the Jerusalem Museum in Israel. Though we possess three impressive copies of the final edition of Sennacherib's annals (the Taylor, Jerusalem, and Oriental Institute Prisms), none was found in scientifically conducted excavations and the precise circumstances of their discoveries remain unknown. Fortunately, there are internal clues that help us determine their place of origin. Sennacherib's prisms generally fall into two types- octagonal and hexagonal. There appears to be a connection between their shape and place of origin. At the end of the octagonal inscriptions in the building accounts, there is a description of the construction of the "Palace without Rival." But, in the hexagonal prisms, the inscriptions end with the building of the Nebi Yunis arsenal. Because these three prisms are hexagonal, we may assume that they had been originally deposited in the arsenal's foundations. The Taylor Prism came into the possession of Colonel John Taylor, a British diplomat and antiquarian, at Mosul in 1830. It was acquired by the British Museum from his widow in 1855. The Oriental Institute Prism was acquired by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in 1920 and quickly supplanted the Taylor Prism as the standard version of the Annals of Sennacherib. The Jerusalem Prism was acquired by the Israel Museum at a Sotheby's auction in 1970. The Stones Older Than Memory Sennacherib's reign is a significant period in the history of the ancient Near East, marked by both military prowess and architectural achievements. His legacy continues to be studied by historians and archaeologists to better understand the dynamics of the Assyrian Empire and its interactions with neighboring kingdoms. The best source for this reign lies in the Sennacherib's Prisms . The Annals and the associated inscriptions continue to be important primary sources for historians and archaeologists, contributing to our understanding of the ancient Near East and the rise and fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Uttar Pradesh Government's sympathies lie with the poor, destitute, deprived, Dalits and extremely backward classes and not with the mafia and criminals "as seen during previous governments", said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday. Distributing appointment letters to 240 candidates for the posts of Junior Assistant and Computer Operator in the Minority and Technical Education Department at a ceremony held at at Lok Bhavan Auditorium in Lucknow, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath described criminals and mafia as the barriers to security, good governance and development of the society, and said that cracking down on them as well as building a corruption-free, safe and fair society where the underprivileged have access to governments schemes are the priorities of his government. The Chief Minister also conveyed his best wishes to the 240 candidates who have been selected through Manav Sampada Portal under Mission Rozgar and emphasized his commitment to providing employment opportunities to the of Uttar Pradesh through a transparent and impartial process of 'Mission Rozgar'. In the past six years, UP has achieved new heights in line with the vision of PM Modi. Notably, the appointment of judges was completed in just six months. Candidates hailing from 60 different districts have been selected, ensuring that opportunities are accessible to individuals across the entire state. The government is maintaining absolute transparency in the entire process of recruitment. No minister, secretary knows where a person will be posted after selection, Yogi remarked. CM Yogi said that computer assistants have also played big role in transformation of Uttar Pradesh. He added: Perceptions of people have changed about Uttar Pradesh. Files are no longer kept pending. Today the state has achieved the goals of security and ease of living and ease of doing business. We have brought the Centre's projects on the ground. Files are finalized within three days these days. He also encouraged employees to seek guidance from their superiors, avoiding backlog, as it can breed corruption. Today, when corruption has been curbed, talented people like you have found a place. Otherwise it was a dream before 2017, he quipped. CM Yogi mentioned the marked reduction in bureaucratic red tape that delayed development projects in the past in Uttar Pradesh. He also talked about the enhanced security, improved quality of life, and a business-friendly environment in the state. The government has diligently implemented various projects initiated by the central government, ensuring efficient execution, Yogi asserted. CM Yogi alleged that earlier, high officials used to get busy in pursuing one appointment. Such people were appointed who did not know anything about computers, if they did not know accountancy then how would the file grow. Earlier senior officials often got involved in appointments, as a result, individuals who lacked computer skills and had limited knowledge of accountancy were appointed, posing challenges to the proper handling and progression of files, he said. Regarding the functioning of the government, CM Yogi said that the government has a vision where inclusivity and collective development are paramount. He encouraged everyone to align with this vision, highlighting that individuals like those present had successfully passed the Common Eligibility Test, a remarkable feat considering that 37 lakh people appeared for the examination. This achievement deserves celebration. None of you can say that I have been selected on the basis of any favor. Everyone including retired army servicemen, minorities, backward and destitute have got benefits. CM Yogi said that earlier one used to visit 54 tables for the clearance of one file, which is cleared on single table today. At airport, you must have seen trolleys to move the luggage. Similarly, focus on ease of doing business is necessary and technology has made this work easy. The government is providing a monthly pension of Rs 1000 to one crore elderly people, with a single click without any human intervention. CM Yogi said that the government is distributing tablets and smartphones to 2 crore youth. There are an array of schemes such as PM Startup, PM Stand Up Yojana, Digital Yojana, Mission Shakti and PM SVANidhi Yojana to benefit different sections of people. If the workers and people are aware, they can easily avail the benefits of the schemes. CM Yogi said that the government has also done away with middlemen, providing six lakh jobs in the state without their involvement. CM Yogi highlighted the remarkable transformation Uttar Pradesh has undergone in the last three years. While many regions experienced negative growth, the state has emerged as a hub of positive development, with every citizen contributing to this progress, he said. He further highlighted the importance of maintaining a positive and respectful demeanour. This will carry a message that there has been a change in the state. Miss Akanksha Rani from Moradabad said that getting selected for the Minority Department and receiving an appointment letter from CM Yogi is the biggest achievement of her life. While extending gratitude to Chief Minister, Vivek Kumar Tiwari from Prayagraj said that he is feeling very proud about the selection being done in a completely transparent and fair process. Deepali Srivastava, appointed as a computer operator in the Technical Education Department, termed it a proud moment and as a symbol of women and youth empowerment. Ex-Army Serviceman Dharmendra Singh from Bareilly said, I express my heartfelt gratitude to CM Yogi for my selection as Junior Assistant in Technical Education. I assure to discharge my duty and work honestly. (ANI) The newly constituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) will hold its first meeting in poll-bound Telangana's Hyderabad on September 16, under the leadership of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. It will be attended by all the CWC members, permanent and special invitees. Disclosing this here today, the Congress general secretary in charge of Organization KC Venugopal and the general secretary in charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh said, the CWC meeting will be followed by an extended CWC meeting on September 17 which will also be attended by the PCC presidents, office bearers of the Congress Parliamentary Party and the Congress Legislative Party leaders. The meeting will be followed by a massive public rally in the evening around Hyderabad on the same day. The rally has been organized to coincide with the liberation day of Hyderabad, on September 17. In the rally, the Congress will also announce five guarantees to the people of the state. After the rally on the same evening, the Congress president will flag off the cavalcades of CWC members, PCC presidents, CLP leaders and others to 119 assembly constituencies of Telangana. All of them will stay overnight in their respective allotted assembly constituencies. On September 18, the Congress leaders will hold meetings in their allotted segments and go door to door distributing five guarantees to the people and a charge-sheet against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. However, the MPs have been exempted from the September 18 programme because of the special parliament session. To commemorate the first anniversary of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress has planned 722 Bharat Jodo Yatras across the country on September 7. These yatras will be led by the CWC members, the PCC presidents, CLP leaders and other senior leaders, to the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar followed by Bharat Jodo meetings. Venugopal said the Bharat Jodo Yatra had electrified the political atmosphere in the country. He said its immediate impact was felt in Karnataka, as it (the Yatra) was one of the reasons for the partys landslide victory there. The Bharat Jodo Yatra covered 580 kms in Karnataka. About the special Lok Sabha session, Venugopal said, the partys Parliamentary Strategy Group meeting will be held at 10-Janpath tomorrow. He said the Congress president Kharge has also convened a meeting of like-minded political parties tomorrow evening to formulate a strategy for the session. He said the Congress party was prepared for anything as anything can be expected from the BJP. On the One Nation, One Election issue, the Congress general secretary reiterated the stand of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former president Rahul Gandhi who have said that it was an attack on the federal structure of the country. Jairam Ramesh also added that One Nation, One Election will not be possible without an amendment to the Constitution. He said, so far only a committee has been constituted which has been given terms of reference to reach a predetermined conclusion. (ANI) The Maharashtra government on Monday tendered an apology for the lathicharge during a protest over Maratha reservation in Jalna and appealed for peace. But Opposition leaders condemned Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led state government and demanded his resignation. "Lathicharge by police was not right... I am apologising on behalf of the Government. CM has said that the action will be taken against those who are responsible for it," said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. A meeting was called with Maratha agitation leader Manoj Jarange Patil for discussion on the matter, the Deputy Chief Minister's office informed. Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde said, "We held a high-level meeting on the Maratha reservation. I have already spoken to protesters and we will resolve this issue systematically." "Today, we held a high-level meeting on the Maratha reservation. I have already spoken to protesters and we will resolve this issue systematically. Our government is serious about resolving the issues related to the Maratha reservation," Shinde said. The meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet sub-committee on Maratha Reservation took place at 12 pm. The CM and both the Deputy CMs were present at the meeting. He further said that State Minister Girish Mahajan and other ministers will go (to Jalna) for discussions. "We can resolve this issue only through discussions. The state government is working seriously on their (Maratha community) demands," he added. Moreover, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar further said that what happened in Jalna for the Maratha Reservation protest is unfortunate. "Under Chair of CM Sub-Committee meeting happened for Maratha Reservation. I appeal not to take law and order in hand ... protest should be stopped, do protest peacefully," Pawar said. After the meeting with CM Shinde, Deputy CM Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Maratha agitation leader Manoj Jarange Patil said, "I have had a conversation with the CM, and he has assured that he will take a positive decision." Manoj Jarange Patil has undertaken umpteen agitations seeking reservations for the Maratha community. Amid tension in Maharashtra's Jalna because of the lathi charge on protestors over the Maratha reservation, several Opposition leaders launched an attack on the Maharashtra government and demanded resignation from State government. Moreover, condemning the lathi-charge in Jalna where protesters were demanding reservation for the Maratha community, BJP leader Pankaja Gopinath Munde said that the protesters should be "heard". Munde also demanded a "fair investigation" in the matter. "I condemn this incident. Protestors who were lathi-charged must be heard. Just like any MP or MLA is heard and is given due importance, if any citizen or protester says that he has not done anything wrong it should be given importance and a fair investigation should take place," Munde said while speaking to reporters here. "My sympathy lies with those protesters who were attacked and were injured in the lathcharge. Some children and elderly were attacked as well...," the BJP leader added. Aditya Thackeray slammed the state government and asked it to resign. Talking to the reporters here, Aditya Thackeray said that it is not possible that the police will lathi-charge without informing the Chief Minister. "We all have seen what happened in Jalna...The lathicharge was very brutal as if you are attacking your enemy...The protest was related to a sensitive issue...It is not possible that the police will lathi charge without informing the Chief Minister...The state government should resign if they have a little bit of shame...," the leader said. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray took a dig at the Maharashtra government over the police lathi-charge on protesters in Jalna who were demanding reservation for the Marathas and called the government "shameless". "I had gone to Jalna to meet protesters...This state government is 'shameless'...They have brutally beaten everyone including women...Now they are not taking responsibility and playing the blame game. This government is sending the message that if anyone protests for justice we will break their head," Uddhav said. Moreover, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, Sanjay Raut said that without senior's order this lathi-charge couldn't take place. Maharashtra has General Dyer Raj'. Without senior's order, this lathi-charge couldn't take place. Maharashtra has General Dyer Raj. What has the ED done in Ajit Pawar's case? Give them Padma Bhushan or Padma Shri award and many awards who have washed in the washing machine. Earlier, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray left for Jalna to meet the protestors protesting for the Maratha reservation. The Rasta Roko movement also got started in multiple locations and Raj Thackeray has been stopping and meeting the people. Meanwhile, the Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar speaking on the lathi charge on protestors over the Maratha reservation said the government has played games with the Maratha community and if their intentions were clear, the reservation would have been given to the Maratha community by making a law in the Parliament. He also asked that when 18 ministers in this government were in the previous government as well, then why didn't they do anything; why didn't these ministers put the condition of giving reservation to the Maratha community before joining the new (BJP) government. Before the meeting, Manoj Jarange Patil, who is protesting for Maratha reservation said that "The government has called us for discussions in Mumbai but we don't feel a need to visit Mumbai anymore because a government delegation led by Minister Girish Mahajan met us and had a discussion with us. Whatever we had to say, we told them." He said, We have made it clear to them (government delegation) that the government will have to announce and implement the Maratha reservation in Maharashtra within two days. We have received information that Maharashtra government ministers and top officials are going to hold a meeting on this issue throughout the day today and we hope that today some solution is found on this entire issue, said Manoj Jarange Patil. Earlier on Friday, a clash had broken out between police and protesters in Jalna demanding reservation for the Marathas. Police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the protesters. (ANI) Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, accompanied by Delhi Lieutenant Governor, VK Saxena on Monday unveiled the Life Size Vighnaharta sculpture at the Road Tri Junction in front of the Dhaula Kuan Metro Station on NH-48. Travellers to and from the IGI Airport, Gurugram, Janakpuri, Delhi Cantt and Dwarka, etc. will have a full view of the majestic sculpture. Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari appreciated the efforts to beautify this stretch that is frequented by lakhs of travellers every day and described the location of the sculpture to be appropriate for travellers to and from Delhi. He congratulated the workers, officers and all others involved in the upgradation of the stretch of road from Dhaula Kuan to IGI Airport. Undertaken as a part of the larger exercise of beautifying and aesthetically upgrading the City in the run-up to the G-20 Summit, this life-size sculpture of 117x54x32 inch dimension, has been sculpted by the noted sculptor from Odisha, Dhruba Charan Swain. This sculpture was procured after a visit of the LG to Odisha in June this year when he personally scouted for and picked sculptures that include the Vighnaharta installed at this location and the Yakshinis installed at the Ulan Batar Marg and the Yakshini Chowk and the Konark Wheel installed at Dilli Gate. (ANI) Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh on Monday confirmed that the colleges in the state will reopen on September 6 adding that the state government is committed to keeping education a priority. In a post on social media platform X, CM Biren said, Pleased to share that over the past month, school attendance for students from class 1 to 12 has surged to an impressive 90pc as we gradually get back to normalcy. The State Govt. is committed to always keep education on priority despite the hard times we have endured over the last few months. Additionally, colleges are set to reopen on September 6th. Let's continue to prioritize learning and safety for all! CM Biren earlier today said that the state government has filed an FIR against the members of the Editors Guild who are trying to create more clashes in the state of Manipur. The case has been filed against the three members - Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor said the Manipur Chief Minister. The Editors Guild is yet to respond to the FIR filed against its members. On September 2 the Editors Guild of India released a report of its 'Fact-Finding Mission on Medias Reportage of the Ethnic Violence in Manipur'. In its report which was posted on the Guild's social media handle on X, the Guild had claimed "There are clear indications that the leadership of the state became partisan during the conflict. It should have avoided taking sides in the ethnic conflict but it failed to do its duty as a democratic government." On Friday Lt. Gen PC Nair DG Assam Rifles had said Unlike in the past, Manipur is witnessing an unprecedented situation currently due to the ethnic clashes owing to the fact that both communities have a large number of weapons putting the state in the spot like never before. The violence in Manipur between the Meiteis and the tribal Kuki, who are, erupted after a rally by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3. The Central government had to deploy paramilitary forces to bring the situation under control. (ANI) The Digital India Experience Zone is being set up as a key attraction at the 18th G20 Summit in New Delhi to showcase India's success in the implementation of digital transformation. Delegates attending the summit will have the unique opportunity to experience the transformative impact of Digital Public Infrastructure firsthand, read the Ministry of Electronic and IT. The Digital India Experience Zone will showcase the successes of the Digital India mission and the building of robust digital infrastructure which have transformed the lives of crores of Indians. India's Presidency has taken the lead in achieving this remarkable consensus, emphasizing the importance of Digital Public Infrastructure for the Ease of Living. Digital Public Infrastructure, encompassing game-changers like Aadhaar, Unified Payment Interface (UPI), DigiLocker, DIKSHA, Bhashini, ONDC and eSanjeevani, among others, will be showcased in action. These initiatives have already demonstrated their profound influence on Indian society, read the press release. The Digital India Experience Zone, a pivotal attraction at the summit, is designed to offer a hands-on experience of India's strides in Digital Public Infrastructure and the successful execution of Digital Transformation initiatives on a massive scale. To achieve this, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has created two state-of-the-art zones in Hall 4 and Hall 14 at Pragati Maidan. The core objectives behind this exhibition are to demonstrate initiatives that enable Ease of Living, Ease of Doing Business, and Ease of Governance. Seven key initiatives have been meticulously selected to showcase the best practices in implementing DPIs, including Aadhaar, DigiLocker, UPI, eSanjeevani, DIKSHA, Bhashini and ONDC, read the release. These exhibits will provide immersive experiences, enabling visitors to explore DPI repositories in India and gain insights for the betterment of the global community. The exhibits are nothing short of technological marvels, with highlights like live demonstrations of Aadhaar Face Authentication Software, allowing attendees to interact with cutting-edge technology. The UPI exhibit will reveal the various global applications of UPI, and visitors can even use QR codes for seamless transactions. India's DigiLocker, a digital document storage solution, will be on display, showcasing its role in streamlining processes across various sectors, read the release. One of the most notable aspects is the eSanjeevani exhibit, where doctors from different specialities will provide online consultations, real-time health analysis, and e-prescriptions, enhancing healthcare accessibility. DIKSHA, a digital platform for educational resources, will offer an intuitive experience, enabling visitors to explore its wealth of content. At the Bhashini exhibit, real-time speech-to-speech translation in multiple Indian languages and six UN languages will be demonstrated. Visitors can even engage in conversation via the 'JugalBandi' Telegram Bot in their preferred language. The Digital India journey, since its inception in 2014, will come to life through virtual reality, showcasing significant milestones and advancements in the digital landscape. The Digital Tree exhibit will illustrate DPI's core principles and the evolution of Digital India initiatives. The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) will reveal how it collaborates with sellers, customers, and network providers on a grand scale. Additionally, the G.I.T.A. application kiosk will provide answers to life-related questions in alignment with the holy book Shrimad Bhagwad Gita. The Digital India Experience Zone utilizes cutting-edge technologies such as interactive displays and virtual reality to engage visitors of all ages with age-appropriate content, promising a transformative experience at the G20 Summit. (ANI) Procurement of goods and services from government portal GeM will cross Rs 3 lakh crore this financial year ending on March 31, 2024, said Chief Executive Officer of Government e-Marketplace (GeM) PK Singh in a media briefing. Singh said that on August 23, GeM crossed the Gross Market Value (GMV) one lakh crore mark and if we compare it with the last corresponding period of last year It was 61,000 Crore on 31st August 2022. Since its inception, GeM has processed 1.67 crore plus orders worth more than Rs 5 lakh crore. Singh said that more and more states are showing interest in procurement through GeM. States like Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra, MP, Assam, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu are too performers on GeM. CEO said that the GeM office is based in Delhi but now the Board has approved the setting up of offices in major states for increasing regional footprint and tapping the States procurement. For major states, GeM, with support from local administration, is doing district-level buyer-seller workshops for penetration into the remotest layer of stakeholders, he said. Public sector Banks like SBI and Canara Bank are giving procurement orders through the GeM platform. The order of 6750 ATMs worth Rs 557 crore by SBI is at the placement stage. SBI has also published a bid of 13500 ATMs worth Rs 7,039 crore and a 7500 Cash Recycler Machine worth Rs 1,300 crore is at the Financial stage. Canara Banks Core Banking Solution order of worth Rs 1,749 crore is at the placement stage. Information Technology and Electronics Department, Uttar Pradesh, has floated a bid worth INR 2,493 crore for 25 lakh smartphones for distribution among the state's youth. Singh said that GeM is also adopting augmented reality. GeM has partnered with a third party to create QR codes for 300 products for the pilot phase. Buyers will be able to scan QR codes on the GeM website and view 3D models of objects in AR through their mobile devices. The first set of 50 categories is to be demonstrated by 15th September. Augmented reality will allow users to scale, zoom, pan, and place objects in their camera view. GeM will Implement a comparison feature that enables users to compare two objects in AR. GeM is also in various stages of building 19 AI and ML-enabled use cases for guiding the buyers decision and enabling data- and insights-driven procurement. TCS has been awarded the contract for re-platforming and maintaining the operations of the GeM portal. The current contract is due to expire on December 14, 2023. (ANI) The first meeting of the Coordination Committee of the INDIA alliance will be held on September 13. The meeting will be held at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar's residence here in the national capital, sources said. Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc's Campaign Committee will hold its first meeting at 5:00 pm on Tuesday here at the Milap Building. Earlier last week, the INDIA Bloc added two more members to its already 19-member Campaign Committee taking the total to 21. The new entrants were Tiruchi Siva of DMK and Mehboob Beg of PDP. Gurdeep Singh Sappal, INC, Sanjay Jha, JD(U), Anil Desai, SS, Sanjay Yadav, RJD, PC Chako, NCP, Champai Soren, JMM, Kiranmoy Nanda, SP, Sanjay Singh, AAP, Arun Kumar, CPI(M), Binoy Vishwam, CPI, Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi, NC, Shahid Siddiqui, RLD, NK Premachandran, RSP, G Devarajan, AIFB, Ravi Rai, CPI(ML), Thirumavalan, VCK, KM Kadar Moidin, IUML, Jose K Mani, KC(M) and TMC (to give name later) are also members of the Campaign Committee. Earlier, the INDIA alliance partners concluded their third meeting in Maharashtra and adopted resolutions to collectively contest the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections while announcing that seat-sharing arrangements would be finalized as soon as possible through a spirit of give-and-take. "We, the INDIA parties, hereby resolve to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections together as far as possible. Seat-sharing arrangements in different states will be initiated immediately and concluded at the earliest in a collaborative spirit of give-and-take," said the resolution. The resolution also said that the parties will "organise public rallies at the earliest in different parts of the country on issues of public concern and importance". The first meeting of the joint opposition was held in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. (ANI) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Tech giant Google has announced the launch date for the Pixel 8 series. The launch of Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro is scheduled on October 4, according to invites sent out by the company. Google is also anticipated to unveil the Pixel Watch 2 at the same event, according to the Mashable website. Google Pixel 8 series: In terms of the fundamental specifications, the Tensor G3 SoC is anticipated to be included in the future Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Furthermore, rumours suggest that these gadgets will use the Titan security chip. The Pixel 8 will probably have a 6.2-inch display, while the Pixel 8 Pro could have a more expansive 6.71-inch OLED screen with QHD+ resolution and a fluid 120Hz refresh rate. As per the Mashable website, leaked renders indicate that the Pixel 8 will feature a dual-camera setup, including a 50MP primary camera and a 12MP ultra-wide lens. The Pixel 8 Pro is anticipated to boast a triple-camera arrangement, a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilization, a 64MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 48MP telephoto camera. On the front, the phone is rumoured to house an 11MP selfie camera featuring a Samsung JN1 sensor. Google Pixel Watch 2: Google may also unveil the Pixel Watch 2, the successor to the Pixel Watch, at its October event in addition to the smartphones. The Pixel Watch 2 is anticipated to maintain the original Pixel Watch's circular dial and two physical side buttons. Furthermore, the Watch 2 is slated to be powered by a Snapdragon W5 chipset and 2GB of RAM. Leaks have also unveiled a 383x384 pixel resolution display for the smartwatch, along with four new watch faces, namely Accessible, Arc, Analog Bold, and Bold Digital, reported Mashable website. (ANI) Tel Aviv [Israel], September 4 (ANI/TPS): Israel'sPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday evening spoke in public together with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. Netanyahu arrived on an official visit to the country on Sunday. Western civilization is the result of basically Greek culture and Judaism fused together. And that, our commitment to democracy and our common interest in the regionto fight radicalism, to fight terrorism, to fight those who dont share our worldview and want to destroy our worldthe combination of these things has made this association, this partnership, real, said Netanyahu. Netanyahu went on to speak about the increase in Israeli tourism to Cyprus, the investments made by Israelis to local high-tech there and the growing cooperation in security between the two nations. Were signing, close to signing a science cooperation agreement, said Netanyahu. Were talking about now in the field of energy, about two main things. One is an electrical connector that will connect Cyprus to Greece and to mainland Europe. And from Cyprus to Israel and possibly to countries to our east. And that gives us the ability to, not to beforgive the expressionislands. Im not sure being an island is so bad. We in Israel often even wished that wed been an island. And Netanyahu mentioned Israels recent aid to Cyprus in fighting wildfires that broke out in the island nation. (ANI/TPS) Multi-role fighter planes, JF-17 Thunder, supplied to Myanmar by Pakistan were declared unfit and the military junta has sent a "stern message" to Islamabad to answer for the mess, Myanmar-based Narinjara News reported citing sources. Pakistan supplied many JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft to Myanmar between 2019 and 2021 and all have been declared unfit for operations. The delivered planes were part of a deal that the Burmese military junta signed in 2016 to purchase JF-17 produced jointly by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Chengdu Aircraft Industries Corporation of China. But soon after the delivery of the aircraft, the Burmese Air Force was forced to ground the planes as malfunctions and structural flaws were detected. The failure of JF-17 appears to be shimmering tensions between Islamabad and Naypyidaw and somehow compelled China to intervene. A recent visit by Myanmars Chinese envoy to Naypyidaw is said to have carried a message from the CCPs top leadership to Gen Min Aung Hlaing, as per Narinjara News. According to sources, Pakistan is trying hard to renegotiate the deal with newer versions of the JF-17s. In all likelihood, these new variants will be developed by the same combination of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Chengdu Aircraft Industries Corporation of China. However, so far there is little information on whether the renegotiated deal has been accepted by the military junta leadership. Informed sources said that the military junta is very upset as the non-utility of the aircraft has hampered most of its plans of beefing up its airpower to carry out targeted strikes on Myanmars resistance groups which are fighting under the banner of the Peoples Defence Force (PDF) an armed wing of the NUG. Following the news of the crisis arising out of the malfunctioning of the JF-17s, Pakistans efforts to sell similar aircraft to other countries, especially Latin American countries have hit a roadblock, reported Narinjara News. After this, the military junta refused to get into any new talks on procuring aircraft from Pakistan, other countries too have been reluctant to engage with Pakistan. Notably, China itself has not included a single JF-17s in its inventory to date. (ANI) Setting at rest all speculations around Chinese President Xi Jinping's participation at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has announced that Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10. Quoting foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, the statement read, "At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India, on September 9 and 10." However, no reason was given in the statement about Xi's absence from the summit. Earlier, Reuters had reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to skip the G20 Summit to be held in India. Sources in China, two of whom said they were informed by Chinese officials, added they were not aware of the reason for Xis expected absence, according to Reuters. The Chinese President has made few overseas trips since China abruptly dropped its Covid restrictions. He, however, attended the BRICS Summit in South Africa last week. Several G20 ministerial meetings in India ahead of the summit have been contentious as Russia and China together opposed joint statements which included paragraphs condemning Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine last year, according to Reuters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit during which he highlighted India's concerns over the unresolved issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in Ladakh. The two leaders agreed to direct their relevant officials "to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation". Along with Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin will also not attend the summit in India. According to a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov is expected to attend two plenary sessions on September 9 and 10. Lavrov is scheduled to hold several bilateral talks and contacts on the sidelines of the summit. (ANI) Videos from the area posted on social media showed a large plume of black smoke rising as explosions rang out. Russias Ministry of Emergency Situations said the fire was first reported at 10:59 am local time. A hangar of 80 by 10 meters (262 by 33 feet) was reported up in flames the ministry said. The effort to put out the fire, which burned an area of about 800 square meters (8,600 square feet), involved about 100 people, as per CNN. Russian online news outlet Fontanka reported the fire was at the Ruchi oil depot. The incidents cause is not yet known. No casualties have been reported so far. Russian infrastructure such as oil depots have previously been targeted over its invasion of Ukraine. (ANI) In Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's (PoK) Gilgit Baltistan region, widespread injustice plagues the Shia community. They are not seen as equals by the Sunni majority in Pakistan. Places essential to their faith, including places of worship, educational institutions, and employment opportunities, are marred by discrimination. This time around, a Shiacleric Ulema Agha Baqir Al Hussainifinds himself caught in a web of false accusations. Despite his unwavering commitment to Islam, Al Hussaini is being framed by certain fundamentalists who allege blasphemy. However, those present during his speech vehemently denied any wrongdoing. Now streets are buzzing with protesters. Tens of hundreds have poured out into the streets, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the FIR againstAgha Baqir Al Hussaini. Religious leader Allama Sheikh Muhammad Hassan Jafari said, We demand that FIR againstAgha Baqir Al Hussaini is immediately rolled back, otherwise we would ask the people to take to streets once again, and then you will see how people are angry with the issue. Another religious preacher Allama Sheikh Mirza Ali said, It has been observed that while one side Shias are being mistreated in both Pakistans legal jurisdiction and illegal jurisdiction. What they should do is that there should be a common law on religious freedom. No law has been framed as of now and a divide is being created between the people. And this division has been going on for 1400 years and I dont understand how these flames are stoked again and again. One side tries to impose its belief system on the other side. Neither the constitution of Pakistan nor the society nor any UN resolution permits such things." People in Gilgit Baltistan are determined to be treated as equals, discarding discrimination that has oppressed them for so long. Pakistan is notorious for the violence sparked by even the slightest hint of blasphemy, resulting in tragic loss of life and property. But the Shia community in Skardu is not merely seeking justice for Agha Baqir Al Hussaini; they are fighting for a life of dignity. A conspiracy is being hatched in Gilgit Baltistan. They are trying to create a divide in the society. We condemn the FIR against Agha Baqir Al Hussaini, said a demonstrator in Skardu in Gilgit Baltistan. Their voices echo through the valleys, a resounding call for both immediate action and an enduring end to their second-class status. However, the odds are stacked against them. It seems highly unlikely that the authorities, be they local or in the Pakistani capital, will take their plea seriously. The Shia community refuses to back down and is resolved to shape a future where they can live in dignity. (ANI) Tel Aviv [Israel], September 4 (ANI/TPS): Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen is seeking to finalize a free trade agreement during his first official visit to Bahrain, which normalized ties with Jerusalem in 2020 under the auspices of the Trump administration-brokered Abraham Accords. Cohen was welcomed in Manama on Sunday night by his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani. On Monday, the top Israeli diplomat is to inaugurate the permanent home of the Israeli Embassy in the Gulf kingdom and sign a number of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between the countries. He is also expected to meet with Bahrains King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The visit was planned in order to continue building, expanding and deepening the [bilateral] friendship while strengthening agreements in the economic and trade fields, Cohen said in an interview with the localAl-Ayyamnewspaper. Our vision of the Middle East is one in which people live in peace and security. The goal is to ensure economic prosperity and create a new reality, he added. In June, Israeli Ambassador to Bahrain Eitan Naeh told the Tazpit Press Service that the island kingdom canserve as a gatewayto ties with other regional Arab countries. There is a potential here to widen our connections not only with Bahrain but to the Arab Gulf states, said Naeh. Bahrain can be the point of connection between East and West. Last year, then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog travelled to Bahrain on separate trips, in the first state visits by an Israeli head of government and head of state to the kingdom. In March, an Israeli parliamentary delegation travelled to Bahrain to participate in a conference of the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)the largest inter-parliamentary organization in the world with 179 member national parliaments, including the Knesset, as well as 13 regional parliaments as associate members. The Abraham Accords also saw Israel establish relations with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan. US-brokered talks are in full swing to forge a normalization agreement between Jerusalem and Saudi Arabia, a development Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said would constitute a quantum leap towards regional peace. Israeli free trade agreements with theUnited Arab Emiratesand South Korea went into effect in 2023. In August, Israel signed a free trade agreement withVietnamand launched negotiations withMoldovatowards another. Israel and India are also in the process of expanding their current free trade pact. (ANI/TPS) Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who has been hearing bail pleas of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in cipher case, has gone on leave until September 8, Pakistan-based Geo News reported. The PTI legal team which includes lawyers Babar Awan, Salman Safdar and Naeem Haider Panjotha were informed regarding the leave of the judge in the courtroom. The courtroom staff told PTI's legal team that Judge Zulqarnain was on leave due to his wifes illness and the hearing on the case was adjourned till September 7. Subsequently, the PTI's legal team approached Judge Raja Javad Abbas' courtroom and requested him to hear the bail plea. However, the judge responded that he could not hear the case as he was not the duty judge, according to Geo News report. Judge Abbas said, "There is no notification of the duty judge of the Official Secrets Act. If the Islamabad High Court can mark it, only then I can hear it. He said, "I can hear cases of 24 courts as a duty judge but not to the extent of the Official Secrets Act." Lawyer Babar Awan suggested filing an application and approaching the high court for the hearing of the bail pleas. Judge Abbas agreed with Awan's suggestion and said the Islamabad High Court would take a decision regarding the matter, Geo News reported. Judge Abbas asked how his court could hear the cipher case since it falls under the purview of the special court. He stated that he would hear PTI's application at 12 pm (local time) to take a decision on whether his court could hear the bail pleas of the PTI leaders. Later, the PTI's legal team withdrew the application for a hearing in the court of Judge Abbas. Earlier in August,ATC-I Judge Zulqarnain was given an additional charge of the special court formed under the Official Secrets Act to hear matter related to the cipher that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said was misplaced and used by former Pakistan PM Imran Khan for political purposes. On September 2, a Special court formed to hear cases under the Official Secrets Act adjourned the hearing on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khans petition seeking bail in the Cipher case till September 4, according to Geo News report. Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain conducted the in-camera hearing on the case. In August, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officially arrested Imran Khan in the cipher case after booking him under Official Secrets Act. Subsequently, he was sent on judicial remand in the cipher case till August 30 at the same time while he was serving his sentence in the Toshakhana case at Attock jail. (ANI) Two adults and two children were found dead at a scene of violence involving a fire at a house in Seattle, Washington, authorities said, CNN reported. The Seattle Police Department received a call from an 11-year-old girl at 8: 41 am who said there was a deceased person inside her house on 48th Street and Whitman Avenue, Police Chief Adrian Diaz said. Officers arrived at the scene within five minutes to find the front door barricaded and a fire burning inside the house, Diaz said. Seattle Fire Department officers were then called to assist. Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said his units were dispatched to the fire as well as a scene of violence. The majority of the fire was at the front of the building and within 45 minutes the fire had been knocked down, Scoggins said. Fire units were then able to search the building, as per CNN. Scoggins said that inside the house, the fire units found one dead person at the front and one dead person at the rear of the building, along with an infant and a child who were also deceased. A dog was also found dead inside the house, Scoggins said. The 11-year-old girl was able to escape the building through a window and called police from a neighbours house, Diaz said. He said authorities are working to reunite her with other family members. Diaz said that the names and ages of those who died have not been released. The cause of the deaths is still being determined by medical examiners. Police said they knew who lived at the house, but they are working to determine whether they were the same people who died. The cause of the fire has not been determined, but arson investigators are on the scene, Scoggins said. (ANI) Additional Directorate General of Public Information, IHQ of MoD (Army) informed about the troop's participation in the exercise in a tweet. They took to their social media 'X' and said, "Exercise #BrightStar 2023 #IndianArmy troops in action during Exercise #BrightStar 2023 in #Egypt. Exchange of techniques & sharing of expertise was undertaken by participating troops. #IndianArmy #OnPathToTransformation@IaSouthern@HQ_IDS_India @indembcairo." https://twitter.com/adgpi/status/1698674366857560432?s=20 Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent with Integrated Combat troops arrived at Alexandria for Exercise Bright Star-23 on August 29. The opening ceremony was held on August 31. The Indian contingent of 550 personnel is among the largest Indian deployments for an overseas exercise, the Indian Embassy in Egypt said. On August 29, the Indian Army contingent comprising 137 personnel departed for Exercise Bright Star-23, the Ministry of Defence said in an earlier press release. The Indian Army is being represented by a contingent from 23 JAT Battalion. The exercise which began on August 31 will culminate on September 13 at Mohammed Naguib Military Base in Egypt. Exercise Bright Star-23 is a multinational tri-services joint military exercise that will be led by US CENTCOM and the Egyptian Army. Initially, this exercise was conceptualized as a bilateral biennial training exercise between the US and Egypt during the Camp David Accord of 1977. This year, 34 countries nations are participating in Exercise Bright Star-23. The Exercise will comprise a large number of training activities focused on combating emerging unconventional threats and enhancing regional partnerships amongst participating nations aimed at maintaining world peace. (ANI) Water levels at Lake Titicaca, South Americas largest lake, are dropping quickly after an unprecedented winter heat wave, CNN reported. This is in turn affecting tourism, fishing and agriculture, which locals rely on to make a living. Nazario Charca, 63, who lives on the lake and makes a living ferrying tourists around its waters, said, We dont know what we will do from now until December because the water will keep getting lower. Visitors have long been attracted to the blue waters and open skies of South Americas largest lake, which straddles more than 3,200 square miles across the border of Peru and Bolivia. The lake sometimes described as an inland sea, is home to Aymara, Quechua and Uros indigenous communities and sits at an altitude of around 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) in the central Andes mountain range, making it the highest navigable lake in the world. The extreme altitude also exposes the lake to high levels of solar radiation, which enhances evaporation and constitutes most of its water losses. More than three million people live around the lake, relying on its waters to fish, farm and attract tourists who boost the economy of an otherwise marginalized region. Now the lake is at risk of losing some of that magic. As per CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward, while water levels are known to fluctuate each year, these changes have become more extreme due to the climate crisis. A record-breaking winter heat wave has led to increased evaporation and decreasing lake levels, worsening water deficits brought on by drought. Sixto Flores, director in Puno for Perus national meteorology and hydrology service (Senamhi), told CNN that precipitation there was 49 per cent lower than average from August 2022 until March 2023, a period that includes the rainy season during which water levels usually recover. Flores told CNN that by December water levels will be heading toward the lowest recorded since 1996 if the lake evaporates at the same rate as it normally does in the next few months, which he described as very serious. This is part of a gradual decline in water levels at the lake in recent years, said Flores, and a recent study that examined satellite images from 1992-2020 showed that Lake Titicaca is losing around 120 million metric tons of water per year, which the authors say is primarily due to changes in precipitation and run off. (ANI) Tel Aviv [Israel], September 4 (ANI/TPS): Israels Foreign Minister Eli Cohen is on an official visit to Bahrain where he inaugurated Israels embassy in the countrys capital by placing a mezuzah on the doorpost of its entrance. He was accompanied by Bahrains Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani. (A mezuzah is a small scroll of parchment with several verses from the Tora written on it that is placed over any and all doorposts, whether in the home or a public space. This is commanded in the Tora and the parchment is usually placed inside of a decorative cover.) It is a great privilege to set a mezuzah and inaugurate the permanent embassy in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, together with the Bahraini Foreign Minister, said Cohen. This is an exciting moment for me, which indicates the warming relations between the countries, he added. I will continue to act so that we will be able to establish mezuzahs in more Israeli embassies around the world. Cohen also met with the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The two discussed the regional challenges their nations face their mutual commitment to the fight against terrorism and the importance of promoting a free trade agreement and projects to bring together young people from Israel and Bahrain. He thanked the Prince for his leadership in initiating the Abraham Accords that changed the face of the Middle East and contributed to the stability and prosperity of the peoples of the region, and said that we look forward to expanding the circle of peace and normalization to other countries in the region. Minister Cohen also paid a visit to the US Navys Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain where he spoke with Americas Vice Admiral Brad Cooper and the United States Ambassador to Bahrain Steve Bundy about its important activity and the cooperation between their nations militaries to maintain regional security. (ANI/TPS) Women rights activists along with other women have called for a hunger strike to highlight the issues of global neglect of Afghan women and gender apartheid, reported Khaama Press. Tamana Zaryab Paryani, an activist for womens rights called on the hunger strike along with several other women. They kept on highlighting their commitment by continuing the hunger strike even after being unwell on the fourth day of the strike. On the fourth day of the strike, Paryani said in an interview with Khaama Press News Agency that the world has been unsuccessful in defending womens rights in Afghanistan. While women are fighting and sacrificing for their freedoms, the world has engaged with the interim administration, reported Khaama Press. Paryani is a former detainee of the Taliban administration and was imprisoned under their rule. While explaining the reason behind their strike, she said, We demand justice due to increased travel, Talibans international outreach, funds sent to Afghanistan, and the neglect of gender rights despite ongoing oppression. According to Khaama Press, if the German government and the global community do not pay attention to their demand regarding the worsening situation of Afghan women, this strike will continue for another eight days, until September 12. Paryani and the other women on the hunger strike are not feeling well on the fourth day of the hunger strike, reported Khaama Press. The ongoing situation in Afghanistan, especially for women is described as 'horrifying'. They stressed that remaining silent in such situations is shameful. According to her, the institutions expected to raise their voices have not yet paid attention to their demands, according to Khaama Press. Paryani said that the fundamental rights of people, especially women's rights are violated without any shame. She further urged other Afghan women to not stay silent when it comes to human rights abuses happening under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. She added that the silence in these situations shows society's human and moral decline. Other womens rights activists have welcomed Paryanis protest and are demanding its expansion within and outside Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported. Taranum Saeedi, a womens rights activist in Afghanistan, also supports Paryanis protest and said that these protests will continue until September 12 in Germany and various other countries. She further urged the German government to extend support and said that the women have faced significant deprivation in the past two years and have been systematically excluded from society. Since the last two years and the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, women have been suffering from various deprivations, including bans on education, work, and political and social activities in the country. According to Khaama Press, Paryani along with other women's rights activists urged the international community to recognize "gender apartheid" in Afghanistan. Gender apartheid was first used by the head of Afghanistans permanent mission to the United Nations to highlight the depth of anti-women practices in Afghanistan. (ANI) The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued a show-cause notice to Islamabad Inspector General (IG) Akbar Nasir Khan for contempt of court in connection with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahis detention under 3-Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) last week, Pakistan-based Geo News reported. The Lahore High Court directed the Islamabad police chief to appear before the court on September 8. Islamabad police on Friday rearrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. His arrest came hours after the Lahore High Court (LHC) directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to release Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. Informing about Elahi's arrest on X, formerly known as Twitter, Islamabad Police on Friday wrote, "Pervez Elahi has been arrested under 3 MPO on the orders of the District Magistrate. Parvez Elahi is being transferred to jail." Subsequently, the former Punjab Chief Minister was put under house arrest in Adiala jail for the next 15 days. After his rearrest, Elahi approached the Lahore High Court seeking contempt proceedings against the Islamabad IG, according to Geo News report. Taking up the petition, the Lahore High Court directed the Islamabad IG to appear before the court in this regard on September 8. The Lahore High Court directed the sessions judge Attock to produce Elahi on September 5. During the court hearing, the Punjab IG told the court that the Islamabad police had taken the Elahi into custody after being released by the NAB. He said that a report in this regard has been presented to the registrar. He further said that no Punjab police officer had stopped the Islamabad police from arresting Elahi. Meanwhile, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed an appeal in the LHC with regard to a restraining order against Elahis possible arrest in any undisclosed case. In its plea, the NAB said that Elahi's detention was legal and he was on the remand, according to Geo News report. NAB requested the court to declare the LHC single bench verdict in this case null and void. It also urged the LHC to suspend the single benchs order till the decision of this appeal. Earlier in the day, a spokesperson of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said that Elahi was brought to the hospital for a routine medical check-up, Geo News reported. Doctors carried out a medical examination of Elahi at the hospital's emergency, according to the spokesperson. After his checkup, police took him to the Attock jail, the spokesperson added. Initially, Elahi was arrested on June 1 outside his house in a PKR 70 million graft case connected to the embezzlement of development funds announced for the Gujrat district. Since then, he has remained in prison on various charges. PTI President has been released multiple times after the court's orders. However, he was immediately rearrested each time. (ANI) India can be invited to the next trilateral-- Israel, Greece and Cyprus summit expected to be held next year, The Times of Israel reported. In the 9th Trilateral Summit between Israel, Greece and Cyprus, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the country is especially interested in natural gas exports partnership with countries such as India, which may even be invited to the next trilateral summit, expected next year, as per The Times of Israel. In the joint press conference, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu in Nicosia said, "We reaffirmed our strong commitment to the 3+1 format with the United States and agreed on the value of intensifying 3+1 cooperation, with concrete deliverables also with other countries and we talked specifically about India," according to an official statement issued by Cyprus government. At the Summit, the leaders said that they reaffirmed their commitment to continue strengthening the dynamic cooperation of the trilateral partnership platform. The engagement reflects shared values and ever-increasing common interests, aiming to contribute to peace, stability, security and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region. "As underlined on previous occasions, our three countries remain committed to welcoming other like-minded parties in our resolute effort to create and advance synergies, to the benefit of our countries and peoples, as well as of our region," the statement read. "We agreed that the energy sector, and in particular, natural gas, electricity and renewable energy, is a solid foundation for cooperation in the region, based on international law including the law of the sea and the respect of all states to exercise their rights in their respective EEZ/Continental Shelf," it added. In light of the growing need for energy diversification and interconnectivity, due to the geopolitical developments, the leaders reaffirmed the common interest to advance prospects for a reliable energy corridor from the Eastern Mediterranean basin to Europe. In this context, the leaders stressed the importance of further promoting energy synergies with like-minded countries including the EMGF and regional projects such as electrical interconnections, like the EuroAsia Interconnector, and possible natural gas/hydrogen pipelines. "Addressing the global challenge of climate change, we agree to reinforce our efforts through regional cooperative projects, R&D, innovative energy technologies and promoting further regional energy connectivity. Against the backdrop of recent wildfires in Greece and Cyprus, taking note of the recent assistance provided by Israel, we reaffirm our mutual commitment to assist each other in responding to emergencies and further enhance our coordination and joint capabilities for that purpose," the statement read. "We also reaffirmed on the value of the 3+1 format with the United States, which can offer tangible deliverables, inter alia, in the areas of energy, economy, climate action, emergency preparedness and counterterrorism. It was agreed to work together towards holding a ministerial 3+1 meeting later this year," the statement added. (ANI) Nigerian President Bola Tinubu is all set to visit Delhi to attend the G20 summit, scheduled to take place on September 9 and 10. According to an official statement released by Special Adviser to the President Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Tinbu will participate in and deliver keynote addresses at both the Nigeria-India Presidential Roundtable and the Nigeria-India Business Conference on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. The President aims to leverage this platform to attract global capital and promote increased foreign direct investments in key labour-intensive sectors of Nigerias economy for job creation and revenue expansion. Moreover, he will use this opportunity to highlight Nigerias attractiveness as an investment destination, specifically outlining his cross-sectoral reform plan as encapsulated by the Renewed Hope Agenda, according to the statement. The President will also hold bilateral meetings with a cross-section of world leaders from four different continents, representing both G-20 and nonG20 countries. These engagements are geared towards strengthening bilateral economic, trade, and investment partnerships for mutual benefit, as per the statement. At the G20 Summit, the Nigerian leader is expected to share Nigerias perspective on the theme, One Earth-One Family-One Future, which speaks to the global unity required to address the challenges facing humanity and the planet. With its collective contribution of up to 80 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade, and housing 60 per cent of the worlds population, the G-20 constitutes a significant economic power bloc of socio-economic opportunity and geo-political stability. While Nigerias membership of the G-20 is desirable, the government has embarked on wide-ranging consultations with a view to ascertaining the benefits and risks of membership. The Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Trkiye, United Kingdom and United States) and the European Union. India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1 last year with the theme -- One Earth, One Family, One Future. (ANI) A person is hospitalized following a crash in Dayton early Monday morning. >>Large police presence reported at University of Dayton Dayton Police officers and medics were dispatched around 12:43 a.m. to the intersection of Salem Avenue and Philadelphia Drive on initial reports of a crash, Montgomery County Regional Dispatch told News Center 7. Medics transported one person to Grandview Medical Center with unknown injuries. Two cars were involved and sustained moderate to heavy damage, according to scanner traffic. The crash remains under investigation. The Flagler County Sheriffs Office is investigating the heartbreaking shooting death of an 18-month-old child. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Officials said that around 11:45 p.m. on Sun. Sept. 3, Flagler County deputies responded to a home on Ranwood Lane in Palm Coast after a frantic 911 call reported a baby had been shot. Once at the scene, deputies found an 18-month-old girl suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The child was taken to a local hospital where she died from her injuries. READ: Weekend Violence: At least 5 shootings leave 2 dead, several injured over weekend, JSO says ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This is a tragic situation, and we offer our condolences to the family and friends of this little girl, a spokesperson for FCSO said in a statement. No arrests have been made at this time. This death may have been accidental; however, the investigation is still active and ongoing with the assistance of Florida Department of Law Enforcements crime scene investigators. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] A written statement from FCSO said that the major case unit detectives are still actively gathering evidence and speaking with witnesses. 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. PALM COAST - A Palm Coast man with a criminal record was identified as a "primary" person of interest in the death of an 18-month-old girl who was found fatally shot in the head in Palm Coast Sunday night, according to Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. CJ Nelson Jr., 21, was arrested Monday on a probation violation for a gun charge, Staly said at a press conference. While Nelson is a person of interest, he has not been charged with this death - yet," the sheriff said. Deputies were called to Ranwood Lane at around 11:45 p.m. after sheriff's office communications received a frantic 911 call reporting a baby had been shot. The girl was rushed to AdventHealth Palm Coast where she was pronounced dead upon arrival. The death may have been accidental, however, the investigation is still active and ongoing with the assistance of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's crime scene investigators, the sheriff's office reported. Law enforcement iwas on scene at a home on Ranwood Lane in Palm Coast where an 18-month-old girl was fatally shot Sunday night. There were 8 adults present at the home Sunday night. No one has been ruled out, and the investigation is ongoing, Staly said. He described the others in the home as uncooperative. The biological mother was present at the home on Sunday night. The biological father was not. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It would be a lot easier if everybody would tell us the truth and exactly what went on in that house," he said. Police were investigating the fatal shooting of an 18-month-old girl Sunday in Palm Coast. There were 420 grams of marijuana and 11 grams of either cocaine or heroin found inside the home during the investigation. But at this point, the case is likely not drug-related, according to Staly. The weapon used was known as an American tactical multi-caliber assault pistol. Forensics are being conducted on the weapon. The child did not touch the firearm, Staly said. Staly did not confirm whether or not the gun belonged to Nelson. "There'll be forensics that have to be done on the weapon to tie any of these eight people specifically to that gun," he said. Nelson was previously arrested on a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation, court records show. Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly The sheriffs department has received two previous calls from this address in 2023: one for a stolen vehicle and another for a 911 investigation. Since 2010, the department has responded to an additional 11 calls from the home. The house appears to be a rental, according to Staly, so it is possible that not all calls generated from this address are from the current residents. This is a tragedy in our community, Staly said. Its rare that we have a shooting death, and its even rarer that we have a child that is the victim, especially one that is this young. This is a life cut too short, and we know God now has an angel. We extend our deepest sympathy to the parents and the family. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Report: 18-month-old fatally shot in head in Palm Coast Sunday night Six people were rescued after being sucked out to sea by a rip current along an Oregon beach, officials said. On Sept. 2, a lifeguard in Cannon Beach went into the water to rescue two kids and four adults while another called for Cannon Beach fire personnel and Seaside Fire and Rescue Surf Teams for more help, according to a post on Facebook by Cannon Beach Lifeguards. The children were playing in waist-deep water when they were caught by the rip current. The adults who tried to help were also dragged out, Deputy Fire Chief of Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District Jason Smith told KOIN. Three more lifeguards and three surfers entered the water to find the group while a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and two jet skis were deployed, officials said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement There were about 50 to 100 yards of distance from the first person to the last, Smith told KOIN. The group was rescued and brought back to shore where they were evaluated by medical personnel, officials said. One lifeguard was treated for a minor injury, the release said. Cannon Beach Lifeguards urge the public to be very careful around the water as jet skis may not be able to be deployed for safety reasons which will delay any rescue attempts, according to a Sept. 3 Facebook post. Cannon Beach is about 80 miles northwest of Portland. What is a rip current? Rip currents are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water that happen on the coasts of the U.S. and in the Great Lakes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. About 100 people are killed by rip currents each year in the U.S., NOAA reported. Lifeguards rescue thousands of people from rip currents annually. Experts say people can take steps to stay safe from rip currents, including: Check the local water conditions before getting in. Talk to a lifeguard at the beach about the conditions. Only swim at beaches where lifeguards are present. Dont assume great weather means good swimming conditions. 26-year-old drowns as family members try to teach him how to swim, NC cops say Swimmers pulled from rushing river but 19-year-old vanishes, Pennsylvania rescuers say Woman drowns in Washington river after paddleboard lanyard snags in water, cops say Authorities with the Riverside County Sheriffs Department are investigating a triple shooting that claimed the life of two men and injured a third early Sunday morning, officials told KTLA. Deputies responded to the 21800 block of Dreacea Avenue just after 2 a.m. on reports of an assault with a deadly weapon in Moreno Valley. At the scene, deputies located two men laying in the street. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Not long after, a third man, who authorities said was also involved in the incident, arrived at a local hospital with at least one gunshot wound. He was listed in stable condition. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Riverside County Sheriffs deputies on the scene of a double fatal triple shooting on Sept. 3, 2023, in Moreno Valley (OnScene TV) Riverside County Sheriffs deputies on the scene of a double fatal triple shooting on Sept. 3, 2023, in Moreno Valley (OnScene TV) A woman seen on her cellphone after a triple shooting Sept. 3, 2023, in Moreno Valley (OnSceneTV) It is unclear what led up to the incident, and authorities have not released any information on the victims, nor did they provide a description of a possible suspect or suspects. So far, no arrests have been made. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Police on the scene investigating a double shooting at Smale Park in downtown Cincinnati. Police are on the scene investigating a double shooting at Smale Park in downtown Cincinnati. Officers responded to the park along the Ohio River off East Mehring Way and Joe Nuxhall Way at about 3:45 a.m. Monday. They blocked off a large crime scene at the entrance to the park up to Joe Nuxhall Way. One victim was found shot multiple times in his abdomen near the swings inside the park, police confirm. He was taken in an ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with what police say are life-threatening injuries. A second person who was shot in the foot went to the hospital in a private vehicle. That person is expected to recover, police say. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Officers told dispatchers they had a firearm recovery in the river, according to emergency communication reports. This report was provided by Enquirer media partner FOX19 and will be updated. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Double shooting reported at Smale Park in downtown Cincinnati Two people are dead and three others are wounded following a shooting early Monday morning in Birmingham, Alabama, authorities said. At least five people were hit in the shooting, which was reported at about 2:30 a.m. Monday, and two women later died at University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital, according to the Birmingham Police Department. Authorities did not provide the conditions of the three people who were injured. Police also confirmed that shots were fired near UAB Hospital, but no one was injured. The UAB Police Department is investigating that incident. Tehreem Khan, a media specialist at UAB, confirmed to CBS affiliate WIAT that UAB Hospital's emergency room was placed on lockdown after shots were fired outside the building. It is not known whether the lockdown has since been lifted. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement No suspects have been identified or arrested yet. The shooting is under investigation. Where to find the best Labor Day deals Ukraine's defense minister resigns after Zelenskyy names replacement Delta passenger says airline 'lost' her dog Rural EMS department personnel will have a chance to learn how to treat those with substance use disorder or co-occurring disorders after a federal grant was awarded Friday to the University of Missouri. The Missouri Rural Emergency Services Collaborative for Underserved Education EMS Training Program, or MO-RESCUE, will providing training on mental health and substance use care. The one-year, nearly $200,000 grant program, starts Sept. 30, according to information from the federal Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration. The program: Trains EMS personnel to maintain licenses and certifications relevant to serve in an EMS agency; Conducts paramedic training to rural EMS students to qualify them for national registry and Missouri State licensure; Ensures paramedic students are provided curriculum comprehensive to mental health and substance use; Creates a comprehensive continuing education curriculum which provides training specific to mental health and substance use; Acquires needed items for successful training of rural EMS learners; and Develops rural EMS agency specific toolkits containing local resources and public health linkages which can be adapted for each agency. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The award is part of a greater disbursement of $57.6 million in grant funds through SAMHSA in seven program areas focused on substance use recovery and treatment as a way to mark Overdose Awareness Week and the start of National Recovery Month. Overdose Awareness Week and National Recovery Month are moments to affirm our commitment to ensuring that all people facing behavioral health challenges are connected to effective, evidence-based and culturally responsive supports and treatments, said Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, and the leader of SAMHSA, in the award announcement. We want Americans who grapple with addiction to know that recovery is real and that, with treatment and supports, they can have fulfilling lives. More: She medaled at the Olympics, then struggled with addiction. Now she helps to end stigma Other award areas are going to programs that integrate primary and behavioral health care; provide treatment to unsheltered individuals with severe mental health or emotional issues, substance use or co-occurring disorders; workforce support programs for substance use recovery; comprehensive opioid recovery centers; peer-to-peer recovery community services; and statewide recovery community services. SAMSHA's 2023-26 strategic plan uses a new a new person-centered mission and vision, the award announcement noted. More: Be Well Bell seen as symbol of hope as 988 mental health line marks one-year anniversary Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism. This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: MU receives federal grant for rural mental health, drug use EMS training A 22-year-old man is accused of drug trafficking fentanyl and cocaine after investigators found large amounts of the drugs in the area of Browning Avenue, police said. Kerlin Castillo, 22, of Dorchester was arrested over the weekend and charged with Trafficking a Class A drug and Trafficking a Class B drug, police said. At about 12:55 p.m. Saturday, officers assigned to the Drug Control Unit in Jamaica Plain arrested Castillo. Officers were conducting an ongoing drug investigation and execution of search warrants in the area of Browning Avenue. As a result of the search warrants, officers recovered approximately 70 grams of cocaine, and 30 grams of fentanyl. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Castillo is expected to be arraigned in Dorchester District Court. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW More charges have been brought against a Dorchester man arrested in connection with a shooting near Dorchesters Caribbean Carnival Festival last month. Already facing a charge for unlawful possession of a firearm, Gerald Vick, 30, was additionally charged with a slew of charges Friday for his alleged role in the shooting that injured eight people near the Jouvert Parade on August 26. Vick is now facing six counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon- firearm, armed assault to murder, unlawful possession of a machine gun, unlawful possession of a firearm subsequent offense, armed career criminal, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling and possession of a large capacity feeding device. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Boston police release images of suspect wanted in weekend shooting that left 8 wounded Vick had a 9mm pistol with a large capacity magazine, equipped with a Glock switch that enabled the firearm to fire continuously, officials say. Six men and two women were shot when gunfire erupted while the parade was taking place, according to Boston police. All of the injuries are considered non-life threatening. Vick is one of four people arrested and a number of firearms were recovered. While the shooting happened near the Caribbean Carnival Festival, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said in a weekend news conference that the incident wasnt related to the cultural event. In a police report, law enforcement officials said that officers who were monitoring the area on Talbot Avenue moments before the mass shooting feared an immediate threat to the general public as rival gangs stared each other down. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Environmentalists campaign against fossil fuels during Africa's Climate Summit, in Nairobi Environmentalists campaign against fossil fuels during Africa's Climate Summit, in Nairobi By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - An initiative to boost Africa's carbon credit production 19-fold by 2030 drew hundreds of millions of dollars in pledges on Monday, as Kenyan President William Ruto opened the continent's first climate summit. In one of the most anticipated deals, investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) committed to buying $450 million of carbon credits from the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI), which was launched at Egypt's COP27 summit last year. "We must see in green growth, not just a climate imperative but also a fountain of multi-billion dollar economic opportunities that Africa and the world is primed to capitalise," Ruto told delegates. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement African leaders are pushing market-based financing instruments, such as carbon credits, or offsets, which can be generated by projects that curb emissions, usually in developing countries, such as planting trees, or switching to cleaner fuels. (See EXPLAINER for more details) Carbon credits can then be bought by companies to offset emissions they are unable to cut from their own operations to help meet climate targets. One credit is equivalent to saving or avoiding one ton of carbon dioxide. Organisers of the three-day summit in Nairobi say they aim to showcase that Africa as a destination for climate investment rather than a victim of floods, drought and famine. African governments see carbon credits and other market-based financing instruments as critical to mobilize funding that has been slow to arrive from rich-world donors. The offset market was worth around $2 billion in 2021 and Shell and Boston Consulting Group jointly forecast in January that it could reach between $10 billion and $40 billion by 2030. Several speakers at the summit said they had seen little progress toward accelerating climate financing because investors still saw the continent as too risky. Africa has received only about 12% of the money it needs to cope with climate impacts, according to a report last year by the non-profit Climate Policy Initiative. "There hasn't been any success for an African country in attracting climate finance," said Bogolo Kenewendo, a United Nations climate adviser and former trade minister in Botswana. Kevin Kariuki, a vice president at the African Development Bank, told Reuters the deals announced on Monday were "very welcome" but not enough. He said African states would push at the COP28 U.N. climate summit in Dubai, at the end of November, for the expansion of special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund that could unlock $500 billion worth of climate finance, which could be leveraged up to five times. "The private sector really remains an untapped opportunity that now must be seized," said Patricia Scotland, secretary-general of the Commonwealth of 56 countries. "If you look at what we've got on thermal energy, on solar, on wind, on hydro, this is a powerhouse just waiting to be unleashed," she told Reuters. More than 20 presidents and heads of government are expected to attend the summit from Tuesday. They plan to issue a declaration outlining Africa's position ahead of a U.N. climate conference later this month and the COP28. INVESTMENTS The oil-producing UAE has been positioning itself as a climate financing leader in Africa. The $450 million commitment by UAE Carbon Alliance, a coalition of private sector players, was announced by Hassaan Ghazali, an investment manager at the UAE Independent Climate Change Accelerators (UICCA). Climate Asset Management - a joint venture of HSBC Asset Management and Pollination, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm - also announced a $200 million investment in projects that will produce ACMI credits. Britain said UK-backed projects worth 49 million pounds ($62 million) would be announced over the course of the summit, while Germany announced a 60 million euro ($65 million) debt swap with Kenya to free up money for green projects. Many African campaigners have opposed the summit's approach to climate finance, and about 500 people marched in downtown Nairobi on Monday to protest. They say carbon credits are a pretext for continued pollution by wealthier countries and corporations, who should instead pay their "climate debt" through direct compensation and debt relief. Sultan Al Jaber, president of COP28, said carbon markets were an important tool, but "a lack of commonly-agreed standards was undermining their integrity and diminishing their value". A working paper released by the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Project found that sub-Saharan African countries face annual debt servicing costs that are nearly the same as their climate finance needs. ($1 = 0.7920 pounds) ($1 = 0.9265 euros) (Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Simon Jessop; Additional reporting by Jefferson Kahinju; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Hereward Holland, Angus MacSwan, Susan Fenton and Mike Harrison) Residents gather with their jerrycans to collect water from a tap in Mukuru slums within the Industrial area district, in Nairobi By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - Africa is heating up at a faster rate than the rest of the planet and enduring more severe climate and weather disasters such as droughts, a joint U.N.-African Union report said on Monday, warning that climate change could stoke conflict over resources. The continent was hit by 80 extreme weather and climate hazards last year, said the report sent by the World Meteorological Organization to coincide with Africa's first climate summit in Kenya where financing is set to be in focus. These disasters, such as the Horn of Africa's worst drought in 40 years and Algerian wildfires, resulted in 5,000 deaths and over $8.5 billion in economic damage, the report showed, citing an emergencies database. The real figures are likely to be higher due to reporting gaps, it said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Africa is responsible for only a fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions but is suffering disproportionately from climate change," the State of the Climate in Africa 2022 report said. "Climate change and the diminishing natural resource base could fuel conflicts for scarce productive land, water, and pastures, where farmer-herder violence has increased over the past 10 years due to growing land pressure...," it added. Already, communal violence over resources flares up frequently in parts of the semi-arid Sahel. On average, each African produced 1.04 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2021, less than a quarter of the global average. The report said the average rate of warming in Africa was 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade in the 1991-2022 period, compared with 0.2 degrees in the world as a whole. The warming has been fastest in North Africa which has been subject to multiple heatwaves since last year. That contributed to a fall in cereal production to 33 million tonnes or about 10% below the previous five-year average, the report said, although production in some other parts of the continent such as West Africa rose amid good rains. Overall, the report said that agricultural productivity had fallen due to climate change, noting a decline of 34% since 1961 which is set to drive up import needs sharply. (Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Peter Graff) The News NAIROBI Kenyas president opened Africas first climate summit with a plea for delegates to identify opportunities that may arise from solving environmental problems rather than focusing on grievances against industrialized nations that are responsible for the worlds highest carbon emissions. William Ruto , who opened the three-day event on Monday in his countrys capital Nairobi, said the summits underlying ambition is to shift the climate conversation from a polluters versus victim discourse to finding opportunities to overhaul the continents economies while tackling climate change. Africas carbon footprint remains small, Ruto said, but the human toll of climate change is disproportionately high. He added that focusing on climate action would propel Africa to middle-income status. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Josefa Leonel Sacko, commissioner for rural economy and agriculture at the African Union Commission, said: Our responsibility in carbon emission as a continent is about 4%, but we are fully committed to the climate change agenda. She added that decarbonization efforts are intertwined with the growth of the economy, as some African governments are using at least 2% of their budgets for climate-related disaster adaptation programs, even as the extreme weather events intensify in their compounded effects. The Africa Youth Climate Assembly, led by Kenyan activist Elizabeth Wathuti, called on the leaders to create an inter-generational green investment fund to generate green jobs for African youth. Know More Sacko said some African member states spend around 50% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on responding to climate-induced disasters. She urged developed countries to honor their pledge made at COP15 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Copenhagen to raise $100 billion annually by 2020 for climate action in developing countries. The goal was emphasized at COP21 in Paris and extended to 2025. Up to now, we havent seen anythingplease, partners come and honor your pledge, Sacko said. Muchiras view Africas first climate summit is a timely development as the worlds global environmental ambitions tilt towards net zero. The continent has adequate renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower, necessary to transform the continent into a green industrial hub and power our energy needs. This is in addition to the large reserves of minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and manganese required for electric vehicle manufacturing and the reduction of carbon emissions in the mobility sector. Africa is clearly a resource rich continent that will accelerate decarbonization efforts. But to make progress, African leaders must bring the world leaders from advanced economies (that are easily the highest emitters of carbon) to the table from the outset to ensure the implementation of positive resolutions. The current discussion underway will lead up to the Nairobi Declaration by the end of the summit but the step will only make a difference if other parties agree to make progress together, in word and deed. In The Know by Yahoo If you've never cleaned your washing machine filter before, you may be surprised to find what's lurking in there. (NEXSTAR) For most of us, flying is usually a breeze, from arriving at the airport to boarding the plane to picking up your luggage and moving on to your destination. Unfortunately for some, despite their best efforts, they may find themselves watching their plane take off without them. Maybe its happened to you: You book your flight in advance, you pick your seat (if your airline allows it), and you arrive on time at your gate only to find out your flight is overbooked. An airline overbooking the flight (also known as overselling the flight) is completely legal, the U.S. Department of Transportation explains. The practice allows carriers to sell more boarding passes than there are seats on a plane to compensate for passengers that do not arrive for the flight. When a flight is oversold, airlines will first ask for volunteers to give up their seat. If there arent enough volunteers, some passengers will be involuntarily denied boarding. This is more commonly known as being bumped from a flight. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Whether you volunteer or are bumped, the DOT keeps track of how many passengers are denied boarding because of oversold flights. And based on the latest data, there is one airline that recently bumped more passengers than any others: Frontier Airlines. According to the DOTs latest Air Travel Consumer Report, released in late June, more than 2,440 Frontier passengers were involuntarily bumped from their flights between January and March of this year (data on oversold flights is only released quarterly). That equates to nearly 4 passengers being bumped for every 10,000 passengers total, the DOT report shows. Fortunately for passengers from Fresno Yosemite International, Frontier ended all flights from Fresno at the start of 2022. While that rate can seem large compared to other airlines of the nine others in the report, none had a rate higher than .50 per 10,000 Frontier was also among the carriers that enplaned the fewest passengers during early 2023, ranking as the third-lowest behind Hawaiian Airlines and Allegiant Air. Still, Hawaiian and Allegiant reported zero passengers being bumped between January and March. Of the airlines that fly from Fresno Yosemite International, American Airlines, Southwest, and Alaska Airlines all featured on the list of five-worst. These five airlines bumped the most passengers: Frontier: 2,442 American: 2,069 Southwest: 610 Spirit: 444 Alaska: 66 Americans Airlines network, which includes American Airlines and its branded partners, reported the second-highest number of passengers involuntarily bumped at nearly 2,070. But by contrast, American Airlines served almost 44 million passengers between January and March vastly more than Frontiers 6.5 million. Frontier Airlines didnt immediately respond to Nexstars request for comment. The airline does, however, outline in its contract of carriage that those who are denied boarding will be provided with another Frontier flight to the same destination. Passengers that have already scanned their boarding pass and boarded the original flight also cannot be removed except for safety or security reasons (or other reasons outlined in the contract of carriage), the contract says. Three airlines reported no bumped passengers: Hawaiian, Allegiant, and Delta Air Lines network. United Airlines network saw 32 passengers being bumped, a measly 0.01 for every 10,000. Southwest Airlines, which bumped the most passengers in 2022, bumped the third-lowest passengers in the first quarter at 610. Included in these statistics are both passengers who received denied boarding compensation and passengers who did not qualify for compensation because of one of the exceptions in the Oversales rule, the DOT explained. Those exceptions include a passenger being accommodated on another flight set to arrive within an hour of the original flight; a passenger failing to comply with ticketing, check-in, or reconfirmation procedures; a smaller aircraft being substituted; or a passenger being denied boarding due to safety-related weight restrictions on smaller aircraft. There were, however, more than 66,800 passengers that were voluntarily denied boarding. As the DOT report explains, these passengers opted to give up their seats on an oversold flight in exchange for compensation. Nearly 29,900 passengers were voluntarily bumped by Delta Air Lines network, which includes Delta Air Lines and branded partners, in early 2023. Thats more passengers than the next three airlines combined. Delta is another airline that flies from Fresno Yosemite International. According to the airlines contract of carriage, Delta will provide those that volunteer to give up their seats, or are involuntarily bumped, a seat on the next available flight at no additional cost or a flight on a different airline. If a passengers substitute flight isnt until the next day, Delta covers hotel accommodations for free, or provides a credit voucher for future Delta purchases up to $100 if accommodations arent available. Though it can be frustrating, airlines are allowed to oversell flights to a certain extent, according to the DOT. They are not, however, allowed to use unjust or unreasonable prejudice, like your race or ethnicity, to bump you from a flight. If you are bumped, your airline is federally required to give you a written statement that explains your rights and how it determines who is bumped. Most passengers who are bumped tend to receive compensation that is equal to double the one-way price of the flight they were bumped from, according to the DOT. While the thought of being bumped from a flight can be worrisome, its important to note that very few people actually are. Only about 5,690 passengers of the more than 195.2 million enplaned in early 2023 were bumped, DOT data shows. Its far more likely that passengers will volunteer to give up their seats, which may allow you to catch your flight after all. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. This article was originally published in Alaska Beacon. Alaska public school teachers short of supplies this year have a new source to turn to for funding, and its not the local school budget. Each teacher could receive $650 to $750 from the state in federal pandemic relief money. Alaskas Department of Education and Early Development will devote $2 million in federal pandemic relief money to fund teacher requests. By helping teachers directly with their classroom needs, DEED is supporting our teachers in our shared mission to provide an excellent education for every student everyday, said department Acting Commissioner Heidi Teshner in a news release. No paywall. No pop-up ads. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Keep The 74 free with a donation during our Fall campaign. The department will fund the requests through an online tool called DonorsChoose, a crowdfunding site specifically for education. The news comes less than two months after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed half of the Legislatures proposed education funding. To access the money, the state instructs teachers to create crowdfunding profiles and requests. The Department of Education and Early Development will then fund the project up to $1,000. Teachers may request up to $1,400, but then additional donors would have to cover the difference. While the department said the state funding per teacher would be up to $1,000, it suggests that teachers only request $650-$750 in actual materials because of taxes, fees, and a suggested donation to the New York-based non-profit. Were so grateful that the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is partnering with DonorsChoose, and that the department is using this innovative way to help students start the school year strong, said DonorsChoose CEO Alix Guerrier in a news release. This initiative is an investment in the frontline wisdom of Alaska teachers. On the instructions webpage, the Department of Education and Early Development said the money is to reward the sacrifices and extra effort teachers made during the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes from the departments nearly $16 million from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020. The department has until the end of September to commit to spend the less than $50,000 that remains. Alaska teachers already use DonorsChoose as a way to supplement their finances. According to the sites data, individual donors have funded more than $5 million in projects at more than 350 Alaska schools. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: info@alaskabeacon.com. Follow Alaska Beacon on Facebook and Twitter. The defense team for disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh will hold a news conference Tuesday about their plans to appeal his murder conviction. Murdaugh was found guilty in March of murdering his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, in a 2021 shooting. Both were shot multiple times. Murdaugh is currently serving a life sentence in prison. His lawyers already filed a notice saying they plan to challenge his guilty verdict. Attorney Jim Griffin said his team will be looking for bias in potential jurors. PREVIOUS: Alex Murdaugh trial: Disgraced attorney sentenced to two life terms for murder of wife, son ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Appeals are extraordinarily difficult to win, said trial attorney Danielle Cohen Higgins. The question that Im sure the counsel for Alex Murdaugh and this appeal is going to argue is theres no way that this small town in South Carolina where this family had such a prominent name -- there wasnt a person in the area that didnt know the Murdaugh name. Murdaughs other son Buster, said he doesnt think his dad killed his mother and brother. Murdaugh has lost his phone privileges and his prison tablet computer last month after his lawyer recorded him reading his journal entries on a call for a documentary about his case, South Carolina Corrections Department officials said. Prison policy prohibits inmates from talking to the media without permission because the agency believes that victims of crime should not have to see or hear the person who victimized them or their family member on the news, state prisons spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said in a statement. The Associated Press contributed to this report. (WATCH PREVIOUS: Alex Murdaugh to be kept in protective custody in prison) Amazon is reportedly facing lawsuits from landlords over some proposed Amazon Fresh stores. Alex Bitter/Insider Amazon is facing lawsuits from some landlords over its proposed Amazon Fresh grocery stores. One of the latest lawsuits concerns a Long Island lease that Amazon reportedly tried to get out of. Amazon canceled or paused some Fresh stores over the last year as it rethinks its grocery strategy. Amazon is reportedly getting into legal battles with landlords over properties where it was supposed to open Amazon Fresh grocery stores. The latest example is on Long Island, just outside of New York City. There, Amazon is set to face off in court with Salisbury Partners, the New York Post reported on Saturday. In April 2022, Amazon signed a lease with Salisbury for a storefront in East Meadow. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The company repeatedly met with Amazon "to make them happy for months on end, and then in November 2022 they were nitpicking about things like the colors and a light," Mark Sagliocca, whose family manages Salisbury and the property in question, told the Post. "The more I think about it, it was a stall tactic," Sagliocca added. Salisbury and Amazon are scheduled to appear in New York state supreme court in Nassau County on Sept. 22, the Post reported. The developer sued Amazon this past spring for $37 million, including unpaid rent on the property. Amazon claims that it has no obligation to pay any rent for the proposed store, according to the Post. "Like any retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions that can lead to closing existing locations or choosing not to pursue building a planned location," Jessica Martin, an Amazon spokesperson, told Insider. Salisbury did not respond to a request for comment. In New Jersey, another landlord is suing Amazon for $10 million after it invested in readying one of its properties for an Amazon Fresh store, the Post reported. Amazon has also faced lawsuits from landlords in Philadelphia and Seattle, according to the Post. Amazon opened its first Fresh store in 2020 and has about 44 stores three years later, according to its website. But Amazon has canceled plans for some Fresh stores. This summer, it laid off hundreds of Amazon Fresh store workers, too. CEO Andy Jassy said in his annual letter to shareholders this year that the company still sees potential in grocery, though he added: "We must find a mass grocery format that we believe is worth expanding broadly." Amazon has also tried to get out of leases for Fresh stores in other parts of the country. In May, for instance, Amazon listed six properties for sublease in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, Axios Twin Cities reported. Read the original article on Business Insider It's been more than fifty years since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the High-Speed Ground Transportation Act into law, lauding the "technological miracles in our transportation" with "one great exception." In spite of "airplanes which fly three times faster than sound," America remained stuck with "the same tired and inadequate mass transportation" of decades past. Five years later, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation assumed control of the bulk of America's commercial rail travel, operating under the name for which it is now known best: Amtrak. But while a Department of Transportation timeline of the intervening decades lists plenty of corridors designated and groundwork laid for America's perennially forthcoming next-generation rail network, the United States remains far behind much of the world when it comes to the mass adoption of high-speed trains. When notorious train-lover President Biden signed his $1.2 trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill into law in 2021, he predicted that "historians are going to look back at this moment and say, 'That's the moment America began to win the competition of the 21st century.'" With the bill's billions of dollars earmarked for train travel, does this mean the United States is finally on the cusp of a high-speed revolution? What the commentators said California's ongoing effort to link the Los Angeles region with San Francisco remains the country's first and highest-profile high-speed rail project, but it's Florida that's led the way in actually delivering a new generation of intercity train transportation. There, the Brightline company is set to open a new high-speed line connecting Orlando with South Florida a step marking "the first private entity to deliver the intercity rail system since Henry Flagler built the railroad more than a century ago," according to Fox 35 Orlando. While the company has "operated much like a commuter service" since it launched a Miami-West Palm Beach line five years ago, the Orlando station will mark the "nation's first non-Amtrak passenger train link between two metro areas in four decades" thanks to a hefty "$6 billion in private investment," The Washington Post reported. According to Brightline, the September opening has been delayed by "a few more days." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement California, meanwhile, is moving forward with multiple high-speed rail projects including its massive, decades-long Central Valley construction. Last month California High-Speed Rail Authority's Board of Directors announced the "first part of a two-step procurement process" to secure trains "capable of operating at 220 mph and tested up to 242 mph" according to a press release. The goal is to have enough trains running "by the end of 2030 to support revenue operations on the 171-mile Merced to Bakersfield section." California is also looking to begin construction on a Brightline route between the LA metro area and Las Vegas with "possible passenger operations in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles," according to the Post. The quest for new high-speed trains isn't limited to the coasts, either. Early last month Amtrak and Texas Central Partners announced in a press release their exploratory partnership to "advance planning and analysis work associated with the proposed Dallas-Houston 205-mph high-speed rail project." According to Popular Science, the Texas line could "remove an estimated 12,500 cars per day" with an overwhelming majority of recently surveyed travelers" suggesting "they would ride such a form of transportation 'in the right circumstances.'" What next? With many high-speed rail projects mired in legal, financial, and technical challenges, Amtrak is moving forward with a new fleet of speedier trains. In a press release, the organization said it expects to debut 28 new "next-generation" trains on its Acela line in the northeast corridor sometime in late 2024. These trains, running 10 miles per hour faster than their predecessors, will remain slower than other high-speed projects, since they run on "conventional tracks shared with other intercity, commuter and freight trains," the Post reported. While this all represents a significant step forward for America's languishing railway system, it's merely "a down payment on literally decades of underinvestment," Rail Passengers Association president Jim Mathews told NBC. "We are catching up on stuff we should have been paying for." You may also like Homepage Cooper discussed the challenges of covering a Trump in an interview with the NYT. He said there was a "steep learning curve in figuring out how to deal with a candidate who is completely willing to lie." Cooper also defended CNN's town hall with Trump , calling him a "front-runner" in the Republican presidential primary. As we head into the 2024 election, journalists are once again talking about how to cover former President Donald Trump one of the most controversial figures on the campaign trail. In a recent interview with New York Times, longtime CNN anchor Anderson Cooper talked about what he's gleaned from covering Trump over the past several years. "There was a steep learning curve in figuring out how to deal with a candidate who is completely willing to lie and lies repeatedly and often," Cooper told the NYT. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He added, "There's a shamelessness in that and only so much you can do about it from a reporting standpoint." In May, CNN held a town hall with Trump that drew in over 3.3 million people. The former president's performance, which was filled with a litany of half-truths and full-out lies, horrified CNN's own staffers. The network fielded criticism for giving Trump too much air time, and CNN's CEO, Chris Licht, was fired in June, just a month later. Cooper, however, still stands by CNN's decision. "I defended the concept of hearing from the person who's the front-runner in the Republican Party. I still believe that person can be challenged in an interview," he told the NYT. According to FiveThirtyEight's polling averages, Trump is handily leading national polls for the GOP presidential primary next year. Cooper also suggested that he didn't have a particularly strong relationship with Licht, saying "I don't have much confidence that I actually know what he was thinking." Aside from the challenges posed by Trump, Cooper also reflected on broader developments in the media landscape. While we're in a moment in which partisan content has become increasingly popular and profitable Cooper doesn't necessarily see earlier years as a model for the industry. "It's also easy to look back at Cronkite and Eric Sevareid people will say, "This golden age when you could trust those people," he told the NYT. "But the newsrooms were all white and straight, and the subjects covered were very limited. It is easy to look at another time and think it was so much better." Read the original article on Business Insider Arizona Republicans are bracing for the possibility of an extraordinarily volatile Senate primary in which Kari Lake and Blake Masters , two Trump-aligned candidates who both lost statewide bids last fall, could be among the competitors. Lake has said shes seriously considering getting in the race, and a senior adviser noted she could make a decision in the next month or so. A new Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with Masterss plans, said the failed Senate hopeful is set to announce another bid in the coming weeks. Both stoked controversies in their last bids for offices, and a win by either would leave some Republicans worried about their chances in November. This is obviously going to be the race to watch across the nation, said Arizona-based Republican strategist Lorna Romero Ferguson. I think this race will really set the tone of: OK, what is the path forward for Arizona? ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Liberals want Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema out of her seat as the party hopes to hold onto its slim majority. The incumbent hasnt said whether shell run for reelection as an independent. Meanwhile, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is running for his partys nomination, setting up the possibility of a three-way contest. Lake and Masters were each endorsed by former President Trump in their races last year, and while the party hoped the pair would be part of a red wave of Republican wins during the midterms, both candidates lost the sought-after Arizona seats. Lake, a former newscaster, narrowly lost her bid for governor to Katie Hobbs (D). After touting Trumps claims of election fraud during the 2020 race along the campaign trail, she refused to concede to Hobbs and has continued to allege fraud in the 2022 match-up. Masters, a former executive at conservative megadonor Peter Thiels Thiel Capital, lost his bid for Senate last year to Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly. Lake and Masters appeared on last years campaign trail together, but if they both get in the race for Sinemas post, theyll have to differentiate themselves and fight for votes in the primary, which could lead to the eventual winner heading into the general election considerably weakened. Obviously its not going to be a kumbaya when theyre competitors. And I do think that you will see Kari Lake going after [Masters] pretty vigorously, because obviously hes going to be a threat, Ferguson said. Though its still early to predict how the race could play out with multiple prominent possible contenders still undecided, strategists think Lake has the advantage to secure the GOP nomination if she does run, leaving the onus on Masters to make his case if he gets in. What Kari Lake voter is he going to convince to vote for him instead? Lake and Blake were a team last year, but in their events, Kari Lake was clearly the draw, said Arizona-based GOP strategist Barrett Marson. Im just not sure how Blake differentiates himself from Kari Lake in a meaningful way. Brian Seitchik, another GOP strategist based in Arizona, said Masters will need to aggressively pull voters from Lake if theyre competing. Part of the difficulty, Marson argued, is that both candidates are so well-defined already. He floated the possibility that Masters will run on the supposition that Lake doesnt ultimately launch a bid. But Ferguson suggested that being well-defined could end up being a detriment to Lake, because its different this time, because shes not brand-new. Lakes continued claims of election fraud may have tired some voters and alienated some in the donor class, she said. Now youll have, potentially, two previously Trump-endorsed candidates going into this cycle but two candidates that took very different approaches post-election, said Ferguson, referencing the fraud claims. Masters raised concerns about the 2020 election, but conceded his race to Kelly. Ferguson cautioned that Masters shouldnt fall victim to wanting to out-Trump Kari Lake, but said she sees a potential path to victory for him if he broadens his appeal, rather than leaning to the right. Given the unique electoral landscape of Arizona, where the largest group of voters in the state is unaffiliated with either major party, primary contenders will likely need votes from the middle to win. Thiel gave millions to Masterss midterm campaign, but Reuters reported in April that the megadonor was planning to take a step back from supporting political candidates in 2024. Strategists predict Lake, who is outspoken in her support of the former president, is the more likely of the two to get a potential Trump endorsement. Seitchik said that Lamb, who is already in the race, becomes an asterisk in this race if both Lake and Masters get in. This will just further suck any further oxygen out of his campaign. If he chooses to stay in the race, Im not quite sure where his support comes from, Seitchik said of Lamb. Marson, though, argued the sheriff has a much better lane to victory because he boasts a strong message on immigration and law enforcement that could appeal to Arizona Republicans, and because he hasnt bought into the election denialism. A Lake-Masters-Lamb primary could prove a headache for the party. Though many think Lake would be the front-runner, some Republicans worry the controversial Trump-aligned candidate could cost them the Senate come the general election. This potential outcome isnt lost on Democrats, who are cheering on the possibility of a brutal GOP primary. The Arizona Senate race is rapidly becoming the GOPs worst nightmare, Arizona Democratic Party senior communications adviser Olivia Taylor-Puckett said in a statement. But no matter who gets in the GOP race, the partys nominee will head into a critical general election that could include both the independent incumbent and a Democratic nominee for a three-way showdown. You cant count Sinema out, Ferguson said. This kind of unknown about having a legitimate third-party candidate running for a statewide office for U.S. Senate, at least in Arizona, but Im pretty sure most states, is completely unheard of. The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates Sinemas seat as one of just three toss up states not leaning to either side. A Noble Predictive Insights poll taken in July found Gallego leading Sinema and Lake in a hypothetical three-way contest 34 percent for the Democrat, 26 percent for the independent and 25 percent for the Republican. In a Gallego-Sinema-Masters matchup, the Democrat led with 32 percent, followed by the independent with 28 percent and the Republican with 24 percent. With Lamb as the GOP candidate, Gallego earned 33 percent, and Sinema and Lamb were statistically tied at 24 and 25 percent. Seitchik noted that Democrats will be defending seats in Ohio, Montana and West Virginia in 2024, but said states like Arizona will also be key to defending their slim majority and they will be heavily sought after by Republicans looking to take control. The United States Senate is up for grabs, Seitchik said, adding that the possible three-way race will be notably unpredictable. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. Police in Dallas are asking for the publics help to identify two suspects they said killed a 52-year-old armored car guard shot Friday morning. David Ruback, the guard, was shot around 9:30 a.m. Friday during a robbery in the 100 block of South Carroll, according to police. No arrets have been made, but police have released still images of two suspects and their vehicle from surveillance footage. In the stills, the suspects are seen wearing all black from head to foot and carrying rifles. The vehicle is an older model white Chevrolet Impala. No distinguishing features were visible in the images and the license plate on the vehicle, which may be a temporary paper plate, is not legible. Police also released new details about what happened in the robbery leading to Rubacks killing. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Investigators believe the two men attacked while Ruback and his partner, who police have not released any information about, were making a cash delivery to a business, according to police. Ruback was walking toward the door of of the business when one of the suspects approached and shot Ruback. Police said the suspect picked up the courier bag Ruback was carrying the business cash in and left the scene in the white Chevrolet. Ruback was taken to the hospital where he died. Police have not located the car the suspects used. Anybody with information on the suspects or the vehicle should call 911. Authorities with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department on Sunday announced the arrest of a suspect in connection with the stabbing death of an 84-year-old man in Whittier last week. Rolland Edward Alexander II was found stabbed to death in a home in the 15300 block of Goodhue Street around 3 p.m. Tuesday, but authorities believe he was killed the day before. The assailant allegedly ran to Alexanders house after attacking another elderly man just blocks away. Rolland Alexander II is seen in an undated photo posted on Facebook. That victims son intervened and stopped that attack, but the suspect also went into Alexanders house and allegedly killed him before stealing his truck, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Authorities traced Alexanders truck to Chino, where they found it abandoned. In both attacks, the man entered through an unlocked door, officials said. After learning of the murder, sheriffs officials say homicide investigators worked around the clock to identify the suspect, who was described as a possibly homeless man. A combination of tips from the public, other law enforcement agencies and surveillance footage helped investigators identify the man. He was arrested at an unknown location for burglary and murder, according to an LASD news release. Whittier stabbing The name of the suspect is being withheld at this time pending further investigation, the release stated. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Sheriffs Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips can be made through Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or online at L.A. Crime Stoppers. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. By Ananda Teresia and Kate Lamb JAKARTA (Reuters) -Malaysia called on its Southeast Asian partners on Monday to impose "strong" measures against Myanmar's ruling generals, saying "obstacles" they created had blocked a peace plan for the strife-torn country. The unusually blunt message from Malaysia came as top Southeast Asian diplomats met to review their regional bloc's stalled peace plan for Myanmar, with frustration growing with the military's failure to end violence more than two years after it seized power in a coup. "Malaysia and other member countries gave their views that we cannot allow this to continue without strong and effective measures imposed on the junta," Malaysian foreign minister Zambry Abdul Kadir told reporters after the talks in the Indonesian capital. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He did not identify the other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) who shared his view. ASEAN leaders are meeting in Jakarta this week to discuss Myanmar, a code of conduct for the South China Sea, the region's economy, transnational crime and other issues. Myanmar is a member of ASEAN though its military rulers have been excluded from top bloc meetings since they ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering violent opposition to their rule. ASEAN has agreed on a peace plan, known as its five-point consensus, that calls for an end to violence and dialogue among all parties but the generals have paid little more than lip service to it. Zambry said the peace plan had not been effectively implemented because of "obstacles created by the junta". A spokesperson for the Myanmar junta was not immediately available for comment but military leaders reject outside criticism saying they have to act to defend the country from its enemies, both at home and abroad. 'DIFFICULT TIME' The crisis in Myanmar has raised questions about the effectiveness and unity of the politically diverse ASEAN grouping, founded at the height of the Cold War in the 1960s to oppose the spread of communism. For years ASEAN promoted "constructive dialogue" with Myanmar's military in the face of Western pressure to isolate the long-ruling generals and press them with sanctions to reform. The early 2021 coup ended a decade of tentative reform, including two elections won by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, and set back hopes in ASEAN and beyond that Myanmar was moving towards civilian government, political stability and economic growth. Cambodia's new prime minister, Hun Manet, making his debut at an international gathering as leader, referred to "constructive dialogue", recounting how his father, former Prime Minster Hun Sen, visited Myanmar in 2022 "to advocate de-escalating tensions and enabling constructive dialogue among relevant stakeholders to achieve enduring peace". ASEAN has for decades operated under the principle of not interfering in each other's internal affairs and reaching agreement by consensus. Hun Manet said the group must prevent the use of force against sovereign states in an increasingly dangerous world. "We are living in a difficult time with great uncertainties, geopolitical rivalry between major powers is tightening, causing constant changes in regional and global economy and trade, and putting greater pressure on peace, security and prosperity for ASEAN as a whole," Hun Manet said. "ASEAN and international communities must exert leadership in opposing the use of threat of force against a sovereign state." Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, in opening remarks as chair of ASEAN this year, said a review of the Myanmar peace plan would be presented to group leaders later this week. "ASEAN can only steam forward in full power if we can ensure a peaceful and lasting solution in Myanmar," she said. Indonesia, which has urged unity amid growing scepticism of the bloc's credibility, has been conducting behind-the-scenes efforts to find a solution to Myanmar's turmoil but has little to show for its effort. Later in the week, leaders and top officials from partner countries such as the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and others will join their counterparts in Jakarta U.S. President Joe Biden will not be attending. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Asian American vice president, will be taking his place. Chinese Premier Li Qiang is due to attend. (Reporting by Ananda Teresia in Jakarta; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor and A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Robert Birsel) By Kate Lamb and Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) -Myanmar has ceded its turn to chair the Southeast Asian regional bloc, an official confirmed on Tuesday, after the group agreed that an existing but widely criticised peace plan will continue to guide its response to the bloody conflict there. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has faced criticism for its failure to get Myanmar's ruling military to make progress on a five-point peace consensus agreed to shortly after it seized power in a 2021 coup. Despite scepticism over its effectiveness, ASEAN agreed on Tuesday that the peace plan would continue to guide its approach to Myanmar's political crisis, according to an official document seen by Reuters. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The document also showed that the bloc "urged the Myanmar Armed Forces in particular and all related parties concerned in Myanmar to de-escalate violence and stop targeted attacks on civilians." Myanmar, which has been gripped by violence and political and economic chaos since the coup, was slated to chair the 10-member regional grouping in 2026. But regional leaders agreed that the Philippines would assume the role in 2026 instead. "The Philippines will take over the ASEAN chairmanship for 2026," ASEAN secretary general Kao Kim Hourn told Reuters after the first day of the group's annual summit in Jakarta, adding that the switch was first proposed by Myanmar. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said leaders had also agreed to an informal "troika" approach to ASEAN's special envoy on Myanmar, which would see the chair supported by the former and future chairs for continuity. "A troika was formed to ensure the continuity in terms of handling the issue because everyone understands this situation cannot change in one year," Retno told reporters. Myanmar's military-appointed ministry of foreign affairs rejected the leaders' decision on the peace plan "as the reviews are not objective and decisions are biased and one-sided." The ministry said Myanmar was not represented at the summit, and though it was consulted on the decision, "the views and voices of Myanmar are not taken into account." While the bloc prioritises unity and non-interference in sovereign affairs, differences have emerged as Indonesia has sought to engage all stakeholders in the conflict while Thailand has tried to re-engage with the ostracised junta leaders. 'NO PROXY' Opening the summit on Tuesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo warned against countries in the bloc getting dragged into big-power rivalry. "ASEAN has agreed to not be a proxy to any powers. Don't turn our ship into an arena for rivalry that is destructive," he said. The sharpening rivalry between China and the United States loomed over the meeting. Some ASEAN members have focused on developing close diplomatic, business and military ties with Beijing while others are more wary. The summit comes days after China released a "10-dash line" map, illustrating its claim to an extensive portion of the South China Sea that will likely add urgency to negotiations on a long-delayed code of conduct in the strategic waterway. ASEAN member states Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, which have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, have rejected China's map. ASEAN leaders later this week will hold an East Asia summit, a wider forum that includes China, India, Japan, Russia and the United States. Adding to unease about ASEAN's relevance, U.S. President Joe Biden is not attending the talks. Vice President Kamala Harris will attend instead. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will also attend. (Additional reporting by Karen Lema in Manila, Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur and Wa Lone in Toronto; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor, Robert Birsel, Christina Fincher and Mark Porter) A Greektown hostel is expected for the second time in a year to house migrants as Chicago officials continue trying to cope with busloads of asylum-seekers being sent here. Ald. Bill Conway, 34th, said Monday he got about a one-week notice from Mayor Brandon Johnsons administration that about 190 migrants will be given shelter at the Parthenon Guest House in the 300 block of South Halsted Street. The hostel housed asylum-seekers from the fall of 2022 until February, and it went well, Conway said. But the city needs a better approach than the seemingly patchwork, reactive response to the humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants from there to Chicago a little more than a year ago, he said. Im disappointed and frustrated in the way the mayors office is handling it, but at this point we do have to find shelter for people, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Conway said he intends to hold a community meeting Wednesday to try to assuage the concerns of neighbors who are worried and have cited recent reports that other similar city-run shelters have drawn fights and drug use. The Johnson administration told Conway that asylum-seekers will begin to arrive at the hostel Friday, he said. The alderman said he asked the Johnson administration for more time to prepare residents and others in the neighborhood for the arriving migrants, but was told that wasnt possible. I initially said, Hey, can we back this up a week? And they said yes, initially. Then they called me back the next day and said they could not back it up another week, Conway said. When Abbott started sending busloads of asylum-seekers to Chicago and other cities far from the nations southern border, he argued that places with policies establishing them as sanctuary cities should welcome the migrants. Since then, more than 13,500 asylum-seekers have arrived here, stretching city resources often beyond their breaking point. Tension between City Hall and aldermen and residents has been a near-constant feature of the citys response to the situation. Mayor Lori Lightfoot drew the ire of Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th, and Woodlawn neighborhood residents for taking steps to turn the former Wadsworth Elementary School into a shelter for up to 1,000 migrants. Johnsons administration also has been criticized for how its rolled out new shelter announcements, including at the Broadway Armory in Edgewater and at the Lake Shore Hotel in Kenwood. Ald. Desmon Yancy, 5th, complained that City Hall didnt consult the community. Since the first asylum-seekers arrived in August 2022, city officials have considered more than 200 sites for temporary housing, including the former Englewood Whole Foods, a Mars factory on the West Side thats closing, a Veterans Affairs hospital building and vacant schools and movie theaters. At times, the city has housed migrants in the basement of the Harold Washington Library Center. The city also has repeatedly placed migrants in government-owned buildings, most notably police stations, and then relocated them to private hotels and hostels. In November, the city moved asylum-seekers from the North Town Branch Library to the Greektown hostel. In April, the city took migrants from Truman College and sent them to a shelter in the Loop. The city has repeatedly sent migrants to Leone Beach Park field house in West Ridge, removed them and then brought them back. jebyrne@chicagotribune.com Authorities in Nevada are investigating one death after a storm slammed the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, leaving thousands of Burning Man festival attendees stranded in the desert. The Pershing County Sheriffs Office confirmed it is investigating one death, but it did not release the identity of the deceased person or the suspected cause of death, according to The Associated Press. In a statement shared with The Hill, the Burning Man Project confirmed a mans death was reported Friday, but it was unrelated to weather. Organizers said their emergency services department received a call for service and could not resuscitate the man. Over a half-inch of rain hit parts of northwest Nevada over the weekend, according to Mark Deutschendorf, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno. This exceeds the September rainfall average of 0.21 inches of rain in Reno, which is about 140 miles south of the festival. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The heavy rainfall prompted shelter-in-place warnings for those at the festival. In a message at 9 a.m. Sunday, the festivals organizers said many vehicles were getting stuck in thick mud and advised festivalgoers against driving their vehicles. Some vehicles with 4WD (four-wheel drive) and all-terrain tires are able to navigate the mud and are successfully leaving, a statement from the Burning Man Project said. But we are seeing most other types of vehicles that try to depart getting stuck in the wet mud which hampers everyones Exodus. Please do NOT drive at this time. The term exodus refers to the festivals conclusion and exit process. Sgt. Nathan Carmichael with the Pershing County Sheriffs Office told CNN on Sunday morning that a little more than 70,000 people remained stranded Saturday. He told CNN some people left the site by walking out, though most RVs were stuck in place. The annual counterculture festival brings around 80,000 artists, musicians and activists to Black Rock Desert. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said the entrance to the event would remain closed for the remainder of the event, which was scheduled to end Monday. A large wooden effigy was supposed to have been burned Saturday night in an event known as the Man Burn, but it was postponed to Sunday. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, organizers said rainy and muddy conditions and an inability to move heavy equipment and fire safety onsite, further postponed the event to Monday night. A White House official said President Biden was briefed on the situation and administration officials are in touch with state and local officials. Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware that people at the festival should pay attention to local officials. The Hill reached out to the Pershing County Sheriffs Office for comment. The Associated Press contributed. Updated at 10:55 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy speaks to a reporter in the Spin Room following the first Republican Presidential primary debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23, 2023. Entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy speaks to a reporter in the Spin Room following the first Republican Presidential primary debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23, 2023. Updated 9/02/2023 at 8:00 a.m. ET Vivek Ramaswamy has the rare ability to inspire distaste across a broad political spectrum. After irritating his Republican primary opponents for hours on the debate stage, Ramaswamy turned his attention to making wildly anti-Black statements on the campaign trail. Read more ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kendi, author of How to be an Antiracist, didnt mince words either when asked about Ramaswamys statements. The modern Klan actually hates me, and you know who the modern Klan loves? The very candidate that Vivek praises every chance he gets, and thats Donald Trump, Kendi told MSNBC. Were not sure where to begin here, but there are a few things worth noting. As Kendi correctly pointed out, the KKK still exists, and in 2016, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke endorsed TrumpRamaswamys favorite former POTUS, for President. That same year, the Crusader, a KKK newspaper, also endorsed him. Duke endorsed Trump again in 2020. While it would be great to say that after a brief schooling, Ramaswamy learned his lesson, thats definitely not what happened. In an interview with CNN on Sunday, the Republican candidate argued that he only wanted to spark a discussion. He also doubled down on his white supremacist comments in the wake of a shooting carried out by a white supremacist who killed three Black people with an AR-15 decorated with Swastikas. After his Sunday interview, the Congressional Black Caucus released a statement condemning his actions. Vivek Ramaswamys comments against Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley do not provoke open and honest discussion on race in America, rather they reveal the depths of his own dishonesty, they wrote. But his words are not merely the ramblings of a deeply unserious person this is part of a dark and calculated attempt to obfuscate the truth about racism in America. More from The Root Sign up for The Root's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Sarah Pritchard says FCA will act if 'banks and others are more tick-box than risk-based' - Financial Conduct Authority Banks that wrongly deny accounts to politicians and their families face the prospect of being fined, the financial watchdog warns. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is reviewing how banks treat politicians amid claims some have struggled to open accounts or faced unusually detailed checks. Writing for The Telegraph, Sarah Pritchard, executive director at the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA], vows that the regulator is willing to act if banks treat politicians unfairly. Ms Pritchard argues it is correct and legally required for financial institutions to carry out additional checks for so-called Politically Exposed Persons, or PEPs. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But she warns that such procedures should not feel like the financial equivalent of someone rifling through your bin. Ms Pritchard writes: If we find that banks and others are more tick-box than risk-based, we will act. Because proportionate additional financial scrutiny should not make it harder than it needs to be to take part in public life. The FCA has a range of options in such scenarios, including ordering firms to make changes to their policies and taking enforcement action, including fines. Ms Pritchards article is the first written by the FCA leadership since the de-banking scandal first emerged. Necessary and proportionate Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, lost his Coutts account, only for it later to be discovered via the release of internal bank deliberations that his political views played a role in the decision-making. Dame Alison Rose departed as chief executive of Natwest, which owns Coutts, amid the backlash. Peter Flavel also left as Couttss chief executive. The FCA is working on two reviews. The first is into how PEPs are handled, which predated the Farage case, and the second looks into the scale of the general de-banking problem. The FCA has come in for criticism by some for its role in shaping the banking culture which has led to high-profile examples of de-banking. The regulator on Tuesday published details about its PEPs review. Ms Pritchard, who oversees the banking sector in her role, will also give a speech on Wednesday. Ms Pritchard writes in her Telegraph piece: It is necessary and proportionate for banks to ask those with power for more information about sources of wealth and financial connections, for example. But an appropriate level of inquiry should not feel like the financial equivalent of someone rifling through your bin. We have heard that often it has, particularly for the families of political figures. Later she adds: Were aiming at, and were determined to achieve, a system that properly guards against risk, keeps our system clean and meets our international commitments, but does so proportionately so the trustworthy are not denied access to financial products and services necessary for everyday life. We want our financial and political system to be clean and free of corruption By Sarah Pritchard I want to encourage others to join me as a public servant whether as regulator, civil servant, in the forces or within Parliament. Service is a privilege. But for all its upsides, there is no denying that being a senior public servant can come with additional, if entirely reasonable, burdens. The decisions we take have a huge impact on the lives of others. It is understandable, therefore, that we should face greater scrutiny on our finances. The public should be assured we are taking decisions for the right reasons. We want our financial and political system to be clean and free of corruption. The UK is one of more than 200 countries and jurisdictions that have signed up to additional financial checks on senior figures in public life, known as Politically Exposed Persons. Here, Parliament has written those standards into law. In response to these requirements, it is necessary and proportionate for banks to ask those with power for more information about sources of wealth and financial connections, for example. But an appropriate level of inquiry should not feel like the financial equivalent of someone rifling through your bin. We have heard that often it has, particularly for the families of political figures. Tackling financial crime is a central part of the FCAs strategy. We have acted, including through criminal prosecutions, against those who fail to meet the international standards we uphold. We secured the first criminal conviction of a bank for failing to meet anti money laundering standards. Over 1 billion in fines has been paid since 2010 as a result of our work. And, in a speech on Wednesday, I will set out how we are using data to better identify those who would misuse our financial system for criminal ends. For example, to ensure firms are implementing robust controls, we have developed an automated tool to test firms ability to identify those subject to sanctions, taking targeted action where we see weaknesses. The response to this regulatory scrutiny, however, should not be a blanket approach by banks and other financial institutions to risk. We have published guidance since 2017 on how financial firms should treat senior public figures. This sets out that banks and others must be proportionate with greater scrutiny on those who pose the greatest threat. And we have been clear that UK public figures should generally be considered low risk. Individuals can also raise concerns with their financial institution or the Financial Ombudsman Service, who can investigate complaints about disproportionate treatment. We have also listened to the concerns of those who have felt that banks and others have been too risk averse, enforcing legal requirements with broadsword rather than scalpel. That is why Parliament has asked us to review how UK Politically Exposed Persons are treated within the current legal regime. We have asked those affected what impact it has had, and we are publishing more details on what our review will cover. Areas of focus for the review will include how firms are applying the definition of PEPs to individuals and checking that firms are being proportionate in their risk assessments of UK PEPs. Were aiming at, and were determined to achieve, a system that properly guards against risk, keeps our system clean and meets our international commitments, but does so proportionately so the trustworthy are not denied access to financial products and services necessary for everyday life. If we find that banks and others are more tick-box than risk-based, we will act. Because proportionate additional financial scrutiny should not make it harder than it needs to be to take part in public life. Sarah Pritchard is Executive Director at the Financial Conduct Authority 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. Three men are behind bars after officials say they were involved in a stabbing at a bar. Cherokee County sheriff officials said on Friday at 12:30 a.m., deputies received reports of a person stabbed at The Place, a bar on Parkside Lane near Woodstock. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] When deputies arrived, they located a 49-year-old man lying on the ground with a stab wound to his chest. The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The victims identity has not been released. According to the investigation, the victim, a patron at the bar, was being disorderly and escorted outside by several men before a fight began. During the fight, the victim was stabbed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement TRENDING STORIES: Detectives determined that a bar employee, 31-year-old Eric Armstrong of Woodstock, was responsible for the stabbing. Armstrong was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Authorities also arrested 25-year-old Bradley Salisbury of Woodstock and 39-year-old Bryan Cahill of Canton, two bar patrons involved in the fight. Salisbury was charged with battery, and Cahill was charged with simple battery. Both men bonded out of jail Friday morning on $1,000 bonds. IN OTHER NEWS: Spiro, a startup looking to eliminate fuel-guzzling motorbikes and scooters from the roads by trading them in for electric two-wheelers, is expanding to Kenya. Ahead of the first Africa Climate Summit, which kicked off in Kenyas capital Nairobi today, the host government announced on Friday that the e-bike and battery-swapping startup would be entering the East African country with its biggest deployment yet: 1.2 million electric vehicles. This marks a major milestone for the company founded in the West African country of Benin in 2022, says CEO Jules Samain vastly increasing its fleet from the 10,000 bikes currently in operation across Benin, Togo and Rwanda. This autumn, the company will also begin its five-year rollout of 140,000 bikes in Uganda. Crushing polluters Spiros goal is not only to reduce pollution sources, but to eliminate them, Samain tells CNN. Once an old bike has been traded in, the parts will be recycled and repurposed, he explains, adding that the company has held crushing events in both Benin and Togo, where motorized vehicles are publicly flattened before the material is reused. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The process for drivers differs between countries. In Kenya, they will be offered 50,000 Kenyan shillings (about $344) around a third of the price of a new electric bike to swap their existing bike for an electric one. They can then pay a daily subscription of around 255 Kenyan shillings (about $2) which repays the outstanding balance and gives drivers access to battery-swap stations, where they can quickly switch out depleted batteries for fully charged ones. Not only does the scheme reduce the number of petrol and diesel vehicles on the road and associated air pollution, but it also cuts costs for drivers in both fuel and maintenance, according to the company. The startup notes that some of its motorbike taxi drivers have reported profits rising from around $6 to $11 a day since joining the scheme. Spiro has hundreds of battery-swap and maintenance stations across the countries it operates in, where drivers can switch depleted batteries for fully charged ones. - CLEMENT DI ROMA/AFP via Getty Images A 2022 report from the FIA Foundation, an international transport and road safety charity, found that while the purchase price of electric motorcycles is currently greater than that of petrol-powered motorcycles, the operating costs are cheaper. It says that in many African countries, one liter of petrol will power a bike for about the same distance as one kilowatt-hour of electricity but will cost five to 10 times more. The report adds that battery-swapping initiatives are key in making electric two-wheelers more affordable, because when an electric motorcycle is sold without the battery, it significantly reduces the initial purchase price. But for battery-swapping to work, there needs to be reliable and accessible charging infrastructure, says Samain. Before distributing the first bike, we build a network of swapping stations, and they arent placed randomly: we carefully study the terrain and position our swapping stations in both urban and rural areas, ensuring extensive coverage. Spiro has committed to building 3,000 of these stations across Kenya, meaning that drivers can rid themselves of range anxiety, while also contributing to building up the nations electric vehicle infrastructure. The company, which currently manufactures most of its bikes and scooters in China, has also agreed to establish a manufacturing base in Kenya to generate local jobs. Kenyas president William Ruto, speaking in the coastal city of Mombasa at the launch of the initiative, said: It creates jobs and transfers knowledge, technology and skills to our market in a very sustainable way. President William Ruto drives a Spiro electric motorcycle during the national launch of the initiative in Mombasa, Kenya. - AFP via Getty Images Charging forward According to the FIA Foundation, there were 27 million motorbikes registered in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, rising from just 5 million in 2010, with around 80% of them used in the motorcycle taxi industry. The demand for two-wheelers is expected to grow even further, with a report from management consulting firm McKinsey estimating that electric and petrol motorbikes will make up over 45% of sub-Saharan Africas overall vehicle fleet by 2040. McKinsey warns that with increased demand, second-hand motorized vehicles that dont meet emission standards in other countries around the world might end up being sold in Africa, where there is weak regulation. To avoid the continent becoming a dumping ground for unwanted polluting vehicles, enabling affordable and reliable electrification will be key, it says. Spiro, formerly known as M-Auto, is just one of the startups fueling this transition. Swedish-Kenyan startup Roam (formerly Opibus), which converts old vehicles to run off electric motors, opened East Africas largest electric motorcycle assembly plant earlier this year, while Ampersand has a fleet of around 1,000 bikes as well as a small network of battery-swap stations across Kenya and Rwanda. Last week, US company Uber also launched an electric motorbike service in Kenya, promising to roll out 3,000 bikes within six months. But the scale of Spiros Kenya expansion dwarfs all existing fleets. Were surpassing the symbolic but significant milestone of one million electric bikes signed with a government, says Samain. The startup has its foot on the accelerator, and by 2030, he wants it to be operating in at least 10 African countries. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The 80th Venice Film Festival is being held in Italy from August 30 to September 9. So far, stars including Emma Corrin and Rita Ora have hit the red carpet in daring fashion. Sheer fabric has been a big style trend that stars have experimented with this year. For eight days beginning on August 30, the global film industry gathered in Italy to celebrate international cinema at the Venice International Film Festival. Though usually a star-studded event, this year has been unusually quiet, with many celebrities passing on the event while supporting the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes as members work to negotiate better working conditions and pay. Some actors have still been in attendance on the red carpets of approved projects; The Hollywood Reporter wrote that some films including "Ferrari," starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz, made an agreement with SAG-AFTRA which gave them waivers to do promotional events at the festival. Actors and celebrities have also been pictured at various parties over the weekend, like the amfAR Venezia gala; a charity ball and auction in support of AIDS research, as well as the star-studded Armani One Night Only party. Take a look at some of the best and most daring looks of the film festival so far. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Rita Ora arrived at the amfAR Venezia gala in a statement black sheer gown with a dramatic white sculptural detail from Stephane Rolland. Rita Ora attends the amfAR Gala Venezia 2023 on September 3, 2023. Ryan Emberley/amfAR via Getty Images Source: InStyle Camila Mendes arrived at the Armani One Night Only party in an Armani Prive halter-neck gown with flower appliques. Camila Mendes arriving at the Giorgio Armani One Night Only party on September 2. Jacopo Raule/Getty Image Emma Corrin attended a photocall at the Venice International Film Festival in an experimental matching green Miu Miu cardigan and underwear set. Emma Corrin at the Miu Miu Women's Tales event at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2023. Stefania D'Alessandro/WireImage Source: Instagram/Miu Miu Sydney Sweeney played it safe with a classic black Armani Prive lace ballgown with a dramatic satin cape detail. Sydney Sweeney attends the Giorgio Armani party in Venice on September 2, 2023. Jacopo Raule/Getty Images Kate Beckinsale opted for a chiffon black gown with gold raffia trim from Georges Chakra, paired with 6-inch platform heels. Kate Beckinsale at the amfAR Venezia gala on September 3, 2023. Ryan Emberley/amfAR via Getty Images Source: Instagram/Kate Beckinsale Amal Clooney chose a vintage Christian Dior dress to attend Diane von Furstenberg's DVF Awards along with husband George Clooney, where she received a DVF Leadership Award. Amal Clooney and George Clooney attend the DVF Awards during the 80th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2023, in Venice, Italy. Jacopo Raule/Getty Images Source: People, Harper's Bazaar Barbara Palvin opted for an Armani Prive watercolor minidress with a voluminous gathered skirt and beaded detailing. Barbara Palvin at the Giorgio Armani One Night Only party on September 2. Jacopo Raule/Getty Image Kerry Washington wore a dazzling blue-and-black sequinned minidress paired with black pumps. Kerry Washington attends the Giorgio Armani One Night Only event on September 2, 2023, in Venice, Italy. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images Georgia May Jagger channeled rock princess in a sequinned black gown with a sheer midriff from Pinko. Georgia May Jagger attends the "Ferrari" movie red carpet at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2023. Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Source: Instagram/Georgia May Jagger Olivia Palermo continued the Barbie-core trend in a Tamara Ralph pale-pink off-the-shoulder gown with oversized ruffled sleeves, and a taffeta bow attached to the long train. Olivia Palermo attends the red carpet for "Finalmente L'Alba" at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2023. Stefania D'Alessandro/WireImage Source: Instagram/Olivia Palermo Read the original article on Insider As the page turns on another month and lemonade gives way to pumpkin spice lattes, autumn is officially knocking on the door. One of the most obvious signs of the shifting season is the literal changing of the colors that paint our landscape. And even though California isnt the first state most people think of when they think of fall colors, there are still plenty of places that look more like a Hallmark Movie than you might expect. While many trees that line residential neighborhoods and some that live in city parks might offer a nice taste of the fall transition, the California Department of Parks and Recreation has a full list of state parks that offer some of the best views of fall colors, including several in Southern California. Cooler temperatures and the return of the school year also means many of these parks are slower and less busy, providing ample opportunity for visitors to take everything at their own pace either for a daytrip or an entire weekend. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Some of the Northern California State Parks that will provide abundant fall foliage include: Annadel State Park in Sonoma County, which features large maple trees that produce the iconic leaves that change from a soft green to a stark red. Ed Zberg Sugar Pine Point State Park south of Tahoe City, which offers some of the best color in the Tahoe area along Highway 89. Henry W. Coe State Park in Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties has forests on the north-facing slopes and big maple leafs that turn bright yellow and black oaks that have leaves that can turn red. October is usually the best month to enjoy the colors in this park, Parks and Rec officials say. Humboldt Redwoods State Park south of Eureka has big leaf maples, Oregon ash, dogwood, black oaks, red alder, white alder, cottonwood and poison oak, which has vines that change from green to red leaves and can look beautiful climbing up a tree trunk, officials say. McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park northeast of Redding in Shasta County is home to big leaf maple, various deciduous oaks, redbud, California black oak, Oregon white oak, white alder, Pacific dogwood, Oregon ash, vine maple, buck brush, deer brush, red flowering currant, and squaw bush, officials say. Mid-October is when the colors are most vibrant. Fall Colors in Southern California While Southern California is known more for its palms and Joshua trees rather than big leafy oaks and maples, there are a few good places to catch the changing colors. Cuyamaca Rancho State Park northeast of San Diego is home to black oak with leaves that turn a nice golden yellow. Mount San Jacinto State Park in Idyllwild is a relatively short drive for L.A. residents, but prepared for high altitude with the possibility of some snow on the ground. Palomar Mountain State Park in San Diego County features a nice autumn vista of bracken fern in the meadows turning a rich golden brown against the dark green of adjacent forests. Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area in San Bernardino County boasts an autumn vista of black oaks nestled in pines. The best place to see changing colors is off Interstate 15, east Highway 138, past Highway 143 out of Hesperia. For a longer list of Fall Color spotting locations at Californias state parks, click here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. ASHEVILLE - A 34-year-old bicyclist was killed in a hit-and-run collision with a sedan the afternoon of Sept. 3 on Hendersonville Road, according to a Sept. 4 news release from the Asheville Police Department. APD patrol officers responded to the incident around 1:12 p.m. Sept. 3 near the 2200 block of Hendersonville Road in South Asheville. A preliminary investigation indicates the cyclist, identified the evening of Sept. 4 as Patrick Jeffery Leroy, was traveling southbound in the turn lane when a blue sedan traveling northbound on Hendersonville Road attempted to pass another vehicle by using the turn lane, resulting in a head-on collision, according to the release. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene before officers arrived. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Leroy was transported to Mission Hospital by Buncombe County EMS, where he died from injuries soon after, according to the news statement. The next of kin has been notified. The vehicle and driver were located later that night. Police "are continuing to investigate and will consult with the Buncombe County District Attorneys Office regarding charges," the release said. If anyone has any information about the incident, call APD at 828-252-1110, or send an anonymous tip by texting TIP2APD to 847411. This has so far been a deadly Labor Day weekend in Asheville. Ismael Munoz, 37, was killed in a West Asheville shooting Sept. 2. According to an Asheville police news release, Arturo Cordero Martinez, 47, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting, and was arrested later that night outside Ferdinand, Indiana, by Indiana State Police. This story has been updated with the cyclist's identification. More: Answer Woman: Update on fatal W. Asheville crash that caught fire? Anyone charged? More: Bicyclist dies after being hit by SUV on Hendersonville Road; driver charged This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Bicyclist killed in Asheville hit-and-run Labor Day weekend President Biden on Monday bashed former President Trump to mark Labor Day, criticizing jobs and benefits under the previous administration. The guy who held this job before me was just one of two presidents in history left office with fewer jobs in America than when he got elected office, Biden said at the annual Tri-State Labor Day Parade in Philadelphia. When the last guy was here, you were shipping jobs to China. Now were bringing jobs home from China, Biden said. When the last guy was here, your pensions were at risk; we helped save millions of pensions with your help. When the last guy was here, he looked at the world from Park Avenue. I look at it from Scranton, Penn., I look at it from Claymont, Del. Not a joke, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The remarks in front of members of the Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 felt like a campaign speech, with Biden pacing the stage with the microphone behind signs that read union strong. He was surrounded by attendees holding signs with union strong and USA. His remarks follow Fridays jobs report that found the U.S. added 187,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent. Even with what weve done unlike the last president in my first two years, all this stuff, guess what? I cut the deficit $1.7 trillion. Cut the debt $1.7 trillion, Biden said. One of the ways I was able to invest in you and still bring down the deficit was I started making people pay their fair share. He said more than a thousand billionaires in the U.S. pay 8 percent in federal taxes, which is a lower rate than probably anyone in this parking lot at the parade. You pay enough. Its time for big corporations and the very wealthy to start paying their fair share, he said. Biden also addressed his age, saying he brings wisdom to the job. Biden, 80, is already the oldest person to serve as president, and he would be 86 at the end of his second term. Ill tell you what, someone said you know, that Biden hes getting old, man, the president said. The only thing that comes with age is a little bit of wisdom. Ive been doing this longer than anybody, and guess what? Im going to continue to do it with your help. Trump, 77, is polling double-digits ahead of other GOP rivals despite multiple legal battles across the country. With Trump and Biden the favorites for their parties presidential nominations in 2024, they are setting up a possible rematch of the 2020 election. Biden also took shots at Trump on Friday to hail the jobs report, calling out the job growth under his predecessor. The president often says he is the most pro-union president in history, and in Philadelphia, he declared that again to the group of supporters. Im proud to say union. Im proud to be the most pro-union president, according to the experts, in American history, he said. He added that hes been referred to as middle-class Joe throughout his political career. He also re-upped his calls for Congress to pass the PRO Act, sweeping legislation that would stiffen penalties for employers who violate workers rights and strengthen protections for employees against retaliation. Biden traveled to Philadelphia from his beach house in Rehoboth, Del., following accusations that he is on vacation while he is at that home. He told reporters his main residence in Wilmington, Del., is undergoing renovation to make it secure, adding he is not on vacation. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. President Joe Biden said a weekend trip to his Delaware beach house wasnt a vacation. The president, who was staying Sunday at his house in Rehoboth Beach, told reporters on Sunday after leaving a church that his main residence in Wilmington, Del., is undergoing renovation to make it secure. Im here for the day because I cant go home-home, added the president, who often travels to Delaware on weekends instead of staying at the White House. He explained to reporters he is not on vacation. Members of Bidens administration have defended the president against accusations of being on vacation when he visits his Rehoboth Beach home. Last month, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attempted to deflect criticism of the president staying at his other Delaware home during devastating wildfires in Maui. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Biden left Delaware early Monday morning to travel to Philadelphia to speak at an AFL-CIO rally. Hell return to the White House in the evening. His trip to Delaware came after he visited Florida earlier in the weekend in the wake of Hurricane Idalia, which hit Floridas Big Bend area as a Category 3 storm Wednesday. House Republicans slammed Bidens comment. There are approximately 30,000 homeless veterans in the United States. But Joe Biden, who has two homes, plus the White House, says he has no where to go. Unbelievable, read a late Sunday post on X, formerly known as Twitter, by House Judiciary Committee Republicans. Updated at 10:40 a.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. President Bidens reelection campaign dropped a new Arizona-specific ad on Labor Day that touts manufacturing jobs for the state. The new 30-second ad, entitled Manufacturing Boom, features Bill Ruiz, a Phoenix resident and second-generation carpenter. It will run in the Phoenix market and on national cable news and is part of the campaigns 16-week, $25 million advertising blitz focused on battleground states. Were seeing American manufacturing returning to the United States in big numbers, in big projects, and its because of the laws Joe Biden got passed, Ruiz said in the ad. He noted that the CHIPS and Science Act, which Biden signed into law last summer, is bringing multiple semiconductor factories to create high-skilled jobs. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Theres a manufacturing boom happening, and its thanks to Joe Biden, Ruiz said. Biden narrowly won Arizona in 2020, and it was key to his victory against former President Trump. Trump is leading Biden in Arizona by 45 percent, compared to 43 percent, according to an Emerson College poll released last month. Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager, said in a Monday statement that Bidens legislative agenda is bringing good jobs to places like Phoenix. This ad is just the latest example of how our campaign will leverage trusted, local voices to talk about how the President and Vice President are delivering for the American people, she said in the statement. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. President Biden said Sunday he is disappointed about the reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping will likely skip this weeks G20 summit in India. I am disappointed, but I am going to see him, Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Del., when asked about Xi not attending the G20 summit. Biden did not expand upon where he might see Xi in the future. Bidens comments come after multiple media reports last week said Xi will likely not be attending the G20 summit in New Delhi. Bidens trip to the summit, announced last week, is expected to be another opportunity for the U.S. to increase cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies as a counterbalance to China. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Last week, Biden said he still hoped Xi would attend the summit, which was largely seen as an opportunity to ease ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China. The two leaders met at last years G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, in their first in-person meeting since Biden took office. During that meeting, Biden told Xi their countries should manage their differences to prevent competition from becoming conflict. Tensions between the U.S. and China have since risen on various issues, including technology, espionage, economic competition and military power. Multiple close military confrontations in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait have also contributed to these tensions, in addition to a surveillance balloon incident last February and recent reports that China has operated a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden will visit India from Sept. 7-10 for the summit, where he will attend multiple bilateral meetings with other world leaders, but Sullivan did not disclose which leaders. Multiple U.S. leaders including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have visited China in recent months in an effort to improve relations with China. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. CIFTIS shows a distinctive globalization scene to the world 09:24, September 04, 2023 By Global Times editorial ( Global Times This photo taken on September 1, 2023 shows the China National Convention Center in Beijing, where all preparations for the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) have been completed. CIFTIS will be held from September 2 to 6 at the National Convention Center and Shougang Park in Beijing. The 2023 CIFTIS is expected to see more than 200 varied events including forums, negotiations, and summits. Photo: Xinhua The 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) opened in Beijing on Saturday. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a video speech at the Global Trade in Services Summit of the CIFTIS. President Xi's address not only reiterated China's unshakeable commitment to expanding high-level opening-up, but also proposed a series of new opening-up measures, such as "actively engaging in negotiations on the negative list for trade in services and investment," and "opening wider in such services areas as telecommunications, tourism, law and vocational examinations." These have gotten a lot of attention and a warm reception from participants and international public opinion. The theme of this year's CIFTIS is "Openness leads development, cooperation creates a win-win future," which reflects China's clear attitude. It's now been 11 years since the first CIFTIS in 2012. During This time, the globe has faced many upheavals and difficulties, such as the escalation of anti-globalization sentiment, regional conflicts, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change. However, despite the hurdles, China's commitment to opening up and multilateralism has become even clearer and firmer. Today, CIFTIS, along with the China International Import Expo and the China Import and Export Fair, forms a multi-faceted platform for China's high-level opening-up. Their regular holding itself conveys confidence and strength in unity and cooperation to the world. One striking impression is that this year's CIFTIS is more vibrant and international than ever before, with more firms participating and with a stunning array of new technologies and industries. It is reported that this CIFTIS has attracted 59 countries and 24 international organizations to set up exhibitions and conferences, with more than 2,400 companies participating offline, and more than 500 Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders attending. The overall internationalization rate exceeds 20%. It is expected to see over 200 varied events, including a global services trade summit, forums, business promotion conferences and supportive activities. And over 100 pieces of authoritative information, including the China Service Trade Development Report, will be released. Over 60 enterprises and institutions will launch an array of new products and technologies at the 2023 CIFTIS. These numbers by themselves are significant amid the present geopolitical and economic situations. It should be noted that the monumental event of this CIFTIS has also dispelled a number of widely held myths in the realm of global public opinion from a variety of angles. First of all, the claim that China's economy is no longer attractive is self-defeating. Due to the severe situation of goods trade exports in recent times and the impact of other factors, some foreign media outlets that are accustomed to belittling China's economy have made many so-called judgments about China's economy, such as "foreign capital leaving China" and "China's economy is no longer attractive." The reality shown at CIFTIS is exactly the opposite of these views. For most multinational companies and many countries, they are eager to seize opportunities in China after the pandemic. Both the development potential of China's trade in services and the new measures taken by the Chinese government have encouraged them. Second, it has been proven that "decoupling" from China is an extremely naive viewpoint. For example, the high-tech sector, of which the US aims to "kick China out," has ironically become one of the key points of this year's CIFTIS. Take Qualcomm, an American company that has participated in the fair for four consecutive years, as an example. 5G, large language models, virtual reality, and other advanced technologies have become the highlights of its exhibition this year. Qualcomm has once again expressed confidence in the development prospects of the Chinese market. Similarly, despite the frequent propaganda by anti-China politicians in the UK about "decoupling" from China, the UK, as the guest country of honor at this year's CIFTIS, not only sent the largest delegation, consisting of more than 60 British companies and institutions, but also expressed hope to deepen cooperation with China in areas such as financial services and education, recognizing the enormous opportunities in the Chinese market. For many global multinational companies, a basic reality is that they cannot maintain global competitiveness without coming to China. Although there are some voices in the West advocating for "de-risking," it is certain that no one can ignore the huge Chinese market. Thirdly, globalization has not collapsed, and the globalization of service trade presents a unique landscape in which China's high-level opening-up plays an important role. The growth of global trade in goods, while slowing down due to a variety of factors, is only one aspect of globalization as it exists today. In the service sector, which accounts for an increasingly larger proportion of the world economy, the process of globalization is still thriving. If we consider the large-scale digital transformation of traditional industries and the continuous emergence of leading achievements in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, the globalization led by service trade will go far beyond narrow analyses based on geopolitics. As the world's fourth-largest exporter and second-largest importer of services, China is promoting the development of service trade with its high-level opening, sharing development opportunities with the world. President Xi at the end of his remarks stressed that the world economy thrives in openness and withers in seclusion. Amid weak global economic recovery and various headwinds, openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and innovation-driven development showcased at the CIFTIS bring real and powerful confidence to the world. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Photo: The Canadian Press Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip this weeks Group of 20 summit in India as bilateral relations remain icy and Premier Li Qiang will attend in his place, Chinas Foreign Ministry said Monday. A one sentence notice on the ministry's website says: "At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10. Relations between China and India have grown frosty over their disputed border that three years ago resulted in a violent clash between their troops, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese. They have also clashed over trade and India's growing strategic ties with China's main regional rival the United States. India recently overtook China as the world's most populous nation and the two are rivals in technology, space exploration and global trade. President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media after attending Mass at St. Edmond Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Del., Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) There may be no place like home but President Joe Biden says he cannot go to his. Unprompted, Biden approached reporters Sunday in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after he went to Mass at St. Edmond Roman Catholic Church to say he was not on vacation. I have no home to go to, said Biden, who lives at the White House on weekdays and spends most weekends in Delaware, where he has two homes. The U.S. Secret Service has been doing work on his longtime primary residence in Wilmington, Delaware, to make it more secure in a good way, he said. It has been at least a few months since he last spent a night there. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement So I have no place to go when I come to Delaware, except here, right now, he said, speaking of his other home, in Rehoboth Beach. I'm only here for one day. Biden arrived on the Delaware coast on Saturday night after he spent the early part of the day in Florida surveying damage from Hurricane Idalia. He had been scheduled to spend Labor Day weekend here, but changed his plans after the storm. He travels to Philadelphia on Monday to speak at an AFL-CIO rally. Two weeks ago, he and his family spent a week on vacation in Nevada's Lake Tahoe region. The Republican National Committee regularly criticizes Biden for vacating the White House on weekends. He first told reporters about the security upgrades to his Wilmington home in April, when he went to the beach house after returning from a trip to Ireland. Asked Sunday if he was saying that he's homeless, Biden said that was not the case. No, I'm not homeless, he said. I just have one home. I have a beautiful home. I'm down here for the day because I can't go home home. The White House has been gradually preparing for a GOP impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and increasingly feels that it will benefit more from the probe than Republicans will. But that doesnt mean there isnt quiet resignation and frustration inside the building. While West Wing advisers believe independent and swing voters will ultimately turn against GOP leaders for using impeachment as political payback against the president, they also are bracing for a time-consuming, draining probe one that could create negative headlines and has the potential for unexpected outcomes. And thats not the only political hot spot they are gearing up to confront. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Biden aides are also preparing for another looming fight with Republicans over government funding. They believe that standoff will also turn to their favor especially if it results in a government shutdown. But here, too, there is consternation. Biden aides expressed concern about the damage an extended shutdown could do to the economy and the publics psyche, especially as Biden struggles to convince voters that the nations economic outlook is improving. The only problem with [Republicans] impeachment strategy is they have absolutely no grounds for impeaching the president, said one adviser to the White House who, like many others interviewed for this piece, was granted anonymity to speak freely about discussions. The shutdown is a more serious piece of business. But I think the strategy there will be to emphasize we have a deal, and the Speaker needs to live up to his end. The dual autumnal dilemmas have already begun to impact the West Wings operations. The president and his aides are escalating a push for a short-term funding resolution to keep the government open, while stressing the need for additional money for responses to various natural disasters across the country. They are also planning to use September to focus on Bidens work to address critical economic issues at home and abroad, in an effort to paint Republicans as either disinterested in resolving a standoff or outright embracing one. During the past year, meanwhile, the White House has gradually built up a war room to deal with the Republican investigations. About two dozen people a mix of lawyers, legislative staff and communications aides have been tasked with coming up with strategies to push back against the GOP probes. As the rhetoric heated up recently, the West Wing was in frequent communication with the House Democratic leadership to prepare for the process. Republicans tried a lot of these hits in 2020 and they failed, said a Democrat close to the Biden campaign. But in a bid for [Donald] Trumps 2024 campaign and to exact political revenge, these same Republicans are peddling the same debunked conspiracy theories that have been talked about for about five years. They have been investigated over and over. They have failed to uncover any evidence of wrongdoing by the president and Americans see right through it. Biden himself has spent little time dwelling on the likely impeachment inquiry, according to two people familiar with his thinking. But those around him believe that Speaker Kevin McCarthys approach to impeachment lacks an overall strategy and that he may ultimately push ahead with an inquiry solely to placate conservatives angry over the state of government spending. That, according to thinking within the West Wing, could deepen already stark divisions within the House Republican conference on the issue, potentially forcing McCarthy to either launch an inquiry before winning the full support of his most vulnerable members, or put his speakership at risk of a right-wing backlash. Biden allies are also betting that the GOPs growing focus on impeachment represents a tacit admission that years of ongoing probes turned up little. A new inquiry, therefore, would subsequently be perceived by voters as a wasteful fishing expedition. Even some Republicans acknowledge there is political risk in an impeachment inquiry. In the midterm election after an impeachment inquiry was launched into then-President Bill Clinton, Democrats picked up a handful of seats in the House, though Republicans still held onto the majority. Newt Gingrich, the speaker at the time, said that House Republicans today still have work to do to persuade Americans that Bidens impeachment is inevitable. My first advice is to go slow and be careful and keep unveiling more and more examples of corruption, he said. And I say that partly because I think when we did the Clinton impeachment where I think we were we were totally correct in that he clearly had committed a felony, he committed perjury because we failed to totally convince the American people, we were not able to get the Senate to have a serious trial. A spokesperson for McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment. Yet even as they gird for an impeachment battle led by McCarthy, White House officials recognize they will simultaneously need to work with the House GOP leader to avoid an economy-rattling government shutdown in less than a month. Biden and McCarthy hammered out a deal over the debt ceiling earlier this spring precisely to avoid such a battle. But with conservatives now calling for a renegotiation in pursuit of deeper spending cuts, senior Democrats have grown increasingly concerned McCarthy will feel the need to take a hard line against a short-term bill designed to keep the government open into December. They want one, and theyre gonna get it, Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said of a government shutdown. This will be the Freedom Caucus shutdown. The White House has no intention of getting Biden personally involved in the day-to-day discussions of this spending battle, aides insisted. House Republicans have far less leverage to extract policy concessions than during a debt ceiling stalemate that put the global economy at risk, one White House official said, meaning the only message Biden will have for McCarthy from here on out is to keep his word and do his job. Whats their argument going to be now? The president wont renegotiate with us? the adviser to the White House said. We had a discussion, we cut a deal. Either your word is good or not. Biden officials are largely trusting Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries to manage the fraught weeks ahead, with top White House budget official Shalanda Young assigned to keep close tabs on the process behind the scenes. Aides are also hoping Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will play a more active role. But his recent health episode leaves it an open question as to whether he will. After sitting out the debt ceiling fight, McConnell has made a point of voicing support for a quick resolution in September, bluntly declaring recently that the House GOPs push for spending cuts is not going to be replicated in the Senate. Speaker McCarthy should join Senate Republicans, House and Senate Democrats, and President Biden in keeping their promise and funding the government, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said. A shutdown would hurt our economy, make troops and law enforcement officers work without guaranteed pay, and undermine our ability to respond to natural disasters and combat fentanyl trafficking. The White House in the meantime plans to sharpen messaging throughout the month that aims to cast the president as fixated on critical economic issues while Republicans flirt with a shutdown. In addition to promoting his domestic efforts to lower costs and boost the economy, allies hope Bidens travel schedule will give him added gravitas. The president will soon attend the economic-focused G-20 summit in India before traveling to Vietnam as part of the administrations effort to push back on Chinas influence in the region. Hell also meet with world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly toward the end of the month. Still, officials conceded that there remains an unnerving number of unknowns heading into the next few pivotal weeks and that chief among them is McCarthy, the GOP leader whose actions remain out of the West Wings control. While Biden officials came to view McCarthy as something of a good-faith partner during the debt ceiling talks, they also concluded he was a weak speaker. Since then, his standing with conservatives has only eroded further, raising questions among many Democrats about what drastic action he may feel the need to take to protect his job. My hope is we can work together to avoid a shutdown, but there are a number of their conference who would just as soon see the government shut down, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democratic appropriator. The Freedom Caucus is making demands that would be untenable. Jennifer Haberkorn contributed to this report. A California-based biotech company says it's successfully implanted lab-made neurons in Parkinson's patients' brains to stimulate a dopamine response and if it works as intended, it could be a substantial advance in fighting the disease. As MIT Technology Review reports, the early stem cell experiment, which was meant to test whether the procedure is safe, appears to have succeeded at that goal. The trial included 12 people with Parkinson's, a debilitating progressive disease characterized by a shortage of dopamine, and was run by BlueRock Therapeutics, a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical giant Bayer. The lab-made neurons were implanted for a year before results were taken, and as researchers told attendees of the International Congress for Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorder in Copenhagen at the end of August, the implanted cells seem to have survived and, in a particularly exciting twist, there are indications that they may be reducing the patients' symptoms, too. Brain scans from the experiment's subjects show, the report notes, both an increase in dopamine cells and a decrease in times when the patients felt "off" or incapacitated by their symptoms. As Reuters noted, the study's leaders told the Copenhagen conference that the "off time" was lower for those patients who had been given higher doses of the experimental stell-cell neurons. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At this stage, the small trial's most significant success is its apparent safety, but University of California, Irvine neurologist Claire Henchcliffe, who led the study, told Tech Review that the ultimate ideal outcome is far loftier. "The goal is that [the lab-grown cells] form synapses and talk to other cells as if they were from the same person," she said. "Whats so interesting is that you can deliver these cells and they can start talking to the host." But according to Roger Barker, a University of Cambridge Parkinson's expert who was not involved in the study, the current results are a "bit disappointing." Because researchers cannot see cells inside patients' brains once they're implanted, they injected them with a radioactive dopamine precursor that can be imaged on a PET scan during its uptake. Those scans showed some increases in dopamine, but as Barker noted, it is "still a bit too early to know" whether the transplanted cells actually began repairing patients' brains. Nevertheless, "it is encouraging that the trial has not led to any safety concerns and that there may be some benefits," the Cambridge researcher told Tech Review. While there is medication to help control Parkinson's symptoms, there is no cure for the progressive disorder that leads to increasing motor difficulties and causes tremors and limb rigidity. Cell therapy, like the one BlueRock is developing with the lab-grown cells, could radically alter the trajectory of the disease by replacing the broken neurons instead of just treating its symptoms. "The potential for regenerative medicine is not to just delay disease, but to rebuild brain functionality," said Seth Ettenberg, the president and CEO of BlueRock. "There is a day when we hope that people dont think of themselves as Parkinsons patients." BlueRock will now be moving forward with Phase 2 trials, and should they work, the test of the controversial regenerative technology may finally bring it further into the mainstream. More on regenerative medicine: Harvard/MIT Scientists Claim New "Chemical Cocktails" Can Reverse Aging This embedded content is not available in your region. On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: The Black Lives Matter movement: Has its moment passed? In the summer of 2020, a wave of social unrest in America exploded following the murder of George Floyd. One social movement that gripped the nation was Black Lives Matter. Millions of Americans took to the streets demanding change, but sweeping change didnt come. What was the objective? What, if anything, changed? Writer and cultural critic Fredrik deBoer places much of the blame on leftist elites. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Dana Taylor: Hello and welcome to 5 Things. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Sunday, September 3rd, 2023. The summer of 2020, a wave of social unrest in America exploded following the murder of George Floyd. One social movement that gripped the nation was called Black Lives Matter. Millions of Americans took to the streets demanding change, but sweeping change didn't come. What was the objective? What if anything changed? I'm joined now by writer and academic Fredrik deBoer, whose book, How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement, will be out on September 5th. Freddie, thank you for joining me. Fredrik deBoer: Thanks so much for having me. Dana Taylor: So it's now been three years and Black people continue to die at the hands of police, Tyre Nichols, Andre Hill. Yet the movement to reform police has effectively stalled. Why do you think that is? Fredrik deBoer: I think that the biggest problem has been the lack of a particularly specific policy ask. There has not been a piece of signature legislation that people have been able to rally around. I think that the George Floyd Justice and Policing Bill, which was a bill that failed twice in Congress, including when Democrats had the power to pass it, was a good model. The problem with the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, which if you're unfamiliar with it, it entailed all manner of changes. It was sort of an omnibus police reform bill. For example, qualified immunity, which is a legal doctrine that largely protects cops from accountability when they commit acts of misconduct and violence, the George Floyd Justice and Police Bill would not end it entirely, but it would've helped to make people win successful lawsuits despite qualified immunity. It mandated body cameras for federal police officers, it had all kinds of recommendations in regard to the training, hiring of police officers, et cetera. That was, I think, a good bill. But I think that you can sort of see how the unique aspects of 2020 worked against it. Many activists saw it as sort of a watered down reformist bill and they wanted more substantial change. I do want to point out that this is not a unique moment. Many people would argue that the civil rights movement of the 50s and the 60s began to stall out a little bit after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, which remained the most important pieces of civil rights legislation in this country's history. Because those had been such incredibly important goals, and once they achieved those goals, the next step became difficult and there was factional politics about what the next step should be, and there was no clear legislative ask, which I think is still the problem that we have today. Dana Taylor: So in your opinion, what needs to happen to spur legislative change on a national basis, for there to be an urgency about that? Fredrik deBoer: The first thing that we have to look at is simply the structure of the Senate and the use of the filibuster. It is not a rational situation where Joe Manchin, a figure who was deeply out of step with the majority of his party and who represents a low population state, has such immense power in our system. This gets back to the question of a legislative ask because what the Democrats will say, sort of institutional Democrats will say is, "Well, okay, you want us to go out and expend some political capital on this issue? What do you want us to do specifically?" Dana Taylor: There have been local level initiatives like having crisis teams respond to behavioral crisis calls instead of having police respond to that. Philadelphia recently announced the creation of one. Have you seen change on a local level that's been successful? Fredrik deBoer: I mean, for a lot of things, it is genuinely too early to say because it's taken a couple of years for these things to happen. But absolutely, things like the Philadelphia legislation is something that I've been calling out for for a long time. I mean, I think part of what makes this issue so incredibly daunting is it is a classic scenario of every little unit, every police department, every municipality has its own level of police corruption and police violence and police racism, and you can't pass a federal law and just say, "Okay, police stop being racist." There just has to be a long-term, slow, sustained effort to sort of reform these police departments. But I also think that it's important to say that some of these experiments don't appear to have worked. In Portland, where they have more or less passed widespread drug decriminalization so that you merely get a ticket and then the offer to go to rehab, has resulted in spiraling levels of overdoses and homelessness in that area. Dana Taylor: Do you think that it's fair to say that it's happening in all municipalities? Fredrik deBoer: I think where there are Black people and there are police, there's going to be incidences in which Black people are at the very least policed differently from everyone else. I mean, I think that the issue is that systemic. Now, I will say back when this was happening, when all this debate was happening, there was sort of a back and forth that you would get about are there any good cops? And some people would say, "Yes, there are some good police." Some people would say, "No, they're all rotten." But I think the proper response is it's not really relevant whether individual police officers are individually racist or individually principled or what. Because the problem here is there would be no way that it would just happen to be the case that we would see such universally different policing of minorities in America unless it was a systemic problem. And so I think the problem is getting past the notion of good and bad cops and concentrating on the fact that this is found everywhere, as in Baltimore, where you have Black people who are frequently over-policed or aggressively policed by Black officers. There's been a constant complaint in Baltimore just to pick one place. So these have to be understood as systemic issues that are not reducible to the individual virtue of individual cops. Dana Taylor: As you mentioned earlier, the civil rights movement took a while to get going and to keep itself going. What are the ingredients of a successful social movement that we're missing with Black Lives Matter? Fredrik deBoer: I think that one of the most important things is you have to have social organizations that sort of have preexisting networks in which you can tie people into. One of the things that really worries me about 21st century American life is there's been a whole lot of sociological literature saying that these sort of institutional places where people meet and gather that are not the workplace have dissolved. So for example, bowling, alone, is a classic look at this, where people used to have things like bowling leagues or Elks Clubs or whatever. The civil rights movement had the Black church. You really cannot underestimate how important the Black church was to the Civil Rights Movement. So you have to have that kind of preexisting social connection. The issue is in the era of social media, it would sound like or seem like that would be very easy. The problem with social media connections is although they're very broad and big networks, the connections are very fragile. Dana Taylor: So movements are often co-opted by politicians, the media, et cetera, who want to galvanize momentum for their own purposes. You say that elites co-opted social movements. Is your concern with elites taking the vocal lead on the Black Lives Matter movement and other movements that they don't cross the finish line with even the leanest legislation? Fredrik deBoer: Yeah, I mean, I think that's a good way to put it. I will never forget the image of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wearing kente cloth and kneeling along with a whole big group of them to honor George Floyd. There was some people who felt that it was culturally appropriative for them to wear kente cloth, but that's not really my business. But it only means something if you then do something. Dana Taylor: Was the momentum behind Black Lives Matter squandered on all or nothing propositions like defund the police? Fredrik deBoer: I would probably start with the preamble that I 100% understand, looking at the record of American policing, looking at this reality and saying to yourself, "This can't be reformed. We need to pull this up from the roots, and we can only sort of wipe this away and try something else." And I get it. But to me, looking at policing and all of its failings and deciding you're going to simply abolish the police, which is what some people meant by defund the police, not others. But if you're going to abolish the police because they don't work well, I would make the analogy, if the water and sewer department was revealed to be full of racism and corruption and systemic problems, we would never say, "Okay, therefore we're not going to have a water and sewer department." That would be a major mistake because you can't just let sewage run in the streets, for example. I think that we can envision dramatically different versions of policing than the ones that we have today, and I think we have to be really realistic about what the outcome of defunding the police would actually look like. Dana Taylor: So social movements operate on a pendulum. I want to discuss the snapback. How far did the pendulum swing away from the Black Lives Matter movement and other social movements following the apex in the summer of 2020? Fredrik deBoer: I think there is an adjustment going up. If you look, for example, in the world of diversity, equity, inclusion, everybody in 2020 wanted to do something. Tens of billions of dollars were raised and there was a really noble desire to help. But if you are an investment bank, if you are a Ivy League University, if you are a major nonprofit, the way that you help is that you hire people. I think there's begun to be some pushback and skepticism about that kind of institutional approach. Dana Taylor: So what are the issues going forward? Do you think that they're nearly identical to what they were prior to the protests that peaked in 2020? Fredrik deBoer: I would say that the sort of structural issues remain the same. I cannot overemphasize the importance of eliminating qualified immunity that protects cops. And I've always said that the best thing that we can do for Black people or for people of color writ large is create the kind of economic circumstance in which, yes, of course we don't want people walking around with racist feelings towards Black people. But the only way to actually secure the interests of Black people is by making them economically powerful to the same degree as other races. And then they can secure their own interests and it stops mattering whether or not everybody is racist or not. Dana Taylor: So the question, "What about Black on Black crime?," that's frequently invoked when discussing the rate of violent deaths in the Black community. From your perspective, as the scope of the Black Lives Matter movement expanded beyond vigilantism and police violence against Blacks, did that question become a valid part of the Black Lives Matter conversation? Fredrik deBoer: I think that it is a valid part of the conversation. We have to understand the conditions under which this is happening. Most of the time, Black on Black crime is invoked not in a sincere way, but rather it's used as a cudgel with which to beat back talk about police violence. So you say, "Hey, it sure seems like cops kill a lot of Black people," and there's always some conservative that'll pop up and say, "But many more are killed by Black on Black crime." And so it's natural that people would be personally reticent to want to engage in those terms. However, I think it's important to say there are hundreds of Black-founded, Black-led, Black-staffed anti-violence organizations in this country. I think one of the things that happened in 2020 is that there became a misconception that the average BLM activist was sort of a spokesperson for the entire Black race in the United States. But if you actually look at public polling, Black Americans, Black Democrats specifically, they constantly identify crime within their own community as one of their top priorities. They constantly are asking for greater resources to deal with that problem. So I would just insist to everyone that the idea that there is some sort of a contradiction between supporting Black Lives Matter and having a conversation about how to reduce crime within the Black community is a false choice, and many Black people are already working in that regard. Dana Taylor: In your opinion, Freddie, will the movement rise to the level of impact, the same level of impact as the civil rights movement? Fredrik deBoer: I would probably say that under the name Black Lives Matter, I kind of doubt it. I think that it's got a lot of baggage at this point, but the spirit that animated BLM, the anger and the dedication to fixing things, I think that that absolutely will eventually, I hope, power a movement in this country that really takes seriously these issues. I mean, the sad fact of the matter is we never run out of new, prominent examples of police violence against Black people, and I have to believe that decent people are going to continue to be outraged by that reality and come together to hopefully fix things. Dana Taylor: Fredrik's book, How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement, is on bookshelves September 5th. Thank you so much for joining us today. Fredrik deBoer: Thanks so much for having me. Dana Taylor: Thanks to Cherie Saunders for her production assistance, our senior producer is Shannon Rae Green, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@usatoday.com. Thanks for listening. I'm Dana Taylor. Taylor Wilson will be back tomorrow morning with another episode of 5 Things. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The BLM movement: What if, anything, changed? 5 Things podcast Chatham County authorities are urging the importance of water safety after a childs body was recovered at Jordan Lake. Kevin Lopez, 13, of Locust, N.C., drowned at Parkers Creek Beach at the lake around 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Lopez may have been swimming at the time of the incident, a sheriffs spokesperson said. His body was found in the water about an hour after he drowned. Investigators do not suspect any foul play. Lopez is the ninth person to drown at Jordan Lake this year. This embedded content is not available in your region. A womans body was pulled from the water near the Farrington Point Boat Ramp on Tuesday afternoon. Investigators are seeking information about the womans identity and do not believe her death was self-inflicted or an accident. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Details about how the woman died are unclear. Water safety at Jordan Lake Chatham County Sheriff Mike Roberson stressed the use of life jackets while swimming at the lake. Water can be dangerous if we do not prepare for the hazards it can create, he said in a news release. Our goal is to ensure that those enjoying the lake return home safely. The Sheriffs Office recommends visitors to: Always have an adult watching children near water. Drowning can happen quickly and silently. Stay in designated swimming areas. Enroll in swimming lessons. Avoid alcohol and impairing drugs when participating in water activities. Keep an eye on weather conditions and avoid water activities during storms or adverse weather. If boating, ensure all safety equipment, including life jackets, is onboard in good condition. Follow boating regulations and guidelines. The body of a missing boater was recovered from Levi Pond in Groton early Monday morning, state police said. Kristopher Perkins, 27, of Thetford, died following a boating incident on Sunday, state police said. Search efforts began after state police were notified at 11:25 p.m. Sunday of the boating incident on Levi Pond in the town of Groton. Three people went out on the pond on a small boat on Sunday when the boat overturned, state police said. Only two of the people arrived on shore. Early Monday morning, members of the Vermont State Police Underwater Recovery Team located the body of the third and missing boater, Perkins, who was pronounced dead on scene. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement An autopsy will determine the cause and manner of death. At this time, the death does not appear to be suspicious, state police said. Groton is a small town in Caledonia County, east of Barre. The towns population was 984 at the 2020 census. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Ukrainian border guards have seen two detonations of Russian kamikaze drones in Romania and informed the neighbouring country. Romania has not yet responded. Source: Colonel Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda Details: On the night of 3-4 September, during a large-scale Russian attack with attack drones, Russian Shahed drones fell and detonated on the territory of Romania. This happened near the port of Izmail. Border patrols serving in that area recorded the detonation of two Russian UAVs on the Romanian side. Quote from Demchenko: "Through the designated communication channels, Ukrainian border guards informed their Romanian counterparts that they had recorded two detonations on the territory of Romania in certain areas during the Russian attack with UAVs. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In addition, Ukrainian border guards asked for possible information on these incidents. No response has yet been received from the Romanian side." Background: Oleh Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine had reported that kamikaze drones launched by Russia at the port of Izmail in Odesa Oblast crashed and detonated in Romania. 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! "If somebody's getting all squeamish about the border wall, I mean, frankly my response is: Kiss my a**," Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told CBS News, as he made another long drive between events in Texas, four weeks before a looming federal government shutdown. Twenty-six days before the deadline to avert an impasse that threatens government operations and a jolt to the U.S. economy, an expanded southern border wall appears to be a towering obstacle. Even before it is built. House members will return to Washington next week, facing the daunting task of passing nearly a dozen yearly spending bills through a polarized and contentious chamber of Congress. The first order of business appears to be a $62 billion plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security, a debate that is scheduled to begin in the House Rules Committee one day after the nation holds services to mourn the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The House bill includes a number of contentious items, ranging from reductions in funding for government diversity programs to reductions in humanitarian and climate programs. But perhaps the biggest and most paralyzing source of contention is a multi-billion dollar investment in expanding a wall at the southern border. The U.S. Capitol Building on August 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. / Credit: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images House Republicans have championed expansion of the border wall for several years, echoing a campaign pillar of former President Donald Trump. The House Republican bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which could reach the House floor by mid-September, would allocate $2.104 billion to build and expand a southern border barrier. Roy, whose district includes a large swath of Texas north of San Antonio, has a seat on the House Rules Committee, which has scheduled the Sept. 12 hearing to debate about whether to advance the spending bill to the House floor. Speaking with CBS News, Roy said, "It's massively important. We need to do it. We paid for it. There are parts (of the wall) that are rusting." Roy said the Biden administration has been "trying to sell it off. We've been paying people not to build it. It's completely absurd. You do need a border infrastructure." "A wall is a sixth century solution. It's just a horrible, horrible bill," said Democratic Rep. David Trone of Maryland, a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security. "Republicans are villainizing immigrants with their bigotry by saying they're bringing fentanyl over the border." In a report accompanying the legislation, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said previous attempts to fund expansion of the border wall have been scuttled by the Biden Administration. The House Republicans' report said that the Biden administration "has at every turn taken steps to frustrate the clear and unambiguous intent of Congress in providing this funding." "Instead of building border wall system as the law requires, this Administration has canceled contracts, allowed materials to waste away in the elements, and left unfinished sections of barrier that create funnels for illegal migration and make more difficult the job of Border Patrol Agents," the report continued. House Democrats have blasted the proposal and countered the criticisms from Republicans about the wall, with top Democrats on the House Appropriations writing a report to accompany the spending bill. "This bill continues to waste billions of dollars on an ineffective border wall," the Democrats' bill said. "We know from history that walls do not work. As a result, this bill fails to adequately resource areas where we know there are significant threats, like our ports of entry and interior Border Patrol checkpoints." This summer, the House has struggled through a sluggish process to pass the annual appropriations bills needed to avert a government shutdown ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline. With a distinctively narrow majority, and only four GOP votes to spare on any contentious, party-line legislation, House Republicans have bulked up some of their spending bills with controversial language that all-but-guarantees universal Democratic opposition. Among the controversial proposals in the Homeland Security spending bill is a new provision prohibiting gender-affirming medication and surgeries for immigration detainees. The legislation also reduces funding for climate change initiatives and diversity efforts in the government's homeland security agencies. Trone, who is also seeking his party's nomination in a 2024 Senate race, said the Democrats are strongly opposed to the proposals. "Congress is dictating that we go backwards, not forward where everybody else wants to go," Trone told CBS News. Some of the larger components of the bill have broader support, including funding to expand the hiring of thousands of border patrol agents and investments in new Coast Guard cutters. Even if House Republicans manage to secure sufficient votes to pass the homeland security spending bill, including the new investment in a border wall, the legislation is poised to die in the Democratic-controlled Senate. In a letter to colleagues last week, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wrote, "When the Senate returns next week, our focus will be on funding the government and preventing House Republican extremists from forcing a government shutdown." The Senate returns Tuesday, facing the likelihood of a high-stakes, deadline-fueled standoff and negotiation with the House to prevent a shutdown. Escaped killer spotted near Philadelphia, but search continues Exclusive discounts from CBS Mornings Deals Kim Jong Un and Putin plan meeting to discuss weapons Photo: CTV News Parc Le Carignan in Montreal North was turned into a crime scene on Sept. 3, 2023 when six people were mowed down by a vehicle after a dispute. Montreal police say they have arrested a 22-year-old man suspected of intentionally driving a car into six people on Sunday evening. Police say none of the people who were struck suffered life-threatening injuries, though several were seriously hurt. The event occurred shortly after 8 p.m. in a park in the city's Montreal-Nord borough. Police say a fight had broken out between several people before the man struck a group with a vehicle. Police spokeswoman Const. Veronique Dubuc says the man is expected to appear in court today. She says the investigation is ongoing and the cause of the fight remains unknown. The Labor Day breakfast in Boston turned into a rally for the ongoing SAG-AFTRA labor movement strike. Some of the Congressional, state, and local leaders joined the rally for union writers after the breakfast. At the annual Labor Day breakfast the message to workers was clear. When we fight, we win. When we fight, we win, a speaker chanted. The room was full of a whos who in politics. The event organizers say union support is getting stronger. We are on the rise with strikes happening all across the country and even here in Boston so we wanted to show our solidarity. Thats what the labor movement is really all about, said Darlene Lombos with the Greater Boston Labor Council. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Its about supporting each other and showing up and rallying when we need to raise our voices so I think it is important to be here today, said Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy who was also at the breakfast. After the traditional breakfast here at the Park Plaza Hotel, they moved to another location to support a labor movement with a rally. Local Unions and Congressional leaders, including Senator Elizabeth Warrant and US Representative Ayanna Pressley, backed their efforts. Its about wages but its also about the future of work and whether computers steal your work and get away with it, said Warren. It is so important to show that solidarity. It doesnt matter what union you are in, it doesnt matter what job you have. We are all standing here together united. We are stronger when we come together, said Cecil Carey a member of the Boston Teachers Union, Local 66. The Labor Day breakfast in Boston is now rallying for the @sagaftra labor movement. A rally is planned in Downtown Crossing as the writers union fights for pay, performance protection and healthcare. pic.twitter.com/ypoO1XCulo Robert Goulston (@rgoulston) September 4, 2023 This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Romania's Defense Ministry "firmly denied" that drones had fallen on Romanian territory during Russia's overnight attack against Odesa Oblast, saying it did not pose any direct military threats to the country. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson earlier said on Sept. 4, citing the State Border Guard Service, that an unspecified number of drones had fallen and detonated in Romania during the attack. The Romanian ministry also said in its statement that it has "taken enhanced vigilance measures in the ground, maritime, and air space and contributes to the consolidation of the defense and deterrence posture on the eastern flank in accordance with the national and Allied plans." Russian forces reportedly launched 32 kamikaze drones at Ukraine overnight, 17 of which were shot down over Odesa Oblast. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to the Foreign Ministry's spokesman Oleh Nikolenko, the attack targeted the area of the Izmail port across the Danube River from Romania. Bucharest, however, said that Russia hit the port of Reni, around 60 kilometers to the west. Nikolenko called the alleged crash of Russian drones in Romania "another confirmation that Russian missile terror poses a huge threat not only to Ukraine's security but also to the security of neighboring countries, including NATO member states." "We call on our partners to accelerate the provision of Ukraine with additional modern anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense systems, as well as combat aviation, which will strengthen the protection of the infrastructure of Ukraine, as well as neighboring states," the spokesman added. This is not the first report on Russian drones or their debris crashing on the territory of Romania, a NATO member state. On Aug. 3, a local official said that Russian drones had crossed into the Ceatalchioi commune near the Romanian-Ukrainian border during a Russian attack on Izmail. The Romanian Defense Ministry then said it didn't find any "concrete elements" to prove the allegations, adding it had stepped up security measures and was constantly monitoring the situation and cooperating with NATO to strengthen the defense on the entire eastern flank. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky says Russia deliberately targets grain infrastructure in Odesa Oblast Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Bulldogs. Pugs. Boston terriers. French bulldogs. There is a term for these widely-loved pups who seem to lack snouts altogether, with their face instead appearing to have been smooshed in through years of inbreeding. That term is "brachycephalic," derived from the Greek for "short head." Whether you adore these animals or think their very existence is inhumane (a controversial subject indeed), experts from both the dog worlds and the climatology world agree on one thing: Brachycephalic dogs are going to suffer a lot more as climate change worsens. It all comes down to the science. "Brachycephalic breeds are more susceptible to heat stress (hyperthermia) than non-brachycephalic breeds, especially if they are overweight, and will begin to overheat when temperatures exceed 91 degree F and 62% humidity," Dr. James A. Serpell, professor of Ethics & Animal Welfare at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, told Salon by email. "Overheating may lead to collapse or even death." Dr. Lisa Gunter, an assistant professor of Animal Behavior & Welfare at the Virginia Tech School of Animal Sciences, broke down the biology of why these sweet-natured dogs are unfortunately prone to heat-related health problems. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Unlike people that sweat as our primary way to stay cool in the heat, dogs pant," Gunter explained by email. "It's their special form of evaporative cooling." The key is understanding that in order to attain the smoosh-faced look that their fans find aesthetically pleasing, brachycephalic dogs are bred in ways that prioritize style over function. If the nostrils need to be closer to slits to accommodate the reduced facial real estate (i.e., no snout), often that is what happens. If their windpipes are practically crushed inside their necks and their soft palates are elongated, frequently that is simply the way they are bred. The end result is that these breeds suffer from more than the breathing problems one would expect with these structural problems. After all, they also need their faces to thermoregulate. "These physical limitations make breathing difficult, causing these breeds to be particularly susceptible to heatstroke more so than other dogs, [even] in surprisingly mild weather and humidity," Gunter said. "Struggling to breathe can also limit the amount of oxygen in the bloodstream, straining the hearts of brachycephalic dogs and making them more susceptible to heart problems." To project what the future will be like for brachycephalic dogs as climate change cooks the planet, Gunter turned to a city that has already begun experiencing the most extreme version of those conditions Phoenix, Arizona, where she used to live for nearly a decade. "Scheduling what time you walk your dog, where you walk (is it shaded?), and how long the walks are becomes essential as does carrying water, no matter the outing's duration," Gunter explained. "Heat radiating off paved streets and walkways is much more intense for dogs than it is for people. Often, dog owners will use booties to protect their dogs' feet." Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes. She added, "Seemingly routine activities with brachycephalic dogs, like a mid-day potty break in the backyard or coming along on a car ride, can be deadly in extreme heat if they're accidentally forgotten about or closed in a space without air conditioning for just a few minutes. Overall, owners of brachycephalic dogs need to be much more aware of the heat and its devastating effects than typical dog owners." While Gunter was merely describing dogs who experience the day-to-day hotter weather that will become a "new abnormal," Molly Sumridge a PhD candidate in anthrozoology at the University of Exeter told Salon by email that these breeds can also be expected to fare worse from the natural disasters that these events will make more frequent. Indeed, as compound drought and heatwaves (or CDHW events) become more common, heat-related weather extremes will be more common as well. "Whether a region experiences higher overall temperatures, or longer stretches of hot weather, these dogs will require access to air conditioned spaces for their health and wellbeing," Sumridge said. "Smoke from wildfires local and miles away can harm dogs of all breeds, however sensitive respiratory symptoms are of increased concern. Exposure of smoke to these breeds where breathing is already compromised can further put them at risk of complications, injury or illness." Dr. Michael E. Mann, a professor of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, who wrote a paper in July about CDHW events, confirmed in an email to Salon that the assessments of the dog experts is correct: Brachycephalic dogs are going to suffer more than other dogs as the weather gets hotter. "My understanding is that they're very susceptible to heat stress, and so they are especially threatened by climate change," Mann wrote to Salon. He clearly lamented this fact, stating that "as a dog person, I'd hate to see them suffer or vanish altogether as species." His advice to owners of brachycephalic dogs is "avoiding letting them or taking them outside during especially warm periods." The dog experts had their own tips as well. "Keeping your dog properly hydrated at home by making sure multiple water bowls are available and easily accessible throughout your house is a simple thing to do," Gunter said. "Whenever out and about, have water with you and a dish that your dog is comfortable drinking from. Dehydration can make a heat-related situation worse." The same is true of excessive weight, Gunter added and brachycephalic dogs are prone to weight problems. "Regular low-impact exercise can benefit your dog's health as well as identify possible breathing problems that need veterinary attention," Gunter said. "For dogs with moderate to severe breathing problems, surgery may be necessary to widen their nostrils and shorten their soft palate for better breathing." Although Gunter stopped short of saying that brachycephalic dogs should not be bred any more, she urged that they be bred "with less extreme physical features." She also encouraged potential owners to find rescue dogs and research breeders to make sure they are breeding new dogs responsibly. "As a consumer, it is important to frequent breeders that care about their dogs' physical welfare, including how extreme physical features will negatively impact their dogs' lives," Gunter observed. "Good breeders should have their dogs screened for brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) and not be breeding those individuals that exhibit BOAS symptoms." For any owner whose dog does overheat, which can be seen if they are disoriented or vomit or pant excessively, "cool them down as quickly as possible before seeking medical attention," Gunter said. "This can be achieved by pouring cool water over the dog and using a home fan or your car's air conditioning to assist in the evaporate cooling process." Only then should the dog be taken for medical rehabilitation. Serpell also said that brachycephalic dogs should be kept "lean," adding that they should not be exercised during the warmest times of day: 12 PM to 6 PM. Yet unlike the others interviewed, he was very blunt when asked if the solution might be to stop breeding brachycephalic dogs altogether: "Yes!" Read more about dogs A fake CDC advisory of an Ebola outbreak at Burning Man went viral on Elon Musks X (X) It began with a fake screenshot on the social media platform X, and quickly spread across the internet and to tens of thousands trapped in swamp-like conditions at Burning Man. The annual festival in the Nevada desert, plagued by tropical storms and mud that forced gate closures and festival goers to shelter in place, was at the centre of an Ebola outbreak, the bogus post claimed on Saturday 2 September. A cursory glance at the social media account that published the doctored post from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would have revealed its long history of spreading tongue-in-cheek claims about psyops and oppressive government operations. And yet conspiracy theorists quickly flooded the zone with unhinged posts about military aircraft landing in the Black Rock City area, and quarantine zones being set up. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Some were clearly in on the joke, others apparently not. Festivalgoers, already facing considerable challenges due to the deluge of rain and resulting mud, were apparently taken in by the rumours, eventually forcing authorities and festival organisers to address them. In a statement to Indy100, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the Black Rock Desert site, said: I can confirm the event entrance was closed for the year because unusual rainfall caused muddy conditions where there was a full stop on vehicles, and not for an Ebola outbreak. We have heard no information of any participants with Ebola. Burning Man organisers added in a post on the event website: The online rumors of transmissible illnesses in Black Rock City are unfounded and untrue. Ebola outbreak, cannibalism and climate change brainwashing The origins of the Ebola rumours came from an account on X, formerly known as Twitter, with around 30,000 followers. EBOLA OUTBREAK BURNING MAN the post read above a doctored image from the CDC claiming that a state of emergency was in progress. The post was shared thousands of times. A second account shared the same fake image, stating: Apparently there's a f**king Ebola outbreak at Burning Man right now. This had been viewed more than 300,000 times by Monday. Xs crowd-sourced fact checking service Community notes added an amendment to the posts stating that there was in fact no outbreak. But this did little to stem the spread. The Died Suddenly social media account, which regularly shares Covid misinformation, got in on the action. Another account shared a fake Forbes headline claiming that the outbreak was real. Ebola was a trending topic on Elon Musks platform X over the weekend. Screenshots of fake text messages began circulating. The bogus rumours also found fertile ground on TikTok. Doctored images of people in hazmat suits at the festival soon spread, while others claimed the military had been sent in to enforce a blockade. A daring escape from the festival by comedian Chris Rock and DJ and producer Diplo soon formed part of the fantastical tale. The celebrity duo walked five miles along mud-strewn roads before being picked up by a fan, according to a post on Diplos social media accounts. Festivalgoers walk through the mud at Burning Man (Trevor Hughes USA Today Network) Basically everybody at Black Rock City is saying that Diplo was 100% present at the source of infection for the alleged Ebola outbreak at Burning Man. And he just broke quarantine, the TrueAnonPod tweeted. A parade of conspiracy-mongers got in on the action. There are reports of a hemorrhagic fever like Ebola or Marburg having broken out at Burning Man. And FEMA is there, telling 73,000 people they are not allowed to leave, claimed one X user. Another X user who was at Burning Man later posted facetiously that we just tested positive for ebola at burning man. Several factors appear to have helped the spread of the online falsehoods. On Saturday, a 40-year-old man died at the Burning Man festival. His death is under investigation, and authorities have only said it was not weather-related. The closure of routes in and out of the festival was forced on organisers after many vehicles became trapped in the mud-clogged roads. Fuelling the spread was the decision to scrap Xs verification system under Mr Musks ownership. Now, anyone who pays $8 a month is a verified user, with their posts boosted and displayed prominently by the platforms algorithm. The bogus theories often overlap and intermingle with previous ones, with climate change denial, land grabs, and shadowy government forces being consistent themes. Satirical posts, such as one on the Burning Man subreddit stating that there were Unconfirmed Reports Of Cannibalism, can also take on a life of their own. A small group of survivors was trapped by the trash fence overnight during the rainstorm and were forced to consume one of their camp mates before making the several mile dangerous trek back to their camp on foot, the post by SunDiegoSurfer said. Authorities are asking for prayers and advising festival goers that if your food source has been exhausting, cannibalism should be used as a last resort. The clearly sarcastic take was then spread on X by seemingly credulous posters. BREAKING: Were hearing about the first reports of Cannibalism at the Burning Man event, one X user wrote. Mad drug addicts out there, this seems like a cult, another posted. Meanwhile, the account that set off the fake Ebola rumours has been gloating about all the attention it has received. On Sunday night, the conspiracy-touting Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene went on Alex Jones InfoWars show to claim that Burners were being brainwashed into believing the historic flooding was caused by climate change. She insisted instead that it was an act of God. Theres 73 to 75,000 in the Nevada desert right now at this Burning Man. Theyre locked in, the Georgia far-right lawmaker said. Theyre not allowed to leave and theyre basically probably being brainwashed that climate change is the cause of it and its going to destroy the Earth. Mr Jones, who has helped to popularise innumerable conspiracy theories, was ordered to pay billions in damages to the families of Sandy Hook victims after falsely and repeatedly telling his followers that the 2012 school shooting was a false flag operation. According to the CDC, Ebola is a rare and usually fatal disease primarily found in subsaharan Africa. Only 11 cases have ever been recorded in the United States, during an outbreak between 2014 and 2016. It is usually spread through body fluids and blood, infected fruit bats or primates. Symptoms include fever, bleeding, rashes and abdominal pain. Butternut Box, a U.K.-based startup that prepares and ships healthy food and supplements for dogs, is raising 280 million ($354 million) in a round of funding from General Atlantic and L Catterton. Founded out of London in 2016, Butternut Box serves a handful of European markets with myriad culinary products spanning the meat and vegetable fray, with the promise of "human-quality" ingredients tested and tasted by real people. Prior to now, Butternut Box had raised a little over $110 million in funding across several rounds, but its latest cash injection stands out in a world of venture capital seemingly averse to anything beyond smaller early-stage investments. This, perhaps, is testament to the enduring and robust market for all-things pet. Indeed, the broader pet food market was pegged as a $100 billion market in 2022, with canine chow representing more than 40% of that segment. The problem, however, is that as many as 65% of dogs in the U.K. alone are estimated to be overweight. And this is why the folks at Butternut Box cooks and prepares various dog-friendly meals, in addition to health-focused snacks and supplements, and allows the dog-owner to select their goods for delivery as part of a regular subscription. Butternut Box Butternut Box Image Credits: Butternut Box ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement So far, Butternut Box has served the U.K., Ireland, Netherlands, Poland and Belgium, but with another 280 million in its coffers, the company says that it's now looking to expand further into Europe. It seems, however, that the transaction is still in the midst of closing, with the company noting that it's "subject to customary regulatory conditions." In all likelihood, the announcement was hurried somewhat by an early report from Sky News that emerged today. Butternut Box said that it expects to close the funding some time this quarter. Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert! WHICH BILLS ARE IN, AND WHICH ONES ARE OUT? Via Lindsey Holden and Maggie Angst... Friday was the California Legislatures make-or-break day for bills that will cost the state money. Bills of this nature are placed in the suspense file, and members of the Senate and Assembly Appropriations committees vote twice per year to pass them to their chambers floors or hold onto them. Suspense hearings are held ahead of deadlines for bills to make it out of fiscal committees. The suspense file is meant for measures that will require expenditures of $50,000 or more from the general fund and $150,000 or more from a special fund. But some bills that dont meet that fiscal threshold sometimes still end up on the suspense file. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The process is one of the Legislatures least transparent, making it an easy way for lawmakers to kill politically contentious bills. There is no public testimony during the suspense hearings, public votes are limited and information on amendments is almost non-existent. Fridays deliberations didnt yield many fireworks. Several significant bills made it through Appropriations and onto the Senate and Assembly floors, where lawmakers will consider them during the final two weeks of session. Here are some that made it to the legislative home stretch: Assembly bills AB 1 would allow legislative staffers to form a union and collectively bargain for better wages and benefits. Similar proposals have failed four times in recent years, but it looks like this one could get to Gov. Gavin Newsom s desk. AB 28 would levy an excise tax on firearms and ammunition. This one has also fallen short multiple times, but gun control advocates are hopeful this year will be different. AB 531 and SB 326 is Newsoms bill package for a March 2024 mental health bond measure. The governor wants to put a $4.7 billion bond on the ballot to add thousands of new behavioral health beds and change how counties pay for mental health services. Senate bills SB 2 would shore up Californias concealed carry permitting process in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen. The June 2022 ruling struck down parts of Californias firearm permitting framework, pushing lawmakers to bring requirements in line with new legal precedent. A bill from Sen. Anthony Portantino , D-Burbank, failed to make it through the Assembly last year. Hell get to make his case again. SB 94 would allow state prison inmates serving life without parole for crimes committed before June 5, 1990, to petition courts for resentencing. SB 43 : Would reform the states conservatorship laws by updating the criteria for determining if a person is with severe mental illness is gravely disabled. SB 4 and 423: Would streamline multifamily housing developments and homebuilding on properties owned by houses of worship. The powerful State Building and Construction Trades Council of California has opposed these measures in a push for more union labor requirements. But they seem headed for success. CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING BILL GETS AMENDED Via Lindsey Holden... One of the most controversial bills of the session will get its day on the Assembly floor with a last-minute amendment. Senate Bill 14 from Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, would make child sex trafficking a serious felony, meaning it would become a strikable offense under Californias Three Strikes law. SB 14 drew intense debate ahead of the Legislatures summer recess when Democrats in the Assembly Public Safety Committee initially declined to vote on it. After significant public outcry and intervention from Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister committee members later held an emergency hearing to approve the bill, paving its path to the Assembly floor. Chair Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, pushed for amendments to ensure trafficking victims forced to ensare others on their abusers behalf would not get swept up in the new penalties. But Grove repeatedly insisted the amendments were not necessary and that her bill is victim-centered. On Friday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced the bill off the suspense file. However, Chair Chris Holden , D-Pasadena, said SB 14 had been amended to specify that the more stringent penalties will not apply to trafficking victims. Holden said the amendments were to address the recommendations and concerns. But its also just to make sure that its lined up with what I think the senator was also concerned about, Holden said. To make sure that anyone, including a victim, is not further victimized by being caught up in a situation where they need to have some relief, as well. After the hearing, Grove said she received the amendments after the committee had already begun meeting. The senator said she didnt think they were needed, but she is willing to work with lawmakers to get the bill passed. Its already something that was protected in statute, she said. Its already in our language. But I didnt want to give anybody any excuse not to support this bill. SB 14 will now advance to the Assembly floor for final consideration. NEWSOM EMERGES AS SUSPENSE DAY WINNER Via Maggie Angst... Newsoms wish is the Legislatures command at least when it comes to clearing the way for the governors March mental health ballot measure. The Senate and Assembly rules committees announced Friday they were making all 2024 bond measure bills besides the two that make up the governors proposed mental health initiative two-year bills. This prevents the other proposed bond measures from going before voters during the March 5 primary election, reducing competition for ballot space and voter support. Newsom is rallying support to place a $4.7 billion bond measure on the March ballot to add up to 10,000 new mental health beds and overhaul how California counties pay for behavioral health care. To qualify for the ballot, the bills need support from two-thirds of lawmakers by the end of the session on Sept. 14. Other 2024 bonds proposed by lawmakers include measures to build more affordable housing, strengthen defenses against wildfires and floods and modernize school campuses. Following Fridays decision, lawmakers wont consider those until next year. QUOTE OF THE DAY I just have to sayIm not loving everything in alphabetical order that always starting with A. The trivia is at least entertaining tho. #CALeg #AppropriationsDay - Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Santa Clarita, via X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Anthony Portantino is known for filling his suspense file hearings with fun facts based on bill numbers. Best of The Bee: Arguing that a Northern California man who participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol came prepared for violence, prosecutors are asking a judge to impose one of the longer sentences handed down on Jan. 6 defendants, via Sam Stanton . An eight-figure dollar deal for a trio of Sacramento-area Eskaton skilled nursing facilities can go forward with conditions, Californias attorney general announced Friday, via Darrell Smith . California women and people of color make less money, while the states executive suites continue to be dominated by white men, according to data released by the California Civil Rights Department, via Andrew Sheeler. Editors note: This article has been edited to correct and clarify the impact of AB 418. Like school-aged children nationwide, lawmakers too are returning in Sacramento, though they are coming back to work to debate multiple bills. Here is a collection of some bills lawmakers must decide on before sending some off to Gov. Gavin Newsom s desk. California bill aims to limit renters security deposits The California Food Safety Act Introduced by Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills), AB 418 proposes that California stop allowing the manufacture, sale and distribution of foods that contain Red Dye No. 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil, or propyl paraben. Some popular products that contain those ingredients include Skittles, Hot Tamales candy and Dubble Bubble Twist Gum. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Gabriels office says the bill would not lead to any products coming off the shelves, but would simply require manufacturers to adjust their formulas. These chemicals are banned in the E.U. and they are still selling these products without these chemicals in them, said Noah Marty, Senior Legislative Aide for Assemblyman Gabriel. The bill passed the California State Assembly in May and was sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee in July. To read more about AB 418, click here. California Student Teacher Support Grant Program The bill, officially known as Assembly Bill 238, was introduced by Assemblymember Al Maratsuchi (D-Torrance) and would approve using one-time state funding to create a grant program for student teachers. School districts that have access to the grants would then pay student teachers the same rate as substitute teachers, according to the bills text. An analysis estimated that the program would cost the state $300 million annually should all student teachers benefit from the program, Edsource reported. The bill passed the state Assembly in May. As of Aug. 21, the bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee but was placed in suspense files, meaning senators would weigh the financial impact the bill will have on the state budget before voting on it. Proposed legislation would not require hospitals to report abuse suspicions to police State Assembly Bill 1028, introduced by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), would not require hospitals to report suspected domestic abuse victims to the police. The current requirement is only triggered when a patient arrives to the hospital with visible injuries, according to the bills text. The bill passed the state Assembly and the Senates Public Safety Committee in July but has been a hot topic among activists and law enforcement. Making ticket prices more transparent State Assembly Bill 8, introduced by Assemblymembers Laura Friedman and Jacqui Irwin, would expand the definition of a ticket seller to include a primary contractor or platform, as defined, and would instead apply the refund requirement relating to the postponement or rescheduling of an event only to primary contractors, the bills text said. The legislation comes after politicians on the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Ticketmaster in January about whether the companys dominance in the ticketing industry led to its spectacular breakdown last year during a sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets. As of Aug. 28, the bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee but was placed in suspense files. Apple backs Californias Right to Repair bill in major policy shift Assembly Bill 1078 Introduced by Assemblyman Corey Jackson, AB 1078 would require school boards to accurately reflect Californias cultural and racial diversity when adapting learning material, according to the bills text. The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to have another bill hearing on Aug. 28. As of Aug. 21, the bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee but was placed in suspense files, meaning senators would weigh the financial impact the bill will have on the state budget before voting on it. The state Legislature has until Sept. 14 to pass any bill, Cal Matters reported. Should state politicians approve any bill, Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Oct. 14 to sign or veto the bill. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. Campus Pride wont include Florida or Texas schools in its list of best colleges and universities for LGBTQ+ students to attend. Instead, the organization issued a red alert warning the schools will inevitably fall in rankings and that state leaders have put institutions academic reputations at risk. Campus Pride stands by every campus being negatively impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the states of Florida and Texas, said Campus Pride founder, CEO, and executive director Shane Mendez Windmeyer. Higher education must instill values of diversity and inclusion in order to create a quality, productive workforce. The classroom must be safe, and create a welcoming academic learning environment. The national organization, in existence since 2001, each year releases its Best of the Best LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges and Universities list. But Mendez Windmeyer said new laws instituted in both states compromise that environment. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May signed a law barring the states public colleges and universities from spending any funds on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives programs or classes. Campus Pride specifically cited that law in a release announcing both the University of Central Florida and the University of North Florida, despite appearing in the rankings in the past, would be dumped this year. Thats despite UNF topping the list of universities in the Southeast United States in 2022, and UCF receiving the highest listing for any Florida school in 2021. Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also signed a similar law, which has forced the closure of LGBTQ_ resource centers for students on Texas campuses. This means Texas Tech University and the University of Texas at Dallas, which both have earned Campus Pride recognition on its Best of the Best lists in years past, wont receive the accolades this year. The two campuses were the only ones in the Southwest United States to make the list last year. Moreover, Campus Pride cautions students considering higher education in either state as anti-queer crusades continue in Austin and Tallahassee. These laws are being weaponized against LGBTQ+ people, needlessly endangering the safety and well-being of students on campuses across the states of Florida and Texas, Mendez Windmeyer said. Already we are hearing from prospective students and families that they are choosing colleges elsewhere. It is truly sad, when political leaders use people as pawns, said Manny Velasquez-Paredes, director of the LGBTQ Center at the University of North Florida, in a press release about the exclusion. It is clear to every rational human being that diversity, equity, and inclusion are meant to create awareness and embrace, celebrate, and include our differences. However, we have found ourselves in the middle of a political culture war that is meant to divide us. Their attacks on the LGBTQ+ community have been deeply felt this past legislative session, with over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in the U.S. Institutes in the states will still be included in the Campus Pride Index, but the organization warned as it updates profiles for colleges and universities later this year, scores for Florida and Texas campuses will inevitably suffer. Mobile operators from Russia will be left without roaming in Canada Canadian mobile operators have terminated or are preparing to terminate roaming agreements with four major Russian mobile carriers, Russian media outlet RBC reported on Sept. 2, citing sources in several of the Russian mobile companies. "We received notifications about the termination of the service, and then one by one, local operators began to disconnect us from roaming," the source said. The move affects MTS, Megafon, Tele2, and Beeline. According to the source, the reason for this was Canada's sanctions against Russian mobile operators. The disconnection of Russian operators from roaming was confirmed to the publication by one of the three national mobile operators in Canada - BCE. The company explained that it made this decision "to comply with the Canadian government's sanctions against Russia." At the same time, other Russian operators will not be affected by the measure. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Russian airline threatens to sue Canada over seized aircraft No other country has terminated roaming agreements with all Russian operators at once. According to one of the publication's sources, previously, when roaming was disconnected, companies could switch to another operator or transfer their customers' traffic through an operator from another country. However, the first option is not possible in Canada, and the second takes time. In addition, operators from third countries may themselves be blocked for helping Russian companies. MegaFon and VimpelCom confirmed to the publication that they had received a message about the termination of roaming agreements. At the same time, the companies note that their subscribers still have access to communications in Canada. Without roaming, subscribers of Russian operators will not be able to receive text messages to a Russian number. Read also: US, Canada impose new sanctions against Russian banks and MIC In June 2023, NV reported that Ukrainian operator Kyivstar's owner may complete its withdrawal from Russia in the next few months. In May 2023, Veon received permission from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to sell its Russian assets. News emerged at the end of November 2022 that Veon was selling the Russian operator VimpelCom to local top management. In June 2023, Veon recorded a $449 million impairment of its Russian business in the first quarter of 2022. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Pathway to Sobriety at The Center in Palos Park is on track to receive nearly $25,000 from the Dash for Den 5K fun run and walk. The event honors Dennis Raber, who was 29 when he lost his life to drug addiction. After years of demanding cannabis businesses pay up to open up in Massachusetts, with municipalities charging community impact fees that reached 3% of gross yearly profits in anticipation of problems, the state Legislature clarified the laws surrounding host community agreements. That clarification could see previously signed contracts between municipalities and businesses revisited, and the return of those fees. Ulysses Youngblood owns Major Bloom cannabis shop on Millbury Street. It was a new industry, transitioning from illegal to legal in the state, a detail that prompted legislators to write certain safeguards into the laws regulating the cannabis industry in Massachusetts. Now those safeguards, host community agreements and community impact fees, are more of a hindrance than a help. They serve as a barrier to hopeful entrepreneurs seeking entrance into the marketplace and have cost the states first wave of cannabis business operators millions of dollars that could find a way back into their businesses. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Roughly 450 retail marijuana licenses are issued in Massachusetts, with retail sales up around $4 billion. The state taxes these businesses at 20%. They are also subject to the standard 6.25% sales tax, excise tax and, until the revision, the 3% of gross annual revenue charged as a CIF. A review of the regulations undertaken last year by the state Legislature, coupled with a number of reports highlighting inequities in the HCA and CIF system, prompted a clarification and generated a measure voted into law last November. Since then, the Cannabis Control Commission has been writing the regulations, filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth Aug. 21, to bring municipalities, businesses and the state into compliance with the intent of the legislation by November. While the clarification mandates all future HCAs are to be reviewed and approved by the Commission, there has been no determination as to how the state plans to handle existing HCAs. Public hearing scheduled for Sept. 8 in Worcester A public hearing on the proposed regulations is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 8 at the CCC headquarters in Worcester's Union Station. The working group at the CCC charged with implementing the clarifications has said that reviews of agreements during license renewals would not look at past payments, fees or agreements that are no longer in effect at the time of renewal. It also indicated that municipalities would not be required to refund past payments prior to the change in legislation. However, the question of whether the clarification would be retroactive is still very much open. At its July 13 meeting, the CCC indicated that past HCAs will not necessarily be grandfathered in. It was a brand-new industry, said Rep. Dan Donahue, D-Worcester, chair of the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, explaining the inclusion of the HCAs and CIFs into the original legislation. It was an industry coming from illegal to legal in the state. How could we predict the impact of marijuana businesses on the community? Major Bloom owner Ulysses Youngblood talks with Jill Skulsky, director of business development, in the inventory room. The host agreements and the fees were written into the law as a way to offer a safety value to municipalities, a way for them to alleviate any potential harm the businesses may have caused. Those impact fees were always required to be reasonably related to the harm caused by the business. Now the state will enforce that provision. Under the clarification, municipalities are required to account for the use of those fees and the harms mitigated to the business and the state when a license comes up for renewal. Fees cannot be folded into the general fund and used for other purposes such as street paving, new sidewalks and police or fire apparatus unless they improvement is directly related to the business. Since the beginning, municipalities were authorized to charge up to 3% a year of a business annual gross revenues as the impact fee. Yet they have demanded the full 3% as the base community impact fee. In many communities the projected revenue funneled about $1 million a year into municipal coffers. Municipalities have also accepted other perks offered by the entrepreneurs who were ready to promise the moon, sun and stars in their eagerness to secure a license to operate in specific communities. Medford signs HCA, sample of 'extras' provided by applicant The first license issued by Medford in March 2022 went to Theory Wellness. In addition to accepting 3% of its gross annual sales as the community impact fee, the business offered to modify its retail space to include a community arts center. Other perks included in the agreement include: Providing $250,000 of interest-free financing and technical guidance to a Medford resident of color to open a business in Medford Providing at least $100,000 of financial support and technical guidance to sponsor environmentally sustainable businesses and business practices in Medford Making annual contributions of $50,000 to Medford-based nonprofits or city-run organizations Providing $50,000 to the City of Medford to support funding of a Health Impacts Assessment within the first year Making contributions of $35,000 to public and private schools in Medford for art supplies Purchasing and donating one police cruiser annually Adding an EV charging station and a Blue Bike station on site The retail recreational business is scheduled to open Sept. 15, almost 2 years after it first submitted an application in April 2021. Ulysses Youngblood, president of Major Bloom in Massachusetts, shows marijuana stored in his office. This is an industry that was falling all over itself to get into communities, said Athol Town Manager Shaun Suhoski, a past president of the Small Town Administrators of Massachusetts who is active in the Massachusetts Municipal Association. All our negotiations were in good faith. Athol, with 11 approved licenses to grant, is home to two retail establishments, a home delivery service and two cultivation facilities. Community impacts lean to beneficial, not detrimental Suhoski concedes that the businesses have been a boon to Athol overall. The grow facility operates in an abandoned mill building that was refurbished to accommodate it. The businesses overall have brought 100 to 150 jobs to the community. The biggest complaint: the odor from the grow center and the need to process wastewater differently given its nutrient load. In Hubbardston, a small rural farming community, odor is the biggest complaint stemming from two licensed outdoor grow facilities. The businesses havent had a huge community impact overall, said Town Administrator Nate Boudreau. Theres no ill will between the town and the company. We will wait to see the guidance and go from there. But he complained that the state is moving the goal posts. In addition to tax revenue and jobs, the cannabis businesses in many municipalities are responsible for the revitalization and the increase in value of less than desirable commercial real estate. Alexis Fallon, a tax attorney with the Fallon Group in Marlborough who specializes in cannabis tax law, said the valuation of the real estate occupied by many of the businesses has increased. A former applicant for a cannabis retail recreational license, Fallon notes that communities tended to rezoned areas to accommodate cannabis businesses, as required by law, in their industrial areas. In securing a location for her proposed business, Fallon found a commercial garage, the home of a landscaping business, located on a busy highway, adjacent to an adult book shop. Other proposed businesses in the community also sought out properties in the same vicinity. Jobs for residents, hike in property values The municipalities benefit from the increase in property value, Fallon said. In Worcester, Ulysses Youngblood, owner of Major Bloom on Millbury Street, said that the presence of the retail store has benefited what once was an underserved, marginalized community. We came in with security cameras, security guards, Youngblood said of the establishment, which also distills flower and makes certain specialty products. He also has a home-delivery license. Studies have shown, Youngblood said, that once marijuana enters an area, property values increase. Some 500 people a day come into the store, Youngblood said. If they dont buy from him, they may purchase from his neighbors. Worcester has been great to work with, Youngblood said. The city charged him a flat $15,000 as an impact fee and spread it over the three licenses he holds. And the city did provide an accounting of how that money was used. Not business by business, but an accounting of revenue collected from the sector and overall how it was dispersed. Youngblood praised the citys intentional goal to increase its equity cannabis businesses, reaching out to bring Black, brown, and women entrepreneurs into the market. That push to expand the market with marginalized players has also been stated as a goal of the Legislature and the commission. To that end, the state has established a fund designed to dole out loans and grants to hopeful entrepreneurs. This fund allows access to capital, Donahue said, adding that because marijuana is still considered a Schedule 1 drug by the DEA, normal banking routes are barred to cannabis businesses. On Thursday, the federal department of Health and Human Services suggested a schedule change for cannabis to a Level 3 substance, a move that must be approved by the DEA. Youngblood said he had to get creative to raise his initial investment of $1.5 million. He suffered some of the ups and downs inherent in the business. Deep pockets needed by applicants In scouting out a location, Youngblood said he initially secured a building and was in the midst of the application process when a city councilor nixed the deal, indicating that they didnt want a cannabis business in their district. The cost to Youngblood: $10,000 and the hassle of finding a different location. But he had deep faith. Applicants also need to have deep pockets. Fallon noted that the lengthy application process, the cost of securing and holding an appropriate property, coupled with the fees charged by municipalities, is detrimental to those entrepreneurs she called mom-and-pop and social equity applicants. They succeeded in keeping out the little guy, Fallon said. The HCAs and impact fees served as a barrier to social equity applicants. Municipalities looked at the cannabis industry as a blank check, said Blake Mensing, founder and chief counsel of the Mensing Group, a Massachusetts firm that specializes in cannabis law, permitting, compliance and promoting the industry. But the jig is up. In his estimation, the review of the community impact fees and the host agreements should be retroactive. Failure to review and revise the impact fees and agreements could lead to a spate of litigation on the part of cannabis businesses. Adam Fine, a partner at Vicente LLP, a firm specializing in cannabis law, agrees. This was an exploitation of the law, Fine said of the imposition of the full 3% gross revenue annual community impact fee. Of the states that have legalized marijuana, Massachusetts is the only one to require the HCA. Inherently unfair, the HCAs tilted the odds in favor of the applicants with deep pockets. All three attorneys contacted indicated that they had advised clients on occasion not to sign the predatory HCAs. But they needed to get a host community agreement in order to operate, Fine said. Some cannabis businesses have already filed suit. Stem Haverhill requested a full accounting of how the municipality spent its community impact fee. The cannabis operator filed suit to have the fees returned, alleging the city failed to document the expenditures. Returning fees to cannabis businesses Boston city officials indicated last fall that the city would stop collecting impact fees and return $2.86 million to its cannabis businesses. Were already seeing other communities following suit, Donahue said. Northampton, for example, the mayor said there was no negative impact to the community. He believes that if a municipality cannot account for the spending of the funds, it will be required to return the money. Donahue had no explanation as to why the commission decided it did not have the authority to review or regulate host community agreements and voted in 2018 to remove itself from the process. An applicant for an adult recreational retail license, one of nine filing paperwork in Medford, Brian Zarthar, opted to focus on another business, The Great American Beer Hall, rather than chase the marijuana business down the rabbit hole. Im fully out of cannabis, Zarthar said. He described the whole application process as stupid. The committee reviewing applications had been hand-picked and appointed by the mayor and the way it functioned had no bearing on the cannabis business, Zarthar said. It seemed predetermined, it felt as if we were not going to get a license no matter what, Zarthar said. While his family owned the property where he intended to open Bloom on Mystic, it still cost him money to hold it open for more than a year while the city decided which of the nine applicants would get the three available licenses. The demands didnt bother me, marijuana is a lucrative business, and we could afford it, Zarthar said. But other businesses dont have to pay that. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: "Reasonably related:" the new standard for community impact fees Chinese President Xi Jinping will not join other world leaders at this weeks Group of 20 summit, according to Chinas Foreign Ministry. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Monday the countrys premier, Li Qiang , will attend the conference Saturday and Sunday in India, according to a transcript of a press conference on the ministrys website. Last week, reports suggested the Chinese president wasnt likely to attend. As has been announced just now, Premier Li Qiang will lead a delegation to the New Delhi G20 Summit in India, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, according to the transcript. The G20 is an important forum for international economic cooperation. China has all along attached great importance to and taken an active part in G20 events, Mao continued. During this years G20 Summit, Premier Li Qiang will share Chinas views and propositions on G20 cooperation, and promote greater solidarity and cooperation among G20 countries and joint response to global economic and development challenges. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement President Biden, who is attending the conference in New Delhi, said he was disappointed about the reports Xi would not attend Sunday. Xi and Biden met at last years G20 summit in Indonesia. I am disappointed, but I am going to see him, Biden told reporters. Asked why Xi would not be attending the summit, Mao declined to answer. The G20 is a major forum for international economic cooperation. China has always attached great importance to and actively participated in relevant activities, Mao told reporters at a daily briefing. India recently overtook China as the worlds most populous nation, and the two are rivals in technology, space exploration and global trade. The Associated Press contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Citibank, a Russian branch of one of the largest Wall-Street banks Citigroup Inc, has reported closure of its ATM chain in this country. Source: Moscow Times Quote: "Dear clients, we inform you about the beginning of the process of termination of service in joint stock commercial bank Citibank. All ATMs will be dismantled by the end of 2023." The clients are offered to conduct most operations in Citibank's online banking system. At the end of 2022, Russia's Uralsib bank bought the consumer loans portfolio of Citibank and will continue the service of these loans. At the end of last summer, Citigroup Inc. reported the closure of its Russian unit, which was supposed to result in a write-off of US$170 million. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Thus, the agreement with Uralsib became a part of the plan of Citibank to reduce the number of operations and its presence in Russia, as Citigroup explained earlier. Citibank is one of the 45 banks, the agreement with the share capital of which were limited by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Background: Oleksii Moiseiev, Deputy Minister of Finance of Russia, claimed that the Russian government would not allow foreign banks to leave Russia easily. 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! Demonstrators march north on Broadway toward L.A. City Hall, where the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and other groups protested the passage of Proposition 14, which repealed the Rumford Fair Housing Act. (Bettmann Archive) Nationally, we just observed the 60th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s March on Washington. In California, there wasnt a peep about the 60th anniversary of a historic civil rights triumph in this state. Thats understandable. There are probably few people still around who know much about the Rumford Fair Housing Act, which produced arguably the biggest, bitterest brawl ever in Californias Capitol. Looking back, its almost inconceivable what the fight was about. It was over whether it should be legally permissible never mind morally right for homeowners and landlords to continue discriminating because of skin color in the sale and rental of housing. Spurred by Democratic Gov. Pat Brown , the Democratic-controlled Legislature voted after much anguish to ban racial discrimination in housing. The public backlash was swift. Californians voted by nearly 2 to 1 the next year to legalize discrimination again. But the state and U.S. Supreme courts ultimately ruled that the voters action was unconstitutional. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The mood in California was as anti-equality by legislative edict and local ordinances as you can imagine, says former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, a legendary Black politician, recalling the mid-1960s. The Rumford Act was considered a no-no. Moods across America were ugly in 1963. Read more: How the L.A. Times helped write segregation into Californias Constitution Birmingham, Ala., Police Chief Bull Connor turned dogs and fire hoses on civil rights marchers. Alabama Gov. George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door vowing to block integration. Civil rights leader Medgar Evers was shot to death in Mississippi. Racists bombed a Birmingham church, killing four little girls. In Sacramento, Gov. Brown daringly proposed legislation to end racial discrimination in housing. No man should be deprived of the right of acquiring a home of his own because of the color of his skin, the governor declared. Those were fighting words in the mid-1960s. Unlike the Jim Crow South, California did not have officially segregated schools or separate drinking fountains for white and Black people. But de facto housing segregation was common. People of color were barred by local covenants from many white neighborhoods. Californias demographics were far different back then. More than 80% of the population was white. Around 9% was Latino, 5.6% Black and roughly 2% Asian. Today, the Black population is roughly the same, but whites are only 35%. Latinos are the largest ethnic group at 39%, with Asians and Pacific Islanders at 16%. The housing bill was carried by and unofficially named after Assemblyman Byron Rumford (D-Berkeley), the first Black legislator elected from Northern California. Then, there were only three Black lawmakers out of 120. Today there are 12. In a scene that couldnt happen today because of tighter security and hasnt happened since scores of civil rights demonstrators occupied the Capitols second-floor rotunda between the two legislative chambers for weeks. They slept on the tile floor at night and sang We Shall Overcome during the day ticking off many lawmakers but also applying pressure. Actors Marlon Brando and Paul Newman visited one day to root on the protesters and publicize their cause. The governor showed up once to thank the demonstrators, bringing along two grandchildren. Senate leader Hugh Burns, a conservative Democrat from Fresno, tried to prevent a vote on the bill as the Legislature approached mandatory adjournment on the final night of its annual session. But Assembly Speaker Jesse Big Daddy Unruh of Inglewood, a civil rights champion, threatened to kill all Senate bills pending in his house unless Burns freed Rumfords measure. A compromise version narrowly passed the Senate literally at the 11th hour, then breezed through the Assembly seven minutes before the midnight adjournment. But first Unruh, a Texas sharecroppers son who understood white racism, rose on the Assembly floor and cautioned colleagues about the political dangers of getting too far ahead of the citizenry. Read more: Op-Ed: Why Los Angeles is still a segregated city after all these years He was immediately proved correct. The California Real Estate Assn. launched a repeal effort, Proposition 14, that became one of the most emotional and vitriolic initiative campaigns in state history. The outcome was never in doubt. The Los Angeles Times endorsed the repeal, editorializing that housing discrimination was essentially a basic property right. Brown called Proposition 14 sponsors shock troops of bigotry. But his forceful advocacy of the Rumford Act contributed significantly to the governors reelection defeat in 1966. Newcomer Ronald Reagan trounced him in a landslide. Rumford also lost a state Senate race. Reagan attracted voters by vowing to wipe the Rumford Act off the books. But once in office he really never tried. Give him credit for that much. Unruh appointed a white moderate Republican, Assemblyman Bill Bagley of San Rafael, to head a committee created to fashion a compromise. But Bagley, one of only a few Republicans who voted for the act, never convened the committee and stalled until the courts declared Proposition 14 unconstitutional. The Rumford Act ultimately evolved into todays Fair Employment and Housing Act, which some Black legislators contend isnt being adequately enforce particularly laws against workplace and rental discrimination. The state agency is really understaffed and overburdened, asserts Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles). Much of it has been gutted. Shes pushing a bill to permit local government enforcement of workplace anti-discrimination laws. But Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar measure for Los Angeles County three years ago, stating it could create confusion, inconsistent enforcement and increase costs. California proclaims to be the vanguard of progressive values and social justice, yet we have not invested in our civil rights infrastructure, Smallwood-Cuevas says. We have a long way to go when it comes to racial justice in the workforce and in housing. Yes. But the bitter struggle over the Rumford Act reminds us of how far weve come in 60 years. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. FILE - Police patrol Pusher Street in at Christiania, Copenhagen, Friday, May 25, 2018, after the street reopened after having been closed for three days. Copenhagens mayor is urging urged foreigners not to buy weed in a the city's Christiania neighborhood known for its flourishing hashish trade where a 30-year-old man was killed by shots last month and four people injured. (Nils Meilvang/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File) COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) Copenhagens mayor on Monday urged foreigners not to buy weed in the city's Christiania neighborhood where a 30-year-old man was shot and killed and four others injured two weeks ago due to gang turf wars fighting over the marijuana trade in the area. The Aug. 26 killing was the latest in a bloody feud between rival gangs, the Hells Angels and the outlawed Loyal to Family. Both are trying to monopolize the sale of cannabis in Christiania. On Friday, a 28-year-old man, affiliated with the Loyal To Family gang was arrested in relation to the shooting. The sale of marijuana is illegal in Denmark. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The spiral of violence at Christiania is deeply worrying," Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Hstorp Andersen said. She called on the hundreds of thousands of visiting tourists and the many new foreign students who have just moved to Copenhagen to stay away and refrain from buying weed or other drugs at Pusher Street. Christiania has become one of Copenhagens biggest tourist attractions and many of the visitors are foreigners. It may seem innocent to buy weed for a festive night out but think about the fact that your money ends up in the pockets of criminal gangs who shoot in our streets and put innocent people in danger, Hstorp Andersen said. A day after the latest deadly shooting, inhabitants of Christiania called for Pusher Street where drug-selling booths are abundant to be closed. Last month, they tried to close down the street on their own using heavy machinery which masked men, believed to be drug peddlers, removed. City officials have not offered concrete solutions to the drug trade in Christiania. Police have torn down the drug-selling booths several times before, only for them to pop back up. Last October, a man selling marijuana in one of the aptly named Pusher Streets marijuana booths was shot dead. In 2021, a man was shot and killed at the entrance to the same street. In 1973, hippies started squatting at a former naval base creating the Christiania neighborhood. They followed flower-power ideals popular at the time; wanting free cannabis, limited government influence, no cars and no police while painting the buildings in psychedelic bright colors. There are nearly 700 adults and about 150 children inhabiting the area. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting at Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. (Sergei Guneyev/AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea wont be restored until the West meets its obligations to facilitate Russian agricultural exports. Putin made the statement after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who along with the U.N. brokered the deal seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. Advertisement But Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that an agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadnt been honored. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Putin said that if those commitments were honored, Russia could return to the deal within the nearest days. Advertisement He also said that Russia is close to finalizing an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. The Russian leader added that Russia will ship 1 million metric tons (1.1 million tons) of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries. Since Putin withdrew from the grain initiative, Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. A lot is riding on the talks for the world food supply, and beforehand analysts predicted Putin would drive a hard bargain. My gut feeling is that Putin recognizes the leverage he has by using food as an economic weapon, and thus will fight for all he can get in terms of concessions on his wish-list, said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank. Those may include Russias grains, or fertilizer exports, or wider issues, he said. Data from the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which organized the Ukraine shipments, shows that 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China, which received nearly a quarter of the food. The meeting took place against a backdrop of Ukraines recent counteroffensive against the Kremlins invasion forces. In the latest development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced this week. The job requires new approaches, Zelenskyy said, without elaborating. Reznikov on Monday published a photo of his resignation letter. Advertisement In addition to pulling out of the grain deal, Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odesa region, where Ukraines main Black Sea port is. On Monday, the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted 23 of 32 drones that targeted the Odea and Dnipropetrovsk regions but did not specify damage caused by the drones that got through. The Turkish president has maintained close ties with Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasnt joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russias overseas trade. Opening the talks, Putin mentioned various areas of bilateral cooperation, such as a proposed Russian gas hub in Turkey and the construction of the first nuclear power plant there, in which Moscow is actively involved. NATO member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and backing Kyivs bid to join NATO. Erdogan angered Moscow in July when he allowed five Ukrainian commanders to return home. The soldiers had been captured by Russia and handed over to Turkey on condition they remained there for the duration of the war. Putin and Erdogan authoritarian leaders who have both been in power for more than two decades are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support. Advertisement The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraines Black Sea exports to resume. Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putins position. In July, he said Putin had certain expectations from Western countries over the Black Sea deal and that it was crucial for these countries to take action in this regard. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concrete proposals aimed at getting Russian exports to global markets and allowing the resumption of the Black Sea initiative. But Lavrov said Moscow wasnt satisfied with the letter. Describing Turkeys intense efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it was a process that tries to better understand Russias position and requests, and to meet them. Latino families are known for being close-knit, and at times old-fashioned and conservative. That can present a major hurdle for a son or daughter who is weighing when and how to reveal their LGBTQ+ status. Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea was in her early 20s when she came out, and was embraced by her parents and other family members. Not everyone is so fortunate, said Perea, 36. We have a lot of folks, especially our younger individuals, who come out and theyre rejected by their family; so, they become homeless, said Perea. That is why homelessness is a major issue within the LGBTQ+ community, she said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But homelessness is not the only fear in the LGBTQ+ community. We have a higher suicide rate within the LGBTQ communty, and thats because an individual is led to believe that they are less than, or that theres nowhere for them to go for assistance or resources, said Perea, who helped push for an LGBTQ+ liaison within the Mayor Jerry Dyers Office of Community Affairs. The city also provided $100,000 to support the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission LGBTQ+ Resource Center, and another $100,000 in grants for organizations that provide support to that community. California State Library In many cases, this could be a life or death situation, said Perea. Im really proud that our city is taking a step up for this segment of the community that historically has gone underrepresented and has not been invested in. Despite the fact that California was among the first states to recognize same-sex marriages and has embraced the LGBTQ+ community, that has not made LGBTQ+ residents 100% comfortable. That is because anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric crosses the border and can empower people to resort to violence against the community. For example, a clothing store owner in San Bernardino was targeted for flying a Pride flag at her business and was fatally shot on Aug. 18. State legislatures throughout the country have been busy considering more than 500 bills that target the LGBTQ+ community. State Attorney General Rob Bonta released the 2022 Hate Crime Report in late June, which showed an increase in hate crimes, especially against the LGBTW+ community. A hate crime is one that targets a person for his or her gender, race/ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, nationality or association with a person or group with one of these characteristics. A hate crime event meets the criteria for a hate crime and has been documented by law enforcement. Its just really sad to see that we are regressive as a nation when it comes to equality, said Perea during a half-hour interview with Vida en el Valle in July. Instead of moving forward and modernizing our rules, were going in time. States, she said, are attacking the right to marry your partner, trying to limit free speech in books, or making it legal for a business to discriminate against a customer based on their sexual orientation. Here in California, we choose to do the right thing when it comes to social causes, said Perea. Theres still a lot of work to do from a nationwide perspective. They see a leader that is wanting to silence them Perea referenced an effort by Clovis City Councilmember Diana Pearce to question the selection of books on display for children at the Fresno County Library during Pride Month. The biggest issue for her is books and content within books, said Perea. Thats very disappointing. Having an elected official who resonates with this community is crucial, she added. We dont know if theres a little girl or boy that lives in the City of Clovis that is struggling with their identity, that is struggling with their sexual orientation, said Perea. They look to their leaders and they see a leader that is wanting to silence them and basically say that who they are is not relevant. Theyre willing to go as far as visiting libraries and making this a conversation topic, talking about why we need to ban certain books. I think theres a lot bigger issues in our county to deal with than stooping to that level. The City of Fresno, said Perea, is stepping up its support for the LGBTQ+ community. Theres just a lot of issues that are unique to our communities that cities dont typically invest in, said Perea. So Im just really proud that our city is taking a step up for this segment of our community that historically has gone underrepresented and has not been invested in. Meanwhile, the national environment doesnt help. Perea said legislators in other states are going out of their way to introduce anti-LGBTQ+ bills. It wasnt very long ago a black individual and a white individual were not allowed to marry, said Perea. While weve come a long way in that regard, it seems like were going in reverse. Discriminatory legislation that limits marriages or allows a business to discriminate can take a toll on anyones mental health, said Perea. Its scary to think that there might be a chance one day that my right to marry my partner will be taken away, she said. Thats a heavy toll for anyone to carry, right? Because it wasnt that long ago that right was just given to me, to us. Its tough. Its extremely tough. This is part of a series on Stop The Hate, a project funded by the California State Library. SOUTH BEND County police detectives are looking into the details after officers found a woman shot in the head Saturday night in a home in the 20000 block of Darden Road near Indiana 933. County police officials said officers received a dispatch about 10 p.m. Saturday of a male victim with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. The caller to 9-1-1 reportedly was uncooperative with dispatchers and would not provide their information, any details of the incident or an address for the location of the victim. Dispatchers later determined the caller was near Darden Road west of Indiana 933, and after searching the area for 15 minutes, officers found a shooting victim through the window of a home in the 20000 block of Darden Road in Clay Township. Police reportedly entered the home and found a female with a gunshot to the head, not a male as reported by the 9-1-1 caller. The woman was taken by ambulance to a local hospital where police officials said she died of her wound a short time later. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A man believed to have been the caller to dispatchers about the incident was found on scene, officers said, and was the man detained for questioning. County officials said no arrests have been made, and county police and county police detectives are still investigating the shooting and any details about the origin of the fatal gun shot. Email Tribune staff writer Greg Swiercz at gswiercz@sbtinfo.com. This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Woman dies after being found shot in head Saturday in home on Darden Road VENICE, ItalyIts a return to form for Woody Allen! Thats right, a return to the form of 2015s Irrational Man, which saw Parker Posey playing a character under the age of 70 called Rita, and Joaquin Phoenix saying, Where do you want to run away to? Tahiti, like Paul Gauguin? Which is to say that nobody in a Woody Allen film has uttered a single sentence that an actual person would say for the best part of 20 years. His films are filled to the gills with cheap exposition, crass character building, hollowed-out dialogue, and the odd sub-New Yorker comic strip punchline. As usual, in Coup de Chance, which premiered Monday at the Venice Film Festival, there is a married young woman who has an affair, and a suspicious husband; as so often, especially in Allens terrible late style, the theme of chance plays a great big role, doled out glibly. There is a prying mother-in-law. In fact, I entered the request Write the plot of a Woody Allen film set in Paris, with a wife cheating on her husband, and containing the theme of chance into ChatGPT and its truly astounding how close the bot got. The film opens with Lucas and Emily's seemingly happy marriage slowly unraveling. Emily's discontentment with her mundane life becomes evident as she frequents Parisian art galleries and social events while Lucas remains immersed in his philosophical musings about chance, reads the opening AI paragraph. Nearly! In Coup de Chance, its Jean and Fannys seemingly happy marriage that is slowly unraveling, and Fannys discontentment with her mundane life becomes evident as she frequents Parisian art galleries and social events. Its Fannys lover, Alain, who gives us his philosophical musings about chance. Fanny meets Alain quite by chance in the streetan old friend from high school who used to have a crush on her. (How adorable that Alain was the same age as this schoolgirl when he was in love with her!) He is a writera young, hopeful, idealistic man whose flame for Fanny still burns bright, while Fannys older husband, Jean, is a cynical money guy. (Woodys screenplay is so lazy that it doesnt even bother thinking up an actual job for Jeanwe are just told that he makes rich people richer, though whether he does this by investing their money in stocks and shares, or by granting them three wishes when summoned from his lamp, is anybodys guess.) Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis/Getty Back to the plot: a series of Woody Allen things happen, and Jean decides he must put an end to his wifes affair, by any means. This skulduggery is played for easy laughs, in the way Allen has always adopted, scoring big by exploiting a facile disconnect between high-society comedy of manners and brutish deus ex-machinas. Alain believes in fortune, talking expansively about chance bringing him and Fanny back togetherand chance plays a significant role in the films denouement. This is cute, but its territory that Allen has visited over and over and over again, and it feels like somebody going through the motions, on top of which its really not a theme that can yield that many variations. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Everything here sounds false, like raising a toast with plastic champagne cups. Alain is supposed to be a young writer, living a bohemian life, but his apartment is in fact a bijou loft property, apparently located in Pariss most well-to-do neighborhood. No new-born baby has been named Alain in France since the year 1964. Sad-eyed, desperate-looking actors are obligated to say things like, I feel as if I were experiencing my youth anew, seeing you in that polo neck, or, What is wrong? You are pale in appearance. (I am attempting to give an impression of Allens hilariously false, unidiomatic French, by translating it back into English, after it was presumably translated into French from the original 1970s American with the use of Google Translate.) No actor can make this garbage sound believable, but some of Frances best actors, who apparently have no qualms working with Woody Allen after the credible accusations made against him by Dylan Farrow, are more than willing to give it the old college try. Melvil Poupaud, hot off working with Roman Polanski on 2019s An Officer and a Spy, flounders in the role of Jean, playing an old-school slimebag with as much verve as he can muster, but tripping badly over Allens haggard men are from Mars, women are from Venus dialogue, such as, Arent we fortunate, to have such beautiful wives? Valerie Lemercier, as Fannys mum, has enough training in comedy to survive this tin-eared pablum, adding much-needed hesitations and beats so that there is something like authenticity to her character. Priscilla Biopic Is a Radical Telling of Elvis Abusive Relationship But nothing can counteract the airless, stuffy fakery of this film: Its there in scenes that simply peter out, fading to black 1.5 seconds after someone has finished speaking; its there in the school-play blocking, which repeatedly sees characters standing around in a U formation so that all their faces can be seen; its there in the scarcely believable quoting of poets; in the under-characterisation of the lead woman; in the Greek Chorus-style exposition; in Fannys woman who has a job costuming; in the reference-points, the gender politics, the touristy Parisian locations, the Chekhovs gun finale and the music. Fake, fake, fake. Allen clearly carries on working because he enjoys being on a film setthere can be no other explanation for his continually making the same film with such wretchedly diminishing returns. His exceptionally brief spell in film prison now apparently over, he will surely return to English-language filmmaking and his one-a-year habit: Can he find someone who will translate his screenplay into 2024? Liked this review? Sign up to get our weekly See Skip newsletter every Tuesday and find out what new shows and movies are worth watching, and which arent. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. It was the most exciting potential sighting of the Loch Ness monster captured on camera for decades. But now, a paranormal investigator has dampened Nessie hunters hopes by saying the strange object photographed spinning and rolling in the water is most likely a sturgeon. Translator Chie Kelly revealed the pictures last week after seeing the creature moving at a steady speed while she was having lunch at a pub on the banks of Loch News in Scotland on Aug 13 2018. Ms Kelly kept quiet about the pictures for fear of ridicule, but went public after hundreds of volunteers descended on Loch Ness last week for a two-day monster hunt the biggest attempt to get to the bottom of the myth in decades. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Although the image has been hailed as the most exciting picture taken of Nessie in decades, Hayley Stevens, a paranormal researcher and regular contributor to the BBC Radio 4 podcast Uncanny, said: I personally think it is most likely that they saw a large sturgeon in the Loch. Chie Kelly says she saw the creature moving at a steady speed - Chie Kelly/Peter Jolly Northpix Writing on the award-winning science blog, Hayley is a Ghost, she said: The photos were taken in August 2018 and sturgeon migrate into fresh water in late summer and early autumn to mate, before heading back out to coastal waters. Sturgeon can grow very large the Atlantic and European sturgeon, which are native to the UK, can grow up to five metres in length. Most importantly though, we have to acknowledge the fact that well probably not know for sure what the photo shows but something being currently unexplained does not mean it is unexplainable. Thousands of people have taken to message boards to discuss what the image might be, with ideas ranging from two otters playing, to bin bags and even a deflated dinghy. Chie Kelly initially kept quiet about the pictures for fear of ridicule Many claim to have seen the face of the monster zooming in on the images, but Ms Stevens warned zooming distorts the picture further and can trigger the pareidolia effect in which the brain interprets random images, or patterns of light and shadow, as faces. Scientists believe that the pareidolia effect evolved to help pick out hidden predators, but it can lead to people seeing faces where they are not there, such as picking out Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or Elvis in objects such as toasts, shrouds, and clouds. Ms Stevens added: The photos are a part of the mystery as they do not clearly show whats in the water. This does not stop people from zooming in on the photo to the point that the photo quality is distorted, in the hope that theyll find a pixel that tells them the answer. In reality, any further detail that emerges from zooming in on a photo to the point that it is pixelated is likely to come from the pareidolia effect. A second photograph showing a strange creature in Loch Ness, emerged over the weekend, taken by 12-year-old Charlotte Robinson, on Aug 17 2018. Charlotte Robinson took a photo of a creature in Loch Ness in 2018 - Peter Jolly/Northpix Press Agency Charlotte, from Leeds in Yorkshire, said that it had a neck and head in the shape of a hook and had disappeared, before reemerging elsewhere for about a minute. The shape in the picture is similar to the most famous image of Nessie taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a gynaecologist, in 1930, which also showed a creature with a long neck and small head moving through the water. The image which became widely known as the surgeons photograph later turned out to be a hoax, created by a disgruntled ex-Mail employee who was angry that his father-in-law had been ridiculed by the newspaper for claiming he had found Nessie footprints. Nevertheless, both Charlotte and Ms Kellys sightings have been accepted by the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register. Gary Campbell, the keeper of the register, said the two new images were the best of Nessie ever taken and are totally baffling. Members of the Loch Ness Exploration group who took to the loch last week said their microphones had picked up strange sounds but said they had forgotten to turn on their recording equipment, so their claims cannot be verified. Some Nessie hunters believe the creature could be a plesiosaur that survived extinction. The theory was boosted last year when the University of Bath found fossils of small plesiosaurs in a 100-million-year-old river system that is now in Moroccos Sahara Desert, suggesting some did live in freshwater. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. The call of a domestic disturbance came at 6:39 p.m. As Officer Haylee Ouellette approached the apartment in Manchester, a body-worn camera recording a cops-eye view of her arrival, a man inside could be heard screaming, Shut your mouth! Hey, hey, hey! Whats up? Whats happening? Ouellette called out, her voice casual. She opened a screen door and leaned in. Why are we yelling at each other? Joseph Diloreto was profanely berating a woman inside the apartment. He did not directly answer Ouellette until she stepped inside. Then his attention shifted from his female acquaintance to the officer, anger coming to a rapid boil. In quick succession, he slapped at the officer, dodged a shot from a non-lethal Taser, grabbed a knife and advanced on Ouellette. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Oh, my God, said Diloretos companion. Ouellette backed from the apartment to a courtyard, now aiming her handgun, not the Taser. Diloreto called her a wimp. Ouellette told him to drop the knife, or she would shoot. Diloreto hesitated by the door, then came out. He waved his arms and yelled, Hit me. Hit me. Hit me. He kept coming. Ouellette fired. Shots fired, she radioed, her voice tight. Multiple shots fired. Ouellette was the first of three Connecticut police officers to shoot someone this summer. Shootings in Manchester in July and West Hartford and Middletown in August left one man dead and two wounded. Two incidents involved men who seemed impaired the one with a knife in Manchester, another with a claw hammer in Middletown as they inexplicably attacked armed officers. In the other, a car chase and brief manhunt preceded a K-9 officer in West Hartford shooting and killing a suspected car thief in a chaotic, claustrophobic confrontation involving the cop, his dog and the suspect on the front seat of a moving car. All three shootings were recorded by the body-worn cameras that police call BWCs. Each time, public release of the videos came quickly and without prodding from the press, transparency mandated by a 2020 police accountability law. Introduced elsewhere a decade ago, BWC use in Connecticut has evolved from a voluntary pilot project authorized by the General Assembly in 2015 to their required use, effective July 1, 2021. Every use of deadly force by a local or state police officer since then has been captured by an unblinking camera. Its transformative, said Robert J. Devlin Jr., a former prosecutor and judge who is approaching the midpoint of a four-year term as Connecticuts first inspector general, responsible for assessing every police use of deadly force. Centralizing use-of-force investigations in the Office of Inspector General is one of the reforms in the 2020 law, Connecticuts reaction to the citizen video of a handcuffed George Floyd dying while a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for 9 minutes while other cops watched without intervening. The Connecticut law requires police to intervene when witnessing brutality by fellow cops, mandates body and dash cameras, bans chokeholds in most circumstances and clarifies that deadly force can be used only when police exhaust all reasonable alternatives. about:blank And it resolves any question about when or whether to release BWC and dash-cam videos after critical incidents. The law mandates release within four days, and Devlin generally has posted them online even faster, accompanied by brief summaries identifying the officers involved. The practice and clear legal requirement stands in contrast to other states. In Cambridge, Mass., as the Boston Globe reported last week, officials have yet to identify the police officer who shot and killed a college student on Jan. 4, saying the legal authority for disclosure is unclear. There was no requirement to wear a BWC, and Cambridge officials had not provided one. Connecticut is one of at least seven states mandating the statewide use of body-worn cameras, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Regardless of state laws, most larger police departments now employ them throughout the United States. There is a consensus that body-worn cameras are game changers, at least in assessing police on their worst days, when a firearm is unholstered and fired, as well as resolving complaints. Was a cop rude? Did they really use a racial epithet? Did they strike someone without cause? Well, now you watch the body cam, said Paul Melanson, the chief of police in Avon and current chair of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association. BWC videos are downloaded and logged at the end of every shift, a cinematic record of everything from the most mundane of police interactions with the public to confrontations involving deadly force, like the ones from Manchester, Middletown and West Hartford. Most of the devices have automatic triggers. When an officer activates a cruisers lights or siren responding to call, the body and dash cams begin recording, Melanson said. In other situations, the BWC must be manually activated, a habit most officers have developed, he said. Michael P. Lawlor, a criminal justice professor and former prosecutor, lawmaker and gubernatorial adviser who sits on the New Haven Police Commission and the state board that sets police training standards, said the videos are neutral witnesses, allowing quicker resolutions of complaints. Research has found that complaints drop when the cameras are used. Harder to assess is how the BWCs are changing policing. Early studies are inconclusive, said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C., group that advises police on everything from training and tactics to how to best recruit and retain police in a tight labor market. The one thing that hasnt happened is we havent seen a major reduction in some kinds of use of force with body-worn cameras, Wexler said. And I think that the answer to that is that body-worn cameras by themselves will not change policing body-worn cameras with new training, new policies and new oversight will. Wexler said BWC videos already have been a training tool, showing real-life examples of police shootings that could have avoided with different tactics, especially when confronted with someone acting irrationally. From our standpoint, it has been an epiphany in how you think about force and how you train police to prevent unnecessary force, so that ultimately everybody can go home safe, Wexler said. The Police Executive Research Forum has developed a use-of-force protocol for handling people who are behaving erratically and dangerously but do not possess a firearm. It is dubbed ICAT for integrating communications, assessment and tactics. ICAT preaches against moving quickly when a subject is safely confined but showing signs of mental illness. The last thing they want is a police officer aiming a firearm at them and barking orders. But thats how police have been taught, Wexler said. It is the scenario that unfolded on Jan. 15, 2020 when 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane of New Haven was shot to death by State Trooper Brian North after an on-and-off chase on I-95 from Norwalk to West Haven. As recounted by Devlins investigative report, Soulemane led police on a chase at speeds reaching 100 miles per hour before police boxed him in just off I-95 in West Haven. He sat alone behind the wheel of the car he had stolen from a Lyft driver after acting erratically at a cell phone store. His eyes were closed, and he ignored shouts to exit the car. Soulemanes family says he was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 14. North stood outside the drivers door, aiming his handgun at Soulemanes chest through the closed window. A West Haven officer, Robert Rappa, broke a passenger side window. At Norths urging, another trooper fired his Taser, which failed to penetrate Soulemanes jacket. Hes reaching, Rappa yelled. Souleman pulled a serrated knife from his pocket and pointed it at the roof of the car. North fired seven times. Devlin took over the investigation in November 2021, two months after becoming inspector general. His task was to assess whether Norths use of force was objectively reasonable, a legal standard that gives police the benefit of the doubt. To find an officer criminally culpable, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that police did not act in defense of themselves or others. In a scathing report issued in April 2022, Devlin concluded that Norths actions could not be justified, nor were they reasonable by any measure. He charged North with manslaughter, the first officer to be criminally charged under the new accountability law. At the time Trooper North fired his weapon, neither he nor any other person was in imminent danger of serious injury or death from a knife attack at the hands of Soulemane, Devlin wrote. Further, any belief that persons were in such danger was not reasonable. North told investigators that he believed that Rappa was about to enter the car, and he feared that Soulemane might stab the West Haven officer. There is body and dash camera video from various angles of the shooting, but the images from Norths BWC may be of limited use in resolving whether North saw anything justifying that belief. James W. Borden, a retired Nevada police officer and court-certified expert witness in use-of-force cases, said in an interview that not every BWC video will show precisely what an officer saw and reacted to in a matter of seconds. They have to make sense of whats occurring in front of them. And at that point that starts to drive a decision, said Borden, who reviewed Norths shooting and concluded the trooper could have had a reasonable belief of an imminent threat. Because North was leaning forward, the camera worn on his chest aimed slightly lower than his actual line of sight, and the view was further obscured by his outstretched hands that held his pistol. But Devins reported noted that Rappa told investigators that North was mistaken. He was not entering the car and had no intention to do so. Rappa told Inspectors that he broke the window to communicate with Soulemane, and facilitate the use of less lethal means to gain control of him, Devlin wrote. A reasonable police officer would have realized that the police were in control of the situation and the opportunity existed to take a tactical pause to explore the use of methods other than deadly force. It would have been the approach recommended by Wexlers ICAT protocols. Devlins report went beyond an assessment of North. He faulted a more senior trooper for failing to take command and all the officers for barely communicating with each other or Soulemane. There was no plan. This is why events took on a life of their own after the window shattered. Somebody needed to assert leadership, take a tactical pause, and examine the best course to accomplish safely the arrest of Soulemane, Devlin wrote. Claudine Constant, the public policy and advocacy director of the ACLU in Connecticut, is generally a critic of the accountability law, saying the standards for judging police are too lax. But she said she appreciates Devlins willingness to take a broader view of the tactics behind use of force incidents Its welcome reading, she said. In an interview, Devlin downplayed his role in offering critiques. My office cant impose change on police agencies in Connecticut. We would never presume to do that, Devlin said. But, he added, Ive tried to make what I thought were common-sense recommendations in some situations for their consideration, in terms of whether they think is a good idea or not. There has been no broader assessment of the accountability law, but there is a consensus from police, policy makers and politicians that the BWCs and clear rules for the release of the videos are worthwhile. After Hartford police fatally shot Alphonso Zaporta while struggling to pull him from a car in July 2019, it was unclear what BWC video would be released. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin pressed for immediate release, knowing the view from inside the car would show what some witnesses could not see: Zaporta had taken hold of an officers gun. Bronin was relieved when the investigating prosecutor complied. Having body camera footage and having the ability to quickly see a situation as it actually unfolded, and then having the ability to share that video with the community as quickly as possible, has been vital in the wake of tragedies in this community and so many other communities, Bronin said. In contrast to Cambridge, there were no lingering community complaints in Hartford over a lack of transparency. To the surprise of some experts, police have embraced patrolling with a digital big brother that sees and hears most public interactions. The conventional thinking 10 years ago was cops wont want this. This is another intrusion, said Wexler, whose organization wrote the original guidelines for their use. Today, if you tried to take away those cameras, the cops would actually be upset. Melanson said that has been the case since Connecticut made the cameras mandatory. It is not only embraced, I mean, I know that they wont go out without it. It has become just a part of what theyre doing. Rep. Greg Howard, R-Stonington, a police detective, ultimately voted against the 2020 police accountability law, but for provisions unrelated to the camera mandate. The truth is told right from the beginning, Howard said. So I think that from a perspective of transparency, certainly its a great thing. Mark Pazniokoas is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of The Connecticut Mirror (https://ctmirror.org). Copyright 2023 The Connecticut Mirror. This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: How has law enforcement in CT changed since police body cameras? Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) CHICAGO (AP) Justin Steele tossed dominant two-hit ball through eight innings to move into a tie for the major league lead in wins, leading the Chicago Cubs past the San Francisco Giants 5-0 on Monday. Steele improved to 16-3, matching the victory total of Atlantas Spencer Strider , as he won his seventh straight decision. Chicago's All-Star left-hander overwhelmed the sliding Giants on a scorching afternoon at Wrigley Field, striking out a career-high 12 and walking two as the Cubs strengthened their grip on the second NL wild card spot. Attacking the strike zone, nice job and very efficient," Chicago manager David Ross said. "That guy on the bump is really talented." Steele set the tone by pumping fastballs early with excellent command. Giants hitters made solid contact only a few times as the lefty threw 73 of 107 pitches for strikes. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Then the secondary stuff is really nice, Ross said You go that deep in the game, you're bound to, with his stuff, get some extra punch-outs there. Steele warmed up quickly on a 90-degree day. He had a hunch it might be a good one. It's always fun when you know you have your stuff and you kind of know where your four-seam (fastball) is going, your slider, you're able to go in and out, up-down." Seiya Suzuki hit a 432-foot solo shot off Giants starter Logan Webb in the second, then drove in Chicago's second run with a line double to the right-center wall in the seventh. Suzuki has rebounded from a mid-season slump, upping his batting average to .267 and homer total to 15. I feel really good right now, and I think I just want to make sure I continue this until the very end," the Japanese outfielder said through a translator. Yan Gomes also had two hits, including a double, and an RBI. Dansby Swanson drove an insurance run in the eighth with a bloop double that dropped in front of and got by Giants left fielder Mitch Haniger. After allowing a solid line single to Casey Schmitt with two outs in the second, Steele retired 16 straight until walking J.D. Davis to start the eighth. Davis was erased on a double play before Paul DeJong singled for San Francisco's second hit. Jose Cuas pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the win. The 28-year-old Steele hasnt lost since July 16 when Boston scored six runs five unearned against him. Webb (9-12) allowed three runs on five hits and walked one through 6 2/3 innings as San Francisco lost its fourth straight. The Giants have dropped 17 of their last 25, but entered Monday tied with Arizona and Miami for the last NL postseason spot. Cincinnati was percentage points behind in the crowded mix. We definitely have to be better than we showed today and what we've been showing recently, Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. Right now, we have to be more aggressive. Webb retired 10 straight Cubs hitters between Suzukis homer and Gomes' double to the wall in the fifth. The Cubs chased Webb in the seventh when Cody Bellinger singled and then came home on Suzuki's double. Gomes' RBI singled made it 3-0 and Tristan Beck relieved. The Cubs added two unearned runs in the eighth. TRAINERS ROOM Giants: RHP John Brebbia (right lat strain) and RHP Ross Stripling (mid-back strain) were with the Giants on Monday following minor-league rehab assignments and seem close to returning from the IL. Kapler said no roster move would take place on Monday, however. OF Michael Conforto (left hamstring strain) also was with the team, but only to continue his rehab. Cubs: Hot-hitting OF/INF Bellinger was at DH again on Monday. Ross wants to keep the 2019 NL MVPs bat in the lineup while giving his banged up body a rest. All-Star RHP Marcus Stroman (rib cartilage fracture) was set to throw a bullpen session at the teams Arizona training facility on Monday. RHP Michael Fulmer (right forearm strain) played catch for a third straight day. LHP Brandon Hughes (left knee inflammation) and RHP Nick Burdi (right ulnar nerve irritation) are at Triple-A Iowa for rehab assignments. UP NEXT RHP Kyle Hendricks (5-7, 3.59 ERA) takes the mound on Tuesday night as the series continues. The Giants will use RHP Ryan Walker (4-2, 2.16) as an opener. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb Danelo Cavalcante is seen in his mug shot (AP) Danelo Cavalcante was convicted of murder charges last month for brutally stabbing his girlfriend to death in front of her children. Less than two weeks after receiving a life sentence, the 34-year-old sparked fresh terror as he broke free from a Pennsylvania jail. A massive manhunt is now underway to locate Cavalcante, who is to be considered extremely dangerous. Cavalcante was found guilty of the murder of Deborah Brandao on 16 August - more than two years after he stabbed her 38 times in front of her two young children in Schuylkill Township in April 2021. Prosecutors said he killed Brandao to stop her from telling police about an active arrest warrant he was facing for another alleged murder in his home country of Brazil in 2017. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Just days into beginning his life sentence for Brandaos killing, Cavalcante broke free from the Chester State Prison on the morning of 31 August. Here is everything we know about Cavalcante and his escape: The escape Cavalcante escaped from the Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania, at around 8.50am on Thursday (31 August). He was last seen on surveillance footage about one and a half miles from the prison at around 12.30pm on Saturday. In a statement released by the Chester County District Attorney, Cavalcante was wearing pants, a light-coloured t-shirt, white sneakers and a backpack. He is described as having long, black curly hair and police said his appearance has remained unchanged. Cavalcante was last seen on surveillance footage about one and a half miles from the prison at around 12.30pm on Saturday (Chester County district attorney office) Local authorities received a report of an attempted burglary in the area just an hour before Cavalcante was captured on surveillance, but it is not immediately clear if he was involved. Police havent disclosed the circumstances of how Cavalcante managed to escape Chester State Prison and have said the incident remains under investigation. A search of the prison and surrounding area is currently being conducted, the Chester Countys district attorneys office initially said. Notification of the escape has been communicated to all residents within a six-mile radius of the prison. Chester County Detectives and the Pennsylvania State Police are conducting a thorough county-wide search, and prison officials are conducting an internal investigation. Given the danger around the situation, residents have been asked to remain indoors at this time. Lock your vehicles. Review your surveillance cameras and contact police if you observe anything suspicious, DA Deb Ryan said. The manhunt Police put out a poster with images of Cavalcante, both caught on the CCTV footage and a picture of him from prison. Authorities said in a case outline that there would be a combined reward of $5,000 from the US Marshals Service and $5,000 from Chester County. Danelo Souza Cavalcante is wanted by Chester County Detectives, Pennsylvania State Police and the United States Marshals Service (USMS) for escaping from the Chester County Prison on 8/31/2023. Cavalcante is also wanted for homicide in Brazil. He is a Brazilian national fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, the wanted poster reads. Authorities said law enforcement teams, including the US Marshals, SWAT and other federal agencies, have joined the search to find Cavalcante. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports US Marshal Supervisory Agent Robert Clark said Friday that the agency had received more than 100 tips from residents. It was reported by the outlet that the marshals employed helicopters, drones and other resources to search for Cavalcante in the heavily wooded areas near the prison. The murder Cavalcante was convicted of the murder of 33-year-old Deboral Brandao on 16 August after the jury deliberated for just 15 minutes. He was sentenced to life in prison on 22 August. Cavalcante and Brandao reportedly met through mutual friends and moved in together with her two children not long after their two-year relationship began. Prosecutors outlined his domestic abuse against Brandao during the trial. Deborah Brandao (pictured) was stabbed to death in front of her children in April 2021 (Brandao family handout) It was reported that in June 2020, Cavalcante bit Brandao on her lip hard enough to draw blood and chased her and her children out of their home. Brandao and her kids hid in a neighbours apartment and a warrant was issued by police for Cavalcantes arrest. However, he did not turn himself in. Later that year, Cavalcante allegedly attacked Brandao again, chasing her with a knife, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Brandao then filed for a temporary abuse order against him, but this lapsed in March 2021 when she did not appear at a hearing. According to evidence presented at the trial, the two kept in touch and police said Cavalcante drove to Brandaos home to confront her in April 2021. While Brandaos children were playing nearby, Cavalcante pulled her hair and threw her to the ground. He then began to stab her repeatedly. Brandao was later pronounced dead at Paoli Hospital, the outlet said. Prosecutors said Cavalcante killed Brandao to stop her from telling police about his outstanding arrest warrant for murder in Brazil. He was captured in Virginia shortly after the stabbing, while police said he was attempting to return to Brazil. Anyone with information about Cavalcantes current whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the US Marshals Tipline at 877-WANTED-2. Dan Kuczkowski, center, and Meech Dicharia, right, use duct tape to patch a leak in a parade float named Fat Cat in preparation for the Chicago Labor Day Parade on South Ewing Avenue in the East Side neighborhood on Sept. 3, 2022. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) Labor Day means picnics, parades, barbecues, road trips and that outdated stop-wearing-white rule. But it also has special meaning to Chicago, a city that helped Labor Day to come into existence and now wonders, like the rest of America, what happens to our workers next. History speaks to us. Labor Day has direct links to a large labor protest on May 4, 1886, that turned into a riot near Haymarket Square, after someone still unnamed threw a bomb at police. Advertisement At least eight people died in the violence and, despite a striking lack of evidence, eight radical activists were convicted. The Haymarket tragedy was seen at the time as a brutal setback for the organized labor movement, which was fighting for an eight-hour workday, prohibitions against child labor and other reforms viewed as radical at the time but often taken for granted today. Advertisement It was an era in which many workers spent an entire day tending a noisy machine in a large, crowded poorly ventilated room. Others worked in coal mines, steel mills, railroads and slaughterhouses, among other dangerous occupations. Most were not paid well, and the typical workday was 12 hours or more, six days per week. Thats why many in the labor movement viewed the men convicted after Haymarket as martyrs. They died for a cause that inflamed the politics of that era and set the stage for some conflicts we still know today. Strikes by industrial workers were increasingly common in the United States in the 1880s, but making Labor Day a federal holiday was not high on Washingtons priorities. But then came another issue boiling out of Chicago: the Pullman strike. A recession was going on and President Grover Cleveland was tightly focused on winning a third term. Workers for the Pullman Palace Car Co. already had low wages as well as high rents in the company town of Pullman, now a Far South Side Chicago neighborhood that has seen promising new economic development in recent weeks. During an economic depression in 1893, their wages, already low, were cut even more, along with jobs, while their working hours were increased. The paternalism of Pullman is the same as the interest of a slaveholder in his human chattels, said Eugene V. Debs, charismatic president of Chicago-based American Railway Union in a May 1894 speech. You are striking to avert slavery and degradation. Advertisement Pullman Co. workers leave through the main gate in this 1893 photo from a company pamphlet issued for the fair to promote the town of Pullman and the Pullman car. (Newberry Library ) Ironically, the ARU had formed in June 1893 in Chicago, with membership open to all white railroad employees of any specialty. Racial segregation, if anyone needs to be reminded, was not limited to the South. By the time the strike ended, it had cost the railroads millions of dollars in lost revenue and damaged property as striking workers lost more than $1 million in wages. But President Cleveland and Congress did make a history-making conciliatory gesture toward the labor movement: He proposed a bill to make Labor Day a national holiday and signed the bill into law on June 28, 1894. The move was viewed as a sly attempt to concede something to the labor movement while also deflecting a more radical crowd that wanted to put the holiday to be on May 1 or May Day, the International Workers Day promoted by the radicals. As you celebrate Labor Day, contemplate how much the world in which we live today differs from the iron-fisted age that pitted Pullman against Debs. The dawn of heavy industrialization could hardly be more different from todays high-tech multinational age. Economies and technologies change, but the basic economic principles and power relationships keep echoing out of our past and into our futures, although with significant differences. Advertisement For example, recent polling offers hopeful signs for organized labor that unions are regaining favor as workers in new industries and old seek some measure of leverage in their relationships with their bosses. Overall, labor unions have successfully enlisted an influx of workers (more than 58,000 in the first six months of 2023) through the National Labor Relations Boards election process on a scale rarely seen before, according to a recent Bloomberg Law report. And organized labor continues to show an elevated level of public approval, according to a report Gallup released Wednesday: 67% of Americans surveyed approved of unions. Members of Starbucks Workers United picket outside the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Streeterville on July 14, 2023. (Trent Sprague/Chicago Tribune) Thats similar to the elevated level of rising support for unions that Gallup has seen over the past decade. Americans have become more likely than a decade ago to take a sympathetic view, wanting unions influence to strengthen and, they believe, benefit various aspects of business and the economy, Gallup found. In contrast to the incremental changes seen in U.S. adults support of unions over time, the new poll documents what Gallup calls an unprecedented uptick since 2018, the last time they asked the question on perceptions that Americas unions will become stronger in the future than they are today. Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > A third of Americans (34%) believe this today, compared with 19% five years ago and no more than 25% at any time in the trend since 1999. Whether this wave of public approval stems from a renewed faith in unions, or a desperate sense in the public of having no place else to turn, union leaders now have increased power and yet greater responsibilities in cities like Chicago. Balance, compromise, freedom from corruption and transparency never have been more important on all sides of a bargaining table. Advertisement But not everyone who labors is in a union. Whatever your work, we salute you on your day. Join the discussion on Twitter @chitribopinions and on Facebook. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. David Fincher appeared confused by the five-minute standing ovation his film received at the Venice Film Festival. Fincher, 61, celebrated the world premiere of his latest film The Killer at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday (3 September). The Netflix thriller stars Michael Fassbender as an assassin. Tilda Swinton and Sophie Charlotte also star. Fassbender and his co-stars were unable to attend the premiere event due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes, meaning Fincher walked the carpet alone except for a small group of Netflix executives. The director could be seen interacting with fans who had brought along posters of some of his most famous movies, including Fight Club (1999) starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, and Se7en (1995), also starring Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Spacey. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement After the screening of The Killer concluded, it was met with a respectable five-minute standing ovation. Given the confused look on his face, however, Fincher appeared not to have been familiar with the festivals tradition of standing ovations. As the audience surrounding the director clapped, Fincher as reported by Variety uncomfortably shifted on his feet and flailed his hands in the air. Michael Fassbender in The Killer' (Netflix) He also mouthed the words: What is this? When a producer led him down the stairs from his balcony seat to meet fans, the director apparently thought that he was being escorted out of the theatre. When Fincher was brought back up the stairs, he appeared uncomfortable as he stood in front of the applauding crowds until he was finally able to exit. The Killer is a neo-noir psychological action thriller based on the French graphic novel series of the same name by Alexis Matz Nolent and illustrated by Luc Jacamon. Fassbender plays an assassin who becomes involved in an international manhunt when one of his jobs goes wrong. Tilda Swinton in The Killer (Courtesy of Netflix) In a three-star review of the film, The Independents Geoffrey Macnab writes Finchers slick thriller doesnt offer anything new. Elsewhere at the Venice Film Festival, critics hailed Yorgos Lanthimoss Poor Things as one of the best films of the year. The films star Emma Stone has been praised for her wacky and unflinching sex scenes in it. The actor, 34, leads the Greek directors new sci-fi fantasy based on Alasdair Grays novel of the same name as Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). He resurrects her by implanting Bellas unborn childs brain into her head. This means that when Stones character first comes back to life, she is an infant in the body of an adult. Through the film, audiences watch her growing up and discovering new things, with sex being one of them. Find The Independents review of the film here. The Killer will receive a limited theatrical release on 27 October, followed by a Netflix release on 10 November. Poor Things is expected to release in US cinemas on 8 December, followed by a 12 January 2024 release in the UK. Good morning, Chicago. Bright floats, candy-tossing volunteers and the loud call of union slogans helped kick off this years Labor Day Parade in the Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side. This years parade stepped off around noon Saturday from a new route location at 108th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue south to 113th Street. In prior years, the parade celebrating working people began at 104th Street and Ewing Avenue to Eggers Grove Forest Preserve. Alex Jimenez, a member of Ironworkers Local 63 who attended the Pullman parade, says he was happy to have a chance to celebrate the union landscape he proudly works in. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Labor Day means being represented by our local unions that fought for us to have our rights and protections, he said. Read the full story from Ilana Arougheti. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day. Subscribe to more newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Todays eNewspaper edition For the last two months, Chicago and the state of Illinois have resembled a Midwestern home for President Joe Bidens reelection campaign, starting with a June visit to debut his Bidenomics recovery strategy and followed by repeated stops from Vice President Kamala Harris, a visit from first lady Jill Biden and countless tours by Cabinet officials. Illinois has voted Democratic in presidential contests since 1992, and rejected former President Donald Trump by 17 percentage points in both 2020 and 2016. So the attention the Biden campaign is devoting to a reliably blue state might appear to run counter to the need to hit competitive states that will be crucial in the 2024 election. More than 20 staffers in Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welchs office renewed calls to be recognized as a union. The employees, whose roles include research and legislative functions, formed the Illinois Legislative Staff Association earlier this year in a bid for higher wages and better benefits. They went public with their intentions to unionize in May but in a statement issued Friday, the association said that Welch, a Democrat from Hillside who became House speaker in 2021, has not been willing to discuss the issue with the group despite requests it has made over the last nine months. After a relatively dry August with normal temperatures and just a few spikes in rain and heat, Labor Day is coming in hot but not so much as to disrupt holiday activities. Behind a thick black curtain at OHare International Airport where a security guard with a German shepherd stood watch, dozens of migrants sprawled on the hard tile floor, awaiting placement to Chicago-run shelters, some saying theyd been there for weeks. The men and women, many with children, ate Popeyes and ramen and washed their clothes in the bathroom sink. Toddlers used brooms as toys. The lucky ones slept on cots, but most made do with thin blankets spread among bags and piles of trash. For years, a drive on the highways and byways of Chicago would reveal a string of sprawling corporate campuses, from Allstate along I-294 to Sears, built off its own interstate exchange at I-90. But the view is changing rapidly these days as signs come down, buildings are razed and iconic office complexes are supplanted by massive data and logistics centers. Built in 1922, Katanya Rabys South Side home has a classic look: dark brick, white trim and cheeky little attic windows peering out from the roof. But this is not your parents Chicago bungalow. In 2021, Raby enrolled in a study that aims to show that Chicagos vintage homes can slash their greenhouse gas emissions and lower their utility bills by weatherproofing and switching to high-efficiency electric appliances. An Amazon Fresh store planned for Tinley Park wont open until sometime next year, according to an executive with the company that owns the shopping center where the store is supposed to locate. The village and Amazon announced plans in summer 2022 for the store. At the time, the village said it expected the store to open by later in the year, although Amazon would not confirm an opening timetable. Too many walks led to a short afternoon for Chicago White Sox starter Michael Kopech. The bullpen picked him up Sunday, but the Sox couldnt keep Spencer Torkelson in check all day. The Detroit Tigers designated hitter gave his team the lead with a solo home run in the seventh against reliever Aaron Bummer, and they held on to beat the Sox 3-2 in front of 22,246 at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Chicago Cubs delivered the decisive blow in their 15-7 victory with a seven-run eighth inning after they exchanged leads with the Cincinnati Reds four times through the first two innings. A boisterous Lets go, Cubbies! chant started among the 37,029 fans after Dansby Swansons RBI double capped the big inning by extending the lead to 12-5. Chicago hosted the 2023 AVP Ballys Gold Series Chicago Open this weekend at Oak Street Beach. It is the 33rd year of the tournament in Chicago featuring the best men and women beach volleyball players on the tour. See the tournament, captured by Tribune photographer Chris Sweda, here. Beloved beyond his Parrothead majority for the plush, tropical island vibe of 1977s Margaritaville, the music and words of Jimmy Buffett forever had a lonely, laissez-faire literary eclat. Yes, there was a ready sense of escapist humor to his smartly snarky turns of phrase, touched by the scent of cannabis and the taste of Mezcal. However, just below his hazy clouds and boozy romanticism laid the heart of a ruminative, cuttingly counter-cultural short story writer. After opening dates came and went, the much-anticipated Matrix Club in Naperville is finally in business. The 75,000-square-foot venue can accommodate banquets, conventions, weddings, parties, live music and concerts, theater performances and other events. It boasts, among other things, a restaurant, bar, art gallery and recording studio. [Source] Even if only for a few hours, tensions between the U.S. and China were replaced by a celebration of culture at the 31st annual Washington Chinese Cultural Festival in Washington, D.C., over the weekend. About the event: This years festival took place near Capitol Hill on Pennsylvania Avenue NW from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Organized by the Greater Washington Chinese American Community, the event attracted nearly 10,000 people and featured a diversity of artistic performances, cultural displays, interactive experiences and Chinese cuisine offered at Attendees were treated to song and dance numbers, theatrical performances, martial arts displays, tea ceremonies, calligraphy and instrument demonstrations, among other activities. Food, culture and travel products were also sold at some of the more than 40 booths present. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement More from NextShark: Japanese fans continue to clean stadium at World Cup 2022 after win over Spain Why this matters: The festival sought to promote an understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture. Additionally, it provided an opportunity to improve ties between Washington and Beijing, which have soured in recent years. It kinda makes you forget that theres any tension between the two countries, attendee Jesse Solano told CGTN. It makes you feel that the American people and the Chinese people have no problem living together. What China is saying: Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Xie Feng spoke at the event. In his speech, he urged both China and the U.S. to have open minds and appreciate the beauty in each others culture as a means to improve bilateral relations. More from NextShark: Sunmi drops summer comeback Heart Burn and announces Good Girl Gone Mad world tour Differences between civilizations should not be the cause of conflict, but should be the impetus for progressLets open our mind, appreciate the beauty in each others culture, break down barriers, and strengthen cultural ties, so that we will understand each other better and grow our friendship, and bring more positive energy into China-U.S. relations, Xie said. More from NextShark: India to host Asia's first World Coffee Conference in Bengaluru Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! BLACKPINK's Lisa to be 1st K-pop act to perform at historic cabaret in Paris A deadly crash closed the southbound lanes of I-75 in Marion County on Monday morning. The crash closed the highway for hours near U.S. 27. The Florida Highway Patrol said the crash was deadly but has not released any further details. Traffic cameras show that the crash involved a jackknifed tractor-trailer. Read: Tropical storm forecast to form in the Atlantic this week Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for updates. This embedded content is not available in your region. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. RAMONA, Calif. A deadly crash near Ramona Monday prompted crews to close State Route 67 in both directions, officials said. According to the California Highway Patrol, the crash happened around 3:40 a.m. on SR-67 near Boortz Lane when two vehicles hit each other head on. At least one person was killed in the crash, according to CHP, but officials were not immediately able to provide more information on the crash and the status of the parties involved. 11 arrested for suspected DUIs in first day of Labor Day weekend Debris was scattered over the freeway lanes in both directions, prompting a Sig-Alert to be issued around 4:30 a.m. for all lanes of SR-67. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement SR-67 was closed in both directions for nearly four hours as Caltrans crews worked to clear the roadway. As of 8 a.m., all lanes of SR-67 were back open, Caltrans said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. This story was produced by the Delaware Journalism Collaborative, a partnership of local news and community organizations working to bridge divides statewide that includes Delaware Public Media. Learn more at ljidelaware.org/collaborative. For years, generations even, teachers have been showing their students how to become informed citizens. The instruction hasnt always been explicit and direct, but it has been part of countless lessons. Middle and high school teachers, in assigning a research project, typically remind the class to check their sources, consider the expertise of those sources and be aware that there could be conflicting opinions on their report topic. In todays digital world, the internet has multiplied exponentially the sources of information and, with it, the challenges of verifying what is accurate. Students and adults alike are finding it harder to distinguish between reality and fiction, between fact and opinion. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Delaware appears to be taking a leading role among the states in establishing media literacy standards for students in its public schools. According to a report published in February by Media Literacy Now, a national advocacy organization, Delaware and New Jersey are the only two states that require not only schools to include media literacy instruction in K-12 classrooms but also that their state education agency creates those standards. Delaware set a new high bar with the passage last year of Senate Bill 195, which established those requirements, the Media Literacy Now report stated. The standards, however, wont find their way into classrooms until the start of the 2024-25 school year. The State Board of Education received a preview of the standards at its Aug. 10 meeting and is expected to vote on whether to approve them when it meets on Sept. 21. The ability to evaluate information is critical to being an involved citizen. Education is the key to developing people who are ready to be active in civic life, says Brittney Smith, senior manager of education partnerships for the News Literacy Project, which supports teachers and education agencies in all 50 states. The intent of the bill is to teach kids to think for themselves, says state Rep. Bryan Shupe, R-Milford, who cosponsored the legislation with state Sen. Sarah McBride, D-Wilmington. State Rep. Bryan Shupe (R-Milford) cosponsored the legislation with state Sen. Sarah McBride (D-Wilmington). Delaware educators and national experts agree that giving students a solid grounding in media literacy can be a step toward reducing polarization in society at large. Were choosing outrage, tribalism, harassment and conspiracy theories over the truth. We have to shore up public resistance, Jonathan Rauch , author of The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, said in an interview. There is no downside to making critical thinking part of the curriculum, he said. Our challenge is to adopt standards for students, but students go home and talk to their families about what they did in school. Anytime families are talking about subjects discussed in school, thats a good thing, says Alyssa Moore, state Department of Education associate for digital learning and a leader of the statewide task force that is developing the standards. What is taught will filter up to parents absolutely, says Tyeisha Grier, a parent advocate and community organizer from Smyrna. What does Senate Bill 195 require? The legislation, titled The Digital Citizenship Education Act, passed both houses of the General Assembly in 2022, and Gov. John Carney signed it into law last Aug. 29. The yes votes came from all the Democrats in both chambers and three House Republicans Shupe plus Kevin Hensley, R-Odessa/Port Penn, and Jeff Spiegelman, R-Clayton. It requires the state Department of Education to adopt evidence-based media literacy standards that are age-appropriate for kindergarten through 12th grade and address appropriate, responsible and healthy online behavior, including, among other things, acceptable use of online platforms, the negative impact of inappropriate technology use, identifying credible sources of information, developing critical thinking skills, identifying the purpose of media messages and issues associated with cybersafety, cyberbullying and hate speech. What do the key terms mean? S.B. 195 includes these definitions: Here are some media literacy tips. Media literacy means the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create and take action with all forms of communication, and encompasses the foundational skills of digital citizenship and internet safety, including the norms of appropriate, responsible, ethical and healthy behavior, and cyberbullying prevention. Digital citizenship means the diverse set of skills related to current technology and social media, including the norms of appropriate, responsible and healthy behavior. LITERACY: How many libraries does Wilmington need? Residents, Delaware officials may disagree Whats in the proposed standards? A task force that includes Department of Education curriculum, instruction and professional development staff, school district and charter school librarians and instructional technology specialists, state librarian Annie Norman and State Board of Education member Deb Stevens began researching the proposed standards in September 2022. The draft standards, taking up 16 pages in a spreadsheet format, combine standards from two organizations of experts, the International Society for Technology in Education and the American Association of School Librarians, with existing state standards in English Language Arts, history and social studies, science and technical subjects. They were assembled, Moore said, after reviewing comparable guidelines from one other nation (Finland) and at least 13 states (Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, California, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington). There were things to learn and glean from all of them. Some focused on media literacy, others on digital citizenship. Our legislation does both, she said. The standards are broken down by grade level elementary, middle school and high school but in many cases, the same wording applies to each grouping. Much of the wording in the standards is heavy with educational jargon. For example, to meet the legislations requirement concerning understanding the purpose and acceptable use of different social media platforms, one of the AASL standards applicable to the entire K-12 spectrum reads: Learners exchange information resources within and beyond their learning community by: Contributing to collaboratively constructed information sites by ethically using and reproducing others work. One of the classrooms in the Dover Middle School campus. While the language of the standards may prove challenging to those outside the education community, the topics they cover are comprehensive. The skills students should acquire include: Engaging in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology. Using a variety of communication tools and resources. Managing personal data to maintain digital privacy ad security. Evaluating the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information. Making critical choices about information sources to use. Questioning and assessing the validity and accuracy of information. Establishing connections with other learners. Using collaborative technologies to work with others to investigate solutions. Using technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing and to collaborate with others. Recognizing target marketing strategies and persuasion techniques. Interacting with learners who reflect a range of perspectives. Collecting information representing diverse perspectives. Evaluating a speakers point of view, reasoning and use of evidence. Exhibiting empathy with a tolerance for diverse ideas. While most of the standards are the same for the three grade groupings, the instruction will necessarily be delivered differently, depending on the students age. All these topics wont be presented to first graders, for example, but younger students should be exposed to each of the standards by fifth grade. The difference would be in the resources, the discussions, the lesson themes, Moore says, using situations that are real world to the grade levels at a particular time. With the little ones, its teaching not to accept messages from strangers. For the older ones, its how to know if information is true, how to get away from fake news, says Bonnie Gaus, longtime librarian at McVey Elementary in the Christina School District. How will the standards be implemented? At the school level, both in districts and charter schools, the expectation is that the instruction will most often be folded into the current curriculum, so there wont be entirely new classes devoted to digital citizenship and media literacy. In many districts, elementary school librarians, who have been trained to teach children basic research skills, have incorporated lessons on computer use and internet topics into their classes in recent years. With the new standards, librarians and others responsible for teaching digital basics will have to increase their emphasis on the items mandated in the standards. Similarly, in middle schools and high schools, teachers who assign research papers primarily those in English and social studies will most likely have the greatest responsibility for ensuring their students understand the new standards. Theres a lot of overlap with language arts and social studies, says Christina Scheffel, an instructional technology specialist with the Indian River School District. Were going to our content specialists and asking them to consider how to include social media on top of what youre already doing. In the Colonial School District, the lessons for kindergarten through fifth grades are straightforward, taught by librarians and media specialists, says Jeff Menzer, the district superintendent. At the secondary level, its more in the English language arts and social studies curriculum. STANDARDIZED TESTING: What works? Delawares Lake Forest educators discuss growth in their test scores North vs. South; left vs. right. Any problems here? In a polarized society, and in a state like Delaware where downstate residents tend to be conservative and those in the north tend to be moderate to liberal, it would be understandable to have some concern about whether the standards could be taught consistently in all areas of the state. McBride, considered one of the more progressive members of the state Senate, is not anticipating problems but acknowledges that issues could arise. State Sen. Sarah McBride, considered one of the more progressive members of the state Senate, is not anticipating problems with the media literacy legislation but acknowledges that issues could arise. A lot of the curriculum will be woven through subjects currently taught. It would be apolitical and nonideological. It shouldnt raise the specter of opposition, McBride says. But, she adds, we live in politically charged times. Were unable to predict what someone will latch onto and make a mountain out of a molehill. There may be some differences in curriculum from north to south, but the intent of the bill is to teach kids to think for themselves, says Shupe, the Milford Republican. If the districts take that to heart, it should be essentially the same across the state. This isnt about pushing one political agenda or another. Its about getting people to think critically about what they see, says Scheffel, the Indian River technology professional. Your curriculum teams have to be mindful of and sensitive to their audiences, says Menzer, the Colonial superintendent. Smith, the News Literacy Project partnerships manager, says that getting students to learn how to think critically should start with educators choosing discussion topics that are less likely to trigger polarization. For example, having middle schoolers discuss or research whether its essential to earn a four-year college degree can help them recognize differing viewpoints without triggering as much potential polarization as, say, debating immigration policy or the 2020 election outcome. Both Smith and Rauch, the author, say its important to get students to reflect on their personal biases and to seek information outside their comfort zones. Were all inclined to read and view only the stuff that supports our biases, Rauch says. We have to push ourselves to look at sources out of the way from where we usually look. What parents are saying Many parents lack digital literacy, and that affects their children, says parent advocate Tyeisha Grier, whose son is entering his junior year at Caesar Rodney High School. By implementing statewide standards, she says, we have an opportunity to do for youths what some parents cannot do. The ability of students to finesse controls on social media sites is also troubling to some parents. All these platforms have workarounds and the kids can figure them out, says Donyale Hall of Dover, a mother of 10, ranging from a 5-year-old through high school graduates. Children have long had to battle peer pressure, and the struggle is a little different now because parents are not tech savvy, she says. MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Neighborhood nuisance property in New Castle now home for former foster children Just as schools had to educate many parents on the basics of online instruction three years ago at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are now facing the challenge of adding digital literacy and security themes to their messaging. Last year Indian River tried organizing events for parents geared specifically to those topics but drew zero interest, Scheffel said. The district has done better, she said, by setting up tables and distributing flyers at other activities that are more likely to attract parents, like one on multilingual diversity. Hall says that schools much reach beyond their walls, and beyond their basic constituencies. You need to work with community leaders, with faith leaders, she says. With digital, there are so many subtle things that anyone could easily misunderstand, says Yunfei Lou, a father of two elementary students who recently was elected to the board of education in the Christina School District. Many parents are very concerned. The addition of digital tools to individuals communications toolsets multiplies the possibilities of misunderstandings and arguments, Hall says. I tell my kids that it takes two people to have an argument. Dont respond to the person [who tries to pick a fight online]. Lou is confident that increasing digital literacy within todays student population can have an impact on decreasing polarization within society overall. Its not just teaching facts. Its having the ability to critically think that will mitigate radicalization and polarization, he says. We have to teach children about conflict resolution and setting boundaries. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware takes leading role in teaching students media literacy Drafted by the German government, the proposal to transfer Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine is currently on the desk of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz , Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sept. 4, as reported by news agency Ukrinform. "I think that this decision [on the transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine] is on the desk of the German chancellor; he needs to approve it," said Kuleba. Read also: Ten more German Leopard tanks on their way to Ukraine Earlier on Sept. 4, Bild reported that Berlin refuses to supply the Ukrainian armed forces with Taurus missiles, due to concerns that Kyiv might used the weapons to strike Russian territory. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Scholz blocking Taurus transfer to Ukraine amid claims German leader fears Ukraine might use them to hit Russia Germanys Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Finance Minister Christian Lindner have both supported supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine. On Aug. 11, Der Spiegel reported that the German government was considering supplying Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine in the upcoming months. Scholz demands that the missiles be modified so that striking Russian territory would be impossible, according to the report. 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 Oleksii Reznikov has submitted his letter of resignation from the position of Minister of Defence of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada (the parliament) and has expressed his readiness to make a report. Rustem Umerov, who is to be appointed as Reznikov's replacement, has submitted a letter to parliament resigning from his post as head of the State Property Fund (SPF). Source: Oleksii Reznikov on Facebook; Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Quote from Reznikov: "Pursuant to the decision by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, [I] have submitted a letter of resignation to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. I am ready for my report. Let's keep the line!" Oleksii Reznikov has submitted his resignation from the post of Defence Minister ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement REZNIKOV'S FACEBOOK Details: In his statement, Reznikov stated that over 50% of the territories occupied by Russia have been liberated in 550 days of full-scale war. Reznikov says he has fulfilled the key tasks assigned to him during his 22 months as Minister of Defence. Among his achievements, the minister named obtaining weapons from partners and rapprochement with NATO, carrying out "reforms in the sphere of procurement", and implementing "automated systems of military management". Oleksii Reznikov has submitted his resignation from the post of Defence Minister REZNIKOV'S FACEBOOK Reznikov's resignation follows a series of scandals surrounding state procurement for the military, including eggs and jackets. Reznikov denies that purchases were made at inflated prices. Rustem Umerov, who is currently the head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, is planned to be appointed to the post of Defence Minister instead of Reznikov already this week. The Verkhovna Rada has already received a letter of resignation from Rustem Umerov, who has resigned from the post of head of the State Property Fund. The application will be considered at the next plenary session, said Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk. Oleksii Reznikov has submitted his resignation from the post of Defence Minister REZNIKOV'S FACEBOOK Background: On 10 August, Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources, reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was looking for a replacement for Oleksii Reznikov as Ukraines Minister of Defence and that there were at least two candidates. On 19 August, Oleksii Reznikov said that his position as minister was a "temporary story" and that he could resign at his own discretion. On 28 August, Reznikov said that he and the president had discussed the possibility of appointing him to another position, but the decision had to be made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself. On 31 August, Ukrainska Pravda wrote that Reznikov would be removed from his post in the near future, and that the head of the State Property Fund, Rustem Umerov, could take over as Minister of Defence. On 3 September, Zelenskyy said he would replace the Defence Minister because the Ministry of Defence "needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole". 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! Ukraines military has made gains near Klishchiivka, some five kilometers from Bakhmut, and Novoprokopivka south of Robotyne, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported on Sept. 4. Ukrainian forces have liberated three square kilometers around Bakhmut over the past week, Maliar said. According to the official, Ukraine has regained a total of 47 square kilometers of land in this area since the start of the summer counteroffensive. Russia has carried out unsuccessful attempts to take back lost positions in Donetsk Oblasts Klishchiivka, Kurdiumivka, and Ozarianivka, also trying to restrain the advance of Ukrainian troops toward occupied Bakhmut, Maliar said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In eastern Ukraine, Russia also reportedly failed to advance in the areas of Novoiehorivka and Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast as well as Donetsk Oblasts Sieverne, Avdiivka, Marinka, Krasnohorivka, and Novomykhailivka. Read also: New brigade bears heavy brunt of Russias onslaught in Kharkiv Oblast In the Kupiansk direction (Kharkiv Oblast), our defense forces repel several enemy attacks per day and prevent the enemy from advancing, the deputy minister added. In the countrys south, Ukrainian forces continue the offensive operation toward Russian-occupied Melitipol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, entrenching themselves at the regained territory. The enemy in the south is suffering significant losses in personnel, weapons, and equipment, redeploying its units and troops and using reserves, concludes Maliars Telegram report. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Delaware police are looking for 25-year-old Mohamed Lamin Kandeh in connection with a double homicide discovered Sunday on the 200 block of Bristol Drive. Delaware city police are looking for a 25-year-old man wanted in connection with a double homicide at a home where he lives in an eastern residential subdivision. Investigators have obtained a warrant for the arrest of 25-year-old Mohamed Lamin Kandeh in connection with the killings. Police were called around 3 p.m. Sunday to go to a residence on the 200 block of Bristol Drive in the Kensington Place subdivision, north of Kilbourne Road, to check on two people who didn't show up to meet a family member. When officers arrived, they found two people dead inside the home from apparent gunshot wounds. The large marker in the residential area in the eastern portion of the city of Delaware shows the location of a double homicide discovered Sunday on the 200 block of Bristol Drive. Kandeh, whom police say lives at the Bristol Drive home, is believed to be driving a white Chrysler 200 with Ohio license JND-5675. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Anyone with information about Kandeh and his whereabouts are asked to call the Delaware Police Department at 740-203-1111 or your local law enforcement. Anonymous tips can be emailed to policetipline@delawareohio.net. Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, her education newsletter, here. shendrix@dispatch.com @sheridan120 This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Delaware police searching for man wanted in double homicide So, how did you like the recent sweltering heat wave we experienced in Chicagoland? When it ended, what struck me was not just the ordinary relief that it was over, but a strange feeling that the lovely cool day that followed might be a rarity in our future. As we mourn for the people suffering from the tragic fires in Maui and other weather-stricken areas, we cant ignore that climate change is influencing weather events everywhere. Will there be a time in our future when a nice, balmy summer day is a surprise and a blistering heat wave is the norm? Will we someday face 35 consecutive days of 100-plus-degree weather like the punishing stretch Austin, Texas, just went through? Advertisement We cant wait to do something to slow down climate change. All of the recent innovations and incentives surrounding renewable energy are helping turn us in the right direction, but we also need to further diminish the primary source of the problem: carbon emissions. A carbon fee on emitting entities would be a way to encourage a greater switch to renewables using the influence of the free market. And devoting this fee to a cashback dividend to consumers would protect them economically, especially those with the lowest carbon footprints. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support a carbon fee and dividend plan as soon as they can. Advertisement Karen Campbell, Bolingbrook Reaching the tipping point Climate change dominates the news, often concluding with a statement that we are nearing the tipping point. Will we continue until we do reach the tipping point? Or do we finally take some collective action to stop the inevitable madness that will ensue once that actually happens? Our earth is the hottest it has ever been on record. Catastrophic flooding and wildfires that deteriorate our air quality are spreading around the planet. Plastic is clogging our worlds natural environment. Long stamped-out diseases are reemerging. We are experiencing an unprecedented marine heat wave that is pushing coastal ocean waters beyond 90 degrees. In my 50-plus years of diving the worlds oceans, I have never seen such incredible damage to our marine habitats. In fact, the Coral Restoration Foundation is now harvesting coral to bring back to land-based environments just to protect it from vanishing from our planet. It is all happening at the same time. At the tipping point, it will be far too late to do anything. Our species will begin to vanish from the earth. Before that happens, we will experience an unprecedented human migration, mass casualties, famine, disease, wars, starvation and a myriad of other disasters. The basic fabric of our lives will begin to unravel as we desperately try to escape. The real question here is: Why dont we use our collective power of media and communication to educate and mobilize our population to finally take some serious action to stem this flow before we reach that tipping point? Remember this: We are all connected, so we are all affected. Advertisement Chris Cantele, Chicago Selective embracing of MLK Op-ed writer Aneel Chablani cites racism and economic deprivation as factors that launched the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (60 years after March on Washington, MLKs hopes are far from realized here, Aug. 28). The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. laced his I Have a Dream speech with explicit references to Black people, as well as police brutality, which is especially relevant today considering police Officer Derek Chauvins 2020 murder of George Floyd. Nevertheless, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis invoked King to buttress his Stop W.O.K.E. Act. Hes oblivious that King advocated remaining awake during a great revolution. DeSantis prefers a sanctimonious, sanitized and shorn King. In his 1957 speech Give Us the Ballot, King said, The denial of this sacred (voting) right is a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition eight years before the 1965 Voting Rights Act was signed into law. Voting rights hinge on two pillars: securing and protecting the right for all Americans. In Illinois, the coalition Unlock Civics fights to reenfranchise nearly 30,000 individuals, 55% of whom are Black, who are banned from voting related to incarceration. When an individual convicted of a felony has served their sentence, its monstrous that theyre banned from voting forever. Theyre affixed with a scarlet letter. Alas, its not just an Illinois problem. The Equal Justice Initiative in a 2019 article states that 6 million Americans are banned from voting because of laws that disqualify them based on felony convictions. These laws are an intentional and malicious act that repudiates Americas ballyhooed second chance. The justice initiative reports that 1 in 13 Black people nationwide are disenfranchised. By contrast, many Republican presidential candidates said they would support Donald Trumps candidacy even if he were convicted. Hmm. Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > King said in 1963, One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. Yet 60 years later, nationwide, the wealth gap between Black and white families remains as wide as it was in the 1960s. In 1966, a Gallup Poll survey found King had a disapproval rating of more than 60%. Why? King challenged Chicagos rabid segregationist housing policies and denounced America as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Advertisement America wont embrace that King. Marc D. Greenwood, Opelika, Alabama Join the conversation in our Letters to the Editor Facebook group. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. Migrant labourers climb over a wall, newly painted in preparation of the G20 summit, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. As India gears up to host the annual gathering of the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations, the capital city is undergoing an elaborate makeover. But for many street vendors and shantytowns dotting the city, the beautification of New Delhi has meant displacement and loss of livelihoods. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) NEW DELHI (AP) New Delhi's crowded streets have been resurfaced. Streetlights are illuminating once dark sidewalks. City buildings and walls are painted with bright murals. Planted flowers are everywhere. Many of the citys poor say they were simply erased, much like the stray dogs and monkeys that have been removed from some neighborhoods, as India's capital got its makeover ahead of this week's summit of the Group of 20 nations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government hopes the elaborate effort to make New Delhi sparkle a beautification project with a price tag of $120 million will help showcase the worlds most populous nations cultural prowess and strengthen its position on the global stage. But for many street vendors and those crammed into New Delhi's shantytowns, the makeover has meant displacement and loss of livelihood, raising questions about the government's policies on dealing with poverty. In a city of more than 20 million people, the 2011 census had the homeless at 47,000 but activists say that was a vast underestimate and that the real number is at least 150,000. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Since January, hundreds of houses and roadside stalls have been demolished, displacing thousands of people. Dozens of shantytowns were razed to the ground, with many residents getting eviction notices only a short while before the demolitions got underway. Authorities say the demolitions were carried out against illegal encroachers, but right activists and those evicted question the policy and allege that it has pushed thousands more into homelessness. Similar demolitions have also been carried out in other Indian cities like Mumbai and Kolkata that have hosted various G20 events leading up to this weekend's summit. Activists say it was more than just a case of out of sight, out of mind. Abdul Shakeel, with the activist group Basti Suraksha Manch, or Save Colony Forum, says that in the name of beautification, the urban poors lives are destroyed. The money used for G20 is taxpayers' money. Everyone pays the tax. Same money is being used to evict and displace them, he said. It doesnt make any sense. The two-day global summit will take place at the newly constructed Bharat Mandapam building, a sprawling exhibition center in the heart of New Delhi near the landmark India Gate monument and many world leaders are expected to attend. The G20 includes the worlds 19 wealthiest countries plus the European Union. India currently holds its presidency, which rotates annually among the members. In July, a report by the Concerned Citizens Collective, a rights activist group, found that the preparations for the G20 summit resulted in the displacement of nearly 300,000 people, particularly from the neighborhoods that foreign leaders and diplomats will visit during various meetings. At least 25 shantytowns and multiple night shelters for the homeless were razed to the ground and turned into parks, the report said, adding that the government failed to provide alternative shelters or places for the newly homeless. Last month, Indian police intervened to stop a meeting of prominent activists, academics and politicians critical of Modi and his governments role in hosting the G20 summit and questioning whose interests the summit would benefit. I can see the homeless on the streets ... and now the homeless are not allowed to live on the streets either, said Rekha Devi, a New Delhi resident who attended the Aug. 20 gathering. Devi, whose home was demolished in one of the drives, said authorities refused to consider documents she showed as proof that her family had lived in the same house for nearly 100 years. Everyone is behaving as if they are blind," Devi said. "In the name of the G20 event, the farmers, workers and the poor are suffering. Home to 1.4 billion people, Indias struggle to end poverty remains daunting, even though a recent government report said that nearly 135 million almost 10% of the countrys population moved out of so-called multidimensional poverty between 2016 and 2021. The concept takes into consideration not just monetary poverty but also how lack of education, infrastructure and services affect a persons quality of life. Indian authorities have been criticized in the past for clearing away homeless encampments and shantytowns ahead of major events. In 2020, the government hastily erected a half-kilometer (1,640-foot) brick wall in the state of Gujarat ahead of a visit by then-President Donald Trump, with critics saying it was built to block the view of a slum area inhabited by more than 2,000 people. Similar demolitions were also carried out during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Some street vendors say they are helpless, stuck between sacrificing their livelihoods for Indias pride and wanting to earn a living. Shankar Lal, who sells chickpea curry with fried flatbread, said authorities told him three months ago to move away. These days, the only time he gets to open his stall along a busy New Delhi road near the G20 summit venue is on Sundays, when police pay less attention to the street vendors. It's not enough to eke out a living. These are government rules, and well do what we are told," Lal said. "The government doesnt know whether we are dying of hunger or not. A lead strategist for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis super PAC told donors that everything you read about Vivek Ramaswamy stems from the group as he pointed to unflattering stories aimed at the GOP presidential candidate, Politico reported. Every misstatement, every 360 hes conducting or 180 that he is going through in life, is from our scrutiny and pressure. And so, hes not going to go through that very well, and that will get worse for him, said Jeff Roe of the DeSantis-supporting Never Back Down super PAC in audio obtained by the news organization. The remarks by Roe, the former campaign manager for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and founder of the political consulting firm Axiom Strategies, derive from a roughly hourlong meeting with donors held just before the first GOP presidential debate last month. The recording, which Politico noted is an exceedingly rare occurrence to find strategists owning up to opposition research, follows a report by The New York Times that detailed Axiom sharing hundreds of pages of DeSantis debate strategy on its website. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement One of the governors must-dos, according to one document, is to hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response. The document was later removed from the firms website. Roe, as part of a pre-debate meeting for top DeSantis donors, reportedly said of Ramaswamy: He will not go through the discovery, scrutiny and decline phase of presidential politics very well. His scrutiny phase, we are putting him through it right now. Ramaswamy, who trails former President Donald Trump and DeSantis in an average of national polls on the Republican primary, became a frequent target for his rivals at the August debate. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were among the candidates who launched attacks at the biotech millionaire. A spokesperson for Ramaswamys campaign weighed in on Roes remarks to donors, telling Politico: When DeSantiss Super Pac campaign, Chris Christie, the New York Times, MSNBC and the rest of the bipartisan establishment are all going after you at the same time, you know youre right over the target. America watched Vivek dominate the debate stage, its no wonder Never Back Down is pissing away another $20+ million after Labor Day. Never Back Down did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (left) and Vivek Ramaswamy talk during a break at the first GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last month. Eight presidential hopefuls squared off as former President Donald Trump, currently facing indictments in four locations, declined to participate in the event. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (left) and Vivek Ramaswamy talk during a break at the first GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last month. Eight presidential hopefuls squared off as former President Donald Trump, currently facing indictments in four locations, declined to participate in the event. Details of the meeting previously reported by CNN and The New York Times also noted Roes call for an additional $50 million from donors by years end and $100 million more by the end of March 2024. Roe noted that he needed much of the $50 million prior to the second GOP debate later this month, according to The Times. The strategist also took aim at more of the Florida governors rivals in the meeting including Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Pence and Trump, cautioning that the Republican Party would lose the White House if the latter were picked as the nominee. We have to beat him and weve got to beat him in the next 60 days and weve got to beat everybody else nipping at our heels. Now. And weve got to separate further now, Roe said at the meeting. Related... The vice chairman of the Dine College Board of Regents, a former Navajo Nation presidential candidate, is facing two domestic violence charges after being arrested by Scottsdale, Arizona police in connection with a July 5 incident. Greg Bigman was charged with assault intentionally causing physical injury (domestic violence) and disorderly conduct disruptive behavior or fighting (domestic violence) in connection with the incident, according to Arizona court records. Bigman, 42, listed a Shiprock post office box for a home address. Its really sad in what someones trying to do to assassinate my character, Bigman said during a Sept. 1 phone interview about the charges, adding that the evidence does not support the claims against him. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Bigman said he has no criminal history, emphasizing that the charges against him are just allegations and that is innocent until proven guilty. He indicated he believes someone is trying to destroy his reputation by alerting the media about his arrest. He described Farmington as a conservative community that has not treated Navajo people well historically. All youre doing is encouraging these people and building a bad reputation for Farmington, he said. The Scottsdale Police Department did not respond to requests from The Daily Times for further information about the alleged incident. Bigman declined to describe his relationship to the alleged victim. He is scheduled to return to court in Scottsdale at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 12 for a case management conference. Bigman is a longtime member of the Board of Regents of Dine College, a public tribal college based in Tsaile, Arizona, but that operates several satellite campuses, including those in Shiprock and Crownpoint, as well as a microsite in Newcomb in New Mexico. He was first appointed to the board in 2015 by then-Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and served several terms as the board president. Bigman mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the Navajo Nation presidency in 2022, joining a crowded field that included 14 other candidates. That title ultimately was claimed by Buu Nygren. Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e. This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Shiprock resident Greg Bigman faces domestic violence charges Disney is ready to make changes to a federal lawsuit filed against Florida. In the original lawsuit, Disney alleged the state retaliated after they opposed the governors Parental Rights in Education Bill. That lawsuit also dealt with Disneys development agreements. Watch: Disney districts new budget departs from initial promises to boost fire department However, Disney now wants the lawsuit to focus only on the retaliation question. On Friday, a judge said Disney could make changes and re-file the motion. Watch: Disney opens up third front in legal battle as costs exceed seven figures Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Scientists are getting ready to kick off the first human trials for a pair of vaccines designed to block the effects of fentanyl and heroin. The hope is to stop people from accidentally consuming a lethal dose, a grim outcome that has become a significant risk, particularly in the US. In 2021 alone, tens of thousands of people in the country died as a result of an opioid overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. And opioid-related deaths have been on the rise since at least 1999, figures show. But a simple injection that could allow the body to neutralize fentanyl and heroin in the body could help turn things around or, at least, that's the hope. "In principle, as a vaccine, it's pretty simple," Jay Evans, director of the University of Montana Center for Translational Medicine, and co-founder of Inimmune, the corporate partner tasked with scaling up production of the vaccine, told Futurism. "You can generate an antibody response against the drug. If that antibody binds to the drug in the bloodstream, it prevents it from crossing the blood-brain barrier." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In simple terms, the vaccine effectively eliminates the drug's "high," since it isn't able to spread to the brain. In theory, that could be a powerful weapon against addiction. The antibody bonds to the fentanyl "kind of like a sponge," Marco Pravetoni, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington who's also involved in the research, explained in a separate interview. "And that fentanyl is no longer available to get to your brain to activate opiate receptors. So it's essentially removed from the circulation." The idea is to block the effects of opioids while still allowing other opioid-specific treatments think Narcan, the brand name of naloxone, which can reverse a potentially fatal overdose through a nasal spray to still be effective. Another wrinkle: the vaccine could prevent fentanyl from being used as a legitimate medicine, such as in anesthesiology. "I've had a number of physicians, especially anesthesiologists who have sent me an email and say, 'What are we going to treat patients with in the operating room who've had this vaccine?'" Evans said. Fortunately, there are plenty of other drugs healthcare providers could still fall back on once a patient is administered the vaccine. "The vaccine is very specific for fentanyl and fentanyl analogues," Pravetoni told Futurism, "so you could still use anesthetics. So you can still do your surgery." Preclinical studies involving animal models have also shown that the vaccines spare "critical medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone and naloxone, which are used in treatment of opioid addiction and reversal of overdose," as Pravetoni explained in a statement about the research. The ongoing opioid crisis has been decades in the making. Fentanyl was first introduced in the 1960s as an intravenous anesthetic. It's around 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin when it comes to pain relief. Its recreational effects have made it a particularly popular street drug. It's notoriously easy to overdose on the drug outside of a hospital setting, especially when it comes to synthetic fentanyl illegally sold as powder or mixed in with other drugs. A few grains can be enough to prove fatal. The concept of opioid vaccines has been "around for a long time," Pravetoni told Futurism. 1970s literature showed that "essentially, you could vaccinate a non-human primate and stop it from self-administering heroin," a line of research that was soon abandoned. As more opioids entered the scene and became available to the public, "the concept of immunotherapy for opioids, for either addiction or overdose, was sort of in standby," he added. "So there was a lag in research." In the 1990s and early 2000s, researchers including Pravetoni started investigating vaccines targeting nicotine and cocaine. While some of these vaccines reached Phase 3 clinical trials, none of them "really reached the market," Pravetoni explained. Fast forward several decades, and the enthusiasm behind developing opioid vaccines has increased again, with Evans, Pravetoni, and their colleagues picking up where they left off, applying what they learned from their previous efforts. That's in large part thanks to the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (HEAL), which has made tens of millions of federal dollars available for Marcetoni and Evans to investigate these vaccines. In fact, Evans says his research is 100 percent funded by the NIH. While it's still far too early to determine the effectiveness of these vaccines in humans, there are early reasons to be optimistic. Preclinical trials, as laid out in a pair of papers published in the journal NPJ Vaccines earlier this year, showed that the vaccine was able to stop fentanyl from reaching the brain in rats and pigs. Following vaccination, doses of fentanyl had "no effects" on these animals "because it doesn't reach the receptor," Evans explained. "And then it just gets recycled out of the body." More specifically, the implication is that "the vaccine will prevent respiratory depression or bradycardia that are associated with overdose and fatal overdoses, but also prevent the euphoric effects or the high," Pravetoni told us. That could make it a great solution for those "who are addicted to fentanyl or heroin and go into a rehab center and they want to quit and it's really hard to quit," Evans said. Unfortunately, there's always a chance that somebody could try to chase the high after being vaccinated against fentanyl and turn to use other drugs, something "the vaccine is not going to prevent," Evans explained. Then there's the stigma surrounding addiction. "You're not afraid to tell someone if you have influenza, if you have COVID, but you're afraid to tell someone if you're addicted to opioids" because of "this negative stigma about it," Evans said. Pravetoni hopes a vaccine could provide "broader acceptance" and "open up more avenues" for people, who are "not interested" in taking opioids due to existing stigmas. Now, Evans, Pravetoni, and their colleagues are starting the process of clinical trials designed to test the safety of these vaccines, the first step in what will likely be a lengthy, years-long process. Phase 1 trials, which will take place at Columbia University in New York City and are expected to start in early 2024, will see participants who are already using these drugs take increasing doses of the vaccines to ensure it's safe. If these early clinical trials prove successful, phase 2 trials could then determine how many doses would be needed, and at what intervals, to be effective. Finally, phase 3 trials would allow the US Food and Drug Administration to evaluate if any potential risks are outweighed by the benefits of the vaccines by enrolling a much bigger number of participants. "It takes a long time years to get to a final approved product," said Evans in the statement. "Based on the efficacy data we see in our preclinical data and the established safety profile in animal models, we are very hopeful these vaccines will be successful." "But there is still a lot of work to be done," he added. In a perfect world, Evans said that he hopes to have the effects of the vaccine last only a number of years. "Patients who are addicted to opioids and want to quit and going through rehab, their chance of relapse in the first two years is 80 to 90 percent," he said. "If they can get past those two years, their chance of staying clean is very good. So our goal is to protect people during those two years, when their highest risk of reusing an overdose." "And so we want the we want the antibody titers to stay really high for a couple of years, and then actually wane off over time," Evans explained. " So if that patient ten years down the road, was going in for surgery or in an accident, and needed to use fentanyl as a pain relief medicine, then that would be then available to that person again." At the end of the day, vaccines, if they ever make it to market, will only be one small part of a much broader picture. "Essentially, you need all the help, you can get, so hopefully, vaccines and antibodies can provide that extra layer of protection," Pravetoni told us. Then there's our current healthcare system's reliance on opioids. "Ultimately, I would love to see non-opioid-based pain medicines that are just as effective as the opioid-based ones," Evans said, "and have all of the opiate-based pain medicines become basically illegal drugs. And so people who are becoming addicted aren't because they're dealing with chronic pain." It's part of a much larger and immensely complex picture, and plenty of factors have to be taken into consideration, from "how doctors prescribe opioids, and how they educate patients on how to take those opioids to prevent addiction" to "reducing the stigma about addiction," according to Evans. "As long as that stigma is in place, it's going to be hard to get to treat the patients that really need it," he added, arguing that public education is a "big part of it." "You need a toolbox of tools to help this crisis," Evans said. "The vaccine alone isn't going to solve it." More on fentanyl vaccines: New Vaccine Blocks Fentanyl in Brains of Rats Hanke Bruins Slot, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations arrives at the Binnenhof for the Council of Ministers THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Dutch Interior Minister Hanke Bruins Slot is set to become the new foreign minister in a caretaker government after her predecessor stepped down to become a European Union commissioner, the minister and her party announced Monday. The cabinet reshuffle just months before a November election was needed after Dutch EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans stepped down from his Brussels role to compete in the poll. To fill the gap in Brussels, the Netherlands proposed outgoing Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra as the country's nominee to run the European Union's climate change portfolio. Hoekstra stepped down last week saying he needed to prepare for a likely tough hearing in the European Parliament about his candidacy. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Bruins Slot, 45, is an army veteran who served in Afghanistan. As Dutch foreign minister she will be crucial in shaping Dutch aid to Ukraine. Her appointment will have to be confirmed by the Dutch King, but outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte has already said it was up to her Christian Democrat party to name a candidate for a new foreign minister. (Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Alex Richardson) PETERSBURG Lao Tzu once said, When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Public-school students in Petersburg are ready for the 2023-24 school year this week, which means their teachers will appear starting Tuesday, Sept. 5. Joining those teachers are five education majors from Virginia State University immersing themselves in their future careers. They are part of the Hybrid Education Residency Opportunity [HERO] residency program, a joint venture between VSU and the Petersburg public school system. HERO is a comprehensive effort where students combine their academic studies with real teaching experience. They create lesson plans and run their classrooms just like any other teacher in the system while simultaneously completing their degree coursework. Or as VSU put it, lead their own class like professionals but also stay up to date with their coursework at VSU. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This program allows our students to get early training in the profession that they want to enter, VSU College of Education dean Dr. Willis Walter said in a statement announcing the partnership. They are making real connections and learning things in the classroom that you cant just get out of a book. It also helps the Petersburg school system plug holes in its instructor roster due to ongoing teacher shortages. VSU said the city approached the college after realizing the shortages would be creating overcrowded classrooms. The student teachers will have an assistant assigned to them to help with classroom management and answer any questions. They also will be paid for their work, receiving the same salary as a long-term substitute in the Petersburg system. As for their own education, VSU said the students will be given plenty of time outside of the teaching day to complete their assignments. The five student teachers are scattered throughout the school system teaching all levels from elementary through high school. To participate in the program, they had to maintain a B average and be active in the universitys other education-centric programs. There are so many programs that fail because they only prepare students for short-term success, Walter said in the statement. However, this program will allow students to build relationships with students, parents, and other teachers while gaining knowledge and experience to be successful long-term. Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: VSU education students serve as teachers in Petersburg SACRAMENTO, Calif. Caste discrimination wasnt on the radar of many lawmakers in California. Then it showed up on their doorstep. Hundreds of people mobilized outside the state Capitol in recent months, protesting a bill from first-term state Sen. Aisha Wahab to add caste to the list of protected groups in California a proposal that many felt was unnecessary and unfairly tarnished the image of the South Asian community. Hearings on the bill got heated. Clearly we hit a nerve, Wahab, who got death threats and is being targeted with a recall for her efforts, said at one hearing. If the bill passes as expected and Gov. Gavin Newsom signs it into law, California would become the first state to explicitly outlaw caste-based discrimination, though Seattle has done so and other cities are considering it. Caste, a social hierarchy in which ones group is inherited, is historically associated with South Asia and Hindus, and opponents argue such a ban stigmatizes the religious group. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The affair has had repercussions for Wahab in her heavily South Asian district. Its become a bitter lesson in the pitfalls of wading into nuanced cultural issues in an ever-more diverse nation. Wahab, a progressive tapped by Newsom to highlight his signature gun control effort, appeared to be caught off guard by the vitriolic response to what she views as a straightforward issue. This is a civil rights bill, she said in an interview. Its very simple. Were trying to protect people. For her, it began as she campaigned in her San Francisco Bay Area district, hearing about an issue that has emerged in some employment discrimination cases in Silicon Valley as well as a divisive measure in Seattle and elsewhere. But a bill to explicitly ban caste discrimination hadnt been introduced in the California Legislature, even from the two members of South Asian descent. The fact that this subject came up in the first place perhaps isnt surprising. Indians represent the second-largest U.S. immigrant group after Mexicans, and Wahabs district has one of the largest populations of Indian Americans. More broadly, South Asians have become more visible in American politics, with Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy running in the Republican presidential primary. Wahabs legislation, Senate Bill 403, is a floor vote away from reaching the governors desk, but not before a fractious legislative process in which she received pushback even from fellow progressive Democrats. Newsoms office would not say whether he supports the bill. Committee hearings were packed, with lines for public comment stretching out the door. Social media has been ablaze from both sides, and lawmakers have received tens of thousands of calls and emails. When the city council in Cupertino passed a resolution opposing the bill, city officials said it was the most-attended public meeting theyve ever seen in the majority-Asian suburb. A progressive split Backlash from constituents and local officials prompted two Democratic state lawmakers whose districts overlap with Wahabs, Assemblymembers Evan Low (D-Campbell) and Alex Lee (D-San Jose), to take the unusual step of openly disagreeing with their progressive colleague, suggesting amendments that ultimately watered down the legislation. All three are also in the Legislatures Asian American and Pacific Islander caucus. Its not politically expedient, but its the right thing to do, Low said in an interview. Its my genuine interest, because it breaks my heart to see members of our AAPI community being split. Lees office, which typically logs about 10 constituents providing a stance on a bill, received over 600 messages on SB 403. Just 26 were in support, according to a spokesperson. Low said that the ratio of opposition to support was 99 to 1. The pair met with Wahab to share their concerns. Eventually, Wahab agreed to place caste under ancestry rather than list it as a standalone category such as race, gender identity and age, ensuring that the word remained in the bill, but less prominently. Low did not take a vote on the proposal. But the amendments won over Lee, who gave a floor speech explaining why he was supporting the bill and noting that he tried to ensure the ban doesnt unfairly single out anyone. Low and another Bay Area legislator, state Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), said caste hadnt come up as an issue in decades of being around Silicon Valley tech circles, where there have been accusations of caste discrimination. Activists on both sides of the debate have focused on educating lawmakers about caste. A lot of staff asked, What is caste? Wahab said of the reaction when she first considered introducing the bill. They had to Google it." Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation one of the groups opposing the bill said that the term caste is unlike the states other protected categories. Everyone has a race. Everyone has an ancestry. Everyone has a gender. Everyone has an age, Shukla said. Not everyone has a caste. Shukla believes the bill has sailed through the Legislature because nobody wants to be seen as being against an anti-discrimination bill. The issue hits home for Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), the first Indian American elected to the state Legislature and one of two South Asian lawmakers serving in either house. Kalra voted for the proposal but said it was an emotional issue for him. He lamented during a committee hearing about seeing his community tear each other apart on social media, and hoped that both sides would make a commitment to healing. Heart of the movement Silicon Valley, home to a large South Asian population and some of the worlds largest tech companies, has been at the heart of a movement to combat caste-based discrimination. A 2020 lawsuit by the California Civil Rights Department believed to be the first in the state to be filed on the grounds of caste-based discrimination accused two Cisco supervisors of discriminating against and harassing an employee who identified as Dalit, the lowest class in the caste hierarchy. The case against Cisco is ongoing, though complaints against the two supervisors were dropped earlier this year. The bills supporters see the lawsuit as a milestone that has enabled more caste-oppressed people to come forward. Right now, its such a gray area, said Tanuja Gupta, who in 2021 quit her job as a senior manager at Google News in a highly publicized exit after an event she had organized about caste issues was postponed. Gupta is now in law school in New York. She said that one of the most frustrating parts of advocating for SB 403 has been the argument that caste discrimination isnt occurring because there have been so few documented cases, calling it a chicken and egg argument. Using a different surname to protect against discrimination is not uncommon, said Prem Pariyar, a delegate for the National Association of Social Workers and Cal State East Bay alum who helped lead a successful push last year for the CSU school system to include caste in its anti-discrimination policy. Pariyar was born into a Dalit family in Nepal and came to California in 2015 to escape caste discrimination. Friends told him that the state was progressive, friendly to immigrants and accepting of different cultures. Instead, he recalled being alienated by his Nepalese coworkers, who refused to room in shared housing with him because of his caste. Pariyar said he was forced to live out of a van for a month, an experience he called depressing and scary. I thought they would not repeat those kinds of practices here, Pariyar said. Talking points In mid-July, about 250 people gathered at an events center in Fremont, an East Bay suburb in Wahabs district, for Caste Con, a full day of programming against the bill. Several Fremont city officials attended, as well as Palo Alto Mayor Lydia Kou. Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, who lost to Wahab in last years race for the local state Senate seat, was given a standing ovation when she was introduced. The event was moderated by Satish Sharma, chair of the Global Hindu Federation based in the United Kingdom. Copies of Sharmas book Caste, Conversion: A Colonial Conspiracy were available for free in the lobby. At one point, Sharma asked ChatGPT to define caste, and then pointed out the number of times that the word Hindu appeared in the computers response. Thats not an accident, Sharma later said in an interview. Its been seeded for such a long time. The word is a hate brand. Later, attendees heard talking points on how to defend their stance in the state Capitol. Salvatore Babones, a sociologist and associate professor at the University of Sydney, said people have to accept the debate over caste, noting that simple arguments such as Im not a Nazi and Im not a white supremacist do not work in the United States. You have to fight it on American terms, Babones said. If you dont fight it on American terms, youre going to lose. Sejal Govindarao contributed to this report. A Greektown hostel is expected for the second time in a year to house migrants as Chicago officials continue trying to cope with busloads of asylum-seekers being sent here. Ald. Bill Conway, 34th, said Monday he got about a one-week notice from Mayor Brandon Johnsons administration that about 190 migrants will be given shelter at the Parthenon Guest House in the 300 block of South Halsted Street. Advertisement [ A year in, Chicagos migrant crisis exacerbated by City Hall and state delays, hefty contracts and questionable decisions ] The hostel housed asylum-seekers from the fall of 2022 until February, and it went well, Conway said. But the city needs a better approach than the seemingly patchwork, reactive response to the humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants from there to Chicago a little more than a year ago, he said. Ald. Bill Conway, 34th, speaks before a City Council meeting on May 24, 2023, at City Hall. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Im disappointed and frustrated in the way the mayors office is handling it, but at this point we do have to find shelter for people, he said. Advertisement Conway said he intends to hold a community meeting Wednesday to try to assuage the concerns of neighbors who are worried and have cited recent reports that other similar city-run shelters have drawn fights and drug use. The Johnson administration told Conway that asylum-seekers will begin to arrive at the hostel Friday, he said. The alderman said he asked the Johnson administration for more time to prepare residents and others in the neighborhood for the arriving migrants, but was told that wasnt possible. I initially said, Hey, can we back this up a week? And they said yes, initially. Then they called me back the next day and said they could not back it up another week, Conway said. When Abbott started sending busloads of asylum-seekers to Chicago and other cities far from the nations southern border, he argued that places with policies establishing them as sanctuary cities should welcome the migrants. Since then, more than 13,500 asylum-seekers have arrived here, stretching city resources often beyond their breaking point. Tension between City Hall and aldermen and residents has been a near-constant feature of the citys response to the situation. Mayor Lori Lightfoot drew the ire of Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th, and Woodlawn neighborhood residents for taking steps to turn the former Wadsworth Elementary School into a shelter for up to 1,000 migrants. Johnsons administration also has been criticized for how its rolled out new shelter announcements, including at the Broadway Armory in Edgewater and at the Lake Shore Hotel in Kenwood. Ald. Desmon Yancy, 5th, complained that City Hall didnt consult the community. Since the first asylum-seekers arrived in August 2022, city officials have considered more than 200 sites for temporary housing, including the former Englewood Whole Foods, a Mars factory on the West Side thats closing, a Veterans Affairs hospital building and vacant schools and movie theaters. At times, the city has housed migrants in the basement of the Harold Washington Library Center. Advertisement The city also has repeatedly placed migrants in government-owned buildings, most notably police stations, and then relocated them to private hotels and hostels. In November, the city moved asylum-seekers from the North Town Branch Library to the Greektown hostel. In April, the city took migrants from Truman College and sent them to a shelter in the Loop. The city has repeatedly sent migrants to Leone Beach Park field house in West Ridge, removed them and then brought them back. jebyrne@chicagotribune.com Errol Musk told The U.S. Sun about his fears that Elon Musk could be assassinated. He criticized a recent article in The New Yorker as "a hit job." Elon Musk has previously spoken about his security concerns, such as his private jet being tracked. Elon Musk's father told The U.S. Sun he feared his billionaire son could be assassinated. The 77-year-old Errol Musk criticized a recent article in The New Yorker that explored the world's richest person's influence on government decisions about the war in Ukraine. Pentagon officials told The New Yorker that Elon Musk was treated like an "unelected official" and raised concerns about his attitude toward Vladimir Putin. The report also highlighted how crucial SpaceX's Starlink satellites had been in the war in Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "It's a hit job, a shadow government-sponsored opening salvo on Elon," the elder Musk told The U.S. Sun. And when The U.S. Sun reporter asked whether he feared the "shadow government" could assassinate his son, he replied, "Yes." The SpaceX CEO appears to have a strained relationship with his father and has previously called him a "terrible human being." Errol Musk also described the New Yorker article to The U.S. Sun as "the artillery-like softening up of the enemy before the actual attack." In May of last year, the billionaire appeared to joke that he could "die under mysterious circumstances" following an argument with Russia's space chief over SpaceX giving Starlink terminals to Ukrainian soldiers. An X engineer previously told the BBC that two bodyguards had followed Elon Musk around the company headquarters, including to the bathroom. A lawsuit filed in May said he'd also requested a bathroom to be built next to his X office so he wouldn't have to wake up his security in the middle of the night. But Elon Musk's own security concerns were most apparent during the controversy over his private jet being tracked last December. Journalists who shared links to the @ElonJet account on X, formerly known as Twitter, were temporarily barred, and Musk accused them of wanting to harm him. That was after Elon Musk said a car carrying his son had been followed by a "crazy stalker (thinking it was me)." Musk did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Insider, sent outside US working hours. Read the original article on Business Insider Russian President Vladimir Putin , following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated that Moscow was not ready to immediately return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which it quit in July. To have Russia return to the grain deal, Putin demands the prior requirements to be met. "Russia will be ready to resume the grain deal and will do it as soon as all the agreed commitments are fulfilled," said the Russian president during a joint press conference with Erdogan in Sochi. Putin noted that he was expecting to lift some sanctions related to Russian grain and fertilisers for European markets. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Before the meeting with Erdogan in Sochi on September 4, Putin said he was open to discussions about Russia's participation in the grain deal. Background: 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! Russian President Vladimir Putin have met with Turkiyes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Russia. The war with Ukraine and the grain deal will be discussed at the meeting. Source: Russian media Quote from Putin: "We will not ignore the issues related to the Ukrainian crisis. I know that you intend to raise the issue of the grain agreement. We are open to negotiations on this issue." Details: Erdogan arrived in Sochi to meet with Putin. During the speech, Erdogan said that Turkiye and Russia were in a completely different period of relations: "Especially in such a period, when the war between Russia and Ukraine reached its peak, the fact that you made this invitation made me and my delegation happy." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Erdogan confirmed that the issue of the grain corridor will be discussed during the meeting: "I believe that the message that will be conveyed to the world at the press conference after our meeting will be very important, especially the step towards underdeveloped African countries." Quote: "Another issue between us is the steps we have taken and will take in the direction of the defence industry. We already have very important relations with Russia in the energy sector, especially in the natural gas field. I believe we will continue to develop them in the future." Background: Putin was previously expected to visit Ankara. In the middle of August, there were unofficial rumours that it could take place "in the coming days". In Kyiv, Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Turkiye Dmytro Kuleba and Hakan Fidan discussed the resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. On 17 July, Russia announced the suspension of the grain deal and threatened "risks" to parties that decide to continue the initiative without Russia's participation. In addition, Moscow began massive attacks on the port infrastructure of Odesa and the Danube ports. 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! (Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin said he wouldnt revive a UN-backed deal that had eased global food prices by allowing Ukraine to ship its grain through the Black Sea unless obstacles to Russias own agricultural exports are removed. Most Read from Bloomberg Putins comments came after a three-hour meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Russian resort town of Sochi. Erdogan, who helped broker the original Black Sea Grain Initiative in 2022, had hoped to come away from the talks with a new framework for negotiations to present to global leaders at the Group of 20 Summit in India later in the week. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Instead, the two leaders confirmed plans to send 1 million tons of Russian grain via Turkey to African nations concerned the disruptions would raise food prices. That volume is a fraction of Russias total wheat exports, which are expected to reach some 48 million tons this season. Its also much smaller than the amount Ukraine was shipping through the Black Sea before Russia abandoned the grain deal and closed the safe corridor in July. Uncertainty about the future of supplies from one of the worlds largest grain exporters has contributed to weeks of volatility in global wheat prices, as has the surge in hostilities in and around the Black Sea. Russia launched waves of drone attacks on the southern Odesa region in the leadup to the talks, damaging storage and industrial facilities as well as agricultural equipment. It also targeted two river ports that are the main alternative export routes to the Black Sea, setting the tone for the talks. Putin complained about a surge in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian gas pipelines, with his defense minister later citing drone attacks as a reason for exiting the deal, according to the Interfax news service. A mid-sized power thats maintained strong ties with both Putin and the West, Turkeys success in brokering the original deal allowed Ukrainian cargoes to return to global markets upended by Russias invasion. But the arrangement, a rare diplomatic win in an otherwise grinding war, was fragile from the outset and Ukraines grain exports were repeatedly disrupted by slow ship inspections and political tensions. Russia complained for months that its own demands for better trade terms had been ignored before finally exiting the deal. Read more: What End of Ukraine Grain Export Deal Means for World: QuickTake As Ukraine Grain Deadline Approaches, Pact Is Already Broken Russia Is Tightening its Grip on the Worlds Wheat Supply Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiys deputy chief of staff told Bloomberg TV before the talks that his country was depending on Turkey to support the restoration of the grain deal and was also ready to export to poor nations in Africa and Asia. The crops in Ukraine this year are quite good. So we are ready, Ihor Zhovkva said. The world is suffering when Russia is using aggressive instruments in the food security area. Russian Demands But Putin stuck to the position Russia staked out when it left. We will be ready to consider the possibility of reviving the grain deal, he said in a news conference after the talks. We will do it immediately as soon as all the agreements on the lifting of restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are fulfilled. Russia has demanded the removal of obstacles to its exports of food and fertilizer, some of which were hit immediately after it invaded Ukraine as banks, insurers and shipment companies steered clear of Russian goods and Baltic nations ceased handling Russian volumes through their ports. That hasnt stopped Russia exporting record volumes of wheat, and its fertilizer exports are also recovering to pre-war levels. Russia also wants to reopen an ammonia pipeline that traverses Ukraine and reconnect Rosselkhozbank, a state-owned lender focused on agriculture, to the SWIFT system for international payments. The United Nations has worked closely with private-sector banks and insurance providers to try to address Russias concerns. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent Moscow a revised proposal he said could form the basis of a revamped deal. We cannot have a Black Sea Initiative that moves from crisis to crisis, from suspension to suspension, Guterres told reporters in New York Thursday. We need to have something that works and that works to the benefit of everybody. A Qatar-Financed Proposal Ukrainian crops will still make it to market without a new deal, but higher transport costs could depress the next grain plantings soon underway curtailing global supplies longer term. The 1 million-ton plan appears to be a separate bid to ameliorate concerns in Africa, where Russia has sought to build its influence at the expense of the West. Erdogan said Turkey was ready to receive Russian grain and process it into flour to send to the continent, with Qatar prepared to offer financial support. We have reached an agreement on these issues, he said. Ukraines foreign minister warned last week that any deal that excludes it would only bolster Russias tactics. Erdogan and Putin have maintained extensive contacts since Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, collaborating on plans to expand gas imports and nuclear energy cooperation. The leaders said they discussed progress on both ambitions. Read more: Russia Plan for Turkeys Gas Hub Is Still on Agenda, Putin Says --With assistance from Aine Quinn and Daryna Krasnolutska. (Updates with outcome of Putin and Erdogan talks throughout.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in the Russian city of Sochi for talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin , Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Sept. 4. According to Anadolu, their negotiations will focus on the potential restoration of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, unilaterally terminated by Moscow in mid-July. Erdogan and Putin will also reportedly discuss the latest developments in Russia's war against Ukraine as well as bilateral relations between the two countries, including cooperation in energy, trade, economy, and tourism. A day before, the Turkish presidency announced that Erdogan would pay a one-day working visit to Sochi at Putin's invitation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to the Kremlin's press service, Putin previously said he is willing to restore the grain corridor once the West "fulfills all the obligations to Russia" regarding the deal. Read also: Putin attempts to bribe African leaders with free grain after pulling out of grain deal Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal on July 17, causing spikes in wheat prices and fears about food security worldwide. The agreement previously allowed Ukraine to export its grain through its Black Sea ports amid the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion. The Kremlin justified the decision ahead of a July 27-28 summit with African leaders by claiming the deal only served "to enrich Western businesses," and that promises about facilitating Russia's grain and fertilizer exports had not been met. Turkey, positioning itself as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, played an important role in brokering the grain deal in July 2022. Since the agreement's collapse, Ankara has been in contact with both Kyiv and Moscow, discussing the options for its restoration. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. An escaped murderer's mother joined police efforts to find him, days after the 34-year-old man vanished from a Pennsylvania prison. But a growing manhunt is continuing as the woman's son has not yet heeded her calls to surrender. Danelo Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison in West Chester, about an hour's drive from Philadelphia, around 8:45 a.m. Thursday. He had still not been captured as of Tuesday afternoon. "He is desperate and dangerous and probably exhausted," Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark, the supervisor of the U.S. Marshal fugitive task force for eastern Pennsylvania, told CBS News. Earlier this week, authorities broadcasted a message from Cavalcante's mother in the search area. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "That was broadcast through the helicopter yesterday and through the patrol cars in the hopes that perhaps, as desperate as he is, maybe he has a change of thought and hears his mother telling him to surrender and his family cares about him," Clark said on Monday. "He's desperate, he's hungry, he's been in the woods, he's dirty, perhaps this is what puts him over the edge so that we can get a peaceful surrender." Cavalcante is a Brazilian national fluent in Portuguese and Spanish. Cavalcante also speaks some English, authorities said. His mother, who is in Brazil, recorded the message for him in Portuguese. Cavalcante was last seen on Monday evening, said Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Colonel George Bivens at a news conference early Tuesday. Officials previously said there had been four confirmed sightings of Cavalcante in a 2-mile radius in the days since his escape. The focus of the search has been in the area around Pocopson Township, which located within Chester County. The most recent sighting happened within the perimeter of the original search area, Bivens said, but authorities have since shifted those boundaries slightly because security footage provided by a nearby botanical garden appeared to capture Cavalcante on their property. On 09/04/2023 at 8:21PM and 9:33PM, Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante was seen on a trail camera at Longwood Gardens in East Marlborough Township, Chester County. Anyone with information is asked to contact the tip line at 717-562-2987. pic.twitter.com/bSPWBxuTRB Trooper Grothey (@PSPTroopJPIO) September 5, 2023 "We had one additional sighting of Cavalcante last evening within that perimeter and conducted a multiple hours long search of the area, but were unable to locate him," Bivens said at Tuesday's briefing. "Early this morning, we were notified by security at Longwood Gardens that they had trail camera photos taken on their property which appear to be Cavalcante. This area is just south of the perimeter." Investigators confirmed the person seen in those images was Cavalcante, who had not changed his appearance but was seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt and carrying items he did not have before, including a backpack and a duffel bag. The Pennsylvania State Police tweeted the images on Tuesday. The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District and the Kennett Consolidated School District closed their schools and offices Tuesday as the search for Cavalcante continued. Bivens said law enforcement would work with the districts "to determine what will occur in coming days." Clark said Cavalcante is moving at night and hiding during the day, telling CBS News on Tuesday that the landscape has posed challenges for law enforcement trying to capture him. There are large patches of wooded areas with thick underbrush that officers are forced to hack through at times, as well as numerous structures such as sheds to search, Clark said. "We are trying to stress him out, keep him on the move, squeeze him, " Clark said. "This is what we do. His desperation will not outlast our dedication." Authorities are asking people in and around the search area to secure their homes, vehicles, businesses and any outbuildings. They believe the items Cavalcante obtained since his escape were stolen from a car or home, Clark told CBS News. "Cavalcante has clearly already obtained some clothing and unknown other supplies, and we want to minimize any opportunity to obtain anything more," Bivens said Tuesday, requesting that anyone with security cameras on their properties scan the footage and report anything suspicious to the state police. He noted that additional law enforcement agents from the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol have been mobilized to join the manhunt. More than 250 officers from multiple agencies are now assisting the search, including 40 members of the U.S. Marshal Service fugitive task force, with investigators using thermal imaging, night goggles, drones, helicopters, dogs and other technology in the manhunt. Bivens said Tuesday that authorities have received more than 100 tips relating to Cavalcante and are following up on all of them. A federal warrant has also been obtained to authorize the escapee's arrest if he flees Pennsylvania to Delaware or Maryland nearby. Danelo Cavalcante / Credit: U.S. Marshals Service "When you talk a 2-mile radius, you've got to remember this is a 5-foot tall gentleman, 120 pounds, and this is a heavily, heavily wooded area," Clark said. "It's very, very thick back there. There's a lot of ravines. There's a lot of hiding spots." At a news conference Monday, Bivens described what was at the time the most recent sighting of Cavalcante, which happened on Sunday afternoon. "It was a trooper, actually, that observed him at some distance, gave chase, but was unable because of the terrain and some other obstacles there, was unable to get to him before he disappeared," Bivens said. Officers have investigated two burglaries while searching for Cavalcante. They've asked that people in the community check on their neighbors, while Bivens warned at Monday's briefing of the possibility Cavalcante would try to obtain food, clothing and shelter on the run. "He is going to be looking for a means to sustain himself," Bivens said. "He's going to need clothing. He's going to need food and just to get in out of the weather. It's pretty hot out there." Cavalcante was convicted of first-degree murder on Aug. 16 for fatally stabbing his 33-year-old former girlfriend in April 2021. Her family has been notified of Cavalcante's escape, authorities said. Cavalcante was sentenced to life in prison. He's also wanted in connection with a homicide in Brazil. Authorities stressed that people should not approach Cavalcante if they see him. Anyone who spots him or has information should call 911. The Marshals Service and the Chester County District Attorney's Office are offering a combined $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Officials have not shared details on how Cavalcante escaped, saying it's under investigation. "The prison is very aware of whatever vulnerabilities they have and they have made efforts to correct those vulnerabilities," Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said. CBS News senior investigative reporter Pat Milton contributed to this report. John Dickerson looks back at 1 year of "Prime Time" "Prime Time with John Dickerson" turns one How empty office space hurts the economy (Bloomberg) -- Estonias president said Prime Minister Kaja Kallas should have resigned over revelations last month that her husbands company had business activity in Russia. Most Read from Bloomberg The comments from President Alar Karis, short of an outright demand that Kallas step down, were unusual for the Baltic nations head of state, who holds a largely ceremonial, non-partisan role. It may add pressure on Kallas, who said last week that she has no plans to quit. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement My personal preference would have been for the head of government to resign, Karis said on Facebook Monday after meeting with Estonian party leaders, including Kallas. This would have saved her, her loved ones, the governments ability to function and the credibility of Estonias messaging. Kallas told Bloomberg Thursday that she plans to stay on, confident that shell secure the backing of her Reform party and her two coalition partners should the opposition move to oust her in a confidence vote. The fallout from the revelations is a setback for a leader whos gained a reputation as one of the European Unions most hawkish voices against Russias war in Ukraine. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Stellas Aslanov, political science professor at Uzhhorod National University, spoke to NV about the mood of ethnic Hungarians in Zakarpattya Oblast and Russias infamous tendency to play the "Hungarian card" in Ukraine. Read also: Budapest mayor criticizes Hungarian government for making gas deals with Putin Even before the outbreak of the full-scale war, Hungarians of Zakarpattya, who make up about 12% of the oblasts population, were the focus of special attention from Budapest. The illegal issuance of Hungarian passports, spread of anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and in particular the attitudes of Hungarian Ukrainians against the Law on Education of 2017 (which gave families the right to have their children educated in a local minority language, but required study of the state language sufficient for integration into Ukrainian society) could not but affect the mood in the area. And even after the start of the war, Zakarpattyan Hungarians remained to a certain extent in Hungarys information orbit. According to a survey conducted by the sociological agency Smartpol and the Department of Sociology at Uzhhorod University, only 71% of Hungarians living in Zakarpattya believe that it is Russia that is responsible for the aggression in Ukraine (compared to practically 100% in other regions), and about 67% agree that Russia is a threat to peace in Europe. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement NV spoke with Dr. Aslanov about how the Zakarpattyan Hungarians live now and whether pro-Russian Budapest has an influence on them. Read also: Ukraine should not have given up nuclear weapons under Budapest Memorandum, says Ukraines FM NV: Before the big war with Russia, Hungary and Ukraine already had a conflict regarding the Law on Education. In particular, messages were heard from Budapest about the oppression of Hungarians in Zakarpattya Oblast and the Hungarian language in the region. With the start of a full-scale invasion, has this discussion disappeared? Aslanov: Unfortunately, both before the war and after it began, Zakarpattyan Hungarians continue to feel this way. And this is despite the fact that the Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian parliament] recently delayed implementation of the law in terms of teaching subjects in Ukrainian [the transition period was extended until Sept. 1, 2024]. However, this did not relieve tensions in the region. Today, the Hungarian government is very keenly using this topic to create a tense situation in matters of Ukraine's observance of the rights of the Hungarian national minority. NV: Viktor Orban's policy towards Russia is quite unambiguous. He has emphasized that he does not consider Putin a war criminal and also said that Ukraine is no longer a sovereign state due to the Western support it receives. What is the attitude of Zakarpattyan Hungarians towards Orban today, as well as towards Hungary's policy towards Russia and Ukraine in general? How big is Budapests influence on this part of the population? Aslanov: The influence is quite significant, first of all because Zakarpattyan Hungarians consume electronic and print media from Hungary. And a significant amount of leading Hungarian press is under the direct influence of Orbans government. There are two socio-political organizations representing Hungarian interests in Zakarpattya today: the Society of Hungarian Culture of Zakarpattya with a large number of members and supporters, and the smaller Democratic Union of Hungarians of Ukraine. Both organizations have the same goal to protect the linguistic, cultural, religious and other rights of the Hungarians but their political positions are different. Read also: Zelenskyy visits Zakarpattia Oblast Thus, the Society of Hungarian Culture of Zakarpattya supports the Hungarian government, which generously pays them for it. On the other hand, the Democratic Union is aligned closer to Ukrainian state policy, as members of the organization believe that it is necessary to study the Ukrainian language in general educational institutions and advocate the integration of Hungarians into Ukrainian society. They clearly understand there is a war between Russia and Ukraine, and this is not some "internal conflict." This differs significantly from the position of the Society of Hungarian Culture in Zakarpattya. It is important to understand that Hungary's policy towards its citizens abroad is not being formed today, but has been built over the entire 30 years of Ukraine's independence, and now we are seeing the results. NV: After the beginning of the war, has the number of people in Zakarpattya who support Orban changed? Aslanov: Research on this issue has not been conducted, so it is difficult to say whether the percentage has changed, but my subjective opinion is that it has not decreased. I think that the proportion of those who support Orban is quite significant. But at the same time, there are also Zakarpattyan Hungarians who are defending our country at the front lines, in various branches of the military. According to data from my faculty colleague future Ukrainian Ambassador to Hungary Professor Fyodor Shandor the number of ethnic Hungarians (those who were born in purely Hungarian families) and citizens of Hungarian origin (born in mixed families) fighting for Ukraine now totals around 400. NV: Early last year, Russia tried to play the "Hungarian card" to destabilize the situation in Ukraine, sending fake nationalist messages to Berehove. Did it affect the Hungarians in the region? Aslanov: This all happened as part of Russias hybrid war. Before that, there were incidents of arson at the office of the Society of Hungarian Culture of Zakarpattya. Of course, those who organized this aimed at psychologically and morally influencing local Hungarians. But to say that the locals were scared would be an exaggeration. Perhaps there was a category of people who took it to heart, but I'm still convinced that the vast majority reacted calmly. Read also: Hungary again cancels three trains because of large flow of passengers Zakarpattya has also historically been a multinational region, so no local residents would deliberately aggravate the interethnic situation. These were all provocations carried out by various organizations, in particular Russian ones. NV: Was there an outflow of Hungarian Ukrainians with Hungarian passports abroad? Aslanov: Anyone who wanted to leave Ukraine for permanent residence in Hungary did so back in the 90s or 2000s. But many Zakarpattyan Hungarians work abroad. After martial law was declared, they did not return to Ukraine and remained in Hungary. As soon as the war ends, they will come home, not everyone of course, but they do not have such political and ideological convictions to fight and give their lives for the state. Read also: 80% of Ukrainians abroad want to return, Uman pilgrimage still on, POWs for political prisoners NV: Were there cases when men liable for military service left using their Hungarian passports because of fear of mobilization? Aslanov: At the beginning [of the invasion], they left, but now it is no longer possible. The State Border Guard Service has information [on who has both a Ukrainian and a Hungarian passport]. NV: Zakarpattya is one of the regions where migrants have arrived en masse. How has this affected the local community? How are internal migrants treated? Aslanov: There are very hospitable people in Zakarpattya. All Zakarpattyans were happy to help, especially in the first very difficult months of the war. There were no attitudes of "were being flooded with people. Of course, there may have been isolated conflict situations for various reasons, but in general the attitude was very positive. NV: How can ethnic conflicts in Zakarpattya be avoided during war? What should Kyiv do, or how should it adjust its rhetoric in order to avoid irritants in the region and gain more support from the local population? Aslanov: In general, the ethno-national sphere is very sensitive. The policy of the state must be correct and balanced, since interethnic conflicts can flare up even from the smallest problems. Unfortunately, for almost all its 30 years of independence, Ukraine did not pay due attention to this issue and did not introduce an ethno-national policy at the proper level. Indeed, the UN recognized the law on national minorities, adopted in 1992, as one of the best and most liberal in the world, but life is moving forward and the demands of national minorities have changed during this time. Read also: Hungarys Orban obsessed with EU funding to maintain regime, claims Ukrainian FM Kuleba A new law was recently passed which received [critical] comments from the Venice Commission. Let's hope that the policy of our state will be flexible, consistent, and respect the linguistic, educational, spiritual, religious and other rights of all citizens of Ukraine. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Chef Lampros Tzimas leads a Greek Street Food class at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills. He is one of many full-time faculty members who teach personal enrichment classes at the college. (Moraine Valley Community College) The teachers at the Renaissance Academy at Chicago arent there to collect a paycheck. Rather, theyre there to share their passion for their subject with their students, who have plenty of life experience themselves. That includes Carol Conway, who began leading classes at the academy for people age 55 and up after first being a Renaissance student. Advertisement The instructors are people who volunteer their time and their interest, she said. Its completely collegial we teach each other. There is nobody outside who is hired. Its just if you have an interest in something. The Renaissance Academy at Chicago offers a chance for those 55 and older to take up to three classes per term, hosted by Saint Xavier University in Chicago or via Zoom. (Catherine Reardon) When the fall session starts Oct. 10, Conway will lead a class titled The Novels You Werent Ready for in High School. The former high school English teacher called teaching this class a different experience than cramming it down the throats of a sophomore. Advertisement To Kill a Mockingbird will be the first book this year, and Great Expectations will be the last one, she said. Its so amazing to me that people who read this book in high school and almost everyone has said I dont remember that. I didnt realize that. The academy specializes in unusual classes, such as Lets Talk Happiness, which aims to provide lively discussions about what happiness means to the class participants, according to the academys registration booklet. Its a new one. Its really something, Conway said. Its talking about what brings you joy. Women Athletes, which explores female athletes who went on to become legends and role models for people around the world, tells the stories of stars such as Bobbi Gibb, Wilma Rudolph and Billie Jean King. News and Views is a class that helps participants make sense of the news of the day, according to the registration booklet. For an annual fee of $180, adults can take one to three courses during each of the Renaissance Academys three, 6-week sessions in the fall, winter and spring. The fee includes luncheons in the winter and spring, access to some of the universitys facilities and two speakers forums. In-person classes meet Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at Saint Xavier University, 3700 W 103rd St., Chicago. Zoom classes take place Wednesday afternoons. Registration is online at www.renaissancechgo.org from Sept. 8 to 15, and the academy is limited to 300 students. Obviously you get a particular kind of person who is a lifelong learner and theyre willing to do a little bit of work, Conway shared, explaining although most academy members are women, quite a few men are facilitators. My experience with people is they love the community, the camaraderie. They love learning something new and using our brains that are still working. Advertisement That social aspect also can be found among students taking personal enrichment classes at Moraine Valley Community College, which is based in Palos Hills but also has education centers in Blue Island and Tinley Park. Some of our culinary courses actually have friends who take the class together or family members. Thats really fun, said Elizabeth Micheletti, program manager for Corporate Community & Continuing Education. Our crafting classes tend to draw those as well. Its kind of a fun group outing activity. She said the arts and crafts class have lots of returning students. They say its not just the art they come for but the community around it, and they have made friends by taking the classes multiple times, Micheletti said. Theyre able to build a sense of community in the classes, especially the ones that will run multiple weeks where they get to know each other. A student works on a watercolor last fall during a continuing education class at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills. Art classes are among the schools more popular offerings. (Moraine Valley Community College) Micheletti said the college strives to be accessible to the community so we want to be sure we can offer something that is for everyone not just our credit students. I think thats one of the fun things we can differentiate ourselves with is we have such a wealth of knowledge at the college, and we want to be able to make that accessible to anyone who is interested in learning something new or trying a new hobby or exploring a topic they know nothing about. Advertisement Micheletti said classes run the gamut. We have a really great birding class, and we get people who have never thought about putting a bird feeder in their yard to an ornithologist. Noncredit and personal enrichment classes are available to everyone. One program this summer featured a classic activity. One of our staff here at Moraine has actually been a dungeon master since he was a kid growing up Kipp Cozad, she explained. He was able to bring Dungeons and Dragons to our kids programs. We ran it four times and all filled, which has been so fun. Were definitely going to bring that back to the spring semester. Another popular class discusses movies filmed at the Old Joliet Prison, offered in the fall and the spring. The state prison was built in 1858 and operated until 2002. Its an off-site class, and they meet at the prison. We have an amazing movie and film instructor who will take them all throughout the prison and all the different buildings and talk about the movies that have been filmed there over time such as Blues Brothers, Micheletti said, adding shed like to take the class herself. A new topic this semester, taught by a faculty member, is about Chat GPT. One class is about understanding the technology and how it works, and the other is how people can incorporate artificial intelligence elements into their everyday life and work. Advertisement Chef Lampros Tizmas leads a one-day class titled Cooking With Starches that features risotto, sweet potato mash, quinoa and more, as well as Greek Street Food, which shows how to make the countrys most popular dishes and a bit about Greek culture, cuisine and lifestyle. Participants can learn about the geography, weather patterns and culture that make up the Chicago area and how waterways shaped the region during a Chicagoland Waterways class. Another class teaches students how to Save Money With Extreme Couponing. Those considering travel in a recreational vehicle might want to take the one-day class So You Want to R.V.? Midwestern Foraging, which teaches participants how to safely identify plants in the area that can be cooked and eaten, is another course offered this fall. In the spring we had a bird watching course. I was so surprised a lot of people wanted to sign up for that, said Syreeta Brown, senior program manager for Moraine Valley. The knife-sharpening class is pretty popular we only have two spots left. The succulent sauce class is pretty popular too. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > Some students seem to enjoy taking classes with the same instructor. We have a following of (watercolor teacher) John Howard, and people take his class over and over. Every time registration opens, they sign up. Its a social thing for them, Brown said. The classes are a good way for people to expand their horizons, she said. Advertisement I dont think we usually explore who we are outside of our jobs, outside of our personal lives the different facets that make us up. Look and see what catches your eye. What did you want to be when you were a kid? Or maybe you want to travel in the future. Take an RV course. Personal enrichment courses start at $25 and go up from there, depending on materials needed and how long the class meets, but the majority are within $25 to $150, Micheletti said. The fall schedule is available online, and some classes have already started. For information, email CommunityEducation@morainevalley.edu or call 708-974-5735. Moraine is always open to class suggestions and ideas from the public, so if anyone has any subject matter that theyd be interested in and want us to host in the future, please send us an email, Micheletti said. And if anyone is a subject matter expert or something within their field that they want to share with us, were always looking for new instructors. They can contact us and talk about bringing their subject to our schedule. South Suburban College, which has a main campus in South Holland and a center in Oak Forest, also offers a wide variety of classes and opportunities for everyone from tots to senior citizens throughout the academic years, with a primary focus on lifelong learning, according to its website. Some fall classes have already started, and the fall schedule is available online. Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Rehearsal ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Leaders of the world's richest and most powerful countries will attend the two-day G20 Summit in India's capital New Delhi starting September 9. This is the first time India will host such a powerful group of world leaders. The capital has been adorned with ornamental flowers and fountains at traffic roundabouts while public buildings and sidewalks have been given a fresh coat of paint. Security is being provided by anti-drone systems, cutouts of langurs to scare away monkeys and 130,000 police and para-military personnel. WHAT IS THE G20? The world's 20 major countries formed an economic grouping after the Asian financial crisis in 1999 with the understanding that such crises could no longer be contained within a nation's borders and required better international economic cooperation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The bloc currently accounts for 80% of global gross domestic production (GDP) and 75% of international trade. Its members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. Although only treasury chiefs met in the initial years, heads of all member nations decided to meet once a year for a leaders' summit post the 2008 financial crisis. WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES THIS YEAR? Under India's year-long presidency, the bloc has centred discussions around more loans to developing nations from multilateral institutions, reforming international debt architecture, regulations on cryptocurrency and the impact of geopolitical uncertainties on food and energy security. So far this year, the bloc has failed to issue any joint statements as it is deeply divided over language referring to the war in Ukraine. While Russia and China are against blaming Moscow for the war in Ukraine, Western countries including the United States, France and Canada have sought a strong condemnation as a necessary condition for a joint statement. SUMMIT THEME India's G20 theme is derived from the Sanskrit phrase "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" which translates to The World is One Family". WHEN AND WHERE IS THE NEXT MEETING India will hand over the presidency to Brazil on December 1. (Compiled by Aftab Ahmed and Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) (FOX40.COM) The family of an inmate at Sacramento County Jail demanded answers Saturday after their loved one Tyus Hutton was taken to a hospital and put on life support with what they said was no explanation of the cause. Tyus is my only son. Tyson is my last baby, said Huttons father, Ted Gayfield with tears streaming from his eyes. UPS truck collides with a house, Saturday 25-year-old Hutton was booked at the Sacramento County Jail on May 29 under suspicion of burglary, rape, battery, and other sex crimes. On August 23 he was rushed to Sutter Medical Center where the family said he was declared brain dead. They say they werent notified of his presence at the hospital until August 29 and that he is currently clinging to life. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Im just at a loss of words because I cant ever get my baby back, Gayfield said distraughtly. Even if he makes it out he isnt going to be right. I know that. Its going to be hard, but I have to be there for him, thats my baby. Placer County judge denies early release of sexually violent predator The family reported that prior to the incident Hutton was mentally ill and that the hospital is the one who reached out about his life-threatening condition, not the Sacramento Sheriffs Office. He has suffered a brain death. He is not an inmate anymore he is a victim of a crime, said civil rights attorney Melissa Nold. The question now is, who is the criminal? Is it an inmate? Or is it a guard? They need to answer that, the family has a right to know who has caused an end to their sons life. Sacramento Sheriffs Office Sgt. Amar Gandhi told FOX40 that there was a fight between two inmates and one was taken to the hospital. He added that no deputies were involved in assaulting an inmate and that detectives are investigating the fight that broke out. My demand is for an independent third-party investigation a very thorough one so I can know what happened to my son and for us to be treated with respect and as humans, said Huttons mother, Talina Hutton. Give my son the dignity that he deserves. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. CAMBRIDGE Troopers from the Cambridge post of the Ohio Highway Patrol are investigating a two-vehicle crash that resulted in one fatality and one other occupant seriously injured. The crash occurred at 2:19 p.m. Sunday on Ohio 209 in Guernsey County. A motorcycle driven by David Bathrick, 55, of Dresden, was traveling eastbound on Ohio 209 when he traveled left of center and struck a pickup and trailer driven by Joshua Eby, 38, of New Concord. Bathrick was pronounced dead at the scene. Heather Bathrick, 53 of Dresden, was a passenger on the motorcycle and was transported to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in Columbus for injuries sustained as a result of the crash. Eby was not injured in the crash. Troopers were assisted on the scene by New Concord Fire Department and EMS, Castle Station, Cambridge Fire Department, Guernsey County Sheriff's Office, and the Ohio Department of Transportation. The crash remains under investigation. This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Dresden man dies in motorcycle crash Labor Day has a big connection to a small Greene County town. >>Murder suspect from Chicago injured after being shot by officer following pursuit in Auglaize Co. The town of Cedarville calls itself the Home of Labor Day, and that is because of one local mans legacy. James Kyle was born in Cedarville on February 24, 1854, and was raised there until his family left the area when he was 11 years old. Kyle served in the United States Senate from 1891 to 1901 representing South Dakota, according to Cedarville University Digital Commons. He also served as the chair of the Committee on Education and Labor in 1893. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kyle introduced a plan on August 23, 1893, that would recognize the first Monday in September as Labors Holiday. >>He truly loved everyone; Cincinnati Zoo announces death of Redd the cheetah President Grover Cleveland signed the bill into law on June 28, 1894, which declared Labor Day a national holiday. The village celebrates the holiday annually with a community festival called CedarFest from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday through Monday. While driving to or from Cedarville, markers on the edge of the town can be seen indicating, Birthplace of U.S. Senator James H Kyle, Father of Labor Day, the digital commons said. For one of the biggest moments of his life, Eric Bochene wore a faded white t-shirt and sat in an empty, green-walled conference room, straining to hear the volume from the computer. He grimaced as the virtual conference technology glitched. And he frequently voiced his frustration with his situation. Bochene pleaded guilty in late August to a federal criminal charge for his role in the U.S. Capitol attack. But he didn't stand in a courtroom. His lawyer wasn't standing next to Bochene. Instead the attorney was on a separate virtual conference connection. And Bochene wasn't permitted to choose his own outfit. Though he was pleading guilty to only a misdemeanor charge, Bochene was required to appear remotely for his hearing from a holding room in the Broome County jail in Binghamton, NY. He wore his jail outfit, sitting beneath fluorescent lights, because Bochene isn't a typical Jan. 6 defendant. Bochene is one of a growing number of U.S. Capitol riot defendants who absconded and became fugitives after their arrests or initial court appearances. Eric Bochene Facebook profile / Credit: Facebook The prosecution related to the Jan. 6, 2021 siege is the largest in American history, with approximately 1,100 criminal defendants from nearly every state. Though more than 600 of those defendants have pleaded guilty and dozens more have gone to trial, at least six became or were fugitives over the course of this summer. Some are still wanted by the FBI. Eric Bochene was one of them. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Bochene was charged with four federal counts and was accused of throwing a large item at a Capitol window, then moving amid the mob into the Capitol during the siege. After his arrest in May 2021, Bochene chose to represent himself in court. He was defiant during some hearings, invoking language consistent with the sovereign citizen movement. In one set of court filings, Bochene unsuccessfully asked the court to pay him $75,000 an hour in fees for his legal services in his own case. Bochene signed one court filing with a red fingerprint. At another court hearing, he equivocated when his asked his age by the judge, responding "52 or 53." Bochene, who was born in and lives in New York, also acknowledged he once reviewed the possibility of denouncing his U.S. citizenship. As his trial date approached this summer, his defiance escalated. Bochene failed to appear for a mandatory pretrial status conference in Washington, D.C. on July 18. A judge issued a warrant for Bochene's arrest, which led to Bochene's capture by U.S. Marshals in the southern tier of New York and a court appearance in Binghamton on Aug. 2. Bochene, who pleaded guilty to the charge of entering a restricted building, faces up to one year in prison at sentencing in November. But the plea agreement required that Bochene remain in the Broome County jail until the sentencing hearing, due to his failure to appear in court in July. He told the judge he wasn't happy about being required to remain in jail, but Bochene didn't challenge the decision at his plea hearing. The Florida fugitives There are four U.S. Capitol riot fugitives from the Tampa, Florida area all of whom are being pursued. One of them, Christopher Worrell, was a member of the far-right Proud Boys organization. Worrell, 52, disappeared days before his sentencing hearing in August. The FBI has issued a wanted poster seeking tips to help locate him. Christopher Worrell Worrell was found guilty in May on a series of federal charges, including assaulting or resisting police. According to the U.S. Justice Department, Worrell sprayed pepper gel at a line of police officers trying to defend the Capitol from the mob. Prosecutors said, "Worrell later bragged that he had "deployed a whole can" and was "f****** handing it to them." Worrell was on house arrest while awaiting his sentencing. Prosecutors had recommended the judge sentence Worrell to 14 years in prison. Since his disappearance in August, a spokesperson for the FBI Tampa field office told CBS News "We continue to seek the public's help in providing information" on his whereabouts. The FBI is also searching for three other Tampa-area Jan. 6 defendants, including Jonathan Pollock, who has been on the run for nearly two years. The agency has offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to Pollock's arrest. The reward money and a wanted poster, which features a series of images of Pollock, have yet to help agents track down the Lakeland, Fla., man. FBI poster for Jackson Pollack / Credit: FBI The Justice Department alleges Pollock was part of a violent attack during the Capitol siege. Prosecutors said that Pollock "seized a riot shield from an officer and engaged in a tug-of-war-style conflict before pulling the officer down the steps, breaking the officer's grasp and taking the shield." They also said that Pollock "then held the riot shield in front of him, charged up the steps and slammed into the police line." "Mr. Pollock is a fugitive. We are asking the public to provide information on his whereabouts so that we can safely bring him in to answer to the charges against him," said FBI Tampa Special Agent in Charge David Walker. Pollock's sister, Olivia, is also wanted by the FBI. Olivia Pollock, who is a co-defendant in her brother's case disappeared days before her trial was to begin in March. A Washington, D.C. federal judge signed an arrest warrant for Olivia Pollock on Feb. 28, one week before her scheduled trial date. Olivia Pollack / Credit: FBI Joseph Hutchinson, who is also a co-defendant of the Pollocks, is also being sought by federal authorities. The court has scheduled then postponed a series of hearings for Hutchinson, as federal agents have sought to track him down. Hutchinson is accused of squaring off with police and throwing punches at officers during the Capitol attack. Olivia Pollock and Hutchinson pleaded not guilty before absconding. Two of Pollock's other co-defendants have been found guilty in their cases. Michael Perkins, 39, and Joshua Doolin, 25, were each convicted of civil disorder, a felony, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. Defendants re-captured Some of the Jan. 6 defendants who have failed to show in court have been quickly recaptured. Marc Bru of Vancouver, Washington, failed to appear for a June 30 hearing in his case, but allegedly continued to post social media messages about the prosecution and the federal search for his whereabouts, as agents sought to track him down. Justice Department prosecutors said, during the search for Bru, Bru shared tweets about his case that said, "I'm drawing a f*** line in the sand" "I'd rather die than submit to f*** tyrants." Nearly a month later, authorities found Bru in Montana. A Justice Department court filing said "the defendant encountered Montana state police officers after he was involved in a car accident in which he states he accidentally drove into a ditch and was then hit by a drunk driver. The defendant informed the responding Montana state police officers that he did not have a valid license or car insurance, and that he had a federal warrant out for his arrest. The officers arrested the defendant, confirmed the existence of the federal arrest warrant, notified the U.S. Marshals Service." Bru was charged with obstruction and entering a restricted building two months after the January 6th attack. Bru had opted to represent himself in his case, before allegedly absconding. Defendants who fail to show in court and run from authorities risk facing stiffer or additional charges. Lucius Outlaw, a Howard University associate law professor and former federal defender, said the Jan. 6 defendants will face increased penalties once they're captured. "If you're going to run, you can get hit with additional charges on top of their charges you're already facing," Outlaw told CBS News. " If you're convicted, the judge is certainly going to take into account that you did not appear in court when you were supposed to and had to be called into court by the U.S. Marshals." Nearly 1,100 people have been arrested in the U.S. Capitol siege investigation, and hundreds more arrests are still expected. An FBI spokesperson told CBS News, "The FBI is using its full investigative resources and working closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to pursue those responsible for the U.S. Capitol violence on January 6, 2021." Rob Legare contributed to this report Where to find the best Labor Day deals Ukraine's defense minister resigns after Zelenskyy names replacement Delta passenger says airline 'lost' her dog A possum in Queensland chomps on a cicada, strewing bits of it on the windowsill. A possum in Queensland chomps on a cicada, strewing bits of it on the windowsill. Londons Natural History Museum will reveal its Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit on October 13, featuring 100 images showcasing the biodiversity of our planet and how organisms interact. The chosen 100 images are the winners selected out of nearly 50,000 entries submitted from 95 different countries, according to a museum release. We are facing urgent biodiversity and climate crises, and photography is a powerful catalyst for change, said Doug Gurr, the museums director, in the release. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition reveals some of natures most wondrous sights whilst offering hope and achievable actions visitors can take to help protect the natural world. Read more ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ghost gobies swim around the extending tendrils of a sea fan. In this imagehighly commended in the Under Water Categoryseveral orange gobies blend in against the bright orange arms of a gorgonian sea fan. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. Mushroom Magic Spores swirl below the cap of a deer shield mushroom. The image above shows a deer shield mushrooma wood-rotting fungusspreading its spores. Forest Rodeo A macaque clings to the back of a sika stag in Yakushima, Japan. Male caques are known to leap onto deers backs on Yakushima, an island of Japan, in an attempt to mate with them, according to a Natural History Museum release accompanying the photo release. In this case, the macaque was female (and so was the deer), in what appears to have been a joy ride rather than an attempt at mating. This image was highly commended in the Behavior: Mammals category. The Vanishing Seal A Mediterranean monk seal, seen through the surface of the water. This stunning shot shows the endangered Mediterranean monk seal off the coast of Greece. The animal is one of the rarest marine mammals in the world, according to NOAA, made rarer by hunting and human encroachment on its habitat. This photo was highly commended in the Natural Artistry category. Possums Midnight Snack A possum in Queensland chomps on a cicada, strewing bits of it on the windowsill. Highly commended in the Urban Wildlife category, this image shows a brushtail possum in Australia eating a cicada. In the possums midriff one can see a young possum in its parents pouch. Race For Life A snow leopard pursuing a Pallas' cat. A snow leopard pursuing a Pallas cat. This action shot depicts a snow leopard hunting a Pallas cat in Gayi, Sichuan, China. Highly commended in the Behavior: Mammals category, its a rare shot of snow leopards hunting Pallas cats. Spoiler alert: this shot precedes the wild kitty getting caught (and presumably consumed) by the larger feline. Firebirds Storks making a happy hunting ground behind a controlled fire in Kenya. This image was taken in Kenyas Maasai Mara National Reserve, and shows a controlled fire on the parks grasslands. In the background are two storks, searching for morsels to scavenge along the fires front lines. Fight to the Death An elephant struck by a train in Gabon. A tragic scene unfolds in this shot, highly commended in the Photojournalism category. An elephant was hit by a train in Gabons Lope National Park, shattering its hip. About 20 incidents occur between elephants and trains in the park each year, according to Londons Natural History Museum. Prize Catch A fisherman drags a sailfish across the beach. Highly commended in the Oceans: The Bigger Picture category, this photo depicts a fisherman dragging a sailfish across the beach in Ecuador. In the fishermans other hand is a severed sailfish head. Snow Bison A large bison kicks up snow in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. This shot of a bison kicking up snow is highly commended in the contests Animal Portraits category. The snow covers some of the bisons massive frame, but conveniently frames the animals distinctive horn and deep brown eye. War Cub A team opens up a crate containing a rescued tiger cub in Poznan, Poland. This shot was selected to be highly commended in the Photojournalism section of the competition. A team from Polans Poznan Zoo are seen opening a crate containing a tiger cub rescued from Ukraine. Perhaps obviously, tigers are not native to Ukraine. But hundreds of the animals have been evacuated since Russias invasion of the country in February 2022. The Face of the Persecuted A fox, likely wounded by dogs, peers out of its crate in a UK rehabilitation center. This shot was selected to be highly commended in the Photojournalism section of the competition. The lurid image depicts a foxs bloody faceinjuries likely suffered by dogs unleashed by humans to ferret out the animal. The Catwalk A leopard staying dry above a river in Kenya. Shashwat Harish spotted (no pun intended) this leopard in Kenyas Maasai Mara National Reserve. The image was selected to be highly commended from the 11-14 Years section of the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. Mason Bee at Work An industrious mason bee moves a piece of straw as it constructs its nest. In this shot, a lone mason bee carries a piece of straw to add to its nest. This image was selected to be highly commended from the Behavior: Invertebrates section of the contest. Coot on Ice A coot scrambles across an icy surface with a loach in its mouth. In this shot, a coot carries a loacha small freshwater fishacross a frozen pond in Northeast China. This image was selected to be highly commended from the 10 Years and Under section of the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Editors note: This is part one of a three-part series exploring Georgias blueberry boom. From bringing more than 50 varieties to market and ensuring plants will endure a changing climate to monitoring the growing economic impact of the blueberry, this series dives into the multidisciplinary research behind the top 10 Georgia commodity. Georgia has long been referred to as the Peach State, yet the fleshy fruit that adorns souvenirs and license plates isnt counted among the states top 10 commodities. Blueberries join that list. UGA blueberry breeder Scott NeSmith, professor emeritus in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) Department of Horticulture, has released more than 40 varieties during his career at the university. The UGA blueberry breeding program has been a key to the success of launching a significant commercial blueberry industry in Georgia in the 1980s and helping sustain it for four decades, NeSmith said. Dr. Tom Brightwell is the true pioneer of blueberry breeding and helped launch the blueberry industry in Georgia. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Brightwell began his work at UGA in the 1940s, continuing until his retirement in the early 1970s. His focus was developing blueberry varieties from plants collected in the wild. It was some years after his retirement before the industry actually took hold, but they did so by using the varieties that he developed, NeSmith said. NeSmith said Georgias flourishing blueberry industry and his own breeding career were built on the foundation Brightwell laid. Our industry is now at a stage where we can produce, given cooperative weather, well in excess of 150 million pounds per year in a good year, NeSmith said. Thats a long way from the 5 to 10 million pounds of the 1990s. The University of Georgia developed Titan a blueberry varietal that can produce fruit as large as a quarter. Breeding a better blueberry One of the major factors we search for in breeding are plants that grow and produce in our varied environment, NeSmith said. Rabbiteye varieties were what gave us our start, and these were the focus of the breeding program for the first 30 to 40 years. This species is well adapted to the heat of the Southeast, and they are some of the easiest plants to grow. Rabbiteye bushes typically have a smaller fruit size and ripen later in the blueberry season often well into June. This led researchers to turn their interest to another species, the southern highbush. While desirable for their larger fruit, earlier ripening and overall better fruit quality, southern highbush varieties werent as easy to grow in Georgias climate and production systems. My effort in breeding was to help expand the southern highbush industry by developing more hardy, easy-growing plants that our growers could grow, NeSmith said. I also worked to improve rabbiteye fruit size, quality and earliness. Today, we continue to look for well-adapted plants in our breeding program, but we have also put a major emphasis on fruit quality. Customers are becoming much more selective in their purchase of fruits and berries, NeSmith said, paying particular attention to flavor, texture and storage properties. Our breeding program seeks to enhance these attributes in our berries for consumers, NeSmith said. UGA blueberries have been developed to thrive in temperate zones across the globe. The university licenses its cultivars worldwide, supporting research at home. The beauty is that when we license blueberries in China or Japan or even in southern Africa and Europe, we arent competing with Georgia growers, said Brent Marable, assistant director of UGA's Innovation Gateway. Blueberries going global A modern consideration for keeping customers happy is creating year-round availability of blueberries. Blueberries are in such demand from consumers worldwide due to their many health benefits and great eating quality, NeSmith said. In Georgia, and in the U.S. as a whole, we can only produce berries for a limited time each year. For example, here in Georgia our season typically runs April through June, then we are through. The global demand for blueberries throughout the year has led to several international partnerships with the UGA blueberry breeding program, with partners in Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Japan and South America including a unique breeding program in Peru. In order to keep blueberries in consumers hands year-round, countries like Peru have stepped up to find ways to produce berries in other times of the year. For Peru, it is from August to December, so this helps keep fresh blueberries on our grocery shelves all the time, NeSmith said. The partnership with Peru began more than a decade ago, when the CEO of a Peruvian grower reached out to the breeding program to see about the possibility of getting UGA blueberry genetics to trial in the South American country. After an initial visit, NeSmiths team sent a few selections to Peru to trial in the desert-like coastal conditions. While Georgias blueberries experience a season of cold weather and dormancy, Peruvian blueberry plants would not receive this period of rest due to a more tropical climate. Our breeding effort at UGA primarily focused on plants that exhibit superior performance under such conditions, NeSmith said. Only certain genetics will succeed under this type of environment. To find such varieties, we had to expose the genetics to their environment. As expected, many failed the test. Yet, to researchers surprise, several performed exceptionally well. It took more than eight years to bring the first variety to market, NeSmith said. It truly was a partnership effort. These collaborations with farmers outside the U.S. not only provide consumers with blueberries year-round, they also bring valuable revenue back to the UGA blueberry breeding program. Regardless of where they are growing, UGA-bred blueberries feed the Georgia market during our season and, when they are licensed to be grown in other parts of the world, we can have blueberries to consume in other months as well, said Brent Marable, assistant director for plant licensing with UGA's Innovation Gateway. Consumers benefit from the availability of the fruit almost year-round, and royalty revenue generated from those blueberries goes back to the university to fund more research into breeding the next blueberries. Field to pancakes, part 2: Blueberries long ago took over from peaches as Georgia's top fruit crop Fields to pancakes, part 3: UGA researchers seek methods to keep blueberries growing amid climate change Securing a sustainable future While researchers are focused on a steadily available, grocery-ready product for consumers, they are also keeping a close eye on the challenges that can prevent blueberries from making the journey from the bush to the produce section. One of the biggest challenges for our industry going forward is the availability of labor, NeSmith said. The future of blueberries requires that varieties be created that can be harvested with machines instead of people. Ye Juliet Chu will succeed Scott NeSmith in leading UGAs blueberry program. UGAs blueberry program has been working on the issue for years and has produced some varieties that can work in new, mechanical systems. Researchers are continuing to breed and improve plants to produce fruit that is both acceptable to consumers and can survive machine harvesting, handling and packaging. All while keeping producers in mind. We need to continue to develop plants that grow well for farmers, hopefully with fewer inputs, such as fertilizers and water, so that their profit margins can be sustained, NeSmith said. Leading this charge will be Ye Juliet Chu, who will succeed NeSmith in leading UGAs blueberry breeding program. Dr. NeSmith has retained over 1,000 selections of rabbiteye and southern highbush blueberries at our research farm, which allows our partners and growers to continue selecting for new varieties, said Chu, assistant professor of horticulture and faculty in the CAES Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics with an emphasis on blueberry breeding. Looking forward, we intend to broaden the genetic base of our breeding program through interspecific hybridization and will engage genetic tools to accelerate the breeding effort. This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Forget the Peach State. Georgia should be the Blueberry State A view from the balcony of an apartment in The Hartford, a mixed-use building in downtown Homewood near the village's Metra train station. (Village of Homewood) Finishing touches are being applied to The Hartford, a mixed-use 36-unit apartment building in downtown Homewood, and about a third of the units have so far been leased, according to one of the partners in the project. The four-story building, 2033 Ridge Road, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the first tenants will move in the coming days, said Tim Flanagan, of HCF Homewood, the developer. Advertisement Tenants come from diverse stages in their lives, such as younger millennials who work downtown and people who are downsizing and selling their homes, Flanagan said. An interior of an apartment in The Hartford, a mixed-use building in downtown Homewood near the village's Metra train station. (Village of Homewood) The $9.2 million project includes a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Advertisement Studio units, at 382 square feet, rent for $1,500 and a 650-square-foot, one-bedroom unit rents for $1,800. A two-bed, two-bath unit, with 940 square feet of space, rents for $2,150. The units have laundry facilities in each apartment, hardwood floors and a community outdoor patio on the second floor that will be furnished, Flanagan said. Its very encouraging, he said. We are confident of the success. We feel we will be fully occupied pretty soon. Stoney Point Grill in Mokena will open a second location in a 5,800-square-foot space on the first floor of The Hartford. Flanagan said the space is substantially built out and the restaurant could open sometime next month. This will bring a solid family restaurant, a family atmosphere, Flanagan said. The restaurant takes up about half the main floor and the remainder is devoted to indoor parking, he said. Homewood bought the site, the former Triumph building, in May 2018 for $660,000, and sold it HCF for $1 in May 2019. Its been a challenge with supply chain issues, Flanagan said, noting prices for building materials increased substantially while construction was ongoing. Advertisement The Hartford is just east of Homewoods Metra and Amtrak stations, and is part of a transit-oriented tax increment financing district that will help the owners recoup some construction costs. Flanagan said he and his partners are hopeful the proximity of rail to the building will be a selling point. We believe the Metra and Amtrak lines add great value to the location, Flanagan said. An outdoor patio on the second floor of The Hartford, a mixed-use building in downtown Homewood near the village's Metra train station. (Village of Homewood) Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > Flanagans background in commercial development goes back many years, including working with Mars Equities that built office space in communities including Tinley Park, and he spent 15 years with Mid-America Real Estate. During that time with Mid-America, he was involved in retail projects along Homewoods Halsted Street commercial corridor. He said that is when he first met Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld, who then tracked me down in 2019 to talk about development, particularly mixed-use, in the villages downtown. Advertisement That is how HCF Homewood came about to develop The Hartford, and Flanagan said there is also a tentative agreement with the village for HCF to do another mixed-use building in the area. Another partner in HCF is Bob Hansen, developer of residential buildings including The Boulevard at Central Station apartments in downtown Tinley Park. Steps from the Oak Park Avenue Metra station, Boulevard is managed by Flaherty & Collins, which is also managing The Hartford and operates Ninety7Fifty on the park in Orland Park. mnolan@tribpub.com Columbus police cruiser For years, complaints against Columbus police officers were filed with the Division of Police's Internal Affairs Bureau. Now, allegations of misconduct, excessive force, discrimination and other complaints involving violations of division policy or administrative conduct are filed with the city's Department of the Inspector General. The Inspector General's office investigates complaints involving only Columbus police officers and does not handle complaints about other law enforcement agencies. The IG's office does not investigate criminal misconduct by a Columbus police officer. Those investigations will be handled by law enforcement agencies. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Complaints must be filed within 90 days of the alleged misconduct, in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the city's contract with the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9. Investigations into shootings involving Columbus police officers are handled by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. After that investigation is complete, the IG's office and the Civilian Police Review Board can review the case to determine if there were any violations of police division policy or procedure that do not rise to the level of criminal misconduct. How to file a complaint There are multiple ways a complaint can be filed with the Inspector General's office. Complaints can be filed in person by going to the IG's office, located at 50 W. Town St., Suite 100, in downtown Columbus. Complaints can also be called in during business hours at 614-645-9601 and speaking to a member of the Inspector General's staff or 24 hours a day through the IG's hotline at 614-645-9600. Emailed complaints can be sent to dig@columbus.gov. Complaints can also be mailed to the Department of the Inspector General, 150 S. Front St., Columbus, Ohio, 43215. A PDF form is available on the Inspector General's website that can also be filled out and printed. The Inspector General's office also has an online submission form. How the complaint process works After a complaint is received, an investigator will be assigned to the case. The investigator will interview any potential victims, witnesses and officers involved, as well as review any relevant police body or dash camera video, or other video or photographic evidence provided by complainants or witnesses. A written report will be completed with findings on whether the complaint is sustained, not sustained, unfounded, exonerated or withdrawn, along with a recommendation as to whether the report should be sent to the officer's chain of command within the Division of Police for review for potential discipline. The reports are then forwarded to the Civilian Police Review Board for their review. The board's subcommittees review the reports and the recommendations and then vote at their public meetings on whether to accept or amend the Inspector General's findings. Reports with a recommendation to be sent to the chain of command will then be sent through the police division, ultimately to Chief Elaine Bryant, for a determination about whether any discipline should be taken. Severe allegations of misconduct could be forwarded to the city Department of Public Safety as well. What the report findings mean A finding of sustained means there was evidence that the officer or officers violated policy or procedure. A finding of unfounded means there is no evidence to believe any misconduct occurred. Exonerated findings mean that the actions within the complaint did occur, but the officer or officers were doing what was required by policy or procedure. Not sustained complaint findings mean there is not enough evidence to prove or disprove the allegation. Withdrawn complaints are those that the person who filed it has decided not to pursue or cooperate with further. Tips for filing a complaint If you are filing a complaint, it should be an allegation of misconduct that you have personal knowledge of, meaning you witnessed it yourself, were the victim of it or have first-hand knowledge in some other way. When submitting a complaint, include contact information that will be the best for an investigator to contact you during business hours. Include as much information as possible and that you are comfortable with sharing in a complaint to help the investigators begin their process. Questions can be directed to the Inspector General's office by calling 614-645-9601 or emailing DIG@columbus.gov. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Want to file a complaint against a Columbus police officer? Here's how. MILAN Finnish armored vehicles manufacturer Patria is the latest European company to consider a production site in Ukraine, following similar plans articulated by officials in Germany and Sweden. As the war in Ukraine drags into its nineteenth month, allies have been discussing how to set up a support pipeline for Kyiv capable of outlasting Russias ongoing invasion. Whereas direct transfers from countries weapons stockpiles were instrumental in the beginning, some governments are now looking for more sustainable forms of aid. For Finland, this has meant looking alternately at increasing the capability of ammunition production both at a national level and elsewhere, Kyiv purchasing directly from Finnish industry, and various international initiatives to help Ukraine, a defense ministry official told Defense News. Local media recently began to report that Finnish armored vehicles manufacturer Patria Group was considering proposals to set up part of its production in Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement When pressed on the matter, the Finnish defense representative remained somewhat vague. In general, we know Ukraine to be interested in Finnish defense industry products and that discussions to promote bilateral materiel cooperation have taken place between administrations and companies, the official said. Commercial export licenses have been applied for, and the defense administration has accelerated the procedure to deal with them, he added. Patria also remains tight-lipped on the issue, stating in an email to Defense News that the company could not comment on ongoing discussions. National broadcaster Yleisradio Oy (Yle) previously suggested that the Finnish company could strike a similar arrangement with Ukraine that it has in place with Poland for the domestic production of its vehicles. Back in April, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on the social media platform previously known as Twitter that Ukraine had ordered 100 armored vehicles from Patria that were to be delivered by Poland. Without commenting on the Kyiv connection, Sirje Ahvenlampi-Hyvonen, vice-president of communications at Patria, explained that technology transfer and local manufacturing concepts are inherent parts of the companys business model. In Poland, Rosomaks 8x8 wheeled armored modular vehicles (AMVs) are produced under a license agreement on manufacturing. We have already performed successful technology transfers such as industrial participation and local production for 8x8 AMVs in Slovenia, Croatia and South Africa, Ahvenlampi-Hyvonen said. The prospect of a local production venture in Ukraine is likely to receive political support in Helsinki, according to experts. Joel Linnainmaki, research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, noted that Ukraines defense enjoys a strong backing from Finlands new conservative-right administration and the Finnish parliament. Cooperation between Patria and Ukraine would fit well into this picture. Finland also tends to carefully follow and compare itself with the policies of our closest neighbors such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark who also seem to be exploring production possibilities in Kyiv as well, Linnainmaki said. But any changes in production processes or supply chains, especially in an active war zone, are extremely intricate and can entail greater risks. Conflict and war situations are obviously always very complex, Ahvenlampi-Hyvonen said. One of the lessons of the [Ukraine] war already is that this is a frontline warfare and has shown the need for compatible equipment and performance so that logistical support, maintenance can be provided more efficiently and reliably. Linnainmaki pointed to the need of building a Ukrainian military of the future, as referred to by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a speech he gave in Helsinki in June. Investing into new production facilities is part of this effort, said Linnainmaki. A large fire is ongoing at a paint and varnish warehouse in the suburban town of Vidnoye in Moscow Oblast, Russian-state media reported on Sept. 3. The outlet claims that the fire covers 1.2 thousand square meters of the area. The fire allegedly broke out at around 11:30pm local time. Information about casualties or structural damage is not yet available. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Zelensky announces dismissal of Defense Minister Reznikov, names replacement Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A fire Sunday night damaged a duplex in Turlock and led to the arrest of one person allegedly connected with the fire, authorities said. Turlock police said that Santiago Estorga Oheda was arrested on suspicion of arson. Police said Oheda, who is in his early 30s, knew some people who were living in the duplex, including his former girlfriend. Oheda was in Stanislaus County jail with bail set at $985,000. At about 10:15 p.m., Turlock fire engines responded to a report of a vehicle fire near a duplex and apartments in the 1100 block of Colorado Avenue. Fire units arriving on scene found a carport engulfed in flames, with several vehicles burning, said Captain Jason Bernard of the Turlock Fire Department. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The fire was threatening adjacent structures. In Facebook posts, nearby residents described loud pops and people yelling and screaming. The fire damaged eight cars, destroyed the carport and damaged the duplex immediately adjacent to the carport, Bernard said. Four adults and two children were displaced. The fire was brought under control in about an hour, but fire units worked into the early morning, making sure it was completely out. It was an extensive fire; fortunately there were no injuries to the occupants or firefighters, Bernard said. A row of apartments facing the street were not damaged. Modesto Fire Department responded with mutual aid. The Stanislaus County Fire Investigation unit is conducting an arson investigation. Authorities did not release all the details on the suspect arrested and how the fire was allegedly set. It appears the fire was started around the vehicles and grew, Bernard said. Colorado Avenue was temporarily closed between Hawkeye Avenue and East Main Street. The American Red Cross was called to assist the displaced residents. CANTON - Fifty-two years ago on Sept. 4, Gail Mull and her husband said, "I do," and then headed home quickly to ensure they didn't miss the Canton Labor Day parade. The longest lasting celebration in all of Western North Carolina is a hometown staple, so much so that the Mulls planned their wedding day around it. "I was born and raised with the Labor Day parade. We look forward to it all year long," Mull told the Citizen Times at this year's parade. Over 100 homemade floats traveled through downtown Canton on Sept. 4, showcasing farmers, elected officials, and nonprofits. The parade started in 1906 marking this Labor Day its 115th year. The town claims it is the longest-running Labor Day parade in the South. Hundreds of people of all ages lined up along Main Street, as the floats passed by throwing out candy and yelling, "Happy Labor Day!" ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Children, and even the adults, ran out into the middle of the street to pick up as much candy that could fit in their hands. Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers passes out candy during the Canton Labor Day parade, September 4, 2023. This is the first year since the Canton paper mill shut down that area residents are observing Labor Day. The mill closed in June after a century of operation. It had employed more than 1,000 residents in a town with roughly 4,300 people. Pactiv Evergreen, the packaging company that owns the mill, announced the closure on March 6 with under 90 days of notice for Canton residents. Construction began on the mill in 1908, only 16 years into the towns history. The towns population is said to have grown from 230 to 1,393 between 1900 and 1910 due to the availability of jobs through the mill. The mill is positioned adjacent to downtown, making it the backdrop of the parade. Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers has helped put on the parade since 2017 when he got elected, but he's been attending for much longer. "You don't miss Labor Day in Canton," Smathers told the Citizen Times. Smather, 40, said he's never missed a parade. Smathers added the parade is all about being able to escape from the challenges that people have faced in Canton within the past year. "We need moments to catch our breath," Smathers said. "The last serval months have been exceptionally tiring and challenging and so having at least a few hours or more to escape from that is important. It centers us and it reminds us of what we are fighting for." 'Canton will thrive' Elizabeth Smith, "Miss Labor Day," stood on a float and waved to the crowd along Main Street. Smith is a senior at Pisgah High School and has been in the parade every year since she was 2 years old. She holds Labor Day close to her heart as her dad was a third-generation worker at the mill. "It's been hard, but one thing about Canton is we always stay together and today is a time to come together as a community," Smith told the Citizen Times. Rhonda Cole, who has been going to the parade for 59 years, has been featured in it several times as a cheerleader, batonist, and even "Miss baby Labor Day." "My grandfather, father, cousins, aunts and uncles all worked at the mill," said Cole, holding back tears. "Today means hope. It means that Canton will be OK better than OK, Canton will thrive." People wait on Main Street in Canton for the Labor Day parade to begin, September 4, 2023. Sitting on the lawn waiting to watch the performances planned for the day were Mark and Suzanne Biery. The two just moved to Canton from Florida, making this their first Canton Labor Day. The couple were also celebrating their 30th year wedding anniversary. "Today has been everything we hoped for," Suzanne Biery said. Steve Wilson, the director of the Green Valley Cloggers, worked in the paper mill for over 40 years. "It's devastating what happened," Wilson told the Citizen Times. "A lot of people just had to leave, but having the mill as a backdrop of the festival is a beautiful tribute." More: Former Canton mill workers take on new roles after commercial driver's license program There were also dozens of food trucks and booths at Sorrells Park where people could shop and eat after the parade. One booth had "Mill Town 48" written across it Mark and Jennifer Anderson were selling their famous barbecue sauce. The couple are newer residents to Canton but named their barbecue sauce "Mill Town" because it felt fitting, they said. "There's a sense of community here that's undeniable," Jennifer Anderson said. McKenna Leavens is the education reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at mleavens@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter @LeavensMcKennna. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Canton celebrates its 115th Labor Day parade Five former employees at a Georgia juvenile detention centre have been indicted after a 16-year-old girl died in custody last August. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced on Friday that a grand jury indicted Department of Juvenile Justice employees. Maveis Brooks, a sergeant, Russell Ballard, a cadet, and Rebecka Phillips, an officer, were all indicted on two counts of first-degree cruelty to children and one count of second-degree cruelty to children, while Monica Hedrick, a nurse, and David McKinney, the Detention Center Director, were both indicted on one count of second-degree cruelty to children. Alexis Sluder, the 16-year-old, died suddenly in August 2022. She had been transferred to the Dalton Youth Detention Center only hours before she died, according to the Associated Press. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice wrote in a statement following the indictments: Two previously terminated employees related to the incident and three others were still employed but are now terminated following the indictment. DJJ is committed to the well-being and safety of the individuals entrusted to our care. We remain deeply saddened by this tragic incident and continue to hold heartfelt thoughts and prayers for the family of the deceased. The Whitfield County Coronertold WTVC in the days after the teens death that Sluder had been experiencing an adverse reaction to an illegal substance she ingested before her admittance into our facility. A lawyer for the teens family told the outlet last week that they are very satisfied that the Whitfield County Prosecutors Office is taking Alexiss death seriously. Alexis died a painful and preventable death, and although this criminal prosecution will not bring her back to her family, it is a step towards accountability, the lawyer continued. People who are incarcerated are still human beings with constitutional rights to be free from the kind of conduct exhibited by the officers. The people in charge had a responsibility to take care of her, but instead, a family lost their teenage daughter. At the end of the day Alexis deserved better. According to an online obituary for Sluder, she was a student at Gilmer High School and enjoyed playing softball and being in beauty pageants, where she always won Prettiest Smile. Five Israeli men have been arrested in Cyprus in connection with the alleged gang rape of a young British woman in the popular holiday resort of Ayia Napa, in a case which has chilling parallels with the gang rape of a British teenager four years ago. The five Israeli tourists, aged between 19 and 20, were held on Sunday after a 20-year-old British woman told police she was gang raped in a hotel room in the party town which attracts tens of thousands of young holidaymakers each summer. A court in the town of Paralimni, just a few miles from Ayia Napa, ordered that the men be held in custody on suspicion of rape. Police are investigating the allegation, with the Cyprus News Agency reporting that detectives have secured testimony from witnesses to support it. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The case appears to have remarkable similarities to the 2019 case, when 12 Israeli men were accused of gang raping an 18-year-old British girl in a hotel room in Ayia Napa. They were released after the young woman from Derbyshire retracted her police statement. She later claimed that she had done so after being threatened by police officers and questioned for eight hours without a lawyer or an interpreter. The charges against the Israelis were dropped and they flew home to a heroes welcome, popping bottles of champagne at Ben Gurion Airport, embracing their families and chanting the Brit is a whore. She was charged with causing public mischief with an allegedly false confession, switching overnight from victim to accused. After a months-long trial, she was convicted in January 2020 and given a four-month prison sentence which the judge suspended. She returned to Britain shortly afterwards, with her mother saying the ordeal had left her deeply traumatised. Criticism followed of her treatment by the Cypriot police and judicial system. Cypriot police faced accusations that they quashed the gang rape accusation because it would have harmed the countrys multibillion-pound tourism industry and its strategic and commercial links with Israel, a key ally in the region. Womens rights and civil society groups said the investigation was mishandled and the trial put the young woman through unnecessary humiliation, on top of the trauma of the alleged crime. In 2022, the Supreme Court quashed her conviction on appeal after defence lawyers argued there had been a miscarriage of justice. Police later said they would examine whether mistakes had been made during the investigation. Cyprus is a short flight from Israel and a popular destination for Israeli holidaymakers. They are the second largest market behind the large number of British visitors. Alleged rape of British woman in Majorca In August, a young British woman said she was gang raped by five French men and a Swiss tourist in the Spanish resort of Magaluf on the island of Majorca. Hotel staff called police after finding the British woman crying outside the hotel in the town of Calvia, a popular party destination for young tourists. The suspects were arrested shortly after the woman gave a description of them. Police said the unidentified woman told them she had met the suspected rapists and later went to the hotel room of one of the men. She was then allegedly raped by all six of the men, none of whom have been formally identified, before she was able to escape and flee the room. The alleged victim received immediate medical attention and counselling. A medic was reported to have found grip marks on the womans arms. The men were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and violation of the right to privacy it was claimed that they filmed the abuse of the 18-year-old victim. 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 state judge on Saturday rejected congressional district boundaries affecting communities across North Florida, saying they unconstitutionally restrict Black voting power and that Floridas Legislature must redraw them. By dismantling a congressional district that enabled Black voters to elect their candidates of choice under the previous plan, the enacted plan violates the Florida Constitution, Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh in Tallahassee ruled. In the 55-page ruling, he also noted that throughout history "Florida has been a state home to discrimination in voting." Marsh barred state officials from holding elections that use the current boundaries developed to replace the former Congressional District 5, whose seat was held by former U.S. Rep. Al Lawson. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Weighing a lawsuit brought by groups including Black Voters Matter and the League of Women Voters of Florida, the judge said state lawmakers must develop a remedial map to comply with the state's constitution, and he retained control over the case to judge whether the new boundaries pass legal muster. More: Judge scrutinizes DeSantis' map that erased U.S. House seat held by Black Democrat More: Ron DeSantis eyes court fight over Florida congressional map to reduce minority seats Secretary of State Cord Byrd promised to appeal the ruling, saying he would seek review by the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Politics news website reported. If it stands, the judges ruling will force changes to a series of districts between Jacksonville and the Panhandle. Before last year, District 5 stretched from Jacksonville to Gadsden County west of Tallahassee, connecting largely Democratic Black communities within a region where Republicans enjoyed strong support among white voters. But a redistricting plan championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and ultimately endorsed by state lawmakers eliminated that district and drew boundaries that allowed Republicans to win 20 of the state's 28 districts, a four-seat increase in the GOP's representation. Seeking to become the Republican nominee for president, DeSantis has stressed the importance of those gains to Republicans winning a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. In Northeast Florida, the boundary changes meant that Jacksonville neighborhoods once represented by Lawson became part of Congressional District 4, which also covers Clay and Nassau counties and is represented by U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla. Baker County, which had been part of District 5, became part of District 3, served by U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla. Lawson told a USA TODAY Network reporter via text that Marsh's decision is a victory for the people of North Florida, particularly those communities of color who have been historically disenfranchised. As to whether he would run again if the district is restored, Lawson said "there is still more work to be done." "So any decision about my future plans will come when this process is complete," he said. "My only goal right now is to ensure that fair representation is returned to the people of North Florida. The judge's ruling was welcomed by Democrats. Duval County Democratic Party Chair Daniel Henry said that its now incumbent on the Florida Legislature to embrace this ruling, follow the states Fair Districts Amendment, and draw a fair and equitable map that restores the voting power of Black voters. Voting rights advocates involved in the case also hailed the ruling. "It should not be lost on the public that Governor DeSantis pushed for the discriminatory map that targeted Black voters with precision," said Olivia Mendoza, the director of litigation and policy for the National Redistricting Foundation. "But when the people tenaciously fought back in court to protect their rights, justice prevailed." Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a news conference with Taylor County Sheriff Wayne Padgett, right, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Perry, Fla., in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia. (AP Photo/John Raoux) ORG XMIT: FLJR105 This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida judge strikes down Ron DeSantis redistricting map On hand for a recent Nurses Week donation to the Cancer Resource Centre are, from left, Anthony Andello, CRCs manager of outreach; Dr. M. Nabil Shabeeb, Marie Macke, executive director of Oncology Services; Jennifer Sarkey, director of Cancer Care Services; Ronda McKay, chief nursing officer for Community Hospital; Vita Ayala, project assistant for Cancer Care Services; and Randy Neiswonger, Community Hospital CEO. - Original Credit: Photo courtesy of Community Heal (Photo courtesy of Community Heal/HANDOUT) Ivy Tech receives Cisco Golden Bridge Award Ivy Tech Community College recently announced new recognition and honor as Cisco Networking Systems 2023 Golden Bridge Award recipient, according to a release. The Golden Bridge Award recognizes Ivy Tech for providing students with the skills needed to work in the Information Technology field and the ability to earn industry-recognized certifications, the release said. Through the Ivy Tech Valparaiso campus Routing Switching Certificate program, the College participates in the State Earn and Learn (SEAL) program, a 10-month program that is a part of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Advertisement Every Be the Bridge Award winner has excelled in one or more of the following categories: Inclusive Futures, Global Reach, Impacting Lives, Learning Innovation, and Partnerships, the release said. PNW adding new doctoral degree offering Purdue University Northwest recently received approval from the Indiana Higher Learning Commission to offer advanced degrees in Psychology, according to a release. Advertisement PNW plans to offer a Doctor of Psychology degree, which is an applied doctoral program intended to prepare students as both practitioners and scholars to address local needs for mental health resources in Northwest Indiana, a release said. A masters degree in Psychology will also be added to the PNW curriculum. PNWs program will become the universitys third doctoral program, joining its Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Technology. New doctor joins Franciscan Physician Network Dr. Annette Abraham, infectious disease and internal medicine doctor, is now part of the Franciscan Physician Network and is accepting new patients in Michigan City, according to a release. Abraham completed her training at Government Medical College in Kottayam, Kerala, India. She completed her residency in internal medicine at John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County in Chicago. Abrahams fellowship training was in infectious diseases at RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago, the release said. Her clinical interests are HIV, bone, joint and cardiovascular infections, travel medicine and tropical infections and central nervous system infections, the release said. Abraham is fluent in Malayalam. For information, call 219-861-5539 NWIIWA Launches New Ambassador Committee The Northwest Influential Women Association (NWIIWA) is going to be expanding its mission to foster career connections for women with the addition of a new Ambassador Committee, according to a release. The new committee will be chaired by Alyssa Gawlinski, managing director of national events and marketing with RE Journals. Gawlinski is an experienced business development professional known for her skills in coordinating networking events and boosting relationships among her target audiences, the release said. Caregiver Awards announced Northwest Health - Porter honored two caregivers in August: Jennifer Carpenter, MSN, RN, PCCN, was the recipient of the DAISY award for exceptional nursing and Wil Ortiz, a security officer, was the recipient of the PETALS award for outstanding support professionals, according to a release. Advertisement Carpenter, a veteran nurse at Northwest Health Porter, was nominated by a co-worker who shared that Carpenter is always there to support, problem solve, and trouble-shoot in a wide variety of situations, the release said. Ortiz was nominated by a patients daughter who visited the hospital for many days to help manage the care of her elderly mother who was staying in the progressive care unit, the release said. Community nurses make Cancer Resource Centre donation During this years National Nurses Week, Community Hospital raised nearly $11,000 for the Cancer Resource Centre (CRC) in Munster, according to a release. To raise the $10,998, Community Hospitals Patient Care Services staff raffled themed baskets, the release said. Community Hospitals Patient Care Services has been hosting the Nurses Week basket raffle since 2008, raising nearly $300,000 total for the CRC. To learn more about the Cancer Resource Centre, visit myccrf.com. Northwest Medical Group specialists move to Knox location The new Northwest Medical Group office building in Knox will house the specialists who previously saw patients in the groups primary care location at 104 E. Culver Road, according to a release. Advertisement Patients will begin visiting the new location Sept. 1 at 402 W. Culver Road. The Northwest Medical Group specialists now seeing patients at the new location include: Cardiology (219-324-0014), Gastroenterology (219-324-0878), Hematology and Oncology (219-326-0943), Orthopedics (219-326-2663) and Urology (219-464-1001), the release said. Lawyers for the former Grand Rapids police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Black motorist will be back in court Wednesday morning, as an appeals panel will hear a case deciding whether Christopher Schurr should stand trial. Schurr was charged last year with second-degree murder in the April 2022 shooting of Patrick Lyoya, a Congolese refugee who was 26 at the time of his death. Footage released by police shows Schurr shooting Lyoya in the back of the head following a physical struggle that ensued after Lyoya attempted to flee a traffic stop in southeast Grand Rapids. Patrick Lyoya. Schurrs lawyers, led by attorney Matthew Borgula, have argued that Schurr was within his right to use lethal force after Lyoya attempted to flee the traffic stop and that Schurr was following his training as a police officer. Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker argued that it should be up to a west Michigan jury to decide whether Schurr used excessive force when fatally shooting Lyoya. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Judges in lower courts agreed with Becker that it should be up to a jury to decide whether the charge is valid. District Judge Nicholas Ayoub sent Schurr to trial following a three-day preliminary examination last October, and in February, Circuit Judge Christina Elmore denied a motion to throw out Ayoubs order, saying the district court correctly bound Schurr over for trial. Schurrs attorneys then asked the Court of Appeals to weigh in on the matter. Judges Brock Swartzle, Colleen OBrien and Kathleen Feeney will make up the panel overseeing the case Wednesday morning in Grand Rapids. In a court brief submitted to the panel, Borgula argued that without a legislative statute defining when a police officer is authorized to use lethal force, the lower courts should have relied on previous common law rulings which justified use of lethal force to subdue a fleeing felon. Additionally, Borgula said the physical struggle that ensued as Schurr attempted to detain Lyoya played a factor in the shooting Schurr had initially tried to fire a Taser stun gun at Lyoya, but missed twice. When the physical struggle began, Lyoya attempted to grab the stun gun. ... Video makes clear that Lyoya and Schurr still believed it was capable of inflicting serious injury or death at that point, otherwise both would have abandoned the fight for it, Borgula wrote. Once Schurr lost control of the Taser, Lyoya instantaneously had what he and Schurr believed was the ability to inflict greater force or harm on Schurr than he had without the Taser. As Schurr fired at Lyoya, he yelled let go of the Taser, footage released by the Grand Rapids Police Department and in court shows. Borgula also pointed to testimony from another officer, Capt. Chad McKersie, during the preliminary hearing. McKersie testified that Schurr properly followed his training through the entirety of the interaction with Lyoya. Ex-Grand Rapids Police Officer Christopher Schurr appears for a court hearing at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids on Oct. 26, 2022. In a responding brief, Becker and Kent County Chief Appellate Attorney Katherine Wendt again argued the justification for using deadly force is a question for a jury to decide, not the courts. To impose a bright-line rule for which a law enforcement officer can use deadly force would simply be unworkable, prosecutors wrote. To say that a police officer can always use deadly force in one situation or never in another fails to take into consideration the individual circumstances of each interaction. ... Contrary to Defendants argument, interpreting the second-degree murder statute in this way, as courts have done for decades, does not set the precedent that a criminal charge will be brought whenever a police officer uses force on duty. Community relations: A year after Patrick Lyoya's killing, residents say Grand Rapids police have to earn trust Schurr was fired from his GRPD position last year, following being charged with second-degree murder. He was initially placed on paid administrative leave in the days following the shooting. His trial was originally slated to begin last March, and then pushed to an October start date before being adjourned while his appeal is pending. Lyoyas family has also filed a separate civil lawsuit against Schurr and the Grand Rapids Police Department in federal court, alleging civil rights violations and seeking $100 million in damages. A federal judge recently ruled that qualified immunity does not apply to Schurr at the early stage of litigation in that case. The shooting galvanized members of the Grand Rapids community, as protests calling for police accountability were launched in the days and weeks after police released footage. Police in Grand Rapids have also retooled training standards and adopted policies emphasizing de-escalation tactics and stating the departments highest priority is the sanctity of human life. Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @arpanlobo. Become a subscriber today. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Grand Rapids officer charged in Lyoya shooting set for appeal Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan hasnt completely ruled out running for president with an independent party if former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are front-runners as Republican and Democratic nominees early next year, he said on CBS News on Sunday. Robert Costa of Face the Nation asked whether Hogan is open to running as a candidate with No Labels, the party he co-chairs. Hogan said he isnt pursuing that, and Costa asked whether running is still an open door. Im hoping we dont get to that point. I have not closed the door to that. If I believe that we can actually win the race, Hogan replied. Hogan, who left office Jan. 18, has long hinted at a presidential run but said in March that he would keep himself out of the race to avoid helping Trumps chances. Hogan told Costa there is a real concern of having too many candidates, currently 12, running to oppose Trump in this election, which is why he opted out of seeking the Republican presidential nomination. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I didnt want to see a repeat of 2016, Hogan said. I didnt want to see this multicar pileup where the 50% of the Republican primary voters that dont want Donald Trump are divided among the 11 [Republican candidates]. And thats exactly what I was afraid of is whats happening. I think its a real problem. And I think weve got to start thinking about trying to show some leadership and taking some action to change that. Hogan has been gathering with other Republican leaders for discussions with the candidates to hash out the issue while giving private advice to many of the people running, he told Costa. I think other leaders are going to come together, and were going to have to figure out how can we convince people to put aside their own egos and their own goals to just make sure we do the right thing for the country in the party, Hogan said. Hogan explained how independent parties such as No Labels can take some of the vote, but they dont stand a strong enough chance to actually win. However, in the event that there is a Trump-versus-Biden rematch, No Labels should put together a strong ticket with a good Republican nominee, he said. I think we should only put together a ticket in the event that its Trump and Biden, Hogan said. And Im still, again, still trying to work to make sure we can get a good Republican nominee. If not himself as a candidate, Hogan said the nominee would have to be truly bipartisan, so they could go across party lines to get things done. When asked the chances of a No Labels ticket, Hogan said theres a good likelihood the organization creates a ticket despite Hogans reluctance to pursue a presidential nomination. Theres a lot of things that have to happen, Hogan said. Again, Im still hopeful that I dont. ______ Boston fire officials say at least 35 people have been displaced after a fast-moving fire in Dorchester. The flames ignited on Labor Day around 3:30 p.m. at a multi-family home on Holiday Street. The fire quickly spread to other nearby homes, and the back porches of the home where the fire started collapsed. Heavy fire in the rear 37 Holiday St Dor that extended to the building next door and the rear . A 4th alarm has been ordered. pic.twitter.com/XKrhIF4Hap Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) September 4, 2023 A total of five homes were damaged. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement All of the affected residents made it out safely. In a photo shared on social media, firefighters could be seen dousing the smoking and collapsed remains of the back porches of 37 Holliday Street with water. The rear porches of 37 Holiday St have collapsed, all companies are working. pic.twitter.com/2cQhq8zI3h Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) September 4, 2023 Of the five buildings impacted by the roaring flames, two of them are expected to be total losses, according to Boston fire officials. Heavy fire knocked down on all 3 buildings, major overhauling throughout . pic.twitter.com/iC2SS9YYkj Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) September 4, 2023 Firefighters credited a group of neighbors who pounded on doors to alert everyone in the burning buildings. We all bum-rushed the doors to try and kick the doors open. We got one door open but couldnt get it in. We yelled, yelled, yelled. Nobody answered. We went next door to the next house and tried to kick open those doors, Mac Brown told Boston 25 News. There was at least eight or nine people going into each house. The inferno turned a relaxing holiday afternoon into a frantic effort to save lives. Firefighters responded to the scene in a matter of minutes and got the flames out in less than an hour. Thank god there wasnt a lot of wind today because the overall fire ended up damaging five buildings, said BFD Chief of Operations Rodney Marshall. Marshall said four pets remained missing at sundown. One firefighter sustained minor injuries in the fire. Residents in the neighborhood gathered to watch as crews from several fire trucks extended ladders to douse the roof of one building with water. Fire crews also deployed a drone to get a birds eye view of the flames. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW FILE - Supporters of Capt. Ibrahim Traore protest against France and the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS in the streets of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Oct. 4, 2022. In Sept. 2023, The era of France's arm-twisting interventionism in Africa may finally be over. France has sat by militarily despite moves by putschists to seize control of former French colonies in recent years. (AP Photo/Kilaye Bationo, File) DAKAR, Senegal (AP) When Gabons longtime leader was detained in the latest coup in Africa last week, France condemned the takeover but did little to intervene despite having hundreds of troops in the country. It was a striking break from the past. African and French observers say that France, under pressure, is finally shedding its postcolonial tradition of Francafrique an unflattering term that smacks of paternalistic influence and quiet deal-making among elites as its economic and political powers wane and an increasingly self-confident Africa looks elsewhere. After repeated military interventions in its former colonies in recent decades, the era of France as Africa's gendarme may finally be over. In the old days of Francafrique, this coup would not have happened and, if it did, it would have been quickly reversed, Peter Pham, a former U.S. envoy for Africas Sahel region, said of Frances muted response to the coup in Gabon. Even more than ( the Niger coup in July ), French inaction underscores that the times have changed Gabon was long the centerpiece of the old cozy postcolonial system. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In the last three years, a common thread has linked coups in four African countries: All were once French colonies. Some, like Gabon, had continued warm relations. Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family has ruled the small oil-rich country for more than 50 years, last met with with French President Emmanuel Macron in June in Paris. But a new strain of anti-France sentiment has emerged elsewhere. Russias paramilitary Wagner Group has cozied up to power brokers in places like Central African Republic. China has eclipsed Frances economic influence in Africa. Some former French colonies are joining the Commonwealth, despite no past links to British rule. For decades after decolonization, France continued to pull strings and reap benefits in Africa. At times, the heavy-handed influence sparked opposition, but French-backed leaders often returned to power. Such efforts are now pulling back. Macron last year withdrew French troops from Mali following tensions with the ruling junta after a 2020 coup, and more recently from Burkina Faso, for similar reasons. Both African countries had asked for the French forces to leave. France also suspended military operations with Central African Republic, accusing its government of failing to stop a massive anti-French disinformation campaign. Macron, in a speech last week to French diplomats, decried an epidemic of putsches in the Sahel region. Macrons predecessors, including Francois Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jacques Chirac and Francois Mitterrand, had all launched new French military operations on the African continent. Macron did not. Macron, the first French president born after the end of colonial era, has made it clear that France has turned the page of postcolonial interventionism. But even though the word partnership has been Macron's rallying cry in Africa, some ill feeling lingers. France stirs up conflict in Central African Republic and is putting pressure on authorities to not bring forth real development policies, said Anicet Lappel, publisher of the local Adrenaline Info, seen as close to the government that has been gravitating toward Russian interests in recent years. In Gabon, the Bongo family has had deep and enduring ties to France for generations. Writer and analyst Thomas Borrel called it emblematic of Francafrique a local dynasty marked by corruption, French business ties and a vague guise of democratic practices. The late Jacques Foccart, a shadowy French high-ranking bureaucrat known as Monsieur Afrique for his efforts to keep former French colonies close, recalled in his memoirs how in the mid-1980s, the younger Bongo quietly floated in Paris the idea to set up constitutional monarchy in Gabon. The French laughed it off. Macron has said nothing publicly about Gabon since the coup. Several longtime leaders of former French colonies are still standing and have a collective 122 years in office: Cameroons Paul Biya with 41, Republic of Congos Denis Sassou Nguesso with 39; Djiboutis Ismail Omar Guelleh with 24; and Togos Faure Gnassingbe with 18. Seidik Abba, a Nigerien researcher, said its been slightly lost on France that Africa has changed and Paris isn't the only global power available. The former colonies are looking (out) for their interests. Theyre not looking at their history with France, said Abba, who is president of the International Center for Reflection for Studies on the Sahel, a Paris-based think tank. The diplomats and other officials continue to consider that they have exclusive relations with African countries. But many French connections remain, even in coup-affected countries. Its tempting to talk about an end to Francafrique, said Borrel, a spokesperson for Survie, an advocacy group that denounces Frances postcolonial policies in Africa. Francafrique is characterized by institutions still in place French troops still in Africa; the CFA franc currency; and a French paternalistic culture that must be changed, including at the summit of the French state. Today, France retains more than 5,500 troops across six African countries, including more than 3,000 in permanent bases in Gabon, Djibouti, Senegal and Ivory Coast, plus about 2,500 involved in its military operation in Chad and Niger. France has maintained its troops in Niger even though mutinous soldiers ousted President Mohamed Bazoum more than a month ago. On Thursday, the junta revoked the diplomatic immunity of the French ambassador, who has ignored their order that he leave. In neighboring Mali, many soured on the French troop presence after it failed to rid their country of Islamic extremist fighters. Pro-Russia groups on social media fomented the disgruntlement. Their departure from Mali is a good thing, because our soldiers and their Russian allies are going to effectively fight the terrorists, said Timbuktu resident Harber Cisse, alluding to what European officials say is the presence of Wagner Group fighters in Mali. The changing sentiments also reflect a simple fact: Today, the vast majority of Africans are too young to have lived under French rule. Much of Francophone Africa won independence in 1960. The last French colony, Djibouti, became independent in 1977. Guelleh, the Djibouti president, appeared to finally sense a growing threat of coups in Francophone countries after the events in Gabon, denouncing it in the strongest terms. In Rwanda, longtime President Paul Kagame accepted the resignation of a dozen generals in an abrupt security shake-up. Cameroons even more veteran president, Biya, did likewise the same day. Perhaps the most significant drift in Africa is a cultural one. France simply doesn't serve up the aspirations it once did. France was the land of prestige, Djibouti-born poet Chehem Watta, 60, told Le Monde this year as part of a project exploring the changing France-Africa relationship. But over the years, shrinking French funding and military presence, along with tightening visa restrictions, tarnished Frances image, he said. In Abidjan, university student Laurent Wassa of Felix Houphouet-Boigny University named for a French lawmaker who became Ivory Coast's first postcolonial president said he stopped wanting to study in France, because he thinks the quality of education he would receive has gone down based on what hes heard. Studying in France isnt as much of a dream as it used to be, he said. He'd prefer a scholarship in China. Antoine Glaser, a journalist whose 2021 book translates as Macron's African trap, said that Africans are dictating the changing relationship. It's not a French president who's going to decree the end of Francafrique, that's useless, he said. Its Africa thats going to straighten up France when it comes to paternalism, and getting a new perspective. ___ Keaten reported from Geneva and Cara Anna from Nairobi, Kenya. Associated Press writers Jean Fernand Koena in Bangui, Central African Republic, Baba Ahmed in Bamako, Mali, Toussaint NGotta in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and Sylvie Corbet and Oleg Cetinic in Paris contributed to this report. A 16-year-old Frostproof High School student was killed by his father Monday morning at his grandfather's home in Lake Wales, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said Monday. "In what's been eight days' time, we have another parent that has murdered their child," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a Monday afternoon news conference from the scene. Stephen Thomas Rodda, 37, was arrested a mile west of the crime scene, walking along State Road 60 near West Lake Wales Road North. He was living with his father, Thomas Rodda, 65, in the 2500 block of Old Bartow Road in Lake Wales. His son, Stephen Lee Rodda, 16, was also living at the residence, Judd said. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd talks to the media about the killing of a 16-year-old Frostproof High School junior. The sheriff said the teen was killed by his father, Stephen Thomas Rodda. The 16-year-old was an 11th-grader at Frostproof High School who was to start work next week at Burger King so he could buy a car, Judd said. He was studying to become an electrician, "his dream in life." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Judd said the younger Rodda "was a great kid." "Not just a good kid, a great kid. In fact, he was living with his grandfather to help him out while his grandmother was in rehab. That's the kind of kid that Stephen was," Judd said. His father, Stephen Thomas Rodda, showed up about a month ago, Judd said. "We ask, 'Where's he been?' He's been in D.C., he's been South Carolina, he's been in Ohio, he's been in Texas. There was even an outstanding warrant for Stephen Thomas Rodda in South Carolina, but South Carolina would not extradite, so he couldn't be arrested." Judd said Thomas Rodda, left about 8 a.m. to visit his wife in rehab. When he returned about 11 a.m. Monday, he was met outside by his son, the suspect. "His quote was, 'I wouldn't go in there if I was you. I killed someone. You may need to call the police,'" Judd said. The sheriff said Thomas Rodda told detectives "it was not uncommon" for his son to make bizarre statements. Thomas Rodda went into the home and found his grandson dead in the dining room. An arrest affidavit, released Tuesday morning, said the father hit his son repeatedly in the body and head with an angle grinder, at one point breaking the blade. Judd said investigators were still trying to determine the motive. In an interview after his arrest, Stephen Thomas Rodda told detectives at one point that his son, Stephen, had died years ago when he was little, then made claims about sexual abuse in the home. Judd said the family told detectives the suspect had used methamphetamine since at least high school and had a history of psychotic episodes. Including a Polk deputy Murder suspect fires at task force members and is fatally shot Stephen Thomas Rodda was booked in the Polk County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder. "We lost a great young man today. And we have an evil, evil man in custody," Judd said. It was the second time in a little over a week that a child was killed by a parent. On Aug. 27, the Sheriff's Office found Brandy Hutchins, 43, of Waverly, dead along with her 10-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter. Her husband, who lives in Maine, had been awarded custody, and detectives said Hutchins killed herself and both children. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 16-year-old Frostproof student killed by father, Polk sheriff says Rekha Devi, a 30-year-old farm worker, washes her face next to her temporary shelter on an under construction overpass after her family evacuated the flooded banks of the Yamuna River in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. Devi, her husband and their children fled as July's record monsoon rains triggered flooding that killed more than 100 people in northern India, displaced thousands and inundated large parts of the capital city. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) NEW DELHI (AP) Rekha Devi, a 30-year-old farm worker, is dreading the moment when her family will be ordered to leave their makeshift tent atop a half-built overpass and return to the Yamuna River floodplains below, where their hut and small field of vegetables is still under water from July's devastating rains. Devi, her husband and their six children fled as the record monsoon rains triggered flooding that killed more than 100 people in northern India, displaced thousands and inundated large parts of the capital, New Delhi. The waters took her husband's work tools, the childrens school uniforms and books and everything else the family had accumulated over 20 years, forcing them and thousands of others into makeshift relief camps. Their temporary perch is less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the site of this weekend's Group of 20 summit at which leaders will have a final chance to decide how to better protect people like Devi when the next extreme weather event batters the city. But she expects little except eviction as part of security measures for the meetings. If the leaders lived here, would they have taken their kids into the deep waters to live? Right now, no one is doing anything for us. We will see when they do something, she said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Despite cyclones, extreme rains, landslides and extreme heat affecting India and the rest of the world in the last few months, climate ministers of the G20 nations the worlds largest economies and producers of most of its greenhouse gases ended their last meeting for the year in July without resolving major disagreements on climate policies. Energy experts said key bottlenecks include nations failing to agree on proposals to cap global emissions of carbon dioxide by 2025, set up a carbon border tax, scale up renewable energy, phase down all fossil fuels and increase aid to nations hit hardest by climate change. Shayak Sengupta, an energy and research fellow at the Observer Research Foundation America, conceded there were no broad agreements on reducing fossil fuels or increasing renewables. However, I was encouraged to see that there were initiatives on specific sectors like green hydrogen, critical minerals, energy efficiency, finance for the energy transition and energy access, said Sengupta, based in Washington. The G20's top leaders will have a last chance to send a strong message of climate action at their meetings on Saturday and Sunday. The hope is they "will be able to come out with an ambitious agenda that can not only show that the G20 can act but will also bolster confidence going into the global climate meetings in December, said Madhura Joshi, energy analyst at the climate think tank E3G. The annual global climate conference, COP28, will be held in Dubai this year. Joshi said she is hopeful because writing off the worlds 20 largest economies completely would mean that there are more concerns for the world as a whole. Experts say one reason the talks among climate ministers haven't produced concrete results is that the decisions necessary are bigger than those ministers can take. We need to ask if climate ministers have the mandate to negotiate now on these big issues like climate and energy, said Luca Bergamaschi, CEO of Italian climate think tank Ecco Climate and former head of the Italian government's climate team. Beramaschi said India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose nation holds the G20 presidency through November, has an opportunity step up as a global leader and broker for international commitment between the West and the rest of the world, especially in relation to climate and energy negotiations. We need leaders to say we need to do more" on climate change, Beramaschi said. "More on moving away from fossil fuels and increase renewable energy, I think that sends a really strong message. ___ Arasu reported from Bengaluru, India. ___ 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.